Tips for saving your photo memory card (should it choose to take a dump).

The article is called “8 ways to divorce-proof your marriage”, but I’d rather put a more positive spin on it and call it 8 ways to strengthen your marriage. Either way, it’s a good article. via sk*rt

8 surprising household deodorizers. via Lifehacker

A people search engine? Interesting idea. I checked it out today, and I did actually find one person that I knew. It’s still in beta, so I’m sure it will get better.

Now this is a fascinating gadget. I could definitely use something like this (if it actually works).

Fun personality test

A lovely farewell to Harry Potter written by Stephen King himself, but beware, there are spoilers, so don’t click unless you’ve read the last book!

Perseid meteor showers peak this weekend! via Lifehacker

Halloween is approaching and if your little trick-or-treater wants to dress up like Harry, Ron, Hermione or even Lord Voldemort, make like Mr. Ollivander and make then a totally cool wizard’s wand. via Craftzine

5 steps to running an efficient kitchen via Lifehacker

Find a pick your own farm near you.

Pretty recipe of the week

Tip(s) of the week: Some back to school tips from the September issue of Parents Magazine…

1. Try to minimize other changes going on in your child’s life during the weeks leading up to school.

2. Over the weekend or after a shopping trip, fill a bunch of snack-size baggies with small portions of healthy snacks and put them in a “snack cabinet”. Then you can easily toss them into your kids’ lunch boxes for the rest of the week.

3. Keep the TV off in the morning. You’re less likely to be late for school.

4. Tone down your evenings and weekends. Your child will be tired from school and need more of your attention when she’s home. At the beginning, limit your evenings out, keep playdates and after-school activities to a minimum, and make your weekends relaxed and unhurried.

Today, I got to go to the salon and get my hair cut and colored. It needed it bad I’m tellin’ ya! It looks so much better.

I’m also starting to finally think I might get over this stupid cold. I was beginning to wonder there for a day or two, though. Last night, I felt like going with Mike and LG to the grocery store, and that was the first time I’d been out of the house since my doctor’s appointment last Friday.

When Mike told LG that Mommy was getting a haircut today, she immediately started talking about going to the railroad park and riding the choo-choo train, since that is what they normally do while I’m getting my hair done. Mike hadn’t really been planning to take her there, because it’s rather hot in Phoenix right now, but after that, he figured he had to…lol! Little smartypants. ;) So they rode the train, rode the carousel, had lunch (including an Icee and a pair of star-shaped sunglasses for her prize), and played with the Thomas the Tank Engine toys until it was time to come get me. So they had a good time. :)

Next week, we are back working with the high school choir for the first mass of the year on Wednesday, and I have some medical tests on Tuesday and Thursday. So it’s gonna be a busy busy week.

At least I’m finally feeling better, so maybe I’ll make it through all those things without collapsing from exhaustion. We shall see.

Hope all of you have a really wonderful weekend!

So, Barry Bonds broke the home run record held by Hank Aaron for 33 years. And I’m not a bit happy about it.

It’s not because of the possibility of steroid use. Whatever whatever. I suspect Mark Maguire might have used steroids as well, but I enjoyed the race between he and Sammy Sosa to break the single-season home run record immensely. Steroids are not a good thing, but again, whatever.

I have another issue with Barry Bonds. And lest you think it’s just because he’s not a Diamondback or because he’s not on a team that I like, think again. Barry Bonds and I both went to Arizona State University. He played baseball for the Sun Devils and had a stellar career. (By the way, so did his godfather, Reggie Jackson.) In fact, Barry Bonds and I actually attended ASU at the same time. So maybe I passed him or had a class with him. Who knows? My point is that I don’t really have anything personal against him or any reason not to root for him.

Except. Except for the fact that I think he’s an egotistical jerk. Why do I think that? Well, have you ever watched him after he hits a home run? Most players (most good players anyway) hit the ball, put their heads down and run the bases. Barry Bonds, on the other hand, hits the ball, stands there and admires it, and then walks to first base. And that irritates the bejesus out of me. I think that is disrespectful, rude, condescending, arrogant, and several other adjectives. I cannot stand to watch him play baseball. Grrr.

I guess the good news is that now he’s broken the record, we won’t have to see every freaking home run he hits replayed ad nauseum on the news and we won’t have to hear about about it day in and day out. The record has been broken. The story is over. Stop showing his arrogant mug on the television for awhile.

