FYI

We haven't posted in a while. Things have been going better for us. I (Melissa) am starting to feel a lot better. I haven't taking any drugs for a while. Still a little stiffness in my neck but overall I'm feeling a hundred times better. I even started to work out again, yeah!

Jesse's been feeling a little sick lately, but he's happy I'm feeling better. We are both happy because it seems like our noisy, pot-smoking downstairs neighbor has moved out. So no more weed smoke coming into my house.

We are going to San Diego in a couple of weeks for Jesse's cousins wedding and then we are driving to Las Vegas to have some fun. Jesse's never been to Vegas and I love it there so we should have a lot of fun.

Rocky is enjoying his new haircut. He got shaved and now he can see through the hairs around his eyes. Now we can see his eyes and we've noticed that he has sort of a lazy left eye.

Dear Mr. President...

I work for the government. I have worked in the private sector in the past and it’s a WHOLE different world than the government. I only have two things to say:

1) I've had my job for over three years now, (my longest and first real job ever) and a few weeks ago and I was thanked for doing something good. I was taught that in the government to never expect to be appreciated or thanked for doing something good, but that if you are noticed by your superiors it was because you did something wrong. I was thanked and it made my day, which is pretty sad if you really think about it.

2) There is so much irony in the government that it just makes me laugh. Some irony is good and other irony is bad, but today the government irony went my way it was good, real good.

I’ve been having a tough time at work for a few months due to my car accident, other dumb issues and having to work too much, but overall I think things are going to get better.

Bass

I got a new bass yesterday. The Peavey Millenium 5 AC BXP, it's a five string with some 'active' pickups, so I get even heavier notes and more punch, it's pretty cool. It's the red kind and it lives in a coffin case - now it needs a name.

Any ideas?

Dog Tricks

Rocky can now play dead if you point at him and say *bang.* It's pretty funny.

A Weekend Retreat

Jesse and I took a small weekend retreat to Yosemite this weekend. Here are some pictures.

Mirror Lake.

Bridalviel Waterfalls.

Rocky is being amazed by the majestic views of Yosemite. He's so cute. Rocky got really wet in the snow and rain, lets just say he was very tired by the end of the day.

This was our small walk up to Bridalviel Waterfalls. It was somewhat chilly and rainy on Sunday.

Jesse and Rocky frolicking in the snow. It didn't snow while we were there but there snow in some areas.

The Man

Just so the world knows -
Ben Vose is the man.

Doctors Visit on Valentines Day

Yesterday I went to the doctor because I could not stand the pain in my back and neck anymore. The night before I only slept 3 hours due to the pain, which causes Jesse not to sleep well. I had a pinching sharp pain at the end of my neck near the vertebrae and shooting pain from there down my back and out to my arms.

We waited a little over an hour for my 2:30 p.m. appointment at Kaiser. When I finally see the doctor I explained all my ailments and he decides that I should received trigger point injection. Trigger point injection is where the area of pain is anesthetized with a very thin needle. The doctor also pulled a cramped muscled in my neck forward and pushed down on my shoulder muscles, which was very painful that is forced tears to my eyes.

The doctor proceeded to prepare the injection into MY NECK NEAR MY SPINE! It wasn't a quick injection, it took almost 3 or 4 minutes. There was only one entry point but he moved the needle around in my neck to numb hurting muscles. That was also very painful. At least Jesse was with me to hold my hand. After he finished I felt most of the pinching pain go away. It should last a couple of days or maybe a week.

The doctor gave me Darvocet and and Flexeril. Darvocet is a narcotic and Flexeril is a muscle relaxant. Let's just say I slept EXTREMELY well last night, which I haven't had in a long, long time. I just feel a little weak and sleepy right now. That was my Valentines Day

Melissa

The Rock Man

Rocky likes to sleep on the floor with his little doggie. He's awfully cute when he is not being bad. Overall he is a really good dog. He loves people and is getting over his fear of other dogs. He is almost completely socialized. I think he will be pretty small because he is almost 7 months old and he weighs 7.8 lbs. I hope he stays small so I can sneak him into stores. Now I need an expensive purse to carry him in!

Melissa

Injuries

I have soft tissue damage to my neck and back. My physical therapist told me that the pain will probably last nine months. The pain will decrease as the months will go by but I will have pain for at least nine months due to the severity of my accident.

