Wakela Runen's World

I finally remembered to bring my camera to work today.  So for those of you who remember the story of the lady who sees invisible cars , here are two photos of the picture.   This first one was taken with the flash on.     This second one was taken with the flash off.  Unfortunately, you can still see reflections since the overhead lighting there is really powerful.  In fact, you can see the reflections of the overhead lights. Here are the pictures.  As you can see, there aren't any cars.  

Appetizer What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride? I have never been one for amusement parks or carnivals because I don't like being in crowds. However, the few times I did go, I would always gravitate towards the roller coasters. The bigger and scarier the better. Soup How do you react in uncomfortable social situations? I tend to become very quiet . I am a very shy and nervous person. Salad On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics? I would have to say an 8. That is one of the things I miss about the UU Fellowship that I used to go to. It was lay led so each week one of us would get up there and give a talk on a different philosophical/spiritual topic. Then afterwards there was always a huge discussion on the topic. It was nice since it was a very small setting. It took me a few months before I could really speak out there. After awhile, I was even one of the people get

  Thirteen Computer Games That Wakela Likes 1. EverQuest 2 -  I have several characters in this game.  They just added a bunch of new content to the game, so I am running around checking everything out. 2.  City of Heroes - It is so cool to create a character that looks like a super hero.  I read tons of comic books as a kid.  3.  Halo - I love all versions of this.  4.  Prince of Persia - The graphics in this game are well done.  The game play is solid.  I love the entire feel of the game. 5.  Chocolatier 1 & 2 - Its a neat little game where you have to go around buying and selling chocolate to build your chocolate empire.  6.  Thief:  Deadly Shadows - The storyline in this is incredible.  It is a little bit intricate in all of the things you have to re

This week at work has been extremely weird.  Thankfully today was really slow at work.  We actually got to leave a little early.  It was really nice. I forgot to bring my camera to work today.  I wanted to take that picture.  I will try to remember to bring it tomorrow. I don't have internet access at the moment, so I am using Windows Live Writer to type my blogs and save as drafts.  Once the internet comes back up, I will publish.  I hope it comes back up soon.  This is driving me crazy!

Yesterday at work was extremely insane. It just seemed like all the patients had smoked some wacky weed or something before coming into our center. I gave one lady the sign in sheet and asked her to sign in and sit down. She decided to take the sign in sheet to sit down with her. So when the next person went to go sign in, we had to search for the sheet. She said she thought it was papers for her to fill out. She had been sitting there for ten minutes staring at the paper trying to figure out what she needed to do. How hard is it to see what to do on a sign in sheet? Most medical facilities have something like this. Wow! DP had brought a Christmas dog to work. Its this animated dog on a sleigh that when you squeeze its ear, it barks out Christmas carols. It was cute the first few times. However, every time we turned around, DP was squeezing its ear. It really got annoying after awhile. I was working at the front desk yesterday. There are two windows that open up for patient

Secret Ingredient Tuesday Today's secret ingredient is sugar . Toffee Bars 2 sticks butter 1 cup brown sugar 2 cups flour 1 small bag chocolate chips Mix it all together, then pat it into a 9X13 pan. Bake for 20 minutes at 350. Slice when hot. No Back Fudge Cookies 1/2 cup margarine 1/2 cup cocoa 1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups sugar Combine all ingredients and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 cup chopped nuts and 2 cups quick oats. Drop from teaspoon onto waxed paper. Makes 4 1/2 to 5 dozen cookies. They will harden when cool. German Sweet Chocolate Cream Pie 4 ounces German sweet chocolate 1/3 cup milk 2 tablespoons sugar 3 ounce cream cheese (softened) 3 1/2 cups cool whip (thawed) 8 inch graham cracker crumb crust Heat chocolate and 2 tablesspoons of the milk in saucepan over low heat, stirring until chocolate is melted. Beat sugar into cream cheese; add remaining milk and chocolate mixtuure and beat until smooth. Fold in whipped cream topping, blen

