Lake time is almost here!

When I got home yesterday, K and I went for a bike ride. We rode to Audubon Park, cruised along the golf cart path and then booked it home when it started thundering and lightning. Right before the storm, the sky was beautiful as the sun tried it's best to keep on shining.

The ride was really good and we made great time even though a lot of the ride was on the street during rush hour.

We got home and I was starving so I had a little snack before showering and getting dinner ready.

I decided to cook some Mexican for dinner since K will hardly ever go eat it with me. I baked some tortillas and browned some ground turkey with Rotel and taco seasoning to make tostadas. Here is the 1st layer:

And the finished product after I added lettuce, tomato, onion, salsa and jalapeno ranch.

It was delish! We spent the rest of the evening watching Big Brother and a saved episode of Losing it with Jillian. I got up early this morning and did 40 minutes of yoga. After a shower, I made this new breaky and was not impressed with the 1st bite because I was expecting it to be sweeter but it grew on me. It was plain Greek yogurt, granola and cashew butter.

For the last few bites, I threw in a few chocolate chips and that really improved the taste :)

Later for a snack, I had another banana.

And then some carrots and an Anaheim pepper with some hummus.

Lunch was the leftovers from last night's tostadas. I'm rushing this post so I can get out of the office and on my way to the lake!!!!

The sun has come out....

.....on my mood! I finally feel like my old self for the first time since my oral surgery!!! I couldn't be happier about it either :) I was really starting to get worried about how bad I was feeling, both mentally and physically, which just may have been God's plan to get me back on track. I have done a whole lot more praying than usual and I like it. Prayer absolutely does make a difference. I hate that it takes a down time in my life to bring me closer to God and I am really, really, really going to work on changing that.

I went yesterday and got the stitches out of my mouth and it felt SO GOOD to have them gone and not rubbing against my lip and driving me crazy anymore. There's a small scar but nothing serious and it doesn't show unless I lift my lip up.

I got home a little earlier than usual and used that sweet time for a nap. I was on my own last night because K had a man's night at Matt's to discuss things that need to be done at the hunting camp. I relaxed all night long and only watched the TV shows that I wanted to watch :) which included catching up on my Chelsea Lately's, Big Brother and some HGTV. I had possibly the worst dinner I have ever assembled. I still get a little sick thinking about it. The last time I was at Costco, I bought a box of Feta and Sundried Tomatoe Chicken Burgers, which sounded really good at the time.....not so much! I don't know what was going on in that burger but it was so bad after the 1st few bites. At first, I thought it was going to be pretty good but after 3 or 4 bites, I thought I was going to vomick. I don't know if it was the spice mixture or the texture or what but I am getting woosie just thinking about it. I also had some mac & cheese to go along with it so needless to say I filled up on that. Barf!

I was ready to start over this morning and made myself a triple berry/yogurt/skim milk/protein powder/flaxseed smoothie.

Now I'm back on track. The fridge was running pretty low and I had to scrape for my snacks but I came up with a zucchini that I mixed with some olive oil and some Mrs. Dash fiesta lime seasoning.

A handful of ricework chips.

I decided to go to the grocery on my lunch break and was already getting hungry again before I left the office so I grabbed a few of these:

They are a new snack I decided to try and they are pretty good. I like them better than a regular almond. They did the trick on my belly and I was able to get out of the grocery store without any impulse buys. I did buy a few new things to try out that I have been reading about on other blogs so I'm looking forward to see how I like them. I also needed some lunch and grabbed one of these pizzas that I've never had before:

I didn't hold out much hope for it because I've tried some of the other Amy's frozen entrees and been less than thrilled but how bad can you mess up a pizza? I popped this bad boy in the oven as soon as I got home and YUMMY PIZZAS!!!! It was fantastic :) Score!

The flavors were great and the crust was damn good. It was a little pricey for frozen pizza but after tasting it, I didn't mind one bit and can't wait to try some more.

