The kitty-chloe strikes a pose!

The cat thinks she's fancy.

Relay for Life

About six years ago my Aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. After much therapy and several surgeries, I'm ecstatic to report that today she is cancer free. It was a hard process for her and her family, especially the ones that cared for her throughout the procedures and recovery. I'm very grateful to have a family that cares so much.


I have always wanted to participate in an event that would benefit cancer patients and research. This year it was really on my heart to participate in Relay for Life through the American Cancer Society. Relay is an event where teams are formulated to walk all night ("because cancer never sleeps.") I realized I only had a little over a month to do all the necessary measures to participate. I gathered a small team of caring people and we formed our team Hearts for a Cure. 


We have been quickly throwing together fundraising events including yard sales and "cans for cancer" (where people can donate their cans to us) and 100% of the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.


If you have been touched by someone in your life with cancer and would like to donate to the American Cancer Society we would greatly appreciate your support. By visiting our Relay for Life website (set up for us directly through Relay for Life) you can donate directly to the American Cancer Society on our behalf.


We know we came into this late and have a short time to fundraise, but we still are trying to raise as much as possible for this amazing cause. Your donation will help with cancer research, lodging for cancer patients and their family's, transportation for patients to and from hospitals, and much more. You can donate as little as $5 or as much as you can afford. Any amount helps benefit the lives of those affected.


Hearts for a Cure will be participating in the walk on June 23, 2012 and we are very excited to be part of such a wonderful cause. I hope we can look forward to your support!! Thank you :) FIGHT BACK!

ZOMG!

Ok, honestly... I don't even know what that means. The Z part that is. But I'm going with ZOWIE! Mainly because I like that word. And ZOWIE (caps are a must with this word) is exactly what my life has been like lately.

After returning from a fruitful trip to France this summer (and by fruitful I mean I only ate fruit... most of the time,) I started having sever stomach pains. I thought I was having a baby, only I knew this wasn't true unless it was another immaculate conception because my love life had been just that exciting prior to this. Then I thought maybe it was a food baby because every time I ate I would be in severe pain. Birth this FOOD BABY already! As it turns out, it was just gallstones. Damn gallbladder. I've since had that little bitch removed. Whew! ZOMG if you know what I mean... 


Oh, so back to Paris. I love that smelly place. Really. It would have been perfect if I wasn't allergic to literally everything I came in contact with. Apparently everything either contains peanut flour, shell fish, or some other unknown contaminant. Paris, je t'aime. I actually mean that because if I could figure out a way to deal with the allergies I would love to go back. But living on fruit and cheese for an entire month was hard enough, albeit delicious, but I don't think I could do that for any length of time.

ZOMG! I need to stop neglecting you peeps. I'll be back soon.... enough ;)

Another way to help Japan.

It is clear that Japan is continuing to face traumatic events and the gravity of the situation is great. World Vision is an organization that acts quickly during times of disaster to distribute food, water, and supplies to those in need and often are one of the first organizations in countries during these times. I just wanted to put it out there if anyone wanted to donate, they are a safe and trustworthy organization and you can donate by visiting their website (www.worldvision.org). Let's continue to keep these brave people in our thoughts.

Japan, my thoughts are with you.

In other parts of the world we can sit quietly and watch news re-runs and sympathize with Japan, but without being there it's difficult to digest the full spectrum of devastation they are enduring. My heart is with them as they continue to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake, tsunami, and now the possibility of nuclear meltdowns. These images are heartbreaking and incomprehensible. 


The Japanese may live half a world away, but we are all part of one world and one family. I am relieved to see that many countries have quickly banded together to bring aid to Japan, and I am hopeful that they will continue to do so. It will take time, a lot of time, to recover from the damages. 


My thoughts are with everyone who is there, who has family there, who is hurt, who is hungry, who is scared, who is brave. I love you, Japan. 


Ways we can help are by texting "QUAKE" or "JAPAN" to 80888 to donate $10 to the Salvation Army. Or by texting "REDCROSS" to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross. These charges will be added directly to your cell phone bill and donated to these organizations. You can verify this on their websites:


www.salvationarmyusa.org
www.redcross.org


Let's continue to keep Japan in our hearts as the days pass and not forget about them. 

