I owe $5

Friday morning weigh-in & I weighed exactly the same as I did a week ago :( Damn - another $5 owed to the pot! It wasn't a good week as far as going to the gym so I have noone to blame but myself.

Also, the Easter candy hit the shelves last week & I just couldn't help myself. I bought 4 bags on Thursday & ate 1/2 a bag of Sweet-Tart chicks & bunnies on the way home from work alone :( I hate to admit it, but I am addicted to Easter candy. It is like crack-cocaine & I can't get enough. I LOVE the Reeses PB Eggs, Whopper mini-Robin Eggs & the Sweet-Tart chicks/bunnies....just to name a few.

There are only 2 more weeks left of our weight-loss contest so I'm hoping I can keep losing and avoiding adding more money to the pot. Vegas is right around the corner also so I need to stay motivated! Until next week...

Super-Wife

Since I married my husband, I have learned to do ALOT of things around our house that the average wife would not even attempt. Shane is well aware of this since we talk about it all the time & I think he loves me even more for it :)

You might be surprised to learn that in the last 6 years - thanks to my husband - I have become very "skilled" in the following:

- unloading & stacking over 5 pallets of pave stone to build the 6 rock walls around our house for flower beds
- digging 2 ft x 8 ft trenches/laying pipe connected to the gutters to carry water away from the house
- shoveling & spreading 2 dump-truck loads of topsoil & rock for the flower beds
- landscaping all around the house, mowing the grass in a "pattern"/bagging it, weed-eating
- reinstalling 2 door jams & installing 2 storm doors
- laying tile & spreading grout
- hanging blinds in all windows
- re-installing all the broken hinges behind the drawers in the kitchen
- hang sheetrock, mud & sand sheetrock
- painter
- replacing the "flapper" in the toilet
and LAST but I'm sure not least:
- mechanic (change my own air filter, add washer fluid, check/add oil, fill my tires to the correct PSI)

If something needs to get done that requires manual labor, my first response is "we should hire someone to do that" or if something is broke, I am the first to say "do you want me to call for an appt with the service guy to fix it?!" Needless to say, my husband is one who refuses to pay money to someone for a job that he can do himself - which 9 times out of 10 requires me to assist - and at times has almost resulted in divorce :)

This evening proved to be no different.

For the last 2 days we have been running out of hot water after only one shower. My first thought is the damn water heater is going out & needs to be replaced! How soon can I get to Home Depot to buy one & schedule the service guy to install it!? My husband, on the other hand, googles the issue & troubleshoots the problem himself until it is fixed. Unfortunately, this sometimes takes days!

So after much time spent googling water heaters, he figures out that it is probably one of our heating elements that is out. After he feels the top & bottom of the water heater, sure enough - the bottom one is out. So, I made a trip to Home Depot after work & $20 later I had 2 heating elements. Let me tell you, I know more than I care to know about water heaters after this ordeal!

So I "read" the instructions with some additional commentary that Shane did not find amusing while he did the "manual labor" part & together we learned how to drain the water heater, pull out the 2 elements (which were disgustingly corroded with nasty, smelly lime build-up), replace them & prayed that we connected the electrical wires correctly! We managed to do all that with only a few "choice" words to each other :) We turned the water back on, filled the water heater, turned the power back on thank goodness there were no sparks!

In 1 hour Shane was taking a very hot shower! It was that simple & it costs less than $20 to fix! That hubby of mine is pretty dang smart & even though I sometimes hate it, I'm thankful he includes me in these "joint ventures" around the house!

So, I am proud to now add "water heater extraordinaire" to my list of "skills"! If any of you need your elements changed in your water heaters anytime soon, call me! My services are pretty cheap :)

For "Pete's" Sake

This morning my co-worker Linda called me & said an English Bulldog showed up on her doorstep last night without a collar & she was unsure what to do with him. I told her whatever she does, do NOT take him to a shelter - Shane & I would take him in if she was unable to find his family. But before we took him in, I told her to try a few things first. First take him to a vet & see if he has a micro-chip. Which he didn't :( I then told her to walk him around her neighborhood going door to door to see if anyone recognized him. She had no way to walk him so she took him to Petsmart to get a harness.

In the meantime, Shane got online to see if anyone had posted anything about a missing Bulldog in Linda's area. After a few attempted websites he went to craigslist.com & searched their lost/found section and there it was: LOST English Bulldog in the Lenexa, KS area. We opened the post & there was this:

"Feb. 19th (Friday) morning, our beloved English Bulldog got out of our fenced yard and has been missing ever since. Last seen around 99th and Rosehill Rd. in Lenexa. Please contact us if you have found a dog matching this description. His name is Pete"

I quickly called Linda & told her I think she has this families' bulldog. I told her the address & she said that was 1 block away from her so I gave her the phone number provided & she called to see if "Pete" was theirs. I also emailed the owners & told them I think I knew who had their bulldog & gave Linda's phone number to them also.