I am taking part in a blog hunt over at swap-bot . They gave me a list of topics and I am to find blogs that deal with those topics. 1. Health Issues Spacy Tracie - Living With Diabetes 2. Children Bohemian Single Mom 3. Spiritual Issues A Spiritual Journey Through Life 4. Food Well, the obvious would be the food meme blog that I just started. Secret Ingredient Tuesday And to be fair, I will include a blog by someone else Bribe Me With a Muffin 5. Free Stuff Freebies Giveaway blog 6. Partner 1 Tami Knits 7. Partner 2 Keeping Myself in Stitches 8. Swap Host Simone's Butterfly

Simone's Butteryfly is a wonderful blog. Simone is a woman blogger residing in South Africa. She participates in many wonderful memes. She also participates in many swaps as well. Her life has many ups and downs due to illness. It is on her blog that she allows herself to undergo transformation. Her hope is to one day go from being a caterpillar into a butterfly. Stop by and say hi!

Well, I have spent quite of bit of time in Kunark lately. EQ2 is interesting again. At least until I reach 80 and get bored again. Krystae and I were running around in Kylong Plains today. We did a few quests there. Then we decided to get adventurous. We started running through some of the high end zones just to see what they looked like. We had to be really careful in some spots. We were able to invis through most of it, but there were some mobs that could see through invis. Yesterday I didn't play EQ2 at all. Instead, I was playing Vanguard. Krystae kept telling me how much it sucked. So even though I had gotten it, I just never got around to playing it. I think its a pretty decent game. Its not as bad as she says it is. I think that she is used to the class designations of EQ1 & EQ2 so she doesn't like this game. The Warden in Vanguard is much different then what she is used to. I am glad that I gave it a try. I can see myself playing it more often then

I was tagged by Simone's Butterfly : 1. Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 key words given below (family, friend, yourself, your love, anything you like). 2. Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better. 3. Don’t forget to read the archived post and leave comments. I this is a pretty cool meme. Here we go: 1. Family - This one was difficult since I don't post about my family too often. Soulful Sunday 2. Friend This one was easy since I mention her when I talk about video gaming. However, this post was all about her. So that is why I chose it. Krystae is Normal? 3. Yourself Wouldn't that be the entire blog? LOL! Doctor's Update A Shift in the Waist Line 4. Your Love Well, I haven't been in a relationship for a very long time. I did write up a little about a past relationship for So

Rachel's a woman blogger residing in Oregon. She is an extremely talented young lady. Her template is really cute. I absolutely love the header. Her blog focuses on her daily life. She loves to display photos of places she has gone and people in her life. There are links to other digital artwork that she has done. Plus links to some of the work she did in school. She posts about the various swaps she participates in. Of course, she has photos to display what she sends and receives. Stop by her blog and say hi.

Ciyou is a wonderful woman blogger from Malaysia. She has 3 blogs. The one that I went to was her Colors City blog. The main focus of her blog is on various crafts and swaps. I love reading over the different craft ideas. She has pictures posted of a lovely advent calendar. If you are looking for new crafting ideas or some wonderful swaps to participate in, then head on over and say hi.

This was the recipe that I made on Thanksgiving for Corn Casserole. A coworker had given it to me. Corn Casserole 1 stick butter (melted) 2 eggs 2 boxes Jiffy corn bread mix 2 cans cream corn 2 cans whole kernel corn (drained) 16 oz, container of sour cream Mix all ingredients together & pour into a large rectanguler dish (at least 11" x 13"). The casserole will rise when cooking so be sure to not put it in a dish where it is to the top because it will overflow. Also don't forget to spray the pan before you pour in the mixture. Preheat oven to 350 & cook 45 minutes to an hour uncovered. Serve & Enjoy!

