All I Wanna Do is Dream

sidewinder gave me a lovely Christmas gift. I was very pleased.

The party went off very well. This is the first year since about first grade that the Son invited both boys and girls to his party. He insisted on doing AirSofting, which, for those who aren't familiar, is like a combo of paintball and BB guns, except the BB's are plastic, not metal. They recommend you wear long sleeves and long pants, 'cos the little suckers sting like fire when they hit you. More on that later. I did try to talk him into something a wee bit more female friendly, like Laser Tag, but he was insistent.

We prepaid for twenty kids. He has a history of people not showing up for parties even when they've said they'd be there, so I kinda thought we were being a bit optimistic, but it could happen. I think we ended up with sixteen. HIs best friend, who is in college, four guys from his old school, and a bunch of his theater friends, who all attend other schools or are home-schooled. None of his friends from his current school showed up at all, and one of the ones from his old school we hadn't seen in over three years!

Since we were several people short of our reserved group size, the guys at the field talked Hubby and I into participating, too. I kept trying to excuse myself (I'd done two highly aerobic classes at the gym the previous two days, this was going to be my day off!), but the guy wheedled me into trying it.

The field is actually an old department store location, with plywood "structures" set up all around it to hide behind and work your way through. The game is kinda like "Capture the Flag," where each team starts out on one side of the field and tries to work their way to the other. The difference being, you're shooting at the other team as you go, and they at you. If you get hit a certain number of times, you are then required to go to the "dead zone."

Everyone got issued masks and loaders and air rifles, we were split into teams, and sent out. The other team was pretty organized - they all wore cammo and had their own guns and had clearly played together before. We were - sorta pitiful.

One of the girls picked a barrier, ducked behind it, and stayed there the whole game. She looked like she was going to cry. The worst part was, so did her boyfriend. One of our team members we quickly labelled, "Most Likely Target." A. is 6'6" and has bright red hair. On top of that, he wore a hot pink Tee shirt. But he actually did pretty well. The two youngest girls we had along, both freshmen, took to it like ducks to water.

I did fairly well the first game. Got hit a few times early in it, but I'm almost sure it was by my own team, still learning their way around their equipment. You spend a lot of time squatting and ducking, since the structures are fairly low. Early in the game it's easy to find a position, but then the other team gets set up and puts their guns on "rapid fire," and it's easy to get pinned down. I ended up dead before the game ended.

Second game we switched sides, and I started out doing pretty well. Then I got hit. I had been hit, as I said, before, but this one got me in the right ring finger fingernail, Yowzers! Imagine, a pellet, even if it is plastic, going about twenty miles an hour and hitting you at the base of your nail. I retreated to the dead zone - and stayed there. It was turning black and blue as I watched. I'd been hit in the arms, in the legs and even the back of my head before, and was fine. This - not fine.

They blew the whistle, and I realized what time it was. I had ben planning on getting the kids stated and heading home to order the pizza and get the house all set up for them to come over, but it was now nearly time to finish up. They started a third session, but I headed out to pick up the chicken nugget tray and order the pizza to be delivered. I arrived home just as the pizza got there and so did the kids.

Everyone stayed until after eleven, but the ones who weren't eighteen yet have a midnight curfew for driving, so we hustled them all out of there so they wouldn't get in trouble. A few of the boys stayed to play video games until about two am and then spent the night.

This morning, my hubby was very sore. Although I've been working out recently, he hasn't, and it hit him that he was no longer able to do something that active without some serious consequences afterward. It kinda frightened him. In the over twenty-five years I've known him, he has never had to work out, and until recently, has always been able to do "weekend warrior" type activities with little problem. It was scary to him to have done something that should have been pretty simple, and to hurt so much afterwards. I was able to convince him to come with me this morning, as the gym I've been doing the seven day trial at was giving away free six month memberships to the first fifty people who arrived today. We got there, were early enough, and he and I are both signed up now. I'm still going to continue to visit other gyms, but I do have this to fall back on for now, and he's going to start going along. Yay!

