Epiphany

In retrospect, today was spiritually motivating. However, it didn't exactly start off that way. Anger consumed me before work and on the drive over to Philadelphia. Somehow when I stepped into the shop, this all changed.

My shift began at 10am. I had two consults to start off the work day which went very well, and the pieces are exciting. My second client, a pastor and a caterer, brought my family and I a huge box filled with her culinary creations. She'd mentioned that after finding and reading this blog, she felt compelled to cook for us since we were having some difficult times and loved food. Admittedly, I got teary eyed when she walked in with the gift. She hooked us up big time. I can't wait to get to tattoo her and get to know more about her. Next I worked on a guy that reminded me that I needed to work on myself spiritually. We had a lot in common, both of us have been through some pretty rough turf. We listened to a song that I've heard a thousand times, but he broke it down and analyzed it in a way that I'd never thought. It inspired me that I've got some work to do on myself. The 5 o clock commute back home was calm and complacent.

Tonight I actually went to church. Although I have some qualms about religion, I do have beliefs. I'm a Unitarian Universalist, and I believe in the acknowledgment and respect of all religion. Anyway the experience I had in the church was uplifting. I walked out feeling confident that I can make it through these difficult times. Negativity has been bogging me down, but I felt a heavy weight lift off of my shoulder's after some prayer and meditation. It was a reminder how important it is to repeat my mantras on a regular basis, and it's ok to ask for help from a higher power. This is the tough part because I'm such a passionate person. My emotions tend to win me over. Presently on this pink cloud, I'll relish in the refreshing feelings of relief. Maybe a new tattoo to remind me of this should be etched into my skin.

Tonight on the Food Network at 10pm

Check out Robert Irvine's premier of Restaurant Impossible . You might be seeing our family on there. One of my mommy meetup groups was invited to participate. Earlier in the day we met for a play date at a local park where we were stormed by the crew with some samples of food. They did some interviews. Then later that night the parents got together for a night out. We were lucky to get reservations. It was chaos at it's best and sometimes worst.

What a crazy yet fun experience. Although our table got served somewhat in a reasonable time frame, our other group didn't get any food until two hours after ordering. It was insane. I won't go into too much detail so that I won't spoil the show. I'm curious to see how they portray the experience. The company was great, but the food was not worth the hefty prices they charged. Regardless I couldn't stop laughing because our table was on a roll. It was a great night that I'll never forget.

I hope you get to catch the show. Let me know what you think.

Skillz

My son has skills. We went to Chinatown last night for dinner after getting our hair cut. He's not even 2 and a half yet, and insisted on using chop sticks. That's better than my husband who's in his late thirties. He's also potty trained fully now for a month or so. We started before he was 2 with the pee pee, and gradually worked his way into always wearing underwear or pull ups. However he's been pull up free except for night time and some naps. While he's still having accidents during sleep times, he's been refusing to wear the diaper. I don't blame him. However, the mess isn't that fun.

Today I got sucked into covering for a coworker of mine. I was already coming in for an appointment, but otherwise it's been dead. I've been drawing since early this morning, and I still have plenty more to do. It's crazy how much time I spend on drawing these elaborate custom pieces. Some are easier than others. For instance, I've been putting together some organic/ biomechanical art for my client on Saturday. I can't tell you how many times I've redrawn it. It has to be perfect! Not to mention that there are several cover ups in the sleeve so it makes it more complicated. I suppose the more I draw it, the better it'll get. An artists mind is rarely completely satisfied with the outcome. We can always look back and see what we'd do differently. I suppose that's bittersweet. Here's what I've refined today, but the drawing will be refined yet again due to a coworker's critique. It's all good!

Cancelled

The inclement weather and my family have persuaded me to cancel the trip up to the more frozen tundra that is Beverly, MA. They've urged me that my deficiency of Vitamin D should be telling me to take it easy and rejuvenate. Not to mention my car completely sucks in the snow white and black ice. Coupling the traffic conditions, 6 plus hour car ride there, fatigue,muscle, and bone pain, it was an easy decision. I just hope I don't ruin anyone's day. It would be easy if I have to work here in NJ. I can sleep on my bed at night, stretch, and exercise in the comfort of my own home. Then go to work the next day. On the road this is difficult to manage.

