ok...

so maybe the pic is a little over the top for just ants (see below)...

actually i don't like subjecting the poor little beasties to a twitching, disturbing death.
i keep thinking i'm murdering flik!

:-P

btw-did you know that phyllis diller was in that movie?

we have met the enemy...

this is a recent self portrait i posted on flickr:



it pretty accurately describes my feelings toward our home right now.

i am a pow in in my own home, and the enemy is bugs.

itty bitty ants, actually. they don't come for food (since they've invaded we've seen that they have NO targets...) they just come.
they come past the ant traps, past the raid-soaked walls and floorboards, for what purpose?

who knows the mind of an ant?

all i know is the mind of a lani, and that's a pretty good picture of it above...

the 5 stages of grief

check this out - powerful
you gotta think about it...

http://www.flickr.com/groups/visualstory/discuss/72157600045150058/

success? maybe?

i've been on a photo kick lately.
i've always loved photography - one of my best christmas presents when i was little was a camera and i loved it!
somewhere along the line i decided i wasn't good at it, never would be, and there was no point in trying if i would never be any good.

and then digital photography happened. instant results - woohoo!
(i'm not very patient.)

i've been taking pictures with my very non-pro camera, experimenting, posting on flickr for the past few weeks - hoping to get some feedback - positive, negative, anything... and finally it happened!

inklings of flickr success! (check out my flickr -link below left - for more on that...)

here are a couple - i welcome any feedback:


the hand



my lamp is finger painting

on my wall

ephemeral

gobs of light


light king



is he crowned with light-tentacles?

or is he the palm of a color-hand?

with huge painted-fingernail-bulbs?

headache update

so... i got the results of my blood tests back... aaand they're fine! i may have holes in my brain but my blood levels are normal.

i did come off the amitriptyline (the psycho cat drug) because of side effects - it was making me very tired and sad all the time. :(

so now i am depending on higher doses of the topamax (dopamax!) to work... i am slowly increasing it - no change yet, but i'm optimistic-a nice change from when i was on the psycho cat drug! it's weird to only be taking 2... or 3... prescription drugs again.

sunny days are here again...

we took a mini vacation on friday afternoon - yay for almost-summer weather!

we drove down toward the sandy river, stopped several places and walked around... in flipflops - i have the blisters for it! :(

it was my only headache manageable day this week, and we made the most of it! here are some pics...

flickr

i'm on flickr ~

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lanimaria/

cannon beach

every year since i was tiny my family spent spring break at cannon beach. my dad would teach at ecola bible school (it's in the same place as cannon beach conference center) during multnomah's spring break. since joel and i got married we've found a way to make it to cannon beach for at least one night every year - cramming 5 adults into a space that's designed to sleep 2! the ecola people are great - it's free room and food to stay at the beach - so it's a great deal! we made it down last thursday afternoon and friday and even had good weather!
here are some pics:

neurologist appt #2

i had another appointment with my neurologist - still trying to figure out the headaches. i've been on 2 medications since my last appointment a month ago: t... t... uh... something, and amitriptyline (or "i'm-a-trampoline" - as joel calls it. a husband who can make you laugh is worth the world.)
anyhoo, she gave me the results of my ct scan, which were worth sharing. it was normal, except for a funny space near the back of my brain. she called the radiologist, who assured her it was nothing to worry about - just an enlarged drainage space (everybody has them - mine are just bigger).
so... everybody who thinks i'm spacey: i have an excuse! there are holes in my brain!

i think i'm going to regret having shared that...

as for my migraines, she ordered some blood tests, upped my dose of the topamax i take - i call it "dopamax" :) - and told me to come back in 6-8 weeks.

so i'll keep taking my dopamax, i'm-a-trampoline, and limping through life with my holey head. funny it never bothered me...