Twenty Four At Heart

Love Means

I look back at my life, at the people and places I've loved, and it seems, time and time again, love means letting go.

I remember, vividly, letting go of my mother's hand, at age four, when I began kindergarten.  I still remember the bittersweet expectation of exciting things ahead of me, and the knowledge things would never again be the same.  The scent of crayons and play-doh hung in the air and I knew right then, by releasing her hand, I was letting go.

A few years later, a best friend moved hundreds of miles away.  We swore we'd stay in touch and be best friends forever.  Of course, we didn't.  I still think of her now and then, all these years later.  I wonder if she's led a happy life.  I wonder if she remembers me at all.  It was my first experience at letting go of a much loved friend.

Sadly - only a year later - one of my first school crushes died of a childhood disease.  He was nine.  I remember shedding tears over the loss of my "boyfriend."  Other children and parents cried with me.  Once again, I learned the very difficult, heartbreaking, lesson of loving and letting go.

Like everyone, I've had the heartbreak of lost friendships.  My best friend of several years got lost in a world of drugs and gangs in high school.  We parted ways and I watched helplessly as her life crumbled around her.  

And crumble it did ... ending with a suicide.

There was nothing I could do.

In my twenties, a time of transitions, there were good friends, and lovers, who eventually all moved on with their lives.  

As I moved on with mine.

Eventually I found myself with a husband, a family, and a new set of friends.

I gave birth to a little girl.  A few years later, I held her hand as I walked her to her first day of kindergarten.  She looked at me with the bittersweet expectation of exciting things ahead of her, and the knowledge things would never again be the same. The scent of crayons and play-doh hung in the air and I knew right then, by releasing her hand, I was letting go. 

Her first day of kindergarten was followed, eventually, by those of her two brothers.  Our family had grown.

The years went by in a blur of school, and sports, and activities, and busyness.

Time and again, throughout it all, I held their hands, hugged them, and encouraged them to chase their dreams.

This month my two oldest children left home for colleges over 3,000 miles away.  As they left, they looked at me with the bittersweet expectation of exciting things ahead of them and the knowledge things would never again be the same.  

As we said our good-byes, I hugged them once again.  I cried tears of pride, and sadness, and excitement for the lives they have ahead of them.

It seems to me ...

Love means letting go.

© Twenty Four At Heart

A Rare Sighting

About once each summer, a tropical storm will blow north from Mexico to Southern California.  When it does, we get really hot temperatures, humidity (which is uncommon in our desert-like climate), and once in a great while, rain.

I know a lot of you get storms frequently in the summer, but we don't.  It's a big deal when any type of storm comes our way.  This week, we've seen temperatures over 100F/38C every day.  Some areas of Southern California have also seen thunder storms, rain, etc.  

So far, here in Orange County, we haven't had any rain but this was the view from my backyard yesterday afternoon.

 

A thunder cloud!

Are you laughing at me?  

You probably are but, trust me,  a thunder cloud is very unusual for The OC.

I thought the clouds were very majestic and powerful looking, even though they failed to deliver any rain.

A little while later I took a closer shot as the cloud changed shape.

Did you look closely?

Wait ...

How old am I?  

© Twenty Four At Heart

My Latest Project

Today's subject is outside the realm of my normal blogging material, but I'm going to share it anyway.

Wait ...

Do I ever have normal blogging material?

I think not.

In which case ... it doesn't really matter, does it?

I'm in the midst of an emotional two weeks right now.

We put my son on a plane for college last Saturday.  I bawled, and bawled, and bawled.

This is his second year in college.  You'd think I'd be used to saying good-bye, but if you're a parent who has ever sent your kid to live 3,000 miles away, you know there is no such thing as getting used to it.  My son stored most of his belongings with college friends prior to summer break so he didn't need us to fly back with him and help him get settled this year.

My daughter, however, will be departing this week to ALSO live 3,000 miles away for school.  Of course, she's going to be in an entirely different state than my son because they have to make things as difficult and as expensive for their parents as possible.  I will be taking my youngest son (still at home) back east later this week to help get her moved into her apartment.  I will do the supervising and my fifteen year old son will do the lifting.

What?

I only have one working arm.

Having two kids move to the other side of the country within a ten day time span has been emotional chaos, plain and simple.

Two years ago, with the best of intentions, I bought a family recipe book for my daughter.  She was in her first college apartment and the timing seemed appropriate for a gift related to cooking.

It's a beautiful book.  You're supposed to fill it up with family recipes to share with those you love.

Hmmm ... I see nothing in the above photo about eating a low-carb diet?

This particular book came with beautiful recipe cards, lined pages, and tab dividers to make it easy to compile.

My only complaint about the book I chose, is there are simply not enough pages in it.  Yesterday, I ordered a few sets of page refills so I'll be able to add more recipes in the future.

Many years ago, my mom gave me a similar book and I treasure it to this day.  I love that the recipes are in her handwriting.  I love the time she took to put the book together for me.  The book itself, makes me feel cherished.  I also use it more than any other cookbook I've ever owned.  The recipes are full of comfort and familiarity, warmth and love.

And yet ...

The book I bought for my own daughter has sat here, untouched, for two years.

Once I purchased the book, I quickly realized the amount of writing that would be involved.  I wanted to write the recipes in my own handwriting, as my mother did for me, not type them.  It's hard to explain, but seeing the recipes in my mom's handwriting is almost like hearing her speak.  I wanted to give the same gift to my daughter.

I quickly realized the project would involve more than my injured arm was capable of at the time.  I've learned to do many things left-handed since my accident, but writing is not one of them.  Although my right hand is not damaged, it takes arm-power to move my hand for any length of time.  I'm in very short supply of arm power.

In fact, I think it would be accurate to say I have NO arm power.

My daughter's cookbook has been left abandoned, filling me with the guilt of unfulfilled promises.

She leaves this week.

I decided I would get the book done prior to her departure come hell or high water.  I set a goal to work on the book every day until she leaves.  I even bought an archival quality, waterproof, fade proof, non-bleeding (all that!!) pen and I'm working diligently on her recipe book.  I'm slowly making progress, despite taking frequent breaks whenever my arm rebels.

I hope someday this cookbook will mean as much to her as the one from my mother now means to me.

This book is truly a labor of love.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Seriously? Did You Just Do That?

I was in the grocery store last week when an incident took place I just can't shake.

I had gathered all the needed groceries in my cart, stood in line at the check-out stand, and it was finally my turn to be rung up by the cashier.

Midway through scanning my items, the cashier sneezed.

This was no ordinary sneeze, this was a big, wet, clearly-sick, juicy, snot-spraying, completely un-contained sneeze.  It scattered mucus particles all over my groceries.

Did I mention a lot of what I was buying was produce?

(Being on a healthy eating kick, and all ....)

Um, gross?

As I recoiled in revulsion, the cashier just went right on scanning my groceries.  She didn't apologize, say "excuse me" or even acknowledge she had just sprayed my fruit and vegetables with a coating of germy green slime.

I felt my stomach turn, and I resisted the urge to bolt from the store leaving all the groceries behind, unpaid for.

It got worse, if that's possible, before I left.

Once all my items were scanned, I paid using my bank card.

While the transaction was processing, the cashier grabbed a kleenex and began blowing her nose.

This was no ordinary nose blowing.

This was a BIG.DEAL. 

It began with actual nose blowing (of epic proportions), and concluded with fingers slightly covered with tissue digging deep into her nostrils in search of giant morsels.

I tried to look away, but the horror I was witnessing kept me riveted.

Suddenly, she tossed the snot-covered tissue into a trashcan at her feet, grabbed my receipt out of the cash register with her unwashed hands, and handed it to me saying, "Have a nice day."

She immediately began processing/handling the grocery order of the woman behind me in line.  She never washed her hands or used any type of hand sanitizer.  

It's now a week later and I still can't seem to scrub the horror of the experience from my brain cells.

What would you have done?

Should I have refused the groceries?

Should I have made a comment to her?

Should I have reported the disgusting-ness to her boss?

© Twenty Four At Heart

People Don't Realize

A lot of people don't realize Southern California has a very desert-like climate.

Along with that, comes a lot of desert creatures, especially in the canyons and mountains.

I was reminded of this a few times last week.

First, I noticed this sign as I was leaving Malibu:

My neighbors dog was bit by a rattlesnake a few years ago.  We get them every year when the weather heats up.  It has been very hot lately.

I was reminded again the other night when I parked in one of the local canyons to attend a party.  When I returned to my car, I heard coyotes howling nearby.  It made me walk just a little faster to my car.

I've also had an (overly?) friendly critter hanging around me a lot at home.

 

We get a lot of road runners, but this particular one likes to look in at me through my back/patio glass door while I'm writing.  He'll stare in at me for quite awhile before moving on to catch lizards for his lunch.  Recently, he stood right in front of me and gobbled a lizard down whole.  He ate it head first while it was still wiggling its tail.  

Yummy?

After finishing his lunch, he hopped through the fencing and hung out by our pool for awhile.

 

I suppose that made for a great day in the life of a road runner?

© Twenty Four At Heart

It's Friday!

First of all, I'd like to congratulate:

Kristen with comment #100:  Second time's the charm?? Hopefully!  

Kristen won the Stella and Dot bracelet.  Kristen please email me the mailing address you'd like the bracelet shipped to and I'll get it sent off as soon as possible.  For those of you who didn't win, remember, you can order Stella and Dot jewelry by clicking here.  Thank you to Missy for providing the bracelet for a giveaway.

Moving on ...

It isn't summer if I'm not spending my evenings at the beach. 

I love to arrive around five p.m. and stay until after dark.  It's my absolute (!!) favorite time of day.

Last weekend I took a series of photos with my fairly-old-and-now-out-of-date pocket camera.  They certainly aren't perfect photos, but they'll give you a feel for summer evenings in Orange County.  (There might have been copious amounts of vodka - with a splash or two of cranberry juice - involved in this photo taking session also.)

By the way, these photos were taken at Calafia Beach in San Clemente.

When we arrived, there were still a lot of people enjoying the beach.  (I was accompanied by Briefcase and other assorted family members and friends - we had quite a group!)

It wasn't long, however, until the evening train came by.  It runs (almost) on the sand itself along this stretch of the coastline.

A few minutes later, the lifeguard drove by.  He was announcing to everyone the sun would be setting soon and the lifeguard towers would no longer be manned.  (In other words, swim at your own risk!)

The beach emptied out.  I love having the beach mostly to myself.  

I think, right about then, it was time to refill everyone's drinks and spread the picnic out onto a blanket.  We brought an assortment of cheeses, crackers, a lot of different types of fresh fruit, chips and salsa, baby carrots and hummus, sandwiches, brownies and, and, and ...!

The beach is amazing in the evenings as the sun sets.  The colors of the sky change quickly.  The colors also change substantially depending on which direction you're looking in.

On this particular evening, to the south, the beach looked almost winter-ish and pink as the sun was setting.

To the west, the sky glowed a deep and vibrant orange.

As the sun began dipping below the horizon, pelicans soared in search of their dinner.

And then ...

The moon rose over the ocean making the evening even more spectacular.

© Twenty Four At Heart 

It Might Mean ...

It might mean I've been a little homesick when I start photographing trashcans I think are beautiful.

I've missed the beach.

It's good to be home.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Getting Ready

I can't even fake it - I'm busy, busy, busy getting my act together to go out of town.  

I ended up caving in and using the BlogHer conference as an excuse to shop just like a zillion other women do every year.  I wasn't planning to, but I've lost some weight over the last few months and as I pulled stuff out of my closet, nothing fit.

I picked up some skinny jeans (even though I'm NOT skinny), a few cute tops, a pair of flats, and a few much needed dresses for all the parties and events I'll be going to.

I haven't even departed for the conference yet, and this year is already a much different experience than last year.  The PR/marketing folks are out in droves with all sorts of invitations and offers.  It's flattering and overwhelming at the same time.

Ming Wang was even kind enough to gift me with an outfit for BlogHer.  I haven't had a chance to take a photo in it yet, but here's a pic with their model wearing MY outfit.

