My Favorite Christmas Movies!

Sorry that I haven't been keeping up with my blog. I have been crazy busy the last few weeks and just haven't had time to sit down and blog. I thought that I would share some of my "must-see" Christmas movies though. These are the ones that I watch every year (or at least mean too)!

White Christmas- If you have never seen this classic, go out and rent it this year. It has Bing Crosby and Danny Kane and Rosemary Clooney. It is such a sweet story and a holiday must-see! Die Hard- Okay, this may not seem like a Christmas movie to some of you, but it totally is. This is one that Taylor and I have started watching as a holiday favorite. If you are not in the mood for the usual Christmas cheer, bust out this action packed Christmas story!Christmas Vacation- This is an absolute Christmas-must for me. I love all the Vacation movies, but this one is probably my favorite. I still die laughing at all of Clark W. Griswold's antics every year! Love Actually- I fell in love with this movie when it came out in theaters. It is such a sweet and witty Christmas story and I love that there are so many characters and that they are all connected, but yet have their own stories. I cry at this movie every year and it makes me feel truly in the holiday spirit. All I Want for Christmas- This is one of my favorite from way back. It is just one of those sweet kids movies that they come out with every year, but I really love this one. It has a very young Thora Birch and Ethan Embry. It is set in New York City and it is about two kids who bring their divorced parents back together. It is just a sweet, feel good movie.

Home Alone- This is one that I think most people of my generation are big fans of. I mean who cannot forget how Kevin foils the robbers with his house full of booby traps. I remember watching this movie as a kid and thinking how fun it would be to be Kevin. Although, if I were left home alone, I probably would have just panicked and not thought to go to the grocery store or capture criminals. So there you have my favorite Christmas movies. Yes, I may have left out some classics like A Christmas Story, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, A Christmas Carol and Its a Wonderful Life. These are just the movies that put me in the Christmas spirit. Feel free to share your own!

Barley's New Best Friend

As those of you who are friends with Taylor and I on a regular basis may know, we have a dog named Barley and a cat named Moe. We got Barley last year and he is probably the nicest dog in the whole world. Everyone is Barley's friend and he wants to give everyone hugs and kisses and play with them until they collapse. Barley is the freakin' energizer bunny, he can wear out anyone or any animal. Over the past couple of months, we had noticed that Barley's behavior had started to become more mischievous. He started eating things he shouldn't, like a whole bag of Tostitos or Taylor's box of Triscuits (although actually he only ate a couple because he couldn't get them out of the box, he was so kind as to stomp on the rest of them for Taylor, so sweet!). He also ripped open the trash bag while we were gone a couple of times to get out treats for himself, like my leftover chicken teriyaki and tempura and our chicken dinner leftovers. Most of these things were done when we were out of the house because we usually leave Barley in the house if we are only going to be gone for an hour or so. One day, he even dumped out my pizza box which had half a sausage pizza left in it (that I was going to save) when Taylor and I went out of the living room for a few minutes.

We talked about Barley's behavior and we decided that most of his behavior was due to the fact that he was bored. He would never cause trouble if we were taking him somewhere fun or if he was hanging out at my in-laws house (they have two dogs). Unfortunately, we were only really able to do things with Barley on the weekends because we are usually drained at the end of the workday. So we decided that Barley needed a friend.

Two weeks ago, we got Hopps. We found him at the Austin Humane Society and his name was originally Boo. He had been at Austin Humane Society since September after transferring from Town Lake Animal Shelter, where he had been for 3 months. He is a lab/pit bull mix and he is dark brown with a white chest scruff and white tips of his paws. He is 9 months old and just a sweetie. He had been the favorite at both Austin Humane Society and Town Lake but no one had been a match for him. Taylor thinks it is because most families shy away from pit bull mixes and most people looking for a pit bull don't want one who is super friendly and wants to just lick your face. Taylor and I met with Hopps in one of the meeting rooms and he immediately jumped on us and started wagging his tail and licking us (just like Barley had done when we met him). We played with him for a while, then he got tired so he just layed down. We decided that we would see if he and Barley were a good match the next day. If you have a dog already, Austin Humane Society schedules a meeting with the two dogs to see if they are compatible.

So, on Sunday afternoon, we packed Barley up and took him to the shelter to meet Hopps. They had two trainers who would be doing the meeting and telling us if they thought that Barley and Hopps were a match. At first, we were not supposed to interact. The trainers walked Barley and Hopps around on their leashes. However, they were both so excited that they ended up getting tangled together and to the trainers. It was cute! So they took Barley off the leash and let him sniff on Hopps. That went well so they let Hopps off the leash and they started to play together. Then toys were added to the mix and then finally, Taylor and I were allowed to give attention to Hopps to see if Barley had jealousy issues. The trainers told us that they thought we had a great match and they seemed to really like each other. So, we took Hopps home, then and there.

Barley and Hopps rode in the back of our Dodge Caliber like good buddies. We took them home and let them hang out for a while. Then, we all went to Petsmart for some things for Hopps and a huge water bowl because they are both big drinkers. Hopps fell asleep on the floor of Petsmart. We took the dogs home and we went to dinner. We were supposed to leave Hopps in our kennel and put Barley outside but we decided to chance it because they seemed to be so happy with each other. When we got back, they were just sitting out back, happy as clams! Taylor also tried to put Hopps in the kennel at night but he and Barley didn't understand why Barley was not in the kennel but Hopps was. Taylor eventually let Hopps out and he just curled up on the floor next to Barley and didn't make a peep until morning.

So two weeks in and we are still doing great. Barley and Hopps are totally inseparable and play and have fun all day long. Barley's bad behavior has pretty much stopped completely and except for eating Moe's favorite toy, Hopps has been pretty good too. Sometimes, I just look at them and that "Let me tell you something about my best friend..." song comes in my head and I see them in a little movie montage.

Anyway, so that is Hopps, the newest member of our family. I haven't taken a pic of him yet but I did find one online from Austin Humane Society. Hopps was a fashion model in the Rags to Wags fundraiser.

I guess Hopps was a boxer with a big scary looking women walking him. I will post more pics when I have them.

You Know You're a Nurse When....

I got this email from a nurse pal the other day and thought I would share it along with some thoughts of my own.

