Good Day Followed by Productive Day

I sit here in front of the computer, absolutely shocked that I had accomplished everything on my to do list for today, with the exception of watching a movie, which is my plan to do next.

Yesterday was a pretty quiet day where I focused on relaxing and figuring out what I really need/want to do around the apartment.  That and I have done a lot of thinking about a question that seems to have stuck in my mind since I read it on an 'happiness' blog over the weekend.  The question was something along the lines of, describe in detail, what you would love to be doing every day to earn a living while living.  I don't know why, but this has really stuck in my mind and hasn't really let me think on anything else.  I enjoyed the relaxing and the peacefulness of the day.  Enjoying hot green tea with lemon and the dream incense I decided to burn.  I ended up napping and dreaming peaceful dreams.  Overall it was a good day, I woke in time to make dinner, watch some tv and fall asleep relatively early.  Actually falling asleep before I wrote in the blog as I had planned.  Oops.  I guess the rest was needed and more important to my body.

Today, I woke rested and just feeling productive.  I started in on a number of items I realized that I needed to get done, and I just went through it all.  The only step backwards today was I destroyed my local web installation.  I decided to uninstall it and reinstall it later.  I created a new exercise routine that I will be starting in the morning as an update to my morning ritual of meds, coffee, email and breakfast.

I'm looking forwards to baking some dinner tonight, and packaging up the left overs in my food storage containers and freeze them for later.  I know I will have extra, for I decided to cook for a family instead of just for me.  I'm hoping to get into this routine now, and do this several times a month so I have good healthy inexpensive home made frozen dinners for quick food through out the month.  Tonight - Buffalo breaded chicken tenders with chicken rice.  Hopefully it turns out as good as I hope it will.  I will be making enough for at least 4 meals, maybe 5 depending on how things bake up.

My plans for tonight are to watch a Netflix movie so I can return it and not get charged the new ridiculous rates they created for getting a DVD instead of just watching everything online.  After that, if I have the energy I will be looking into how to create new catalogs and moving my photos to them in Lightroom.  Hopefully this will help speed up Lightroom, and help me organize the photos, helping me get prepared for my portfolio edits.  Tomorrow, more photo work, and reinstalling my local web.

As I write this, I find I am still thinking on what I would love to be doing every day for a living, and the more I think on it, it is changing little by little and making it more 'practical' for me in my health.  The biggest thing for me to think about with getting more details about it, is how can I make it come to life!  I'm sure I'll describe it more on this site as I figure more out about it.

Healthwise:  Yesterday and today breathing has been good.  I've not done a lot physically, but I have accomplished a lot.  Overall, besides resting more than I normally would like to, I have to save health was ok.  The downsides were caused by my feet swelling more than usual again, and a bit more morning congestion than I've had in a while, but nothing that isn't easily handled.

Taking Care of Business - blah

Yep, it's been a while since I've been like this, and now I've been like this for a little while.  I have a few projects that I have planned and have started, but now anytime I look at doing any work on either of them I just can't get motivated.  I really want to do the project, but right now, and for a couple of weeks, I just don't seem to care enough to work on them.  Blah.

My cookbook of family recipes remains partially typed, partially researched.  My photography portfolio just seems so overwhelming with more than 31000 photos to run though I just can't get past the initial setup of how I am going to sort and select contenders.  Live Limelight, well there has been a bunch of things going on behind the scene there, and well it's been back burnered until all facets align.  Organizing my desk and important paperwork and shredding the old and unneeded is delayed as I can not get over the piles of paper across my desk and floor.

I know the answer to all of this is to break the projects into smaller tasks and do the smaller tasks first.  Still I can not even bring the motivation to that.

Even tho I am not working on my personal projects, the things that need to get done are getting done.  I took the car back to the shop today because after having the tires rotated, the tire pressure warning light was not going off.  The mechanics were fast and friendly and they took care of it instantly.  I joined a couple of friends for a couple of drinks and dinner.  We had a great time, good conversation and tasty beverages.

Tonight I am pleasantly drained and looking forward to a good night of sleep.

Healthwise:  Today was ok.  Breathing was not too bad, given the bad air quality (Orange,Air Action) of today. It was bad according to the national sites, even tho the local news said it was a good day.  Too bad they take the best of any of the readings to report and not the overall air  quality.  Tonight I am drained, but feeling good and looking forward to tomorrow.

I'm back.

Wow, it's been way too long since I've last updated here. An awful lot has happened since the middle of May last year until today. In a nutshell, my cousin married a wonderful woman. I hurt my side/ribs. I have seen some amazing concerts including my favorite band: Rush. I ended up in hospital and physical rehab for three months. I've recovered a lot since my coming home in March. Still getting there, and almost back to where I was last year. My sister had a baby and she bought a house. I've started a website for live local music review called Live Limelight. Oh, I am doing a lot more photography - mostly live bands in night clubs, and I'm loving it!

