. . . in the distant, early morning . . .

My neck is feeling much better today.  My intention is to begin my running program again either tonight or tomorrow.  I am wary about rushing things and re-injuring myself.  I know from years of experience with this issue that it’s very easy to have a set back.

But the dogs will finally get a walk. They got a short one last night.  We went the long way around to get the mail, wherein I received my EECI 2010 DVD and my Kaos Skin Eyelets in Ultra Violet.

It’s been a long week, with the ExpressionEngine 2.1 release and site refresh.  I am looking forward to having some downtime and rest this weekend, and even asked for a few days off when Chris is visiting.

I’m too tired to write more now.  Good night.

-Lisa, on July 16, 2010 at 6:39 pm .::. Comments and Reactions

I don’t mean that lightboxes are a pain in the neck, though they are.

I woke up this morning feeling great, except for the minor issue of a full plant being in my hallway on the ground (thanks Milton and Elka!).  I pulled out the vacuum to clean up the mess and while I was vacuuming I felt my neck do that thang.  I could no longer move.

I finished vacuuming because it was necessary, then took some Advil and showered.  My doctor was closed so I found an urgent care facility and she put me on muscle relaxants and tramadol; apparently they won’t prescribe narcotics at this clinic.  I could really use some real drugs. The tramadol is taking the edge off but I’m still in an incredible amount of pain.

In any case, so I’m on restricted activity.  I’ve been meaning to implement some lightbox action on d,em for some time so figured I’d do that today.  I fought with about 5 jQuery lightbox plugins then whined on Twitter about my ongoing failure to get anything to work.  @carvingCode came to my rescue and recommended FancyBox.

‘lo and behold - it worked!  So I went ahead and implemented FancyBox for the images in the footer, and more importantly, for the in-entry image collections I’ve been doing lately.  I can now include a whole bunch of thumbnails without making a really hard-to-read, long page.  All you have to do is click on the image and boom - the image shows up bigger in the middle of your browser window. 

Check it out on the recent duck post.  I’m sure that most of my visitors, being pretty well seasoned in the web arena, are very familiar with this effect.

Anyhow, my dogs are already a bit stir-crazy as I can’t really walk them right now.  Milton has giardia, so I can’t take them to daycare, so we’re going to have a long week.  I suspect that the treadmill will get used a lot - by the dogs - until I am recovered.  At this point I definitely can not run.  *sighs*

Just as it gets bearable outside and I can’t take them out.  Utter stinkage.

-Lisa, on July 10, 2010 at 8:39 pm .::. Comments and Reactions

Chris and Wendy have been telling me about their trips to the paths outside the library, with a bunch of man-made ponds.  Last night it had cooled down nicely so I IM’d asking if they’d like to join the dogs and myself for a stroll around.  They said yes and Chris brought his camera along.  All of the photos were taking by Chris

Other than swarms of gnats, it was a beautiful night for a walk.  Milton got to put his paws into some flowing water, and discovered a giant rock that he appeared not to like and barked at for some time.  Both Milton and Elka learned about “ducks” and the joys of eating duck poop - which I tried to not let them do.  Elka attempted to pull me to the ground several times to discover what ducks themselves taste like fresh.  She failed.  I doubt she would have caught one….

I also brought my Forerunner along to map the walk:

We’re going to head out to Hagg Lake when it cools down a bit, and the dogs have several day trips to Seaside/Cannon Beach planned this summer.  Going to be a blast, especially now that I have a dog that willingly goes into water and seems to quite enjoy it after some initial hesitation in new environments.

I also got reminded just how bad Elka’s walking has gotten with Milton around, so we’re going to pick up on the loose-leash training.  I should have brought hot dogs last night, but we’re going to go there a lot and walk there instead of the neighborhood, I think.  So we’ll learn.

Good times with my favorites: great friends and my pooch patrol.  A wonderful start to a much needed weekend.

-Lisa, on July 10, 2010 at 12:55 pm .::. Comments and Reactions