Rischa's Rants, Raves, and Ramblings

Rainy & Sickly Day

Today couldn't suck harder if it tried. Well, I suppose that's a fabrication. It could be a hurricane outside and I could have a stomach problem to go with my cold. Anyway, today still sux! I've been fighting off this cold for weeks, but it finally won our little war. I'm "in the bed" kinda sick now. The DayQuil isn't touching this junk and I'm suckin' up the nose spray like it's crack and I'm a crack whore. It's also thunder-boomin' outside. I guess it's a good day for it since I'm in bed. I'm not missing out on anything since everyone's stuck inside. Also, rain can be quite relaxing to the bed-bound person. The thunder has gotten loud lately, though. The dogs are pretty miserable, too, as they haven't gotten to rid themselves of the morning energy burst they normally get. It's 3PM and they've only gone out briefly once all day long. That reminds me of 2005 when one of the hurricanes hit and they were inside for over 24 hours until it was safe to go out. They held it like champs! They didn't get far outside our door, though, before they all squatted. LOL If they could have they'd have said, "Ahhhhhh".

Geez, how did that last paragraph come about? I ended it talking aobut Pee? Really? Must be the cold meds. That's my story.

So on to something different. I skipped the gym yesterday and it isn't looking like I'll be going today, either. I was on such a roll that I really hate that I couldn't go. I haven't skipped 2 days in a row since we signed up. I was about ready to start running on the treadmill, too. I think I've built up enough endurance that I could take a few minutes of running at a time. I didn't want to start running right away and just totally blow my bad knee. Have I mentioned how bad having RA sucks lately?! I've had it over 11 years and it still ain't fun.

I haven't been a very good blogger lately. I know this isn't news, but what I mean is that I haven't been using images. I know people like to see images in blog posts. I do, too! So I better start using my camera again. I'd rather use my own images than someone else's. That's not to say I won't ever use images from Flickr or wherever else, but I enjoyed using my own. The entries lately are looking pretty dull, though, don't you think?

Joel may be traveling back down to the Naples area soon. I'd love to be able to go with him. It's so hard to do that for us, though, with all of our critters. I have no one around that would make a good sitter. I really loved Naples, though. It's beautiful and the place we stayed was awesome! I think it's the best place I've EVER stayed. As a bonus, it was around the time of our anniversary, too. Joel's Mom even sent us a basket to help us celebrate. Very cool of her, eh? Anyway, it sure would be nice to be able to hop in the car with Joel to go on these biz trips with him. I could take my easel and some paints or at least my sketchbook and enjoy some relaxation in a new place.

That's about all for now. The nose spray has kicked in so I'm going to try and get some rest for a while. If you've got chicken soup, you know where to send it! ;-) Later!

PS. For my next post I'll talk about Videos and my Amazon purchase.....

Can't Sleep

I can't sleep, so I thought I'd post an entry in my poor, neglected blog. Sooo....what to talk about. Since sleep is what I'm after at the moment, let's start there.

I try every night to get in the bed at the same time as Joel. He decides he's going to bed and 5 minutes later he's snoozing. By the time I take the dogs out, close both computers, wash my face, brush my teeth, check all doors, get into my Pajamas, etc... It's too late. I really wish I could simplify my life so I could just say I'm doing something and DO it right then and there.

Speaking of simplifying my life, I really do need to do that in ALL aspects of Rischa-ville. Did I just say "Rischa-ville". How lame! Must be the sleeping pill. Anyway, first let's start with my email lists; I get about a thousand emails a day from different subscriptions. Most of them I mass delete. Why do I do this? What am I looking for out of these lists? I waste an awful lot of time sorting. I even have folder after folder to help organize them all, but I still waste a ton of time going through them all.

Second; Pets. I love each and every one of my pets. I REALLY do. Just like everything else, though, I go overboard. I take in every stray or sad face I see. I'm like the old lady that lived in a shoe, but with critters. I can't even go on business trips with Joel or visit family with him because I can't leave them behind. I have given serious thought to finding homes for my parrots. I love them so much, though, it makes me cry to even think of it. Let's say I did find a new home for them, though. I could then have my own room to work on my art rather than sweating my ass off out in the garage, where my current studio resides. I could also move my sewing desk and computer desk in there.