Getting back to normal...for now

I left work an hour early yesterday because my brain and body was fried. I can't do all those overtime hours like I use to :( I picked up J from his dad's and we headed home and hung out. It was so good to see him, it felt like I hadn't seen him in forever. We watched a little TV and played some golf in the yard for a little bit but it didn't last too long because it was so dang hot. We ordered in Pancho's for dinner and laughed a lot watching Wipe Out. Went to bed by 9:30 and I'm amazed I was able to stay up that late. I really am having a hard time adjusting to being "old"! My sleep lasted until around 4am and I tossed and turned til 5 and then got up and did 35 minutes of yoga. I haven't done yoga in so long and it was pretty challenging but it felt so good! I was I had a private instructor so I wouldn't get bored with it because I do love it so much.

I made a cheese/spinach/hot sauce breaky sammich on a bagelwich and strawberries.

It was good! But what was even better was the smiling little boy with a brand new haircut that joined me on my commute!

I took him back to his dad's so he could go to Kelly's funeral. Kelly is Jack's nephew's wife that was killed in a car wreck over the weekend. He'll be back Friday for a week and I can't wait :)

After I dropped him off, I enjoyed a few more minutes of calm before the storm because it was non-stop once I got to work. I had no idea the aftermath of our Operation Predator would be more work than the actual operation. Always learning! Here is part of what I have been working on all day:

I had no time to leave for lunch but did bring in some snacks. I brought a new snack and love love love it.

Excellent stuff. Gotta run, have an appointment to get my stitches out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoa!

The last few days have been sickening or crazy. I spent pretty much the whole weekend feeling under the weather because of my tooth and Monday and Tuesday have been spent rounding up Sex Offenders. Friday night has been the only saving grace to the whole thing. K and I packed up a cooler of drinks and snacks and met Sis, John, Cory, Mary, Dawn, Jeff and some of Dawn and Jeff's neighbors at the Botanic Garden for the Al Green concert. It was so good and so much fun despite the heat.

Here's Al belting it out:

And our more than enough picnic:

And Sis and John having a good time:

The Gardens:

And the beautiful full moon after the sun went down:

Al put on a fantastic show and we had lots of fun. After the show, K started talking crazy about wanting to go to the Half Shell but luckily I was able to talk him out of that and into coming home and pressure washing the sidewalk at midnight.

The next morning is when I woke up with my tooth throbbing. I thought a little sunshine might help so K and I hung out in the Riviera for a little while but it didn't help so I retreated to the house for a nap and K thought that was a pretty fantastic idea too. We slept until 6ish and decided on dinner and a movie. I have been hearing great and crazy things about Inception so we went to Houston's for dinner and then thought we would catch Inception at the Paradiso but we were stuffed after dinner and I wasn't sure I would be able to stay awake so we settled on some rentals from blockbuster. We got home and put The Green Zone in and Taco and I were headed for sleep within 45 minutes.

Sunday morning did not bring any relief to my tooth so I laid around whining all day. We watched our other two movies, Men that stare at goats and 9 dead. They were both very odd. We got ready and went to the Stirring church service and then dinner at Sharky's. After dinner, we went straight to bed since I had to be up at 4:15 to get to work.

I spent Monday from 5:30am until 9:00pm working with my team and the US Marshals doing the first ever Sex Offender mass round up for the sheriff's office. I got home, ate some dinner and went back to bed. Was back on the roads this morning at 5:00am and am finally back at the office. Our operation was a success. We did verifications on every one of our offenders, rounded up 9 more absconders, seized 16 guns and about 3 ounces of marijuana. I am exhausted and still have a ton to do but wanted to get the blog caught up.

It's always something

Not many pics to post today. This tooth thing and being drugged up has made me forget about all that but I did at least get back to work yesterday. I was still pretty sick to my stomach in the morning but it got better as the day went on. I had a grilled cheese on a bagelwich for breakfast with some fruit. At lunch, I ran out to pick up J's shot records and to Costco to pick up some things for the house and a few things for tonight's concert. I got back to the office and ate some cabbage, pot stickers and chopped up zucchini, carrots and tomatoes that I brought from home. After work, I did an hour of elliptical/strength training while catching up on Big Brother and Modern Family. For dinner, I made some multi-grain crusted Tilapia with Greek yogurt/cucumber sauce, roasted broccoli and sweet potato fries.