1) The front of your scrubs reads 'Nurses... here to save your ass, not kiss it!' I think this might go for social workers and physical therapists to.
2) You occasionally park in the space with the 'physicians only' sign... and knock it over. I did actually do this when I owned the BMW. Who would know? And I didn't knock the sign over.
3) You believe some patients are alive only because it's illegal to kill them. This is my best friend's mantra.
4) You recognize that you can't cure stupid. Sad, but true.
5) You own at least three pens with the names of prescription medications on them. I like Actonel pens the best, they write really well.
6) You believe there's a special place in hell for the inventor of the call light.
7) You believe that saying 'it can't get any worse' causes it to get worse just to show you it can. I have seen this happen too many times to count.
8) You wash your hands BEFORE you go to the bathroom.
9) You believe that any job where you can drive to work in your pajamas is a cool one.
10) You consider a tongue depressor an eating utensil. I haven't done this but I have eaten out of an emesis basin before.
11) Eating microwave popcorn out of a clean bedpan is perfectly natural. The nurses in Minnesota used to do this all the time.
12) You've been exposed to so many x-rays that you consider it a form of birth control.
13) You've ever heard a patient with a nose ring, a brow ring, and twelve earrings say 'I'm afraid of shots.' And, boy, is it annoying!
14) You've ever placed a bet on someone's blood alcohol level.
15) You've told a confused patient that your name is that of a coworker and to call if they need help.
16) Your bladder can expand to the size of a Winnebago's water tank. It's a special talent.
17) You have seen more penises than any prostitute could dream of. Mine would probably be more vaginas than any man can ever dream of seeing.
18) You believe that not all patients are annoying... some are unconscious. Another of my best friend's mantras.
19) Your family and friends refuse to watch medical sitcoms with you because you spend the whole time correcting everyone and pointing out upside down x-rays. Spoiler alert: You do not use the defibrillator on someone who is flat lining, or at least not to defibrillate them like you see on TV. Sorry.
20) You don't get excited about blood, unless it's your own. Very true, and if the blood is mine I might pass out.
21) You've sworn to have 'do not resuscitate' tattooed on your chest. Soon.
22) Discussing dismemberment over a gourmet meal is perfectly normal to you. I actually get in trouble for doing this all the time. I don't really have a filter for when people are eating.
23) Your idea of fine dining is anywhere you can sit down to eat.
24) Your idea of a good time is a cardiac arrest at shift change. Change that to delivery at shift change. I don't like cardiac arrests at any time. Period.
25) You believe in the aerial spraying of Prozac. If only...
26) You believe that 'shallow gene pool' should be a recognized diagnosis.
27) You believe that the government should require permits to reproduce. Please, please, please.
28) You believe that unspeakable evils will be fall anyone who utters the phrase 'Wow, it's really quiet, isn't it? I think a couple of people have actually been beaten by nurses for saying that. You never use the Q word at work, it would be like erasing the last name on the patient board. It would just itch to be totally full in an hour.
29) You have ever wanted to write a book entitled 'Suicide: getting it right the first time.'
30) You have ever had a patient look you straight in the eye and say 'I have no idea how that got stuck in there.'
31) You've had to leave a patient's room before you begin to laugh uncontrollably. Yep, when the stripper started counting out her $1 and when the hippie mom almost killed her husband and could have made a sailor blush with her cursing.

Hope you enjoyed those. Nurses are weird people, aren't we?

My Weekend in West Texas and Life as a Mute

I have been waiting for something exciting to blog about, but apparently I am a very boring person. This weekend, Taylor and I, Blake, Hayden, Ryan and Duncan all went to Taylor's grandparents land in Lamesa, TX. The boys were going hunting and Ryan and I went to hang out and see the farm. Taylor's grandparents do not live at the farm anymore but the house is still there and the land is good for hunting quail and dove. It is about a 6 hour drive from Austin, through beautiful, scenic West Texas! Well, it did get scenic after Synder when we got to the "table". The weekend was pretty fun. As per always in the Reid family of strong personalities, there were some disagreement and grumpiness. I can't really say much because I am usually just as grumpy and disagreeable. I tend to be a wee bit of a princess and I also despise when there is no plan on trips. I am not really a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of girl. I like a little structure, but it was not my trip, so structure was limited.

I am also not really a nature girl. Sure, I love to walk on trails with Barley but I am not crazy about places where there are rattlesnakes and very uneven terrain. Taylor was pretty sure that I was going to hurt myself but I am proud to say that I only received a few mosquito bites and some scratches from prickly bushes. I am the girl who usually sprains my ankle at the disc golf course, which is sad. I regularly fall where there are no obstacles and I am not very sure footed. I am also not crazy about camping, which, thankfully, we did not have to do. My idea of roughing it is usually the Motel 6. I will say that I enjoyed the weekend more than I thought I would. It was pretty at the farm and it was great to see all the stars at night.

The boys hunted on Saturday and Sunday morning. We went hiking in the canyon on Friday and Saturday afternoons. We watched the UT game on Saturday thanks to a TV antenna. Hayden made ham, baked beans and 6 lbs of hominy on Saturday afternoon and then Taylor made Frito pies and chili dogs for dinner. Sorry we didn't finish all that hominy, Hayden. We shot clays on Friday afternoon and I shot my first gun. It was Taylor's dad's 20 gauge and I am still not a huge fan of shooting guns. Mostly it just stung my shoulder and I didn't hit my clays. There was also a lot of target practice with Blake's pistol, including a "hit the beer bottle" set up. We also played Trivial Pursuit on Saturday night. It was like the longest game ever!

We left Sunday morning and drove back to Austin. All in all, it was a fun trip. I enjoyed the hiking and just getting away for a weekend. I was sad because we couldn't bring Barley but, hopefully, he will be able to come on our next trip.

Once we got back, I noticed that the sore throat I had all weekend had gotten much worse. I ended up missing work on Monday due to my sore throat and a major headache. I was concerned it might be strep since I don't usually get really bad sore throats. Luckily, now the mucus has covered up my sore throat leaving me with just a cough and laryngitis that is getting worse by the minute. I am pretty sure I will be a mute by the end of this working day. I currently sound like a frog. I wish that laryngitis was not my "go to" disease. I used to get sinus infections all the time, but since becoming a nurse, I have switched to laryngitis. I get it a few times a year. It sucks. I don't usually feel that bad but I sound awful and it is a little hard to be a TELEPHONE triage nurse when you can't talk. I just hope it clears up by Friday because Taylor and I are going to a Halloween party. I even got a semi-costume. I am going as a kind of "Chicago" girl with a pinstriped hat, pinstriped pants and a white blouse with a waist cincher. For those that don't know, a waist cincher is a half corset and it is not very comfortable. Taylor actually thought of most of the costume. I also have a short black wig and I am going to do my makeup very dramatic. I am not sure that I will really look like I am from the musical, I may look more gothic, but that is okay. Taylor is not dressing up so I didn't want to be a witch or something that I would obviously look awkward with him. Blake is going as Usane Bolt, so he will have the best costume of all. He shaved his whole body, including his head and Taylor is using self-tanner on him until he is really dark. I know it is kind of racist to go in black face, but it is going to be hilarious! The sad thing is, he is going to look like this for at least a week or two after Halloween. I am not sure he realizes that yet.

Well, gotta get back to work. I will hopefully have some more exciting stuff to write about soon.

Sorry It Has Been So Long

Well, I have really not been in the blogging mood for the last two weeks so that is why there have been no posts. I really try to blog about once a week, but life has been a little busy and frankly I just haven't had many ideas to write about.

Over the last two weeks, I have lost 3 lbs at Weight Watchers, yeah! That puts me at about 17 lbs. I am hoping to hit my 10% goal by Christmas (or Thanksgiving). Weight Watchers is going pretty well, I have kind of hit a lull in my enthusiasm but I am trying to not just go crazy and start eating everything in sight.

Last week was not the best, I started getting sick on Thursday and ended up having a little virus that finally resolved over the weekend. I missed work on Friday, but don't think I just lazed around the house. No no, I cleaned and then Taylor and Blake did the vacuuming, sweeping and mopping, as well as cleaning up the outside of the house. Then Saturday, we had about 5 people over for the OU/UT game. Great game and luckily, it was a meal that Taylor can pretty much handle on his own so I don't think I got any germs in the food. I am not even sure I was contagious by that point anyway.

Sunday, Taylor and I lazed about the house, watching football and then went to visit his parents. The weekend was too short as always. Sometimes, I really miss the shift work I used to do just because I only had to work 3 days a week. Of course, that didn't really count when you worked like a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule because you were always just trying to catch up on sleep and then it was back to work. I guess M-F is better since I don't have to work 12 hour shifts, or holidays, or weekends.

