MISSING HUSBAND
Ray was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was really angry.
She told him 'Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in thedriveway that goes from 0 to 200 in less than 6 seconds, AND IT BETTER BE THERE!!!
The next morning Ray got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, and brought the box back in the house.
She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.
Ray has been missing since Friday. Please pray for him.
Tuesday, April 29
Monday, April 28
a surprise visit!
I just got back from lunch with Aunt Audrey & Uncle Don - what a nice surprise to be able to visit with them down here in California! I'm sorry to hear of your loss, though. Hope you are at least able to enjoy your time with family and some of our unseasonably warm weather while you are here. Thank you for driving into town! I was glad to have been able to catch up with you briefly. And a very Happy Anniversary to you as well. :)
I will let you know when I plan to be back in WA, sometime towards the end of May!
Sunday, April 27
"oh, my aching back!": an update
Four months and three doctors later, I think I finally have some answers on what's causing all my low back & hip pain (beyond just a pat, "you're out of alignment")...as well as beginning to make a bit of (painful & painfully slow) recovery progress! It's definitely been an educational experience, though. So from that standpoint, sure wish I had my Anatomy & Physiology books from college here, rather than up in WA in storage! Oh well. At least there's internet.
So here's the latest diagnosis: I've injured my psoas muscles (most severely on the right) and my piriformis muscles (most severely on the left).
The psoas is a flexor muscle responsible for lifting the leg. It connects to the spinal column, the bottom rib, the pelvis, and runs down to the top of the femur bone. When the right psoas becomes injured and tight (short), it pulls the spinal column down to the right, tips the pelvis forward, and brings the femur up - effectively shortening one side of the body. The surrounding muscle groups compensate by engaging as stabalizers, even if that's not their primary function. This, coupled with a tight left piriformis (which can pull the sacrum out of position and impact the right side) puts pressures on the spinal column and nerves, creates pain through the low back, hips, and down the thigh. The imbalance also creates pain in the knees and tightens up the muscles in the neck, which explains a lot as to why my whole body has felt like a wreck since (improperly) moving heavy boxes at the end of December!
Apparently the psoas muscle is as big as your forearm, but is highly overlooked when it comes to stretching and exercising - and is easily damaged through strenuous action or "repetitive motion"...such as lifting heavy boxes to move myself to a desk job where I sit all day. (Great.)
To help my back heal, I have to do the most PAINFUL stretches ever. And Mom can attest - I'm a tough girl with a high pain tolerance. But this makes me want to cry it hurts so bad. I think I'm now trying to undo years of overlooked injury, dating back to the time in college when someone under the influence hit our parked car.
(psoas stretch)
(piriformis stretch)
The version of the psoas stretch the doctor performs on me, however, makes me want to black out from the pain. He has me lay on my back, bring my left knee to my chest, and drape my right leg off the side of the table. He pushes down on my right knee while pushing my left knee even further to my chest...and I just want to beg for anesthesia to get through it. He promises it will get better.
So far, I've seen hints at progress, which is encouraging. But the stretches are so hard to get motivated to do, simply because they are so brutal with the tight condition of my psoas. He tells me I will get back to normal, though, if I just keep at it.
I wish I would have known about this muscle back in high school, when I was as limber as a wet noodle. I spend a painful hour of nearly every day stretching now, just trying to get my hips to cooperate. If only I had been stretching religiously since I was young...maybe this injury wouldn't be so bad.
Soooo...to anyone out there looking to increase the current (& preventative) health of their bodies, I HIGHLY recommend spending even just 20 minutes a day stretching. I dream of the day I can get back into yoga, and just be able to bend over and touch my toes without pain...or better yet - wouldn't it fantastic to be able to do the pigeon pose?
http://www.yogamazing.com/asanas/pigeonpose.html
Don't let a psoas or piriformis injury sneak up on you like it did to me!
So here's the latest diagnosis: I've injured my psoas muscles (most severely on the right) and my piriformis muscles (most severely on the left).