Well, I am happy to report that Pete has been returned to his family & are they ever thankful :) I got an email shortly after the reunion from Pete's family thanking us for helping find their beloved boy! I am SO happy that it all worked out in the end & that we helped make it happen.

Later Shane told me that secretly he was disappointed Pete was returned to his owner & that he was excited about possibly "fostering" a bulldog. I told him I was too ;) Are we crazy?!?

Weigh-In Friday

Stepped on the scale today & I lost 0.6 lbs :( Since it wasn't quite a pound I had to add $5 to the pot! Oh well, I guess I can be thankful that I didn't gain! Until next weeks weigh-in...

Feb Game Night

Despite feeling yucky, I managed to make it to our Feb Game Night outing. Instead of having someone host this month, we decided to take our festivities out & about. We all met at Houlihan's for a wonderful meal & had a great time catching up with everyone. I had lost my voice for the 2nd day in a row so it was hard for me to communicate with the girls but enjoyed listening to their stories none-the-less. After dinner, we made our way to the movie theatre to see the chic flick "Dear John".

I haven't read the book by Nicholas Sparks yet but those that did said the movie pretty much kept true to the book. I really enjoyed the story-line but I think I enjoyed seeing Channing Tatum even more :) He is definitely easy on the eyes! It was a very sweet story & I found it tugging at my heart-strings more than once - or it could just be these darn hormones!? Definitely a great Valentine's weekend movie with the girls! I am now looking very forward to reading the book!

And we can't forget our group photo:

L to R: Heather, Erinn, Michelle, Keri, Jill & Melissa

Feeling like poo :(

The last few days in the Taylor house has not been pleasant. Both Shane & I started not feeling well on Wednesday. By Thursday night he had a 101 temp & I was running a low grade temp on & off. He was laid up in the bed feeling miserable & even called in sick to work Friday - he NEVER calls in sick to work so I know he felt miserable. I wasn't feeling bad enough to miss work so I managed to go ahead & go on in. I only worked a half day though which allowed me to run some errands & get home to Shane - poor guy.

Saturday morning we woke up & Shane's fever had finally broke so he felt a bit better but I felt much worse so we both headed to Walgreen's Take Care Clinic. Turns out, I have a double ear infection & bronchitis & Mr. Taylor has the flu with a sinus infection. We are a sickly mess :) We both got an antibiotic & hopefully are on the road to recovery! As soon as I feel up to it, I am wiping down this house with Lysol wipes & giving it a thorough "anti-viral" cleaning! I don't want this crud ever again!

Friday Weigh-In

Well, it is that time of week again - the Friday morning weigh-in. I had serious doubts I was going to lose 1 lb this week due to eating out two nights, no gym time due to being sick & buying a bag of Reeses hearts & Nestle Crunch hearts before Valentines Day :( BUT I was pleasantly surprised to see a loss of exactly 1 lb on the scale. Woo hoo - only 10 more lbs to go until my goal weight!

Blogs, Loss & Hope

Every day I have a routine of checking in to blogger.com & read up on all the blogs that I am following. Some of these blogs are written by girlfriends I know personally, & others I have never even met but find their writing interesting so I follow them. The blogs that I read are so different from one to the next. I have found that people use them for many reasons. Like me, some use it to keep friends and family informed of events in their lives while others use it as an outlet for emotion, frustration or whatever they need to "talk" about. I enjoy reading such a diverse bunch of blogs that run the gamut of all "styles." It is almost like reading a collection of novels as the point of view of each author is unique. Some of these blogs make me laugh while others make me shed a tear! I find that the ones that touch me the most are the stories of loss.

It has been exactly one year ago today that I discovered I was pregnant. Dates never seem to escape my memory for some reason. It has stirred feelings in me this week that I have quietly tucked away & can't help but wonder how our life would be different if we had actually had that child - which was supposed to be due October 17th - see, another unforgotten date! Since I have had to deal with the sadness of a miscarriage, I have discovered many people who have been through this similar loss - in person & through blogs. I have been gradually adding some of these blogs to my list that I follow. Though all our stories are different, we have one thing in common & I seem to feel a connection to them.

