Mardi Gras Birthday Fun

Saturday we rushed off to catch to a parade down on St. Charles Ave. where some of the most beautiful homes in New Orleans are. And by time we got home I was too exhasted to finish my post from Saturday, so here goes.......We ended up catching two parades - The Krewe Of Ponchatrain & Shangrai La. We then went to Crazy Johnnie's Steak House. I had two different Lemon Drop Martini's (as nether really tasted all that great, or the way they should). When it came time for the cake to be brought out, everyone started singing - and I MEAN everyone, as in the whole restaurant, I felt my face starting to turn bright red. I hate moments like that! Afterwards as we were trying to manuver between back streets as Veterns was closed as parades where getting ready to begin, we came upon a Barnes & Noble bookstore and decided to stop. As we missed Natalie's last bookfair at school, I had been promising to buy her some books - and now for future knowledge I know that bookfairs are the cheaper route! Being a bit tipsy as I was, I stumbled around the bookstore and happened across some scrapbook items. They weren't on sale or anything, but I snatched them up just the same. From there we once again worked our way through the backstreets till we finally found Clearview. It just so happens that Clearview takes you past a Best Buy and I wanted to stop as I needed a new SM card for the camera I received as a gift. While there we picked up Monster Jam for the 360, a skin for our Rockband guitar, a digi-scrap cd-rom, a scrap font cd-rom, and some headphones I had been eyeing for a while. SkullCandy. Ruben wasn't too sure about the headphones, as he has Bose headphones and swears by them. But I spoke with an employee there that said that they were equally as great as Bose, and if we didn't like them I could return them. The model I purchased were the SkullCrusher, which has an inculded "Bass Amplified Subwoofer" that you just put a battery in, turn on, and listen as the headphones vibrate against your ears. I really like them, and I think Ruben was equally as impressed with them. The cancel out noise quite well, and get pretty loud. Not bad for only $67. Bose ones run about $140. Besides, I just love the little pictures of skulls on them. After Best Buy we headed home, and played some video games. I could have done without the games, as I myself am not a gamer - but it was nice cozying up in the game room with a roaring fire and the family. Kinda made for a perfect birthday - and we got LOTS of goodies from the parades, even though we had a few problems with others trying to snatch stuff out of our hands. But that there is Mardi Gras, so what are you to do.

Almost forgot, I wore my pedometer on our trek from the car to our Parade spot - round trip I took nearly 7,000 step, which is close to 2.5 miles. Man did my feet hurt after that!



I posted lots of pix on Flickr. Enjoy!

Birthday Surprise

Woke up at 9am to Ruben bringing me breakfast in bed. What a wonderful way to start my birthday. It may not have been a phone call at 4:52, but equally as special - not to mention the fact I got to sleep in for a bit. We have plans today to go to the Shangria-La Mardi Gras parade since Ruben's co-worker will be riding in it, then later we'll go out for a nice dinner.

After breakfast was over, I was totally surprised by a gift (I said NO gifts, cause I buy what I want when I want) but Ruben decided to surprise me anyway. I posted some pictures on Flickr, as well as one below. (oh this is me fresh out of bed, like the hair?lol)

My gift was a Polaroid digital frame and camera set. The man knows how I love my cameras and pictures!

I got 3 cards, but I have to share the one from our dog Lexie with you:

I wouldn't call you old - But I bet you've been off Puppy Chow for a while! - LOL! So cute.

Natalie's cards was musical with yodeling, it cracked me up. Ruben's card was a long sweet card about how I DON'T look old.

Also, this is a pix taken with the new camera - What do you think?

I'll share more later - after the parade and dinner. Pray it doesn't rain!!

More of What's On My Mind......

• Today is my last day of being 33, uh. I know tomorrow is just "another" day, but aging really sucks - at least there will be cake and a dinner I won't have to cook.
• Considering the fact that my birthday is tomorrow it reminds of how every birthday my mom used to call me first thing in the morning - sometimes at 4:52 am (the time I was born) to tell me Happy Birthday and it hurts so much to think that she's not here to make that call anymore.
• Even though tomorrow is my birthday we may catch one of the first parades of this year's Mardi Gras. A co-worker of Ruben's will be in the parade throwing items and has asked us to come. I think being showered with beads and gifts will be an excellent way to kick off my birthday!
• Supposedly Angelina Jolie is pregnant again, this time with twins - uh, this makes me feel ill. She talks about her daughter, Shiloh, as though she were diseased. So why bother?
• According to Wikipedia, it was announced today that a few interim agreements have been made regarding the Writer's Strike. Talks will continue all weekend, but many critics believe the strike may be over within two weeks. YAY! About effing time!
• Last night I was telling my husband how I love that this blog has brought me in touch with women all around the country who have fought or are battling cancer. I love the positive feedback I have been receiving and I am so glad that my story has helped others! He said to me, well wasn't that the whole purpose? I honestly had never thought about it, I just wanted to get it out there, and have a journal of everything I went through. I'm so glad I did!
• I am so sick and tied of my hair. It seems that it has just stopped growing! I talked with a person about getting hair extensions, which I so badly want - But when I brought it up to the hubby and told him it would cost about $1000 ($500 for the labor and $50 each pack of hair, so it depends on how much I would need) he nearly hit the roof. Men just don't understand sometimes. Anyone wanna help a sista out and make donations to my "Honey I need Hair Fund" - let me know and I'll give you my Paypal account information. LOL!
• It's cold and rainy again and I am so tired of it! I hope the sun comes out soon! In fact pray for sun!
• One thing to warm me up are these pix of Ashton looking hot, he should definitely do more modeling.....in his undies! (oh and that link is to a homosexual website, so be forewarned!)
• I so love this. Joel Madden boasting about his new baby girl and making the cutest little baby items! He's even rocking the Gucci diaper bag!
• I could really go for a "Girls Night Out". God I wish my friend Joanna lived right around the corner! Maybe I should start a "Send me to Vegas Fund" LOL!
• Almost forgot the BEST part of all! One of Ruben's co-workers wants me to make 3 scrapbook albums for her to give as gifts for Mother's Day - and she's going to PAY ME! WOOT! I'm sooooooo excited. It's almost as good as getting published!

101st Day of School

Today was the 101st day of school, and in honor of it Natalie didn't have to wear her uniform to school as long as she dressed like 101 Dalmation. So I spent last night drawing black spots on a white shirt with a fabric marker. She could have worn ears and a tail as well, but it's not easy to find those items outside of Halloween.

She came home from school and everyone liked her her shirt. She was original in her class as she has a "collar" whereas others overlooked that. She even tried to give me her puppy face - what do you think?

What's on my mind.....

Not a whole lot to post about this week other than another successful saline injection at the doctors office on Tuesday, and a bunch of random rambling thoughts.

