A what? Oh, can I get one in pink?

My Doctor: You're going to need to wear a walking boot.


Me: A what?

My Doctor: An air cast. I know you've seen one before. It's a plastic boot that will help your foot and make walking less painful.

Me: Oh, can I get one in pink?

Unfortunately, air cast/walking boots don't come in pink. They only come in this UGLY gray color that looks like it's a part of an astronaut's suit.  It does however come with a cool hand pump so my son really enjoyed pumping air into mommy's cast this morning.  I guess it's a good thing that I wear a lot of black since my walking boot will be a permanent part of my wardrobe for the next few weeks. The doctor's exact words were "You have to wear it until we figure out what's wrong with your foot!"

So now let me explain. Oh, about 15 years ago, my left foot started swelling up. It would be fine in the morning but by the end of the night it would be huge and a little stiff but nothing super uncomfortable. So I would casually bring this up at doctor's appointments and most times, it was dismissed as nothing major. Well, last week my foot started to swell in its normal fashion but then it started to really hurt to walk and by the end of the work day I was limping down the hall to my car. Thankfully, we were off from school on Friday so I had the entire weekend to rest. I soaked my foot in Epson salt, took a few Tylenol and all was well. So on Monday morning, I was "fine" and had decided to postpone visiting a doctor until spring break. Since by then I would have a little bit more time on my hands. Well, by around 9 a.m Monday morning, I was back to limping and promptly called my doctor. I had an appointment yesterday morning. Somehow I thought she would just give my some medicine and send me on my way. Boy was I wrong! I had to get blood drawn, x-rayed, and pick up my walking boot. Needless to say, I didn't make it to work yesterday and am off today and tomorrow. It's actually a very weird feeling because since I'm wearing a moon boot and now my ankle is killing me, I'm stuck sitting in my recliner with my foot elevated. I keep trying to figure out how to use this "extra-time" wisely. I thought I would scrapbook but it's hard to do with your foot elevated. I have of course been reading but hey I need something else to do. Most every one I know is working so I can't really call anyone. I guess this means that I can catch up on all the stuff I recorded on my dvr.

I love my Snuggie

Okay, I just wanted to take a few moments and sing some LOUD praises for my Snuggie. OMGoodness, the commercials look so hokey. Manfriend bought me one for Christmas. He got me a Pitt Panther one since that's where I went to college. I thanked him for the gift but thought why would he get me a blanket when I'm ALWAYS hot. I, of course, thought that I wouldn’t like it because it would make me sweat and just be quite uncomfortable. Boy was I wrong. I absolutely love it!!!! The weight is perfect. So it keeps me warm but I'm definitely not hot. I also like the fact that my hands are free while I'm wearing it. So now I can stay warm while attempting to read 35 books this year. Many people think it's just like wearing a robe backwards, it really isn't. I love it and am so glad that I have one. Do you have a Snuggie and if so, do you love it?

If you need a good laugh....

then you definitely should read Sellevision by Augusten Burroughs.  It is absolutely hilarious.  Omgoodness, it is truly one of the best books I've read in a long time.  So, what's it about?  The book centers around four hosts of a retail television show.  Think QVC or HSN meets Jerry Springer.  As you know, one of my goals for this year is to read 35 books.  Well, I'm so happy that I stumbled upon this one.  One down, only 34 more to go.  Have you read anything good lately?

2010 Goals

Well, as we are now a few days into the New Year, it seems only fitting that I post my 10 goals for 2010.

1. Read the Bible daily. (So far, so good. I have read the Bible two mornings in a row. I'm off to a great start.)



2. Read a story to my son every night. (Well, I actually might need to revise this one to daily and not limit it to bedtime. Since last night we got home kinda late and I didn't get a chance to read a story to my little one.)



3. Volunteer once a month. (I am currently looking for ways to "give back" each month. Suggestions are encouraged and welcomed.)



4. Go to bed at 10:30 p.m. Sunday - Thursday. (Well, since I'm currently on vacation, I've haven't started this one yet. This Sunday will begin the test.)



5. Read 35 books. (You might remember that last year, I attempted to read 52 books in 52 weeks. What was I thinking? I didn't reach my goal but I did read 29 books.  Well, this year, I have decided to be a little more realistic. I wanna read my age in books.)



6. Exercise 4x's a week for 30 minutes. (Ummmm...I've been rather sick these last few days and so I haven't actually started this either. However, Sunday (or shall I say tomorrow) I plan to start.)



7. Take my son on a vacation. (I want to take him to SeaWorld in Orlando or possibly a place with a beach and if worst come to worst, I can count the yearly trip home as a vacation.)



8. Save $1,000. (I am truly hoping to accomplish this goal by June.)



9. Weigh 135 lbs. (I currently weigh 160 and it's just too darn heavy. I wear an expensive size 6 and a cheap 12 (i.e. Jones of New York, size 6 and Wal-Mart size 12). I really would like to wear an expensive size 2 and cheap size 6.)



10. Get married. (This has actually been a "goal" of mine for the last 10 years. However, I've decided to put it down on paper and see what happens. Clearly, this is a goal that I can't really control unless I want to be like the girl in Leap Year, which I don't. But hey, I decided to write it down and see what happens.)


