TGIF; choking and mothering

This video sums up motherhood accurately. 

True story, I was watching this video, took a sip of water and then proceeded to get 'choked up' by the sentimental-ness of it all and proceeded to REALLY choke for a good minute.
*sigh* My flu cough is hanging on for dear life.
Mind you, the Coach, nor the dogs got up to check on me.
I'M OK OVER HERE; NOT DYING!

I touched on it a while ago, that I've been updating and de-cluttering the girls playroom so the Coach could have a home office. It's almost finished and I was in there yesterday removing non-sentimental items such as Lolo's 247 books on psychology, criminal minds, ethics, crime, and criminal justice and that sort of stuff. (she has a house, she can hoard those books there)

Don't you love it when you take a trip down memory lane and then get all tripped up on the memories?

My heartstrings were tugged just by dusting the book collection and remembering ALL the nights of reading together. I would start in one room reading to one girl, the coach in the other room reading to the other, then we would swap. Sometimes, when Grandparents or friends were visiting, they also had 'reading' time in the girls' rooms.
I started reading to the girls when they were 6 months old. Every.single.night until perhaps 7th or 8th grade.
When they got older, sometimes we would read magazines, catalogs, anything really. It wasn't so much the reading part, it was the 'togetherness at the end of-the-day part.'

Then I remembered how many times we put together the Monarch puzzle (and others); this was way before I even thought about raising butterflies as I was busy raising humans. I wish I knew how many times it was put together and taken apart only to put back together.....eleventythousand times? 

I found a started journal (I've found many of these over the years) and this one, in particular, cracked me up; A page in Lolo's Harry Potter Journal. 

24 hours and 9 minutes wearing PJs.
I sent a screenshot to our family text and she replied: "Oh, I've definitely beaten that by now" 

Motherhood IS such a blessing. I can't imagine my life other than being a mother to my two amazing young women; but like I said earlier this week, I wish I had been less anal-retentive and MORE relaxed.
I suppose that is the gift you get when you become a grandparent; the 'I don't get upset about anything' mode.

Happy Friday Y'all. 
We've no big plans aside from the Coach coaching some college softball, seeing a few college basketball games together with friends and Suz hopefully working in her garden/caterpillars/butterfly stuff and the never-ending laundry, etc.
We actually had two days of winter this week; it's awesome to turn off the a/c for a few days.
I've still not turned on the heat in 2020, actually, I don't think I put it on in 2019 because Florida.

Whatcha' doing this fine weekend? 
XOXO

Just a smidge of ice cream for me---I wasn't always this delightful.

Thank you all for your kind words regarding my DNA/Brother post. I really wasn't looking for sympathy, but I suppose that is a natural reaction for people who are not sociopaths.

I met up with my Linds yesterday for lunch; we decided to meet at Jason's Deli because it's convenient and they have free ice cream.
It's a place the kids and I used to frequent when they were younger; I could get my salad bar fix, they loved a lot of the menu and the free ice cream.
One time I took them with a few friends, and I recall all of the girls coming back to the table with the most ginormously filled cones; it was ridiculous.
I was a bit irked by it; annoyed. Why did I get annoyed by something as small as an overloaded free cone? I don't know. I was a bit anal-retentive back in the day; also, I was afflicted with severe PMS. I'm much more relaxed now.
Thank the good lord for that.
Or maybe I'm just tired.

Anyhoo, Linds and I had a nice lunch and we caught up a bit after her long trip to New Zealand.
I asked her to get me a chocolate ice cream cone.
This is what she came back with; she'd already had a few licks of hers before she arrived at the table.

Me: WHY IS MY ICE CREAM CONE SO SMALL? 
Linds: You remember that time.....when you were so annoyed by the extra-large cone? 
Me: yes, but, really?  
Then my child proceeded to explain to me that there was ice cream INSIDE the actual cone too; it wasn't just surface ice cream.  
Me: What? INSIDE? I had no idea that's how ice cream cones worked. 

We had a good laugh and really, it was MORE than enough ice cream for me. And it was even better having some time together.

