Welcome 2012

Well, I've not been posting near as often as I would like.

Absinthe had a mammary tumor that we removed and is recovering nicely. She should be ready to go back into the main cage tomorrow. Ai has some sort of respiratory infection, and I'm going to be taking her to see the vet soon to see if anything can be done. The other two are happy and seem to be well.

Things have been pretty quiet around the nest lately, there really isn't much to talk about. We're thinking of moving into a smaller apartment - to save money and because we don't actually use the extra bedroom we have. It was intended to be a workspace for me, but I've never actually gotten around to using it as such. So instead it's been mostly empty and a storage area.

I'm looking forward to the new year and have made some new goals, but I'm going to talk about them over on Happy Raven.

Happy New Year!

PCOS and Me

Here's a story of some medical stuff that's been going on in my life.

Back in July, after talking to my doctor, I stopped taking my birth control at the recommendation of a friend, who wanted to see the effects on my life without it. The pill (in all its many forms) has been linked to depression in some people, and that seemed to be the case with me (although that isn't positive, while I improved briefly after I ceased taking birth control, I eventually faded back to my "normal").

After stopping the pill I had my period as usual. That was the last time I had it.

Back when I was nineteen I started on birth control because I was having infrequent and irregular periods. At the time I thought it was connected to my antidepressants - which had given me some other hormonal side effects. Looking back, it looks like it was just random coincidence/chance. The birth control helped regulate my cycle, and every month I got my period when expected (until I started on Seasonale, which was awesome).

Back to now - after not having any sign of my period at all in three months I started to get a little concerned. Not much, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't sick or something. I also needed to see the doctor about some issues with sleep, which are still unanswered, and get a flu shot. I figured I may as well do everything at once.

My doctor told me that my symptoms - the lack of a period, some darkened hair growth on my belly and thighs - seemed to align with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), and she wanted to test for it. The test she recommended was a blood check to look for androgens.

I tested positive.

Testosterone: 91 ng/dL (normal: 14-76 ng/dL)

So I went back to the doctor a few days later to talk to her about my options for treatment, if any. She gave me some basic information about PCOS, and I've learned some more about it myself since, through research online and some paperwork she gave me. I've currently opted for no treatment. I'll explain why in a bit.

PCOS is likely hereditary, or genetic. My period having issues back when I was 19 was likely not due to my medication, but due to my body producing too much testosterone. The common symptoms are mostly cosmetic: hair darkening on my face, thighs, stomach, etc.; I may experience balding; increased acne (I have experienced some of this, mostly on my head. This could also be because I'm using shampoo again or some other reason);  and weight gain around my stomach (rather than my hips - and I am experiencing this. No wonder my pants feel all awkward these days). Medically I don't have a period - I may or may not even ovulate, and becoming pregnant may be difficult or downright impossible for me, if I eventually choose to have children; I may develop cysts on my ovaries, which might hurt but are unlikely to be dangerous to me; and I might develop diabetes, so I need to be on the lookout and protect myself against that (which honestly shouldn't be too hard - I've already cut down on the amount of refined sugars and grains in my diet almost completely).

I was tested for diabetes the day I returned to the doctor for my options. The bloodwork came back very good. I plan on getting tested yearly from now on, when I do other bloodwork. What's one more vial?

I decided against treatment for any of my symptoms. For the most part they're not bad and they don't bother me. I am on a ten-day run of progesterone to (possibly) get my period to start back up, but this isn't quite a treatment - or is a "one time" treatment. There isn't really a "treatment" for the weight gain aside from the typical treatments for weight gain - I'll just have to be aware that I'm going to gain weight, and it will be around my stomach.

The main treatment option is birth control or hormonal. I currently don't want to go back onto birth control, because I'm trying to figure out some of my depression issues, and hormones aren't helpful in that. Other than that there aren't many other options. There are creams that I could use for hair darkening, but again - it doesn't actually bother me.

