Catching Butterflies

     For whatever reason, it's always easier to remember the bad before the good. I believe the negative scratches our core so roughly that it ingrains it's memory almost permanently, while the positives, however, float by and if we forget to catch a few in our butterfly nets, we can end up with low self-esteems, resentments and regrets. (Speaking of butterflies: Our little Sumo was so cute the other day standing at the top of the hill on our walk chasing butterflies without a care in the world. He does everything in life so merrily!) I've never figured out precisely what I'm BEST at. Although I've always had the deep urge to find a niche and be the greatest at something, I can't seem to discover that gift. I think I'm pretty GOOD a several things, but that lingering desire for dominating a talent and finding greatness always leaves me with this feeling of dissatisfaction. I don't know where this feeling comes from, but it follows me like a ghost.
     Without being egotistical, I thought it'd be a encouraging idea to remind ourselves, that sometimes instead of being the BEST at one thing, it may to more beneficial to be GOOD at many things. So I made a list to remind myself why I should be proud.......of MYSELF, of course!

1. I had the brains to pick out a wonderful man to accompany me through life.
2. My courage- I've mustered the balls to take a leap of faith and be a travel nurse, to live in places I never thought I'd live, while crossing my fingers I'd have a job waiting for me on the other side. I'll never say no to a thrill ride due to it's scare factor. I'm not scared to speak my mind.
3. My Martha Stewart skills- I can put together a meal from any ho-hum pantry/refrigerator leftovers and make it into a gourmet meal. People always ask me what I put in my cookies to make them to swell and I just tell them butter Crisco they were baked with my love. My husband always tells me it's the best meal he's ever had.
4. Obviously I'm amazing  not the best, but I can play the piano, guitar, and harmonica and enjoy writing songs with my love.
5. I can talk about almost anything for a unlimited amount of time!
6. I'm pretty good at smiling.....and laughing.
7. Arts and Crafts- Give me a paintbrush, and pencil, some scissors or glue, and I can muster up a respectable work of art.
8. FashionABLE-  I've been told I can wear anything, and I usually do.   :)
9. Athleticism- I may not finish first or be the fanciest, but thoroughly enjoy my abilities to mountain bike, kayak, ski, wake board, knee board, hike, run, dance, and am looking for more to add to the list.
10. Decorating abilities- It may be eccentric, but I can quickly turn any 4 walls into a cozy, attractive, home.

     Next time you think someone else did something better than you, or you can only remember the negatives......... think harder. Did you use your net?

TTFN
   

Apologies.............Apologies............

http://tosh.comedycentral.com/video-clips/terrell-owens-apologizes   ^------This is Hallarious! T.O.  hater or lover, just about anyone can appreciate this humor.

 
      I was sleepless last night and flipping through T.V. channels to avoid tempting food commercials when I came across a couple of weirdo shows, "Swamp People" and "Housewives of Orange County". First of all, those spoiled brat women trying to act like teenagers, stomping their feet, causing drama, and then complaining about what their actions have gotten them into is more annoying to me than our 1000lb neighbor upstairs that comes home late at night to paraded on our ceiling as graceful as an elephant and bang his lover for hours while the normal people try to sleep. Secondly, do they really make money off of being that stupid? How do the most ridiculous people out there so un-thankfully make millions and the rest are left to work their butts off to barely afford middle class while sending their children to school to the lucky teachers that got to keep their jobs that now must have 30 children to a classroom?  And third, it broke my heart to see all those poor crocodiles be shot in their habitat with a shot gun and flung into a river boat, by people that barely know how to tie their shoes, for their skin to be stretched over purses and boots and their heads froze into souvenirs.
     We are rewarding the ignorant and ignoring the majority, while expecting our country to have a bright future? Makes me want to vomit. Which football player was it that recently said that football players today are basically "modern day slaves"???? Well you, dear sir, are a unappreciative fool. Hey, while we're speaking of fools, how about condoning the obscene behavior of that dusche patrol Charlie Sheen by giving him more publicity and a new show?!?!
     I don't know exactly how to "fix stupid", but I do know that it's definitely not by cutting funds to the school system and giving more money to the rich. It's going to be too late to apologize for what our country is becoming sooner or later. That apology is not going to be as humorous as T.O.'s. and our country will not be "Winning". But until then, enjoy the vid!

