Fears Posts

12Aug
0

C25K Hiatus

Maybe you noticed that I haven’t been updating my C25K progress lately. And then today I took that page down. Why? Because I can’t run anymore.

Anymore = indefinitely.

I went to the foot doctor yesterday. Apparently my feet are “not anatomically designed for running”. What does that even mean? I have feet. They work (sort of). One in front of the other!

But apparently running is a problem. Something about everything in there being defective in some way, causing pressure in all the wrong places but especially on my nerve. So to avoid further nerve damage, I can’t run for the foreseeable future.

I like running though. And I certainly don’t like being told that I can’t do something. This might be a tough one for me. But I guess now is as good of a time as any to learn how to swim better. Or take my bike out. Pretty much anything that will give me exercise without another cortisone injection.

Posted by Caro in Fears, Health, Life, Rants and raves, Sports, Things to do
10Aug
0

The Early Bird Gets the Worm

And those that procrastinate do not get their Kindles.

I’ve been planning to buy a Kindle for a while now. It’s going to be my birthday present to myself. But I couldn’t justify buying it super far in advance, so I waited til last week (still a month early). Fortunately for me waiting was good; a new version of the Kindle came out. I decided to go with the new one because I might one day want the 3G, and because it has less glare. It’s the same price I was planning to pay anyway, so it’s fine.

TOO BAD THEY’RE SOLD OUT.

I ordered it and the expected ship date is no later than 9/4. Um, hi, that’s like 3 days before I return from my trip. That’s not helpful.

My fingers are crossed, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up. Maybe they’ll have more in stock before I go? I paid $19 more for overnight shipping. If it’s not ready within a few days of my trip I’ll just put it back to the slow/free method and shed a tear or two. And then steal my mom’s :)

Posted by Caro in Fears, Shopping, Travel
20Jul
3

Guns

My great uncle grew up on a ranch in the middle of nowhere in the 20s. Obviously the man owned guns; it’s just a way of life where he’s from.

After he died my parents started going through the house. They secured several firearms. One story that still makes me laugh:

Mom: “We found this revolver with no serial number, not registered. I didn’t know what to do with it. I mean it’s a gun. I certainly don’t want it.
Me: “So what did you do with it?”
Mom: “Well David (family friend) was there. I looked at him and said ‘David, do you want a gun?”
Me: “You gave him a gun?!?!”
Mom: “Yeah. What’s wrong with that?”
Me: “Um. A lot of things. Does he have a gun permit? The gun isn’t registered. I’m pretty sure that’s not legal.”
Mom: “Well he has other guns. I figured I don’t want this near me. Should I have done something else?”

Gotta love my mother. (For the record she made him bring it back and is going to get it registered.)

So then several weeks later they’ve completed round 1 of the house cleaning. Secured all 8 of the firearms. This had my mom really nervous: “Caro, what do I do with these? I mean, I need to dispose of them somehow, but I’m not driving them somewhere. Taking them in my car. Where would I even take them? The police station? Just throw them on a table and say ‘Here officers. I don’t want these.’”

But then they found my uncle’s homeowner’s policy. The one that had the itemized list of firearms. 10 firearms. As previously mentioned, various family members had only located 8. So there’s 2 weapons unaccounted for somewhere in the house. Um…..that could be a problem. Know what else could be a problem? 7 of the secured guns were loaded. 2 of them fully loaded.

So basically there’s 2 guns MIA in the house. Possibly loaded. How does one lose 2 guns? Especially when one of them is a .22 caliber rifle with a scope.

Happy hunting to us. Literally!

Posted by Caro in Family, Fears, Things to do
08Jul
1

Movie Reviews: Eclipse

I should start by saying that I was dragged to this movie on opening night. Thankfully opening night was a Wednesday, so the theater wasn’t as mobbed as it could have been. This was really my saving grace.