It's going to be a bit of an adventure, but I'm not too worried. I figured I would let everyone know, though.

A Day At The Beach

On Sunday Tene and I went to the beach. Specifically we went to Natural Bridges State Beach, about an hour drive from our apartment.

The drive was nice - through the hills on a smallish freeway. It reminded me of a greener version of the Utah mountain roads (the trees here are so huge! and there are so many of them!)

This was the first time we went to any of the beaches around here since we moved to California. The reason we finally got around to going out was actually Tene's birthday, a month ago.

At the time we were busy and weren't able to do anything for him, so now that we had time I figured we should go have a picnic! Soon we're hoping to go to explore some of the redwood forests as well - something I've never done.

The water was so cold! Tene wanted to get a shot of me in the water with waves crashing behind me.

I refused to stay in the water long enough for that to happen, it was so cold and the waves were high. I kept losing my balance every time they crested.

There were some people at the beach - most of them were staying out of the water, or doing what I was doing - betting their feet wet and nothing else. Two guys were wakeboarding, but they also had full-body wet suits.

The beach itself, the scenery and waterscape, was just beautiful. The natural bridge was interesting, and had tons of birds on it - I wish I knew what kind they were. I thought seagulls initially, but they were darker than all the others around the area. There was also a pelican out in the sea.

We explored some tidal pools near the beach, another first for me! Mostly they had some type of mussel (or some shelled-creature, they were black and everywhere!), and not much else - but one that I found had a crab in it, and a few had some varying sized anemones.

It was a good, fun day. I learned a couple of things about picnics on the beach (individual lunch boxes are better than a shared one, for example, and sand gets everywhere), and it was nice to spend the time with Tene outside of our apartment.

I can't wait for the next adventure!

Shopping

So, Tene and I have been on a Paleo/Primal inspired diet for the last six months or so, and I thought I would talk about it.

I typically shop once a week, spending over $100 maybe every other week. The last time I went shopping (On Monday, July 4) I spent about $170, mainly on fruits, vegetables, and meat, between two stores - Trader Joe's and Safeway.

Last time I went to Trader Joe's I got green onions, six pounds of sweet potatoes (these will be gone within a week), garlic, plums, a 24 oz box of blueberries (already about half gone), mushrooms, bell peppers, bananas, 2 pounds strawberries, and nectarines (four of them, two are gone now). I love Trader Joe's. Everything there is organic, and it's a lot more affordable than, say, Whole Foods.

Then there's Safeway, where I got two dozen eggs (one dozen gone! I make waffles almost every morning, and for two waffles it takes four eggs ... so ... ), As well as eight pounds of frozen chicken breast, steak, asparagus, and Brussel's sprouts. I also got my non-Paleo/Primal food at Safeway: two types of hot cocoa, Nutella, a ton of olive oil, vanilla creamer, and vanilla extract.

In all, most of the food - especially the meat - will last us for a week and a half to two weeks, if not longer (the olive oil, for example, should last us a couple of months).

I think we eat pretty healthy around here. We try to eat mostly, if not completely, whole foods. It's not perfect, for example when I was sick over the last two weeks, and as a result I kind of let everything go. We ate out most days, usually at Chipotle (which isn't horrible, as far as "eating out" goes), and a lot of our fresh food went bad (which is another reason that my most recent shopping excursion cost so much). Also we obviously eat some not-as-healthy-as-could-be-foods (Nutella, hot cocoa, etc). But I think we do really well, over all.

Plants!

Not much has been happening in our lives lately, things have been pretty quiet.

But my plants are growing! So I figured I would share them with you!

Sweet peas!

This is my second try at sweet peas, the first batch blossomed a tiny bit and then died. The soil they were in was seriously lacking nutrients, and they were thin and really weak vines.

This batch, on the other hand, looks great! They're a good healthy green color, the stems are thick and they're growing well :)

Next on my list are my hanging pots.

