We've had a couple visitors lately....and a few surprise photos :o)

I was running around the backyard with Peanut last week when we encountered him.....

Luckily he decided he didn't want Peanut to notice him because I was not strong enough for that to happen.  Peanut was on a leash and all 21 pounds of Jack Russel would have gone into "making friends" with that snake.

Peanut tracked this print for a few feet on the beach before either losing the scent or losing interest.  I can tell it's not a dog or cat print so I thought I would take a pic.  Is it a raccoon maybe?

I've been wanting to post this photo for a while but "my" computer has issues.  I marked it in case anyone could guess what that was.....

Too bad my zoom isn't a pro one but not bad anyway.....

And so here's what the sky looks like when it's all over.  I was worried I would miss it because it was kind of misty all day.  I got the genius idea to go jogging an hour beforehand, telling myself it would force me to push harder since I wanted really badly to get home in time to grab my camera.  Towards the end of my run I was beginning to get worried so I did push harder to get back faster but I pushed myself so hard I nearly lost my lunch.  (I haven't used that expression since I was 12 but, it's fitting)

I'll never d that again but it was well worth it because I got some good shots.  Notice all the people on the beach.  Normally I have this beach all too myself.

I didn't take this picture

But it was taken a couple miles north of where I live at the pier where Mr.Pea surfs. I think this was taken sometime last summer. Pretty cool huh

Finally!

As I mentioned, I really haven't been going to look for shark teeth as much this year because I wanted to exercise more.  Then when I got myself into great shape I twisted my dern ankle and I'm finally beginning to heal.  It still aches, mind you, especially on days when the temperature is really cold(which makes me feel about a thousand years old).  But last week I couldn't take it anymore and decided come hell or high water, I was going to get on the beach at least once and take a look.



It actually took me a while since the beach where I live is not really my "usual spot".  My best finds come from about a mile North and it was way too windy to bike and my ankle is still not in shape for longer walks so I had to stay nearby.  The first tooth I found was this one so I was pretty happy.  I felt like the ocean was welcoming me back by giving me this gift.  It was in the "swash zone"

I came upon this claw that, some poor little varmint lost, probably along with his life......I find these all the time as the birds here are pretty healthy.  Actually, my beach is the only one I've ever been where the sea gulls don't beg or try to steal food.  Just a few miles North of here and the sea gulls are really aggressive or "fresh" as MrPea likes to call them.

Here's another claw, well a piece of one. Obviously this claw, when intact, was much bigger. I thought it would be interesting to show how different these two are.  Plus I wanted to show off the daisies I painted on my nails.

I was freezing that day.  Ok I realize 50 degrees is not freezing but it is when all you've got on is flimsy jeans, a teeshirt, and a light wind breaker that does not break  wind(insert laughter).  So as much as I tried, when the sun started to play peek-a-boo with the clouds, I went home.  I only stayed about 40 minutes but my find was pretty decent.   That large piece on the right is some kind of bone fragment that I'll try to identify on my own and those two round pieces on the upper left are puffer fish jaws that I always pick up for some reason.  I have about a million scallop shells but I can never resist a pretty shell or two.

It's been raining all week but when the sun comes back out, I'll be back out there for more!

January sleep

I couldn't think of a better title for this post but I'm not quite sure what I'm even going to write about today.  Well maybe I should start off with a couple of updates.

-This Christmas was a sweet one.  I feel really really awful about the Tiffany bracelet that my husband bought me.  Why do I feel awful about it, you wonder?  Because I had it for all of 5 days before losing it while shopping for jeans.  I wasn't upset so much because of the cost, when I told him about it, he could see that I was truly sad and offered to buy me a new one at the end of this month.  I felt so awful because I had lost something that he gave to me with all his heart and I knew how much it meant to him to be able to give me something like that.  He was really sweet about it and it wasn't the only gift he gave me.  Still though, I wish I could have found it.  Trust me, I looked everywhere and called every place I went the last day I had it on.  It must have fallen off because it was one of those T shape-loop clasps.  And like I said, it's not because of the cost or the fact that it was a peice of jewelry, it's because it was a gift and I loved it. sigh....

-On an up note, my ankle is beginning to feel better.  I twisted it in October and it hurt for weeks.  It's finally healing although the cooler weather hasn't helped but I'm glad to be able to take longer walks without feeling like my ankle is going to fall off.  Ok I'll admit that the real reason I'm happy is because I can wear heels again.

-I haven't been shark tooth hunting in a LONG time but I did find a few today with Peanut.  The weather is going to be nicer this week so I'm going to go so I'll have some beach pictures up soon.

-I visited my OBGYN last week to discuss my future baby plans....while in the waiting room I thought to myself, "Good Lord I need to find someone else to deliver my future hypothetical child if I need to listen to this hellforsaken heehaw country music everytime I come here.  I'm here for a yearly pap not a hoedown."

-I tried to look for a school to enroll in so that I could acquire an Aestheticians licence.  I went here and I swear I felt like I was at a car dealership or some kind of cult.  I went in to tour the facilities and ask questions about tuition and I left feeling like I had just made a deal with the devil.  These places take advantage of people .  They expected me to pay $24,000.00 for the same certification that would cost around $6000-$8000.00 if I just went to a beauty school.  I also found out that if I went to a local community college, I could get a lower interest loan and tuition was half the price. I had to go in person the next day to let them know I wasn't interested in enrolling because I was afraid they would out in a loan application before I had the chance to tell them no.  I'll write a post about it in the future but it would take too long to tell the hilarity that went on in my experience with those people.  I still would like to get some training in that field but as long as I live in such a small town, there really aren't any schools for me.  I'm looking to see if I can find some kind of apprenticeship situation.  

