Seven!

There are seven parts of the woman's body that you can stimulate to create pleasure (according to an episode of "Friends"). To this day I can't name 'em all...but I digress.

I'm actually referring to the fact that I went swimming again this morning which makes seven days in a row. Yep I'm doing a victory dance (in my head) right now.

I hate people...

#1: One of the ladies who REFUSED to go in on the christmas thing for my boss because she said it was "against company policy & business etiquette" to buy a gift for your boss, buys him a coffee like almost every day. What is that?

#2: My friend Catharina who desperately needs a vacation had planned to go to the Dominican with her friend Katie at the end of April. Well then Katie, who originally said she had $10,000 in the bank calls Cat and bails because a) she can't afford it & b) cuz it'll remind her of the guy she just broke up with who lives in Cuba. Cat called her out on the money issue and so Katie relented. Then, last night, Katie calls Cat & says "I just quit my job, I can't go to the Domincan." This is especially jerky cuz Catharina doesn't have anyone else to go with (including family as they run a business and can't take vacations at the same time). So if you want to go on vacation with Catharina at the end of April give her a call!

Why I hated high school...

I hated high school because I was a really sensitive person and I allowed others' opinions dictate how I saw myself and I allowed others' words to hurt me. I thought I had gotten stronger since I left my hometown of Grimshaw, but I had a flashback of that today.

I joined this social networking website www.facebook.com last week and I have been hooking up with long lost friends and aquaintences. One of these people was my friend Laurie (yeah the one in the poem I posted a while ago). We had a little chat and caught up with each other. ThenI decided to "add as a friend" her husband Carl (the guy from the poem). Here's what happened:

Me: Clicked to add Carl as a friend

Carl: Messaged me "WTF We aren't friends."

Me: Messaged back "Why not?"

Carl: Message to me "Let us just say that your treatment of Laurie in high school was less than optimal. You are a fair weather friend at best. All of these things I find distasteful in a person. I understand that this was at least 7 years ago, but based on the fact that Nikki was in your bridal party, and your supposed best friend of 10 years never even got an invite, things apparently haven't changed that much. As such, I fly in the face of facebook culture and I don't blindly add everyone I know. The people on my friends list are people that I like, and it shall remain that way."

Me: Message back "Touche. I don't always say & do the right things. However you may have noticed that Laurie & I have added each other and are trying to catch up. As for the not inviting her to the wedding I guess I hadn't talked to her in like 5 years so hadn't thought of it as we were trying to keep the wedding smallish (but now feel bad as maybe she was hurt by this). Nicki & I still keep in contact so that is why she was a bridesmaid. Hey, plus I don't remember being invited to yours! P.S. - I wasn't trying to blindly add everyone but instead try to reconnect with people I don't normally talk to. I seem to remember a point where we did get along so if you change your mind I am opening to adding you."

Then I really let his words bother me. I like to think that I do the best I can as a human. I am very emotional and passionate person so sometimes I say or do things I regret but I don't think anyone can say they are perfect in this regard. I don't really remember exactly what went down between Laurie & I. What I do remember is that I was pissed at her for "ditching" me for her boyfriend and was upset that she didn't confide in me anymore. I'd like to think that I wasn't being any more bitchy to her than she was to me but I could be wrong. What I do know is that shortly after Tyler & I started dating I wrote her an apology letter (so that was a good five years back). As for the not inviting her to the wedding, I don't think it's protocol to invite people you are not currently chummy with no matter how many years of friendship you have together...

Thoughts? Am I a "fair-weather friend"?

I Love This...I giggle each time i get it...

Three days in a row-ho...

Three days in a row-ho. I have gone swimming before work three days in a row!

Day 2 of...

I was so pooped yesterday that I went to bed at 9:00pm. Nine pm! I never go to bed that early LOL And it was still tough to get out of bed and head to the pool. I wavered in my resolve and thus only got 20 minutes of swimming instead of 30 but 20 is better than zero. Keeping the habit is the most important part -right Melissa?

P.S. In case you're wondering, yes I did just discover how to change the color of my font (and style, etc.). I really do belong in a special program, so sad.

the Secret

If you haven't heard of the Secret yet then you must go to the link below &/or borrow the DVD from me &/or buy your own DVD/book. I'd like to go into detail but I think it just won't do it justice.

The basics: it's a philosophy about how to get what you want out of life.

www.allabreve.org/thesecret.html to watch it for free

www.thesecret.tv to order a copy (or you can get it at any bookstore)

Old Dutch Ketchup Chips

I would quite possibly die without Old Dutch Ketchup Chips. They are without a doubt, my most favorite thing to eat (I'm ususally displaying the evidence: red fingertips) and I would NEVER eat another brand of ketchup. Thanks Old Dutch for making the world a better place!

What Season Am I? Winter

You Are a Winter

You look ravishing in: Black, burgundy, emerald green, hot pink, icy colors, navy blue, red, royal purple, and white

What Season Color Are You?

Bored? Lonely?

Try joining www.facebook.com It's an amazing website where you can post a profile, join groups, write notes and meet new & old people. Not only am I the president* but I am also a member!

Sign up today & add me as a friend for FREE.

*Disclaimer* Crystal Nelson is not actually the president of facebook.com, she used it only in reference to the "hair club for men" slogan...

Day 1 of the rest of my life...

So wonders never cease. I made it my goal to get up this morning and go swim laps before work: and I DID IT. The water at this pool was way more warm then it has been at my aqua aerobics. The lifeguard on duty was super nice and introduced me to the pool and it's amenities. And a month's pass was only $18! The plan is to go before work every week day so that works out to like a buck a day. Pretty cheap. I went from 6:30am - 7:00am and that still gave me enough time to get ready for work and be on time for that for once. The good thing is that now I am really awake by the time I get to work. The negative thing right now is that I am STARVING cuz I didn't eat enough for the work I exerted.

Perspiration

“Laughter is inner jogging.”
~ Norman Cousins

Anger Management

This is an email that has gone around a few times but I LOVE it and it makes me smile...I hope it's true LOL:

When you occasionally have a really bad day, and you just need to take it out on someone, don't take it out on someone you know, take it out on someone you don't know.

I was sitting at my desk when I remembered a phone call I'd forgotten to make. I found the number and dialed it. A man answered, saying, "Hello." I politely said, "This is Chris. Could I please speak with Robyn Carter?"

Suddenly a manic voice yelled out in my ear, "Get the right f*****ing number!" and the phone was slammed down on me.I couldn't believe that anyone could be so rude. When I tracked down Robyn's correct number to call her, I found that I had accidentally reversed the last two digits.

After hanging up with her, I decided to call the 'wrong' number again. When the same guy answered the phone, I yelled "You're an asshole!" and hung up. I wrote his number down with the word 'asshole' next to it, and put it in my desk drawer. Every couple of weeks, when I was paying bills or had a really bad day, I'd call him up and yell, "You're an asshole!"

It always cheered me up.

When Caller ID was introduced, I thought my therapeutic "asshole calling" would have to stop. So, I called his number and said, "Hi, this is John Smith from Verizon. I'm calling to see if you're familiar with our Caller ID Program?"He yelled "NO!" and slammed down the phone.

I quickly called him back and said, "That's because you're an asshole!"

One day I was at the store, getting ready to pull into a parking spot. Some guy in a black BMW cut me off and pulled into the spot I had patiently waited for. I hit the horn and yelled that I'd been waiting for that spot, but the idiot ignored me. I noticed a "For Sale" sign in his back window which included his phone number, so I wrote it down the number.

A couple of days later, right after calling the first asshole (I had his number on speed dial), I thought that I'd better call the BMW asshole, too.I said, "Is this the man with the black BMW for sale?"

"Yes, it is," he said.

"Can you tell me where I can see it?" I asked.

"Yes, I live at 34 Mowbray Blvd , in Vaucluse. It's a yellow house, and the car's parked right out in front."

"What's your name?" I asked"My name is Don Hansen," he said.

