TOOTH FIXED AND DOC APPOINTMENT

My tooth is fixed. I have a sparkling, shiny, new gold crown. Any more metal teeth and I will have a gold grill! It didn't hurt at all which was nice.

Then the dentist drilled out an old filling and filled it with a white filling. It feels funny and I may have to go back. It feels like some of the filling or concrete is sticking out. It bothers my tongue. I learned a few years ago that things that bother your tongue feel huge but are usually so small and miniscule. I am going to call him tomorrow and see if he can smooth it out later this week.

I am happy it was essentially painless. I was so relaxed I just about fell asleep. He said I was dozing off and had to nudge me to wake me up.

I called my primary doc today and made an appointment. This staph infection is not going away. It looks better one day and then it looks worse another. It is also showing up on my back. The creepy crawlies!

This pain in my neck is concerning. I know I haven't written about it in months but it is really bothering me. Yesterday some good music came on in the car and started to bop my head and the pain was unbearable. I think there is something wrong, more wrong than soft tissue damage. This has been going on for too long. I have been having this pain for months, since October or November. If it were stress, well, at what point does the stress go away and the pain stop? I am on enough anti-inflammatories to stop any swelling. The hot tub didn't work, a bath didn't work, the massage didn't work. I even lightened my bag to see if that would help, no luck. It isn't my shoulder, it is my neck. So off to the doctor I go.

At least my deductible for the year has been met already. I will give you an update tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

TWO ICONIC IMAGES PASSED ON

This morning was weird. I woke up to hear that Margaret Thatcher "The Iron Lady" had died. I didn't know she had Alzheimers. She had been the Prime Minister practically my whole life. At least the part of my life when I knew there was such a thing as a Prime Minister in Britain. She was also the Prime Minister when I was in school in London. I studied at the University of London studying British politics and theatre.

Then later in the day I got an alert that Annette Funicello passed away. First a Prime Minister and then a Mousketeer. Annette died from complications due to multiple sclerosis, a disease she battled for over 25 years. Annette was also the star of many Beach Blanket films some with Frankie Avalon. Who can forget Annette dancing on the beach in her bikini? Okay, who over the age of 45 can forget those images?
What a day.

Until tomorrow...

DOING A TASK YOU DON'T WANT TO DO

I have this task I have to do each month. Well, if I did it each day, it would be easier to do at the end of each month. I have to keep track of my time so I can invoice my clients. On a bad month I don't keep track and have to recreate the month at a later date. On a good month I keep track pretty well and don't have much to do at the end of the month.

I have tried many different ways to keep track of my time. I have tried a paper format with 15 minute increments that I write in what I have done and for how long. I have paid for a computer program (that also works on my phone) that allows me to start a timer for each task and keeps track in the program. Or I can physically put in the time I spent on each task. Of course I kept forgetting to turn off the timer and hours later I would get a notice that the timer has been running for 20 hours did I forget to turn it off?? None of these seem to work for me because I forget to write down my time or I get lazy and think I will do it the next day.

Usually I am really disciplined but this one thing is such a block for me. I think part of it is that once I get behind, it is SO hard to get caught up that I just bag it until the end of the month. Then it takes me a whole day to recreate it all.

I also cheat myself when I don't keep track of my time each day. There is no way I can remember all the tasks I do, the phone calls I take and make and the stuff I work on. So a portion of my time goes unaccounted for and I don't get paid for it.

Now you would think that making more money would be an incentive for me! Yeah. It is but not enough for me to want to do this task. Each month I swear I am going to do better and keep track of my time each day. I start out some months so good. I keep track of the first week or so and then something happens and I fall off the wagon. You would think that spending a whole day doing billing would deter me from not keeping track. But no.

If anyone has any ideas on how to do something you don't want to do, please let me know. I would love to hear your ideas.

Until tomorrow...

ZOKU SATURDAY

Decided to make some fresh (okay frozen) fruit Zoku pops. I took some frozen fruit and put it in the blender with some water. Once it was thin enough I poured it in the Zoku.

