Life By Lindsey Rae

Hope everyone had a good Christmas. We did. It was pretty uneventful, however, as it was just the two of us at home all day. When you don't have any one else around, that's kind of how it goes; much like a normal day, I guess.
Christmas is a bit disappointing to me now that I am older, because, I feel like the commercialism of it is so terrible and discouraging. I almost wish we could just do it a different day and not have to participate with the rest of the world with all the ridiculousness that goes on. If we could keep it about what it is supposed to be about, that would be much more enjoyable. It almost feels like just another obligation when all you see is media saying we need to buy and buy and buy. This year, I thought it may have been extra bad, because on one hand I would hear the ads proclaiming all the things we "need" to buy and on the next, I kept hearing these stories on the news about people not being able to afford gifts because of the economy and then even that they were not able to get as much credit to buy gifts because of the economy! Crazy! I don't want to hear about it anymore. It would be much more enjoyable to turn on the TV and hear a story about Christmas and Jesus and not just Christmas and spending money.

But, speaking of presents and all that, I did get some good stuff. haha. I was excited. One thing I got (and just tried out today) was this compost tumbler. It has the ability, when used properly, to make compost in 14 days. That's not going to happen in this current climate, but, in the summer, it will be fun to get some compost for my yard. I like the idea of being able to reuse things (because I'm cheap). Plus, I've been doing lots of reading on composting recently and so I am ambitious about it. It would be exciting to get some benefits from it. I really enjoy watching the plants grow and it will be great to give them a little extra something so they can do better.

I would also like to try a small vegetable garden this year, so this will come in handy for that. Although, at this point, I don't have any idea where we would...or could...possibly put it. It may have to be more of a container garden for this first year, until we get the whole backyard completely figured out. The soil is so terrible and nothing but clay and gravel (and even some boulder sized rocks hiding under the first inch or so of dirt); I'll have to at least make a raised bed somewhere. I do have the one I've been working on recently, but I originally planned on making it a flower bed. So, I'm not sure. Anyway, whatever gets planted will now have compost to help it out!

Due to recent medical emergency in our household I have not had too much of a chance to post anything for awhile. I have been pretty busy lately with extra things. But, we are here and still alive and relatively well, all things considering.

And, I have recovered my missing diamond earing, which I thought I lost forever at the hospital. Not as important as just being here and alive, but, still good since it is always better to have two earings instead of one. :)

For Thanksgiving, Jerrod got me Cracker Barrel, which was pretty nice, because it's my favorite! hehe. Really. We brought it home, which was even better, because we didn't have to deal with all the people and could just hang out together and wear pajamas for dinner...or at least I could, since I didn't even have to go pick it up!

The weekend is over and I made out like a bandit with the sales. Nothing big and great; I mostly went to the drugstores and grocery stores and got a lot of free items with the sales. Actually, I profited on a lot of the things I bought, after I used coupons....In total, probably around $50-60. I mostly got a lot of hair and cosmetic products, soap, lotion, razors, chocolate bars, toothpaste, nail polish, cake mixes...those sorts of random things. I think in total, I got over $300.00 worth of free items and then got back nearly $130.00 in store reward dollars that are kind of like store coupons that can be used to buy any merchandise within the store....but expire...the unfortunate part. (The goal is to then take the store dollars and roll them into something else...by purchasing another item that will give you more rewards dollars. Only certain items do this that are special sales for the week or month. So, if they expire within 2 weeks to a month, and there is nothing that come up in that time, you end up not being able to roll them very well and not profit as much.) Anyway, anything I had to pay out of pocket (to cover tax on the free items or on the remaining balance on the nearly free items) I was able to pay with my gift cards that I had from store rewards for filling prescriptions at the pharmacy or by using previous rewards dollars that I'd saved up to use during the Thanksgiving/Black Friday sales.

I'm getting so sick of shopping! The problem is that I was sick of it before I started. But, what can I do? On top of the fact that there are things to get for Christmas, I also can't resist the fact that I now am aware of too many good deals and there is just too much things I know I can acquire for free or nearly free! I'd like to take advantage of that...it's nice to know you have extras of things you use so you don't have to buy it when you run out (and it's not on sale) and also, because I am hoping to donate some things to the food bank.
I read recently that the food bank is 80,000 lbs short on what they usually have or need to have or something like this. I don't know what it was exactly, but anyway, they need some donations.

But, I don't like going out in the traffic...and it's getting busy near my house, since we have the big retail area. And, I really don't like the customer service, or lack of it, that seems to be what you get at most places. I can only think of about 3 places that I actually feel they consistently have good service at. I feel like most places have more mean and grumpy people working there than usual right now! It's so frustrating to have to deal with that all the time. This makes a good argument for why a person should do their shopping online whenever possible.

Today at church, we sat beside someone who was a visitor, who seemed to be around the same age as myself. After sacrament meeting, we talked to him for a bit and asked him what had brought him to our church this morning. He said, he had found a copy of The Book of Mormon, laying there in a Goodwill store, and so he got it and brought it home.
He had never even spoke to the missionaries before or anything. He just found the Book of Mormon and had been reading it and decided to find the church and come! We introduced him to the missionaries after and I think they are going to be starting to teach him this week. We thought it was very neat. Jerrod and I talked after about how when these sort of things happen it shows us how the Lord truly does prepare people to hear the gospel and these things don't just happen by accident.
Jerrod joined our church when he was 18 because after reading The Book of Mormon, he gained a strong testimony of it's truthfulness. He felt that it, along with the Bible, really do testify of Christ. When he knew The Book of Mormon was true, he knew that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was also the true church. So, I think from his experiences, he really knows what a difference it can in peoples lives when they read it.

I would say I'm behind with keeping up with my postings, but I've already said it so many times before, I won't bother with that.

I am still sick...or more accurately, sick again.
I did start to get better and then my husband got whatever I had, gave it back, and now it seems I have it again. I did go to the doctor about a week ago, because I had to get a prescription refill and so I had her check me out then. However, this was when I was getting better and so there wasn't much for her to find. She gave me some antibiotics in case I did get worse, but said not to take them unless I needed to. I do think it's just a cold and I don't really want to fill it if it's not going to help. I'm just run down from it now. I have this cough and it's making me feel like there is a brick on my chest.

Anyway, in other, better news, I have been utilizing my money-saving skills recently. Although I've considered myself "cheap" for a long time, I am now figuring out how to really save money by combining sales with coupons in the right way at the right time. It's a lot of work, but boy, do I get a lot of free stuff! The last couple weeks there has been a good sale at Kroger, so I tried to stock up on some groceries. I went 3 times to the grocery store and the first time, I paid around $1.70 for almost $20 worth of groceries. The second time and third time combined, they ended up paying me a dollar to get over $150 worth of stuff. I have to say, I did a pretty good job with my shopping last week.
This week there is a good deal on Duracell batteries at CVS and I got $60 worth of them free. That's pretty useful. Who doesn't always need extra batteries?

Some things are hard to save on...fresh foods, like milk and bread and fruits and vegetables....the perishable stuff is more difficult, but, I think getting a stockpile of non-perishable things is really beneficial:
It's good to have extra stuff for food storage. Our church has recommended for a long time that we have extra things on hand, in case of emergency. Also, it's nice to have things for when they ask people to donate stuff, when our church does projects and that sort of thing. And also, I think, occasionally the library collects stuff for the food bank and in turn, for every item you bring in, you get a dollar towards your overdue fees. So, I have to stockpile for this. hahaha.

