Little of This and Some of That

Today is Day 19 of the 40 Days of Water Challenge. Tomorrow marks the half-way point. In the beginning, I did very well drinking only water. Part way through, I waffled a bit. Yes, I found some excuses loopholes through which I stepped. But I am still drinking MUCH more water than ever. I need to update my little ticker up there, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to hit $100 by the end of 40 days.

Both my massage therapist and chiropractor could tell a HUGE difference in my body because of the water. They've always encouraged me to drink more. And they always knew that my veins were pumping with Dr Pepper. I know, I know, water is a good and necessary thing. Even though I doubt I'll give up the DP and chai lattes for good, I intend to keep up with "much more water." It's cheaper, healthier, and just all around better.

Yesterday, I won a Wacom Bamboo from the awesome folks at Play With Pictures!! It's a pen tablet that you use with your computer (click the link for more info). I've wanted one of these for quite some time now, so I'm super excited about that. The timing could not have been better. The Comedian just turned 14 and got a digital camera for his birthday. He loves taking pictures (hmm...I wonder where he got that from?). Last week, I ordered a unit study on digital photography. As soon as that arrives, we'll incorporate that into our school days. I figure ClayGuy can use my point & shoot and we can have some fun, fun, fun.

Oh, so back to the Bamboo. My sweet friend, Dawn, turned me onto this crazy fun program called Play With Pictures. It's a simple way to do wild things like this:

You can even download a free trial copy for 15 days to check it out and see what you think (It's inexpensive if you decide to purchase because you love it so much. Which you will.). I know, you're probably saying, "Don't you already have Photoshop CS3?" Yes, I do. But this is just a super quick and easy way to truly play with your pictures. You don't have to know all the ins & outs of PS or anything highly technical. Just jump in and have some crazy fun. Well, the PWP people are having all kinds of fun contests. They've already given away a digital camera, IPods, the Bamboo tablet, and now they have two IPhones up for grabs in the Gadget Givewaway. If you'd like to enter, head on over to their blog for more details. Oh, and be sure to click on the link to Dawn's site and see her fun and creative designs with PWP.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post for a PSA.

The Department of Redundancy Department really appreciates it when you continually use one word over and over and over and over and over without ever bothering to pick up or look up a thesaurus for something else. Therefore, the Department of Redundancy Department is very proud of this blog for using the word "fun" a total of seven times, yes, that's SEVEN, in the section.

Thank you for your time. We now return you to your blog post already in progress.

Speaking of photos, I'm still keeping up with my Project 365 - at least on the shooting side of things. The uploading and posting . . . well, I'm slacking a bit there. I'm in the midst of a bit of busy chaos (not to be confused with unbusy chaos?) right now, but I should be back on track shortly (famous last words. well, not really. here are more words. and a few more.)

Speaking of last words, we got a new game the other day which is "an uproarious way to have the final say!" (notice I didn't say it's fun) Guess what it's called? LAST WORDS. If you're a word person and can think on your feet (or quickly while sitting), this is a game for you. I picked this one up at Target, but I'm sure it's available at many other places. It's put out by Buffalo Games, those quirky people who create and sell all kinds of fun enjoyable and entertaining games.

Well, it's nearly Friday. Go forth and enjoy your weekend. Play a game. Shoot a picture. Play with pictures. Do something, er, FUN!!

6th Day of Water

It's been easier and harder than I anticipated. As much as I'm known for my love of Dr Pepper, it's the iced chai latte at breakfast that I miss most of all. I also miss milk. I really do love milk.

Caffeine withdrawal symptoms have been varied.

Day 1: I was fine all day. Drank plenty of water, wasn't sleepy, no headache.

Day 2: I had my SUPER tired day on Monday. Hardly able to function.

Day 3: The day was pretty good. Only tired a little in the afternoon.

Day 4: Twinge of a headache, bad muscle ache in my knees and thighs. I didn't know that muscle stiffness/soreness was a symptom. Ended up taking an epsom salt bath because my legs hurt so much.

Day 5: A little stronger headache twinge part of the day. Thighs hurt again. No time for a bath, so I used a hand massager. That seemed to help. By night time, they hurt a lot again, so I took another bath. When my legs hurt like that, I just want them to be as warm as possible, so following the bath, I sat in bed with the electric blanket on, while playing on the laptop.

Day 6: I still have a twinge of a headache today. I don't feel horrible, but I sure am dragging compared to my normal self. I'm highly unmotivated. In some ways I want to modify this plan. Stay off the soda, but allow myself chai and milk and tea. But then I think that'd be pretty lame of me. I'm also wondering if any of the muscle pain could be a result of decreased calcium and other milk goodness.

They (whoever "they" really are) say that caffeine withdrawal symptoms should last about a week. I'm hoping that this weekend, they will be dwindling away into nothingness. If not, modification may be in order. Or not. I'm such a harsh taskmaster. Only to me.




ps - notice the little ticker up there, keeping track of my savings? I put $100 as the total as a guesstimate. Who'd have thought? Five days into this and I've saved over $17?!? Wow. Even if I cave and modify this plan, which I probably won't. Or might. I'm so fickle. I'll still put in the same amount of money. The whole point of this is to help out others. I wouldn't want them to lack because of my weakness.

need. caffeine.

I'm happy to be doing the 40 Days of Water Challenge. I'm even okay living without Dr Pepper. You know, for the most part. Not that I wouldn't like to have some, but it's still okay. The part that's really hard? No chai for breakfast. Ergo, no caffeine.

Yesterday was just fine. I drank a LOT of water and didn't mind not having other beverages. Today? Not so much. I am a big old slug. A manatee. A woman without a drop of energy. Yes, I've eaten. Yes, I'm drinking water. Yes, I took a walk. Yes, I worked in the garden. But I am in desperate need of a second wind. Or maybe it would be the first. It's hard to homeschool when the teacher's half comatose. We were discussing Fallacy Detective this morning and I began speaking in mush. Plus my eyelids had anvils on them, pushing them shut. Not good at all.



I'm sure this will pass. I just hope it's soon. There's far too much to do around here for me to be marginally coherent. At least I'm not "mostly dead all day."

Changing of the Guard

I'd like you to meet my morning BFF. This is the cup from which I have iced vanilla chai latte each and every morning with breakfast. A close look confirms that this is a very well loved and used cup. It was a birthday present from my parents about six years ago. Sometimes, your BFFs have to go sit on a shelf for awhile. Or for 40 days anyway.

Now I'd like you to meet my new BFF.

My new BFF even has a lovely, but dirty, blue jacket. Because the water? It must be cold. Very cold. If not colder.

This is the companion that will go where I go, quench my thirst, and bring refreshment. Not only that, it will provide for a donation to Blood:Water Mission's 40 Days of Water Challenge. It starts today. You can still join in. I dare you.

If you're wondering where the Dr Pepper container is, well, there really isn't just one. At home I use the red cups. When I'm out, whatever cup is provided by the cafe, restaurant, or gas station will suffice. At Mom & Dad's, the stemmed or polka dot glasses. Too many choices for photos.