Livin' the Dream

Because of the illustrious cooling program, the days leading up to our weekend away were stressful, crazy, fun and exhausting. In the middle of all the madness, Robert got a job for Midas. I was actually at the Robinson office when he called and said he had to quit Parklanes and I was like, "WHY????" Well Duh Mom, "Mom, because I got my job!" He has been there since Monday and loving it. Of course, he gave a two week notice at Parklanes so he is pulling a couple of crazy weeks. Working normal people hours are going to be unreal for him. Looking forward to all the things that happen next for him.

We left for St. Louis at 2:30 Friday afternoon, I got to sneak out a little early because we had spent all the money that was designated for our agency by noon on Friday.

Our Friday night was going to consist of going to Joe's Crab Shack, hitting the hot tub at our hotel and then going to Ted Drewes. By the way, before we even start this. I gave myself permission to take the weekend off from counting points. I gained a little and knew I would but man, it was good!  And YES, it was worth it......especially eating Imo's Pizza at Midnight. We felt like a couple of teenagers.

So......Joe's Crab Shack...

The guys love the Steampots at Joe's, so of course, we get bib after bib. I had crabcakes, fish, scallops, and calamari, very, very good.
I may have already mentioned that we got one night free at our hotel because of having Gold Key Points, yes, we are Drury addicts and this particular Drury is our favorite. When we got there, the manager was checking us in and she said Rachel and somebody else would be there to take care of us, I said, "Rachel's here, she's usually here on Saturday nights?" She said Rachel was in the back eating dinner, when Rachel heard her name, here she came around the corner, saw us and immediately came around the corner to give us both hugs. The manager asked if we knew each other (new manager) and I explained just through years of coming down here and then we were in Louisville one time and she was working there. Anyway, that was the only time we got to see her but it was still good to see her.

So then we got to our room and look at what was waiting for us....

It had bottles of water, cheese and crackers, mini candy bars and mints....as well as a little note about how happy they were to have us back. Talk about making a person feel important!



I tried to take pictures of Ted Drewes, but the lights were too bright, look it up if you are ever in St. Louis, it is a must!

First night, we were in bed by midnight.

Saturday morning, we slept in, well, I was up at 7:30 which believe me, is sleeping in for me. My normal wake-up is around 5-5:30, earlier if I am being good.

We did a little shopping---Andrew needed a jacket to wear to the Muny as it was supposed to be cool that night. So first stop was Burlington Coat Factory. We then took in the US Grant home, Whitehaven. What a nice place and what a cool story. We always hear about Ulysses Grant, the war hero but let me tell you, Ulysses Grant, the husband and father was a very important part of his life too. I love the fact that Julia, his wife, was truly his helpmate through life. I picked this place for Andrew but I thoroughly enjoyed the trip as well.

The next place we went was to Adrianna's, an Italian deli on The Hill. Before there was an Andrew and Mindy, Andrew ate on The Hill a few times, I never have--you can easily buy an entire week's worth of groceries for what it costs for one meal on The Hill. As much as I would love to see inside some of the restaurants and "do" the experience, I have never been able to do it.  The Deli is a little crazy priced too but not as bad as some of the other places and you still get to have the experience of being on The Hill. We had homemade Italian sausage sandwiches, olive salads and cheese bread. It was a good thing we had a fridge in our room because we had leftovers.

We went back to the room after our late lunch to take a nap, I know us old folks and my normal bedtime is 9 at the latest. The show started at 8:15--so yep, we needed a nap.

We left for the Muny about 6 p.m, got a fantastic parking spot and enjoyed the live entertainment while waiting for the gates to open.

There are rules against taking pictures during the show, but here is what I did take.

Mary Poppins was great!  This was a Muny first as Mary was going to fly over the audience. It was the very last scene and it made me cry as she left. I love the Muny and already can't wait until next year's trip.

After the Muny was over, we went to Imo's. If you have never had Imo's pizza, this is another St. Louis MUST. We had toasted raviolis and pizza and yes, we ate every last bite. It was WONDERFUL!!!

