My Little Bear Grylls

Recently, my youngest son has become obsessed with Bear Grylls, the Man vs Wild star. I am not sure how he discovered him as we don't have cable or satellite but he found him online and was able to watch his show that way.



Bear is dropped into very remote areas and shows viewers how to survive with nothing but a knife. He's been all over the world and has accomplished many things like being the youngest to climb Mount Everest.

I can see why Andy is enamored by him. He bought two books on Bear at Barnes and Noble. Andy was telling me how eating termites is good because they have a lot of protein and he wanted to go out and kill a snake just like Bear. He even bought a hunting knife.

So my two sons went out in the pasture and found a 3 foot bull snake. Nick picked it up but Andy didn't want to touch it. He was definitely not comfortable around them.
I also didn't want them killing any snakes so they did let it go.

Over Memorial Day weekend, we decided to go on a bike trip and picnicked in this one place. Within 2 seconds of sitting down, Andy jumps up and says he's getting bit and then he sees all the bugs on him, races for the van, jumps in and closes the door. The bugs he was afraid of were 1/8 inch thrips and totally harmless to people. My husband and I just laughed at this comical scene.

Andy has had a bug phobia since he was little so I find it quite interesting that he wants to be another Bear Grylls but he may have to rethink his decision because I don't see how he would last very long in the wilderness.

The Last Lecture

This book was being offered through the Book-of-the-Month club and I decided to get it because I was thinking the proceeds from the book will go to help Randy Pausch's family. I don't know that for a fact but I am assuming this to be the case.



The lecture was inspiring although I didn't see all of it and his book was just packed with of tidbits of wisdom. I thoroughly enjoyed his anecdotes and stories of his various life experiences.

I know this could very well be his last hurrah but I have known someone who had stage IV melanoma and after 15 years, he is still with us. So I hope and pray that Randy Pausch will be around to grace us with another one of his wonderful lectures.

Oooo I Love the New American Idol

I am so glad David Cook won. He is just outstanding and I will be buying his first CD.
Love this song too.

Baldness in the Family?

A worry wart, I certainly am and I found out that baldness runs in my family. My two uncles who had thick heads of hair when they were younger started to lose it as they got older. My mom reported that she caught a glimpse of a bald spot on my brother's head recently. I haven't seen him for awhile so I cannot attest to it but this concerns me very much.


I have two sons and I know they don't want to lose their hair. Although baldness was thought to be inherited from the mother, androgenic alopecia has been shown it can be inherited from the mother or the father's side.

My sons may have to check out the Philadelphia hair restoration site because I know they will want to do something about it if they should go bald.

There hasn't been any baldness on my husband's side of the family so that is good news but it's one more thing that I have to be concerned with.

Love to Have a House Cat

My cat came out to greet me when I came home and I just adore her. She is so sweet and loves to meow to me. We have a really nice fleece bed for her in the garage where she can sleep. The garage is closed up except for a cat door so she and the dog can go in and out at will. It's a nice haven for her but I wish that I could have her in the house with me.

Since I was young, I have had allergies to cats, dogs and any animal that has dander. It's been a curse as I love animals and I wanted to have as many pets as possible. My mom did get a kitten for a short time but it sent my brother to the hospital with an asthma attack so she had to get rid of it. I ended up getting a turtle and fish instead. Don't get me wrong, I loved my turtle and he lasted many many years. I also got some iguanas when I was in college. When my iguanas started to grow, I had to give them away as they can grow up to 6 feet long.

One solution to solving pet dander may be to try the EcoQuest International fresh air purifier. I'm not sure how well they work but I have read that purifers can help reduce the allergens in the house. For now, I wear a long sleeve coat when I pet my cat and then I really wash my hands good or I will break out in hives.

Sprucing up with Flowers

I have been trying to get to the nursery to buy some flowers for my hanging and deck pots. With the contractor coming yesterday, I had to be home so today I am heading out to finally purchase my plants. Pink, white and purple are the colors I would like to go with. We already have several perennial plants in the pots so I am hoping I won't have to buy too many.