Ok I am not sure if there is already a meme out there like this or not. I was thinking about starting a meme up. It will sort of be like Iron Chef of America. But without the competition. Each week, I would post the secret ingredient. Everyone would then have to post 5 recipes using that secret ingredient. I thought it might be neat to see how ingredients are used in other countries and get some yummy recipe ideas. Anyone interested?

Our normal chef host is enjoying the day off after Thanksgiving. So Gattina was nice enough to post a new menu for us this week. Appetizer Imagine that you are deaf, dumb and insensitive to touch.What other image of happiness could you have? I would have to say wonderful smelling flowers and yummy chocolate! Soup Do you collect anything? I collect tarot decks. I stopped counting when I reached 100 decks. That is a rather expensive collection since they are at least $20 each. There is one deck that I would love to get my hands on, but it is hard to find and very very expensive. It's the Salvador Dali deck . Last time I priced it, it was $100. Salad When do you start your Christmas? We tend to start it the morning of. I know alot of people who celebrate Christmas Eve. However, we have always had a huge gathering in the morning. We would open presents and then mom would make a huge breakfast. Main Course What would you do if you were in a corner and a snake was staring

Thirteen Things about Wakela's Thanksgiving 1. First and foremost, I miss my mom alot today. This was the first Thanksgiving that I have ever spent without her. 2. I spent the day with one of my sisters and her husband. 3. We made French Toast for breakfast at 11am. Ok maybe that is brunch. But I love French Toast, especially with syrup and confectioners powder on it. 4. We watched the parade while eating our French Toast. I normally watch one of the other parades on, but my brother-in-law loves the Macy's parade. To me, its mainly balloons with very little floats. 5. A neighbor dropped off a freshly baked pumpkin pie. It smelled yummy. I am not a big pumpkin pie eater though. I really have to be in the mood. And even then, I usually only eat a small piece. 6. We put the turkey on to start cooking at 2:30pm. It was a small turkey breast, so it only needed 3 hours to cook. 7. I made corn casserole. One of my coworkers had given me the recipe for it. Oh my gosh! It w

Well, last month was my birthday and two others from work as well. We were all skipped over for celebrating. I had blogged about it back then. I know I shouldn't be upset over something so trivial, but still it hurts. Anyway, tomorrow is another girls birthday. She is one of the in crowd. Guess who's birthday they celebrated today! Yep! Thats right. They came around asking for money to get her a cake. I refused. I am sorry, but if you aren't going to do it for everyone, then you shouldn't do it for anyone. Last month I had even said to a few coworkers that I bet they would celebrate VG's birthday. I should have bet money. I would have won. Oh well! I don't have to go back to work until Monday. I am not going to worry about it.

Well, they changed my position at work yet again. I was told today that I am now the lead closer and will be working at the front desk. In a way I am glad, that way I know that everything is done for closing. I hate being in the back and not being able to start on my closing. Its so nice to get done early. We are already done with the closing. We are just waiting on MRI to finish with their last patient. Then we get to leave. Its just frustrating having our positions changed every few weeks or so. I guess it keeps us on our toes.

I very rarely post videos on my blog. However, being a gaming geek that I am, I just can't help posting this one. I stumbled across this video on Liveleak. If you like video games, then you will love this. Its awesome listening to the songs and then figuring out which games they go to. Plus watch the band carefully.

Woohoo!! Krystae is finally home from the hospital. This is a good thing. I am so glad that her surgery went well.

