It's not all drudgery...

at the Olympian. Here is Matt our systems tech showing us how to balance 5 boxes of hard drives and how to ensure that you have connectivity...test it out on your brain.

Benign

Words that sounded like music to my ears. The biopsy from some polyps in my stomach came back negative. So, now I'm in line to see a surgeon about doing something surgically to help repair some things. I'll keep ya'll posted.

Saga of the egg timer...

When we were living in Tennesse (mom and dad were living there, too), mom got a gift certificate to Williams & Sonoma for Christmas. So we go down to the Green Hills Mall (Coby & Tucker come along for fun) and just had a blast in the store. Instead of 1 or 2 big things, mom bought several little things...sponges, little spoons, etc. Of these items were some of her favorite pink colored peppercorns and and egg timer. After leaving the mall, we go over to Wild Oats and have lunch and buy food that's healthy :-) We come back to the car and Tucker looks a little suspcious. Similiar to this picture above.

Upon further observation, Tucker had some pink stuff on his nose - evidence of peppercorn. Only my dog would eat pink peppercorn. The more mom looked through her bags, the more things had been rifled through and a little Tucky reminder left on the corner of most items (meaning little teeth marks). He didn't destroy anything, but he did ruin several things including the egg timer. I bought an egg timer at Bed, Bath & Beyond and instantly had a flash back. I'm not sure if mom is laughing about it yet...but I felt TERRIBLE and offered to replace them. Mom said it's what gives them character. That crazy Tucker!

Here's a pic of my unblemished egg timer...

The dogs don't care for earthquakes....

Port Townsend (80 miles or so north of us) experienced a 3.5 earthquake about an hour ago. I didn't feel a thing, but the dogs were going total ape bongo right around that time. I thought maybe they saw a raccoon or kitty cat or something. They were running around in circles kind of whining...making a noise I'd never heard before. Bizarre...

The red dot is the epicenter.

The Mini Motel

How cool is this contraption?

Check out the website: http://www.minimotel.net/.

I'm going to buy 2 of them to add to our disaster preparedness kits. I stumbled across it when I saw an article on how airlines aren't springing for hotels when planes are delayed, etc.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/15/business/airsleep.php

This article in turn, led me to a web-site I know my mom will LOVE! Mostly because she's been to every international airport there is practically :-) I need to write a review on the Naha Airport. That was a wonderful airport! Mom, Russia has some bad ones...

Check it out here: http://www.sleepinginairports.com/ and vote for your favorite airport to sleep in...or visit!

Drugged Up

I saw that Greg had taken this picture of me (I love my iPhone!) waiting for my discharge papers. I don't remember anything. But I'm sure I begged him to take it. I thought it was funny that I was using my shoe as a cup holder!

You can see how bloated my stomach is...they pump you full of air so the scope can see more! OR it could be fat. I prefer to think it is the air :-) I'm airy!

Greg dropped me off after my appointment with promises to call often. Which to my annoyance, he did...just wanted to make sure I was okay. The doc said I would just sleep. Which I did. Apparently I took this picture in my amnesia post-procedure haze and I was sleeping on my side and Tucker was laying up on top of me. Both dogs were so gentle and they have a sense when you don't feel well or whatever...they are very intuitive.

Endo Results

Unfortunately, I cannot remember anything about the procedure...total amnesia, even though I'm conscious??? Okay, whatever. Anyway, the doctor was AWESOME and the GI clinic @ Madigan is 5 stars! Here is what we know. My stoma was very narrow, so he dialated it .3mm. The VBG is completely in tact. In fact, my doctor said it was one of the best he had seen...however, the surgery is a failure, in the fact that I have gained almost all my weight back and have such terrible reflux and having so many incidents of food getting stuck. I will still take responsibility for poor food choices, but I am relieved to know it wasn't 100% my fault. I have several polyps that need to be biopsied, but the doc said those were common and most likely benign. Once the biopsy is back, then I'll meet with general surgery to find out when I can get my stomach fixed. I'll probably go with the gastric bypass. This will stop the reflux. Yeah!!! I hate taking that liquid Prilosec!

Anyway, I'll update in 2 weeks! I feel relieved.

