random thoughts of a SAHM

Times are changing

2011-01-05T14:59:00.002-07:00

Well, after many thoughts, I decided it was time to go to a different doctor. The new doctor actually had my blood tested to make sure I needed to be on a blood sugar medication (which is what they are supposed to have you do), and then since I couldn't tolerate glucophage very well, had me try avandia instead.

Avandia has the double bonus of making you ovulate more regularly, which, if you want to get pregnant is a GOOD thing, right? ;)

In October I had a surgery to remove a pedunculated cyst on my uterus, and had my fallopian tubes flushed out with methyline blue to make sure that they weren't blocked or plugged with gunk.

Then, November, I had a cycle, and then, in December I found out I was PREGNANT! Woot!!

I am sticking with the doctor I changed to, since he was more willing to work with me on things, and didn't tell me that there was basically NO HOPE in me EVER getting pregnant again, or that my ovaries weren't producing good eggs.

In fact, when I called the office to see if I should still take avandia and make my first prenatal appointment, the nurse talked to the doctor and then told me that I could stop taking the avandia, and that the doctor was VERY excited about my news. He remembered me. This is a doctor who has hundreds if not thousands of patients I am sure, and that he could remember me, and my situation...well, that says a lot!

Glucophage 2

2010-08-30T13:09:00.002-06:00

So, it has been a while since I wrote about glucophage used for PCOS...but then again, it has been a while since I have been on glucophage. After I took it for a while I stopped taking it. I can't remember why. I think because I was in one of the downside negative times when I wonder "what's the point" and "if I'm not getting pregnant, why take it?"

Well, I talked to my doc again around June and got him to give me another prescription for Femara. I have taken that for two cycles and then started taking glucophage this past month when I went for my yearly exam and decided it would be good to try again.

So, here are a few things that are good about glucophage... it has helped me lose weight. It helps curb my appetite, and tempers my need for sweets. Food becomes...really unappealing almost. It forces me to eat healthy because if I don't...well...it's just better if I eat healthy. Okay, for description purposes, it makes me have lots and lots of bowel movements.

This time around I have been trying really hard to put up with 2 pills a day. I don't know how anyone could tolerate three. I have found that if I eat a large meal, like lunch, if I wait and don't take the glucophage for just a little bit, it sits better with me.

Also, it has been doing interesting things with my cycle this time around. Usually it makes women have more regular cycles. It probably did that with me the first time around when I was taking the clomid because I remember having a cycle exactly 28 days later. So...my cycle hasn't started yet...hmm...we will see.

Results

2010-03-02T16:04:00.002-07:00

Well, the results are in...and since I am posting them 2 weeks before I said I would...yep, negatory my friends. That is all right though. At this point in time, I think if I had actually gotten a positive I would have passed out from shock.

I am at peace with this. I have been for a while now, but still...a positive would have been nice. :)

Waiting

2010-02-28T11:47:00.001-07:00

So, I am currently waiting...waiting to see if the Clomid worked...and by that I mean, am I pregnant or not? We shall see. Two more weeks and I should know.

The experiment 3

2010-02-15T17:14:00.002-07:00

Well, it has been over a week since I was finished taking the Clomid. While I was actually taking the pills, it wasn't too bad. However, since then...horrible! Hot flashes, waking up soaked in sweat, and while that I can definitely deal with, there has been the added effect of dizziness. DIZZINESS. Feeling like the room is spinning and I am staying in one spot. Feeling lightheaded and fuzzy like I am going to pass out.

I don't know if it has even been successful in making me ovulate, which was the whole point of taking it. I think...that if I choose to take a hormone pill to stimulate ovulation I will ask my doctor to put me on femara again. The side effects of Femara are MUCH EASIER to deal with. Much. Easier.

Clomid? Never. Again. Ever.

The experiment 2

2010-02-04T20:44:00.002-07:00

So an update... I have been on Clomid for two days....what can I tell from two days...well, the first day I took it someone made me really mad at work and I wasn't very happy with them. Although, those feelings could have also stemmed from being in the middle of a cycle. ;)

Today wasn't too bad. I think it would make me a lot more emotional than normal if I wasn't taking red raspberry leaf pills. I don't know if they hinder the effectiveness, but for me it really helps temper the changes that I am usually so sensitive to. I know, I sound like a broken record. I feel like I write this in EVERY entry, but that's just the way it is.

I am a little more ornery in the evening, but that could just be from a super long day on my feet.

So, we shall see what happens. Only three more days to go on the clomid. My doctor also has me taking 2mg of dexomethasone, which is a type of steroid. I'm sure it is supposed to help with inflammation of some sort, but I'm not sure what...

Still no appetite, and nothing sounds good. Well...occasionally microwave popcorn sounds good...ironically enough.

Apprehensive...

2010-02-02T20:38:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow is a big day...kind of... tomorrow I start clomid. I am a little apprehensive about this. I have heard good things and bad things about this medicine. I took femara a while back...about a year ago...WOW, and it wasn't too bad. I am hoping the clomid will be the same way. WE SHALL SEE.

Hopefully it doesn't turn me into a psycho maniac. I am hoping. I hope it is as easy to take as the femara was. I'm wondering about now why I didn't just take femara again instead of trying clomid. I already know that my body does okay on femara, and tolerates it fairly well...hmm...

The experiment 1

2010-02-01T17:33:00.002-07:00

So, I was going to label all of these, "glucophage #..." but this isn't really about glucophage. I am still taking one pill a day of the glucophage and that has been working pretty well. Since my body is getting more used to it every day, I may try taking two pills a day again and see what happens.

I was taking the birth control pills for one month, but that rapidly changed by Sunday. I felt my emotions spiral out of control Sunday. They were changing on Friday, Saturday was passable, and then Sunday....WOW. The only way I can describe it...it feels like someone is splitting apart my brain and I have NO control over the emotions that result from it.

So, I made it two weeks taking the birth control with red raspberry leaf pills. Normally I would have lasted less than a week. I decided it was time to not be on the birth control. So, I didn't take it last night. Even not being on it one day helped immensely.

Glucophage 1

2010-01-28T16:11:00.002-07:00

So, here is the verdict after a week a half. My body only tolerates one glucophage pill a day so far.

When I first started taking it, I felt very energetic...and not weird energetic, just like, WOW I have more energy. Kind of the way I felt when I was younger. It also made me feel like I had acid-indegestion/heartburn. My appetite for food pretty much became nonexistent. Nothing really sounded appetizing and still doesn't. It's been a pretty constant thing.

Then when this week started I began taking 1 pill twice daily. This was more difficult. I felt very nauseous and lightheaded like I was going to pass out and just felt gross in general. Passing out would have been interesting though because I don't pass out. I don't think I have ever passed out in my whole life. *knock on wood*. Anyway, after three days of feeling like that, yesterday being the worst, I "forgot" to take my evening glucophage pill.

So, today I only took one pill and felt fine. I called my doctor and made sure to let him know what was going on, and he told me that if one pill was all I could tolerate then that was all I needed to take. So, we'll see, maybe in another week or so I will try to take two pills a day again.

I have also been taking a birth control pill every day for one month in hopes that it will regulate my cycle. I have also been taking red raspberry leaf pills with it, and it has been a good combo. Normally when I take birth control pills I become a psycho maniac and it is not a comfortable situation for anyone, including myself, but with the red raspberry pills it has been manageable. In fact, I can hardly tell that I am on them at all. I told my doctor that this was what I was going to do, and he didn't care, so...there you go.

Tiffany Aching

2010-01-19T15:37:00.004-07:00

Today I am going to review a trilogy of books. I guess "technically" they are not a trilogy because they come from the discworld series of books that Terry Pratchett writes. So, it's a trilogy within a series. I guess certain characters are made reference to in other discworld books, but it can stand on it's own. You don't HAVE to read all the discworld books in order to understand all of them...make sense? Clear as mud?

Anyway, the three books I recently read by Terry Pratchett are referred to as the "Tiffany Aching" books, or the "Wee Free Men" books. Tiffany Aching is the main character in these books and the Wee Free Men are kind of like disgruntled male pixies with a Scottish accent.

The first book in this trilogy is Wee Free Men. From the very get go I was intrigued by this book. It is written in a rather refreshing way and is quirky and funny. The dialogue of the Wee Free Men is written out in a Scottish accent form, and is quite hilarious once you get the hang of reading it.

Apparently these are youth fiction books (in the first book Tiffany is 9), but they are rather long and the thought processes and patterns aren't really something that I see a young reader understanding. Just saying... Still, as an adult, I thought they were all three a very enjoyable read.

The second book in the trilogy is "A Hat Full of Sky." This follows Tiffany as she leaves her home to further her education (at the ripe old age of 11). Again, the dialogue, descriptions, interactions, are quite quirky and fun to read.

The third book is called "The Wintersmith." This book was also good, but a little more on the unusual side, which seems to be what Terry Pratchett specializes in. Not a terrible thing, but sometimes it is difficult to twist your mind about what he is writing about.

If I were to say one thing that did kind of annoy me about this trilogy, is that while it does end, and has a decent ending, there are some loose threads that leave you wondering...but what about??? Apparently some of these things are referenced in other discworld books, but good luck finding the exact thought you are looking for. I could be exaggerating, but it seems like there are about 50 discworld books.

Still, for what it is, it is enjoyable, and worth reading anyway. :) I give them 4 pens.

Not in Denial Anymore!

2010-01-18T17:14:00.005-07:00

So...it has only taken me since 2007 to come to this point, but I am not in denial anymore. I have PCOS. (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.) So, what does that mean exactly? The short answer...I don't ovulate, which equals, an inability to get pregnant. No ovulation, no pregnancy.

The long answer...every month when a normal ovary would develop a follicle that is viable to let an egg pass through, my ovaries freak out and produce lots and lots of follicles but never one that is viable. I could go into all the scientific hormones involved...but...I don't feel like it. There are 1,000's of sites dedicated to the in's and out's of PCOS.

Because of the lack of ovulation, it also means my cycles are irregular. When I was first diagnosed with this, I was pretty much devistated, and anti anything to do with hormone pills, or western medicine drugs. After all, how had they helped in the regularity and fertility department to that point...not so much. So, I went on a walk in the homeopathic side. There are lots of benefits to this...and it was very good education-wise, and health-wise, but I still have PCOS.

After trying since 2004 to have a successful pregnancy, I finally went to my doc today, and said..."Okay, I'm ready to try it your way." I think he's been waiting to hear this since he diagnosed me with PCOS back in 2007...

So...we'll see. First I have to have a cycle. In order to do that...I have to have one month of birth control pills. I know. Doesn't that seem kind of...wrong? Still, I'm doing it the doctor's way this time. So, we'll just go with it and see what happens. I am also starting glucophage. This is a drug commonly prescribed to women with PCOS because it helps regulate the insulin resistance that people with this have, and it in turn helps regualte the ovaries so that they are more likely to ovulate. *sigh* And that is ME because, yes everyone, I HAVE PCOS.

I am sure I will post more on the effects these drugs have on me. So, welcome to my world. I have now become a human guinea pig in my own laboratory. I figure that if I am going to go through this, I might as well document it, so someone else can learn from it...if they so desire.

An update.

2009-05-11T23:22:00.002-06:00

I guess I have been avoiding writing this post. Probably because I wanted to be absolutely 100% certain that I would be writing the correct information. Then, because I didn't like that information, and maybe because I was in a little bit of denial, I put it off.

I am not pregnant.

There. I wrote it. Doesn't change anything really. I can't say that I'm gung-ho to try the Femara again. Not really because of how it made me feel or anything, but more I guess because part of me sits there and just thinks "What's the point?"

I'm tired. I'm tired of counting, wondering, waiting, testing, and having the result be the same. I'm tired of doctors. I'm tired of hoping and thinking that "maybe this month will be the month."

And so, I've decided...no more. If it happens it happens, but for now I am going to focus on the two beautiful children that I have and thank God that I have two.

Femara revisited...

2009-04-22T21:28:00.002-06:00

So, it has been about 30 days since I started the Femara. Here is the interesting thing. Being on the Femara was actually great in a way. I felt HAPPY, but I knew it wasn't a real happy, but I didn't feel irritable or mean, which is what I was worried about. After finishing the Femara pills (which you only take for five days if you are using it for fertility) I felt ornery, mean, irritable, and basically like any other PMS woman. That was hard to deal with. It lasted about a week after I took the last Femara pill.

I didn't think much of the whole cycle, because things were psychotic in our household, and I couldn't determine when I was "fertile" or right before ovulation, and that is the weird thing about being on Femara. NO discharge. At all. Completely dry. Maybe too much information, but I feel that if someone reads this wondering if they should take Femara then they should know.

That being said. I am currently late. Am I pregnant? Well, the verdict is still out on that one. Still, one of the "side effects" of Femara is supposed to be a more lush lining in the uterus for the egg to implant in, so maybe, just maybe, it worked! We shall see. When I know, I'm sure I will let whoever reads this know as well! Go ahead, send some babydust my way! :)

Femara

2009-03-25T12:01:00.001-06:00

So, I have decided to try Femara. Femara is a drug that is commonly used for patients who have breast cancer. No, I do not have breast cancer. Femara has recently within the past few years, been used as an infertility drug as well.

I decided against using Clomid for a few different reasons. The main ones being that it can cause the lining in the uterus to thin, among other things. It also stays in the body a long time.

Femara stays in the body a shorter time and doesn't cause the same problems that Clomid does. So, I figured why not. When I asked my doctor about it he told me that I could try it if I wanted, and that it was a "low risk drug" whatever that means.

I figured this would be a good way to document how I feel on it. I took my first pill today. So far, I just feel jittery. Almost like I drank a big thing of caffeinated pop. It's like feeling on the edge of hyperness, but controllable. I don't feel irritable. Actually quite the opposite. I feel HAPPY! I do feel sort of lightheaded and tired, but not really. So, we'll see how I feel as I continue.

Like Clomid you only take Femara for 5 days. So, only 4 more to go!

Rain

2009-03-09T13:15:00.001-06:00

I was looking up pictures of rain for my other blog, and found this one under "freezing rain." It looked so wild, crazy, cool, and horrible, that I had to put it in its own post!

Can you imagine trying to get into your car? Or even going anywhere? Not likely! Gives a whole new meaning to freezing rain doesn't it?

JULIAN SMITH - 25 Things I Hate About Facebook

2009-03-05T17:19:00.001-07:00

Sooo funny!

Avalon High book review

2009-02-25T07:41:00.002-07:00

So, considering that I've checked this book out from the library twice and read it at least four times, I decided I needed to do a review on it.

Obviously I like the book! I think that this is probably the ONLY book by Meg Cabot that I can stand. I tried to read her "Princess Diaries" books, but, contrary to the cutesy clean movies, her books are anything but clean.

I do like her style of writing though, so this is a big disappointment to me. Enter in, Avalon High. This book is fairly clean. There is one chapter on a boat that I don't like and is a bit on the crass and crude side, so I admit that when I read the book I skip to close to the end of that chapter.

So, that is disappointing. Still, the rest of the book is very good and always makes me want to read it again.

I think the reason I like this book is its references to King Arthur. She is very creative in tying in the legend of King Arthur and putting it into a young adult fiction book set in the current time.

I like the characters in the book, their reactions to things, the descriptions of things. All good.

I don't know that I would want young girls reading this book though. I consider it more of a 14 and up book. I give it 3 and a half pens...mainly because of the boat chapter and other inappropriate things. If I had my own book I would probably "edit" it and just be a happy camper.

Touching

2009-02-12T16:42:00.001-07:00

I found this on an infertility forum, and it just touched me. So, I thought I'd share it here.

It's Like Being Overdue

by Monica Carpentier

A pregnant friend of mine was lamenting about being overdue and I thought to myself that "overdue" was a perfect way to describe infertility. You feel so overdue to have a baby. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that in many ways, infertility is similar to pregnancy. It's just that instead of morning sickness, you have heartsickness. Instead of physical exhaustion, you have emotional and mental exhaustion. Instead of having occasional emotional outbursts that bewilder your husband, you have lots of emotional outbursts that bewilder your husband. Instead of craving ice cream and pickles, you crave anything containing folic acid as you know it would be good for "the baby." Instead of making you clean the house, the nesting instinct makes you buy adorable little baby outfits and wrap them up in tissue paper and tuck them in the back of the drawer. Instead of being afraid that you'll make a terrible mother, you are afraid you'll never be a mother. Instead of getting bloated, you keep your tear ducts hard at work. So, in a strange way, infertility is like being pregnant. It's just that instead of carrying your baby in your tummy, you carry her in your heart. May the Lord bless us with comfort, strength, and hope.

