Camping is a lot of work

I just love going camping. Once we get there and all the shit is put up and I can finally relax. At the moment I'm in the this is a lot of freaking work mode. I'm taking a 5 and drinking some wine because I really just want to scream at everyone.

People that know me know that I'm a sarcastic person and somehow I manage to piss off both my oldest and my husband withing 45 minutes of each other. Apparently telling them "I was just joking" only works when THEY say it.

And you know, they've known we were going camping for over a month and yet, even though they are all home I'm doing all the freaking work.

I came home all in a good mood, saying "let's just go tonight" and an hour later everyone hates me and I feel like I might possible be ready by the 8am take off time we've set.

AWESOME.

Ok I think I'm done venting.

Source: a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net via Mom Taxi on Pinterest

Random Stuff In My Head

I can't seem to think of one subject to concentrate on to blog about. I hope that doesn't scare you off.

Scott is doing much better pain wise this week. We went to the Orthopedic doctor on Monday. He took an x ray so we got to actually see how broken his collar bone is. The answer to that is: a lot. He said that he could do surgery and put in a metal plate or he can just leave it and it will heal up on it's own. Basically that means that it will still be broke but his body will adjust to it. He kept asking me how I felt about it. All I could think about was how much the bill would be for surgery. Yeah, slightly crooked collar bone? Sounds good to me. Thankfully Scott felt the same way. The doctor said it might take THREE MONTHS to heal. He goes back in four weeks to get it checked on.

I told him next time we go there we should take gifts to the girls that work the office part. They must be seriously stressed out because they were all a bunch of bitches. Working there must really be miserable.

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We got our first bill from the accident (besides the $290 bill from the tow yard we had to pay immediately to spring it from their yard and stop accruing fees we didn't even know about). The bill for the ambulance ride was over $1800. What cracks me up about that is it says that it is "due immediately" and to "pay in full". Um yeah nice try? How's about you try billing my insurance first :::please God let them cover most of it::. Apparently everyone should have a "just in case I'm in an emergency fund" so you can pay these bills that you never knew you were going to have.

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Today I sent in a form to get a "parent loan" to help pay for the remaining part of Jessica's college that is not covered by the grant she got and the federal financial aid she received. You know, the "parent portion" that they tell you on FAFSA. That amount that you kind of laugh at and say "well I hope you get a scholarship". So now we're hoping "I" get the loan. I told her she can start paying me back when she gets a job. I think she thought I was kidding but I definitely am not.

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The seat belt in her car broke the day before yesterday. We can't just go buy a new seat belt (the part it clicks into) because that part is connected to the seat. The seat was also crap, so luckily they (her and Scott) were able to find a decent seat at Pic N Pull. Instead of getting one seat they got two so they would match. Which is nice but cost $100 plus. I swear this car is nickle and dime-ing (more like $50 and $100's) us to death. At least it's paid for right?

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We are going camping really soon. Which means I need to crawl around in the shed and find all the camping gear and pull it out and pack everyone's stuff and go to the store, and decide what we are going to cook to add that to the list, and if I'm really productive figure out how to drive a stick shift by Friday morning. That's why I'm sitting here reading blogs and pinning things on Pinterest. Overload much?

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I'm up 4 pounds from last week this week. I'm guessing that's from the mass quantities of alcohol I've drank lately (not really but there has been a few nights of a few drinks). I'm being optimistic though and thinking maybe it's just muscle from all the extra exercise I've been doing. I'm trying to be really good today and stay within my calories. Good thing Diet Coke is free (I know I know it's bad for me and I haven't drank much of it lately)

Crazy crazy life

This has been the longest week ever.

Monday-Took Jessica to her school orientation. My mom went with us so she could see the campus and area. We went to where we thought we needed to be, walked around, someone had a bit of nervous drama, finally found someone that pointed us in the right direction, got in the car, dropped her off. Then my mom and I went to Denny's for breakfast followed by hours of shopping on Cannery Row. We ate a late lunch/early dinner at Louie Linguini's, although sadly no tables with a nice view were open. I ate clam chowder and ordered a pizza. The pizza turned out to be more of a small family pizza than a personal one so I took most of that home but everything was really good. We only took a couple pictures.

My mom looking into the sun lol

And me in a gigantic sweatshirt. Guess it's time to get some smaller ones. Hard to believe that was a bit tight at one point.