TTFN

Grooming Antics




Lucie sunbathing with her short cut

 

     I looked up the definition to "antics" and along with other descriptive words within the definition was "frivolous", which means to have little weight or importance. I thought it a relevant title to this post since I wonder everyday if most of my grooming efforts are frivolous at that. I've always considered myself a low maintenance kind of gal, but lately in all efforts to stay young as I more quickly start to approach my third decade in life, my routine is exponentially expanding in length and as an ironic result, making me feel more old! Just to prepare for bed I have 3 steps to washing my face, then it's the eye cream, cleaning my nose ring and gauges, flossing my teeth, and applying icy hot to my knees and feet! Every AM it's taking my multivitamins, joint supplements, fiber, and repeating my face cleansing and teeth hygiene. I'm not even talking shower time, makeup or hair; the last two are just on luxury days! That's one of the reasons why I LOVED having super short hair......wash and go, one less step, making it happen. In the coming months sunscreen will be added to the equation. I surely hope it's all worthy efforts; it would be a selfish tragedy to later find out it's not. Tell me I'm not alone here!

Callie hugging Sumo after our
actual walk in the park, with
their summer cuts!



     Speaking of grooming, a few days ago we held the dogs down in the bathroom and gave them "summer cuts". We decided it was time when we saw the panting early on during our March walks. Just wait until Sumo experiences his first Texas summer! He is going to hate it; Callie sure does! Patrick always stays on my tail about getting "scissor happy". I think I may have this time with Sumo, but he wasn't making it a walk in the park with all the biting and squirming. It was sad to see his puppy hair fall to the floor; off with the black and on with the gray....that's what we always say! Every member of our family has grey hair except me. Lucie doesn't know it yet, but she's next in line for our bathroom time, and THAT my friends, is always an adventure!



      

Smorgasbord

     Back to the adventures, since I have been slacking.......and so prematurely at that! For the first time in the history of mine and my cousin Allison's life, we pranced our way into the Dallas Zoo entrance (shortly after driving up to the entrance, turning around to flee from the outrageous parking fees, parking for free with high risk at the Micky D's down the block with a roof full of plastic zoo-livers among the ghetto of south Dallas, and endangering our lives by walking against traffic aside I35). Before we ever entered the wondrous world of zoo-ville, it was quite an adventure! We preceded to walk around the zoo and pose with animal statues....letting our inner "wild" loose......as if no one was watching, not forgetting to learn a bit more about African Wildlife along the way. We paid $3 each (a big deal for me, but it was worth it) to ride this trolley like train through the rest of the zoo that was unreachable by foot and have a commentator explain what we were seeing. I knew Allison was afraid of roller coasters, but to experience her fright on a trolley was first class hallarium to me! I'm not sure if I would had said it was worth the $3 without that kind of entertainment (just kidding, it really was)! We got to pet a very social camel, watch a baby monkey pester his momma, and learn why flamingos are pink. To end our journey, we met a talking parrot that made both of us giggle at the word "Hello" harder than either probably ever has at such a ordinary word. I don't know what makes the Fort Worth Zoo so special, but can vouch that the Dallas Zoo is worth checking out.

     Patricks parents and our youngest niece, Emily, also came to visit us. We had a can't go wrong fajita feast and Emily surprised Papa and I with a beautiful spring picture which is now artfully magnet-ed to our refrigerator door. On our way back home, she so graciously let me have the honor of reading her last log in the journal she is keeping. She wrote the sweetest things about coming to visit her aunt and uncle (that's us!) and talked about things that she remembered from the last time she came to our apartment. Her Granny and I were blown away of her attention to detail and vivid memory. She is so talented and I always enjoy being silly with her, even though my spot light was a bit overshadowed this time by the new "cool girl" (Allison).

