2010-11-05

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Countdown and Preparations Begin!

Well, the countdown and preparations have begun. In a little over 3 weeks, we will be heading back down to Disney World. I really don't know who is more excited, me or the kids. I have so many ideas that will make this trip one of the best ones we have had!

One of the exciting things we are doing is actually DRIVING to Disney this time. I think we are going to try to leave around 6:30 on Saturday morning. I hope to drive 3 or 4 hours and maybe have a nice breakfast / brunch at a Cracker Barrell. Then maybe we can stop again when we get to the Florida State line for a break. Then maybe another break around Daytona...Just all depends on the kids and getting gas for the truck. The usual travel stuff. I have been buying some new DVD's (that aren't scratched!) that I plan to break out on the trip. Hopefully that will keep their attention and be exciting for them.

I have also planned for us to have family portraits done on Monday after we arrive at Disney. We have an Advanced Dining Reservation for Chef Mickey's at 8:45 am and then a Portrait Session at 11:15 at the Wilderness Lodge. I sure hope they turn out good. I want to get a new family picture to go over the mantel at the house.

I get excited when I think about packing for the trip. I remember what kind of things my mom and dad used to do when we would go to Florida when we were growing up. A couple of things stand out in my mind...leaving extremely early in the morning. Mom would close up the windows as much as she could to try to get us to go to sleep the night before our trip. I think I probably laid in bed, but didn't necessarily go to sleep. I'm not exactly sure what time we would leave, but I remember it being dark outside...not to mention we would leave early enough to have lunch at the Florida State line! The other thing I remember about going to Florida as a child is it was one of the only times we seat belts. Not only did I wear a seat belt, but I buckled my teddy bear in the seat belt with me. Funny how those things stand out in my mind.

I am already starting to make mental notes about things I want to pack. How sad...I know. More updates to follow....

So it's been a couple of days since I last posted. We had a pretty good weekend. I worked Saturday morning and took Raeanne with me to the spa. There were a couple of brides getting their hair done and she enjoyed watching that. I just basically went to help out by answering the phones and doing laundry for the girls. After that we went to Walmart and did some grocery shopping.

We spent the afternoon cleaning around the house. One of Raeanne's friends came over to spend the night and to go to church with us Sunday. She is always a good kid to have over - no drama - and that is a good thing! They all played well together, although Reagan kept wanting to do whatever they were doing and I knew that was going to be a problem... I treated Reagan to a pedicure just so the older girls could do something without Reagan being right under them - & wouldn't you know - Raeanne got jealous that I didn't do their fingernails and toes - go figure - you can't win for losing!

We started a new church service Sunday Evening...it went okay. I was disappointed that not more people came. I guess that is to be expected at our church - almost the feeling that nobody cares anymore. Yet, still, I'm trying to make a difference. We also started a youth group for 4 -7 graders. My daughter and her friend were the only ones there. Yet again, disappointed, but going to keep trying it for a little while to see if it picks up.

Monday we took Reagan back to the Dr. - they added a new medicine to what she is already taken (her first "medical cocktail" at the age of 5? What's wrong with this picture?) Well, if it works, then I will be pleased...if it doesn't we will keep trying until we find something that will. I didn't feel well Monday - my stomach stayed upset most of the day - think it was a combination of nerves and a little bug maybe. I ended up not going to work and just hung out on the couch most of the day.

Monday evening I made Paula Dean's recipe for the southwestern egg rolls - they were good, although I only had one - still didn't feel like eating. Mike said they were good, so that is all that matters.

I did go to work on Tuesday - I felt like I was dragging all day, but I made it through the day. I did workout at lunch - I did the elliptical for 30 minutes and burned 452 calories. My massage client cancelled for last night, so I was able to go home and fix supper. It was actually kinda nice to be able to do that. We had a good night and the girls had a good day at school - so that is all that matters.

I am planning on working out again today. I feel like I have a little more energy than yesterday, so I hope to increase the calorie burn some....

September 17, 2010

I did work out today, just didn't get a picture of it... I gave the old Treadmill another spin today and burned 286 calories. I also played on the Wii fitness this morning and burned 110 calories doing the Hula-Hoop challenge and the step aerobic they have up there - most entertaining and I'm sure you are enjoying reading about all of it. (I think I am going to buy the new "Just Dance" for the Wii - heard that was a good calorie burner too.)