Endoscopy Schmedoscopy

Well, tomorrow is the day of my endoscopy. I hope they see why I have such terrible acid reflux and the almost daily throwing up. Luckily my blood work is good... here is what my current stomach condition should look like...I have a hiatal hernia and some staple line disruption, but they can't be sure until they scope me. I'll let you know what happens!

I love Duct Tape!

Shoulder Lift Gone Bad?

Not really sure what happened, but this muscle on both shoulders are killing me. I had a deep massage on Friday, but it didn't seem to help. I wonder what I did?

Heelarious!

Here are the baby high heels! How cute are they?


http://tinyurl.com/highheels

Ummm...is there really a market for these?

Does anyone have comments about these? I think they are kind of funny... then again, I don't have kids and maybe this is disturbing.

http://tinyurl.com/5h9bv9

How many recycle bins are too many??

Take a look at the bins at our office...how many recycle bins are enough? Not to mention it's complicated! I think we will spend more time trying to figure out which item goes in which bin! I recycle and it's part of our life...it just doesn't consume it.

Can you have too much customer service?

I had to go to Office Depot to pick up a few binders for work. The store is HUGE! I knew exactly where to go and how to get to the binder section. On my way to the binders, no joke, 4 people stopped and asked if I needed any assistance. I said no thank you, I'm fine. Then at least 3 different people stop me on the way up to the cash registers. "Thank you, I'm doing fine," I say.

Granted, my head is on a swivel because I've been sober for a few months now (sober as in I have been abstinent from buying office supplies) so naturally I will be looking around for that perfect star-shaped post it and the 12 pack of very colorful dry erase markers.

I have now arrived at the cashier. There is 1 person working the registers and about 10 people in line. I find this quite peculiar as there are several people looking to help, but no one willing to ring you up. I don't want to get all bent out of shape, but I thought this was odd. So I wait several minutes and the person in front of me has about 12 returns on 18 different receipts. You would think with the mass communications the staff has there...they look like swat team members with their headsets and clipboards...that they could call for backup.

In Tennessee, I remember this same scenario happening and wondering why only 1 person is at the register.

Regardless, I finally make my $9.40 purchase. I'm wondering if I'm the only who wonders if they are really "taking care of business?"

Does this look natural?

I had a hankering for mac & cheese. I cooked up the pasta and then added the cheese. The artifical color was so dramatic and I thought twice before eating it. Mind you, since my stomach surgery I can only eat a few bites before it gets stuck in my stoma.

Anyway, I just thought I'd post a pic of my tasty dinner.

Steilacoom 4th of July Parade

What a wonderful time we had at the Parade!

Happy 4th of July!

Be safe and have fun!

Love,

Greg, Rebecca & the Boys

Daddy and his boys...

How sweet is this?

What will your kids look like?

I saw this on the Kim Komando newsletter. I'll have to try it at home.

http://makemebabies.com/

California Roll

Here's my lunch today. It's from Fuji. It's a Japanese restaurant run by Koreans.

It's not too bad.

Work Space

Here's the server I'm working on today along with a picture of my cube. What a mess!

Square fruit stuns Japanese shoppers

Friday, 15 June, 2001, 10:54 GMT 11:54 UK

They look clever, but not all shoppers like the price tag

Japan has again shown off one of its greatest innovations - square watermelons.
For years consumers struggled to fit the large round fruit in their refrigerators.
The round watermelon is unlikely to go out of favour.

And then there was the problem of trying to cut the fruit when it kept rolling around.

But 20 years ago a forward-thinking farmer on Japan's south-western island of Shikoku solved the problem.

The farmer, from Zentsuji in Kagawa prefecture, came up with the idea of making a cube-shaped watermelon which could easily be packed and stored.

To make it happen, farmers grew the melons in glass boxes and the fruit then naturally assumed the same shape. Today the cuboid watermelons are hand-picked and shipped all over Japan.

But the fruit, on sale in a selection of department stores and upmarket supermarkets, appeals mainly to the wealthy and fashion-conscious of Tokyo and Osaka, Japan's two major cities.

Each melon sells for 10,000 yen, equivalent to about $83. It is almost double, or even triple, that of a normal watermelon.

"I can't buy it, it is too expensive," said a woman browsing at a department store in the southern city of Takamatsu.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1390088.stm

*****

Hollie...have you seen these? I remember this story from a long time ago. I love watermelon!