I'm baaaack!

I was recently captured by a wild band of pirates wearing sombreros who took me to Alaska and held me hostage, and I lived in an igloo and had no way of communicating with YOU! :) That's how the story went.

Sort of. 

I've been a little out of sorts lately. I mean, so much so that even my cat tried to give herself away.

I thought that was going a little too far.

We're ok now, don't worry! Not to sound like a broken record, but I still don't have a camera, and it IS driving me a little bananas, because photography is kind of my life at the moment. I should be getting one in about a month or two. In the mean time, I'm working on a secret side project and it's going well.

I've been a little OCD checking college websites for my "application status." In case I didn't tell you, I'm going back to school after many years! Although I'm still not really sure what I'm doing. But heck! May as well get smart right! ;) *visualizing confetti made of hundred dollar bills falling from the sky as my graduation hat flies through the air* cough cough... uh, maybe that's going too far. 

I'm a little late....

but you still get a little valentine from moi.

Don't ever get a tetanus shot.

That's pretty much all I have to say. Just don't do it. I'm going to start a new campaign...instead of keep kids off drugs, we need to keep adults off tetanus shots. Ok, so I KNOW tetanus has like, a seriously high mortality rate, but like...who gets's tetanus, who does that? I can't really remember turning on the news and hearing "7 more deaths from tetanus today."

So, my arm HURTS! I'm not being a baby about it either (haha, right). I've had many shots and I never complain. I actually enjoy watching the doctors take blood, but oh my LORD, I can't lift my arm or anything. I have this interview tomorrow and I'm kind of afraid I won't be able to shower... if you could see what I look like right now, you'd be scared. Luckily, I don't have a camera.

Anyway, I've been in bed all day with a fever and excruciating pain, but now I'm going to eat some chinese food and hopefully feel a little better. I just wanted to share my agony with my lovelies. Enjoy! & stay off tetanus. Seriously.


**These statements are purely my opinion and are not meant to diagnose, treat, or mislead anyone. If you have a serious medical condition or you think you may have come into contact with tetanus through a rusty nail, or a kitten's bite, or a rabid squirrel, please seek medical attention. ;)

One broken camera, welfare visit, and EBT card later...

Oh yes, you heard right. The path in my little fantasy world has taken a steep decline (or incline?)-- whichever is worse. My camera is officially broken. And although I miss my little beauty, it's the least of my worries at this time.

R.I.P. Mr. Nikonia

On the bright side I learned my semi-anual income will not be coming to me this February as planned. So, I made my very first trip to the Welfare Office-- I didn't think my $23 would last much longer. Now, before y'all judge me for not working and contributing to society, I have a temporary disability and compensation is trying to be resolved.

Anyway, back to my story. So, I'm in the social service office and I'm clearly out of my element. I'll just leave it at that. Everyone knew each other...like some sort of secret underground social gathering. And I definitely heard someone talking about Twinkies. Suddenly I have a sweet tooth.

Well, thank God for Miss Mucker. She got me on the path to a better future- I get to buy groceries this week. 

I was pretty excited about this since an EBT card now feels like a miracle, until I got a notice in the mail today that... apparently I have to work at an Animal Shelter as some sort of barter for food stamps? Hmm... this slightly concerns me especially since I have an aversion to kill shelters. On the bright side, I get to "report to Cesar Chavez." 

Who KNEW he was even alive, yet alone hosting public work programs?!

Oh blogger how I've missed you (but I've missed my camera more.)

Well I sure did keep up my end of the bargain by blogging more, right? The truth is, I've had holiday burnout and don't even know what to say. At least this is the excuse I'm using. When I'm at a loss for words, I usually will at least give some picture updates, but my beautiful Nikon is broken (thanks, sis). Yes, broken, cracked, on-it's-death-bed. In an accident, it was dropped from my sister's table during a visit and is now on life-support. Technically it's just at the camera shop. I'm hoping it doesn't cost TOO much to fix because "I love you camera, but do I love you that much?" is really the question I'm going to have to answer.

