Franken journal- 2023 reflections.

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 Hello my internet peeps,

New Year's is right around the corner. Alexa says it is in 29 or so hours as a matter of fact. I am in such a good mood and I have been for DAYS!  I saw a IG post about someone that keeps a bullet journal. I really liked the concept she had so I am rolling with it. I went and spent that dog sitting AND Christmas money to buy stuff I wanted to so that I could start. First I needed a journal- I went to Walmart because Amazon delivery wouldn't be till Jan 4th when I was looking and I wanted to start NOW. I bought two because I couldn't decide which one I liked more.  I know me and I knew that paying the extra $ was worth the saving of my sanity. Why? Because I know me.  Whatever I got would be wrong and I would want the other one which would make me go back to the store and spend more money. 

Basically, she made a bullet journal/ memory book. I love planners and looking at them but when it comes down to it I don't use them. They don't work for what I want blah blah. I started mine on the spiral one I got and I am LOVING it.  I have made mistakes but they don't irritate me like they would in a planner.  This is more like a work of art and I am fine with it. I am keeping track of memories/scrap book, food eaten, dinners made, goals, possible meals, and whatever else my heart desires. I spent the money on something I had actually wondered about in the past but didn't really need it. Now I doooo- It is a portable printer that prints pictures 2x3 on sticker paper. So I can actually have the pictures printed and easily able to be seen. I take so many photos but I rarely look at them. They just live in my phone's memory and might be used for social media or here. Or they might just be things I took and never touch again.  This way I can have those pictures front and center along with a summary of my day. I am doodling in it as well which feels good as I never play with being artistic anymore. 

I will share pictures as I have it more fleshed out. I also need to find a good way to get pictures on here. It isn't the smoothest transfer so that gets annoying. I did get the blogger app to try and helps with that though.   ( I inserted this picture thinking I could with the app. It deleted my whole post. Thankfully I had made a copy first of the words or I would have been super pissed) 

I have been looking back at things and that is what I will spend tonight and tomorrow night doing. Comparing old weights and how much I have lost and gained.  Usually, I stay the same but you may recall that I creeped up this past year. Spring term with taking 6 classes is where I gained my Freshman 15. From 12/30/22 at 225.4 all the way up to my highest in in May of 241 that is actually 15.6 lbs. I started working with Amanda in July and I lost a few pounds. Then when I stopped working with her I went a bit crazy starting the end of August. I am up from my lowest working with her but I am not upset. Because I am still lower than my start weight with her. I started at 237.6 and am now at 231.8- I am still down 5.8 lbs overall.  I don't want to be in the 30's though so that is my first goal. To get back in the 22x.  From last NYE-eve to this NYE-eve is only a gain of 6.4 lbs.  It could be a lot worse. It could still be the whole 15.6 lbs up. 

Merry Christmas!

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I hope your Christmas was enjoyable!  I have had some that I have been upset and grumpy. Thankfully this year was awesome! I was pleased with the gifts I got this year for my little one, so that helps a lot. The boys are of the age that cash is appreciated. I got them both mini fridges for their rooms last year. This year they got a 12-pack and money deposited into the account of choice. 

I received Christmas money as well that I have to decide what to do with. I am also dog sitting the neighbors dogs as they go on a cruise this week. He had offered $100 but ended up leaving $140 so Yeah!  This is a picture of the pups. The bigger one is a bit of a pill. He is a rescue that was abused so it takes time for him to warm up.  He has nipped at me a few times with neighbor present. He did yesterday as well but only got my shirt. Today there was no nipping! Granted, I am also bribing them with treats.  LOL  

Week at a glance

I sat down and opened this post yesterday but just never got around to writing it. 

I did however do a little blog hoping and found some blogs I have not seen in forever. I need to get links together and look at them every day or every other day. I just don't really think about blogs unless I am on the computer. I have a mini computer in my phone but that is social media territory. For some reason, my brain only wants to pair reading blogs with a computer screen. 

