Treading Life

Sorry I haven't blogged the last few days. I had doctors appointments both Thursday and Friday - and devoted much of my evenings to watching season premieres (yes I watched Grey's and I so loved it!) I've also spent plenty of time resting from all the chaos that goes along with seeing my doctors - the driving, traffic, waiting, forms, filling rx scripts. UGH! Currently standing, I already have 5 doctor appointments for October, as well as an appointment at the salon. I'm sure I will likely pick up a few more appointments before October is over.

Oh, I'm also happy to report that we bought all the needed things for Halloween, all kinds of decorations, costumes, and candy to give out even though we won't be here. We ran around shopping today, since our original plan of going to see a movie was shot once we got there and found out that nothing appropriate to see with Natalie was playing. But I think the big news of the day is that, after days of talking with Ruben about exercise and such, it finally hit me, and I broke down and bought a treadmill. Last year Ruben bought a weight machine that works the arms and legs, the year before that we bought an elliptical machine. Ruben had wanted a treadmill, but I insisted on an elliptical, as it had always been my favorite machine at the gym - but now I finally see the benefit of the treadmill......walking in the air conditioning while watching your DVR'd TV shows! We now practically have a home gym (especially with all the Pilate's stuff I've acquired), we just need to start using it! I figure that even IF my plastic surgeon continues to restrict my activities after I see him on the 3rd, that I can still at least walk on my treadmill at a normal pace. It isn't like the elliptical machine that also works the arms, or the weight machine where I fear that lifting weights with my legs may inadvertently cause me to tighten or pull the muscles within my chest. I figure walking is relatively harmless, or at least it is if done for short periods of time through-out the day. Besides, this way I can walk off those pounds they keep pumping into me each time I go into a hospital - especially since I cannot resort to my previous ways of dieting (at least for the time being.) Prior to surgery they gave me this packet of things I could and could not have. It strictly forbade the use of diet pills (both RX and OTC) along with lots of types of herbal supplements. It seems that those things can prevent blood from clotting, and wounds from healing. So I need to get on that treadmill - bad - and if for no other reason so I can at least balance my ice cream addiction! LOL! Oh wait, I forgot that I have to use it to get my moneys worth out of it too. Speaking of money, let me tell you the sweet part. The treadmill was on sale for $699, and to make room for new stock they marked it down 30% - and since it was a floor item we were getting an additional amount off. They agreed on 10% on top of the 30%. So the lady rang it up, not knowing that the computer had already taken off the 30%, she proceeded to give us a 40% discount off the already clearanced price. After all was said and done, we paid less than $320 for it. What a deal, eh? I seriously can't complain about a price like that. So here's to shapelier legs and hips!

This here is my new baby. Ain't she pretty? Now our HUGE bedroom is just a tad cramped!

So Tomorrow is seriously the BiG Day I've been waititng for! YEAH!

Oh I sooooo cannot wait till tomorrow night to finally get my Grey's fix!! I caught a few glimpses of Private Practice - soooo not into it, it's not Grey's, what can I say? But on Tuesday I did watch Knocked Up and laughed my effing ass off. It's hysterical! But after seeing Katherine Heigl in it, I just became even more wound up in anticipation waiting for the series premiere!

Family Fun

Ruben picked this up Saturday at Best Buy while I was shopping inside Michael's. Every place else he had been was sold out. This has now become Natalie's favorite game to play on the Wii - one of her many favorites (she has lots, and they vary daily!) But not only has it become one of her favorites, it's become a family favorite. I haven't gotten to play much on it as some games require a lot of arm movement to play, and I just cannot do anything to jeopardize hurting my arm or chest muscles right now. But from what I have seen from watching Ruben, Danny & Natalie play, is that it's as much fun as Mario Party 8 - and that when played, it can produce a pretty vigorous work-out! I can't wait till I am cleared so that I can participate too!

Insane Humidity

Within the last week or so our temperatures have dropped a great deal, averaging a decrease of about 10 degrees. This may be due to all those storm cells present in the Gulf (none hurricane, thank goodness!) yet at the same time, all those storm cells are causing a great deal of rain. I haven't seen the sun since Sunday, and according to the forecast we won't be seeing it again until likely Monday. It's nice that it has cooled off some, now that fall is upon us. However, what is not cool is the humidity! With all this rain our humidity is through the roof. In fact I sit here indoors, with the A/C on, it's cloudy and gray outside as it lightly rains, and I'm sweating! Of course the A/C is set at 78, and it's only 78 outside, but once you factor in the relative humidity of 84%, the temperature feels closer to 83 degrees. I find this humidity to be insane! I find it insane that I am still so hot after cutting off all my thick, course, hot, hair! All this humidity, sweating, and feeling hot has gotten me so confused. I mean really, how on earth am I to tell that with a relative humidity of 84%, if I am hot and sweaty because of the weather, a hot flash, or a possible fever from infection! Think about it. Here I am, 33 and forced into menopause from surgery, and due to my cancer, I cannot take any type of Hormone Replacement Therapies. In fact, because of my cancer, I have to take medicine that ensures I have no damn hormones - which I honestly think is worse hell than PMS ever was! And I'm sure Ruben would probably agree! But then you also have to take into consideration that from post-surgical complications, and this hole in my chest, I might be suffering from an unknown infection (since I am not on antibiotics) which could be causing me to have a fever that breaks causing me to sweat. It's really driving me mad. One minute I am chilly, the next I am sweating so bad it drips off my face. It's ridiculous! When I see my pain doctor on Thursday I am going to ask his opinion, as I do not see my surgeon till the 3rd - and honestly, deodorant can only help so much, it can not prevent your hair from smelling sour, and one can only shower so many times in one day! I long for cooler, dry weather and an end to all this sweating!

