Meet Mariama, our sponsored child in Africa...

A few nights ago my family was watching ABC World News and they did a segment on famine in Africa. Normally when really depressing or negative news would come on, I would change the channel because I didn't want to upset Sarah, but that night, I let her watch the segment.

She sat there, expressionless as she saw the faces of the kids...children her age...living in drought ravaged sub-Sarahan Africa. This was the first time she ever really saw the ravages of famine and actual starving children in a third world country.

Now I know what some of you may be thinking..."There are starving kids in the United States, what about them?" I can understand that point of view, but at the same time, it is like comparing apples to oranges. In the United States, yes, poverty is a big problem. Children in our own town go hungry every day and that is something that I wish we could change. Over the years I have tried to teach Sarah the importance of helping out those in need by purchasing groceries for our local food pantry, as well as contributing to canned food drives throughout the year. Although poverty abounds in the United States, as a nation there are multiple resources that are in place to assist those in need and no, I'm not just talking about welfare. There are soup kitchens, food pantries, free lunch programs, churches and shelters that offer assistance to those in need.

In many countries in Africa, they do not have the government and social programs established to assist those in need. Many of these countries are enduring decades of civil war, droughts on a scale that we could never imagine, plagues of locusts that destroyed an entire nation's crops in the course of one month...these are people who truly have nothing and as a fellow human on this earth, it is my feeling that we can't turn a blind eye to their suffering just because they aren't Americans.

After the news report ended, Sarah quietly got up, went to her room and came out with her savings bank. She handed it to me and with tears in her eyes said to me "Mom, can we send this money to to kids we just saw who had no food to eat?" I told her that unfortunately it wasn't that simple.

"But mom, they were having to eat leaves...that was all they had! We have to help them..."

I told her that there were aid programs that help people in those countries and that many organizations have it where you can sponsor a child with monthly donations and that money helps their family and their community by helping them plant trees, purchase livestock, build schools and things like that. So we went to Worldvision.org and Sarah said she wanted to sponsor a child and that she'd use her $5 a week allowance to help cover the cost.

Mariama, age 6 from Niger in Central Africa

We talked about it and she wanted to find a little girl and so I did a search and let her go through the choices. She picked a 6 year old girl named Mariama who lives in Southern Niger, a land locked country in Africa which is almost 80% covered by the Sahara desert). She chose her because she didn't have any brothers or sisters (just like our Sarah) and she thought maybe she could use a new friend and put a smile on her face. Sarah is so excited to have her as a new part of our family...We've already packaged up one care package to send to her (it's great that they allow you to send them things like colored pencils, stickers, letters, photographs) and although it will take a while for our letters to be translated to her native language, we like to think that the love and care of complete strangers may be able to bring a little bit of light into what must be a very hard life for someone so young.

I think that it is important for Sarah to always grow up feeling compassion and empathy for others. Some children these days are so egocentric and fail to see that there is life outside of their little world. I know that I can't shelter Sarah from all the horrors and the hardships in the world, but by teaching her about life outside of our own little world, maybe she will grow up with a true appreciation for the blessings she has in life and will strive to help make the world a better place for others. 

So this is another thing that has been a focus in our family this week. Sarah and I have been writing letters to send to Mariama, Sarah is drawing pictures and picking out inexpensive little things to send over to her. She is so excited about having a new friend...I told her that mail service is few and far between, so we may not get a letter but once a year, but she is just happy knowing she helping another kid.

I don't know what I did to deserve such an amazing daughter, but this week she really showed me how much I love her with all my heart!

Part I of my recent adventures...

Hi everyone...

Sorry I have been out of pocket for the last week or so, but things at the Casa de la Joy have been a bit crazier than usual. Well, not exactly crazy, but between work, doing things around the house and a nice little medical snafu, I've just not been up to blogging because I've been a little "hazy" in the evenings. I apologize for being a less than proactive blogger and know that I have been reading when i had the chance at work, but I haven't been active in commenting. It's not that I don't care, becuase I do, but just that my mind really hasn't been in the game. Even my girlfriends I email on a multi-daily basis would attest that I haven't been really chatty this week. Sorry girls!!!

