2011

2011 - Disneyland and a nephew.  Death and surgery.  How will I look back on 2011 years from now?  Pretty tough to say right now, but I think I captured it all in one simple picture.  Here is to nothing but happiness in 2012. 

7 Years

“If you keep a thing seven years, you are sure to find a use for it”
- Sir Walter Scot

I can't believe it, but my blog has hit the seven year mark today.  Seven years.  When I started this blog seven years ago, I never would have imagined that I would keep this blog this long.  Hell, I personally can't even recall why I started the damn thing in the first place.  Truthfully, I don't recall reading blogs before so what would possess me to want to start one of my own?  I am guessing I just wanted an outlet to write shit and figured people would just flock to it and respond back.  Because that is how the internet works, right?  You just write whatever and people will just show up and write back?  Ha!  I was so wrong and I know it took a while to get a decent group of readers.  I never did get a huge following, but I think I topped out at one point at getting 10-12 comments per post.  That's really awesome, actually.  It's great to know that people have something to say about something you wrote.  Nowadays, it has really died down and I only get a couple family members to comment plus one or two others.  I have considered quitting because really, who wants to write if there is no audience?  Well, some people might enjoy that, but not me.  But still, I find myself continuing to write in hopes that one day it will pick up again and frankly, I just can't give this blog up.

A few years ago I actually did write a post that said I was quitting.  Guess how long I was away from the blog before I returned?  TWO WEEKS.  Yes, I could only stay away for two whole weeks.  Shoot, this year I went two months without blogging and had no desire to actually quit the blog.   If you have been keeping track of our lives the last 6 months, I was just tired.  And sitting down and writing, even if it was just a quick note seemed like it would take too much out of me.  But no, the desire to quit never popped in my head and I feel fairly renewed again and know that 2012 will be a good year for blogging, comments or not.

It is crazy to think of all that happened in our lives since the advent of this blog.  Hell, when I first started this blog, I was still teaching.  Remember those days?  It's been a while but I sure as hell still do.  Then there was the foolish move of jumping from teaching into the real estate field.  Ok, leaving teaching wasn't really foolish as I didn't enjoy it and I knew I was already burnt out.  Getting into real estate wasn't even foolish.  I really wanted to do it, I thought I would be good at it, and the market was good.  Then right when I started, the market took a gigantic dump of epic proportions.  How was I supposed to know that?  And I did plenty of blog posts in that year that expressed my disappointment on how things were going.  It was actually a pretty damn depressing year and I bet there are some pretty solemn posts from that year.  So I flamed out at real estate, but if I hadn't taken that risk, I might still be teaching instead of the home business I own now.  Funny how things work out.   

It's been a good seven years, but thinking back, I can only think of sad posts I have written instead of happy posts.  In those seven years, I had to write about our infertility problems, the heartbreak of a miscarriage, the job issues, and the loss of both of Jessica's mothers.  I am sure there was more, but what amazing things happened to us to counterbalance these awful things?  Or is it more of a situation where we were consistently happy and there were just various tragedies that interrupted our lives?  Tragedies that we will never forget and will affect us constantly, but speed bumps in our usually happy lives, nonetheless?  I feel almost guilty for not being able to think of all the amazing things that I may have written about, but do fun vacations, good movies, cool photography, and winnings at poker make up for the bad stuff?  They must because even though we had all these things happen, even though I can't think of something that made me as happy as the other things made me sad, I still feel blessed and happy with life. 

Kind of ranting now, but this has been out last seven years and in that time, I am glad I had the blog to write it all down and record it.  Before Facebook was created, this was THE place where I could share and you could find out what was going on in my life.  Now that myself and all my readers have Facebook, nothing on this blog is really a surprise or breaking news.  Why blog that I won $340 at the casino today when you already saw it on Facebook?  Why post a new photo on here when you already saw it AND commented on it on Facebook?  Maybe this is why my blog readership has gone down, you already know what is going on in my life?  Regardless, this blog is a journal of my last 7 years and even though you already know what is going on in my life before you come to the blog, I have no intention of stopping now.  I have to blog at least 7 more years so that I can post the Guns n Roses song, "14 Years."  We'll see how it goes.  Thank you to all...

