Sideways Bottom

I haven't just hit bottom with all this ear pain, I've hit sideways bottom. As in my lower-half (bottom) is getting more and more sideways. I've decided that the only thing worse than feeling the pain is to feel all tired and muffiny on top of everything. Or muffin-toppy. So I'm quitting my medicinal helpers and getting back down to the business of being fit and healthy. Join me, won't you?

This rice bag and I are the best of friends these days. I heat it up, put it on my pillow, make a little hollowed-out spot for my ear to rest in and then...I lay down and the spikes coming out of my eyeball recede ever so slightly.

My friend and doula made it for me as a gift when I had Ellie. Who knew that six years (and a few mended rips) later it would still bring me comfort?

In the garden, there's a row of peppers still waiting to be yanked out by their stems. I've resisted pulling them out so that I can photograph their hunched-over spines. I'm sympathetic to these peppers. I know how they feel, and somehow pulling them out after they're all used up seems to hit too close to home. I feel like a bit of traitor using them like that. We won't talk about me putting them in salsa to swim with mangoes...that's entirely different.

I have enough photos for my month of sunsets, but I don't want to post them as that will feel like a sunset on my sunset photos. It's a conundrum, I tell you.

Yo Yo Ma

I am not even going to mention that one topic even once. It is boring both of us.

Anyway, one thing I can do is stitch the snap out of some yo yos. I've made over one hundred and with the ones my girls have made, we're in the neighborhood of 160. Great! Only 240 to go.

One downside to numbness in your finger tips is that you don't feel the needle pricks until you REALLY feel them. Ouch, gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "on pins and needles".

Our camera is kaput. It is at the shop on life support. We will know more about her recovery plan on Monday. I super, super miss her.

Lately, I've felt like putting a smiley face emoticon after every thing I type, I'm counting it as a side effect of the meds. Normally I'd just be sarcastic and expect you to know I meant it in good humor, it's how I deal, peeps.

Do you know that it is almost April? Yes! (dramatic fist pump)

Also lately, I have been playing doctor (no not that kind, although...). Anyways, I have a tens unit (total lifesaver) and a few of my people have had injured lower backs. And do you know, it is a very helpful tool when dealing with pain (FYI no one with a pace maker should use one of these). Just call me Doctor Organic.

Let's all be glad....

that I didn't post last night. Ambien and Blogger is not a good combination. Entertaining and embarrassing? Yes. Coherent and rational? No.

I get to have a Girls' Weekend starting in about 4 hours. To say I am excited is an understatement. I am looking forward to good company and no responsibilities as well as warmer temps.

***
Last night, I overheard Spielberg ask Ellie: Was that a fart?

Her response: No! It was two.

She has been experimenting with saying no or talking back, and it's like she's two all over again. At two talking back was a lot more charming. Bleh.

***
I have a hard time watching my kids learn hard lessons, but I know they need to be learned.

I'm thinking that with my parenting skills, I might have a future in piloting helicopters. I'm just saying.
***
I want to knit myself a sweater now that it won't take eleventy billion skeins of yarn (you know, on account of how slimmer-ish I am), but it's so hard to decide.

Maybe this one?


Hmm, it will still take a heckuva ton of yarn and the way I knit - at least two lifetimes to complete it. I still like it. (But seriously, who wears white pants?)

City Scape project - must see!

So, we worked our butts off and now it's done. Here's a time lapse of our city scape mural. Keep in mind that my son designed and created the entire thing, I just came along behind him and painted it. Feel free to tell him how talented he is, I promise he won't mind.
And if you'd share this link with your friends, I'd really appreciate it. This room is about 300 square feet and no small undertaking. There are still some finishing details to go on the buildings as well as the final touches on the actual decor, but the lion's share of the work is done. Life can resume.

I swear

There's nothing quite like the prospect of seeing old friends to inspire a good housecleaning and garden-mucking. I just had to tell someone. And to our old friends (old in aquaintance, but certainly not in age or spirit), my house is always this tidy. Really.

