PJ pants? Where can I get another pair?

Something I read this morning really ticked me off. Check out this blog/article: Should Moms Wear Pajamas to the Store

Bits & pieces:

So wrong, in fact, that Tesco, a giant grocery chain in the UK, has actually had to enact an official store policy banning patrons wearing slippers and/or nightwear.

and this....

For heaven’s sakes, moms, have some pride! I don’t actually care so much about what the other shoppers are thinking: Is a mother in her flannels really a lot worse than Britney Spears prancing through Target half-naked, in an outfit consisting mainly of flip-flops, cut-offs and a Starbucks cup? The problem is a matter of self-respect. How can you take yourself, and what you do in life, seriously, if you don’t think you’re important enough to even bother getting dressed in the morning?

and that...

So far, no U.S. stores have followed in Tesco’s footsteps. But there are a number of people here who wouldn’t mind that happening. One Internet comment urged Walmart to impose the same rule. Added another, “I hope America adapts this ASAP.”

Ok wow. Get a life. Someone actually gives a crap if someone else wears PJ bottoms to a store? Are you the fricken fashion police? I can sit here and pick out a lot more "outfits" that should be banned from stores and none of them include PJ pants.
Now what I find incredibly wrong about this whole thing is that people don't seem to blink an eye about trying to get major chains to do this! What country do we live in again? You want a store to tell you what kind of pants you can wear? What if my PJ pants don't have bears or cupcakes on them? What if they are a solid color? Are you going to check my tag at the door? Feel the fabric to see if it's flannel? If I get hauled out because I'm wearing a pair of PJ pants what about the woman who walks in with all her cleavage hanging out? Or the guy with so many holes in his jeans you can see what brand of boxers he's wearing? And of course there is my personal favorite... the farmer who had to stop and get some milk and you can smell him when he walks in the door because he's been around cow shit all morning.
People need to really sit back and think about the word "freedom" before they start flapping their jaws about what other people do.
I work at home for a number of reasons, but one of them is because I like working in PJ pants. Are they clean? Yes. Am I clean? Yes. Hell, I even have makeup on... it's really helps bring out the color of the purple teddy bears on my pants. If I need to run up to the store, the last thing I'm worried about is some holier than thou mom thinking that my choice of clothing is wrong. My ass is covered... get over it.
And... yes there's more. Slippers. My favorite pair of slippers are moccasin like. They are slippers in every sense, but I wear them everywhere. To the store, on the short walk to my parents house... how the hell does anyone know if they are slippers or not? And I really don't give a shit if the woman behind me at the checkout has big floppy bunny slippers. I bet her feet are warm.

Ok thank you. I'm done now. Leave me and my PJ pants alone. I think these moms are just jealous because my ass looks better in PJ pants than theirs does...

This was brought up at IC Forums, too. Seems like I hang around with the right crowd.

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....

Halloween, football and why I'll never be president

Halloween went better than I expected. Our high school football team was at the semi-finals out of town last night so everyone figured that, no pun intended, that this town would be a ghost town. We had quite a few kids, it was fun. A friend of ours who I used to work with pulled up in his hearse for his yearly drive through town dressed up as the Grim Reaper. Gotta love him.

Our team got their ass kicked. We usually have these obnoxious scores of 64-0 or something stupid like that and they sulked away with a 30-0 loss. To quote this mornings news:

“They just seem to go to the state tournament every year,” said New London-Spicer fullback Taylor Dammermann of the Huskies, who have been to state 18 times since 1974.

See? I love my high school and all that, but these constant trips to the prep bowls gets old.....

