Too cute!

It’s not often I think a commercial is clever and cute.  And while I don’t want to go out and buy the product, Evian did a great job with this one.  Enjoy!

Things to make you go EEK!

Back in February I had some teeth filled.  When I made the appointment I told them I wanted them all done at the same time, I didn’t care that three were on the left side and one was on the right.  Even though my job is pretty flexible when it comes to things like appointments, it’s still easier to do everything all at once rather than at different times.  So when I showed up to my appointment, they weren’t aware that all teeth were to be done at the same time.  The dentist did, and I had to have about 3 shots of Novocaine on my left side because for some reason that side would not stay numb.  Right side, no problem, that day.  Later on I started having trouble with the molar that was filled.  Extreme cold sensetivity, pain when I tried to eat on that side, heck, pain when I bit down. 

Two more visits to the dentist and they adjusted my bite.  That’s all they did at those visits, and said if that didn’t fix the problem then I’d have to have a root canal done.  I decided if they just took x-rays and filed my teeth to adjust the bite, then they weren’t getting a third chance to get at my teeth.  And I figured if I really did need a root canal, I would need some time to get some money together for it.  So I’ve lived with it since February.  I did all my chewing with the left side of my mouth.  And that worked out pretty well, until a couple weekends ago when J and I were in Orlando. 

We were eating breakfast at the Cracker Barrell when all of a sudden I had a sharp pain in one of my lower left side teeth.  That tooth is now very cold sensative and if I eat anything cold, it has to be cut up very small.  That drove me back to the dentist, a different one this time.  And they decided a root canal is needed on the right molar.  They’re taking a wait and see approach with the left incisor, but tomorrow morning I have the joys of my very first root canal.  Yay me.

Thoughts and opinions please

Hey all!  Remember I said I had another Prairie Star in mind?  Well, I sat down at Excel and did some playing around.  The below is what I came up with and I can’t decide which one I like.  So I thought I’d put it out there and see what everyone else says.  The diamonds that are shaded will be done in varigated or ombre yarns.  Varigated’s are yarns that have multiple colors dyed into them and ombre’s are different shades of one color.  So far I’ve gotten 2 votes for number 6, 1 for number 8, 1 for number 4 and 1 for number 2.  So let me hear your thoughts and ideas please!  Thanks everyone!

Anyone have a boat to share?

Anymore rain and we’ll be needing one!  I woke up to downpours yesterday morning, something that continued on and off throughout the day.  And while we need the rain, we don’t need that much at once, because then there’s too much for it to soak into the ground.  Here’s an idea of how much rain we’ve gotten over the past couple of days.  I took this picture yesterday.

This is normally a deepish ditch near my apartment.  See the two little insets/peninsulas about half way down, one on the right and one on the left?  That’s probably about the normal width of this ditch.  Now there’s so much water that it’s almost even with the road.  And the water you can see behind the trees on the right?  That’s someones driveway.  I’ve seen a small, low to the ground car there before.  So I feel a bit bad for them right now. 

 

 

 

And I have to show Little Bit!  She belongs to my neighbor’s parents but is current staying at my neighbor’s place.  Her real name is Tia, but Little Bit fits her so much better.  She’s a Shitzu/Chihuahua mix and is only about 7 weeks.  I love when I get to take her outside, she’s very free with her kisses and she’s still got the puppy breath.   I’m not normally a fan of Chihuahua’s, they’re just not a breed I gravitate towards.  But Little Bit is cute as can be!  And yes, this was the best picture I could get of her.  Dang puppy wouldn’t sit still for 5 seconds.

On another note, J and I went and saw Public Enemiestonight and Johnny Depp is like a fine wine.  The older that man gets, the better he gets!  Public Enemieswasn’t as spectacular as I was hoping for, but it was still good and I still recommend it.  Johnny Depp made Dillinger very likable and very relatable.  We also saw some previews of upcoming movies that look good.  Leo DiCaprio is in something Island(the show Harper’s Island comes to mind, and that’s not it) and that not only looks original, but good and possibly slightly scary.  Matt Damon also has one coming out based on a true story, I think it has something to do with Anheuser Busch.  I also saw a poster for Fame, so I guess that’s also being re-made.  It’s sad that Hollywood has come to this already in our lifetime.

