The Last Hurrah

Today was supposed to be my last hurrah as far as spending goes. Unfortunately, I didn't have any money so basically all I got was a plain white tank top at Old Navy that I actually need (my old one has a huge unremoveable stain right at the neck line). Not too Hurrah-y. So basically, my last big splurge were the last two items I bought on ebay that came in the mail this week.

The first one was a book about embroidery that is clearly "vintage"...

The other was an awesome batch of covered buttons (since I have no clue how to cover them myself)...

The four at the top are my favorites, they're so cute. Here's a closeup...

So those are my splurges... I find it a little sad and pathetic - buttons and a book *sigh*. Somewhere out there there's a 42" lcd tv out there that's just waiting for me.

Money is the root of all aggravation

That is why May is going to be a no spending month.

I received a call today from the car loan people. I was supposed to send them money via MoneyGram on Thursday but my paycheck didn't even come near what I was supposed to give them. I called them to tell them this but my brilliant brain sent some funky message to the hand that was writing down their number and messed it all up (normally my usual mistake is transposing 2 numbers incorrectly, jumbling them up. This time when I pulled out the post-it with the number on it and compared it to the number I got from them today...it ain't even close). So, today's phone call was pretty nasty and, as always, I start crying - nothing too dramatic but you can definitely tell in my voice. The girl on the phone tells me that there's no use in crying, it's not going to buy me any more time....whoa. Hold up there chicky. First off, I wasn't asking for more time, I said I'd call right back with payment info. Second, telling me this doesn't help me stop crying. If anything it makes it worse. Third, I cry as an automatic response to any excessive emotion, happiness, anger, sadness, frustration, etc so just pretend like it's not happening. She did not like me telling her that. Uh uh, no siree bob. She got real nasty after that, so I basically had to tell her, listen, I'll call you back in a few minutes, good bye...click, or she would have just kept on ranting and raving.

So, here I am, at work mind you, with red, swollen eyes trying not to throw my phone across the room. Poor little phone doesn't deserve that, it's not its fault the chick on the other end was a raging B from hell.

Have you ever seen the movie Ghost? Did you notice how when Demi Moore cries, there's no puffiness, no red eyes?

It's unfair I tell you.

Anyhoo, not only is May no spending month, it's going to be see-if-I-can-live-without-a-car month because I'm selling it. Getting rid of the albatross. So, all you friends out there, don't expect me to go anywhere unless you're willing to pick my ass up. :)

Of course, along with saving me money, it makes me live a bit "greener" which is always good. So, keep your fingers crossed, say some prayers, what have you, that I don't go absolutely insane next month.

This is...my favorite book (s).

Like most of the This is'ers this is a difficult one for me. I have approximately 4 gazillion bookshelves full plus I don't know how many boxes of books in my garage. So, narrowing it down to one, that's just not gonna happen. I have many many favorites; I'll share a few of them with you...

1. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Everytime I read it I cry.

2. America The Beautiful by Robert Sabuda, or any by Robert Sabuda. I coveted this book for about a year before I gave in and bought it. I bring it out a few times a year just to look and be inspired. Plus I really love pop up books of any kind.

3. The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. I resisted reading these for years, mostly because everybody and their grandmothers were all head over heels for them (I'm a rebel to the core hee hee). Finally, I think it was when the 5th book came out I gave in and borrowed 1 - 4 from a friend then her copy of #5 and I was hooked. This series of books is one of the few works of fiction that I've read more than once.

Lately my fiction choices have been fluffy chick lit pieces that take only a couple of hours to get through mostly because that's all the attention span I've had recently. But normally, I read anything I can get my hands on.

Thank you Dees over at Daisy in lala Land for this week's topic.

Happy Friday!!

Celebrate! It's Friday! :)

FALAFEL!!!!

Last week I posted about a food obsession of mine, frozen yogurt. I'd like to share another...falafel. I'm so addicted to it! I could eat plates and plates of them. The best here in my berg is at the Oasis Grill, a little mom and pop operation. His falafel aren't over fried and they're spiced just right. My sister and I usually share a plate of the appetizer falafel plate. It comes with 5, you do the math. We almost come to blows over the last one cuz neither of us want to split it. But, of course, we do in the end.

If I were to become a vegetarian, this would be the main staple in my diet. That's how good they are.

