In the Bank

Crazy how it is already Thursday or that it is March of 2009! ...Or the plain and simple fact that time goes by so fast. Some days you wish time to pass so quickly. Then one day you stop and ask--where did the time go?!?

My motto tends to be if you don't laugh, your gonna cry. Traditionally you should shake off the stress of life. In the scheme of things, there is no point to get yourself wound. Chances are high that same problem won't amount to much tomorrow. It is easy to get wrapped up, to get yourself wound up and focused on the negative. You need to care...to have a purpose. Just remember to take a mental health day here and there. Cuddle up to your loved ones and fill the bank with love.

My Mind's Eye

This weekend composed of a dinner party at our house, a party-party at a friend's and the Renaissance Festival out in way-east Phoenix/AJ. Throughout that time we each found out in varying forms that being older and drinking--it just doesn't mix as well anymore. The recovery period actually exists, the next day is hell and you may even have a 2nd day of a regretful hangover. They say getting old is hell--I think I have found the road map for getting there. My plan is to stop at a Circle K and ask better directions in the road of life. My birthday is only 2 months away and I would like to put off some more the inevitable signs of age. I am excited--I will be 28 and my life has been good. I am very thankful for the great friends and the family in my life.

On Saturday we played "bocci bags" with varied teams for a full on competition with full bracket tracking. Almost like a March Madness competition for bocci bags! Not only a new experience, but a fun one too! It is a mix between horseshoes and bocci ball where you throw the bags onto a board with an incline and try to sink it through the hole (like you would throw a ringer around the horseshoe stake) and you get points for landing (and staying) on the board. I can't wait till we are this cool and can play at our house in something besides dirt. The hope is that we can do fun activities outside while the weather is so nice. Maybe when we re-landscape and get grass in the backyard and change up some of the plants. We have some lofty future goals for our home. Currently our yard is composed of 40% dirt, 40% oleander shrubs/towers and 19% thorned bushes/trees/scrub oak and 1% Lenny land mines.

Sunday was a departure from the norm and we explored the Renaissance Festival. Not big into buying trinkets, but focused on the shows and food. First order of the day was a turkey leg. And the faire did not disappoint, it was smoked well and had all the meaty goodness I was craving. Curtis got picked to go out on stage for a show, no shock since he is 6'4" and even sitting in an audience he is easy to pick out from a crowd. The details I will leave for him to explain, but I was laughing so hard I was practically howling! Beyond that we walked around, admired the blown glass vases done right there at the faire..and did some awe-inspiring people watching! It was just a nice day to walk around and the dust/wind didn't kick up till the late afternoon. I am still blowing the dirt out of my nose and trying to poke some of the images out of my mind's eye...but will have recovered in time for the 2011 Renaissance Festival.

Green Light

Okay, no shock that I have a baby time line in my head and am being overly cautious with my spine. Today was my last prenatal planning session--this one with the Obstetrician for when the time comes and I decide to go off the pill in the near-ish future. He sent me home with a whole slew of prenatal vitamins to try. --Disclaimer: Let me first commend E before I get into my rant. She is a smart lady and told me about Rainbow Light Prenatal One --it has the best stats and is a normal green color like the veggies/nutrients it was made from.

Being in marketing I can't help but analyze the packaging. Look at these happy babies with graduate caps on...see, if you take this vitamin you will have smart kids. Riiiiiight, trust the cardboard. Then, upper left bugs me the most because of the cheeze-mo tagline "Babies Blossom with Tandem DHA." Really, really?!? Now did you read that with a lilt voice to mock the box too?

Moving on, the doc told me some of his other patients like the PreferaOB for the size of the pill. So now that I am home, I started opening the boxes and analyzing the nutrition charts. Looking at the unusual purple color of that pill, the smart combo packs that have an Omega -3 booster with a heart imprinted on the neon yellow pill. [yawn] Next, the obnoxiously pink packaging and...and then, all my cynicism stopped me in my tracks when I came across this one:

Perhaps you can't get my horror from just this photo. /\ Do you see this teal blue one right here, PrenateDHA. Yeah, I gathered all boxes and ran into where C was reading. Holly crap, will you look at this thing?!? It looks like a suppository! The damn thing is 3x the size of any other one, it is gianormous!

C's famous line of the night went something like this: Maybe it is like those pills you submerge in water and you get a dinosaur towel, only with this one you get a baby. And then we both started laughing.

Spring Sunshine

These make my mouth water. In the good way, not the puckering, jaw tightening pucker your mouth. You see, I love lemons and use to eat them from my grandma's tree when I was little. This is only one of the fond memories of San Diego I have growing up.

Don't these lemons look wonderful? Now they are from my own backyard and even though I picked them a few weeks ago I wanted to share the photo. I am quite proud of them. Just a wonderfully bright spring color...ahh here comes the sun! :)

I'll have a serving of irony....

