It's the most wonderful time of the year!

As most of you know, this Christmas Eve signified a new chapter in my life. Jamaal asked me to marry him, and I said yes!

We have been together for 3-1/2 years now, and I honestly didn't think I would be too excited for an engagement. It is not that I didn't want to get married, I just did not think that an engagement would change anything. We live together and have now for a year, and I did not expect an engagement to change anything. Nor do I think a marriage will change much.

However, I was so excited when I saw the ring. I am now getting teary watching shows like "Say Yes to the Dress" (a show on TLC that follows brides to be as they search for their perfect wedding dress and a higher end dress store.) I also find myself getting teary as I think of the people I wish I could have shared this day with. My mom's parents, my dad's dad, and even my living grandma, who does not like to travel anymore, so I know she will not make it to my wedding.

So I guess I was wrong originally. The engagement did mean a lot to me, and has changed some things. I feel closer to him, which is crazy because like I said, not much has really change. There is now a new ring on my finger, and I'm allowed to look and contact people who might participate in our special day. Before, I had to hide the fact that I was looking up things. :D He knew what I was doing though. I guess one thing is changing: the world outside of our relationship, is beginning to recognize us as something that is socially acceptable. I am now not just Jamaal's girlfriend, I am his future wife. I am now almost family. One of his many Aunt's said "Now you're almost real family" after the announcement to his side of the family on Christmas Day. I was kind of offended at first, but I realize that she's right. My mom has said something similar about Jamaal. The engagement signifies our commitment to each other, and to our families. My nephews won't call us "Auntie Aubri and Jamaal." We will be "Auntie Aubri and Uncle Jamaal" (which sounds so weird!!)

I imagine that the wedding will change more than I originally thought, just as the engagement has changed things in ways I wasn't expecting.

So now on the fun part, the details...I'm sure that that is really what people wanted to hear about anyway, so I made you wade through the other boring stuff first. ;)

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Christmas Eve, Jamaal and I were having a very relaxing evening downstairs. He was playing video games, and I was watching as I made boxes out of paper to wrap gift cards in. (I was feeling pretty overwhelmed because I wanted to make 9 boxes, and it was taking me much longer than I thought it would.) I had 3-1/2 done when Jamaal went to let the girls inside.

Now I have to go on a tangent. As you recall, last Monday I stayed at the hospital overnight. When the girls were left alone while Jamaal was at work, they decided to be bad. Bacardi pulled down a brand new, 5 pound bag of flour, chewed a hole in the bag, and pulled it around the kitchen getting flour everywhere!!

The flour trail...this looks better than it truly was. We still have some flour residue on the floor, and on the walls, and on the cupboards, and on the stove....they must have had fun!

Bella with her floury beard!

"It wasn't me." The proof on her nose...

Both girls had flour on their noses, Jamaal gave them both baths, but the flour stayed in Bella's "beard" and face hairs. And since it got wet in the shower it formed a sort of plaster in her hairs. And being the dog that she is, the plaster gathered dirt so that she had a pretty ugly face.

So back now to the story.

As I was saying, Jamaal went to let the girls inside, and I was left downstairs working on the paper boxes. I heard Jamaal say "want a treat, Bella?" and "what's on your face?"

A little later, Jamaal called down the stairs and said "Call your dog, she's got something on her face." I called, and she came down the stairs, and I thought, "Hmm, her face looks the same to me. It has the same flour mess...maybe I'm missing something"

Because details tend to get missed by me...

I asked "Is there something different about her face" but I kind of trailed off at that moment, because I saw what I was supposed to see. Two shiny rings dangling from a ribbon tied around her neck. Jamaal came down the stairs and knelt next to me, as I asked "What's this around your neck, Bella?" Since I was crafting I had scissors nearby, so I snipped the ribbon and took the rings off. It is kind of funny because he never asked "will you marry me?" Instead I kind of played around and said "Are these Bella's rings?"

He called me a brat, and said they were wedding rings, and kissed me. It was fun. I unfortunately was in my pajamas still at the time from the night before, so I wasn't much up for picture time.

The rings (the engagement ring and the wedding band) were too big for my petite fingers so I had to wear them on a necklace all of Christmas day so that people could see them. I had to leave them overnight at the jewelers to have them sized to a 4-3/4 from a 7! I missed them both dearly, but did not want to lose them, my wise friend Kristina told me so...

While I was at the jewelers I also left a ring that Jamaal gave me for our 6th month anniversary that I lost a teensy diamond out of, they also cleaned it and made it soooo shiny it looks like a brand new ring. :D

I'm dreaming of a rainy christmas...

Much like the ones I used to know.

I am getting tired of the snow. It is currently snowing outside...adding to the foot of snow we already had. My mom says it is raining in federal way, so I'm hoping the rain comes soon. But I'm doubtful.

So on monday morning I went to work 3 hours late, the reason was that the snow was so deep I couldnt get out of my neighborhood. I have hills all over the place and they do not plow them either. So I needed to wait until other people had driven before attempting to go to work. I-5 was clear once I got there, but when I got to montlake, right by the hospital it was a mess again. I felt out of control a lot when driving from the exit to the parking lot I am supposed to park in. The bad news is that when I went into my parking lot, there was even more snow than on the road. And since there was so much snow, the cars were parking crooked so that it was difficult to get through them to park. So I went to a parking long that I'm technically not supposed to park in, and when I tried to maneuver the car, the front tires (front-wheel drive van) started spinning. I was stuck, and in the wrong parking lot. So I called security and they tell me I could have parked in a parking garage! Annoying....

Anyway, because of how messy it was getting in, I decided I didnt want to go home after 12 hours of work, and just wanted to sleep at the hospital. They set some people up in the Inn (a hotel) but they had to share a room. I was set up in the Crow's nest, which is where the residents go to sleep when they are on call, or just need a nap. It is like a very stingy dorm. The rooms are big enough to fit a small twin bed with about 3 feet around 2 sides of the bed. It smelt old up there. I was pretty cold, there was a baseboard heater, that was turned all the way up, but it didn't do much, and I had 3 hospital blankets (which are very light anyway) and my sweatshirt on with hood up. I got comfy enough to sleep.

It was not that bad. It sucked to stay at the hospital and then have to wear hospital issue blue scrubs all day (I like my colors) and feel disgusting from not showering, but it was better than facing the roads again.

On tuesday, I was given time off for my last 4 hours, but my charge made me stay for 1.5 hours to make sure things were settled (it was stupid, but whatever). And remember folks that my van was stuck in the parking lot on monday when I got there.

I remembered how much snow there was, and I brought a fractionated bed pan (visit the link for a picture and a little information about them; we use them for hip patients who aren't supposed to bend at the hip very far. and some others who can't handle the height of standard issue bed pan.) to help dig myself out. It worked well as a shovel, but it didnt matter how much I dug, (i could see the pavement) my tires would continue to spin. They were on patches of snow that had been compacted into ice...

When I realized I needed more help, I called the University Police, and an operator there told me they might be able to help, they would send someone with sand to help give me traction. About an hour later someone came. He put sand on my front tires, and still they continued to spin, so while I was pushing the gas a touch, (in reverse) he pushed from the front to help get me off that patch. It worked and away I went!

It was a very stressful event. All I wanted was to go home! I now have 7 days off and will be able to do some much needed relaxing! :D

SNOW!!

