Today’s question is: If you live out in the country do you have to like country music?

Background: I’ve been on many road trips in my life. When I was a kid my parents would pile us all in and we’d travel all over in our big old station wagon. I loved those road trips, except for the part where my parents insisted on smoking with the windows closed, that was torture. I loved them so much that to date the little turks and I have been on two extended road trips in the last two years (2005 for 18 days to the East coast and 2007 for 24 days to the East coast again).

The question comes because as I’ve driven out of big cities it seems that the music on the radio always fades to something country. It’s like you can search and search and all you get is country. Thank goodness for IPods, cds and satellite radio. But if you live out in the country and you don’t have any of those great things do you just grow to love that country music? Even if you never liked it as a teen or early 20′s person?

Personally, I think it’s OK in moderation. I would lose my mind if I had to listen to country music all day long. I know that’s not how it is for everyone but what do you do if you can’t stand it all the time and you have no options? I suppose you create options huh?

All I can say, again, is thank goodness for IPods, cds and satellite radio. I’m sure the country livers that have a low tolerance for country music thank their lucky stars for them every day.

Today’s question is: Why would someone Google search “my niece’s vulva”?

Background: Maybe the better question should read: why did someone who googled “my niece’s vulva” get sent to MY site???

I was looking at my recent keyword activity over at statcounter and I discovered this interesting little Google search from yesterday.

So, aside from trying to get over how I got linked to someone looking for their niece’s vulva, I can’t figure out why anyone would be looking for it on the Internet. Not only that, why would any aunt or uncle want to find out anything about their niece’s vulva? I know I have no interest in my niece’s vulva, so I can’t understand why anyone else would.

Unless they’re sickos?

Today’s question is: Why is picking the Christmas tree so fun?

Background: We always try to pick a Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving. Because our littlest fellow has a birthday the 5th of December we make it our goal to have all things Christmas up by the time his birthday arrives. For about 10 years we had a fake Christmas tree so it was fairly easy. A few years ago, because we had grown sick of the fake tree, we decided to go back to real. We gave the tree away to a rummage sale.

I felt picking the Christmas tree, was an important part of childhood. I kind of thought the kids were missing out on all the fun surrounding finding the tree. We don’t cut down our own, because too many are cut down for us and I can’t bring myself to cut another tree, but we still have fun. We first arrived at Bob’s tree lot:

Then the little turks decided to have a little fun with the tree measures:

Then they had to each have their own and run down the aisles:

Then it was off to follow daddy to find the perfect tree (truth be known, I find the perfect tree but I let them think they are picking it!):

We found it. Here’s the tree man cutting the end off for us:

We had it tied to the car:

And we took it home:

I love picking the tree, and I hope the turks do too.

Once I get out from under the decorations I’ll let you see how it went. We changed things up a bit this year going with the old fashioned bulb lights I grew up with. Give me time and I will share.

Enjoy your day.

today’s question is: Who cleans up after a tragedy?

background: Ok, I know this isn’t exactly a pleasant topic. A couple of weeks ago my sister and I were talking and we stumbled on this topic. Who cleans up after a murder? I know it’s a little (or more) grotesque, however, it is a valid question. One that until my sister brought it up I had never really thought about.

We hear and read about murders all the time in the media, so we know it happens. Sometimes we get great detail, but never do we hear about the clean up. Ever wonder?

I remember years ago there was a murder in my town. Some man’s wife was killed in the garage. The news reports stated that there was blood everywhere. The husband was suspected and later convicted of the crime.

So now I wonder, who cleaned it up? Did the man who did the deed have to do it? Does the fire department take on that job? Or is it the police? Or can you hire out for that? If you can hire out who do you call? I can’t imagine anyone advertises for that.

Today’s question is: Why do pig tails on grown woman make them look younger?

Background: Ok, the other day I had to go back to see my surgeon about my little rash. It had been one of those days where I had a million things to do. I had brought the kids to the dentist, taken them to the one grocery store that has all the gluten free products we like and then detoured to meet my sister so I could pick up her girls to spend a couple of days with us. Afterward I had 4 loads of laundry to do and I had to pick up the girls rooms. So, I had decided to put my hair in pig tails to keep it out of the way while I worked. I don’t do pig tails too often, but my hair has finally reached a length that allows the pig tails to look decent (about 3 or 4 inches below my shoulders).

PW came home early from work so I could see my surgeon. I’m sure he noticed the hair (probably his favorite style in the world), but because I was busy working and getting the turks to stop screaming and running out to get the Thanksgiving turkey, we didn’t discuss it.

After I dropped off the turkey I went immediately to the doctor. I waited a short while and was taken to a room where I got ready to show off my rash. In walks the doctor and, I kid you not, he says to me, “OMG you look 10 years younger with your hair like that”. Blushing, I say “are you kidding? All I need to do is stick my hair in some pig tails and take off 10 years? How lucky am I?” LMAO. I was a little flustered because he completely threw me off, how funny was that comment. PW and I have been laughing about it ever since.