Other updates: The narcoleptic has for some reason started talking to me again, but mysteriously goes AWAL here and there. No surprise, he's probably in a narcoleptic coma.


Preston the underwear thief is going under the knife tomorrow (for some not so cosmetic surgery); can we say snippity snip?


& I'm working on losing the holiday pounds. But until then, those expectant mother parking slots at the mall are pretty tempting.


I miss my lovely readers and will be back soon! Hopefully with a like-new Nikon and some picture updates.

Desert Snow

It's been a little crazy here in the desert. We had snow, which is rare and our roads aren't really equipped for... well, water in general. So tonight's blog will be short and sweet. I took the opportunity to go out into the desert and take some pictures of the joshua trees. Here they are :)

I'm pretty sure this is going to be my Christmas card next year

5 Star Luxury.

I'm talking about my bed, not a hotel. For Christmas I got a new set of bedding, which I finally got around to putting on my bed. I couldn't put it in a dirty room, and cleaning is no joke. Last night, I finally crawled into my, now clean, bed and oh my lord! It feels like a luxury hotel. Do I need 8 pillows on my bed? YES! Ok, well probably not, but it sure feels good- like I'm sleeping on a cloud.

I really could have taken a better photograph, but I didn't ;p

It's hard to believe that this is the last day of 2010! I'm sure I say that every year, but my mind isn't getting any sharper! I hope everybody enjoys their New Years! I will be blogging more regularly come the turn of the new year so expect to deal with more of me from now on! Muahaha. Ok, that was a little extreme, but yes, I will try to be around more. 

Chloé à la veille de Noël.

Christmas Eve has arrived. I feel like a little kid again, you know where the day drags on and I can't wait until tomorrow morning? It's going to be a relaxing day of finishing wrapping gifts, eating cheese & crackers with wine, and playing board games with the family.

Chloé is enjoying Christmas and in particular, the tree. I had the camera out earlier and she was eager to pose for it. She's feeling like Levi has been getting a little too much attention on here ;)


So I will leave you with some photos of Chloé. Merry Christmas Everyone!

I found a string

I'm gonna get it!

Snowflake! Got it!

For Yvonne

I've been a bad blogger as my sister pointed out to me yesterday, and because she motivated me to post again, she gets the honorary blog title. Enjoy it while it lasts! 

My sister and I had this tradition when we were kids that on Christmas morning we would wake up around 4am, go out to the living room, open our stockings and wait for my parents to wake up around 6:30. I always thought this was amazing. My sister got to lay on the couch and be the "princess" while I answered to her every need. Fix her breakfast, warmer blankets, fluff her pillow, Oh what's that? You want me to bring you your slippers? Why of course! This is something we did from the time we were weee lil children until, well, until we moved out of our parents house. So basically I spent a good 20 years being my sisters slave at Christmas and I'm starting to wonder how exactly this was so great. But I miss it and her, and even her annoying little fishy lips (which I apologize that none of you know about.)

On the flip side, I do get to be somebody's servant this year since my little brother broke his toe. He's milking it for all it's worth too. This holiday season has been crazy and it's sure hard to juggle everything.

Is the umbrella worth it?

My dog's a klepto & my cat's a masochist.

I'm slightly concerned with my dog's underwear fetish. He seeks out boxers, in particular, and goes running around the house with them. I thought we were having the-dryer-ate-the-sock syndrome... or in this case, underwear, but no: I'm on to you, Preston! The other night, I caught this on camera... he thought he was being SO sneaky. 

I like anything that smells like butt.

And while we're on the topic of animals with strange urges, my cat Levi has taken to self injury. He's keeps rubbing his mouth on things until it swells up. I'm not entirely convinced he wants to hurt himself though. After reading on The Bloggess about how cat's eat their babies (and apparently owners) I'm starting to think he might be holding a grudge against me... and scheming to eat me!

Don't worry, I'm just preparing my mouth for the kill.

Now that face looks EVIL! I guess I'll be sleeping with one eye open from now on... and buying extra underwear.

Spray paint & bellies up!

Apparently some department stores don't like when the leaves fall off a tree, or rather, bush. I was out holiday shopping when I came up to the entry way of a department store and noticed this:

Spray paint- it's the new Miracle Grow.