Healthwise: Today I'm doing ok, the heat was manageable and the air quality was not terrible. I'm trying to get proper sleep these days, it has been erratic.

Absent Minded

Wow, I had fully intended to write this last night, but as I went about my nightly routine it completely slipped my mind.

Anyway, I had a great day hanging out with Mistress LunaSea, and the household. Ran errands for the trip to Montreal this weekend. I'm almost ready for the trip.

While I was doing a couple of loads of laundry, I took part of the John Greengo lighting course on Creative Live. It was absolutely amazing. It got me rethinking about my lighting setup. What do I need, really?

After the class wuggie gave me an amazing back/chair massage. Tension from my back, neck and shoulders melted away. I really hope his thearaputic massage business, Mending Hands Massage takes off for him. He is really passionate and good.

Dad is now resting at home and doing well. Now, all he has to do is learn how to slow down a little and let himself heal.

Health-wise: Today was a good day, with the exception of a weird feeling after dinner.

Curious

Had a pleasant weekend, enjoyed time on my own just relaxing.

Spent some time running errands for a friend in hospital.  I found it really weird that when I mentioned this to people, almost all of them responded with "You are a really good friend for doing that." or something similar.  I don't understand that reaction.  It was the right thing to do, and it was nothing special to help out a friend.  Why do people think it was something special to help a friend?  Have friendships deteriorated so much in today's society that helping, or doing something that is the right thing to do become exceedingly noteworthy?

Went to a friend's house and it looks like I may end up playing D&D again, the first time in many many years.

Dad is doing much better and all systems are improving.

Picked up Mistress LunaSea from the airport upon Her return from the left coast.  It was great to hear how much fun they had.

Health-wise:  All is going well.

Photo Friday

It is another Photo Friday again.  My mind has been on a lot this week and it has passed pretty quickly.

Today was a much better start than yesterday.  I went out and saw The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  I absolutely loved the movie.  It was in Swedish with subtitles, but I hardly noticed.  This is a type of film I can only wish Hollywood would make these days.

Dad got moved to be near the window!  This is a great thing, it makes the room feel a little bigger for him.  He had his epidural removed today and is in a bit more discomfort today than yesterday.  His fever has not broken yet, so they changed up the antibiotics.  Today seems to be the day some concerns became known. His blood levels are lower and his breathing more labored.  I feel these are possibly related and when combined with the fever may mean a lung infection.  Hopefully tomorrow will bring good news and him feeling better than today.

Well, this being Photo Friday, I will post a photo I took recently.  Last week Vapour started acting up near the patio door, so I went to take a look to see what got his attention.  It was another deer!  This time not in the woods, but on the mowed grass grazing.

Health-wise:  Today was a good day.  A little congestion to start the day, but that passed quickly.  Good energy, breathing and strength.

Early Night

It's Wednesday, and it's been a long day.  I did not get any sleep last night.  I stayed up and called home early, hoping to talk to dad before he went to the hospital.  It was not meant to be, apparently they left for the hospital about five minutes before I called.

I went about today, as normally as I could, yet constantly having my mind and thoughts on dad and his surgery.  I was in contact with my sister regularly, each of us wondering if the other had heard any news.  I ended up calling the hospital and found out that dad just made it up to his room.  I spoke with Claudette and got the news that as far as she knew at the time everything went well.

Later we found out that there were some complications but were handled promptly and should not cause any trouble.  Dad is doing fairly well and resting comfortably tonight.  He will be very happy to learn that his favorite hockey team, the Montreal Canadians, beat the defending Cup-Champs, the Pittsburg Penguins in game seven in commanding style.

I did take part in my online class today and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The FREE class by John Greengo at Creative Live has been amazing.  I am looking forward to next week's class and future classes from this great site/service!

Went and saw the matinee movie showing of Iron Man 2 with Wuggie.  Enjoyed the movie, but realized that I am really starting to hate that movies are having scenes in the ads/trailers that are not in the movie.

I am going to bed early tonight, and hopefully will be well rested tomorrow.

Health-wise:  Tired today from lack of sleep last night, caused by stress/worry over dad.  Mild congestion this morning, other than that all was good.

It's Tuesday - Really

Today is Tuesday. Seriously. Had some good conversations with a couple of my Canadian friends online today. Went out with Wuggie for dinner and fun tonight. Good times.

Found out that Dad goes in for surgery at 8am (NST) or about 6:30am, my time. I feel horrible that I didn't get around to call him tonight, but once I got around to calling, it was really late his time. With him having to get up so early, I did not want to risk waking him.