Oh, and then there are my treasures; I have various collections that are just stored in boxes in the garage and the attic. Don't get me wrong, Joel has some, too. I can't speak for him, though. Back to the point, I have bird houses (can you tell I have a thing for birds?), Precious Moments figurines, Piggy banks, shot glasses, and other small collections that I don't even display and bring me no use or pleasure at all. Why?! Some of them were given to me, but I did bring it on myself by starting these little collections to begin with. I don't even like these collections any more. They're just fun things to collect for a while and then they begin to collect dust, so I box them up.

I guess the question I should be asking myself right now is, "What is missing in my life that I overdo everything?" Is it a boredom thing? A perfectionist thing? A challenge? What the hell? This is my struggle for the moment. At times I think to myself, "delete everything!" That would include email lists, collections, or anything that complicates my life. The, other times, I think to myself, "What if I regret it later?" What to do, what to do?

Ahhh well, moving on....

I've been thinking of joining a Gym lately. There's one called Anytime Fitness that looks promising. I like going for walks and bike rides, but it always rains in the evening here. I set my alarm for a bit earlier this morning thinking that I could go early before it got hot out, but it stormed!! Grrr! What's a flabby girl to do? I bought an exercise DVD by Jillian Michaels, that Biggest Loser chick, but she had me doing jumping jacks, push ups, squat thrusts, jumping rope, etc... I can't jump up and down on these arthritic knees! I tried it and my knees hurt for a week. I also could feel that the workout was an awesome one, though. My muscles were that good kind of sore that you feel after you've worked out. I wish I COULD do it every day. I just can't, though. My rheumy would fuss at me if I did. On a more productive note, I have started logging everything that I eat and drink. I downloaded an application that helps you track your calories on my iPod Touch. It's really great because you can do a quick search for your food and they have a list from all restaurants and grocery stores to make it easy. It's really a great little weight loss tool.

I think I'll go surf the net a while until I feel like I can catch those illusive "Z's". I can tell that it's getting harder to concentrate on writing so my sleeping pill is surely kickin' in. See ya next time....

Oh and P.S. Don't judge me by the grammar used above. I'm not even gonna proofread this entry. It's too long and I'm too lazy to do it.

10 Things About Me

I'm taking a prompt from a fellow blogger and listing 10 things about me that you may not know.

1. I would rather be at home than anywhere in the world.
2. I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis when I was 21. Doc said I was the youngest AND the most aggressive case he had ever seen. I'm good now with the meds, though.
3. I have quite a few furry and feathered kiddos and love each of them SO much.
4. I REALLY enjoy www.Twitter.com. More than I should probably. I wish everyone I know would join so I can see their tweets. I especially love posting Twitpics.
5. I hate Facebook, but I do love that I have reconnected with lots of old friends there.
6. I also hate talking on the phone. I often don't answer or even look @ who's calling.
7. I'm surprisingly quiet until I get to know someone. Then I'm quite talkative.
8. I really love doing lists like this, but I fear saying THAT comes off narcissistic.

9. I have 6 blogs. Hehehe....some of them are secrets. I won't tell so don't ask. ;-)

10. I constantly struggle with trying to get to bed @ a decent time like everyone else. I can't seem to do it even though it seems like it should be easy. Even when I worked very early I stayed up at night.

I have no idea why the 10 is separate from the rest, but it won't go away without me retyping. I hate when stuff like that happens. Oh well...I'm too lazy to retype all that. It won't work with copying and pasting....tried it.

Now it's YOUR turn! Don't forget to leave me a comment with your 10 things linked or listed. ;-)

Just a Tuesday

Today was just another day. Not a particularly good one. I felt crappy all day and Joel got news that he'll be going out of town for a week (again) this Sunday. I felt so tired and achy all day that I just slept. I missed some of my RA meds, so it's not entirely surprising that I feel this way. I took it today all at once since I'm late, so I'm guessing tomorrow will be even worse. The med, Methotrexate, makes me feel sick when I take it all on one day like that. I usually break it up over two days and feel less sick.

The news of Joel going on another biz trip couldn't come at a worse time. His grandmother isn't doing very well, so he really needs to be home in case something happens. Also, I just don't want him to be gone for so long....or at all. It's bad enough that he works almost 24/7. I'm starting to feel pretty lonely. My art keeps me pretty busy, but that's an at-home thing, so I don't really get out much. I wish I could meet a friend that's into the same things as me LOCALLY. I have lots of friends like that, but they're not local. Most of the artists that I've met around here are on the older side of life. For once, I'd like to hit it off with someone my own age. I tend to get chatty with older folks for some reason. Maybe I'm one of those "old souls" that you hear about? Who knows....but it's lonely being an old soul apparently.

