Didn't I Outgrow This?!?

If you recall, I'm an Avon Lady and I even use their "premium" skin care line.

I *do* actually take care of my skin.

Yet, what the heck is this?!?

I am 38 years old people, and here I am searching out how to get rid of acne!!!

It's been so long since this was a problem, I don't even remember what causes it or how to treat it! Do I use hot compresses?  Do I stop eating chocolate?  Do I start using soap?  Do I stop using soap?  I don't know!

No, I haven't changed my skin care or started any new medicines or anything like that.

I'm worried it's one of those getting-old-raging-hormones things...!  Terrific.  A few more years and DD and I can share our pimple creams.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

The end.
 

What You Get When You Give a 9 Year Old Girl Your Camera

 

    

  

   

 

   

 

   

 

I'm Sad About Yankee Magazine

We used to subscribe to Yankee Magazine.  If you're not familiar with that magazine, it's a magazine about life and lifestyle of the New England area of the United States (the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachuettes, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine - sometimes northern NY is sort of included as well).  The New England - Yankee - lifestyle is one of being easy going, neighbor helping neighbor, believing that some things are still best the old fashioned way, having good common sense, a cozy atmosphere, home cooking, being hardworking...I think that's about as best I can sum it up.  So Yankee magazine has been around a very long time and has articles that are of interest to New Englanders.  Whether it is articles about travel in New England, or recipes, or stories or poetry, or antiques - it's all things of interest to those who are New Englanders ("Yankees") or New Englanders at heart.

Since 1935 Yankee magazine was published in a small "digest" size (similar in size to Reader's Digest) and was published monthly.  A couple of years ago it was announced that Yankee was changing to a new, wonderful, larger standard magazine size, and it was now going to be published every other month.  We were supposed to be excited and happy about this.  You see, now in this big size, the magazine could have bigger pictures and more stories!  Isn't that great?  Well you know what?  I know exactly why they increased the size - so they could see MORE ADS.  The small size was so nice - it could sit on the arm of a chair, fit on an end table, even tuck into a purse for a long car ride.  Now in it's new "wonderful" larger size, it somehow lost all its charm and is like every other magazine out there.  Too many ads that now seemed to DOMINATE, the stories now seemed lost on the big pages, and it just didn't fit on the arm of my chair anymore or in my purse.  It's like, can you imagine if they changed Reader's Digest and made it standard magazine size?  Well changing Yankee Magazine was just as horrifying.  We hate it.  Oh yeah, and now you get half the amount of issues per year!

So when it was time to renew our subscription we of course did not renew and I wrote right on the slip that we were very unhappy with the changes they had made - the large size, and the reduction from 12 issues a year to 6.  Over the years they still send us offers to resubscribe and I toss them.  Except the other day - I don't even know why I opened it, but it was a really ridiculous offer - it was like $10 for two years, or something really cheap like that, I forget now exactly.  Well I wrote on that slip that they may as well take me off their mailing list unless they were going back to their original smaller, digest size, because I'll be darned if I ever buy Yankee magazie again.  And I mailed it back.

So I'm sad about Yankee magazine.  I hate the way they changed it and I miss my old Yankee magazine and I don't know if there's even a chance it will ever be back.  :-(

The end.
 

Why Did He Get Me Watching This??

DH puts on the Grizzly Man Diaries - you know - the documentary about Timothy Treadwell - the guy who lived among grizzly bears in Alaska? 

He falls asleep 45 minutes in, and now I can't turn this off!

And I KNOW this does not have a happy ending...!

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.
The end.
  

I'm ready to Talk About Politics Again

I have been eagerly awaiting the presidential debate. Did you watch it?

I guess besides wanting to hear what both candidates had to say, I was particularly curious to see:

1. If McCain could keep his temper in check

2. If Obama could give good answers without a teleprompter or rehearsed answers

And I have to say that yes, McCain remained calm, and yes, Obama was able to give good answers without any help.

I thought both candidates did well. However, I thought the questions asked by Jim Lehrer could have been better. About an hour and 15 minutes into the debate I started to feel like it was getting kind of boring. I felt like his questions weren't provocative enough, and aside from the questions about the whole bail out thing, a lot of it was stuff we've heard time and time again. I wish there had been more questions that might have taken the candidates by surprise - questions that they wouldn't already have prepared talking points for.

Your thoughts on the debate?

The end.

Apple Picking

 View looking up!

