Well perhaps all it takes is the thought of an entire cruise ship of people seeing me in a bathing suit to kick my butt into gear! Folks I am back on the Weight Watchers band wagon!
For the past two weeks (after the sickness passed that is) I have been faithfully following the Weight Watchers plan. And throw in a couple of snow days last week which gave Marvin and I the opportunity to finally learn to use the Wii Fit...and you have a loser! Yahoo!
And I know you are probably saying to yourselves, "What makes this time different? What makes you think you can stick it out this time?"
Well folks it's the age old piece of clothing that turns rational women into screaming lunatics who curse department store dressing room lights and wonder why they ate that delicious chocolate cake...for breakfast. Yep...it's the bathing suit. Striking fear into women everywhere since 1910ish.
So I am scheduled to go on my first cruise during the Easter holiday with my oh so sweet honey. And everything looks wonderful, the food, the shows, the drinks, the islands, the pool...Yeah right the pool, where one must don a bathing suit in front of a couple of thousand people. And there you have the motivation for the latest installment of me tackling Weight Watchers. However I feel it important to mention that even though I haven't been adhering to all of the plan, I have been attending the meetings. The inspiration and support they bring is key to my being able to do this.
I have high hopes for me this time so stay tuned and see for yourselves how this one pans out!
Wish me luck!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Who is in charge...the Doctor or the Patient?
So Marvin and I have been not just under the weather but beat down, drug out and completely useless with the sickness. Who can really tell what sickness exactly but the rumor is a nasty sinus infection on my part and something much worse on Marvin's. And due to some of our recent happenings at the doctor's office a question popped into my antibiotic/steroid induced brain. Who is ultimately responsible for how effective a visit to the doctor's or in reality your whole relationship with your doctor?
The doctor's go to school, take an oath and I assume have some form of rules and/or procedures that they are to follow when they examine you. So you as a patient expect certain things to occur when you go in with a specific concern. Well what if it doesn't happen? For example: Let's say that your ear hurts. You go to the doctor and they basically just prescribe you some ear drops without even looking in your ear to see what the problem might be. Of course then a week later your ear still hurts and you have to go see another doctor to fix the problem.
Is it the doctor's fault for not looking in your ear? Or is the patient at fault for not saying "Hey doc don't you think you should look at my ear?"
We as patients trust our doctors so completely that maybe we are setting ourselves up for this kind of disappointment. So should we always need to be proactive at the doctor's office? Is that what the doctor expects? Why do they need us to provide them with what they should be doing or not doing?
The argument swings both ways.
However, as someone who moves every year and therefore has a new doctor every year who does not know my history nor me as a person, I find that being proactive (often taken as being pushy) at my doctor's visits is the best way to be sure I fit it all in. Most doctor's appointments are for 15 minutes. So it's often up to the patient to decide how that 15 minutes is spent. I for one make a list of things I want to discuss so I'm sure I don't miss anything. If I am going in for something specific (like the pray-for-death sickness I just had) I jot down my symptoms so it allows the doctor to cut to the exam part.
But on the other hand we (or our insurance) pays a boatload of money to doctors to provide us a service and we should demand an excellent level of service.
So maybe it's a little of both. We should expect our doctor's to give us everything they've got while we as the patient take an active role in ensuring we get the best bang for our buck.
But no matter what side you take on this argument....avoid the sickness because it sucks!
The doctor's go to school, take an oath and I assume have some form of rules and/or procedures that they are to follow when they examine you. So you as a patient expect certain things to occur when you go in with a specific concern. Well what if it doesn't happen? For example: Let's say that your ear hurts. You go to the doctor and they basically just prescribe you some ear drops without even looking in your ear to see what the problem might be. Of course then a week later your ear still hurts and you have to go see another doctor to fix the problem.
Is it the doctor's fault for not looking in your ear? Or is the patient at fault for not saying "Hey doc don't you think you should look at my ear?"
We as patients trust our doctors so completely that maybe we are setting ourselves up for this kind of disappointment. So should we always need to be proactive at the doctor's office? Is that what the doctor expects? Why do they need us to provide them with what they should be doing or not doing?
