Yeah Me!!!

 

          Yeah me!!! I have been trying to lose some weight so that my foot will not be so stressed, and I did it LOL I lost 5 lbs this past week. It sucked doing it because it meant no sweets and I had to watch calories, but scale said it was worth it. Now I have to just persist and hopefully the scale cooperates. I have also been doing my chair workout since walking is still out. 

          Back to work this weekend. Which means walking back in. I am hoping if I go slowly that it will not get exacerbated again. I do not wish any more pain. 

          This weekend also starts the beginning of hurricane season here in Florida. I love extreme weather, I just hope none happens when I have to work. I need to make sure we have supplies for any emergencies. Usually that means stocking up on OTC pain killers LOL. We have water in garage. I guess I need to get more batteries as well. We have plenty of candles and lighters So far we have yet to need to get into supplies. Florida is pretty well prepared for hurricanes.

     

Feeling a Bit Down

 

          For absolutely no reason, I occasionally feel a bit down. I take Zoloft to combat it, but some days that does not quite cut it. This week has been a few of those days in a row. Not sure what is going on. Yesterday driving home from dropping daughter off at her party really triggered me. I felt very lacking in everything. All of the homes where she went were shiny and new, the neighborhood very nicely put together, and it was cute. I was jealous and it made me feel bad. I had to remind myself that my home was pretty and my neighborhood very nicely put together, all of the people here very kind for the most part. It might not be shiny and new, but it isn't old LOL we all have only been here 7 years. All the trees are finally getting full and lining the streets, flowers and landscaping are blooming, I live in a great place. I have no idea why I was so envious. 

          I suppose it is human nature to want to go farther. I have done all there is here and I want change LOL. I don't need it, I simply want it. All of my life I was easily movable. My mom started it. She moved my brother and me countless times. I guess I got that from her. Now that I own a home, I cannot just move, I would have to sell and then find another place, not to mention my kids would never go for it LOL they love this place too much. I do too. My brother on the other hand, he hates moving. He has lived in the same city, in the same area, for over 35 years LOL. 

          I am sure this will all pass soon. I wouldn't ever sell my Casa Bella (what I named this place). It might not be fancy inside or out, but it has personality and color. It makes me and my kids happy. You should see the backyard at night now LOL I have all sort of solar lights highlighting the plants. It looks very cool. Plus my trees are full and flowering. I do need to mow, but that can wait until Sunday or Monday, when I am off work. I have to be careful to not stress my foot. I have to work three in a row again, so I need to be able to walk. I think I discovered too much sugar triggers the pain. Yesterday I had some chocolate for the first time in a while and afterwards my foot hurt. So, no more sweets for me. Which would be a good thing LOL. Ok now off to do end of week laundry and cleaning before work.

Brunch Party

 

          This morning my daughter is going to a brunch party for her friend's 15th birthday. So long to simple birthday parties LOL earlier this year she went to a friends escape room party. Teenagers really up the game these days with birthdays LOL she and I are trying to think of a good idea for her 15th birthday in July. Right now a pool party at Aquatica is sounding good LOL. Something to keep them cool and entertained with minimal effort on my behalf. It will just cost a pretty penny LOL. Since she has never asked for a party before, I guess I can handle it :)

          This brunch party sounds fancy LOL my daughter has been asked to dress in formal attire, so she is wearing her gala dress from last year. She is getting some use out of it finally LOL she also gets to wear it next week for her church Fuego Gala night once more. Then it will get put away since she is not a dress person. I guess next party/gala night we will have to find another dress she likes. I am trying to resist "helping" her get all glammed up. I realized that she does not like to be center of attention and if I push her, it ends up wrong. I figured this out last year for her Christmas party. I helped her with her ugly sweater look, so much so that she got chosen to go up on stage to compete. The problem with that was it turned into popularity contest, so she did not get the applause, which had to suck for her big time. I do not want a repeat of that, so I let her chose what she wishes to wear and is comfortable in. As much as I would like to get her all dolled up, in the end, I just want her to have fun.

Memorial Day 2024

 

          While many view Memorial Day as the unofficial start of summer, a day to cookout and celebrate, sometimes see fireworks, it is actually a solemn day. It is a day to remember and mourn those who served in the United States Military.

          Many of my ancestors served in the military, with two living ones left - my brother and my uncle. We are a military family going all the way back to the American Revolution. I think I had a relative serve in every conflict. To my knowledge, thankfully all of them made it home.

