Spooky and Annoying

So there is this broom in Prattville, Alabama that stands on its own.

The video swept (pun intended) across the country! Pretty creepy, right?

But then I walked passed my kitchen last night and saw this -



Whaaaa???!!!

The Boy did this. It was pretty impressive. He took it down and stood it up a few times just to show me how he had balanced it. I told him to take it closer to the stove to see if it would balance in a different area. IT WOULDN'T BALANCE THERE!

OOOOOooooOOOoOOO Even creepier when it is in your own house.

Hey TV stations! Come see us and bring your cameras!

__________________________


In other news...Cooper wants to know what's up with little sisters and can we send this one back?

Brusha Brusha Brusha

A couple of weeks ago, The Boy and I started a little something new - the "October Oral Care Challenge" created by Listerine and Reach.

We were given a huge box of dental care products including Listerine Total Care mouthwash, Reach toothbrushes and floss, Agent Cool Blue and Smart Rinse. We also recieved a set of tooth shaped stickers and a calendar to keep track of our activities.

The goal of this challenge is to brush, floss and rinse every day, twice a day for two weeks — a key step in building a strong foundation of good oral care habits.

First, a swish around with Agent Cool Blue! This tints the plaque on your teeth so when you brush, you can make sure you have visual proof you are getting rid of it. (This is a kid's product, but I used it too. Remember when we got those little tablets in school that we chewed and turned our plaque red so we could brush it off? This is along those lines, but way better.)

Brusha, brusha, brusha!

Then the floss. We had two choices: Reach Access Daily Flosser or Reach Ultraclean Floss.

I'm a big fan of the Access. The Commander and I both have them and use them all of the time. It is so much easier to use the toothbrush shaped flosser way back on the molars than it is to get my ginormous hands back there.

The Ultraclean floss caught my eye though. It has "proprietary flexible MICRO-GROOVES technology" and cleans 2X more plaque. As much as I like the Access, sometimes I have to pull out the big guns for something that is stuck pretty well. This did it! (A little tip from my former dentist - if you have something that just won't come out after you have flossed and flossed, tie a knot into the floss and pull the knot between the teeth. I have had to do this several times and it has always worked.)

Finally, the rinse. The Boy had Smart Rinse and I had the Listerine Total Care. Both worked very well and left us kissable!

We were very happy with this challenge and recommend the products mentioned above (especially the Access Flosser.)

If you would like to try something from Listerine, Listerine Kids or Reach, they currently have a special offer on their websites to receive coupons for their products.


___________

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Listerine and Reach and received Listerine and Reach products for the Oral Care Challenge and a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Shoop, shoop

We had seven kinds of fun on Saturday

Wrist Pain Update

I went to the doctor and got an xray.

Bad news.

I'm not big boned.

heheheheheh

Nothing is broken so he thinks it is tendonitis. Wrist brace 23.5/7 (I have to shower ya know.) for two weeks (He said that or a cast. I'll take the brace, tyvm.) then slowly start doing range of motion exercises. Two Aleve twice a day and Tylenol for pain. I have to wait 7-10 days after the pain is gone to start bowling again. :(

If it doesn't get better, orthopedic surgeon for further examination. Something could be torn.

He said where my pain is is not a usual place for wrist pain. Why am I not surprised?

Too many cooks in the kitchen

So I left.

He wanted to learn to cook, so we turned him loose on the Indian Tacos.



Frybread thief!

For your viewing pleasure.

Fifteen years ago...

My folks.


His folks.


The oldest.


He's grown since.


Happy Anniversary. Mwah.

It's Fall, Y'all

The leaves are turning a gorgeous rainbow of reds, yellows and oranges.



Soon, we'll be raking the leaves into large piles, ready for young children to jump and frolic amongst them.



Can Winter be far behind?

Awwwww.

Scotch will play with her. Cooper says, "Stop touching me!"

Cough

The Boy has been coughing for about a week now. It has been a dry cough usually when he gets up in the morning. Nothing a few cough drops couldn't handle.

This morning though? His cough sounded seven kinds of juicy.

That means we get to test our (CUE OMINOUS MUSIC) health insurance company (rhymes with Banana.)

When we signed up last year, we chose the policy with the ungodly high deductible so we would be able to afford the premiums. We can pretty much handle an occasional office visit (we don't get sick much, knock wood and all that), but we wanted something in case we had to go to the hospital. And we wanted prescription coverage (I'm looking at you, High Blood Pressure! You too, Migraines!) One bonus to this premium is that we get six visits per year where we just have to pay a co-pay before we start doing the deductible.

Fast forward to one year, one office visit (not in network, dangit) and a few prescriptions later. We get the letter in the mail for the policy renewal. Surprise, surprise. The premiums had gone up $80 (EIGHTY DOLLARS!!!) a month. Bastards.

