WARNING! GRAPHIC MATERIAL!!!

I am having some sort of USB port problem or something. I can't seem to download pictures from my SD card... it's taken me about a week or two to download the following. I've bought three different readers and finally plugged my old one in, which I thought was broken. Finally, success!!! Obviously, this will be a smorgasbord of pictures and stories. I have to fit them all in, and I don't know when I'll be able to download more!

First off, my diet has been going pretty well. I need to exercise to lose more weight, but I haven't been gaining and that's good. I lost about six or seven pounds initially and have maintained that. Better than nothing. I've been eating out of a Weight Watchers cookbook. Some of the recipes are okay... some are pretty bland though. They really cut out the salt! Everything seems to be low sodium and stuff. I just throw a little sea salt in it, and I'm good to go! :) Here's a picture of the spinach chicken stuff that goes with pasta shells. It was actually pretty darn good and very low in fat.


I also made chili out of the cookbook, although I added many more spices and peppers. It was made with turkey breast burger, which does NOT fry up like regular burger by the way. It was pretty good though and very low in fat - I think about one gram of fat per serving.


School has been a little crazy. My schedule is INSANE this term, and I've been stretched to the max with work, the CNA class and my regular school load. In Spanish, we are learning about verbs and different tenses. I don't even know English tenses, much less Spanish!!! It's driving me crazy.


My Anatomy & Physiology teacher suggested a way to study by buying a dry erase board and "teaching" it aloud at home. I took his advice and I think it's really helping! Here is some of my "teaching" on the olfactory (smell) system.


Okay. This is where things start getting a little gross. Just warning you.
The other day, my face started hurting and I could feel a volcano under my skin. The next morning, sure enough, I had a hug zit. This picture does not let the viewer fully appreciate the size and pain, but it will have to do. I could see people's gazes drawn straight to it, dang it!


And a little more gross...
My cats have found the joy of catching mice, as I might have previously told you. A couple of weeks ago, I could tell they got one because they were downstairs (at night while I was trying to sleep), playing for hours. Sure enough, I got up in the morning and was greeted by this site:

Thanks Buddy and Grace. Learn to EAT THE MICE!!!! IT'S YOUR RIGHT!!!!

And now for the gross stuff. If you don't want to look any further, DON'T. I have pictures of a dissected sheep's eye. Seriously.

In my A&P class, we got to dissect a sheep's eye. At first, I felt a little sad for the sheep, but then I got too involved in the dissection process. In my group (of four girls), I am the surgeon. I have a steady hand (surprising, with all the coffee I drink), and I'm not grossed out by the... fluids and stuff. Also, I don't just start hacking - I'm delicate! Before cutting on the eye, the instructions said to cut away the adipose (fat) tissue. I asked the teacher if it was like skinning a deer (which I have helped family members do). The teacher and the three girls in my group stared at me. The teacher was at a loss for words - first time ever. Apparently, not everybody skins a deer. Hmph.
This is the cornea - the front of the eye.


After cutting it in half - front to back - this is the back, the choroid and the retina has been scraped together, leading to the optic nerve which exits through the back. Pretty, huh?


Here you can see the oval lens...


And from this view, you can see the lens (out of place now) and the pupil opening (the little slit). Cool, isn't it??


Well, that's all I have. I hope it hasn't grossed anybody out too much. I went through some crap to get these pictures - the group and the teacher thought I was a little nutty taking pictures of an eyeball. Oh well! It was worth it!

Pardon My Technical Problems

I can't upload any new pictures from my camera because of my card reader. I even got a new one, and it doesn't seem to be working either. There is a large chance that it may be operator error, but I can't seem to figure it out. So. I'm actually going to have to type words. Of course, I might put a few older pictures up that I hadn't gotten posted yet... or I may wait a little longer....

I have survived another Valentine's day! It wasn't as bad as I thought, although people kept wishing me a happy Valentine's Day. I would smile and thank them, but as soon as I turned away I became the ValenGrinch. The married ladies in my church decided to throw us single ladies an evening of pampering. The cooked us dinner, a nice cheesecake dessert, and then had "stations" for us to go to. We could get our hands dipped in parafin wax, get a manicure or pedicure (or both), a facial, make-up, a massage (about 10 minutes or so - done by one of the older ladies who used to be a nurse), or we could play games. There was a really nice devotional and some door prizes too. All in all, it was a really sweet thing that they did and I had fun!