Before I comment on the movie, I must comment on the things that happened before the movie. I saw Eclipse with my mom and sister. My dad felt left out, so he took my niece to see Toy Story 3, which was playing at the same time. However, we had to arrive at the theater over an hour early so we could brave the line of angst-ridden tweens who are obsessed with one or the other of the main characters in the Twilight Saga. This is a summary of the stuff I saw/encountered:

  • Someone asked if the 4 year old would be coming into the movie. No we are not taking a 4 year old into a PG-13 movie she’s not old enough to understand and will easily be bored by. She actually said to me “Oh I thought she might be a Twilight fan”. Are you kidding? She’s 4. YOU ARE CRAZY and shouldn’t be allowed to have children
  • The theater had set up chairs for us to use while we waited in line for the theater to open. Seated next to us was a group of 4 maybe 13-year-olds. (I say maybe because kids are looking younger and younger to me, and yes that DOES make me an old lady.) They all have on these bracelets, the rubber kind that were made popular a few years ago by the LiveStrong Foundation. Except these bracelets said “I <3 Justin Bieber” … I tried to covertly take a picture but the chick closest to me kept moving her arm.
  • When we got into the theater I realized I was sitting next to the only grown man at this showing. Was he there with his teenaged daughter? Nope. He was there with his same-age girlfriend.
  • The remainder of the theater had an average age of about 15 (my mom, sister, and I raised the average significantly). There was an occasional teen guy, obviously dragged there by his girlfriend. Some tried to cover their faces, others embraced this as a challenge. It was entertaining. Especially the dude in the Edward shirt LOL
  • Before the movie started, a woman came into the theater to sell Twilight t-shirts. OMG they’re selling t-shirts here? It’s like a concert. Only not. I think the most entertaining part of this is that people were screaming with excitement about this prospect, but not a single person purchased a shirt. I guess they should have asked their parents for more money!

sorry so grainy!

  • The movie started and I swear I lost some of my hearing when Jacob first came on the screen, shirtless of course. I’ve never heard girls shriek at such a decibel before. It’s mind blowing.

Anyway that’s all of my observations. I was expecting the shrieking, I was expecting the tweens, but the other stuff was just icing on the cake. Now onto the movie:

It was good! I could have waited to see it a week or two, but I definitely enjoyed it. The acting was significantly better this time, although Kristin Stewart is terrible regardless. The special effects were also pretty awesome. The plot is the one thing that bothered me (well besides the fact that the whole thing has blatant Mormon overtones and the fact that the main female character is so unbelievably weak. But those were just a given). I mean, you could remove this entire movie/book and nothing would change in the saga. We’re still left where we were at the end of New Moon – Bella and Edward are going to get married, Jacob is in love with Bella.

Regardless of the negatives, it was still well worth my (sister’s) $11. Very entertaining – 4 stars.

Posted by Caro in Fears, Movies, Rants and raves
27May
0

Time Release Caffeine

In case your daily cup (or 2) of coffee isn’t giving you enough PUMP, you can now buy a time release caffeine capsule.

Product highlights include:

  • Each capsule has 200mg of caffeine and dishes it out in steady doses throughout an 8 hour period
  • Vegetarian capsule! (Super important – can’t cut out an entire demographic of potential customer! lol)
  • Pure, unprocessed (non-synthetic) caffeine from Colombian Green Coffee Beans (unprocessed and direct into your capsule?)
  • Special coating to reduce the potential of an upset stomach (none of those pesky ulcers coffee can give you LOL)

Next thing you know there will be an injectable version of this product. Injectable caffeine: the gateway drug to heroine. Purchase yours here for only $8.99 (box of 12)!

Posted by Caro in Discoveries, Fears, Food
25May
2

Poverty

It’s official: I’m 100% broke.

It’s my own fault and was bound to happen at some point. After all, I’m the one who decided it would be a GREAT idea to go back to school, borrow a boat load of money to finance said education, and now am stuck in a profession where I can’t find a job that pays. Seriously. My “job” in my field – yeah it’s unpaid. I work full time on the side for income so I can work for free.

Why did I think this was a good idea again? I can’t for the life of me recall what I was thinking.

