a journal of art projects, crazy pets, and our adventures in the Sonoran Desert...
December 30, 2009
Christmas crafting!
December 27, 2009
random links to remember
holiday memories to come later (once I get the photos off the camera!) but for now, I don't want to forget these websites.
sleeping kitten- dancing dog blog I found while I was googling unusual holidays.
a bit of holiday info: it included a Snuggie-- which is actually very warm and comfortable, although it does pain me to say so... :D
December 20, 2009
thrift store score!! (lots of photos...)
November 23, 2009
scrappy goings-on
November 22, 2009
crockpot roast recipe-- I need to save this one!
this recipe for roast in the crockpot with cranberries sounds great! (found blog-hopping from Mare's blog Moon & Stars Studio, I think.)
a bit more randomness:
the weather right now in Arizona is gorgeous- afternoon highs in the mid 70s... Tom and I went for a bikeride yesterday around our subdivision and spent some time feeding the ducks that hang out at the pond by our local golf course-- it was a lot of fun watching them chase after the bread crumbs!! Sometimes it's the simplest things that make the days memorable, isn't it??
I've been trying to eat better and exercise more since having the stroke (with a couple episodes of pizza, drinks, and a chinese dinner in there, but eating better for the most part) and so far I've lost about 7 lbs! Not a lot, but it's definitely going in the right direction.
November 20, 2009
random wrapup
The perfect cigar ash... you know it's a good cigar when the ashes hold together this well! The late afternoons are cool enough now to relax on the patio, finally. We don't often have time to do it, unfortunately.
October 30, 2009
cuteness!
I accept!!!
I accept your challenge, WI Sister!! lol!!!
Exercise of some sort (for, say, at least 30 minutes??) at least three times a week, counted Sun-Sat.
(unfortunately, that means I have to go to the health club tomorrow, since I've only gone twice so far this week...)
...and what do we get if we stick with it?? I say something crafty!!
October 26, 2009
different strokes...
so there could be so many titles for this post-- WTF, or OMG, or why me?!?, or numbers:
40: my age, as of the end of May
5: the number of medical appointments I've had in the last couple weeks
22: the total number of vials of blood I had drawn earlier today (it really wasn't as bad as it sounds; most of them were pretty small!)
2: the number of CT scans I've had in the last two weeks
1: the number of strokes I've had (yes, I said stroke!) that caused all these other numbers
0: number of chances I thought I was actually having a stroke, while it was occurring
24: percent of women who will have a repeat stroke within the next 5 years
so, what happened, do you ask?? Well, it's like this: While we were at the art opening a couple weeks ago, I started to not feel well... the classic (I've come to find out) symptoms-- sudden numbness in my arm and hand (I couldn't pick up the glass I wanted to get), slurred speech, loss of coordination (I felt like I was walking crooked), and a bit of nausea. And what did I do when this happened?? I NEVER thought I was having a stroke, that's for sure... I hadn't eaten much that day, and it had been about 8 hours since lunch, so I figured it was because I needed something to eat. So, we came home, I made myself a bowl of soup, and laid down on the couch. The numbness and slurred speech went away after an hour or two, and it took a couple days to really start feeling myself again.
I WAS SO LUCKY!!! (and stupid--yes, I was extremely stupid not to think it could have been anything really serious.) My symptoms went away, but if they hadn't, I would only have had a couple hours to get the clot-busting drugs that could have reversed the damage...
3: the minimum number of times per week I want to go to the health club or do some sort of exercise (more is better)-- I'm keeping track, and I think I'll bribe myself by buying something if I can stick to it for a couple months.
50-60: the number of pounds I really need to lose to get back to a healthy weight
below 200: the number my cholesterol level should be-- I don't know what it is now, but I know it's too high, and the good/bad cholesterol is all messed up
never: times I thought my unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle would actually cause me real, physical harm... distress when trying on clothes, perhaps, but that's all... talk about learning the hard way!
NEVER: the chance that I want this to happen again, so I will do whatever I can to prevent it... it will be hard, I know, but I like my brain working just the way it is!! (So, as a public service announcement: don't be as stupid as me; if you have any of those symptoms, no matter what your age, please go to the ER, just in case!)