I don't think I've mentioned it before, but I have to cook dinner at least 5 nights a week.
What? You too? *sigh* It becomes redundant, doesn't it?
I honestly wish we didn't need to eat every day because I don't like cooking that much. But I do it, so yeah, where's my gold ribbon? 
One thing that does make the daunting chore of preparing dinner so many days of my life is my Instant Pot. Do you have one? I'm not a gadget fan, but this one is worth it.
Everything I make in it comes out well. Chicken dishes, beef dishes and possibly my favorite thing to do in it are hard-boiled eggs; they peel like buttah.

Last night I made a big batch of lime/cilantro shredded chicken; it's great for tacos or on salads and YUM.
The Coach thoroughly enjoyed it even more so because today he has to prep for his colonoscopy.
Some people get to have all the fun. I suppose tonight I'll have leftover shredded chicken over a bed of salad....hmmm, I guess I'll have to eat in the bathroom away from the colonoscopy victim.

Wow. I talked quite a bit about food today. What's for dinner? 
XO

Hey, soul sister

After doing my spellcheck on this post, I realized it's all over the place directionally, but I'm gonna leave it as is.


Unless you live under a rock, you've heard about the 23 & me or the Ancestry.com DNA tests.
It's pretty interesting, isn't it? A lot of us are connected to people that we don't know and probably won't ever know.
The girls and I did the ancestry.com DNA tests back in 2018. The Coach decided to NOT do it because the government will have too much information and could frame him for a crime one day.
I'm kind of kidding, but kind of not kidding. 
I was secretly hoping to find an unknown biological sister or brother out there, but damnit to heck, my parents apparently weren't out there willy nilly having children and not claiming them. Thoughtless. 
I could use a Sister or Brother.

If you're new here, you don't know that I had a brother; Mark. He passed away in 1990 at the age of 25 ( I was 21) from AIDS. You know, before the Medical community could even try to remedy the disease as people were just losing their shit if they thought you might have AIDS and that you could catch it by being in the same room with someone with AIDS. It was horrible for Mark; he'd barely begun his life and it was taken from him.

Suz and Mark at our Dad's 2nd wedding. Don't we look thrilled? 

So, it would have been nice to have another sibling (I’d prefer a cure) to help with those years of Marks illness, then to have a sibling two years later when my dad suddenly became sick and died within 11 days from cancer or to have one help with the trauma/drama after my father died because of his very new third wife who turned out to be a liar, coke abuser, and just all-around bad person. (I should write a post about accidentally seeing her on Maury Povich spewing lies)

Mark and Dad; approx 1988-89

That was a long way to get around that I wish I had another sibling.

I digress....the point of this post is that, well, I can't really mention any names to go with the point of this post. Hmmmm....here goes:
Someone that I know very well, has found out in the last few years that he/she has a 1/2 sibling. There won't be anything to come of it, because this half sibling's Mother's dying wish was for him to never know his biological father because he was raised by a man who wants to only be known as his father.
Get it? 

But now, since the DNA websites are all the rage, there is another family member that has popped up. A 1st cousin for someone that I might be very close with.
This cousin has contacted several members of someone's family and we pretty much know it to be 100% true, but the biological parent refuses to take the DNA test. (ass!)
By the way, both of these people have popped up in Lolo and Lindsay's DNA as matches.

The Coach and I were discussing how frustrating it must be, to not know your family history.
 Good, bad or otherwise; my childhood was far from ideal, more dysfunction than function, but at least I know why I am who I am.
Do you remember the old saying: You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life, the facts of life. 
Wait, that's not what I meant, but that was a great show. {Tootie!}

I suppose you never know what something like that really feels like (not knowing your history) if it's not your story. I can empathize a lot of feelings, but not that one.
On the other hand, shared  DNA does not always mean family. 

Sometimes I wish we'd adopted and added to our family when the girls were younger; that way they would have more siblings and we could be a part of a good adoption story. Like a Two-Fer.
Please don't advise that it's not too late, because it is. We're completely spoiled with our freedom of travel now that the kids have flown the nest.

