What a busy day!

Today I got up at 5 am, got ready for work, and sat on the front porch listening to the birds chirping as my dogs did their business. Nature has such beautiful sounds!

I'm loving my job as a summer camp counselor. Today I watched as some girls from camp discovered chalk painting when they were coloring on the chalk board and one of the pieces of chalk fell into some water. They then got a cup of water and started dipping the ends of the chalk into the water and chalk painted on construction paper. It looked beautiful! The colors were dark and vibrant! I also played Sorry!, Playdoh, Candy land, and Chutes and Ladder's today.

I went to a rummage sale today, spent $8.75, but came home with 2 Wal-mart sacks filled with a pair of Old Navy shoes for me that look new, 2 tank tops for my husband, a nice blue button down dress shirt that was just worn once to a wedding for my oldest son, white shorts, men's sandals, and a bunch of t-shirts for my oldest son. A couple of the shirts were Hurley. I felt like I did really good. My oldest son has been needing t-shirts and shorts.

I visited my dad this morning. Their new house is pretty much done now, except for a few minor things. While I was there I noticed the IGA flyer. There is a meat sale this week, you can get Totino's Pizza Rolls for 79 cents a box (limit 5), and you can get Orville Redenbacher 3 ct Popcorn for 79 cents (limit 2). I bought $52.52 worth of sales :)

I then went to my eye appointment for another glaucoma test. I don't have to take medicine yet, but they are keeping my condition closely monitored.

I stopped by CVS and spent around $13 on Chef Boyardee's Spaghetti & Meatballs & Ravioli, which were $10 for $10 and Hershey's candy bar packs which were 3 for $3.

Wal-mart was my last shopping stop for the day. I picked up the ingredients for Strawberry Soda Pop Cake and some snacks for the week. No sales picked up this time, but I did buy generic when I could.

My youngest spent the night with a friend so I picked him up, went home, and we ate 2 boxes of our Pizza Rolls for lunch. Microwave 6 on a plate for 1 minute. It just doesn't get any easier than that, plus it fed a family of four for less than $2.  Afterwards, we went back to town to visit my parents and for my oldest to mow their yard.

Once we got back home, I weeded and watered the garden, threw my egg shells on it, cleaned the pool some more and changed the filter. Unfortunately I didn't get the filter on right and lost some pool water before I noticed, so I fixed it and added some more water. The good news is the pool is finally starting to look almost blue. I got the dishes done. Fixed us leftover spaghetti and broiled some hamburger buns with butter and garlic powder on them to go with it and made Strawberry Soda Pop Cake. It was good, but it will be even better tomorrow cooled all the way.

My beautiful little garden:

Strawberry Soda Pop Cake

1 box yellow or white cake mix
2 boxes strawberry Jello
1 1/2 c. boiling water
1 can strawberry soda
1 box Dream Whip and 1/2 cup milk for each packet opened - use 2 packets
1 box instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 c. milk

Mix cake as box directs. Bake in oblong pan. Mix Jello and boiling water until dissolved. Add soda. Make holes in hot cake and pour Jello-soda mixture over cake. Put in refrigerator to set.

ICING:

Whip together until very stiff: 1 box instant vanilla pudding, 1 1/2 c. milk, 1 box Dream Whip + 1/2 cup of milk for each packet - use 2 packetsSpread on cake. Keep in refrigerator.

The cake is so good and moist! I only wish that I had taken the picture before I cut the cake.

Tri-County Electric Annual Meeting

Every year since we've been on Tri-County Electric, we have went to their annual meeting. Everything is free. Our children have gotten to jump on bounce houses and get ring pops, free pencil, they serve breakfast (we no longer eat the breakfast though because we don't like it), sodas, water, lemon shakeups, for lunch they have bbq pork sandwiches and chips, if you register before 10am you can get $10 credited to your account, they have shuttle buses at the mall to take you to the Tri-County building across the street, and they give out prizes. One year they even had the St. Louis Cheerleaders come and the boys got their pictures taken with them and we got autographed pictures. Today my youngest had to sit by two different women on both trips on the shuttle bus. They were so sweet. They told him that they don't bite and asked him questions about himself. The last lady told him he has beautiful eyes. It made him blush. Our oldest didn't go with us because he was spending the night at his friends.

