Its gonna be random

I feel like blogging, but I really have nothing to blog about so I'm just gonna start typing and see where this goes. Maybe it won't go anywhere and this will be a waste of your time to read, who knows.
So yesterday I made our Christmas cards, then I wrote our yearly "letter" to send with it. I'm sitting there and realized that nothing exciting had happened to us in 2008 except for getting Saki. Which probably is ok, it's better than something huge & horrible happening. Knock on wood, of course, because 2008 isn't finished yet.
My brother, Patrick, is a member on IC Forums... actually he's the brains behind it. There wouldn't be a forum to post on if it wasn't for him. Anyway, the other day he posted about a Motrin ad that was created & run that sent a whole bunch of sling-baby-wearing moms into an uproar. I had to laugh.. I never "wore" my babies and not that I have anything against it or anything but I think Motrin was thinking when they created that ad! Wearing your baby any way, even just with your arms, is pain. Plain and simple. And there is not a mother out there who can tell me differently. Motherhood causes headaches, backaches, stomachaches and everything else in between. It comes with the territory. And if you tell me it doesn't, I've got 2 perfectly behaved, non-emotional teenagers to sell you. I think Motrin should point there ad at me! The baby years are easy... just wait until your precious cooing bundles of joy turn into back-talking, mood swinging, hormonal, hate-you-then-love-you teenagers. You don't know the pain of a migraine until you've gotten past those terrible twos.
But yet, even though my demons hate me after I tell them to take out the garbage or that they need to clean their room... I still just had to get them both a puffle from ToysRUs yesterday because... well, I'm a mom and even though they cause me pain, I forget about it when I think of how happy they will be when I give them their "for no reason present". (A "puffle" is a character on Club Penguin. If your kids haven't discovered Club Penguin yet... let them. It's a great site. Very safe, very monitored.)
I've been sick for almost a week... I wish one of the demons would have given me a "for no reason present" of doing the dishes at least once this past week. Never happened. Oh well. The pain of being a mom. They have clean clothes, clean dishes and blueberry muffins in their tummies, but I am still sick.
Baby wearing moms.... just wait. You ain't felt the pain that Motrin can't relieve.
Wow. I really went off on that, now didn't I? Just strikes a cord with me. Perfect little mommies. They all live in a dreamworld.
Hmmm now I don't have anything else to say. Chico is barking at God knows what. Probably the wind or something stupid. I swear that he must have some sort of anxiety disorder. He's always scared of something and tries to act like a big dog and bark. I tell him that nobody is afraid of a dustmop, but he just keeps going.
Hey.... dustmops. I finally got one of those Swiffer WetJets this weekend. The jury is still out if I like it or not. Seems to leave streaks on my living room floor (it's got a wood floor - or those knock-off wood floors I suppose you could call it). Seems to pick up a lot of stuff though. Either that or my floor was just that dirty. It is that time of year... wet, muddy, dogs drag their muddy paws across my floors.
Anyone ever use those Frebreeze candles? Holy cow, do they throw off their scent! It's got to be the strongest smelling candle to date. Love them. Sometimes its too much, but it makes the whole house smell good - not just the 4 foot circumfrance of the candle.
You still reading?? I have days like this where I just want to type about nothing in particular. Today is one of those days. I really should get my ass in gear and go do my errands and visit my parents but I have no ambition. And my weatherbug says its 19 degrees outside. Brrrrcity, as Kimber would say.
Ok I guess I'm done. Don't know if it was worth reading or not, but it got my blogging out of my system for the time being.

I'm adding the Motrin video. Seems even the cached page of it doesn't work. Tell me what you think? Think Motrin went too far? You already know my opinion....

A rose on a Wednesday. Just a normal, everyday Wednesday

If anybody remembers this post, they will remember how I feel about a husband buying roses on Valentine's Day. I haven't changed my feelings on the matter.

Holidays such as Valentine's Day were put on the calendar for those who don't think, to think.

My daughter, Demon #1, is not one of those people. She's not the smartest person when it comes to common sense (thats another post), but she makes it up in many other ways.

Last night at her church confirmation class, someone was either going to throw away a couple roses or something, I didn't get the whole story, but Demon #1 spoke up and said that she wanted one.