          Not a lot of celebrating going on over here today. Not because of the holiday, but because we are boring LOL. Biggest thing we have today is my son's eye appointment for new glasses this afternoon. Too hot for much else outside. Weather says it will be 98 degrees, who knows what heat index will get to. Knowing my neighbors, there will probably be fireworks going off later and lots of music. My poor animals will be very unhappy. Not even grilling today, I plan on making some chicken soup LOL. See, boring!!! On a great note, I woke up pain free!!!!

Too Hot Already

 

          It i just May and already the temperatures are in upper 90's!!! Florida this summer is going to be brutal. I have annual passes to Aquatica, but danged if they aren't at capacity today LOL doesn't help that it is Memorial Day weekend. I am already ready for hurricane season to begin just so we get afternoon rains to cool things off a bit.

           I made it through my one night at work and foot still feels okay thankfully. I just walked slowly and did not care how busy I got LOL. They could wait. Especially the patient who was verbally abusive to me. Why yell and insult somebody who is trying to help you???

          No plans here for holiday weekend. Taking son to eye doctor is about it LOL. Then back inside to hide from the sun. Only time to go outside from now until November is either early morning or night time LOL. In between you risk spontaneous combustion.

Healthy Eating is Expensive

 

          Healthy eating is very costly. Some say it is not, but I call B.S. on them. Compared to the price of fast food, eating healthy is ridiculous. I can get a large fries for half the price of a salad. There are always deals on the burgers, fries, and soda but never on a salad with a bottled water. It isn't smart for big companies to want people to eat healthy. If they did then fast food places would be out of business and pharmaceutical companies would lose their profits because a lot of diseases and illnesses would be reduced, especially diabetes and heart disease. It is sad that people care more about money than they do health.

          Yesterday I decided I needed to get really serious about losing weight just so I can walk easily again. So first thing, go to store for some healthy options. It is not that my house if full of junk food, I just wanted some variety in my salads. Ice cream, hot dogs, chips, all of those were BOGO, and the veggies were not. Very frustrating to my bank account, but I have to rationalize the cost of the food now versus medical bills later. 

          I got me some celery, cucumber, sweet peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce to make salads. I also got some tuna pouches to add for protein. For breakfast I have hard boiled egg and light bread with sugar free jam. Dinners I am not sure about yet. Most likely some sort of meat for my kids and veggies for me. I have popcorn and sugar free popsicles for treats. I think I just need to focus on one day at a time for now. Yesterday I did good. I think I stayed within 1500 calories and I did my chair workout. Today, I will do the same.

          Work is not going to be happy with me, though I really am not sure they will even care. I am not going in to work again tonight. I want one more day of rest on my foot. I should be able to survive Saturday night as long as I go slow. Hopefully this will be the last week that I have this issue. So, for today it is taking it easy again and enjoying time with both my kids.

Diet or Die?

 

          It has come down to this, at least in my head. If I do not lose weight, I am seriously going to cut my years left short. I do not want to do that. I have not prepared my kids for living on their own. I believe they would be lost, and I do not want to do that to them. 

          I am supposed to go to work tonight, but my foot is almost feeling all better, and I am afraid if I do go in, I will re-strain it and have to start all over again. The pain is what is motivating me right now. That plus I got on the scale and I have gained 20 lbs since last year. I am trying to not cry, but that is all I want to do right now. It seems the harder I try, the worse I get.

          So, instead of crying, I am going to make a plan, and find a way to stick to it. The biggest part of it is curbing my diet. I have too long allowed myself to self indulge whatever I wanted to. I cannot do that. It seems I start off great in the morning, but by the evening  I have binged. I need to stop that. I also need to move as much as I safely can right now. That means just the chair workouts until I drop some weight and my foot is healed. Somehow I must manage this before I leave my kids with no me.

A Simple Florida Day

 

          No particular topic today, just thought the sunflower picture was adorable. I am taking it easy today. Yesterday I definitely overdid it. I mowed my front yard and by the time I was done, I was hurting. So, I put some capsaicin ointment on it, which turned out to be a mistake. That is basically pepper ointment. Felt nothing on my foot, but my hand started to burn LOL took a bit to wash it off and tame the pain on my hand. 