 

They were kind enough to send me both the jacket and pants.  I will be supplying my own top - and I have yet to pick which one I'll wear.

I guess I'll have to pick a color that will look good with my purple hair.

Any suggestions?

© Twenty Four At Heart

Purple, Purple, And More ... Purple!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

I spent the last couple days taking care of a very sick kid.  Apparently there's some type of summer stomach flu going around.  I thought we were going to end up in the ER at one point, but he's doing much better now.  Poor kid - it was a tough few days.  He was really, really, sick.  Please keep your fingers crossed I don't catch it this week as I get ready for, and depart to, New York.

The BlogHer conference is a Big Deal in the Internet world.  A lot of women dress to impress.  They're attending the conference looking for the biggest and best opportunities they can find.

Don't get me wrong, I like opportunities too.  The car accident just changed my perspective a lot.  Life is short and can change on a dime.  I'm at a place in my life where it's also about having fun and, most importantly, being myself.

With 2,400+ people hanging out together, I figured purple streaks in my hair would help me stand out in the crowd.   Last year I put in pink/fuschia streaks, but this year I'm feeling purple.

What do you think?

 

The purple will wash out in a few weeks and then I'll return to my normal blonde locks.

I have to say, I don't think there are any other women with purple hair around here.  It isn't a popular look in the Money Town area.  Most of the women where I live look a lot like The Real Housewives of Orange County.  Oh wait, they ARE The Real Housewives of Orange County.  How could I forget?

Is it any wonder I don't fit in?

On Sunday I ran a few errands and then stopped into a Money Town salon to get a pedicure.  (The talons growing out of my feet were getting a little dangerous, and besides, I HAD to get purple toenail polish to match my purple hair, right?)

In any case, my purple hair caused quite a stir everywhere I went.

The thing about having purple hair, is - I keep forgetting I have it.

People stare at me and I think, "What are they staring at me for?"

Later, I catch a glimpse of my reflection in a window and think, "Ohhhh, THAT!"

It's become an interesting study in human nature.  Some people stare, some comment, some send me scornful looks.

Sheesh!

Hey you, Money Towners ....

Have a sense of humor!  

Lighten up!

Laugh!

Life is short ... why not have some fun?!

© Twenty Four At Heart

Call Me Miss Glamour

In a futile attempt to keep my blonde hair from turning pure white in the summer I wear it on top of my head when I swim.  I don't even attempt to make it look nice; I just throw it into a ponytail holder.  I know it looks ridiculous.  (In case I don't know, my kids remind me of that very fact every time they see me like this.)

The sun and the salt water from our pool (and the ocean), are really tough on my hair so I try to keep it out of the water as much as possible.  Don't worry, when I'm not actually in the pool, I don't walk around like this ... I promise.

OK, I know you want to go back to admiring my beautiful hair style now ....

Wait ....

Did I just publish a photo of myself in a bathing suit?

© Twenty Four At Heart

Hunting

We have a lot of lizards in Southern California.  They're so common, in fact, I rarely pay any attention to them.  

One lizard hangs out in an old watering can I have in our backyard.  He's lived there for quite some time.

My Golden is obsessed with trying to catch it.

Lizards are very fast.  

My dog is never, ever, going to catch that, or any other, lizard. 

It's kind of nice, however, because hunting for them keeps him happily occupied for hours on end.

© Twenty Four At Heart

The Beach Life

I had a friend from the Midwest ask me recently what my life is "really" like.

"Um, pretty boring," I answered.

"No, it's not," she countered.

???

While I pondered what to say to THAT, she went on and on about why my life is not boring.

It's always good to keep informed about one's own life.  

She concluded with, "You can even go to the beach whenever you want.  What do you do when you go to the beach?"

Oh ... the beach life .....

Well, first of all, I don't live in this house:

 

Nor do I live in any of these:

I live about twenty minutes from the beach in a little canyon.  My house is very modest by South Orange County standards.

But yes, I do spend a lot of time at the beach.

What I actually DO at the beach varies.

I like the beach in all of its seasons, and in all types of weather.

One thing I don't do is lay out in the sun tanning.

If I have to be at the beach during the hottest times of the day (something I try to avoid), you'll find me in the shade, with a hat on, protecting my skin from the sun.

(That is, unless I'm swimming, or in the water body surfing, boogie boarding, etc.) 

I'm a melanoma survivor.  Melanoma, for those of you who don't know, is the deadliest form of skin cancer.  In fact, melanoma is one of the most deadly forms of cancer period.  It has a nasty habit of striking down people in my family.  I do love the beach, but I'm not a sun woshiper.

I'm often at the beach shooting pictures.

Sometimes I'm at the beach walking ... and walking ... and walking even further.

I storm watch at the beach - I love the ocean during a good storm.  Unfortunately, we don't get many storms in Orange County.

I also love the beach when the fog is thick and the sand is deserted.

I like to explore tide pools, but I never, ever, remove anything from them.

Meeting friends on the sand around 5 p.m. for cocktails and a picnic while watching the sunset is also a favorite activity in the summer.

Our family activities at the beach vary also.

Briefcase is a runner.  He's usually either napping or running while he's at the beach.

My daughter is usually reading, or napping, or sunbathing, when she's at the beach.

My oldest son is most likely checking out the girls while he's at the beach.  (Or swimming, or running, or throwing a football with friends.)

My youngest son plays high school baseball.  He's an infielder and a pitcher.  

Last time he was with me at the beach, he made this tower of rocks:

 

A few minutes later I turned to find him "pitching" rocks at his rock tower, trying to knock it over.  He was much more successful at this "game" than the non-baseball player friend he was with.  I flashed back to when he was about three years old and would spend hours at the beach "pitching" a tennis ball to us.  He's been baseball-obsessed his entire life.

Some things never really change.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Mocha

I don't share many photos of Mocha, my chocolate lab, because she's afraid of the pool and doesn't swim.  (Yes, this DOES make her an embarrassment to retrievers everywhere.)  My Golden Retriever seems to get more blog time due to his incessant need to be in our pool and the great photo opportunities it provides.

Don't worry though, I have tons of photos of Mocha doing what she does best ...  sneaking onto the couches when she doesn't think we'll catch her, stealing socks so I'll chase her around the house (her favorite game!) and begging for just one more tummy rub.

She's a much loved dog and is spoiled rotten.

Her eyes are two different colors.

Her heart ...

Is pure love and devotion.

© Twenty Four At Heart

So, I've Been Thinking ...

It seems like I've been doing a lot of random assortment type of posts lately.  I think it might be because it's hard to put more than one, (1, o-n-e), thought together at a time on this medication.  (Be patient with me .....)

Here's a look inside my brain gone ADD-ish:

•  Today's the last day of school for my youngest son!  Woo Hoo!

•  Tomorrow morning I'm going to sleep in past 6 a.m.

•  This is the first time in three years, all 3 of my kids have been living (not just visiting) at home.

•  Kicking my way through several laps in the pool is much more difficult than when I also use my (one and a half) arms.

•  Where is the best pizza place in New York City?

•  My house is constantly messy with my kids all home.  We have a chaotic, but happy, household.

•  Why are my teeth, which have been perfectly straight since I had braces in 6th grade, suddenly getting crooked?  And does Invisalign work?

•  I hate summer league baseball.

•  Why am I all of a sudden craving carbs?

•  The aesthetician at my plastic surgeon/friends office has offered to do facial-ish stuff to me and I might let her.  Just call me a lab rat.

•  Will anyone else want to go visit B&H Photo in New York while I'm there?

•  Why haven't I done a blog contest lately?

•  I've never gone this long without chocolate.

•  What type of blog contest should I do?

•  I'm thinking about getting my first tattoo towards the end of the summer/fall.

•  Maybe I should have a contest to see who can design the best tattoo for me?

•  The (possible) tattoo might be indicative of a midlife crisis?????  I've never even remotely wanted a tattoo before and now I do.

•  I almost fell over from shock when uber-conservative Briefcase said he thought it would be sexy if his uber NOT conservative wife I got a tattoo.  

•  I've been sort-of planning the tattoo in my head for the last year but I had never mentioned it to anyone until about two weeks ago.

•  Maybe I should put the tattoo near my ankle?  Or my hoo haa?

•  My nipples are still bionic.

•  I'll be in Boston later this summer what should I do/see there?  I've never been.

•  Do you have any tattoos?  How much did they hurt?

•  My long-time next door neighbor (the very best neighbor in the entire world!) just moved.  I'm so sad.

•  I could wear my Gap workout/yoga-ish capris every day of the year and be happy.

•  Maybe I should have a big plate of carbs and see what happens?

•  There are way too many extremely expensive cars around here.

•  My (possible) (not-too-big) tattoo is going to be tied to my blog name.  Not because I want my blog name tattooed on me.  Instead, I chose the name Twenty Four At Heart because it's significant to me, and it will continue to be regardless of whether or not this blog ceases to exist tomorrow.

•  I'm not saying this blog WILL cease to exist tomorrow.

•  If you haven't tried Tuscan Cantaloupe you have no idea what you're missing.

•  I've been indulging in a little retail therapy lately.  I should feel guilty, but when life is shitty ... why not?

•  So what are YOU thinking?

© Twenty Four At Heart

Yaaaaay Lakers!

Um, when I was supposed to be writing yesterday, I was at my son's painfully long baseball game.

And then I came home and watched the most edge.of.my.seat basketball final game ever!

Go Lakers!

I love watching basketball and I'm a long time Lakers fan.

I am not, however, a big Kobe fan.  I do realize he's a phenomenal player.

(Sorry - please don't hate me, but I've never quite gotten over the whole RAPE thing.)

**  The hate mail is already coming in, isn't it?  **

Here's some Twenty Four trivia I haven't previously shared:

When I was in high school I kept the stats for the boys basketball team.

I think I originally agreed to do the stats because the coach asked me to and he was very, very, hot.  (Coach Perry - sigh!)

I also played girls basketball for awhile so I knew the game already.

Then one day, as I was keeping stats, a player fell to the floor shrieking.

He was HERE ...

But his leg was ....... OVER THERE SOMEWHERE.

He had dislocated his knee and it was an ugly, ugly sight that left an indelible image on my brain.

One of the coaches came over and snapped it back into place and the boy SCREAMED.

**  Shudder  **

After that, I watched the remainder of the season's games with my eyes closed so I'd never risk seeing such a horrible thing again.

The end.

On a happier note, I wanted to show you my pretty, pretty necklace.

I've been into turquoise lately so I made this purchase awhile back:

 

I think it's both fun and funky.

Come to think of it, that pretty much describes ME, doesn't it?

© Twenty Four At Heart

I Feel So Violated!

I'm in the midst of fighting my way out of some pretty hefty technical problems so I don't have much of anything for you today.

I've spent the last 24 hours, or so, trying to repair and rebuild from a hacker.

That's right - I was hacked.

Really, WHO DOES THAT?!

Assholes with a lot of time on their hands, that's who.

I apologize to the many of you who got spammy emails from me (but not-really-me) yesterday.

My thanks to the many of you who took the time to inform me something was wrong.  I'm sorry if I didn't get back to each of you individually.  I was probably too busy pulling my hair out.  Also, I heard from a zillion of you and it's difficult to respond to a zillion people in a timely manner!

To make matters worse, the hard drive on our home PC (not the MacBook I use) crashed yesterday also.  

To make matters even worse, I am dealing with the biggest billing nightmare in medical history and the whole situation escalated to the point of exploding my head into four hundred zillion pieces yesterday.

Don't you love when a company is completely incompetent, bills you incorrectly for months, fails to fix the problem when you make repeated phone calls requesting they do (despite saying the situation will be remedied "immediately") ... and then reports YOU to a collection agency?

Because, isn't that exactly what you need to have happen on a day when you're fighting a technological nightmare?

On a positive note, after hours of work and very little sleep - my technological life is now back in order.

I think.

On a negative note, if you've emailed me in the last few weeks I most likely "lost" your email correspondence in the hacker nightmare.  SO - if you are waiting for a reply from me (and many of you probably are because I've been behind on email replies with the going out of town, graduation thing, going on) then please feel free to re-email me.