So yesterday we got quite a bit of snow at my house...but when I woke up we had only a sprinkling of snow. I had to go to work, and since we had so little snow, I thought "there probably isn't much snow in Seattle either..." I was soooo wrong. It took me 2 hours to get to work, and it normally takes about 30 minutes in traffic...I got on the freeway and shortly after everyone was stopped. It was a parking lot. I kept calling in to work, "I'm coming but it will take me a while..." I desperately wanted to turn around and go back home, because the more north I went the more snow there was. But after the boeing field, there are no exits that look safe to take. They all go uphill, steeply, and that means also downhill steeply. Many of the exits I passed were closed because of the snow....

So I just kept going. Once I got to work, I was like well, I might as well stay. Jamaal called me at noon saying that we were getting a lot of snow at home, and I should have just turned around and went home once I got to work. I asked him how was that helpful now...? It was done, I was at work...calling me to tell me how terrible it was out, wasn't going to help me. Fortunately I was only working an 8 hour shift, (but since I got there at 0830 (1.5 hours late) I only really worked for 7 hours.) That meant that I could get home before it got dark.

If you've been to my house, you know that it is set on a very steep hill. Our driveway is a hill. Our driveway goes out to a hill near the top of it, so pretty much, you have to go up a hill to get to our house. Well I knew I would not even try to go up it in my van. My plan was to park at the park and ride near our house. But Jamaal didn't want the van to sit there for a day...so he made me drive to his work instead. Which was very scary too....I made it no problem. But had probably 10 anxiety attacks during the drive.

Now I have to go to work tomorrow and I don't know how I'm going to get my van to go to work...

So here I am stranded at my house, with my girls...my little arctic fox, loves the snow, she is a perfect snow dog. Bella on the other hand, likes the snow, but can only take so much before she is waiting at the door. I think she is just a touch cold...

Bacardi scratching at the door to go out...
Bella in the snow

Our big backyard...

Where's Bacardi at??? She must have found an apple to eat...or poop...or something gross, I choose to be ignorant...

Can you find her? She's actually pooping here, but she looked so cute peeking from behind a tree I couldn't resist...

Hop hop hopping!

Prints on my porch...

I'm baaaaack....

Well last you heard from me I was sick...and I was going to finish the story of my Thanksgiving day. I was sick for 2.5 weeks. I had fevers off an on for a week and a half. It was so concerning to me that I actually went to the doctor for it. I wanted to make sure I didn't have an ear infection or anything that required antibiotics. She told me that I had a cold, and if it didn't start to go away in a few days that I should fill a prescription for an antibiotic. (I probably should have gotten that antibiotic, because a few days turned into a week) But my immune system is now stronger for all that work! :D This week was the first week that I actually felt better. I could breathe through my nose again (at times) and I didn't have too terrible of a cough. I was coughing up greenish yellow junk, but now it is mostly just gelantinized clear phlegm. I hope no one was eating, or thinking about eating while reading this. (unless you are a nurse, in that case you don't care!) Many people at work are now sick. I ended up calling in ill once and calling off my last 4 hours of a 12 hour shift one day. Being sick ate up my benefit time! :D I want that time for important things like a honeymoon and maternity leave, and heaven forbid a possible surgery.

So I'm hoping that now, I've gotten this whole being sick thing out of my system, and it won't happen again for me in like a year or more! :D

On to my Thanksgiving adventures. Once we were all finished with dinner at my parents house, I got out a few costumes I had purchased at Target for $2.50 each....

Bella, as Mrs. Claws and Shadow as a very sensitive reindeer. (You'll see what I mean in a few pictures)

Shadow and Bacardi, the Christmas Elf.

Bacardi the Christmas Elf. She was the best poser there. She is usually all over the place but once the costume was on she calmed right down.


Here she looks very hoity toity. Like, "I am too good for the likes of you". Either that or she is glaring at some one...."take this ugly thing off of me!"


Bella jumping for joy! "I am so excited for Christmas Mom!"

Shadow is fine as a reindeer, as long has her hood isn't on...
Once the hood goes on, she pouts. "you are laughing at me not with me!" She literally will lay down and stay there until someone feels bad enough to take the hood off of her. She can't see so she just gives up..."nobody likes me everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms..."

Bacardi is looking up at my mom...."please help Shadow with her hood..."



Bella checking Shadow out. It was really funny...once all of the costumes were on. The dogs had to sniff each others butts to make sure they weren't eaten by an elf, deer or lady...

They did much better with the costumes on than I was expecting. It was very entertaining....

I never get sick

Never! But for some reason this week I decided to catch a cold...On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I was fine all day at work until 5pm exactly, when, I started sneezing like crazy. (Now I do sneeze crazily all the time, I sound like a poodle, or a small dog barking.) But this was different. I could not stop, and when I did I only had like a 5 minute break in between bunches of sneezes. My throat felt itchy, and my nose was running. I thought that it was an allergic reaction, but on thanksgiving morning I felt just as bad. I thought that I should call in sick, but I thought that if I did the unit would be short staffed, and it is hard to get people to come in on a holiday. So I was going to truck on through. Sick or not. At 0620, as I was saying to myself "Aubri, you need to get going." My cell phone rang. I've said this before but when my phone rings that early, I know it is work calling to say stay home! I was so thankful! I was not fit to be working, because not only was I sick, but I was also sore from working out. And when you have a cold, aches and pains seem so much worse.

I was also thankful, because this meant that I would be able to see Jamaal's family as well for Thanksgiving. Since I was going to be working we decided that he would meet me at my parent's house after he had already been to his grandma's house in Tacoma. I was not looking forward to driving all by myself from work, to my house to change, and then on to my parents house, and then driving home again.

As it was, I was able to go with Jamaal and his brother to my parent's house first to drop off the girls (I did not want the girls to be left alone all day on Thanksgiving!) then, we went to Jamaal's parent's house to drop off his brother's luggage (Jamaal picked him up from the airport at midnight the night before) and meet up with their parents. And off we went to grandma's house. Jamaal's mom has 8 brothers and sisters, and most of them were there at one point in time, I think one brother did not come. You can imagine that he has a ton of family, many many cousins, and I still have a hard time keeping them straight. (even after 3 years!) I know the ones I see the most. Anyway it was a good time. Jamaal's dad made the turkeys and they were fabulous! So juicy and he seasoned it well.

Off we went to my parents house after a few hours at grandma's. My mom was mad at me for not calling her when I found out I wasn't working. (It was 0620 and I thought that I didn't want to wake them up) Besides I sent an email to my dad telling him the story because he usually gets up at like 0600 even on days when he does not work. Well she did not get the memo...and she was upset with me...even though I told her that even though I was not working I would probably get to her house around the same time as if I had worked since we went to Grandma's...

Anyway she got over it quickly, and we had a good meal there with my parents and my aunt. (I say "we" but I was the only one who ate. I just had turkey and a roll at Grandma's house, because I told my parents I would eat with them. Jamaal ate at Grandma's.)

By the time I got to my parent's house, I was really beginning to notice my cold. And my arms and shoulders were so sore I was beginning to be miserable!

I will show some pictures later, but all in all, it was a good night. I had the worst time trying to fall asleep, but the benedryl I took helped a lot. The rest of the story will come, I just keep walking away from this post, and now it is time for bed...

On my way to being Chemo certified!