Seriously - I'm using the B/X massage one because I'd kill for a good rub-down right now. I did decide to give WW its own tag, though.

So, I mentioned that I'm doing a seven day trial at one of the gyms. Last night, I went in for a kickboxing class. I was the only one there besides the instructor, who was pleased that I used to do Tae Kwon Do and understood the basics already. I got a great workout.

But I was a tad sore today. So when I saw Zumba on the schedule, I decided I'd go in and observe it, because there was no bloody way I was doing another class tonight, especially as I had twisted a muscle in my back a bit last night.

Long story short, the instructor and the one other girl who was there (I did mention this is a pretty new gym, right? Not a lot of people at any of the classes, it seems) convinced me to do the class. Another girl joined us about two songs in. And holy cow, was that a workout!

Zumba is a dance based aerobics program I've noticed most of the gyms are doing. The moves are all based on having no actual bones connected to one another, particularly in your hips. At least, the instructor didn't seem to. And it keeps all of you moving - the arms are just as active as the legs. It was challenging, especially since I've never been a dancer to speak of, but it really was fun. And I was amazed that I pretty much managed to keep up.

The gym I went to see yesterday (Gold's) that I thought was a meat market was actually pretty family oriented, and has a great tracking program to help you achieve your goals. They also have taken on a couple of personal trainers I worked with a few years ago. I was more impressed than I thought I'd be. The pricing was pretty competitive, too.

The 24/7 gym is pretty no frills - no classes, not much of a locker room, and no real bargain price-wise, either. I'm eliminating that one, although I may go for the free pass they gave me just to try the cool kickboxing machine they have.

So, if I don't collapse in the meantime, the search for the Perfect Gym goes on. Except for tomorrow - tomorrow is my son's eighteenth birthday, and we're taking a bunch of kids AirSofting, then having them over for cookie cakes, pizza and presents. My baby boy - all grown up!

So, still working through the Weight Watcher's stuff. Decided this week, since it's getting to be both cold and rainy season, that perhaps a gym membership would be a good idea. To that end, have begun research.

There are quite a few gyms around here - I've already visited three, and know of at least four more I plan to check out. I have also accepted a seven day free trial at the first one I looked at - a small, practically brand new gym that is attached to a church. There is no requirement for church membership and no proselytizing there, but it is kind of an interesting place for a gym. They have all the standard machines and free weights, offer both floor and spinning classes, and don't require a contract. They are a bit farther from my house than some of the others, though.

Worked out last night for a half hour on the treadmill and an hour on the weights. Haven't done weights in forty forevers, so I took it pretty easy - lightest weight possible on all the machines. I'm still sore today, though - no surprise there. Felt good to do something like that again, though.

Today I'm going to swing by one of the "Meat Market" gyms and find out their pricing, although mentally I may have already ruled that one out. I am in no way one of the "beautiful people" at this stage of life, and don't want to feel intimidated by being surrounded by them. Still, it could prove me wrong - I've never been inside, just going by reputation. The other one I"m going to check out is one of those "24/7" facilities, where you can work out at 3 AM if you want to. Not that I would.

Now if I could just break the ten pound mark this Saturday at weigh-in...

Well, I didn't know if I'd get a chance to post today, but honestly needed to sit down after four hours of T-day prep yesterday and another hour and a half of finalization today. We just finished eating a little while ago, and none of us had room for the pie, so that will be supper, or thereabouts.

As I mentioned before, I haven't done Thanksgiving for the family myself for the past few years. But Hubby and I are both on Weight Watchers this year, so the challenge was coming up with WW friendly food for the feast. Except for the turkey (which we got hickory smoked from a caterer), all the recipes this year came directly from Weight Watchers - either the magazine or the website. I was prepared for some disappointment (particularly the stuffing - it just seemed like it didn't have enough stuff in it), but it was all quite good. The sweet potato casserole was even better than my previous recipe. The only problem was that all of the recipes were for eight servings - and we have a LOT left.

