Doctors and more Doctors

I spent a majority of this morning trying to make doctor's appointments. I have TMJ and I saw a specialist for this when I was in high school. I guess I either grind my teeth or clench really hard at night, and lately, all of this work I am doing in the middle of the night has left me with awful headache and neck pain. I have tried advil and tyelonol. I have tried my trusty heating pad. I have tried icy hot and stretching. Finally after 5 days, the headache has gone dull, but I have the worst pain in my neck and right shoulder.

After this morning, I know have an emergency appointment with my dentist to talk about my night jaw activity. An appointment with a new primary physician since it had been so long since I had seen my last one that I would be considered a new patient. Oh and by the way she is not taking new patients.....make an appointment with her residents. No thank you. So I called J's mom to see who she uses. I called the office and for some miracle, he had a new patient cancelation for February 9th.....I scheduled a visit for J too on the next available new patient date (July 31)...unreal. I mean, I find this a little ridiculous. Do I need to plan to be sick? I have even resorted to seeing a chiropractor on thursday as well. If he can get my neck muscles to relax, I may lose some skepticism I have with chiropractors. It would be nice to turn my head with out stabbing pain.

D is for Dancing

For everyone who knows me, knows I was a dancer. I would love to say I am STILL a dancer, but age and knee problems have definitely caught up with me. I would love to still take classes, I just really haven't found a studio where adult classes take place that are come and go when you can. I do not want to be in a recital and I do not have the ability to come to the same class every week. But I digress....

I think my favorite thing about yesterday was busting a move with my step son, Peyton. We all were down at the Blair family boathouse. The boys were helping to hang blinds and work on boy stuff. I was was writing my business plan and hanging out with J's sister Ellen. We were playing dance music for my nephew Alex when all of a sudden the "Wiggle" song came on and Peyton came in running. The song I am referring to is the LMAFO song, "Sexy and I know it." Peyton loves this song and can sing all the words...hopefully he doesn't know what they all mean. He started dancing and it was the cutest thing ever. He then asked me to tap dance to the song and it just was so fun. It has been a transitition with us. I want him to want me around and I really feel that he does. It made me smile to have such moments with him....even if we were just dancing in the living room to a funny song....Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle Yeah!

C is for Cakeballs

Who am I kidding.....my downfall has always been cake. Wedding cake, birthday cake, and day cake......cake cake cake! J is not a sweets person, and he does not like chocolate much at all. However, he absolutely loves funfetti cake. We even tossed around the idea of having a funfetti wedding cake. So when I saw a recipe on Pintrest for funfetti cake balls my mouth watered just a little bit.

I was off work on monday for MLK day and I decided I would try my hand at making these yummy looking balls. It was not hard at all and they were a big hit. (I am so happy that after 2 days in Columbia, MO J has eatten most of them.)

I made a vanilla box cake according to the directons on the box. Crumbled it up in a big bowl and added rainbow sprinkles and 1.5 cups of vanilla frosting. Stir it all up and then roll into small balls and place on wax paper. I put them on a cookie sheet and placed that in the freezer for like 30 minutes to harden up some. You then melt vanilla almond bark, and I added a little bit of canola oil so it would not be too too thick. Dip the cake balls in the gooey bark and let them harden (again on wax paper). While still wet, I sprinkled more sprinkles. They were yummy in the tummy and I will make again for parties. I needed a trial run first.

And I am thankful I didn't eat all of them on monday!

B is for Burrrrr

Burr! It is so cold here. It is January, so I guess that is to be expected. However, mother nature is toying with me. We had snow a week ago and freezing cold temperatures and 3 days later it was 70 degrees and I was able to take the dog to the park and wear flip flops. I wake up today and the wind chill is like 13 degrees. I don't think I will ever get used to friggid weather, even with this being my 9th winter in the mid west. It especially makes me not want to work. Being a sales rep in this weather is miserable. I am at the University of Missouuri in Columbia right now. I can not park anywhere near where I need to be, so by the time I get into the buildings I am frozen and have to defrost before I am able to speak with anyone about buying a scale or a filter from me. I will take a hot humid day over a cold windy snowy one any day.

