Summer Reading

I love to read. I have always been a reader. Ever since I was in Grammar School. I remember one time my school had a read-a-thon. Where you raise money for every book you read. I think we gave the money to the March-of-Dimes. Anyway, you had a month to read as many books as you could. I remember I read over 30 books! It was like a book a day!

It's harder to do as much reading now a days. With all the other stuff that needs to get done. But I still like to read when I get a chance. I got my love of reading from my mother. She reads constantly. And I'm trying to pass it on to my kids.

My son likes to read, but doesn't do it as much as he should. And my daughter is just starting to read on her own. Books she likes. Before "Mom" was still kind of reading to her. But now she likes to read to herself, which is great.

One thing that was cool, was the first day of no school, my kids actually wanted to go to the book store to pick out a book! I thought that was great, so they could continue to do reading over the summer. Like I said before my daughter loves American Girls. So she picked out an American Girl book. My Son picked out "Flush," by Carl Hiaasen. He also wrote the book "Hoot," which they had made into a movie a couple of years ago. And I'm reading a Danielle Steel book (I know not to serious, but I like to read that kind of book, especially in the Summer), "The Wedding."

So get to the book store, or your local library and get books for everyone! Do some Summer Reading! What books are you reading? Any good suggestions for kids books?

***Here's links to the books we're reading****

Mommy Bloggers Will Love SocialSpark

When I started blogging, almost 6 months ago I was doing it mostly for fun. But I was also trying to find ways of making money online. Being a Stay at home mom I wanted to be able to stay home for the kids, but wanted to contribute in some way to our household income.

It was hard at first finding any opportunities. And now with the economy getting tougher my family could really use some more money coming in. Who couldn't? That's why I was so happy when I discovered SocialSpark recently.

I've really been having a great time writing posts for SocialSpark, and have really been getting regular opportunities with them. I've been able to make great earnings so far on SocialSpark.

I encourage all "Mommy Bloggers" out there to sign up for SocialSpark. It's really easy to do, and you can start making money almost immediately.

If you're a mom and want to be able to stay home with the kids. Still have free time to do all your "mom" things, still blog about all the fun things you like to blog about. But still be able to make some money too, then you really should give SocialSpark a try. Just go to there website, create your profile, add your blog. Once you're approved, you can start taking opportunities and you'll be on your way to making an income of your own. So go ahead mom's get blogging at SocialSpark, I'm glad I did!

American Girl Store

My daughter loves American Girl dolls. She received two this past Christmas. She got Felicity (shown) and her friend Elizabeth. She really loves them! Even almost 6 months later, she is still playing with them. She likes to dress them up, take them to the park and put them in their own bed.

She got outfits for them for Christmas too, a bed they can sleep in and a dog and cat. They are really great quality dolls. They are rather expensive though. She wants another one, she hasn't made the final decision as to which one she wants yet. She has until Christmas to decide, because of the expense she will have to wait until then.

My daughter also likes going the the website they have. The American Girl website seems really fun. She likes to look at all the dolls, the accessories and the different things they have on there. There also seems to be a lot of fun games you can play, for free! She seems to enjoy all the different games.

So if your looking for a great present for your daughters I highly recommend the American Girl dolls. And for a great website with lots to do and fun free games check out there website: American Girl Store.

Blog About The Things You Love

When I signed up for SocialSpark.com, I think I read somewhere "get paid to blog about the things you love." So far I've done some interesting posts for them. And I've really enjoyed doing them.

But now SocialSpark is trying to target even more new advertisers. And they would like to know what companies, brands or products bloggers want to sponsor their blogs. For me personally I would love to blog about some of the companies I love. It would be really fun to talk about say, Walmart, or Target! I love those stores.

Or some brands I love like Diet Coke, my favorite soda! How about Lee Jeans. That would be fun, I love those jeans! Some products could be toasters, microwaves or coffee makers. I would love to write about products like that since I've been using them for years!

It would be great for more advertisers to check out SocialSpark, and advertise through them. It would be a win-win situation for everyone. When I first started blogging I remember reading that blogs are so high up in the search engines because they are updated so frequently. And that could be great for advertisers. And if new and exciting advertisers came to SocialSpark, it would be great for bloggers, because then bloggers could blog about the things they love.

