Kellogg’s FiberPlus™ Antioxidants Cereals

We all live busy lives and trying to keep up with the latest nutritional advice is pretty tough…especially if what we should eat doesn’t taste all that great. But the folks at Kellogg’s has done it again and come up with a very tasty way for us to get our fiber. Recently I was asked if I might like to try FiberPlus cereals. Since Darly has been consuming huge quantities of cereal lately, I jumped on the chance to get free samples. (anything to help with the food budget, right?)

The day the samples arrived Darly's bff was visiting and they decided it was time for a snack (this was at about 5pm…almost dinner time!) so they each poured themselves a full bowl, and chowed down. I reached into each of their bowls and got my hand back with all my fingers! The girls continued scarfing down the Kellogg’s FiberPlus™ Antioxidants Cereals in Berry Yogurt Crunch and Cinnamon Oat Crunch. Needless to say both flavors were a huge hit. I sent home a zip lock bag of each flavor with Darly’s friend.

Here’s what Kellogg’s has to say…
Berry Yogurt Crunch
With 40% of your daily fiber and antioxidant vitamins C and E, this healthy high-fiber cereal also tastes great. Kellogg's FiberPlus™ Berry Yogurt Crunch cereal mixes whole-grain wheat and rice flakes with crunchy berry- and yogurt-flavored clusters. Many Americans don't get the fiber, whole grains, vitamins and minerals1 important to a healthy diet, but delicious Kellogg's FiberPlus™ cereal helps supply 25 grams of whole grains per serving.

Cinnamon Oat Crunch
With 3X more fiber than Honey Nut Cheerios®*
and more than 2X the fiber of MultiGrain Cheerios®1
Delightful cinnamon flavor and crunchy oats make this healthy high-fiber cereal sweetly satisfying. While many Americans don't get enough fiber and antioxidant vitamin E daily2, Kellogg's FiberPlus™ cereals deliver nutrition and great taste. With 35% of your daily fiber and antioxidant vitamins C and E, this delicious cereal is a great way to jump-start the day

Me again…
We received the full sized boxes of both flavors on the 25th. Last night when I went to get myself a bowl both boxes were almost empty! Someone (Darly) has been scarfing down this stuff for dessert and breakfast and afternoon snacks! I think I’m going to have to go stock up on this.

I wrote this review on behalf of Kellogg’s FiberPlus Cereal. Kellogg’s sent me a box of each cereal to try.

I was going to put some lovely clip art of the logo and cereal boxes but I couldn't figure out how to make them post here. Sorry! :(

Craptacular update

well like I mentioned before Darly decided that she would like to try out for a play instead of doing gymnastics.

So that meant that last night was her last night at the gym for a while. I decided that I would send an email to the gym's owner letting him know that Darly wouldn't be in gymnastics for a while. (they ask that you do this so they can fill the spot from the wait list)

So I emailed the following:
I just wanted to let you know that Darly won’t be able to come to gymnastics for the next session. Since we were expecting that she would make Eagles she signed up to do another activity on Tuesdays & Thursday nights. It’s an awesome educational opportunity for her.

Luckily this is a short engagement and we’ll be back at the gym soon

I was really torn about what I should send in the email because I really wanted to tell them all my grievances about the situation. However in the end I felt it best to not burn that bridge until I was sure we were coming back. So I'll let them "have it!" when we go back or if we decide to quit.

Here's the email I got back:
Hi Renee....
Thank You for the heads up ....and when you return, we'll have a place for Darly......

HAPPY HANDSTANDS!!!

So I'm guessing that the owner wasn't really given a head's up on the situation. LOL But since he says she'll have a place we're going with it.

Now for the audition for the play. :D

May I sit at the Grown up's table please?

UGH this is so upsetting.

When we go out to dinner as a family of course we have Darly with us. But Darly is no ordinary child... she behaves in restaurants. But unfortunately every time we go out and ask for a table for 3 we get seated in the "families with kids" section of the restaurants.

I should have asked for a different table tonight. It was our Anniversary dinner. @@ I don't know why I didn't ask if we could move...I think it was partly because I really needed to use the restroom and didn't pay attention to the table right next to us and partly because I assumed that due to the mess on the table that they were about finished and ready to leave...ummm nope, they had just ordered.

I didn't want to stare and give you a better idea of the other party... they were in a booth with an extra two top table pulled over. Seated at the two top were two toddlers in booster chairs. Thankfully there were adults seated next to them, but a lot of good that did as the toddlers have the parents trained to give in to their demands.

The one child went right into the whiney cry and the mother yells "WHAT?" The child doesn't ever tell her what he wants, but the mother is trying every trick in the book to get him to be quiet. lovely

sigh!

Well if this place was looking to turn the table quickly, they did that very well. We were out of there before the table next to us...even after I had to run to the car and get my purse so we could leave a cash tip and dash!

I am desperate to find a nice quite place to go for dinner that doesn't cost $30 or more per plate. But alas it seems that I need to just eat at home instead.

Oh Craptacular! @@

Some may call me paranoid, but they are usually wrong more frequently than I am.

So here's what has me feeling that something is going on now...

Darly has been taking gymnastics at the new gym for over a year now. Since we joined she has been evaluated 3 times to see if she might be competition material. They gym offers USAG and EAGLES programs. USAG is what you see on the olympics...well one day these girls might grow up to be in the olympics. EAGLES is closer to a recreational program...not quite so strict.