On another negative note, today I have to re-tackle the incompetent medical billing company.  I'm sure that will be a very unpleasant experience.

I think I need a few hours at the beach to de-stress.  Or an hour in my pool swimming.  Or a cocktail.  Or ....?

Come to think of it - let's go with that theme - 

What do you do to de-stess after a hellish day or two like I've had?

© Twenty Four At Heart

What I've Learned Lately

It's never too late to learn something new.  I've been reminded of this a lot lately, and I thought I'd take this opportunity to share with you some of my recent observations.

•  You will feel positively ancient when your child graduates from college even if you did give birth to her when you were only three.

•  All cottage cheese is not created equal.

•  A friend is not always the person they've pretended to be and it hurts deeply to come to this realization. 

•  Your air conditioning WILL break when the temperature exceeds 90 F and not a moment sooner.

•  Some drugs are not meant to be mixed with wine and you will, of course, realize this while in the company of your in-laws.

•  If you get a small, red, dry, itchy spot on your boob and you ask Twitter what it might be, you won't want to hear the (horrifying) responses.

•  You should never google images of diseases people on Twitter tell you about or the images you see will be burned into your brain cells for life.

•  No matter how long you live in The OC you will continue to be amazed at how many OC stereotypical people you encounter every single day.

•  Internet Trolls will continue to stalk you even though they say they hate you, will never read you again, and are going away forever.

•  Carbohydrates are highly addictive.

•  If you watch The Bachelorette you will wonder why you're wasting your time (and brain cells), but you will find it difficult to turn off anyway.

•  It will be highly disappointing to find out your son's employee discount at Nordstrom doesn't apply to you because you're not his "dependent."

•  Twitter will instantly be over capacity when there's a sizable earthquake nearby and you will not be able to respond to those inquiring about your safety.

•  There are, in all probability, more fake boobs and asses in Southern California than in the rest of the world combined.

•  If you purchase the new Miraclebody Jeans, you *might* decide they don't really make you look ten pounds thinner as promised.

•  When an old flame sees your new Twitter avatar/Facebook photo and remarks you still look hot, it will feel good even if you did photoshop your wrinkles away.

•  Summer league baseball should not be allowed to begin before the school year has ended.  I say this out of concern for the sanity of baseball parents everywhere.

•  One of the best things about returning home from a trip is seeing the joy and love your dog(s) bestow on you when you walk in the door.

•  Celery sticks and egg whites are not the least bit addictive.

•  When you return from a vacation it will take more days to get caught up than you were actually away for.  (This only applies to women and single dads - or should I just say this doesn't apply AT ALL to Briefcase?)

•  If a shallow OC woman comments on your wedding ring with the sole purpose of getting you to compliment her on the enormous rock on her finger, the best approach is to smile sweetly and ask her where she found such a big cubic zirconia.

© Twenty Four At Heart

In The Blink of an Eye

It seems like I just graduated from college.

I recently shared with you the above photo of my alma mater, University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB).

Yesterday morning, I sat by the UCSB campus lagoon (just feet from the ocean) and watched my daughter, my firstborn, graduate in the exact same location I did just a (short?) time ago. 

It was deja vu in the strongest sense of the word.

I know this is not a "mommy" blog and I rarely write about my kids/family here.  I don't write about my kids because they're old enough to share their own personal stories with who they want, when they want.  Also, I'm very protective of them and blasting their photos and personal information all over the world doesn't make me feel very secure about their safety.  (I know YOU are wonderful, but I do get an occasional nut-job visiting 24.)

I am, however, bursting with emotion over yesterday's event.

There is pride, and happiness, of course.  My daughter graduated from college which is something to be very proud of in the first place.  She put my college GPA to shame while getting her degree and, additionally, minored in a secondary field.  In addition, she was part of the University of California Honors Program, and graduated with the highest honors - all in only three years. 

So, excuse me for having a "mom moment" today, but I am just so proud of all she has accomplished!

She will be living with us here in The OC for a short while and, of course, I'm thrilled about that too.

But the moment was also bittersweet.  She was recently accepted, and given a scholarship, to a graduate school three thousand miles away.  In a few short weeks, she will be moving across the country, far from home.  *sniff*

I'm warning you in advance, I'll be a crazy mess and puddle of tears when the time comes to see her off.

For today, however, I need to finish unpacking, get caught up on chores, and begin editing the zillions of photos I took over the weekend.

© Twenty Four At Heart

What I Love About Summer

Technically summer doesn't arrive until June 21st.  My youngest won't be done with school until June 23rd.

And yet?

It already feels like summer.  My thoughts are of summer, the air feels like summer, and yes, it even smells like summer.

Today, I thought I'd share with you a list of my favorite things about summer.

•  The scent of jasmine everywhere I turn.  There is no other scent that says "summer" to me quite as much.  (And yes, I have jasmine sprinkled in various spots throughout my yard.)  Maybe this is a Southern California thing?  I'm not sure - but oh, how I love the smell of jasmine blooming!

•  Late nights and late mornings.  I'm a night owl by nature.  Unfortunately, I have to wake up at six a.m. most mornings to get PR off to school.  I love getting a break from such early mornings.  I can live to my own bio-rhythms in the summer.

•  Listening to my "Summer" playlist on my iPod.  Summertime by Bon Jovi, lots of Rebelution (very California-ish music!), Jack Johnson, and a host of other favorite summer tunes. 

•  A slower pace.  Life moves slower during the summer.  I like it!

•  The beach from 5 p.m. on.  It's my favorite time of the day at the beach and there's nothing better in life (for me) than arriving just as everyone else is leaving.  It's even better when I'm meeting my friend Nike there with a cooler full of ... refreshments.

 

•  Pool-time.  I love swimming.  I love hanging out at our pool.  I even love the constant noise of pool parties.  

 

(And yes I did behead people in the above photo to make them unidentifiable!)

•  Getting caught up on my reading.  While hanging out at the pool, or beach, or waiting around in aiports or planes, (which I seem to do more often during the summer), I get caught up on all the books I haven't had time to read.  I take my Kindle everywhere with me.  (By the way - a huge thank you to all my Kindle readers!  Wow!  I love you guys!)

•  Barbecuing.  Okay, I know for many of you this is called "cooking out" and for others of you it's called "grilling" but we say we're having a barbecue.  We tend to do this year round in Orange County, but in the summer it seems to be an almost nightly occurence.  We also tend to eat outdoors on our patio or deck more often.

•  The longer days.  I love daylight savings time.  It's so nice to enjoy all those hours of daylight!

•  Night swims.  I know I mentioned the pool earlier, but night swims deserve a category all of their own.  I love swimming at night with the moon and stars reflecting off the water and the darkness of the mountains looming over me.  Absolutely love it!

•  Summer fruit.  Nectarines, watermelon, peaches, plums, casaba melon ... they all taste of summer.

These are just a few of the things which come immediately to mind when I think "summer."

What do you look forward to most this time of year? 

© Twenty Four At Heart

Not A Bad Weekend

I'm writing this through a bit of a blur.

I overdid it with my swimming over the weekend so now I'm under the influence of pain meds.

It was SO worth it though.  I love being in the pool.  I got a little too enthused, I suppose, and tried to increase the use of my arm faster than I should have.  I'll feel better in a few days.  I'll take it easy until then, but I'm sure I'll be back in the pool every day regardless.

(If nothing else, I'll be seeing the pain management doc this afternoon and I'm sure he'll be interested in checking me out.)

Um, I didn't mean he will be checking ME out, I meant he will be checking my ARM out.

Although, I don't know - maybe he will be checking me out?  

I'll let you know either way.

So, let me give you a quick recap of the last few days ...

I'm firing the new PT.

Yes, I am.  

I gave her three tries and we are not a good match.  

First of all, she has not yet touched me - at all.  Each visit, she hands me a piece of paper showing me things to do when I get home and that's my pt session.  After she hands me a paper, she explains the paper to me for a good thirty minutes.  Not one paper has shown me anything I haven't already been doing for nearly four years.  Also, every exercise she's handed me a paper on is an activity I moved past long ago ... the activities are way too easy (immediate post-surgery type of activities).  

Aren't physical therapists supposed to be hands on?

And yes, I've tried communicating my thoughts/needs/frustrations to her but she doesn't seem to hear me.

Second, she talks to me as if I'm three.  I.Can't.Handle.It!

Third, she informed me I'm an "overachiever" and told me I'm expecting way too much out of myself.

(The Torturer just spewed coffee all over himself reading that!)

I may be an overachiever in some areas of my life.  My pain levels, however, keep my overachieving in check regarding my arm.  She, however, expects nothing from me and seems to think I should also expect nothing from myself.

You know me better than that, don't you?

If I don't think I'm ever going to make improvements - who the hell will?

Anyway - enough said ...

I need a new PT.

And no, I don't yet know who it will be or where I will find him/her.

I think I need a him though.  I like men.

Moving on -

It was hot here this weekend.  I managed to get a lot of things done this weekend (being the overachiever that I am), but when I wasn't busy overachieving this pretty much sums up my weekend:

 

I bought two $19 rafts at Costco.  They're so comfortable and they even have a place to hold my lemonade and vodka ice water.  It's very relaxing after I'm tuckered out from swimming.

Have I mentioned we have the happiest Golden Retriever in the world?

I think we do.

I must have thrown his football for him a few hundred times this weekend.

The weekend ended on a nice note.  We had a couple gift cards to Fleming's Steakhouse in Newport Beach so Briefcase, the two boys, and I enjoyed a great dinner there on Sunday night.  I ordered king crab legs (no butter - just lemon juice) and grilled asparagus.  It was low carb, low fat, healthy and delicious.  I really felt like enjoying a glass of wine with dinner, but I couldn't mix alcohol with the pain meds I needed on Sunday.  Oh well!  

(As an aside, Fleming's has a Bikinitini on their menu - it's a martini with only 99 calories.  I love the name they chose!)

What should I do to celebrate when I hit the twenty pound weight loss mark?  I'm not there yet, but hopefully I will be soon.  I'm all about rewarding myself - it keeps me motivated.

I need ideas/suggestions though.

What do you think?  

What would you consider a good (not too expensive) reward?

© Twenty Four At Heart

The Holiday Weekend

If you are reading this on Tuesday morning, you might be interested to know I've parked myself at the Money Town Starbucks for a couple hours.  I'll be writing (and Tweeting) about what I observe while I'm there and hopefully have it published for tomorrow's post.  

If you live in South Orange County and are familiar with the Money Town Starbucks, please stop by and say hello if you have the chance.  I think I'll be arriving there sometime around 8 a.m. and staying for about two hours.

I really enjoyed my holiday weekend.  I hope you did too!

I had all three of my kids home for the first half of the long weekend.  For those of you who still have young kids, let me tell you it's quite a treat as they get older and you're able to have them all at home at the very same time.

I'm having a hard time believing this myself, but I'm now the mom of a 21 year old!

How the hell did THAT happen?

I gave birth as a three year old, that's how.

It's a miracle, plain and simple!

We spent the weekend celebrating my daughter's birthday.  Celebrating involved a lot of tequila.  Yes, I even did a few celebratory shots.  (And no, I did not take any pain meds while drinking!)

I asked my daughter, "How can you be 21 when I'm only 24?"

She asked, "Mom, aren't you supposed to embrace getting older?"

I replied, "I suppose I will once I DO get older, but I'm still 24!"

She might have rolled her eyes and laughed.

(It must be tough explaining to your friends that your mom is only three years older than you.)

So, this is what I did over the last few days.

Beach - San Clemente this time:

 

Lunch at Fisherman's:

Margaritas at our favorite Mexican restaurant:

(Sorry, I had to cut everyone else out of this photo - and yes, this was straight from the beach, hence I look terrible!)

Not pictured:  Tequila shots, dancing on table tops (you think I'm kidding?) and other forms of My Mom's Not a Great Role Model behavior.

Isn't it great when your kids get old enough so you can be an immature adult with them?  

Ice cream birthday cake (I've blurred her name out of the photo):

Sipping coffee on our deck staring at my mountains:

 

A lot of time poolside:

I was very excited because I found a low-carb margarita mix which I enjoyed over the weekend.  (So many people have asked me about this already on Twitter.  It's made by Finest Call and is available at BevMo.)  

