I've reached the end of my latest hospital stay/doing home meds. I had a PFT today and it was the same as last week. Which... is a tad disappointing, that another week's worth of medicines didn't really move the needle. However, I do feel better this week, as far as getting around easier. So at least there's that.
I'm not quite back to where I'd like to be, and in looking at my numbers, I see the last time I reached over 0.90 was a year ago. For all of this year, my baseline has been comfortably parked at 0.88. I realize, that's only 0.02 less, but that's still a big deal to me. Every little bit counts, and I'm gonna keep trying for over 0.9 as long as I can.
But, I know that keeping up with my exercise will give me the best shot I have of reaching those kinds of numbers, and even if they're unattainable, my quality of life will remain greatly improved because of it.
The problem with exercise is that the progress is so gradual it's barely noticeable, you know? Ugh, it sucks. I think, by nature, we like to see results in the things that we do. And I think this explains why it's just so damn hard to stick to an exercise routine or even get started in the first place. I've realized it's also a challenge for me since I go through this virtual reset every six months when I have to drop everything and go in the hospital, or even when I end up sick it becomes hard to exercise; it's hard to form true, lasting habits when that happens.
We also aren't very good at remembering things, like the day to day stuff. Hardly anyone, with probably the exception of some individuals on the spectrum, could tell you what they had for dinner two weeks ago. Likewise, it's hard to always remember where we started, versus how far we've come when it comes to things like exercise or whatever life improvement you might be pursuing. It's hard to see the benefit of working out for ten minutes more, versus calling it quits a little early and skimping here and there. But in order to gain ground, one must stay diligent.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Monday, August 21, 2017
Eclipse Day Has Arrived!
Wow, that was incredible!
It's 2:20 as I write this right now, and the eclipse is still happening. It's almost over (23 minutes left), but the moon is still passing over the sun.
At 11:48 this morning is when it got started. I went outside, and sure enough, you could see a tiny blip over the sun where the moon was!
As we neared totality, the temperature dropped a few degrees as they said it would, and it was noticeably more comfortable outside. Today was hot and humid, but it was amazing that the clouds stayed away for the most part. Initially the forecast wasn't looking good, there was a good chance it would be cloudy. But pretty much the whole time it was clear, and though there were clouds in the sky, they weren't blocking the view.
So initially, as stated in a previous blog, I wasn't planning to take a photo during totality. Or any photos, really, since I would need a special filter the rest of the time. That all changed on Friday...
On Friday, my supervisor sent out an email to myself and other photogs in the company saying if we hadn't gotten filter material from him, he still had some. I didn't realize he had any! I ran by work and picked some up, in case I changed my mind.
I cut it out and got it in place yesterday, set my camera up to the specific settings I wanted it at, and was ready to test it out. I wasn't sure if I'd get any images or not, but as the moon was moving over the sun I figured I'd give it a try.
So this morning, I got it set up on a tripod, out on the deck, and started testing things out. Amazingly, it worked! Not only was I getting images to show up, they were actually GOOD. You can even see some sun spots.
As the morning progressed, and my photos were turning out far better than I expected, Jarrod pointed out that maybe I should rethink things. Ahead of totality, we could remove the filter, prep my camera, and get it all in place so once it happened, all I needed to do was press a button. So that's what we did, and it was nice having Jarrod here to help me with it, otherwise it surely would have taken longer.
In the final 5 minutes of the partial, it was noticeably dark, in the middle of the day! I had Pink Floyd playing in the background (because I'm a nerd haha) and as the final song on Dark Side of the Moon, "Eclipse," played, we were watching and watching as the moon seemed to speed up to cover the sun. Then the glasses went black, and when I took them off, it was incredible.
The sky was a beautiful dark blue, like at dusk. I was trying to take it all in, looking at the horizon to see the colors of the sunrise, and also keeping my eyes to the sky. I snapped my pictures, checked the viewfinder to see they were in the frame and all was good, and stared in awe. I almost cried, my eyes were tearing up I was so moved. The feeling this provokes in indescribable, and it's different for everyone. And there are some that aren't really impressed, too.
It still went by quick. I wish I could have stared at it longer, but time is fleeting, right? If nothing else, witnessing this proves just that: 2 minutes and 28 seconds flies by way faster than you think. As I tried to revel in the last moments, it became clear the moon was moving away, the diamond ring was about to appear, and it was time to put our glasses back on, and to recover the camera.
I took a few more photos as the moon continued on, but soon decided to take my camera down. I was excited to download my photos to my computer. Though they looked good on the viewfinder, sometimes it's another story once you look at them in larger scale.
But they all turned out amazing!
I am so glad I did get those photos. Taking a photo is a very technical thing. There is planning and there are so many settings you can change and tweek to get the perfect photos, essentially: it takes hard work to get it all right. It's hard to explain that to the average person when you just say "Hey I got this photo!" but that's part of the excitement and, I don't know, accomplishment behind it. These images were taken by ME, not someone else, and that is very special to me.
Today is something I will never forget. I might even try to travel for the next one in 2024, to experience it again. It will pass through southern Missouri, and that's a fairly short drive compared to most. The Missourian got a photo of some people here from France, from Spain, and my doctor had a couple staying with her from Holland to see this. I was skeptical about the crowds they kept claiming would come, but I guess it's true. And I guess you could count me in that club too, if we do travel to Cape in 7 years.
What an amazing day!
It's 2:20 as I write this right now, and the eclipse is still happening. It's almost over (23 minutes left), but the moon is still passing over the sun.
At 11:48 this morning is when it got started. I went outside, and sure enough, you could see a tiny blip over the sun where the moon was!
