After roughing it this upcoming weekend when we go camping, hotels in las vegas are going to seem like a piece of heaven. Granted, we won’t be roughing it as much as our girls will — they will be in tents and air mattresses. Hopefully, it won’t decide to rain all weekend, like it did over Memorial Day weekend. That was a deal. They had clothes and bedding hanging out to dry off and off all weekend. Looking at the forecast, though, it looks like we should have decent weather. I do like camping and just getting away from the house on the weekends. But no more than we camped this year, we could have spenta couple of nights in a nice Las Vegas hotel for what we payed for the camper (which wasn’t all that much.) It doesn’t make much sense to spend $3000 or $4000 (or more!) on a camper, and then only camp 3 or 4 times a year in it. You could go away for a very nice, very air conditioned, very “I’m getting spoiled” kind of weekend for that kind of money. At least thats what David’s logic is.

We love our cat and he has been a member of our family for almost 10 years. But, we were considering packing up the cat supplies and moving him and his supplies outside. We had THE funniest smell in our house for a few days, and Ethan kept saying “I think its Sandy (aka SandyClause). At first David thought Ethan was delusional, but then he walked passed the cat, and decided that maybe Ethan was on track to his line of thinking. We are thinking he has gotten into a tangle with a skunk. He smells awful. And, even though our beloved cat loves us, I just don’t think he is going to allow us to give him a bubble bath, or a tomato juice bath. I keep thinking with time, the smell will go away. This was several weeks ago. He smells just as bad now as he did a couple weeks ago. He’s been an inside/outside cat all along anyway — coming and going as he pleased. So, for the time being, we are trying to make him stay outside, and we keep a bowl of water and food out there for him (and probably all of his neighborhood friends). But until he can not longer answer to the name “Stinky”, he’s staying outside.

At the end of October this year, David and I will be celebrating 25 years of marriage. We have a Branson trip planned (one of those time-share things), but haven’t set a definate date of when we will be going. We’ve kicked around the idea of using it to celebrate our anniversary, but we haven’t set that in stone yet. If we don’t go down there, I would like to send out party invitations to all of David’s family, and our kids and their familes, and just have a big get-together supper. We’ve come a long way over the years, and it is just symbolic to me that I can take our whole entire family out for supper (we are talking 30-40 people), and be able to swing it financially. There was many years in our married life, we coudln’t afford to take one of them out to eat. But, we’ve gotten our act together, and our future looks good. The bills are paid on time, if not ahead of time. Money is getting put away. And extra money is there for just time like this. If I did do this, I would like to keep it a secret from David, making him think I was just taking him out to supper — just him and me — for our anniversary. He would be sooooo surprised. I will take some planning on my part, but its doable.

With new technology growing by leaps and bounds, it seems like every corner we turn, we are hearing about “HD”. High Definition. We will be affected by it if we own the wrong kind of TV next year. A radio iisn’t just a radio anymore. The Jensen JiMS 525i is a great iPod dockable HD Radio.

I have an iPod. An iTouch to be exact. And, we pay $13 a month for another “radio station”. I need to research this a bit more, but from what I have read so far, this Jensen JiMS 525i gives us the best of both worlds. I can take advantage of the iTunes Taggingwith this radio. What is iTunes Tagging you ask? When you hear a song on a radio station that you really like you just hit the “tag” button on the radio. The song’s info is saved, and will show up on a playlist the next time you sync your iPod to your computer. You are then able to download and buy the song you want directly from the Apple iTune Music Store. Its as simple as that.

Thenew music stations that the Jensen Jims 525i is programmed to pick up gives you endless hours of music. And there are no monthly fees. Just the initial cost of the radio. I looked to see if there were any stations near where I live. Living out in the middle of no where is the pits sometimes with all this new technology. You see it. You love it. But it won’t work it. But not so with HD radio. There are numerous stations just a few miles down the road.

I think I know what is going on my Christmas list this year.

