The Weekend in Pictures

This past weekend just zipped by faster than a speeding train. I honestly have no idea how I made it to the beginning of another week, but here I am, my head still buzzing with fun recollections of the past few days.

On Friday, Travis and I spent the entire day having fun here:

Granted we're not teenagers anymore, but we still enjoy the thrill of a few of the roller coasters in the park. Oddly enough, I'm not a huge fan of butterflies in my stomach as I entrust my life to a hunk of metal screaming down a 15 story drop at 75 mph, but I braved a few of the more mild rides. Actually, the biggest thing we had to brave that day was the heat! It reached at least 100F during the hottest part of the day, but luckily we were both acclimated due to our evening time runs. Neither one of us got burned either. My only real complaint that day was the fact that I had just gotten my first ever steroid injection in my shoulder and yowzers did I have crazy injection site pain. Travis could actually SEE a bump on my upper trap. Four days later, and it's finally starting to go away. I'm hoping for some relief here soon!

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled blogging. Here's an example of a ride I did NOT get on - Scream. That's a 15-story drop right there! Yeah, there'd definitely be some screaming and probably some peeing of my pants on that one, but it was fun to watch everyone else enjoy themselves.

Now I know I just got finished telling you that I'm not one for crazy thrills, but for some reason, I really love Batman.

It has a 10.5 story drop and a ton of crazy loops, twists and inversions. Actually, to be honest, I was quite queasy once the ride stopped. I seriously thought I was going to hurl in my seat, but a few deep breathes cleared that up pretty quick. Guess I'm not as tough as I once was!

A quick side-note for all you locals - Terminator Salvation rocked! We waited exactly one hour to get on, but it was so worth it. The dips were *almost* a bit much for my tummy, but if I can do it, anyone can.

I gotta belt-out just one minor complaint about the park. I was really irked when I saw this sign:

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a grammar freak. Sure, every now and then I throw in some quirky grammatically-incorrect phrases in my posts, but that's just to keep my blog light and fun. I'm sure you all know what's wrong with this poster board. "Funner" is not a word, and it bothers me when large corporations throw this kind of stuff out there. Like our society isn't becoming dumb enough on it's own...

One last shot from Friday to share. Here we are right after entering the gate:

Even after twelve years together, my hubby still makes my heart go pitter-patter. He's the most handsome, most thoughtful man I know. That's good considering I'm stuck with him till death do us part! LOL :)

Saturday was just as exciting as Friday because I got to spend my entire day with my scrappy girlfriends, some of whom I've never met in real life! We went scrappy shopping together and then went out to linner (my new word for lunch+dinner).

From left to right: Linda (lindasocal); Patti (pattim); Denise (denisewalks); me (scrappysam); and Rita (Cemetary Artist) on the floor in her model pose. If you're wondering why most of us look like we just stepped off the set of Hawaii 5-0, it's because the crafty store we went to was having a "Hawaiian Day" sale and was giving out discounts based on your clothes. Some of us even brought goggles and an inner tube. Hey, anything for a discount now a days, right?

Although Sunday is normally a day of rest for us, we ended up running a whole bunch of errands that we didn't get done earlier in the weekend. I actually like running around with Travis. He's so patient and he's such a good shopper (and he lifts all the heavy Costco items for me :). We ate at one of our favorite burger joints. YUM...

Now tell me that doesn't look good...

After my run tonight in nearly 100F weather, that burger is looking mighty good. Shake it off. Shake it off. LOL.

A quick update on "The Isabel" - she's doing really well. She is talking up a storm and sleeping comfortably up on my bed, so I know she's recovering nicely. Her incision looks good, and surprisingly enough, she hasn't licked it once. I'm still waiting for the biopsy results, but I'm trying to think positively.

Lastly, I completely forgot to post this picture I took with Taylor Van Bruggen the other weekend at her house. Please excuse our hair - it was raining and the humidity had all but taken every single curl out of my newly cut locks, and poor Taylor's hair was much "poofier" earlier in the morning.