A book that I don't like...

2009-01-24T13:51:00.003-07:00

There are some books that I don't like. Sometimes I don't finish them, sometimes they leave me feeling gross and disgusted, sometimes, if they are really bad, I throw them away.

So, for the sake of this entry, today I am going to write about Wuthering Heights. I saw it on someone's classic books list, and my reaction was the same as when I finished the book back in high school.

I guess I miss the "beauty" of the book. I know it's a classic. I know it's deemed high quality literature at its finest. Still, what a nasty book! It is so full of hate and angst. As if I need more of that in my life.

I still remember reading it and just feeling dark and depressed. I wondered if it was just me, but my cousin (who is about 20 years older than me) had just read the book as well and we happened to be on a multi-family outing. His reaction was the same as mine! "What a dark and depressing book!"

I have never had the desire to read it again! Okay, once I contemplated it, but then I just sat there thinking, Why? Why would I want to put myself through that again?
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not against books that have drama in them. A lot of classics do.

One of my favorite classic books is Jane Eyre. (Ironic that it's written by Emily's sister, Charlotte, isn't it.) It's sad, it has drama, but it also keeps you going.

So, if you want to read about two people who hate and despise each other, read Wuthering Heights. If you want to read a book that has a little mystery, sadness, but good feelings, read Jane Eyre.

What would it be like...

2009-01-08T17:34:00.003-07:00

SO, I guess it's been a while since I have posted on here. If you're wanting to read something quirky and funny, well, scroll down to the mock twilight script. If you're tired of reading me vent my woes on infertility, than this isn't the post for you. See, I'm being nice and warning you before hand. :)

Cause, quite frankly, I am kind of sad today...okay, I am really really bummed that this month is not the month. I guess I got my hopes up abnormally high because of something that happened, and I was mistaken...yet again. Then, I walk anywhere and it's like sonar on every single female that happens to be pregnant (think Baby Mama...yeah I could totally relate)...how is it possible that they can all matriculate into the exact same spot that I happen to be at at that exact moment? It baffles the brain!

I checked a blog that I read frequently and she had a ultrasound picture posted...lucky her! Her youngest child turned two. I'll admit it...I started crying. So, I had to sit there and think, man, what would that be like?

What would it be like to just go, okay, let's have a baby, and whamo, within three months or less you're pregnant. I have never experienced that.

So, on the plus side, I guess if I ever DO get pregnant again, and stay pregnant (because sometimes getting pregnant isn't the problem with me...) I will just be so excited I won't be able to stand it!

Until then, I will enjoy my two beautiful children, who are already potty-trained, speaking, and teasing and fighting, but still, it's a fun adventure. I'm grateful that I was able to have two, and wishing that if I could do it over again, I would enjoy their infancy even more, because it goes by so quickly.

Mock Twilight Script

2008-12-15T21:18:00.005-07:00

This was origionally posted on MSN, and I thought it was absolutely hilarious!! I'm guessing it was written before the movie was released, but it just makes it more funny to read it after the fact. It's a mock script that kind of pokes fun at the Twilight movie.

We re-imagine the dialogue for "Twilight"

by Martha Brockenbrough
MSN Movies

We don't know at this point what the "Twilight" movie is going to be like. But we've wondered. Oh yes, we've WONDERED.

Will Edward the vampire have sparkly skin like he does in the book?

Will Bella the high school ingénue come across as pathologically needy and insecure on screen? Will she trip on the carpet and break lamps and things? How many times will she have to make dinner for her dad?

Most of all, will all the vampires be as gorgeous as author Stephenie Meyer describes them? Will we drool, weep and rashly break up with our normal looking significant others?

Oh, the sweet agony of waiting. It's worse the weeks before Christmas because, aside from the trailers, there's no way for us to peek at our presents.

And so, bravely, we make this foray into the "Twilight Zone," where we take photos from the movie and reveal what the characters are really thinking, based entirely on their over-the-top behavior in the books and our own fertile imagination.

Enjoy.............................................................................................

BELLA: So did you do the chemistry homework?

EDWARD: Like, 100 years ago.

BELLA: No, seriously. Quit making jokes about our age difference. I have to do my homework before I go home and cook my dad his dinner.

EDWARD: You are a magnificent flower and the sweet cherry atop my life's sundae. Marry me and your life will be distilled bliss, for I do not eat food that requires cooking, and I am rich enough that your chemistry grade matters not a whit.

BELLA: Um, let's not talk about what you eat.

EDWARD: Your wish is my command, fragrant blossom.

BELLA: I don't understand how you can say that. I'm just a plain, awkward girl who needs to strap herself to the commode so she doesn't fall off. Accident-prone is my middle name.

EDWARD: I will sneak into your bathroom and offer my steady, marble-like arms as your supports. No harm shall come to you, my pet.

BELLA: OK, but you have to be really quiet about it and stuff, because my dad is, like, the police chief and even though he can't cook his own dinner, he will totally OWN your undead badonkadonk if he catches you.

EDWARD: (Laughs) Did you just see that? I sprinted to the end of these mossy rocks and back in less time than you took to say badonkadonk.

BELLA: Kiss me unchastely, you sexy beast.

EDWARD: Let's do your chemistry first, and then we shall go for a ride in my Volvo.

BELLA: See? I am ugly. My vampire boyfriend doesn't even want to neck.

......................................................................................................

LAURENT: Hey, did anyone lose a baseball? We found one about ten kilometers back.

JAMES: And we'll totally trade it for that klutzy-looking brunette standing behind home plate. Hello. Anyone?

VICTORIA: Told you they wouldn't go for it, James. They're obviously having too much fun playing with their food.

LAURENT: You mean you're not planning to eat the human later?

JAMES: You're crazy! Have you smelled her? I would totally eat that!

VICTORIA: James, I'm standing RIGHT HERE.

JAMES: What if we ate her together?

VICTORIA: I could go for that.

LAURENT: Oh, you two... How is it that I am the only single vampire here? Everyone's seen my abs, right?

......................................................................................................

ROSALIE HALE: Ugh. There she is, that human brat Bella, with her scent that my fake brother Edward finds so darned irresistible. She will be the death of us all with her clumsy ways and noisy, American-made truck. Why can't she find herself a nice, human boyfriend? There are certainly a horde of stinky ones gathering around her, like flies to honey. Where is my Emmett? I must go to him so we can kill a wild animal together and drink of its blood. If I still ate, that silly human would make me want to puke.

......................................................................................................

EDWARD: What happened to your ears! Did someone hurt you, my love?

BELLA: What? I can't hear you. I'm wearing my earbuds and rocking out. Have I told you today that you are gorgeous? Your torso looks like it's carved from marble. Who cares that your skin's so cold I have to wear a blanket when we snuggle? You're yummy!

EDWARD: OK, if you can't hear me, then I will whisper the words I've longed to utter for a century. I love you. Love, love, love, kissy, kissy.

BELLA: Um, Edward, I was just kidding. I can still hear you when I have my earbuds on.

EDWARD: I meant every word of it. You are the sweet love of my life. My nostrils flare to embrace your intoxicating scent.

BELLA: Do you have any Tic Tacs? I feel like I should, I don't know, eat a breath mint or something. We're going to kiss soon, right?

EDWARD: I fear my passions will overwhelm me. Let us just hold hands and take another ride in my swift, swift Volvo.

BELLA: Can't hear you. Earbuds.

......................................................................................................

EDWARD: Yes, this is a vintage Members Only jacket. You know how you weren't born yet in the '80s, Bella? I was. In fact, I was an 80-year-old man trapped in the body of a 17-year-old vampire. I wear this ensemble without irony. What'd you say? You asked if was I in high school then, too? Indeed I was. I am repeating high school because when you're as good looking as I am, high school is fun. It's amazing to me how people in Forks haven't noticed. No, Bella. No, of course not, my pet! Of course you're the first girl in my life I've ever kissed. Yes, you're pretty. Bella! BELLA! Come back!

......................................................................................................

BELLA: I like this jacket a lot better.

EDWARD: I will burn the other and sprinkle the ashes in the four corners of the Earth, so that it never offends you again.

BELLA: You're amazing.

EDWARD: You're amazing.

BELLA: No, you are.

EDWARD: I said it first.

BELLA: No, actually, I did. Just look at the transcript.

EDWARD: You're right, my alabaster fairy. Would you mind scooting away from the waterfall? You're making me nervous.

BELLA: So are you saying I'm clumsy? I knew it. You couldn't possibly love me. You are like a god and I am an adolescent head case.

EDWARD: Shh, love. Don't talk. Let me carry you on my back as though you were either a toddler or a sack of potatoes. Then we will ride in my Volvo and not engage in any carnal activities whatsoever.

BELLA: You're amazing.

EDWARD: No, you are. (Repeat...)

......................................................................................................

JAMES: OK, see, when I force you into the light? Your skin is definitely sparkly.

EDWARD: Oh, and you are laboring under the illusion that you yourself do not glisten like a little girl's toy pony?

JAMES: I'm nowhere near as sparkly as you, you prig. Look at my hands. I haven't washed in weeks. It definitely tones down the gleam.

EDWARD: I can't really see your hands, not when they are wrapped around my windpipe. Do you mind releasing me a moment, so I can more fully appreciate your skin-care technique?

JAMES: Not a bit. Check it, dude. Pure filth. It masks my scent so when I am tracking humans, like your delicious girlfriend, all they smell is 100 percent animal stink.

EDWARD: Psyche! I will now slam your body into this mirror with total disregard for the fact that breaking it will cause me seven years of bad luck which will start immediately in the sequel to "Twilight."

JAMES: Sequel?

EDWARD: Yes, you moron. Even though there are people who travel to rinky-dink Forks to see Bella's house and purchase uniforms worn by the local cheerleaders, we are all as fake as Nigerian banking chain letters.

JAMES: My life has no meaning. Slam me into the mirror, please.

......................................................................................................

EDWARD: I will now use my superhuman strength to slam you against the mirror!

JAMES: Oh, the pain! I love it almost as much as I want to drink your girlfriend's blood! But for now I will satisfy my urges by breathing my undead breath all over your pretty face! Do you smell that, loverboy? It is the blood of a human being I just ate as a snack! HAAAAAAHHHH!

EDWARD: It's not working. For you see, I do not actually need to breathe, and if I do not breathe, I cannot be troubled by your odiferous oral issue.

JAMES: Nobody likes a smarty pants.

EDWARD: And nobody likes a vampire who doesn't floss. You should see the condition of your molars, you dastardly cur.

JAMES: Are they really that bad?

EDWARD: Well, I'd stay away from taffy and from people with really thick necks. You never know what's going to happen.

JAMES: Thanks, dude.

EDWARD: Now, die! For the sake of true love, die!

JAMES: At this point, I'd love nothing better.

......................................................................................................

ALICE: I predict Bella is NOT going to like this picture.

JASPER: Yeah, baby. Edward's hair is totally weird in it. And his posture is definitely less than godlike. But I will use my mind powers to calm her down.

BELLA: I know Edward means well, but when he holds my hands behind my back like this, I sort of feel like I'm being arrested and being arrested reminds me of my dad, and when I'm standing right next to my boyfriend, I don't really want to be thinking about my dad and handcuffs, you know? It just doesn't feel right.

EDWARD: She is so wobbly! If I weren't holding her like this, she would fall over. Do you think she has an undiagnosed inner ear infection? Carlisle could prescribe some antibiotics. I will ask him to do so immediately. Otherwise, Bella might die and then the rest of my immortality would be a prison of sorrows.

ROSALIE: I wonder if Bella knows that her brown jacket isn't all that flattering. It makes me angrier than my perpetually empty womb to look at her.

EMMETT: Rosalie saved me from death by a bear. Is there anything hotter? Man, I've got to get her into the woods again soon.

Twilight Movie Review

2008-11-22T08:02:00.006-07:00

So, I generally pride myself on being able to distance myself from a book and look at the movie with a different perspective...I was unable to do that this time. I did not get the same "I totally love this" vibe from the movie.

I felt like Edward was portrayed...basically like a rude jerk face. It didn't endear me to him AT ALL. The logic part of my brain is sitting there going, what kind of teenage girl with any kind of self-esteem at all, would go after a guy after being treated the way Edward has been treating her?

And that, in a nutshell is the main reason why I had a hard time enjoying this movie. (you can all throw things at me now.)

This movie did make me laugh though. I felt like a lot of the parts were over-dramatized. Everything was sooooo...wow, talk about drama and angst and no engaging dialogue WHATSOEVER! I'm sitting there going...okay, that dialogue totally sucked lemons. And then I would bust up laughing.

So, I can understand how if this was how you viewed all the characters as you were reading the book, then I probably wouldn't have liked the book either. But, that's not how I viewed them. In the book my mind held on to the charming qualities of Edward and that overshadowed the angst he felt at being in Bella's presence. The movie totally focused on the angst...COMPLETELY.

So, you were left feeling like Edward was a total jerk instead of how he is described in the book...as being very charming. The character in the movie exuded a lot of anger...which, in the book really only comes out once, when Bella goes to Port Angelos and the guys are getting ready to attack her.

Out of all the characters in the movie, I think I liked Carlisle the best. Really. I mean, WOW, my cousin wasn't kidding when she said that he was eye candy. hehehe.

So, there it is. It's a decent movie. Not my favorite. It's a movie I will probably have to watch a few times to really get into and absorb and appreciate. This tends to be a quality that I have with some movies. I wasn't all that impressed with You've Got Mail, or Ever After when I watched them the first time either, and now I really like them. I can see that being the case with this movie too.

For all intents and purposes, I give this...barely 3 stars. Definitely wouldn't let little kids watch it either. I mean, Alice rips James's head off at the end of the fight scene, and not only that, looks like she is totally enjoying herself. GROSS! I saw people at the theatre with kids that were younger than eight, and I'm just sitting there appalled. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!

This is a teenager/adult movie all the way. My kids would have been screaming and then had nightmares that night. Aside from that, I mean, the whole movie is about a teenage girl falling in love with a vampire. Not exactly kiddie fodder.

I'm Trying to be Content

2008-11-12T14:08:00.002-07:00

So, it has been kind of interesting for me lately where pregnancy is concerned. I feel torn between being happy and excited for people, and feeling sad and disappointed that it's not me.

I can't say that I've given up really...I just finally reached the point where I can look at it and go...well, if it's gonna happen it will so quit thinking about it.

It really is hard to NOT think about it, because, now I have my little girl telling me every day that when we pray, we need to pray for a little sister with long brown hair. :) She has even made us start putting a place setting for her little sister with the long brown hair at the table. Hmm...maybe next she'll tell us we need to put an extra pillow and blanket on her bed. It's cute, but bittersweet at the same time.

Although, it was pretty funny when our son prayed for a baby brother. I thought my daughter was going to have a meltdown. She was quite insistent that we needed to be praying for a baby girl.

Anyway. I have had some real long talks with my mind about how I need to get out of my pity pit and start helping others. It really has helped to volunteer more for things.

It has become increasingly difficult to be around people who are pregnant (I mean seriously, it's like going into a store where they have the one thing that you want the most...say for example, a chocolate shop if you love chocolate. You can see people buying chocolates, you can see others eating chocolate and just loving it, and then when it's your turn, they tell you sorry, you can't have any, or we're all out.) Bad analogy but it's all I could think of in 30 seconds to even come close to how I feel.

So, what can I say. I'm trying to be content. I'm trying to focus on the two kids that I have and be grateful that I was able to have two. I'm trying to not dwell on the fact that most people think we are "choosing" to only have two children.

Still...there's this longing...will it ever go away?...and even more than that, do I really want it to?

Twilight Movie Trailer Spoof

2008-11-10T18:04:00.002-07:00

I thought this spoof was hilarious! (Yes, Heather, I put it on JUST for you!) Hehehe...

Why I have a difficult time with this...

2008-10-30T15:23:00.003-06:00

So, I would have to say that I am a very pro-life, anti-abortion person. I don't agree with abortion at all. Enough to the point that I have already had multiple discussions with my hubby on how if I got pregnant with a child and it was either...save my life or the child's life, the child's life would be saved and not mine.

I took an anatomy class once where we were learning about the development that takes place when a human egg has been fertilized. By seven weeks...SEVEN WEEKS of development, brain waves can be detected. BRAIN WAVES! I can still remember him asking us that if someone is considered clinically dead when brain waves cease, shouldn't they be considered alive when they start?

