Changes . . . .

I have been wanting to do the Fit Life program at the fitness center most of the year.  I was waiting till I saved some extra money to do this.  Since getting a newer car, that has been harder to do.  Just a few days after buying my newer car, I found out I was going to have hand surgery.  I ended up being off work for 5 weeks which wasn't easy on the finances but I survived.  I was glad that finally on September 7, I was able to start this program at the fitness center.

My goal was to get off this diuretic my doctor put me on in August.  He told me that I was starting to develop venous insufficiency (occupational hazard?) and put me on a diuretic to help with the edema.  I also have compression stockings to wear to help.  I am actually officially off the medication as I started having dizziness with it from possibly pulling off to much fluid.  The swelling of my legs have improved and hasn't gotten any worse since stopping the medication almost a month ago.  :-)

Fit Life is a 12 week program which you meet with a nurse, trainer & dietician.  The dietician said he wanted me to eat 1400 calories a day.  He told me about an iPhone app, Nutrition Menu, and I started using it to track my calories.  The first week I lost 5 lbs.!  That gave me the motivation to keep up with the changes.  So far, I have lost a total of 11 lbs.

I have a goal of doing 3 cardio workouts a week.  I have been doing water aerobics as I feel like I get a full body workout.  I love it!!  Then I am also trying to do 3 weight training days as well.  I love doing weight lifting and could see me being like the women on Muscle and Fitness Hers!  I love that magazine!  It reminds when I used to workout hardcore with a personal trainer 3 days a week.  <3  I really want to be strong and fit as I was in 2003-2004.  I need to find pictures of me when I went to Cancun.   I do have a goal of being that fit in the next couple of years as I plan to go St. Lucia to hike and bike in the rainforest.  :-)

I have found that my biggest struggle has been finding time to workout.  Since I work the night shift, I am tired most of the time.  I wasn't doing as well getting workouts in the beginning but then decided to do them after work.  That is doing a little better but yet at the same time, I am tired when I am finished.  I am doing better with getting 2-3 workouts in a week but want to make it 3 days at least.  Then I might start increasing it to 5 days a week.

Till next time . . . . . .

I am still here

I was off work for about 5 weeks as I had surgery on my left pinky to have a cyst removed. Since returning to work almost a month ago, it has been busy!! My summer schedule isn't good the way my work schedule ended up. I really like my days together so I can group my days off but it didn't work out that way except the week I have vacation. In less than one week I will be on vacation! I am looking forward to it.



I need to gather the pictures I took of my finger as it was healing.  I was using Instagram on my iphone to document the healing process.  I need to share them in a post and share my Michael Jackson experience I had during surgery!!  It wasn't very funny at the moment but I have to kinda laugh now.

I have been sleeping to much on my days I get off and 0700 and I am off that night.  Then I am not sleeping as well at night and then need a nap during the day.  I was hoping to nap at Moonshine Beach today but I slept to late at home and my towels were still drying and needed another hour of drying time.  I decided to just hang out at the Mudhouse instead.  Prior to coming to the coffee shop, I went to the Bistro Market for a veggie grill sandwich.  I had this sandwich before and loved it.  This time it wasn't so good.  It actually cost $1.00 more than the turkey burger I enjoy and it was horrible.  I had a couple of tomato slices, 3 cucumber slices, humus, basil mayo and leaves (aka field greens).  I hate leaves!  They have never made it this way before.  Yuck-o!  I was a disappointment today and I won't order that again.  My veggie sandwiches are much better.

I am going to do some scrappy blog searching for a bit and then it will be time soon for the Mudhouse to close.

Camera Critters!

Last night, my sister and I took our dogs to a pet stroll on C-street.  My dog, Phoebe, cracks me up!  She is an a/c dog for sure!!  :)



Phoebe was drinking from the water dish then sat down and leaned against the planter! I think she was telling me it was to hot for a pet stroll. :-)

Blog Love

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Artsy Weekend!

It has a busy but fun weekend!  I always enjoy the first weekend of May for Artfest on Walnut St.!  Friday night was the Downtown First Friday Art Walk the the weekend was the Artfest.  Also on Saturday was National Scrapbook Day (NSD).



My sister and I went downtown and checked out a few venues full of art.  It was really busy so it was hard to see all the art.  Parking is always an issue downtown.  There are no cruising signs up every where but I am waiting for the day that I get stopped for cruising when I am only trying to find a place to park my car!  It makes me wish I was able to push a button in my car like George Jetson.  He turns his car into his briefcase.  I never understood why he was always trying to find where he parked though.  Shouldn't he just have a button in his briefcase to turn it back into his car?  I didn't notice that till I was older and watching The Jetson's one day when my nieces were younger.

