Three Things You Should Teach A Child - Blog Hop Tuesdays

The Blog Hop theme for this coming Monday is "THREE THINGS EVERY PARENT SHOULD TEACH THEIR KIDS".
To keep from getting a lot of the same obvious answers, try to be specific and let's bypass some of the obvious: be honest, love your parents, love God, be kind to others, accept Jesus as your Savior (Christian parents will feel obligated to list some of those).
This is not a list of the MOST IMPORTANT, so do not feel like you must list the highest priority or the obvious, which will end up having the same thing repeated by everyone over and over. Try to be specific and creative. This your three items with a sentence or two explanation.

My number one answer would be love of God and His word, but since we've been instructed to leave out the obvious I didn't put that as one of my three. Here are a few, less obvious, things every child should be taught.

1. If You're Going To Regret It, Don't Do It! This rule of thumb has served me well through my life.  Before doing something think, tomorrow, next week, or next year will I regret making this decision?  A lot of heartache can be spared just by looking before you leap.
   
2. How To Change A Tire And Jump Start A Battery And Other Minor Car Repairs. DS left his lights on at school yesterday.  Fortunately, the campus security has a jumper pack but even if they hadn't DS knows how to use jumper cables.  Anytime Hubby has work to do on our vehicles he makes DS help, even if he just watches it's important for him to learn basic car repair.
3. The Basics Of How To Clean And Cook.  My mom worked some evenings when I was in my early teens and I was responsible for making dinner and getting the house in order.  I may not have loved it at the time, but it gave me some great life skills.  I just realized that I haven't taught my son much in the way of cooking, (I'll get right on that!) but he is expected to do certain chores which include emptying the dishwasher, taking out the garbage, weedeating, dusting, and cleaning his room.  A little responsibility never hurt anyone!
   

Health Insurance Woes

The one thing we’ve always enjoyed has been a good Health Care plan. Where hubby works they always offered great coverage for a very low price. Well that’s about to change folks! We recently received the enrollment kit for next year’s coverage and have only two options one of which is triple the price we have been paying and the other is basically the same price except instead of having a PPO you get a Health Care savings account. I knew that many businesses were going this route but the health insurance always seemed to me to be what drew people to work here. Not any more! I guess it’s just another sign of the economy of today!

Hubby inquired about Individual Health Insurance, but it wasn’t any less expensive and then we’d also have to outsource dental, vision, and life insurance and I’ve just been through looking for worker’s comp for his small lawn care business and don’t care to go through the process again filling out forms, like life insurance leads, etc., getting messages, returning calls, explaining our situation, ya da, ya da, ya da… I would if it would save us a bundle, but it doesn’t look like it would be much, if anything.

So, I guess we’ll go with the Health Care savings account. If we can keep from getting sick or going to the hospital, in the long run it will be cheaper.

I’m not saying I’m for or against universal health coverage, but it makes you understand what all the talk is about!

Boom Boom Pow For Music Monday

I recently downloaded this song. It’s a lot of fun and makes you want to move and either work out or dance.

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.




PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

I Can Dance, Who Stinks And What's The Weirdest Thing You've Ever Eaten?

Welcome to the September 24th version of Thursday Thunks!

(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)

Where we make you think

a little bit before you blog!

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Kimber, the number 1172007 and the color of the walls in an asylum.

My answers are in red. Question #10 I wrote for you... be sure to answer it in your comment!

1. Does soap or shampoo have to really lather up for you to feel that it cleaned throughly? Natural shampoos and soaps don't lather well and I know that... but I really like the bubbles!!

2. Do you have a long standing joke with someone that you still laugh about every time you talk to that person? No, but I have a not-long standing joke with one of my friends that I can't help laughing "at her" about!

3. Share something that happened to you this past week that was unusual.  Not much out of the ordinary this week.  Last week we went to a poker run on Lake Cumberland.  Not every day you get to see boats run over 100 miles per hour!

4. If you dropped a purple crayon and a green crayon off a roof, which would melt faster in the sun?  Purple.  The darker color would absorb more heat.?.

5. You are standing in line (grocery store, bank, etc.), and someone gets in line behind you that stinks. The stink is so bad that people in line in front of you turn around and look to see if you are the one causing the stink. Do you cover your nose, hold your breath, breathe through your mouth or just get out of line altogether? I'm too nice, I'd probably stay in line, maybe give the people in front of me a funny grimace that says, What's that smell?

6. If you dropped your cell phone in the toilet, would you fish it out? If so, how much soap would you use to wash your hands afterwards?  Cell phones cost too much, I'd fish it out and then wash everything (me included in antibacterial soap and spray it all with a bottle of Lysol.  Yuck!