Also on Sunday, Taylor and I went to dinner with Blake and met the new girl he is dating. We had actually met her before since Blake met her at Serranos when we were eating with him, but this was our first chance to really hang out with her. She is a nice girl, but she is 19. Oh to be 19 and know so much about life because you have gone through your first year of college again. I am not usually a person who gets irritated by hanging out with younger people. In fact, since I am married to someone younger, I am usually hanging out with people a few years my junior. However, as I was listening to this girl talk to me about what my job was, what our friend D's job was and give us a little lecture about not making fun of kids with disabilities (which we weren't, by the way), I got to thinking. I remember being a freshman at ACU and the looks that the seniors I knew gave me sometimes, and now I know what those were about. I was a 19 year old idiot! Like most 19 year olds, I knew all about the world. Not that I know all about the world and life now. Certainly not, but I recognize this now and realize how I must have come off then. Like I said, she is a very nice girl but she is one of the first people I have met that I really feel the age difference with. Anyway, little rant there. Done now.

Well, this ramble could go on forever, so I will stop it now. I will try to write about something more excited next time.

A Week of Ups and Downs

Well, this has been kind of a crazy week and it is only Wednesday. It all started on Saturday, when I went to WW and gained 0.4 lbs. I was kind of upset about that since I worked out 5 times last week even though I didn't eat the best. But, I got to spend the whole day with Mom which was nice and she took me shopping for a birthday present. I got some new scrubs, new makeup, some new Victoria's Secret stuff and a couple new movies. Yeah! Then Sunday, Taylor and I were lazy all day and went over the my in-laws and bought my mother in laws birthday gift (we have the same birthday). That night we went out to dinner with my parents to a restaurant called Jaspers. They do backyard gourmet cuisine. It was good, we had shrimp and grits, I had pecan crusted trout with sweet potatoes and chocolate cake. Yum! Then Monday night, we went to my in-laws for a birthday dinner for myself and my mother in law. We had PF Changs which was great because my sister in law, Ryan, has introduced me to their Lemongrass Prawns and they are GREAT! We had ice cream cake and I got some cash, the new Sex in the City Movie and a Starbuck's giftcard! Then yesterday, which was actually my birthday, I had to go to work, which was okay. I had Tiff's Treats delivered, which was really good. They bring the cookies warm with milk and everything. Yum again! Then my sweet hubby took me to our favorite sushi place Tomo, which was awesome as always. He got me the Sex in the City movie too, and the whole Indiana Jones set, which we have been wanting. He also got me a really cute card that played "You'll Be in My Heart" and was an anniversary card in actuality but he didn't realize until he got home. He crossed out anniversary and wrote birthday. It made me laugh! So all in all, I guess it has been a week of mostly ups. Work has been super crazy so that kind of stinks, but oh well. I also will probably gain again this week after all the junk I ate for all the birthday dinners but it was fun and I have been trying to eat good the other parts of the day. I have also been working out some this week, so hopefully that will help. Thanks to all that were involved in making my 26th birthday so nice. Love you all!

Weight Loss Update

This week, Mom and I did a little bit better. I lost 0.8lbs which puts me at 14.8lbs total, so close to another 5 lb star. Mom lost 0.2 lb which puts her back to even since she gained 0.2 lb last week. I was proud because I did work out 4 times last week, plus I worked out on Saturday (cleaning my house for 4 hours!) and Sunday (disc golfing). I am hoping to get in another 4 days of workouts this week as well. Didn't do great on the eating this weekend because my dear husband made some of his awesome barbecue and I was forced to eat it. Okay, well, maybe not forced, but it would have been rude to refuse. I am hoping to get to the 15 lb mark this week so cross your fingers!

Picture Perfect

I read a blog post with this same title on Weight Watchers.com today and it really made me think. The post was all about how this girl was looking back at old pictures and thinking how, at the time, she thought she looked so bad when that was about 20 lbs ago and now she feels like she looks so much worse. That really got me thinking.


My good friend Shiloh sent me some old pictures in the mail and I had looked at them reminiscing about how thin I was in high school. But thinking back, I didn't think of myself as thin in high school. In fact, my junior and senior years, I was practically anorexic and had some really crazy diets to try to stay thin. I always felt like the fat girl, and maybe I was, but that is just me. I will probably never be a size 0, but maybe I can be a size 4 and that would be just fine with me.


I have noticed that lately when I look at pictures I feel like I look so enormous. Granted, I am probably the heaviest that I have been in my life right now, but I have been close to this weight before. Why am I so hard on myself? I have been at least somewhat overweight or bigger than my friends my entire life. When I look in the mirror, I don't really think that I am unattractive. In fact, I have always thought that I had a pretty face and great boobs (sorry, but it's true). However, when I see myself in pictures, all I can see is my double chins and fat arms.


Today, after reading that post, I made myself go back and look at all the pictures from my facebook albums and some from my sister-in-law. I made myself point out positive things about myself that I saw in the pictures, like that I looked really happy or that my hair looked nice there. I am who I am and even losing weight will not fix all my self -esteem issues. I will also probably never be asked to double for Jennifer Aniston in a movie. I need to learn to love myself the way I am, both for the person that I am and the way I look. I will end with a challenge to those who suffer from self-esteem issues (i.e. all ladies and most guys) to look back at photos you hated and try to find something positive in each of them.


In keeping with this challenge, here is a picture of me that my sister-in-law, Ryan, took and told me she thought was so cute. I hated it! I felt like I looked shiny and fat. But looking back, it was a happy moment with me and my puppy, Barley and it is actually a cute picture to me now.

Weight Loss Update

This was not a great week for Mom or I. We both gained a little. Mom gained 0.2 lbs and I gained 0.6 lbs. These kind of weeks happen sometimes and both Mom and I had quite a bit of stress last week and must have done a little comfort eating. I am glad that we both gained less than a pound because it will be very achievable for us to come back this next week with a weight loss. I am going to try and make our dinner meals a little more healthy this week and make sure that I get to the gym or exercise of some sort at least 3-4 times this week.

Also, the people affected by Hurricane Ike are in our thoughts and prayers. I hope that all my readers who have family and friends in the Houston/Galveston area are safe and sound.

Tagged

I got tagged by Shiloh to write 6 random things about myself so here they are...

1. I have been in love with Taylor since I was 16. I think everyone that went to Westover when I did knew that I really liked Taylor, but I am not sure how many people knew that I was truly in love with him. I knew that Taylor was the man I was supposed to marry by the time I was 17, although I didn't know until college that he would actually BE the man I would marry. That was kind of sappy, but a fun factoid. 2. I sing really loud in the car when I am listening to music. In fact, I will listen to CDs specifically because I like to sing along with the music. I don't think I sound too bad either. I also sometimes forget and sing really loud when I am in the car with others, which they might not appreciate so much.

3. If I could live anywhere in the world, I would live in either Ireland or Japan. I love Ireland's beautiful landscapes and the accents, even though the food probably wouldn't be great. In Japan, they also have really beautiful country and my favorite foods. 4. I love being an OB nurse and I love babies and little kids, but I don't really know if I want to have any of my own. Sometimes, I think that I just want kids because everyone else has kids. I know that these feelings, at least, tell me that I am not ready for kids yet.