Chatted with my sister, she is stressing over this more than she tried to let on a week ago. I'm very concerned. I'm used to being the sick one, having to be waiting and hoping for the best while not able to do anything really SUCKS! This makes me realize how much my family and close friends have gone through with me.

I tried to get to sleep earlier, but I can't sleep. I am going to stay up and call dad before he leaves for the hospital, about 4:15 am my time.

Health-wise: Congested this morning, but it cleared up by lunchtime after I finished breakfast and a pot of coffee. Left leg is feeling better since I've stopped wearing the cowboy boots and their heels.

Non Day

It was a good weekend.  I hung out with the household as Mistress LunaSea and shannon prepped for their west coast trip.

Found out some good news about my camera.  The problem I am having with the wide angle lens not 'talking to' my camera is a problem with the lens and not the camera itself.  This is great news!

Now today, not much on the go.  Hung out online chatting with a friend for part of the day.  Got a phone call from Mistress LunaSea (from the west coast) wondering if I could add stuff to the DomCon LA website.  Can I, yes.  However there is no where designated for it and the page that should be used, has been replaced with a place holder page.  I'm guessing someone else was updating it.  All of this for a website on an event that starts in less than 3 days!  This is crazy, all of this stuff should have been done and online weeks ago.  There are just too many cooks and little direction on the website.  This irritates me, because with anything I work on, I want to do a great job and create a great final product.  This is just not possible with this now.


Health-wise:  Today was good.  Just a little tired this afternoon, so I took a nap.

Photo Friday (A Little Late)

I went out with some friends last night for food, and then ended up getting 'kidnapped' to go watch some live music.  It was a lot of fun and some really good music and conversation.

Went out running errands today and got a tarot reading from a very talented witch here in Charlotte.  I always find it interesting on how accurate/detailed her readings can be.

Anyways,  I have been a little slow lately on getting new photos edited, so I decided to show a photo from my past.  This photo was taken by a friend of mine, of me, with the first digital camera I owned.  This was the first image taken with that camera.

Me, circa 2002

Health-wise:  A pretty good day, no remnants from yesterday.  A little tired from lack of sleep the other night, but not too bad.

Photo Friday

Interesting day today.  It seems as tho my appetite has come back.  I was hungry most of the day.  It seemed that I was constantly 'grazing' and going back and forth to the kitchen for food.  Hopefully this will continue.

I was having an IM chat with Mistress LunaSea just a little while ago.  She asked me what I did all day, and my initial thought was 'not much'.  Then I started listing what I accomplished.  I played with my camera and fixed my shutter issue.  I did online research for a friend.  I worked on some photos and played online.  Also, I found time and napped.  Not a bad day really.

Considering it is Photo Friday, here is a photo that I took:

Red All Over @ The Evening Muse

Health-wise:  Today was a good day, breathing was good and I felt fine.  Late this afternoon, I got very tired.  It was nothing a quick nap couldn't fix.

3rd Wednesday

Today is the 3rd Wednesday of the month.  The day I receive my cheque and the day I end up spending the vast majority of it.  After rent, bills, and taking out a little cash and money for groceries it all goes quickly.  At the end of the day, I usually have about 1/4 of the cheque left in the bank to cover some latter month expenses.  And starting next month, my medicare co-pay starts coming out, leaving a little less in the bank after the monthly bills are paid, but will minimize some of my monthly medical bills.  Right now I'm thinking it will balance out, and in a worse case scenario really reduce a hospital bill (if/when I need that again).

I hate that I forgot to post the blog post last night, I left it in 'draft'.  Need to double check that before I go to bed now.

Health-wise:  Today was a pretty good day, little sleep last night, but caught up on some sleep today with an afternoon nap.  I have a deep 'rattle' in my chest today.  I'll pick up something to deal with that tomorrow when I pick up my meds.

Silent Memory

It was 15 years ago today that mom died.  I stayed low-key and quiet for most of today, remembering and thinking.

Also today, I received an email from dad letting me know when his surgery will take place.  It is before Philip's wedding next month, but he won't be able to make that trip.

Health-wise:  Left eye continues to water in the morning and at night.  It seems to be in relation to the amount of pollen in the air.  I have to mention it to the doc.  Other than that, all seems good.

Beautiful Day

Woke up today a lot later than I usually do, and still was not feeling well.  I woke with congestion and a hard cough, that eased up and passed once I had a couple of cups and tea and breakfast.

Afterwards, I dyed my hair back to my favorite blue/black colouring.

Mistress LunaSea called and I met up with the 'household' and had a great afternoon.  We started at the nail salon, continued to shoe shopping, Cuban Pete's for dinner and a drive down Mistress' memory lane of living in Charlotte.

It was a beautiful day.

Health-wise:  A rough start to the day, but once that passed it turned into a great day.  Left leg was still weak, but did not seem as bad.