And I decided this morning that I will never run for president of the United States. Sorry to disappoint you all, but I'd be screwed. I've spent the last few weeks listening to all of these people (ok I'm not just talking about the presidential candidates here) apologizing for things that they said that somehow or another were taken out of context. Or not apologizing, whatever. Like McCain and his "that one" comment. I honestly didn't even catch any offensiveness when I heard him say it and I still think it's the stupidest thing to make headlines and end up on t-shirts all over the country. I'd say something stupid the first day of my campaign, I know I would. I say stupid things at least 10 times a day. Sometimes just to the dogs or the cats and I'm sure they are offended, but luckily they can't tell me they are and thankfully, if I ever did run for a position, they can't dial the phone and tell people the stupid things I've said.
With the end in sight I hope everyone has made up their minds by Tuesday. I don't know how they can - there is so much mudslinging going on that both of the candidates look like complete assholes. I'm just voting for who the majority of my family is voting for. At least they told me good things about the dude.
And then... we have these states who have this electronic voting machines problem. Votes being switched, votes not being counted. WTF? I head some guy say on some news station last night that we can stick a card in an ATM and get cash and our bank knows exactly how much we took out, we can buy a lottery ticket and not have that messed up but the government can't figure out a voting machine? I think it's time to go back to the old fashioned "check here if you wish to vote for this person". Lets hope it's not another year of a 6 year wait to see who will win.

I'm sure it will be a close race, so I could see it happening.

And today the husband is headed out to sight in the gun he's using next weekend for deer hunting. And do a bunch of other stuff, too I guess. He'll be gone for 10 days.... that's gonna be strange. Well, less than that if they get their limit of deer. That'd be sweet. I want a freezer full of venison hamburger when this is all said and done! Num Yummy.

I Quit T-shirt Designing

I Quit Snowmobiling
Your sledding buddies will get a laugh out of this one when they see "I quit snowmobiling" but then see that it actually says "I quit my job so I could do more snowmobiling".

I hate having days like this. I can't think of anything to design. I made this one, but it's only because I saw a similar quote on another site. It said "I quit ________ dancing".

But now I'm stuck. My mind is completely blank and I should be pushing out designs like crazy with Christmas coming up. But I can't. It's like a writers block sort of thing.

Throw me a bone - what should I design today?

I just hate days like this.

Typical Monday.

Ok I did one for scrapbooking, too. I Quit Scrapbooking I really am bored today and not very creative.

It's a Sunday

I'm sitting here watching the clock tick down until the girls leave for PopTalk/Confirmation Class so I can jump in the shower and get myself ready for church.

Parents have to go to church as a requirement starting this year. Parents should go to church with their children, it's only common sense, but this year the parents have to answer questions - just like the students - about the church service/sermon. I don't know how I feel about that.

Yeah I do. I don't like it. I don't like being told that I HAVE to go to church every Sunday and I sure don't like having "homework" attached to it. While you are in confirmation classes, sure... makes sense. But why the parents? It takes a lot away from the reason you are going to church in the first place, IMO.

I left the Catholic church because of their rules and I fell in love with the Lutheran church because of the laid back, welcoming feel when you walk in the door. I never felt welcomed at a Catholic church like I do at ours. But now? Now all of a sudden there is this obligation attached to going and I don't like that. I want to go because I want to go... not because someone tells me I have to go so I can answer questions so my children can be confirmed.

I just think it's wrong. It's like having to pass some graduation test so my child can graduate from high school.

Dirty Sinks & Flushing Toilets

This morning my face just felt like it needed a good washing. This is something I usually do at night, but this morning I just wanted a clean face. So I went into the bathroom, let Serena drink for a little bit and finally got tired of waiting for her to get that perfect drip to drink to satisfy her feline OCD and I turned the water on hot.

Funny how fast a cat will jump off a counter when their head gets soaked.

I splash hot water on my face.. opens up the pores, you know. It's funny, I always think of a sauna when I wash my face. It's like it's my reminder on what to use - hot or cold. So I wet my face down and grab Demon #2's "Morning Burst" facial cleanser. Morning Burst - everyone can use one of those, right? I lather it up and start rubbing it all over my face. Soap near my eyes doesn't bother me so I'm rubbing it into my eyebrows and all over. Maybe it's an art form, but I can accomplish this without getting any in my eyes. I'm doing this as I'm looking at my horrid reflection in the mirror. When did my eyes get so... sunken in? Must have been somewhere between the birth of the 1st & 2nd demon.

So I'm looking in the mirror and I look down.

A washcloth that needs to be washed.

The sink is dirty. And full of bubbles. If it can clean my face it can clean the sink, right?

