Girls Rule and I Am So Excited!

Ok, FIRST the reason I am so excited. I am getting my first Boxycharm! Boxycharm is just like Birchbox but a little more expensive (I have to pay tax here in Florida so it works out to just over $22.00 for me) but the higher price tag includes more full sized products. This means I will have a Boxycharm review up soon. Yay for subscription boxes! 

Actually, I'll have more Birchbox, Ipsy, MemeBox, and Boxycharm reviews as I start receiving them. I HAD to get MemeBox...it's Korean... (laugh).

Now on to why girls rock (other than the obvious reasons). My lovely dining room table has been wobbly and by wobbly I mean it's going to fall apart. It's been like that for at least a year but I've been to sick (chemo) to do much about it. I'm having a party today (late Halloween/Birthday Party for my friend) and I got a wild hair up my ass and decided "I'm going to see why the table is shaking". Now, I'm feeling better but I still have crappy stamina and get sore easy, but here I am thinking it's a good idea to crawl on the floor. 

Well, I figure out that the table legs, which are screwed to a piece of wood which then attaches to the table, are loose. And then...I took them apart. Oh yes, took them apart with the help of my 73 year old Korean Oma (mother - well mommy actually but I like calling her Oma instead of Oma-ne). 

And this, my friends, is what a table leg looks like when you take it off the table. 

You can see how loose the screws are. Hell, they're over 1/4 of an inch off of the wood! 

This is what a flipped over table without one leg looks like. 

After tightening both legs, installing them back onto the table, and putting the table back upright this is what we have, 

TADA! 

I'm very proud that we could do this! Women Rock! 

And...this is my dog Kobe trying to help. 

He looks like the devil...because he is... (laughing). 

Friday Funday!: This is Exactly What I Would Do - Happy Halloween!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I felt a little chill in the air today! This is a big deal for people who live in Florida (9 months of hell heat a few days of winter) and it announced to me loud and clear that Halloween was here! I love Halloween. I'm a huge horror movie fan, and at this time of the year there are horror movies everywhere. My love affair with horror movies started a long time ago. I don't even remember why or when it started to be honest with you. I do remember that as young as 7 I was reading scary books, and watching horror movies. 

I'm not talking about kids horror movies. I'm talking about full on knock down drag out horror movies. My parents may have been a little lax on the whole "Watch what the kid is watching" front. Well...on a few fronts. They're lucky I never burned down the house. I loved burning candle as a child and my parents would give me a lighter and say "Have fun, be careful" and go to bed - I was 6. They trusted me... a lot. 

Being a wee child I couldn't rent movies by myself. My dad and I would go to rent movies and I would tell him what I wanted and he'd get it. This resulted in me watching things like Hellraiser (oh yes) and Dawn of the Dead. I'm not sure what my parents were thinking. I will say that watching violence on TV doesn't make someone a serial killer or bad. I mean seriously, if that were the case I'd be in jail right now. Although...I did like fires as a kid... 

I will admit that Dawn of the Dead instilled an intense fear of zombies in me. One that would haunt me until pretty recently. The Walking Dead house at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights pretty much cured me of that a few years ago. Very much immersion therapy or as I like to call it "Get the fuck over".

This time of the year is like my Christmas. I love the horror movies, the costumes, and the beginning of the cool part of the Florida season. So, if anyone would like to join me for a Halloween party or a horror movie marathon let me know. I promise I wont burn any candles (smile). 

Things I Consider Physical Therapy or Justifying My Toys

I'm coming to the end of my cancer treatment and it's been a long road since being hospitalized in June. The muscles in my legs are gone (not missing just small) and my stamina is crap since I've been so inactive. I am now trying to do things about that like walking when I can.

I have decided that two things I currently want to play er I mean work on are my hand dexterity and fine motor skills. The big muscles like legs will slowly comeback with more cardio and eights, but the fine motor skills are different.

I have found a way to do this! I have a long road a head of me and after thinking about it I have decided that I will do this by using these proven methods.

LEGOS




I will also use Taylor Guitars!



Listen, if Romney's wife can use million dollar horses I can use Legos and lovely Taylor Guitars (I just got a Koa wood one LOVE IT). I'm also going use them as a tax write off! What?! 

My Dog is a Stalker

I have a very cute dog named Kobe.

This is Kobe (on the left) and his brother Ben (on the right).