Of course, then I have the friends, and while I respect their opinions, I totally disagree with them. They have the opinion that while they believe abortion is WRONG, that it is the person's choice. "No one is making them get an abortion." This is their reasoning for why the government should not be involved.

Well, here's my little analogy. It may be something you don't agree with, but here it is. The way I look at it, slavery is wrong....and yet, it was only 100 or so years ago, when this horrid practice was considered "their choice." No one was forcing them to buy a slave. People were arguing for their right to choose to own slaves or not own slaves. There were people who felt that anyone owning slaves was wrong and terrible, and shouldn't be allowed. Then there were those that felt the government shouldn't be involved, and should just let them do what they want. Hmm...sounds eerily familiar.

I know, some of you are thinking, that these have nothing in common. I disagree. They both involve lives. They both involve the rights that those lives should have. When someone chooses to have sex they are taking on the responsibility that a pregnancy may result of it. If a pregnancy does result, why should murder be one of the "allowable" choices?

My other reasoning, and this comes from learning how much people really DO NOT know about abortion, is that if someone is considering abortion, they should be required to be educated about what they are actually doing, what will be happening to the baby that they are killing, and what will be taking place before they sign anything. NO sugar coating it. Probably the one thing I actually liked about the movie Juno (which wasn't my favorite show on the planet) was how she changed her mind once she really thought about what she was doing, especially after her classmate told her that her baby already had fingernails.

So, take it or leave it. That's my opinion.

HSM3...C'mon, Really?

2008-10-20T15:09:00.003-06:00

Never have I been more grateful that our tv capabilities do NOT include Disney. I admit that when I watched "High School Musical" (the first one), it wasn't too terrible. The songs were cheesy but not too bad, (minus the basketball one...I'm sorry that one was just tooo stupid, even for me), and the dance scenes were typical, as was the plot and all of that. The moral was good.

Well, now it is "Senior Year!", and unless I'm mistaken (which I totally could be, because I don't choose to use my short term memory to remember things like this all that often), I think that "High School Musical 3" is the first one to actually have previews and be on the big screen.

I had the misfortune to see the preview for this when I went and saw "City of Ember" on Saturday. The clips for songs were just beyond cheesy. Then they had a spot where it shows the guy playing basketball, and his girlfriend stands up in the crowd and sings to him. (Can we just say GLURGE!) I about gagged. My hubby got a kick out of it though, and started laughing hsyterically. (Imagine deep throated belly chuckles in a silent theatre...)

I can pretty much guarantee we will NOT being seeing this movie....EVER... if I have my way. Course, I guess there are worse things my kids could want to see...

Final Twilight Movie Trailer!!! WOWSA!

2008-10-13T22:39:00.001-06:00

WOW. This final trailer just gave me goosebumps! I can't wait to see the movie!!!!

TWILIGHT MOVIE TRAILER!!

Midnight Sun bummer...

2008-10-09T09:14:00.003-06:00

I found out some very...disappointing news. At least for me. I was looking forward to reading Midnight Sun whenever it got published...well, now I guess I will have to be content with just the first 264 pages of a rough draft.

Apparently the rough draft of what was written was leaked onto the internet and passed around without Stephenie Meyer's permission, which made her very upset, so she decided not to finish the book. :(

You can read her statement HERE and also read the rough draft.

I was just blithely going along, patiently waiting for the end of November when I would get to see Twilight on the big screen and see if it was a good show or not, and then BAM!

*sigh*

Definitely disappointed.

Daydream Believer

2008-10-01T13:38:00.003-06:00

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, MP3 player, etc. On shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how silly it makes you look.
4. Title this blog/email what the answer to your last question is.
5. Good luck and have fun!

IF SOMEONE ASKS 'ARE YOU OKAY' ?YOU SAY... "Then he kissed me"

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY? "Hold on"

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? "I'm into something good"

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE? "100 years"

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? "Hey Jude"

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? "What If"

WHAT DO YOU OFTEN THINK ABOUT? "Falling Star"

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE? "To Be Surprised"

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? "Flower Duet"

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE? "Shine On"

WHAT DID YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING? "All I Have to Do is Dream"

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL? "To Know Him is to Love Him"

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? "Time In A Bottle"

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET? "Unchained Melody"

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS? "I'll Be OK"

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO NAME THIS POST? "Daydream Believer"

Teehee, stupid, but funny too. :)

The House of the Scorpion

2008-09-11T08:59:00.003-06:00

I read this book a while ago, but, it deserves to be written about. If you want a book that really makes you think about things...this is the book for you. A sci-fi "thriller" I guess it would be called, it really brings to the surface some very interesting ideas.

As the book starts you don't really know what is going on. You have to read it for a while, and all you really know is that you're reading about a boy who for some reason is kept away from everything. The only person he sees is his nanny. Then the day comes when he goes exploring and discovers another house, with children, and things really start to get interesting...and somewhat horrifying. A part of your brain can see how this could one day become reality, and the very idea that it could, at least for me, was rather...frightening.

Now, I will go into the spoiler portion of this review. If you don't want to spoil the book, DON'T read this part!
This book is about a time in society when human clones are allowed...but only for medical purposes. So, at the beginning of the book you read about scientists who are injecting infants with a solution that will basically turn them into a vegetable, or someone who has very severe special needs. They can't function without someone to take care of them. One infant isn't, because his "owner" likes his to be left alone.

It takes a while to realize that they are referring to clones. That this clone is being raised as a normal little boy and isn't told anything about himself. He doesn't know anything about families are relationships, or anything. At first as he is going through his childhood he is treated like a little boy, because that is how his nanny/caretaker cares for him. She treats him as if he is her child.

One day some kids are playing in the fields surrounding his home and he tries to play with them. His nanny gets in trouble and he is taken to the "big house." His next caretaker treats him like an animal and keeps him in a room with sawdust on the floor.

The story progresses to where he learns who he is cloned from, but he still doesn't realize that he himself is a clone. In a strange bizarre way, it's as if his owner is doing his own experiment to see how each clone of himself differs.

It is about this time that you learn and realize that the clones are made so that as a person gets older they have the perfect organ donor. The view is that the clones aren't really "people" so, what does it matter if they have to give you their perfectly normal liver because you fried yours with alcohal? To make them seem even less of a person, they damage their brain when they are infants, so they have no "knowledge" of what will be done to them, eventually.

Then the story takes a different twist then the one you think it will...thankfully, and things begin to change for the "clone." I can't in good conscience tell you how the book ends, so you will just have to read it to find out!

While the scenes that play out in this book are in some instances, truly bizarre, it brings your level of thinking to a whole new level. It really makes you wonder...what would I think or believe, especially where human cloning is concerned.

While my nephews did read this book, and they are both middle school age, I certainly wouldn't recommend it until they reach maybe 11th 12th grade? It has some pretty deep concepts, and disturbing imagery, that even as an adult, took me some time to fully ingest.

I would recommend that you read it with your child, even if they are in high school, so that you can discuss the concepts that are written about. All in all a very intriguing book, if somewhat disturbing one, and very well written. I give it 5 pens.

NAET (Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique)

2008-09-05T05:33:00.006-06:00

NAET was a homeopathic technique that I tried a year or so ago. At that point in time it had gotten to where my body had food sensativities to corn, sugar, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, nuts, and a whole bunch of other things.

I also started to try NAET because I was tired of being allergic to strawberries. If I ate anything that had any hint of a real strawberry in it, I became sick for about a week. It was HORRIBLE! I began to really wonder, when I went to my ear nose and throat doctor and had an allergy panel done and I found out I was allergic to sage. I had a blood panel done as well since I had so many reactions to different foods, and guess what? THEY ALL CAME BACK NEGATIVE! How could that be?

Even strawberries. I knew it couldn't just be in my mind, because I had inadvertantly gotten a shake one time that had strawberries in it, and I had no idea they were in there. My only clue was getting so sick afterwards that I felt like I had the worst cold ever.

Aside from that, say I had tested positive in my blood panel...would it have made any difference? NO. I still wouldn't have been able to eat strawberries. I still would have had to avoid all the other foods that I had sensitivities to.

So, I was introduced to NAET. NAET is like a lot of other homeopathic remedies but it is used on a more professional level...chairopractors are the main resource for this technique. The Dr. I went to was in a larger city, and while he was a nice man, it did bother me that you had to pay for each individual allergy that you wanted cleared. And it's NOT CHEAP!

The first analyzing session alone, where they muscle test you, for each thing that you could possibly be allergic to, cost over $100. Still, at the time, I felt it was worth it to get rid of all my allergies. I even started taking my son because he was having so many problems sitting still at school and listening to the teacher.

Anyway, once you start going here's what you would do. You'd go, the Dr. would muscle test you (you lay down on a massage table and they have you raise your arm up vertically and try to push it down) to see, either, what you needed to be treated for, or what you had already been treated for to see if it worked.

So, say for example you are allergic to wheat. He would get a vial full of water that had the "energy" of wheat and have you hold it. Then you would raise your other arm and he would try to push it down.

Well, if you are allergic to wheat, your arm would go down very fast. If you weren't then he would not be able to push your arm down. So, since you are allergic to wheat and your arm goes down, he has you hold the vial while he pushes on different pressure points in your body. The vial goes into your sock next to your ankle, so there is skin contact and you go in another room for 25 minutes and lay there while your body internalizes the fact that you do not need to be allergic to wheat anymore.

After 25 minutes you go back into the other room and he tests you again. If the treatment "held" you would test not allergic to the wheat vial. Then the fun really begins as you go home and have to stay away from all wheat products and not touch wheat, breathe wheat, etc... for 24 hours. If you do, then your body will usually reject the treatment and you have to do it all over again.

If you are REALLY allergic to the item, you may have to have a couple of treatment sessions done anyway. If you have an emotion attached to your allergy to wheat, then the allergy eliminaton for wheat may not hold until you get the emotion cleared.

This technique works for a lot of different people. I talked to a family that had a baby who had a horrible horrible diaper rash, and had her tested and she was allergic to fruit. So, they had her treated and after two treatments her allergy was gone and so was the diaper rash. It has also been very effective for people who have ADHD, Depression, Anxiety, and Autism, as well as a whole bunch of other problems.

I felt like it did work for me to an extent. I stopped going before I was treated for berries, so I don't know if it would have worked on my strawberry allergy or not. I did have an allergy to all the reproductive hormones, and once I cleared on those hormones I did become pregnant (like that month), which was a good thing, but then I miscarried.

The one thing that the Dr. did that I don't think he should have was when I was treated for the hormone levels he upped the testosterone level. 6 months later I was diagnosed with PCOS--Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (which, because of other techniques I no longer have), and a main cause for PCOS is an elevated level of testosterone. I do not think it was coincidence.

So, my take on NAET is that it works well, but be careful of them upping any hormone levels. Also, a lot of the food allergies I was treated for came back because I had a lot of emotional blockages that I was unaware of until I went for energy work. If I were to go back, this time they would probably take, but why pay $45 a session for one allergy when I could go and have energy work done and have my body clear a lot of the allergies on it's own time? A lot more inexpensive and the same result is acheived.

The Ship Who Searched

2008-09-03T18:35:00.004-06:00

This is a book that I have read a couple of times, and since I just finished reading it again, here is my review of it.

Obviously I like the book! I certainly wouldn't put myself through the torture of reading it again if I didn't like it. It is very much a sci-fi book though. If you don't like sci-fi, you probably won't like this book.

This book kind of goes along with a couple of other books that Anne McCaffrey wrote. The only one I have read besides this one is "The Ship Who Sang." A good book as well. Anyway the series for these books is called the "Brain and Brawn Ship series." For a comprehensive list for all of Anne McCaffrey's books you can go Here.

I really enjoy the style in which this book is written. It is sci-fi, but you don't have to use every brain cell in order to follow and understand the book.

The books in this series deal with "brain ships" which are ships that have an actual human encased into the ship. Sounds bizarre I know, but it is really cool to read about. The jist that I got from it, is that the minds of people who have bodies that would leave them unable to do anything physical are placed into these ships. The books explain HOW they are able to do this, much better than I ever could.

In this book a girl gets into the a special program after an alien virus leaves her as a quadriplegic. Since she is very gifted mentally, she does well and chooses to get installed into a brainship. Her main goal is to find out more about the source of the virus that attacked her. While on this search she also gets involved in finding a pirate ship escapade and forged artifacts. Almost sounds swashbuckling doesn't it? Like "Pirates of the Carribean" in SPACE! Except, no dead/alive guys and no curses.

I also enjoy reading the dialogue and relationships that take place in this book, although, if there is anything that I didn't like, it was how nonchalant the girl's parents are at the beginning of the book. They wait until the very last moment to get pregnant, and then when they have a child they just leave it with a computer/android to take care of it? It always strikes me as somewhat odd, but I guess it could be likened to longing for a baby and then once you get one, leaving it with a nanny for long periods of time.

Even with that, I still give it 4 and a half pens. :)

Hello Kitty Fan 2

2008-08-31T08:00:00.001-06:00

After I got looking at Hello Kitty gun pictures, I also found more bizarre things that are made "Hello Kitty style." I'll start with the more normal ones first...after that they get pretty bizarre and outlandish!

First up is the Hello Kitty electric guitar. Nothin says rock'n'roll like a Hello Kitty gig! It is cute though, I can see why people would want one.

Here we have your typical computer...Hello Kitty style. :) Again, not that unusual, and I can see why someone would decide to buy it, because it's just so cute!

Then I found the Hot Pink Hello Kitty ferrari...at least, I think it's a ferrari. If it's not, I'm sure someone will correct me. I mean, cause I have so much money laying around I think I'll go spend it on a super fast expensive car...and even better I want it to be HOT PINK, and let's put some Hello Kitty decals on it just for kicks...

Here's one for those of you who want to have power tools...but not just ANY power tools...Hello Kitty power tools! Don't forget to notice the cute little Hello Kitty with gear controls on the right side of the picture...
>

Then there's those who are Star Wars fans and Hello Kitty fans at the same time...what to do! Oh, I know, combine them!
Here's a tatoo of Darth Hello Kitty... nothing says true devotion like a needle with ink in it yah?

And just in case the Darth Hello Kitty tatoo was a little too black here is a costume for the person who likes Hello Kitty more than Darth Vader, but not enough to dress in a usual Darth Vader costume.

And last, but certainly not least, is the winner for this entry's Hello Kitty mega fan...contact lenses...can you believe it?! I mean, WOW. Cause I've always wanted my irises to look like they were deformed into the shape of Hello Kitty!

Hello Kitty...in a whole new way...

2008-08-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

I was reading one of my old entries and I came across my Hello Kitty fan entry. As I was sitting there, my hubby quipped, "Hey, did you know they have Hello Kitty guns?" NO WAY!! So, I looked it up, and he is RIGHT! Here in all their glory is a whole line of Hello Kitty guns...Cause I mean, I don't know about you but when I think of Hello Kitty, the first thing that comes to mind is that I need a gun with Hello Kitty on it...even better, make it pink! (I'm totally kidding here, I mean, seriously...) I can just hear the conversation now that would take place...

Why Hello ma'm, you're in the market for a gun? Any particular gun you have in mind? What's that? You want a pink gun? Well, you are in luck today. Oh, and you want Hello Kitty on it? Well, let me take you over here to our "special" collection.

Here we have a lovely Hello Kitty pistol in hot pink. What's that? It's too small? You would like something larger? Well...let's take a look over here...

Here are some Hello Kitty rifles. We even have two colors...you can either get it in Hot Pink, or light pink and white with flowers. Oh. You want something with more stability?? Well, let's take a look over here. I think you're really going to like this one...

Here is a lovely assault rifle with legs for when you feel like you need extra stability. You like it? You want to buy it? Great! It comes with a matching gun case.

Seriously people! Can you just imagine! I'm sorry, but that's just taking it too far for me, and I am a Hello Kitty fan!

The Boy Who Lost His Face

2008-08-29T09:05:00.004-06:00

When I first saw this book, I thought, Great! Another Louis Sachar book! His books are usually quirky and fun to read! Notice I said, USUALLY. I was very disappointed in this book. While it still had the same writing style, and the book storyline was fairly decent, there was SO MUCH LANGUAGE in this book I thought I would just gag. HELLO! It's written for 10 year olds and under! They don't need any help in the swearing department!

Aside from that there was a bizarre moral in the book which somehow included flipping people off. It is unfortunate really, because the main storyline in the book was a really good one. It could have been an amazing book. The main storyline is about a boy whose best friend decides he isn't "cool enough" anymore. It goes over being bullied not just by kids who were bullies, but his former best friend.

