The Root Canal. . .

I have had a root canal before but it has been at least a year maybe two.  I have had an infection in this tooth and was in quite a bit of pain up until this weekend.  I had been taking strong pain meds so that I could sleep through the night.  Since Mark is working I asked my neighbor and good friend to drive me to the endodontist  ?(sp) today.  I took one of my stronger pain meds as a precaution.  I thought it would knock some of the edge off.  Well, it did that but it also made me quite chatty.  I was talking up a storm with the office staff and the nurses and my friend too.  I know you guys probably think what else is new.  Well I was talking more today than normal.  I confessed to the staff that I had taken this pain med and they understood and said it was probably a good idea.  The did not have to use the gas and I did not have to get as many shots as I have had in the past.  At least I did not think they gave me as many. 
After my procedure I was feeling no pain at all.  Between the pain meds I had taken and the shots they gave me I was pretty happy.  Weeks before all this I had promised my friend that I would take her to Mark's cousin's jewelry shop which was right around the corner from my doctor's office.  As we were walking to the car I asked if she wanted to go.  She of course asked if I felt like it or not.  I told her I was feeling no pain and that it would be fun.  So off I go, feeling like I had a mouth full of cotton but in no pain, to the jewelry shop.  My friend was looking for those Pandora bracelets that everyone has been raging over.  She was shopping for Christmas for a couple of her friends.  Now my friend is on the right track, working on her shopping through the year and not waiting to the last minute like I sometimes do.  So back to the bracelets, she was able to get her bracelets and things at a much more reasonable price than most of the local jewelry places around here.  Of course Mark's cousin saw that I was a bit incapacitated and wanted to show me his new diamonds he had just gotten in.   I guess he thought I might have been an easy mark.  HA HA!!  Normally I would have been but, I showed great restraint.

First full week of school. . .

The boys had a pretty good week.  The each had their share of homework to do.  Thomas is having to work more on reading comprehension this year and I am not sure he is ready.  He likes to read or at least he does not mind it so much but he does not retain what he has read very well.  Jack's group seems to be concentrating on math more this year.  Jack has done well, thus far, in school but I don't think he has been challenged.  He likes his teacher this year he said she is very funny.   The teacher called the other night to see how Jack was doing and to see if I had any questions and I asked her about the funny.  She said she just tries to relate to the kids on their level and sometimes that means talking about boogers and snot.  I was a little shocked.  This teacher did get teacher of the year in 2006 -2007 though, so she must be doing something right and she has Jack's attention.
Thomas came home the other day telling me that Jack's teacher had ridden their bus that day.  She had sat up in the front across from Thomas.  Thomas asked her if she was Jack's teacher she told him she was and he replied, "I feel your pain for having him in your class.   I am his brother and I feel your pain."  You can imagine what she must have been thinking.    There is never a dull moment in my house.

First week of School. . .

We all survived the week.  The kids had a really good week and they both like their teachers.  Yeah!!  That always makes my school year go better.   They each have friends and kids that they know in their classes and that helps too.  No real homework this week but, I have a sinking feeling about next week.  The boys are also going to be starting football practice next week. 
I got a bargain on lean ground beef at the meat market this week so I have browned and frozen several pounds for future meals.  Having this frozen browned meat readily available helps  with meal preparation.  I can just pull some out of the freezer and put it in the skillet it is thawed in no time and just add what ever seasonings I want.  When I browned it I also seasoned it with a little white wine ( of course) and some fresh garlic.  I use those no matter what I am fixing.   We also had spaghetti, baked spaghetti, tacos and hamburgers this week.  I bought a lot of lean ground beef.  Tonight we had meatloaf.  I tried a new recipe from my favorite website www.allrecipes.com .  I am always looking for new ways to fix meatloaf.  HA HA
This recipe is "Glazed Meatloaf."   Those of you that know me, know that I never follow the recipe specifically I always change a few things.  For this recipe I added a little too much lemon juice to the glaze but it was still ok.  I know lemon juice?  You would not think of that being very good in a meatloaf but it was good even though I added way to much.  Any who check out the site and see what you may find for dinner tomorrow.  The point of all of this was that because we had not had something to do every night I was able to cook some pretty good meals for the family.
Until we eat again. . .

No money from the tooth fairy?

