Easy Sweet & Sour Chicken

I cooked this for dinner last night it was easy, cheap, delicious, quick and healthy too! Found it on the back of Minute Rice -Brown rice I bought at Walmart for $0.50 with a coupon!

ARGH! THE DOGS PULLED ME DOWN AGAIN!

What can I say, I am not good at updating this page.

As if you didn't know that already, right? 

What has happened since I last wrote well, my dogs pulled me down. AGAIN!

Yeah I know, I said, I wasn't going to walk them together again, but it's hard.

It's hard, because I have to walk twice as much.  While walking twice as much is good for me, I am not always feeling well enough to do it.  

It's more then just walking, because one weighs 70lbs and the other 55lbs.  No matter how much I train them, they still pull.  And they HATE cats, we have a cat and they get along with her, but any other cat, for get about it.  That's what happened this last time.  I was walking and I was less then 1/2 a block from my house I could see my drive-way and all of a sudden they just jerked off to the right, yanking me down on the ground.  I skinned up my arm, hand, and just hurt pretty much everywhere.  I was so upset, at them.

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I came in and sat in the chair and cried for a few minutes, not about the pain although it did hurt, but it was more outta frustration.  I just don't know how to get them to stop, this.  I have been caring a small water bottle and every time I think they are about to pull/run or something like that I give them a quick squirt.  It has been working, but that cat came outta no where I didn't even see it, the cat was under a car.  These dogs can spot or smell a cat a mile a way I tell ya. 

After I stopped crying I started looking over my injuries and I got scared, because I had a huge bump coming up on my outer arm between my elbow and wrist.  Then I notice the left side of my rib cage was really hurting.   I put ice on my arm took a shower and went to bed.  When I woke up my chest was killing me.  It hurt so bad that I couldn't raise my arm, cough.  It was so sore that I couldn't use my arm without it hurting worse.  It took a whole week for it to feel better.

Now I am back to walking them one at a time, again.  

Them dogs sure are lucky I LOVE them so much!  They are like my kids, since my kids are out the house now.  My dogs are good and good to me, shoot they are super protective. That's my main reason for having a big dog, protections.  

The funniest thing, which wasn't funny being pulled down but funny over all.

Another time they pulled me down was when I was walking pass the big church down the street.

The church has a huge field where they play ball of all kinds.  And at this time there was a bunch of young adult guys playing.  Well they were kicking the ball and I noticed my younger dog was kind of getting excited.  I thought it was, because she wanted the ball.  It still maybe why she was I don't know for sure.  Well I walked them around the big block and was now in front of the church, but behind the goal.  Well the timing worked out to where the guys were all running towards us kicking the ball.  My dogs went nuts, especially the youngest one and they took off towards the ball to the right, pulling me down.  

I was yelling for them to stop while laughing, because I couldn't believe they had just pulled me down over a ball.  Well a couple guys run over to the fence saying oh, mam are you okay? One guy just jumps over the fence to come help me and my dog tried to eat him, so I was like no, go back... thanks I am okay.  It was so embarrassing, to say the least.  These cute guys watching me get knocked down and then pulled, then my dog trying to eat them.  All the poor guy did was put his hand out for me to grab and my dog almost took it off.  I laugh because she is so loving, a big baby.  It's just so weird how protective they can be.  I have to learn some more training tips for them.  This is my first time owning Pit Bulls, which they are mixed Pit Bulls. They are great dogs,  I just need to teach them some manners and we'll be good.
I am doing better and I am back to walking my dogs, (1) at a time right now.  I have good days and bad days.  I still can't do much of anything with bending over.  I do have a spinal fusion, rods, pins, and now this Spinal Chord Stimulator so I shouldn't be surprised I can't bend over very easy.
Cleaning the bathroom KILLS me.  It's mostly the tolit and tub the bending over, and I can't 1/2 @$$ anything like that so that kind of makes it even worse.
I have a few tips for y'all though.
If you suffer from heart burn which a lot of people that have taken medication do.  Start taking Probiotic, it has helped me like nothing either and it only took about a few times taking it too!  Really I am serious, I LOVE this stuff! I have been suffering so bad I was like that commerical on TV not knowing to take it before, or after to prevent or to fix it was a nigh mare, but it's so much better now that I am taking this daily.
And I can tell you how to get it MUCH CHEAPER then the name brand which can be Outrageous for sure.  It's Member's Mark 4X Probiotic compared to Align.  I bought this at Sam, it's 3 times cheaper and 4X stronger!