The main character, David, has a big decision to make. At first he tries to hang out with his former best friend anyway, and even goes along with some of the really stupid and mean things that kids can be known to do. He then realizes that that is not what he wants to do, and he finds new friends. THAT is what I liked about this book. The portrayal of the difficulties of middle school and finding new friends when you realize that your current friends are going in a direction that you don't want to go.

I don't think I will be keeping this book. I can't even say that I would recommend it to anyone. I give it 2 pens. If you want a good book to read by Louis Sachar read "Holes" or "There's A Boy in the Girl's Bathroom."

Escape by Carolyn Jessop book review

2008-08-25T13:04:00.004-06:00

This is a book written by a lady that used to be a member of the FLDS church. I have always (somewhat anyway) wondered what exactly was believed in FLDS church since I knew they had split away from the LDS church more than 50 years ago. What I read was not only intriguing but also horrifying and upsetting.

Intriguing because it gives a very detailed day to day sequence of what it was like to be in a polygamous marriage. Horrifying because of the events that are so simply detailed. Upsetting because of how twisted and changed basic beliefs of the LDS church have been taken and used by the FLDS religion. This is really upsetting to me, because the LDS religion is NOTHING like the FLDS religion. NOTHING. To think that people even wonder if FLDS and LDS are similar. THEY ARE NOT.

When I saw this book I wanted to read it mainly because of all the media that has been going on. "The Polygamists" as they were commonly referred to when I went to school in southern Utah, were pretty much left alone. I don't remember seeing them at the university while I went there (which makes sense after what I read), and I rode past Colorado City maybe two or three times the whole time I lived in Cedar City, Utah.

While it was somewhat disturbing to read about how the children were taken care of in the community, what was even more...interesting to me was their lack of concern for others. Even within a family unit it was not uncommon for one or two of the women to basically be the "slaves" of the family. I don't think unselfish service to others really even exists there. If someone gets sick they are looked at as weak and not being in harmony with God. If someone gives birth to a special needs child they are looked at as being a sinner (otherwise their baby would have been born healthy, right??)

Another thing that I found interesting was how the religion itself changed with each leader, going more and more extreme until the sick psycho himself, Jeff Warren. Reading about him, really made me feel ill. What a disturbed individual.

She wrote of instances over and over again where people would be "married" and they would both look upset and sad. To think that people are living in this community and thinking that it is the right thing to do, to me is just depressing.

I never realized before why it was so difficult for someone to leave the FLDS community if they wanted to. Her flight to freedom was reminiscent to me of the turmoil in the book "Not Without My Daughter" except it occurred right here in the United States.

Reading this book after the raid on the FLDS compound in Texas really made me look back on the facial expressions of the women in the community. There is no doubt in my mind that most of the women in this community really do love their children. That being said, there IS a high level of accepted abuse there. I will never forget the video of four FLDS women talking to the cameras and listening to one woman speak, and have another woman interrupt her every few seconds. I always felt like the one woman was trying to exert her "authority" over the other woman, and it even showed on camera. After reading this book, I realize that I was probably right.

I felt like Texas was wrong for the way they handled things the way they did. I still think they could have done things differently...but at least they tried. The things going on in this community are wrong. They should have to be accountable for their actions just like everybody else.

Definitely a book that will make you think about things.

Ugly Houses

2008-08-22T08:29:00.003-06:00

I admit it...I watch houses. No, I'm not a peeping tom or anything, but I like to look at houses as were are driving by and notice color schemes, architecture, etc... There are some absolutely gorgeous 100+ year old houses where we live, and the design is just amazing.

So, of course, along with the beautiful houses, there are also those houses with...ahem...more creative color schemes. I noticed one the other day. HOW COULD I MISS IT! WOW! It was a...flourescent peach with yellow trim. My hubby said it looked like a dreamsicle bar. I was sitting there thinking, well, at least they won't have to worry about anyone running into their house and saying that they couldn't see it...more like, someone would run into their house because they were BLINDED!

There was a house that we almost bought a few years ago because it was old and had classic architecture. One of the things we knew we'd have to change was the paint on the house. It was made of brick, and the people I guess decided to "match" the paint with the brick, maybe thinking that they could fool everyone or something. Well, the brick was that old traditional orange type color, and the paint on the house?? Well, it ended up being a bright salmon color. Then they accented it with mustard yellow and jungle green. Pretty eh?

The next house I have noticed is a brand new house. I thought it was going to be so pretty. It had a nice porch, rock work, and I was just waiting for them to put the color in the stucco...suffice to say it was NOT a color I would have chosen. I guess they wanted people to be able to see it from the freeway, even though it is about 3 miles away from the freeway. Personally, I think it looks like egg salad. What do I know? Maybe that was what they wanted their house to look like. "Hey honey, I have always wanted an egg salad house, what do you think??" I have to admit though that the color has toned down a little bit...maybe they just added more mayo...

10 Things You Shouldn't Say...

2008-08-21T12:24:00.003-06:00

I should continue the title phrase...10 things you shouldn't say to someone who has a hard time getting pregnant or had a miscarriage.

I decided this list was necessary for all those people out there who are trying to be kind and considerate...and well, not being as considerate as they should be, or by not really thinking about what they are saying.

So, here it goes. Mind you, these are just 10 things.

1. What, do you want us to feel sorry for you? You're just trying to get attention. (I know, this person was trying to be "funny" but so NOT funny. Someone actually said something like this to my friend who had just miscarried. I was APPALLED!!! If it had been me, I would have started crying.) People who have miscarried are GREIVING just like anyone would if they had someone they cared for die. Treat them with sympathy and respect.

2. Oh, it will be all right. You'll get pregnant soon, I'm sure of it. (While I know this phrase seems "nice," at that moment in time, it is certainly NOT all right, and how do they know that they will get pregnant again? They don't.)

3. Well, at least you have (insert #) kids already. (Okay, so if your child dies in a car wreck I should just say, "Well, at least you have three more left that you can grieve over if something happens to them...")

4. Don't sidestep the issue if the person wants to talk about their grief and frustration. (Women in particular have a need to talk things out and get the sad and frustrated emotions out in the open, and they may need to talk about it again and again and again.)

5. Don't act like nothing has happened. (Even if you make them cry, most people want to know that you know what has happened and care enough to show them that you care.)

6. If you become pregnant, don't wait until the last minute to tell your friend about it. (This only makes your friend feel like you couldn't tell them something, which makes them sad, and the whole cycle repeats. They may cry when you tell them, but if you are upfront about it, they will appreciate it a whole lot more then if you wait.)

7. If you become pregnant, don't tell your friend that you got pregnant six months earlier than you had planned. (One, this will only make your friend sad because, hey, any pregnancy would be nice, plus in a way, you are just flaunting the fact, albeit unknowingly, that YOU are pregnant whereas THEY are not...)

8. If you become pregnant, DO NOT under any circumstances, COMPLAIN about being pregnant to your friend, or say that you wish it had happened at another time, etc...(you have no idea how many women would trade you places in a heartbeat just to have the experience.)

9. Don't ask someone if they've tried infertility treatments. (This is a very personal and complicated issue. If they want to talk about it with you, then let them, but don't be the one to bring it up.)

10. Don't tell them you KNOW what they are going through. (Every person's experience is DIFFERENT. I really appreciated another friend that I had who HASN'T had a miscarriage or difficulty getting pregnant, not telling me that she couldn't relate, but merely saying...that would be so HARD. It meant a lot to me that she didn't try to just brush the experience away.)

So, you're wondering what you should do? Lots of hugs, sympathy and understanding.

Twilight is coming!

2008-08-19T15:47:00.001-06:00

Twilight's opening date got bumped up a few weeks! YEAH! Now it is going to open on Nov 21st! I guess that is the date that Harry Potter was supposed to open, but Harry Potter got bumped to next summer, so they put Twilight in the slot instead.

The Hollow Kingdom trilogy book review

2008-08-15T08:32:00.004-06:00

Here are three books that are soooo good. They are by Clare B. Dunkle. I give these books 5 pens. If there is anything that I would change about these books, it would be length. After finishing, I wanted to just read more and more.

In the first book, The Hollow Kingdom, there are two sisters. One of them gets kidnapped by the goblin king. The sister that gets taken ends not hating the kingdom after some interesting events take place, which I won't tell you about, or that would completely spoil the book.

In the second book, Close Kin, the adventure continues focusing on two other characters that you meet in the first book. They come to accept and realize the importance each "person" has in the Hollow Kingdom society. In this book you also learn more about elves and how their kingdom interacts and relates to the goblin kingdom.

In the third book, In the Coils of the Snake, most of the story takes place outside of the goblin kingdom, or Hollow Hill, and you meet the third main character in this trilogy. While all the books are good, I probably enjoyed this book the most. This books involves the elf kingdom and the goblin kingdom again, and the events that transpire are interesting to read.

The thing that I find amazing about all of these books, is you are reading about goblins...and liking them. You want the girl and the goblin to like each other. You want things to turn out.

Clare B. Dunkle is an excellent author, who I feel has been overlooked in this time of popularity among fantasy/sci fi books. This is an excellent trilogy that was just as exciting for me to read as the Twilight books, and moreso than the Fablehaven books.

These books are not as long page-wise. They are written for the tween age level of readers (10-12), although some of the ideas are definitely not on that level. An adult reader could certainly read these books and enjoy them...since obviously I am an adult and enjoyed them! :)

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X book review

2008-08-12T12:50:00.003-06:00

I just finished reading "The Dangerous Days of Daniel X" by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge, which apparently is the first book in a new series.

Synopsis: A teenage boy feels compelled to give vengence for his parents untimely death when he was a young boy.

This is a science fiction book. I liked it. I give it 4 pens. I liked the way it was written...the tone, descriptions, characters, all good. In the book flap there is a spot where it says that "special care has been taken with the language and content." I guess they wanted it to appeal to younger readers as well, but I definitely appreciated it too! :)

Anyway, the book is written in first person, and is almost like reading a journal of a teenage boy. So, if you're looking for an in depth sci-fi book...this ain't it. If you're looking for a sci-fi book that stretches your mind and makes you think hard in order to read, understand, and follow the storyline...this is NOT the book for you.

For me, it was like reading a quirky version of Men in Black...except, it is a teenage boy, who also happens to be an alien from another planet. He is an alien hunter. He has telepathic powers. He can create things with is mind. To top it off, he is on his own, since his parents were killed when he was 3 years old.

Some of the imagery is rather graphic though. Not in a horrific way, but some of the fight scenes are described in detail, and for me anyway, were somewhat disgusting. For a boy? They'd probably think it was just cool. I can see tween age and up thinking this book was good. Younger than that, and it would probably be a little too intense.

Don't Talk to the Police!

2008-08-11T22:29:00.004-06:00

My hubby was surfing the web the other day and came across a video recorded by a law professor where he talks to his students about why they should NEVER talk to police if the police ask them questions. He even invited a police officer to the lecture and gave him almost half of the time to talk to the students as well.

I wondered how his comments would go, and one of the first statements out of his mouth was "I want you to know that what your professor has told you tonight, IS ALL TRUE."

Curious now? Want to watch the videos for yourself? You can watch them HERE.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 movie review

2008-08-10T21:38:00.002-06:00

I didn't think I would get to go see this movie in the theatre. Mainly because, while my hubby is very tolerant of "chick flicks," this one was over the top even for him. So, I got to go with two of my sisters-in-law. It was SO fun! And no, there was not even ONE guy in the whole theatre.

Anyway, I really liked the first movie, and even read all the books, so when I heard this movie was coming out, I wondered if it would be as good as the first one, or even come close to what the books are like. The reviews were iffy, but most reviews of chick flicks aren't all that great, so I knew I couldn't base my opinion off of that.

Can I just say, this movie was SOOOOO good! I left feeling like I had just finished reading a really good book. Unlike the first movie, which pretty much stuck with one book, this movie combined the next three books. So, they had a lot of things to cover, and kind of smushed some of the events that happen in the books. I thought they did it in a very creative way, and pulled it off very nicely.

I will definitely be tempted to buy this movie. It was so...wow. I just can't say enough how much I enjoyed seeing this movie. The actresses all did a superb job.
Go see it!

Get Smart movie review...

2008-08-08T18:14:00.002-06:00

So, the other day we FINALLY went to "Get Smart." Even though it didn't get that great of reviews, a lot of people I know that had seen it thought it was hilarious, so I was actually looking forward to it. Plus it had Steve Carell in it, and he is one of my new favorite actors.

Well...it was a big disappointment for me, on a lot of different levels. So, I'll start with the humor. The humor is slapstick humor, and I guess if you find that funny, then you will LOVE this movie. It seemed to be more along the lines of...wow, I can't even think of a movie. Not as stupid as Dumb and Dumber, but not as good as Cheaper By the Dozen, which had some slapstick humor to it, but it was cute and funny in other ways so they pulled it off.

This movie didn't pull it off. And, I'm sorry, but I had a difficult time seeing Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway together. Mid-40's with Mid-20's girl. EWWWW! And, while I do like Anne Hathaway in some movies, Steve Carell actually could pull it off making you think that his character was falling for hers, but she was a little out of her league trying to convince me that she actually was falling for him. Yah...right!

Another thing, was some of it was just plain disgusting. There is one time during the film where they show Steve Carell throwing up...literally puking into a flight bag, and it SHOWS ALL OF IT. Not just a little reference. It made me gag.

My hubby thought it was hilarious though. If we do ever buy it, it will definitely be for him, because I think I could live the rest of my life and not miss seeing it EVER again.

Oh no, I've gone to the...green side?

2008-08-06T08:23:00.002-06:00

Warning: In this post I talk about feminine cycles and products. If this makes you uncomfortable, STOP and don't read it! I'm not writing about it to be gross, but to help others make informed decisions and read about the experiences I've had.

So, first I have to write about my whole experience with menstrual cycles. I was totally oblivious to the world of womanhood until I turned 10 and learned about it during the "puberty" talk at school in 5th grade. It totally floored me! I was unprepared! This is because talking about, dicussing, even mentioning "period" was taboo in my house. At least, that is how it was treated.

So, I entered middle school, and in the process started my first cycle. I was mortified. How AWFUL! How GROSS! Every time I tried to discuss it with my mother I could tell it made her extremely uncomfortable, and consequently I felt very uncomfortable about it. I remember trying to hide the fact that I was having a cycle by being very quiet in the restroom, so no one would know.

To top it off, I couldn't use a tampon. I have my suspicions that this was mostly because I was uninformed and didn't know that there were special tampons made for young women who hadn't had sex yet, but all I knew was that I couldn't put the tampons my mom used in. (shocker, I know.) Again, when I tried to discuss this with my mom, it was not a good conversation. I don't hold this against my mom at all, I mean, she was also raised to view a woman's cycle as something gross and disgusting. Something you DON'T talk about in polite company.

When I entered college, that was the first time I openly discussed what it was like to be a woman and have periods. I liked being able to talk about it. I lived on a dorm floor with 20 other girls. We talked about our cycles ALL the time. We talked about the problems we had. It helped me realize that I was not the only female out there who had a cycle and problems.

When I got married, I told my husband, multiple times that our house would be OPEN to menstrual conversation. It would not be a closed topic. I did not want any girls who were born into our family to go through the experiences I had. I didn't want them to think that they were dirty or had a disgusting thing that they had to deal with once a month. He agreed. He has slowly gotten to the point where openly talking about what I am experiencing, doesn't even gross him out.

So, now we come to today. A few months ago I started looking into reusable feminine hygiene products. The main reason I did this, was because we always try to be prepared with items to use for 72 hours to a year. I kept thinking about what I would do for pads when I had a period. A years worth of pads stored in my basement? CRAZY! I knew there had to be another way. When I started reading about the products out there, I was pleasantly surprised at all the information there is, and that not just totally green women used these products.

The thing that surprised me the most was reading about how women's cycles would change once they started using reusable pads. Women who had extremely heavy periods, would find that after a few months their cycle got lighter and shorter. Symptoms of PMS and cramps lessened and disappeared. All because they switched to a reusable pad.

Then I started reading about the chemicals they used to make disposable pads and all the garbage it creates. I just never thought about it before. It is HUGE!

So, this month is the first month that I have really used the pads. I bought a pack from Gladrags, and since I have had heavier periods for the past year, bought some extra inserts. There are other small businesses that make reusable pads, but I went with gladrags because I could change the amount of protection that I had.

They are a little pricey initially, but when I thought about how I would be using them for YEARS instead of just once, it didn't bother me.