"When's a good time to catch you, Don?""I'm home every evening after five."

"Listen, Don, can I tell you something?"

"Yes?""Don, you're an asshole!"

Then I hung up, and added his number to my speed dial. Now, when I had a problem, I had two assholes to call. Then I came up with an idea.

I called Asshole #1."Hello."

"You're an asshole!" (But I didn't hang up.)

"Are you still there?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Stop calling me," he screamed.

"Make me," I said.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Don Hansen."

"Yeah? Where do you live?"

"Asshole, I live at 34 Mowbray Blvd , Vaucluse, a yellow house, with my black Beamer parked in front."

He said, "I'm coming over right now, Don. And you had better start saying your prayers."

I said, "Yeah, like I'm really scared, asshole," and hung up.

Then I called Asshole #2. "Hello?" he said.

“Hello, asshole," I said.

He yelled, "If I ever find out who you are..."

"You'll what?" I said.

"I'll kick your ass," he exclaimed.

I answered, "Well, asshole, here's your chance. I'm coming over right now."

Then I hung up and immediately called the police, saying that I lived at 34 Mowbray Blvd , Vaucluse, and that I was on my way over there to kill my gay lover.

Then I call Ed Channel 9 News about the gang war going down in MowbrayBlvd, Vaucluse. I quickly got into my car and headed over to Mowbray. I got there just in time to watch two assholes beating the shit out of each other infront of six cop cars, an overhead police helicopter and a news crew.

NOW I feel much better. Anger Management really works…

Shout out to Saskatchewan Shelley...

So this weekend I got to meet an internet buddy on my part and a good friend of my friend Mel's: Shelley. During our conversations she claimed that she liked my blog and wanted to read it but lost the link so I've re-added it to my MSN name. So if you're reading this Shellster just wanted to let you know that you get "two thumbs up" from the Fonz.

P.S. - It really helps your case that you think I'm funny. Anyone who thinks I'm funny is cool in my books!

P.P.S.- I'm really enjoying the new CD I bought "Lily Allen"...she rocks.

As if!

Okay so on my lunch break I was watching a "Baby Story" on TLC. The woman on the episode was struggling through over 24 hours of labor when I had to leave to go back to work. What pissed me off about the episode was that the woman wanted to have an epideral to help with the pain but the husband didn't believe in anything but a natural birth so he was talking her out of it. She was having nervous breakdowns, bawling, talking about how she couldn't make it through and that she felt like her top half of her body was being ripped from the bottom. Basically begging him to allow her to have the epideral.

So, yeah. That will not be the case when I have a baby. Until Tyler is the one pushing something the size of a watermelon out something much smaller he doesn't have a say in my pain medication during delivery!

A little story...

My grandpa had a poster in his entryway that had this story and a picture of a rooster on it. I'm not sure of the relevance of the rooster (maybe to appeal to farmers, which worked cuz grandpa was one?)...so anyway I've always liked it.

Once there were four individuals: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody --who amoungst themselves were given a task.

Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Of course, Nobody knew better so Nobody did it. And that got Everybody angry. As soon as Everybody met Somebody, Everybody let Somebody know that this was NO way to do things. After all, Nobody was doing the actual work, and Everybody felt Somebody should have done it. However, after a suitable pause, Nobody noted that Everybody was upset with Somebody for something Anybody could and should have done.

~This is so relevant to everyday life!~

Wedding Drama Aftermath

So I get to work this morning and have an email from my friend Kyla, it reads:

"So, you know how I told you about Friday’s dealio with my now past friend Becca? Well, I got online to quickly check my email when I got to Michael’s, and I had this email saying “please confirm myspace cancellation”. Well, Becca knew my password to myspace because she created it.. and she also knew that it was very close to my hotmail password (so she would have had to guess to find out my hotmail one).. anyways, she DELETED my myspace! And, while I was online too! I was reading the cancellation email, went over to my myspace to see what was up cuz it said that if I didn’t confirm it wouldn’t delete.. but by the time I pulled up my myspace, it was gone.. and I refreshed my hotmail and that email was deleted. "

That is just crazy. Unbelievable. Juvenile. And possible, delinquent (like as in prison time). It is not okay to delete someone's profile, online journal & /or email. Not cool at all.

Comments?

Oh & stay tuned for "Weddings & True Colors: Case #3 (Shelley)"...it's a biggie so its taking some time...

Weddings & True Colors

So weddings are both one of the best times in your life and one of the worst times. It's the best because you are celebrating your committment to the one you love. They are the worst because everyone else in the world thinks your wedding is about THEM. I got married in July 2005 so my wedding was some time ago but the pain of the way some people acted still really bothers me. I have lots of stories about the time preceeding my wedding and the event itself but I'm planning on publishing a collection of short stories so you have towait for the book...LOL

CASE #1: I am bringing it up because a good friend of mine, Kyla (hey Kyla!) got engaged recently and she is already being stressed by other people's needed. A friend of her's Becca, immediately upon hearing about her engagement asked "So am I a bridesmaid?" Which is a fairly rude question if you are not willing to accept both plausible answers. My friend Kyla was torn over what to say as she is limiting her party to two woman and had 2 others on the top of her list. I encouraged her to go with her instinct and let her friend down gently. Becca reacted by telling Kyla she wasn't a good friend and that if she wasn't a part of the bridal party that she obviously wasn't wanted and wouldn't be coming to the wedding at all. Well I don't know about you but that would haven totally changed my mind and I would have asked her to be in my wedding...NOT!

CASE #2: My friend Diana was excited by her engagement and emailed a friend to annouce this engagement and to ask if she would be a bridesmaid. This friend was also getting married but hadn't asked Diana to be in her party (which was cool by Diana). The friend reacted by not responding to the question or annoucement but asking Diana if she'd be in her party...I'm not sure what came of that exactly but I'm fairly certain the friend wasn't in the party. (P.S. - If I got any part of this story wrong Diana please let me know!)

More cases to come but, I pose the question: why are people so selfish?

Poem (A Friend)

I was going through some papers tonight when I came across a poem I wrote on April 28/99 (yes I was in Grade Eleven). The poem's kind of funny: I was pissy at my friend Laurie cuz I felt like she has changed since she started dating her boyfriend Carl (incidently they are now married). She was my best friend from like grade four until the point of this poem. We don't really talk much now...but she is doing well in Edmonton I have heard from mutual friends. The teenage angst in this poem is hilarious to me.

A Friend

I once had a friend,

who would fight to the end,

of overy argument and quarrel.

I once had a pal,

who was an independent gal,

but that was before a guy named Carl.

I once had a buddy,

who didn't mind getting muddy,

outside when we played in the yard.

I once had a chum,

who rarely appeared glum,

over having no valentine's card.

I once knew Laurie,

who never made me sorry,

for being the person who I am.

I once knew the girl,

who made life a whirl,

before she became a THEM!

Social Faux Pas

So I almost committed a pretty big social faux pas at lunch time...I was on my way home at lunch and listening to my ipod. The song "Golddiggar" by Kanye West came on and I started singing along. Well I have the uncensored version so the song goes "I ain't saying she's a golddigga, but she ain't messing with no broke n***". The n-word isn't something I would say in my normal course of conversation, nor is it something I would EVER say in a derogatory way, but when it's in a song I'm singing I usually sing it. As luck would have it I turned my head to the right and there was a black gentlman in his car, with his window down, staring at me (could have been coinincidence) and I was just about to sing that part of the song. I stopped dead in my tracks. I'm sure if I had sung it, he would have been able to read my lips and would have thought I was saying it to him. That could have been so bad! And I would have felt so bad. You never know, he could be a future boss interviewing me or something and hold that against me. Whew!

Fabulous Reading and Some Great Advice!