Horoscopes...love them hate them, let them be your daily joke about yourself. Afterall, I have a severe case of baby-fever:

March 12, 2009
Gemini (5/21-6/21)
Your life is falling neatly into two categories -- fulfilling and not fulfilling. You'll be tempted to only pay attention to the more fulfilling tasks and projects, but that isn't a good long term strategy. Eventually you will have to deal with the rest of it, so aim for balance and work through this duality by alternating your attentions. Don't become too focused on one person or one idea. Spread your energy around. There are positives on both sides that you might not be seeing right now.
(from Y! horoscopes)

What is most important to you?

If you would have asked me that question before last Wednesday I could have told you my morning coffee, a hot shower or being held in that snuggly place in the crook of Curtis' arm. Today I state emphatically--my health. Nothing like a scare to bring you back down to what is important. Without your health you have nothing, then once that is in check you can proceed with the other life necessities.

Back in 2000 I had major spinal surgery for my 46 degree C-curve scoliosis. Now 9-years later I went for a general follow up to make sure all that titanium was holding tight and I could have a green light for the baby planning (let me be clear family and friends---Planning, NOT currently prego). Another doctor in the practice evaluated my x-ray did one of those "u-u-u-uh?!!!"-s, skirted my direct questions, and would only tell me that any course of action he would recommend at this point would interfere with having children.[gasp!]

Well, I evidently was not wearing my big girl pants that day cause I lost all dignity and started sobbing in the exam room. Further breakdowns followed out in my car, on the ride home, when I came home (scaring the crap out of my husband who thought someone had died after seeing my red face/tear soaked cheeks) and then again the next morning when I realized work seemed ridiculously pointless in the scheme of things. My mind whirled through the last aftermath of my surgery, having to be a blob in bed, losing months of cognitive memory/activities rendered null because my body was healing, relying on others for virtually everything, and having to swallow my pride as a teenager and ask my mom to help me do everything including the private moment of taking shower. My mind whirled through scenarios, could my mom travel down to Phoenix and help me again? Could we afford in-home nursing if she couldn't? Would my insurance have half a prayer of covering a hefty portion of the cost?!? Oh and my type-A personality timeline...that throws that baby planning way off the chart!

Four days went by with no news, no call back on Friday and I decided that unless it caused eminent death I would still attempt a child this summer. Then, that doc conferred with my original doc and my x-rays and decided on Monday....nah, just joking...nothing much had changed to warrant another surgery. Damn it if I shouldn't have been happy, but I was mad. And I should be, specifically at myself because I freaked out--doing all the what-if's since I just didn't know where to take those original careful comments in the exam room. So gleefully all is well and I have had time to process. I still have the risk of slipping a disk while pregnant ‘cause I am fairly rigid and I hear that back labor is a bitch. Onward timeline!

Meet Lenny

In a previous post I mentioned that I have a dog...a retired athlete to be more specific. Lenny is a greyhound that ran the dog track till he was almost 4 years old. Which is longer than most other pups-- and yes, I'm bragging about what I didn't do.

For the last two years he has been living the happy life of retirement with me and my husband. Lenny was retired from the track simply because he slowed down. And now there are multiple organizations dedicated to finding homes for these great dogs. We found Lenny through Arizona Adopt A Greyhound.

I couldn't advocate a better kind of family member. He is lovable, clean and goofy. And did I mention lazy?!? Normally people guess that he is some hyper, high-maintenance mess. Not true. He is a 45 mph couch potato. Lazy as all-of-get-up except before his routine feeding times, when we play fetch/chase and the weekly dog park treks that we do just for him.

Our pup is the best of both worlds. Curtis (my husband) wanted a mastiff...no to the massive size and drool, not to mention the hair/grooming. Originally, I thought I wanted a shiba inu...then I studied about how they are "strong willed" aka stubborn. So, Lenny became our long researched choice and under strong recommendation from another friend who adopted back in 2001. Adorable and addictive...you will see more about Lenny for sure!

Labels

As I drive around town I like to read personalized license plates to figure out what in all of tarnation they are trying to say...and bumper stickers.

Recently I tuned into all the campaign stickers still clinging to windows, trunks and the actual bumper of vehicles. I am biased to think the Obama supporters have to be proud? And the McCain supporters are trying to emphasize that they didn't vote for our current president?

To me, the McCain stickers seem to ooze the statement: "I make bad choices."

This Old Man

Happily the weekend went by and I have retained all my limbs and/or appendages. Nothing more than spring cleaning (Phase III) and six loads of laundry. Plus folding the previous five loads of clean clothes that lay out flat on our guestroom bed once it came out of the dryer two weeks ago.

All the while singing this song below to study for my Japanese language class (quiz on Tuesday):

CHII SAI MONO (counting small things)
Sung to the melody of This Old Man

Hi-to-tsu, fu-ta-tsu, mit-tsu, yot-tsu, i-tsu-tsu, mut-tsu, nana-tsu, yat-tsu, kokono-tsu, too, chii sai mono o kazoo ‘e mashoo.

Rough Translation: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10…small object –o- let’s count.