As far back as I can remember, I have always liked turtles. I can't explain it. And if the Buddhists' version of creation is correct, I was probably a turtle in a previous life.
So since I love turtles so much, I love it when I see one, and I am on the lookout, perhaps a smidge more than your average person.
You've probably heard the old saying "When you see a turtle cross the road, that means it's going to rain." (And if you haven't heard, well let me introduce you to this.) I don't know about you, but more times than not, this turns out to be true! Strange coincidence, right? I'm not so sure that it is...
I've had this theory for a long time that I believe there may be some truth to this. I've tried to do a little research on google from time to time when I think of it, but with no results. Either I'm not typing in the right search criteria or no one has ever done a study on it. But my theory is that the reason you more than likely see a turtle is because they are on the move, trying to find safety, a better shelter, or... something. Turtles are, by nature, kinda shy if you haven't noticed. Why would they continuously put themselves in harm's way crossing a road if they didn't feel, in their being, that it was necessary? I think they do this because they can sense the changes in the atmosphere, and therefore start moving to take cover, or whatever. It's long been thought that many animals have strange sixth senses connected to mother nature, so why not turtles too? They've been around for so long and most of them live until they're 100; I'm pretty confident they have some sort of connection with mother Earth.
But, the entire reason I'm bringing this up is because in the past 3 days, I saw more turtles than in a long time. I had multiple spottings every day. And it definitely isn't raining here; it's one of the driest, hottest weeks yet. Now it makes sense to me: they were on the move because they could feel the earth trembling. This morning we had a small earthquake not too far from here. It was a 3.9 or a 4.2, depending which website you read, but it still woke me up and lasted about 30 seconds. Just like cats supposedly do something strange before an earthquake, I think these turtles were responding too. What do you think? Am I crazy?
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Discoveries
Well, we are down to less than a month until the wedding. I gotta tell you, right now both Jarrod and I are ready for the day to just be here. Apparently, this is not too uncommon of a feeling.
These past couple months have been quite a journey, and I've had a lot of internal struggles going on which I barely mention; probably because I'm an introvert and feel it is my duty, and mine alone, to tackle them. However, I'm feeling in a great mood right now (not sure why...) so why not air out the laundry...
On a sad note: All of this wedding craziness has made me very, very forgetful. Not to sound bragging, but this is quite uncommon in my life. I have been blessed with a great brain that can divide itself into many tasks at once and I always, always, have things on the back burner. But I guess I have finally met my breaking point, because keeping track of all of this stuff has just been wearing on me. I forget to call this person, until two weeks have gone by. I forget to email this person, schedule this appointment. Granted, all these things still get done, but just not in the timely manner I usually do them in. In another department there's my room: it's a disaster. I should be trying to pack things up to move to the house, but I just don't think about it while I'm downstairs in the evenings. Instead, it stresses me out when I'm getting ready for bed and am in my room with the visual evidence that: my life is a mess. So I never remember to start packing, clean, put my laundry away, and everything else related.
Another sad note: I've dropped most communication between people as well, and not because I wanted to. I will take this moment to apologize and ask that you realize I'm not intentionally avoiding you, rarely emailing, or not calling, I just don't remember. Again, the forgetfulness.
These past couple months have been quite a journey, and I've had a lot of internal struggles going on which I barely mention; probably because I'm an introvert and feel it is my duty, and mine alone, to tackle them. However, I'm feeling in a great mood right now (not sure why...) so why not air out the laundry...
On a sad note: All of this wedding craziness has made me very, very forgetful. Not to sound bragging, but this is quite uncommon in my life. I have been blessed with a great brain that can divide itself into many tasks at once and I always, always, have things on the back burner. But I guess I have finally met my breaking point, because keeping track of all of this stuff has just been wearing on me. I forget to call this person, until two weeks have gone by. I forget to email this person, schedule this appointment. Granted, all these things still get done, but just not in the timely manner I usually do them in. In another department there's my room: it's a disaster. I should be trying to pack things up to move to the house, but I just don't think about it while I'm downstairs in the evenings. Instead, it stresses me out when I'm getting ready for bed and am in my room with the visual evidence that: my life is a mess. So I never remember to start packing, clean, put my laundry away, and everything else related.