Chance To Win $25.00 KB Toy Store GC

I was just visiting Toni's blog It's Nap Time. And saw that she's having her first giveaway! She's having a contest to win a $25.00 Gift Certificate to KB Toy Store.

Go check out her blog at: It's Nap Time. For complete rules on how to enter! I know I'd like to win a $25.00 Gift Cert!, If you would too go check it out!

WW - 15 "Dance Recital"

Hope you're not sick of pics. of my daughter, Here's some of her in her costume for her recent dance recital. The theme was "Working" and her class danced to Bruce Springsteen's "Working on the Highway"







See more participants Here and Here

More Medical News

Well, more medical news about me, anyway. I got a letter in the mail Saturday. Let's just say it said that I have a bacterial infection. No big deal. They gave me a prescription for some medication to help clear it up (in the mail!)

Now to me this is the weird part. I mean I have an infection - don't you think someone from this Doctor's office could have called me about this? I went to the Pharmacy to fill the prescription. The Pharmacist called my name and asked me if I knew anything about this medication and if my Doctor explained it to me. I said no, I got this in the mail. I didn't even talk to the Dr. I just got a letter. I could tell even the Pharmacist thought that was weird! He said ok, well you are going to take 4 pills all at once and you can't drink alcohol for 3 days after you take these. He said not even mouth wash or anything with alcohol in it. If you do, he said you could get violently ill. That is weird too.

So when I got home I took the pills. And let me tell you they were the most disgusting things I have ever taken. I've always had a hard time swallowing pills anyway, but these were the worst! Usually there is a coating and you can't taste anything - these obviously didn't have any kind of coating. They tasted so bitter and nasty I thought I was going to throw up just taking them. It was all I could do to get all 4 of them down!

So next, in light of my recent blood tests I've been reading up on things. And I read that different medications could cause false readings on them. So since I have to go get them redone in about 2 weeks I was curious if this medication would cause that. So I actually read the little info letter thing they give you with the medication. Somewhere in this letter it did say these pills could cause false reading on certain blood tests, and it specifically said liver enzyme tests. That's what I'm having redone.

Now I don't know how long this medication stays in your system. And how long it will effect the tests. Do you think I'm calling the Dr. to find out? Heck no! I'm going back up to this Pharmacy to ask the nice Pharmacist there to answer my questions. I'm pretty certain he will be more then happy to answer my questions. Unlike the Dr's office who will obviously barely give me the time of day!

Another thing I'm thinking is did this bacterial infection give me these false readings to begin with? I obviously had this infection at the time I got these blood tests. So now I'm hoping that was what caused my "liver enzymes to be slightly elevated."

It's like: I had an infection, blood test were abnormal, Dr. gives me medication, which could cause blood tests to be abnormal. See the vicious circle this could create? Do you think the Dr. is even thinking any of this? Heck no! It's like I have to be the one to figure all this out! That is what really bugs me!

Marchstarch

I was tagged by Belen for this meme.


INSTRUCTIONS:
1.Determine your birthday month and get a word that rhymes with it or you can affix to it. Caps lock your birth month (e.g. MAYday, JUNE dune, APRILicious, JULYvely, AUGUST pocus, parched MARCH). Be unique.
2.Your birth month plus the word affixed or rhymed shall become the tag’s title in your case.

3.Get your birthday and add the digits involved. Example, if your birthday falls on the 25th of July, add 2 and 5 you get 7.

4.Whatever is the sum, write a list of the gifts you wish to receive, the number of which shall correspond to the sum of your birthday. For example, applying the case above (in rule number 3), you will write seven (7) things you wish to receive.

5.After your wish list, put your name and birthday in the Bloggers’ Birthday Directory, with a link to your blog/s. Note: when you add your birthday, please place it in a way that the dates appear chronological (January, February… 1, 2, 3)

6.Pass this tag meme by tagging as many people as you want.