Anyway enough whining. I made my bed. Now I have to lay in it. I need help cutting costs. So far this is what I’ve thought of:

*Bring lunch to work Monday, Wednesday, Friday (easy). I probably already do this 1-2 days.
*Bring lunch Tuesday/Thursday – trickier because of a lack of refrigeration/microwave. I’ll have to work on this one.
*STOP the starbucks trips. This was a bad habit. Although I have had a gift card so I’m not sure how much I’ll actually save.
*No more dinners out. Those are expensive and probably not good for my waistline anyway
*No trips to the mall. None. I should probably avoid Target while I’m at it.

Where else can I save a few bucks here and there? I guess I can take the bus to work 2-3 days a week. That will save a minimal amount of gas. Might actually help Marla too. I need ideas from all my other recessionista friends!!

Posted by Caro in Fears, Life, Money, Things to do
22Apr
1

A Quick Update

Life comes at you so fast and can take you in so many directions all at once. The past two weeks certainly have been no exception. I feel that all of these things deserve their own post, but I just wanted to give a quick update. My blogging will either speed up or fall off for a while. The last item on this update should provide a pretty good explanation. Anyway, these are the latest headlines:

  • Andrew and Rhianna got married. It was a beautiful ceremony and a super fun reception. It was also my first run at being a bridesmaid and it was a completely different experience than I had imagined.
  • My cousin got engaged. I’m totally stoked for him.
  • I went to the doctor (again) for my foot. After 2 MRIs and 2 appointments within 4 days, I finally have a clearer picture of what’s going on with Marla. There are 3 issues total in my one foot (ffffuuuu). It IS a tumor, but it’s not cancerous. Hopefully the painful cortisone shot I got will make this issue go away once and for all.
  • I took a small (but very eventful!) road trip last weekend with some wonderful ladies to attend Jess’s bridal shower. It was a lovely event. I won a prize too ;)
  • My great uncle went to the ER yesterday morning. He died today. It never really occurred to me prior to yesterday that when you say “great uncle” people kind of brush you off assuming this is a distant relative and it’s not a big deal. On the contrary, I was incredibly close to this man. My mom lost her father when she was 23. Angelo stepped in and became a second father to her, even walking her down the aisle at her wedding. I’m absolutely devastated.

There’s not really much else to say. It’s 4:45am and I can’t sleep. I can say this: I have the most amazing family and an incredible boyfriend. I know that while I’m crumbling into pieces I am loved and supported. We are a close knit group and this loss has brought us closer. For that I am grateful.

And now back to Boy Meets World. Because that seems to be the only thing on at this hour.

Posted by Caro in Family, Fears, Health, Life, TV, Things to do, Weddings
13Apr
1

Marla Saga, Continued

At some point in the preferably near future, I would like for my foot to be fixed. I don’t think I’m asking too much.

Let’s quickly review the bullshit

~6 years ago: I noticed a “knot” in the arch of my foot. It didn’t go away despite all kinds of massages

~5 years ago: I ask my foot doctor about it. He tells me I have plantar fibromatosis. At the time it’s not really hurting, it’s just mostly a nuisance.

~4 years ago: I decide (jokingly) that I have a foot tumor. I name it Marla, after Fight Club.

~2ish years ago: Marla begins to cause some intense pain. It’s not horrible and mostly comes and goes with exercise/walking a lot. Being cheap, I decide to just deal with it.

This past year:

-The pain became unbearable after excessive walking or exercise
-I started getting charlie horse style cramps consuming my arch and toes
-Pain is now the norm so I suck it up and get a referral to a podiatrist (yes, I chose the HMO)
-Podiatrist tells me it’s plantar fascitis. He sends me for custom orthotics and physical therapy
-Physical therapists turn out to be sadists and I believe it is their mission to torture me. I had two of them over the course of 6 sessions and both told me they think I have a stress fracture in my foot. If the pain continues, go back for an x-ray. In the meantime, keep doing the stretches.

And now we’re at the present.

I was in a wedding on Saturday (post to follow soon!) and knew running around, especially in heels, would be taxing on Marla. I vowed to just get through it and then call the doctor the following week to schedule a routine x-ray. I called the doctor yesterday and somehow was able to get in the same day. Score!