Sweet peas and morning glory

I got these off of Amazon and I really like them. They're kind of chintzy, but they're cute, they were cheap, and I'm not too worried about them breaking or anything. I have more sweet peas growing in two of them (sweet peas grow fast, I never really noticed before) and morning glory in the other two. My thought, since those are both vine/climbing plants, is that they'll climb down, instead of up, making a cute vine-trail that spills out of the pots and such.

I'm really considering buying a second set of those pots, maybe hanging them on the other side of the balcony ...

After those is my poor basil plant

Mr Cecil Basil, the strongest of basil plants

I somehow ended up killing most of the basil plants I bought, no idea how. But I have one stem left. You can see the wilted, dead basil in there too. I have no idea how I ended up being a murderer of basil. I took care of all of the plants I got exactly the same, so I don't know how one branch of them survived while the others all died off.

Bellflowers

Then I have these bellflowers that I got from Trader Joe's on a whim. Most of the flowers have died off (I kept them in their original pot too long, I think, and they wilted - but they're coming back, see?) but they seem to be reinvigorated by a slightly larger pot with some fertilizer. Slowly they're becoming more green than dead, and they're blooming again too!

After the bellflowers come my three pots of mystery plants.

What's growing?

I bought some (horribly overpriced) seed bombs from Anthropologie a while ago, and I finally decided to plant them. I had bought two bags of the West Coast flowers (West Coast: includes cornflower, Shasta daisy, farewell-to-spring, garland chrysanthemum, Sweet William, mountain phlox and California poppy) and one of the herbs (Herbs: includes, basil, dill, cilantro, chives and parsely).

Who knows?

I pretty much just crumbled up the "bombs" of two of the bags (herbs and one of the West Coast bags) and layered them in the pots. I have no idea what'll come out of it, if anything (although I have to admit: I'm really hoping they bloom).

So mysterious!

They're all growing really well (to be expected, I suppose, that's part of the point of seed bombs, after all), and I have to admit that I'm really excited to see what sprouts up from them.



After those come my strawberries.

So delicious!

While we've had one strawberry make it all the way into being delicious, that's all we've achieved from these plants. Now they're more protected (there's metal mesh underneath a thin layer of soil. to keep the squirrels from digging them up), but I suspect it might take another season or two before we get any more strawberries. I guess they need to be more established or something.


Then there's the indoor plants.

Upstairs live these three - Ghosty, Heffalump, and Rose, or Graptopetalum paraguayense, Portulacaria afra, and ... a type of succulent I can't remember the name of at this point. These three are really cute and are in our bedroom window. They're doing a lot better than they were before I moved them.

Then there's Mr Tentacles, my octopus plant (Drosera capensis) who is doing really poorly. I can't figure out how to help him, and I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep it alive. I'm hoping to get a bigger container really soon, and maybe that will help.

Finally is the newest addition, Zebra. Zebra is a Hawthoria fasciata, and the first plant I actually did my research on. I only bought him once I knew he would survive in a partial shade/low light environment. He currently lives in the window by my computer desk.


Well, those are all of them. I really like taking care of my plants - I like having green things around, and I like keeping them alive.

Midna's Passing

On Monday night, around 10, I went to go check on the girls. Most came to greet me, and I noticed that Midna, usually one of the first to come say "hi", was nowhere to be seen. I started worrying, but not too much.

Then I found her hiding under the liner I made for the cage. She was extremely thin, mostly unresponsive, and seemed to be doing overall poorly. I tried to make her comfortable, and tried to get some water and food into her. I don't know how long she went without eating.

Two hours later, after getting some advice from some always helpful rat-based pet care forums (and doing personal reading and research on the Rat Health Guide) I ran to the grocery store to pick up some Ensure, Pedialyte, and baby food to try to coax Midna to get some sustenance into her. Unfortunately by the time I got home, it was too late, and Midna had passed away.