In case somehow you missed it, I live in New York. In NY, September is apple picking time.  Every year since I was a little kid, we've gone apple picking.  Over the years the farm closest to our house has completely sold out and become totally all about making money by catering to the "city folks".  This "farm" now charges you to park, they have loud live entertainment, a farm store with expensive gift baskets and pre-packaged mixes, and they're terribly crowded.  It's ridiculous, yet the cars line up for their "day at the farm in the country".  Well, most of the locals don't go there anymore, including us.  We actually travel about 45 minutes north to a farm that still seems like a country farm.

The farm we go to is a somewhat small place, but they have everything you need, including a corn maze, animals, a farm market, ice cream, homemade doughnuts and apple cider, a hayride and of course, apples!  Here's a view from the back of the haywagon:
      

Here's a beautiful view of part of the Shawangunk mountain range.  Called the "gunks" by locals, it boasts some of the best rock climbing in the northeast.  (As a matter of fact, when I attended the State University at New Paltz (aka SUNY New Paltz), I was able to take rock climbing as a gym class.)  You can't really make it out in this photo, but we were able to see Skytop Tower, which is part of the Mohonk Preserve and is a local landmark.

The hayride is designed to take you to different parts of the orchard depending on what type of apples you'd like to pick.  The nice man driving asked us when we got on what type of apples we were looking for, but I admitted that we just wanted to go for the ride and he graciously obliged.  He even stopped and offered to take a picture of the three of us with the mountains as a backdrop (which we took him up on).

Eventually the hay wagon brought us back to where we started and we started down the rows of apple trees.  This is a relatively small orchard, so there wasn't a huge variety of apples, but we didn't mind.  The Macs (Macintosh) and Cortlands were the varieties that were most ripe for picking, so we mostly picked Macs although we did pick some Golden Delicious that were only a tad underripe.

You might think this is a small bucket of apples, but it ended up being about 20 lbs of apples, which just about fits perfectly in the bottom bin of my fridge.
 

        
Kept cold, apples will keep for a couple of months.  They ripen very fast if left out at room temperature.  Now if you've never gone apple picking before and you decide to go, do not make the "newbie" mistake of picking too many apples.  Apple picking is fun and it's very easy to fill up a few buckets, or at some places they give you a large burlap bag or large plastic bags.  You can very easily, without really meaning to, pick 50 lbs or more.  Now even if you love baking and you love apples, that's still a lot of apples to eat before they go bad!  If you go apple picking use self control.  You'll thank me later, and you won't have to throw out 15 lbs of uneaten rotten apples.
  
Not that *I've* ever done that.
 
After we filled our bucket and paid, we went in the corn maze.  A big bonus is that the corn maze is FREE.  There are some local places that have corn mazes - would you believe the admission for the one closest to our house would be $20.00 for the three of us?  To walk through corn stalks?  You've got to be kidding me.  The free one at the apple orchard was small, but it was plenty fun and it was FREE.
       

 

     

After the corn maze we visited the farm animals then checked out the farm market.  Last but not least, DD and I got some ice cream, and we sat on some picnic benches and ate our ice cream and the three of us enjoyed the beautiful day and the good family time.

Before we made our way home, we did just a little geocaching, but I'll save that story for my other blog - So You Wanna Go Geocaching - you can go check it out if you're interested.

New York may have it's political problems, but we grow some mighty fine apples!

  

   

The End.

Attack of the Shrubbery

A week ago or so, DH and DD were getting the wood rings ready that are on the front porch for the colder weather by tidying up and refilling the stacks of wood and kindling.  DD also cleaned off some of the chairs on the porch and found that a couple of the branches from our bushes had reached over and entwined themselves around part of the chair.  And thus, yesterday's Wordless Wednesday photo.

Here's the other entwined branch:

 

   

Here's a wide shot where you can see the bush reaching out to the chair:

   

  

I'm not exactly sure why the shrub wants the chair, but we gently de-tangled the branch and here's what it looked like (those are DD's little hands wearing her Spongebob Squarepants gardening gloves, so cute!):

   

It seems like the plants in the back of our house are trying to snag our table, maybe to go with the chair....?
I don't recall our landscaping ever offering us moving services...?

 

P.S.A.:

This is what happens when you don't prune your shrubs often enough.  

They become overgrown, unsightly and then 

try to steal your outdoor furniture!

Don't let it happen to you!

   

I Can't Believe it - I Made My Own Button!

Oh my head hurts!
Too much blog coding that I don't really understand!
But I did it!

If you scroll down and look in the left sidebar you'll see the "Grab This Button".

Somehow, I don't know how, I managed to follow the directions to make that, along with the html scrolling box.

As London Tipton would say, (which you would know if you have a tween who watches the Suite Life of Zack and Cody):

YAY ME, YAY ME!!!
*happy clapping*


The end.
  

Wordless Wednesday

Are the People Who Invented New Coke at it Again??