I'm working this weekend at the spa. Don't really know if I have anyone set to come in or not. Suppose to have a couple, but they have not called me back for confirmation - UGH. Hate that when that happens. I'll end up hanging out for the day with nothing to do....then again, maybe someone will call and need to come in? I can always pray for that. If anything good will come out of it, I will at least get to see a bride and her bridesmaids getting ready for a wedding tomorrow. That is always fun to see!

I changed up my routine some today.  I did 38 minutes on the treadmill.  A little disappointed that I didn't get the calorie burn that I do on the elliptical, but still got a lot of sweat out of it.  I wonder sometimes if those calorie counters are accurate???

Wednesday- 30 minutes on the elliptical.

I have started working out again.  This is from my Monday (september 13) workout.  30 minutes on the elliptical.  I wish I could do 40 minutes at the time, but I am working out during lunch....

Tuesday-September 14.  30 minutes on the elliptical.

Yea - It's Been a While

Can't believe the last time I updated this blog was in March. So much has happened in the last 5 months...not sure where to begin.

April 2010~
Reagan turned 5 was diagnosed with Occipital Epilepsy. I think for just a little while my world fell apart because you don't want there to be anything wrong with your children... After a couple of weeks of myself "dealing" with it, I think I accepted things and am trying to move on.

May 2010~
I think the entire month was consumed with Doctor Appointments...We attempted the sedated MRI with Reagan, to which it failed. Her tonsils were too big and they would not sedate her. Then we had to have a MRI scheduled with General Sedation - they couldn't get it scheduled with the hospital until JULY.

June 2010~
More Doctor appointments with Reagan.... However, Raeanne and I took off for a couple of days to New York City. Her first trip and I know in the future I will kick myself for taking her because she loved it. I bet one day she will leave home and be in the city. We stayed at the Marriott Marquis in Time Square. We had an excellent view. She took a dance class at Broadway Dance Center. We got to see Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz (got her autograph) while we were at Good Morning America.

We also did a sight-seeing tour of city as well as went to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. We were only in the city for 2 good days, but we crammed a lot into those 2 days. I'm so glad we got to go and spend some time with Aunt Betty and Jason during the trip.

July 2010~
We finally get the MRI on Reagan! I was very pleased with the entire process and she was a real champ through it all. The MRI showed nothing "remarkable" so that is a good thing. Now on to finding the right medicine for her and dosage amount to control the seizures.

August 2010~
The girls started back to school & Reagan had her last day of Daycare....yes, I cried. Nannie has taken care of both our kids since Raeanne was 6 months old... she has been a blessing to our family over the years and although I don't think Reagan realized that she wasn't going back, I was very sentimental over all of it. ~ Go figure.

Now on to September~ and this month is half over already! The girls are settling into school well although Reagan really doesn't like school yet. I keep telling her she has a long 13 years ahead of her if she doesn't change her attitude. They have started back with dance 2 nights a week and they are both enjoying their classes. We are getting ready for our Disney Trip which is just a little over 10 weeks away. (We have been counting down since 40 weeks...). I am also patiently waiting for the cruise I planned for Mike for March of next year for his 40th birthday. I have really got my mind wrapped around losing weight for the trip so you will probably see more post with my workouts up here just to keep me accountable and on the right track. Hopefully you will read more post up here now anyway - I got the blog linked to my I-phone so it will make it more convenient to update. (You'll probably see lots of Random Thoughts...) Anyway -until next time....

We had a great day shopping this weekend in Raleigh. Saturday morning we left home a little after 8 and picked up my mom. We then headed to Raleigh. Raeanne is wanting to enter the 4-H photo contest so I decided we would take time to go to downtown and take some pictures of the buildings and stuff. This made me really sad. It made me realize how much I missed the downtown Raleigh atmosphere and working there with all the big buildings and so much at your fingertips. It also made me miss all the people I worked for (firefighters in the state) and how I felt like I did help some of them. Anyway, we got through it and took some pictures. So glad Raeanne has her own digital camera. We don't have to waist money getting pictures developed and we can look at them right when she takes them. LOVE IT!

After we took the pictures downtown, we headed over to Burlington Coat Factory. Raeanne tried on probably 20 different dresses. She is sooo hard to fit. She could still wear a 5T in the waist but she is sooo long legged that she wears a 7. Of course, all the dresses she found that she liked were size 8. I let her try them on, and needless to say, we didn't buy any. They looked like they were falling off of her. Even some of the size 7's are going to end up at Mrs. Annie's to get taken up in the waist and shoulders. We ended up buying her 5 outfits. Miss Reagan came home with 3 outfits herself. She thought everything she tried on (in her words...) were "Fabulous". Where she learns these words I will never know.