So I grab the washcloth and start wiping out the sink. I don't know how we get this brown film behind the faucet, but we do. I don't have any now because I cleaned it off. Yuck. Then I notice the dried toothpaste on the counter. Doesn't anyone see the toothpaste fall off the toothbrush? I suppose it's just like the slippers that are right now laying in the middle of the kitchen... Mom will take care of it.

So I clean off the toothpaste that's dried... really dried to the counter. This actually needs a fingernail to get all of it off. Yuck. Must have been there for days. As I'm doing this I look over and see all the hair that's accumulating in the corners of the counter. No, it's not pet hair. It's human hair. I handed down a wonderful gene to the demons - thick and constant shedding hair. I wipe off all of the counter. All clean. Wow. I've accomplished quite a bit before 7:30 in the morning!

I turn around and see the toilet. Ahhh yes, that hasn't been cleaned in a week so I grab the cleaner from under the sink and start squirting it into the toilet. I turn around to grab the toilet brush - those things are actually really disgusting when you think about it, you know that? I reach down ------

OUCH!! WHAT THE HELL?!?!?! WHY ARE MY EYES BURNING????

Ooops. I was washing my face, wasn't I... and I sorta got sidetracked and forgot to rinse the soap off my face. It's now found its way into my right eye and is burning like a ******-******!!! I rinse it off quick and so one of those hand-as-a-cup-of-water eye washing tricks, dry my face off as Demon #1 comes into the bathroom. I go out and grab my now-cold cup of coffee. I dump the cold coffee and get myself a nice hot refill.

Then I hear it....

The toilet bowl cleaner is flushed down the toilet.

My bathroom counter & sink is clean, though.

And so is my face.

I'm in a pissy mood.

I'll get over it soon, but I just need to let this out.

Slept like shit last night. Dog took over most of the bed and I couldn't push her out of the way because I was afraid I'd push where her stitches are, so I was a nice mama and let her be comfortable.

Stupid dog.

I get up this morning to find that she tore off the bandages on her paws even though she has the cone on. Two stitches are chewed out. Bandages are nowhere to be found.

I bet they are digesting.

Stupid dog.

She rings the bell... I put her out.

I get up, make coffee and go to the computer.

Dog wants back in.

Go back to the coffee maker and the fricken thing didn't make any coffee!!!!!! Turn it off, turn it back on... have to wait for my coffee again.

Stupid machine.

Dog rings the bell again to go out. I put her out.

She wants back in.

Stupid dog.

I start waking up the demon spawns from the devil himself. It took 1/2 hour to wake up #1, 45 minutes to wake up #2.

Stupid... ok, I won't say that.

Dog rings the bell again to go out. I put her out.

She wants back in.

Stupid dog.

Demons get up, start getting ready. Well, they only have 15 fricken minutes until the bus comes and they know I won't drive their sorry asses to school. As Demon #2 is walking through the kitchen I hold out her pill container to give her her pills and say "here Bear, take your pills"... she walks right by me and doesn't say a word. She proceeds to put her shoes on and I'm chewing her ass for not acknowledging the fact that I spoke words to her.

.... can I say it yet?

Dog rings the bell again to go out. I put her out.

She wants back in.

Stupid dog.

Demon takes the pills and goes outside.

I go upstairs and both demons left their bedroom lights on!

I really, really want to say it.......

Just a normal ring, please.

I love my friends & family, I really do but there are a certain few of them that I HATE to call. Why? Because they feel the need to have these stupid ass answer tones. Why do people use these? You choose something YOU like, but YOU never hear it... only people calling you do. I have a friend, love her to death, who has Ron White's "Tater Salad" comedy routine as the tone... so every time I call her I get to hear Ron White tell me about how when he was arrested the cop asked him if he was Ron "Tater Salad" White.

I've been hearing it for months... maybe years, even decades, I don't know.

I now hate it.

I was channel surfing yesterday and came across that and I just about threw the remote at the tv. SHUT UP!!!! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR DRUNKEN ESCAPES DID TO YOU!!!!