The argument swings both ways.
However, as someone who moves every year and therefore has a new doctor every year who does not know my history nor me as a person, I find that being proactive (often taken as being pushy) at my doctor's visits is the best way to be sure I fit it all in. Most doctor's appointments are for 15 minutes. So it's often up to the patient to decide how that 15 minutes is spent. I for one make a list of things I want to discuss so I'm sure I don't miss anything. If I am going in for something specific (like the pray-for-death sickness I just had) I jot down my symptoms so it allows the doctor to cut to the exam part.
But on the other hand we (or our insurance) pays a boatload of money to doctors to provide us a service and we should demand an excellent level of service.
So maybe it's a little of both. We should expect our doctor's to give us everything they've got while we as the patient take an active role in ensuring we get the best bang for our buck.
But no matter what side you take on this argument....avoid the sickness because it sucks!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Vacations
Am I the only one that realizes at the end of the year that they did not use any of their vacation time???? I think it's an epidemic in this country and I am guilty as charged. It is a shame too since other countries around the world mandate (which means it is illegal not to take it!) vacation time. Some places it is a whole month!
So I allegedly get 3 weeks of vacation a year. Never have I taken all 3 weeks and only once did I take 2 weeks when that was what I earned. This past year I maybe took a total of 7 days and that's stretching it considering all the weekends I worked.
In my delirium of vacation deprivation we (Marvin & I) made some grand plans to use up all that leftover time. We are going on a Perry family vacation in June to Myrtle Beach which I am super psyched about. And then we had grand plans of taking our 3 weeks to Italy in July. Drink wine, eat amazing food and basically immerse ourselves in all the delicious Italian culture we can get our hands on.
But alas too good to be true. Now the Perry vacation is booked so that is all good. However through the convoluted grapevine that is the company I work for we have been alerted to the fact that we may have to immediately leave Kentucky for another assignment which would not allow us the leeway to take 3 weeks off. But the best part is that we will not know for sure until basically we are on the moving truck heading to the next big thing.
So I am frustrated and in desperate need of a relaxing adult time-out.
Sounds like y'all are saying "hey maybe you should get rid of that crazy job of yours and find something you enjoy doing." Well you would be right. But given the current economic times (insert broken record sound) can I really be leaning away from a good paycheck?
So that was my day of worry. Not solved through blog venting but it always helps me to see it in black and white (or I guess in my case black on red).
Maybe I'll lobby Congress and see about getting legally mandated vacation days and while I'm at it afternoon siestas!
Another day, another time folks....
So I allegedly get 3 weeks of vacation a year. Never have I taken all 3 weeks and only once did I take 2 weeks when that was what I earned. This past year I maybe took a total of 7 days and that's stretching it considering all the weekends I worked.
In my delirium of vacation deprivation we (Marvin & I) made some grand plans to use up all that leftover time. We are going on a Perry family vacation in June to Myrtle Beach which I am super psyched about. And then we had grand plans of taking our 3 weeks to Italy in July. Drink wine, eat amazing food and basically immerse ourselves in all the delicious Italian culture we can get our hands on.
But alas too good to be true. Now the Perry vacation is booked so that is all good. However through the convoluted grapevine that is the company I work for we have been alerted to the fact that we may have to immediately leave Kentucky for another assignment which would not allow us the leeway to take 3 weeks off. But the best part is that we will not know for sure until basically we are on the moving truck heading to the next big thing.
So I am frustrated and in desperate need of a relaxing adult time-out.
Sounds like y'all are saying "hey maybe you should get rid of that crazy job of yours and find something you enjoy doing." Well you would be right. But given the current economic times (insert broken record sound) can I really be leaning away from a good paycheck?
So that was my day of worry. Not solved through blog venting but it always helps me to see it in black and white (or I guess in my case black on red).
Maybe I'll lobby Congress and see about getting legally mandated vacation days and while I'm at it afternoon siestas!
Another day, another time folks....
