Check out this steampunk ergonomic computer keyboard! How cool would that be?
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Old School
Check out this steampunk ergonomic computer keyboard! How cool would that be?
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Latest Acquisition
Photo taken from MarKhed Etsy page.
Basset Bash and Brigade 2010!!!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Ten Things on Tuesday....Wednesday edition... :)
1. OMG! Totally stoked to see Hot Tub Time Machine! I love me some John Cusack, and he really needs to redeem himself after that taint burger "2012". Hopefully Chris, Mike, and I are hitting it up Sunday eve.
2. Who the heck is this Justin Bieber character? The newest teen sensation apparently. Admittedly, I was in to some shady stuff when I was 12 (read: NKOTB.....still think Jonathan Knight is a hottie), but this kid? He seems like a total D-bag. I am 100% confident that 12 year old Jess would have also thought this kid was a D-bag. Gina--check in with your niece, she seems like she has her finger on the pulse of what is cool with the kids these days (I am soooo turning in to my mother with that last sentence), let me know what she says about this skinny puke.
3. Milo and I just joined the Seattle Basset Meetup Group. What is the group you ask? It's a "group of Basset Hound owners and enthusiasts who get together to have fun with their Houndies and make new friends from the Puget Sound area." Sounds like a good time to me!! They meet up once a month or more. I'm excited to meet and hang out with other Bassets and Basset owners. Maybe Milo will meet a nice elderly lady Basset hound to share his life with:) More pictures and information to come after we attend our first meetup!
4. Vashon Island this weekend!! So excited to get out of town for a few days! This will be Milo's first trip out to Vashon, and I'm predicting he will be exhausted for an entire week when we return. We'll have to find an alternate route down to the beach because those steps at the house are steep....too steep for little 3 inch Basset legs:) I'm sure he'll have an absolute blast with Lincoln and Pip!!
5. I *really* want to go to Ireland. I have three weeks off this year, and I think it may be time to head out of the country. If not this year, then definitely in 2011! I kinda need to get my gall bladder situation figured out before I decide to do any international travel. I think an emergency cholecystectomy would be a bit pricey in another country! Unless I was in India, then it would be like $600 bucks.
7. Guess what came out on 03.20.2010? Ah yeah, the New Moon DVD! Woot!! Woot!! I haven't gotten my copy yet, but it is on its way. Blu-ray widescreen edition. Side bar: I just figured out where I've seen Liz Lemon's "Future Husband" other than in Frost Nixon.....he plays Volturri member Aro in The Twilight Saga. He is British actor Michael Sheen.
8. Dudes!!! Soooo excited to see Kings of Leon again! They are playing Saturday, July 17th at The Gorge. Get your tickets today!! Obsession is resurfacing after taking a few months off. Side bar: picked up some new music last night at Sonic Boom.... Rogue Wave "Permalight", Ted Leo and the Pharmacists "The Brutal Bricks", and Lady GaGa "Bad Romance Remixes". I also picked up a cd by Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore called "Dear Companion"....it is "a collaboration between three Kentucky musicians....the album explores their ties to Appalachia and addresses the impacts of Mountain-Top Removal (MTR) coal mining on the people and heritage of Central Appalachia." Should be interesting!! Kind blue-grassy.
9. Current celebrity crush.....Travis Pastrana. I think I've watched too many episodes of MTV's Nitro Circus. The guy is crazy!! And really attractive. Am I right, or am I right?!?
10. Dancing with the Stars is on again!! My favorite so far..... Niecy Nash (love her on Reno 911). I think Kate Gosselin is going to get the ax fairly quickly, I predict within the first two elimination rounds. She was badness. I think Pam Anderson is going to be fun to watch, she's a train wreck. Am I the only one who thinks Evan Lysacek seems a wee feminine? I guess that's what 16 years of figure skating will do to a dude. He seems like he'll stick around for awhile.
Monday, March 15, 2010
You know you're getting old when......
Exam: US Abdomen Complete
Clinical History: Intermittent abdominal pain
Comparison: None.
Findings: The liver was mildly hyperechoic diffusely consistent with mild fatty infiltration (Thank you 14 years of dollar pitchers at the Up & Up, $3 pitchers of PBR at the Beave, Happy Hour on the deck of Ray's Boathouse, countless nights at Dad Watson's, weekends, BBQ's, cabin trips, and various other celebrations.....thank you for infiltrating my liver). Appearance of the liver was otherwise unremarkable without focal mass or intrahepatic biliary dilatation seen ("unremarkable" is a good thing for this over-achiever!). The common bile duct was normal in caliber with maximum measured diameter of 4.7mm. (Wait for it....wait for it.....) The gallbladder was filled with echogenic foci with posterior acoustic shadowing consistent with gallstones (Or as the ultrasound technician commented...."that thing is packed full o'stones!) The gallbladder was otherwise normal in appearance without gallbladder wall thickening, pericholecystic fluid, or sonographic Murphy's sign.
Appearance of the visualized portions of the pancreas was normal (thank you jebus).
The right kidney measured 10.7cm in length and the left kidney 10.8cm. No shadowing stones or hydronephrosis was seen in either kidney (woooooorrrrddddd!!!).
The spleen was normal in size with a maximum measured dimension of 9.3cm. It was normal in echotexture (woot!! woot!!).
The abdominal aorta was normal in size in its visualized segments with a maximum measured diameter of 1.9cm (can I get a hell yes?!?).
The inferior vena cava was patent (no idea was patent means, I assume it moonlights as "unremarkable"). There was normal direction of flow in the portal vein.
