The Furminator

A friend kept telling me how great this product was, so I finally bought one. I was a skeptical about it's lauded acclaim. But I have been won over. Here is a picture from tonight; Boots and Sugar got a quick combing. This pile of fur is a quick run over, not a sit-down-forever-and-get-everything kind of brushing. Imagine how much fir I would get from a thorough brushing!

Ready for some pictures?

I'm gonna take you on a little tour of the job I work some Saturdays and my bedroom. Featured: my kitties and weird art work.

On an average of two weekends a month, I work at an art gallery. The owner is also the owner of the company I work for throughout the week. If you live in Nashville, you should come by and check it out. It is...interesting.

When there is little foot traffic on a given Saturday, I have to entertain myself. This last Saturday, I did a photo shoot of myself. :)


Don't you need, desperately need a red lips mirror in your hallway? You know you do!


And you know you want this photo hanging in your living room.


Isn't this exactly what you've been looking for?


There are some cool things in the gallery, but you have to LOVE color.

So, I found an area rug for my bedroom! Finally. I've been looking, waiting for the right one, at a good price. Here is the cool one I found on sale at The World Market. Can you tell I like animal prints? My chair has a leopard print throw on it.





My cats have a new toy...I spoil them. Sugar is modeling the new jungle gym.She looks like a professional model. If she is, I never see the money.







Of course, I have to show you pictures of my kitties. Boots doesn't cooperate like Sugar does for pictures. You only get a turned head most of time, like this...


Then she got with it...


And let us not forget Sugar...

Drinking problems

I might have a drinking problem...



My desk usually has this many drinks and cups on it every day. I know, I need to get control of this issue ;) And yes, I usually have them in a straight line...I'm a perfectionist!

Some of you are asking for an update on the birthmark laser treatments. Here is a photo from the weekend...



You can see a darker spot on the chin. The rest of the chin and the cheek are reacting great to the laser. I know you can still see the birthmark but the color is so much lighter than before. I will probably have a couple more treatments then give it a rest for a while.

Played out before my eyes

Thanks to my friend Mandy's insightful post, I am reminded of a scene played out in front of me on Saturday. I'm sure this thought will be in my mind all day, mulling it over.

On Saturday, Mandy and I found a spot on the Music City Marathon course that came really close to my house. We were there to cheer on my roommate Wendi and various others from church and work. We ended up surprised, seeing even more people we didn't know were in Nashville running the race.

While waiting for the people we knew to run by, we began cheering for people who were complete strangers to us. Some of the runners had their names written on them, that way we could cheer for them along the way. Imagine hearing your name, just as you think you can't run another 10 yards. You don't recognize the voice, but it doesn't matter. Hearing your name, knowing someone cares enough to cheer you on, gives you that extra boost of energy. The next mile doesn't seem so bad.

Hebrews 12:1 - "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,"

The chapter before tell us of people who were abused, tortured and killed for Christ's sake. That is the crowd of witnesses that compass us on our race toward the goal. They know what the race feels like. They have felt our pains and disappointments. They understand. And they know finishing the race is totally worth it. That is why they are there to cheer us on.

As I look back on Saturday, I didn't know these people running by me. But I was totally pumped to cheer for them. And when I saw someone I knew, my cheer was out of control. Just imagine the cheers going out for you today. The ones from people you don't know personally, but from people who have the same Spirit, same Lord.

Kitchen creations

Like most of my meals, tonight was a culmination of random decisions while pulling ingredients together. I'm eating a fairly yummy casserole-y thing. Let me tell you how we got here.

I had a pound of grounded beef in the freezer. It needed to be used. So...I cooked it up and threw it in a baking dish. I stood around a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do with it next. Finally, I decided to put some peas and corn in with it. Then I noticed a can of cream of mushroom. I saw some sour cream in the frig and the milk. Well, I thought a dollop of sour cream and a little bit of milk would be nice. In went those ingredients. Like all tv cooking shows, you have to add freshly ground pepper to anything you cook. So I did.