It was super easy and super yummy. After dinner, K and I watched that night's episode of Big Brother and a saved episode of Losing it with Jillian. She is so amazing how well she reads people and then uses it to better them.

This morning, I had a triple berry smoothie and a plum and some strawberries and blueberries. For snack, I had some carrots and tomatoes dipped in Italian dressing. For lunch, I went home and had left over Tilapia and broccoli from last night and hung out with K for a little while. When I got back to the office, I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me!!!!

My camera that I have been waiting on foreva was finally delivered! Goofy pic but I really am that happy about it and it is really hard to take a picture of yourself with an iPhone! I'm going to give my camera a test drive tonight at the Al Green concert :)

Apicoectomy and Nurse K

At lunchtime on Monday, I ran to the grocery store because the casa was dry and I picked up this little jewel of a snack. They are super good but extremely expensive. This little bag was almost $4....

The sweet chili flavor was excellent and they have pretty much the same amount of calories as regular chips but they are brown rice so definitely a better grain. After unloading the groceries, I decided to saute some fresh spinach in some Italian dressing and then top it with some whole wheat spaghetti with some of Emerill's pasta sauce and some parmesan cheese.

It was very filling and very good. After work, K and I decided to go for a bike ride. Our stats were pretty much the same as last week's tour of the greenway.

We rode all the way til we were blocked by the unfinished bridge and then headed back home.

 

I can't wait until we can explore more of the trail. We got home and cooled down and I made a big crab leg boil with Cajun smoked sausage, corn and potatoes for dinner. It smelled so good that I immediately dug in and forgot all about taking any pics.

Tuesday morning, I decided to make a pretty heavy stick to my ribs kinda breaky since I was going in for my oral surgery at 10:45 and knew I probably wouldn't be able to eat much after. I made a scrambled egg and salsa burrito and had a plum and some blueberries with it.

It did the trick. I went in for my apicoectomy and was pretty nervous. I was referred to Dr. Kenan Clinton and he was super calming and made things go as smooth as possible. He cut open the gum above my front #8 tooth, dug out all of the infection and the cyst, cut off the root, filled the root and sewed me back up. It was a pretty quick procedure (about 30 minutes). I didn't feel a thing but the sounds and the pressure was not cool. It was wayyyyyy worse than a root canal as far as anxiety wise. K picked me up and took me home. By the time we got home, I was already hurting pretty bad and feeling sick to my stomach. Luckily I had some pain meds left over from something else so I was able to take them and go to bed while K took my other prescrips to Walgreens. Here's a pic of a couple of my stitches:

Ouch! :(

K take super good care of me and delivered me the exact ice cream that I was craving (gold medal ribbon). I had quite a few bowls of it when I would wake up from my coma.

There really is nothing better than the best boyfriend in the world taking care of you and ice cream in bed when you are feeling pukey :)

I had grand ideas of going to work today but when I woke up, I knew it was a no go. I took another pain pill and went back to sleep. I slept until about 12:30 and woke up feeling a lot better. I'm uncomfortable now but not hurting and haven't taken any more pills. I still feel a little sick but doing much better for the most part. When I first woke up, I was starving but got sick at the thought of food, so I made a triple berry smoothie.

After a few hours, my stomach was feeling better so I gave Margo a haircut and then made a cheese and jalapeno quesadilla and served it with some pickles and salsa.

Real food hit the spot but it is so hard having to cut up all my food into tiny pieces andnot being able to bite into things. At least it's only for a week...

Boxing, Fish Fry, Church and Smoothie Failure

Friday night, J, K and I went to the Desoto Civic Center for the Showdown on Showtime Boxing matches. K was able to score us some pretty sweet seats and they had a few pretty big name matches. I knew I was going to enjoy it but I had no idea I would have as much fun as I did.

J totally enjoyed it too. He got to meet several of the boxers, got his picture taken with them and was given a Showtime Boxing baseball cap.

