Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

Good Afternoon everyone. Today is Sunday. It was a Gorgeous Day today. I had the windows open, the sun was shining, I cleaned my whole house. It was a great day. I changed everyone's sheets on their beds and aired out everyone's bed. It was nice to have the windows open in November, that sure does not happen too much.

I did my weigh in today and I lost 1 more lb. So My total weight loss right now is 159 lbs. I can not believe I have lost that much weight. I can not believe I was CARRYING that much weight around. I really didn't think I was Actually THAT BIG. But when I see pictures of myself from the before and the after, it is just amazing that I didn't have a heart attack or anything carrying that much weight around with me before. But NOW~~~DAM I just FEEL Incredible!!! I can't even explain how I feel. I can't put it into words how much better I feel, how much better I look, how much better I can MOVE!!! IT'S JUST AMAZING!!!!! I still don't have a goal, I just want to stay healthy and keep doing the right things that I am supposed to do to remain healthy.

So anyway, my dad is on his way down here from NJ to attend my aunt's funeral tomorrow. It is pretty sad that someone has to die in order to be able to see most of the family that we have not seen in years. We will be seeing cousins, aunts, uncles, and all kinds of other people that we all haven't seen in years, for my aunt's funeral. So my dad is going to be staying with me. My step mom is not coming down with him cus she couldn't get off of work. So I am going to be making Shepperd's pie for dinner tonight. He should be here by 6:00. And I have not made Shepperd's pie in a long time and lil Sam has been asking for it for a while. So I thought it would be a good dinner to make tonight while my dad is here. I have not seen my dad in over 1 1/2 years. So it will be nice to see him again.

I am off of work tomorrow and then on Tuesday and Wednesday we are off too. Tuesday is one of our furlough days off and Wednesday is Veterans Day so we are off for a few days. So that is giving me a chance to get caught up in things around here. On Wednesday the boys have an eye dr appt which will take like close to 4-5 hours of our day because all three of them go at the same time right after the other. So far, just Tyler needs glasses but I still take all three of them just to keep them updated.

We are still financially strapped Tight. I don't know what we are going to do. But we are managing the best way we know how to. Sam is very very actively looking for another job right now. All he works now is like 3-4 hours a day and only 3-4 days a week and we are struggling so bad. It sucks because I really don't want to loose anything that we have. I have been selling things on ebay but I don't have much that will bring in money that we need. But we will be ok.

Well I am getting off of here now going to start cooking dinner so I will talk to you all later.

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR NIGHT AND HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!!!!!!!!

Been a While

Boy am I slacking on keeping up with my Blogging. I used to be very good at keeping up with my blogging. But lately I have been very very busy and also very sick that I have not put anything on here in a while. Anyway, A lot has been going on here I may be writing a book. LOL!

First of all, since I have written anything on here, I have been sick. I had a serious Sinus infection and an ear infection. I went to the Doctor, got some antibiotics and I was out of work for two days. I thought I was getting better, I went back to work and the more I was doing, the worse I was getting and it was just not going away. So I ended up going to the Doctor again and this time he put me on some serious Antibiotics and some other medicine some kind of steroids to help with the inflammation. So I have been taking them for like 4 days now and I can honestly say that I am FINALLY BACK To Normal (well my normal anyway). I was sick for like over 3 weeks, I felt like I was never going to get better. SO I am back to work, back to my busy self.

I did not loose any more weight this past weekend, that is one of the reasons why I did not post anything last Sunday. I shall see what tomorrow brings because that is when I do my weigh in. I will post more about it tomorrow on my Sunday's Newsflash.

My Aunt Rosie passed away on Thursday. She was 67 and she had diabetes and it just took over her body. Anyway it is sad when you loose a family member, but everything will be ok. God must of needed her there instead. So her funeral is on Monday. My Dad is coming into town tomorrow and I think he may be staying with me. I am not sure yet. But anyway, the funeral is Monday, I am off for that and then I am off of work on Tuesday and Wednesday for Veterans day so I don't have to be back to work till Thursday so it gives me a chance to get some stuff done around the house.

I went to the goodwill the other day to get some clothes again. I have lost so much weight that I am constantly buying new clothes. And the goodwill works well with my budget. Anyway, I was super excited because I am in a size 18 now. I started out in a size 32W. AND I got 3 pairs of jeans and 3 shirts all for ONLY $16.00 I was super excited. They had a 50% off sale on a certain color tag and I got 3 things that had that color tag on it, AND YES IT WAS PURPLE TAG SALE DAY, so how bout that? It was meant to be. LOL. So I am good for clothes for a little while.

I am going to my friends baby shower this after noon. She is having twins. A boy and a girl, just like my sister Peggy. My friend already has a 4 year old little boy and now she is having twins. She will definitely have her hands full.

Well I got to go pick up Lil Sam, he spent the night at his friends house. SO I got to get off of here for now. I will post a BIG Update tomorrow.

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!!!!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

I can't believe it has been a whole week that I have written anything in here. I am supposed to be writing and updating this thing more often so people can stay in touch and see what is going on with me. Oh well, sorry. I guess I have been busy. AND the crazy cartoon farm has been keeping me addicted. LOL!!! It is so much fun. I even have Sam into it and now Tyler wants to get into it now. LOL!!!
Anyway on to my Sunday's Newsflash. I am so excited today. I am going to MD today to a High School Bands Competition. I am super excited. High School bands from DE, MD, and VA are competing today for trophies and stuff like that. I used to do that when I was in the high school band and it was so MUCH FUN!!! It is going to bring back so many memories for me. My BFF Joyce, her daughter is a freshman and this is her first competition and she asked me if I wanted to go. SO that is what I am doing today. We are leaving around 11:30. There is going to be 20 area high school bands there. The best from each area of their states. And if you know me, and you know how I grew up with the high school bands and the Drum and Bugle competitions
OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!! So I am leaving Sam and the boys home today, just me and my friend Joyce are going to see her daughter. HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!! And it is Sunny and Beautiful outside, we couldn't of asked for better weather. :)
And because it is Sunday I am updating on my weight loss too. I have now officially lost 158 lbs!!
Can you believe it? DANG!!! I am a whole new person on the outside. I feel INCREDIBLE!!!! I weigh less then Sam now. I never ever have weighed less then Sam. LOL!!! Anyway, so I lost 158 lbs. And today is my 15 month anniversary of the surgery too so it is time to post new pictures up already. I can't believe it is time to post pictures up already. Time sure does fly by. Well last month it was crazy and I didn't get on here much at all. So when I get the chance to take pictures of myself, I'll get them on here ok.
Well I gotta get breakfast going and get ready to go to the Band Competition so I am going to get off of here now. So I'll talk to you all later.

HAVE A WONDERFUL SUNDAY!!!

ENJOY THIS WEATHER!!!!

ENJOY YOUR FAMILY!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

Wow where has the time gone. It has been two weeks since I have posted anything on here at all. I can not believe it. I am slacking. Sorry. But today is Sunday, my weigh in day and I am on here posting an update for all my friends and family. So I have lost another 3 lbs. So my total weight loss is now 154 lbs. Can you believe it? Dang it feels so incredible. I am doing Fantastic. SO much more energy and everything. I am doing so good.

