Back to the drawing board

So much to do, so little time.

I have two Pelican Viper Kayaks for sale, their Sit-On-Top Kayaks. I will take $300 for them both (includes paddles, an extra skeg, and some extra parts), or $160 each. They're light blue, and lots of fun. I've gotten a canoe though to replace them, and need the space in the garage. :-) I'll also be listing them on craigslist btw.

I need to finish the garden, and will need to start my tomato plants soon. Likely going to plant my new dwarf trees this weekend and cover them with plastic.

I am back to drawing. I drew a bookmark for myself today with my new prismacolor markers. I had 13 from college, which dried out, and I had a few other art markers which suffered the same fate. So I replaced them with a 48 set that I would have died for in college. It didn't include ANY gray markers though, so I will have to get some of those, some vellum, and some other supplies (like a decent eraser). I also need to locate my sharpies, I have a big set of thick and fine line ones. While not as good as the prismacolors, they are versatile for some projects.

I'm planning to do some watercolor illustration as well, just have to do some preliminary sketches of what I have been thinking of.

My dad's health is continuing to decline, he needs prayers. I am very heartsick and worried about him. I am hoping for the best. But he said today he is having vision problems, and experiencing dizziness. He won't go to the doctor, and his next appointment is next month. I have to help him with his taxes this weekend. So I am going to talk to him about trying to move that up.

I also need to get serious about my diet again, and to begin exercising. My Achilles is healed and I am regaining strength in the leg, I just need to walk the dogs some and ride my bicycle to get it back up to par and shed all the weight I gained since last years back and Achilles injuries.

Oh, and my webhost fixed the issues. :-)

Nature and the Staycation

Saturday I found a lovely, big, beautiful butterfly in my garage when I came home.

I'd gone by the Murphy Oil gas station, and bought 17 gallons of gas (in my cans) and filled the truck up for $3.69 a gallon. The station just opened, they are promising to sell gas for 20 cents cheaper than anywhere else. We'll see how long that lasts! :-) The other stations around here have already been forced to drop their prices from $4.05 a gallon to $3.77 and $3.75 to try and compete. That's awesome. Imagine if other stations and gas producers got into that spirit and started a price war versus the collusion they all seem to have in pricing their gas with only a one to two cent difference.

The butterfly was happy to crawl onto my hand, and I took the butterfly to the front porch and placed it on the bench. I didn't want it getting trapped in the garage and dying.

I'm off this week, it's a Staycation for me. Resting my back, and just relaxing for a change. It's kind of nice actually. Today I got up, went to the bank, checked my mail, did some grocery shopping at the new Wal-mart Neighborhood Market (it so does not look like the old Harvest Foods). I wonder if the Neighborhood market is going to be like Wal-mart. (Sorry Amy! :-) I do like shopping at Wal-mart and Sam's Club!) Nothing ever seems to be on sale in the grocery department at Walmart, whereas at Kroger there are always sales. Sliced cheese never varies in price at Walmart, versus Kroger where they always have specials. Maybe Wal-mart doesn't think they need to run specials. I dunno. The neighborhood market was definitely VERY nice. I liked being able to buy Pollenta so close to home. Dinner tonight, if I have dinner might be Pollenta, some Kimchi, and some chicken and spinach sausage. It's getting late, and I'm not really hungry.

The weeping willow died above the line where the label from the nursery was. I'm still waiting in eBurgess to make good on their warranty, and send me replacement plants for the ones which died. I trimmed off the top of the willow. The bottoms have already grown new branches, and it's really healthy. I transplanted it into the yard well away from the house, and the entire pot (HUGE POT) was full of roots from it. I watered it after I got it into the ground and added some plant fertilizer stakes for what must have been forty five minutes. I also took cuttings from some plants in the neighborhood and my hibiscuses and used rooting hormone on them and then planted them (so we'll see if they do well). All of the plants out back, the four fruit trees and the four hibiscuses, the weeping willow, and one other all got 2.5 gallons of rainwater a piece from the rain barrels. We only got a 1/4" of rain when it rained this weekend. Not enough.

Weekend Retrospective

  Yesterday I mowed the backyard, used my string trimmer to trim around the house, fence, backyard, trailers, shed and plants. I also trimmed behind the privets, and mowed behind the fence. I took a photo as the hibiscuses/Rose of Sharon hedges are starting to bloom.

