Bloglines

I know I am behind a few centuries when it comes to technology, so I am sure all of you bloggy junkies already have a way to keep up with favorite blogs.

I haven't.

Now, since I have joined Bloglines, I can see who, on my "favorite blogs list", has updated. I don't have to visit every single blog on my list to see who has a great, new post. If only I would have known about this sooner.

What a time saver!!

Facebook Family

I know, I know, I am always last to join in on any kind of new technology, but finally I have joined facebook.

I am known for shying away from anything that requires a lot of reading where following instructions is involved, especially if it is something on the Internet. I get this strange sort of nagging feeling that I am just one key away from accidentally selling my soul or something crazy like that!

But, I guess it was about time for me to shed my status as an amoeba concerning all things computery. I think I have at least evolved into an earthworm.

I keep telling myself that I have to at least try to keep up for my kids' sakes. As long as Daddy's around, I know there is nothin' to worry about, though!!

Comments

Some folks have mentioned that my blog isn't letting them comment. I love comments, so I have not done this on purpose.

I did go in and change some of my settings, so hopefully you all can comment away now!!! If you still can't, please let me know! Thanks.

Text Message

This story just about ripped my heart out!!!!

A Post I Wasn't Brave Enough to Write

I wanted to shout "Amen" from the mountain top when I read this post on "hoochie mamas"!

It reminded me of this mom whose son was on Mullin's baseball team 2 seasons ago. I mean who wears mini skirts and pumps to their kid's ball game?

I am always so surprised, too, at how many women want to show off the work their plastic surgeon has done while they are watching their kids play sports. I know I am weird, but this is offensive to me.


For those of you who do read that post, I will confess a few things. I must admit that I do still shop in the Junior's department of some stores. I am just not ready to graduate to the "mom" section yet. Also, I do actually own "hoochie mama" clothes, but I wear them for cleaning and hanging around the house. :)

Terrible Tragedy

Updated: You can go here to meet little Maria and to give your condolences to the Chapman family.

I just couldn't believe the news my husband shared with me this morning. I am sure so many have already heard about the tragic accident involving Stephen Curtis Chapman's teenage son and 5 year old daughter. I can't fathom the pain I'd experience over losing one of my kids.

My heart goes out to their family, and now I am positive that I won't be able to hold back the tears anymore when I hear Chapman's Cinderella song. Not only will my heart be breaking just thinking about my own daughter growing up and leaving, but it will be breaking over the fact that the Chapman's have lost one of their Cinderellas forever. I can't keep the words, "...the clock will strike midnight and she'll be gone." from playing over and over in my head.

Remember this wonderful family in your prayers!

He's Not Pregnant!!

SHE is!

I am tired of hearing about a "man" who is going to give birth this summer. I am sure everyone has already heard about this story, so I won't even bother giving a link.

There is absolutely nothing shocking about this pregnancy. It is more than normal for a female born with ovaries and a womb to get pregnant. What's shocking is that a former Miss Teen Hawaii finalist would want to cut off body parts and grow new ones. What's shocking is that the world wants to play along and refer to this person as a "he" and make such a fuss--like a male is really having a baby. As John Stossel would say, "Give me a break!"

How absurd does this sound? I really think Puerto Ricans are beautiful. I would love to have naturally thick, shiny, straight black hair, black eyes and light brown skin. I guess I could dye my hair, sleep in a tanning bed, and learn the language. But seriously, no matter how hard I tried, I would never truly be Puerto Rican. Calling myself one wouldn't make me one. I mean, come on, could I really legally mark that box on important documents just because I wanted to? People would laugh and probably be thinking, "Someone needs to send that girl to the funny farm." My DNA will always reveal that I am white and freckly without a single trace of Puerto Rican blood.

My purpose for this post is not to single out this particular person and create controversy over her moral decisions etc., but to just point out that unless we are talking about a seahorse, it is biologically impossible for a male human to carry a child and give birth. So, no reason for all this fuss, right?

My Ebay Pile

Oh my goodness. I just couldn't stand looking at those growing ebay piles in my room any longer. So, today I finally got around to listing some items.

I always find it hard to add the non-regular things to my everyday to-do lists. The regular, everyday things take up all of my time. Adding even just one thing is always a challenge, but I told the kids to entertain themselves and let me be so I could do this much needed task.

I finally signed up with Half.com and listed about 15 books. Won't make much money off of them, but anything will help right now. I am wondering if listing some of them was a complete waste of time. $0.75 cents doesn't go very far. Didn't have time to list the other ebay items. Going to try and sell some of Shiloh's clothes and other misc. items. All proceeds will go toward school books, and a few summer items to help entertain kids when it is 115 degrees outside. And that will be here before I know it!

I Shouldn't Be Surprised

Went to get my "small" cavity filled yesterday afternoon.

I know you all want to grab a cup of hot tea or coffee and share in my tooth woes, right? :)

Before I go any further let me inform that an X-ray is 2 dimensional, so it cannot show the dentist what is underneath a silver filling. I already had one of those in the tooth that was getting worked on.

