Verdict is: Sinus Infection

I am a FAN of MinuteClinic in CVS. I randomly found out about it on a website I was looking at for a Dr. to go see tomorrow. I got there at 7:45, entered my info in, the nurse got my insurance info and then checked me out. Ears: yup... fluid filled. Nose: oh ya... definitely infected. Throat: yup. Sinus infection. She printed out and signed my prescriptions for some Amoxicillan and Nasonex and I was out the door at 8:05. I walked over to the pharmacy and had the prescriptions filled and was out of CVS at 8:20.

I loved not having to call for an appointment, walking in and being seen right away. And it was really convenient to have the pharmacy right there.

HIGHLY recommended! So if you have a common illness (strep throat, bronchitis and ear, eye and sinus infections), go to MinuteClinic. 7 days a week. 8am-8pm (at least on the weekdays).

And an interesting thought that Jon brought up is that places like this could be what it takes to change the future of the medical industry. I'll let him write a little bit about it.

(enter Jon, stage left)

Hello friends! Lend me your ears and bask in the Readers' Digest condensed version of how our health care system is broken and how it will be fixed by, of all places, Wal-Mart.

47 million people in the US do not have health insurance. 47 million. Recent surveys have shown that the greatest fear of many people isn't losing their job, its losing their health insurance.

Let's say you want to go to a doctor and you don't have health insurance. What do you do? Well, if you walk into a doctor's office you will now pay some astronomical figure instead of a $25 co-pay because the billing rates have been jacked up because insurers are the ones paying it.

So you don't go to a doctor for a few weeks. Now you wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, heart pounding, feeling like you're on the verge of death. Where do you go? The ER.

Are you refused care at the ER? No. They don't turn anyone away. Thus, if you need medical assistance in this country you go to the ER.

In the meantime, my kid falls on the coffee table and splits open his eyelid. Where do I go? The ER. Who gets priority, my kid or the guy who's about to die? Obviously they're going to save our comrades' life before bothering to give my kid four stitches.

So I end up waiting for FIVE HOURS before my kid can get sewn up (which takes about 15 minutes for the skilled professionals to do, thanks to that Asian doctor who's name I don't remember) and out the door.

This is about the worst way to deliver medical services that I could possibly imagine.

So instead, what if Joe Schmoe without insurance could go to a local clinic and see a doctor for $45 even if he doesn't have health insurance? That way he gets the preventative care he needs to get better and not end up in the ER and when I go for real emergencies I don't have to wait FOREVER and watch the dozens of other 'low-priority' emergencies wait as the line fills up with our comrades without health insurance using the ER as a primary care provider.

Sounds great, eh? Well, Wal-Mart just put in clinics like this in Atlanta, Dallas and Little Rock. They already operate 80 clinics in other stores throughout the country as part of joint venture with local hospitals. Their goal is 400 clinics by 2010.

Obviously they aren't going to save the health care system by themselves. But Target, CVS, Walgreens, etc. are going to be following suit in order to prevent a 'Clinic Gap' (thank you Dr. Strangelove.)

Now people without insurance have a way of seeing a physician without losing an arm and a leg. This isn't going to solve all problems of course (they still would be unable to get advanced care without insurance such as MRI, surgery, etc.) but maybe this would be the catalyst that changes health insurance into what it should actually be: insurance for major medical events. I don't need auto insurance to take my car into a shop. But I need auto insurance to cover the massive costs of a catastrophe (i.e. a major accident.) This is what health insurance should be about.

The inspiration for Jon's wisdom on the matter comes from the great Jim Jubak. His column on this subject is a must-read.

As much as you may loathe the evil empire, they may end up saving our health care system.

Wal-Mart for the win!

Just some pictures

check out our sweet new umbrella! A great improvement over our last!




And our cute boy!

Hooray for throw yourself on the floor tantrums!

