SnOwBoArDiNg

Went to try snowboarding today at Northstar... it got off to rough start as I had to miss the first class because I had the wrong size bindings. But I liked what I did get to do.

Although I was on a very "bunny" hill, I did not fall. I could turn on my heals, but not on my toes... and I had good balance. It was great until I tweaked my knee to do this weird stop thing. Luckily I did not dislocate it... but it was sore enough to bring my day to a halt.

The good news is I definitely want to go again...

Thanks to Stephanie and Dale for taking me!!! Until next time...

Halloween RULES!

I love Halloween. It is by far my favorite holiday. I love decorating, costumes, trick-or-treating... the legends, movies, stories... it all RULES! Every year my yard get bigger and bigger. Someday it will reach my dream. Here are some quick pics of my yard from tonight. It was the hit of the neighborhood.

From a across the street... the Grimm Reaper is so cool. (It is new this year)

Here are my pumpkins... next year they will be flaming... literally...

My front door (there is a fog machine there)...

One side of my yard...

Next year will be even BIGGER... 365 days to go...

Being Sick... STINKS!

I am tired of not feeling well. I honestly do not remember what it feels like to feel well. Over the last 4 years, possibly longer, my health has gone downhill. I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia... and the supposed comforting fact is that it will not kill me. Although I must admit that there are days when I feel like I am dying.

For those of you who don't know, Fibromyalgia is a quite painful, debilitating desease. For me, I can barely move in thw morning, I have horrible headaches/migranes, horrible fatigue, and more.

On the outside looking in, many would say "suck it up" or "get over it", but it truly isn't that simple. Imagine... having a headache so severe that you must go to the ER and they think you are having a stroke or an aneurysm, OR waking up in so much pain you can't move, all you can do is lie there and cry.

Over the years I have developed quite a high tolerance to pain... it certainly does not make it any easier, but I can at least function everyday. Get up, shower, go to work... for many they are lucky to get out of bed. On one level I have to function, because there is no one to take care of me, but me. On another level, I just can't let myself not function.

Anyone with fibro understands these thoughts... I just wish it was easier for others to understand. People always fear what they don't understand. People like me are are stuck between a rock a hard place. We don't people to know because we do not want to be treated differently (or like leapers) but at the same time, people need to understand what we have to go through everyday. There is no cure... our comfort is that it won't kill us. Big deal... there are days when we want to die it is so bad.

For many years, my doctor could not find what was wrong with me. I began to think it was in my head, that nothing was wrong... it lead to depression... I saw a physciatrist, to no avail. It is quite horrible to have something wrong with you and feel so bad, yet nothing can be found. Once I finally saw a doctor who actually has the desease herself, it became more clear. Although I still have not found the right treatments for me, I am still hopeful.

I guess in writing this, I am hoping that someone will understand and hopefully not judge. We go through so much... and honestly I am losing friends (as you feel so bad all the time, you quit doing things) and my family (parents/sister) doesn't really understand (although that might be more from them not listening). I do however, have two other family members with it as well. My cousin understands and completely knows all the feelings that go with it... He and I share some very similar "headaches".

I do hope that anyone who suffers from this, finds relief and support soon. :)

Halloween and my Poopies...

I love Halloween... it is my favorite holiday. My dogs love it too. They are ready for this year. Angel is going to be a queen (not a far stretch) and Mikey is going to be a pirate. Aren't they cute???

And Smoke... well he didn't really like his costume, but he put up with it. I thought it appropriate for him to be a witch.

And to contrary belief my dogs love dressing up. They also have clown costumes, a batman costume, and more. They run and smile... it is great watch. Angel gets a little miffed when I want her to sit so I can take pictures. As soon as she sees the flash she takes off playing again.

Giants vs. Pirates

WOW... went to the Giants game Friday night with my sister. We had a blast... it was her first porfessional game of any kind. I hope she enjoyed it. While there we watched Bonds hit number 758. Very cool... considering the last game I went to I saw two home runs by the Mets. Here are some pics from the game... I did get a pic of Bonds hitting the homer, but it is extremely blurry. Bummer. Unfortunately, after a wonderful 7 innings the Giants were winning (6-4), but they blew it in the 8th.