• After nearly 2 weeks of unseasonably cold weather, the sun finally came out Tuesday to warm things up to 71, since then it's been back in the 50's but supposedly we'll hit 75 on Monday and I am so looking forward to it! I'm tired of being cold and I'm ready for spring!
• Had my 2nd round of injections this week which proved to be way more painful than the first, due to this very weird painful sensation on my left side. It also left me more lopsided as my right took more saline than my left. But so far the results can be seen and at this rate it won't be long till I'm ready to have these expanders swapped out. I go back next Tuesday for more.
• The idea of gathering forms in preparation of tax season has me terrified and so far has me anxiety ridden that we may owe money this year - though I do tend to think that every year, but this year has me especially afraid....(not enough deductions on our part I think)
• I have really been digging sliced apples lately!
• I'm really bummed that I didn't get involved in this whole 365 Day Challenge thing on Flickr - but then again, I never knew about it till I saw it on Melissa's blog.
• Yesterday was our monthly pest control service, which really screwed up my afternoon cause awhile after he left I sliced up an apple, walked upstairs to my scrap studio to grab something, saw the lizard that I've been trying to catch for the past 2 weeks, jumped, spilled half the apples off my plate, I bent over to pick them up and put them back on my plate as I had no where else to put them, then noticed that the lizard wasn't moving and was dark. I picked him up and flushed him as the poor thing died as a result from the pest chemicals, then realized that my whole apple was ruined since the half I dropped was put on the plate with the good half, and I was taking any chances of consuming pest chemicals after I saw what it did to the poor little lizard......I didn't want for him to die. If I had caught him earlier I would have put him back outside. I was kind of hoping that maybe he had already found his way out since I hadn't seen him in days, but I guess not. =(
• Not sure why, but for the last 2 months I've been receiving Better Homes and Gardens magazine (according to the label I have a subscription till Dec. 09) and I've found lots of interesting, yummy looking recipes in it.
• I got my Community Education course guide in the mail yesterday, and found 3 courses I want to take this spring: a 3 week Scrapbooking course; a 7 week Adobe Photoshop course; & a 7 week Digital Photography course. Classes don't begin till March, but I am ready now as I've been waiting months for this!
• I'm glad to find spurts of regular television coming back here and there, as well as new show seasons like - Cashmere Mafia, the returning of Dirt (soon) & Medium (to name a few), and the 2 new episodes of Chuck tonight! I just can't believe that this whole stupid Writer's Strike is still going on. Give them thier 4 cents already and end this!
• Sometime in the next month or two I will be participating in a Circle Journal scrapbook ring (for the 1st time!) with some wonderful women I met through Scrapbook.com. The CJ's are slightly twisted and dirty, as the group is called the Dirty Rotten Scrappers. I am so excited about this and can't wait to start!
• Almost forgot - you'll notice that I made some changes to my blog and there are ads on it now. I'm testing Ad Sense to see if money really can be made from it. So feel free to click on the links, they're not a scam!

Oh and one last thing - I am in such shock and disbelief about this whole Health Ledger death. I don't believe the man would take his own life, as he had so much to live for due to his 2 y/o daughter. It's all so sad! I really loved him in 10 Things I hate About You and The Patriot.

Chocolatey Goodness

New Year, new resolutions and goals. My effort to cut back on the soda and eat a little better, has so far been successful. I'm down to only 2 sodas a day, which in itself is a huge cut-back on calories. I'm also trying to be more conscience of what I snack on so I'm not putting empty calories into my body. The biggest reason behind it all, besides generally trying to get healthier, is because of one of the medications (Lyrica) I take is known for causing weight gain. I've been on it long enough now to know this side effect is real, and that it does effect me. It's like fighting an uphill battle, cause I was gaining even though I would only eat once a day - but now that I have cut back on sodas and I'm choosing healthy snacks to munch on through-out the day, which I pretty much force myself to eat a couple times a day, I'm losing some weight little by little. In the last couple weeks I've managed to lose 5 lbs., which to me is a big deal since being in menopause and being handicapped with this medicine it's almost impossible to lose just a pound. Definitely not like in the past when I lost 90 lbs. doing nothing! So in my quest to eat a little better, and not just thrive on fruit - cause really, you need something for those times when you're having bad cravings and need something sweet and decadent. I've found that things I would clearly walk past before while shopping, I am now taking notice to. One thing in particular are the Quaker mini rice cake called "Quakes". Normally I would walk right past rice cakes, but I came across some flavors I thought I would give a try. The first was Cheddar Cheese, which turned out to be unbelievably good. They tasted just like cheese popcorn, and at 60 calories per serving (either 7 mini cakes or 1 regular size cake), it turned out to be a great alternative to chips! So after that success, I decided to try another flavor - Chocolate Crunch. At first I thought it would be some horrible mock-chocolate taste, but instead I was pleasantly surprised. The chocolate flavored turned out to be that snack to turn to when feeling weak and craving something sweet. If you haven't tried these rice cakes, I highly recommend that you do. They aren't flavorless stiff rice cakes, like you would think - cause that's the way they are stereo-typed to be, but I honestly think they will surprise you!

It's like sleeping on a cloud....

It's no big secret that I suffer from horrible muscle, bone and joint pain - and my husband suffers from back pain every since he was rear-ended on his birthday in 2004. Sometime over 2 years ago, while my husband was away on business he spent the evening at a hotel that had a featherbed on top of the mattress. He came home with the idea of getting one for our bed to help with the pain. Since then we've always had one and it has been wonderful. However, since then there have been several accidental spills, so I decided to get a new one since I'm not sure how to clean it. This time I wasn't taking any chances - I ordered 2, plus a waterproof mattress protector from Overstock.com. My order arrived on Saturday, and I couldn't wait to get them on the bed. I put the 2 new ones under the old one, as I am hoping to keep it by finding a way to have it cleaned, possibly dry cleaned. OMG! Having 3 of these 5" baffle featherbeds on top of the bed is so heavenly! I slept so well last night. My bed stands so tall now I can hardly get on top of it! It was quite tall to begin with. I'm glad it showed up when it did, as Ruben and I are both sick with a cold now, so having the extra comfort is much needed right now. I hope I'm better by Tuesday - that's when I go back to my surgeon's office for my 2nd saline injection. My left side is feeling better, though still tight feeling to the touch. but either way I'm so looking forward to it.

So my birthday is on Saturday (the 26th) with our 8th wedding anniversary following just 4 days later. Not sure what we'll do yet for either occasion. If we can find a sitter, I'd love to go see Sweeney Todd, but we'll see. We're not counting these dates as anything big, as I'm not all that excited about turning 34 (it's just another day) and Ruben is already talking about having another 5 diamond wedding band made to match my current band for our 10th anniversary - so I'll have a band on each side of my wedding ring, each with 5 diamonds to symbolize 10 years, but I still have 2 years till I can look forward to that! It's tough when these date come right after Christmas, plus when you just go out and buy whatever you want when you want who needs presents, right? Just another reason why they're no biggie. I don't even want gifts for either, just a nice dinner I don't have to cook and of course cake! Well I'm off to rest, my head feels about ready to explode! Hope your holiday weekend wasn't spent sick like mine!

Can't sleep.......

Haven't much suffered from insomnia since the doc prescribed some good sleeping pills - not that Lunesta or Ambiem crap. The pills immediately put an end to a 3 year battle with extreme insomnia, and months later they are still working great......just not last night. I woke up around 3:30 and haven't been able to go back to bed. i'm thinking it might have something to do with the fact that it is pouring rain, but I'm not sure since I often knock out and sleep like a log on these things. Honestly I think it's because I'm wired, yet I've had no soda today. Hmm, weird. See I'm all kinda worked up about a movie we watched last night. OMFG, it was hilarious - and TOTALLY NSFW! If you haven't seen Good Luck Chuck, I would so recommend it - but don't watch it with the kiddies around as the unrated version I bought earlier this week has a whole lotta sex in it!!! You even get to see some very nice ass shots of Jessica Alba - I'm secure with my sexuality to give credit where credit is due. She's hot - and if you watch very carefully, you can even catch a glimpse of her nipple. This is a great couple's movie as the first half is filled with sex, so the men are interested, then the second half is the rom com (romantic comedy) part to satisfy the ladies. Like I said, great movie, great cast. I love the dude that plays Chuck's friend. He was in Balls of Fury, which is another NSFW funny as hell movie!

Here's the trailer for GLC & BoF, watch them for yourself and see........you'll love 'em!

Oh, I also gotta say that Melissa ROCKS!! I can't find these darling little $1 mailboxes Target has, and she's willing to be kind enough to look next time she's at Target to see if she can find me some. Check out her blog cause she has all kinds of awesome creations on it!

How to Break Dance

I came across this video earlier this week, listed as one of the top 5 videos watched on YouTube.
I'm not really into break dancing, but I do like Vin Diesel - well at least his movies. He was so hot in The Fast & The Furious!
Anywho, this video showcases a young Vin Diesel in an instructional video, long before he ever shaved his head or changed his name. Definitely worth a few chuckles! Watch and see!

