Erika

Good morning Buddies. I am feeling the after-effects of my new more active lifestyle.

Instead of the treadmill, I decided to get my exercise in by walking to run errands in town yesterday, and playing with Logan at the park.

I had planned on only being there for 45 min, and we ended up staying for almost 3 hours. Running, jumping, climbing, and chasing a soccer ball…I am suprisingly sore and sunburnt.

I must just have a face that makes people feel they can talk to me. While we were at the park, 3 different women felt compelled to tell me their life stories, and all three ended the conversation by saying something to the effect of  ‘ I don’t know why I am telling you all of this, but you seem like someone I can trust. ‘

One woman was recounting how she lost custody of her 4 yr old daughter last year because of her hard drug use, she’s been clean and sober for 7 mo. and now has had her daughter back.

Another told me all about her estrangement from her father and a good part of her family due to her inter-racial relationship. How insane is that one?

Then there was the woman who told the story of how her marriage is on the brink of divorce because of her infidelity with a family friend.

I started to feel like Lucy from the Peanuts, in her Psychology Stand with the 5 cent sign. Oh well, I guess the just needed someone to talk to. I wonder if they will be waiting for me today, as everyone of them asked me if we come there often.

The soon to be divored lady told me that I seemed very wise for my age..she thought I was only 25! ( I’ll be 35 this August ) That was fun to hear, although being that she ’s pretty much destroyed her marriage because of bad choices, her judgement may be a little off. But I’ll take it!

Due to the nice weather, the kids have opted to walk to school today instead of taking the bus. It’s about 2 miles round trip. I think they are only in it for the promised trip to the local bakery for breakfast on the way…. not so much the exercise.

Don’t worry, I will only be paying for the doughnuts, not eating them.

Due to our extended play time yesterday, I have fallen behind schedule with the bathroom, but it was worth it. Logan made some new friends, and we needed that “just us” time.

Once we get home it is back to work, my house is a disaster area and the laundry is very close to causing an avalanche down the steps.

Be well Buddies!

I am very happy to report that today is Day 4 of 100% low carb and exercise!

For me, Day 4 is always the end of the carb craving-I hate my husband for eating ice cream-I would happily kill someone for a piece of bread or a potato chip-cranky, evil, bitchy detox.

I had a very interesting moment yesterday, you see Ethan and I decided that we would get an early start on the bathroom. After about an hour of being awake, I put on my shoes and headed up to the treadmill.

Ethan stopped me, saying that he thought we were going to start working right away. I almost agreed, and then something came over me.

I told him that from now on everyone was just going to have to get used to the idea that everyday, for an hour or better, I was going to take the time I need to exercise.

I went on to say that I will be doing it without concern for the housework, or fielding endless phone calls from friends or family seeking advice. There will be no, Honey have you seen my….nor will there be any, Mommy can I have….

Short of the house being on fire, or someone bleeding profusely I will not be interrupted. I will be done when I get done, and when I am done I will be taking the time to rest and shower. I went on to tell him that it would be in his best interest to pass that message along to all whom it concerns.

He agreed.

Back to the bathroom….the tiling is finally done!

Today, I have to “de-haze” and seal it. Then I have to paint the trim, hang the moulding, rip up the old floor tiles and put down the new ones, and hang the shelves, curtain rod, and towel racks.

If all goes well, everything will be dried and set by Wednesday.

It’s time to get the monsters up and moving, and the moment that school bus pulls away, I will be on the treadmill.

Have a great one Buddies!

Well I am 2 for 2! I decided to hit that damned treadmill everyday between yesterday and the 23rd. I know it doesn’t sound like much to those who exercise daily, but for me it is a struggle.

Not the struggle of the actual movement, but a struggle to force myself to start. Besides the upcoming deposition, I have a little extra motivation because of the location of the treadmill. I have it set up in Ethan’s office on the 3rd floor of our home.

It gets insanely hot up there by mid afternoon, we have central air but I may have to break down and get a window unit for that room. Anyway, it will really force me to move my butt up there by 10am everyday. It’s either that or a possible heat stroke.

It may sound silly to some, but being able to walk into that conference room and square off with the lawyers knowing I already have a personal victory under my belt will be invaluable to my sanity and confidence.

