New Job... Again

I have changed jobs again.   My year as a Manager at Baylor College of Medicine was just not the right fit.   

I am now a Consultant and it feels like I am myself again.   When I was a manager I kept thinking "fake it until you make it"  but it never felt like I was making it.   It was always fake.

When you are not being true to yourself -- it takes a toll.   

When I change to this job - it was like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. 

OMG!  YES!!  THIS IS WHAT I AM!

The manager at the place where I am working gave his team a talk about embracing your strengths. Too often people look at what they suck at, and not on what they are GOOD at.

If you are naturally a "6" at something, and could be a "8" or a "9" with focus -- that is way better than trying like hell to make your level 2 skill get to a 3...   You try like hell but you are still are below average!!!

And that is OK.

You are NOT going to be able to do everything perfectly.  HELL, there are somethings  won't even be able to pull off half-assed.

By putting your limited energy into something that will suck you dry -- is just a horrible waste all around.

Focus your attention away from what you lack -- and look at things you can control -- things you are good at!!!  You need to do what you are good at and get really good at what you do...  BE YOU and embrace that strength.

Where is your passion?   What are your gifts?   Focus on those and be happier, happier will lead to healthier.    YOU GOT THIS!

Here's how much my kids have grown!

How can he already be one?!?!?!
(Jonathan)

Little Miss Attitude
(Genevieve)

The Ring Leader
(Alexandria)

Are you Losing Weight?

Today someone asked me if I was losing weight?

It was like a ray of warm sunshine after a long cold winter.


My weight this morning was 268.00.  I have lost about 2 pounds a week and things are going great.

I am eating lots of plants, and need to cut out fried food again.   The hardest part for me is getting over my cheap-ass ways.

Health Food isn't going to be found on the Dollar Menu.  I need to learn how to pack a health lunch... There are tons of websites about that but doing it seems like a Herculean Task!

Maybe this FOOD NETWORK Apple, Pecan and Blue Cheese Salad?

Eating more Vegetables is what I am going to work on this week!

Eat More Veggies

Veggies are so good, and good for you! There is no real reason not to eat them!!! You are an adult and you have the power to eat what you like. Gone are the childhood days of over-cooked mushy canned peas. Free yourself from those traumatic veggie memories of yore, and start thinking about the good ones!

Remember how good those onions and peppers are on your Fajitas? How about the broccoli, pea pods, and baby corn in your favorite Chinese dish? Mmm! Those are the kind of veggies you should think of!! (Not just "rabbit food.")

Here are some tips to start getting more green into your diet:

• Add lots of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, to your veggie burgers and subs.
• Make vegetable laden casseroles or chili.
• Add corn and/or diced tomatoes to your taco filling.
• Order a veggie pizza instead of a meat one.
• Order a spicy vegetable dish from the local Chinese/Thai/Indian restaurant.
• Always go for a garden salad, instead of a creamy soup.

Biggest Loser Contest at Work

A group at my work is doing a "Biggest Loser" contest, were everyone contributes $40 to sign up.

I know I have it in me to lose weight because I have done it before - but after 3 kids in less than 4 years, and totally abandoning a healthy lifestyle; I am right back to nearly my previous start weight.

I weighted in at 272.6 today.  I was nearly 300 pounds when I started my weight loss last time.

I know what  I need to do, but worry how I can do it with three tiny tots underfoot?

My kids view salad as the leaves you lick Ranch dressing off of.

I worry about getting them setup as healthy eaters, since I have totally gone off the rails.

This week My Goal is to Drink More Water.



Drink Lots of Water Every Day!

Most people do not get enough water.

Water is vital for the function of the kidneys that purify the blood. When the body does not get enough water some of the load is shifted to the liver.

The liver's main function is to metabolize the body's fat for energy. If it is busy doing the kidney's job, you are not burning off fat! (Not to mention all the other benefits of a well hydrated body!)

Some recommend drinking 8 glasses of water each day, but that is the amount of water it takes for a sedentary 128 pounds person to stay hydrated. If you are bigger or more active, you will need more water to take care of your body's needs. (Makes sense to me!)

An easy way to figure out the minimum amount of water you need is to divided your weight (in pounds) by 2 and drink that many ounces of water daily. Example: A 200 pound person would need a minimum of 100 ounces of water to stay hydrated daily.