The Commander called and got himself taken off of the policy since he can go to the VA clinic. It nearly halved the premium.

So today, I took The Boy to a Banana network clinic in the town 20 some-odd miles away. (What's that, you say? Why didn't I take him to the clinic here in town. 'Scuse me while I laugh in your face.)

The Boy saw a physician's assistant and was diagnosed with Tonsillitis. I pay the co-pay, go to the pharmacy, gather the prescriptions and head home. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

WRONG.

WRONG.

WRONG.

Ring-a-ling. Hi, this is the clinic, we don't do Banana. But we will give you a 15% discount making the total NINETY-SOME-ODD DOLLARS.

(Expletive deleted.)

I sign on to MyBanana online and sure enough, there is the doctors' names listed as providers.

I call Banana and explain what we have been told. She tells me that as long as they file under a doctor's name (not a PA's [there are a lot of those here]), they will pay for it.

I call the clinic back and the lady was GONE FOR THE DAY. Of COURSE she was. I passed along the information and hopefully it will be covered.

I think I may need some of the "with codeine" that came in the pharmacy bag. (Kidding! Against the law. Never do that!)

Maybe.

When you wake up at 3am, you look for things to do.

You Are Warm Apple Cider

You love to feel warm and full. You love all the small comforts that come with fall. Unlike most people, you are as active in fall as you are in the summer. You just make sure and keep warm. For you, fall is the perfect time of year to visit cafes or go for long walks. The season makes you feel energized. You love the bustle of everyone being back from the summer vacation and back to work.

What Autumn Smell Are You?

Blogthings: Waste Time at Work!

Your Hippie Chick Name Is: Promise

Right on, sister!

Hippie Chick Name Generator

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

Your Birth Month Says You're Flexible

Unique and creative, you seek your own path in life. You love change and are able to adapt to any situation. Your soul reflects: Sweetness, joy, and a complete life. Your gemstone: Emerald Your flower: Lily of the Valley Your colors: Yellow, red, and green

What Does Your Birth Month Mean?

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!

Sorry Sweetie

You Wear the Pants in Your Relationship

You definitely wear the pants in your relationship, and you sweetie doesn't seem to mind. Your partner seems to worship you, and you could get away with murder... if you wanted. Enjoy your top dog status, but don't exploit it too much. Even if your sweetie doesn't require compromise, it if you compromised every once and a while.

Who Wears the Pants in Your Relationship?

The First Rule of Blogthings Is: You Don't Talk About Blogthings

He's smart, this one.

Me - How was your day?

The Boy - I learned something, but I forgot what it was.

I was actually a paid "professional" once.

So. Or should I say "sew".

I'm not a sewer so much. I was the official seamstress for the OSU Cowboy football team once (for about two weeks), but other than a straight line, I'm not so good.

The Boy is now a Webelo Scout. This means he gets a new Scout shirt. That means he gets new patches.

(See where I am going with this?)

I had to sew on a new council patch (shoulder), two new pack numbers (under council patch) and a world crest emblem (above the left pocket). That is where my troubles lie.

I did pretty well on the council patch. Awesome on the pack numbers. But when it came to the world crest. I buggered it up.

First - I put it up too high.
Second - It is round. (See straight line comment above.)

You couldn't even see it the way the collar folded over on it. I had to use my seam ripper (I love seam rippers.) and carefully remove it. These shirts aren't cheap and I didn't want to have to replace it.

I repositioned it and used some straight pins to hold it in place. Every time I had to spin the shirt on the curve, the patch would move, but not the shirt.

Say it with me, "Frustrating."

Finally (and there may have been some Super Glue involved) I got it on. Now he is good to go.

I hope he stays in Scouts. The oldest boy got his Eagle Scout last year. It would be nice to have them both be Eagles.

We had to change packs this year. The one here kinda fell apart. The Boy was the only one in his den to earn his advancement badge. Most parents did not help their boys at all. It was sad. Now we drive up into Minnesnowda. I think we are going to like this group much better.

Some people call it a sport.

Shopping. I do it well. Most of the time, I'm just lucky.

The other day, I was jonesing for some sweaters at an online store I lurve. I put three of them in my shopping cart just for giggles.

This morning, an email from that store appeared in my inbox. It said, "Buy one, get one 50% off!" and "Buy three items, get $3.00 shipping!"

That clenched it. I only had to throw one more thing in my shopping cart. (You can't just buy three things at a BOGO sale.)

But wait, surely there must be a code somewhere online to SAVE EVEN MORE MONEY. Sure enough. I found a code for $20 off a purchase of $80 or more.

Cha-ching.