As we neared totality, the temperature dropped a few degrees as they said it would, and it was noticeably more comfortable outside. Today was hot and humid, but it was amazing that the clouds stayed away for the most part. Initially the forecast wasn't looking good, there was a good chance it would be cloudy. But pretty much the whole time it was clear, and though there were clouds in the sky, they weren't blocking the view.
So initially, as stated in a previous blog, I wasn't planning to take a photo during totality. Or any photos, really, since I would need a special filter the rest of the time. That all changed on Friday...
On Friday, my supervisor sent out an email to myself and other photogs in the company saying if we hadn't gotten filter material from him, he still had some. I didn't realize he had any! I ran by work and picked some up, in case I changed my mind.
I cut it out and got it in place yesterday, set my camera up to the specific settings I wanted it at, and was ready to test it out. I wasn't sure if I'd get any images or not, but as the moon was moving over the sun I figured I'd give it a try.
So this morning, I got it set up on a tripod, out on the deck, and started testing things out. Amazingly, it worked! Not only was I getting images to show up, they were actually GOOD. You can even see some sun spots.
As the morning progressed, and my photos were turning out far better than I expected, Jarrod pointed out that maybe I should rethink things. Ahead of totality, we could remove the filter, prep my camera, and get it all in place so once it happened, all I needed to do was press a button. So that's what we did, and it was nice having Jarrod here to help me with it, otherwise it surely would have taken longer.
In the final 5 minutes of the partial, it was noticeably dark, in the middle of the day! I had Pink Floyd playing in the background (because I'm a nerd haha) and as the final song on Dark Side of the Moon, "Eclipse," played, we were watching and watching as the moon seemed to speed up to cover the sun. Then the glasses went black, and when I took them off, it was incredible.
 |
| Almost there! |
It still went by quick. I wish I could have stared at it longer, but time is fleeting, right? If nothing else, witnessing this proves just that: 2 minutes and 28 seconds flies by way faster than you think. As I tried to revel in the last moments, it became clear the moon was moving away, the diamond ring was about to appear, and it was time to put our glasses back on, and to recover the camera.
I took a few more photos as the moon continued on, but soon decided to take my camera down. I was excited to download my photos to my computer. Though they looked good on the viewfinder, sometimes it's another story once you look at them in larger scale.
But they all turned out amazing!
I am so glad I did get those photos. Taking a photo is a very technical thing. There is planning and there are so many settings you can change and tweek to get the perfect photos, essentially: it takes hard work to get it all right. It's hard to explain that to the average person when you just say "Hey I got this photo!" but that's part of the excitement and, I don't know, accomplishment behind it. These images were taken by ME, not someone else, and that is very special to me.
Today is something I will never forget. I might even try to travel for the next one in 2024, to experience it again. It will pass through southern Missouri, and that's a fairly short drive compared to most. The Missourian got a photo of some people here from France, from Spain, and my doctor had a couple staying with her from Holland to see this. I was skeptical about the crowds they kept claiming would come, but I guess it's true. And I guess you could count me in that club too, if we do travel to Cape in 7 years.
What an amazing day!
 |
| My photo! |
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Rosie the Roomba
For anyone who's ever thought about buying one, I thought I'd share my experiences.
I finally broke down and bought a Roomba over a month ago. I'd been contemplating it for over two years. Vacuuming the house is something that is physically really hard for me to do. So it falls on Jarrod, but it was easy to forget about. We were lucky if we vacuumed the house every two weeks.
Enter Rosie the Roomba, fondly named after the Jetsons' robot maid. She has been cleaning my house ever since, and it's been great. I am really, really glad we finally got a Roomba.
But, it's not exactly a no effort thing, not quite "set it and forget it." Unless you buy a higher end model that has "whole home/multi-room cleaning", you still have to make a point to move the Roomba and charger room to room. The reason is that the Roomba only has so much battery life, and it is 'supposed to' return to its dock when it knows it's finished cleaning. If you were to just set it loose on your whole home, it would surely die of a dead battery in some random spot. Unless you live in a studio apartment that is like 800 sq. ft., most all homes are too big for the Roomba to attempt to cover in one go (again, unless you get a more expensive model.)
We bought a middle-of-the-road model that we felt would suit our needs, and I got a great deal from an Amazon seller. One of the options I wanted was the "tangle-free rollers." The rollers aren't made of normal bristles, but instead these rubbery teeth that whisk up dirt and hair. For those with a pet, this is practically a must-have.
To use it properly like I just described, I made myself a schedule for which room to move it to, and what day. Our Roomba came with a "virtual wall" that creates an invisible line the Roomba will not cross, which is essential for splitting up our kitchen from the rest of the living area.
It cleans well on all surfaces; tile, wood, carpet, it does great. What I really love about it is that it gets under the hard-to-reach areas, like under your bed or under your sofa. It also happens to fit perfectly under our bedroom furniture (the dresser, the night stands, all of it) and I love walking in the bedroom to find it cruising along from underneath our bed to underneath my dresser.
But there are some cons. You definitely have to pick up your space before you use it. If there are shoes or toys laying on the floor, it will either run them over or shove them around. I left a pair of shoes in the laundry room once and it sucked up the laces; luckily I pulled them right out, but still. There are also horror stories of Roombas smearing dog poo around because it cleaned while the owner was at work. There is a schedule function on it, which I have yet to use since I work from home, but that option is there. Say you want it to clean while you're at work, again, you have to make sure you're room is all picked up before you leave the house.