I now will never be able to watch/listen that one again.... and it was my favorite of his.

It's like a broken record. Why do people do this? The worst ones are of songs that you don't even know.. or can't understand because the quality is so shitty. People, just let it be. I just want to hear a ring - nothing more. Save this stuff for your own ring-tone... so YOU can hear it over and over and over and over again, leave the answer tones to just a plain old ring-ring.

Whats funny is that these people FORGET what they even have as their answer tones because THEY NEVER HEAR IT!!

"Oh I just love that song!"

THEN WHY AM I FORCED TO LISTEN TO IT?!?!?! PUT IT AS YOUR RING TONE, NOT A FRICKEN ANSWER TONE!

If you have some family & friends who have stopped calling you or don't call you as often... do you have an answer tone? They just might be sick of hearing it.

Take it off.

New Pet Bowls at the store - quick, go look!

Just a quickie note to say that we now have pet bowls available at InsanityWear.com & SledderWear.com!!!
Each of our designs is available on either the small or large pet bowl. Ok, so not all the designs "make sense" for a dog or cat... but hey, who am I to say they don't look good printed on it, right?

I'm thinking these could even be considered at water dishes for reptiles! How sweet would that be? Or rabbits... or ferrets... I guess that's why they are called "pet" bowls and not "feline" or "canine" bowls.

Of course, as always, we'll personalize for ya! You can bet that Saki & Chico will be getting their own personalized bowls! Spoiled brats that they are.

Speaking of Saki... think a quick good thought for her today. She had "the surgery" today. (she done got spayed!) I am a responsible pet owner, hear me roar! No puppies for my Saki-girl! I called the vet already (did you expect less?) and she did great... made it through surgery fine and is resting.

.... all alone in a cage by herself...

She has an e-collar on, so I bet she's just pissed off! It's one of those cone-head things so she can't bite at her stitches. You can bet there will be embarrassing pics of her on here tomorrow! I can pick her up anytime after 9am tomorrow. I can't wait!

.... because she'll be all alone in a cage all by herself all night long.....

Ok, yes, I have issues. I HATE leaving my animals overnight at a vet. The cats I won't leave. Saki I did just because of how big & hyper she is and I don't know that I can keep her quiet, calm and rested so soon after surgery. They say they keep them overnight for "observation". Tell me... who is there all night long to observe them? That's my point. Nobody is. So if she tears her stitches at 11pm tonight and is bleeding all over the place, nobody will be there to see it until 6:30tomorrow morning.

I know, I need to let this go. She'll be fine.

Right?

Anyway... go buy a pet bowl.

St. Cloud Times | Local News

St. Cloud Times | Local News: "forecasters are now predicting between 10 and 15 inches of snow from a winter storm expected to hit Central Minnesota later today.

St. Cloud State University meteorologist Bob Weisman predicts 10 to 15 inches and the National Weather Service predicts between 12 and 15.

A winter storm warning issued Wednesday takes effect at 1 p.m. today and runs until 7 a.m. Saturday.

About a foot of heavy, wet snow is expected to fall in an area that includes St. Cloud, Hutchinson and Redwood Falls.

The warning begins at 7 p.m. for Little Falls and Alexandria.

The record snowfall for April 10 in St. Cloud is 6 inches set in 1992 and the record is 2.5 inches on April 11 in 1993."

What the hell is this? 15 inches of snow? Seriously, Mrs. Mother Nature... or are you a Miss? I've always assumed that you are either married to Old Man Winter or Father Time, one of the two... whoever you are - can you stop with the fricken snowstorms already? I've already cleaned out my flowerbeds, been on walks with the dogs with no coat and, don't tell my parents but, I've already gone barefoot outside!

... there's some rule that says you can only go barefoot in the months that don't have an "R" in them. I break it every year.

Either give me a real winter... blast me with 24 inches of snow in November and keep dumping it through the end of February... then let it slowly melt and let me tend to my rose bushes.

Not this stuff shit. I hate it. And even for the snowmobiling husband that I have... it sucks. By the time he gets it all plowed off the driveways that he has to do, it will be melted (it is supposed to be in the 50s on Sunday) and he won't get to go sleddin' anyway.