Joel is talking about us taking a short vacation for our 10 year anniversary. It sounds like fun, but for us it's always a hassle to go anywhere together. We have to find someone to take care of our fur children. The only person that I trust to come and do that is Mom and she's in GA 7 hours away. To be honest, I'd rather Joel just take the time off and us hang out together with NO phone or interruptions. Just a nice few days alone to go out to dinner, go to the movies,  or something like that.

Eek...I had more to talk about, but my computer just did an update and now wants to restart. I guess I'll take that as a hint that I should go back to sleep. I've already slept 2 hours, but I had to get back up to take my nightly meds and put the cloths in the dryer. Oh, the fun of having RA and a heart problem.....Woe is me. Sorry, it's just how I'm feeling right now. Maybe my next post won't be such a downer.

I can't believe....

...I'm still awake! I've been getting in the bed at 10:30 pm or shortly there-after. I've been so proud of that. I totally screwed that up today by taking one of the longest naps ever. Oh well, one day gone bad doesn't break me. I will get back to it tomorrow.

I've been Twittering, but not blogging. I thought I'd wait for something interesting to happen, but since that hasn't happened.......I caved and I'll just start back writing about regular old stuff that happens to me during my day-to-day activities.

I have a bit of a tummy ache right now, so I'm cutting this short. Tonight is one of my two Methotrexate nights, so it's to be expected. RA is a pain in....well, I was going to say rump, but it's really a pain in everything. :-/

Night all! Or morning....or whatever. See ya!

My Christmas List

It's time to post my Christmas List again. I only do this so I can show it to people when they insist on getting me something. Not because I'm greedy or materialistic. Although, I do enjoy gift giving and receiving just as much as anyone else. A great alternative to the material things is to GIVE in my name. For example, donate to Pennies for Bella, The Arthritis Foundation (For obvious reasons), The Cancer Society, or The Fund For Animals.

Okay, on to my list:

 

And this one I want the most out of the 3...

   

It's out of stock, but I bet Borders or BAMM.com would have it.

Okay, enough of the books. The rest of the books I want can be found in my Amazon Wish List that's always on my blog. I have it in the left column.

Now for an electronic gadget that I would love to have. I'm still sort of researching these to find which would be best for what I'd use it for. See, I plan to start a LIVE Webcam. It will be focused on my art desk where I create. I already have my channel set up. All I have to do is get a better webcam. I have one that works, but it's one of those that doesn't really look smooth. It's jumpy. It makes me look like I'm moving in robot movements. LOL So here's A webcam, but I'm not sure if it's THE webcam, yet. I will update when I'm ready to choose THEE one.

I ALWAYS love getting Gift Certificates to my favorite stores!

Last, but not least, something from any of my favorite Etsy.com sellers:

DudaDaze

ME Art Design

Paulette Insall

mtjoyschool 

ArtChiz

 ---------------------------------------------------> Tascha <---Check the spelling. Like Rischa with TA. LOL

kilkennycat

AliceinParis

Okay, that's all for now. Merry Christmas early!

UPDATE!!!

"Creative Cloth Doll Faces", "Crumble Crackle Burn", and "Simple Gifts to Stitch" have been purchased by Mom. Hehe....She's quick! Thanks, Mom! I can't wait to dive into them! (She even said I could open them early! Woohoo) 

I wish everyone had a blog to post a wish list so I could be sure I'm not giving a lemon of a gift.  PS. Joel likes JC Penny GCs, too. I'll get a list from him and post a wish list here if he's cooperative. He usually wants cloths, but I bet he'd like a Best Buy GC, too. He's a gamer.

Header?

That thing I was talking about starting last night and probably wouldn't finish.....I just finished it. I started it last night after my blog entry and got back to it this morning. I was working on a blog header. I wanted to make something that was completely made by me. I don't know if I like it, though. It looks rather simplistic. lol I probably won't use it. Here it is...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's all for this entry. I'm too tired to think. I went to bed at 4:30 AM and couldn't sleep. I think I fell asleep from 6-7:30, but then woke back up. I gave up at 8:15 and just got up. I heard Kolby awake already anyway, so I made him some eggs and left over boneless pork chops from last night for breakfast. I had cheesecake for breakfast. lol Kolby also had some after his breakfast. He loved it. Anyway, I'm tired and hurting, so I'll probably try to take a nap for a little while. Later!