I also made myself my own low-carb single serving cake which only had 6 carbs in it.  Tequila doesn't have any carbs, although it does have calories and like all alcohol, it slows weight loss substantially.  However, considering the weekend of partying and fun, I think I did quite well on my new low-carb style of eating.  I didn't lose an ounce, but I didn't gain an ounce either and I consider that a success.

(By the way, I made the BEST dinner on the grill for Memorial Day - I may have to share the two recipes I used sometime soon.  Nom nom nom!!!)

I also loved being back in the pool for the first time in months.  The pool is the one place where I can move my arm a little more freely.  It becomes weightless and the water lifts it for me.  I love being in the pool because I feel "normal" again.

My arm is really weak and I've lost a lot of ground in both my strength and my range of motion.  On Sunday I could only swim two laps (using a modified breaststroke) which is terrible, even for me.  I grabbed a kick-board so I could rest my arm, and kicked my way through several more laps.  

The good news?  I was only a little sore from my first attempt at swimming this year.  Maybe the new pain medication is beginning to kick in?!  Let's hope!

Yesterday, I tried round two of swimming.  I did quite a few more laps than the first day.  And yes, I'm hurting a little more now, but still - much less than what I would expect for that level of activity.

I know it's too soon to know for sure ....

I'm afraid to even say this ... but I'm cautiously - hopeful.  

Please, please, please let this medication work for me!  

Please, please, please let this be a new beginning!

I'll be in the pool nearly every day for the next several months so I will continue to work on re-building strength in my arm.

All in all, it was a great holiday weekend.  

Did you do anything fun and/or exciting for your weekend?  

I'm nosy - I want to hear all about it!

© Twenty Four At Heart

Time Off

I'm taking a little time off over this holiday weekend.

So far, it's involved a lot of tequila and not much else.

I hope you're having a great weekend too!

I'll be back soon!

© Twenty Four At Heart 

You've Been Dying to Know?

Ah yes, once again it's time to update you on the exciting tidbits I call my life with a mish-mash of unrelated topics all thrown together in one post.  I might will most likely regret writing this after I hit publish.

My oldest son is home from college for a few months.  That means I have two teen boys in the house again.  It also means I've been to the grocery store every single day since he got home.  I can't seem to buy enough food because, between the two boys, I'm convinced someone is eating every minute of the day at our house.  How else could they go through so much food?  Yesterday I bought THIRTY SIX eggs.  At one time.  I might add a button to my sidebar so you can donate food to the 24 household if the mood strikes you.  

Just kidding.  (For now!)

I've been falling asleep at odd times since I was put on my new pain meds.  I've never before slept during the day.  I'm not a napper.  I can't sleep on trains, planes or automobiles either.  

Except?  

All of a sudden I can.  In fact, just try to keep me awake.  

I am the new face of necrophilia narcolepsy.  

Damn!  I always get those two words confused.

Yesterday I managed to stay awake for the entire day for only the second time since my pain meds were changed.  I was so happy to see my body is adjusting to the new drugs.  Except, today?  Today is the day I increase my current dose.  That's right ... for the next week I will be taking twice the amount I took all of last week.  

Zzzzzzzzzzzz!  

What was I saying?

I've lost fourteen pounds.  Woo hoo!  I'm only losing about a pound a week now.  I've been told weight gain is a "common side effect" of the pain drugs.  If I gain weight the drugs will quickly become a part of my past.  I'm working far too hard to lose my post-car-accident weight to let any type of medication mess me up.  It's too bad ten five of the fourteen pounds I've lost were probably gained on a pre-diet bender.  

Have you ever gone on a pre-diet bender?

What?  Am I the only one?

My pre-diet bender involved my favorite Mexican restaurant, chips, salsa, and a few too many margaritas.

Guess where I've lost weight from?  

My fingers!  

That's right ... I had the skinniest fingers ever invented (are fingers invented?) and now they've gotten even skinnier.  I've always worn a very small ring size.  Now my wedding bands keep wanting to slip right off my fingers.  (And not just when Adam the pool boy stops by!)  

Have I told you about Adam the Pool Boy?  No?  

I told Twitter.  Hmmm!  

(Or did I mean, Mmmmmmmm!?)

* Do not click on the Mmmm link if you are easily offended or a virgin. *

Am I rambling today?  Even more than a random-catch-all type post would warrant?  Let's blame the new meds, okay?  I don't think they have a thing to do with it, but I can blame them for everything for a good six months or so.

Back to my skinny, and getting skinnier, fingers ...

My wedding rings are a style which can't be sized smaller (or larger for that matter).  I've got fat to spare everywhere else on my body, but my too thin fingers are now even thinner.  

Go figure.

I got another email from a "well endowed man" last week.  He asked if I'd like to set up a "personal interview" with him to verify his well endowed-ness and then he typed a winking smiley face at the end of his email.  Why are men so preoccupied with their dicks?  And how many women really want a well hung man who types little smiley faces in his emails anyway?

Speaking of phallic shapes ....

I have a million hot dogs left over from our party last weekend.  If you live in South Orange County and you love hot dogs, please let me know.  Our family doesn't eat them more than once a year.  Even my chow-hound teen boys don't care for them.  Free hot dogs to the first South OC family to contact me!  (Sandi?  I'm thinking of you!  But the hot dogs are first come, first serve - so to speak!)

I'm apologizing to those of you who were looking for some of the wave photos from yesterday's post on my photo site.  The requested photos are up now!  So sorry!  (Camera button on my sidebar.)

I've been crazy busy lately.  You know, between the daily grocery runs, the medical appointments, a bunch of family stuff I can't yet blog about, falling asleep at inappropriate times and places, etc.  

And yet, I'm hoping to write a post from inside the Money Town Starbucks sometime in the next ten days.  That's right, I'm going to park myself in the Money Town Starbucks and write about whatever goes on around me.  Let's hope I don't fall asleep while I'm there.  I'd probably get arrested if I did.

Maybe there won't be anything to write about in Money Town that day ...

But I sincerely doubt that will be the case.

There is ALWAYS something going on in Money Town.

© Twenty Four At Heart

A Day of Rest

The party yesterday was a big success.  It's amazing how much food (and tequila!) we went through.

I'm tired today.  

I think I'll be fighting exhaustion for a couple months until I'm used to the new meds and they get my doses finalized.  I hate being tired all the time.  It's as if I've reverted to being a child - I need a daily nap.  If I don't have a chance to take a nap, I can't function the second half of the day.  Either I'm three years old or three hundred, I'm not sure which.

In any case, I'm taking today off to do as little as possible.  I hear the waves are enormous this weekend.  Maybe if I get a burst of energy later today, I'll mosey down to the beach for a long walk.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Pool Party

 

While I was out of town for Mother's Day weekend, Briefcase volunteered our house for a pool party and barbecue this weekend.  

No, he didn't check with me first before volunteering us me to do all the work.

This isn't a small affair either.

We are hosting around 75 people from my son's baseball program this afternoon and evening.

Everyone we're expecting is very nice and I'm sure I'll enjoy myself once it begins.  On the other hand, I can't say throwing a large party is remotely exactly what I needed right now.

Someone pass me a margarita, please!

© Twenty Four At Heart

Sheer Joy!

Some things, at our house, are inevitable.

Even before the pool is heated ...

The weather gets hot ....

And some members of our house ...

Leap for joy ...

Out of sheer excitement ...

  

And unbridled enthusiasm ...

Because it's almost ....

Summer!

* No animals were harmed during the photography session for this post.  One animal may have been brushed, however, before he was allowed to enter the pool. *  

© Twenty Four At Heart

Bikini Waxes, Pedicures and New Sandals

This *might* be a girlie post today.

(Waving good-bye to all my male readers!)

Since I returned from my trip, I've been busy getting my life back in order.

It has involved very mundane activities such as blah, blah, blah UNPACKING, and blah, blah, blah, LAUNDRY and blah, blah, blah GROCERY SHOPPING, etc.

I also realized I, myself, was sorely in need of a little maintenance.

I hesitate to even mention this fact because it's quite possible you:

1)  Currently think I'm flawless and require no maintenance.

2)  Will forever brand me as an "OC Woman" if I tell you I do indeed partake of much needed maintenance from time to time.

It occurred to me yesterday, as I ran from appointment to appointment, perhaps I'm a little more Orange County than I'd like to admit.  I suppose this place is a bit insidious and invades the personalities even of those of us who try to fight it off.

As an example, I had a woman yank out my pubic hairs again yesterday.  With each and every rrrriiiiiiiiippppppp I gasped in pain.  

And yet?

It's bathing suit season in Orange County.  

It was 80F/26.7C at my house yesterday afternoon.

Rip away!

I wonder if Brazilian Bikini Waxes are the "must have" of cooter grooming outside of Southern California?  My guess is they aren't.  

As a side note, my waxing salon has now come out with "Baldy Bucks."

Oh yes, they have!

Each Brazilian Wax earns their patrons one "Baldy Buck."  After nine Brazilian waxes a customer has earned enough Baldy Bucks to get one FREE Brazilian Bikini Wax.  I'm sure you'll be interested to hear I only have one more paid Brazilian until I, too, am the recipient of a FREE Baldy Buck Brazilian Bikini Wax.

Only in Orange County?

After my coochie grooming, I was off to do something about the talons growing out of my feet.  I had intended to get a pedicure before going to Santa Barbara, but then realized the sand would ruin new polish.  Because I postponed this particular maintenance, my toenails had grown to epic lengths by the time I went in yesterday.

They're looking slightly better now.

I had them painted purple to match my hair.  

(Well, to match the purple streak in my hair.)

A girl's got to coordinate her look, right?

Actually, the pedicure was also a priority because I want to wear the new shoes I bought in Santa Barbara.

Aren't they cute?  

They wouldn't look good with talons poking out of them - hence, the need for a pedicure.

I live in sandals of one sort or another year round.  These are made by Cole Haan and they were on sale (!) for $80 off their normal price.  I love that they have a not-too-high heel.  

They're perfect to slide into and wear with jeans when I need something a little nicer than my usual flip flops.

How about you?

Have you earned your Baldy Bucks yet?

Do you have a favorite nail polish color for spring and/or summer?

Have you found a perfect pair of sandals for summer yet?

© Twenty Four At Heart

Eighties Flashback!

Prepare to smile BIG by the end of this post.

First, my apologies, I have no Photography Friday post for you this week.  I will definitely have one for you next Friday.

Why?

Well, the last 24 hours have been purely chaotic.  My oldest son returned home from his freshman year at college in North Carolina.  Doesn't it seem like I was just crying my eyes out as I dropped him off?  Summer break begins early for the southern schools and he arrived home last night.  I am, of course, thrilled.

Remind me of that when he leaves dirty dishes all over the house.

My youngest son caught the crud I had a week or two ago, was home sick from school, and needed to be run into the doctor.  (He's fine ... just needed some meds!)

Also, I'm on my way out of town early today for a long girl's weekend.  I'm sure you understand how crazy it sometimes gets as you're packing and preparing for a trip.  I'll be in Santa Barbara and neighboring vicinities until Tuesday.  I do plan to post while I'm gone, assuming I'm able to find decent Internet access at the dump hole in the wall I'm staying in.  I may, however, be posting when I can vs. my normal, fairly reliable, schedule.

(If you've emailed me in the last few days, forgive me for not yet responding.  See above craziness!)

Photography Friday posts take quite a bit of prep time on my part, and I just couldn't pull it off this week.  Instead, I thought I'd end the week by providing you with a smile.

Recently, I posted a photo of what I looked like in the 90's.

One of my readers and twitter friends (VanMacGuy on Twitter) asked me what I looked like in the 80's.  We agreed to swap photos.  Unfortunately, I have yet to find the right box with my photos from the 80's.  When I do, I'll post one of myself.

In the meantime, VanMacGuy was nice enough to allow me to share with you his photo from the eighties.

I love it!

If you'd like to send me a photo from your past too, along with permission to post it on 24, I'd love to see it.