My Cubicle

Too funny!
An ode to life in a cubicle! This now ranks up there among Office Space in my book, as I have spent my share of time "working" in a cubicle!



This courtesy of YouTube.

Halloween Pails!

I purchased these pails and kits from Michael's after lunch on Saturday. Natalie was so excited, that she didn't even wait for me to get out of bed before doing them on Sunday - of course she got out of bed and began shortly after I had just gotten to bed! She had such fun putting these together! The closer it gets to October, the more excited we all get about Halloween! It's going to be so much fun! We haven't decided yet what we will all be - but we hope to find something soon. This weekend we'll probably decorate the house after we buy all the supplies we need. I sooo cannot wait!

Also, totally unrelated to the above - I have finally reached 300. Posts that is. Can you believe it? Wow, it only took just over 2 yrs!

My Must See TV List

Much like Cynthia, I too have not one, but two HD DVR's - mine courtesy of Cox - and I have worked feverishly this weekend to try and get them programmed. I am without a doubt, a TV addict, and my series line-up will prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt:

Monday:
K-Ville (a new show on Fox about my new hometown)
Chuck (will see if this is worth keeping)
Heroes (this will be our first season watching)
Journeyman
Weeds
Californication

Tuesday:
House
Law & Order SVU
Reaper

Wednesday:
Pushing Daisies
Private Practice (not sure about this one. I'm a die-hard Grey's fan, and I'm Team Meredith!)
Dirty Sexy Money
America's Next Top Model
Gossip Girl
Possibly may add on Life & Bionic Woman if the premiers are good

Thursday:
Grey's Anatomy (YEAH!)
Big Shots
CSI (original Las Vegas version)
My Name is Earl
ER

Friday:
Las Vegas (not sure if I will still be a fan w/o James Caan)

See now why we have 2 DVR's! I also think we might pick up Dexter & Brotherhood on SHO since our HBO shows (Big Love & Entourage) are on hiatus. I should also mention that Ruben only watches maybe 1/4 of these shows - especially since he works 60 hours a week, and Sunday is dedicated to the Football God.

What's on your must see list?

How Much Is Your Blog Worth?

My blog is worth $3,387.24.
How much is your blog worth?

Well since this is a free service, I would have thought $0 - but it appears I am wrong. What about you? Try it and see.

A long boring Sunday

After I made my post below, very early this morning, I found myself still incapable of sleep. I tossed and turned, walked around the house, spent time sitting and doing various other things, tried laying back down to sleep, and watched as the hours passed. Sometime after 7am I finally actually fell asleep and stayed that way until 10:30. Those few hours being the longest I spent sleeping. I'm not really sure why I am having such difficulties sleeping. It may have little to do with the fact that Ruben has re-joined me in our bed. For the first 6 weeks post-surgery, he slept on an air mattress next to our bed. He was afraid of somehow hurting me during the night, and wanted me to rest comfortably - especially since I experienced complications with my incision. About 2 weeks ago, as my open wound had been healing nicely, I told him that I thought it would be okay to come back to bed. Since then my insomnia has went through the roof. I think I got a little too used to sleeping in the middle of the bed, surrounded by 6 pillows. His movement doesn't disturb me as much as my limited comfort. I cannot sleep on the side I normally do, and not being able to turn-over during the night has caused a great deal of pain with my hips. my incision is doing amazingly well. I return to my plastic surgeon's office on the 3rd. The open wound went from being about the diameter of a quarter or half dollar, to that of a pencil. The wound has pretty much dried up, as I am no longer leaking fluids. I've actually been feeling pretty good except for lingering tenderness in the area. I'm hoping to get stitches when I see the doc, along with the okay to resume some level of activity shortly after. Of course that all depends on when I will get to go back into surgery to have another tissue expander placed. I understood that as soon as I healed, he would attempt surgery again by going through a new incision - but Ruben understood it that I would have to wait 6 weeks after healing before he would go back in. I sure hope it's not going to be another 6 weeks. I wanted to wrap up all my surgeries this year since I've already met the yearly $750 out of pocket fee I have to pay. Oh well, guess it will all get straightened out on the 3rd. The important part is that I have healed okay. For now I'm going to kick back, relax, and either find something good on TV to watch or try to take a nice little nap!

We stayed, while the storm went.

