Dear So and So: NOT!!

You know what?  I got nuttin'!!!  I put the picture up and went completely blank!!  I'm lazy, so I decided to keep it there.

In the meantime, my blood pressure is down... not in a good place but one hell of a lot lower than a few weeks ago when I was sick.  I have a new Rx that I need to pick up.  

My blood sugar level is dropping to a manageable  place.

My weight is slowly dropping too.  Last time I checked, I was down 12.5 pounds and I'm about 3 weeks into the program.

And I have such news for you (said in my very best Yenta voice), but I'm not ready to talk about it yet.  Soon, my pretties, soon. (not about you, G)

Hey! I'm over here!

Oh Lordie!   I'm a day late but it's because I didn't realize May 31 had caught up to me so quickly.  You see, the lovely Laura from Under The Sheets-shhh has gotten married, and while she was away on her honeymoon, she wanted to share love stories of some of her readers.  This one is mine.  If you want to know how John and I got together, click this link and Laura will tell you my story.   Calling All Love Stories: True Beginnings    There are other love stories before mine and after mine.  Read them all!  They're wonderful!!

Six Word Saturday:

Too bad I have to work.

It looks to be a great weekend, weather-wise.  Possible scattered thunderstorms, but that's how summer is in PA anyway... always a chance of a thunderstorm popping up.  On weekends like these, I always regret that I have a job where I work on the weekends.  And it's Memorial Day Weekend too.  The rule at my job is, if you normally work on a day where a holiday falls, you get scheduled.  The good news is I always have off on Mother's Day and Father's Day, but I always work on Saturdays and Mondays.  So holiday weekends like this I'm screwed if I want off.  My sister often has a BBQ on this weekend but I usually have to decline the invitation.  Ah, well.... have a nice juicy burger for me will ya?  And maybe a beer.

Want to try your own Six Word Saturday? Go see Cate at Show My Face and link up!

Dear So and So

Dear Tim and Dani (mostly Dani),

 We need to have a meeting.  You are adults now.  I am not picking up after you any more.  You really have to start cleaning up the kitchen after yourselves, and put stuff away.  Leaving glasses, plates, eating utensils all over the family room is not acceptable.  And lay off my yogurt!  I'm also not cleaning your bathroom.

Had enough,

The Landlady

Dear Cameron, Mason and Tucker,

Knock it off with the fighting!  You scared the shit out of me and nearly broke my lamp!  Keep it up and y'all will be living in the garage.

Trying to get her heartbeat back to normal,

The human who feeds you

Dear Dr. Z,

Hey, those drugs worked great!  I can breathe again!  My cough is nearly gone!  My blood sugars are getting back to managable levels!

Your patient,

Joan

Dear Nutrisystem,

You rock!!  Your food is pretty good!  I'm really happy that the weight seems to be coming off fairly easily and quickly.  And I like that you lowered your monthly cost by $50.  I can't wait to see what you sent me for this month!

Your new favorite customer,

Joanie

Dear Jerry and Diane,

Thanks for signing up for Nutrisystem and using my name as a reference!  I'll get $60 off my next food shipment!  I believe you also got $30 each off your next order too!  I think that's awesome!!!

Loving her new weight loss program and hope you do too,

Joanie

Dear Alix, Amy, Garret and Liz ,

Thanks for the encouragement!!!  The support I'm getting from y'all is wonderful!  The same goes for everyone who is encouraging me in Bloggiland!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Glad to have such good friends,

Joanie

Dear Readers,

Why not pop over the pond to Kat's Place in the UK, grab the button and get some stuff off your chest?  Trust me, it feels good to release it all!  Don't forget to Link your Dear So and So and lots of others will be able to read them too!  Go on!  You know you want to!

Love,

Joanie

I've Got A Secret

I've been keeping a secret from most of you.  Only Gina, Alix, Garret and Liz knew about my secret, but now I think I'm ready to share it with the rest of you.

I've been on Nutrisystem for the past two and a half weeks.  And it's working for me.

You may remember last year I tried Weight Watchers.  That was not a good fit for me, not with my job.  It was often difficult to keep up with my meals while I was working.  Then there was that whole "I have to cook every night" thing.  I cooked every night for the better part of 25 years and I'm so over that!  Besides, my 2 younger kids were away at school and my oldest has her own home and life. Why cook for just me?

So I like to say I joined Weight Watchers and lost $65.

