Almost 2013

I gave up on New Year's Resolutions a long time ago because I never stick to them.  I mean everyone makes the same ones almost every year, right?

I will eat healthier

I will go to the gym/get gym membership

I will quit smoking

I will quit drinking

I will blah blah blah

But how often does one actually stick to their resolutions?  Yeah...it would be nice if I ate healthier...do not get me wrong...you put a plate of raw veggies in front of me and a small amount of lite ranch and I am a happy camper!  I love salads and fruits and all that healthy stuff BUT my sister hit the nail on the head.

You work out to support your bad eating habits!

Really, it is kind of true.  It is totally not intentional but it is true!  I mean I would work out, teach Zumba or go for a run or something and then eat a quarter pound big bite hot dog and a grab bag of Doritos from 7-11 for lunch the next day!  Totally disgusting but so yummy!  I get the worst cravings!  I had a craving for Tostino's pizza and pizza rolls...so I went to the store and bought four pizzas (because they were four for $5) and a bag of 90 count pizza rolls.  Totally disgusting but so good!

I do however pay for a gym membership (however it is currently on hold because of my knee injury) and I want to start going more often once I can.  I am not too sure if I will continue with the 6am workouts with my boss though...that is just too damn early!

I do not drink nearly as much I want to and not even remotely as often as I talk about it so quitting drinking is not on my list.  I love my Bud and Bud Light and Jose Cuervo is one of my close and personal friends.  It would be nice to quit smoking.  For me it truly is just a bad habit that I need to break.  I do not have the addiction that most people have.  If I am at home, I do not smoke.  If I am out and about running errands with someone, I do not smoke.  I tend to smoke out of routine.  I get in my car, I smoke.  I take a break at work (only when I am working outside on the line...never take a break when I am upstairs in the office) after a few hours, I smoke.  I can even go out with friends for drinks and if no one smokes, I do not smoke.  I really is just a habit.  I have gone days without smoking never NEEDING to smoke.  It will be a little more difficult to break than when I was biting my nails...because I put tape over my finger nails to keep myself from biting them and that is how I stopped.  I know I can do it because I have done it before.

Now I do have some goals for 2013:

• Make my lunch to take to work
• Quit smoking for good
• Run in five 5K runs with my mom (I will save the Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon for a year that I do not have horrible knee pain)
• Complete the Zumbatomic training
• Eliminate half of my credit card debt (it would be nice to eliminate all but I will settle with half)
• Move out on my own
• Re-enroll in school and take at least three classes
• Continue to find myself and better myself to make me happy
• Share my feelings more and not shut people out so much

That last one is going to be a tough one...same with the credit card debt and the moving out on my own.  I am sure that I will make add and maybe subtract from that list over the next few days but once I finalize it, I will write it down and post it somewhere that I will see it every day so that way I might stick with it!

Until next time!

Christmas Eve...Eve

It is the eve before Christmas Eve.  It is just after 8pm and I am in bed.  I am in bed because I have to work tomorrow and then drive down to my dad's house after work for dinner and Christmas with him and his girlfriend.  I do not know his girlfriend hardly at all and apparently she is making a turkey dinner.  So much for having an easy and laid back kind of dinner.  After talking to B, I figured that we would make simple things like having Shmeath (pronounced sh-meh-th) toss little smokies into the crock pot with some barbecue sauce or meat balls...pretty much anything she can toss into the crock pot because my nephews can be pretty rambunctious!

That changed a few days ago when I was informed that she is making a turkey dinner and that I needed to get her a present because she got us something.  Guess what...I did not get her anything last year...nor did I get my mom's husband (yeah that is a new term as of this afternoon...long story and so going to be a post here in the next few days) anything last year...and because they were planning on getting married on December 1st (not 22 days later) that is the only reason he got anything from me this year.

I told Shmeath that I have to work on Christmas Eve...I mean it is on a Monday and I work in the office on Mondays.  I told her that I would not know what time I get off until the schedule comes out and it could be out as early as Friday and as late as Sunday afternoon.  Well it came out this morning and I told her that it says I work until 4:30pm.  I get a reply from her that my dad said that we are eating dinner at 4:30pm so if I am not there by then, Shmeath said that she would save me a plate.

Well is that not just a be F**K YOU or what?!  So not cool!  From what I have been told, we normally close up the office around the same time that the restaurant closes and they are closing at 3pm.  My last flight on the schedule gets back around 2:30pm so I should be closed up shortly after 3pm if all goes well...of course I will not actually leave until I am told I can.  If I can get out around then and there is not too much traffic I just might be able to get down to my dad's house in time.

I just thought that was kind of rude of my dad given that my sisters and I had been talking about having dinner around 5:30pm or 6pm...but then again that was when dinner was going to be easy and simple.  I am so glad that his girlfriend decided to ask if we all wanted turkey for dinner...I know that is what I think of first when I think about Christmas dinner...oh no wait...no I do not!  I am actually not a fan of turkey at all really to be honest.  Looks like I will be having a dinner consisting of side dishes.

I have no energy to post about the ridiculousness of the fact that my mom got married today so that will have to wait until tomorrow maybe...write during my lunch...possibly!  Until next time!

If You Insist on a Lie...

DO NOT GET CAUGHT!

Pretty simple right?  I mean think about it...

You can Google just about ANYTHING and get an answer from somewhere in cyber space!

While it is a very long story, let me see if I can come up with a cliff note version for you.

My ex and I bought a house 4.5 years ago.  We were obviously planning on living there for the 4-year tour while he was assigned to his unit and then planned to:

A)  Rent it out to some Coasties until we could sell it

OR

B)  Sell it if the housing market went back up...and make a profit

Our marriage fell apart and for a year he was having to use about $300 out of his own pocket in addition to his BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) in order to cover the mortgage.  Before I moved last summer I told him that he should get a roommate and charge them rent.  Even if it was only like $500 or $600, it would help take some of the burden off of him as far as the mortgage AND the bills but he said he did not want a roommate.  I told him that it did not matter what he wanted to do...he needed to think about how it would benefit him financially.

He avoided a roommate (as far as I know) and then transferred this summer.  I did not know where he had transferred to until last night.  Last night, my sister tells me ("Don't be mad but I talk to ****."  "B...I'm not mad if you talk to him...Frankly I don't care if you talk to him.") that he is trying to play a victim and get pity...just like he did when we first split up.

Apparently he told her that he has taken an $800 pay cut since we divorced and that he is having a hard time covering the mortgage and that I have ignored him every time he has tried to talk to me about the house and that he cannot keep it up much longer and that our house might go into foreclosure.

That is a lot shorter than I thought it would be.  I have so much more that I could add but I will not.  Needless to say, I now know where he is stationed...I know how much his BAH is and his base pay...and I know that he is lying out of his ASS!

