Tragedy

Please keep the Steven Curtis Chapman family in your prayers. Their little girl, Maria, died yesterday when she was struck in the family driveway. My heart is breaking for them.

Dentists and Dentalatia

So I had to go to the dentist this afternoon to get a filling repaired. It's the second time this particular filling has needed to be fixed. Because when you're a kid and need to wear retainers, you tend to get more cavities than your non-retainer-wearing peers. At least that's what I tell myself so that I'll feel better. So my fillings are all very old, and because I grind my teeth at night, the fillings are not as sturdy as they used to be. And I'm getting a night splint as well...to help with the grinding...because I'm wearing away my teeth. I had a night splint a few years ago, but when I woke up in the night because I was choking on it, I decided to stop wearing it.

And getting impressions for said splint. How fun is that. Do I hear any cheers out there? If you've never had the experience of getting impressions done, let me just tell you that it really isn't that bad...until the goo from the metal plate that's plastered to your teeth starts to drip down into your throat...all the while fighting the urge to gag...and after what seems like an eternally long time, the impression technician can't get the tray unstuck from your teeth because the suction is so strong. Seriously. But other than that, it's not bad. Until it's time to do it all over again...because since there is nothing more that can physically fit into your mouth other than one tray, the top and bottom impressions are done separately.

It's a joy.

It's been awhile since I've had cavities filled, and all these new-fangled tools and contraptions are just quite futuristic-looking to me. What with that little white thingy that looks like an ear thermometer, except it has an orange light and shield on the end of it. What exactly is that for? Does that little one-inch shield protect the hygenist from radiation or something? And is it normal for the freezing to last 5 hours? My freezing was very bizarre because I had feeling on the inside of my lip; it only felt like my tooth was frozen and not any other places in my mouth. Until, of course, I had to rinse. And then I made a mess of my bib because everything dribbled down my chin. Sexy. I couldn't even drink my protein smoothie at supper without dribbling...even using a straw. And by the time I went to church tonight, the freezing was gone except the right half of my top lip was paralized. I couldn't move it, and when I smiled the right half of my lip went over to the left side. At least that's what it felt like. Lola got a kick out of it. I was the highlight of her day. I was starting to get worried that it was going to be a permanent thing, but now my lip is normal and I'm just left with a toothache.

You so wish you were me.

Telemarketers

Telemarketers are not my favourite people. For one thing, they always call when you're busy - I think they do that on purpose because they know you're mind is elsewhere...like rescuing the baby as she's climbing onto the counter...or trying to stop the boys from beating each other up...your mind just isn't into the conversation at hand and you'll pretty much agree to anything just to get off the phone and extinguish the small fire now burning on the stove. And they think they're so clever when the first time they call you're eating supper and you ask them to call back another time...all the while secretly hoping they forget...and they make little notes about you to try to impress you. Except sometimes, if they write down the wrong information, their devious little plan backfires on them. Heh.

This was tonight's conversation with a charity who is hosting a laser lightshow or some such deal. Now bear in mind that there are charities that I do donate to, but there are so many around, I just can't give to everybody.

TM (Telemarketer): Hello, is Mrs. Jaj there?

Me (Me): Speaking.

TM: Oh hello, Mrs. Jaj. I'm with a really good charity - you remember I was talking with you, oh when was it...last Thursday or Friday and you were about to go out for supper and shopping or something? And you asked me to call you back?

Me: We were eating supper.

TM: Oh. That's right. Well, anyways, the show is really great and blah blah blah. Can we count on your support again this year?

This is a charity that I've never heard of before, therefore I have not supported them in the past. I don't like it that they're assuming I won't remember which charities I support.

Me: We're not financially able to help out this year.

TM: That's too bad. Not even to sponser anybody?

Me: No.

TM: Well, I hope you had a good time shopping. I don't know what you were shopping for, maybe groceries, or...

Me: We were eating supper.

TM: Um...Mumble Mumble...click...

Hopefully I won't be hearing from them anytime soon.

And speaking of charities, if you are able to help out the China earthquake victims in any way, Half the Sky Foundation, Love Without Boundaries, and Canada Helps have all set up special funds to take your donations.

Happy First Long Weekend of Summer!

Here in the Great White North we are just wrapping up the first long weekend of summer - the Victoria Day Weekend - where typically barbeques are had and pools are opened for swimming. This weekend? Winter coats. And rain. So how did the Jaj's spend the holiday weekend? Mostly catching up on the homework that Tigger missed when he was off school last week. And I made up a chore schedule for the whole family, and so far everybody is excited about it. And willingly doing their chores.

Remember how I told you about this allergy test I had to take last week? With the 96 different foods I had to eat? Yah well, I postponed it because it just wasn't happening. Except now my test is tomorrow, and I'm still only a little half-ways through the list. But I do know that a filbert is a nut. A hazelnut, to be precise. And I don't like them. And almonds and sunflowers? Don't taste very good when they're not coated with the smokie saltie coating. And I still have 4-5 different varieties of fish to eat. Blech. And mushrooms. Blech. And goats milk. Blech. I wouldn't make a very good hippie.

And I've been invited to share pictures of our trip to China with the seniors at church tomorrow. So that's where I'll be at lunchtime. And even though I've had a month to prepare, Mr. Happy is helping me with a power point presentation right this very minute...or rather, Mr. Happy is doing the power point for me and I'm sitting here blogging. While eating Honey Comb (without the milk)...to get the taste of the filberts out of my mouth.

