A Nice Hike at Mount Diablo

April 12, 2014

JW and I went for a little hike at Mount Diablo.  It was my first time hiking there.  Here are a few photos to share.

Sometimes, there is beauty in devastation.

Can I live out here in the middle of the mountains?

Another reason I want to live here in isolation

I was too afraid to climb up this rock. 

Such a beautiful sight to behold.

One of the many carving from Rock City

This is for the Morgan Fire Recovery Study camera stands (02)

Another view from the Recovery Study camera stands. :) (03)

If you don't know about this study, you can check it out here: Nerds For Nature

If you would like to see the rest of the photos I took on our hiking adventure, you can see them in my G+ Photos album: Mount Diablo Hike 2014-04-12

Stircrazy

Saturday evening I went out for drinks and the UFC fight.  We had a great time.  I ran into an old bar buddy Patrick from 10 years ago.  It was great to catch up and meet his lady.  I saw my friend Eddie Estrada and spoke to him for a few minutes.  I danced my ass off, and loved it.  It's been a long time since I danced. I love dancing like fool, ha ha.  Well, we were a bit too drunk to drive to Oakley (our original destination), so we planned on taking a taxi or walking to my place.  We decided to walk, which is no big deal for me, I've done it lots of times.  Of course I am the one who steps onto uneven pavement and hurt my right ankle.  Luckily I was wearing some cute cowboy boots and not heels. If I was wearing heels I would have seriously fractured my ankle.



Sunday morning I woke up in pain with some swelling.  By Sunday night it was really swollen and I could not walk.  I was getting pretty worried.  I told myself I would rest and wait it out till Tuesday morning.  If it was still very swollen and painful I would go to the doctor.

  

Sunday morning, R ankle a little swollen

Sunday Afternoon, R ankle getting bigger

Oh I also walked (hobbled) to the store and back.  I was so excited to move around.  I was going crazy laying in bed, not allowed to move. I am very active and can't sit still.  All I can think about is hiking, walking places, and dancing.  Please ankle hurry up and heal. I want to move around.

Monday evening my friend JW came by with a brace and a wrap.  He helped my wrap my ankle up and I left it on for a while.  I took it off to sleep and I rewrapped my ankle Tuesday morning.  My ankle was looking better and a little bruised.  I kept it wrapped most of the day.  When I decided to go downstairs instead of lounging in my bed.  I removed the wrap and used the brace instead.

Tuesday morning, looking better

The kitty decided I needed to share my pillow

This morning when I woke up, my foot and ankle looked so much better.  I'm wearing the brace today and may wrap my foot tonight before bed. I did notice I have a hard time staying comfortable while sleeping. I kept shifting my legs and making my ankle tilt, causing pain.  Maybe wrapping it will stop me from hurting myself.

Wednesday

Did I learn my lesson? Yep, I'll be more careful next time walking home drunk.  Yes we could have took a taxi, but what fun is that?  I love a good adventure, drunk or sober.  I gotta have something to laugh about later.

Nope, I Won't Do That

I recently read a post called The Things I Won't Do For Love.  There is a review of a movie I have never heard of called Like Crazy.  Not something I would rush to watch.  Maybe someday I will, IF it's shows up on Netflix and I'm bored.  The movie is not what I am here to talk about.  The author of this post asked an interesting question. One I have thought about, but not really thought about:
What won't you do for Love?
She tells us what she won't do/give up for love, and talks about how her list will prepare her boyfriend (imaginary).  She also talks about some of the crazy things her friends DID for love.  The comments were great as well.
So now I want to think about it and tell you what it is I will not do for love. I think I will make it a list, what I won't give up or do in the name of love. I'll try to keep it simple, but you know me, I have to explain everything. This is what my boyfriend (mine is also imaginary) should know.

• MY KIDS.  They are mine for life. If they need me, I'm there at any age. 
• BOOKS. My first love
• PIZZA. I won't let you go
• BACON & BEEF JERKY
• GOALS & DREAMS   
• FRIENDS & FAMILY
• MASTURBATION* 
• LET YOU GIVE UP OR LOSE YOURSELF. I will always support the ones I love, even if I don't agree. 
• GIVE UP OR LOSE MYSELF. Been there, done that. It won't happen again 

I thought about music, porn, movies, and even soda.  I can find happy & healthy compromises for those.  Sometimes we lose ourselves in relationships and give up more than we should to keep someone.  Taking care of and loving yourself should always be first.  It is said that you cannot love another if you do not love yourself.  I believe this to be true. Strive to better yourself everyday, support the ones you love, and always love & care for yourself first.  It's not selfish, loving yourself first helps you love others better.  