Anyway, what a week this has been for me and my friends. I feel so bad for one of my friends Robin. Her son, who is 14 is battling Cancer, he has been for like 2 years now. He is doing ok but not totally out of the woods yet. Has to be home schooled, has to go back and forth up to AI DuPont Hospital in Wilmington 3-4 x a week. So their family has been going through a lot lately, trying to work, go to school, pay the mounting hospital bills, etc. Well, on Saturday last week, her Husband died. Right there at the grocery store, he fell and had a massive heart attack. HOW SAD IS THAT??? He was 47 years old. They said is was from Stress and Worry and concern from their son having cancer, and them trying to make ends meet and all. It is just so sad. Now Robin had to arrange a funeral for her husband, and still take care of her son and the her other two boys. Can you imagine, having to go through that. We have all been helping her in any way we can. His Family came down from NY and CT to help her out and be there for the funeral and all. I just don't know how she is going to manage it all now. Glen was her rock, he was there all the time. How devastating for her to have to go through this. But now she has her boys and all of her friends and family to help and support her. She is certainly going to need it now. SO I am asking all my friends and family on my blog world to please pray for my friend Robin that she can help her family go through this very sad hard time right now and that her son can fight this cancer and be cured. Cancer is such and UGLY thing and now that her son has to grieve and deal with his father's death, what is that going to do to his poor little body? SO please pray for my friend right now, she needs all the prayers she can get.

So besides that, we have been doing ok. I have been very busy and working a lot and having meetings and things going on. You know me, always busy. The boys are all doing good. It has been raining and yucky out for days so they have been stuck in the house for a long time. They have actually been going out A LOT lately after school to ride their bikes and stuff so now that they are stuck inside it is crazy. WE are all outgrowing this house but there is nothing I can do about it. I can't afford to move right now. But we do what we have to do to manage.
Sam is working his little part time job right now. I wish he can find a full time job that pays more and offers more hours but right now this is all we can do. We are struggling big time but we are managing the best way we know how. It can always be worse and there are other people out there that are worse off then we are, so I count my blessings and move forward with what we have.

WELL, EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR WEEK AHEAD

AND

ENJOY THIS BEAUTIFUL FALL WEATHER!!!!!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

Well today is Sunday. And I am finally doing a post on SUNDAY. I feel like I have not put anything on here in a while. I have been so busy and playing with my farm that I have not had the chance to get on here in a while. But anyway, HERE I AM!!!! 14 months after surgery!!! Feeling FANTASTIC!!!!! Looking Wonderful!!!! Energized!!!! Incredible!!!!! I have lost 152 lbs so far. And still going strong. I feel like a whole new person. (Don't mind the hair, I had just got out of the shower when I got this picture taken, LOL).

So other then my weight loss news, nothing else is happening here. I am doing some work on the computer for my para stuff, the boys are riding their bikes outside and chillin out. Sam is playing some game w/ the neighbor. And I am getting ready to cook dinner. I am making meatloaf tonight for dinner. Last night I made ham, cabbage, and potatoes. It was so good.
I had my little boy from school here all day yesterday. That was fun. He is such a happy kid. My boys and Sam love him. He was so much fun. Then I invited his grandparents here for dinner when they came to pick him up. They were so excited and happy to stay and have dinner with us. We had such a great time.

Other then that, nothing else is going on. I have two meetings and one appointment this week. So not too bad of a week ahead for me. I should be fine. No money as usual, but hey can't complain. Sam is at least working at the part time job with the motorcycle warehouse. He is doing ok. He just only get 4 days a week and only $8.50 hr. but I guess it is better then nothing. At least we get food stamps now to help us out. Sam is still looking for a full time/better paying job. Maybe one day, it will come.

HERE ARE RECENT PICTURES OF ME TAKEN LAST WEEK ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF MY WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY. FEELING FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR WEEK AHEAD!!

TGIF!!!!

What a week this has been. I have been so very very busy that I all I did was go to work, had meetings, appointments, etc. and never got to see Sam and the boys much this week at all. I don't know how I did it. I didn't even get the chance to do my Sunday's Newsflash that I do EVERY WEEK. I promise I will do it this weekend because I have to post new pictures of myself on here because it has been now been 14 months and I have changed so much. I feel incredible. Look for pictures of me this weekend along with a complete update on my weight loss.

This weekend, my little boy from school is coming over all day tomorrow. His grandparents, who are raising him, are going to a wedding and they asked me to babysit. I gladly said yes because it has been a while since I have had him here at my house and I miss him. He is no longer in my class at school so I don't get the chance to see him that much during the day. He moved up to the next grade. SO he is coming over tomorrow to hang out here with me and Sam and the boys. I don't have anything planned really, just chilling out at home and doing laundry and stuff. I want to really cook this weekend too, I haven't done that much this week at all. So I am craving to cook. I get that way sometimes, where I really really want to cook and the more people I can cook for the better I am. LOL. Sunday I have some work to do on the computer for my Para stuff. So that will keep me busy. I will also be working on updating my blog so you all get the chance to see the changes I have made in the last month. But other then that, nothing really planned for this weekend. Just chillin out at home and relaxing and playing on my farm. LOL. No money to do anything and no desire to go anywhere. Honestly I just want to sleep for days. I am so tired. But you know I get that way every year when school is in session. I am involved in so much with my Union and my school and other things that it really really keeps me busy.

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!!!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS!!!!

Addicted to Farmville and Facebook

Oh my gosh, we have become addicted to Farmville on Facebook. If anyone has a facebook page, you probably heard of Farmville. It is a interactive game online where you grow and maintain a cartoon version of a real farm. It is very very cute and it is fun. You plow, plant seeds, have animals, trees and all that, and in time they grow and you then harvest the things for more coins and money and then you can expand your farm and add other things to it and all. Well, we in this house are addicted to it. It is so fun. It is clean family fun. Our xbox is broken and Sam has been like a bump on a log and bored blah blah blah. Well he saw me playing farmville one night last week and asked about it. I was showing him all about it and then he wanted to get in on it so we created a facebook page for him too (that is the only way you can play farmville) and he now has his own farm. WELL that's all it took. LOL. He is happy again, excited to come home and get up on his farm and see how things are going. He has neighbors that he helps out, he has friends on his facebook that talk to him. He is even on the phone to his friends talking about farmville It is so dam funny. Here he was all depressed, didn't want to do anything, didn't want to get out of bed, didn't want to talk to anyone and NOW a CARTOON FARM has CHANGED HIM!!! Go figure. But hey what ever makes him happy right. He has a part time job, did I mention that. He got a job in a motorcycle warehouse. So he plays with motorcycles all day and plays with a farm all night. LMAO!!!! But at least he is not out drinking and partying and driving drunk and doing drugs. LOL he is on a cartoon farm. I just find that so dam hilarious. But he is HAPPY AGAIN AND THAT IS ALL I WANTED.

SO other then that, I am off of work today because it is one of our State Mandated Furlough day that we had to take off because of the state budget crisis. So I am paying bills on here, catching up on some things that I have to do. Then Sam is going to come home for lunch and after that I have to go run a bunch of errands in town today. So that is my day today. Tomorrow, I am going to meet NICHOLAS SPARKS. I am SO EXCITED about that. I can't wait. We are leaving here at 7:30 am and going to Washington DC. My friend Margaret and her daughters are going with me, it is going to be so much fun. I love her girls. They are like daughters I never had. They are all teenagers just like my boys. She has 3 girls and 2 of them are in High School and one is in middle school. So they are not young that we would have to like take care of them tomorrow or really like watch them in the crowds. We are going to have so much fun.

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR FRIDAY NIGHT AND HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!!!

Tired Tuesday

I am so dang tired tonight. I had open house last night for my school. Cody and Tyler had a Dr. appt tonight at 5:00. I just got home at 6:30. I stopped to the grocery store and bought chicken for dinner and now I am getting ready to do the laundry. I am just so tired today that I just wish this night could be done with. But I have to finish the laundry and I have to do the dishes. And then I can go to bed. I have a meeting tomorrow and Thursday night and then I will be able to chill on Friday night. I am going to Washington DC this weekend so I am looking forward to that. I am going to meet Nicholas Sparks in person. I am super excited about that one. And there are going to be a Ton of other favorite authors there too. HEY PEG--ARE YOU GOING? I would love to see you there.