If you're at least as old as me, you remember the whole "New Coke" debacle.  Everyone loved Coca Cola the way it was.  Nobody wanted "new" Coke.  (If you're unfamiliar with this disaster, you can read about New Coke at Wikipedia.)

Well, someone equally as brilliant is at it again.

They are now making Egg Beaters (the product that is used by people with cholesterol problems as an egg substitute) with "a touch of" YOLK.

THE WHOLE POINT OF EATING EGG BEATERS IS TO AVOID CHOLESTEROL.  ADDING YOLK ADDS CHOLESTEROL. 

WHY ON EARTH WOULD THEY DO THIS?

They say it's to improve flavor.

It's like putting "just a little" sugar in sugar free cookies for diabetics.  To make them, you know - taste better.

How silly would weight loss pills that make you slightly hungry be?

How about decaffinated coffee with a "touch of caffiene"?

Now I'll admit, Egg Beaters don't taste very good.  I'll acknowledge that, and I applaud their effort to make them taste better. (However, did they forget that they already make them in flavors like Southwestern, Cheese and Chive and Vegetable?)

But if you're going to add something to make them taste better, don't add cholesterol - to avoid cholesterol is why we suffer through eating the Egg Beaters in the first place!

I predict failure and I say:

The end.

I Started A New Blog

Yup.  That's my announcement.

So - here it is!

 

So You Wanna Go Geocaching

 

If you've ever wondered what the heck Geocaching is, or if you are a Geocacher yourself, this new blog is all about what Geocaching is, and our own adventures Geocaching.  

        

(The template and header for my new blog are what Rebecca totally helped me with.)

         

Do me a favor and go check it out?

       

Thanks!  :-)

        

The end.

The Party's Over...

Well Rebecca's party is over but I want to give a great big THANKS for everyone who visited her, dropped cards and commented.  I checked my comments, and looked at the comments over on Rebecca's blog, and I checked the Entrecard forum, and I'm going to give out linky love as a party favor to those that let me know, or made it known that they went and visited for her party:

Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff 

Michael Aulia Technology and Reviews

Saddlepotatoes

Oh Fer Cryin Out Loud

Superficial Gallery

Everyday Living

She Lives

Luxor

Best HomeSchool Place

I'm Just a Little Fish in a Big Pond

The Natural State Hawg

Designing Hilary

Whew, thanks again everyone!

So tomorrow I have a little announcement to make, so please stop back tomorrow for that (NO I'M NOT PREGNANT), then later in the week I'll be sharing my apple picking photos from this weekend. 

The end.

It's "Rebecca Rocks Day" at Carole's Thoughtful Spot!

Welcome to Rebecca Rocks Day!

Rebecca is a wonderful friend I met through blogging at Entrecard. Out of the kindness of her heart, she took pity on me - a newbie without Photoshop or blogging experience - and not only has given me helpful advice, but she also redid the header for this blog (did you notice how about a month ago it changed and looks COOL now?), AND she totally helped me with a new blog I wanted to start. She super-tweaked a template I picked, edited graphics, and she made an AEWSOME header for it, and best yet, she didn't do ALL of it herself - she typed up tutorials for some of it so that I could do it myself and learn. And I learned SO MUCH from her.

I begged her for a way to repay her - I just couldn't have done the other blog without her help, and I didn't even have the means to make nice headers, but Rebecca, being the super nice person she is, said she did what she did for me as a friend, no "payment" necessary.

Isn't she awesome?

So, the only thing I could think of to show her my appreciation was to throw her a party and tell the world how great she and her blogs are!  So please, go visit at least one of her blogs and if possible go ahead and leave a comment. (Feel free to throw in "Rebecca rocks" in your post if you feel so led.  :-)

Freaky Frugalite

"Emphasizing the frugal and the freaky, all in one blow." 

This is the blog that first got me hooked - it was the big ladybug that intrigued me.  

A classic post:  Attack of the Killer Leg Wax

New York Traveler.Net

" Life and travel in upstate NY."

A classic post: People of the Standing Stone: The Skenandoah Boulder in Oneida

 

New York Renovator

 "A blog about home life and the challenges of renovating an 1855 house in upstate NY."

 

A classic post:  NY Renovator: Our Story  I spent an afternoon one day clicking through the links in this post to read in detail the trials and tribulations of the work they've done on their house - the scary electrical wiring posts were astounding!

 

 

 Mrs. Mecomber's Scrapbook

"I’m a simple gal, and I like to keep things simple. Computer use can be simple, too! I try to present helpful tips, tutorials, news, free and useful programs and software, and links to blogging sites."

A classic post: A Blogger Back Up Tool

New York Traveler

"Our family blog, typical of the whimsical and educational living of a family in upstate NY."

