Happy Birthday Blog!

A year ago today was my very first post on this blog! I was laid up with a kidney stone and had an abnormal amount of extra time on my hands, so thought I'd give it a go. I can't believe that was a year ago!! Time just seems to go by faster and faster.

I've been thinking lately about whether or not I want to continue posting, writing, updating. I mean, who's reading this anyway? Outside of the normal friends and family that I know probably come here frequently, I have no idea!! And I don't care enough to pay for some in depth tracker device that provides all of that hit information. So instead when I started, I put a hit ticker on the page just to see how much traffic this is really generating.

I glanced at the ticker before starting this post and it was at 8,217. So, is this a lot? No, not at all. Buttttttttt, it's enough to keep me writing! I figure I'm a good portion of those hits...if you count me down for 2 hits each day every day (which is definintely inflated b/c there are days on end that go by when I'm not here at all), even so, that's still just 730 hits. I also know that this ticker number is pure hits, not unique visitors, but again, that's still 7,000+ hits coming from somewhere other than my own laptop. Plus, every now and then someone random will send me an email, message me on Facebook and reference something that I posted on...and I think 'cool, he/she read my blog'. So, yea I'm gonna keep it up for now!

So whether you've been here once or 2000 times....thanks for stopping by!

Forever 21....

literally??? So what are we gonna do about this thing called aging? If you had the chance, would you opt to live forever? Would you choose to stop time and if so, at what age?.... 17? 21? 29? 40?

I went out on Saturday night and got carded...now at 21, I would've been ticked off and would've spent the rest of the evening rolling my eyes at whoever dare question my mature age. But, now, at 31 and 2 children later, it's a different story. When someone cards me, I LOVE it and I love them and I'm happy. For those of you naturally blessed with youthful glowing skin, you probably don't care...but do you know how much those anti-wrinkle creams cost???? Just take one step into your local Sephora and you'll need a valium and a glass of wine just to get you to the check out counter.

I have become an anti-wrinkle product junkie...I'm hoping by the time it's really bad I'll be able to take a magic pill, and POOF, wrinkles be gone. But, until them, I'm gonna try my damndest to keep them at bay. Thank god Sephora has an awesome return policy cause most of these overpriced creams don't work. So if you're thinking about giving something a chance, call me, because I'm pretty sure I've tried it.

But if I had the chance to stop time, would I? If I had the chance to freeze myself as I am today forever, would that make me happy? As novel as it sounds, I venture to say that my answer would be no. In the world we live in today, living forever is a concept that's unthinkable and uncomprehendable. But, it may not be that far off. One word...nanotechnology. Many believe that this technologic advancement is the key to our everlasting life. Nanotechnology has the potential to push back on human life and let humans drink from the well of immortality...some say within 20 years. Think artificial hearts, artificial livers....fixing organ deterioration at the cell level and literally turning back time. Sounds fascinating...but who would choose this? A life that never ends....sounds exhausting.

As much as I loved being a kid, I don't want to be a kid anymore. And as much as I loved being 21, I wouldn't want to be there again without all of the people I was there with the first time around. But even if we could all freeze time and live forever together, as we multiply and multiply where would we all live? And who are we to disrupt the circle of life? Can you imagine what life will be like 100 years from now? OR 1000 years from now?

hmmm, I don't know. But, just because I'm working hard to find the magic potion for smoothing out those unwelcomed fine lines...it doesn't mean I want to live forever.

Honey, I'm Home...

Today I reached an all-time mommy low. :-) Shortly after we got home tonight I was emptying the dishwasher while the girls were enjoying an episode of Max & Ruby (one we've seen a million times) when an all familiar smell forcefully made it's way from the family room into the kitchen and right into my smell buds (BTW, I'm convinced that every cartoon on television really only has 4 episodes in existance and they just replay them over and over and over ad nauseam to torture the parents). Anyway, I've picked up some annoying bug and have been completely congested for the past 3-4 days...a cookie may as well be a carrot cause they taste the same to me right now. But even without my sense of smell intact, I still fell victim to the stench of a 3 yr old's poopy diaper.

The first thought that entered my head was that maybe it was my just my imagination, so I ignored it for a few minutes. But when the offending odor refused to leave and the 3 yr old in question confirmed from the family room that she did in fact have a poop in her diaper, I knew I was gonna have to get creative.

So the second thought in my head was of my poor unsuspecting husband. I had just talked to him on the phone about 45 min prior to the incident, so I knew he was on his way home and should be walking through the door at any minute.

So, yes, I actually did this: instead of taking my dirty child upstairs to change her, I walked across the room, picked up the phone and dialed my hubby's number to see where he was in his commute. Yes, I was hoping he was going to tell me he was about to pull into our neighborhood, so that in good conscience I could wait and pawn our dirty little girl off onto him.

But of course traffic was bad or something....yada yada....something about picking up dinner....and darn it OF COURSE I was gonna have to do it. He wasn't close enough and I just couldn't justify waiting until he arrived, although I suffered an internal battle over it for a good 10 minutes. So with gag reflex in full effect and just short of asking Anna Jane to walk upstairs and change herself, I begrudgingly took her up and did it myself.

True story. haha

Here It Is...