7. Sydney Australia dust storm (link). How long do you think it would take you to clean your house after that sort of dust storm?  Ugh!!  Cleaning!!  Yuck!!  I'm a professional house cleaner and wouldn't want to touch that mess! But a good pressure washer should take care of the outside and inside I hope I would have had some good air filters to keep most of the dust out!

8. Do you think you can dance?  Don't we all?  I probably look like Elaine on Seinfeld.


9. You are out to eat and someone across the room is staring at you. Do you get paranoid, try to ignore them, or go find out why they are staring at you? Get paranoid!  I'd be sure they were going to follow me home and murder me in my sleep!

10. Come up with a crazy, wacky Thursday Thunk question.  My step-grandmother (for a time) was from Thailand and she once had a pot-luck picnic.  At this picnic were dishes such as robin egg and fish gut soup.  So my question to you is, What is the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?

Red Australia

I saw this on the news tonight and thought it was fascinating. No, the photo is not edited (Photoshoped) that's the way the sky looked today in Eastern Australia.

High winds blew dust in from the outback and filled the air with a new record high air pollution level. Windstorms are common in the center of Australia but seldom are the winds strong enough to blow the dust into the populated areas of the coast.

The dust caused airline delays and the residents were warned to stay inside if they had any respiratory problems.

As odd and potentially dangerous as it was, it made for some very pretty photographs.

Slow Internet Connection, Talking Dogs, And Outdoor Lighting

My internet connection is crawling and has been ever it was out for a few hours yesterday. I called my ISP and they ran a speed check and will have someone on Monday come out here to look at it. Until then it's like I have dial-up again -- without the cool phone noises at the beginning of the session.

My dog is talking again. We decided to go for a walk this evening and we were only going to take our little dog, but then the big one was so sad and he was crying and hubby couldn't stand it any longer, so even though I said he'd be in pain tonight, hubby went and got him and let him come with us. Now I have a dog complaining! More than likely he wants a drink and doesn't want to get up to get it. When I'm done here I'll go cater to his needs since it's hard to explain to dog that the world doesn't revolve around him.

Do you have as much trouble keeping those little outdoor solar lights intact and working as I do? I've been through at least two, maybe three sets of them. They either get a crack in them and water gets in there or they get hit by a car or lawn mower. I think it's usually the mower, but no one will confess to it and since it was the one by the driveway I have no proof. Maybe I need to find some outdoor lights made of solid steel?

(Oh, I just went took my dog his water bowl. He drank a bunch and is now happy. How spoiled is that?)

Hugs, The News And Take Something For Your Headache For Thursday Thunks

I'm actually posting this a little early for once!  Here is this week's Thursday Thunks. My answers are in red.

Welcome to the September 17th version of Thursday Thunks!
(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)
Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!
This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Berleen, the number one thousand twenty seven and the color of leaves in the fall.

1. My daughter (aka Demon #1) informed me the other day that her hugs were worth a million dollars. Would you give up hugs - giving and receiving - for the rest of your life, for a million dollars? You better believe it!  I'm not that much of a touchy-feely person anyway.


2.Have you ever been bitten by a member of the canine family? Only lightly by my great-grandmothers little chihuahua.  He would nip at everyone... demon dog!

3. What is your favorite color of jeans? Jeans are meant to be blue.  Thus, Forever In Blue Jeans, Babe.

4. What is something that has changed in public schools that you wish was the norm when you were in school?  In the county I grew up in, you can choose a magnet school that specializes in such-and-such.  It would be great to get to focus on your major while still in high school.  Although, I did take Word Processing and it was extremely helpful.

5. What is your news source?  Local news affiliate channels, the Bonnie Hunt show, The View.

6. What sort of people do you think read your blog? Other than friends, I'd say mommy bloggers trying to get more traffic/backlinks to their own blogs.

7. If I told you that I had a headache, you would say..........???  Have you taken anything for it?

8. You go to a buffet style restaurant, what is the first food you put on your plate? Some sort of meat.

9. If you were stranded on a desert island.... no, we aren't asking that again. Lets put a twist into this. Would you volunteer to be dropped off on a desert island, to be picked up in a month? And you don't get to bring those 3 items, either.  Why the heck would I leave my laptop for a month on an island alone?  I'd lose my mind!

10. When the sun sets, what are you usually doing? Making dinner.

Join us every Thursday for Thursday Thunks!

http://thursdaythunks.blogspot.com/

Happy I Can Be A TV Head Again!

I'm so excited that the fall television season is starting this week! I love mindless television and if it were up to me there would be no summer break. I'm sick of watching reruns and movies on bluray and DVD. Of course, maybe the break makes me appreciate the new season more. You know as the saying goes... distance makes the heart grow fonder.