We shopped until it was time to pick up Jess. We were almost back when she called me in tears. She was totally overwhelmed with everything. I went in with her and talked to a couple people and things were a bit better. We got her some food on the way home and by the time we were to Casa De Fruta things were so much better. Although, spending almost $50 on one bottle of wine, some chocolate and pistachios I  wanted to cry a bit.

Tuesday Scott was feeling a lot better.

Wednesday he was in so much pain.

Thursday he was in a lot of pain but felt a bit better. 

Friday PAIN.

Saturday feeling a bit better.

Sunday, currently sleeping in the recliner.

This week has been a pain roller coaster. He gets in so much pain he can't do anything but sit there and try make it through. It's really hard to watch your husband be in so much pain and not be able to do anything to help.

Thursday he went to the (regular) doctor and now he had an Ortho appointment on Monday. We'll see how that goes. He got some different pain pills when he went to the doctor too. Not sure how much those are helping but he doesn't seem to be in that panic kind of pain mode now.

Thursday a friend of mine brought us over some food too. That was super nice. Working full time (mostly) and trying to keep up with everything and having him in so much pain is making me mentally exhausted. On top of all that my oldest has been doing a lot of growing up stuff that adds to my hair falling out.

Friday night I met a friend of mine for a drink after work. Which turned into two drinks (Applebees has delicious frozen margaritas!)

Last night I went to a party/bbq with work friends. It was fun hanging out with everyone in a non work setting and just being nice and mellow.

Today is book club at my mom's place. She had picked Tending Roses for the book club book, which I had already read. I'm sure everyone will have really liked it.  I've already been in the car for an hour and a half taking my sister in law to the BART station and then back home. She is really worried about my mother in law. She's been getting really dizzy and almost fell in the grocery store. Let's add one more crazy thing to everything that's going on :check:

I'm really trying to not go off my diet and to keep up with our bike riding. 

I WILL not let this kick me off. 

I WILL NOT be fat again.

Off to go ride bikes since I ate a waffle for brunch...

Father's Day

Father's Day.

I'm a Father's Day failure this year. I bought ZERO cards. I had even looked at some in the store but told myself I would make them. Um yeah obviously that didn't happen. Hope my Dad's were ok with phone calls.

I was taking care of Scott so hopefully that was enough for him. We went and saw his Dad (and mom and sisters) for a family BBQ.

My friend was having a huge party at her house so the girls had went there first and then met up with us at Scott's parents house. His Sister and Mom made us a nice spread (although nothing green ack!). Usually I come prepared with a healthy salad and/or meat choice but I was just so exhausted. Dinner was ribs, mac salad, potato salad and chips (and bread that I didn't touch).

I'll have one tiny spoon of each please.

We sat and visited for awhile and then I begged off with the kids to go over to my friend's house. They had about thirty people there. Her niece had got married so family came from all over. They had a wedding, graduation party, bunch of birthdays and a reunion all rolled into one.

I felt useful since I helped cut cake :)

The kids had fun swimming with all the kids that were there. I got some nice visiting time in with my friends which I really needed. AND I ate cake and ice cream. Damn it was good too.

Eventually Scott sent me a message that he was ready to go so I went and picked him up. His parents had a whole carrot cake that hadn't even been cut into. I felt bad but I wasn't going to eat it. Guess they put it in the fridge for another day.

Since I don't have any pictures of any actual Father's Day events I'll show you my gladiolas that are up and blooming. I planted the orange/red ones last year. The white ones, when I bought them were supposed to be white and PINK. I've seen approximately one tiny bit of pink on one flower each year. LIARS.

I've obviously killed off the strawberry plants that I had put in that planter. I'm going to have to pull them out and try something else in there.

Last year I got tired of planting bulbs. That would be why there are no orange/red ones on this side. I DID plant a ton of bulbs before the gradation party so next year it should be pretty. I've been trying to add some new ones every year.

Gladiolas were my Grandma Marilyn's favorite flowers and that was why I first started planting them.  I like them in the middle, kind of a surprise show.

I hope you all had a nice Father's Day!

(starting to think I should just  hire someone to finish putting those bricks down...)

Beach Day!

Yesterday we dropped the hubby off at his parents house so he could hang out with them and the kids and I met up with my parents and brothers for a "surprise birthday" trip for my youngest brother Joe. We were going to the beach!

We got on the freeway and drove and then we drove slower and slower and then were barely moving along with five million other people and I really think that wasn't really an exaggeration on how many people were on the freeway.