After Burlington Coat Factory we headed to Crabtree. The shoe store was our first target. Reagan wanted every pair of shoes she tried on. She thought they were gorgeous. I did buy her a pair of black patten leather Sunday Shoes. Now, Raeanne got 2 pairs of shoes. a pair of white Sunday shoes and some Chucks. YES, those shoes that were popular when I was in middle school are now popular again. She got a black pair of chucks. Oh My is all I can say.

By the time we finished in the shoe store we were all hungry, so we conquered the food court. Of course the kids wanted McDonald's and I wanted Cheese Cake Factory. McDonald's won. Besides, they probably wouldn't have liked anything the Cheese Cake Factory would have.

After lunch I took them down to Build A Bear. Reagan is about the age Raeanne was the first time I took her to Build-A-Bear. It took Reagan a while to figure out how to do Build A Bear. She wanted to take the Bear on display. She just couldn't understand that you were to pick out which one you want out of the bin. I thought she was going to go postal with me and I was beginning to wonder if this was a bright idea. I finially walked her around the store and showed her all the different stations and how and what each station did. She understood then and she was ready. Raeanne had already picked out which bear she wanted and then helped Reagan pick out her bear. They both picked out a Jonas Brothers voice box to put in their bears, lucky me, the voice box plays 4 different Jonas Brothers Songs.... They then picked out the hearts for the bears, kissed them and made a wish on them, had the bears stuffed, the fluffed, and then they started picking out clothes for the bear. Can't have a naked bear can we? With all said and done, I think I spent waaaaayyyy more than I had intended.

Well, after having sooo much fun and spending more than I had intended, we headed back to Snow Hill. The girls were so excited and tired too. Reagan fell asleep and Raeanne was excited about her chucks. (had to put them on in the car on the way home....)

I have never felt like I have been able to "spoil" my kids like this before and really needed this time together. Sometimes I feel really guilty about doing my massage work at night and on Saturdays and not spending time with them. I hope they won't expect me to do this everytime I have a Saturday off...they will be mighty disappointed.

Still Sweet Potato Eating....

Well, it seems that it has been weeks and yes, I am still eating sweet potato's in some way or fashion. The latest fashion being fried like potato chips. Not bad, but they are not salty either like potato chips. I am having 1 serving a day. I have also tweaked my diet some as well. Not only am I taking my vitamins and extra vitamin C, I have really been paying attention to the food that I'm eating. Wouldn't it be nice to be 50 pounds lighter in July? Anyway -

The girls are doing well. Seems like they all have a cold / cough running in cycles. I will be so glad when the warmer weather gets here. I just want us all well for a time being.

We have 38 more weeks before we go to Disney World. I find myself wanting to look at stuff on the Disney website to do and how can I save enough money for us to do all the things I want to do with them. One thing in particular I think Reagan will like is the Bippidi Boppodi Boutique. You know the package I want for her is $189 plus tax. That is $200 per child just do hair / make up / nails and an outfit. Lord Help Me! I want to do that this year because when we go back to Disney in a couple of years, they may have outgrown doing that kind of stuff. I will have missed my photo opportunity. I'll see about splurging for this.

I am looking forward to taking the girls shopping in Raleigh this weekend. I hope I can pick them out some spring dresses and clothes that they like and find some that fit. Also thought about taking Reagan to Build A Bear. She's never been... Every child should do that once, even though we have really enough stuffed animals in their rooms. Maybe I will get some pictures of our shopping trip this weekend?

Day 3 - and I'm Still Alive...

Today is the third day that I have been on my self imposed Sweet Potato Diet. I am glad to report that I am still alive. I think I ate an entire sweet potato for lunch today. (Thanks Mike for fixing my lunch today). Yesterday we ate at Golden Corral for lunch and guess what, they had sweet potatoes on the food bar. I had 2 helpings.

I know some of you may think this is funny, even I think it's a little comical, but I am sure hoping to see a "real" difference by the end of the week.

"Dear Lord, Please don't let all this sweet potato eating be in vein. - Amen"

The story will continue....

Sweet Potatoes - Really?

If you know me, you know I have never acquired the southern taste for sweet potatoes. Just something about the color, texture, smell of it never appealed to me.

I was talking with a client of mine last week and we were discussing the cold I can't seem to shake this winter. She kept insisting I should eat sweet potatoes. She kept telling me about all the benefits / vitamins sweet potatoes have. Well, this has bothered me all week. Why CAN'T I eat sweet potatoes????