It cleans in a non-sensical pattern, not in straight lines like we would. I do think it misses spots occasionally, even though technically it's not supposed to, but I am not overly concerned because it will get to it next week. And if this does happen, it's primarily in our large living room, not in the bedrooms. For our hardwood, I still dust mop every couple weeks to pick up whatever it may have missed. Futhermore, since it is a round object, it doesn't always get into tight corners. So the dust mop takes care of that. There are times it gets fixated on an area and keeps coming back there 4-5 times, which I don't understand but whatever.
It pushes my floor lamp around, which is sort of comical to watch, but a tad annoying. The base isn't heavy enough to keep it in place. It bangs into things sometimes, too. Sometimes it is really good at sensing it is approaching an object and it slows down and gently taps it, and then other times it just runs right into it. It does better with solid things like walls and such, but not so much with skinny table legs.
Josie was wary of it when we first got it, but she never barked at it or was really scared, so that's good. I think the most annoying thing for Josie is once she finally finds a comfy spot to lay down, she has to get up again because suddenly the Roomba is headed her way, haha.
Overall though, I'm very glad to have it. Our floors are probably the cleanest they've been—consistently—in a long time. The dust bin, though much smaller than a full sized vacuum, always has a good amount of dust and dog hair in it, so it cleans really well. There are no more colossal dust bunnies or piles of dog hair under our bed, which is great. It's a very clever machine, and I've watched it work itself out of tight spots before.
To sum it all up, I'm very happy with it, though it does have a couple drawbacks that mainly revolve around it running into furniture and having to put your room back together when it's done. But the ease of use and convenience outweigh those, for me.
If you're thinking of getting one, my best advice is to do some research. Not all Roombas are created equal, something I didn't realize before. There are 5 current models offered, though you will still find plenty of older ones no longer in production on Amazon. There is a budget model, but based on my research, it sounded like the cheaper models constantly banged into everything, where the higher models do better sensing the room and slowing down as they approach something. There are almost always some super duper Black Friday offers on Roombas, but many times it's on cheaper models or, on Amazon, out-of-production or open-box stuff. If you just want a Roomba but don't care about the options, Black Friday is your best bet. If you do want to be more picky, like myself, do your research and watch Amazon prices, and especially the "other sellers."
If I haven't exhausted the topic and you have any more questions, just ask! :)
I finally broke down and bought a Roomba over a month ago. I'd been contemplating it for over two years. Vacuuming the house is something that is physically really hard for me to do. So it falls on Jarrod, but it was easy to forget about. We were lucky if we vacuumed the house every two weeks.
Enter Rosie the Roomba, fondly named after the Jetsons' robot maid. She has been cleaning my house ever since, and it's been great. I am really, really glad we finally got a Roomba.
But, it's not exactly a no effort thing, not quite "set it and forget it." Unless you buy a higher end model that has "whole home/multi-room cleaning", you still have to make a point to move the Roomba and charger room to room. The reason is that the Roomba only has so much battery life, and it is 'supposed to' return to its dock when it knows it's finished cleaning. If you were to just set it loose on your whole home, it would surely die of a dead battery in some random spot. Unless you live in a studio apartment that is like 800 sq. ft., most all homes are too big for the Roomba to attempt to cover in one go (again, unless you get a more expensive model.)
We bought a middle-of-the-road model that we felt would suit our needs, and I got a great deal from an Amazon seller. One of the options I wanted was the "tangle-free rollers." The rollers aren't made of normal bristles, but instead these rubbery teeth that whisk up dirt and hair. For those with a pet, this is practically a must-have.
 |
| Josie meets Rosie :) |
To use it properly like I just described, I made myself a schedule for which room to move it to, and what day. Our Roomba came with a "virtual wall" that creates an invisible line the Roomba will not cross, which is essential for splitting up our kitchen from the rest of the living area.
It cleans well on all surfaces; tile, wood, carpet, it does great. What I really love about it is that it gets under the hard-to-reach areas, like under your bed or under your sofa. It also happens to fit perfectly under our bedroom furniture (the dresser, the night stands, all of it) and I love walking in the bedroom to find it cruising along from underneath our bed to underneath my dresser.
But there are some cons. You definitely have to pick up your space before you use it. If there are shoes or toys laying on the floor, it will either run them over or shove them around. I left a pair of shoes in the laundry room once and it sucked up the laces; luckily I pulled them right out, but still. There are also horror stories of Roombas smearing dog poo around because it cleaned while the owner was at work. There is a schedule function on it, which I have yet to use since I work from home, but that option is there. Say you want it to clean while you're at work, again, you have to make sure you're room is all picked up before you leave the house.
It cleans in a non-sensical pattern, not in straight lines like we would. I do think it misses spots occasionally, even though technically it's not supposed to, but I am not overly concerned because it will get to it next week. And if this does happen, it's primarily in our large living room, not in the bedrooms. For our hardwood, I still dust mop every couple weeks to pick up whatever it may have missed. Futhermore, since it is a round object, it doesn't always get into tight corners. So the dust mop takes care of that. There are times it gets fixated on an area and keeps coming back there 4-5 times, which I don't understand but whatever.
It pushes my floor lamp around, which is sort of comical to watch, but a tad annoying. The base isn't heavy enough to keep it in place. It bangs into things sometimes, too. Sometimes it is really good at sensing it is approaching an object and it slows down and gently taps it, and then other times it just runs right into it. It does better with solid things like walls and such, but not so much with skinny table legs.
Josie was wary of it when we first got it, but she never barked at it or was really scared, so that's good. I think the most annoying thing for Josie is once she finally finds a comfy spot to lay down, she has to get up again because suddenly the Roomba is headed her way, haha.
Overall though, I'm very glad to have it. Our floors are probably the cleanest they've been—consistently—in a long time. The dust bin, though much smaller than a full sized vacuum, always has a good amount of dust and dog hair in it, so it cleans really well. There are no more colossal dust bunnies or piles of dog hair under our bed, which is great. It's a very clever machine, and I've watched it work itself out of tight spots before.
