Musings of a Michigan Mom

I had heard before that the reason why many of us is getting the belly fat is due to all pop and extra calories we eat and the lack of exercise.  I for sure fall into that category, so that much be some of the reason why I have the belly I would love to chop right off.  Yesterday I started something new for me.  During the commercial on tv I have been hitting the floor doing some exercises.  (Push ups, crunches, jumping jacks.. just something to get the heart rate up a little and to try and start building a little muscle.

While I know it would take me forever doing it this way for me to reduce belly fat, at least it’s a start right??  Who knows, maybe some day I’ll actually start heading down the stairs hitting the treadmill. 

UGH!  Most men won’t understand this, but I absolutely hate one time of the month for us women.  It never fails, I end up getting the munchies so bad and I can’t stop!   There are times I’ve wondered if I needed to look into appetite suppressants because I find at night every commercial I get up and walk into the kitchen.  I know what I should do is walk downstairs and do a few minutes on the treadmill instead, but for some reason my legs won’t go that way.   Oh how I wish I could train my mind to not want to go crazy like that every month!

Last night we ended up going to one of the nearby cities to watch their fireworks since that would be the only night Paul would be able to watch them with us.   Of course we didn’t get home until WAY past the kids bedtime and it showed this morning as they both slept in until 9:30am and they both ended up taking a nap today as well.  (Of course Kevin ended up napping as he isn’t feeling the best.. strep throat)  

Even though Kevin is sick I’m still debating on taking the kids (by myself since Paul is working) to watch fireworks tonight and tomorrow night.  My goal would be to find someplace where we can watch them from a distance so we wouldn’t be by anyone.  But I can’t help but think if we did that I have a feeling by Tuesday I will have some dark circle under eyes, of course I might have that anyways if Kevin keeps crying like he is.    I just pray that his antibiotic will start kicking this strep throat soon because I hate seeing him in so much pain.

Last night around 9pm I ended up taking Kevin to Urgent Care as he had been whining of a sore throat and not eating or drinking for me. (Along with getting a molar & sores on his tongue next to the new tooth) Two days of hearing him whine I had enough and called his doctors after hours and they gave me the permission to go in (otherwise insurance wouldn’t pay for it) so off we went. After waiting for 1 1/2 hrs we were on our way home with a diagnosis of strep throat. The only bummer thing is at 11pm at night, what pharmacy is actually open? Most of them close at 10pm.

Thankfully on the other side of town there is a Walgreen’s that is open 24 hours a day so my Mother-in-law said she would continue to watch the kids (she was already watching Katie as Paul was at work) so I could get his prescription filled. Let me just say… going someplace during the day and going to the same place late at night are two different things.

I told the pharmacist I would shop around until Kevin’s prescription was filled and didn’t think anything of it until I noticed the other people shopping at the store weren’t quite the type of people I would hang out with. Quite a few of them looked like trouble, maybe that’s because I walked around the corner where they were and they jumped a mile like they were up to something. I just walked on by and headed back to the pharmacy where I decided to just sit and wait. I was surprised at how busy they were.  Besides me they had a car at the drive thru and I had seen 4 other people back there looking to get prescriptions filled or one elderly person asking where they could find joint pain supplements (they must of been in pain to of been out that late at night).

By the time I left there were so many cars next to mine (guess that’s what I get when you park by one of those red things that you can get movies from) and the one next to me had their windows down and their music blaring (Bass BIG time).  I was never so glad to get out of there… all I know is if I rode around with the person in the car next to me I think my head would still be pounding today!

So while I’m thankful there are 24 hour pharmacies around, I just hope I don’t have to go back there anytime soon.

Sometimes I like getting mail, then there are other days I would rather the mail lady of skipped our house.  Today’s mail wasn’t to bad, but we did get a big fat envelope letting us know the changes that are happening with our health insurance at my husbands work.   While skimming through it I actually started paying a little closer attention to the insurance we would get once Paul retires.  I know he has quite a few more years there, but after seeing how fast this school year went for the kids I have a feeling before I know it I’ll be throwing a retirement party for him.

Then it got me thinking… I remember a few years ago a lot of the elderly people on medicare we starting to get their medication in the mail versus going to the pharmacy.  Thankfully we don’t have to worry about that yet as all the medication we have needed was covered, but what would I do if I had to pay full price for these pills?   I know for sure I would be calling all the pharmacies finding who would be the cheapest, but would I dare go online for example and order Phentermine and just have them send it to my house?   That I’m not so sure. 

Have you ever ordered any medication online or by phone and had it mailed to your house?  If so, did you do it more for convenience?  Or because of the price?

When we need prescriptions filled, I always wonder which to get.. name brand or the generic brand.  Of course when I get to the counter I always tend to go with the generic as our co-pay is quite a bit cheaper.  We never notice any problem when we use generic grand, but my mother-in-law always seems to have a hard time with generic and has to go with the name brand stuff.

What gets confusing though between name brand & generic is when the names seem so much a like you can hardley tell the difference.  For example you have the name brand Phentermine and then generic Phentermine which is called Phentirmene.   All it is is changing the e & i around, but yet the name brand pill is suppose to have a bunch of side effects that the generic doesn’t, yet the work the same.  

I suppose that’s why you should try and do some research before taking your medication to see what the difference is between the name brand and generic.   Maybe there is more difference than just the name & price.

I don’t know if it’s old age, or just a lack of vitamin’s that makes me feel like I’m loosing my memory.  When it comes to things like doctors and dentist appointments I’m good at remembering them, but when it comes to taking a daily vitamin I find myself always forgetting to take them.   Granted sometimes the taste of them can make me want to forget them, but I wish a place say like www.womensvitamin.org would send out a daily reminder for those of us who forget, “have you taken your vitamin today?”

Since I’m thinking about it, I better go take it right now, otherwise once again I’ll end up forgetting.

I’ll always remember my Mom saying when she turned grey she wouldn’t bother dying her hair, instead she would just age gracefully.   I have to say that is exactly what she did and the wonderful thing for her is at the age of 63 she still has more black hair than grey even though she is getting quite a few grey ones.   Since hearing her say that and seeing elderly people who it’s quite obvious they she should be grey with jet black hair as they are shopping for either wrinkle or age spots removal cream while riding in their rascal.    Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but I’m sure you know who I’m talking about.

Since my Mom always said she would age gracefully I found myself saying it too, but I have to say at the age of 36 I’m having a harder time saying it since the grey hairs for some reason seem to be finding my head quite nicely and the crows feet seem to be finding my face as well!  

So how do you feel when it comes to aging?  Do you say you’re going to just age gracefully?  Or are you the type who will do anything (dye hair, botox.. etc) to stay young.

When I started blogging I didn’t have a clue what I would blog about and started reading other peoples blogs. I remember being amazed at the number of blogs of people who was willing to share their weight loss stories and how that ended up getting me motivated.  Now that I’ve been making sure I don’t go overboard on food and notice the weight isn’t coming off, I think I better start looking at all those other blogs again in hopes that it will help motivate me again.  I keep dreaming of me being skinnier, but me dreaming isn’t going to get me there… me getting off the couch exercising and keeping a closer tab of what I am eating should help.   So instead of playing those facebook games, I’m going to make sure I start surfing weight loss blogs and then maybe I’ll head out and start exercising again.

Since my friends birthday I can’t get the idea of her & I getting older and having the wrinkles start arriving on our faces.  Are we seriously getting that old where the wrinkling starts in?!?   So then I wonder if now would be now might the time to start researching all the different kind of wrinkle treatments out there.  That way when the w thing starts… I’ll be ready for it!