All 3 times that Darly has been evaluated it was determined that she could be on a team. The first two times we turned the gym down due to other commitments. The third time the teams had no room for Darly (they were both full).

Now it is after season for the EAGLES team and time for the level 4 girls to move up...making room for new level 4 girls. So the gym offered a try out for girls. It looked as if Darly was finally going to be able to get on a team because the teams had room and Darly had the time.

So she tried out. She did very well. Not as well as some of the girls but better than others. However this time she was not chosen for the team.

The reason we were given was that she didn't have the strength and form required for the team. (what about before???) The coach said he would rather have girls who had strength and form over "tricks" because he could teach the tricks. He did not mention the other 3 times she was deemed team material.

I really feel that she was not chosen for team because she turned it down before. I think that because I chose to not put gymnastics above our other commitments that they are punishing us (or believe that if something else came up we would dump the gym).

and unfortunately the latter might be the case. Darly really wants to get into acting and that takes place on the same night as her current gymnastics class. If she had made it on the EAGLES team she could have done both acting and gymnastics. However, she didn't make the team...so she is going to try out for the play. I really hope that she gets a part in the play.

Killing me softly?

I recently decided that enough is enough and joined a gym to try and get rid of my "baby fat" that I've been carrying around about 13 years now. ugh!

So my friend and I have been frequenting the gym on a semi regular basis. I came up with what I thought was a pretty good routine of working out.

Normally I would do 45-60 min in the treadmill to get things going. I was doing random or hill, which would change the incline at random times...but then I just switched to doing the entire walk at a 4.5 incline and my speed ranges between 3.5 to 3.8 (I think that's mph but I don't know).

Then it was time to hit the machines for 30-45 min. I rarely keep track of how many reps I do...usually it is just as many as I can at my highest weight then I knock the weight back and do as many as I can, and then knock it down again. My philosophy is it is better to do as many reps as I can than to lift a ton of weight.

And finally if I'm up to it I finish off with 15-30 min on the elliptical trainer. I set it for one of the glute settings, but I don't think there's really any difference.

However, when I signed up for this gym they offered me two 30 min sessions with a trainer. And this week I finally got my work outs with her.

Let me tell ya folks...this lady is BRUTAL!!!

After she takes a look at me and learns that my back is crooked (I knew this!), my hips aren't even (caused by the crooked spine) AND that my left knee turns inward...also caused by the spine. sigh! She starts with the torture.

First she had me leaning against an exercise ball and doing squats with 10 lbs of weight. (I'm not sure if that's 5lbs or 10lbs in each hand) By about 7 reps of this my left leg is begging for mercy and I think she let me quit at only 10 reps instead of doing the full 12...my brain is foggy with pain.

Then she had me lifting only 7.5 lbs of weight as if I were on my back on a weight bench...only I was balancing on the exercise ball. It was really tough to lift the weight, not smash myself in the head and remember to keep my back straight while doing this.

Finally she had me on the floor with my legs straight up in the air and using just my abs trying to lift my legs straight up.

My thighs were KILLING ME!!! (honestly they still are!)

For my second session she seemed overly pleased that I was still in pain. (folks told me that she would be! Trainers are mean!)

She started off showing me how to stretch my muscles out with foam rollers. While this was very painful she assured me that eventually my muscles knots would release...I still haven't seen that happen yet. I'm looking to get a foam roller for home use to see if it ever happens.

then she had me work on my triceps and finally some squat lunge walking (oops I nearly forgot the part that hurt the worst! the touch squat thing!) I could only feel this in my thighs yesterday, but a friend warned me I would feel it in my glutes today...and she was right.

I'm a mess. I'm trying to get myself to a hot tub today. I sure hope that I can!

The HPV Test

We’ve all heard all the news about the HPV vaccine for our girls. I’m not going to debate this here. However, there is something that all women can do for the early detection and fight against Cervical Cancer. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer affecting women worldwide, yet is easily preventable because we know its cause, HPV.

There is a test for HPV. HPV testing can identify if you have one of the "high-risk" infections on your cervix that can cause cervical cancer. The HPV test can be performed at the same time as the Pap test to help doctors identify which women are at greatest risk. However not all doctors automatically use both tests.

That is why it is essential that women act as their own health advocates.

Learn about what you can do to protect yourself against cervical cancer:

• THE PAP TEST looks at a sample of cells taken from a woman's cervix for any cell changes or abnormalities. Pap testing should begin at age 21.
• THE HPV TEST is conducted from the same sample as the Pap and identifies women with high-risk HPV infections that can cause cervical cancer. When used with a Pap in women 30 and older, the HPV test increases the ability to identify who is at risk of developing cervical cancer.
• If you are age 30 or older, ask your doctor for the digene HPV Test together with your Pap test.
• If both tests come back normal, then the tests don’t need to be repeated for 3 years. But remember to return each year for your annual health exam.
• If one or both tests come back abnormal, this doesn’t necessarily mean you have cervical cancer. It simply enables your health care provider to monitor you more closely or treat pre-cancerous cells before cervical cancer develops.
• HPV testing isn’t necessary for women younger than 30, because HPV infections in young women usually go away on their own without causing problems. Women under 30 will only have HPV testing if their Pap test is inconclusive.