Pink & Purple

I'd forgotten that we'd planted our three arbors with pink wisteria in the middle, bookended with purple. There was a plan to this yard once. I find I am missing the rush of the waterfall which we dug out before (or maybe shortly after) Ellie was born. I used to step out on the deck at sunset and flip the switch - prop my elbows on the handrail, rest my chin on the cradle of my hands, watch the water swell and tumble over the top ledge, then slapping down on the rocks below. Heaven.

Despite its small size, this was no measly waterfall. It had a beautiful thundering sound pouring out of two falls that faced each other. A little rock ledge served as a platform for Ty's wheelchair, allowing him to place his hand through the sheet of water on the left (and higher) of the two falls.

It was high maintenance as far as water features go - the pond wasn't deep enough for fish or still enough for plants and algae would grow unchecked until we drained the pond, removed the rocks, pressure washed everything, and allowed it to dry in the heat of the summer sun. Then we'd replace the rocks and refill the water. It was back-breaking work. Then one spring we noticed it was settling and cracking.

So we took it out.

Fours years later, I really regret it. Sometimes a little sweat, an entire day's devotion, and a week's worth of sore muscles are small prices to pay.

A little bit Danish, a little bit rock n' roll

Next stop:

Here, we were free to roam about without fear of gum-snapping ladies in purple windbreakers stumbling into our photos.

Aebelskivers with raspberry jam. Two words: Yum-my.

I've never seen so many dogs out on walks (except for that time at the outdoor mall in Newport)

Mostly they were small little balls of fluff, but one dog, a long-haired German Shepherd was having a little difficulty socializing.

That is to say, he barked from his toes any time another dog entered his space bubble.

And by space bubble I mean approximately a six foot radius.

A fellow (oblivious) dog owner stopped three feet away to eat his yogurt. The shepherd's owner saw him coming and jumped up to hold his dog's collar.

He was forcing his dog to stay in a sit position (he wasn't harming him at all) and was having to contort himself in a most uncomfortable way. This German Shepherd owner looked just as you might

imagine he would. I didn't see any tattoos, but he looked like he'd be perfectly at home on a Harley (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Mr. O and I sat there dumb-founded as the hippie owner of the ball of fluff dog stood his ground.

Finally his girlfriend suggests they should move because the shepherd looked like it wanted to eat their precious ball of fluff. But hippie dude resists.

Shepherd owner asks hippie owner very politely (although you could tell it nearly killed him to do so) if he wouldn't mind moving on down the street just a bit - you know, outside the space bubble

And hippie owner's response was I'm just trying to eat here.

Oh, so rude! I think our jaws may have visibly dropped then. And with that the German Shepherd owner says Fine! throws his hands up, taking a break from the physical strain and releases his death grip on the dog's collar.

The entire time the shepherd had remained still and silent, his leash tethering him to the bench. And then he was on alert (pre-kill mode) with a deep WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!

Like I want to eat you for breakfast WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!

I thought hippie owner and ball of fluff dog were both going to pee themselves. Instead, they moved on down the street about oh, six feet or so.

I mean really, was that so hard?

P.S. It took all kinds of restraint for me not to refer to the ball of fluff's owner as Wienie Owner. You should appreciate that.

Self-Portrait Sunday: Challenge #1

Playing along with My Topography's Self-Portrait Sunday. I may make this a regular thing, so consider yourself warned. Let me know if you join in the fun. Also check out Christina's project, A Field Guide To Now and consider making a pledge. Go Christina!

In other news, a girls' night out this weekend is just what the doctor ordered, a perfect inoculation against cabin fever.

Because I need you

Tomorrow Ty is headed in for a couple of surgeries, but no worries he should be home the same day. This is where you come in. My Google Follow button is not working properly, and if you read me I'd like to read you.

So please, give me something to do in the waiting room tomorrow and list your blog name in the comments so I can read it (and follow you). If you know I read you already, please still list your blog name so others can discover your bloggy brilliance.

Don't let me down now.

In honor of the impending romance holiday: tunes

A feel-good, upbeat love song which I first heard on an 8 track tape. I can't tell you how badly I wanted her haircut, unfortunately I didn't look awesome in a mushroom.

Love Will Keep Us Together - C...

And this? Is our song.