Prairie Star

Here’s my most recent finished project, the Prairie Star Afghan, a free pattern found here. 

 As soon as I saw the pattern I knew I wanted to make it for my friend HipnTrendy and I knew I wanted it in oranges, reds and yellows.  I made some slight adjustments to the color layout.  The original pattern called for 6 different colors and I didn’t want to use 6 for this one.  I’m really happy with the way it turned out and I’ve got another one in mind, using all 6 colors.

I couldn’t share this until Hip received it, since she reads this and it was a surprise for her.  I just wish I could have been there to catch a picture of her opening it.  I was tempted to try and contact her husband to get him to do it for me, but thought nah, too much like work   So Hip, I hope you enjoy this and the hotpads!

This is what the afghan looks like with all colors.  I’d also like to play with increasing the size so it’s more queen/king size.  I have an idea in mind, other than the simple hook size increase.

Overheard in Walmart

This is a conversation J and I overheard between a mother and her 7 or 8 year old daughter while checking out at Walmart last night.   At this point, more than 24 hours later, this is a paraphrase but recited as closely as I can remember.

Mom, in a whining tone: Do you really need the toy and the book?  Can’t you please just get the book?  You really need books.  I’m already at $157… I’m already spending $160, I can’t afford both.  Please just get the book. (To the cashier) We’ll just take this.

Then, as they were leaving…

Mom: I’m sorry you couldn’t get both.  I’m sorry.

The child had a full pout going on and looked like she was completely capable of breaking out into a full blown tantrum at any moment.

2 More for Victory Junction

The person collecting these for the kids had something come up so she’s only making one trip to Victory Junction instead of the planned two.  So I’ve managed to finish 2 more for her so I can get them sent out this weekend, just in time to arrive for the trip to the camp. 

 

New and improved

Remember my fat bottom bag?  This one?   Well, it’s been re-done somewhat.  I wasn’t completely happy with the handles, they were a little slippery.  And I wanted a closure, something I tried to add AFTER I had the handles sewn in.  Well, like the lining, I learned inner closures like snaps or magnets need to be done before the flap is sewn down over the handles. 

Plus, I made the bag for Joni and really liked the handles on that one.  Remember, this blue one? Yep, this one.  I really liked how the handles turned out, so I decided to take apart the handle portion of mine and and re-do it like the blue one.  That meant I could find a button to use as a closure and it could double as a decoration.  So here’s my updated fat bottom bag:

It almost looks like a whole new bag   The closure isn’t actually a button, I couldn’t find any big enough that I liked.  It’s a jewelry piece from the bead / jewelry area at Joann’s.  And I already had the gold ribbon on hand.  I think both the heart and the ribbon tie into the inside of the bag nicely.

I really like how well these turn out and how quickly they go.  Now I need to think of who needs a new hand bag so I can make more

More MS Pictures

Dad finally sent me the pictures he and Mom took this weekend.

This is the official photo of our team, minus 3 people.  The guy on the left is Meghan’s husband and he accidentially rode 85 miles on Saturday instead of 75.

 

 

 J starting out on Sunday.  I was ahead of him and concentrating on not hitting or getting hit by anyone else in the pack.

bike MS 2009 – The Citrus Tour

It’s done!  No more hills for another year!  Woohoo!  Actually, next year I’m going to volunteer rather than ride.  The hills are a bit much for my poor MS legs.

This years tour started from Bok Tower Gardens, which seems to be a very beautiful place.  We just didn’t get much of a chance to check it out.  Mom and Dad drove SAG again this year, SAG stands for Support and Gear.  The SAG drivers are a lifesaver.  They drive along the route and help out where and when needed.  Sometimes that means helping to replace a blown tire or ferrying a tired/ill/injured rider up to the next rest stop.  And they were heavily used this year as the ride took place a month later than last year and temps were forecasted to be dang hot! 

The ride started at 7 am with the top fundraising team and top 100 fundraisers from last year heading out in the first wave.  I bypassed the first leg of the 50 mile route and rode a SAG to the first stop, which happened to be “lunch”.  J and I drove the route a few weeks ago and discovered that the first leg was the same as last year and full of hills.  So knowing how well my legs handled those hills last year, I choose to skip them and start from lunch.  I still had a bunch of hills I had to tackle, but not as many as the first leg has. 

