2 down 1 to go...

sorry i have been mia for a while...it has been a crazy crazy couple of weeks...i have been so busy at work sometimes i have to remind myself to go to the bathroom...ok maybe tmi but that is the truth...i am much happier now...we have a new administrator who seems to be a big team player and does not criticize everything we do...we have gone through alot of changes lately....i know this may bore some of you to tears, but maybe it will make someone kind of understand what i do...

i was asked to go work in another building two days a week...this was in march...this was one of our sister facilities that was having problems...i might add it was pretty cool that the director of operations specifically asked for me....ok i know i should not brag but it made me feel good...so i went on march 17 and about 2 hours later the state walked in at that building...so i survive that survey...then the social worker at that building quit as well as their administrator....so my administrator from pell city was asked to go to boaz - "temporarily"...

so kim and i are in boaz and trying to hire a sw with half a brain...we finally get that accomplished and guess what...state comes back...this time it is for the annual survey...can you say big kahuna...so i go through all this again...new social worker did not start until after survey - remember she has no long term care experience so i have to start at scratch to train her...it is very hard to find social workers who have long term care experience...for some reason people think the elderly are ooey gooey stinky or something.....

so then may 19th rolls around when i decided it would be fun to pass out at work...this begins my whole medical drama...so i finally go back to work on july 1 to find out that kim is not coming back to pell city....so we have this interim administrator that i am not even going to discuss...let's just say we did not gee haw...i was disappointed that kim did not come back...but things work out the way they are intended to....so we had an interim administrator for about three months....those were very trying three months...finally they hired a permanent administrator...

now if you are still reading you are a dear friend or you are just bored and have nothing better to do...

so now that you are up to speed - like you really cared - this week is her second week officially on the job; however, today was her 5th day in the building....so on tuesday morning the state walked in for our annual survey and she had been in our building for a grand total of three days...but i work for a great company and they sent in the calvary...i think survey is going well...it is just long days...i think our new administrator is the breath of fresh air we have been looking for and needing...the coolest thing about it is that she is a preceptor for the administrator in training program through the alabama nursing home association...so what does that mean...that means that she is going to help me get my administrator's license....i am so excited...

so these surveyors have left at about 6 or 630 each night...they are not staying as late as the ones in boaz did...can you say 11 pm and i had an hour drive home...anyway tomorrow is the last day barring any major catastrophies....and we will be done for another year.....yeah....thanks for reading....

to my son - i love you

it is hard for me to believe that you are 10 years old...you will be starting the 5th grade this year...you are a miracle for me...i was told i would never have children and if i did it could be harmful to me...well guess what..God gave me you...i knew from the very first weeks that you would be a boy...i knew your name would be jacob...i never picked out a girl name...when i would go to the grocery store i would tell your daddy, "me and jacob are going to the store"...or if i was going to take a bath i would say, "me and jacob are going to take a bath.."or if i was going to bed, "daddy, me and jacob are going to bed..."of course there was the time when i was pregnant with you that my back hurt really bad and i thought a hot bath would be nice...well your fat momma got stuck in the bathtub...this is not a lie...it truly happened...

when you were born, it was LONG day...your Aubie paced the hallway, my epidural would not take...they kept telling me i was having "ligament pains"..i never understood why they would not let me see you...they let me touch you for a brief moment...they whisked you away to nicu...you were not breathing and your lungs were full of fluid...i thought that i was going to lose you...i cried...i did not want anything to be wrong with you...i did not get to see you again until the next day...dad did not warn me that they had put an iv in your head...so i walk in and there is my little boy with needles in his head...needless to say i had the docs cornered like a rabid dog...the docs told us your lungs were under developed and you would always be sick...boy if they could see you now...

you are so smart, funny, witty and everything i could ever hope for in a boy...like when your teacher wanted you to read for fluency and you said, "i can read...you can read...what's the point?"...or when you told the preacher that, "me and poppa are going to drink coffee and chase women"...or walking out of the bathroom swinging your sister's underclothes from your light saber...there is never a dull moment with you in my life...i love you so much...i hope you have many more happy birthdays...

a quick trip to the beach....

we have been trying all summer to go to the beach...so we just said forget planning...let's go...so we left on friday to go to pensacola...our favorite place...we have had so much fun..stephen took jacob fishing today off of the pensacola pier...jacob caught three big fish but only landed one...it was a spanish mackrel..the other two were so big his line broke both times..the coolest thing though was we saw a sea turtle in the gulf...it was huge..it weighed at least 300 pounds...we could not get a picture because it came up quickly and then went back down pluse it was at sunset...pic may not have developed...anyway...it was cool...something we all saw...here are some pics.. my sweet angel girl

me and my hubby

sunset at pensacola...most beautiful one ever

my sweet demons i mean angels

look what i caught

not sure what we were doing but the expressions are priceless...