          Later that afternoon, Staci and I decided to go to Aquatica and SeaWorld just to get our freebies. $20 each to spend on something. She picked out a Moon shaped dreamcatcher and some glass stars. It was hot outside still, so I guess my foot started sweating, and reactivated the ointment. OMG my foot started to burn!!! I managed to get the sock off to cool my foot, but the sock had become a bioweapon LOL my hand started to burn just from grabbing the sock off. I was stuck in my car, during 5 0'clock traffic with a burning foot, a burning hand, and my daughter laughing at me LOL. It was not fun :)

          So since I overdid yesterday, I am taking it easy today so that I can work this weekend. I will still do my chair workout. I am so more so out of shape that I get winded just doing basic things. I need to keep moving somehow. If I don't, life will get shorter and more painful. I do not like either of those things.

Artificial Intelligence

 

          Opened up my computer and first thing I see is an ad for AI. Did nobody watch the movie Terminator??? Or basically any movie set in the future after all the machines have wiped us out??? It is a bit scary how fast AI is advancing now. I am not a big fan of doing away with people's roles. We are getting more advanced with medicine and AI surgeries. Do doctors not realize that if they keep promoting AI then they might just become obsolete. I do realize there are many things they have helped with, but I do not think they should be the future of us. People have instincts and emotions, and in some situations you need those to make the right call, even if appears to be the wrong call. I have seen so many shows where the person looks guilty, but they are not, it takes a person believing in them to really see what is going on. There are so many shades of gray in the world, but computers only see black and white. And do you know as I typed this I am seriously a bit worried that the computers are going to flag it as problematic???

          Okay, on to other stuff. I really liked the chair workouts yesterday. I ended up doing one in the morning and one at night LOL. They did get my heart pumping and I even broke a sweat. So, I will definitely try and continue those. Today I need to mow my front yard. It is looking bad. I will just go slowly so I do not hurt my foot further. I also need to take Staci to SeaWorld and Aquatica later so we can get our free money LOL. We have $20 and each to buy something. I cannot turn down free money LOL. We will go towards closing time so that we can park close. Less walking for me. I might even bring my cane LOL. I do not recommend ever getting old.

Chair Yoga

 

          With my foot hurting so much, I have not been able to move as I did before, which does not help the problem at all. So, this ad popped up on my Instagram for chair yoga. I do not want to pay for something that might not work, but YouTube has free videos LOL. Those I will try. I found me a few 20 minute videos to do in rotation. I am hoping they help me move, burn a few calories, and help me get in better health. They look easy enough and I found ones with good music in the background.

          Yesterday I did it, I watched Bridgerton for the first time LOL. It is pretty good. I feel bad for the young girls of the time. They were completely clueless about sex. According to the show they did not even know the bare basics of what goes on in the bedroom or where babies come from. I like the Penelope character and Eloise. I wanted to like Daphne, but her and the Duke just seem too perfect. No flaws to empathize with. I do not know what people see in the Queen. She is too entitled. Perhaps if I watch her backstory I might understand. The moms on the show though are awesome LOL The Bridgerton mom clearly loves her children and wants them to be happy above all else. The Featherton mom is a hoot LOL. She wants her daughters to just get married no matter what LOL. So far, she is my favorite character.

          So now I am off to try my first chair yoga workout followed by Bridgerton LOL what a wild life I live LOL.

So Busy

 

          We were so busy at work!!! Especially last night. A nurse had a family emergency so they had to leave about an hour into the shift, leaving us very understaffed. Anything that could go wrong, was going wrong. Thankfully nobody died and nobody fell, but by the end of the night we were all worn out. It felt like a full moon, but wasn't. So glad to be home now with my kids :)

          Busy here today, but no rush to do anything LOL. I can take these tasks at my own pace. Nothing I have to do, I just prefer to get all the responsible stuff out of the way so I can chill the rest of the week. No more school, so lots of free time now.

Summer Fun

    

          Just another visual to help me put together a fun summer. Most of these activities seem easy to do LOL well except for the road trip and camping. I cannot convince my daughter to go anywhere overnight.  Most of these activities can be put together, like the BBQ, S'mores, and bonfire. Oh well, I will come up with something LOL.

          Off to work for the weekend. Tomorrow my daughter takes her last test of 9th grade and then she is done. I cannot figure out how she became so old without me noticing it. I swear she was just a toddler last week, not a teenager in high school. My mind is reeling over here. I need time to slow down, it is going way too fast.

OMG Too Much Sleeping

 

         I am not sure what happened, but I fell asleep for most of the day yesterday :( I took like a six hour nap LOL the only thing I can think of causing it is all the Motrin, Tylenol, and Aleve I am taking for my foot. This is why I will never do narcotics LOL if the OTC meds knock me out this bad I am terrified of the coma those would put me in. 