Twenty miles from our destination my one brother decided he'd had enough and we rearranged cars (adding my Dad to ours) and he left to go back home. I was really sad that they gave up but it was totally understandable with a baby strapped in a car seat for hours. Oh did I mention that it was like a hundred degrees yesterday?

We had left around ten thirty and finally arrived at the beach around two thirty. So four hours for a usual MAYBE two hour drive. We got lucky and found parking only a few blocks away (and later we thought how dumb we didn't just unload next to the beach and THEN go park the cars in stead of lugging everything for blocks).

I had never been to this beach before but it was pretty nice. It seemed really small compared to the last one we went to but it had much nicer bathrooms (although they were still disgusting by the end of the day) and outdoor showers to get cleaned up.

The kids had a ball playing in the ocean and the sand. I dipped my feet in but that was about it. Brrr that's some cold water! I'm a bit scared of playing in the ocean too. I just know a big wave is going to come up and sweep me away! My kids though? No fear.

My niece loved the water too.

The kids also spent a ton of time playing in the sand. They took turns burying each other and just having a good time.

My sister-in-law's dad brought a kite and before long he had it flying high.

and I got a few nice pictures of my parents

Oh and can't forget my sister-in-laws vodka gummy bears.

It seemed like way too short of a time before it was time to pack up and hit the road for home. There was a bit of traffic but thank God it wasn't as bad as on the way there. The kids are all asking when we can go back and my answer is "when there's less traffic!"

Not A Boring Day

So not too long after I finished yesterday's post my husband called me and told me he got in a car accident. I had to jump in the car and start driving to the area where he works to go find him. He was all groggy when he called me so I only knew to take a highway and an off ramp but not much more than that. Talk about a nervous wreck! He had also told me that he thought he had broke his shoulder. I was really hoping he was ok.

I drove quite a ways and then got a call from a paramedic telling me that they were taking him to the hospital in the ambulance and some directions on how to get there. He works an hour and a half from home and wasn't too far into his commute when the accident happened.

I got to the hospital and then went in the emergency room. Talk about ghetto. The receptionist had a small hole to talk through and it wasn't eye level so you had to squat down a bit to talk eye to eye. She told me she'd figure out where I needed to go and before long I was with him in his room.

A few minutes later the doctor came in and said he had a broken collar bone, broken sternum and he obviously had a big bump on his head. Poor guy! They gave us the option of staying there for observation or going home, which we chose since we don't have very good insurance.

So here is what a 1988 Toyota looks like when it gets in a head on collision with an F150 pick up at 35-40 miles per hour.

Very happy my man is able to walk and isn't hurt worse. When the paramedics took him he had no idea where his truck went. It took me a couple hours this morning to track it down. CHP said it was in the PD's area. They said the same thing in reverse. Called back and forth and then finally told them they were giving me the run around and SOMEONE should know where the hell it went. Then I got transferred to someone who actually knew how to find it.

Then I called the tow company and they said even if I signed it over to them I would still have to pay the tow fees and a storage fee for the day. Which is a lot. I was trying to figure out how I was going to get there when I started thinking that I'm sure if we brought it home we can part it out and at least get scrap money for it. So I called my brother in law who has a flat bed truck and he agreed to go get it for me.

He lives about an hour away from me AND my sister in law needed a ride from the train station to my in laws today so I told her I'd pick her up, go pay him back for the tow and get Scott's tools out and stuff out of the truck. So I was basically in the car for about five hours today. I'm exhausted!

My house is a wreck and tomorrow we are going on a day trip (minus Scott who we are going to go deposit on his parents couch) with my family. Weeee fun!!

Just Another Exciting Day

So yesterdays exercise has killed today's ass. My legs are SORE! and my ass a little too.

Guess that means I got a good work out? I didn't get up early, didn't go for a walk/run in the morning, and I ended up going out to lunch so I didn't get in my after lunch walk either. I WILL be going for a bike ride as soon as it cools off a bit so I'm not a total slacker!

So we like to go to this little farmer's hang out restaurant for lunch sometimes. I know I've probably talked about it before (hmm kind find anything anywhere so I can carry one!).

Someone at some point  nick-named this restaurant "silicon valley".

Not THIS Silicon Valley

All the waitresses are cute and perky with BIG BOOBS

When I first started going there they would actually wear body glitter on their chest. I'm thinking it must be for bigger tips? But those boobs, they are expensive. I wonder if they work more than one job to be able to afford them?

Always reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where all the waitresses have big boobs and they accuse them of only hiring girls that fit that category and then they find out they are all the owner's daughters. Cracks me up just thinking about it.

