Micah

Micah is back in the hospital. They do not know what is causing the excruciating pain on the right side of her back. They did a sonogram of her kidney and we are waiting to hear the results. I'll be calling her room in about 25 min. They will be hooking the monitor up to Corbin to check on him and I'll be sure not to disturb her if she is sleeping. Please keep Brandon, Micah and Corbin in your prayers.

fun time at the visitors center

Micheal wanted to go take pictures at the visitor's center after church today. So off we went. He and Mom insisted I do some posing. I think I look ridiculous! There are some really good ones of both of them in the mix as well.

my baby girl

Micah has been in the hospital since Thursday night due to pre-term labor. She finally got to go home late this afternoon. They have her on Procardia to stop her labor. While there they went ahead and gave her the steroid shots to help speed up the development of Corbin's lungs in case he decided not to wait. His vitals have been fine throughout the whole process. Please keep them in your prayers. She is on bedrest until her upcoming scheduled appt next week. She is also having to wear some type of hose due to swelling in her legs and feet. You can check out her thoughts about it on her blog. Her link is in my list - The Life of the Andersons.

a new woman

Got my hair cut and highlighted today. I feel like a new woman. I was horrible about just putting it up in a pony tail. It's still long, she only cut about 2 inches. I may get it cut shorter...haven't decided yet.

Class is going exceptionally well. A really good group. They get along famously and really enjoy the competition between teams. Last day will be Friday and I start a new class in a different cue (I'm currently teaching technical online support and my next one will be manual account activation- both are Capital One) it will be a night class. I'll have to get acclimated to being up late as class will not end until 11PM and then I'll have paperwork and the drive home, winding down time and so forth usually translates to a bedtime of around 1-1:30 AM. I'll do that for 2 weeks and then be back on days getting up at 4:30 AM. YeeHaw!!

A good day

Class went well. I ended up with 26. They seem to be getting along really well. Tomorrow I'll break them up into teams in order to build some teamwork and help with the warm fuzzies. :)

new class

I start a new class in the morning. Sounds like it will be a challenge. They had hired 29 as of lunch on Friday. Due to the size, I'll have to train out on the production floor. They have approved 2 mentors for me. That will be good.

Lord, bless my class. Have them be respectful of one another and me. Help us to bond as a team and have clear minds for understanding. I thank you Lord for always blessing me with good classes. It's a testimony to the other trainers.
In the sweet name of Jesus I pray,
Amen

hmmm

I never got my Block homework done.

Fell asleep at 8:30.

running blog

I started a new blog for keeping up with my Weight Watchers journey and my running endeavor. If you want to see what I have to say, check out the link under running blogs down on the right for "From flipflops to running shoes".

I have to quit procrastinating and get my H&R Block homework done. I am so unmotivated.

productivity

I have been very productive today. Went back in the closet and finished it. I've moved everything out out of the bedroom that doesn't belong. If I could just get Micheal to give up one fan and go through his bedside table all would be good. Tee Hee!! Well it'll be good as soon as I clean that nasty ole celing fan. I'll have to put a sheet down when I undertake that chore. I guess in order to say I've finished the room I'll have to suck it up and do it before bed tonight. A little background on the room...I decided to decorate it for Micheal because he really likes country and I wasn't very willing to countryfy (Aliciaism) the living room. Anyway I set about to make our room up especially for him. The walls are a little busy but he has lots of cool stuff to showcase and I have some great pictures my Daddy painted. I'll post some photos when I'm done. I'd really like to get a rustic ceiling fan at some point. Maybe with antlers or something. I better get back at it.

couch to 5K

I've been looking on the WW website for running info and have had no luck until tonight. There is a small article that led to a message board within WW. On it there were many mentions of a program called C25K. I checked it out and it is exactly what I was looking for. A plan set out by week. It recommends working out 3 days a week starting with a 9 week program ending at the 5K mark, another 10 weeks will get you to 8K and the last additional 10 weeks leads to the 10K. If I calculated it correctly that would conclude at about the same time as the Capital run. You can visit it and coolrunnings by clicking on their links over to the left under my "favorite places to visit". There are links on the c25k for several other websites that provide podcasts to listen to while you walk/run. Even a Christian one. Lmk what you think.