Please check out http://www.thehpvtest.com for more info about the HPV test and remember to ask your doctor at your next yearly exam to run the test.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of the QIAGEN digene HPV test. Mom Central also sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Nature Made SAM-e

I think we’ve all had times in our life where we didn’t feel quite ourselves. There just doesn’t seem to be any reason for us feeling down…we just do. What I was surprised to learn was that this is normal.

As we get older our bodies start making less SAM-e, a naturally occurring compound, which ultimately works to maintain a balanced mood.

You know, I hadn’t even heard of SAM-e before. So I checked out www.sam-e.com to see what I was missing out on.

Nature Made SAM-e Complete helps replenish your body's natural levels of SAM-e and when taken daily it can begin to help naturally restore a healthy mood in as little as 7 to 14 days. For more information, please visit www.sam-e.com.

On the website you can see all the benefits of SAM-e and decide for yourself if taking SAM-e is right for you.

Nature Made SAM-e Complete recently launched called “Give a Smile,” http://www.sam-e.com/give-a-smile. They are working with Dream Factory, the second largest children’s wish-granting organization in the U.S., to grant the wishes of three children suffering from a critical or chronic illness. Through this campaign SAM-e will donate to a child’s wish for every social action you or your readers complete (like uploading an image to their mosaic). The more actions, the more SAM-e will donate. You can find out more about the program using the link above and learn how your actions lead to SAM-e donations!

One of my readers will get the chance to try Nature Made SAM-e with a 3-month supply as well as a reusable water bottle and journal.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Nature Made and received products necessary to facilitate my candid review.”

ARGGH!

To top things off from my last post...I discovered on Monday that someone keyed my car!

It was no accident...they went from the back fender panel all the way to the front fender panel...and into the fiberglass trim.

UGH! Now I have to find someplace to fix this before the damage gets worse.

GEEZE! Learn how to shop already!

I know better...really I do, but sometimes life just gets in the way and doesn't allow me time to go to the grocery store until the weekend comes. And every time that I am forced to go to the grocery store on the weekend I am a frustrated as ever at the lack of common sense and pure stupidity of the others in the store!

First the parking lot: Folks they have these very nice things called cart corrals for holding the shopping carts. The reason they have these is to prevent shopping carts from hitting, scratching or otherwise being the the way of the cars. Please use the cart corral to return your cart or push the cart all the way back up to the store. Do not park your cart anywhere you want. Especially NOT BEHIND MY CAR!

Second: If you are going to have a reunion with someone you haven't seen in a while in the store and catch up on old times...believe it or not they provide a location for this too! It's called the coffee shop up front and it even has tables and chairs for you to take a load off your feet while you catch up on old times with your friend. This of course means that the middle of a shopping aisle is NOT the place for this reunion. Blocking of the aisles is frowned upon by everyone and is also a fire hazard.

Third: Parking your cart in front of a shelf full of food for you to go and decide what you would like over on the other side of the aisle is Not allowed (shoot, I'm writing the rules here!) Unless you don't mind someone moving your cart to say the loading dock of the store...don't leave your cart unattended.

Fourth: Speaking of carts... underage driving of carts is not allowed either. Children have NO business driving the shopping carts...especially on a busy weekend day. And while we're at it...Is is really necessary for you to bring the entire family with you on the weekend??? Having extra people with you crowds the store more, and just frustrates everyone. Make your list at home and go solo...trust me, it is much easier!

Fifth: Please do not talk on your cell phone and drive (your cart). Trust me...you can't really do it no matter who you think you are. And your conversations with those not in the store really bugs those of us who are in the store.

Sixth: Look around you before you rush up to that open register. There might be a line for it behind you that you just cut into...especially on a busy weekend.

And finally, please know how you intend to pay for your purchase before entering the store. Trying to figure that out after all your items rung up is really annoying to those of us who are waiting behind you...not to mention embarrassing!

(believe it or not I had 4 out of the six infractions listed above happen to me today. I've got to plan my week better!)

BAD BANK!!!!

I had a very small bank account with TCF Bank, but today I closed it and here's why.

Like I said the account is very small. I had less than $500 in the account (problem #1). I don't use it very often and therefore I don't check it very often (problem #2).

So today I log into my account to check it and see that:
1) there is A LOT less money in there than there should be
2) there's a maintenance fee on my statement! WAIT A MINUTE!!! THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A "TOTALLY FREE CHECKING" ACCOUNT!
3) I can't get to any bank statements before March to see what was going on there.

So I go in and ask to talk to someone about my account...the nice guy at the counter says he can help. I tell him what's going on and that I wasn't notified about the account changes. He said that online folks got notified ONLINE back in Jan/Feb. I said I never received that because I wasn't checking the account.

The "bank's response" TOO BAD! I could avoid the fees by increasing my balance to over $500 or having automatic deposit...both of which I cannot do. Like I said it was a small account and I intended to keep it small. They aren't allowed to reverse the fees. So I closed the account.

My new bank is offering my a totally free checking account.

Trip to Florida!

A while back my SIL told me they were going to FL and asked if I wanted to come along. So I checked out where she was staying and crunched the numbers and booked us for a trip. (note: DH was not able to attend as he is too busy at work.)

It turns out that all my brothers booked condos in the same building...I booked a condo across the street from where they were staying. I didn't need a place as big as where they were staying and I saved a lot of money by booking a smaller room that wasn't beach front. (note: my access to the beach was just to walk across the street...so it wasn't any trouble.)