I wasn't feeling really good last week and missed it. But I managed to be back for this week. Appetizer What was your first “real” job? I worked at the local hospital at the age of 16. I used to deliver the patients to the different areas of the hospital. It was strenuous work, but I loved it. Soup Where would you go if you wanted to spark your creativity? I either go sit in front of the computer or sit in my room. It depends on my mood I guess. Salad Complete this sentence: I am embarrassed when… people are looking at me or I have to speak in front of a group. I love talking and I love writing, but I don't like people looking at me. I guess that is why the internet is so nice. Main Course What values did your parents instill in you? To be truthful and to work hard for what you get Dessert Name 3 fads from your teenage years. Oh man! I was a teenager in the 80s. We had some scary fads! Do I have to limit myself to just 3? 1. Parachute pants. I remember one incid

If you are looking for a really good read, then I highly suggest Switcheroo by Olivia Goldsmith. She is the woman who wrote The First Wives Club. Switcheroo is not your normal everyday basic romance novel. It is oddball and quirky. There is tons of comedy in it. The premise of the story is that Sylvie has been married to Bob for over 20 years. Their marriage has gone stale. Bob starts seeing Marla on the side. Sylvie finds out and confronts Marla. Only to find out that Marla is a younger version of herself. They look exactly alike except for Sylvie looks older. Marla wants to be a wife and Sylvie wants to find out what it is like to be the bit of fluff on the side. Chaos ensues as they attempt to switch places. Believe, this is definitely a must read.

Thirteen Things about Hypothyroidism Since this is one of the things I suffer from, I figured that I would put some facts about it. First off, it helps me because I learn more about it. Secondly, its good information for others to know 1. The thyroid is a small butterfly shaped gland located in the lower part of the neck. 2. Hypothyroidism affects women more often than men at about a 7:1 ratio. 3. About 13 million Americans have this condition and at least another 10 million more are undiagnosed. 4. Those who are hypothyroid are at a greater risk for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic pain disorders and autoimmune dysfunctions. 5. The thyroid gland, which produces the thyroid hormones, is said to be "underactive," because it produces too little thyroid hormone needed for the body to function normally. 6. Inadequate stimulation of cells and organs in the body due to low levels of thyroid hormone causes the symptoms associated with hypothyroidism, which is gener

Today the expansion for Everquest 2 goes live. I can't wait. I already know how great it is since I was in Beta testing. I can't wait to make my Sarnak for real. I had made a Sarnak named Tarmeya for beta. I will probably use the same name again. I really had liked the way she turned out. Its sort of sad though. Krystae is still in the hospital. So she isn't home for the launch. I just checked the website. They just announced that it will be an hour longer then they originally planned. I might as well go play something else in the mean time.

If you don't know about the spoon theory , you should really read it. Anyway, the past few weeks, I have been sliding downhill real fast. I can barely get out of bed. I can barely move in the morning. I ache from head to toe. I can barely keep anything down in the morning, including my pills. I just want to crawl somewhere and hide right now. I can barely stop crying this morning because of the pain. The doctor's PA told me that it isn't related to my thyroid. So what is it? Why should I be barely able to move? My muscles ache and twitch involuntarily. My face feels so puffy. That I know is from the thyroid. When I do my weekly weigh-ins on Sundays, I also do measurements. My neck is an inch bigger then it was last year. I am thinking that it is because of my thyroid. It feels really uncomfortable to swallow. I just don't feel like I have any energy. I can already tell that today is going to be hell at work. Its going to be a long day that just won'

So this is my first Soap Opera Sunday. Each week, they are hosted by someone different. This week it is hosted by Jenn in Holland . The following is a true story, but names have been changed. Let's travel back a few years. The year was 1993. The place was somewhere in the south US. This was a time for risk taking for me. I had moved out of the house for the first time to a town where I absolutely knew no one. It was time for me to find out who I truly was. You have to understand that I didn't exactly have it easy growing up, but those are tales for other Sundays. I found a job working for a small company doing customer service phone calls. Most of the people that worked there were in the early 20s just like me. That is where I met Chad, Robert and Jason. I ended up dating Robert while Jason was dating Sandy. I guess I really clung onto Robert since I was so scared living on my own. Jason, Chad and I all became really good friends. So when Robert decided to move