Ok the doctor looked at my foot. Poked on THE spot, aka the CORE of Marla. Yeah, he made me cry. (more…)

Posted by Caro in Fears, Health, Rants and raves
04Apr
3

Disaster

It’s official. I’m flipping out.

I ordered my bridesmaid dress about 2 months ago. I hadn’t lost all the weight I had wanted to, but I was pretty OK with how things were looking. I got measured and prepared myself for the size they would tell me to buy. After all, bridal runs super small so you feel like a heffer when they order your dress.

They told me I matched with the 12. Fine. Order it. It’s just a number. It arrived 3 weeks ago, and wouldn’t you know it, this shit is too big. Strapless + I should have ordered a 10 = wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen. The dress didn’t even stay up.

I brought it to a tailor to get it taken in 10 days ago. It was supposed to be ready a week later. I drove all the way up there, and wouldn’t you know it, that shit isn’t ready. I couldn’t get back up there Friday, so I went yesterday. I tried on the dress at my parents, and my mom and her friend liked it.

I don’t.

The seamstress took it in on the sides, and took it in at the top of the back. I made her take it in tight. Strapless freaks me out. I don’t want to be pulling the dress up all night, so seriously sew it up! The thing I didn’t realize at the time, was that she didn’t take anything out from the middle of the back/bottom of the zipper area. So basically the dress is more or less a size smaller in all areas EXCEPT the back. It sticks out, kinda flares out to the back. It does that in the front too, cuz it’s supposed to I think? Either way, I look as wide back-to-front as I do side-to-side. I can’t handle this.

I tried it on just now to show J and get his opinion. So yesterday the top fit well. Today my fat ass skin hangs over the top of the dress. The way that skin inevitibly does over a strapless top unless you’re a pre-pubescent girl. I definitely gained a couple of pounds in the last 10 days, and now I’m apparently too fat for my dress. Oh and the parts that do fit? Yeah that makes me look and additional 20 pounds heavier. AWESOME.

I’m flipping out. There is NO way I can be seen in public as this currently stands. I’m driving up to the tailor at 7am and making her take more off the back. I’m limiting my food to I don’t even know what. Fruits, veggies, yogurt and water? Maybe nonfat salami or milk for protein. Count on me to be in the gym at least once daily between now and Saturday. 5 pounds need to GO. I’d settle for 3. Today has NOT been a happy day in the life of Caro.

Posted by Caro in Fears, Life, Things to do, Weddings
15Mar
2

Trial and Error

I got my annual vision check up earlier this year, and was pretty surprised when they told me my horrendous prescription hadn’t changed. Really? Cuz I was certain you were gonna up the size of the coke-bottle lenses I wear. I don’t see that well!!

I finally decided this wasn’t right and I needed to get my full money’s worth. I went back to the “low vision specialist” and told her I can’t see. I’m sure that’s not a new thing for her! I was able to get in that same day even. Amazing! Rather than just rushing me out the door or telling me I’m fine (or worse yet, “good enough” – I hate when people say that!), she actually took quite a long time trying to fix the problem. Everything from giving me a fresh pair of lenses, to examining the fit in my eye, and even re-doing the assessment (“which is better – 1 or 2? ok how about 3 or 4? lol).

Down side: my left eye isn’t cooperating and at the present moment cannot be fixed to better than 20/30. OK I cried about this at home, but that’s a different issue altogether. The right eye has issues too. Specifically, I have an astigmatism. I have one in both eyes, and they correct the other one. They’ve never corrected the right one before. Here’s the deal: the astigmatism is slight. The lowest amount of correction is too much. But if they give me no astigmatism correction, it’s not enough. So which is the worse evil: contacts that are too powerful or contacts that are not quite powerful enough?

I’m finding out this week. I picked up new lenses this morning. She gave me two lenses to try. So now I have choice A) the old lens; choice B) Toric lens 1; and choice C) Toric lens 2.

I’m wearing option B today and it’s kinda strange. (more…)

Posted by Caro in Discoveries, Fears, Health, Life, Things to do
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