Koolickles & Poppy Seed Chicken

One of my new favorite snacks are Koolickles.
My mom told me about this little treat after watching an episode of Alton Browns on the Food Network. She remembered that it called for "the big jar of dill pickles, two packets of cherry Kool-Aid, and a couple cups of sugar". Intrigued, I looked at the Food Networks website but wasn't able to find the recipe anywhere. So, I decided to wing it.
My first attempt at the Koolickles I just got a normal sized jar of dill pickle spears, dumped in one packet of cherry flavored kool-aid, some sugar (didn't measure), shook the jar until it was all well mixed, and put it in the fridge. They came out okay, Grandma liked them, but I wasn't overly impressed.
However, I did like them enough to give it another try. This time I decided to follow my moms loose recollection of the recipe a little closer and I got the big 80 ounce jar of dill pickle spears and two packets of cherry kool-aid. I removed all of the spears from the jar, leaving the brine, and added the packets of kool-aid. The only dilema was how much sugar to add. I decided to follow the guidelines on the kool-aid packets and added two cups, put the lid back on the jar and shook the heck out of it until it was all well mixed and it appeared as though the kool-aid and sugar were both completely dissolved. I put the spears back in the jar, and put it in the fridge. This was this past Friday night, I had my 9 year old cousin for the weekend and it was a fun project for us to do together.
Tonight, Monday, we sampled the Koolickles. HUGE hit. They were much better than the first batch even though they haven't sit for as long as is recommended. Before writing this post I decided to Google the recipe rather than to just rely upon the loose interpretation provided by my mother and found this recipe.

I know it sounds weird - cherry pickles - but trust, they are tasty. The only other variation I may try is to use Splenda in place of sugar because I'm sure my diabetic sister would like these.


The other cooking project I did with my younger cousin was my famous (okay, so its not really "famous", but my Grandma loves it as does my mom and now my younger cousin... so, its getting there) "Poppy Seed Chicken".
A while back I read a cooking tip that recommended using ranch dressing in place of an egg bath for homemade chicken nuggets. I thought that sounded delicious and was anxious to try it, BUT Grandma doesn't like ranch dressing. The only salad dressing that Grandma likes is Maries Creamy Poppyseed. A light bulb went off.
Take your chicken pieces (breast, thigh, leg, all work equally well - the only piece I haven't tried this with is wings) and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper then place in a marinade of creamy poppyseed dressing - I use about 1/2 a bottle of Kraft brand simply because it's cheaper than the Maries brand. I typically allow this to marinade for about an hour.
Once the chicken pieces are done marinading, dredge the chicken pieces in a mixture of Italian Seasoning flavored bread crumbs and shredded parmesan cheese - the good stuff in the little tubs, not the crap in the can on the shelf in the pasta section...you should NEVER use that stuff for anything.
Bake the chicken on a cookie sheet. Heres where my grandma thinks I'm weird, when I cook meats of any kind I almost always start off at a low temperature, in this case 200F, for about 45 minutes, THEN I turn the heat up to 400F until the juices run clear when cut. I really need to time this some time - I think I cook it at 400F for another 30 minutes, but I could really be off here. The reason I start off with the lower temperature is that it seems to start the cooking process without drying out the meat. I read this technique somewhere and it stuck with me, I don't know how accurate it is but its worked well for me the majority of the time.
Whenever I make this chicken it gets rave reviews, my grandmother will talk about it for a couple of days afterwards. I think thats a clue that I need to start making it more frequently.