I am going to stop right there before I say something that I might regret...oh who am I kidding...I do not regret anything because it is a wasted emotion!  Besides...there is always the delete button if I change my mind about something, right?!  He must be living way above his means because there was obviously not a $800 pay cut!  Or maybe he should think about living with a roommate!  However he has never been the most logical thinker when it comes to things like that.  I understand wanting to have your own place but he wants to live like a hermit...when a roommate would alleviate some of the financial burdens he is supposedly having!

Until next time!

I Think It Could Be!

I have this feeling and I am not sure what it is but I think it could be the "L" word.  I have mentioned Mr. Wonderful before and while I still have not met him, I feel so connected to him.  He makes me feel so special.  He makes me feel wanted and needed and cared for.

He wants to be with me.

ME!!!

Someone he has never met.  Someone he has barely spoken to except by short voice notes and texts and tweets and messages.  Someone he has only seen pictures of.  With all that, he has determined that he wants me and no one else.

I cannot help but feel the same.  I do not know him outside of the texts and voice notes and pictures yet he is all that I think about!  I dream about meeting him and how it will play out at the airport.  I can hear him say "Hey Beautiful" and have those be the first two words that he physically speaks to me and I just melt.  I know that I will melt mainly because I do whenever he says it in a voice note or text.

I feel so girly and my heart just swells every time I hear from him.  I just want to shout from the top of the Space Needle how I feel about him and I just might when he comes to visit in the not-so-distant future.  I do not know exactly when he is coming but I just realized that it could be in about seven weeks.  That time will just FLY by!  I have a few places that I really want to take him to...places that I truly love and cannot wait to have someone I care about go to these places!

Now I feel like I am rambling again so I am going to turn the laptop off and watch more "Parenthood".

Until next time!

Get These Creative Juices Flowing

On my way to work this morning I thought to myself

Self, you need to work on your creativity.  You enjoy writing and you have had a few fairly decent posts that just might be somewhat a little...dare I say it...funny humorous.  You need to reach out for some help and get a little interactive with the few readers that you have!

So I am asking for help!  I am asking for you to comment with three things

CITY
NAME
ITEM
(example:  Detroit, Will Smith, Hot dog...example provided by my mom)

Please help me sharpen my writing skills.  You can leave your name or be anonymous...but if you leave your name I will give you credit in the post!

Until next time!

Where Do You Find Love?

It still comes as a shock to most people when they find out that

• I am 28 years old
• I am a Vet (and "disabled"...20% for now)
• I was married for almost four years
• I have been divorced for over a year

I have made many promises to myself since my marriage fell apart

• I will never make a promise that I am not 100% certain that I can keep
• I will speak my mind and not keep my feelings and emotions bottled up (still working on the whole bottled up part...kinda encoded in my DNA)
• I will NEVER lock away who I really am ever again
• I will do what I need to in order to make myself happy

I have also been living by the been there, done that, not doing it again motto when asked if I want to get married again.  Ask me at any time, day or night, and I will NOT hesitate to say no way!

The truth is I do not know if I want to get married again...and I will not know unless I meet a man that can change my mind.  I do want a family...but it can wait...I am not in a rush anymore.  Do I want another wedding or another piece of paper that was so easy to obtain and so difficult to get out of...I do not know if I will ever be able to trust someone enough to not try and strip me of everything that makes me who I am again or who will make me completely vulnerable and dependant on him.  Can you say TRUST ISSUES!!!

With all that being said, I have to admit, I signed up for eHarmony like over 10 years ago when it first started (and was FREE...I might add).  I did not actually have any luck...but I did not actually keep up with it or anything and discontinued use when they decided to start making you pay.  I added the Match.com app on Facebook and once I discovered that you could not actually contact the people they were matching you with unless you PAID I deleted my account.

I am not against finding someone by using online sites and social media but I am broke and am not willing to pay a website.  I have found that in becoming who I am, I have become more open-minded.  I interact with people on Twitter all the time.  Perfect strangers.  Facebook...well that one I like to keep Private and only accept those who I actually know personally.

You strike up conversations with complete and total strangers over pictures, links, etc.  I am not sure how, when or why my interaction with Mr Wonderful* started but it started on Twitter.  Then we started sending messages on Facebook.  Getting to know each other.  He told me about an app that you can send voice notes and text.

Next thing I know, I am waking up in the morning with a voice notes from Mr Wonderful calling me beautiful and saying good morning and hoping that I have a good day.  If it is a day that I have to work the Line, he tells me that he hopes I do not injure myself.  Ha!  Very unlikely!  He once told me that he was going to wrap me in bubble wrap so I would not hurt myself and so he could pop it!  On a particularly difficult night, he quoted "Fraggle Rock", "Star Trek" and "Boondock Saints" trying to cheer me up!

I find my heart fluttering when I have any contact with him.  I feel myself blush when he compliments me.  I cannot help but feel giddy thinking about him.  If I find half a second to catch my breath while I am working, he comes to mind.  I have seen his face.  I have heard his voice.  I close my eyes and I can almost see and hear him speak directly to me.  We want to meet but we live in different time zones.  There is a possibility that we might be able to meet in the next few months and the anticipation is just killing me...and I am fairly certain that he feels the same.

The title poses a question.  Where do you find love?  Please leave a comment (either with your name or anonymously) and tell me where you found love.  If you have not found love yet, please comment about what/who you hope to find someday!

Until next time!

*Name has been changed

The Best Zumba Event

If you have not tried a Zumba class of ANY kind...well then you are missing out.  If you know me, you know how much I am totally in LOVE with Zumba!  Well, my love for this Latin dance inspired fitness program grew on Saturday, November 17th.

WHY? You ask.

I will tell you why...two words!

NICK LOGREA

That is right...I had the privilege of taking pictures at Nick's master class at Z Place Fitness & Dance Studio.  Because of my knee injury (and now my back is all messed up), I was not able to participate but I snagged my mom's digital camera and brought my Bloggie for video and spent almost two hour taking pictures and video of this man.

I would pay good money to watch him and Channing Tatum battle...just sayin!

I did not get a ton of great pictures but I got 144 almost decent pictures and 25 okay video clips (but not "Jail House Rock" which I thought I caught but I was wrong...and so wanted to borrow his choreography for when I got better).  I am going to try to figure out how to pull stills from the videos so I can have some better pics but I am okay with what I got.

Now I want a new camera.  I love the pictures that my 35mm camera takes but film is freakin expensive and given that everyone uses digital these days you would think that the price of the film would have at least gone down...I know the price of memory cards has over the last few years.  So now I want a good digital camera that can take really good action shots with little light.  I would love to be able to take more pictures at master classes or just some classes in general for people to use on their websites or whatever.  I am not looking to turn pro here but something that I love to do and help others out.