Photo courtesy of www.jerusalemrestaurant.com

EWWWWW

*WARNING!*

This message is rated PG for pretty gross. If you're squeamish do not read (this means you, Chris). The other day I had a, lets call it an appointment, to which it is customary to wear business attire. I bought some lovely new shoes for the *ahem* appointment. There's not a whole lot of walking envolved, just from car to building and back. By the time I got back to my car, the new shoes had turned evil and I had two HUGE blisters, roughly the size and shape of Tennessee. This was last Friday. They are still oozing, yes I said oozing. Ok, I've crossed even my gross threshold so I leave you with this little visual aid...

This is...My latest discovery.

Sorry about the teeeny tiny pic but I don't have an actual picture of my own. This is the
Assistance League of Covina Valley Learning Center Thrift Shop. Mouthful isn't it? I passed by this store for years (I used to live just down the street!) but never ever went in. I have no idea why. A few weeks ago my sister decides we need to go check it out so in we went and lo and behold - they actually have a wall of fabric remnants! There are pieces anywhere from 1/4 yard to more than 3 yards. I don't know if somebody just donated a big chunk of their stash or if they actually do replenish their stock every so often. But I'm in love with this store. Let me show you some fine samples of the fabrics I've bought there...

The pink ticking this wee bunny is made out of is from there.

This vintage canvas is from there.

And this pinstripe is from there...1 yard for 75 cents...can't beat that!

Anyway, this is my most recent discovery. Thanks to RheLynn from Knit Owl for this weeks theme.

I came across this little kit today. It was on clearance (from $37 to $5) so I snatched it up. It's similar to those kits for baby handprints except it's for your pets. I couldn't resist it and yes, I realize just how obsessed I am and I'm fine with it. Have a good weekend everybody!

My latest obsession, water aerobics and some thank you's

Hello, my name is Crystal and I'm a yogurtaholic. I can't get enough of the stuff it is too YUMMY. This is my favorite combo...strawberry yogurt with fresh strawberries, oreos, and fruity pebbles. All that yogurty goodness has me under its spell. MMMMMMM Yogurt.

Subject #2. I had my first water aerobics class of the season tonight. It kicked my butt!!! It's funny how in 6 short months I forgot just how much it takes out of me. I mean really, you're just moving around in water, how hard can it be? But I'm all tired and sore but in that good way that comes after a good workout.

And finally, some thank you's to all of you who have left comments on my blog. I really appreciate knowing that there are actually people out there reading it. I send you all virtual cheek smooches.

Midnight Romp

This is another post about my dog. I figured it's been a while and you were all probably hungry for more stories about the Bubbers. Soooooo...for the last three nights he has been hit with a case of hyperdog syndrome at midnight each night. I'll be turning off all the lights or the tv or what have you, and...zoom!!!!...up comes this little red bullet onto the bed with his toy of choice. He inevitably drops it on or near my face and, let me tell you, old used-up raggedy dog toys STINK!!! P.U.! If I don't respond he does one of two things, first, he does this really short, intermittent, quiet growl then if that doesn't work he simultaneously does this little stomp of both his front feet while exhaling really loud and quick. Think if you had a gnat fly up your nose all of a sudden and the blowing that would accompany this, that's what it sounds like. Finally, if I still don't respond he jumps up on top of me and repeats both steps one and two.

But really, it hardly ever gets to this point because he's just so darn cute that I can't resist playing with him and I tell myself that it's not like I was already asleep. So I play for about 10 or 15 minutes and he's perfectly happy the rest of the night. The ultimate reward for putting off sleep for 15 minutes is the cuddling that always occurs at the end of a play session. He has to be as close to your face as possible during cuddling and needs to have at least one hand within licking distance. How can you resist such a loving creature? I sure can't. I do think that if this is our new bedtime ritual I'm just going to have to start turning off the lights earlier.

Pain free and my 50th post

Ok so this weekend I was virtually pain free! Yay! Saturday I had absolutely no pain, Sunday I had a couple of really light twinges at night and today I had none. I'm thinking that Since Thursday & Friday were so bad that all this pain must have been a gall stone that just went on it's merry way so now I'm hopefully done with that. We'll see.

