The Sailor's Wife

Tough Times

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:43:24 GMT

I decided I needed to come back here for this entry. I miss you guys and I really need the support from my J-land friends. As you know I decided to have gastric bypass surgery. With having PCOS this is the best way to get everything under control and I can get my body back to being healthy again. I have had a hell of a time with our TRI-care insurance. I go to a civilian doctor and the surgeon I picked is also a civilian In network provider. Well my primary care sent to referral to tricare and they approved it BUT they modified it to Balboa Naval Hospital instead. I am sure they are a great hospital for some but I have had nothing but hellish experiences with Balboa and every other Military clinic I have been to since I married James. Now being that my Daddy is in the Navy and always worked at the base hospitals/clinics growing up going to Navy Doctors was fine because they treated me like royalty because My DADDY worked there.

Being married to James and going to see them is a whole different ballgame though. I have had to put several complaints in about the level of care and about the way I have been treated at the MTF (military treatment facility). I can't tell you how much they have screwed things up at times. There have been times we have received expired medicine and gotten sick, there were 2 times I had strep throat so bad and they kept telling me it was just a virus and to go home, and then 2 weeks go by and I am in the hospital dehydrated beyond belief and the STREP infection spread through my body. And the time Savanah had a broken wrist and they lost her x-rays 3 times in a 9 hour period and then 3 different doctors at the mtf told me nothing was broken (after her civilian doctor and the civilian radioligist showed me the broken bone) until finally I raised such a ruckous that some head doctor had to look at her xray, found the broken bone and made them all apologize to me. I could go on and on all day. The worst was while in Japan Savanah was sick for about 2 months and we kept taking her to the ER because she could not breath, they gave us bottle after bottle of Robitussin and sent us home, it did not work, she still could not breath, so once again we had to rush her to the ER because she could not breath, and we had 3 doctors looking at her for hours and the head doctor turns and looks at us and says "well, I dont know what to do, I am scared she wont make it." WTF We lost it! Come to find out my daughter has Asthma. It just took them about a year to figure it out.

Needless to say I have tried fighting with tricare and they tell me I have to fight Balboa, balboa says I HAVE to get it done there because they have a surgeon. I am praying and praying that something will come through and The good Lord will allow me to go to my chosen civilian doctor for the surgery. This is a big surgery and I want to best.

Please keep me in your prayers. I have been really bummed out and depressed about this whole situation. I want to do what's best for my health but I DO NOT feel comfortable with the Navy Doctors doing my surgery. I really want Dr. Owens to preform the surgery. At his hospital there is an entire floor for bariatric patients and the staff is trained specifically in bariatrics. Their after care program provides lifetime support, they have larger sized equipment and private rooms and my mother can stay with me as long as I want. Since James will be gone my mother is going to have to come stay with me and I will not be able to get her on and off base while I am in the hospital, so how will she be able to be with me?

It's just a bit overwhelming to say the least.

Tags: depressed, gastric bypass, tricare, approval

Guess what ya'll

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:43:43 GMT

I am going to have Gastric Bypass Surgery. I am scared but excited. I don't have a surgery date yet, but hopefully soon. I will keep ya'll posted. Please keep me in your prayers. I sure miss you all.

Tags: Gastric bypass, wls

Favorite Breakfast Recipes

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:54:11 GMT

I was sitting here thinking about what my weekly menu will be and I was thinking of doing a breakfast or dinner this week. I love breakfast food. I could eat it all day everyday. Well I wanted to share this wonderful....out of this world recipe with you. MAKE IT! You will LOVE IT!

LOW CARB CRUSTLESS QUICHE

6 large eggs
4 ounces cream cheese (1/2 of a usual package) - softened
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 Tablespoons butter
1 bunch green onions - chopped optinal
salt and pepper to taste
10 slices of cooked bacon - crumbled
2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare Muffin tins with a generous coating of cooking spray.

In a blender, pulse together the eggs, cream cheese, cream, butter, salt and pepper until smooth. Add the onions and pulse once or twice to mix.

Pour mixture into prepared dish. Sprinkle the bacon evenly over the top followed by the grated cheese - distributed evenly.

Bake until a toothpick inserted the center comes out clean.