Let's start at the beginning...last weekend, I decided that since we are having the counter tops installed in 2 weeks, now was a good a time as any to repaint the kitchen, so I went out to Lowe's last Friday, picked out a nice shade of cream to paint the kitchen, which of course involves moving the oven and the fridge. Let me tell you...we've been in the house 9 years and I've never moved them to clean behind them before so I was a bit nervous to see what we'd find back there. I was surprised that aside from enough cat fur dust bunnies to create a new cat, there were only a few alphabet letter magnets from when Sarah was about 2 and a couple of her drawings from preschool that were under the fridge.

Just for any of you who decide "Hey, let's paint the kitchen!" a word of advice...Empty the fridge out BEFORE you move it, as I'm sure it'd be much easier to move. I felt like we were trying to move a 3 ton elephant and me being all super cool and wanting to show off my muscles  and prove all my personal training paid off, I did most of the fridge moving. Yeah...bad decision in retrospect, but I had a cocktail or two between coming home from Lowe's and the fridge move, so it SEEMED like a good idea.

From there, I started doing the painting, insisting on doing it myself because I wanted to show that I could do it and plus, I didn't want Jason to have to suffer the consequences of my redecorating bug. Here is me beginning the painting process...Not a flattering photo and my boobs look huge for some reason:

You can see the cream color I am painting and the former color which was toasted almond. Since our new counter tops are quartz and are a medium brown with black and cream flecks in them, I wanted a cream color to balance the room's colors. It looks good now that it is done...but that takes me to the next point.

Since I was on this whole kitchen redo, I was then scrubbing the floors, baseboards and the cabinets because you never really notice all the drips that get on the front of the cabinets until you are at eye level. Needless to say, I spent hours on my knees which in some case can be a great thing (just a joke for all my pervy sisters!) but little did I know I was just adding insult to literal injury. The next day, my friend from work and I were taking a load of stuff to the dump (from cleaning out the garage and from her kitchen remodel) since Jason has a truck and we wound up doing two trips. I had taken 3 Motrin in the morning on Saturday, so I was fine loading and unloading the truck bed, but by about 5:00 that evening, the pain really started to set in.

I couldn't get comfortable at all Saturday night, so sleep eluded me and Sunday I spent the day house cleaning (organizing my closet, dusting, etc...) and just staying on top of the soreness by taking Excedrin like they were Sweet Tarts. By Monday (Memorial Day) I was in misery. Here it was a holiday and I needed to see a doctor, so I decided that i had to go to the Emergency Room. If you know anything about the cost of a ER visit, even with insurance, you know it has to be intense to justify the expense, but at this point I had gone 2 nights with no sleep, I couldn't move without wincing and I needed to get something for the pain...

It turns out out I have done something to the tendons/muscles along my spine in my middle to upper back. He had me taking 800 mg, Ibuprofen, Skelaxin (a muscle relaxant) and Hydrocodone for the pain, which luckily I haven't had to take but twice as long as I take the ibuprofen and Skelaxin. Although I have no problems with taking heavier pain meds, they're not something I like to take if there is another option, which I now had. Still, the Skelaxin makes me a bit foggy headed, so I've been taking them only at night and work has kept me busy, so that's why I haven't blogged much. I have a follow up appointment with my doctor tomorrow at 2:30, because honestly, I am surprised that I am still feeling very sore all over my back from a few inches above my waist to my shoulder blades. It's a constant ache and tingling and I don't like it one bit. I can handle issue with my knees or ankles, but my back has always given me issues due to carrying around extra weight my whole life, so now that I'm over 100 lbs lighter, I don't want anything screwing me up now, you know?

So that's where I've been...Weight wise, I'm still doing ok. Hovering in the upper 160's/170 range but on a positive note, the Skelaxin for some reason totally takes away my appetite, so I haven't been in the mood to mindlessly graze.

Anyone else have back issues and if so how did you get relief? Chiropractors make me nervous and i guess until I have a better idea of what I did, I'm not going to fret. I can still walk without problems, I am not having bowel issues and the ER doctor said he didn't think I did anything to any of the discs in my spine....Whatever it is, it's muscle related, so I'll keep you updated. What I do know is that in just the amount of time I've been sitting in this wooden kitchen chair writing this blog, I've gone from a pain level of about 3 to an 8. Time to go take an ibuprofen and a Skelaxin.

I'll try to write part II later this evening if I can get comfy on the sofa. Be good everyone!! Oh and I see I have a number of new followers and I know I am not following you, so the next time you leave a comment, just leave your blog address so I can begin following you too!