I've been reading alot (and I mean ALOT) of blogs since I started mine less than 4 months ago and many bloggers celebrate their 50th post as a milestone. I don't intend to celebrate it mostly because I feel I just talk too much. I mean 50 posts in less than 4 months seems a little too prolific for my own good (actually this is my 51st but whatev). And really, it could totally have been way more than 50 but there were days that I felt that 3 posts in one day was just too many so I refrained. So this little graphic is as celebratey as I'm gonna get. We'll see what happens on the 100th post.

This is.... my perfect dinner party guest list

This week's theme. Hmmmm. I've actually been asked this before and always end up racking my brain. I'm not exactly a social person and being in a group of people be it big or small, real or imagined tends to make me cringe (strangely I do like to throw parties, I like to cook for large amounts of people...maybe I should be a caterer) so I usually go around this question by answering with some vague reply. However, in the spirit of the meme I will answer candidly.

My first guest would be my grandmother. The more I learn about her from my mom the more intrigued I get. She was born in 1906 and died at the age of 98. Back in 1999 when we went to visit her she was doing Tai bo. She lived through so much, including the bombing of Pearl Harbor literally in her back yard (she lived her whole life in Hawaii). I sometimes mentally scold my mother for moving to California away from her family because I really wish I had gotten to know my grandmother better. Here's a picture of her with my aunt back in the early nineties...

My next guest would be the Carters, as in former President Jimmy and his wife Rosalynn. Not because I'm an avid politico because I'm not. I hate talking politics. But I am a fan of Habitat For Humanity and all of his other humanitarian endeavors. I also got to meet Rosalynn a few years back and she is a very lovely, very kind woman. I've been an admirer ever since.



I would definitely need some comic relief so maybe Michael Ian Black, whom I find heeelarious. If you don't know who he is, he's been in quite a few shows but my favorite was Ed. He played one of the bowling alley employees. And he's in all those funny Sierra Mist commercials. Here's his pic...



Next on my list would be a college friend I haven't seen in 16 years, Kaya. If there was ever a good excuse to invite her to fly down to California, a dream dinner party would be it. Here she is in the 80's (note the 80's hair)...




Then it would have to be Stephen Hawking. His mind fascinates me.

And finally, I would have to invite my friend Chris cuz if I had a party with Stephen Hawking in attendance, I would never hear the end of it if Chris wasn't there.

Thanks to Lily and Agathe for this week's theme.



EDIT: Holy crap!! I forgot the most important guest of all...my arm / eye candy guest. That would definitely have to be Gerard Butler...yummy!!!! Ok, that's 7 other people but the arm/eye candy is a necessity and I can't bring myself to cut any of the others out.

The results are in!

The results from the second scan are in and basically I know nothing more now than I did before all this started. They told me there's a small cyst on one ovary but nothing that would cause the kind of pain I'm having and to follow up with my primary care physician. Thanks for nuthin! They said, "well maybe it's just a bad bout of gas" and gave me a list of foods to stay away from. They include:
a. no drinking caffeinated drinks,
b. no soda,
c. no gum chewing,
d. no sour or acidic foods (like lemons and tomatoes)
e. no salty foods,
f. no spicy foods,
g. no greasy foods
h. no foods high in fat

Hmmmmmmmm.....that leaves plain bread, plain rice, plain potatoes, plain pasta, plain salad...foodie hell.

If anybody out there knows of a holistic solution to gallbladder problems I would love some tips.

Am I gonna pee brown?

I had my second CT scan today, downed my second bottle of barium in less than a week. This time there were extra little treats and surprises! First, she informs me that she's going to have to inject some iodine before the scan to open up the blood vessels. HUH? Of course, I'm thinking that gross brown/coppery looking liquid that people used to put on cuts and such, so my first question is whether or not my *ahem* urine will be brown. But the tech assures me that this iodine is clear and I'll never know when it comes out. Although, she tells me, that it will cause a heated/flushed sensation usually starting from your head then it goes to your "bottom". HUH?? She tells me it will feel as if I've wet my pants but assures me that that will not be the case. (and really how does she know that I'm fully continent?) It didn't happen quite that way, however, and started at my "bottom" then down to the bottoms of my feet. It was, to say the least, a very strange sensation.
The whole process lasted maybe all of 8 minutes. So I'm glad I'm done with that part of this...whatever...let's call it a medical journey. Now if they can just figure out what the heck is wrong with me so they can fix the problem, I'll be eternally grateful.