Enough!

Disfigured woman found dead after French court rejects euthanasia - Yahoo! News

Disfigured woman found dead after French court rejects euthanasia - Yahoo! News: "A mother of three, Sebire attracted a strong outpouring of sympathy when she appealed in a television interview last month for the right to 'depart peacefully'.

Before-and-after pictures of the woman, her face severely deformed, have been featured in the press along withd her account of frightened children who ran away at the sight of her.

Sebire learnt in 2002 that she had developed an esthesioneuroblastoma, an uncommon malignant tumour in the nasal cavity, which she said had led to 'atrocious' suffering.

'In 2000, I lost the sense of smell and taste... and I lost my sight in October 2007,' she said in the television interview.

'One would not allow an animal to go through what I have endured,' she said before urging President Nicolas Sarkozy to intervene and grant her request."

I believe that the one thing a person truly has to call their own is their own life. I've heard the arguments that your life effects others and, yes, that is true... but after all is said and done it is still YOUR life. YOU have to live with the consequences of your actions, YOU have to live with your health, YOU have to live with your looks. Simple as that.

Law or no law - laws were made by mankind, they can be changed by mankind. A law is not written in gold.

What are your thoughts on this one? Do you believe in the law... or do you believe in being humane?

Stupid Friggin Onions

I have the worst body chemistry when it comes to perfumes and such. Within an hour or so you can't smell them on my anymore... but let me cut up a fricken onion and I can smell the damn thing on my hands for DAYS!
I washed my hands after cutting it up last night.. washed them this morning before I put my contacts in, plus I took a shower - today is shampoo day, so I shampooed and conditioned my hair... plus cleaned up the body parts with soap. You would think after all that I wouldn't be able to smell the onion, right?
Nooooooo. Onions are the ONLY thing that stays on my skin!!!

I love onions, but I hate the smell of it on my hands.

Oh.My.God.

Yes, I can say that.

This is going to be a big fat whiny all about me, feel sorry for me post. Just today, feel sorry for me, please.

I have the worst fricken cramps EVER! They are shooting down into my thighs they are so bad. I can't stand up straight and it's giving me a headache from hell. I've never stuck a pig with anything that would make it bleed, but there is a saying "bleeding like a stuck pig", which supposedly pigs bleed a whole bunch when you stick them with something. Well, call me a stuck pig.

TMI, I know.

This does, however, explain why I was in such a fricken bass ass mood 2 days ago and why I developed a monstrous pimple on my face the past week.

I'm done having demons so why won't they rip my woman insides out???!!!?!?!?!?!!!!?!?!?!?!!

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?

Doggie tails

So I went on a little BSL kick today. Found out that MN is going to try to pass a statewide dog breed ban in 2008 again.

I'll leave my rants for another time - I did it with graphics.

(None of them are, actually!)


One of my BIGGEST pet peeves - teach your children to respect animals and how to PROPERLY act around them! If the demons are acting stupid with the dog, I'll flat out tell them that if they get bit it's their own damn fault. They know better, but there are a lot of kids out there who don't.


Remember that? Yep... way back when. Dobies were the meanest dogs a person could own... but then the fad of rotties & pit bulls took over.


I just personally got a chuckle when I read this one..... I had to use the "fact" on a design!

You can find all of these designs & more pet related ones here.

Teenagers and Walmart!

First of all - we, as in the husband & I, have decided that once a body has been alive for 13 years the brain that is located in the head of that body either falls out or temporarily shuts down until ... well, we aren't sure how long. Possibly 21, don't know. I hope not that long. Demon #1 is brain dead. I've come to that conclusion. She walks around with a blank look on her face all the time and if you ask her something - anything - her only response is "huh?". If she was a little bit smarter I would think she was on drugs - but she's just not smart enough to figure out how to buy the stuff, much less figure out what to do with it. She'd be dumb enough to ask me how to use it.

Then there's Walmart.

The husband gets a gift card every year for Christmas from the place he works. This year we were given a $300 one to Walmart. It's always to Walmart. Every year the husband hands it over to me as a birthday/Christmas present (easy out!). This year I had it spent before we got it - I wanted a video camera. We've never had one, so I wanted one.