Bonus Goal:  52 posts in 52 weeks.  (Ideally, I would love to post more than once a week but I'm going to start small and commit to publishing at least once a week.)



So what is something you would like to accomplish this year?

2009 Goals Review

Wow, I can't believe that we're days away for 2010.  I really do feel like this year has flown by.  So as I begin to work on my dream collage for the upcoming year, I wanted to take a moment and reflect on my 2009 goals.  Here are the results:

1.  Get closer to God (I think I should have been a bit more specific.  I mean, how can I really measure my closeness with God?  While I do feel closer in some ways, I also feel further away in others.)

2.  Help my little cousin graduate from high school

3.  Help my little cousin as she enters college

4.  Enroll my son in softball

5.  Save $3,000 (I didn't reach this goal.  However, I am happy that I was able to pay off about 3,000 in debt this year.  I guess technically that might count for something.)

6.  Maintain/sustain a loving relationship with manfriend (We're still together so kudos to me and my manfriend since we're still going strong.)

7.  No new debt (While I was paying stuff off, I feel off the wagon a few times and whipped out my credit card for a few purchases.)

8.  Create multiple streams of income (This one is huge.  I went from being unemployed to having to turn down jobs.  God is definitely soooooo good.)

9.  Eat Better (I think this one should have also been more specific.  Overall, I really can't say.  Some days are better than others but I don't think I accomplished my big goal in becoming a healthy eater.)

10.  Lose 15 lbs. (How about gain 15 lbs?  It's sad to say that I didn't even come close to this goal.)

5 out of 10...ummm, if this was a test, I would have no doubt failed.  However, since it's not a test. I can applaud myself for the goals accomplished and possibly revisit the missed goals in 2010.

My Early Christmas Present

Greetings from the wonderful world of contentment and never-ending smiles.  I come to you live and in full effect.  For the past year, I have been coveting a Kindle and most recently, the Barnes and Noble Nook.  Since I love to read and often wish I had a book while waiting in line or when I have a few extra minutes, an ereader would be the perfect solution.  However, as many of you know I am committed to getting out of debt ASAP and just can't rationalize spending over $200 bucks for an ereader.  I mean come on...think of how many books you could buy for $200.  I decided to do some research because surely there had to be a more "budget -friendly" ereader.  I'm happy to say that I found one.  It's called the Ebookwise -1150 and I LOVE it!   Now don't get me wrong it is not as sleek looking as the more expensive ereaders and you can't download books wirelessly.  However, I'm okay with having to download my books using a USB connection and a computer.  The biggest bonus is that the Ebookwise can read a variety of formats so now I can access FREE materials from my local library.  As Christmas quickly approaches, what present would add a never-ending smile to your face?

Happy Birthday to Me

On November 3rd, I turned 35 years old. I must admit that over the past few weeks, I've have a full wave of emotions surrounding this big milestone in my life. Since I'm a big birthday person, I knew I wanted it to be memorable. Three is my favorite number and I tend to do things in threes. So here are the 3 big things I did for my b-day:

1.) On my actual birthday, my son, manfriend, and I went to see MJ's This Is It movie. OMGoodness, I loved it. First, the music was awesome. It included all my favorites. Even though he didn't sing P.Y.T., I still enjoyed watching MJ do his thing. My son who is only 3 absolutely loves Michael Jackson and couldn't sit still. He just clapped and sang throughout the movie. Well, actually he did this for the first hour after that he fell asleep and missed his favorite MJ hit, Beat It. The movie taught me to give it your all, all the time because you never know it could be your last act.

2.) Cavalia, Cavalia, Cavalia (note I'm singing this in a high pitched, opera-like voice) For weeks, I'd been hinting well actually downright begging manfriend to take me to see this show for my birthday. After he watched the trailer showing some men in tights riding horses, he immediately responded as I expected. I think his exact words were HELL NO. However, I guess love got the best of him because not only did he get tickets he got the best tickets you could get. First, we attended a welcome session which consisted of wine, shrimp, and great desserts. We were the only Black people except for the people working the event. It only took a short time for the other attendees to realize that I couldn't direct them to the nearest restroom, that no manfriend did not play for the Atlanta Falcons and that actually we were just some plain ole' folks attending a live performance. The show was fabulous. It really was amazing seeing over 60 horses interact with humans and do some extraordinary things. Manfriend even enjoyed himself so it turned out to be a wonderful date night for us.

3.) Last but not least, I got to spend a few days with manfriend in one of my favorite places, LAS VEGAS. I like to gamble and wasn't quite sure if this trip would adversely affect my relationship with manfriend. It didn't. Instead, I think we were able to connect on a different level and get a clearer understanding of our long-term goals. We had so much fun!! There was a karaoke bar at our hotel, Imperial Palace and we even got a dvd of manfriend singing. I got an ice cream sundae pedicure at the Canyon Ranch Spa that was nothing less than perfect. It was a bit pricey but hey it was my birthday so I figured I would splurge. I did get to keep the polish I chose, I guess that's one of the perks you get when you pay 95 bucks for a pedicure. (Thankfully I had a gift card.) Finally, we gambled. We both did pretty good at the roulette table and even found some time to souvenir shop.

If I had to give my birthday celebration a grade it would be an A+++. What's your favorite birthday memory?