Well today was the last day of a 2 day course on chemotherapy. The course was rough: we trucked through a 1 inch thick (at least) book in less than 12 hours. And then, to make matters more stressful, in order to become certified, you must take a test at the end of the second day.

Fortunately it was open book, but if you don't know the book very well, it would be difficult to find the answers in 90 minutes. 50 questions total, and you can only miss 10!

I was nervous in anticipation, but I had faith that I would pass it.

Oddly enough I was reminded of college. And how much stress it was to prepare for tests. How I often felt nervous before the test, only to have relief directly after the test. Most of the time I did well. Better than I felt I would do before the test.

And today was no different. Last night I went over all my notes in my book, and reorganized. They gave post-its that were the small ones, but bigger than a simple skinny tab. And it was a mess. I couldnt read anything because they overlapped. So I used my skinny tabs, made sure they didn't overlap, and went crazy. Mostly I did it so I would know the book, and would know where to find things.

It paid off. I missed 2 questions. One of which was obvious afterwards, it was one of the first questions and had I gone over it before turning it in, I would have caught it. But since i looked up pretty much every answer, I didn't want to go over the questions again.

What a sigh of relief!

Now, all I have left is a "skills day" on december 5th where we will go over the how-to's and have a more hands on day for chemo administration.

That means I have a good two weeks before I actually start giving chemotherapy on the floor. Which gives me time to absorb and review the information and get used to the idea of administering toxins to people...

TMI post follows...

So you will probably think this is TMI, but don't say I didn't warn you...



Yesterday at work, I was having bladder spasms. Not too often. Just once in a while it would happen more often if I leaned forward while in a sitting position. The spasms were terrible though, the pain would shoot up from my bladder up through my sternum (the middle cartilage/bone in your chest...). From that I knew I had a bladder infection.

The weird thing is that that was the only symptom I had. (Except for a dull pain in my bladder while driving home from work) Normally there is pain or burning with urination, feeling like you have to pee all the time,

I knew I had to do something. So I called my doctor, who is located in Federal Way, during my commute home after work. It was 4pm when I called them. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it to Federal Way thursday or friday, so I opted for an appointment on saturday of this week. When I was talking with the receptionist, however she mentioned that they accept walk-ins for things like bladder infections, but they only accept walk-ins until 4:30pm. I settled for an appointment at 9am on saturday.

The more I drove, the more my bladder hurt. The more I thought "what if I wait until saturday and the infection moves to my kidneys? what if I need to be admitted to the hospital? what if I have to have fluids and IV antibiotics, and I have to call Jamaal to bring in stamping supplies to me so I'm not bored...what if..." You see my point? Mostly only a nurse would think like that...or someone who is familiar with the way these things go...

So I decide that I am going to try to make it to federal way from seattle by 4:30. Traffic was on my side. It was at least moving. (unlike today, which is a completely different story!) But by the time I hit the 320th exit, it was nearly 4:30. My exit was the next one after that. And it would probably take 5-8 minutes for me to get to my clinic. So I decide, I'll call the clinic and ask if I could get squeezed in. The receptionist checked with the "nurse" (I say it in quotes because they call medical assistants nurses...which appalls me, only because I have worked hard for my title...) and it was okay for me to squeeze in just after 4:30. (it was 4:33 when I arrived at the clinic.)

Peed in a cup, and sure enough it was positive. So the MA, asked if I wanted to fill my Rx here or at my pharmacy. I asked if there was a difference, and since there wasn't much of one, opted to take my Rx from the clinic.

She left me in a room, and I thought..."crap, I hope they don't only have Penicillin drugs or sulfa drugs" and she came back only to say, "what we have here, you are allergic to."

I guess I could have predicted that!

So now I am on an antibiotic for 7 days? or perhaps 14 days...BID.

Yesterday I felt terrible. I was fatigued, so much so that I wanted to go to bed at 8pm. But I stayed awake 1 hour longer to get something done. My bladder was sore, and I had a few more spasms. But I was definately not up to snuff. Today I feel better, the pain isn't as bad, but I still notice it. Fortunately I had my chemo class today, which made me drink plenty of water, and go to the bathroom often!

I hope my symptoms are gone tomorrow! That would just be wonderful...although now I am feeling slightly nauseated from the antibiotics...you just can't win I guess!

How I got my bladder infection: At work, I "forget" to pee. I get busy with patients' tasks, and multiple requests, that I forget about my own needs. So I end up going from 7am to 1 or 2 pm without peeing. So that means the urine sat in my bladder, and some sort of bacteria snuck it's way up my urethra, and grew a huge family of bacteria.

This is why it is important to pee often Ladies!! :D

One of my new favorite things...

Recently I've been told that high fructose corn syrup is bad for you. Like terrible for you. (the research right now is kind of in the middle. Some say it's bad for you, some say it isn't any worse than plain sugar...) But I decided that it probably isn't the best for me...and have been trying to limit my intake of high fructose corn syrup.

Do you know how hard that is? Have you looked at your labels lately?? Bread...has high fructose corn syrup in it (unless you buy organic or Frans, or some "healthy" brands) However even some healthy brands have high fructose corn syrup in it...

Meanwhile, I love granola bars. I really do. They are perfect for eating after work on my commute (20-45minutes depending on the time of day) home. I looked on the boxes of some of the ones I had purchased, and both of them had high fructose corn syrup in them! What a pain....I still ate them, and enjoyed them!

My verdict is that if there are nuts and dried fruit together I am in heaven. It is like so scrumptious!

A lady at work, who happens to have quite a few food sensitivities, to the point where she tries to avoid them all together, is trying to get me to eat smarter. She was disgusted in my choice of yogurt: Yoplait Light, thick and creamy. It has, yes you guessed it, high fructose corn syrup! So I have been trying all kinds of yogurt to find one I can stand. My favorite has been Tillamook Light yogurt. It has no high fructose corn syrup! Some of the yogurts I tried made me want to vomit...

I think she is making it her mission to fix me. :D Not really, but after the yogurt fiasco, she brought in a dish that I asked "what is that?" And she replied: "quinoa (kin-wa)" I stared blankly, and next time I saw her she brought me a ziploc with some quinoa in it!! (which I used in my vegetable soup recipe! And I also bought some today at the store, because it wasn't too bad!) Well she brings a Larabar to work ever so often, and I looked at the label and it said:

Ingredients: Cashews, Dates

That's it. So simple. So clean. So natural.

These suckers run pretty pricey...I bought some today for $1.79 a piece. More than I like to spend on a bar...but I thought, it will be worth it.

I tried the Cashew Cookie, and it was fabulous! Nuts and dried fruit! All I ever asked for in a bar!

I'm going to be on a look out for larabars on sale. Perhaps in bulk? I love me some granola bars...but in this case hold the granola!

It would be worth your while to try these lovely bars! They are really quite a great find! :D

This week...

Tomorrow is my monday, I work two 12-hour shifts on the floor and then on thursday and friday I have chemo class.

**Addendum: I lied, I work one 12 hour shift, and one eight hour shift, then I have class on thursday and friday...***

On my floor, we have sarcoma patients. You might remember this from my first post. Sarcoma is a type of cancer, and can be treated with chemo, radiation, and excision. Usually a combination of treatments is used.