To sum it all up, I'm very happy with it, though it does have a couple drawbacks that mainly revolve around it running into furniture and having to put your room back together when it's done. But the ease of use and convenience outweigh those, for me.
If you're thinking of getting one, my best advice is to do some research. Not all Roombas are created equal, something I didn't realize before. There are 5 current models offered, though you will still find plenty of older ones no longer in production on Amazon. There is a budget model, but based on my research, it sounded like the cheaper models constantly banged into everything, where the higher models do better sensing the room and slowing down as they approach something. There are almost always some super duper Black Friday offers on Roombas, but many times it's on cheaper models or, on Amazon, out-of-production or open-box stuff. If you just want a Roomba but don't care about the options, Black Friday is your best bet. If you do want to be more picky, like myself, do your research and watch Amazon prices, and especially the "other sellers."
If I haven't exhausted the topic and you have any more questions, just ask! :)
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Scheduled checkup
I had a checkup in Columbia today. I went into it thinking all would be fine, but not so much...
My PFTs are really down. They are almost exactly at the pre-hospital levels they were in January, before I went in that time.
The weird—and sort of scary—part about this is that I don't feel all that terrible. If you would have asked me yesterday how I thought this would go, I would have said "I think I'm doing alright. I'm not at baseline, sure, but I'm not totally coughing my head off all the time either. I really don't feel all that bad." When my doctor walked in today, she expected me to look in some sort of distress, having a hard time breathing, or at the very least figured I would be coughing a bunch. None of that is happening. Even though it would have surely alerted me to the fact that I am not doing so well, in a way, it's a good thing I'm not coughing my butt off right now and feeling so run down I can barely function.
So I wonder, to myself, if my slide has been so gradual that I haven't even noticed? This is a scary thought, because I am very in tune with my body. My doctors know that about me, too. Or am I possibly kidding myself a little, thinking I'm not all that short of breath, when in fact I am? Also not really a comforting thought, but maybe a bit more plausible. Because honestly, while I was running errands tonight, I was observing just how short of breath I am walking around in a store. Maybe it's more than I was taking notice, or maybe I'm simply making more out of it now that I know, by all accounts, I should be feeling more short of breath. Who knows.
But, alas, this does mean I will be needing a hospital stay fairly soon. Maybe next week, I'm not sure. Columbia is going to be absolutely nuts this weekend with move-in weekend and people flooding in to see the eclipse. I don't really want to deal with that, plus I want to watch the eclipse from the comfort of my own home.
Our game plan right now is we are waiting to decide our game plan, haha. On Friday we'll get the results from my sputum culture, which will guide us as to which medicines we should use. I don't know that a course of oral meds at home will do me much good at this point. Not to mention, every med we use is another opportunity for one of my bugs to grow resistant to it.
It's like Jarrod reminded me: a "tune-up" is exactly that, it's maintenance. It's not intended to always be a fix for a problem. It's been almost six months since my last tune-up and oil change, lol, and that's pretty much my norm these days: going in every six months. So I guess I'm due.
My PFTs are really down. They are almost exactly at the pre-hospital levels they were in January, before I went in that time.
The weird—and sort of scary—part about this is that I don't feel all that terrible. If you would have asked me yesterday how I thought this would go, I would have said "I think I'm doing alright. I'm not at baseline, sure, but I'm not totally coughing my head off all the time either. I really don't feel all that bad." When my doctor walked in today, she expected me to look in some sort of distress, having a hard time breathing, or at the very least figured I would be coughing a bunch. None of that is happening. Even though it would have surely alerted me to the fact that I am not doing so well, in a way, it's a good thing I'm not coughing my butt off right now and feeling so run down I can barely function.
So I wonder, to myself, if my slide has been so gradual that I haven't even noticed? This is a scary thought, because I am very in tune with my body. My doctors know that about me, too. Or am I possibly kidding myself a little, thinking I'm not all that short of breath, when in fact I am? Also not really a comforting thought, but maybe a bit more plausible. Because honestly, while I was running errands tonight, I was observing just how short of breath I am walking around in a store. Maybe it's more than I was taking notice, or maybe I'm simply making more out of it now that I know, by all accounts, I should be feeling more short of breath. Who knows.
But, alas, this does mean I will be needing a hospital stay fairly soon. Maybe next week, I'm not sure. Columbia is going to be absolutely nuts this weekend with move-in weekend and people flooding in to see the eclipse. I don't really want to deal with that, plus I want to watch the eclipse from the comfort of my own home.
Our game plan right now is we are waiting to decide our game plan, haha. On Friday we'll get the results from my sputum culture, which will guide us as to which medicines we should use. I don't know that a course of oral meds at home will do me much good at this point. Not to mention, every med we use is another opportunity for one of my bugs to grow resistant to it.
It's like Jarrod reminded me: a "tune-up" is exactly that, it's maintenance. It's not intended to always be a fix for a problem. It's been almost six months since my last tune-up and oil change, lol, and that's pretty much my norm these days: going in every six months. So I guess I'm due.
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Should I take a picture?
On a radio show I listen to, the guy was ranting about a tall person in front of him at a concert taking a video of a song. He was so aggravated, because it was blocking his view. He was almost yelling "You will NEVER watch that video! Never! Put your phone down!" And I got to thinking... he is so right.
Like almost everyone, I've videoed part of a song at a concert, or a moment I'd like to remember. In the moment, it seems important and like something I don't want to forget. But in reality, yeah, I maybe watch it later that night once we're home, but that's it. I've never gone back—months, years later—and spent my precious time watching old concert videos. Now that he's pointed this out, I might not take a video at a concert ever again.