So, for month one, mind you, this has been the first heavy period I have had for 3 months, it has been interesting. Most women don't have to use more than one or two inserts, but mine has been heavy enough that I actually switched to the night pads for two days. Today I just put 4 inserts into a regular holder, and yeah, I kind of felt like I was sticking a matress between myself, but once I sat down, I haven't noticed it was there.

I don't know if it is just because it is the first month I have had to use them so my period is extremely beyond heavy this month (no, I'm not hemorrhaging) and so, it has been quite interesting to see how long I could go without putting a new liner on. Yesterday I actually had them leak onto my underwear, and I had only worn it for 2-3 hours with 2 inserts.

This is where my stubborness kicks in though...these pads are SOOOOO comfy! Even though I'm having to experiment with how many inserts I have to put in, I don't want to put in a disposable! So, I guess my advice, coming from a complete novice to reusable pads, is to try these when you can be at home first! Gladrags themselves recommends that you not switch cold turkey, but rather gradually get used to using reusable pads.

I know, most of you are probably wondering what I do with the pads after they are used. Well, I rinse them, and place them to soak in a pretty crock jar that matches my bathroom. Rinsing them doesn't bother me at all. I mean, I had to do it anyway when a disposable failed. So, that hasn't been an issue.

On to month 2! I'm excited to see if my cycle changes at all.

Breaking Dawn book review!!!

2008-08-04T21:12:00.002-06:00

This is the last book in the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer. Honestly, it would be next to impossible to write a summary about this book without spoiling it for someone. So, here is my, "impression" of this book. I don't want to spoil it for you because it is that good!

Every possible way I even imagined this book being (which, believe me wasn't all that speculative) didn't even come close to the way it actually was. It was soooo much better. I started it, and once again, could not put it down until it was finished. Good thing it was a Saturday!

There were a few times where I was just sitting there going "WHOA...WOW." So, I give this book...5 pens. That being said, it definitely isn't perfect, but not many books are. It is easy to read, fast paced, and definitely had my heart pumping in a few spots.

I liked how this book ended. I liked how the characters interacted. I liked how majority of the loose ends were tied up, and I wasn't left hanging at the end, wondering, but what about this? But, what about that? What happened to so and so? How did it all end? There was definitely enough closure for me.

So, what else can I say? Go read the book!

Fablehaven Book 2: Rise of the Evening Star

2008-07-30T15:57:00.002-06:00

Synopsis:
At the end of the school year, Kendra and her brother, Seth, find themselves racing back to Fablehaven, a refuge for mythical and magical creatures. Grandpa Sorenson, the caretaker, invites three specialists — a potion master, a magical relics collector, and a mystical creature trapper — to help protect the property from the Society of the Evening Star, an ancient organization determined to infiltrate the preserve and steal a hidden artifact of great power. Time is running out. The Evening Star is storming the gates. If the artifact falls into the wrong hands, it could mean the downfall of other preserves and possibly the world. Will Kendra learn to use her fairy gifts in time? Will Seth stay out of trouble? Can they overcome paralyzing fear?

My brother very kindly loaned us his Fablehaven books. He only has the last two books, of which there are three, and he very adamantly told me "Don't read these until you've read the first book!" Well, I tried to wait, but the books were sitting right there taunting me over and over to read them, so I finally gave in.

Granted, it probably would've made more complete sense to read the first book, but it was all right. The second book has little snippets of description that give reference to things that happen in the first book, so I didn't feel lost at all, and it all flowed very nicely. So, I would have to say that on a general level, I give this book almost four pens.

Keep in mind when you read this book that it is YOUTH fiction! It is fairly easy to read, and flows along well. There were only a few spots where I was...well, okay I'll be honest, it was a little boring. That wasn't a common thing though. I would have to say that I would probably read it out loud to younger children versus letting them read it on their own though. For a youth fiction book, the descriptions of some of the things that happen can be fairly..uh...gross and scary. This is taking into account your children of course.

It doesn't help any that there are pictures in the book. I mean, really, did they need to put a drawing in of the zombie with a nail in it's neck? That scared me! My children have very vivid imaginations, and they really don't need any help in that area.

So, while I did enjoy it, and I think it was written well, it is a touch scary, and some of the lessons are a touch off. At the end of the book I was somewhat disturbed by the fact that not once, not twice, but THREE times in this book, one of the main characters is told that she needs to not trust people, and the ways that people who meant her harm gained her trust by helping her out in a time of need and then betraying her. Granted, I knew, reading it as an adult, that in real life it is okay to trust people, but what would a young reader think? Just a thought.

Ace of Cakes....well, maybe on another planet...

2008-07-26T08:44:00.005-06:00

So, yesterday my hubby showed me a blog that is dedicated to professionally decorated cakes that...well...look like cake wrecks. You can see their blog at Cake Wrecks. While somewhat funny to see, the thing that kept going through my mind was... Somebody actually paid for that??

Of course, the funniest/saddest one for me was this wedding cake. Here's what the cake was "supposed" to look like:

Here's what the cake, that was made by a PAID cake decorator, looked like:

Oh yeah, they totally look the same, don't ya think? I mean...WOW. I seriously think a 2nd grader could decorate a cake better.

So, anyway, I do enjoy decorating cakes. I don't do it that often, since I am one of the weird people who actually think that buttercream frosting tastes good, and I eat too much of it in the process...but anyhoo...

I also put this on for my good friend, who HAS her own cake decorating business, and I thought she'd get a kick out of it. (No, Heather, none of your cakes look anywhere close to as horrible as these cakes. You're cakes look like cakes I would expect to pay money for. As I would tell my hubby, they're not even in the same ballpark!)

The Believer

2008-07-24T23:22:00.004-06:00

Summary:

There is a place where the threat of foreign terrorism is nonexistent, where there are no arguments about religion, and no battles over politics. Welcome to New America-a place where reading the wrong book can cost you your life!
Ian Roshek finally believes in something. The young history professor has studied a contraband copy of the Book of Mormon-and he knows what it says is true. But now his newfound convictions will be put to the test as he struggles to listen to the still, small voice, while society screams in his ear.

A taut, must-read thriller, The Believer will cast a lingering shadow and leave you asking what you would give up in order to feel "safe."

I actually read this book a while ago, and then, when I was at girl's camp this past week had the opportunity to read it again. I give it...3 and a half pens. :)

The premise is particularily intriguing for me, as it takes you to a, what if this happened type of scenario, and what the United States of America would be like if this happened. There is a bit of suspense and mystery as you wonder who the real bad guy is in the book.

So, that being said, here is my criticism of it...while it does have a nice flow, and it is interesting to read, the beginning throws you right into the forefront of the story without much introduction. That isn't all bad, but it seems like there needs to be just a little bit leading into it. At least, that is how I think about it, anyway.

The characters are likeable, but some of the descriptions are good, but their personalities aren't fleshed out enough for me. And then, of course there's a character where I sit and go, am I supposed to like this person, or not? Are they good or bad? Really...

The feeling of this book for me, reminded me of what it seemed like the differences between West Germany and East Germany were, before they tore down the Berlin wall. Here you have a society trying to convince it's people that their way is best, and that they really are better off then the people who live in the United States, who can read whatever they want, think how they want, etc... etc...

The Neighborhood watch groups, and other occurences in the story were similar to me of the books I have read about what it was like to live in a communist Russia/Germany, and the hardships, the wary eyes, the hesitancy to speak your mind. Who do you trust? Who will turn you in? Where one thought or action could put you in prison, especially if you believed differently.

The pace is fast, and it does keep you reading until the end. The person behind it all, was someone I wondered at possibly being the bad guy, when I read it the first time, but I also remember that I went...WOW!

So, don't let my criticisms throw you. It's a good book, a thought provoking book, and I would recommend anybody read it.

Australia - Official Movie Trailer (1:33 Mins)

2008-07-18T13:31:00.001-06:00

I was surfing the net looking at trailers for movies that are going to be coming out in the next couple of months, and I came across this one.
I guess I'm a little out of the loop where movies are concerned since my TV viewing is limited to the internet...(hey, I'll take 4 commercials for an hour show versus the alternative, any day!), so I miss out on the movie previews that are shown on regular TV.
Anyhoo, I came across this movie and I was blown away. If the movie is as good as the trailer...it will definitely be worth my time!
This movie is definitely on my "movies to go see" list!

Western Spaghetti by PES

2008-07-17T10:47:00.001-06:00

My hubby showed me this video and I thought it was so creative that I had to post it here. PES has other videos too if you go to his website.

Oh where oh where did the Postum all go?

2008-07-16T10:14:00.003-06:00

Postum...mmm, that lovely hot drink that tastes like "burnt toast." My husband's words, not mine. I was introduced to postum when I was probably 4 or 5. My mom and dad always drank it when we were camping, and occasionally at home too. My mom's side of the family ALWAYS had Postum up camping. They would even share funny postum stories around the campfire. I liked it when I was younger, but when I got older I didn't like it so much. Of course, to like it in the first place I had to put about a fourth of a cup of sugar and half a can of condensed milk in it to even make it palatable. By then it resembled carmel more then anything.

So, we went camping last week, and my parents informed us that Postum, was no more. Kraft had opted to STOP making it. My dad really wanted another bottle of postum, but now it is on Ebay going for extorbitant prices. He may like it, but not enough to pay $30.00 for one jar. Can't say that I blame him.

Still, it is somewhat saddening to know that something I grew up with has been discontinued. However, researching it on the internet, I've discovered I'm not the only one who feels this way. It will be interesting to observe if there is a Postum "uprising." Bring back Postum! :) We shall see...

Healthy Food?

2008-07-14T12:55:00.002-06:00

In my search for trying to be a healthier person...which I am good at sometimes, and not so good at other times, I have tried to find foods that are healthy. I stopped buying "sugar" cereals at the store and try to find a healthier alternative for my kids. As I like to tell people, Fruit Loops (or any equivalent) are BANNED from my house, because my kids turn into psycho maniacs when they eat them.

Well, what I discovered really irritated me. Even so called "healthy" cereals, put out by the big cereal companies, have a little hidden culprit, making that cereal NOT healthy in my book. That hidden culprit is called High Fructose Corn Syrup. Apparently consumers are catching on a little bit though, because I have noticed that some cereals that used to have HFCS in them, don't anymore. Of Course, this could also be because the price of corn sugar is going up in price.

I know, you're probably thinking, "What's so bad about High Fructose Corn Syrup? Sugar's sugar right?" WRONG. HFCS has been linked to obesity/diebetes in children as well as adults. The main nutshell reason why it is so bad is when it is taken into your body, your body doesn't have to digest it, it immediately stores it. Usually when you eat something your body has to break it down in order to use it, in the process burning some calories in order to do so. HFCS is already broken down, so it doesn't have to do any work.

So, yeah, cereals would be something that I would expect to find HFCS in right? Something I would keep a lookout for? What irritates me even more are the foods that you wouldn't even think to look on. Spaghettios anyone? I love spaghettios, but they have HFCS in them! Many spaghetti sauces have HFCS in them. My favorite, Ragu, has HFCS in it! So, I had to search for an alternative...the brand I really like is Bertolli's. You can even read all the ingredients on the label. Classico is another brand with NO HFCS in it, as well as Barillos.

It really irks me that they put HFCS in tomato products because they take something that is initially pretty healthy for you, and turn it into something that you THINK is healthy (or at least somewhat healthy) and isn't.

So, next time you think you are buying something that is good for you...make sure and check the label. You may be surprised at what you find!

Wall-E movie review

2008-07-12T21:39:00.006-06:00

Tonight we went and took the family to Wall-E. I kind of wondered wether I would like it or not since the trailers didn't really let you know all that much about what the movie was really about.

The short cartoon at the beginning of the movie is hilarious. The main movie was good as well. I was very pleasantly entertained, although, the first 20 minutes you basically sit and listen to robot sounds and no talking. That kind of struck me as...interesting, but it wasn't annoying.

At first Wall-E is on earth, and as events transpire he ends up on a space station/space ship where the humans of earth have been living for the past 700 years.

It was kind of disturbing seeing a whole population of humans that were so grossly overweight that they all were shuttled around on little floating carts and had never walked.

It was also somewhat bizarre, and I'm assuming the point was for us all to take a look at our own lives and try to exercise and eat healthier so we don't end up like that. I guess you could say that was the "hidden message" of the movie.

Still, all that aside, it was very good. A word of warning to parents with small children...we took our 4 year old, and apparently seeing this movie on the humongous big screen was a little overwhelming for her, and she got scared.

I can certainly see it from her side, I mean there are scenes of "renegade" robots and robots that are basically trying to force the humans to stay on the ship instead of going back to earth and robots beating up other robots. So I can see how seeing them on a big screen would be scary. She would have been just fine if we had waited and had her see it at home on our regular sized television.

Movies based off of books...

2008-07-06T19:31:00.003-06:00

So, my friend made an interesting comment the other day on my blog. I can see her side definitely, but I decided I needed to at least describe why I like to see movies based off of books.

I always think it is intriguing when people go to a movie that is based off of a book and try to compare it to the book. When I go see a movie I base it on itself. Did I like it? Did it flow well? Did I like the characters? Did I like the storyline? Did it leave me feeling somewhat good or was I disappointed?

When I went to see the new "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" I knew it would be unfair to compare it to the old version.

The old version is a classic...still is, and I knew that while the new one might be good, it wouldn't even come close to the old one...it didn't, but basing it on it's own merits, it was still a good movie. I thought it was funny, a bit weird, but then Tim Burton's movies always are a bit on the odd side. What I really thought was interesting was when I read the book, and Tim Burton's was closer to being accurate than the original movie!

I know lots of people who have been disappointed when they go see a Harry Potter film and are just shocked and sometimes outraged at all the things that got left out. In my mind, I look at it and am amazed at how they can alter the storyline of a 500+ page book to fit a 2 hour timeframe and make sense. I think they do an awesome job.

Anne of Green Gables is a movie that I absolutely love and could watch over and over (I blame my sister for this...:) and yet, it is not a completely accurate rendition of the book. And yes, it completely floored me when I found out that the actress who plays Diana Barry has BLOND hair in real life!

So, now we get to Twilight the movie. I can't really defend the movie YET, since I haven't seen it, but so far it seems to be good. It took me a moment to get used to the idea of Edward being played by the actor who played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter since I had always seen Edward with dark hair (even though in the book it says over and over that his hair is bronze..yes, I know this...). That being said, I think what I am looking forward to the most isn't how much it is like the book, but how well the writers and director make the story into a movie.

So, we shall see!

The mini minivan

2008-07-02T09:00:00.002-06:00

In my continued quest for cheaper transportation, I decided to look up compact minivans. My s-i-l has a Mazda5, and she really likes it. It fits all her kids and gets great gas mileage. She got the Mazda5 after having a Ford Expediton for a few years, so for her it was an immediate savings in gas. Anyway, she likes the way it handles and calls it "Zippy." Compared to the behemoth Expediton, I can see why!

Anyway, while Mazda is fine, I figured there had to be another small minivan out there that wasn't almost 20 years old! (I know, it really dates me, when I remember the first minivans that came out and how much smaller they were compared to the ones made now.)

So, after some research, I discovered, to my...annoyance, that there ARE small compact minivans being produced and sold ALREADY! They just aren't being sold in the USA. No, they are being sold in China, Europe, Japan...basically everywhere but here.

Nissan already makes one called the Nissan Note. Does it get sold in the USA? NO!

Honda just barely released a new compact minivan called the Honda Freed. They released it in Japan. Will they in the USA? Who knows. I would much rather have a Honda than a Mazda though!

Citroen is getting ready to release one in France.

This one is going to be released in China.

And finally...another compact minivan...the Kia Rondo is released in the USA. I found rumors that Toyota would be making a model of Corolla with a "minivan" option...hmm...

Here is the other thing I think it interesting though...if I got a compact minivan I would want one with sliding doors! Who wants to be climbing over seats! Oh well...

Energy Work

2008-06-28T12:29:00.004-06:00

Energy work is a homeopathic method that is still a little weird for me, but works, so I go along with it.

The experiences I've had with energy work include two different types. They are two different methods of doing energy work. I can't remember their specific names.

Anyway, one method, the person doing the energy work has binders full of pages with lists of things (lots and lots of things) for whatever emotion or need comes up as positive with the muscle testing. This can range from emotional work to food allergies to blocked chakras...etc..