Each serving has just under 3 grams of carbs... and just over 1,000 grams of flavor!

Trust me you will LOVE THESE so much. I normally make a huge batch of them and freeze them and then pop them in the microwave when I am ready for them. They make a great lunch or dinner too!

Banana Cream Oatmeal

4 cups water

2 cups quick-cooking oats

2 medium bananas - sliced into thin coins

1/2 cup non-fat sweetened condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large sauce pan, bring the water to a boil.

Add the oats. Immediately reduce heat to medium. Cook for one minute - stirring often. Remove from heat.

Add the banana slices and condensed milk to the oats and stir to mix. Cover the pan and let it set for 2 or 3 minutes, or until desired thickness is reached.

Serve warm, sprinkled with cinnamon. Top with chopped walnuts or pecans and a splash of cold milk for a nice final touch.

Overnight Coffee cake *James favorite*

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar -- divided

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon -- divided

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter -- melted

1 cup milk

2 large eggs

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Coat a 9" x 13" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, then flour. In a large bowl, combine the 2 cups flour, the baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, the butter, milk, and eggs. Beat until well combined; pour into the baking dish, then cover and chill for at least 8 hours, or overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

3. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon with the pecans. Sprinkle over the chilled batter and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cut, and serve warm.

* this is my never fail...supereasy, next to no cleanup....all around great recipe.*

My Nanna's Nova Scotia Blueberry Muffins

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter melted

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen) you can substitute any fruit

Stir dry ingredients together and add blueberries. Combine egg, milk, and melted butter. Add to blueberry mixture, stirring just to moisten. DO NOT BEAT.

Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Add 5 minutes for frozen berries.

I also use this recipe for banana nut muffins, apple cinnamon....you name it. Any fruit will do. It's a great basic recipe!

Irish Potato and Bacon Cakes

1 pound bacon - cooked and crumbled

1 pound mashed potatoes (great use for left-overs)

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

salt and pepper - to taste

dried dill-about 2-3 tablespoons

Olive oil fro frying

In a mixing bowl, stir bacon, flour and salt and pepper into the mashed potatoes.

Heat a griddle or large fry pan to medium-high with a generous coating of butter or oil.

Form 4 or 5 small hamburger-size patties from the potato mixture and carefully place on griddle or fry pan.

Fry the patties until golden brown on each side (about 5 minutes per side).

Well I hope you try these this weekend. They are some of my favorites. I will be also posting them on my recipe page later.

Where are ya'll

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 01:22:23 GMT

I so did not think I would miss it over here but I DO! But....not enough to throw the other site under the bus. Where are ya'll at? It's very lonely over yonder.....all by my lonesome.....Becky does pop over from time to time....but it get's boring and I miss ya'll! Stop by sometime and visit with me!

It's so weird because I feel that it so much easier for me to write here. I feel more creative and like I have more to talk about over here for some reason. I think it's just a slump....hopefully I will get out of it soon! I have been super busy in real life lately and it seems I don't have a lot of extra time to blog this past week......or maybe that is an excuse? I dunno. Anyway, I am about to hit the journals and see what's been up in J-Land!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:07:07 GMT

Well Ladies.....it is time to debut my new site. I am super excited! Keep in mind that I am still working on it daily and it will be a long process until I get it just how I want it...IF EVER! When you go to http://www.thenavywife.com

You will see the heading of a lady and a boat....click on that picture to enter the site. I know ...I know a front page sucks...I am trying to figure out how to get rid of that. But I think you can go to the blog page and save that as a favorite and then everything you come visit me you will be taken right there instead of my front page. Also I am working on some of the links and still trying to figure out how to add all my favorite journals. I got 2 added so far but now I can't remember how to do it!

I will be working on this daily so have patience with me and please update your links and PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to the RSS feed. That will tell you when I post new entries.

http://www.thenavywife.com

I do not believe I will be posting in this journal anymore.......since I have the new one.....we'll see.

James leaves on the 26th so until then I probally won't be writing too much or fixing anything until after he is gone and I have more time to devote. I hope you are all having a great day......and I hope you come and have a visit with me soon!

http://www.thenavywife.com

To be taken directly to my new blog page

http://thenavywife.com/blogs/blog2.php

Save this Link!