What I want is something that gives me the option to take rapid shots.  Nick was moving so fast that a lot of the pictures have his face or limbs blurred.  I want clear and crisp photos.  There is usually enough light on stage to get some okay pictures but I want something that will be able to compensate for that and NOT have to use a flash.  I do need to get more aggressive and get "in your face" shots but to my defense, I cannot bend my knee and my back is killing me so getting down on the floor was not really going to happen.

However I did get these "in your face" shots during his cool down!

When the lights came on and the class was over, he was taking pictures left and right!  I waited patiently and when it seemed like he was done, he tried to walk away and I said Hey...what about the photographer!!!  And he smiled and we got into the light.  He said he was sweaty and I thought duh...I just watched you shake your ass for almost two hours.

I know I am short but when he was standing straight...I barely came up to his shoulder...

Until next time!

I Dare You

I DARE YOU - SHeDAISY

Gold only knows how I've needed a friend

Who can see through the boldness and pride

Someone strong enough to put my faith in

Someone willing to let me inside

So be a man

And be my man

I dare you to need me like nobody else

I dare you to feel me like you've never felt

I dare you to want to want

Want to be good to me

Baby you've got your reasons dangling from kite strings

Can you open your hands and let them fly

I know you won't always say and do the right things

But some things are worth a try

If you can

Be my man

I dare you to know me like I've never known

I dare you to show me that I can be shown

Dare you to want to want

Want to be good to me

Tell me I'm

Tell me I'm the one who deserves you

And every time

Every time you know that you want to

Yeah, I dare you

I dare you to hold me like you never will again

Kiss me and leave the earth standing still

Dare you to want to want

I dare you to need me like nobody else

I dare you to feel me like you've never felt

I dare you to want to want

Want to be good to me

Yeah, I dare you to want to want

Want to be good to me

Mind Blowing Revelations Happenin' Here

Let me start with today and work back to the mind blowing part.

 

I ran some errands today.  I stopped at Verizon to find out WHY my upgrade suddenly changed from the beginning of January to the end of March.  If you did not catch my post about the issues of my cell phone then here is the skinny: 

• Phone does not ring or vibrate most of the time when a call is coming in.
• Phone does not notify me half the time that I have a missed call, voice mail, text message, etc.
• Phone has to be turned off for a couple of minutes and turned back on after every other call because no sound transmits out or in.
• Phone shuts down, turns off and back on all by itself and for no reason...even in the middle of a call.

That is just a few of my problems.  It is something that I was willing to live and deal with thinking that I only had a couple more months but almost five and a half months...no way!

Turns out that when I originally got my phone in January 2010, it was under my ex-husband's upgrade that he did not use and passed on to me.  Unfortunately his piece of crap phone finally died and he upgraded in July 2011 which was apparently my upgrade due date.  Since he used mine (we did not split the accounts until January of this year), I am not eligible until March 26, 2013.  Needless to say I have a replacement phone coming to me either tomorrow or Monday.  Hopefully this one will not cause me NEARLY as many problems as the one I currently have in my possession.

I stopped by my gym and had them freeze my account for another three months since I still have no answers about my knee.  Called the clinic and had them fax over my doctor's note saying that I cannot workout and then actually got to talk to my doctor about my knee.  There obviously is not anything he can do about getting my orthopedics appointment any sooner BUT he put in another order for an MRI with contrast.  That was the original order but the imaging department at the VA Hospital decided that it was not necessary.  He said that if I do not get a phone call on Monday to get an MRI with contrast scheduled, to call him immediately.  I will be giving it until 4pm on Monday and if nothing, then I will be calling him!

That was a huge relief!

Here is the GINORMOUS MIND BLOWING REVELATION that I had Tuesday.  I was curled up on the couch, watching some of my shows on the DVR, cuddling with my mom's new puppy, Cooper (the stinky pooper...as I call him).  It made me miss my puppies terribly!  Then it got me thinking about wishing I could be cuddled up in a certain someone's arms.  I get this tingling fuzzy feeling in my stomach typing this.  While I say a certain someone's arms, there is not a SPECIFIC person just yet.

Anyway, it was a foggy day.  It was the kind of day that leaves you wanting to be cuddled up with someone special, in front of a fire, with a GIANT cup of hot cocoa, watching movies all day.

And that is exactly what I wanted.  Now I am not going to lie...there was someone that I was thinking of specifically.  I do not know him all that well but I want to.  I have hung out with him a few times over the last few weeks and then a couple of times over the last several months.  We had an interesting conversation that really got me thinking.

I have made it well known that I am enjoying being single.  Since getting my divorce in July 2011 I have felt FREE!  I have felt like myself.  Hell I have even had people call me funny which is a total foreign concept to me to be completely honest.  I have said repeatedly that I do not want to get married again.  Been there, done that, do not want to do it again...but what I was thinking about all that I would do differently and what I want and need in return (first and foremost a man who would tell me that he loves me...and not every once in awhile).

It made me tear up thinking about it...married to a wonderful man...having a family...I suppose if I find the right man then I might change my mind.  I guess until then, I will have sweet dreams about the perfect man (and we all know that "perfect" and "man" put together does not exist...sorry guys...had to say it...lol)!

Until next time!

Laid Up With No Answers

Take a look at these pictures.  They are from when I was healthy...as in I could run and teach Zumba and do all the activities that I LOVE to do!

My sister Sammy, Me, my momma, my girl Holly, and my sister Heather at The Color Run on Mother's Day 2012

After the first mud crawl at the Survivor Mud Run at Carnation Farms in June 2012

My momma and me after we survived the Survivor Mud Run



Just about to hit the streets for a run

In all these pictures you can kinda sorta see my legs.  You cannot fully see all the muscle or the muscle definition that I had but I did.  Not to toot my own horn but I had some damn fine and sexy legs.  It was my definition that made me feel confident in shorts...not my weight loss...knowing what I do and how much effort I put into my work outs to get the results that I could be proud of.

When I finally noticed my weight loss, I noticed it in my thighs.  I remember taking a shower and shaving my legs and thinking "Hmmm...my calves look thinner...and so do my thighs...wait a second!!!"  It hit me like a ton of bricks and when I stepped out of the shower I saw it in my face and my waist and my hips.  Did you read my blog about my weight loss?  Check it out here.

A couple weeks while I was taking a shower, I noticed my right thigh looked thinner.  Normally I would be proud of that except that it is NOT something I was trying to do.  I compared it to my left leg and I almost fell over and started crying.  I have lost so much muscle that it hurts.  Physically...it hurts like hell!

My left leg is bigger than my right but this picture does NOT show the significant muscle loss

I had my first Physical Therapy appointment on the 15th (just over two months after hurting my knee).  Unfortunately, the physical therapist said that I have lost so much muscle that it is actually causing MORE knee pain and that I need to build up that muscle first to alleviate some of that knee pain before physical therapy can actually help any.  I thought to myself All exercises that one would do to build up their thigh muscles involves BENDING YOUR KNEES.  I am not sure what she thinks these sissy exercises are going to do but they are NOT going to build up my muscle enough to actually relieve some of this knee pain.