Technology I Want

We're all familiar with my technology killing skills, I've covered it ad nauseum. So much so that I'm not going to bother linking back to all of the individual instances... either that or I'm just too lazy to look up all of the past links. Potato, potatoh.
Anywhoosits, the curse has not been broken.
Back in April I reconciled to the fact that I could not afford the new MacBook of my dreams so I took a portion of my tax refund and purchased a cheap ass netbook. Seriously cheap - the thing was less than $300 with tax and everything and it worked like a dream. For two weeks. Seriously, two weeks. Then the thing wouldn't turn on. I took it back to Best Buy where they easily exchanged it for a new one of the same model. That one looked like a dream... for three months. Seriously, what the hell is wrong that everything technological I touch goes up in smoke... that reminds me, I have another computer story to tell you... you are going to shit.
So when the second netbook crapped out on me, I took it back to Best Buy. Unfortunately it was beyond the 30 day warranty through the store so they offered to run diagnostic on it... for $200. Thats right, two thirds of what I paid for the thing. If it was a software issue I would have to pony up whatever additional monies would be needed to fix it, and you know that would be in excess of $100, effectively paying for the thing ALL OVER AGAIN. However, if it was a hardware issue the netbook would be sent back to the manufacturer for them to either repair or replace and then I would have to try to get my $200 for the diagnostic back from the manufacturer. So far I've said screw it and the thing is being a very highly priced paperweight at this time.
Now, get ready to shit.
A while back my office was painted AND the carpets were replaced. Naturally, the office was rather smelly for a while from the paint and the carpet glue. Then a few weeks later I'm sitting at my desk and notice a weird chemically smell. It only lasted about 10 minutes, then went away. Then a few days later the smell comes back for just a few minutes, then goes away again. Since they were brief I thought that maybe they were residual odor from the carpet glue or something. Both times I just brushed it off. THEN one day the odor pops up again and doesn't go away, it keeps getting stronger. I finally turn to a manager who sits near me and ask "Do you smell this"?
He comes over to my desk and says "Holy crap, get away I think your computer is on fire - that smells like an electrical burn".
He runs off to get our facility guys.
I'm standing there trying to process this. My computers on fire? Bullshit. My computer can not possibly be ON FIRE. Seriously.
Our two facility guys show up, one of them pulls out the tower and the other one looks at the back of it and says "Crap!" and immediately just starts yanking out all of the various cords.
Apparently the exhaust fan thingy had died and my computer was doing some sort of slow electrical burn. Not exactly ON FIRE, but not exactly NOT on fire either.
So, my work computer was replaced and the one I have now is archaically slow. Seriously, what is it with me and faulty electronics?

Anygeek, I've compiled a list of the four technological products I want. Any bets on how long it would take for me to kill all of them?

iPod Touch

Ahhhh.... 64GB of music, game, and app goodness.
The benefits of an iPhone - apps, wifi, etc - without having to switch my phone carrier to AT&T.
It's only $399

MacBook Pro

15" anti-glare wide screen display
3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
4GB memory
500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive
Remote
3 year protection plan (Because, seriously, if ANYONE needs a protection plan for their computer, it would be me)
This gems only $3,067 (with the protection plan and upgrades)

Nikon D5000

12.3 MP of Nikon goodness with a nifty flip out swively display for $679

Roku

Streaming my Netflix AND Amazon Video on demand? Aaaaaaawesome! I could watch the current season of Dexter without paying for premium cable! Saweeeeet!
All for just $99!

So, it all adds up to just $4,244. Why the hell can't I win the Lottery?

Long Time, No Blog

Yeah, I've been caught up in the middle of all of the drama with my niece.

I can't exactly say that things have gone badly, but I also can't say that they've gone the way that I wanted them to.

Kylee has been placed with her paternal great-aunt, she came down from Idaho for the time being and my mom and I get weekend visits.

My sister is doing well, she is in a residential rehab facility that is designed for women with children so there are other mothers there and a couple of them have their children in the house with them. My sister could potentially have Kylee in the house with her later down the road. I'll admit, at first I was a little apprehensive at the thought of Kylee going into a rehab house but I have met all of the women in the house and I am a little more comfortable with the thought of it now.
Overall, she is doing really well with her recovery - I am very proud of how far she has come so far and trust that she is on the right path to getting herself together to be reunited with her daughter and make a life for the two of them.
My nieces father is a different story. He was supposed to go into rehab the same day that my sister did but didn't check himself in until over a week later, and that was only after several people talked him into it. He was there less than two weeks until he just walked out one night and he has missed two court dates. He's supposed to have gone back into rehab over a week ago but still has not. I am very conflicted on this.
Overall, I know that as long as he continues the way he is that he will not be a good father to Kylee and that it may be better for him to not be involved in her life.
However, this makes me incredibly sad. I know firsthand what it is like to grow up without a father and I hate hate hate the thought of her going through that. I know what its like to wonder why he wasn't around, to track him down as a teenager, not knowing if he had a whole other family, not knowing if he would accept me or how my sudden appearance would affect this whole other hypothetical family and what their reaction to me would be. I really don't want Kylee to have to go through that. I hope that he gets his act together so that she doesn't have to go through that.

