Happy New Year!!

Well the new year is under way, I hope it's incredibly dull. Really, I don't want exciting. I just want to trudge along in a normal middle America life for a while.

The old year wrapped up with us taking a trip to the in-laws for Christmas. It was nice, but I think we stayed a few days too long. The kids were over tired and we had junk from one end to the other of Grandma's house. It was good to be home.

We are totally lacking snow this year. We've had a couple of dustings but nothing that even covers the grass good. I am now wondering why I spend so much money and energy looking for good snow boots for the boys. Though I know if I hadn't we'd have been digging out from an 8 inch snowfall daily.

Nothing really new to report. Like I've said before chaos is interesting. Daily drudgery is not, and you can tell the tales of your own laundry.

Take care readers. I haven't been much in the mood to post, but I am still alive and we are all doing well. If I get really energetic might put up a Christmas picture or two sometime before spring.

I don't think it's supposed to be so funny...

Tonight was Sonny Boy's Christmas program at the school. It was a program that involved the 1st and 2nd grades from his school. You know me, the one that will have "heck I'll do it" carved on her tombstone offered to video the program and got prime seats. I didn't think it would be so entertaining.

I taped the show and only really saw two big gaffs. One was a kid tripping over his feet and falling as the 2nd grade was doing a little dance thing. The other was a girl overheating (and nerves too I suppose) fainting.

When we got home however to burn a DVD for the music teacher, BOY HOWDY! did the funny things become visible. Things we, including me who was aiming the camera, missed. By far the funniest was a kid that was parked on stage next to the narrator. "Bill" has CP and doesn't walk so good, therefore Bill was exempt from leaving the stage with the rest of the second graders while the 1st grade sang. Program moves along we get to a section where the narrator is reading and Bill is right beside him, no way to crop him out of the shot and he's sqirming around and we see him raise his left arm, sniff his pit, and then wave in front of his face like he smelled bad. Later in the program we see him reach over to feel the velvet dress of a girl standing beside him and then later feel on her knee. Before you go nuts and think I'm picking on the disabled kid, I'm not. The kid is totally there mentally and it would have been equally funny if another kid would have done the same. Other things missed and picked up when re-watching the video (and editing Bill's sweaty armpit scene completely out because it was going to school tomorrow) was Sonny Boy putting hand on his dancing partners rear end, some very dramatic singers and realizing that 6,7 & 8 yo generally have no rythym.

I realize though as I was dragging out the camcorder it's been ages since we used the thing and really need to use it more. I quit using so much because I couldn't really enjoy what ever was happening cause I was behind the dang camera. Made me realize I've got to use it every now and then.

Gosh it's late, Goodnight.

Happy Holidays....

The TMJ headaches are giving me a breather the last couple of days. THAT I am thankful for particularly since I woke up on Sunday morning curled in a ball and telling Hubby he should really just go get his shotgun. I think if I was a dog he would have. I survived through the miracle of modern drugs and some help from Hubby - he actually had to pick me up out of the bathtub and put some PJ's on me. It was bad. I did live however to make it to the second appointment with the new TMJ doc. He evaluated me and said "yes you do have TMJ disorder" WOW, no shit Sherlock, I told you that. The then marshaled me into another room to present me with what it would cost for treatment. After I saw the figure I knew then why they moved me away from the other patients. OMG!! Anyway they told me it would be 6-10 weeks before we knew if insurance would pay or not. There is NO WAY I can go that long without some treatment so I told them I would pay out of pocket and pray that the insurance pays at least some portion of the horrendous bill. I may make that medical tax deduction after all this year. Yeah (sarcasm font)

Thanksgiving went well. I cooked and had a nice meal on the table. I put the whole turkey on the table to take the "Norman Rockwell" shot before shuttling back into the kitchen for carving, and then back into the oven. The turkey wasn't done, and then when we declared it done it was overdone. That's the last time I try to cook a turkey without an oven bag.


We went to the local Christmas parade. It was cooold. We happened to sit in front of the house that was hosting Santa and Mrs. Claus on their porch. I took the picture with my camera phone and frankly it just stinks. Igor was super excited to talk to Santa and has made me promise to take him to see him at his "house" that is set up in the town square this weekend.

Yesterday in my quest to get chores done while I'm upright I decided a photography session was in order for the Christmas cards. If you get one, it will be adorned with the above picture. The following are some of the reject shots. I thought they were funny and thought you might get a giggle too. Boy am I glad I didn't have to pay to have film developed to see these.

Not too bad if it was in focus, Sonny Boy would smile better and Igor's tonsils were not visible.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth! (and a flattering picture)

Bad photographer or fast kid? I'm not sure.

My next career will not be photographing children!

Blogging for Books - A Sound Among the Trees

Blogging for Books Review
A Sound Among The Trees
by Susan Meissner



Please take a moment and go rank my review. I might get goodies if you do! If your interested you can always sign up for the Blogging for Books program as well. Typically not my genre of reading, but it's always good to expand your horizons right?