Christmas, the Reason for the Insanity

Not really sure what to blog about today, but wanted to get a blog post in. Being that it is the Christmas season, I think a holiday-themed post would be perfect.  But this won't be a typical, God-bless everyone, things are awesome holiday post.  No, this will be the opposite end of the spectrum, the Bah Humbug, You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch, type post.  Now, don't think that this means that I am not a fan of Christmas.  I LOVE Christmas.  I love what it represents.  Many a good things happen during the holiday season and it can bring out the best in certain parts of humanity.  However, like most things, there is always a flip side.  Here are the reasons why I hate the holiday season:


5) Christmas Music - I know I am WAY in the minority here, but I cannot stand Christmas music.  In fact, while it soothes many people and brings a smile to their face, it actually makes my blood boil.  There is just something about it that is just fake and frankly, almost depressing to me.  The fact that we have to hear the same songs OVER and OVER again every single year probably adds to the madness.  I'm just over these songs and I do whatever I can to avoid them.

4)Wrapping presents.  Why?  Just watch this video and it should explain my wrapping skills and why I try to avoid it at all costs. 





Yes, that is pretty much how all of my wrapping looks.  I never really became a good wrapper of presents, and frankly, I don't care to.  I rush when it comes to most things and the time and dedication that it takes to make a present look nice is just something I am not interested in.  Oh I'll still wrap instead of gift bags because I know it is more fun to open presents this way, but I won't enjoy wrapping it and it sure as hell won't be pretty!

3) Having to create a Christmas list.  I hate having to think of things I want.  Of course, it may sound kind of selfish that people want to buy me things and I can't take the time to think of things for them to get me, but when you are put on the spot and asked what things people should buy me, it is hard.  I think the main reason is that because of financial situation we currently find ourselves in, if there is something throughout the year that I want, I usually just go out and buy it.  I don't see something in June and think to myself, "I want it now, but I'll hold off for 6 more months so somebody can get it for me."  If it something rather expensive that I haven't bought myself, chances are, it is too damn expensive for anyone asking for my list to buy either.  But still, I come up with a list every year even if I feel like I am scraping.  The more aggravating thing is when I finally come up with a list and someone else can't return the favor with one of their own!

2) Setting up and taking down for Christmas.  Ugh.  It's like moving, but having to do it twice in the span of the month.  You have to put your normal stuff away, the set out your Christmas stuff, then put your Christmas stuff away, and then finally, you put your house back to normal.  Even  if Jess does most of it, it's still horrendous.  I mean, I do like the house decorated and I know that it is a necessary evil, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it.  Hell, I hate putting my own clothes away when they are washed.  You think I enjoy all of the above steps?  Hell no. 

1) An easy #1 choice is the shoppers.  Christmas shopping brings out the worst in people.  Hell, this would be #1 if all Christmas shopping was done on Black Friday alone.  That day is full of people harming other shoppers, harming employees, and pretty much being despicable human beings.  But that is just one day and it continues for a month.  Instead of being happy for the season, everyone shopping seems in a bad mood, thinks they are the only important  people out there, and are generally just inconsiderate of anyone else.  There is pushing and shoving.  There is craziness in the parking lot.  There is yelling and screaming  It is really just an unpleasant situation and it is no surprise that internet sales during the Christmas season are getting bigger and bigger.  Great prices, the convenience of shopping home, and all without having to deal with the madness of these crazy shoppers?  Count me in!  Plus, I get to avoid hearing the same Christmas songs on the overhead speaker in every store. 