Ball 3...

On First...

Leading off second...

In Left Field...

After the Home Run...

And on the way home... 2:30 am, a small fire off of McCarran and 4th.

Record is broken

YES!!! HE DID IT... 756. WISH I COULD'VE SEEN IT LIVE, BUT TV IS THE NEXT BEST THING. GO BARRY!!!!!

Barry Bonds

Okay... since I have been a Giants fan since I can remember, I am totally rooting for Barry. Heck, even if I wasn't a Giants fan, I would be rooting for him. This is history in the making.

I a currently watching the Giants take on the Nationals... top of the 4th, tied at one. Barry has batted twice, popped up and walked. It is not being counted as an intentional... but seriously nerves of a pitcher can only go so far. Right now, the statistics say that Barry only hits a hoe run about 23% of the time that he is actually pitched. On the flip side though, he scores close to 78% of the time that he is walked. Why would anyone want to pitch with those kind of odds??

Through my years of watching baseball, I have seen any things... an earthquake interupt a World Series, Nolan Ryan pitching, Mark McGuire breaking Maris' single-season home-run record, Baary in turn breaking McGuire's record, the Red Sox taking the World Series, and more...

My Dad can remember the season that Roger Maris broke Bath Ruth's record. He says that the hype around Barry reminds him of that year. I guess records like this will always be bitter-sweet. Right now, people that remember watching Aaron break the All-time Home Run record over 30 years ago, don't want Bonds to break that great record. And 30 years from now I may know what they how they feel when I am watching another break Bonds' record. It is part of Baseball's Circle of Life.

So for now... GO BARRY!!!! :)

Until it's over...

The Landlord

This is some funny shit...

Iraq

Please forgive me. These are my thoughts and as such they may wander.

Just heard on the news that Senator Lugar (R - Ind.) is breaking ranks from the Republican Party (mostly the President) to speak out against the War in Iraq. He says that now is the time for change, not the fall. He feels that the costs of staying on the current course outweigh the benefits.

Not to sound like a protesting bitch, but who died to wake this man up?

Before I continue, I want to make damn sure that everyone knows that I whole heartedly support every man and woman fighting in Iraq, whether they are American, English, or whatever. I have wanted to speak about this war for quite some time, but never felt it right. It almost feels like I am speaking against our troops, but that is in no way, shape or form correct. I will continue to support them, pray for them and their families, and pray for a man who might be completely clueless... President Bush.

It is my belief that America entered into this war under false pretenses. We were lead to believe that Iraq housed tons of WMD. To date this has not been proven. Then Americans were told this is part of the "War on Terror". Let's see... Bin Laden is still free, Spain and England have suffered bombings, the skies are no safer to fly (according to the government), and most Americans have some sort of fear towards Muslims. Gee... who is really winning the "War on Terror"?

I have to admit that in the beginning I too, believed there were WMD. I watched as President Bush gave the ultimatum and the countdown was on. I remember sitting in the staff room at work and seeing the first reports of bombing in Iraq and thinking "it's about time". Since then my perception of this war have changed. It has become an all out "civil" war with the world's biggest "police" nation at the front lines.

Do I believe that Saddam was an evil man? YES
Do I believe that Saddam was given a fair trial? HELL NO
Do I believe that we are on the verge of WWIII? YES

You may not agree with me and frankly I don't care if you do, but it is because of the men and women we have fighting in Iraq that gives us the right to disagree and not be killed for it.

Do I believe that Saddam committed the atrocious crimes he was accused of? YOU BET I DO.

But I also believe that he ultimately would have had to answer to God and in the end, I certainly would not want to be him and face God.

I am also saddened by all the negative media surrounding Iraq. It breaks my heart to hear “many people died today is a suicide bombing” or “more soldiers lost today”, but what about all the positive things these troops are doing over there… schools are opening, hospitals are opening, there is running water is places that never had it, etc. Not all the people in Iraq think that the Americans are the terrorists. I believe that is what President Bush wants us to think so we will keep fighting his war.