There is a beautiful arbor that we bought a few years ago and I just love it but I haven't been able to successfully grow plants on it. It sits in the shade of a large locust tree and there is also an underground sprinkler nearby that keeps the area moist so it doesn't dry out very well.

(Would like my arbor to have flowers like these!)

I was thinking of building raised garden beds in front of the sprinkler and putting hostas in there. That would shield the arbor from getting hit with water and then perhaps my climbing flowers will have a chance to thrive.

On a different note, my french doors are in! Yay!

Stress

I saw the doctor yesterday and she thought either I had an infection in my parotid gland or there was an obstruction. Also because I have been having sinus infections, my problem could be related to that. I had to go on 10 days of antibiotics. She also noticed that my mouth was really raw inside and I think I must be chewing on the inside of my cheeks when I am sleeping. It's been the stress of remodeling and also trying to keep the neighbors from literally killing each other that's causing it. I went out and bought a mouth guard to wear at night.

I spent yesterday looking for locks for our french doors and picking out tile. After going to every tile store in the area, I think I found the tile for the bathroom. I ran to the cabinet makers today to pick out formica for the top. I saw this corian edging that they could use and it would deceptively make my entire sink top look like it was made out of this very expensive material. The cost of the bathroom and bedroom keeps going up. Just to get my doors stained to match the cabinets, $150.00/ per piece. I about fell over.

The contractor said he was going to show up to put the french doors in today. He was supposed to come Monday and then Tuesday- a no show. I told him I had to leave at 1:30 today and he promised he would be done by then. It's almost 10 and he is already a 1/2 hour late. At this rate, it's going to take 6 months to get this project done.

Seeing the Doctor

I was still having problems with enlarged glands so I made an appointment to see the doctor today. It's been really weird as the glands have been repeatedly swelling up and then receding back to normal size. I did a search online and it looks like my salivary gland or parotid gland is suspect. I noticed that I have swelling particularly when eating which makes total sense. My symptoms are getting better but my family still wants me to be checked out by the Physician's Assistant.

It's not that I don't like doctors but after dealing with my son's digestive disorders for a year, I realize there are natural remedies out there that work a heck of a lot better than prescription drugs.

I came across NatMedTalk.com, which is an alternative medicine forum where people can discuss many topics concerning illnesses and the natural medicines and treatments that they have found that work. There were topics on cancer,diabetes, dentistry, vision, mind health and nutrition. I found the information fascinating and have come across similar info in my searches on digestive disorders. I've bookmarked the site and will be returning to see what else I can learn.

Irony

We continue to have trouble with Poncho. He just does not like the cows in his pasture. I am thinking he probably had a bad experience with cows during his childhood. I went out with him on a lead and he was sniffing cow poo and pee and then marking his territory. My son took him out and he kept doing the same thing as well as stomping on the poop. My husband wanted to try to let him out again with the cows. I didn't think it was a good idea. Sure enough 5 minutes later,the donkey was chasing cows again. In fact, the cows made a bee line for the same spot where they demolished the fence the last time.



I told my husband, I don't have time to be baby sitting the donkeys for 4 hours or more every day. His solution: Split the pasture up and put a fence between the donkeys and the cows. It took him a few hours in sweltering heat but the fence is up and everyone is happy.

It just occurred to me how ironic this situation is and how it so closely resembles what has been happening in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, we aren't dealing with donkeys here and that is the problem.

The Soap Opera Continues...

Well, it's been one heck of a morning. Yesterday, my husband had brought some cows in to be put on our pasture. I had the donkeys in the pen. Today I went and let the donkeys out. They looked like they were getting along. The next thing I know , Poncho is chasing one of the cows. The donkeys back the cows into the corner and then one cow goes through the fence. The other gets chased toward our yard and ends up also going through that fence.

