Yesterday at work, Linda (the woman I work with) seemed fine. She was kinda chatty, and in a good mood. As the day went on, she got more quiet. I thought she was just busy with work, but I wasn't paying too much attention since I've developed a cold. Anyway, toward the end of the day, her husband (who also works with us) came and got her to take her to the hospital. Turns out she had been having chest pains and some numbness in her arm (I think, details are vague now). I've not heard anything about what was wrong, how she is or anything.

But this week should be interesting. I'm still not feeling hot today, and I can't dump the work off on my boss, because he's out of town all week for meetings or something. I hope she's alright, though. This was just so out of the blue. I'd hate for it to be something serious.


I still don't have my car back. We dropped it off last Friday to get the brakes fixed, but he wasn't able to get to it until yesterday. It's going to be $184, and we don't have that right now. We'll most likely have to wait until Tank gets paid on Friday. So we're back to sharing a car. At least it's a decent one this time around.


Gas is now around $2.05 a gallon. I'm posting this, because it will be fun to read over this in a year and think "Man, I wish gas was that cheap now".

I decided to start using Fitday.com again to track my calories. I'm eating way too much. :( I kind of thought I was. I'd say 80% of what I'm eating is healthy, but still... a calorie is a calorie. 2300 or more a day is too much for my activity level. The thing is, I try to only eat when I'm truly hungry. And I'm exercising 5-6 days a week, but the only time is in the morning. The rest of the day, I don't move much. I'm trying to change that, though. My plan is to get out at least twice a day (when it's not raining) and walk around the building at work several times. And when I'm at home, I'm going to try to do some marching and jogging in place while I watch TV. If I can't decreas my hunger level (and I'm not one to stay hungry for long, heh), I'll try and increase my activity level.

I started seeing some results a while back, but after just about 3 weeks, I've plateaued already. So, gotta cut a few calories, and increase the movement.


It's Easter weekend. We're going to my parent's house tomorrow. But in true Easter fashion, it's going to rain all day. At least it's finally warming up around here. Yesterday was in the 70's, and today will be also. And for the rest of the week, even though there will be rain, the temps will be in the 60's and 70's. It's about time.

The Devils Candy - Men's Health

Another eye opener.

This makes me want to get in more cardio today, even though I did a tape this morning. I may try to get 20 minutes in later today. I'm still tired from staying up and watching Ray (which we still didn't finish, long movie)

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Very interesting article. This is why we, as a nation, are so fat.

I don't know what's wrong with me. I feel like crap right now. It's 7:15 and I am fighting to stay awake. I'm also freezing, and it's about 50 degrees outside. I made some coffee, hopefully that will make me feel better. I don't feel sick, though. Ugh, I hate feeling funky for no reason.

Oh, and a nice headache...

Last week, I upped my weights for a lot of my exercises from a pitiful 8 lbs. to a pathetic 10 lbs. Ah, it's progress I suppose. But man! The difference 2 lbs. can make. I just worked my arms and shoulders, and I think I'm going to have to wait a bit before I do any laundry or wash dishes. They feel like rubber now. And I didn't even do all the exercises I meant to do. It's a good thing, though. Lift heavy and low reps to build muscle. Which is what I want to do.

Oh another note: I'm very tired of the Terri Shiavo case. I'll be glad when something else comes along that the country can collectively obsess over.

We normally get up at 5 a.m. But today Tank wanted to be at work earlier, so we got up at 4:30. And I don't think I got to sleep before 12 last night. It's 10 til 6 right now, and I feel like crap. Got a nice headache. I'm seriously thinking about taking Noah to the sitter and then coming back here and going back to bed. I know there's absolutely nothing to do at work today, and I'll just sit at my desk and fight sleep all day.

I really hope work picks up some soon. I hate going in, having enough work to keep me busy for maybe 2-3 hours, then trying to look busy for the rest of the day.


On another note, I hate my neighbors. We live in a duplex, and up until recently, we've been lucky in the neighbor department. But now there's a couple living there, and the guy is the very definition of redneck. He kind of scares me, to a degree. Not so bad that we're thinking of moving, or having him kicked out, but just enough to keep me on my toes.

Anyway, right now, I can hear their stereo/tv/whatever it is. And I've been able to hear it since I got up this morning, at 4:30. Either they were up drinking all night again, or they just passed out with the damn thing on.

Neighbors. :(

Tank's off to play golf today, so it's just me and the little man. It's a nice day, and I know he's going to want to go outside and play later, but I'm feeling very lazy today. I really need some lawn chairs. Maybe we'll go get one, and then I can lay outside and read while he plays.

It's the first day of Spring today. Sunny and in the 60's. Hopefully, this is the end of cold weather. I've just about had enough.

No exercise today, I'm taking today off.

Below are just a couple of random pics I decided to post. The kids are really growing fast.

6:45 Saturday morning, finishing up my coffee and trying to get the motivation to work out. Normally by the time I've finished my breakfast and gone through a couple of cups of coffee, I'm good to go. But it's cold in here, and I didn't sleep well last night and I just want to crawl back in bed.

I just need to get up and do it.

After Bear in the Big Blue House is over. No need to upset Noah. :)

Me, Tank and Noah at Christmas 

Caymen and Noah at Thanksgiving 

Ok, so where was I...

Back before Christmas, I found out that Caymen had been sexually molested by one of Clarence's girlfriend's son. He's not sure exactly when, but we're guessing he was maybe 5 or 6. And then Caymen went on to do it to Kiki's son, which is how it all came out. He's been to court over it and he'll have to go back for an evaluation in April to see just how much counceling he'll need. And now he can't come up to visit me, because he has to be in his house by 8 p.m. (probation). Clarence was going to talk to the probation officer about letting Caymen come up here, but I haven't heard anything yet, and it was 2 weeks ago that he was supposed to find out.

Of course, I was really upset at first. But he really seems to be ok. And maybe this is the reason why we've had trouble with him in some areas. Hopefully some counceling will help him with his self esteem and maybe that will trickle down into his school work, because he's still not doing great there.

Let's see... something positive... our finances are better now, and that's always a plus!

I'm back!!

Jeez, I always have such good intentions about keeping this thing up to date. I suck.

Anyway, just a short note now. I'll try and write more once I get to work.

I'm still at the Roane County News, same old job. And I'm freelancing for a monthly Oak Ridge paper. Makes for a little extra pocket change.

Last November, Tank got a job at the Oak Ridger. Making pretty decent money, too. No more working 2 jobs or scraping together odd jobs anymore, yay! We still have our little black car, and I'm surprised it's still in one piece. And a couple of weeks ago, we were able to get Tank a GMC Jimmy. Once again, we have a reliable vehicle. Maybe it will be easier for us to drive back and forth to Nashville.

And I'm back on the fitness wagon again. Maybe this time I'll stick with it. I'm eating better and since we get up at 5 a.m. every day (Tank has to be at work at 6), I work out in the morning now. I'm finding this is easier to stick to than trying to work out after work. It was too easy to find a reason not to work out then.

Ok, time to clean a little house and get ready for work. BBL.