My husband thinks I am a bit crazy about my money saving ideas sometimes. I know I put more effort into it than the average person, but I can't help it!
I could be the richest person in the world and I think I would probably still be cheap. It's like, if I know there is a possibility that I could get something for less and I don't, then I'm being wasteful and throwing something good away. I'm starting to think being frugal is a talent...you have to have the desire to want to do it and then you have to have the skills! haha. It does get tricky with the sales and coupon combination things sometimes. But, the good thing is, there are a LOT of crazy coupon ladies out there who figure out the deals and post them online. So, for the most part, all the math is done. Now, math...is not my talent.

When we came home from our Arizona trip, we saw that one of our rose bushes had suddenly grown about 8 inches taller and was loaded up with lots more flowers. I took this picture about 2 weeks ago, but forgot to post it. But, most of the blossoms are still there, just not so vibrant as they were when they first opened.

Maybe it's just the Canadian coming out in me, but I'm so surprised to have so many roses still at this time of year! I had no idea that they could go so long.

This is a Kiss Kordana Miniature rose. (Although, it's not very small!) We have two of them that we bought this past year. They are really great! Such a nice color and since we planted them in May, they have grown into "monsters," as my husband says. I want some more for next year now!

I got this picture in an email sent from my mom the other day. It makes me pretty happy. I think it's because I'm always out in the yard recently, learning about gardening and digging in the dirt myself, that makes me appreciate this picture.

I've been quite sick since Monday night. Maybe just a cold or a bit of the flu. I usually have the daily headaches and allergies all that, but now having a bad cough and sore throat and chill and those kind of flu aches and pains made me remember that I haven't been quite so sick like this in quite awhile.
When I was in school, was taking 18-21 hours of classes per semester and had 2 hours of driving back and forth to do daily, I would always get sick like this; at least once or twice every semester for a few weeks...I must have been worn down and probably made me more susceptible to these things.
Since I haven't been doing the school thing for awhile, I seem to have been able to avoid it more than in the past.
Anyway, my concern now is that we have our Primary presentation on Sunday. As I previously said, keeping my class nice and quiet takes about all the energy I normally have. And on top of that, I am supposed to sing two solos! Solos without a mic....which I usually have a big enough voice to do, but at this rate, I can't hardly even talk. How will I say, "Be quiet...stop talking....stop poking each other..." over and over, and then sing two songs?

Today at church, the little girl in my Sunbeam class said to me, "Teacher, thank you for loving me."

I guess it's when they say these nice things that it makes up for them driving me absolutely insane. We had a practice for the primary presentation we are doing during sacrament meeting next Sunday and they were soooo out of control (again) this week. I thought it couldn't get any worse than last week, but....a group of 4-year-olds have a particularly great talent for making a person crazy in a very short amount of time. With all the bouncing around and almost falling off benches multiple times, it's very surprising to me that someone didn't at least loose a tooth or something. It's also amazing how much better they suddenly hear you when you tell them something and add that, if they don't start behaving they are going to have to go see their dad next. Sometimes, it's otherwise like nothing was never said to them. But, they always hear that! I finally resorted to just sitting on the floor in front of them so I could try and keep them all within my reach. In the chapel, no less!

Our church must be the true church of Jesus Christ, or else we never be able to survive the wrath of the Sunbeam class. But, since it is, we sit on the floor in front of them and spend 2 hours asking them to be quiet and sit down and be reverent, hoping something worthwhile in the middle of all the craziness gets through. I guess it must, because many Sunbeams have probably grown up to be leaders in the church who eventually stopped jumping around and making their teacher crazy. Even I was once a Sunbeam. However, I don't think I really could have been that wild!

***I started writing this about 10 days ago and never got around to adding the pictures and posting it until today. So, it's kind of late, and about 2 weeks after the fact. But, here it is anyway.***

We just got back from our trip to Phoenix a couple of days ago. I haven't written much on here lately, because we were away and I didn't have as much of a chance to get online.

We go to Phoenix usually once, occasionally twice a year to visit Jerrod's family. However, this was the first time we ever drove there.

Jerrod had been wanting to do the trip all summer and we had originally planned to go in May. However, with his busy work schedule, it didn't work out for us to go until recently. I was not really that enthusiastic about the trip because I wasn't so keen on the driving part and also, because I would have preferred to go when it was colder here in Tennessee. I have just been doing so much yard work lately, I hated to stop and wanted to take advantage of all the warm weather. And, I hate winter, so it would have been nice to go somewhere warm when the weather wasn't so good here for a nice change.

But, it turned out to be OK. I actually enjoyed the drive more than I expected...probably because I didn't do any of it. (I never do with Jerrod, as he prefers his own driving.) So, I just spent 3400 miles (which is 48 hours driving time) reading books, beading, hand stitching some letters on cards and watching movies on my new ipod that Jerrod bought me for the trip. I realized that it was actually quite nice because I didn't have to worry about doing much of anything the whole time.

We drove through West Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Those are a lot of states...a lot of big states, distance wise to cover in the two and a half days.
When it's at these prices, it's a good thing the car is decent on gas.
(At least it was cheaper here...and more avaliable...than it was in the South at this time).



The first night we didn't leave until probably almost 8:00pm. That wasn't really the plan, but, being such experts on being late, (particularly myself) it just worked out that way. I think we had thought we would stop in Memphis that night, but ended up getting further. But, halfway between Memphis and Little Rock, it was getting pretty late and so we needed to stop and sleep for the night.

Stopping in Oklahoma: I get one of very few pictures on this trip. Not very exciting. Nice scenery, eh? haha.
Unfortunately, this puts a person somewhat in the middle of nowhere and options become limited. We got stuck at probably one of the worst places I have ever had the opportunity to stay in. It was just not good. You know when you first walk in and there is a gigantic killer-bug on the wall that is not a good sign. And then when you see more than one gigantic killer-bugs in your room, that is definitely not a good sign. However, for future reference I suppose we now know where NOT to stop.

The second day we made it to Amarillo, TX, and that was a bit better. At least that place was clean! And they had a good breakfast where I was able to make myself a waffle in the morning in a waffle maker the shape of Texas. Classic. Wish I would have got a picture of that. haha.

Then after Amarillo we drove onto Phoenix and arrived at a pretty decent time. We stayed at Jerrod's Aunt's house there for a week and like I said before, didn't do much of anything. Just visiting and hanging out mostly. Despite the fact that we had a pool and two hot tubs available to us at the Aunt's house, we didn't even end up using them this time! Kind of silly, I know. I even had two new bathing suits (that I got on clearance, super cheap right before we left) that I never got to use. It was over 100 degrees every day we were there I think I wasn't as motivated to go in, because they had the water at 85 degrees and that's a bit cold for me. Even though it was in the 100's, it didn't seem that hot, because it was so dry. We have been in the mid to upper 90's here in Tennessee all summer and it feels much hotter, because of the humidity.

We did go shopping a bit and got a couple of things we needed...and I myself got a couple of things on sale: Two Rose Bushes at a local nursery for $0.99 each! They are potted in half-gallon pots now. Pretty good deal! They're Christian Dior Hybrid Roses. Kind of a darker pink flower, I think. I would have got more if Jerrod would have let me, but he said we didn't have room.

On the way back we went to Albuquerque, New Mexico, the first night and then a place called Clarksville, Arkansas, the second. Over all, to me, the drive really didn't feel that long, for some reason. But, I guess it was, because it shows on my odometer now.

Stopping in New Mexico.
(I can't be expected to look completely wonderful in a picture after already spending 18 hours in a car.)