By time Ruben arrived home from work Friday, he announced that there wasn't much of a reason to head inland. New tracking of TD Ten from Weather Underground had the storm running into the Alabama and Mississippi coast lines, then eventually hitting us with some wind and rain. The estimated winds calmed down and are expected to be 39 MPH or less. Thank goodness the storm dissipated! So far we've just experienced a mostly cloudy, slightly misty Saturday, with little wind. Who knows what today will actually hold in store for us.
All I know is right now it is little past 1am and I cannot sleep - even after a Lunesta sleep aid AND Tylenol PM. We did a bit of shopping, which really wore me out and made every bone in my body ache - but apparently it wasn't enough to make me as tired as I thought it would, otherwise I would be asleep and not here! Anyhow....We decided that since we rarely go out on the weekends, or go out to eat for that matter, that we would go to Houma and eat a late lunch/early supper at Copeland's. Man that place has awesome food. Even better than that is their dessert collection. Mmmm. Also for the first time in almost forever, I had a drink with my meal. I had a Lemon Drop Martini - oh it was so yummy! After eating, Ruben dropped me off at Michael's, while they all went to Best Buy. I found some scrap stuff on sale to buy, and also got these pails and foam kits to make a pumpkin pail, a Frankenstein pail, and a pirate skull pail. They'll be fun projects for Natalie to do. I'll tell you though, that place was total chaos due to all the Halloween decorations being on sale. Kinda wish that I had purchased some. Instead I thought I would find something at Hobby Lobby, as much as I soooo love that place - not just for the scrapbooking supply they carry, but for all the household decorations they carry that Michael's does not. But once there I could not find the Halloween decorations I had wanted, and theirs were not on sale - so I ended up leaving empty handle. Can you believe that? I went into a craft store and didn't purchase a single scrapbooking item! I had to walk next door to find the Ruben and everyone at Academy Sports. They were looking at shoes for some reason. Ruben hates craft stores, so he makes it a point to try to stay as far away from them as he can! LOL! After that we headed back home and hit the local Wal-Mart hoping to find some kind of decorations or costume ideas - but no such luck! I think we'll have to hit up a Party City or one of those Halloween Stores that usually pop up around this time of year. While we were there though, we went ahead and picked up some fresh grocery items, and proceeded to get in the slowest moving line! By time we hit home my feet, ankles, legs, hip, and back hurt so bad, I could barely move once I sat down. Since today is Sunday, that means Ruben will be glued to the TV to watch all the football games. Man I hate football. And if Sunday football wasn't bad enough, he'll even be watching it on Monday - but I can't blame him for that one. I may actually watch some too. Monday is the Saints 1st opener in New Orleans this season, so it's going to be BIG. But thinking of Monday gets me sooooo excited!!!! It's pretty much the start of the fall television season. Which means that Thursday is Grey's Anatomy! Yippee!!! I so seriously cannot wait! I hope George & Izzie end up together one way or another - but that might be horrific now since Callie will be Izzie's boss. Oh the drama, the scandal! The fall season has just barely kicked off and I've already found 2 new shows to watch, that surely will be favorites; K-Ville and Gossip Girl. The first episodes were so good. I hope they are successful and don't wind up getting canceled or anything! Good TV can be so hard to find sometime, but none more than in the off-season!
Ok, well it's a little after 2am now, so I think maybe I should go back to bed and try sleeping again. Wish me luck!

To Stay or To Go????

Ruben's the man that's always on top of the weather. He's got several different resources at the office, so they can be prepared for a hurricane before one even develops. He's been tracking this storm in the Gulf all week. At the present time the storm is only a Tropical Depression, but that could change at any time depending on how the storm progresses. At present, it is modeled to be coming our way. Weather Underground estimates it to hit us sometime between 8pm tonight and 8pm Saturday, with winds ranging between 39 and 73 MPH. While the picture below from The Weather Channel shows it not hitting us till sometime between Saturday and Sunday. Hmmmmm, which one do we believe????
So anyway, the question is, should we pack up a few items and head north? I believe that Ruben is boarding up the office today as preventive measures - and certainly it goes to show that we will be bringing all the BBQ and patio furniture indoors. But by the looks of the neighborhood, it seems that no one is prepping for a storm, which has me both confused and worried. Or maybe they know something which we don't, as most of our neighbors have lived here for over a decade. Most of them never even left for Katrina, and sustained little to no damage during that storm. Which has me asking, should we panic and hightail it out of here, or hunker down and ride out the storm?

I'm not sure what to do. I know that we are well stocked in non-perishable items in case of a storm. However I'm sure we could certainly use more batteries, flashlights and candles - not to mention any items we neglected to think of. Yet, many sites advise that should you leave, you should take with you all valuable and non-replaceable items - such as hard drives, photos, and important documents to name a few. Good lord, do you have any idea how many photos I have? Not to mention with just moving here, we are no where near organized enough to be able to find all those items. I certainly pray that we have a very sturdy roof, as I have heard from countless neighbors that we definitely possess a structurally sound house. That said, I am not as concerned about the house as I am about the roof leaking, or being blown off!


I really hope that this storm is not all that it supposedly cracked up to be! I can deal with wind and rain, but please NO NO NO hurricanes!


