China, Chickens, and Cool Hand Luke

Started a new medicine about a week before the beach trip. The trip arrived and I was feeling more and more bloated. When Monday arrived, my hands and feet were puffy and sore. Called to doctor and the end result was to stop the mess. Thank God!  This resulted in losing 8 pounds last week as I had put on so much water weight due to that damn pill!

Spurred on by the number of times I had to rest while ascending the beach steps, decided to begin walking again. Live so close to the dike, this was an obvious path. Been walking on my lunch break including the steep hill up and down to the house. 

Took a break from painting but back at it again. Brought home a bag full of Arch Cape sand churned rocks which are flat, smooth and perfect for painting.

Painted my nails matching red Thursday night. Was tired of plain nails covered in paint!

Cleaned my room yesterday then had a dinner date with Steve: we've known each other for so long he's a nice fall back for male company. Dinner at Parker's then watched Cool Hand Luke. Nice evening catching up.

Back in January, had a weak moment and ordered a couple of jersey tee shirts off of Facebook. A cute Yorkie one and a chicken design. What sucked is that once the order was placed I learned they were coming from China!  Although the website said orders would be placed within 7 to 10 days, it was weeks until the package was sent, even after a few emails to the company.  

The good news is the package finally arrived! The bad news is they were two different shirts than my order.  Arrghh!! No Yorkie, no gray shirt, and two chickens!  Contacted company and they are going to give me a credit.  Ugh!

Discovered a new free photo app called "Polish."  Played around with the recent beach group pic. This will be a fun app to explore.

From Beach to Bed

There is truly nothing better than the beach.

Arrived at the beach house last Thursday afternoon with Stubbs in tow.  Only sprinkling a little so we hit the sand, seeking treasure.  Found two buoys and rope so hauled those to the house to string on the buoy tree.

Thursday night turned into a stormy, rainy, surf bending brawl.  Thankfully the sun came out and it was clear Friday when the gals arrived that afternoon.  We drank, ate shrimp tacos with chunky guacamole, and laughed.  One excitement was a low flying helicopter which appeared to be looking for a missing person.  Found out later a hiker had fallen 100 feet and had to be transported by flight.

After a big breakfast, the girl squad hit the beach Saturday morning for a walk toward the waterfall and caves.  Blue sky, sandy shore, and bouncing from rock to rock to avoid an incoming tide which we severely misjudged. 

On to Cannon Beach for browsing, bite to eat, and bakery.  Well, along with a little chocolate to top it off.  Then it was relax/nap time until a fabulous bruchetta appetizer and fettuccine dinner.  We ended the night with a mean game of Head's Up, a wild combination of charades, password, trivia, and silliness.

After the beach weekend, it was back to reality. Started Monday morning with a Covid test (negative!) at the hospital to prepare for my sleep study that night.  Yes, I snore like a bulldozer and feared sleep apnea was involved so, after waiting a year due to our new normal, was finally able to get in and spend the night being observed.

My bed for the night

Arrived by 8pm, checked into my room, filled out paperwork then waited for my hookup with the tech. A plethora of sticky tabs were attached to my head, legs, face, neck, two sensors were placed within my nose, and my chest and waist were wrapped with monitors.  Then, after snuggling into bed, I was turned on and tuned into the plug in so my every breath, snort, cough, and gurgle could be recorded.  The tech turned out the light and I watched TV before falling asleep. Only highlight was my midnight bathroom break when the tech unplugged me, wrapped wires around me, and I carefully relieved myself without being electrocuted.

Wakeup came bright and early at 6am. Lights on, wires off, and was home by 6:30. Am now expecting a call from the doctor for the full report.

ReFace Rewind

Sister Erin turned me on to the Reface app. Here are some newer videos I made.  Crack me up!!!

The Beach is Calling

Tomorrow I'll be clocking out at noon and heading to the beach!!!  My gal pal co-workers will be joining me on Friday and we will be spending the weekend with our favorite visitor R&R.  Lots of beaching, eating, sight seeing and drinking is on the agenda.  Let me tell you...there is nothing better than waking up to the sound of the surf!

Found out over the last two weeks that I passed two of my CRM tests. Yippee!  Just waiting now for the hellacious test that could go either way but may not hear the results until April. 

Last Sunday bagged up a bunch of my painted rocks and hid them around Regal Cinema.  Most were movie-themed so figured that location was apropos.  That bag of rocks was so crippling heavy that by the time I was done I had developed a hitch in my giddy up!!

Shrinking the rock pile meant painting replacements this week.   Obviously I'm still on a movie kick!

Doctor, Dial M, and Many Males

This week one of my most favorite activities occurred - my doctor's appointment!  Even had to get three vials of blood drawn Monday to prepare for the occasion. Oh it's so much fun being weighed, poked, and prodded!

Actually it wasn't as bad as I thought. Blood work was great, lungs clear, and lost a little weight. The highpoint was when the doctor said it was time for my regular colonoscopy. Huh?! I told her no...I had just had it. Well, it was actually over five years since my last one. Drat!  Oh the joy of looking forward to drinking that gut wrenching liquid and having the probe investigate my colonic inards!!!

Received a surprise in the mail today - my 2021 HaikuFest Judge's Favorite certificate! 

I shared my Hitchcock rocks on a couple of painted rock groups to which I belong.  One person called them Alfred Hitchrocks, which I thought was perfect!  I ended up painting a Dial M for Murder rock which turned out okay. Not horrid but not the greatest. Also finished my An American in Paris rock.

Another Facebook group to which I belong is focused on movies from the '30's and '40's.  Someone asked everyone to post a movie which included all men and no women. Oh there were answers upon answers with people listing a ton of films.

To take a different turn, I rephrased the question requesting people to list movies which starred only women. Alas, this was a task for which the struggle was significant. After four days, only two movies have been listed - The Women and a German movie which I've never seen. And all movies were allowed to be listed, not just those( from the early days. Such a sad yet insightful look into the patriarchal bias of Hollywood.

And tomorrow is Friday, which has been a long time coming. This week has been super busy but slower than a frog swimming in a tar pit!

Hello Hollywood!

Been continuing to exploit the Hollywood angle when painting rocks. Working my way through Hitchcock along with a few other classics. Sometimes they are a hit and sometimes they need some serious TLC.

Here are the Hitchcock rocks so far....

Work in progress of An American in Paris. 

And here's the Gigi rock which appears to be a cross between Marge Simpson and a drag queen! Definitely needs a once over!

Knucklehead and Rocks

The whole Viking saga has taken on a life of its own.  Received messages from two more women who are currently or perhaps recently experiencing the same situation as I with Toxic Boy.  He really plowed his way threw a swarth of women using his finely tuned modus operandi.  But this topic for me is now fini and deserves no more of my time. 

Turned to my creative outlet painting this weekend to relax. Here's the result:

And here it is Monday once again.  Gotta get a blood draw this morning with regular doctor appointment on Wednesday. March 5-7 it's beach vacay with the gals from work then March 8th it's sleep study time to address my snoring. My calendar is filling up quickly!