The psoas is a flexor muscle responsible for lifting the leg. It connects to the spinal column, the bottom rib, the pelvis, and runs down to the top of the femur bone. When the right psoas becomes injured and tight (short), it pulls the spinal column down to the right, tips the pelvis forward, and brings the femur up - effectively shortening one side of the body. The surrounding muscle groups compensate by engaging as stabalizers, even if that's not their primary function. This, coupled with a tight left piriformis (which can pull the sacrum out of position and impact the right side) puts pressures on the spinal column and nerves, creates pain through the low back, hips, and down the thigh. The imbalance also creates pain in the knees and tightens up the muscles in the neck, which explains a lot as to why my whole body has felt like a wreck since (improperly) moving heavy boxes at the end of December!
Apparently the psoas muscle is as big as your forearm, but is highly overlooked when it comes to stretching and exercising - and is easily damaged through strenuous action or "repetitive motion"...such as lifting heavy boxes to move myself to a desk job where I sit all day. (Great.)
To help my back heal, I have to do the most PAINFUL stretches ever. And Mom can attest - I'm a tough girl with a high pain tolerance. But this makes me want to cry it hurts so bad. I think I'm now trying to undo years of overlooked injury, dating back to the time in college when someone under the influence hit our parked car.
(psoas stretch)
(piriformis stretch)
The version of the psoas stretch the doctor performs on me, however, makes me want to black out from the pain. He has me lay on my back, bring my left knee to my chest, and drape my right leg off the side of the table. He pushes down on my right knee while pushing my left knee even further to my chest...and I just want to beg for anesthesia to get through it. He promises it will get better.
So far, I've seen hints at progress, which is encouraging. But the stretches are so hard to get motivated to do, simply because they are so brutal with the tight condition of my psoas. He tells me I will get back to normal, though, if I just keep at it.
I wish I would have known about this muscle back in high school, when I was as limber as a wet noodle. I spend a painful hour of nearly every day stretching now, just trying to get my hips to cooperate. If only I had been stretching religiously since I was young...maybe this injury wouldn't be so bad.
Soooo...to anyone out there looking to increase the current (& preventative) health of their bodies, I HIGHLY recommend spending even just 20 minutes a day stretching. I dream of the day I can get back into yoga, and just be able to bend over and touch my toes without pain...or better yet - wouldn't it fantastic to be able to do the pigeon pose?
http://www.yogamazing.com/asanas/pigeonpose.html
Don't let a psoas or piriformis injury sneak up on you like it did to me!
Saturday, April 26
dare I admit it?
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Friday, April 25
Wednesday, April 23
how on earth....?
Yes, as my cousin Trina noted, my blog is very random! It seems this world is full of so many interesting, off-the-beaten-path things; I love posting about them. Here's today's example...
How on earth has this man SURVIVED without infection, let alone bleeding out the side of his chest???
How on earth has this man SURVIVED without infection, let alone bleeding out the side of his chest???
Monday, April 21
'waist rain'
My 'check engine' light and a few other fun lights came on in my RAV4 this afternoon (joy), so I've been sitting at the Toyota dealership for a couple hours after work. (Of course, when they checked me in to see what the problem was...the lights wouldn't come on - classic.)
Board of dinking on my laptop in the waiting room, I wandered around the store for a little while. I've been feeling my back all day, so I was excited to see they have an ergonomic car seat support section! I honed in on something for the low-back, but suddenly became very confused about what I was looking at. I read, re-read, paused to do a self-check to see if skipping dinner & hypoglycemia was messing with my reading abilities...
...but no, they have a 'lambar support,' 'specially designed for women,' that relieves 'waist rain' ..........?!!! Thank goodness, I never thought I'd find something to help me with that problem! And double bonus to support our economy: says it's made in the U.S.!!
So I picked up the support and walked to the counter with it and asked the gal what 'waist rain' is. She looked annoyed and almost gave me a dirty look, like I was being crass, until I pointed to the label on the cushion with a smile. She just said, rather irritated, 'I have no idea. Sorry,' not even cracking a hint of a smile.
Terrific. So much for service. I need help with 'lambar support' & she won't even sympathize with my 'waist rain' problem!!!! I'll just take my business elsewhere, 'ok!' ;)
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Sunday, April 20
Dallas & Bear, lounging...
I went to IKEA this weekend & was excited to find a few inexpensive things for the kittens. I needed more bedding options for them (so I could throw one in the wash & change out with fresh) and found pillow cases on sale for about $.60/each and a soft blanket for about $2 - put together, easy bed!
