• I woke up this morning a new girl! My mouth, specifically my left cheek was not hurting. I am so happy I remembered to get that upper temp smoothed out.
• Currently the bottom temp is staying put, please, please let it stay there until the first. Did I say please????
• My fingernails are looking all kinds of sad at the moment. Not sure what the deal is but they are chipping, cracking and flaking. I am hoping this is just a short phase they are going through.
• I admitted to the Queen last week that I actually enjoy watching Wipeout, I know, such a stupid show but for some reason watching grown men and women hurting themselves during an obstacle course makes me giggle.
• Oh Miel, I cannot wait to try you out this weekend, I have waited way too long.
• And look out Patterson House because I have heard all about you, cannot wait to see what all the fuss is about.
• Had a blonde moment today, completely forgot the gym bag this morning so I got to run back to the apartment when I got off work, changed and then headed out.
• A small irritation, when people vaguebook on Facebook it drives me batty. If you are sad, tell us why or just don’t post anything. Or maybe it is just me. . .
• I work with a guy who’s ego barely fits through the door, the good news? He has heard me say this to him numerous times, the bad news? His ego just gets bigger. Good thing I find him funny from time to time.
• I am cashing in my reward from the boy this weekend. Now what to get. . . Uggs, Kate Spade, Loft clothes or the much more practical and needed, undergarments? Decisions, decisions!
• Celebrating with some great friends this weekend for my birthday. I am just going to stick to the third anniversary of 35. . .
• Celebrated this past weekend with Bird, her card read “The birthday fairy comes around every year. . . ” on the front, on the inside. . . “Bitch” Yep, that sums it up.

And now I must go and get ready for bed. See, this whole getting old thing makes me want to turn in early. Just send me a walker, fiber and some depends, care of this blog. I am so not ready to turn 35 + 3. That is just so wrong. . .

I have let two teeth abscess, the second one was the worst though. It was an upper, very back molar and while my dad said, “just let them pull it,” I knew that after four years of virtual hell that I was not going to jeopardize my somewhat straight teeth but taking one out. But I finally learned my lesson in terms of getting the root canal when they tell you to because I never want to live through that again.

In the past two years I have gotten two root canals and numerous fillings or replacing old fillings on top of the gift that keeps on giving. . . a chipped tooth from an incident involving my half sister, a phone and a chair. At some point I will need to get most of the bonding pulled off and either get a crown or a veneer but for now it is going to stay bonded.

After the two and a half hour visit last Monday I was quite sore (having multiple shots in your mouth can do that to you) and could tell that the temps they placed were rough. I knew that after a couple of days I could deal with it because my cheeks are scarred up from the braces. Unfortunately while eating lunch Thursday (real food, not soup!) my bottom temp decided to pop off.

Off to the dentist I go to get it placed again, this time they smoothed out the rough edges on that one. I didn’t think about asking them to do it to the top one though. I thank them as I am leaving and say I will see them on the first when I will get my nice, shiny crowns! Yeah!

Well Saturday comes around and after teasing Bird relentlessly about not driving in the rain, she heads down for a girls afternoon. After dinner I keep picking at both teeth because it felt like something wasn’t right. As we were walking into Kirklands my bottom temp pops off again. Seriously? At first I thought I would just forget about getting it back on then Bird mentions they sell a glue for temps and fillings over the counter. No problem! I can do that.

I tried it yesterday and well, it stayed for an hour and then decided to pop off. After living on ibuprofen for the past week, my gums around the top temp still trying to heal and chewing on that side doesn’t feel good I knew I would need to go back to the dentist’s office.I feel so bad for the whole office, every time they turn around I am in there and need them to re-glue this stupid temp. At least I remembered to request the smoothing of the top temp.

I am sure my coworkers think I am crazy because it is almost a daily occurrence now for me to go to the dentist. Pray that this sucker stays on this time. I really don’t want to go back until the permanent ones are ready. Plus I am going out of town this weekend and will be eating fabulous food, so having a bum tooth kind of gets in the way of that!