I had mixed berries and sliced peaches. I made some pops with just mixed berries and some half and half and some with just peaches.

When I do it over again I might put some agave nectar in the with the fruit. The pops need to be just a little sweeter. The peach pops seem fine but the berry pops are a bit tart for my taste. It was a good attempt and they are tasty. Still nothing beats those fudgesicles!

Until tomorrow...

DREAMIN'

Last night my little dog Lucky was laying on the pillow next me sound asleep. I was on the couch working on my computer and watching TV when I noticed some movement. It was a little movement at first but then it was larger. Her nose was moving, twitching actually. Like she was sniffing something. Then her tail began moving. Wagging. Like she was getting a treat. It was moving so fast. I was mesmerized. What was she dreaming about? What wonderful thing was happening to her?

After a few moments I thought this would make a great video! I reached for my phone to record this hysterical moment. I turned on the phone and got it to the video feature. She was still wagging her tail and twitching her nose. Then I made the fatal error. I hit Record and the phone let out a loud BEEP. Lucky woke up and looked at me. The twitching and wagging ceased.

After changing the settings on my phone so the feature would not beep anymore, I waited all night to see if she would slip back into that dream but to no avail. The dream had come and gone. My opportunity to make her famous for her tail wagging dream slipped out of my fingers.

At least Lucky got a good nap in doggy nap land.

Until tomorrow...

BOOK HOARDER OR NOT

I went to a book sale where I bought books for $2 each. The books were new and pretty recent. I got some good books but out of the four that I wanted I only found one.

I bought Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Fly Away Home, Night Road, Mermaid in Brooklyn , The Florabama Ladies Auxiliary & Sewing Circle. I wanted to also find The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and The Uninvited Guests. No luck!

I really have been waiting to read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. It sounds like a good read. I also heard Mermaid in Brooklyn was good.

I am also really into Kris Radish books and wanted to find Searching for Paradise in Parker, PA. Her books are such a fun and fast read.

I know the last thing I need is to buy more books. I go through phases where I read all the time and then I only read a little bit. Like right now I have so much to do I don't read very much. I don't have time. But when I do I will have books ready to read. Some day I will have time to read all the books I own. Maybe I am a book hoarder! I keep buying and buying. Although this time I controlled myself. I only bought 5 books. Last time I bought 1/2 a grocery bag full of books.

I have bought a few books on my iPad and I sometimes like it. I don't always like having my books on my iPad. It is dangerous to carry an iPad out in public these days so I don't really like to carry it outside. People have their iPads stolen off the bus or train all the time. Or have their bags stolen. In that case I would rather carry a book because no one wants to steal a book.

Now I am happy I have more books even if it means I am a book hoarder!

Until tomorrow...

LIKE PASTA

Today was exceptionally long so I decided to take a long soak in the hot tub. It felt great. Just like some pasta in a pot of boiling water. Now my muscles are so relaxed I just want to curl up and watch TV. I just need to figure out a way to listen to music without bothering the whole neighborhood!

Until tomorrow...

HAPPY PB&J DAY

It is that time of year again: time to wish your favorite couple happy birthday. It is Happy Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. A day to salute all those many days we all ate PB&J for breakfast, lunch and an occasional dinner! As a small child we asked for it and as we got older it was the old standby when there was nothing else left in the house to eat. Our old friend PB&J is always faithful.

Of course there is also its cousin The Fluffernutter. I can only eat a Fluffernutter on Wonderbread with creamy peanut butter. I am getting hungry just thinking about this.

Celebrate PB&J Day in your own way. Maybe that means making a sandwich, maybe not because if you eat another PB&J you will actually puke.

Until tomorrow...