I also found a huge roll of some tacky rubber matting to keep items from sliding around in drawers for $2 - and repurposed it as a paw-mat for stepping out of the litterbox! No more litter everywhere now! There's also enough extra I might still be able to use it as the yoga mat I've been in need of! (Seriously - why are yoga mats $25+??? Nonsense.)
Bargain shopper strikes again, so until next time...(which hopefully will be the flea market/swap meet next weekend!!!)
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a brave, new adventure
I have been growing my eyebrow in for the past couple months in hopes of finding a good 'eyebrow specialist' down here to help me get the 'perfect arch' I've always dreamed of! LOL I've been so fed-up with my attempts at it that I've even toyed with the idea of going into L.A. to see one of the people that work on the stars...and look at it as an investment in my personal grooming well-being. (Good grief.)
I did a search on yelp.com this weekend for anyone, someone, who might be a better alternative for proximity & pricing. I found several outstanding reviews for this little place about 15 minutes from me that does eyebrow 'threading.' Feeling adventuresome (& mostly just sick of all the overgrowth above my eyes!), I hoped in my car & bit the bullet!
$7 & lots of hair lighter, I emerged with a decent-looking new eye-framing look. Albeit a little thinner than I had hoped, still a big improvement over what they had been looking like!! And for the price I can't really complain at all. Just wish I had done a before for this after. You'll just have to trust me - it's a big improvement. :)
The threading technique was very interesting to watch. The gals were all Indian, and there was an Indian-version of MTV or VH-1 playing in the background on the TV (I think they call it Baliwood?). They hold on end of the thread in their mouth while twisting the other parts of it to capture & pull the hair. It doesn't even hurt, really. Kind like sharp tugs at the skin. Here's a video I found on YouTube about "threading"...
They also do henna tattoo art there too! Next time I go, I'd like to allow a little extra time to get a small one on my inner wrist. I think it lasts for a couple weeks before it washes off. How fun! All kinds of new cultural experiences to be had here!
Speaking of cultural experiences, I met someone fromTanzania by the pool this afternoon! Talk about random.
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Friday, April 18
Thursday, April 17
I am DEEPLY grieved...
WARNING: EXPLICIT ARTICLE BY CLICKING LINK
Is it really any wonder our country is struggling, when "prestigous" institutions such as Yale allow THIS kind of travesty to occur, under the guise of "education"???
Soaring gas & food prices, tanking economy, poor leadership choices for an upcoming election, all this aside.......if EVER I had a wake-up call to pray for our Nation, it was this morning when I read this article in the Yale Daily News.
Dear God, please help us!! We need You.
Is it really any wonder our country is struggling, when "prestigous" institutions such as Yale allow THIS kind of travesty to occur, under the guise of "education"???
Soaring gas & food prices, tanking economy, poor leadership choices for an upcoming election, all this aside.......if EVER I had a wake-up call to pray for our Nation, it was this morning when I read this article in the Yale Daily News.
Dear God, please help us!! We need You.
Wednesday, April 16
Tuesday, April 15
Night-time
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new favorites: my kittens!!
yes, that's right - I adopted kittens!!! two precious little brother and sister kittens who have been a ball to watch play with each other, and have definitely been keeping me company...
I'm working on naming them this week...hopefully something will come to me soon; I hope they don't start thinking their names are "hi guys" LOL :)
(boy laying down, sister standing over him)
Their favorite game right now is one of "surprise attack." They chase each other around until they are so tired they can't keep their eyes open. It's absolutely adorable. They fit just perfect in my cupped hands and are so soft.
The girl is really fuzzy with shaggy hair around her ears, and is definitely the more adventuresome of the two. The boy has a cute little while patch on his chest, and is really timid. He squeaks out a meow whenever he can't see his sister, and curls up with her at night. :)I'm working on naming them this week...hopefully something will come to me soon; I hope they don't start thinking their names are "hi guys" LOL :)
I'll post more videos soon!
(boy laying down, sister standing over him)
Monday, April 14
sad!
This is such a sad article! How horrific would this be??
He looks like he could actually be quite handsome, under all the...wow, whatever it is!
He looks like he could actually be quite handsome, under all the...wow, whatever it is!