I finished reading a book called "Diary of a Mad Mother-To-Be" by Laura Wolf. Turns out it is a the sequel to "Diary of a Mad Bride" but I read it anyway without knowing what happened in the first book. There's an old adage that says "don't judge a book by it's cover" but I do. All the time. I can't help it, I like to read books that are pretty, cute, enticing...so I picked this one up and it was everything I wanted it to be! An entertaining, easy read with a little bit of pregnancy advice mixed in (it’s research remember?). So here’s what I learned (a.k.a. an exert from the book):

Top 21 Things No One Tells You About Pregnancy
-No sushi
-Twenty-four-hour “morning” sickness
-Forty weeks (basically ten months) of pregnancy [not the mythical nine]
-No aspirin
-Dog nose [a.k.a. you smell everything within a mile of you]
-“Glow” is [actually] sweat
-Excessive flatulence
-Heartburn
-Ungodly constipation
-CRC (Can’t Remember Crap)
-Public petting [as in everyone and their dog wants to touch your belly without asking]
-Final erosion of person identity [you are now the baby’s carrier]
-Incontinence [inability to hold in urine when sneezing, coughing, etc]
-Broken capillaries
-Difficulty breathing
-Difficulty sleeping
-No hot tubs
-Spongelike water retention
-Clumsiness
-“Due date” is a figure of speech
-It’s worth it

P.S. - This most definately is not meant to be an advice book, it's purely fictional.

The Lights Are On But Nobody's Home

So on Tuesday night I needed to take my grandma to the Red Deer Regional Airport to catch a flight. First of all I had a hair cut booked for 5pm. Unfortunately my hairdresser was running late and I couldn't get in until 5:30pm. I did the math count down:

Flight Time - 7:10pm

Suggested arrival 45 minutes prior - 6:25pm

Time to get to Airport (had no idea but thought I'd better give myself at least 1/2 as it was somewhere south of Red Deer) - 6:00pm

Time to Pack the Car (5 min) - 5:55pm

Time to drive from Hair Stylist's to my House (10 min) - 5:45pm

Time Left to get a hair cut & pay: Less than 15 minutes...

So I rescheduled sadly since my stylist is gone to Florida for a week I can't get in until March 5th.

So I zipped back to my house to pick up my Grams and we made it to the Airport by 6:15pm (turns out it's a fairly short drive). Get to what is suppose to be the terminal (I think it's like 800 square feet) and no one is there. NO ONE. No security, janitor or homeless guy let alone airport worker. So I called the 1-800 number for the airline in a panic that I some how missed the "real" airport. They assured me that I was probably at the right one and to call again in 20 minutes if there was still no one was there.

About 6:50pm I called Peace Air (the airline) again and told them no one was there and to make sure that if we were somehow at the wrong place that they'd wait for my grandma. They tried calling the counter lady and were unable to get ahold of her but left a message. Reassuring [read with sarcasm]. It's now 7:05pm. I go outside to check on all these vehicles that keep driving past us to somewhere else. It's a parking lot labelled "staff" so no secret airport there. A girl is walking across the parking lot towards me. She asks if I am flying out that night. Told her my grandma was. She's like "oh I didn't know I had any passengers tonight". Good for you. So she opens her area and my grandma checks her bags and gets a slip of paper written on in pencil as a boarding pass (their technology amazes me). The girl says the plane will arrive "soon". We are relieved to at least have another soul in the airport.

Then we go back to where we were sitting (by the pamphlets) and wait. And wait. And wait. About 8 o'clockish a plane lands on the run way, but it has the wrong airline name on it "infinit air". Turns out this is still the plane my grandma will get on. This is a full hour after the plane was suppose to arrive and a full two hours from when we arrived. We said goodbye (sadly) and she left. The kicker is that I totally would have had time for my haircut if I had the right information.

SIDEBAR: If you're reading this Grams it's not your fault I missed my haircut...so don't say sorry or feel bad.

Words from my Friend Diana

I just wanted to say "thanks" for trusting me and confiding in me. I feel lucky to have you as a friend, and I am happy to listen to whatever you want to talk about. :) You are really great to be around, and I always enjoy our conversations. I hope you have a fantastic long weekend!! Let me know whenever you run out of X-Files! hehe. Talk to you soon.
Luv, Diana :)

My letter to the radio station Big 105 AND their response

Hi There,

I've recently started listening to your station during my workday (due to the "beat the banker" contest, which he hung up on me by the way) and have a few questions or tips for you about your songs and play lists.

1. Why do I hear "How Bizarre" by OMC everyday? This song was released in 1997 which is a decade ago and I didn't like it that much that year let alone 10 years later and here we are still listening to it. I understand I need to suffer through Alanis Morisette and Barenaked Ladies so that you can meet your CanCon quota but as far as I can tell OMC is not Canadian...

2. Speaking of CanCon: I'm sure there are more than 5 successful Canadian artists so why do we hear such a limited variety of them? I understand that this is a time consuming request but maybe you could start featuring new, non-top 40 Canadian artists like once a day or one a week? Especially during the 9-5 time. P.S. - Please do not interpret this as a request to hear more Celine Dion or Shania Twain.

3. Perhaps you have a non-repeat work day but the same work day seems to play Monday to Friday! And even if you played the same artists they do sing more than one song so we shouldn't have to hear the same song day in & day out…

3. The whole clip of "this is new music" and the teaser song clip, then the actual song playing is really annoying. If you're going to be playing the whole song right away I don't need a teaser clip.

Overall I have been enjoying your station, the Dj's have a good energy and are funny and entertaining. I bring these points up because while you may be Red Deer's best station, I'd like you to be one of the best in Alberta.

Thanks & keep up the good work.

Crystal Nelson

Hi Crystal:

Your FAX was passed on to me for my review. After reading it my first thought was ‘Wow’! You listen a lot. In fact, in the radio world you’re what we’d classify you as a ‘heavy’ radio user. You’re rare, but it also explains most of your concerns and questions.

As a broadcaster, you represent the ‘perfect’ listener because it sounds like you listen all the time. I noticed on your FAX that you work in an office setting which, I’m guessing, means the radio is on most of the time. However that does create issues of its own. Radio stations are never designed for ‘heavy’ listeners because they make up such a small percentage of the overall audience (In the last BBM ratings survey there were less than ten ‘heavy’ listening ballots out of a 400-ballot return). An average listener would listen for 2-4 hours per week, so compare that with how much you’re listening and you’ll get the idea. I also get the impression you know a little about radio and music since you make reference to Cancon percentages and top-40 artists. As a radio programmer you have to play familiar artists and familiar tunes which means the biggest songs by the biggest artists to have the greatest impact…and remember I only get 2-4 hours per week to make that impression with the average person. Playing unfamiliar tunes, generally, only appeals to fans of an artist or true audiofiles. One of the best analogies I’ve heard is comparing unfamiliar music with being at a concert. In a crowd of 20-thousand you’ll have your die-hard fans, your average fans, and those who got free tickets. When the band plays a new song you’ll notice the crowd goes quiet and people get up to go to the bathroom or get in the beer line because they’re unfamiliar with the tune. Our experience has shown that humans are creatures of habit. They like what they know and generally don’t have a tolerance for something new…and it gets worse the older they get.

Trust me, playing unfamiliar tunes by non top-40 artists would be the death knell of the station, and I’d be banging on your door looking for a job within a year.

With regard to OMC’s HOW BIZARRE. This was interesting. I checked how many times this song was played since Jan. 1/07. We’ve played it a total of 18-times spread over 24-hours a day/seven days a week. If I break it down to strictly office listening (8:30a-5p; Mon-Fri), it’s been played eight times in seven weeks. I kid you not!!! However your perception is it’s being played everyday. Since you said you didn’t care for the song when it came out I would think this one song simply rubs you the wrong way.

Finally, I’ll be honest. I love the ‘New Music’ teasers. We’ve been doing them for about eight months and you’re the first person who’s voiced a concern. I think the best compliment we’ve received on them is that recently CKGY started doing EXACTLY the same thing. Since we’re the only station in Western Canada that presents our new music in this manner we know where they got it from.