Little Girl has her father soooo wrapped around her finger. A few months ago he found a dollhouse at a garage sale and bought it to give to her for her birthday or Christmas this year. In the meantime, it’s been residing in our garage.

Well, she was out in the garage with him today and she saw it. Although, she called it a “birdhouse”. Now, had it been ME, I’d have gone with the birdhouse theme and distracted her and moved on. But it wasn’t me. It was daddy. And daddy is a sucker.

So the dollhouse now resides in her room. No idea what she’s getting for her birthday or Christmas now.

Of course, he chose her naptime to bring it into the house. And build her a platform so she could play standing up. Which meant the nap didn’t happen at the usual time.

Because she played with that dollhouse for a solid two and a half hours without leaving her room one single time.

And then at 3:30, she took off her shoes and put herself to bed. Please don’t hate me if your child has never done that.

Ya know, I would have died for a dollhouse like that when I was a kid. Lucky little stinker. Course she’s still calling it a birdhouse. Teehee.

Guess what? I got the head cold that LG and Mike already had. Isn’t that lovely? I feel pretty crappy, but I don’t have a fever. Have I ever mentioned that I rarely get fevers? If I get a fever, then I’m usually so sick I can’t even drag myself out of bed. I mean really really sick. I’m not quite that sick. But I still don’t really want to get out of bed so much. It stinks because I really wanted to go to church yesterday. For the first time in about a month. But nooooo. Hrmph.

And then there is the letter I got from the insurance company on Saturday that said they were denying authorization of the CT Scan on my heart (which, by the way, I scheduled on Friday, remember?). So today, in my sickened state, I had to call and try and sort all of that out. First, I tried the insurance company. Remind me not to do that again. I first spoke to member services. Who sent me to claims. Who sent me to authorizations. Who told me they didn’t talk to members, so they would give me the number to member services. Who I already spoke to, of course, so I told them I’d just call the provider, thanks for nothing. So I called the lab and they checked into it and then had me call the dr’s office. But that person wanted me to speak to my physician’s actual assistant, so I called HER and FINALLY found out that it was already authorized. There was an authorization number for July 20 – October 20. Have I mentioned how much I HATE INSURANCE COMPANIES???? Hate. them. hatethemhatethemhatethem Ugh.

And, of course, I’m sad for Marlene and her family over losing their doggie. And Mike is sad because he really loved that dog and he wishes he would have gone to see him recently. But I told him Sparky knows he loved him. Losing a pet is sooooo hard. Marlene’s post this morning about expecting to hear his tail thumping on the sofa when she got up really made me cry and brought back memories of when we lost our dogs. Bob was a shock to us like Sparky was to them and it’s so hard. You’re just not ready and you feel like somehow you didn’t get enough time to say goodbye. And then you see them everywhere in your house. And you catch glimpses of things out of the corner of your eye and you expect it to be them trotting into the room. But it’s not. And it’s just so damn hard. My heart hurts for them.

And I haven’t even talked about the bridge collapse in Minneapolis because it’s just too much. The last three weeks or so have just been too much. First my heart stuff, then Mike’s old bandmate (who, by the way, died the day after Mike visited him), then the helicopter crash here in Phoenix, then Minneapolis, and then Sparky. Too much. I’m tired of being sad. I think this summer is not going to go down as one of my favorite. I’ll be glad when it’s finally over.

Marlene’s family lost their Sparky today. And I normally wouldn’t write about someone else’s pet, but you see, Sparky used to be ours.

Mike found him one night wandering down the road, and Mike could never leave a dog wandering. Our BobDog was a stray and so was Boris who went to live with Mike’s brother. Sparky stayed with us for awhile, but our other dogs didn’t like him so much, so he ended up living with my dad. Until my dad got married and she who shall not be named banished him to the garage. So rather than have him live like that, he moved back in with us. However, our dogs and Sparky didn’t get along so well, so he ended up in “doggie prison” (the spare bedroom – but not with the doors closed – we just put up baby gates to keep him in there and separated from our dogs). While Mike was working on the house we live in now, he took Sparky up with him and that was Sparky’s freedom time. Sparky loved to run and run all over the two acres and Mike loved the company. (He later tried to take our other dogs up, but they weren’t too keen on the idea.)

During this time, we were trying to find another home for Sparky, because we knew it was unfair for him to have to live like that. And find a home he did. With Marlene and her family which includes four kids.

Sparky was finally where he belonged – with a family who loved him as much as he deserved. With kids to play with him (and wear him out) and freedom.

So, thank you Marlene for giving him a happy home and life, and most heartfelt condolences to all of you. We are crying right along with you.