WTF?!?!?!

Saw this on Idol the other day and have been searching the web for it every since. It's an instant classic of Idol Auditions. Love it! Just gotta say though, WTF?!? Talk about some serious medication, cause this man is high and obviously so is Paula!

We have Saline!!!!

Saw my surgeon yesterday, post-op things have been well. Spoke to him in regards to my concern that the expander on my left side seems off center, and high. I kinda feel like I might be getting a side boob, although I suppose it could all be just swollen since he did cut me open on my side. The doctor really didn't seem too concerned with it, as he found that while looking for the expanders and the valve to inject the saline into, the magnets weren't exactly where they should be. My right expander shifted a little to the left, and my left one shifted a little further up and to the left. I guess it's one of those things that will get fixed when he swaps them out as he went ahead with the injections. YAY! This is a first for me, and I consider it to be a BIG step! He told us that the major concern is to be careful not to nick the implant with the needle - that's why he uses this device with magnets in it and made marks all around my chest. He was quite careful in making sure he found each valve. It honestly didn't hurt as bad as I anticipated. I didn't look, but my guess would be that it was a descent size needle. I have this vision in my head of the port I had in my chest when I went through chemo, and what the needle looked like that they stuck in there. I even got the same sensation, of this alcohol like smell, even though just a little pad was used to clean the injection site - so I'm thinking it wasn't alcohol, but saline as they used to clear my port with a shot of saline before and after each chemo treatment. So anyway, he started with the left side, and I felt the pressure right away, but tried my hardest to take more before telling him to stop. The right side didn't hurt at all - but then again, it's been over 2 years since I had a mastectomy done on the right side. Actually on the 26th it will be 3 years since I found the lump, as I found it on the night of my 31st birthday. But as I was saying, I didn't feel any pressure on that side, but he stopped anyway as he wanted to make sure and fill them with equal amounts. Funny thing is, my right side is bigger than my left. Don't ask why, cause I haven't a clue. Maybe cause it shifted? But I have a little AA like lump on the right side, and I'm so proud of it. I wish that the left side was just as dominant, but we're thinking that muscle may be playing a part in it all. See when they did my right side, a small portion on my muscle was removed. The expander as well as the implants get placed underneath the muscle - supposedly it is supposed to make them look more natural? I dunno. But since none of the muscle was removed on my left side, maybe that's why that side isn't sticking out as much as the other - like the muscle is holding it more tightly back? Heck if I know, I'm no doctor, I just know that I do not look even although they both received the same amount of saline. My left side still hurts some, as it feels tight. The right side feels great, it's even softened up since the appointment, whereas my left side is still kinda hard. Hopefully it will be feeling better soon as I go back next Tuesday for more injections. Looks like this will be a weekly thing, as long as I can handle the pain/pressure - and if it continues like this, I shall have boobs in no time! WooHoo!

It's Times like This....

Not much time to blog today - I have an appointment with my surgeon for what will HOPEFULLY be my first (of many) saline injections - YAY! So keep your fingers crossed that the injections get done today and it's not just another post-op check-up!

In other news, I'm really kicking myself right about now! I have this wonderfully awesome opportunity to get paid to MAKE a scrapbook for someone my hubby works with. The reason I want to kick myself is because back in 2005 when I made this gorgeous custom 8x8 Classic Pooh Album for my friend Joanna, I half-assed it and took photos of the pages while in the book, in the sheet protectors. I recall that at the time I was running late to meet with a friend, so I just quickly took some pictures so I could post then online. I meant to go back and scan each page one by one, but never got the chance as I had just barely finished the album in time to give it to her for Christmas. Now I really wish I had original scans of the pages, as pictures of pages in protectors cannot compare at all - although it will have to do as it is all I have and cannot ask Joanna to scan the pages for me as she has already started placing her photos and jotting down the journaling. It's kind of funny cause in the pictures I took, you can see where I took little sticky tabs and wrote picture with arrows, so Joanna would know where to place the picture and how it should be orientated.
I have so many thoughts swirling in my head. I can't even get my own crap scrapped (of course I need to finish that room once and for all - catch that pesky lizard - and print tons of pictures as I have spent nearly the last 2 years digital!) My biggest problems are what to charge for such a job, and what kind of album? Jo was easy cause her nursery had been in Classic Pooh and I found the album set on clearance - which did not come with enough paper to even cover the sheets in the book, so I had to get creative on how I used the pattern paper and since I could not find any other paper that matched (or came close!) I used some fabric I bought from Joann's. I put a lot of time planning out that album - and I'm so excited to think that someone else wants my services, even when I can't get published or become a design team member (although you would have to actually complete and submit work for stuff like that!)
once I get the info and see what I can find, I will keep you posted. What a great opportunity for me. Oh, I'll also post later how the doctor's visit is!

Saturday Goodness

For some odd reason, I was up at the crack of dawn yesterday - the crack being about 7-ish. Natalie woke up soon after, and I got the hair brained idea that I wanted to go out for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel - which is this delicious country diner/store. Only problem is the closest one is about an hour from here, in Baton Rouge. I was so desperately craving scrambled eggs, bacon, and strawberry pancakes - only problem, the strawberries aren't in season. So on the side I tried blackberries instead, and oh my god, they were so heavenly! It's my new favorite I think! Afterwards we walked around a complete outlet center, cause we definitely needed to walk off breakfast! While there we bought some new knife sets, new shoes for Natalie, then headed over to the mall to look for some Luggs for Ruben. We must have walked around that mall about 3 times, and never found a single pair.

Yeah, I know the whole trip goes against my new resolution/goal of spending less/saving more - but we didn't want to drive an hour JUST to eat breakfast. Next time we'll have to try the Waffle House down the street, or maybe Dot's Diner. I wish they'd build a Cracker Barrel near here, but that could spell trouble! There are a few places I grew up with that I miss - like Steak n' Shake, and White Castle - thought we have this Krystal Burgers here that a supposedly like White Castle, but still nothing beats a White Castle bender at 3 am after drinking all night!

I spent today sleeping in, and we'll probably have some frozen dinners to eat tonight as I don't feel like heading to the store today. My knees are killing me from all that walking yesterday! But despite the pain I still hope to get on the treadmill tonight and watch some of the shows I have in my DVR - but then again it's such a lazy Sunday!

Keeping On Track

Here I am sitting in my Scrap Studio doing my best to try and stay on track. I want to do something creative, but don't know where to begin. Guess you could say I am having a creative block right now. I have so many projects piled up. For starters I suppose with an unorganized studio it's hard to be creative when all you see is clutter! Maybe the hubby can help me get this area cleaned up this weekend - although Cynthia is really the person for the job. She so neatly organizes paper by color, manufacturer, pattern, etc. She really is a pro at it, while I still have boxes and containers neck high of items I need to either put away, gift via RAK, or just throw out! I keep buying and buying, but I have neither used nor put away the items I've ordered lately.