Reading this again, I should divulge that I had a step-sister for many years; her Mom and my Dad were married (the second marriage where Mark and I are so ecstatic up there) for 9 years. She and I are not real close, but we do talk on the phone on occasion and via Facebook; she's had a train wreck type of life And blames our childhood on her bad decisions. Ummmmm....we lived in the same house girlie for many of our years. She actually appreciates when I give her good advice even though I'm pretty harsh with the truth. She wouldn't be the one I would call if I needed sisterly advice or help take care of a family member. 

Luckily for me, I have several friends whom I consider soul sisters; for that, I am blessed.

Have any of you taken the test and found some new leaves nuts in your family tree? 
Was anyone able to follow my rambling mind today? 

TGIF; checking in with Cookie and her girls.

Happy Friday!

Thursday I started to turn a corner on the flu thing; I can feel a bit more energy and I'm going back to the gym today because I feel like a bowl of mush. When I went to the Dr. last week and they noted that my BMI was 24.8, it stung. For real, I hardly ate for 11 days and still didn't lose weight. Aging isn't easy, is it? 
You can't just sit on your butt not eating and watching Outlander for days and lose weight. Ain't.gonna.work.
I know, we're all different sizes and at different comfort levels for our size/weight; but this is too much for me. Only 1/3 of the clothes in my closet are comfortable and I dread getting dressed to go anywhere if I'm not wearing yoga pants or workout clothes. So, pretty much anything aside from spandex is comfortable lately and that makes me very uncomfortable.

Lolo and Nathan met up in Myrtle Beach last weekend for a wedding. (Nathan's Mom's 2nd wedding)
It was a quick trip for them both, but hey, they got to spend two days together and when you're in the young-love thing, it's a big deal.
Aren't they the absolute cutest couple ever? 

My Aunt, after seeing the pic said this should be their engagement announcement pic for the newspaper. Well, wouldn't you know.....they don't do that anymore. 

Lolo has been busy planning their upcoming wedding; her pinterest page is very busy.
We can officially announce that the nuptials will be September, October or November of 2021, somewhere in the vicinity of North America.
So, yeah.
She's actually coming back home this weekend for a girlfriends wedding and we are meeting up for dinner tonight; I'm excited to see her as I've not put my arms around her since Christmas.

Guess who else is coming home tonight?
Well, to HER home.
My Lindsburger is flying in from New Zealand; she's been gone a month. Even though we don't see each other on the regular, that is a lonnnnng way from your Mama's arms.

She had a great trip; they went to KiwiBurn the very first week of her trip and she had an amazing time. It's similar to Burning Man, but more on the vibe of New Zealand; artsy fartsy, nature-loving, hippie living type of thing where they camp the entire week and bathe in a river. That's my sweet hippie earth girl. I think she was supposed to live in the 60's.

If I wore fishnet stockings with boots, I'd be locked up, but she's a doll.


There were a few years where I wanted to empty the bank account, move to Vegas and change my name to Cookie McGee because I thought I might lose my mind with the bickering. BUT, I'm so glad I stuck it out because they are two of my favorite people. Although....Cookie McGee has a nice ring to it.














Callie,
---*sigh*---
She started leaking her watered-down urine again on Wednesday afternoon, I started to sob upon seeing this.
Other than the extreme hunger (from steroids and sugar issues) and the leaking urine, she seems fairly happy.
I purchased some doggie diapers, but she seems a bit humiliated by them. What would the other cow dogs think? 
Also, they don’t fit her hips. At all.
They fall off within minutes.

So, what can you do? How long do you (me, coach) live with it? I just don't even know.
I suppose we'll know when enough-is-enough soon enough.


Wishing everyone a great weekend whether you're attending a wedding, a rave or if you're wearing a diaper.
XOXO

On the mend and the one where we finally got an answer

I spent so much time on my back over the past week, you'd have thought I was getting paid.
*Straining my neck to see if I have bed sores.*

I started watching the series Outlander while home with the flu. I'd read the first book years ago, then forgot about the whole thing. WOW. (the first season has 16 episodes-unheard of!)
I know it's far fetched and not exactly great fiction, but WOW.
One morning, I awoke to an email from Netflix reminding me that the next episode of Outlander was available....don't they know I haven't stopped thinking about that since I went to sleep yesterday?
SO much violence, sex, and sex-violence, I can really only handle a few episodes at a time in my delicate state of mind. *giggle*

I still sound like I've got a pack and a half of Marlboro red a-day habit. That's attractive.
I still have moments where I feel like crapola. And a few moments where I feel ok. I've still not got back to the gym for fear of a coughing fit and plus, low energy. 
Next year, (or is that this year?) I'll be the first in line for the flu shot.