I did some research afterwards, and have come to the conclusion that her symptoms most closely match her having suffered congestive heart failure, leading to her death. I don't know exactly what happened - maybe she wasn't feeling quite as well, and she started taking in less food and water, compounding the problem, or perhaps she just simply wasted away in two days. I'll probably never know.

I knew when I rescued Midna, Freya, and Lilith that they would not be in this world long - and I knew they would likely be here for a shorter amount of time than any of my other girls. Just by virtue of their birth circumstances. But I had expected to have them for much longer than a sparse four months and some change.

Midna, my fastest rat, I will always remember you. I hope you will rest in peace, enjoying yourself among the vast running fields on the other side of the rainbow bridge.

Sweet New Home

Last night I finally finished sewing some hammocks for the new cage I got the girls. Which means that today I was able to get the cage all put together, and move them in. Of course I took pictures.

The top level of the cage

The lower level of the cage

Rats aren't exactly the smartest of creatures. Two water bottles, side by side, and they only use one. What gives?

Cage size comparisons.The small white one in the front was the first cage I ever got, which Min lived in for most of her life. Now it's the cage I use to separate the girls in the case of aggression or sickness. The shorter black cage is the cage they've been living in up until now. The new cage is the one on the left - it's so much bigger!

Blooms and Post

Here it is: April at last. Tene and I have been in California for a full year. The year has been slow, calm, and rejuvenating. It's been renewing, in a lot of ways, for both of us.

We've been in our new nest for a bit over two weeks now, and I'm just getting the final handful of boxes unpacked (where did we get so much stuff?!) and organized. I've also been buying a few new things - mostly organizational stuff so that I can keep my area(s) clear, but I also went to Ikea and picked up a few vases.

Can I just go on for a bit about how much I love Ikea? It's just wonderful, and I don't really understand the Ikea-hate I've noticed in random places on the internet. It has, so far, been my experience that - while some of their stuff isn't necessarily the best of the best - it's workable. And I don't feel bad if something breaks or gets a little damaged. After all - it's pretty simple to replace. And most of their stuff looks good, in a simple sort of way.

Anyway, I bought a couple of vases and immediately put them to use. I've fallen in love with Trader Joe's in the last year - although I don't go there very frequently (I can find produce for a lot cheaper, as well as meat) to purchase things, I often window shop to see their for-sale plants. A year ago I got my very first house plant from Trader Joe's. A pretty flower from South Africa (says the label) that had bright orange blooms.

I managed to kill it within a week.

I couldn't find the plant - Ornithogalum dubium (also known as a Sun Star) - again, and I ended up waiting for April to roll around again, hoping that TJs would offer the plant up for sale again.

And they did! I went to Trader Joe's for a bouquet for my new vases (which I also purchased), and I came home with another Sun Star. I hope to keep this one alive - I have a much better handle of the care and keeping of plants (like that the containers stores sell plants in are really crappy and shouldn't be considered permanent homes - regardless of how cute they are).

Of course, this year has its own challenges. Our new nest has windows, of course, but they all face north-west-ish. We get indirect and partial sun most of the day. The plants aren't the happiest with this arrangement - especially since the plants I have (sunflower, succulents, daisies ... ) really like the sun. We're thinking of getting some house plants that thrive on low-light, but I'm also hoping that I can keep some of the plants (the succulents and the , specifically. Also Cecil Basil II, the second full basil plant I've owned. Cecil Basil I died within a week of my bringing him home, and the seeds I got from Ikea never actually sprouted - so I guess Ikea is less than ideal when it comes to plants) at least happy enough that they don't die until we move again (be that in a year or five), and I can actually give them the sunlight they need.

As it is, I've been trying to put the plants all outside together in the morning before I leave, so that they can get the most out of even the partial sun. It's nice and fun to see them all in their pots lining our balcony, and makes me happy.