Ho hum...

Well we're back from Naples and Mom has gone home to GA. (thanks again, Mom, for critter-sitting!) It's always so sad when she has to go back home. We both cried as she was leaving today. Kolby said he was sad, too. You never get too old to need your Mommy.

I slept for most of the day today. I have been feeling like I was going into an RA flare up, though, so I guess it's good I stayed off my feet. I SO hope the RA monster isn't flaring its ugly head! It's been a couple of years since my RA has been really bad. My ankle is hurting and so is my hip/back and knee. Plus, as of today, I think I've got a cold. I'm not sure, though, as my allergies have been terrible. Maybe some of this rainy weather will wash that pollen away.

The time I wasn't sleeping today I spent with Kolby. He wanted me to clean his computer off so he could turn it into a gaming computer. It's my old Dell. He uses his laptop for his school work, so this will be his play computer I guess. I still need to take a lot of my stuff off there so it'll be faster for him. He went ahead and started installing, though, before I was done. I left it doing a clean up and when I came back the Clean-Up box was gone and there was a new game on it. lol I asked him what he had done with the Clean-Up and asked if it had finished and he said he didn't know anything about that, but he installed a game. :-P

Mom cut Kolby's hair last night before bed. He has a cute new "do". He doesn't like for me to compliment him on it, but I just had to do it. He looks even more grown up now I think. I can't believe I'm looking UP at him now!! Holy crap....where did my baby go? He looks like a man now!! *sobs*

Joel and I got back from his business trip on Thursday and he already has to leave again on Tuesday. I'm not very happy about his job right now. They don't pay him enough for him to be driving and flying all over the place!! It's really pissing me off! Pardon the language, but it does! I don't see him as much as his co-workers and boss do. That's not right! They should at least give me a loaner husband when they're going to take mine away for so long!! LMBO (just teasing, Joel)

I thought about doing a tutorial for PSP or PS before bed, but it's already 3 AM. I better call it a night or I'll be up till Joel goes to work. That's not out of the ordinary for me, but I try not to do that. I already know which one I really want to do, though. It's such a cute one! http://www.got-milk-tutorials.co.uk/tinyangel.html That's one of my favorite tut sites. She always writes great ones. Anyway, I've already got the tut supplies downloaded, but it'll wait till tomorrow I suppose. I'm still not feeling well, so maybe by tomorrow I'll feel better if I go to bed now.

I'm off to bed. Night all!

Hair cut, shopping, and chatting

The title pretty much sums up what I did today. I sat down to my desktop with a cup of coffee or three and chatted with Candice for a few hours. I didn't feel like making myself useful as I had zero sleep last night for some reason. We hadn't talked in forever. I was in a great mood after talking to her. Joel called and said he was on his way home a little early, so I threw a little make up on and we went to the mall when he got here. They were having a sale at Bath & Body Works. Candice told me about it and asked that I pick her some up, too, since they don't ship to Canada. So I got lots of lotion and picked up her body spray. I could have bought tons more in there, but I stuck to sale items. Then I got a much needed hair cut. My ends were looking frayed. I got it cut pretty short. Joel said he hadn't seen me with hair this short before. I probably wouldn't have went this short, but I'm wanting to get rid of the over-processed junk and just have the natural look again. I'll tell you whether I like it or not in tomorrow's blog entry after I've had a chance to style it.

As I was sitting in the chair getting my hair cut and listening to my stylist I just kept noticing how I looked in that mirror. Their lights are not very flattering. I'm SO going on a diet! Also, I kept noticing how awful my skin looks. I've been looking online for what the best skincare would be for my crazy skin problems, but haven't found a damn thing yet. It sucks!

My stylist, Colleen, is very chatty. We have a lot in common, so there's no lack of topics. She's very good at her job, too. She listens well. Of course, I'll always have Mom as the favorite, but I can't very well travel to GA every time I need a trim or new style. lol

Ya know, I got on here thinking, "All I feel like doing is griping right now", but after listing the good stuff of my day the bad stuff doesn't seem so bad. I've been in a funk lately, though. I won't start my griping now, but it sure would be nice to have something hugely exciting to talk about. Or at least be able to say that nothing on me is hurting.