Unchained Melody - The Righteo...

Lately I've been wondering what I'm going to do with myself once Ellie is in school full time. I mean, I'm not really PTA material and you can only eat so many bon bons so...

I'd like to go back to school, and the toughest thing is deciding what to study. I have a fascination with languages and would love to study Arabic or Chinese, but I also want to be practical~which would indicate that Spanish should figure in there somewhere.

So, what to study? Before my tubal pregnancy and then Ty's arrival, I'd been studying in pre-med classes. Hah! So not a possibility (I've really overdosed on the world of medical wonders, thank you). With an eye towards entering the work force again someday, I've got to figure out a new area of study.

Does it really matter what your degree is in anymore so long as you have one? I enjoy advocacy work, research, people (ix-nay on the teaching, tho - not enough patience, I'm afraid), writing, and reading. Suggestions?

P.S. I'm just getting started on the possibilities.

Carpal Tunnel Fairy

I'm 1/10th of the way done with making up my mom's gift. Only 8 home-made gifts to go, and I'm realizing my eyes are bigger than my crafting capability/perception of time necessary to complete said crafting.

I had carpal tunnel surgery about 8 years ago and the hand surgeon told me to stop do any activities that required me to grasp something between my thumb and index finger (um, can I get a shyeah, right?) or I'd be doomed to disfiguring arthritis in my very early golden years. I did take a small break from handicrafts, but every Christmas the urge to create jumps up and bites me and, well, I'm weak. I cave to it.

And pay for it, waking up with an arm that's on fire and all but dead. Who cares - it's Christmas - by Jove! and I'm going to craft something. By the way, I know I still have to ante up on my homemade thing for three people. Shawn, Alicia (of Totally Tebbs) and Kim (of Whims) I need your mailing addresses.

In other news, the kids have asked me if I'm going to make Reindeer Fodder, the hand-dipped chocolates, or the special Sweet Chex Mix this year (I suppose they've been paying attention to my generally healthier eating habits, after all).

I know it's Christmas, but do we really need all that junky, delicious food around for tradition's sake? Peanut butter chocolates (especially of the homemade, hand-dipped variety) really are the slippery slope to a size sixteen - at least, for me.

Lagging, but not flagging (10 to go!)

There is something about the word etcetera that just feels silky rolling off one's tongue. So, consider yourself forewarned, my tongue (and fingers) are feeling particularly silky today.

Losing this last 10 lbs is a lot harder than I expected (read: frustratingly difficult), but I am still determined to meet my goal by Christmas (of this year), it's just going to take a lot more will power than I had anticipated. I mean, why do carbs have to taste so good? It's sort of unfair really, that pecan-coconut candied sweet potatoes don't taste more like celery and vice versa.

We've done quite a bit of remodeling this year - new paint,

new floors,

new draperies (pics to come), a new room (well, a converted one - with pics also to come) for Ty, new cabinetry and a new bed for that room, a new sofa (which, it turns out, was a big mistake we're going to have to live with),

new beds for even the garden,

and two new vehicles (both saved up for over several years). Ty's van has a ramp in the back of the vehicle so we can park anywhere and get him out.



Not to mention all the personal reconstruction that's been undertaken,

and the various accompanying wardrobe adjustments (read: cha-ching). I'm not complaining, I am happy for all the good fortune we've had this year - Heaven knows we're long overdue - but we've admittedly been rather family-centered with our funds this year.

We know of several people who have not fared well in this economy, and while we have done some things to help, it's hard not to feel we haven't done enough. It's a bit like the fable of the ant and the grasshopper (and that is where my philosophizing must end as I do not want to offend anyone).

I have a writerly friend who is attempting NaNoWriMo, and I'm happy to report that she is making incredible progress towards her goal. Last December the goal of losing this physical/psychological weight over the course of one year felt rather like the seemingly impossible goal of 50,000 words composed in a mere 30 days. Eleven months later, it still feels a bit that way. I know I've come a long way but somehow it doesn't make the last bit of the journey seem any easier (except that I might have a little more confidence that it's within reach).

NoNo NaNoWriMo

It's said that everyone has a novel in them. It's not true.