Alex was a little tired tonight. So when I told him to put his ball in his house, he was a little upset and, for the first time ever, laid flat on the ground and did a couple of tiny kicks. Usually he just sits or kneels on the floor and hangs his head. I know that tantrums shouldn't be funny, but they always are. I just get a kick out of him saying no. It makes me laugh 90% of the time.
Today at lunch he was actually practicing his no's. He was saying no over and over just for the heck of it in all sorts of tones and variations. He does this often and randomly.
I guess it's a good thing it's still making me laugh most of the time. I'm sure in a few months I'll be blogging about how sick I am of hearing no. I am hoping though that his tantrums stay mild and don't escalate into full blown kicking and screaming. Even then, I'm not sure I'll really mind them. I'm pretty good about ignoring them. I'm just afraid for dealing with it when we go out. If he's currently whining when we enter any aisles (especially ones filled with clothes), I'm afraid of what my shopping with Alex future holds. I do have to say though, that the 99 cent popcorn and soda at Target are my new BEST friends!

Memorial Day when you don't have graves to see

Sorry Mom, another year without us in your annual headstone pictures. Hey, at least we got Jon in them 1 of the 3 years.
It's so different not to be spending Memorial Day with our families. In my family, we would always go up to the cabin in Bear Lake, ride 4-wheelers, and then go to see the many graves of our loved ones. And of course, always taking the time to visit Great Grandma as well.

Who would have thought that I would miss doing that with my family? I remember whining about going when I was a teenager. And now, even though we poke fun, I even miss the headstone pictures where you don't know if you should be smiling or not.

Today I sat around some more, drugged up and sucking on lozenges. Jon finished up our patio. And we went to Chick-fil-et to use our free milkshake coupons and then went to get a big new umbrella for our table that is not sitting on our patio instead of out in the grass. It was a good day and we enjoyed spending time together, but it just wasn't the same not being able to stop by the places where the people we love are buried.

We do miss those that we no longer have and I was able to give them some thought today about how meaningful each person that we have lost meant. It was nice to take a moment to actually think about them and their life and realize how much they really did mean to me and to so many others. How great is it that we have a whole day set aside nationally for people to stop a think about those people that have died. I think it's awesome that our country has and honors such a sacred day. And maybe it's used more for sales and shopping, but I know for me, the highlight was being able to be home with my family.

Probably not allergies

The sinus medicine is doing nothing for me. The acetaminophen in it makes my throat feel better for a bit. I probably should just take the acetaminophen plain and forget the decongestant, which I don't need.
So I skipped church today. Ever try to find a sub on memorial day weekend? It's a blast! I finally found someone and I'm happy that I didn't have to expose people to whatever it is I have (which it could be strep). Alex stayed home with me and he was SO good and happy today. He even took 2, 2 hour naps. He must know that I'm tired and needed some napping myself.
I'm hoping that if I have something he doesn't catch it. I wouldn't wish this painful of a throat on anyone.
And with that I am off to take some more medication and crawl into my bed for a hopefully a good night's sleep. I'm really hoping that I don't have strep and that this goes away tomorrow so that I don't have to wait until Tuesday to go into the Dr. Anyone have a good general practice Dr. for me? Can you believe that? We've been here for almost 2 years and never needed to go to the Dr..
My pillow is calling my name. 'Night!

Scary spiders and a completed patio!

Yesterday evening we went out for a walk and over to the park with Alex.

There was a dead spider in my garage. It was black and furry and actually had GREEN EYES! Creepy! So I had some fun doing some spider identifying. Thank heaven for the internet! I remember catching bugs and freezing them (I look forward to those years with bugs in containers in my freezer) and using them for some science project where we had to identify them. These were in the days when the internet was limited. CRAZY! I KNOW!

So the spider I saw yesterday, from what I can tell, is a Grass Spider. We actually see a lot of spiders like this around here. Oh and they do have a venomous bite, but thankfully of low risk to humans.

The garage spider is this guy. I know, a little creepy huh?
I'm glad he was dead!


Did I also mention that we've been seeing fairly large wasps flying around our patio area recently? Uhh... that's where we go and sit and let Alex play and it was a little freaky going out there. Can you tell that I have a slight bug phobia?
Someone Jon works with informed him that they are probably Cicada Killer Wasps.
Here's a link to a wiki article about them.
I guess it's good that they kill cicada's (which eat young trees and shrubs), but it's too bad that they have a painful sting. So at the risk of my trees and shrubs, we put out a wasp killer. Goodbye Cicada Killer Wasps.
Jon actually saw one the other day carrying what he said was a spider. So maybe ours have expanded their appetites?