This weekend I did manage to get some exercise in, clean the kitchen, do tons of laundry, clean out my pantry and watch football. And while I was off in dreamland last night my neighbor came over during the storm (so didn’t even realize it was storming) wanting me to come over to sit with her. Her hubby was at work, her kids asleep and she had gotten sick and was contracting. When she knocked on my window for some reason I could have sworn it was some random kid asking me to come over. Then when she said she was contracting I woke up enough to jump up and run out to her. Oh man! I still feel so horrible for telling her to go home. Bad Amy!

Luckily we started talking, I got her to sit back and drink some water and her tummy meds kicked in so she could get some more sleep. Of course as we were texting this morning I was saying something about being sick and then feeling sore but my autocorrect decided to replace the s in sick with a d. Stupid autocorrect!

And this was just Monday, I am hoping the rest of the week picks up and there are no more storms. I forget that a lot people are on edge around here when it comes to storms. I am thankful that I have gotten to the point (after many years of no sleep while it was storming) that the storms no longer bother me.

• After chipping the same front tooth for the millionth time the other week, I ran into my dentist’s office to get the quick bonding work needed to repair it. No biggie. It was then that I opened my big mouth and mentioned I needed to crown one of the two teeth that have had a root canal done in the past two years.
• I blow my max for my dental plan in January of each year, I also happen to blow my flex spending account as well. To say that I would love to spend my FSA on say doctor visits and possibly RX sunglasses instead of my teeth is the understatement for the year.
• I made the appointment, went back to the office and proceeded to mark it on my work calendar, my phone and my email as a reminder. Oh and I had sticky note as well on my monitor.
• Completely forgot to mention it to my boss until the day of, luckily he understood. Completely forgot about it when I was making my dinner Sunday evening to eat on for the week.
• I have special teeth apparently. If it can go wrong, it will. I hadn’t anticipated too much drilling, which freaks me out. They were low on the gas to make me forget about it. The idea of crowning the bottom tooth and temping the top was switched about a quarter of the way in, my teeth are “short” so he needed to get rid of some of the gum around that top tooth, my bite is a bit off, so it would then hurt the bottom tooth that was now to be temped so halfway through this mess he opts to crown both and we will work the money part out later.
• Two and a half hours later I can no longer feel my left side of my face, my tongue feels like it is three times it’s normal size and I can already tell that this is going to hurt for a few days.
• That was just Monday folks.
• I am now the proud owner to two temps that will be crowned on the 1st, children’s liquid ibuprofen because the thought of opening my mouth to swallow a pill makes me cry AND my uber expensive organic romaine lettuce is just sitting in the fridge.
• Oh, the lettuce you ask? I had my gallbladder taken out eight years ago and since then lettuce and my stomach hate each other. I love salads but can’t stomach (HA!) the pain.
• I learned last week if I drink milk and get the organic romaine lettuce that I can handle salads again.
• At least this week, my stomach clearly needs to see a therapist.
• I love a good rainstorm but am starting to prefer for them to hold off until I am done with my commute.
• My BFF Stace posted the cutest picture of her cutie playing with the book I got him for Christmas! Let’s just say that if the kid asks for a pony I would say yes.
• My addiction to Pinterest is still going. I would like to thank Sonia for suggesting putting a board up for her little one so I can pin things I see that remind me of the snug! FYI–you better do those cookies!
• My mouth is still throbbing.

I apologize for the whiny post, there are people out there dealing with much more serious issues, but I had to get it out because Wook has decided I am no longer allowed to discuss it with him. Hmph! You would think that since I keep his high flying lifestyle going he would be willing to listen. Nope. Maybe it is time to get a dog. . . just kidding!