This morning I had intended to ride my motorcycle to Church, and meet a friend for coffee. Well, I was late getting ready because I'm having major back pain today and I wanted to wear contacts. Try putting your contacts in while your back is killing you! Augh. I rode over to Church, but I was fifteen minutes late, so I rode over to the new park on the river that is in Maumelle. I took a photo with my camera phone. It's really pretty. Then my coffee date got cancelled. The new helmet is vented better than any helmet I've ever seen. I had great airflow. I wore sunglasses with my contacts and the helmet. I ate lunch at Taco Bueno (hah), some families came in and every one of the kids was pointing at my bike (I rode the Buell).

Because of the back pain I went to Walmart later in the day and got my prescriptions filled. While waiting for them to be filled I bought some extra combs so I can keep one in the truck, and each of the bikes.. picked out a few t-shirts and some button up shirts for summer wear. I also got some stick on heat pads for back pain (wearing one now as I write this, the heat from it is VERY intense. I like!).

I checked out the automotive section. They have these beanie motorcycle helmets from Bell. They're called the Bandito. Wal-mart is selling a bunch of motorcycle stuff, including tire wet for motorcycles. It says it won't cause slip, etc... but then it cautions not to get on the tread, use on grips or seats. This is probably just the same stuff for a car, but packaged for a motorcycle. Not a good idea. They also had mothers motorcycle polish, and a bunch of accessories for bikes and ATV's.

Weekend

I'm suffering from MAJOR lower back pain. I must have thrown my back out yesterday during the day. I went to a race in Texarkana for work, we shot video and photos for a story. It was a go-cart race down in Texarkana. The weather was wonderful, hot but with plenty of breezes. I think handling the tripod is how I tweaked my lower back enough to cause me to be in pain later in the day. It didn't start hurting until midnight, which coincidentally was around the time I needed to meet someone who was getting off a late shift for dinner at the Waffle House. (Dinner was awesome, but it was the company not the food btw!).

I got home about 2:30 am, took 2 extra-strength Tylenol and went to bed. I got up at 8:30 a.m. and took care of my morning chores, had a banana and some cottage cheese for breakfast and got ready for Church. I knew I was in pain when I swung my leg over the Buell to back it out of the garage. I rode it to church, and wore the Shoei helmet my neighbor gave me as a gift (with the HJC broken, I was glad to have it). The Shoei has some of the BEST venting I've ever seen. Now I wish I'd just opted to buy a Shoei full face, and deal with removing my glasses each time I take it on and off. :-) It's also got a viewport which I can't see the edges of the helmet when I look left or right with my eyes or in my peripheral vision. VERY NICE. If it were only white! The Yellow, Silver, and Black stars pattern just isn't for me.

After church I rode out and had lunch with my dad. My back has been tweaking on and off ever since. I have used an electric back massager on it. That seems to work, along with copious amounts of Tylenol. I need to seal the grout in the bathroom one more time so I can get that master bathroom back in order and clean the shower and the counter tomorrow night... and to take the trash out today. I'm gonna wait a bit and see if after an hour I feel up to snuff enough to do those two things. I also need to vacuum the living room, and fold my laundry... Augh.

Anyway, I made it home about 30 minutes before the Thunderstorm hit Maumelle. I paid $4.22 for a little over a gallon of gas to fill the Buell up. I'll be riding now as much as I can to work, provided my back allows me to. The vibration from the Buell actually feels good though for my back.

Frustration

I NEVER blog about work, it's against my personal views on work and home life being separate... but this is a generic post, nothing bad.

I forgot my ID badge for work, it's one of the things which used to frustrate me like crazy when I was married. I'd always be misplacing my ID badge, and having to deal with it. It lets you in doors, gets you out at the end of the day, etc... Going to the bathroom without having an ID is a pain, etc... Essentially chains you to your desk for the day, keeps you from venturing out. Well, today was the FIRST time since the divorce I forgot my ID. Since I take one primary vehicle to work daily, I typically just store it there so I never forget it. Last night though in my rush to get home and load up the kayak, get the backrest for it, etc... basically get to the lake and do some paddling and catch the sunset from on the water (that was really nifty) I put it in the house. So I forgot it this morning.

I spent most of the day working at a fevered pace to wrap up some projects, get a lot of work done, and that's how most days are. I eat lunch at my desk 3 out of 5 days, and today I did that but the time rolled around to 3:00 and I desperately wanted a break. So I figured I'd go for a walk, get a little exercise and some fresh air. Well, I had a temporary ID and it wouldn't let me out the stairwell doors, it wouldn't let me in doors, etc... A few calls to security fixed it, but I was tired, had been staring at my monitor too long, and was a bit stressed out so it amped things up a bit.