Our New Year's Card

I swear that people who are able to get their act together and get Christmas cards out are special people. The Blair household is not special and we did New Year's Cards. I had my photographer get me the picture file as our disc is not ready yet, so that I could use one of our new family. My sister did the graphic work and I wanted to share the final product. I love it and hope everyone else did too. Hey, and now we can be that fun surprise when people go to the mailbox and only expect the dreaded credit card bills from Christmas!

A is for....

My bff did this recently and I thought it was a really cute idea. So today's entry is brought to you by the letter "A".

A is for asshole. This seems to be a word I am using more and more often these days. Everyone is an asshole. My husband is an asshole. Don't get me wrong, I love him to pieces, but he is an asshole. He will be the first to admit he is an asshole, but lately it seems to be my tearm of endearment for him. Some people have cute pet names for their significant other, I just call him asshole! He is almost 2 weeks smoke free and still crabby as all get out. I am super proud of him and try to not be a pain in the ass too much these days. I just think back to this time last year and how much things have changed. He is alcohol free and smoke free now. It has done wonders for my tolerence also. Last night 2 beers and I had a buzz...yay for cheap bar bills!

A is for asshole....and I hope everyone has a favorite person who can be the asshole in their life.

Snow

I woke up this morning to a white blanket covering the ground. The weather man was finally right, it did snow last night. Snow is very pretty to look at from inside my warm and cozy house. However, when you need to go some where it is the devil. Thank goodness I have the luxuay of working from home on days like today unlike most of the morons out there who have causes countless wrecks along the highways this morning, I am also not thankful for the 6am wake up call from J's employee asking if she had to work this morning. Catch a clue....yes, weather does not stop the world. Hello. I am just lucky cause I can alter my work situation.....

Dragging

I am officially dragging ass today. I did not want to get out of my comfy bed and go to the gym, but I did. My cardio was not on point today and I was a sweat factory but felt like I couldn't breathe and do every move of my cardio class full out. I was exhausted cold calling and walking the halls at Washington University today. And now I am just tired and think I should go to bed at 8pm.

I'd like to blame the crappy weather. I think I have the winter's blues. I also think I have a little bit of wedding let down. I was so focused on everything last year, I feel like I need to find something to direct a lot of energy at. Work would be awesome, however I just don't feel as excited about scales and balances as I did about my wedding dress.

Growing Up

So yesterday was a very productive Sunday for the Blair's. In sticking to our New Year's resolutions J and I got up and went to church. It is not the same as my old church I grew up in, but I do like it. I also like that J, where he may not pay attention to the whole sermon, is willing to go with me. It makes me feel like a grown up adult. We then went to IHOP and had breakfast for lunch! We are becoming so old and married.

For the remaining of our sunday, J painted our bedroom while yelling at me for the horrible painting job I did 7 years ago. I proceeded to leave and spend a long afternoon at the grocery store. I got a wild hair up my ass to cook all afternoon. I made dinner as well as some make a head freezer meals.

My kitchen smelled great and here is what I made, thanks to pintrest....a new addiction.

Cornflake chicken strips (to freeze for Peyton's weekend)
Homemade cheeze its (need to retry...make too thick so they didn't get crunchy)
Chicken Pesto stuffed shells (in freezer for dinner later this week)
Chicken ready for soup later this week
and Chicken parmesan meatloaf for dinner (J at 3/4 of a meat loaf)

oh and a pan of brownies!

I find that if I could be organized like this sticking to a diet might be easier.

TGIF

This week has flown by, and yet it seemed to drag on as well. I am not sure if that makes any sense but it seems to in my head. January especially the first 2 weeks in January seem to be very difficult in the sales world. Universities are just starting to come back. People have been on extended vacations. Pricing and new product information is not out yet. Therefore, I am finding it hard to focus. My new job is great in that I get to run it pretty much independently. My new job is not so great in that I get to run it pretty much idependently. I just need to find focus and a purpose. Maybe getting sales quotas soon will spark a fire.....I sure hope so.

