Not only is it his birthday, but he quit smoking one year ago.

Happy Day on both accounts!
xoxoxoxoxoxooxox

That is life, isn't it? We take the good with the bad.
Last Thursday the doctor agreed to let me return to work. Even though the bulging discs and all of the other injuries remain, I want to go back to work. While I was resting, the doctor and I were hoping that the insurance company would have approved a specialist, but the insurance company is of course doing what they do best. Slowly taking their time as things get worse.........lol.
I pay my premium on time, but they can't get up off of their arse and approve my care on time?...lol. Bite me!





Life goes on. I'll keep a smile on my face. I am optimistic that the approval is right around the corner!

Continuing the trek as I compare the Legography photos to my own.
The Lil Lego Guy was seen taking a picture of a palm tree during dusk.

Lego photo of palm tree.


My photo of palm trees during a sunrise in Huntington Beach last summer.



We had the same idea, we just took a different view of it.

Your thoughts? I have nothing........ *snickers*




I know that it's a bondage contraption, but all I can do is stare in amazement.

My adventures have been put on hold because of the bulging discs. That is all well and good. I can and will understand that. In due time they will be fixed. But it happened at the worst time. hahahaha, that is funny...as if there is a good time. During the summer I do more than just think of myself and have fun. I also volunteer.

Operation Surf was in Santa Cruz and I had signed up to volunteer to help the Veterans as they prepared to surf and assist them with their boards. I had to cancel because of doctors orders. That upset me.
I am now realizing the other summer programs that I usually volunteer for and have to cancel. One of them is being at the pool. There is no way I can teach kids how to swim at the sports center this summer. That one has always been my favorite. So, no kids peeing or throwing up in the pool...lol. I'll even miss the parents and them forgetting that their kids are in our care and showing up an hour later..*giggle* No kids screaming and pulling each others hair because one of them thinks the other is a doodie head....*laughs*

Seriously, the summers are more than just fun for me. It's also a time to be in the water and showing others how to have fun as well.

I walked up the street to the little Goodwill Store. I was in search of some old frames that I could refurbish. Instead, I found a young mother who reminded me of my dad.

She had 3 kids in tow and was having them try on clothes. One of the kids looked to be about 10 years old. She was complaining that the blouse she was trying on looked old and funny and if she wore the jeans to school she would be laughed at. I like the way the young mom handled her daughters feelings. She told her that she could dye the blouse, put some new buttons on it and iron some daisies on the collar. Then the mom told her that she could sew some doily patches on the pockets of the jeans and kids wouldn't know where they came from. The Mom told her "I know we don't have much money, but we don't have to look like slobs" By the time the mom had finished having the kids try on all of the clothes, the little girl had the biggest smile on her face. The little girl even started talking about ideas on how to change the t-shirt. It was beautiful.

Although he didn't buy our clothes at the Goodwill, my Dad made a go of it when our clothes began to wear out. We didn't have much money so all of our clothes/shoes were regulated and had to last through the entire school year. Each weekend my Dad cleaned our shoes and replaced the shoelaces when they got worn out. He spent so much time sewing our clothes when they got ripped and using shoe dye to cover up skids. He always told us that we must look our best. He stressed "We're poor, not pigs" He had a way of making us feel good even when we wore the same clothes each week. If we wore different sweaters with each dress, no one could tell. And at times he would dye a dress that started to fade in order to make it look brighter.

I believe that if you feel good.....you look good. I know the little girl felt good leaving that store. Her mom knew how important her feelings were and she took the time to take care of them..
I still smile each time I remember my dad saying "We're poor, we're not pigs"

I had a dream that Snoop Dog was my Dad and we were laughing as we we raked leaves on the lawn of the White House. Okay, not so bad. I like Snoop Dog. What woke me up were the tutu wearing squirrels singing Old Man River.
I wonder which perspective I should take here? The Snoop Dog angle or the singing squirrels?

It was 0400 when the dream snapped me awake. I took the going back to sleep angle...lol

That moment when you took your first dare? I do. I was 6 years old. The reason I remember it was because after the dare I was taken to the emergency room. They dared me to go down the river bed slope on a skateboard. Now, that may seem all innocent and safe. Wrong! All of us were sitting on the skateboards and having fun going down the steep sloping sides of the riverbed. After a while that got old. Then my sisters came up with an idea and like all ideas they always had me to it to see if it was safe...lol. They dared me to lay to lay on my tummy and go down head first of the slope. So I did.

If you have never been on a skateboard, let me fill you in. When you sit on a skateboard and it starts to wobble, you just lean to the side and fall off. When you get on the skateboard on your tummy and you start to wobble, there isn't any way you can just lean to the side. It's pretty much a free for all and you know that you are doomed to road rash on any exposed body part.

To make a long story short, there I was, blazing down the slope of the cement river bed when all of a sudden I start to lose control, the skateboard veers off to the side, hits a crease in the slope and the skateboard comes to an instant stop! Of course inertia and gravity took over and I kept going like the coyote falling off a cliff in a road runner cartoon. The right side of my face and basically the entire right side of my body looked as if it had been sandpapered off.

Later on that night as all of my sisters were laughing at how silly I looked, they said next time they should try it in a shopping cart. Which they did a few weekends later and yes, they dared me....lol. In the days of no helmets, kneed pads or elbow pads....I wonder how any of us survived?

The youngest son will be getting his business license, as well as filing papers to copyright and trademark his creations. He should have done this many years ago, but he was too trusting. But now that he has let others use his ideas, it is time to keep them close and kept in his own portfolio.

The oldest son has barely a year left to go on his PhD and will soon be able to breathe...well......once he finishes his research and Union Delegations...lol He wants to remain at the university where he teaches while earning his PhD, but who knows. He has the keys to his future, so the drive is all up to him. When he told me that he had decided to send out feelers to other universities, I told him that was a wise choice. He should keep his options open.

A lot of blood, sweat and tears have been shed along the way as my sons progressed in life. In the long run, it all gets replenished as one journey ends and another begins.

Car made of 500,000 Lego Bricks runs on compressed air.
(the video is worth watching)
Steve Sammartino and Raul Oaida built a functional car out of Lego bricks that runs on air. The car is the product of the duo's Super Awesome Micro Project, a crowd-funded effort that allowed them to take 500,000 Lego bricks and 256 lego pistons and design a hot rod-esque masterpiece. The car, from engine to seats, is made completely from the tiny bricks, with the exception of a few structural parts including wheels, tires, and gauges. Sammartino and Oaida estimate they've dropped $60,000 on Lego bricks alone.

Forty Australian patrons funded the project after seeing a single tweet that Sammartino sent, as well as a tongue-in-cheek prospectus he wrote about the idea. The car was built in Romania and then shipped to an undisclosed location in Melbourne, which was not an easy task.