The house smelled awesome, both yesterday and today.

I am thankful. Thankful that we have the resources to provide such a bountiful meal. Thankful that we have family and friends who are heathy and celebrating along with us today. Thankful that I have friends like y'all, online and yet closer to my heart in many cases than anyone I'm not related to by blood. I'm thankful for those to whom I AM related by blood. I'm thankful that I live in a country that still celebrates the idea of thankfulness. And of course I'm thankful to the One who gave all of this to us, to Whom we owe our thanks.

Okay, the pie is in the oven. The bread cubes are waiting to be toasted next (for the stuffing). Turkey's already done and in the fridge. I'm suddenly remembering why I stopped doing Thanksgiving meals a couple of years ago and started going elsewhere for the day...

There are only three of us. We're going to still be eating leftovers in May!

Happy day to those who celebrate. I may not make it to posting tomorrow, so I'm saying it now.

Others have said it better and earlier, but still - happy birthday, nwhepcat. May a sexy Nick icon bring you some joy.

Never was so much owed by so many to so few. - Winston Churchill

I stand with those who today honor our veterans - those who have given much, sometimes all, to defend our liberty. Thank you all.

I envy people who have enough to talk about that they can post on a daily basis. I'm just not that exciting, I guess.

Weight Watchers is continuing to go pretty well - I've averaged 1.2 pounds a week, which is ideal according to their website. I can wear my old jeans again already, which is pretty exciting, but they always gave better than most, which is why when they started to get uncomfortable, I became aware of how much weight I had really gained. I still don't see a dramatic difference in the mirror, but hey - it's only seven pounds.

One of the girls has apparently noticed that Son is male, and not quite hideous. It is the younger sister of the girl with the ice-cream crisis a couple of weeks ago. The younger sister is the more mature of the two, so that's fine with me, even if she is three years younger than my son. I like her, and she's pretty cute, too. She came with us Friday night when we went to see a play a friend of ours had written, and then she met Son last night at another play that two of their mutual friends were in. They're both going to a party this coming weekend, too. It appears they may be an Item amongst their group.

Had a great lunch today - sidewinder was in town with her boyfriend to see the Da Vinci exhibit at the High Museum, and we met up this afternoon and went to Ted's Montana Grill. I do recommend that if you have never had bison to eat, you try it. It's featured at Ted's (a national chain founded by Ted Turner, who farms buffalo himself). It's much lower in fat (and WW points) then beef, and much, much tastier. We met up there with another couple she knew from her bandom/fandom, and we had a great meal and conversation. Then we took sidewinder and Dr. D to the airport. It was very nice.

So how are things going with you guys?

First for the two or so of you who've been paying attention - made my first five pounds at WW yesterday! Lost all of the weight I had gained back during the previous week, plus three more pounds. I was applauded - it felt good.

This morning, woke up for church and while I was in the shower, hubby came in to say he was unwell and didn't really feel up to going. I had to go, because the committee I serve on was being recognized, so I took Son and we were off. We had a visiting musical group (The Voices of Lee - a collegiate group), and they performed for a majority of the service. I enjoyed it very much.

Called hubby on the way home, and we decided to get the Traditional Sunday Nap, and then go out for lunch. Just post nap, Son got a text from one of his female friends - her sister (also one of his friends) had just broken up with her boyfriend - come, bring ice cream or tacos. So we were off on a cross-county trek.

The girls live on the far East side of our (very large) county. We live on the far West. It's a little out of our usual comfort zone, but we went and got lunch and headed to Sarah and Katie's house.

After a stop at Kroger for ice cream, we dropped Son off, and took off to explore this area with which we were only slightly familiar. They had a nice open air shopping center called The Avenue, which we walked around for an hour or so. We drove East, ventured into the next county, and turned around and came back. We killed time to the point of criminal charges. Then we called Son.

Could he stay another hour and a half (another female friend was on her way, and he wanted to see her too - yes, a lot of his friends are female)? Oh, and by the way, they'd already fed him dinner.

