There are some things in life most people don’t look forward to. For whatever reasons, people will avoid certain events or tasks because they are unpleasant. The events or obligations avoided vary for each person depending on life circumstances. Universally, though, most people do not look forward to seeing their dentist, and most women do not get excited about their annual exam with their gynecologist.

And that’s where the freak in me shows up. Every February, like clockwork, my 6-month check up with the dentist is scheduled as is my annual exam with my ob/gyn. And I look forward to seeing both of them. See, I told you I was a freak! Maybe now you’ll believe me.

I was just talking with Mike the other day about this and I feel blessed with the people who take care of me. I’m pleased as punch with my dentist, my gynecologist, my primary care doctor, and my hairdresser. It’s the dentist and the ob/gyn affection that makes me a bit odd. What is it about these people that comforts me?

Our dentist must be a great guy. After all, he’s an Ohio State Buckeyes fan. The first room on the right as you enter has a Buckeye theme. The wallpaper border features the OSU “Block O” logo. There are posters and pictures and signed footballs. There are autographed photos of the legendary Coach Woody Hayes. On the one hand, it’s a great room because you are surrounded by Buckeye paraphernalia. On the other hand, it’s not a great room because it’s reserved for the most invasive of dental procedures.

So we’ve established that the dentist is a Buckeye fan. But that in itself is not what makes him great. I like him because he has a great chair-side manner. He is very positive and reassuring. He praises attempts at good oral hygiene and doesn’t nit-pick if I missed a spot. He doesn’t jump on every opportunity to make extra money on my teeth. He is kind and compassionate and seems to truly care about his patients. I completely trust his judgment when it comes to my teeth. Drill on, Dr. S!

There is another person who I trust completely with my care. My ob/gyn is awesome! While most of my friends cringe a bit as their annual exam comes due, I look forward to mine. Obviously not for the actual exam, but because my doctor couldn’t be more wonderful. She is one of those people who can give her undivided attention without seeming the least bit distracted. She remembers things about me from year to year and is sure to bring them up. Just today I rounded the corner towards the exam room, and Dr. H was in the hallway. She called out to me, “Hi! Did you guys go skiing this year?” That gave me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that after a year of not seeing me, she remembered this small fact.

When it’s my turn, she comes into the room and sits and chats. My physical needs are secondary at this point. She asks about the kids and how they are doing. She wants to know what they are involved in now. She asks about Mike. She wonders how the home schooling is going. Only after she has exhausted topics to talk about with me does she move on to discussing my health and answering my questions. I’ve told Mike in the past that I feel like she spends at least 30 minutes in the room with me. She doesn’t know this, but at last year’s appointment, I timed her. I marked the time she entered the room and noted the time she left. Surprisingly, she was only in my room 7 minutes. That’s it! A short 7 minute encounter seemed like 30 because she made me the total focus of those 7 minutes. Ok, there is one drawback. Today she informed me that since I’m pushing 40, it’s time to start the yearly mammogram routine. I cannot imagine liking that one bit.

So, I’ll admit I’m a freak. And now you know it too. But if you think this is all that makes me a freak, you’re in for a surprise. Keep reading. There are many more idiosyncrasies that will come out as time goes by.

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Most of you reading this have no idea, but I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing degree. I went to college to be an RN. I passed my state boards and received my nursing license. I worked for a year on the Pediatric Unit at Fairview General Hospital near Cleveland, Ohio. Then I married my college sweetheart and moved to Columbus. I started a 3 year career in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Columbus Children’s Hospital. After having my first baby, I decided the hospital schedule was not ideal, so I took a job at Hilliard Pediatrics as an office nurse.

With that in mind, this story will be a lot more humorous for you. Either that or you’ll shake your head and pray to God that I’m not the nurse on duty when you are admitted.

See, people expect things of you if you’ve had medical training. They expect you to know the answers to any medically related question. Never mind that my experience in the workforce is all pediatric, I’m expected to know enough about geriatrics to identify various skin conditions, heart palpitations, and aches and pains. I’m also expected to be able to handle every bit of blood and gore and nastiness without flinching. Or gagging. Or passing out.

That’s where the trouble comes. There have always been three things that have made me super queasy. I cannot stand nosebleeds. Seeing someone with a nosebleed makes me lightheaded and nauseous. There could be blood pouring out of any other area of the body and I’m fine, but if it’s coming from a small opening in the face–blech!

