Stupid Holiday Weekends

Well, it wouldn't be  holiday weekend if one of us didn't end up sleeping in the hospital.  I just never imagined it would be half of us!

Friday night I came home from work to find Bruiser with a nasty, bloody infection on his stomach.  It looked a lot like his last staph infection so I made a quick call to our Vet and she agreed to get him in before the weekend started.  We spent a few hours having the infection tested and a few hundred dollars to get the necessary treatments.

We were out the door.  I couldn't believe our luck.  We made it before an expensive ER visit was necessary.  I felt so lucky!

On to Saturday where I clean the entire house from top to bottom and felt so good about it.  Carl finished his homework and I ran to the market to get the week's groceries.  After putting the groceries away and settling in for a movie I started not to feel well.  A little nauseous and maybe a bit of a headache starting.   I took the "miracle" drug Imitrex and laid down for a bit.  

I didn't make it long before an ER visit was required. Of we went to the dreaded Lompoc ER (because it was the ONLY place open).  I waited 3 hours to see a Dr. who decided that I may have a plethora of other disorders so...the blood sticks and testing began.  It was another hour or two before an angry nurse tried, without success, to obliterate my veins with IVs.  (Oh how I wanted my mommy.)  

Finally a nicer, but not by much, nurse was able to locate a vein in my hand and set me up with a group of drugs that not only didn't work but caused constant vomiting.  Five hours later I gave up and faked a 'miracle cure' so I could go home.

And here I sit, on my living room couch with two extremely bored dogs and a wicked dizzy brain.

Sorry about the marathon blog - I'm hopped up on something.

Funny Friday

"Tensions began to mount when the Stormtroopers put up a hotel on Boardwalk."

And credit goes to: A Lego A Day

I live in a Fishbowl

If I've learned one thing about living on a military base with other military wives it's that I NEVER want to do it again.

Maybe this is my punishment for being popular and nasty in High School.

Stampin & Stuff

Here are some of the cards I've been making lately.

Sorry - I'm not very good behind a camera.

I made this card for my friend in Colorado.

In our relationship, I'm pretty sure she's "red fish".


I made this card for my husband. It was just a "thank you" for being such a great guy - sometimes. It's hard to make manly cards, isn't it?
Oh, here's something else I made this weekend! It's CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD! Yum. We have so much zucchini in our garden and I'm so tired of eating it like a vegetable. I made this.

What? It's healthy...there is a vegetable in it!

Works for Me: A Cure for Insomnia

Sometimes at night I lie awake thinking of all the things I have to do the next day. Then I realize that I'm going to be too tired to do them if I don't get some sleep.


When there is no golf on TV (because trust me, that WILL put you to sleep) I try a trick I learned from a good friend and it seems to work for me.


Mentally, I go back to the first house I grew up in and walk through every room. I try to remember the wallpaper, the decorations and the closet doors. When I'm done with one room, I go to the next. I do this until I've walked the entire house. IF I'm awake when I finish the first house, I go to the next one. I've never made it through all of them in one night.


So if you find yourself lying awake tonight and you can't sleep, start mindlessly walking through your old houses. Not only will you get a happy feeling inside, but you'll be cutting logs in no time!


Now go over to Shannon's if you want some real stuff that works!

GratiTuesday

This poem was written by a teenager with terminal cancer. She will never see her prom, her wedding day, or hold her own child.

I am grateful she shared her feelings in this poem. It's beautiful.

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask
How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow
And in your haste,
Not seen his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time To call and say,'Hi'?

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift.....Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
------------ --------

Stamping Out Loud

I clearly remember my first Stampin UP! party.  I was overwhelmed and certain I would NEVER get the hang of it.  

I thought, WOW, these folks are creative!

Then I fell in love.

This weekend my friend and I got together, like we do almost every day, and I made this:

And this:

And this, although you'll have to turn your computer (or your head) because I can't figure out how to rotate it:

And this:

And this:


And my friend Laura made this.  I have NO CLUE what holiday it's for except I saw a birthday folder on her Cuttlebug so I'm assuming it's a birthday fish?  You be the judge, you know, after you turn your head again.

