Christmas Gift Toy & MySpace Layouts at pYzam.com

Sometimes family isn't what it should be.

So friends of mine fell in love, and got married. At first his family seemed awesome, but it turned out, that they're not. So much so that they've harrassed, bullied, and well, now they want to basically have the female of the two deported back to the US (they moved to his homeland of australia) with her two girls, so they can keep her husband, and baby son under their control freakish thumbs. They're even trying to ruin her reputation, etc. How kind. So to get their story out there, they've created a blog for all to read. PLEASE read it, comment if you wish, and pass it on to as many people as you can, and have them pass it on. Email it, post it on twitter, facebook, myhell, etc. Make this viral! It'll make it harder for the family to lie to immigration, etc, if everyone knows that they are indeed together, and so forth. Plus this level of cruelty is just wrong!

http://amberandrobsstory.webs.com/

Thanks for reading!

Halloween Countdown & MySpace Layouts

Quick Update

It's been awhile since I last updated. I'm sorry about that, but I've been rather busy. There's so much I'm trying to do, and so much that I want to do, that is keeping me occupied. Add in the few free bits of time I have are being taken up by facebook apps.... Yes I am addicted to them. Though I've deleted most of them fairly recently.

I'm mostly healed from surgery now. On the outside I'm pretty much fully healed, but internally at times I still feel twinges. I've been told this is normal, and as long as I continue loosing weight (while using low impact exercises), sticking to my gluten free diet, and don't lift more than 20lbs for a few months, I should be fine. Which is good news. My belly button is now an inner one, and full of scars, but hey, I'm hernia free.

And now it's October, the month of Halloween. I've already begun decorating for it. Yes it's early, but hey I love the holiday. :)

I've got a gazillion things to do today, so I shall end this here. Hopefully I'll be back soon to chatter at you all.

To all my friends, I love you. *hugs to you all!*

Umbilical Hernia Repair

So yesterday was the day. I've officially had my first surgery, and I wish I hadn't had to go through with that. But I did need to get it taken care of. :(

The doctors and staff at Virginia Mason Hospital were nice and informative. They did do their best to make me as calm about it as possible, and they certainly kept me in the loop. They were even nice enough to do a local nerve block around the area that was going to be operated on that would last well after the surgery for about 12-24 hours so I'd be more comfortable right after. Believe me, as I've felt it wear off, it was effective, and I'm sad it doesn't last longer! Ugh.

They were even kind enough to do a topical numb for the IV they gave me. When I was in labor the nurses, while nice at Northwest (which IS one of the best hospitals in the area) weren't as kind for that. Heh.

Anyhow things went fairly smoothly except when they were in the process of knocking me out with general anesthesia. Before I was out every muscle in my body suddenly cramped up, I had the sensation that I couldn't breathe. I was breathing, as it turned out, I just couldn't tell, and I couldn't talk to tell them, all I could do was move my hands a tiny bit. Last thing I remember hearing was "I didn't think she'd react to the anesthesia like that!" Then I was out. I could be wrong, but I think my it was from my body fighting off the ansethesia. I guess the surgery took roughly 30minutes as I woke up about 4pm and they said I'd been in recovery for a couple of hours. It took me longer than anticipated to come out of medically induced sleep. Though I have been told I briefly woke up long enough to rip off the oxygen mask in recovery, then was right back out. I didn't even open my eyes. Sounds like something I'd do. It was likely during that period of time I had weird wacked out dreams. I won't be going into those.

They then gave me jello, water, and apple juice. Jello due to the gluten free diet, water cause it was what I wanted, and well, they wanted juice in me to help wake me up more, from the sugars in it. They then had me take two vicodin pills. I was nauseated, but at the time just attributed it to the whole just had surgery bit. I later realized it was the vicodin that made me feel ill. I wasn't told much about the operation, except that things went well. Which is good. When I see the doctor on the 11th I'll ask more details perhaps.

So I was sent home that evening, and got home after we went through a pharmacy drive-thru for my prescriptions, at about 6pm. I then promptly went to bed. Nathan brought me my laptop, so I could do a quick update to people and I had a small snack and dozed for awhile.