Now I must go, Lisa B is on QVC, and I'm drooling as I type!

Doodle Dreams

As any scrapbooker knows, Doodling is one of the latest crazes. It's reminiscent of high school, when you spent most of your time doodling on your notebook instead of paying attention in class. I can honestly say I wasn't much of a doodler. I did dabble here and there with it, but did not obsess to the point where all my notebook covers had been doodled on. My guess is because I hung with more of the "stoner" type crowd, we were all about the rock, heavy metal and punk. So even though I did take 2 years of art classes, I wasn't into doodling little hearts and flowers everywhere. But times have changed. While I'm still into rock and stuff, my passion is more for arts and crafts. I love doodling, but doing it on a layout kind of freaks me out - because what if I screw it up and everything is already glued down? That thought there is what keeps me from doodling on most layouts. So to help me perfect my craft, I ordered this awesome new book Doodling For Papercrafters. I so cannot wait to get it. Just looking at the cover gets my creative juices flowing.

Hmmm, I still may not be able to scrap, but maybe I can lay here and doodle in the meantime?

35 Things You May Not Have Known

Another "Blog-Lift" courtesy of Valerie

1. Where is your mobile phone? Right beside me as always (we don't have a home phone.)
2. Relationship? Happily married. Or at least on most days, it would seem so. But isn't that they way most marriages are?
3. Your hair? Newly cut short, a warm brownish color, with fresh blonde highlights and fiery red lowlights (see pictures at Flickr.)
4. Work? Me? Hell no. I gave that all up to be a SAHM in Oct. '04 - shortly thereafter I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.
5. Your sister(s)? I have 1 sister, she's older, married w/2boys, and lives far away in Hawaii. We were close growing up, lost ways for a while, then re-connected after our mother's death. Now we're close again, and the miles between us hurt!
6. Your favorite thing? What, like to do, possession, food? I'm confused. I love scrapbooking, my wedding ring, sweets, my family - there's too much to chose just one!
7. Your dream last night? A dream involves sleep, which I hardly got any. I'm an insomniac. So no dream last night.
8. Your favorite drink? Hmm, Mr. Pibb if you can find it. Otherwise, Vanilla Coke, or Black Cherry Vanilla Coke.
9. Your dream car? A newer Durango 4x4 model, that's fully loaded with all gadgets & goodies I have now plus many more, and I want it better for the enviroment, cheaper to fill up, and get better mileage. I also want it paid off, like mine & I want cheaper insurance rates on it! (now THAT IS A DREAM!)
10. The room you're in? Uh, the bedroom, in bed, watching Rock of Love.
11. Your shoes? Always tennis shoes.
12. Your fears? Death or return of cancer.
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? A successful, published Scrapbook Artist/Designer.
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? My hubby & brother in law. We finally sat down and watched Smoking Aces.
15. What are you not good at? Hiding my emotions and keeping my mouth shut when angry.
16. Muffin? Banana Nut or Carrot Cake ones from Marie Callender's, yummmmmmmmmm.
17. Wish list items? Money, more money & lots of it - money can buy it all, finish remodeling, pay for the house, buy new cars, install a pool, allows us to travel the world & help care financially for family and friends.
18. Where you grew up? Fairview Heights, IL - basically hell for the 1st 17 years of my life.
19. The last thing you did? Looked for something to munch on!
20. What are you wearing? pajamas.
21. What are you not wearing? my necklace, or my bracelet - haven't put them back on since my surgery.
22. Your pet? Lexie, a 5 y/o cockapoo dog.
23. Your computer? which one? We have 4 desktops, and 4 laptops. But my laptop is what I use the most, unless I'm scrapping, then it's my desktop in my Scrap Studio.
24. Your life? Despite Breast Cancer, and multiple surgeries, our life is pretty grand.
25. Your mood? It varies quite a bit, and quite often. You could say that I am one moody bitch, but I can't help that I have no hormones!
26. Missing? My gallbladder, ovaries, uterus, cervix, 16 lymph nodes from my right armpit, and both original breast - other than that, still with the original parts, plus some plastic expanders that will soon be my new boobs :)
27. What are you thinking about? That I shouldn't have had that ice cream - so much for the diet today!
28. Your car? Dodge Durango.
29. Your kitchen? In need of having the dishes done.
30. Your summer? hot & humid - so spent mostly indoors, especially since I had surgery 7/23.
31. Your favorite color? Just about any shade of blue (darker shades & greenish-blue variations the best)
32. Last time you laughed? earlier today at something on TV, but can't recall what.
33. Last time you cried? Today - I got all emotional over some stupid thing I saw on TV.
34. School? a lot of college classes taken here and there. I thought I was done, but now I want to take some photography and photoshop classes
35. Love? My wonderful family, my furbaby, and our awesome friends. I don't know where I would be today without their love and support!

Now I tag you. So have fun!

We'll call this one Blog-lifting.....

Thanks Valerie, loved this post even though it didn't quite go my way.....