Back to things less buggy...
Alex had a great time at the playground. He played solely with the little rocks and wasn't really interested in going down the slides or anything. I guess we need to have a rock box instead of a sandbox. I wouldn't be entirely opposed to that idea whereas the thought of having him in a sandbox and cleaning him off afterward is NOT a happy thought for me.

Jon also put many hard hours into the patio today and got it finished while I was inside lounging around and taking a nap. I haven't been feeling at the top of my game and have one of the worst sore throats I can ever remember. I think it's coming from sinus blockage/pressure since I had been having mild headaches in the evening a couple of days before the sore throat started. So I'm taking some sinus stuff and hoping that the sore throat and generally yucky feeling goes away soon. Thank you allergies.

The patio looks fabulous though. Thanks to Billy for letting Jon use his saw to cut through the pavers. DeWalt rocks! ;)
On Monday we're going to get a big new umbrella for our table so we can have some shade and a nice place to sit over there. Hopefully without too many spiders and bugs :)

pictures!

First off, the lovely shelves we put in our garage. This was all just stacked on the floor before. Moving that big box up onto a top shelf really gave us a lot of space to put stuff. Oh and that blue box by the bike trailer went in the recycling yesterday.





This is the big scary spider that crawled out of the strawberries as I was pulling the grass away from them. Ahh!




Here's Jon working on our patio!




and me!




and Alex!







And the patio ALMOST done!



And here are some good Alex pictures for you!



diaper wedgie




booger sucking (yes, he loves this thing and loves it when I suck out his boogers. Weirdo!)


and playing outside last night

Israel

As I was perusing the internets this fine evening (thanks for another late night, dear!) I happened across a post on the Bloggernacle talking about Israel.

For some reason this reminded me of what the word 'israel' means in its native Hebrew. (Sidenote: I wish I could read Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Latin and a whole host of near-eastern languages. Portuguese and Spanish will have to suffice for the present.)

'Israel' in Hebrew roughly means 'one who struggles with God' or 'wrestled with God.'

What does it mean for someone to wrestle or struggle with God? How often should we wrestle with Him? What are outcomes of such an action?

I don't profess to have all the answers but improving my relationship with God is something I've been pondering recently. I've also been thinking about how one goes about teaching children and my Primary kids about attaining a greater faith in God.

Seeing how the first principle of righteous action in men is faith in Deity, what are ways to help others build faith? I'm sure these are things that most religious leaders think about on regular occasions. Its also something I thought about for a couple years. It hasn't been until recently that I've had this desire rekindle inside me; not only how to increase one's faith but also how to help others do so.

Enos wrestled with God through mighty prayer. Jacob wrestled with an angel. Moses wrestled an entire nation from the hands of Egypt. Brother Brigham (I love that name) wrestled with mobs in Nauvoo and later struggled across 1500 miles of wilderness. Others struggle with different challenges.

Health, money, shelter, food, clothing, addiction, depression.

I don't myself struggling with much at the moment. Is that the reason I find myself not wrestling with God? Probably. The times in my life where its been the hardest are the times I turn to the Lord. The scriptures frequently talk about how slow men are to turn to the Lord except in their times of need. Why do we wait for extraordinary situations to call on the help of God?

I believe that developing a deep, personal relationship with God is a fundamental aspect to this life. Doctrines, practices, beliefs, dogmas, etc. are far secondary to building this relationship. Comprehending His will for us by doing unto others as we would have done unto us comes by understanding who He is. By loving God we come to understand why is it so important to love and serve our neighbor. It is through us that He accomplishes His work.

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
-Mother Teresa

Thanks for letting me share some thoughts with all y'all (thank you, Texas.)

Have a marvelous and safe Memorial Day weekend!

Nope. Didn't clean my house.

You can thank Amy for that.
I'm not quite sure what the original reason for coming over was... something about her doing laundry?
It evolved into me bringing my valances to work on. And I got 2 of the 4 done! Yay! And they look fabulous! Amy was a little confused that I was bringing a piece of a 2x4 in to her house, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do.