My poor Mazda3 only had 5100 miles on it when we left and now that has nearly doubled! I'm sad about it. I thought was doing so good by only having 5100 miles after 10 months of owning it. Then within two weeks, all my effort of trying to keep the miles off has gone to waste. It did get 35 miles to the gallon, which is pretty impressive. I really like my car.

Just back from a long trip to Phoenix. I will write more later when I am not falling asleep while typing.

Earlier this month, I think Amy Richey tagged me for this blog questionnaire. I'm just now getting around to doing it...sorry Amy!


Four things I love about my husband:
- He is dependable.
- Has integrity and tries to do what's right.
- Very smart and knows a lot about a lot of things.
- Made something of his life all on his own with his talents and with his will to make good decisions.

Four movies that I would watch more then once:
- Gone With The Wind
- Evita
- Anne Of Green Gables and the Sequel
- Every episode of Dr. Quinn on DVD (haha.)

Four TV shows I watch:
- Grey's Anatomy
- Desperate Housewives
- The Office
- House

Four Places I have been:
- Okinawa
- Hawaii
- Mississippi
- Victoria

Four places I would like to go (that I haven't been yet):
- England
- Nagasaki
- Ireland
- Fiji

Four people who regularly email me:
- My Mom
- My husband
- Japanese friends
- Those who like to send spam

Four Things I would like to eat:
- Japanese Rice
- Taber Corn
- Mitsuya Cider
- Pocky

Four things I look forward to in the next year:
- Making art
- Finishing my CD
- Growing a garden
- Japan

Four people I tag:
- Wakana
- Krista
- Stephanie
- Meghan

This is my highly recommended video for this week. It does involve a picture of a nasty, ugly moth...which is unfortunate, because, as a lot of people know, I am deathly terrified of them. But, it is also funny enough that I am willing to overlook that this one time. As you will see, the guy in the video also overlooks it.

On Friday, my finger was more swollen than it was the 2 days prior. So, I decided that I probably needed to do something with it, since it was just getting worse. It was getting quite puffy.
I had actually sent an email to my doctor's office to ask about it...I mostly just wanted to know if I would have a better chance of keeping the nail if I had them take care of it for me. Jerrod knew they could do something, because he had once had a missionary companion who hurt his toe and they had to go to the doctor for it. He said the doctor has a tool that, I guess, heats up and they quickly poke the nail and it releases the pressure. His other suggestion to me was to "take the DeWalt to it." However, the later seemed like an even more frightening idea.
Anyhow, my doctors nurse is pretty good at getting back to me usually, but for whatever reason, did not very quickly this time.

I couldn't easily work in the yard while my finger was swollen, so decided I would go ahead and try Jerrod's first method. It's quite surprising I even considered it, since I'm a bit squeamish about these sort of things.
We ended up getting a paper clip and unwrapping it. They we heated it up under a lighter flame for a few moments and then Jerrod tried to stick it in my nail. It didn't work the first time, because we didn't get it hot enough. So, we tried it again...and I started getting more and more nervous the more times he did it....I thought for sure it would have to hurt.
The next time Jerrod got the metal hot enough that it glowed red and stuck it in. It was enough to burn through and it make a hole that released all that swelling an pressure almost immediately. We drained out the blood from the bruise and all the purple and blue disappeared right away. This surprised me, because the last time I bruised a nail...my toenail, it took more than 6 month to to away.
Now, I do have a burn hole in my nail, but it's not half blue anymore and it doesn't hurt as bad and is not swollen. Hopefully it won't get infected. I am very carefully keeping it protected.

I can't believe that I, of all people, allowed a burned paperclip into my injured finger. It worked good. The nurse did end up calling me back about 2 days after the fact and I told her what I did...admitted it may not have been the best idea, but told her it was OK. She said to just watch it for infection. My Doctor said releasing the pressure wouldn't really help the nail. But, at least it now feels better.

After all the time I have spent out in the yard digging trenches...dragging rocks around, throwing rocks around...building walls with rocks and other various outdoor activities, I have finally injured myself. But, surprisingly, it was not from all that. I got my finger caught in the back door. Something a person is probably not supposed to do past the age of 3 or unless they are a dog.
I can't believe that I could potentially have dropped a 50+ pound rock on myself that many times and I ended up slamming my finger in the door.
It hurt so badly. But, I was anxious to finish the trench for the rocks to put the edging on my raised flower bed, so I kept digging. About 5 minutes later, I took my gloves off and saw about 1/3 to 1/2 of the nail had turned blue. So, no wonder it hurt so much.
Now that my finger is hurt, I wonder how I will finish my flowerbed by next week like I had planned. Knowing my luck, I probably will end up dropping a rock on myself now and re-injuring the finger, which will really hurt. I tried to look for a little splint type thing to put on it so it would be protected, but couldn't find anything. I guess either I must not work anymore and take the risk of letting the plants die if they can't go in the flowerbed or risk more injury.

I am wondering if it is beneficial to go to the Doctor for this sort of thing. Both Jerrod and my Grandma said that I may loose the nail, which seems a bit horrible. I wonder if I go to the doctor and get it drained to reduce the swelling if there is less chance of loosing the nail. It is still throbbing with a pulse almost 30 hours later and feels hot to touch...but going to the doctor for a bruise seems a bit extreme too. Then again, if I loose my nail, I will be upset and and might regret it. I can't imagine not having a nail. Jerrod said he'd poke it for me with a hot needle. Seems scary.

I meant to post this a first almost week and a half ago, but, it seems I have had my hands in too many projects (again) lately and so (again), I am late with writing anything.

After spending the summer working in Nashville, my cousin, Steven, has gone back to Canada. We were able to hang out a few times while he was here and it was really fun for both Jerrod and I. I really enjoyed having someone around from back home. It was also cool when he brought other people from Southern Alberta over. I think, sometimes, there actually is a bit of a "culture" difference....not sure how else to put it...but as much as I enjoy my home in Tennessee, there is something fun about being around people from Southern Alberta and being able to talk about things from home that normally I don't get to, because no one I'm normally around would know about it. Plus, I think sometimes, we just find different things funny.

Anyway, a couple days before Steven left, we went out to the shooting range to shoot some handguns. Steven is really into guns and Jerrod has quite a few. When I say quite a few, I really only mean around 5...I don't really know how many, but it seems like around that number. I say, "quite a few" because in all the time I have known him, he has never once used one. He says he won't go target shooting with just anyone...so, I guess he had no one he felt comfortable going with.

So, Steven had mentioned a few times that we should go shooting. I knew that if they were actually going to go, there was no way that I would be able to get out of it. I don't have any problems with guns...I don't necessarily enjoy them myself, but I don't care if other people like to go target shooting as a hobby....or even hunting if they really like the meat (although as some one who has been 98% vegetarian since the age of 3, that definitely does not have any appeal to me.) I have been shooting before...but it was always with clay pigeons out in the country and with a rifle. I think I really only grew up around "farm guns" as I would call them. I've never shot a handgun and never gone to a shooting range. I also realized later, that I hadn't shot a gun since high school.

So, for this reason, I felt nervous about it. I wasn't sure what to expect with the handgun, as far as the kick and that sort of thing. But, I had to go, or else I would have endured never ending harassment from Steven. I may have got around it with Jerrod, but Steven...I think he probably would have actually physically forced me to go somehow....I just know how those Osmond boys are.