Crystal, I truly appreciate your comments. I wish there were more listeners like you who’d take the time to tell me their thoughts on our station(s). Please keep in touch. If I can ever help to clarify things for you, be sure to drop me a line.

Jim Hall

New Year's Resolutions for March

Since February is half over I am going to take a break and plan my NYR's for March...they are:

1. Take my supplments as prescribed.
2. Stay on top of my budget.
3. Complete taxes for Tyler & I.
4. Continue attending super fun water aerobics (even if the water is SUPER cold) and work out hard.
5. Utilize my PDA for effectively (i.e. I still haven't read the manual and don't know how to do 90% of what it's capable...that makes me really sad cuz my mom spent a lot of money on it and I haven't taken the time to use it).

NYR: An Evaluation for February

Here is January’s Mini-Goals:
1. Attend water aerobics starting Jan 15
2. Plan at least one social event.
3. Make at least one “Rachael Ray” recipe per week.
4. Hit the sack at 11:30pm on week nights.
5. Keep in-law rants on blog or to friends: not to Tyler.

Evaluation:
1. Um, I missed 3 classes. That sucks. BUT I was totally sick/ill/exhausted so I am not going to feel guilty.
2. I totally planned and executed a social event: card night. It was fun, there was about 6 people other than myself & Tyler. We played Taboo & Cranium. I lost at both. :-(
3. I've beeen doing not too bad at this one. I would say I've averaged a RR recipe each week.
4. Missed this mark on this one. It's super hard. My night owl tendenacies are deeply rooted. Despite the fact that I have woken up super exhausted like every day this week I keep staying up until like 1am...
5. I think I've minimized my in-law rants pretty good to Tyler.

Alternative Health Care: The Visit

So yesterday I decided to try going to this alternative health place, there they read your body to see what is wrong with it and/or what it needs. I’ve been feeling fatigued lately and having ruled out some things (pregnancy, thyroid, etc) I thought I’d give this a shot. It was really interesting!

So I saw Darlene at about 1:30pm. She asked me to hold on to this electrode and then she read my body using this machine and vials of liquid that were numbered. Everything she tested she wrote down on a piece of paper that I get to keep.

According to these tests my lowest vitality areas right now are:
1. Blood
2. Hormones
3. Parathyroid
4. Digestion

And the highest stressors in my blood (the number one vitality area):
1. Metal Poisons
2. Fungus
3. Flukes
4. Virus
5. Radiation
6. Parasites

So my body asked for the following supplements/oils/vitamins (info I found on the internet post below):
1. Dolphilus Plus
2. Acidophiles
3. Adrenal
4. ChlorEssence
5. Vitamin A & D
6. Evening Primrose Oil
7. Sea Salt (cuz my sodium is low)


Towards the beginning of our session she said my stomach was “up” and that was what is causing my chest pains. When she was talking about it, it sounded really familiar. Then I remembered where I had heard it before: at the psychic’s that I had gone to see about a year and a half ago. So that’s crazy. I had totally forgotten about it cuz at the time it was really not relevant.

She also went through a list of foods of stuff I should avoid right now as my digestion is out of whack (according to her I am only absorbing 20% of the nutrients I am eating).

Best: apples, lemons, red fruits and veggies (I.E. red peppers, carrots, raspberries), garlic and onions. Also bananas, oranges, spinach and potatoes for potassium.
Avoid: milk products (cheese, milk, cream), sugar, aspartame, pasta, wheat, coffee.

I’ve never been good at avoiding foods (hence why I’m a horrible dieter) so I’m not sure how that part will go. She also said that my electrolytes and/or sodium was low so to take some sea salt everyday (like 1/8 tsp) and to drink a Gatorade a day for three days.

I'm scheduled to see her again in about a month to check back and see how the treatments helped. She said she starts from scratch again the next time so she doesn't keep a list of what happened in this appointment.

Hmm...hope I didn't miss anything...if I did I'll just post a comment.

What do you all think about this?

Alternative Health Care: Supplements

My Supplements as per the Internet:

Evening Primrose Oil

Evening primrose is a rich source of omega-6 oils. The body can use these oils to build prostaglandins needed for a wide range of body functions. Fatty acids are required for many body functions including regulating temperature, building nerve sheaths, and producing energy. CRYSTAL: I believe this was for regulating my hormones.

D, Vitamin

Vitamin D, a fat-soluble vitamin, is required for the absorption and utilization of calcium and phosphorus by the intestinal tract. It is necessary for growth and is especially important for the normal growth and development of bones and teeth in children. It protects against muscle weakness and is involved in regulation of the heartbeat. CRYSTAL: Aid in digestion and decrease depression.

A, Vitamin

Vitamin A prevents night blindness and other eye problems, as well as some skin disorders such as acne. It enhances immunity, may heal gastrointestinal ulcers, protects against pollution and cancer formation, and is needed for the maintenance and repair of epithelial tissues. CRYSTAL: Um, it came with my vitamin d?

Adrenal

The adrenal cortex helps to maintain salt and water balance in the body. It is also involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates and the regulation of blood sugar. Symptoms range from simple exhaustion to much more complex problems. New Roots Herbal Adrenal concentrate gives the adrenal gland support to meet the challenges of today's high stress environment. It boosts your endocrine system resulting in a higher tolerance towards stress. CRYSTAL: Help with metabolism and fatigue.

ChlorEssence

It can be used as a nutrient-dense whole food or a food supplement taken to ensure you are obtaining all of your dietary needs. Fatigue and mental depression, which are so common today, are signals from the body that something is wrong. Chlorella serves as an overall health and immune booster to encourage and maintain good health. It is excellent for vegetarians due to its B-12 content and wide range of amino acids, including all 8 essentials. Many people report that taking Chlorella before meals acts like an appetite suppressant. Because it contains such a wide variety of nutrients and fiber, Chlorella can easily satisfy our nutritional needs and therefore, our appetite is diminished. Also Chlorella is known to be an adaptogen or a biological response modifier (BRM) meaning it helps the body lower hormones associated with stress. These stress hormones have numerous negative effects on the body that can cause us to eat more, but our ability to digest that food slows down, leading to weight gain. If we lower those stress hormones (as with Chlorella) our food cravings diminish and our digestive system can work more effectively! Chlorella is mostly recognized for it's rich composition of phytochemicals that support the body's natural self-defense mechanism, detoxify and nourish the body and assist in achieving longevity and well-being. It makes sense that if your body is weary, run down, undernourished and etc. that where ever there is a weak area in the body, that area will probably suffer and with the proper nutritional support those problems can be reversed. CRYSTAL: So yeah, that all sounds good. I'll take all of it.

Dophilus Plus (Acidophilus)

Antibiotics kill off good and bad bacteria indiscriminately, allowing the more aggressive pathogens—which are usually kept in check by an 85:15 ratio with healthy bacteria—to grow out of control. This imbalance can cause excessive gas, bloating, diarrhea or constipation, and poor nutrient absorption. Moreover, it can leave undigested food in the intestine, where it can putrefy (rot) and release toxins that invade the body and compromise health. CRYSTAL: That would be for the building up of good bacteria.

Words from Catharina

My friend Catharina wrote the following to me:

"You are truly amazing and should consider making this (mentoring and couseling) your career.
Downside of it, you will have to listen to everyone's problem and have a solution.
Upside, you will see how good you have it, and not all these problems that people tell you about, lol

Your opinion, info and advise, truly is worth gold. And you are so right about it too."

Thanks Cat!

Wise Words from Wise Women

"I can't stand makeup commercials. 'Do you need a lipstick that keeps your lips kissable?' No, I need a lipstick that gets me equal pay for equal work. How about eye shadow that makes me stop thinking I'm too fat?" - Maria Bamford

"I don't try to be a sex bomb, I am one." - Kylie Minogue

"They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody?" - Diana

"I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once." - Jennifer Unlimited

"I'm not going to vacuum 'til Sears makes one you can ride on." - Roseanne Barr

Mother in laws

Some of you may think this is weird but I am jealous of my mother-in-law's relationship with my husband. They had 18 years to build a relationship before I showed up so naturally they would have a closeness that I cannot match. However sometimes "they" just feel weird together. My sis-in-law Kim and I have a discussions about it as well as I have had discussions with a few friends of mine.