She put in a referral for me to see Orthopedics and I heard from them last week...and they cannot get me in until November 27th...WHAT?!?  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?  That is just straight up unacceptable!  I have been in pain for over two months now and still have no answers and these people expect me to just sit and wait around.  I do not think so.  I called my doctor and asked for him to call me back because this is just crazy...and I still have not heard from him.  I am off on Tuesday and Friday this week and if I have to I will drive down to the clinic and wait for the doc if I have to!

I am going to try and crash since I have to dress all nice for work tomorrow!  Until next time!

Raising Kids in an Electronic Age

• I am 28 years old.
• I do not have children (not for lack of trying).
• I have two iPods and a smart phone.
• I have a desktop computer, a netbook, and a Nook Color.
• I have a Wii console (that has mainly been used for Netflix).

I now circle to the title of this post.  With the list above, some might stop at the second item and say, "What does she know about raising children?"  While I do not have any children of my own, I do have two nephews ages 4 and 3 (soon to be 5 and 4...yikes!) and a soon-to-be step sister (5) and soon-to-be step brother (12).  Plus I have a ton of friends who have children that I have been around.

When I was growing up, as long as lightening was not striking anywhere in the vicinity of our house, my sisters and I were outside.  During the summer, the only time we were inside on beautiful days was when my mom had us reading.  We read a book for at least a half hour every day.  After reading, we were outside to play.  There were three girls a year older than me that lived around us.  One lived next door and she has a brother my age and a sister about the same age as my youngest sister.  One lived behind us and she has a brother a year younger than me.  The last lived across the street from the last one and she has a brother my age and a sister about the same age as my middle sister.  We would play outside at any of our houses but we had the largest yard.

When it came to school, there were three classes for each grade.  That gives us approximately 60+ children...and we all played together at recess.

It is a long clip but I could not find a shorter one...just watch the first 1 minute and 40 seconds.  Red Rover was a big game that we would all play together...along with crack the whip, hide and seek, and freeze tag (or regular tag).

We would always start out the school year and end the school year with baseball (I mean we were in the midst of seasons either ending or starting).  I remember there were two guys in my class who started quoting "Rookie of the Year"...love the movie but the quote does not come in until the end...(what is up with YouTube these days and not being able to find decent video clips...gosh!)

Today, kids expect everything to be handed to them.  When I was a kid, I had to earn my t.v. time and my video game time.  Video game time was earned and only for about a half hour at the most...and it was not every day.  Forget about it if it were a nice day.  T.V. time was only for about an hour at night with the family, unless it was movie night or Friday night (who did not watch T.G.I.F...I mean Steve Urkele, Michelle Tanner, DINOSAURS...).

I did not have a cell phone until I was 16 years old and it only had 30 minutes on it, used only in emergencies...and DID NOT HAVE TEXTING OR INTERNET!  I see kids with iPhones and iPads, spending all their time inside on their asses being lazy and playing video games.  It makes me yearn for the simple days of being thrown outside and told to ride our bikes.  I mean come on!  Parents need to shove their kids into the yard and lock the door!  That is what my mom did!  Heaven forbid we had to go to the bathroom.  I think part of the reason for us being tossed outside was to be active but another part of locking us out was for her to get some peace and quiet!

I do want children some day and I plan on raising my children the same way I was raised.  There is no need for a 5 year old to get an iPad for their birthday...it only gets lost or broken.  Why should a pre-teen have a smart phone?  Especially one who does not use it, loses the charger, complains that it does not work right when all it needed was to be reset...and then is GIVEN an iPhone 5...really?!?

The Silence Will Now Be Broken

I have been M.I.A. for a bit because we have moved.  My mom bought a house and we have been trying to settle in...however it has been a bit difficult.

• No furnace (that was finally installed on Saturday)
• Master bathroom - no shower (I believe the grout has finally set and the three of us no longer have to share the shower in the main bathroom)
• Main bathroom - no sink
• My bedroom - window does not open
• Kitchen - no refrigerator, dish washer, or stove/oven

As much as hand-washing dishes SUCKS, not having a dish washer is not as bad except for the fact that I pulled a bowl out a few days ago and there was some left over crud stuck to the outside of the bowl.  There is only so much that we can do by hand washing.  I am a firm believer in dish washers.  I cannot get physically get the water hot enough in the sink to completely sanitize dishes, silverware, glasses, mugs, etc.  Not having a stove/oven SUCKS because we cannot make food at home.  It has to be either microwaved or toasted in the toaster oven.  Not having a refrigerator blows because now that it is getting colder at night and in the morning, the garage is freezing and having to go out there to get the coffee creamer just stinks!  Thankfully we have a full size refrigerator in the garage that will eventually return to the over flow/beer refrigerator.

I will again mention IT IS EFFING FREEZING IN THE MORNING so not having a window that opens in my bedroom...not so bad.  However, it is not painted shut...it is not stuck shut...it does not open!  I am not sure how that passed inspection to begin with since I am willing to bet a whole $5 that it has to be against some fire safety code to have a window that DOES NOT open in a bedroom.  I could almost understand in the bathroom (but that would just be mean...especially if there is a guy living in the house...just mean) but in a bedroom?!  I do not get it!

SPEAKING OF BATHROOM...there is no sink in my bathroom.  Do you know how gross it is to go to the bathroom and not be able to immediately wash your hands?  I have to walk down the hall and wash my hands in the kitchen...unless no one else is home in which case I use my mom's bathroom...with two functioning sinks!  At least now I have a door on the bathroom...when we first moved in, not only did I NOT have a sink but the door was also missing!  That is right!  Anyone walking down the hall could totally watch me doing my business!  I have seriously been contemplating getting a gallon size container of hand sanitizer to keep in the bathroom but I know that the first trip home my sister will jack it and take back to school with her.

Now even though we have a furnace I just HAVE to mention it.  For almost two weeks it was FREEZING in this house.  I mean we were all in a really bad mood because would could ever be in a good mood when you wake up freezing cold!  It was getting so cold that it did not matter how hot it got outside, I seriously could not get warm!

Okay, now that I have played a little bit of catch up, I have two more posts that I want to get in tonight but they will have to wait just a little bit! So...until next time!

My Body Will Not Listen!

I first heard this song about a week or so ago.  From the moment I heard it, I knew I was going to come up with some choreography.  I would say about 75% of my choreography is created in my head completely before I ever even try it out.  I will literally listen to a song over and over again dozens of times until I have the moves down pat...in my head!  When I get a chance, I actually DO the moves to the music.  That is where my final tweeking takes place and I make sure that all the moves I came up with flow just right!

