Healthy, Wealthy and Wise

Yesterday I had my first health screening. Bruce's employer is finally catching up with other companies and has started a wellness program. They're even doing a weight-loss challenge for employees.

They usually offer a health screening to employees only, but this year, they included spouses. I told Bruce to sign me up. All my family (and probably Bruce's, too) knows that I have a strong propensity to eat junk food. I eat healthy, too. I actually like fruits and veggies. And I generally like the healthier meats, like fish and chicken, over the red meats (some times you just have to have a steak, though!).

But I like junk food. A lot. I don't mean the chips variety of junk. That's all Bruce's territory. Nope, not me. I like sugar. The more, the better. If it's sweet, it's got my name all over it. The only saving grace in that is that I don't typically go for the high-fat sweets, like chocolate bars. Again, that's all Bruce.

I like candy. Pretty much every holiday, I hit that special aisle at Wal-mart. The one that has seasonal items, and usually a slew of junk food. I feel very at home there.

And every major holiday, I have my addictions. For Valentine's Day, it's all about the conversation hearts, but only either Necco brand or Brach's. That other stuff is just icky. For Halloween, I like Tootsie Roll Pops. At Christmas, I like those melt-in-your-mouth peppermints by Bob's. (I just ate my last one yesterday. Sigh!) In between holidays I hit hard the Twizzlers and Hot Tamales.

Shortly before we got the notice from Bruce's employer about the health screening, I read something about a pre-diabetic phase and I told Bruce that I sometimes worry about that. I said that while I was chomping on an Airhead from the kids' Halloween stash.

So yesterday was the big day. Got my blood pressure checked, my finger poked, and my blood studied. And I'm all good. Not even anywhere close to pre-diabetic. No cholesterol problems. All fine in the HDL, LDL, and triglyceride departments, whatever all that stuff means.

So I came home and celebrated by eating half a bag of Dum Dum suckers.

Nah, I'm just kidding. I'm still actually cutting back. Trying to look ahead. I'm not getting any younger, so I need to quit eating like a teenager. At least most days of the week.

Topic change. We're not really wealthy. I just liked that phrase above for a heading.

Bruce is, however, leading our church's first foray into Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Our first class was this past Tuesday. We have a good group of people coming. And we're excited on a personal front because as homework, we all are to do a simple budget this week.

We've never had a good budget. I don't do numbers. My eyes glaze over, my brain freezes, and my insides turn to mush. It's not the restrictiveness of a budget, because if I'm heading grocery shopping and Bruce says my favorite phrase of all time, "Take it easy" I can actually comply.

It's the sheer volume of numbers involved. And I'm not implying that his paycheck is huge. I mean the categories that need to be figured out - all the places we spend money. Ugh! It's just too much. Neither of us is really a big spender. But there's always the water bill, the cable bill, electricity, trash, newspaper, groceries, blah, blah, blah. I just don't enjoy all the detail that goes into a budget. I like things simple.

Still, we need a good budget. It'll tickle Bruce to no end. I think he thinks this is going to be a bonding experience. I'm surprised he doesn't schedule a date night around it. Oh, maybe he's saving it for Valentine's Day.

Uhh... wait a minute! This week, out of the blue, he did ask his parents to watch the kids so we could go out on a date night. You don't think....

Nah, he wouldn't.

As to that prospective date night, it's beginning to look iffy. I picked Clay up from school yesterday at lunch time. He was nauseated, pale and had a headache. He'd complained of a sore throat early this week. His school nurse said strep and the stomach virus is going around. (Yippee... a few of my favorite things. I'll break into a Julie Andrews song any minute now.)

Allison is also saying her throat hurts.

But you know what Dr. Mom did, in her vast wisdom?

Nothing. I sent Clay to school this morning and told him to at least try to make it until lunch time, so he's not counted absent and I won't have to get a doctor's note.

I'm not shelling out the co-pay to visit the pediatrician unless something new happens. A fever, a rash, someone not being able to eat a meal because it hurts too bad to swallow, vomit (or its opposite). Something more than aches.

Oh crud! The phone is ringing. School nurse? We shall see.