Lots of Stuff Goin' On

So much that's been going on this last week or so.......so much that I can't even begin to explain. What I will say is that Fall is coming here in Seattle and it is gorgeous. The leaves are just started to change color and in about a month the streets will be filled with different colored leaves. It truly is the best time of year and I am grateful to live in a city that has seasons.

On the other fronts, I will say that I feel closer to my family now than I ever have before. Of course when I say my family, I mean my brother and mother. The hardships that we have had in our past is the glue that seems to hold us together now. So, I am grateful for all of those things. I hope that we can all gain closure from recent events and move upwards and onwards.

Kevin and I have been together now for the last 6.5 years, and I couldn't imagine going through all of these wonderful experiences without him right next to me. The exciting thing is that we can say we don't know where we will be (meaning what city we will be living in) but we know that we will be together. He is an amazing person and I am a better person for knowing him.

The older I get, I realize the quality of a friendship is better that how many people you consider friends. I have a solid group of people that I know and trust with everything that I have. And, if you know me, or have known me in the past, you would know that I would do anything for those that are in my inner-most circle. I hold all of them so close to my heart.

As we are going into another year here in Seattle, I can safely say that it was the best decision that Kevin and I have ever made. It has made us more self reliant, more adventurous, and given us the strength to know that we truly can do anything if we want it badly enough. Who knows where we will end up, what city or country we will end up living in, and I couldn't ask for anyone better to spend my life with.

On another note, I am feeling lucky today so I am off to get a lottery ticket and maybe walk off with the big bucks. You never know!

Saturday

This past Saturday was a complete blast. Kev, Dan, and I went kayaking!!! It was amazing. We went out in Lake Union for a couple hours and the weather could not have been better. It was literally the perfect temperature. The water was beautiful and cruising by all the houseboats on the lake was just awesome. I'm bummed that we couldn't bring the camera in fear of it getting ruined. However, here are some generic shots of Lake Union.

Why Universal Healthcare is Important

With so much going on this week with the RNC and all the bullshit that is being spewed out, I want people to know why I think we need Universal Health care. Last year, I woke up one morning and I couldn't feel the left side of my body. At first, I thought that it was a pinched nerve or something wrong that a chiropractor could fix. When I found out that the chiropractor could do nothing for me, and that I need to see a neurologist, that's when I got scared. I had insurance. I paid for it myself, not through a company or from my mommy and daddy. So, I figured everything would, at least on that front, be okay. After seeing the Neurologist and getting multiple MRI's, the doctor called me back into his office and told me that I needed to have a Spinal Tap done. So, weary and scared, I got the spinal tap done. Afterwards, you are supposed to rest and take it easy. Apparently, something like 20%of people get what's known as a "spinal headache" after having a spinal tap. 3 days after the spinal tap, I was in such bad pain that I had to be rushed to the emergency room. They did what is known as a "blood patch" which is when they take blood from your arm and simultaneously put the blood back into the puncture spot where the spinal tap was done to clot. After receiving some pretty intense pain relievers, I was released and sent back home. After all this, I had to have several trips back to the doctor's office to get blood work done and a neurological eye test to make sure that the lost sensation did not affect my eyesight. Finally after the results were in on the spinal fluid, I found out that I had MS. Like I said earlier, I had insurance. But, shortly after the diagnosis, I received countless amounts of medical bills from doctors, emergency rooms, and Hoag Hospital where I got my MRI and spinal tap done. I owed $3,000 just in medical bills excluding what my doctors office bills cost each and every time I went in and not including all the prescriptions that I paid for. I don't think anybody should have to worry about going to the doctor to feel better because its too expensive. Your health should be your number one priority in life and having to worry about paying the bills after such a hard experience was stressful and did not help my recovery. So, when people talk about not wanting to have universal health care because the quality would diminish, I call bullshit. We have plenty of Canadians that come down here to Seattle all the time, and I have heard stories good or bad about their universal health care. But, nothing compares to having decide between paying the bills or feeling better. Everybody that I have talked to that lives in different countries cannot imagine what it would be like to have to worry like many Americans do in this country. Many people my age still have the luxury of having their parents to pay for their medical bills, but I hope that they realize that most other people do not have that luxury and that their unwillingness to help their fellow man/woman is the reason why this country is not living up to its fullest potential. To me, it all comes down to money. It saddens me that most people that are living at the upper echelon in life feel like they have no reason to help others. It is every body's responsibility as a human being to help others.

