a down day and a new favorite snack

I don't know why, I am just having a down day. It helped some to get out of the house for a bit and it helped even more to find out that we are FINALLY getting the money that we are owed from the previous employer. Hubby and I previously worked for the same employer and it is a long drawn out tale that I won't get into but suffice it to say, I was forced in Medical Leave during my pregnancy and subsequently fired. Shortly after my termination, they started to go after my hubby for stupid crap, so he found a new job. They "forgot" to file some paperwork that we needed so we have been waiting since November for this money. It is a nice sum of money. Enough so that we do not have to worry about vehicle payments anymore.

My new favorite snack is Quakes rice cakes, I found them in the cereal section at my local grocery store. I tried the chocolate ones this time. They are good. 60 calories 10 fat calories in 7 mini rice cakes. I am not a big fan of rice cakes but these are good.

It is snowing pretty heavily outside. I am glad Hubby is home from work. It started just as he got off work. Our "ice"way is going to be incredibly slick tommorrow. Our driveway has a layer of ice over the gravel because of the recent thaw and refreeze. Not even ice melt salt will not completely get rid of it.

When I have a day like this, I like to step on the scale and see that I am below 250. That is a big achievement and it brightens me up a bit.

Recalled

I was called today from my seasonal employer and asked to return. I will be starting back in a few months. I will be working in a different department, same hours, same supervisor. I am not sure of the starting date yet. They have not decided when to start or when to do the training yet but I am mostly likely going back. As long as our babysitting arrangements work out, I will be working part-time 3-4 days a week 6-8 hours a day.

School

I have been tossing around the idea of going back to school for a couple months now. I am either going for Medical Terminology or Nursing Assistant, maybe doing both. Hubby is fine with it but would like me to wait until Summer or next fall to do it. So I am still tossing around the idea. I already have an associate degree in Business Management but more schooling never hurts and I am having difficultly finding a good enough paying job to meet what I need for pay. At least if I went back to school, I could get a better paying job and make it more worthwhile to work.

I know I have previously said that it means more to me to work in a job I love than have more money. That is still true but there is also the thought of making more money and still loving my job. I have been there and done that with a high-paying job that I hated and I will NOT ever do that again. I think that I would really like working in the health care field.

Disappointment

I just found out that I am not going to get a job at the thrift store. The girl that quit decided to stay so they are no longer looking for someone. That sucks. I really wanted that job. : ..(

So I am going to see about the job at the tax place after I talk to Hubby a little more. I mentioned it to him last night. He wasn't too keen on the idea. He said he would rather have me stay home than work another seasonal job. I guess we will see about it a bit more tonight. I kind of want to work but I don't either. I would really like to get these medical bills paid off from the birth of O. We have so many bills because of the crappy health insurance we had. One good thing though. We won't have a payment due on Hubby's vehicle anymore after January's payment. We will have it paid off. So that will free up a bunch of money. Now just to get the medical bills paid off and the credit card and we will be set. The credit card will be paid off in January as well because we don't use it much and owe very little.

I read an article the other day that said the average american owes $10000 on their credit cards. Holy crap!! I have never owed near that, not even half that amount. WOW! Once the credit cards are paid off, we will no longer be using them. We will keep them for emergencies sake but they will be hard to use. I freeze them in a giant cup of ice in the freezer.

I want a hug.

I LOVE it when K comes up to me and says that. She does it at least twice a day. It is so cute.

I got an email yesterday from a friend. It contained a job offer from her mom. It would actually work to my advantage to take the job if I do not get the other job I applied for. I am waiting to see on the other job first. I told my friend to tell her mom that I would contact them at the end of next week or early the following week if I was interested. The job doesn't start until the end of January. It is a receptionist job, which would help in my job search at a later date. It is only a seasonal job (end of January-April) for a tax place. My friend said that they are not going to start looking for anyone until the week after next anyway but they would like it better if they could just hire someone they know. They offered the job to my friend but she is not a people person so she turned it down but told them that she would ask me since she knows I am looking for work. I have previously worked for this place while in college and they are friends of the family so I know I can have the job if I want it. I am looking for something more permanent though so I will wait and see on the other job I applied for first.