Good Day

Not a lot to say about today, other than it was just a good day.  Helped a friend fix his computer network, watched the second of ten classes on digital photography and almost finished editing the photos from Saturday night.

Health-wise:  A good breathing day, with good energy.  Left leg is still weak and sore...

Life - Is What It Is

Today was a mixed up day.  Overall pretty good, just some weird news tonight.

I ended up getting my airplane tickets today to go to Montreal and see my cousin get married!  Many thanks to a good friend for the assist on that.

Got together with my sister for a bite to eat tonight and to catch up with each other on what's going on in our lives.  Good chat, good times.  Overall, I think she's also having a pretty good year.

However tonight I heard from dad and he informed me of some heath concerns he is dealing with and how's its being dealt with.  Hmm, it's so much easier for me to be the sick one.  Positive energy and thoughts are with him.  Look forward to seeing everyone together in Montreal next month!

Listening to a friend's streaming radio show tonight.  It is amazing -- great music and he is a huge vault of musical information that he shares between music.  Check it out http://streaming.misew.com:5000/ Tuesday nights and the random Monday and Thursday!

Health-wise:  Another pretty good breathing day, and decent energy levels.  Just concerned with my left knee/leg still, and low appetite.  Did notice, when chatting with my sister, that my leg has been weakening since I've started carrying my wallet in my back pocket again.  Will change that and see if it makes a difference.  Here's to hoping so.

Great Times

I have to say, this year is definitely a very good year for me.

This weekend, I took in a great punk show at The Milestone and took some great pictures.  I'm expecting to post one or two this Photo Friday.  The Choke, and Babyshaker were amazing!

Sunday, a couple of friends took me out to my first gun show.  This is something I never thought I would be doing, but times change and here I was going to my first gun show.  It was really a lot of fun.  There is a lot of history, skill and art involved.  I do have some personal concerns about some of the military grade weapons available to the public, and the few vendors that market a lot of Nazi related items.

Tonight, I went out with Mistress LunaSea and 'family' for food and bowling.  It was a lot of laughs and fun.  Yes, I am lousy at 10-pin bowling, but still it was fun.  Maybe next time I will break 100!

Oh, I noticed I forgot to post Photo Friday.  This was because I forgot that it was actually Friday until sometime on Saturday.  Here is a photo I took of Mistress LunaSea and boishannon from Mistress LunaSea's lecture at ECU.

Health-wise:  Breathing has been very good lately, and my energy levels are doing well.  My only concern now is the complete lack of strength in my left knee/leg.  I find it very difficult to balance myself with it and when in a crouch or climbing stairs, I am having a lot of trouble lifting myself with my left leg first.  I have taken note of this to discuss with my doctor upon my next visit.

Oven Fixed

Today the landlord came by and replaced the burnt out bake element with a new one.  Now I can bake/roast/etc again.  I never thought I would miss frozen pizza so much.  I will probably pick up a turkey breast to roast this weekend and have amazing sandwiches next week.

I've started playing a 'collectable card game' online.  Yeah, a game like Magic, or V:TES, just online.  I just may be addicted.  I've spent about 8 hours a day for the last couple of days learning how to play and playing it.

Just as a change of pace, I did an online tutorial for web development today.  I'm looking at cleaning or getting my camera cleaned this weekend.

Health-wise:  Breathing is going really well, even with all the pollen being blown around.  However, my back went into spasms a couple of times today, and even now is achey and sore.

Photo (Good) Friday

Today is Good Friday. It was a very good day for me. Breathing went well, and I was able to take care of the pesky tasks that I wasn't able to complete yesterday.

Again, it was an absolutely beautiful day, sunny and around 30C! Me, normally a cool weather, autumn type of person, have been really enjoying the last couple of days. It makes me think, this winter must have really been grey and cold for Charlotte.

scs_backyarddeer20100402-16.jpg, originally uploaded by Stephen Coombs Studios.

Anyways, today's photo was taken, well, today. It was taken off of my back deck. No, I do not live in the country. I actually live in a fairly urban area. These deer showed no reaction to sirens going off, and were just crossing through my condo complex's green area. There were 5 deer in total, 2 seemed to be young and the rest adult-sized.

Health-wise:  Today was a good day.  Tonight I was a little tired, and decided to stay in and take it easy.

Beautiful Day

As the title says, today was a beautiful day.  Sunny, and near 30C.  Took some time today and took care of some errands.  Some have to be repeated tomorrow because some employees were MIA in their offices. Nothing like a nice drive across town, only to have to be repeated tomorrow.

At least Mistress LunaSea was with me for the drive, it made it all the nicer.

All the sunshine and fresh air clobbered me.  I came home, opened the patio door to air out the winter's stuffiness from the apartment, and promptly took a nap.

Health-wise:  Feeling good today.  A little congested, but still better than yesterday and feeling good.