I guess if a plant is dying it's now acceptable to use paint to "liven" it up. It looks brand new to me!

After a long day of shopping I was feeling exhausted. After all, this is more exercise than I've had all year. Someone else who had too much exercise, or was just overwhelmed by the holidays, was this little fellow:

I saw him in a pet-store. He clearly was not in shape to be doing so much running. Well, this is DEFINITELY an eye-opener for me. I should exercise LESS unless I want to end up like Mr. Overdidit Hamster.

Don't worry... he's not actually dead. Mr. Sleepypants just had a long day.

The exploding ashtray.

Any company that knows, and I mean KNOWS, that they have unrealistic demands for their employees will provide an ashtray-- or many of them. There's nothing like promoting smoking in the corporate world... it's all just synergy!


One afternoon our ashtray caught on fire. Apparently someone thought it was a trashcan? It was the kind that looks like this: 

I'm still not really sure how this could be mistaken for a trashcan, unless you're used to shoving trash through a 2 inch hole. Anyway, the fact of the matter is, someone shoved trash in there, and later on someone through a lit cigarette in there... and voila! We had our very first ashtray meltdown!

Let me tell you, this "polyethylene" isn't so sturdy! I'm sure it didn't help that our maintenance man was attempting to put the fire out with WINDEX!  Yes, ammonia filled windex. I was watching the whole scene in awe from my window-seat, hoping for the best, but the fire ended up going out. Damn.

Is it final?

If you've noticed I haven't been around lately it's because it's college finals week. I'm dying over here, literally (or as Frasier Crane would say: figuratively.) When did classes start requiring multiple finals each? Maybe I shouldn't have waited so long to go back to school after all! All this stress is going to give me a full blown case of adult acne...and quite possibly ADD. Can you develop dyslexia as an adult? Perhaps my brain is going into hibernation. 

I have not forgotten my sacred little blog! But I've been so pressed for time this week, I simply can't keep up. I will try to pop in, but if you don't hear from me, I will be back next week in full blown blog mode! You can't wait, right? If you get too lonely, pop on some good old fashion Jazz music and drift into the world of holiday cheer.

It's all fun and games, until someone splits their toe open.

Well I must say black friday went smashingly well! I decided to get an early start and left the house at 3:15am. It was 4:45 when I approached one of the stores. There was a line stretching half a mile long with people waiting outside (most of whom had been there since the night before.) Do I want to stand in this line? No way! So instead I grabbed a hot cup of coffee, thanks Starbucks! Sipping my warm drink and eating my scone I watched as the line took a half hour to enter the store. Then, once everyone was in, I popped out of my car, entered the store, grabbed what I needed and checked out all within 20 minutes! Boy am I glad I didn't freeze all night for that! In fact, I moved in and out of every store I visited with ease, getting everything I needed (mostly for myself, ha!)

After a long day of shopping I took a nice drive down to my sister's house to celebrate our late Thanksgiving. It was all good eats and fun until a kid touched an open flame on a candle, and two others ended up in the ER. One from a concussion and my brother from breaking his toe and splitting his nail away from the cuticle! OUCH! And now my sister has laryngitis. Thanksgiving is dangerous! Well I'm thankful I escaped unscathed!

A love affair

I'm completely having a love affair with cashmere right now. I recently brought my purple cashmere scarf back to life. I completely forgot how warm and soft it is. This brought me to my next epiphany! I must have everything in cashmere! Maybe I'll get some cashmere goats and start knitting my own things. Now accepting free goats. After much searching I'm wondering why nobody makes cashmere underwear? I mean... really. I asked my breasts what they wanted for christmas and they said a cashmere bra! Ladies... I have come to the conclusion that our ladies deserve to be pampered! I'll be working on it, don't fret! 

On a completely different note, tomorrow I will be braving the crowds to try and find some great Black Friday steals. Who's going to be waking before the crack of dawn with me?  Let me know if you find any unusual items, particularly in cashmere! Tomorrow we can share stories! It was brutal last year; only run over people with your shopping cart if you absolutely MUST!