So I shot some handguns. I shot the .38 and the .45. The .38 wasn't too bad. There isn't really any kick with it and so Jerrod says it's a good gun to teach someone to shoot with. I didn't like the .45 at all. Steven thought it would be easy for me to shoot, but after starting with the .38, it felt like too much and I only tried it about 3 or 4 times. Steven tried to get me to shoot that big "bear killer" gun, as they call it...(I think it's a .44) But, I would never! I could hardly even stand to watch them shoot it. It's ridiculously powerful and loud and I don't plan to have to stop a bear anytime soon, so, I don't think I need to know how.

I kept one of my targets to take home. The smaller holes on here I shot with the .38. Jerrod said I did pretty well with my aiming. I said I was probably just lucky, but he said he thought I actually really did a good job. I think the bigger holes are one's Jerrod shot with the .45.

So, that was a really long post. I hope I didn't make too many gramatical errors. I don't have time to check it now, because I have to go finish going crazy now...I mean...finish grouting the tile in the kitchen.

I was just looking at some plants and seeds on eBay and came across this listing.

And here it is even a "valuable herb."

I would like to pass this information onto any one from Southern Alberta who might be reading this, as I feel that this could be evidence that there is truly a money making opportunity here for you. How much money....? I don't know. Seeing there is only 2 or 3 listings out there, I'm not too optimistic for the future of dandelion farming (although someone must do it, because it seems they do make some kind of vitamins or something out of it.)

But, I guess it's enough proof that apparently someone, somewhere out there, is willing to buy your crappy weeds.


***I'm sure this could be valuable to people outside of Alberta too, but I happen to have first hand experience there.***

I have something important to share.
This has never happened before and will probably never happen again, so be prepared to be amazed.

So, back in June, I looked out the window and saw a lizard on the back patio. Jerrod was at work at the time and so I took this picture of it and emailed it to him.


He wrote back saying, "Did you catch it? I want to keep it as a pet."

I'm pretty sure he was joking....I hope. I don't think he really wants a pet lizard and of course, I would never touch that thing!

Of course, I am pretty terrified of all creepy/crawly things...mostly bugs, but I am not a fan of anything that isn't cute and cuddly. I have held a tiny frog in the past, but normally, I don't touch anything that does not have fur.

But, the other day, I was over at my neighbor's house, watering his tree's (because he lives in California half the time, we help keep the trees alive while he is gone), and I bent down and saw something moving in the mulch around the tree. At first I thought it was a frog, since we've had quite a few of those around recently, but then saw that it was actually a teeny, tiny lizard. It was only about as big as the tip of my finger! I never have seen one that small before.

So, I panicked! I wanted to show Jerrod really badly, since he had teased me about catching the other one I saw a couple months ago, but he was at our house across the street and all I could think to do was grab it!

I couldn't believe I did it! I touched that thing! I ran back to my house holding it and saying, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"

When I got home, since I had it in both my hands, I couldn't open the door! So, could only kick it and ring the doorbell with my elbow and started yelling, "Jerrod! Jerrod! Come out here quick!" Unfortunately for the lizard and I, he was upstairs, with the TV on, so he didn't hear.

I kept thinking about how my mom used to say, "You can't yell like you are on the farm when you are in town!" And I felt I was embarrassing myself in front of the neighbors.

But, like I said, this was the first time I had ever done anything like this couldn't risk accidentally letting it go by opening the door. So, I just kept banging and yelling and holding my lizard.

You know, I always think that if you ring the doorbell multiple times, it makes the person inside less likely to want to open the door...they probably want to make you wait outside longer for being so impatient.

Anyway, Jerrod finally heard me and came out and of course, was irritated with me for kicking the door, ringing the doorbell multiple times and yelling at him. But, when I showed him what I got, he was pretty impressed and surprised. I told him it was a present for him, because I wouldn't have done it otherwise.

We took some pictures of me and my lizard. Please appreciate these, because it will probably be the last ones you will ever see of me with something like this. I don't do these things on a regular basis. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you all.



We did returned that lizard to the neighbor's yard after we were done playing with him and don't worry...I washed my hands after about 10 times in a row.


Good story, eh? I bet you'd think it'd be a better story if I told one about having my CD finished, but believe it or not, that's far more complicated one.

I just got the mail and there was one of those county newspaper inserts with it today. On the front page, I saw some good news: there is a new shopping area that will be opening about 5 minutes from my house in December!
We knew there was going to be some new retail coming, but weren't sure exactly when. Apparently, Lowes will be opening in December and Wal-Mart in March...along with some other new stores and retail.
I'm very excited about it. It will be so nice to have some of those places we shop at closer and the more this area thrives, the better it is for our property values. We already live 2 minutes from a great shopping area now, so this will just make it even more convenient. I can be quite happy staying within a 5 mile radius of my house most days. If I'm not traveling to go somewhere on a trip...like across the country, the continent or the world....I'd much prefer not to go anywhere. Saves gas and time. Plus, I like my house. (And there is less people that get on my nerves around here. haha)

Speaking of people that get on my nerves, hopefully the traffic won't get too bad over here because of this. But, I'm sure they'll work it out...after enough people complain...

It's been about a week since my last post....I wanted to write more often. I have so many pictures to share with you all! I have just had a somewhat busy week...or at least a week where I have been very overwhelmed and stressed out.

So many things to worry about right now: getting this music stuff taken care of with the publishing and doing all the copyright documents, making decisions about lots of stuff in regards to the music and CD (Ah! I hate making decisions) and just trying to get everything in the right place at the right time. It's enough to drive me crazy! I just don't want to mess up anything...especially not to the point that it becomes an irreversible mess up. These processes are very difficult. So, this stresses me out.

On top of that, my kitchen is making me nearly insane right now...I won't go into details right now on that....but it's a difficult job I am doing...More on that later....if I'm still alive after inhaled so much grout dust.

Next post (hopefully tomorrow) will be more fun. I have some crazy pictures to show. They are very shocking to me! :)

You probably have heard the story about the more than 40 million credit card numbers that were stolen from various retailers over the past few years. From the news stories I've seen, it sounds like these stores didn't have very good security in place, which is kind of crazy to me, considering the size of these corporations.

I saw this particular story for the first time a couple nights ago on CNN and they had people calling in, talking about how worried they are becoming about security issues and the rise of white collar crime.

After watching it, I thought: my husband definitely has chosen the right career path! There will probably be more and more demand for his type of skills in the future. People are going to want...or need, more computer security geniuses around!

In case you didn't see it, here's a video from Yahoo on the story:

We went to a baptism tonight. I didn't know the person it was for, but since Jerrod is the branch mission leader at church, one of his responsibilities is to help out with all the baptisms in our branch, so I went with him. And, they also asked me to lead the music for the service. :)

It was a good baptism. Not that every one isn't good! I think that sometimes you forget how uplifting these things can be until get there and you feel the spirit that is there.

The guy who was baptized was in his 20's and had a pretty neat story of his conversion to the church and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I think everyone who was there felt like it was a really good experience. It's really a privilege to be able to participate in things like this and get the opportunity to have our testimonies reaffirmed about why we believe what we do and how great it can be when we make good choices in our lives.

I slept nearly 14 hours last night and I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept for a week and then had been run over by a truck. It's one of those days when I'm so tired, I can't even explain how tired I am. I'm afraid my Hypersomnia is killing me and I am dying a slow and painful and sleepy death.

Actually, I'm pretty sure it's not technically possible for hypersomnia to kill you, but if it could, I'm sure it would feel like I feel.

This week we had a Relief Society (women's organization at church) activity with a "Christmas in July" theme. We signed up to do a craft thing ahead of time and I signed up for learning to do cake decorating (because it cost the least. Haha. So cheap.)