The way the person I go to does the energy work, she muscle tests for you and when something comes up positive you write it down on a piece of paper in list format (however you like to list things). The way the person I go to sets up the session is that your body will be willing to clear as many things as it possibly can and still be healthy, and when it's reached it's limit, she no longer has permission to work on you. It sounds confusing, but it's actually kind of cool.

Anyway, once you've reached the limit, she then tells your body how to heal itself and get rid of all the stuff that you just wrote down. Since most of the things I've had to have energy work on are with emotions, it's things like, negative word patterns/phrasings, and replacing them with positive word patterns or ideas or memories.

The other method of doing energy work that I have had experience with, you never find out exactly which emotion you need to have released. It's more general. The person muscle tests, and then you stand up and they hover their hands in front of your body until they find an area where the energy is blocked. Then they tell your body how to release the blocked energy.

The difference between the two methods was likened this way to me... pretend you have a brick wall that is all the emotional/physical things that you've had to deal with your hole life. There are holes in the wall. The first method goes along until it finds a hole and then fills the hole in with what should be there. The second method gets rid of the wall and starts over new.

I can see the benefits to both methods. Sometimes there are things that I need to know the specific occurance or emotion behind something, and other times I just want to feel happy again and I don't care why I'm feeling that way.

The first method for me, is like going to a in depth counseling session. The second method was very very relaxing, and while somewhat odd, it did leave me feeling more at peace.

Both methods can have amazing results. For me, it has made it so I am not depressed to where I need medication anymore. I can think, and I don't feel so devastated when things are just going wrong. It has been nice to achieve that. It has also helped my husband and kids as well.

Twilight Movie Update!

2008-06-27T12:49:00.002-06:00

I was looking at the Twilight Movie site and discovered that the director of the movie put a new post on her blog site today! Woohoo!

I also checked Stephenie Meyer's website and there is a contest going on, for her book release of Breaking Dawn in August.

If you win you get to fly to New York City, go to a concert, meet Stephenie Meyer, and get a signed copy of her book. Sounds like fun right?

I think that New York City would overwhelm me, so I am content to stay here in smallville. Aside from that, my chances of winning aren't all that superb. Now, if I was my mom, I would definitely do it. She has lucky dust on her fingers or something. Out of all the people in my family, she is the only one! Too bad it didn't get passed on.

A lot of pain...

2008-06-24T13:26:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I thought about posting for about 5 seconds in between bouts of being extremely tired and groggy. I was basically in bed all day with a sinus headache. I know what you are thinking...a "sinus headache?" I'm beginning to wonder if it was a cross between a migraine and a sinus headache, since the pain was in my sinuses, but it hurt like a migraine, and had fatigue like a migraine.

Either way, my head basically felt like it was stuffed with cotton and I couldn't think. It was sooo fun! I love feeling like I just got run over by a truck! (yes, those last two sentences were sarcastic!)

Anyway, it got me thinking about different ways that I get rid of headaches now, versus before. Before I just used Aleve, Advil, or Tylenol to get rid of the pain. I'd start with Tylenol and work my way up to Aleve. Not too great for my body right?

Now, I try essential oils, and yesterday I taped a Nikken magnet to my head. That helped the most. I told my husband I felt like a cyborg on Star Trek. I haven't written about magnet therapy because I don't use it all that often. For me, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. With migraines it doesn't really do a thing for me. For my sister, magnets make her not have migraines. So, anyway, I was running out of ideas and saw my Nikken magnets on the fridge (what, it's a great place to store them...I ALWAYS know where they are!), and almost instantly my headache was gone. THAT was nice! The fatigue was still there, but we can't have everything...

Anyway, if I get to the point where I take something, I can usually get away with only taking Tylenol, which for me is nice.

Thankfully, today, no headache, and no need to look like a cyborg. :)

The Curious Savage

2008-06-22T22:53:00.003-06:00

On Saturday I had the opportunity to go and see a play called "The Curious Savage." The first time that I ever saw this play, I was about 12-13 years old. I loved the play then, and I love it equally well now, if not more so.

It takes place in a center for people who have psychological needs. It's more upscale than most, and takes place in an era when state hospitals were where most people went if they had a psychologial condition.

Anyway, it starts out with an older lady who is put in this center because her step-children think she is going crazy. Their father has passed away, and their step-mom (Ethel Savage) has taken all the inheritence money and started using it for various things that they feel is inappropriate. Their angst is furthered when they find out that Ethel has taken the entire amount of the inheritence and exchanged it for $50 million in bonds, and to top it off, they don't know where she has put the money!

Ethel meets some interesting people in the center. By coming to know these people, she is touched by the worlds that they have created for themselves, in order to not deal with the realities that are in the "real world."

While the play is filled with a lot of laughs and good humor, it is also touched with a bit of sadness, and even quite heartbreaking. I cried at the end of the play, and I don't think I would be wrong in saying that there were more eyes wet than dry by the time it was done.

Definitely one of my favorite plays ever!

Don't forget, "Take an umbrella, it's raining."

See the play, wherever it may be playing, and you'll know what I mean.

Steam Punk Prom

2008-06-20T12:18:00.008-06:00

The local news had an article about some local high school student who participated in the "Stuck at Prom" contest, which is sponsored by the company that makes "DUCK tape" duct tape. The participants make their prom ware out of duct tape. The pictures are pretty creative. I just can't imagine making something like that out of duct tape.

Anyway, one of my favorites is this one, because it has steam punk tones.

Course, it would be even more awesome if the girl's dress was completely modest, but anyway...

If you want to see all the contestant pictures click HERE.

My favorite in the top ten finalists is this one.

You can even vote for you favorite. Isn't that just wild?! I guess the winners get a couple thousand dollars to put towards college.
Anyway, I thought it was just amazing how much work some of these people put into their entry. It really just...wow.

Dancing with the Star Wars Stars 2007

2008-06-19T12:24:00.001-06:00

Apparently there are 2 videos of Star Wars dancing with the stars. I think the 2008 one is funnier, but here is the one from 2007. It's pretty amusing too.

Dance Off with the Star Wars Stars 2008

2008-06-19T12:13:00.001-06:00

I thought this was just hilarious and couldn't help sharing it with you. I only wish they had done more songs.

The effect of words

2008-06-17T10:00:00.009-06:00

I learned about a man in Japan that has been studying the effect of words on water. His name is Masaru Emoto.

First he took pictures of water crystals the way it regularly is.

This is a water crystal from Sanbu-ichi Yusui Spring water.

Antarctic Ice

Water from the Yodo River in Japan. This water flows past large cities in Kasai.

Water from Biwako Lake, which is in the center of Japan. It has pollution problems.

Water from the Shimanto River, also in Japan. It is referred to as the last clean stream.

Then he took pictures of crystals after music was played to the water, to see if there was an effect.

Here is a water crystal that had Beethoven's Pastoral played to it.

Here is one that had a folk dance played to it.

This one had Heavy Metal music played to it.

Then I read in the same article that he taped different words to the outside of vials of water and took pictures of those water crystals. The results were amazing.

I decided that I wanted to see for myself if it really happended or if it was just a load of craziness. So, I took some of our tap water, which is really chlorinated and nasty, and put it in a large 2 gallon water container that we have for our fridge.

Then I taped two words on it...Love was on one paper, and gratitude was on the other paper. I also got a regular glass of tap water and put it in the fridge too. 24 hours later I tasted them. The one that had love and gratitude on it, tasted like fresh water that I would expect from a really nice bottled water variety. It was amazing. I made my husband taste it too, just to make sure I wasn't going nutty, and he thought the same thing.

So, try it! I want to know if other people get the same results that I do.

You can read more about Masaru Emoto here.

When you look at the article there are a bunch of ads, and then a really big ad, but if you keep scrolling there is a really neat interview with Masaru Emoto toward the bottom.

Father's Day Fiasco

2008-06-16T10:40:00.004-06:00

So, I was trying to be a little creative this year and not focus so much on "the gift" as to what I was giving, and just remembering. As I pondered of what to do, I thought, Hey, I'll make a dessert for each of the dad's in my life! What a great idea! They will love it! And, in my sense of well-being I decided that would be a cheescake. Not just any cheesecake either, no, a marbled chocolate cheescake, because that just sounded uber yummy.

I don't know why I decide to make things that apparently taste good, but leave your eyes wondering if your mouth really knows what it's doing. I think I've successfully made a baked cheesecake with no cracks, once. I think I just got lucky. You'd think I would learn from my mistakes, and when making something special for somebody, I would actually make something that looked amazing, and tasted even better, but no, I choose cheesecake, hoping that it will magically not have cracks this time.

Well, suffice to say, that since I was making three cheesecakes, I tripled the recipe and ended up with five cheesecakes. This wasn't a horrible thing, because, I mean, really, can you ever have too much cheesecake? But, they all cracked. Bummer. Not having anything else to take though, I diligently packed them all up and delivered them. My dear hubby of course didn't care, a. because I made it, b. because he loves cheesecake, and c. because I made it and he knew I felt bad that they didn't look "perfect."

So, I guess instead of telling them that I made them a cheesecake, I should have told them I made them a "canyon cake." It tastes just like cheescake, but it has little canyons running throughout! :)

Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull movie review...

2008-06-07T09:05:00.004-06:00

Okay, I'll admit that I was really looking forward to seeing this movie. I had hoped that the critics were wrong, and that they were just being annoying and negative like they tend to be a lot of the time, but I have to say that this time, they were RIGHT!

While, some of the movie wasn't too bad, and somewhat funny with it's Indiana Jones charm, a lot of the movie was just plain bizarre. The whole tie in with alien crystal skulls and taking the one that was missing back, just struck me as weird and gave me the heebie jeebies.

A few parts made you wonder if there would be yet another sequel, involving the ark of the covenant, that just "happens" to be in a box conveniently located where it gets splintered when the whole scene at Area 51 takes place.

I did like, however, that at the end of the movie when they are talking about the city of gold and whether there really was one or not, that gold is linked with the word treasure, and Indiana says something rather profound about their treasure being knowledge.

LEGO Indiana Jones The Video Game

2008-06-06T09:21:00.001-06:00

So, I finally played our new Indiana Jones LEGOS game on the Wii. It's pretty fun! The little videos of nontalking LEGO characters are hilarious, just like in the Star Wars version.

Since my favorite episode is the last crusade, I played that part of the game. Aside from my lack of video game playing skills, I did find myself having a good time, and laughing quite a bit.

Great game, and fun for the whole family.

Breaking Dawn

2008-06-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

So, I guess in my Twilight movie mania I have overlooked the coming of the last book in the Twilight series...(mainly because it's easier to focus on something far away like December vs getting antsy over the book coming out in just a few weeks! Yes, 7 weeks is just a few!)

Anyway, here is the book cover. Interesting pick...chess. Makes me wonder how the final book plays out.

I need to go to the theatre!

2008-06-04T14:48:00.005-06:00

I am waaaay behind on my movie theatre watching experiences. I can think of three movies right now that I want to see.

1. Prince Caspian. I know it hasn't gotten super wonderful reviews, but I still want to see it. It will be interesting to see if it is anywhere near close to as good as the book. I've heard that it isn't, but still, I want to see for myself and make my own opinion.

2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Again, not the greatest reviews, but still, it's INDIANA JONES! I'm excited to see it. Maybe this weekend....

3. Twilight. Okay, okay, I guess I'm not behind here since the movie doesn't come out until DECEMBER. Hmm, maybe a countdown ticker is in order...

Twilight MTV Movie Award 2008 - First scene

2008-06-03T13:15:00.001-06:00

Probably doesn't follow the book word for word, but doesn't it look amazing?! It just makes me want to see the rest of the movie! Interesting that they pick the most intense part of the book to do first...

Steampunk

2008-05-28T13:51:00.006-06:00

My husband thinks that steampunk is really cool. I have to admit that I find it somewhat intriguing myself. To me it seems like a high-tech version of the victorian era. There have been a few movies that have showcased things that are steampunk. The ones that I can think of right now are "Stardust," which is a truly amazing movie, and the cartoon "Treasure Planet."

I didn't really know steampunk even existed until my hubby started getting interested in it. I have been amazed by all the things steampunk out there. The main favorite...at least the one that seems to have the most pictures, is the computer. I have been impressed by the detail and creativity that people will put into making their computer look...well, steampunk. Here are just a few examples...

I liked the steampunk vespa...

and the guitar...

the house is...interesting...

and of course the steampunk goggles, which my husband wants to get a pair of...(this didn't surprise me since he had a pair of welding goggles hanging from the rearview mirror of his car when we were in high school...remember better off dead?)

A bakfiets or a christiana...hmm...

2008-05-27T13:20:00.006-06:00

With gas prices going up, I decided to look into "alternative" forms of transportation. Since I live in a fairly small town/city, normal mass transit really isn't an option. We have bus service, but it only goes on one-two roads, and not really that efficient for what I need. I could probably walk faster. We won't have a commuter train until probably 2012, would be my guess. So, what to do right now?

Well, a few months ago I had read an article in the paper about a family about an hour and a half away from us, who live in a much larger city, that goes around town in a bakfiets. They ordered theirs, I want to say from the Netherlands. So, I decided to shop around on the net and see what I could find in the area of bikes that could cart my little kids and myself.

The bakfiets has it's own website, and looks pretty functional. For most people the benefit would be that it has only two wheels. For me, not so much. I have a hard time riding a bike with just a backpack on my back, let alone a big cargo/seater on the front of my bike. I'd be scared of tipping over and hurting my kids. They do have a tricycle option too though. The price, however, is what gets me. Cost + shipping is over $2,000. A little steep in my mind.

The other options out there, that I could find, aren't much better in the price arena. They are all over $1,000, some going for as much as $4,000 when you include how much it would cost to send over here. They do look pretty cool though.

There are bike places in the US that sell the special bakfiets, etc, from the Netherlands and Denmark, but they again, are still over $1,000.

The most expensive seemed to be the triobike, but it looks really cool.

The winther kangaroo looks really sleek, and if I could afford it, I'd probably get it!

The christiana bike looked like I would be carting around a little mini amish buggy.

The nihola looks like something my husband could do...hmm, not a bad thought...

There are also a lot of sites that go over the pros and cons of different "trike" bikes. I learned a lot. Initially I thought I would want a trike that had the cargo basket on the back, but then read that Delta tricycles (which is what they are called when the two wheels are on the back and one wheel on the front), are difficult to ride fast and turn on. I guess one of the wheels has to drag a little to do the turn, and the trike is prone to tip over that way.

Trikes that have cargo on the front also have pros and cons. The pro being that you can go faster and still be in control, but the con being that if there is more weight in the cargo area than on the seat of the bike, then the bike tips up.

So, for now I am still undecided. The very frugal part of me says it's too expensive, but then I thought about how much it takes to fill up my vehicle, and realized that one of these trikes could be paid for in just a few months with the money I would save in gas.

Twilight...again

2008-05-23T16:35:00.003-06:00

So, I have read Twilight three times now. I know, crazy! It's kind of interesting to read a book again though. It's like watching a good movie again, you know, the movies that have great lines in them, that you have to quote over and over again? Well, good books I like to read again because I always catch something that I didn't get the first time I read the book.

Of course, with me, on certain books I tend to speed read through them. So, I get the general idea, I know what's going on and such, but all the little minute details I generally miss out on. I actually finished reading Twilight for the third time yesterday, and then started on New Moon.

I have only read New Moon...going on two times. For me, it's kind of like the Star Wars trilogy (when it was a trilogy), I liked Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back is kind of boring, and then I absolutely love Return of the Jedi. Well, New Moon is my Empire Strikes Back, but I figure that I better read it again, just to get it all in.

The main reason why I have a hard time reading New Moon is because the bulk of the book is about Jacob, and Edward is gone. Me and my romantic brain sits there going, what, you mean I have to read 300 pages about Jacob?! Who cares about him? I admit, I am somewhat addicted to Edward. I think they picked a good actor to play him in the movie, although they do tend to overdue the makeup and make him look more frightening than beautiful...but anyhoo.

David wins!

2008-05-22T16:08:00.003-06:00

I know, I only put the first name, but seriously, didn't they both win? I wasn't upset that David Cook won. I felt like he was/is a great singer, very creative, and always pushing himself to try different takes on songs that have been great forever.

I told my hubby it was like trying to compare classical music to jazz music and deciding which one was the "best" and should win. Archuleta and Cook are great in their own ways. I would not be surprised to see an album put out by both of them.

I'd have to agree with Simon, that it didn't really matter who won, because they were both great, and amazing. Kind of makes you wonder if he knew that beforehand though right? Even though he wasn't supposed to.