A classic post:  Hey! We've Got Moose, Too!


And if you're a fellow blogger and you leave a comment at one of these blogs, come back and tell me - I'll give out link love next week as party favors to thank you!

So thank you Rebecca for all your help, you have been a wonderful friend to me.  I hope you like strawberry cake with vanilla frosting!

(Ok, well I know you're really not to into cake and junk food at ALL, 

so I will make the ultimate sacrifice and I'll eat it for you. :-)
   

Rebecca Rocks!!!

Thank you, my friend!

The End.
 

Meme, Awards and a Party Invitation for You!

I guess I have finally finished grieving the loss of my original post with the awards and meme which mysteriously disappeared into space, so I'm giving it another go!

(Be sure to read on for your party invitation!)

Firstly, loooong overdue thanks go to Freaky Frugalite, Feels Like Home and Reading Lounge for this really awesome award:


I truly am so flattered - it is GREAT encouragement to me - so thank you so VERY much!!

(Keep reading so you don't miss the invitation!)

I also got this award from The House that Koen & Claire Built and I am SO showing this one to my DH next time he gives me one of those I-think-you're-one-nugget-short-of-a-Happy-Meal looks:


Thank you SO much Koen and Claire, that is WAY COOL! :-)

Then I got this fun meme from Strawbale House -

6 Things You Don't Know About Me

1. I think fall is a good time to listen to Frank Sinatra music.

2. I have my own Webkinz account.

3. My favorite type of jeans that I have been wearing for the last 18-20 years are Levi's 550s Relaxed. These day's they've added "Classic" to the name, but thank God they keep making them.

4. I LOVE to watch I Love Lucy. I especially like the episodes where they've moved to Connecticut because I haven't seen those episodes as many times.

5. My hair color is "Loreal Excellence Medium Reddish Brown".

6. One time I was SO ANGRY I actually jumped up and down (like a cartoon character or a 3 year old child) because my brother ate a little piece of garlic bread I was saving. I've never lived that one down.

(Ok you made it - here's the invitation!)

And lastly, I have a party invitation for YOU! Tomorrow I am throwing a party, right here on my blog. But I'm not going to tell you what it's all about - you'll just have to come back to visit and see.

I baked a cake and everything!

The end.

A Rant on Behalf of DH

DH wants to know:  

Why do they have to make men's socks in such a large size range?

For example, the socks he just bought supposedly fit size 6-11.  He wears a size 9 1/2 and the heel of the sock is halfway up his ankle.  He can't imagine someone who is a size 6 - the heel of the sock must be halfway up their calf! 

Rant over.  Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The End.

Wordless Wednesday

When You're Feelin' Like Having The Big Mac Meal (with Diet Coke!)...

Saw this on another blog, the Blub Blub Sisterhood and I thought it was great!
(the blog is great too, check it out!)

(Mind you I saw this after we stopped at Arby's last night and I had a medium roast beef sandwich, curly fries, AND, this is SO BAD, a cinnamon roll washed down with a big Diet Coke, oh I have sinned!)

The Lord is my personal trainer; I shall not wallow in sloth.
He maketh me jog through green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the spring water counter.
He restoreth my body.
He leadeth me in the path of fitness for my health's sake.

Yea, though I power-walk through the valley of soda and cookies
I will fear no weakness; for thou art with me;
Thy vegetables and protein bars; they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me of healthy food choices
in the presence of mine fast-food enemies;
Thou anointest my head with monounsaturated oil.
My cup of green tea runneth over.

Surely good health and skinny jeans shall follow me
all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of self-confidence forever.

Amen.

Speaking of Iron On Labels...

In my post yesterday I mentioned that you can get special labels you can print on and then iron on to your clothing. Well, a funny story about that...

When DH's grandfather went into a nursing home, MIL went and bought him all new underwear and socks because DH's Scottish grandfather was very thrifty - his most famous quote was, "Ye nay be needin' that!" - and lets just say his underwear and socks that he had were not in the best condition. The nursing home labeled all his clothes including underwear and socks with his name so that of course, when they did the laundry, they would know that the clothes belonged to him.

Well DH's grandfather passed away not long after entering the nursing home and after going through and cleaning out all his belongings, my MIL had saved the socks - some were still brand new and she hated to throw them out, so she asked my DH if he wanted them. My DH, being of the same blood as his grandfather and just about as thrifty, not wanting to waste perfectly good socks took them. I mean, who cares if the socks have his grandfather's name on them, right?

Well leave it to me to think to myself, one of these days DH is going to be in an accident, or fall off a cliff while geocaching or something, and someone's going to find him and they're going to see that he's got his name on his socks and they're going to be calling around looking for his dead grandfather's next of kin instead of me! Because who on earth would wear socks with someone else's name on them?