I got it at Sams for somewhere in between $11 and $13 I can't remember for sure.

I Am Back And I am Going to Try and Update At Least Once a Week.

So Much Has Happened Since I've Wrote Last

I've gotten some what better and then worse again.  It's off and on over and over, it's just so annoying.  

Over all I am still in daily pain, but it is better then it was before I got the Spinal Chord Stimulator.

I leave it on 24/7 the only time I turn it off is when I lay down in bed or when I go to the dentist.

I sleep sitting up mostly in a recliner that way I don't have to turn it off.

When I do turn my back off, and sleep I wake up hurting like I was just ran over by a truck.

It's so hard to move and every breath I take kills me.  I hurry and get my stimulator turned back on, eat and take medicine.  Within an hour or so it feels better. 

I use to lay down in the middle of the day and take a nap, "since I don't sleep normal" and I would sleep with my big dog, Rosie.  Rosie is a 70lb Pit/Boxer Mix and she is so comfortable to sleep with, but every since I got this stimulator in my back she will not sleep with me.  It's so weird!  I am guessing 

it puts off some type of sound that we can't hear.  My other dog will sleep with me and it don't seem to bother her at all, but she isn't scared of anything really this dog thinks she is, James Bond of dogs. lol

So, at least she don't dis me, and make me feel like a, Red-headed step-child. "Whoever made that saying up, I wonder?" 

Speaking of I found this on the subject since I was curious, now. 

The origin of the phrase "red haired step child" dates to the 1830's & 40's when Irish emigrants began arriving in America. 

"I don't know if it's true or not, but it sounds good?"

  I started back walking since it's cooling off a little it's a little easier.  My Dog Rosie can't walk as far as we use to though.  I use to walk her about 4 miles a day, but I found out her hips are messed up.  I noticed she kind of was walking around like she had arthritis or was in pain, so I took her to the vet. The vet did test and took X-Rays.  The X-Rays shows either she was born with her hips messed up or either someone injured her when she was a puppy.  "Strange thing, my hips were displaced when I was born, too.  And it was due to the nuns using forceps on my mom.  I ended up having cast from my waist down and then this steel bar in the middle.  My poor mom, she had to carry me around like that and I was in diapers!"   

Well back to my dog, Rosie.  I believe somebody stumped her while she was going through their garbage can.  I came up with this idea, because I adopted her from the SPCA when she was only 4 months old.  They said, she was a stray and was found on the street. Every since we got her she has always been deathly scared of garbage cans.  She is still kind of scared of garbage cans.  It breaks my heart to think that someone could of stumped a hungry puppy, but I have an idea that's what happened.  The only thing the vet said, we could do is give her pain medicine, glucose pills, and walk her a little less.  I could get the surgery done on her, but it's a risky surgery and they can't guaranteed they could fix it right.  I am trying to take care of her without doing surgery or giving her pain medicine.  She hasn't been limping to much lately. 

Any how I am back to walking and I am hoping to lose 25lbs.   I had lost 10 lbs at the beginning of the year, but unfortunately it found it's way back!  :(~  I know if I could get these 25lbs off I 'd be hurting less too.

My main thing is to exercise that is my main reason for gaining weight.   I need more exercise more movement will help my back overall too.  It hurts to move, but the more I do the better it ends up being.  

So I have to talk myself into going to walk for the first few weeks until it becomes habit forming.

So, wish me luck, in this long, hard road.

