Remember Me?

Hi, I'm the person who started this blog, and then never takes the time to update it??? Sorry about that. March has been a crazy month, but it's almost behind us now. It's springtime, and the warm sun is...MELTING THE SILLY SNOW we got over the weekend! Yuck! But at least it was here one day, gone the next...leaving a muddy mess in it's wake. Let's hope the springtime sun shines for real and drys things out.

To catch up, my last post indicates we were going to the RV show. We went with our neighbors from the campground, and had alot of fun. We walked thru over 50 campers, from pop ups to the big motor homes. Quite different than our little 20 year old model. All the new ones have flat screen TVs and Aerobeds!! (even the pull out couches have Aerobeds!). Anyway, we were just looking. I did find a model I liked, but that's a conversation for next year (or maybe the next year...).

The next weekend, Olivia and I went to Springfield. My best friend, Penny, and her daughter Megan came up from St Louis and we had a great time. We let the girls swim and play at the hotel on Saturday and on Sunday we went through the Illinois State Museum. I actually used to live 1/2 block from the place and didn't even know it was there! (I didn't do much museum visiting back in those days). It was fun, educational, and my favorite part...FREE! Olivia's class was discussing fossils, so she thought it was extra great. I only wish Megan and Penny lived closer. The girls love playing together and I miss my friend.

We were able to get out and check out our camper the next weekend. We found that the tile floor in the kitchen had cracked, so Lafayette laid down some new peel & sticks. He had to take out the booth in the kitchen to do the floor and it made so much more room, we decided to leave it out! We put in an island with drop leaves and two bar stools. We get more storage and the kitchen area isn't so crowded. We were able to rake up the yard and burn some leaves on a beautiful 65 degree Saturday, but that's all we had time for. And unfortunately, the weather hasn't been decent since. Hopefully we'll get out this weekend and get some cleaning done, and are hoping that Easter weekend is warm enough to stay out there.

Last week was the school book fair, of which I was the co-chairperson. It's always fun, but always CRAZY. We provide a free dinner on Thursday night (gondolas, chips and cookie) and always plan for about 200 people. We served 200 people in 40 minutes!!! So we had to run and buy more food. We ended up serving 300 people and sales for the fair were great! It was also parent teacher conferences last week. Olivia was disappointed to discover that "C" in math is still sticking around. She got one "B" and the rest were "A's", so just that math keeps her off the honor roll. But she's got a great attitude and will just keep on trying! They did a speech screening for some pronunciation issues, but didn't find any major problems. She's going to join and intervention group to work on her r's and a couple other sounds.

This past Saturday was our "cookie booth" at Kroger. In about 4 1/2 hours, we sold 240 boxes of cookies! I'm so proud of our girls! Throughout the whole month that we sold cookies, the girls sold over 1500 boxes of cookies, earning over $800 for our troop!! WOOHOO!! Way to go, girls! That money will pay membership dues and all our troop activities until cookie time next year. But did I mention I'm SO GLAD it's over?? If someone asks me for one more box of Thin Mints, I think I'll scream!! One funny thing is that on Saturday, when one girl went to the bathroom, they ALL went together! (Do girls really start that this early??)

Financial Peace University is going good. 5 weeks down, 8 to go! I've learned alot, have written a budget, and am trying the "envelope" system of paying for things. This means carrying around cash that has been divided into categories (food, gas, entertainment, etc) to pay for things. The theory behind it is that you will actually spend less money if you pay cash for things instead of swiping the debit card. We'll see! Once the envelope is empty, there's no more money for that category until the next month! (Hmmmm, interesting concept!)

The low carb diet to control my diabetes is going so-so. Some good days, some not so good. But I'm hoping that I'm making the right choices more days than not, and eventually it will become a habit to eat the right things. I'm such an emotional eater and my schedule combined with some need for comfort has led me to fast food more times than I should have lately, but things should slow down more and I vow to do some better planning! I went to the second half of the diabetes education class and was startled to learn that an apple the size of a tennis ball is the correct serving size. Who has seen an apple that small, lately?? Geez!

So, that about catches you up on things. Let's hope April has nice warm days and the camping can begin. I'm looking forward to a visit from my Uncle Kenny and cousin, Cindy from Seattle later in the month. No job prospects for Lafayette, yet. Until Caterpillar picks back up, this area is going to be really slow. Please keep my friend, Kim, in your prayers during her ongoing battle with cancer.

I promise to write again soon!

A Time for Change

It’s been a long time since I had time to post. It’s almost midnight now, so hope I’m not to sleepy to remember all that’s been going on.

The first praise is that my cold is over…well, almost. The cough is gone, and there’s just a little stuffy nose left. It’s been such a long couple months, I’m so happy to be feeling better! So even thought it was just a cold, it’s actually a good thing I went to the doctor. She decided to run my annual screening tests and we found that I’m “pre-diabetic”. My blood sugar is in the 120-140 range, but I’m very thankful I don’t have to go on any medication at this time. I’ve taken a couple of education sessions on diabetes and got an eating plan to control the number of carbohydrates I eat to hopefully keep my blood sugar at manageable levels. I went to one of the classes thinking that this would “go away” if I lost weight, but one of the nurses brought me back to reality, explaining that while diet and exercise can keep me off medication for (hopefully) several years, I will be diabetic for the rest of my life. My Grandma Brown and my Aunt Phyllis (Dad’s Mom and sister) were both diabetic, and I remember their struggles with insulin, so I am going to try to do all I can to avoid meds as long as possible! Carbohydrates having always been my favorite, so it wont be easy, but I know it’s something I have to do to remain healthy. I just have to get used to sticking my finger every day to test my blood…ouch! I’m such a wimp!

I also started a financial class at church last week called “Financial Peace University”. It’s a 13 week program from Dave Ramsey, who also hosts a financial radio and television program. It’s pretty simple to grasp…budget your spending, pay cash for everything and build a stable financial future. I am looking forward to getting some good information and hoping to start using money a little wiser in the future. His message is perfect for the economy right now.

We’ve had lots of other things to keep us busy as well. My class has been very reading and writing intensive, so I’ve been spending lots of time on homework. Our Brownie troop has received our girl scout cookies (all 1200 boxes!), so we’re in delivery mode. I got to see my friend, Kim, on Tuesday and take her some Girl Scout cookies. She’s undergoing chemo this week, but looks good and remains strong in spirit.

And with today’s weather close to 70 degrees, we’re getting spring (and camping) fever! We’re going to the RV/camping expo at our civic center tomorrow…JUST LOOKING! (See that paragraph above about not spending any money!) We can get into the campground the first of April, so we’re hoping the weather cooperates and we have a good spring. Olivia is counting down the days! She’s hopeful that she can drive the golf cart by herself this year, but I’m thinking not. L

So, change is in the air. Change in my eating habits, change in my spending habits, and hopefully a change in the weather! Let’s all hope Spring is here to stay.