Saturday I went to the LSS to celebrate NSD.  I attended Super Saver Scrapbooking, did the make-n-takes and then did a little shopping.  I almost over slept as I decided to take a nap and slept through my alarm.  I am glad that I woke up and made it to my class!

After my scrappy fun, I went home to pick up my dog and went to Artfest!  It was a fun adventure but Phoebe always gets so hot!  She makes me nervous since pugs can't tolerate heat well.  I was glad that various artist had bowls of water out for the dogs.  I will often buy bottled water and make sure she gets lots to drink.  We will also sit in the shade and just enjoy the people and music!  Phoebe just loves adventures!

Then we went home to chill for a bit and then I took Phoebe to the park.  We just walked around and I was noticing some areas to do some photography someday.  Since we have had a lot of rain, the ground was quite soggy!  Here is a picture of Phoebe in my car.  She gave it her pug approval!  :-)

Finally after 10 years . . . . .

I have been busy with work and also a little vacation in April.

While i was on vacation in April, the car I had for 10 years irritated me.  I had just went to Sam's, had a trunk full of various items including perishable items.  I get home and the trunk on my car decides to not open!  The release button sounded like the motor was stuck.  GRRR!!!!  I had a hatchback so I was able to crawl into the back seat and lower the seats to get my items out.  I worked with my key some more after getting my items out and figured out a way to get the trunk open.  Phew!  It was annoying and inconvenient.

Then a few days later, I was heading to St. Louis.  I just hoped my trunk release behaved and didn't go out anymore than it already had.  I have been told by people that I needed a new car.  This Integra had been the best car I had owned.  I also like the fact that it was paid for!



When I got back from St. Louis, I decided to at least look at used cars at Acura.  I wanted another Acura as they have been good cars for me.  I had an '86 Integra prior to my "98 Integra.  When I looked at the cars, they had gotten bigger and more expensive in the last 10 years.  After talking with a salesman, I test drove an Acura TSX.  It had all the luxury features like seat warmers, leather seats, bluetooth and more.  It was nice but I just wasn't in love.  It was too much car for me.  I was more curious about seeing an Acura RSX but they don't make them anymore.  They didn't have one on the lot.  I was content with not coming back and just keeping my car for another 10 years that day.

A few days later, the car salesman calls me to tell me they had an RSX on the lot!!  Someone had traded one in.  I was excited to see this car and was able to the next day.  The car was very sharp and had been taken car of.  I liked how it drove.  After talking and doing some dealing with interest rates and my payment options I asked If I could take the car out again but without a salesman.  I wanted to make sure this was what I wanted before making a final decision.  I drove it around and even took it over to my parents house so they could see it.  They thought it was a nice car.  I was pretty sure I was going to buy the car at this point.



I went back to the car lot and said I would buy the car since they were giving me the interest rate and working with me on my payment.  I was trading in my old car for a down payment.  They only gave me $1000 for my old car but it had a few exterior blemishes that needed repair.  Like the power antenna, trunk release, side view mirror was busted, the misting on the windshield wipers was wimping out.  It was otherwise in good shape.  I signed all the papers that night but I had to take my old car home because they hadn't had time to detail the car for me.  I got to pick it up two days later.



As I was driving my Integra home after driving the RSX all day, I could tell that the RSX drove better.  I am not excited about having payments again but I like the fact that everything that wasn't working as well in my old car, worked in this car.  I will miss my '98 Integra as has been the best car with minimal repairs.  I just hope my new car treats me the same.

I keep checking to see where my old car has ended up.  I have noticed that Acura hasn't listed my Integra.  I have been doing searches on cars.com.  This morning I have been up since my pup woke me up and checked cars.com and found my old car!!  I can tell it is mine for the dent above the rear passenger side wheel.  I had a little mishap backing into my garage one day quite a few years ago.  Oops!  I can tell from the pictures, they fixed the side view mirror.  It looks great!!  I am just curious who will end up buying it.  I miss my Integra but love my RSX!

Shattered dreams . . .

The day the registration for the Camp Shutter Sisters opened up, it was in the middle of my sleep.  I had to work that night and really needed to get some sleep.  I decided to wake up in the afternoon to register for Camp Shutter Sisters.  My dreams were broken when I saw that registration was full.  

It is time to make new dreams that include photography, friends and the ocean!  ♥

Dreaming . . . .

camp shuttersisters from xanthe berkeley on Vimeo.

I am dreaming of attending Camp Shutter Sisters!  It is going to be on the coast of California.  Not only would this trip let me meet new friends with the love of photography, it would also help fulfill my love of the ocean.  ♥

I hate nursing!