My Aunt texted me the other day asking if I was feeling any better and stating that it was a good thing I got the flu prior to our upcoming trip to CA.
Me: Yes, I'm getting better. And yes, luckily for me, this was the best time to get the flu; aside from Callie being sick too, I didn't have anything pressing this week. 
She applauded me for having a good attitude. I do like to be applauded even if it's via text.

***

The Callie saga. I didn't go into details before because her symptoms were all over the place and they made no sense. If you are a dog person and care to see what the deal was read the next long part of this post. If you don't have a dog and have no need to know, skip this part.
*On Saturday night I'd noticed that she was drinking a lot of water. I caught her standing over her bowl and then just staring at the wall. I had flashbacks of Ozzie; he did this often and then we learned he had a brain tumor and staring at walls was an indication of brain issues. (headaches)
She was fine the next day and I didn't give it another thought.

*Tuesday, the day that my Flu was in full force, Callie amped up her weirdness for me. She didn't eat breakfast. (eating is her favorite thing) She was drinking copious amounts of water. Then I noticed she was shivering/shaking. I was concerned. The Coach was in Miami but would be back later that night and I assumed he could take her to the emergency vet to see what was going on. But then I noticed that while laying on the tile floor, she had urine leaking out of her; almost faucet like. I called my vet and they were able to get me into their sister location that afternoon. Nothing like being very sick and having to pick up a sick 68lb dog and putting her into the back of my SUV.

*We were at the vet for almost 2 hours. The Dr. ran blood tests even though she had bloodwork done the week prior for her Rymidyl RX refill. (a common Arthritis anti-inflammatory) The bloodwork today is coming out totally different than last week and the DR. is very confused. Her blood sugar is scarily low and he can't figure out how she is still LIVING with her blood sugar so low. He tested her urine and was shocked at how 'watered' down it was.

*The Vet wanted to run some glucose type tests the next day and asked us to please get her to eat that night. She needs to raise her sugar levels or else.

*Wednesday she was able to eat breakfast but had been leaking watered down urine all over the house all night. I had towels on top of every one of her beds and kept swapping them out.And I awoke twice in the middle of the night and took her out.  Coach dropped her off for the new tests in the morning and would pick her back up later in the day. When he picked her up, she seemed ok. They left the iv/catheter in her leg (first I typed arm, she doesn't have an arm) in case we had an emergency during the night. They said her sugar levels were even worse today and that was after eating breakfast. They did an ultrasound but didn't see anything 'alarming' on her kidneys or in her belly. They instructed us to bring her back the next day to check sugar again and remove the iv/catheter. We started giving her some Prednisone (steroid).

*Thursday the Coach took her for sugar testing and removing of IV. Her sugar reading was still bad; 70. But better than the 41 it was on Wednesday. The Dr. is throwing out some ideas of what she might have gotten into.
1) Did she get into any medicinal marijuana? Ummm NO.
2) Any chance she ate some sugarfree gum that has xylitol in it? This is lethal to dogs. I'm a big fan of sugarfree gum, but I don't leave it lying around and I haven't had gum in the six weeks since I got my Invisalign. Also, Callie isn't the dog who gets into stuff; she never has been.  

*Friday, her cortisol tests came back normal. Still waiting to hear how her insulin levels were that they tested on Wednesday. We're both wondering if the Dr. knows what he's doing as it's taking forever for us to get an answer. The urine leaking is slowing down, she's eating better and we're basically feeding her small amounts all day long to keep sugar levels up. Just a few weeks ago, I was chastised about her weight and told to cut her food down....now, it's anything goes.