Monday, January 11, 2010
Easiest Chicken Recipe Ever
I work with food devils. They are constantly bringing in delicious and mouth-watering treats, leaving them out in the open so my temptation is tested daily. But occasionally the other watcher of her weight (actually she is a South Beacher) will come in with a killer recipe that allows us to stop drooling on the treats and talk about some healthy grub. So here is what has to be the simplest and tastiest chicken recipe ever.
Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts
Taco Seasoning
Salsa
Cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take the chicken breasts and place in a Ziploc bag with 1/2 a packet of taco seasoning (use more if using a lot of chicken). Shake to coat. Spray a baking dish with Pam. Place chicken breasts in prepared dish. Top with 1 cup of salsa (again use more if needed). Put foil over baking dish and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and top with shredded cheese (I used 2% and made sure each breast had only one serving for WW point purposes). Replace dish uncovered in the oven for another 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and delicious.
You are done.....
Seriously that simple and you can make it as spicy or mild as you want with the seasoning and salsa. I served it as is with a side of kicked-up green beans but you could also serve with rice. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts
Taco Seasoning
Salsa
Cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take the chicken breasts and place in a Ziploc bag with 1/2 a packet of taco seasoning (use more if using a lot of chicken). Shake to coat. Spray a baking dish with Pam. Place chicken breasts in prepared dish. Top with 1 cup of salsa (again use more if needed). Put foil over baking dish and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and top with shredded cheese (I used 2% and made sure each breast had only one serving for WW point purposes). Replace dish uncovered in the oven for another 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and delicious.
You are done.....
Seriously that simple and you can make it as spicy or mild as you want with the seasoning and salsa. I served it as is with a side of kicked-up green beans but you could also serve with rice. Enjoy!
Crossroads
So I am at a blogging crossroad. (Does this make anyone else think of that Boyz to Men song????) I have no direction and no motivation to write but yet I am constantly thinking of all sorts of things to chat about to the cyberworld. However none of these things goes in any form of a straight line. The only common denominator is me.
So do I throw in the towel? Accept blogger defeat? Or do I rally and go for it, whatever it may be.
I don't know why I am asking y'all. I think the only one who was still checking my slacker blog was my dad and even he gave up long ago.
I think I'll give it another go. No theme, no direction just random ramblings about whatever pops into my mind. So here we go again.....
So do I throw in the towel? Accept blogger defeat? Or do I rally and go for it, whatever it may be.
I don't know why I am asking y'all. I think the only one who was still checking my slacker blog was my dad and even he gave up long ago.
I think I'll give it another go. No theme, no direction just random ramblings about whatever pops into my mind. So here we go again.....
Sunday, November 22, 2009
When God has other plans.... ( a bit of rambling and therapy)
Today my cousin died. Not yet 50 and a breast cancer survivor she had recently been diagnosed with a host of new cancers including a brain tumor. The doctors started treating the brain tumor and were going to attack the rest soon after. But it seems that God had other plans for Jenny.
Today she had a massive heart attack and has gone to a better place. One without pain and suffering.
My mourning is strange. While we were not close, we were not estranged and she has always been in my thoughts throughout all of her struggles. Part of me is angry. She could have taken better care of herself after the breast cancer, but she didn't. She could have gone to the doctor when she first noticed she was feeling off this time, but she didn't. And this frustrates me because she left behind 3 children and a family that is hurt and broken right now. I mourn for the hole in the hearts of her sisters, her daughter who will have to endure her teenage years without her mother, her two sons, one of which is engaged to be married next year. I mourn for my aunt and uncle. I think one of the most painful things in life must be for your child to precede you in death. I mourn for all of her nieces (one of which is my godchild) and nephews who deal now with death for the first time.
So I feel sadness and a heavy heart this afternoon as I receive phone calls from my cousin, my mom, my aunt and my godchild. All with tears in their voices and pain in their words. No one deserves to have their life ripped apart by cancer but it seems that more and more are having to deal with it every day. I hope that these alternative plans God has involve a way to ease this pain.
I am not sure if this post made any sense at all but as the title states...it is a bit of rambling and a lot of therapy. Sometimes writing the feelings down is the only thing that works for me.
So Jenny, wherever you are and whatever God has in store for you, I lift a Miller High Life to you, your life and your spirit.