The dentist, while removing my silver filling, found that my tooth underneath was basically rotten! I shouldn't be surprised b/c I was feeling a twinge in that tooth every time I drank something cold, and usually by the time I feel any pain it is anything but a small cavity we are dealing with. Plus, this very same thing has happened to me before, so it was just like De Ja Vu!!! I guess I can let myself off the hook b/c no amount of brushing, flossing and rinsing could have prevented the decay taking place under my filling.

Fearing the worst and trying to fight back tears over the "big mama" cavity as the assistant called it, I prepared myself to hear the dreaded R word--root canal. Plus, all I could see were dollar signs dancing around in my head. Those things aren't cheap! My dentist, who by the way is a very good one in my opinion, explained everything he had done so far and showed me a few disgusting, color photos of the decay and the huge gaping hole left in my tooth.

Then came the diagnosis: No root canal, thank goodness, BUT b/c the cavity was so gigantic it can't be filled with an ordinary filling. In an effort to save what remained of my tooth and to keep me from having to get a crown, I am getting a permanent porcelain thingy cemented to it. I get to go back again in 10 days. Yea!

I hope I don't have to have anesthesia again. I just can't handle that stuff anymore. Almost immediatley my heart starts to race and I become very jittery. It lasts for hours, too. Makes me feel just awful. Snappy, too!! I also can't stand to hold my mouth open for any length of time, either. Oh, it just really bothers me now!!!

I don't remember that happening as a kid. And I have had TONS of shots in my mouth. I am the girl who had about 7 baby teeth, roots and all, pulled around the age of 7 or 8. In fact I still have them. My kids are dying to see them. When I had my wisdom teeth cut out from under the bone, I refused to be put to sleep for it. I got about 10 shots and was good to go. Oh, the joys of being young!!

I am seriously trying to be thankful in the midst of this trial, but my flesh wants to stress over the extra $600.00 that has to be spent. This came at a time when we need to be paying for home school books not porcelain caps.

I am thankful, though, that I don't have to have a root canal--that would have been much more expensive!

I am thankful that I don't have cancer or some other fatal disease that would keep me from home schooling my kids.

I am thankful that I don't have to get a set of false teeth....yet.

A New Brushing Experience

Want to hear something sweet?

My husband, after reading my previous post, went to Target on his lunch break yesterday and bought me an electric toothbrush! He even put it in a cute bag! He knows how affected I am by presentation. Is that speaking my love language or what?!

So last night was my first time ever to use one of these, and let me just tell you: turn the toothbrush on after you put it in your mouth. Do it before like I did and toothpaste splatters everywhere. Duh!

Also thank you to all who commented and sympathized or empathized with me.

Another Cavity

I am so tired of singing the same song and dancing the same dance at the dentist's office.
It has been this way since my very first visit at age 5 or so. I think I am just going to blame it on my genes b/c I don't know anyone more obsessive compulsive about cleaning their teeth!!

In the past I have blamed my weak teeth on the fact that I grew up on modern, nutrient deprived foods such as formula, white breads, canned and processed stuff, convenient, frozen meals with the never ending lists of unpronounceable words, skim milk, etc. Then in my teens I got the brilliant idea of trying out a no fat diet for a while. Nutritious, huh? While I am sure all of these components didn't help the problem, I have come to the conclusion that it wasn't necessarily the cause.

Why? Well, my brother and sister never seemed to get any cavities as kids. They were eating the same food that I was eating. At least I think they were.

As far as brushing goes, I am a legalist. Even as a teen, I used the before mouthwash, Plax, flossed, brushed and used an after mouthwash. Now I am at home all day and brush at least 3 sometimes 4 times a day. I even use the fluoride rinse that I got from the dentist's office. I also chew the kind of gum that is supposed to help prevent cavities. Mark loves to tease me about my whole teeth cleaning ritual. I actually hate using all of the chemicals that I use for my teeth, but I will do anything to keep from having any more cavities and root canals. Obviously it isn't working!!!

Back to the gene theory. It just isn't fair! My dad never went to the dentist as a kid. He has very healthy teeth that are perfectly straight. So, I guess I didn't inherit a lick of his healthy teeth gene. I remember my mom having quite a few cavities. Don't know if she's had any root canals-- I have had 3 already!!! What I have been told, though, is that my maternal grandmother had an entire set of false teeth by the time she was in her 30's. Yikes! I am trying to look at the bright side and be thankful that I am not having to take my teeth out every night and soak 'em, but I am still a bit miffed about having yet another cavity. Blaming my genes really doesn't make me feel any better, actually worse b/c I feel that I am helpless. Not to mention I have read many articles that suggest there is a relationship between a person's teeth and their overall health. Presently I wonder, am I eating all of this healthy food in vain??

I wonder what my children are thinking? I always tell them to brush their teeth so they won't get cavities. I am sure they have to be quite confused as to why mommy gets them.

