Freezer Inventory

Today my daughter had a friend over to play. While they played I decided to empty out our small chest freezer in the basement and see just what we had. Since I had to take time off unpaid when I had surgery money will be tight for a few weeks - so I wanted to see just what we had here that I could use up.

Here's what the freezer contained:

1 - spinach and mushroom pizza
1 - 4 cheese pizza
1 - pkg of chicken stir fry
2 - 1 quart bags of chicken enchilada (homemade)
2 - pork roasts
1 - ham steak
1 - whole chicken
11 - pkg of corn
2 - pkg of hot dogs
1 - pkg diced chicken meat
1 - pkg crinkle cut fries
1 - pkg bacon
3 - pkg of filet Mignon
1 - pkg mixed veggies
1 - pkg chicken tenders
1 - pkg beef sausages
2 - 1 pound pkgs of ground beef
1 bag of ice

I was thrilled to discover I had so much meat in the freezer - since that's one of the most expensive things to have to buy. I am planning on checking out the Angel Food website and possibly purchasing some of the packages offered there.

I'm ba-ack!!

Whew. It's been a long time since I've been on here. I had my hysterectomy on November 6th. It was a lot more draining and well, I guess consuming than I thought it would be. I was completely unprepared for the physical toll it would take on me. I spent 4 days after the surgery so nauseated that I could hardly eat anything. I'd eat about 4 bits of something and feel so sick that I thought I would blow chunks.

On that 4th day the doctor gave me something to help with the nausea. As it turned out, the nausea was caused by me not having had a B.M. (who knew???) As soon as I was able to go I started to feel better immediately. Yes, I was sore. Yes, I was tired. But over all the recoup time really wasn't bad.

So...... I have to tell you..... I haven't taken my 5,000 meds since the day before surgery. I am on day 12 of not taking any meds and I feel terrific!!! Before if I didn't take my meds in a 48 hour period of time my muscles would all start to stiffen up on me and I'd feel intense pain. They had me on muscle relaxers and lyrica for the pain (they thought it was possibly fibromyalgia) and addreall because they thought I had a form of narcolepsy. Since I haven't had any of the stiffness or crazy sleep problems since my uterus was ripped out I'm beginning to wonder if my uterus was somehow causing these problems, like poisoning my body. I have my follow-up appointment on Thursday morning and plan on asking the doctor.

Here it is less than 2 weeks after the surgery and I just know I made the right decision. Yes, it was hard - I've wanted another child since my daughter was 1 year old. I'm lucky to have the one. Given all the problems I had during my pregnancy and afterwards (that's a whole nother post!) it's probably for the best. My body probably wouldn't make it through another pregnancy - at least my hips wouldn't!!

Another bonus......(drum roll please)..........

I am weighing in at 118 pounds!!!!

I never thought I'd see that weight again. It's actually 2 pounds under the weight that the doctor thought I could actually reach - but since I'm only 5'1" it's still well within the healthy range. I have to say - scars from the hysterectomy aside - I look hot!!! : ) Now I just need to maintain - which isn't going to be easy considering I really can't do anything for exercise right now. But I am so excited and I feel terrific. I feel so HEALTHY!! I honestly don't remember ever feeling this good. Yay for me!!

You smell like radishes!

When my husband comes home from work each night the first thing he does is take a shower. (He works in a honey plant & sometimes smells sickeningly sweet or like bbq sauce - cause they make that as well.) Tonight he came down from his shower and smelled like aftershave. I really like the smell of his aftershave and told him smelled delicious.

April piped up saying "Radishes? He smells like radishes?"

Ah. The things kids say..... : )

Weekend before Surgery...

I had such a great weekend. I had a lot of things I wanted to get done before I have my hysterectomy on Friday. The house was the big priority. I am ashamed to admit this, but several years ago I quit caring. I didn't care about taking care of myself or my home. My daughter was the priority, heck everything but me and the house were a priority.

Since I began exercising and actually taking time for myself I have noticed my attitude about other things change too. For years I've been embarassed by how cluttered my home is. But I guess I didn't care enough to do anything about it. I know that sounds terrible. I've been doing a little more around the house. Finally I just couldn't take it anymore. I decided that if I don't enjoy being here because I am overwhelmed by all that needs to be done & if I am embarassed to have anyone drop by then it's probably time to do something about it.

