A Prairie View

Healthy Lifestyle

Because of the weight loss program I have been on, I am a firm believer in supplements. The whole program is based on bars and shakes and supplements, and I have done amazingly well. But, its like a jig-saw puzzle. I could do one part of the plan without the other, but the ultimate result is I will be a mess. I will be lacking in daily vitamins and nutritients that I need, and even though on the surface, everything looks great because I’m losing weight and feeling good, inside I will be a mess. Sooner or later, that will catch up with me. But, by incorporating all three parts of it, including the supplements, then I am well on my way to a happy healthier me. I buy my supplements through my doctor; but there are other sources, such as Stronger Nutrition.com. They are a friendly, easy to navigate website that has taken the enthusiasm of a few fitness minded business people, and incorporated their ideas to improve the way we buy nutrional supplements online.

With us, the health minded consumer in mind, going to http://www.strongernutrition.com we find a different approach to improving overall health and fitness, as well as sports nutrition. It is their mission to provide a secure, but yet easy user-friendly buying process experience. They pride themselves on their customer service which is personally tailored to compliment their prices and rapid shipping.

Their easy to use website allows us to browse by category, by brand, or by goal. If I were looking to build muscle or find more energy or in need of skin careproducts or staying fit, I would find all these under their goal section These are things I might possibly want to achieve, by wouldn’t know what to order, by name brand. In their category section, it breaks it down more by product, such as bars, or meal replacements, or vitamins, etc. Very easy browsing structure to follow. They offer free shipping on all orders of $200 or more, and products usually ship within two business days. Also earn referal points and discounts on future purchases. How great would that be. I can reward myself with a healthy lifestyle and save money as well.

Why I Blog

I don’t do it very often; and more often than not, I get caught up in the paid blogging stuff, and lose sight of what I actually blog. But, even before the paid blogging, I know I would go through periods of time I would question just what direction I wanted the blog to go in. I would see the styles of writing and set ups of other blogs, and like what I see, and wish my blog was like that. But it wasn’t me. And it wouldn’t work. So, I continued to just write in the style that was me.

Today is a PERFECT reason to why I blog. Or at least one of the reasons. David has been having problems. He hasn’t been able to lift his arms the full range. Sometimes his legs hurt. Today his whole body hurts, and he has been taking it easy, so its not unused muscles being used. He had a thought this morning, and I think he is actually going go see the doctor now. I pulled a tick of him this summer. He wonders if what he is feeling has any connection to that. But. When was that? Last month? In May? the days all run together, and so we aren’t sure.

But Wait. I BLOGGED about it. June 16 is when he had the tick. That may be, probably is USEFUL information.

And THAT Folks. Is why I. Blog.

Flamingo Las Vegas

Back in the 80’s, we used to travel quite a bit, doing trade shows for the company we worked for (it was a family owned business). Several of the shows we did were in Las Vegas. Needless to say, everyone wanted to go to Las Vegas to work (and of course play after the show was done every day). I don’t remember what hotel we stayed in, but I’m sure it wasn’t the Flamingo Las Vegas. For some reason, the secretary always seemed to book us in Motel 6’s or similiar places. Not that we spent a lot of time in our room when we were in Las Vegas. We did lots of gambling, but we also did some site seeing and took in other points of interest that Nevada had to offer. Those were the days. I can only imagine how much it has changed since we were there in the 80’s and 90’s.

A Song In The Air

Whenever we go anywhere, the one thing Ethan takes with him is his mp3 player. He has a great appreciation for Barbershop style music, so much so that he is part of a Barbershop Chorus. So, songs from that style of music, he has downloaded Christian and County songs. It does my heart good that the music he has on his mp3 player are all songs that I can pick up and listen and not get angry with him. I know there is alot of less than desirable music for Christian teens to listen to out there and Ethan has not acquired a taste for them. When I was pregnant with him, I often would lay on my tummy a tape recorder with a music tape playing. I don’t know if there is a correlation or not, but he does have a love for music, and excels with his own singing.