Oh, and if any one happens to read this that is also trying to lose weight maybe you and I can push each other.  I am just saying I need all the help I can get. :)

 

Don't Ever Use Your Daughter's Hair Products!

Don't Ever Use Your Daughter's Hair Products, At Least Without Reading First!
I won a Pro Rodeo Package from Cox Cable. This was a great gift, I got one of the Special Pro Rodeo t-shirts, hats, stuffed bulls, 4 tickets and Meet & Greet back stage with one of the Greatest Pro Rodeo riders.

I wasn't sure how much i was going to like a Rodeo, because I am so against crualty to animals and I wasn't sure if they hurt the bulls or not. I always wanted to see it closer though, because my grandpa who I was super close to use to be a bull rider. He was super nice and very good to animals so I had a hard time understanding how he was a not only a bull rider but one that won a lot of awards for it too. I felt if I went to this type of thing I could see first hand how the animals were treated.

While getting ready for the Rodeo I noticed I was out of hair mouse and instead of going and looking in my locker where I keep all tons of new stuff I made a HUGE MISTAKE! I asked my 17 year old daughter, if she had any mouse. To me I thought I was running late so it's just mouse I can grab a handful rub it in my hair, blow dry and go, right? HELL NOW! Oh, my God I put this mouse in my hair while putting it on it felt just like normal mouse. As I start blow drying my hair my hands started litterly getting stuck in my hair! I was like, Kayla! What the hell, is this crap I just put in my hair? I made a huge mistake by not reading the can, by using my daughter's mouse and not just taking 3 minutes longer and going to get mouse out the locker. As I dried my hair it was horrible my hair looked like I had the greazys it was BAD! The worse thing was I was already running late and wanted to go to the Meet and Greet. I kept drying and drying and drying, but it wouldn't dry. I think as long as I took I could of rewashed my hair and dried it again. I would of done that, except I already had my makeup on and I looked good. Well everything except the hair. If I would of had a cowboy hat I would of just threw that on my head and been done with it, but I only had a Summer cowboy hat, which wouldn't of worked.

So, we ended up missing the greet due to my hair problem. My back was hurting more then normal today too, since lately it has been so much better. beside getting stressed it right before that time of month God cursed women with. I had a lot of back pain each month so bad that I normally end up in bed for 1 or 2 days the pain is so bad. I am hoping this month is different, we'll see.

I ended up taking an extra pain pill since my back was hurting a lot and I didn't want to had a bad time. We ended up having a GREAT time, greasy hair and all. ha ha I did get to learn that they treat the animal GREAT! These bulls are so well taken care of I really think the bulls are treated better then the guys were. They looked so clean, beautiful and strong. You can tell they must eat the best food available, because their coats were shinny and smooth. Before the show started we were lead in prayer for the riders and the animals. I really liked that, and behind the stage was pictures of the Bulls a long with their names and information. It made me feel really good knowing that none of the animals were being miss treated it made me feel a lot more relaxed and I was able to enjoy the show which was amazing. We were right there in the middle of everything.

My back was still hurting a little more then it had been so I turned up my stimulator and that helped a lot. It's so nice to be able to have more opption then just popping a pill. I am happier with having this done more and more everyday. I've been walking for at least 30 minutes a day, but more like 60 minutes a day.
It's so worth it to have this done, because I can do a lot more then I was able to do before.
Until next time, remember don't use your daughter's moose. ;)

Newest Doctor Visit and The Out Come

Hello there,
I had my third doctors visit with Dr. Richter on 3/24/10 this was my third time seeing him since I had the Spinal Chord Stimulator put in on 02/01/10. I was pretty excited to see Dr. Richter and his staff to let them know how happy I am with it. My back hasn't felt this good in years! To give you an idea of how good my back is feeling I'll rate my pain from 1-10 if you have a back problem your being seen for, then you are very familiar with this scale. If not, think of it like this: "1 represents good and 10 represents bad." My pain before having the SCS was put in I would rate my pain mostly a 10, but if I ever had a good day it would be about a 7. That day didn't happen very often, I am sure I could count it with two fingers being used only once. You understand I didn't have good days. Now to rate my pain, the worse would be a 7 maybe even a 6 and the best being 4 or 5. The only pain I felt I still I couldn't reach was in my hips, but I am happy to say that during my office visit they fixed that problem with a few adjustments.