Sunday, April 13
Friday, April 11
fish adventures
After work this evening I migrated up the 405 traffic stream to the Pacific Reef Tropical Fish Store, hoping for an "official" and final opinion on my tropical fish options.
The fellow behind the counter, who could have been my grandpa, must have been hired to be the only "dry" thing in that watery little fish world - he had NO personality! When I told him about my biOrb and that I was there to pick out some tropical fish for it, he looked at me like I was yet another silly newbie aquarist for thinking I could put tropical fish in my biOrb (but, but, but… Petsmart & Petco told me!!!...) ...
"Oh, you have the BABY biOrb? I thought you had a LARGER one. You can only have a couple tropical fish in there, and ONLY if you have the water heater accessory. And no, the schooling fish won't 'school' in your size tank - it's too small."
"What size tank would they need to be happy?"
"At least 10 gallons, if not more. They need room to swim. And they need a heater. "
"Oh..... well I suppose I could order the heater attachment from the manufacturer. Hmmm. Well, if I don’t though, what kind of fish are we talking about for my unheated, 4 gallons?"
"A beta would be good."
".......oh."
[He looked at me blankly.]
"Do I have any other options?"
"A goldfish."
".....................oh."
[I cringed at that dreaded name.]
".......I've had bad experiences with those kind of fish."
[He looked at me blankly again, as though he wasn’t sure what else I expected him to tell me about my small, unheated, four gallon tank.]
While I raised an eyebrow in the direction of his bubbling goldfish tanks and pondered the fate of my empty biOrb, I began having childhood flash-backs of my flaccid, pale, expressionless dead goldfish in a murky swamp of stringy-things...and decided 'grandpa' took facial-expression lessons from his fish...
"Well, let me think this over while I wander around your store,” I responded.
'Grandpa' looked as though he could have had fins, the way he swished around and finally settled on his stool behind the counter, as though it was a piece of coral behind some greenery.
I wandered the store, jealously looking at all the colorful, flashy tropical fish swimming happily in their tanks. Ooooooh, an idea struck me....
"Are clown fish saltwater fish?” I would only need to add salt at that point!
"Yes. And they need a heater.”
Darn it. There goes that idea. On to the goldfish, I guess...
“How many goldfish can I have in my size tank?”
“One.”
“But if I want more than one fish for my…?”
“You’re tank is too small.”
“I would like to have more than one fish if I could, though. The biOrb box said my tank could hold up to five fish that grow no bigger than 1.5 inches – is there anything that doesn’t grow bigger than that?”
“You could have a few guppies.”
“But would I need a heater?”
“Yes.”
I wasn’t getting very far.
I looked at the goldfish again.
They were bug-eyed with bushy fins, and swam hysterically around their little tank like a bunch of dopey clowns in a rodeo. Pretty clowns, but very, VERY dopey. And dirty. I couldn’t pull myself to go down that road again.
I turned on my heels, longingly and slowly walking past all the pretty tropical fish, and on to the beta display…again.
After much inspection, and a few more questions about what fish a beta could swim with and NOT attack and NOT need a water heater for, I found myself carrying my new friend to the register…a little blue and red male beta.
'Grandpa' seemed pleasantly relieved I had finally made up my mind. LOL ;)
So, I took my yet-to-be-named, “little guy” home, adjusted him to his house’s water temperature, and then let him run free...all by his lonesome.
To help him feel a little more at home, I gave him some of his beta food for "dinner." He took a couple bites, and then spit it out.
"......terrific," I thought to myself, "I picked out a bulimic beta."
Soooooooo, aside from nicknaming him "BB" until I can find a more appropriate name, and watching him swim in a continuous counter-clockwise circle for about an hour, this has been my evening. :) We're off to a great start, I can tell!
I'll keep you posted.
fish nightmare
Apparently my childhood goldfish trauma is still potent enough to haunt my dreams to this day!
I dreamt just the other night that I put my new fish friends in their new fish home, fed them their first meal (dinner), and woke-up the next morning to find the tank clouded over and all the fish belly-up (and yes, Mom - with all the 'stringy-things' at the bottom of the tank, too!!!)! It was horrid, and I was embarressed, because the tank & I were with Carrie Underwood at her house in Oklahoma......................??! (Yeah, not sure how she fit into the fish nightmare, but it definitely earns this post the 'Random' & 'Humor' labels!)
