Saturday, April 28, 2012

Needle Phobia


Never in my life have I been a fan of needles. When I got my ears pierced at the age of fifteen, my mom commented on how she had never seen me sit so still before. My needle phobic issues are more along the trypanophobia lines, then just all needles in general. As most things medical just generally freak me out. So while getting my ears pierced definitely held me still as can be, it’s when I have to do things like blood work that I feel like turning into a toddler even to this day.

Logic always tells me, “It’s not as bad as you make it seem.” However, it never fails that feeling of butterflies in the pit of my stomach. Anxiousness that makes me want to hop up from my seat in the waiting room and run for the hills as it were. I never watch them draw my blood. I always squeeze something in my free hand (or make a fist), hold my breath while looking away and clench my jaw tight. It’s a whole big physical reaction and all the while, that logic kicks into the back of my head.

Yesterday was the second time this month I had to get blood work done. The first round happened exactly one week ago Friday. I was anxious, but I managed to get through it without throwing myself on the floor in a screaming fit. Oh yes, I’m twenty-seven and I fully admit I still want to throw myself on the floor kicking and screaming at the thought of a needle getting me. However I did manage to survive. Well it turned out my potassium level was a tad high, so round two had to happen.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Barbie's Spider


Seems Barbie has a new pet. An eight legged pet to be exact. At least that seemed to be the case when I happened to gaze up at my collector’s Harley Davidson Barbie doll in her box with a spider…inside! Normally I am much more of the arachnophobia type. Screaming and running away at the sight of a spider, but it was one of those rare moments I found myself more curious of the critter then afraid of it. I think what baffled me the most was how on earth did it get in there? More than the curiosity of how it got into the box though was my dilemma on how to kill it.

Grabbing the vacuum cleaner out I debated gently sticking the hose in there to try and lure the bugger out. However, I was afraid of hurting the doll. It was though as I pulled the box off the shelf carefully I did unfortunately notice a small opening near the top of her box. Not terrible, but clearly some light damage had been done from moving a few times over the years and it at least settled the mystery of how the spider managed to get inside the box. Now here I was, box on the floor and down beside it with the vacuum ready to go.

I had spoken briefly in mid dilemma to my father about the situation and he suggested finding a way to shake the spider out of the box. So there I went carefully examining the box while keeping an eye on the eight legged icky inside it. I discovered at the bottom of the box (as I’ve never opened the doll before) that there was an easy way to gently open it up. So there I went, opening up the box and slowly pulling out the doll so much until the darn thing started moving. I tapped along the outer part of the box to try and get it to come out. It took a second, but suddenly it appeared outside and along the edging of the side opposite of me.

With the sighting of him finally outside of the box and my Harley Barbie free from getting hurt, I wasted no time. I turned on the vacuum and sucked his icky butt up with the hose. I know it’s not the most humane thing to suck up a spider in the vacuum cleaner, but there is the whole arachnophobia issue as mentioned before. Plus it ended up saving me from having to smash a spider along the box. Now while my collector’s doll is without her newfound pet, I am happy to say she is back on the shelf again spider free!

--XOXO, Jane

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Yummy Snack


A treat that I’ve been introduced to by my mom, is popcorn and chocolate chips mixed together. There’s just something positively delightful to the taste buds about that combination. Although at times it’s good to mix the popcorn and chocolate chips in a bowl together, I personally enjoy keeping them separated. I’ll have my bowl of popcorn and a small bowl of chips sitting next to one another. Pluck a little from each and pop it all into my mouth for a delicious explosion of the flavors coming together. It’s definitely a great snack to have while watching a movie or one of my favorite television shows. I also enjoy sometimes having it near me just as I work on my writing or am doing things online in general.

Perhaps it’s not the best snack to indulge in when one is trying to lose weight, but I confess it’s been quite the craving for me lately. I swear it’s just been hitting the right spot upon consumption. Although I do try not to indulge my craving too badly, but I probably enjoyed it more in the last week then I should have. Oh heck, I’ll make another confession. I do indeed have some of this yummy treat beside me now. Yep. I got my bowl of popcorn and a smaller bowl with some chocolate chips right beside me. Delicious!

What is a yummy snack you enjoy?

--XOXO, Jane

Monday, April 23, 2012

Gift From Kitty


Have you ever had a pet bring you a ‘gift’ from the outdoors? Recently my mother informed me of a neighbor’s cat. The neighbor in question had forewarned her that his outdoor friendly cat likes to catch live snakes and bring them home. The neighbor also expressed there might be reason to believe the cat could indeed bring these live snakes to others in the neighbor it’s well acquainted with. When my mom relayed the conversation to me it got us to thinking of a special time in my early teens when my cat Tony at the time, had brought us half a dead squirrel. No I don’t mean it was half alive, I mean it was literally the top half of the poor little creature’s body. Pure suburban road kill that an adorable black and white cat had dropped between us girls so proudly and pleased with himself.