In the meantime, a huge thank you to VanMacGuy for bringing a smile to my day!

© Twenty Four At Heart 

Life's Simple Pleasures

A few years ago, while vacationing in Maui, I fell in love with Chocolate Macadamia Nut Coffee from The Coffee Store.  Every year, when we'd return to Maui, I'd buy some to bring home with me.  I tried other flavors, but for me - it always came back to this one.

I don't know what took me so long, but I finally realized I could enjoy my favorite coffee year round.  I now order it online and it arrives in big five pound bags on my doorstep a few days later.  

 

This just came yesterday.  I spent the last week drinking "normal" coffee as I waited for it to arrive.  Next time I'll order sooner so I don't run out.  If you're a coffee drinker, you might want to treat yourself.  You can order it in smaller one pound bags if you want.  You can also order it ground or get the whole beans.  I buy the whole beans and grind them as I use them.

Periodically it goes on sale or they have specials where they waive the shipping charges.  I always stock up when I can get it a little cheaper.

Yum!

Sitting outside on our deck or patio and sipping this in the mornings is truly one of my favorite moments of the day.

© Twenty Four At Heart   

Unexpected Storm

Remember, I mentioned sitting out in the cold and rain while my son played baseball on Wednesday afternoon?  Maybe you chuckled and thought, "Twenty Four doesn't even know the meaning of cold weather!"

I took this photo Thursday afternoon from my backyard patio.

Yes, "my" mountain had a dusting of snow on it.  It didn't last long, but still - snow!

It's almost May ...

Can you believe it? 

© Twenty Four At Heart

And This is What You Get Today

I'm apologizing in advance for not making much sense today.  I may ramble too, but you're used to that, right?

I'm not feeling quite as badly as I did a day ago, but this "thing" I've caught has turned into a bad head/chest cold.

** I can't breathe **

I'm definitely suffering from cold medicine induced brain-fog also.  I've been doing things like forgetting what I'm talking about mid-sentence, pee-ing a little each time I sneeze, coughing with a mouthful of soup and spewing it all over myself.

I'm so much fun!

And yet, in spite of it all - I wanted to give you at least one update I promised would be forthcoming.

Before I do?

(Prepare for tangent ....)

My chocolate lab is really jealous I always show you photos of my golden.  The golden is more photogenic, but try explaining that to a lab with hurt feelings.  In the interest of being fair, here's a picture of Mocha, my female chocolate lab:

Her eyes are two different colors, did you notice?

She's not as smart as my golden, but her heart is filled to the brim with love and kindness.

By the way, never take a photo of a brown dog with a brown couch behind her.

I've OD'ed on cold meds, can you tell?

And on with today's update .... 

I won't be going to Cambodia.  I was working on details this week and there were a lot of complications.  In fact, there was one complication after another ... to the point where it finally just seemed like this trip was not meant to be.  The biggest factor was I didn't have enough time to complete all the required immunizations.  I could have traveled only 90% immunized, but Briefcase, who works in the medical world, was not comfortable with that at all.  Especially since I would be working in a hospital, and therefore, most likely exposed to very sick people.  Some very serious diseases (hepatitis, cholera, typhoid, malaria, dengue fever) are prevalent in Cambodia.

There were other factors too.  The timing was not compatible with some big family stuff we have going on in June, the cost would be well over $2,000 and we're on a strict two-kids-in-college budget right now, etc., etc.  

There was also concern over my limitations with my arm.  That concern, in relation to the Cambodia trip, is an entire blog post all on its own and I won't bore you with it.  (Because, blah, blah, blah ... I have a really fucked up arm.  The end.)

I was really honored to be invited.  I hope sometime in the future all the pieces will come together so I might experience a trip like this, but this particular one will not work out for me.

In spite of being sick, I had a very chaotic, busy, day yesterday.  It involved, among many other things, sitting out in very cold weather and pouring rain to watch my son's baseball game.  The game went into extra innings because, of course, a game in pouring rain could not end early or on time.  

That is exactly how a person goes about getting pneumonia, by the way.

It also involved mixing this:

 

With cold meds.

Which I don't recommend.  

Especially when you double triple the recommended dosage of cold meds so you can attend the event without coughing and sneezing on everyone.

I'll tell you more about that soon.

For now, I hope you'll excuse me while I go make some tea and ... 

** Cough ** 

** Cough **

ACHOOOOOO!

. . . .  Excuse me  . . . .

Where's the Kleenex?

© Twenty Four At Heart

Stopped In My Tracks

I've had a fever and killer sore throat for the last two days.  

I never, ever, get sore throats.

I'm blaming volcanic ash.

What?

I've been getting too little sleep, and been way too busy lately.  To make up for it, I slept most of yesterday away.  Sleeping during the day is another thing I never do, but I couldn't keep my eyes open for more than a few minutes.  Fevers do that to me ... I just sleep and sleep and sleep.

I have a really over-booked week scheduled too, but everything I don't have to do is being put on hold.  Unfortunately, today I have a non-stop day of appointments and activities and there's no escaping any of it.

Sorrry for the boring post today, but I wanted to stop in long enough to let you know I'm fine.  (When I don't post people assume I'm dead or there's some terrible crisis.)

I'm being looked after constantly by the most attentive, concerned, set of eyes.  

 

He gets so worried when he sees me sleeping all day.

But really, it's just a sore throat.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Potpourri

I hope you had a nice weekend!

I've had house guests here for the last five days.  Even the best house guests are exhausting, don't you think?

Or maybe I'm just old.

I feel like I need to be Happy!  And Up!  And Chatty!  And Cooking!  And Cleaning!  And Entertaining!  all day long every single day while they're here.

It's so much easier to be grouchy, and lazy ....

In the theme of laziness, I thought I'd give you a few random updates today.

1.  Whirlpool came out five days earlier than expected and fixed my "failed" three and a half year old front-loading washing machine.  I was thrilled with their earlier-than-expected response time.  The final cost of the repairs was over $1,600 and Whirlpool charged me nothing.  I haven't written about the repair, because I wanted to use the machine for a week or so, and make sure it continued to work.  It has, but the other day I found water sitting in the empty tub, again.  The repair people had told me this happens when the pump fails and they just replaced the pump so I don't know what the deal is.  It's only happened once.  Maybe it was some weird fluke?  

I'll contact Whirlpool once my guests leave to take a look at it if it happens again.  The important thing is, I can do laundry again including the daily cleaning of my son's always-filthy baseball uniform.  

Thank you Whirlpool! 

This is what my son's uniform pants looked like five minutes into his game last Friday:

And that is why I need to do laundry every night!

2.  Several of you have asked why I might be traveling to Cambodia.  I've been invited by the Plasticos Foundation to travel with them to document and photograph a medical mission in June.  It isn't definite yet whether I'll be able to attend, but I'm working hard on the details in an attempt to take them up on this amazing opportunity.  As you may recall, the foundation travels to third world countries and performs life-changing surgeries to aid people with birth defects, malformations, and disfigurements caused by trauma.  In addition to changing the lives of the patients they attend, they also train the doctors in the countries they visit.  The doctors they train are then able to continue helping patients after the American medical team has departed.  

Everyone who travels with the Plasticos Foundation is required to work, and non-medical personnel are not normally permitted on these trips.  I'm incredibly honored they've invited me to come along to record this medical mission (with both my writing and my photography).  I'll let you know, as soon as I know, if I'm able to pull off the logistics to make this trip happen.

3.  It was pretty hot here this weekend.  Some of us will do anything we can think of to cool off.

He sits on the "beach" area of our pool to cool off.  Then he wades in and swims.  Then he sits back down on the beach for awhile.  He thinks it's his swimming pool.  (And for those who have asked in the past, we brush him daily so the pool doesn't end up full of dog hair.)

4.  I spent Saturday afternoon at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.

Fashion Island is an outdoor, swanky, high-end, mall.  You can see the ocean from the mall.  A Nordstrom store just opened at Fashion Island on Friday.  In spite of the fact we have several other Nordstrom stores in Orange County, the entire OC seemed to show up for this big (!) excitement.  

??

Personally, I went to people-watch.  I rarely buy anything at Fashion Island, but it may be the best people-watching anywhere in The OC.

However, this trip I dog-watched instead.

I've never seen so many dogs inside a department store in my life.  I counted twenty five dogs inside the brand new Nordstrom store during the short time I was there.  (And that was just on the ground level!)  I'm not talking (only) about little, tiny, dogs either.  Several of the dogs began growling and barking at each other and the owners just laughed as if it were all very amusing.

Two dogs started to fight in the shoe department.  

Seriously, Orange County?

I'm a total, complete, dog lover and I found it ridiculous, inappropriate, and annoying.  

One dog ran in circles around me wrapping its leash around my ankles.  What would happen if that same thing occurred with an elderly person and they fell?  And what happens when someone gets bit by a dog while buying their $2,000 designer purse?  Does Nordstrom want those lawsuits? 

Not to mention, some people are allergic or afraid of dogs.

What the hell Orange County?  Do you really feel so entitled, you don't think you need to concern yourself with the well being of the other people around you?

And Nordstrom, what are you thinking allowing dogs in your stores?  If they aren't guide-dogs/canine companions, they shouldn't be there.  It's not the beach, it's a department store. 

Oh wait, I forgot, dogs aren't allowed on most beaches here either.  So why are they allowed in our department stores?

5.  My arm is bad.  Very, very bad.  The pain is the worst it has been in months, and I've lost a lot of function since The Torturer stopped treating me in February.  It's very discouraging.  And painful.  And did I mention ... painful?  I've put it off for as long as I can, I'm going to have to call my doc this week and get back into treatment.  You have no idea how overwhelming the very thought is.  Or how depressing.  Or discouraging.  And did I mention it has been very painful?  As in, waking-me-up-several-times-each-night painful? Ugh .....!!!

6.  Hummingbirds live in Orange County year round.  They're definitely thirstier once the weather warms up though.  I was sitting out by the pool yesterday afternoon and they kept buzzing around my head.  I don't know why, but they always make me smile.  

I like to think our yard is a friendly place for them to hang out.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Lately, My Life Has Been a Whirlpool

** A huge thank you to all of you who contacted me with concern over yesterday's earthquake.  I'm fine; my family's fine.  I live pretty far south and the quake did cause significant shaking at my house.  (The epicenter was in Baja California.)  Our nerves were rattled, but we are okay.  **

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know a little about today's topic.

In August of 2006, I purchased a top of the line Whirlpool front loading washing machine for just over $1,000.

Expensive, don't ya think?!

I'd never spent that much money on a washing machine in my life.

I've been very happy with my washer (and the Whirlpool dryer which I bought at the same time).

I love the large capacity of the front loaders.  I have three kids; there's never a shortage of laundry at my house.

In fact, I do several loads of wash every.single.day.

My washer has done a great job cleaning even the toughest clothes.  I've been extremely happy with it.

My boys both have participated in sports.  Currently, my youngest son brings home filthy baseball uniforms each evening for me to launder.  They need to be washed and re-packed for practice or games the next day.

A few nights back, on April 1st, I was washing my son's high school baseball uniform when my washing machine began making a beeping noise.  I went to take a look at it, and you can imagine my surprise when I discovered the washing machine door had locked itself tight.

Inside, my son's uniform was being held hostage.

Visions of an angry coach immediately began dancing through my head.

I turned to Twitter for help.

I tweeted my problem and I was pleased to get some advice on how to unlock the machine.  I followed the advice, but unfortunately it didn't work for me.

The following day an appliance repairman charged me $53 to look at my three and a half year old machine.  The repairman was able to unlock the machine and free the hostage uniform by using some magic repairman tricks.  He also told me the "inner tub" of the machine was separating and that my "machine is failing."  He told me I might be able to wash small loads temporarily, but I need to buy a new washing machine.

I was upset.  

I was livid.

How can a "top of the line" washing machine "fail" in only three and a half years?

The repairman told me it doesn't happen often, yes - he does like and recommend Whirlpool machines, and it's too bad I didn't have an extended five year warranty.

Seriously?!

No one buys a washing machine thinking it will DIE in less than five years.