Joel and I went grocery shopping for our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday. Kolby is at my parents' house in GA, so it's just the two of us. We found one of the smallest turkeys they had. I don't want to be eating turkey for a week. lol Although, I wouldn't mind some turkey salad! Yum! Much better than tuna!

I better catch some "Z"s. It's the wee hours and Penny is going to wake me up when SHE sees fit to get up. Not when Mom has had enough sleep. Night!

Faith in Humanity?

Do you have any? I don't any more. Lately it seems like people just don't have hearts at all. Everyone's out for themselves. Of course, we're all like that to a certain extent, but I've noticed more and more that some people just don't give a damn about anything BUT number one. It's very disheartening. Joel and I were at a park a few days ago taking photos. I noticed this group of cute, little ducks about to go into the water. I nudge closer and closer to them to snap some photos, when I hear a kid say, "hit him with a stick". And his brother throws a stick and hits this poor duck. I was about to lower my camera and holler at him when this other lady did it first. I know kids will be kids, but stuff like that just gets to me. Later, Joel walks up to me and says he saw another teen trying to kick a squirrel! WTF, people! What's wrong with humans!? This beautiful wildlife is just minding their own business, living their lives in this awesome park, and assholes take it upon themselves to hurt them? And these teens weren't alone. They have their parents watching over them. Not only this day and these kids, though. That's just an example of what happens all the time to make me lose faith in humanity. I see it on a daily basis. Whether it's online, in stores, hearing about it, or witnessing it for myself in person from people I thought knew better. *sigh* It's been a sorry couple of weeks I guess you could say, but it's really taking its tole on my spirit all together. All I can do is try my best to be a decent person I guess. No one is perfect, but still....

In other news, Penny was sitting in my lap earlier and I saw a FLEA on her! Yikes! I knew it was past time for her Revolution, but even so....I haven't seen a flea around here in forever! Even before she was on Revolution she didn't have a problem except once when I took her to my parents' house. They have sand that apparently attracts fleas? I didn't know sand did that, but I suppose it does. Anyway, I applied her Revolution right away. She's been playing outside a lot more lately with the nice weather we've been having. I guess I should have been quicker. The cooler weather has brought about another problem with Penny, too. Penny is potty trained now. However, we didn't have her this time last year when we were able to open the doors and windows to let the air in. Now that it's cooler out we've started doing that again. Which means we leave the sliding glass door open to the screen room. Well, I think she has confused that with outside because she's been "going" in the screen room. I'll walk out there to get a little fresh air only to be hit in the face with not-so-fresh air. lol I guess I can see where she'd be a little confused. Anyway, we're working on it and she's getting a little better about it. I've had to start saying "OUTSIDE" when we walk out the door to outside FROM the screen room and not just out the front door. That probably doesn't seem to make since seeing how you all can't see the way our house is set up, but Penny only knows the "outside" word for the front door. That's OUR bad, not hers.

Oh, and that's not the only Penny news. lol She has started barking at me every time she wants to nap. She's too long to sit comfortably in my lap while I'm at my desk, so she wants me to go to the couch. This happens when I'm not at my desk now, too. If I'm doing anything other than sitting on the couch when Penny decides it's nap time, I get barked at until I go sit on the couch. It's hilarious, really. She really is like a baby. A spoiled baby, at that! She definitely isn't hurting for attention.

The photos that we took at the park are on my desktop computer. I'm in bed and typing this from my laptop. I've been getting to bed early lately. I got in bed at 12:30 tonight. That's very early to me. Of course I've been laying her on the computer for the past hour, but it still counts. I'm just warming up the bed for when I really want to snooze. lol That's my excuse. Anyway, if I type my next entry from my desktop I'll show some of the photos I took.

I haven't really felt great lately. I have a terrible back ache at the moment. I don't know if I hurt my back or if it's part of the RA, but it sucks either way. I've been rubbing Myoflex on it. It helps for a little while. I don't even feel like sitting at my desktop much. All I feel like doing is laying down. Hey, at least Penny's happy with that. lol She loves to snuggle.

I guess I should go. I'm pretty much out of topics. I might edit a few old photos that are on this computer just to get some Photoshop time in. Then I'll nod off. Have a good one.