I have stumbled upon all kinds of blogs and some make it to my bookmarks while others I happen to remember from time to time and check in on them. But there is one blog that I have been reading for awhile that I adore. I love the pictures, the crafts, the words, etc. but I also happen to know two people in my life that happen to share a common love that she has.

Kelle Hampton of Enjoying the Small Things shares with her readers her life and two way too cute daughters! Nella just happens to have Down Syndrome. My connection to DS comes from my parents. A few years ago they started spending time with a start up school for adults with DS. While I may have given my parents a very strong willed, not the friendliest grandcat, The Trousdale School gave them a whole gaggle of funny, kind and very bright grandchildren.

Oh the stories I have heard! And as soon as most of the students learned I was their daughter, I was welcomed in, hugged on and even had a couple of the young men flirting with me. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, I wasn’t privileged to share a classroom with anyone with a mental disability. Mainstreaming wasn’t done that often back then but I have learned from friends with kids and friends that are teachers, mainstreaming is the school’s priority. It also gives those that were lucky like me a chance to learn that sometimes looking different or needing help in some form isn’t a big deal.

The Trousdale School puts on a annual summer musical, I have attended two of those. I leave with my cheeks hurting from smiling and laughing so much. I also watched on with a bit of pride as my parents helped them with costume changes, directing them this way and that and every one of the students running up to hug one of them almost every five seconds.

While my mom has always been a bit on edge when it came to small children (I believe that would probably be my fault!) the love she has for the students and the patience is unending. My dad works with them in Bible class as well as trying to maintain some sort of composure when there is mischief to be made.

And as I believe they have both said to me, it is really hard to leave the school and not be in a good mood. Their joy, love and boundless energy seems to rub off on anyone around. They also happen to love to dance.

After saying to myself about a million times, I finally shared Kelle’s blog with them. I told them all about this little cutie named Nella, how it was a bit of a surprise to find out that she had DS and exactly how this life changing event spurred a wonderful fundraising event.

Last year Kelle and her family celebrated by having a Oneder fundraiser hoping to raise a bit of money for the DS foundation. It exceeded their small goal and grew and grew and grew! This year as they get ready to celebrate Nella’s second birthday, they are doing a 2 for 2.

There are a lot of charities around, good causes that should be supported but I ask each of you who happens to read here to click the link towards the beginning, read about Nella and if you have a couple of bucks to spare, donate to this cause. After following Kelle and her husband dream big as well as watching a wonderful school like Trousdale come to fruition just because one man dreamed big, I have to say, this is pretty cool.

And I hope neither Kelle nor the school mind me sharing about this. I have learned quite a bit over the past couple of years and appreciate that they have adopted my parents. It also helps that they happen to distract my parents from a certain grandcat that might have a few issues.

• I have a new injury to report! I know, everyone has been waiting to see just what I could do in terms of injuries. This time it all has to do with the elliptical machine and my death grip while on it. Turns out that muscle right around the shoulder blade doesn’t like how I cling to the bars as I sweat this fat right off my body.
• Football, come on people, it seems that every team I cheer for decides not to show up for the game or leaves early. I am looking at you Steelers and LSU.
• My reason for pulling for LSU last night? When I was a kid, I had an uncle (God rest his soul) that was a HUGE Bama fan. I’m talking Bear Bryant framed print in the den and anything else Bama you could throw in as decoration. The man was all about his Roll Tide. And apparently my ten year old self found this to be off putting. Yep. Just like that time I puked up some kind of fruit punch drink, just not going to go there again.
• I can’t even talk about the Steelers, I am that sad.
• I guess my next NFL cursed team will be the Giants. I am sorry Eli.
• I borrowed on Kindle Diane Keaton’s book, lets just say I can’t get into it.
• A book I am devouring though, Mindy Katling’s book. I feel like we could be friends. You know, in a non-creepy way.
• Bird has decided that one of her girl’s has to be mine. Poor thing. I hope she learns from my mistakes!
• I have taken to calling Bird the perfect daughter. . . my mom finally has one!
• I don’t think I was ever in the running for that title, I will take the quirkiest daughter title though.
• I have been in the midst of a design invitation mode for the Queen. I need to send her a thank you card for giving me an outlet for my creative juices.
• I got my diary calendar from my former boss last week. To say we are still on the same page thought-wise is an understatement. I pulled it out of the envelope and immediately thought, “What an ugly cover!” and sure enough he had made a point that he didn’t like it either but they were going for a certain kind of feel.
• This is also the same boss that pauses briefly when walking past the Office Depot to take in the smells when the doors open. We both love the smell of office supplies.
• I also love the smell of Lowes.
• Yes, I know I am really weird.