Usually I'm on my laptop in my bedroom, but today I decided to come in here, maybe do a couple cards or something. First I started by opening the huge stack of Cricut cartridges I recently purchased. I lucked out one day and found them on sale online, and the more you bought the cheaper they were - plus my local Wal-Mart started carrying the machine and cartridges, which did not help!
I now have George; DoodleType; Accent Essentials; All Mixed Up; Stamped; Cutting Up; Tear Drop; DoodleCharms; Tags, Bags, Boxes & More;Beyond Birthdays; Fab Finds; Paper Pups; Base Camp; Opposites Attract; Walk in My Garden; and Alphalicious. Plus I also have a couple paper pads, and the new Color Cartridges.
Now you can somewhat see why I'm having so many problems - I can't decide what to use or where to start. I'm in need of inspiration, so I think I'll be browsing Flickr later. Also not helping matters is the fact that I went to plug in my fan, and was scared half to death by one of our friendly little lizard friends. He ran off too fast before I could catch him, and his blending abilities didn't help the matter.
I don't mind them lizards too much. I'd rather them be out than in - just for the sake of thinking about what might happen when you sleep, though I've never seen one in my room! Anyway, I don't mind them because lizards eat bugs (not that we have a bug problem as we subscribe to monthly pest control) and like in Hawaii geckos are like a sign of good luck. You don't kill them. When I can catch them I usually just put them to rest outside on the patio. I don't believe in harming them. But those little suckers can find their way back in almost anywhere as they can squeeze in the smallest gap. Did you know those little suckers also can re-grow their tails? Ewww, but I just keep telling myself a home with lizards is a home free of pests. I've saved many, as I have caught a few indoors. Imagine if Lexie had gotten a hold of it before I did. Again, ewww! The lizards aren't the only little buggers I have to be on the lookout for. There are tons of little frogs down here and they like to stick to the window on the door and wait till you open it then jump in. In the summer you can actually hear all the frogs, which tend to sound almost like a goat or something.
Ok, anyway, back to staying on track. Last night I got on the treadmill and walked at a good speed and incline for half of Gossip Girl. My toe was killing me, but I wanted to make sure that I did SOME. I didn't wear my regular walking tennis shoes, since my foot hurt so much, so instead I wore these little slippers I recently bought that resemble ballerina shoes. They were comfy and not too restrictive on my toe - and they do have a skid resistant sole. I've also been in keeping with drinking less soda, which might explain the headache right now! I've also been trying to stay conscience in what else I drink, as my favorite drink (besides soda) vitamin water is just as full of calories as soda is! It's kind of weird but I have been drinking some of that master cleanse drink - the one you mix water, lemon juice, maple syrup & cayenne pepper. I'm not drinking it alone, or drinking it as a replacement to food - I'm just adding it to what I drink and lowering my intake of other stuff. It's just when you take a chemotherapy agent daily along with all the other meds I take, I'm drinking it to clean out the toxins in my body so I'm not always so tired/worn out (which is a known effect of the whole chemo & cancer stuff) The thing is that as long as I am on this drug, which will be another 3 years, I'll never really be able to cleanse my body from the effects of chemo. Oh well I've survived this long with it all.

Last night after watching Gossip Girl, which is one of my favorite new shows - I caught an episode of Cashmere Mafia. I think I missed the 1st episode of the show, but after last night's viewing I think I'm in love! It's not a show based on anything Candice Bushnell wrote, like Sex & The City was - but I think that it is done by the same producer. We'll see how Lipstick Jungle compares. As for tonight I am so looking forward to the return of Grey's Anatomy. I know they are running out of episodes due to this whole writer's strike. Arrrg! It makes me so angry. Come on people, get it together! We want our favorite shows back!!!!
Well I gotta run, Natalie was supposed to be home 10 minutes ago! Guess doing something creative is out for today.

Whatcha Doing?

With this writer's strike seriously screwing up Fall TV, what are you doing in the meantime?

I'm picking up some new shows that I usually watch in the off-season like Psych - but Burn Notice won't be back till summer, so in the meantime I'm TRYING the teen-ish dramedy One Tree Hill, but I'm over looking the fact that K-Fed will be on it. Don't get me started on that loser. I'm no Britney fan, but he's obviously all about the money. I'm also all over the new Rock of Love 2, though I think Bret shoulda just went with Heather instead of Jess in the first place and he wouldn't be doing another show! And let's not forget Scott Baio, now that he finally got married and had a child, it should be interesting to see what develops. I'm also so glad that Medium finally came back. I was worried that it had been dropped. Oh, and being a BIG SATC fan, I'm picking up Lipstick Jungle when it premieres in February, and Cashmere Mafia for now. I'm wondering how they will compare. But in any case I cannot wait till this whole strike comes to an end. Yes I think they deserve more money, but at the same time they have to understand that not only are they putting actors out, but what about sound and light techs, the people who change backgrounds, makeup and wardrobe people. This crap has gone so far it's ruined the Golden Globes. Not that I watch the Globes, but the strike has hit Hollywood hard and it's being said that for the Globes, the loss of business is costing Hollywood like 80 million dollars. I can't even fathom something like that. If it wasn't for it being Hollywood, an amount that big would likely close stores and leave everyone unemployed.

We were fortunate here in New Orleans that a lot of UH fans came out for the SugarBowl and bought up all the souvenirs they could find - Georgia fans drove here and didn't buy shit. The French Market certainly needed the boost they got from UH fans.

Oh, and let's talk resolutions for a second. Did you make any? What were they?
Me? Well my resolution is to scrap more, drink less soda, get on the treadmill more often, and spend less/save more. I hate the word resolution, so I think of them more as daily goals - it has a much nicer ring to it, and that way it's not about succeeding or failing - it's all about living.

Almost forgot - get this I broke my toe by doing nothing at all! Actually I re-broke it I guess. Back in '02 I had my friend Joanna's stair climber, and one morning while getting ready for work in the wee hours of the mourn (about 4 am!) I was getting ready in the dark and went to get my shoes and stubbed my right foot (toe next to the pinkie) on the framing. By time I made it to work most of my foot was black and purple. The toe never seemed to heal correctly, as I was left with this lump on the bottom. The lump is still there, and now it is way more tender than it has been in the past, but I noticed it's also bruised and I don't know how it was injured this time. Weird huh? It's not even like I am a clumsy type of person. But I'm going to try to make sure that this doesn't keep me off the treadmill - I'm sure the walking will be fine, it's the shoes that worry me!

50 Random Things.......

50 ODD Things about you! If you opened this, FILL IT OUT! Learn 50 things about your friends, and let them learn 50 things about you! (...feel the love)

1. Do you like blue cheese?EWWW Gross
2. Have you ever smoked heroin?Can't say smoked?!?
3. Do you own a gun?Yup, I own a 9mm and Ruben owns an older .38 (I Think)
4. Your favorite song?Hmmm, whatever sounds best with my new sound system
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?Sheeeet. I see doctors so often, just worry about IV's
6. What do you think of hot dogs?Gross, and seriously sick once puked up - but we BBQ them every now and then
7. Favorite Christmas song?hate 'em all
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?Soda - hate coffee!
9. Can you do push ups?at least 10, but can't recall last time I did 1
11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?My wedding ring set!
12. Favorite hobby?Scrapbooking
13. Secret weapon to get the same sex?come here seems to work just fine.
14. Do you have A.D.D.?I don't think so
15. What one trait do you hate about yourself?not open/trusting
16. Do you like celery?YES
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. I'm tired, but the treadmill calls, and the dog stinks and needs to be groomed.
18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday,Nuttin. Friday was Nat's b-day and we shopped, and Saturday was her party and I paid.
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink?Vitamin Water, Vanilla Coke, Gatorade or Hawaiian Punch
20. Current worry right now?want my boobs and I want them now!
21. Current hate right now?some people that are super annoying and trying to start crap a decade later!
22. Favorite place to be?on vacation, or in my warm bed JUST NOT IN SURGERY!
23. How did you bring in the New Year?home with the family
24. Where would you like to go?Fiji, Bahamas, Tahiti - of course I want my boobs first!
25. Name three people who will complete this?hell if I know or care
26. Do you own slippers?Just bought a pair
27. What shirt are you wearing?Ruben's black Made in the USA shirt - he's outta town, so I keep the 9 close
28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?clean, high thread count, and fits the xtra deep mattress is all that matters....oh and if they match too!
29. Can you whistle?Yes
30. Favorite Color?Black or Blue
31. Would you be a pirate?Depends on what I'd have to do and how much it paid.
32. What songs do you sing in the shower?none.
33. Favorite girls name?Natalie, the one I chose when I had my girl
34. Favorite boy's name?Hmm, never faced with having a boy (that I know of) so it's hard to say.
35. What's in your pocket right now?nada, got my jammies on!
36. Last thing that made you laugh?my goofy ass child
37. Best bed sheets as a child?I cant friggin remember that.
38. Worst injury you've ever had?when I was 5 I sliced my finger to the bone
39. Do you love where you live?I so love it - hate the rain and humidity, but love the area, neighbors, everything
40. How many TVs do you have in your house?6 (3 are HD)
41. Who is your loudest friend?Lisa's the loudest. LOL!
42. How many dogs do you have?1
43. Does someone have a crush on you?Uh, my hubby
45. What is your favorite book?Mary Higgins Clark or whatever Natalie reads to me
46. What is your favorite candy? toffee
47. What is your favorite Sports Team?I dont have any
48. What song do you want played at your funeral?I'm getting cremated, so no matter to me!
49. What were you doing 12 AM last night?sleeping....so glad these pills work and I'm no longer the insomniac I was for 3 yrs.!
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?Ok, gotta get Natalie going and ready for school.