May you rest in peace and may those that love you find a way to settle their hearts and hold on to the memories that will help you to live on in our lives forever.
Today she had a massive heart attack and has gone to a better place. One without pain and suffering.
My mourning is strange. While we were not close, we were not estranged and she has always been in my thoughts throughout all of her struggles. Part of me is angry. She could have taken better care of herself after the breast cancer, but she didn't. She could have gone to the doctor when she first noticed she was feeling off this time, but she didn't. And this frustrates me because she left behind 3 children and a family that is hurt and broken right now. I mourn for the hole in the hearts of her sisters, her daughter who will have to endure her teenage years without her mother, her two sons, one of which is engaged to be married next year. I mourn for my aunt and uncle. I think one of the most painful things in life must be for your child to precede you in death. I mourn for all of her nieces (one of which is my godchild) and nephews who deal now with death for the first time.
So I feel sadness and a heavy heart this afternoon as I receive phone calls from my cousin, my mom, my aunt and my godchild. All with tears in their voices and pain in their words. No one deserves to have their life ripped apart by cancer but it seems that more and more are having to deal with it every day. I hope that these alternative plans God has involve a way to ease this pain.
I am not sure if this post made any sense at all but as the title states...it is a bit of rambling and a lot of therapy. Sometimes writing the feelings down is the only thing that works for me.
So Jenny, wherever you are and whatever God has in store for you, I lift a Miller High Life to you, your life and your spirit.
May you rest in peace and may those that love you find a way to settle their hearts and hold on to the memories that will help you to live on in our lives forever.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Land of Horses and Bourbon
For those of you that don't know, I am currently stationed in Lexington, KY. Where the horses are worth more than a pair of new Rolls Royces and if you ask for bourbon mixed with Coke you will be taken out back and shot.
Now I know what some of you are thinking...Kentucky is backwards and rural and overall not a place I would end up. I used to harbor some of these feelings myself prior to my move here in June. And don't get me wrong there are certainly parts of Kentucky that are very rural and where Deliverance (the movie) seems like it may be a reality. But Lexington is different.
There is city: a nice downtown with a convention center and few half-decent restaurants and bars, a huge mall that has every store you could ever want, there seems to be a ton going on throughout the area on any given day and I can get almost anything I need from the grocery store or farmer's market (no Pike's Place Market in Seattle but pretty nice).
There is country: within a 1/2 mile from the house there are horse farms galore and fields of produce. Very beautiful drives and I am looking forward to the changing of the leaves.
So it is medium-sized, within 5 hours of the fam and besides two roads trafficless (if that is a word).
So what don't I like....right now all I can find to be negative about is the job. Rather than b**** about my job (because I am happy to still be receiving a paycheck when so many are not) I will simply say that I am still not being fulfilled at work. And unfortunately this and some of the folks I have had to deal with are making Lexington a little less attractive.
Ok well that was just a brief update of my whereabouts for those that missed that memo (who am I kidding there was never a memo). Back to work with me....
Now I know what some of you are thinking...Kentucky is backwards and rural and overall not a place I would end up. I used to harbor some of these feelings myself prior to my move here in June. And don't get me wrong there are certainly parts of Kentucky that are very rural and where Deliverance (the movie) seems like it may be a reality. But Lexington is different.
There is city: a nice downtown with a convention center and few half-decent restaurants and bars, a huge mall that has every store you could ever want, there seems to be a ton going on throughout the area on any given day and I can get almost anything I need from the grocery store or farmer's market (no Pike's Place Market in Seattle but pretty nice).
There is country: within a 1/2 mile from the house there are horse farms galore and fields of produce. Very beautiful drives and I am looking forward to the changing of the leaves.
So it is medium-sized, within 5 hours of the fam and besides two roads trafficless (if that is a word).
So what don't I like....right now all I can find to be negative about is the job. Rather than b**** about my job (because I am happy to still be receiving a paycheck when so many are not) I will simply say that I am still not being fulfilled at work. And unfortunately this and some of the folks I have had to deal with are making Lexington a little less attractive.
