MY WEEK ROUNDUP

MY KIDS ARE DRIVING ME NUTS FINALLY. WHEN DOES SCHOOL START? Does anybody want a whiny little boy to reprogram after having been influenced by the devil neighbors for two weeks? (They were sent home to NM because everyone refused to babysit them.  I don't think they will be allowed over here next year, they have gotten twice as bad as normal. Thank goodness they are gone, but now we are back to trying to get Mr. Insane outside during the day. It never ends!

We celebrated our anniversary on Tuesday this week with dinner out and a lot of time together just hanging out and doing nothing. They key was that we were together.  We ended up going to Olive garden which was great because we hardly ever get to go there and they have great White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. I rarely eat dessert so that was an extra bonus.  We did a free giveaway of my latest novel that day too and had a great response.  Why not celebrate love with a free Romance book! http://www.writerjjellis.com 

So, about the new products I'm taking to boost my health, well I took two of them on Thursday for the first time and I felt so wonderful all day!  Of course my hips were still messed up so I couldn't do much physically, but I felt like I could move mountains even if I really couldn't. I did get a lot of work done on my next novel because my mind was clear and I didn't get sidetracked as easily.  I can't wait to see what more use of these products does for me!  Today I started the third product and am waiting to see what it does for me.  This is the multi vitamin one and I understand that this will make the biggest difference until the weight starts to come off. Tomorrow I start the weight loss program (I hope, my cough hasn't been allowing me to hold food down for long so we have to wait until that goes away.)

Next week I hope to have a report back to you on how I am feeling overall and then in a couple of weeks I will have my report on how my weight loss is coming along.  After my first cycle I will have a before and after picture for you. This ought to be interesting.  If you are interested in learning more about the products I'm taking I will give you the web address and you can read it over. OMNITRITION

We had Gwen at the cardiologists today and he doesn't think there is anything to be worried about but he wants to do one last test - she gets to wear a monitor for 48 hours. If that doesn't find something then she is in the clear.  I guess the things she is experiencing can be normal for girls her age.  I'm just glad they are being thorough!

UPS AND DOWNS - 19 YEARS OF MARRIAGE

Well, nineteen years ago tomorrow I had one of the busiest, yet most wonderful days of my life. I walked down the aisle and said I Do to the man I love.  Nineteen years, do you believe it?  Sometimes it seems like yesterday and sometimes it seems like twenty-nine years ago.

My memory is so bad that I often wonder if I will ever remember a lot of details from my wedding.  I remember spending the night before at my in-laws house (The Hubs and I lived together so we decided to spend the night before apart). If I remember correctly, The Hubs went to an informational meeting in north town for a police department hiring fair. I remember waking up and having breakfast. I remember at some point during the afternoon taking my bridesmaids to a salon I frequented and getting nails and hair done.

After that we headed to the church and started to get ready. I remember my stockings were the wrong kind and we had to scramble to find a different pair.  Taking pictures was next. With my mom, dad, bridesmaids etc. I remember heading up to the foyer of the church and my daddy was there.  I was worried that he was uncomfortable, he wasn't much for being out in public with strangers and he wasn't much for dressing up in monkey suits, but on that day he seemed fine.  He even seemed fine with my mom being there (they didn't talk since the divorce).

I remember walking down the aisle with my daddy at my side and seeing The Hubs waiting for me.  I was nervous about being up in front of tons of people, but not about getting married. My memory skips through most of the ceremony but I do remember a little kid saying something that made The Hubs and I laugh through some of our vows.  It really helped me break the ice with my nervousness.  All in all it was the perfect wedding ceremony for me.

I remember my new BIL driving us to our reception destination. It was in the gorgeous, huge backyard of a friend of MIL's, on a golf course. (It is this house I think of when I write about a big house on a golf course in my second novel Alaskan Ambush).  The food was flown in from the east coast by The Hubs' uncle and it was the most delicious barbecue ever.  My daddy was able to sit with friends from my hometown so I knew he was okay.

We threw the garter and I don't remember who caught it. My friend Tammy caught the Bouquet and at some point we changed clothes because my long train got in the way. I remember opening gifts and then heading to the hotel.