I am sure that Majerle and Lady and Bob met him at the Rainbow Bridge and they are all running through the green grass together.

10 ways to entertain your kids for $1 or less (and no TV)!

Very good tips for buying bras! via sk*rt

This beautiful post made me cry. The world is most definitely a different place through the eyes of a child.

My husband loves his Leatherman, but I think this might be more my speed.

There actually are devices that could prevent kids being left in hot cars, however the automobile industry doesn’t include them as standard equipment because “no one has come up with a system that doesn’t give false alarms”. That’s a blatant cop-out. I’d rather hear a false alarm than read another story about a child who perished. Come on auto makers, step up to the plate.

One of the cutest silly gadgets I think I’ve ever seen.

Colorful eating is healthier eating!

The opener to replace all openers!

10 ingredients, 30 meals – sounds good to me!

A cautionary tale about cell phones and emergency numbers.

A solar tote bag that will charge your cell phone, camera, or iPod.

I love this idea for non-wired relatives.

Cucumber water? via sk*rt

Pretty recipe of the week

Pretty recipe of the week 2

Pretty recipe of the week 3

Tip of the week: Use the tops of your cabinets for storage of less frequently-used items. via The Clutter Diet Blog

Update: My heart is in sinus rhythm (that’s good). However, it’s beating from the bottom of the chamber rather than the top of the chamber where it’s supposed to (apparently this is not an issue as long as it’s in sinus rhythm). My dr told me he would check on the CT scan. When I got home, there was a message from the lab wanting to schedule. I don’t know if this was his intervention or just a wild coincidence, but it’s scheduled for the 16th. Yay. Oh, and by the way, my blood pressure yesterday was 130/80 (nervous a little?). Today it was 114/78 (which is lovely).

Oh maybe because I woke up every hour or two to LG talking in her sleep, Mike snoring, bad dreams, or just plain being stressed out.

I saw my new primary care physician yesterday and she’s sending me for a bunch of tests – not because she really thinks anything is wrong necessarily, but just to make sure everything is as it should be. Yay for being 40.

Today I see my cardiologist for a follow-up to the non-ablation. That should be a quick appointment, depending upon how long I have to sit in the waiting room.

I’m still waiting for them to tell me when they’re going to schedule my CT Scan, so if my regular cardiologist doesn’t know anything about it today, I’ll call next week.

Have I mentioned how much I hate going to the doctor? That’s exactly why I have not bothered to get a new primary care physician in the almost 2 years since we changed insurances. It’s not that I hate doctors. I just hate going to doctors. And sometimes I hate doctors.

I still have to make my yearly pilgrimage to my ob/gyn (whom I love by the way), but I’m waiting until all the other stuff is a little more resolved before I do that. I do actually like to see my ob/gyn – I just don’t like the exam very much. And me being 40 this year means that I’ll have to go get my boobs squished. So exciting. Not.

I hate going to the doctor. *sigh*

Food tainted with botulism.

Toys contaminated with lead.

Counterfeit drugs.

All from China.

Perhaps we should stop importing things from China?

I’m just saying.

Dear Little Girl,

Today you are 32 months old (or 2 years, 8 months). I look at you now and I marvel at how much you have changed in the last 32 months. You are no longer a helpless baby who depends on mom and dad for everything. Now you are a little girl who wants to do pretty much everything herself. “I do it myself!” is the familiar refrain.

(Read on …)

I thought LG was all better yesterday, but that pesky fever came back yesterday afternoon, so she got one more dose of Tylenol 24 hours after the last dose. Hopefully, the fever will stay away this time and she won’t need anymore Tylenol for awhile. She’s a really good girl about taking her medicine, though! She still has the cough, but if she’s anything like me, it will hang around for a few days before it disappears.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that my other baby is sick. So he is staying home and lounging on the sofa today. Poor guy. He works so hard and burns the candle at so many ends that when he does get sick (which doesn’t happen very often), it tends to knock him down pretty good.

The good part of that, though, is that since he was home I got to go to the grocery store by myself! I don’t actually mind taking her, but since it was my first grocery trip in about a month, it was nice to not have to lug her in and out of the car and the shopping cart. I’m actually feeling pretty good, but I don’t have my stamina back yet, so I was kind of tired when I got home. Luckily, Mike helped put the groceries away before he zonked out again.

That’s about all that has been going on around here. Just taking care of my sick family. Hopefully it will stay away from me. I’ve had enough to deal with lately!