At one PM on the 23rd, the same day I had to host a party for my Son, I went to the dentist. I had some bad cavities in the front of my teeth, and they looked DISGUSTING. I came out of the dentist SO FREAKING HAPPY. My teeth looked awesome. Well, the three they worked on, I still needed two other cavities filled, but I was pumped!

This afternoon I was eating an Eatmore chocolate bar - they are a chocolateycaramellynutty bar and are awesome. They are quite soft. After I finished wolfing it down I ran my tongue over my teeth - in the back and felt something weird. I got a mirror and a flashlight and contorted my face so I could see inside my mouth and sure enough, my brand new tooth is cracked. It's really only a matter of time before my sweet filling breaks out.

Now my choices are - call and make an appointment to be seen right away, or hope it does not progress much before my next appointment on the 8th of May. 13 days away. I'm pretty sure that they will re-do the filling at no charge, becuase it broke so soon after it was put in, but dammit. I want pretty teeth.

When the dentist handed me the mirror after my appointment last Wednesday, she said that by the time she gets done with my teeth they will look so good I will forget all about getting dentures. (we put the dentures on hold for a year due to me losing my income becuase the girl I baby sat, her mom is on maternity leave all year) I told the dentist that no matter how cute they look, I still wanted dentures becuase teeth are a hassle.

Sometimes, I hate being right.

*sadness*

A few times a year, my granny loads up her car - an aging '94 Honda, and drives for hours and hours (about ten) to visit my aunt, her daughter. Where my Aunt lives is way up north and for a three hour part of the trip you are on the highway alone, no gas stations, no homes no nothing, until you reach the end of the highway and the town where my aunt lives.

Granny always phones my aunt on the way out of the house to say she is on the road, and again at the last gas station before the lonely highway trip, so that someone at their end can time her and investigate if she is late. Should her car break down on the way, chances are she would only have to wait a maximum of three and a half hours for someone to come to her rescue.

But I still worry.

She has a cell phone, but with the forest and its requisite super high trees, it is hard for her to get any sort of signal. If she were to break down without heat from the engine, even three hours is too long for a woman nearing eighty to survive. We are trying to get my granny interested in acell phone repeater for her car so that if something does happen, she can call immediately for help, but Granny is rather against technology and its advances. The only thing she uses her computer for is to play solitaire for heavens sakes!

I think that it would be perfectly acceptable to install a repeater in her car, and just not tell her it is there, sure she might figure it out when she has full bars on her phone up north, but how mad can she really get?

Dad thinks that as long as granny is capable of thinking for herself it is rude to go behind her back and install one.

So? R-E-S-P-E-C-T or better safe than sorry?

Stuperman Is three, going to be four at the end of June (and yes, I am still a bit bitter that he refused to wait five more days in uturo so we could share our birthdays!) It took him two and a half years before he needed his first hair cut, and that was just a trim around the ears!

Since then, like his brothers, when it comes time for a hair cut, we bring out the clippers and shave them almost bald. Seriously.

Stuperman has a bath almost every single day, but I do not wash his hair every day - unless he needs it becuase of a spaghetti or mud mishap, he gets his hair washed every second bath.

Last night he was sitting on my lap and I was rubbing his head when I felt something in his hair. when I took him to the bathroom to look - better lighting in there - it reminded me of when Rainbow man was a baby and had cradle cap. I used a brush, a comb and even my fingers to try and get this stuff off his scalp, but no go, and when I could get some off, the skin underneath was red and sore looking so I gave up.

My mother in law thinks it is cradle cap becuase I do not brush his hair regularaly ('cus DUH, he has no hair to brush!) but because Hubs is using a psoriasis treatment on his scalp, I am worried that this is something more than cradle cap!

Should I go and buy one of those wee soft baby brushes and try brushing his hair a few times a day to get rid of it, or should I pony up and make him a doctors appointment. It doesn't seem to be bugging him, and his annual physical is just a few months from now, in June.

Someone please tell me there is a point that your kids get old enough that you do not constantly have to worry about the decisions you make !~

I just noticed that Rainbow man has only written 17 posts on his blog. He has had it for, like, a year! When he decided he wanted a blog, i told myself I would not pressure him to actually go and blog in it. its a free blogging platform after all, it costs me nothing to set up, but dammit, I really would like to see him update every now and them, especially on Mondays when I get a rundown of the last weeks stats on all of my blogs and see that people are still stopping in to see if he has updated!