Somehow, we didn't get a picture of the pizza before it was gone, but here's the ravs...

Scrumptious!!



Sunday came way too quickly but was a wonderful end to a great weekend. We started out by doing a little shopping (again) this time for Andrew some shoes....the one thing we intended to shop for over the weekend. (I ended up with quite a few purchases too over the weekend). After that we hit Fitz's Root Beer for lunch. This is a favorite of ours. We were hungry for Black and Bleu Burgers, they were fantabulous. Of course, they bottle their own soda, right down to Diet Root Beer, which of course, we had.....to surely help discount some of the burgers.

Our original plans were to go to the Jewel Box and the Art Museum in Forest Park but it was crazy there and we were wanting relaxing, not chaotic. So, we headed south, to Mastodon State Park, it was nice, they have a little museum of all the fossils they have found and they have natural trails.







This is the only picture we took there, I was sitting because we had hiked about a mile and I had to sit because I didn't take my 10+ lb purse to the car and I didn't change my shoes. I deemed it more of a workout that way.

Our last stop before heading home was to Jefferson Barracks, this is where Grant was stationed when he met Julia Dent. There is a national cemetery there. National Cemeteries humble me in a way nothing else does.  Please just take a moment and look:

Yes, there is tombstones as far as you can see, it's like an ocean....all of people who gave their all.  As I said humbling.

We stopped in Highland on the way home at a really nice Chinese restaurant. It was nice too. All in all, it was a perfect weekend.





Long week, short weekend...

Seems some things never change, no exceptions here.

Lots of updates on the house.

The good news is we have our a/c/ heat pump sitting outside in its spot. Bad news, there is no furnace hooked to it so it is worthless right now.  I don't know exactly what happened but my furnace was sitting in the warehouse with everyone given strict orders that it was mine and nobody was to touch it. It was sitting there until the crew went to get it that is. I have another one on order, but no promise of when it will make it here. So, we went and bought another room air conditioner. When the old a/c wasn't working, the fan still at least worked, but of course, it had to run through the furnace. My house is truly 100% furnace-less right now, the old one has already went away. Anyway, we can give the room a/c to Robert when he moves to the farm so it wasn't like it was a waste.

Friday evening, our contractor came and went over specifics of our roof and siding. Hoping to have a price by next week at this time.

 I need to check on my gravel this week too but things going on at work puts me in a position to absolutely not be able to take off so it may way a couple of weeks.

So, progress is being made, slow but sure.

We are working on Mom's house too, her new floor is in, it needs painted, then a new screen door put up and then install a new ceiling. I am thinking Andrew's next two days off should do it. As I said earlier, I get to be 0% help.

Then we start on Robert's house.

Starting Monday we have two weeks of cooling, I think I mentioned it in the last post, nothing short of craziness. I honestly hate cooling. I know that sounds bad but truthfully, in most counties, we have at least 400 people who qualify for cooling (over 60, disabled or has a child under 5). Most counties get to do around 150 applications.....see the problem??? I will get no less than 10 cussings this week. The next week, I am working in Robinson for the week, at least it will be harder for the ones turned away to find me! 

I talked Andrew to going ahead and leaving for St. Louis the night of the 26th, as soon as I get home. He said no problem so I called Thursday to extend the reservation and ended up having enough rewards points to get the extra night free!  I will be SO ready to get out of here.

Today was a comedy of errors, at least my lunch and my impromptu shopping trip was good. Yesterday evening, I decided to at least get the front and side yards mowed. The mower was dead, so Robert stuck the charger on it. I went out this morning, still dead, so decided to just push it. Came in, changed shoes and out the door again, only to not be able to get the push mower started either. Put it back in the garage and went to shut the door, and the door wouldn't shut. So, I didn't mow.

