Thursday, June 25, 2009

The King of Pop is Gone..

As a young girl of about 7, I heard Michael Jackson for the first time.. and then my mom heard him, and she told me about the Jackson 5. I was very interested, and we started to buy his music, and we played it all the time.. we were great fans of his. I remember one winter, I got gloves just like his for Christmas, and my grandmother making the comment of me only having one on, and she said, thats just like Michael, so even older people knew about him, not just pre-teens who gobbled up his music, the records, the tapes, and eventually the C.D.'s. We wanted it all no matter how it came about. He is the King of Pop, and for my generation he is the biggest music icon in the world. If you go to Japan they know who he is, you go to Africa they know him, and the same for South America, and the world over. No matter where you were, everyone knew Michael Jackson, and now, this King has left a huge legacy behind. He will live forever thru his music, and the videos that were made.

When my mom was growing up, Elvis was the biggest thing, and he passed away and brought great joy and then saddness to the world. My generation is saying Goodbye to Michael Jackson today and its very sas, to suddenly say goodbye to this great artist.

Despite his troubles, he brought musical ideas to the table that just amazed the world, not only could he dance and sing, but he could sell his music. I have been watching the news, and one thing is for sure, so many people love him. I hear so many stars of today saying, he inspired them to go out and try. He will truly be missed, mostly by his children, family and friends, but also by his fans...

Peace be with Michael Jackson's family...

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Spa Pedi...

If you have never indulged yourself in a spa pedi I highly recommend it. Dont know what one is? I will fill you in.. if you are male, you dont need to pick a toe polish color, unless you really want to, but that is the first step, second step, take off your shoes and put them in the filling pool of water for your feet and sit in the best leather massage chair ever. I immediately put my chair on massage and vibrate and wow, tension is leaving my body. I am soaking for a few minutes, they put bath crystals in the foot spa and the bubbles start to perk around my feet in the hot water.. MMm total pleasure. The lady comes and sits at my feet, another offers me water or tea, I chose cold water because soon my feet are going to be hot. She starts scrubbing my feet, and then cleaning my toes, and trimming them, and just working them real well.

Then the best part comes in, she rolls my pant legs up to my knees and takes this gritty bath salt/ lotion and starts to massage my legs, calves and feet, then toes, and just works the sea salt all the way over my legs.. first one then the other.. Mmm

Then I get a hot towel, which for me was way to hot, but she let it cool down, and wraps my legs up in them, leaving out my toes, time for a paint job. She checks them over, to make sure she got everything filed down just perfect, and the skin is nice and cleanly trimmed. Most massaging, this time my toes, and wow, she does a great job. Then she leaves me, and comes back with two baggies with hot wax in them, and she puts my feet in them, and just lets them soak in the hot wax until it firms up around my feet. She removes them, and my feet feel so silky!

I picked a fuchsia color for my toes, seeing as how I have this great new bag from Vera Bradley, that I just had to have for my birthday. She gently applies the toe-polish, taking care to get it just perfect. And they are so nice and pretty, almost like having new feet.

She puts them up to dry, removes the hot towel, and pulls my pant legs down, and helps me on with my flip flops, those are mandatory if you get a pedi, so you don't ruin your polish... and she gets me another glass of water, and I sit there and let them dry, and once I am done, she helps me up out of the chair, not helped, more like courtesy... so wonderful...

My mom is going to babysit for me next month so my boyfriend and I can go together, and get a treatment, it will be his first time, and you know what, I think this will become a together thing for us.. you know how couples have her things, his things and their things to do, I know this will move from my thing, to our thing, because once you go, you cant stop, especially when they pamper you. In all my total treatment was 1 hour and 30 minutes!!!!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Photos from the Passenger Seat


This is Devils Slide... I love rock formations, wish I had had time to climb a bit of this, but since I was moving cross country, there was just no way, but I did catch this photo at 65 mph. I wasnt driving... There are several of these formations in Idaho along the way into Oregon, but this was the first time I seen it with snow. Beautiful. I have traveled all over the U.S.A, I have seen the big cities, the little towns, and the unknown hot spots where locals gather. It never amazes me what one finds boring another finds fascinating.


Just near the Colorado border while in Wyoming, headed home to the Pacific Northwest, I got to see the snow of the Rockies, more in the melting form, this is Elk Mountain, very impressive. So high up but no worries of bad ice or snow on the road, it was a perfect chance to move back to my home area. I was almost 7 months pregnant while moving back, and it just felt good to have all my possessions and in the direction of North West..





We drove late into the night on two nights when it seemed there was no traffic near the bigger cities we were having to travel thru. This is the last night of driving late, and this wonderful sunset photo was taken somewhere near Nebraska/Wyoming border. You just dont realize how high you are up until your ears start to pop when you come down a bit off a small hill, or climb higher into the foothills of the Rockies.






