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Finger
This weekend Bret and I went to
Idyllwild to see Rick's (my mom boyfriend) new cabin. It's so big Marya and I nicknamed it "cabmansion". It is really wonderful. It has been my mom's dream to have a cabin in Idyllwild for the past 20 years. We used to go up to Idyllwild about 3-4 times a year when I was growing up. We did a lot of hiking and camping. I hadn't been there in about 12 years. It was great to be back. It's about 2 hours NE from San Diego. Bret and I were in LA Friday night for the Indigo Girls so it was a 2 1/2 hour drive over from LA for us. I have some pictures of the cabin that I'll post soon. My goal is to go there every other month. I wish it was closer - it probably takes about 5-6 hours depending on traffic to get there from here.
We arrived at the cabmansion Saturday afternoon and we went into town to eat lunch. Mommy and I were dropping Bret off at the cabin so he could do some napping and relaxing while Mom and I hit the shops. We were getting out of the car when SLAM - SMASH my finger got stuck in the door jam as Bret shut his door. I tried to pull it out but it was stuck. Bret opened the door and my throbbing finger was free. I was more in shock than anything else and I instantly started crying. Not big sobs, just little tears. Bret and Mom helped me into the cabin and I remember thinking how I could feel all their love in that moment of pain. I felt lucky to be with two people that loved me so much. I iced finger for a while and then went shopping. I was walking around with a bag of ice around it and this lady in a store thought I was carrying around a goldfish. hmmmmmm.......
Marya has an interesting concept about smashing fingers. She believes that when you smash your finger or stub your toe, it is really a wake up call that you aren't fully in the present. That you are distracted about something in your life. It is a time to re-examine things in your life. She said because it takes so long for the nail to heal and grow back to normal that it signifies a big learning lesson and change in your life. I can't wait to see what changes I go through with my changing nail.
I really don't want my nail to fall off. Tricia says to stick a hot pin in it and drain the blood. Marya and Robin don't think this is a good idea. I'm so wimpy, I don't really feel like sticking a burning pin in my nail. It's getting a lot better. Well, it doesn't look better. It looks terrible. I just don't want to go through the "no nail" and "nail hanging on by a thread" stages. You can count on me to keep you updated on all the stages of my nail healing process. For now, it's time for all the fingers to take a break from typing on the keyboard.
Baby Shower Paper
Tomorrow night the WA girls (all 8 of us) are having a baby shower for Carrie (close co-worker that has worked at WA about the same amount of time as Marya and I - 4 years, although she did take a long break, she is part of the buy back program we have at WA). Tricia and I went shopping today and bought some pressies, but I didn't have any wrapping paper at home. I wasn't sure if I would have enough time to get some between work and our bike ride this evening.
So, I asked Bret to help me out.
We were sitting at work and I said in my puppy dog princess voice - "Bret, will you do me a favor"? He knew it was going to be something big by the tone in my voice and the look on my face so he just waited.
"Can you pick me up some baby shower paper" I murmered. He gave me this look, like what the hell are you talking about. I said nevermind right away. But, he was so sweet, he wanted to help me out. So he asked me what baby shower paper was. I told him it was just wrapping paper for a baby shower and reminded him that Carrie was having a boy. He said, "Describe to me exactly where I will find this and what it should look like". I decided that picking up baby shower paper is not a MAN task, so I went and picked it up with a cute little bow to match. He says the term "baby shower paper" sounds funny because it is three nouns together.
I'm so excited for the shower. I've never been so close to someone having a baby and watching the process like this. It's been so amazing. Carrie looks so great. Her tummy is super big though and Marya showed us on her ruler today how long little (not so little actually) Ranier is. I think he's 16 inches long and 4 pounds. Still one more month to go too!!
Momma Cat Goes to the Vet
Little does Momma know she is going to the vet tomorrow. I keep looking down at her thinking about how she has no idea. I wish I could tell her that we were going. But, she would probably hide under the bed if she knew. There isn't anything terribly wrong with her. Don't worry Wyeth and Trina if you are reading this. I made a list for the vet. I've never even taken a cat to the vet before. This should be very interesting.