Taylor was so sweet, but what surprised me the most is how incredibly tall she is! She's actually hunching over significantly in this photo so that we wouldn't look too odd. I think she has to be at least six feet tall (I'm only 5'4").

That's about all I have for you! I'm waiting on a fun new storage solution to arrive, and once that happens, not only will I do a video tour of my room, but I'll also share my new creative endeavor with all of you. Let's hope this unit comes soon.

The Ten O'Clock Call

Wow - what a week. I'm not even sure where to begin, but I've heard it's best to start at the beginning, so here it goes.

Let's start with some fun crafty stuff. Wednesday was my last day at physical therapy (I have a bad shoulder that I've been trying to rehabilitate for a few months now), and I thought it would be fun to bring everyone some cupcakes. Since I had just made cupcakes the day before, it was perfect timing! I individually wrapped four cupcakes, made tags, and used twine to wrap them around each cupcake. Here's how they turned out.

I distressed the tags using the distress techniques I've been learning from Jennifer McGuire's "Thinking Inking" class. You should go check out her videos - they're great!

I was also in a picture taking mood that day, so just for fun, here is Sedona lounging outside just before it reached 100F degrees.

This next picture was a seriously lucky shot. I was taking pictures of Isabel sitting all cute on the window sill , so I was already in place when she yawned really big.

Speaking of the cutest kitty ever, Isabel finally had her surgery done yesterday evening. What a day. What a very, very long day. We went in for her appointment at 7:30 am. Dr. J and I decided that the best route to take at this point would be surgery since the needle aspirate that he did last week came back inconclusive. I left her with him and came home.

At 11:00 am, I received a phone call from the vet office saying that they had admitted a very sick puppy that needed exploratory surgery right away, and that Dr. J would have to push back Isabel's surgery until the evening time. The tech asked me if I wanted to come and pick up Isabel and take her home for the next several hours so that she could be with me. Off I went to get her.

By the time 4:30 pm rolled around, I had to take her back to the vet office. I was very nervous, but knew I was leaving her in capable hands. I came home, ate dinner, and went on my run. I took my cell phone with me because I didn't want to miss the vet's call, and around 7:45 pm, the tech called me to let me know Isabel was in surgery and everything was going well. Dr. J would call me in about a half hour to give me a final update. I was relieved she was doing okay, but I was still quite anxious. I ran the last mile of my run in about 7 minutes. I ran harder and faster than I ever have before. It felt good.

After finishing my work out around 8:30 pm, I waited for the vet to call me. I normally shower after my workout (of course, I stink after running in 90F + weather!), but I didn't want to miss his call. So I waited, and waited, and waited and waited. By 10:00 pm I was worried, and I sitting in my own stink which was not cool, so I grabbed the phone and went to take a shower, but just as I picked up the phone, it rang! It was Dr. J. He said Isabel had made it through surgery nicely. Unfortunately, he was unable to remove the mass because it turned out to be the mesenteric lymph node. He did, however, take two biopsies of the lymph node to send to the lab. He suspects it might be lymphoma (cancer). We'll have to wait and see. He also found numerous 1 mm masses on her liver which is never good news. He biopsied those as well. We're now in yet another waiting period.

For now, Isabel is back at home. She was so happy to see me when I picked her up! She seems alert, and her incision looks really good. She's on antibiotics and pain meds for the next 10-14 days. I shot this quick video of her when we got home. Turn up the volume - we both have something to say to all of you :)



If you didn't hear that, I'll reiterate - THANK YOU for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. I am so thankful that so many of you were sending positive vibes for her. I couldn't ask for better friends :)

Switching gears a bit, tomorrow Travis and I will be here:



It seems like awful timing, but we really need a day of fun together, and we've been planning this little trip for months now. We were able to get a couple of free tickets, so we'll be roller coasting all day tomorrow! I'm leaving Isabel in my mom's very capable hands :)

Lastly, this week has been a sad one in the entertainment world.

Ed McMahon - sad, but he lived a long and successful life.

