I’ve always liked coupons.  My mom and grandma taught me well when going clearance shopping or using coupons.  I must say though, as an adult I used them sparingly.  But seeing as though I don’t have a job here in KY,  we’ve had to cut back our spending.  Today, I went to Kroger and saved $43!! I’ve never said that much before! I was happy!  It wasn’t the extreme couponing like some of these TV shows show, but it was still $43 nonetheless!!!!  I’ve had a couple of people ask me how!    To put it in one word:  COUPONS!!!!  I had $12.45 in manufacturer coupons, that I had either printed off or cut out.  The other $30.55 came from the in store coupons/sales!!

Kroger had a lot of 10 for $10 sales going on this week!  Which helped a lot!  Yesterday, we received a “welcome to the neighborhood” circular from Kroger.  I was able to get a bag of chips for free, saved me $2.99.  I was able to also get a bag of Oreo cookies for free too.  Saved $3.19!  The circular also had spend $5 in the meat, produce and household departments and save $1.  I had 3 of those coupons!  I had a $4 coupon for Mike’s contact solution.  And miscellaneous other $1 and $.40 coupons.  Even the check-out gal said that’s a good deal!

We have moved and gotten mostly settled in down here in Kentucky.  I’m still looking for work.  I look everyday and night.  I’m trying to get my photography business going down here too, to help pass the time and to help bring in some sort of income.  If you’re interested, you can look at some of the pictures I’ve done on my Facebook site, Heather’s Photography

Jonathan is adjusting well.  He’s doing his typical morning ” I don’t want to go to school” rants.  lol.  He’s just not a morning person.  His new preschool, which will also be his Kindergarten class, do a lot of cool things!  They work with him everyday on writing his name, phone number, address and bible verses.  His preschool is at a Methodist church here in town.  So far, I’ve been really pleased with them!   Every Thursday, they walk to the library which is literally two buildings down from the church.  They do all kinds of walking field trips on Tuesday’s.  Today they went to a big park.  Last week, they went to the courthouse.  I think they have some field trips planned for the Post Office,  Police Station, Fire Station and a bank.  In August, he will be in the all day Kindergarten class there.  The public schools only do Kindergarten for 3 hours a day, so this is why we went with the church preschool/Kindergarten…they offer all day!

Right now, they are doing a summer reading program along with the library.  Right now,  Jonathan and another little girl are tied for first place for the most books read!   We’ve been reading every night, before bedtime.  He loves looking at the “I Spy” books and I like to read to him the ones that are actual stories!   Sometimes we read 3 books, and one night we read 6 books!!!

Mike’s still getting used to working in an office atmosphere again.  He worked at home for so long that he said it’s kinda weird being back around people a lot!

I’ve started running again.  Been running for the past 2 weeks.  I am not sure if I’ve lost weight, but I do know that I’ve gained.   I keep telling myself that muscle weighs more than fat!!!!  I keep pushing myself a little more each day.  So far, my knees having been handling it ok!  The past few days, the weather has been a lot cooler and the air is less humid which is helping my breathing while I am running.

In a little less than 2 weeks, we will have our first official visitors, my dad and step-mom!  They are going back to IL for my dad’s high school reunion and will be stopping by our house and staying the night on the way back to Florida!  Then around the 4th of July, I believe my mom is going to try to come down.  I know Mike’s dad and step-mom plan on coming for a visit, just not sure when! It’ll be nice to see familiar faces.

We’ve not really met any of our neighbors, except for brief hello’s and waves.  We did find out that our neighbors to the right of our house, when looking at the house, work with Mike.  The lady works at the same place and her husband works at the Depot, on site.    One or both of them are Air Force veterans!   They have a little boy too.

Our house in Indiana is still on the market.  We’re hoping and praying it sells soon.  These double payments S U C K!!!!!

Last night I was giving him a bath and I noticed 2, pea-sized, hard nodes on the side of his neck.  He’s had another lymph node that was sort of swollen, on the other side, that we’ve kept an eye on.  Sometimes he says they hurt, sometimes he says they don’t.  Anyway, I freaked out and was thinking way out in left field…cancer?  Researching it on-line didn’t help AT ALL!!!!  I’m worried because I have an uncle that has Hodgkin’s lymphoma.    I talked to the NP that works in the clinic next to our clinic, and she agreed to see him after work today.  She said that it’s rare that kids get lymphoma.  She asked if he’s been sick, and I said not since October.  It is possible that it could be residual from his cold then.  But he’s not complaining of anything really hurting, his energy and appetite have been fine.  I’m really trying to think positive and think it’s just an infection or a cyst.  He’s also skinny.  I read that swollen nodes are more prominent on skinny kids well since they are so skinny.