Since I have been on the floor for a year now, I will be going to chemo class, so that I can take care of the chemo patients on our floor. It is going to be a stressful time. But exciting as well, I get to really understand the sarcoma patients, and they are quickly becoming my favorite patients. It is draining emotionally, but since they come to us for both chemotherapy and surgical excisions, we really get to know the patients and become a sort of family. (I've thought about eventually doing pediatric oncology in the future...) Kids with cancer, is what that means.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Veggie Soup

Today was a soup day. It was going to be a bread day as well, but when I was in the store looking at yeast I thought "I have yeast at home" and put it back. But when I got home I could not find the yeast. It is either hiding from me, or I didn't really buy it like I thought. Now I have some bread flour, for that day when I really do buy some yeast....


You will notice that this recipe is VERY flexible...


Aubri's Vegetable Soup
Ingredients:
-32 oz Chicken broth (I use 100% fat free reduce sodium)
-6 oz tomato paste (I don't use the entire can, probably 2/3 it would be okay with the whole can in it though)
-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (I use it the tomatoes with green chilies to add a little kick, but you don't have to)
-12 oz bag of broccoli and cauliflower florets (you can cut broccoli crowns and cauliflower yourself, I was being lazy.)
-1 clove of garlic minced fine
-1 tsp pepper
-2 tsp oregano
-1/2 head of a small green cabbage
-1 cup quinoa (pronounced kin-wa) cooked (it is a grain similar to rice)
-8 oz can of green beans

1. In a large pot, mix most of the ingredients except the quinoa, cabbage, and green beans (if canned, if the green beans are fresh, add them now.)
2. Cover and cook on medium for 10-15 minutes. Add the cabbage.
3. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. (If broccoli and carrots are soft enough for you, add the green beans and quinoa and cook for 5-10 minutes) If not, continue to cook until they are the right texture.
4. Add the quinoa and green beans in the last 5-10 minutes of cooking.

Enjoy! It is very simple. You can substitute many different things in this recipe....I was going to put onions in it but I forgot. But don't worry there was so much else in it, I did not miss them! :D

Sorry, no pictures. The camera battery is dead, and I keep forgetting to charge it!

It's been a while...

So just to post something, I thought I'd share my mom's potato salad recipe.

It is my favorite potato salad, for many reasons, but two are the following:
#1 it has NO onions in it.
#2 my mom makes it.

So this is a quick one for you, no real directions here:

My Mom's Famous Potato Salad
Ingredients
-Potatoes, boiled to the desired softness (firm is best) you can use russet potatoes, white, yellow or red. Remove skins before boiling, or after whichever.
-Bacon bits, (fry or bake thin, short strips of bacon)
-small cubes of cheddar cheese
-small cubes of dill pickles
-hard boiled eggs cut into cubes
The dressing is simply mayo and yellow mustard with some salt and pepper. I don't quite know the ratio, I always use the "taste test" method, meaning I dip a piece of potato in to see if it is right...it is easiest to salt and pepper the dressing before mixing with the ingredients. The color of the dressing should not be as bright as a yellow school bus, but not as pale as a cream color.

Apple, Apple, who wants an Apple?

People keep commenting on our apple trees. We have 3 right now...at the house we are renting. It could be great, except when I first noticed apples getting ripe, I also noticed holes on the apple. Every single apple had some sort of worm or bug living in it. I guess I could have sprayed them with some kind of bug killer...but that kind of defeats the purpose of having homegrown apples right? Anyway, now look at our backyard. The ground is covered in apples. And with 3 BOUNTIFUL apple trees, that sums to a ton of apples. Anyone want to come and rake them up for me? And then once raked, will you please cart them away to the nearest compost/yard waste facility? Please?

My girls, enjoying the apples. The fiber should be good for them, right? At least someone gets to enjoy them. Oh well, I guess the squirrels also enjoy the apples, the squirrels also love to bring the apples onto our porch and gnaw them to mulch.

There have been a couple deaths in our family...

***Just a warning: Some of these images are graphic, and are perhaps not appropriate for children or stuffed animal lovers. ***

Don't say I didn't warn you...

One day, I came home to find poor Octopus, murdered in his own home!

It was a terrible sight! Stuffing and beads galore.
And the killer stood by, wagging her tail and acting excited to see me. (However when the broom came out, she and her accomplice were worried and hid from me.)

(I promise, we have never hit them with the broom, it is just a large scary object that has probably fallen too many times with them nearby. It probably doesn't help that they often get in trouble, and then the broom comes out to clean up after them...)

Probably a more traumatic event was the death of Pig. Pig has been a strong, loyal and true companion for Bella. He has been with us since May 2007, when I got Bella. At first, Bella didn't know what to do with Pig. He was about the same size as she, so she was barely able to sink her teeth into his plump arms and legs. Eventually Bella realized Pig's beauty and would walk around with him in her mouth whining, until she could find the perfect hiding place for him. He would hide for a while, until she remembered where he was hiding, or until I asked "Where's Pig?" whichever came first. She would search high and low for Pig, until again he was in her mouth and she was whining. On this fateful day, Jamaal left Pig with both Bella and Bacardi, which was a mistake. Bacardi goes into "destroy" mode when left alone, and Pig didn't stand a chance against her. So now Pig isn't nearly as plump, but Bella seems to still enjoy his company.

Bella and deflated Pig. (He is completely empty now...)

I had to go to the store to buy new bones for the girls, as you can see, the top bone is a brand new bone, the bottom is a used one. It has been loved.

Bella gnawing on a bone.

Bacardi's new Witch ball. She likes it...
Can you tell what this is?

This time, Bella is the guilty party. Bacardi was outside....

Can you tell yet? It is a tea bag. There were 4 partially chewed Orange Pekoe tea bags on the kitchen floor. Fortunately it was in the kitchen...This is not the first time we have found tea bags chewed and littering our floors. I have found tea grounds on my Bella's beard...that beard has helped us to see who did what many a time. Cinnamon and frosting has been in Beller's beard before. Bacardi has a little more leeway with that, it's easier for her to clean her face up....

Here is a video of my babes...(I hope it works)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XZ1AfoHF8g

Post #50

The other day, I was at my mom's house visiting. She babysits my nephews on tuesdays and thursdays after school. So there I was, watching my youngest nephew play Wii Sports...I honestly wish I could have it on a video for you...it was hilarious!



He was boxing...and while playing, he kicked his feet, punched his arms, turned in circles, and said things like "I'm a rockstar!"



He said "I need to take my shirt off" because the boxing guy had no shirt on.

He made my day.

A little, quick poem

Connor
The little scrawny 4 year old
Shirt off
Nearly out of breath
jumping
kicking
and punching the air.
Calls himself a rockstar.
I cringe because
He is becoming such a young man.

Have you heard this song?