No one, especially, buys a "top of the line" washing machine for a thousand dollars thinking it will only last three and a half years.

I began venting on Twitter.  I was not a happy Whirlpool customer.

To my surprise, Whirlpool responded via Twitter.

They asked me how old the machine was, and then asked me for my "information."

I sent them a direct Tweet (like a private text message) with my first name and phone number.

The next day I got a call from Whirlpool.  Based on the small amount of information I had provided, they knew my full name, address, and all the registration information about my machine.

I was impressed.

It also creeped me out a little, in a big-brother type of way, but I was mostly impressed.

They informed me they would send out their own serviceman to look at my machine and see if it could be fixed at no cost to myself.

I was, again, impressed.

Clearly, Whirlpool cares about their reputation.  Clearly, they understand the power of the Internet.  Clearly, they are trying to stand by their products - right?

Last Saturday, the Whirlpool serviceman arrived.

First, he informed me the water pump on the machine was bad and he had already replaced it.

"That's nice," I responded, "but I thought the problem was with the 'inner' tub?"

"I'll check that next," he said.

Sure enough, he determined the machine needed a new inner AND outer tub.  He told me Whirlpool would be covering the repairs.  

Those repairs?

They would have cost me $1,400 if I were paying to fix the machine myself.  (More than an entirely new machine would cost!)

I asked the repairman why Whirlpool wouldn't just let me get a replacement machine.  It would be cheaper for them, and more convenient for me.

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "They won't.  This is how they take care of it."

I'll be honest, my initial reaction was one of relief and thankfulness.

I felt relief Whirlpool cared enough about their customers to stand by their product.  I felt thankful I didn't have to spend $1,000 to buy a replacement machine.  (If I had to buy a new machine after only 3 1/2 years you can bet, in my anger, it would NOT have been a Whirlpool.)

Whirlpool was making me happy.

Really, what a smart company - don't you think?

I reach thousands upon thousands of people with my blog and Twitter ... Whirlpool is smart.

Big corporations are learning ...

Take care of your customers, and your customers will be your customers for life.

Also?

If your customer is a blogger?

You can reach thousands of people in a positive way by having excellent customer service.

Whirlpool is smart.

But I still have a big problem and I'm not sure what to do about it.

Whirlpool is sending BIG boxes with replacement TUBS and other things to my home.  When they arrive, I'm supposed to open them and check for damage.  Apparently they get damaged a lot in transit because they are big and heavy.  Then I'm supposed to call the service company and let them know if my replacement parts are good, or need to be ordered again.  If everything arrives undamaged, the service company will be out on April 15th, with two men, to spend almost an entire day re-building my washing machine.

If the replacement parts arrive damaged, the whole process begins again with them re-ordering the parts.

Do you see where this is going?

If the very best scenario takes place, I will be without a working washing machine for a total of fifteen days!

FIFTEEN DAYS!

I do several loads of laundry EACH DAY!

Now, you're probably thinking, "Go use a laundromat, 24."

Of course, I already thought of that myself.  The problem is, there are no laundromats near Money Town.

None!

(Rich people never need laundromats?  Inquiring minds want to know!)

In addition, my son gets home from high school baseball around 6:45 each night.  His uniform has to be washed at night for the next day of school which he departs for at 7 a.m.  I usually wash his uniform while I'm getting him his dinner, etc.  It's not a time of day where I can be driving thirty minutes (or longer) both ways to a faraway laundromat.  I can't be away from home for a couple hours every night.  It won't work.

There's another, more difficult, problem also.

Whirlpool doesn't know this, but you do.

I'm *disabled* .... 

(Oh, how I hate that word.)

Laundry is difficult for me under the best of circumstances.  When I do laundry at home, I drag the baskets across the floor with my left, non-dominant, arm.  I drag them downstairs, one at a time, in the same manner ... and then I drag them one-handed to our laundry room.  If Briefcase is home, he helps me by carrying them, of course - but his job involves extensive travel and he isn't home very often.

I do a lot of dragging.

I'm not physically capable of lifting laundry baskets, carrying them to my car, lifting them in and out of the car and carrying them into a laundromat.

(If I even HAD a laundromat nearby - which I don't.)

In the meantime, dirty laundry has already begun taking over my entire house.

In a perfect world, Whirlpool would have a replacement machine delivered to my house in the next 24 hours.

And yet, it isn't a perfect world.  Whirlpool has committed to fixing the machine I have, and I appreciate that - very much.  It just isn't going to happen quickly.

What do I do?

I mean, other than trying to rub the clothes against a rock in the backyard with one arm in an attempt to clean them?

Your suggestions are welcome ....

**  Controversy over this post warranted a further discussion which you can find by clicking here.  **

© Twenty Four At Heart

Adrift in Chocolate

This isn't what I was going to write about today, at all.

No, I'm supposed to be dieting, remember?

Hmmm ... I think I blew it already.

My daughter returned safely from her spring break trip and is now back at college.  

Did you know I gave birth to her when I was only a toddler?

It's true.

It might have been a miracle.

Anyway ...

While she was gone she visited Finland, Russia, Belgium, and Estonia.

Some of you live in those very places.

She had a great time and returned with gifts.

These Belgian chocolates are tiny, little, slivers of melting deliciousness!

She brought an entire box of them home.  They are pure, rich, sweet, goodness. 

I have readers in Belgium.  I'd just like each and every one of them to know I can be bribed with chocolate.

It's a terrible weakness.  

Especially when I have PMS.

She also brought home chocolate waffles.  I had never heard of chocolate waffles before.

They are about three inches across ... about the size of a large American cookie.  They're crisp like a cookie also.  They were made by Dumon Chocolatier and they're to die for.  Honestly, they are perhaps the best treat I've ever experienced.  Someone needs to hide them from me because I absolutely can't resist them.  I could eat a bazillion of them in one sitting - they are that good!

I think maybe they're just cookies in a waffle shape?

Also?

I really need to do some traveling.  I haven't been to Europe in years.  Her photos brought back all sorts of memories.  The hotel she stayed at in Belgium was right on a canal.

Belgium is nothing like Orange County.

Of course, no place is like Orange County.

I live in a strange little bubble filled with sunshine, beautiful beaches, and plastic real-life Barbies.

Please send chocolate!

(I better go exercise now ....)

© Twenty Four At Heart

Hot Weather

We've all been waiting, rather impatiently, to get back in the pool again.  

I think it's time.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Life's Little Twists and Turns

I'll be honest, I've got a whole lot of nothing in my head right now.

Actually, I've got a whole lot in my head, but just not in bloggable form.

This is possibly because I'm exhausted.

So I'll ramble a little and who knows, maybe you'll enjoy the rambling.

Why am I exhausted?

Well, there's a few things going on.  Briefcase has been traveling nonstop.  That's nothing new, of course, but his travel has included most of the last two weekends.  It means I haven't had any down time for awhile.

There's also the whole my arm hurts like hell and I can't sleep thing.  That isn't really new either, but I've had a bad flare up lately so boo hiss on living with chronic pain.

I took two pain pills this week.  I took both of them at night (two separate nights/one pill each time) with hopes of being able to sleep.  I haven't taken any pain meds for nearly two months and it made me angry to need them.  

My increased pain level is camera-related.  

I'm not giving up photography.

Some of you have inquired, and no, I don't have a new physical therapist.  My PT days are probably over for good.

The Torturer has re-signed with Blue Cross and is taking Blue Cross patients again, by the way.

I don't feel like I can go into more detail on those last three sentences, so I'm just going to leave it at that.

My daughter is no longer in Russia, but she's still in Europe.  She's traveling on her spring break.  She's worked three jobs while going to school and is paying for her trip herself.  I may live in Orange County, but I'm not a typical Orange County parent.  If I was, she wouldn't be working three jobs and paying for her own vacations.

My apologies to the responsible parents of Orange County.  I know not all of you fit the stereotype.

There's a possibility I might be going to Cambodia in June.  It's only a maybe-thing right now, but it's directly related to 24.  It's amazing how Twenty Four At Heart keeps providing twists and turns and unexpected opportunities in my life.  I had no idea, when I began blogging, 24 would end up having such a profound affect on my life.

Do you remember, I told you I won the magic potion lotion called Youth Complex at the Plastic Surgery Party?  The company that makes Youth Complex saw my post.  They've asked me to review their product.  I don't agree to product reviews most of the time, and I do get a lot of companies requesting them.  In this case, I agreed because I'm, so far, loving (really, really, loving!) the product.

However, I agreed with the following understandings:

1.  I will be nothing but candid and honest when I do my review.

2.  They must provide product for me to give away to YOU, my readers.

A box arrived with product on Monday.

I'm going to use Youth Complex (and the eye formula which they also sent) for a couple weeks longer to get a better feel for it.  Then I will let you know what I think of it in a combination review/giveaway.  If I end up disliking the product, I imagine no one will enter the giveaway.

My house is really LOUD right now, and it makes it next to impossible to write.

I can't wait for Friday!  I hope each and every single one of you who has ever taken a photo will join in on the very first Twenty Four At Heart Photography Friday!  

Woo Hoo!

I'm so excited!

© Twenty Four At Heart

Spring!

** Beginning this Friday, I'm going to experiment with "Photography Friday" for a few weeks and see how it goes.  For those of you interested in photography (beginners included!), I hope you'll stop by as we discuss questions/suggestions/tips you've sent in.  **

I carved out a few moments in my backyard with my camera late Saturday afternoon.  It was the first day of spring and I needed a few minutes away from the baseball fields.  (Which, by the way, I got very sunburned at earlier in the day.)

I didn't have to go far to make some great captures.

The lavender is beginning to bloom.  I love lavender.

By the way, why doesn't the lady bug have many spots?

There were signs of spring everywhere I looked.

Yellow ... I love yellow.

There's just prettiness everywhere right now.

And lavender.

Did I mention the lavender?

I really love lavender.

© Twenty Four At Heart 

Fun Facts

** I'm giving away a beautiful photography book this week.  Click here for details. **

Fun Fact #1:  I took this, very (!) bad, photo of myself with my MacBook yesterday afternoon.  Do you like the messy, un-brushed, hair?  (Seriously, I'm not sure I even brushed it with anything other than my fingers yesterday!)  

Did I photoshop away enough of my wrinkles?

The reason why I'm sharing this, less than flattering, picture is because I just received the shirt I have on.  I ordered it from Boden.  I've mentioned before, I like some of their clothes.  It was really hot here yesterday and this top was cool, comfortable, cute and ... just a little bit sex-ay due to the low-cut.  I always like to share a good find on Twenty Four At Heart.  (No, I'm not getting any freebies from Boden).

Fun Fact #2:  Someone on Twitter used the expression, "Omigod I just pulled a TwentyFour!" to explain something embarrassing she'd done.  It made me laugh.  Then I thought about it for a minute, and now I'm not sure if I should be flattered or insulted?  

Fun Fact #3:  My friend Mr Lady gave me the greatest tip on Twitter the other day.  I was cooking a dish with a lot of garlic in it and my hands reeked of it.  Mr Lady told me to rub my hands on stainless steel and the smell would go away.  I'd never heard of doing this before and, I admit, I was skeptical.  But guess what?  It works!  It might have looked a little odd as I gave my appliances a hand job, but the garlic smell disappeared completely.

Am I the only one who didn't know this trick?

Fun Fact #4:  Today is Day #4 of my 1,000 calorie per day diet.  In reality, I think I'm actually getting around 1100 calories each day.  I'm trying to do this for two weeks to kick-start my body into losing some weight before summer.  I don't know if I've lost anything yet, but I'm definitely eating healthier.  I'm also hungry.  I'm using SparkPeople to track calories and nutrients.  The most interesting part of the experience so far has been realizing what I DON'T have enough of in my diet.  (Vitamin C, as an example.)  If nothing else, it's making me very conscious of eating healthier which is always a good thing.  (And no, I'm not following the SparkPeople diet plan.)

Fun Fact #5:  I had a pukey kid home for the beginning part of this week.  If I catch what he had?  Shoot me.

Fun Fact #6:  Someone in my immediate family departed for Russia this week.  It wasn't me or Briefcase.