My bottlecap savin', thrify "ye nay be needin' that" husband, that's who!

The end.

Memories of the First Day of School

Photo from http://cartoonlunchboxes.com/Store/hollyhobbie

I just emailed my friend a pic of DD on her first day of school and I was thinking back to MY first days of school.  When I was a kid I always wore a new dress or skirt on the first day of school.  I used to always be very nervous about being sure I got on the right bus home.  (I never did ever get on the wrong bus, but I sweated it out every year!)  I was also always nervous to see who was in my new class - I wasn't the type to have a ton of friends - I was the type to just have a few close friends - and I'd always pray at least one or two would be in my new class.  I think I usually had a new lunchbox too.
 

I remember one year I had a Holly Hobbie metal lunchbox that I LOVED.  And would you believe another girl in my class had the SAME lunchbox?  I can still remember I used to put mine all the way to the right in the coat and lunchbox cubby so I'd know which one was mine.  Not that I took it that often - I usually bought hot lunch.  But there were a few hot lunches I would NOT eat.  So on those days I'd have to bring my Holly Hobby lunchbox and put it in my "special spot".

I came across one of these while school shopping for DD - the DYMO label maker - it's fancy schmancy - it even makes Color labels! If I had had this, I could have put a label on every side of that lunchbox and I could've saved myself all that stress worrying about that other girl taking it!

Actually if I had had this I probably would've labeled every pencil, book and folder I had - I would have loved this!  (I also could have even used it to label my leftovers in the fridge at home to keep my brother from eating them on me, but that's another post...)

I also discovered something I think is WAY COOL - I was looking through the website and they even make special iron on labels you can print on and then iron onto clothing, which would be GREAT to use on coats, scarves, mittens, gym clothes, etc. so that when your kid loses it, it'll go right back to you instead of into the giant pile of lost and found!

I can even think of a million things around here I could label like containers in the pantry that I store smaller portions of items I buy in bulk to try to save some money on groceries.  This way I don't have to open the dog food, coffee and Cheerios trying to find the sugar!  I could even make DH to use it to label his boxes of bottlecaps!

Well, I'll tell ya, I didn't exactly look forward to the first day of school when I was a kid, but now that I'm a Mom?  It's a GREAT day!  :-)

I Love Seeing Clearly!

Detail of a portrait of Hugh de Provence, painted by Tomaso da Modena in 1352

- believed to be the earliest pictorial evidence of eyeglasses

Photo from Wikipedia

I only recently started wearing glasses regularly. What prompted me to get them was I noticed especially at night, I couldn't see very well while I was driving. Every time I would put on my glasses to drive I would be amazed at what a difference they made - everything was so clear! After awhile I thought to myself, "Self, why am I limiting myself to seeing clearly just when I'm driving? Why not see clearly ALL the time?" So, I started wearing them pretty much all the time, and to be honest, it's great to see clearly! Such a simple thing, but I appreciate it so much.

I got to thinking, wow, I can't imagine what it must have been like before glasses were invented. My vision isn't very bad at all, but I know people with very poor vision and gosh, at one time before there were glasses, their inability to see would have made a huge impact on their lives. So I was wondering when were glasses invented, after all? So I looked it up.

Apparently the first wearable eyeglasses were invented in 1284. However the use of glass, gemstones and globes filled with water had been used previous to this to aid those who were nearsighted or farsighted. Thing is, the first corrective lenses developed for astigmatism - not invented until 1825!

Sometimes I get the romantic idea that it would be fun to live back in colonial times, but it's things like this that remind me how difficult it must have been to live with certain health conditions that nowadays are so simple and easy to treat or correct that we take them for granted. In fact, a-duh - I just realized that my scoliosis condition I JUST posted about (here) would have shortened my own life and caused me great discomfort! I can't find any discussion of treatment for scoliosis before the 1920s.

On a side note, one thing I always think about when I fantasize about traveling back in time is that most people didn't have good deodorant/antiperspirant back then. People used to try to cover their body odor with perfumes. Oh man, people must have STUNK SO BAD! I just looked it up and whoa - modern deodorant was not invented until 1941! From Wikipedia: "The modern formulation of the antiperspirant was patented by Jules Montenier on January 28, 1941. This patent solved the problem of the excessive acidity of aluminium chloride and its excessive irritation of the skin, by combining it with a soluble nitrile or a similar compound. This formulation was first found in "Stopette" deodorant spray, which Time Magazine called "the best-selling deodorant of the early 1950s".