Getting My Ducks In A Row

I need to try and get all my ducks in a row. We’ll only be 3 miles from town, so I will utilize that to some degree, and try to do whatever paid blogging needs to be done over the weekend. But, for a change, instead of the days just hanging out there, we not being sure what we will be doing, we actually have a plan for the whole weekend. David went out to the lake last night and reserved 3 spots — one for us, and one for each of his brothers. His mom and dad will be out of town, so he didn’t have to worry about them. We will camp Friday night. Saturday, he has already talked to his boss’s daughter (and his boss, of course) — I don’t know if he has said anything to his drivers yet. BUT. He won’t be there to do payroll. Thats a first. Betsy won’t have to learn how to do it, though. He is just going to have his drivers call him with their numbers, and he will have their checks already written. She just needs to be there to take their paperwork and give them their check.

And where will we be? On our way to Manhattan for a family reunion. Manhattan is a couple of hours from here. The orginial plan was to do payroll, and then leave — getting us there around 11:00 - 12:00. But, the reunion is from 9:00 - 3:00. So, he just decided we would leave early and be there for most of it. And this is MY family, not his. Go figure. We do good getting to his family unions. And usually, he NEVER takes off for payroll. But, this camper has done him a world of good. He’s done several things this past month that he has “never” done.

So. Friday night — Camp. Saturday - Family Reunion. Sunday - Camp. Monday - Camp (its Labor Day weekend). I’m looking forward to it!!

Waiting On Ethan

I’m waiting on Ethan to get home. He goes to Barbershop practice on Tuesday night’s. He doesn’t drive to Topeka himself — he goes with 2 other guys from our church. But, they all meet in New Strawn … a little town 4 miles from here. So, he drives out there, and leaves his car there. Its only 4 miles; but its late and he usually comes home really sleepy, even when Harry used to deliver him right to our door. So, I never go to bed on Tuesday nights until I know he’s home safe and sound. I think there is one Tuesday I didn’t — I had a headache, or didn’t feel good in some way. I made David stay up until he got home. Its just the mom thing in me, I guess.

The End Of My Rope

It has not been a good day. My boss was emotionally drained from the past weeks events; and it should have been an exciting powerful week. I felt helpless in what I should do to help him. David is on my case because I’m not going to Topeka tomorrow. And Ethan has some rough decisions ahead of him, and my heart is breaking for him. I know what he should do; but ultimately, its his decision, and I’m really not sure what choice he’ll make. I don’t know. Its making me doubt everything. I am so tiring of fighting the mental battles I fight everyday. And I don’t know how to turn things around. I know they need to be. But I am so overwhelmed. I don’t know where to start.

Century Furniture

We are thinking about doing some changing in the house. Ethan’s room is so small, and he just does not have any room. The computer room is plenty big enough; and now that we have laptops, we very seldom go in the computer room. So, we are thinking about switching the two rooms, maybe leaving the computer desk and computer in his room for him to do his homework, but take out the other desk and some other furniture. He is needing a new bed, so we may have to look in to Century furniture about getting him a new bed. I’m not sure when we will find the time to get everything gone through and the rooms switched, but it is something I would really like to get done in the next couple of months.

Tying It All Together

When we moved into the new church building, the ladies got busy and decorated my boss’s office. They did a wonderful job. It opened the doors to one of the ladies. Because of what she did with that office, it gave her the confidence to do something she has wanted to do for a long time — interior decorating. I really loved what she did with his office; so I gave her some money and asked her if she could add a few things to my office. I had done some, but it needed a few finishing touches. Just this past week, she brought in two beautiful pictures that will go on the wall behind my desk. They compliment the office furniture wonderfully. Those pictures tie everything together and makes my office look just as nice as my boss’s.

Busy Week Ahead

I have a feeling its going to be a busy week. This is the last night of the Power Team crusade. There has been ALOT of people go forward for the alter call. Now the real work begins. Calling on these people, nurturing them, leading them to Christ. Granted, it will be among the 5 churches that sponsored the event, but still — there has been 100 - 150 people go forward each and every night. Even if a tenth of them were serious, that 60 people that we can’t let slip the the cracks and follow up on. This is also newsletter, week, and I need to finish up the directory and … well… the list goes on and on. I have had a somewhat relaxed and easy going weekend, so that has helped. Just need to step it up a notch and hit this week full force.