Fun Fact #7:  A local Orange County woman recently got upset with me for swearing on Twitter.  If you're on Twitter, you know swearing is extremely prevalent there.  Also?  clearly, this woman was not a 24 reader or she would have already known I'm not a G-rated blogger.

I woke up in a lot of pain that particular morning and I believe I tweeted something along the lines of, "Holy shit my arm hurts.  Fuck you Anthem Blue Cross for taking my PT away from me."  This particular woman replied back to me her son had read my tweet and I needed a time-out for cussing.

Excuse me?

If you know me at all, you know I absolutely cannot keep my mouth shut at times.

This was definitely one of those times.

I replied back this is why kids should not be on Twitter.

She replied back this is why [she] would "unfollow" me.

My reply?  

If you're easily offended, you never should have followed me in the first place.  Be a responsible parent and don't let your young kids read the Tweets of adults you've followed.

Fun Fact #8:  There are a LOT of women in Money Town right now who look like chimpanzees.  

 

Why?  

They've botoxed their faces to the point where their faces don't move at all.  Their eyes look permanently startled or frightened due to a combination of botox and bad brow lifts.  They've put so much filler in their lips, they flap in the wind.  But worst of all, they've added fillers to their laugh lines (parentheses) around their mouth.  Women here are going so overboard on the fillers, they look horrible.  Honestly, it looks like they're walking around with snouts.

Stop it Money Town women!

It doesn't look good - it looks ridiculous.  

And glaringly obvious.

And many of us are laughing at you.

And in a year or two you will look back at photos of yourself and say, "Omigod - what was I thinking?!"

Because that's exactly what I'm wondering right now.

What the hell are you thinking?

© Twenty Four At Heart

Time Suck

Baseball season has begun.  

My son is a high school freshman.  His team played six games over the last eight days.  This week they "only" have four games.  I'm already re-developing last season's bleacher butt and there's a long, long, season ahead of us.

I love baseball, don't get me wrong.  I've always loved watching all three of my kids participate in sports.  It's just a tremendous time suck.

Also?

Do you have any idea how ridiculous some of these competitive Orange County parents are with their kids and sports?  Sheesh!

Wish me a baseball season filled with patience, patience, and more patience.

Also?

The ability to keep my smart-ass mouth closed ... the most difficult task of all.

(** The above photo was taken by a friend at the moment of contact on a home run hit by my son a couple years ago.  Awesome photography!  The ball is actually flat from the force of the hit - so cool! **)

© Twenty Four At Heart

What a Week!

I'm exhausted from a very busy, non-stop, week.  

How about you? 

© Twenty Four At Heart

Beautiful Day at the Beach

I'm continuing on with my overbooked, totally insane, chaotic week.

I'm exhausted and it's only Wednesday.

My son, PR, turns 15 today!

Woo hoo!  

We make a big deal out of birthdays at our house.  It's my fault.  I put a lot of stress on myself to make a BIG DEAL out of every birthday in our family.  I want people to make a big deal out of my birthday too.  I believe everyone deserves their very own day to feel like the truly special person they are.

On a totally separate note, I have the funniest story to tell you!  You will laugh your ass off ... unless it offends you, but I don't think my readers are easily offended.  Otherwise, you wouldn't be my readers, right?  Except for the one woman who wrote me one day to say she had been reading 24 "for a really long time" but I deeply offend her on a regular basis and she wouldn't be coming back to read "ever again."  She had never commented or emailed before so I never knew she was there in the first place.  It was hard to feel heartbroken over THAT loss.

In any case, I can't wait to tell you my funny story.  I need to find some time to sit down uninterrupted so I can write it up.

Maybe tomorrow?

If not?

Soon.

Very, very soon!

Yesterday I was running around Orange County like a chicken with its head cut off all day.  For most of the day, I dragged my oldest son around with me.  He's only home for one week and if I can't be home with him while he's here, I like him to come with me so I can spend time with him.  He actually doesn't mind, which shocks the hell out of me.

Anyway, we stopped for lunch at the pier in San Clemente while we were out and about.

 

I forgot to bring my most-loved camera, but I did have my point and shoot in my purse.  I was glad I had it with me, because it was a beautiful day. 

I'm going to indulge myself in a little bitch session here and say these photos don't really do the scene justice.  I can't believe the difference a camera can make in picture quality ... I've gotten spoiled by my other camera. 

But ... any photo to share the day with you, is better than no photo, right?

We shared a bucket of steamed clams for lunch.  I tried to sneak a photo in when the waiter turned his back.

 

After lunch, we went for a walk on the beach.  There's nothing like sand between my toes to make me relax.  We only had a little time, but we enjoyed every minute of it.  It was sunny and pretty, but windy.  The wind created a lot of white caps on the ocean.  I was glad I wasn't out on a boat yesterday because the water was really rough.

 

In less than two hours our lunch and walk were done.  It was a short break in an otherwise chaotic week, which made it all the more special.  As the rest of my week carries forward, I know I'll think back on the time we took for this little break with a sigh.

 

What did you do last time you were able to grab an hour or two to enjoy yourself and/or relax?

© Twenty Four At Heart

So Close And Yet, So Far

Yesterday found me spending a good part of the day in both Huntington and Newport Beach.  

I've really overbooked myself for the month of March, and this week is the worst week of all.  If I told you everything I need to do this week, all the places I need to be, and how all the times overlap impossibly, you'd become dizzy just hearing about it.

It makes my head spin.

It also stresses me out.

Just to give you the tip of the ice berg ....

My oldest son is home from college for the week and, of course, I want to spend time with him.

My youngest son has six (!!) afternoon/evening baseball games in an eight day period.

(Baseball is not a fast sport, by the way.  Can you say "time suck"????)

My daughter is home for two to three days this week also.

My youngest is having a birthday on Wednesday.

My husband is leaving to go out of town on business.

I have three appointments with the Fat Melting Machine this week.  (It is not located anywhere near my house!  I just love those long commutes on Southern California freeways.)

The Plastic Surgery Party is Thursday night.

And there is, oh so much, more!

Who scheduled this insanity?

Oh wait, I did .....

To be fair, my son coming home for spring break was a last minute decision.  I was already all booked up when I found out he had changed plans and was coming home.  Then my daughter heard her brother would be home and decided to make a trip home too.

I'm glad they're here, but frustrated I have so many locked in commitments preventing me from really enjoying the week.

For instance, yesterday I was at the beach.  I was there doing birthday-related errands for my youngest.  My feet were inches from the sand, but there was no time to enjoy it.

Oh!  The frustration!

So close, and yet so far ...... 

© Twenty Four At Heart

Song Sung Blue

Song sung blue

Everybody knows one

Song sung blue

Every garden grows one

Me and you are subject to the blues now and then

But when you take the blues and make a song

You sing them out again

Sing them out again

Have I mentioned I got the blues this week?

© Twenty Four At Heart 

The Tale of My Tampons

** If you will be in Southern California on March 11th and you're interested in attending the Plastic Surgery party, you can go here for details. **

My male readers today should smile, wave, and walk away.  I welcome all of you nice men to come back tomorrow.  There's nothing here a man wants to read about today anyway.

Okay girls/women/people of the feminine persuasion ....

Apparently, I was leaving a trail of still-in-the-wrapper tampons behind me yesterday everywhere I went.  I didn't realize it, of course, or I wouldn't have done it.  Also?  I wouldn't have continued to do it all.fucking.day.long.

I'm not even, ahem, needing them this week.

Yet.

I suppose I should start at the beginning?  Because I know you want to read about The Tale Trail of My Tampons.

It's sort of like the story of Hansel and Gretel, but different.

I woke up with a headache yesterday.  I mainly get headaches as a result of shoulder/neck issues from my car accident.  This was different.  This felt like a PMS headache.  Frequently, right before my 5-7 days of celebrating blissful womanhood each month, I get a mean, kick-ass, headache.  

It arrives to keep my bloating and irritability company.

Do I sound like a feminine hygiene commercial yet?

I've really overbooked my calendar for the entire month of March.  Yesterday, was certainly no exception.  I needed to be all over Orange County and I knew it would be a long day of driving, errands, and appointments.  I didn't expect to return home until evening time.  

I downed two Advil with my morning coffee.  Trying to be smart, and prepared, I decided I should take some tampons with me just in case.  There was only one problem, I seemed to be out of them.  I started hunting around the house, checking cosmetic bags, old purses, etc., in search of an emergency stash.

I found some upstairs in one of my travel bags.  They were non-applicator, little, itty-bitty, tampons, perfect for travel.  I have a couple purses downstairs and I decided I would take a bunch of them downstairs with me to put in the various purses, once again, just in case.

I stuffed my pants pockets with tampons.  The non-applicator tampons are very tiny - only ... maybe two inches long?  That meant I could fit a hell of a lot of them in my four pockets.  My intention, of course, was to transfer them to the purses downstairs.  I don't even remember now, what distracted me after I put the tampons in my various pockets and before I put them into a purse, but something did.

I completely forgot about them.

Sheesh, you would NOT believe the day I had yesterday.  I left the house in the morning and returned after 6 p.m.  I was in almost every major city in Orange County at some point during the day.  I drove, and I drove, and I met with people and talked, and had appointments, and blah, blah, blah.

I never did need those tampons.  My headache went away and I completely forgot all about my blessed, holier than thou, possibly approaching, celebration of womanhood.

I forgot, that is, until I was leaving my very last appointment of the day.  

"You dropped a few things," called out the male owner of my hair salon.

I was three feet out the door already.  I had just gotten the purple streak in my hair replaced with a blue streak.  (It's now a really pretty aqua!)

I was headed to my car, and extremely grateful my day was finally coming to an end.

I turned and looked at him questioningly.

I saw he already had something in his hand and he was closing the gap between the two of us as he picked up another ...

Another tampon?

What the hell?

Instantly, my brain flashed on my chaotic morning and the many, many, tampons I had stuffed into my pockets.

Thank God, the salon owner is the most down to earth, nice, man I've ever encountered.  He handed me the two tampons he'd picked up.  I blushed, mumbled "thank you" while keeping my eyes diverted and walked to my car.

I know when I see him again, he'll pretend nothing ever happened.  How nice will that be?  He won't be awkward with me, or conversely overly familiar, now that he's had his hands all over my tampons.  Maybe he'll even give me a box of tampons as a gift one day now that he knows what brand I buy.

To be honest, I was almost too exhausted from my day to even care that a man I barely know was retrieving the trail of tampons I'd left behind me.

But then ...

Then it hit me.

I had put two full handfuls of mini-tampons into my various pockets.

Not one of those tampons was still there.

My pockets were completely, one hundred percent, empty.

I got to my car.  I checked.  No tampons had fallen out of my pockets while I was in the car.

No, of course not.  The tampons only fall out of my pockets when I walk.

I must have left a trail of them behind me everywhere I went, all day long.

So, if you live in Orange County and you've been wanting to meet me?

Just follow the trail of my tampons ...

It will lead you right to me.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Random Like That

I've been pretty low-key, just letting my eyes rest, and staying home a lot this week.  It certainly cuts down on my blogging material when I'm not out embarrassing myself and about as much as usual.  Never fear, though, I'm seeing much better and although my eyes aren't entirely back to normal, I think life will be back to its usual craziness this weekend.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share these little snippets with you.

1.  Proving once again, I have the greatest readers in the world, it turns out (at least) one of YOU is an opthamologist.  (You know who you are!)  It is just amazing to write about a situation and have a reader reach out to me with knowledge, advise, and comfort.  It makes me love this online world even more.

2.  Proving, however, nothing is perfect ....  I found one of the strangest reader emails of my life in my Inbox this week.  Some of you people out there?  Are bizarre.  I'm still shaking my head and asking myself, "Who takes the time to write such a long, rambling, email like this to a writer on the Internet?"  The person who sent it, clearly is in need of some psychological help.  It was not from one of my regular readers.  I know my regular readers are fantastic!

3.  I ran into Trader Joe's (a market, for those of you who aren't lucky enough to have TJ's where you live) to pick up enough food for my constantly starving 14 year old son.  I debated wearing sunglasses inside the store because my eyes are still uber-sensitive to bright light.  It would not be an unusual sight to see a person with sunglasses on indoors here.  I do live in Orange County, after all.  I opted not to.  