Oh and there are less than 4 months to the Band of Outrageous Babes girls weekend in September. I am so excited about seeing everyone again and meeting those who haven't made it before! Remember it is not too late if you are interested in attending and meeting some wonderful fellow Lap Banders so if you are interested and want more info, check out our website at http://sisterhoodofthetravelingbandits.blogspot.com/ We'd love to see you there. How can you go wrong with a weekend of laughing, drinking, happy tears, friendship, Chicago pizza and sightseeing???

10 Things Thursday...my first edition

Normally, I don't have enough things of relevance to much of anything to talk about (or I just can't remember them) so I've never done one of these 10 Things Thursday posts. It's a little slow at the office today, so here goes:

• Thank you all for the comments and private messages regarding my last post about loving yourself no matter where you are in your weight loss. It was nice to know that what I was thinking was echoed by so many. I'm not worried about few people who stopped subscribing to my blog...if they don't like me or my blog, I ain't stressing. Not everyone in this world is meant to get along :)
• Yesterday, I met with "my kitchen designer" (and I'm totally joking on this one. He's really just the guy who works at Lowe's) and I ordered the new quartz counter tops for our kitchen. I'm really excited and they should be coming out to do the template next week and everything should be ready to install in about 3 weeks. Now I just have to decide on a new paint color for the kitchen...
• I JUST realized that this weekend was a long weekend. Holy Shit, where has this year gone? It's almost June, which brings me to my next point...
• Hurricane season is almost "officially" upon us. I live 8 miles from the East Coast of Central Florida so hurricane season is always a fun time. The only upside is that if we go get a possible storm, it means we get hurricane days instead of snow days like some of you get in the winter.
• We will probably use our pool for the first time this season over the weekend. We've balanced all the chemicals, cleaned it and cleaned all the landscaping around the hot tub, so we are ready to go. I just need to get new cushions for our outdoor furniture (the old ones are faded) and it will pool time fun at the Casa de la Joy!
• Anyone been to the newly renovated Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas? Jason and I are planning a trip to Vegas next July to celebrate him finishing his degree and the Tropicana is a front runner. Keep in mind, we can't afford the Bellagio, Ceasar's Palace, the Wynn or crazy expensive shiz like that. We would rather waste our money shooting dice on the craps table than paying for some swanky hotel. So your suggestions for middle of the road hotels would be appreciated! We're planning on renewing our vows at the Graceland Chapel and Elvis will be the officiant and walk me down the aisle (and hopefully Joey & her hubby can drive up & be our witnesses!). Total cheese, but how awesome would that be? We've been married by a Methodist minister, a Hawaiian Kahuna and now Elvis? Groovy, baby!

• I wonder if I can sell my old counter tops on Craigslist? I think there has to be someone who could use them for their garage or work shed. We just don't have the room. We already have our garage organized and we don't need them and if I can get some moolah from someone wanting it, bonus!
• Tomorrow is the last day of 2nd grade for my little Boo-Boo Chicken, Sarah. She will be in 3rd grade next year. The schools are doing this online school shopping thing this year where you can go online and order a ready made pack of all your child's school supplies for the year.. They just ship it directly to you and the school gets a percentage of the sales. So part of me wants to go the easy route and have the one stop-already been done shopping just delivered to my house, but the girl who likes to bargain shop wonders what kind of deal I could get on my own. Never mind the pre-packed school supplies...I just checked the website...Holy Schnikey their prices are astronomical! I'll go to Wally World and do my own shopping for 1/2 the cost.
• It's really hard to come up with ten things to say, you know that?
• I'm really look forward to seeing some amazingly awesome women in Chicago for our BOOBS weekend. I can't wait!! :)

Well that's about it for now....thanks again ladies for the supportive words yesterday. Remember to just keep on keepin' on!

Loving yourself no matter where you are in your weight loss

So here I am, sitting at my computer trying hard to figure out how to write the words that are swimming around in my brain. You'd think that it would be easy, but some posts are harder to write than others. I know that for some of you who have been following me for a while, you know that I don't always write with a filter. I say what I think, but believe it or not, I do censor myself because I don't want to offend people and honestly, I am a caring loving person...I just don't suffer idiots well. I'll be the first person to admit that I can be a bitch at times, but you know what, usually it's for a pretty damn good reason. If you don't like me, so be it...10 to 1, I don't like you either, so let's call it a draw ok? ;)

We all have opinions about weight loss and having hit 28 months post surgery and reading the blogs of some other "success stories" (honestly a term I really hate!), I see how we ALL are different in our methods, our view points and our behaviors and although I may vehemently disagree with how you choose to present yourself within the confines of your own blog, it IS your blog, your views and you are entitled to your views as much as I am to mine.