I did the poinsettias on these 4 cupcakes with an icing bag cut at the end, but no tip. It was pretty easy, I thought, but I was slow so I could get it looking good. Not too bad for a first try though, right?




I brought mine home and took a picture, but I don't really want to eat them, because I don't like that much icing. Jerrod said he would have one, but then he didn't. They've been in the fridge since Tuesday, so I don't know if they still will taste OK, but, the missionaries are coming over tomorrow and they'll usually eat anything...I always give the missionaries stuff I don't want! haha!

Speaking of Christmas in July, I am so irritated by seeing Christmas stuff already out in stores! I shop at Hobby Lobby a lot for scrapbooking stuff (and like to support them, because they close on Sunday's) but, it drives me crazy that they have had their Christmas stuff out for at least a month now...maybe even since June. It's ridiculous! I mean, it makes Christmas seem less special when it's around for more than half of the year! Who is really thinking about buying new ornaments and lights for their tree in the summer?!

The Nashville Zoo has an annual event called "Ice Day" that I have been wanting to go to for about three years now and we finally made it this year. At Ice Day, they make up frozen treats for the animals and then have scheduled times where they feed them. The tigers, for example, get a 5-gallon turkey flavored ice block. Elephants get large fruit flavored rings of ice, and this sort of thing.

We ate free ice cream.

It was sooo humid and hot. Temperature was in the 90's and it had rained the day and night before so humidity felt like it was 100%!

Actually, I mostly wanted to go see the meerkats get ice treats. As I have said in the past, we used to be crazy about Meerkat Manor and we have our meerkat painting we got at the zoo auction last year. They were so cute...but a bit fat. These meerkats seem to be a little overweight. Their keeper called them, "pleasantly plump." As a result, they weren't moving very fast!

As I mentioned previously, I was building a dry stone wall along one side of our property. I finished it about 2 weeks ago, but I still have a few small things that I want to do to improve it.

I still need to post pictures of my work! I have some now, but Jerrod took so many for me and I still have to go through them and pick out some good ones.

So, I was getting my rocks from a lot of the nearby construction sites, but those houses are getting closer to being done, and as they get closer to landscaping, they've removed a lot of the piles of dug up rock from the surface that made them so accessible.I gathered lots of rocks for my wall piled up around here.
And, even though my wall is finished, I really wanted to get some extra rocks for repairs that might need to be done as it shifts with the seasons or maybe for an edge on a flowerbed in the future. They have huge piles one or two blocks down, at the edge of the subdivision, but when you are carrying a wheelbarrow full of a couple hundred pounds of rocks and it's 95 degrees outside, you don't want to walk any further than you have to (especially on hills). So, I've got to take advantage of the ones I've got here now before they are gone!

My neighbors across the street are a retired couple who spend a lot of time sitting on their front porch smoking their cigarettes. I believe they have quite enjoyed sitting out there day after day watching me carry 50 lb rocks around. I feel like I provide a form of entertainment or something. They always are telling me that I "work too hard" and I'm "so strong" and this sort of thing, which I think is absolutely hilarious. They make sure to mention this to Jerrod too. And my cousin, Steven, when he was over. I'm sure then both totally agree! haha.

Tonight they told me that they are starting to worry about me now that I am still gathering yet more rocks.I pretty much broke the first wheelbarrow from putting too much weight in it. We got this new one, which works pretty well. It's still holding up! I tried to explain why I was doing this and they just insist that I am doing too much all the time, (again, haha) and that I am too tough and I am going to seriously injure myself if I keep lifting rocks. I told them I don't exercise and I am pretty scrawny, so it's a good work out for me.

I probably won't get more though, because I am running out of places to put them. I just think it's better to have them while they are available, so I'm stocking up! Searching for the best rocks for your wall becomes a bit addictive, maybe....when I see see good ones that have been dug up after the fact, it makes me want to rip parts of the built wall down and re-build it with better stones to make it more stable. After you've already gone to all that work, it's tempting not to! I had to make lots of rock piles around the house...and then get them moved quick enough that they didn't ruin the grass!
The thing is, after you put so much time and effort into something, it's hard to leave it alone when you know how to make it better. Now that I have made one wall, I think I know how to make the next one better!

I stole this picture from my sister, Shara's, facebook album and am posting it because I think Grandma look very nice here and I liked this picture.

I'm not sure why the dog is wearing a sweater...maybe because it's always cold in Grandma's house??
haha, Grandma, just kidding!

Haha. I guess you have to be a Napoleon Dynamite fan to think this is funny. I thought it was.

A kid imitates Napoleon Dynamite in a Spelling Bee and the response from the commentator is great: "Was that a secret message?"

I talked to my Japanese sister, Yuri, a couple of days ago and found out that they are coming to see me in October! I'm very excited!!! It's been 3 years since we've been together. The last time I saw them was when they came to Canada for our wedding. The only thing better would be if it were me going to Japan to see them!

I lived with Yuri and her husband, Hideaki, when I was living in Japan. (This picture is of us at the beach in Okinawa in July 2002...back before they had any kids and when I still had blonde hair.)

I turned 25 today. I can't believe I made it to be this old. Comparatively speaking, I guess it's not as old as an age I might someday be, but it seems like it to me, because at one time, I remember thinking that even being 22 or 23 was so far away and I would never make it this long.
It must be because I always wear my seat belt.

Today in my primary class I was able to get one of the kids to say a prayer who has never, ever done it before. In fact, up until about a month and a half ago, he was still screaming and crying and throwing himself against the door for 45 minutes straight; wanting to go see his parents. So, I feel this is quite an accomplishment. Of course, I helped and I couldn't understand 99.9% of what he said, but the fact that he kind of imitated me amazed me. In fact, I don't know if I've ever even been able to get him to fold his arms before. After all the crying and screaming for so many weeks, It's amazing to me that he is happy in primary all of the sudden. So this is a big step. I guess you have had to be there to really appreciate it, but we're coming far in the Sunbeam class!

Our little rose bush is looking pretty amazing right now. We just planted these about a month and a half ago. We gave them some rose food and then watered them a lot and they have almost tripled in size in the this short amount of time. I've counted at least 28 flowers on them right now. It's pretty neat. Especially since when we got them they only had about 4 blooms on them and were only about 6 inches tall. This isn't the best picture because it was so sunny out when I took it and the color didn't turn out quite accurately. They are actually more of a deep, blue-tone red.

Jerrod always gets after me for not answering my cell phone. A lot of times I just leave it in another area of the house and I don't hear it. So, since I've started working outside more recently, I thought I better keep my phone out there with me so he wouldn't be upset with me when he tried to call me and I didn't answer it. I was keeping it on top of one of the pillars on the front porch and pretty much forgot it was there unless it rang.
Recently, there was one night before I went to bed when I remembered that I had accidentally left it outside after that day's yard work. When I went out to get it, I realized that I had watered the flowerbed right beside it, and therefore, had also ended up watering my phone. It was sitting there in a little puddle.

I tried to use it and, of course, it began acting strangely. I had to tell Jerrod what I had done and he helped me to prepare it to dry out, telling me to not expect much; I would probably have to get a new one. This was a little upsetting, because I don't really like talking on the phone anyway and as cheap as I am, the last thing I want to do is spend a whole bunch of money on a new phone that I wouldn't have needed if I had a better memory than a gnat.

We dried it out and fortunately, it worked the next day! I was so happy. But, from now on, I keep my phone in a plastic ziplock bag whenever I go outside. It makes it a bit difficult to answer the phone when it rings, but at least if I do happen to forget I have it again, there is a better chance of survival.