5. I used to really love to do yoga when I was in college and I am hoping that after I lose some more of this weight that I will be able to do yoga again. It really relaxes me and gives me a lot of energy. 6. My dream goal with my weight loss is for Mom and I to be featured in Weight Watchers magazine. I know it is kind of a weird goal, but when we are finally able to reach our goal weights, we will have each lost over 100 pounds. I think that is worthy of being in a magazine, right? I guess it is just my way of getting my 15 minutes of fame.So there are some random things about me. I tag Holly, Jen, and Mom to write 6 random things about themselves. This seems kind of like one of those viral emails but I had fun, so maybe you will too!

Weight Loss Update

Well, another good week at Weight Watchers! I was really surprised that I lost weight this week because I had this weird rash called Pityriasis Rosea and was on corticosteroids all week. Plus, the steroids made me have these super fun hot flashes whenever I would get at all heated so I couldn't work out last week either. But, somehow, I lost 2.6 lbs! I am now at 14.6! Yeah! I believe that Mom lost 1.6, which puts her at 8.6 lbs but correct me if I am wrong, Mom. My favorite new food for the week was Tootsie Roll Pops. I get a serious candy craving after lunch most days and Tootsie Roll Pops are only 1 point and satisfy my candy needs. They are a nice way to allow yourself a treat without having to use all your points to do it. Hope everyone has a good week!

Tribute to the 90s, TV!

Here are some of my favorite shows from the 90s. Please don't judge too harshly, I was a teenager in the 90s and you can't account for taste as a teen.

Friends - Okay, serious, what girl, who was a teenager in the 90s, didn't want to be Rachel or Phoebe or Monica and be cool and live in New York! Many good times were had watching Friends! And who didn't want Rachel's hair, was that awesome or what?

Saved by the Bell- You know that you were in love with Zach Morris too! I can still remember the episode where Jesse was taking caffeine pills and Zach had to pull her out of it. That was some serious stuff, or as serious as Saved by the Bell ever got anyway. Go Bayside!

Blossom- This was one of my favorite shows in middle school and early high school. I also totally had some of those Blossom hats with the big flowers, which look horrible on me! Blossom was super cool though and I loved how Six could talk so fast and how Joey Lawrence was super hot. That seems sad now that he is bald, but he was hot then.

Clarissa Explains It All- This was more of a middle school favorite but it was such a great show. Melissa Joan Hart was so fun! I wanted my room to be just like hers, all funky and artsy. I even had some Doc Martins, even though they weren't the boot type, they were loafers and so not as cool. Can you tell that I was slightly influenced by the media as a youngster?

My So-Called Life- Okay, I was in love with this show when I was in middle school. It was so good! I am still a little bitter that it got cancelled. I mean, I loved Claire Danes and Jared Leto so so much! (Tear) If you never watched it, rent the series immediately and watch it. It was great because it was very raw and edgy for the shows at that time.

South Park- I didn't actually get into this show until I met Taylor. He loves South Park and now, so do I! For those of you who are skeptical and think it is just rude and inappropriate, you are totally right. What I really like about the show is that it picks on everyone and everything. They don't hold anything back because it is either okay to make fun of everything or it is okay to make fun of nothing. Plus, a lot of times they have some pretty good perspective on events in our society. If you have never watched it, give it a try, you can even borrow a season or two from us, we have them all.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - This last one I am not too proud of, but I do love the show so I have to add it to this tribute. It really is a good show, just a little nerdy. Sarah Michelle Gellar is great and the show actually has an interesting plot. I always thought that a vampire would be the best kind of monster to be, if you had to choose. I would like it better than being a werewolf anyway, all hairy, yuck!

I also want to send a shout out to Boy Meets World, Dawson's Creek, ER (love you, Noah Wylie!), Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and Sex and the City. I love you all and many more but I could fit every show on this list.

Weight Loss Update

Just going to write a real quick update this week. Mom is now up to a 7 lb total as of this week and I am up to 12 lbs! It was a good work for both of us! Thanks for all the encouraging comments along this journey, we are still going strong and I am proud of that! Sorry if this note is a little fuzzy, I am on Benadryl today for some swollen eyes and bug bites. Hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend!

What if I Stumble, What if I Fall...

Okay, so this blog entry is a total rip off of Holly's "I've Fallen and Can't Get Up" blog but I thought it was such a funny idea for a blog post. Sorry to copy, Holly and Heather W. Anyway, I thought that I would share my top 5 falling moments, which will be a challenge for me to narrow down because anyone who knows me well knows that I am a total klutz all the time. It's okay, I get it from my mom. Most of our falls occur when we are wearing "stupid shoes" as my dad refers to them as; this includes sandals, flip flops, heels, basically anything other than athletic shoes or sturdy hiking boots. But, enough babbling, here is the list...

#5- I was thinking back to my falling moments and I realized that I don't have near as many as my mom (sorry, Mom, it is true), so I thought I would include one of hers and mine in my list. When I was in middle school, I decided to get roller blades. I was behind the times and had always used roller skates even though roller blades were available. When I finally decided to make the switch, I was so nervous about the brakes in the back that I bought a pair that had brakes in the front like roller skates do. I decided to go out and try them on the street, except that we lived on this giant hill and I was scared I would just go sailing down it and into a tree or something. So I convinced Mom to walk with me down the hill so I could have someone not on wheels to hold onto for balance. I inched my way down the hill sideways for the steep part and then thought that I would try to go for it. I should mention that I had on a helmet, wrist guards, elbow guards and knee guards and Mom had nothing. I turned my wheels forward and gravity did the rest. I started going too fast and fell to the ground, pulling Mom along with me. I was fine, really didn't feel a thing what with all my padding.Mom, however, had landed on hands and knees and had a badly scraped knee and torn pant leg. She may have had some rocks in her palms as well, I don't remember. I felt really bad but I still laughed. I didn't anticipate that we would both need full padding just to go out rollerblading. I think she is still a little bitter about that one.

#4- I was in elementary school, I don't remember what grade, and I had just gotten out of class at Westover. I was running down the hall, in anticipation of getting to the playground to play a while before my parents were ready to leave church. As I was running, one of the little boys who used to tease me stuck out his foot and tripped me. I went flying to the ground, just as one of the other classroom doors was opening. I ended up falling and hitting my head on the corner of the door. I had a cut on my forehead, although it must not have been too bad because I don't have any scars from it. One of the teachers picked me up and took me downstairs to see my parents. I was too young to really be embarrassed, I was more upset about the boy tripping me. Mean, mean boys.

#3- When I worked at Parkland, we used to have to change into hospital scrubs once we got to work. This was because our scrubs washed at home were not sterilized for the OR. So I used to come in every night in street clothes and I left a pair of shoes in my locker. Sometimes, in the summer I would wear flip-flops as this is my habit in the summertime. Every night when I would come in, I would walk through the ER waiting room in order to get to the elevator to L&D. One night, I was walking through and slipped on the freshly mopped floor. I fell flat on my butt in front of the whole ER waiting room, which at Parkland is enormous. I just kind of slinked upstairs and was glad that none of the same people would be there when I got off shift at 7 am. Since they mopped this floor regularly, I slipped on several other occasions, because why would I stop wearing my flip-flops with no tread to work? I got good though, I could do almost a full split when one foot would start to slide and then pop right back up to walking. It kind of looked like I was doing lunges through the ER.