I have put in applications to three schools so far, for the nursing program. I actually don't think that I'll get in this year, but I have to apply. If I don't, I will know for sure that I won't get in. At least I'll try! I'm not sure how long the process takes, but I hope it doesn't take too long. A lot depends on if I get into a program - I'll have to move.

Well, there's a nice 1980's movie on. I think I'll go watch that and relax before I get some studying done.

What month is this, anyway??...

Although it's been 17 years since I blogged last, I will go on as if it were yesterday. It's part of my new Denial Plan. The same plan that helped me take that stupid weight loss ticker off my freakin' blog.

I woke up one morning not too long ago... honestly, I can't remember how many days it's been - this month and last have been a blur. Anyway, I looked out of one of my windows to see a beautiful view:



After finding out I had an official "school day", I went outside to take a couple of pictures. It was absolutely beautiful! And the snow just kept falling...



I ended up making a snowman which did not, I repeat, did not help my Anatomy & Physiology exam grade. I reeeeally regretted that later. But it was fun making the snowman!



It was pretty cold though. Even the antenne pirate guy was cold:



I could have gone to work, but after thinking about it I decided to just stay home and enjoy instead of driving.



There was a stretch of time, about 16 hours, that I had no electricity. My wood stove came in very handy for cooking, but please take some advice: don't cook pasta unless you can get the water to boil. It took about 40 minutes for my pasta to cook, and it was pasty. Pasty pasta. Not. Good. Veggies were okay though.



Roger was well buried. I couldn't wait to take him out in the snow!



Poor Roger! I kept having to go out and brush the snow off the canvas roof because of the weight of the snow. I did get to drive him later. I actually had to drive him to school and work for several days, using the four-wheel drive to get up and over the mountain. It was awesome!



Well, I have posted a lot of pictures to make up for the lack... but I am in school full time, I'm taking an extra CNA class that meets three to four times a week (five hour class times each day), and I'm working part-time. So I hope you understand my lack of posting!
Until next time...

Christmas Vacation Part I

I went to San Diego for Christmas this year with my cousin Tyler. We flew and met my mom down there, who took the train. We went to SeaWorld, a really great place to see once in a while. We saw killer whales first... beautiful!



There was a lot of reflection on the plexiglass. In fact, I was dismayed to see that one of the relections looks like the shape of Texas. How horrible!



They seemed to pose for us, looking as beautiful as ever.



On the surface, we saw some chatting with the birds. It turns out they hock stuff out of their stomach (fish usually) and try to bait the birds into coming close enough to get nabbed. Apparently, they get an average of five birds a day!



Fly away birdie!!!



The otters were adorable. I wish I could pet them...



But then again, it seem that they have very sharp teeth. I guess it's okay to look from the other side of the glass.



Later, the otters relaxed on ice. Literally. They like to sleep on ice.



More pictures to come...

Soup and Truck

The other day while driving in town, I saw a truck and thought, "Really? You need a truck that big??"



Also, I had a great soup from Los Cabos. It's called Siete Mares, or Seven Seas. It has shrimp, crab, mussels, fish, scallops and little octopi (octopuses? whatever... many octopus) in a nice broth of some sort. I should get it to go always! They didn't skimp on the size! In fact, it was so much soup, they didn't have a take-out bowl big enough and washed an empty sour cream container to put it in!



Note the big side of chopped tomato, onion, cilantro and sliced avocado. You put it in just before eating, except for the avocado I guess. I just ate that separately. And of course, chips, salsa and tortilla shells were all included. There was also a bit of lime in another foil ball. The only thing I didn't really like was that the crab was still in the shell.



Now for great news. In just two days (the day after tomorrow), I'm going to be flying to San Diego to spend (almost) Christmas with my sister! My mom is on the train and will be there tonight, and my cousin Tyler will be flying down with me. I'm so excited, I was talking about it to friends at church. I told them the first thing I want is a carne asada burrito. I actually had a few ask what that was. :O What?!? The poor souls... I'm so excited though!!!!