Now when I left the nurses suggested I eat before taking a vicodin. Most people get sick if they don't. Only everytime it was time for me to take them, and I ate, I'd throw up. I ended up throwing up three times, and was nauseated almost the entire night. Until I took a dose without food. I still feel a little queasy, but I'm not tossing my cookies either. It seems I'm a weirdo, and have to do the opposite of most people. Told the nurse this when they called today to check up on me, and she got a bit of a chuckle. Heh. And instead of taking two every four hours, I take one, every five. I'm not completely numbed, but I'd rather have a bit of discomfort than throwing up.

Biggest side effect I have now, aside from pain in the area that they operated on, is well my whole body aches. Likely from the anesthesia. Hopefully I feel less bleah tomorrow, as Nathan goes back to work and I'm on my own. At least the munchkin is with my sister. I don't have to worry on how I'll take care of him too. I miss him, but I'm not in any shape at the moment.

Tomorrow I hope I can manage to sit up on my own too. It's a bit tricky as I have to use my abdominal muscles as little as possible. Add in the pain, stiffness, and soreness. Meh. But tomorrow afternoon/evening I do get to take a shower finally, and to remove the main bandaging. I'll probably feel a bit more human then.

And I'll leave it at that I suppose. I'll keep details on how I feel as it goes along in case any of you need a surgery like that. :P Hopefully you won't though.

For all the bark and bluster on some companies and their monopolies (Microsoft anyone?), you'd think this would have gotten more attention by now. That's not even getting into the health and safety of eating genetically altered crops. Did you know that at least 70% of our food is transgenic? Monsanto with their GMO crops really don't want you to pay attention, they just want to own the food industry. For those who are like, big deal to engineered crops, remember that Monsanto was the creator of Agent Orange. You know the company that gave it's herbicide to the US Govt to use in the Vietnam war. Something that caused serious damage to not only Vietnamese, but to US soldiers. The effects of it can still be seen today over there. Nasty stuff.

They also are known for bullying farmers. Especially those who don't use their products, and even some that do. I could go on and on about this, and may at some point. But... I think that watching The World According to Monsanto is way more informative than I can put into words at the moment. Watch it, and let me know what you think. This is part one of ten. It's on youtube so, the other parts are on there.

I'm all for a movement against GMO's starting. Well some have, but really get going. Especially in the US, as other countries have gotten some off the ground to a point!

Watch it, seriously.

365 Days.... until I turn 30.

And since I have that many days, obviously today I turned 29. I of course have some people poking fun that next year they need to through a black and white party for me. To them I say ":P tthhhpppttt". Hehehe.

However today's been busy, but good all the same. It started off with me being all zombiefied in the morning (like usual), while getting the kid fed for the morning. Though he was sweet and made sure to wish me a happy birthday, all bright-eyed and bushied tailed. We then ran off to his swimming lessons.

Now he's in preschool 1, has been for.. believe it's his third week (I'm horrible at keeping accurate count of these things), and I wouldn't be surprised if he's in it again next week. He can do what they want him too, he just never seems to want to do it in class. I'm not entirely certain he's completely comfortable with the water as of yet. But he's gradually getting more used to it. Hopefully he's at least moved up to preschool 2 by the end of summer. :\ Especially since I know he'll be missing a couple of weeks of it, at least, soon. (I've got an impending surgery coming up.) He's also got a new friend that he's taken all of his classes with so far. Cute little 3 year old, who's name I shall not publish, as well she's not my kid. However he basically ordered me to give her mom my info so he could at some point play at a park, or some such with her. At first I was going to just give her my phone number, but he was very serious in his concern that it wasn't enough information, and promptly demanded I give her my e-mail address, and other forms of contact. What five year old asks these things?!?

Of course then again at the age of four he was asking me things like, "Mommy, did you remember your driver's license?" Hehe; quite the little ham.

