Back in the healthy lifestyle fight!

Several months ago, I began a wonderful program on a website called Sparkpeople.com. It's a totally free website that provides seemingly unlimited resources to help people get healthy and/or lose weight. I am one of those that needs both, so I joined. I can't tell you how impressed I am with this site. You weigh and measure yourself when you join, you track your exercise and food intake and you join teams that help you in your journey. They even provide fitness and food plans for you, if you want them. There are articles that include information on health issues, motivation, and pretty much anything else you might possibly want the scoop on. The support is amazing.

I'm telling you all of this, because despite how wonderful the site is, I still managed to fall by the wayside. I made the choice to let other things take precedence in my life. I used all kinds of excuses like being sick, busy, our finances (since eating healthy generally costs a little more) and just didn't feel like it. When I did the program regularly, I was energized. I was in a better mood, and I got more things done. Plus, I lost a little weight. It was so worth it.

I've come back to the realization that I really need this. One of the daily goals I set on the site today was to write in a journal every day. Writing about it helps to process what I'm doing, think through why I do the things I do, and hopefully fix some of those areas I'm really weak in. There are many areas in which I'm weak, but today, I'm going to start with exercise.

I was an athlete of sorts growing up. From age six, I played softball, and when I got old enough in school, I started playing basketball. I think I was a much better softball player than a basketball player, but I loved being physical on a regular basis. It made me feel strong and healthy. I really miss that feeling. That stops today. I'm going to post this, put on my shoes and get on the treadmill. I'm hoping this blog will keep me accountable. I clearly need the support, so here goes. Say prayers for me!

I have not fallen off the face of the earth..

Contrary to popular belief, I am still alive. Last week was Spring Break and I got to have my hubby home. I loved it, but he ended up with the same respiratory crud that Samuel had and passed on to me. Lawrence didn't get as much rest as he would've liked, but he got to spend some quality time with Samuel. It was hard for Samuel when he went back to work, though. He kept looking for his daddy. It was so sad.

Back to the real world and our semi-crazy schedules. This morning was our story time at the library. I really enjoy going to that. Samuel is still a little young to sit still through the story, but he's learning, bit by bit. They listen to a story and then do some kind of craft. It's usually coloring something. Today, our story was about pigs. Apparently, it's pig appreciation month. Who knew? After the stories, they colored pigs. Samuel does not yet have the coloring thing down. He does at least keep the color mostly on the paper, but there's no pattern to it. I love to watch him work on it, though. He concentrates so hard.

I think I can say this without sounding like a proud mama, but my little guy is so bright. The other day, he crawled into bed with his daddy who turned on the tv. We have Dish Network and what typically happens, is you turn the power on and then the satellite. When the satellite is off, you see a Dish logo and some instructions. Well, that day, after Lawrence turned on the tv, Samuel looked at it and said "Dish". We had never told him what that was. Now, I know he can't yet read, but he had seen a commercial for it and figured it out. Lawrence told me about it, and several days later, I turned on the tv, pointed to the logo and said, "Samuel, what does this say?" He looked at it and said, "Dish Network". Lawrence and I fell over laughing. He amazes me everyday.

Speaking of our crazy schedule, I have to get ready to go teach children's choir at church. I'll try to do better and keep this updated. God bless!

There are chocolate chip cookies in heaven...

I'm convinced there are chocolate chip cookies in heaven. My beautiful step-daughter, Kacy, came by for dinner last night, and other than having her Dad cook her spaghetti, her only other request was for my chocolate chip cookies. Those of you that knew me when I was fancy-free and single (and rarely cooked or baked) might be shocked to hear that, but yes, she wanted MY homemade chocolate chip cookies. It warms my heart!

I've finally been able to work a little at my ChaCha job. It's hard! I've had some really difficult questions and it's taken me awhile to get answers to them. The idea is to answer the question as soon as possible. I just hope I don't get fired after only a few days working on it.

It's been Spring Break week and we've had some great family time. I shaved our shepard mix, which was a major challenge. She's 80 pounds, and didn't enjoy our bonding time, but we got it done. It ain't pretty, but she's going to be much cooler and when she grows out a bit, she won't look so much like a cartoon character. We've also run some errands and just enjoyed spending time together. I'm sad it's going so fast.