His war… hmmm… that has new meaning. Why are we really there?

To finish what his father started?
To make gas prices go up so his pockets get fatter?
To free a people that have suffered many horrible events and still found the will to live?

I would like to think it is the later… but is it really?

No matter why we are there, I fully believe that we cannot just walk out and leave the country to fend for itself. We put it into chaos and it is our duty to help bring it to peace. If we leave now every man and woman that has lost their life will have done so in vain.

These men and women joined the armed forces because they believe in this country and what it stands for… liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all men… to protect those values is one of the most heroic things any human can do.

If they do not succeed in Iraq, I fear that America will shatter. The World will view her as weak and we may no longer just have the fear of losing our job, but losing our way of life. Don’t take her or our soldiers for granted.

And even though I never thought I would say this, I agree with Bush that keeping our troops there is right thing to do. However, I also believe this has become another political war like Vietnam. Politicians need to quit trying to run the war and let the Military do its job. Give them the money for the best armor, training, food, whatever they need… sit down, shut up, and watch what they can do.

Not every country can be a democracy like America. Not every country can separate Church and State. Until this is realized I am afraid we are in Iraq for the long haul.

To all our soldiers out there in the world… “Be safe, we love you, and THANK YOU!”

To all our politicians… WAKE UP! Change is needed and I am not talking about the extra jiggling stuff you want in your pockets.

Peace. :)

New Addition

Hi Everyone!!

Angel, Mikey & I welcomed our newest addition... Smoke. Can you believe I rescued a cat???

He is definitely the "alpha-dog"... you should see him chase Mikey. ha ha

Tahoe Burning

I new it would happen... mother nature was bound to catch up. Just never really expected it in my lifetime.

It's been awhile...

Okay... I know it has been a while. Don't have much time, but since my insomnia is kicking in, just thought I would introduce all to Dragonforce. They ROCK!! Thanks Dewey.

Angel Update

Hi Everyone... Angel is doing much better. She started eating Monday night (thanks to more meds). I have attached two pics... one of her incision (looking so much better) and one with her donut. The donut is wonderful... sure beats the cone.

Angel is doing okay...

I have had a very stressful last three days... after work on Thursday, I came home to an absolute disaster. Vomit and pee everywhere. I went outside with my pups and Angel was continuing to throw-up. I called the Vet and they said to bring her in right away.

She was examined and I was asked a few questions... one of which was "are you missing any toys?" I said no. They sent us home with an antibiotic and said she probably just had an upset stomach. This is where the fun started...

When I got home, I started cleaning up the mess. As I was cleaning up the vomit, I found a chunk of plastic in it. I then remembered what happened the night before (I came home to find a torn up bag that used to have 6 rawhides, all missing of course) and that is when I remembered the question about missing toys. Angel continued to throw up well into the night and I finally called the vet... who was absolutely awesome and called me back. Luckily we made it through the night and I took her to the vet at 7:30 am Friday morning. I was horrified leaving her there and spent a mostly brain-dead day at work... getting two calls from the vet. First call was to say the x-ray showed "suspicious" activity. The second call to say she came out of surgery well, it was plastic and her tummy was pretty torn up.

Went to the Vet after work to see her... probably the biggest mistake. As less than an hour after getting home, the vet called me. At first I wanted to cry thinking what happened to her then he asked if I wanted to take her home now. She had freaked out in her kennel, ripped out her IV and catheder, got her teeth stuck on the kennel bars. He said he would feel better if she were home with me watching her instead of coming in the morning and finding an accident. So of course I went immediately to get her.