Ok here it is, MY list of the best and worst of 2007

BEST DUI MUGSHOT OF THE YEAR:With so many mug shots to choose from, it’s hard to choose JUST one, but personally, I disagree with most people. While Shia’s mug was all aloof, with his hair somewhat scraggly looking, he looked sort of cute – But sadly, he’s not my actual choice. I would have to go with Lindsey Lohan, as her mug shots just reeks of this look like “What’d I do?” as if she did nothing wrong.

LIFETIME SERVICE AWARD:
68 years after greeting Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, the Munchkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

NEWCOMER AWARD: Hmmm, there are so many new fresh faces, but I think I’m going to have to go with Zachary Levi – the guy who plays Chuck. He makes geekiness sexy.

HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR:So many to choose from…..1) Filming of the SATC movie finally starting after the series ended nearly 3 years ago! 2) After years of feuding, the ''Lord of the Rings'' director and New Line get closer to making The Hobbit.

LOW POINT OF THE YEAR:Hmmm, first I’d have to say Lindsey Lohan not getting the punishment she so rightly deserves! The ending of The Sopranos series in such a bizarre Journey blackout. And let’s not forget this never ending Writer’s Strike, which SUCKS!

BEST ARTIST/SONG FOR 2007:Nickelback.

BEST MOVIE FOR 2007:Again, so many good ones to chose from. Transformers! POC At World’s End; Spiderman 3.

MOST DISAPPOINTING MOVIE FOR 2007:
The Bourne Ultimatum – was VERY disappointed in the ending, and all the hype surrounding it!

FUNNIEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR: Knocked Up; Superbad.

BEST TV MOMENT FOR 2007: Dexter getting away with his crimes as a serial killer, as the FBI blamed Officer Doakes – but they failed to capture him, as Dex’s psycho ex. sponsor blows him up!

WORST TV MOMENT FOR 2007:Sara Sidle on CSI leaving after Gil made their romance known and proposing.

TV SHOW(S) OF THE YEAR:Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy, Chuck, K-Ville, My Name is Earl & CSI!

BEST NEW SHOWS OF THE YEAR (2007):
Chuck, Big Shots and K-Ville.

WORST NEW TV SHOWS 2007:
Cavemen, and Viva Laughlin

BOOK OF THE YEAR:Obviously the final Harry Potter!

BIGGEST NEWS STORY OF 2007:
Anna Nicole Smith Dying of Combined-Drug Intoxication – The saga invaded 48% of all news stories for 6 weeks!

WORST MUSIC NEWCOMER:
Amy Winehouse!

BREAKOUT ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson.

WORST COMEBACK ATTEMPT OF 2007:
Britney Spears sad VMA performance!

BEST VIDEO GAME OF 2007:
Mario Party 8 and Carnival Games for Wii.

WORST EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING:
Pete Doherty for making his cat smoke crack from a special pipe he made.

BIGGEST TREND THAT EVERYONE HATES:
Crocs – but they are so comfy, and great for slipping on to run out and get the mail!

BEST PHOTOSHOP OF 2007:
David Beckham’s Emporio Armani underwear ads, in which it looks like he is packing a PEAR in his tightie-whities!

WORST PHOTOSHOP OF 2007:
Faith Hill’s Redbook cover, in which they re-touched her image so much she looks un-human.

Feeling Nutty

Caught this picture of Natalie being silly, and appropriately she was wearing a t-shirt I bought her that has a picture of a squirrel on it and says "Feeling Nutty". I must say that I'm not sure what happened - if the shirt just fit the incident, or if the shirt got her feeling frisky. You decide.

Birthday round-up recap

The 4th was Natalie's 8th birthday. We spent the day doing whatever she wanted, and boy did it literally cost us! To start, I put highlights in her hair, framing her face, and made her eyebrows a little more "girlie" for her party - then we went to get more than 6 " cut off of it to make it more manageable. After getting her hair cut, she requested lunch at her favorite spot - Copeland's (which is well known here in NOLA for their cheesecake - the same people also own the Cheesecake Bistro here, and Popeye's Chicken) all I can saw is awesome food all around. Natalie had BBQ chicken w.bow-tie pasta and cheese, I had the catch of the day, which was Salmon, and Ruben had a shrimp po-boy. Lunch was followed with a slice of their 8 layer German Chocolate cake, with happy birthday written in fudge sauce. Afterward it was off to Toys R Us, or as we say, Pokemon Heaven. I thought she had gotten enough for Christmas, but it appears I was WRONG! She loaded up the cart with Pokemon items totaling $200. Then on the way home we stopped at Target so I could get some household items. We also looked into getting bikes for both Ruben and myself, but we decided we should go to a sports store instead, but it seems the bikes are near the toys, and more Pokemon were found. We let her get 3 that were new, and an assortment of card packs - but drew the line at that, since that alone was $100. Throw in the lunch we had, and she had one hell of a day. I posted lots of new picture online at Flickr.

So fast forward to Saturday. I picked up her cake and a few last minute items and met Ruben over at the bowling alley. At first there was that fear that no one would show up cause no one was early, but the invites said 130 - 330, and right about 145 they all piled in. Well maybe not ALL. Seems no one from school came, but with the 2 weeks they just had off, they more than likely forgot. Next year we'll hold her party mid-month. The important thing was that the majority of her neighborhood friends showed up, and some who couldn't make it sent gifts anyway! She had so much fun bowling with all her bestest buds, and got some really great gifts. She got 3 more Webkinz, a Fur Real Tiger cub, lots of Pokemon movies, and the High School Musical series - and of course Rockband special edition set (drums, guitar, microphone & game) for the PS3, and Guitar Hero III for the Wii from Mom & Dad.......of course we had all the dads there saying they wanted to come by later and play, LOL! Yeah, I know, we have one spoiled child! Couldn't imagine having 2 of them, and thankfully things have a way of working out perfectly. But hey, what can I say - her parents lead lives of excess (with all my cameras, computers, and scrapbooking needs and his blu-ray dvd, HD dvd, and HD tv's - among other things) so it's only natural that she too lead a life of excess = ) at least a little.

Anyway, like I said there are TONS of new pix on Flickr, so check them out and enjoy them. I have a few other posts to finish up, then on to the treadmill while Nat showers for school tomorrow. Ruben left just a bit ago, as he's outta town till Wednesday - but don't worry about us, we live in a safe area, and even if there was a problem, I have a loaded 9 right here and that makes me feel real safe.

Happy 2008!!!!!!!