I am novel-less. Vignettes, however, I have aplenty. So I've decided to use November to catch up my journal writing. I'm just mentioning it here so I might actually follow through.

I'm also committing to daily exercise. I've been such a slacker since it got cold outside and haven't been running. I'll replace it with cardio and yoga and continue with weightlifting. I'm only 10 lbs away from my goal and I AM going to make it by Christmas (as long as I can stay away from the clearance priced Halloween candy).

Keeping a Record

1. Journal - kept on and off since I was 12.

2. Binder - filled with pictures and letters from the time I lived in the Philippines.

3. Video - until my second oldest child decided he might have a future in film-making, we only recorded on holidays and birthdays.

4. Scrapbooks - I stink at this, but for awhile I tried to keep one up for each of my kids until they turned five. My youngest wants to know where hers is - I hate to tell her she was born after I went through that phase.

5. Letters - I've kept letters and emails exchanged with friends and family.

6. Blogging - sometimes it is just random musings, but I try to keep track of the cute things my kids say and do, the blessings in our life, and also the trials.

I've gone back to school

More a tweet than a post, but...

I'm off to breathe in the night air, sift my thoughts, maybe get my heart pumping a little harder, and then

and then


and then to write a bedtime story full of some place other than here (even though I''m completely okay with here).

Won't you please?

So I'm thinking a new bloggy name is in order, but my mental coffers are a bit er, um EMPTY. I would love it if you'd play along and offer up a suggestion.

And in return, I've got a slew of beach reads (Meg Cabot and Sophie Kinsella) to give away so how about this?

One entry for each suggestion. And another entry for each tweet or post, just leave a comment. A drawing for the books in a few weeks, and a small quilt for the person who comes up with the new name. Quilt picture to come next week.

So, are you in?

Here a wolf, there a wolf - everywhere a Werewolf!

This is my vacation read. It is 560 pages LONG, and chock full of all sorts of werewolf details. Such as, werewolves are
A)selfish
B)savage
C) er, have a strong sensual side and a certain affinity for whiskey and/or laudanum.

But, can I put it down? No - I've made it more than halfway and am now compelled to find out how it all ends. Mind you, it is not because the writing is so engaging that I cannot put it down, only that I'm in too deep to quit now. Do you ever do that?

So anyway, werewolves now seem to be cropping up in lots of places.

At the beach the other day, I noticed a guy (bless his heart) who was actually quite good looking from the waist up, but from the knees down? He was a hairy nightmare. He had to have waxed the rest of his body - no one can possibly have a shag rug on their shins and nary a hair up there in the chestal/forearm area. I am proud of myself for not snapping a pic of him (and oh, was it ever tempting). I suppose werewolves are entitled to a little privacy too, after all.

Last night, I dreamt of werewolves. Mr O had run to a near by neighbor's to help with someone who'd been attacked. All I could do was watch through the window as a werewolf approached him on his return. I warned the children not to unlock the door--no matter what!--and then I slipped out the front door to provide a distraction so Mr. O could get away. I ran out and hid behind a Jeep parked on the street, Mr. O was temporarily lost from view.

I heard a growl behind me and turned to see him. He had a wild look in his eye and his face had changed. Mr. O had suddenly sprouted a mullet and canines longer than Jacob Black's. And all I could think was I had told the kids not to unlock the dang door. Oh Schmidt!

Seriously, I have got to finish this book and soon (if you've read it, please just tell me how it ends).

Guest Post - Stock/Housing Market News

Mr. O's two cents on the stock market and also realtor friend Suzanne's opinion on the housing market:

I asked a friend of mine who is just learning about the stock market the following question:
Why did the stock market go up today? (3/10/09)

His answer was..."My understanding is it went up for a few reasons:

1) Citi(group) is profitable or at least rumored to be.
2) It has fallen more than it actually needed to in the past few weeks, so we were due for a minor correction. We hit some resistance/support levels and the downward trend was not strong/bad enough to breakthrough???

I am guessing a bit, but let me know how I did."

Here's my response...