And guess what I remember most from the wedding night?  Yep, trying to get the pins and hairspray out of my  hair. I'm pretty sure The Hubs and I did more honeymoon activities the night after the wedding than the wedding night. But that was okay because we had lived together for a long time before the wedding.

A highlight of our honeymoon was going in to Vegas (we spent it locally to visit with family members we hadn't seen in years) and seeing the dinner show at the Excalibur.  The Hubs' whole family was there and it was a great show!!! I don't know if they still have it, but if they do and you are in Vegas, go see it!

We pretty much settled back into our normal lives after that and we haven't had a boring year since.  We've had a few moves (Oregon, Back to Nevada, Wyoming, Within Wyoming) and I feel like I am forgetting something.... hmmm Oh yeah, in those nineteen years we had five kids.  Five crazy, wonderful kids over nineteen years.  We've had rough times - a fire that destroyed our business and life as we knew it, a midlife crisis for me, financial problems, meddling relatives, job problems etc....but we somehow made it through and it seems that we get stronger every day.  Our marriage has recently rekindled some of the spark and I can't wait to see what happens when I lose weight and get healthy! ;)

Until Next Time....Good, bad, ugly -
work hard and you can get through it all. Relationships are far from easy, so if you aren't willing to work your ass off, don't bother getting involved in one.

THE COUGHING CRUD & OTHER HORROR TALES

So, the coughing crud has caught some of us again. Most of the second rounds of this crap are quick and done, but mine is lingering and I feel like i'm dying.  I truly haven't felt this awful in years.  I feel like pumping my house full of lysol every week in hopes of keeping this crap out.

Gwen has another sinus infection and although she has been given a clean bill of health they are still running a few tests.  We do what will hopefully be the last one this afternoon.

Miss Crazy is almost done with antibiotics for a sinus infection. Do you all remember my previous post about the intricate workings of the six year old mind?  Well, she will be seven in a couple of months and I am beginning to think the scary sixes are a permanent thing for her.  She has been hell on wheels lately.  I'm about ready to trade her in for two three year olds or three two year olds!  That's how bad it is.

I am suffering a writer's block of sorts. I know exactly what I want to write for all of the books I am currently working on.  But when I get to the main 'sexy scene' from book 4 I am coming up blank.  I literally need The Hubs to rub my back and butt while I write, to get even ten good sentences on paper. (and no, it's not that kind of rubbing, it is more of a relaxing gently touch.) I think I am just too uptight to work, so I need a massage of sorts to work. But why just with this scene!  I've written many before (granted this book is much more wild and sexy than the other two) so who knows, I just hope it ends.  The benefits of massage other than ending writer's block?  Well that's an easy one, it kinda sorta helps my hips - a tiny bit.

My son is also being hell on wheels but I think that is because the neighbor kids are back and they have been away from the good influence of their mother for too long now so they are being horrible.  I am about one step away from banning all contact.  In the last two weeks my son has become a whiney two year old (and he's five)  Worst thing is, I am trying to get him ready for kindergarten in a couple of months and all he does is whine.

So what's going good you may ask?  Well The hubs and I celebrate 19 years of marriage on Tuesday and I think we are closer than ever. Once I get healthy again with the new product I am taking and selling, our relationship is going to go through the roof and I can't wait. Despite my trouble with the one scene? I am rockin it on my books and hope to have more out soon. The weather hasn't been too bad yet so that is good for me since I hate being hot. And my new product will be here soon and I hope to start the program on my anniversary.  What better day to start.

Until Next Time...Life is good. Period. End of Story. Even with crap going on, life is still good and darn it, I'm going to enjoy it! :)

TIME FOR A CHANGE

So, I woke up this morning gasping for breath and decided that I am so glad I'm in the process of making a change for my health.  Yes, I have allergies and yes that played a huge role in why I couldn't breathe. But you know what else played a role?  My weight.  If I didn't have all this extra weight weighing down on my lungs and nasal passages, my breathing wouldn't have been as bad this morning.  I can't tell you how long it has been since I have been able to sleep on my back. I'm done folks, really and truly done.