I never did find out what this building was, but I think at one point it served as a stopping point in Wyoming, and now its some ones home. But regardless its neat, I have never seen this before on my travels, but glad that I had the camera ready to take a picture of it. Its like a lighthouse out in the middle of a sea of sage brush and tumbleweeds.

I have so many photos of my travels from here and there, just as so many other bloggers share, but these are mine, simple, and true, we all have a path, it just depends on the person in how they want to share it, or maybe not..

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Building Up... again

So we started back to the gym today after a one month hiatus. First we were in Montana for a week, then my mom was in the Caribbean and brought back a flu bug. So once she got over it, my son got it, and so now that everyone is all better, she, my son and I started back and the gym. Our favorite kids club person was there, Megan, we adore her and Patrick adores her, but today upon returning we discovered blond Megan was now red-headed Megan and Patrick wasn't sure what to make of her.

He made that little frowny face as if to say I'm not so sure about this, but we got him signed in and we left, and as soon as we walked away he was crying, but I left anyhow, and said I'm sure he wont last 15 minutes.

In all he lasted about 30 minutes which gave Mom and I the chance to just get a little sweaty. I am on the leg press, with 100lbs on the stack and I hear my name over the P.A., so we get our stuff and walk into kids club, right when he saw me the mild fake cry turned into a huge bawl!

Each day we go back and get him use to being with the kids club, we hope we can get back to our hour and a half workout.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

the untolds of pregnancy...

When I found out I was pregnant, I was so shocked I had to take the test multiple times because I just couldnt believe it. Got to the doctors and they confirmed it, and my due date was set for July 4th, 2008. Well thats a good day to be born, going thru my pregnancy was actually met with minor complications, nothing wrong with him, but I had developed gestational diabetes. I took a one hour GTT ( glucose tollerance test) and boy that stuff is gross, it was confirmed that I had a glucose problem, but I needed the longer test. The three hour GTT, which is actulaly 4 hours, and five blood samples. I felt like a pin cushion, but it was all for the great good of my child. Then the results came back, I had Gest. Diab. I had to go see a Gest. Diab specialist and she had things for me to read and start doing. It started with dietary modification, here it is almost summer and I have to give up fruit and only allowed to have one piece after Noon. And I had to limit my milk intake, it was a total bummer, but alas, I made the best of it. My sugars weren't where they wanted them to be, so they put me on Glyburide which is a drug that helps with sugars but safe for pregnant moms to take, and that with the diet wasn't helping, so the last month I was pregnant, I started insulin, and well that was a shock, I'm not one for needles, granted I'm not a whimp or one that carries on, I just dont like that initial poke, but since this time, I get to do it myself, it shouldnt be so bad, since I can control the pace and preasure. I came out successful. A few brusies since I had to inject daily, but moving around a pregnant belly was quite colorful, and my belly button as the bullseye, and luckily for me, mine stayed an innie. LOL

I knew that I was going to have a C-Section, my son had grown to be quite long, but wasnt the weight they were predicting, they were figuring somewhere around 11 lbs, but nope, he was 9lbs 14 oz. The C-section was wonderful, I had no complications, other than the annoying itch from where my staples there, finally they were removed and I felt so much better. So much has been written about experiences of Mothers and pregnancy and birth, that I feel this is just a waste of time, but you just never know, it might help someone else who is facing similar complications.. I was going to the doctors twice a week, in the end, well, the last two months, every Tuesday and Friday, it was a total pain, one appt was for me, and the other was for the baby, just wish they could have gotten us in on the same day LOL But the nice thing was, I got to have weekly visits with my son on the inside, so it was like a mixer, but instead of getting to know a man, I was getting to know my little boy, who eventually will become a man. I got my date set for surgery, and it was set for the 7th of July, and it was a walk in the park, I couldnt believe that the spinal block didnt hurt, it felt more like a void, I have been asked so many times but its so hard to explain, but it sure is trippy when you look down and cant feel your toes LOL and then your legs, then up your waist and then stopping at your breastbone. They were playing James Taylor and my surgeon was singing and they were having a great time, and then when it came time for the operation, the music was turned off, and they got down to business, and he was brought out, all wet and crying. I got to see him for a few minutes, and then he and Daddy went with the nurses to get weighed and a proper bath. 21.5 inches 9lbs 14oz. I was in surgery for another hour while they closed me up, and then brought back to my wonderful suite where my whole family was waitng with our little guy. I finally got to hold him after I got situated in my room. My mom was amazed that I looked so great, but I felt great too, just that damn pinching ... but it finally subsided, or I just blocked it out after I got to hold my son. I unwrapped him, and looked him over, and wow,what a cutie. The three days in the hospital were nice, granted I would have much rather had them keep up on my meds, I wasnt in a lot of pain, until the first time I got out of bed... 5 hours after my c-section I got my cathedar removed and then finally got to go to the bathroom, and then thats when I felt my staples, it felt like Frankenstein, I counted 16 staples, and the ones on the ends itched, but I put a bit of vaseline on them and wow, felt so much better. I had a drain tube put in so that had to go with me, and damn, that was annoying. But that was removed that night, granted the Doctor had to cut my skin because I had already started to heal over it, but everything was removed, and I could finally take that first shower, and BOY that was a real treat, until I got into my hospital big girl pants, and you ladies you all know what i'm talking about. My mom warned me to take plenty of pads, I hadnt warn a pad in YEARS, but the hospital had Gigantic pads, and well, they werent bad, I hardly noticed but it sure was funny the first time trying to pee after my cathedar removal, I sat there and sat there, and then got back into bed cause there was nothing, and then about an hour later, POOF, i gotta go, well I couldnt hurry out of bed, but I got there, luckily I have great bladder control LOL and triumph... I got to go.. Did you know that for the first 6 weeks after delivery you leak everywhere??