I am all over the place today just to warn you.  

This is the Iron treatment brand I am receiving. As you know, I am on my 3rd set. I started Monday of these with all being this same one. A nurse asked me why they have me on the same one if it isn't sticking and I told her I have no idea. She did say it could be what my insurance will approve.  She messaged whoever handles that to look into it but she hadn't heard back by the time I was done. 

I go tomorrow for the second round so hopefully she is working and I can ask her if she heard back.  When I was waiting for the IV I could hear her talking to a elderly couple about the treatment the man was going to be receiving and I could tell that she really cares. She also has an interesting sense of humor. She wears a medical alert bracelet that says "if found, throw me in the trash".  She said she has worked in the ER locally for years and sees how that goes so she would rather go in the trash. Uhhhhhhhh ok  LOL

Nespresso's Pumpkin Spice Cake Vertuo pod. I just think it is so pretty!

Here are just a few dinner pictures from this week. 

Teriyaki Salmon with rice

Carnita pork over rice with too many onions

BBQ pork loaded fries

My In-laws took squirt for the night Saturday and she will not be home till after 7 pm Sunday night. Took advantage of this and went to dinner using a gift card to Chilis. 

Dip trio part of appetizer upgrade with the 3 for $10.99 deal. It was an extra $3.49

Bunless burger with fries

Adorable notebook I didn't need but wanted from Five Below. 

Please note- these are the MLP from when I was a kid. The MLP now have rounder softer faces. The pink face in the back is actually Cotton Candy whom I have in my closet somewhere. 

There are little faces on the dividing tabs!

Dinner in the crockpot. Just a roast with a bunch of crap thrown on top. 

I have been trying to eat gluten-free to see if that will help with my iron retention. I am wondering if I have silent celiac or something. Celiacs is known for causing anemia and my blood work always shows high inflammation.   I had gluten twice this week (Publix Fried Chicken) Once for dinner Wed night and then leftovers for lunch the next day. I was looking at it like it is only a little, and it will be ok (how I look at carbs lately- trying to be more low carb as well which coincides with watching gluten)   

My c-section apron has been behaving differently this week. I cannot quite figure out what the issue is but it has been different. It almost feels like it has raised as far as the normal overhang. I have not lost weight that would typically equal a lift of that belly flap. Thursday was a bad day as far as my c-section scars and stuff (I have 3). They NEVER, EVER hurt and just exist. Thursday they were puffy and I could almost feel each scar specifically. My belly was upset Thursday night as well and I will spare you the details.  How about as I am sitting here thinking about writing this it is making me wonder if I do have a gluten sensitivity thing I don't know about. Maybe that is why my pannis is rising? Maybe the two meals with gluten in the chicken breading really hit me as I had been GF for several days prior?

Just speculation at this point. But I will be watching to see if it continues to change. 

A Tuesday post?? Whaaaaat

 I posted Sunday which had been my "normal" lately but here I am on a Tuesday.

I have to come share.

I AM DONE WITH COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I took my last final last night and scored better than I thought I would and I ended up with the B I wanted.  Grades will not be finalized till next Tuesday on 12/12/23 but I already know my stuff.  

This girl now has earned enough credits to graduate with her AA.  I cannot walk until May unfortunately as the college only walks once a year.  

I am not sure if I am going to stay here with just my AA or if I will keep going.  I have looked into continuing on but nothing is jumping out at me that interests me.  I really don't like the concept of student teaching that comes with education degrees. If I decide to teach I can come in with any BA though so that doesn't matter.  

I had my iron infusion and it went well.  I tolerate this stuff and have no side effects.

I am on day 4 of no sugar.  I am trying to go back to the way I was eating in like 2019. Where I ate lower carb and whole foods.  Lowering gluten intake as I mentioned previously but this comes hand in hand with low carb and more whole foods. 

