Rebellin

A man I know recently had gastric bypass surgery. Yes, he was a very big man, and he made the decision because he wanted to improve his health.

He had the surgery a few weeks ago, and since then, has suffered a heart attack and a stroke. He has been in a coma since emerging from the operating room.

I think that a lot of people are seeing the well-publicized success stories of stars such as Carnie Wilson and Al Rocher, but we’re not seeing everything that could go wrong. I had no idea the surgery could cause a stroke.

I feel so bad for him. In an effort to improve his health and appearance, he has suffered insurmountable complications, and most likely won’t be the same when and if he emerges from the coma.

Not to be blatant, or anything, but in addition to my Amazon Wish List, I’d really like some weight lifting gloves, or this Heart Rate Monitor. Or if you’re feeling extra generous, this Body Fat Monitoring Scale and Heart Rate Monitor package.

OK, I’m done being selfish. For now.

This last weekend, we lost a member of our family. My brother’s family dog, Bonnie, left us for doggie heaven on Saturday. She had a brain tumor, which was causing uncontrollable siezures.

But that was just the last part of her life. Bonnie was a great dog. She was a Lab/German Shepard mix. She had yellow fur that curled down the center of her back. On her nose, she had a white spot with the cutest little black flecks. And she had these huge brown eyes.

Bonnie had a great personality. She was so lovey, and one of her favorite pass-times was to curl up with my sister-in-law, Jane. She was great with my nephew, letting him poke and prod, and climb all over her. She’d just turn around and lick him.

She gave a log of doggie kisses. Bonnie loved to lick your hands, face, or whatever she could reach.

I remember the day my brother and sister-in-law, Jane, got Bonnie and her brother, Clyde. It was Memorial Day six years ago. I had driven up from the Bay area for a visit, and when I walked through the door, Jane was practically bursting with excitement. She grabbed me by the wrist, and said ‘I have to show you what we got’.

She led me to the back yard, where there were two adorable puppies. They must have been 8 weeks old. Clyde looks like a black lab with white on his chest, and Bonnie was a little fur-ball I could hold in my two hands.

I’m glad that they still have Clyde around, as he is a lot like Bonnie. On her last day, they took her to the lake by their house, let her swim and play with Clyde, and watched as she wagged her tail, something that had become a rare occurance. They then took her to the vet, where she went to sleep with her head in Jane’s lap. May she rest in peace. (Here is link I dedicate to Bonnie.)

I had a truly wonderful weekend. We camped on the beach of Lake Tahoe, at Meeks Bay. Here is a 360 pic of the beach. If you can’t view that, check out this picture.

We arrived Friday night, set up camp, and then relaxed by the camp fire. I snuck away to look at the night sky reflecting on the Lake, which was incredible. This was the first time I had been camping since having my vision corrected, and I was thrilled to leave the moon roof of our tent off and gaze at the stars before drifting off to sleep.

The campground host came over to check us in, and told us that there were new bear-proof trash containers this year. Considering a bear was spotted during our trip to the same place last year, I asked him if they had seen any bears in the campground recently.

“Every night,” the host said. “You can guarantee they’ll be around if you or your neighbors leave out food.”

Yipes! I asked him if this included coolers, and he said it did.

The story about a man being attacked while sleeping in his tent a few weeks ago flashed through my mind.

Now the rest of our group were all staying in campers. So when it came time to retire to our sleeping quarters, I got up and started putting away coolers, and gathering up all the beer bottles that were littering our site.

My brother, Chuck thought this was hilarious, and that I was extremely paranoid. He, on the other hand, would sleep soundly in his hard-sided camper with his gun inside. I was the source of much ridicule over the weekend for being afraid of bears, but I’m proud to report that I am in one piece today, after avoiding becoming bear food.

On Saturday, we hopped in our rafts with the dogs (my brother’s two dogs, my dog, plus one of my future sister-in-law’s sister’s dog) to ride down the Truckee River. This is one of my very favorite activities out here. However, Saturday wasn’t quite as enjoyable as it usually is.

About 1/4 way through the ride, we were passing my future sister-in-law with her two dogs in tow, and my brother’s dog, Ralph, decided to literally jump ship. He leaped gracefully from her raft into ours.

The water was flowing really fast, meaning a lot of steering was required. I assumed the responsibility of manning the two dogs (who sat and stood in my lap), while [The Man Now Known as The Ex] had the paddles. I ended up with cuts and bruises from the dog claws as they scrambled in and out of the raft. Tucker LOVES to raft, though, and spent half of the time swimming ahead of the raft. One of the girls in our group got seasick, and two others had their rafts pop along the way. Ours, luckily, held firm.

Saturday afternoon and Sunday, we hung out on the beach, which was just what the doctor ordered. I pulled on my shortie wetsuit and went for some really long swims in the Lake, in an effort to train for the Alcatraz Sharkfest.