Today was our third anniversary! Good for us!
Jerrod took the day off and went and ran some errands during the afternoon. He took my car and brought it back all cleaned out and had the windows tinted. He said it wasn't necessarily an anniversary present, because he had been planning to do it anyway, but, it was nice to have it today. I didn't really get Jerrod anything...which I felt bad about. But, the thing is, he said he couldn't think of anything I could get him and that we should just plan to get a present together (we are going to get some rocking chairs for our front porch once we find some we like). But then, he gave me a basket full of chocolates and also did my car stuff for me. I did make him a nice card that I put a lot of time, thought and effort into...but then I always make him cards that I put a lot of time, thought and effort into...so maybe that's not so great...I always like to do fun things for him and so in all my perfectionism, I will probably feel bad for the rest of my life that I could not think of some great, original and wonderful idea for him today. I said that if I came across something good in the near future, I was going to get it....but it will be a little late, won't it?
Anyway, as part of my contribution, I've decided to take it upon myself to find some good rocking chairs for us.

We went to the Melting Pot tonight. I think we have gone there every anniversary so far. It's a fondue restaurant we like to go to for special occasions. We are so full right now though. Its a 4 course meal and so there is so much food. But, it's so good...and so expensive...that you feel like you have to eat every last bit that you can. After we got home tonight, I found that I had gained 6 pounds since I weighed myself this morning. It's a good thing I'm fairly skinny.

Every Sunday when I get home from church I am just so tired. My calling is exhausting. I feel like all I do is chase kids around all morning. (Part of the problem is that it is in the morning....I don't do well with mornings.)
Usually after church you want dinner, but I don't even eat most times. I just have to come home and take a nap.

I just realized that the thing that makes it so hard is not that they are 3...but that they are 3 and that I have to attempt to keep them at least somewhat reverent for such an extended period of time. If we were just playing around it might not be so difficult, but we go to the 3rd hour of classes with the senior primary and I have to admit that if I were 3-years-old, I would probably not have any clue or interest in what is going on in there most of the time either.
And as difficult as it is for the class to sit through it....well, let's just say I guarantee it's at least as hard, if not more so for their teacher who must sit with them in all their difficulty.

I like to say that generally, when you have adult ADD, primary is a good place to be...I enjoy that it keeps my mind active and that I don't have an opportunity to fall asleep like I might if I were in an adult class. (This is especially good for me having excessive daytime sleepiness problems.)
But, hanging out with a bunch of 3-year-olds will wear a person out. (And cause additional excessive daytime sleepiness.)

I know I am way behind on posting something here. I had a really, really busy couple of weeks prior to this; working on some music stuff and stuff for the CD and all that. So now, I need to get caught up on writing about some things. I have a few things I wanted to post about, so I may have some late stories, but maybe late is better than never.

Anyway, hopefully I will get to it later tonight...or in the next couple of days. As usual, I'm playing catch up.

It was really hot today. According to my car, 96 degrees (which is about 36 degrees for the Canadians). It's supposed to be in the 90's all week. I have to give my trees extra water.
We've been watering them everyday because one of our trees (we have 2), in particular, has special needs. We had one planted in the back initially and then they recently came along and planted one in the front of everyone's house. But, as the ground is pretty much solid rock, they didn't want to put a whole lot of effort into digging a hole and so they pretty much just planted it on top of the ground and then covered it in mulch...which is good for about the first week. So, the tree is a little more unstable, being not completely in the ground. It needs extra help for awhile.
We put a rubber mulch mat on top of both of them, which was a little expensive, compared to regular mulch, but it is doing a good job of protecting the exposed roots and it really keeps the water from evaporating when it gets hot. Our trees are looking pretty much better than anyones now. We feel proud of them.

We also have a (volunteer) job of watering my neighbors tree. (Also planted on top of the ground). He has a house here, but he only lives in it 2-3 days per month. He lives in California most of the time. So, he asked us to take care of his trees for him. We had to give his tree a rubber mulch mat too, because when I watered, all the mulch just came off and the roots became exposed. We figured it would not do too well like that. I'd hate to be blamed for the death of his tree.

I have a lot more things that I want to write about, but I have had so much going on recently, I don't have as much time. This week in particular I have something to worry about almost everyday.

I feel like it's really stuffy in here right now and it's driving me crazy. It's become suddenly more humid this week. It's like the intense summer humidity just started and it just dropped in and doubled overnight. I usually like humidity, but tonight it's bugging me. I'm stuffed up and feel like I can't breathe. Maybe it's some allergies that are bothering me, but the humidity is making it feel worse to my sinuses.

It's around 11:30pm and it's still like, 80 degrees outside. That's pretty nice. I much prefer the warmer weather....except for the fact that warm weather means more bugs.

There are too many bugs, and I'm afraid of them.
I really hate it.
Actually, we got some pest control from Steven this week. I don't know if I mentioned it here, but my cousin, Steven, is down in Nashville right now selling pest control as a summer job. So, we got some from him...in hopes that I would live in fear less and it would improve my quality of life if I see less bugs.

Steven and his roommates have come over about 3 times now and hung out with us at our house; had dinner and stuff. It's been fun. It was fun to have Canadians over because at one time there were four of us Canadians in the house and only American (Jerrod). I felt good about that, because Jerrod likes to tease me and make Canadian jokes, but with four Canadians against one American, it was fun to be able to gang up on him for once. haha. That's the most Canadians that have ever been in our house....suddenly I have also really noticed that they (we....I....) talk a little different and they have a little different sense of humor. It's weird that I never noticed it before, but I think this is nearly one of the longest times since I have been back to Canada, so maybe that's why I notice it more suddenly.

Still haven't got sleep study results back yet. It was supposed to have taken 3 days, but it's now been 2 and a half weeks. After talking to them on the phone numerous times and getting no results, I finally went into the sleep center on Tuesday to find out what was going on and spoke with the lead sleep technician (who did my study). She said that they were going to have it done that night and she would personally bring it to me the next day....which never happened. Apparently they had some problems merging the two different studies, because they usually don't have to do that, and it took them longer. I can understand that, but, they need to stop saying they have them and they will give them to me by the next day if they are not going to do that. I mean, this has happened at least 10 times that I have talked to them and they have given me that story.
And, they have already billed my insurance and so that bugs me that they are getting paid for a job they haven't finished.
Mostly, my concern is that I need these results before I can re-order my medicine. I get my medication through mail order through my insurance and so it will take about 2 weeks to get it. Plus, I may still need time to make an appointment to see my doctor.
I'm not going to spend a bunch of money ordering 3 months worth of medication that I may not be taking after I get those results back and talk to my doctor.
I'm running out of my medicine, so I really need to get this taken care of. I've explained this. But, still no results.
So, now Jerrod is going to have a chat with them. Somehow when Jerrod chats with people they always seem to listen. He's good at these things.

I think I'm supposed to be in bed right now, 'cause I have to "help" in the yard tomorrow.

We have to do lots of work tomorrow....We have been digging a trench through our back yard to put in a pipe to carry rain water that is causing some drainage problems. Only problem being that the only thing we can dig through is rock as top soil appears to be non-existent. We're digging about a foot down and 8 inches across. You should see some of the big rocks we pulled out in only a few feet of digging. We're probably going to need at least 60 ft more...It's pretty crazy.
I don't mind my job too much yet...I just scoop the dirt/rocks out with the shovel, but I don't dig to have to break rock...that's J's job.
Before we started, I told J he was too ambitious about this digging stuff and for once he finally agrees with me, Only took about 2 feet of trench digging for him to actually admit I was right.