An example: in my wedding pictures I have a photo of my husband dancing with his mother and he has a look on his face that you would expect when he is dancing with his wife. What should I make of this? That the look carried over from our dance? Except that he doesn't have that look in our dancing pictures...

Tyler and I got into an arguement the last time he was home. He works in Fort McMurray and is carpooling with a guy from Edmonton so he drives through there. I asked him if he was going to stop at his mom's everytime he goes through (cuz technically it's not on the way) and he says "Why not it's only 15 minutes away?" I said cuz "that's 15 more minutes you could have spent with me before you left!" Considering he is home only on the weekends and sometimes not every weekend. However for the last few weekends Kim has given us stuff to drop off at his mom's requiring him to stop there.

When I tell/advise Tyler to do something he never trusts that I am a credible source. But then if his mom says it than he runs out and does it. Example: I told Tyler that it would be a good idea for him to get a credit card to build himself some credit (he's really good with his money). He scoffed at me saying "I don't need a credit card". Then his mom tells him the EXACT same thing and suddenly it's a good idea!

I think some of the creepy vibes I get from them is due to the fact that Mary (the mom) has consistenly chosen bad men for herself and Tyler feels like he needs to "save" his mom. But she's the parent and she should have been protecting her children not the other way around. Even a few years back, Mary got laid off at her job and Tyler lent her money. He was maybe 20 at the time? Why should a 20 year old have to lend money to his 40yr+ mother?

One more rant...I feel like Mary is very superfiscially driven. As in she bases a lot on people's looks. She continues to bleach her hair blond and still owns leather pants. Example: one time we went out for her birthday to a karakoe bar...there were 3 skanks singing "earl" by the dixie chicks (my least favorite band) and Mary says, pointing to a skinny blond girl "I wish she was my daughter. I always wanted a daughter and she is so cute." Um hello? What am I?

Thoughts?

Warm Fuzzies

I just got this email from my friend Kyla:

"You know, I’ve decided that you must be an extremely approachable, and you are very trusting. Because.. you are always the first person to know things...it’s great! :D Just thought I’d let you know that so you’d feel special You are a wonderful friend! "

Thanks Kyla! Your comments made my day.

P.S.

My chest still hurts.

Baby News

Calm down. I'm not pregnant. But anyone who knows me knows that I am anal when it comes to planning and preparing. So, I am starting my baby/child research (some of you may have even heard me say that I was going to have kids solely as a great big psych experiment but don't worry I've passed that stage of thinking). You know how childless people always say "my kids won't be like that/do that?" Well I am one of those. But parents quickly forget all the things they said that about. Therefore I decided to write myself an advice book for parenting. That way when the time is right to procreate I have this handy "bible" so to speak on what to do. Yay! So exciting. I've started watching the "Mom Show" and I'm taking notes. Any advice out there? I'd love to hear it before it's too late.

My Opinion: BC Sextuplets

ARTICLE TO WHICH I AM OPINIONATING:

The Vancouver parents of sextuplets born in January are now in a legal battle with the province, claiming the government violated their religious rights when social workers seized three of their newborns to give them blood transfusions.
The parents, both Jehovah's Witnesses, argue the province had no right to step in against their wishes to take temporary custody of three of their four surviving sextuplets.
B.C.'s director of child protection seized one child on a Jan. 26 order under provincial child-care legislation. An order for a second child was sought the following day and a third on Monday.
Two blood transfusions were done, and the babies were returned to the custody of their parents on Wednesday. The couple says their constitutional rights were disregarded because, as Jehovah's Witnesses, they oppose any treatment involving blood transfusions.
In a motion filed to block future seizures of the babies, the parents, who can't be named under a publication ban, issued their first public statement:
My wife] and I deeply love our babies and want them to live. We continue to be heartbroken about the death of [two of them]," the husband wrote in an affidavit. "We will not, however, consent to blood transfusions. We firmly believe that our creator commands us in scriptures, such as Acts 15:28-29 to abstain from blood products."
Court documents show the parents had a strained relationship with the doctors assisting the birthing process and that the father repeatedly rejected suggestions from medical experts that aborting two of the fetuses could give the remaining four a better chance of living.
Two newborns already dead
Two of the sextuplets — Canada's first ever — died soon after being born at the B.C. Women's Hospital and Health Centre on Jan. 5 and 6. All of the babies were 15 weeks premature and weighed less than 2.2 pounds each.
B.C. Minister of Children and family Services Tom Christensen made it clear that regardless of a family's religious affiliation, "the obligation is to ensure that a child in need of protection … gets the treatment required," even if that means the ministry must step in.
But Shane Brady, the lawyer representing the family, said the government must first give the parents a fair hearing, which the parents never received.
"They are very frustrated and deeply hurt by this unwarranted interference in this very difficult and challenging part of their children's treatment," Brady said of the parents.
The parents will be back in court in late February, when they will demand a government apology for violating their religious freedoms, and then try to persuade the court to end the possibility of future seizures.

MY OPINION:

Alright so here it comes, but first a warning: this is only my opinion and others are entitled to theirs! Please feel free to post comments.

While I believe the parents have a constitutional right to refuse blood transfusions for themselves I do NOT believe they have any constitutional rights to impose their beliefs on their children. In fact I think as a society we have an obligation to see that these children are not forced into their parents belief systems and die because of them. Therefore I 100% support the decision to remove these children from the parents care and give them what they need to survive. It is my understanding from talks with a JW friend of mine that JW's commit to their religion when they are old enough to do it for themselves (unlike say Catholics who baptize babies) and so these newborns would not really be JW's yet even by their own standards. So by this logic their argument has no merit. I am also outraged that they are saying they deserved a "fair hearing". I can only assume that this fair hearing would be a time consuming event that in itself could put the babies in danger by delaying treatment/care.

All that being said I have to admit that I personally don't really respect the JW religion. I do not claim to know 100% of what they believe but what I know is bloody ridiculous (pardon the pun). Before I go into that I'd like to share with you a little story:

A community is suddenly overwhelmed by a flash flood. The water is rising very, very quickly so a man and his family escape to their roof for safety. As they are waiting there his young son looks up to the father and says "Daddy what's going to happen to us?" The father replies with confidence "Don't worry God will save us." So they all sit their praying for help.

One of their neighbors approaches their roof in his boat and yells through the rain "Hop in I'll take you to dry land". The father says "No thanks. God will save us." The neighbor tries to convince him but eventually motors off shaking his head, off to save others.

The family stay shivering on the roof and keep praying to God to save them. One by one the other people on the rooves are picked up by the neighbor's boat and others. Pretty soon the family is all alone on the roof. The water is rising very quickly.

Then a helicopter flys towards them, hovering above they drop their ladder and using the bull horn shout "Use the ladder. We'll get you outta hear." But the father refuses saying "No. We don't need it. God will save us." The rescue crew try to persuade them but it's of no use and they leave.

A little while later the water rises so high that the whole family drowns. They find themselves at the Pearly Gates. The father is angry that God let his family down: they were good people. The father marches over to the Saint guarding the gates and demands to speak to God. The saint says "I'm sorry he's very busy. What can I help you with?"

The father, angry, starts to yell at the saint "We did good deeds. Went to church. Tried to live our lives without sin. Then God just left us there to drown on our own roof!"

The saint looks at the father in disbelief, "He sent you boats. He sent you a helicopter. What more did you need?"

The morale: God gives us miracles every day. He helps us learn, find, create/invent things that make our lives easier and help us live longer. Miracles aren't always apparitions, jesus shaped potatoes and lights shining down from heaven. Don't wait for this type of "miracle" to save you.