Cheers!


When I was doing my best at weight loss.  I drank a gallon of water daily at Work.

Giving Thanks

My third child was born on June 20th.  I felt the contractions starting around 5 AM, went to the Hospital at 7 AM and gave birth to a health little boy at 11:09 AM.  He was 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 21 inches long.

I am a crafty nerd so I made him a little R2-D2 hat!

He is now 5 months old and his "big" sisters are my super helpers.  We call him Jon, Jonnie, JJ and Baby Jon.

Jonathan (Baby Jon), Genevieve (Genny) & Alexandria (Alex)

He is very precious and sweet!   He loves watching his big sisters and gets so excited.   He is able to scoot around and go backwards at 5 months.  He will be crawling in no time.  Then we'll have  3 that are "self-propelled" babies in the house!

We JUST moved to a new rental home in Bellaire, TX.  It turns my husband's old 35 mile - 1 hour and 15 minute commute into a 5 mile - 20 minute commute!!  That is 60 miles and nearly 2 hours less a day!!!   My commute also dropped from 40 minutes to about 20. AMAZING!

I hope that with the added time home we can save money on child care and just enjoy more time together.

The move was rough with some VERY bad movers - so bad we had to hire another set of movers to finish the job.  

I felt taken.    When I called to complain about my broken furnature and the way they left me hanging.   I got NO sympathy or customer support.  it was like - "Too Late, Sucker!  We got your money!"   I am enraged that they broke BOTH of my my girl's beds and their response was "get some wood glue from home depot.

The allen screws were totally stripped or missing from the bottom of the beds.   It was unsafe to put my children in the beds,   and that made me so ANGRY that they would endanger my children and not own up to the damage...

Baby Three Due July 1, 2015

I am 35 weeks pregnant with our third baby!  I have changed jobs.  I'm now the Epic Revenue Cycle IT Manager at Baylor College of Medicine!!!  We are still in Houston, TX.

My Mother In-law will be flying in on June 10th when I reach 37 weeks.

Alexandria is now 3 and a half, and Genevieve will be 18 months on June 12th!

Alex

Genny

Soon  a new baby BROTHER will join the Scott Family!

We plan to name him Jonathan Joseph.

Alex calls anything tiny "Jon" sized now.  It is very adorable.

She also said that I need to go to the hospital to "HATCH" Jon!!!

She is very impatient for this brother to show up already!

I said I would go to the hospital and he would be BORN... when he is ready.  

It is so cute.

Genny hugs my belly and seems to know what is going on too -- even though she cannot say much other than Da-Da, Ma-Ma,  Num-Num (Food),  Ba-Ba (bottle), Boo (Peek-a-Boo), and "Neng" is (No) 

She also loves to say "WHOA!"  

I really hate living very far away from our families -- and making friends when you have tiny kids is very hard to do, but we are working on it. 

...Another Fall, a Baby Girl and Moved to Texas!

On November 6th, 2013 I fell in another parking lot!   I was 33 weeks pregnant at the time, and I did break my foot.   I was stepping off a curb and fall leaves were hiding the uneven pavement.  Instead of my ankle tendons tearing -- they snapped off the bone where they are attached.   So it really hurt less than a sprain - breaking the bone.  I thought I was okay at first, but after about 30 minutes I knew I should go to the ER.

I contacted my work and they refused to make it workers comp because I was not on the clock at the time of the accident.  After the previous drama and in the end denial of Worker Comp.  I went to the ER and they made sure the baby was okay.  When they took me in for an x-ray.

The x-ray tech asked me "There is no chance you could be pregnant, right?"    You should have seen her face when I said, "I am 33 weeks pregnant -- so yes, I am very pregnant."!!!

The next day I had to go to an orthopedic doctor to set the bone.  He put on a huge fiberglass cast on my foot and I was put on crutches.  I then asked that they give me a temp. handicap parking pass because being 8 months pregnant with a broken foot...  I think I should get better parking!  They agreed and did the paperwork to give me the parking pass!

After 3 weeks in the cast then cut it off, re-did the x-rays -- scheduled me for an MRI and put me in an inflatable walking boot cast.  I graduated to using a cane.