Done

I am officially a SAHM again, at least for a little while. My last day of work was today. There was very little work that needed to be done so they kept everyone that had driven in from outside of town and told those of us in town to go home. It was fine with me. At least I got to say goodbye to the people that I enjoyed working with.

1st official check in and more thoughts

252 lbs. Down 5 lbs. I probably could have lost more but I only took Alli once a day, before dinner. I am still happy with losing that much. That is from starting Alli 9 days ago. I didn't work out alot, I went for a short walk and worked for 4-6 hours on my feet with lots of bending and arm motion. I didn't eat the healthiest since Monday.

I learned a few things though if I am going to work full-time:
Get a good nights rest.
Pack my lunch at night.
Get the clothes for the kids and myself ready before bed.
Make O's bottles before bed.
Pretty much do everything that I can before bed so that I am not rushed in the morning.

This week, although the days were shorter than would be if I worked full-time, was a good test to see if I am ready to work full-time. I am. Granted, some of the nights and days were tougher than others. The baby did not sleep well a couple nights and K didn't either, but I am glad for that. It gave me a truer sense of what it would be like to work full-time. I think I can handle it. Some days will be rough.

Believe it!!

Christmas is only 5 days away!!! I bought the final gift yesterday. A gift card for my grandfather. All the presents are wrapped. I am ready for Christmas to get here and then be gone. I love the holidays but I am just not feeling it this year. Previous years I could hardly wait for Christmas. I am excited to see K's face when she opens her gifts but I could care less if I get anything. Maybe it is due in part to the fact that Hubby and I are not getting each other anything. We can't afford to and we really don't need anything.

I talked to hubby about going to work full-time. He said it is whatever I want to do. If I want to work full-time, cool. If not, cool too. While I want to stay home with the girls I also know how stir crazy we get when we are home all day everyday. We can afford to live on one income but there are so many things that I want to do and so many things that we need to do (fix up the house is a big one) that we just cannot do on one income alone. Granted, my income after paying for the sitter, isn't much but it is something. It is enough to do projects on the house.

got a lead on a perfect for me job!!

I stopped at the thrift store and my friend, who is the assistant manager there, asked if I had a couple minutes. I didn't have the girls with me so I stepped into her office. She handed me an application. I must have looked confused because she said. Are you still looking for work? I said yes she said "I want to hire you but I need a filled out application". I will have an interview with her boss after Christmas but she said that she wanted me to come work there because she knows that I am dependable and will come to work. I went to college with this girl. Anyway her boss was on vacation this week and someone gave their notice. She can't post a job ad without her boss's permission but she can hand out apps at anytime. So I filled it out and asked her a little bit about the job. She said that her boss probably won't even post the job if she has a qualified applicant before hand. It starts out pretty low pay wise but I can WALK TO WORK(once it gets warmer out)! and walk the kids to the sitters before work and walk after work to pick them up or have Hubby pick them up on his way home. It is a little bit of everything. One day is receiving, the next day is sorting, the next day is cashiering and another day is ticketing (which is pricing the items to be sold). If I were to get the job, I would have no or very little vehicle expense because I wouldn't have to drive to work. I would still pay the sitter but without having to pay for gas or maintenance on my car, I would actually be making some money instead of everything I make going to pay for gas, etc. I don't know how Hubby is going to feel about the Saturdays but I am going to talk to him as soon as he gets home!!!!!Please pray for me that I get this job

done early again

We got done with work early again today. Only 3 more days left in the year. I am pretty excited to be done yet sad that I will be done.

Last night K slept in bed with me for part of the night. I love the cuddle time with her. She can be such a sweetheart. I went upstairs to go to bed and she was lying in her bed partially awake. She said "momma? I sleep with you?" So I picked her up and carried her to my bed. It was so nice to cuddle with her like that. It has been awhile since she has wanted to be a cuddle bug. She was kissing my nose and forehead and rubbing my arm and saying " I love you Momma". Those are the times that I wish she would stay little forever. She wrapped herself up in my arms and wiggle her back up against my belly and chest and let out this huge sigh and fell asleep.