They're both boxers and really great dogs. However, I notice lately that Kobe has become a stalker. Yes, a stalker. I saw some signs, where he would sit and stare at me but he was just sitting in the middle of the living room, out in the open, nothing odd about that. 

Then slowly I noticed that I'd be speaking to my mother or on the phone and he would be just around the corner of a doorway. I usually noticed this because I would trip over him. I noticed his doorway sneaking more because it became hiding just behind the corner or doorway and having one eye out to stare at me. As soon as he noticed me he'd either back up so I couldn't see him or run to me very puppy like. 

Now I notice that he does it a lot, behind doorways, the kitchen counter, the kitchen island, planter boxes beds, the sofa... The sofa is the weirdest one where you just see his eyes and the top of his head. Then when he sees you he slowly lowers his head. 

I'm not sure what he's looking at or why but I'm going to say it's some kind of silly dog game, and not a plan to take my life. 

Must Buy MREs or Stop Watching This Show

What happens when you're sick and at home? You watch a lot of TV. I have been watching Doomsday Preppers. For those who are not familiar with the show it's about people who think the world is going to end in one way or another. Because the world is going to end, they are getting ready for it by prepping. This means having food, guns, ammo, animals, places to go, and they have some elaborate plans.

I thought it was funny at first. Some of these people are really out there, like the father that keeps his children umbilical cords preserved with herbs and tree bark so he can give them to them once they have passed their "right of passage" (slow blink). However, (looking around paranoid like) I find myself slowing thinking "Well, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have some food in the house just to be safe".

Now in my defense and before you start calling me nuts, I don't think the world is going to end but I do think that I should do something because I live in a hurricane zone. I'm not talking about setting up a fort but maybe having a few weeks of food in the event that we have a hurricane.

MAYBE I looked at how to preserve 50 lbs of rice (maybe) and maybe I also looked at freezed dried food and MREs...but I'd never do that. Maybe I also thought about how to keep my Paleo diet if it were the end of the world.

Maybe

(smile)

Paleo or OMG WHY AM I LOSING WEIGHT

Last post I let everyone know that I'm sick. Which means I haven't been doing much but resting. I'm not in bed constantly but in general I'm much less active then normal. I jump on the scale this morning to see how much weight I've gained. It's just a given that I would gain some because I haven't been doing much. Well, I was wrong.

In less then a week I have lost over three pounds. Now, this would be exciting if I had any idea how that was happening. I follow a pretty strict Paleo diet and I've lost weight but in a normal healthy way. over the last few months but this is a huge drop.

The only things I can think of are as follows - I wasn't getting enough calories before I got sick, now that I'm resting my calories and activity level are more appropriate so my body is losing weight. I find this one hard to believe because I eat Bacon (laughing).

I briefly thought about the fact that I may be losing muscle mass. I know this isn't the case because I just saw my doctor on Monday and she checked me out completely.

My only other thought is fat-loss fairies are coming to visit me as I sleep. These fairies sprinkle you with that stuff you see on TV or ephedrine and the fat melts off as you sleep. If you sleep very heavy they even perform weight loss surgery on you as you sleep. They're very busy fairies and most people never see them because their union only lets them work 10 days out of the year.

Yep, I think it's the fairies.  

Dog Abuse! (not them me)

Love my huge boxers. They are 100 lbs of puppy love. Yes they are that big and they're not obese just HUGE. I love them to death but since I've gotten them they have decided that they love me SO MUCH that they want to be on top of me and hug me. This leads to doctors asking me "Have you been running through brambles?".

Today my legs were lovingly scratched today when one of them tried to stand on my lap. He also somehow scratched my chest when he tried to 'shake hands'. So, now I look like a victim of domestic violence. This is dog abuse in reverse! 

A Whole MONTH!

Wow, June has been crazy! I just got the desire to blog and looking at my last post I realize it's been a month! How crazy is that!

The month of June has been crazy for me personally. I'll do a quick rundown and then I'll blog more about my fitness and diet stuff as time allows!

1 - Florida is hot. REALLY HOT and I lost AC for about three weeks. Now, when you have MS no AC in Florida = torture. Luckily it's fixed now and the sweet good of cold air favors me again! Do not anger this person!