CAR VERSUS GARAGE

Just when you think you have run out of things to post about, a car runs into your neighbor's garage! Today at approximately 11 am, a car came around the corner at the end of our street a little too fast. He missed hitting a tree, swerved and rammed into our neighbor's garage with a tremendous bang. Our neighbor was out running an errand. I was sitting on a chair by the front window so I jumped up immediately. I saw the car crashed into the garage. At first I thought it was my neighbor who had lost control of her car. (oh, I forgot to mention it was raining.) I yelled that our neighbor crashed her car. I jumped up and ran outside. On my way down the stairs I remembered that our neighbor got a new car and it was a SUV not a sedan. The car in the garage was a black car like a BMW. When I got the bottom of my stairs he had backed out and was driving away right past me. I saw a dark/black haired man driving a black car with racing stripes. I thought the stripes were red. I saw the license plate and started to say it out loud like they trained us to do. I kept repeating it while I ran inside. Over and over I said it out loud. I got inside and wrote it down. I then called 911 and it was chaotic. Dogs barking, people running, dogs getting outside. The dispatcher was great. I was out of my mind, out of breath, and trying to get the dogs to stop barking. I kept apologizing and he kept saying this was normal just take a breath and answer the questions. We then used our neighborhood watch list to contact the neighbor on her cell.

A few minutes later the police came and they asked me the same questions. Would you be able to pick him out of a line up? (possibly but probably not) What was he wearing? (don't know he was sitting down in a car) What color were the pin stripes? (I said red) What kind of car was it? (BMW? I don't know cars.) What time did it happen? (what time is it now?)

Then after the homeowner came home and the police left, a bunch of us went outside to talk about it. A funny thing, witnesses are the worst. Pin stripes: I said red, Brenda said gold or silver and our neighbor said white. Type of car: I said BMW, our neighbor said Mustang and the license plate came back Honda. The one thing we agreed on was that the car was black! We do may crappy witnesses.

But I feel good that I followed the training and focused on the license plate. I am 99% sure I got it right. I also followed the rule to not yell HELP. They say to not yell help but to yell a task or a thing to do: Like House on fire, call 911. I yelled car ran into Xs house, got the license plate and called 911. All sorts of neighbors heard me. Good or bad, I guess!

Oh, the neighbor called a garage company and they came and did a temporary fix. Tomorrow they install a new garage door.

That was my exciting day.

Until tomorrow...

HAPPY EASTER

Happy Easter everyone! I spent my day watching a movie (Argo), catching up on some recorded TV shows, going to see an open house and cooking. It was raining so I was unable to do any work outside. Yesterday I was outside until it rained. I cleaned up, installed a new sensor light and rearranged the furniture. I want to be able to sit outside in a chair in the sun. Currently we only have plastic chairs but want to buy some new furniture that is more comfortable.

When I woke up I decided to try my new waffle maker. I thought the waffle maker was great but the waffle mix I used left something to be desired. I won't use that mix again. The waffles were dry. But they were cooked and crispy! Yay!

I love eggplant Parmesan but I rarely order it because most places don't make it the way I like. I like my eggplant cut real thin. I like it cooked well but not soggy. I don't like it when there are seeds in it. I know there are seeds in all eggplants but some eggplants have less seeds. I found this recipe online and thought I would try it. It was great! I can't wait to have an eggplant parm sandwich tomorrow. I will add this into my rotation. Yum!

Then I made a cauliflower casserole. This is a way I can get Brenda to eat cauliflower. She loves this and eats seconds.

This was a day to eat well! I am just rolling around, I am so full. I have to get back to working out tomorrow.

Today I had to put Lucky's collar on. She has these special collars with pheromones on them. The pheromones are supposed to calm her down and make her less aggressive. We took her last pheromone collar off about 1.5 months ago and didn't put another one on. We thought we would test her and see if the collars are doing any good. After 1.5 months we determined that the collar does calm down her attitude and make her less aggressive. So the collar went back on today. She was SO unhappy. First she ran around and tried to rub it off like she does when we put the flea medication on. Then for a long time we couldn't find her. We thought maybe she had gotten into our bedroom and was on the bed. I went down to look for her and here is where she was: She was up on a box, on a towel we have out to dry off the dogs when they come in from the rain, in the entry outside our bedroom. She was all curled up pouting. When I came up to her she didn't even growl, she just looked so pitiful! She stayed there for about 3 hours. Then I guess she got over it and forgave me and came upstairs.

Until tomorrow...