Another Sunday

 Wow,

What a momentous occasion!  Today will be the last day I study/work on College stuff for my AA. I have to be honest and admit I don't want to!  But I also want to end with a B so I have to. I could not take my final and walk away with a C in Elementary Statistics. I only need 9 correct out of 20 though on the final and I will end with a B. I already am ending my other class with an A. 

Today is day 2 of trying to cut sugar/gluten/carbs. I am not going to be super strict about gluten, just try and avoid it as much as I can. My blood work is always so wonky and a lot of it shows infection. Celiac is something that could go with my blood work numbers. So I figured it wouldn't hurt to try and cut it down. A lot of high-carb items have gluten so cutting those down will help cut down gluten intake. I am not doing no carbs, just attempting to keep them lower period.  I don't remember my exact numbers when I was working with Amanda but this is what I have in MFP. I know the protein was 150 technically though. 

I found that I didn't lose crap though if I was up to the 1700 daily. I needed to be more in the 1500 range for loss to happen. Even with all the movement I was doing when I was working with her. 

Here it is 4 pm again and I have not started my Math work. Whoopsie!  

I wanted to share a few things.  I have a diary app on my phone that I use occasionally. I like it but there is no option to add pictures. Sure I can use my iPad and like a digital planner and do the same thing but then I have to get the pictures over to the iPad. I just downloaded one this morning that I am doing to be playing with. Here is a screenshot- that is today's breakfast in the picture.

This is the second picture. It showed me on Timehop on Fb that I posted it 10 years ago. Kinda dumb that I am still running on setbacks. 

I will leave you with this and tell you that it is 100% accurate. 

Medical procedure again tomorrow- MORE IRON!  I am dropping after four months so the Oncologist wants me to have more.  I had an appointment with him on Wednesday. They called me Tuesday and said he wants to see you tomorrow. Ummm  I had blood work the week before that phone call so that is scary. I already knew he wanted me to do iron again because they called the day after blood work. Anyway- The appointment was a waste of my time.  I had to go to the office to have a Telemed appointment with him??  He asked me why my iron was low??? Umm, I don't know!!!  If I knew I would fix it don't ya think! Then he told me my appointment for iron was Monday. Never mind the fact I was waiting on a call first to verify the price before I committed.  I know the full price is like $450 and there is no way I can swing that. I had to jump through hoops to get the price but it appears it will be the same as last time. About $92 or so. 

Sunday

 Good afternoon!

It's getting late and I need to get my hiney in gear to work on my math. Of course, I am procrastinating like usual. I did take the practice test this morning and got all the easy ones right so that is good. Now I need to do a deep dive on the ones I need to remember how to do. This test is on two chapters and we did the first chapter over a month ago. 

I still have a niggling cough which is super annoying! Two nights now it has woken me up and I have not been able to go back to sleep for hours.  One of them was last night of course.  I was finally able to go back to sleep like 5 hours later and grabbed a few more hours of sleep. 

Ok, I need to stop putting this off.  It is already 4 pm!  

Still sick here + Black Friday deal share

 The house of sickies lives on! Not my ideal fall break but it is what it is. I did call out on Monday as did my husband. We both went back on Tuesday and then there was no subbing for me to do. I ended up filing all day in student services. Then, on Wednesday I was technically a sub for a para that typically has a one-on-one. Well, that one on one person got into a fight on Monday when no one was there (4 teachers in the unit, and 3 of them were out so there were 3 subs)  The student talks a lot of crap, and a general ed student got fed up with the bullshit and said yes to the "You wanna fight?" question that the student is always trying to ask others. The one on one student was out for 2 days recovering. The acting parents want the gen ed student charged with battery. 

