Ketchup...

I just can't find the time lately.... Things pile up that need to be done, work is hectic, we go places as a family, I went away for a few days, holiday weekend comes and goes, and half way through this week I am finding some time to relax and reflect on it all... I am sacrificing my walk/run for the night, but I think I've earned it.

The last I wrote about was our pajama party... Since then we've done a few things...

The very next weekend, we went to the KROQ Weenie Roast y Fiesta... A big all day concert with tons of bands... We arrived at 1230 to see the first few bands play on the second stage... Ludo, Flobots, MGMT, and The Bravery played there... All of them were awesome except MGMT, a little tooo hippie for me. My friend Liz and her friend Gus met us there and hung out for the second stage performances then she headed out to grab a beer and then head to her seat... Ludo is the next CD I will be buying and even though the Flobots were a bit political, nothing beats the handlebars song!!! It's awesome! The Bravery closed it up there in their usual amazingness!!!! I can't get enough of them.... Then we headed over to the main stage where Atreyu opened it up.... Atreyu is a different band (I like) because their drummer is also their lead singer!!! Talk about skills!!! Flogging Molly was next...wish I had missed them..they were terrible... Seether followed them and brought us back to life...I love this band...The lead singers voice is so raspy!!! I love it!!! Mark and I were really excited to see the next band (which is also the other half of System of a Down) called Scars on Broadway... They were really good. I can't wait for their CD to drop... We're definitely going to buy it. By the time Pennywise came up, we met up with our friends Todd and Ann... We hung out with them for the rest of the night... Good Times!!!! Bad Religion was up next... They were pretty good... The lead singer of this band is a professor at a big college here in So Cal. We had seen the next band before but we loved them then and loved them this time too...Their name is Rise Against... They have a different sound and I love them too.... The Raconteurs followed Rise Against.... They were ehh... A little too mellow for that late in the lineup... Next was the band I was most excited for...The Offspring!!!!! I've loved them for SOOOO many years now.... I think I still have a cassette of theirs in one of my old boxes... Yes, I said cassette..... That's how long I've been a fan... They did not disappoint me... They were AMAZING!!! I knew every song except for their two new ones... and I can guarantee I will know those soon too... Enough gushing.. I love the Offspring!!! Nuff said. And so we come to the headliner.... The band Mark and Todd couldn't wait for... METALLICA!!!!! Yes, I said Metallica... This was the second time I've seen them in concert, and I got to tell you I liked them so much more this time.... I knew more of their music and have even played and sang some of it on Guitar hero and Rock Band. They put on such a great show. And they came out for an encore... which was great. Then everyone thought they were done (including us) so we started to go down the stairs to get out of the amphitheater... Just as we almost get out, they come back on for ANOTHER encore!!! Todd, Ann, Mark and myself ran down into the Orchestra section and got to watch their 3rd and 4th encore from close up front and almost center!!! I think Mark and Todd almost cried....just kidding... well a little... Good thing Mark wasn't wearing any underwear, I think he would have thrown them up there.... OK, I'm really kidding about that one.. After the Metallica love fest, we headed over to Todd and Ann's and played Rock Band till 2 or so in the morning... We stayed the night and got up around 8 so we could pick up Noah from his cousins house... What a great night!!! Good times, great friends!!!

The following week was a bit rough at work... We've had some unfortunately preventable mistakes happen at our surgery center, and while I haven't been directly involved in them, as a team in the Operating Room, everyone gets to feel the heat together.... So 3 members of our staff have been suspended for a week, another one is on vacation for 3 weeks, and the rest of us are left to pick up the slack.. That's a lot of slack.... Needless to say, work is busy.

I know I had mentioned before that I would be going out of town for a few days, and that I couldn't really talk about it... Well, I still shouldn't but it's my blog and since I can't talk about it at work, I have to vent my excitement somewhere..... Here goes.. I was asked to go to Oklahoma City, OK for a physician training course on Spinal Cord Stimulators.. We left on Thursday and returned on Saturday... Here's a little blurb on what Spinal Cord Stimulators are and what they do....