And with that I bid adieu and will be welcoming Wednesday with a big ole grin! The work week is almost halfway over. Besides working out this weekend, I do believe I am going to relax. Or at least be the pillow for the cat.

I even have mom on board checking to see if I have been to the gym, reminding me to watch what I eat. . . while there have been times in the past I may have gotten a bit too skinny (think encroaching Olsen twin status) and mom would say I need to gain a bit of weight, I am glad I have someone else asking me if I have gone to the gym today.

The problem that I have is I love food. I pink puffy heart LOVE food. I love to cook, bake, eat, read menus and any kind of cookbook. So the reality is no one needs to tell me if I have gotten too skinny or I need to eat more because that is my gateway drug. No need to tell me twice! Throw me a shovel and I can throw the food back. I enjoy food. And apparently I have since I was little. I was a picky eater but as I have gotten older I am more willing to try things (except mayo, forget it, I won’t touch it).

I am also fortunate that I can make a meal and eat on it for days on end. I don’t get bored of it and it makes the whole work/gym/night routine a bit easier. Thank goodness for this and it also keeps me a bit more sane when I hit up Publix on the weekends.

Now while I still love my coffee and diet coke, I drink more milk and water now than those two combined. That is still shocking me. I woke up yesterday morning and realized I didn’t have any milk for breakfast. The horror! But once I got back from the store yesterday afternoon I guzzled a glass of skim milk like I hadn’t had anything to drink in ages.

To reward myself for good behavior I am heading up to Nashville in a couple of weeks to celebrate my birthday a couple of days early with friends. I can’t wait to see everyone and of course I have a certain lake I am going to be hitting up to walk. I cannot wait! Oh Radnor Lake how I miss you and your charm throughout the year. I took you for granted the whole time I lived there.

I will be heading home to visit that motley crew of friends I call family. I will also get to cash in my first reward from the boy. I am leaning towards a pair of Uggs because man, oh man, I would like some of those. But who knows. We will also be discussing in depth all the restaurants we want to try while in DC next month.

And see, there goes that food tangent! I am hoping to have some good results from the eating better and exercising by the time we hit DC so I can walk all over the place and not feel tired from the weight I carry. I also would like to be in decent shape so when I hit the zoo my favorite silver back ape will remember me. This will be my third visit to the zoo and I feel like I have a special connection with this particular ape. I know, it sounds crazy but it is true.

So me and my train are still climbing up that hill but it is all about knowing that I can do this and I will do this. I may be a sweaty, stinky mess that is sore from working out daily but I will be glad to rid myself of this belly and some of my thighs.

Until then I am still trying to figure out a way to hook the Dyson up to me and suck the fat out. A girl can dream!