Did some research on Walmarts website today. Found a nice Sony one, pretty much what I wanted, for $314. Hey, I can handle that. So tonight we loaded us up in the truck and headed to Walmart to buy me that video camera.

It was $348 at the store.

What?

I told the not-so-happy-helper that online it's listed at $314. She looks at me like "so?". After a few comments, phone calls to whoever and a football type huddle between her and this other happy-helper person they inform me that they cannot sell me the camera for $314.

Ok let me get this straight. I can go home, order it online for $314... get it "shipped" to their store for FREE (free in-store pickup, you know), drive back to the store I'm already in and pick up my $314 camera, but I can't just walk in and buy one off the shelf for $314, I have to pay $348 to get it without a computer middle man?

Dumbest thing I've ever heard.

So I came home... ordered my camera and will go back on Tuesday and get my camera.

Anything to save $34.

Tune in next week for videos. I might even show you what a brain dead teenager looks like in real-time.

Bengal Nurses Piglets Dressed In Tiger-Striped Coats

Bengal Nurses Piglets Dressed In Tiger-Striped Coats
Zoo Exchanges Animals To Amuse Visitors
BANGKOK, Thailand -- What do you get when you mingle piglets with a tiger or tiger cubs with a pig? Motherly love. At least that's what a zoo in Thailand found out after placing several piglets with a 6-year-old bengal tigress. The bengal feeds the piglets, which were dressed by zoo workers in tiger-pattern coats, and across the cage tiger cubs are fed by a sow.

Zoo officials said the animals have been interchanged with parents for the past few years. Officials said the reason for the experiment is to amuse visitors. Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

This just made me sick. I know they aren't getting harmed, but come on... this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Great amusement when the tiger realizes her "babies" smell just a little bit more like dinner than a cub and eat one in front of all these amused visitors. It's one thing to do to save the life of the babies...

I love zoos, I love seeing animals, but I hate them at the same time. It's sad when you stop to think about it. To sit and watch any wild animal not react at the sound of a human - they aren't wild anymore, they are a prisoner.

This story is just humiliating to the animals. Do they actually think that the pigs dressed up like tigers tricks the mom? She knows they aren't hers - it's called scent and instinct. She's doing this because she has the wildness drained out of her....

Want 2 kids? Cheap!

My kids are demons from hell. They wouldn't cooperate for the family picture, they were crabby and wouldn't smile. I said we'd try again next week, but with a little cropping & some blurring I think they can just be cut out of the family this year and we'll send a pic of just me & Trucker on our Christmas cards.
I had a killer headache that felt like my head was going to explode... you think they just could have smiled. Grrrr

GROUP HUG! Oh wait, it's breaking rules.

Did you hear about that 13 year old that got detention for hugging her friend goodbye the other day? It wasn't even a real hug! It was a sideways hug at that. This country is going to hell or maybe we are in hell, I don't know. Detention for hugging? Give me a fricken break. Sexual harassment - where do people come up with this shit? How about these hug-police walk around the school and start handing out detention for more meaningful things...

Lets see, how about name-calling? Teasing? Pushing? Downright rudeness to your fellow classmates? Nope. They can't seem to do that and trust me, I know from personal experience. Demon #2 has shown me the light on what other kids can get away with... but don't hug anyone.

Jesus help us all.

That whole story had me in a tizzy all day yesterday. I just fumed at the thought of it. I could say so much about it, but it would all basically be the same crap. Thats what it is, crap.

And crap is what I heard last night. Demon #1 got in trouble yesterday at school. No detention or anything, but her and her friends got a good talking to...

about.....

a group hug at lunchtime!

Yes. A group hug. In our school. The school that still sings Silent Night and Hear Comes Santa Claus at the CHRISTMAS program has fallen into the no-hugging bullcrap.

Maybe they should have yelled at each other, maybe that would have been acceptable. But no hugs. Nope. Don't show friendship or caring or loving or compassion.

Ok I'm done. I have dust to terminate.