After swimming lessons we stopped off at starbucks, where I got a coffee, as I hadn't had any yet. Well, that and I have their gold card, who sent me a birthday card coupon for a free birthday coffee. :) I don't care what anyone says about the "evils of a large company" they have seriously awesome customer service, and their coffee is not only quite tasty, but is one of the few that does NOT make me ill. Many places I go, and I don't know if it's an additive, or something starbucks does in their processing, but I get horrible stomach cramps, and well I shall not give further details, but needless to say it's not pleasent. And yes, when back east Dunkin Donuts didn't sit well with me either. I missed starbucks when I lived there. Badly.

We then came back, enjoyed our drinks (I got him a kid's hot chocolate, which he calls "My kids hot coffee!!"), then prepared to go out for lunch with my Grandmother. I've always gone out to lunch on my birthday with Grandma cept during the time I lived back east. She had been quite upset that year, the only year we did nothing. And the year I went to Japan. Though we went out the day before so.... yeah. But all other years we've had lunch. It's our thing. Anyhow normally when she wants to do so she picks the place. She has taken into account that I am gluten free, and tries to find a place that will have something I can eat, but it's always her choice. Except for my birthday. :) So I was able to finally make my way over to the Da Vinci Cafe and Bakery on Greenwood! Though they're about to change the name to Wheatless in Seattle. Probably so people going by will realize it's a gluten free spot, and those who can't (or don't) eat anything with gluten will stop in. The food was awesome. There's also a fair bit of vegan stuff, so if any vegans want a small place to go too for breakfast, or lunch, I highly suggest it. :). I do plan to go back again. I had considered to go to the Flying Apron Bakery, but their closest location is currently in Fremont, and I can't see my Grandmother enjoying going all the way to there. The only draw back was a small loaf of cinnamon bread (gluten free of course) was $9.95! I'll stick to making my own. :) Unless the owner makes sourdough (I heard she used too). I am a sucker for sourdough. We bought three fudge vegan cake slices for after dinner as my birthday cake. :P Next time I'm making my own I think, if the kid demands it again. Hehe.

After lunch, came back home, and relaxed until it was time for CJ to go to tae kwon do. He loves it there, and I think for him that'll be the hardest thing for him to miss for a week or two. I know for a week for sure. Hopefully I can find a way for someone to drive us up there a week after my surgery. I won't be fit to drive yet though, so we'll see. Still he had fun. :)

And after that we went back to starbucks, for something cold and hey I had this nifty treat reciept for quite the discount. In which my kid starts to tell EVERYONE it was my birthday.... I promptly told him not everyone needed to know. However the barista thought it amusing, and as she wasn't the morning one, she gave me my drink for free. :) And the kidlet wanted ice cold water, extra ice so that trip I paid nothing. Woo!

Then we got home, and I cooked dinner, which was simple tonight. Soup and rice... I cooked put rice in the bowl, and poured soup on top. Gluten free soup by pacific foods. For me it's a comfort food, and I'll do this with various flavors as well as mix flavors together. Tonight was tomato, butternut squash, a bit of milk, and a tid bit of salt mixed in. Simple and tasty. After we ate and let that settle, we decided to have the cake. Which beyond the first small bite I couldn't eat. It was far too sweet and rich. I am not a big fan of overly rich and sweet. Never have been. I am more of a fan of the savory. Ah well, the kid enjoyed it, as did my Grandma. When they called it a fudge cake... they meant fudge... vegan fudge. Heh. My roomie just got the rest of it, and he liked it well enough, so it didn't go to waste.

CJ and I then ran up to the park up the hill, at the library for their 7pm concert as sponsered by the Shoreline Arts Council. It was nice, and CJ had fun playing with the other kids there. :)

And then we came home, and he went to bed. :P I chilled for a bit, and now I'm here typing this up.