Well that is about all that is going on here with me and us. Nothing new. I am still waiting to hear the reply for the food stamps. I applied for them last week but I have not heard anything from them yet. They said they are over loaded with tons of people applying right now that they are behind. So I hope to get them soon, hopefully by the end of this week. I need them bad. I know I am going to get food stamps but I just don't know how much.

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

Yeah it is Sunday again. The day that I do my weigh in and the day that I post all about my progress. Sorry it is so late in the day. I have been busy and playing games and all on the computer and doing work that I almost completely forgot about my Sunday's Newsflash. So here it is. I am so super Excited. I did my weigh in today and I have lost another 3 lbs so that now brings my total weight loss to 150 lbs. YES I said 150 lbs. Can you believe it????? I am so super excited. I can not believe I was carrying all that around first of all, and I can't believe I have lost that much. BUT I feel AMAZING!!!! FANTASTIC!!!! WONDERFUL!!!!! ALIVE!!!! LIKE A WHOLE NEW PERSON. THANKS FOR EVERY ONE'S SUPPORT!!!!!!

Other then that, I have not been doing anything else today. I had a lot of work to do on the computer that I had to get done, then I was playing Farmville on my facebook page. I am getting addicted to it. They say it is addicting and now I see why. I am about to go on it again soon and see how my farm is doing.

It was nice not having to go do things today. I was able to just stay home and do the things I needed to do at home today.

Well tomorrow starts a very very busy week for me this week. I have a meeting or an appointment every single night this week, so I am not going to be home much this week. But it will all be ok because that is how my life is, busy, busy, busy.

SO EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR NIGHT AND HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK AHEAD!!!!!

A Wonderful Week!!!!

I just have to say that I have had a Wonderful week this week. And now it is Friday and I can sit back and enjoy my weekend. I just LOVE my JOB so much, it is wonderful. We are going on a field trip the end of this month to a local Apple Orchard. At the apple orchard, we are going to be going on a hay ride, go in a pumpkin patch, pick our own apples, and go through a mini corn maze. We are going to have so much fun. So in preparation for our field trip to the Apple orchard, we have been doing all kinds of Apple Art projects this week. And we have been having so much fun. We made our own apple orchard by tracing the kids bodies with their arms spread out for the trees and the kids finger painted apples to hang on them. And for the tops of the trees, we used green paper and the kids painted with their feet on the green paper. We just put paint on their feet and let them just walk ALL OVER the paper. OH MY GOSH did they have fun. It turned out really good. The paint was like fall colors for leaves and it was so cute. IT was definitely a messy project but they had so much fun doing it. So now our apple orchard is complete and it is all hanging up in the hall at school so the kids will be able to see it when they come to school on Monday. It came out so dang cute. I am going to take a picture of it and post it on here next week. LOL. So besides the apple orchard we created, we painted with apples this week, we sponge painted a huge apple, and next week we are going to make home made apple sauce and apple pie. This week was art and painting, next week it is cooking and food. It is going to be so much fun. We have been having a blast with them this week and they are all loving it.

SO besides school news, Sam got a JOB~~~YEAH!!!!!! It is only part time, so it will only be temporary until he gets a full time, better paying job. He is working at a motorcycle warehouse shipping and receiving and doing stuff like that. SO what man wouldn't want to work around motorcycles all day long. He does really like it. It is not a strenuous job at all and he gets along really well with the other people. The problem is, it is not Full Time it is only like 30 hours a week and it is only $8.00 an hour. So he is still looking for a Full Time job that can pay more, because we can't make it on only that much of money. So we are going to keep our fingers crossed and hope something comes better. We shall see what happens. BUT AT LEAST HE HAS A LITTLE JOB. IT IS BETTER THEN NOTHING!!!!!

So this weekend, we are just going to chill out at home. I have a lot of para work to do at home so I will be doing that. And I want to finish reading my book I am on. Next weekend, I am going to Washington DC to meet NICHOLAS SPARKS in person, I am so EXCITED. If you don't know who Nicholas Sparks is, he is only my MOST FAVORITE author in the World. He wrote the Notebook, Message in a Bottle, Walk to Remember and all kinds of other books and each of those books that I mentioned have been movies. SO if you have seen those movies, they were written by NICHOLAS SPARKS. SO I am going to DC to meet him in person and get him to sign some of my books that I have of his. It is free to the public and there are going to be a ton of other authors there too if anyone wants to go. It is the National Book Festival in DC if you want to check it out online. I will be there for sure. Super EXCITED!!!!

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND AND HAVE FUN!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash

Hi All, it is Sunday. It is SUNNY finally, it has been raining here for a few days. It feels nice to have the sun out today. I have been doing things around the house, getting caught up on things that I don't get the chance to do, go through things in the closets, listing things on ebay to sell, getting fall/winter clothes out for the boys to wear etc. So it has been a really nice day, I have all of the windows open, there is a great breeze out. It just feels like a beautiful day. And FALL IS IN THE AIR~~~~~MY FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did my weigh in again today and I have lost 1 more lb, so now my total weight loss it 147 lbs. And I feel FANTASTIC. I am getting back to exercising now that I am back to work, I am on a really good routine and I love routines. I am slowing down on my weight loss, it won't be as much as it was in the beginning, they said after a year or so it will start to taper off, so that is what is happening now. It has been 13 months and 147 lbs is not too bad at all. I am HAPPY with everything. I am doing WONDERFUL. I am keeping it up and feeling GREAT.

Sam finished that deck for our neighbors so that brought in a little bit of money, I was able to pay some bills with it. He is going tomorrow around town to look for a job again, hopefully he finds something cus he really really needs a job. It really sucks to be struggling like this, but we do the best we can with what we have. I have to apply for food stamps on Monday. I know I will be able to get them because now it is only my income and I don't make anything worth while. I'll see how it goes on Monday. Hopefully he gets a job and we won't have to have them for a long time.

The boys are doing good, they are all in a routine for school again and doing fine. No complaints.

EVERYONE ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR SUNDAY AFTERNOON!!!!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!!!!

REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11th, 2001

~~~~OUR PRAYERS ARE ALWAYS WITH THE VICTIMS

& THEIR FAMILIES~~~~

Tomorrow

Hey ALL how are things? Sam has an interview tomorrow for a little part time job. Hey but anything for now will be good. It is for P&F motorcycles, maintance type work. So wish him luck. Pray, please. He needs a job. I know it will be only part time right now, but it may lead into full time and it may lead into other things. The job market is so tough right now, he is willing to do anything for a job. AND he also has a few side jobs people are wanting him to do. Word of mouth goes a long way. He is just about done with the big deck he was building for one of our neighbors. It turned out to be a huge deck with a 20' ramp. So we will be getting money from that by Friday. Then one of my students at school, his dad wants Sam to put together one of those big huge swing set kits that you get from Lowe's and he will get $500 for doing that, and one of my other friends wants to screen in her back porch and put windows in to make it like a sun room, so Sam will be doing that too. And so things are starting to look up just a little bit for us. We shall see what happens.

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR THURSDAY AND PRAY THAT SAM GETS THIS JOB!!!!!!

Labor Day Monday

So today was Labor Day. Not much happened here. I helped Sam with building that deck he is doing for our neighbor. It is turning out to be a very big project. It is an 8x8 deck with a 20' wheelchair ramp, and 6 steps on the other side. It is a lot of work to do a project like that. But we are almost done. I have to go to work tomorrow so he will be on his own doing it tomorrow. I have been helping him most of the time because lil Sam is a typical teenager and he doesn't want to help if he isn't getting paid for it, and because we have no money we can't afford to pay lil Sam for his help. And lil Rob was going to help but he is sick with Gaul Stones, He may need surgery soon. So it has been just me and Sam doing it. IT is working out pretty good. I am learning more then I wanted to learn about building decks. LOL. But we are getting a long and that is always a good sign when a married couple work together. Hopefully tomorrow though, he will be done with the whole thing and we can get paid for it. We sure can use the money. He still doesn't have a job, and he certainly can't go looking for one tomorrow. Hopefully the few places that he has applied for will call him and he will find a job soon. Other then that, we are all doing ok. Struggling as usual, but surviving the best way we know how.

EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK THIS WEEK!!!!!!

4 Day Weekend here

So We now have a 4 day weekend. It is Labor Day (just encase you didn't know that) LOL. So Sam is building a really big deck for on of our neighbors and the deck is going to have a 20 foot wheelchair ramp to it too. So that is what is going on this weekend. Yesterday I went with him to buy all the wood for it at Lowes. You should have seen his poor little truck. It was so loaded down that I thought we were going to pop a wheelie going home. LOL. But we got it all home and we made it in one piece. So now he is getting ready to go over there all day and put it together. That will be a little bit of money for us. He is getting $500 for doing it so that will help. We have been looking for jobs for the past few weeks and there is just NOTHING out there right now. I am applying for food stamps next week. We have to do something. I don't want to loose anything that we have worked so hard for but I am afraid it is going to happen if something doesn't come up soon. But there is no use complaining about it. We just have to work through it. YES it is so dam stressful but we are doing what ever we can do survive. I sure can use some help right now but so can every other person in this world. But better days are coming I hope. And Time will make everything better. I am selling stuff on Ebay if anyone wants to look around for anything. Mostly books and movies and games. Stuff like that.
Other then that, we are doing ok. YES we argue but it doesn't last longer then the day, WE NEVER GO TO BED ANGRY AT EACH OTHER. So that helps. And it is not like this has been our first time in this situation. IT too shall pass. AND we will get through this it just really sucks for the time being.
We are back to school and everything is doing great there. I Love my job. I am having so much fun with my kids. We are doing all kinds of things. It is great. The boys are doing ok in school too. They are liking their classes and their teachers. It gets to the point when they get older and in the higher grades that "it's just school mom, what more can I say about school".
Well that is about all that is going on here today. Hopefully he will be done with that deck by the end of today and we can get paid for it by Monday. Tomorrow we are going over to some friends house for a big bbq and that should be fun, get out for a while and visit with friends.

EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY WEEKEND!!!!

ENJOY YOUR LABOR DAY OFF OF WORK!!!!!!

Ok~~~Ok~~~Ok~~~~

I know I have not kept up with my side of the bargain huh? Sorry. I have not been on my computer in a few days. I never even put up my Sunday's newsflash or nothing. DAM what's wrong with me? LOL.

Sorry, I have been so very very busy with starting back to work and all that I have not had the chance to get on here. And I'm very very worried about Sam not working. It really sucks. IT is really hard to live on just one income. It has been so very stressful here. OK so no more excuses. Here is my Sunday's newsflash and my pictures that I promised.

It has been exactly 13 months since I have had my surgery. I feel absolutely fantastic. Doing wonderful. Exercising my butt off, literally. And I have now lost a total of 146 lbs.

HERE I AM 13 months later. CHECK ME OUT!!!!!!

DAM I CAN REALLY TELL THE DIFFERERENCE NOW!!!

It's the Weekend

Hi everyone in my blog world. It is the weekend and man have I been busy. You all know that I started back to work again this past week and I am in the room with 3 year olds. And let me tell you, they are some busy little people. Always on the move doing something. So this week was our first day back to school and we were so excited to be back to work. It was a great week. On Thursday though, I was so EXHAUSTED. I came home from work like by 5:30 after I had a lot of errands to run. I was so tired, I didn't even want to cook dinner, I just let everyone fend for themselves. SO I started reading my book that I have been reading and by like 6:15 I was sound asleep on the couch. Next thing you know it was 9:00pm, I woke up to go to the bathroom and I crawled into my bed and went to sleep for the whole night. I slept so hard till like 5:00 in the morning. That's how tired I was. It has a lot to do with being off for like 4 weeks and then going back to work again it is a big adjustment. But I am ok now. NO, I'm not sick. My body was just getting adjusted to working again.
So now it is the weekend and I am home today doing things around the house. I have my little boy that I take home from school sometimes. His grandmother (who has custody of him) is in the hospital and his grandfather wanted to go up to see her for a few hours. So I told him I would take care of him for a while. Right now, he is taking a nap. So I am able to get on here for a few.

Tomorrow I will post about my weigh in and also post another set of pictures of me because this week was my 13 month anniversary of having my surgery. And I took pictures of me and now I have to put them on here. So look for my posting tomorrow. ok.

WE are still anxiously waiting for Sam to get a job. He has a big lead on something and supposedly it may happen on Monday. The owner of the company is supposed to be calling him to start this coming Monday. LORD I hope so. I will let you all know as soon as I hear anything. UNTIL then please Pray that Sam finds a job quickly because I don't know how much longer we can go without him working. It is really hard financially right now for us.

EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!!

ENJOY THE WEATHER OUTSIDE!!!

TRY AND STAY COOL!!!!!

We are so EXCITED!!!!!

The kids first day of school is tomorrow. AND WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!! Today we were at work and set up our new classroom with all of the furniture and things we need for our students. We worked out a schedule of things we are doing for the days and the specials that we are doing. We worked out our swim schedule etc. We are so ready for our kids to come tomorrow and we are super EXCITED to see their shinning faces. We miss them so much. This year I am working with Joyce again, she is the teacher I have been with for over 14 years now and the other para in our room is Margaret and she is my best friend. All three of us work so well together it isn't funny. It is amazing how well we just click and work fantastic together. So We had a great day today getting ready for our kids. We all said we weren't going to be able to sleep tonight. It should really be the other way around. The kids should be the ones who are excited and can't sleep and ready to come back to school, which I am sure they are, but we are just like little kids ourselves, excited for the first day of school. It is going to be wonderful.

Cody and Tyler start school tomorrow. They are excited too. Tyler is a little nervous though. He doesn't know where his room is and all. But he will be ok. They will be all excited when they get home to tell me all about their first day of school. Little Sam started school last week and he has brought home more papers for me to sign every single day. Don't you hate the first week of school it feels like you are signing your life or you Kid away. LOL. I know they need all these papers signed, different information and all but dang doing it times 3 is a lot. LOL.

