Sometimes . . .

You gotta hop on that train and ride!

Little Brown Vessel

I'm not sure why but the Goodwill on the corner of Santa Anita and Arrow in Arcadia has the COOLEST hand built/Japanese pottery.

Today I found this little guy. He is lovely.

Haha That's Silly

I saw a Pinterest post floating around about making magnets with succulents and corks. One swift slam and I knew it'd be a cactus massacre and I'd be pissed that my little ones had died such a cruel and careless death. So if this was gonna work they were going on the windowsill.

The maker of the post used a Swiss Army knife I think. Either I've got crazy hard corks or it took her five hours. One Makita and 20 seconds later, I had mine routed out and was positive nothing would fit in there.

I scoped out my patio pots and found a few solitary pups that just might be tiny enough to fit.

They did. And they're cute.

Small victories

Today we went to one of my favorite places: the box.

Besides gardening and drawing and other sweet things, I enjoy a beastly session of weightlifting about four times a week :) It's good to be week rounded.

A few months ago my weightlifting club, under Team Crossfit Academy, moved from a moderate sized warehouse down to an enormous building off of Duarte.

And we quadrupled our Olympic weightlifting space. We don't deserve it. None of us do. It is so rare to find a place of this quality especially an affordable one.

But here we are. Full platforms every Saturday. PRing like crazy.

My victory was a 10-kilo front squat PR. Which puts me at a big and mean 100 kilos. 220. 2 freaking 20 pounds.

:)

Painting some carnage on the bathroom door today. Stay tuned.

Breathing Easier.

No word from schools. Yet.

Thankfully I've had a hacking cough to occupy me for the past couple of weeks. On day two the wheezing was getting worse and I felt like it was on the cusp of really settling in deep and turning nasty. The wet weather hadn't helped, so I took advantage of a subsequent minor heat wave and went for a run. In sweats. Uphill.

I make good choices.

I coughed a lot, breathed deep, and threw up a little bit. property values dropped.

I have no doubt the deep draws of dry air helped for sure, but this thing was far from beat.

My next line of defense, besides good sleep, was food. No sugar, and tons of chili and alliums. A few times I made a sauté of onions, garlic, chili, ginger, and lots of herbs. Eating this stuff can increase coughing but I was happy to get that fluid out of me and fast. Eating it out of a bowl is all good but it is dynamite in broth too.

If you can taste, that is...

I was pretty sure this most recent bout if sinus torture was the straw that broke the camel's back and I'd never be able to smell or taste again. I was a mess.

I did reach for severe sinus congestion mess a few times, but the post nasal drip cough was the worst and was harshing my mellow like crazy. Halls, you're worthless. From now and forever more I will treat any and every cough with Olba's pastilles. These things are legit. There's twice the menthol, and they've got other recognizable ingredients like wintergreen oil, juniper and chlorophyll.

They taste like something Heidi's grandpa would have given her while they were in their footstool-for-table phase, but that cough is outta here. Like all night.

Unlike Halls, which will try to choke you if you accidentally fall asleep with one in your mouth, these pastilles attach themselves to the roof of your mouth with super grip suction and literally stay put all night. If you don't chew it they'll last forever.

The whole Olbas line is phenomenal. I also picked up some of their essential oil blend that can be used for deep tissue relief and can also be used for inhalation. I was ready to hunker down with some Vicks but read the ingredients, got to turpentine and just couldn't do it. Fueled by thrift I attempted to make a poultice of crushed fresh mints and tea tree oil. I couldn't smell a thing but Minh took one whiff and bellowed,"WITCHCRAFT!" And hid his face under the covers.

I shelled out for the Olbas and couldn't have been happier. It smells much better and actually works.

Speaking of noses. We were at dinner with my folks last week because I wanted to infect the entire county and after going over my maladies in gory detail my mother describes my baby brother as, "the only one without respiratory problems."

What.

Ok so I hadn't really breathed out of the right side of my nose on the regular for the past ten years, but really, does that make me respiratorially deficient? I'm not up to owning that.

Thankfully, after finding Alkalol, I don't think I'll have to. No, I'm not drunk and no that's not a misspelling.

Alkalol is a hundred year old magical nasal rinse made with some salts and oils of cinnamon, pine and other lovely things. When you put it in your nose it feels like you're getting water boarded in Tahoe. It's amazing. I've done it a few times now and haven't felt this clear since... long time.

So I have no idea if my folk remedies shortened the duration of whatever this beastly thing was, but the Olbas definitely helped and the cooking and running and shopping kept me thoroughly occupied.

I've never met a pair if spinning wheels I didn't like.

Well, you know...

Just hanging out...

Trying not to think about grad school acceptances dropping tomorrow... Possibly...

Drawing Jeff Goldblum and some fish on my bathroom door...

Normal stuff...