Ok well that was just a brief update of my whereabouts for those that missed that memo (who am I kidding there was never a memo). Back to work with me....
Confessions of the worst blogger ever.....
I am ashamed that the last time I posted was in April....can you all please forgive me?
I do not have some elaborate excuse or cool story to tell about the time I have spent away from Kung Fu Girl. I just fell off the wagon.
But lo and behold I have found that something is missing in my life right now. And when I looked at all the things I had going on I realized that maybe it was writing.
So I am here on hands and knees hoping that all my faithful readers (I think I had faithful readers...) will give me another try.
I may be rusty at first but I will do my best to work out all the kinks. I don't have a game plan per se on the topics to write about so it will just have to be open-ended right now. However if you have anything you would like to hear little ole me rant and rave about please do not hesitate to let me know.
Ok well now that I have that off my chest on with my day.
Thanks in advance for your forgiveness!
I do not have some elaborate excuse or cool story to tell about the time I have spent away from Kung Fu Girl. I just fell off the wagon.
But lo and behold I have found that something is missing in my life right now. And when I looked at all the things I had going on I realized that maybe it was writing.
So I am here on hands and knees hoping that all my faithful readers (I think I had faithful readers...) will give me another try.
I may be rusty at first but I will do my best to work out all the kinks. I don't have a game plan per se on the topics to write about so it will just have to be open-ended right now. However if you have anything you would like to hear little ole me rant and rave about please do not hesitate to let me know.
Ok well now that I have that off my chest on with my day.
Thanks in advance for your forgiveness!
Friday, April 17, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELLE!
A quick shout-out to my girl Michelle for her birthday.
Still older than me huh:)
Hopefully someday soon we'll get to celebrate together!
Have a great one!
Still older than me huh:)
Hopefully someday soon we'll get to celebrate together!
Have a great one!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
How am I doing....
Well folks what do you do when your goals conflict with each other?
So last evening Marvin and I headed out to this local bar called Confidential. Cool, trendy place that seemed a bit out of our league on a Friday or Saturday night but looked perfect for a cheap happy hour. The entire menu, tapas and all the drinks are 1/2 off and lucky us it was Tuesday so happy hour lasted the entire night. So the saving money goal----CHECK. Oh wait you say....what about goal #1...getting back on the WW buggy??? See conflict!
So what is a girl to do when super creative drinks and yummy small plates are 1/2 off and your boyfriend is finally home at a decent hour? Well you go for it! We tried all the drinks and they were fabulous and the tapas were great except we ordered too much and none were very figure friendly.
Wrong choice??? Maybe but it was a lot of fun and super tasty. I went on an extra long walk today to make up for it and will go on another one tomorrow.
Oh and the cooking class goal...guess what? My class had expired and I had to get an extension. Time flies people. But I re-signed up and finished the last exam of this group of lessons and have an A+! So now I just have to wait for the next set of materials to come in then off to the races. Only a 3 month extension so gotta kick my ass into gear.
So there it is a brief update into my world...
So last evening Marvin and I headed out to this local bar called Confidential. Cool, trendy place that seemed a bit out of our league on a Friday or Saturday night but looked perfect for a cheap happy hour. The entire menu, tapas and all the drinks are 1/2 off and lucky us it was Tuesday so happy hour lasted the entire night. So the saving money goal----CHECK. Oh wait you say....what about goal #1...getting back on the WW buggy??? See conflict!
So what is a girl to do when super creative drinks and yummy small plates are 1/2 off and your boyfriend is finally home at a decent hour? Well you go for it! We tried all the drinks and they were fabulous and the tapas were great except we ordered too much and none were very figure friendly.
Wrong choice??? Maybe but it was a lot of fun and super tasty. I went on an extra long walk today to make up for it and will go on another one tomorrow.
Oh and the cooking class goal...guess what? My class had expired and I had to get an extension. Time flies people. But I re-signed up and finished the last exam of this group of lessons and have an A+! So now I just have to wait for the next set of materials to come in then off to the races. Only a 3 month extension so gotta kick my ass into gear.
So there it is a brief update into my world...
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