     I recently discovered the dog park is a pretty decent place to meet people. We had a blast at Dave and Busters celebrating Allison's birthday with our new friends at the only place in town that admitted 20 years olds after 10 on a Saturday night! Acting like a kid is never overrated. It brought me back to the old days at Tilt with my Nana.

    My cousin Tiffini married her dream man last weekend. I'm proud to say I got to witness the occasion and it was a beautiful wedding. Weddings are so joyous. I love getting see that part of a couple's journey together, a small piece of the pie, but an important bite. Marrying my dream man and best friend was the best life decision I ever made and I pray that every wedding I witness is composed of two people that are bonded with that same concept.

     Well I'm sure that's more than you can handle for now. Hopefully my adventure with eye allergies is coming to a close as well. As much as I love spring blooms, these "shrimp trees" as my niece so gracefully put it, are putting my eyes to shame. Thank goodness for eye drops, thank goodness for antihistamine, thank goodness for cold rags, and pray for no bags!!!!! ha ha ha

Worldy Things

     I can't put my finger on the how, but the troubles of the world have really weighed heavy on my soul this week. It makes me feel achy and tired, inside and out. Most people that know me are aware of the fact I refuse to watch the news for obvious reasons. The majority of the gibberish they call "the news" is violent and depressing and my heart can't take it. My awareness of the world falling apart doesn't change anything but the weight of my heart. This past month, however, too many things have hit close enough to drown out the news noise. Lost loved ones, furry and human, car accidents, near misses and impacts, injuries, (not to mention the terrible devastation we all know as Japan).....My cloud nine world has briefly dropped to ground level and I most certainly felt it. When my family and friends hurt, I hurt. I could never be a reporter and keep my sanity. I breifly watched a reporter stand in a building full of dead bodies while families pulled up the blankets one by one, of hundreds, in hopes of discovering loved ones, and could only think to myself, "Why is he just TALKING about it....there's a whole camera crew WATCHING instead of helping them!" Some people ask me if my job is sad.....and the truth is on the contrary. I work in the type of unit that helps bring hope, generates tiny and big smiles daily and protects the little angels among us the best way that compassion and technology knows how. Very sad things my happen sometimes, as I experienced a couple of weeks ago, but we all find out sooner or later that it's impossible to shield yourself from sad things, even if you don't watch the news. All we can do is pray, and thank our lucky stars for our support system composed of family and true friends.

Feeling like a Fatty on FAT TUESDAY!

     So apparently "Mardi Gras" is french for "Fat Tuesday", a historically celebrated holiday to many for a last chance to eat rich and fatty foods............all the good stuff......... before giving those favorites up for "Lent" on "Ash Wednesday".  It's funny how we've diluted that holiday over the years to now being known for an exhaughsting week long celebration of tossing beads, flashing titties and getting trashed. The more modest public mearly gets "wild and crazy, but not too crazy" (a reference I like to use from a popular kpLOVE song, known as the Amanda Song), but I wonder how many people really know where the true reason of their celebration stems from.
     Today, I just decided to celebrate the "fat" part of Tuesday, and lay on the couch "to rest and prepare for my shift tonight", while catching up on my recorded episodes of Biggest Loser in hopes that it would motivate me to get my lazy tail up and hit the gym. It's ironic how the show motivated me in the exact opposite direction. Instead I conviced myself, "Well, I'm skinny compared to those people; it wouldn't hurt me not to go the gym today!" The longer I laid there on the couch watching t.v., the more difficult it was to peel myself from the coushins. When I finally made it to the gym, I went to the spa to plead forgiveness of my disorganization and while showing them an expired coupon (as of 3/7/11), asked if I could still redeem it for a massage or something sometime this week. She told me the only way they would still honor it, is if I used it today and the only service they had an opening in was for a pedicure, so I jumped on it! I went to the gym.......and got a pedicure. I must confess it felt great. Patrick said he would give me my massage for a discounted price, so I guess I came out okay in the end.    :)   I broke a sweat later at home with some Pilates, but who can do cardio after a Pedicure?!?!?! Not this chick.