On December 12th I called my mid-wife at about 4 am because the baby had not been moving like she normally does all night making sleep miserable..  Instead of enjoying a nights peace - I was worried the baby was not kicking and punching me.  The Mid-wife was too, so she said to get to the hospital for "observation" which really means INDUCTION.

I was hooked up to a IV and they started the Pitocin drip and less than 12 hours later...

Genevieve Marie Scott
12/12/2013 @ 3:42 PM
5 lbs. 6oz. --18.5 inches long

Alexandria was very happy to see mommy and meet the baby.  A SISTER!!!

When "Baby Genny" (that's what Alex called her - so we all called her) was 4 weeks old -- we got on a train and moved the family from Atlanta, GA to Houston, TX!

Waiting in the New Orleans station - ALL ABOARD!

Alex LOVED the train ride!

Nap time in the family car on the train.

Life in Texas is wonderful - but it is hard with no family or friends and two little ones.

Genny is nearly 7 months old now!!

Alex coaches Genny on how to crawl.

"Self-Rescuing Princess" thinks normal a Rubik's Cube is too easy. 

We will be traveling by plane next weekend to go visit family!!!  It should be very fun!!!

Trip to the Emergency Room

On Monday I fell in the parking lot of Day Care that is part of the Hospital I work at.  I tripped over crack in the pavement and twisted my right ankle.  I fell like a ton of bricks on to my left knee and knew there was no way I could get off the ground with both legs injured like that.

My purse and my daughter were still in the car.  I was walking around the car to get her out to take into the building when - WHAM, down I go!

I started calling for help.  There were lots of other people around dropping off their kids.  The first person to (sort of) respond was a man who asked me if I was okay.  I said "No."  He then asked if I had my phone.

"No, it is in my bag - still in the car - like my daughter."

He then went to my car, got my purse -- and left me there!

I then got my phone out myself and called the Hospital Switchboard.  They patched me over to Security.   I had to contact them because I was a Hospital employee injured on Hospital Property.  The woman from Security got there in about 5 minutes and started doing the "Incident Report".  I let her know that I could not get off the ground.  She called in and asked to dispatch an ambulance to get me.  I then added the fact I am 20 weeks pregnant.  That seemed to spook her a bit.

Apparently lots of parents were telling the staff I was laying on the ground because the manager of the Child Care Center then came out to check on me.  She finally got my sweet baby out of the car.  Alexandria was SO HAPPY to finally be out of her carseat and that car!  She took her inside to her classroom.

After a few more minutes more staff came out with washcloths and crushed ice filled rubber gloves.   They handed me the items so I could preform a bit of first aid on myself.

WHERE IS THAT AMBULANCE!?  I AM ALREADY AT THE HOSPITAL! YOU JUST NEED TO TAKE ME THE TWO BLOCKS AROUND TO THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT!!!

I just cannot get off the asphalt!

After 20 minutes I was really starting to feel the pain. The crowd of people around had grown. The Chief of Security was now there (who has the same birthday as me!)  and two more staff from the Child Care Center.  The antsy staff called up to the ER to see what's going on? 

Apparently no one actually called for an ambulance!

30 minutes after my fall the police officer arrives who is staffed at the ED.  He is excited to drive my Volt once I am carted off.  

Now that the EMTs have actually been called, they arrive pretty quickly.  They splint up my right foot with padded cardboard and tape. Then the "lucky"  guys get to pick my butt off the ground and on to a gurney.  They jokingly ask which hospital I want to be taken to.

They drive me up to the Emergency Room and when I arrive the staff is like, "Oh, there's the woman that fell in the parking lot!"  Apparently they had been made aware of my impending arrival -- but again  no ambulance was informed!

The first nurse to get to me had the microphone to monitor the baby's heart.  My "passenger" was A-OKAY!

Then the Rad Tech arrives with a moble x-ray machine to image my knee and ankle.

Then I sit there for about 40 minutes with NOTHING TO DO.  I am then informed nothing is broken.  Here is a prescription for some pain meds.  No work - bed rest for 2 days, and here are your bandages and crutches.  We will get a wheelchair to get you out of here.

Great!  I am so over this morning and have not had breakfast (It's been about 2.5 hours since my fall now.)

So the nurse wheels me over to the pharmacy where the pharmacist says "I cannot fill this medication because the incident report is not on file for my Workers Compensation."