Spinal Cord Stimulation: A Proven Therapy for Pain
If you have been living with chronic pain, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) may provide new hope. Spinal cord stimulation has been identified to be an effective treatment option for many chronic pain sufferers.1
Spinal cord stimulation is a medical therapy for people who suffer from certain types of chronic pain. SCS uses a small implanted device to generate tiny electrical pulses that replace the feeling of pain with a tingling or massaging sensation.
Spinal cord stimulation is a widely accepted medical treatment. It is an FDA-approved therapy for treatment of chronic pain of the trunk and limbs (back, legs and arms). Many major health insurance plans, Medicare and worker’s compensation programs provide benefits and coverage for SCS therapy.
Each year as many as 50,000 neurostimulators are implanted worldwide.2 A study of chronic pain sufferers who used ANS neurostimulators3 revealed the following:
84% reported that their quality of life was improved or greatly improved
77% had good or excellent pain relief
82% decreased their use of pain medications
SCS is not a cure for pain. The objective with this therapy is to reduce your pain to a manageable level

I was so honored to be chosen as the only tech to go on this trip with a handful of docs.... What an honor. So I flew out there with one of my docs and our rep from this company... On Friday, we went to a nearby hospital and observed another doc who does around 100 of these a year place and revise a few. He was awesome!!! And talked everyone through everything he was doing and his theory on why he was doing it this way. I was so excited to just listen to him.... On Saturday morning, I was given the morning to relax while the docs went to the cadaver lab to practice what they had learned... I took a walk, hung out by the pool, and watched a movie in my room.... When the guys were done, they picked me up, we had lunch, and headed off to the airport... So, it was a very productive trip in the form of learning and possibly opening doors to other opportunities for a later time...

When I arrived back home, Mark and Noah picked me up and we went to Portillo's for dinner.... I was more exhausted than I thought, because when we got home, I crashed!!!!

Sunday we went to Tim and Mel's house for a family Memorial Day BBQ.... It was great. the kids went swimming, we ate, drank, and were merry!!!

Monday, Mark Noah and I headed to my moms house for another BBQ.... My sisters were there and we all had a great time enjoying little Brayden.... Even Obi and his brother had a great time running around and play fighting.... Good times!!!

So here we are... Today is Wednesday.... Tomorrow the 2 that were suspended come back to work, Noah has class, Friday is going to be really busy at work, then Noah's sparring class, Saturday I am back to work at the hospital, and in the evening I have a birthday party for one of my girls from work, Vero!!! So busy busy as usual....

Did I mention I still don't have a car????? We returned the rental car last week because we were told our car would be done by the end of the week and since I was going to be gone, we figured it was cool... Well, it's still not done and we only have one car right now. Thank heavens for my mom. She is on vacation this week and has so wonderfully agreed to pick me up from work everyday... I hope they get this car thing figured out. It's killing me!!!

Well, I better get to bed, the next few days are going to stay hectic!!!! Hope all is well with everyone... Take care!

A weekend behind.....

I started this post last week... and never got back to finish it!!! Hahahah.... So I'll put this up tonight and leave all the happiness and pics from this past weekend for my next post...
Enjoy!!


Why is it that after you're all grown up people think it's not ok to have pajama parties??? I don't get it...

I had such a great time 2 Saturdays ago when we went to The Riverside Prom / The Slumber Party Slaughter!!!! It was a great time.... We got to go in comfy jammies.... listen to great music....dance..... get some drinks... and even saw a burlesque show....IN OUR JAMMIES!!!! Good times! After the party we all headed out to Dennys and enjoyed an early breakfast (at 2 something in the morning) with a bunch of kids dressed up in their formals who had just been at their prom... It was pretty bipolar at Dennys that night... Kids in formals, and us in jammies.... BUT none the less a great time was had by all!!! Here are the pics...

You can quote me on that!!!!!

Ok, so not really me.... These are more of the quotes I've received in my emails..... It's so nice to get an email with a message that just seems to fit right into the day you're having... Puts a smile on my face and lets me think and reflect about everything thats going on.... So read on and enjoy!!!! Hope one of these helps you to reflect on something personal too...

"Thinking about interior peace destroys interior peace. The patient who constantly feels his pulse is not getting any better."
-- Hubert van Zeller

Are you trying too hard to be good, to be perfect, to be spiritual?
‘Trying too hard’ is an expression of fear. If you can replace the fear with faith that everything always serves our highest good, your confidence and peace of mind will serve your aspirations.

"So many people work so hard, to achieve, attain, accumulate and cherish their fortunes. How many of us blissfully fill our days and nights being the Divine expression we are? This is the meaning of life. It is to be. As a result, all of your creations are a natural outflow from the Divine within your being. This is the joy of life."
-- Barbara Rose

"He who has achieved success has worked well, laughed often and loved much."
-- Elbert Hubbard

"Too often, people focus only on results. But getting results without learning something or without having fun are incomplete. So is having fun without getting the results, or having fun without learning something new to help and empower you in the future. Accomplishment is all three: the result, personal growth and having fun."
-- Peter L. Hirsch

"Man’s loneliness is but his fear of life."
-- Eugene O'Neill

"I think the reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself."
-- Rita Mae Brown

"Manifestation is an act of trust. It is the soul pouring itself out into its world, like a fisherman casting a net to gather in the fish he seeks; with each cast properly made, we will bring what we need to us, but first we must hurl ourselves into the depths without knowing just what lies beneath us."
-- David Spangler