Maybe if he has a bit of time this weekend he can update it.

In other news, My husband is being a moron again. he had his manual hearing test done at work - he works in a loud environment and the company requires mandatory hearing tests once a year to make sure no one is being damaged. He gave me his paper with the hearing test results and told me that since he "passed his test" he got to go to the store and pick out a prize and he wants to buy a Bose home theater system!

Uhm. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of PASSING the hearing test???

If you were given the opportunity to choose between being very very rich - your childrens childrens childrens would still never have to work, or to take a sip from the fountain of youth , which would you prefer?

Me? I would pick the unlimited wealth for the simple reason that if you are eternally young, you are forced to watch everyone you love and everything you know die. It's unnatural to not grow old!

So, which would you chose?

And, how awesome would it be to never have to worry about where you were going to get the money for the bills coming next week in the mail, or how the best way to save up for the two sets of braces you are going to need for the kids, or never having to worry what will happen if the car breaks down!

Money would be awesome, especially since I have already found my happiness!

I cannot be the only person in love with fiber optic cables ... can I ? I wanted So badly to get a light like the one int he photo above for my sons birthday this week, and then again, I suggested it for the birthday coming up in two months, but my husband protested that nobody likes fiber optics anymore.

This breaks my heart! It cannot be true!

I love the multi colored ones, personally, and I love looking down the optic cable at the light inside, like a little magic wand.

Side with me, and I'll give you cookies!

...or my dad, But he's pretty magical too!


One of the projects we have planned for this weekend, besides a trip to the Fun Factory to celebrate the middle boys big day, and a trip to the accountants to celebrate how much money the government takes from us, is to build a dog run int he back yard for Smokey. Then, becuase we have wicked hot summers, we need to build her a dog house for shade!

My dad is gathering up scrap wood from his garage, and I will be bringing the insulation (it's foam) and a bit of carpeting for the floor. I think we should get some shingles for the roof as well, I bet that the guys at one of the construction sites would let us take a few from their scraps, it;s not like we would need a lot!

I want to make a little deck off the front of the dog house, with a wee awning - probably made out of wood - so she can sit in the shade and still be off of the ground.

Hmm. now that I think about, Smokey is going to end up spoiled soon! Next I guess she will be asking to use my massage chair!

We cannot get down to my dads until sometime in May, So I have a bit of time still to refine my plans!

Today I received a link in my inbox to a video about a little girl who had been so badly abused that she was murdered by her step father - and this was after social services had stepped into her life. As touching as the video was, I was intrigued that it was on You Tube specifically to provide a platform for people to speak out against child abuse.

At the sides of every video you view on You Tube, there are "Related Links" I saw several videos campaigning for cancer cures and aids benefits, and I wonder, how much longer before things like fibromyalgia, ALS, and ingrown toe nails.

Politics has already invaded the online video scene, as have podcasts and TV show clips (sometimes even whole episodes) What about books being read aloud ? When will that come to a free platform such as you tube?

You have no idea how close I am to going absolutely INSANE! Today it was absolutely gorgeous outside, but my not quite four year old was too scared to spend the day outside - in his own yard!

Want to know why? My neighbors six year old son took it upon himself to WHACK my baby across the back while walking past him on the side walk. And the kicker? The neighbors Mother was RIGHT there, and did nothing as she watched her kid hit a child half his age.

She did nothing as she watched me scoop my poor son, who was crying - I later found a hand sized welt on his back - just like she did nothing yesterday when I went to her to ask her to make his children stop throwing rocks and sticks at my boys over the back yard fence.

GAH! They move in thirteen days, and for me, that is NOT soon enough! After they go, I should take my poor boys on a few Looong luxury vacations to make up to them for all of the crap the neighbors horrid children put them through.

My laptop sits on the kitchen counter and I spend a huge portion of the day sitting on one of the barstools typing away. Usually, I will be in mid sentence and wonder why does my back hurt and then notice that i am curved over the keyboard like a "U". I straighten out, push my shoulders back and vow to keep better posture, but it never lasts more than a few seconds. In fact, i have straightened up four times since beginning this post!