Another sad note: I've dropped most communication between people as well, and not because I wanted to. I will take this moment to apologize and ask that you realize I'm not intentionally avoiding you, rarely emailing, or not calling, I just don't remember. Again, the forgetfulness.
Friday, May 27, 2011
A great day
Isn't it great to reach the end of the day, and suddenly you realize 'Wow, this was a really great day?' That's where I'm at right now, because today HAS been great!
Work was good; I was busy most of the day. I got to make possibly the most exciting video yet, with footage from a demolition of a building this morning. Yes, it was sad to see it go, but watching things be demolished or constructed is always interesting. However, come to think of it, I forgot to watch it in reverse... I was going to do that when I was all done.
After work I headed straight up the road for my wedding dress fitting, which was awesome! Julia, Marie, Wanda, and Heather all came along to see and to learn how to do the bustle. It looked great, and I actually got my veil yesterday, so we really got to see the total picture.
After that, I had dinner with Heather, which was so awesome. We haven't seen each other in a long time, or really gotten a chance to chat in an even longer time. After that, I headed to Becky's house where her, myself, Jeff, and Jojo played 90s Trivial Pursuit. Becky won, though I was darn close a couple times! My biggest letdown was when my mind blanked on Apple's first PDA... I couldn't think of the name! I kept thinking "Nook" or "Nink"... well, if you have never heard of it, it was called the Newton. And it was huge flop.
Then I hung around with Becky for a while and we got to talk, which was also awesome because, like Heather, it had been a while.
And now I am home doing my vest. I entered the six RSVP's I got today for the wedding. Those were due today, but I am obviously expecting some stragglers the next few days. After that, we'll see how many people I have to call. Right now, I am missing 61 replies. To me, that seems like a lot, but who knows. It's probably standard.
Work was good; I was busy most of the day. I got to make possibly the most exciting video yet, with footage from a demolition of a building this morning. Yes, it was sad to see it go, but watching things be demolished or constructed is always interesting. However, come to think of it, I forgot to watch it in reverse... I was going to do that when I was all done.
After work I headed straight up the road for my wedding dress fitting, which was awesome! Julia, Marie, Wanda, and Heather all came along to see and to learn how to do the bustle. It looked great, and I actually got my veil yesterday, so we really got to see the total picture.
After that, I had dinner with Heather, which was so awesome. We haven't seen each other in a long time, or really gotten a chance to chat in an even longer time. After that, I headed to Becky's house where her, myself, Jeff, and Jojo played 90s Trivial Pursuit. Becky won, though I was darn close a couple times! My biggest letdown was when my mind blanked on Apple's first PDA... I couldn't think of the name! I kept thinking "Nook" or "Nink"... well, if you have never heard of it, it was called the Newton. And it was huge flop.
Then I hung around with Becky for a while and we got to talk, which was also awesome because, like Heather, it had been a while.
And now I am home doing my vest. I entered the six RSVP's I got today for the wedding. Those were due today, but I am obviously expecting some stragglers the next few days. After that, we'll see how many people I have to call. Right now, I am missing 61 replies. To me, that seems like a lot, but who knows. It's probably standard.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Tonight's venture: Sardonic children's books for adults
While browsing Amazon the other night, in the top sellers list was this book you could pre-order called "Go the F**k to Sleep." Intrigued, I clicked on it. It's a book for adults (obviously) and goes into the troubles of parenting in, I imagine, a hilarious tongue-in-cheek sort of way.
So this set me into looking at some of the related books, and they all make me laugh in some way. I love book covers, and some of these are just great. Also, side note, a lot of these happen to be born from a blog of the same name. A few that I didn't add on here are the book versions of Texts from Last Night, S**t My Dad Says, F My Life, and Cake Wrecks.