My biggest problem ?  How do I get healthy if I can barely move.  Well a couple of years ago (I think) I came across an old friend from college on Facebook.  We would comment on each other's posts and stuff, you know, like usual facebook friends do.  But one day I saw her start posting about this amazing weight loss she was going through. Can you say jealous? OMG I wanted some of the action, but I just wasn't ready yet.  Then I saw her start posting about health benefits of the products she was using and how her WHOLE FAMILY was benefiting.  The Jealousy increased greatly and I would occasionally 'like' a post about her (and her husband's) weight loss, but I still wasn't ready yet.  I watched her post about this for months and I really wanted to try what she was doing, but something kept holding me back.  And then one day I comment one of her posts and she messaged me about how I could accomplish what her family had.  Whatever was holding me back, started to wear away.

We would discuss it occasionally and I would look at the before and after pictures she posted and I became more and more interested.  Then one day, I woke up in pain and I felt fat and useless and I wondered if I would be here to see my youngest graduate high school like i'd just seen my oldest do. And I wondered if I would even be here to finish the series of 5 books that I am writing. And I checked the balance on credit cards and talked it over with the hubs.  We decided that I had to do something and since traditional diet/exercise routines were out of the question for me, we decided to take a chance.  I could just buy the product which isn't super cheap for a poor girl like me, but i've seen worse, or I could become a distributor and save a bit of money.

In the end I decided to try to sell the product.  If it works half as good for me as it did for my friend then I will be more than willing to shout it from the rooftops ten times over every hour on the hour.  You should see my friend, the transformation she and her husband have gone through brings tears to my eyes.  It's not just the amount of weight loss (They are a very good looking pair no matter what their weight) but you can see the glow of COMPLETE ABSOLUTE HEALTH coming off of them.  It is truly amazing.  What do I want to get out of this?  1. Health - i.e. better allergies and overall health, better sleep, help for my two kids who have attention problems 2. Weight loss 3. Less pain - this one isn't guaranteed because I just have bad hips/back, but without all the extra weight there could be some improvement- minor or major I will take it. 4. That little bit of extra money that I can make by selling this product.

So what will be my next step?  Get the product (ordered today) and have faith that it will work for me.  After that? Share it with all of you and keep you updated (not every blog, but once in awhile) to let you know how healthy we are getting.  I won't mention the product yet because I myself haven't used it and I want to be able to say 100 percent for sure that it works for ME before I share it completely. I bet you I will be back on here within 3-4 weeks with a good report.

Until Next Time...So, will you still love me if i'm no longer broken?  I sure hope so because my sense of humor will be intact and the antics of my kids will be the same (just most likely more healthy antics, less icky sickies!)  and I will still be a wife and mom who isn't perfect, but is doing the best she can to share ideas with you and entertain you.  Take care and be healthy!!! <3

5 KIDS = SAVE MONEY ANY WAY YOU CAN!

Today we celebrate an occasion that we go trough every 2-4 years.  We change television service.  When we first moved to Casper we had the local cable/phone/internet company and although their prices raised every year (first year locked in low rate) they didn't get too bad until the last year, so in order to save money we took advantage of a deal dish network was having (we are kind of DirecTV shy because of some previous problems so we figured we would give dish a try.).  We cancelled our cable and phone (kept internet though because they had a better price than Dish's partner company) and got our Dish hooked up.  The kids were so happy because we had Boomerang finally, but sad because we didn't have Disney Jr. when it came out. Well, after our first year, the price crept up by about twenty bucks.  After the first year and a half it crept up another thirty and we decided to get rid of it when our two years were up. Well, that time is now!!! I am so excited. I will miss boomerang if they haven't acquired it yet, but I will love Disney Jr. when I am home alone with Little Butt next year. :)

I often wonder how many people have done this.  We did it in the last place we lived too because we needed to save money.  You would think these companies would want a loyal customer base, but if you think a bit more you realize they like this happening because they can charge set up fees every time you switch and that is where they make a lot of money.  That is why we make sure to say we won't sign up for their biggest package unless we have no setup fees. It usually works, sometimes it doesn't though.

