Back to School

Today is back to school day for me. I am taking Organizational Theory as a traditional weekly classroom course and I haven't done that in a while. The course starts at 4, but thankfully my boss was nice enough to work with my schedule on Thursday's so I could take the class (it helps that he is in school too). I am actually not nervous about the course at all. I am really looking forward to some of the reading material and to see what the course holds.

Lawn Care Service

We have a fairly large yard, so it takes us almost a full day every week to make our lawn look nice. I am not that good with the weed eater and I struggle with the extension cord on the lawnmower (we have all electric tools), so unfortunately that means that hubby takes on the brunt of all of the work. With hubby not feeling well last week and the temps hitting 108 a couple of days this week, we decided to look in to paying someone to do the mowing and edging for us. ABC Lawn Services came out yesterday and gave us an estimate; the price was right, so we signed a contract. I feel so much better knowing that I am not going to be at work worrying about hubby cutting the lawn in this crazy heat. Instead we can spend our time doing other projects around the house - like putting up pictures or painting the garage or pulling weeds out of the flower beds or a hundred other things on the list. Now on lawn day, all we have to remember to do is pick up the dog toys from the back yard and make sure the yard is free of dog pooh.

Wounded by a Frog

We have this frog that hangs out by our water hose. He isn't a baby, but he isn't yet full grown either. Every Thursday and Sunday when we water the grass, he tries to get in to our garage. We have to keep an eye on him because if we accidentally close him in, he will not be able to get back out and he will die from the heat of the garage. Last night while I was watering the grass, I thought I would outsmart Mr. Frog - I didn't open the garage door to go in and out while watering. Well, on the next to the last movement of the sprinklers as I am rounding the corner of the house to turn off the water, Mr. Frog jumps out at me. The garage door wasn't open, so I wasn't on the look out for him. I see him and quickly realize that he is going to land in the exact same spot as my foot. I don't want to squish this from, so I do a little stutter step to miss him and in the process I twisted the crap out of my knee. The knee was already swollen and achy because of my arthritis acting up, but for the rest of the night it was even more swollen and painful. The frog? He was fine and just hopped away as if nothing ever happened. I am sure he will be back again on Thursday.

New Glasses

Today I went to get new glasses. I had been putting it off, for no good reason, and decided today was the day. To me the worst part about getting new glasses is trying on new frames. How the heck do they expect you to see how you look in the new frames when you can't see without your glasses. I always have to take hubby with me so he can help me pick them out. I know he won't pick at pair that makes me look dorky. If he did, he would get stuck looking at me wearing them. With the new frames all picked out, I went to select all of the goodies I wanted on them. Transition lenses are a must and this time I added the anti-glare coating. When the clerk was putting my order together, she said I actually hadn't gotten new glasses since 2004. Wow, I had no idea it has been that long. She said my prescription has changed significantly, so that is probably why I am having a hard time focusing on things and am getting headaches. Since it was my astigmatism that has changed the most, they will take a few days of adjustment when I finally get them. They had to order my lenses this time, so it will take 10-14 days before I get my new glasses. I am looking forward to a new look and to being able to see better.

The Big C

The Big C is a new program on Showtime about a lady that learns she has cancer and the way she chooses to deal with the situation. I watched the first episode today and that show is going to be great. This far she has chosen not to share her news with anyone; not her husband, son, brother, or friends. The only one who knows is her doctor. I think I would probably do the same thing. With the exception that I would tell my husband. We have a pact that should either of us come down with a terminal illness, we would chose not to have treatment and just have a blast with whatever time we have left.

You should check out The Big C, it is really quite good.

Baked Eggs

I saw one of the cooks on Masterchef bake an egg and it looked like a neat idea. Then a couple of days later I saw a recipe for baked eggs on allrecipes.com. The recipe sounded very simple, so I decided to give it a try for breakfast today. Unfortunately, they didn't come out tasting very good. The texture was somewhat chewy and it was almost like eating a hard boiled egg. Although I like hard boiled eggs, I was more in the mood for sunny side up eggs. I am not sure if I will try that one again.

Niacin Flushing

The doctor changed my cholesterol medicine to Simcor since the Crestor was not having the desired impact. He told me that people sometimes experience some "flushing" when taking Simcor, but it was nothing serious. I also took the time to read about it online before starting the medication.