Bloggers' Birthday Directory:

February 14 - Ethyl Alcohol | February 14 - Tin | February 18 - Nancy | February 18 -Belen | February 20 - Caryl | February 23 - Jammy | March 7 - Mari | March 12- Sue March 28 - Jaja Nicotine | April 13 - Tere |
| May 3 - Vannie | May 8 - Joan Joyce | May 27 - Zang Caesar | July 16 - Chesca | August 27 - Francine | La Place de Cherie | Cherie | September 1 - Lynn | September 2 - Chikai | September 30 - Mckhoii | December 18 - Joshua Ong YS | December 19 - Alpha | October 2 - Hailey

My birthday is March 12, so according to the rules I guess I add those and get 3, and write 3 things I want for my birthday.

1. A new digital camera. The flash on mine does not work good.
2. Tickets to a Red Sox game!
3. Sounds boring but - more bath towels.

I'm tagging anyone who wants to be tagged! Let me know if you want your link added.

Catch Wimbledon Live!

Are you a huge tennis fan? Do you like to watch Wimbledon? But are disappointed that you can maybe only watch one match at a time.

Well now there's a internet broadcast company called MediaZone where you can watch Wimbledon LIVE! MediaZone gives you the option of watching 8 concurrent courts live. So you could be watching Venus Williams in her match and possibly watch her sister Serena Williams in her match at the same time! It's cool, because you can pick the matches you want to watch and go back and forth between mutliple courts.

MediaZone is offering this at a great package rate of $24.99. You can even watch last years matches. This sounds like a great deal for all tennis fans!

Another Red Sox/Yankees Joke

glitter-graphics.com


Here's another joke my sister's boyfriend, Paul sent me. He actually sent it awhile ago, I thought it was a riot at the time. Thought I'd share it here. Paul's a huge sports fan too, he loves The Red Sox almost as much as I do! He loves the Patriots, Bruins and Celtics too. Go Boston!

Joke:

Three fans are walking to Fenway Park for the Red Sox-Yankees playoff series, when they see a foot sticking out of some bushes. An inspection revealed a dead-drunk naked woman. One man placed his Orioles baseball cap on her right breast. The Red Sox fan placed his cap on her left breast, and the Yankees fan put his over her "private area". They then called the police.

The cop lifted up the Orioles cap, and made a few notes. He then lifted the Red Sox cap and made more notes. Then he lifted the Yankees cap, put it down, lifted it again and put it down. When he lifted it the third time the Yankees fan said, ''What are you doing? Are you some kind of pervert, or what?'' The cop said, I was just confused, usually when I see a Yankees cap, there's an a**hole under it.''

You Can Conserve Energy and Clean Too

Now that summer's here it means the kids will be home all day! Which means more mess to clean up! Between all the dishes they pile up during the day, all the toys they throw around the house, and all the laundry they create, especially towels from the pool, I don't have much energy left to do the vacuuming!

I'm also conscience of the electric bill and how much it costs to run the vacuum cleaner. The vacuuming has to be done once in a while, though. But now there is a new vacuum that can save energy. The Dirt Devil Accucharge is the first cordless cleaning technology to earn Energy Star approval.









The new AccuCharge Stick Vac and Hand Vac uses 70% less energy! Which could really help out with the electric bill. This vacuum is great too, because it's cordless, no more worrying about dragging around a bulky cord! So not only can you save energy you can get the convenience of a cordless vacuum.

If you want to save energy, both on electricity and physically, then the new Dirt Devil Accucharge might just be the vacuum cleaner for you. Now that the kids will be home full time for the summer, I know I'm going to need all the energy I can get!

Blogging Just Got Harder

(pic. from camping trip -last summer)



Oh no! Today is my kids last day of school! Not even a full day. My son gets out at 11:30, and my daughter gets out at 12:30. Where did the year go? It went by so fast! I can't believe my son is going into 7th grade next year! And my daughter will be going into 3rd.

One thing that has dawned on me the past couple of days is that it's going to be harder to do my "Blogging Thing," over the summer. I'm not complaining to a point, because I love Summer. It's my favorite season of the year. I love the hot weather, doing outdoor activities and spending time with my kids.

Since I started this blog back in January I have spent a lot of time doing all the things that go with blogging. Probably too much time! Between doing stuff on Entrecard, MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, SocialSpark, to name a few, and actually writing the posts on my blog! I spend a lot of time doing all this.

Now that the kids will be out of school, I think that is about to change. Because we'll be busy doing those summer activities. Another reason is because my son also loves to spend time on the computer, and I think we will be fighting for time on it!