"Laughed Until we Cried" by Jason Aldean

Goin’ through my closet the other day
I found an old yearbook
Flipped right to the page of that senior trip
Down there on that Panama strip
We all started yellin’ when we smelled the beach
Couldn't wait to try our fake I.D.’s
We only had a few days
And a whole lot of memories to make

Oh man we were livin’
Didn't waste one minute
We talked and drank and danced and said goodbye
We laughed until we cried

This past year my family
Was sittin’ cross-legged 'round the Christmas tree
Listenin’ to granddad
We all knew it probably be his last
He was crackin’ jokes and we were takin’ turns
Tellin’ stories ‘bout fishin’ or lessons learned
Out on the porch with him
We all felt like kids again

Oh man we were livin
Sittin' there reminiscin'
We sang and talked and traveled back in time
We laughed until we cried

It's like the best days under the sun
Every emotion rolled into one
A little of this a little of that
Kinda happy kinda sad

Just the other night the baby was cryin’
So I got out of bed rocked her awhile
And I held her tight
And I told her it would be all right
And my mind went back to a few years ago
When we tried so long
We almost gave up hope
And I remember you
Comin' in and tellin’ me the news

Oh man we were livin’
Goin’ crazy in the kitchen
We danced and screamed and held each other tight
We laughed until we cried

_________________
The other day I kind of started to freak out. But first some background:

In high school, my periods were infrequent. I would go about 2-3 months without having a period. And then I would have a period that would last about a week or so. At first I liked having a 2-3 month window. But then it started to bother me. I would never know when my period would start...and it always seemed that it would start when I wasn't expecting it to.

So I went and saw my doctor (I believe I was in college at the time probably sophomore year) and he ran some tests. He thought that I had polycystic ovary disease but they only symptom I had was infrequent periods. I didn't have severe acne, or facial hair. So he drew some labs and noticed that my hormones were opposite from where they should be. (At the time I didn't know anything about hormones, so I don't know what hormones he was talking about, nor do I know the results.)

But my doctor did say: "you might have a hard time getting pregnant" and "we will face that when you are trying to get pregnant."

He prescribed birth control pills to help make my periods regular, predictable, and shorter.

Now, I am realizing that I'm starting to get old. I will be 30 in no time at all. And I don't know if I'm going to be able to get pregnant on my own.

A friend of mine from nursing school posted a post on myspace the other day: she's pregnant again. She got married shortly after graduating from nursing school, and even though they didn't purposefully try to get pregnant, they did. Then, with her baby 5 months old, while using both BCP and condoms, they got pregnant again!

I am happy for her, (she is still getting used to the idea of being pregnant again) but so jealous that it came so easy for her. (And I do not want to be pregnant with a 5 month old ideally my kids will turn 2 years old before a new addition) But like I said she didn't mean to become pregnant that quickly...it just happened.

I am not actively trying right now. I don't have enough leave for work yet. I don't think we could afford none of my paychecks coming in. I would like to be living in a new house and married before we start trying, but Jamaal isn't sure that we will be able to afford to move yet. So he wants to stay where we are for another year....and so we are throwing money away waiting...we are throwing precious time away waiting...

and I leave you with some more lyrics:

"You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins

She was staring out the window
Of their SUV
Complaining, saying,
I cant wait to turn 18
She said, "I'll make my own money"
And I'll make my own rules"
Mama put the car in park
Out there in front of the school
And she kissed her head
And said 'I was just like you"

You're going to miss this
You're going to want this back
You're going to wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're going to miss this

Before she knows it
She's a brand new bride
In her one bedroom apartment
And her daddy stops by
He tells her "It's a nice place"
She says "It'll do for now"
Starts talking about babies
And buying a house
Daddy shakes his head
And says "Baby just slow down"

Cause
You're going to miss this
You're going to want this back
You're going to wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're going to miss this

Five years later
There's a plumber
Working on the water heater
Dogs barking, phones ringing
One kids crying, one kids screaming
She keeps apologizing
He says "They don't bother me.
I've got two babies of my own.
One's 36, one's 23.
It's hard to believe..."

But
You're going to miss this
You're going to want this back
You're going to wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're going to miss this
You're going to miss this
Yeah you're going to miss this

______________
It's too bad Jamaal doesn't like country music...because it is the soundtrack of my life...

This is love

After dinner tonight I asked Jamaal "what do you want to do tonight?" It was 7pm, which seemed early to me. Today is my Friday, so I have 2 days off, and I want to get started on a project. So when he said, "I don't know what do you want to do?" I said...

"I want to go buy fabric."

He looked at me, I was in my pajamas, and said "you're in your pajamas."

Of course, I said "I can change my clothes."

And he said "well hurry up before I change my mind."

So I got dressed quickly, waited for him to finish messing with his fantasy football league, and we were off.

The boy was bored the whole time. He didn't really have any opinions for me, he played games on his phone while following me around, but he went. He didn't really complain except when I asked him to watch the cart while I looked for something else...there was a line of like 6-7 people to get fabric cut. I guess it's kind of popular right now to buy fabric with Halloween coming up.

But that is love. He knew he would hate the trip. I knew he would hate the trip, but he went anyway to keep me company.

I would love to share with you the fabric I got, but I wont be able to for a few more months. I'll be taking pictures as I work, and will show you in a huge, blow out, ginormous post!

So I guess you can look forward to that!...

Be jealous...two great things to be jealous about!

Today I woke up at 5:15, decided that was way too early, and that I would go to work without taking a shower today (I didn't take a shower yesterday either so I was going to just grin and bear it.) That 30 extra minutes was worth it. So I have 2 alarms on my phone, one to wake up, and one to leave the house. The latter goes off at 0600 and I need to leave by 0615 or 0620. So my alarm had gone off, and I put my phone in my front scrub pocket, and I feel my phone vibrating...I look and it is work calling me!

When work calls two thoughts go through my head, do I reject the call? or do I accept the call? Many times I will reject the call. However, since they couldn't be calling me in to work, I knew they must be calling me off of work!! Sure enough I got the day off. :D It was a perfect day for that, because Jamaal has the day off, and yesterday he told me that he was going to be going to see his parents and go and see Kevin...and I got a bit jealous. (Even though I get to do what I want on my days off, I wanted to go see his parents and Kevin too!) I also wasn't looking forward to some of the work I was expecting to do. I didn't really have time to start the paperwork for discharging a few patients, and most likely the night shift wouldn't have had time either, so I was expecting a very busy day. I still have to go to work tomorrow, but I love the surprise days off!

Before I accepted the time off I asked Jamaal if I could go with him today. (He of course said yes!)

I slept in until 1000 today! It felt good to sleep, but I didn't mean to sleep that long. However I think Jamaal woke up only a few minutes before me...15-30 I would guess. I don't wake up very easy so it's hard for me to say.
_______________

Well Jamaal got the new Google Phone (the link takes you to T-mobile.com, the google phone is all over it...) a week or two ago, and he loves it. I saw it and got completely jealous. I could update my blog on that phone. I could have a decent calendar on that phone. I could totally be cool with that phone! ;) So I think the day after I saw Jamaal's phone, I ordered mine. :D It will be here on Thursday, which can't come soon enough.

I'll be able to place orders for workshops on that phone, I think at least...and that will just make my day!

Those girls are at it again!

Well I wanted to have pictures for this post, but a lot of the things I will mention here, it is too late for pictures...

You might remember that Bacardi is a problem child...if you don't here is a post about her!

She has since pulled down an aluminum tray with pasta from a table in the kitchen, and eaten it all (Bella helped to eat it).

I found a chewed wood block from one of my stamp sets with the rubber stamp missing...the rubber was found not too far from the block unscathed, so the girls have lived to see another day. My Upline knows a lady who doesn't use her wood blocks for her SU! stamps...It is still unknown which girl was the culprit, I believe Bella did this one...

Bacardi has eaten 3 plastic cups that are usually used to put dog food into their bowls (we have gone through 3 of them because she keeps eating them...) They were 5/$1.00 at walmart...

There is a nice, fresh, area of newly dug dirt by the walkway in the back yard that seems to grow every day. And for some strange reason my girls' paws seem to get dirtier and dirtier every time they come in from outside.