Last night we also found out that Mike’s great-grandpa is in the hospital and not doing well.  The last update I had been that he’s still alive, but that the cancer has spread throughout his body and was coughing up blood.  We all thought he’d out live all of us.  Please keep our family in your thoughts or prayers.

We still have no idea what is up with Mike’s job.  His last official day is this Friday.  I’m freaking out.

Last Friday was that day for me. 

I was having a pretty good day until I got “THE phone call”.  Mike called to tell me that we might not be going to South Carolina.    The job just wasn’t working out like we had hoped it would.  I literally felt sick.  I didn’t really eat lunch nor did I want dinner that night. 

Mike’s contract is up at the end of March.  This month.  That’s only 3 weeks from now!!!! I just kinda went into panic mode.  What about insurance?  How are we going to afford to live, if he doesn’t have a job?? 

Like I said, I just felt sick.

Mike and I have talked and there are a few other avenues we could take.  He’s looking for employment in this area, and Indy and as well as Kansas City.  There is another position with in the same company he works for now, but I don’t know where that is. 

I just hope things work out.  I hate being in limbo.  Not knowing if the bread winner will be able to bring home the bacon or not. 

I mean, I work.  But I don’t make NEAR what he does.  I make half, easy.  :/  At least it’s an income. 

I just thank God that we still have our health, our home and our wonderful son.  All I can do is leave it to Him and pray that things will work out.

Find our room, get the truck unloaded then headed to Fry’s electronic store…The electronic nerd’s MEGA STORE!!!   AKA one of Mike’s favorite places in Indy!  Then we went to Target, my favorite store…since we don’t have one down here. 

Go back to the hotel, go eat some dinner, then head back to the room to change into our swim suits.  Went to Caribbean Cove and it was PACKED!!!  LOUD!!!! LOTS OF KIDS/PARENTS!!!!  LOL  Took JonJon a bit to warm up to the water. Once he got used to it, he LOVED IT!  We stayed there for about an hour.  He played mostly in the kids’ section.  There was a bigger pool, and a lazy river, but he was too small for the intertubes.  So, we headed back to our room, get changed into jammies and Mike and JonJon….well mostly Mike… played the inroom Nintendo games.  After an hour, JonJon finally conked out.

Sunday morning we woke up and Mike wasn’t feeling good.   We don’t know if it was dinner the night before or if he had gotten water in his ear?   Soo, we got ready for the day, ordered room service.  After we ate breakfast, we checked out.  Then we headed to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum! 

That place rocks!! It’s awesome!  I just wish Mike would have felt better and that JonJon would have listened better, but it was a good time. We were only there for about an hour and a half, but I can totally see it taking all day to get thru everything.  We went thru the Egypt exhibit, DinoLand, JonJon and I rode the 90 year old carousel, explored the trains, and admired the really cool blown glass tower!

I took some pictures on my phone. They’re not that great.

Yesterday, when I got off of work, I was walking across the parking lot, and stepped on some ice and my feet just came out from under me.  I literally laid myself out.  Landed on my butt first, then fell back on my head.  While on the way down, I hit my left elbow and right palm, hit my head and my tailbone.

So, I picked myself up, walked back into the clinic, luckily my boss and 2 co-workers were still there.  One of the nurses called security, and they came and took my statement.  Took pictures of my face and feet.  After I finally got ahold of Mike, to pick up Jonathan, and after hearing him tell me that I need to go to the ER, I was put in a wheelchair and wheeled off to the ER.

The security guys were very nice and helpful and genuinely seemed to care that I was hurt.  ER clerks registered, triaged me and then I got wheeled back to a room.  My boss stayed with me until Mike showed up.

Just so you know, where we live was hit with a major ice storm a  few days ago.  Our parking lots at work had some areas still covered with ice and the ER at the hospital where I work saw 250 people from just falls on the ice on Thursday.  There were also a lot of employees that fell and injured themselves on the ice.

So, I’m in the room, had to get a gown on.  I had to also have a picture of my head and palm and elbow taken for security’s record.  They debated on taking a picture of my tailbone, but the charge nurse nixed that.  Thankfully.   So, I was given some tylenol and we waited.  And waited.  And waited.