We had a scare tonight. Samuel lost his balance and fell with his mouth hitting the coffee table. There was a lot of blood, but his teeth were fine and he ended up with a swollen lip. He cried for quite a while and wouldn't let us put any ice on it for longer than a second. I knew he was going to be okay when he settled down and asked me for a chocolate chip cookie. Those things are magic! :)

It's been a rough few days for the Altums. Samuel started not sleeping a little over a week ago, which is often a sign that he's getting ready to get sick. That proved to be the case. He started with a slight fever, runny nose and coughing. It continued to get worse over the first couple of days and then the fever subsided. He still had congestion and was still not sleeping. That's not good for Mom. That meant lots of being up all night with my kid. I got him into the doc's yesterday, and she confirmed my suspicion - a double ear infection. He's now had two doses of anti-biotic and is running around like a crazy boy. He has slept the last two nights ALL NIGHT LONG!

I now have his cold. I have never had a fever, but I've been snotty and coughing for three days. I'm kind of a baby and not enjoying my inability to breathe through my nose, but otherwise we're doing okay.

Because Samuel has demanded so much of my time, I haven't been able to start my new job at ChaCha. I've signed in a couple of times, but it was for only a short time and I didn't receive any questions to answer. I hope to try again tomorrow and see what happens.

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but when you write for Helium.com, you can actually earn money for the articles. I've published three articles so far and I checked my earnings today. I've made a whopping $.05. I guess that's five cents I didn't have before, but I had hoped to bring in a little more for the family. I need to write some more, I guess.

Well, my kid is in bed, and I think he's finally falling asleep, so I'd better take advantage of the peace and get some sleep myself. God bless!

A 100% basketball day...

First of all, I am happy to report that I got the job! I'm very excited. I'll likely start later today after taking some time to review the training information. I like to be very prepared. : )

Second, I've published another article on Helium.com. This one is about peanut allergy. My little boy was diagnosed with a peanut allergy when he was about 18 months old. With no one in our families every having food allergies, we had a lot to learn. Anyway, I tried to impart some wisdom to others who may be learning how to deal with it as well. If you're interested, you can follow the link here on the page to my articles.


Third, I had a great basketball day on Saturday. The high school where my husband, Lawrence, teaches had an amazing experience. The ladies' basketball team won the State Championship! It was amazing. We weren't able to go, but we listened to it. It wasn't what some would call a good game. They won by more than 30 points. I liked that they got so far ahead that the coach was able to put everyone in for a while - everyone got to be a part of the experience.

The other part of my banner day came when I went to watch some of my friends' daughters play in their little dribblers games. The first game was really exciting. It was 4-6 graders and they did a great job. Cassie, a fifth-grader, got 6 of the 12 points, and Macie, also a fifth-grader got 4 of the 12 points. I was so proud of them. They ended up in a tie after overtime. The second game involved 5-6 year-olds. It was SO cute! They often didn't even know which basket to shoot for, but our team won, 4-0. What a great day!

My little guy has been a little under the weather. He's been coughing and congested since last Wednesday. He had a fever for a couple of days, but that's gone now. The biggest problem is the coughing keeping him (and thus me) up at night. I called the doc this morning to see if we need to get him in to see her. I would quite enjoy, as I'm sure he would, a full night's sleep.

Gotta get a few things done. More later!

The job hunt may have ended...

Recently, a temporary position I had with Google ended, and I was left to try and find other work from home opportunities. If you've ever had to look for work that you can do from home, you understand the challenge that can be. First, there are a lot of scams out there. Second, reputable companies that hire remote workers are few and far between.

I was lucky to be watching the "Today" show several months ago and found out about a website called ratracerebellion.com. It's a website moderated by professionals who seek out and screen work from home job opportunities. They do more than that, but that's the one thing I've relied on in recent months. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanted to find a legitimate work from home option.

Anyway, yesterday, I found an ad on the website for ChaCha guides. It sounds like I'd be teaching dance lessons, but ChaCha is a question and answer company. Basically people can call in or text a question and they'll get an answer back. For example, "Do porcupines float?" or "Is there a Mexican restaurant in Southwest St. Louis"? It's a wonderful service that's actually free to its users. As a guide, I would answer questions using an amazing search system they've devised. I took an application test and passed. Then I went through the training on the site and took a "final exam". I'll find out in the next few days if I've passed that, and then I'll get to work. It's a nice flexible job that doesn't pay a huge amount, but would enable us to receive some much-needed extra income. Say prayers for me that this works out. I'll keep you posted!