Darly & I flew out on June 24th, which was two days before the rest of the family was coming. Flights were cheaper. So we enjoyed the beach and went to Universal Orlando to see the new Harry Potter thing on Friday.

Ummm someone forgot to remind me how very very very HOT it is in Florida this time of year. UGH! I was so miserable.

Universal was way too crowded. We should have never bothered going there. What a waste of our time, we would have had much more fun if we had stayed at the beach.

Saturday the brothers weren't going to show up until after 4pm so we spent the day with my Mom & Stepdad. I took them over to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and we had a good time. When we got back we relaxed in the condo and waited for my brothers to show up. When I called them I found out that my SIL wanted to go to someplace really nice for dinner because she had a miserable flight and drive to the condo. So at first they were going to go to the Salt Rock Cafe...I had already looked this place up online and knew the prices were pretty high...but I figured that I could swing it by sharing a dish with Darly (which would mean something cheap anyway). But when they called to get a reservation for our very large party they found we couldn't get a seat until 9pm and no one wanted to eat that late. So they picked a place that they had coupons for... I looked the new place up online and found that the prices at this place had dropped to about $10 per plate...and I was questioning if my SIL would really let us eat there.

so we hopped into the car and sure enough about a block from the condo I get a call that no we weren't eating there. Turns out the brothers arrived there, took one look and gave the coupons to other patrons as they left. LOL! So I was told to "sit tight" as they hunted for other food options. Luckily there was an empty lot for sale that I could just sit in while we waited. After about 5 min or so I get the call...we're going to The Pub. This didn't sound promising, but it was their call. We arrived in just a few minutes and find that the place is surprisingly nice. and the 11 (Brother #1, SIL #1 & nephewA; Brother #2, SIL #2, & nephews R & H; Mom & Stepdad, Darly & me) of us had a good time.

Sunday was a beach day. Darly & I headed over. Brother #1 lives in Tampa so he was able to bring a lot of beach essentials...like a pop up canopy for SHADE! We saw dolphins fishing out past the swim line and a lot of different sea birds. Darly & I played with clams & sand fleas. We tried to find sand dollars but weren't successful at that. For dinner we had grilled bbq chicken, corn & asparagus. yum

Monday Darly & I headed over to Busch Gardens. We had a great time there, saw loads of cute animals and rode a few rides. I wish we had the entire day there because we missed out on some things we wanted to do. oh well. maybe next time.
For dinner we had a lot more people there with us as Brother #3, almost SIL#3, her dd; Cousin L & his wife arrived for their stays in the condos. Plus we had Aunt L, her 3 daughters and their families come out for a visit...bringing our numbers up to 27 (add in Brother #1's dd & her friend too) On our way back to the beach from Busch Gardens, I had Darly call SIL #2 because the original plan was to grill burgers & dogs and have everyone at my condo's back deck. Well we learned that the plan had changed and dinner was now going to be pizza & pasta at Brother #2's condo. unfortunately, SIL#2 doesn't know how to order food for children... they ordered two pizzas with everything, chicken alfredo, baked spaghetti & stuffed shells. Darly refused to eat any of it...luckily there was still chicken from the previous night that she did eat. She also had cereal when we got back to our room.

Tuesday my Mom & Stepdad came back out to the beach and we had fun there. Darly learned how to boogie board with her uncle. We learned that my grandmother & aunt were coming out for dinner so my Mom & Stepdad made a hasty retreat to get out of there as she hasn't spoken to her mother in over 10 years. Turns out that my brother #2 was trying to force a meeting there. ugh! when will he ever learn to leave well enough alone?

Wednesday was my check out day. Breakfast at the Friendly Fisherman meant that instead of checking out at 10am I needed to be ready to go by 9:15. When we went to put the last of our luggage in the car, I almost ran into my mom going for the elevator to see me one more time. LOL! She didn't know about the breakfast and had already ate, but came along anyway. We arrived at the restaurant at 9:30 only to learn that they didn't open until 10 and were serving brunch. So we waited on the boardwalk there and got treated to dolphins fishing again AND got to see manatees also(I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of them though).

After breakfast we learned that the two SIL's (#1 & #2) had booked themselves mani/pedi appts and needed to go get ready for that. I don't know why they weren't ready for that before breakfast and I am also perturbed that they booked it for the day I was leaving instead of for the day I went to Busch Gardens or after I left since I wasn't invited. sigh! So instead of enjoying some shopping at the boardwalk we got to go back to the condo and sit around because no one could come up with anything that they wanted to do...my brothers didn't want to do anything because they wanted their wives to be there. So I ended up just leaving for the air port early.

I was delayed about an hour leaving Tampa due to Tropical Storm Alex, but we made it home safely to a very happy DH. Poor guy had been working late every day that we were gone to try to make a dent in his overflowing inbox but of course it didn't help at all. I'll be so glad when his boss gets back.

Happy Falker Satherhood!

I decided to entertain you today with a play by play of how our Father's Day went.

Oh and if you're wondering wtHey Falker Statherhood! is, check this link. It doesn't quite explain it, but you might understand.

So, on with the show...

We started off the day with going to Church. It was a very nice service filled with hymns about fathers. I got a wee bit startled by one friend asking if she could nominate me to serve on the Church board. My first reaction was to say "Oh No!" But then almost immediately I felt an instant calm about it, so I told her it was okay to nominate me. If this is where God wants me, then who am I to argue? right?