I can't believe the last time I blogged was in November!  Yikes!  After I returned to work after my vacation in November, I was busy with the holidays.  Then after Christmas, I got sick with respiratory stuff.  I finally got over that and then got food poisoning!  I finally got over that and a week later ended up with sinus problems.  Ohhhh!  I am tired of being sick!  I have been slacking in my water aerobics I enjoy.  I hope to be able to get back into the groove soon!

I just had to say how much I hate nursing!  Another nurse I work with suggested I google, "I hate nursing".  I have found lots of post of other nurses that feel the same way I do!  I have to say I enjoy being a nurse but it has changed and I am not liking how things are going.  I have about 30 years till I can retire so I need to renew my spirit in nursing!!  I am sure it is only going to get worse instead of better.  I do my best to make sure my patients are taken care of and hope they are appreciative of what I am doing for them.  Some are and some aren't no matter what you do!

I am hanging out downtown at my fave coffee shop to destress a little.  I am off to google about art journals and read about photography!  My hobbies keep me sane.  I am looking forward to another vacation later this month for a much needed vacation!

I hope it won't be so long before another post.

Scrappy Fun!

I am sad that my vacation from work is about over.  Only 2 days left.  :-(  I didn't do everything I was planning because the weather has turned cooler.  We have been getting in the 30's at night!  Yikes!  I really dislike winter.

Saturday was my LSS's 6th b-day celebration.  It was a great time as it always is at my LSS.  :-)   They were opening at 9am which is quite early in my book!  The first 350 people got a number as you walked in the door which got you a tote bag.  The first 200 got more free stuff and then the next 150 got a little less.  I wasn't feeling very good when I woke up so I was being a little sluggish getting ready.  My plan was to be their around 0830.  I ended up showing up at 0905 and was number 203.  I was just glad that I was one of the first 350 people!  :-)

Then I walked into the store and you could hardly move!  I saw my friends car parked outside so I was trying to locate her.  All the LSS regulars that I am used to seeing were their.  One told me where i needed to go to get my Fiskateers goodies.  Then I stood in line for the make-n-take with the fiskateer ladies.  The make-n-take book was cute and used the unibind system.  I would love to have the unibind system.  My friend had done some shopping and was in line.  I went to go talk to her for a bit and then I went back outside where it was calmer!  Since they handed out numbers, I was able to come back and shop later.  I ended up storing my number in my bra!  I about lost it with it being in my pocket.  It was in a safe place then!



Afterwards, I ran back home real quick.  I realized I had forgotten to put my watch on and it was bugging me.  Then I went to a friends house as a bunch of us was meeting up to scrapbook the day away!  Their was 7 of us all together.  I was the only one who got into a class at the LSS for that day.  I tried to get into the class when they first opened up registration.  Working nights, by the time I woke up and realized registration was open, it was to late.  I was added to a waiting list.  I was surprised that they called me in October for a spot in the class!  I originally turned it down as my friends were all going to an all day scrap event and I signed up too.  It got cancelled so I was lucky that I got a spot!

The store was much calmer when I went back.  I did a little shopping and then went to my class.  I got some fun goodies in my tote bag!  Then after my class, I went back to my friends house and scrapbooked a little longer.  We ended up wrapping the night up around 8pm.   We have talked about getting together more often and scrapping.




I meet all the ladies I scrapped with at an all day crop.  I went to the crop by myself and I was seated with these ladies.  It turned out we work for the same hospital.  One of the girls, I kept running into at various scrapbooking & photography events.  I have gained more friends since I started scrapbooking!  I just love it.

First class drawings

I wanted to post my drawings from my first class.  She had us draw a face and our hand before giving us any instructions.  It took me forever to draw my face it seemed.  I kept erasing and redrawing!  These might be hard to see since the drawings are in pencil.



Then she gave us some instruction and then told us to do blind contour.  We were to draw our hand but couldn't look at our paper!





Then after doing this exercise, we did modified contour which we could look at our paper 10% of the time.  I kept moving my hand and then I didn't get it back in the original position.  My hand looks a little off for that reason!



Then she got out a photo of an eye and had us draw the outline and then we added shading.  Shading really is what makes the picture.  I feel like I need to work more on shading.  I didn't like how I did my eyelashes.  This isn't bad for my first try!



Then class was over.  :-(  I hope to be able to go back in the next week or so and learn more!  :-)

A rare moment!

Ever since getting my pug, Phoebe, the cats haven't been happy with me.  It did disrupt our routine a bit.  I think finally after 2 1/2 years, they might be getting along better.  Or the colder weather is just making them tolerate each other!  LOL!  They all love my waterbed and I walked in last night to this:



Chloe is kinda hidden.  She is near my pillow at the head of my bed.  She is a lion kitty once again and she is directly on the bed to get warmth!  Here is a close up of her:







Then this morning after taking my shower, I came out to this:



Aren't they adorable!  :-)

Phoebe loves getting under the covers and she pops her head out at me when I enter the room.