2 - Florida is also full o'rain. Rain rain rain this month. So much rain that On June 25th I got a little flooded. YAY. No AC and Flooding. Hmmm

3 - June 25th was also my birthday YAY. No AC and Flooding on my birthday. Hmmmm

4 - I have been diagnosed with Arthritis in my neck. SO, on June 21st I had my first PT appointment. Where I found out that my shoulders are all kinds of fucked up because of pain (I was electrocuted that day to try to make the muscles behave), I can't run until we get it fixed (because of compression), and I'm going to have PT every Monday and Wednesday until the end of the world (which is Dec 21st). That was a busy Thursday.

5 - I'm on a new project at work! This is good because now I have something to do at work! Yay!! This is very exciting for me!

6 - I have proof I live in hell (floodings, fire, and no ac).

WHEW what a busy June!

I've also been continuing on with my whole, nutritious, and locally grown foods lifestyle. It makes me feel 'so' much better. I'm also going to post a review of a book I just read called It Starts With Food by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig. I also got a fitbit and will be talking about that.

This second half of 2012 should be exciting for me!

Have I ever mentioned MS doesn't like stress....yeah (smile).

Everyone in the House is Crazy

Here are reasons that everyone (and every animal) in my house is crazy. It's a given I am and I suppose since it's my house that's why everything else is.

1. My mother finds important papers and throws them away.
I don't care if I hide them in a box in a file cabinet in my closet, she will find them. It's like some sort of GPS for important stuff she can throw away.

2. Kobe (my dog) has decided vegetables are better then meat.
He eats almost any type of vegetable he can get his little mouth on. Yes, I make sure it's nothing bad for dogs but I've never seen a dog so EXCITED to see Kale. I was washing some today and he was whining. I say "You wont like this" and give him a leaf. Which he gobbled up and asked for more. O.o The other dog Ben just stared at him like he was insane.

3. My mother gives very expensive food/nuts/my dinner to the dogs.
She loves the dogs. I love the dogs. However, she needs to stop giving my raw Macadamia nuts to them as treats. At 14 bucks a lb it's one of the most expensive dog treats ever. She also must stop boiling my free range chicken breast/grass fed beef for dog treats. I take it back the meat makes the most expensive dog treats ever.

4. The dogs sit in chairs.
Yes, I said that right. No need to explain.

5. My mother eats avocados and goji berries together.
Maybe it's good but it looks horrible and weird (laugh).

6. Creepy dog staring.
My mother walks the dogs all the time now. Great for her and the dogs. However, the dogs will come bac from their early morning walk, and if I'm not awake yet, proceed to sit as close as possible to the bed without actually touching it and just stare at me and breath o.o o.o <----dog eyes. It's like children of the corn but with dogs in my bedroom at 6am.

The list could be longer but I just heard a commotion in the kitchen and I think someone realized there is a bowl of freshly washed bowl of kale on the kitchen island. 

Oven Booby Traps

In my previous post I spoke about my new cast iron pan and how I had a great dinner with my sweetie. Let me now tell you what happened while I was trying to make this dinner.

I'm preheating my oven to 425 to pre-roast my chicken before I put it into my dutch oven. While I'm waiting for it to preheat I start chopping onions, bacon, and shallots. Then, I smell something odd...I open the oven and the first thought in my head was FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.

My mother (who I love SO MUCH) had put pans in the oven. Now, the pans are fine and the heat wouldn't have bothered them but the green plastic Tupperware container was not so lucky.

Oh yes, my 4 gallon green Tupperware bowl was in there (I don't know why I didn't ask) and sexily melting into the bottom of the oven. Sort of like a Salvador Dali "Melting Clocks" but much more ethereal and the smell was horrible. So, I'm yelling for help, which my mother ignores until I tell her the oven is on fire. This was not true but it got her moving!

It's a good thing that we have industrial fans in the house (we owned a dry cleaners for over 20 years - yes we're those Korean people) because the smell was insane. I really thought I was going to have to cancel dinner plans and just take my boyfriend out. Miracles of miracles though we got the smell out and after a lot of scraping and cleaning of melted plastic, I was able to put my chicken in the oven.

The chicken was fab, everything else I wanted to cook didn't work out so well, and I couldn't make my Quinoa salad (laugh). However, it was still yummy and my guy liked it!

Moral of the story? Don't store expensive plastic Tupperware in the oven OR let other people in the house know that you are storing expensive plastic Tupperware in the oven.