A Message to the Guy in the Silver Car

A message to the guy in the silver car:

Dear "Sir" (using the term loosely),
This letter is to the old man with gray hair and a big, huge moustache that went out of style in the early 80's. The guy who is probably retired and driving that silver car - a Lexus maybe - with the personalized Crater Lake plates that starts with a "P".
While I was driving five miles OVER the speed limit, and with nowhere to get out of your way because of the myriads of semi-trucks in the slow lane (the only other lane), it did not motivate me to go faster when you got so close to my bumper I couldn't see your headlights. It also didn't make me want to go anywhere to alleviate your "pain" when you backed off a couple of inches and started flashing your brights. In fact, I took great pleasure when we got to the construction area and was forced to slow to an agonizing 55 miles per hour.
Oh, Mister Old Man, it was super satisfying to slow down to 55, watching you shake your head and raise your fist in the air. Just know that you had absolutely no power and nowhere to speed around me. The more you flashed your lights and tried to climb up my tailpipe, the happier I was! And not at all inspired to squeeze between semi-trucks just so you could get to the person in front of me.
I will admit however, that when I put my blinker on and s-l-o-w-l-y moved into the other lane (when there was finally enough space), and when I smiled ever-so-sweetly at you as you passed, I admit I was surprised at you. Just remember, the next time you look to make sure it's a girl before you flip her off, one of these days a meaner girl than me might take it more personally.
Have a nice day, old man. By the way, miles down the road I saw you just a couple of cars in front of me, behind all those other slow people. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

I'm Spic-ay

Your Score: Saffron

You scored 75% intoxication, 50% hotness, 100% complexity, and 25% craziness!

You are Saffron! Those other spices have nothing on you! You're warm, smart, and you make people feel really good (and with no side-effects!). You can be difficult to get to know and require a lot of those who try, but you're so totally worth it. *Sigh*

Link: The Which Spice Are You Test written by jodiesattva on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Happy Thanksgiving!

I had a Thanksgiving-type dinner with my mom, Shannon (a friend of the family) and her two girls. So today was all about FOOTBALL!! I was bummed to realize all the pizza places were closed though (I figured somebody would be open for losers like me!), so I had to fix my own break-lun-inner. I ended up having turkey after all: the turkey burger in my burritos.
Speaking of my mom, I was at her place a couple of weeks ago and got some great pictures of her "new" kitten, Robin. He's adorable!



He's really wiggly when you pet him, squirming around and purring like a Volkswagen.





Aaaaaaaaaand, the money shot:



He got very curious about the camera and had to sniff.



And he's not shy about using his claws either. In fact, I don't think he has much control over them.. oww...



TC, mom's cat of many years, wasn't about to be outdone. He came up with cuteness of his own:



I guess mom just lets him eat out of the bag whenever he's home. Hehehe.

The cats... of course.

Since it's been a bit on the chilly side here, the cats have been (*gasp!*) sleeping together. It has been rare in the past so it's amazingly cute to see now.


Most of the time, sleeping together (much like many humans) means this:


I got the cat a new bed - a "Deeper Sleeper". I figured Grace would like it, and more importantly, FIT in it. Buddy thoroughly checked it out immediately for... you know... stuff.


Then it was Grace's turn, so she shoved him out of the way to do some sniffing of her own.


Buddy was slightly miffed. He went back to his basket of newspapers near the wood stove to pout. He wouldn't hold still, so the picture is blurry.


The bed comes with a packet of catnip that you can add into the bed. I have not added it yet, but Grace knows it was there!


Even without the catnip, she is satisfied with her new bed. She doesn't sleep in it all of the time - sometimes she still likes to nap with Buddy. But when she's in the new bed, she's obviously content.


And I think Buddy likes having his personal space back.

Duck Game!!

I got to go to the U of O Ducks game last Saturday, and it was a good one! It was against USC, a fellow top 10 ranking team in the Pac-10. Therefore, it was an important game. It started off great just due to the weather - nice and clear even if it were a little cold.



As soon as we walked in, we were fortunate enough to see the UO Duck in "person"!



And inside the stadium was exciting as well!



We got off to a good start, making a touchdown pretty quickly. This is actually a picture of the TD in progress!



Confetti flew in celebration!



Later I got a pretty good shot of a punt.



And a fun shot of the cheerleaders flipping in the end zone.



At the end, the score was close. USC had possession and they were only at the 33 yard line with 26 seconds - plenty of time to make a touchdown and go into overtime.



But luckily for the Ducks, we INTERCEPTED!!!!! And suddenly, the scoreboard was our friend again.



Being such an important game, it's the first time I've been there to see students rush the field.



I might post more pictures later, but I have to go to school. All in all, it was a very suspenseful and AWESOME game!!!