I've Got a Broken Face

I have a bad relationship with my teeth. It's very sore subject with me because I try my hardest to take care of my body but for some reason no matter how hard I try, my teeth simply refuse to cooperate. I also don't go to the dentist as much as I should because every time I do go it ends up costing buckets of money and I start feeling bad about myself so I keep putting it off and putting it off until it's absolutely necessary. (Yes, I know that doing this will only make my situation worse.) So yesterday I made an appointment with my dentist because I've had this cracked tooth for quite a while and though it hasn't given me any trouble I thought it was high time I had it looked at. Naturally, now that I've made the appointment for the end of the month, just today it has suddenly gotten worse and is really starting to bother me. Now I can't decide if I should try to get in to see the dentist right away or if I should wait it out the two weeks until my scheduled appointment. The trouble is though, when stuff like this happens to me it becomes all I can think about and I start having daydreams where all of my teeth fall out and people start calling me Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel. Plus, I start thinking about how the last time I needed a root canal/crown super-combo it cost us a whopping $900, even WITH INSURANCE. I don't have any problems with any other part of my body. Why can't they pay for my rotten teeth? Blah.

The Post In Which I Perpetuate the Culture of Death

Ok, that's not really true. But I could go the rest of my life without hearing the following five phrases and be a happy woman:

1. Culture of Life

and conversely, the above mentioned:

2. Culture of Death

3. Activist Judges

4. Judicial Tyranny

5. Runaway Judiciary

Now that I've got that out of my system I move on to more pressing questions, such as:

To TIVO or not to TIVO?

Ever since Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel went off the air, I have been half searching, half waiting for another funny, smart, emotionally gripping sci-fi/fantasy type show to come on the air. Since not much has come down the pipe lately (other than the cancelled Firefly) I have pretty much fallen into what can now be referred to as my Reality TV Addiction Phase (or RTVAP.) Curse you Tyra Banks and America's Next Top Model! You are so eeeevil, yet oh-so-good. However, I've been hearing much buzz about this new-ish show on UPN called Veronica Mars, and I'm considering giving it a try in hopes of curing my need for a Buffy-type fix. Apparently it's a show about a high school girl who is also a spy and it's being held up as kind of the new Buffy. I'm intrigued. I also don't like giving up another hour a week of my time to the Idiot Box so I'm a bit hesitant to get hooked on another television show. (Again, curse you Tyra Banks!) Has anyone out there seen it? I think I'm going to TIVO a couple of episodes and see if I'm drawn in. Then hopefully I can catch the reruns over the summer.

My Baby Just Cares for Me

What a weekend. I just survived my second Juliana/Bailee sleepover in eight days. Tired now. Today was absolutely beautiful though, which made up a little for how much nonstop refereeing I had to do. (For some reason the word "refereeing" doesn't look real but I just looked it up and it does exist although when I see it in type it appears a bit like I made it up. Or like I'm talking about reefer. I'm feeling kind of fried in the brain tonight.) Anyway, we were outside at the park and playing in the driveway most of the afternoon which was lovely. Plus I wore sandals outside of my house for the first time this year which was super fun. AND, because Jason is the awesomest (TOTALLY not a real word) husband ever, he purchased me a pro-account at Flickr.com! For some of you, I'm sure that last sentence read like complete gibberish, but those of you out there that use and love the Flickr website will understand why I'm making with the smileys.

Now if only I could get my hands on a laptop then we'd be talkin'...

Blah.

Just popping in to say I'm probably not going to post about anything until after the weekend. For the past couple of days I've been watching way too much cable news and listening to talk radio so now I'm feeling pretty depleted. Every once in a while I get too caught up emotionally in certain things that go on in our world and I need to learn to take a few steps back and relax. For me, it's nothing a little chocolate and candy-colored eggs won't cure. As for the rest of the country, I'm not so sure.

I Give Up

I should just stop watching the news entirely. Why, oh why can't people just kill themselves in peace and stop taking other people along with them?