Read This

Tidbit from "McCain is Running on the Amnesia Platform, But It's Democrats Who Need to Forget Sarah Palin" by Arianna Huffington


Listening to McCain, you'd think it was the Democrats who occupied the White House the last seven-plus years and it was time to throw the bastards out.

Given that 82 percent of voters believe we are heading in the wrong direction, it's a logical position to take. But for the American people to buy into the notion that McCain, who has raced to Bush's side on tax cuts, on offshore drilling -- even on torture -- is this campaign's agent of change, it's going to require an incredible suspension of disbelief. Or a serious case of amnesia.

And this is clearly McCain's campaign strategy: inducing amnesia about the past and confusion about the future, attempting to hoodwink the American people about what he has become. Which is where Sarah Palin comes in. As a major distraction. In the effort to divert attention from the matter at hand -- McCain's embrace of all things Bush -- Palin is the perfect storm.

Americans love the outsider plucked from obscurity. And Palin provides bucketfuls of the new and exciting. As long as voters and the media are caught up in the latest installment of As Sarah Turns or the Alaska version of All My Children, they aren't paying attention to the lack of solutions McCain is offering to the serious crises that face us.

Forget worrying about the economy or health care or the housing crisis -- think about how many people live in Wasilla, whether Bristol and Levi will live happily ever after, and if Sarah and her "First Dude" really want Alaska to secede from the union.

This is why the McCain campaign wants Palin front and center -- did you notice how much time McCain spent during the speech praising Palin and how quickly the celebratory post-speech music shifted from "Raisin' McCain" to "Barracuda"?

And it's why Democrats need to ignore Palin, and keep the focus on reminding voters about the stark contrast between an Obama and a McCain administration. It's tempting to prime the Palin attack pump. But Obama and the Democrats do so at their own peril.

John McCain wants to distance himself from Bush, cloud the huge policy differences between him and Obama, and hope his compelling life story carries the day. Obama's job is to make sure he doesn't get away with it. Forgetting Sarah Palin is a good place to start.

OMG 90

90210 is back! I watched the 2 hour premier last night and it was fab. I just hope that Shannon Doherty stays on the show as Brenda Walsh was my favorite character. Exciting!!

Long Time No Blog

Work has literally kicked my ass as of late. The last of the chaos will be over at the end of this week. Hallelujah! I did have time to see the next President of the United States, Barack Obama's, speech the other night. All I can say is this world could be such a better place if he were to be our leader. If that speech didn't inspire you, nothing will. I am just looking forward to the debates where Obama will school McCain on everything from the economy to the war in Iraq. I can't even understand why anybody would support McCain at this point. And, on that note, his VP pick Sarah Palin is offensive. I really hope that woman all over this country do not vote for him strictly because he put a woman as a VP role. After all this talk from his camp about Barack Obama having no experience or foreign policy experience, he puts in a woman that was the mayor of a town that had 9,000 people. Seriously???? WTF? Anyway, the consensus from everybody that I know both here in Seattle and back home in California is there is no way in hell McCain will become President. Like I said many, many times....if he does become President, I'm moving out of this country!

Book Report

I have read the best books in the last couple weeks, and I just have to share about them. First off, the famous "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. What an incredible book! All I can say, is that the 800 or so pages is totally worth it. I loved it so much, that when I was finished I went to Borders to get the follow up, "World Without End". However, it was totally sold out. So, I picked up the next book, "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards. This book follows a family as they lead their lives with secrets, lies, and the drama that ensues because of it. I strongly recommend this book. Then, 3 days ago, my mom sent me "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. I saw the movie that was made about his other book "The Kite Runner" and wished I would have read the book before seeing the movie. However, my mom said to read this one of his. So, I can safely say that I only put this book down a handful of times. I loved it. The novel explores the lives of two Afghan women, tells the stories of their hardships and joys. What an amazing novel. Please go out and get this book!!!