O woke up about 1:30 so then I put K into bed and brought O upstairs to feed her. Then I cuddled with her. I love my babies sooooo much. Of course there are days when I get crabby and don't like being a mommy very much but those days thankfully are few and far between.

busy day

A busy day at work today. Then I got off a little early because we were done, so I came home and cleaned house. I left the girls at the sitter while I did that.

My weigh-in on Friday is not going to be pretty. I have not been taking the Alli except for before dinner because I don't really eat much for lunch at work and I don't want to take the pills to work anyway. I think I will really get into this starting next week when I have a more set schedule and am home with the girls all the time.

This morning

When I woke up this morning, I stepped on the scale just for the heck of it and I was down another pound. That was pretty cool but I am kinda concerned that the weight is dropping off like that. I have worked more recently than normal so I have been burning up more calories. I like seeing the number dropping but I don't want to lose too fast only to gain it all back. I have been eating enough so I am guessing it is just from being out of the house and working.

K and I did not make it to the produce sampling at the grocery store. She was being a typical 2 year old and was throwing a fit. With the computer issues and her attitude we didn't make it. We did go to get the new computer because that is a necessity. I know it may not seem like it but to a Mom that is home almost all day every day, it is. It is my lifeline to adult conversation, etc. I could live without the computer, sure, but if I don't have to I don't want to. The computer and the other moms that I converse with keep me sane.

After next week, I am back to being a stay at home mom full-time and with the 12 inches or more of snow we have. I need my lifeline.

Today

I got the tickets. 2nd row in the balcony. Mom said they are GREAT seats!!!!

I forgot my lunch so I had to eat vending machine food. UGH!! I did alright until my afternoon break. I wanted to get a bag of dried fruit but lacked a nickel. I was starving so I ended up getting nutty bars. Not exactly healthy, but I didn't get to eat breakfast this morning either so I guess it kinda evened out. For dinner I had a salad. I had a tuna sandwich for lunch.

I got quite the workout at work. I was so busy. I made my rate however. I blew it out of the water actually!!! YEAH!!! Yesterday I made rate too but not by as much as today. Making rate means that you completed the number of packages that are required in a given hour. They divide the total by the number of hours worked to determine the rate you did. I did 21 yesterday and 24 today. Rate is 20 and it is HARD to do, especially for a newbie. 4 over might not sound like blowing it out of the water but it actually is. Some of the "veterans" can't even do 20 an hour.

K did not want to sleep last night. She was up until after 9 and bedtime is 7:30. I am letting her stay up later tonight. It is 7:30 here now but she is being really good so I am going to let her stay up until 8 (or later) if she is being good.

Tommorrow is "produce day" at our local store. They have free samples and a Christmas card making table set up for the kids so I am taking K for a bit. She will enjoy that. A little mommy and K time.

tommorrow is check in day.

Although I am not expecting to see any results, I am still kinda hoping to see something. I will not get down if I do not see results. It has only been 2 days! I will weigh in tommorrow when I wake up and if I have time before work, I will post the weight.

I have to modify my goals for next week, regarding working out, because I am scheduled to work Monday through Friday. By the time I get home, get dinner made, pack hubby's lunch and mine, bathe the girls and pick up the house, I am ready to collapse so I will not be working out during the week. If I feel like it, I will but I am not going to push it. Next week is my last week of work so I will have plenty of time to work out after that.

2nd day

I had no treatment effects today. I was pretty excited about that. I ate well. I worked all day. For dinner tonight we are having BBQ chicken sandwiches, left over stuffing and baked beans. I don't feel like cooking. My feet and back ache from work.

day one

no treatment effects so far today. I only took 2 pills today because I did not eat breakfast. I had a diet cola. Bad I know but I wasn't hungry at breakfast time and I didn't have the pills yet then either. I am kinda nervous about tommorrow because I have to work all day but I will just make sure that I eat ok in the morning and I packed a lunch, a ham sandwich, fat free yogurt, and some canned fruit. That should be ok and I shouldn't have any effects. It is not possible to go to the bathroom at work other than at break time so I need to not have any effects. I should have thought about that before starting but oh well.

I ate pretty healthy today. Ham sandwich and fat free cottage cheese for lunch, a snack of honey roast bunches of oats in the afternoon, cheeseburger macaroni hamburger helper, a slice of bread, and green beans for dinner.