. . . All My Chaosity . . .

We did finally start Time 4 Learning. DBall did a lot of math yesterday, and some language arts + Science today. He really likes the Science best, but they have very few of them on that site/program. Going to have to send him to Celeste's for Science enrichment activities every week. In regards to homeschooling, I kind of wonder why I'm not worried. I mean, I can't actually figure out what my mindset on the topic is. I thought I would be concerned that I couldn't do it, or that he would be "behind" (behind what exactly, I don't know). I haven't ruled out putting him back in public school if we decide that's what he needs, but for the moment I don't think that's what he needs. He was a pretty good bit ahead anyway, but I hope I'm not subconsciously slacking because I figure "he's ahead of the game anyway....."? I'll have to ponder it some more. I've prayed about it, and I still feel like this is the right t...

But I've got to get some groceries and then get D-Ball to Treehouse. Next entry needs to include: Time 4 Learning Spring Break AL trip upcoming Easter AL trip moving

I'm not sure what my deal is, but I don't feel great. I still have a headache. Sometimes it's worse than others, sometimes pretty mild. But I swear it's been there since the very beginning of March. I'm over it now. I'm cold. It's 52° F and raining. I'M SO TIRED OF BEING COLD. I have blood drawn Monday morning for progesterone and estrogen- maybe that'll provide some insight into my current frigidity. Bryson can't get any time off next week, but D-Ball and I are going to Nana & Grandpa's in Alabama for a few days. I still need to finish up the laundry for that, and I've made a lasagna for AceBall. We've decided against flying to California in August- it's just going to cost too much. We'll be able to do a lot more stuff while we're there if we drive, plus we'll have the convenience of our own car. We're still wondering if there's any homeschool discounts at SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo and such.... g...

It happens this way every month, but I'm always a little anxious (sometimes more than a little) when it's been a week or two since I've lost anything. And then, coinciding with ovulation for some reason, I start losing! WOOOHOOO!!! I think on the morning of 3/12? 3/13? I had lost 4 lbs, and this morning another 2lbs. I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! When I had my 3 mo follow-up at the surgeon's office - which drives me insane that I have to see a nurse practitioner I've never seen before, and I don't get to see my surgeon - but I digress; they said the surgery was only a "tool to help [me] lose 65-80% of [my] excess weight", and if I lost down to 195 lbs or so it would be a "complete success". Come on, seriously? A "COMPLETE SUCCESS" would clearly be at least 40-50 lbs less than that, in my opinion. Maybe I'll be grateful and happy if I weigh 195- but I'm liking 150 lbs a whole lot better. It should be a good deal warmer th...

as far as days go. Aceball got home from work and made loads of pancakes! I've partially unloaded the dishwasher, started 2laods of laundry, showered & dressed, picked up pizza rolls, picked up Peyton to play wii and eat pizza rolls...... That may be the extent of it. It's cold and freezing rainy here today, which I dislike immensely. This afternoon we have a homeschool group meeting at Fun City. My menu says we're grilling burgers and dogs for dinner, though clearly in the sleet we definitely are not. I think I've been through all my homeschool boxes and cannot find the math curriculum. I found a math boardgame and some flash cards- but nothing substantial for some reason. I suppose the child will have to have some math though..... Gonna make some chili!

but I am exhausted. I anticipated the hair falling out about this time, and I'm informed it will begin returning May-June. I love losing weight, and my energy level had been increasing weekly, if not daily. But this constant dull headache (though sometimes it's pounding) and getting more and more tired every day was not expected. I firmly believe it's the exact same headache for over a week now?! Pre-surgery I almost always had a headache, but post- not so much. I'm totally unimpressed with the current weather. 2 days ago it was warmish and sunny (70° F) and today it's only been about 40° F!! The high tomorrow is only 37° F. :(

I hope it isn't an indication that it's really going to be a long week. The weather was decent all day, we went for our walk at the park this morning. My new pink Nike's are not going to work, sadly. I really wanted them to- I just love the color. But I'm going to have to return them. Okay really I'm exhausted. My head isn't killing me- it just feels like a lot of pressure in there that kind of throbs when I move it. Who knows.