Farrah Fawcett - again, sad, but we knew she was very ill.

Michael Jackson - huh? Yeah, I was pretty stunned.

They always seem to go in three's. Strange.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Sweet Surprise

Last week I received a package from my very good cross-country friend. I had no idea she was sending me anything, so when the mail came I was all smiles. Inside the box, I found a lovely card, some beautiful beads, and this gorgeous piece of art.

I was wondering why the box was so heavy! This owl is actually a painted rock! Her grandma knows how much I love owls, and when she saw this gem, she picked it up just for me. How sweet is that? I'll be making a thank you card for her soon.

Speaking of cards, here's the one that was inside the box.


I am giddy with excitement because tomorrow I'm going to Taylor Van Bruggen's house for her Cupcake Farewell Party! Taylor is the owner of Taylored Expressions, and her BLOG was the first one I ever visited when I started blogging about two years ago. She has a great eye for design. Her cards are just simply amazing, and I can't wait to meet her tomorrow! I feel like some crazy groupie going to meet a rock star only I'm meeting a stamping super star! Yup, I'm just *slightly* excited :)

Have a great weekend everyone, and I'll see you all next week!

Keeping Busy

I am happy to say that today is going much better than yesterday. That's not to say that I haven't been busy doing stuff around the house, but at least it's stuff I want to do :) What have I been doing? Why my favorite thing, of course - organizing!

The other day as I was trying to find a specific Stampin' Up stamp set, I realized that my way of organizing my rubber mounted stamps just wasn't cutting it for me. Each clear plastic box had the original SU label on it, which if you have any SU stamps, you'll know that those labels are printed on clear plastic making it hard to actually read what's on them. So, I decided it was time for an over-haul, and you know me. When I want to organize, I go full speed ahead!

Since I've been a demonstrator for eight months now, I've accumulated quite a few SU stamp sets. Many of them are retired, and I needed to find a way to quickly identify those sets at a glance. My second problem was that all of my stamp sets were in no particular order, meaning I had Christmas sets mixed in with nature sets and so on. That's when I decided to turn to stickers for help. I'm sure this is by no means an original idea, but I was happy I came up with a solution :)

Here's a peek into my newly rearranged closet. Each set is now clearly identified with a white label (much easier to read than a clear label). I also now have a quick visual cue that let's me know which sets are retired (red-dotted) and which ones are current (no dot).

Each set is also marked with a colored star or a heart. Here's how I broke down my categories:

My gold star is still available for use as a category. For the heart sticker, I used my SU three heart punch and my mini xyron runner to create my own sticker. I'm still on the lookout for a cute pumpkin sticker so I can add those to my Halloween stamp sets.

You can see the star stickers in action on this photo. As you can tell, I have A LOT of "nature/animal" stamp sets! Go figure!

For sets that have multiple themes, I just add as many stars as I need to. For example, "Pun Fun" not only has animals in it (green star), but each stamp also has a phrase (silver star). For hostess stamp sets, I identifed them by adding an "H" after the title. "Fall Flair," for example, is a retired (red dot) hostess set (H), so I labeled it "Fall Flair - H."

That's all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed my new organizational project!

Just for Fun

Today was about the most stressful day I've had in a long time. With Isabel going in for her biopsy today (everything went fine; we're now waiting on the results), Sedona being randomly sick (she's good now) and three appointments all squeezed into ten hours, I was on the verge of mental breakdown. However, I did have one bright spot in my day. After over a year, I got my hair cut :)
I snapped these photos in the back yard as the sun was setting, and I'm very pleased with the way they turned out. As for my hair, I chopped off a good six inches. It was LONG!

I'm hoping tomorrow is a much smoother day. I have no appointments to go to. No meetings. No animals to run off to the vet office. It's gonna be a good day.

Mystery Diagnosis

Ever watch that show? I do. You can catch it on the Discovery Health Channel almost every day. I find the stories fascinating, but what really gets me is the human element behind every diagnosis. I often cry tears of joy for the patients who finally find out what has been ailing them. All the doctors, all the tests, everything just culminates into this gigantic sigh of relief once they are diagnosed, but that diagnosis comes after months, often times years, of suffering and frustration.