     A ridiculous pet report: Sumo peed on the carpet today while he was laying down. A couple of weeks ago he peed in the bathroom while he was drinking from the water bowl. And after a good walk with he and Callie this afternoon, he peed in the hallway at the apartment complex. At this point, I don't know if its a boy thing, a Yorkie thing or a stupidity thing, but I do know one thing: he better consider himself darn glad that he is so cute. He knows how to sit. I guess we can celebrate that.

Look at that face!

Speaking of Farts

My favorite part is when she just sounds out the "breath" and "fart"......lol, and she tricked me with those drum sticks, I thought she was actually going to break it down on the drums!

Enjoy.

Don't Share Your Pee in the Pool Please!

<------Us sharing delicious fajitas with my mom at La Hacienda the Ranch
     Sharing. It's something everyone should participate in, but we don't always do it. Why? I'll be the first to admit, I don't always like to share. I'm not proud to admit that I've even hid things before to keep them to myself and squash any odds of having to share something I really loved. Today I decided to mix it up at the gym and swim instead of my usual training shenanigans. As I was working out, it became busy and all the lanes quickly became occupied and I noticed a lady standing at the end of the pool appearing as if she wanted something. Of course, out of all the people and all the lanes, she bent over to ask if I would share my lane with her. I hesitated, but decided to suck it up and give her the okay. "Why my lane?" I thought. I was directly in the center lane of the pool, and she didn't stand to one side or another to ask someone; she walked straight to the middle and asked ME. "I promise I won't splash you," she said quietly with her foreign accent. At that moment, I felt terrible for my hesitation, and during the workout I barely even noticed her presence. She finished before me and when she exited the pool, she gave me a really sweet smile and thanked me for sharing. In the end, I was glad I shared. So why do we feel the initial urge to be so sheisty instead of staying more open to giving to others? When one shares, you and the other person get a good feeling in return.....A REWARD for a good deed, go figure. Sometimes we only want to share with people we know or like, but sharing with strangers can be just as rewarding.

     On a less serious note, Patrick and I are watching a show called "Must love Cats" on Animal Planet. It’s so cute and silly and features some amazing cats. This guy goes around the country and interviews unique cats and their owners, then he plays the guitar and sings a song about the cats. I never thought I'd see anyone who loved his cats more than our friend Mike. It's very entertaining. Lucie would never do any of this stuff or let any of it be done to her for that matter. To the left is a picture I took this week of just how ridiculous Lucie really is. There's no way this could be comfortable, but she is definitely going to pretend it is. If you're wondering why there's not a plant in that pot, it's becuase Lucie murdered it with her teeth, as she does with all plants that I attempt to grow.

     So we all know what different types of physical training have in common that make them difficult: the burn, the fatigue, building up endurance. But there's something especially difficult about physical aquatic training. You can't fart and get away with it easily. Stay with me; this is serious. Picture this: you're working out hard, real hard, straining every fiber in your body, muscles on fire, focusing on keeping your heart rate under control....what's the last thing you want to have to worry about? Holding a fart in! With any other type of training in air, you can gently let it go, but in the water you're a dead giveaway. Anyone ever been to a Yoga/Pilates/AB class and have a neighbor accidentally strain too hard and release an audible one? That's hilarious to me. I'm the only one that ever seems to actually giggle out loud in the class though!  So I've decided that all pools need to gently bubble, all the time, so you can focus on your workout instead of worrying about having a visible fart. Hearing is funny, seeing is borderline gross.