What did she do with the rose? She gave it to her favorite mother, of course!

This helps me explain the basics of romance, gift giving and thoughtfulness. Anyone can buy flowers, candy and a card on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or someone's birthday. It's expected. Do it when it isn't expected... trust me, it will mean more than any Mother's Day card given on that Sunday morning. Give Mom an "I love you" card for absolutely no reason other than you love her... you'll send her to tears, I promise.

The husband stopped his semi truck on the side of a road one day, jumped out (cut the side of his leg wide open) and ran into a field because he saw a bunch of wildflowers he knew my heart would melt over. They were wilted by the time he got home and thankfully the blood clotted in his leg, but just the thought that he did what he did on some odd summer day meant the world to me.

When you see something at a store or on the side of the road that make you think "Gosh, she would really get a kick out of this" or "she would just love that" or "her favorite color is pink, next Mother's Day I'll have to remember to get pink roses"... do it then, right that second. Don't wait. Do it.

Or be the first to speak up and say "I want it", only to go home and hand the rose to your mom. It's priceless. It's worth more than any dozen roses someone could buy me at a flower shop.

28 days, being alone and a lot of money

Day #28 today and $168 saved. Remember, thats a low number though... I put down $4/pack on the website, but we really pay close to $5. And double that for the husbands quitting. I'm pretty much down to 1 pill a day, too, but not by choice. I just keep forgetting to take the other fricken pill.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. My husband left me. Ok, ok, not really... well, yes he did. He left me at 5am for snow covered snowmobile trails and a bunch of guys who all they do is sit around and talk BS and snowmobiles all day. It sorta rather sucked without him yesterday...

I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day - or any commercialized holiday really. Yeah ok, I go overboard on Christmas, but the rest? Bah humbug. A few years back... probably 8 or 9 years ago the husband walked in the door the afternoon of Valentine's Day with a huge vase filled with one dozen roses and a balloon that said "I love you" attached to it. I was in shock! MY husband did this? Talk about falling in love all over again!

In our house we have one checkbook and it stays with me. He hates writing checks and when he became a truck driver I was forced to be responsible for the bills, so it's just kinda turned into me handling it. Which works for us... and hey! no fighting about money! It's great. #1 reason for divorce in America is financial fighting - won't happen here! Anyway, I have the checkbook, but he has one of those handy dandy plastic cards that works as a check, so when he uses it he has to give me the reciept so I can deduct it out of the checkbook. He used the check-card for the roses, so he handed me the reciept. I took one look at it and said; "If you EVER buy me roses on Valentine's Day again, I'm leaving you".

And I mean it. Some guys will say women don't mean it when they say it, but I do. $85.00 for a dozen roses, a vase and a stupid balloon. That should be illegal. $85.00!! If he would have waited a week they would have been $40. It's stupid and as far as I'm concerned - not very original. If most men think women don't mean it... think about this. Women expect it. Valentine's and roses go together. We don't think men can think past what they know... it's an easy-out. Throw money out, bring home roses. Done.

Let me put it this way - I have all 3 notes that my husband has ever written me. I cherish them like I cherish my children. How many of those 12 roses do I have? None. Figure it out.

Anyway. How about a picture of my puppies just to lighten the mood?

Today we are off to the orthodontist and then the dentist. Demon #1 has braces and she doesn't have enough room in her mouth for all the teeth she has, so today the ortho is going to remove her brackets so the dentist can pull 2 of her teeth... then Monday we go back and have 2 more pulled. She's going to be a hurting unit after all this is said and done!

Speaking of money... do we really want to go here when talking about braces? Ugh. And, of course, our dental insurance is good, but it ain't that good! $4600 for braces... that should be illegal too! And I know that Taryn is going to remember that amount until the day she dies because she is always reminded of the cost. Now granted, she might have ended up with braces anyway, but a lot of it is her own fault. She had no idea what the outcome would be, but when she was little and her baby teeth were loosening up, she wouldn't tell us. She didn't want us to pull them out. So by the time we realized they were loose, they were hanging by a thread and the adult tooth had already come in... and not in the right place. She did this time and time again and it drove us nuts. Snaggletooth we called her, because... she was!