And I just have to add that in the ways of season finales, Grey's Anatomy was GREAT tonight and The Office was AWESOME last week!

I also wanted to post a great recipe I got from my friend Lauren.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tbsp. butter or margarine
2/3 c. honey
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. mustard

Place the chicken in a greased 9x9 inch baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the butter, honey, salt, and mustard. Cook and stir over low heat until well mixed and heated through. Pour the sauce over chicken, then bake, uncovered for 30-35 minutes more, occasionally basting chicken with sauce. Serve chicken with remaining sauce.


My modification is to poor the sauce over the chicken from the beginning and cook for about 40-45ish minutes, with a bit of basting. You can also add some brown sugar or bbq sauce to the sauce. We made this last week and I kept the left over sauce and made it again tonight, but added bbq sauce. It was very similar to Chick-fil-et's honey mustard bbq sauce, so if you like that, you'll like this.
I still have some sauce left, so I'm going to cube the chicken and cook it like that so the sauce further permeates the chicken. I've also considered coating cubed chicken in cornstarch and frying and then serving the sauce on top (it would be like saucy chinese styles of chicken).
I love that I only had to make the sauce once (I did make a little more than the recipe called for) and we get to eat it three times!

So there you have my rave about a yummy easy recipe you should all try. Thanks Lauren!

The nature of the beast

Whenever I full on clean my house (as in vacuum and all), it's a mess the next day. Seriously, what's up with that?
I guess I can only blame myself (and probably my husband and child) for not staying on top of it and picking up the little things.
Tomorrow= more cleaning. Surprise surprise.

On a happy note, I had a mostly successful day at Kohl's. I found myself 2 lightweight "sweat" cut off pants. One even in bright pink. I can't wait to pull them on tomorrow. Oh wait... visiting teaching. Maybe not the best fashion statement to make when going to visit.
But they will be fabulous for wearing to the pool. Or outside working on the yard. Or, my favorite, hanging out at home in. I can hardly wait.

I only say mostly because I was also looking for some new denim capris/bermudas. The capris I currently have actually still fit me when I was about 7 months pregnant with Alex. Needless to say, I wear a belt with them. ;)
I found a really cute pair of bermudas at Kohl's in the misses section and was really mad when the 4's were too big. Seriously. I wanted them to fit. And they should have. I even got a pair of plaid capris made by the same company that the 4's were slightly tight on me. I was so mad because I have a hard time finding bermudas/capris that look good on me (pants shopping is not a good kind of shopping for me) and these looked great except for being slightly too big when they shouldn't have been that big! And do they make 2's in misses? I don't think so. GRRR.
Thus the mostly successful.
And the saddest part? I have to put more time and effort into finding a cute pair of denim capris/bermudas. I was thinking about getting some from mimi maternity, but I'm still trying to decide if the they are worth the $88. Nearly every part of me says YES because they are ADORABLE. And I could still wear them while pregnant. BUT I don't want to spend $90 on maternity shorts and then have them not fit me while not pregnant. I know... why should they fit me if I'm not pregnant? Well, they have this super long belly panel that stretches with your belly. Or so I tell myself. DaNae? Courtney? How do you think they'd work for non pregnant me?



Anyway...
thanks for letting me tell you about following through with lounge pants and cleaning plans. And sorry I'm not more exciting. I need to mix things up here a little more. Jon?

jeans are over rated

Every day I put on my jeans, or even just my casual cargo capris I wonder why I even wear them. All I want to wear are my capri sweats.
But I only have one pair.
So I think it's time to add more cute cut off sweats to my wardrobe. Just think of all of the advantages! I can wear my hair up and people will just think it goes with the outfit. When I do go out in them, they are normal enough to be considered okay to go out in public with, they are cooler (temperature wise) than wearing jeans, and so much easier to move around in!
Aeropostale, here I come!

You always left me happy and satisfied

... that's what she said.
Ahh... one of our favorite things from The Office.

Which reminds me, while in Utah I did pretty much the best that's what she said of all time, thanks to a nice set up from Ryan. If you want to read it, it will be at the end of the blog. Obviously, it's not G or really even PG rated since it's "that's what she said". Read at your own will/risk.