I think I'm addicted! And will probably have withdrawal symptoms - lol. I actually have cut back since my return from Disney World a few month ago. It was actually nice to not deal with it for a week while I was on my vacation. So who knows maybe summer vacation will end up doing me some good! (Don't worry I'll still be blogging - just might be a little more difficult until school starts again)

WW 14 - "I Love a Parade"

These are from a few weeks ago, when my daughter walked in the Memorial Day Parade, with her Brownie Troop.


See more Participants HERE and HERE.

A New Identity & Fraud Protection Technology

If you do a lot of online shopping then, you should Visit Shop Shield® to learn how you can get complete protection against identity theft. Shop Shield offers a new technology and privacy solution to protect your identity when shopping online.






Shop Shield protects consumers Credit Card Numbers, Bank Accounts, Billing Address, Email and Login information. Shop Shield is a free service, in which you never have to worry about anyone gaining access to customer databases. How can they do this? Shop Shield does this because your information is never entered into the databases. So there is no threat of Companies you buy from selling your information.

To Learn More watch this video, from Shop Shield.





So if you want a 100% Security Guarantee from identity theft check out Shop Shield. Some other points to note about Shop Shield are:

1. All consumer data is stored in a fortress of security systems
2. All identifiable info is fragmented and then encrypted.
3. Encrypted data is stored in multiple independent databases
4. Every transaction is monitored using technology that even exceed federal banking standards.
5. Hardware that stores data is modeled after Department of Defense security standards.
6. Shop Shield will reimburse you up to $10,000 more than the coverage your credit card provides.
7. Shop Shield will also provide you complete, personalized victim resolution services at no charge.
   

I've been doing more and more online shopping over the years. Especially for gifts for other people during the holidays and for birthdays. So Shop Shield sounds like it could be a good service to look into.

Sharing The Love

I received this very special award Sharing the Love from Spice from Spice World who received it from Crystal at Memoirs of a Mommy.

This award is extra special because Crystal created it in honor of the donor who saved her sons life. Her son Noah had to have a heart transplant when he was just over a month old. This award is supposed to help raise awareness of the importance of organ donation.















So, here are the rules Crystal gave:

“The rules of this award are: SHARE THE LOVE!!! Share this award with all those blogs out there that you love. All the people who make you smile. All those that make you laugh. All those that make your day. All those that leave uplifting comments on your blog. **All I ask, is that you include a link to this post with the award and ask your recipient to do the same**

As you may have recently seen on my side bar, I have finally created a custom blog award!! I have wanted to do this for a long time but never came up with something that “fit”. I didn’t want just anything. It had to be something that meant something to me. And what could mean more than Sharing the Love by giving you pieces of my heart??
So I created this award in Honor Of The Donor That Saved Noah’s Life. I share this award with those of you whose love and friendship have enriched my life and made my world a better place.

I hope by passing this award around the blogging world we can all help raise awareness of the need for Organ Donation.”

This is a special award so, I'm passing this award on to:

Catnip & Coffee
Dance of Motherhood
The Sewing Mom

If you've already received this award please disregard, if not how bout passing it on?

A Fun Clock For Kids

Teach Me Time Clock is a great new clock especially designed for kids. The Teach Me Time Clock has an interactive talking game that teaches kids how to tell time. This would be great for my daughter who is still learning how to tell time!













The clock also has a nightlight feature. You can adjust when it turns to a soft yellow glow, to green. Green means Go! And can be used for children so they know when it's ok to get up for the day. My daughter would also love this nightlight feature. Because she still uses a nightlight to sleep.

Some of the other features The Teach Me! has include: a fully functional alarm clock, three interchangeable colors, and it can switch from analog to digital so kids can learn both ways of telling time.

This clock would be a great addition to any kids room!

Why I'm Going to Try The South Beach Diet

I'm starting to think I'm turning into a paranoid hypochondriac. But as I stated in my previous posts I went to the Doctors recently. One of the other things they did, was have me get some blood tests. I just got the results back the other day.

My cholesterol levels are all good, my kidney seems to be doing good. My blood sugar level was somewhat high. Which I really don't understand since I don't hardly eat sweets and don't use a lot of sugar. And the other thing that has me somewhat worried is my "liver enzymes are slightly elevated."