It works really well for me...until now!  I created what I envision to be a pretty good warm up...I think it could be number three in my set or one of my mild breather songs...very mild...I have the moves upstairs but cannot get my feet to work!  This dang knee injury and not being able to bend it really bites!  I have only ever done the moves in my head...and my car.  I tried to do some of the steps but not being able to do all the moves, I could not tell if it really worked all together.  I feel like part still needs some work but without being able to dance I just cannot be certain!

I may not be able to dance but that still does not keep me from being passionate about what I love!  I am excited about the next big things coming from Zumba.  There is a new Ab video game coming out, check it out here!  Tomorrow morning Vanilla Ice is going to be on The View previewing his Zumba remix of "Ice, Ice Baby".  Once my knee gets better I will have my Sentao routines down so I can introduce this new program to my area!  Okay, now it is time for me to take care of my knee and try not to vomit...I think I slept in the fetal position last night.  It hurts!

Until next time!

Something From The Heart

When it comes down to it, I want it to be you and me.

Can you see it?

Sitting on the beach?

Bundled up in the snow?

Driving down a back road to nowhere?

With you by my side, I will go anywhere!

What Is Your Song?

Back in February, I wrote about how hearing certain songs can take you back.  Relive old memories of good or bad times.  Remind you of a specific event or person.  This is my favorite song RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT!  I posted the video on Facebook, Twitter and Google + yesterday once I figured out what it was called and who it was by.  Now for your viewing pleasure, "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line.

I really love this video.  Well I love the video because I love the song!  I seriously could listen to it on repeat all day long.  I have not found a song like that since the beginning of summer and I first heard "Shinin' On Me" by Jerrod Neimann.  Wait...you have never heard that one either?  Oh boy...here...watch now!

Now that you are all caught up...from the first moment I heard "Cruise" I had one specific person in mind.  Even though I have not even laid eyes on him since I first heard this song, he is the one I think of when I hear it.  I get all girly and start day dreaming about just taking off and driving into the middle of nowhere together and just getting away and escaping and just be with each other!

The way I feel when I hear this song is amazing.  I find a smile on my face and I can close my eyes and see his which, of course, makes me smile even bigger.  I really like this guy and I cannot even begin to find the actual words to tell him that.  I do not even  know him that well but I want to.  I want to know him.  I want to spend time with him.  I want to feel his arms around me again.  Once was NOT enough.  It left me wanting more.

It really is an unexpected feeling to be honest.  I have been very firm on the fact that I do not want to be in a relationship yet I find myself yearning for one.  If things work out the way I hope, I should get to see him again soon and you better believe that I am going to relish every moment that I am in his presence!

Until next time!

Up, Up, and Away!

It has been a long week and today is only my Wednesday!  Remember when I had one of "THOSE" days?  Not really?  Let me refresh your memory here!  Today seems to be another one.

My head is killing me!  Seriously...it feels like it is going to split open at any given moment...or I am going to vomit everywhere.  These are a few of my current stressers that I know are the reasons behind these nasty headaches:

A)  The fact that the VA (Veteran's Affairs) overpaid me and sent my money into an account that my name is not on and I have ZERO access to (which means having to talk to my ex husband...and only via email so there is a paper trail if he decides to go into douche bag mode).

B)  I am enrolled in an English Literature class being assigned to read work that looks like English and sounds like English but when you put the individual words together to form phrases and sentences, I am screwed!

C)  Speaking of school, I got my work schedule for this coming week and I am only working 17 hours...which after taxes will not even cover my payment for my class let alone the other bills that I have (car insurance, cell phone, credit card, storage unit, and rent) or the fact that I have to put gas in my car to get to work and I need to be able to feed myself something with a better nutritional value than Top Ramen (only beef flavored thank you)!

D)  Then there is my knee!  I do not have the added stress of trying to figure out how to pay for the X-rays, MRIs, Physical Therapy, and doctor's visits since that is all covered by the VA BUT those people are so damn slow!  I originally hurt my knee 8/12/12.  I was first seen by the Physician's Assistant (because my doctor was on vacation) on 8/13/12.  I had X-rays on 8/14/12.  A week later I went back in, with my pain still as high as ever, and demanded an MRI because even though he (the PA) put in a referral for PT, I was not able to get scheduled until 10/15/12.  Seriously!  After several messages I obtained another number for the Radiology department at the VA Hospital in Seattle and got scheduled for Friday 8/31/12.  After playing phone tag for over a week, I finally found out that the MRI came back normal...so I am in pain for no apparent reason but we are going to do PT for four to six weeks and when that does not work (which I highly doubt it will) then I get my MRI with contrast (which I should have fought for in the first place).  We are looking at down time until December at the earliest!

I had actually intended on writing posts about my knee and the whole VA overpaid fiasco but have not gotten to it yet!  However the VA thing is still unfolding so there is PLENTY of time!  Now you see why I have a constant headache!

Then factor in a person.  We have all met that one person right?  The one where just the slightest glance makes your head hurt...yep.  I have one of those people.  Friday I had a headache from the moment I saw this person until the moment he left.  Really...like as soon as he was gone, my headache faded away!  I guess that will be one up side of only working two days this week.

I had a conversation with one of the company's customers today who owns his own plane.  He offered to take me flying if I ever wanted to go and said that his plane has dual controls so if I wanted to, I could get some hands on time.  I politely thanked him but told him that I prefer to just look out the window.  I do not want the responsibility that comes with flying a plane.

I told this conversation to one of my co-workers and told her that being up in the air is really my happy place.  From start up to shut down, my eyes are out the window.  I love to watch the runway fade on take-off.  I love to just look out the window at the cities below.  I love to be above the clouds where the sun is shining and the sky is the bluest of blue.  I love watching the runway get closer and closer until touch down.  After describing that to her, all I have been thinking about is getting up in the air.  I need to.  It is just so peaceful.  I hardly talk when I am in the air.  I physically have to force myself to talk when someone is with me.  Does not matter if it is in a little puddle jumper or a commercial flight.  I just clear my head of any and all thoughts and worries.

Prepare yourself for what I am about to say...it will shock anyone who knows me...it works better than Zumba.  There...I said it!  Flying leaves me with the high even after the flight is over...it lasts for at least a couple of hours.  Anyone remember my flight in the Super Caravan?  Just talking about that flight relieves some stress temporarily!

Now that I have avoided all aspects of my class this week I should at least make an attempt at responding to a classmate or two.  Until next time!

Can You Read?

It is a simple enough question, right?  Can you read?  I can read.

But there is an underlying question, you see.  Can you understand what you are reading?  Not always.

When reading for fun or pleasure (and ladies I use that term loosely...hahaha), you might stumble across a word you might be unfamiliar with.  You might not know how to pronounce it or know what it means.  However there are a few ways to figure out what it means.