Don't worry I ate healthy at the restaurant. I got a chicken fajita salad, which comes with avocado, hard boiled egg, tomatoes, chicken breast and salsa on lettuce. Nothing bad about that! I also got a cup of chili but only ate a little bit because I was too full.

Getting Moving!

I did the strangest thing today. I got up EARLY! I know, crazy right? I usually go walking on my lunch but it's getting almost to the 100's lately in the afternoon so it's tad bit hot.  There has still been some good breezes which make the walking part bearable but when I come in the building it's all stuffy. The other day I came in and ended up in the bathroom giving myself a cool down with some paper towels. That's attractive.

So I was thinking. If I get up early I can go do my walk then! Before it gets hot. And I can take the dog, he needs exercise too. My alarm went off at five and I was so proud of myself for only hitting the snooze button once. Then I rolled out of bed and put my tennies on. I spent a little bit of time looking around for the dog's harness and finally gave up and just used his collar. Then we were off!

We did a walk &jog around one lake. I actually had to talk the dog into stepping it up a bit, which was pretty amazing. I thought for sure he'd be pulling me along, all happy to run. Guess all those hours of him being lazy laying on my bed are catching up to him. Is there a couch to 5K for dogs?

I also discovered that when wearing a sports bra I do not have enough cleavage to hold my iPhone in there. Slips right through. Had to move it over to the "cup" section. Pathetic.

I got back in half an hour so it didn't take too long and then jumped in the shower and got ready for work. I was actually about fifteen minutes early for work. Nice!

Here is my "diet food" for lunch today.

Not too shabby eh? I'm liking the La Tortilla Factory Corn & Flax Seed Tortillas (don't worry they don't taste weird I promise!) I made tacos with the lean ground beef for everyone else and then for myself I warmed up a can of black beans. I figured out that the black beans in the Hispanic section of the grocery store are WAY less calories. Weirdest thing ever! I'm thinking they must just add less crap to them or something. They were lower or close to the low sodium "American" beans too.

After lunch I ended up going on a walk anyways. A co-worker got a nifty new pedometer and wanted to get more steps in. Works for me.

Now we'll see if I can actually get myself up again TOMORROW.

Really Odd & Rude Things People Say To Me

Since I've been losing weight (37 pounds down!) I seem to have become the spectacle around work sometimes. Here's just a few things people have said to me lately.

Looks me up and down "WOW, YOU'RE LIKE SKINNY!?!" followed by a really strange expression. Um thanks? I think?

Me, coming out of the bathroom at work, which just happens to open up to the break room. Co-worker looks at me and says "do you eat apples?" I was like yeah sure I have one every day with my cottage cheese. Then she proceeds to tell/show me how Dr. Oz says you should rub your stomach to get gas out. Umm ok?

Another co-worker asked me how much more weight I wanted to lose. I said at least twenty more, maybe a bit more. Yet another co-worker chimes in and rubs her stomach and says "to lose this right?" Gee thanks for pointing that out..

Someone else tells me, "wow you're stomach is finally starting to go down". Yeah um f-you k?

"You're losing weight" yeah I know

"I should go back on my diet" ok

"Don't turn sideways, you'll disappear" (kind of liked that one)

"Did you see we have a new person working here? Every time I see you I think you are a new person" (kind of liked that one too)

People think it's absolutely crazy that I walk to Subway sometimes. It's .8 miles one way. Not even a mile people!! It's not that far!

Overall, it's nice to receive compliments that I'm looking nice but I wish people wouldn't point out what body parts my fat needs to melt off of next (complete with pointing). Seriously, before you open your mouth you should run what you're going to say through your head real quick and think about if it would offend YOU if someone said it.

American Graffiti Car Parade

If you are not a car person or of a certain age you probably don't really know about the movie American Graffiti.


And if you aren't from around where I live, you probably don't know that it was filmed in Modesto, California. Which just happens to be the city I work in and the closest large city to where I live. Apparently every year for the past few years they have done a month packed with events around the whole Graffiti night theme.

Fun stuff!
Thanks to Facebook friends I decided to go at the last minute. Only Trevor and Melissa were home with me so I asked who wanted to go. Melissa thought the TV was more exciting so Trevor and I got ready real quick and jumped in the car. 

I was a little worried about parking but I found somewhere to park just a couple blocks away with no problems. As we walked towards the main drag we saw all the cars starting to line up. 

