Thursday, June 26, 2008

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes... and lungs

I have been sick with a headache for the last three days. So not much has been going on here in elfini-land. But I have few updates for you. California is on fire and my previously twittered total of 800+ fires needs to be revised to 1000+ fires. I’m having a hard time wrapping my smoke-filled brain around that number. So how about a nice graphic –


View Larger Map

That’s crazy! It’s no wonder that I haven’t been able to breathe all week. Not fun. But today I did not wake up with a headache so I am feeling a bit hopeful. And able to type. So, let’s catch up eh?

I guess Erin is now officially a toddler. Walking is not yet her only or even preferred mode of getting around, but she’s doing it more and more. From here to there and sometimes back again. Complete with stops and 180 degree turns. So, yeah. Baby walking. Someone needs to disappear that corn popper quick!

I’m half-way through my semester. On-line classes are still kinda surreal. I’m undecided on what classes to take next semester (besides Web Programming II). I’m even thinking of making an appointment with a counselor. And I’ve mailed off the requests for all 5 of my Official Transcripts. Good gravy Mabel, what have I gotten myself into.

For some strange reason this made me tear up a bit this morning. But I’m going to blame it on the smoke. Don’t tell anyone.

Now I’ve got to make a call to firm up the details on Kyle’s annual trip to southern California next month. Let’s not forget how much his life sucks!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The last freebie*

I received an email from Sharon last week stating that she was unhappy with the look of her blog. And could I, the goddess of all things html, help her. Well, if she’s going to put it that way, how could I refuse?

Her page was many shades of bright pink and she wanted something a bit more soothing. I told her to come by Sunday afternoon and we could work on it. She wanted the site to feel calm and peaceful, more in line with her "spa" theme. And I had just the design for her! Since she liked the beach theme I had created for this site but wasn’t using, I offered it to her. Why re-invent the wheel right? And within the hour a new Sharon’s Spa for You was born. And so was elfiniDesigns.

I still plan on doing some work customizing the banner text, but not until my homework is done!

* I will accept payment in brownies. But not with nuts. And for the love of pete people - no frosting!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Why I’m not a doctor.

I’ve decided that my Cough ™ is construction induced. As soon as they finish the re-model of the bathrooms in my office building, I will be cured! And if things do not work out that way I’m gonna be very displeased.

I’ve also recently diagnosed my migraines as a casualty of the constant battle between the right and left sides of my brain. A cruel and gory battle to determine which hemisphere will reign supreme! The Artist or the Geek. I really am a conundrum.

Now I must admit that I can never remember which side does what, so I’ll have to look it up. Be right back…

Interesting.
This was the first page I open after a Google search:
http://www.web-us.com/BRAIN/LRBrain.html *
And now I know that it was my right hemisphere that was in tears in Chemistry class. Damn moles. I ‘got’ the math; I just wanted to know why I was doing it!

And then I took 2 different “Hemisphere Dominance Tests” and got a different result for each test! Either I am extremely well balanced, or I’m screwed up beyond measure! Actually there were some questions with both answers were right. So the battle rages on…

And I know that both halves of my brain are working together, and that every person has a dominant side, and this is not the reason for my headaches. But I like the imagery of an epic battle in my head. Migraines that are just hormonal, let-down or stress-related aren’t very exciting are they? Semi-predictable and boring and forever pissing me off, but nothing to write home about.

* Hey - the geek in me wants you to know that I could break down this url into all its parts for you thanks to Chapter 2 of the textbook from hell. Or I could draw you a diagram...

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Flag Day with the Flag Man


Flag Day 008, originally uploaded by salemflagday.

Check it out - my dad was the Grand Marshall for the Flag Day Parade in Salem, MI last weekend.

I also found an article about him on the Salem Flag Day blog. It is a reprint of the article I posted a couple months ago but it uses a photo that I took last fall. Plus there are more photos from the parade in this flickr set.

So, enjoy the links - I'm off to call my dad...

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

It's All Relative

Found this YouTube video on Sweetney’s Linkblog. So very cool!

The Most Important Image Ever Taken
In 2003, the Hubble Space Telescope took the image of a millennium, an image that shows our place in the universe. Anyone who understands what this image represents, is forever changed by it.




Meanwhile, on our little speck of dust, Kyle’s first baseball season is winding to an end. The Giants finished the season with a 6-14 record and in 4th place in the standings. The first place team is the Cardinals with a 19-1 record including 3 shutouts! Pretty impressive.

This week is the End of Season Tournament with the final game on Saturday. Last night, the Giants won Game #1 against the Ranger (12-4). Wednesday night they play Game #3 against the Cardinals. And you might think that that will be the end for our Giants. And you might be right, but what about this: Last Saturday in the last game of the regular season, the Giants played the Cardinals and lost 8-9. Yes, they lost. But by 1 point!! That must have been a great game! (Chris and I missed it because we were in Santa Cruz. But Kyle got a base-hit and then scored. Against the Cardinals!) So, hope springs eternal and maybe, just maybe the Giants will go all the way!

And hey, Happy Birthday Uncle Bot!!!

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Busy. Please call again.

Remember way back when… when I thought I didn’t need a day-timer? When I scoffed at Chris’s suggestion – thinking I could never be that busy that I wouldn’t remember my one, maybe two, appointments per quarter? When I felt it completely unnecessary to feign being that organized? Well. I apologize. If I could go back in time I would kick my former self in the shin. Such is my reliance on my pretty little book of all that is important and looming! It sits next to me on my desk at work. I carry it upstairs with me at home. I pull it out in doctor’s offices, hair salons and once even at Starbucks.

Hmm, now I am wondering how I can keep Chris from reading this post. The gloating will be unbearable. Like bear… ha!

Anyways, the point is that we’ve been busy. Baseball, school events (Kyle’s are ending for the summer but ours have just begun!), more doctors appointments than I care to think about. And this morning I just wrote in “Santa Cruz” on Friday. Because after consulting everyone’s calendars, we found that this is the only weekend we can get down there to get the grandparents their much needed baby fix before July!

Yay, I’m finally going back to the beach! It seems like it has been ages – possibly February/early March since I was last there. All I know was that the last 2 times I was there, I was sick with all those horrible headaches that eventually lead to my getting a root canal. I just checked ‘the book’ and the drilling was April 8th. Hmm, after the sweet pain relief of the root canal came the cough. The cough that still hasn’t gone away 2 months later. Which brings me to tomorrow’s follow-up appointment (highlighted in the day-timer) with my new doctor. The doctor that gave me breathing tests and sent me off for a chest x-ray. The doctor who said he would not just throw more allergy medicine and inhalers at me but find out what was wrong first. Hey thanks! What a novel idea! The doctor that did give me the magic cough syrup that allows me (and Chris) to sleep at night. So, 8:40am Thursday June 5th doctor appointment to confirm what I don’t have (asthma and fluid on the lungs) and hopefully some idea of what I do have so we can make it go away!!

So this week had baseball practice Monday and I turned in my 2nd assignment, last night I studied and took the test (96!), tonight there is a baseball game, tomorrow night is laundry and pre-packing, Friday is Kyle’s last day of school, swim party and then off to his dad’s for the weekend while Chris, Erin and I head down to Santa Cruz. Whew.

But next week I’ve got nothing!
For now…