WHAT?!  So apparently my fall was admitted to the ER as "Workers Compensation" because I am an employee having an accident on the premises.  I am told to go to Employee Health to do the needed paperwork there.

I break out my phone and contact my husband letting him know how my morning went.  He is going to come get me.   I foolishly thought that it would be an easy process to get whatever needed to be done to fill my medication.  I sat in the waiting area for about 20 minutes watching people go to lunch now... me still starving at this point.   I finally called out.  I am in pain and really need to get his taken care of so I can just get home and put my feet up.

My Husband arrives at this time from his work and joins me in the waiting area.  Finally I am taken back where the manager is like "I am not sure what happened to you is workers comp."  I said.  I don't care -- just please help me get my meds so I can go home."  It is amazing how I was able to control my temper because I was so HUNGRY and in PAIN.

Finally, she fills out another report and calls the pharmacy to dispense my meds.  Aaron wheels me back over to the pharmacy where the Pharmacist then says that taking the medication will effect my pregnancy... so great.  Perfect.   All that for really nothing!

It was a struggle getting up to our 2nd floor walk-up condo, but I made it.  Between the Left Knee and the Right Ankle -- I wanted to limp on both legs.  I could not bend the knee or put weight on the other leg.   It sucked!   Aaron has been taking care of things that I normally do because I am laid up.  it is nice that he helps but also hard.

Baby Two due 12/25/2013

I am 14 weeks pregnant with Baby Two.  I am worried about getting gestational diabetes again and being induced early, like what happened with Alexandria.  I have already changed my diet to that of a diabetic and I have been staying active.   So far this pregnancy has been smooth.  I never had morning sickness, but I suddenly found the taste of peanuts and peanut butter was like dirt.   I think I am getting over that now too.

Finding the Time

Aaron and I have been taking turns working out while the other one distracts Alexandria.  She is a little pistol that gets into EVERYTHING she can.   Usually it is whatever is the most dangerous item in the area - - that is where you'll find her!   Like standing up on her rocking chair...

A wobbly toddler on a wobbly surface what could go wrong?

 Or trying to grab the pedal on the elliptical machine.

Let me help by sticking my tiny fingers into this moving machine!

Finding the time to workout is often an issue.  With all that happens in life how can you commit to a workout schedule?

Time is the thing no one thinks they have.  "I just don't have the time!"

Well there are 24 hours each day.  Everyone has the same amount of time every day. What you pack into your time?

6-8 hours of sleep
8-9 hours at work
1 hour commuting
1 Cooking/Eating/feeding the baby
half hour of Household Chores
half hour of Personal Care (bathing etc..)
3.5 hours of "watching the kids"
30 minutes of "free time" with Aaron



Ways to squeeze activity into your busy schedule.


While at work:

• Take a 15 minute break to take a short walk. 
• if you have a large building - go to the restroom on another floor.
• walk to a co-worker's desk instead of emailing.
• Stand-up during conference calls. Pace.
• Sit on a yoga ball.
• put pedals under your desk and just pedal away!
 

LOVE THIS THING!!!!!

While Cooking:

• March in place
• Do Squats as deep as comfortable with the counter for balance.
• do curls or presses with cans or jars for weights.
• big old jars of spaghetti sauce work those arms!  

While watching the kids:

Be active and set a great example on being active!

• dance with the kids
• chase / play tag
• if small enough -- pick your child up and carry them around. 
• remember to work both arms switch sides.
•  get outside. play in the yard - walk around the block.

Use your time well.  Every day is a gift that is why it is called the present.

Let there be LIGHT!

Ever since we bought our condo in December 2011 I dreamed of doing some home improvements.  This weekend I finally replaced the light in the dining room!!

I never liked the blue pendant halogen light in our dining room.  The whole room was dark except for the one little spot light of crazy bright light.  It was hard to play boardgames with the poor lighting and if the table was not under it -- you would hit your head on the darn thing too!   IT HAD TO GO! 

Before - No light, cobalt blue night time forehead-smasher.

The light is on.  The room is still dark.

 So I used my birthday cash to buy a much needed replacement light for the ceiling! 

After

Let there be LIGHT!!!

What a Change!  I am so happy to have lots of light in the dining room!! 

Alexandria also liked this project because she got to play in the box the light was delivered in.