After Church DH got to choose where we went for lunch. He decided to give us the option of having lunch at home or going to Arby's. I was okay with either and Darly chose Arby's. We enjoyed a very nice lunch that I didn't have to make or clean up after. YAY!

When we returned to the house we presented DH with his "loot." Darly made him a card and a picture that we may have framed. I gave him a card I made on the computer (cuz I couldn't remember if the ban on cards that I requested extended to him also) and new luggage. Those of you who follow me on Facebook know that I was shopping for luggage to replace the luggage that DH received from his parents when he graduated from college. They don't make luggage like that anymore, but I think that I was able to get him (us really) some bags that will hopefully last longer than 5 years. (seeing as we travel about once per year, they better last longer!)

After the loot, DH went over to his parent's house to do yard work and more work so that the house can be sold. I'm still dying to know what the folks who have seen the house think. I should email the realtor.

DH promised to try to be home by 6:30. He didn't actually get here until 7ish. So it was time for dinner.

On the menu:

Steak! grilled to perfection by our very own chef (that would be me!)
Baked Sweet potato (cuz DH & DD don't like salty sweet potato)
Sweet potato fries (cuz I don't like sweet sweet potato, more on this later)
Mushrooms (just for me! no one else likes them!)
corn (just for them cuz I had the mushrooms & a salad)

I've never been a big fan of sweet food for dinner. I didn't grow up with it, so I'm not a fan. (I don't even like lobster, too sweet! But I do like glazed ham...go figure!) DH did grow up with sweets for dinner and the sweeter the better. So of course Darly follows her daddy.
This summer I got to try for the first time sweet potato fries with garlic at my friend Marsi's house. And I found them to be pretty good. They aren't my favorite food, but I'll eat them. So I thought that I would make some and see if perhaps DH & Darly might like them also. Well when I told DH about them, his first reaction was "blech!" but he promised to at least try them.

Sorry Marsi, DH didn't like them at all. In fact he was consuming spoonfuls of brown sugar to get rid of the taste in his mouth. Sigh! Oh well, more for me!

Before we were done with dinner, Darly was requesting a trip to the playground for a round of wiffle ball with DH. DH tried to say no because it was already 8pm, but Darly has him tied around his little finger. I got out of the trip because 1) I had to clean up the dishes and 2) Here's what happened the last time I played....

well the gang is back from the ball field and offering me desert! Time to go!

simplest things

I've been suffering for quite some time with something and today I finally made the change that makes all the difference.

See I have a pair of capris that are really nice except for one very small problem...the tag! I don't know if you have noticed but sometime around the 80's the folks who sew our clothing have progressively made clothing tags more and more itchy. I think at first they were just using that plastic thread that was like fishing line but as time went by the tags themselves got more and more uncomfortable.

I remember as a kid that my mom would get upset with me for cutting the tags out of all my clothing. She said it was because she didn't know how to wash the clothes anymore, but I know that wasn't true because she washes the clothes all the same way (the same way I do!) Sort into whites vs colors and dump into the machine with cold water. So I'm not sure of her REAL reason for being annoyed by the missing tags.

shoot to today... ya know how you forget to do something until it's too late? Well that's how it was for these capris. I would put them on and think to myself, I really need to cut the tag out of these...but would be in too big of a rush to actually do it...and I would suffer. Well today I took the extra bit of time and I'm so glad that I did that I'm posting about it.

How's that for action???

Making good on my threat!

DH isn't a fan of being on my blog.  But today he deserves the spotlight and I told him I would do this...so here it is.

Today we went to the Rockies game.  When we arrived at the parking lot and parked; I started to place the sun shield up in the windshield.  Apparently, that made it too dark in the car for DH so he... um let me jump ahead first and then come back to this.

As we are walking from the car to Coors Field, DH realizes that he has left his sunglasses in the car.  We hadn't gone that far really and he could have run back to the car to get them, but instead he decides to blame ME for him forgetting the glasses.  now back to where I was before...

When I placed the sun shield up on the car apparently it made the car too dark for DH and he took off the sunglasses, leaving them in the cup holder (because I haven't bought a clip for them yet).  So DH is implying that the reason HE forgot HIS sunglasses is that I made the car too dark for him to keep them on.

I rolled my eyes at him, but they were behind sunglasses.  I then told him that this was SOOOOOOOOOOO going on my blog.  He didn't seem to care.

However, lucky for DH we found that our seats were in the shade today and he didn't really need the sunglasses.  We were all relieved because the last time we went to the Rockies game our seats were not in the shade and it was unbearably hot.  Today was almost too cold.

Unfortunately, the Rockies lost 3-4 to the Dodgers...but we kept Manny Ramirez from scoring.  YAY!

So Frustrating!

you'll all remember how sick DH got back in January when we went to Michigan.  Well along with all that fun there were a few things that came up that have caused DH to still be making multiple trips to see doctors...trips that he is getting frustrated and tired of.

While DH was hospitalized he developed a few blood clots.  The clots were in his arms around his IV ports.  He was told to move around by his doctors and told to NOT MOVE AT ALL by his nurses.  We were sure that the clots were formed because he was made to stay in the bed and because they had pumped so much fluid into him.  Now 4 months later one of the many blood tests that he has had to take has pretty much proven that we were right.  He does have a hereditary condition that makes him predisposed to getting blood clots when he is stationary for long periods of time with IV needles stuck in his arms. 