Thanks to the ubiquity of smart phones, I think we all (not just young people) have a problem these days with trying to capture everything, whether it's photos or videos, instead of just living in the moment and taking it all in. I don't do this all that often, but I'm still guilty of it. And most times, you miss something because you're fumbling with your phone or trying to watch the concert on your phone screen, you are oblivious what's actually happening in front of you. I know that's happened to me more than a few times, and I'm guessing it happens to almost everyone.
It's an interesting problem. Long gone are the days of expensive cameras (not to mention, the cost of film) that practically forced the person to think carefully about how they used it. You didn't just take a picture of every single thing in your day, you took pictures of the important things. Now the opposite is true, we take pictures of everything. Is the deluge of photos we'll never look at again a good thing? Is it better to remember it all, than to just remember the important parts?
With all of this in mind, I've been pondering something: should I even bother to take a photo of the eclipse? The eclipse is less than two weeks away, and I'm really excited. I did some research about taking photos of an eclipse, because it's a tricky thing to do. If I did it, I would be using my good camera, not my phone. However, just like we have to protect our eyes during an eclipse (before and after totality) you also have to protect a camera; there are solar filters you need to use. Pointing a camera directly at the sun can cause major damage to the image sensor, and I would guess the same could be true for my iPhone's camera. Which means, the only time I might get to take a photo is during totality, when it's safe to look at the eclipse with the naked eye, and that will only last for 2 minutes 29 seconds. That's not a very long time. And it's something I will never, ever see again. And the photo probably wouldn't even turn out that good. My camera is a good camera, don't get me wrong, but it's still not a professional setup.
Initially, I figured I would take a photo of the eclipse, but now I don't think I'm going to. I might take a picture of myself, Jarrod, and Josie, in the darkness, but trying to get a good shot of the eclipse itself would take a lot of trial and error, in such a short window of time. I would rather just sit back and enjoy the moment as it is.
Initially, I figured I would take a photo of the eclipse, but now I don't think I'm going to. I might take a picture of myself, Jarrod, and Josie, in the darkness, but trying to get a good shot of the eclipse itself would take a lot of trial and error, in such a short window of time. I would rather just sit back and enjoy the moment as it is.
Friday, July 28, 2017
Friday's Fair Fast 5
Fast Five: Fair edition!
- Jarrod and I are not going to the fair this year. Anymore, if we don't care to see one of the main stage bands, we don't go.
- Plus, it's gotten more difficult for me to go to the fair. Being in the heat can really bother my breathing, so if it's ridiculously hot, it makes it hard. And there is the dust and dirt, and the second-hand smoke that sometimes you just can't get away from. I almost always have a really rough next couple days if we do go.
- Every year during fair season, I wonder to myself how pig scrambles are still a thing. I get it, it can be funny. But it's hard to ignore the shrieks and squeals of terror from the piglets. It is so obvious the animals are stressed out to the max with all these kids running around. I'm not a member of PETA or anything, but the event strikes me as kind of cruel.
- This year the fair has a moving 9/11 memorial thing as an exhibit. Four years ago, when we went to the Vietnam Moving Wall, a memorial replica that travels around the country, it was very somber, as I think all memorials are meant to be. The Moving Wall was set up at the fairgrounds, but it was the only thing out there at the time. It seems weird to me that you would visit this 9/11 memorial—at the fair. The exhibit is going to be set up by the north gate where you'll be surrounded by constant noise from the shuttle buses, all the loud events at the motocross arena, and crowd noise. I know this exhibit travels to fairs all the time, and it sounds interesting but, in my humble opinion, does not seem best suited for a fair setting (something I'd argue is the creators fault, not necessarily our fair board for bringing it here.)
- In a way, I guess enjoying walking through that exhibit could just come down to how easily you can tune out background noise. I can't, and it gets really, really annoying sometimes. I can't stand what I've termed "conflicting sounds," like when the radio and the TV are on at the same time and the sounds overlap. My brain tries to hear and process both. I am completely unable to tune one out. Some people, I've found, have no problem with this, and can focus on one set of sounds or not even notice the other one. It's for this reason, also, I've noticed that some people are less annoyed by ticking sounds or beeps or repetitive noises. There have been many times in my life where I point out an annoying noise, and someone is like "Huh? I didn't even notice that." while I'm going nuts like "OMG make it stop! How do you not hear that?!" It's fascinating, really, the huge difference between people.
So I ask you: can you block out background sounds? or are you like me? For this reason I've also begun to get very annoyed while shopping at Kohl's, because they have a different type of music playing in many areas (pop music in juniors, rock music in men's, lighter music in women's, etc.) If I'm standing in a spot where the two bleed together (which is common), it drives me bonkers and I have to move soon otherwise I get anxious and upset.
Thursday, July 13, 2017
#dogsofinstagram
Storytime!
So, Josie has her own Instagram account, if you didn't know that. She has over 600 followers from all over the world, most of them being cairn terriers like her. I know, it's mega dorky and probably lists me in the crazy-dog-mom column, but it's actually quite fun. It's hard to explain, but after a while, you kind of start to feel a connection with these other dog owners. Some dogs have actually started sending each other postcards in the mail. Back in May, I actually met a woman from California who is a sweet lady and owner of 4 cairn terriers (who follow Josie, and we follow them too.) It all came about because in one of her photos, she mentioned they were prepping for a trip to Purina Farms for a big event. I messaged her saying I lived nearby, and she wanted to meet up! It was great!
Today, one of Josie's Scottish cairn pals had a photo saying they were raising money for cystic fibrosis.