Honestly this book took me by surprise. I expected yet another stale tale of romantic love gone bad and then good again. In fact the novel Ms. Meissner wrote is a gripping story that points out how people hang onto wrongs well past their due date and forget to live in the present. The story has predictable parts and could use some more character development and fleshing out of the setting in general but the writing flowed easily along and didn’t involve characters that were not part of the general plot. The first few chapters were slow moving, but after getting past those and into the meat of the book I happily read along until the end.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

Still Living...

barely.

The TMJ issues are getting out of hand. I'm horizontal more than vertical, and the vertical days are spent trying to catch up and get ahead for the inevitable horizontal days. I went to the new TMJ doc and I'm going to try his treatment. Of course that takes a series of appointments and a new appliance so it might be several weeks more. I go back next week for a big exam and I'm going to ask for some drugs to get me through. Doctors are so stingy with those. I need to find me one of those Hollywood docs who will prescribe whatever I want.

Thanksgiving went well. Igor's bug lasted about 48 hours, and while he ran some pretty high fever and felt rotten he wasn't too bad.

I'm buggy from a headache now, and have a list of chores as long as my arm I've got to get done. With the general chaos of Christmas going and battling the TMJ I likely won't be posting much in the next few weeks.

Fun Holiday

Somebody really should invent a sarcasm font. Read below if you haven't already.






Igor has the flu.

Twas the day before Thanksgiving...

and I'm winding down on the cleaning frenzy. The house hasn't been this clean in months - at least not all at once. My mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law will be here this afternoon to spend Thanksgiving with us. The funny part is I'm not even doing the crazy cleaning like I used to when she'd visit, just hitting the high points and making sure things aren't gross.

Igor has been battling a chest cold for the last week. I picked him up from preschool last Wed and he was getting horse. This morphed into a hacky cough by morning and I kept him home on Thursday and Friday. This weekend the cough developed into a chesty nasty cough but he has never ran fever or acted as if he felt bad. Today he went back to preschool and when we got home he curled up in the recliner with a blanket and I asked if he felt bad, he told me his tooth hurt (more on that later). I was on the phone with my mother and chatted with her a few more minutes and when I got off the phone discovered he was zonked out in the recliner. I hope this isn't a symptom of the bug he has but just being tired and overstimulated at preschool. I felt his head and it was warm, but he's also wadded up in a big blanket so it's hard to tell. I'm letting him nap for now, if he seems feverish when he wakes up I'll take him to the walk in clinic before the holiday weekend. Now he just woke up, by gently rolling himself out of the chair and still tells me his tooth hurts. Hope we aren't making a run to the MD this afternoon.

Igor snuck a new tooth in. Last week I was helping him brush his teeth and discovered he has a new permanent tooth that is growing in behind his baby teeth on the bottom. It doesn't take a degree in dentristry to see things aren't quite right so I have a consulation set up with an orthodontist for the middle of December. The lower tooth is loose which might result in a visit from the toothfairy soon for him.

The toothfairy is fickle though as last night Sonny Boy popped his second front tooth and put it under his pillow. Tooth fairy forgot him. Darn tooth fairy. Sonny Boy is excited and plans to sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" for the duration of the holiday season.

Well gotta run. Igor is running some fever so off to the walk-in and see in we can stop this before the holiday.

Is it Two Timing?

I've been seeing the same TMJ disorder specialist for a few years now. Initially I had great results from her treatment. The splint she made was a god send, and I went from barely being able to open my mouth to put a fork full of food in it, to a somewhat normal range. The clicking, locking, and all that jazz quit.

However with the correction of those little problems I had an increase in facial pain. I've blogged here before how I seem to have a constant headache at times. Most days I wake up feeling like somebody went three rounds on my face, I'd swear they did, if I had some bruising. Needless to say that coupled with my "not a morning person" personality makes me a screaming banshee most mornings. I don't like being a screaming banshee.

So today after about two solid weeks of waking up and my first stop is a bottle of ibuprofen, even before I pee I decided I had to do something. I had noticed there was a dentist that has TMJ treatment on his door, next door to my regular dentist. I called and made an appointment. I'm just going to go in for an initial consultation to see if he would do anything differently. The unfortunate part is that TMJ treatment isn't covered by insurance so we'll see.

Honestly I don't think I'm doing more than getting a second opinion, which is what any wise person does. However, I'm doing so as I don't seem to get any other treatment options from my regular TMJ doc than "you can go to physical therapy" well yeah, but lady I have two small children, one who isn't even in school full time, a husband who has the most inconsistent work schedule known to mankind, and frankly it's time consuming and expensive to go three times a week to have them put ultrasound on face and rub my neck and cheeks (though I admit it feels great and does help to an extent)

In other news I'm trying to get the gumption up for the holidays. Thanksgiving is around the corner and I haven't given one thought to the menu. Hubby's mother and grandmother are coming for visit which will be fun. The kids can't tell me anything they want Santa to bring other than Legos and video games which at this point I'm utterly tired of spending money on those. The one thing Igor has said he wanted is one of those power wheels drive cars and that's not gonna happen for too many reasons to list. When I told him that I didn't think Santa could get that in his sleigh I was promptly corrected by Sonny Boy who reminded me that Santa brought that giant race track a few years ago. Yeah, but what Sonny Boy doesn't know is that Santa was crying at 1:00 am Christmas morning because said track was an expensive piece of junk that wouldn't go together properly. Ahh Christmas memories, now I know why my mother was so glad all the Santa ruse died.

