Failed SMOG

Doug took his 4Runner in to have the smog test to register it and failed it. CRAPPY!!!! We only hope he can get it fixed without spending a small fortune, which has already cost us a few hundred dollars for parts. Doug has already done quite a bit of the work, but still needs to get it into a shop to have a new catalytic converter welded on. After all the repairs and tune up stuff is done we have to hold our breath and pray it will pass. My step-dad told us to make sure we run a pre-test, which he pointed out we should have done in the first place. Well, ya learn as ya go. If it won't pass with all the repairs we will probably have to let California pay us to "early retire" Doug's 4Runner. I don't know what we'll do if that happens.

Cutest Herb Garden

Isn't this the cutest little garden you've ever seen!? My friends gave me this little greenhouse to grow herbs. I have basil, oregano and parsley growing. I figured I haven't posted about things I've been growing for a while, so these little herbs are keeping me entertained. All the oak trees I spent so much time and energy to grow are all pretty much dead. I gave a pot that had a few plants in it to my parents and the deer at them. The trees we brought to the house have all died too. Poor trees. We still have the shamrocks, which I thought were goners, but they have grown back pretty quickly. The orange tree is boring, but still alive and a couple other plants we have are still alive also. I have a couple new plants also! I got one from my coworker, Jean, for my birthday and an Azalea bush, but it's shaped into a tree - Sabrena brought that to us for our housewarming. I have another Azalea bush, but it's growing out of control - I just let it since I don't know what to do with it yet. Okay, I'm rambling about plants. I better get my other posts done!

Busy Thanksgiving

We had the day off together and the weather was nice, so we played in the backyard for a while. Okay it wasn't playing it was working. We ripped out the plants along the back of the house and started pulling the pond apart. We filled the trash can and had to stop. I'll add the "before" pictures later, this laptop doesn't have the pictures in it.

Then we went inside to prepare some food to take to Doug's parent's home for Thanksgiving dinner. I made 6 quarts of mashed potatoes. I only know how much it was because my stand up mixer will hold up to 6 quarts and it completely filled the bowl.

We gathered up the food we were bringing and headed out for family and food. We took our camera, but I didn't take photos while we were there. Here are the photos of our backyard.

The Thanksgiving Song

This song cracks me up everytime I hear it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOOxcEIdTA8


We hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving full of family, friends and food.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Overnight guests

In the previous post I mentioned that Mike and Tammy flew in on Friday night.

Oddly, just after Doug got out of the garage on Saturday the power went out and was off for a couple hours. My first thought was, "I know I just paid the bill a few days ago! I hope Mike and Tammy don't think I didn't pay our electric bill!!" That's the stress case I can be. :) I went outside and noticed the street lights were out too. Not fun while we have guests over. Tammy and I both agreed that we would have still tried to take showers without power. We may have become icicles (Doug said babe-cicles), but we had to have a shower. Luckily we didn't have to freeze; the power came back on, we took warm showers and headed out.

The first thing Tammy likes to do when she comes home to California is eat Chipotle. We used to eat it ALL the time when we worked together. So, on the way to her parents house we stopped at Chipotle. Chipotle is so good, but can be pretty spicy for me sometimes. I wouldn't be surprised if she eats it 5-7 more times before they head back home. We laugh that Tammy is in the Chipolte "dead zone". There are no Chipotles around her, but they are in Canada now and will be opening in France soon. Okay, I laugh - Tammy, not so much. :)

Here are a few pictures just for Tammy. I couldn't find a picture of the guacamole, but I found the picture at the bottom on another website and it has their guacamole in it. Mmmmm burrrrito bowl!!

I love my husband!

Doug has been so great while I've been dizzy. Not that he wasn't before :) As I'm sitting here blogging he finished the dishes from last night, made breakfast, did the dishes again and is now taking out the trash!

Friday, Tammy and Mike flew in and their flights were delayed 3 hours. They didn't arrive in Sacramento until almost midnight. Doug took a nap while we were waiting and got up and drove us to the airport without a single complaint.

Here's a picture of the security office he would like... I really think he would rather just have the guns.

Random photos in my camera

An ice cream party we had at work.

The moon on November 15th, late in the morning.
Prop 8 demonstrations I dealt with on my way home. They caused huge traffic jams because they would push the button to cross the street and take forever getting across. Both Yes on 8 and No on 8 were there.Some of the trash aftermath from the people above.
I thought the steam coming out of this building was neat. It looks like this each morning on my way to work.

Dizzy Dayz

Vertigo

I had an annual check up on Thursday and was feeling pretty dizzy, so my doctor ran an extra exam on me and told me I have Positional Vertigo. The picture below shows the test the doctor did; the nurse leaned me back while the doctor watched my eyes and then would sit me up while the doctor continued to watch my eyes. I asked what she was looking for in my eyes. She said the eyes will wiggle, which my eyes wiggled on the way down with my head turned to the left and on the way up with my head turned to the right.

This is what it feels like in my head. My vision isn't blurred or anything, but I feel like I have to wait for my head to catch up with me. People have asked if it's a balance issue, but it's not; when I make big movements I really feel like I've been spinning in a chair for a while.

The medical explanation: Benign positional vertigo (BPV)-or simply vertigo-is a disorder of the inner ear. You feel a sudden sensation of movement or spinning when you move your head or hold it in a certain position.
The inner ear is located within your skull and consists of the cochlea, a chamber shaped like a snail shell, where sound is transformed to nerve signals for the brain, and 3 semi-circular canals that function like a gyroscope, relaying information about head position and movement to the brain.
The semicircular canals contain fluid and special sensors that, when disturbed, inform the brain of a change in head position. It is thought that when you have BPV small particles become dislodged within the inner ear and then bounce around when your head moves, triggering faulty signals that your head is still moving even after it stops. This sensation of movement or imbalance when you are not moving is called vertigo, the primary symptom of benign positional vertigo.
I forget what medical website I copied that from.

The exercises for vertigo. The picture below shows the Brant-Daroff maneuver. During the exercise, I hold each position until the dizzy feeling stops. The instructions say to repeat 10-20 times up to 3 times a day. But, like any bad patient, I don't do what I'm told.

Housewarming

We had our housewarming and we think it went well. I've never been to a housewarming and had no idea what to do, but it seemed pretty simple.....show people our house. It wasn't too hard, but it was a little difficult to make sure no one felt ignored. It's hard to give a tour and chit chat with friends and family, but it was great to have everyone over! We are so grateful to those who made it! Sorry I didn't take any photos.

I take that back. Poor Doug was so sick. I took a photo while he was sleeping on the floor right before my parents arrived. He put on a long sleeved, black shirt and slept in the sun because he was freezing. He went to work that morning and only lasted 3 hours before he had to come home. He tried to take a small nap, then was put to work when my parents got here. Doug and my step dad put shelves together, blew out the garage, wrapped the water heater, and changed the hose bib in our backyard. As of today, he's still dealing with the after affects of his cold. He has about 7 cold sores on his lips. Ouchie!!

Doug is such a trooper and a great husband! He just kept going and going although he felt miserable.

Free Snapfish Photo Book

Okay, I thought I missed this deal! Holly cow, I have to jump on this quick!!

http://www2.snapfish.com/info18

Free!!! Just pay shipping and handling.
The request for the book needs to be done by tonight, but you have the weekend to put it together. The order must be place by Sunday night. To request it, all you have to do log into the page. It puts a credit for the book in your account! So cool!!

Okay, now leave me alone....I have creating to do! Okay, not really I have to finish work, then housewarming stuff, and.....and.....FINE, I'll have to do it later.