#2- This incident didn't happen too long ago, it was right after we adopted Barley, our dog. I was out walking the disc golf course with Taylor and his friends, which I do sometimes because it is a nice walk. I had Barley on the leash and we were walking behind the boys off the tee. I tripped on some invisible root or stone and twisted my ankle and fell flat on my face. None of the boys noticed because they were ahead of us, but the people waiting to tee off did. One of the girls that was with them asked me if I was okay. I tried to stand up but my ankle was really hurting and I couldn't get up well. I got off my hands and knees and sat down to examine my ankle and the guy on the tee was like, "That's not going to work, you need to move". Well, excuse me for living!Sorry that I have fallen and broken my ankle in your drive line, let me just hobble over here. What a jerk. Meanwhile, Barley is just standing there staring at me like I am insane and pulling on the leash for us to catch up with the others. Taylor finally noticed that I wasn't there and came back looking for me. Of course, by this time I was embarrassed and feeling really stupid. When I get really embarrassed I tend to start crying, so that's what I did. Taylor helped me hobble off so that Mr. Marvelous was able to play through. My ankle was fine but it was definitely tender for a few days. Taylor says I need to start wearing hiking boots to come disc golfing with him because this was just one of many falls and he gets irritated when I hurt myself. He is better than my dad though, he usually just walks away or says, "What are you doing?" to my mom.

#1- This was the worst incident of me falling that I can remember. I already talked about this one a little on Holly's post, but I will elaborate. When I was in middle school, we lived in Portland, Oregon and I got a little into the way that people dressed there in the 90s. Yes, folks, I was into grunge. It was a sad time looking back now, but what can you do. So my basic wardrobe was a huge (like 2XLT) shirt tucked in just barely to short jean shorts with socks and Birkenstocks. Oh, and I can't forget my flannel shirt over my huge t-shirt. Man, I was sexy! Anyway, one day after class, I was running late so I decided to run to the car instead of walk. Of course, because I have on the stupidest outfit ever, I tripped on nothing and fell flat on my face since I was holding books and couldn't catch myself. I had a very badly scraped knee which began oozing blood down my leg and a big scrape near my elbow, also drippy. Did I mention that I fell in front of all the school buses as they were waiting to take all the other middle schoolers home? It was super. I thought I was going to be able to stick my head down and WALK swiftly to the car until one of my friends leaned out the bus window and yelled, "SAMANTHA, ARE YOU OKAY?" So embarrassing! I am sure that she was just trying to be nice, but have a little common sense, I wanted to remain anonymous in my little fall. After that, I just waved to my friend and hobbled off toward the car. Mom was sympathetic to my embarrassment, though, so that helped.

I hope you all enjoyed my falling stories, please feel free and share some of yours in the comments section (Mom, that means you!). Falling is awful and awkward, but almost always funny to someone!

Weight Loss Update

Well, this week went pretty good for Mom and I. We both got in some exercise although I didn't get in 4 times this week like I wanted. I will do it next week though. We both did pretty good on eating and I think I will be trying a new recipe for the slow cooker that our WW leader gave us in the meeting today. It is for shredded taco chicken and it sounds good. Anyway, I lost 1.8 lbs this week and Mom lost 2.4 lbs, so we did good. I am up to a grand total of 8.6 lbs and Mom is at 5.4 so she got her 5 lb sticker. I am hoping to get another 5 lb sticker next week and hit 10 lbs total.

Hungry Girl

One of my co-workers, who is also doing Weight Watchers, told me about this website where they have all kinds of healthy substitute recipes for beloved restaurant and general food items. It is at http://www.hungrygirl.com/ and it is GREAT! I haven't tried any of the recipes yet but they look awesome. There are also a lot of good tips on ways to eat healthy while you are out, besides to just ordering everything "on the side". I am really excited to have found another place to get dinner ideas and ideas for substitutes when we go out. Sometimes it is really hard to find what to order and Weight Watchers has good tips but it is nice to have some more opinions too. If you are at all interested in eating healthier and want some good recipes, check out the website. Hungry Girl also has a cookbook with a lot of her fabulous recipes in it, pictured above. I will let you know how some of the recipes go. Also, Happy Hump Day! (It's Wednesday, halfway through the week).

Samantha and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Today has not been my favorite day to say the least. Tuesday is never a good day in the office because in the afternoon we have both doctors in the office (they usually work at opposite times of the day) and it can get a little crazy.

First, I woke up this morning at 5 am and then didn't get back to sleep until 6 am before my alarm went off at 6:05.

Then, my lunch took too long to pack so I was late getting into the shower and therefore late leaving the house.

Then, it is raining and I have to drive Taylor's truck now because I am putting too many miles on my BMW and I almost hydroplaned like 40 times. I also couldn't see out of any of the side or back windows due to the rain and humidity.

So I am late to work, which was actually okay because when I get there all the computers are down and we can't log into our computer charting system.

I couldn't even call anyone until around 11 am when the computers were back up and running which caused me to be late getting to lunch.

In the afternoon, I ended up getting stuck helping one of the docs with a colposcopy which is a procedure that I have only seen done and never helped with alone. So, of course, this time the patient starts bleeding heavily and I do not know where all the correct supplies are because I never do this procedure. Also, I was doing the procedure with the doctor in our office who doesn't do well if things are not done how she is used to them being done. She didn't really talk to me for the rest of the day.

After that I thought things would get better but I ended up having to tell a patient that we lost her pap smear and she would have to reschedule. She was not happy to say the least.

So now, I am done, I am finished, I quit for the day. It just seems that nothing can really go right, so I think I might as well go back to bed and try again tomorrow. Or maybe I will move to Australia.

This blog was inspired by the book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Weight Loss Update

Just wanted to write a quick note about the weight loss this week. I did okay, I was able to work out 3 times this week and stayed pretty well within my points. Not as good as the first week but that's okay. I am hoping to increase my workouts this week to 4 times and try to include more fruits and vegetables than last week. Also, I lost 0.6 lbs this week. Mom wasn't able to go to the meeting this week because she and my dad went to Fredricksburg for their anniversary. Happy 28th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!!! I love ya'll!

Tribute to the 90s, Movies!

With all of the stuff going on with Mom, and us starting Weight Watchers, I am just now getting to my Tribute to the 90s. Hopefully, these films will conjure up some fun memories for some of you and make you think of days long past. Well, maybe not that long past, it was just the 90s. This list is a combination of truly great movies and movies that I just really loved, even if it is embarrassing now.

Forrest Gump- I love this movie and I think it has a lot of great elements. I laughed, I cried, and I used to have a poster in my room with all of the Mama sayings. "Life is like a box of chocolates..."

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead - This is one of those movies that I am a little embarrassed to still like. I just love the fashion stuff and how she gets to pretend to be something she is not. Probably some of the best work that Christina Applegate did in the 90s, she is better now.

Clueless- This is a classic for now and for always. I am proud that I love it and will always love it! Jen and I used to watch this movie all the time in our freshman dorm room. Alicia Silverstone rocks! And I still really want her computer closet that picks out your outfits. Jurassic Park- Taylor and I were watching this the other day and I was talking about how scary this was the first time I saw it. I don't think I saw this one in the theaters, but Taylor and his siblings did. Taylor said that his sister hid under the seat the whole time. This is a great movie and I still enjoy it. Pulp Fiction- Okay, so I don't think that I actually saw this in the 90s but I am a HUGE Quentin Tarantino fan and I love this movie. And it was made in the 90s. If you have never seen it, rent it immediately. Dazed and Confused- I think I like this movie so much because it was filmed in Austin and I know where all the places in the movie are. Plus, it has such a good cast, Ben Affleck, Matthew McConahey, Jeremy London, Milla Jovovich, etc (probably misspelled like half those names).

