To Neti or Not To Neti, That Is The Question....

"I'm a little Neti Pot, short and stout, here is my lid with a hole and here is my conical shaped spout"....If you have never heard of a Neti Pot, you should google it...quite interesting reading out there. If you have never used one, you might be in for a surprise. This all came about because a friend of mine had a bad sinus infection and was unable to take antibiotics so her doctor suggested trying a Neti Pot. She was clueless to the world of Neti Pots but figured she'd give it a shot anyway. She asked around and actually found a few people not only knew about these secret sinus cleansing pots, but raved about them. Needless to say, she also had a great experience with her WalMart Neti Pot. She described the incredible amount of ......how shall we say for the sake of those with weak stomachs....debris, that exited her nasal passages and sinuses. I understand this sounds really gross, and I'm definitely one who can gag just cleaning the toilet bowl, but the thought of not having to depend on medicine, prescription or not, is such an amazing thought that I had to get in on this. I went to WalMart and they were easy to find, just sitting on the shelf in and among the vaporizers. When I got up to the register, the clerk was a young girl with a few piercings, and I know I was judging, but I figured I would get up their with my Neti Pot and she would look at me like, "OK, Granny, have fun with your old lady items", but instead she caught me off guard. She picked up the box to ring it up and said "Oh, I hear these work really good!" I was sold.
So there I was this evening in my bathroom with my precious $15 investment in the future of my family's health and well-being; me and my pot, my pot and me. I mean it says right on the box that it can alleviate allergy problems, or something like that, and we're all allergy sufferers in this house. So I gave it a shot. Now I did feel some pressure around my temples beforehand so I figured this is definitely going to help. I did not have any debris exiting my nasal cavity, but after using my pot (that doesn't sound right), I can feel how clear my nose is. You know the kind when you breath you can feel it right down through your throat? You just feel the air moving around? yeah, I don't normally get that feeling much. It basically pushes a saline type solution through your nose. So as weird as an experience it was, I will definitely continue to do it. I still have the pressure around my temples so it must be stress or something. I told my friend we should create a Neti Pot club...we can recite all the ways it benefits our health and chant "All hail the Neti Pot" before taking turns demonstrating it use.

Music Favs....Lady A Rocks!

I don't usually impart my music opinions, but some of my close friends know how important music is to me. It's not just something to pass the time when I'm in the car. I've always been a big music fan....have slept out for tickets many times, have gone to many concerts and I get a lot out of music. So I decided that once in a while I may share some of my fav's with my blog fans. I am a huge fan of this fairly new band called Lady Antebellum. So give them a listen and let me know what you think! I don't know why, but I'm having a hard time embedding the video right into the blog, so you can either click on, or copy and paste the link below into your browser:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1435443648/bclid1438482107/bctid3149131001

You won't be disappointed!

Fa La La La La....Hey, Where'd Everyone Go?

This is an ornament I got from a friend (thanks, Kathy!) many years ago and it's one of my favorites. I'm not sure why, maybe it's the Victorian Santa look? Anyway, I realized this year that all of our ornaments are now all special ornaments. By this I mean, we originally started with a ton of colored ball ornaments 13 years ago and now we have no colored ball ornaments. Each ornament means something to us - you know the ones I mean. There are the ones the kids made you still have no idea what it is but you have to put it on the tree anyway. Ones with the kids names or pictures on them, all the "my first Christmas", "my 3rd Christmas", etc. Each year the kids get to buy one new ornament as well. And of course old ornaments from when Mike and I were young. I decorated our Christmas tree last night, and it's just not the same anymore. When I was little we would decorate the tree, sing Christmas carols while my Mom played the songs on a little plastic organ we had and we thought it was great....after my Dad finished his outbursts over the tangled lights that no longer worked, of course! Last night my older daughter apparently doesn't think it's cool anymore to help hang ornaments and since it was a weeknight Mike is in bed early...so it was me and Beth...until she heard her sister having a snack upstairs and making sure she didn't miss out on any good snacks took precedence over ornament hanging. That's OK, I'll make them all sing some carols Christmas morning before they are allowed to open any presents :)

Gas Me Up, Baby!

A dollar sixty-eight, Baby! That's what I paid for gas this week! Across the street is $1.69 because they pump it for you...both prices are for cash only...but who cares!? I can seriously remember being in college, which really wasn't that long ago, and the price of gas was around $1.60/gallon. OK, so it was about twenty years ago...WHAT! Wait a minute, let me do the calculations......this can't be right! I swear I graduated just a few years ago...how did I jump from the late 80's to 20 years later? Anyway, I know these prices won't last, so I'm celebrating every time I get gas...er, fill up the tank...you know what I mean!

Digging Out of My Mashed Potato Haze...

Welcome to the "home stretch" for 2008 as we all try to get back to some sort of normalcy after gorging ourselves over the Thanksgiving Holiday...don't try to pretend you didn't, because we all know you did....we did too. The only time I let myself indulge so freely in gravy is Thanksgiving and Christmas - same meal, one month apart. You'd think we would learn to space it out a bit better, or maybe it's better to get it all over with quickly....that way it doesn't really count, right? Thanksgiving is so relaxing for me...have breakfast, hang out, eat a huge meal, sleep, have a snack and go to bed. Yes, I had my pumpkin pie with Cool Whip so I'm good until Dec 25th.

In the meantime we have the tedious business of Christmas shopping. This year we're on a tight budget and it's almost a game. Let's see how well we can do with as little money possible. Have you experienced Freecycle yet? If not, you're in for a treat! Go to www.freecycle.org and you can search for the chapter in your town or closest to you. Everything posted has to be for free...so basically stuff you are sick of looking at in your house. You know, that basket of knick knacks that has been collecting dust for the last 10 years? Oh yeah, there is someone near you who will take it off your hands! Now being someone who sells on eBay, I will usually post something twice on eBay and if it doesn't sell, I post it on Freecycle! I just got rid of a bag today of winter hats/gloves that no longer fit my kids. I also emailed someone today about a "like new" easy bake oven - it's on Beth's list and she'll never know the difference.

We used to partake in the annual day after Thanksgiving sales...yes, we would get up at 3am and get our running suits on and join all the other crazies out there, but now I find I can do just as well online. And I don't have to worry about being trampled. I was talking with my friend at work today about the person at WalMart who was trampled to death in the mad rush when the store opened the day after Thanksgiving. I saw on the news where they are looking for the people who did it. I know this is going to sound...well, not very nice, but have you ever been in a situation like this? You really have no control over what you are doing...the crowd almost becomes a unit and surges forward with quite a force. I was thinking back to an Ozzy Osbourne concert in the late '80's at the New Haven Coliseum - I was there with a friend and we had seats on the floor. I, of course, was decked out in my spandex mini skirt, spandex top and my boots....what?....ok, stop laughing, I thought I looked hot! Anyway, halfway through the show Ozzy yells at the crowd "Come to me, children" and all the idiots on the floor start rushing the stage! Well it was quite scary and I was lucky my friend, Ted, was strong enough to deflect people away from me...why, you ask? Well, let's remember this is me we're talking about. When the crowd rushed, I somehow got thrown and ended up with my legs through a folded up, folding chair...oh yes, very attractive. There I was, flailing in a folding chair on the floor...hard to recover from that with any dignity. I'm still trying! Boy am I all over the place in this post! I guess I haven't quite recovered from my pumpkin pie fog......