Now I feel like I'm on Mystery Diagnosis, and the patient is Isabel.

She had her recheck exam today and what I thought would be a quick exam involving some film snaps of her chest resulting in a thumbs-up from the vet turned into yet another curve ball for us. Instead of ordering some x-rays, Dr. J wanted to re-do the ultrasound of her belly so that he could determine exactly what the mass was attached to. He also wanted to see if the mass might be a lymph node since he had a similar case present itself yesterday, and the mass in the patient's belly turned out to be a lymph node that could not be removed. I left her in very capable hands, came home, and waited.

I didn't expect to hear what the vet was going to tell me.

He found another mass, near her bladder. This news is not good news.

You can see her bladder in the upper right corner of this picture. To the left of it, you see another mass labeled "?" That's the new mystery mass. Below the mass is the aorta running from left to right. Her original mass is rather large extending from her aorta to her abdomen. The vet is concerned that one or both of these masses could be a lymph node. In order to decide whether the masses need to be treated medically or surgically, Isabel has to have an ultrasound biopsy of both. She's scheduled to go in tomorrow at 7:45 am. I'm a mess.

I cried all the way home. I feel as though I'm being tested on so many levels, and I just don't know why. I'm emotionally fatigued which is making me physically exhausted. I wasn't able to run tonight because Dr. J wasn't able to get to Isabel until the evening time which is when I do my runs. I fancy myself a rather strong person, but there's really only so much I can take before I break. And who knows? I may be making a mountain out of a mole hill, but that's the way I am. I've lost too many of my critters to know that these things don't always turn out the way we want them to.

I tried to imagine life without this face:

I couldn't, and I cried some more. Some people reading this entry may say, "But she's just a cat. Get over it." To that statement, I quote one of my all time favorite statements by Mahatma Gandhi:

"The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

I choose to treat my animals with the same love and kindness they show me on a daily basis. They ask for nothing more in return than the basic necessities of life, and they give me so much more every day. They are my kids, and as such, I will do all I can to make sure they live happy, healthy lives. It's the right thing to do, and it's who I am as a person.

So life continues to throw me curve balls. I will try to continue to knock them out of the park, but for now, I think I'll tuck myself in and hope for the best tomorrow.

Weekend Wedding

Wow - this weekend just flew by for me. I can't believe it's already the start of another week! I guess that's what happens when you're busy and have lots of things to do, but it was all fun stuff. Friday afternoon I attended a scrapbook yard sale at my friend's house. I actually wasn't there to shop (although I did pick a few items - *grin*). I was there to sell some of my wares from my new creative endeavor I keep talking about. All the proceeds are going to help Isabel get her surgery, and I'm happy to report I did really well! I have a few supplies I need to order to start making more, but I promise to share this fun new outlet with all of you really soon!

Saturday was certainly the busiest day of all since my dear friend was getting married. After a 1.25 hour delay (the DJ was having technical difficulties with his equipment and couldn't get the wedding march to play), my friend said "I do" to the man of her dreams. It was a beautifully picturesque ceremony by the lake.

Here's a shot of the gazebo. I was able to get a great aisle seat that was positioned right in front of where the ceremony took place. I think it was the best seat in the house even though I was in the back!

Here's the happy couple saying their vows. The officiant was really quite funny, but I wasn't fond of the fact that he did not stand right in the middle of the the couple. I have no idea why he stood off to the left that way. Oh well!

My friend also became a step-mom that day! This picture shows the joining of the entire family.

And finally, here's the happy couple, all smiles.

The reception took place in a large tent, and although you can see if was a beautiful day, it was rather chilly in there. I guess that's a good thing seeing as how this elegant cake was sitting in there for hours.

A very special part of the evening was not only celebrating the happy couple, but also remembering both of their moms who passed away from breast cancer. These pink bracelets tied with a note greeted us at our seats.