To leave you on a CUTE note, here are some of the ADORABLE photos I've taken of Kylee on a couple of our recent visits.

Loving Kylee

Naturally, we can't go five minutes without some sort of drama in my family.
However, I think the most recent turn of events are the most horrific.

It was just a little over 2 years ago that I introduced all of you to my niece, Kylee Rose.


Isn't she just edible? Don't you just want to nom on those cheeks?
I adore her. She is one of the hugest blessings in my life.

Last Sunday morning, my sister, Kylee was taken in by child protective services and was placed in emergency confidential foster. My sister and her boyfriend had put their own drug addictions before the best interest and safety of their child.
My mother is try to get Kylee home with her, but the system is ridiculously slow. The soonest we can even be considered for long term placement of Kylee is after court next Wednesday. At that point the judge may give the order for CPS to go to my mothers home to assess it for placement and then we can proceed with trying to bring Kylee home. In the meantime, no extended family members - meaning no one aside from my sister or her boyfriend, can have visitation with Kylee.



There are several factors in this situation that are especially aggravating.
1 - How archaically slow the system is moving in general. IF the judge gives the order to have my mothers home assessed next Wednesday, the 12th, and CPS comes out to inspect it on Thursday, and we miraculously were able to bring Kylee home on Friday, that would be nearly three weeks that she had been gone away from her family - the family that she is safe with. I can only imagine how horrible this is for her: to wonder where her entire family is.
2 - A big complication is that Kylees father is Native American and his tribe, who is in Arizona, is being notified of these proceedings so that they can determine if they want to exercise their rights under the Indian Child Welfare Act. I hate to think that if they wished to, they could step in and claim first dibs to a child who has never visited their reservation and who isn't yet even a registered tribal member. She has family here who she knows and loves and who know and love her.
3 - The fact that neither my mom nor I can even visit her to offer her some comfort and reassurance. Because she is in a confidential foster home no one can know where she is - all visitation has to be supervised and the case worker has informed us that they only arrange supervised visitation with the biological parents: no extended family.
4 - Kylees fathers family, mainly his mother in Oregon, is trying to talk him into signing over his parental rights to them. In the two years since she has been born, his family has shown very little interest in Kylee. They never bothered to come to her birthdays (and they lived just a little over an hour away). They never came to see her at the holidays - she always had to be taken to them. They never helped to buy diapers or clothing or anything like that when my sister and her boyfriend couldn't afford to do so themselves (that was usually me). However, now that theres the potential to receive funding to foster her while her parents try to clean themselves up, as well as tribal money from Arizona, all of a sudden they've decided that her best interest is with them. Infuriating.

Isn't that the cutest little butt you've ever seen?



So, you can say that I am aggravated, angry, annoyed, pissed off, infuriated. However, more than anything else, I am heartbroken. The thought of Kylee with strangers, wondering where her family is, devastates me. I can only imagine how scared and confused she is. I just want to bring her home where I can hold her and comfort her and have her in an environment that is familiar to her with the family that she knows and loves. I miss her. I miss her curiosity and her precociousness, the way she would tease me by pretending to not be able to say my name but shout it and come running to me if something scared her or if she hadn't seen me in a few days. I want to bring her home where she belongs, and the time it is taking the county to go through everything to be able to make this happen is so incredibly frustrating. Add to that frustration the fact that her case worker will not return a single one of my calls, and you have one upset auntie over here.

So, I don't ask much of you dear readers, but if you can please pray for Kylee to come home soon. Pray, or send warm thoughts, good energy, or whatever your particular faith prescribes.

In the meantime, I am going to leave you with one of Kylees favorite songs. Its a weird one for a toddler. She never was big on lullaby's and then a few months ago I went to visit her and had this song playing in my car when I pulled up. She was standing in the front yard and when she heard it she immediately started dancing and rocking out. I don't know if she was just putting on an act for her favorite auntie, or is she is a little rocker in the making, or if its just the celt heritage in her. Either way, its pretty damn funny to watch a toddler jam to the following tune.