Anyway, bottom line is that I'm even MORE thankful to be able to see clearly, and I appreciate all the modern inventions that help us - everything from glasses, to artificial limbs, to talking watches to back braces!

Oh, and I also really appreciate our ability to NOT STINK! :-)

The End.

So I Was Walking Down My Walkway on This Beautiful Day...

....la dee dee, isn't this a nice view down my sidewalk on a lovely day?

And then, glistening in the sun, I see this:

See that line? You know what that is?

It's a slime trail. From a slug.

I'm sorry, I try to be a good nature-appreciator but,
THAT'S JUST GROSS!!!

The end.

P.S. I know, I know, I still have to recreate that post I lost. I will. I promise. I just didn't feel like it. Again. Wah!

I Planned to Write This Long Post With Awards, A Meme and Top Droppers. Instead I'm Going To Tell You About How I Had Scoliosis.

I had this long post, 3/4 done that had taken me a really long time 'cause I had to copy the award rules, choose people to tag, and add links and think of my answers for the meme, yadda yadda.

Then my computer froze up.

And I thought I was ok because Blogger automatically saves your posts periodically as you're working on them.

Except this time for some completely unknown reason.

I was so upset I just couldn't summon the motivation to re-write that whole thing (but I will, another day). What I was in the middle of when my computer froze was I was uploading a photo of the brace I wore when I had scoliosis, which was an item from the meme I was doing. So since that's not something I've talked about here before I felt in the mood to blog about that.

When I was 8 years old my school nurse discovered I had scoliosis (yeah, for all those times you had to bend over so the nurse could check your back, there were actually people found to have scoliosis!).

From Wikipedia: "Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side, and may also be rotated. It is an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine. On an x-ray, the spine of an individual with a typical scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line."

I had the "S" curve. In fact the x-ray they have as an example on the Wikipedia page looks like how my spine looked basically.

I had a local pediatrician, but back in ye olden days when I was a kid, the "specialists" were down in New York City, so we would occasionally have to travel to the city to the Hospital For Special Surgery to see my doctor, Dr. Doherty.

It was determined that they would try fitting me with the Milwaukee Brace and see if that would correct my spine (there was concern that my curvature might be too severe at that point to respond to treatment with a brace).

This is what I wore on my torso for 23 hours a day for 2 1/2 years:

(I'm saving this post as a draft right now in case there's some evil curse on this picture which is when my computer crashed last time!!)

That's almost exactly what mine looked like. In fact my Dad still has my old brace hanging in the old garage area of his house. Which is kinda weird. But on the other hand, wouldn't it be weird to just throw a big 'ol brace away? Whatever.

They had to first make a body cast of me in order to properly make and fit the brace. I still remember how scary it was when they cut it off me with some kind of saw.

For the most part this whole ordeal of having scoliosis was surprisingly not that upsetting to me. I guess I just kinda took it in stride. I mean, I was 8. I didn't care about combing my hair or brushing my teeth or anything like that at that age, so, oh well, I had to wear a brace. It was uncomfortable and it was hot in the summer, but I wasn't traumatized or scarred for life because of having to wear this thing.

In fact, it cured me! Luckily my spine did respond to the bracing and over 2 1/2 years it straightened out enough to stop wearing the brace. My spine isn't totally straight, but it's straight enough. And my rib cage ended up a bit crooked, but it's not a problem.

Had the brace not worked I would likely have had spinal fusion surgery and had a very long recovery time. I'm thankful I didn't have to go through that, and I'm thankful I developed scoliosis at a young age - it's much more common for it to develop during puberty and I sure I WOULD have cared about having to wear that brace at that age.

So I hope and pray DD didn't inherit scoliosis from me (it runs in our family), but, if she does, there are worse things in the world, that's for sure.

The end.

Found This Written on a Scrap of Paper Tucked in my Bible

Good Morning!

This is GOD.

I will be handling all your problems today.

I will not need your help, so go and have a good day!

Hope and Courage Across America

 Picture from The News Tribune.com

Our annual church picnic was on Sunday.  Besides the novelty of having our church service outside that morning, and after we had all stuffed ourselves full of hotdogs, hamburgers, and every wonderful potuck side dish and dessert you can imagine, we had a guest speaker - a gentleman by the name of Bob Mortimer.

He shared with us the story of his life, which was very inspiring.  He's bicycling across America with his family to spread the message of Hope and Courage, and Being Our Best.  (Website here)

Oh, and by the way - he has only one arm and no legs.

You can read about how he lost his limbs here.

He is very close to the end of his journey - Battery Park in New York City.  He will be arriving there this Friday, Sept. 12th between noon and 1pm.  If you are interested in meeting this amazing guy, he welcomes anyone to greet him there as he completes his journey from Gig Harbor, WA across America.