I guess I'm the most excited about the return of The Office. The older I get the more I enjoy comedy and this show always makes me laugh! Oh, and I can't wait to find out if Pam is pregnant.

And on the same night a new season of Survivor starts. You'd think I'd be tired of this one by now, but I still enjoy it and this season looks to have a lot of controversy from the previews.

I just started watching The Biggest Loser last year and fell in love with it! It starts tomorrow night and I'm practically giddy. Who knows maybe it will motivate me to lose a few pounds!

Then there's Grey's Anatomy. Who doesn't love Grey's? SPOILER ALERT!!! While searching for the date of the season premier (Sept. 24) I ran across this video with the first five minutes of the new season.



OK... so you didn't learn much. But did it get you as excited for the new season as it did me?

Oh my, the list goes on and on. The Amazing Race, Private Practice, Hero's, SNL (now in primetime)... All this and I haven't even considered the new shows that I might find interesting such as The Good Wife, Accidentally On Purpose, The Middle, and Cougar Town.

Well, if I seem sporadic in my writing you know what I'm doing. But on the other hand think of all the shows I can review!

Hand Sanitizer Warning - Something All Parents Should Be Aware Of

The first thing I do when I get back into my car after grocery shopping is lather on hand sanitizer. My hands feel so grimy after touching everything from a dirty grocery basket to raw meat containers. So when I started reading an email that came to me yesterday about a potential danger hand sanitizer holds for young children, I thought it was just another hoax.

Turns out this one was true. However, let me start by stating that when used in the proper manner, you'll have no problems with hand sanitizers. In fact, in one study the subjects that used hand sanitizers, versus those that were encouraged to wash their hands frequently, experienced a 59% reduction in gastrointestinal illnesses. That's a huge percentage and shows the importance of hand sanitizers - especially with flu season coming up!

That said, children can be mischievous, curious, and sometimes they don't think before they act. So they need to be supervised when using hand sanitizers - they aren't just like using hand lotion. In fact, some contain more than 60% ethyl alcohol. Just imagine handing your toddler a couple ounces of hard liquor and what the result would be!

Here's the email I received. Remember, there may be some minor discrepancies from the original happening. But the gist of the story is the same and the moral of the story, (supervise children using hand sanitizers) is a tale worth heeding.

Yesterday, my youngest daughter, Halle who is just 4 years old, was rushed to the ER by her father for being severely lethargic and incoherent in her classroom. He was called to her school by the school secretary who said that she was 'VERY VERY SICK'!

He told me that when he arrived at her classroom, Halle was barely sitting in the chair. She couldn't hold her own head up and when he looked into her eyes, she couldn't focus them. He immediately scooped her up and rushed her to the closest ER, and then called me. When he got there, they ran blood test after blood test and did x-rays, every test imaginable. Her white blood cell count was normal, nothing was out of the ordinary.

When I arrived at the ER, the doctor there told us that he had done everything that he could do so he was transferring her to Saint Francis Hospital for further tests. Right as we were leaving in the ambulance, her teacher arrived at the ER and told us that after questioning Halle 's classmates, She had found out that our little girl had licked liquid hand sanitizer off of her hands!!! Hand sanitizer, of all things! But it makes sense. These days they have all kinds of different scents and flavors and when you have a curious child, they are going to put all kinds of things into their mouths.

When we arrived at the Saint Francis' Hospital ER, we told the ER Doctor there to check her blood alcohol level, and yes we did get weird looks, but they did it. The results showed her blood alcohol level was 85% -- six hours after we first took her! There's no telling what it would have been if we would have requested it at the first ER.

Since then, her school and a few surrounding schools have taken the liquid hand sanitizers out of all the lower grade classes, but what's to stop middle and high schoolers from ingesting this stuff?

After doing research on the Internet, we found out that it only takes about 3 squirts of the stuff ingested to be fatal to a toddler. For her blood alcohol level to be so high, it would be like someone her size drinking120 proof liquor. So PLEASE, PLEASE, don't disregard this because we don't ever want another family to go through what ours has gone through.

For more information see: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp

Looking For A New Cell Phone

I'm finally due for a cell phone upgrade. My old phone has been turning itself off randomly -- even during conversations! It's very frustrating... to say the least!

So, I'm looking at my options. I was thinking about getting a used phone so I don't have to extend my contract, but it's only been 8 months since DS upgraded his, adding two years, so what's 8 more months when you already have a year and 4 months to wait. And, I'll get the phone much cheaper this way.

My first thought was the iPhone. My carrier, AT&T, has some good deals on them and they have some really great iphone accessories - not to mention all the apps you can get, but I'm not one hundred percent convinced I'll like a touch screen.