The second thing is eyes. I wouldn’t mind looking at yours, but don’t pull your eyelid back and ask me if there is anything in there that’s not supposed to be. I distinctly remember during my Fairview stint “assisting” a neonatologist with an eye exam on a newborn. Because newborns aren’t so cooperative when you tell them to open their eyes, there is a special device to hold the eyelids open. Once the doctor inserted that, I no longer was his assistant. This is where I became hot and sweaty and had to leave the room.

The third thing I cannot tolerate well is watching a patient who is having severe trouble breathing. Oh, it’s not so bad if they can’t breath and they have a tube in their throat and are hooked up to a ventilator. Give me that any day. It’s when they are having trouble breathing and are gasping and saying, “I (gasp) can’t (gasp) breathe!” Again at Fairview I had a patient who was receiving some sort of lung treatment and unfortunately this was her response. I came this close |<—->| to passing out that day. I think it has to do with empathy–a great characteristic for a nurse to have–until that empathy actually causes the NURSE to feel like she isn’t breathing well!

This is where the flu shot comes in. Even though both Mike and I were educated in the benefits of the flu vaccine, we never got one. We figured we were young and healthy and could fight off the flu without too much trouble. And then one winter, KT got the flu. Not a big deal for her. She had a fever, spent a week on the couch, and then was fine. What followed was Mike getting the flu. His experience wasn’t so easy. He got the fever, spent several days on the couch, and then developed pneumonia. He did a bad thing. He had trouble breathing. I should have warned him in advance that if he ever had trouble breathing, I was out of there!

One night I wake up to the sounds of hacking and coughing and gasping. I venture to the bathroom to find Mike leaning over the sink, unable to take a deep breath in and unable to talk because of the incessant coughing. He did manage to choke out, “I (gasp) can’t (gasp) breathe.”

My response was the one every self respecting nurse would have–NOT! I leaned backwards against the wall in the hallway, squeaked out the words, “I don’t feel well,” and let my knees buckle under me. Luckily I crumpled and leaned to the left (landing my body in the hallway) instead of crumpling and leaning to the right (allowing my body to fall down a flight of stairs). The next thing I remember is Mike screaming at me, “WAKE UP! WAKE UP!”

And he wasn’t coughing. And he wasn’t gasping. And he wasn’t fighting to catch his own breath.

So I cured him. My fainting spell cured his respiratory distress. Granted, it is not listed in the medical literature that this is a known treatment, but it worked. And I’ll use it again if the need arises.

Since then, everyone in the family has gotten either a flu shot or the FluMist every year and no one has contracted the flu. And I haven’t passed out since. So, somehow, some way, the flu vaccine prevents fainting. At least in my experience.

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….and everything in its place. Isn’t that how the saying goes? But what happens if you have more “everythings” than you have “places?” What if you have a LOT more everythings? Clutter is what happens. Now I do firmly believe that there are more important things in life than an immaculate house.
In fact, the cross stitched piece you see here is actually hanging by my front door. I surely don’t want to be considered dull. But I also don’t want to be considered a slob.

To some extent, I think that my debt reduction plan will also help with my clutter reduction plan. In an attempt to save money, I’m much more hesitant to buy extra stuff. The less I buy, the less that has to pass over the threshold of my home. Therefore it cannot create clutter.

What about the stuff that is already here? How can I manage it all? Typically, what happens is I go on clutter search-and-destroy missions about once every 4 months. The clutter builds to a point where I can’t stand it and suddenly nothing is worthy enough to stay in my house. Those missions last about 20-30 minutes. You can’t really make a dent in the situation in 20 minutes without the help of a big, strong Hefty bag. So out stuff goes. Then what usually happens is 2 weeks later I realize I NEED one of the things I pitched on the last search-and-destroy mission. This is why they happen so infrequently. After realizing I’ve pitched something important, it makes me very leery to throw anything else out for quite some time.

The other option is to take the nicer things and donate them to a charitable cause. If that’s the goal, I grab a nice sturdy box and scour the house for things worthy of donation. Then I move it to the garage, and there it sits. And waits. Until I can manage to take it somewhere. Which usually is 9 months to a year later. After all, now that the items are in a sturdy box and in the garage, they follow the rule of “out of sight, out of mind.” Hey, at least it’s not cluttering my house!