...the skinny on what I think about healthcare reform. Sooo, personally, I think Obama's got bigger fish to fry, like recovering the economy for one. But if we're gonna hash out healthcare reform, then yes, I agree with the liberals on one thing....healthcare costs are inflated and sky high. I just don't agree on the policies needed to improve healthcare for the masses. So, how can we improve healthcare in the US? I can tell you for absolute sure that a government controlled public option is not the answer. If you want to look into a crystal ball and predict the outcome of that one, just take a look at govn't run state medicaid...it's a total disaster. OR take a look at other countries who currently use socialized medicine. Also, I don't think people realize that it is flat out illegal for a hospital to turn someone away based on their ability to pay. I work in the inner city where half of these people have no insurance....they are never turned away and don't pay a dime. If someone needs urgent medical care, they get it and they get it immediately. If one hospital can't handle it, they transfer to another. This is not the case in countries who've adopted govn't supported healthcare...they'll be lucky if they can afford to keep up the sidewalks out in front of the building.

So for those of us happy with our current healthcare, the claim is that if we have private insurance, we can keep it. That sounds great in theory! The questions is, for how long? The answer, not long. The reason is because as soon as a government supported healthcare option exists, the company that you work for that is paying the majority of your healthcare costs is gonna say...wait a minute, they have this government option now and we would save a ton of money by not offering them private healthcare insurance. So they won't and they'll stop your private option. And then the private insurance companies won't be able to compete or survive and we'll all be relying on the govn't to pay our healthcare costs. When that happens, the availablity and quality of care will plummet.

Why? Because of money of course. See, some people fail to realize that the healthcare industry has to be profitable. Otherwise, who is going to pay for all of the technology and medical advancements....and who's going to pay all of the incredibly talented physicians that we all depend on to keep us healthy??? These people are not going to work for free!!! If you think the government can pay for this, think again. Just today I visited one of my accounts....a state supported medical facility. The building literally should be condemned, the driveway's full of pot holes and weeds, no money to even buy toilet paper. Scary. That's why claims will be denied and care will be cut off.

So it's not that I don't think that everyone should have good healthcare! In a perfect world, that would be ideal!! But it's never going to be perfect...and if we go to socialized medicine, how much money you make won't matter....it won't matter if you're rich or poor because we'll ALL have poor healthcare. Some of us saw the writing on the wall a long time ago and luckily millions of others have taken a true interest in their own healthcare, have done some homework and are saying no!! So, I'm feeling more confident that the majority of americans are totally against this healthcare plan...right and left both.

Of course I don't have the answers on how to reform healthcare and decrease costs, but I have a couple ideas. First, how about tort reform???? I can only imagine the financial consequences of all of the wasted resources spent on baseless claims against physicians. And then those claims that are won, are for astronomical amounts of money. It's sad that today physicians have to spend so much time practicing defensive medicine instead of truly doing what they love and just taking care of their patients.

Another idea is for free market insurance options. How about opening state lines up to insurance plan competition?? There are over a thousand different healthcare plans out there, but state to state, you'll be lucky if you have a dozen options. Here's a lesson in ECON 101...competition drives down prices. Or what about an increase in availability to pre-taxed healthcare accounts???

So, yes, I think healthcare absolutely needs to be affordable, but I also think we are all responsible to some degree. In an idealistic world, we'd all have free state of the art healthcare availability...but seriously, in reality, who's gonna pay for that??

Don't Stop The Paparazzi

Where O where did my energy go?? I know, I know, I've been MIA again, but I swear, I'm here. I'm just knee deep in the daily grind...if I'm not talking neurotransmitters, I'm changing diapers!! I'm still trying to carve out the time to blog about healthcare reform, in the meantime just a few random thoughts...

I just have to say how much I love Facebook! A long lost Miami friend found me on Facebook a few months ago and tonight I actually spoke to her on the phone for the first time in probably 10 years!! She ironically just moved less than 30 min from us, so I'll actually see her soon. Thank you Facebook gods!! Julie, I can't wait.

Don't you just love Lady Gaga right now? I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me, papa, paparazzi. I swear sometimes I feel like I'm still 17...if only I had the energy.

Filled With Glee

Say hello to my new obsession. As I've said before, the first true love of my life was music... and when you mix good music with good comedy, I'm hooked. I LOVE this show! So, who else is watching?? I especially love the comically biting one-liners from cheerleading Coach Sue played by Jane Lynch...ya know from Best in Show?...ok, if you haven't seen Best in Show, stop what you're doing and go get it. And I LOVE the Glee arrangements of Kanye's Gold Digger and Rihanna's Take A Bow....missed them?...just turn up your speakers. Mix in teenage strife and it's my kind of show.

So that's where I'll be every Wed night at 8c! If you have yet to tune in, join me this week...

Reform?...Nah, Not Tonight

I came here tonight to blog about healthcare reform, but then logged in and lost the energy. So instead, I thought I'd share a couple cute things Anna said today:

While hugging her goodnight she said, "mommy, I love what you are and I love what you do". I've gotta ask D.J. where she got this, definitely a book...Snuggle Puppy maybe??

We were talking about birthdays tonight and I told her she wasn't going to be a grown up for a long time...she said "yea, I'll be in the 3's class for a long time and THEN I'll be a grown-up".

While changing her dirty diaper tonight I told her that big girls use the potty and she said "mommy, remember? the doctor said no more potty!" She heard me on the phone with the pediatrician last week when he told me she wasn't ready to be potty trained and to go back to diapers...now she uses it to her benefit any chance she gets!

And BONUS: I took yesterday off and we spent the ENTIRE day together shopping. Last night while tucking her in I told her how much fun I had had with her that day...and she replied "mommy, you're my best friend"...HEART MELTING!!

Maybe tomorrow I'll find the energy to attack the healthcare debate...lord knows I've got lots to say...