Well, all's well that ends well. It will be interesting to see if they can do anything to Season 8 to make it a little different from the other seasons.

Box Elder Bugs

2008-05-20T15:12:00.004-06:00

There is a little insect that has got to be one of the most annoying insects ever...the box elder bug. It's interesting that they can be so irritating, since they don't really do anything. They don't sting, stink, bite, or any of the other bothersome things that other annoying insects do, but still, they are annoying because they are everywhere!...if given the chance that is.

I've decided it's time to do something about the box elder bug problem at our house. It shouldn't be too difficult since they are supposed to be easy to kill. We'll see. All I know is I am tired of debugging my bedroom every night before I go to sleep. It's gotten bad enough that I literally imagine these annoying little beetles crawling on me. BLECH!!!

So, I know this is going to sound morbid and cruel, but the box elder bugs at my house are going to die!

The Host

2008-05-19T08:57:00.003-06:00

I finished reading "The Host" the other day. It is the new book out by Stephenie Meyer. I decided since I liked her Twilight series so much, that I would give this one a whirl.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Where the Twilight books were written for the young adult/teen level, this book was written for the adult level. I felt like it had a lot more description of things, places, people, characters, etc... because of that, a teen level reader might find this book to be a little boring because it does not rush through things at a lightening level pace like her Twilight books. That being said, I still felt like it flowed just right.

In this book you are introduced to two main characters...sort of. What do I mean by that? Well, you have a character named, Melanie. She is the "host" to a parasitic alien named, Wanderer/Wanda. You read the book from the perspective of Wanda, but Melanie is a big part of the book too. It's almost like reading a book about someone with a multiple personality disorder in that sense.

Still, the two are very separate characters, and it is very interesting to read, merely from that standpoint.

So, you start the book, they are putting Wanda into Melanie's body. One problem...Melanie is still very much there. She fights it and resists from the very get go. Wanda finds this challenging, but puts up a good effort. Because Wanda is in Melanie's brain, so to speak, she is subjected to all of Melanie's memories...at least, the memories that Melanie is willing to share, and doesn't block off. Wanda finds herself falling in love with the people that Melanie loved, and goes off to find them.

What ensues is a very interesting meeting with the people/resisters who are in hiding. The final outcome of the book was intriguing because you think it is going to end one way, even though you don't want it to, but then it ends a different way, which I was very glad for!

All in all, a good book.

Veggies and Skittles

2008-05-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

When my son was three he came into the kitchen where my husband was eating raw cauliflower.
"Dad, what's that." He pointed at the veggie.
"It's cauliflower." My hubby responded. My son looked at him.
"Oh, okay." He walked away, his head down, thinking. A few minutes later he walked back to my husband and looked at him.
"Daaad, not CAULIFLOWER...it's CAULITREE!"

Apparently we let him watch too much TV when he was younger because one time my husband took him to the store. He made it to the checkout line when my son started to lean over the cart, almost falling out.
"Son, what are you doing?"
My son, still reaching replied..."I want to 'taste the rainbow!'" Yeah, he got the skittles. :)

Eyeglasses

2008-05-17T09:00:00.007-06:00

So, I went in to get new eyeglasses the other day. I had already gotten a new pair, but they were very heavy, and my face hurt at the end of a day of wearing them, so I decided to trade them for a different pair.

So, I go in, find a pair of frames that I like, and we get it all arranged, I give them my other glasses, and leave. I come back later, and the lady that had helped me before wasn't there anymore. So, a different lady helps me...this is after standing and waiting what seemed like 5 minutes for someone to notice that I needed help. That didn't really bother me, because it was kind of busy, so I cut them some slack there.

So, I go sit down, the lady takes my receipt and gets my glasses. She then has me try them on so she could see how to adjust them. I don't know if it was because they were busy, or because there were distractions, but she didn't seem to be really "with it." She adjusts the frames and has me try them on again. The ear piece on one side was too tight, and I knew it would annoy me, so I told her it was too tight, right? She looked at me like I was an alien...
"Really?" Gasp, apalled.
"Really, I think it's too tight."
She raised her eyebrows and minutely shook her head. Then she slightly moved her fingers over the ear piece. I don't think she even put any pressure on them.
"Try that."
Uh huh. Yeah, they are totally going to fit now, because you didn't BELIEVE me, and are trying to trick me into thinking that they are magically fixed now. Yeah, RIGHT. But, trying to be a nice customer, and not an ornery one, I try them on again.
"Yeah, I think they're still too tight." Amazing, since they felt exactly the same! She looked at me in disbelief again.
"Oh, well, okay."
I just sit there, thinking, man... So, she adjusts them again, and then I try them on, good enough, it will work, and I get ready to go. She looks at me...
"So, your receipt says that you had an exchange? Do you have them with you?"
You've got to be kidding me?
"Uh no, I already gave them to your store when I came in earlier." Seriously felt like my words were going into a bowl of jello. Glub, tink tink tink, glub, tink tink tink.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Oh, well, okay."
Granted, I realize that this must partly be miscommunication on the previous salesperson, but wow.
Can I just say that getting out of that store didn't happen soon enough??

Patience

2008-05-16T08:58:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I don't feel like I have a lot of patience...especially where getting pregnant is concerned. Part of me just wants to give up. I know that not thinking about it, and not worrying about it, would actually increase my chance of getting pregnant, but...well, it's hard isn't it.

At least it is better than when I only had one child and had a hard time getting pregnant. And of course, at times I think to myself, hey, at least you have two beautiful children to be really grateful for...and I am, believe me.

Is it wrong to have the desire to feel a baby move inside my belly...to see a little heartbeat on an ultrasound screen? Is it wrong to want to hold a newborn in my arms and feel them snuggle into me? *sigh* It just hurts sometimes you know? Women that get pregnant easily, women that just shrug it off, women that...choose other paths for their children that don' t include life, I have issues with that. And yet, being this way, it gives you an inside look, a view at the pain of not having any kids at all.

Seeing pregnant women isn't hard like when I only had one child. When I only had one child and I wasn't pregnant, just going for a doctor checkup was painful. Seeing women in all phases of pregnancy...it was hard. Now, I see them, and I think, gee, I wish that was me, but I'm glad they are pregnant too. I guess in a way it makes me that much more happy for people I know that ARE pregnant, and were told they could never have children, or the likelihood was slim. How could I not be happy for them? I REJOICE for them. I can't even begin to tell you the joy that I feel in my heart for them...because at least a small part of me knows...exactly what it feels like.

At least there's always next month right? And who knows, maybe this month, will be that magical month.

I have time...

2008-05-15T16:14:00.002-06:00

It was so funny, this morning my son got up 20 minutes after I woke him and came upstairs in his pajamas. I sent him back downstairs to get dressed for school, and 15 minutes later he comes back up.
"Mom, I think I'm ready for a bowl of cereal now." I glance at the clock, he had 10 minutes til he had to leave for the school bus. I look at his feet, no socks, no shoes.
"I think you're going to have to eat breakfast at school this morning. It's 7:30" He looks at me.
"Mom, the clock in the kitchen says 7:27."
"Can you eat a bowl of cereal in 10 minutes?"
"If it's a small bowl I can."
I look at his feet again.
"How about you go put on your socks and shoes and then we'll see if you have time, okay?" He goes to find his shoes, comes back eight minutes later with them on...partially tied, and a reading assignment in his hand.
"I need to read my book and have you sign it." I glance at the clock again. 3 minutes. *sigh*
"Okay, read the book, but HURRY."
Yes, he made the bus.

Mario Kart for the Wii

2008-05-13T13:47:00.002-06:00

I went into my local GameStop store the other day and they had this on their Wii. I played a few rounds, my hubby played a few rounds, and I was sold! It is so fun! We will definitely be getting this soon.

I don't usually like racing games, because, well, I am quite horrificly bad at them. If you want to feel good about yourself, just play me in a racing game and it's a guaranteed win! This game, I still lost really bad, but it was so fun that I didn't care.

I will admit though that it would probably be even easier to play if you buy the wheel adapter to go with it...who knows, maybe it comes with the game. You can play it without the wheel, but it is kind of difficult to control your turns.

A Twilight movie update...

2008-05-12T14:39:00.003-06:00

So, before if you went to the official website of Twilight, all you saw was a picture of a forest with "rain" coming down, and then words would appear on the screen...nothing else. Well, tah dah, awesome news! The Twilight website is now up and running. You can watch the director clip, you can read the notes from the director, there are links to other sites, a synopsis of the movie. Definitely something to look forward too and keep you updated on the Twilight movie! Woohoo!

Prince Caspian

2008-05-12T14:18:00.002-06:00

I am excited for this movie to come out. Only a few days left and I can see it in the theatre. I saw all the movies the BBC made from the Narnia books, they were basically what I grew up with, so it is really interesting for me to see the movies made with all the new special effects, etc... I have been impressed so far. I absolutely loved The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. We'll see if I enjoy this as well.

Stephenie Meyer

2008-05-10T14:23:00.002-06:00

Well, after exploring Stephenie Meyer's homepage (the author of Twilight), I found an excerpt from a book that she is just writing for "fun." It's a rough draft of a book she has titled "Midnight Sun" and it is basically Twilight written from Edward's perspective. It is really good! I hope she ends up publishing it.

There are lots of other neat things on her website. She talks about her books, the different characters, why she named her characters what she did, how she came up with the book idea in the first place, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

There is even a link on her site to a website that sells items that the characters use in the books. They have "Bella's Bracelet" as well as t-shirts, and other memorabilia.

Twilight teaser trailer OFFICIAL HD

2008-05-08T17:21:00.001-06:00

Here it is in all it's glory, the official Twilight movie teaser trailer. Does it look amazing or what! I can't wait for the next trailer, and even better, the movie itself!

Essential oils

2008-05-08T05:31:00.005-06:00

The essential oils that I like are from Butterfly Express . They have essential oil singles and blends, and I really like the blends that they make. They are similar to blends made by other essential oil companies, but I just like them from Butterfly Express...don't know why really, maybe it's the butterflies. :)

I really like that on their website they have a link to a list of examples for things that you can use the singles and blends for. They have a list that has all the oil singles and blends that they have and what's in them, then what they can be used for. An oil single means that just one herb is used, a blend is a mixture of herbs.

Anyway, using essential oils has been really beneficial for me and my family. I think it has helped us be healthier, because our bodies have been able to utilize the herbs in the essential oils, and our immune systems have been stronger. Usually by this time in the year, our deductible for our insurance is almost met (and we have a high deductible insurance $2500.00).

Normally my kids both get at least one case of croup really bad to the point where they have to be on nebulizer treatments. This year when they started getting a cough I muscle tested them and put oil on their feet. The coughs went away, no nebulizer treatment, no extended time missed from school, it was awesome!

I have also used oils on myself, and on my husband. He got a really bad cold and we have a humidifier that has a little holder where you can put (VICKS is recommended by the company). I put a few drops of essential oil in there, and our recovery time was lessened. A nasty cold/cough that was going through the area and took weeks/months to get over, and he and I were over it in about a week.

Essential oils have helped my son be able to focus better in school, and have really helped him calm down. He is not ADHD, but he is/was very hyperactive. He is still the same boy, I don't feel like it makes him into a zombie, but rather it helps him think things through so he isn't bugging other kids, and he can listen to the teacher and do his work. I don't even have to put it on him every day (he has had energy work done on him too, but more on that later...), if I muscle test him and he needs it, I put it on his feet. If I muscle test him and he doesn't need it, I don't. I feel much better at putting a simple oil on his feet versus the alternative, which would be to put him on a drug like ritalin or a counterpart. This way, no side effects, and better results.

For me personally, essential oil combined with energy work, has really helped me a lot. I am able to function. I have dealt with depression since I was 12. I haven't been treated for it until a few years ago when I finally admitted that that was what it was. Even when I get in a slump, essential oils help me and keep me at a level where an anti-depressant would on a good day. I am calmer and don't lose my temper as much. I feel in control of myself, not like an outsider looking in. I like the way I feel much better than when I am on anti-depressants. I am not telling anyone to go off of anti-depressants, that is something for you and your doctor to decide. I decided to go off of anti-depressants, because through the course of having energy work done and using essential oils, my anti-depressant med started making me ill because I didn't need it anymore.

Essential oils are meant to be used wisely and with caution, like anything else. I have had good experiences with essential oils, and for anybody looking for an alternative to western medicine, I would definitely recommend it.

David and David revisited

2008-05-07T12:02:00.004-06:00

Can I just say, WOW! Last night was amazing, especially where David Archuleta was concerned. His voice has this amazing timbre, and he puts his whole heart into a song. It literally gave me goosebumps to hear him sing.

I felt like David Cook did well also. Even though he didn't really change the first song he sang, it still sounded good. The second song he sang though...WOW! No matter who wins, you know both of these guys are going to have music contracts.

Jason Castro...well, personally I think the only reason he stayed on as long as he has is because of his amazing eyes. Amazing eyes can only get you so far though...his songs were..well..I know this is harsh, but really, they were rather pathetic.

Syesha has been an interesting contestant for me to follow. When they first narrowed it to the top 10 I really didn't feel like she was doing all that wonderful, but as the people started getting voted off, and it got narrower and narrower, she started getting better and better! It was like she found her niche. She has been doing well, and her true voice has started to come out.

David Cook or David Archuleta?

2008-05-06T18:03:00.012-06:00

So, I have to wonder, who is going to win American Idol this year? Personally, I think the final two will be between David Archuleta and David Cook. Here's why...

They are both absolutely amazing vocalists. Archuleta has a huge teenage fan base, because he is well, a teen. However, Cook just wows me with his creativity. He takes these songs that have been around so long that they seem next to impossible to recreate and have people like them, but he does it in such a way that people LOVE it!!! Myself included.

The past few weeks, I have felt that Archuleta's performances have been okay. He can sing so much better than he has been! I didn't really care for his versions of either Neil Diamond song (and I am a Neil Diamond fan). I think it would have been better if he'd just sung them the original way and made them awesome that way. With his voice, he could have totally pulled it off and sounded amazing.

David Cook...wow, what can I say. He is one talented man. I love pretty much everything he decides to sing...minus the "inspirational" song. That one was kind of weird.

Is it just me or have almost all the top 10 been really talented this year? I don't think I've ever seen so many contestants play the piano, the guitar, or other. It has been so cool!

So, may the best man win!!

27 Dresses Movie Review

2008-05-04T23:35:00.004-06:00

The other day I finally rented the movie, 27 Dresses. I had been tempted to see it in the movie theatre, but now I'm glad I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I like a GOOD chick flick, but this one had a few things that I really didn't like about it.

I know, I know, it's rated PG-13 so a few of these things I should have just known would be a reality, but I guess my optimistic side tries to convince me that it will still be good. So, the main thing that annoyed me was the language. They insinuate the "rated-R" swear word twice, only saying the first sound, but I mean come on. Are they fooling anyone by doing that? Then they repeatedly say the word starting with "s" over and over and over. I mean, enough already! Let's just prove that people have no vocabulary whatsoever, and that is the only word they know how to say. So, I guess my opinion is somewhat skewed because I was so focused on the annoying language that I couldn't get into the whole "romantic chick flick" thing.

Then, okay, the main character is madly in love with her boss, and her sister comes to live with her, and starts going out with him. This reporter guy starts showing up, and all they do is argue. Not even "flirty" arguing like in "You've Got Mail" or "Runaway Bride" but annoying whiny arguing. So, it totally didn't endear me to the guy that the main character is supposedly unknowingly falling in love with. Her sister keeps going out with her boss and pretends to like all the things he does, and he ends up falling in love with her and asks her to marry him. The main character of course can't believe this is happening, and still plans the wedding for them because she "can't say no."

Toward the end of the movie the main character finally can't take it anymore and very creatively lets her boss know that her sister is not the person he thinks she is. Basically that everything she has told him is not true.

The wedding gets called off and we see the main character getting ready to go to a business dinner with her boss. She stops and tells him that she is quitting and then goes into a monologue about how much she had loved him and yada yada yada. Her boss walks over and gives her an amazing kiss. She steps back, and is just like...hmm, nothing. No emotion at all. So they kiss again. Hmm...still nothing, and her boss agrees. So, I'm sorry but I have a problem with the whole "Hollywood kiss" thing, as I like to call it. Just because you don't "feel anything" when you kiss the person you love for the first time DOES NOT mean that they aren't the right one for you. So, it really really irritated me when they did that in this movie.