When I did a "google" search for this one thing that came up is that it could be something to do with your gallbladder. When I did another search on gallbladders, I actually have had some of the symptoms that it states. And it says women have a higher percentage of problems of this, and it is somewhat genetic. And my mother did have to have her gallbladder removed about 5 years ago.

I have to go back in 6-8 weeks from when I had the first blood test done, for another one. Now either I'm just overreacting and maybe it will just be a false test. Or maybe there is something wrong. I'm trying not to be to worried about it (easier said then done though.)

Well to get around to this "South Beach Diet" thing. They told me to eat a low-carb, low-sugar diet. At first I'm like "I don't eat alot of sugar. What are they talking about." But after reading about it I guess you can get sugar from carbs. Which thinking about it I really do eat a lot of carbs. Which all comes back to the gallbladder thing, eating to many carbs can cause problems with your gallbladder.

So until I find out anything I decided I should cut back on the carbs. And I discovered "The South Beach Diet." I bought this book the other day The South Beach Diet Good Fats/Good Carbs Guide (Revised): The Complete and Easy Reference for All Your Favorite Foods (The South Beach Diet).

It seems like a good book. Now I'm not saying I'm going to follow this to a tee. Because there are basically "3 phases" to this diet. Phase one you cut out practically everything, Phase two you can reintroduce more foods. Phase 3 you can eat even more. I might not do it according to the Phases. Because I really don't want to starve myself. I'm not doing it to lose weight, that's not really the issue. I'm doing it to cut down my carbs and foods with sugar. And this book seems like a good reference for that. It lists over 1,200 different foods you can and can't eat. That's what I was looking for a list of foods with low carbs. Which another google search did not render to many findings.

If you want to lose weight and eat less carbs then you could do the diet according to the Phases the book sets up. It seems like it would work, maybe I'll loose some weight too, which I won't complain about.

So the morale of the story is cut out carbs, don't get to paranoid about blood tests until you know for sure (again, easier said then done), and maybe don't do to many google searches because some of the results can really freak you out. (Examples: liver cancer, hepatitis, fatty liver.)

A Better Way to Save Energy While Cleaning

I'll admit it, cleaning is not my favorite thing in the world to do. With two kids, my husband and even my cat to clean up after I don't have a lot of energy by the end of the day. I try to do basic cleaning (like dishes and laundry) daily. But find myself saving the big cleaning for once a week, or even until company is coming. Then I definately have to do the cleaning.

And don't even get me started on my car! I don't know when the last time was that I cleaned it out and vacuumed it! Just the other day my daughter was looking for her "mask" for swimming, I found it in the car. And I know it has literally been in there since last summer! I really need to clean out my car. But it's kind of a hassle dragging the big shop vac around which is plugged in, and not a long enough cord. I just don't have the energy!

But now there looks to be a better way to clean and save energy, too.The new Dirt Devil AccuCharge Stick Vac and Hand Vac uses 70% less energy. Making it the first cordless cleaning technology to earn Energy Star approval.





I could really use this vacuum cleaner! I love the idea of a cordless vacuum cleaner. It would be great not to worry about the cord coming out of the plug, every time I'm vacuuming my rugs. Also when I'm vacuuming my stairs the cordless Hand Vac would really come in handy. And maybe I would clean my car more often, than once a year, if I had the cordless Hand Vac too!

How To Get Water Out of Ears

With summer and hot weather comes swimming. With swimming comes the risk of ear infections or "swimmer's ear." When I was a kid my family did lots of swimming and for a few years we even belonged to a place with a pool. So we could go there and swim every day in the summer. It was great. I remember getting "swimmer's" ear a few times back then. It can be really painful and require medical attention.

I'm no expert on "swimmer's ear" or anything, and don't know any statistics on it but it seems like maybe kids are more susceptible to it. My son hasn't had it yet. But every time he goes swimming he seems to get water in his ears. And then he does something that can look quite funny or embarrassing, depending on what mood your in. He does the "jump up and down dance," the "hop on one foot, while you tilt your head to the side thing," or the "bang your head on anything that's available thing." This could go on for awhile while he tries to get the water out of his ear.

