A Little Bit of This and That

Hi there everyone. Hope you are still enjoying this Valentine Month. Thought as long as we are still in the month, I could share our Valentine's Day with you.

These are the flowers I bought for me, from JP and Kylie.....a bunch of little carnations....sweet aren't they? JP gave me a book mark, made from a card I made for him and he recycled it from Christmas!!!!

These are the cards I made for JP. The red one with the hearts and butterfly is from me. I rather like that card and if I can remember, I'll make more like this for Hospice next year. The "Eye-Love-You" card is from Kylie. That was fun to make, a fun kids card.

This is the inside of the card, that's my drawing...hahahaha...fun!

Last but not least.....I still have my Christmas tree up.....yep!!! But it's a Valentine Tree. I like the lights.....maybe if I can find the lights, decorations, I will make a St. Patrick's tree. We'll see....not ready to take the tree down yet.

The Blackhawks are playing the Los Angeles Kings. Hawks are losing 3-0....oh honestly. Maybe I don't want to watch the slaughtering of the Hawks again. They just came out of a 8 game losing streak and won Saturday 8-1 against the Washington Senator's. The Hawks are not playing the way they played Saturday night......can't seem to figure out what the problem is. It can't be because the regular Goalie is out.....can it???

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the eye doctor. He is going to check to see if his laser job worked on my eye. Guess there was a hole in the retina. I haven't noticed any difference, so to me, everything is okay.

Wednesday, is my date at Betty's to make cards. I missed last month, because I was sick. I can't remember the last time I was that sick. Better now, guess it takes a while to get better after a bout with the flu.

JP has to make an appointment with our Doctor and fill out a form with him for his job. They want to know if he is capable of still working.....(sigh). He is capable, but they (his supervisor) is questioning it. They give him so much to accomplish in one night and then the building he cleans, they want extra work done. "I think they are wanting "Superman" to clean the building!!!!! Just my observation....but that doesn't count!!

Still working on my Atkins Diet. I hope tomorrow I break that plateau I have been on for a week or so. Gets a little frustrating at times. I am finding a few blogs that have great recipes for the low carb, protein diet. The other day I made a Keto mug bread for my hamburger.....gosh that was good!! I have the ingredients for Keto Pizza Skillet. With plans to make Keto Fathead Sugar Cookies, Fathead Pizza Dough...lots of ideas. The other day I made Keto chicken soup called "Sopa de lima" peppers, tomatoes, chicken....then I added some avocado and cilantro seasoning.

I am really enjoying this diet actually....the last time I tried this, last July, lost 10 lbs and have managed to keep it off. Now if I could do another 10-15 lbs and keep it off, that would be an accomplishment for me. I ask God every night to help me. I think He is helping. I know my mind has to change first. Cause if you gave me a big bag of chips.....I could finish it off....with no problem or a whole plate of fries. I LOVE CARBS but they are the killer!!!

Time to close. The score is still 3-0. I want to watch the rest of the game, I will up-date you. You have a great day tomorrow and keep looking up...better days are coming (I am sure of it.)

Cheers ~ Louise

Kylie Wants Some Too

Hi there everyone....how you all doing??? I have been kind of quiet this past week. Working on taxes and getting all "those papers" organized. Who said, "with computers, we will go paperless??" I think someone was dreaming probably....hahahaha!

So, I am taking a night off from papers.....do you know, I have papers from all the way back to 2004 and older (those may be down stairs). I guess it is time to have all those papers shredded. Our bank does shredding, so as soon as I go through all those papers  pulling staples and paper clips off, should have a couple of bags.

Seven years is all I have to keep some stuff. I have "a list of things to save and how long." It looks like Bank reconciliations, Bank statements, duplicate deposit slips, ins. policies (expired) are less then 5 years. 7 years for accident reports, contracts, mortgages, notes and leases, expired. 7 years for stock and bond certificates (cancelled) and withholding tax statements.

Papers to keep permanently - checks (cancelled for important payments i.e. taxes, purchases of property, special contracts, etc. and those checks should be filed with the important papers pertaining to those payments. Contracts, mortgages, notes and leases (expired and still in effect). Insurance records, current accident reports and claims. Property appraisals and property records and tax returns and worksheets. Hope that helps someone...it does me.

So today I made this for JP's lunch. Three layers of French toast with bacon and fruit on each layer,  then topped with yogurt. Looks pretty good....huh?