Despite that I went for a nice 30 minute walk, my legs were burning good when I made it back.

On the way home the bridge traffic was SLOW. Earlier in the day an accident had occurred on the Northbound side of the bridge. 4 highway workers had their scaffolding collapse and fall off the bridge with them and several thousand pounds of equipment. The river is moving VERY fast, and three of the guys were anchored to the scaffolding and they got dragged to the bottom of the river. They closed the bridge at six so they could get a crane in and pull up the equipment and the men. Very sad.

The traffic in town was slow too, major accident on the Boulevard. So I stopped at Subway and took advantage of their $5.00 foot long deals. Since their prices went up, I quit eating there because a foot long sandwich had climbed to almost $8.00 and while it's good it's not Quiznos good. I sat there for about an hour, then went and gassed the truck up and ran through an automatic carwash. The traffic cleared up by then and I went home. I got my bike out, and did a 15 minute ride. Felt good, I rode fast to get in some extra exercise.

I'm gonna try and take a walking break at work once a day if I can while the weather isn't oppressively hot, maybe not 30 minutes, but I guess I could if I can. I'm also gonna try and get the bicycle or kayak out and do a couple hours of bicycling or kayaking a week. I lost 65 pounds last year, and gained some of it back during the holidays... but I never did any muscle building. I never really have desired to be bulked up, but I'd like to be lean and toned. Consistent walking, riding the bike, and paddling should help with that and it's all good cardio. Plus, I can do it at my own pace.

Wellness

At my work we've got a new wellness program which started at the beginning of the year.

I gained about 30 pounds during the holidays, and I need to drop it again (Augh). Anyway, my boss was really wonderful and sent me home today on this glorious warm day at 3:30. I got home as quick as I could, put on a pair of camo cargo shorts, some shoes I bought on clearance last summer (look like tennis shoes, but they've got aluminum mesh in them so they're good in water), t-shirt and a hat. I loaded one of my Kayaks up and headed to the lake at the local park and spent 45 minutes paddling around. It was a great upper body workout. Then when I got home I was so pumped up I aired up the tires on my bike and took it for a 45 minute ride. I made dinner (whole wheat pasta with cheese sauce, so healthy! ;-) and just got done with a hot shower. I'm exhausted. I had a great time though, it was sunny, warm, the water wasn't cold.

I saw a BUNCH of snapping turtles, swans, geese, ducks, and a snake swimming through the water. I got to go under two low bridges in my kayak. It was ALOT of fun. I hope we've got nice weather on Sunday, I'd love to do it again. Hopefully I can do some of this each week, at least two days a week. I think that and cutting sweets back out of my diet would get me back on track.

For reference, when I graduated High School I had a memory book and I wrote down my weight. I was thin then, and I weighed 190. I was down to 176 after my diet. So I was 14 pounds lighter than my high school weight. Just need to drop the weight again! :-)

Crispy Bacon

Take one paper towel and place on a large deep plate.

Place half-strips of bacon on the paper towel and cover with another paper towel.

Microwave for 2 minutes.

Remove bacon, place on sandwich or another paper towel.

Bacon will be cripsy, and cleanup is easy and mess free!

Sashimi and Sushi / I Am Legend

Okay, I've eaten Sushi a couple of times recently. Normally in the past I have stuck to sushi roll's, but Courtney took me out for my birthday on the 14th, and we went to Igibon. I had a Bento Box, which came with three pieces of traditional Sushi. I ate them, first time in my life. They were really good, normally I go for rolls because the fish is hidden and I can handle it better. The salmon, tuna and shrimp (shrimp was cooked) were very good. I like Igibon, but it was so cold and Courtney was dressed up in a cute skirt and was freezing because of a draft every time the door opened.

We went and saw I Am Legend, I'd been anticipating it and it opened on my birthday so I was thrilled. Going to see a movie on my birthday is the only thing I consistently have done as a birthday celebration in my life. I am now 34, that sucks, I'm going bald in the back! I chose the right time to start wearing hats I guess.. I'll need to start shaving my head or something. I Am Legend was very good, Courtney found it to be too dark and violent... but I liked it a lot. The scenes in New York of the city abandoned, desolate, were beautiful. The way nature was represented as reclaiming Manhattan was beautiful. The daytime scenes were gorgeous. Will Smith was wonderful in the movie, but I'm biased as I have always loved him as an actor because he has always played positive roles and good hearted characters.