It’s amazing to me that a simple little hair do can get me 10 years. It got me wondering if maybe it’s not that I really look that much younger with the pig tails, but that traditionally young girls wear their hair that way and it just conjures youngness.

I think maybe we should run a test. All the women that read this site should put their hair in some pig tails (if you have longish hair) and leave them in for a day and see how many comments you get on your hair. It would be an interesting test, don’t you think?

Now, just so you understand the pig tails they aren’t up on the sides of my head like a little kid. I wear the holders below my ears normally and on this day I had it very loose, with the holders down on my collar bone. So try it out and report back to me.

Happy day!

oh and ps. it seems like there’s a chance I’m allergic to latex. It’s the only thing we can determine from our little meeting about the rash. In the mean time the drugs are working wonders, thank goodness.

Today’s question is: Why would anyone inspect their spices before they sprinkle?

Background: A couple of years ago, I was making the turks this little treat I’ve always liked. It’s party rye with cream cheese and cucumber slices sprinkled with dill. I remember eating these when I was a kid and I really loved them. So I’d make them for the turks every now and again and hope they’d eat it.

Well this particular day, I was preparing the little pieces of yum and when I sprinkled the dill I noticed something. I looked real close and I saw some little light brownish things in with the dill. I looked again and decided they looked a lot like little molten skins of a worm or something like that. So, I looked in the dill spice container and I saw tons more little skins. And at further investigation, I noticed a very small little worm.

I was sick.

You see the thing is I’d had this little bottle of dill spice for a while. I had been sprinkling it in my soups and what not for, I’m not sure how long, but much longer than a year, much. I was sick to think that I had been eating little molten skins of a very tiny worm for years.

When I discovered worm I thought about how the allergist had told me there’s a certain amount of insect parts in packaged goods. I guess I just never thought it would be a live worm. I wanted to call McCormac and complain. I wanted to take pictures of all those little worm skins in the container. But in the end I did nothing. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who has ever had something like this happen. I’ll tell you one thing though, I check my spices before I sprinkle nowadays.

Happy Thanksgiving. Don’t forget to check your spices before you sprinkle!

Today’s question is: why does the FDA allow a certain percentage of insect parts in dry packaged goods??

Background: OK, sounds gross doesn’t it? Especially on the eve of Thanksgiving.

A few years back when we brought our middle turk in for some allergy testing we found out she tested positive for an allergy to cockroaches (oddly, commonly tested for). My reaction was pure astonishment. We live in a new home, we have no cockroaches that I know of and as far as I know she’s never been in a cockroach infested place.

Apparently, cockroaches have dander just like cats. So it’s easier to pick up the allergy if you spend time in places that have cockroaches. However, Daphne was 3.5 when we found out she was allergic to cockroaches and I couldn’t think of any place she’d been long enough to become allergic to a cockroach.

I asked the allergist flat out, how could she get an allergy to cockroaches if she’s never been around them? He said, that the FDA allows a certain amount of insect parts in packaged good and that she was probably ingesting cockroach parts in her cereal (or other packaged goods). I was shocked and slightly grossed out. Who would have thought? But that did explain several sneezing episodes while eating breakfast (and now it sort of explains why she doesn’t really want to eat cereal for breakfast).

I guess it makes sense that certain amounts of insect parts would have to be included. I mean there are insects everywhere. It would probably be next to impossible to manufacture anything without a bit of leeway giving in this department. But man oh man was I happier not realizing that I could be ingesting stuff I wouldn’t want to be. I still eat packaged goods but very rarely do I ever eat cereal.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a second dry packaged goods story. You won’t believe it, it’s gross.

Today’s question is: Why do the chipmunks act like they own the place?

Background: Some of you may not understand my distaste for the chipmunk. Some of you may actually find chipmunks kinda cute. I know who you are, you sang along with Alvin and the chipmunks when you were a kid. That Alvin and his friends were cute. Cute enough to even have a movie coming out in their honor soon. My chipmunks aren’t cute. They are rodents.

I have to say when the chipmunks started infiltrating the place I did think they were kinda cute. I mean, I honestly sang along with every single song Alvin and the Chipmunks ever sang. But, as they became more and more prevalent, I found them more and more annoying. First of all, their little holes are all around the base of my side door stairs and I just know their stinkin’ tunnels are running right under my brick walkway trying ever so hard to totally ruin it. Then there is the fact that they sit on the front porch (and side porch) and hang out chirping, acting like they own the place.

I know that might sound a little crazy. I figure I may even be reminding you of Caddy shack.

A rodent acting like they own the place?? Couldn’t be right?

The thing is I’m not the only one who feels a tad bit of resentment toward these little creatures. Half of my neighbors are trying, ever so hard, to get rid of these little guys. For the same reason as I am: they act like they own the place (not to mention they are also ruining other peoples walkways).