Record scratch... what!? Really? I had to reload the picture twice to make sure my eyes weren't making things up.
They had a link in the profile for their little charity type thing. I sent them a private message and got a reply from the dog's mom, who has CF. She was pretty excited I had reached out.
But wow. Like, what are the odds? How amazing, that I would 'meet' someone from Scotland with CF via my dog's Instagram account? Crazy.
Friday, June 30, 2017
Friday Fast 5
- A couple weeks back, I got sunburnt in 5 major spots while we were at the Lake. It sucked.
- Speaking of that, and my deep regret of not being more diligent of putting on sunscreen, remember "The Sunscreen Song"? If not, here's a link for reminder. That song's been on my brain a lot in light of my sunburn. I liked it back in 1999, but I admit that as I get older, more and more pieces of advice in it ring true.
- Allow me to nerd out for a second here... but I play this video game on my iPad called Hay Day. It's a cute farming game. I've been playing it for two years, it's the longest I've ever played a game, and I still love it. The game is currently celebrating its 5th birthday, and the developers are making a big deal and having fun with it. But really, what an accomplishment! When was the last time you heard of anyone playing Trivia Crack? Or Farmville? Phone games typically burst on the scene, have a huge following for a year—if they're lucky—and then get deleted, but it's rare that a game has staying power to last this long. They still update the game and add new content, which definitely helps, and I am always seeing new farms. It's just a great little game and I hope it'll stay around another 5 years.
- We need better Asian restaurants out here. China King is not cutting it. Jarrod and I love Asian food, and we both constantly wish we had either a Thai or Vietnamese place. Or both, but I won't get too greedy, haha. Overall, though, I think we just need more restaurant choices in general, places that aren't fast food. But if they were Asian restaurants, that would be great.
- I saw a young woman at work today who was wearing a light yellow dress, and dark blue underwear. I feel like young women these days never wear slips under their dresses anymore, like no one's even heard of them! I wish I could send out a PSA or something, begging the young ladies of today to please buy a damn slip (or learn to better match the color of your underwear with the color of your garment.) I'm tired of seeing so many outlines or knowing the color of your underwear. It's not proper, and there's a simple solution. Most of all I guess I'm just baffled at how much they seemingly don't care about this. Seriously, do none of you turn around in the mirror, hold your dress against yourself, and check if your underwear are visible through the cloth? Come on!
Saturday, June 17, 2017
30 Weekend
It all started on Friday. You already heard about the "Doughnut Debacle" of Friday morning. Jarrod tried to surprise me with breakfast, and I ruined it. Oh man, little did I know the surprises that were in store...
Around 11 a.m. he called me upstairs from my office. He had a card, wrapped gift, and suitcase set out for me. He wanted to give me my gift early, and then told me I needed to pack for the night. We were going to stay somewhere, but that was all he told me. The original plan (for Saturday morning) was I was supposed to go to the mall with my mom. That was made up and not happening. Mom and dad were watching the dog, but we had to come back mid-Saturday because they couldn't watch her all weekend. When I said "Huh, I wonder what they're up to, I wonder why." he replied "I don't know, I think it was something with the Corvette Club."
So I finished work at 1:00, met with a lady at church, called mom, and we headed out around 2:30.
I still didn't know where we were headed, but we ended up at the Moonrise Hotel in the Loop. We've stayed there once before during another staycation, which this kind of was in itself. We were both getting hungry, but I found out we had a dinner reservation at 6:00. Again, I had no idea where.
We walked to dinner about three blocks away, which was at... The Melting Pot! We've never been, but it was great. It's definitely an "experience" as they call it. The food was so good, but there was so
much, both of us felt ridiculously full afterwards. We did their four-course thing and started with the cheese, had a salad, then our meats, then chocolate for dessert. Our waitress brought me a rose, as well, which was a nice touch. Jarrod couldn't remember if he added that to his reservation or not, lol! It wasn't on the bill, so I guess it was from them since they knew it was my birthday.
We walked back to our hotel to go to the rooftop bar, which is a really cool spot if you're never been. It was a nice night out too.
Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel before heading onto other surprises. Ever since we left on Friday I was so excited to see what in the world Jarrod had planned! It was all in his hands, I had no clue what we would be doing.
So we left the hotel to head to the art museum, yay! We walked through most of it, except the new addition since we did that last time. Jarrod kept saying he had to watch our time, so we went to the second floor to check out the American and Native American art. It wasn't that great and I blazed through it. Jarrod kind of lingered a little bit. We finished up a bit early and I felt up to walking back to the truck; he had to park far away, but it was all downhill. We headed to lunch which was at...
Mai Lee in Brentwood, a Vietnamese place we wanted to try. We both got our usual pho and it was delicious! I had commented as we pulled up maybe we should check out Total Wine if we had time. Our lunch only took 30 minutes so we definitely did, and apparently needed to...
Total Wine is impressive, from a wine standpoint. Since we're more beer people, I'd say Friar Tuck's is better for that, but both are good places. It's a shame we don't have something like that closer to here. Anyways, I picked up a bottle of wine recommended by Wanda, and Jarrod got some beers. It took a while to check out, but then we were on our way home.
Driving home, Jarrod said I should go ahead and do my aerobika because he didn't think I'd have much time for my vest before we had to turn around and head back out to... whatever else he had planned. So I did. He also suggested I grab a hat before we left.
We pulled into town, up the road, turned onto our road. And there were a bunch of cars, which I kind of wondered about. But it's not uncommon for our neighbors at the end of the street to have a bunch of people over, so it wasn't too weird. Then I saw our garage door was open... and there were a ton of people in our driveway!