My neighbor, Amy, comes out to help and we managed to get the donkeys locked up, the cows back in and I helped her repair the fence. Then she tells me she is getting chest pains. The next thing I know she's on the way to the hospital. It was quite a morning to be sure.

Speaking of my neighbor Amy, she refused the mediation that I had set up to help resolve the feud between her and the other neighbor. So now I am turning to the other people in the neighborhood not involved to step in and find a way to mediate this situation. I am just afraid it's going to get ugly.

On top of that, I have been sick and have a huge bump on my jaw and neckline. It looks like the mumps but is that possible because I have had the vaccinations. Or it could be something more ominous? I hope it is just an very enlarged lymph gland . I am not wanting to go out in public because of it but I guess I will have to grin and bear it.

My Mother's Day

I spent Mother's Day on the coast and it was a nice get away despite the fact that it poured most of Saturday. We still went out and did some sight seeing and spent time on the beach. We came back to our rented house and then I slept for the rest of the afternoon because I was coming down with a sore throat. My eldest son brought it home from college, my youngest son got it on Wednesday and then I caught it over the weekend.

Got home Sunday afternoon. Monday, I have been looking for a mediator. My police officer friend had not gotten back to me so I went looking on my own. Found a non-profit group that would do it for a small fee. I talked to my officer friend and he said go with it. I called the neighbors but then hit a snag when one of them said they did not want to pay for the service. Now I don't know what to do. I am thinking of paying for them if that is the only thing that is holding them back. My feeling is that maybe they really don't want to resolve this, they want it to escalate until it gets so out of control that there is no turning back.

My husband wants me to wash my hands of it and stay out of it. He doesn't care if the neighbor kids are shooting on our property, or if their dogs are coming thru our electric fence and going after our pets. I am afraid that I can't turn the other cheek. I haven't taken any action yet because I am waiting for the dispute to die down between the feuding neighbors but their dispute is spilling over onto us and the rest of the neighborhood.

So for now, I am encouraging both neighbors to please use the mediation service. It's not expensive and I am hoping it will resolve their problems which in turn will resolve my problems with them.

My Bone to Pick

I have been hitting one roadblock after another with the remodeling and it is starting to grate on me. I guess my biggest angst is that nobody calls me back. I went into Lowe's to try to order tile and they couldn't identify it. They told me they had to call in the vendor to see if he could ID the product, then it was special order and it would take another week. So I waited over a week and nothing. I called and the guy I had been dealing with was not there. Unfortunately, I let Lowes know I wasn't happy with the service. Anyway, the guy called me back and said he talked to the vendor. They don't have that product anymore and the vendor was supposed to call me. My question is why is that tile out on the display floor if they don't even carry it anymore and why is the vendor calling me? It should be Lowes!

I have been calling the cabinet makers. I finally got one to come over after 3 weeks. The other I called twice and nothing. They never called back. You would think in this economy that people would want your business. Apparently that is not the case!

I have been waiting for my french doors to come and again, no call. I finally call the lumber store and they said, Oh we called your contractor and told him that it was in. My husband called the contractor and the contractor had known about the door for a week but had not bothered to tell us know nor let us know if he was ever going to come and install it! If I did not call, I would still be waiting.

The irony is that I am getting called but it's 3X a day by my neighbor who is in the middle of a dispute with the other neighbor. I am working on getting a mediator to come and settle this because frankly I am getting very tired of it! Being unloaded on for 2 hours everyday is no fun and it has got to stop!

My Almost Australian Trip

My husband had an opportunity to go to Australia for an international meeting this June and we were excited about the trip. The only problem was that we found out about it last spring and that would have given us only a year to save money for it. Of course, my husband's airfare would have been covered, but for myself and my kids, airline tickets were running around $5000 per person and that was sometime ago. Spending $15,000 is a lot to justify with the economy being so lousy and that didn't even include accommodations. I was surprised to find the All Seasons, Comfort Inn, Hilton and the Hyatt in Australia too. Prices ranged from $75.00 to $594.00 and up. The $75.00 was not bad. That is about the same price you would find in the states.