• Santa (well, my parents but I still believe in the jolly ole elf) was quite good to me this year. I am always spoiled beyond belief, which can make a girl a bit overwhelmed.
• Wook was spoiled as well, bless that little grey thing. He has overindulged in catnip and can food over the past couple of weeks. As well as a lot of quality time with me.
• The weather around here is all over the place and from Facebook last night, apparently some friends got to see snow. I didn’t though, which can make for a sad girl. I love snow!
• Going to the gym after the holidays is a challenge. Not for the reasons of not wanting to but more like the influx of members who have binged over the last month and make a resolution to get fit. I am happy for each one of them though. I just hope I don’t have to fight one for a machine!
• New Year’s resolutions. . .hmm. Yeah, I don’t do them. I tend to make all these lofty goals and fall flat before the end of January, so nope, just going to do the best I can in my life and leave it at that.
• The gym. . .there are still many days when it is a struggle to go, I know I can do it. I know that I feel better after but the whole process of going, changing and working out before getting to the apartment tends to challenge me.
• I was a horrible eater the past few weeks but I think it has more to do with the time off work, the change in my routine that gets everything out of whack.
• For my close friends who tease me endlessly about my cleaning abilities! I took the tree down Sunday evening, vacuumed and got my furniture arranged again.
• I even cleaned my bathroom last night!
• I must be coming down with something. . .
• Once again I am dealing with ANOTHER Comcast/Xfinity issue. . .my cable boxes are now showing the time an hour ahead but the programming is correct. I called a bit ago to get this straightened out and all that did was we will send a tech out at some point on Saturday. Have I mentioned just how much I love having them as a cable carrier????
• I even had to convince the customer service guy that I had not had any power outages and was completely sure that was the case.
• I really need to go through my inbox for my email. I get so much junk email and it is starting to drive me batty trying to get through the 98% junk to the 2% of email that I care to read.
• I also need to tackle my guest room which has turned into a junk room. A good portion could be given away or thrown out. Must start working on this. . . for now the door stays shut so I can pretend it doesn’t exist.
• I also need to do my snow dance. . . I could use a foot of snow right about now!

Alrighty, I am going to empty the dishwasher and straighten the kitchen up. Seriously, I really must be coming down with something because this is not normal!

• Bird has lived in the same house for how many years now? Um, yeah, I still can’t get her address right. Your card will be hand delivered since I am incapable of keeping your address in a phone or address book.
• I am beginning to think Dad might be a little crazy. . . mom told me about the “new, bright light” that he was trying to find the other weekend. That would be the moon, in all of it’s glory that seemed to stump my dad.
• It’s a short work week this week and the next two weeks, hells yeah! Can’t we just go to a four day work week at the same pay?
• My work laptop decided to get sick and was repaired yesterday. I came in from lunch all excited to see it only to realize they have lost every last one of my emails since I started their in 2006.
• I file all my emails so I always have a backup of what I have requested or sent. Please let there be another Christmas miracle and the tech guy gets that file back.
• Since receiving three of the OPI Muppet collection polishes I have managed to paint my fingernails with all three (separate occasions). While it looks like a three year old painted them, this is the longest I have managed to keep them painted.
• Working out during the holidays is for the birds. . . this is the time to be merry and stuff your face.
• Oh wait, that is how I got to this point! Nevermind, I will stick with going to the gym.
• Where is the cold weather? Where is the snow?
• Wookie can tell that Santa is coming soon, little man has taken to trying to get the magnets off the fridge as well as jumping up on the table to see if there is anything for him there. . .

I am hoping for a girls night with Bird this week, possibly to overindulge at The Melting Pot, just roll me out of there if that does happen. Between the cheese, the meat and the chocolate I don’t have to eat for another week! Although I will say I think I prefer the cheese over the chocolate! My how things have changed!

So here is a list of some of the products that apparently if I had the money and space, I would get.