Wish me luck!

Chicken Spots

Yesterday:

Today:

Sunday:
She looks thrilled, doesn't she.

So. Is it possible for your brain to become infected with the chicken spots? Because I swear Tigger's is being eaten alive by the pox. We've been working on Math, to try and stay caught up with his classmates, and the poor boy couldn't even remember how to make a $ sign let alone add.

We're both taking a break.

It's Finally Happened

The measles and the mumps and the chicken bumps...

Have you ever heard that song? That's the only phrase I know and it's running through my head at the moment. How long has Tigger been wishing for chicken pox? It's been about 6 weeks now that he's been diligently checking for spots each day, right? Well. Wish no more, my friend, wish no more. He officially has the chicken spots, as he calls it. Is he excited? Heh. He was last night, but this morning he was in tears because, "I didn't the chicken spots would look like this! I thought they'd be the same colour as my skin!" Poor guy; and he only has about 2 spots that are starting to look gross. You know the kind...you can't help but get wide-eyed at the sight of them...and it's only the beginning...

I haven't taken his picture yet, but I will. Because I'm mean like that. I took Zoomer and Shaggy's pictures when they had the chicken spots, too, so it's tradition. I'll have to dig those pictures out and scan them for you. Shaggy was quite a mess.

So. I get to make jello today to make my spotted little friend feel better.

At least he can stop wishing now.

Happy Mother's Day and Other Stuff

Well, dear readership, I guess it's about time I turn off Scrabulous and Facebook and start paying more attention to YOU. Although, Scrabulous. It is addictive. I've been limiting my fun time spent on the computer because my office work is piling up. Because when mistakes are being made - not by me, mind you, but I'm the one who needs to fix them - it's just easier to take the job over and do it myself properly to begin with.

So. What have I been up to, you ask? I've started seeing a Naturopath again and on Thursday I will be taking an allergy test. And I have a list of 96 foods to eat by then. That gives me 2 days, people. And I've only eaten 18 foods off of the list and I started on Saturday. And it isn't like it's good food like cake and pie, it's all yuppy food like fish and lentils and filberts. Seriously, what is a filbert?

In the meantime, we've celebrated Thumbelina's 2nd birthday and Mother's Day. A belated very happy Mother's Day to everybody out there. I'm sure there was something else I was going to talk about, but now I can't remember.

There was a rumor that Melvin was going to guest-post. Believe me, that's one post you won't want to read. Oh, I totally meant to say miss.

The chicken pox are still making the rounds throughout the school, and Tigger is home today (and yesterday) with a fever. No spots, though, so I'm not sure what's up with him. And Thumbelina is beyond grumpy this morning. She's downright PMS-y. With a runny nose to boot.
So I'm sure you're bored to tears by now and just really only want to see pictures. I aim to please, to here you go:

I saw a similar shirt at Rubber Duckies blog, and of course since it was Elmo and Thumbelina is in love with Elmo, I knew I had to get me one. I mean her one. It came from here.
Her birthday cake came from a local grocer; I took in one of her storybooks and they scanned the cover and made an edible image. How cool is that!
She was very excited about presents!
And she LOVES her aquadoodle.
Tigger is having a great time playing with Thumbelina's new toys!

Boys

Wow - we're starting May off with multiple postings! Is it just me, or does it seem like Christmas wasn't all that long ago? And here the year is almost half over. Two hundred and forty-four days left.

So back to the subject at hand - boys. Is it just me, or are they not very bright? Or is it just my offspring that aren't very bright... Awhile back, some relatives were over to make sure the kids got to bed on time and didn't burn the house down while we were out- I'd like to say they babysat, but a certain 13-year-old wouldn't appreciate me saying he had babysitters, so I will just say that Mr. Happy and I had a previous engagement on the same day that various relatives came to our house. So after our said engagement was over and we were once again home, it was brought to our attention that the 13-year-old did not, in fact, go to bed at the appointed time, but stayed up and watched TV with the relatives. And rather than just run off to bed like said relatives were hoping he would, he made an appearance and let Mr. Happy and I know that he had not yet been sent off to bed. I really thought he was just being honest, but now I'm thinking he's just not very bright because he's a boy.

And to fully support my suppositions, I would like to present to you Exhibit A:


Let's take a closer, shall we?
Yes, that is ink, on a leather office chair. Thumbelina actually did the long stripes, but Tigger was the one who wrote Tigger's Chair. With pen. On an office chair. Not very bright. Because now he's not going to look very believable when we confront him with this transgression. I mean, he wrote his name on the chair; it will be hard for him to say he didn't do it. Unless of course he didn't do it and one of his brother's did it to try to get Tigger into trouble. But then that's just plain dumb because they're older and should know better. At least better than Tigger. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't Thumbelina...other than the stripes...even though she is a very bright toddler and can draw circles quite well, she just hasn't mastered her ABC's yet.
How does one get ink out of leather anyway?

What Kind of Cereal Are You?

I stole this from Sunshine & Rubber Duckies, but since that blog is password protected, you don't even know that I stole it, do you. Except that I just told you.

Anyhoo, I found this to be rather creepily accurate. Corn Flakes. Huh.

You Are Corn Flakes

You are traditional and easy going. If something is high quality, you're satisfied with it. You don't need much variety or novelty in your life. You're happy with what you have. You're quite loyal. You're the type of person who eats the same breakfast every day... And likely at the exact same time each day!

What Kind of Cereal Are You?