And John, that wonderful man, just couldn't see me cooking after working hard all day, so we ate out... a lot!  And you know what that does to your weight.  Even having salads at restaurants is usually deadly.

I've been seeing the commercials on TV quite a bit lately about Nutrisystem, so I checked it out.  and liked what I saw.  There is a Women's Diabetic Plan.  The food is pretty good... some real good, some okay and some I didn't like.  The company just dropped their price, so it's at least the same as if I'd buy my groceries and cook.  Actually less.. do you have any idea how much food I throw away because I forget it's there and don't cook it?

One thing I discovered is if I try a food that I don't like, I can adjust my next food delivery and that's just what I did.  I'm not a Black Bean fan, so the shipment that I'll be getting tomorrow for my 2nd month will have no black bean meals.

So I started on Monday, May 10.  With my son's graduation on May 8 and Mother's Day on May 9,  I decided that was NOT the time to do it.  So Monday it was. 

I was so surprised how much food I actually have to eat each day!  It took a few days to get the hang of figuring out what I needed to eat for each meals (and there are 6 of them on the diabetic plan!), but now I have it down pat.  

I prep my food in the morning, pack what I need to bring to work and I'm good to go!  This plan is much easier to do at work.  I have  some protein type bars that I can have if I know I'm not going to be able to heat anything up (like a busy Saturday).  I even pack what I need to take to John's!

We made a plan to not eat out at all for at least the first month.  I'm saving him a ton of money!!  We decided to go out for dinner once a month... a little splurge for us, and not worry about the fat, carbs, etc.  but I know I'll be somewhat careful about what I order. 

Anyway, I'm happy to report that I'm down 12 pounds since May 10!  I have a long way to go but I know it will take me a year to lose all the weight I need to lose to get to my goal.  

Oh! I forgot one of the most important things of all!  My blood sugar levels are dropping!  I was off my Metformin for months because my doctor is expensive and I needed to see her in order to get refills, so I stopped.  I know, I know... bad idea.  Anyway, I'm back on the Metformin.  Last Monday, my fasting blood sugar level (first thing in the morning, before coffee) was 245 (100 and below is optimal).  Yesterday it was 140.  This morning was a bit high... I hope it wasn't the ONE BITE of a muffin that John had.  So my numbers are dropping.  I go back to the doctor in June, so I hope she's pleased with the results so far.  


And as soon as this residual coughing left over from bronchitis leaves, I"ll work on starting to exercise again.

Six Word Saturday

It's a lovely warm Saturday morning!

Ah yes, late spring.  The sun is shining on this early Saturday morning.  At the moment (8 am), it's a nice cool 64 degrees outside.  The high today is supposed to reach 78 degrees.  Perfect. Of course, I have to work today.  Tomorrow calls for a high of 73 degrees, but they they say we could get showers.  It will be my day off.  Figures.  Ah, well... at least I'll get to see the finale of Lost!

Want to try your own Six Word Saturday? Go see Cate at Show My Face and link up!

A long ago memory

I was reading Vodkamom's latest blog post  about her class making thank you cards and sending them to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  It brought back a vivid memory from 19 years ago.

My oldest daughter, Gina was in first grade, and she told her teacher that her Uncle Jimmy was in the war (the First Gulf War aka Operation Desert Storm).  My brother, Jimmy was a Marine (well, you know, once a Marine, always a Marine!) and his unit was sent over to Saudi Arabia.  Jimmy was one of the guys who drove the supplies to the front in Kuwait.  He did not see combat... at least I don't think he did.

Gina's teacher, Mrs. E (who looked just like Snow White!) thought it would be fun for the kids to make cards and letters and send them to him in a big manila envelope.  Jimmy LOVED getting the cards and all his buddies enjoyed them immensely!

When Jimmy came home from the Gulf, he went to visit Gina's class.  I brought him to school just after 1st and 2nd grade lunch.  Jimmy was in his desert fatigues (now they call them BDUs... battle dress uniforms).  We pulled into the parking lot/ kids' school yard while the 1st and 2nd grades were having their after lunch recess.

We got out of the car, and the entire school yard stopped dead and there was instant silence!!  Then, this one little boy, Michael B came charging up to Jimmy and flung his arms around Jimmy's legs and would not let go for anything! (gosh!  I still get teary-eyed just thinking about it!)