Another thing that was discovered in the hospital (but we already knew this as it comes up every time DH changes doctors) is that DH has a low white blood cell count.  In the hospital it freaked them out so much they tested him for AIDS!  But we already knew he had this because it is hereditary...his mother and his older sister also have this same low white blood cell count.  DH was sent to see a hematologist who is still trying to figure out why his white blood cell count is so low.  (Note: when DH was in the hospital and his one doctor was speaking to him about his low white blood cell count, I mentioned that it is normally low and the doctor gave me a dirty look and ignored me!)

A few weeks ago we got a call from the doctor's office stating that the doc wanted him to go in for more blood tests because his white blood cell count came back really low.  "HELLO???  Have you not even read his chart?  THIS IS NORMAL FOR HIM!"  DH refused to take the new blood test. 

So at his doctor's appointment yesterday the doc and him discuss the state of his blood and the doc is just baffled by the white blood cell count.  So now he wants to do a bone marrow test.  I assume this will check to see that he has enough white blood cell producing bone marrow cells.  But we'll see.  DH realized yesterday that he should put off the test for a few more days after he originally scheduled it because if he waits it will be cheaper.  I just realized that he should put it off because I'm going out of town the day afterward.  We'll see.

However it seems silly to keep running all these tests.  Every doctor before has been satisfied that the low white blood cell count is normal for him in his family.  His mother and sister have never had to go through all of this.  The doctor seems to want to find some way to treat DH for this, but I wasn't able to find online any way for him to do that.

Thank goodness for insurance.  Imagine how much fun this would be without it?

Windy Weekend!

This weekend Darly & I went up to the Girl Scout campground to help them get set up for the summer camping season.  As this was our first time ever to do this, we had no idea what to expect...other than we would be getting the camp ready and probably cleaning...a lot of cleaning!

So we were supposed to get there between 5 & 8pm on Friday.  I figured that since we live a bit over an hour away, we would leave the house at 5, grab dinner about halfway there and then drive the rest of the way.  However, DH reminded me of how terrible traffic heading that direction is at 5pm and suggested that we eat dinner at home instead.  This seemed like a very good idea as we could have dinner with DH before we go.  But alas DH worked late on Friday and we had dinner alone...but at least it was at home and it did save us from the terrible traffic.

We arrived at camp a bit after 7pm and found that instead of checking in at the Program Center that we needed to go to the dining hall (the staff was at dinner!)  LOL!  So we go up there and get our room assignment.  No work for Friday, just get ourselves situated.  We should start a fire because they were bringing us supplies to make Banana boats in a while.  (Banana boats = split a banana with the peel still on, stuff it with marshmallows & chocolate chips, wrap it in foil and roast it in the coals of the fire until all mushy.)  I learned that I'm not a fan of hot bananas!  So I tossed it and had marshmallows & chocolate chips.  YUM!

Sleeping the first night was AWFUL!!!  Our beds were 3 inch mattresses on press wood platforms.  UGH!  My hips kept sinking down to the wood and then these things were the noisiest things on earth...every time that Darly moved it made noise and the same for me.  I think when I finally did get to sleep, I either had to get up to go to the bathroom or our cabin mates had woken up at 5:30 and weren't very good at staying quiet at all.

So we were up bright and early on Saturday morning...breakfast wasn't until 8:30.  No coffee for 2 hours after waking up!  I wasn't a happy girl!  But we were finally able to get breakfast and COFFEE!!!  For breakfast we were treated to french toast & bacon.  Yogurt, oatmeal & cereal were also available.  Now feeling human we learned our work assignments.

Because Darly is older (there were A LOT of young kids there!) we were put on the tent setting up crew.  The camp has platform tents.  The platform looks a bit like a wooden deck with the tent itself strapped to the railing.  Steps for putting up a platform tent:

sweep off all pine needles, sticks and other debris

move cot frames off the platforms
get the cot frames legs upright (they're folded down for winter...some rusted stuck!)
get mattresses out of shed & to the tents
set up tent

move cot frames into the set up tent

move mattresses onto the cot frames

clean the mattresses (note the mattresses are covered in vinyl so we just sprayed them with bleach water and wiped them down)

Other jobs in the camp site were:
clean the Biffys (Biffy = Bathroom in forest for you.  aka: Outhouse)
clean the hand washing troff
clean the field kitchen 

There were a lot of folks to help with all the jobs and at the first campsite it took a bit of time to figure out who should do what job and learn the job in some cases.  But by the time we got to the second camp site we had it all down!   the highlighted jobs are ones that Darly & I did.

At the second campsite the tents were going up quickly and Darly & I were the cot moving crew!  We had two other folks helping us but we had it down to a science now.  However once we got started on our 4th tent our crew suffered a major set back.  A very strong gust of wind blew down tent #3!  The tent knocked over two of the cots as well!

So the folks who were actually setting up the tents rushed over after finishing the tent they were working on.  We weren't going to get much done until tent #3 could be fixed, so the rest of us headed to the dining hall for lunch.  Of course we didn't actually get to eat lunch until the rest of our crew got there, so we just sat for a bit...but that was okay as we were able to refill our water bottles and try to drink as much water as we could.  I think that I consumed an entire pitcher.