A wise little owl with a tiny waist helped me see that...

When I first started blogging (my 2nd post) I wrote this about "What is my goal with weight loss?":

I just had my first appointment with my surgeon earlier this week and he asked me that same question. Since I've been overweight pretty much all of my adult life, I really had no benchmark of a particular goal. Sure it's easy to say, "I want to weigh 140 lbs" but for me, I know that is just not humanly possible. I don't want to set some idealistic, unrealistic goal, because then I feel like I would be too focused on feeling like I HAD to reach that milestone or I'd be a failure.

I want to be a healthy, happy me. If that means me losing 75 lbs, I'd be happy and not feel like I failed for not losing 100. When I started college in 1990, the last time I remember really being happy with my weight, I weighed 155. To be that weight again would be nice, but honestly, just to weigh under 199 or under for the first time in 15 years would be enough to make me do the Happy Dance!

I realize though that it important to have goals and not fear failure. In my previous post, it was all about my goal of wanting to rock a wicked pair of Louboutians. Some may think that to be an unrealistic goal, but it is one for me that I like to visualize. What is just so important for me and I like to think for all the Bandsters out there, that hopefully we are all doing this for the RIGHT reasons. Shoes, pretty lingerie and cute dresses are all fine and dandy, but if we're not HAPPY with who we are as a person, all the work we will go through (or have already undergone) will all be for naught. I like to think I am a happy person and I do enjoy my life. HOWEVER, I know in my heart and my mind that I will be so much happier and infinitely healthier, now that I am actively doing what it takes to change my future.

So when it comes to setting goals, there is one more that I can think of. My husband and I go to Hawaii on vacation every other year on vacation and each time my husband and I like to go on hikes. However, each hike for me is like being on a "Biggest Loser" challenge. By the time we would get to our destination, be it a waterfall or a secluded beach, I would be too exhausted to enjoy it. Nothing says fun, romantic holiday like sweating like a horse and breathing like I'm in an iron lung. On our next trip, though, I want it to be different. I want to be able to climb to the top of Diamond Head or to the top of Makapuu Point. The picture below is of me trying to recover after walking 1 mile up a trail to a waterfall on Oahu. There were tons of stairs built into the path and it was much harder than I thought it would be.

Here it is 28 months later and this was the first time I have re-read what I wrote. I reached the goals I initially set for myself. My doctor and I set a goal of 170 lbs which I reached before my 1 year anniversary (102 lbs. lost). I haven't been back to Hawaii, but I've been able to do so much physically having lost the weight. Last summer I was in my maintenance zone of yet another lower goal of 154, which was a healthy BMI according to the 1950's charts.

Yet a part of me still wanted to go lower...Why, you must be asking?

Because of what I read on the other blogs...bloggers who I had once looked to for inspiration, as they were banded before me, I began to compare myself to. And that my dear readers is the WORST THING YOU CAN DO.

I busted my ass to get to 145 lbs in September of last year. I wanted to look good for everyone in Chicago, I wanted the people who inspired me to see me as a success. In retrospect, I wanted validation. I wanted to feel like for the first time in my life, I was succeeding at weight loss, which was something I had never done before. Now, I wish I had told myself to "Snap out of it!" and not worry what other people thought of me and focused on what was important...being healthy.

I didn't listen to my doctor when he told me at my visit right before I left for Chicago that I was at an unhealthy" weight. I was like, how can 145 be unhealthy? He told me that for my height (5'6) and my body frame, that 145, 150 and pretty much anything under 155 was going to be essentially unsustainable in the long run. I wasn't starving myself or purging or anything crazy, but I was OBSESSED with what I ate, the number on the scale and what I saw in the mirror.

I let a number on the scale and a completely worthless rayon size tag on a piece of clothing dictate my mental self worth. I was below my maintenance level by 9 lbs...I was a "normal" weight...but what good is that when I am having to bust my ass day in and day out to maintain a weight that is nothing more than some arbitrary number? My weight defined me for so much of my life and here I was continuing to let it define me at a lower weight.

