A whole new me!

Yes, again, it's been awhile since I've written here. I hope to make that change. The school year has started, and we're on a more regular schedule. Not that being busy or not being on a set schedule should be an excuse for not writing, but I'm using it for now.




This past week I was released from my doctor after being on restricted activity for six weeks following my hysterectomy. Because I have felt so amazing since my surgery, this day was one I was so looking forward to. It has been hard not being able to pick up my son, do laundry or vacuum for six weeks. I know, I should have enjoyed not being able to do laundry or vacuuming, but believe it or not, I feel like a contributing member of this family when I'm able to do things like that. In any event, I felt like I had been freed from jail!



So, the first thing I did was get a new haircut. I stepped way outside the box and told the stylist do to whatever she thought would look good. This was also the first time I had been to her, but I knew several other people who went to her and looked fantastic, so I trusted her. I was SO excited! I felt like a new person.

The second thing I did was get back on my workout schedule. I had started last Spring really working on it, but the surgery got me completely out of it. I’m now in day three and going strong. I’m trying to find ways to help in the process to make it easier to get my workouts in. I’m sad to admit it, but if it’s too hard, I tend to let it go by the wayside. For example, many of the experts say you should get up early to work out so that you ensure that you get it done, and it promotes energy for the day. That would probably work well for morning people, but I’m not one of those. I hate getting up early, and actually feel a little sick when I do. I tried getting up earlier to work out and it was so awful I stopped working out all together. Not good! So, I now do it after my son and I eat breakfast. It’s still early in the day, so I get it in, but not so early that I’m feeling icky. It also helps me not eat too much for breakfast, knowing I’m getting ready to work out.

It just feels so great to be starting a new. Don't we all need that from time to time? Here's to a new beginning, and a whole new way of life!

Feeling sad...

My husband, son and mom just left for the airport. I can't ride in the car right now, and so I'm left here in the house, feeling like, again, a piece of my heart has broken off. I don't mean to sound melodramatic, but every time my family comes to see me, or I go to see them, and we part, it is physically painful for me.

I've been so blessed in my life to have had a loving family. Is it perfect? No, but no one on this earth is. We've been through some hard times, and some of those times are still going on, but I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that when I need any one of them, they are there.

When I met my husband, and found out that I would be moving 900 miles from my family, I pushed that aside - for the most part - so as to fully enjoy the happiness of finally finding the love of my life. (It had taken a ridiculously long time to find him!) I think I knew it would be overwhelming for me, and didn't want to deal with that. Over the years, I've dealt with it in spurts, when we have to leave at the end of a visit. Is that the best way to have handled it? I don't know, but it makes the separation all the more difficult.

My life here in Texas is so wonderful. I have an incredible husband who loves me and treats me with respect. We have so much fun together - still! We also have a beautiful little boy who brings us so much joy, and quite a bit of stress! The only thing missing, in my mind, is the physical closeness between my parents, sister and me. I wouldn't trade my life here for that, but I wish that aspect were different.

Okay, I'm done whining. What I will do now, is to thank God for giving me something that means so much that it breaks my heart to be away from it. There are many in this world not as blessed as I am. I will cherish every moment I have with them, and look forward to the next.

Until next time...God Bless.

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

Contrary to popular opinion, I am still alive...again. When I started this blog, I said that I would use it as a way to get me writing again, and that I would keep at it, no matter what. I haven't done that, and it aggravates me. I have let a busy summer, among other things, get in the way, and that needs to stop. So here goes...

This past Tuesday, I had a radical hysterectomy. By radical, I mean that everything is gone. Some hysterectomies involve taking everything except the ovaries, but my ovaries were covered in cysts and fybroids, so they're gone, too. I feel liberated. For anyone reading this who is not a woman, I'll spare you the gory details, but about three weeks of every months were very difficult for me and those around me. I had many physical and emotional symptoms that made life somewhat difficult. It's going to be so strange for me in about four weeks when I'm not a miserable wreck. It'll be a happy time for my husband and son. No crazy woman in the household. Well, I'm still crazy, but it won't be from something physical. My personality is what it is.

My Mom flew in the day before my surgery to help me, and she's been wonderful. It's awfully hard having her so far away (in St. Louis). As time passes and I see her beginning to deteriorate in health, I so wish I could get my folks to move closer so that I can not only help take care of them, as they have for me some 41 years, but so that I can soak in as much of my parents as I can before they're gone. We don't always see eye-to-eye on everything, but both of my parents are very special people, and this world will be so much worse off without them in it.

Okay, enough for now. The residual anesthesia in my system is making my eyelids feel heavy. I WILL write more later! God bless!

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!