Wednesday night at about 2:45 am little one wakes me up screaming.  She had a low fever this time. So I called out Thursday to be home with her. Then on Friday, everyone went to school. I was feeling mostly better but still had mucus. The class I was subbing for was super extra during the 6th period. I was so happy to know that we would have a week off after that day. Saturday was a normal day with me trying to get a project done for my History class. Sunday was a day of studying as I had a big test on Monday. I went and took the test on Monday and I am thrilled to say I passed! FL requires you to take a certain history class (The one I am in now) and pass a Civics literacy exam (if you didn't in HS) as part of your AA degree.  I had to take and pass it by the end of the semester in like 3 weeks. 

I literally have two math tests and one history test left now and then I am done! These math tests have me nervous but it is what it is. I have all this coming weekend to study. I have a blood draw appointment at 4:15 pm today for my iron numbers. I am not expecting much at this point. With having this sinus infection still (Oh yeah- I left that out, I still am getting colorful mucus) and then being on monthly I am sure my iron is tanking out. 

Thursday we are going to my in-laws as we typically do for holidays. 

My former coach has revamped her plan and now has several options to choose from. There are some affordable options now if anyone is interested. She starts at a monthly cost of  Bronze $75, Silver $90, and Gold $209. There is also a VIP one for 12 weeks at $590. These prices are a hell of a lot better than what I paid this summer. However, the level of support is less with the lower-cost packages.  https://stan.store/amandadechantfit      She even has a Black Friday sale going on right now! Of course you would have to start the following week. There is no sitting on it till January, I did ask. LOL  The only one you can sit on is the VIP but that isn't included in the sale. 

If I did one right now, I would go with the Silver because I kind of need that person checking up on me with the eats. The Bronze is for working out and that just isn't me currently. I have a breakdown of what each plan offers. In order to make it readable I have to post it huge so forgive me for that. Check out her site and share with anyone you think might benefit from her knowledge. 

House of sickies

Just another Sunday-

With a house full of sick people

I had had a sinus infection for at least the last week and a half. Blowing out the ick with some coughing. Hubby called out at like 1 am on Thursday morning by email. I found out because he included me in the email with his sub plans. Umm huh? Well, I ended up not being his sub (I was his sub the week prior when he was out for 2 days). I was put back in my old unit to sub. By the afternoon I was getting concerned because he hadn't read any texts. He didn't answer my call on the way home.  He was still sleeping and pretty bad off with a fever. I went and got him meds and then went on about my evening. 

Friday morning I woke up not feeling the best so I called out as well and he was still out again of course. It's a good thing I didn't try and go in because then the fever hit me. I am way more functional than my husband but I was up to 103 degrees. With meds, I was going down to about 100 degrees. It got to the point that I was literally saying OW with each cough because my mid-back muscles were so sore from all the coughing. I feel a bit better today but I am considering calling out tomorrow as well.  I don't currently have a fever but I did before I took meds like two hours ago.

I have math work to work on that I really do not want to do. It is due tomorrow though. Then technically I have class tomorrow as well. I emailed the professor I was sick and asked if a video he posted would be similar to the review we were going to have in class to see if I really needed to go. 

My daughter has a touch of something as well. She took a 3-hour nap yesterday. She never goes back to sleep once she is up for the day unless she is sick. 

Nothing else new to report here. 

One month later

 Hello!

A whopping one month later since my last post, everything is still the same in my life. 😂

I did have my second test in Elementary Statistics and got a 100% which I was shocked by. I literally pulled my head back in shock when the computer told me my score because I was expecting something in the nineties. The professor does something really cool with this test. It was the chapter about odds as far as what are the chances you will roll a 3 on a 6-sided die. He had a cup with 9 blue marbles and 1 white one. You have a 1/10 chance of getting the white one. After the test he had you put your hand in and grab a marble. If anyone gets the white one they get a 100% on the test no matter what they scored. He said the majority of the time the ones that get the white marble already have a good score.  I did not get the white marble, but I am not complaining as I didn't need it anyway. 