Because I am already in a bad mood about the whole thing, don't anybody dare to even mention the possibility of my cavities being related to the fact that I love to eat sweets!!!!!!! :)

Hmmm, now there's a thought. Maybe I could sue all of the companies whose candy I am addicted to. Yeah, it's their fault for making such tasty treats. It shouldn't be my responsibility to use self control at the store when they strategically place the beautifully wrapped packages right next to the check out counter.

Momma's Model

This beauty likes to ask to have her picture taken now. And she poses. I guess she comes by it pretty honestly. When I was just 7 or 8, I knew with all my heart that I wanted to be a model when I grew up.

I chased the dream for quite some time by taking several years of modeling school, which I know cost my parents an unbelievable amount of cash! As a teen, I even became a member of Dillard's teen board where I would get to do fashion shows and freeze modeling and such. I got paid around $10.00 an hour, which was a lot of money back then. Hey, it was more than I make now!!!

As I got older I figured being an actress would be even more fun, so I took some acting classes and got involved in drama at school. The very first play I was in was Noises Off. Talk about a difficult role or really 2 roles to play! One of my favorite memories was getting to go to New York as a freshman in high school and see some amazing performances on Broadway! As far as my acting career though, well it came to a dead end.

Obviously God had other plans for me and pretty much closed the doors with the words, MODEL and ACTRESS on them. Instead he opened the GET MARRIED AND HAVE KIDS door.
Oh well, that is okay. As we all know, there aren't exactly many Christian actors and actresses, and models these days, well, don't really model clothes now do they?

So Frustrating!!

For some time now I have been having picture-posting issues. It is driving me crazy!!

Too many pictureless posts in a row just doesn't suit my personal style. Okay now my keyboard isn't jiving with me. Guess I will take a hint and take a break for a while. When everything is working again I will have to do some major catching up!

The "Real" Papa Smurf

Wow, I was completely amazed by this story.

Blog Rating

The only questionable word found on my blog was "pooped", but they still gave me a "G" rating.

This gal got a "PG" rating, and you won't believe the words found on her site!!

What's your blog rated?

Misunderstood

Well, it seems that one of my comments on this post has caused quite a stir.

Truly there was no jiggery-pokery here to incite a bloggy cat fight. It was purely written in a joking manner. Carrie is one of those real-life friends of mine who hopefully sensed the fact that I was for the most part, kidding. Of course I wanted to win--that is why I entered. If I didn't win, then it was my opinion that Carrie should have. I honestly thought her picture captured pure "Holiday Cheer" at its best. Also, one of my very best friends is a HUGE cat-lover, so I never meant ill will towards anyone or their cat.

Anonymous believes I need a slice of Humble Pie for my big head, so I offer my sincerest apology to Amber and to anyone else whom I have offended over my comment.

Unbelieveable

This is the kind of world we live in. I don't mind calling myself an alien at all.

From Bare to Beautiful

If your garage looks anything like mine-plain, old, bare concrete with a few oil stains here and there, then you might want to consider installing garage flooring for an attractive, new look.

Diamond garage flooring is very popular and comes in some really snazzy colors and patterns, and for me, the fact that it contains no toxic chemicals or hazardous fumes is a huge plus!

Don't need new flooring? Well how about protecting the floor you already have by coating it with epoxy. Click link to go to site for detailed instructions on how to apply.

It is better to give than to receive, right? So, share your holiday cheer this season by giving gift certificates for all new garage flooring to all of your loved ones with cracked, stained, or bare cement garage floors.

I Signed Up for PayPerPost!!!

As a very busy, stay-at-home mom who home schools 3 children, rarely is there an opportunity for me to make any extra cash. As most of us stay-at-home moms know, living on one income can be quite strenuous at times. Over the years I have searched in vain for ways, that didn't require an insane amount of time, to bring in extra money. But, thankfully by reading other moms' blogs, I recently came across an advertisement for PayPerPost, a site that hires bloggers to advertise about various products and services.

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical at first. Making money by blogging, doing something that I already loved to do, sounded too good to be true! But, after this particular mom who had advertised on her own site about PPP graciously answered a few of my questions, I felt confident that this opportunity was indeed, legit.

I excitedly told my husband about it, and he signed up first. In just a short amount of time, he has already made some "sweet moola", as he calls it. Neat thing is, there is absolutely no pressure. You can blog about what you want, when you want depending on the opportunities that are available to you.

I absolutely love the fact that there are no quotas to meet with PayPerPost! As a Creative Memories Consultant a few years ago, I felt so burdened by the required quarterly quota. The time that it required of me was also putting a huge burden on my growing family. While I am still enjoying Creative Memories a hobby, I no longer make a profit.

PayPerPost allows you to make money at your own convenience. I am so thrilled about finally finding something that fits into my schedule! I look forward to spending the extra cash on home school supplies, trendy clothes for myself, Christmas gifts, and more!

So what are you waiting for? Sign up today and start writing your own blog reviews to earn some extra cash!

Same Blog, New Domain

Autumn's Attic has a new domain! To all of my friends in Bloggyland, my new blog address is www.autumnfawn.net . For the faithful few who have my site linked on your blogs, the old address will still work, but when you have a moment to spare, I would greatly appreciate it if you would change it. :)
Thanks!!!