We also window shopped at Jenney's, Claire's, Hibbett Sports, Hobby Lobby, Kroger, Glik's, and Rue 21 today. It definitely gives you a sense of what is in style by doing this. I saw a lot of short shorts, shirts with spaghetti straps, lace, bedazzled, jeans with holes in them, Hurley shirts and shorts, and got a sense of where some of their clearance sections are for future reference.

I went to Kroger today for my free Zico 14oz coconut water, but they were all out. This was an offer through SavingStar ecoupons that can be loaded onto your Kroger card, CVS card, or now some stores will let you scan the receipt through the SavingStar mobile app, but my phone doesn't support the newest version.

We stopped by an area Ford dealer today because I had gotten a flyer saying that I won something. I ended up winning a $5 Wal-mart gift card, so that was worth it to me. It was on our way home anyways pretty much.

Once home, I swam for awhile, trimmed trees, picked blackberries, weeded and watered the garden, gave my mom's dog some water, and picked us up some KFC for supper. Right now if you buy a 10 piece meal or larger they will add 2 free sides in addition to the sides your already get. We will have some for lunch tomorrow too. For dessert we had our leftover Strawberry Soda Pop cake. It tastes much better chilled! My arms are so tired from trimming trees today! I definitely need to start working out.

I'm entering a few more sweepstakes tonight, looking outside for the Super Moon, then signing off until next time.

My experience with Hashimoto's, hypothyroid, and for a brief time hyperthyroid.

When I was in my early 20's, I had some labwork done and was told I was hyperthyroid. At the time, I was thin, had endometriosis, but other than that felt well. I always had a little bit of a stomach pooch. I was moody then also. At this point, my doctor felt I did not need medicine and didn't do anything. I had a laparoscopy for my endometriosis and took a nasal spray to correct the sporadic endometriosis through my body.

I had my boys in my late 20's. Afterwards, I started experiencing very heavy periods, cramping, weight gain, etc. I went to the doctor and was told I was hypothyroid, but I didn't need to take meds. I saw a nurse practitioner over the heavy periods. She recommended a novasure? kind of a less invasive hysterectomy I guess, but I chose not to do it and went back on the birth control pills for awhile to help with the symptoms.

In my mid 30's I gained even more weight and started having migraine headaches. I saw a neurologist, but he couldn't figure out the problem. I was on pain meds and that was about all their help. I finally got relief after a spinal tap. After the spinal tap, I had the worst headache ever and stayed on the couch for about a week. After it finally went away, my migraines did not happen daily anymore and when I had them they were lessened in intensity.

Last summer, I started experiencing back pain, pain in my hands, and in my feet. The doctor did xrays and sent me to an orthopedic center. I was told I had a bulging disc in my back and I had arthritis. I started doing physical therapy over the summer and started taking more pain meds. I also told the doctor how I was always tired. My hair is also very brittle and I'm really moody. I had blood tests, an ultrasound, and a thyroid scan done. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease and hypothyroidism. I was put on 25cc Synthroid which was later bumped up to 50cc. I do feel better, but still experience tiredness and stiff joints.

I do try to cut back on gluten and dairy and joining Facebook support groups for Hashimoto's and hypothyroidism has been a huge help. It makes me feel so much better knowing that others have experienced this and can give helpful tips in coping with this disease.

I've adapted and changed some things in my life, which has helped. Before the arthritis in my foot, I was doing karate and the couch to 5k program, now I take walks. I make sure I take my meds. I try to focus on the positives. I did have one reflexology appointment and it did wonders. I felt better for weeks afterwards. As soon as I get some extra money, I will definitely go back. I also bought a chair massager with heat and that has helped my back tremendously.

I'd love to hear your story.

Save A Lot Foods

 

These are only 68 cents at Wal-mart and Save A Lot. You heat them up in the microwave for 3 minutes. They are so good!

 

 

I was disappointed that there were only 3 very small Salisbury Steaks, but it tasted really good. I also fixed mashed potatoes and parmesan toast (toast buttered with parmesan cheese spinkled on it) to help fill my family of four.

 

I'm the only one in my family who likes Pasta On the Side Alfredo, so I probably won't buy it again.

 

Shanee's Parmesan Chicken Tenders were really good! The only one who didn't like it was my youngest. He didn't like the parmesan crunchy crust.

 

 

The whole family loves El Monterey Chimichangas and their burritos. We also love their tequitos, especially over salads with salsa on top. Yum!