Ok. So I had fully planned on going and doing last week's workout, but I just couldn't get motivated. I have just been feeling really crappy lately. I went to get some labwork done on Friday. We will see what the doctor says this coming Thursday. Anyway, on to the workout. This week The Accidental Novelist challenges us to write A Postcard Story. There was only one person left on her Christmas list. She wasn’t even sure why she was going to bother buying anything for him. Her boyfriend had turned into her own personal Grinch. However, she didn’t want anyone to be able to say that she just gave up on the relationship. She wasn’t going down without a fight. She had put three long years into the relationship. She felt that she had to keep going. She just had to keep trying. She could not believe that she would have wasted those three years. It wasn’t possible. Amy had stopped by earlier today and gave her a book to read. It just sounded completely silly

Ok. I went to the doctor on Thursday, but I just have been too drained to type up about it. The doctor was very happy with the weight that I have lost. Even though when I went to him, I had gained a few back so he didn't get to see me at the full weight loss. Its not that I really gained it back, but I was swollen that day. So I had a ton of water weight gain. By the next morning, the weight gain was gone. Oh well. Anyway, he had me talk to his PA again. She specializes in endocrinology. She had been wanting to put me back on Synthroid for awhile now. So I made a deal with her. I told her that in the past, the had only put me on Synthroid by itself and the main difference that I see between Synthroid and Armour is the T3. So I agreed to go back on Synthroid if and only if she gives me a T3 pill as well. So she gave me a requisition for labs and has agreed to put me on Synthroid and Cytomel. I went yesterday to get the labs drawn. I go back on Thursday to find out the

Ok. I just had it with people today. I feel like crawling somewhere so I don't have to deal with anyone. All of the people who came into the center today were insane! The patients on the phone were insane! They were saying stupid things and doing stupid things! I swear! I was trying to schedule an appointment for one woman and every question I asked her, she would answer with an extremely bizarre answer. I could have asked her what color is the sky and I bet she probably would have said equilateral triangle or something just as weird. I asked her name and I can't even remember what she said, but by the time I got her off the phone, I was ready to beat my head on the desk. I asked her the name of her doctor and she said "yes". Um.. ok.. Your doctor's name is yes? Of course it wasn't. That is how much people pay attention when you are talking to them. I just didn't want to talk on the phone. That is why when Krysta called tonight, I sort of blew

Over at Women Trip , I was lucky to find another friend in fighting obesity. She is currently starting her road trip to weight loss. Its always nice to find others who are traveling the same roads as you. She has some great advice up about gyms and other helpful tips. Take a ride on over and say hi.

If you love crafting or cooking, then stop by Aesthetic Onion . This woman's blog is full of wonderful ideas. I was amazed at the beautiful home made wrapping paper that she made. There was an interesting recipe for pumpkin lasagna. I am sure that if my mom were still alive we would be eating it. One year she went all out on pumpkin everything. So she would have loved that recipe. She also has her own etsy shop which I checked out. She has a bunch of great homemade things to buy. The little purses are cute. I can guarantee that I will be hanging out at her blog often. I highly recommend stopping by her site.

The Pondering Sheep is a blog written by a Welsh lady who is currently living in Scotland. She is quite an interesting lady. She has gone to college to learn forestry and farming. She is currently a stay at home step mom. I always find it interesting to read about other people's lifestyles. She details the work in her gardens and her various daily activities. Plus she is always busy participating in swaps or crafting. There is usually something interesting going on. I suggest you pop on by and say hi!

I just finished reading this book this morning. This is definitely one of those books that is great for anyone in a relationship, looking for a relationship, or giving up on dating. There are so many great tips in this book. It is written by a woman who writes for Sex & The City and a man who is a consultant on the show. It is extremely funny, but it gets its points across. After reading this, I can see clearly all the time wasted in relationships that I wanted to work. I highly recommend this book.