Finally after being there for about 45 mins, the Nurse Practioner came in and checked me out and ordered some x-rays and a CT scan. I had to have a pregnancy test because 1. she didn’t believe me that I wasn’t pregnant and 2. I was child bearing age.  Did the collection and then we waited.  And we waited.  And we waited.  My accident happened at 4:40 PM.  I was wheeled to the ER at about 5pm.  The NP saw me at 5:30 PM.  Then at 5:50 PM I was wheeled to CT and then over to X-ray.  I was taken back to my room at 6:30 pm.  Then we waited.  And we waited.  And we waited.  The whole time I’m laying on my right side, with a stiff neck, nausea waving over me, massive headache literally going in a circle, back to front, back to front.  It sucked.  My butt was throbbing and hurt to even attempt to sit on my whole bottom.  My head had a small lump from where I hit it and just overall didn’t feel good!  At 7pm, after shivering under a thin sheet for 2.5 hours, a nurse comes in to take my blood pressure and check my oxygen level.  She then says let me get you some warm blankets. Comes back with 2 warmed up blankets and then says, I get you all warmed up and then I find out you’re going to be discharged.  At 7:15 pm, the NP comes back in and says well your head and wrist are ok.  But you have a possible non-displaced fracture on your coccyx(tailbone). 

Lovely.

She says she’s going to prescribe me some pain medicine and then we could go home.  At 7:30 pm, the other nurse comes back in with my pain meds.  And then she said she had to go get my discharge paperwork and said I could get dressed.  So 20 mins later she comes back with the paperwork, and my RX for my pain med.  Sign the paperwork, and had to stop at the front desk to get my insurance card.  Oh yeah, did I mention that our insurance has to pay for this.  Not work comp, even though it happened while I was at work, in the parking lot.  I was off the clock.  So I was told it’s not considered work comp.  Oh well.  At 7:50 pm we walk out the ER doors.

On the way home, we stop and get Subway.  Mike said the chick in the Subway was brainless.  they didn’t have the bread we wanted, and she didn’t know how to manually run his debit card since the reader wasn’t working.  Meanwhile, I’m sitting in the truck half asleep from the pain meds.  We stop at Walgreens to get my RX filled.  Mike went in and bought me a donut for me to sit on.  Get home and Jonathan was still up. I was happy to see him, and he asked me if I felt better now.   He really can be such a sweetie. 

Sleeping last night was interesting.  I like to sleep on my left side and couldn’t do that last night.  Too much pain.  Woke up this morning and was stiff, and so very sore.  My neck was stiff.  My left butt cheek is internally bruised and the soreness was moving up my back.  My sternum(chest) feel really bruised.  Hurts to laugh or cough.  I was never so happy to get my pain medicine.  After I took it, my neck started to loosen up and then finally my back and buttock.  But I was also loopy . 

I can’t sit squarely on my bottom just yet still.  I’m hoping the soreness goes away soon.  I’m still walking like an old lady.  We went to Walmart today and it felt good to walk around.

So, come Monday, it’ll be an interesting time at work.  I’m going to take my donut with me and probably be made fun of, but hell if it’ll help me get thru the day, then so be it!

http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/heatherinich/?action=view&current=Dance.mp4

So, I started on Jan 1, 11.  E started on that Monday, Jan 3.  We’ve been doing this for 2 weeks. I’ve lost 3.5lbs again.  E, well….she’s getting frustrated.  Stays with in her points and seems to have gained 4 lbs.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  Neither of us are super over-weight….we could just stand to lose a few pounds.  My goal is 10 lbs.  Once I reach that goal, maybe I’ll go on.

But the first time around, I was really good.  I really didn’t have any major cravings.  I didn’t care if I had the “bad” snacks.  BUT this time around!!! WHOA  DOGGY!   I just want to eat everything and anything bad for me!  I want to eat the container of chocolate icing in the cabinet.  I want to eat my Peanut M&M’s from Christmas, the whole bag! LOL I want to eat Dairy Queen Blizzards!

I have not caved.  I have been within my points, except for one day last week.  I met my friend, Stacy and her mom and son, at Olive Garden.  I only went over by 7 points.  Not bad. 

But I’m getting frustrated like E is.  I was hoping I’d have lost a little bit more than just 3.5 lbs. 

Maybe I just need some retail therapy????

Merry Christmas from the Inich family!