• Read the full sentence...you might get the general idea.
• Dictionary.com...not only will you find out the meaning BUT (and this is what I love about it), for most words anyway, it will actually SPEAK the word so you know how to pronounce it!  BTW...I have it downloaded to my Droid 2 from the Google Play Store (I was going to attach a link but as I am currently logged in I do not know if the link would work).  Oh and it is FREE!!!
• Even though I always have my phone with me, sometimes I could care less on having the word spoken to me, in which case I love reading from my Nook Color.  All I have to do is press the screen at the word I want to look up and simply press the "Look Up" button and it will give me the definition.
• Just a side note...it really drives me INSANE when the word is used as part of the definition.  Really people?  I do not know what the word means and you are going to use it as part of the definition?  That would be like the definition of SLEEP being TO SLEEP...okay but what does it mean...(I seriously just spent like a stupid 10+ minutes trying to come up with something cleaver and that is really what I came up with...it has been a long day!)

When reading for the sake of learning, you will come across terms that you do not know but can look them up, like I mentioned above or in the glossary if your book has one.  In my case I am just screwed.

I have officially completed my first week of English Literature: Beowulf to 18th Century as of 5:59am tomorrow morning (6am is when week two will start).  As I am a VERY slow reader, I wanted to start reading next week's material this week while it is just the introduction week and no real work is being done.  I have three reading assignments:

1. "Beowulf"
2. "Caedmon's Hymn"
3. "The Dream of the Rood"

Prior to this class, I thought that Beowulf was an era of writing in English Literature.  I did not know that it was a poem (if it did not have punctuation I would relate it to Homer's "The Odyssey"...except I understand that one) originally written in Old English and translated.  Same with "Caedmon's Hymn" (which I have not started yet).  These were translated into English yet I have absolutely no idea what I have read!  Seriously!!!

I just came to the realization though that the link to "Beowulf" in my classroom (check it out here and tell me if you can understand it...)and the eBook that I downloaded from the library are translated by someone name Gummere...HOWEVER when I was having issues trying to figure out how to download my eBook from the library to my computer and onto my Nook, I placed a hold on the hard copy the library had and I just pulled it from my backpack and discovered that it is translated by someone else...Seamus Heaney...and when I opened it up I could read it AND understand it!!!  It may not be the version that my professor wants me to read but it is the one that I can understand and, damn it, it is the one I am going to read!

This post just too a turn with this new discovery!  Okay...well now that I know I will understand it, I am gonna go read!  Plus I plan to watch the 1999 version of "Beowulf" on Netflix after I finish reading.  Wow...Until Next Time!

How Techie Are You?

I really am not that technologically stupid.  I swear I am not!  Shortly after getting my Nook Color for my birthday (which I absolutely love and mostly have been using to watch Netflix instead of reading), I went to the local library and got a library card.  I had one when I lived in Oregon so I could check books out from the local community college for my papers I had to write for school.  Before that I had not had a library card since I graduated high school.  I am pretty sure I still have my very first library card ever issued to me (I believe the sticker said 1991 or 1990) from the King County Library System or something like that.

Anyway, I filled out the paperwork and got my card issued to me and asked if the eBooks that they had available could be downloaded to my Nook and she briefly showed me how to do it and said that it would definitely work.

I signed up for English Literature - Beowulf to 18th Century.  My school's website listed the book that would be used and I looked to see if it was available from my library (and it is not) but I did find it available to rent from Barnes & Noble and could get it for the entire duration of my class for about $40 or $50.  I thought that was pretty neat.

My class started Monday.  Since I take classes online, it does not matter that Monday was a holiday.  All classes start on the first Monday of each month regardless of holidays.  I think I have had mid-terms, finals and tests due on holidays before.  This class actually ends two days before Christmas!  Yeah!  Anyway, I enter my virtual classroom and let me tell you something this stuff has CHANGED a lot in the last two years that I have been MIA from online learning.  The classroom set up is different, discussion boards are now called forums.  Email is now called messages.  Lectures and the reading material is now under lessons.  I think I have it kind of figured out and I am sure that I will have it down by the end of this class (which is 16 weeks long).

I am a very slow reader.  I have a few pages that I printed off from a website that is part of my required reading for this week and decided to print out next week's reading so that way I can try and get a little ahead so I do not get behind.  I printed out the first two links which comes to about ten pages of reading (I think) and went to print the third link and discovered that it was going to be like 93 pages so I said PASS and jumped onto my local library website to see if it is available as and eBook...

...and it is!  The website said that there was only one eBook copy so I checked it out before it was too late.  I downloaded it to my computer but could not open it.  I remembered that I had to download the Adobe program in order to access it.  I found the link and tried to download it but it kept popping up with some message that said I had to "retry" and I kept clicking away and it kept saying retry until I finally just threw my arms up (literally) and said (out loud...to no one...alone in my room) I GIVE UP!

I tried calling the library to see if there was someone who could help me figure it out and after pushing who knows how many buttons and then just hitting "0" to finally talk to a person.  This woman heard my problem and then transferred me at which time I was disconnected.  Today I reserved the one and only hard copy that they had available and drove down to pick it up.  I saw a gentleman at the Information desk and told him my problem and he took the time to kind of walk me through what I had already done.  I did everything correct last night but for some reason my desktop just was not having it!

I decided to give it one more shot when I got home and busted out my little tiny Netbook.  Miraculously I was able to download the Adobe program and figured out how to download the eBook to my flash drive and then load it onto my Nook.  Let me tell you what...they do not make it easy to check out a damn eBook from the local library!  It is a good thing that I have it for 13 more days but only need it until next Sunday!

Now that I have shared my horrendous journey to download a eBook check out from the library, I am going to get ready for dinner...I kind of have a date!  Until next time!

Bacon Brownies?!?

 I have been procrastinating...not on purpose or anything...I did not have these pictures on my camera but on my phone.  It was a matter of figuring out how to email them from my phone to my email account and then saving them in a form that I can upload.  So here is the skinny!  Pictured with me in these six pictures is my friend Nick.  Nick is the bus driver for skydive.  Our friendship came about this past winter when his bus needed a jump start every day!  We bonded in those 15 minutes that the jumper cables were attached to the battery and that is when we discovered our mutual love for BACON!!!

I am talking bacon as in breakfast food...made from pork!   Anything bacon related on Facebook, I share with him and vice versa.  I decided to start experimenting!  I decided to make bacon brownies.  We were toying around with different ideas of what we can make that includes bacon.  That is where bacon brownies came from.  I did not want to use just any kind of bacon and I remembered watching Kelsey's Essentials on the Cooking Channel.  She made candied bacon to put on top of deviled eggs so I got on the website and found the recipe (which now you can find here).

I did not have time to make the brownies from scratch so I used a box mix that came with a package of frosting.  Now I am a no frosting on my brownie kind of girl but I made an exception for this.  I chopped up half of the bacon and sprinkled it onto the brownie mix once I put it in the pan.  I diced up the rest and mixed it into the frosting.

