Today I'm going to share all the ridiculously happy stuff that is happening in the life of Leopardditz.  Mainly because its birthday week and I always go a little crazy this time each year.  I always feel that birthdays are something to be celebrated and this one if obviously going to be a very special one for me.  The magic all started yesterday.....

Took Matt's dog, Buk, for a walk which takes us along a small little boat dock yesterday morning.  Sun was shining.  Buk had peed so much that he had nothing left but was still lifting the leg every 2 minutes which makes me laugh.  We were walking along, lost in our own happy thoughts and enjoying a beautiful, sunny day.  And then I heard a splash so we stopped to see what was going on.  A pod of 5 dolphins were frolicking in the water!  They were jumping and playing and it was so cool to see.  I went to stand next to a tree so Buk would have something to entertain himself while I watched.  It was almost like they came to wish me a happy birthday (or so I told myself).  I actually managed to get a 30 second video of it on my phone which is pretty funny.  I can hear myself shouting, "jump, jump" in the background.  They looked so beautiful glistening in the sunlight!

Came home to find a large box on the front porch addressed to Sam. Dragged it in the house and yelled, "the Coco Channel dress you got me for my birthday to wear to the Oscars just arrived!"  He came out to open the box doing it as slowly as possible, just to drive me crazy.  It was a beautiful purple electric guitar with a pearl inlay on it.  The really cool thing is that it is a couple of years older than he is.  Guitar count for Sam is now 8.  I once made the mistake of asking him how many electric guitars did he need as he could only play one at a time.  His reply?  "And how many pair of leopard print shoes do you own considering you can only wear one pair at a time?"  Point taken.

I got on the computer to check movie times for "Man on a Ledge" which we decided to go see to celebrate the dolphins and the guitar and birthday week.  I thought I'd check the AMC movie website to see if there was any update about Movie Showcase.  There was and I calmly reacted by screaming in joy!  Then Sam informed me that he is buying my 60.00 ticket for my birthday!

This is my movie line-up for 2/18:  11am "War Horse", 1:40pm "Moneyball", 4:10pm "Tree of Life", 7:30pm "The Descendents". On 2/25:  "11am Hugo 3D", 1:20pm "the Help", 4:00pm "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", 7:15pm "The Artist", 9:05pm "Midnight in Paris".  And then the Oscars are the next day.  And then I take a month break from anything movie related to become a sane person again-oh hell, who am I kidding?

The boys took me out last night to watch them shoot pool.  Since I now have new glasses I can see through, I actually played....and surprised them completely!  They had never seen me play pool before.  I take great satisfaction that I can still do something which makes their jaws hit the ground in shock and amazement.  Fortunately, it was one of those nights when the pool goods were with me.

Sam got his Van Halen concert tickets for June.  Matt got hired by DC to be the team manager for the BMX riders and also the photographer for all the rally car events.  We are going to Disneyland tomorrow.  

I laid in bed and cried some happy tears with the cats this morning.  Yes, there are times when life really sucks, but there are times when life is just one giant golden ticket.

*sigh*

The doctor is decreasing the Prednisone starting today.  I have 3 proceedures coming up over the next few months and need to be off of it.  I'm glad that (hopefully) I'll be off of it in a month, but dread how I'm going to feel.  Atleast this time I know what to expect.  I walked for an hour today and will be doing the same the next two days.  Keeping my fingers crossed for feeling good on Sunday.  Picked up our Disneyland tickets today for Sunday.  Weather is suppose to be great-I'm excited just to be going again.  its been atleast 15 years since I've been there with both the boys at the same time.  Matt's girlfriend is going with us.  They blow so hot and cold.  Now its more complicated with her being pregnant.  Since he is living at home and she is basically living with us in this small house, I feel that I have an unwanted front seat to their relationship ups and downs and I get a little weary of it at times.  But its officially birthday week time so I'm only focusing on good and happy things.

Thinking about venturing out to the movies tomorrow.  So much I want to see!  I also need to find out when the tickets go on sale for the AMC Movie Showcase where they show all the movies nominated for Best Picture.  If you had to ask me right now-Movie Showcase or Disneyland-I honestly am not sure which I'd choose, I dearly love them both.