sand angel

my diva...

this was the most still he was the whole trip

the way i spent my first day off....

this should be of great enjoyment to anyone who reads this...i woke up this morning to no water...now before i go any further...you must understand that we have more utility problems than the common citizen...we have a power company whose CEO is Mickey Mouse (we have lost power 6 times this summer - all were transformers that had been hit by lightening) ...we have a phone company that is run by The Wiggles (if anything wiggles in the atmosphere the phone and internet go out) and our local water department is run by Barney Fife...(if you should have a water problem good luck getting anyone out here to look out...and if they come out then they pull up in the yard honk the horn and holler "what's the problem?" to which i have responded numerous times, "that is what i called you for!" ok so on to the story...so i call the water department...this is the conversation...lincoln water department...yes has anyone reported a water problem off of ridge drive...no...well we have no water...no one has called and if it was our problem we would have received more calls...well i still don't have water...have you checked your pressure regulator...no what is that...a mechanism on your turn on / off valve...no...well you need to go check it before you call us...so you are not going to send anyone out to check it...i did not say we were not going to send anyone out but you still need to check your pressure regulator...

ok so by this time i am furious...i go outside to see if i can find the on/off valve to check this infamous pressure regulator...like i really know what i am looking for...only to discover my yard is full of water and continues to pour out from under the house like niagra falls...ok so at this point it is not the pressure regulator nor is it the water department's problem...so i have to call them back to tell them not to send anyone out...yes this was embarrassing but let the fact remain they were ugly....so i tell them it appears to be a broken pipe...hang up the phone...go out to again find this valve...find it and cut if off...

so i call the plumber we have used before...no return call...called another guy that i went to high school with...no return phone call and then i hear someone honking in the yard...i go to the door to find the local water department...they roll their window down and say "what's the problem?" I tell them that i called and told them not to send anyone out...well the other genius in the truck says, "There is your problem water is coming out from under your house." i wanted to say, "really sherlock" honestly, there were other thoughts that were going through my mind...

so they leave and i call a third plumbing company...they will get all of my future business...why because they called me back and had someone out here within 2 hours...you would think as tight as money is right now people would do a better job at customer service...so these two guys come out who looked like i needed to make them sit down and do their homework and fix them some cookies and kool aid....come out in the rain...they come in to tell me that a pipe had come loose under the house and the reason it did was because it looked like it had been repaired before but whoever repaired it only glued one side...that person would be the plumber we had used before...note to self...don't use him again...anyway they got it fixed and i have water....

i don't do domestic problems well...if you really want to see me mad let a "machine" break...such as no air conditioning...car problems..dishwasher...now let's add water...i deal with personal emotional problems not machines...

so hopefully the rest of my time off will be spent relaxing while we are at the beach...we leave in the morning...i am so excited...just to get away....

secrets revealed....

many of my dear loyal readers have been asking about my new "food plan"...so here it is...i was told in may that if i did not lose 100 pounds i would be dead in five years from cirrhosis...this is due to the fact that my liver is "excessively fat due to diabetes." the doctors suggested to have a "forced weight loss" by having lap band surgery...for those of you who know me you know that i do not do well with pain meds or anesthesia...i like to quit breathing...well the other night i was at books a million looking at the clearance rack...i have a love affair with clearance...anyway i found "dr. phil's ultimate weight loss solutions" book and food guide for $3.97!!!!! i was so pumped...i love dr phil cause he just puts it out there...thing is people are accepting of him when he does it but when i put it out there it does not go over so well...oh well!!! anyway so i begin reading the self help book...it is so good and sensible...he has very good points...he has it broken down into seven keys...he is adament that you do not skip forward...he equates going through this program like a college course...follow the syllabus...anyway...my favorite thing so far is that he said if "you eat something that slides down your throat it will slide on to your butt"...his piont is that you need to eat foods that you actually have to chew and work for...raw veggies for example...then there is the food guide that has the menus made out for you...now if you are like me...if you are told what to eat and how much you will do it...i fail when i have to come up with things to cook...i will post some of the menus over the weekend...so then he talks about water, water, water, ....i drink one cup of coffee in the morning and the rest of the day is water...he does say it is okay to put some of the sugar free kool aid packs in the water....on in the self help book he actually has behavioral audits...this shows you what triggers you to eat...like for me...it is at night because i am bored...i work all day and don't slow down to eat but because i am so tired when i get home i don't feel like doing anything else...

with all of this said, i have lost 25 pounds since june 1 and am walking 1 - 2 miles a day...i am very focused...the other key is that i have put my family pretty much on their own...they are not on board with me with this plan so they can find something to eat on their own...i should say my daughter wants to do it with me but she has been out of town...

when i hit 30 pounds i am going to put before and after pics on here...if you have any more questions, please let me know...this is the best plan i have ever done....