Mt Vesuvius

In my teaser blog, I said that one thing I would be writing about was the amazingly ginormous boil that erupted on my chin last week. I named her Ida. You will soon find out why.
Now, it is important to know that I have never had great skin. As most of you know, I have battled with acne since about age 12. Unfortunately there is no connection between my acne problems and hygiene/cleanliness like it was as a teenager. Upon doing some digging into why big boyles from deep within well up on my chin(ALWAYS the chin now) for no apparent reason I found out some interesting stuff. I have tried every cleanser, toner, moisturizer, hydroculator, retinol, geritol, antibiotics, creams, gels, powders, pills. Nothing seems to touch it. What is becoming more apparent is that it is somehow hormone related (either too much or not enough of one of them) and the trend is growing for women in their thirties (do I have to be an early bloomer at this )? And to throw a little more crap on the pile of disheartening information, there is not a lot out there they can do for this type of acne. I can scrub my face all day long and it probably won't change.
One huge factor is stress. Bad stress brings 'em out in droves. Overall I have been pretty good at trying to minimize my level of bad stress...you know the kind where you don't eat, sleep, and get to where you obsess about something all the time.
Last week, I had bad stress. As much as I would like to blame someone else, it was my fault. However, I have learned from my mistake and now I can see that it is one big learning experience after another in this crazy world. You know....what NOT to do in the future.
The facility I currently work at here in tropical, carefree Hawaii (or so it seems) hired a new OT and she started at the beginning of November. Now, I will spare the details other than to say she COMPLETELY misrepresented herself and knows so little, it's scary. Supposedly she has been an OT for 30 years but, and I am not even joking, Dave knows more about OT than she does. Anyway, it becomes pretty clear that they want to get rid of her because they thought they had an experienced therapist joining their very small and overall inexperienced team (lets just say that I have been a traveler there for 8 months and I have been there the longest out of the inpatient OT's). The bottom line is they need to get rid of this person because not only did they pay here a 10K bonus, they moved all of her stuff out here too. Plus full benefits from day one. The bad part is that the only people who have any real qualifications to say whether or not she is competent is myself and the other traveler. I worked with her for five minutes and knew! Anyway, to keep it short, they asked me to take a lot of responsibility about whether this woman sinks or swims (and Jessica the other traveler too) and I bit....at first. But when Ida junior hit basketball size proportions on my chin and I was crying to Dave at a bar, I knew it was time to step down. Luckily, I stood up for myself and told them they needed to get someone else to do their dirty work and since then I have had very little to do with it. Ida Jr. went away, mostly, I slept over the holiday weekend and now my skin looks better than it has for a long time.
I don't blame anyone but myself for the stress but luckily I have turned it around and viewed it as a learning situation.
Okay, time for sleeping!

Happy Birthday Risa-Roni!

A day late and a dollar short. Oh, and your present is going to be late. But here is a blog to bring you complete and utter happiness!
Marisa is one of my oldest friends. I don't mean old because she is now a thirty something....and a whopping two and a half weeks older than me--nanny nanny poo poo!
Anyways, Marisa, or Risa, Ris, Risa-Roni and I go way back. I am beginning to feel a wee bit not as young as I used to be when I can say that I have known this fiesty red-head for over 25 years. Her, in addition to my friends Olivia (Liv, Livers) and Melissa (Mel,Melly-belly)are the ones that have known me the longest that aren't family--well, officially. Marisa, Melissa and I all grew up in the same neighborhood---in a Suburban track home hood called Panorama. Now, I lived on Zion Road whereas Mel and Ris lived on Teton Road. This is only important to know because unfortunately for me, all the cool kids lived on Teton. It was the party street for the 5-10 crowd. They got to ride bus 14 while I rode bus 23. But we became friends nonetheles. In my group of girlfriends that formed growing up, we all had special connections between us. My special connection with Marisa was that we were both tall and gangly as kids. We were always the kids in the high water pants that were never EVER long enough because we grew so damn fast, especially in the legs. The other girls could wear these dainty little outfits and Marisa and I would have our pants cut right to our ankles at any given time. We would be the type of girls that when someone would ask us how's the weather up there we would probably "skeech" (GJ word for Gleek) on them and tell them it's raining.
It's interesting that we all are turning 30 this year. What amazes me is that I have stayed in touch with all of my very first friends from Panorama and Wingate Elementary (all in all there are about 6 of us). We all hated it as teenagers but Grand Junction was probably one of the better places to grow up. It wasn't such a small town that you knew everyone and everyone knew you. But it isn't such a large city that it would have been unsafe to go exploring and "get lost" every once in awhile. Those first friends have become family to me. I keep in touch with them like I would a relative. It is not always regular contact but when we do talk either on the phone or in person, we can pick up where we left off and it's like we never missed a beat. Last year at our ten year reunion our group of girls got together before the big event. Amazing that such a variety of individuals was and continues to be friends. We have scattered throughout the country; some are moms, some are married, some go adventuring around the globe. However a pure moment of bliss for me was being with my extended family and knowing that those individuals were laregely responsible for my happy childhood, even during the teen years of torment. And yes, Mom, I said largely....my family gene puddles, I confess played a role as well.
So, happy birthday to my lifelong friend, my sister, my co-conspirator. You may be thirty but I look forward to knowing you for the next 25 years and beyond.
I love you!