Went back to the French Quarter today to buy my sis in Hawaii some UH/Sugar Bowl gear. The Marriott on Canal street was giving out a UH Warrior's helmet shaped personal hand-fan. The also were giving out beads that said "H" on them. I had hard time getting my hands on either, as they would only give them out to people who were attending the game. However for most season ticket holders, they couldn't get tickets to the game as UH gave Georgia the option to have a BIG share of their allotted tickets since more people from Georgia will attend the game, as Georgia fans can easily drive here. However, as personally being down in the French Quarter, there were A LOT of UH fans down there, and they were buying everything they could get their hands on. I couldn't find any beads, but I did get 2 shirts, a hat, and a feather boa - plus I ended up talking the guy from The Marriott into giving me a fan and beads. I explained how tickets weren't a possibility as they gave Georgia/Louisiana like 4000 tickets! That didn't work on the bead guy, although I did sweet talk a fan out of an employee. The guy with the beads was VERY persistent. I even flashed him my Hawaiian band, that has my name in Hawaiian. Finally he caved, which was great as there wasn't a single place that sold UH beads!


Outside I was lucky enough to meet one of the players - or at least that is what I was told. They told me his name was Big Boy. I honestly don't know, but maybe someone who DOES KNOW HIM can comment??

Wow, it's almost 2008

I have this post I am working on, as a year end review of the best and worst of 2007 - however there is still much work to be done to it and we are heading back down to the French Quarter this afternoon. We want to pick up some UH Sugarbowl stuff for my sister who wanted to come so bad, but couldn't.

So hopefully tonight I will finish my prior post on the events of 2007 - but I can tell you that personally speaking my 2 "BEST" moments of 2007 happened just a few days ago.

1) getting a Chase Disney Rewards Card. It has a $5k limit, earns 1% rewards back as DDRD (Disney Dream Reward Dollars) that can be used on all sorts of Disney stuff - a must have living this close to Disney World! Besides, who doesn't like a card with a reward? This may be kind of a silly "BEST", but it surprised me and made my day, therefore it qualifies to me!
2) finding out that my bestest friend in the whole wide world, whom I've known more than half my life, went to school with since 6th grade, and haven't seen in nearly 12 years (since we both live in different states, are married, and have kids - though hers is younger than mine......) has FINALLY gotten an internet connection and has email. This to me is definitely one of the "BEST" for 2007! I'm always so excited to hear from her, but now she can keep up to date on my blog and recent pictures and videos I post. WooHoo!!!!

So as for the rest I will hopefully get to it tonight, as now I must go get ready to leave. But for now, Happy New Year, or at least New Year's Eve. Go Get your party on, just don't drive!

Online Madness

Natalie has been busy playing online checking out all her favorite sites and making sure to take care of her Webkinz - I however have a bit of a problem with the amount of traffic online, as she keeps getting kicked off the Webkinz site! They should have anticipated this "craze" and upgrade the site. It seemed all of Christmas and the day after, there was no getting on. Somewhat upsetting when you buy these little stuffed animals that come with an online game, yet you can't access it. To me it's it's just about the same as Nintendogs, the game made for Nintendo DS - Natalie has every single one made! But to her DS is kinda out, and Webkinz is the new fad. Besides learning and getting experience using a computer will be very beneficial for her. I posted some pictures on Flickr, one is posted below.

French Quarter Fun

Went downtown today to visit the open air market, which is somewhat like a flea market. Natalie had taken $30 with her - $20 of which she earned helping around the house, and the other $10 was from 2 visits from the Tooth Fairy.

On the way there, we stopped and watched some street performers that were hilarious. I uploaded some pictures onto Flickr for you to enjoy - but I also took 2 short videos, that are posted below.

I had brought my camera along just in case we happened to see Brad and Angelina somewhere down there, as they are (or were) back in town at the house they own in the French Quarter for Christmas - but I had no such luck seeing them, dangit! We even saw some fancy tour bus parked in front of the House of Blues, but never got a peek at whose bus it was. Turns out it was either Dr. John plus Jon Cleary OR Slang Angus plus V.I.T.A.L. emcee with Illegal Alias - neither of which are artists that I know of!

So anyway, once we got down to the open air French Market, we really couldn't find anything to buy - although along the way we came across some cool shops where we picked up more movie memorabilia, like a little Yoda, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, Gizmo, The 3 Stooges, and Napoleon Dynamite. Natalie bought herself a set of Dinosaurs, an Alligator hand back-scratcher (and yes, it is a real hand, it has scaly skin, and claws!) We also stopped in one place and bought a variety of chocolate items to share. Then we went through Jackson Square and into St. Louis Cathedral. In a matter of 15 minutes, we witnessed 4 weddings going on in various places in the square. I went into the church entryway, purchased 3 candles - 1 for Ruben's dad, 1 for my mom, and 1 to bless our family & friends. I even put on Holy Water without burning, so I guess I am not pure evil. I've always wanted to go into the Cathedral and light candles, so I'm glad that a year later I finally got the chance (in the past the cathedral has either been closed, or the gift shop where you purchase the candles at had been closed.)

After our day of fresh air and exercise, we headed home and I mentioned to Ruben how I would like to have a fire as it plans on being both warm and cold next week (it was chilly today), but we didn't have any firewood and the gas station down the street doesn't sell any either. I mentioned to Ruben to drive around the neighborhood cause someone may have recently chopped down a tree and put the wood out to be picked up by the trash guys. We were in luck, right by where you turn on our street a house had just put out quite a bit of wood similar to that we burned at Christmas which had come from this little patio-like area we had out back. While it may not be tree wood, it was burnable wood - and it was sitting on the street to be picked up, so we loaded up most of it in the back of my Durango. If you ask me the timing was perfect, although we did feel a little strange just taking the wood from a house in our neighborhood - but if they didn't want to get rid of it, they wouldn't have put it at the curb, right?

Anyway, here are the 2 videos I took today, plus a picture of Natalie with her hair in pigtails. She looks so cute. I need to take a picture of her without the cap on, as I just highlighted some strands of her hair that frames her face for her birthday party. I'll try to get some tomorrow, as right now it's time to hit the sack! Enjoy the videos!

What I love most

about this time of year........all the Best & Worst recaps of 2007. It seems just about every type of magazine has some kind of recap of the events of 2007 - and me being the celeb-gossip junkie I am, absolutely LOVES it all. Besides, you can learn a lot of useless pop culture trivia out of it, aside from good movies to see or music to listen to. As Entertainment Weekly says, it's your guide to the Good, the Superbad, and the Ugly - and People named Patrick Dempsey star of the year, which I think I most definitely agree with! So keep posted, I will post my list as soon as I can!

A Recap of Events.....

Things around here were a little lonely for us as we have no family here and the few friends we have obviously had plans with their own families. Also not helping matters was the fact that Ruben and I agreed not to buy for one another. I mean really, we are adults and buy whatever we want when we want, so who needs Christmas gifts? When it comes down to it, the whole holiday is for kids. Our mission was to make it special for Natalie, and keep the belief in the whole magic of the holiday and Santa alive - which we succeeded in for another year.

Since Ruben and I didn't buy for one another, all the gifts we spent the last few days wrapping had been for Natalie. After I laid all the gifts out, I saw it was going to be a VERY Pokemon Christmas! Natalie is so into collecting all the Pokemon figurines and cards that nothing else really mattered to her. In fact, I think she only asked for one other item - an art easel! She is such a little tomboy!