Fuck that...

I'm never going to be a petite clothing size. I'm never going to rock a size 2, 4 or 6 and I'll be damned if I am going to feel like I am a failure because I'm not. Ladies, when I was 10 lbs under goal at 145, I STILL didn't properly fit into a fitted sz. 8 Ann Taylor skirt and I was never big in the hip area to begin with, as I always tended to carry my weight from the mid-waist up. In order to have worn that in public, I'd have to lose another 10 lbs and that shiz was just not happening.

The truth of the matter is that I am just as happy, if not happier, at 167 than I was at 145. I enjoy eating what I like...IN MODERATION...and I don't have to be obsessive about working out everyday to counterbalance splurges and bad choices because I am not a slave to the scale anymore and because for the most part, I'm making the right choices to begin with.  I don't have 2 hours a day to exercise, I don't have my personal trainer anymore, so the onus is on me and I'm ok with that.

I'm the same me, just in a different size outer packaging. The me from 28 months ago was no less of a person than I am now....I love myself just as much now as I did at 145 and 272. At the time, I was unhappy with how I chose to self medicate with food, but inside, I wasn't full of self-loathing. If you grew up with the fucked up life I had, you'd have issues too...LOL

So for all you ladies who are still on the path to "maintenance" I just wanted to let you know, I've been there and truly, always remember to focus on health, both mentally and physically, over a number on a scale.

There may be others already there waiting there on a bench for you to join them, but just know that I am there walking along side you on the path...chatting, laughing, enjoying the sights, gossiping like high school girls and just generally enjoying life. We'll get there in time...but remember it's not always the destination but the journey getting there that can be the most fun!

No bench sitting here...at 169 and running stairs in the Bahamas!

My newly installed microwave and a surprise from Jason...

On Saturday, Jason and I decided it was time to install an over the range microwave. I wanted to free up more counter space and we were able to find exactly what we wanted (a very nice sturdy Maytag) on sale at Home Depot. I was just a we bit wary at first because Jason realized he had to do electrical wiring...meaning installing a new electrical outlet...which meant drilling holes in my upper cabinets and walls. I was a little nervous. Jason is a whiz when it comes to anything computer or science related, but when it came to home improvements, I think he must have skipped man school that day. So I did what any other wife would do....

I sat on the sofa drinking rum and pineapple-orange juice, watched Star Wars and if he needed my help, I'd assist. Otherwise I knew to keep my thoughts, opinions and suggestions to myself. Jason tends to subscribe to the "I don't REALLY need to look at the instructions and I can figure this out on my own" school of thought. After about 30 minutes of him cursing the electrical breaker because "something" kept tripping the breaker, did he realize he had things wired wrong.

That gave me time to have more rum.

Around 10:30 pm he finished the wiring and called it a night...he needed a drill bit so we would have to finish it the next day. So around 10 the next morning, we headed to Lowe's and while we were there, I just had to take a look at their Kitchen section, as Jason and I had been talking about putting in new counter tops in about 3 years, as I wanted something a little less dated. Currently we have Corian solid surface, but it is a sage green and I have really been wanting quartz or granite, but it was out of our price range.

Well, the shopping gods were on my side yesterday....We found the quartz counter tops we really wanted ON SALE for almost $30 a square foot off their regular price (normally $72/sq. ft, down to $44.99 sq/ft) with a free under the counter mount sink and installation included. We just couldn't pass it up...we could never afford quartz without that sale and for it to be in the color I wanted...the color that was in my head...well, it was just meant to be. The guy at Lowe's came out that afternoon and did the measurements (we estimated 42 square ft and it was actually 58, when you include the back splashes and the bar. I suck at math!) and we are going to sign the contract on Wednesday.

When we got back from Lowe's (where Sarah was CONSTANTLY reminding us how BORED TO TEARS she was...drama queen much?) we finished the microwave install and here is the end result:

Jason shows off his handy work

Here is a photo of the rest of out kitchen, so you can see that taking a microwave off the counter frees up a lot of room. Also, you can see the green in the counter tops that are going to be taken out. I'm figuring maybe I can sell them cheap on Craigslist and make a little $$ to go towards a new sink faucet fixture.