Generators

It seems like recently, no one has been spared some kind of disaster, one kind or the other. Floods, tornado, ice storms and blizzards later in the year. Mother Nature has unleashed her fury time and time again. One can never be too prepared, and diesel electric generators ensure that you have power, regardless of your circumstances. If a tornado rips through your town, or an ice storm takes down all the power lines, it could be weeks before power is restored. Do you have an alternate plan to go if this happens? What if travel is impossible? Generatordepotusa.com carries a variety of generators and accessories for emergency and standby electricity at affordable prices.

Falling Into Place

Ethan did remember to pick up his schedule, and he does have next Saturday off. And David surprised me by telling me he is going to tell his driver’s to call in their numbers, that he will have their checks wrote when they get out there to be paid. That we will be IN Manhattan, when he would normally be out paying them. The family reunion is from 9:00 - 3:00. I just thought we would pay the drivers, and then head out… getting us there around 11:00-12:00. But, he has made his mind up that just this once, he doesn’t need to be there. It makes me feel good that he is starting to take some time off, and take a new perspective of things. Its about time!

Kansas Clicks

I’ve been working on a new project. I have had this on the mental back burner for awhile; but finally got it half way put together, and now if I can just keep at it. I set up a new blog — a photo blog. Kansas Clicks I will be doing several things there. One thing I will attempt to do is a Photo A Day. Take a picture, and add it to the blog each and every day. There are also several photo memes I want to join in with. I take a ton of pictures anyway, so I have been wanting to do something with them, as far as displaying them. I do have a chronological photo album going on at Serenity, but I wanted to expound on that. And Kansas Clicks is what took form.

BP Monitors

It has been several years now that we have had to keep an eye on David’s blood pressure. In the beginning, we used my mom’s blood pressure monitor; and then eventually, we purchased our own. But, its probably time that we look into purchasing another one. The last time he used it, even though it had new batteries in it, he couldn’t get it to turn on. The one we have used in the past is a cuff monitor. Shopping.com has an extensive selection of blood pressure monitors and allows you to compare prices with different competitors.

They have an easy to navigate website, helping you locate blood pressure monitors by price, by brand, or by the different monitors, type and cuff size. Each monitor takes you to a store website that Shopping.com believes is the best price. They offer shoppers search tools, engaging content, and time saving way to navigate the sight. They have millions of unbiased product and merchant reviews, and its all in one place.

His Schedule

I wonder if Ethan remembered to pick up his scheduled. He didn’t call me about it, and there was a couple of days in question, that he requested off. So, it should be interesting to see what shifts he will have. We have a family reunion scheduled for next Saturday, but whether or not we attended depended on whether or not Ethan worked. I’m still trying to adjust to never seeing him (I know, I know. Its only been 2 days). I know he has to feel overwhelmed. I feel overwhelmed for him. Going to school all day. Having less than 20 minutes to change clothes and go from school mode to work mode. He only has a 10 minute break, and no time for supper until 8:30 or 9:00. I just don’t see him being able to go at this pace. AND THEN, if we weren’t to change anything … once he gets home and gets a bite to eat, he has to settle in and do homework.

I know college is probably ten times worse than this. But, I agree with him. He’s overwhelmed. And he jus doesn’t think he can balance it all, and do it well. He is a cashier at the grocery store, so it takes concentration and to be as error-free as possible. So, we’ll try to find some middle ground; and worst case scenio, the job goes, and he spends all of his time trying to make good grades. But he definately is going to work at it — not fluff it off like he has done in the past.

Balancing Act

I know it was only the first day, but Ethan is feeling overwhelmed, just as I thought he might. Especially if he actually puts his nose to the grindstone and actually tries to get decent grades this year. He’s talked to some of the teachers where he knows he could possibly struggle, and he says he’s going to stay after school and get help this year. That has always been available to him, but I’m hoping he takes advantage of it this year.

So. What does this do to the job. He just wanted to quit. But I told him lets try and find some middle ground. Where he works, they are really good about working with these high school kids, scheduling them to what works best for the them. So, he’s going to talk to his manager, and see if they can work out a weekend schedule, and that he could work 1 or 2 days (evenings) during the week, and those days would need to be either Monday, Thursday and/or Friday. Tuesday’s, he has Barbershop practice. But, he doesn’t go until 6:00, so he has 3 hours to do homework. Wednesday, he has GAP and Praise Band practice. Again, he doesn’t have to be there until 6:00. Its the going straight from school, and having to be at work by 3:30, and not getting off work until 8:00, 9:00 and having to do homework then. I understand his feelings, so if he’s willing to try and work weekends, and a day during the week, then I’m good with that as well. And then after Christmas, we’ll see how he did the first semester, and see what we need to do about Forensics. There are alot of Forensic meets on Saturday. But. We need to get through this first semester and see what happens, and deal with next semester later.