*Saturday, the Coach woke up to several small piles of bile/vomit around the house. Suz was in a flu coma and heard nothing. Callie finally had an appetite later in the day and seemed ok.

*Sunday, she acted normal. No pee leaks. No vomit. YAY!

*Monday-we finally got a call from the Vet at 7:30pm. He has a diagnosis and it was something he mentioned in passing earlier last week. They did see something on the ultrasound on her pancreas; a small node of sorts and they think what she has is an Insulinoma. "An insulinoma is a malignant pancreatic tumor that inappropriately secretes excessive insulin, resulting in profound hypoglycemia."
So. having an answer is so much better than the unknown. He was happy to know that she was now eating and not leaking as much urine. We will continue on this path until she isn't happy anymore. He realistically said she could have another 2 weeks or another 6 months. And at 13, we're not going to do anything invasive whatsoever. 

*sigh* 

We have several trips planned, so I'll be losing sleep worrying about the 'what ifs' while we're away. 

On a funny side-note; when Callie was at the vet's office most of Wednesday, they noted to the Coach that she 'looks so sad' so she must not feel well. 

Ummm actually, that is JUST HER FACE. She always looks like that. You've heard of resting bitch face? Callie has 'resting sad face'.  My poor sweet cow dog. 
She's hasn't had the most ideal life, but since living with us the past 4 1/2 years, it's been all gravy. 

I promise I have good things to write about. I feel like Debbie downer lately on the blog, but hopefully, I'll be shooting sunshine and rainbows out of my butt (ouch) again soon. 

XOXO

Dodging a big bug bullet

This happened two weeks ago before the flu found me and before the water leak in the guest room.*sigh*

We've been slowly converting the kid's old playroom to Coach's home office. (he could have shared my huge office with me, but nevermind, we need our space)
This led me to start out on a decluttering tare; you know how the age-old fable of "If you give a mouse a cookie"....
I started cleaning out the playroom closet, which led to moving things from the big linen closet to the smaller linen closet and to items being donated. (wait, is it tare or tear?)
Which led me to move some items from the under-counter cabinets in the kitchen to the big linen closet.
And that's when I found them.
I picked up my two nesting collectible Longaberger baskets that were handed down to me from my MIL when she downsized her home about 5 years ago.

Pic of the larger basket, now living outside while being monitored

I haven't used the baskets in about 2 years, but they were special to me as I'd longed to be able to purchase them myself back in 2003 when my friend had a Longaberger home party. (we were poor, but we were proud )
My heart sunk when I saw the dust in the bottom of the big bowl that was coming from the bottom of the smaller bowl.
My heart sunk further when I saw the two little white bugs eating away.
My brain saw $$.
My brain remembered the new roof we put on last year
And the new a/c unit.
And the new hot water heater.
And all the new landscaping and trees.

I remembered all the work we had to do to empty our rental condo last year before it was treated for termites.
I texted my exterminator with a video of the bugs and he confirmed that they were termites.
I shuddered. My skin crawled.
He gave my number to a specialist and they called me within a few hours that night and scheduled an investigation for the next day.
My young and sweet termite specialist did a thorough look all through the house, attic and the property then deemed us to be very lucky. He said: When I saw the video of the termites, I was afraid for you because I thought your home would be infested. 
Turns out the termites were ONLY in that one basket.
Did you know that termite eggs can stay dormant for many, many years? 
You'll never sleep again, will you?
I asked my MIL  (Hi Sue!) if they ever had termites in the old house, and the answer was no.
But, I can only assume that they had possibly the start of termites and didn't know they were there, then the house was sold.
I'm still freaked out a bit by it all. Mostly because if I hadn't been on a cleaning tear/tare, I might not have picked up/looked at the baskets for another few years. By then, they might have eaten the entire wood cabinet.
I loved that beautiful bug basket.

When it came to awkwardness, I was the perfect role model.

I'm still a sick puppy, but I'm almost seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The fever is gone but I feel like the cough will be with me until 2021. 
This is an old post that really sums up Suz from the age of 6 to 17; nothing went as planned and I couldn't ever just be the cool chick. 