Impression: 1. Cholelithiasis (the presence or formation of gallstones in the gallbladder or bile ducts) without other ultrasound evidence of cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder).
Soooooo.......I got that goin' for me, which is nice. Next stop: First Hill Surgeons. This rock tumbler is comin' out! I don't have the surgical consult until early April, and I'm not even sure they will take it out, I'm just checking out my options.
Some of you may be wondering WTF Jess? How come you've never told anyone you've had intermittent abdominal pain? Good question. Here's the reader's digest version of what has been going on...... about 10 years ago I had my first episode of biliary colic (severe abdominal pain, often caused by spasm, obstruction, or distention of any of the hollow viscera, such as the intestines). And after that I didn't have another episode for 6 or 7 years. Then a few years ago I had a couple episodes. An "episode" lasts roughly an hour or more, and is characterized by severe abdominal pain, the likes of which you never want to experience again unless you're birthing a child, and you can't get in to a comfortable position no matter how you contort your body. I would describe this discomfort as absolutely crippling. Anyway, I've had a couple more episodes over the past year and I figured it was time to do something serious about it, i.e. involve trained medical professionals. So that is where I'm at. I've got a gallbladder packed full o'stones. I'm not losing sleep over it, just looking forward to getting the situation resolved in the near-ish future.
Let's tally this up here:
Benign lump in left breast: check
History of inflammed vein in right calf: check
Gallbladder filled with stones: check
Signs that I'm not 18 anymore: check, check, and check!!
My liver and I need a drink now.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Ten Things on Tuesday.....03-09-2010 edition
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
40 years and counting.......
Ten Things on Tuesday....02-23-2010 edition
2. What is up with Plushenko's mullet? Seriously! It is hid-e-ous! Plus, you know what else? Dude is a sore ass loser. Put your quad where the sun don't shine my friend. U-S-A!! U-S-A!!
4. A couple weeks ago I scrapped with some lady friends. I've officially got the bug! I finished 4 layouts-- 3 for the scrapbook I've been working on for my mom for over a year, and 1 layout for myself.....my very first Milo layout!! I'll post some pictures of the layouts later. I used Colleen's Cricut cutting machine, and I'm in love with it! So easy to use.
5. Super Mario Bros. Wii is like crack. Like an enormous rock of crack.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Ten things Tuesday
2. I just finished the book "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I have seen the book pretty much everywhere over the past year or two. Hell, there is even a movie coming out starring Julia Roberts as Liz Gilbert. I figured I should get back in to reading by taking on this light-ish read. Surprisingly, my favorite section of the book was the "Pray" portion. I'd have to go in to great detail to describe why I enjoyed this section the best, not for this blog post. Next book on deck? Ken Follett's "The Pillars of the Earth". Highly recommended by the two people in my my life that read more than anyone else I know, my Dad and Heather.
3. I'm really excited about the CW's newest show, "Life Unexpected". The first two episodes have been decent, looking forward to seeing where things go with the show.
4. Another show I'm excited about? True Blood: Season 3. Especially after reading this short article. I'm down with seeing more of Sam Merlotte!
4. No I will not follow you on Twitter. I'm done. I did the MySpace thing a few years back, recently cancelled my account because I hadn't logged on in like a year. I'm on Facebook. Do I really need to be on Twitter? Doubtful. Get this--my employer is on Twitter. What the heck are they "tweeting" about? Someone tell me what is awesome about Twitter, my ears are wide open.
5. My mom leaves the best messages on my voicemail. They go a little like this...."Milooooooooo!! Miloooooooooo!! This is your Grandma. Tell your mom I called. Miloooooooooo!!" The best part about the messages? I have voicemail, not an answering machine. Milo doesn't hear the messages.....ever. I just recently broke the news to her after about the 7th voicemail message of her thinking that Milo can actually hear her when she's leaving a message. The funny thing is, I bet she'll continue to leave messages for Milo. She loves her chubby canine grandson.
6. I think Frank is jealous of Milo and I going for walks. The other day I opened the door for Milo to go outside and without even a moment of hesitation, Frank shot out the front door and into the yard. I was able to grab him, unfortunately by his tail, and carry him back in to the house. Needless to say, it was a traumatic 4 seconds of my existence. I wish I wasn't such a freak when it comes to my fluffy, mostly black and a little white, guy getting outside. I have nightmares about Frank getting lost, no joke people, nightmares.
7. I'm obsessed with Muse. Tonight I made a run to Sonic Boom and bought their album "The Resistance". Good stuff. When I saw them play at 107.7's Deck the Hall Ball in December, one of the new songs that they played that I really loved was United States of Eurasia / Collateral Damage (Excerpt from Nocturne in E-Flat, Op. 9 No. 2).....yeah, that is a mouthful. Anyway, looking forward to diving in to that album.
8. So I've also been on a Tom Petty kick for like months. Just borrowed the album "Wildflowers" from Helen, and I have been listening to it in the car for DAYS. Can't get enough of it. You Don't Know How It Feels, You Wreck Me, and It's Good to be King are some faves.
9. A couple endearing Milo moments from the past week......1. At the dog park, when the other dogs would run 100mph past him and try and rough house with him, guess who he would run towards and rub up next to? Me. That's right folks, Milo knows I'm his person. When shit goes sideways, he knows I have his back. Almost brought a tear to my eye......2. On Sunday Milo decided he wanted to be a lap dog. He climbed up on the couch while I was watching tv and decided to park his 65lb body on my chest. It was adorable, so I let it happen.
10. I've got the scrap bug, big time. I'm meeting up with some scrap comrades in February for some arts n' crafts time. Watch out for some scrap pages in the next few weeks. I'll post.