Well, last night was the first time I had experienced one of these while I was awake. I have been having them at night and I would wake up when it is almost over. It was very uncomfortable. I literally felt like I was out in the sun baking. Hubby said that is exactly what my face and arms looked like too. My skin felt prickly all over. It was both achy and itchy at the same time. Had I not taken the time to read about Niacin Flushing online before starting this medication, I would not have known to link what I was feeling to the medication. I remembered someone online saying that drinking milk helped his feelings subside, but by the time I thought of that the episode was going away. In all it lasted about 30-45 minutes. Although they are definitely not life threatening, they certainly are not comfortable. When the episode started I had just finished having a vodkarita. I wonder if the alcohol had any impact? Does anyone out there know about the affect alcohol has on niacin flushing?

Clowns

I am not a fan of clowns. Actually they kind of creep me out. I know that people are supposed to love clowns because they are so much fun, but not me. The only place where I think clowns are okay is at the rodeo. But I certainly don't want the clown coming up to me, I will look at him or her from a distance. Clowns are just bad news..... haven't you seen Killer Clowns from Outer Space?

American Idol

The radio and news today is full of info about the American Idol tryouts. They are in Austin today picking contestants for the next season. I am done with Idol. I stuck it out with them for 9 years, but I am finding something else to fill that TV slot. Last year I stuck it out, but honestly fast forwarded through the majority of the shows because they were so bad. I love reality shows, but this one is coming off of the list for me.

What about you? Are you going to stick it out another year or tune in to something else?

Blog Design

I thought I would like the rain drop look for the blog, but honestly it seemed a little dark and depressing. Maybe because we don't see too much rain here these days. I picked a new design that seems a little lighter and cheerier. What do you think of the new design?

Sleep

I found the source of my back spasms and that is definitely the way I am sleeping. Saturday night, hubby found me sleeping on my stomach while propped up on my elbows. He said it looked like some kind of yoga pose. When I woke up Sunday, I could tell I had slept weird because my back was killing me.

Last night I made an effort to make sure I didn't sleep on my stomach. It was tough because I instinctively wanted to roll over on my stomach. I tossed and turned a lot moving from my back to my sides, but I stayed off of my stomach. When I woke up this morning, I was tired but no back spasms.

I wish I was one of those people who could sleep any time, any place, and in any position. I would so love to get good quality sleep on a regular basis.

Back Spasms

Wednesday night I went to bed feeling fine, but when I woke up Thursday morning I could barely move. My lower back was hurting and the spasms were so bad they took my breath away. It feels like I had pinched a nerve. But how? All I did was sleep. The muscle relaxer I took yesterday made it feel a little better, but I had not taken them in so long that it totally kicked my butt.

This morning it was one of the spasms that woke me up. They are not as bad as yesterday, but they are still really painful. The only thing that makes sense is that I slept wrong.

Thankfully, I have the option to work at home if needed. So yesterday and today I opted to work from home so I can relax my back as much as possible.

Time to Refocus

I have spent the past few years (since 2006) focusing primarily on my career and not so much on completing my master's degree. Well, it is time to refocus. I have a total of 10 classes left to complete my degree and I am enrolled in 1 of them now. If I really buckle down and take more than 1 class per semester (even if it means adjusting my degree plan), then I should be able to complete this in 1 to 1.5 years.

Time to refocus and put my education first. This will open up more opportunities for me and my family.

Toaster Update

Well, you aren't going to believe this.... I broke another toaster today. We actually had a toaster oven and when I got home from work I decided to try to use it (we have owned it for a little over a month and only used it 2 or 3 times). Katreader said she loved hers and I never really tried doing toast or bagels in ours, so I gace it a try. I plugged it in, put in my Asiago bagel and waited for it to finish. I pulled my bagel out before the time went off because it had gotten as dark as I wanted. Just as I finished pulling the bagel out, I hear a loud pop coming from the toaster oven. Whatever that was scared the crap out of me and also ended up tripping a breaker in the house. Needless to say, my luck with toasters seems to extend to toaster ovens too.

Since it was so new, I called Black & Decker and reported the issue. They are going to be sending me a new one, but in the meantime, I am back to the same toaster dilemma. Tomorrow I am going on a hunt for a T-Fal toaster. They are a little more expensive, but as much as I have spent on toasters lately it will be worth it in the long run.

Toaster's

What gives with toaster's these days? I mean seriously, it shouldn't be that hard to find a toaster that will toast consistently at the same level. We have purchased 3 toasters in the past year and we are about ready to toss number 3. It is an Oster and I thought it would be a pretty good brand, but sadly, it is just like the others. At first, your toast is too light, so when you turn it up, it becomes so dark it is unrecognizable. We had a T-Fal toaster a few years ago that we loved. We used that one until it died, unfortunately you can't find them anymore.

Does anybody have a brand of toaster that they just love?