*I say masturbation and not sex because in the event of illness or other medical/physical reason my boyfriend (mine is also imaginary) is unable to perform I am happy to give up sex. Though there are many ways to be intimate, some people may want to forgo any type of sexual activity.  That's okay, we don't have to if you don't want to. I will however, pleasure myself in private. Unless you want to watch, that's cool too, but I think it would be frustrating.  This is why communication, understanding, compromise, and love are very important. 

On an end note, the author of the post mentioned one of my favorite singers of all time.  So I HAVE to post his video, duh...  Meatloaf: I would do anything for love (but I won't do that) Enjoy!

P.S. I would give my imaginary boyfriend a name, but then people would think I had a real boyfriend or think I am super lame. 

Lunch Break

Sitting here in my dining room, staring into oblivion, eating a plain ass tuna sandwich.  My day started out pretty darn good, though I did get out of bed an hour and half later than I planned.  Oh well.

I scramble me up some eggs and eat them a little to fast.  shoveling my eggs in my mouth in some hurried frenzy as I log into Facebook and play a game or two, comment on a few posts and check my email.  Sounds like such an exciting morning right?  Pfft I needed to clean house but at the same time I have the need to go for a walk.  I need fresh air... So I do a little cleaning and stop every so often to entertain myself on Facebook.  It seems to be a busy day on my news feed.  I'm glad I am about to head out for my walk now instead of doing it earlier.  Someone irritated me with their disrespectful comments on a friends post and I really need the walk now.  I'll go into more detail once I think the topic through enough to express my personal opinion and not be judgmental towards others.  I respect that we all have our own opinions and ideals of how life should be lived or how to raise children.

So here I am stuffing my face again and allowing someone else to dictate my mood. I don't like that.  I'm not really mad or upset, I guess I'm just boggled by the ignorance that came from the person.  I'm trying to understand their point of view.  It's hard to communicate properly on Social Media sites.  Sometimes we cannot convey our feelings, opinions, and beliefs in a way that someone else could understand.  Misunderstanding happen way too often this way.

Whatever... I'm off for a walk

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Reading Up A Storm.

I have been reading like crazy lately.  As you know by now I am an avid reader in almost all genres.  Horror, Thriller, and Mystery being my favorites.  I recently read Floating Dragon and am working on my review of the book.  I think I will start doing book reviews.  What is the point of reading a lot of books if I don't share them with you?

I have a decent book collection and it could be so much better.  I did donate many sci-fi books a few months ago because I knew I couldn't read them all and someone else would appreciate them more than I.  It was awful giving them up, but I knew it was the right decision.  Today I "purchased" aproxametly 30 Kindle ebooks on Amazon.  I also started working on an ebook wishlist.  I do not own an ereader and would love to.  I think Kindle would be the best option, though once upon a time I really wanted a Nook.  Now that I have a Kindle app for my phone, I think I should figure out which Kindle would be best for me.  Reading books on my phone is kinda crappy. The picture below doesn't even show all my "purchases"...  I went crazy on Amazon and even shared most of them on Facebook.  I think I may have gotten a little carried away.

P.S. Happy Lovers Day! 

I have also been reading a lot of online articles.  Taking notes and thinking deeply about how I feel while reading these tough topics.  Relationships, bullying, parenting, and suicide to name a few.  I have been slowing working on what i thought was going to be a single post about relationships.  It has been frustrating and I keep deleting and editing.  It just wasn't coming out right.  As I read the articles I realized i was doing it all wrong.  I was trying to shove all my emotions, opinions, and babble into one entry.  I think it would be so much better and far less stressful if I break it up.  So lets see how I do with that.  I have read a few articles recently that have made me think about personal things I rarely talk about publicly now. There was a time many many years ago when I blogged about my suffering and struggles.  Maybe it's time to start talking about these issues and personal struggle openly again.  That old blog has been removed for a long time and sometimes I miss the name of that blog.  It described me so well back then.  Idiotic Randomness was the name and I loved that blog.  Why I deleted it is a mystery to me now.  I just can't remember why I felt that was the best idea. 

I have a few Picture entries coming up.  I am still working on some of the photos.  I took well over 300 pictures for 3 different adventures.  I'll mostly likely put my 10 favorites and then put a link to the rest to my G+ photos.  No the photos are not there yet. I will upload them tomorrow before I post the entries on Friday.  I am still working on about 100 photos, so you'll have to be patient and wait for the blog entry.  I know some of you follow me on G+.... 

NO PEEKING!! 

The End of Lent

Today is the official last day of Lent, though many complete it on Easter Sunday. I am ending it today.

I failed Lent this year. I still drank soda and ate meat on Fridays.  BUT... I ate much less sugars, processed food, and drank much less caffeinated soda.  I didn't lose nor gain weight.  I'm just hovering.  Oh well.   I'm still proud of the changes I was able to make and I will keep moving forward.

I guess that's it for now. I have a lot of unfinished entries again.  I'm such a procrastinator and lazy ass.  Disappointed to say the least.  Someone needs to crack the whip on my ass.

