New Tattoo!

The tattoo is just finished and the photo was taken just before swelling up. 

Finally yesterday I had my appointment for my new tattoo.  I was so excited and happy but a bit nervous for I heard the placement I chose is one of the most painful ones.  

My other 2 tattoos didn't hurt... it was more a discomfort than actual pain so I wasn't really ready for this experience.  It was 4 1/2 hours of intense pain followed for a week (and counting) of a swollen foot. 

It was a tough experience but even though I still can't wear normal shoes, it's itchy, swollen and shedding, I just ADORE it. 

The process is a bit strenuous, but this being my third tattoo (and first painful one) I can tell you, this is absolutely and 100% worth it.

20 Days Later

This was my life for the last 20 days.

Well, I haven't write here since I found out about Lumpy and to be honest I went through a bit of a rough time.

I had to go through some lab studies before the oncologist could confirm or deny anything.

The studies were painful and scary and I felt under the weather a whole week after.

Finally my results were back and yesterday I went to the oncologist to hear the diagnose.  I was so glad when I heard the lipoma diagnose that I felt as if a gigantic stone was lifted from my stomach.
He said it is a benign lipoma and I just need to monitor it every 6 months for about 2 years and if it doesn't grow or becomes painful, I'm on the clear!

Thanks for the good news!

I don't mind that much having to go back for the painful lab studies every year for those 2 years, as long as Lumpy stays unchanged.
I'm thankful, grateful and happy that it was not cancer and that all the changes towards a healthier life style were a definite help during this process. 

Now I can take a deep breath, smile because of my health and my wonderful body that does amazing features and keep working towards a better me, a healthier me. 

It is amazing how 7 months ago I was looking for a way out, the proverbial ticket so I can get off of this ride we call life.  But as soon as I realized I had a lot to live for and I wanted to live and feel and love and be part of this world, Life smacked me on the face and gave me a pretty shitty scare, perhaps to let me know I love my life or perhaps to reinforce how important health is.

I don't know why this happened to me right now, maybe for these reasons, maybe it was just chance and bad/good luck.  But what I know is that I'm as committed as ever to become the healthiest possible me.

Meet Lumpy

Unfortunately is not THIS Lumpy

I've been having a scary and shitty day. It all started pretty normal: my alarm went off a bit before 5 am, I got up, put on my work out clothes, did some leg workout and went to take a shower. Pretty standard.

So, there I was in the shower wondering why Billy Joel was in my playlist singing Piano Man when I met Lumpy.

Right there in the far corner of my right armpit a lump. Mi first thought was, hey this wasn't here yesterday... and then it was that blank moment before the realization: I Have A Lump. In my armpit. So of course my train thought derailed in Fuckyouland with a lovely stop in Cancerville.

Yes, I'm dramatic that way, my first thought was cancer, the Big C.  Then I tried to rationalize it saying maybe is a fat clump or even a cyst, after all there's no one in my family with breast cancer. I felt the other side to see if there were symmetric and I was just being silly... but my other arm was lump-less. 

So I cried, right there in the shower I cried full of fear and dread. 

I don't know what I'm going to do. I haven't told anyone, not even the hubby and I just want to forget that I ever met Lumpy. 

Kikki K Set Up - Part 1

Mi Kikki K as it came from the store.

Well... it's almost December and the time comes closer for me to start using my Kikki K for the first time, so I decided to personalize it a little bit.

First off, I discarded the dividers that came with the planner. They were the same shade of teal as my planner, but I wanted something with more bang.

So I opened a stash of scrap book paper with a travel theme and I cut and laminated my new set of dividers. 

The Monthly View Tab

I also added the pen I'll be using, some stickers and post its. 

This are some of the dividers after the make over:

 

That's all I did. Ill wait till December to decorate the inside of the planner and then I'll share the photos.

So far, I ADORE my Kikki K.

The Moving Game

I'm moving again.  In the last 10 years alone, I've moved 5 times and now it will be home #6 in 10 years. 

A few years back I thought I moved for the last time into my permanent home, but fate had a different idea.  Something quite difficult happened and we had to leave that flat. So now we've been moving almost yearly and we hope this will be the last one before our 2nd attempt in buying a house.  We have this milestone scheduled for 2017 more or less.