Sam did not hear anything yet from that job he applied for. He is going to call them tomorrow. I sure do hope he gets this job, he needs to work so bad we just can't make it on my salary alone. I will let you all know what happens.

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR TUESDAY!!!!!!

I KNOW I WILL WITH MY LITTLE KIDS!!!!!

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! :) :):):)

Sunday's Newflash!!!!

IT is sunny!! Yeah. We have had the most Wicked Storms for the past two nights. It was like Yellow outside all day yesterday and the day before. It was so EERY! The thunder was Rocking my house. It was intense. The RAIN was like Torrential downpours. There for a few minutes I thought for sure we were going to loose our electric. IT was horrible. IT was scary. And the aftermath, holy cow, We have floods like crazy here. Our house is ok, but across the street, their whole driveway and yard is flooded. Down the street is the same way. What a wicked storm it was. It started on Friday night, lasted ALL night into the morning. Then it let up and we thought is was over. Then around 5 pm last night it started all over again. WOW the thunder alone just rocked our world. It was the hardest storm we have had in years. I was a little worried for a while. I think it had something to do with that hurricane that was out in the Atlantic, I think it was hurricane Bill. We didn't have the wind though thank God. But the RAIN oh my gosh.
So when we woke up this morning and it is Sunny and nice and warm and Blue skies I knew it was over and we are all ok. Just dealing with lots of water on the roads and yards. Hopefully by tonight or tomorrow it will all dry up and be ok. Now talk about mowing, that rain just made our grass grow like 6 inches overnight. LOL. So needless to say we have to mow the grass now. But is just way to wet out there today to do any of that. Maybe tomorrow.
So the boys had one of their friends spend the night last night. That was fun, they were up till like midnight. But they had a lot of fun.
I did my weigh in again today because it is Sunday and I have lost another 1 lb so my total weight loss now is 144 lbs. WOW!!! Unbelievable. I feel Fantastic. I am doing so good and now that I am back to work and back to my routine it will be even better. I have to go clothes shopping soon. My sister Lynn gave me some clothes--Thanks Lynn---that helped so much. But I still to get a few more pants. I usually go to the goodwill, you can find some really nice things there if you look really good. So maybe on Friday or next weekend, when I get paid I will have to venture out to the goodwill again.
Sam may have a job, YEAH!!! He lost his about 3 weeks ago, and he has been out putting apps in all over the place. Well he has decided to go back into construction and building houses again. He has over 14 years experience and he really likes it. He is good at it. Well he went to this place that our nephew Rob works at and they are hiring. So the guy asks Sam how many yrs exp he has and when he told him over 14 years, they guy was like blown away and wanted him right away. He told him he will look over his app and call his references and then call him on Monday. So then when Rob got back to the shop, the guy was asking about Sam and the guy told Rob that he will be calling Sam on Monday. SO HOPEFULLY it will all work out and everything will be good and Sam will start working for this company on Monday. Apparently this company is Extremely busy and have lots of work lined up and the pay really really good, so keep praying that this all works out for him and us. CUS being unemployed really SUCKS!!!!
Other then that, we are chilling out here. I am on here listing things on ebay again, emailing, and surfing the net. The boys are all playing in their room, they are getting back into playing with all of their toys instead of just video games. I think it is cool to have their friend here because that helps them not fight with each other and all play together. It is cool. So we are having a relaxing day and getting ready for the work day tomorrow. I have to be to work by 7:30 tomorrow and I can't wait. LOVE MY JOB!!!!!

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR SUNDAY AFTERNOON!!!!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK NEXT WEEK!!!!!

Back to School!!!!!

YEAH!!!! I am back to work, Back to School. I had such a great day yesterday. It was the first day for only the staff to come to work. We had this huge meeting in the morning where every staff member of the district gathered in one place to listen to the superintendent talk about the improvements that are being made in our district, the expectations of everyone, the future of our district, honor the teachers of the year and so on. It was very nice. Then we met into our own groups of staff. Like all the teachers had their own meeting and all the paras had their own meetings. Well, that is where I stepped in and had to take over. It was a little bit overwhelming at first. There were over 120 people looking and listening to me and paying attention to every word I had to say. Then they were asking all kinds of questions. It all went pretty well though. I was pretty siked up to begin with for it being the first day and I had to address everyone so that when it was over, I just felt like I crashed. I was just exhausted. I guess it was all of the adrenaline leading up to that moment and the preparations making sure that I had everything I needed and I didn't forget anything. So now I can say that we have officially started back to school yesterday. HOWEVER, now we are OFF today LOL! Yeah I know pretty weird huh? Well, the state is in such financial crisis that they had to tell every state employee to reduce their days by 5 days this year, so that they can reduce our pay by 2.5%. So we had to come up with 5 days that we can take off of school that would not interfere with the students and make a staffing shortage. SO in all the meeting we all had, we decided that today would be one of our 5 furlough days to take off of work because there are no students today. SO that is why I am off today. We go back to work on Monday and the students start back to school on Tuesday. I am so excited to see them!!!!!! :) We were there for the rest of the afternoon yesterday setting up our classroom and getting things together for them. We are so excited. It is going to be a great year. Well HONESTLY EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE AT WORK IS A GREAT DAY AND A GREAT YEAR!!!! I LOVE MY JOB LIKE NO ONE HAS EVER LOVED THEIR JOB!!!!!!! And I can't believe this will be starting my 14th year in my school. And it is now my 24th year of working with children with Disabilities. Can you believe it? This is the only thing I have ever done in my life. These children are my life!!!! I love them so much.

SO with today being Friday, I am home doing things around the house and on the computer. Lil Sam is in school. He started yesterday. The other two boys start Tuesday. So now, finally, things can get back to normal. And we can be back to a normal routine. I can be my normal VERY BUSY self and loving every minute of it. The boys can be on their normal very busy routine and loving it and everything will be going great.
Sam is still looking for a job. Yeah it really sucks around here trying to find a job. Yeah he lost his job (long story) almost about 3 weeks ago and we have not had any luck finding a job. But we are keeping our hopes up that something will show up soon. IT HAS TO!!! If anyone knows of anything around here that is hiring, please let me know.

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY THEIR FRIDAY AND HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!!!!!

Awake and Ready to Go!!

Good morning everyone, it is Wednesday morning and I am up and ready to go. I woke up all excited this morning. I start back to work today. Today is a 1/2 day for training. We all got this new technology equipment in our school and we all need to be trained on it. So we start back today to get trained on it. Then we really start back to school tomorrow. Have to be there at 7 am tomorrow. I can't wait. I have to do a big presentation for all the paras in the district because I am the president. I am excited about it all, but I am hoping I don't forget anything. I have been getting things together for the past few days. Hopefully I don't forget to tell them anything or do all that I am supposed to do. The first day of school is always a little nerve racking. I will over 120 people's eyes on me and I don't want to stumble or forget to say something that they need to hear. Anyway, so today we have this training, tomorrow we start school with the big meeting for everyone in the district and then on Friday we are off. It is one of our furlough days that we have to take this year because of all the state financial problems they are having. SO then on Monday we go in to set up the classrooms and all and then on Tuesday the students start. I can't wait!!!! I miss my kids so much. Even though I worked summer school and only really got like 3 weeks off, that is still such a long time not to see my kids. I bet they have grown so much and I hope they didn't loose a lot of what we were doing over the year. Every year is a new year and every year we have to start over with our kids. BUT it is all worth it because they accomplish so much by the end of the school year. IT is wonderful to see them and see their little faces when they know they have mastered a goal that they have been working on for so long. Man I miss my kids.
My boys start school this week and next week. I can't wait for that to happen either. They have been home and together WAY too much this summer. They need a break from each other. Lil Sam starts school tomorrow and Cody and Tyler start school next Tuesday. They are excited and ready to get back to school too.
Anyway, I did my weigh in again yesterday. I missed it on Sunday because we were not home. And we got home too late on Monday. So I did it yesterday. I lost another 1 lb. So that brings my total up to 144 lbs. I am so excited. I am just doing awesome. I feel fantastic. I feel wonderful. I just FEEL Incredible. And now that I will be back to work and going to have my routine back it is even going to be more exciting. I love being in a routine. It just makes things run smoother and easier.
