Deschutes River

Bill and I finally got out of town. I have been feeling better and it has been a relief. I did have one bad morning, but compared to a month ago, I feel like a superstar! So... finally, we had a chance to get out of dodge and we chose to do some fly fishing at the Deschutes River. Apparently, people fly from all over the country and even the world to fish this river. We drove East on Friday night and managed to get there early enough to enjoy the stars before passing out. Saturday was the best weather day of the year and we spent 10 hours on the river. Things that we did not anticipate happening:

• Sunburn shoulders
• Bethany catching her first fish on a fly rod!
• Bill almost stepping on a rattlesnake
• Beth picking 75+ ticks off her doggy
• Beth freaking out about the ticks on her dog and cutting really unattractive patches of hair off her dogs body. She now looks like she has been attacked by a lawnmower.
• Oh... and Beth also picked a tick out of her own hair. Ewww...... and Gross...... and Ewww one more time.

Here are a few pics from amazing moments that transpired over the weekend:

Deschutes River sunflowers
This is a pic of the sun and bill casting. I used a photo filter called apollo, which seems to have made the day sky look like a night sky. I love the way this photo turned out.
I was messing around with making this photo looked aged. Unfortunately I think it made my face looked aged too =(.
Billy having fun.
A native red side trout. I didn't catch this one. I just caught a little steelhead smolt.
This is the pup who lived in downtown Maupin. He really wanted to be Baby's friend.

On Sunday, Bill got a little bit more river time, while I worked on school stuff (argh!). On our way out of town, we stopped at an amazing fly shop, the Deschutes Angler. It was Easter Sunday, so we had the owner all to ourselves and she pretty much gave us a private hour of tutoring on fly fishing. She is a private guide and has taken many famous people fly fishing. She is a wonderful teacher and so passionate about her sport. I found her words to be very useful and encouraging.

On the way home, we drove North to the Dalles and came home in the gorge. Oregon is so beautiful. I feel really lucky to live here. I'm also happy to be feeling like myself again. Hoping to continue on with my low salt and no dairy diet, which seem to be working. Anything to keep the dizzies away!

goodbye dairy..... and salt..... and taste....

Well... What can I say? Recently my life has pretty much been about two things; getting my work done and taking care of my body, and I guess trying to keep my sanity, so I guess that's 3 things. I continue to struggle with a couple of health issues that are causing me to examine every aspect of my lifestyle. While the dizziness is slowly getting better, it is still there and making me cranky, mostly because I haven't done much of anything really active for months and it has caused me to engage in a few head games. Poor Bill. I think things will continue to improve and I will feel back to my normal self soon.

I was kind of discouraged with the pills..... pills... pills.... my doctor was giving me, so I went to see a naturopath (Thank you Alix!) and honestly, wearing wet socks to bed has been more effective in drying out my sinuses and head then a Hyroclorathiazide.... I'm a believer and using this whole experience to find a healthier balance in my life.

For some weird reason, I've conditioned myself to believe that I need to be operating at about 99.8% of my potential productivity level at all times?? What the H? No wonder my body is screaming! The thing is, it's hard slow down because going-going-going all the time has been my lifestyle since high school. The good thing about feeling like crap is that it has helped me learn to just lay down and give up. When walking is hard, you just don't have much choice. I've actually had another unexpected result of all this. I have had to still got to the office and experience the dizziness at work. When it is really bad I slow down and put my head in my hands, but I don't always have time for that. So... I got into the habit of telling myself that I had 'had a few' if you know what I mean, so that I could just try and cope while at work. Wouldn't you know, the thought of drinking is now repulsive to me? I can't help but wonder about if I am creeping up on something really useful for people who have addiction issues? I'm sure it's more complicated than that, but interesting nonetheless.

Life is funny really. There is always something new to learn and I'm thinking this has happened because I really do need to slow down. I'm starting to realize just how precious my only body is. It has taken me 32 years to figure this out, but better late than never, right?

One good thing: taking pics with cool apps on my iphone is a nice way to focus on something artsy for a few minutes here and there. The photos are conveniently downloaded to my flickr page

Here are a few of my favs-

My Braya


桜, or Sakura no hana, or cherry blossom trees


old growth from Oxbow


sunbeam on my sunshine


bridge city


Mr. McLoughlin in all his glory

Taking pictures makes me happy.

tech overload.

So apparently, teaching four online classes at a community college uses up all your 'online energy reserves'. I just have had no desire to spend more time on the computer than I have had too. This term has required A LOT of prep, and now the course maintenance is more than I thought it would be. It also doesn't help that the computer software system has been riddled with problems, causing additional stress for students and instructors.

I can't complain though. I have employment and healthcare through my county job, which is good because I have been sick these last two months. I will blog about it soon, but basically I'm being tested for this crappy thing called Meniere's Disease. The disease symptoms are caused by a faulty inner ear. The inner ear can not regulate itself, causing excess fluid that interferes with balance. The extra fluid results in constant dizziness, hearing impairment, ringing ear and episodes of vertigo, which for me meant vomiting.... It's been a good time. I can report though that I'm getting better slowly and today I even had a short run and workout.

I have so many updates to make on this blog and will work on them over the next few weeks. Despite all the sickness that has been going on in my life, there have been wonderful things to report! I'll post soon, I promise!

** oh and I managed to finally join the rest of society when I purchased my iphone. I downloaded a few fun photo apps that have made it easy for me to take random photos whenever I have a minute of free time. It's been fun. There is a link on the right side of my page entitled, 'my flickr'. Check it out!

Hope you are all well and ready for spring to come... sometime soon I hope!