And no, the glass jar is not cracked or sparkling.  I already asked that.  She just wanted to use her blue pen.

Blankie Picture

Finally, I got some pictures of THE BLANKIE.  

This is mom and I at the kitchen table sorting out the squares.  That was the EASY part.

And many tedious hours later, I had this.  

A close up.

And how it looks after I fight the furkids to get it back.

Mine!

If it's 3 p.m....you can find me in the pantry

I HAVE GOT to lose weight.

Metabolism may possibly be working against me.

And I think I found a cellulite dimple on my forearm.

I am all about self-control until the afternoon.  Then my evil twin takes over.  And she likes to snack.  A lot.

Could you give me a little assistance in the snacking department?

And no, the good-for-you snacks that I can think of don't sound good.

What do y'all do during that time between lunch and supper?

Apparently Swiss Rolls and ice cream sandwiches are not going to cut it.

(And you might throw in suggestions for the time between supper and bed.)

(Just in case anyone else that reads this blog needs help during that time.)

(Not for me, of course.)

Funny Friday

A little something from the site www.engrishfunny.com.

Gratitude - on Thursday

After a year of normal 65-70 degree Central Coast days, last night the marine layer came in very heavy and damp. I thought we were finally going to get some rain over here!

The increasingly dark clouds that rolled by my window reminded me of how much I loved rainy days. Just like with cold winter weather, there's something about threatening weather outside that makes me feel warm and peaceful inside.

Oh how I miss weather.

I was pondering why I was so delighted by the dark dampness rolling in as I cleaned the dinner dishes and I think I finally figured out what it is: bad weather days are rare opportunities to fully appreciate the simple gift of shelter.

Here in wealthy America it's easy to take for granted how easily and lavishly our basic needs of food, water and shelter are met. With the first two, I find that there are more frequent reminders: every now and then when I walk into my grocery store I'm able to take a step back and see the almost unimaginable abundance that is available to us, and when I return home after walking the furkids to the park on a summer day I occasionally remember to be grateful that I have such easy access to clean water. But how often do I really appreciate simply having a sturdy roof over my head?

It usually takes a power outage to remind me. Here on base I occasionally feel a pang of envy at the McMansions in the neighborhoods of Santa Barbara or even Santa Maria enjoying their daily power . We live in the oldest houses in our immediate area with the power lines stretched all over base, and sometimes as I drive home I think about how nice it would be to have a newer house with some grand layout that included a spiral staircase, lavish deck, designer kitchen and most importantly underground infrastructure! But then, when I see a lawn chair tossed across the yard by the wind, I instantly feel thrilled that I just have a stable, sturdy house that keeps my family safe. Even when the fog gets so thick that I can't see the back fence and the power goes out for the zillionth time this month, not a single drop of rain touches the heads of my furkids; and even as the screens rattle loudly as the wind gusts get more powerful, we don't feel so much as a single puff of air. Here in our semi-carpeted, temperature-controlled little fortress, even in the midst of a raging winds we are not only safe, but we are comfortable.

Anyone else love a good rainy day?

The Blanket

My blankie is done. Complete.

Pink and Beautiful.

It was actually done about a week ago, but I fell, remember?

I fell in the sand and I fell on my camera. Therefore my camera is no longer operable.

I'll see if I can take a picture with my laptop but I can't make any promises.

It's beautiful though.

And soft.

It's mine.

I won't stop til I get enough

So I’ve pretty much spent every waking moment since Friday immersed in Olympic mania. I adore the Olympics. (The constant Olympic Blogging didn't give it away?)

It’s something about the purity of the competition, athletes that train constantly for an event that only happens every four years. The pride, the patriotism.

It makes me believe that if only I had stuck with my competitive swimming on the Kansas City Blazers swim team throughout high school that I could have been a contender.

Unfortunately I got tired of riding my bicycle the six blocks it took to get to the pool and, thus, ended my Olympic hopes.

However, I believe I have mentioned once or twenty times before that I was a UIL typist in 9th grade which was kind of like being an Olympic athlete except for the fact that I wasn’t a world class athlete, but rather a fourteen year old who typed more words per minute than twenty other freshmen in high school.

It was quite the accomplishment.