Now the reason I bring this story up is because my JW friend told me about the blood transfusions than she showed me an article about a girl who was dying and the doctor's said she needed blood but her family stood fast and refused and she lived! It was a miracle. Pile of crap as far as I'm concerned. The girl (if she even exists) was proably one in a billion. God helped us discover how to give the right blood to the right people so we could save lives! Another arguement I have for JW's is that if God tells you to abstain from blood products than why do you eat meat? Does that not have blood in it? Don't get me wrong, I love meat, but like most religions they pick and choose how they want to use the scripture and how it's applicable.

Now let's hear everyone weigh in!

Confessions

So I have to admit something. I break the law everyday. Usually more than once. It's true, I'm a common criminal...here's my story.

First: I park across the street from my office. Now, by law I am suppose to walk to the corner and cross the street at the crosswalk. But if I learned anything in high school it was that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. So I jaywalk. GASP. I don't even look both ways (it's a one-way). I'm not sure if it's the business person in me (efficiency) who can't stand to back track or if it's the human in me (laziness). I go home for lunch usually so I end up jaywalking about 4 times per week day.

Second: I speed. Frequently. And I get very mad at people who are doing the speed limit or below. Sadly I also get mad at people who ride my ass in a hurry!

So that's my story. Report me if you must. Give me the scarlett letter for Jaywalking or Speeding. But first remember: let he who casts the first stone be without sin.

Being Sick Sucks

Hi All...I've been getting some complaints about not updating my blog frequently (ahem, Kyla) so as I laid in my bed not falling asleep I thought "why not write a blog". The reason I haven't posted anything lately is that I've been busy, also I have been sick. :-(

Monday: I woke up with chest pains. After a while I was a little concerned so I called to make an appointment with my docter. What a surprise she's on holidays (again) so I made an appointment with her fill in for Wednesday...but by after lunch my boss lady (Cynthia) insists that I go to the walk in, stressing that chest pains aren't something to mess with. There weren't too many people at the walk in so I got in to the doctor within about ten minutes. He didn't seemed too concerned & said he'd like to do an x-ray. So off to the basement I go. About an HOUR later I made my way back upstairs, chest shots in hand. The waiting room was now super full. The receptionist insists that she'll put me in the next available room. She calls two names before calling mine (weird, my definition of next must be different then hers). Doctor says he doesn't see anything in the x-ray to cause concern so sends me to the hospital for blood work. Once I get to the right counter at the hospital the receptionist there insists that I take a number than sit in the waiting room. I barely sit down when she calls my number (must be a control issue?). Get my blood work then head back to work. It's now about ten to four so I've pretty much wasted my whole afternoon. Doctor said he'd let me know the results by the end of the day, so at 4:25pm I call the clinic back. They say "yep, he'll call you when he knows", so I asked when the clinic closed: 6pm. Off to home to wait. Needless to say I decided to skip my aqua aerobics as I still had the chest pains. At about 5 to six I call the clinic again as I haven't heard...I get voicemail telling me their closed. Awesome. I go to have a relaxing shower. I'm in the middle of shampooing my hair when the phone rings. So I answer it. Doc says that there isn't any blood clot action but that my white blood cell count is high so he'll write a prescription for anti-biotics. I go pick them help along with some take out pizza.

Tuesday: I wake up feeling no chest pains but a little under the weather. Fairly stuffed up. I have a work conference that day though so off I go. It starts at 8am and goes until about 10pm that night. Got to see and talk to a bunch of co-workers I never see anymore so that was fun.

Wednesday: Wake up with a sore throat and very congested. Can't really taste anything either. I still have the conference in the morning so I go to that as well as work in the afternoon. I again skip the aqua aerobics (I'm feeling guilty about this so if anyone thinks it's okay that I didn't go please leave a comment). Still taking the anti-biotics.

Thursday: Wake up feeling entirely shitty. Call in sick to work. Sleep until about 12:30pm. Wake up and make myself some homemade soup. Makes me feel a little better. Chilled on the couch, watch a Will Ferrell movie off tv (Kicking & Screaming) and went through a week's supply of toilet paper for my nose (we don't have kleenex in the house). Ran to the store and got some ginerale & cough drops. Watched Thursday night TV which lifts my spirits (the Office, War at Home, CSI). Tyler gets home sometime after midnight.

Friday: Drag myself out of bed cuz timesheets are due this morning & I'm in charge of that. People like to get paid, don't like it so much when they don't. And I didn't have time to brief Nancy on where everything went or is. Spend more time at work than I intend, don't get out until 10am. I try to go to Tim Horton's to get some soup/tea...their debit machine is down & I of course do not have cash. I try the other Timmy's and it's super packed. So I hit a convenience store, buy more ginerale & cough drops and head home. Relax at home for a bit and watch TV with Tyler. Then he heads out to run errands and I crashed for a few hours. Wake up in time to make supper and watch more movies on TV. It was a pretty relaxing evening all around.

Saturday: Less snot, throat isn't sore today. I (mistakenly) think I'm getting better. Tyler & I get into a stupid fight. I leave to do some shopping (Scrapbooker's, Reitman's, Megan's b-day present, Safeway) but it doesn't make me feel better. Come home and make Suprise Spread for Tyler's dad's b-day. We go there for supper than I have to leave cuz it's Megan's bday & I signed up to go bowling. My throat feels really sore when I leave. Go bowling (did okay for me, had fun) then go back to Tyler's dad's. Did I mention that it's a half hour drive outside of Red Deer? So I drove two hours that nightl. Anyway, saw my niece. Women beat the men at Sequence (a board game).

Sunday: Feeling like the cold is out of my head at least. Throat hurt a little this morning. I'm still snotty but don't feel congested. I bought "Yoga Booty Ballet" on DVD (www.beachbody.com) yesterday so decide to try it out. I was sweatin'. But it was fun. Now as I sit here typing I have chest pains again! Maybe I just pulled something during the DVD? I had a nice bath tonight using some of my new products so that semi-rejuvenated me. However I am feeling a bit loney cuz Tyler may be out of town for 18 days this time. Could be a long stretch. However this week IS busy: water aerobics monday, massage then dinner with Lorna tuesday, water aerobics wednesday...not to mention my VERY long list of little things to do that I've been putting off for a while, especially with being sick last week.

Dominic Update

I've gotten a few people asking me how Dominic is doing so I thought I'd better post an update. I had taken him back to the vet for a check up on Monday & he was doing swimmingly. The vet was very impressed with his progress to date, and now he seems to be back to his old self. Yeah!

My poor little baby...

So my little baby boy Dominic (a.k.a. one of my dogs) was not feeling good this last week. On Friday he was acting "down" and kept dropping his butt on the ground making a weird thunk sound, but we didn't know what was wrong. Flash forward to Saturday night, Tyler went to pick Dominic up for the couch & he yiped. We looked at his bum and he had a huge swelling on the side of his, um, bum hole (lack of a better term). It was about the size of a ping pong ball. And very gross looking. I called the vet to see if it was an emergency. I described it to her and she said it sounded like a swollen anal gland. She said it wasn't an emergency and to give him some baby aspirin to help the pain. We of course didn't have any as we don't have any babies. She also said that it basically just needed to pop and drain. A little while later there was some blood stuff on the floor so it looked like it had popped, so I didn't worry about the baby aspirin.

Sunday night when I went to bed, Dominic was trembling non-stop. I figured he must still be in pain so I was going to buy him some aspirin the next day.

Monday: came home from work but didn't have time to go to like Wal-mart for aspirin so called the Express 24...they only had baby Tylenol (didn't know if that would be okay). So I called my neighbors (who recently had a baby) to see if they had any baby aspirin. Negative. So I called the vet again to see if Tylenol would be okay. The lady who answered the phone responded by saying that I really shouldn't give him baby aspirin or tylenol as there isn't a lot of confirmed reasearch on the effect it has on the animal. She asked me what was wrong so I explained it to her and told her what the on-call vet said. The phone lady told me that really I should bring him in as swollen anal glands have a tendancy to get infected so I made an appointment for Tuesday morning. She said that for the pain that night I could give Dominic the baby tylenol.