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car), Mandy Durango (or at least I know Mandy was mine, there were many dogs and cats before that, but I think they were my sister's - but given a name like that, I don't think ROCK STAR is accurate, more like POP STAR)

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie), Creme Brulee Oatmeal Macroon (this just isn't going my way - but honestly Ben & Jerry's makes awesome Creme Brulee ice cream, and I've craved Creme Brulee since Disney World!)

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name), A-Nav

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal), Blue Dog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born), Christine Belleville

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first), Navan

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink), The Black Vanilla Coke

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers), well, since my bio father is um, estranged to put it nicely, I will go with my Step-grandpa , hell through I'm not even sure about my mother's side (cause I can't figure out which is the first and which is his middle - I've confused his name my whole life, but I think it's Otis Ollie, maybe Ollie Otis, hmmm) so I think I would be Otis Bud

9. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ), let's go with the one I call DAD since my bio father is um, estranged to put it nicely - June Russell.

10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter), chalk this up to chemo brain, I don't remember any of my teacher's names - honestly! That there is scary shit!.

11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower). Fall Tulip

12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Cherry Hoodie

13. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree), Oatmeal Magnolia

14. YOUR ROCK STAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”), The Scrapbook Hurricane Tour - 2007! - although hurricanes are not actually my favorite form of weather, just the one that concerns me most....besides, it is an awesome name!

Extended Stay

Once again, for the 2nd time now, my brother in law has decided to stay longer. Originally he was set to leave and go back to Vegas 8/26. Then he changed it to 9/22. Now he's not leaving till 11/03. Really I don't mind, he helps out A LOT around here. He cooks (some - mainly just fried rice and stir-fry), he cleans, and he helps out with both the hubby and my daughter. It's great to have him here since I am limited to what I can and can't do. Also, if I go back into surgery next month, him staying longer will remedy the problem of a potential childcare issue. Besides, I know Ruben is really loving having his brother around. It's been so hard on all of us to move here and leave behind all our friends and family. The only downside is that I rarely get my husband to myself. They spend most nights playing stupid computer games, so he's not available when I want to cuddle up and watch TV. Hope that all changes soon as the fall TV schedule is about to kick off - but if not, don't think I'll be waiting for his ass to watch Grey's Anatomy. As it is, I have already given up on waiting for him to watch Weeds & Californication. Those are 2 of our favorite new shows, especially now since Entourage and Big Love have ended for the season. It appears that Showtime might have some other good shows as well that we'll have to check out. But speaking of all of our fave shows, it reminds me that I need to clear out the DVR in preparation of the new season.
Man I love this time of year. Halloween is around the corner and Danny will be here to experience first hand the party that consumed Harahan's Imperial Wood & Colonial Country Club subdivisions. Now we just all need to find our costumes. I'm not having much luck finding things for Big & Tall. Danny's lost a lot of weight and is a beanpole now, but he's still over 6 feet tall. Ruben's got the same problem, except for the beanpole part - he's a big boy. We can't be having cloaks or robes that barely cover their knees, since they are far from "standard size" or the stupid "one size fits most" crap. I need to find out what Natalie wants to be this year. She is running out of Disney Princess costumes to wear, as there are only 1 or 2 left that she hasn't been I think. Honestly, I would like for us to go as an ensemble. Nothing wrong with a little matching, but men never see it that way. It will be interesting to see what I can find to fit us 4. I can't wait and I certainly hope that I am feeling up to being out and about. Keep your fingers crossed!

More gluing, plus a little cutting

I finally got around to taking pictures of the latest album I've "put" together. Laying in bed, watching TV, and gluing page elements to paper is such tedious work - NOT! I will be so glad when I'm able to actually to do more. I'm growing quite bored, only problem is that once I am cleared, I will have to do things like cook and clean again - UGH! Really I'm not complaining about having to take it easy. Whenever I breathe in hard my chest hurts, plus when Ruben was packing my wound early he saw fresh blood - but he also said that it really looks like the wound is closing up on the inside. We're going to see how this weekend goes before calling the doctor. The pain has been there pretty much during this whole time. I mean damn, I have a hole in my chest, of course it hurts if I take a really deep breathe, my lungs are full and pushing on my chest. Plus the blood on the inside of the hole isn't really a bad things until blood is soaking the bandages, and so far they are coming out the usual color. So anyway, here's the latest project I completed.

I decided I would finally take pictures of it since I was using the camera today. Today was my appointment at the salon. I was still totally conflicted upon my arrival. Ruben loves long hair, but I just couldn't find a style to work with this humidity. I can't stand the back of my neck soaked from sweaty hair. So I cut it all off. Needless to say he is not pleased with me at the moment - but he'll get over it, it's just hair. I went WAY short in back, but still left some length in the front. At first I left it longer cause the hairdresser just wasn't cutting it quite right. I so miss Hope, my old hairdresser in Vegas! She always knew what to do with my hair and styled it right every time. But after my hair was blow dried. I decided I really kinda liked it. Let's just hope I don't start having problems with the front of my hair making me hot! I really wish I could do something about the texture and thickness of my hair. I just really wish that it would be willing to work with the humidity down here. I really miss the "dryness" of Vegas! Anyway, here's my new cut. What do ya think?