Merry Christmas.  ;-)

Body Art

Tomorrow I am going in for yet, another tattoo.  For those of you who don't know (who am I kidding, all 4 of my readers know), I am doing a complete sleeve on my right arm full of nothing but movie-inspired tattoos.  So far, I've gotten tattoos on the arm based on Alien v Predator, 3 Amigos, Karate Kid, From Dusk til Dawn, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Ghostbusters.  Tomorrow I will be adding a Lost Boys tattoo and be one step closer to finishing this art project that I started early in the year.

I truly mean it when I use the word art to describe my tattoos.  My tattoo artist is truly gifted and he uses a canvas just like every other artist.  His canvas just happens to be my skin.  I love that the stereotype of people with tattoos is quickly fading away and more and more recognize tattoos for the amazing works of art they are.  Sure, there are still crappy tattoos out there - tattoos done by inexperienced inkers, tattoos done just to make a quick buck, and tattoos that really have no thought put into them.  And this isn't even mentioning all those simple tattoos - somebody's initials, a little heart, etc.  No, what my tattoo guy does as well as everyone in the shop, is art at its highest level.  It takes a special talent and I am a walking canvas.

Deep down, I wonder if my friends and other people around me think.  Yeah, tattoos are way more accepted now, but looking at how many I have now, do people think I have taken it too far?  Am I now that freaky tattoo friend in the group or that guy with all the awesome tattoos?  I guess I could be the freaky friend with all the awesome tattoos, but usually it is one or the other.  I remember back when I was 18 or 19 and I got my first tattoo, a simple soccer ball, my mom gave me a death stare.  Now she loves mine, can't wait to see what I get next, and even has one of her own.  What changed?  I think it really is the art involved in it all.  One can appreciate it when you think of it that way instead of just simple ink on my body.  It really is an art movement and I am proud to be part of it.

Unknown Pain

One of the sad things about having a pet is that when they hurt, often times you have no idea what is wrong.  The difficult part is that your pet really can't tell you where or why they hurt.  Last night, Jess had unbearable pain and although she was able to tell me where she hurt, I had no idea what it was or what I could do to make it better.  In a way, I felt just as helpless.

So last night, about 11:30, after dealing with some severe abominable pain, we went to the ER.  One of the problems with the ER we go to is that part of the clientele that it serves is very poor without insurance and many use it as a walk in clinic.  It seems like every time we use the ER's services, the place is jam packed with people, many looking like they simply have a case of the sniffles.  This led to last night's trip being over 6 hours long.  And we were given somewhat of a priority too.  When we left around 6am, there were people in the waiting room still that I recognized as coming right after we did.  I don't know how some people do it. 

So what was wrong?  Well, like I said, They give us a little bit of priority because lower right ab pain could me appendicitis and that isn't something you really want to mess with and take your time on.  But still, we had labs drawn as well as an ultrasound and a CT scan and although the doctor originally thought we were on our way to having the appendix removed, it ended up not being that.  He was actually confused at the end with what it could be and gave us several ideas.  Since Jess was starting to feel better by the end of our stay, he didn't seem too concerned.

This afternoon, after getting a few hours of sleep, we did get a follow up appointment with her OBGYN and he seemed pretty convinced it was a paraovarian cyst.  His explanation seemed pretty believable so that is what we will go with.  After she posted about it on Facebook, others chimed in on having had that and how horrible it was, one friend even saying it hurt more than pregnancy contractions.  Now, I have heard labor pretty much sucks on the pain scale so I can't imagine that this hurt even worse!  Hopefully, this doesn't happen again, but if it does, I know she'll be able to handle it being the awesome trooper she is!

Another Month

Another month gone, another month that went without a blog post.  The good thing is, the bug to blog is back.  It might start off a little slowly, but I think you'll start seeing more and more blog posts now.  And life is almost back to normal now.  Jess is walking more and more now and is making great progress  She won't be going back to work in December as we first anticipated, but we think she'll be good to go by the end of January.  We'll see.  There is a big difference between walking around the grocery store and working for 12 hours and doing the things that a nurse needs to do. 