Knowing the weatherman was calling for snow this weekend, I decided to run by the grocery store and it was then I found myself standing in front of the produce counter just looking at sweet potatoes. I bought 4 of them. I thought that I "might" try to cook some this weekend since we would be in the house most of the weekend.... I did cook all 4 of them this morning thinking Mike would take it as an early Valentine's Day gift from me... He Loves Sweet Potatoes.

Well, I decided before I put myself through this, I would do some on-line research myself. I checked this site:
http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/health-benefits-of-sweet-potatoes.html
It verified everything I didn't want to know...

So tonight, the kids have gone to bed and my wonderful husband fixed me about 1/2 of a sweet potato. I ate it. I have given myself a goal to eat a 1/2 of one everyday this week, and let's see if I can knock this cold / Bronchitis out. For the record, I am also still taking Tylenol Severe Cold about every 6 hours or so, my regular "One A Day" Women's Vitamin" and an extra Vitamin C drink twice day.

Story Developing....

Our Night with Signature Sound

On Thursday night, February 4, we got to see our friend Devin sing in Goldsboro with Signature Sound Quartet. Devin is married to Karen, who is someone I remember from growing up at Rainbow. Her dad still comes to Rainbow to speak on special occasions. Karen used to sing with a local group called Moving up. Raeanne and I were talking last week about the time Karen and Moving up were singing at a family night supper at Rainbow and Devin was singing with a group called Karen Peck and New River at the time. Karen had tried and tried to get up with Devin by cell phone and just could not get him that evening. During the family night singing, Tim (leader of the group Moving up) brought up Karen's dad to help sing a song, but Mr. Allen said he needed some help. Well low and behold from the back walked Devin. He had surprised her and drove from Ga. Raeanne and I remembered how sweet that was!

Right after Christmas we heard that Devin had been hired by Ernie Haase to sing with Signature Sound. We are so excited for them. Signature Sound sang in Goldsboro last Thursday and it was our first time seeing Devin with them. He did an outstanding job! If you ever get a chance to see Signature Sound, you really should. They are very uplifting and have great harmony!

Oh to be a Child again....

Some days I just want to wear this outfit to work...

Yes, My Name Is Melissa....

Yes, my name is Melissa and I am addicted to Facebook.

For those of you who are my friends on Facebook, you can testify that my name usually has a green dot beside it in Chat. For the most part, I don't Chat ALL day - I do work some; but for the most part I LOVE keeping up with friends. Here are a few interesting facts right now about my profile on Facebook:

I joined Facebook in February 2007. I had a MySpace page (still do, just don't keep up with it much) and found that there were more and more people setting up a Facebook Page - so I thought, what the heck....

I have 387 friends. WOW - Did not know that I actually knew this many people. My friends consist of High School Friends, 4-H Buddies, Former Co-Workers, Church / Sunday School Class people and family. I do not add anyone that I do not know personally.

I have 29 photo albums containing 752 photos. There are 24 wall photos that I have been tagged in and I have changed my profile picture 7 times.

I have 26 relatives that are my friend on Facebook and we keep up with each other that way. For example, while Elizabeth was in Maurtainia, we were able to keep up with her safety issues while she was in that country. (yes, no running water - but internet.) Now my cousin Jason is doing the exchange program in Ghana and hopefully we will be able to hear from him as well. (He just got there this week)

15 of my friends are available to Chat right now. It has been really nice to have some of my friends pop in during the day just to say hello. Don't get me wrong, we don't chat ALL day long but we do communicate and check in with each other this way.

One of my favorite things to do on Facebook is read the status updates of my friends. Here are some of my favorites. Hope you enjoy: (These are not my status updates - they are from different friends at random).

Now that the presents are unwrapped I'll spend all day with those d@#$ twist ties on the back of the toys. I really would love to meet the Einstein behind that. Oh, Merry Christmas everybody!

I left Seth in the truck while I walked into the store. Walk back out and he has a piece of paper up to the window that has HELP written on it showing it to people!

Please put this on your status if you know someone (or are related to someone) who is an idiot. Idiots affect the lives of many. There is still no known cure for stupidity, but we can raise awareness. 93% won't copy and paste this, many because they're too stupid to know how to copy and paste. Will YOU make this your status for at least one hour?

When life hands you lemons, squirt the juice in your eye..the stinging sensation will stop your whining.

is annoyed that he can't play UNO. The Mexican's keep stealing my green cards.

says Honk if you love Jesus! Text while you drive if you want to meet him!