We don't really like having a landline phone, but it was part of the package we got.  We now get phone, tv and internet for less than we were paying for just Dish which is cool.  And even when the price increases in a year, we will still be playing less.  But the year after that, why do I have a feeling that we will be changing back to dish or even directv.  When you don't have much income, you do what you can to save money and so far it has worked for us.  (And in this case I actually like the channels and service I get with the local cable company better than with either of the satellite companies.)

Until Next Time...If money is low, do everything you can to save on your bills.  Someone told me I wasn't playing fair by working the system but you know what?  They work it to so I don't feel bad in the least. :)

FUNNY PICTURE CAPTION PT 4

Haven't done one of these in a long time!  Here are some cute and funny pictures that I edited when I was in a lot of pain and had nothing better to do. (Before I took up writing again)

ENJOY!!!!

That's where my chapter 4 went!

Sisterly love - Too bad only one sister still has that love now :(

She was so fascinated with her feet there for awhile!

Love her look! She does that a lot.

Used to be her favorite meal!

Chocolate lover!!!

Like I said above - loves her feet  (and Ramen)

She's a little cookie thief!

Memories of the PAST :/

haha she hates headbands!

Sister was actually yelling, but hey. ;)

Actually I think it was kweem (ice cream)

Classic wake up!  

GOOD NEWS, GOOD TIMES, GOOD DAYS!

So, I was sitting here on the couch fuming because I am not getting the drive free summer I had planned, and no one was listening to my directive that I would not be giving rides, when my phone rang.  I had no clue who it was, but I answered it because the first three numbers indicated it was from the school district. Boy am I glad I did answer it!  They were calling to let me know that they now had room for my son in our school of choice!!!  Woo hoo, that means I don't have to drive all over the place next year getting both of my smaller kids to different schools and different activities at the exact same start and end times. (You know it would have been painful having to get Little Butt in and out of the car an extra time when I would have to take my son into the school because he's not quite ready to just go himself.

I cried tears of joy. Really, I did. You guys don't realize what a relief this is to me.  With the snowy roads that aren't plowed worth a crap, and having to drag a sleepy, cold two year old everywhere, my life will now be so much better and easier and better, and did I say easier?  :D :D :D :D Oh yeah, and less painful too!

And in other great news, Gwen got a clean bill of health from the doctor. We are thinking her feeling 'off' is caused by stress and low blood pressure, which she is treated for.  That is a huge relief and weight off of our minds.

So now that the family is (maybe) finally getting healthier, we can move on to have a good summer.  I am going to be busy getting Mr. Insane ready for Kindergarten and writing my books - I have decided that I am completely insane.  I am writing the last three books at the same time.  I wrote chapter one of all three books and then onto chapter 2 of all three books and so on.  Oh, and I am also still writing that book with my daughter.  Did I mention that I am completely insane?  I do believe I did above and have many other times. :)

I am also starting a new program to try to get healthy.  I will tell you more about it when I get everything finalized, but I must say that the change I have seen in my college friend who is helping me get involved in this, is amazing.  I think she is down 121 pounds now and is feeling great. Her whole family is much healthier and that is exactly what I am hoping for my family too.  Stay tuned for details!!!

Overall things are going good now...thank goodness. I'd hate to have to bore you with my complaining again. ;)

Until Next Time...Please, please, please, enjoy the good times to the fullest!

COMPLAINING ABOUT A BAD DAY, WHY YES, I WILL

I had two kids at the doctor today. And of course the day I have to be out and about a lot, it is supposed to be 95 degrees, which means I will be getting sick. Runs to the doctor, the lab, the store for prescriptions and then to pick Gwen up from work means I will probably NOT be enjoying dinner tonight. Then this evening, we will be babysitting the neighbor kids again so I will have aching hips, an upset and hurting stomach, and a very annoyed temperament.  Oh joy!  The good news - This will be the last night we have to watch the neighbor kids.  It seems my kids overheard us talking about not doing it anymore and they told the neighbor kids who told their grandparents and woo hoo, we are free again!