          Needless to say, I got nothing accomplished yesterday. I am hoping today is better LOL I need to go get a few things from Aldi and Staci has church tonight. I have laundry to do, and I want to make some mac&cheese as well. So, I have made my to do list. I need to get everything done without sleeping LOL oh and I have to drink my water LOL.

Shiny Happy People

 

          Oh boy did I wake up early today LOL I even told my doggies we were sleeping in. So much for plans. The good thing though, I woke up with minimal pain!!! I did not cry as I took my first few steps. This was amazing to me as I have been in constant pain for about a month now. It was wonderful. I am still in pain, but definitely less.

          So I am feeling all sorts of good. I was thinking about what I should write about today. I thought it might be nice to focus on building some good habits. I already have a few. Every morning I get up early, make me some coffee, and write my To Do list. I take my vitamins and meds, as well as my blood pressure. All of those are good habits that I have maintained. This blog is also a good habit I have worked on. 

          I see others being all happy. I would love to feel happy. Best I can do is just blah. I am not sad, but I am not happy. I just am, which is not the best to be. I do break out of that every now and again at home LOL when I do, my kids think I am hilarious. I have a very sarcastic sense of humor. I always worry how that will be taken at work, so I just stay quiet. They gave me Cuban coffee though this Sunday, so ummm they got a lil taste of my sense of humor. They said no more coffee for me LOL so what do I do? I bought my own machine to make Cuban coffee LOL that'll show them :) I just have to be careful to maintain professionalism at work.

           What other good habits should I foster? I am wanting to drink more water, eat less sweets, order out less, cook healthier meals, stop snacking so much, and once my foot is better definitely start walking again. I also want to go to Aquatica more so I can swim. I used to love swimming as a kid. They say the best way to make a change is to start small so you don't get overwhelmed. So to chose one to do starting today I suppose the water one. On vacation I was drinking over 2 liters a day of water, so it can be done. Since I seem to do better when I post to internet about doing something (it makes me feel more accountable) starting today I am going to drink at least 3 liters of water a day. I just need to find my liter water bottle now LOL. 

          Once I get that one going, I will add another. By the end of the summer I want to be a shiny happy person :)

Summer Schedule for Fun

 

          It is already hot, so of course I am thinking about summer. I want to make sure it is fun and relaxing. I used this schedule a few years ago and it was fun. It helped me brainstorm ideas to do, but in a more focused way.  Mondays we can make something since Staci likes to craft and cook, Tuesdays I will tell her she needs to read something LOL just to keep her mind active. Wednesday would be good day to go to Aquatica or SeaWorld, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday she is usually with her brother while I work, so they can figure that out. I'd imagine movies will be popular activity LOL.  Then once I am off on Sunday and awake we can do whatever. Makes things easy peasy having an idea of what to do with nothing specific to get cancelled.

          Mother's day was nice and relaxing. I can't do much more than relax since my foot is still killing me. I am in a catch 22. It hurts because I am overweight so I upped my activity to lose weight, so now it hurts, and I can't walk, so no losing weight, so it will continue to hurt. So very frustrating. I am taking so many OTC pain killers LOL. I also bought me a foot spa with epson salts. Going to see if that helps the inflammation in my heel. 

Happy Mother's Day

 

          Happy Mother's Day :) Today is my 27th one LOL. Best role ever!!! I worked all weekend and came home to find new slippers and a bunch of really cool, bobbling, solar flowers in my backyard LOL I can't wait to see them lit up tonight. My daughter made me a bracelet with sunflower colors :) I am so spoiled and loved. 

          

Time Travel?

 

          I am not sure why, but I woke up to the idea of what if I could go back in time as myself. All my knowledge of now, put into my teenage body. How would that affect my life. I mean it would change everything. It is mind blowing to try and figure it out. Surface stuff, I would definitely do better in high school because I would have the confidence of a woman. Silly teenage drama wouldn't get to me, but then I never would have been put on the path I ended up on. As much as I hated parts of my life, they lead me to having my kids. So, kids aside, I would definitely be rich LOL hello investing in Yahoo, AOL, Google, AT&T, Apple, Amazon LOL I would never have to work. Changing me though would also potentially change my family's lives. My brother might not have gone into the military and gained all his confidence. My mom might have not gotten remarried. I might have even saved my dad's life. So many, endless what ifs with changing even a small part of the past. In bettering mine, I could ruin theirs. I guess it is a good thing we cannot go back in time. Our past makes us who we are, the good and the bad combined.