Book 2: All My Friends Are Dead. This tale is told from many angles and objects, all of whose friends are dead. See second image. Hilarious.
Book 3: I Hate Everything. I just love the cover for this one.
Book 4: I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar. I think I was part of this original Facebook group, actually. This statement definitely sums up a small part of me. Let me edit this and add "and Incorrect Spelling."
Book 5: Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves. Based on my new favorite blog of the same title.
Book 6: Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals. If the cover wasn't hilarious enough, I actually laughed at one of the page spreads for about 30 seconds... click here to see what I was laughing at.
And to compliment that, here's Book 7: Asking Awkward Questions with Baby Animals.
So this set me into looking at some of the related books, and they all make me laugh in some way. I love book covers, and some of these are just great. Also, side note, a lot of these happen to be born from a blog of the same name. A few that I didn't add on here are the book versions of Texts from Last Night, S**t My Dad Says, F My Life, and Cake Wrecks.
Book 6: Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals. If the cover wasn't hilarious enough, I actually laughed at one of the page spreads for about 30 seconds... click here to see what I was laughing at.
And to compliment that, here's Book 7: Asking Awkward Questions with Baby Animals.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
A small update
Looking over my last blog post about my stomach issues, I felt it might be of slight interest to a couple people to post a follow-up to that. Well folks, I am back to normal, which is nice, but at the moment I'm still making choices for better food and drinks in my system.
I don't have soda too regularly anymore. I had my mom pick up some caffeine free Mountain Dew, which is great and all, but it leaves a very unpleasant after-taste in your mouth. So... C+ on that one. I had Taco Bell the other night (darn those endless Taco commercials on Saturday) which was some of the first true fast food I've had in a while. Let's just say, I'm not eager to have it again. It didn't mess up my stomach or any gross things of that sort, but it just made me feel really BLAH; not to mention, my dining experience was a huge disappointment because my tacos were put in my bag upside down, so all the meat and cheese fell to the tops and stuck to the wrappers. Frowny face.
Anyways, I've tried small doses of coffee and those have gone fine, so that's good. I still enjoy the taste of it too, so I'm quite happy about that. But this soda thing is just puzzling me... I can't believe how I never really noticed how icky it can taste, until now. So we'll see, again, as time goes on how this all turns out to be.
I don't have soda too regularly anymore. I had my mom pick up some caffeine free Mountain Dew, which is great and all, but it leaves a very unpleasant after-taste in your mouth. So... C+ on that one. I had Taco Bell the other night (darn those endless Taco commercials on Saturday) which was some of the first true fast food I've had in a while. Let's just say, I'm not eager to have it again. It didn't mess up my stomach or any gross things of that sort, but it just made me feel really BLAH; not to mention, my dining experience was a huge disappointment because my tacos were put in my bag upside down, so all the meat and cheese fell to the tops and stuck to the wrappers. Frowny face.
Anyways, I've tried small doses of coffee and those have gone fine, so that's good. I still enjoy the taste of it too, so I'm quite happy about that. But this soda thing is just puzzling me... I can't believe how I never really noticed how icky it can taste, until now. So we'll see, again, as time goes on how this all turns out to be.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
A week ago I ended up at Urgent Care at Patient's First because of some severe abdominal pains. These pains had happened twice and the second time was even worse; so bad it brought me to tears. So I decided it best to find out what the heck was going on.
It turned out that I had/have gastritis, which means my stomach lining is inflamed. Treatment is involving doubling up on my antacid and avoiding caffeine, spicy foods, greasy foods, and acidic drinks. Instead, I've been drinking juice, milk, Kool-Aid, and I even had iced tea the other night. I have the occasional Sprite, but my soda intake has gone down completely; I'm not just cutting out ones with caffeine.
Now that I'm past the detox stage (giving up caffeine and all) I wish I could tell you I notice a huge difference in the way I feel, but I just can't truthfully say that. However, I feel better about what I eat and drink, and we all know that the mental portion is half the battle sometimes. Something interesting is happening now that I have had to cut things out of my diet, or significantly decrease them.
