Scary experience over the weekend. My jaw locked on me.

Long story short I have had a history of clenching my teeth ALL the time. I do it when I am sleeping, to the point I wake up with terrible pain. I do it while I am working, I do it at home. I do when I am stressed and apparently I am stressed a lot.

So, Sunday my jaw was popping a lot whenever I yawned or opened my mouth wide to eat. Then all of a sudden-nothing. It took a couple of minutes for me to get it open. A few minutes doesn't seem like long but when you can't do something you take for granted a few minutes is all you need for panic to set it.

Went to the doctor yesterday and she is doing a couple things for me. 2 Advil 3 times a day to reduce the swelling, soft food diet and referred me to a Maxilofacial Surgeon to be fitted for a mouth guard to help reduce the stress I am putting on my jaw.

I go to the specialist on Thursday and I am very happy they can get me in so quickly. I am also a little nervous to see what they have to say.

Anyone has any experience with TMJ?

I was eager to see how I did this month seeing as it was my first month with Mevelopes. I am still getting the hang of using the program but I think in the long run it will be very beneficial. I need all the help I can get staying on track and this does a great job of showing me where my money is.

Looking at my goals for the first quarter of 2009 I seem to be doing OK.

*I forgot the pin number to update my ticker there on my side bar. I will have to try again otherwise I will create another one. My Discover balance is now $777.00. Slowly I am getting there

*I am continuing to put $50 a payperiod into my savings account.

* I am anticipating coming in under budget for Aidan's birthday. I am going to get a small cake for his daycare class and make some goody bags. We will have family over next weekend for cake only. Mike already purchased his birthday present so I am off the hook this time

*So far I am doing well with the food budget. I am trying really hard to find alternatives to my coffee and baked good every morning. I have been bringing stuff in from home and only buying my coffee from the hospital cafe. $1.51 is the price of a large and I am OK with that. Groceries so far for January have added up to $167.27 for a family of four. 3 of us bring our lunch most days. So I'd say thats pretty good for lunch and dinners. I did take Emma and my niece out to lunch one Sunday and that cost $36.98. So in total I spent $204.25 on food. I'll see if I can beat that next month.

*I have been to the gym a number of times although I don't think it has been twice a week. I am going to try to get out of the house early tomorrow for a yoga class.

*Reading 5 books is going to be a hard one. I am on Book 1 and it is good. I am just finding it hard to find time to read.

So, I think I am on the right track. Hopefully I can get the Discover paid off and never have to worry about that again.

Went to Super Walmart last night to do some grocery shopping. We had spent the long weekend out of town at my sister's house and came back to an empty fridge. Needless to say we needed just about everything! I also wanted to pick up some stuff for dinners this week. With Emma so busy after school it is getting harder to find nights when we can all sit down and eat together. I am determined to make that happen at least 3 times this week.

So, damage done was $124.76. I left one bag of stuff behind and didn't realize it until I got home. I called the store and they made note of what I was missing and told me to come in today and pick out the items again. I am going to stop on my way home from work.

So, for my $124.76 I purchased among other things:
**a turkey roast $3.98
**ground sirloin 2@3.82 each
**bag of 60 frozen shrimp 5.50
**pork chops 4.49
**taco kit 2.36
**bag of bagels 1.25
**string cheese 2.72
**Yogurt for the kids 2.76
**Lean Cuisines for my lunch 5@1.78
** eggs 1.50

I also got the kids their valentines so we can start writing those out.

I am planning on making some meals tonight as I am getting out of work early. My plan is to get at least 2 dinners ready and possibly a dessert for the week.

I told the family that this food need to last us at least 2 weeks as I am not going back to the store until 2/4/08 for dinner/lunch stuff.

I will have to go to the store this weekend as my little man is turning 4 on the 29th. We are only having a family party at the house and I will bring in a snack for his daycare class as well as some goody bags.

Other than that I have no plans for spending money. I am confident I will be able to stay way below the $100 buget I set for Aidan's birthday-yeah me!

In order to meet my goal of going to the gym at least twice a week I went last night right from work. I decided I am going to give the classes they offer another shot and see if I can find one I really like and therefore stick with it.

Last nights class was EZ Rider. Please don't let the name fool you. It was indeed a cycling (riding) class but there was nothing easy about it. It was a 30 minute class and within 10 minutes I was wishing it was over. I am not sure if I was doing something wrong but I could not get my butt up off the seat very easily. My legs were like jello and when I tried to stand for position 2 I almost fell head over handlebars! My heart was racing and I thought I was going to throw up! All the guided imagery didn't help either. I couldn't believe that it was summer and the sun was shining on me when it is like 10 below here. Anyways, for a class billed as a beginners class it was a little to advanced for me!

While I was there I had to renew my membership since it expires at the end of Feb. I am now paying $40 less a month than I did last year thanks to signing up as a Preferred Member. My cost is $27 a month now which is easier to swallow if I don't make it to the gym a lot. Although I am going to go more often this year.

I also set up my next measurement meeting while I was there. That is next Thursday where I will have the pleasure of a complete stranger measuring and pinching my fat. Can hardly wait!

In financial news I am pumped to see I have more money left over this pay period than I have in a long time. I credit this mostly to my use of Mevelopes and also to the fact that I am working super hard on curbing my spending. No more casual shopping for me (I hope).

This weekend I am going to try to stay busy so I don't have the urge to shop. I do have to get a birthday present for my nephew who is turning 9. I am taking the kids up north for his birthday party the weekend of MLK Jr day.

I also want to take Aidan to get his haircut since he is starting to look like a 4 year old hippie. I asked my husband to take him and said it would be a good bonding experience if father and son went to the barber together. Husband isn't into it at all so it looks like I am going to have to take him myself. The only problem is he doesn't like the clippers at all and scissors don't really do a good enough job.

I need to get my oil changed as well. Another thing I wish my husband would do for me. I am hoping to get this and the other 2 chores out of the way Saturday morning. I am thinking of taking the kids sledding in the afternoon if we have more snow than ice by then. We will see.

My replacement ATM card came in the mail on Friday. Saturday I got my new PIN. I have used it once to take $20 out of my checking account to use as spending money for the week. I am going to try to trick myself into thinking it is still lost.

I am using Mevelopes for the first time ever. So far, so good. I am still learning how to navigate all the envelopes and I am excited that I get paid this Friday and some of my envelopes still have money in them! All the extra is going toward paying off my debt.

I am really trying to stick with my goals for the first quarter of 2009. I am reading an awesome book that I am 100 pages into already.

My sister in law and 2 friends and I have created a little email support group for our diets and weight loss efforts. We are going to check in with each other a few times a week via email to hold each accountable.

I have printed off the schedule of classes at my gym. I am going to try to take 2 classes a week. They have one called EZ Rider which sounds pretty good to me!

I have banished most of the processed snack food from our house with the exception of some chips for my daughters lunch. I am hoping if its not in the house I won't be tempted. And since I only have a limited amount of money left in my food envelope its not like I can go to the store and buy some snacks or icecream.

It sounds so simple-why does it have to be so hard?!