running

I have been trying to run/walk every other day but haven't always made it. Life happens.

weight watchers

I stopped sending out my WW updates every Monday morning because they were getting boring. I started the maintenance phase 5 weeks ago and have stayed below my goal. All is good.

plane ticket

Bought my ticket last week. Got it round trip out of San Angelo for $328. I'll be leaving on Thanksgiving day and getting home on Dec 13th. Now as long as Mr. Corbin cooperates it'll all be good.

Micheal

Micheal's surgery went well. At the conclusion Dr. Wilkinson came in and talked to us and said the bad news was his knee is in really bad shape. The arthritis is causing the bone to grind away. The good news is that it is in an isolated area only affecting the inside of the knee. Inside meaning the inside of his leg vs. the outside of his leg. Wilk said he will have to be very careful with it and for the first time in 8 years (he has done this surgery 4 times on Micheal) he mentioned a knee replacement. This after telling us in his office last month that Micheal wouldn't be a candidate until he got into his 50's. He took pictures and it is bad. BUT, PTL...he is pain free. Go figure...;) He took pain meds at the surgery center afterward, it was about 9:30 and he hasn't taken anything since and I just asked him and he said, Yep, pain free at the moment. Pretty awesome, huh?? God is good. Be sure to check his blog in the next few days (Cowboy Up, it is in my list) as he will be blogging.

Carrots, Eggs & Coffee

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee... You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, 'Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

first time out

I'm so glad I live out in the country and do not have to worry about who sees me "running". It is pitiful. I started out walking from the front door to the gate, adding some big arm circles to get the blood flowing good and continued on down the driveway to the paved road. I did a few stretches and started off. I was thinking it wasn't so bad until the I hit about the 30 second mark at which time I truly thought I'd die. It didn't help that I've been dealing with upper respiratory issues (allergies I'm sure). So I trudged on to the dead end thinking "This must be how Jenny felt when she saw that last hill." Of course the big difference was she had been running for an hour and I'd been at it only a minute. I took a moment to gasp for breath and then walked back to the driveway. I wanted to head back to the house but instead I walked up to the stop sign and then back to the house. This took a total of...20 minutes. How sad is that??? I can do step aerobics for an hour, no problem but can't run 2 minutes. I kept telling myself that at least I was doing it and not sitting on the couch. I saw Rose at the picnic today and she gave me some pointers that has enabled me to set some realistic goals. It's a process.

new shoes

Jenny has inspired me. I've wanted to run for years but just never had the motivation but reading her blog did it. Being inspired, I had to get the appropriate shoes. I made a trip to Academy and rec'd some of the best customer service ever. The associate was never impatient, never sighed or gave any indication that I was being a pain. I ended up going through about 9 pairs with 2 sizes in each pair beign tried on. I had run into Rose on my way in (a runner as well) and she gave me some tips since I've never bought running shoes in my life. She said to make sure their was plenty of cushion so I picked out the cute ones and then started weeding through based on the cushion factor. This is what I ended up with.

birthday pics

Mom's birthday was the 2nd but we celebrated on the Saturday before. We were originally going to have some family over but she decided to just keep it simple and just celebrate with us. That really turned out to be the best since I was so sick. Here are some pictures from that day. If the pictures aren't showing, just click the "x" in the upper right corner. Not sure why it is doing that.

trip to Maryland

Mom found me a great roundtrip price of $231. Haven't bought it yet because it has us leaving out of San Antonio at 8AM. I wonder how far it is to the airport. We will probably have to leave our house at 4AM. Not sure how safe that is for Micheal as far as staying awake on the way home. Have to see.

back to the grind stone

I've been so sick since Wed of last week. No voice and feeling like poo. I spent the entire 3 day weekend on the couch or in the bed. I feel better today for sure but not 100%. I'm hoping I still have my voice by the end of the day today. We'll see.