But the reason for the title is that I am ending my day happy and satisfied. I accomplished so much today and when I actually do stuff it always makes me feel so good!

I recently copied one of my friends and stole her weekly cleaning list broken down into days. I love crossing things off of lists. I decided to go above my usual, "get dressed, eat breakfast, put alex down for a nap, make bed, general pick up" list and added bathrooms, vacuuming, window cleaning, mopping, and weekly room cleaning to the list. Today was family room day and I cleaned my windows and vacuumed! I also went above and beyond my goal of just doing laundry and actually folded the laundry on the same day I did it (I have the folding and put away scheduled for Tuesday's on my list, so that was one less thing I have to do tomorrow!). I also dusted my blinds and wiped down my window sills.

And to top the day off, I made a delicious turkey dinner in about ten minutes. I had cooked the turkey last night and put it in a container, so it just had to be reheated. And then 5 minute stuffing, potato pearls, thickening gravy, and frozen veggie zapping! It was so delicious and super easy. We'll probably be having the same thing later this week and I plan on freezing a couple of turkey broccoli casseroles. Ahh... the joys of cooking a whole turkey!

Jon was also wonderful and gave Alex a bath and put him to bed for me. And that was after he helped me empty the dishwasher! He's the best!
While he put the boy to bed, I went out and planted a couple of lilies I got from a lady in our ward (I almost killed one of them!) and I am excited to see them grow (and hopefully the one makes a good recovery).

It's only 9:30 now, so since I now have the correct color of thread to make my window treatments I may head upstairs to work on those for a little while. My fabric is ironed and waiting for me!



and FINALLY... the that's what she said quote.
(Ryan, talking about his tight pants) "you'd have to grease yourself up pretty good to get in these pants".....

that's what she said.

The amazing speed of learning!

I read in my little toddler packet this week from the pediatician (oops! I forgot to share the stats!)
that toddlers can learn new words at the amazing rate of something like 2 words per hour.
I just found THIS ARTICLE which was actually really interesting.
Another little thing I remember reading is that the toddler/child's mind is at it's peak and as parts (synapses maybe? I don't remember...) aren't used, they go away. What a great time to teach your child.
So I need to be better at teaching Alex new words and I think now would be a great time for Jon to teach Alex more Portuguese (come on honey! How fun for you would it be to be able to carry on conversations with your son in Portuguese?!).

Today Alex totally surprised me by saying Hi completely on his own. He had never said it before, even with much prompting and tonight he was all about it. It was very entertaining!
Yesterday we taught him brick and now I'm excited to see if he can actually recall it the next time we go outside.
I know that I constantly am teaching Alex new words (like newt...) and have him try to say words when we see pictures in a book, but I never know if he's actually learned them because he is slow to use them, if that makes sense. He knows the word but doesn't always point it out and say the new ones. Guess I need more repetition! Haha... the story of life with a toddler. Repeat, repeat, and repeat some more.

I'm hoping to get some projects pumped out and shown off this week! My downstairs is clean, so I'm set up for success. At the very least, I plan on having clean windows, bathrooms, and bedrooms (all of which are hit and miss for me most days besides the daily making of the bed).

Oh ya, and Alex cried in nursery today. BUT he did sit with another of the mom's in there and did okay when she was holding him. I think he just likes to have someone to stake his claim on that will give him attention and comfort in a situation he still isn't too sure of.

Another day working on the patio

I was going to sew my valances today, but by the time I figured out how much fabric to use, un-picked a wide hem, sewed a new hem and realized that I needed to use a green thread instead of white, I was done. So I went out and helped Jon move the pavers into the backyard and then we proceeded to lay them. Most of them are lain now, but with the pattern we did, we have square spaces where we need to cut a block in half. So now we have to figure out how to cut concrete paver blocks in half. We're hoping that our lovely Home Depot down the road will be of some help.
After getting those last little buggers in, we'll just have to top with sand and do some more tamping (using a big metal plate on a stick to forcefully set the pavers in place). It looks awesome and Alex has loved playing on the bricks and digging in the sand with Daddy.
The best thing about working today as compared to last Saturday: about 10 degrees cooler. It was a WONDERFUL day to work outside!