1. I want to make sure she should still be on diet food because she seems to have lost weight and it's time to buy new food.
2. She has what Marya and I have been calling, "Monkey Butt". On either side of her bum, the fur is rubbed off.
3. She is shedding a lot, some little clumps of fur with skin
Chester told me she might have worms and she's rubbing her butt on the floor and that's why she has the monkey butt. I've never seen her do that and I've been looking for worms ever since Tricia's cat had them. I've been a bit paranoid about it. GROSS!! Can people get them? I was so happy to wash my sheets and pillow cases over the weekend. I woke up one night last week to find her sleeping on the pillow right next to me. If she has worms - ew, that just freaks me out. So, I just want to get her in to get a little check up. This week is the cat and next week is the car. I think the cat will be more traumatized. I hope she still talks to me after we get back. She's been so cuddly lately. She went from not being a lap cat to a half lap cat to a full on body cat. Today at lunch I came home and took a little nap on the couch with my blanket and she curled up right next to me. It was so cool. There is nothing more relaxing than taking a little nap with a kitty curled up beside you purring.
Saturday afternoon
Marya just mentioned that she wanted to come over and update her blog which reminded me that I haven't blogged in weeks. Things are so great. I love having Marya living next door to me. The other day we came home for lunch and each made lunches in our apartments and met on my patio to eat. I love just hanging out talking and seeing how the unpacking unfolds as the apartment turns into her home. As I was leaving her apartment, Maggie our other neighbor pulled up. We started talking, each of us standing on our front porch about our weekends. One thing led to another and we started talking about last week's Sex and the City episode. What a wonderful feeling to have fun neighbor conversations. I've never really had close friends as neighbors. Well, it almost happened twice. When I moved to Shell Beach and was living alone for the first time ever, my friend Shoshi was living in an apartment right below me. We were so excited about being so close to each other. But, right before I was about to move in she and her boyfriend broke up and she moved away. It's ok because she ended up getting married and is happy, but I was so bummed at first. Then when I moved into this apartment, Wyeth and Trina were living across the street. A few months later they took off to Australia.
The greatest thing happened this week. On Tuesday night Marya called and said her friend had two extra tickets to see Neil Young in Santa Barbara the following night. Marya and Dan were going but we wouldn't be sitting together. Bret and I were on the fence (this is a total Bret expression) about it because it was during the week, a long drive and the tickets were $110 each. Bret has seen him several times, but I had never seen him and was more interested in going because I wasn't sure I would have the chance to see him again. We ended up calling the guy with the tickets around noon the next day and got the tickets for $85 each. I'm so glad we went and it might have even been worth $110. The show was a rock musical. His new album,
"Greendale" is the basis for the show. The album has songs about people living in this fictional town in Northern California. There were people on stage acting out as these people. You might want to read
Marya's blog for a better description of the show and the music, but I was very impressed and happy we went.
The Santa Barbara Bowl is such a great venue. I've only been there one other time. Last year we saw Bonnie Rait and Lyle Lovett. It's outside and there are trees all around and you can watch the stars come out while listening to the music.
Well, I'm off to the grocery store and then to Ben's (close co-worker friend) house for a BBQ. When Luke (another ex-co-worker friend) and Amber had their baby last year, I loaned them my rocking chair. It had been sitting in Bret's garage because there isn't room for it in my new place. I offered it to them for the baby. They ended moving to Arizona so Ben has my rocking chair at the moment. Bret and I are going to pick it up and loan it to Howard and Carolyn because for their baby that is due in November. It's kinda cool that so many people are getting good use to it.
24 Hour Flu
Monday night I went out to dinner with Dan and Marya. We had a really marvelous time. We went to Novo, one of our favorite restaurants downtown. We sat on the patio that sits under a huge oak tree and above the San Luis Creek. We had salmon bisque soup, appetizers, wine and dessert. At the end of the meal, Dan started to feel sick. On the way home we kinda joked around about how he might throw up. Little did I know I was the one about to have the night of throwing up. I guess I was hit with the 24 hour flu. It hit hard, but didn't last too long. I was supposed to go to Boise yesterday for business. Bret went without me. Marya took care of me last night. She said after you're sick like that you are supposed to eat "BRAT". Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast. So she went to the store and brought me some BRAT and a magazine. It was so sweet of her. I was so sick I would have to lie down on the couch after coming downstairs before going back up. I couldn't even watch TV, read or look at the computer. It was bad. I felt much better today, but not 100%. I decided to stay home for one more day of rest. I ended up working from home for most of the day though.
I decided to eat some Thai food for dinner. I was sick of the applesauce and toast. I decided Thai food had rice so it would be ok. I always get the Thai food restaurant names mixed up. There are two accross the street from each other downtown. I called 411 but stupidly didn't double check to make sure it was one of the two restaurants downtown. I walked all the way downtown and realized it wasn't one of those. The ones downtown are Thai Classic and Thai Palace. I happened to order from Royal Thai. I used to go to this restaurant all the time when I lived over near campus. The owner even knows me. So, I felt so awful when I called to get directions and had to tell him that I got the restaurants mixed up. When I arrived he asked how my brother was doing and told me I could always call and he would deliver. How embarrassing!! Hopefully I won't make that mistake again. I'll just blame the flu.
Wanna hear about my day?
My day started off at the dentist. I know everyone hates going to the dentist, but I've really started hating it more and more the last couple of years. Honestly, this may be more information than you wanted to know, but I'd rather have 5 paps than go to the dentist for a cleaning. When I was young I always heard from the dentist, "great job", "your teeth look wonderful". The last couple times I've gone, I've felt like the hygenists don't believe me when I say I've flossed. Maybe it's their way of getting people to floss, by making them feel like they aren't doing a good job at flossing. Maybe I don't do a good job. I hate that beginning part when they are jabbing those awful, sharp things in your gums. And you don't know what they are poking around about. Whenever they stay in one spot I'm always thinking, oh no, is this a huge cavity? There was a TV in the room, but it's not like I could look at it to keep my mind off things. I thought maybe they should put TVs on the ceiling. I wasn't sure if I should look into the lights or close my eyes. I feel weird closing my eyes, but it's even weirder to look into the hygenists eyes. Anyway, I survived.
So, I bought some tickets to go see the Indigo Girls. I asked Pudah if she wanted to go and she didn't think she could get out of work. I decided to buy the tickets anyway because I have always wanted to see the Indigo Girls. I thought maybe my mom would want to go because it's her birthday weekend, so I asked her next. To copy
Marya, here is the Overheard of our phone conversation this evening:
Mom: Aunt Jeanette said there would be a lot of lesbians at the Indigo Girls concert
Me: Yes mom, The Indigo Girls are lesbians. Are you homophobic all of a sudden? You love Queer Eye for a Straight Guy. (It's her favorite show, mine too!)
Mom: Well, I just, I just don't know maybe you and Bret should just go
Me: Are you scared everyone is going to think we're lesbians if we go to the show together?
Day Three
Horray. I've made it. Right now as I'm getting ready for bed I feel great. I had a great walk today. I brought my iPod and realized it is so much easier to go walking when you have a beat to step to. I was jamming away, loving it when all of a sudden it jammed. Wah!!! It somehow is stuck on hold and I can't get it to work. We'll see if my manfriend can fix it tomorrow.
I'm worried that as soon as I can eat I will loose all willpower and eat everything bad in sight. I'm worried that I'll fall right back into my old habits; eating comfort food and drinking iced coffees. Simply because these are the foods I've been dreaming about this weekend. The whole point of the detox and fast is to get to know your body better and realize what makes it feel good and what makes it feel bad. Why do the foods you crave make you feel so bad afterwards? You would think your body would crave things that would make it feel better. Maybe now that I've re-conditioned it, it will. I think I'm ready. We'll see if my body can resist the candy bowl at work tomorrow.
