Wild Kingdom

Our local neighborhood newspaper had an eye-catching headline last week. "Bobcat Attacks On The Rise In Foothills Neighborhoods".

That's what you get when you live at the foot of a mountain and are surrounded by desert on the other three sides. It sure keeps life interesting around here.

I've yet to actually see a Bobcat but they are apparently out even in broad daylight roaming the neighborhoods in search of food. We all have walls around our backyards, that's just the way it is out here, and people have seen them strolling along the top of their six ft. high wall from one yard to the next. People have been finding their small animals half eaten, which is why we keep our little dog inside. I guess that means there's still hope for our neighbor's annoying beagle?

You get used to the rattle snakes and the scorpions, at least I do, because I know I can out-run them. But a Bobcat? Last night I was listening to the coyotes howling as I was falling asleep and couldn't help but wonder if there was perhaps a Bobcat in the mix. Yikes!

Palpitations Anyone?

I have a new addition to my wardrobe for the next month (except for my week of vacation later this month). I saw the cardiologist this morning and I'm now wearing a Looping Monitor. Since I had some pretty major palpitations a couple weeks ago they wanted me to wear this just to rule out any real problems. I'm sure this will turn out to be nothing at all and besides, now that I have this monitor on I can be sure that I won't get any more palpitations. That's just how it goes, right? It's like when you take your car in to the mechanic because it's making a noise. It never does it when the mechanic's there but as soon as you get the car home it starts doing it again.

I'll Give Him A Whirl

I bit the bullet and got myself a new neurologist. Needless to say I've been putting this off for some time since my last so-called doctor and I had a falling- out. Actually for those of you who remember it, I fired him. I guess you couldn't really call it a falling-out since I did all the talking while his jaw lay on the floor.

After such a bad experience I wasn't really that anxious to go through the whole doctor search thing, but now is the time. I saw the "new guy", I'll call him for now, last week and he'll do...for now. I'm reserving judgement because how much can you really learn in one visit? I figured now was the time to jump back into the whole neuro thing because of a weird symptom. I wrote once before about an episode of apnea that I wasn't sure actually happened. Was it real or a dream? Now I know it must have been real because it's been happening again and again.

I wake up and I can't breathe. It's like I've forgotten how, or at least my brain has. I'm not gasping but I am struggling. It really only lasts for about two seconds, but let me tell you those are a long two seconds! I've done a little research and have come up with a phenomenon called "Central Sleep Apnea", which fits every description of what I'm experiencing. Of course all the articles call it extremely rare (but I always get the rare stuff so that's no surprise to me) or that only very ill people get it. Then the articles go on to say that people with degenerative neurological diseases can get it too. Bingo!

Basically what Central Sleep Apnea is is the brain signal isn't getting through to tell you to breathe. They say you won't suffocate from it but it sure feels like it. The neuro newbie wants me to have a sleep study. I'm okay with that but I know it will come back normal because I have more nights when this doesn't happen than nights when it does. Oh well, I'll do it and see what it comes up with.

We Actually Had A Spring!

Here in the deserts of Phoenix we never really get much of a Spring or Fall. It seems like the weather goes from super hot to cold and back to hot again all without any mild weather in between. My husband and I usually kid each other about having the windows open whenever possible to get some fresh air because usually this can only happen for about two weeks maximum. Well this year we've actually had a Spring and that's really unusual. For about the last month the weather has been incredibly tolerable and we haven't hit 100 yet, although we've had several days in the 90's which I consider to be acceptable. So many days in the 80's and a nice breeze, it almost makes us forget and think we live in a normal place!
Since I slept with the windows open, the coyotes kept waking me up last night howling, yelping and carrying on. There is a desert wash behind the homes across the street and this wash comes directly down from the mountain and is a frequent pathway used by the coyotes. There must have been a huge pack of them last night because they were so loud! With all their yelping and howling they really sounded as if they were having a good time. In the back of my mind I was secretly hoping they were enjoying a snack of Beagle as the dog across the street bark incessently. I know that sounds mean and I really don't wish the dog any harm but sometimes the thought enters your mind and, what can you do?

Second Place Performance At Fiesta Skate 2008

I finally managed to get this video posted. Actually my husband gets all the credit. It took him days of trouble-shooting to get to the bottom of the problem but I hope you like the video.

Technology Is Frustrating

I've been waiting to make this post because I had something special I wanted to post. A video of my daughter at her second figure skating competition. She participated in the largest competition in the state of Arizona and I couldn't have been more proud.

She skated in two groups. First was the "Artistic Light" program. This is where they skate to a fun song and it is more for entertainment but it is judged. She skated a program to "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and it was so cute. She was dressed like a train conductor and she skated it so well. No mistakes! However she came in 5th out of five skaters. She was a little disappointed but took it well because it isn't really about your skating, I guess the judges just didn't care for the program. Who cares what they think, right?

Her second program was her technical one skated to "Pink Panther". It is completely different than the one I posted a couple months ago since she went up two levels since then. She was near perfect! And even better than that...she came in 2nd out of 5! She beat all those girls who had beaten her earlier in the day. Needless to say it did wonders for her confidence. I was so happy for her because she deserved it.

Why am I technologically frustrated? Because we recently bought a new video camera and filmed both performances. The videos came out nice but we can't get it posted. I can't post it to Blogger, MySpace, or YouTube. It used some weird coding or something and we are trying to figure out how to change it so we can post it. We can't even put it on a DVD. It's a Panasonic camera and is brand new. If there are any "techies" out there that know what I'm talking about, feel free to help me out.

Something To Make You Laugh

Whenever I need a good laugh I go to some of my favorite YouTube videos. Here is one of those favorites in case you need a laugh today. I'm a bit skittish of bugs but this guy takes the cake!