I was a little concerned to how he was going to balance all of this. I really don’t want to see him quit all together. If he could make enough to put gas in his car and pay his insurance, and maybe a little extra, that would be good enough. Even if he quits now (well, giving his two weeks), he will have paid off his note for the damange he caused backing into someone’s van. So, he did good this summer, and accomplished what he set out to do. But, I would like to see him still try and balance both. But not to the extreme. We’ll just have to see.

Life Balance

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that life for me seems to continue to spiral out of control. With the beginning of school, and wanting the best for Ethan, and knowing that he really needs to knuckle down and hit the books this year, it just drives the point home even more. So when asked if I would like to review a CD series on Life Balance, I jumped on it. If I ever needed a life coach, it is now. Clay Nelson has put together a series of CDs on how to create your purpose. In the CDs, he discusses: Creating Your Purpose: The key to unlocking your greatest potential. How To Let Fear Serve You: how to not be stopped by fear, and Committment: Getting Past “Why Do I Have To Grow?” You can also learn from Clay by listening to his radio show, or his tele-seminar series. I am very grateful I was able to receive his CD series, so I can listen and re-listen at my leisure. He covers alot of ground, and yet it all makes sense.

Clay is all about fun, family and financial freedom. He doesn’t teach from a book, but rather from the heart. That shows as you listen to him speak throughout the CD. He lays before the question: Why Am I Here? Why am I doing what I”m doing? He defines Purpose — which is a statement. You should have a Purpose Statement. Which is not a “fix” in concept. Your purpose is not to lose weight, or be a better mother or a better person. A Purpose Statement goes way beyond that, defining your life, defining you. Clay takes you through this process, step. by. step.

I have 2 projects on the burner. A book called “The House That Cleans Itself”, and this audio CD set from Clay Nelson. I want to go through them, point by point, and see about getting my life back on track. Setting some goals, and just establishing a purpose in this spinning out-of-control thing I called “my life”.

Indecision

I have several projects on the back burner that I would really like to do. They both involve blogging; but I’m not sure which blogs to do them on. In some ways, it makes sense to do it here, because it would help with those “in between” entries I sometimes struggle with. But, by the same token, I don’t want them to get lost in the shuffle of things, and in that case, it makes more sense to do over at my “ad-free” blog, Serenity. I don’t know. I’ll have to give this some more thought; but I really want to get started on them.

Evening’s Event

I wish Ethan didn’t have to work tonight. Our church, along with 4 other churches, have come together and for the next 5 nights, we will be hosting Power Team performances. Alot of time and work and effort has gone into make this event happen. I have done alot of the behind the scene stuff, promoting it, flyers that will be passed out tonight representing our church …etc. So, I’m not in the middle of things, and I can actually go as an audience member, and not as someone running around frantically at the last minute. (believe me, I have been there sooo many times. This is nice to be able to not be totally stressed out at this moment).

But. Ethan has to work, so he won’t be going. And, David is in the middle of it. He was going to help clean off the stage as they broke things, but with his arms bothering him like they are, we decided that probably wouldn’t be a good thing for him to do. But, he used to be the church treasurer, so Gordon asked him if he would be a part of the money counting team. They need 4 guys, and they will be in a locked room when they count it. This is something he can do. So, chances are, he won’t be sitting with me, and he’s already up there. He wanted pre-instructions, instead of walking in cold to what he should be doing. Smart man.

Its a 5 day event, so there should be people I know there that I can hang out with, and sit by. I am praying this event will be as successful as they are hoping.

Empty Nest

It has been 31 years since I have not had a child in the house. I have 2 more years to go, and then we will officially be part of the “Empty Nest” club. It will be strange to not have Ethan around, not having to keep up with his schedule, and staying on top of his grades and the time he comes home. I have a few ideas of what direction I would like to see my life go once we enter in this phase. Course, my husband…being a man… has a completely different idea. He’s thrilled with the aspect of having no kids in the house because then perhaps there is a chance of having his wife in sexy costumes and no fear of Ethan coming home early. We will have the house all to ourselves. What a concept. Is that really what empty nesters do?

