Pearly Whites

I went to the dentist yesterday. Yes ... I do love getting my teeth cleaned. Hmmmm ... clean teeth. Anyway ... I had both the cleaning lady and the dentist tell me I have beautiful perfect teeth. I've never really thought of my teeth as "perfect or beautiful". Do people get them saying this as well? I just want to know if they are blowing smoke up my behind.

So tarter builds up on my teeth very quickly (which is why I go in all the time to get them cleaned). The new cleaning lady told me something very interesting. One of the main ingredients in toothpaste is a type of wax. The wax is great for taste (which is why they add it - and took out soap). Historical Note: [Until after 1945, toothpastes contained soap. After that time, soap was replaced by other ingredients to make the paste into a smooth paste or emulsion - such as sodium lauryl sulphate, a common ingredient in present-day toothpaste.]But, after about a week of wax building up on your teeth ... they become a bit sticky and stuff sticks to them, such as tarter. She recommended going to just regular soap. "Try brushing with mint soap for a couple of weeks and see the amount of tarter build up you have." So ... I'm trying it. The first brushing was terrible. I thought I was going to toss my cookies. But, it has been better since. I'm interested to see if it works. I'll keep all those interested people posted.

UPDATE: I am using Dr. Bronner's Mint Soap . Which is actually what she recommended. She is said the bar soap with just a couple of rubs of your toothbrush ... or a TINY bit of the liquid. Last night I put TOO much liquid on and I thought that my inners were going to come up. This morning ... a tiny bit and I was much better!

Los Alamos Tri

Saturday was the 33rd annual triathlon here in Los Alamos. Erin, Dana, Ellie and I did it. It was quiet an experience. We had not tried doing each of the events one after the other. So, the day of was a bit ... I'd have to say fun. My legs felt like jello and the run was by far the hardest for me.

We did it in ~2 hours. It was something like 50 minutes for the bike (20k), 15 minutes for the swim (400 meters), and 35 minutes for the run (5k). The rest of the time was trying to get clothing on or off or just breathing very heavy. Running in wet clothing is not only uncomfortable ... but unflattering as well(not the picture is AFTER the race ... we totally should have done a pre photo). Next time we are going to need some other clothing.

Thanks for a great time ladies! Shall we do the Vegas 1/2 marathon next?


A few more notes. First a HUGE thanks to Avivah for coming out and supporting us. The Knit and Bitch sign just rocked. And running or biking with people yelling your name ... makes me feel like a super star!

I also read in the paper that for our age groups these were the placements:Dana took 15th, Erin 16th, Me 17th and Ellie 26th. Sucks for Ellie that she was in a different age bracket than us. She would have been like 13th in our age group.

YIKES!

I saw this article the other day. I just can't belive that someone could live with a pencil stuck in their head! I'll say it again. YIKES!

Busy Weekend

This weekend crazy busy. Wednesday I wasn't feeling very well. Thursday I took a sick day to rest up. Of course I had to go to knitting Thursday night (and I was feeling a bit better by then). Friday morning we left to drive to Las Cruces (to spend the night with Mike's family). We left at 5AM to drive out to Tucson to get Mike's cycle (which cost an arm and a leg to fix). We drove back the same day (something like an 8 hour drive). Today was all about getting stuff together and working on the bathroom. We got a load of tiling done and did a bunch of work in the back yard.

Also, saw two good movies; Black Snake Moan & Melinda and Melinda. Both of them were better than I would have ever thought.

The other photo is from the weekend before when Colleen and Dave brought the boys down for a visit. I took them for a speedy ride on the scooter. This is a picture of Ian and me.

Punk

When I was much younger... I'd say I was really into punk. Not until recently have I really started listening to it again. Old school punk is not like what punk is now (or even in the 90's). Old punk was more pop with an edge. You felt bad for just listening to it. It was a pretty good feeling actually. My new found love is Wreakless Eric (Whole Wide World). If you haven't heard it ... Please give it a try.

The song actually makes me want to jump on a plane to anywhere ... And do anything.