I did have lunch with Kathy Houmes today, that was really nice. She was one of my "other mothers' growing up and we had a wonderful visit. After I left Parklanes, I went to work, only to find that the system I needed to use was down, so as I stated on facebook, when the going gets rough, the tough go shopping!  I ran to Tuscola because I was out of several B&BW things. Earlier this week I had put on size 16 pants and they fit so I was anxious to buy new clothes. That also did not go as planned. It seems I didn't fit in the regular 16's yet, the 16W's were just, well, WRONG and 18W were too big. I ended up buying a new swimsuit, which I did need because my other one is a size 24W and the last time I wore it in the water, it turned into a balloon. I have every intention of finding the hot tub on the 26th so this was a necessity, and at 50% off, it was a bargain to boot. I honestly realized I relaxed more on my little trip to Tuscola than I had in weeks. Another one of those things, God knew what I needed to do today better than I did.

So, home this evening, fixed me and Andrew salmon and baked potatoes, tried a new dessert recipe, 3 points plus, we will see if its good. Today went way too fast though and tomorrow will be just like it. And I am not about "bringing on Monday".....it will come though.

That's life right now, Happy Saturday!

Happy 4th of July!

Wow this year is flying by!  Can't believe its the 4th of July already! Just a "touch base" post here.

Our house:
We had insulation put in, and since I thought we were getting siding pretty quickly, I told the guys not to worry about camoflauging the disks, well, sidings gonna take a little longer so we officially live in the Bumble Bee house. No biggie though. The person I had asked to do the siding, weighed the pros and cons and with the size of his crew (only 2 of them) and the miles to drive (from north of Greenup), he decided it wouldn't be cost effective for either one of us, and I totally appreciate that. He said with just the two of them, he thought it would take them months. Which is EXACTLY why we didn't do it ourselves, we live on the main drag, I don't want torn up for months. So, plan B has now turned into plan C and I THINK we have a guy coming next week to look at both the siding and roof. His comment to me last night was, "I hope we can agree on a price". I think that's code for "it's gonna cost A LOT!" I hope I'm ready for this. We want it done so badly!

Our furnace, a/c. heat pump and humidifier are all in, they just need non-rainy days to put it in. Hopefully next week. Basically the same goes for our gravel.

I am thinking of all the money we are saving right now not having A/C. It hasn't been really hot so that's good.

So today, we spent at my mom's, working on her house. We are putting a new floor in her back porch. When that is done, she needs a new ceiling. We got a few boards past half way today. We will work on it Sunday afternoon and then Andrew will finish up on his next day off.

We are waiting on a letter of recommendation for Robert to put with his resume for his job hunt. He is hoping to start looking next week.

On the Weight Watchers front, I was down 47 lbs on Monday, so I am working feverishly to get that 50 lb mark. I have it here at home, but it honestly takes two pounds down from that for it to hit it at Weight Watchers. Andrew was down 8.7 lbs. This morning, he was down about 3 more lbs here. Hopefully, we both have good weeks! I have set a series of goals. One for our getaway weekend the 27th of July, One for the Ameren meeting the 28th of August and one for our trip to McAlister September 12th. If I make all of them, it will take me down another almost 25 lbs. It feels so good to be back in the swing, my UC isn't misbehaving at all which opens the doors for me to really concentrate on exercise and staying on program.

So tomorrow, I head for Charleston to install a network printer. It is going to be a big job and I am a bit concerned over it. I am praying it all goes the way it is supposed to.

Tonight, we stayed home, we were all so tired from working at Mom's that we came home, cleaned up and sat. We did watch a Capitol Fourth. It was good to see some, eventhough, I felt guilty about not going somewhere. I went out on the porch a little too late and realized if I would have went out with the first boom I heard, we probably would have had a full show.

That's our weekly nutshell. Sorry nothing more interesting. It's been a crazy week. We got told we are doing a cooling program at work (starting July 15th). The worst part of this is I haven't taken a vacation in well over a year, I haven't even taken a day off that I haven't made myself available to work. I had planned on taking the 22nd-26th and turning my phone off. Well, cooling ends the 26th, so that blew vacation. I have enough projects for Head Start after that to keep me busy until the beginning of LIHEAP. I may try to stuff a bunch of stuff into a few days and at least take a few days but it can't be a whole week. Oh well.....such is life.

