Viva Las Vegas!

So Joshua and I have been on our little mini vacation for a couple days now (nothing even remotely exciting! we only went to the neighboring town) and we've decided to take an actual trip for our anniversary! Where to? Las Vegas! I know, I know I'd rather go some place with a beach but Vegas was the cheapest place we could find and we also wouldn't need a car (hey, hey, hey!). So the plan is to go from August 13th through the 17th. Not too long but long enough for us to have a good time. We'll be staying at the Rio (love their seafood buffet!) and the price for the hotel and the airfare is under $600 total! So I'm excited! We buy the tickets Monday! This will be our first REAL vacation since we've been together. We've been to Texas but that was visiting family not really being tourists or anything special so I can't wait!!

Oh, how I miss my 24-hour fitness!

So my parents and husband are all paranoid about me working out because of the recent fainting extravaganzas. They won't let me go to the gym :( It's been almost 2 weeks now and I'm losing my mind! I miss the sauna, the cardio, monitoring my heart rate...*sigh* I miss my gym! I had to beg Joshua (the husband) to leave me the truck tonight since he's going to play basketball and now my mother won't let me drive anywhere! I feel fine! I haven't had a dizzy spell in a couple of days and now I'm not allowed to leave the house alone! :(

OH, HOW I MISS MY GYM!!!!

Acupuncture!

So my first experience with acupuncture was actually pretty nice! I had told him about the health problems that I had been having so he focused on those areas. When he put the needles in the areas I've been having problems it hurt very very badly but everywhere else I couldn't even feel the little pricks! It was just like a light tapping. He used disposable needles making me feel very comfortable about diseases and what not. The only thing that I didn't like so much was that it was out of his home. The fact that he had a mullet didn't help him too much either. When I walked through the door there was a great feeling of serenity that took over me though. Like the stress of my sickness was being lifted from my shoulders. I felt GREAT that day as well which was nice since I haven't felt great since I've stopped taking my chlorella tablets. My mother still wants me to go and see her acupuncturist in Pleasant Hill, Dr. Duk-Su Chang. This man has to be 100 years old by now because he was old when I was 4! I do want to go and try him out though because he helped my mother and one of my sisters out with some of there problems back in the day. Unfortunately I'm back in bed :( the acupuncturist that I saw said I should go back to him on Wednesday since it's an on-going treatment. That all depends on how much money I have on Wednesday!

My colonoscopy is Monday so I'm a little nervous about that but at least I'll be asleep while I'm being sodomized for medical purposes. I really do hope that they are able to give me a diagnosis after all of this. It's been a horrible 6 months for me and I just want it to all be over with. Kaiser has not made me very happy lately which is just awful because I had grown up on Kaiser, had my son through Kaiser, he had his surgery through Kaiser and we never had any problems, but now everything has just gone wrong it seems! My doctors are both very nice though, I'm just having problems in the ER. So the big plan is to stay out of the ER. As soon as this colonoscopy is complete then I can start taking my chlorella again and go back to the gym (my second home). I gotta get this six pack up and running again!

Royally Pissed Off

So I went to Kaiser Tuesday because I passed out. They ruled it out as dehydration and sent me home after a liter of fluids. I passed out AGAIN Thursday but this time I was not dehydrated. They ran a series of tests on my only to find that everything came back normal. After the last test they told me I could go home. I was furious because I felt exactly the same way I did when I arrived in the ER! Nothing was fixed! I was so frustrated that I was fighting back tears. To top it off, I had to ASK for an anti-dizziness prescription! The doctors didn't even offer me anything! I was very much upset. They kept saying "well there's nothing we can do!" which would frustrate me even more because I'm paying so much money just to have someone tell me they can't do anything. No fun.

When I got home last night I decided I'm done with doctors. I have an appointment with an acupuncturist today at 11:30 so we'll see how that goes. I'm still getting my colonoscopy on Monday and hopefully that will give me an actual diagnosis so that I can get on with my life. Last night was my turning point and especially this morning because I'm still dizzy! Dizziness isn't caused by nothing! My arm is also swollen because they pumped it full of contrast fluid when I was getting my CT scan. I told the nurse performing the CT that the IV was hurting and I didn't think it was in right and he said "Oh no, that's just the vein stretching because I'm pumping this contrast in pretty fast." I've had a few CTs in the past few months and I had never had any pain when they were putting the contrast fluid through the IV but he didn't listen and then sure enough my arm swole up like a dead hippo! So now I look like Homer Simpson in that episode where he had the one dumbell. Oh well. This majorly blows but I'll be sure to write about my first acupuncture experience! Woohoo!!

