Exciting news!!!!

I've been awaiting approval to post this for a while...I finall got it today, so here's what you've been waiting for!

We have some exciting news to share from the Taylor household (no, I’m NOT pregnant!)

Most of you know that Steve has juvenile diabetes in which he was diagnosed when he was only 8 years old. Luckily, Steve’s been able to control this disease fairly well through the insulin pump he wears and we are fortunate that he has not experienced many of the side effects that come with uncontrollable highs.

Unfortunately though, Steve’s biggest struggle is keeping his blood sugar from going too low. A couple years ago, he was fitted with an insulin pump which supplies his body with preprogrammed amounts of insulin, but it still cannot imitate his pancreas. When he has a “low”, he goes into insulin shock or what is more appropriately termed a diabetic seizure. Some of you reading this (family especially) have had the experience of seeing this when it happens and it is very unnerving.

These episodes have happened everywhere…the beach, church (while pushing 8 toddlers in the bye-bye buggy), at home while alone with Jenna and while sleeping. However, I think the most frightening place this can happen is while driving. My first experience with that was Halloween many years ago. Jenna was just an infant, still in her carseat. We had taken her out to her grandparents house since she was too young to trick-or-treat. We were just a few miles from home, when Steve commented, “Oh, NOW I know where we are!”. Uh, excuse me…I didn’t realize we were LOST?!?!?!?! Of course, I knew immediately what was going on. But he was already glassy eyed and would not listen to my pleas to pull over. Finally, he did stop at a red light and I threw the car into park and jumped out in an attempt to get him out of the driver’s seat. To make a long story short (too late!), we got home safely that night, but it involved police officers and a LOT of explaining!

More recently, he had a diabetic seizure while driving home from work on the interstate in rush hour traffic (which also means Jenna was in the car with him). When he “came to”, Jenna was out of her car seat and had crawled up in the front seat of the truck, crying and trying to get him to drink a Coke to bring up his blood sugar. Needless to say, this shook us all up quite a bit thinking of what could have transpired. Had he wrecked or gotten stopped, he could have hurt someone or had his driver’s license suspended. I think this might have been the only time he (and I) was thankful for SLOW TRAFFIC!

Anyway, all that to say, a few weeks ago, we were flipping TV channels and came across a talk show featuring a young boy with juvenile diabetes and his mother. Normally, we wouldn’t have stopped to watch, but for some reason we did. Turns out, this woman was the founder of an organization called Heaven Scent Paws. They train dogs to alert when a diabetic’s sugar begins to drop. We were just amazed to watch this young boy’s dog in action.

So of course, when they gave the website, I got right on to investigate. At that time, they didn’t have any openings for the 3 week training classes, but I bookmarked the site and continued to check back. Much to my surprise, a few weeks ago, there were new classes posted with openings. I went ahead and filled out the application not knowing whether we’d qualify. The very next day, we received a phone call that our application had been processed and we could receive a dog!

Steve is set to go for 3 weeks to train with his dog in April 2009. I know that sounds like a lifetime away, but we know how quickly time passes. And there is much to be done…we will begin fundraising soon and all of you will be hearing from us with more information.
We are very excited and can’t wait to keep you updated as things progress. I encourage you to check out the website of Heaven Scent Paws in the meantime!

I’ll keep you posted!!

EXCITEMENT!

WE HAVE A SNOW DAY!!!!

First one since I think Jenna has been in "real" school! It was so cool and Jenna is swinging from the rafters ready to go play in it. Unfortunately, as an adult, we don't typically get snow days, so I will be taking her in to work with me shortly and trying to get a few hours in. She usually does pretty good... But it is very exciting to us, even though there's really not much snow. I'll have pictures and maybe video in a bit.

Second exciting thing that happened is that at my weigh in at WW yesterday, I lost .8lbs which took me over the 10lb mark!!! Hip Hip Hooray! I was so excited! Thanks for all your support!

OK, Jenna is yelling at me for breakfast so we can go out. I haven't even showered this morning yet, so I better get to it....more to come.