Maybe at Christmas this year.... I normally take a week at Christmas but last year, it was Brenda's last week, so I didn't. Not complaining because I love my job, just a bit disappointed.

Happy Friday everyone!

5 Weight Watcher Worthy Breakfasts

Everyone who comes to my blog on a regular basis knows I have been going to Weight Watchers for almost 11 months now, the gain (or technically loss) right at the moment is a little over 45 lbs. This month, Andrew, who doesn't need to lose a lot, but has acquired that "middle-age spread" has started going with me. 3 weeks in and he is down 7 lbs. So far, so good.

If you attend meetings, you know with the Weight Watchers 360 program, every month, you have a new habit to create. This month is eating breakfast. I had, ever since I started, taken my breakfast to work, and it was pretty much the same thing--a Yoplait light yogurt and a banana. On rare occasions, I would change out the fruit, but always the yogurt. I have UC and the yogurt helps my tummy troubles, even if I don't eat it every day for breakfast anymore, I still make sure I get at least one in a day.

Anyway, back to my original story......I decided with Andrew and I both needing to eat, I would get going a few minutes earlier each morning and fix breakfast. We sit down, together, at 6:30 every morning and it's great. When Robert was younger, I fixed him breakfast every morning, but when he hit high school, he would rather eat at school with his friends or run to Casey's or Hardee's. Not the healthiest in the world but he is very good about his eating habits as a whole, so I'm not worried. The added bonus of connecting with each other before we even walk out the door though is really nice.

Again, Anyway.....I went to my favorite spot to get ideas for breakfast--Pinterest, and didn't find many. So, I started planning our breakfasts a week at a time, I have three weeks worth but am sharing my 5 favorites. 

Here we go.

First off, if you are really crazy in the morning, you can do most of this the night before:

1 Thomas Whole Wheat Bagel Thin, 3 Points+, 1 TBSP Philadelphia 1/3 less fat Cream Cheese Spread, 1 Points+, 2 Hard Boiled eggs, 4 Points+ and kiwi, 0 points+. Yoplait Light yogurt, 2 Points+ Total = 10 Points+.


Next,

This is a Buena Vida Whole Wheat Tortilla for Low Carb Diets--2 Points+, 1/4 cup egg beaters-- 1 Points+, a Great Value precooked Turkey Sausage patty--2 Points+, a Yoplait Yogurt--2 Points+ and honeydew--0 Points+. Total Points+=7.

I make my egg beaters and sausage in the microwave. I heat the sausage for 30 seconds to thaw it, chop it in to little pieces, spray Pam in a microwave safe bowl, add the egg beaters, stir in the sausage bits and microwave it for 1-1/2 minutes. It makes it's own little circle and I chop it again, just for looks, but you wouldn't have too, it would be less messy, like to take in the car to leave it in its form. You can also add a tablespoon of salsa, for 0 Points+ and give it a little zing. ((and if you have never tried the Whole Wheat tortillas, they are truly better than regular for wraps, they are SO soft!).

This is an Eggo Nutrigrain Waffle 2 Points+, with two Great Value Turkey Sausage Patties, 4 Points+,  1/4 cup Sugar Free Syrup, 1 Points+ and 1 TBSP light margarine, 1 Points+. Yoplait yogurt, 2 Points+,  Apples and Blueberries, 0 Points+. Total Points+= 10 this was my husbands, I only fixed myself 1 sausage so mine was 8.

It is starting to look like all we eat is turkey sausage, that's not right. I just didn't get pictures of the rest. Here are a couple more great, quick ideas though.

Canadian Bacon Muffin

1 Healthy Life 100% Whole Wheat English Muffin = 2 Points+,
5 slices Canadian Bacon= 1 Points+
1 Kraft Deli Deluxe 2% Cheese slice (Tracker says 2 P+, but actual nutrition label makes it 1 Points+ value)
1 Yoplait Yogurt= 2 Points+
1 Peach = 0 Points+
Total Points+ = 6
(I make the bacon and cheese as a sandwich, also something you could eat on the run).