Equal Opportunity Snarker

I've been accused of being a sarcastic smart-ass with my friends and coworkers. Snarky, if you will.
Tuesday I told one of the managers at my work the following story. I told him this as a demonstration that I DON'T save up all of my sarcastic comments for the sales reps that I support.

Tuesday morning I had to wake up at the ass crack of dawn to take my mom to the hospital for surgery on her wrist. She has severe carpal tunnel syndrome, in both arms, and has had numerous surgeries, on both arms, over the years.

We leave for the "ambulatory clinic" where she is scheduled to have the surgery. I'm to drop her off before I go to work, and Granny would be picking her up when the surgery is finished. I have no idea where we're going, all I know is that the clinic is in Folsom. I trust that my mother, the one who scheduled the surgery, knows where she is supposed to be.
As we approach Folsom she tells me the general vicinity of where it is so that I can be headed in the right direction. We get to the general area and I ask her where we're supposed to go next.
Mom "They said to go straight through a couple of lights and turn left."
So I go straight.
Me "Um, are we supposed to be going over the highway?"
Mom "I'm not sure"
Me "Because we are, and theres absolutely nothing out this way."
Mom "Well I told her that I knew where the clinics at that last intersection were and she told me to go through a couple of lights and turn left."
Me "But there are 4 different directions from which you can approach any given intersection."
Mom "I told them I was coming from Roseville."
Me "So, that only narrows it down to two different directions. Whats the address for the place"
Mom "I don't know."
Me "You don't know? Don't you have it with you?"
Mom "No. I left the address with Grandma"
Me "Well, do you at least know the name of the street its on?"
Mom "No. But I think it starts with a P."
Me. "You THINK? How...? What...? OH. MY. GOD."
In frustration, I pull over to the side of the road to call Grandma for the address. Thankfully my new phone (Sprints bastardized version of the iPhone) has navigation so I'm able to plug in the address and get us there, only a few minutes late.
I drop mom off in front of the clinic and pull away. As I'm turning out of the parking lot I look up in my rearview mirror to see my mom standing outside the clinic, staring at me. So, I pull around to see what she needs.
Mom "I dropped the check for my co-pay somewhere"
She starts digging through my car - my car is a disaster. There are empty packs of cigarettes, coffee cups, water bottles, etc. all over the floorboard of the passenger seat.
Me "You dropped it?"
Mom "Yes. I can't grip papers together with how bad the carpal tunnel is. THATS WHY I'M HAVING THE SURGERY"
Me "So, you know that you're unable to grip papers together yet you've got paperwork you have to give them PLUS the check for your co-pay"
Mom "Yes."
Me "Did you think that maybe since you have these papers and a check that you have to have with you that maybe you should've put them IN something?"
Mom "I can't take a purse or anything like that in to surgery, VA-NESS-A" (emphasize the 3 syllables there)
Me "LIKE AN EN-VEL-OPE MOTH-ER, so you don't lose your CHECK"
she looks at me blankly
Me "OR, better yet, why don't you safety pin the check to your shirt? ALONG WITH THE ADDRESS OF WHERE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE?"
Then she found the check, slammed my car door, and stomped off.

Where I've Been

Nowhere interesting, really.

Work has been challenging lately. Since January there have been FOUR rounds of layoffs. The third round had a great impact on me - 25% of my department was affected including my counterparts. I am the only person left in my position in Northern California/Western Nevada. I won't lie, its scary. As flattered as I am that I was not laid off (the decision was based upon "dependability, knowledge, and tenure") its still scary - in theory they could eliminate my position entirely any day now.

With the job market being what it is, I couldn't really count on finding another job right away if I were to be laid off so I've been thinking that my best option would be to market my photography more aggressively in the hopes that I can pick up some more jobs.
The photography is something I've been doing half assed for a few years now. I've never really gone out in search of jobs, just gotten them as referrals from previous jobs I've done. Add to this the fact that I do not have a studio, and know absolutely NOTHING about marketing, and I'm basically just stumbling through what my options are.
I'm going to revamp my website, Photography by Vanessa, I haven't been thrilled with it for a while now and now I have some motivation to REALLY get in there and expand it.
I'm working on putting together some packages to appeal to graduating high school seniors and possibly new mothers. I already have some packages on there for weddings and family portraits - any other suggestions?