After lunch (baked potato "bar" chili or broccoli and salad bar) it was decided that part of our crew would return to finish the last few tents and that the rest of us would go to the game field to get it set up.  Once at the game field we learned that there really wasn't a lot to do.  We were supposed to set up the archery range...but the wind blew the targets over and we had no idea how to set up the red zone boundaries.  We were supposed to organize the supply closet, but it was already organized.  We did put air in all the balls with the two air pumps.  Imagine if you will, 5 children + 2 air pumps.  That was fun!

Once we had that all sorted out we were "free" for the afternoon!  Darly wanted to go to the barn to see the animals.  When we got there we were able to help collect the chicken eggs (note: we collected about 16 eggs that they are not allowed to feed to campers or guests.  Only staff is allowed to eat the eggs produced at the camp.  Campers can only have store bought eggs.  How dumb is that?)  We were greeted by Oreo, a mini-horse that likes to nibble on fingers.  We chose to not feed him our fingers.  We also found that the barn had some more work that we could do.  I helped unpack and label brand new riding helmets.  We were then invited to go horseback riding. 

My horse Harvey was new to camp this year. The camp leases the horses so that they only have to take care of them during the camping season.  They normally get back the same horses, but this year the camp will be offering horseback riding for the first time in 30 years, so more horses were needed.  Some horses are trained to follow voice commands, others are reign trained.  It seems that Harvey was used to being led around as he didn't listen to me at all and just followed our guide.

Darly got to ride on Denver who was also new to camp.  He was better trained and Darly got to take him around the ring herself.  I could be in trouble for more horse riding lessons.

Now that we were thoroughly grubby, it was time for dinner.  For dinner we had a kind of "mexican" seasoned beef with rice, beans, tortillas & corn chips.  They also had the salad bar out where we learned they had salsa, cheese & guacamole.  At our table for dinner most of the folks were vegetarians so there was a lot of the meat left over that was heading for the trash can.  I requested to take it home and it is going to be our dinner tonight.

After dinner we had a camp fire with skits & smores.  I had the thought that Darly & I should head back to our lodge and grab our showers early, but we stayed for the show.  Showering wasn't too bad and it was nice to finally get all that dirt off of us.  I felt as if that was the dirtiest I had ever been in my life...although I'm sure now that I've been worse.

This morning all that was left to do was clean the lodges that we stayed in and with 13 of us that went very quickly.  It could have gone much faster if we had a real vacuum instead of a shop vac...I may have to donate one to them.

We had a yummy breakfast of eggs, sausage, hashbrowns & biscuits.  I had two cups of coffee!  Then we made our way home.

Laundry can wait...I may take a nap.

Part of my inheritance

I wonder if I should consider this my Mother's Day gift too? LOL!

Today DH and his brother brought over part of what we have inherited from his folks.




Originally my BIL also wanted this, but I guess he figured it wasn't worth the effort to move it and then find a place for it in his house. I don't think it turned out to be quite that hard to move (but then I didn't have to lift the bugger!)

Some history about this...

When MIL & FIL first bought their house the neighborhood was under construction. Each time that FIL would take their dog for a walk he would notice items in the construction dumpsters that were still very usable but for one reason or another weren't going into the homes that were being built. FIL was a very personable person and he ended up chatting with the construction workers (asking if he could have the "trash") and eventually they would just leave the good stuff for FIL off to the side so he didn't have to dumpster dive any more.

The bottom of this is 3 sets of cabinets, the top must have been from the shelves that are like what my in-laws had in their family room.

DH still has to bring the rest of it here (YES! There's more!) as they took out the drawers, shelves and filing cabinets out of it to make it lighter to carry. So far all this has cost me is making lunch for the guys (and I cheated at that...I just put out sandwich fixins and let them make what they wanted). Course I think part of my payment will be some more of the items that DH wants to bring home. We already had an argument about a clock he had to have. Oh well, some things are worth it.

V-E-T for Lilly

This week I finally broke down and called up the V-E-T to set up an appointment for Lilly.  She was well overdue for a checkup and I also wanted to get her teeth cleaned as our running joke when she came near was "I smell dead things!"

I had wanted to try to set this up as all one big trip to get it over and done with, but the V-E-T doesn't work like that...of course, of course!

So we went in on Monday to have her exam and shots.  Lilly is a happy traveler and doesn't complain about getting into the car.  It's once she realizes where she's going that she gets nervous.  See my dog is pretty smart.  A short car trip can only mean a trip to the groomer or the V-E-T...both are terrible places.  A long trip is good though.  So as soon as we pulled into the parking spot at the V-E-T she started whining!

I took her in and had her go sit on the scale.  hummm I thought my dog had gained some weight and I was feeding her more, well she hasn't!  In fact she weighs almost exactly what she did at her last V-E-T visit.  too much floof I guess.

Well now that my dog is approaching old age the V-E-T recommends a yearly blood test to make sure her kidney & liver functions are going well.  I agreed to this because the blood test checks everything.  So poor Lilly had to go in the back with the awful vet tech to see the vampire and have something shoved up her bum.  When she got back she seemed to hold no ill will for me.
Then we waited for the V-E-T to come see us.  (side note: I never find out what V-E-T we'll be seeing when we go there.  Most of the time we get the same one but once we had a different guy.  This time it was our regular guy.)  I mentioned that Lilly isn't as lively as she used to be, she gets tired out more quickly.  So he was sure to be extra careful checking everything...and told me that everything seemed normal.  Even offered to check her thyroid on her blood test (for more money) if I really wanted him to, but that her thyroid felt just fine and he didn't think that she needed it.  Then we were done.  I set the dental cleaning for Friday.