So, we have to do something with the walls in our kitchen, because, they are painted with flat paint and it's the same problem as in the bathrooms where the high moisture areas don't do well with it.
I was wanting to do a tile back splash because I think that the kitchen walls can get stuff on them so easily, even if they are painted with a glossier paint, having tile will keep it cleaner looking...and be easier to clean up. I mean, it almost seems necessary to have something on the wall: you just get one single small splash of something greasy up there and it's done for. If it's too oily, you have to re-primer before you re-paint.

I told Jerrod I thought it would be a good idea, but he didn't seem to care either way. Then suddenly last week he became convinced he wanted one. So, we did some looking around....I have done quite a bit of looking around, because I know exactly what I want (surprisingly for once!) and I'm trying to find something decent priced. I want a mosaic with a glass and stone blend. I need to have glass, because I do mosaic art and I am a bit of a glass freak. But, in the case of this kitchen, I think some stone it will look good too. The blended look is really nice. We actually found something, but it's more expensive than I had hoped. Now I have to do a lot of research to find a better price!

I was able to snag a sample today from a tile-shop downtown and it looks pretty good in in the kitchen. The above picture is the sample. More browns in it than I would have thought I'd want, but it seems to work.

No sleep test results yet. They said I should have them by Monday....and being it's Tuesday, I do not. I called and they said at least by Thursday.

I find it really frustrating. I mean, that's fine if it's going to take a week (or over a week as seems to be the case) but just say that! Don't keep tell me 3 days, if you can't deliver. Then I just worry about getting them and feel like I have to keep calling about it, which I really don't like to do, because it makes me feel like I am being obnoxious. This is the 2nd time they've done this to me, so I'm getting pretty irritated. I expressed this concern and was told that the first time it was just some "miscommunication" in the office that caused it. Well....what is it this time?

So, I have had a pretty bad week...and have done basically nothing, literally, because I have been so tired, it's painful.

I actually had to have a second sleep test scheduled so they can try to figure out why I am so tired during the day. As of the first study, they were leaning towards the possibility that I may have Narcolepsy or Hypersomnia. The second test is a daytime test, so in order to prepare for this test, I had to completely go off one of my medications and as a result, I have been so tired, I'm half dead. I really didn't even have energy to type anything. I was a whole week without my medicine and it was a painful experience.

Today I finished my second study. When I finally got to take my medicine after it was done today, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude to be living in a time where we have modern medicine to help us. Since I'm reading and thinking about history a lot, the thought came to me: "What if I had lived in Elizabethan times, or something like that, and had this condition?! How would I survive?" It made me sad to think of how terrible it would be to live like that...I guess even though I am usually pretty tired, I have now been made painfully aware of how tired I naturally am without any medication to help me.

I won't know all the results of my study until probably at least Monday.

Ok, so awhile back I wrote about how I got a parking ticket for parking in front of my house after 1:00 am. My ticket is due by May 1st and I haven't paid yet. I have been waiting until the last minute, because of course, I don't think it's very cool to have to pay a ticket for parking in front of your house.
However, the last few days I was thinking about possibly going to court and seeing if I could get it taken away and maybe just get them to give me a warning instead. But, I don't know that I really have a good argument, other than this is an unfinished street, has houses still under construction and there is really nobody driving down it in the middle of the night. So, me leaving my car on the street an extra hour isn't hurting anything.
But, the city law is no cars on the street between 1-5:00 am. So, then, does any of that matter? Maybe not.
I just called to find out about going to court and they said that if I'm "found guilty" (doesn't that just sound so severe for a parking ticket?) which may likely be the case, I will have to pay an extra $13.75 in court fees. So that will be on top of the $20, making it a total of $33.75 for the stupid parking ticket. If they let it go, it will be nothing, but I don't know if it is worth the risk. Any opinions?

Watching this makes me wish I was here again...
Then again, I always wish to be in Osaka!



I love my home in Tennessee, but I also love Osaka.

So, I'm still waiting to get my sleep study tests back. I think it will probably (hopefully) be Monday. It takes them a few days to go over them. I read somewhere that a single sleep study generates 800 pages of data.

I'm very anxious about it, because, I didn't feel like I slept the same at the study as I normally do. I didn't think I dreamed as much and I definitely didn't get to sleep as long. I didn't fall asleep until 1:00am and they made me get up before 6:30am. Normally I sleep at least 10 hours. So, I just really hope the results will be the same as they would be on a "normal" night....or at least that they got all the information they need to make an accurate diagnosis.

I had a migraine the next day and just felt so frustrated about it the next day because they won't tell you any results at the time. I guess because the technicians aren't doctors, they can't. But, I know they know more than they let on. And they try to ask you all these tricky questions to see what your perception and interpretation of your sleep is, so see if you are accurate or not. I was just irritated that I couldn't find out right away what I need to do next.
I do think that I am going to have to go back for another test where I will stay one night and then one day and have a daytime test.

I just am really anxious about all of this because I would really like to find a way that I can feel better...and I've tried so many things already, it would be nice if this was finally the answer to what is affecting me.

Tonight is an exciting night for me. I'm going to go have a sleep study done.

I have had trouble sleeping almost my entire life. Even when I was little, I didn't ever want to go to sleep. Now, not only do I have terribly bad insomnia, I have chronic daily fatigue which never seems to go away. And the problem is, when you are sleeping 10-12 hours a day and then spending the rest of the time just feeling tired and/or sick and tired, you can't accomplish much.

So, I'm hoping that my sleep study will give me some insight into what might be wrong with me that I am not well. It would be great if they could help me. I feel like I've tried so many things already...I've wanted to go have this done for awhile now, but I thought it was going to be kind of expensive. Turns out, insurance is going to cover me 100%! I am so happy about that.

So, I go stay overnight there tonight and possibly another time if they need to get more results. I really hope they can tell me something that will help! I'm exhausted!

I think you know that when a person is this excited about getting a bunch of medical tests done they are getting desperate!

I got my annual eye exam today. I knew it was going to be a year since I had it done this April and so I was debating on whether or not I should order more contacts before my prescription expired. (Because of course, it's cheaper to not have to pay for a new exam). But, Jerrod said I should go ahead and get a new prescription before I ordered new ones, so I made an appointment to see the doctor.

As it turns out, she said my eyes were "great" and there was not any change from last year. I was surprised because from the year before to last year, I had my biggest change in prescription ever, so I expected they would have got worse this time too. But, it was exactly the same!

So, after all that and $75 later, I could have done without the appointment anyway, it seems. Oh well, I guess you never know. At least I have some insurance coverage...it could be worse....
I am so cheap....

Now comes that hard part in finding a good deal on contacts. I love the Focus Night & Day that I wear so much...it's almost like not having them at all, because you can sleep in them up to 30 days. They are more expensive then some, but they never, ever bother me.(The first couple brands I tried as a teenager weren't very comfortable at all.) And actually, my eyes feel better with them in, because apparently, when you have allergies the contacts can kind of shield your eyes from what irritates them. So, I can hardly stand to take them out...which isn't good either, because the eyes need to rest sometimes, but, it's so difficult to wear glasses!

I just got home from taking Jerrod some supper at his work. He has been at his office late a few nights recently...until midnight a couple of times this past week. (If any of my Japanese friends are reading this they are probably thinking, "That's nothing, we do that all the time!")
Anyway, he has some big projects he is working on, so I guess that's why the long hours. I feel bad that he stays so late, but he enjoys what he does, so that's a good thing. He'd probably be doing it at home for a hobby anyway if someone wasn't paying him to do it!

