Friday, March 23, 2007

The Weekend Summary

Thursday
Saw 300 with James. Lots of carnage and nakedness. I wouldn't reccommend it for kids, or any adults who don't like to see blood and unclothed bodies. But it was really good. Movies are rediculously expensive, I'd be bummed that we spent nearly $20 if it wasn't so visually impressive on the big screen.

Friday
Off of work, couldn't sleep later than 8:00.
Started doing laundry (total of 7 loads in one day)
Unintentionaly went to Ukrop's, Kroger, and The Market all in the same day (hit up Ukrop's for 50% off thrift)
Bought some t-shirt's for work
Worked around the house, completed 95% of my to-do list
Cooked dinner
Intended to go running, my stomach wasn't feeling up to it
Watched Grey's Anatomy re-run
Hung out with my husband
Ate some Edy's popsicles.
Fell asleep on the couch watching basketball

Saturday
Up at 7:30 and again at 8:30: Owen barking
Up for good at 9:00
Went running
Found some Dansko's on Craig's List for super cheap, still waiting to hear if If I'm the lucky new owner
Cooked breakfast for lunch (sausage egg and cheese biscuits)
Did some organizing/discarding of stuff in our house: went through THOUSANDS of photographs
Had a great time with some friends and their two kids at dinner at Ashland Coffee & Tea
Bed at 12:00

Sunday
Youth Bible Class (James taught on Proverbs and wisdom) and worship at Stony Point
Lunch with our friend Paul at Jason's Deli
Home to relax for 2.2 seconds
Franklin Street Community, the cookies and water were good, even better were the conversations with friends
Home to finish some organizational stuff, watch Real Life on MTV, eat a sandwich and popsicle for dinner and go to sleep at 12:00

Thursday, March 22, 2007

My Biggest Fear

I've realized recently what one of my biggest fears is. This fear has been a part of my life for quite some time now and I can't seem to kick it. But I guess fears are stubborn that way.

I'm afraid that something will suddenly happen to a family member or friend that is very traumatic. This something could be death, a physical injury, a serious health diagnosis, or an accident/bad decision that may lead to very negative legal ramifications. The "sudden" part of these scenarios is what is most nerve-wracking to me, but I guess this list of items don't usually happen gradually. Sometimes I get nervous because I've made it this far in life without having to deal with too many of these unfortunate events, and because of that, maybe there's a big one looming around the corner.

I used to be plagued with horrible thoughts of horiffic things that could happen to people I love. It was as if a tiny little thought crept into my mind and then it snowballed until I'm almost freaking out. I'm a fairly empathetic person, which is to my detriment sometimes since I imagine how I would feel in these situations or when I see things that happen on the news to other people. I draw up the emotions I would experience during one of these events, which makes dwell on these situations on a deeper level, and then am unable to quickly forget these thoughts and news stories. James thoughtfully tries to keep me from watching the news.

It's starting to sound as though I'm paralyzed by these fears. It's not super often that these fears arise, but when they do, it can be pretty upsetting.

Really, the only thing that helps me is to pray about these things. I'm able to rest in the peace that comes with the assurance I have that my God sees and knows everything. And that He would give me the strength to deal with any event in my life, no matter how traumatic.

yay for sleep

I get a three day weekend. Boy do I need it. I'm particularly exhausted, emotionally and physically. It's been a wild week. Being exhausted isn't always a bad thing, it means life is eventful and interesting. But it's much more tolerable when there's a break somewhere in there to recuperate from the tiredness.

Friday, March 09, 2007

How would YOU like to have YOUR anal sacs expressed?

Our poor dog Owen had to go the vet yesterday, she had a very unpleasant experience. If you don't like gross things, you may not want to read the rest of this post, consider yourself forewarned.

For the last couple of months we've noticed her periodically licking her behind area...furiously licking. We didn't think much of it, dogs do strange things sometimes. Until one day I noticed it was a little inflamed. I called the vet, they said it could be that she can't "express her anal sacs on her own"...waaahhh? Apparently they have these sacs that emit a "territory marking" scent when they use the doggy toilet. Most dogs do it automatically, a fair amount of dogs can't do it themselves. Owen is one of them.

So treatment involves reaching inside the anal area (yes with your finger) and putting pressure on one or both of the anal sacs to expel the stuff (gas like substance I guess?). The first thing I inquired about were the consequences if this doesn't get done, wondering just how serious it is and how soon I needed to get Owen to the vet. Well, according to the vet, these anal sacs could rupture. "So," I inquired, "will I see a little blood or something if that happens?" Actually, I'd see ANOTHER HOLE!!!

I was in the waiting room when the vet performed this procedure for Owen. Suddenly I heard some intense yelping. "Was that Owen?" I asked. The girl said it was and that although it's not painful for dogs, it's pretty uncomfortable. "Well...," I asked, "wouldn't you be uncomfortable if somebody did that to you?"

This procedure will have to be performed whenever we see the symptoms, for Owen that would be the furious licking. Other dogs may bite or scoot along the floor in hopes of solving the problem themselves. I was informed at the vet that some owners prefer to do this "expressing" on their own, while others bring them in to have the vet do it. After no discussion at all, James and I both came to the same conclusion that we'll gladly put up the $12 to have someone else put our poor dog through this miserable process.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Only METAL folding chairs for me from now on

Here's a funny scenario for you:
James' basketball game had just ended yesterday, I was sitting in the gym with his teammates. To truly appreciate this story, you have to be made aware of the sizes of all involved. James and the four other basketball players sitting on either side of me are all above 6' tall and each weigh 200+ pounds. While I am on the short side at 5'4", and weight 125 lbs. We were all sitting in the exact same type of plastic folding chair. While listening to the guy's chat it up about how the game went, I ever so slightly shifted my weight. All of the sudden...CRACK! To my surprise, I'm suddenly falling swiftly toward the floor as my chair crumbled beneath me. Not to worry, though, because the back of my head broke my fall when it slammed into the cinder block wall. We all had a good laugh at the irony of it all.

Tales of Trampolines

I babysat for my boss' kids earlier today. We (the four of us) jumped on their trampoline for, no joke, a combined total of 2 hours. Those 2 hours were broken up into 3 shorter sessions. And when I say jumped, I don't mean hung out for a while in between jumping...I mean jumped continuously, no breaks longer than approx. 45 seconds.

I am now a firm believer in, and proponent of, those net cage things that keep children's bodies (and older people's bodies; aka...mine) from sailing right over the edge to meet the ground at a high velocity, which has been known to result in injuries, which is a babysitters nightmare.

You know when you used to go skating at the rink (not rollerblading, the old-fashioned kind) and you'd take your skates off at the end of the night after the couple skate finale, you'd try to walk, and you felt like you were still rolling? Or if you spent all day in the ocean, you'd feel the relaxing rhythm of the waves rocking you to sleep? As I am attempting to drift off into a deep Friday evening sleep, all I feel is my body bouncing over and over again. I can assure you, it's worse than those times it feels as though the room is spinning.