So on to other things. I realized I forgot to update about CJ's screening for aspergers. The doc said he didn't have it. He does have a social delay, yes. However he pointed out that in some kids the academic portion of the brain advances so quickly, that the parts to handle social lag. And feels that social direction, and help while he's still young (which he'll get at school) should help, and he'll catch up eventually. He also reccomended martial arts, hence him going to tae kwon do now. :)

As for surgery for me, well... I've got a hernia. An umbilical hernia. Doc told me that due to the placement she's pretty sure I was born with one. A LOT of people are. However that a combination of when I had CJ (the pregnancy was great, but the labor was long, and not without problems), and my weight that it grew. And it's now giving me problems. Painful problems. Which are getting slowly but progressively worse. So my appointment with a surgeon is on the 22nd. Meet, greet, and probably making sure I'm fit enough to have it. The doc did point out that if I continue to loose weight (which I have been, slowly) that I'll have less of a chance of it re-occuring. Which would suck beyond all telling. It should be done on an outpatient basis, though I'll be pretty much on bed-rest (save going to the bathroom, and getting something to eat) for five days, and the second five I'll still be in pain and unfit to drive. I'm not to lift much of anything for a month or so, and no more than 10lbs for the next several months.

Joy.

I'm scared of surgery, almost to the point of being phobic (though not quite). But... I shall do what I must.

Luckily my sister and brother in law agreed to watch CJ for 2-5 days the first week, depending on how he does.

But other than that life's going well... Oh and the Fourth of July was awesome. I may post more about that later.... or maybe not, who knows. :P

I wish my cats didn't bring me "presents"

As one dropped off a SLUG into my bedroom. I suppose I can be thankful he left it on the floor, but STILL. Eew. At least I think it was one of 'em. It could be the lack of weather stripping on my doors, however I'd have noticed it making it's way to my room, I think. And Mirror has a nasty habit of bringing me live critters. I know it's an honor from him, but still, bleah.

On a much lighter note, my muse came back. :D Muwahahahaha... I've dredged up an old story I began to write, and is re-writing, and adding onto it with gusto. I'll have plenty of time to work on it too, after my surgery. Won't have much else to do for ten days, in which I'm not to do very much at all. (Not even driving.)

And it's almost 2:30am. Off to bed I go!

:D

Almost the 4th so... Happy Pretty Sparklies go BOOM Day! to all fellow Americans on here. :D

Checking In...

Just a bit of an update during a bit of quiet time I've got at the moment.

Yesterday I ended up going to the doctor as I'd been in quite a bit of pain since the night before. I was actually worried it might have been my appendex, and while I wasn't sure, I figured I better be safe than sorry. Thankfully my appendex is just fine. Unthankfully however, I've got a hernia, at the naval. From what the doctor told me, I've likely had it since I gave birth to my muchkin five and a half years ago. When you're pregnant all your organs are smooshed around. When the baby comes out, the umbilical cord that detaches from the mother, as well as the rest of the placenta, and things make their way back into their proper places. However sometimes, something herniates, and well... it stays messed up. And apparently that's what happened to me. Lovely. I'm never having children again. Heh. Anyhow it's small so I don't need surgery, unless things get worse. It's suggested I do eventually get surgery to repair it, but after I'm done losing weight to be healthier.

I'm pretrified at the idea of surgery. I know it's to be a simple one, but it seriously scares me.

So yeah still in pain though it's less today. I'm just going to take it a bit easy till the flare-up passes.

Today was my son's last day of school for the year. He's excited for summer vacation, but he's also sad that school's ended. He loves school to bits, which is good. But he's also looking forward to swim lessons that begin next week. Tomorrow however we go to the doctor over concerns his teachers had. They reccomended that he be tested for aspergers or some such. The way I figure things, is, can't hurt to check, and if he has it then I'll have resources to help him out. I'll post more about it later depending on well, how things turn out.

As for other news, well I've been making more gluten free foods. Made this awesome spice cake from a recipe I found here. It's yummy and the next time I make it will probably be Christmas. Also have made tuna noodle casserole, and a few other things. :D

Perhaps I'll see about posting pics later, or something.

I've also got an interesting summer art project developing in my head. It involves environmental art, and no that doesn't mean just going out and taking pictures of the environment. Though there is that too. Perhaps once the first one is done, I'll share it with you all. :)

Sometimes I wish.....

That I was more eloquent when I talk and write. I also wish I could sometimes come across more clearly, without any verbal vomit attached. So far, this seems impossible, without quite a bit of thinking, and sorting through my brain to make sure I'm not sounding like a moron. And then I either confuse people, piss them off, or both.

