back to school

Rejoice! School has resumed!

Eli started last week and Anna started this week. So far they both enjoy it. Eli is having some difficulty transitioning to a new aide, he obviously does not feel the love for her that he did for his aide last year, but it’s still early. He loved his last aide pretty much instantly and I really liked her too.

First Day of 1st grade-

First Day of Kindergarten-

This year they are taking the bus home, they love it, Eli begged me all last year to take the bus and I wasn’t comfortable with the thought of him on it alone, plus I was lazy and didn’t want to walk to the bus stop (a mile total). Now I need the walk, as does the dog, and I trust the kids to get on the right bus.

They both seem to like their teachers. Eli is having some difficulty remembering to bring home his data folder. He was also giving his teacher attitude when his aid left (she’s only with him for 90 minutes) but we had a stern talk about that and he seems to be acting better. Anna loves school and likes her teacher, as do I so far, she has sent e-mails with pictures of the kids learning the ropes of school during the first week.

There have been no drop off or bus pick up issues with Eli like the attitude I got when I picked him up last year. Things are much smoother.

Anna told me her first day was, “Awesome!” As a treat on her first day I sent a marshmallow with a brown sugar heart on it and a little “I love you” note. She said she got my treat and note but the teacher said to throw her lunch away (when she was done) and she didn’t want to throw the note away so, “I hid it in my underwear.” and sure enough, during the walk home she reached into her underwear and pulled out the wrinkly I love you note. hahahaha

There were more underwear antics 2 days later. When we got home Anna pulled the carrots from her lunch out of her underwear. How that was comfortable I have no idea. She said she didn’t want to throw them away. I told her she could bring a lunch box to school (we were brown bagging it) and then she wouldn’t have to throw her food away, she could leave it in the box and bring it home. So Friday she took a lunch box… and didn’t bring it home. oi.

Yay for school!

blood and excercise

I saw my doctor the other week and he is impressed with my weight loss, diet change and workout routine. I was down 8 more pounds at my visit but the lab tech was at lunch so I had to go to the hospital to have blood drawn for the A1C the next day. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get the results back and it’ll be lower than Junes. I do not expect huge number changes, even just .1 drop would be great.

I’ve been working out at Curves 3 times a week, doing the circuit twice. I had planned to only do it once but that is only a 15 minute workout, so I do it twice. On the second repeat I do only 5-6 squats because if I go the full 30 seconds on the 2nd repeat it makes me light headed. I was skipping the leg extension/leg curl machine on the second repeat as well but now I skip it altogether, marching in place twice instead, at this time it just hurts my knees too much. Sometimes I jog in place between machines instead of jsut marching, it feels odd, but nice at the same time that I have more energy during the workout now. I still sweat my ass off and huff and puff.

We also adopted a dog a few days ago from the loal shelter, a 1 year old beagle named Amber the Pretty Flower Robot. When I asked the kids what we should name her Anna said, “Pretty Flower” & Eli said, “Flower Robot.” So I thought we’d name her Pretty Flower Robot and call her Flo. But it took 3 weeks to get her and all the calls I made, appointments, e-mails, etc, I had to call her by the Shelters name, Amber, and by the time we got her it felt odd to think of her as Flo, but she’ll always be Pretty Flower Robot, so a friend suggested calling her Amber the Pretty Flower Robot. Anyway, she’s an inside dog so she has to be walked at least 3 times a day, morning, midday and night. That’s great, more exercise for me! The midday walk on the weekdays is also the walk to pick up the kids from the bus stop, that walk total is about 1 mile and by the time I get home I want to rip my clothes off because I’m a puddle of sweat. After the first day walking it my body hated me, I was so sore. Amber loves the walks, lots to sniff! Lots of grass to pee on!

Look at that face!

Let me say how excited I am that the walks don’t kill me. I used to not be able to walk very far on our street (hilly) without getting winded or having my back hurt really bad. I am not winded and my back has not hurt at all (except after the first day when my whole body was sore lol). Next I’d like to get a bike, but I might wait till Spring, take off some more weigh, we’ll see.

Busy Busy Busy

At the end of June my best friend and her 4 year old (she just turned 5!) visited for a couple days.