We were talking last night about another certification the computer security husband is going to be taking soon to be a CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker). I was saying that if you tell someone that, that you are a "Certified Ethical Hacker" they will immediately just hear the word "hacker" and most people would think that's sounds pretty strange to have any certification for that. And, most people don't think of the words "ethical" and "hacker" going together.

Anyway, it's kind of fun to think Jerrod has all this knowledge that he has. I tell him I am constantly amazed at his smartness. haha.
Seriously though, he really knows too many things. Nothing gets past him and that makes it hard for me to hide anything!

I did one coat of paint on the bathroom and my hand is hurt. I got blisters from the roller. Actually, it was hurting after only a few hours, even before I finished one coat. I don't know why it got bad so quickly. Maybe I'm gripping it too hard...too stressed out or something....!
I probably won't be able to work very quickly now...gotta take some breaks and let the had heal!
Painting can be a little exhausting anyway. I think because once you get going, you don't want to stop 'cause you and the brushes are already dirty. So then, you don't end up eating for a long time and then start feeling bad.

I also dropped a drawer on my foot today, so my hands and the feet both have problems right now.

Tonight I'm working on starting to paint a bathroom. The builder painted the house in one color, which was an upgrade (anything more than white is) but it is all in the contractor-grade, flat paint, so it does not stand up well to any moisture. Easy to touch up, but easy to mess up too.
So, we decided the bathrooms definitely needed to be redone, as well as the kitchen. After only 3 months, we already had some stains that show through that flat paint, so we need something that is more washable. I think I got some hair gel or something like that on the wall just after we moved in, and it wasn't possible to paint over it. It kept showing through. So, we also had to do some primer on those spots. Kind of a pain, but fixing it now and using a different type of paint will prevent those kind of things make it easier in the future.

We already did the master bathroom a few weeks ago and so now we are doing the guest bath. I thought I would keep the color the same in this bathroom, but at the last minute when I was buying the paint today, I changed my mind. That was quite amazing in itself, because I usually can't make a decision to save my life and I actually made one today.

I think these color chips aren't really that accurate from my recent experience...the paint always turns out lighter. Although, I had heard in the past that you should always expect it to turn out darker.

After this, I want to do the kitchen for sure to get rid of that flat paint and then possibly the dining room. But, the dining room mostly just to change things up a bit with a different color. I'm not looking forward to doing the kitchen though.....with all the cabinets there will be so much trimming to do and I am very, very picky about it. I just hate those uneven lines some people do. I am not happy with some of the spots in my own house. They should just be more careful! It's tedious but I do all edges with a small artists paintbrush. It's kind of crazy, I know, but at least it keeps it nice and clean...and that causes me much less stress later on.

(P.S. I'm not supposed to do any of my art painting inside...Jerrod thinks I'm going to get some on the carpet or something like this. So, this is the only painting I'm allowed to do in the house...I really don't see what the difference is.)

In the past, I wrote a bunch about the animal paintings at the Nashville Zoo that we bid on at the silent auction. I first saw them a few years ago and elephant paintings were the first thing that I saw that got me hooked on animal paintings. (We don't have an elephant painting yet...just the meerkat one. Although we did get one for Jerrod's aunt for Christmas).
But, anyway, most of them that I have seen are mostly just random brush strokes of colors...more abstract, that sometimes turns out to look like something recognizable.

I just saw this video on YouTube of an elephant doing a painting, and it is amazing. This elephant can draw better than a lot of people can. You must watch this!

Have you seen this rabbit anywhere?



This is probably the most famous picture of Oolong the rabbit; It's made it's way around the internet quite a bit.
I discovered Oolong a few years ago, when I was living in Japan, and spent quite awhile one night going through his website checking out the many many pictures of Oolong with random things on his bunny head.
You will not believe the number of pictures this guy has with things on the rabbit's head. Here's a little sample:






I have a link to Oolong's website in the sidebar, but you can also view it here.
This is in Japanese, but you don't need to understand it....just click on the links. No explanation needed...just see the pictures!
Unfortunately, Oolong has now passed away. However, I thought I would share this site, even though it's a little older. I think a bunny with random things on it's head never quite looses it's appeal!
Haha.

We've been thinking we needed to get some dirt to fill in some areas in the back yard that got trampled when the neighbors behind us put in a fence. The workers make huge trenches in our yard because it was rainy and muddy when they were doing it. We called the builder and asked them to come fix it, but they did a really mediocre job and we needed to do more to make it better. There is also a lot of water that runs back there into a drainage area when it rains so we needed to build up the dirt and work on re-seeding it to get the grass to grow after the damage.

We saw that some other neighbors behind us were putting in some new stones for a patio and they had dug up some of their backyard and made a pile of dirt. Jerrod saw them and asked if we could have it and they were very happy to give it to us, since they weren't sure what they were going to do with it anyway.
So, we spent awhile shoveling it into some wheelbarrows and hauling it over (not too far, thankfully, and closer than if we had borrowed it from elsewhere). It was just enough to fill the spots we needed, so it worked out pretty well. I learned that dirt is really heavy. Dirt in Tennessee is mostly hard clumps of clay and rock and is not easy to spread and break up...

It was good to meet these neighbors. They seem pretty nice. I wasn't really sure who they were, but as it turns out, they are a young newlywed couple. We talked with them for awhile and funny story, they told us that the night before when they were putting their patio stones in, they had some friends over helping them until late at night and had their cars parked on the street...so guess who got parking tickets?
They got three of them! $60 worth! They said they didn't even know about the no-parking-on-the-street-after-1:00am law. So, they were quite shocked and surprised to hear that I had recently got a ticket too.

I actually had a couple of semi-interesting thoughts today I was going to write about, but I have a super bad migraine tonight and so now I can't focus enough to write anything...so I may have to try another time...
Ahh! My head hurts sooo much!!!
Well, at least it's better than it hurting everyday like it used to...every few days is somewhat bearable.

Ok, one funny thing that I learned today:
So, this receptionist from one of my Dr.'s offices called me and left a message on my voice mail, saying, " This is the doctors office Just calling to remind you about your follow-up appointment on Monday. You can call us back if you have any other questions."
Uh, yes, I do have a question: Who are you? I have at least 5-10 doctors that could be calling me for a follow-up appointment, so I'm pretty sure that's a question I need to find out.
I called the number back and say, "Uh, I hear I have an appointment, but who are you?!" haha. They told me that according to HIPAA law they can't say the name of the Doctor or clinic. It's just the "Doctor's office". Kind of weird. I never knew about that before...at least none of my other doctor's offices do that...

I downloaded the GIMP software today and now I have another thing to distract me while I try to figure it out. It's pretty cool for being free and all. It's kind of Photoshop-ish, but it doesn't seem quite as difficult as Photoshop....(although it's been awhile since I tried to use Photoshop).
I used to do all my photo editing with Microsoft Digital Image Suite, which was pretty OK for what I was doing. It is fairly user friendly and I knew how to use it well enough to get things done fairly quickly (except for the fact that I am a perfectionist and everything takes me a long time).
We can still run Windows in a virtual machine inside our Macs, but then to use the Windows machine, I still have to switch back and forth. It's not difficult, but then not quite as convenient as just using one machine.

Speaking of pictures, I need to post some more. But, Jerrod is going to re-build my computer again in the next few days and I am not uploading much onto my machine until then...so when I get completely settled with my new computer, I will have everything again and hopefully will be able to post something more interesting with pictures and video!