Skeleton Wreath

So I got creative, sorta

I bought a couple of plastic skeletons from the dollar store, broke them apart and turned them into a wreath.

After breaking apart the skeletons, I simply rearranged the parts to create a circle. Then I used hot glue to stick the parts together.

I used a wire hanger from the dry cleaners to hang the wreath. I just hot glued the skeleton bits to a hanger that I rounded out in the shape of my wreath.

The project cost me $2!

A New Vision

Sooooo...there have been a couple things I've realized I need to change about me, or at least change my perception on.

1. I've done 20 years of Taekwondo mixed with some kickboxing, Hapkido, Karate and extreme martial-arts. I'm thinking that I need to tick that off the ol' bucket list. This is probably the hardest and most painful choice I have made. I have realized that I'm going to have to stop seeing myself as an injured martial-artist. It is making me depressed thinking about being a martial-artist who can no longer perform. Instead, I've decided that I'm just not going to think of myself as a martial-artist any longer. Time to hang up the belt and say that I've been there and done that. I will still throw some punches and kicks when I can, but my training days are over. Time to focus on something I CAN do.

Bowing out

2. Since April I have been trying to slim down. I've been using the number on the scale to determine my success. The problem that I have is that I LOVE to eat, but I HATE cardiovascular workouts. Being that I am very goal oriented, I have been stressing and upset that I can not reach my goal weight. Even while I was good about eating right and exercising, I never dropped those last 10 pounds. I stopped lifting weights as much as I used to thinking that it would help with my back, and that muscle weighs more than fat. The result was just a soft, squishy version of myself. I am NOT a skinny chick. It's time to hit the weights again. I'm putting on muscle now, and I feel much better. Now I have to find some clothes that fit.

Need muscles like his ;-)

3. I remember having the biggest crush on my uncle when I was about 5 years old. Don't worry, he's an uncle by marriage. Anyway, Uncle Danny is a farmer. My favorite vacations were spent on his farm. Not just because my Aunt and Uncle were some cool people, but the animals and being outside were always so much fun. I also remember that whenever people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always answered that I wanted to be a farmer. Time passed, and when you grow up in the city, the idea of being a farmer isn't something that occurs to you.

Now that I've been propagating plants and growing stuff, I really enjoy creating gardens and more plants. I suck at growing vegetables, but other plants and trees I love. I don't think that I could have a whole farm, per se, but having my own tiny farm in my backyard is something I should focus on...for fun. It will be a nice release and escape for me to grow things. I also love animals. I want to find a way to either breed puppies, dog sit, or work for a vet.

My family on my Aunt and Uncles farm...I'm the little girl

So those are the 3 things I am changing my views on. It's time to do things that I can do and that make me happy.

Scrapbooking

In my quest to find a creative outlet I gave scrapbooking a go around.  Um, that was a big, expensive mistake.

First, I have no artistic creativity, so my layouts pretty much sucked.

Second, I am not able to draw or cut a straight line to save my life. I used straight edges, rulers, and all sorts of cutting equipment. Somehow, all my cuts were crooked. I tell people that I was being creative and wanted rhombuses and curvy sides, and not plain old squares or rectangles.

Third, I got annoyed that there were so few pictures on each page.

I ruined so many pictures and lots of paper trying to scrapbook. I wasted money and time to create some ugly craziness. In the end, I gave up and just started sticking as many pictures as I could fit onto one page. That actually turned out better than some of the "fancy" pages that I tried.

In the end, I learned that I will just stick to photo albums. I still envy all of you that can scrapbook really well, but I'll leave that to y'all!

One of my "fancier" pages.

Facet Nerve Block

Last Friday I had a Facet Nerve Block to help with my back pain. This was another injection into the joint spaces in my spine. My pain management doctor does this under general anesthesia. The hardest part of the procedure for me is the IV for the anesthesia medicine. I hate needles!

This was my 5th injection. I've had several different types of injections, but until this last one the injections have all been in my Lumbar spine. Usually it is L4, L5 and even S1. This time, however, the doctor decided to try a higher spot. They did the injection at the bottom of the Thoracic area.

For the first time I felt immediate relief! The pain was not 100% gone, but the pain area was lessened. Normally I wake up from the injections feeling the same as before, so this is a very positive thing. But as the local anesthesia wore off I was in a lot of pain! Different pain, though. Sore and throbbing pain. But with some ice, heat and rest that all went away.

Today I was back in the gym. I still have extreme pain in the lower back, but it seemed to be concentrated to that one area. Bending over still hurts, but I feel more mobile today.

This makes me feel like this new pain doctor is onto something! Fingers are definetly crossed!!!!

Is Religion Evil?

Before you get your panties in a wad, I don't mean this as an insult or an attack on any particular religion. I am not saying that if you are religious that you are evil. I am talking about the big picture. These are just my thoughts, and if you would like to share your thoughts, please do so.

Let me start by saying that I am spiritual, I am not an atheist, but I question churches, temples, mosques...I dislike organized religion. I am not going to get into my particular beliefs this time, though.

In my experience, both personal and educational, I have seen religions of all sorts do a lot of judging and causing a lot of hate. I know, I sound like I am judging here, but I am not trying to. I am just telling you what I have experienced. I don't care what you believe in, as long as you are a moral and nice person.

Back to religion causing hate, I am reminded that many religions have killed or condemned because others had different beliefs. There is the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) and the Christian Crusades. There are the Nazis and the Muslims that have committed hate crimes and started wars against the Jews. Now I know a lot of the Israeli wars has more to do with land than religion, but there is still hate based on what each of them believe.

Christians are great about hating other Christians. It is the reason that I am not fond of organized religion. Historically, Catholics and non-catholics have fought each other. Even today I hear Baptists and other Protestants say that Catholics are not really Christians. This really really bugs me. HELLO! The whole Catholic religion is based on Jesus! DUH!