We went home and I was to keep an eye on her cuz two of her shots could cause a reaction.  She was fine.

The V-E-T called us Tuesday with her blood work results...all perfectly normal.

So Friday I loaded Lilly back into the car for her dental cleaning.  She went in at 8:15am.  She would have her procedure between 10 & 2 and they would call me to let me know how she was...then I could pick her up after 4.  I got a call about noon saying that everything went well, no tooth extractions, but that she had some puss in there and the doc prescribed an anti-biotic for her to take for a week.  I could pick her up after 3:30.

When I first pulled into the parking lot, I parked near the employee entrance.  I am pretty sure I heard Lilly barking.  I think she might have recognized our car.  It took a bit to actually get her but when they brought her out, I'm not quite sure she knew who I was...she didn't seem to be running at me.  As soon as she was brought to me though she was all over me.

She slept a lot the rest of the day, but she wanted to play when she saw dad.  She quickly dropped her ball though...I'm sure her teeth hurt her.

I tried to see if she would just eat her anti-biotic pill (some dogs will) but she didn't...so I shoved it in a spoon of peanut butter.  she ate it right up.

She's pretty much back to normal now, although I think her anti-biotic might be upsetting her tummy.  I may go get her some yogurt later.

Irritating

ya know I should really write these right after I've been irritated, it would be so much easier to remember why I'm mad about them. LOL!

I'm irritated by the group of adults with the school group who thought that it would be appropriate to wait for their bus to arrive in the middle of the lobby of the theater. Totally blocking the exit (ever hear of fire codes?) so that I couldn't leave. When the kids would have been perfectly happy seated in the theater or against the walls away from the doors. gah!

I'm sure these are the same folks who leave their carts in the way while grocery shopping and then stand in front of the display for 5 minutes while locating the item they're searching for and talking on the cell phone. Note: they're blocking the way with their body AND their cart...two blockages here! These folks seem especially prolific during busy shopping times!

The lady (or ladies, I never did figure out who was responsible for this group) who brought in the group of school aged boys (why weren't they in school?) who decided to play "cowboys & indians" in the lazy river at the pool. The boys constant lack of attention to anything around them caused them to bump into us and the walls of the pool quite frequently. grrr! I suppose though that they did provide extra heart rate and obsticles for me.

The town I live in who should really hire a full time city planner (and if they already have one fire this person and get someone who knows what they're doing!). It seems each year they tear up the same bit of road to change it. Currently they're tearing up the road near town hall to put in the roads they need for the new civic center (that was planned 5 years ago, before this road was put in!) It also appears that they we redesign the traffic circle to a two lane traffic circle... umm all the roads going into the circle are only one lane.

and also the genius who blocked off two of the three lanes of traffic for 4 miles so they could work on the last block. I'm sure all the folks who had to work that late were just over joyed at being made to sit in traffic that much longer before going home that night.

The current election going on in my town for the water district. Thanks town for the head's up on this one. I hope it goes well because I'm not wasting my time on it.

Speaking of elections what are all these other folks running for? Their constant ads don't say. They also don't do us the kind favor of at least telling us what party they're in...the ads all seem to be generic enough to dupe us into voting for the wrong person if we aren't paying attention...and seeing that this isn't a presidential election, and I can't tell what office they're running for, does it matter? all this talk about voter apathy...

I think I'm done for now... but stay tuned.

U by Kotex - Review

My sweet little girl is growing up. Today we’re going out to get her bras & summer clothes. Pretty soon we’ll be dealing with all the other issues that come up as a girl becomes a woman. I have tried to talk to Darly about this and it has been awkward. I know that Darly is embarrassed and uncomfortable. I remember how “the talk” with my own mom went. I’ve tried to make it much better, but we’ll see. I’ve tried to use humor to ease the tension so I’m making sure to…
“Be prepared, be prepared,
This lesson must be shared,
This lesson must be shared,
Be prepared!”

Sorry for the Hoodwinked song there…

In an effort to “Be prepared” and to help young women feel less embarrassed, Kotex launched U, a new line of tampons, pads and liners, which feature a slim, thinner design, making them easier and more comfortable to use. And with bright, bold packaging and colors, girls don't need to send their Mom to Walmart for them or feel embarrassed the next time the conversation comes up with their friends. 

They’ve also set up a website http://www.ubykotex.com/ where you can order free samples of the new U by Kotex line, now available at Walmart stores around the country. For more information, and to download a fun Daily Journal iPhone or iTouch application that lets you take pictures, add play lists and geo-target your location for each entry, visit www.walmart.com/ubykotex.  And, if you haven’t seen the hilarious new commercials, you can check out some of our favorites like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n09SejxpcFA.

I think I’ve done an okay job with our talk.  One of the books that Darly read is "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret" so our running joke is if she needs any "teenage softies."  We have U products on hand and I'm sure she'll let me know when she needs more.  I remember that even though I wasn’t all that impressed with the job my mom did, I was prepared.

 “I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Kotex and received products necessary to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”