Sam is looking for a JOB!!! Yeah, he lost his job (long story). But anyway, we are seriously looking for a new job and in today's world that is very hard to do. There is just not a lot of jobs out there. But I keep praying and keeping my hopes up that something will happen soon. I am going to apply for food stamps and medicaid now because we just can not make it on my salary alone. It is just impossible. So if anyone knows of anything out there that can help us, I would really appreciate it.

EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!

We're Back!!!!

We are back from Pittsburgh and West Virginia. On the way home from Pittsburgh, we decided to surprise my mom and dad and my sister Lynn and go visit them for a day. That was a lot of fun. But first let me tell you about our visit with Marleen and her husband Rob. We had such a great time. We got there on Thursday night, she had made a really nice dinner for us by the time we got there. She made mini meatballs, cut up veggies, cheese and crackers, etc. all kinds of finger foods. It was so good. She has the cutest little old house. It was built way back in the day. LOL. Anyway on Thursday night we all sat around and played Poker on a real poker table. That was a fun. It felt like we are in Vegas. LOL. Then We all "camped" out in her living room all weekend. We had air mattresses and the couches. Then on Friday, we made this really big breakfast for everyone and then we went shopping a little bit. Then we did my hair, wait to you see pictures of it. I wanted to put a relaxer in my hair because my hair is so dam curly. So we did the relaxer and it turned out really really good. And we painted our nails. It was a lot of girl time that day it was fun. Then we made lasagna and salad and all for dinner. Then on Saturday we made another big breakfast and then we all went down to the pool and went swimming for awhile. We all got pretty burnt but it was fun anyway. Then we bbqed Saturday night and sat around the camp fire. That was fun making s'mores and all. The whole time we were there we played on the drum set that they have in the basement. That was wonderful. Now lil Sam wants a drum set for Christmas, I was like yeah right, where are we going to put it? LOL. And they even have a real slot machine, the boys really liked that too. And their little dog "smuckers" they had so much fun playing with their little dog too. Then on Sunday it was time for us to go home. But because my mom lives on the way home from Marleen's house, we decided to go there too. And extend our vacation one more day. That was fun too, because my mom just got back from Rome and she was so excited to tell us all about her trip and show us pictures and all of that. My sister Lynn made a great dinner for all of us, and we "camped" out in their living room too. So today we got home around 5:00 and honestly it is really nice to be home again. And be able to sleep in my own bed tonight. That is going to be so nice.
Tomorrow I have a few errands to run. Then I have to go to work on Wednesday for a training and then School starts again for me on Thursday. So that is my week in a nut shell. So I am so glad we had the chance to have this vacation. It was absolutely wonderful. We had so much fun and created so many memories. We will have to do it again some time.

Anyway, SO I missed my weigh in on Sunday because we were not home and it was too late tonight to do it, so I am going to weigh myself in the morning and post any updates on here tomorrow.

SO EVERYONE HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!

IT IS ALMOST TIME TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL FOR EVERYONE!!!

HAVE A GREAT FIRST DAY BACK TO SCHOOL IF YOU ALL START THIS WEEK!!!!!!!

Leaving for Pittsburgh

Good morning everyone. I am so excited this morning. We are leaving to go to my cousin's house who lives in Pittsburgh. We have been planning this for like over a month now and we are all very excited to be going. So we are leaving around 10 or 11. We got lots of things planned to do and cook and hang out and play games it is just going to be so much fun. I love hanging out with her and her husband they are so fun. And the boys are excited to be able to play in her basement. They are boys and boys will be boys I guess. LOL.
Anyway besides that, it has been so DAM hot out here for the past few days I sure do hope things cool off soon. I had my little boy, from my class, over yesterday. And he came with his two cousins. That was a lot of fun. We took them and my boys and went to one of my friends house and we all went swimming for a little while, had a bbq, hung out there. We had fun. Then we came home and hung out here for a while, played outside, played games and all that. My friend Margaret was with me the whole day too and she was able to help me and that was wonderful to have her be there with all my boys. With my boys and the boys I had with me I had 6 all together so it was great to have her there to help me. Then I made dinner for everyone and then brought the boys home at 7:00. I was so tired by the end of the day. When I got back from taking them home I still had to pack and get ready to leave for today. When I was done, I tell you, I JUST CRASHED!!! But I am awake and ready to go this morning. It is going to be a great weekend. We'll be back on Sunday some time. And then School starts next Thursday for me and Lil Sam and the then Cody and Tyler start on the following Tuesday. That will be great. Cus my boys are tired of spending every single day and night with each other. They all need a break from each other.

WELL EVERYONE ENJOY THEIR WONDERFUL WEEKEND WITH

ALL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!!!!!

It's 5:30 and I am awake

Good morning everyone. I have to go to work today and I am really excited. I am on the interviewing team for the new paras in our building. SO I am up at 5:30 in the morning on one of my days off. I have to be there at 7:00. But I had to do a few things on here first before I went to work.
Yesterday I got to spend the whole day with one of my best friends Margaret. I haven't seen here in like 2 weeks. And when you are used to seeing a person every single day and doing things together all the time, 2 weeks is a long time. We went to lunch, then the mall, and then we came here to my house and hung out and played games. It was fun. IT was too dam HOT to do anything else outside at all. But it was cool to see her again. She is being interviewed today for her job, she was on a temporary contract so she has to interview again. She is nervous. I told her to be herself and she will be fine.
Anyway we are doing ok. It has been so dam HOT out to do anything. So we have been in the house hanging around. I start back to work next week so I am excited to get to see my kids and all my coworkers again.
We are going to my cousin's house this Thursday, so I am excited about that too. That is going to be so much fun. We got all kinds of things planned to do together.
Well, I gotta get myself together for work, so I will post again another time.

EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR TUESDAY!!!!!

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

Ok so today is not a typical Sunday at my house. First of all, there are a ton of things going on in my head right now, stress, worry, sadness, etc. that I was up at 4:00 this morning and I could not turn my brain off. I was worried about going to my cousin's house and seeing if everything is going to work out that we have planned (LONG STORY). I am worried about Sam getting a new job (ANOTHER LONG STORY). I am worried about not having money to pay the bills that we have to pay because of Sam NOT working right now (LONG STORY). I am worried about my friend Doris's Husband Todd who fell off a three story roof the other day and is in the hospital not doing too well (ANOTHER LONG STORY). I am not a worried bag of emotions and I just hope things work out ok for us. I am just not having a good day. So my mind woke me up at 4:00 this morning and I could not go back to sleep at all. I am just not having a good day. So I got up and went to the living room and read some more of my book I had started reading last night and I actually finished it by 10:00 this morning. I did nothing but READ the entire time. I just wanted to forget my problems for a little while and get caught up in the wonderful world of reading. By the time I finished the book, I was so drained, emotionally and physically that I went back to sleep. And I slept really hard. Thank God I didn't have to go anywhere today. So I slept until 12:30. So then when I got up, half the day was gone already and Now I am up and moving and doing the things that I normally do, cleaning, cooking, doing things on the computer, etc. So I feel a little better but my worries and stress are still there and I just don't know what to do about it all. I know it has to get worse before it gets better but I just hate going through it. But I guess we have to go through what God hands us to make us stronger and a better person.

So when I did wake up and realized it was Sunday, I did my weigh in and I have stayed the same this week. Doesn't surprise me, I have been stressed and not focusing on my food too much. I will do better next week. But I still have lost 141 lbs and that is nothing to be sorry about or worried about. That is something to celebrate.

Well Everyone Enjoy your Sunday!! Mine has got to get better soon!!!

Look @ our LITTLE DECK

Our Deck is COMPLETE!!! It is so CUTE AND LITTLE. I love it!!!
Here is what we HAD. THESE SORRY ASS STEPS.

AND HERE IS OUR NEW CUTE LITTLE DECK!!!!

IS'NT IT CUTE???? WE LOVE IT!!!!

Saturday's Happenings