Congratulations, you two!

Sunday was just as hectic as the rest of the weekend. We ran errands that we normally would have done on Friday, but we still found time to do a little barbecuing! I tell you what, this man knows how to barbecue up some fine salmon and chicken!

That's it for now! My afternoon is once again filled with errands to run and a meeting this evening. I was hoping to some how squeeze my run in before my meeting, but I doubt that will happen with all the places I need to go before I leave tonight. Bummer. I'm not feeling too guilty, though, seeing as how I've been faithful to my exercise routine for weeks now. I'll pick it back up tomorrow. Have a fabulous day!

Baby Announcements

Hello bloggers! I can't believe it's been a week since my last post. I didn't mean to go so long without an update, but what are you going to do, right? Creatively speaking, this last week has been quite productive for me, and that's always a good thing. That little creative endeavor I eluded to last week took off quite unexpectedly, so before I show off my new wares, I'm going to have to replenish my stock :) Sit tight for that post coming soon!

Here are the baby announcements I made for a friend this past weekend. I made two mock-ups for her to choose from, but she loved them both so much that she had me do half and half!

Once finished, I put the announcements in a bag that I had decorated for her. I'd love to show you the whole bag, but I'm having some issues with the picture, so for now, here's a close up shot showing the purple Stickles I used for the elephants' eyes and the handmade tag I created.

In other news, my runs have been going really well this week. I haven't had any stitches, so I'm thinking my diaphragm muscles are probably pretty well toned by this point. They should be - it's the end of week 9 for me!

These next few days will be filled with lots of things to do (I'm going to a wedding on Saturday), so I'm thinking I may not be back until next week, but who knows? I just may surprise you (and myself)!

Triumphs

It looks like Poker is going to be just fine. Dr. J put him on a round of antibiotics to ward off infection, and the techs bandaged his little paw to keep him from licking it. He also got some pain meds that put him in loopy land for the night. His poor little paw was probably throbbing.

Now I have three critters on five different medicines three times a day for the next two weeks. That's a total of ten doses a day. It's exhausting, and today I have a headache.

The only escape I seem to get from everything is when I go for my run. I'm now in the middle of my eighth week, and I continue to push myself every day. Even on days when I'm tired and defeated, I still get out there and do my best. Last week, I hit a milestone. In order to understand that milestone, you have to understand my run.

I run a little over two miles five days a week. Exactly half of my run is uphill all the way.

I snapped this picture yesterday on the way home from the vet office. If you follow the road all the way up, you'll see a spot way off in the distance where the road makes a fairly dramatic uphill grade right into those gorgeous hills. See it? That's the hill I run up every evening, and it took me a full seven weeks to be able to run that hill all the way without stopping. I'm darn proud of that fact. Running down the hill, of course, is considerably easier, and I've been doing that consistently for many weeks. Now I can say that I run the entire route without stopping, and I could go further if I wanted to, but since I have a whole other workout to do at home, I just stop at the end of the two miles.

Last night's run was simply amazing. The desert received a full day of non-stop rain, and the air was crisp and clean. The breeze was cool and refreshing. As I ran, I thought about all the things I love about running.

1. Solitude - A rare commodity in my life at this point, running gives me the complete solitude I need to clear my head and think.
2. Clarity - There's nothing like being able to assess the day's events in a clear manner.
3. Inspiration - The desert is an endless source of ideas that can be translated into my creative endeavors.
4. Wildlife - I have had the most interesting encounters on my runs. A few weeks back, a Mexican Free Tail bat swooped down and hit the bill of my hat. It was awesome! Last night, a Sharp-shinned hawk flew just feet in front of me and landed on the fence right next to me. We looked at each other for a few minutes before we both took off. She greeted me again as I headed down the hill. I also see cotton tails, ground squirrels and chipmunks. Maybe soon I'll see a snake!
5. Endurance - Running gives me the power of endurance and energy. I'm always pumped when I come back from a run.
6. Strength - Not only am I becoming physically stronger, but my mental strength increases exponentially with every run.
7. Schedule - I used to stay up until 3:30 am and not get up until 11 am. I wasn't happy with that sleep pattern. Since I started my runs, I go to bed between 10:30 and 11:30, and I'm up by 8:30/9:00.
8. Diet - Running makes me want to eat healthy foods and be a better steward of my body. I may not be the 98 lbs, size 0 I was five years ago (which was way too skinny for my frame anyway), but I can say with certainty that I'm definitely a lot healthier than I was back then even if I'm no where close to that weight.