So I'm long winded today, ain't I? If you are still reading... whats wrong with you? I'm not that exciting! LOL

Anyway... have a great day and remember to smile at a stranger for no reason. They'll smile back - I promise!

Germs are our friends!

Health officials in Minnesota and North Dakota have identified the first known cases of drug-resistant meningitis.

Minnesota State Epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield is also urging caution in the use of antibiotics, saying that misused antibiotics are the main cause of drug-resistant illnesses.

Link

I had to laugh when I read what the epidemiologist said. Sure, you all know how I can go on about how irritated as crap I am when it comes to antibiotics, but THIS IS WHY! All illnesses are going to become drug-resistant if people keep pumping themselves full of antibiotics and don't just start letting their immune system do what it's supposed to do.
I learned so much when the girls were diagnosed with hypothyroidism. With their immune system being weak because of the messed up thyroid it just seemed to make more sense to build up their immune system instead of babying it. The more I read, the more I realized I was right (and that there are still people out there who are like me!!!).

So people STOP buying the antibacterial soaps and cleaners and whatnot... let the germs in! Germs are what we NEED to stop this stuff... as hypocritical as it sounds.... germs are our friends! Don't let doctors give you antibiotics unless you need them 110%. There are too many doctors out there who will give a person something "just in case". It ain't worth it. I'm glad the doctors we deal with are in this type of thinking - they HATE filling out antibiotic prescriptions. Where do you think I learned that it would do my girls better not to go on antibiotics for minor things or things that they should be able to fight off themselves? (ok, my doc & the pediatric endocrinologist at the St. Paul Children's Hospital)

Did you know that most people should be able to fight off a minor to average infection on their own, without the use of any antibiotics in their system?

Kitty's Beauty Tip #1

Totally random topic here.

Hair.

It's a well known fact around my family & friends that I don't brush or comb my hair. It's something I tell people who complain of frizzy hair or just thick hair (like yours truly) that they hate to brush everyday. I was one of those people many moons ago. You had to brush your hair, right? I mean, if you don't - you get rats nests in it or something, so I brushed my mop of hair everyday. I tried every kind of brush, comb and pick. I always had a big poof of frizz is all I got out of it.

Until one day in high school. Choir actually. There was a girl with thick long beautiful hair, hair I was so jealous of I could spit in it. I asked her what she used to brush her hair with, figuring it was some ancient secret like the rib bones of a rabbit or something.

"I don't"

Huh? What do you mean you don't brush your hair? You have to! She told me that the only thing that goes through her hair were her fingers. So I tried it.

Almost 20 years later I could probably count how many times I've brushed my hair on two hands. This doesn't count the phases of "mom let me do your hair" when the girls were younger. Ok, ok... they still go through that stage now. Even my hair dresser knows I don't brush my hair, so she lets me "brush it" instead.

So here is my tip for those of you who have long, thick and/or curly hair. Stop brushing it! Use your fingers as the comb... condition it normally, run your fingers through your hair and get the conditioner all through it, then when you towel dry your hair, don't rub the towel all over your head like you are trying to give your scalp rug burn - squish the ends in the towel, or better yet.. wrap it up in a towel for 5-10 minutes. Thats what towels are for - to capture water. Run your fingers through again. Get the knots out (after awhile you won't get knots anymore, I promise, especially if you stop the rug burn routine!). When you are blow drying... same thing - fingers.

Put something in your hair when it's wet. A touch of gel, moouse... whatever. Something. I prefer a light gel. I don't have any right now so I can't think of the brand, but it comes out in almost a liquid. Great stuff.

I'm trying to teach Demon #1 this trick, but she seems to think she has to brush her hair. Fine. She's the one who has to deal with the rats nests, not me.

Try it for a week... I'm serious. Then tell me how it went.

Oh... one more thing; quit shampooing your hair everyday. Always condition it, but don't shampoo it. I shampoo my hair twice a week, maybe 3 times if I'm lucky. But it gets conditioned every day. Unless you are using tons of hair spray, there is no need to shampoo it everyday. Shampoo dries your hair out. Water will clean it just fine.

And my shampoo of choice? Dove. It's a wonderful shampoo. Conditioner? Aussie (in the purple bottle). Great stuff. Plus, according to my niece Jessica, it smells like candy.

It does too.