I'm going to retreat into my land of ponies and unicorns tonight and immerse myself in reality television like American Idol and America's Next Top Model. I need to fill my mind with some useless trash.

Cleansing the Palate

I Will Try Not To Say Much More About This Subject But I Found This Article Interesting

From Salon.com:

As Republicans plotted congressional intervention last week to extend the life of Terri Schiavo, a Texas woman named Wanda Hudson watched her six-month-old baby die in her arms after doctors removed the breathing tube that kept him alive. Hudson didn't want the tube removed, but the baby's doctors decided for her. A judge signed off on the decision under the Texas futile care law -- a provision first signed into law in 1999 by then-Gov. George W. Bush.

Under the 1999 law, doctors in Texas can, with the support of a hospital ethics committee, can overrule the wishes of family members and terminate life-support measures if they believe further care would be futile. Bush signed the bill after interested parties, including anti-abortion activists, agreed on compromise language that required hospitals to give families 10 days' notice before terminating care and to help families find an alternative treatment facility that would continue care instead.

That process worked last week for the family of Spiro Nikolouzos, a retired electrical engineer who was critically injured in a car accident 10 years ago and has been in a persistent vegetative state since at least 2001. The Houston Chronicle reports that a lawyer for Nikolouzos' family was able to delay the termination of care by a Houston hospital just long enough for the family to find a nursing home in San Antonio that would take him in.

Wanda Hudson didn't have that option. According to the Chronicle, Texas Children's Hospital said it contacted 40 facilities with newborn intensive care units, but not one of them would accept Hudson's baby. He died last Tuesday, just minutes after doctors removed his breathing tube. So far as we can tell, neither the White House nor any member of Congress made any effort to intervene in the case.


I guess I just don't understand the way people have taken one woman's story and used her image so shamelessly as a poster-person for their cause. If I were Terry Schiavo I would be furious. But then again I suppose she doesn't even realize what's going on.

Just for the record I'd like to say that if anything ever happens to me like what happened to this poor woman fifteen years ago- PLEASE DON'T KEEP ME HANGING AROUND FOR OVER A DECADE AND THEN PARADE ME AROUND ON TV. Just don't keep me around at all, ok? We really should require everybody to state in writing such wishes.

Thank you very much. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Blame the Turtle

Mabye Satan's Turtle is to blame for all the spiritual unrest in our country as of late...

Because We Can, That's Why

I wasn't going to say anything about the Terry Schiavo drama playing its way out in the courts and press, but now Congress has intervened with a bill to overrule the courts with a last minute bill passed this morning at 12:20AM about which House Leader Bill Frist actually said:

"This is a unique bill passed under unique circumstances that SHOULD NOT SERVE AS PRECEDENT FOR FUTRURE LEGISLATION".

I would say something about this but I'm still trying to pick my jaw up off the floor. Regardless of what side anyone takes on this matter, what kind of law are they making that can't be used as legal precedent in the future? Did Congress suddenly become a six-year-old who constantly keeps making new rules in the middle of the game and then denies them to their opponent when they start to play along?

You Be Quiet. I'll Be Peace.

Because I have known you for going on fifteen years, I know that you will still love me even after I post this photo of you from 1991:



And because you love me I know I can tell the whole internets that on the pink (yes, PINK) wall behind your daybed- even though you can't see it in the photo- there are two gigantic posters of Luke Perry and Jason Priestley from Beverly Hills 90210.

And because I love you I will also post this gawgeous picture of your beautiful twenty-seven year old self:




HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHANIE JO!

XOXOXO

P.S. We'll be hitting that piano bar real soon.

For Frodo

I just had to get this Aragorn (from Return of the King) action figure at Kaybee Toys yesterday when we were at the mall. Of course, I then was obligated to purchase a My Little Pony for Juliana since I couldn't very well tell her that only Mommy was allowed to get a toy at the toy store.

