healthcare

I work for mine, you work for yours.

I don't want a government telling me what can and can't be done concerning my health.

A government that gives you anything, can take anything away.

I don't want handouts.

Having been at a life-changing, decision-making point in my life recently regarding my health, I'm so grateful that I was able to talk with my doctor and make my own decision. Choosing differently could have resulted in a very bad outcome for me. What if I'd been forced to take the other road? I'm scared to think what may have happened.

People need to take responsibility for themselves, for goodness sake.

I can bring home the bacon...fry it up in a pan...

I'd just like to say how thankful I am for work. There are days when I am so tired I think there's no way I'll be able to take care of the crazy toddlers all day. There are many days when the crankiness and complaining just drives me up the wall. There are many mornings when I wish I could be at home taking care of the cleaning, laundry and yard work that continues to pile up.

But, despite all that, I'm grateful. I know there are many people out there struggling to find jobs. We are so blessed to both be able to work at jobs that we really love. I don't take for granted the paycheck that I bring home every (other) week. I really don't take for granted John's paycheck. I'm so grateful for a husband who provides for me. I hope that we're always as blessed as we are right now.

3 so far...

It's been....slightly over a week. :) Maybe a little more than slightly. But I've run 3 times so far since I made my resolution. Once in the rain, once with Zoe and once in the heat! I'm proud of myself. And to top it off, I had fresh veggies for dinner! (With some dip...) I'm planning to run tomorrow night too.

We had a great Father's Day weekend. Glad John's not as over-emotional as I am! We spent Saturday with lots of friends, then stayed at the Taylor's house way too late. Sunday we had lunch at Matt & Sarah's with our family (minus Dave, Amy & the boys...they're on a cruise!). It was fun and we had delicious burgers...thanks Matt! Then we had a yummy dinner with the Nuzback's. All in all it was a great day spent with our families. John & I both had Monday off as well. We didn't do much, but we hung out the whole day together. Monday night was softball and WE WON! We've now won 2 games this season, and neither of them by forfeit! Only 2 more games, but we won't be going to them since John's working.

Zoe's got a facebook...request her if she hasn't already friend requested you!

Make it a Habit

How many times do they say you have to do something in order for it to become a habit? I know I've heard somewhere...but I forget the exact number. Just like anytime I have a question, I looked it up online. And wouldn't you know, I couldn't find the answer! Somebody had suggested 3 times, but I don't think that's accurate. All this to say, I'm very proud that I ran for the second time tonight! I wanted to run earlier in the week, but we had softball and didn't get home until after dark each night. I'm not much for running around the neighborhood in the dark. So tonight Zoe and I went for a run, and had a great time! We kind of run half the time and walk half the time...but that's ok. I'm definitely feeling it, so I'm doing something right!

I also cleaned out one of the huge cement planter things right by our breezeway door tonight. It's been over-grown ever since things started growing this year. Last year I filled the 2 planters with petunias. They were great, and grew really well, but then all of a sudden they just started dying, and nothing I did helped. So then I had 2 planters filled with dead petunias. Tonight I weeded as best I could, removing everything, filled it in with some new soil, and planted some seeds I bought. I forget what the flowers were called...I think they were 4 o'clock flowers or something like that. They were pretty and the seed packet said they were fragrant. So hopefully they'll grow! We're expecting lots of rain the next few days, so hopefully we'll get some sun too and they'll start growing!

Day off tomorrow! I plan on doing some cleaning, finishing up laundry and paying bills. Oh so fun. Tomorrow will be a rainy day, so hopefully I'll have some relaxing time too, to curl up and watch a movie or something. I left my book at work, which is probably a good thing, because if I had it here I wouldn't get any work done. :) John is working 3rd shift tonight and the next 2 days. Plus today and tomorrow he has to go in early, so he's working 7pm-7am. I miss him! He'll be home tomorrow when I'm home, but he'll be sleeping most of the time! I can't wait for our trip to Rochester next weekend! A couple days to spend together with his family, relaxing and partying!

bad day

Some days I just wake up in a bad mood. The dog annoys me. Drying my hair annoys me. I yell at John while he's still in bed. Sometimes I stay in a bad mood all day. The kids at work annoy me. I'm over-tired. I'd rather be in bed. This was one of those days. I woke up in a bad mood, and now I'm going to bed in a bad mood. I sure hope tomorrow is a better day. I'm going to try hard to make it that way.

Final Victory

I ran last night. :) Go me! It was rainy when I got home from the 2 graduation parties we had to go to. John went to a movie with the guys. But even though it was raining I was determined to run, so I did! And after my run I went to get Zoe at John's parents. So Zoe and I ran home, and she didn't want to stop! I guess I'll have to bring her with me next time!