My next pick is the LG Xenon. It has a little of both worlds, the touch screen but with the slide out QWERTY keyboard. I don't text a ton, but I tried this phone out when I was at the State Fair and the keys are a good size and easy to use. I think I could be happy with this phone. However, the Samsung Impression is a lot like the LG Xenon. Actually they have the exact same features including the touch screen with a slide out keyboard.

I do know that I'm not interested in a Blackberry. Their keyboards are so small I'm not sure how anyone can use them without constantly hitting the wrong keys.

I guess it will come down to which one I can better deal on. I have 12 days to look at the ads and decide, but if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them!

Onions For Bee Stings & Bug Bites

Last week I was taking out the trash when this horrible pain shot through my foot. I looked down and saw what I think was a hornet (It could have been a wasp - but it looked to dark in color.) fly out from between the bottom of my foot and my flip flop.

The pain was excruciating. I couldn't hardly breathe it was so bad. Hubby ran over and helped me in the house, as I'm crying hysterically, and then he ran and grabbed an onion and cut off a chunk and rubbed it on the sting.

He's always used this home remedy for bee stings. In my family we would make a paste of baking powder and water and apply it to the sting, but he's always been convinced that the onion remedy was better, even though I was a skeptic.

Well, whether or not it's better I still don't know, but I do know that his remedy is not just an old wives' tale, it's based on scientific fact. According to the June issue of First magazine, chopped onions release the sulfur compound allicin. It acts as an all-purpose antibiotic that keeps bites from getting infected while also calming inflamed skin.

I've since recovered from my sting but since mosquitoes also love me, I'll be sure to keep plenty of onions in the house!

Glucosamine Helps Spanky Get A Good Nap

When my son was little he started the usual chant of many a small child, "Can we get a dog?" I was fine with the idea, but hubby on the other hand, had never really had any pets that he was close to and didn't think he should start now.

After months of begging and explaining that the benefits of having a dog outweighed the negatives. (Studies show that children with a pet learn to care and nurture others, develop a sense of responsibility, establish a daily exercise routine and develop friendships. See Kids & Dogs for more info.) DH said that when he got his new truck we could get a dog!

The first puppy we got turned out to be dud. OK, that's putting it a little crass. Actually she had a genetic defect and died at 3 months old. It broke all of our hearts, but it hit my husband (the man who didn't want a pet!) the hardest.

Two days after she she passed, we drove almost two hours away to a breeder to see her last two Lab pups. We named our new puppy Spanky and didn't know what a crazy adventure we were in for!

If you've never had a Lab pup you should probably watch Marley And Me to get an idea of what you are in for. (Although I've only seen the trailer - my friends tell me I couldn't handle it because Marley looks too much like Spanky.) You may think it's an exaggeration - I assure you, it's not! Our new, cuddly, cute, puppy tore every pillow and towel in the house. He ripped my skirt off me one day and he also cost us a small fortune when he dug through our bathroom's vinyl floor and we had to replace it with tile.

No, we didn't kill him, (though there were moments I said I would like to) and we somehow managed to get through those two horrible years of chewing. Now, Spanky is almost 10 and is nothing but gentleness. He is my son's best friend. They slept in the same bed for years until Spanky's arthritis got to the point that he seldom heads upstairs any longer. Now we can't even take him for short walks or he cries in pain at night.

When we went to the Vet this summer, (Which was a job in itself! Getting a 75-pound dog in and out of a Jeep without having dog ramps takes some skill.) she suggested I give him glucosamine. It's helped some. Though he won't generally go upstairs at night, now he will venture up the stairs after a good night's rest just to get in a bed for a nap!

I had thought that he should be on glucosamine but found out that I was giving him way too little. She told me that a dog needs quite a bit more than a human, between 3,000 and 4,000 mgs a day.

Though he'll never be a puppy again, and we dread the day that we lose our friend, at least he doesn't cry at night any more. If you have a dog that's having a hard time getting around, be sure to speak to your Vet about your options, including glucosamine. Your best friend will be happy you did!

Billy Currington - People Are Crazy On Music Monday

I'm back from my Blogcation. OK, so I took a week off some time off from blogging - on any of my blogs! I was getting burnt out and needed a break... so I took it. I had some time to actually look at some of the many magazines I get and I cut out some information that I thought would be good fodder for blogging. I made up files for each of my blogs and put the articles in the corresponding file. So, the hope is, I won't easily run out of things to write about for a while!

Back to regular programming...

I picked this song by Billy Currington for this week's Music Monday because the lyrics are incredible! Yes, it sounds silly, and yes, it is. But sad thing is... it's true! Hope you enjoy!

Billy Currington - People Are Crazy
Uploaded by UniversalMusicGroup. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Lyrics | Billy Currington lyrics - People Are Crazy lyrics

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.




PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!