So, I woke up from the dream feeling very sad and with some trepidation about my shiny, new, biOrb adventure. However, the fish experts at both PetSmart and Petco have assured me that goldfish are the 'dirtiest' of all the possible fish I could chose, and that I will likely have much greater success with the tropical fish I have my eye on.
We shall see...I make my decision on some new friends tonight!
Maybe Carrie Underwood can come over and sing to them. ;)
I dreamt just the other night that I put my new fish friends in their new fish home, fed them their first meal (dinner), and woke-up the next morning to find the tank clouded over and all the fish belly-up (and yes, Mom - with all the 'stringy-things' at the bottom of the tank, too!!!)! It was horrid, and I was embarressed, because the tank & I were with Carrie Underwood at her house in Oklahoma......................??! (Yeah, not sure how she fit into the fish nightmare, but it definitely earns this post the 'Random' & 'Humor' labels!)
So, I woke up from the dream feeling very sad and with some trepidation about my shiny, new, biOrb adventure. However, the fish experts at both PetSmart and Petco have assured me that goldfish are the 'dirtiest' of all the possible fish I could chose, and that I will likely have much greater success with the tropical fish I have my eye on.
We shall see...I make my decision on some new friends tonight!
Maybe Carrie Underwood can come over and sing to them. ;)
Wednesday, April 9
my new toy: show & tell
There's been a bit of a "something lacking" in my Home (Away from Home) apartment... could be due to 90% of my belongings still being in boxes in Washington, but besides that, there's still something lacking!
Until now: I have a new toy, or maybe better yet - a little home within my home!
I found a stellar deal on a Biorb and will soon be adding little LIVES to my humble abode (who can live next to mini-NYorb)! Since I tend to keep the shades drawn to hide from the nearness of my neighbors (& to keep heat/air costs down with the warm days & cool nights - and Mom, I think I'm turning into G'ma Ruth!!!), plant life requiring sunlight has seemed out of the question. But fish life works best kept away from sunlight - perfect! We'll hide from the outside world together.
The set-up was very simple. The box came with everything needed to begin the acquarium. I added a few rocks I liked better than the ones that came with the set, and now it's ready to stabalize for my new friends!
Next step: pick 'em out...
I can keep a total of five-ish small ones in the 4 gallons. And because of my goldfish traumas from youth (remember that, Mom?? ewwwwww!!!!), I've SPECIFICALLY sought advice on the CLEANEST and HEALTHIEST fish possible for a newbie acquarium. Here are my favorites I have an eye on...
cardinal tetras
black tetras
cherry barb
rosy barb
green tiger fish
tiger barb
veiled angel fish
black angel fish
Because of their size, hardiness, and ease to care for, I think I'm going to get the tiger barbs or the cardinal tetras (if I can find them locally - they are a wild variety, not farm raised).
Which would you pick?
Until now: I have a new toy, or maybe better yet - a little home within my home!
I found a stellar deal on a Biorb and will soon be adding little LIVES to my humble abode (who can live next to mini-NYorb)! Since I tend to keep the shades drawn to hide from the nearness of my neighbors (& to keep heat/air costs down with the warm days & cool nights - and Mom, I think I'm turning into G'ma Ruth!!!), plant life requiring sunlight has seemed out of the question. But fish life works best kept away from sunlight - perfect! We'll hide from the outside world together.
The set-up was very simple. The box came with everything needed to begin the acquarium. I added a few rocks I liked better than the ones that came with the set, and now it's ready to stabalize for my new friends!
Next step: pick 'em out...
I can keep a total of five-ish small ones in the 4 gallons. And because of my goldfish traumas from youth (remember that, Mom?? ewwwwww!!!!), I've SPECIFICALLY sought advice on the CLEANEST and HEALTHIEST fish possible for a newbie acquarium. Here are my favorites I have an eye on...
cardinal tetras
black tetras
cherry barb
rosy barb
green tiger fish
tiger barb
veiled angel fish
black angel fish
Because of their size, hardiness, and ease to care for, I think I'm going to get the tiger barbs or the cardinal tetras (if I can find them locally - they are a wild variety, not farm raised).
Which would you pick?
Tuesday, April 8
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