I was kind of hoping that getting out of babysitting would be a punishment for my older two children who volunteered me, but hey, it's too hot to hold a grudge right now. I'm sure someday, somewhere, somehow I will punish them for their bad deed. hehe. But until then I will be trying to keep cool.

We never should have complained about winter lasting so long, because now summer is here early.  Casper, WY in the mid nineties in early June...yep we are being punished. And rightly so, I will never complain about long winters again...maybe...probably not...ah hell, I'll complain, but then I will suffer. At this point, I really don't care. I'm just trying to get through this day without hurling. So, a note to my kids - if you need to go anywhere or be picked up from anywhere tomorrow, you're on your own.  When it's hot, I stay inside so I can survive. Period. End of Story.

You may be wondering what is wrong with my two who were at the doctor. Well Miss Crazy has developed a sinus infection and sores on her throat (no strep though) thanks to the nasty coughing crud we had.  And Gwen went in for testing to see why she is feeling a bit off. They are testing for diabetes, thyroid, hemoglobin and a few other things.  Hopefully it is just a normal cycle of stuff for the end of her major growth.

Until Next Time...I just felt like complaining today.  I have had some pretty good days here recently with the release of my new book and stuff so I figured if I have a bad day thrown in here and there it's okay to complain.  It's okay for you too. Sometimes bad days are just plain hard to take. Let it all out and be happy again!!!

MY WEEK IN A NUTSHELL - 10 STEPS TO INSANITY

Okay, so I have a favor to ask. If you have bought one of my books, please leave a review somewhere - on your blog, on goodreads, on amazon, anywhere they will let you.  If you haven't bought it (I understand money can be tight) but would still be interested in reviewing it, I am willing to provide 10 PDF copies to people if they will review it on their blog (and any other site that will let them without having purchased it there).  If you are interested, please let me know at my email. To find out more about my books go here.  I only want my romances reviewed (I have two) I will warn that they are said to be sweet (romance) and spicy (sex). They are by no means erotica, but they do have their fair share of sex.  Thank you all so much!  Now on with the fun.

10 STEPS TO INSANITY

1. My 6 year old is driving me nuts.  She will not behave, she is relentless in teasing her siblings, no matter what punishment I dole out, she is driving me mad. So I send her to the neighbor who has a little girl she likes to play with. She behaves there. :/

2. My 5 year old boy has been hanging around girls too much.  He has turned into a complete cry baby whiny butt. I have got to get him out of this stage quickly - he  starts school in a couple of months!!!

3. My pain has been through the roof because of my wonderful coughing fits.

4. My two year old has also become a whiny butt.  If she doesn't get what she wants, she freaks out and can cry for an hour. If you finally offer her what she wants, she changes her mind and wants something different. (We don't give in, but sometimes when we misunderstand what she wants and finally offer her the right thing, she changes her mind.)

5. Allergies are going to kill us, all of us, dead as can be. They need to go away and leave us alone.

6. Thanks to my older daughters we are babysitting the neighbor boys five hours a night, five nights a week and I really don't want to.  I was almost in tears by the time they left the last time. I hate babysitting for one and for two when you get both of them together with both of mine, they don't know how to behave, or be quiet, or stay outside or.... yeah. I am thinking that since the teens accepted the job for me, I might have to make them go over and break the news that we can only do it for this one more week and then they will have to find someone else.

7. I had a release party for my newest novel. It was fun and we are seeing a smattering of results, but only time will tell if it was worth the work it took.

8. The hubs and I are still working on a top secret project (and hell no, it is not another damn kid).

9. I discovered that I hate hate hate marketing my book.  I'm so tired of it. This is something you don't get immediate results from usually so I will be doing it for years to come until I build my fan base. What happened to my patience....oh I covered that in another blog didn't I. ;). I guess it is a good thing I didn't follow my degree to a career (PR- business) Ah crap! I did follow it in the end. Only this time I added writing to the mix.