 Before even trying these brownies I decided that next time I am using bacon not as thick (even though the recipe calls for thick-cut) and let it cook a little longer to get a little more crispy.  I am going to dice up the bacon into a lot smaller pieces and possibly mix it into the batter and I will buy a thing of frosting because I ran out.  These pictures are the first pictures taken of the bacon brownie experience.

The first picture is us toasting away our bacon brownie virginity!  The second picture is our first bite.  The third picture is us contemplating the greatness of the bacon and the brownie.  The fourth picture is us falling in love with the marriage of the bacon brownie.  The fifth picture is a missed attempt at a high five...and that is where the sixth and final picture comes from!

This Is It!

This is what I want to accomplish in the next 12 months:

• Eliminate credit card debt
• Find a place to live on my own or with roommate
• Take and PASS 6 classes
• Build up my savings
• Get my knee fixed and recover 100%
• Teach more Zumba®
• Get my Zumbatomic® license (to teach children)
• Build my businesses (Zumba® and AdvoCare®)
• Participate in at least 1 Zumbathon® charity event
• Attend my family's annual camping trip (even if my cousin picked the worst theme ever...Christmas in July is just plain WRONG Amber!)
• Advertise my Zumba® class everywhere
• Become a Zumba® Affiliate(?)
• Create a Pay Pal account to accept online reservations for my class(es)
• Get a love life...or a sex life...or both...lol
• Bake and cook a lot more (I want to create my own go-to from-scratch brownie and cup/cake recipe that I can continue to tweek)

I am sure that there is more that I want to add to this list and you best believe that I plan to keep an eye on this list and add to it and cross things off as they are accomplished!  Now it is time for me to try and crash!

Until next time!

I Am Woman...Hear Me Roar!!!

I am a woman! (SHOCKER!!!)

I am a working woman! (GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER...NOW!)

I work in a male dominated field.  There are not many females that can or would do my job.  I come home daily...covered head to toe in sweat.  I am dirty...I smell...I usually have fuel and oil on my shirt, shorts/jean, tennis shoes...not to mention my legs and arms.  It is heavy work.  It is hard work.  I am on my feet about 98% of the time I am at work and, especially this time of year, generally get home at night and realize that I have not gone to the bathroom since I woke up that morning.  Dehydration is my enemy in this heat.  I cannot seem to keep my water bottle glued to my hand without actually gluing IT to my hand.  I cannot suck down the water fast enough.

Where am I going with this?  Well, Friday I was asked to work for three hours.  I ended up working a little longer trying to fix some paper work errors.  I was talking to my co-worker (a guy), giving him a run down of the day when a gentleman (someone passing through the area who has never stopped at the airport) walks passed me to get to my co-worker and asks him a question.  Well I took the lead since I was on the clock and even though I was the one answering his questions, he kept directing them to my co-worker (who was trying to leave to do something he was tasked with).

After I finished answering his questions, he said thank you...to my co-worker, not at me...and left.  I stood there...stunned...shocked...I could not believe what had just happened.  I have had gentlemen approach us but when I take the lead, they seem impressed that I know my stuff and direct their attention to me.  I looked at my co-worker.  "Did that really just happen?"  A slight laugh of astonishment followed by a, "Have a good day."

When will men realize that in some cases, women really can do the same job as men.  Now I may not be able to lift things as heavy as my counter part but when it comes to speed I know that I am not as fast as him but I am pretty damn quick and am right at his heels (metaphorically speaking of course).  Funny thing though...my boss joking looked at me yesterday and said, "You know this is a dirty job."  I looked at him and told him that I distinctly remember him looking me up and down when I came in for my interview and he said, "Do you know what job you are interviewing for?"  We all laughed because I said, "Well the sign out front said part-time aircraft refueler...and I can do that!"

Yesterday marked my 1-year anniversary at the airport.  I have learned so much since I started working there.  I have met some amazing customers...I have wonderful co-workers...and I could not have asked for a better family to work for.  They have made me feel like I have entered into an extremely large extended family.  They all have a very special place in my heart!

Now that it has taken me like two and a half "Gossip Girl" episodes to write this (oh I am so easily distracted), I am going to find something to eat...I think I might give in and order Thai...however it is not an "I might give in"...I am signing off and call them now!  Shrimp Pad Thai (at a 4...I am craving spicy) and some Spring Rolls.  Okay...now my mouth is watering!!!!

Until next time!

Back To School Everyone!

With September literally around the corner...like Saturday...that means Labor Day and school starting...at least in the Pacific Northwest.  I know most of the country has already started school.  Okay so I am even more excited about this Fall/Back-to-School season because after almost two years I am starting classes again!  I mainly had to start because I was going to be dis-enrolled if I did not register by a specific date but I feel like even though my world is still crashing down around me and I have control of NO aspect of my life, I want to throw myself into my school work and hopefully get my degree finished in the next couple of years.

I had a phone conference with one of my student advisers several weeks ago and decided to update my degree plan.  My original degree plan was BA in Psychology with Concentration in Child Psychology.  My current degree plan is BA in Psychology (shocker...no change there).

Now there are a couple of differences.  First is the obvious drop of the concentration.  There is no longer a concentration offered in psychology and I am okay with that to be honest.  Second is that while under my previous plan I had completed my General Requirements and had started on my Core Requirements but the new plan has added a few classes and changed the classes for the Social Science requirements (my Intro to Psych and Intro to Social Psych are now part of my Core classes and no longer satisfy the General).  Third, and MOST important, Statistics was required under my previous plan and is NOT REQUIRED under the current plan!  Hallelujah!!!  The moment that my adviser said that it is not a required class, I had made up my mind to switch to the current plan ASAP!!!

I had, however, already signed up for Statistics so I found my last 16-week course and dropped Stats for my one and only Lit class...English Lit: Beowulf to 18th Century.  I am really excited to start and class starts Monday!  With my knee injury I see my work schedule becoming lighter until it gets better and plan to it into high gear!  As soon as I see my syllabus Monday, I will figure out if I will be enrolling in my next course during my lit class or after.

That is the beauty of a strictly online school.  Classes start the first Monday of every month.  It does not matter if there is a holiday or not.  We do not have your typical semester or trimester like normal schools.  You sign up for classes when you want them and when you do not want to take a class you do not have to.  Now I will have to take a look at the required classes now and figure out my schedule but I am definitely going to continue to take my classes through June.  Keep my school year September through June and have July and August as my summer vacation.  That is what I love about my school.  Depending on how many classes I have left I hope to be done in the next two years.  Fingers crossed...

Now it is 11pm and I am going to try and crash and get a little bit of sleep.  I have to work at 9am but only until Noon and then I have my MRI for my knee tomorrow evening at 5:30pm.  If I cannot find a carpool buddy I might be driving alone and sitting in rush hour traffic by myself.  So good night y'all!

Until next time!