Sadly, we didn't get our beadboard up because we were focusing on the patio since it was such a nice day out. So maybe next weekend we can do the beadboard. Hopefully.

Pictures to come later (of both the patio and the nice clean garage I posted about earlier this week).
Also, be sure to check out the movie on my previous post that I finally got up and going!

We didn't die!

We didn't even get the golf ball sized hail. And it wasn't even a very rainy or windy storm. I think the worst hit just to the north of us. We were a bit disappointed though.

Alex has a new word to share with you. We were at Half Price Books the other day and we were reading a book that had a newt in it. So I asked Alex to say newt and he said it really well! And he just says it so cute that it makes me laugh.

I also finally got him to say mommy and daddy, which is an accomplishment. As you will see in the video, he reverts back to mama and dadda even when I ask him to say mommy/daddy.
The other fun thing he does is sing. But not just the yayaya's that he's done before. I'm teaching him "Let it Be". He's not the "Hey Jude" youtube kid yet, but give him a year or so! After doing the video, he was over playing and would randomly sing "let it beeeee", so I guess he likes it!

Also on the video is him saying no since he said it differently just a couple of weeks ago. I really like his new no... very pronounced.

enjoy!

Tornados On The Way!

Speaking of moving both cars into the garage, we're under a tornado watch with winds up to 90 MPH. Its looking like it'll be here in about 19 minutes with up to baseball sized hail.

So I just moved the miscellaneous things in our garage so that both cars are now snugly fit. The storm is currently over our friend Kenn and Amy's neighborhood. Carrie just called to warn them and they had no idea it was coming.

They are also currently sounding tornado sirens to the city directly north of us...

Here's to dangerous Texas weather.

Workin' on getting both cars back in the garage

Today Alex helped me put together the plastic shelf we got on saturday. It's pretty much pvc-ish tubes that slide into holes in thick plastic shelves. Probably not the MOST durable, but it serves it's purpose. Alex was so funny helping me. He's really into copying lately and so as I was grunting and uhh-ing, so was he. And he was so serious about doing just what I was doing. It made me laugh and I (of course) wish I could have gotten it on video.

It works perfectly in our garage. There are a few more things that need to be cleaned up in there, and the pavers all have to be moved out and then we should be able to park both cars in. I am really annoyed at having to keep our garbage can in the garage. It wouldn't be a problem is our garage was big enough, but even with nothing else in there, Jon still had to do a tricky little maneuver to park in there. We now have it situated on the small ledge that I put the shelf on right by the door in hopes that the tricky maneuver could be avoided. It could go between our 2 cars if the door into our house wasn't right there.
We also have the problem of a bike trailer. I'll probably end up keeping it folded when we aren't using it. A little more work to get it hooked up to go, but hey... 2 cars will be able to fit in our garage again if it stays folded.
Note for next house: get an extended garage or 3 car garage to hold all the "stuff" which I imagine only multiplies as children grow and more children are added.

Tomorrow: pictures of the pavers and the garage shelving. Lucky you!

And now for something completely different

You may be asking yourself, "Self, isn't this a joint blog? Where is Jon these days?"

Funny you should ask that. I've decided to be more of a participitatoror instead of a bystanderer in this whole blogging business so here we go.

At work the last week I've had four or five people ask me if I've lost weight. Why yes! I have! So what you need to know is that Jon has been getting into tip-top physical shape and is willing to let you in on his amazing, phenominal, incredible weight-loss secrets! (For the low monthly rate of $19.95!!!)

Since I decided to stop being fat I've gone from around 210 to the ultra-thin and lean weight of 191 lbs. After a vacation of a few weeks enjoying the blessings of having family in town and visiting Babylon, I'm back on the plan with another 15 or so lbs to go!