My physical therapist gave me some electrode things that give my muscles tiny massages, because my muscles are so damaged. I can only start with small exercises like moving my head. The pain is also causing me to lose sleep and will continue for a while.

Melissa

Yay for Jesse!

I'm proud to announce that my husband Jesse has passed his state certification for the Engineering-In-Training exam. Jesse you are so smart! Now on to the Professional Engineering exam in 3-5 years!

Melissa

This Morning

If you were on 880 South this morning around 8:30 to 9:00ish. I'm sorry.

I was in a car accident when I was going to work, which caused a lot of traffic. Someone rear ended my car really bad, but I'm o.k. I just have a big bump on my head and was very dizzy for most of the day. I was taking an office chair to work, which ended up slamming into my head. I went to the emergency room and was checked out, but nothing too serious except for the pain and swelling that awaits me the next few days. My neck, shoulders and back hurts right now.

Melissa.

Andrew, Little Belle and Me

I just like these pictures of Andrew, Belle and me. Andrew and I were playing lucha libres. Belle and I were hanging out taking beauty shots.

The Dog

I like having a dog, even if he's a girly wimpy dog. He's forced Melissa and I to get up before 11 on the weekends and he gets us out walking more. It's great. I came home early for work the other day and wanted to be lazy, but I figured that Rocky had to go get exercise, so I went running around the lake with him. Everyone should own a dog.

-Jesse

New Haircut

Jesse decided he needed a new haircut. Last night, at my parent's house I shaved Jesse's head. Then my cousin Daniel decided he liked Jesse's new haircut, so I shaved Daniel's head too. Pictures will soon be posted.

Rocky

I'm crazy!

My Goal

My new goal is to survive the next couple of weeks. Think of a happy place...

A Hint

Mission Peak has a hint of green. I love it. I can see Mission Peak from my house and from my office window.

Tomorrow, Turkey Day! Time to bring out the fat pants!

Oops! Not Down Your Pants...

I thought this was kind of funny and painful.


WICHITA, Kan. - A botched kidnapping ended with one of the assailants shooting himself in the groin, police said.

The man had just stuck the gun in his waistband when it fired, shooting him in the left testicle, authorities said. He cringed, causing the gun to fire again and strike him in the left calf, they said.

The 23-year-old man managed to walk into a hospital for treatment. He and his two alleged accomplices, ages 18 and 20, were arrested on attempted kidnapping charges. They were accused of trying to kidnap a teenager in a dispute over stereo speakers.

The Rain and The Day From Hell

I once lived in Georgia where it rained all the time. Apparently, mostly everywhere outside of California it rains in the summertime and all vegetation dies in the wintertime. When it rains in California I sometimes get irritated because people forget how to drive, I’m stuck in traffic and everything is wet. But then I remember how I loved the rain in Georgia. In the beginning it was irritating, but then I would walk in the rain everywhere I went. When it rained it was relief from the 110 degree weather and 100% humidity. I hated physical training when the actual temperature was 120 degrees (it was actually 100 degrees but with the humidity factor it was 120 degrees). When it rained the temperature would drop like 30 degrees and I could run in the rain forever, even though I was so wet I weighed 10 pounds more. I just didn’t want the rain to stop because if you’ve ever been in the South after it has rained you know what I’m talking about.

The Day from Hell was the first day I had physical training. I don’t know if it was because it was my first physical training day or it was just really the day from hell. Our instructor was like the bad cop in The Terminator 2. He just wouldn’t stop. Two minutes after we started doing calisthenics there was a lot of thunder and it started raining, but no lighting. If there was lighting we would have stopped, but no we went on for about 1 ½ hour of CRAZY calisthenics. If you slowed down our instructor stared at us with piercing eyes and somehow found the strength to continue.

At one point I had dirt on my face, in my teeth, and my arms were collapsing and thought to myself, “What am I doing?!” Then I thought to myself, “Thank God it is raining or else I probably would have fainted.” I’m not physically strong but I pushed myself to do it but there were some guys around me that were in so much pain, it was kind of sad. Later we stretch for about ½ hour and it hurt. Let’s say the only thing that didn’t hurt later that night was my hair. I woke up in the middle of the night to roll over in my bed and I had a wave of pain went through my body.

A few months later our instructor actually apologized because he even thought that day was really harsh.

Dog

Melissa and I are the new and proud owners of an 11 week old Shih Tzu. Please observe it's cuteness. His name is Rocky.