Paintball Happiness

We're still sickies here.

Saturday night, Keri Lynn had a long babysitting job, 5:30 PM to what was supposed to be as late as 1:00 in the morning. Since Keith was teaching Sunday School the next morning and ushering, the plan was to send him on to bed while I waited up for Keri Lynn, flipping channels and dozing at the TV.

After several phone calls and a parent lost on the freeway, Keri Lynn didn't get home until nearly 3:00 AM! Needless to say, we were both exhausted the next morning. I stayed home with the sick ones and Keri Lynn was added to the list having woken up with flu-ish symptoms.
She's the latest of the sickie casualties. Kathleen has had a terrible cough for more than a week and has complained of her ears hurting for the last two weeks. (Of course, the really bad stuff always happens on the weekend when it's next to impossible to get health care.) Keva has been home from school since Thursday. She has woken up the last few days with mucus stuck all over her face and hair -- memories of that horrible flu we all had last year. Konner has a never-ending runny nose, but seems unperturbed by it. I still have some residual cough trouble with the winter dry air.

I'm taking Kathleen and Keva to the pediatrician today for some antibiotics.

Who's healthy, you might ask? Keith, pretty much. Kristofer is about all better. Kade. Kylie. Not to bad, except that this cold seems to run in cycles. Some get healthy and then after the others are sick, the healthy get sick again. But I think it's mostly because it's just that time of year when everyone is not feeling at the top of their game.

I have cough drops handy to keep from getting into coughing fits, and have been able to get back to my walks that I started last week. With my new Plan, where I count 500 calories a meal and walk one hour a day, I've lost seven pounds in one week. Yippee!

My energy level, even with some precious hormone challenges last week, has increased dramatically. I also took a weekly set of pictures of me (front, back, side, and face) to remind myself that I've only just begun. Losing a little bit of weight is not a license to get back to eating the way I was. I'm working on a lifestyle change.

I'd like to thank so many of you who have given me encouragement and advice. I got several typical menus from skinny people. I then peppered them with all kinds of questions about what they think when they're eating. What makes them feel full? How do they know when to stop eating? Etc. It's very interesting and enlightening.

On a lighter note, I'd like to report on Keith and Kristofer's paintball games Saturday. They went out Friday night to get supplies and came home with paintball guns, paintballs, headgear . . . and camouflage head to toe. I'm posting a picture soon of Kristofer's full gear soon. Keith tested out the guns out on the deck and shot the Adirondack chair dead. The paint ball went straight through the plastic back! And so Keith learned not to shoot at anything at point blank range. That didn't stop them from happily going off to the paintball range the next morning. I really thought they were overdoing it with all of the gear they bought until they came back happily exhausted that night. Apparently, everyone was decked out the same way and more! All I can say, was it was a very good thing that we had received our tax refund check!

I did get a chance to shoot the paintball gun, too, the next day. I shot from the deck at a big rock on the ground. I can say with all confidence that the rock is never going to bother us again!