Tuesday @ the vet's: the shaved my baby's boy and inspected his gland. The vet said it was too sensitive for her to fully inspect so she gave me two drugs for Dominic: one for pain and one for an antibotic, setting us back about $100. Then I booked an appointment for next week.

So...I have to give Dominic a pill every 12 hours (i slip it in some wet food so it goes down really easy), and this liquid medicine through a syringe to his mouth every 24 hours. He doesn't like the syringe squirting one but is enjoying the wet food as we usually only give them dry food. Charlie, my other dog, seems to be a little jealous that Dominic is getting all these "treats". LOL But Dominic seems to be getting better now so hopefully he is back to his old self soon.

NYR: January Progress Report

Okay so here I go self-evaluating my progress on those January New Year's Resolutions...

1. Attend water aerobics: there have been 2 classes so far I have am 2 for 2...however it was a close call as yesterday I wasn't feel good. I had went home sick in the afternoon but felt better by the time it was Water Aerobics time. I'm feeling much better physically after only 2 times...

2. Plan at least one social event: well I'm attending a few so maybe that counts? It's my friend Cat's b-day this week so I'm going to her parent's house for fondue. On Sunday one of my co-worker's Cheryl is having a Partylite party. Then next weekend my friend/hairdresser Megan is having her birthday party (glow bowling). I feel like that's busy enough. However, I should get on the ball for my game night that is fast approaching...

3. One Rachael Ray Recipe/Per Minimum: I can cross this one off! Last night I made chicken meatball sauce & rice...I also whipped up some homemade mac & cheese (the cheese sauce is homemade not the macaroni). I'm also watch several episodes and have cooking options for next week.

4. Hit the sack at 11:30: this one I am failing at miserably and thus also making myself very UNpunctual for work each day. In fact I haven't worked a full day yet this week: Monday - nail appointment, Tuesday - vet, Wednesday - Sick...sigh.

5. Minimize in-law rants to Tyler: score. I'm fairly certain I haven't bitched to him yet.

Stay tuned for February's goals!

Blizzard

I took this picture off of the AMA road report camera's. While this shot is closer to Edmonton it's pretty accurate to describing how it looks outside. The wind is blowing like crazy and while I don't think it's snowing per say it looks like it from the wind. The sky is pure white which gives the illusion of sunshine but it's super cold!

Gotta love winter in Alberta, Canada! We've been spoiled so far this year...

Resolutions Re-evaluation

So I am re-evaluating my New Year’s resolutions. Here we go. I still have all those goals in mind but instead I’m going to set up mini-goals for each month, say about five per month, to help me stay on track.

Here is January’s Mini-Goals:
1. Attend water aerobics starting Jan 15
2. Plan at least one social event.
3. Make at least one “Rachael Ray” recipe per week.
4. Hit the sack at 11:30pm on week nights.
5. Keep in-law rants on blog or to friends: not to Tyler.

January Accomplishments So Far:
1. Finished scrapbooking Christmas 2006.
2. Signed up for water aerobics.

Items I’ve scrapped/re-evaluated:
1. Weight Watchers: I’ve familiarized myself with the program and have decided that on the whole it doesn’t work for me. However I will take key elements with me, such as the point system when evaluation food choices.
2. Yoga: I’ve decided that I don’t want to commit myself to Tuesday nights for 10 weeks for $75. Instead I will rent or buy a Yoga DVD & try it out first. Besides, Tuesday nights are the best nights for going to the theatre.

Car Incident #3 (the 10 days of hell overstay their welcome)...

So on Friday morning I press my car starter button & hear my car hum as it turns on. I go about my business and get ready for work. Getting into my car to go I put the key into the ignition, go to put it in gear and the car shuts off. Awesome. So I go to try it again and the car won't start. Now the really fun thing with Saturns (and they'll blame the car starter but I blame the car maker) is that they have a theft deterrant programmed into the car so that if the right key isn't used to start the car is disables the fuel. This translates to sometimes when I used my car starter my key won't turn on the car. The solution is suppose to be to leave the key in the ignition in "run mode" for 15 minutes and then re-start the car. So I do that, which will make me late for work so I call from my cell & leave a message.

After the obligitory 15 minutes I try to start the car, it won't turn over and I get an error message on my odometer that says "PWR STR" (a.k.a. power steering). I'm none to happy about this as my car was in for service just over a week ago. I call Saturn servie department and they say: we're really busy but if you drop your car off and leave it here all day we may be able to look at it. Right, but first I have to get it running. I schedule an appointment for Monday morning instead.

Then I wait some more and try to start the car. Still doesn't work. Go inside, make some "tension tamer" tea & call work again. Wait some more, try again, still doesn't work. Shovel my walk way, wait some more, still doesn't work. Then my odometer flashes "COOLANT" in addition to the "PWR STR" message. I call Saturn again. Get a different person who reiterates what the first girl said.

Wait some more. Try again, still not working. It is now about 45 mintues later. So I'm starting to worry that maybe my battery has died now. I try using the car starter button again. It starts. I stop swearing and thank god. I put my key in, go to put it in gear & it shuts off. I start swearing again. So I call Saturn again & get a third different person. He informs me that most likely my car will not start now and I'd better get it towed to Saturn.

I call AMA (luckily I have a membership) who tell me it'll be up to an hour wait. It isn't. The tow guy is really nice but trash talks car starters a bunch. I get to Saturn about 9:30ish (which is over an hour after I'm suppose to start work). Then I have to wait for the shuttle. So I got to work at about 10am. The shuttle driver told me that it was their busiest day in history in the service department and that she was working by herself.

At about 11am Saturn calls me and informs me that my car starter blew a fuse and so it's my cost. It took them 1 1/2 hours to be sure that was the issue so I owe them $100. Yay. I complain that it's barely been there 1 1/2 hours, he says "oh we started working on it right away." Then I asked if it can't go under warranty. He claims that cuz the code said "ignition interference" he can't. So I'm out 2 hours of work & $100.

Then at 4pm I call Saturn for a shuttle ride back there to pick up my car at 4:30pm. The guy tells me they are running at least an hour behind. So I convince Cynthia that she should drive me there.

After all that, I went to Costco & got an amazing deal on a basket of bath stuff. That helped.

Survey Time

I got this survey in my e-mail today & thought that if I was going to go to the trouble of filling it out that I was going to get a blog post out of it dammit. As time consuming as they are I think they are fun to read & fill out. Here you go:

1. What is your occupation? Regional Administrative Support
2. What colour are your socks right now? Black/Teal/Turquoise Striped
3. What are you listening to right now? Dan’s call on speakerphone
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Scrambled eggs
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Um, I have once before but it would probably get ugly.
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Underachieving Blue
7. The last person you spoke to on the phone? An answering machine at a massage place
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Absolutely, but we need to hang out more
9. How old are you today? 24
10. Favorite drink? Brown Cow
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Poker, does that count? If not, hockey.
12. Have you ever dyed your hair? I think a better question is when was the last time I didn’t dye my hair, LOL.
13. Pets? Well they’re more like kids: Charlie, Dominic, Persia, Baxter.
14. Favorite food? Old Dutch Ketchup Chips. Or Tyler’s BBQ steak w/ corn on the cobb.
15. What was the last movie you watched? The Black Dahlia last night. Don’t waste your time…boring!
16. What do you do to vent anger? Bitch usually. It only fuels it though.
17. What was your favorite toy as a child? Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe my stuffed animals? I had a few that were special.
18. What is your favorite season, fall or spring? Fall cuz it’s when my birthday is.
19. Hugs or kisses? Hugs. They’re gender neutral.
20. Cherries or blueberries? Cherries, I don’t really like blueberries all that much.
21. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Yes all the time.
22. Who is most likely to respond? Well I’m mostly just going to post this on my blog so I have no ideas.
23. Who is least likely to respond? Everyone.
24. Living arrangements? Own a house with my husband, Tyler.
25. When was the last time you cried? Sunday. I was really emotional.
26. What is on the floor of your closet? So many things, discarded clothes, laundry hampers, a weigh scale. Lots of dust bunnies.
27. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? Not relevant.
28. What did you do last night? Well I didn’t go to Yoga as I originally planned. Instead I rented a few movies, cooked dinner and watched one of them plus an episode of X-files. And talked to Tyler on the phone of course (he’s in Fort McMurray).
29. Favorite smell? Fresh, homemade bread.
30. What inspires you? I’m not sure…when I figure that out I’ll be closer to achieving my goals.
31. What are you afraid of? So many things: snakes, spiders, abandonment, killers, rapists, racism, ignorance, horror movies…
32. Favorite dog breed? I don’t really have a favorite but my dogs are Shih Tzu X Pug and I love them!
33. Number of keys on your key ring? 5 – Tyler’s car trunk key, my car key, Tyler’s truck key, house key, mail box key. But I also have my car starter, 2 membership scan thingees, and a bunch of key chains that make it a huge mess.
34. Favorite day of the week? Friday, it has all the potential of Saturday without being so close to Monday.
35. How many provinces have you lived in? One (Alberta).
36. Favorite holiday? My birthday! Then Christmas.
37. Have you ever operated a motorcycle or heavy machinery? Negative.
38. Ever left the country? Twice now, yay! I’ve been to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and to Manhattan, New York City, New York.
39. Favorite kind of music? Not genre specific, but the kind that gives me goose bumps or makes me want to dance as soon as I hear it. Or that I want to listen to over & over on repeat (Tyler hates that).
40. Last book you have read? I’m currently reading “Why do men fall asleep after sex?” the sequel to “Why do men have nipples?” It’s a trivia knowledge type book.
Your turn, folks! Copy & paste it into a response!

My Week in Hell

So I’ve already blogged Christmas Day & New Year’s but I didn’t write about the 2 crappy things that happened in between. I’m not sure exactly what I did but I think God is punishing me for something. I'm trying to ignore my French Catholic upbringing & purge my guilt instead of wallowing in it. Here it goes...

Incident #1 - Last Wednesday I was shopping in my Scrapbooker’s store and Tyler was waiting for me outside in my car. Completely unprovoked my windshield made a SNAP sound and cracked from the middle out in both directions. I have a giant mustache shape almost clear across my windshield. And it makes noise: we were traveling on the highway this weekend and it was making a rubbing sound. Scary.

Incident #2 – So I think I have come a long way in terms of driving but apparently my parking still needs work. I was trying to park in a spot in the North Wal-Mart parking lot (my arch nemesis: see back-story below) which was a little tight. I must have had my angles wrong and got too close to the truck on my right’s back bumper. Awesomely, he had a hook right in that spot that hooked onto the part in between my back passenger door & the wheel hub. I stopped as soon as I fell the impact, and then reversed trying to get out of it. This action popped a piece of my auto body off about 4 inches by two inches as well as dug quite a nice groove into my door. I was quite impressed with myself as you can imagine. I could barely continue shopping at Wal-Mart. In reality it could have been much worse but I was still pissed off at myself as my car is only a 2005. It was one of those moments where you wish you could rewind.

Back-story – Shortly after I bought myself my first car (about two weeks), a brand new 2003 Saturn Ion, I found myself parking in the North Wal-Mart parking lot. I parked on the perimeter which I rarely do and had my Little Sister (from the program) with me. When it was time for us to leave I decided that instead of backing up in a curve I would just back out straight into the empty lane and then pull out. Bad idea. There was a heavy duty truck there with a bumper that was sticking out. I hit his bumper with my driver’s side back end and my reaction was slow so I hit it for a bit of a long time. I ended up denting in my dent resistant auto body. I called Tyler in tears to come get me. Then Jessica (11) & I waited for him to show up. In her never ending niceness she said to me “if your car was a puppy you would have just killed it”. Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better. The guy who owned the truck showed up & was really nice. He said that his truck was fine and asked me if I was alright. It was good that there was no damage to his vehicle. Tyler showed up and lectured me on my not smartness. When we got home he managed to pop out the dent so all that was left was the two puncture holes left by the screws. It was a constant reminder of my parking inexperience. Especially since I hadn’t even made my first car payment yet. :-(

Happy [insert swear here] New Year's!

So I rang New Year’s in with a delightful bang. Sarcasm. Sometime after midnight I ended up getting into an argument with my brother-in-law. I’m going to lay out what happened & I’d love for you all to weigh in with your thoughts.

So Kira (my 4 month old niece) woke up crying because she needed both a diaper change and to be fed. Kim, her mom, handed Kira to Tyrone (the dad & my brother-in-law) to go change her while Kim got the cereal ready. So Tyrone is a pretty big guy, he’s about 5’10” and weight somewhere near 300 pounds. Kira was crying and we could hear Tyrone shaking the bed (her thus her) to try to get her to stop, which only made her cry harder. This isn’t the first time he has shaken her when she was crying in an attempt to get her to stop & the sound of her interrupted crying was really bothering me and Kim. Kim went upstairs to tell him to get out & she’d change the diaper. I could her him tell her “If she’s going to cry I’ll give her something to cry about”. Nice, especially considering she’s 4 months old. So he comes barreling done the stairs bitching “fine, fucking spoil her then. She needs to learn to settle down before we change her”. Last I checked babies cried as a form of communication.

So when he sat back at the table where we were playing cards (Me, my husband Tyler, and Mary my mother-in-law) I said “it’s not right to shake your baby”. He started arguing with me, saying that as long as the neck is supported it’s fine, that he knew his baby’s limits, that it takes a lot to hurt the baby…etc. I argued back that it doesn’t take as much as you think, that you can’t know the limits cuz even scientists don’t know, and why take the risk? Check your ego at the door and do what’s best for your baby. The arguing escalated until we were basically screaming at each other. At this point Mary screamed at us “Enough. You’ve each said what you have to say now leave it. You’re not even listening to each other. If he hurts he’s baby he’ll have to live with that.”

I was flabbergasted. Tyler, Mary & Kim had all said earlier that weekend that they didn’t agree with the baby shaking and none has spoken up or stepped in to support me when I did. So I said “doing nothing is the same thing as encouraging it”. She says “well I’ve told him what I think and that’s all I can do. So should we keep arguing & just be a dysfunctional family?” Bullshit. I totally lost respect for her there. Why wouldn’t you do everything in your power to convince that person not to behave that way? Especially when your granddaughter’s life is at risk?

I was so mad & frustrated that I was shaking. I had a million things running through my head that I wanted to say, but she had basically closed the book. I started to cry with frustration, and the table was silent as we finished our game. Tyrone went to his room, Mary left for a smoke and Kim came down with Kira wondering what was going on. I tried to explain best I could but was still crying. Tyler tried to make me feel better but it didn’t work.

Mary came back in and pulled Tyrone downstairs where they started looking it up on the internet. I could here Tyrone repeating what he wanted to hear “as long as the head is supported” so I was getting more mad. He’s so ignorant and pig-headed. A long time later we went to bed & Mary and Tyrone were still talking. I have no idea of what conclusion was come to as we didn’t talk about it since then. I just hope he considers what I said. Most importantly I see this act not simple as a single event but as an indication of what may come in the future. If Tyrone can not control his frustrations or strength now what will be done the road?
One site says “Normal interaction with a child, like bouncing the baby on a knee, will not cause SBS, although it's important to never shake a baby under any circumstances because gentle shaking can rapidly escalate,” and another “The repetitive nature of the act suggests a lack of self-control or rage indicating the real possibility of previous or future abuse,” confirming my fears.

If you are interested in learning more check out the following links:

http://www.dontshake.com/
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/shaken.html
http://aboutshakenbaby.com/
http://dawn.thot.net/brain/baby.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaken_baby_syndrome#Prevention