Fargo- This is another one that if you haven't seen it, go out and rent it. It is a Coen Bros movie and it is great. One thing I do like about the Coen Bros is that there is always one really good character who doesn't cheat or steal or kill. Kind of an antithesis to all the other characters in the movie. Plus, this one is set in Minnesota and the accents are great. When we moved to Minnesota I told Taylor that I felt like I had moved onto the set of Fargo.

Okay, I am sure I missed some great movies but these are just my personal favorites. Please feel free to add your own in comments. Look for Tribute to the 90s, TV, coming soon!

New Blog

Hope everyone likes my new blog. I think it is pretty and fits my personality a little better than the last one!

THE BEFORE PICTURES

Okay, I better go ahead and post these pics before I chicken out and just wait until Mom and I are about 30-40 lbs thinner. I want everyone to know that this is the heaviest I have ever been so this is pretty much the worst it is going to get as far as looks. Now that we have made this new commitment, we will never look this way again. I do this much for my own benefit, because for some reason the Samantha I see in the mirror doesn't look like this. It is like my brain is permanently fixed on a thinner Sam. Funny how the mind can do that. Also, our pictures kind of look like mug shots so feel free to laugh.

Mom Before

Me Before ( in my lovely work garb)

Whew, that is over with. Hopefully, these pics will help keep us motivated at times of weakness. If not, I will have to bust out the bathing suit pictures and be really embarrassed. Plus, these pictures will make great before pictures when we get to add the after pictures.

Weight Loss Update

I just wanted to write a quick post about my first week at Weight Watchers. I think I did pretty well. I was able to get up at 5:30 am two mornings this week to go to the gym. Friday I was kind of lazy and missed my gym trip. Thankfully, when I got to work, one of my coworkers needed my help moving a large file cabinet and trying to squeeze it into her tiny car. Didn't work, but it was a nice 30 minute effort. I did feel really good about my eating this week. I stayed within my allotted points and definitely learned how bad I was eating before. Like the two breakfast tacos I used to get on the way to work. Like 10-12 points depending on what you get on them. That is a lot for breakfast and I did find that the one day I did get one breakfast taco, I was actually perfectly satisfied vs really full and it was only half the points. I am learning that I don't have to be stuffed at every meal, which had become my habit. Also, I am working on learning that I don't have to eat exactly what I am craving at every meal. It is okay to just eat something that is okay, not great! I am sure that every week will not be this good, but I am just taking this one week at a time since this is something I want to commit to for life. I really want to be healthy.

Also, just to let everyone who has been waiting all week to hear about the weight loss totals for week one, Mom lost a great 3 pounds, which adds on to the almost 20 lbs she has lost since she had the tumor removed. I told her that some of that might be cheating because that tumor was not tiny but I am proud of her. I lost a whopping 6.2 pounds and couldn't be happier! I know it is a lot for a week but I think it just proves how unhealthy I was being before. I would ideally like to lose about 2 lbs a week on average. But I am still really happy with this week's results for both myself and Mom. GO US!

Feel free to keep the encouragement coming, Mom and I both really appreciate it! Look for another update next week and I will be sure and post the before pics when my dad sends them to me.

Dumb and Dumber

For some reason this week, I have been thinking a lot about the dumb things that I do. These thoughts might have something to do with the fact that my car's lease is up soon and Taylor and I need to come up with a down payment on a new car. Plus, my poor parents are having to bail us out with the repairs that need to be done on my BMW before it can be turned in. So here is a list, please don't judge too harshly. I am not really a dumb person, I just get led astray from the path of the wise every once in a while.

#1- The Beamer- When I was just out of nursing school, I decided I wanted to move to Uptown Dallas to live with all the cool, hip singles while I started my new job at Parkland. I found a reasonable one bedroom close to Hwy 75 in Uptown. Well, once I got into this fancy neighborhood with its expensive restaurants, stores and trendy bars, I decided that my FULLY PAID FOR 2001 Ford Escape was just not posh enough to be tooling around in. My best friend, Rochelle, had just leased a Lexus and my friend Tacovia had just bought this fully tricked out Honda Accord. I wanted a new car that would fit into my neighborhood. This meant BMW, Audi, Lexus or Mercedes. So my parents helped me find a deal on a BMW 325i as a lease. I was so excited that I looked so super cool driving around my neighborhood. Several problems with this car, however. First, it was a lease so I did have lower payments but I did not own it and had to keep it in perfect shape. Did you know that when people hit a BMW they just drive away? Yep, happened to me like 400 times. Second, there are limited miles on a lease, and my boyfriend at the time lived in Abilene. I put about 20,000 miles on the sucker in the first year, a little over my allotted 15,000 a year. Third, when you turn in a lease, you have no down payment to put on another car and while leasing is cheaper, this was still a beamer. Word to the wise, don't ever get a car just to be cool.


#2- The Puppy- Another dumb thing I did during the first year I was nursing was buy a very expensive puppy. Again, a couple of my friends had recently purchased dogs, and for some reason, Dallas made me a total wannabe. I am really not like that normally but when I was in Dallas, I just wanted to do everything my friends were doing, like live in downtown, have a fancy apartment, a fancy car and a fancy dog. So I bought this cute little 8 week old American Eskimo dog and he was white and fluffy and I named him Charlie. I just didn't think about the fact that I had never owned a dog in my life and had no idea what to do with him. I also neglected to consider that I lived in a third story apartment and had to walk to 3 flights every time the puppy needed to go to the bathroom. Finally, I neglected to consult my long time love and companion Moe (my cat)about his feelings on the matter. The puppy lasted about three days. It was the worst three days of my life. The puppy was totally not potty trained and kept peeing and pooping in his kennel and then smearing it all over him and the crate. I bathed that puppy no less than 10 times in those three days. Also, Moe did not handle the whining, barking puppy well at all and refused to eat, sleep or go to the bathroom for those three days. He just sat under the bed and watched the puppy constantly. The puppy also killed Moe's most favorite toy and he was very traumatized. To make a long story short, I begged the breeder to take the puppy back siting Moe's trauma as a reason. It was sad, but we didn't really have time to bond and if it was between the puppy and Moe, Moe was going to win out. You'll be happy to know that the second dog I owned has turned out much better, but I did have Taylor to help.


#3- Travel Nursing and Texas Medicaid- Okay, these two were pretty much a tie but for different reasons. First, lets talk about my travel nursing experience. I thought that travel nursing sounded like the most logical solution when Taylor and I first got married and decided that we wanted to move out of Texas. We wanted to travel and have some fun in a new place before we had kids and travel nursing seemed like a great plan. With travel nursing, you are sent to a hospital that is needing extra temporary help for various reasons. You usually get paid more than you would as a permanent employee and the travel company gives you money to pay for housing or sets you up with a furnished apartment. The assignments vary in length. The assignment I decided on was an L&D position at a hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota. Okay, I know that Minnesota is bitter cold but it is a pretty state and it has the second highest fertility rate of any state in the US (first is Utah, go figure), so I figured I would be able to take several assignments and we wouldn't have to trek all over the country if we didn't want to. Great idea, right, travel, good money, paid housing... The one thing I didn't realize about travel nursing is that you need to get accustomed to the unit you are on in about 4 1/2 seconds. I had three days of training, of which only half a day was spent in L&D. This position also required that I occasionally float to Postpartum, Antepartum and Nursery. Second, the reason that travelers were hired was because the hospital was going to computer charting after years of paper charting. Some of the nurses didn't even really know how to work a computer. And third, I didn't realize that the nurses union in St. Paul was also considering a strike due to benefit issues when all the travelers arrived. So there I am, in a cold, brand-new state where people have horrible accents and no one really liked me because they thought that I might turn into a scab if a strike was started. This was not my best nursing job, it turned out okay but I definitely felt overwhelmed at times and we high-tailed it back to Texas as soon as we could. Plus, I am not sure that the money and fun of travel is worth the crappy benefits, long hours and the stress of having to hit the ground running.