Monday Jack pulled his tooth.  So Monday night he was to put his tooth in his dish for the tooth fairy.  Tuesday morning he got up and did not mention what the tooth fairy had given him.  I did not ask but Mark did.  He told his Daddy that she left him a note.  Mark looked at him funny and said, "A note, where is it?"  Jack said he had tore it up.  He did not want Thomas to see it.  We asked him what it said.  He replied, "She wrote no tooth no money."   I asked him what that meant.  He said Daddy told me to do it.  He said why don't we mess with the tooth fairy.  So instead of putting his tooth in his dish just for the tooth fairy he hid it in a puzzle box in a different spot.   Since his tooth was not where it was supposed to be he did not get any money.  Jack blames his Daddy for that one and so do I.  How nutty can my husband be?  Why would he tell Jack to hide his tooth?  I still have not figured that one out.  Last night as we were saying our night night prayers I asked Jack if his tooth was in his dish.  He said yes and he still insists that it is his Daddy's fault that he did not get any money the night before.  This morning when Jack got up to get ready for school he came downstairs to get breakfast and he laid a $1 bill on the kitchen table.  I asked him what the dollar was for.  He said that is what the tooth fairy gave him.  He usually gets $2.  He was quite upset that he did not get his $2 and still blames his Daddy.  Some of you may say $2, that is not much from the tooth fairy.  Well, to my kids it is a lot.   Our tooth fairy is frugal and $2 is the normal fee for a tooth at out house.  When or if they get more it is a pleasant surprise but they do not expect it automatically.  Now that Jack sees he can get less from the tooth fairy I think he will not try that again no matter what his Daddy tells him.
The dish I keep referring to above is a little ceramic dish in the shape of a tooth and it has Jack's name on it.  When you take the lid off  this is written inside, "put tooth here."  Mark made this for Jack when he was just a baby.  I know Mark and ceramics?  He went with a group of nurses that he works with to this little ceramic place and did this.  He also made me a ceramic "Frito." 

The Beach continuted . . .

Mark played in the water with the kids just about everyday.   We had some good waves a couple of days.  The kids played on their boogy boards that their aunt Robbie had gotten for them.  They loved to play on them and pretend they were surfing.   Mark had fun riding those waves too.
 I always got up before anyone else in the house.  That was good because I could go out on the beach for a walk before it got too terribly hot. It also gave me a good hour of quiet time in the house to read.  I enjoyed my walks in the quiet morning,  it was so peaceful.  One day when I came back from my walk Mark was up and said he wanted to go for a walk too.  So off we went.  It was really nice for us to be together for a quiet walk on the beach.  I felt like a teenager again on a first date.  I wanted to hold his hand and play in the water.   I don't know if he felt that way or not it is still hard to read him even after 17 years.   In my version of course he does feel the same.   HA  HA!!   We also took walks after supper a couple of nights.   On the after supper walks the kids usually would go with us, at least Jack would.  Thomas is so stubborn sometimes he does not know what he is missing.  Jack was of course on the shark tooth hunt.   They played cards or trippley most every night.  I don't think anyone went to bed before 10 or 11 most nights except maybe me.   I think I went to bed before everyone every night, but  of course I was also the one up at 6:30 most mornings too.  It was a great trip and we relaxed for most of it.

The Beach

Yeah, we are home from the beach.  We had not been in three years so it was nice to get away.  We rented a house on the beach for the whole family.  It was great!  I think a week may be too long for my kids though.  Thomas was ready to go home after a couple of days.  He said, "Mommy is it time to go home?  I have been in the water, I have played in the sand, we played put put, and we have eaten out.  Isn't it time to go?"  I told him no, that we still had several days left to play in the sand and the ocean.  That child has his check list and once he has done everything on his list he is done.   Any suggestions on how to get over that?
The kids went to the Aquarium and I got to go shopping.   That is a definite advantage to staying with family you have to do what they want to do.  Since they insisted on going shopping I had to go.  Ho hummm.  Poor me all the outlets in the world and I had to go through them all.  HA HA!!  Shhhhhhh, don't tell Mark. 
The men got to go deep sea fishing though so don't feel sorry for them at all.   They went out on a head boat for most of the day deep sea fishing the day before we hit all the outlets.   
Mark and the kids have started a family tradition of collecting sharks teeth.  Mark and his dad collected them over the years and Mark has a jar full of them.  So he started that tradition with our kids.  They now have a good start to their own jar of sharks teeth.  Mark and Jack walked the beach looking for these tiny treasures and they both were very excited each time they found one.  Maybe that will be something Jack and Thomas will pass to their kids as well. 

Anyone need an Electrician? ?

Well, I have the number for you.  With the storms that came through the other day the lightning blew out one of our circuits in our basement.  Of course it would be the one that our freezer runs on.  Now we don't keep a lot of stuff in our freezer but enough that with no power it would be a mess.   So off I go to find an electrician.  Now I always look for those that are associated with the BBB and I check their ratings.  I do however, depend on others opinions too.  I also called our insurance agent to get his recommendation.  He gave me the name and number of a local small business.  I like small business folks too.  They are the ones that are still concerned about customer service and satisfaction.  I like that. 
I went with the gentleman that my insurance agent recommended.  The poor guy did not get here until 9:00 last night.  He was working several urgent calls and worked us in.  I appreciate that so very much.  Here is the sigh of relief,  it did not cost me an arm and a leg and it was a simple fix.  Thank goodness.   My freezer is still working and no loss of food.  Yeah.   This nice fellow was not associated with the BBB but if he was I am sure he would have an A+ rating.  If anyone needs his number shoot me an email.  And no I do not get kick backs.   I just think we have to look out for each other and if we know someone that is reliable then we should let others know about them.