The first leg was about fourteen miles between Bok Towers and the lunch stop.  Without me there to slow him down, J was able to complete that leg in about an hour.  I was at the lunch stop only about 10 minutes before I saw him come riding in.  After a short break and some PBJ sandwiches and bananas, we headed out on our way to Orlando.  Remember I said I still had a bunch of hills to tackle?  Well the second leg was still in the Lake Wales Ridge area, so I still had plenty of hills I had to climb and I was very grateful when we pulled into the second rest stop 11 miles and an hour later. 

From the lunch stop to the Caribe Royale in Orlando, our overnight point, it was 33 miles.  We were able to do that distance in about 3 hours and thankfully had no major issues.  I did get caught at a light at one point and as I started going when it changed I heard “Oh No!” from behind me.  I turned around and saw a girl fall off of her bike, I think she had trouble getting her foot back into her clips.  She and her riding partner were in the turn lane with traffic behind them, so I turned back around to help and make sure she was ok.  Fortunately she was.  Much better than the girl that did get hit by a car; I’m not sure about the details, but apparently she only suffered a sprained ankle and some road rash.

We rode into the Caribe Royale just shy of noon and got checked into our hotel “suite”.  Pretty nice room!  And the pool was beautiful!  J and I needed showers before hitting the pool as we felt absolutely disgusting.  We spent Saturday afternoon just relaxing, we cooled off in the pool, sat in the hot tub a little bit to relax our muscles.  And took a short nap in the sun.  Don’t worry, we had sunblock on  

Mom and Dad made it to the hotel around 4; they had to close the course early as thunderstorms moved in and drenched the riders.  They told us about one guy that all the SAG drivers kept trying to pull off the course.  He kept telling everyone no, turns out he wasn’t part of the group, he was just some random guy out riding.

The dinner provided this year was much better than last years.  We had salad, vegetables, chicken in some sauce, pasta and rice.  It was amazing to see all the people there doing what they could to help fight MS and find a cure.  One news story even reported that of all the riders, about 20 have MS.  At the end of the dinner celebration the chapter president had people stand.  She started with having those who had MS stand, and then those who had a spouse or partner with MS, those with family members and those with co-workers or friends.  The lights were down and everyone in the room was standing and waving orange glow sticks.  It was beautiful to see. 

Sunday we headed back to Bok Tower Gardens in beautiful weather.  It was sunny, with some clouds, mostly white fluffy ones.  It wasn’t yet boiling hot either.  I started out doing pretty good, as the area was pretty flat with some slight hills (slight as in when driving, you wouldn’t notice them) I was averaging about 14-15 miles an hour.  But as we went on it got harder for me to pedal.  I made it to the exact same rest stop as last year before I had to give in to my body’s demands that I stop.  J and I were standing talking to a SAG driver to see if he could fit me and my bike with the other 2 he already had and I was leaning on my bike.  When the driver took my bike to load it into the bed of the truck my legs almost buckled.  I didn’t realize how much my bike was actually supporting me until that point. 

J almost completed the 50 mile route on Sunday.  He woke up feeling a little sick to his stomach and decided to try and go as far as he could.  He made it all but three miles.  The poor guy had to catch a SAG to the end, and as he had started cramping up while in the SAG truck, he couldn’t even ride the last few feet across the finish line.  So neither of us did quite as well as last year, but we were out there and we did what we could.  Now we have another year to prepare for the next one.  Although in my case, I’m going to be driving   And anyone who is in the area, or feels like coming down, we really need more SAG drivers or if you have a motorcycle, we can use you there too! 

Here’s a couple pictures that I got this weekend. 

 While we were riding along on Saturday J ended up by a butterfly/moth.  He reached out his hand to kind of sweep it away and ended up catching it on his glove.

 

Here’s a close up of the butterfly.  

In 2008 J and I were both VIB (Very Important Banana) fundraisers, we both raised over $1,000.00.  Here’s J and his sign, but we didn’t find mine. 

 

 

 

 

Meghan works at the HAC with me and is my co-captain this year.  This is her VIB sign from last year.  Isn’t she awesome?!