Then a week later we left for our yearly trek to North Carolina. We had a great time. The kids are becoming more and more comfortable with the ocean and are getting better at swimming. Anna swam the length of the indoor pool all by herself with just water wings on. Without water wings she struggles a little more but she still does pretty darn good! Not bad for a girl who only gets to go to a pool a few times a year. Eli still has trouble, he doesn’t quite understand how to move his hands and kick his feet at the same time, plus he doesn’t really kick so much as he tries to run under water, lol, it’s very cute though. Another improvement form last year is that they both held their breath and went underwater, Eli for a long time, sometimes I’d start to get nervous about how long he’d been under and he’d pop back up. Anna was practicing her swimming under water. They both still hate having water in their eyes so goggles have been a great help. Basically, they had a great time and we had a great time. We have to entertain them less and worry less and with the kids enjoying it more it makes for a much more relaxing vacation all around!

I know for sure I’ll need to buy a new bathing suit next year and hopefully a one piece. My bathing suit is currently a skirt and tank top deal and the tank top is far too big now, I had to tighten it up with safety pins so my boobs didn’t flop out and the skirt kept slipping down n the water.

Since the last blog post I’ve finished the wholesale order, updated the shop, test knit a sock, the kids have started VBS at Grandma’s church (oh quiet bliss for 5 hours a night!) and Eli has started his 3 weeks of voluntary summer school which he is enjoying and doing well in. I love that school, all the materials are provided and they get a free snack. School starts a little over 3 weeks, the kids are excited, especially Anna. I’m excited! Quiet for roughly 8 hours a day! My house staying cleaner, sex during the day, outside of the bedroom! I’m gonna enjoy the hell out of it that’s for sure.

Got some good news on the diabetes front- at the start of May my A1C was 10.1, at the end of June it was 7.2. I see my doctor again the second week of August, I hope it’s still around that number or even lower. I think I’m doing well with my diet, but I definitely look forward to asking my doctor to a referral to a nutritionist or dietician, someone to help me understand the foods I should avoid better. I also currently do not check my sugars and will talk with my doctor about why not and if it’s something should be doing to help me better understand how to manage my diet and the diabetes overall.

My foot is better but I’m still in pain so my podiatrist is going to have custom molded inserts made. We’ll use those for a little while and reevaluate, if the problem persist we will try a custom molded brace. The last resort is of course, surgery, which we’d all like to avoid!

I’ve been going to Curves. My goal is 3 times a week. Once the kids are in school I plan to hit up Curves after dropping them off and my goal will be 4-5 times a week, with weekends off. I thought I’d only do one go around of the circuit but to make it a half an hour workout I have to do the circuit twice. There is one machine I skip the second time around, the leg extension/leg curl machine, because it bothers my knees. I just know in a few years I’ll have to have some sort of surgery on my knees, I hear crunching. No idea if I’ve lost more weight, I’m not really thinking about it.

My only complaint in life right now is that I didn’t buy these cheesy glasses while on vacation.

lose

I joined Curves the other day. Well, I didn’t have my check book so I did everything except pay, get my thighs measured (I was wearing a skirt) and get trained on everything. I’ll pay tomorrow and train next week. I still have to buy shoes and maybe cute workout clothes from Lane Bryan. My BF and her oldest daughter are coming for a shirt visit so I’ve been busy. Plus I’m plugging away on that wholesale order, the end is nigh! Also I am knitting a shawl and pair of socks in trade for yarn and being a glutton for punishment I’m test knitting a sock for Cookie A. This sock has a deadline of freaking Saturday (just 1 sock) and let me tell ya, I’m not sure I’ll make it. The pattern has a lot of m1 purls that kill my hands.

So the big news. They weighed me at Curves, I’ve lost 25 pounds since my diagnoses and last doctor WI on May 6th. I was surprised, pleasantly of course I told them at this time I don’t want to be weighed and measured regularly, so we are aiming for every 3 months… unless my curiosity gets the better of me, lol, but I don’t wantt to become obsessed with a number, ya know? I just want to get exercise and improve my health.

Well, back to test knitting, laundry and dyeing! 11:30pm and I’m still busy!

brace and curves

I got my purty (har har) lace-up brace from the podiatrist as well as shoe inserts for arch support.

But, I also got the ok to start Curves! I took the tour yesterday and got the price quotes. Now just trying to work it out with my dad. Hopefully I’ll be joining curves soon.

looks can be deceiving

After going back and forth looking into both my Curves and the local gym I’ve decided that once I get the ok to work out I will join Curves.

I know you can’t really judge a book by the cover but the personal trainer at the gym looks kinda douchbaggy. I am probably completely wrong and it’s probably just my insecurities about having to work out alone with a “boss”. I am still open to switching to the gym or a trainer when and if Curves is no longer affect or becomes a chore. Of course that wont be for at least a year because my dad has offered to pay for a year of either one. I know I don’t have to have a personal trainer, I could just use the gyms equipment but I feel like I’d just walk on a treadmill and never push myself without some guidance. Another reason to join curves, it’s not just one machine.

It’ll be nice once the kids are in school too because Curves is about a block away so instead of pulling up to the curb and dropping them off, I’ll just park there, they’ll go to school and I’ll walk to Curves. It’ll be great to get the workout done and over with in the morning as well.

I am excited and nervous, I’ve never worked out in front of people. I am also going to see if I can go without being weighed or measured after the initial sign-up. For me it’s not so much about losing weight right now. I know losing weight helps keep the Diabetes in check but for me right now it’s just a simple matter of getting exercise. I will probably lose weight, but I don’t want to become obsessed with numbers. I don’t want to feel like crap if I gain, I just want to get into a healthier routine.

So fingers crossed I can workout soon! Till then I stick to the arm workouts at home.

lost a tooth!

Someone knit me a tooth shaped pillow for teeth but mr impatient just wiggled his tooth out last night before we got it so that tin heart holds the tooth and then 4 quarters He was very excited! Easiest bed time ever!

I was woken up at 8 by a very excited boy, then he laid in bed with me and talked for an HOUR about the tooth fairy and what he was gonna buy. It was very sweet and funny. I don’t have the heart to tell him that his 4 shiny quarters wont buy him the john deere tractor he keeps mentioning… lol When Ben woke up the first thin Eli did was yell, “Daddy, look!” and shove hs open mouth in Ben’s face, heh.

It’s Father’s Day but we are celebrating it tomorrow, taking Ben out to dinner. I gave him his gift (space invader ice tray) and he got a nice chuckle out of it and the kids made him a super cute card. The kids wanted to get him a new game but Ben decided what he’d prefer is to spend the money on much needed new work boots and whatever daddy wants on father’s day, daddy gets.

new glasses

I love ‘em! Of course I’ll forget to wear them cause they are reading glasses and I always forget to put them on unless I get a headache from reading too much at one time. ha.

and a little sparkle

eyes and toes

The other day I had an eye exam. I hadn’t had my eyes checked in a couple years and now that I have the diabetes* I will of course get them checked yearly. The eye doctor was very thorough I was there for an hour and a half, I can’t remember the last time an eye exam took that long. I found out I have Optic Disk Drusen which apparently is nothing to worry about and something I’ve probably had “forever”. Basically my optic nerve isn’t smooth it’s bumpy and has the look of popcorn on it. From what I’ve read the worst thing that might happen is slight peripheral vision problems as I age.

My left eye is also slightly worse so I got a new prescription for my reading glasses and of course I picked out new glasses, they look pretty much the same as my current reading glasses except there’s “bling” on the side, lol. I had my eyes dilated which I’ve never had before, very odd feeling being so sensitive to light, I had a headache for most of the day.

I’ve been wearing my shoes from the moment I wake up till I go to bed, being the good diabetic. It has actually helped with the pain in my ankle. Anyway, last night I took my shoes off and got ready for bed and walked into our dark room… where there was apparently a heavy hard firetruck on the floor left by a certain boychild (they know not to play in my room gr). I hit the corner of it with my big toe and ripped off part of my toe nail. OUCH. Now I am super paranoid about it getting infected and losing a toe. If you’ve been reading you know my two biggest fears revolve around toe amputations and vision loss. I see my podiatrist on Monday about the ankle so I’ll have him look at the toe, hope it’s gonna be ok.

*side note- In my head whenever I say diabetes I sound like an old southern women saying she has the vapors, in my mind I’m even fannning myslf with my hand.

brought to you by the letter S

You are probably tired of hearing about the Diabetes, but, it’s a new and big part of my life right now.

I read in the paperwork my doctor gave me that I should be wearing shoes all day, no more barefoot in the house. Well I can’t wear my shoes without socks so I’m wearing all sorts of fun socks I’ve had in my drawers forever but had been forsaking for my handknit socks I wear in public.

It really is no big surprise that I love knitting socks. I didn’t think I would when I started knitting and I am not sure why. I have always loved socks, fun funky socks to boot.

Today I’m wearing these cute butterfly socks that I believe my mom bought me (she’s bought me many of my fun socks)-

To be honest I hardly every wore socks or shoes in the house and as a sahm who is socially awkward I don’t leave the house much so my sock drawer was never low. Now, it’s running low. I’m gonna have to knit more sock, or y’all can send me some fun socks.