I suppose your body does tell you when to slow down, but I have a difficult time listening. For some time now, my schedule has been pedal to the metal so I thought the pains, aches, and low morale were reactions to a busy schedule. However, the pain has become more consistent as time passes. I've recently had so much discomfort in my back that I had to take a few days off. I had a difficult time walking, sitting, or laying down. Then last week I experienced a new hip pain after waking up. Then the lower side back pain came back. I feel like I need to be stretched and snapped back into place. I knew at that time, I was just off. My mind was saying "something is wrong with you". Finally I went for almost year overdue blood work, and I got the bad news.

Granted if the therapies will work, I'll be able to achieve super hero status once again. I'm just hoping it's not a problem with my body absorbing the vitamin. Then someone scared the crap out of me today and said her father ended up in the hospital for four months because he actually had a tumor on his thyroid. The bloodwork has also been showing antibodies determined to destroy the thyroid at some point. Now I want to frantically call my Dr and get some more tests done. I'm kind of freaking out, and this isn't helping my anxiety. Let's just hope that it was a fluke, and there's no other malady inside of me.

Perhaps I can learn a little lesson from this. The main person I should be worrying about is me. If I don't take care of my own needs, then I won't be able to do things for other people. Making people happy is what I live for. Balance in life can be difficult especially with financial burden I've been hit with in these tough economical times. I've been trying to make up for the discrepancy's and in return have become unhealthy and unhappy overall.

Vitamin D deficiency

Yesterday I got the awaited call from my doctor about some blood tests. My thyroid is still raging and building up antibodies to someday attack, but that's no surprise. I was shocked to hear that I have a scarily low amount of Vitamin D in my body so action needs to be taken.

This is the plan. For the next month, I'll be on taking 50,000 mg of Vitamin D once a week in pill form. Then I'll be tapering it off to 3000 mg a day for another two months. Then the testing will be done again to see if my body is absorbing the huge amounts of the vitamin. I've been a huge advocate against tanning, however, I'm considering this option to up the anti. I have almost half of the minimum requirement in my body, and this must change. The symptoms must be obliterated - fatigue, bone and muscle pain, weight gain, and depression. It also doesn't help my thyroid either. Or my heart. There's also potential of stroke too. Let's fix this.

Perhaps I need to go somewhere I can sunbathe nude. That's certainly not here for another few months at the very least. I'll be guesting in Florida in March or April, but in the meantime artificial sun might be the option. How's that for irony, folks. I'll be tanning very soon. Just let me know if I start looking like an Oompa Lompa.

Jan 4, 2011

Yesterday was the first day without a binky for my 29 month old son. It's been way overdue. Hubby was supposed to attempt the battle during my guest spot in Orlando, however they both got sick. After a couple of days of tremendous tantrums, we've had it! It's supposed to pacify his moods, and now he was freaking out for it.

Day one was tough especially in the morning. It seemed our son broke the world record for the longest tantrum. The day went by with what we thought no nap until finally I rocked him to sleep. Unfortunately the nap only lasted barely an hour with him soaking the bed. With every good comes something bad or however that goes, but we're praying that his nap isn't obliterated yet. Nap time is precious whether or not we nap with him from exhaustion or have some time cleaning or simply to ourselves. Last night he didn't fall asleep until about 9:30pm which is in an hour past his usual bedtime. However there wasn't much fuss or crying for the binky. On the other hand, he did wake p several times last night. Certainly there are two people who are going to live the day as zombies. Although I know my husband is sleeping in bed while Talon watches one of his fave movies, Astro Boy. My plan was to not give the paci at all until a nurse at the hospital said that he'd suck his thumb and screw up his teeth. It seems like his teeth have a significant space in the middle of it, but we'll never know if it's caused by the sucker or genetics. I still wish we never gave it to him at all.

