Oh, I'm stressed!! (say in Kramer voice)

I picked up a book this evening while I was at Barnes & Noble. It is called Full Catastrophe Living, by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. It came highly recommended to me by my physician. In the last year or so I've come to the realization that I don't really have any mechanisms for handling the stress in my career and day-to-day life. After reading the back of the book, I was intrigued, so I went for it. Hell yes I want to reduce anxiety and feelings of panic! You bet I want to improve overall quality of life and relationships through mindfulness meditation (I'll let you know what that is when I figure it out)! Sign me up Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.! One thing I'm a little sketch about? The author also wrote a book called "Wherever you go, there you are". Which I think I've seen on a bumper sticker before, and I may have wanted to kick the guy in the nuts that was driving. I think the guy also had a "Whirled Peas" and "Keep Vashon Weird" bumper sticker on his VW Vanagon. I don't know, I'll have to get back to you on that one. In any case, I think it is going to be worth the read. Next time you see me I might be sweating the sweet smells of patchouli while weaving Frank a hemp collar, as I make my way down the simple path of life to meet the most interesting and exciting person I'll ever know: myself.....

Make a giant out of your dwarf!

Like the majority of people that use email, I receive about 5 or more emails everyday advertising some sort of male genitalia enhancing medication. Has this problem of "short babymaker" syndrome really reached such levels that it deserves such hard core advertising? I feel like I'm completely in the dark about this issue. Am I missing something because of my lack of vas deferens? How will I educate myself more about this issue? By compiling a "Best of" list, of course! I've decided I'd like to document the best subject lines of said emails. If I have to delete them from my email each day, I might as well have fun while doing it!
Some keepers from today:
1. Make a giant out of your dwarf! (my favorite so far)
2. Get ready for an epic blue pill love battle!
3. Suffer from short babymaker?
4. Hot girls often go for guys with the largest tool (I love how they use the word "often" here, wouldn't want to use any sort of blanket statements)
What will I do with all that information? Two words: time capsule. This is the kind of information we are going to want an archeologist to find a thousand years from now.

If anyone has some good ones, you know my email address.

Together again.......

John flew in to Seattle on Friday night. It has been sooooooo great to be with him the past day! Last night we went to Oaxaca in Ballard, John's all time favorite restaurant in Seattle. The place is always packed, and luckily there was a table for two open when we arrived. Perfect timing. Saturday morning we took a walk to our favorite neighborhood coffee shop, Cafe Fiore. Best coffee in town. It was nice to go for a walk together, something we used to do on a daily basis when he was still living in Seattle. Then we went down to Golden Gardens and walked around, took some photos, enjoyed the scenery and eachother. We had lunch at our favorite sushi restaurant in Ballard, Sam's Sushi. John's friends Nathanya and Ryan met up with us, and we had an awesome visit with them. John's just taking a little nap at the moment, then we are going to head up country for the evening to visit Rik and Shelley. I can't wait to be down in California with him full time! Especially now that we found a place to live! We'll be living in a 3 bedroom townhouse in Valencia. I will of course post photos once we are all settled in.

Happy Valentine's Day

I've expanded my love for all things scrap, and have started to dabble a bit in the world of card making. I bought a card making kit a number of months ago, and just sat down this evening to make John a few cards for the love fest that is Valentine's Day. Yes, I realize the day is a commercialized mess, so that is why I'm making the cards instead of supporting another Hallmark Holiday. Making cards is like making miniature scrap pages, and who doesn't like miniature stuff, right? Mini-cheeseburgers from the Maritime Ale House, Hershey's chocolate miniatures, those mini-cans of soda that grandma used to stock in the fridge, garden gnomes, puppies, babies, hobbits, I could go on.......Great things can come in miniature sizes.

Nature.....Goulet......

The flowers that John sent me are getting more beautiful by the day!

Rainy days.......

There is something great about a stormy day. The rain tapping against the windows, the wind whistling through the trees......I'll miss the rain. But not that much!! I can't wait for sunshine!!!

The horror....the horror......

Mr. Woodcock, may I have those 90 minutes of my life back? What was I thinking? I think I may have lost precious brain cells by actually sitting through that entire movie. Remind me never to watch another Sean Williams Scott film. His career peaked in the first American Pie. And Susan Sarandon? How could you sign on for such filth? I mean, you did Dead Man Walking. I have two words for you Billy Bob....Sling Blade. BTW, Angelina called, she wants the vial of her blood back. Come on! Kim and I were hoping for a fun little comedy. We turned down the eye candy that is Christian Bale in Rescue Dawn for this cinematic atrocity. I would rather sit through The Ringer again than watch Mr. Woodcock. In the words of Dave Chapelle doing Rick James... I wish I had four hands, so I could give it four thumbs down!

In the words of Lil' Jon.....Yeeeeaaaahhhh!!!!

Good news! I found out I passed the CPJE!! I am so excited and relieved, it is like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Last night after I got off work, I was walking to the mailbox and I just had a feeling that the results were going to be there, and they were!! John sent me the beautiful flowers above. Frank immediately jumped on to the kitchen table to check them out, they are super fragrant. Hopefully he won't eat them when I'm not looking!

Thank you everyone who was thinking good thoughts for me before, during, and after taking the exam. It really means a lot to me to have so much support!

Juno

I just saw the movie Juno this evening. Loved it. Loved. It. A must see. Great dialogue. Ellen Page does an amazing job as Juno, she's super funny. Plus the guy sitting behind me spilled popcorn all over the head and back of the guy sitting in the seat next to me. Never thought that kind of stuff actually happened in real life. Hilarious. Luckily the guy that got popcorn all over himself thought it was funny too.

Songs I just downloaded: Lake Michigan by Rogue Wave, Don't Stop the Music by Rihanna (diggin' on the Michael Jackson sample, still rockin' the King of Pop), and Ride a White Swan by T. Rex (gotta love 1970's glam rock).

Love is a Mix Tape

I finally got the CJPE out of the way (I should find out the results in about 30 days), and I've been diggin' on some non-pharmacy related reading this past week. I just finished "Love is a Mix Tape" by Rob Sheffield, it was a great read. It definitely made me miss the days of the mix tape. My favorite mix tape of all time is one called "I'm not going to eat and you are", it is a mix that Paula made me back in early high school I recall. The title of the mix was birthed by myself over a weekend when my parents were out of town. They had left my sister and I some money for food, and I suggested that we split the cash down the middle and fend for ourselves. It was a time in my life where any spare change I had lying around was spent on music or music related schtuff (magazines, concert tickets, etc.). My plan was to take my half of the food money and put it towards some sort of R.E.M. paraphrenalia. "I'm not going to eat and you are" was my response to my sister when she asked me what I was going to do that weekend without food money. Other favorite mix tape authors include Casey (Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden, Sausage Gut by Jurassic 5) and Melanie (Kodachrome by Paul Simon). I really need to track those mix tapes down so I can recreate them as playlists on iTunes.

Next on my non-essential reading list: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, I've heard this bad boy is a real page turner. I'll keep you posted.