I feel old.

I woke up this morning in the worst pain. My knees hurt badly - forget about trying to bend them. My feet which hurt on a daily basis, hurt even worse today. It's like my feet are really cramped up, or like maybe I've worn heels all my life, although I haven't. Even the muscles in my calves hurt. You'd think I've been running a marathon or something, but the fact is that I didn't do anything other than go to Wal-mart. We needed some groceries, which Ruben could have gotten after work, but I just feel so bad for the poor guy. He works such a long day, has such a time consuming drive, often does errands along the way, then he arrives home, eats, and barely has any time to relax or do anything around the house. So in any case, I took it upon myself yesterday to go to Wal-mart. Aside from groceries, we needed some more gauze, tape, and bandages - and of course, since it finally released, I just HAD to buy Grey's Anatomy Season 3, because you know that I couldn't seriously wait any longer to get it (I am actually watching it right now - I seriously can't wait for the new season to begin on the 27th!!) The shopping trip ended up being a 2 1/2 hour ordeal, which nearly filled 2 carts. So it's no wonder that I hurt, it's just surprising that it's my legs that hurt and not my back. I also realized yesterday why it is that I shouldn't be driving. I can't turn all that well to look over my shoulder to back-up - not to mention that the seat belt is also ridiculously uncomfortable. But none of the is going to stop me come Friday when it comes time for my hair appointment. Speaking of which, I am having a real conflict here with decisions. You see, my curly hair is all f'd up. I tried to straighten it a few months ago, and all that did was screw up the nice curly spirals I had. It's too damn humid here for me to dry my hair straight like I did in the past. Ruben likes the curls, which are high maintenance, (like straight hair isn't? It's such a pain in the ass to blow dry!) he also is quite fond of long hair - but I've never really worn my hair curly and all down. I hate the curls, and I have such thick hair that makes me so effen hot! So I was seriously thinking of going short cause I'm tired of daily pony-tails and not being able to do anything with my hair - but Ruben is so against the thought, and ends each discussion by telling me to just do whatever I want. Well that really doesn't help me decide, so I am seriously confused about what to do on Friday. Either way it should be interesting to say the least!

I did it, I finished it! YAY!

Right before midnight last night I read the final page in Rita Cosby's new book. Let me just say I am so unimpressed, I mean really. Nothing at all was shocking - well other than the gay accusations, which I do not believe for a second are true. Cause really if Howard and Larry were lovers, why did he convince Anna to run away from him to the Bahamas? I mean if any of it were true, wouldn't they been in love as well? And why would Larry tattoo Anna on his back. Also, you can't broker a deal for the baby. DNA proved Larry was the father. Howard had nothing to with custody from the point forward. He just doesn't want Virgie to have her because he knew how much Anna hated Virgie, and that she really did love Larry. Howard can't get anything out of the Estate by being the Executor. He waived his fees, and besides that, other than a house and a few other things, Anna had nothing in her trust. Now I don't know if at the base of her financial issues was her drug habit, or if Howie had hidden all that money in off-shore accounts, so he'd be rich later. I also don't know what happened to all that jewelry she had from her late husband that was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. But for all we know she could have hocked it to support her habit. Besides, if anything Howie funneled all this money LONG before Larry was proven to be the daddy. It's not just something you can do overnight! I have my own suspicions, and my own opinions, from what I have read, seen, and heard, I honestly believe that Howie was behind a lot of it, if not all of it - and I hope that it all comes to light one day in a courtroom. But I think that Larry goes along with him because he can't fight. If he removes Howie as executor, then it's his good buddy and attorney Ron Rale who becomes the executor, and if he's removed then it's just another one of their buddies. It's hard to fight something that seems like a never ending battle - and I'm sure that he also fears for his life and that of his daughter. I also don't blame him for suing about the rumours, because that is his good name and image - but lord help him if there is ever any evidence that he went bi. It doesn't even matter if it was on a drunken night in college, if he's ever been with a man (not even if it was Howie), he would never live it down after suing over it. He must be pretty damn confident and sure about it all, cause it looks to be going that way. But anyway, back to the book, other than that one tidbit, everything else is stuff I've already heard. I'm disappointed and want my money back. She calls herself an award winning journalist - HA! What she get, one of those phony little trophies you can buy at Spencer's or something? She's nothing but a tabloid writer and should go work for the National Enquirer. Wait I take that back, even they might be too good for her!
So now I'm on to reading some books written by my favorite author, Mary Higgins Clark. I haven't read a new book of hers in several years, so there are a couple for me to catch up on - and it won't be surprising if they are better than Rita's book. I haven't read a single bad book from Mary, and I've read and own almost all of them.
Other than that, there's nothing new going on around here really. I'm still quite bored. I've noticed that my daily hits have doubled from there norm, and have stayed that way for several days now, yet I hardly ever get any comments. I must have lots of lurkers out there. I signed up for Google Analytics which will help me learn what brings most traffic here. So while here, stop by the comments and say hello!