It was going to be a big day for me; my graduation from 7th grade. 
Next year, I would be in high school with the big fish.
I was done with my awkwardness, I was going to emerge a beautiful butterfly.
I decided to take my time and beautify myself before the graduation ceremony. I ran the bath and I even added some of the Jean Nate’ bath oil that my Grandma loved so much.
I soaked. I soaked. And then I soaked some more.
Finally, it was time to dress and dry my hair. No time to lose now Suz.
I dressed in my new terry cloth striped dress; it was so pretty AND fashionable. 
A few spritzes of my Loves Baby Soft around my neck and wrist; I am really something. 
I got out the blow dryer and my round brush; watch out Farah Fawcett. 
I dried.
I dried.
WTF?
I dried.
I dried some more. 
My hair was not really drying.
So then I got out my fancy-dancy curling iron.
My hair still seemed kind of wet; oily. 
What the heck kind of negative hair magic was happening?
It was go-time now; greased lightning we've got to head out the door.  



Apparently you should not soak your hair in Jean Nate’ bath oil. 
Something I wish my Mom had told me. 
Greasy gross mess.
And for me, this really was just the beginning of my awkward years…things would get much worse before they got better.

You know how on Facebook you can leave a comment with a picture? I wish Blogger would let ya'll do that here so we can compare awkward teenage pictures. 
Happy Valentine's day. XO

Flu, I've got you Flu.

We had a very busy and awesome weekend. I hugged, loved and was dazzled by around 185 guests at the Night To Shine event on Friday night. (this was my 3rd year volunteering) I, along with some good friends greeted each guest and got them into Limo's for a ride around the church parking lot, then to the event center where they were greeted like royalty on the red carpet.
I ended the night with what I would call a stress headache; maybe I was a bit overwhelmed with all the excitement, the hoopla, the cheerleaders bouncing around, the noise from the happy guests....or maybe I'm just getting old?
When I woke up on Saturday the headache was still there and I was exhausted. I made a comment to the coach that maybe I'm on the spectrum because it just seemed to be too much for me this year. (There are a LOT of guests on the spectrum, and I do believe they were in better shape than me. And no, I'm not poking fun at people with disabilities, you know better.)

Sunday night I started coughing and whipped up some hot tea.
Monday morning I awoke feeling like the dead.
Achy body. Chills. coughing. my joints were on fire.
Ugghhh.
I knew it was the flu because I have that fake doctor's degree.
I spent the day in bed.
Finally, at around 4:00 on Monday afternoon, I remembered that there was an antiviral that you could take to ward off the effects.
I call our Doctor's office and left a voicemail. (they haven't answered the phone in 5 years-very annoying)
On Tuesday morning I was anxiously awaiting their call as the Coach was leaving for Miami for the day; I'd been hoping he could just pick up the RX for me.
They didn't call back until noon and told me that they no longer take our insurance anymore and I'd have to come in and be seen in person and pay. ;(
Eff it.
My window was closing in because you're supposed to take the antiviral 48 hours or sooner once you know it's the flu.
"I'll just suffer through, I'm a big girl"
Well, Tuesday night the 'razor blades' in my throat coughing was endless all night. If only I could get the cough to settle down, then I won't feel like throwing myself off a bridge.
Heck, I don't even know where a bridge is in my town.
Wednesday I crawled into the walk-in clinic and waiting over an hour to be seen.
They did the Flu test and guess what? I got 100%!

The kind Doctor told me that I was too late for the antiviral and to take Mucinex DM and Tylenol.
I really should have been a Doctor.

I asked him if I had got the flu vaccine if I could have avoided this and he shrugged his shoulders and said: maybe, maybe not. You never know. 
The one time I had the vaccine, I was extremely sick with the flu and I vowed to never do it again.

I still feel like hell, but I know I'm gonna live.

In the middle of all this, Callie has been having issues and I had to take her to the Vet (with the flu, but I wasn't officially diagnosed. The coach was out of town and it was up to me)
She's back at the vet again today for testing and I could not be a veterinarian, because I have no idea what is going on with her.