From The Heart

There was a time our camera sat up on the shelf, and a couple times a year, I would get it out, dust it off, have David give me a refresher course in how to use it, and then how to get the pictures on the computer. But somewhere along the line, that all changed. I don’t know if it was getting a different camera, or installing a plugin that keeps a photo album organized and displays them nicely, or setting up a website for the church and “showcasing the talent”, I just don’t know. But now, my digital cameras stays in my purse, and goes everywhere I go. I keep batteries charged, the card clean, and I’m usually ready to go, to take whatever pictures strike my fancy. Or video clips. I have taken alot of video clips. Yes, we have a camcorder, and we use it sometimes; but I like being able to capture Ethan when he does special music. Or doing invidividual clips of performances like the Barbershop chorus did the other night. The camcorder is good for recording long performances and burning to a DVD for memory keeping. But doing the video clips, I can embed them into my blogs, giving a visual of what is coming from the heart, the pride and the joy of Ethan performing, and the video clips shows my readers why.

America’s Got Talent

In less than 30 minutes we’ll know. We have watched “America’s Got Talent since the 1st show. Actually, we watched it last year as well. Tonight is the Finale. And they are down to the last two. Terry Fator and Cas Haley. Both of them are amazing. But I would venture to say Terry Fader will be taking the million dollars home. They both sing. Really Well. But, Terry Fator can impersonate just about anyone, and that goes beyond just having a great voice. I don’t know. These last few weeks have been hard knowing who would go and who would stay. They have all been great! We’ll just have to wait and see.

Going Online

This summer has just whizzed by. Like a lot of moms, the summer is marked by the end of school in May and the beginning of school in August. This summer did have an added twist that the other summers did not have. Ethan had a job. Since I work full time, he was responsible for getting himself to work on time, and he did an excellent job of it. As far as I know, he was never late, or fluff offed a working day. He went, he did his job, and I’m proud of him. But there have days — quite a few of them, I felt like we were just passing. He’d be home most of the day while I was at work, but then when I got home from work, then he was working. So, its made getting ready for school a little challenging, trying to find the time that neither one of us works, and we could head to Emporia or Topeka to buy clothes. Wish I had thought of it sooner — we could have gone to an online clothing store and just ordered everything on line. We did buy him quite a few new shirts and pants when he went to Internationals for Forensics, which, he only wore the one time. So, that will get him started, and then sometime in the next week or two, we’ll finish up and add to what he needs. The school doesn’t supply a list for the high schoolers. There are so many variables, depending on what classes you take. So, its just a collection of information after school starts, and THEN you go and get the supplies needed.

Dell Memory

My middle son has just gotten a laptop, after having a PC for a year or so, and he is asking lots of questions. Some of them I can answer, others I have to pass on to David. He was asking about memory, and what all he could do with it. I did recommend that he check and see how much memory he had. I know awhile back he added Dell Memory to his PC. And he was just wondering if he would have to do the same thing to the laptop. But, it also sounds like he wants to do 2 very different things with each computer, so he probably will be OK with the memory that he has, if he doesn’t download alot, like he did on his PC.

1 Day and Counting

Just 1 more day, and then Ethan is back to school. I hope he is able to balance all of it and make it work. He will be attending school from 8:00 until 3:10. Most days, I would assume, he will need to be at work by 3:30, and will work until 8:00 or 9:00. He does have a request in for Tuesday nights off, but that just means traveling to Topeka for Barbershop practice, and doesn’t get home until after 11:00. Now, I realize there is a chance he won’t work all 5 days, that they may schedule him with a day or two off, and then hit the weekends hard. But, maybe not. School is Thursday and Friday this week, and he’s scheduled both days; and then a weird schedule Saturday. He works from 8:30 - 12:30 and then back at 4:30 until 9:00. Thats the first time they have ever split up a shift like that.

It sounds overwhelming to me; but he’s young, and he’s capable, and he can do it if he just applies himself. And remembers what is at stake. IF he can’t make this work — working and school, then the other activities he likes to do will be put on the shelf as well, and he can concentrate on school. Period. No drama club. No Forensics. No plays. I just pray he makes it work!