Instantly my mother and I had begun hysterically jumping around and screaming. This wasn’t like a dead bird we’ve unfortunately had cats catch and bring into the house before. Perhaps though the comic relief moment looking back on it, was when my freshly visually impaired father came into the room with a wad of paper towels ready to take care of the dead animal. He was of course asking us where it was and not thinking of how he couldn’t see, we simply pointed and screamed “It’s over there!” Tony, my cat at the time who so thoughtfully brought this present to us looked as puzzled as a cat can from all the commotion. Maybe that’s why he opted to pick it up and move it before my dad could pin-point where we were attempting to direct him as he was asking us, “Over where?”. It was when Tony picked it up to move it did my mother and I begin a whole new round of screams. Although we did manage to calm ourselves somewhat (not really, but let’s pretend shall we?) enough to finally inform my dad where the half-squirrel was and eventually the poor dead animal was taken care of.

Looking back on it, my parents and I do have a good laugh over the experience now. My cat Tony is no longer with us, hasn’t been for quite a number of years. However, his presence is most certainly marked permanently in our memories thanks to that unforgettable moment.

--XOXO, Jane

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Coffees & Tractors


Only in the country will you see what I did yesterday early afternoon. I was still out of town and the sun seemed to be shining down for a moment. I happened to look out to capture the beautiful gaze of the lake across the street from where I was staying; when my gaze was captured by something you just don’t see every day. Well, not if you live in the suburb/city like me. I must say the sight I saw amused the heck out of me and caused me to laugh, because all I could think is that if I was a country girl I would probably be doing the same exact thing at one point or another. There is just nothing like looking out the window, to let your eyes be greeted with the sight of someone riding her tractor down the road casually with one hand on the wheel and the other hand holding a coffee.

Now I’m sure to many out there this may not seem unusual or strange. Heck, you may even find it more boring like an ever day occurrence and not so amusing. However, to a city chick like myself I admit I had to laugh. I sort of knew the woman driving her tractor down the road just from a couple happenstance meetings on my ventures out of town in the past. However, I just didn’t feel right or comfortable enough to snap a shot of her to share on here. Let alone actually just go on outside to ask her to take her photo while she was on the tractor with her coffee like that. She probably would have looked at me like I was completely nuts if I did. All well, the image of her will be imprinted on my memory for some time I’m sure. I swear though if I ever see someone getting around the Grand Rapids area on a tractor like that I will definitely have to take a photo to share. That would just be far too amusing and unusual for these parts.

--XOXO, Jane

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Sunny Day


I swear I could simply get lost in the amazing view out the window I’m sitting next to. The way the sunlight has decided to beam and cause the lake to endure a glittering effect, has most certainly captured me. While I fully admit I am a suburban/city girl I do enjoy a good country visit like this now and again. Letting Mother Nature take over the surround sound with birds and other sounds of nature, instead of noises I’m used to hearing. You know, like car horns, loud bass passing by and the occasional siren for example. It’s quite peaceful and serene out here. It’s a breath of fresh air as I embrace the much needed change of scenery. I’ll likely be here till the weekend and I know I’ve sort of neglected my blog, Facebook and Twitter…but how can you blame me? With a view like this it’s simply easy to get sidetracked with just soaking up the ambiance verses focusing on the internet.

There is a slight coolness to the air in the breeze coming off from the lake, but that doesn’t stop me from opening a window or stepping outside to simply soak it all in. Today’s weather is most certainly an upturn from yesterday. We had rain; hail and even some snow come down. Thankfully though, it didn’t stick and the sunshine is beaming out there today with big white fluffy clouds in the sky. They are almost like a picture out of a cheerful children’s storybook. I swear days like this I find myself feeling extra thankful for the beauty that surrounds us in this world.

--XOXO, Jane

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Easter Time Already


It is just me or has this year been flying by already? I can hardly believe Easter is this Sunday! I can’t begin to express how much I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be traveling out of town to spend a little time with my mom and on Sunday, all three of my older brothers are scheduled to be there. Fingers are crossed it all works out! It’s been quite a long time since the four of us kids got together in one spot. LOL! Plus it would be great to see a bunch of my nieces and nephews! I know that likely sounds weird, but I am one of those people who are fortunate enough to have extremely close friends, whose children also know me as an aunt and whom I love just as much as the others. In total I am ‘aunt’ to eleven kids and if all works out I’ll get to see six of them on the fast approaching holiday! So my fingers are crossed and my spirits are up looking forward to having a nice Easter dinner this year with family.

One of my favorite parts about Easter though, I have to admit is the candy portion of the season. I swear my sweet tooth comes out full blast when I know that those yummy Cadbury Eggs have hit store shelves! Don’t get me wrong; in the Easter variety I do enjoy a good Peep now and again. I simply swear though that Cadbury eggs are as much of a weakness to me as a glazed donut from Meijer’s bakery. I love the original ones best, but caramel ones are quite a nice little treat to have as well. Of course I enjoy a variety of the sort, but as I said the original ones are best in my opinion. Although I haven’t been gorging myself in the sweets this year, I have enjoyed a handful already and plan to do another handful before they are gone until next year.

You know for a woman who wants to lose weight and get healthy, drooling over candy like this isn’t doing me any good. Nor is staring an egg down that I have placed near me to devour in just a moment. LOL! So moving on here while I anticipate the fun of the holiday to be had today is a day of getting things done. I’ve got a few things to accomplish before I leave town tomorrow. I’m also going to attempt to do a little research for a story idea I’ve been sitting on for a while now. Perhaps even squeeze in a little more plot time as well. Then it’s either tonight or tomorrow that I pack for my time away. Now to cut this real short, while it’s still early there are things to be done! I would love to hear from you though. What are your plans for this holiday season?

--XOXO, Jane