We finally got Michael unattached from Jimmy's legs and we went into the classroom.  Jimmy brought his gas mask with him along with a few other momentos and all the kids got to try the gas mask on.  Of course, a lot of the boys were asking if Jimmy ever killed anyone or shot his gun.

All in all, it was  really good day!  Jimmy was the hero of St. Aloysius School that day (too bad the local newspaper didn't know we were coming.  I'm sure they would have sent a photographer over)  The kids were so impressed that a real live soldier had come to visit them!  And Jimmy thought Mrs. E was totally hot!  LOL

Dear So and So: Welcome Home Edition

Dear Self,

So you must think you're a doctor or something.   When your kids caught a cold, you took them to the doctor right away for medication, but when it comes to you, you think you can treat that cold yourself.  And every time, it turns into bronchitis.  Then you end up at the doctor's office and you get weighted down with all kinds of medication that you probably wouldn't have needed had you gone as soon as you felt sick.  It's one hell of a way to get a one week's vacation. You think you'd learn by now.  Sheesh.

Smacking herself in the head,

Joanie

Dear Dr. Z,

Thanks for coming to my rescue again.  And yes, I'll be good and stay on my meds and get my blood sugar under control, and my blood pressure too.  You could help with that BP by lowering your fees by about $100.  Just think about it, da? (she's Russian)

Grateful but broke,

Joanie

Dear Tim,

Welcome home and thank you for knowing how to wash a dish and a pot and where they go when you're finished with them.  Living on your own for 2 years has worked beautifully!!  Now can you teach your sister how to put away her crap?

Thinks this co-habitating just might work out ok,

Mom

Dear Dani,

Welcome home from college!  By the time you get all your crap out of my living room and put away it will be time for you to pack to go back to school.  I have a feeling when your boyfriend comes to visit you'll be getting rid of all the crap because it's obvious that it's all your stuff all over the house.

Didn't miss this side of you this past year,

Mom

Dear Gina,

Welcome home from Ireland!  Weren't you a lucky stiff to be caught there for 3 extra days!!  That ash cloud really worked in your favor!  You got to spend all that extra time with Colleen and her friends. I'm still jealous you got to go to Ireland before I did!

Loves her nice warm socks from Donegal,

Mom 

Dear John's niece, Mary,

Thanks SO SO much for the heads up about prescriptions!  I didn't know if you google the name of your Rx, you might find valuable coupons that can take lots of bucks off your bill!  Thanks to you, my Rx bill went from $87 to $60, which allowed me to pay for all the extra crap Dani bought while waiting at Wal-mart for my Rx to be ready.

Your Uncle John's Significant Other,

Joanie

Dear Maleficent,

You know, I thought I'd be freaked out and really nervous about meeting you at Tim's graduation.  But when I woke that Saturday morning, I was surprisingly calm.  All the way to the school I had no anxiety whatsoever.  When we finally got to the school, I was glad I got to see what you looked like before you saw me.  I realized at that time, that I didn't care any more!  In the end, I won!  One word of advice?  I'd really do something about those terrible bags under your eyes.  It looks like you haven't slept in years.  I remember when I had bags like that.  It was when I found out about you.  Hmmm....

Winner, and still Champion,

Joanie Mack, NOT Poletti

Dear Readers,

Why not pop over the pond to Kat's Place in the UK, grab the button and get some stuff off your chest?  Trust me, it feels good to release it all!  Don't forget to Link your Dear So and So and lots of others will be able to read them too!  Go on!  You know you want to!

Love,

Joanie

Random Tuesday Thoughts: coughs, cars, volcanic ash

I've had an unexpected week off from work, one that I can ill (haha) afford.  My nephew, Marty had a graduation party this past Saturday and I decided not to attend because I took off for Tim's graduation and another day for something I can t remember, and really couldn't ask for yet another Saturday..  Then last Tuesday I start in with a cold or flu or something that I just couldn't shake!  I've been home from work since Thursday (Wednesday is my day off) and won't be back to work until This Thursday.  

I FINALLY broke down and went to the doctor.  Every time I get a cold I think I can treat it myself.  Why see a doc when all I need is Dayquil, Nyquil, hot tea, some rest, throat lozenges.. right?  For most people, that's true.  Me?  Not so much.  Every time I end up with bronchitis and am wheezing so bad, I can barely breathe.  And I wait until it's this bad before calling the doctor.  So now I'm on an antibiotic, steroids, an inhaler med and a decongestant.  And Wal-mart is a little bit richer for it.  You think I'd learn.