Eat Your Heart Out Jennifer Beals

I finally got my new stationary bike and it's awesome! If you remember, my old one was apparently designed for someone born a handful of decades before myself so I exchanged it for a snazzy new one that I can actullly adjust the resistance on and I. LOVE IT. Jason was so nice to put it together for me yesterday so I took it for a test run just now for about 30 minutes. It's so nice to change things up from my normal step aerobics routine because as much as the dvds I work out to kick my butt, I think I was about to poke Kathy Smith's right eye out if I had to listen to her voice for another successive day. Riding the bike also cemented my desire for an iPod even more since I don't really want to hop off to change the music playing on the computer if a song comes on that I don't want to hear. For example, I had forgotten that I had most of Sasha's dance recital music in my music library and halfway through my bike ride the theme from the movie "Flashdance" came on and the cheesiness of me on the bike pedaling along to "What a feelin', You can really have it all..." was just a little bit too much to take.

I'm In Trouble Now

In our family, Jason has always been the one with the penchant for coveting (and frankly, most times purchasing) expensive toys and gadgets. Don't get me wrong- I LIKE TO SPEND MONEY. However, I usually like to spend in a large number of small purhcases rather than blowing it all in one punch. Jason is the one with the computers and cameras and recording equipment, while I like things like shoes. And dresses. And little useless decorative items for the house. (And a lot of other stuff but I won't list it all.) Now though, I'm beginning to get a little freaked out because the two things I am drooling over right now definitely fall into the category of Jason-stuff. Witness these:

1) Apple iBook laptop computer
2) iPod mini (I can get one in PINK!)

I want. Very very very much. I don't know where all this is leading but it probably means less shoes for me.

My Brother is Awesome

My brother left me the greatest birthday message while we were on vacation. I bet he didn't think I'd put it on the internets.

Listen to it here.

I'm Back!

Well, it took me a few days to decompress but I'm getting back to my normal routine now. I've been floating around in a daze all week but now I'm in the mood to post some more pictures! I'll put a few of my favorites up here but I also have an account at Flickr.com where I will upload the rest. But to start us off here is a daytime view shot from our lovely suite:



We did a some walking around and window shopping on Sunday afternoon and I bought a Vegas onesie for Ava at the Paris Hotel (which you can see above.) Juli also scored a matching tank top and shorts from another shop.



Jason had to pose with the wax sculpture of Don King, who apparently is some kind of giant. (See last year's pose with Whoopi Goldberg here.)



View of the Bellagio's fountain show from our suite. Pretty!




Ahhhh....

I guess you could say I'm adusting fine to my normal old life again. Steph and I are having a girls day out tomorrow- we're going to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. I LOVE that museum! Plus, this is the first time we've spent the afternoon together without children in tow in I-don't-know-how-long. Now, if only it would hurry up and be SPRING already then everything would be in place.

On Our Way Out To Dinner at Fleur de Lys

Yes, I blog while on vacation. I have internet access IN MY PENTHOUSE SUITE.

Neener Neener Neener

The view from the PENTHOUSE SUITE AT THE BELLAGIO'S NEWEST TOWER THAT WE WERE UPGRADED TO FOR FREE.


Two words: Butler. Service.


This was my reaction upon sseeing our accomodations:



Birthdays rule.

March 5, 1978

Happy Birthday to Me.

See ya'll on Tuesday!

Are We There Yet?

Feeling kind of weird this week. I have a lot of stuff on my to-do list but all I can think about is I'M GOING ON VACATION THIS SATURDAY! So, basically I end up just messing around on the computer and not getting anything done. I know that I should get all my laundry finished before we go but I keep thinking about how in a couple of days I will be having a drink at the MGM Grand or having dinner at Mandalay Bay. And then I go watch an episode of C.S.I. and yell,"Hey! There's the Bellagio!" or "I'm TOTALLY going to be walking right where Catherine and Grissom are this weekend." So it's safe to say I'm feeling a bit distracted. Jason also got a bonus AND a raise at work this week (YAY for him!) so now we have more to celebrate than just my birthday. Not that my birthday isn't reason enough to celebrate or anything. Plus, I got a pretty smokin' dress that I'm dying to wear. Tick, tick, tick...