A minor bump

"He’s not perfect. You aren’t either, and the two of you will never be perfect. But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can. He isn’t going to quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break. Don’t hurt ...him, don’t change him, and don’t expect for more than he can give. Don’t analyze. Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there. Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don’t exist, but there’s always one guy that is perfect for you.” ― Bob Marley

I read this quote earlier this week off a friend's facebook page. I really need to be reminded this week. J and I have almost been married 3 months and I think marriage is hard no matter when or how long you have been married. I think I need to take a deep breath and step back and reevaluate my position on a few things. I am quite sensetive these days and that is not something I have been in the past. J quit smoking for New Year's and where I am so happy about this...his mood has been less than desirable the past 5 days causing me to stress more. He's not perfect and I am for sure not perfect. I just hope that things can fall back into place and getting through a bumpy part will make for stronger relationships in the future.

I am not one to air out our dirty laundry, but sometimes it feels nice just to write it down and get your feelings out. My blog isn't private, I just haven't told many people about it. Those of you who know and read....no judgements please :) I will not paint a picture that everything is perfect all the time...that's what facebook is for!

I Resolve.....

I think every year I make one or a few New Year's resolutions and never seem to follow through. I don't know why I think this year will be any different. However, maybe by writing them down I will be held more accountable.

There is always the obvious one....lose weight. However, I'd like to rephrase it to be...eat more healthy. I am a lifetime member of weight watchers. I have proudly been at goal since 2005, but as I get older and I travel more for work. I seem to have to work out more to maintain. I have recently started going back to meetings. I feel that the support those members offer me is very valuable and I hope that maybe I can offer them wisdom too. I am not doing the best at tracking my points but I resolve to do better in 2012.

I also resolve to challenge myself more. I would love to run a 5k or a warrior run. I was told by my orthopedic not to run much, but I don't feel a 5k would kill me. I just need to build the stamina up.

I resolve to lighten up and not be so serious. J says I am too serious all the time. It can cause problems between us sometimes. My mother says I was a serious child so this may be easier said than done.

We have resolved to find a church home and start going. J and I started the new year off right and went to a nice serivce on new years day. We found a methodist church that still has a traditional service. I do not like the contemporary services, they make me very uncomfortable. There is something not right to me about clapping in church and wearing your sweats. J and I both like this church and it is at 10:45 so not too early. Our biggest problem is going to be Peyton's sports interferring. Now I see why my mama didn't let us do anything that messed with church.

That seems like enough for now, but I am sure I will add new goals as the year proceeds.

2011

2011 was a very hard year professionally for me, but a very good one personally. 2011 had it's major ups and downs, but I enter 2012 a stronger, more well rounded individual.

I learned that a job you loved an worked very hard to develop could be lost to someone not as qualified as you just because they were hired by the parent company that bought yours.

I learned that preparation does pay off like getting offered a job on the same day you get let go from your old one.

I learned that collegues can become dear friends who help you through rough transitions and chapters in your life.

I learned that new beginnings come in all forms and engagement rings are a big new beginning.

I learned that I thought I liked to travel for work....just not throughout half the country.

I leanred that I can survive through a boot camp class.

I learned that I do have more of an opinion when it came to planning my wedding.

I learned that friends I thought would stand by me through anything, don't always. Obviously they weren't as good of friends as I once thought.

I learned that old friends from my past would quickly pick back up like no time ever passed.

I learned that I am a strong woman who stands up for what they believe in.

I learned that people CAN change, and you just have to stand by them and offer support.

I learned that if I get knocked down, I can get back up each time.

I learned that Dave Ramsey may actually know what he is talking about.

I learned that I can be truely happy.

I learned that I like wearing a wedding dress!

I learned that married life is hard, but worth it.

I learned that people will always try to bring you down....you just can't let them.

I learned that having 2 familes is hard, but awesome at the same time.

I learned that I love being a wife and a step mom.

I hope that 2012 keeps me learning and growing. I would just ask that I do not have to change or lose my job in 2012. I mean come on....5 W-2s for 2011 is enough for a while at least.