Aliens are coming to Earth on Monday to abduct all the good looking and sexy people! Some of you will be safe!! I just wanted to say goodbye!!! :o)

I was caught at the kitchen table last week while we were eating "Facebooking" . Love my IPOD Touch! My husband said I set a bad example, and yes, I will probably have a fit the first time one of them is caught texting while we are at the table eating. It was then that I realized my problem. I have learned my lesson to be a better example. As a punishment, I have grounded myself from Farmtown this week. Yes, my crops have waisted away in the field and my flowers have died, but this is the only way for me to learn my time limitations. Just wish I could sell my farm on Farmtown and make some real money off of it. . .

Sorry to cut this short, but....Ah, I really need to get back to Facebook, I mean Work....

CHRISTmas 2009

So just where did the CHRISTmas season go this year? The Dixon family stayed extremely busy this year with church, school, and family activities. Mike did an outstanding job directing the choir and the "production" of our church cantata. It was held on a Sunday night and involved lots of people from our congregation. We enjoyed having desserts afterwards and ended up having over a hundred people there. Reagan missed it due to having strep throat, although she enjoyed the attention from Grandaddy. I was also battling bronchitus during this time and had been out of work most of the week before the cantata - (when it rains, it pours). The Saturday before Christmas was extremely busy for us. We left home around 10 am and headed to Vanceboro to visit Mike's Grandparents, we didn't find them at home, but did track them down at Vera's diner having lunch. From Vanceboro we headed to Kinston to pick up some presents for the girls from Aunt Ann. Then we made our way to Goldsboro to pick up a birthday cake for MaMa Hood's 86th birthday at Mickey's pastry. From there we traveled to "the farm" in Grantham to celebrate MaMa Hood's birthday and Christmas with Aunt Betty, Uncle Barry and Jason. We had a wonderful Ham dinner with some awesome homemade Mac and Cheese. LOVED IT! After the party, we headed to the Goldsboro Mall so the girls could see the bears sing (a Christmas tradition). Then, we headed home! Wow, what a day that was.

On Christmas Eve, we headed to Pamlico County to have Christmas with the Dixon side of the family. It is nice to see (most of) his cousins there. The girls enjoyed opening presents with all the Great Grand Children.

Christmas Day, I felt like I had to drag the girls out of bed! Although, what Santa brought didn't look like much, it was more than any of us deserved. We are so blessed! We served lunch at our house - Prime Rib, Broccoli salad, Mashed Potatoes, Pineapple Casserole, String bean casserole, Rolls, Apple Pie and Pecan Pie. We cooked the Primerib outside this year on the new grill Mike got for Fathers Day - boy, did the entire neighborhood smell soooo good! At lunch time we served the Pridgen and Hood families - Ma & Pa Pridgen, Ma & Pa Hood, as well as my mom and dad. Then at dinner, we served the Dixon side - Mike's Mom and Dad, Kenny, Melanie Sierra and Damian. We also enjoyed opening present all day long.

I am always reminding myself of how blessed I truly am. I have a wonderful husband, sweet children, great and supportive parents and in-laws and a God who never fails. Hope your family had a great Christmas too!

My Junior TopCat

October 2009

Raeanne and a friend from dance, Alli, did the Junior TopCat Program at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. This was Raeanne's 3rd year doing the program and Ali's first year. We traveled to Charlotte for 2 weekends in a row and stayed with Aunt Betty. Her mentor this year was TopCat Chica. She was great with the girls and so friendly! Raeanne performed during the half time show at the game between the Panthers and the Buffalo Bills. During their half time performance, the kicker for the Panthers - Kasey - came out and did some practice kicks. Raeanne just happened to be on the front row. It just so happened that ESPN was filming Kasey during half time and low and behold behind him was RaeRae! I have had several people tell me that they saw her on TV. I really thought they were pulling my leg until I saw the DVR of it later! How cool was that? Raeanne had a great time at Aunt Betty's and at the game. Aunt Betty always treat us to special stuff while we are there! Our seats at the game weren't the greatest - we were about 13 rows from GOD. I will try to save /earn enough money from my massage stuff to actually buy better seats next year! We still had a great time hanging out with our friends from Dance. Since it was a late game on Sunday evening, and we were traveling by ourselves, we opted to stay Sunday night and drive back Monday morning. What a great idea! (Yes, I am the bad mother who kept her daughter out of school for a day...whoop ti do!) We were not pushed to get back and actually stopped in Concord and walked around Concord Mills outlet as well as visited Charlotte Motor Speedway. We are already looking forward to next year's camp.