Hubby did text me earlier this morning and asked if I wanted to meet him half-way to his work to eat lunch. That was nice, till he said "make sure to bring my wallet" ha ha

I debate on if I should even say anything, but hey it's my blog. There is a blogger, I read regularly. The lady is in the process of adopting two young children from Russia - quite an expensive process - and has had fundraisers and the like and has not been the least bit shy asking for items to put in online auction, or please donate to the chip-in etc. Fine, whatever, I understand it's expensive. What's got my goat is that this week she announced that she and her husband are going to go on a cruise. REALLY?!? Your asking people for money, or stuff, etc to raise money and your going on a vacation that is fairly expensive, announcing it and then try to justify why your doing it. I just don't get some people. I wonder how much her donations drop off now?

What's your opinion of this?

So, I must run and put on some make-up, brush my teeth and gather up hubby's wallet and Igor from preschool.

Ciao

Updated Look in a Dumpy Mom Town

I've recently splurged and got a few new clothes. Nothing fancy, nothing paticularly dressy, certainly nothing designer. Definitely an upgrade from my typical jean and Arkansas sweatshirt look. Today, had some shopping to do so I donned my new duds and a little cloche hat I picked up at Tar-shay and pulled out what I lovely refer to as my "Ukraine" boots (you might see me in them in some of the adoption trip photos at the bottom, not sure) and went shopping. I hit all the fancy places in town. Kohl's to buy a new belt for Hubby, the only day a 15% off coupon and a $10 merchandise coupon converged. Menards to buy some speciality light bulbs for the house -seems like all the odd ones went out all at once. And of course no shopping trip is complete until significant time is spent in Wally World. In all places I drew glances like I was wearing a cheese head.

I know wearing a hat - beyond one to keep warm - is a bit rare. I'm all for bucking trends though, and think we should all start wearing hats like we belong to the English royal family. Hat's are great, cover bad hair days, bad hair cuts, dirty hair, frame your face or let you hide it. I'm not proposing we all sport that ugly Dr. Suess looking creation from the royal wedding, but certainly a little fedora, or pill box can be quite attractive.

Did you catch the remark "let you hide it" well right now I'm not exactly putting my right cheek forward. I had a few zaps with a laser the other day to get some sun-spots removed. The laser makes the spots even darker and then they start flaking off. It's not a horrible looking in process, in fact it's not near as bad as I expected, but honestly having flaking, dark brown spots on my face isn't exactly attractive. I do think it's helped, under the flaking I see that the spots are lighter. I'll probably have to do another round of zapping but it's not so bad since it works. The spots were getting darker and wouldn't cover with regular make-up anymore so I needed to do something. The moral of this story is, wear your sunscreen girls. Or if you have a time machine back it up and put on the sunscreen.

The Whirlwind of Life

Just a bit of typical American family whirlwind lately. Highlights include but are not limited to:

Roughly 17 hours in the van over a three day period.

I got a new pair of jeans, a couple of sweaters and sore feet in the Mall of America.

I got some cool lanterns to go on the front porch at Christmas from IKEA.

We saw my Sister-In-Law's new house.

Spent an hour on the side of lake Mil Lacs in MN because that was the first place Hubby's computer would connect and he had emergency work to do.

Trick-or-Treated in some nasty weather. Sonny Boy was Darth Vader, Igor was Spiderman, I was cold.

The cold Hubby brought home from Canada has now morphed into a sinus infection that I am trying to tough out without the use of antibiotics since I have now become allergic to a couple of different famlies, don't want to agravate things more in case I've got to have those wonder drugs.

I'm watching a marathon session of Mad Men on Netflix. Something like the first four seasons are on there and I've never watched it. I'm about halfway thru 50 or so episodes.

I washed and dryed a red and green crayon in a load jeans, some minor laundry god intervened when I liberally sprayed Shout! on almost every square inch of denim in the load and the worst of what looked like a drive by perpetrated by paintball shooting Christmas elves washed out. Did I mention that new pair of jeans was in that load of laundry as well?

I'm planning on sewing all the pockets shut on the boy's pants.

The upside to having a sinus infection is that I now sleep with my mouth wide open. Makes me feel like I had rodents living in my mouth when I wake up until I brush my teeth, however I'm not waking in pain with the TMJ. Maybe I'll start sleeping with a nose clip that swimmers use?

I hear the boys duking it out in the lawn, gotta go intervene and start supper and go to scouts.

Yay