It's somewhat humorous, but also annoying, to him at least. And he has been lucky not to have gotten an ear infection, so far. But I think this summer my husband and I have stumbled on to what I think could be the miracle cure, to all this.

Drum Roll Please.... the cure is a simple bulb syringe.













We have a small pool in the backyard, and the kids have already been swimming a lot. As soon as my son gets water in his ear, he grabs this bulb syringe. Squeezes it, then puts it into what ever ear has water in it, releases the bulb, and Voila no more water in his ear.

This will could be the end to all those crazy "dances" he used to do. And more importantly the risk of him getting an ear infection has decreased. I don't know why we never thought of this before. If this is a problem for you or your kids, get a bulb syringe at any drug store for under 5 dollars, and it could save you a lot of problems!

A Great Stroller For Busy Moms

Unfortunately, my baby days are over. But many of my friends are having babies. One great new product out there for new Moms is the Mutsy stroller.





The Musty strollers have a new concept that's different from other strollers. One of the strollers is called the Slider. The Slider is compact, low weight and has a sporty look, great for Mom & baby. Another stroller is called the 4 Rider “Next” Cargo. The 4Rider “Next” Cargo features a strong handle, a mattress pad and cover, and zip storage compartments. The separate seat may be used with baby facing mom or the world. Features also include recline, leg rest, a removable front bar, and a protective hood. And an easy-to-access basket is also provided.

I wish these were available when I had my kids! I remember how clunky and heavy my strollers where. It was all I could do to get the strollers folded up and in the car! And you didn't have the option of having baby face the world! They were only stuck in one position. With the Musty Stroller you have more options.

With Moms on the go now more then ever, this stroller will fit the bill. And they look really stylish too. All Musty strollers also come with both bassinets and seats, and the compactness of them and low weight really gives Moms more flexibility.

Although I'm not in the market for a new stroller, I'm going to tell all my friends, who are Mom's to be, about this stroller. I'm also going to tell them that Barebabies.com is offering a 10% discount on any Mutsy order by using the discount code mutsy10off.

WW 13 - "You May Kiss The Bride"

My 14th Wedding Anniversary Today.
























See More Participants Here and Here

Protection For Online Shopping

Do you do a lot of shopping online? I know I have done more in recent years. Especially now with gas prices on the rise, more people have turned to online shopping as a way to save some money. But with the rise of online shopping also has come the rise of online hackers stealing information.

There is a new consumer service that offers complete protection against identity theft and fraud online. This is a free solution to protect your identity when shopping online.

Visit Shop Shield® if this sounds like a service you could use. And who couldn't use this service? Shop Shield is now offering this service free for protection on your credit card numbers, bank accounts, billing address, email address and your login information.

Shop Shield protects your information from online hackers and insiders from gaining access to it. They can do this because this information is never entered into the databases of web sites were you shop. Companies you buy from will not be able to sell your information – because you, the consumer, will never give it to them. There’s no risk your information could be compromised at a merchant site, because it’s never sent there!



Shop Shield also offers 100% Security Guaranteed! One way they do this is that all personally identifiable information is broken into undecipherable fragments, then encrypted. Every transaction is monitored and recorded using technologies that exceed even federal banking standards. Shop Shield will also reimburse you every penny, up to $10,000 and will also provide complete, and personalized victim resolution services at no charge.

Learn More about Shop Shield if all this sound good to you. In this day and age with more and more people shopping online and more hackers out there to steal your information, I know this service sounds good to me.

My Top Entrecard Droppers for May

On The Bricks	31
Aakaash Ganga	30
CONQUER the universe	29
Unpredictable Life	28
EzGreatLife	26
Australian Women Online	25
MakesYouLaugh	24
Chica & Pumuckl - Living with Cats	24
60 Were Enough	23
nofaceberg	22

Above is my top Entrecard Droppers for May. I meant to post this earlier, but didn't get around to it. Thanks everyone for dropping on me. If you haven't already joined Entrecard, you should check it out! It's been a great source of traffic for my blog. My Alexa Rankings have tripled and my visitors have almost tripled too. Because I joined Entrecard in late March and that's when I started tracking with SiteMeter (see below.)