I think I did the pissing off today. Not sure but I pretty well got the feeling that I did. And for that to the person, if I did, I am sorry. I was talking about soy itself, not vegetarianism/veganism. I have no problem with those who are vegetarians or vegans. (Unless someone tries forcing me to be, that is.) That last comment which did get sent to my e-mail that was made, before it was deleted kinda tipped me off that I pissed you off. And again, I'm really sorry that I did. That hadn't been my intention. The intention was perhaps to start a healthy debate. I do like those on occasion, with intelligent people, and I know you are one of those.

I'm not entirely sorry for talking about how soy isn't meant for the human digestive system, cause it's not. I just wasn't clear enough in why, I think. I should have mentioned WHY it's not, and what forms it's in, is better for people. To keep myself from jumbling things up, let me direct you to this site here. It sums it up better than I could, I think.

Fermented soy is alright, well as long as it's made from organic soy beans, and not the genetically altered hybrid crap from the US, other soy products? Not so much. I was one of many babies fed soy infant formula. BAD things happened. I won't go into the gory details, but things weren't pleasant. And now I've asthma, allergies, and I'm even gluten free now. Coincidence? Perhaps not. All I ask is read the article, look around, and make your own educated decision. Of course there's also a debate starting now if gluten is also bad for human digestion as well, and not perhaps, just for those who have celiacs, or whatnot.

I guess it's also a pet peeve of mine that everyone assumes that "Natural, Organic" automatically means "good" for you. Sure whole foods, that are natural and organic are better for you. Milk, dairy products, and meat, that are fed organically, and not pumped full of crap are better too. (And yes, just for the record, I do believe that meat is a health part of the human diet; within reason. We did evolve with the teeth and the stomach for it, though huge gobs everyday, not so much. And like I said, I understand meat is not for everyone, and that's just fine.) However there's a whole bunch of herbs and plants that are just as natural and organic out there, that are seriously bad for you, some can even kill you. Poisons back in the day were made out of plants, after all. One thing I've learned, especially after going gluten free, that you really have to look into everything, do the research, see what research has been done, and make the best decision you feel that you can make.

And I guess I'll leave it at that. Just had to get it off my chest cause it really bugs me when I inadvertently piss someone off; especially friends.

X-posted on Blogger, cause of the soy info.

Hotter than, well you know, outside. :P

So I hope everyone who reads this is doing well today. :) And those who live in the greater Seattle area, isn't completely exhausting themselves in the heat. Quite hot, for early June, yeah? I'm not certain yet (as I'll watch the news at 11pm to know, but I believe today's high to be around 88F. Tomorrow it's slated to be 90F! Whew! So during the day I've had the windows open, obviously. Well at least when I'm at home. When I'm not, and at night I believe in keeping them closed. It's safer that way. Especially since I drove past my ex the other day who's skulking in the area.

For those who know me, and of my issues with my ex, they understand why I'm not thrilled to know he's around. For those who don't, well I'm not going into detail here, but there's a very good reason I'm not with him anymore. I will say this, it's obvious that he, and his current girlfriend are homeless. Visibly obvious. And well he's tall and has always been skinny. Twig thin, and yet he's somehow LOST even more weight! He's gone from twig to uncooked spaghetti noodle. How? I don't know. *shudders* Now I want to loose weight, but I'll never even think about going that thin. (Not that I could). I think being overly thin is just as bad, if not worse, than being overweight. I mean.. how could you stand it? o_o

Back to the heat for a moment... I actually got to work today! Which is awesome, as I love the job, I just need more hours. I work in a portrait studio though, and so the camera room is always hot. That's okay, there IS a fan, and you normally can walk outside the room for a bit to cool down, and get a drink of water to stay hydrated. However the store's air conditioning had broken down, and when they got it fixed, it seems they only fixed the bottom two levels. They did nothing for the floor I'm on. So it was extremely hot, with no escape. Thankfully I brought two liters of water with me. Yeesh!