I have had to throw out approximately 15 pairs of underwear, because underwear gnomes have chewed holes in them!

Bacardi pulled down a box with 5 donuts in it and ate all 5 donuts! Jamaal was pissed because he didn't get a single one. I had one that morning and stupidly left it on the table in the kitchen. She gets locked up in the kitchen during the day, and Jamaal thought they weren't opened so he didn't move them. (I think she would have gotten the donuts out either way opened or not.)

I think that kids are easier to discipline and handle than these darn dogs are! We will be so prepared for a little babe because of these two bratfaces! (Bratface is a term of endearment that I use often with my girls...they like it)

Goals, goals, goals...

So lately I've been feeling pretty crummy. I haven't gained weight, but I feel like I have. And I've realized that I feel so terrible, because I haven't been to the gym in nearly 2 months!!

Night shift screwed me all up. I was doing really well, but then I started to just get tired, and I was able to find an excuse to not go.

Today, I went to the gym and upgraded so that I can go to multiple clubs. I have been travelling to Renton, because at the time, it was the closest club. They opened a club in Tukwila, about a 5 minute drive from my house, probably 10 minute walk, in June, but I really liked my personal trainer so I stayed at Renton. Now, I still like my personal trainer (even though he didnt call me to make me go train) but will only have to go to the Renton club on the days I train, or when I'm in the area.

So here are a few of my goals, I need someone to hold me accountable. (although already I feel much better and I just worked out today...)

1. Drink more water. I need to get a water bottle so I can keep track of how much I'm drinking. But I want to drink at least 2 liters every day.
2. Work out 3 days per week. Right now that is realistic for me. When I work 12 hour days, I don't have much more energy to make myself go to the gym too. However, I am going to attempt to go to the gym before work this Wednesday, since my gym is closer I might be able to workout, shower, and leave the gym by 6:15? It opens at 5. I might be able to do it. perhaps I'll only rinse off, and leave my hair and makeup on? We'll see.
3. Snack less at work. I find myself hoping that there will be some kind of cookie or snack left for us in the report room. It is terrible, and instead of eating the apple I brought I reach for the brownie. Last week I started this one...I did better than normal, but still need work.

Well that's all folks! Let me know what healthy things you are currently trying to do...successes and "works in progress" (I wouldn't say failures...) are both welcome!

Politics according to a 4 year old...

So my sis-in-law, Michelle, told this story at dinner tonight:

Connor, my nephew who is 4 years old, was coloring at Michelle's parents house. Michelle came to pick him up after work. He says to her, while coloring: "I want McCain to win. He's a jerk. *pause* I like jerks." And he continued to color. It was so matter of fact.

We all laughed at that story...

He is just growing up so fast. It just breaks my heart. Wesley, 10, made me a card-front with a Stampin' Up! stamp, and he did a pretty good job too! I'll post it on my other blog, eventually....

What happened to the days when we were excited that they colored in the lines? Well I still have that with Connor, but not for long...

Support nothing

The other day I went to Leavenworth with a few friends and we saw this magnet on a tow truck:
I was appalled. I really just think it is tacky, and I personally would not call that tow truck company to tow my car after seeing that magnet.

I hope that someone put the magnet on the tow truck as a joke, instead of the company putting it on their truck.

I get that it is a joke, but to me it isn't a funny one.

Butterflies and Bad dogs

I was just looking at a few pictures on my computer and found this one:

I took this picture when Jamaal, Bret, Joe and I went to Sequim for a weekend. As we were leaving I noticed this butterfly land on a flower. I got several pictures of it, it stayed still for me, and even let me get right next to it! It was gorgeous in person, and I think this picture is a pretty good one!

___________

Jamaal read online that American Eskimos don't mature until age 2, and Bacardi is now only 6 months! She is such a problem child. The other day she took nearly a full loaf of bread down from the counter! and ATE it. She shouldn't be able to reach it! Jamaal said "you should keep things like that out of her reach" !!

She shouldnt be getting things off of the counter in the first place. I thought it was out of her reach! It was definately out of Bella's reach. Besides the fact that she is scared to try to get things down from shelves. We are going to have to do something...Bacardi is quickly becoming a problem child.

PS: Don't forget to check out my crafty blog: ink On the Cardstock!

Two sleeping ladies...

Well as I previously stated, my sleep cycle is all kinds of messed up. I have been ready to go to sleep at like 9pm or in this case, 8pm. Here I am, with Bella on the couch. I had made dinner for Jamaal and I (Monte Cristos, check out the recipe here!) and started watching something, then fell asleep.
Jamaal took this picture, without me even knowing it. (There was a flash). I didnt know that Bella had joined me on the couch, and I woke up to hearing the shower going. I was ridiculously exhausted. But I really think it's an adorable picture... I love my Bellers.

Is there a baby in my future?

The other day I ran into a friend of Jamaal's at Safeway in Federal Way. I had just gone to my ultrasound appointment for my thyroid, and while waiting for my mom to go on her lunch break, I decided to get grocery shopping done. I had forgotten that Kevin, Jamaal's friend (and mine) was now dairy manager at the 320th Safeway. I went around a corner, and almost hit him with my cart.


He asked why I was shopping so far from home (or something a long those lines, basically asked why I was there)


And I replied "I just had an ultrasound and was in the area so I decided to get some grocery shopping done."


We said "see ya!" and went our separate ways.


In the back of my mind I thought, "I'll bet he thinks I'm pregnant." But just kind of shrugged it off.


I asked Jamaal last night if he had talked to Kevin lately, and he said "The last time I talked to Kevin was a couple days after you two ran into each other." I had to pry to get more information.


Jamaal said, "He was like 'So do you have anything you need to tell me?' and I didn't know what he was talking about, and he asked if you were pregnant and I was like No, man. No!"


Hehe...


Next time I'll be sure and specify the body part for my ultrasound. But it was kind of fun how this one turned out. I love that Kevin couldn't ask me at the time, but had to call Jamaal about it later. I can only imagine the conversation Kevin had with is wife...

_______________________

Well I guess I haven't updated about my thyroid drama.

About a month ago I noticed that my thyroid, upon palpation, felt a little bigger than before. So I decided that I needed to see my Thyroid MD again to decide what to do. If you don't remember, read this. So we scheduled an ultrasound, and the radiologist said that he/she didn't see a change in size. My thyroid MD recommended to get another ultrasound in 6 months, and would like to do a biopsy in her office (with much smaller needles) in about 3 months to check things out. I still don't know about that...she says it isn't as traumatic as my experience during my biopsy.

We'll see. The biopsy is starting to not sound that bad...I must be going crazy!

Radio, and Aubrism #2

I was listening to the radio this morning on my way home from work, I believe it was 104.9 a local country station. The hosts were asking random questions to callers, I think for fun. Questions like "Is your second toe longer than your big toe?" The questions were all rather simple. Mostly one word answers.

Well they asked "What kind of stereotype would you describe yourself as?" and the caller said something that no one quite understood. After she repeated it a couple times, the host realized she said "Sony."

Stereotype. Type of stereo. Same thing right? haha! The caller sounded young. And when the hosts laughed, she hung up. I laughed too...it was pretty funny.

It reminded me of a time when I was young. Star 101.5 was asking callers to call in with the "coolest car." Well I thought it was a contest. And I had a brilliant thought, told my mom and said I wanted to call in. So I did.