Most men just dont know about it, or just havent gone thru it with their wives, gf's etc, but my bf and I got a crash course in leaks.. not only from our son, but from me, and you just feel like a terrible mess. Breasts are leaking because your baby cries, or you get emotional because you are coming off the biggest hormonal high of your life, and leaking everywhere. I had pads all over me, to help with the leaking, but in all, wow, it wasn't that bad, trying to get on a schedule, and then after a few days of being home, things started to come together, nursing was easy, I had a great nurse that taught me well, and a lactation consultant on call, so I felt totally sure that we could do this. And after the first few days, we did, every two to three hours, and as time passed it was more amounts and less often. I was pumping every few hours, and then waking up in the middle of the night to pump so that Daddy could give him a bottle before he went to work, and it was nice, but about 5 months of age, I noticed I wasnt producing as much, and it quickly just stopped, I was a bit hurt, but then started him on formula, and we were fine. It wasnt what I wanted to give him, but he didnt seem to mind and actually loved the stuff... Once my leaking got under control, his leaking picked up, Jeff Foxworthy says it best.. " you look like condors have been landing" if it wasnt spit up on your shoulder, or lap, it was in the form diapers.

I have been around babies my whole life, but when they are your own, you are in for a whole different perspective. Everyone thinks they know what to expect, but you dont, not til you deliver, and get sent home, not just the daily care of your baby, or the daily care of you or lack there of because it always seems like your busy with baby, making bottles for baby, doing diapers if using cloth, or laundry, laundry, laundry, or just relaxing and prepping to nurse, there is just no time to relax that first month, and then poof, a nice rhythm sets in and you just keep chugging forth. He is almost a year, and we still have a routine, it just keeps getting modified, sometimes weekly, but the leaking has stopped, and not once have we had a leaky diaper of number 2... so that is a great feat, either that, or its the great diapers.... gotta love Costco!! LOL

Monday, June 15, 2009

Genealogy..

This is one of my many hobbies that I love, but also the one that can drive me to stay up really late full well knowing that my son will be waking me up at 5am-6am, its amazing how sucked in I can get with documents from the 1800's or books that are available on Google that I'll read into the late night looking for any information that I come across regarding my family and the ties that bind. My Grannie, she gave me all of her work, and I have been adding to it, either photos that I find, and print out, and link them with files that I have or she has, and compile it all together, no I'm not going to write a huge book about my family, but it will be nice for future generations to see where my family has been, what they have gone thru. So many people know the basics of their families beginnings, but how maybe can trace back to the 1200's and found the direct line to the lineage? I get sucked in, and usually I wait til after my son goes to bed before I start dragging out files. I have learned that if you cant trace your roots back past 200 years, its because you probably weren't a royal, or a noblemen. Records weren't kept far back in certain areas of the world, so someday I hope to find a church with records past 1700 in Germany, you just never know, eventually everything will end up on the internet. The current project that I am working on is my maternal Grandfathers side, because that is the one that has all the roadblocks, and its a challenge, and I love a challenge...

The Morning Ritual..

So this morning Patrick, notices that I'm getting dressed and not staying in shorts, or pajamas, and he starts squealing, why you ask, because he knows he's going to be getting dressed soon as well, and that means car ride or stroller ride. He's very funny, starts tugging on my jeans, and I'm trying to put on my socks, and he's right there, my shadow, how wonderful it is to have this little blessing I call son. So we are all ready, we are headed to my Mom's, Patricks birthday is almost here, he'll be the big ONE, so its to Party City for all the 1st Birthday stuff we can find. It's not going to be a huge production, but there will be lots of food and lots of family and friends. The day goes off like a hitch, after the store, we head home, and like a sweet lamb, he goes down for a nap... not to busy of a day, but busy enough.