I've finally got bean sprouts! Nothing on the pumpkins, potatoes, lettuce, or chard yet though. Hopefully they'll sprout soon. They're getting enough sun! The tomato and cucumber plants seem to still be thriving, and I know the sunflowers are. An odd thing happened though. One of the bean sprouts is a transplant of the one my kid did in school. Different variety than the ones we planted though. Not sure which but... it's obviously different. Anyhow we planted it yesterday, and it did well. This morning it was in good shape, and we watered the garden. Even looked at it at 3pm with the rest later on. Well went up the hill for a bit, when we got back at 3:30, it was limp, and appeared to be wilting. So we added some potting soil, put a stick in the ground and tied it to the stick gently to keep it upright, and watered it. A half hour later, it was THRIVING again! Bounced back nicely. o_O Is that normal?

And then, I've been cooking. I'm NEVER using a premade gluten free pizza crust again... except perhaps for a frisbee. Next time I'm going to try to make my own. Not only was it cardboard in taste, it was as hard as a rock. The pizza was an obvious fail. If anyone has any suggestions on making GF pizza crusts, I'd gladly take them. The GF teriyaki beef last night though, was awesome. So there IS that. I thank my former roommate for teaching me how to make it.

Thursday's thoughts.

Just a couple of more days until an old high school friend of mine moves in to be a roomie. And just when I was starting to get used to not having any around! Though it'll be nice to have someone to chatter with I suppose. It was weird enough when the other two moved out. Hopefully things go well. As it is he has most of his stuff pilled in my livingroom in boxes as is. :P So my place is a bit of a wreck at the moment. Luckily the spare bedroom will be done getting cleaned out tomorrow.

Though I have to wonder why the roomie I used to have upstairs put freaking duct tape on the windows?!? Something to ask him when I next see the guy. I have no idea how to get it off of the windows, any suggestions?

Nice thing about the one moving in, is that he's willing to go gluten free, at least at the house, since I am. The other two not only did not go gluten free, but they often taunted me. Especially the younger baking and pastry student. Nice guy, but a kid at times, and I don't think he realized how old, and irritating the taunts got. He seemed to think he was funny. Ah well they've got an apartment elsewhere now so I don't have to worry about it anymore. I will say that when he DID cook for everyone, he was thoughtful for me and did cook gluten free, or made some off to the side of whatever it was, gluten free.

Today however was... not a day of cooking for me. I pretty much had gluten free cereal all day. It was a nice day, but I was feeling lazy. That and my eczema and sun rash combined were annoying as could be. Thankfully the longer I'm off of gluten, the more milk I can digest! Which is something entirely new for me. I love cereal, and all, but I couldn't have it often. Now, it seems, I can. :)

Tomorrow I'm going to make my favorite curry soup rice dish thingymabloober. It's yummy, and quick to make.

Oh, and so far no sprouting, other than the sunflowers... yet. Hopefully I see sprouts soon!

I live!

Man I really should have been posting on here. Moreso than the one I already have. But... life got in the way and I kind of forgot about it. However now more and more things I like to watch are on here, and I've a couple of friends who post on here. So I guess I'll have to get used to it. :) Though I likely will keep livejournal around for things I want to keep hidden from anyone I don't know personally, or those I just don't want to share some information with. Works for me I suppose.

Anyhow I've gone insane and have planted a vegetable garden. I say I'm insane as I have a well known black thumb. Anyone who knows me personally knows I have the black thumb of doom! I swear plants wilt when I look at them! However the kidlet of mine wanted to grow some veggies, so I figured why not try? I did explain to him, hopefully in terms that a five year old can comprehend, about my black thumb, and things might not sprout. Luckily the sunflowers have sprouted so at least we'll see something. Time will tell on the pumpkins, lettuce, chard, and green bean seeds. We also planted two tomato plants, and a cucumber that were already started. So it was more of a transplant than a plant.

I actually hope the sugar pumpkins will grow. They're pretty expensive, and as I'm gluten free I need to make my own pie (with a gluten free crust of course). Time will tell.

I got a sunrash though from all the planting. Doesn't take long for one to develop anymore, sadly.

Will post more later!

Hmm

So obviously I'm fairly new here. I've contemplated getting one here, but had never gotten around to it. Well due to a couple of things I want to subscribe too, and now at least one friend who has an account, here I am. And this blog shall be short, as I'm going to go get this blog set up properly.