This is my knick knack / jewelry box

It's a little beat up because it's about 15 years old.
Here's what's in it...


1. Drop necklaces I made about 15 years ago when they first became really popular.
2. The first beading I ever did -anklets from high school.
3. Misc rings, broach, toy camaro of course.
4. Charms and I think that thing at the top might be a cuff link but I'm not sure.
5. My favorite necklace, given to me by my aunt. She said she got it in the 60's and used to wear it all the time.
6. Some earrings I've had since the 80's that I just can't bring my self to get rid of.
7. Rocks and shells that I've picked up from different trips.

The other 2 drawers contain miscellaneous stuff like watches that need batteries, my baby ring, some more 80's earrings, etc.

Thanks to Anastasia for this week's topic.

My Week

I'd like to share my week with you.

Monday...back to work from vacation. Missed a doctor's appt. because I completely forgot.

Tuesday...had jury duty. Pain in the butt and in the side. Looks like I'm getting picked for the jury.

Wednesday...strangely, I can't remember what I did in the morning. I don't remember if I went to work or not. In the afternoon, jury duty. Yep, got picked for the jury. Made appt. to get this pain in my side looked at.

Thursday...Morning - go to doctor's appointment, get told that either my gallbladder is having issues (maybe stones, maybe something else) or my appendix is crapping out. Get sent to diagnostic center for CT scan, have to drink a butt load of barium (YUCK!).

Afternoon - Go to jury duty wearing yoga pants cuz those are the only pants comfortable enough to wear.

Friday...Morning - Go to work (wearing running pants), call and leave message for doctor cuz I haven't heard anything yet. Do some retail therapy at Michael's cuz this is stressing me out!

Afternoon - Go to jury duty. While on break I find I have a voice mail from the Dr. No gall stones, am I still having the same symptoms or did they just miraculously go away (honestly!). I call back, they aren't answering so I leave another message. Go back into the courtroom. Since it's Friday, we're let out early (3:30) and I find another message - call back and ask for the Dr. directly (what does she think I've been doing?) so I call back and she tells me they did an abdominal CT but not a pelvic so they didn't rule out an appendectomy. She's gonna try to make another appt. to have another scan, we'll call back. I decide I need more retail therapy and go to Ikea. As I'm packing up my car with my purchases I get another call...We made an appointment for you on Monday at 3:30 (so much for doing more jury duty) but in the meantime please come in and have some blood drawn and pick up another big ass bottle of barium, which I do. So now I'm just trying to spend my weekend in any comfortable position I can find. I missed my friend's wedding because I don't have anything loose enough to be comfortable in that's nice enough to wear to a wedding. Plus the thought of sitting for however long is in itself uncomfortable let alone actually doing it.

So that was my week...It was a bit weird, a bit stressful and a bit painful. Hopefully next will be better.

The pain of doing my civic duty

I have been summonsed to jury duty. In the past the prospect has been something I looked forward to but this time it's just completely inconvenient. I've been trying to get to my doctor about this pain in my side that I am thinking is a gallbladder problem. It is painful to sit so thinking about sitting for hours at a time is a rather daunting thought. Luckily, we don't have to show up at the courthouse until 1:30pm so I will have time in the morning to see my doctor but wow is this timing bad. Not to mention I used up all my vacation time last week so I'm getting paid exactly $15 plus $.34 per mile a day. Not exacly rent-paying type money. I'm torn between hoping I'm going to have to get emergency gallbladder surgery to get out of jury duty and hoping it's just a really bad case of gas or something like that and still having to do jury duty. They weigh the same in my mind...I know, I know, I have issues. Anyway, if you're a praying sort, please pray that this pain in my side is minor and that it's not possible to die of boredom.

Pink + Yellow = :)

Those of you who know me know my favorite color is purple because I make it well known to all who meet me that, should you want to buy me a present (and come on, who doesn't love giving presents) my preferred color is purple, violet, plum, lavender, lilac, etc. However, most of you don't know that my absolute favorite color combo is pink and yellow. It is by far the happiest color combo you can put together. I mean really, the color of the sun and daffodils and rubber duckies with the color of spring tulips and bunny ears and bubble gum?!?!?! Fabulous. Anywho, I say all this as preface to this cluster of flickr fav's. I hope you enjoy the pure visual and emotional joy this brings.