So we went and got dinner, drove around a little more, and finally went back to get him. We were invited in, were regaled with the tales of the massive teenage drama (the ex-boyfriend had showed up at one point and was decidedly not happy about Son being there), including Katie finally slapping the ex. Sounded like a blast. Finally, after multiple hugs, bundled up the boy and headed home. Six hours after our original departure.

I have decided my son is the Xander of his group - the one male friend in a mostly female group that they don't see as a boy. It doesn't bother him in the least, and I'm just happy he has such good friends.

Your result for The Social Persona Test (Version 2.5)...

The Rarity (QTAF)

Quirky Traditional Alpha Female

Take The Social Persona Test (Version 2.5) at HelloQuizzy

Okay - I have gotten to a place I no longer want to rip my own head off to make it stop hurting. But I came close before I made it to here.

Last night, I had a plate of buttered noodles for dinner - filling, easy to eat and tasty. And about all I thought I could keep down.

I was wrong. I couldn't keep it down. Threw up plentifully, and probably lost most of the pain pill I had just taken as well. I was sick to my stomach, my tooth was killing me, and I knew I was going to have to work today for eight hours.

I got up at 5:30 this morning to take the antibiotic at the proper eight hour interval. Had cereal for breakfast, and needed to stay up an hour because the instructions on the pill said not to lie down for that long after taking it.

By 6:30 I'd thrown up breakfast. At least I hadn't yet taken the pain pill.

Later in the morning, I called the dentist. We both agreed that if all I was going to do with the antibiotic was throw it back up, I needed to get the medicine in a different fashion. He told me he was going to call an oral surgeon who could give it to me by IV.

The oral surgeon suggested the dentist prescribe me Phenergan first and see if that and a slug of Maalox helped me keep the pills down - and whadduyaknow - it worked.

So I finally have enough antibiotic in me to start fighting the infection, and the pain is starting to ease off. I took a pain pill after dinner, but when I take pain meds and there isn't much actual pain? They make me itch my skin off. I'm switching back to the Advil the next dose.

Since Monday, when he first did the work, this is the first day I've felt half decent. Praise the Lord!

Called the dentist this morning, and he wanted me to come right in. I had a miserable night last night, waking up every time the pain meds wore off, plus some fairly severe nausea. He evened up the surface (the eating pain was caused but the tooth hitting unevenly with the one above it) and cut a small incision on my gum to relieve some of the pressure from the infection. He also shot me full of anesthetic, which afforded me a few hours of pain free time. But once those wore off, the pain came back with a vengeance. Now, I guess I wait.

Oh, he also changed the antibiotic I was on, hoping it would help with the nausea, but also because the infection flaring up was what has caused most of the pain, and apparently the penicillin wasn't doing the job.

I worked for a couple of hours this afternoon, even though when I called in this morning to tell them what was going on, they said I didn't have to. Didn't make it hurt any less not to work, so why not get paid?

So, yesterday I had to go to the dentist because recent x-rays showed that an old root canal (15 or so years) appeared to be infected. I had to go to a specialist who would dig out the old root canal, treat the infection, and then re-do the root canal and crown.

He assured me that since there isn't any nerve left in the tooth, it wouldn't hurt. We even had a long discussion about whether I needed pain medication afterward or not.

OMG, did he ever lie. First, he was unable to get all the old material out of the tooth, so I have to go back again in a couple of weeks for him to try and get the rest. Apparently there are two typed of filler material that can be used, and my old dentist used the bad one. By the time he finished, I was hurting. Secondly, the damn thing still hurts like a !@#$%.

I took the day off work and stayed zoned on the pain meds all day yesterday, and today I switched to Advil since I had to work. I did okay for the first six or so hours of work, but by hour seven the tooth was throbbing agony. I took another prescription pill about a half hour before work was over (I work at home, so that's safe), fell asleep for about thirty minutes after work was over, then got up to make dinner for Son and myself.