Other than that, life is pretty much what it was a month ago. My nephew still is a cutie, we're going back to Disneyland in a couple of weeks, and I did another successful photo shoot.  My second year of the photo a day year project is nearing the end.  I have started to get questions as to whether or not I will do it for a third year.  I am THINKING I will do it, but the only reason I hesitate is that it is getting harder and harder to come up with things to take pictures of. I enjoy the project, but there are many days where I don't leave the house and I am running out of household items I can take pictures of when I don't venture out of the house and I certainly don't want to fill an album of just pictures of me, Jess, and the dogs.  Well, maybe of Jess, but I don't think she would like that.  So, we'll see.  Again, I am leaning towards yes, but it is still a we'll see. 

Confession

Forgive me father for I have sinned, it has been 2 months since my last blog confession. Seriously though, it HAS been that long.  Wow, I suck.  I guess I am just having too much fun.  So what have we been up to?  Well, we took another trip to Disneyland, our third trip this year.  This time, we splurged a little and stayed 5 nights at the luxurious Grand Californian.  It was an absolutely marvelous trip despite me getting sick on our last day in the park.  We went on tons of rides, ate great, and bought a TON of Vinylmations.  Oh, and of course, I took pictures.  Lots of pictures.  Here are a select few:



 





While in Disneyland, I received AWESOME news that didn't up working out, but was cool nonetheless.  The Valley Yellow Pages contacted ME and told me they loved one of my photos and wanted to have it for consideration as their next cover.  One of MY photos on the cover of a phone book distributed to thousands of people!  And guess what?  They DID choose it!  But here is the bad news, the location that I took the picture of ended up not allowing the Yellow Pages to use the picture because of some contractual issue with their own advertising firm.  So I was picked, was going to be on a cover, and it all came crashing down because of a technicality.  I was so close to really achieving something cool with my photos, but it just wasn't meant to be.  Oh well, what can you do be happy with knowing that they DID pick me and it just didn't work.  Here is the picture:



Besides those pictures, I also did two other photo shoots.  For some reason, I haven't uploaded them to Flickr so I can show you, but both came out great, Jessica's coworker's 4 month old and my lil' nephew at a pumpkin patch.  I actually have to stop and think of how many photo shoots I have done now so I must be doing something right.  I've even got more inquiries on my prices as well as selling a few pictures of the last couple of months.  Feels pretty good to have fans like this!

On the home front, things are good.  Jess is improving day by day and although she can't go too far, can now walk without a cane.  It is a little less than 2 months until she goes back to work so time to step her rehab into high gear and make sure she is ready for those 12 hour days!  I did another 5k and although my time was bad due to a lack of not being ready for it at all, I enjoyed it and am now training for another one at the end of February.  Jess and I also just joined Weight Watchers so the hopeful weight loss coupled with the running should hopefully get me in some kind of better shape. 

Other than that, life is good, work is work, and I keep on taking daily pictures of the whole experience! 

A Light at the End of the Tunnel

Today we did our yearly eye appointments.  Over the years, my appointment has always consisted of the doctor telling me my eyes are getting worse and the prescription needed to be upped to some new ungodly number.  Last year though, my numbers stayed about the same foe the first time, well, ever.  As I mentioned earlier, today we went back and although I was hopeful for consistency in my prescription, I didn't expect it due to it not changing last year.  But I was totally surprised to find out that not only had my prescription stayed the same, but my astigmatism had decreased, something she said happens rarely.  This is great news and she said because of the last two visits, I am pretty much a candidate for corrective eye surgery.  After 33 years of poor, declining eye sight, I might finally be able to have a surgery to correct my issues.  Not doing it quite yet; I want to give it one more year of making sure my eyes stay the same, but I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel!  Fingers crossed! 

