In the past few weeks, I found this lovely website and entered a contest /give away for these loverly cuff links. Lucky me, I won them. Even more luckily, I had recently picked up a French cuffed men’s shirt for a dollar at the local thrift store. Delightful! Now I can wear it properly instead of rolling up the sleeves. They look even better in real life, no funky crystal eyes but they do have crossed bones behind them. Please do check out the website. It’s a lot of fun.

We had something “returned” to us that I wasn’t even aware was lost…. So, that just made me laugh, out loud and otherwise. I could be annoyed but really, why bother? It’s much more funny and sad than anything to be angry over.

I received an email from an old and very Dear friend of mine, asking the spelling of my maiden name as he wants to use some promotional photos that I took for him about a million years ago. Of course he had the spelling correct and of course I wholeheartedly embrace the project. It’s nice to get the credit since I had so many of my photos used with out permission back in the day. (Yes, Doug Carrion, I am talking about you and the cover of Dag Nasty’s Field Day album!) Respect of intellectual property and art is a very important thing, don’t you think? I should have copies of the project in my hot little hands around the holidays. It’ll be a 20 year anniversary re-issue of something that was so close to my heart at the time. I don’t want to say more than that right now…..i am just still so stunned that it’s been twenty years. Time flies.

On the weight lifting front, I had the brilliant idea to add hack squats to the set. Oy, my aching thighs! It’ll be worth it in the long run – my back doesn’t hurt as much as it did and I know it’ll strengthen my knees (which are a screwed up mass of cartilage stew) enough so that I will be able to do “real” squats eventually. In the mean time, I press on with my leg press progress and did 548 lbs yesterday. Without puking, I might add. Although, I really wanted to, especially after the second set of 15 reps.

All the other weights are also progressing. Upper body work where I was stuck in the same weight ranges forever have finally begun to be increased. Part of the slowness in the increase was the fact that I started with so little upper body strength, that I lose some range of motion from the IV Port surgery and have some shrunken tendons as a result of some of the medications that I took. The other part of the slowness is the fact that I was just being lazy, stubborn and feeling sorry for myself. I’ve been working hard to keep in mind that when I work out I am achy and sore and feel like crap and when I DON’T work out, i am still achy and sore and feel like crap. (this is residue from the illness that will most likely never go away) So, my options are work out or don’t work out and either way – I will still have random body aches and exhaustion. At least if I am working at getting stronger, then it’s moving in a positive direction. Even if I don’t see or feel the gain. It’s there. I heard someone say this week “I’m being proactive in my negativity” and that made me laugh but then I realized that is sort of what I have to do right now.

Getting ready to dig in to the next book on the list that Master wants me to tackle. It’s nice to read things that he’s suggested. I think it’s been pretty obvious in the way my attitude has changed that I am getting something out of it. I can’t wait to get started and so… off I go!