Let me tell you a quick story. There is this neighborhood cat. This cat seems to think our home is his home (maybe he has the same problem as the chipmunks??). The thing is I don’t particularly like cats. We used to have some wicker chairs and a couch out on the front porch with cushions on them and before long they became covered in cat hair. PW is highly allergic to cats. I had to get rid of that furniture because I couldn’t keep the neighborhood cats off of them and we couldn’t sit on them for fear of bringing cat dander into the house.

Anyway, the cat is always napping on our back porch or just hanging around. One day while doing the dishes I noticed the cat up on the ledge of our backyard fireplace. He was sitting there very still and I was thinking about how I was going to scare him to get rid of him. But then he did something that forever put him in a soft spot in my heart. He moved his head back and forth, back and forth and then he pounced and ran after an unsuspecting chipmunk and got him. I think I cheered from inside the house. At that very moment I vowed to never get annoyed with that cat again. He is with me in my quest to rid the yard of chipmunks. (I only don’t like it when he leaves behind their bodies, that’s just gross.)

I think one of the reasons we have an over population of chipmunks is because of the lack of crows. We lost many, if not all, of our crows (which were nasty anyway) to West Nile Virus a few years back. Without the crows naturally controlling the population chipmunks they’ve just been running rampant. I often wonder if we’ll ever get the crows back. Until then I’ve got to figure out a way of getting rid of those little pests. Maybe I need to get more neighborhood cats?

Today’s question is: Why, when you want to move forward, does it seem you always have to step back?

Background: As many of you know I had a minor procedure last week to fix a scar from a surgery last year. What happened last year was basically something like a suture abscess. For whatever reason my body didn’t agree with the stitches in one part of the incision and after a few months it started to look infected. I ended up having about 5 spots get very red, need to be opened and drained and cared for. In all I probably spit 20 or more stitches in the recovery span. The scars left behind from the little abscesses were kinda yucky and gross. They pulled and tingled and hurt, ever so slightly, it was bothersome. So last week, despite the fact that the surgeon said he felt like we might be opening Pandora’s box, I decided to get it fixed.

The fix looks great, totally. I can foresee that the pain associated with the old scarring will be gone and all the big red scars are gone. I’m happy with that aspect, it’s why I did it.

The problem, 1 step back, is that my body, apparently, doesn’t agree with the new stitches. You all remember me complaining about the pain last week, right? Well I got that under control and now I’m not taking any pain meds. However, I have a rash. All around the incision the skin is red there are very small blisters and it itches beyond belief. I’ve been very, very good at keeping busy to try to forget about the itch as much as possible. It’s a lot easier to do during the day than at night. Night time is the worst. I’ve been hoping, since Friday, when I realized that I have a rash and not just a little bit of redness from the procedure, that it would simply go away.

It has not.

I finally broke down and called the nurse this morning. Not because I wanted to. It’s like admitting defeat. I did it because my sister, who is a foot reflexologist, said I had to. Well, I knew I had to, but living in denial would have worked for me for at least a few more days.

You see my awesome sister came over and gave me a nice 1 hour foot reflexology treatment last night. She worked the area of my incision for a good amount of time and really made it burn. It felt great. But she urged me to let surgeon know that I’m still sensitive to the replacement sutures. She said it wasn’t fair to let him think it was ok, when it really wasn’t. I know she was right, it’s just that I wish it could have all just gone totally fine. It makes me mad (and a wee bit sad) that I couldn’t just get the easy fix I wanted. Why can’t things just be easy?

So, now I’m going to walk to the pharmacy to pick up my antibiotic and my oral steroid to see if we can stay on top of whatever is happening within my body. I totally hate being told “I told you so” and I know that’s exactly what my surgeon is thinking at this point. I just wish it wasn’t so. It’s a bummer for me.

And as if the rash wasn’t bad enough, it looks like I’m developing a sty in my eye. Am I lucky or what?

Today’s question is: Why do people alienate other people?

Background: Apparently there’s a bit of trouble on our PTA. Now, because I overdid it last year I’m keeping pretty much to myself as far as the PTA goes at the turkeys school. The only thing I’m in charge of is Bike Safety Day in May. As you know, I never actually said I’d take on that job. Otherwise I’m just doing small volunteer stuff that requires little or no interaction with the PTA board.

It seems as though the president of the PTA isn’t in a very good mood these days and is yelling at people left and right. Now, the important thing to remember about working on the PTA is it is strictly volunteer work. No one is getting paid. And chances are they have taken on a job that is completely complicating their lives because they probably have too much to do already. This equates to these people being very nice to take the jobs in the first place. There just isn’t an easy PTA job.

So, in the last couple of weeks the PTA president has been yelling at people. She’s been criticizing how they have chosen to do their jobs. She’s caused them to quit. So far the secretary and the communications department (the people who put out the monthly newsletter and the weekly info sheet) have resigned. It’s not good. I makes me wonder, why oh why, do people alienate others? I mean why yell at someone who is working for free? What do you gain from that???

Maybe she just wanted to create more work for herself? Who knows?