Always

There will always be someone who loves you, but you can't love back
There will always be someone you love but they can't love you back.
It's a painful cycle, but I refuse to settle. 

Random Late Night Thought

It's Monday, Here's Some Music.

My Songs of the Day (SOTD) are by Meat Loaf:  I love his music and the theatrical performances he once did.  I wish I could have seen him in concert back in the 80's.

You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth(Hot Summer Night)

Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad

Two songs about Love.  Awww, okay not really, but they are great songs. 

Lent Update: Illness, Pain, and My Lady Parts Again.

Yay!

I haven't posted in a week.  Oh well, shit happens. Monday March 31st I went in for an ultrasound on my lady parts.  Drinking 32 ounces of water and holding it is not cool. All ladies know it's torture.  Anywho, I go in and the tech goops me up and ask questions while she starts looking around from above (wand on my abdomen).  We talk about my history of Ovarian Cysts and how often I get them and test for them.  Then once her questions stop, she gets quiet, too quiet.  I start getting nervous and just stare at the ceiling.  I'm laying there waiting for her to say "Oh no, that's not good" or something like that.  She doesn't say much after the questions.  Only when she asks me to go take a piss and undress from the waist down for the internal view. Yes guys, internal... I hop back up on the table on this god awful pillow that is hurting my back and ass.  UGH, who designs this shit?  The tech makes sure I'm "propped up" correctly and then says "relax." All I could think was; Uhm, you're about to shove a wand the size of a large vibrator in my vagina and I don't even know your first name.  I guess I can't complain too much, the wand was smaller this time around.  I wonder what that tool is actually called.  The tech takes a quick peek at my vagina and shoves the wand right up into my ovaries. OUCH! Then she's twisting and turning this damn thing like it doesn't hurt.  All she can say is "Sorry if that's uncomfortable."  Uh yeah, you're shoving this wand all sideways in my vagina, shit, I don't even fuck like that.  I think many medical techs are seriously sadistic.  I should have asked for a copy of my pics of my inner lady parts to share with you guys.  Maybe I can get one later.

I went to Schooners for lunch with JW after that because I really needed a beer.  Who doesn't need a beer after being violated? I had a club sandwich, and it was delicious.  I inhaled that fucker.  Good thing JW was off work for his own reasons, it was pouring when I was done with my appointment and he gave me a ride home after lunch.  Have I said lately how grateful I am for my friends?

I called in on Tuesday to find out my results and everything came back great.  EVERYTHING, so what do I do now?  What does that mean when the symptoms are still here?  Now to make another appointment and maybe more tests.  Cross your fingers, toes, legs, arms, eyes, balls, and ovaries that everything goes well.

Samantha had multiple appointments on Wednesday.  Yeah we had a busy week in the medical world.  We were at Samantha's appointment forever.  Her Doc, asked questions and gave us some good advise for Samantha's eating habits.  Everything is looking good, but we are still unable to find out what is causing her nausea, headaches, and chronic fatigue.  More blood work was done for Diabetes and a recheck of her CBC.  She had one last immunization, yay!  We were also given a referral for Samantha to get an EEG and ECG (EKG).  Samantha had heart problem in utero and soon after birth.  Every few years we go in for tests to make sure there are no problems. Even I have to get regular heart check ups now due to the medication I was on during my pregnancy.  Hopefully these tests will give us a better understanding to what is happening to my mini me.  Maybe I can get a copy of these tests and I care share them with you too.  After the appointment we went to IHOP and had bacon burgers.  Yeah, because we need more health problems, right?

Mmmm Bacon burger

Friday, I went to my very first hockey game.  I went to see Stockton Thunder vs. Utah Grizzlies.  It was great, I loved it and would sooo go again.  It wasn't as cold as my friends on Facebook said it would be, but maybe it was just this arena.  It was Military appreciation weekend; It was nice to see military families out enjoying the game.  Before the game we stopped at a local bar called Valley Brewing Company to have a beer and appetizers.  I'm not a fan of eating stadium food from anywhere. I'm afraid i'll die from what might be in the food.

Photo courtesy of JW

The weekend was nice and relaxing.  Had some wine and grilled cheese.  Oh the grilled cheese was delicious.  Habanero Gouda and Jalapeno Jack with onions, tomato, and avocado.  Fuck Yes! and Thank You!

Second bottle for the night. That grilled cheese was delish. 

Watched some TV, read some Floating Dragon by Peter Straub.  The book was hard to get into and has some weird parts, but it's a good read.  I did some much needed grocery shopping and bought almost NO junk food.  I got the kids a 12 pack of soda and I bought me some tapioca pudding & jalapeno cheetos.  YUM!  BBQ'd on Sunday with great company.  Came home to sick kids though, not cool.  I ended up picking them both up from school early today.