Leon the Maine Coon cat went for his yearly check up yesterday and weighed in at 19.5 pounds-told him if times were tough come Thanksgiving, he could probably feed the 3 of us just fine.  Fortunately he is very healthy.  When we took my beloved Neko in, she ended up having to have 10 teeth pulled the day before Thanksgiving!  When Matt moved back in, he brought his 1/2 pug, 1/2 poodle, Buk, with him.  The dog has got the most marvelous underbite which we all imitate.  He has become my walking buddy.  Its nice to have a dog around again.

Sam came home from Anaheim.  He got to meet and spend time with the old guitarist from the band, Poison.  Sam is a huge admirer of his.  He and his friends are going to see Van Halen in June.  Matt and I laughed and said good luck with that.  Make sure you can get a refund if the band starts fighting and break up before they get here.  For Sam's sake, I hope he does get to see them.  He thinks David Lee Roth is the world's best frontman.  Me?  I'm a Motley Crue kind of girl.

The boys laugh when they look at my iPod.  Taylor Swift, 80's music, Wu Tang Clan, I'm just sort of all over the radar with my music.  And yes, I'm proud to be a 53 year old little monster and am a huge fan of Lady Gaga!

My "to do" list today is huge and includes setting up a coffee maker for the boys who are coffee drinkers.  Beats them spending money on coffee every morning.  However, I'm in totally foreign territory-I'm a tea drinker for life.  It amazes me that, even though I don't work, there is a ton of stuff around here for me to do on a daily basis to keep the house going.  But when I realize that six months ago my "to do" list was basically lay in a hospital bed in the livingroom and use a bed pan, I'm not kidding when I say I enjoy doing laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc. 

Off to see who will win, Mr. Coffee machine or me.  Why couldn't they be tea drinkers????

*sigh*

The doctor is decreasing the Prednisone starting today.  I have 3 proceedures coming up over the next few months and need to be off of it.  I'm glad that (hopefully) I'll be off of it in a month, but dread how I'm going to feel.  Atleast this time I know what to expect.  I walked for an hour today and will be doing the same the next two days.  Keeping my fingers crossed for feeling good on Sunday.  Picked up our Disneyland tickets today for Sunday.  Weather is suppose to be great-I'm excited just to be going again.  its been atleast 15 years since I've been there with both the boys at the same time.  Matt's girlfriend is going with us.  They blow so hot and cold.  Now its more complicated with her being pregnant.  Since he is living at home and she is basically living with us in this small house, I feel that I have an unwanted front seat to their relationship ups and downs and I get a little weary of it at times.  But its officially birthday week time so I'm only focusing on good and happy things.

Thinking about venturing out to the movies tomorrow.  So much I want to see!  I also need to find out when the tickets go on sale for the AMC Movie Showcase where they show all the movies nominated for Best Picture.  If you had to ask me right now-Movie Showcase or Disneyland-I honestly am not sure which I'd choose, I dearly love them both.

Leon the Maine Coon cat went for his yearly check up yesterday and weighed in at 19.5 pounds-told him if times were tough come Thanksgiving, he could probably feed the 3 of us just fine.  Fortunately he is very healthy.  When we took my beloved Neko in, she ended up having to have 10 teeth pulled the day before Thanksgiving!  When Matt moved back in, he brought his 1/2 pug, 1/2 poodle, Buk, with him.  The dog has got the most marvelous underbite which we all imitate.  He has become my walking buddy.  Its nice to have a dog around again.

Sam came home from Anaheim.  He got to meet and spend time with the old guitarist from the band, Poison.  Sam is a huge admirer of his.  He and his friends are going to see Van Halen in June.  Matt and I laughed and said good luck with that.  Make sure you can get a refund if the band starts fighting and break up before they get here.  For Sam's sake, I hope he does get to see them.  He thinks David Lee Roth is the world's best frontman.  Me?  I'm a Motley Crue kind of girl.

The boys laugh when they look at my iPod.  Taylor Swift, 80's music, Wu Tang Clan, I'm just sort of all over the radar with my music.  And yes, I'm proud to be a 53 year old little monster and am a huge fan of Lady Gaga!