The Vet did ask the Coach when he dropped her off this time if she had got into any 'edibles' in our house. (we don't, but that doesn't stop her from looking like she's had some edibles)
Good lord, if I had those, I probably wouldn't care about having the flu.
Say a good word for our Cow dog if you can.

Also, an unseen (until the day I had the flu) water leak into one of the bedrooms.....I found wet carpet and a moldy (behind the dresser) wall. That's probably good for the ole' respiratory system.
Waiting on the plumber now. I'll keep my distance from him, but I need that fixed asap.

If Suz, her Callie, and her house could just calm the eff down, that would be great.

XOXO

TGIF; skinny arms and big lips.

I came across this old photo the other day; we were probably 18 and 20. I recall it was an outdoor concert in Miami. I wish I could remember what show it was, but we went to a lot of concerts; hence our weak hearing today. *Heh?*

My first thoughts were:
Wow, we were such babies. 
and then
Suz, how in the world did you even pick up a toothbrush with those skinny arms? 

***

I saw this meme the other day and almost wet my britches. I sent it to the girls and they also found it hilarious.

Every time I read it, I bite my upper lip and realize how hilarious it is.

Speaking of biting lips, I started doing Invisalign treatment about 3 weeks ago on my lower teeth. I'd noticed I was getting food stuck in between two particular teeth in the back of my mouth and it was driving me mad every time I ate. It's tasteless to constantly whip out dental floss in a restaurant.
I suppose if I stopped eating, I could eliminate a few issues, but no.
Turns out another gift of aging is that our teeth continue to move. The Invisalign should straighten out my lower (now crowded front area) and help close the gap at the back.
I thought I would have major mouth pain as I did with braces, but I've had no pain like that at all.
The only issue I've had aside from not being able to chew gum (I'm addicted!) is that when I take out the tray to eat, the little tiny buttons they glue to your teeth to keep the tray in place, well I keep getting my lip caught on those. It's kinda funny really. I just can't imagine how Angelina Jolie would be able to handle it with her lips....but then again, maybe she could just pay someone to wear it for her.
It's not cheap a cheap treatment but think of all the money I'll save on dental floss.

***
I'm volunteering at Tim Tebow's Night to Shine Prom tonight; it's one of my most favorite nights of the year.
The husband left at 4am this morning along with a gaggle of friends and drove north pulling his big ole smoker; they'll be smoking meat all day long for another one of our favorite charities. 
I believe tomorrow will be a day of recovery and cleanup.

That's all I've got today.
Have a great weekend whether you're biting your lips, cooking for love or dancing your heart out.
Bee sweet!
XO

Flowers, obsessions and where in the world is my family?

I'm still being spoiled by flowers being delivered every two weeks from The Bougs; my birthday gift continues to give. (seriously, one of the best gifts ever given by my thoughtful husband, and there has been plenty)
These arrived two weeks ago today. They made me think of cotton candy, which made me think of going to the fair, which made me want a corn dog and a dental cleaning.

This is what is left today and I have another batch of goodness coming via fed ex today. Not bad for two weeks, huh? 

***

Speaking of flowery stuff. For Christmas, my sweet MIL and I put this together. It was her idea and creativity, she just let me get my fingers in the dirt as well. We were going to hang it in a tree but decided to let it rest on an old plant stand and we set it in my butterfly garden.  The plants are not just potted in/on the top of the basket, they're packed all around the sides. Like my waistline, It will fill in more and more as time goes on.

C'mon in, the doors open. 

It started as one of these coco coir lined baskets.  I love it so much that it's a borderline obsession; I tend to it daily, pulling off dead flowers, making sure it's getting watered evenly and that it pretty much feels good about itself. 

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You know how it's nice to have the whole-fam-damily together in one place? Or at least in one county? The Busy Bee family is all sorts of spread out and it feels weird to me. 

Lolo is at school in VA,  (which I'm getting used to now) 

Linds is in New Zealand, (2 more weeks left of her four-week trip) and the 

Coach has fled to the Abaco's Islands in the Bahamas for a quick trip. 

I'm feeling a bit of wanderlust in me too....think I'll head to Target today. Damnit, I'll not be left out. 

XOXO