I was fairly satisfied with the concoction but it needed something on top. I had crackers in the pantry. There you go. I put it in the oven and just ate a bowl full of it. Pretty good stuff. Next time I would add a couple more things but it was good for a random mixture thought up on the fly :)

By the way, I had another laser treatment on Tuesday. We left the chin alone this time and worked on the cheek and part of the neck. Here is a picture.

Coffee, a wonderful thing

I share a coffee pot and coffee with a coworker. Michelle and I share an office and decided a while back that we wanted better coffee than what the company supplied for free. I know, you ask why pay for coffee when the company gives out free stuff. Well, you haven't tasted that free coffee...

We take turns buying the coffee; right now we are drinking Millstone Fog-lifter. Good name for the coffee. It definitely cleared my head and got me on the path to working. We buy Starbucks coffee, as well. I hate Starbucks coffee when brewed at the store. I think they brew it too long and as the day goes on, the coffee seems to take on a bitter, burnt taste. EEWWW! So, I was hesitate to try their coffee when Michelle brought some into the office. But I have changed my mind about Starbucks coffee. As long as you brew it yourself, it is wonderful!

Dunkin' Donuts has great coffee too! And you can buy all these brands at your grocery store. Happy coffee drinking, America!

On the road again

Here is a low down on my schedule the next month or so:
This weekend - in Somerset to celebrate my brother Bryan's 40th birthday
Next weekend - in Somerset for a dress fitting for Christina's wedding
The following weekend - in Somerset for Christina's big wedding shower
The following weekend - working
The next weekend - working
The following weekend - probably on a retreat with a group from church
The last weekend of May - in Somerset for Christina's wedding

I will make many trips back and forth to Somerset. I usually get home about every three months, maybe every two. The next month, I will be there almost every weekend. Sure wish the drive there was more exciting than it actually is. The only time I enjoy the drive is in the fall, the trees are gorgeous.

Just a reminder: make sure the intended recipient of a text message is who you actually send it to. I haven't had the misfortune of sending a message to the wrong person, but someone I know recently did. Yeah, that friendship is probably over, seeing as how the message talked about the actual recipient in a not-so-great way.

Since I eat breakfast at work (usually), all my breakfast food is at work. I'm hungry right now. Guess this means I need to get going so my tummy doesn't kill me.

Just have to share

Here are two photos I took tonight. The first is what my cats think I am when home at night...a pillow. The second one is from my cool phone. Guess you could ask; why so blue?

Trial and error

Thomas Edison was once confronted about the multiple attempts to invent the light bulb. His response gives us the exact attitude we should always have about trying things and possibly failing. Thomas Edison didn't say something like I have failed so many times in these experiments, I should stop. No, Thomas Edison said "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

Do you have that attitude when something doesn't go the way you planned? What if Thomas Edison had stopped after 9547 failed attempts? or 9999? How long would it have been before someone else found the right way? How would our lives be different?

Deep right? Well, my trial and error is not some big thing :) It's just me trying to make cream sauce. I have yet to master this seemingly easy task in the kitchen. Too much flour, the sauce is thick. Too much cream or milk, the sauce never thickens. Using mozzarella cheese instead of Parmesan, big failure. I wanted to have left overs to eat for lunch today but that will not be. I ate a couple of bites then decided I wasn't going to make myself eat it.

Is there something in your life you are still mastering?

And, I have a new phone. I love it...it's red :) It takes really nice photos, so here are some of me and my kitties. It does different colorings, so cool.

Start of another week

Yesterday was a great day! As a Christian, Easter Sunday is the big day of celebration. It's the whole reason I subscribe to Jesus as Lord. There are no words to rightly express how much His victory over sin, death and the grave means to me and all who call themselves His children. To quote from a song we sang yesterday, "My sin has been nailed to the cross of my Savior, where Satan has NO power; for God has displayed Him undeserved favor..."

I can just feel a long work week coming. Coffee will help the day get going. I need to get to work and brew some.

I'm not a Catholic but I wanted to exhibit some form of spiritual discipline during the Lent season. I gave up my beloved peanut butter, and for the first week I also gave up carbonated drinks. For those who know me well, you know what it means for me to give up peanut butter! I enjoyed a Reese's Easter egg yesterday and it was lovely :)

My cat is staring at me, wanting to sit in my lap as I type this post. She is giving a sad face but she will not win today. I need my lap for the laptop. She will have to wait for some cuddle time until after work today.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Hi!