I've been writing more. Still nothing real serious, I'm not quite to that point yet, but I've been getting ideas out of my head and on to paper. I've also been reading a lot more. Finally putting my Kindle into good use. Up until about January, Tene had my Kindle, and I rarely thought about it (even though I had wanted one so bad - up until finally getting it for my birthday last year. Once I had it, I stopped caring). Now I'm finally realizing how useful it is. It fits perfectly in my purse, so I take it almost everywhere with me, and if I'm ever waiting in line I can simply pull it out, turn it on, and start reading. It only needs to be charged once a month (maybe twice) - even with heavy reading. It's great. The only complaint I have so far are the weird prices on Amazon for some books. An e-book should totally not cost more money than a paperback with shipping and handling. That's really dumb. On the other hand, I've been checking out some interesting indie fiction/self published works that have received good reviews and don't cost much.

And finally, after a purchasing mishap on my part (buying the wrong cage, derp), I got my long-awaited package in the mail! It's here at last! a Critter Nation cage for my girls. I'm so excited about this - it's hard to explain. On one hand, I'm excited because it will be so much more space for them; which is good because rats like having a lot of space, and this will hopefully improve their quality of life and make them happier and therefore healthier. On the other hand this cage will also be so much easier to clean. All I'll have to do is open the doors (which are the entire front of the cage), take out the toys and such (they'll remain the most difficult cleaning task), slide out the trays and change the bedding on them, then put everything back. No more tiny doors to work through! No more lifting off the cage top to get to the litter tray! And, since it should be easier to clean I'll hopefully clean it more often - which again will lead to healthier and happier ratties, and a healthier and happier me, too!

The New Nest

Aside from all of that, we have a really nice large storage area just outside the apartment. We'll probably store our bikes in here.

 And I love our balcony. It's a lot smaller than the one at our apartment now, but it's nice, too - and the view is a lot prettier, what with a big flowering tree right outside.

Spring Rain

It's a cool, rainy March day today, and I figured what better time to get my plants out-of-doors!

(It is also the best type of day for a day of writing, reading, and hot chocolate, but that is beside the point.)

A couple of weeks ago I decided that I wanted to have some plants around the apartment. I like having green growing things - and supposedly having such things helps the air quality.

So here are the plants in my family, since all of them have begun to grow.

First we've got some dwarf sunflowers and lavender. I had begun to think that the lavender wasn't going to grow, but a sprout has finally appeared, just this morning!

The sunflowers were the first to sprout - and they've grown quite prolifically since.

Next up are the sweet peas (which get taller by the day, I swear they're the fastest growing!) and my favorite flower of all - daisies. I'm hoping that I'll eventually be able to grow some Gerbera daisies, but for now these normal ones will do. They have sprouted, they're just small. The picture is blurry for some reason - even though it's plenty bright outside, I had to turn off the flash (the pictures kept coming out really dark with the flash on), and I guess I was shaking a tiny bit while the shutter was open.

And then we have my difficult-to-kill plant (I'm prone to killing plants, so I decided to get a succulent that would be more difficult to kill). He is named Ghostie - which is what the label on the pot he came in said was his type. I made the mini umbrella to keep him dry (I don't want to over water him, you know).

And then the plant that I'm most excited for - my everbearing strawberries.

So far they've not done much, but you can see a tiny blossom - one of two that have grown on one of the plants. I'm thinking I'll end up separating the plants into two containers after the move - something I think will be better for them.

So, there are my plants, all of them growing well and brightening my day.

More pictures after the jump!

Tonight's Dinner

Tonight's dinner is chicken that I cooked in the crockpot (I love my crockpot) and a salad!

The chicken is the same as last time, so tasty Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken. As the only side for tonight I made a Strawberry Salad - really the first salad I've ever really put together (I've traditionally not been a big fan of leafy greens).

This was a tasty meal, and again I'm proud of it.

Updates on the Fuzzfront

A veritable pile of rats. Freya (she was moving when I took this), Lilith, Midna, Anise, Ai's behind, and Absinthe. I don't know why they're all piled on one another like that - there are four other hammocks available to them, including the lower level of the hammock they are on (which is a lot larger). But, they seem to be comfortable, I suppose.

