Weekend Dress Rehearsal

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– When all else fails, buy a lotto ticket and go home –

I had a plan.

I am not sure why, but for the past month or so I have had a lot more energy and a lot less brain fog.  I have been gradually increasing activity to try to avoid any sort of crash.  Last weekend, the box with the crossbars for my car was finally opened and they were installed.  Last night, the SUP carrier was attached.  I decided to wait until the morning to inflate the board.  The board was purchased last year because it was lighter than my previous board and because it was bigger and so easier to balance on – allowing for a less strenuous ride.  Before the end of the night, I had found my waterproof camera and started charging the battery. All systems go for morning launch.

This morning I woke feeling a little off but still good. I got a cup of coffee and started to inflate the board.  The point of inflating it at home instead of at the lake was because the loud motor seems so disruptive when the water is still glass and the boats are still on shore.  Apparently, it also seems disruptive at 8am in my neighborhood.  I brought the board into the garage and closed the door, hoping to muffle the sound at least a little.  Eventually, I caught on that I had hooked the air compressor up wrong and was not getting any air into the board.  That fixed, the hose then popped loose halfway through and the board lost a good bit of the air.  So, started again but this time holding it on to make sure it stayed attached.  

The board was loaded but I was dripping with sweat (it gets hot/humid early) and my legs felt shot.  The last few SUP outings I tried prior to being diagnosed with Lyme, taught me that  pushing through the feeling I was having would pretty much lead to a short and disappointing outing.  

Trying to roll with it, I decided that if my legs were going to be wobbly today, I would try out the kayak seat attachment.  I took it out of the bag to make sure I knew how to use it and made adjustments to my paddle.  I also decided to pick a closer lake and then went inside for some cold water and a rest break.

Time to roll out.  I headed down the road and was a good bit away from the house when I realized that I forgot my fanny pack life vest (picture with link).  No problem I thought, I have my leash and a regular vest in the car so I will be legal.  I started planning out how to adjust the leash from the regular attachment to a kayak conversion position.  My brain then fired off a Red Alert.  I forgot the center fin.  The detachable fin was still sitting on top of the garbage can.  I hit the next turn lane and headed back to the house.  I pulled into a gas station to take a minute to plan and, well, to get gas.  

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Guilt

Guilt can be a very useful and helpful tool in guiding you to be the best version of yourself that you can be at any given moment. I will feel guilty if…. I do not workout, if I eat something (or 3 portions of something) I should not, if I cut in line, if I don’t put something tasty in the trash for the bear.
It can become an unnecessary burden that we place on ourselves. I am easy to guilt. Some Facebook posts drive me batty because I feel guilty even though I know that it is ridiculous.

If you love your mom you will share.
If you care about people suffering you will share.
If you hate animal abuse, share.
If you believe in God, you must share.

I apologize to my mom, hungry children, animals, and God. I will not share and pass the guilt on to others. If God needs me to prove myself by sharing FB posts, then my faith has been misinformed.

I think that I will go call my mom now.

Signs of a Heart Attack

Recently, one of my friends started to feel really nauseous in the middle of the night.  She was unable to sleep and contacted another friend who suggested and took her to the hospital.  Turns out the nausea was not from an over sized meal earlier in the day.  It was a mild heart attack!

Would I have suspected that?  Would you?

Heart Attack Signs in Women

1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
5. As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

If you have any of these signs, don’t wait more than five minutes before calling for help. Call 9-1-1 and get to a hospital right away.

Click for Source Site heart.org

My Trip Home and….

…my twist on the weekly photo challenge: Merge.  (Nothing official, just Photoshop fun.)

A couple of months ago, the universe told me not to go to the mountains.  Nothing was in sync until I made a reservation to fly up to see family.  As the sun rose last Friday morn, I headed out for a weekend of good food and family bonding.  It was a fabulous trip!  I was able to see cousins, aunts, uncles and the star: grandma.

On the flight home, I began to drift off.  Is there something on the wing?  I do NOT want to be in the Twilight Zone.  It’s Fred!  He must have followed me on the trip.

Just then, I get jarred awake.

The pilot is on the PA system:  “(static) Um, well folks, it looks like we are done with the roller coaster for awhile.  They are routing us west to avoid the storm.  We will have about 15 minutes with the seat belt sign off.  If you should need to use the facilities, this would be a good time.  We will land about 20 minutes later than my previous estimate.”

It is at times like these that we all ask ourselves certain questions:

Knowing When to Stop

This is a picture of a painting I am about half done with. I do not paint very often and do it for entertainment purposes only. There seems to always be two critical moments during the painting process (and any other creative endeavor). 1) The moment when I have to make a big decision and commit to a direction. Like one of those books I loved when I was a kid. “…if you want to go into the cave turn to page 112.” There is a 50/50 chance that cave will be your doom.
2) The second moment is deciding which brushstroke is the last. I usually keep going too long. Often, in an effort to fix moment “1”.
This photo is at stage one. I now realize that the painting looks better in black and white. Maybe that is my painting style: bad technique and use of color fixed with photoshop! 8)

p.s. Be a part of the biggest comeback in history and vote for my photo (or any of the awesome photos in the contest). //www.bucketlistpublications.com/portfolio-view/travel-photo-contest-14/

My New Doormen

I have a new security force.  These motion sensor frogs welcome guests as they enter.  I was looking for something for work.  All of the products seemed overpriced and required drilling.  Then, I came across these little guys.  The talking frogs can be a little annoying and only work when the light is on.  I guess I may actually have to use my alarm system if I want an alert at night.

A year ago, there was a prankster that liked to knock on my bedroom window in the middle of the night.

Tennis Ball Uses

Image found: http://ayyyy.com/category/athletes/

I love tennis balls and I do not play tennis.  My favorite use for them is to use them for massage.  I can rub my foot over them to help with plantar fasciitis or just for fun.  I also place one on the muscles between the spine and shoulder blade and lean against a wall.Then, doing mini-squats rolls out the muscle.  For more intense pressure on the back, I place 2 in a sock and lay down on them.  The gap in the middle keeps pressure off the spine while the muscles on either side relax into the pressure.  Racquetballs can also work.  Golf balls are okay for the foot massage.

Other uses for tennis balls:

Try Not to Blink

Sitting on the green shag carpet, I would watch my father go back and forth from the makeshift dark room to the sink.  When I peaked inside the room, I saw magic liquid in small plastic bins.  I knew the liquid was magic because it came from special, shiny silver containers.  All I saw was water, but dad knew how to harness the magic to make paper turn into pictures.

Silver and Gold

A song I learned in the Brownies (mini Girl Scouts) was:

Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.

My old friend met one of my new friends this weekend.  They seemed to take to each other.  She would ask about him and he would serenade her.

Fred hangs out on my window to watch the sunrise.  He likes to sing to me, especially when it rains.

Stuffapalooza 2012

The not so annual event resulted in 3 giant trash bags and sore hamstrings.  Three bags is actually a light load.  My last ‘get rid of stuff and organize’ marathon extended over 3 weekends and resulted in 15 bags for donation or trash.

What I found in stuffapalooza 2012: