Florescent Light Bulbs

So I was all ready to post a complaint about florescent light bulbs. I had some and put them outside my house and they have been burning for 4 years now. That's awesome.

But in my house? I hate them. All I get is orange light. I have resisted putting them in because of the orange glow, but I finally broke down and bought some to appease The Doctor, who felt we were going through too many light bulbs.

But now my family room is orange in the mornings. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them.

However, when I was looking for a picture to go with this post, I discovered a web site that says there are different "correlated color temperatures" of these light bulbs. The ones that put out a "warm" glow (orange) are the most readily available and are around 2700K-3000K (K meaning kelvins.

However...

They are also available in higher kelvin color temperature (3500K, 4100K, 5000K, 6500K) and will emit more white to bluish-white light. These are usually identified with the terms "bright white," "natural" or "daylight."

The orange light is 2700K and the white light is 3500K.

See the difference?

I am off on a hunt for higher kelvin compact florescent lightbulbs! Wish me luck!

Guns vs. Phones

You know how a boy will take anything and make it into a gun?

Yes, those are those sausages you buy at Christmas time!

Well, I learned that it is just the opposite with girls.


The Princess would take anything, including a gun, and make it into a phone!

Crappy pictures

So I want to post every day, but I don't always have time. So I thought on the days that I don't have time to do a "real" post, I would post a picture. Sometimes current, more often from the past. I can't go too far past...I only got a digital camera in December 2001. Someday I want to go in and scan all the pictures from my boy's scrapbooks prior to 2001 so I have a digital copy of them. But that is not anywhere near the top of my list!

Anyway, so here is are 3 classics from December 2001, taken with my brand new 1.0 megapixel camera. Crappy, crappy pictures. I hated it. Tom bought it for me for my birthday, and I put up with it until July 2002 when I bought a 4.0 megapixel.

The Chocoholic, age 3

The Artist, age 5

The Teenager, age 8

Spiritually Fed

I was taught at the feet of a prophet last night.

We went to the adult meeting for Stake Conference. I LOVE those meetings. I have no children to distract me and I can just focus and listen.

Elder Richard J. Maynes was the visiting authority. He put on a traveling microphone, got down off the stand, used a white board, and taught us.

He would talk about a principle, back it up with a scripture, explain the scripture, and back that up with another scripture.

I enjoyed it so much. When the meeting was over, I held in the tears until we got to our car, and then I just cried. The spirit was so strong.

The Church is true!

Is he starving?

You would think with a nickname like "The Chocoholic" that he would be overweight.

Nope.



The Chocoholic has always been able to do this. It freaks me out.

I have to buy him "slim" jeans.

Several weeks ago, he was wearing a pair of jean shorts that were just too short. I had him give them to me and I looked at the size.

Size 5.

He is 9 1/2.

I just about died!

He is always eating, always hungry. I don't get it. He certainly didn't get it from The Doctor or me!

HOT!

It's too hot to cook.

Last night, after we went out to look at our garden, we realized that it was cool and wonderful, so we turned the air conditioning off and opened the windows. I loved it!

This morning, before I left for work, I told The Teenager to shut the windows at 10:30 before the air conditioning kicked on.

Well, he shut the windows (small miracles) but I forgot to turn the air conditioning back on this morning.

So when I got home at 3:30, it was 84 degrees in my house.

It's now 5:02 and it's still 82 degrees.

There is no way I am getting near my oven.

Or my stove.

And there is no money to eat out. Even if I wanted to walk outside.

Peanut butter and jelly, anyone?

Useless!

So the other day we popped in the Disney movie "Treasure Planet." It has been a really long time since I have seen it and it was fun to watch. And then Delbert Doppler says the funniest line. I fell on the floor laughing.

"Dang it, I'm an astronomer, not a doctor! I mean I am a doctor, but
I'm not that kind of doctor! I have a doctorate, it's not the same thing! You
can't help people with a doctorate! You just sit there and you're useless!"

Hee, hee, hee. Ho, ho, ho. Oh man, I needed that laugh so bad! My stomach hurt from laughing! It was great!

Happy Birthday to The Princess

The Princess is 4 years old today. It has gone by so fast. I can't believe it. I don't want her to grow up. She is my baby. Today is the last time one of my children will turn 4. She has done everything last. It makes me so sad some days.

Happy Birthday!

Twirling, twirling, twirling

Remember how when you were little, you would twirl in circles for so long, and then stop and you were so dizzy, but it was so much fun and you did it over and over and over?

Yeah, I can't do that anymore either. I miss that.

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Remember when you were a kid and could roll down a hill and how much fun it was and you didn't get sick, you just got up and did it over and over and over?

Yeah, I can't do that anymore. I miss that.

Funny picture at the end!

I am allowed to make fun of my husband once in a while, right?

Here goes.

Last June, The Doctor had a pimple on his nose. No big deal, we all get them, right?

RIGHT?

Thank you. :-)

So he pops it and goes to bed. The next morning, his nose is red and a little swollen.

The next day it was really red and a lot more swollen. We had no health insurance, but we found a health clinic that we got him in to. They said he could possibly have cellulitis and prescribed an oral antibiotic. I took him home and then filled the prescription.

Which by the way was when I ran into Liz Rushton.

Anyway, that evening, his nose was huge.

I'm talking bigger than Karl Malden!

I took him to the InstaCare because we were really worried. The doctor said it was definitely cellulitis.

This is what I found on the Internet about cellulitis:

Cellulitis (sel-u-LI-tis) is a potentially serious bacterial infection of your skin. Cellulitis appears as a swollen, red area of skin that feels hot and tender, and it may spread rapidly.
Skin on the face or lower legs is most commonly affected by this infection, though cellulitis can occur on any part of your body. Cellulitis may be superficial — affecting only the surface of your skin — but cellulitis may also affect the tissues underlying your skin and can spread to your lymph nodes and bloodstream.
Left untreated, the spreading bacterial infection may rapidly turn into a life-threatening condition. That's why it's important to recognize the signs and symptoms of cellulitis and to seek immediate medical attention if they occur.
Cellulitis occurs when one or more types of bacteria enter through a crack or break
in your skin. The two most common types of bacteria that cause cellulitis are streptococcus and staphylococcus.
Although cellulitis can occur anywhere on your body, the most common location is the legs, especially near your shins and ankles. Disrupted areas of skin, such as where you've had recent surgery, cuts, puncture wounds, an ulcer, athlete's foot or dermatitis, serve as the most likely areas for bacteria to enter.
This reddened skin or rash may signal a deeper, more serious infection of the inner layers of skin. Once below the skin, the bacteria can spread rapidly, entering the lymph nodes and the bloodstream and spreading throughout your body.
In rare cases, the infection can spread to the deep layer of tissue called the fascial lining. Flesh-eating strep, also called necrotizing fasciitis, is an example of a deep-layer infection. It represents an extreme emergency.

So this was a lot more serious than I thought. Anyway, they put him on another antibiotic, and gave him 2 shots in his, ahem, tushie. And he went the next day for another shot. It worked and the swelling went away.

I know it could have become a lot worse, and I am so grateful that it didn't.

However, he looked so funny with his nose all swollen! The following pictures were taken before it got even bigger!



I have always loved the fact that he has such a nice sized nose, and I was seriously worried that it wouldn't ever go down! But it did!
And I will try really hard not to make fun of him ever again!

Mother of the Year! Totally!

So I have redeemed myself. On my way home from work Monday, I heard on the radio that the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point was only $2 admission for the month of August. So we decided to surprise the kids and go there. We haven't done anything this year, due to lack of money. I figured I could splurge and spend $12 on them.


So we picked up The Artist and The Chocoholic after school and took off. They all knew something was up because we wouldn't let them ride their bikes to school. But I kept quiet! I did give them one hint without them knowing it was hint...I put on the DVD of "Dinosaurs" for them to watch on the way down.
So we arrived and as we pulled into the parking lot, they all saw where we were and got so excited! Well, with the exception of The Teenager, who is too cool to get excited about anything anymore.


It was so fun to go through the museum again. The last time we were there was about 5 years ago.

The Teenager loved reading the labels for each dinosaur and learning more about them.


The Artist and The Chocoholic just ran from one display to another.

The Princess just loved everything about it, mostly when we walked in outer space. She thought that was too cool!


It was very cool and fun to go. They want to go every Tuesday for the rest of the month now! LOL
The only bad thing was that there were soooooo many people there! It was hot and after 2 hours of walking around, I was tired and ready to go home.
But I am so glad we went, and I am off the black list again (I think...The Teenager hasn't gotten out of bed yet)!

Mother of the Year! NOT!

The Teenager was getting dressed for church yesterday and came upstairs at 10:05 (church starts at 11:00) and asked me if I knew where his white shirt was. Well, me being the keeper of the white shirts, informed him that I did not know where it was. He went back to his room, and soon came up with his white shirt.

Dirty.

Really dirty.

It was in the dirty clothes and when he did his laundry after scout camp, he didn’t do any of his regular laundry (I am making him do his own laundry because he put clean clothes all over the floor and then washed them all again). So I told him to figure out what he was going to do because I didn’t know and he WAS going to church.

Soon he came upstairs and said the only white shirt he had was his tuxedo shirt from his band uniform. I told him to put it on. He was TICKED at me!

When we were in the car going to church, he told us he was NOT going to pass the sacrament because he would "show everyone up" in his tux. I laughed(hmmm, probably shouldn't have done that) and informed him that yes, he was going to pass. He had the most sour look on his face all through church.

When church was over, it being the first Sunday of the month, we informed him to go get his route for Fast Offerings. He was mortified that he had to do them in his tux. Again, he tried to tell us he wasn’t going to do them. Again, I informed him that he had a Priesthood responsibility and he was going to fulfill it.

He really doesn’t like me very much right now!

Frosted Flakes

February 2008



The Artist had been needing a haircut. He was outside playing and I thought, I will just take everything outside and do it there...much less to clean up!





I sat him down and got him all ready and started combing his hair and there was a bug. So I picked it out and tossed it in the dirt.


I combed some more and found another bug...and then another...and then another.


In case you haven't guessed by now, yes, he had lice. I was horrified. I know it doesn't say anything about how dirty you are (which we aren't) or how bad a mother you are (which I'm not...most of the time), but still...


Lice.






The "L" word.


The word that is more horrifying to me than any other word. This is the first (and hopefully last) time we have had to deal with it.


Thank goodness he was not in school, although I did call them and let them know, just in case. But I did have to call my mom, and my sister, and my sister-in-law because we were just with them on Sunday night.


Then came the fun part. I ran to Wal-Mart and bought the kit and got started.


First, I buzzed his hair. Thank goodness it's warm and he looks good in a buzz.


Then I started with the shampoo. Oh, the bugs that were in his hair! Ewwwww!


Then we had to do the combing. He was crying because the comb is very fine tooth, as it should be, and it was doing its job, but it pulled the nits off the hair and pulled the hair.


I could hear it pulling. He was crying, I was crying, it was awful.


In the meantime, I had The Teenager and The Chocoholic going around stripping everyone's beds, putting all the stuffed animals in bags for 2 weeks, spraying down mattresses and couches. It was definitely NOT the way I had planned to spend my afternoon.


I did laundry from 3:30 until 10:30 that night. Ugh. It was traumatic. I did laundry all the next day long. I started at 6:00 in the morning and finally finished at 6:30 p.m. All in all, I did 18 loads of laundry. Granted, some of the loads were just 2 pillows, but the noise all day long. I had a little bit of a headache.


I decided that we needed a code word so that we could talk about it and not worry if someone overheard us. So lice became Frosted Flakes.


Remember when The Artist had Frosted Flakes? I will never forget!

Someday...

I want to be as strong and couragous as Irena.

Tag, I'm it!

So, Amy over at Mama Nirvana started a meme and tagged anyone who wanted to participate. I hate doing these for myself, but I love reading them about others. So I guess if I want you to do it, I have to do it first!

Here goes!

1. Besides your family, what is your most prized possession? My scrapbooks, because they are about my family. And my camera because it takes pictures of my family. Oh, and my computer because it stores the pictures taken by my camera to be someday put in my scrapbooks about my family!

2. If you were on death row, what would your last meal be? Hmmm, I would probably ask my mom to make her pork chops with mushroom soup gravy.

3. At a party, would you be hiding in the corner or hanging out at the punch bowl talking it up? And, what food item would your bring to the party? Definitely in the corner, wishing desperately that I was outgoing enough to talk to people. I can't carry on a conversation. I am a great listener, but I can never think of things to say. And I probably would have brought some kind of salad, either green or Jello.

4. What is the most "girly" thing about you? Probably the fact that I adore the color pink! It is my all time favorite color, and I seriously can't get enough of it! Even when The Princess is wearing some other color, I am wishing she were wearing pink.

5. What is your favorite piece of furniture in your home? My computer chair. Before it came along, I was using a folding chair and my back would hurt so bad after working for several hours. But for my birthday last year, The Doctor bought me an actual office chair, which he found on clearance for $40. It has absolutely saved me!

6. What is most likely to be painted -- your toes or your fingers? My toes. My fingernails are too soft and fingernail polish just peels right off them. I have given up. It's not worth it.

7. If I was going to buy you a bottle of Bath and Bodyworks lotion, what scent would you want? Either Strawberry Lemonade, or Sunripened Raspberry. I love fruity scents, not too hip on the florals.

8. Do you like to nap? If so, how often do you get to during the week? LOL Do I like to nap? Refer here!

9. Do you have a place in your house where you "hide"? A place where you can have a long phone conversation with a friend without interruption? Where is your quiet place? Yes, my scrapbook room. I love to go in there and shut the door and shut out life. I only wish it were big enough for a soft, comfy chair. Then it would be perfect.

10. At this point in your life, are you living the life you imagined back when you were in high school/college? LOL Not even close. I have said it before, I never would have dreamed that The Doctor would be in school for 16 years. Nor would I be working. Nor would there be 6 years between The Chocoholic and The Princess. I could go on and on!

11. Would you ever get plastic surgery? What would you have done? Sure! I would love to get a breast lift. Even without nursing, they sag!

12. What have you accomplished (besides having children) that you feel most proud of? I am very proud of going back to school and earning my Bachelor's degree. I was so proud of myself that I accomplished it.

Okay, so now I want to tag her, and her, and anyone else who wants to participate. Just leave me a comment and tell me you did so I can read up about you too!