WAAAAAAAA!!!!! Sniff, Sniff :(

Okay, so this is a painful time of the year...tax time. I hate it. I usually end up owing because I haven't had enough taken out and the same is true for this year too. I just filed my taxes with TurboTax, which by the way was awesome; even for a Flight Attendant and all my deductions, and sent everything off E-file. Technology has made my life easier in that aspect. No more standing in line at the post office waiting for an return signature card. Now, with a click of my mouse, I just sent it directly to the IRS. Knowing all this, it still doesn't make it any less painful to file and pay. Next year I vow not to pay. I am going to increase my deductions so I don't have to pay. This year was a couple thousand dollars. Yep, you can re-read that, but yes, that is what I had to pay. That is why on a Friday night, this beautiful, single and successful independent girl is crying and throwing a tantrum like a baby. Who knows? Maybe next year I won't owe and get a refund. Ha! I doubt it with the passage of O'BamaCare.

Pancakes!

Yesterday I woke up craving pancakes. I had purchased a new cookbook and there was a very simple recipe for pancakes that promised they were unbelievable! So, I tried it. It was VERY easy and extremely yummy. I will never buy another pancake mix again! The recipe made about 7-8 pancakes so I ate two (barely) and froze the others. I had two frozen ones this morning and they were still delicious. These are quick and can be on the table within 10 minutes. Here is the recipe:

Fluffy, Thick Homestyle Pancakes
1 1/2 C. flour
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/4 C. milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp. butter, melted

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg, and melted butter; mix until smooth. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 C. for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot. Makes 8 servings.

Recipe is from Worldwide Ward Cookbook.

I also slept through the night last night for the first time in three weeks! It's been great! I thought I would be really bored staying home all this time, but I've been really tired and sleeping most of the day. It just means my body is repairing :)

My Health Care

Today I made my fourth trip to the dr. this month! It really is getting ridiculous, but today I finally got some sort of diagnosis. I have a fractured rib. Just as I suspected two weeks ago, I broke my rib when I was coughing so hard. I heard it pop and it really hurt. Even though there isn't really a treatment except manage the pain with meds and lots of rest. So, I am going to rest another two weeks. I am really tired of being sick, but now I kind of feel like I'm finally getting somewhere.

I am very glad that I have great health care, but I am extremely worried that this great nation has really made a HUGE blunder! This government, whom our forefathers escaped socialism and oppressive governments and rulers to establish, has passed and now will be signed into law, a mandatory health care program that I as a tax payer and citizen must pay for. So, my freedom to make decisions on my own health care, including any tests that I may opt to pay for, will no longer be my decision, but my government, elected officials who have sworn an oath to represent the people! Yes, this is the United States, the Land of the Free? My only hope is that our wonderful Constitution bails us out of this huge blunder that has been done.

Vanity

Well, in my previous blog I mentioned my Dr. told me that I would feel younger. If he meant that I wouldn't be able to sleep all night and stay up until 5am, he was right! I finally fell asleep after eating a bowl of Cheerios. My Grandpa Thatcher always ate a bowl of Honey-Nut Cheerios before going to bed. It really worked for me last night. I fell right to sleep after eating :) It's funny what one remembers about their grandparents.

In my tossing and turning I was thinking about a friend of mine who is getting plastic surgery. This is isn't my first friend to do this, but the first who is LDS. I've always promised myself that I would get a breast lift as my 40th birthday present to myself. Being sick these past couple of weeks and having surgery on my hand last September, I am rethinking my whole 40th birthday plan. It would all be in the name of Vanity, right?

So, this got me thinking last night as I was tossing and turning...Is getting optional plastic surgery vain? I thought through all the reasons one might give as justification for it. "To feel better about myself," "I've always wanted to do it," or my favorite "I want to do something for me after my divorce to be more attractive." I myself have the excuse and justification that if I get my breast lift when I'm 40, they will be right back where they are now when I'm 80!

I remember a couple years ago a talk given in Conference that advised women of the church to not give into the wordly preoocupation of self and on the physical. We were warned that it is spiritually destructive. I tried to find the talk and this link will take you to the one I think it is. If it isn't, please correct me!

LDS.org - Ensign Article - To Young Women

I could probably go on all day about this, and I know that my nieces read this. I just want them to know that we all come in different shapes and sizes. No one is a perfect size or shape! Look in the mirror and celebrate what makes you wonderful and special! I will start! I love my freckles. Have I always? Nope. In junior high I hated them. I love my hair. It sometimes curls, but it has a little bit of red in it (naturally) and it brings out the little bit of green in my eyes, which I also love. I love that I have an hour-glass shape too! I am not a small shaped person and never will be, but I have been given this body for a reason, important reasons. One of those important reasons is to perform service like Visiting Teaching! There are so many things that I love about myself that once I start thinking about them, the small things I don't like become pretty insignificant. Of course, these are physical things, which are pretty unimportant. The real importance is what kind of person you are and who you want to be! I am also including Natasha Bedingfield's Song Freckles. I love that song and pretty much sums up what I am talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrIA-DZmtGQ

A Shot to Make Me Feel Younger?