I've taken some photos of family members recently to use in promotional materials. This is what I've been using as promotional material for close to a year:


I'm going to update it with some more recent photos. These are just a couple of the images I'm considering. Theres still more recent ones on my camera that I need to go through.



Looking at these, i realize that I still need to add some BABIES! I'm going to get some of my niece who is two years old now, but I need BABIES!

I have a couple of jobs lined up - a wedding in a couple of weeks up in Lake Tahoe that I am really looking forward to. The ceremony is going to be on the beach so I should be able to get some beautiful images there, then my plan is too drive the perimeter of the lake on the way home and hopefully get some good photos that I can sell to a stock photography company.

UPDATED TO ADD
Oh my heavens I WANT one of these camera straps. Seriously, there are about 5 or 6 of them that I would have a HARD time selecting from.

My Brother

I've recently eluded to some legal problems that my brother is going through without really elaborating on them.
To be quite honest, its occupied a lot of my thoughts and attention lately - between my dental problems (they're still ongoing) and him, I've been rather distracted the past couple of months. I've ran into some friends and bloggers out around town and ignored them because I was in midst discussion about this very issue. That was rude of me, and I apologize.

Heres what has happened.
In late April my brother was arrested on a Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning for attempted robbery. We, as a family, knew that my brother had been stealing for over a year at that point -- but as far as we knew it had only been from us. The year before my brother had stolen a large number of dvds from me. My gut instinct when I discovered all of these dvds missing was that it was him. The easiest way to confirm if it was him was to go to the local store that buys used dvds and ask to see a list of what he had sold to them. I got the list and went through it with my sister and we discovered that he had been stealing from both of us for several months.
I went to my mom and told her that either he needed to own up to what he had done and make amends OR I would ask the store to press charges. She went ballistic. I was NOT going to press charges and send her son to jail. At that point I grudgingly dropped the issue for the sake of family peace but told her how I was concerned that if something didn't happen to stop him, that he would progress to burglary and get himself into BIG trouble or possibly even injured or killed. She did not listen to me. My mother never listens to me.
So, I was right. He did progress to burglary and was caught. His photo was even on the evening news. That just about killed my grandmother - seeing her only grandson on tv as a criminal.
That following Friday I went to his arraignment hearing with my mom where my brother was released on his own recognizances, also known as OR. He got home that night to discover that someone had stolen his cell phone and Rolex watch (he'd bought it with the insurance settlement from a car accident he'd been in a couple of years prior). Hello? Is that you, karma?
So, he'd been arrested for attempted burglary and was stolen from during the few days that he was in county jail.
Being an idiot, he tracked down who stole from his and went to the guy. Not in a diplomatic "hey, thats not cool" fashion, but in a violent manner. He beat the guy, severely. This happened on Friday night and as of Saturday afternoon the guy was waiting for surgery to repair his crushed jaw. Waiting because his concussion was too severe for him to go in for surgery. My brother was immediately arrested for assault Friday night.
He is now convicted of felony assault and will spending at least two years in state prison.
He deserves to be there. He ABSOLUTELY deserves to be there. He has never had to face the consequences of his actions, my mom has always made certain of that, and now he has to - its high time that he did.
However, I hate seeing him about to go off to prison. I've visited him once and seeing him in the orange jumpsuit, talking to him over a phone through the plexiglass window is hard. He was a good kid growing up, I never imagined, prior to a year ago, that he would end up like this.
There is a part of me that, no matter how old he gets or what he does, will always feel like a protective older sister. As much as I know he belongs where he is, I DO NOT like it by any means.
So, in a couple of weeks he goes before the judge for his official sentencing. From there he goes to the general intake facility in Tracy and then he will be assigned to a prison anywhere in the state. I hope its relatively close so that mom can visit him regularly like she has been since this whole thing started, and I think I'd like to visit him occaissionally as well. Grandma, Grandma can't go visit him. I think she'd like to, but that would tear her apart. She would break down. I think he NEEDS to see her reaction to seeing him where he is, but its not worth what it would do to her.
I've been torn about whether or not to share this with everyone. I suppose I feared judgement from people. But, I can't not share it. It's been a big part of my life the past couple of months and will continue to be for the next couple of years. It has become a part of who I am. I love my brother despite his shortcomings and I am affected by this. I just hope that this changes him for the better, like he claims it has, and that he can learn from this experience and grow from it.