The last 3 days of pics including today's:

Out of Gas

It's been a month and 8 days since my last post.  Hell, that is even longer than the month I was gone when I said I was quitting blogging and ended up coming back.  It wasn't from  a lack of wanting to by any means; hell, I wanted to update the blog.  But I just have had ZERO energy and then coupled with tragedy getting in the way, blogging just didn't win out in my list of things to do.

Last time I blogged, Jess was in recovery from her knee surgery and I was playing the part of caretaker.  Fast forward over a month later and nothing has really changed.  In fact, today is the very first day she can walk, but only at a 25% rate.  9 weeks later and she can only put 25% of her weight on that right leg!!!  Like I mentioned last time, she has been a wonderful patient and I even bought her a ring to show her my appreciation for being a good patient.  But good patient or not, I have still been responsible for almost everything in this house for the last 9 weeks.  Little by little she has been able to do more and more (as much as you can possibly do without being able to walk), but the 9 weeks has certainly drained so much out of me.  Work, make breakfast, work, make lunch, work, make dinner, and then start all over again.  I don't mind because I am doing what needs to be done, but it doesn't make me any less exhausted.  But the whole situation is getting better and more fun in our lives should follow.

If my lack of energy while Jess recovers was the only thing we had to worry about, I might have blogged sooner since the amount of stuff Jess has been able to do on her own has increased little by little.  But that isn't the only challenge that has come our way since my last post.  On August 7th, Jessica's mom passed away after a VERY long and VERY courageous battle with a disease that she battled for as long as I have known her.  She had been in pain for so long and it finally became too much.  In the end, it was the best for her, but it doesn't make things easier - especially for Jess.  If you remember, Jess lost her stepmom to cancer just last year.  How is it fair that she would lose her mom the very next year?  How is that fair to anyone to lose two parents in back to back years?  So, while we were already drained from this whole recovery process, the few days we were in the Bay Area for her final days just totally took the lack of energy to a whole new level. 

The good news is we had a wonderful remembrance party for her mom on Saturday and we can now begin the healing process while simultaneously begin to slowly get our lives back to some semblance of a normal life.  And speaking of normal, I AM still taking my daily pictures.  As it has been so long since I have posted, I can't possibly post all of the missed pictures.  Here are just a few of my favorites:



















Fingers crossed normalcy is just around the corner.  

He's ALIVE!

Yup, it has been just over 2 weeks since I have last blogged.  I have been fully aware of what a bad blogger I have been, both in posting and in visiting fellow bloggers' sites.  Truthfully, I have barely had time to breathe. Between working during my busy work time of the month, catching up from when I took time off for Jessica's surgery, taking care of Jess, and doing everything around the house that needs to be done, my life is hectic as hell.  I don't mind it and Jessica has been a wonderful patient, but it doesn't make me any less busy. 

Not a whole lot has happened in the last couple of weeks.  With Jess being pretty sedentary, we don't go out much and pretty much wit for people to come to us.  People have been nice and brought us food now and then so that has been a big help when it happens.  Jess is healing and rehabilitating well.  The doctor is impressed by how well she is doing and we can see noticeable improvements in her range of motion!  It is still around another 3-5 weeks until she is allowed to walk, but if she keeps this up, she'll be good to go in no time! 

Jess and I are still infatuated with our new little nephew.  He brings us so much joy when he comes over and he is the absolute cutest thing I have ever seen.  We can't get enough of him!

The other exciting to happen was an engagement photo shoot I did for some family members last weekend.  I had so much fun and I owe part of that to the fact that the they were both such good sports.  They WANTED to be there and were receptive to everything I suggested while coming in with some great ideas of their own.  I think it really translated into my best photo shoot yet.  Check out the slideshow here, I am really proud of some of them! 

With that, I'll just post the pics of the day from the last two weeks.  Sorry, no explanation on all of them - too tired!  :-)

Newness

A lot of new things going on in my life.  As reported last post, Jess had her surgery for her knee and hopefully, will be a new person once the recovery period is done.  But it wasn't as straight forward as it may seem.  This is what I wrote a little earlier today on Facebook about the situation.