I was a CLEANING MACHINE this weekend. I'm not completely done, but what I have done has made an enormous change in me and given me hope of getting things on track. My floors and base boards have scrubbed - I mean SCRUBBED - by hand even to make sure I got everything! My showers, tubs, sinks, & toilets have been sanitized. The carpet in our bedroom cleaned. Laundry done, no dirty dishes, countertops wiped down. Wow. I am really starting to feel so much better about it and not so overwhelmed. I threw away bags of stuff - some things probably should have been taken to the Goodwill or something, but I NEEDED to get rid of them and didn't want them sitting around waiting for the trip to the Goodwill.

I'm hoping to do more each night until Friday and plan on staying on top of the laundry too. It will be nice to be able to face this coming weekend knowing things are taken care of & I won't have to do anything but rest! : )

In case you were wondering about my decision.....

About a month ago I made this post about my "female" problems and the options I was presented. I decided to go with the hysterectomy. D-day is November 6th. By noon that that day I will no longer have a uterus.

I guess I actually made up my mind rather quickly. However it did take me a week or more to actually make the appointment. Having this done is a huge decision. It means there will definitely be no more children. However, the way things are right now there can be virtually no intimacy anyway. Right now I am having my monthly visitor for about 3 weeks out of the month - not usually a full week at a time, usually a few days then a day off and then it's back again. I have cramping almost constantly, whether I'm having the visitor or not.

I have been on multiple birth control pills to try to help with my problem and they have all worked, for a few months and then it returns. This has been an ongoing problem since I got my first period.....seriously. I have had 2 surgeries already for endometriosis. The first was in June of 1998, then I had April in 2002 (which was a miracle) and helped to slow it down for a while, then again in August 2006. When I was in to my see my ob/gyn last year she said we were running out of options and if my problems continued to progress we would need to talk about other options. So when I met with her in September I was somewhat prepared for the options.

There are a some things I am looking forward to with the hysterectomy:

1. No more pills to try to help make my endometriosis more tolerable.
2. No more buying pads! (Can't wear tampons because within minutes it feels as though someone is stabbing me in the abdomen.)
3. No need to worry about sporadic gushing of blood.
4. No more cramps/nauseousness/passing out!

I am still having moments that this decision makes me very sad and I'm sure I'll have them even after the hysterectomy. Like when April asked the other day why her friends and cousin have siblings and she doesn't. I tried to explain that sometimes parents can only have 1 child. But she tried to convince me that we could have another one no matter what. Honestly it took everything in me not to cry then. To know that she will never experience the closeness with someone like I have with my brothers. To know that there is someone you can call and tell anything to without being judged. To know that there is someone that will tell you like it is and you'll be okay with the way they say it because you know that they are only telling you because they love you and you don't get angry because because you know you love them anyway. That's what makes me sad. I know she'll have good friends, but it's not really truly the same as a sibling.

On occasion I am wrong.....

I don't know if you guys remember this post or not. I was so upset when I wrote it because of my brother-in-law breaking up with his longtime girlfriend whom I had become good friends with. Not so much because he did it, but because it seems to be a trend and it's emotionally hard to become good friends with his girlfriend and then have it end badly.

Well, I was determined that I wasn't go to become friends with his new girlfriend. I have to be honest, the first couple times I was around her I wasn't real nice. Not that I was mean, I was just well.... tolerant I guess. I wasn't mean, but wasn't friendly. I'm getting to know her a little more through the occasional email and find that I'm thinking more and more that she is someone I could be friends with - more than likely.

So there you have it. I was wrong, I admit. She is a very nice person and I am learning that we have quite a bit in common. I still am friends with his exes and plan on remaining so. I don't discuss her with them, nor will I discuss them with her. Just because that's the way to do it and not have any jealous feelings come up. Or at least keep them to a minimum.

Menu Plan Monday

This week is full of evening activities and plans. Monday is the skating party/fundraiser for April's school, Tuesday she has tumbling, & Wednesday evening I have a meeting at church. Busy weeknights mean the menu has to be planned ahead or we end up throwing money away by having to eat fast, greasy drive thru food. So here is the plan as it stands right now:

Monday: Chicken strips w/ veggie & fruit

Tuesday: Chicken stirfry

Wednesday: frozen pizza, salad

Thursday: Spaghetti with meat sauce

Friday: not sure yet ; )

I only had enough imagination for 4 days, so Friday is going to have to wait.