Whatever obstacles you feel are in your way in your life, Bob Mortimer is an incredible example of how one can overcome tremendous difficulty and reach your goals.  It was an honor to host him at our picnic!

Some Random Thoughts for You on a Monday Morning

After my exasperated post here, it won't surprise you to hear I'm going on a "political hiatus" at least until the first debate, which, there's a chance might actually be about the issues.

If you're an Entrecard dropper I know there are a lot of ideas about the best way to "drop". I'm not at all saying my way is the best way, but I always drop out of my inbox. I just feel like hey, someone visited me, I should visit them back. That's just the kind of gal I am. I don't display one of those "You Drop I Follow" banners or whatever, but I *am* a very loyal "droppper-backer". I do also often click on widgets that I see that I don't recognize that look interesting to add to my drops. And, I DO have a bookmarked list that I drop off, but it's only about 20-25 of my "must not miss" sites. I leave most of my drops free for reciprocating. I'm never on the front page on Entrecard, so judge for yourself how well my system works, ha ha. Btw, have you looked at my Alexa Rank lately, have ya? Have ya? :-)

School has started so that means - shift into Christmas shopping mode! Yes, I start very early. This way I can enjoy the holiday season when it's here and not be stressed out trying to find that perfect gift for each person. And of course I have time to take advantage of sales and deals. I'm not one of those people who can go to the mall and just pick up "this" and "that" for people on my gift list. I agonize over each person and spend ungodly amounts of time trying to find just the right thing. So I HAVE to start early.

I also start making my own Christmas list early as well to give my loved ones plenty of time to shop for me and not stress them out by waiting until the last minute to tell them what I might like. I have a bunch of good ideas already, but one idea I'm struggling with is, every year I like to get a "gadget". (Like one year I asked for a weather station, last year I got an iPod.) This year I THINK I'd like to get some sort of cool clock radio, but I've been searching around and I haven't found one that seems unusual, or cool or exciting. But, I have plenty of time to search that out. (Or by all means if you have a suggestion, please share!)

DH has been following the Mets closely this year. I love the Mets. But you know what? I love the Yankees too! And the Giants and the Jets and the Bills! They're all NY teams, so I support them all. However, I am in the vast minority. For some reason I cannot figure out, it doesn't seem you're allowed to like BOTH the Mets and the Yankees. You have to love one, and then hate the other. I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to like all the NY football teams either, but people don't seem as vehement about that as they are about loving/hating the Mets or Yankees.

Lastly, today is the start of the first full week of school for DD. DH is at work. I am sitting here just letting my brain absorb the silence. Do you ever take time to sit in silence? No people, no radio, tv?

Silence is like a salve to my brain. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

The end.

I Was Gonna Write About Sarah Palin But...

...as much as I normally love politics I just feel really disgusted right now with all the name-calling, attacks and just plain rudeness from BOTH sides. I repeat, BOTH SIDES.

It leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. As I watch tv, listen to the radio, visit blogs, and read "news" articles on websites, some of the talk is so childish, so rude, so blatantly biased I just can't listen to it another minute! It's like a pop up tv - everywhere I turn, there it is, I can't get away from it. The closer the election is getting, it seems the attacks are getting less and less intelligent, and more immature.

And some people actually seem to be enjoying the mudslinging; there's this gleefulness in tearing down the other side AND their supporters!

And it's not like I can't appreciate a good joke - I have no problem with the late night hosts poking fun at the candidates, or when Saturday Night Live does their skits, and I really enjoy the political cartoons - but there's a BIG difference in joking around and being downright vindictive, mean-spirited, and insulting.

So to whoever is reading this, whichever candidate you support, I want you to know I STILL RESPECT YOU.

I thank God we live in a country where we have a choice - It's a shame we have to be so petty and vindictive in the process.

I'm so sick of it, if I could roll my eyes straight into the back of my head right now I would!

The end.

The Difference Between Men and Women

I had a "nightmare" the other night.

Now when DH has a "nightmare", it usually involves someone breaking into our house, or someone chasing him with a knife, someone kidnapping our DD, etc.

My "nightmares" are a little different.

Here was mine:

I dreamed Hannaford Supermarket stopped accepting coupons and I didn't know which supermarket I should switch to instead - Stop & Shop, A&P or Price Chopper! I had flyers for each of the stores, but I didn't know which to pick and I was going around and asking people. I think Price Chopper was the one most people were telling me, but now I can't remember.

It was very upsetting!

Update: I went to Hannaford yesterday, and whew, yes, they do still accept coupons! It was only a bad dream. :-)

The end.

This is Julie. Does She Look Stuck Up to You?