But it's not all Catholic versus non-Catholic. Many of the colonist who came to America were trying to escape the condemnation of the churches in Europe. Whether they were escaping Catholic churches, tyrannical theocratic kings, or just wanting to start their own churches, they were trying to escape other Christians telling them they were doing it wrong.

I have personally experienced religious prosecution while I was growing up. I went to Methodist churches growing up. While I believed that I worshiped the same God and the same Jesus as the Baptists in my small town, I was often told I was going to hell by the Baptists. I remember being pulled out of my private Baptist school when I came home and told my parents that I learned they were going to hell because they did not go to the Baptist church. Later I lost friends when their parents found out I did not attend a Baptist church. Those friends were no longer allowed to play with me.

But Christian's are not the only religion that fights among itself. The Muslims are always fighting (often in a more deadlier way) about who is worshiping right. Sunni and Shia Muslims originally fought over political rights (who should be able to rule based on the descendants of Muhammed), but the differences eventually turned religious as well.

In a smaller perspective, I look at the United States. It was founded on religious freedom and separation of church and state. Our forefathers saw what churches and theocracies could do to a nation, and they didn't want to repeat it. Yet it seems that some Christians really want to have religion be a part of government...as long as it is their religion. There are Christians who believe gays are wrong to be gay, and so gay marriage should be banned. Okay, fine, believe what you want, but it should NOT be a part of our government. Same goes for abortion, it's a personal thing, not a government thing. Keep church and state separated like it should be. Another favorite is when certain Christians want religion in public schools, yet when other religions want to express their beliefs at school, it is wrong. This is why we need to keep anything government controlled separated from religion.

I personally think that you should have spiritual beliefs, and if that leads you to an organized religion GREAT. I am not saying ALL people who go to church or other places of worship are evil. I am just saying that it seems to me organized religion causes a lot of bad.

Rest is NOT Always the Answer

Whenever you are injured the first piece of advice given is RICE, which means Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevate. With my back injury I've been told that maybe I need to Rest a little more. People say I am too active and that I cannot heal because I never Rest my back.

When you hurt your ankle, you can exercise or move around and still rest your ankle. Same is true with your shoulder, knee, and most other body parts. But when you hurt your back, it is hard to rest because you always use your back. I'm not talking a slight strain where you rest a couple days and then you feel better. I am talking about full out, chronic, crippling back pain. Hit by a bus pain!

I've taken breaks from martial-arts, aerobics, running, and heavy weightlifting, but the back pain never left. I still exercised, though, because I did not want to completely weaken my back and have even more issues. I've learned that exercise helps to strengthen injuries so it doesn't hurt more. For example, I am careful about lifting weights in order to strengthen all sides of my knee so that my knee cap does not wander off more than it already does.

After my hysterectomy I was forced to rest in order to heal from the surgery. I took 4 weeks off of exercise and most activity, and my back pain has worsened. I am depressed and my self-esteem have taken a blow because of the lack of exercise. So not only is the cause of the pain making me hurt, my emotions are causing me extra pain.

Exercise does more than make me look good and make me a better athlete. Exercise and endorphins from exercise makes me a happier person, which automatically make me feel better. Most people drink coffee to start their day. I exercise. When I don't exercise in the morning, I feel crummy all day. I am sluggish and depressed when I don't exercise.

The past four weeks were rough because not only was I bored and going crazy not getting out, but I was not getting my daily dose of exercise. Plus, I was getting weaker and less athletic. To make matters worse, my back pain was not getting better. I was not benefiting from the rest at all.

I started to exercise again this week. I am not doing martial-arts or hardcore training, but I am going to the gym to do strength and cardio. Now that I am exercising, my back still hurts, but at least the rest of me feels better.

Rest with Cross...and his cookie

Puppy Love

My oldest dog Titan

I'm obsessed with dogs! I always have been. I love the creatures, and I can never get enough of them. I remember writing letters as a young child to my Aunt MaryLou always inquiring about her dog and giving her detailed accounts of my dog. She must have thought I was a crazy child. My obsession started early and only grew stronger.

If you have a dog and I see it, chances are I am going to ignore you at some point. I will be on the floor with your dog or having a conversation with your dog. I am not a physically affectionate person, but when it comes to dogs I am all over them. I'm still trying to figure out how to become a professional dog petter.

Dogs are easier than people. They are happier, less judging, and for the most part friendlier. I have lived on my street for a little over a year now. I know the first name of one adult on my street, but I know Barkeley, Cuddles, Brownie, Oliver, Izzy, Cooper, and Precious. Yeah...

My furry Lakeland friends

When I go visit my friends in Lakeland (about 45 minutes from my home), I am just as excited to visit the furry friends as I am the human ones. As a matter of fact, I get extremely disappointed when I drive there and don't get to see the Wisneski dogs.

I got my first puppy when I was about 11. I finally convinced my parents that I would take care of one. Her name was Pepper, and she was an awesome mutt! She made me laugh about everyday, and when I came home from those miserable days in middle school, she was the one to make me feel better.

My youngest dog Phin

Now I have two dogs. Both rescued mutts. Titan (named after the Tennessee Titans) is 4 and he is our grumpy old man. He had a rough start in life, and isn't used to being affectionate. He likes his space, and get really upset when his space is invaded. Phin (named after the Miami Dolphins) is 7 months and is our crazy puppy. He is sweet and playful.

I could never have too many puppies. I plan to be the crazy old dog lady instead of the crazy cat lady. But until I get rid of some human children or inherit a farm, I'm just going to have to stick with my two. I don't think my husband would give me a choice on that anyway.

Titan got his head stuck in a cracker box