Then there are the things with some sort of sentimental value attached to them. Usually it’s a gift someone bought for me that was very appreciated when I received it, but 5-10 years later it doesn’t hold the same place in my heart. But yet I feel guilt for even thinking of parting with it. Even though it doesn’t match my style or it’s been sitting in a box in the basement for 5 years, I still have trouble bringing myself to get rid of it.

So far it seems like the best solution for permanent clutter control is to get a cat. At least that has worked for us to some extent. When God was giving out grace and agility to cats, our cat, Mowana, forgot to get in line. He’s the only cat I know that can jump onto a shelf and knock everything to the floor. So far he’s helped us declutter a ceramic mixing bowl I had painted and glazed, a ceramic relish tray I had received for Christmas, and a clay planter that had contained one large jade plant. All things were smashed beyond repair.

My house isn’t ready to be condemned. I still can see my floors. If you open a closet door, you don’t need to worry that you’ll be crushed by the falling contents. It’s not that bad….yet. I’m also not looking for a perfectly Feng Shui’d house that is so minimalistic it doesn’t feel like a home. I’m just looking for a happy medium. What strategies do you find are helpful in ridding yourself of the unnecessary clutter?

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Welcome to part two of my “blog my goals” journey.

Reducing debt is nothing compared to this reduction. Weight reduction! I met my goal in this area a few years ago. I actually was fairly fit and trim in the scheme of things. I started that journey at 163 pounds. I joined Curves. I ate well. I drank lots of water. I looked for opportunities to be active. I ended up losing 34 pounds in about 6 months! Not only that, but I also had a significant drop in my body fat percentage! I felt better than I had in quite some time. My thighs didn’t jiggle when I sat down. I slept better and was mentally alert when I was awake.

Then I’m not sure what happened. Who am I kidding? I know exactly what happened. I got lazy. As quickly as I had lost 34 pounds, I put them back on. Plus 2. And now I don’t drink water. I make poor choices in my diet. I don’t get off my rear end unless I have to. As a result I don’t sleep as well, I feel like a slug, and the largest pair of jeans I own only zip now if I’m laying on my bed. Not good.

You’d think these things would be enough to motivate me to lose the weight….again. You’d think I’d want to look good, feel good, and generally be more healthy. But those motivators aren’t working for me this time.

Neither is my crappy family history (sorry Dad and Mom, you can’t help it!) My dad had a heart attack when he was 54. Big red flag! Both of my parents had cholesterol levels through the roof. Now those are controlled with medication. My mother had high blood pressure until she had a bout with septic shock. During that ICU stay her blood pressure bottomed out in the 50/20 range. Since then her blood pressure has been perfectly fine! Then my father started having TIA’s (mini-strokes). This is another indicator of coronary artery disease. All of these genetic precursors should be enough to make me get off my duff and DO something. But then I look at my grandmother. She just turned 90 and is doing quite well. She eats butter, drinks wine, and doesn’t exercise. Yet she still lives alone and gets around without problems. So right now I’m playing genetic history roulette and I have all my money on the fact that I’m going to be just like Grandma.

I’ve found that internet support groups aren’t so helpful. I am involved in one, but along with the threads dealing with weight loss and healthy living, there are other non-related threads that are much more interesting and fun. Guess which ones I like to hang out in. Every month though, I join the “exercise challenge” thread and set an achievable goal that I know I can handle. This month I thought I could eek out 800 minutes of exercise. It’s a short month, so that’s only an average of 28 minutes of exercise a day. It’s now February 24th and I’ve completed 180 minutes. Do the math. Ok, I’ll help you. What this means is I would have to do an average of 124 minutes of exercise each day between now and February 28th. Does laughing count for exercise? Because I just managed another 2 minutes!

Part of my motivation right now might be my debt reduction plan…..I simply cannot justify buying bigger clothes. I have a closet full of smaller clothes that are just waiting to be worn. Problem being that I don’t mind hanging out most of the day in sweatpants. Big, comfy, warm sweatpants. The kind where you feel you have room to expand. Not a good thing.

I know one of the reasons why debt reduction is so much easier than weight reduction for me. When I send in a little extra money to Toyota, I can see my principal balance go down. And it stays down. The more I send in, the farther it goes down. But yet with weight reduction, I can work my butt off (figuratively) and eat well for a month and the scale might go down one-half pound. I need faster feedback than that!

So help me here. I know, the motivation needs to come from within myself. But what has and hasn’t worked for you? What happened in your life to motivate you to lose weight, exercise, or eat healthier?