What's Worse - No Work or to Much Work?

Would you rather have no work and just float through the day or to have so much work you can't breathe? I like work! Work work work work. I'd rather the day fly by then have no work and sit here and count the ceiling tiles.

BTW the ceiling tiles in my build are 28 X 19 not taking into account beams and quarter tiles.

I'm not sure if this is from the MS or if it's just me but I get tired, and when I have nothing to stimulate my mind, I get really tired. This leads to me wanting to put my head down on my desk and take a nap! We can't take naps at work.

I mean I guess I could nap but then I wouldn't have a job. Which leads to bad things like no house or food. I want to avoid that at all costs. I like buying my artesian sausage like a bourgeois hippy thank you! Yes I know what I am!!

What is Love - Revisited

I've asked this question before but I want to revisit it today. As you grow up you have a pretty set idea about love. I know I did. As I've gotten older this view of love has changed. In the past year I've revisited the topic introspectively and I've made a few conclusions.

Love doesn't give a shit - Love comes at you from the wrong places, when you least expect it, but maybe, when you need it the most.

Love hurts - Not just a little hurt but bawl your eyes out want to die hurt. If you don't get upset you were never in love with that person. There is no perfect love where nothing goes wrong. If you don't hurt sometimes you're not really in love.

Love can overcome anything - No matter how shitty you feel about yourself or how you feel that no one wants you. There is love out there for you. Having MS is a biggie and when someone can overlook major things like that, love is there.

Love is about someone taking your shit (and you taking theirs) - Everyone's got shit. You can't be an adult and not have SOME type of shit. You find that person that makes laser gun noises when he sleeps or clucks like a chicken while he's taking a poop, and he's crazy, but he's your crazy. If everything about him bothers you, or when you do something crazy he dismisses you and ignores you, there is no love there.

Love makes you Jealous - Now I'm not talking about find a person and cut their tires, as you key your name into their door panel. I'm talking about that "That's MINE." feeling you have when someone looks at your guy or girl.

Love annoys other people - Others who want what you have will act differently. It's an odd experience.

Love is one of the most horrible experiences in life but is also one of the most amazing.

Boys and Girls of Every Age

It's Devils Night! In years past I was out causing trouble but I haven't done that in years (smile). I admit it I love Halloween! In the past few years I have not dressed up or done much. The night usually involves trying to ensure my dog does not go through my front window (tiny people in sparkly weird things creep her out and she thinks she has to protect us) while making sure small children don't have heart attacks on the front lawn from being exposed to the mean "Boxer Doggie". After that insanity subsides I usually watch some horror movies or some all night ghost hunting thing on TV.

This year I'm actually going to dress up. Why is it different this year? This year the place I work really emphasizes dressing up. So, I decide this weekend to get some stuff. In between fighting the crowds for things and getting good makeup to plaster on my face (If I don't get good makeup I'll look like a horror show for weeks to come), I realized that I'm actually excited to dress up!

I'm not sure why but I am excited. I can't wait to see what the boy is going for his Halloween costume. Although he told me all about it and I'll see it tomorrow night, I'm still excited to see it! I'm also curious to see what everyone at work is going to wear.

I'm not sure if I'm getting my fun back or if I'm better because it's been a few years since my fathers passing and my MS diagnosis. Whatever the reason I am enjoying my holiday again and I wonder what Christmas is going to be like! (smile)

Rip Van Winkette (thats me)

Once in a great while my MS likes to pop out of nowhere and slap the shit out of me. It does this to remind me that it’s there. Not that I don’t think about it every day as I’m jabbing a needle into my tummy but sometimes like a jealous dog, it wants to make sure I really know it's still there. 

Last weekend a group of friends and I threw a baby shower for our awesome friend Squishy! Unfortunately, it was 100 degrees where we were and I spent eight hours there so I got overheated. I run and get very hot but I’m able to cool down pretty quickly. I guess the extended overheating really got to me because I think I slept three days straight. 

I went to work for the first part of the week but spent most of Thursday Friday and Saturday asleep. I got up to eat and use the facilities before going right back to sleep. Today is the first day I’ve woken up and been able to function normally. I also promptly went for a jog and went shopping (smile). I feel good though still and cold showers do wonders for cooling down and the skin. Hehe

This brings me to a new theory about Rip Van Winkle. He wasn’t bewitched - he had MS!