I have slacked off with blogging. I'm sorry. I don't mean to ignore you, keeping you in the dark about my life.

I'm seeing results from the laser treatments! I will try to get a picture up soon. I'm watching the news as I write this. They are talking about a new laser treatment for nail fungus...huh? That just sounds weird but they are serious. It is a new procedure but if you have foot nail issues, ask your doctor about it. Anyway, the next laser treatment for me is in a couple of weeks. Hope the recovery goes more smoothly than last time.

Today UPS will deliver my new cell phone, just in time to play with it tomorrow while off work. Yes, I have tomorrow off work. No, I don't work for a Christian company. I think my boss sees it as a way to give us a break in between New Year Day and Memorial Day. I also renewed my cell service and will get more minutes for the same price. How does that work? I'm not asking questions though!

I just heard the Dan Miller from Channel4 news died! wow

I have to get to work. Bye bye.

I'm still here

Hello everyone! I'm still here. This month has been busy with not a lot of much but I've been busy nonetheless.

I had another laser treatment last week. I've been miserable since then. We increased the laser intensity and I've felt the difference big time. There has been increased scabbing and that makes the recovery worse. Scabs irritate the skin and make me itchy!!!!!!!! Last night I went to sleep with an ice pack directly on my skin...that's how miserable I've been. I'll survive though. You just might have to put up with some complaining on my part.

I will get on here again soon, just wanted to say hello to any readers who were wondering where I was.

Lessons learned

Last night was the last session for a recent Bible study. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting with this group of women from my church. The mix of personalities and ages was all over the place and it worked so well. I will miss spending time with them.

The study was from the sermon on the mount. Should that be capitalized? Anyway, my mind and spirit were challenged each week as truths that I already knew were brought to light. The challenge? Takes that knowledge and live differently. How many times have I sat through a Bible study and live no differently the months following? I know a lot about God, but I need to start living it in my everyday life.

I've been in a rut lately and hoped this study would kick me out of it. And it has! Something that has troubled me for years now is the intimacy I used to have with the Lord and now don't have. I was yielded to the Spirit and couldn't get enough of the Word. I kept trying to get back to that place, and would fail miserably. What God showed me was I didn't need to go back to that place, but that I need to move forward to a new level of intimacy with Him. The past was good but I can reach ahead for an even better fellowship with Him!

This side of glory

This past weekend, I made a quick trip to Kentucky to see my Grandpa New and the family and spend a girls night with my best friend Christina. Christina and I were going to meet in Bowling Green for Friday night and Saturday but those plans changed. While talking to my mom on the phone last Thursday night, she finally remembered to tell me Hospice was caring for my grandpa. What? How long? What's going on? Her answer...I really don't know, they've been helping for over a week or so, maybe two.

Change of plans and I'm on my way to visit my grandpa on Saturday. Short story: He has a bed sore that is very deep, and infection has set up deep down. The doctors can't completely cure the bed sore. The infection will spread through his body, eventually taking his life. He could pass away tomorrow or a year from now. It's a waiting game at this time.

I'm glad I was afforded this possible last time to see my grandpa alive and able to converse. He definitely appeared weaker, not as keen of mind. The man used to blow your mind with information about everybody and everything. I teared up as I kissed him and hugged him goodbye. I don't know if that will be the last time I see him on this side of glory. But that's where the story is different for me and those who belong to God. I have a hope that goes beyond this earth.

I'll leave you with a lyric from my grandpa's favorite song: "What I day that will be when my Jesus I shall see!"

Another one bites the dust

This year is not proving to be my year in the technology arena. About two or three months ago, my laptop lcd screen met a tragic end called the floor. The screen was replaced and everything is good to go, thanks Brandon!

Now it seems my camera has turned its back on me and the batteries. Sunday night was a first at my church, a dodgeball tourney. Yep...a dodgeball tourney. Balls were flying everywhere, Mandy got hit in the eye by one. While taking pictures of this hilarious event, my camera stopped. No warning of impending doom, just stopped. The lens is still out and open. I can't get it to close. I've tried placing it on the charger, no luck. So, what does this mean for you? You get no pictures with posts...unless friends send me pictures.