See Kylie in the corner.....she is barking for a taste or a pieces of Daddy's lunch. She'll bark and bark till she gets a bite. I finally have to say, "that's enough Kylie" and she stops barking.

Here's another shot of that delicious three layered French toast, fruit and strawberry shortcake.

Barking, barking, barking. Kylie is 14 years old now. She has her days where she feels good, and days when she does not. I have changed her diet and give her less people food and "Beneful" and more "Freshpet". She also gets "Milk bones" and "Special Cuts" as treats. It all seems to be working. 

Just another shot of JP's lunch and Kylie barking.

So today, I started my Dr. Atkins diet again. Cutting out carbs (or just not eating as much) for about a month. The last time I did this diet was last July and lost 10 lbs. and have managed to keep those 10lbs off. My A1c was at a good number too. So I thought I would do it again. As my Blood test is in April....would be nice to have lost another 10-15 lbs. 

It is a high protein and low carb diet. Eggs and bacon or sausage in the morning. Salads for lunch and meats and vegies for dinner and not too much snacking in between meals. It's pretty doable for me and when I see the scale start moving down, I 'll get very motivated to keep going. I have 3 Dr. Atkin books for lot's of recipes and Walmart has Dr. Atkins bars and meals in the freezer dept. So I usually pick up a couple for breakfast or dinner.

I will let you know how things go the rest of this month and the beginning of March. Have to go now, it's getting late and I have to get JP's dinner ready. Pork chops, mashed potatoes and bean casserole and his left over lunch, French toast and fruit.

Have a good evening and keep looking up....better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

I Love This Last Post of July......Yayyyyy

Hi there everyone. I don't know about you, but this month of July was a really tough one. Financially, spiritually and emotionally oh and physically!!!. I love this post because it's the last one of July and hopefully August will be a little bit more forgiving.

So where does one start???? Well here's a good place.....July 5th I got on the scale and decided to start another DIET!!! This time with Dr. Atkins. It's a high protein, low carbs, low sugars and sodium. And the weight lost??? 10 lbs!!! Dr. Atkins was very popular back in the 70's and 80's. Some where's in between there, I tried the Atkin's diet for a while...but did not stick to it. 

There is another diet out there, called the Keto diet. They say it is Dr. Atkins on steroids....not sure why. Guess I will have to compare the two and see what the difference is.

Going into August I want to try for another 10lbs. I will let you know how things go. Also, on August 22nd I have another A1C blood check. So I would like to see those numbers down and controlled. My eventual goal is to have lost 50-75 lbs and controlled blood sugars and blood pressure. So I don't have to be on medication anymore. Plus I have lots of clothes I could finally wear again. 

Financially.....Our Mortgage Co. decided to sell us to another Co. after 15 years.....I was bummed. We had to jump through a few hoops. My previous Co. did not even inform us, when suddenly I get a letter from the new company. Almost threw it out, cause I thought it was junk mail. We were given 3 days to make the change. If mailed before the 12th then send mortgage to the previous Co. if mailed after the 13th mail to the new company. Geez, talk about confusion. So I made the check out to the previous Company but then thought I should send it to the new company.....no, bad move. I called the new company 2 times...then it was decided I should stop payment and mail a new check to the new company, registered mail. Needless to say our mortgage payment was very, very late.

We are going to get a privacy fence put up in our yard by habitat for humanity. We had to come up with 10% of the fencing. The other 90% will be paid back when and if we sell our house. Which we are not planning to do at this point in time. 

The last payment for our house taxes was due this month to the tune of $420 which was hard to come up with, but we managed. In the midst of that.....to drum up some extra money, I finally wrote some claims out to our Ins. Co. AFLAC came through with $400.....that sure helps a lot. I still have a few more claims to fill out for 2017. They might even pay for my surgery in January for my eye lids.

Needless to say all these problems caused much stress and high emotions. I took a few pills I got from my Doctor that calms the nerves.

Spiritually speaking, In all this, I wondered where God was......sometimes it is hard to see the hand of God in my personal life. I guess that is why hind site is better then fore site. Looking back I will be able to see God's hand in all that took place in July. But right now...it's kinda hard.

Well, time to close here. JP will be home in 20 minutes, so I better get his dinner cooked. Which I already made. Stuffed chicken breast with asparagus and cheese....gosh the chicken was tender. Oh suppose there will be fruit and fries and toast. Sounds good, huh??

Have a great day, keep looking up, better days are coming. 

Cheers ~ Louise