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There are three things in my life I’d like to reduce. I thought I’d blog my goals and maybe seeing them in black and white will help me stay motivated to reach them. Any insight you have on any of these topics would be greatly appreciated.

The three areas I want to work on are:

– debt reduction
– weight reduction
– clutter reduction

One of these things I just recently started tackling, and the progress is going very well. One of these things I have successfully accomplished in the past, but sadly I’m back where I started and need to start over again. The third is something that is a constant struggle for me and I’m just not even sure where to start.Today the topic is debt reduction. This is the one that I’ve recently become passionate about. We were living the wonderful American life. We had everything we wanted, plus some. We don’t have power boats or vintage cars or expensive jewelry, but that’s not us. Unfortunately, our problem was insidious and crept up on us without fanfare. Things seemed to be under control–after all, we always could afford the payments on things, even if it was just the minimum payments. Debt collectors were not calling or harassing us. We were never late paying a bill nor did we ever default on a loan. Which is what made me think that all was under control.And then I heard about Dave Ramsey. After reading his book “The Total Money Makeover,” I realized we were only one emergency away from financial hardship. Mike was bringing in a decent salary, yet we were living from one paycheck to the next. The 4-year loan on the car was going to be paid off in 4 years. The 15-year mortgage would take 15 years. Every once in awhile people need to consolidate their bills, right? That’s what we thought–twice. We accepted that as a fact of life. Then Dave Ramsey motivated and empowered me. Now I am passionate about hacking away at the debt as quickly as possible. I’m sick of OUR money benefitting other people. I want it to work for US!After reading Dave’s book, I immediately started saving up an emergency fund consisting of one thousand dollars stashed away in an ING Direct account*. Then we created a budget. We had been married 15 years and we had somehow managed to live without a budget. Now I’ll never live without one! We had to sit down and seriously scrutinize every category. And, because we were spending more than we were making, there had to be some cuts. We axed the online video game service. We scaled back on the number of audio-book downloads per month. We decreased our dining out budget by 70%! After several more cuts, we had numbers we could work with!

Luckily, we managed to made quick work of our credit card debts. This started the “debt snowball.” Once those cards were paid off, we used what we had been paying on them to pay something else. Next up to get paid off was the Disney Vacation Club** loan. The way Mike’s office works, about 2-3 times a year he is required to take out the surplus in his account. The extra happened to be just about enough to pay off that loan! The ironic thing is, if it hadn’t been for the budget, that extra money would have gone to pay off the credit cards (which invariably by that point would have had high balances again). The money could now be put to better use.

The snowball continued. Now instead of paying MBNA and Bank of America and Disney Vacation Club, all of THOSE monies got thrown at the student loans. As things get paid off, the snowball gets bigger, the payments get bigger, the principal balances get smaller. This is what motivates me to keep finding creative ways to make money or to save money. I’ve sold some things on ebay to bring in a little more income, and I’ve started playing the Grocery Game*** to save about 50% on my groceries. The more I save and throw at the debt, the more my motivation skyrockets.

I have gotten great encouragement from various sources. From websites, to podcasts, to books. Some that have been the most helpful are the following: Dave Ramsey’s website, book, and podcast, No Credit Needed Blog and No Credit Needed Podcast, and the Creating Wealth on Your Current Income Podcast. Check them out!!

So this is the one area where I’m doing well. I am on a roll and am super motivated to continue in this way. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s still quite a distance away, but I can see the dim glow. If you’ve found any great websites or helpful tools, please leave a comment. If you’d like some encouragement, also feel free to leave a comment. I am debt reduction’s biggest cheerleader now!

*ING Direct is an online savings account which currently is paying 4.5% interest. It’s safe, secure, and a good way to stash a bit of money that, if kept in the regular checking account, is likely to be spent. ING Direct has a referral system in place. If you are interested, please email me and I can refer you!

**Disney Vacation Club is a pre-paid vacation time share. As our number one vacation spot is Walt Disney World, this works great for us! Disney Vacation Club works on a referral basis, so if you’re interested in information, please contact me!

***Grocery Game is an online service that helps you save money on your grocery budget. For a small fee, a “Listmaker” prepares a list for your area matching up current sales to circulating coupons. The result is getting groceries at rock bottom prices. Considering one day I bought $63 worth of items and paid $0.42 for them, I’d say it works. Grocery Game also works on a referral basis, so if you are interested, please email me and I’d be happy to refer you. They do have a 4-week trial for $1 so it doesn’t cost much to check it out.

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