Thursday, September 30, 2010

Phew!



Where did September go? It just flew by for me.

Between well checkups and my new diet, the month simply flew by. Plus I am currently sharing my laptop with my son who is studying for a test so have not had much access to my laptop. Weekends included.

I continue to dabble with art. It is hard to do encaustics in summer but I've been painting and sketching. Yep sketching. More like doodling but oh well.

I've signed up for a project called the Sketchbook project. Here is some more info about it in case you are interested in participating. They will exhibit the sketchbooks in 4 US cities and one of them is Austin. Yeah!

Also, I am planning on taking some more encaustic classes in October. So I look forward to that. Here is information about that.

So what have you been up to?

Sunday, September 19, 2010

I blame Hermine


So...

Lately I've been on a healthy living phase. While I love my chicken fried steak and fried onions, here is what really brought this on.

Due to all the daily critical stuff I had to do the last year for work, I had to cancel and re-cancel my medical appointments. Things such as annual check ups and such. Now that things have kinda settled down, I scheduled some appointments to get it over with.

But... nature was vicious to me. The day I took a day off from work and had 3 Dr. appointments, Hermine attacked Austin. I drove in pouring/pounding rain to attend these appointments. I scrambled. My doctors had warned me that if I did not come for regular check ups, and cancelled all the time, perhaps it was time for me to see someone else.

In other words they were telling me to show up or get dumped by us.

Le sigh!

So I braved the Austin traffic in the nasty weather and went for the appointments. The first one was with an allergist. And an actual freaking mobile home fell of its trailer and landed in the middle of the highway. There was a house on the highway. Even I could not believe this story. Can you imagine telling someone, sorry I am late but a house fell on the highway. Who would believe me?

Anyways. The next appointment was with my general practitioner. I was late, late late. Road were turning into rivers and there were waterfalls everywhere. Who would believe that there was a waterfall dumping water on the road? No one.

So after being chastised by the Medical receptionist for being 20 minutes late, I was rushed into a room and before I knew it, they were taking my blood pressure. It was off the walls. Typically, I have very low blood pressure so this sent them in a panic mode. "Are you stressed about something?" they asked. That's when I wanted to smack them. Yep. Instead I put on my frosty look and said, "have you looked outside? I saw 12 accidents on my way here and had 4 near miss accidents. I was reprimanded for being late as soon as I got here. Would you be a tad stressed under those circumstances?"

Le sigh. I hate doctors and medical peeps. They are rude, rude, rude.

Of course all my results came back and everything in my body is whacky. Everything off the charts. So I have to get more and more test done again. Ugh!


Nothing serious but a series of "let's rule this out" kinda stuff. Not fun at all.

So I am trying to be very very healthy this week. Hopefully all the results will come back normal. But I am still blaming Hermine for creating such havoc on my body. And depriving me of my favorite foods.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

My Bad...



So here is what happened this weekend. I was supposed to go to my close friend's boy friend's birthday bash. I was excited about it and even made 50 pieces of tandoori chicken. Then there was some miscommunication between me and my friend and I ended up not going at all.

And I deeply hurt her feelings and disappointed her.

I felt like a total dirt bag.

Fortunately she is kind and generous so forgave me. But I just felt bad about myself.

Have you ever been in a situation where you unintentionally hurt someone?

Yuck.

It sucks.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Messed Up


I messed up this weekend. Yep. That's what I did. May Karma be merciful to me.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Unknown Flower



During the rain storm that lasted for days, I saw something red in my backyard. It was pouring outside so I grabbed my camera with the macro lens to see what it was. Yes I often use the macro lens as a magnifying glass. 

Much to my surprise, it was this lovely flower. I don't know what it is. I certainly did not plant it last fall. Probably a few years ago and it never flowered. Love surprises from nature!

Since it was pelting outside, I grabbed an umbrella, scissors and darted outside to rescue the flower. Yesterday I took photos of it with my iPhone and various apps. The top picture you see is taken by an app called CameraPlus. It is free and offers numerous features. 

This one is taken using an app called Hipstamatic. I think I paid 1.99 dollars for it. Cool effects. Right? The only thing I need to figure out is how to make this larger.



For this one I used an app called CamZoom another free app. But could not get it to focus for some reason. Oh well...


So anyone know the name of the flower?

Happy Friday!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Rain Event!


Rain, rain rain! Hermine is unleashing its power over Austin. Over the last 30 hours, we've had over 12 inches of rain. Flash flood warnings, overflowing creeks and road closures. Schools are starting late or closed. The weather men are hyperventilating. My backyard is submerged in water and there is a little creek flowing through my kitchen garden. But that is small potatoes to what is really happening here. Roads are turning into creeks. And stupid people are trying to drive through them.

The rain has been relentless. Pouring and never stopping. Yesterday, I saw this trailer home that was being transported slip and fall on the road. Commute was not good at all.


Well.... Off too work I go. Commute is going to be bad. But I'll make it. Stay dry wherever you are!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Dinner!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Moolah







Found some today!

Yeah!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Da View



From my Window...

Taken using iPhone Hipstamatic app. Love the round effect!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Work TImeout!


So that's how I spent yesterday afternoon. Work Party! We had yummy food from Chuy's and then went on a boat. It was simply awesome.

I considered taking my real camera but did not want to lug it around. Plus this month, I want to play around with my iPhone Camera. Took the previous shot using an app called Camera Plus. Love how blue the sky looks!

And here is another one...



We are trying to jump start the long weekend! Tomorrow, I get off at 1:00 pm! How awesome is that!

What are your plans this weekend? Anything exciting?

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Le Back!



I am back from my faux trip to Paris! Good news is that I wasn't abducted by aliens this time.

I seriously need to come up with better excuses when I take a break. Oh well. I actually considered to stop blogging but I realized how much I love my bloggy friends and the bloggyland! So there... here I am again.

This month, I am going to play around with my iPhone camera and share the images with you. Needless to say, I am completely addicted to my iPhone. The apps, the games, the camera! Ooh la la.. they make me weep with joy. I am so addicted to my iPhone! And the worst thing is that I am spreading the virus. Le Sigh!

I missed you my bloggy friends!


Trick Question: What is the worst excuse you have made up for being a slacker?

PS: Here is another version of the "Eiffle Tower".