Whatsa going on around here

It's funny cause I was sitting here thinking what do I put for a title for this entry???? I don't know if any of you have seen Rock of Love with Bret Michaels , but he tends to say the phrase "Whatsa going on" a lot - yes I'm a watcher. Anyway, that's where that came from. So, now on to other things.....
I was sitting here when I realized I hadn't posted since my appointment on Wednesday. I've been a little pre-occupied, which I will get into in a sec.
This is what I learned at my appointment - that the reason he hasn't sewn the wound shut is because he's waiting for it to heal from the inside out. He thinks it should take about a month, which is when I go back to see him. After it has healed, he anticipates cutting me open in a new area, and placing a tissue expander - so, no, he claims he will not make me wait a year to start recon again. Once that expander is in, and I am healing right, THEN he plans on starting my saline injections. So basically I have to wait a month and hope and pray this thing heals right in the meantime, so I can go through surgery again, then I have to hope and pray that it heals with no problems, so that I can start getting injections and grow boobs. Ya follow me? So that's the plan, and I'm all in. My biggest fear is not healing correctly, or having to wait a year - but he assured me that he has no intentions of doing that to me. He won't start the injections now because he doesn't want me to be lop-sided like I have been for the past 2 years. So keep those fingers crossed that I heal up soon!
Now on to the reason I have been pre-occupied. I know I said I would wait to buy it on Ebay or something, but after my appointment, I made Ruben take me to a bookstore so I could buy Blonde Ambition. I know, I am so terrible. I am in the process of reading it now. I'm almost half-way through with it. So far I haven't read anything shocking, but we'll see what happens. I'm also no legal expert, but it seems she covers her ass well. Almost everything she writes is third party info. Kinda like I heard from a friend who heard.....blah, blah, blah. I still hope she gets nailed big time for writing this. I'm all Team Larry and doubt that there is anything she can say or do to change my mind about that - but I haven't gotten to the whole gay sex tape part. So like I said, well see what happens and how this all ends.
I also stopped into an AT&T store about my phone. I haven't bought a new phone yet cause mine suddenly quit acting up - but I did get it all straightened out that if I were to get a new phone, I could just go ahead and sign a new 2 yr. contract and get it for the advertised new 2 yr. contract price. So at least I have options. But I'm going to see how it goes. I may wait it out (as long as it is working fine) and changes services when my current contract is up. I was looking into Helio and it is a damn good deal and an awesome looking phone. So we'll wait and see about that as well.
Other than that all things are good. I have another album I finished "gluing", and need to take photos of it and post them. Natalie is feeling better, but has now gotten Uncle Danny sick. I am still stuck in bed healing and I'm bored (guess that's why I'm reading this book!) - plus I want to stay away from all this cold crap. I don't need to get sick, nor do I want to. Nothing to hinder my healing. I gotta play it safe. It sucks, but once healed and all is said and done and I have those nice big perky boobs I will be happy that I took things easy. So anyway, back to my book. Hopefully I will be done in time to see the VMA's to catch Britney's comeback performance, LOL!

A Word About Phones.

I think I might have to buy a new phone today, which SUCKS! I'm sure that since I am half way into my contract, they will make me pay full price rather than letting me renew it for another 2 years. I'm pissed cause I actually like my phone, but last night for no reason it just shut off twice. Ruben thought it may be the battery, but he swapped mine with his and sure enough I woke up this morning to find it off again. What really sucks about this is that I do not have a home phone. We keep talking about maybe we should get one, but we both hate the thought of another bill for something we'll hardly use - of course it would come in handy in a case like this. We'll see what happens after the doctor. If it shuts down again, I'm gonna have to find somewhere to get a new one. ARGGHHHHHH!

All Things Relative......

So I'm up this morning - not cause I want to be, but because I have to get Natalie ready for school.....but she's sick, in fact too sick. So she's home in bed instead, which is where I'm thinking about going, but I have a doctor appointment today - so maybe just a short nap.
Anyway, this morning the hubby's up and watching The Weather Channel - it's a normal morning ritual. Gotta watch out for those hurricanes living in The Big Easy. So he tells me that we need to go to Texas. I'm thinking oh shit hurricane. And he says they have a Navarro County there - freaked my ass out for nothing. So I'm standing there talking to him and I look over at the TV cause they were talking Tornado Watches, it just so happened Navarro County is where the watch is. I said so you want to go where the tornado is, being all sarcastic. Then I noticed on the map some of the towns around the tornado watch. One being Mexia. So I asked him, so you know what's in Navarro County. Of course he doesn't, so I said Mexia, TX. He's like okay, what the hell is that. So I told him that Mexia, TX is where Anna Nicole came from. Now he's like you're some crazed, obsessed fan. I said I am not, it's just one of those stupid little facts you pick up. So he's all teasing me, you want to be just like Anna, and I said no, I just want to know who killed her.
I don't know why this shit fascinates me, but it does. I've always loved Hollywood gossip. I think it mostly came from my mom. Growing up she would always buy crap like Star, Us, In Touch. It just so happens that I inherited that gene from her. Now I buy all that crap too, and my husband hates it! I have subscriptions to OK and Us, to try to suffice my habit, but I usually end up buying the others at the store if the cover entices me. So here it is, I can't help it. I am just like my mom, okay. There I said it. I'm not ashamed of it. It's just there was a lot of shit that went along with my mom - she was overly picky, dictating in the way that she ruled the kingdom (my hubby is still having problems dealing with his castration, but he's slowly been getting there to that "Yes Dear" phase), she had a box full of meds, she loved jewelry, and the ability to be a total bitch - she could bitch about anything being wrong and get her money back, get things for free, or get something better. She was not one to be fucked with - oh, and my mom also always got her way. There is so much I have inherited from her, all these fine traits I've mentioned (LOL). The only downside is that I didn't think at 33 I would become my mom, as she was 60. But here I am. I used to hate it when Ruben teased me about becoming my mother. He would call me Linda Jr., but now I embrace the fact that I am just like her. I think it has made me a stronger person, even if I am infatuated with celeb news. :0p