If the insurance company ever needed a poster child for inexperienced teen drivers, Ethan could be that child. He had his first wreck before he turned 16. He had his 2nd one a few months later. And…*sigh. Well, his third one was just a year ago. Fortunately, they were all very minor. Expensive. But minor. The first two were caused from just not paying attention. Pure and simple. The third one — well, it very well could have stemmed from inexperience. He wasn’t speeding. He was paying attention. But, he came around a curve, and the sun hit his line of vision, and he sideswiped a sign. A more experienced driver probably could have avoided that happening. We have the same insurance company we had had for 25 years. But, part of Ethan’s “consequences” when this last accident happened was that he was to go around town, and get quotes from insurance companies — for coverage on him. He asked if he could get a auto insurance online quote — which was fine, but that he still need to go talk to these insurance agents, face to face.

He got quotes, and I think a dose of reality. It made him aware of just what all of this was going to cost him, and that maybe he had better be a little more attentive, a little more careful, and try to get some experience — accident free — under his belt. So far, so good. His last accident was Labor Day weekend last year. So, we are coming up a year, accident free. And you can see it in his attitude, and his actions. Inexperience is such a dangerous thing. But, unfortunately, to become experience, you have to go through that phase of being inexperienced.

I have a consultation on the 21st to discuss WLS. I wish it hadn’t come to this, but the bottom line is, I feel like my back is against the wall, and my options are pretty limited. I have tried various different weight loss programs, as well as products similar to Anoretix, some over the counter, some doctor prescribed. Some attempts have been successful for a while, and others have not. My thought is, something is “broke” inside that keeps me from giving it my all and making it work. Losing weight is not like stop smoking. If you never smoke another cigarette, you won’t die. But. You have to eat. Its just a matter of what you eat, and how much. When I look at various different plans, I get overwhelmed to what all you need to do. I also seem to be on the picky side. That is a lifelong character trait. I have a paper that my mom saved from my kindergarden teacher. I was a great kid, played well with others, listen, did my work. But. I. Was. A. Picky. Eater. Its right there. On paper. Documented 45 years ago, and that hasn’t changed a whole lot since then.

I don’t know. I will go to my consulation. We will talk. And we will formulate a plan, whether it involves surgery or not. Maybe coordinating with a nutrionist is what I need — to take what I WILL eat, and put it in a constructive nutritious balanced format that would be workable for me. I don’t know. But, I am taking the step forward to at least go and talk to the surgeons and see what we need to do.

Several weeks ago, we went to a seminar that focused on Weight Loss Surgery. We were given alot of information; and a packet to bring home, fill out and send back in. They would go over it, and then call us individually for a consultation. In the paperwork we had to fill out, they wanted all kinds of medical history, specific successful weight loss attempts, if we had taken weight loss pills, what kind, and when. My sister-in-law has gone through this exact same process, and was denied at the end. Some of the health issues she has, they felt like doing surgery on her would be a risk to her life — moreso than the issues the weight is presenting. So, there is no guarantee that I will be having WLS. The finances are to be considered. The health issues I have will be a consideration. I have to go through a pysch evaluation. They take what they do very seriously, and don’t do surgery on just anyone. I can only pray that I qualify.

We are getting things ready for school, which starts in just a few weeks. One thing I wanted to get done over the summer was to get Ethan’s senior pictures taken. His acne has cleared up quite, staying clear on his face, so now would be a good time before he does have an outbreak. We just need to decide who is going to take them. I’m tempted to take my friend’s offer of doing them. She takes really good pictures — she did her son’s senior pictures. At the after Prom activity, Ethan got a coupon for $100 off senior pictures. But when we got an ad from the people who he got the coupon from, the minimum order is $400 (which would be $300), and its just a basic in-studio shoot. We were kinda wanting to do outside pictures as well, and I think that is the next package up. I’m just not sure I want to spend THAT much money. I know this is an important time in his life, and we need to document it with pictures. But. Thats still a lot of money.