Say "Cheese"

Lee Ann's Party

Lee Ann invited us to her house for an Asian themed dinner last night.
The food was great...especially the lettuce wraps, pot stickers and curry chicken.
Only a few of my pictures turned out. Could have been the shots of tequila, I don't know. ;)

Lee Ann serving Sonia and Mei.





Zeke, the dog.

A view of L.A from the backyard.

Click here for a little video of the evening.


Thanks for a fun party, Lee Ann. See you July 4th!

More Bush Lies

Mr. Bush is at it again. He is lying once again to the American people.

This time about offshore oil drilling.

The President has proposed lifting the long standing ban on off shore drilling. This will help ease the pain of growing gas prices, says the President.

Mr Bush said, "Experts believe that the Outer Continental Shelf could produce about 18 billion barrels of oil.”

I have been doing some reading on this subject. Apparently, the OCS could produce about 18 billion barrels of oil.

The U.S. consumes around 20 million barrels a day.

So, how long would that last us if we start drilling? A whooping 2.4 years!

And, if we start drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge? We'll get 8 billion barrels of oil. That will last us about a year. That's of course after the estimated 7-10 years it will take for that oil to make it's way to the pump.

The President is making it seem like all this drilling is the answer to our energy crisis.

No, this is just a small band aid for a gushing wound.

Do we really need to put more money into the pockets of big oil? Into the pockets of Bush's oil friends?

America needs to put it's time, effort and money into finding alternate fuel sources.

Good for Arnold for saying California is against lifting the ban.

Not only is the drilling not really producing much oil for us, but what about the environmental impact. I simply don't believe the Bush lies about how technology is so far advanced that drilling has little impact on coral reefs and other habitats..

And, if that's not enough to convince you offshore oiling drilling is a bad idea, just read about what happened in Santa Barbara in 1969.

Accidents happen. Let's not let it happen for a mere 2.4 years of gasoline.

Just Cause He's Cute

Briana's Baby Shower

Just a few pictures from Briana's baby shower today at work.
Hard to believe she'll be here in another few weeks.

Tecate

A group of us from the hospital took a trip down to Tecate, Mexico on Saturday. We drove down to Campo, which is not far from San Diego. Then we took an old train into Tecate.



Jane and Lydia enjoying the ride.
We took a tour of the Tecate Brewery. But, since we were late getting to the train, Lydia accidentally forgot her closed toe shoes. She was only wearing flip flops. So, she and I made a mad dash to a shoe store and got her some shoes.
You can see more on that in the video.
After the tour, we walked to a park, had lunch and enjoyed the scenery.




Waiting for the food. It was really good!



We didn't have as much time as we would have liked to look around.


By the time we were done eating, it was time to head back to the train.







Lee Ann taking in the view.






Our new friend, Bob.


Carmen, Lee Ann, Margo, Mei, Jane, Jen and Lydia.




A little movie of the trip.
It's starts off with Carmen getting startled by the train whistle. Makes me laugh every time I see it.
It ends with Pee Wee the dog. Poor Pee Wee. Made to beg for money in the streets. Can't you just see the humiliation on his face? Well taken care of though.
Thanks to Jen for planning the trip!

Results Are In. Sort of.

So, I went for my exercise treadmill test yesterday.

Let me just say this:
I walked into a waiting room full of people waiting to have their tests done.
Trouble was, I was the only one there under 70.

When my name was called, I went into a room where the tech hooked me up to the heart and blood pressure monitors.

Then he told me to get onto the treadmill.

"The test lasts for 8 minutes," he informed me.
"The level of intensity and speed will increase every 3 minutes. If you need to stop, let me know, and that's when the test will be over."

It started off at a leisurely pace. Not too fast with a low incline. I could have gone at this pace for quite some time.
After a few minutes, while I was still walking, he took my blood pressure again.

"In 30 seconds, the treadmill is going to the next level."

"Bring it on, Oscar," I thought to myself. This wasn't so bad.

The next 3 minutes definitely made me break a sweat. But, I was still breathing comfortably, and my knees were holding up.
Why, I had more pain the time Briana was trying to win a pedometer in a contest and dragged my sorry behind around the Rose Bowl. Three times.
This was a piece of cake really.

I was snapped back into reality when he started asking me if I was having chest pain or any discomfort.

Should I be? Am I and I just don't realize it? Am I having a silent heart attack? Can he see it on the monitor? Just what is he getting at with all this questioning?

He took my blood pressure again, while I'm still walking.

"In 30 seconds, the treadmill is going to go faster and at a greater incline."

The last couple of minutes were quite unpleasant. I had thoughts of telling him I had to stop.
But, I didn't want Oscar to think I was a wimp. So, I kept going.

How do all those old people in the waiting room do this?

"Do you have any chest pain or discomfort?"

Hell yes, I have some discomfort! You turned this fricking thing up to sprint runner speed.

"You have about 30 seconds more." he said.

In my head, I started counting down from 30. It was the only way to distract myself from the constant gasping for air.

When the treadmill finally stopped, he took my blood pressure about 5 more times.

"We'll fax the results to your doctor tomorrow. You can call her then."

I talked to the doctor's nurse today.
Apparently, the test results were OK, but the doctor wants me to come in to discuss my blood pressure.

I guess when I walk on a treadmill that's set like I'm walking up Mt Everest at breakneck speed, my blood pressure rises.

Go figure.

BTW, you need to take that blood work prescription out of your purse and go to the lab, Chris!

Treadmill testing

I went to see my doctor earlier this week.

I'm feeling fine, but given my sister's recent cardiac issues, I wanted to talk to an MD about it.

So, after getting to the office for an 8:40 appt., I finally got in the see her at 10. Since I told my boss I would be in by 9:30, the stress of waiting almost gave me chest pain!

Anyway, my EKG was normal. So, that's good. I guess I didn't have a heart attack while I was in the waiting room desperately trying to get my boss on the phone to tell him I'd be late.

I will be having blood work done like a complete blood count, a metabolic panel and a lipid panel. There are other things listed on the blood work she ordered, like TSH ( a thyroid test), Homocysteine ( an amino acid that in high amounts is linked to coronary artery disease) and HgBAlc ( a blood sugar test). That's a lot of vials of blood!

Tomorrow, I'm going to have an exercise stress test.

I'm hoping the results of that will be good and that my ticker is fine. Otherwise I will have to have the Nuclear Perfusion Scan.

And, judging from Cheryl's experience, that test is not too much fun.

Natural History Museum and 4000 Kids

Briana, Dylan and I went to the LA County Natural History Museum last Friday.
Why?
Because the museum has a Discovery Center with an insect zoo.
And, Dylan loves bugs.
All kinds of bugs.

But, the main attraction for us was the butterfly exhibit










And while Briana was busy fooling around with her camera and threatening to take the best picture....







I think I got the best shot of the day!

But, there was still a lot to see.
So, after all the butterfly chasing and insect gawking, we headed to see the African Animal Exhibit.

We thought Dylan would be confused by all the stuffed animals.
The only big animals he's ever seen were at the zoo.
And, they were all alive.

He did ask me, at one point, why the Hippos weren't making any sounds.
My answer?
"I think, they're just very tired today."

We asked him at the end of the visit what he liked the best.

"The animals!", he declared.

Sometimes it's hard to figure that boy out. ;)

Here's a video of Dylan chasing a small butterfly.

Even though there were a lot of school aged kids in the museum, we were still having a nice day.

Then, it happened.
The bathroom incident.
One thing I have learned is that when a pregnant woman has to use the bathroom, it's best to let her have the stall.



Otherwise, it might get ugly.