That night was quite exhausting... she was still loopy from the drugs and very sore and tired. At one point I let her outside and she laid down on the grass...2 hours later I still couldn't get her up and she just stared at me. Luckily my Mom came over and helped me. We made a "gurny" out of a sheet and carried her in. She barley moved a muscle... my poor baby. There was nothing I could do for her. My Mom helped give her her meds and put her cone on. She hates the cone and that is an understatement. The rest of the night she was restless and uncomfortable. Finally at about 6:00 am Saturday morning she settled down and I got about an hour of sleep. As soon as I took off her cone, she was a different dog. She seemed to have some energy... and so far today she has done well. Aunt Christy came over in the morning and looked after her for a few hours and she did well.

That night we tried something new... a new collar that is more of a pillow and was more comfortable for her. She didn't seem to mind it as much.

Today, she seems to be doing well. She wants to chase the kids outside and eat cookies... poor baby. I have to keep telling her no.

On another quick note, Mikey is doing much better with her home as well. Almost as soon as I brought her in the door, his anxiety disappeared. He is good with her and glad she is home.

Junk

Let's see... I put my poor little poochies through hell. My latest adventure, well, I got them life vests. We (my Dad and I) are taking them in the boat this year, and if they jump out a life vest in the middle of a lake is a good thing to have. Anywho... they were delivered today and of course, I had to have them try them on. I would like to say that is was to make sure they would fit, but mostly it was to take pictures. Aren't they cute???

After taking the pictures, I was loading them onto my computer when I came across the pictures of the snow I just got. In all, it was about a foot of snow... 8-10 inches of which fell in about a 2 hour time. What a pain... This first pic was in my backyard of my little pine tree (it is almost 2 feet tall) and you can barely see the top of it.

In this next pic, it shows the snow in my front yard... my poor little bush. It gets so beat up during the winter.

Then of course, I had to shovel my driveway. As you can see by the time I finished my driveway was all white again. Oh joy. By the way... the next morning I had to shovel another 4-5 inches. I guess it beats the six feet of snow I had to keep shoveling last year.

And lastly, my dogs enjoying the snow. They love to eat it as you can see by Mikey wet chomps.

Okay... is it me or did I say "as you can see by" a lot in this post. Oh well... so much for my grammar.

OMG... so funny...

If you would like to laugh so hard you almost pee yourself, watch this video. And people wonder why Americans are so dumb...

Being Sick STINKS!

Saturday was a great day... went to Truckee and visited with Wendy and Carter. Outside of feeling "dead" tired by 8:00 pm that night, I felt fine. Even when I got up on Sunday, I felt good. About 11:00 am it hit... the pounding headache, nausea, vomitting, etc. I could not tell if it was one of my "normal" headahces or maybe a sinus headache/infection. But the pain was horrible and got worse everytime I moved my head. I tried to sleep, it did not work. I tried some pain reliever, it did not work.

Today is only a little better... I can move my head without increasing pain, but I am still nauseated and congested. I got some Tylenol Sinus this afternoon and am hoping it will help. This will sound really wierd, but I truly do hope it is a sinus infection. 'Cause if it is a sinus infection, there is still a chance that my jaw surgery worked.

All I can say right now is that I am absolutely tired of being sick. It seems to be never ending and I am not sure how much more I can take of it. I want to feel better NOW!

Addicted to Carter

I know... I know... Carter is absolutely adorable. If you would like to see more pics of this handsome man, check out his site: http://carterfmckechnie.blogspot.com/

My trip to Turckee today was great. He ate, slept, burped, ate, slept a little more... he is so cute!

Okay Wendy... we have to meet more often. :)

Friday, February 23, 2007

New Hobbie - Photography

I love taking pictures. I am trying to get better... every so often I will post pics that I take. The first bunch is below. They were taken at the Atlantis, during Hot August Nights, 2006. Enjoy!! :)

Amatuer Photography - HAN 2006

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Poor Martin...

Photo finish... .02 second margin...

Rant of the day...

The Daytona 500 was yesterday... it was pretty uneventful until the last 45 laps; then it was accident after accident. The worst of which happened on turn 4.... Mark Martin leading, Kevin Harvick closing on the outside. Kyle Bush get loose and slides into Kennseth, starting a change reaction that should have thrown the caution flag... and Martin winning. Yet... no... no caution... race to the finish and Harvick won. It is quite aggravating that NASCAR chooses which rules to follow at which times. A similar race a few years ago... Tony crossed the finish line first, but Jarret was credited the win because caution flew and the field was frozen.

