Oh, hi!

Ok, time to talk.

I don't know where to start.

Life is rolling along. Let's see, where did I leave off? Gotta look...

Puzzle pieces. Ok, since then not much has really changed around here. Well, it certainly got hotter! Perhaps you have heard of a place called hell? It's almost that hot. In fact, on the hottest day of the year the Boy Scouts of America decided it would be great to have a huge parade downtown. This is actually a big deal, the BSA is celebrating 100 years of....being BSA and Boy Scouts came from all over the world to march, with my Sean. Long story (and day) short- Metro ride + not enough good food + all day in heat + another crowded Metro ride home with standing room only and hot, sweaty people = I threw up in front of God and everybody. Yeah, I am ready for September.

Speaking of Sean, he begins football practice next week. I am both excited and absolutely certain this will result in either a concussion or a cast of some sort. But mostly excited.

I got a job. Then I quit. Just about that quickly. I worked at Costco. I felt the schedule would be perfect. It was. I also felt the work involved would be ok. It was. Well, not really. Anyway, the combination of the two was...well it nearly killed me. Not really, but yeah. Five hours of fast paced, high pressure heavy lifting. Costco takes candy very seriously, people! This old broad bit off more than she could chew. I mean, I can chew candy. I can chew the hell out of some damn candy y'all! I just can't lift heavy cases of it over and over for five hours, all before breakfast. So my Costco career ends, after five days.

I am so glad July is almost over. The first birthday of my father-in-law that he was not here for, followed the next week by the anniversary of his death. We all like to say we don't dwell on those anniversaries, but the truth is we do. We go over the day in our heads. We think of the things we could have done differently, any differences we could have made. All for naught. And that is what we did. And now, hopefully, we can continue to move on. There was also the anniversary of the last day I laid eyes on my father. Pretty silly, I know. But I am still happy to see the end of July.

Money. Sucks. We don't have any. We inherited a small amount of debt, but not so small that it has not caught up to us. We are definitely robbing Peter to pay Paul. Only now, Peter has a repossession program and we are just trying to keep everyone happy enough to not shoot us. I have another prospect in line for a job for myself, I will share more if it comes to fruition. With Tommy going to school full time this year I have more freedom to work outside of the home and choose from among jobs that will not require heavy lifting of M&Ms and Macadamia nuts. Hopefully, by Christmas I can tell Peter and Paul to stand down.

The only other change worth mentioning is that I have gone gluten free. I read in many places that people who suffer from Crohn's disease and many other gastrointestinal illnesses do well going "GF", even without a diagnosis of Celiac Disease. Many who are gluten sensitive/intolerant do not, in fact, have Celiac Disease. I read that you should not simply give up gluten without talking to your doctor, there can be repercussions for some people. I said "Screw that!" and did it anyway. Within two days, I knew I was on to something. It has been over two months, and pretty amazing. I may look into adding a side section to this blog to share what I learn, what I try and what I love about being GF. The biggest blessing, aside from feeling good, has been having something I can DO for myself that doesn't involve another pill or a ton of money.

Thanks for returning to this wasteland of a blog!