Tags: www.thenavywife.com

HAPPY EASTER!

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:46:05 GMT

I just wanted to wish everyone a Most Joyous Easter! I hope you are enjoying time with Friends and Family, and remembering that Easter is more than chocolate bunnies and jelly beans. After we have our dinner and cleanup here tonight, I will fill you in on all the hazardous events of our weekend! It has sure been a roller coaster around here! But I am off to enjoy the day with my husband and cook some dinner for us! We are having the usual Ham dinner and Brian and Yoko and the girls are going to join us. I sure miss Savanah and am so Thrilled that she will be back home with us Monday late afternoon! MY BABY!

New site update

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 07:50:06 GMT

After many frustrated days and nights, my new website is almost ready. I am sure I will be continually working on it and fine tuning it every day. But thanks to a very nice woman ~Nicole at http://www.itchingtoscrap.com

I have been able to get it to pretty much what I want it to start with. I have already loaded a bunch of recipes on it, and the header I had made. I am not feeling the header at all though. Just not me. I need to get a new one made, something that reflects my personality more! So I will be hitting Jennifer up for that!

James has duty tonight so I will be up ALL night! My head is banging...i need to take a motrin......

SPOTLIGHT

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:31:23 GMT

Today I want to "Spotlight" a few of the blogs I enjoy visiting each day. They are varied in subject but each of them interests me. I am always looking for a good link. Please check these wonderful ladies out and leave them some LOVE. Tell them I sent ya!

In no particular order.......Here are they are....

1- My Dear Becky....she is a Navy Veteran, a Mother to 4, Wife, and a professional massage therapist! And a good friend!

http://http://journals.aol.com/mumma4evr/Mumma4evrslifeorlackthereof

2- Battleship Bettie aka Jennifer. She is a Navy Wife in Florida, a Sassy and comical writer. She has some great informative blog entries with lots a great links. She also is a CRAFTER!

http://thenavywifelife.blogspot.com/

3- Ree aka The Pioneer Woman. She is a desperate Cattle Rancher's wife. She has a bunch of Punks aka her babies running around and is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE writer here in "journal/blog land". She also has some great recipes at her recipe page. You must check her out!

http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/

4- Andie and Daniel's family over at Sgt. and Mrs. Hub. They are a young Airforce family about to make a big move from Vermont to New Mexico. They have 3 beautiful Children! I just love her blog!

http://sgtandmrshub.blogspot.com/

5- Sonya over at my Southern Home. She has a teenage daughter, a musically inclined husband and a wonderfully full and BUSY life. She talks about her work as HR manager in a plant, her being a mother to a TEEN, and they just bought their dream house and are preparing to move!

http://journals.aol.com/bookncoffee/MySouthernHome/

I think that should keep ya'll busy for a while. Next week I will be posting more LINKAGE! I have so many favorite journals...so little time.

I hope everyone has a great day. I am hoping to get around to posting some new recipes today.......hopefully!

Tags: linkage, favorite journals, blogs

AOL SUCKS!!!!!

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 05:06:28 GMT

Today is a prime example of why I dislike AOL so much and can't wait to get my other site up and running. I have tried for 2 days to post a poll on my journal. Each time I post it, AOL either wont show it or they delete my post all together! Not to mention Alerts are all jacked up. I woke up this morning with 14 new comment alerts and I actually only had 3. Go figure!

As much as I tried to make this easy as possible where you could just click on something and place your vote...I am unable to provide you with that! Please accept my apologizes and vote the old fashion way.

I could go on all day about anything and everything and nothing in particular. I want to know what you (my lovely readers) would like to see more of on my journal. Here are your options

1- The Navy Life/and Navy experiences
2- Recipes and cooking
3- My rocky past (that has made me the person I am today!)
4- More from the Man
5- Household issues/tips/cleaning/organizing
6- Nothing in particular just everyday life
7- My personal journey to better myself
8- My lessons learned (the hard way)

You may chose as many subjects as you like. I am sorry for all the deleted posts. I hope everyone has a great night!