So anyway, Ruben and I had spent the days leading up to Christmas wrapping packages, but we didn't put any gifts under the tree till midnight Christmas Eve when we had just finished wrapping the last of the gifts. We took all the gifts downstairs, put out a half-eaten cookie on her "Cookies for Santa" plate, and a glass of milk (later after Ruben had eaten the remaing piece, she had said she wanted to send it in for DNA testing - LOL!). Ruben was concerned because we had a fire burning that night, but I told him not to worry about it, it's all in the "magic" of Santa. So at about 12:30am Christmas morning, we went to wake Natalie up, telling her that a sound on the roof and Lexie's subsequent barking had woken us up - we decided to wake her then cause Ruben's mom always calls right around midnight and wanted to talk to her. At first she was dazed and confused and had no idea what we were talking about as she sat there trying to wake up. Then suddenly it dawned on her that it was Christmas and Santa must have come. She couldn't get out of bed fast enough, and pushed at us to get out of her way so she could run downstairs and see. She got to the bottom of the steps, saw the tree and just said OH MY GOD. She couldn't get over all the present that sat beneath the tree. I told her that they were all hers, and she just sat there not knowing where to begin. Finally she realized that one half eaten cookie sat on the plate, and began to tell us how Santa comes down the chimney - she said he touches his nose and the fire just goes out allowing him to come down the chimney and not be burned - and that once he leaves, the fire just starts again. I even managed to capture a picture of her pointing to her nose as she told us the story, it's 1 of nearly 200 I took that night! All are posted on Flickr, just follow the link. At first she was very slow in un-wrapping her gifts (cause she was on the phone), but after about the 10th one she finally picked up speed. Other than all the Pokemon gifts she got from Santa, us, and Grandma - she also got a reindeer Webkinz from Santa, although she thinks it came from Rudolph, and a cocker spaniel Webkinz from Lexie (our dog). She was actually very excited about those gifts, even though I think all the Pokemon's were her actual favorites. After about an hour she was finally done unwrapping them all, and she started playing with them as Ruben and I tried to surprise each other. We weren't supposed to buy gifts for one another as I had just gotten a new camera and s Bamboo Fun tablet, and he had bought a Blu-Ray DVD player, as well as a new laptop as his dvd drive quit working. But I tried to surprise him with something kind of small. I bought him seasons 1, 2 & 3 of The Office. He loves that show so much, but has missed so many episodes. He bought me a 18kt and diamond Fleur De Lis pendant cause I've been wanting some Fleur jewelry for a while now. Living in New Orleans you'll find that everything is Fleur De Lis, it's just that I couldn't find any jewelry in yellow gold which is my preference - but he managed to find it somewhere. We were both pretty happy with the results. Christmas was pretty spectacular. Even the weather managed to co-operate, as it got a tad chilly just in time. The only thing that we didn't do was the "traditional fare" (normally I would have cooked just like Thanksgiving) for dinner, as this time around I am still in pain and healing from my surgery, so I just roasted a small turkey breast in the oven, made my mom's famous fried green beans, this cajun rice stuffing dish I had tried at the store, and a pan of rolls for dinner. Dinner turned out great, and was much better than the Burger King we ate for dinner on Christmas Eve - I had been out running around all day getting my prescriptions filled and ended up being too exhausted to cook! We spent Christmas evening watching season 1 of Heroes, and just enjoyed the time together as a family. Tomorrow I'm sure Ruben will be back to work, then it will just be me and Natalie till school resumes on the 7th - although we do have her birthday party coming up on the 5th (her actual birthday is on the 4th, but it's a Friday), which will be a bowling/High School Musical theme & be just as hectic and as crazy as Christmas, so wish us luck. It's always so hard dealing with both events so close together.

Ok, so it's time to go back to cozing up on the couch and watching the rest of Heroes. When we stopped the last disc at 1:30 this morning, it had ended in a real climax so I gotta go watch the last couple discs! Hope you had a fantastic holiday as well!

Merry Christmas

Here's a picture of Natalie that was taken shortly after Santa left very EARLY this morning! She was very excited, and had a wonderful Christmas, as we all did.
For more pictures take a look at Flickr, I just posted nearly 200 pictures from about 1:00am this morning. Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to You

Buried at PhotoCasket.com

I just had a moment....

Ok, so everyone knows that I have this list of 5...you know, like as on Friends - the 5 people you could sleep with if ever the chance & it would be okay with the hubby cause he has his list. Kinda like a get out of marriage (for one night) free card. So I've mentioned in the past Viggo Mortenson, although I have more of a "thing" for Ashton Kutcher, Orlando Bloom, Patrick Dempsey, sometimes Nick Lachey, other times I come up with fresh faces, like Emile Hirsch (although he is a bit younger I suppose) or the guy from Chuck - he's a cutie, and it shows to bring out my "inner" geek. Well I was checking out IMDB for the movie Eastern Promises in which Viggo has a nude fight scene. Well if you've ever been to IMDB you know it is chock full of info - like did you know he was in Witness with Harrison Ford, or A Perfect Murder? Both are old movies, before I even knew who he was. This was pre-LOTR. Just like I learned the guy that played Gimli in LOTR was also in 2 Indy Jones movies. My God he looks so different when he's not portrayed as a dwarf!

Anyway, I learned on IMDB that Viggo is 49! Now I know Patrick Dempsey is a bit older than me (he's 41 - so 8 years), but most of my celeb-crushes are around my age. But 49! Holy crap! Never have I found a man old enough to be my daddy so freaken sexy. I mean c'mon, have you ever wanted to screw someone 15 years older than you? Okay, so he's not exactly old enough to be my dad, but 15 years is still quite an age gap - and NO I DO NOT have a daddy complex! In fact, I used to have a rule no one over 30, but I had to revise it considering my hubby is 34 and I am 33. I'm no cradle robber either! I'm just blown away by the fact that he is that old, cause he looks damn hot for his age! I'm just in shock!!

What about you, do you have a list of 5? Do you harbor celeb-crushes, and if so who? Are they older than you? Is it okay to crush on someone 15 years your senior?

Happy Holidays

Saw this on Lora's blog and I loved it so much. Everyone knows how much I love Ashton Kutcher, and even posed as Santa, he is still freaken hot!

This is surely rated R, so beware - but then again, I think my whole blog contains a whole lot of NSFW!

School Pix

Been meaning to scan and post these for a while now. One is Natalie's fall 07 school picture, the other is when Santa came to visit the school - we're lucky that on that day she didn't have to wear her uniform! Enjoy!

Party Like a Rockstar

Ugh! I'm so worn out and I haven't even done much. Guess I'm just burnt out. It's this time of year - all the shopping, presents, cards......and then 10 days after Christmas we do it all again for Natalie's birthday. Actually from like now till February is "our" busy year. We've got Christmas, and all it entails, then Natalie's birthday(1/4), then mine (1/26), then our anniversary (1/30), then Valentine's Day. All those days take a lot out of a person (shopping & doing cards) not to mention their wallet!
This Christmas I prepared about 90 cards to send out, and now I'm filling out about 30 invitations for Natalie's birthday. My hand needs a break from all that writing! Plus I am still in pain from my surgery. I saw the doctor the other day and all is good, but he agreed that it is going to take some time before the nerves in my armpit area calm down and stop hurting so bad!
Anyway, back to Natalie's party. She wanted a Pokemon theme, but you can't find party goods for that theme anywhere. So instead she's having a whole High School Musical theme, cause as she said, she doesn't want anything girlie themed cause there will be boys there. So Princess stuff is out. I kinda figured so since she does play mostly with the neighborhood boys. Her age group is kind of young, but even so I've noticed there is a lot of cattiness between the girls around here. But I figured HSM is neutral, and she is a fan of it. Next I had to figure out the whole party thing. Chuck E. Cheese is booked solid till February, and honestly not something I want to do. McDonald's is out of the question because our local Mickey D's has horrible service. A few weeks ago we went to a Bowling Birthday party - and as much as I hate doing the same thing so close to the original party, I really didn't have many other options. It's not like they have karaoke bars for kids, and I thought the 6 to 8 year old crowd might be a little too young for laser tag. In any case, Natalie really enjoyed the bowling party she went to. It was her first time, and she didn't do half bad. So she's excited about what was booked, and at $12 a kid the price isn't half bad. I don't have to set up or clean up, so no complaints there!
So at least that's taken care of, now we move on to wrapping gifts which hasn't been done yet. I'm not looking forward to it - in fact I think I hate wrapping for Christmas! Ruben and I didn't buy for one another, so it's all for Natalie! Each year we always buy too much stuff for her, especially when she has Christmas and her birthday within 2 weeks of each other. She can't even keep her room clean now with all the crap she has! I foresee a hefty donation to Goodwill in the coming weeks!