Chewing didn't hurt like that yesterday! I almost gave up on dinner entirely, but it really was pretty good, except for the pain, and there's the fact that I'd taken my insulin and really had to eat at that point. But right after dinner, I took another pain pill. Yeah, I'm only supposed to take one every four hours and it'd barely been over two, but geez.

This had better improve by tomorrow. I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't, but I'll be pretty pissed.

One of the things I decided to do after having some heart scares although the tests came back clear was lose weight - hence the Weight Watcher's posts. Another thing was cut back on caffeine. I bought some decaf and had hubby (who makes my coffee even though he doesn't drink it himself - he's a peach) mix it with my regular to cut back how much I was having in a day. The plan was to ease off gradually.

Yesterday he ran out of caffeinated stuff. We got up early-ish, went to the WW meeting, came home and picked up Son, then took him to the mall to meet with some friends. We went and got lunch, came home and took a nap. A three hour nap. Then we went to the mall and walked for an hour, waiting for him to call and say he was done. He did, we went to dinner at a Greek place there at the mall and we came home. I went to bed an hour early, exhausted. Throughout the day, by blood sugars stayed low enough that both lunch and dinner didn't require me to take any insulin to cover them.

Today has been worse. We got up and went to Sunday School, then left church and picked up Subway to have for lunch. Came home and went back to sleep for an hour and a half. Got up, watched several TiVo'd shows, went back to sleep at 3:30 and slept until almost six. Ate dinner in front of the TV and now I'm here. Tired. And I still haven't taken any insulin beyond my breakfast dose.

Please, someone tell me this gets better. I can't be sleeping a majority of every day away. I need to go back to the heart racing with the caffeine if that's the case.

Okay, today was my first weigh in at Weight Watchers. I've been keeping to my points, walking almost every day and didn't use all my weekly bonus points. And it seems to have paid off - I'd lost 2.6 pounds. Hubby had lost 2 even.

It doesn't sound like much, but the WW website scolded me when I entered my new numbers - "Weight loss should not be over 2 pounds a week. Talk to you leader about how to slow your wight loss down."

Heh - forget that! It's only a little more than a half pound over their ideal, anyway.

I am having a little problem with the WW website, though. The Flash tools, which worked fine for me at first, have stopped working entirely. I have to use the "Classic Tools," which isn't as shiny and fun to use, but do the job adequately. I'd just like to know what's going on with the other. Any ideas?

ETA: Cleared my cache - it works like a charm again!

So, after several years of gradually packing on the pounds and trying to ignore that fact, hubby and joined Weight Watchers yesterday. Myself for about the third time this lifetime, him for the first time ever.

It is TOTALLY unfair how many more points men are given than women, just because they're men.

This time, I am determined to stick with it. I always got satisfied in the past before reaching the ten percent goal. I will be strong this time. Cheer for me?

You may have seen on the news that the Atlanta area is suffering from heavy rains and flooding. I had to go out in it today and I can assure you, they are not exaggerating. We saw several flooded roads, and the Chattahoochee River was a lot closer to the underside of the bridge than I recall it ever being. Our county has even closed the schools for tomorrow!

But we are still dry and safe here. I'll find a way to let y'all know if that status changes.

Boychild has been coughing, but otherwise fine, for a couple of weeks. This morning, he was coughing a lot worse. This afternoon, he came home from school running a low-grade fever and suffering a headache along with the persistent cough. He fell asleep for two hours on the couch in the TV room - this kid never naps.

Sure enough, he woke up to a 100.1 fever, just late enough I couldn't get ahold of the doctor's office to schedule an appointment for tomorrow.

Flu, anyone?

Today, to the wonderful Mel - scribbles1977. Don't know if, with all you had going on in your life as of the last time we spoke, you still come around here anymore, but if so, I hope it's a great day for you.

And tomorrow, to one of my newer friends, the amazingly talented sparrow2000. May you and your wondrous stories continue to grace our presence here for many years to come!