My "to do" list today is huge and includes setting up a coffee maker for the boys who are coffee drinkers.  Beats them spending money on coffee every morning.  However, I'm in totally foreign territory-I'm a tea drinker for life.  It amazes me that, even though I don't work, there is a ton of stuff around here for me to do on a daily basis to keep the house going.  But when I realize that six months ago my "to do" list was basically lay in a hospital bed in the livingroom and use a bed pan, I'm not kidding when I say I enjoy doing laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc. 

Off to see who will win, Mr. Coffee machine or me.  Why couldn't they be tea drinkers????

On Twitter I follow "Disney Memories".  Its quotes from different Disney movies over the years.  Some of those things contain a lot of simple wisdom that applies to my life.

Today is doctor day.  REALLY hoping for an adjustment (as in lowering or completely stopping) my medication.  But its also a good knee day, so a long walk is definitely on my "to do" list.

Also on today's "to do" list-bag Leon's poop.  He has a vet appointment for check-up/shots.  And I have to bring in, as they delicately call it, a "stool sample".  To me its still poop in a ziplock.  That makes me think back to several months ago.  I had managed to clean the litterboxes and carried the bag out to the trash all by myself.  I yelled my accomplishment to Matt who said he had never seen my so excited about going out to the trash before.  But it was my first venture outside without the walker, and I was damned proud of myself.  

Today I'm also driving myself to my doctor appointment for the first time.  iPod is all charged up.  I do have to drive across a big bridge that spans the bay which I don't like doing.  But today I'll do it.  I've been driving again for about 2 months.  I would only do very local stuff until I got new glasses.

Ah yes-the new glasses.  Or, as I call them, those damned glasses.  I got progressive lenses for the first time and am trying to get used to them.  I can see far away, at arms length, and close up with them.  I have to admit it does make driving easier.  Before I couldn't see the dashboard to see how fast I was going, so my basic rule of thumb was to keep up with the flow of traffic.  I no longer feel like a menace on the road anymore.

I'm still mulling over the Oscar noms.  I happened to start the book "Extremely Loud..." a couple of days ago.  Loving the book.  Had just finished "World War Z".  Really looking forward to that movie!

Time for my doctor adventure.  Have told all 3 cats to keep their toes crossed for me!

just watched the Oscar noms live stream.  Most exciting thing-when I go to the AMC Movie Showcase, I'll get to see 9 movie nominated for Best Picture.  Was worried they would only pick 5 this year.  So happy for Rooney Mara.  I've read the books, own all three of the Swedish versions of the movies, and loved the American remake.  Very happy for Gary Oldman, too.  Sam and I are going to see "Tinker, Tailor" next week.  (Though I still believe Gary Oldman's best role was in the "Fifth Element" as the bad guy-goes to show just how old school I really am!)  Wish I could have seen the look on Melissa McCarthy's face-she is amazing.  Of course, I could go on and on but will stop-very busy errand day today.

One piece of really excellent and totally rocking news:  Matt and his girlfriend announced that the four of us (including Sam) are going to Disneyland on Sunday to celebrate my birthday which is Tuesday and I have always felt should be declared a national holiday!  Complete surprise!!  Sam and I had been tenatively planning a trip getting the 2 day pass for Southern California residents.  But I wasn't sure how I would do physically, especially if I was detoxing for that nasty medication that I'm on.  But between the two boys, they can help me off the rides which will be the biggest challenge for me.  I'm 80% sure I can handle all the walking.  I'm so excited!!!!!  Haven't been able to go in a few years.

Tomorrow is doctor day and I'll find out if I get off the Prednisone.  I've told both boys that, for the rest of my life, if a doctor wants to put me on it the answer is NO!  I've had every single side effect you can have from it.  Had another doctor tell me Friday its considered to be the heroin of the steroid family as far as getting off of it.  Unfortunately, I've been on it for 7 months now.  I tried to get off it just before Christmas, but ended up back on it so I could make Christmas as nice as possible for the boys.  At least I now know what to expect when I go off of it.  Sleeping all the time, legs the size of tree trunks, feet the size of snowshoes, and lots of pain.  Since my dose has been lowered, I'm having a lot of pain in my knees and hands.  But I'm determined to get off of it.  With the shape I'm in right now, hands wise, there is no way that I could hold my first grandchild come 8/21 and I'm not going to miss that!