This is American Girl Doll Julie. Of all our dolls, this is the one DH likes the best.
Julie is probably the doll I like the least.
DH likes her long, straight blonde hair and brown eyes.
I think she looks stuck up (a snob).
She's from their "historical line" of dolls. Let me repeat - "Historical".
You know what year/era she's from? 1974.
Criminy, *I* was a kid in 1974!

Maybe I don't like Julie because she makes me feel old. Or maybe because I wasn't cute like her - instead I had a Dorothy Hamill hair cut and plaid pants.

That could be it.

Anyway, I forgot to post this back when we first did this scene back at the beginning of summer, so before we change it to fall, I wanted to put this up.

Here's our American Girl summer scene:


Here's a close up of Mei Li (she's an American Girl Just Like You Doll) and Kit Kittredge (a historical - the one they just made a movie about):


Here's Lexi (another Just Like You Doll) and Julie:

If you're an American Girl Doll lover like we are, be warned I hear a bunch of new items will be on the American Girl website today, and rumor is there are going to be some new Just Like You Dolls, and new outfits for Mia, the Just Like You dolls, and some eagerly awaited new outfits for some of the historicals too (crossing my fingers for some new Kirsten stuff...).

Frugal Mom Alert: If the prices for American Girl stuff puts you off, I also discovered a website for doll clothing, furniture and accessories that fit 18" American Girl dolls, it's called Emily Rose. I've not ever bought anything myself from them - yet, but they look like they have some nice items at good prices and very reasonable shipping - worth checking out!

Gotta start thinking about a Fall Scene....! :-)

Edited to add: Just heard some news about the new items and YES, there are a few new things for Kirsten, woo hoo! Also, check this out - this sounds kinda cool:

Doll Ear Piercing

Starting today, we are offering doll ear piercing at the New York store. This is our newest experience at American Girl Place. Like our Hair Salon this is destined to be very popular. Piercing is $14, this includes the first set of earrings (the ones that go in her ears) and a set of six additional earrings. Only 18” dolls can get their ears pierced. No Bitty Babies or Bitty Twins. If your doll already has earrings that are removable, the new earrings will fit.

A Handy Tip For You

Don't leave the bag of cat food where the cat can get to it.

Luckily, I got to it in time.  I was sitting downstairs and I heard little noises.  The kind of little noises that tell you, "someone is up to no good".  So I raced upstairs and there was Q-ee (who as you may remember is quite the little bugger from My Cat is a Cat Jerk post) working on his little "project".

This cat is a pip.  He's the kind of cat that KNOWS he's in your way, but doesn't move. 

Go away!

He's not even afraid of the dog.  The dog is afraid of him though.  If Q-ee sits in the doorway, Tex won't go by him.  But does Q-ee care if the dog is in the doorway?  No way man!

I'm not afraid of you!

We adopted him from a nearby city shelter about 3 years ago now.  Apparently he was picked up as a stray "walking the city streets".  We'll never know what went on in his early years to make him into the cat he is today, but we love him.  He keeps our lives interesting, that's for sure. 

Here's one last parting shot of the Q-man - I don't what was going on in his cat mind that he decided to sit right there, but that's the kind of cat he is.

Anybody have a good caption for this photo?

This Picture is for You Krissy, and, Thank God I'm a County Girl

Krissy commented on my post (here) where I was gleefully savoring some of my county fair swag - which included a free Toyota hat. She astutely noted that I could "mow the lawn in high style", so this pic is for you Krissy - you were right - am I stylin' or what? :-) (And btw, men's white v-neck undershirts are what all the stylish lawn care professionals are wearing this year you know.)

Thought I'd also share with you my lawn mowing accessories.


Yup. A stick (not just any stick mind you! You can read about this important stick story here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), hearing protection and my iPod. You know I usually listen to podcasts on my iPod (although once I posted about vacumming to Boy Band Christmas Music in July) but today for the push mowing portion of the day, I listened to one song over and over. It was just such a good song and it just got my feet moving.

I'm kinda embarrassed to tell you what it was though.

Oh, all right.

John Denver's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy".

The live version.

You know what, I'm sorry, that is a really good song. When was the last time YOU heard it? (Probably back in the 70s when it was popular?) If you like a good country fiddle song, or you're a country boy or girl (or a country boy or girl at heart), how can you deny this is a great song?



They have it at iTunes if you want it too, it's the best 99 cents I've spent in a long time!
If you get it, get the live version, it's the best - from the album, "An Evening with John Denver".

(For the riding mowing portion of the lawnmowing I listened to Rush talk about McCain's pick of Sarah Palin. I'll share my thoughts about THAT in another post.)