I was also a Mathlete.

Not really, but I like the term Mathlete. The real story is that it took me two attempts to pass Algebra II and even then I think I only earned a passing grade through the time-honored tradition of bribing your teacher with fresh donuts each morning.

Anyway, as I watch the Olympics, I’ve had a few burning questions and/or concerns.

1. Synchronized men’s diving. Thoughts? I mean I get the diving part, but who thought up the synchronized thing? It seems a little contrived.

Hey! You know what could make this dive even better? If we did it at the SAME TIME.

It has incredible potential as the premise for a Will Ferrell movie.

If your brother, nephew, or third cousin twice removed is a synchronized men’s diver, I don’t mean to offend. I’m just curious.

2. Female Chinese gymnasts. If some of those girls are sixteen years old, I’ll eat my hat.

3. Michael Phelps. I thought maybe I had a small crush on him, but realized I am getting old because my feelings are more along the lines of “Oh, he seems like such a nice boy and he loves his mama.”

But the burning question in my mind is what is he listening to on his iPod before races? Rumor has it that it’s Eminem or Young Jeezy.

See how I just threw Young Jeezy out there like I totally know who that is?

No idea.

If it were me (and I were back in the thick of the UIL typing competition) I know what I’d be listening to, a little “Bootylicious” by Beyonce and “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson.

We Caught The Olympic Spirit

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August 13

So, today I am not back up to speed after all. The "SUITS" are in town so it will be a day of non - sensible shoes and meetings.

Try me again tomorrow.

It can only get better.

I'm back

You know what happens when you don’t blog for a few days ?

The portion of your brain that generates mediocrity on a daily basis shrivels up to the size of nothing, rendering you completely incapable of composing even your usual brand of okay.

So you will sit and watch women’s gymnastics for hours while trying to come up with something of interest to share and become completely distracted by all the various hair clippies that gymnasts use to hold their hair back. Why all the different colors? Why is there not more hair accessory coordination?

I think I may have just realized why I was never a serious athlete.

Tomorrow should be better as I work my brain back up to blogging speed.

I'm on a temporary blog break, enjoying a few days of summer with my mom.  I will be back on Wednesday, August 13.

Funny Friday

What's my favorite season?

Well FOOTBALL SEASON, of course. Time to start talking smack to my husband! Woo hoo. Here goes:

That's right, Packers fan; it's time to accept reality. The Brett Favre era is over, and Aaron Rodgers is your starting QB.

Good luck...hehehe

Warning - Dangerous Dog Behind Closed Doors

We found this today in our mailbox.


Clearly it was not to be delivered to us, but to warn our new mail person of the vicious carnivore that lurks behind our closed front door.

I'm glad it arrived, because had I not been informed, this beast may have one day caused me serious bodily harm.

Any moment he could wake from this nap and get out from under his warm and cozy blankey to snuggle me to death.

Thank you, postmaster, for the warning.

GratiTuesday

It's time for a little shout out to the Lord, so you know it must be GratiTuesday, where I can be vocally thankful for something in my life.

Over the weekend Carl & I went to the private beach on base.

We went with our friends Don & Laura. Turns out Don is a LOT like Jeff Corwin, minus the silly shorts. Even though Carl & I had been to this beach many times before, we never found the things we saw with Don.

We saw a starfish, a sea urchin and an anenome (I will call him squishy and he will be mine).

I didn't really want to touch it, you know, in case it bit me.

Look what else I found. It's my hubs.
So today I am thankful for good friends - all of them. They are hard to find and harder to keep.

I'm also thankful to have these pictures. Laura took them and sent them to me. See, I fell in the sand and broke the camera (who does that?) so these are my only photographic memories of that day, courtesy of good friends.

Chocolate Skittles

Carl brought home Chocolate Skittles.

They remind me of my childhood.

You know, the part where I ate my chocolate Chapstick.

Yuck.

Felt Shoes?

I got Carl these new kicks.

He put them on and ran his hands over the Swoosh.

"Felt" he said.

"No, they are suede."

He looked at me for a moment and said, "Well, they're felt now."

Heaven

I think this is what Heaven feels like.

Funny Friday