This surgery has been amazingly helpful so far, I can't believe how much I've been able to do that I wasn't able to do before. I know for the average person my list will sound pretty lame, but to me it's anything but. I can sit at my main computer without the heating pad for at least 30 minutes and my back doesn't start killing me. Before I couldn't sit there any longer then 5 minutes, before getting pissed off and agitated. I had stopped using that computer altogether for that reason. I use my lap top in my recliner with my good friend, heating pad. I wish I could say I don't use my heating pad anymore, but that would be a lie. I believe I could go without it but I am scared to give it up. I think I am addicted to it. Very strange I know, but it's been my best friend for years. Look at my pictures, and you'll see how bad my back is discolored from it. I wonder if they have a 12 step program for heating pad use? Hell everybody and there grandma are going to rehab for something these days, you never know.

If I had to say if I would recommend having this surgery, I would say YES! I didn't want to say yes, until I really felt a difference and I do now so I highly recommend it, if your in pain give it a try. I am not sure if you can try the Stimulator before having other back surgeries or not, but I would recommend you have it before doing any other major back surgeries. I let my doctor know yesterday that I was writing about my experience with the Spinal Chord Stimulator and he was happy to hear it and wanted the web-address. I of course was a little embarrassed to give it to him since I had talked so badly about him. ha ha .... just kidding... I didn't! I was embarrassed that I hadn't updated as much as I should of. I really want to keep updating this site and I promise it's on my mind to do so, it's just kind of hard to get it done.

I have a website http://www.SmartMomsSavingMoney.com which takes A LOT OF TIME, believe me I update it daily and I try to put tons of information on there to save everybody the most money I can, one of the problems is as soon as I put the information up it's already about to expire in a couple days so it's an everyday super time consuming task. I also have this site and another money saving blog on Blogger. I am new to doing this on my own. I use to write for Today, but there was a big following for the site so, I didn't have to really go push the site, I just had to put good articles out. Now I have to do it all, advertising, writing, hunting, plus family life. I don't know a lot about advertising for FREE, but I do know how to save money on almost everything else. Anyway as I learn I'll pass that information on to help others. If you know a lot about this subject, PLEASE pass it on to me, I really need the help and I am up for learning. PLEASE you can e-mail me HERE the last few years that I'd be as pain free as I am right now. Honest I used to dream and fantasize about how it would be just to not want to cry when I lean over the bathroom sink to brush my teeth, but I gave up on that dream a few years ago. This is as close to pain free I've been in years honest. I now have been dreaming once again, about what it maybe like a year from now. Dr. Richter said, it would keep getting better for a while so I can only image I'll be able to do something fun with my family.


I do have a few more things to add to my list or that would be a lame list for sure. :(~ I've been able to walk everyday now I even walked all over the last few days, because my mother was here for about 4 days visiting and her car was in the paint shop. I've been letting my daughter drive to school since it's such a pain in the butt, having to drive her to two different schools everyday and then having to pass 3 hours waiting for her. So, I talked up how fun it would be to walk everywhere and about how the exercise would be so good for us. Mom fell for it and we walked all over the place, we even walked to lunch a new little place called Flaming Burgers "great place with good real food and super nice people" we went and did some deals at CVS, Winn Dixie and even got movies at Blockbusters. Most days we walked about 1 1/2 miles and the farthest would of been about 2 1/2 miles, which was pushing it a little for my mom, she was wore her out.
I am happy to say I felt great! No pain what so ever, except in my hips, I have been able to clean my bathroom without wanting to cry, "I didn't attempt to clean the tub by bending over I used a long scrubber on a handle' I've also been able to sweep and mop, change the sheets, brushing my teeth without wanting to cry.