Part of me thinks it might be the bar stool that contributes to the bad posture and resulting sore back, but realistically, where the laptop is, the barstool is the only kind of chair that will fit! I tried some stools out with backs (the ones we have a plain jane wooden stools, no padding, no backs) But I felt that if i made use of the back on them i would be too far back from the laptop and that would mean I would stop using the back and then what is the point of buying them in the first place?

(run on sentence much LOL)


So. Because I am suffering more and more from a sore back, I am thinking about getting a posture correction brace. I wonder if it would be too hot to wear in the summer? I have heard that if you wear a brace for a few months your body eventually re learns the proper posture it needs and then you can go off it....

Do any of you use anything like that? Should I get one? Hubs thinks it would be a good idea...

Come next Monday, You will see a lot less of me around. I am taking a half sabbatical from the interwebs. I will check my e-mail once a day just in case I am needed for something, and if needed I will post to here and Paint!, but I have lined up five different bloggers to post on BPR for me, so that I can take a much needed break.

During my five day break I plan on going for a walk - outside the house - every day, rain or shine.
I plan on scrubbing dried toothpaste off of my Franke sinks and then threatening to beat the kids if they don't start rinsing the sink after brushing their teeth. I want to walk to the park with Stuperman, even if we have to wade through six inch deep mud the whole way.

I want to rest, and relax, and maybe most importantly, I want to see if I can do a whole day without the internet.

I hope to come back, refreshed, full of life and with plenty of new stories to share! (And pictures!)

I have not held a job in the last eight years. Well, if you want to get technical, in the last 10 years - but I did attend university. In nine months time I will be registering my youngest child for kindergarten and the following fall he will start kindergarten.

On one hand, I assume I will get board at home, all alone with nothing to do but surf the internet and wash the floors that no one is home to track jam and mud on, but on the other hand I dread trying to go out into the workforce. Waking up every morning and actually changing out of my pajamas , worrying about being on time to work, discussing the boss's succession plan and copier toner supply issues with co - workers.. Sigh. It's a lot to consider!

Back in..... January, maybe February, my sister loaned me a big 'ol piece of exercise equipment, and for the first few days I faithfully hopped on it and tried to exercise.

But after five minutes ( sometimes less) my legs and chest would start to burn and I would give up, gasping for air, begging for water.

I read a lot of exercise blogs and hear of this person running four miles on their treadmill that week and this person going for an hour on their elliptical and it all makes me feel like more of a failure. Not so much because I am not getting off my duff and using it five times a week, but because all these people can go so much longer and harder than I can.

I know, you are just going to say, that they started slow and worked their way up to where they are, but after three months of using it as often as I can remember, I still can only do five minutes before I feel like keeling over. There has been ZERO improvement.

Sigh.

There is something really gross that goes hand in hand with owning a pet - their poo.

For our cat, I consider the automatic litter box one of our best pet related purchases - ever. Sure it was pricey, at almost two hundred dollars, but without fail , ten minutes after she goes, it sweeps her mess into a plastic bin and seals off the smells associated with it.

Now, all I have to do is make sure her litter is full enough, and on Thursdays (garbage pick - up is Friday morning) I empty the box, wipe it down with anti-bacterial wipes and it is good to go for another week. No muss, no fuss, and best of all - no smell!

If there is one thing I wish dogs could do, it would be that they were litter trainable. Now that spring is (finally) here (YAY!) I am finding little chocolate surprises that I thought had been dealt with already, as the snow melts. YUCK.

I buy my doggie DooDoo bags at the dollar store - one dollar for fifty bags - thats a pretty good price considering they are used for picking up poo!
But my secret weapon is this:

disposable gloves. Face facts, after being frozen, then melting and laying in puddles of water, sometimes the spring poo's are just too difficult to clean up, and there is NO way my hands are coming into direct contact with something that originated from a furry bum!

Disposable gloves are not needed for most poo's but when that special one happens, you will be glad to have a pair rather than having to fight with a flimsy plastic bag - best of all, they can be bought in bulk making them handy for disgusting messes that are around the house!

My son wants to buy one of those weird poop scooping rakes, but I think that my system of baggies and gloves works just as well - better if you consider that there is no clean up involved becuase you toss the bags and gloves when you are done!

Take a close look at this picture and you will notice something absolutely amazing.

Do you see it?

(Try looking int he top right hand corner)

Aha! See!

Its official! We finally hit double digits, temperature wise, its SPRING!