Tags: VOTE

WFMW

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:52:41 GMT

Today is my second time participating in WFMW hosted my ROCKSINMYDRYER.typepad.com . Go check out her site, there are lots of great tips and tricks, not to mention really great journal links and nice ladies!

Today I am going to share a lot. Starting with some random tips for reusing items around the house.

1- Use old plastic ketchup bottles for pancake batter to make the perfect pancake or whatever fun shape you choose. It's also a great bottle for adding sauces and decorating plates for your very fancy smansy dinners.

2- I reuse my plastic coffee container with the snap and seal lid for laundry soap. Since we buy in bulk, the gigantic box does not fit on my shelves above my washer, so I feel the coffee container up and use the coffee scoop to measure the powder. We use 2 coffee scoops per load. We save so much laundry soap this way, and it's conveniently in a nice size container. Our clothes are just as clean and were saving money by using only 2 scoops!

3- Old potpourri goes in our vacuum bag and every time we vacuum the house smells great!

4- Old cooking or home magazines are great for deco-pauge. You can totally transform a plain old wooden recipe box with a little mod-podge and old magazine clippings. The possibilities are endless!

5- Hubby's old undershirts make for great rags to dry the car and to wash mirrors....no lent.

6- The absolute best way to wash windows is with vinegar/water mixture and old newspaper. I don't know why but it makes the windows/mirrors shine like brand new.

Now the second part of my WFMW is going to be something that personally means a great deal to me. I am on the path to self discovery of sorts. I have had almost all of my personal relationships/friendships fail in the past year. I have done a lot of soul searching, praying, and research the past 2 weeks. I want to know why my relationships are failing. Since I am the common denominator I need to know what it is I am doing wrong.

I have figured out that I am a fixer. I always want to fix people's problems and help them in some way. I have the desire to be needed by someone for some reason. I look back at damn near every relationship I have had in the past and sure enough it was always with people that needed something, were having a hard time in their life, or were just plain CLUELESS. After a while people just don't need you anymore. They move on. If you have a friendship like this, be careful. I for whatever reason need to be NEEDED. So while I start a relationship with these people I am feeling great, and for friendships fast, and we become quite close in a short period of time. But eventually it all ends and then I am left hurt, and mad, and without a friend. At the start of each of these relationships I felt that this was going to be a good friendship that was going to last a long long time. I get mad at the way these "friends" treat me as if I am yesterday's trash. How dare they! I feel that I have been a good, no a GREAT friend to each of these ladies. I have gone above and beyond for them. Time and time again. So why do they end? I believe it is because everyone eventually moves on and just as children we eventually grow up and leave the nest to spread our wings. They are no longer in the situation they once were when we became friends and they are ready to start a new chapter in life. Sometimes, I think our friendship may represent a time when they struggled or were not the "picture perfect woman" and they just choose not to remember that.

I know that I need to find a healthy relationship with someone who does not need anything from me.....however they want to be my friend. To some of you this may all sound very childish and you are asking yourselves what is wrong with me. I assure you I am completely normal. In the course of reading up on this very topic, I was shocked to have found so many women go through this exact issue. So, I not just me!

Some times, I just was not a good judge of character. Sometimes, the relationships were completely one sided, and sometimes once they no longer had a need for me, it was done. I am compiling a list of good qualities that a true friend should have. And I continue to pray that God will show me what my faults are so that I can fix them. And I pray that when I am in a better place emotionally that the right person will come into my life and that I can have a meaningful friendship. Until then, I am on the fence with everyone in my life. I need to figure a lot of things out right now, and probably I need to do that without anything hanging over my head so to speak. I have a blank slate right now. Nothing more to lose. I am starting anew. I will no longer beat myself up over this. I am a good woman, a good friend, a good wife, a good momma, I am NOT perfect.

So here is my list so far.....

• Good friends listen to each other.

• Good friends don't put each other down or hurt each other's feelings.

• Good friends try to understand each other's feelings and moods.

• Good friends help each other solve problems.

• Good friends give each other compliments.

• Good friends can disagree without hurting each other.

• Good friends are dependable.

• Good friends respect each other.

• Good friends are trustworthy.

• Good friends give each other room to change.

• Good friends care about each other.

* Good friends don't throw you to the wayside when they make new friends.

Tags: WFMW, rElationships