Without further ado, Jon's Amazing Weight-Loss Secrets (or How I Lost 20 Pounds By Drinking A Lot Of Diet Coke):

1. Buy a used stationary bike. I don't care if you think you're going to bike to work if you got a real bike instead and enjoy Mother Nature's gifts. The primary benefit of a stationary bike is that it allows you bike at any time of the day you happen to be at home. It also enables you to enjoy semi-Mother Nature-ish gifts like artificial lighting, television, the internets, mp3 players (do NOT say iPods, we don't appreciate profanity like that in our home), ceiling fans and air conditioning. Biking outside means I actually have to avoid real dangers like potential stalkers and the paparazzi.

Why a used exercise bike? Because if breaks you'll be glad you didn't by a broken new one.

2. Eat cereal. By 'cereal' I mean quality stuff like Kashi and Frosted Mini-Wheats. Trix, Corn Flakes, Cinnamon Toast Crush are not going to cut it- high-quality, fiber-rich cereals only! Eat as much as you like of this quality product in the morning. Yes, any milk over 1% is a sin.

3. Tuna, mustard and whole wheat bread for lunch + Diet Coke. Diet beverages are a wonderful blessing that should be enjoyed as much as possible (i.e. three times a day.)

Aspartame is your friend. Diet drinks seem to be getting a bad rap these days with "studies" by "scientists" doing "research" about how they increase appetite, blah blah blah. Well, you know what I do to avoid increasing my appetite after a Diet Coke?

I eat lunch.

1/2 can of tuna (don't reach for the soaking-in-oil tuna!) with a nice dose of mustard in between two slices of fiber-rich whole wheat, washed down with a fresh, crisp, clean Diet Coke! Mmm, mmm, mmm!

4. 3 0'clock snack = BBQ Baked Lays and another Diet Coke. Did I mention that diet sodas have zero calories? What a marvelous blessing! (and soon they may actually use a natural super-sweetener instead of aspartame! But until then, enjoy the formaldehyde!)

Baked Lays are terrible. Do not eat them. On the other hand, BBQ Baked Lays are absolutely delicious! You do have a 20 chip limit at this table. Do not exceed it.

5. For dinner, eat whatever your wife makes. If she makes something you think might be unhealthy, just eat it. She'll make something heathier tomorrow.

6. Remember that exercise bike? Yeah, USE IT! 40-45 minutes every night. By every night I mean at least 5 nights a week. This is why they televise sporting events- in order for you to watch them while riding a stationary bike!

For those of you who are really serious, run in the morning on an empty stomache. (Good luck with that one...)

6a. Wait an hour after eating before you bike and only drink water afterwards. But if you feel like some Milky Ways or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream right about an hour before you run, eat them!

7. If you feel like lifting weights, DO IT. Otherwise, do it tomorrow.

8. Voila, watch the pounds come off!

Obviously I'm being triteful about all this but in reality that's about all I've done. Burn more calories than you consume. Also worrying about every little thing you eat at night isn't a big deal. You know you're going to eat that snack so just do it and stop feeling guilty.

But you may want to run an extra 5 minutes if you do ;)

For info on which I based my amazing, phenominal, incredible regimen go to johnstonefitness.com for actual tips from people who know what they're doing. I've customized their super-incredible advice for me, myself and I. Don't even think about trying this at home without consulting your own doctor, yadda yadda yadda, don't sue me.

Have a great day and go lose some weight!

And make those three MOLARS!

Amazed at 3 teeth at once, I was feeling them a bit more and they are indeed molars. Remember the gummy gap? That's where his canines will come in. And next to the canines? MOLARS! So hooray for Alex for getting his 1st year molars in at the ripe age of 18 months!
Here's a little diagram for you!

Make that THREE teeth

Today I felt Alex's one tooth that I knew came in yesterday, but then decided to feel the other corners of his mouth. I found that he didn't have just one tooth come in, but THREE! So in addition to his little rows of four on the top and bottom front he now has one in every side of his mouth except for the lower right. Whats funny is that they didn't come in right next to the existing teeth. Each of them skipped at least one space, so now he's going to have gummy gaps as if he were missing teeth. Hopefully he's not too funny looking, but even if he is, I guess I could still love him.

Alex also recently (as in 4 days ago) changed how he says no. He no longer says "na" he actually does an "oh" sound.
He also loves calling for me whenever he can't see me. It's all very cute and grown up.