I've bought them a new cage, a Critter Nation, which on one hand will be much larger than their current living space, and on the other hand will be much easier to clean. I'm going to make liners for their new home, and hopefully I'll be able to move them in the day the new cage gets here - hopefully by March 10. I'm really excited to not have to deal with this cage anymore. It's become a hassle to clean.

I've also received some information on spaying the older girls. Through North Star Rescue I learned about a spay and neuter clinic in Fremont, called For Paws. They're a lot less expensive than what the vet was asking, although I'm still not completely certain how much they're going to ask for (I had been told by the rescue that it would probably be around 80$ per rat, but it seems like it might be more than that). I'm also uncertain if the vet has successfully spayed a rat before, or if she has just read the literature on doing so.

I'll probably have all the information I need about that next week.

Sick, Plans, Books

We might be moving into a new nest at the end of March or early April. While we really like our current apartment, its cost east up a not-insignificant part of Tene's paycheck, and we've been thinking it might be nice to find somewhere either less expensive, or possibly get a 3-bedroom and move in with a roommate (perhaps friend Bancus). We're still uncertain, but it's something we've been thinking about because our lease is going to be over soon and rent will be increasing slightly.

Lately I have been spending my time being sick with the cold-I-just-cannot-shake. Which has been extremely annoying, to say the least. I've been sick, to some extent, for three weeks now; and every time I've been so sure that I was on the mend and going to feel completely better in a couple of days , I've ended up sick in bed within the next two days. It's mostly cold/flu symptoms - but I've also had nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and some pretty horrible headaches. My jaw, also, is still pretty painful, and I hope to find out what's wrong with it in the next week (my most recent appointment was cancelled, since the dentist hadn't received information from one of my previous dentists yet). Currently I'm a black box - to both myself and to the dentist.

On the up side (or potential downside), being sick has given me a lot of idle time - which I've been using to look up all sorts of arts and crafts on the internet. I have so many things that I want to make! I want to make Tene a blanket for his birthday, and myself a blanket (our current ones, made by Tene's mother, are both reaching their last days). I also want to make myself a different blanket to take with me to lay on in parks and the like - as I hope to get out more this spring/summer than I have in the past. And a blanket or two to keep in my car.

I'm suspecting that I might end up being a quilter of some sort (I could see myself very much enjoying this), and I keep imagining us ending up with a room filled with blankets.

I've also started reading more - I fully updated my Goodreads list (removed something like 150 books from the "To Read" list), and I've set a goal to read 24 books this year. Right now I'm working on Anna Karenina, by Tolstoy. I have vague memories of seeing Anna Karenina as a ballet when I was younger. All I can really remember is the ending. So far the book has held my attention, which is good. Many classics don't.

Tonight's Dinner and Some Other Adventures

I'm hoping to start posting daily about the food I'm making for Tene and I every day. Tonight's Dinner: Steamed Artichokes, Slow-Cooker "Rotisserie" Chicken, and Baked Sweet Potatoes and Onions.


I'm quite pleased with tonight's dinner. It was filling, because I cooked a whole chicken (a bit more on that later) it has leftovers, and it was quite tasty. I'm still figuring out how to cook the sweet potatoes so that they're soft all the way through, though (they were less undercooked than the last time I made this dish).

This was also a paleo/primal dinner, which means it fit with our health goals.

I'm slowly becoming more and more accustomed to working with raw meat - particularly chicken - and specifically I'm finding it easier to work with whole poultry. Still gross, but I don't find myself hating every minute. This is a big change from making a turkey on Thanksgiving. Maybe it's in part because chicken are a lot smaller than turkey, so there was less to be grossed out by.

In other news, we're doing pretty well. Most of the news around here comes from me, in fact.