Now I'm set for winter. (Almost. I still need winter footwear.)

Good thing. High today is only getting up to 67 degrees.

Yippy-skippy!

We finally made it!

We finally made it to the county fair.

This guy was here. He's a lot cuter when he cleans up. The Commander wanted me to tell him he has seen his wife nekkid. I didn't wait in line to see him, though. I figured I would get up there and babble like a fool. So I just stood back and snapped some photos.



I did get my fried Snickers bar. Mmmmmm. I could have had another, but I'm too cheap. Of course I had to buy an RC Cola. You can take the woman out of Oklahoma...



My feets hurt.

OMG!

Patches used her eye lasers to stun Scotch!

R.I.P. Black Dog

I killed a dog tonight.

I was driving down the highway out in the middle of nowhere, doing a little over 55 MPH (Thanks Iowa! for giving me great gas mileage.) and I noticed a dog sniffing around in the ditch on my right.

I was getting ready to turn off of the highway, so I started slowing down while looking at the dog. I was saying to myself, "That dog looks like (The Commander's cousin Joe's dog) Sammy. But it doesn't have the white tipped tail."

When all of a sudden, Not Sammy made a bee-line for the other side of the road. I barely had time to slam on the brakes and no time at all to swerve. I hit him dead center. (No pun.)

He looked like an adolescent dog. Medium sized. Gangly. Sorta doing the "yup, yup, yup" gallop across the road.

I looked in my rear view mirror and didn't see him. I thought, "Great, he's stuck under the car." (Not really cold hearted. More like OH NO!)

Then I looked in my side mirror and saw him come to a floppy stop on the opposite side of the road. I wanted to stop, but I didn't want to stop. Know what I mean? I ended up not stopping. I was on my way to take The Boy to piano and didn't want to be late for the first lesson with the new teacher.

The Boy glanced over at me and said, "What was that?"

I told him I hit a dog.

He didn't say anything for a while. Then he asked me why I looked so sad. I told him that I was sad for the dog and sad for the owners if it had any.

He didn't say anything for a while, then he reached over and patted my leg. "Was he dead?"

"I think so."

"What position was he in when you hit him?"

"He ran out in front of me."

Oopsie. He didn't know I had hit a live dog, he thought I had ran over an already dead dog.

I'm still sad. I have never done that before. I have been in the car when my dad hit a dog, but I have never been the driver.

It isn't pleasant.

His first solo.

His first solo ride. It wasn't very long, but he did real well. The second ended with a fall at the end. The third ended with an almost fall and me yelling at him, "NO! NO!" As soon as he stops, he wants to hop off which is exactly what he did with his bicycle. We told him after ride #2 that he couldn't be jumping off like that. He did anyway. It wouldn't be so bad, but he doesn't put it in neutral before he hops off. The third ride, he hopped off and gunned the thing and it took off without him. I think he learned his lesson.

I'm officially an Iowa Housewife.

Sweet corn time here in Iowa. We have been getting it from roadside stands for a couple of months. You have to be careful and not buy too early. They charge and arm and a leg for the first couple of weeks. I saw some for $7.00 a dozen and passed on them. The most I have paid has been $5.00 for 13 ears (the ones below and the most delicious) down to $3.50 for a dozen (they weren't too shabby either).

Yesterday, I bought $20.00 worth and ended up with 55 ears of corn. We ate six last night and I set six aside for tonight. The rest I put up.


Here I go!



Mmmmmmm.



Token artsy shot.



Most of the worms were at the top of the silks, but this little fella had dug down deep.



Boil them up for a bit.



Quick ice bath to blanch.



Debris.



Scrape, scrape, scrape. I bought a tool to use, but it was worthless.



Ta-dah! I got nine bags of two cups each and two bags with six ears each. That should last for a month, right?



Now, who's coming to clean up the mess?

My Living Will

I, Sherry, being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means.

Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of lawyers or doctors interested in simply running up the bills.

If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask for at least one of the following:

Donuts
Chocolate
Margarita
Sex
Cold Beer
Chocolate
Chicken fried steak
Cream gravy
Mexican food
Chocolate
French fries
Chocolate
Pizza
Ice cream
Doritos
Chocolate
Hard Cider
Milk
Chocolate

It should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes, let the 'fat lady sing,' and call it a day!

Nope

I was hoping it would say, "WTF? You shouldn't be teaching anybody anything!" or "Art"

You Should Teach Kindergarten

You are a warm, empathetic person who truly loves children. And children love you right back. You have more patience than most, and you're able to let little things slide. You are also expressive and fun. You have the perfect personality for reading aloud and leading art projects. You are creative and inspiring. You can keep learning interesting, simple, and fun.

What Grade Should You Teach?