I’m off to make myself a nice low carb lunch, and then I am back to working on that damned bathroom. Hopefully I will be grouting this time tomorrow. This project is taking to freaking long, being that the majority of the work has to wait until the weekends when Ethan can help me and the kids aren’t dancing around the power tools.

Be well Buddies!

Another day, another crisis, another Dorito.

I am truly starting to wonder if anyone in my life is not having a major problem right now.

My brother is fighting with my father over a school trip to the Netherlands, a friend of mine confided in me yesterday that she is having an affair with the neighbor ( no big deal, her husband is having an affair with a co-worker ), another friend is having a meltdown because the computer she bought doesn’t work and wants me to battle it out with the store for her.

 My ex-friend/neighbor just put up a huge swingset in her yard. No big deal, except that when she saw us outside lastnight she was yelling to her kids at the top of her lungs, ” Don’t you love your new swingset? No one else has one like this, and it’s all for you! “  I seriously may have to punch her.

Anyway, so as I was eating a huge bowl of Doritos and dip, feeling angry and frustrated and overwhelmed the phone rang. It was my attorney, I am scheduled for a deposition May 23rd.

This is the legal battle I have been since April 2003 with our former pediatrician who exposed himself to Jarod when he was 5 years old.

I’m not sure why, but something just clicked, and I threw away the chips. Normally that would have sent me into the kitchen for 2nds, but it didn’t. It kind of shocked me back into focus. I guess knowing that I am going to have to do battle in 20 days sparked something.

Hopefully I will be able to regain the ground I have lost between now and then.

I am sorry that I haven’t really been here lately, life is just a mess right now. Well, not my life…but the lives of the people around me.

Part of my 20 days until the deposition plan is to hit that treadmill every day for at least two miles….you have my permission to badger me about it if I don’t.

Thank you for all the support guys, it means the world to me right now.

Good morning Buddies, it feels like forever since I have been here.

Life has been insane, I spent the majority of last week at the hospital with my friend. The infection is back and spreading, it’s showing up in her urine now. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I had to go up there and raise holy hell due to the specialist that never showed, and the poor nursing care from one woman in particular.

She was waiting for 3 days for this infectious desease specialist and in the meantime they had her on nothing but a saline drip, and pain meds. She has a bad staph infection….I’m no doctor, but even I know that it requires more than saline. The nurse was like something out of a bad horror flick, and the Dr. finally showed after I started throwing around words like malpractice and lawsuits. Nurse Ratchet has been reassigned to another floor while my friend is there.

Then we have the ass that I used to babysit for. Her oldest son’s ( Jarod’s former best friend ) birthday was 2 weeks ago. Well this Sunday she finally had his birthday party.

Now in the 3+ years that I have known her, if there even was a party, it was very low key….I can honestly tell you that there has never been so much as a streamer or balloon.

Well, not this time. The entire outside of her house was decorated, she lives 3 doors down from me. Of course, she did not invite Jarod or Logan. Everyone in the neighborhood was calling that day to check on my boys, because they knew she only put up decorations to send a message to me and mine.

Believe me, I am not paranoid or blowing this out of proportion…she did this to hurt my kids. Luckily they were’nt even home, so they missed it. True to form, she’s left everything hanging yesterday and today. Keep in mind that Dec. 26th they take down Christmas decorations, so I had to explain to my kids and the little girl I babysit why they were’nt invited.  

They took it surprisingly well, the little girl said that no one can compare to the parties I throw, so she knew she wasn’t missing anything.

There is nothing that woman can do to me, so she takes aim at my kids. So instead of walking to her door and punching her in the face I ate, and ate.

I’ve been eating because of my sick friend, and my former friend, and the pain of losing a friend for my boys….I have been eating. So today a new month, and a new start.

On a happier note, my brother is coming home from college this evening. I can’t wait to see him.

On an crazy note, my mother  ( I think in response to the issues with the neighbors and the fact that they will not be able to play together this summer ) went out and purchased a pool for her yard. A real pool, not the big blow up ones my boys are used to, but a 21 foot, 5 foot deep pool.

The kids are losing their minds, it should be installed and ready to go by June 1st. Hey, there’s some exercise for me!

It’s time for the bus, and then I will be back to catch up on blogs. Getting back on track this week is going to be a real struggle, wish me luck.