My "coolest car" idea, was an icecream truck. They didn't know what to say. And I was sad that I didn't win anything....so a part of me felt for this person who responded "sony."

The radio in the morning keeps me entertained!! :D

Who needs sleep anyway?

My sleep cycle is all kinds of messed up! I worked friday night, so Saturday (my day off) I meant to sleep until noon, so that I would have most of saturday to work on WCMD prep. Well I slept in until 4:45pm. (I was exhausted...I accidentally went to work early on monday, so I worked a total of 48 hours in 5 days. Two 12hour shifts and three 8 hour shifts. For me that is a lot. I know people out there do that every week, but it was really exhausting.)

So saturday I wasn't tired again until about 3 am, and even then I kind of had to force myself to go to sleep. So on sunday morning I woke up at 630, and was pretty much awake, but laid in bed for an hour trying to go back to sleep. No dice. So I just got up took my shower and finished getting ready for WCMD. Finally at 1030 I started getting sleepy, but I knew I had guests coming at about 11. I finally got a nap in from about 3pm to 630pm when Jamaal came home.

I was starved and we ordered sandwiches from dominos, ate and talked a bit. Then I fell asleep on the couch again. We went to bed at 930, and when his alarm went off at 700 this morning I was ready to face the day again!

I got out of bed this morning around 730, and now...it's 930...i'm ready for lunch! :D I am so turned around.

Meanwhile tonight I have to work from 7pm to 7am tomorrow. So I better take a little nap before then. (Which is kind of sounding good right now)

Only 4 more night shifts until I am back on the day shift for at LEAST 3 months!! :D

The holiday schedule came out: I'm working days for all of them. I work Thanksgiving day, but have the day after off, and I work New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. That means I have Christmas day and Christmas Eve off!! :D

Last year I was on evening shift, I worked Christmas day, so we had to rush through the opening of the presents fiasco on christmas day, and then I pretty much left afterwards so I didn't really get to play with any of my new toys for a while. Goodness do I hate evening shift!

Tamale Bake

So here is another Aubri creation. It is something I dreamed up about a year ago, and then found out it had already been done. :D So it is really just my twist on Tamale Pie, Tamale Casserole...etc. The picture is on Jamaal's camera, which is probably with him at work right now...




Tamale Bake
Ingredients:
-3/4-pound of ground beef, browned and fat drained off
-1-15 ounce can of white beans (rinsed well)
-1-8.75 ounce can of whole kernel yellow corn, drained
-1-14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes with green chiles
-about a half a packet of taco seasoning
-polenta "chubs"
1. Combine all ingredients except the polenta in the baking dish you will use to cook the dish. I used an 8x8 glass dish. Mix well.
2. Sprinkle the polenta on top. And if desired bury some of it on the bottom. I used the whole "chub" of polenta, but Jamaal thought it was too much. (I didn't).
3. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. Or until browned and bubbling. :D
NOTES:
-Polenta is a corn meal based product. You can buy it dry and make it yourself, or you can buy it in a "chub" haha that cracks me up everytime. Visit : http://www.polenta.net/index.htm. This specific brand is based out of Kent, WA which I find cool! (I have had that kind before and it was great, but this time I happened to be in trader joes, so it was TJ brand...)
-You can buy dried white beans and cook them first yourself...I'm lazy so I reach for the canned stuff.
-You can use ground turkey or chicken if you prefer.
-I used diced tomatoes with green chiles to add a little kick. I don't think they are too spicy, but of course you can use regular diced tomatoes.

Underwear gnomes...

My lovely girls seem to think that the best thing in the house to chew on is my underwear! Clean or dirty, they don't care. They seem to love to make them as holey as possible before we catch them with them in their mouth!

It drives me insane! Now I am quickly running out of underwear. I have to go shopping for some once I get paid on friday because it is getting a little ridiculous around here.

Bacardi will pull the clean ones out of the plastic hamper, through the holes! I just don't understand their obsession. Bella does it too, but usually she just licks more than bites, so if I catch her soon enough there are no holes in my underwear. Bacardi, well I might as well throw it out if she has had it for a millisecond!

Sometimes these girls test me...

Aubri-ism #1

My mom told me today (I had heard this story before) that I was full of wisdom when I was little. For example, one day I said to my mom:

"If we get in a car accident and our heads get cut off we will go to Dr. Alleman and he will change our minds."

Apparently I knew the secret to head transplants at such a young age, and Dr. Alleman was the man for the job! ;)

Speaking of babies...

So at my Aunt and Sis-in-laws' birthday dinner on Monday, the fam and I were talking about babies...I brought up the fact that my mom went bowling the night before I was born (I was born at 3:10am on the 3/23, she bowled the night before...) So apparently she woke my dad up, said "I think we need to go to the hospital" and she called the hospital to warn them that she was coming, so that our doctor (the all famous Dr. Alleman! woot Kristina! (we had the same MD)) could make it for the birth.

Apparently the lady at the hospital asked "How far apart are your contractions?"

Mom: "I'm not having any"

So the lady said, well why don't you just wait until you have some contractions..

My mom said "Noooo...if I get there and you decide I should go home, I will. But I am coming in"

3 hours later I was born. She said she started to have contractions in the car. But how ridiculous is that???

When my brother was born (my parents were living on a military base, and at that time the husband could go into the Labor room, but not into the birthing room.) So my mom was there, and they hadn't even checked her yet, and when they did finally check her, she was ready to start pushing. My dad had to leave and he heard Shane scream as he walked into the lobby.

Part of me hopes that I follow in her footsteps, so that it isn't all drawn out, but I also know that you can rip terribly with such a fast labor-delivery. (Your body doesn't have time to relax and stretch and make room for a watermelon.)

Then you hear about the ladies that are in labor for 24 hours...

Hair of a different color...

I decided today that it was time to finally go back to the salon...(last visit was 7/7) Ridiculous, I don't know how I was putting up with my bangs for that long! I have been using my clips a little bit more often.

Last time I dyed my hair a really dark red, but chose a color that was wash out. Well, it did wash out, so my hair looked more brown than red, and more orange than red. But more brown than orange...(if that makes sense at all!) I had about an inch and a half of grow out, which was really embarrassing...so I finally decided to do it. I called my local Regis, and they had an opening right away, so off I went!

I wasn't sure what I wanted, but I didn't quite want red again, it was too hard to maintain. So now I'm like a really dark brown, with a touch of red highlights. (mostly because the red underneath shows through, but also because there was a touch of red in the color.)

Well I don't think you can tell really the color in this picture....oh well!

My dream/dreams...

So last night I had a dream, and I can only remember bits and pieces of it.
1. Kayleen told me "I don't think Bella looks like the luck dragon from Neverending Story" and instead of me being happy (as I normally am when someone says this to me) I was really upset, and was like "well you don't know what falcor looks like then, because she does!" ....weird. Sorry I was rude to you in my dream Kayleen.

2. Jamaal told me "my favorite sister died today." (I haven't met any of his sisters (he has 3 half sisters) he doesn't see them much.) He continued to say "She was sitting on a bench and a (I don't know what it was, in my dream I could see it happen as he told me, so it looked like a 12" square piece of concrete, he called it something but I don't remember.) something fell on her head." It was gruesome...it like broke her skull. In the middle of a park. She had like a 1 year old with her, who was uninjured. So I'm like bawling, and I asked how his dad was, but I don't remember the answer.