Mushroom and Swiss Omelet

Sautéed mushrooms ( spray of Pam, in a nonstick pan, but you could also use your oil for this and add the Points+ value) = 0 Points+. 1 slice of the packaged deli slices Swiss cheese (I used Great Value and the Points+ was 2). 1/2 cup egg beaters= 2 Points+ , made in a non-stick pan, then added the mushrooms and Swiss and folded over for an omelet, Total Points+ = 4.

I also served a cup of skim milk, 2 Points+ and 1 slice reduced calorie, whole wheat bread, 1 Points+ and 1/2 TBSP light margarine, 1 Points+. Total breakfast Points+ = 8.

As far as my shopping habits, 95% of my groceries comes from either Walmart or Aldi, once in a blue moon, I get to shop at a Kroger or Schnucks. Hopefully, the things I mentioned are available nationwide.

Happy Weight Watching!

Up, up, and away

I wrote all of this in the airport yesterday, only to have "Boingo" confiscate my Wi-Fi.  Not a happy camper but oh well, will try to remember what I said.

Today (well, yesterday now) is the day, I brought my one and only son to the airport to fly to Seattle. His first time flying, his longest time away from home by himself. He has been away from me for a week before but he was at scout camp and so his dad was with him.

I am really proud of him, not only for his independence, but for the fact that he is the kind of friend that someone thinks will take care of his most valuable possession for him. Of course, Adam is the closest thing to a brother Robert has. Adam has spent a lot of time at our house. It was literally his second home, to the point that one time when his cellphone was broke and he could do was leave a message, he left our phone number as the easiest way to reach him. I'm glad Robert has a friend like that too.

So, I was also in a much more sentimental mood yesterday morning, I told very eloquently how  great Adam and Robert both are. I pray for both of them this week, Robert as he leaves for home in the morning and Adam as he leaves for Afghanistan Wednesday, it is going to be a long 9 months. I am so glad they got to spend the day together today as well as last night.

So, we came down on Friday just so we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn yesterday. I had NOTHING planned, so I asked Robert what he wanted to do, the Arch was the winner, we went to the Arch, went up in the Arch, and then saw the movie. I then asked what he wanted for dinner. A steampot from Joe's Crab Shack. So that was our plans.

We didn't realize how high the Mississippi was....

 

 

We caught a glimpse of the Met Life Blimp before heading up in the Arch.

Just going to give you fair warning, if you ever go to a museum with Robert, he reads every single card, plaque, anything. Of course, that's what helped him become a Wealth of Useless Information".

It was a little crowded at the top.

 

 

 I think the waitress was being a little flirty with him.


Then came Saturday morning....


Ready to go....yes, he accused me of taking pictures so I could have accurate pictures if he needed identified. Which I didn't--- however, I find it sad when people go missing and they haven't had a picture taken in months, or sometimes a year. There's never any danger of that at my house.

 Last glimpse of him as he goes through security.

 His plane.

And he is off. He texted me from Minneapolis and said, that was awesomely awesome!  I knew he would love flying. I had suggested we go someplace that required flying before and he wasn't enthused. So, I found it funny when Adam asked him to come out that he didn't even hesitate.



So, now it's Sunday evening. He called a little bit ago because he knew I would be heading to bed. He has had a wonderful time with Adam. They have all the legal stuff squared around so Robert can bring the car home and he will drop Adam off late tonight and say goodbye. He is planning on leaving before 6 in the morning because he wants to get out before Rush hour.

Life's an adventure, he's getting his first one on his own and I couldn't be happier.

Today I feel we have been truly successful in giving him roots and wings.

Summer Bucket List 2013

I am getting a little bit of a late start on my bucket list but still think I would be amiss not to have it at all.


Now, Bucket List 2013 edition
First off, there was something on last years that I didn't get done last year but I did this year, a couple of weeks ago, and had I been on the ball, I would have got it on it before it happened.
1) Sign up and walk a 5K--actually did this June 1, in less than 55 minutes--I was really reaching for an hour.
Now, all the house related stuff:

2) Siding the house
3) Roof the house
4) Get a new furnace and A/C
5) New gravel in the driveway
6) Gut Robert's room and paint--we need rid of the airplanes.