I have always wanted to stay at the Hyatt. The Park Hyatt Sydney overlooks Sydney's spectacular Harbor. Has been there since the 1900's and is considered the most luxurious hotel in all of Australia. It's been home to heads of state and royalty.

In the end, we decided we could not afford such an extravagant trip.I guess we will have to win the lottery to see the Sydney Opera house,




the Australia Zoo,





and the Great Barrier Reef.



Maybe in my next life....

Tagged by Melinda- Ruler of the World

I've been tagged by Melinda over at Melinda Zook for this meme. The question I have to answer is this:

"If you were the ruler of the world and you could have anything you wanted as well as have people do anything you wanted, do you think you would get greedy and mean or would you be a good and fair ruler?"

This is an interesting question as I find myself in the middle of a dispute between two of my neighbors. They have been feuding since last fall and I fear that this is escalating way out of control. The police have been called in but they don't want to get involved. It concerns pets and not respecting each other's property. Both households have guns and have threaten to shoot the other's animals. I have been trying to stay neutral and not take anyone's side but it has been difficult. I am attempting to get a police officer I know to come in and mediate the situation as he has had experience in settling these types of disputes.

As far as the question goes, I would want people to get along with each other and the problem I see is that people get hell bent on being "right" no matter what.There are all sorts of conflicts over ridiculous trivial things ,things that can be easily resolved. All the killing in the world would stop if people would not let egos rule and realize that we have just this one world. If we don't take care of it and the people on it, then we have nothing. What ever happened to love thy neighbor?

So yes, I would want to be a fair and just ruler and I would want peace in the world for me and for everyone else!

Feel Free to Answer this Question

TAGGING RULES
This question came from “The Kids Book of Questions” by Gregory Stock, PH.D.


To play along:
1. Answer the question above on your blog (Remember: Don’t respond as you think others want you to. Respond the way you actually feel!
2. Add your name/link to the list below
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Try the Toilet Out First in the Showroom

We finally got our toilet in to replace the one that almost flooded out our house. I can't get my tile for another 2 to 3 weeks so I told my husband to install the toilet so that we can use it. Well, it went in and I was disappointed. The beige color, I knew was going to be a little darker than my shower but in the bathroom light it also appeared yellower than my shower too. Also my paint job which did finally come out, matches the shower color but not so much the toilet. Ugh! I can't believe it. Can anything else go wrong? I guess I should not complain. Somehow, I will figure out how to tie it all together.

Not only was the color off but the toilet was massive in size compared to the old one. It also sits up a lot higher. Testing out the toilet, I thought I was sitting on a throne. The shape of the toilet seat is a lot more oval than my old one and it just did not contour to the shape of my seat very well. I liked how the toilet looked in the showroom but it never occurred to me to actually sit on it and try it out first. I thought a toilet was a toilet but I guess I was wrong!

My Son is Coming Home

Tomorrow, I will be heading to campus to pick my oldest son up from college. He just completed his 1st year of school! I am very proud of him and look forward to seeing his smiling face. We will have to move everything out of his dorm room and haul it back. Monday, he will start working for an entomologist. He worked for him last summer and didn't mind it. I'm thinking perhaps next summer my son could look for internships in his major, construction management.

I went to Costco and bought a lot of extra food for Nick. He eats every 1/2 hour and literally goes through every dish,fork and glass in the house. I was running the dishwasher 2X a day and that is no joke. Not good for someone who is trying to go green. The last time he was home,I told him that he could only use 1 of everything and it had to last him the entire day. That worked out really well.

Cooking will be a challenge as Nick does not like gluten free food and Andy has been on the elimination diet for 4 months. I really don't want to have to cook 2 different meals. I was thinking of taking Andy off the gluten free diet to see if it makes a big difference and that should make things a little easier in the cooking department.
Andy also hates the gluten free food so it has been tough to keep weight on him.

Still, I hate to complain, I am glad my entire family will be back together under the same roof. This may be the last time that will happen.