One is that I absolutely do not, no way no how, NEED caffeine in the morning. I think it's safe to say that, if anything, the caffeine just made the afternoons even worse. I would be all hunky-dory and alert in the morning, but then the afternoon crash and burn would happen.
The second interesting thing is that I'm taking a second look at soda... a serious one. I've given up soda for Lent in the past, and that was fine and all, but eventually I would go back to drinking as much as I had before Lent and there really wasn't a long-term benefit from it. Not that there needs to be, but I'm just saying. Anyways, the past few days I've tried to reintroduce caffeinated sodas back into my system, but my system seems to rebel when I do this. Granted, this could still be part of the gastritis, but I'm wondering if it's a sign; a sign that I really don't need to be drinking as much soda. We all know that soda is nothing but bad chemicals mixed together to form this addictive, bubbly drink we all love and crave. But I've been thinking about this a lot and wondering if maybe I should try to cut back on soda for the long-term; I'm sure I would feel some benefits then, most definitely.
I admit I'm a little scared of what will happen when I bring coffee back into the picture, because coffee is something I do love. I became a bit of a coffee-enthusiast, if you will, enjoying good, expensive coffees from time to time and savoring the variety of flavors and roasts (yes I drink it black, 95% of the time.) I hope I can continue to enjoy it, but maybe it'll have to be in smaller increments. As long as I can have it, I'll be happy with that. There's no reason for me to drink an entire travel mug full of coffee anyways.
So after a couple more weeks, I guess I'll reevaluate and see where things stand. I feel that this is probably not the last time I'll have to deal with a stomach issue like this (my gastrointenstinal issues seem to keep going up as I'm getting older) and keeping these bad drinks and bad foods to a minimum is going to help me no matter what. Not to mention my teeth will love me for it too. Here's hoping I can stick with it!
It turned out that I had/have gastritis, which means my stomach lining is inflamed. Treatment is involving doubling up on my antacid and avoiding caffeine, spicy foods, greasy foods, and acidic drinks. Instead, I've been drinking juice, milk, Kool-Aid, and I even had iced tea the other night. I have the occasional Sprite, but my soda intake has gone down completely; I'm not just cutting out ones with caffeine.
Now that I'm past the detox stage (giving up caffeine and all) I wish I could tell you I notice a huge difference in the way I feel, but I just can't truthfully say that. However, I feel better about what I eat and drink, and we all know that the mental portion is half the battle sometimes. Something interesting is happening now that I have had to cut things out of my diet, or significantly decrease them.
One is that I absolutely do not, no way no how, NEED caffeine in the morning. I think it's safe to say that, if anything, the caffeine just made the afternoons even worse. I would be all hunky-dory and alert in the morning, but then the afternoon crash and burn would happen.
The second interesting thing is that I'm taking a second look at soda... a serious one. I've given up soda for Lent in the past, and that was fine and all, but eventually I would go back to drinking as much as I had before Lent and there really wasn't a long-term benefit from it. Not that there needs to be, but I'm just saying. Anyways, the past few days I've tried to reintroduce caffeinated sodas back into my system, but my system seems to rebel when I do this. Granted, this could still be part of the gastritis, but I'm wondering if it's a sign; a sign that I really don't need to be drinking as much soda. We all know that soda is nothing but bad chemicals mixed together to form this addictive, bubbly drink we all love and crave. But I've been thinking about this a lot and wondering if maybe I should try to cut back on soda for the long-term; I'm sure I would feel some benefits then, most definitely.
I admit I'm a little scared of what will happen when I bring coffee back into the picture, because coffee is something I do love. I became a bit of a coffee-enthusiast, if you will, enjoying good, expensive coffees from time to time and savoring the variety of flavors and roasts (yes I drink it black, 95% of the time.) I hope I can continue to enjoy it, but maybe it'll have to be in smaller increments. As long as I can have it, I'll be happy with that. There's no reason for me to drink an entire travel mug full of coffee anyways.