Oh-my-goodness. How amazing it was! There were so many people here, from all over, to surprise me for my birthday! It was so awesome. I got out of the truck, and my dad was the first to greet me with a hug. I couldn't hold it in, I started crying. I was so moved. It was a bit of a whirl, I can't even really remember if I made it back around to Jarrod to give him a hug or say something, but oh man. What an amazing feeling.
I walked inside to find my grandma Watson had made it down here too, which was awesome. The house was decorated to a T with banners and photos, an awesome little board with all kinds of facts about the year I was born, a lovely cake, food, drinks, the deck had tables and a popup tent over it, and I was told to also go downstairs. I found a big 30 covered in photos, and a jungle of balloons (that's what I'll call it, lol) with pictures of me hanging on them.
The rest of the day was spent mingling with everyone. I tried so hard to spend a little bit of time with every person. I wished I could have sat down and spent like an hour with everyone, but that's just not possible. Slowly, people started heading on their ways, and it was just a group of our friends that remained.
I told Jarrod I wanted the whole backstory to all of this, once everyone left. So once they did, he started diving into that...
Turns out he'd been planning this since February. February! And even so, he said that he knew he wanted to do this for me before my 29th birthday. Wow. That's just... awesome.
For the longest time, he was trying to figure out how to get me out of the house, so everyone would have plenty of time to set up our house, and determined that us staying somewhere Friday would be best and seem least suspicious.
Turns out while we were eating breakfast at the hotel, his mom and dad, my parents, and Julia all got to our house around 9:00 a.m. that morning to start setting up.
He had started asking for addresses from people months ago because, as he told them, "I can't find the address book, and I obviously can't ask Jamie where it is." Ha! Formal invitations were sent out—who knew?—with RSVP to his mom, who was even out of town during a lot of the planning leading up to this.
Then all kinds of minute details came into play...
Like the day before, when I called my mom? He had JUST gotten off the phone with them, like right as I was calling her. He was in the garage and had called them to tell them what the deal was so their stories would match, and they should say that they had a Corvette Club thing and that was why they couldn't watch the dog all weekend. Wow, what are the odds. And just in time.
When we were leaving the art museum, we were ahead of schedule, and he was debating every little way to draw it out more. That's why we went to check out the American art, but then I rushed through it. He tried to look at some pieces longer, not because he was interested, but because he wanted to kill time, haha! And then I said I felt up to walking to the truck, which was perfect because that took more time, lol.
We pretty much NEEDED to go to Total Wine after lunch, because otherwise we would arrived at home way too soon. The invite said for people to be here at 2:30 sharp, with the plan that we would get here at 3:00. Jarrod even doubled back and looked over a aisles more than once to kill more time so we wouldn't be too early.
And there were so many other little things.
It makes sense, now, why he was on his phone more that day. And why it wasn't synced up with his truck, something he almost always does. I had noticed those things, but didn't think much of them.
I think a lot of people were wondering if I was truly surprised, but I was! It was such a great day, and made me feel so special and so very loved by so many people.
(If you haven't seen my video on Facebook, I posted one the other day thanking everyone for coming out and telling a little bit of this story.)
Around 11 a.m. he called me upstairs from my office. He had a card, wrapped gift, and suitcase set out for me. He wanted to give me my gift early, and then told me I needed to pack for the night. We were going to stay somewhere, but that was all he told me. The original plan (for Saturday morning) was I was supposed to go to the mall with my mom. That was made up and not happening. Mom and dad were watching the dog, but we had to come back mid-Saturday because they couldn't watch her all weekend. When I said "Huh, I wonder what they're up to, I wonder why." he replied "I don't know, I think it was something with the Corvette Club."
So I finished work at 1:00, met with a lady at church, called mom, and we headed out around 2:30.
I still didn't know where we were headed, but we ended up at the Moonrise Hotel in the Loop. We've stayed there once before during another staycation, which this kind of was in itself. We were both getting hungry, but I found out we had a dinner reservation at 6:00. Again, I had no idea where.
 |
| Staring at the chocolate... |
much, both of us felt ridiculously full afterwards. We did their four-course thing and started with the cheese, had a salad, then our meats, then chocolate for dessert. Our waitress brought me a rose, as well, which was a nice touch. Jarrod couldn't remember if he added that to his reservation or not, lol! It wasn't on the bill, so I guess it was from them since they knew it was my birthday.
We walked back to our hotel to go to the rooftop bar, which is a really cool spot if you're never been. It was a nice night out too.
Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel before heading onto other surprises. Ever since we left on Friday I was so excited to see what in the world Jarrod had planned! It was all in his hands, I had no clue what we would be doing.
So we left the hotel to head to the art museum, yay! We walked through most of it, except the new addition since we did that last time. Jarrod kept saying he had to watch our time, so we went to the second floor to check out the American and Native American art. It wasn't that great and I blazed through it. Jarrod kind of lingered a little bit. We finished up a bit early and I felt up to walking back to the truck; he had to park far away, but it was all downhill. We headed to lunch which was at...
Mai Lee in Brentwood, a Vietnamese place we wanted to try. We both got our usual pho and it was delicious! I had commented as we pulled up maybe we should check out Total Wine if we had time. Our lunch only took 30 minutes so we definitely did, and apparently needed to...
Total Wine is impressive, from a wine standpoint. Since we're more beer people, I'd say Friar Tuck's is better for that, but both are good places. It's a shame we don't have something like that closer to here. Anyways, I picked up a bottle of wine recommended by Wanda, and Jarrod got some beers. It took a while to check out, but then we were on our way home.
Driving home, Jarrod said I should go ahead and do my aerobika because he didn't think I'd have much time for my vest before we had to turn around and head back out to... whatever else he had planned. So I did. He also suggested I grab a hat before we left.