I am not sure if you can try the Stimulator before having other back surgeries or not, but I would recommend you have it before doing any other major back surgeries if possible. The other day, I let Dr. Richter know that I was writing about my experience with the Spinal Chord Stimulator and he was happy to hear it and wanted the web-address. I of course was a little embarrassed to give it to him since I had talked so badly about him. ha ha .... just kidding... I didn't! I was embarrassed that I hadn't updated as much as I should of. I really want to keep updating this site and I promise it's on my mind to do so, it's just kind of hard to get it done.

Dr. Ritcher said, if I had any questions come in he would be more then happy to help and answer them. He's a great guy, who really wants to help as many people as he can, so I trust that he will do as he said. Especially since I didn't ask him and and he volunteered on his own. So make sure if you have ANY QUESTIONS on the SPINAL CHORD STIMULATOR, or any type of question about the surgery ask me and I'll pass it on to Dr.Erich Richter e-mail me HERE
**If you find anything wrong with this blog please let me know. I will be rechecking it after I get some sleep, I wrote this during Saturday morning from Midnight - 6:45 AM I kept finding myself asleep. What the hell, who needs sleep? I'll recheck it soon, I have to get over to my other website and update the sales and ads. Make sure you check out the deals and freebies at Smart Moms Saving Money.**

I was able to walk today!

I am happy to say that I was able to walk my dog today. :) Rosie was super excited that's for sure. I felt a little better today and I found some old energy pills and took one it sure did the trick, because I had a lot more energy and I had no problem walking. I only walked about a mile I think. I had a video to return to the New $1 Blockbuster machine, so I thought I'll just walk my dog and go on down there.

Walking her, went well she is kind of out of practice and kept smelling everything, but when I would tell her she'd start walking again, I didn't really have to pull on her and she didn't pull me. I was a little worried she might be pulling again, since it's been a while and with her being so dang strong I didn't want her to hurt my back. Rosie is a 66lb Pit bull, who is almost pure muscle. She's such a beautiful dog, I love walking her.

When I got to the Blockbuster machine it wouldn't take my movie back, and since it was my first time I kept thinking I was doing something wrong and the dang sun was shinning right on the screen so it was hard to read. I called the # off the machine, and they asked me a few questions then told me to return the movie inside the store, because if it doesn't grab it then it's not working right. I thought okay that's easy enough and hung up.

Right after hanging up I look down to remember, oops oh crap, I have a huge dog with me, that lots of people are scared of. I guess since I have sunglasses on I could just hold my arm up and act like I can't see, right? Um no that's not right. Boy am I ever for in a pickle! Well I stood there for a minute and though, I'll just make her leash short and keep her on my side. That's what I did and I walked in with her, no one said anything except a guy at the front of the line, who I jumped. No he wasn't mad at me he must of been a dog lover, cause he was like oh, wow she's beautiful. I was thinking what part of sneaking don't you notice here, dude? Be quite, about the D. O. G. HA HA The guy behind the counter, didn't say a word about her though, he just took the movie and said he would return it and we went on our way.

I think I'll try and walk to CVS tomorrow and bring her in with me there. That would be so awesome if I could take her in with me, I'd start walking to the store with her all the time.

My back seems to be getting a little better everyday now so I can't wait to see how good it's going to be in the end.

Please make sure you stop by my website Smart Moms Saving Money

How the back is doing TODAY

My back is feeling a lot better today I've been doing better not great but better. The only thing I am having a problem in I am still very run down. I am not falling a sleep as easy, but I am still falling a sleep while sitting up. If I could stay a sleep it wouldn't be so bad, but I don't so it's kind of a pain. Over all though I think I am going better and I will try and start walking Monday. I'll take it slow at first and work my way back up to where I can bring my dog again. I am a little scared to walk her by myself yet since she is so strong and if something catches her eye I could be in big trouble.
Until next time, have a great weekend!
Laura

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