There are So may things to look forward to in spring, showing Stuperman the mud puddles and helping him dam them up with pebbles. Keeping watch for new leaves on the trees. Birds singing in the morning - which you can hear through OPEN windows! Putting the winter coats away and getting out the spring jackets! Dusting off the golf bags and checking for tee times.

Spring might be my very favorite season. The bugs are not yet out, its not cold, but neither is it too hot to sleep.

Just watching the plants, grass and trees spring to life, its awesome. I always consider the first day we hit double digits as a very special day. How about you?

Celebrities have power :

Perez Hilton, a gossip blogger, a fat icky man who is meaner than a ratter, has the power to make or break an upcoming star. With a few clicks on his keyboard he can take a person no one has heard of and put them on the top of the charts. Its rather scary.

Oprah, too has power. And she is just a day time talk show host. I do not understand this at all. Neither her nor Perez are people of importance. they do not make laws, they do not save lives, they are just.. celebrities.

Oprah takes books from bottom of the pile to top of the best seller list, She talks about foods, and services, even weight loss pills like lipovox, and on the strength of her word, it's boosted to the top of whatever category it resides in.

Even people! Dr. Oz, now known as "America's Doctor", a doctor who has been on her show multiple times - even hosting a show one time, where he answered all sorts of male related questions form a n all male audience, is getting his own show.

Why do so many people blindly follow celebrities? What do they have, other than exposure, that anyone else has? If I went on TV every day and said Carrots are bad - EVIL! Avoid carrots, would people eventually boycott the poor veggie?

Kind of freaks me out, to tell the truth..

Today I was at the dentist with my two youngest and overheard a conversation between two people in the waiting room. It was about the High School in our town.

When we moved here almost three years ago, the High school was int eh middle of a multi million dollar renovation. I thought it was cool, becuase this meant my children would be attending a very modern, up to date in terms of computers and laboratories, school in the future. The renovations have been done since this past September, and while I have not been inside the school, it looks amazing from the outside.

What I over heard today, however, scared me. Turns out that a routine school inspection found asbestos inside the high school, prompting immediate, emergency renovations. Asbestos, if you do not know, is a very dangerous thing, it is found in older buildings, in the insulation of the roofs and walls. It's so dangerous, it even has its own cancer, mesothelioma, which is very hard to successfully treat.

I am sure that the Elementary school my children go to was carefully studied for sighs of asbestos, but, it is an old school. What if it is there and no one knows? What if my kids are breathing it in every day I send them off?

I think, just to set my mind at ease, I will give the school a call and discuss what I over heard, and my concerns for the elementary.

Recently I got two different antioxadent supplemts in the mail from Biotivia, Bio Quench super Antioxidant and BioFlu Vital.

Because I had read so much about Bio Quench and its Ability to give you more energy, I was hopeful to say the least. I have only been taking Bio Quench for seven days now, the first two mornings I did not notice any difference at all, but the third morning, I laid down to nap while my youngest watched a movie and could not fall asleep! By morning four I had no desire to go back to bed, and the trend has continued from there.

Bio Quench is made up of Trans-Resveratrol, Apple Extract, mangosteen, Grape Seed, Goji Berry Extract, Pomegranate, and Alph Lipoic Acid.

I am quite please with the noticeable upswing in energy I have had after only a week of taking it.

The other supplement, BioFlu Vital is an Immune Support Antioxidant. I started it the same day I started Bio Quench. BioFlu works by strengthening your immune system. When I started taking the supplement I wondered how on earth I would be able to prove definitively to myself that it works. Luckily for me, (but not for my family) the same afternoon I took my first BioFlu capsule, my Middle son came down with the flu. By that evening our youngest was showing signs of it, and by late the next morning, all three of my boys were huddled under blankets, buckets at the ready. Then, on day three, My husband - he very rarely gets sick - caught the bug as well.

Because I am normally the very first person in our family to catch any thing, big or small, that is going around, this to me was proof positive the BioFlu was doing it's job!

In the last year I have read a lot of really good things about herbs, supplements and antioxidants, but had not really experimented with them, beyond taking Evening Primrose Oil as per my doctors suggestion. Biotivia has shown me that without a doubt, these types of things work. And really, with superbugs and other horrible things going around, it's better to have a strong immune system and not get ill than to try and fight off the germs once they have set up housekeeping in your body!