Diatribe

Allow me to rant for a bit, if you will...

Here in Sacramento, there really is only one daily newspaper - The Sacramento Bee.

As I have mentioned previously, my brother, Ryan, is in jail. I will elaborate on this issue at another time - I'm still sorting through my own emotional response to his situation and am not yet ready to divulge the details openly.

One thing that my brother has requested while he is in jail is that we send him some books or possibly a subscription to The Sacramento Bee. Being the only family member with the financial means, and willingness, to readily purchase a subscription, I went online to sign him up.
The price quoted on the SacBee's website for a 13 week subscription was $26. Reasonable. I enter my brothers delivery information, my billing information, and get an email confirmation stating that delivery will begin within 2-3 days. This was on a Wednesday, so I have my mother tell Ryan that he should probably start receiving delivery the following Monday or Tuesday (just to allow extra time - so he'd be pleasantly surprised should the delivery begin earlier).
The next Monday I receive a phone call from The Bees "VIP Membership Services" stating that they need to clarify the subscription price for me. The representative advises me that delivery to a county jail is mail delivery and therefore the charges will be $44.10 for five weeks, more than four and a half times their standard subscription rates. Since its looking like Ryan is going to be in there a while I tell them to cancel the subscription request. At the rates quoted to me, that would be over $450 per year. Ridiculous.
I asked my mom to tell Ryan that I wasn't going to purchase the subscription after all because of the exorbitant costs. She did, and she said that he completely understood. I imagine that he was a bit disappointed - I have since visited with him and the options of things to do in a county jail are very limited. The library is very limited with a large portion of the books available being donations from other inmates of any books that their family members sent them. There are classes available for the inmates, but since this is a county facility and not a state prison the classes are limited to remedial courses designed for those wishing to pursue their GED. Despite having gotten himself into the situation he is in, Ryan is an intelligent person so these options are not too appealing to him. Thus, the request for the newspaper subscription.
The more I thought about the subscription price quoted to me, the more outraged I became. A couple days later I emailed The Bee's general information address with the following message:

I recently tried to purchase a subscription to the Sac Bee for my brother.
I am ashamed to admit that at present he is in custody at the Placer County Jail in Auburn.
Online the subscription price was listed as $26 for 13 weeks.
Today I received a call from an associate advising that the subscription price would be increased because of different delivery requirements to his location. I was advised that delivery for him would be $44.10 for just 5 weeks.
This difference in cost is outrageous and I have a hard time imagining how a price difference that great is justified aside from The Bee taking advantage of potential customers who have no other option of obtaining the paper. Or, is it that you just don't like to have customers?

Two days later, I received the following response:

Thank you for your email to The Sacramento Bee. The difference in price
is actually $4.25/week, for a total of $21.25 for 5 weeks or $34.00 for
8 weeks.

Unfortunately, the person who called you was quoting our Delivery by
mail subscriptions in error. I apologize for the incorrect information.
Would you be interested in starting the subscription now knowing the
correct rates?

At that time I responded that I may be interested in starting a subscription at the newly quoted rates but to hold off for the time being because Ryan may be moving to a state facility.
A few days later we found out the he will be at the county facility for at least another 5 weeks so I decided to start the subscription and emailed the contact I had been corresponding with regarding the updated subscription price.
Understandably, when I initially asked them to cancel my request they purged my delivery and billing information so they asked me to call in and give the information to any agent.
I called this morning and gave all of the delivery and billing info to a representative, then asked them to confirm the costs. Boy, am I glad I asked them to confirm the costs because I was once again quoted the $44.10. At that time I told her about the above exchanges and she advised me that whomever had quoted me the charge of $21.25 must have been unaware that mail delivery would be required. I read her, verbatim, the entire email including the senders full name. She paused for a moment and said "thats my boss", then placed me on hold. After a minute she came back and while she did say that they would "honor" the quote of $21.25 she continued to insinuate that what my subscription required was mail delivery and that is a higher cost. After she confirmed my billing and delivery information I asked when the delivery should actually be expected to begin. At that point she said that the carrier for that area should receive the order tomorrow and that the actual delivery should begin the day after that.
Wait. What? Carrier? If this requires mail delivery why is it going to a carrier?
This whole entire interaction leaves me with a couple of impressions... either the department who handles the subscriptions has no clue what kind of delivery is required for where OR The Bee is taking advantage of a demographic who has no other option for obtaining a daily newspaper. Seriously, its not as though the inmates can run down to the local 7-11 and pick up a copy. I also have to question how many families of inmates have been financially taken advantage of because they took the subscription rate quoted for what it was and didn't bother to voice complaint.
Now, I'm not one to say that prisoners should have cushy lives with premium cable and posh accommodations; they are where they are because they have done something wrong and have to pay for their wrongs against society. However, a newspaper isn't something too outrageous and if their families are willing to purchase their subscriptions, the families shouldn't be taken advantage of financially. Yes, a higher subscription rate than standard does seem reasonable and logical -- but not to the extent that I was originally quoted.