It Is THIS Kind of Day

Have you ever had one of those days when no matter what you do, all you want to do is sit in a corner, rocking back and forth, smacking your head and sucking your thumb until someone comes to rescue you from yourself...or until you pee your pants and just cannot sit in your own filth any longer?

I am so having one of those days!  I swear that this weekend is going to double the amount of gray hairs that I already have to work so hard to cover.  They are just going to take over my entire head.  I suppose that means I will be able to try going blonde again sooner...I mean if I am completely gray the upkeep will be a lot easier than with this dark brown/black mop that I currently have right?

As I try and figure out how to round off this post, I notice I have 20 minutes left until my lunch break is over and I did not even get a chance to ready my Nook (I am currently reading "Pillars of the Earth"...and it is AMAZING...just sayin').  Seriously though...only 20 minutes left?  Where did the other 40 minutes run off to?  It does not seem like my lunch should be almost over!

I am supposed to be off work around 7:30pm tonight.  If I have not updated my status on Facebook or Twitter by 7:45pm, send a search party because there is a good possibility that I am balled up in the fetal position somewhere crying for my mommy.

Until next time!

Damn Technology

Who here is good with technology?  I mean who can totally geek out and figure anything out...video game console, computer/laptop, cameras/video cameras, cell phones, iPod/iPad/iPhone...you get the point.  Okay, here is my issue.

A year and a half ago, I upgraded from my Crackberry (with the track ball that quite working) to a Droid 2.  The only thing I found that I liked about the Crackberry was that I could turn my phone off every night and my alarm would still go off.  Over the course of the last 20 months I have discovered:

~ Every other day I need to turn off my phone and turn it back on otherwise when I make a call or someone calls me, I get no dial tone or I cannot hear anything on the other end.
~ The screen freezes to the point where you have to take the battery out and reset it and turn it back on.
~ The camera and video camera do not like to work all the time and it is always when you see something totally awesome that it will not work.
~ They do not make indestructible cases because it has a slide screen.

Example of the camera: I get home last night and find that the douche bag has parked his truck in the center of the driveway...so I guess that was his way of telling me I am parking on the street...I wanted photo graphic evidence to prove his douche bagginess...oh and tonight I took three awesome pictures of three hot air balloons with skydivers weaving in and out of them and not a single one actually saved...mother effer!

I am very accident prone so I always purchase a case for my phone.  I bought a case for my phone and not even a few days went by and I accidentally knocked it off the arm of the couch and it fell about a foot and a half to the CARPET and BROKE!!!  Seriously?  WTF!  Reinforce that damn plastic silly companies!

I will never again buy another phone with a slide screen.  If this dang phone came with an indestructible case then maybe my first Droid 2 would not have had the screen shatter when it decided to leap out of my hand and have a screen-to-shop floor fight...and the screen lost!

The pictures that I took tonight were awesome and I swear when I took them, they showed up in the little preview screen and if anyone knows how to get them to show up I would love to share them!  I know the skydivers were not actually weaving between the hot air balloons but the elevation of both it just looked like it!

Alright...time for this little lady to catch some sleep!  Until next time!

Why Am I Not Surpirsed?

**NEWS FLASH**  I GOT HURT!!!  Shocker, right?  I will pause while you ponder over this statement...and finish laughing AT me...as I do not know exactly HOW I got hurt.  Here is a quick little review of events that occurred on August 12th:

6:30am - Wake up and get ready for CMY5K color run.
7:15am - Dressed in all white, leave house.
7:20am - Stop for a grande Pike drip coffee at Starbucks only to discover five minutes down the road that the lid leaks and I am wearing all white...managed to keep the coffee off of me though!
8:00am - Arrive at Magnuson Park in Seattle for the race.
9:00am - Run starts!  Waves of 150 people are sent every three to five minutes.  There were four waves and I was in the third.
9:20am - (may have been sooner or a little later) ran through the first "Splash Zone" of yellow and had a dude pitch powder right up my nose.
9:40am - Finished with the run and participated in the first color cloud!
10:50am - After wiping down with some baby wipes in the parking lot and changing, I made it home to shower.
11:30am - Registered for Heroes Mud Run 5K/15 obstacles on September 8th here in Snohomish
3:00pm - Start work
7:00pm - Right knee starts to feel sore so I take 800mg of ibuprofen
11:00pm - Tried to swing leg into bed and slightest bend in knee put me in tears and the decision was made to go to the doctor the next day.

Please note that the times are as accurate as I can remember them to be but may vary some (pausing for confused laughter here).  So last Monday I went to the VA clinic.  I called that morning to see if there was anything available that day and the lady said she would fax over a same-day visit request and that the clinic would call me.  When I did not hear anything within the hour, I decided to drive down there.  I mean I had to do some labs anyway so I might as well just go and sit there until I could be seen right?

I pee in a cup and literally sit for less than five minutes and get taken back by a nurse.  She informs me that my request for an appointment was just received (almost two hours after I had originally called).  My doctor was on vacation so I saw the physician's assistant and after I thought he was killing me by moving my knee around, he wrapped it in a couple ace bandages, gave me a Rx for Vicodin, told me to come back for Xrays in the morning and I went home.

Xrays showed NOTHING...no breaks or bone fragments floating around...so the PA's thought of a possible torn meniscus really stuck with me.  I called every day for the rest of the week trying to find out what my next step would be but everyone kept telling me that I had to wait for my doctor.

I planted my ass in the clinic on Monday morning and planned on staying there until I got some answers.  I was seen by a nurse because the PA was gone and the only answer I got was that since my doctor had not seen me, she wanted me to continue to see the PA...so I could have originally had some sort of answer about the next step last week.

Yesterday I received a phone call saying that a request for physical therapy was put in.  No one mentioned pt to me but since I went through all this once before with my shoulder, I know they want to try pt first to see if it helps with the pain and I am all for it...HOWEVER the EARLIEST I can get an appointment is October 15th...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?

A little later I get a phone call from one of the nurses at the VA clinic saying that the PA wants to cancel my appointment for today because he does not think it is necessary.  I said no...I want to be seen and told her about physical therapy being almost two months away and that he mentioned possible MRI and I want to see him so that we can figure out what the next step is so I know and I can inform my boss.

My appointment was productive.  I should hear from Orthopedics by next Wednesday to schedule an appointment for an MRI and they will let me know if it will be with contrast (which it will because you have to have contrast to see a tear...again...my shoulder surgery is helping me understand the steps here) and 48 hours before my MRI I have to get blood drawn to make sure that my kidneys are working properly and will be able to handle the contrast for the MRI.

Unfortunately when I laid down to take a nap this afternoon, I ended up getting sick and just as a natural reaction I bent my knees to throw up and now my knee is KILLING me.  On the plus side, I can now take my pain pills every four hours instead of every six hours.  So now that I am all doped up, I am going to finish watching a movie and then pass out!

Until next time!