So, as most of you know, I've been really sick this whole month! I have some sort of cough/bronchial infection that won't go away. In my many bouts of coughing, I think I've either torn some cartilage in my ribs, torn a tendon, or broken a rib. I am in intense pain and it hurts to breathe. This is going on three weeks now and I am running out of patience. I am also extremely bored of sitting at home and doing nothing! I would like to get better so I can go back to work!

Today, I went to see my Dr. again and he gave me a steroid shot. It hurt! I fully admit that I am a total wimp, but it really hurt. The actual shot didn't hurt that much, but it totally burned after about a minute or two. I also got a breathing treatment. Tomorrow I have to go and have more x-rays done of my ribs. I just hope that all of this will make me feel better eventually. Hopefully sooner, than later. My Dr. did say one of the side effects from the shot was that I should start feeling "younger" in the next couple of days. That would be nice :) I hardly ever got sick when I was younger.

I've been reading and watching a lot of television. Bravo has many different types of shows on that I love to Tivo. It's a very liberal channel, but I have been completely entertained. I'm also starting my third book that I've read this month, The Color of Water. I'll let you know how it is. Please pray for my quick recovery so I can return to work and stop watching so much television!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Today is my 36th birthday! I woke up this morning and thought, "I'm 36! Wow!! That sounds so old!" It does. I don't know why it sounds old, because I don't feel old. I feel very young, and that's what counts, right?

So, this morning I went to the gym and had an awesome workout! I lost 12 pounds with P90x and now my body is in pretty good shape. I'm fitting into all of my clothes and my jeans are a little bit baggy. I think I look great :) The most important thing is that I feel great, confident and like the way I look.

After my great workout, I went to my favorite bakery in Las Vegas, Freed's and bought three slices of cake. Then, if three slices of cake wasn't enough for my birthday, I bought two more cakes from Nothin' Bundt Cakes. I recently tasted one of their cakes and was impressed, so I thought, "Why not? It's MY birthday!" Later today I will go to my favorite Greek restaurant and eat Greek Fries and then this evening have dinner with my friend Julie. Thanks Julie!!

I have some goals that I want to accomplish in my 36th year of life. I want to pay off all my credit card debt. I know I can do this, so it's time I did this. I want to take some dance classes, like Jazz and Hip-Hop, which will be a blast! I also just want to make myself a better person. This is going to be a great year! I can feel it!

I went this past weekend to Utah to visit my family. My brother, Todd, threw me a birthday party. All of my siblings were there! I can't remember the last time we got together for a birthday. I don't know if we ever have as adults. It was very nice to reunite and I am grateful to Todd for everything. I am very blessed!

My plans for the rest of the day? I will watch some chick flicks, eat cake, eat Greek Fries, and eat dinner with Julie! Sounds like a great birthday to me!

Sitting at home for a month

Well, it's been a freaking long time since I've updated my blog. May? Well, this is a short update.

Zach was here for the summer and we had a great time. I moved into a townhouse in July that I really like. I worked my butt off during the month of August and in September I had surgery on my hand.

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So, I've been off of work since Sept. 16th. I had a small mass on the palm of my right hand, and had the mass removed. My surgeon was great! I woke up from surgery in the recovery room singing A Day in the Life by The Beatles. So, I asked my surgeon on a follow-up appointment if he was playing The Beatles in the Operating Room and he told me that he was! Crazy, huh?

Speaking of The Beatles, I went to see Cirque de Soleil's LOVE! It was amazing! I fell in love with The Beatles and just plunked down $180 on the new remastered stereo boxed set that came out on 09/09/09. Number 9, get it? I love the music. It sounds so crisp and clear. It was definitely a great buy. I now have the entire Beatles catalog. I think I got 17 CDs in the boxed set. I also was able to go see Sgt. Pepper Live with Cheap Trick. That was a real treat!

I also went to see Pet Shop Boys in concert with my friend, Dann. It was great, even though I only knew about five songs, it was very entertaining.

I went the weekend before last and saw Zach in Colorado Springs and was able to go to one of his football games. He looked great in his new band uniform, and I froze my butt off!

Last weekend I went to Utah to see my nephew, Luke, get baptized. He was so amazing the next day when he gave his testimony. He didn't give a cookie cutter testimony. It was straight from the heart. I had tears!

So, I go back to work this week on Thursday. I am looking forward to it. I hope my finger doesn't hurt too badly. It is swollen and has been since the surgery. I hope that one day it won't be double the size of my left index finger.