Let see, updates... Still fat...still tired...still in an I just don't care too much mode.  I am living in survival mode basically. I am not sure if I will even exit this zone, to be honest. I had a paper due yesterday for US History since 1877. I started it so late because at this point I am kind of checked out of school. Plus I have had this teacher before and this class is so much easier in my opinion than the last one I took with her. I took it because I didn't need Spanish as my HS credits carried over. I didn't realize at the time that the class was technically an elective or I never would have chosen it. US History to 1877. That class was way more difficult to take. 

I am still undecided on the next step. As to if I want to continue schooling or just be done. I have been looking around at various schools looking into the prices. There is no one subject that interests me to do a deep dive in with a Bachelor's degree. If I went the education route it is be really hard to find inexpensive rates as most places only have Elementary Education things and I want secondary. 

Ok off to work on my math homework. We're getting into the more complicated stuff so I have to make sure I understand it. 

Fresh Start

I guess I do indeed have a blank page. 

The last posts previously on this blog are from 2019.

Seeing as that is over four years ago a lot has changed.  I will not try and recap because it won't be correct. I will miss things and then feel like I need to correct them. So I will instead try and pretend I have never blogged before.  I am leaving up the archive though if you want to dig. Just know that I am a different person in a lot of aspects much as you probably are too with that big of a time gap.

Married mom of 3. My kids are 18, 15, and 7 years old. I work full-time as a substitute teacher at a local high school. I am employed by the HS so I report there every day and get my assignment for the day. Sometimes it is subbing, and others it is doing busy work. I am located in Central Florida. I am working on my AA at the local college. I have two classes left and a Civics exam. I am super stressed about one class I am currently in called Elementary Statistics. My brain just doesn't quite understand statistics. I am taking this class as a physical class and hope that will help me. I didn't do that great on the first test (D) so hopefully as the subjects in the chapters change things start clicking.

I am forever on a journey to lose weight and reduce debt. At one point I had both of those things at decent numbers.  Now they are both blown out of the water.  We do not make enough to support our bills so I am reaching for credit to make things meet. Vicious cycle. My weight is a yo-yo as well with it being up and down. I recently worked with a trainer over the summer. I did well with her as I had someone always watching what I ate. Now that I am on my own again it is too easy to reach for junk. 

I am hovering in the low 230 and I do not like it! I would feel way better if I was hovering in the 220-225 range. I am seriously considering going low carb for the week and seeing how that turns out. Not keto, as I still want potatoes and rice if I choose to have them. I need to do something because I am back in an I don't care rut. I don't want to cook. I never want to clean. I just have zero inspiration or desire currently. Unfortunately, many of you know that is a continuous issue I have. 

Currently, I have raw chicken breast sitting with spices that I plan to grill. I also plan to cut up yellow squash and grill that as well for a veggie option for me. I will be baking two pork loins for dinner- The kind that is pre-marinaded. That will give me dinner and leftovers for other lunches. I am going to do chicken and rice for my hubby and son. I will do chicken and squash for my lunches.  I will be lucky to get 6 meals (two days) out of the grilled chicken. 

I know this doesn't flow the best but my mind doesn't either.  I am off to try and experiment with the new egg rings I got and see how that works. I also want to get some hard-boiled eggs cooked.  

Umm Whoops?

 Well,

It seems that much like Stained Glass Butterfly I managed to wipe everything clean.

I got an email like two weeks ago from the hosting company I was using. They were raising the price for my 3-month hosting package. It had already gone up $6 and it was about to double!! Umm no.

So I decided to fiddle around and go to a free blog host. I looked at WordPress and remembered how much it annoyed me. So back to Blogger, I am. However, when I got the transfers all set up I did not know that I wouldn't be able to get back into my self-hosted blog. So it looks like I just lost 4 years' worth of posts. 

The only good news is that all of ya'll reading this were around the majority of that time so you know all. Probably best that some of it is lost just due to the nature of my previous job. 

Half the time I cannot remember what I blogged about anyway so you know I recap a lot. Haha!

I just wanted to throw something up so if any of you visited this weekend you wouldn't be confused as to why it is so different looking.