Then the "Me" stuff

7) Hit the 65 lb mark on my weight loss journey
8) Start over with the couch to 5K and do it faithfully (gonna start Monday the 17th)
9) Get a pedicure
10) get a manicure
11) Plan a month of workouts and stick to it (July)

The the family stuff

12) Get away for a day
13) Get away for the weekend--hopefully this can include Robert but we will see.
14) Help Robert on his house
15) Help Andrew with his next project (my mom's back porch)
16) Help Andrew with his next, next project ( a headboard for our bed--yep, still on the list)

Then, last, just the stuff I want, or NEED to get going on.

17) Redo the basement--it's a wreck!!  especially since we had a flood a few weeks ago.
18) set up my craft area--I haven't scrapbooked faithfully IN TWO YEARS!!
19) Finish the laundry room--for now anyway.
20) Make a new reading list--although that is the one thing I haven't fell short on :-)

And I think that's it. With everything else going on in our lives, it's plenty. Let's see how it goes!

What a week,,,,, and 1/2

Sorry, life has truly gotten in the way of my blogging. I love it though although I love sharing too.



Last week was downright crazy, but fun.


First off, we got to see our other son....

 and his girlfriend Tunesha..

 Playing Rock. paper, scissors to see who is going to pick up who.

 Guess who won????  or maybe lost?????

Good to see some things never change!

Then on to the rest of the week...

ERBA was picked as one of 5 agencies in the state to get a limited number of air conditioners from Ameren. They were delivered by our wonderful weatherization guys on Tuesday after Memorial Day. That day, Sheila and I loaded up Cumberland's and I ran them over to them. While I was gone, Sheila started loading my van with Richland's, Lawrence's and Crawford's. On Wednesday morning, I set out from home delivering the goods. When I arrived back at the office, we loaded up again, this time, Jasper's, Coles and Douglas.....this is where it gets fun. I mentioned in my last post that I  was summoned to Springfield on Thursday for a PIPP meeting and Andrew left on Wednesday for Springfield,to be there until Friday.  So, last time he came to Springfield, he stayed with me because I was there several days. This time, the tables were turned. So, Wednesday evening, I delivered Jasper's air conditioners, this gave me room to actually pack my bags :-) Thursday morning, I headed to Charleston to deliver Coles' then on to Springfield, I met my friend Kathy, from CEFS, who was also called to the meeting, we had a great lunch and then to our meeting. After the meeting I headed to the store where Andrew was training at, where I happened to find a steal!  I got a Longaberger hamper!  I was so excited and the store manager was excited to sell it!  When he got off work, we headed to Saputo's, this great Italian place uptown. I had been there before because of being at conferences, it is one of those places I just loved getting to share with Andrew. Friday morning, I loaded up and went to Tuscola to deliver their AC's, then back to the office to take a conference call and then back on the road to take Clark and Edgar their units.  Definitely a crazy week! 

After all my running around, I made up for it by spending most of the weekend at work getting ready for monitoring. Our grant manager was down Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday......it was a LONG few days. I love Leslie Ann to death but hate being picked apart, which is her job. Things went well though and Sheila and I were able to accommodate all her questions, which is all she really wants.

So, then she left at 12 on Thursday and I left for home to take in some peace and quiet to get my yearly plan for LIHEAP done, it is due Wednesday.....and it is done and awaiting my boss' approval.

Tomorrow, my big plans are to go get Robert a toilet and sink--a friend is selling hers I grabbed them for Robert's farm house. Then my other plans are to gut my kitchen cabinets and put things back the way they will be perfect now that I have the extra cupboard. We will take pictures but my micro stand needs taken apart and repainted one more time, I scuffed it up but it really needs sanded and the paint didn't stick as well as it needed to.

Next week, Robert takes his flight to Seattle, a whole new world......


Happy Friday everyone. Hope you love your life, and if you don't......CHANGE IT!!!


:-)