Summer Hair

I have had it up to HERE with my hair these days. I want something not the same old same old .... so I went to Dana's hair cutting place. Told the lady what I wanted. Asked for pink highlights ..... and this is what I got. I rather like it. Thanks Dana! I now feel ready for summer. Wait ... is it half over?

You can't see that the back is very short ... I wish i had longer arms!

Weekend Dye Job

I have this lovely top that I made the mistake of wearing while dumping mulch on the garden. It has had these stains that just wont come out. Thinking I just couldn't part with the top I used a box of Rit dye and it is now a gorgious blue top.




Cooking Club was this weekend. It was Mini Food. My the foods you can make mini. I made a loaf of small bread in the shape of hearts, stars and flowers. Then put some meat product (didn't taste and NOT interested) and veggies. The veggie ones were delicious!

11 Things

I just read the 11 things woman should know about men. I'm not sure I agree with any of them.

1. Getting angry at us for not reading your mind is like getting angry at yourself for not being able to fly. It's not just futile, it's physically impossible.
2. Yes, we do think Jessica Alba is hot. Sometimes we're even dumb enough to admit it.
3. Don't ask us to understand your shoe fetish. Asking us to respect it is even sort of pushing it.
4. You do look good without makeup, just not as good as you look with it.
5. Ever notice how we don't fight with our male friends? That's why we get so frustrated when we fight with you.
6. You care what you're wearing infinitely more than we do. In fact, if you're naked when you open the front door, you won't hear an argument from us.
7. You don't like to get hit on in public, you don't want to date online and you don't want to be set up on blind dates. Tell us if sending messenger pigeons is an appropriate way of courting. Because if it is, we're all over it.
8. There should a statute of limitations on stupid things that we said that can come back to haunt us. I propose 24 hours.
9. Cooking dinner for a man is like buying flowers for a woman, except it takes a lot more time, effort and thought for you to do it. Thanks. We appreciate it.
10. We actually like your girly pet-names for us, but please, not in front of the guys!
11. Just because we like looking at the women in Maxim doesn't mean we want to actually converse with the women in Maxim. Not for long, anyway.
12. Your nice guy friends are the most reliable source for telling you if your new boyfriend's a jerk. And he probably is. (By the way, you might want to consider marrying that nice guy who's giving you advice about the jerk.)

Potter & Weekend

In an attempt to finish a book right near the arrival of the new Harry Potter ... I started The Time Machine (which was too tough to get through) and finished Fangs For The Memories. I was hoping to draw the novel out longer. But, it seems that my ability to read Supernatural Romance (which is what this fell under) is pretty fast. I was going to start yet another trashy novel ... but decided to take it up - just a bit. I'm reading a chick-lit novel (which of course if fluff to most people) but at least there wont be any graphic sex scene or neck bitting.

On other news, I saw Harry Potter yesterday. They took a book that was second rate (and by far my least favorite of the series) and made it into a really good movie. I'm totally impressed.

Bowling Et. Al.

Here is a summary from Arizona. The golf course at the resort. AMAZING. The large moth I saw on my last day while getting a coffee. The cowboy/western town where they had "real" cowboys and these cut outs ... which I love. Bowling ... where I scored my lifetime high score (94) and Kate and I worked on our model pose. I think she has it down a bit better than I. Of course there is also the greatest Mouser photo of all time!

I'm happy to be home though. Friday at work was a bit crazy. Seems there were lots of questions/problems that needed dealing with. The cats were also SUPER happy to have us home (after knocking everything off the dresser and desk ... breaking a flower pot).


Now the count down to when I get to see Harry Potter in the theater and the final book.

Arizona Mini Golf

During this trip we went to a great mini golf place - actually called Magic Carpet .... but the sign was a bit broken (as was much of the course). But, talk about fun! Cockroaches the size of silver dollars and adventure around each bend. Not to cause problems -- but I won, even if Phil says it was a tie. The golfers were: Mouser, Mike, Kate, Phil ... and myself.

Photos of bowling coming tomorrow.

Oldies

When I hear the oldies station on the radio ... it reminds me of my father. It reminds me of my childhood .... and I can't help but smile!