This is not the only issue I have with The Sacramento Bee - its just the most recent, and to me, the most outrageous.
In the past this blog has been quoted in The Bee without any sort of request or notification. I only found out that I had been quoted when friends emailed me saying "Hey, congratulations on being quoted in The Bee!"
More frequently, this has happened to a friend of mine. To the extent that she took her blog private for a few months because she was tired of being quoted without the courtesy of any sort of request.
Yes, journalistic ethics may not require a request or notification when one is quoting an already published blog, but common courtesy does. Especially when it is coming from a local area blogger who may have relationships with writers or editors of the publication.

In general, The Bee has gone downhill at a rapidly alarming pace in the past couple of years. The quality of journalists is not what it used to be which led me to cancel my daily subscription over a year ago.
The one writer I take the most issue with is the new restaurant critic. I, personally, find his reviews to be condescending and pompous. When a restaurant critic takes over 200 words (yes, I did a word count) to tell the reader what the difference is between good and great, the message it sends is that the writer finds their audience to be intellectually inferior.
Furthermore, I take issue with his journalistic ethics. He has openly admitted that when reviewing one restaurant in particular he has gone into the kitchen and introduced who he was just so that he could watch the chef prepare the meals. Critics and reviewers of any nature are not to reveal who they are so that they can ensure they receive the same level of service and quality of product that any other customer or consumer would receive.

One of two things needs to happen. Either The Bee needs a complete overhaul, or Sacramento needs another option for a daily printed newspaper.

Follow Up

Friday night I had some lofty goals of things I wanted to get done over the weekend.
Shockingly, I did NOT accomplish all of them.

1. GARDENING
A few days ago I purchased some tomato, squash, and zucchini plants with the intentions of putting together a container garden. Over the weekend I did get out the half barrel planters we've had for numerous years now.
The unfortunate part is that these barrels went unused for the past two years and sat empty. This caused the wood to shrink to the extent that they are pretty much ruined. So, gardening did not get done, I am now faced with the dilema of either buying new planters or preparing a section of the yard for planting.

2. PATIO
Didn't do a single thing with it.

3. GOAT CHEESE
I tried. Heaven knows I tried.
I followed the recipe exactly, and I have no clue why, but the milk would NOT curdle. No matter how much lemon juice or vinegar or how long I let it sit. I eventually ended up pouring a half gallon of goats milk, the juice from 4 or 5 lemons, and approximately half a cup of apple cider vinegar down the drain.

4. PHOTOSHOP
I DID get all of my photoshop work done. Both the wedding AND the senior portraits. Yay me!

5. THIN OUT MY BOOKSHELVES
Nope.

6. FLIRT WITH THE BUTCHER
Unfortunately I got SO wrapped up in the photoshop work Sunday that I lost track of time and didn't get to the butchers before they closed yesterday.

A couple of things I did get done this weekend that WEREN'T on my To Do List?

1. Visit my baby brother in jail - thats an entire entry of its own for another time.

2. Vietnamese Coffee Popsicles
Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE my coffee. Drink it daily, all throughout the day. A few years ago my uncle introduced me to Vietnamese coffee - a strongly brewed coffee, similar to espresso, blended with sweetened condensed milk. I would LOVE to get a set of Vietnamese coffee filters, but I fear how much sweetened condensed milk I would consume if I did.
A couple weeks ago I saw this recipe for Vietnamese coffee popsicles and knew that I HAD to make them. This weekend, I did. They were AMAZING. Even Grandma liked them.