So after a couple more weeks, I guess I'll reevaluate and see where things stand. I feel that this is probably not the last time I'll have to deal with a stomach issue like this (my gastrointenstinal issues seem to keep going up as I'm getting older) and keeping these bad drinks and bad foods to a minimum is going to help me no matter what. Not to mention my teeth will love me for it too. Here's hoping I can stick with it!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
2 things
1. This evening, after just brushing my teeth, I find myself wanting a bedtime story. I know, that's silly of me, right? It's probably because I'm nostalgic, but when you're little and sleepy, there is nothing better than falling asleep to a story from mom or dad. I'm quite sleepy, so it just sounds awesome right now.
2. God has presented me with a solution to a big potential problem I was going to have soon. I think it's definitely one of those "He works in mysterious ways" situations because all of a sudden, today I have a way out and I won't have to compromise my health. More details to come later...
2. God has presented me with a solution to a big potential problem I was going to have soon. I think it's definitely one of those "He works in mysterious ways" situations because all of a sudden, today I have a way out and I won't have to compromise my health. More details to come later...
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
I just had to post this little tidbit...
So I have always disliked Miley Cyrus. Hated, almost. I found Hannah Montana incredibly annoying and that "Party In the USA" song sounded like a singing weasel.
Well, I just found out something about dear ol' Miley that has changed my opinion about her. I'm not saying I still don't find Hannah Montana annoying, but I have a lot more respect suddenly than I had ten minutes ago. Turns out in December 2009, Miley went to get her first tattoo (a little young, but stay with me here...) She got a small tattoo that says "Just Breathe" on her upper chest, under her left breast to be specific. Yeah, it's a strange spot for a tattoo, but I'm okay with it since it's not somewhere the world will see all the time. Why did she do this? Well, turns out... it was in honor of a close friend who passed away from cystic fibrosis.
...wow. Hmph.
So I have always disliked Miley Cyrus. Hated, almost. I found Hannah Montana incredibly annoying and that "Party In the USA" song sounded like a singing weasel.
Well, I just found out something about dear ol' Miley that has changed my opinion about her. I'm not saying I still don't find Hannah Montana annoying, but I have a lot more respect suddenly than I had ten minutes ago. Turns out in December 2009, Miley went to get her first tattoo (a little young, but stay with me here...) She got a small tattoo that says "Just Breathe" on her upper chest, under her left breast to be specific. Yeah, it's a strange spot for a tattoo, but I'm okay with it since it's not somewhere the world will see all the time. Why did she do this? Well, turns out... it was in honor of a close friend who passed away from cystic fibrosis.
...wow. Hmph.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The Ay's have it
Our local paper releases a "Parade of Babies" sort of insert yearly as a way for proud parents to announce the birth of their baby in the past year. I noticed a trend in baby names this year, which I must say I'm starting to find annoying. Pretty much if you name your kid something with a long A sound (as in "ay" in May) you've got a trendy name. Trend numero dos is adding unnecessary y's in place of i's and e's, and more specifically in combination with an "n". And some people even combine these two to form a name that, quite honestly, half the time I can't tell if it's for a boy or a girl. Oh, the quest to be original when naming your kids (yet not so original when it sounds like everyone else's name)...
Here are a sample of names from this year's insert:
Here are a sample of names from this year's insert:
- Braelyn
- Haidyn (girl)
- Westyn
- Ayden
- Josslyn
- Haley
- Gillyann
- Brayden
- Daylyn
- Taevyn (...what?)
- Peyton
- Avery
- Ava
- Mason
- Layla
- Jayson (again, unnecessary y)
- Hayden (boy)
- Ayden
- Aiden
- Leighton
- Caylynn
- Bailey
- Lane
- Kaitlyn
- Jayden
- Aydan
- Hayden (girl)
- Mason
- Callie (not sure if this is a like "cat" or a like "lake")
- Blaine
- Trevyn (...what?)
- Paityn (girl)
- Gwendylan (sorry, but this looks like it's almost the name of a theme park: Gwendy Land)
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