Swimming in Lake Tahoe is absolute luxury. Breathing to either side, there are incredible views. The water is so clear, that you can see at least 30 feet. I watched the rocks, trees, and a few pine needles on the bottom while I swam past, and could clearly see the sun rays reflecting through the water. About 50 yards from shore, the bottom steeply drops off, and the the water turns from turquoise to a royal blue. When you accidentally swallow some water, it seriously tastes like bottled water.

Saturday night, I treated myself to a sunset over Lake Tahoe. This should give you an idea of what it looked like.

As much as I enjoyed the weekend, it’s really hard to beat that first shower you get after returning from a camping trip, though.

Happy Monday.

Oh my gosh. I just registered for my 10 year high school reunion, which is two weeks from Saturday.

Two weeks! That hit me this morning as I was working out in the gym. Two weeks! I didn’t realize it had snuck up on me so fast. So now, I’m supposed to submit a one page bio on what I’ve been doing for the past 10 years.

One page. 10 years. Wow. Where do I start? I guess I’ll mention college, where I’ve lived, and where I’ve worked…. But gosh, that sounds so boring. I’m not married. No kids. Not rich. Shit. I don’t have much to rub in people’s faces, do I?

And, oh God, what in the world am I going to wear?! That panic hit me about half way through my workout. Right after I gave up contemplating what I would write for my bio. They don’t give any hints for proper attire… Would love to go casual, but then don’t want to look like a dufus if everyone else is dressy.

I think I must go out and buy a black cocktail dress ASAP.

That same weekend, I will officially become the Godmother for my best friend’s daughter. So as of two weeks from this weekend, I’ll officially be a real adult. Out of high school for 10 years, AND a Godmother. Woah.

Every time I say Godmother, I have visions of me floating around my God-daughter in a fairy Godmother outfit with a really cool wand (ala Cinderella). I must get one of those, too.

Sometimes being an adult sucks. I vividly remember an instance when I was like seven or eight, and had two friends in my room to play dolls. When they decided to leave, I couldn’t find one of my favorite dolls, and was convinced one of them had stolen it.

So I slammed my door shut, locking them inside my room, and stood in front of it, telling them that they couldn’t leave until they produced my doll. I don’t know how long I kept them there, but I do remember finding that doll crammed in the back of my closet a few weeks later.

But that’s beside the point. I was angry at them, and I didn’t have to repress that anger. I could lock them in and yell at them because I was mad.

There are some people I deal with at work that I wish I could push out of my office, and slam the door (locking them OUT), and scream after them ‘Leave me alone, you big meanie!’

But I’m an adult. So I smile at them and pleasantly ask ‘Do you need my help with anything?’

Bah.

Over the past two days, I have toured 11 hotel/casino properties in Reno. I now have responsibility to train our call center, so I took a bunch of phone operators around to learn about the properties, transporting them in a gargantuan 14 person van.

I’ve seen approximately 33 hotel rooms, 50+ restaurants, as well as pools, fitness rooms, arcades, gaming floors, driving ranges, a bowling alley, you name it. I must have walked 5 miles each day.

Two of my favorite quotes from the operators were:
“You could fit two of my trailers in this suite!”, said in reference to her trailer home while touring the Peppermill’s Safari suite, which is 5,000 square feet.
“I like this get-up,” said by a gay man in reference to my outfit. He then said, with a flick of his wrist, “I dig Capris.”

My feet hurt. I’m going to go take a nap.

Last night, as I was standing on our back porch grilling some chicken, I noticed a fire in the mountains. It was one small plume of smoke, but very noticable.

As the sun was setting last night, [The Man Now Known as The Ex] and I headed back out to the porch and saw that the fire had grown immensley. It is so depressing to see the mountains I love so much up in flames, but ironically, it was really beautiful to see the orange flames, and the smoke, which was tinted pink in the sunset.

As it grew dark, the orange flames became more apparant, and I stood out there mesmerized by the growing fire.

Lying in bed last night, I kept hearing the sounds of sirens as more and more fire trucks were deployed to the scene. Thankfully, it is 80% contained this morning, and I am hoping they’ll nab that remaining 20% before the wind kicks up this afternoon.

Last night, we went to see Skid Row, Vince Neil (of Motley Crue), and Poison in concert at the Reno Hilton outdoor ampitheater. (Translation for my parents: three 1980′s glam rock bands, or hair bands known for their huge hair.) It was a good show, but bad fashion was everywhere. I think we paid just as much attention to the outfits of the fans as we did to the acts on stage.