J and K with Antonio Tarver

J and K with Fernando Guerrero

The fights went pretty late and we didn't get home until after 1:00am. J couldn't take it and had to have a little siesta on the ride home.

He's such an angel....when he's asleep :)

After finally getting in bed and being almost asleep, I remembered I didn't have any water on the nightstand (have to have it!) so I got up and this is what I found in the kitchen:

My house is full of angels!

We all slept late Saturday after staying up so late. I talked to Heather earlier in the week and we decided to have lunch Saturday since we hadn't seen each other in so long and our schedules were so packed. We met at El Porton (back there for the second time this week). I had one of their chicken tamales and DAMN it was so freakin good. I cooked a big breakfast (blueberry pancakes and cajun smoked sausage) so I wasn't that hungry but I could have easily put away a lot of those. After lunch, I went home and took a little nap. J spent the night with the Feathers clan while K and I went to Matt and Kim Wilson's fish fry. The food was very delish only problem was I waited to long to eat and almost everything was gone. I got 2 little bitty pieces of fish and no hushpuppies :( But I made up for it with some really good spinach dip. After the fish fry, K and I met Cory and Mary at the Half Shell for a few drinks. K ordered some seafood nachos since he hardly ate anything at Matt's and I helped him with those too.

Sunday was a super lazy day, too bad I couldn't sleep. I woke up around 6am and was never able to go back to bed. K and I got hungry and had some Taco Bell for lunch and then I picked up J. We lounged around the rest of the afternoon and then he and I went to the Stirring (Hope's Sunday evening church service). It was a great service and the music was amazing. At the Stirring, they do more rock type music and this time during offering, they actually did "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode. It was AWESOME!!!!!

I don't go to the Stirring very often, but every time I do, I enjoy it so much and tell myself I'm going to start attending regularly. I don't know why I don't do it. I signed up for information to volunteer as a greeter during the service so that should be motivation to start going more. After church, I picked up some BBQ sammys from Tops for dinner and we caught up on Big Brother and America's Got Talent and in bed by 9:00.

The "can't sleeps" hit me again and I was up at 3:30am. After tossing around and waking up K a few times, I decided to get up at 5:00 and do some Pilates. I fit in 40 minutes and it felt really good.

I made another gross smoothie without meaning to this morning. I used a triple berry frozen mixture, chocolate protein powder, vanilla soy milk and flaxseed.

The past 2 smoothies I have made have had totally different ingredients except for the flaxseed and they have been horrible. Both times, I upped the amount of flaxseed I used from 1T to 2T so maybe that is the problem. The smoothie didn't make for a happy ride to work but my co-captain did make me happy!!!!

Oh Friday, I love you like my son loves Internet shopping

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!!!!!! The work week is almost ova :) What a week.....I've been doing some more planning today with a few breaks. I took some time out to have a snack of fresh veggies sprinkled with taco seasoning and dipped in my fave hummus.

I also took some time to talk to Mel and have a good laugh like I always do with her. We were speaking of the dire straights this county is in and how much worse it will be if a certain someone wins the sheriff's election and then we started talking about the resemblence this certain someone has to Olive (her bulldog) and while she is trying to stop making the connection, it is my only hope to get through the next few years by imagining Olive sitting behind the desk on the 9th floor running the circus this place will run into. How can you not smile looking at this face?

And I broke away from the leg shackles to go home and make a really good lunch. I put some olive oil on a mahi mahi filet, covered it with Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning and baked it in the oven. I also had some edamame on the side and may have had a little tartar sauce too :)

It was super easy and super yummy! That's a little salad plate and not a huge portion of mahi on a regular plate btw...

After lunch I made it back to the office and finished off the other half of the REGULAR sized bag of peanut M&M's I started yesterday. I swear, I think this is the first time in my life I have ever split up a bag of candy that wasn't a monster size bag.

Yay Double D! I really am beginning to see what a difference it makes when you eat healthy. I've really been watching my sugar intake for about 2 months now and even though I haven't lost any weight, I am feeling so much better and more energized. Guess I am going to need to work on moderating the alcohol now. I'll start tonight!