3. OH! (I was just about ready to call that the end when I remembered another part.) All of the girls were going to go to this "strip" casino. It was basically only for women, and only one gambling table was open at a time. So everyone had to pay like $2,000 to go to it, you like had to have that much money with you to get in or something. But you didn't necessarily have to spend it? So there was like a game show part of it, that was the only gambling thing open, except for slots, and Sarah went, and you had to pay $200 to be a participant. She didn't win, sorry Sarah. I was like, you guys are crazy! I'm not spending $200 to play a game...So I went and did the slots. Apparently it was called a strip casino because there were male strippers there, but there weren't it was weird.

Stupid fights

I wake up this morning just before Jamaal was going to leave for work and there was a puddle of pee in the kitchen (huge!!) and I say "uh oh looks like Bacardi needed outside" thinking that he hadn't seen this puddle. But he simply says "she has" which had to be clarified by me, because he didn't take his eyes off the TV, "well maybe she didn't go outside" I say.

"that was before" says he. (so I am a little disgusted, Bacardi is locked in the kitchen with her puddle, and he didn't even try to clean it up.

Well as he's leaving he takes a few million paper towels and soaks up most of the puddle. The floor is still visibly wet, needing like 2 more paper towels to clean up (my mom bought the sham-wow cloths, and I'll be putting them to good use, marking a couple with Bacardi's name! :D).

But instead of Jamaal grabbing the two paper towels he graps the swiffer wet jet! And I say, "but there's still pee there" and he "yea"

"you should clean that up first or else you are just smearing the pee around the kitchen" says me (probably in a tone by this point, but I don't hear it)

"do you want to do it?" says he

"Yes! Leave!"

and so he did....madly. And he forgot his work computer.

I was very mad, but I've calmed down now. I didn't handle the situation very well, probably because of the following: (and because lately I've been getting very tired of his half-assed jobs...and his lack of caring for keeping nice things nice)

Before this happened I went in the bathroom and noticed he had taken my towel and put it on the floor. "why do you put my towel on the floor?" (because he does this all the time. He needs to have a towel on the floor when he gets out of the shower, don't know why he can't just dry his little footsies with his own damn towel.)

"at the time there were no other towels up here" (this is true; we have a laundry problem. He says he'll help me, and then doesn't so then I stop doing it all, because we BOTH WORK THE SAME # OF HOURS! but because I work twelves he thinks I work less (more days off in a row))

"just use mine" he says. And I look at him disgusted. I don't want to use his towel! "I was clean when I used it" he says. But that doesn't matter, I don't know what it is, but I don't want his clean body germs on me after showering. ;)

Kind of silly fights, him and I will have to talk later...

Stitch free

Well today I packed Bacardi up in her carrier and we went to the vet to get her stitches out. When we arrived I noticed some puke (that looked an awful lot like prune) in her carrier. The poor girl! She had some pink on her face from laying her head in it...so sad! The receptionist cleaned out my carrier and gave me a towel to use instead of her pad, even though I said it was fine. So now she's mostly healed, just a little teensie bit of scab left on her incision.


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On Monday I went and saw my thyroid doctor. She didn't yell at me like I thought she would. But she agreed with me. She wanted me to get a second ultrasound (no biopsy) to compare to the original in january. BUT she didn't want me to go to Virginia Mason in F-Way, because they stink...according to her. She wants me to go to St. Francis instead. So I had to get my films (picked them up today) so that I can give them to the new radiologist. I'll keep you updated with what we find.

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Today I was in Joann's looking for something to put my new Decor Elements on, and when I got back in my car I couldn't find my phone. I went back in the store, and found it on a shelf by some frames I was looking at! :-O

That's the closest I've been to losing my phone, and the thing that kept running through my mind: "I should call Jamaal to freak out about it to him" but without a phone, how do I do that? It was in the first place I looked, but goodness who does that? (well I guess when I was young, like 12 or so, I set my purse down on a shelf in costco...it was still there when I realized I lost it...)

My Darling Girls!

Bella and Bacardi, my dogs, are really quite hilarious. It is so amazing to me how different they are. Bella is very loving and territorial about it. For example, she will jump in my lap and love every minute of it. But if Bacardi or (Shadow, my parents' dog) try to get on my lap with her, she growls and snarls and yips and/or bites at them until she either gives up, or the other dog leaves.

Bacardi, on the other hand, loves everyone. She likes to show it too, by liking toes, feet, faces, hands, anything and everything in between.

Bella, my oldest, is a shih tzu/poodle. She has a longer nose like a poodle, and a little bit curlier hair, but otherwise looks most like a shih tzu. Bacardi is a Miniature American Eskimo, so all white, and looks like an artic fox, sometimes a polar bear, depending on what she is doing. :D Both of them are adorable to me. Even though Bella sometimes looks like the Luck Dragon from Neverending Story...which makes her fugly. She is very embarrassed when people compare her to Falcor, so I try to hush people when they start to say it. Regardless, I think she's cute.

The first weekend in September, Jamaal, his friend/my friend, and I went to Idaho, and Jamaal and a few others went skydiving. Well for that trip, my parents puppysat my girls. And on the following Monday (one week ago today) My mom took Bacardi in to get spayed (she can no longer have babies). So I didn't get to see my girls until the 8th of September that was 4 nights away from my girls, and I didn't take Bella home with me when I picked up Bacardi, because she needed to rest after her surgery. (the girls can get a little rough, and I didn't want her to split her stitches!) So I didn't get Bella back until Sunday! And boy did I miss her!

One reason, I missed her, was that Bacardi was bored, so she bothered me a lot. But I also missed having Bella keep me company. She pretty much follows me around, and will sit with me as I fold clothes or will sleep next to me. When I didn't have either dog, I found out that I talk to myself a lot...when they are around I am talking to them...but when they aren't...

I have to get Bacardi's stitches out sometime later this week.

Earlier when I was working on a different blog, Bella jumped in my lap, followed closely by Bacardi...Bella growled, when she felt Bacardi was taking her (Bella's) attention, but otherwise was fine. It was difficult to have both dogs in my lap! :D

Bella, on Left, Bacardi on right. (and my messy computer desk upfront and center! :D

Did the Puyallup!

So I went to the Puyallup Fair today with my mom and her two friends. (They are mine too). It was nice, the tickets were free, which was the best part!

I bought an upgrade for my embroidery machine, so I'm pretty excited about that! I am going to try and work with the hoop later tonight. But I have to figure out how to update my machine first. That shouldn't be too tricky, but I foresee myself getting frustrated and yelling at Jamaal when he tries to help me... hehe hopefully it isn't that tricky! :D

My sewing/embroidery machine.

The upgrade package I bought today!

I also bought a razorless shaver. It is basically really fine sandpaper, that removes dead skin and hair. Haven't tried it quite yet, but will later tonight. I did a spot and it made that spot feel nice! :D And something called a "Tortilla Oven" that you can cook baked potatoes in, and of course heat up tortillas and they will stay warm for a long time! Kind of silly, but cool. They had those "Sham Wow" things that you see on TV, they are super absorbent towels basically. And I really want some, but not sure if I'll use them or not....not unless Bacardi decides to start peeing in the house again. She's been good lately, well good on that front. Now it's time to figure out what we will eat for dinner....