The long road to recovery.......

So Monday I went into surgery for another go around with reconstruction. The procedure was successful, and I was sent home afterwards once I was stable. I really preferred having it done at the hospital versus the surgical center I had my last day surgery at. The hospital took really good care of me, as they always do - and even made sure to feed me before sending me home. My past experiences (at other facilities) when waking up hungry usually lead to saltines and a sprite, but when I requested crackers and a soda this time, I was giving a full lunch. Can't complain about that. Usually they won't give you food right after surgery, as they don't want you throwing up from the anesthesia or morphine shots for pain - throwing up can rip your stitches. But I had no problems and went home feeling well.
Once home I did little more than sleep. In fact the first 2-3 days are just a blur to me.....I slept so much and had such a problem staying awake that my dear hubby thought I had been taking too much medicine. But I think it was a combination of things that left me so sleepy. Besides, better to sleep through the pain than to be awake and in agony! So like I said, the first few days are kind of hazy to me, but I do recall on the 2nd day I think, a problem with my drain tube. Each time I go in for surgery the doctor places a drain tube in my side so that any fluids from surgery can drain from my body. The drain itself consist of a tubing like that of an IV. About a good 12" of the tube is placed inside my body, held in place by a single stitch that wraps around it, then several feet ending with a suction bulb. While the purpose is so the fluid drains from my body, the doctor warned us that in some cases infection can travel upwards. It's one of those things you have to watch carefully for several days, recording the amount that drains each day. Once it reaches a certain point where hardly anything is coming out, it is then time for it to be pulled out. The drains them self are not all that pleasant to have - especially if you're a side sleeper like me. I've had so many of these things you can almost play connect the dots with all the little round scars I have on my sides! So anyway, it seemed as though I had a problem with this particular drain, cause on the 2nd day it back flowed. As I had been in and out of sleep I didn't notice much of a problem with it. I remember the bulb being near full and ready to be emptied when Ruben found that I had what appeared to be blood all over me. Instead it was fluid from my drain. I'm not sure why I didn't think much of it - must have been cause I was so out of it, but I never thought about calling the doctor because that had been the only problem we had with it until Saturday.
During the week I'm mostly sleeping, which is amazing since it was so hard to get comfortable. It seems that this time around I have had more pain in more places than any other time. My chest doesn't hurt so much as my side, underarm, and back. Many of these areas hurt with a painful, stabbing, burning sensation. All week I've been looking for a bruise to develop on my inner arm, but there's nothing. For whatever reason, all my nerve endings in these areas are freaking out. So I'm in tons of pain and my drain isn't working correctly. Saturday night had been Ruben's work Holiday Party. Obviously I wasn't able to attend - I would have been a major party pooper! As Ruben was getting ready, I had him help me with changing my bandages. He asked me how my drain has been lately - if I have had anymore problems, etc. I noticed that the bulb was full of air instead of being compressed as it should be, so that the suction works right. I drained it, squeezed it tight, then returned to bed. Ruben came up to say goodbye before leaving for his party and once again noticed that my drain was not compressed, which means there had to be a leak somewhere. He left for his party, and I decided to call the doctor about it. The doctor agreed that it wasn't operating properly, and said it needed to come out right away. Well since Ruben had already left it meant that I had to do it myself. Oh joy! He told me to carefully use scissors to clip the stitch and not the tubing. If I accidentally cut the tubing he'd have to take me back into surgery to remove it - so no pressure there! I was careful to wash and sanitize my hands and scissors. I cut the stitch, opened the valve, then had the hard part of pulling about 12" of tubing out, which really didn't feel that good - especially since the tubing tends to stretch thin. But despite the pain, I was able to successfully pull the tube out before some type of infection traveled upwards and caused some kind of sepsis. However, pulling the drain didn't relieve the pain in my side and underarm as I had hoped. All I can do is hope the pain goes away in a few days. But despite all the pain and problems I've been having at least the incision site looks great, which is a big relief! Maybe, just maybe this expander will be a keeper.

The Day is Here

As always the weekend flew by leaving us still much to do - hang more lights, another load of laundry or two, steam clean the upstairs carpet, spot steam a few areas downstairs, run to the grocery store for a few items, plus many other "To Do List" items. Oh well, eventually they'll get done, but I am doubting we will return home early enough from my surgery today for Ruben to knock out the majority of them, but I'm sure he'll do a grocery run and possibly a load of laundry. It's too bad he can't run home and do these things while I am in surgery, but the hospital is way on the other side of town from us. It's easier for him to wait or run down the street and shop. More than likely he'll just hang out playing his PSP till they tell him I'm out. I don't think he relaxes (at all!) until he knows.
It's hard to believe that in about a half an hour I have to start getting ready to go. I got up early to let Lexie outside. It's not like I have much to do. I can't eat, I can't drink, but I can brush my teeth provided that I don't swallow (who swallows toothpaste???), and I can take my morning meds with just a sip of water. I don't have to be to Kenner Oschner Regional until 8:30, but we'll want to leave about 7:15 in case of traffic. And while I may not have to do much prepping to leave - just throw on comfy clothes, brush teeth, and finger-comb hair (can't really "do" much with it. I'm not even supposed to have any gels, lotions or hairsprays in it!) We're mainly getting up so early as I've got to get Natalie ready for school. Even though we'll be leaving long before the bus comes! My neighbor Nina volunteered to take her before school, and after if we aren't home by 4pm. I didn't want to impose, but she's not working today, and said she'd have no problem with it. Luckily it's not like we have to be at the hospital at 6 - 8:30 is a much more reasonable time!
Anyway, I was just checking in before I head of to surgery. Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted, and will post as soon as I am up to it. Just cross your fingers that this procedure goes well and I heal right this time!

Surprise!

Got a delivery today. It was actually meant for yesterday. I know this because the card said "Just because it's Friday". Guess the flower shoppe made a little mistake. Especially cause yesterday I would have answered the door, but this morning when they came I was still asleep and Ruben answered the door. Big surprise, or at least it was once I woke up. They're beautiful though. It's nice because these are the first flowers I've gotten since my surgeries began in July. Besides, it always nice to get flowers from the hubby, and I love tulips - almost more than roses I think!

SuperFan

Had to do this after the whole Elf Yourself thing.

This time I created a Saints SuperFan. Check it out here and create your own - or at least get a good chuckle!

Enjoy!!

Mental Constipation

Was checking out Lora's Blog earlier, where I happened to pick up a new link among other things. The Urban Dictionary , is definitely not your Merriam-Webster Dictionary. In fact, the Urban Dictionary is a slang dictionary containing YOUR definitions. I can actually see the need for a reference item such as this - especially in today's society which is laden with Reality TV, Sidekick's, Internet, and email/text messages. As I browsed the site I came across this:

• mental constipation
  An inability to articulate one's thoughts or ideas, resulting in significant psychological distress and frustration.

An example of Mental Constipation is:

Mark: "So, you know, it's like... uh, er... damn, you know, that, uh... thing!"

Dave: "Yeesh. It's too bad that they don't make a laxative for mental constipation!"

This slang term and definition was perfectly clear to me. Some people I know - myself included, has suffered from some sort of Verbal Diarrhea. The kind where you run at the mouth, excessively. But the slang definition for Mental Constipation so accurately describes me post chemo. It's so funny that I can relate to this so much, and even makes me glad that there is finally a word describing my condition. I just wish that this was something my doctors would have told me about as a side effect to chemo. But it's all good now. I totally understand. Sometimes I wonder how Ruben understands half the things that come out of my mouth. Especially when maybe only every other sentence makes sense, I often combine parts from 2 different words to make a new word, and how sometimes I am at such a loss for words that I often feel like chemo reduced me to that of a 5th grader despite college education. But it's nice to finally know that there is a word for it, one that is PC.

I have this feeling I will be adding lots of "new" words to my vocabulary thanks to them. = )