To top it all off, I lost my voice!!!  Ever try to make a phone call with laryngitis and not sound like a prank call?  I woke up yesterday with no voice whatsoever.  Throughout the day, it went from a whisper to a croak and back again.  I just tried it and I'm back to the croak.  I'm waiting for frogs to camp outside my door.  

So I think my daughter will be able to fly home tomorrow from Ireland.  She's been "stuck" there since Sunday.  Poor kid.  Stuck on the Emerald Isle, the land of my ancestors, with her best friend from college.  Actually, she's having the time of her life!   

My younger daughter's boyfriend is supposed to come here for a visit this weekend.  He lives in Pittsburgh, we live outside of Philly.  It's a 5 to 6 hour drive.  His parents are afraid to let him drive here, alone.  sigh.  Dani makes the trip, alone, several times a year, going back and forth to school.  Maybe I'm a more lenient mom (well, I know for a fact that I am), but I don't see what the big deal is.  

Tim's moving home today.  He and his dad rented a truck last Friday and brought his bed and other junk belongings home.  Today he's here permanently until he can find a job and get on his feet to get a place of his own. 

Today is the 15th Anniversary of my brother's wife death.  She left us at the early age of 37 from a cerebral hemorrhage.  It's hard to believe that 15 years have gone by so quickly.   We still miss you, Pammy.  Rest in peace.

Tomorrow oops... next Wednesday actually, we're supposed to pick up Dani's newest vehicle.  Her dad finally got smart and purchased a car NOT on Ebay.   She's getting a 2008 Hyundai Elantra.    This one better make it to graduation in 3 years, at least!  So far, she's had a Honda Accord (that lasted 2 years, not sure how), a Saturn (engine seized on the PA Turnpike, coming home for Christmas break), her brother's Bronco (inherited when he got a newer used car for graduation... it was leaking transmission fluid like mad) and now the Elantra.

Now that I think about it, my kids have had a shitload of cars!  Gina's had 6 cars, Tim's had 4 cars and Dani's getting her 4th car.  I've been driving for 27 years ( I was just shy of my 28th birthday when I got my license) and I've had  8 cars in all.  I used to get a new car every 3 or 4 years (we leased a few times).  I've had my Vibe for 7 1/2 years now.  I love my little Vibe, but I do miss that perk my marriage allowed... getting a new car every few years.  Do you think he'd...?  never mind.

**Sue Ann in NM didn't know what a Vibe was, so here is a photo of exactly what my little 2003 Pontiac Vibe looks like (minus the dings and scratches)!  The color is SALSA!!  I love it!

Ah, well... that's enough randomness for now.   

Go see Keely at The Un Mom, read some of the randomness from other folks.  You can even give it a try yourself!  Go over, grab the button, link your random stuff to Keely's blog and you might even find some new friends!

Luck O'The Irish

My oldest daughter, Gina left last Sunday, May 9 for a trip to Ireland to visit her college roommate, who is attending graduate school in County Kildare.  They've had a grand time, touring the Guinness Brewery, touring Dublin and other fun stuff.  I asked her to kiss the Blarney Stone for me if she gets the chance.  Apparently, they weren't anywhere near the Blarney Stone, and besides, the Irish piss on it (her words, not mine)  Just a word of warning if anyone of you plan to visit the Emerald Isle and fancy kissing the Blarney Stone for luck... or should I say yuck?  You might want to pass on that.

Gina was scheduled to fly home on Sunday, May 16.  We get an email in the middle of the night (Saturday, going into Sunday) that her flight has been cancelled, due to "weather".  Then 3 hours later one that reads success!  She had a flight leaving Monday. 

Several hours after that, Gina's boyfriend calls me with the news that basically Ireland is closed until further notice.  That unpronunceable volcano in Iceland (Eyjafjallajokull) is spewing forth lots and lots of ash again and the ash has virtually covered the entire British Isles.  Nothing going in, nothing coming out.  

Gina has a flight scheduled for Wednesday morning... maybe.  If they're letting planes fly she'll be home.  If not, then she's stuck there until the sky clears and they can fly again.

This is her latest Facebook status message (the only way we can communicate right now):

"gets to spend a few more days in the Emerald Isle with Galla-her... my second flight is cancelled, and now I'm supposedly coming home on Wednesday. We'll see!!! hahahaha"

 Do you think she's upset by this problem?  Yeah, me either.