Short Books

I was reading The Time Machine, a sci-fi classic which I have never read before. I couldn't do it. I was 3/4 of the way into the tiny book and I couldn't finish. I put it down. I understand that it was probably out of this world when it was written ... but now ... terrible! Tough to even read. I thought I'd look for another short book ... but decided on yet another vampire book to tide the time over until the next Harry Potter book shows up.

Not to everyone who is interested ... I'm really hoping Harry dies. I really can't see any other descent end to the story. He can't beat the Dark Lord again.

Sparklers Anyone?

An evening of grilling and sparklers. It was a lovely 4th of July. Courtney and her roommate came over. I've never seen anyone put more meat down than her roommate. I'd say she'd give Mouser a run for his money - which is saying a lot. Karin, Susan and Carol hang out through the fire works. While Andrew hung out for the bocce and then left.

As for my bocce .... I had my arse handed to me. I have no idea if I had way too many appletinis or what ... but I couldn't win a round if there was no lights and I was standing next to the white ball (which happened).

4th of July

Oh the 4th. Fireworks (okay for me that is sparklers), a bit of rain (even though it is New Mexico), cooking way too much food (including my best pie), and prepping drinks (on a hot day there is nothing better).


I picked strawberries and rhubarb for my pie. Of course I didn't have enough berries and had to buy some ... but the fresh flavor should be lovely!


The cut outs in the top are of a flower and gnomes. Summer just isn't summer without gnomes!

Oh Bend

Bend has been vomiting for the past week or so. Maybe a bit longer. He ate something funny and we've changed the cats to a hairball dry food. I took him in to the vet yesterday and they said that he was blocked with poo. The poor guy has been vomiting because there is no other way for stuff to come out. He went from 11.5 pounds down to 10.2. And was SUPER dehydrated. They gave him a cat enema and sent him home. He has now been pooing a lot and is really not feeling too good. Avivah was saying that her kitty was happy to have it done. Bend ... is not. He is super sad. He slept wrapped in my arms all night and would wake up crying. I feel so bad for the little guy. I think I'm going to spend the weekend keeping a very close eye on him.

Endangered Species Act

There are a lot of things that the government has tried to "save the planet". Or even just to do their part in the saving. A lot of the stuff I think is total and complete crap that someone came up with just to say they are green. When really they know nothing of being green. This morning, while listening to NPR I heard that the bald eagle is coming off the endangered species list. This is wonderful news. It shows that if you protect things and stop acting like asses ... it is possible for once nearly extinct animals to survive. What a great thing to have announced before the 4th of July!

Organizing Ones Life

I currently have a number of projects that are partially done. And I don't sleep well at night sometimes because of it. As when I was a child and had to organize my stuffed animals to make sure that they each got a fair share of sleeping with me (yes ... I had a list of names and nights to sleep with each animal), I feel that my life needs a bit more organization. For some this would be over the top anal. For me ... it just feels right.

Yesterday I sorted yarn and some closet stuff. I've noticed I have a lot of crap ... which needs to be cleaned. This week I fully intend to organize and clean like a little machine.

On another note, I've started reading The Time Machine. It is a sci-fi classic I guess ... but the real reason I picked it off the shelve was the size. It is a very short novel and I want to be ready when my new Harry Potter book shows up. During the last Harry Potter everyone was talking about it and giving crap away ... and I was still finishing up my current novel. Not this time! I'll be ready.

Beam Me Up

I just found a great job ad. I wonder if you stay for this study if they will put you in the list for the trip to Mars? I wonder if by the time they go to Mars if the people in this study would be too old?

Weather Man

Watched The Weather Man last night. It is a dark comedy that sort of leaves you wonder WTF. The best part of the film is about camel toes though. A young girl is called camel toe by her peers and her father (Nicholas Cage) is trying to see if she knows what they are saying. When asked what she thinks the name camel toe means the little girl says ... as closely as I can remember, "They call me camel toe because camel toes are tough and strong and can withstand the heat of the desert. I'm tough and strong." Classic I tell you! The movie is worth watching for this!