Hey There Lonely Blog

Okay, so I guess a few people were still reading this but the fact that nothing has been put up here has probably not helped its popularity. And as I am too dog tired from the last two weeks, you are not getting much of one today other than to say hey and check back soon. Coming attractions are below and will be completed when I can stay awake:
-The 23 mile run with plunge into the ocean (pretty self explanatory, really)
-My friend Marisa--Happy Birthday!
-The reasons behind my mount vesuvius sized zit on my chin.

Until then, I am off to hibernate to make it through one more day before a little vacation! Gobble Gobble!

Ode to My Husband

I have to admit that right now the most annoying thing in my life is the smell of cigarette smoke that is rising from the condo below us. I am on the wonderful island of Maui in one of our great unearthed discoveries. The town we are in is called Honokowai. Out of the super developed areas of other parts of Maui it is mainly 30 year old condos on a little two lane street. However, the condos are perfect as they are direct oceanfront. There is also a grocery store, ABC store, and natural food/farmers market all within walking distance. We could easily (and with about one mil) see ourselves here for indefinite amounts of time. This will be our third night of being rocked to sleep by the sounds of the ocean crashing below. And all for an affordable price if you learn the word Kama'aina and can use it successfully without actually being a Kama'aina. Kama'aina means local and just by knowing the word, you can immediately get almost half off of anything related to tourism. Plus, this is probably the slowest week for tourism in Hawaii. Hence why we got married here two years ago and why I am writing this blog.
Dave and I got married November 1, 2005. It is an unbelievable two years later. We came to Maui not for our anniversary as much as for my mother in law who is visiting from New Orleans but we are celebrating all the same.
Whenever I take inventory of my life, there are lots of ways I can see that other people have done it better or where I could have improved my situation by having done it differently. I could be making X amount more dollars if I had chosen Y or I would look X times amount better if I had bought Y and on and on. What i am truly amazed at is that I am completely successful in love. Those that know me from pre Dave days, myself included, would never have thought this to be my current love reality. There are a lot of things I don't do well. My relationship with Dave isn't one of those things. But after having failed so miserably pre-Dave, sometimes I wonder, how has it worked so well this time?
Dave. Dave is the answer. He looks at me and tells me he loves me in a way I never thought I deserved...until he convinced me I did. He never does things just for himself but how it will benefit us both. Sometimes I wonder if others consider us co-dependent and/or antisocial. My single friends will ask me out to a girl's night. But I don't go most of the time because the bottom line is I would much rather spend time with my husband. That is how we make it. I work to keep him as the single most important part of my life. He does the same for me. Knowing that you are the center of someone's universe is so entirely awesome to me yet there are so many that feel they don't want or deserve this kind of love.
How could this be? And then I realize that they have never experienced it. They think they have, but they haven't. I wish I could inflict this feeling on everyone. When I see a friend or family member struggling to find love or make something work with the wrong person, I want to shout "let it go! It isn't right! It shouldn't be this hard!" I feel inadequate to give advice at times to those who are struggling because I almost feel guilty that I've got it so good....note I said almost.
I have only known Dave almost 4 years. When we look back at what we have done, the timeline is almost dizying. It is still hard to believe I found someone that wants to live the kind of life I lead. Not only does he want to live it but he is trying to find ways to improve it so we can do it more and on a larger scale.
So here is my gift to my husband but it really isn't a stretch. To you, in front of anyone who cares to read this, I want you to know how happy you make me, how much you have changed my life. I love waking up every day excited for where you will take me, what you will say and what you will do. You are my hero and my best friend. I love you times a million billion stars. Thank you for your smile, your heart, and for the two best years of my life. I can hardly wait to see what the next year brings.