"Never forget that life can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if you take it bravely and gallantly, as a splendid adventure in which you are setting out into an unknown country, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle."
-- Annie Besant

"More than any other part of the body, our hands reveal our inner state."
-- Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
Today, be aware of how you hold your hands when you’re not actively doing something with them.
With the stress of our daily lives, many of us find our hands typically clenched in fists. This is proof of the tension we hold in our bodies. And ponder this: how can we receive the abundance of life if our hands are not open to receive it?
When you become aware that your hands are closed tight, stretch your fingers and spread them wide in the shape of a starfish. Deep breathing will also help you relax into the moment.
"What is always speaking silently is the body."
-- Norman Brown

28 and feeling great!!!!

Kiss 27 goodbye!!!!! Hello 28!!!

...and why shouldn't I feel great???? Age is nothing but a number.... Not much else...It doesn't make me sad, it doesn't depress me... It doesn't define me or change who I am... I have no choice but to get "older"... especially since the only other alternative is to be dead and well, I'm not ready for that... WAYYYY too much to do, see and accomplish to be thinking about that! So happy birthday to me!!!! Here's a look back at ME!!!! A few random pics from waaaaay back when I was young to some more recent pics...

I've had the great opportunity to celebrate my birthday for a few days!!! It started last Saturday when we had our Rock Band / Cinco De Mayo / my birthday party.... We had about a dozen friends and family show up.... We sang, rocked out, ate, drank and laughed our asses off... Some people even puked from all the fun!!!! ;)~ Good times!!! Kimmy and Christi stayed the night and when we woke up the next morning I made us all some yummy breakfast... Here's the Party Pics Slide show.... Enjoy!!!

Monday was Cinco De Mayo.... and while I usually find myself going out on this day...this year I stayed home!!! Mark and I snuggled on the couch, had some leftovers, watched some TV and called it a night!!! I think we were still recovering from the party.... Doing nothing was just what the doctor ordered... Especially since Mark was still getting over a sinus infection and I was starting to feel sick too....

Tuesday was my actual birthday... I went to work.... and was sang to by every O.R. I stepped in, and once in recovery too!!! I love my coworkers and the docs I work with too!!! They're so awesome!!! One of my nurses (and friend) took me out to lunch.. A few other coworkers came with... We had pizza and cheesecake and it was so yummy!!!! After work I met up with my good friend Polly at a place called Zendejas... We had some drinks, chatted and had a great time!!! (Sorry I didn't bring my camera Polly!!! I luv ya!!!) From there I took Noah to tae kwon do, then we headed home for family dinner. My mom and sisters came over... we had Juan Pollo and Ice cream cake... and opened presents!!!! I was so excited to see that they had all gotten together and bought me an acoustic guitar... Ever since we started playing guitar hero and rock band I've been curious to try and learn... so now I can!!!! I've been practicing everyday since and can play some basic chords and just about all of jingle bells... It's exciting!!! My new hobby.

The rest of this week has been pretty much back to normal... Unfortunately I got a really bad toothache on the night of my birthday and it turned out I have to have 2 root canals!!!! Ugh... One of them is a repeat... turns out the first guy that did it, did a horrible job!!! So it infected the tooth next to it, hence two root canals.... What a bummer.... Oh well.... At least my dentist was so good at numbing my mouth that I was starting to fall asleep while he drilled!!!! LOL!!! I'm serious!!! I have to go back next week to finish them off, so wish me luck!

Saturday is work as usual and in the evening we are going to an event called the Riverside Prom. If you remember, last years theme was Back to the Future....Mark and I dressed up as a saloon girl and the gambler... This years theme is Slumber Party Slaughter!!!! A tribute to B-rated slasher movies.... So we're gonna get dressed in our fav. pajamas and slippers and head on out for a night of music, dancing and maybe even a few drinks.... (not including the pre-drinks at our place) Should be a good time!!! I'll take tons of pics and hopefully load them up by the end of the weekend....

Sunday, of course, is Mothers Day!!!! So we'll be headed over to my moms to BBQ and celebrate us moms!!!! I can't wait... I love my mommy!!! She's the best!!! I'm glad we're so close in our relationship and distance!!! It's even nicer that I get to see her when I take Noah to tae kwon do too!!! (She's took a part-time receptionist job there) Tis the day to show that appreciation!!!!

Well, Life is good, life is great!!!! I think I'll make a chocolate cake!!!! J/K....

Have a great weekend everyone. And Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!!!! From one mom to another!!!! Sometimes it feels like a thankless and impossible job, but the other 99% of the time, it's the best feeling in the world!!!! Enjoy your day!!!