Second in this two-parter was my job working for Texas Medicaid. I worked there for about 8 weeks. I thought again that good money might hopefully equal good job. NOPE! My job itself wasn't so bad, I did prior authorizations for patient's who had inpatient hospital stays. I won't go into too much description because it is boring but I talked on the phone all day and made sure that the inpatient stays met the criteria set by Texas Medicaid. The company was horrible! They really don't want anyone to get approved for anything ever and tell you that in orientation. Also, the full time employees (which I was not, I had a 12 week contract) were making Authorization Based Compensation. This meant that they only got paid per authorization they completed. Some of these 20+ year nurses were making like $12/hr. Ridiculous! I don't like to work for a company who truly doesn't care about their employees. So I found my current job and quit.

These are just a few of the dumb choices I have made. I shared these because they are kind of amusing looking back now and at least I realize that they were mistakes. Feel free to share some of the goofy things that you do, we all make mistakes and have our doofus moments.

My New Office and other Ramblings

I was so busy being excited about starting Weight Watchers that I completely forgot to blog about my new office. For those of you who don't know, I used to work in a hallway that had a counter top mounted on the wall. There was no privacy for me to do my phone calls except for this sad little folding door that was put in and that everyone opened and closed constantly. I know that our patients couldn't tell that I had no privacy but it was concerning to be speaking with someone about their recently diagnosed Chlamydia when the whole waiting room can hear you. Also, DJ, our biller, was stuck in this tiny corner where the copier was and which made her totally claustrophobic when someone would have to fax or copy. So, we finally bullied our boss into letting Deb (our LVN) and I move into Exam #3 and DJ to move into my old space. It is great for her because she does not make as many sensitive phone calls. So now I have a room with space to spread out and an actual desk. Also I have a real door that closes so if I am talking about sensitive things, the whole world cannot hear me. Plus, there is the added benefit that I cannot hear anyone else's radios. Before, I would have to listen to our Medical Assistant's rock or metal and then DJ's liberal political talk radio. Neither was really that bad, but DJ used to listen to this one show in the afternoon and the guy sounded exactly like Lewis Black and his voice would just grate on my nerves. Now, I am in my little office, listening to my quiet indie rock which does not disturb the patients I talk to and I don't have to listen to competing radios anymore. Yea for me!

Speaking of my job, I realized this week that I have two aspects about my job that I absolutely hate to do and put off as much as possible. First, I hate hate hate doing pre-certifications with insurance companies. They are very stingy with what they will actually let you do and they are pretty sure that no one actually needs to stay in the hospital. Last week, I had one insurance company calling me constantly to see if I wanted a hysterectomy to be an outpatient surgery with observation stay. That means that the patient cannot stay for more than 23 hours. For a freaking hysterectomy! I know that the surgery no longer leaves you with a giant scar in some cases but, seriously, kind of a major organ being removed. Soon, they will really want the patient to not even come into the hospital at all. Couldn't they perform surgery at home with a handy-dandy operation kit. Second, I hate telling people that they have STDs. This is a big part of my job and some people handle it well. What I hate is calling a girl who has just had her first pap smear and telling her that she has HPV and Chlamydia. Plus, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea have to be reported to the Texas Department of Health, so, as you can imagine, that goes over well. I actually had a girl ask me if she was going to be on some kind of STD list where people could look her up and see what she has. That would be a really long list! I deal with at least one STD everyday and I only work for two docs if it gives you an idea about how many people out there have something. These things are not things that will change but they are not my favorite parts of my job. Other parts are better, like getting to tell women who have been trying to get pregnant that they are and such.

Finally, away from the unpleasant tasks of my job, Mom and I went to our first Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday and it was good. We are both really pumped about losing weight and getting healthy and so far, things are going well. I even got up at 5:30 this morning to go to the gym. I was only able to stay and work out about 20 minutes because I was a little slow getting moving this morning, but that will get better with time. I have some nice healthy dinners planned for this week and I am going to try to avoid or at least eat less of the delicious goodies that the drug reps bring into our office. Mom and I are going to take pics this week and I will be posting those along with our first week's weight loss. Thanks to Holly and Mom for the notes of encouragement!

The Great Weight Loss Project!

Sorry to my loyal readers (Holly) for not updating in a while, work has been super busy for the last week or so and I haven't had time to do my usual blogging. Also, life has been kind of dull lately, as far as my life is concerned. We did have some birthdays and such but that is about all.

However, this weekend I will be embarking on a new quest, Weight Watchers. Ever since my mother's ovarian tumor that she didn't know was there because she didn't notice her stomach being any bigger than usual, I have been thinking about getting serious about weight loss. My mother and I are both, at this point, pretty significantly overweight and we have made the mutual decision to go to Weight Watchers. I believe I did post a note about this at the beginning of July, but now Mom is recovered enough for us to actually start. So this Saturday at 11 am, we will be in our first meeting. We have both done Weight Watchers in the past and done well, but were just never able to stick with it. Hopefully, Mom's surgery will be a constant reminder to us that we do not want to be overweight anymore. I know that I personally have started suffering the consequences of being overweight recently and it makes me a little nervous because I am experiencing problems that my mom did not have until her late 30s and I am in my mid-20s. It is time for a change and I know that losing weight will also be a big boost to my self -esteem and Mom's, as well as a major benefit to our health.

I will be, hopefully, posting weekly updates on our progress along with my normal posts. I am not going to put starting weights on this but I am sure with the amount of weight we each need to lose, it will be pretty obvious what the beginning weights were. But, after all, we are Southern women here and it is just not polite to talk about such things. So, feel free and post encouraging notes and comments to help us along our journey. I will keep everyone posted. Also, I will try to post pics in the next blog entry. I love weight loss pics, especially ones where your old clothes are like falling off.

A Night Out With the Girls

This last Friday night, Taylor and Hayden were busy going to a guys night at some Brazilian steakhouse where it is all-you-can-eat, so I decided to put together a girls night with my favorite sisters-in-law, Jen and Ryan. We went to dinner at Chuys where we stuffed ourselves on chips, salsa, creamy jalapeno and queso. After a great dinner, we went back to Jen and Hayden's place where we drank wine and talked and watched parts of Clueless, Steel Magnolias, Miss Congeniality and Fun with Dick and Jane. It was really fun! It was just nice to hang out with my sisters and talk without Hayden and Taylor. Not that they aren't great, but sometimes it is nice to just have a girl night. I hope that this will be the first of many girls nights to come! Here are some pics of me and the girls. This blog may have been slightly edited, but what happens at girls night, stays at girls night. Love you girls!

Here we are at Christmas one year, when my in-laws got us all matching robes and slippers.

And here is New Years' Eve 2007, we were out at North by Northwest.

Tribute to the 80s, Toys!

This post is sure to be a blast from the past for some of you. I hope some people remember these toys as cool things so that I do not feel like I was a total nerd.

Care Bears (again)

So maybe I was kind of obsessed with Care Bears, okay? I recognize an addiction. But this one is for my husband, who had a care bear that his sister and I found in the top of his closet a few years ago. He, of course, denies that it was his but we know if was. I am pretty sure this is the one that we found. It's Wish Bear, by the way, very manly, no?