I just got off the phone with my cousin Marleen for about the 5th time today. WE ARE SO EXCITED!! We are planning on visiting them this week for a long weekend and we are so excited about it. We got the whole weekend planned out as far as what we are going to be cooking and doing and everything. It is so cute. And I went on mapquest and got all the directions and now all we have to do is Pack and Wait. We are going to leave on Thursday evening and make it a long weekend. It is going to be so much fun. I can't wait. They live right outside Pittsburgh.
Other then that, I am chilling here at home. This is the first day I have not been out of my house in a long time. I am always on the go doing all kinds of things and I did not want to leave my house at all today. I am doing the never ending task of laundry. And I am on here doing a few things and playing around online. Other then that we are all doing ok.
I have pictures of my deck. I am going to put them on here in the next post after I post this one. I am going to make it it's separate post. Before and After pictures of our little deck. It came out really really good. Not as big as we would have liked it but it does it's job. Sam calls it, "glorified steps-not a deck" LOL. Wait to you all see it. I love it anyway, even if it is little. It's cute.

Have a great Weekend Everyone!!!!!!

Where has the week gone?

I can not believe it is Friday already. I have been so busy around the house with things like cleaning out the closets and all that and doing a bunch of stuff that I don't get to do while I am working, that I didn't even realize that it is Friday already. Dang! I only have two more weeks of vacation before I start back to work, I better get a move on with the things I still have to do. I have to go school shopping for the boys stuff and clothes that they need for school. I have to get my para stuff done for work. I have a bunch of things to do. But it will all get done because I am determined to get it all done before school starts again.
I am still the President of all the paras in my district. And I am still loving it. This is my third year doing it. It is my last year of my first term. But I really enjoy doing it and I help a lot of people so I will continue to do it for as long as I can. I can run for re-election at the end of this school year to do another 3 year term. And I don't think I will have any problems with getting elected again. For 1 no one else really wants to do it and for 2 everyone wants me to continue doing it, they say I do a good job at it. Which I think I do too because I keep everyone informed of things going on and I am very active with things. So I am up for another year of being President and love it.
I am looking forward to a new school year. We will be in our room with our own students. We separated our classroom over the summer, we went from 7 adults and 21 students to 3 adults and 8 or 9 students. We are going to be able to do So much more stuff with them and be able to meet their individual needs better. It is going to be such a great year. I am still working with Joyce who I have been working with for 14 years now. Her and I work WONDERFUL together. So I am looking forward to a great school year.
The boys are ready to go back to school too. Tyler is definitely ready, he says he is bored and wants to go back to all his friends and stuff. He LOVES school. He is on the honor roll all year and really does good in school. So he is ready for a new year. He will be in 6th grade this year, yeah I can't believe how old he is getting. HE is 11 years old already. Cody is not looking forward to school this year. He doesn't really like school, he struggles a lot with academics. But he does ok. I am looking into getting him into Polytech High School just like lil Sam. I think that would be a better setting for him vs the regular high school in our district. He would get totally lost in the shuffle over there. They don't tend to the special needs of the individuals as much as they do at Polytech. And with Cody being in Special Education he needs a little more extra TLC you know what I mean. He will be in 8th grade this year. Yeah he is growing up too. He is 13 years old already I can't believe how old they are all getting. Cody is spitting image of me LOL. Sam is very ready to go back to school. He is super excited. He is going into 11th grade and he is so looking forward to GRADUATION already. I keep telling him he still has 2 years left of school but he is looking at 2 less years then he has already gone through. He is such a Great teenager. I got really really lucky with him. He is very respectful, polite, caring, loving, and just an overall great kid with a great head on his shoulders. All my boys are wonderful but as they are coming into adulthood, you realize the type of adult they are going to be and I think Sam is going to make a wonderful responsible adult. We'll see how the other two turn out LOL. Anyway Sam is still into Carpentry at Polytech. He helped a whole lot with us building our deck over the past week. And he did a great job at it too. I can't believe my oldest son is 16 years old already. Driving and very independent. Looking for a job, really really wants to work but no one hires kids anymore unless they are 18 so it has been hard for him finding work this summer. But when he does work, he works hard. He helps out one of my cousins who own their own business doing odds and ends jobs.
Other then that, everything else is going ok. I am still feeling absolutely fantastic. I am really really exercising a whole lot now and doing great. I have this thing going on with my cousin Marleen who lives in PA. We text and call each other all the time and now we work out all the time together and text back and forth as to see how we are doing. It is very fun and inspiring to do it together even though we are miles and miles away. But we do it at the same time and it is fun. So it keeps us both going. And makes us both feel so much better about ourselves.

Well gotta go, get stuff done today. Got a list of things I would like to accomplish today and it is a sunny beautiful day. Windows are open, fresh air coming in, not hot, absolutely gorgeous day!!!!

SO EVERYONE ENJOY YOUR FRIDAY!!!!!

HAVE A GREAT, WONDERFUL, HAPPY WEEKEND

WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!!!!

Getting Caught Up!!!

So it has been a few days since I have been on here. I have been very busy getting caught up with things around the house that I don't get the chance to do since I am at work all the time. I have been cleaning out closets. We finished the deck. I have to post the pictures on here. I have been making all kinds of cool dinners and different foods cus I have the time to experiment. I have listed a few things on ebay and actually sold some things. I have just been very busy around here. Today I got a million errands to run. So I will be out of the house for a few hours. They just opened up a brand new $1 store right next door to my development within walking distance and I am super excited about that. I love $1 stores. So I am going to check it out today. Monday they just opened up. It has been super hot here so I did not take the boys to the beach like I wanted to because it is just too dam hot to even be outside. Humidity in Delaware really sucks.
Well that is about all that is going on here. I am going to list more things on ebay again tonight and try and get rid of a bunch of things. Since we had our yardsale last month and didn't get everything sold that is what I decided to do with everything post it on ebay. And so far it is working out. If anyone wants to check out my ebay listings it is on purplepattireid on ebay.

Sunday's Newsflash!!!!

Well it is Sunday and I actually have a chance to get on here. I haven't posted a Sunday's Newsflash in a few weeks it seems.

So I did my weigh in again today and I have now lost a total of 141 lbs. I can not believe it. I feel AMAZING!!! I just can not believe how well I am doing. Thank you to all my friends and family for your support and encouragement. I have been doing wonderful.
We built a small deck yesterday. YEAH!!! I have only been asking for a deck to be built outside our front door for like 6 years now. But we got ahold of a bunch of wood from friends of ours and I picked up a set of steps for sale out of the newspaper. SO yesterday we went to Lowes and bought the rest of the wood and screws and all that we needed to build our deck. It is not as big as we would have liked it to be because of lack of money and the space available to build it but it works. It is enough for all 5 of us to be on at the same time and put a little grill on it too. Now I am on the lookout for a grill. They should be on clearance soon because summer is almost over and they are going to be putting fall things out soon. SO if I can find a grill for pretty cheap, that will be our next purchase. So anyway, I took lots of pictures of us doing the deck yesterday. It was pretty fun, we all worked together. We put the boys to work doing it too. It was a lot of work though, for me anyway. I am not used to carrying all that wood around and hammering in nails and drilling screws in. It was a work out for my arms that is for sure. But it was fun. We are not totally done with it though. We ran out of wood so we have to go back to lowes and get more. All we have to get is the top pieces that cap off the top of the railings and we have to build the railings for the steps. And then we will be done. BUT we can't do any more of it today because of course it is RAINING. Whenever we want to do anything it always seems to rain. But I guess we need the rain too. So when we are all done with the deck, I will put some pictures on here for all of you to see.
Well that is about all that is going on here. I did take the boys bowling the other day and they had a lot of fun. It was good to spend time with them out of the house with just me and them. We didn't go out to lunch though, we decided to eat before we left because everyone was hungry and they all started eating so that saved us some money anyway. Next week, if it is nice, I plan on taking them to the beach one day for the day. Just me and the boys. Next Wednesday I am going to VA beach for the night. I can't wait. My friend has a beach house there and a few of us girls are going to hang out at her beach house all day Wednesday and Thursday. Very cool. NO Husbands and NO Kids!!! My kind of VACATION!!! LOL.