The ending is fairly predictable, and the main character ends up marrying the jerk reporter. I did like the ending, but I still had a difficult time seeing her marry the guy that she couldn't stand, especially since I felt like their onscreen chemistry was seriously lacking, which was even more disappointing for me because I like both the main actors in this movie.

Hello Kitty fan

2008-05-02T11:21:00.008-06:00

Yeah, I'll admit it, I'm a Hello Kitty fan. I think I've liked Hello Kitty since the mid-80's, which would have put me in elementary school. I never got anything Hello Kitty though. I don't know if it's because it was expensive (with 6 siblings, pretty much everything is expensive), or because I hadn't convinced my mom that it really was something that I REALLY REALLY wanted.

Either way, I didn't end up with anything Hello Kitty until I had my daughter. She has a Hello Kitty coat, a Hello Kitty backpack, Hello Kitty cartoons, Hello Kitty books, a little Hello Kitty dollhouse, some Hello Kitty clothes...you get the idea. Am I living vicariously through my daughter? Probably. Not to worry though, I know it sounds like all my daughter has are Hello Kitty things, she really doesn't. Just enough to make her want more. :)

Granted, I think some people go a little over board. I mean, I saw a picture of a Hello Kitty exhaust pipe, and while I have to admit it is somewhat cool, I don't think I would put it on my car...well...okay maybe I would, but I wouldn't spend the money for it...what am I saying, it's cool right? Who came up with it!!

Then of course there is the Hello Kitty wedding gown...I'm a bit more traditional in this area, so to me it's a little too much.

But, to each his own, I suppose. I'm sure there are people that like it, or they wouldn't have it!

Then there's my favorite..the Hello Kitty car. It looks like a smartcar, but I guess it's made by Mitsubishi.

SWEET right?!

I am always amazed by all the different things that they have made for Hello Kitty.

Dan in Real Life movie review

2008-05-01T12:03:00.003-06:00

This movie I thought was absolutely amazing. It's a "dramedy" but there is enough humor that you aren't left twisting in your seat with memories of all the bad reality things that happen in every day family life, more of you can relate and it is somewhat amusing/heart rendering at the same time.

As soon as I saw this movie I had to go out and buy it! It is PG-13, but I think that is more because of the adult situations more than anything. There is very little swearing...I think I counted 5 swear words tops, which was very refreshing to me!

I also liked the way it ended. It definitely didn't leave me wondering "what! what kind of ending is that!" While, it did leave me wishing that it could have gone on, but then it would have had a double ending, which I know bothers some people.

The cast was awesome. Steve Carell does a great job at portraying a single dad, especially a single dad who is still grieving for his wife. Dianne Wiest plays the mom, and she is perfect! Those two characters really stood out to me as I was watching the move. Of course Steve Carell did since he's the main character, but Dianne Wiest in a supporting role, just did amazing. The other cast members are great as well.

You can even watch clips of the movie by clicking below.
Dan in Real Life

Pretties

2008-04-30T12:04:00.007-06:00

The second book in Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series is just as intense as the first book, Uglies. It grabs your interest and doesn't let go until you've finished the last page. In this book some new characters are added to the scene which just adds to the already great mixture of elements going on in this book. This is a definite must read for anyone who even remotely likes sci-fi books, or even books about cultures (the Giver anyone..).

Okay, now for the spoiler portion where I go over the whole book.
The last book leaves us where Tally goes to the city to become pretty, so she can be a human guinea pig and use the nano pills that will make her mind "ugly" again.
When we start on this book Tally is a new pretty, and somewhat oblivious to everything that went on before. She is still friends with Shay, and is being initiated/voted into the pretty clique, Crims. The head of the crims is Zane.

The night of the big party Tally and Shay decide to go as people from the smoke. A previous friend of Tally's who is still ugly, shows up at the party dressed as a special and gives Tally a coded message that she must figure out before she can find the pills. Zane ends up going on the adventure with her and they find the pills. Tally is too frightened to take the pills alone, so Zane tells her to split them. He'll eat one, and she can eat the other.

After taking the pills Tally and Zane are constantly together. This was somewhat complicated to read, because part of you wants Tally to stay loyal to David, but the other part of you wants her to be with Zane because he sounds so cool. Anyway, Shay finds out that Tally and Zane took the pills and gets really upset that Tally didn't share the pills with her. This just adds fuel to the already weak threads that are holding Shay and Tally's friendship together in the first place.

Eventually Zane and Tally and a few others end up at the New Smoke. Zane gets there before Tally, going on her own journey and only gets to the new smoke after she steals a Specials ship. She makes it to the New Smoke and is there for a few moments (enough to be led there by David and talk to David's mom), before things get dicey again. All in all, it is a fast paced, sci-fi adventure novel that I would recommend anyone read.

Twilight is going to be a movie!

2008-04-29T09:16:00.006-06:00

I just found out yesterday that Stephenie Meyer's first book in her vampire series is going to be made into a movie! I am so excited! It will be interesting to see if the movie is anywhere near as good as the book.

Twilight Movie

The clips from this video make it seem like it will be awesome. I can't wait! I guess it is scheduled to come out in November/December 2008. Woohoo!!

Foot Zoning

2008-04-28T11:08:00.004-06:00

The next homeopathic therapy that I tried was foot zoning. The person that I go to actually does foot zoning, energy work, essentail oils, and a few other things as well. This post is just about the foot zoning part.

Foot zoning for me is not a comfortable experience, but I view it as a necessary annoyance in order to feel good! Because, when I DO get my feet zoned, I do feel better, even though it is not something that I exactly look forward to.

Foot zoning you usually sit in a chair and the person doing the foot zoning sits on a stool or short chair so they can comfortably hold your foot. They then go along your foot and "massage" it in accordance with a foot chart somewhat like a foot chart they would use for acupuntcure/acupressure. If there is an area on your foot where the energy is blocked, they massage it out. For people that love to have their feet massaged, foot zoning is great. For people like me, who have ultra-sensitive feet, it is PAINFUL!

The first time I had my feet zoned, I think my feet throbbed for a few days after. The second time wasn't nearly as bad. If I got my feet zoned again it would probably be even less uncomfortable.

My little quest through homeopathic therapies though, has been good for me. I haven't been sick to where I need to see a doctor since...I can't remember. This is great for me! Usually by this point in time of the year I have been to the doctor enough that my insurance deductible is about half paid, and it's one of those lovely high deductible insurances. So, I have felt that it has definitely been worth it. I have felt healthier, and when I do get a cold, I get over it more quickly. Don't get me wrong. I still feel that there are things that need to be treated by a doctor, but I don't think I have ever felt this healthy before in my life!

Body Talk

2008-04-26T09:30:00.004-06:00

The second homeopathic thing I tried was body talk. I only went to one session, but it was mainly because I forgot to set up another one and then never did. The lady that I went to for body talk then moved away, and there you go.

The body talk session that I went to was very relaxing though, and interesting. Body talk is different from cranio-sacral therapy in that it doesn't just focus on the flow of your cerebral-spinal fluid. The person doing the body talk muscle tests you (muscle testing is where they get permission from your body to test your muscles to get a yes or no answer to a question. The theory is that your body can't lie, so it will always tell you what it thinks is the truth.) Anyway, they muscle test, usually by trying to press your whole arm down, and ask your body a lot of questions. Sometimes they talk loud enough for you to hear, sometimes not. Then they adjust what needs to be adjusted by tapping it out of you. This is done by lightly tapping on your sternum, then your collar bone, and then at different areas on your head. Mind you, this is just a very nutshell basic description of all that body talk entails.

Body talk, like cranio-sacral therapy has helped many people. The thing that has been most impressive to me about homeopathic therapies is that they can help you get rid of negative emotions, in some cases physical things that are going on (like a child who has ADD or Autism), food allergies, etc... things that in many cases are untreatable by the western medical world, or the treatments aren't much better than the illness.

Body talk for me was a very relaxing experience. I left feeling very at peace and refreshed.

Craniosacral therapy

2008-04-25T12:37:00.009-06:00

Well, I guess I'm not pregnant this month. This makes me...very disappointed but I'm trying not to dwell on it too much.

So, I guess I will talk about craniosacral therapy. I guess I have to start back to why I got into doing homeopathic things to begin with.

Well, a few years ago I was training to be a surgical technologist and I started getting migraines. Before that time I would get migraines once maybe twice a month (any at all is too many in my book, but anyway...) when I was training I started getting migraines 3-4 times a week. I went to the doctor and got a sample of a drug that they told me they usually give to people who have to stay on their feet during a migraine. I figured that was the one for me since a surgical tech is on their feet all day long. So, the next time a migraine came on I took one of the pills. WORST MISTAKE EVER!!!! Sure, the pain was gone from my brain, instead it was relocated in my arms and legs. It was like having menstrual cramps multiplied by 1,000. (I know, you probably think I'm exaggerating, but it hurt so bad in my arms and legs that I could hardly move them).

Also by this point in time to help keep migraines from coming I was avoiding "trigger" foods, which for me meant all dairy, chocolate, orange juice and other citrus items. If I ate cheese at all it was a guaranteed migraine within thirty minutes.

My husband had a co-worker who was a craniosacral therapist and he told my husband that I should go see him, because it might help my migraines go away. By that point in time, I figured anything was better than getting a migraine so I went and had a few sessions. By the time I was finished, which really was only about a month at the most, I got to where I only had one migraine about every six months or so. I'd go have another session, and I was good for another six months or more. A wonderful thing was that I could eat dairy products, chocolate, and citrus fruit again.

Another great thing is even if I do feel a migraine coming on, which doesn't happen very often, I can take a regular pain reliever and the bulk of the headache doesn't happen. No writhing on the bed in agony feeling like I'm going to die, no nausea, no vomiting, just a small headache that I can get to go away with menthol gel on my forehead, temples, and back of my neck(what they use for muscles and things, I like biofreeze). Most of all, I can function. So, I guess you could say that craniosacral therapy got me started on the road to homeopathic treatments for things.

This picture is a pretty good image of what a craniosacral therapist would do when they first start on the physical part of your session.

Craniosacral therapy in a nutshell is basically feeling the flow of your cerebralspinal fluid (or in simpler terms, the fluid that circulates from your head, down your spine, and back up), and getting the flow of the fluid to go the way that it's supposed to by releasing the areas where it is blocked. A craniosacral therapist does this by holding certain pressure points and getting them to release the blocked area. For me it was very relaxing. For others it can be a very emotional experience to have those areas released, because of the memories/emotions that the body has tucked away there.

So, here is what would happen when I went to a craniosacral therapy session. The first session I went to we went over a lot of my medical history. It was a lot like going to a doctor for the first time. He explained what craniosacral therapy is, and also what he would be doing. There was a massage table in the middle of the room, a relaxation fountain, a small fridge full of bottled water, chairs, pressure point charts, and a small stereo. Once we were done with my medical history, he had me lay down on my back on the massage table. He turned on some relaxing music, dimmed the lights, and put an essential oil on my wrists. It is very important for the client to be able to relax or the body will have a difficult time releasing anything. The first thing he did was ask my body permission to work on me (they do this a lot in homeopathic things, it's a pretty critical thing), and then he would sit there at the head of the table and "feel" the flow of my cerebral-spinal fluid. After he did that he knew the areas that needed to be released and he would proceed to go to those areas and hold the areas with his fingertips until they would release.

Like I said, for me this was a very relaxing thing, and it helped my migraines to go away. I would recommend it to anyone!!

A little early maybe??

2008-04-24T12:50:00.004-06:00

So, we went on a family trip this past week. My grandma passed away so we went to her funeral which was six hours away from where we live. While there I decided since I was a day late and just couldn't handle the temptation anymore that I would get a pregnancy test and see...well...negative. Should I be surprised by this? You'd think I would be used to disappointment by now, but I keep having some inane hope that this time it will be different. I still have a hope that there is a possibility that I am pregnant. My period still hasn't started, and looking back on past times, the p-test usually doesn't show up positive till I am a week or two late, so I can still hope right?

I made myself depressed by looking up maternity shirts on e-bay. I don't know why I do this. I was even tempted to bid on some shirts, and then I just thought, why? It's not like I need them! So, I am going to wait a week and test again. Maybe that time I will have some happy news to share.

Infertility

2008-04-18T22:58:00.004-06:00

So, I know this blog is a bit on the smorgasbord side, but it just depends on what I feel like writing about. The thing affecting me the most right now is the inability to get pregnant again.
I have two beautiful kids, so what am I complaining about right? What can I say, I feel like we are supposed to have more children in our family.

So, here's my story.
I got pregnant with my first child about six months after I was married. Yes, he was planned, and we were very excited! He was born healthy and strong, still is, and he is one of the most inquisitive children I know. I could write a whole blog on him and call it, I want a humpback whale for a pet!

My second pregnancy lasted for maybe 7 weeks. Then I miscarried. I was heartbroken. I wanted that child to be born so badly.

A year and a half later I became pregnant with my 2nd child. She was born three weeks early, and lived in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for the first four weeks of her life due to underdeveloped lungs. She is our little cutie pie, and brings a lot of joy to our house...when she isn't whining. :)

My fourth pregnancy happened a little over three years later, and I miscarried at 11 weeks, but the baby only grew to a 6 week size. I felt like it was somewhat easier to deal with than the first time I miscarried, but, it really wasn't. I ended up depressed and having rather violent thoughts that encouraged my doctor to put me on anti-depressants. Thankfully, I only had to be on them for about a month before I found other ways of dealing with my depression.

So, we come to the here and now...am I pregnant this month? Could be...I have a difficult time getting my hopes up too much. I want to...but, I don't know. My temperature has been slightly raised since I ovulated, and my period is supposed to start on Monday, so we'll see. Hopefully I'll have good news next week!!

Uglies book review

2008-03-10T10:44:00.006-06:00

I have to admit that when I first noticed Uglies on the book rack at my library I initially steered clear of it, because I mean, well, it was called UGLIES! I finally got brave and checked it out. Now a few years later it is a "hot" book to read! Rightly so, because it is a very intersting and thought provoking book.

Uglies is about a society that has made becoming the "perfect" person into an artform. Anybody who isn't changed yet is referred to as an "ugly." Once changed you're called a "pretty" because you are now basically a bubblehead with no creative thought.

So, the book starts out with Tally and she is an ugly. She ends up becoming friends with a girl who is even more of a rebel than Tally is, and convinces her that she needs to become a member of the community "the Smoke" which is a community people have developed for those who don't want to be changed. Initially Tally doesn't really want to find the smoke, because all she wants to do is become a pretty. Once Tally's friend leaves, Tally is arrested by the specials (basically pretties with cognitive development), and is told that they won't change her to a pretty unless she can lead them to the Smoke.

Tally agrees, but once in the community, she decides that being an ugly isn't all that bad. She inadvertantly leads the specials to the smoke when she tries to destroy a necklace that the specials gave her to notify them when she found the smoke. In destroying the necklace, the specials are made aware of where the smoke is and the community is destroyed. Many of Tally's new friends are captured, and the one person she wanted to have trust her, David, runs away, thinking that Tally purposely betrayed them all.

Eclipse book review

2008-03-09T07:48:00.006-06:00

The third book in this series was interesting to read. Bella and Edward are back together again, and Jake is trying (but not totally succeeding) to stay out of the picture since all his werewolf insticts tell him to do is to kill Edward.

A large part of the book is the conflict between Edward and Jake over Bella. Bella loves Edward of course, but is confused because Jake was there for her when Edward wasn't. So, there's so conflict going on in Bella's mind as well. On top of it all there is a vampire who is trying to kill Bella and is raising a newborn vampire army in Seattle.

Throughout this book you learn more about the vampire characters. It goes over their history more, how they became vampires, and why they decided they wanted to be "vegetarians" and not drink human blood. It also gives you a more solid reason for why Rosemary is jealous of Bella.

During a portion of the book you are led to believe that Jake has "patterned" with Bella. Among the werewolves it is not uncommon for them to pattern with someone, basically meaning that they are loyal and loving to that person forever. So, while it is "insinuated" that Jake has patterned with Bella, it doesn't come out and say it, which makes me wonder if there will be something different about that in the next book, and maybe Bella will be jealous of the girl that Jake really does pattern with.

The end of the book gives you an interesting time where a battle bewteen the newborn army and Bella's vampires as well as the werewolves from the reservation takes place. Before the battle starts, Jake goes to see Bella, and Bella realizes that the reason she has had such a difficult time sorting through her feelings is because a small piece of her heart is in love with Jake too. Of course, the bulk of it is in love with Edward.

All in all, a good read. Makes me really want to read the next book which Amazon says will be coming out in August 2008!