My Little Pony

I know this one is a repeat as well, but you just weren't cool if you didn't have the toy, watch the show and own the movie, okay? And these were great, I used to have Barbie ride on my Little Ponies even though her legs were too long. Also, I found a pic of my all-time favorite one. She was so soft and I loved brushing her hair, pretty sure I still have this one in a box somewhere. Teddy Ruxpin

I didn't actually ever have one of these myself, but I had friends that did. He was so cool! I mean, he talked and read you stories. Okay, so he might have been kind of a nerd toy, but I don't care, I thought he was awesome. Cabbage Patch Kids

My grandmother got me a Cabbage Patch Kid name Ben Hayden, which is actually my Dad's real name and he was great. He was a matador, and I never understood how that went with his name but whatever. Cabbage Patch dolls weren't all that fun to play with but they were cute and I loved baby dolls as a kid. This pic is not of my Cabbage Patch doll but it is, at least, a doll from the 80s, so there you go. Popples

These fun little stuffed animals could be stuffed inside themselves to become a ball. I believe you could also get sport versions that became soccer balls and basketballs. They were fun to throw around and they had a cute TV show to go with them. Finally, for the SCARIEST TOY OF THE 1980S!!! My Buddy

I don't know about you, but after Child's Play came out, this doll really held no appeal for me. I had always thought it was kind of creepy but even more so after the movie. My little brother-in-law Duncan was apparently so terrified by Chucky and, no doubt, the stories his brothers and sister told him about the doll that it made him completely petrified of the thing. I have seen him now, at 16 and 6 ft 8 in, walk out of the room during the daytime if the channel is turned to Child's Play. Funny, huh? This monster of a kid is scared by a little 2 ft doll.

Hope you have enjoyed the Tribute to the 80s series, I have decided to keep this series only to things that I was really interested in as a kid. Look forward to Tribute to the 90s coming soon!

Good News!

We finally got the pathology report back today and it showed that Mom had a borderline malignant tumor and since it has been removed she should not need further treatment. This type of tumor has a very low risk for spreading and they could not find any evidence that the cancer had spread. YEAH! This is the best result that we could have hoped for. Thank you to everyone who has been praying and thinking of Mom during this time and thanks especially to Ben, Holly, Wendy and Penni who wrote me such sweet comments on my earlier posts, they really helped. This has been a very stressful time for my family and I am glad that it worked out as well as it did. I cannot help but think that God's hand was in us having the surgery early and keeping the cancer to one spot and even for making me a nurse who had a great surgeon available. Again, thanks for all the prayers, I know that they helped tremendously!

Another Update on Mom

Sorry I wasn't able to write much on Thursday, I was trying to finish up work before the long weekend. Mom is doing well. She went home from the hospital yesterday and is doing fine at home. She says she is still a little sore but that is to be expected. Hopefully, I will know more about her condition and can update soon. We are still waiting on the pathology report but they told me it should be ready today. We'll see. On a happier note, Mom and I have decided that this experience has made us want to really commit to losing weight. We have both been bad about eating and exercising for quite a while now. So, hopefully, some of my future blogs will be updates on the weight loss. We have decided to join Weight Watchers as soon as Mom is able to get out and about a little more. We will also be working out with each other 2 days a week and Taylor and Dad have agreed to help us work out with weights the other two days. Then, it will be filling in with work outs on the weekends and such. Hopefully, we can get up to about 5 times a week or so. Some of you may be asking why I posted this on my blog. Not really blog worthy, I know, but if I write that I am going to try to lose weight on my blog, it will be a reminder to me to actually do it. It was either that or Mom and I would have to make a blood pact or something. For anyone who has every been overweight or at least felt overweight, you know what a toll it can take on your self-esteem which leads to depression which leads, for me, to eating and lazing about. This is not to say that I have been really depressed, just very self-conscious and it is time to stop. I have lost weight in the past and have seen what a positive effect it has on my self-esteem and mom's. Luckily, we both have husbands who love us and think we are pretty all the time, but even Taylor has commented on my low self-esteem and Dad is always wanting Mom to be more active. Anyway, I will stop rambling now and just say that we are going to be losing weight and being healthy. Yeah!

Update on Mom

Well, I said I would post an update, so I will make this one pretty quick. Mom had her surgery this morning and it was a success. However, the cyst was malignant and they are not sure if it is localized or a metastasis from her intestines. For those that don't know metastasis is cancer that has spread from another area of the body. Hopefully, it will not be that. I have to say, that when the doctor told my dad and I that the tumor was definitely not benign, I was pretty upset. I had pretty much prepared myself, but it was still hard to hear. My dad was completely shocked, I think, although I doubt that he would admit it. He just got really quiet for quite a while after that and I could tell that he was really concerned. My dad loves my mom so much and I know it is one of his greatest fears that she will die before he does. Anyway, don't want to dwell on sad things and fears right now. We will know more when the pathology report is back on Monday or Tuesday. I will post more then, hopefully with good news.

On A Serious Note...

Just wanted to write a quick post for everyone in the blogging community to keep my mom in your thoughts and prayers. About a week ago my mom found out that she has a large (football-sized) mass on her ovary. She immediately called me and I got her in to see the doctor I work for. It has been a whirlwind ever since, with the final result being that she is having surgery tomorrow to remove the mass. Right now, all signs are pointing to this NOT being ovarian cancer but we will have a gynecological oncologist standing by if needed. I know that my mom is in good hands, but I am, of course, still very nervous for her. I just wanted to let everyone know that this is going on and to please be thinking of her tomorrow morning. I think she is on just about every prayer list from here to Nebraska but every thought and prayer helps. Thank you all so much! I will post an update on her condition when I know what it is.

Tribute to the 80s, TV!

So here we go with my favorite TV shows of the 1980s. I am sure you will see some you will recognize.

Cosby Show

This is one of my all-time favorite shows. Watching it now I really appreciate the good lessons it teaches you without the Cosby kids really getting into too much trouble. This used to be a regular weekly watch in the Stewart family. MacGyver
Who didn't love MacGyver! This is still one of Taylor's favorite shows, I even bought him the first season on DVD! How could you not love a guy that can make a bomb out of a toothpick and old chewing gum.
Fraggle Rock- This was kind of trippy, but great for a kid! I love the little songs and even saw the song that the little Doozers on TV at Gymboree about a year ago. I sang along in the store and embarrassed my friend who was buying baby clothes. I would suggest checking it out if you missed this one as a kid.
He-Man and She-Ra- "I have the POWER!" "She-Ra, Princess of Power!!" Enough said.
Thunder Cats- I think I always liked Thunder Cats a little more than He-Man and She-Ra but it was a close competition. I used to love the theme song, "Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, Thunder-Cats!"

Rainbow Brite- I think all girls loved Rainbow Brite in the 80s. She is just great! You gotta love her sense of style! The World of David the Gnome- Some people may not know this one, it is an old Nickelodeon show that was great. David was always helping injured animals and creatures and he got to ride of this Fox named Swift. Great show, good values! Kind of pushed me toward the medical field.

Finally, (I feel like one of those people at the Oscars who won't stop thanking people) shout out to Care Bears, The Smurfs, Heathcliff, The Paw-Paws, Shirt Tales, Smurfs. Strawberry Shortcake, Punky Brewster, ALF, The Wonder Years, Etc, etc, etc....

This was a lot harder to narrow down than I thought it would be.