A few months ago I joined an infertility forum. It was shortly after Shane & I started our journey with the infertility doctors. Not many of you know that bit of info because I choose not to share our ups & downs on the subject with you all. But I have found a group of girls who I feel I can talk with about our struggles & that is the girls on the infertility forum. Most of the girls on this forum have blogs and write about their struggles with infertility. By reading their stories, I have learned of many people that are dealing with alot of the same issues I am dealing with. It has been really comforting reading about and chatting with these girls while going through the same problems. Unfortunatley, there are others going through far more devastating situations such as mid-late pregnancy loss and the death of an infant. My heart just breaks for them & it is hard to believe that anything can be more devastating than the loss of an infant or child. While I am saddened along with them, I also find that I admire their strength. Along with their pain is hope. I am always in awe of when I see a situation so terrible that you can't imagine there could be an inkling of hope...but it is always there. I'd like to think that it is the presence of God. Some of these women are Christians and some are not...but there is always this "hope" that they will survive their circumstances and move to a more hopeful, joyful place in life.

To me, it has been comforting to read the story of someone who has been through the same tough situation as you & has made it through. I don't think one should ever feel like they are alone in that. I hope that through my blogging that maybe someone will link to someone else's blog or "story" from mine and find hope in it as I have found from theirs! For that is what gets me through this infertility journey.....the HOPE that we will one day have a child of our own.

“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.” author anonymous

Weigh-In for Week 3

WEEK #3 - Today was our weigh-in at work for the Biggest Loser contest & I am happy to report that I have lost one more pound! That is a total of 6 lbs lost :) Unfortunately, I am only in 4th place for percentage of weight lost so I am going to have to step up my game! I see alot of cardio in my future...

GO RED!

Today is the day to break out the red stiletto's, red dresses, red clothing and for men the red ties. It is "Go Red for Women" day all across the nation.

Go Red For Women is a campaign designed to help millions of women understand that while heart disease is their No. 1 killer, it is largely preventable and they can take steps to lower their risk. As part of the movement, women learn how to love their hearts - they receive lifesaving information about preventing heart disease and managing risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, weight and cholesterol.

One in three women dies from cardiovascular disease, so it's critical that we help women learn about their risk factors and how to take better care of their hearts. Since heart disease is what I see on a daily basis among both men AND women, I am very passionate about this subject. You can bet I have my red on today :)

To learn more, just log onto: http://www.goredforwomen.org

Going Nowhere

This morning I got to sleep in & awoke energized & ready to tackle the day. I had taken the day off of work so that I could take Millie to the Ortho Vet for her 8 week post-op checkup as well as run a bunch of errands. I was looking forward to getting everything on my list done for the day!

I took a shower, got ready, loaded Millie up in the car with my list in hand and we were on our way. As I backed out of the driveway, something just didn't "feel" right with my car. I got out to take a look and there it was:A totally flat-to-the-ground tire!

I was SO pissed! I drove back into the garage, got Millie out of the car & called the vet to reschedule her appointment. Poor Millie was SO confused & I felt bad she wasn't going to be able to go on her most beloved car ride! Once I got past the initial anger of it all, I started to wonder how long my tire had been flat. The last time I drove it was at 1am Sunday morning when I got called in to the hospital. Thank goodness I didn't get called back later that day or last night because I would have been going nowhere! So, I decided to make the best of a bad situation and get some much-needed stuff done around the house.

I ended up doing 5 loads of laundry, folded it all and put it away. Remade our bed with clean sheets, vacuumed & shampooed carpets, burned 7 music CD's & made labels for each one to give to my 2 girlfriends/brother who have been anxiously awaiting some new music, updated my blog, balanced my checkbook, paid a few bills, & caught up on some DVR'd shows. It definitely ended up being a productive day.

Shane got home around 2:30pm & it took him less than 5 minutes to get my tire off of my car & into the back of his truck. We both examined the tire & immediately saw the nail that had caused all the drama. We then proceeded to make our way up to NTB to get the tire patched. We had a bit of a wait so we decided to walk over to China Inn and have an early dinner. Yum Yum - love me some Chinese food! I ended up eating only half my meal so hopefully it won't affect my weigh-in on Friday!?

We got back home & Shane had my tire on my car and ready to go in 4 minutes flat! That man never ceases to amaze me! I hopped in my car & finally was able to head to Walmart & complete some of the errands that I had wanted to do earlier! Despite the dreadful start to my day, I guess it turned out to be productive afterall!

Sunflower Showdown

Shane & I stayed in this evening & watched the highly anticipated Sunflower Showdown between KU & K-State. My friend Jill ended up joining us & helped us cheer on KU - at times I didn't know who was yelling louder....Jill or my husband?!? :)

It ended up being a really close game & even went in to OT but in the end KU won 81-79! This win should put us back on top as the #1 team in the country! Rock chalk Jayhawk baby!