     Speaking of pools, who believed their parents when they told you that if you peed in the pool it would change colors and everyone would know it was you?!?!?!? I totally believed it. How did every parent know the same lie? Maybe one day when Patrick and I become parents, we will be initiated into that club and automatically know all those "parent lies". Until then, we make up our own lies to tell our animals all the time.....and they ALWAYS believe us.

TTFN

Feelin' the LOVE

     It's a tad soon for my weekly entry, but I had something to express. I wanted to share my thoughts about the true kind of love that gives you that same warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you watch a romantic comedy or maybe even a read a Nicolas Sparks novel. It may not be wrapped in the same package or entail all the generic details, but that's not the part that counts. What counts is the the gesture that promotes the bond; that feeling of deep connection that's returned with an appreciation for each other's souls. Although that moment doesn't always have to come from the biggest of gestures, it can feel like the greatest of all deeds if done from the bottom of one's heart.

     If you still don't "catch my drift", here is a prime example of how anything can be romantic if presented in the correct fashion: It's coming home from an extremely challenging and stressful day at work to find the dishes are done, the laundry's been put away, the house is clean, the bed is neat and  ready for me to crawl into, with the comforter folded down, and the remote control and bottle of bengay laying by my pillow. No, the apartment wasn't covered in rose petals........I'd just have to clean all that crap up. It wasn't a gift that cost any kind of money. It didn't even have to be a sappy love poem. What made it better than any of those things was: it was the right time, the right way, and exactly what I needed. It wasn't expected nor requested. It was gold plated with love, silver lined with the proof that my husband takes the time to know what I like, and had the finishing touch of thoughtfulness. And that's why I like him. That's why I LOVE him. Little moments that mean big things to my heart last way longer than any other superficial object or thing.

     Lets all strive to do something from our hearts for someone we love everyday. You never know how much they may need it or how strongly it can impact their heart. 

Patrick let me dress him up and put makeup on him......that's my kind of romantic guy!

\

Perfectly Independent

    Happy Independence Day to the state of Texas! Independence from certain things are great! What would our life be like if Texas was still a part of Mexico?  That word can mean different things to different people at various times in their life. At this time in our lives "independence" was just last night when we broke away from all of our usual chores of the afternoon on a spurt of the moment adventure to Ra and had happy hour sushi and a few cocktails. It was a fantabulous time, just the two of us, trying something new and exciting and of course, being silly together. The weather felt amazing, so we sat out on the porch and we actually used chop sticks to eat our food, which was super challenging and not to mention hilarious. I had to wipe my nose off after every first bite when eating these amazing Viva Los Vegas Rolls! Another enjoyable aspect of the evening was not needing a "DD"; and no more dangerous bike riding after drinks anymore....for now. We walked home!  Just last year, we would not have been able to do any of this, so we are counting our blessings.

     Speaking of great weather and breaks, I really needed a break from the puppy training this afternoon so I donned my ity-bity-bikini for the first time this year to strut my stuff down to the pool and have a bit of TLC time with the sun. I can't describe how freeing it felt to lay down with my eyes closed, feeling the breeze blowing through my bare toes and the temperature be close to a perfect California summer day. I wouldn't be surprised if my blood pressed dropped right there on the spot. "Screw Yoga, that's not any where close to being as relaxing as this....not even a close cigar", I thought to myself. After a while, it was back to reality and getting the laundry done was my least favorite choice, but first priority.

     In a perfect world, I could only enjoy doing chores if I got paid millions of dollars in return. In that perfect world, happy hour date evening could go down every night and I only had to work 1 day a week...which would be enough to keep me grounded but not too much to get in the way of my daily plans. Given that this world will never be perfect, the last couple of days have been pretty close.  Here's a toast to celebrating our independence, from whatever it may be, and to making the effort to enjoy a part of each day as it was the perfect day!