Today I lounged around for awhile...too long probably. But then I did a solid 2 hours of cleaning, and got so much done! Now I'm not dreading the work week starting quite so much. I'm still working on laundry, but I'm also watching TV and relaxing. John's working till 11pm, so I have full control of the remote. :)

Church this morning was really good. Hard, but good. It was basically about Final Victory. Here are some of the verses that really jumped out at me:

• I Corinthians 15:54b "Death is swallowed up in victory."
• Phillipians 1:21-23 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ which is better by far."
• I Corinthians 15:56+57 "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

This weekend has been kind of hard for me. I'm not even sure exactly why. I know seeing Tyler play Friday night was emotional for me, and made what he and his family are going through even more real to me. A good friend of mine, Kristen, lost her Mother this weekend. I had never met her Mom, but from all the things I've heard and witnessed about her, she's never been happier than she is right now, praising Jesus in Heaven with a new body. No more pain, no more cancer, no more tears, no more meds. My heart breaks because I can't imagine the pain of losing a parent on this earth. But to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And there's no doubt that's where Susan is! All the songs we sang in church today were difficult to sing because of this weekend. Victory in Jesus. Faith is the Victory. When the Roll is Called up Yonder. Kristen, if you eventually read this, know that I was thinking of you and your family and praying for you tons today. If it was that hard for me to sit through a church service, I can't imagine how it is for you. I've been thinking often of how your Mom said it was a win/win for her. She would win if she was healed and got extra years here on earth. But she would also win if she got to go Home to be with Jesus. Someday we'll all win, and be joined together in Heaven. Until then, I'm praying for you.

Friday Night Lights

I've gotta say my Friday afternoon started out great when I got out of work a 1/2 hour early. That almost NEVER happens! And since I got out early, I could drive home and go with John to the church softball game instead of driving and meeting him there! Yay! Trinity did an awesome job and played really well. They usually do! But it seems we always have one inning where we 'beat ourselves' as John says. By making errors, throwing the ball around, etc. The other team was winning for a little while, and when we got up in the top of the 7th (we only play 7 innings) the score was 15-12, them. Well we scored 5 runs! So we were up 17-15! The other team got up, bottom of the 7th, and we got 1 out....awesome! But then the next batter hit a home run. Not good. Now we're only up by one run. But then.....2 more outs! Trinity won the game 17-16! This was their first win of the year, and they SO deserve it. Way to go guys!! You earned your win!

After the game, and some food at 99, we headed to Tyler DeMarco's game. Tyler is a 12-year old boy who is bravely battling cancer. Tyler was asked to play on his brother's Babe Ruth team last night! So he got to play under the lights, with his big brother, and did an awesome job!! We were there for about an hour, long enough to hear his brother and team chant his name every time he was at bat, long enough to see the many people out in support of him, long enough to see them donate the whole 50/50 raffle to him, long enough to see the whole team come out and carry him back to the dugout on their shoulders. It all brought tears to my eyes, and I left the ballpark upset, sad and not understanding. I know that God's plans are not our plans. But sometimes it's just SO hard to understand. My God is a god of miracles, and I'm praying for a miracle for Tyler. Please join me in praying for him and his family as they go through this immense time of tribulation in their life. God IS shining through and making himself real to them. I pray that they will find the right course of treatment that will heal Tyler!

Who Wants to Run?

I am becoming increasingly disgusted with myself. I just eat, eat, eat and sit, sit, sit. I don't eat healthy and I don't exercise. What is wrong with me?! I just keep packin' on the pounds. I'm not even willing to admit how much weight I've gained since our wedding. I got an iPod for Christmas (not this past Christmas, Christmas 2007!) and I was sure that would give me the incentive to start running. But it didn't. I live in such a nice neighborhood, I figured I would have no issue trying to get out there and exercise. But I do. I really want to be healthier and thinner, but I guess I just lack motivation! Where is my motivation?? Have you seen it? Let me know if you find it hiding somewhere...

I'm definitely an emotional eater, and let's face it, the last 7 months of my life haven't been without some crazy emotional stuff! I always envy those people who say, "I'm so stressed/upset/sad/etc. I can't even eat!" Whenever I experience any of those dilemmas, I only seem to eat more!

So I have a new goal. 3 times a week. I'm going to aim to run 3 times a week. I don't think I want to do mornings...I would have to get out of the house by 4:30am, and that's just too early for me. I think I'll plan on evenings (even though it's hotter and I'm tired from a full day of work!) I'm also going to try to do some kind of ab workout a couple days a week too. I think that would be a good start, and I'll just try to maintain that for a couple weeks. Then I'll readjust and add more if I can. Let's hope I can do it!

Yanks vs Mets

What a fun week at my house. The Yankees (MY team) are playing their biggest rival, which shall remain unnamed in my blog. You all know who I'm talking about. The Mets (JOHN'S team) are playing their biggest rival in their division, the Phillies. Now let me just preface this by letting you know how much John hates the Yankees. He despises them. He will argue to the death about how the Yankees are paid too much, are severely over-rated and now have a home-run derby stadium. John hates the Yankees so much that if he had to choose between the Yankees losing or the Met's winning...He'd choose the Yankees losing every time. That said: he's so hard to live with this week! He has to rub in how bad the Yankees are and how they're losing and how they're going to get swept. Unfortunately, the Yankees have started out on a bad foot with the team that shall not be named....and the Mets have started out on a very good foot with the Phillies.

I would like to add that I am very flexible when it comes to cheering for John's team. Example One: We were engaged at Shea Stadium. Example Two: We have only ever gone to Mets games together. Example Three: I actually own a Mets shirt that I will wear from time to time. When we do go to Mets games, I cheer for them! Is it too much to ask that he just be happy when my team wins, and not criticize everything about them?! Apparently so.