This is a picture of the new counter tops, we wanted something with brown black and a light color in it, as we have light colored cabinets, which at some point we will re-face and resurface since the cabinets are still in good condition. Just note that it looks more quartz/granite-ish in person, but this gives you a general jist:

Jason says that the countertops are my 40th birthday gift, my 10 year wedding anniversary gift (which are both on August 3rd this year) and my Christmas gift all rolled into one. I am SOOOOO excited. I really was expecting to have to wait a few more years. I've got a good husband!! :)

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

B.Y.O.C and Chicago...

Hello my peeps!! What's shakin' y'all??? Well, it is Friday and we all know that means it's time for B.Y.O.C courtesy of the ever-popular Harley riding, Coach purse buying Draz!!

1. What religion were you raised as a child, if any, and are you still a member of that faith today? Why or why not?

I come from a traditionally Catholic family. My father's side of the family was a traditional Irish catholic family, with my grandmother popping out kids like her vagina was a clown car. My mom's side of the family was a combination of English (the Ford side, her father) and South American Hispanic (Ecuador) on her mom's side, so they were Catholic as well. Catholic school was how they were raised, but I was put in the public school system. I know, can you believe it? The HORROR of not going to a private school...LOL (but I digress...that tirade is for another day)

Needless to say, I had no say in the matter of not going to church and I wasn't allowed to go to any other church until my junior year in high school when I went to a Baptist (GASP!!!) church with one of my best friends.  Catholicism was force fed to me. I was baptized as a baby, I had my first communion, I had CCD every week until I was in 10th grade (Sunday school for Catholics), I had my confirmation when I was 15, I was involved with our church youth group (which actually was a great group of friends from 4 different high schools in the area) and in order to miss church on a Sunday, you better be gushing blood or be carrying a severed limb to prove you were unable to go.

(oh and if you don't want to read about me going off on church, you may want to skip to the next question)

So I guess it pretty much goes without saying that I don't go to church anymore. Catholicism is NOT my religion. As a student of history I am amazed that it has survived this long and I can't abide by such a hypocritical doctrine that the pope continues to espouse. According to them, homosexuality is wrong, yet estimates show that almost 1/3 of the priests are gay. The church turned a blind eye to child molestation and they live by an outdated moral code. This is the same religion that at age 14 FORCED myself and 10 of my classmates in CCD to watch a video of an abortion as seen via an ultrasound. This is repugnant on so many levels...

I do believe in God and I am a spiritual person, but no, I am not going to pigeonhole myself into defining my religion. I'm human, I have free will and I know no more about the afterlife than Suzie Creamcheese next door and I can tell you this. There is no way in Hades that I, as a fallible human,  am going to say that every Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Rastafarian, Wiccian, Jedi and Pagan friend I know is wrong & going to hell because they don't believe that Jesus is the one true savior.  To me that is the ultimate in egotism and a bunch of crap.

2. Do you have an all time favorite candy or do you change favorites often?

If you've read my blog, you know I have an addition...on that I have to keep tightly reigned in...for Great Value Peanut Butter Cups. They come in a bag that equals 2200 calories total and they are like crack. They are totally my kryptonite.

 

 

3. Are you a green thumb? Do you landscape your yard or plant any flowers or a garden? Do you pay someone to do it for you? Do you not plant a single thing?



This one made me laugh...My thumb is so not green. Black is more like it. In years past, I have single handedly managed to kill most of the landscaping we had in our yard. The only stuff that survived are plants that would survive the 10 Plagues of Egypt. HOWEVER, I decided this past spring that I was going to give it one more try. I got SO sick of having the yard that "Looks like it was built on a toxic waste dump" so we invested in new sod, new bushes, fertilizer, plant seed, flowers and wouldn't you know it? It is still alive and THRIVING!!! Here I have had the shittiest yard in the world for 9 years and NOW it decides it wants to grow. Go figure!

4. Let’s just say you were a tattoo junkie and you were planning your next tat and it had to be words only. What words would you choose? A quote? Phrase? One word? Would you do it in English or a different language?

Tattoos in foreign languages that you don't speak fluently make no sense to me and there is no one word or phrase that means enough to me to have it tattooed on my body.  I am a one tattoo kind of gal...it's on my inner ankle and I honestly don't plan on getting more.