For those of you who don't know... NASCAR has its version of "overtime" which is the green-white-checker finish (A two-lap shoot out to the end) HOWEVER, if their is a wreck and caution is thrown, the field is frozen as is and the race is over. If NASCAR would have followed their own rule, Martin would have won and a legend would have another tick.

It is just ashame... I hope NASCAR takes a look at the rules and decides to enforce them at ALL times, not just when they feel like it.

One thing is for sure... Martin solidified his Gentleman status. He is not blaming anyone but himself. What a guy!! He truly is one of the best. Too bad the rules bending has struck him a second (the first being losing the championship).

Oh my gosh...

Well... since I did absolutely nothing today, I went out with some friends tonight. Didn't stay out long since I have no energy. It was fun though; we went to Boomtown to see The Midnight Riders. However, my music was so loud that my ear drum was vibrating... it is still healing, so that was probably the problem. Next time I will take some cotton. ha ha Check out the picks...

A Good Friday...

Well... today was almost uneventful. Except that I forgot my mouth piece this morning... of course a headache followed at work, but I came home at lunch and grabbed it. Work was a bit boring, but ended on a good note. Helped out a co-worker... had to stay an extra hour and a half, but at least she will have a peaceful weekend.

Overall this is probably one of the better weeks I have had in awhile. Made it through the entire work week. Hosted Bunko. Posted a couple of blogs. And awaiting the Daytona 500 this Sunday where Tony Stewart will win.

Most of my blogs will be pointless... just fun to write and speak a piece of mind for the moment I am thinking it.

Some very interesting things happened in the world this week... Congress denied Bushes plan for a troop surge in Iraq, lots of lingering specifics are swirling around the Anna Nicole Smith Estate, 5 teams were penelized for cheating in NASCAR, the Chinese New Year has begun (It is the year of the Pig), GM is rumored to want to buy Chrystler, and the Princess of "Pop" is rumered to be in rehab (it's about time).

Hmmm... until next time America... :)~

LA LA LAND

Okay today has been strange and "sporadic"...

I am still recovering from jaw surgery done in January... I developed an ear infection which can be a side effect since the jaw joint is so close to the ear. The swelling closed off the tube that allows the ear to drain fluids and thus the infection. After almost 3 weeks with this infection, I went to the Doctor again yesterday and on my way there is "burst" and finally started draining. The draining itself was not painful, although some blood had to be cleaned up, but it relieved some pressure. yeah! So, I am on an antibiotic, a steroid, and ear drops (again) to hopefully stop the infection from re-occurring.

So anyway... back to today...

I actually felt a bit better today when I got to work, people even noticed that I looked better and my "color" was better than it had been. I was doing good... still have to keep talking to a minimum and take it easy, but today I guess I over did it. I had to do some re-organizing and over did it physically. I started feeling nauseated and the side of my head starting pounding. I walked back to me office and started feeling a little dizzy. My boss looked at me and said I was white as a ghost. I kept trying to stick out the day. So I went to lunch... hopefully to feel better when I got back.

At lunch, I went to Jiffy Lube for an oil change. I feel asleep in the waiting room (good thing I was the only one there). Then I went back to work... gone 30 minutes and still not feeling well. I made it another 2 1/2 hours and then had to come home.

I am glad I left when I did... when I got home, I got sick. Luckily I was able to take a Valium and keep it down. Still not feeling well, but at least the meds took some of the edge off. Strange thing is that I think part of why I feel so bad is all the meds I am taking... 8 different meds a day, not including the ones I take "as needed". Hopefully soon they will all be done with.

I see my surgeon again tomorrow, hopefully I am still showing improvement in my recovering. I can't wait until I feel 100% again.

4 Things

There are four things in this world that I tend to favor... don't ever mess with them.

1. GOD

2. The San Francisco Giants

3. Tony Stewart

4. Mikey & Angel