Vulture Valley

What should you get mom for mother’s day? Well, I have a few ideas. I don’t think she would go crazy over Naruto headbands, so let me help you out a bit. As a kid, it was easy. You didn’t have any money and so you couldn’t buy her anything. Basically, you could draw anything on a piece of paper, and she’d love it - no matter how much a piece of crap it was.

Now, you are grown up, and you can buy your mom something nice, so do it. Here are a few of my favorite shops. If you want to get her some nice makeup, you can shop for Alexandra de Markoff, Dermablend or Nvey Eco at this store. You can also get some nice homemade soaps there as well. Mom’s like to smell nice and look good, so make sure she gets what she wants.

Just make sure you get her something. When you forget, I can guarantee that it hurts her, no matter what she says.

Yesterday was kind of a disruptive day because I had a doctor’s appointment. It was well overdue. I don’t go to the doctor much, but I had to this year because my allergies were absolutely destroying me. I had extremely itchy eyes and and itchy nose. I would wake up in the morning and my eyes would be crusted over. It was sick. So, I finally decided to go into the doctor. I don’t have a lot of experience booking doctor appointments. I don’t have a standard family doctor. So, I just checked my providers online and found an allergist specialist. It ended up being in the local healthplex, which actually was a branch of our Children’s hospital.

When I walked in, I saw kids running around with Ben 10 action figures, and it looked like they were having a party for the girls. I made it past them and up to my office, greeted by nurse in her lovely medical scrubs. The first thing I had to do was blow in this tube to check my lungs. She made me do it like three times. When the doctor finally came in, she was very nice and helpful. It didn’t take too long to diagnose me with tree pollen, seasonal allergies. She prescribed me some meds, gave me some samples and I was on my way. Hopefully, these meds work well for this year and next year, I will be able to control them better.

I’m doing some shopping for a new mattress because my back has been KILLING me.  I can’t take it any longer.  I think I’m getting a really good deal from a mattress company on ebay, but I hope I’m not getting screwed with a bad quality of mattress.

I’ve been having pain everywhere lately.  I’ve been fighting with Plantar Fasciitis, doing all sorts of exercises.  I was even looking into getting a walk in shower.  What the heck?  I’m in my mid-20’s and I’m feeling like an old man.  Well, hopefully this mattress will help out.  I have not been sleeping well.   At least I’m saving like $2,000 by not buying the ones at the store.

It’s funny how much a good gift can cheer someone up.  On the flip side, it’s amazing how much the wrong gift can make someone sad.  I didn’t get everything I wanted this year.  In fact, I got about my 20th pair of pajama pants.  I don’t need any more.  Please, stop with the pajama pants.But, I did spoil my wife with a wedding/anniversary present.  She wanted a new wedding band and I got one that matched her engagement ring.  Her list didn’t stop there though.  She also wanted Alexandra de Markoff and Nvey eco.  I was satisfied with this for myself.Christmas shopping is a real chore.  I like to do mine online.  It saves time both going to the mall and having to return things people don’t want.  I’m all about it.

I listen to a lot of audio books on CD, and the latest one is Automatic Wealth by Michael Masterson.  It’s pretty good so far.  It’s not that I desire wealth for my own benefit, but I do desire to be wealthy and be a good steward of wealth.  I believe that God can use me in greater ways when he trusts me with his resources.

So, anyway, one of the ideas in the book is creating multiple streams of income.  He uses examples direct marketing and real estate to create multiple income on the side.  But to me, a very reasonable idea would be starting an ecommerce store.  There are all kinds of people out there making money online or using the internet to point to their sites about Portland wedding photography or whatever.  Some stores sell pirate weapons and others sell other stuff.  All it seems to matter is to find the right niche and go for it.  I’m very intrigued by this idea and will consider it going forward.  The biggest obstacle is just getting off my butt and doing something!

I find myself more and more wanting to be like a pirate. National talk like a pirate day and this recent museum exhibit I went to didn’t help. I mean come on, they are really cool. They get to be dirty, steal, get women, plunder villages, have a boat, go after treasure, talk awesome…the list goes on.

I was shopping the other day and picked up some sterling silver pirate jewelry and some pirate eye patches to add to my collection. They are really sweet. I also got something I needed for my home pirate decor. It all helps.

I encourage everyone out there to release the inner pirate in them. It will make you feel a lot better, trust me.

I have pain in my foot, and it’s annoying.  I think it started a few weeks ago when I was at the beach.  Running and walking always has hurt my feet a little in the past, but it’s never lasted this long.  It hurts especially in the morning when I wake up, and then it stretches out a little during the day.

I’ve been doing some research on the injury and have found a good website that has treatment for heel spurs and a home cure for plantar fasciitis.  I think this is the way to go.  There seems to be a lot of different opinions out there as to the treatment of heel pain.  Some suggest shoe inserts, or even surgery.  But this seems to be a natural treatment.

Talking to some friends, I have found out how this can be a lifetime issue.  Some people have learned to live with the pain.  Some have altered their lives and even their homes by adding things like remodeling their bathroom.  This limits their aggravation, especially in the morning when it hurts the most.  I hope I don’t come to this point!

A few of my friends and I recently took a trip to the Newport Aquarium. They had been advertising this shark exhibit, and so we decided to go. It was really fun and exciting. At one point, they even allowed you to touch the sharks with your two fingers. Scary, but cool. We went on a guided tour as well because the guide gave us some information on aquarium pump parts and some of the other behind the scene sections of an aquarium. I like seeing how those things work. They had another exhibit that was full of pirates. It was full of treasure, sunken ships, pirate chests, and other cool stuff. All in all, it was a great trip and I would recommend it.

A friend of mine is very environmental conscious. I’ve always been a guy that cares about the earth around me, but also, I’ve never been one on the ’save the whales’ campaign. I think it stems from my biblical perspective that God is going to burn this world one day, and build another. Anyway, my friend is all about the environmental friendly products like hybrid cars, melaleuca products, even organic makeup and other cosmetics. Anything she can do to help out, she says counts. Well, in honor of her, I’ve decided to do my part and buy this sweet Pipe. I figure that if it is based off of something smoked in Middle Earth, it would make her happy! Ha, I don’t mean to make light, but I do my best.

I was reading the last few chapters of Isaiah this morning and longing for the days of a new heaven and new earth.  I had a conversation yesterday about the thought of the imminency of the kingdom life and how that redeems so many aspects of life.  However, I cannot wait to receive the new body.  Aches, pains, allergies, sickness…all such a hassle, but they sure do make us depend on God.  I had a friend who is having terrible problems with his foot.  He works out a lot, and it appears that he has developed a heel spur, which is incredibly painful.  Fortunately, he has found a good place online to diagnose it and discover some treatment ideas.  As he makes his recovery, I thought I’d get him a gift to help cheer him up, and I found this sweet pirate belt buckle online.  I know he’ll love it!  Praise God for the simple joys in life that we get to have in Him as our bodies temporarily deteriorate away.