Last Monday, Jess finally had her knee surgery.  On Tuesday, she gave us quite a scare that many of you don't know about.  Jess was having a lot of pain and not getting much relief from the pain medication she was being given.  Rather than change meds, something she wanted to do, more of the same meds kept being given to her.  While I ran home for a quick shower and my mom and sister looked over her, she hit rock bottom.  Apparently while sleeping, she stopped breathing and started turning colors.  My mom attempted to quick wake her up and with no luck, sent my overdue pregnant sister to run and get help.  People ran in and a code blue was called.  Again, I wasn't there, but a room full of people came in and they were able to finally get her to wake up and breathe again without the use of any kind of resuscitation techniques.  She was lucky, but I shudder to think what would have happened if my mom and sister were not by her side at that moment.  Would she have come out of it on her own or would she have simply passed away without anyone knowing?  It is too scary to think about what ifs.  They figured this happened because of being over medicated, so apparently, just giving her more of the same med was not the answer.  To add further punishment, they took her off all pain meds for a few hours in order to make sure she was safe.  Not something someone who just had surgery wants to hear.  Moral of the story - you never know when something like this may happen, so be careful, be prepared, and don't think anything is just routine.  She could have died....from recovering from knee surgery.  It is too scary to think about.  And be careful with those pain meds.  They are not to be played with.

So yeah, scary stuff.  Thankfully, she is home now and getting better day by day.  It will be a long road ahead, but I'll do everything I can to accommodate her as best as I can and we'll get through this together.  If it makes her pain free in the long run, it is all worth it.

But that is not all that happened with my family last week.  Jess and I now have a nephew!!!  Yup, my sister had her baby boy on Thursday morning and we are so in love with him already.  The only bad part was that because of Jessica's surgery, we didn't get to see him until Saturday when she was released from the hospital and they stopped by on the way home.  Of course, I had to take some PICTURES!!!

Isn't he adorable?  Yeah, we love him...

And that has pretty much been it.  Jess can't really do much at the moment and as her caretaker, I don't venture very far either so it has been a lot of days of just chillin'.  I work and she chills on the bed or sofa.  When I am not working, I chill with her.  But again, all worth it in the end.  Going to quick catch you up with pictures of the day, but will just post the pictures rather than try to explain each one.  Enjoy...

Quick Post

It's been a week, but this is a quick post.  Life has been hectic, and most of it has been because we have an exciting event tomorrow.  Tomorrow, bright and early, is Jess's knee surgery.  A donor was finally found last week and tomorrow begins the hopeful beginning of a new life for her, one of being pain-free because of a stupid knee.  Wish her luck! 

Almost a Week?

Wow, has it really been nearly a week since I blogged last?  I am just NON STOP busy lately and when Jess and I finally took a day to ourselves on Sunday, nothing but vegging on the sofa, it was such a welcome relief.  Nothing really too exciting the past week other than celebrating my mom's retirement.  We had a wonderful party at our favorite Mexican restaurant and what was amazing was that 4 of the 5 bosses she had during her nearly 30 year career in the school district showed up to honor her.  I had to mark the occasion with a picture. 



Remember in my last post when I did a self portrait?



Well, I liked the concept so much that I did close portraits of the other three members of the family as well.







What a lovely family if I may say so myself.  In fact, Jessica's turned into a quick, impromptu photo shoot.  if you want to see the full set (less than 10) click here!

Saturday was also a close up shot, but not of the human variety.  It was after 11PM, poker had ended, and I still didn't have a picture of the day.  I went into my office to look for something simple and had no clue.  But then I saw the perfect thing - since I had no clue, the question mark on my printer would be perfect! 



Today was a pretty spontaneous picture as well, but one that required perfect timing to spot. While walking to the sofa, I peeked out the side window going into my backyard and saw beautiful beams of light hitting the leaves in just the right way.  I quickly set up the camera before the light moved and snapped this leaf peaking out and illuminated in the right spot.