It's actually very basic, and most people over analyze the why... The answer is that there were more buyers than sellers. The sellers have been selling for days and there just were not any sellers left to sell, with more buyers than sellers the market moved up as it moved up some of the sellers (who were sitting on cash from all of the selling) decided to get in on the action and switched sides which added even more buyers to fuel the run.

So your #2 was pretty close and on the right track. As for your #1 not so much... the media and news want to make sense of the market (logic and reasoning) that's a bunch of bull. It's their to make people believe that there is some rhyme and reason for why the market goes up and down and they want to be able to show that they figured it out and report about it. Don't trust the news the market is usually way ahead of it (6 months roughly) and works mostly on basic supply and demand principles.
*****
Suzanne on the housing market:

Now just take that same basic principle and apply it to the housing market and everyone will understand why their home values are falling and will continue to fall until the amount of sellers is equal or less than the amount of buyers. The reason why some areas are losing less value than others is that the housing market is mostly local. Some areas have less sellers than others.

I'm sure that you already know this, just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in. Although the media reports the most recent data they have, it is usually 1-3 months behind what is happening now. When the housing market finally levels, we won't really know that it happened until a few months after. Of course, someone who is working in the market everyday will have a feel for how things are going.
****

Well said. And now you know.....

the rest of the story.

Have you seen this?

So Facebook has basically gone viral. I've been on for over a year and a half and the number of people signing up has grown exponentially since this past December. It's exciting to meet up with people I haven't seen in years and to catch up on their lives. It's a great social networking tool.

But, did you know that today FB changed the terms of service agreement? You might be interested in what terms you've now agreed to.

In honor of Friday the 13th

My close (and not so close) shaves with death:

1. Growing up, there were frequent bomb threats made on my elementary school. In fact, we had bomb drills instead of fire drills. No, I did not grow up in an inner city.

2. I grew up watching the Donny and Marie Show.

3. Our house was broken into 3 times so we had a guard posted out front and bars put on the windows. My mom slept with a billy club - looking back I think she was incredibly brave.

4. I wore a shirt with ruffles on it. In junior high.

5. A particularly awful stomach flu hit me at a high school dance. The ER docs thought it was an ectopic pregnancy - talk about awkward mom moments. I insisted I wasn't, but they still did a pregnancy test. Seriously, I don't think I'd even kissed anyone at that point. Two days later my best friend came down with the same bug and had to hospitalized for dehydration.

6. As a high schooler, I was in a nasty car accident. A teen-ager, who'd just gotten her driver's license that day, hit us with her brand new black Nissan Sentra. She hit us so hard that a passenger in her car left an imprint of her face on the rear of the driver's headrest. Anytime I've had an MRI the reading radiologist freaks out about the degenerative damage in my spine. Apparently, my neck is a walking time bomb.

7. I went skiing in Levis once, and the only instruction I received was to point myself downhill.

8. I was attacked by a serial rapist the fall before I married Mister O. I fought like a crazy woman and got away. Mr. O bought me a stun gun in case I ever came across Mr. Serial's sorry self again. The thing kept discharging in my purse, and I never got to use it. Which is actually a good thing.

9. I've eaten dried squid AND beets. As Lauren would say - sicknast.

10. My first pregnancy was ectopic (what are the odds?) and progressed to 11 weeks. It hurt worse than anything I can describe - even breastfeeding. Luckily, I didn't lose a tube or an ovary because the tissue fell into my abdominal cavity and attached to the outside of my uterus. Tricky bugger, no wonder it took so long for them to figure out what was going on.

11. I contracted food poisoning from the Hard Disc Cafe when I was 6 months pregnant - hoped to die then. I didn't. I still like Chinese food.

12. I used to walk 5-7 miles every morning at the sadistic hour of 4:30. One morning a small pickup truck came careening around the corner and pulled to a screeching stop behind my walking partner and me. The driver jumped out and proceeded to scream obscenities at us and informed us he was going to kill us. It happened the same day as this and I'm pretty sure it was the same guy. We got away. Shortest walk of my life.

13. I've had thyroid cancer. But since it's the "good cancer" (an oxymoron for sure), it's hardly worth mentioning. Next scan is this June - may it be the last one.

Tell me, have you had any close shaves?