I sent my friend Eric a message and he and his wife were only a couple blocks down so we walked a little farther and then watched together. 

At first just a few cars were going down the street and then there were more and more until finally all the lanes were getting full and it was like cruising down Pacific Avenue when I was a kid only the cars were a little older. 

My mom FORBID me to go cruising when I was in high school. So of course we went anyways. I don't think I ever did drive (my car was a one of a kind piece of crap and I definitely didn't want to get caught!). Most of cruising for us was driving along looking for hot guys, doing a little hooting out the window, and I think ONE TIME only did we actually stop and talk to some guys, none of which I ended up hanging out with myself.

Back to the parade. So we are watching the cars go around and around, they were doing a big square around the downtown area just going around and around for a couple hours. Trevor was getting super excited when the people in the cars would throw candy. Suddenly this little boy that was next to us asked him what school he went to and what is name was and the boy's dad says "you were at our house!". Yes, small world we were standing next to someone that we know. Well not me personally but Scott went to their house to watch the Super Bowl and Trevor went with him. Crazy that we would end up standing to them on a huge even on a random street corner. 

The boys had a great time hanging out for the rest of the show. Trevor came home with totally stuffed pockets of candy. 

We left just a bit before it was totally over but the cars had died down a bit. We got out of the area with minimal traffic so the whole trip was quite a success! We're going to have to watch for it next year and make a night of it. 

I kept the pictures small on here so I could share more, just click on them if you want to see them bigger.

19 Years

The sixth of June was our nineteenth wedding anniversary. 19 years. That's a long time. I have now been married for half of my life since I was 19 when I married the man. I look at my 18 year old and the mother in me shakes her head and cries a little.

But here we are.

 Since we are both dieting it took us two days to decide on where we wanted to go to dinner. We finally settled on the Mongolian BBQ place. When we were walking in a large (and I mean that in more than one way) family walked in ahead of us. Which was fine but I'm pretty sure they all filled their bowls up with peppers and hot sauce.

and then I was right behind them. Everything gets cooked on the same big grill thing so my bowl?

was very spicy. Even though I didn't put any spicy foods in it. My lips were on fire for most of the meal and I'm pretty sure the waitresses got tired of coming and filling up my glass of water.

After dinner we decided to go to a movie, because what else is there really to do on a Wednesday night in a small town. There wasn't really anything I wanted to see so I let him pick and we ended up at MIB3 in 3D.

The moment we sat down I knew there was no way I was going to make it through the movie without falling asleep. I spent 3/4 of the movie trying to stay awake and the other 1/4 falling asleep. Of course I totally missed the ending. Not that I really cared, the movie was so boring.

We came home and I went to bed and he got on the computer. Yep, exciting life. We'll see if we make it to twenty! I keep telling him I want to renegotiate our contract but he seems to think that the "I do" we did has locked him in.

Ha.

Girl's Night Out SUSHI

Earlier this week my girlfriends and I went out to celebrate a birthday. We started off by meeting up at the movie theaters to see Snow White & The Huntsman

This is not really the usual kind of movie we see when the three of us go out. We are usually a bit more "chick flick" but there isn't a whole lot out right now and it seemed interesting enough. I hadn't looked it up or seen any previews for it so I didn't even know who was in it.

I thought the movie was "ok" but probably wouldn't watch it again. It did have some REALLY cool effects. That would be worth the Redbox rental itself. 

After the movie we walked down to  Matsu Sushi. 

None of had ever tried sushi before, but we all agreed it would be fun to give it a try. Plus it's pretty low in calories!  Our waitress was really nice and answered the  questions we peppered her with. 

We eventually decided to try three different rolls. I also ordered us an appetizer. My friend and I both got the Miso soup and she also got a salad so she wouldn't starve if she didn't like the sushi. 

We put in our order then we goofed around.

Birthday card my friend got for our other friend

 This is one of the appetizers. It was called a "Puff Daddy" I think. 4 came in a martini glass. They were really good. I think it was crab & shrimp friend (what's not to like there?)

Here is our meal 

On the left is the California Roll, the top is a Dragon Roll and the right side was an Italian Roll. Everything we got had cooked fish. Guess we aren't as adventurous as we could be. Next time!

First round, ummm good

After dinner, which was only $40 for the 3 of us, what a cheap date we are, hopped in the car together and went to Ross where my friend found just the right sized wine glass.

 And then we went over to Kohl's and looked around. 

We finished the night off by hanging out at Starbucks until they were closing up.

I can't wait until next time!