My runs aren't always a bed of roses, don't get me wrong. They're hard, exhausting and draining. There are days when it feels like I have never run at all, but those days are few and far between. I'm also still dealing with stitches on my left side right under my rib cage. In case you don't know, a stitch is a spasm of the muscles in the diaphragm. They can range from mild to severe, and last week, I got a whopper of stitch that caused me to stop dead in my tracks. This week, however, I haven't experienced one, so I'm hoping that my chest muscles are becoming stronger. I've noticed that as my breathing becomes more regular as I run, the stitches become less frequent. I'm hoping that's the case!

Alrighty, I've babbled on long enough about my runs! I have lots to do today in terms of that crafty endeavor I eluded to in my last post. I hope you all have a wonderful day, and I'll catch you later!

Trials

Sigh. It has already been a long day for me and it's just barely the afternoon. I did all of my normal chores this morning, and as I was finishing up, I heard one of my little ones crying. I raced over to him only to find this rather horrifying scene:

Yes, that's blood, and yes, it was everywhere. It looked like a scene out of some seriously sick horror movie, and standing right there on his blankie looking up at me was Poker, crying. Both he and Keno were covered in blood. What on earth happened? My mind was racing. My heart was pounding. I picked him up and looked him up and down and finally found the source of the blood - his paw.

See that bloody toe there? That small little toe was the cause of all of that blood. I immediately went to the sink to wash it out and see if I could stop the bleeding. Poker is such a good little guy. As long as I let him have some treats, he let me look at his paw and clean it out. With a little help, I was even able to bandage it up.

Shockingly, he hasn't managed to get that bandage off his leg yet. I taped it to his fur, so that's probably what's keeping it in place, but I can tell you he's not a happy camper. I can tell he hurts, and it pains me to see any of my little ones in any kind of discomfort. We spent some quality time together on the couch earlier. He just wanted his mama. We have a vet appointment this afternoon to make sure he gets proper treatment to prevent infection. I'm becoming quite the regular at the vet office these days.

Speaking of sick little ones and appointments, here's an update on this sweet girl:

I took her back to the vet on Monday unexpectedly. She had been throwing up and having diarrhea for the past week, so when I called the vet office on Monday to let them know of her new symptoms, Dr. J wanted to see her right away. So off we went. And there we sat...for two and a half hours. Luckily, the staff knows me and my critters and how much I love them and care for them, and they were able to give me a discount (thank heavens because I can assure you I'm not made of money!). Her x-rays revealed that her chest infection is clearing up nicely, but there was still some cloudiness that precluded any surgery at this time. So, Dr. J put her on a new antibiotic that I have to give to her once a day for the next two weeks. This antibiotic comes in the form of a sub-q injection. I don't mind giving my little ones shots. I've been doing that for years, but Isabel doesn't seem to be very happy with the idea. Monday night wasn't too bad since I caught her off guard, but last night was more challenging since she's getting wise to me. Oral meds are not an option for Isabel. She's sweet as can be until you come after her with a piller.

That's my life right now in a nutshell, and that's not even the half of it. The good news is that I'm still running and hitting new and exciting milestones every week. I'm going to do a post on that hopefully tomorrow, barring any unforeseen toe-nail ripping. I also have a fun and creative new endeavor that I'm working on that I hope to share with you all this week.

Thanks for all your kind comments, and please do not be offended if I haven't been able to visit your blog in a while! As you can tell, things are pretty hectic here. Have a great day everyone :)