since I posted, but really only a few days. My head has hurt (at least a dull ache) since Sunday, I believe. I'm hoping it'll be gone by Monday- but I don't manage to update (or exercise!) as often when my head is pounding. I finally got the labwork back which I'm going to post here for my own reference. You may want to skip the parts I'll put in different colors, as they are tedious I'm sure. here goes: CALCIUM, IONIZED 5.01 (4.8-5.6 mg/dL) GLUCOSE 96 (65-99 mg/dL) UREA NITROGEN (BUN) 13 (7-25 mg/dL) CREATININE 0.56 (0.50-1.20 mg/dL) eGFR NON-AFR. AMERICAN >60 (> OR = 60 mL/min/1.73m2) eGFR AFRICAN AMERICAN >60 (> OR = 60 mL/min/1.73m2) BUN/CREATININE RATIO NOT APPLICABLE (6-22 (calc)) SODIUM 140 (135-146 mmol/L) POTASSIUM 4.6 (3.5-5.3 mmol/L) CHLORIDE 106 (98-110 mmol/L) CARBON DIOXIDE 21 (21-33 mmol/L) CALCIUM 9.4 (8.6-10.2 mg/dL) PROTEIN, T...

Last night we watched and recorded DBall's 2nd grade production of "Oceans of Fun". It was really cute and DBall had a speaking part and a solo in a song. He did really well, hopefully we'll edit it out his parts and post it on youtube and facebook for family and friends soon. We're going to Alabama to visit Nannie, Nana & Grandpa, Ashlie and Jonathan over Easter. We keep forgetting to ask about an Easter egg hunt- but we'll need to. We really like Easter egg hunts. Today I checked DBall out of school from 10:00-11:30 for the home school/Tree House Science Fair. He wasn't in it, but I wanted him to see the different projects so he'd have some idea what he could do for next year's Science Fair. Since there's a 14-day waiting period after you turn in your intent to home school, I went ahead and asked him if he wanted to go ahead and attend until Spring break (so March 20) or if he wanted next week to be his last week. I was a little su...

Woke up this morning and I'm down another 2 lbs. That's my first "real goal" met, I'm 299lbs. YEEEHAAAWWW!!!! Next goal is to have lost 100lbs. I'm ecstatic, AND I have my 3-mo follow-up today!!! WOOOOHOOO!!!

Okay I'm a little jazzed about it :D. Woke up this morning, and it actually said 3.5 lbs LESS THAN EVER BEFORE. When I tried it again for AceBall, it was only 2 less. But 2 is better than nothing, and my surgeon's scale generally reads 4-5 lbs lighter than mine! (I have my official 3-month follow-up this coming Monday). To celebrate we went to Golden Corral for breakfast. Not really to celebrate, we were going to go anyway. AceBall called ahead of time and they offered to let me get my food in a to-go box and weigh it at $4.19/lb. Sounded like the least expensive way to go since I don't eat very much. I ended up with slightly over half a pound of food for about $2.50. I had eggs, bacon, and a tiny bit of hashbrown potatoes- my favorite. UgH! I forgot to put ketchup on them- I just remembered that. It's all good though, I was more than full and had a great time. Now I'm going to get a little more ready and see what Mel & kids are up to. Then AB is pro...

I was really- I dunno, optimistic or something at the beginning of the week. It wasn't exactly bad, I suppose. But I'm pretty exhausted. I don't much remember Monday, but Tuesday I had bloodwork done. I called in a refill to my pharmacy and they told me Dr. Alex had called in something last week. I knew nothing about it, and only found out about it (finally) today. Apparently Dr. had messaged me, but it never got "sent". So the receptionist sent it a few minutes ago, and it reads: HI Angie. I want to get lab on you as soon as possible. I suspect your lytes are low (Potassium, Calcium, etc). And I'm sure you are iron deficient. We'll check everything. Please call your OB-GYN back and tell him how heavy your periods are. As soon as your blood is drawn, please start Chromagen 200 mg daily with dinner. I'm faxing a script over. Insurance almost always cover that one. And, take Docusate 300 mg twice daily. Once we get everything replaced, you'll f...

a great week so far! This morning Bro. & Sis. Bensing came over to help Ace (B the 1st) in the backyard. Our backyard is looking a lot better- we are thankful for friends and our ward family! I washed 4 loads of laundry, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, and then Ace helped me (he did most of the work- so I guess technically I helped him) in the playroom. We had a huge bag of "trash", and it's really starting to shape up back there. After we picked up DBall from school Ace worked on installing the ceiling fan in the master bath. It's been partially installed for a while, but we had to call the manufacturer and get additional parts. After that we walked to the and around the park (DBall rode his scooter). We made dinner together when we got home (breakfast!) and now I come to my actual point: I've identified another habit I need to break. I know I can only eat a certain amount. So I had 4 pieces of turkey bacon, and 2 silver dollar (slighty larger) ...