Five minutes into my shopping trip, a total stranger looked at me and said, "Have you been crying?  Your eyes are so red!  What's wrong?"  I mumbled something about eye allergies and moved on.

But really?

What if I HAD been crying?  What if I was going through some type of tragedy?  Would I want a total stranger to approach me and ask about it?  If you saw someone in a store with red, swollen, eyes would you approach them and ask about their life?

4.  I owe a bazillion people return emails right now, I'm sorry.  I know you understand, but I feel terrible when people email me with questions, etc. and I don't get back to them in a timely manner.

5.  I no longer have a physical therapist and that makes me euphoric, frustrated and sad all at the same time.

6.  I think my treatment for my arm has reached its permanent end.  That realization also makes me euphoric, frustrated and sad all at the same time.  

7.  For the record, I think Anthem Blue Cross (part of WellPoint) is a greedy, disgusting, medical insurance company.  Our economy sucks and people are really struggling to maintain health care.  At the same time, the WellPoint CEO was discussing her million dollar plus salary, and her eight million dollars worth of stock options, in congressional hearings this week.  All the while, Blue Cross/WellPoint is raising their insurance premiums for all of us "normal" people and paying their providers, the people we depend on to take care of us, way less.

Shame on you Blue Cross!

** Hopping off my soapbox now **

8.  Since I've been stuck in the house so much lately, I find myself very bored and perusing online sites.  One of my all time favorites, is B&H for photography related stuff.  I called them the other day and spent forever talking photography with one of their sales guys.  (Honestly, their sales people are SO nice, SO knowledgeable, and gush, gush, gush!)  I feel like I can call anytime just to ask questions.

But, of course, I wasn't calling just to ask questions.  I ordered a lens on my photography-related wish list.  It should arrive today.  Guess what I'll be playing with if I can find a few spare moments this weekend?

9.  I've been shooting a few photos again in the last day or two.  I'm ecstatic and will have a few to share with you over the weekend or next week.

10.  One of the women on The Real Housewives of Orange County really is the bitch she appears to be on TV.  I bet you can guess which one.

11.  I have my first treatment scheduled with the Fat Melting Machine (I'm a "test" subject for the machine) on March 1st.  My expectation level for results is at zero, but I still think it will be an interesting experience.  I'll have details on the March 11th Plastic Surgery Party for you at the beginning of next week.  Mark your calendars!

12.  I might be watching American Idol and Tweeting while I type this, so please excuse any typos.  I feel a strong responsibility to be a Twitter Judge whenever Idol is on.  Maybe it's my extreme love for music, or maybe it's just fun to act like I know what I'm talking writing about.  In any case, I take my Twitter Idol Judging responsibilities very seriously.

13.  I could make a list like this go on for days, but I won't.  (You're welcome.)

14.  One of my readers, Queen of Chaos, called her local Cole Haan store two nights ago to inquire on my behalf about the jacket I'm searching for.  How nice is she?  They informed her, and she informed me, it will be released to stores in 2-3 weeks.

Did I mention I have the best readers in the world!?

© Twenty Four At Heart

Train Tracks, Round 2

Do you remember this photo?  I shared it with you in January.

  

(And for those who will surely ask, yes, it is available on my photo site - see button on my sidebar.)

Something about this scene calls to me.  I take a lot of photos, but for some reason I love this one.  Maybe because it was taken at a beach I frequent, maybe it's the perspective of the tracks, maybe it's the haunting quality of the scene in black and white ....

I had the photo blown up into a 16 x 24 print.  I took it in for matting and framing.

Damn, framing has gotten pricey since a hundred years ago when I last framed something!

Nonetheless, it was worth every penny.  Now it hangs in my downstairs hallway and I get to look at it a zillion times each day.

 

Often, it's the little things in life which make me smile.

Having this hanging in my house makes me so happy!

© Twenty Four At Heart

I'm Back (Sorta)

Thank you to everyone who has sent well wishes.  I really appreciate it.

I'm doing better, but still tenative with my vision.

And okay, I sorta feel like I've been run over by a truck too.

I'm having trouble reading still.  I'm very limited in the amount of time I can look at a computer screen.  I look at the screen for a few seconds, close my eyes to rest, and then try again.  On my MacBook, I can make the type-size enormous which helps me read.  My eyes are still in the process of healing and need a lot of rest.

Forgive me for not replying to emails and/or visiting blogs, etc. right now.  Reading hurts and I'm not supposed to be straining my eyes (reading) yet.

I've gotten all sorts of questions from people.  Some of them are funny.

For example, I do live in The OC, but I did not injure my eyes having a "chemical peel."

Which is not to say my wrinkles couldn't benefit from a chemical peel, but no thank you just the same.

Basically, I had a severe allergic reaction to some eye medication.  It began with just a lot (!) of swelling and insanely red itchy eyes for a few days ... also, red itchy, hive-like, skin surrounding my eyes.  (I still feel like a raccoon with red, swollen, circles around my eyes.)

Last Wednesday, I noticed I had really blurry, clouded, vision.  I started to get scared.  I told myself it was just a side effect from the allergic reaction and would get better on its own.

When I woke up last Thursday my eyes were burning so severely I couldn't keep them open.  I never knew eyes could hurt so badly.  If I could have torn them out of my head for relief, I would have.  I was running a pretty high fever.  My eyes were bright red and tearing uncontrollably.

In addition to terrible pain, I couldn't see much of anything.

I was scared to death.

I called my eye doctor; she had the day off.  

Of course she did.

It took several hours to finally get in with another eye doctor.

He was wonderful.

Thank God.

Seriously, thank God for that eye doctor.  He wins my family's business for life.

He numbed my eyes and I groveled at his feet in thanks for the pain relief.

Well, not really, but almost.

Unfortunately, the numbing was only very temporary.  The medication used to numb eyes also slows their healing, so I had to tough out the worst of it.

The doc explained to me the allergic reaction had been so severe, it had basically acted as a chemical burn to my corneas.  A few days after the initial reaction, my corneas sloughed off the burned skin ... kind of like peeling after a sunburn.

He saw severely lacerated corneas with lots of abrasions when he examined me.

The pain!  

Holy shit, the pain!

They put a special type of contact lens on my eyes.  The contact lenses are used, apparently, with trauma victims to help heal badly injured eyes.

The skin around my eyes was so "burned," it actually began bleeding during my eye exam.

I was put on a zillion types of medications, including a host of eye drops which all sting like hell.

My kitchen counter looked like a pharmacy, but I couldn't see it so I guess that's okay.  There were so many eyedrops Briefcase had to put post-it notes by each bottle to keep them, and the directions for each, straight.  Add to that, pain killers, antibiotics, sleeping pills ... drugs, drugs, drugs!

I stayed in a dark room for a few days, only coming out for daily visits to the eye doctor.  

Over the weekend, I began to be able to see BIG things.  I could even see the TV eventually, but I'm not supposed to watch it yet.  (I listen to it instead, because I'm bored out of my mind!)

I wear sunglasses even in the house but I can't bear to go outside even with them on.  (The only exception, so far, being my trips to the eye doc.)  My eyes are intensely light-sensitive.

Each day is getting better.  The pain is SO much better.  My vision is improving gradually.  I'm still using a few types of eyedrops, but the number of medications has decreased substantially.

Every day I try to read, and get frustrated and panicky when I can't for more than a minute or two.  My blackberry blinking at me with its damn red light is particularly frustrating because I can't read the damn thing.  The doctor tells me it is due to residual swelling in my eyes and it will gradually improve.

I feel like I've been to hell and back in the last week.  

I look forward to getting back to my normal life.  I can't wait to go outside during daylight without the sunlight piercing my eyes with pain.  I can't wait to be able to read, and write without it hurting.  I picked up my camera and just held it last night.  Soon.

In the meantime, thank you for hanging in there with me.  I'm sorry for being such a downer lately, but things will be getting better every day now.

Thank goodness!

© Twenty Four At Heart

An Update on 24

Hi

I'm a friend of Suzanne's and I wanted to give you a quick update on her well being.

She had a severe allergic reaction to some medication.  The reaction was so severe it, in essence, created a burn effect on her skin and, unfortunately, also on the corneas of both eyes.

Think of it as a chemical burn.

She will be FINE, but obviously this has been very painful and scary.  She can't do much other than sleep and/or sit in a dark room until her eyes heal.  She is able to see a little bit now, but is unable to read.

If you have sent a text message or comment or email it is appreciated, but she is unable to respond right now.

She has been seen every day by a wonderful eye doctor and he expects a full recovery.  He thinks she will be doing much better in a few more days.  In the meantime, she has a ton of medications working to make her better.

Her eyes simply need time to heal.

I know you join me in wishing her a speedy and pain-free recovery.

LOVE YOU 24!!  xxxxxxxxxooooooooooooo

Only Me?

I'm a walking train wreck this week.  I thought I'd share my train wreck-ness with you in all its glory.

Yes, I'm slightly under the influence of narcotics as I'm writing this, but only slightly.  I might still make sense.  

Or I might not?

You be the judge.

So, it turns out I have an allergy (a BIG, BAD, allergy!) to a certain type of medication.  I didn't know I had any medication allergies.  I've been feeling pretty miserable for a couple days now.  I haven't been sleeping, I've been real itchy, blah, blah, blah.

Oh?

And because of no sleep?

I *might* have been real bitchy right along with real itchy.

Yesterday it all came together in a gigantic, "Why the hell am I feeling so incredibly shit-abulous?"  

Also?

Hives are really not an attractive accessory.

Finally, with the help of one of my doctor friends, a medication I recently began taking was pinpointed as the source of my problem(s).

There's never a shortage of problems in my life, right?

Thank you Universe, for that.

By the way, I sent a tweet out yesterday about having an allergic reaction.  Many of you sent messages back saying you hoped it wasn't my new Valentine's thong I was allergic to.  You think you're funny, don't you?  Well, I think you're funny also ... but no, I haven't developed a thong allergy.

It would be really uncomfortable if I had, don't you think?

I'm told, in another day or two, I'll be feeling much better now that the cause of the allergy has been discovered and eliminated from my life.  I've, in fact, already stopped clawing my own skin off of my body.  Thank goodness, because omigawd.make.the.itching.stop!!

I had to drive on one of Orange County's finest freeways to visit the doc yesterday.  Along with what I now know were bad allergy symptoms, my bum arm was killing me.

Yes, I'm a TRAIN CAR WRECK, I know!

I started getting muscle spasms in my upper back as I drove.  This is what happens when I don't have The Torturer stretching my body in ways I can't stretch it by myself.  (Does that sound dirty?  I think it does, but then I tend to have a dirty mind.  Maybe it sounds fine?  It's hard to tell when I'm slightly influenced by drugs.)

So there I was sitting in bumper to bumper traffic when I felt my back muscles start cramping up on me.  I knew I had to get the pain to stop immediately, before it got worse.  I arched my back against the driver's seat.  I pushed my upper back deep into the seat in an attempt to put pressure on those muscles.  I began to thrash against the seat trying to "work" my back muscles into relaxing.

It was helping, it really was.

All of a sudden, I felt someone staring.  You know that feeling, when you know even before you see them, someone is watching you.

I looked out my side window.  There was a man seated on the passenger side of a big red truck in the lane next to me.  He was looking down at me ... mesmerized.  When our eyes met, he smiled lasciviously and then ... he gave me a thumbs up sign.

Yes.He.Did!

Apparently he thought I was, ahem, enjoying myself while I was driving.

I blushed.  I sputtered.  I began talking to myself saying things like, "Oh wait, I'm not ...!  I have a bad arm ...."

Of course, he couldn't hear me.

For that matter, his lane had moved ahead of mine and he no longer could even see me.

I've been obsessed with a need to explain the situation to him ever since.  I have no idea who he was.  

I'm hoping maybe one of you knows the perverted man in the big red truck?

And if so, could you please clarify for him the reasons behind my behavior?

Thank you!  

I appreciate it so much!

© Twenty Four At Heart