Let's see...what is going on with the Taylors?

Well, this past weekend Steve and I celebrated Valentine's Day. We went to the Melting Pot on Saturday night which is a once a year (if that much) event for us. The V-day special is quite pricey but it's about the only time we'd ever splurge. I tried to be good all week with my Weight Watcher points and then Saturday, because I got up kind of late, I didn't really have lunch, but I ate so I wouldn't be ravenous when we got there. Rachel and Hannah kept Jenna while we went to eat and to see Spamalot (thanks Rach!). Anyway, I ate some of everything at the Melting Pot. Which included very yummy bread with cheese fondue as well as dessert. I know dessert was probably dangerous, but most of what I ate was fruit, albeit, fruit dipped in WAY DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE!!

Anyway, all that to say, I knew I was going to gain at my Tuesday weigh in as I didn't have any days that I could squeeze in exercise. I thought about turning in my "no weigh" pass and skip the weigh in all together. But my friend at work, Nancy, warned against this. She said if I had a bad week I should weigh in just to see the results. So, I determined I would go, but just thinking about gaining made me feel anti-social so I decided I would weigh, but NOT stay for the meeting.

I got on the scales and the lady recorded my "progress". She didn't say anything and I didn't feel like looking at the stupid book to see the damage. On my way over to tell my friend I wasn't staying for the meeting, my curiosity got the best of me and I opened my weight tracking book anyway. I honestly have to tell you, I had to look 3 times because I absolutely could NOT believe what I was seeing. I LOST 2 pounds!!! WHA?????????????? I have no idea how that happened other than God was merciful because He knew I at least tried to be good!! That puts me at a total weight loss of 9.6lbs and this is starting week 8. I get a 10lb sticker when I reach that milestone, so I'm busting my butt this week to get that sticker! I've exercised yesterday and today. I'm probably not eating as well as I could, but I'm still watching my intake closely. My first weight loss goal is 10% which is 17 pounds (yes, I basically just told you what I weighed when I started)...I am over 1/2 way to that goal and I am feeling fabulous! I can feel the difference already in my pants which were getting so uncomfortably tight. I'm thrilled and I am thinking I can now see it in the mirror too. YAY!

OK, that was an awfully long post about my weight loss...but now you know. On another happy note, we have filed our taxes and will get a nice sized refund soon. We have most all of it going into our savings for our summer vacation which is a CRUISE! I'm so proud because as soon as it hits, we will have enough to pay for the entire vacation including the excursions we decide to do. Unfortunately, my family in Florida is not going to be able to go and we are totally bummed. So, if any of my friends or family reading this is interested in tagging along (at your expense of course!), we are going in August and to the Carribean...shoot me an email and I'll tell you all about it. We just think it will be more fun with another family, but believe you me, we will go alone and have fun regardless!

I'm trying to think whether there is anything else going on...I guess not really. I can tell you that I am thoroughly enjoying this Sunday night service thing at our church. The past 2 weeks, I have not even gotten out of my pajamas until around 2-3pm when it was time to leave for our activities. It's not like I haven't worked because I'm doing stuff around the house, but I just do it in my PJs. In fact, while preparing for my scrapbooking retreat in a couple weeks (I'm literally giddy about this), I went up in the attic to search for some older pictures. I found a bunch of boxes full of stuff that just came with us when we moved and it's stuff I can donate, so I am planning to do that this weekend. In fact, I'm looking forward to it.

Well, that's about it. Everything else is status quo...busy as usual. I'll be back shortly to update you more.

If you notice the time of this post, you'll wonder what the heck I'm doing posting at 1:30 in the afternoon on Friday. Jenna's school had an in-service day today, so Steve kept her the first 1/2 of the day and I took the second half off. YAY! It's a beautiful day (for February), and Jenna would rather watch TV than play outside, so I am going to take the opportunity to catch up on my blogging.