And I feel really great! Friday I finally heard back from my endocrinologist's office. They have me scheduled to have blood work done on Tuesday of this week. I'm sort of hoping my thyroid meds just need to be increased, or in the very least that it's something they can detect from the blood work they're doing. I managed to exercise 5 days last week plus stick to the cleaning schedule and menu pretty well. I didn't have all the ingredients for the particular kind of chicken that was on the menu for Friday night, so I just switched it to Queen Ang (King Ranch) and it was SO FABULOUS I was kinda glad I had to make the switch. It's really a relief to have it all planned out, and to buy the food 1-2 weeks at a time so I only have to run to the store every once in a while for extras or milk usually. Saturday D-Ball attended a Birthday Party for a friend in our ward. He seemed to really have a good time. He really enjoy arts & crafts, and they finger painted ...

WooHoo- got 5 days of exercise in this week! I got maybe 4 hours sleep last night, so B & I didn't walk this morning. It was pretty warm today though, so after school DBall & I walked to the library and park. Well DBall rode his scooter there and back. I managed to shop at Sams & Target today, so we have enough food through the end of next week I believe. Yesterday when I was talking to Celeste about homeschooling she suggested I pull DBall out before the end of this school year, so that he won't really miss much if he/we decides he doesn't like it. Then we could just put him back in at the beginning of third grade with everyone else. It actually sounds like a good idea to me, so he will stay where he is until Spring Break. That''s at the 9 week mark so it will work out. We're excited! Now I have to get to bed. I cautined DBall (early riser that he is) not to wake me up saying "I'm hungry" in the morning. Everything is set up s...

We did take measurements but we neglected to take pictures. Still. But I've lost over 14" altogether since January 17. I finally broke down and bought an electric blanket yesterday. I think last night is the first time I've actually been warm since surgery. And I am so grateful for it. I am having bloodwork done probably on Monday. She's going to check: potassium, calcium, magnesium, thyroid, iron and progesterone. I'm thinking I might need more thyroid, and possibly iron could be low due to malabsorption. Either of those could be making me cold. And my lower front thighs, and upper outside hamstrings (lower glutes?) have started cramping about 20 mintues into my regular 45 minute walk. I don't know what that's about, but I'd like to fix it if we could. So I did get my walks in yesterday and today. Tomorrow is supposed to be colder all day, and I suppose we'll have to walk at the mall or somewhere indoors. Okay really I'm tired now. ...

So I'm in the middle of laundry- including all the sheets and towels (I say that like there's loads of them or something, but it does *sound* better in my head when I read it back ;) ) . I've made the trail mix; which is really actually only dried apricots, blueberries, cranberries, cherries, strawberries and sunflower seeds. I'm not actually going to eat it myself, concentrated fructose is definitely not on my "diet" (forever more). But I think B. will enjoy it, and I put it in my clear glass cookie jar. I'mm hopeful it will encourage more healthful eating. I've also decided to buy more graham crackers instead of chips for boy's lunches. I will still buy (probably baked) tortilla chips for taco salad and such, but that's not very often. I put in 20 minutes on the gazelle. I went just under a mile. I so wanted to do the whole 40-45 minutes (about 2 miles, I figure); but that machine makes my hips, knees and feet hurt. I don't mind...

This week isn't looking so optimistic, but I'll try to ignore that for now. Maybe I just have some kind of issue with Mondays in general. The weekend went pretty well. There was no school on Friday(I really can't figure it out- the kids have school on President's Day - NOT on MLK Day, btw- but the Friday before President's Day they are off?) so we went to a home school Valentine party with Celeste & Co. It was pretty fun actually, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Then we dropped D and his Guitar Hero off with Celeste and family later that afternoon and Bryson and I went out. We ate at Cancun, which is not really Mexican, it's more like Tex Mex. The chicken was from a can (and salty) but the food wasn't bad- we had no complaints. There was decent space between tables and that was really refreshing for a Mexican restaurant. Then we went to see "New in Town" and I think we both enjoyed it. Saturday we planned to use our 2-for-1 certificates...

Tuesday the 17th will be my 3 mo surgery anniversary. I *should* be able to start on a regular diet, but my 3-mo follow-up isn't until the first week of March. I do eat a fairly regular diet now, I'm just not supposed to be eating fiber, pasta/rice/peanut butter, etc. Certainly no whole grains, which is driving me crazy.

So far I've found the McGuffey's Readers, some unit studies on Egypt, George Washington, General U.S. Grant.... and Mom says I have Saxon math somewhere around here. Still looking...