Day 1, Week 1

Getting in shape isn't tough, breaking old habits is the hard part.  Although today is far from day one or week one for that matter, I have not done as good as I could have today.  Chris and I have started cleaning out our food and replacing things over time to make it more healthy.  We didn't do a drastic "toss everything bad and replace it with good" clean-out, we spent money (and that's not something that is in excess) on all that was and is here, so we didn't feel that it would be wise to just drop everything.  We've felt a difference in our energy levels when we've eaten better as opposed to when we've eaten not so great things.  That being said, I still have my cravings.  I've lost about 10 lbs from the moment that I decided that I look terrible in pictures, but.....I still look terrible in pictures.  Case in point (this was taken last week):

Yeah...the bulge.  It's not pretty.  My face, however, doesn't look as chubby as it used to a few weeks ago (although it could use a little slimming down too, still).  I still need a little push to actually DO my exercise.  I mean, I've taken the time to do research, talk with my chiropractor and doctor about my limitations with certain health issues I've got.  Those exercises look FABULOUS on paper, my stick figures are pretty awesome too, I might add.  So...why is it so difficult to actually DO all of it?!  I decided to put it all out here in the open....I need someone to hold me accountable.  Someone to report to.  I refuse to gain the weight back during this move we're going to be doing in a month or so.  I may not be able to get on here and post it all, but I need someone to check up on me, either via email, FB, or text.  Something.  The more people hounding me, the better off I'll be (in theory, anyway).  So far today, I've chased kids around the house, packed two boxes, talked to a few friends at various times today, sat in the car waiting for a baby to wake up and.....gotten kids home from school.  Not a lot of extra activity in there today.  There's still hours in the day yet, and tomorrow is another day.  I'll do better!  Any tips on time management? 

Shots: A Literal & Figurative Pain!

Recently our doctor's office had a change of policy.  Since my kids have CHP+ for insurance, this effects them.  Apparently Medicaid has been causing issues about payment of the shots received in this office (to my understanding) and so they will offer dr visits only, no shots at the office from now on.  I was a bit taken back by this but figured, we're moving anyway, I'll just find a new office to take them to that will do it all, until then I'll just head on over to the Public Health Nurse.  Aralynn's 12 month shots had been divided up between 12 and 15 month visits.  At her 15 month visit (during the time they were still doing shots there), she was sick so couldn't have the shots at that time.  She was only 2 shots behind, or so I thought.

I went to the PHN and the nurse there tried to convince me that she was VERY behind and that they were going to give her EIGHT shots before I left.  I refused and told them I didn't feel comfortable with that amount.  We argued back and forth for quite some time before I demanded to see the list of shots they claimed she needed.  There were shots listed that I KNOW she'd received.  I said as much and the nurse made a big deal about how he was looking at the state's records and she didn't have them and blah blah blah.  I said to check HER records (which I had given to him) again and compare the two.  He made a big fan-fare about it, bringing out her records and flattening them out (over exaggerated movements) and started comparing.  Lo and behold, I was right.  We whittled the list of 8 she would have received down to 6, with fewer times I'd need to come back to get "caught up".  I still didn't feel comfortable with that number.  He, again, made a bit stink about how neglectful I was being by "being so behind" in this and it was giving him anxiety knowing I'd leave without her being fully protected.  I lost it.  I let him know what I thought of him and the shots he was demanding and how I refused to over-load her system.  We knocked the shots down to 4, still not a number I was entirely comfortable with, but I felt pushed.  He got the shots, administered them and then started asking me if she'd had reactions to shots before.  Yes, she's gotten minor rashes on her legs once before.  From her hip to her knee was covered with a rash.  He then tried to belittle me and talked to me as if I was incompetent and started telling me the difference between a rash and redness/soreness/swelling at the injection site.  Again, I was pushed to my limits and cursed the man "LISTEN DIP(STICK), THIS IS MY 5TH CHILD, I THINK I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO!"  To which, he left the room while mumbling what a brave woman I am.  I'm used to being told that, but the way he said it was rather demeaning and rude.

I left there holding back the tears until I got to the car and called Chris and relayed the story.  It was so frustrating!  I got home, put Aralynn down for a nap and then Chris told me to go get some air for a while.  I drove around until my dr's office was open from lunch.  I went in and asked to talk to the nurse about the shot records.  After looking over the records, it was decided that Aralynn was NOT behind and, in fact, she had received a shot she shouldn't have until her 5th b-day.  Again, the blubbering mess came up.  Our dr caught wind of all of this and immediately called up the PHD head nurse and filed a complaint.  He was none-too-happy with how I was treated and said as much.  He told them to never again treat one of his patients that way.  They called me at home and asked for my side of the story so they could officially file complaint and said they would take care of this first thing Monday morning.  This whole thing made me sick to my stomach, literally.  I don't handle stress very well.  Our dr and I haven't seen eye to eye on a lot of things, but he's never made me feel like I'm incompetent nor has he treated me so foul.  Its nice to know that even with our differences, he's got my back!

Evening of Fun

Hiding

Lately, I've been accused of being inconsiderate, mean (even controlling), unChristian, etc.  But truthfully, I'm hiding something.  Nobody wants to, or cares to, dig deep enough to see what it is.  There's a lot of hurt, turmoil, pain and confusion.  But, nobody wants to see that.  They just choose to see the surface appearance.  So, congrats to the person who thought to call to see how I really, truly am...because they could see past the word filter issue, the sarcasm, the forced smiles.  You won the prize of the blubbering mess of a conversational fail.  Here's my public apology to those that feel I've wronged them.  None of it was intentional.

Jousting with WHAT?!

Every couple of months, I go shopping for some pregnancy tests when they're on sale just so I can have them here for an.....uh...emergency purpose! *blushes*  I oh-so-carefully hide them in the back of the bathroom cabinet in a little cubby space that's there and I used to think it was quite the perfect spot to hide them from eyes that I don't want to see them.  Well, I learned today that my hidey spot isn't so great after all.  I came upstairs from doing some laundry switch-a-roos and what did my wondering eyes behold?!  Why...it was my beloved children...jousting with opened from the package, still capped (thank goodness), unused pregnancy tests!  Oh yes, they did!  So I confiscated them back (that took quite a bit of wrestling tactics on my part) and went to go put them back...only to discover the rest of them were opened and in a sink full of water.  Apparently its fun watching that dye line move across the window.  Who knew?!  So, I have the two that were used as jousting weapons left in my hand...they're not wet, so still usable...I hoped anyway.  I opened the caps on them and....see color marks on them.  They'd found a spot on the wall that had "artistic-ness" still present and "colored" with the tip of the test...cuz, I mean, it looks like a marker tip, right?!  Is it bedtime yet?!