I know there is a lot of naysayers out their for Entrecard, but I'm going to stick with it! Thanks again for visiting, dropping, and commenting!

Excuse me while I..... Vent!

Sorry for not posting any news sooner, but didn't find out the results of my x-rays until late Friday afternoon. Then I was to tired to post anything until now. Let's just say this week has been emotionally draining.

First off let me just say the nurse told me the x-rays were "normal." That being said let me just tell you why I was still upset. I spent the better half of a week, thinking everything under the sun was wrong with me. Everything from heart problems, a blood clot, I was going to need surgery. All these things ran through my mind. It's amazing how your mind works.

Then I waited, and waited, and waited some more for someone to call me from this Doctors office. I figured I would give them time and they just didn't have the results yet. Finally Friday I couldn't take it anymore, I called them. Only to be met with the receptionist who said the nurse would call me back. About 20 minutes later she calls me back and asked me a bunch of questions, it was basically like she had no idea what I was talking about! She said she would have to check with the Doctor. She finally called me back about an hour and a half later, said the x-rays were "normal" and that was it!

What I'm upset about is here I am all week worried out of my mind, no one even could be bothered to call me about it, I had to call them, when I did they had no idea what I'm talking about. When they finally answer me it's a 30 second phone conversation saying there "normal!"
I was so mad!

I know this is good news and the x-rays didn't show anything. But I still have pain. They barely answered my questions about what this "collection of blood" thing is. They basically don't care! I feel if I hadn't called them, would they have even bothered to call me back?

I got more answers from another Mother from my daughter's school, who happens to be a nurse.
The night before I talked to the Doctor's office (you don't ever actually talk to the Dr!) I was telling her what happened and she said I probably pulled all the muscles and the tendons in that area, and a collection of blood is a "hematoma." And that will eventually go away and will just disperse itself back into your system. But it can take a long time to heal.

Another reason that this whole thing got me so worried was my Mother, has severe Osteoporosis
and it has made me worried that I may have that too.

So all this being said I guess the x-rays were" normal," and I still hate Doctors! Thanks for letting me vent.

Related Posts:

Your Health Is More Important Than Money

Just a Quick Update

Five Tips To Save Money on Your Groceries

Here's some things I thought of while I was grocery shopping the other day. Some quick and easy tips to help you save money on your grocery bill (which I'm sure we could all use with the prices of everything going up.)

1.Don't go grocery shopping when your hungry. This might sound silly and maybe even obvious, but it's true. If you go when you're hungry you will be more tempted to buy more food. And you also may buy more junk food, which is unhealthy for one thing, and also tends to be more expensive.


2. Shop at the same store. If you do your shopping at the same store every week you will be more likely to purchase only the things you need, and you will also know their prices. I stick with my favorite supermarket, which for me where I live is Market Basket.I feel if you know the layout of a store you will buy your regular items and won't be as tempted to buy whatever is handy, in a store you don't know, because you can't find what you want.(Make sense?) Which could end up costing you more.


3. Go shopping once a week. I talked about this in a previous post Grocery Shopping. Read more about it there.

4. Make a list. I find that if I make a list or even just mentally plan out ahead, what I'm going to buy, I spend less. If you organize and prepare your shopping list you will more likely stick to it, and spend less because you won't buy things you really don't need, or the more expensive things in the store.

5. Buy generic brands. Maybe you don't agree, but I find the generic brands on many things tastes the same.To me milk is milk, and if I can save money on the store brand, I will. Also sometimes the store brand tastes better than the commercial brand. An example is my sister was visiting recently and loved the french fries I made. She asked what kind they were because she hasn't been able to find a kind she likes, I said Market Basket! (Big plug for Market Basket -lol)

Those are just a few tips I thought of while shopping the other day. Do you have any tips to save money grocery shopping? Let me know, I'd love to get some more ideas!

More Information About Social Spark

As I stated in a previous post, I signed up at a website called SocialSpark. Now I want to tell you a little more about it. SocialSpark is a great website that can you can use to monetize your blog, you can build a community and drive traffic to your blog.