Modern Communication

"I believe that computers have taken over the world. I believe that they have in many ways ruined our children. I believe that kids used to love to go out and play. I believe that social graces are gone because manners are gone because all people do is sit around and text. I think it's obnoxious."
- Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks isn’t the first to speak out about this so-called “issue” and we all know she isn’t going to be the last. I’m not that big of a fan of Twitter but I’m a MySpace/Facebook/Texting queen. I actually prefer texting to actually talking on the phone just because I’m able to answer questions at my own convenience and not feel pressured into saying something right away.
I also highly doubt that the next generation is completely doomed because of the advances in technology. I’m sure many people said the same thing when the telephone was invented. “What’s wrong with a good old fashioned letter?” There will always be something for people to complain about and it will always be about the next generation. So I am not bothered by any of these complaints. If you really want to talk to me, send me a myspace message or a text.

Dream Island

So I was on my Plinky account today and the question was if I was on an island with plenty of food, a companion and a relatively stress-free lifestyle, what would I say when the rescue ship came to come and "save" me? My answer was come back in a year. An island sounds like an amazing vacation spot and I could definitely do some serious sun bathing there, but I think I would miss suburbia. I don't work and I don't live in a big city so I can't say anything about the "hustle and bustle" but there's something about my life that I wouldn't want to just give up to live on some island for the rest of my life.



One thing is that the question said A companion and knowing me I'd get tired of that one person after a while. I like to have a variety of friends to keep myself entertained. I have yet to meet someone who gives me EVERYTHING that I need in a friend. I go to certain friends when I want to hear the truth and I go to other friends when I want to have my ego stroked. Then I go to my husband to get a good laugh. So many people have come and gone in my life that I look at myself and wonder "Is it me?" and it most likely is so then I move on to the next person that's around me, so being on an island with just one person probably wouldn't work out too well. Hopefully within that year we haven't killed eachother.



The second is even though I live in a relatively eventless city, it's still my home. I'm very comfortable here. The majority of my family is here or near here. My city have everything I need (minus a good club). I would miss going shoe shopping and complaining about needing more shoes or more jewelry; things I really don't need but I have never liked being told no so I ask just to get the yes. I would miss reading PerezHilton and watching my soap. I would miss the internet, greeting my husband from a long day at work. I would miss watching my son interacting with other kids his age and older and taking the lead among them (he's always the loudest kid on the playground). I would miss daydreaming about what life could be like. Living on an island would be great because of the sunsets and the beach and coconuts and what not but I have a strong feeling that I would want to come HOME.



The third is when you live on a place like an island there's a lot of "work" involved. No take-out, you'd have to build your house, no carpet, hunting/fishing, no stove, etc. Me and physical labor don't exactly get along too well so that'd be a MAJOR downfall in my fantasy island. Maybe if they added a couple other "companions" that could serve as my staff...hey, it is a fantasy so anything's possible right?



These reasons aside I would LOVE to be on an island for a few months or a year or so. I've been itching for a vacation for quite some time now and just the thought of relaxing on a beach, watching Joshua and Josiah build sand castles, and sipping my beverage out of a coconut shell has given me chills.

Spicy Spaghetti

I for one am a big fan of spicy food. This recipe for spaghetti is very good. If you don't like spicy food just don't use hot sauce, and tone down the black pepper. It also tastes best when you sprinkle some shredded chedder and jack on the top. YUM!!

1 Onion

1 tbsp of granulated garlic

2 tsp of basil (dried)

1 lb of ground turkey (or beef)

1 tbsp of ground black pepper

1/4 cup of hot sauce

1 pack of spaghetti

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

9 cups of water

1 tsp of salt

2 jars of Classico Four Cheese spaghetti sauce

I prefer this type of sauce but if you have a favorite go ahead and use that one as well.

1. In a large saucepan, add 9 cups of water, 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1 tsp of salt. Bring to boil and add pack of spaghetti. Cook for about 10-15 minutes or until spaghetti is "al dente."

2. While spaghetti is cooking, chop up one onion. Sautee until onions are transpoarent. Sprinkle in black pepper and garlic to taste.

3. When onions have become transparent, add ground turkey to pan. Sautee until meat is brown.

4. Add two jars of spaghetti sauce to meat mixture. Stir. Let mix come to boil and then lower temperature to simmer.

5. Add hot sauce, basil, and garlic to mix. Stir.

6. Once pasta is "al dente," strain and pour meat mix into spaghetti.

7. Serve with shredded chedder and jack cheese sprinkled on top.