• Magic Bullet~people, I have been hooked on this stupid mini food processor/blender since I first saw the infomercial a few years ago. I am thinking this has to do more with the “actors” on the infomercial than anything else. The real kicker? I have my Kitchen Aid products that do all of this and more, that stupid program just got to me and now I stare at it wistfully every time I see it.
• Pajama Jeans~okay, I scoff every time I see this commercial because really? If I want to run around town in my pajama pants I will, no need to dress it up into something it’s not. I have no shame! But Lindsay over at She’s Still Got It and Suburban Turmoil just did a piece on the new, too good to be true, updated Pajama Jeans for (drumroll please!) men! Yes, your man can now roll around town in fake jammy jeans for only $12.95 (plus shipping). They even have a pair for the men who like to keep their jeans around their knees
• Forever Lazy~I should really start thinking up crap to sell because this is just all kinds of sad. First we had to settle for blankets when we were cold, then Snuggies became the rage and now neither will do! Get your, um, blanket/Snuggie/oversized workout clothes so you too can be warm while talking on the phone, watching the game, hanging out with friends. . .
• Swivel Store~for you cooks out there, are you tired of falling spices, can’t seem to find the Cream of Tartar? Well look no further! You too can have a plastic tray that swivels like a lazy susan and it saves space! Me? I think I will stick to throwing them all in the drawer and calling it a day.
• Potty Patch~for our pet lovers out there, throw this piece of, um plastic resembling grass down and let your puppies go to town! I will admit, it has been years since I have owned a dog, but is it wise to train your pup to potty indoors?
• Easy Feet~okay, I will admit, I got suckered in and bought the Pedi Egg a few years ago but this? Even I have lines I will not cross (at least not yet) but while I can still manage to get into the shower and still have some money around for pedis, I think I will pass on this little contraption. I have enough issues with cleaning my shower and I would think you would need to clean these little shoes often to keep the germs away. . .

But wait! There’s more! Actually, there are several different websites devoted to all these products plus stores if you are so inclined to peruse the merchandise in person. I just wish I had thought of one of these products because you know they are making a pretty penny out of a glorified blanket.

Yesterday was a big day around here, Bird’s girls came over to stay with me for a few hours. They were thrilled and of course I took complete advantage of them being here by letting them finish decorating my tree. I know, I know. This should have been done several weeks ago but between work, working out and sleeping I just never could get it finished. They loved doing it and I have to say, they did such a great job! They worried about placement, breakables and Wookie and thoroughly enjoyed going through all my ornaments. They have dubbed my tree the Hallmark tree for the many Hallmark ornaments on it.

Maybe this is why some people have kids! Once they get a bit older, all of the sudden they are quite useful! Before the hate comments converge, I am only kidding. I love all of my friends’ kids and while I am quite grateful for the help, if they hadn’t of been interested, I would have been fine doing it myself.

Once the tree was complete (I was in the kitchen making my weekly meal) the three of us piled on the couch to watch The Wizard of Oz. I think it was their first time to see it and hope I didn’t overstep boundaries but a good time was had by all!

And now to the accident portion of my post. . . I think it is safe to say that I can injure myself with the greatest of ease so neither of this incidents should be all that shocking. . .

I was working on gathering my presents to wrap when one of dad’s fell out of the box and landed on the top of my foot. No bruise, no swelling just hurts. I should have known better when I picked that box up but it was late and apparently paying attention isn’t a strong suit of mine. The other accident is a bit more embarrassing. .. I was umm, having “me” time in the bathroom and you know how sometimes you will take something to read in there or your phone or say your Kindle to play a game to pass the time? I was so engrossed (HA!) with the game that I let my left foot and leg go to sleep. Once I got up from my, umm, sitting place, well I got up on the wrong foot. My still sleeping foot turned in a way that is certainly not natural and as I was getting ready to take a dive into my tub head first I grabbed the towel rack. The towel on the rack was not really on there (that will teach me to do things halfway) and I had to grab a second time so I wouldn’t become a statistic in bathroom accidents (HA! Again!).

Luckily my left foot is fine but I stood there for a minute contemplating how exactly I would explain this accident had I gotten hurt to everyone. I am now looking Amy proofing my bathroom.

And yes, I just shared with all of you that when I go to the toilet I have to be entertained. I am my father’s daughter. . .

On that note, I think I am going to finish up laundry and get my bag packed for the gym. I will back with more embarrassing tales from the bathroom. . . excuse me, my life shortly.