I had a weigh in this past Tuesday. I didn't know what to expect, but I had only exercised 1 time, so I knew it wasn't going to be spectacular. I still managed to pull off -.8lb. I'm down nearly 8 pounds and believe it or not, I can tell it in my clothes. This next week is going to be really bad because I've not eaten as well and tomorrow night, we have reservations at the Melting Pot which means lots of chocolate fondue for dessert. Luckily, lots of what they give you to dip is fruit! I'm still going to post my progress (or lack thereof) because you all have to keep me accountable!

I found this cool website that teaches you how to go from "couch potatoe" to running 3 miles a day in about 2 months. I think I might start doing this next week. I never had the desire to run a marathon, or even 1/2 marathon for that matter, but I would really like to enjoy running. I mean, how many fat runners do you know? Right. Me either. And running a few miles at a time takes less of a toll on your body and joints than marathon running.

What else? Not much going on in the way of work. As usual, I'm staying busy. I had more of a slow week this week and I was so glad for the breather. Next week will be a full week, but then the last week of February I'm taking 1/2 day on Thursday and all day Friday to go on a scrapbooking retreat and I am SO stoked about this...I look forward to it every spring and fall. Rachel goes with me so it's a very productive girls weekend.

We really don't have plans except for the Melting Pot and to see Spamalot tomorrow night. Some of you know that Steve became really close to a young teenage girl while he was in Moldova. A few months ago, she came to the US to go to school and she is coming to visit us this weekend. She'll just hang out with us and do whatever we normally do. It will be interesting for her to see how this crazy family lives!

I guess that's about it. I had my Subway sandwhich (Rach says I'm going to turn into one!) and now I'm starting to get sleepy. I don't foresee a nap in my future, but I will at least get to lay on the couch. It will be just Jenna and I tonight while Steve bowls. We'll have to find something to get into or we'll drive each other crazy!

What Did I Do Today?

Well, pretty much nothing. I haven't gotten out of my PJs all day long. I had to re-read my last post to see what I had typed. I had some serious medicine head at that time. I think I mentioned taking some Tylenol Severe Allergy. Apparently, for what ailed me, that was the wrong thing to do. My head was completely clogged. You know, like when you've cried really hard and you are 100% stopped up and there's no air passing through? That's what happened to me after taking that. I could not even swallow without choking. It was a little scary. I went to bed in hopes that laying down would help. It did just enough. I would wake up every hour with my mouth feeling like it was full of cotton. Finally about 12:30, Steve told me that I had waited long enough and maybe take an Actifed. At that point, I was willing to try anything, so I took 2 and it was like a miracle! Minutes after I laid back down, my head cleared and it was heavenly. But, all night, I felt like I was wide awake, so I didn't sleep well. Friday I went on in to work, but was pretty tired all day. After work, Rachel and I went shopping to prepare for our scrapbook retreat in a couple weeks. Last night I slept well and slept until almost 9am. My nose is still a little stuffy, but sitting around all day has been oh-so-nice!

Actually, it's not like I haven't done anything. I just haven't GONE anyway. I cleaned the kitchen and did the laundry. Tomorrow, our family will begin attending the evening Sunday service at church, so we'll get to sleep in again and then do our church activities tomorrow night instead. I can't tell you how stoked I am about having a free morning.

But something else I have done today in preparation for my scrapbooking retreat. I went through a ton of old pictures in order to maybe get them into albums during the retreat. I had in the back of my mind that I wanted to put our wedding snapshots into an album and maybe one of these days put all my growing up pictures into a real album. The problem was finding where I had put all of them. I finally found them and lo and behold, I had already put them together and organized them. Apparently, I had that idea a few years back and I forgot about it. I have my pictures from the year I was born up until high school. I also have all our wedding activities together and then several years of vacation photos before Jenna was born. It's a tall order to get ALL of those into albums even with a long weekend, because I have to still get caught up on the current album as well.

Anyway, that's what I've done all day. So while I stayed in my PJs and never left the front door of my home, I have accomplished alot. Tomorrow I will iron and get groceries. It will be a bit strange grocery shopping on Sunday morning when most folks are in church. It has got to have been 30+ years since I slept in on a Sunday other than when we were out of town or sick!