Home Repairs

 

          Home repairs are so not fun. I had a leaking kitchen faucet this past week, which triggered all sorts of anxiety. As a homeowner, all of the repair jobs fall onto me to take care of. No calling some office to have maintenance come fix whatever, is all me now. I do not like this part of being a homeowner. I attempted to look on YouTube for how to fix my faucet, and I found a fairly simple video that said I could do it easy peasy LOL not a chance. I couldn't even get the main water turned off LOL. So off to Home Advisor to find a pro. I called this one company, Broadway Plumbing, and the guy (Roy) who answered was very nice and took some time to convince me that a whole new faucet was better than just trying to figure out what was wrong with current one. So, off to Lowes where I found a faucet that just looked like my old one, called Roy back, and set up appointment for noon. They showed up, exchanged out the faucet, and were gone within an hour. Now I have a shiny new faucet and the area under my sink is clean LOL.

          I simply cannot bring myself, nor find the confidence, to try and do the home repairs myself. I worry that I will make the problem worse. Peace of mind dictates calling a pro in for the jobs. So far I have changed out washer/dryer, two toilets, and the fridge. The microwave is most likely next LOL. I love owning my own home, but I hate maintaining it when it gets problems. I much prefer upgrading it for fun. That is the yard stuff, solar lights, sunflowers and flamingoes inside, things like that. Those things make me happy.

          I am backwards on sleep cycle this week. I have been up since 3am. I am hoping I can nap in a bit and be able to enjoy a bit of the day later. Both kids are free, so would be nice to do something fun together. 

Happy Nurses' Week

 

          OMG it has been 26 years since I got my BSN RN. I cannot believe it has been that long. Some of the new nurses aren't even that old yet LOL it blows my mind. I graduated from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences back in 1998. So much has changed in nursing since then. The medications, the charting, the procedures, the acuity of patients, the pay, and the attitudes towards us. 

          We made it through some trying times like the terrorism from 9/11 and wondering how to fight biological weapons, and then we made it through the global pandemic of Covid. I have worked in every area of nursing except the OR, ER, and ICU. It has been a wild ride. 

          Some days I hate it and others I am so blessed when I realize I made a difference in somebody's life. People ask me what I would be if I was never a nurse. I really have no clue since this is all I have ever known. I like helping people. I like only having to work three days a week LOL I like having job stability, but I do not like it when patients are rude and disrespectful of us, or when the hospital does not appreciate us. It was fun when people referred to us as heroes during Covid, I did not feel like one, just doing my job, but it was nice.  So if any other nurses are reading this :) Happy Nurses' Week!!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

 

          Happy 5th of May LOL I had to look up what the holiday was actually for.  It commemorates the Mexican victory over the French empire on May 5, 1862. For us, it means an excuse to eat tacos LOL. Currently waiting on ours to arrive.

           This makes another round of "what did mama order vs what did mama get" yesterday we ordered a chicken sandwich and it was amazing. They completely forgot the chicken LOL Wendy's just sent a plain bun LOL. I couldn't handle it, it was so funny. Best round ever. We will see what we get today.

          Well, I made it through the weekend, but my right foot is killing me. My plantar fasciitis is acting up badly. I have to use my cane when I first get up in because of the pain. I take so much naproxen that I test positive for THC, which is component of marijuana, and I don't use that. Found out the hard way that it can mimic that if take enough naproxen. I had to get a blood drug test just to prove to hospital that I was clean.

          Today is cleaning day, catch up from doing nothing at home over weekend day LOL followed by pass out time. I will eventually get all my responsible stuff done today so that I can enjoy my other days off :)

May Day

 

          May Day May Day LOL it is the start of a brand new month and the last month of Staci's first year of high school. How weird is that??? Time is going by way too fast.

          Summer seems to have arrived here in Florida, at least the temps say it has. This week has been hot and I have paid the price, but I feel better. I have gotten both the back yard and front yard under control, now just have to maintain it over the summer. I cannot believe it is summer again. Hopefully it will be a good one.  I still don't have any plans for it. I tried to talk my kids into going camping, but Lee has to work and Staci said no. She hates the idea of being gone overnight anywhere.

          At least she is happy going to her Wednesday night church group. She has made friends there which was whole point of it. Tonight is their Fuego Night, Star Wars themed. Now if I could just get her to let me put her hair in Princess Leia buns LOL