Today is going to be rough. Early this morning at 7am, I had to go and get some blood work done especially to check my thyroid. I'm kind of screwed genetically in that department since my father and mother's gene pool both include different types of thyroid disease. Unfortunately, I seem to be predisposed to the under active thyroid causing me to gain weight. Over a year ago, I showed an antibody that could possibly attack my thyroid causing it not to work. I also slacked on getting it retested until now, a mere 9 months overdue and after some significant weight gain. Then I'm scheduled to work at Body Graphics in Pennsauken, NJ from 12 - 10pm. Worry is settling over me since there are no appointments in my book today. I might not make any money since this shop isn't especially known to be a hight traffic walk in shop. However, I'll bring plenty to do including some drawings for upcoming tattoos. I know some of my clients are on their toes waiting for drawing previews so I should be able to appease them after some QT drawing. Besides tomorrow off, I have a pretty busy work week.

Where does the time go?

My hubby is at his new job applying for his gaming license. You have no idea how excited I am. Even though it's not the jobs he's used to, including hours and pay, we're so excited. He's been a Stay at Home Dad for a year and a week now. It's apparent that he's had some good times, but overall that wasn't what he'd had in mind. However, in a terrible economy even highly educated people with lots of experience have a difficult time finding a job. With this new year, comes new changes to our lives and daily routines. It might get a little complicated here and there, but we're willing to make it work.

On this last day of 2010, I think about resolutions. I have the usual ones everyone has. Eat less and more healthier, drink less, exercise more, read more, work less, save more money, and make more money!! I hope that in this new year, I can spend some more time with my son. It's great to watch him learn and grow while teaching him new things. He's most attentive when I teach him new things. I'm not sure why this is so, but it's true.

Last night was the first dry night Talon had. He woke up in the middle of the night to go to the potty. I'm so proud of him! At less then 2 and a half years old, he's potty trained. We've been working on it for the last 6 months, but all of the hard work has paid off, and soon we'll even be free of diapers overnight. It's the little things that excite me, folks.

On another note, I must get ready for a balloon drop play date at Little Sport. I always find myself making a plan, but then I get caught up with tasks at home. For instance last night I had plans to get a drink with some of my mommy friends, but cooking got into the way. The grilled octopus took way longer than I thought to stew... Hence the tortilla soup came out better with a longer stewing time as well. There will be other nights... It's unbelievable how messy and dirty a house can get when you have two adults, one toddler, and two dogs. I can hardly do anything at all. I suppose the dirty house will wait for me, but now I've also sacrificed showering before we go out today. I suppose there's always time for that later too. Another resolution could be to plan my time more efficiently.

There are more original resolutions that have been flowing through my head that I'd like to share. We'll be doing more Organic gardening this year, but there are a few different things that I'd like to try. Heirloom seeds are what I'm hoping to get to start my own seedlings instead of commercial GMO seeds. Then I can collect my own seeds, and have them ready for seedlings next year. Vertical gardening will also be employed in this years gardening adventures since our space is small. My neighbors are going to love the tall PVC pipes with holes cut out of them and plants sprouting out of them in the small back yard. Hopefully we'll be composting too, and we can start using our own fertilizer. In addition, my goals are to utilize as much local food as possible. We'll be visiting 7th heaven farm on a regular basis to purchase our local grass fed meats. Perhaps I can persuade my family into eating more goat and lamb. Maybe goat is pushing it. We're also going to continue using our CSA Organic farm share despite the spike in price. My determination is to act globally by shopping locally. If I can help other people to do so, I will. Please ask me if you have any questions or want to do some gardening together. These hobbies excite me. I love cooking and good quality food in addition to trying to lessen my carbon footprint as much as possible.

Although we're not doing anything special in the adult department tonight, I'm satisfied with being home. I'd like to wish a Happy New Year to everyone out the in cyber world. Im not sure if I'll even be able to muster the energy to stay up to midnight when the ball drops. It's been years since this old lady has done that. There's always next year!