Maybe I'll be able to afford a new camera later on this year. Technology is out to get me.

Itch, scratch, itch, scratch...

Here is a picture of me on Saturday and Sunday. The laser zaps have faded to a red shade, many of them are the same shade as the birthmark. A few of the dots have scabbed over, but that is normal. I'm still itchy but I can now rub the area without decreasing effectiveness. You cannot even begin to imagine how much these little dots itch! Last time I did a treatment on the whole birthmark, I thought I was going to go insane with the itching. Doing just the chin has been so easy.

By the end of this week, the dots will be gone, then fading begins. Let's hope the laser worked!

As promised

Here is a picture from yesterday. You can see how the bruising has subsided and I'm left with just the laser zaps. I'm into the itchy stage. Imagine chicken pox and not scratching...yeah.

Feel the burn

Today was my first laser treatment since 2001. I was delighted to see one improvement to the procedure above all, a tube of ice cold air for me to blow on my birthmark as they zapped me with the laser. I put a cream on an hour before the treatment, a topical anesthetic. It numbs the skin some but I still feel the laser hit the skin. Being able to blow that cold air on the skin made such a difference.

It was weird zapping only the chin area. All my previous treatments involved the whole birthmark, which includes the chin, right cheek, right side throat, right ear lobe and the upper part of the chest. Honestly, it was a piece of cake doing only the chin. And the treatment was over in five minutes. That's a lot faster than before.

Here are the pictures from today. The first one is after I put on the numbing cream, looks like shaving cream. The next one is after I apply some plastic wrap and tape. I have to cover the cream and tape it up, otherwise the cream dries up and it is way less effective. Don't I look great? Just to pamper myself, I stopped at Sonic for a Route 44 vanilla Dr. Pepper. I nursed it all day. The last picture is right after the treatment. Right now it looks like my birthmark is really dark. I'll post a picture every couple of days to show how the treatment works beyond today.






I took some Advil and slept the afternoon away. My cats loved having an extra "pillow" today. Now I look forward to days of itchy skin that I can't rub or scratch. Yeah, not fun.

Sushi time

I met a friend for sushi tonight. I love sushi! This place has great seaweed salad. You must try it. I want to share what the sushi dude made us for dessert. The little orange man was so cute in person! One of the fun parts of eating sushi is enjoying the art aspect of the food prep.

Long time coming

Let me share a little about my past so you can fully appreciate the reason for this post. I have two older brothers. Steve is six years older than me, Bryan eight years older. I grew up with Steve, we have some history. Bryan moved out when he was sixteen or seventeen, me around eight or nine. I don't remember much about living with Bryan before he moved out. We don't share history like most siblings do. We simply haven't been around each other and we don't get along all that well (read between the lines - we are a lot alike and clash). Needless to say, we don't call each other and stay in touch.

Fast forward some years, like up to 2007 or 2008...I don't remember exactly when, Bryan calls me at work and says he is in Nashville. What?! He was on vacation and decided to visit me. He what?! That had never happened before. We ate supper together and talked. I saw Bryan in a new light. He left town and I was left in awe that there might be a relationship developing with my brother. Isn't it strange to hear from a 30-something woman that she doesn't know her brother? Well, I didn't.

Fast forward to the present, as of Wednesday of this week. Bryan calls me and says he wants to come down for the weekend, or at least a day. Every time he calls, I have to remind myself that it may not be an emergency. That's the only reason he would be called me in the past...or to ask what to get mom for Christmas.

This time he is bringing mom with him. I see growth in Bryan, him wanting to reach out and socialize. Bryan is definitely not a socialite by any stretch of the word. I'm excited and happy for any communication and growth between us. I remember praying a long time ago that God would draw my family closer. I longed for a deeper relationship with each of them. And He has fulfilled and continuing to answer those prayers. Esty, if you are reading this, do you remember praying with me about that? You said one day I would walk into my parents house and realize it had happened. Well, it has.