5. Repeat question: Summarize your week.

I've had a good week catching up on blogs and it's been nice seeing the movement on the scale again after my fill last week. Slow and steady is the way to go for me :)

132 or so days until the Band of Outrageous Babes gets together again in Chicago!! So excited! If you have not made your hotel reservations, The Planners would really encourage you to do so, so we will have a proper tally on the number of rooms booked. If you need the information, please contact Deb the hotel guru at kagead25@gmail.com AND sjoy1972@gmail.com once your room is booked, so I can mark you down as a confirmed booked room. It just makes it easier for all of us planners when we have firm ballpark numbers for when we are planning other things for the get togethers! Just remember that if you are still on the fence, you still have another month or two to let us know!!

I found out the day after we get back, we are leaving for a week in Myrtle Beach for a vacation with Jason's family. Sarah will have to be out of school for a week, but it's no biggie as we can just get the work ahead of time and being the student she is, she'll probably have all her homework done before she hits the South Carolina border! At least I will be able to recover from Chicago lying on a beach...Whoot-Whoot!!

Speaking of my little Boo-Boo Chicken, Sarah received the Character Counts Award at school today for "Being a kind classmate to all". That's my girl!!

Kim Kardashian will make my head explode...

Now before I get going on this tangent, if you are a "fan" of Kim Kardashian, you're probably going to get pissed off about what I write and more than likely leave me some nasty comment about how I'm a "hater" or "just jealous". I don't mind at all, because honestly, I can use a good laugh and personally I don't give an urban shit if you think that about me. This is my blog and if you are reading it, it's of your own volition so if you don't like it, click on the "BACK" button at the top of your page or go back to reading "50 Shades of Gray" or watching the view. I'm here to vent about Kim Kardashian.

I was listening to the radio this morning and they were going over the list of Fortune Magazine's 100 Most Powerful Celebrities in the World for 2012. She was #7.

Frickin' NUMBER SEVEN? Who in the hell is making this list up? Teenage boys?

I guess the thing that just completely amazes me is the fact that she is "famous" to begin with. Let's go over her background a bit. She is the daughter of Robert Kardashian who was one of the attorneys famous for getting OJ off the hook. Class act for a dad...even he admitted that he thought OJ did it. Anyway, her parents divorce, her mom married Bruce Jenner and he grows up in Hollywood friends with Paris Hilton, etc...She went to high school, has no college and got her big break making a sex tape (one that she actively participated in) and it was "leaked" to the public, but she managed to make $5 million off the deal.

She started hanging out on the social scene with super classy Paris and the next thing you know she is a full fledged "Celebutante" (which from what I understand is from the ancient Mesopotamian word for talentless hack). With her "momager" Kris Jenner at the helm, they decide to capitalize on her new found fame by whoring themselves out on a TV reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians". She poses for Playboy and gets endorsements out the yazoo. Seriously, this is what she is "known" for:

Her sex tape with Ray J
Her multiple Playboy spreads
Her presence on the incredibly played out Twitter
Her marriage to Kris Humphries
Her "Klassy Klothing" the Kardashian sisters sell at Sears.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS AMERICA??? Unless her talent is getting her picture taken showing off her butt and boobs, honestly, what else has she done that merits her being famous? Giving a blow job? Hell if that is all it takes to get famous, the world is filled with people just waiting to be discovered.

People say she markets herself and knows how to brand herself. Let me correct you on that. She learned how to whore herself out to the highest dollar, as based on the insult to the institution of marriage which was her $10 million sham of money grab "wedding" to basketball player Kris Humphries. 

Why is this woman looked at as powerful? Because she poses naked, markets tapes of her having sex?

What kind of example are we setting for our children? Look, I'm no angel...I don't mind people having sex. I think it's great. You can have threesomes every freakin' week with your husband and the cashier at the local mini-mart every week like clock work and I wouldn't say boo to a goose. But when you put yourself out there as someone who is famous and has "power" and that is a power that wasn't truly earned out of a talent for anything that does something positive for the greater good of society, then I have a problem. I don't want my daughter thinking that YOU, Ms. Kardashian are anything to be emulated. I like to think I will teach my daughter to respect herself enough to know that no amount of money or fame can ever buy respect and once you make the decision to make that sex tape and "leak" it, you've sold your soul to the highest bidder.

Have you seen their clothing line at Sears? It is crap. Wait...crap looks better than that. I've seen Atlanta hookers on Stewart Avenue dress nicer. Honestly, I never knew that bustiers and bras were back in vogue as outer wear. At least I know what to wear the next time I plan a threesome....