I'm almost ashamed to admit I'm watching Larry King Live!

Ok, so you got me. I would never be the one to really watch Larry King Live, but TMZ posted earlier that Larry Birkhead would be on to dispute the garbage printed in Rita Cosby's new book - Blonde Ambition The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death. Even though I essentially believe this book is total crap, I still can't wait to read it. This book contains allegations that Larry and Howard K. Stern were gay lovers and that Anna Nicole had proof of it in the form of a video that she would watch repeatedly. I just don't buy that, even though I probably will buy the book (at a used book store). Why is it that anytime a guy is well groomed, has stylish hair, or dresses nicely, people accuse him of being gay? What's wrong with a man wanting to look nice? I mean really, what is wrong with being Metrosexual, as they call it? Davis Beckham is metro - he's got great hair, plucked brows, etc. yet he's never accused of being gay. C'mon people, Larry was a celebrity photography, he had to look good for his job. What was he supposed to show up to shoots looking like shit? I'm sorry, but I'm totally Team Larry on this. I hope he sues the shit out of Rita Cosby!

Free shoe giveaway

I stumbled my way from blog to blog where I happened upon a shoe giveaway. The contest ends on Wednesday, September 5th at 9:00 pm. CST. But then a new contest also starts that day with the manufacturers website. Here are the details so you can go enter for yourself:

Original Giveaway Post - go here to enter.

You can also enter at Ryka, who is giving away 30 pairs of shoes a day until October 16th (starting September 5th)

Oh, the winner also gets to choose ANY pair of shoes from the Ryka website.

Back to school, Back to work.

The house is nice and quiet this morning now that the holiday weekend is over. This is just the way I like it - especially after a weekend of kid(s) coming and going, and getting next to no sleep last night despite the Lunesta my doctor prescribed me. I've been a long time sufferer of insomnia, and have even tried several different types of sleep aids - both rx and otc. None of which that really helped me any. It seems this 2nd go around with Lunesta was going strong for 2 weeks. Then suddenly the sleep train came to a screeching halt last night. I cannot fathom the thought that my body is so caught up on sleep that it can't sleep anymore. I mean hell, I'm still healing here, I need all the rest I can get in order to heal properly. Which I might add on that note, my wound is looking rather well, and draining quite a bit less fluids - however, the size of the hole seems to be getting smaller, so I worry my hopes of getting my doctor to agree to insert an expander now while I have the open wound will diminish, as his capacity to put one in under the muscle tissue will be difficult to do given the size of my wound. In any case I will know more tomorrow when I go see him. Of course I will be drugged up as always, so I'm not to feel any pain - but my husband and I have talked about several different things that we would either like to be done and get answers on, so he'll be talking with the staff. Wish me luck cause we are both tired of having to pack this wound with gauze!

It's NEVER too early!

While playing with Flickr Toys to make the Mosaic I posted previously, I found a link for making Breast Cancer Posters. Of course this is still somewhat early as Breast Cancer Awareness Month isn't until October. But with being a BC Survivor and all, I cannot express enough that it is NEVER too early to check for breast cancer, and in the very least once a year is not acceptable.


While there are many fun things that you can do with your photos there, I took this time to make several Breast Cancer Posters - as I will be reminding you through-out October to be aware and do self exams, as well as annual exams. You can never be too safe! Early detection is key! In the meantime, I will share with you one I made from a picture of my mother and I when we participated in the 2005 Race For The Cure in Las Vegas. I miss my mother dearly, and cherish the memories and pictures of us together during this time when I had been going through chemotherapy.

Benched but not banned.

While I may be benched from scrapbooking, I am still quite capable of gluing - which is exactly what this project entailed. Basically nothing more than following directions and gluing items together. Therefore, I am not completely out of the game, and may still be able to use creativity as an outlet. It so happens that I have 3 more albums in this library from Scrapbooking with Lisa Bearson, and also a set of 4 albums made by her which I purchased through QVC.

Enjoy and Happy Labor's Day. Enjoy your time away from work (if you have it!)