-Remember her?  She reared her ugly head recently and I'll have to post about that too.  She's not ugly, actually she's a good looking person.  On the outside.  I don't like that expression but it was the best one I could think of.  That post will come soon.....

-I still have insomnia.  It started around the time I twisted my ankle, got worse after sweet Mai passed away and then just sort of continued into the Holidays.  It's been better and I thought about seeing an Occupational Therapist for it since I feel like my doctor would only be able to just give me pills.  But I'd really like to get over it on my own.  I went through something similar during my 8th grade summer and again during senior year of high school and both times I got over it after visiting my Grandparents.  Unfortunately(for a million reasons other than sleep of course) my Grandparents are no longer on this Earth so I can't hop on a plane and visit the most beautiful farm in West Virginia so I'll have to just suffer a little longer.  I'm getting a little better now that the Holidays are over and the days are beginning to get longer though.


I'm glad to be back on this blog.  I'm still doing my beauty channel and blog thing but I've missed my little blog  here too. I just felt like staying away a while since I only had sad things on my mind in December.  But things are better now and I appreciate the comforting comments.  I can't wait to catch up!

Still missing her

A subscriber of mine(from my youtube channel) sent me this video of a song that broke my heart this morning. I'm not even a fan of country music but this song sounds so much like our Mai that I absolutely lost it this morning listening to it. Here's the video below, this is actually a cover and I searched for the original and it's good too but I think because this girl is so young and her voice is so sweet and innocent, I prefer this version:




Here's the original video which is good to but her voice sounds more mature and polished.



But this song is so much what I need to hear even though it brought back emotions that are still very raw. And the lyrics haunt me since basically Mai was buried in her prom dress which is white satin and her coffin was full of roses. And that "boy in town" who'll love her forever is my nephew and he's been so lost without her.

I'm still worried about my nephew. He's not doing so good right now which is expected. In so many ways this loss was worse than when my Grandparents died. Not because I loved them any less just because when they left me behind I didn't feel like they were cheated out of a full life. We were able to send them away with hearts full of a lifetime of memories but not Mai. Christmas is just two weeks away and it's cold so there's this childish part of me that thinks of her at the bottom of a dark hole all alone.  I need to get the "plunkplunk" sound of the flowers hitting the casket when they lowered her down there out of my mind so that I can sleep at night again. I need to get the look of my nephew's face from that day out of my mind but the truth is he still looks that way. So yeah. The Holidays this year aren't easy and I've been faking it.



If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother
She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors
Oh, and life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no
Ain't even gray, but she buries her baby

The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time

And I'll be wearing white when I come into your kingdom
I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger
I've never known the loving of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand


There's a boy here in town, says he'll love me forever
Who would have thought forever could be severed by
The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time

So put on your best, boys, and I'll wear my pearls
What I never did is done

A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singing
Funny, when you're dead how people start listening

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

The ballad of a dove
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket
Save them for a time when you're really gonna need them, oh

The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time
So put on your best, boys
And I'll wear my pearls

Cold Beach=Beautiful evening sky

My cell phone only lets me email videos that are 30 seconds long and for some reason the sound didn't come out in the upload but oh well.  You get the point.  It was just a really beautiful winter beach sky and I wanted to capture it........

Random

Went to a Christmas Party tonight. Naturally a topic of conversation was whether or not I will have a baby in the next year. Usually I get a little touchy when people bring this up because I think it's pushy-no one asks men these kinds of personal questions. But since I was actually holding a baby at the time and sticking my nose in her neck to inhale the smell of baby powder, making wrinkly nose faces whilst singing a Korean song about a hopping bunny in the silliest voice I could muster, I took no offence. Of course it's going to happen just, obviously not today.

I know, I know, you're thinking right now, "Korean song? How does Pea know Korean song?" My BFF is part Korean and her mom used to sing it for us. That's how I know. Ok? And yes I will sing it for my future hypothetical child too.

Peanut made his great escape a few nights ago. He tricked MrPea, wiggled out of his harness and ran off down the road on a wonderful hour long adventure. MrPea is easily tricked because he is so damn trusting and Peanut know this. Of course this happened as we were fully dressed to go out for a fancypants dinner. We finally gave up walking around in our beautiful outfits and got in the car to drive down the road in the direction he was last seen because I'm always afraid he'll chase something and get hit by a car. That dog was a mile away when we found him and I could tell he was in no distress over the fact that he was away from the only 2 people on Earth who could ever love him, a bad seed, as much as we do. As we got closer I have to admit how resentful I feel about the happy look on his face. Why does he do this to me? This dog turns 13 years old this month, he should be too old for this running away silliness, I know I sure am. He acts like we keep him in such a miserable existence that he needs to just break out of jail any chance he gets.

My ankle still hurts. Of course wearing heels a couple times hasn't helped. Still though, I've never had an injury last this long and it's driving me crazy. This ankle has ruined everything. I can't jog. I can't look for shark teeth. sssiiiggghhh