We've been seeing flats around the areas we like in the city, near downtown and near our jobs, but we weren't in love with anything… until yesterday.  We found 2 options that we loved.  A bit on the wee side, but I think that’s perfect to stop my hoarding impulses, but both have pros and cons.  Both are around 80 m², but the first one has amazing big closets, a large living area, a gym, roof garden, automatic building door, a pass heater (I LOVE those), a balcony and everything is new, what I don’t like is that it just has 1 bathroom, the kitchen is a bit small and it has no lift.  On the second flat, I love that it has a lift, 2 beautiful big bathrooms, the kitchen is bigger and with a pantry, but the living area is small and generally the distribution is a bit wonky. Besides we won’t be able to use the common areas like the gym and party area.

I believe that if everything goes OK, we’ll be moving to the first flat by the end of the month.  Usually, by now, we would be going crazy with the packing, but we decided to outsource and hire a moving company that also packs our stuff, so we don’t have to stress out about this.

I'm scared about moving, because it’s been a coincidence that bad news follow me when I move, but it usually happens when I move to a pricier place, not cheaper, which is what we are doing now, so I feel good about this.

I'm feeling excited about our new home and that it will be covered in Christmas decorations for its first month.

As soon as I take possession of the new flat, I’ll post pictures and I’ll tell you if it was choice #1 or choice #2.

How do you feel about moving and house hunting?

Halloween 2015

So... I survived Halloween! 

It was an amazing weekend and at the end I was so tired!!!

First, on Friday we went to the supermarket to buy all the stuff we needed for the party, like food, plates and assorted supplies. After an all day long cleaning, organizing and buying we went off to a more rural area outside the city to listen to some local legends and to watch a play about Death and the dead.  It was very interesting and it all was a lot of fun.

Poetry and Death

On Saturday we woke up early and started cooking and getting everything ready for our Halloween party, before 5 pm of non stop cleaning/cooking/decorating I was so tired that my back started to bother me a little, but it was time to do our make up and so we went.

My decorated flat!

This was my make up. Quite rad, right?

Matching corpses!

I LOVED this year's make up, it was horrible and beautiful at the same time and I felt good in my costume, so I was able to enjoy the party a lot. I felt so proud, because I did both my make up complete and from scratch, and added the hubby's make up details.  

A little downside, I can't ware my glasses with the make up on, so by 4 am I had a pretty bad headache so I called it a night and went to sleep.  The party was over at 6 am!!!!

Next day we were supposed to clean up and pack up all the Halloween decorations, but we were so tired that we had some breakfast with the nieces (they came to the party and stayed up past 6 am! Oh, youth!) and collapsed on the couch for an amazing TV series marathon. 

Another great Halloween party and we survived it!!!  So now I share some of our photos. 

Group photo! I'm on the bottom left.

My friends (husband and wife) as Devil and Cthulhu!

I hope you had a fantastic Halloween!

Friend Making Monday

I came across this thing reading another blog and I thought about doing it, so you could get to know me better. 

So, with no further fuss, I bring you:

FMM: I Am.

1. I am good at… cooking decadent food, being a wife, having a good argument, party planning and TV watching.

2. I am happy when… I'm with my husband.  We have so much fun together and we enjoy each other's company as much as we can. If we can do it together, be sure we will.

3. I am working on… on myself.  Learning to love and understand myself is a journey I just started but I feel I'm on a good track and heading to a better place of self forgiveness and caring love.

4. I am interested in… almost everything and anything! I'm interested in design, art, photography, films, writing, calligraphy, crafts, upcycling, science, health, gardening, sustainability, decoration, psychology, food, amongst other things.

5. I am always… reading, watching or writing, those are my biggest passions.  I LOVE stories, both telling them and having them told to me so one way or another I find myself searching for the stories of the world..

6. I am enjoying… eating healthier and working out.  Believe or not it's been a blast watching my own transformation from an obese compulsive eater who couldn't even walk a block around my house smoking 1 pack of cigarettes a day, to someone that can hold a plank for 1 minute (it's not much perhaps and I feel like dying, BUT I can do it!).  Little by little I can do more things with my body and I see how I'm changing slowly but surely in to a healthier stronger me.

7. I am in…my office. It's a workday and I must be here.  

8. I am reading… What if...? by Randall Munroe.  It's funny, interesting and I'm loving it. 

It's really amazing and funny

9. I am concerned about… being able to keep my healthy lifestyle changes for good.  I want to be able to reach a healthy weight and a strong healthy body, but I also want to keep it like that for ever and don't let the obstacles in life derail all my hard work. 

10. I am looking forward to… my Halloween party! I'm excited about my costume and it's my first store brought costume, and not home made. I want to prove to myself that I can make the right choice even in the Holidays and this will be a preparation for Christmas and the festivities to come.

Feel free to repost this in your blog and leave a link in the comments so I can check it out!