EVERYONE HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY!!!!! ENJOY YOUR FAMILY!!!!

HERE I AM 1 YEAR LATER!!!!

DON'T MIND THE HAIR, IT WAS THE END OF THE DAY!!! AND THE WIND BEAT UP MY HAIR ALL DAY LONG!!!!! LOL

BUT HERE I AM 1 YEAR AFTER MY SURGERY AND 139 LBS LIGHTER.

FEELING FANTASTIC!!!!!!

AND 1 YEAR AGO!!!

Today is Thursday

So today is Thursday. I am on my first full week of vacation. Yes I am enjoying it. I got to sleep in three days in a row now. I don't know if I actually like that or not because I feel like half the day is gone by the time I get up. I have been getting up by like 9:00 am each day. And for me that is so very very late. So I have been able to get caught up with things that I need to do around the house. I did a bunch of errands yesterday and had lunch with one of my friends, that was really nice. Today I am going to take the boys bowling and out to lunch. Just me and my boys. That is going to be fun. I don't get the chance to do those kinds of things too much because I am always busy and we never have any money to do anything. But because they each were on the honor roll and did really well in school this year, I promised them that I would treat them to lunch and bowling one day this summer and they were all excited about that. So that is what we are going to do today.

I have pictures of myself on my camera of my 1 year anniversary. I just have to get the pictures off my camera and I really don't have too much time to do that today. It has been exactly 1 year since I have had my surgery. But I will post pictures on here by this weekend. I PROMISE. I know some people are waiting to see them.

Well that is about all that is going on here with me and my boys. We are all building a deck this weekend and I can't wait for that one. I have only been asking Sam to build a deck for like 6 years. So now we are finally going to be getting one. YEAH. I will definitely take pictures of that because I am excited about that one.

Everyone have a Wonderful Thursday Afternoon.

Enjoy your Summer day!!!!!!!

Pictures from Niagara Falls

So much to get caught up with!!

Ok so it has been like forever since I have been on here again. NOT intentionally mind you, just very busy. And now I am enjoying MY VACATION!!!!!


Ok so where do I begin?????

First of all, I am done working summer school and I am now off of work for 4 weeks vacation. Loving it. But you know in like a week or so I will be on here complaining that I miss my kids. It is always like that. I look forward to the vacation and then when it happens, I miss my kids too much. Today is the very FIRST DAY I am able to stay home all day and chill and do nothing but what I wanted to do. I don't have any meetings, appointments, or errands or anything and I am staying HOME ALL DAY. Which if you know me, that is something that RARELY EVER HAPPENS. So I am catching up on all my emails, blogs, websites that I visit, etc. Doing laundry, still in my PJ's (which that is very rare for me too). Just enjoying the day off and doing nothing.

This Saturday was my 1 year anniversary of having my surgery. I have to post pictures on here. I will on my next post. I have them in my camera and I have to get them out to my computer. SO in this years time. I have lost a total of 139 lbs. AND FEELING ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!!!! Doing Wonderful and Happier then I have ever been in my life. This has been the absolutely BEST Thing I could have ever done for myself in terms of being a happier, healthier person. Now I am a lot more active then I ever was and again if you know me, that is next to impossible to be EVEN MORE ACTIVE. I swear I must have ADHD. LOL. No but I am working out so much lately. Not only am I loosing weight and doing fantastic on what I eat and how I eat, I am doing my treadmill for over 45 minutes 3 x a week, going up an incline on the end of the time and running for the last 2 minutes of my work out. I am also lifting small dumbbell weights 3 x a week for 30 minutes prior to the treadmill. And I am swimming 2 x a week both at work and at my friends house this summer. And when I am swimming, I am running in the water and doing all kinds of water aerobics type of things. So I am working my ass off literally!!!!! I have gone from a size 32w pants and a 30-32w or 4x top in plus size women's clothes to a size 20w pants and 18-20w or XL shirts UNBELIEVABLE!!!! And I am constantly going through my clothes having to get rid of things that are just falling off of me. Thank God for friends who have given me clothes and also the goodwill stores. LOL!!

And I have been traveling A LOT LATELY!!! I just got back on Sunday night from Niagara Falls!!! It was AMAZING!!! If you ever have the chance to go see Niagara FALLS I would definitely recommend it. I went up there for a family reunion on my fathers side of the family. Sam and the boys stayed home. Which my dad didn't go to because he had too many things going on at home. LET me just tell you DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA!!! I am so glad I don't hang out with all of these people on an every day basis. I would go stir crazy. It was such a mess. I was not so ever glad to be home before in my life. I was not so ever glad to see Sam and my boys in my life. THANK GOD we don't spend time with these people. NO need to go into details just know that I did not have a very good time EXCEPT the Falls itself and I would never go on another family reunion on that side of the family again. Most of them are all crazy and full of drama. So I took some absolutely beautiful pictures of Niagara Falls and they are in my camera too, so I will post some on here soon.

So now that I am off of work for a few weeks I am planning on spending some time with my boys. I am planning on taking them bowling and out to lunch, just me and my boys. Saturday or Sunday we are going to take them to the State Fair that is going on here in Delaware. Next week, I am going to take them to the beach one day. And we are planning on going to my friends house and go swimming one day. And one day I would like to take them to the movies.

I am going to VA beach on Wednesday and staying overnight with my friends. She has a beach house down there and few of us girlfriends are spending a couple days at the beach. Then in two weeks me and Sam are taking the boys and we are going to visit my cousin Marleen and her husband in Pittsburgh. I can't wait for that trip it is going to be so much fun. So that in a nutshell is my 4 weeks of vacation. LOTS of fun, family time. I hope to have the chance to go camping too but don't know if we will have time or money for that one. OH yeah and next weekend we are building a little deck on the front of our house. Not a big one just a deck to get out the door and down the stairs. Our current stairs are in sorry shape and we need to do something about it. Sam got all this wood given to him for free and all we need to buy is the screws for it and the spindles for the deck. We can handle that. So next weekend we will have a deck on the front of our house. I will definitely take pictures of that cus that is something I have been wanting for YEARS since we have lived here and we have lived here for over 8 years already.

Well I am going to unload all the pictures off my camera now so I will post more on here later and look for pictures too. Have a great day!!!!!

Sunday Newsflash!!!!

Hey Two days in a row again that I am posting on my blog. You know how it is when you get busy and you don't get the chance to get on here much. So I am excited to be actually posting another day in a row on here.
So you know today is Sunday the day I do my weigh in and I have been doing really really good. I went back to exercising and lifting weights again. So I have been feeling wonderful. I lost 3 lbs this week. So now my total weight loss is now up to 139 lbs. Almost 140 lbs I can not believe it. I can not, first of all, believe that I was carrying that much weight to begin with and I can believe that I have lost that much weight already. It will be exactly 1 year next weekend since I have had my surgery and it has truly been the best thing I have ever done for myself. I feel fantastic and wonderful!!! I will put pictures of me on here before and after so you can see the difference 1 year makes. It is a huge difference.

I am going to Niagara Falls next weekend and I am really looking forward to it. I am looking forward to the scenery and seeing all of my father's side of the family that I have not seen in like forever. I think it has been like over 10 years that I have seen half of my family. So that should be interesting.

Last night it was a great summer night. I went to my friend's house and we had a wonderful time. We barbecued all kinds of food. There was so much food there. They went all out. Then after we ate, we played all kinds of games and things. They have a rec room in their basement so we play pool, foosball, ping/pong, air hockey, wii, and we played yard games outside too. It was just all kinds of fun with friends on a summer night. It was a great time.

Today we actually got to sleep in some. It has been a really long time I have been able to sleep in and not have to get right up and go somewhere or do anything. Then I made a late breakfast/lunch type of thing. We ate at like 12:00. It was cool. Then I had everyone in this house cleaning up today. We cleaned every room in our house. Now it is all cleaned, laundry is done, and I am chilling out. Just what a Sunday should be like. LOL.

This is the last week of work for me for summer school. Then I will be off of work for a month. I am so looking forward to the break. I love my job but I would love to just have a break for a while. Unwind, chill out, get things together in the house and all kinds of things. And spend some time with my boys and do things with them.