My jaw has been hurting pretty badly the last while, and has been getting increasingly worse. I'm taking the highest daily dosage allowed of naproxen sodium, which is barely helping. I went to a TMJ specialist two weeks ago, though, and he gave me an Aqualizer as a sort of diagnostic tool. Unfortunately the pain has only increased since then. I go back in tomorrow and hopefully my X-rays from a few years ago in Salt Lake will be there, and maybe we can discuss some other options of what might be causing this pain.

I also have been dealing with a cold this last week. Coughing, feeling generally down, stuffy nose, all of that. I was improving, but yesterday and today I woke up feeling worse. I'm not sure if I'm actually getting worse or not, though, and I feel (mostly) fine now.

I've fixed my laptop back up from it's Christmas misadventure - for the most part. On Christmas day I accidentally spilled hot chocolate all over my laptop keyboard (and my self, and my bed). Fortunately I acted quickly enough to save my laptop and there's not damage to the information or casing or hardware. Except for the keyboard. Even after a very thorough cleaning, some of the keys still stick. Hopefully my new keyboard will be here in a day or two, though, and all will be well.

Becoming Fit

While I'll probably be taking a break from it for a week (or two; more on that later), Tene and I have begun to do something new together.

We've signed up at a gym, and on Thursday finished our final beginners CrossFit course.

First off - I'm surprised the world still exists, since I'm pretty sure me even considering entering a gym, let alone becoming a member, is a sure sign of the apocalypse. But Planet Granite, the gym we're now members of, seems to be completely awesome. It's a climbing gym, primarily, which means there's all sorts of fun rock-towers and the like. I'm hoping to take some classes and learn how to do some rock climbing, as well as looking more into Crossfit and Yoga.

Every Tuesday and Thursday night in January, Tene and I went to the gym and worked out. We learned squats, deadlifts, back lifts, snatches ... played with kettlebells and wallball, started learning how to do pull ups (not surprisingly - I can't even get one, yet), got very acquainted with the rowing machines, etc.

For me: I feel pretty good about it. Crossfit is hard and is definitely a workout, but I've felt good when I've gone and done the workout of the day. I'll admit, the endorphins work pretty well for me for a good hour or two after coming home from the gym.

But I might be taking a break from Crossfit for a week or two - potentially longer. My TMJ is acting up again, and I'm going to attempt a liquid diet to try to help the joint heal a bit. I'm also going in and seeing a specialist, who will hopefully be able to give me some good advice.

As it is, I've taken the highest dosage of an NSAID for about a week and a half (this was a couple of weeks ago), tried to avoid hard or chewy foods for the last month, worn my splint at night ... just generally trying to do what I could to keep my jaw from getting aggravated. Nothing so far has helped for very long, and I'm in near constant pain. I don't know what my next options are - if they include surgery or something else.

So, until my jaw starts feeling better, I'm going full liquid - no more chewing for me - which means that I'm going to need to stick to very low amounts of exertion (I'm going to try to go for a walk every day, but a hard workout like Crossfit seems like a bad idea). I'm also going to talk very very minimally - thinking of going so far as buying a white board to carry around with me to communicate. Like a singer on vocal rest, I need jaw rest.

Three New Girls

Please say "hello" to the three new girls - Freya, Lilith, and Midna. They're girls from the hoarding situation that I adopted through North Star Rescue, or more accurately they're girls who were born after the rescue, from some of the numerous pregnant mothers. Judging from their size they seem to be about six weeks to two months old. As it is I'm going to give them the birth date of December 1. They're super adorable!

400 Sketches

So I decided to challenge myself this year by drawing a sketch every day, and finishing a work every week. I compiled a list of 400 themes to keep me busy. I'll be posting the finished results, potentially once a week, to my deviantArt account.

Rules

• Submit a finalized picture for each theme. Only one theme per picture.
• Place the list somewhere so that others can see it. Update it as it is completed.
• Have the title of the work be the same as the theme. Note in the description that the picture is a part of the challenge series.
• The themes can be done in any order

 Themes after the break.