We pulled into town, up the road, turned onto our road. And there were a bunch of cars, which I kind of wondered about. But it's not uncommon for our neighbors at the end of the street to have a bunch of people over, so it wasn't too weird. Then I saw our garage door was open... and there were a ton of people in our driveway!
 |
| How it looked from my view. |
Oh-my-goodness. How amazing it was! There were so many people here, from all over, to surprise me for my birthday! It was so awesome. I got out of the truck, and my dad was the first to greet me with a hug. I couldn't hold it in, I started crying. I was so moved. It was a bit of a whirl, I can't even really remember if I made it back around to Jarrod to give him a hug or say something, but oh man. What an amazing feeling.
 |
| How it looked from everyone else's view. |
I walked inside to find my grandma Watson had made it down here too, which was awesome. The house was decorated to a T with banners and photos, an awesome little board with all kinds of facts about the year I was born, a lovely cake, food, drinks, the deck had tables and a popup tent over it, and I was told to also go downstairs. I found a big 30 covered in photos, and a jungle of balloons (that's what I'll call it, lol) with pictures of me hanging on them.
The rest of the day was spent mingling with everyone. I tried so hard to spend a little bit of time with every person. I wished I could have sat down and spent like an hour with everyone, but that's just not possible. Slowly, people started heading on their ways, and it was just a group of our friends that remained.
I told Jarrod I wanted the whole backstory to all of this, once everyone left. So once they did, he started diving into that...
Turns out he'd been planning this since February. February! And even so, he said that he knew he wanted to do this for me before my 29th birthday. Wow. That's just... awesome.
For the longest time, he was trying to figure out how to get me out of the house, so everyone would have plenty of time to set up our house, and determined that us staying somewhere Friday would be best and seem least suspicious.
He had started asking for addresses from people months ago because, as he told them, "I can't find the address book, and I obviously can't ask Jamie where it is." Ha! Formal invitations were sent out—who knew?—with RSVP to his mom, who was even out of town during a lot of the planning leading up to this.
Then all kinds of minute details came into play...
Like the day before, when I called my mom? He had JUST gotten off the phone with them, like right as I was calling her. He was in the garage and had called them to tell them what the deal was so their stories would match, and they should say that they had a Corvette Club thing and that was why they couldn't watch the dog all weekend. Wow, what are the odds. And just in time.
When we were leaving the art museum, we were ahead of schedule, and he was debating every little way to draw it out more. That's why we went to check out the American art, but then I rushed through it. He tried to look at some pieces longer, not because he was interested, but because he wanted to kill time, haha! And then I said I felt up to walking to the truck, which was perfect because that took more time, lol.
We pretty much NEEDED to go to Total Wine after lunch, because otherwise we would arrived at home way too soon. The invite said for people to be here at 2:30 sharp, with the plan that we would get here at 3:00. Jarrod even doubled back and looked over a aisles more than once to kill more time so we wouldn't be too early.
And there were so many other little things.
It makes sense, now, why he was on his phone more that day. And why it wasn't synced up with his truck, something he almost always does. I had noticed those things, but didn't think much of them.
I think a lot of people were wondering if I was truly surprised, but I was! It was such a great day, and made me feel so special and so very loved by so many people.
(If you haven't seen my video on Facebook, I posted one the other day thanking everyone for coming out and telling a little bit of this story.)
Friday, June 16, 2017
Friday Fast 5
- A new book store opened in Washington yesterday. I wish them the best, but they have a definite uphill battle to fight, it is just impossible to compete with online sites like Amazon.
- Jarrod and I went to the Thirty Seconds to Mars & Muse concert on Tuesday. What an awesome show! Jarrod isn't so much a Muse fan, but I am, but we both like "Mars" so he bought me tickets for Valentine's back in February. Thirty Seconds to Mars was really good, although they were just the opener, so they only played for 45ish minutes. The lead singer, Jared Leto, busted his knee in another show two days prior, so I think he was maybe a little less energetic than normal. That's not to say he mailed it in, he definitely didn't, but I would guess it would have been just a tad better if he could have ran around like normal. Then Muse... oh wow. I've read bits and pieces through the years saying that they are one of the absolute best acts to see live, and I'd agree. They put on an awesome show, and even Jarrod was impressed. I'd totally go see them again in a heartbeat if the chance arises. And we both already want to go see Mars again as a headliner, I know it would be an even better show. Luckily, Mars is releasing a new album this year, and Muse announced they will have a new one in 2018, so I think we will probably have our wishes granted in the near future.
- This upcoming week is the Race Across America bike race. If you never read the story from two years ago when I met the team Love, Sweat, & Gears, I recommend it. It is one of my favorite blogs I've ever written and is still a story that blows me away. I hope I can get a chance to say hello to them again this year.
- I saw a video yesterday that was interesting... it was in some foreign country, two people were using pitch forks to stir up dirt on their farm, and there was a pack of terriers. As they worked the soil, rats came out—I didn't even know rats lived in the ground like that, like a mole. The dogs went after them, caught them, shook them in the their jaws and killed them. Every time my Josie shakes her head, with a toy in her mouth, so hard it seems like she'd hurt her neck, that's that instinct right there; that's exactly what those dogs were doing to those rats. It was A, kinda gross, the size of some of these rats was disgusting. B, kinda brutal, even though completely natural. And C, kinda neat to see the dogs doing the jobs they were bred to do. Terriers are ratters, they were bred to hunt vermin and protect farms back in the old days, and somewhere in the world they obviously still serve their very useful purpose.
- While I'm talking terriers, have I ever told you that Josie is left-pawed? She is!
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