Unlike other sponsored post websites SocialSpark is different because it's not all about the posts.
You can also view other blogs, make friends, send messages to other bloggers, and give them and their blogs what SocialSpark calls "props." If you like someones profile or blog you can give them either a prop or a drop. It's a great way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

You can also take opps. Below is what the opps board would look like. (click it to enlarge) You go to the opp. board and you can see what is available. If an opp is open to you and you qualify, you can take it. One thing that is also cool about SocialSpark is that if an opp is not available to you at a particular time, you can get on a waiting list. You can basically reserve an opp by clicking "wait for slot." Then SocialSpark will email you when it is available. Then you can take it.



SocialSpark also has a code of ethics. All posts are 100% In-Post Disclosure. SocialSpark has a
strict policy of full in-post disclosure for all sponsored posts. There is 100% Transparency, which means every blogger in SocialSpark is made viewable to the public. The public can also see which bloggers are working with which advertisers on which opportunities. SocialSparkSocialSpark automatically carries the "no-follow" attribute so as not to affect search engine rankings. This is designed to protect bloggers and advertisers from search engine penalties based on paid linking. This is another great aspect of SocialSpark, that makes them stand out from other sponsored sites.

If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you sign up at SocialSpark!

WW 12 - "Four!"

(Kids New favorite hobby - esp. my son's. Look out Tiger Woods - lol)


See More Wordless Wed. Participants Here:

Just a Quick Update

Don't really know anything yet. But I went to get some x-rays today. They x-ray technician told me the Doctor will get them in about 1 to 2 days. So I have to wait until then and then the Doctor should call me. I figured if they don't call me by say Thursday I'll call them.

One other thing the x-ray technician said, was this type of x-ray is few and far between. She doesn't get to many people in there for "sternum x-rays." She barely knew how set it up for this kind of x-ray and needed another person to help, that's how little they do this kind of x-ray. She said usually people with this injury get it in a car accident! Yea me for me being a clumsy idiot. If I could take back one moment in time, it would be me tripping over the stupid couch/cat! Oh well you can't change the past I guess.

Thanks everyone for your nice comments:

Robin
Randy
My Vision
john b
catnip
The Healthy Mom
Mark
joshuaongys
Spice

Your Health Is More Important Than Money

I went to the Doctor's, Friday. It was the first time I've had a physical in a long time. I have been to the Gynecologist for my annual check ups, but I've never been good at going to a regular Physician for checkups. (I've never really been unhealthy for one thing.)


Two things changed that. Number one, in March I turned the dreaded "40!" I was to make it my resolution to go for a checkup definitely when I turned 40. To get all those important tests you start to need when you turn 40.

The second thing was, back in December I fell. Let's just say it was between me, the couch, and one of my cats. I tripped and fell flat on my chest, right on my living room floor, which is hardwood. I knew as soon as I did it, I hurt myself.

The next day, I was in a lot of pain. What possessed me not to go the doctors, was I guess, Number 1, I didn't have a Primary Care Physician. And Number 2, my husband had just gotten new insurance and it would be $100.00 to go to the emergency room. That just seemed like to much money to me to go get an x-ray. So I put it off.

I dealt with the pain, and it seemed to get better. I thought it had all but gone away. For a few months I swear it did. Then about the End of March the beginning of April it started to hurt again. And I felt a like a weird bump where I guess it's my sternum is. Well I finally couldn't deal anymore and finally got an appointment with an Internist.

Friday I went. I told her the problem. At first I swear she thought I was exaggerating or it was no big deal. She said she'd check it. She asked me some more questions about my medical history etc. Then she checked it. The second she touched it I swear her expression changed. She was shocked. I guess probably because she thinks I'm a damn idiot for not getting it checked sooner. And because she's pretty sure I fractured my sternum. She said either that or it's a collection of blood that has gathered there. I'm not sure what that means, and being the damn idiot that I am, I didn't ask.

So Monday morning I have to go in for an x-ray. I guess I'll find out then. I guess it can't be too serious because she said it could wait until Monday and said on the slip I have to give the x-ray people "Priority Normal." I'm just kind of anxious about it, and just want this pain to go away.

So anyway, not to be a downer. But the point of the story is I've learned my lesson, no matter how much it costs, If I do anything like this again I'm going to the Emergency Room (or the Doctor's now that I finally have a "Primary Care Physician" to go to.) I hope others can learn from my mistakes too. You're health really is more important than money.