For now, I'm off to bed!

Thanks to everyone who emailed me earlier this week to be sure we had survived all the bad weather and tornadoes that blew threw on Tuesday night.

It was very bad and while the city I live in was spared, several counties south of us were hit and mostly devastated. Check out this website to find out how you can help. Union University has a blog and to the right, you can view a slideshow of the devastation.

I am sick YET AGAIN. I started sneezing today at work and now I literally cannot breathe at all! I think this is the 4th time this season that I've been sick and I am quite getting tired of it. Don't know what to do about it though. I took 2 Tylenol Severe Allergy and now I'm about to fall out. My ears are stopped up and I am miserable. It's not that I feel so bad per se, but trying to breathe wears me out and really ticks me off that I'm even sick at all.

Oh, one more update...I can't believe I'm just now posting this...I had a weigh-in at Weight Watchers on Tuesday. I was in such a mood that day that I thought if I didn't lose, no one would want to be around me at all. Guess the good Lord was looking out for me because I lost 3.2lbs! I'm down almost 7 pounds!

OK, I am off to bed in hopes that my head will explode and relieve the pressure or it will get better during the night.

Catching up...

Sorry for the delay in updating everyone. I've gotten several emails regarding Steve's job situation and I had a weight in for my WW last week. So, let's get right to it because I have a laundry to do!

I'll start with the least important which was my weigh in last Tuesday. Well...it just didn't go so well. I knew that the week hadn't been as good and that I'd probably gain but you know, I was just hoping against hope that I'd be wrong. I wasn't. Of the 5lbs I'd lost, I gained back 1.4. :( But I had determined before not to let a gain bum me out. It's the first of many I'm sure. Just like my struggle with reading the Bible/devotional every day, I'm not giving up after just one setback. I realized in 2 weeks, I probably ate Subway like 6 times and lost 5lbs. Last week, I didn't eat there at all and I gained. Hmmmm...maybe that Jared guy was on to something! This week I had Subway twice!!!! :)

As for Steve's job situation. It really got bad last week. He just really has a hard time with the owners of the company. They are what we in the south would call, "Good ole boys". The owner, co-owner and operator of the company all went to school together and regardless of whether they can run a company, they all have jobs there. Given how they did him when they first purchased the company (remember, Steve was the ONLY one they didn't have a place for?), they already had black marks in Steve's mind. And then things have just built one upon the other until Steve has such a deep seated hatred and bitterness for these guys. Then his manager quits and rather than letting him work out his 2 weeks, they tell him to pack his stuff and get out...well, that just topped it off. It was really bad. The night I posted and asked for prayers, Steve had called me sobbing. Do you know how hard it is to listen to the one you love the most cry and not be able to do anything about it? It's awful.

Anyway, we have talked about this off and on since then and Steve just felt like God was not answering his prayers. Let me preface by saying, there are two prayers that I've been praying for years...one was for another child and the other to provide another job for Steve (that's been going since before wanting a second child) and God's answers have consistently been "no". I don't know why and I've gotten to the point that I don't question it. Just know it's for the best and go on. Steve was just asking for a peace when he is in the office and to be able to function without this bitterness and hatred, but he just can't. He says he prays every day and it just doesn't help. I told him maybe it wasn't enough...maybe he needs to pray every hour. Every minute if that is what it takes. Everytime he has to open an email from one of these men, pray before he does it. It's the only other thing I could think of.

Well, yesterday, he told me that the day had been better because he had prayed more frequently throughout the day. PRAISE GOD! I had prayed so hard that morning that God would reveal himself to Steve and give him peace for the day. I love it when we see such a direct answer to our prayers!!

We still don't know what will become of the company (they say nothing...they won't close) or of Steve's job when they hire a new manager. But we are taking it one day at a time.

Thank you all for your prayers and emails and words of advice. I have passed that on to Steve and he does appreciate them all.

I guess that's about it today. We have some pretty exciting news to share, but it's not time yet (and NO I'm not pregnant!)...Hopefully I'll be posting soon!