10. It's hot outside, the kids are driving me nuts, except for my writing, I'm bored out of my mind. Yep, sounds like a typical summer week to me!

Until Next Time...TGIF  We all need a break from a crazy week. But then my weeks lately run from Friday to Friday so I don't get a break. Sigh.....Enjoy the weekend anyway. :D

EXHAUSTING DAY OF FUN!

There are many aspects to who I am. Most of you know the broken mom and the housewife and the aspiring author so now I am enjoying letting you get to know the other part of me.  I am  a published author.

So, as a published author, I can't imagine having to go on a real book tour or having a bustling book release party. All of the traveling and sitting and signing would probably drive me nuts (although I hope to do it someday!)  But for now, since I'm not famous and nobody knows me enough to want to host a book signing, I will settle for virtual tours and book launches. As a matter of fact I had a 12 hour long (10 with breaks) Virtual Release Party yesterday.  Oh my goodness was it fun!  But dang, I never imagined how tiring it could be. Every hour on the hour (except for 4pm and 6pm) I had to be there to post something new.  Pictures, excerpts, buy links, sneak peeks etc.

I can say for sure that I slept very well last night!  I received a lot of feedback and I actually gave away a signed copy of one of my books and a free kindle copy of my latest book. People were actually interested in getting my stuff! (And no, all of them weren't friends and family, ha!) In all actuality I knew one of the winners because we met on a baby website/facebook because we have kiddo's the same age and the other person I don't know at all.  It is so exciting to know that my name is finally getting out there a bit! :)

I also like some of the reactions I had to my excerpts and plotlines for future books. My email and message box were blowing up!  Yesterday was one of the biggest highs I've ever had.  It was truthfully a glorious day. Now to see how it affects sales, if at all.  The next few days will be a test to see if I feel happy or disappointed. But even if I do feel disappointed, there will still be an element of happiness because I am writing, I am sharing what I love, and I am having one hell of a time doing it.

I am me - I am broken, I am blogger, I am author, I am happy!
Thanks everyone for your support.

Until Next Time...Sometimes the best days exhaust us, but you shouldn't let that take away from your joy.  Bask in the exhaustion, knowing that you have done something wonderful.

SUMMERTIME FRIENDS

I was looking forward to having the two elementary school kids out of the house, playing outside for the summer, and then...they won't go outside! They don't want to be outside without anyone to play with. Um, these are the kids who can think up the most amazing games to play together inside - so why not outside? 

The bad news is, their friends don't live here anymore. So I had to resort to making them go outside if they wanted special snacks or computer time. And what do they do? Walk around beside the porch  and sit on the steps. :/  It is like the fresh air dampens their imagination or some stupid thing like that. 

Well now for the good news.  We found out the other day that their friends are coming to visit their dad and grandparents for 2-4 weeks. I have never beens so happy to hear that trouble making kids are coming back to the neighborhood!  WOO HOO  my kids are finally going to play outside all day! Another bit of good news is that the neighbor kids are much better behaved now that they live with just their mom so maybe I won't have to work to undo any damage done this summer.  At this point, I don't care as long as my kids go outside and enjoy their vacation!

Another good bit of news is that we will be babysitting them for about five hours a night a few nights a week and will get a bit of extra money coming in to cover meals and snacks for them. Extra money is always good right?  And did I say I'm happy about my kids going outside to play without having to bribe them and listen to them whine all day?  

Gwen works all day, The Sophomore can take care of herself, the littles will be outside so that leaves me with Little Butt to cuddle while I write my next great masterpiece...umm I mean Romance Novel, erotica short story or blog.  ;)

Until Next Time...Sometimes, in this day and age, it seems you have to force kids to be kids and enjoy their free time. When I was a kid, you practically had to tie me down to get me to stay inside during the summer and I lived in Southern Nevada where the temps often topped 110!  But then again, I didn't have a computer, tablet, mp3, xbox, playstation etc.  

WE ARE HAVING A PARTY! We are celebrating the release of my latest novel - Alaskan Ambush.

Join us at http://www.facebook.com/writerjjellis for giveaways, contests and sneak peeks at future books. We would love to have you stop by