So I created a facebook account finally. My cousins and a bunch of other family members had accounts already. Its nice and easy for me to keep track of family in other countries because of it. Tonight at work was really bizarre. First off, Z kept talking about her brazilian wax that she had done today. She went into detail about how they do them. Umm... All I have to say is OUCH!! Later, CM and AR heard scurrying noises in the ceiling. Yikes! I don't think I want to know what was making that noise. At least the lights in the parking lot were working tonight. It would have been a bad thing if they were still out. I hate walking out in the dark like that. Tonight was a great episode of NCIS. I can't believe that Gibbs almost died. I am glad that he didn't though. I did go to the website and check out what was in the time capsule though. That was interesting. They really went into a lot of detail on that. I really should go see my doctor. I have been having alot

Well, I totally feel like crap today. I had things to take care of this morning. I ended up running late. They still wanted me to come into work even though I hadn't had a chance to eat all day and it was almost time to close. Grr... Oh well.. I am so tired. My thyroid has been bothering me all day. It feels like there is something roughly the size of a whale lodged in my throat. It is bothersome to eat or drink anything. I am extremely tired today. I don't know why since I slept most of the day yesterday. Oh well.. Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully, I will feel better then.

Wow! Do I ever feel like crap today? I have been sleeping most of the day. I am starting to get a cold and that isn't good. Anyone who knows about autoimmune diseases knows that when we get sick, it attacks our bodies before attacking whatever we are catching. My chest is very congested today. Well, I dragged myself out of bed long enough to post this. I am now going back to bed. I wish I could call in sick tomorrow. Unfortunately, we are down a few people and I can't. Grr!! That is the joys of working in a small office.

I got a call from Krysta last night. She had her surgery yesterday morning. For those of you who do not know, Krysta is my best friend. We have been through tons of stuff together. She has Crohn's disease. For her 30th birthday, she was treated to a "lovely" stay in the hospital and a botched surgery that left her with a colostomy bag. She had been having problems with it ever since. Fast forward to five years later, she finally got an appointment with one of the top colorectal surgeons in this area. He is very hard to get an appointment with. Apparently the reason that she had so much trouble with her colostomy bag is that the doctor who did the surgery really screwed it up. First off, they left too much infected intestine inside. Secondly, they placed the bag in the wrong spot. So she underwent a surgery to fix her that only caused her more pain and suffering. Yesterday morning was her surgery to correct this mishap. The new doctor had told her that he was

Well, today is weigh in day over at Our Wicked Ways . I only started reading that blog last week. If you are trying to lose weight, I suggest you head on over. They are a great group of people over there. On Fridays, everyone weighs in and posts their losses or gains. Its a great boost to have others right there along side of you in the struggle. You get to see how everyone else is doing. Well, my normal weigh in day is usually Sundays, but I decided to weigh myself anyway. I had been cheating quite a bit this week due to stress at work. We have been working late every night this past week. Can you imagine, I didn't get home from work until 9:30 pm on Halloween. It was a real bummer. Anyway, according to the scale, I didn't gain and I didn't lose. I stayed the same. I was sort of relieved that I didn't gain, but at the same time I was bummed out that I didn't lose. Today at work we are allowed to wear jeans as long as we wear it with our official center

Thirteen RandomThings about Wakela 1. I took Tai Kwan Do when I was in elementary school. I miss doing this. The teacher was really great. However, she was in a car accident and had to stop teaching. My dad tried for ages to find another teacher that I liked, but he wasn't able to. Ms. Lee was the best. I wish my scanner was up so I could scan in a picture of her. :-( 2. I have been dying my hair since I was 16 because of prematurely grey hair. Its a curse in my family to get grey hair early. I have dyed it black, brown, red, and purple. Yes, I went purple when I was in college. I have always thought of going blonde, but I just don't think it will look good on me. 3. I worked on a tarot phone line when I was in college. I have been reading tarot cards since I was 14. I learned really fast that these lines are hoaxes. There were only 3 or 4 of us who actually knew how to read. Everyone else had scripts that they would pick from. 4. I am Pagan. I have been si