Key bad fashion highlights:

• Leather get ups in the 100 degree heat

• Leopard print pants in purple, pink, and red
• A really scrawny man in a Powerhouse Gym tank top
• Brittney Spears look-alikes with the plaid skirt, knee high socks, and chunky shoes
• Heavy metal band shirts with the arms cut off (these were everywhere)
• Handkercheifs tied around people’s calves (I don’t remember this from the 80s, but it was a trend that was alive and well last night)
• Leather shorts with about three feet of fringe
• Two men were wearing 80′s hair wigs (I admit, they were pretty funny)

I watched these people in awe, wondering where they’ve all been hiding in the city of Reno. I mean, I’ve never seen these 80′s die hards on the streets. Perhaps it takes a convention of sorts to get them to come out of the woodworks.

My favorite quote of the night came from my brother, who after listening to Vince Neil play for an hour, said ‘He sure played a lot of Motley Crue songs’. At that point, my brother didn’t comprehend that he had been watching the former lead singer of Motley Crue.

The whole show was OK. It was so long. It lasted four hours, and I can honestly say my favorite part of the show was the 5 minute fireworks show at the end after all of the bands had left the stage. Here is a concert review that describes the scene pretty well (minus some significant grammatical errors).

Oh, and the lead guitarist for Poison (C.C.) played the worst song I’ve ever heard in my life, and it was called ‘I hate every bone in your body except for mine’.

Perhaps some things are better left in the past…

I appreciate art, but I’m not one to stand there in a museum in front of a painting to contemplate the meaning of it.

Outside my office window, a new mural is being painted. I’ve seen sketches of what the final mural will look like…. It will be a painting of the sky. I’m talking blue sky with white clouds. So from my seat as I type, I am looking at a 60 foot by 60 foot blue wall, which is the base coat for the mural.

Now do we really need a painting of the sky here in Reno? I can already look out my window and see sky (which normally doesn’t have clouds in it), and now I will be able to look out my window and see the sky and a painting of the sky.

Some people have way too much time.

Flying Dogs, Fighting Fish, and Athletes with Axes — that is what will be occupying me for the next four days. That’s right, ladies and gents, the ESPN Great Outdoor Games are here in Reno, thanks to the efforts of my organization, and I’ll be there many hours in the hot hot sun representing Reno-Tahoe as America’s Adventure Place.

We’re hoping for 100,000 attendees to the event, and there are over 1,200 ESPN staff in town to run the event. Yesterday, we went over to the park where the event will be held. It’s like there is a new city within Reno — ESPN city. Tents and trucks and people everywhere.

The one thing that suprised me was how YOUNG most of the ESPN staff were. I’m talking ‘did you even go to college’ young. What a cool job they have. (However, working for them means either relocating every few years or living back East, neither of which is an attractive option to me.)

It was so HOT yesterday when we were setting up our booth. This should give you an idea of how HOT I will be over the next four days. SPF 45, here I come!

I have my press pass ready to go. I love having VIP access.

If you’ve been reading this for a while, you know that I’ve been on a crusade to lose weight. It started with the Body For Life program on December 30. That was a three month diet and exercise program, after which I hadn’t lost any weight or inches. Three months of getting up at 5:40 am to work out six days a week, and no noticable changes.

So I went to my doctor and asked for a referral to a nutritionist. The nutritionist said I wasn’t getting enough calories, fat, or carbs, so we changed my diet. I did what she said for two months, and nothing happened.

She referred me on to a personal trainer, saying that I was doing everything right, and she couldn’t understand why I wasn’t losing weight. The trainer said I was getting too much fat, and I did every thing she said for a month, and nothing happened. The trainer then told me I was doing everything right and couldn’t understand why I wasn’t losing weight.

I’ve had my blood sugars tested, my thyroid, insulin levels, and they’re all normal. It basically comes down to the fact that I have the metabolism of a post-menopausal woman, despite the fact I’m in my twenties. That means that I have a lifetime of working out and watching what I eat to look forward to. Ugh.

So now I figure I’ll try Atkins, considering eating carbs hasn’t worked for me. I started this morning, and this is what is out on the Marketing department’s shared table today: a bag full of bread, Wheat Thins, a chocolate cake (with tons of frosting), chocolate donuts, bagels, and watermelon. All foods I love, but cannot eat. I type this while munching on lunch meat.

In my next life, I want to come back petite with a kick-ass metabolism.

This e-mail conversation had me laughing this afternoon:

Lynnette: I updated that link for you.
Chad: Right Arm.
Lynnette: What does that mean? Right on?
Chad: Yes… it means right on in surfer kid talk.
Lynnette: I grew up in the desert…. Don’t know surfer kid talk!
Chad: I will teach you young grasshopper.

I hope I’m not the only person who finds that funny. Anyway, we’re back from the family weekend. We boated, jet skiied, hiked, biked, swam, and rode a chair lift and a gondola. Oh, and we ate A LOT. It was a great weekend, and all 9 of us got along splendidly. Now I have my eyes set on the long weekend coming up… We’re staying around town, will catch some fireworks, hang out at the pool, and may head up to Lake Tahoe for a day. Sounds heavenly.