She is just too cute!!

The day I took Chloe to get her lion kitty cut, I was for sure they were going to sedate her.  I told them I would prefer her not to be sedated but I didn't want them to get bit either.  When I went to pick her up that afternoon, I found out that they didn't sedate her.  They said did hiss and didn't like it.  They told me she is dehydrated and was afraid to sedate her.  :-(  She showed me how her skin tents up.  It takes about 5 seconds for it to go back to normal.  I see her drink water all the time.  I have been changing the water more than twice a day to make sure it is fresh.  I have also put out another water bowl for them.  I have also feed her some moist food to see if that helps.  I don't want her to eat that to make sure her teeth stay healthy.  The tenting is better but still not where it should be.  I was told that if it didn't get better, I needed to bring her in for lab work.  Poor kitty!  I wouldn't have known this if I hadn't gotten her shaved.

I am getting ready to check out the art walk.  It is in the 40's outside so I am sure I won't stay very long!

Fun artsy stuff!

I signed up for the Sketchbook Project and got my book this week!  I am sad that I won't get my book back.  I liked the idea of it traveling to different cities and then being in the Brooklyn Art Library.  I even have a log in to see who has viewed my book.  So, I have 2 months to get this done!  Yikes!!!  I just wish it was coming to a city near me.  I would love to see the other sketchbooks also!  I took a picture to post here and Felix decided to help me!



Felix loves helping me!  :-)



The other night, I remembered that I had ordered a book about keeping an art journal earlier in the year.  I didn't remember where I had put it.  I hunted and after getting my extra bedroom more organized, searching upstairs and in the living room, I finally found it in my bedroom!  I have ran out of book cases and have some books in a rubbermaid container.  I either need to get rid of some books or get a new book case!  This book is giving me more ideas and inspiration.

Since wanting to do the sketchbook project, I have wanted to take a class at Hobby Lobby to learn how to draw.  I finally had my first class today and it was fun.  I just didn't have the correct supplies.  I had bought a small drawing pad and brought a #2 pencil from home.  She told me I needed a bigger drawing pad.  After we got started, I could see how a bigger drawing pad was better.  After class today, I bought me the supplies I needed.

When I told her I thought I missed something in art class at school, she said I didn't.  She explained that most likely they didn't teach me how to draw, just asked us to draw.  She was teaching us the concept on drawing from the right side of the brain.  She has us start out drawing a face and then our hand.  Then she asked us what we were thinking as we were drawing.  Then she explained a little more and then had us do more exercises.  It was fun and the time flew by!  By the end of the class, we draw a picture of an eye.  I feel like I need work on shading but it isn't to bad.  I felt like I did go a little far with the eyelashes.  It was a fun learning experience and I hope to go back soon to learn more!

I will have to take pictures or scan what I have done so far.

Zombie love!!!

I have a small love of zombies.  It started when I began playing zombie farm on my iphone.  I like making comments about our IV pumps we have.  We need a "brain" to attach the module to so the IV fluids will run.  One day, I got told they couldn't find any brains.  I had to comment, "Did all the zombies eat them?".  Then we couldn't stop laughing!

So yesterday, I got home about 4pm and checked my twitter account.  I saw a post from someone saying that zombies were going to invade C-street and dance to Michael Jackson's thriller at 5pm!!  I called my sister to see if she wanted to go.  Silly girl already knew about it and was planning to go.  I need to tell me sister to remember to let me know of things like this ahead of time!  I was glad I had read about this on twitter and did more searching online to find out details.

I arrived and got my spot.  No one was standing in this area then all of a sudden people kept standing in front of me.  Then about 5 young boys kept screaming and yelling next to me.  Ohy!!  I got back in front so I could get some good pictures.  Here is a picture of the crowd waiting on the edge of the street for zombies!!!!



Then zombies started coming out and would walk into the crowd and then lay down on the street.  This took close to 10 minutes or more as their were about 200 zombies.  :-)







Then they all started getting up after the guy dressed as MJ came out to start dancing to Thriller!







It was an awesome performance!!!  It has increased my love for zombies.  So now, I want to be a zombie nurse.  I think that is appropriate since I do work the night shift!  :-)  Isn't that when the zombies come out?

Her are a few close-ups I got of some zombies:





This zombie came up behind my sister and scared her!



This was my halloween fun!  I also found a link of a video and posted it here if anyone wants to watch the dance.  :-)