3. DETERGENT
A couple weeks ago I told you about what I will call "The Great Detergent Debacle of 2009", also known as "Vanessa Doesn't Like To Follow Directions".
I had attempted to make a concentrated version of my own liquid laundry detergent only to have it turn into a semi-solid consistency. As a result, by the time I had thinned it out to a gel detergent consistency, I had FIFTEEN gallons of the stuff. Since then, its been sitting in buckets.
This weekend I had finally gathered enough empty laundry detergent bottles, 2 liter soda bottles, milk jugs, etc to bottle the stuff. I've given some away to my mom and to neighbors... I STILL have TEN bottles that I don't know what to do with.
The drawback is that even though I thinned it out to a gel detergent consistency, it tends to separate? I've used the stuff and it works just fine as long as you shake it before using it. I just don't have a scientific enough mind to understand why its separating. I guess that it has something to do with all of the various ingredients mixing and bonding together during the initial preparation and the additional water being added after the fact?
I'm thinking I'm going to take some down to the pub and see if I can unload any there. For some reason, some people are hesitant to accept homemade detergent? I made it for sensitive skin since Grandma requires it.

4. LAUNDRY
Got mine done, as well as the towels. Now, I just need to work on Grandmas.

5. DRANK COFFEE
Really, I'm just adding this to make myself feel better for not doing more that was on my actual To Do list.

6. CUDDLED WITH SAM & COOPER
See #5.

Ambitious

I have some ambitious plans for this weekend and am hoping that by putting them here, it will give me some accountability to complete at least HALF of whats on my to do list.

1. Gardening
I know I'm getting a rather late start on this, but yesterday I purchased two tomato plants, one crookneck squash and one zucchini plant.
I'm going to put together a little container garden. Yes, I know the zucchini needs a lot of room, so I may actually put that one in the ground... I'll have to double check exactly big my largest container is (a half wine barrel) and see if that will be large enough.
I'm not sure what suddenly motivated me to try gardening. I've never been successful with plants in the past but I want to grow my own vegetables. Its often hard for me to get to the farmers market downtown on the weekend, and the grocery stores can be so pricey for fresh produce that is often tasteless and bland. And, theres not much that I love more than a homegrown tomato.
IF this experiment goes well, I'm probably going to put together a larger garden for next year. Building a few raised beds wouldn't be too challenging and then I could have a wider variety of produce. I definitely have the room for it, our property is close to half an acre, so if I was REALLY feeling ambitious I could, theoretically, have a more traditional garden in the back portion of the property. However, that would require things like getting a rototiller and a lot of manual labor.

2. PATIO
I SERIOUSLY need to clean up the back patio - primarily the bbq grill. I plan on having a bbq-tastic summer this year.

3. GOAT CHEESE
I'm going to be making my own goat cheese this weekend.
This idea started while brainstorming ways to deal with keeping the weeds and grass in check on our property. My brother had been coming around and mowing our back yard but totally slacked on it the past few months and the next thing we knew, Cooper was getting lost in the jungle that is our back yard. I COULD do it myself, but I can be rather prone to laziness and social obligations on the weekends. We COULD hire a lawn service, but with how large the property is, thats a couple hundred dollars a month. I'm trying to save some money here. My sisters boyfriend COULD come and do it but he's a jackass and you can't rely on him for crap (note, since this brainstorming session he has come over and cleared the jungle). Then I remembered reading how you can rent goats to come and clear overgrown weeds and brush. I looked into it, and with what it would cost to rent two goats for a day you could buy two pygmy goats of your own. I mentioned this to a friend of mine and she pointed out that if I got one that was a milker, I could also make my own goat cheese with the milk she produced. I thought this was a FANTASTIC idea. I LOVE goat cheese.
So, I did a little research and found this. Making goat cheese is SO incredibly easy! Or at least it sounds that way.
So, I was all gung ho on the idea of getting two pygmy goats. Pygmy because they don't get too terribly big (they can use a large dog house as their shelter as opposed to a barn) and that breed is very social and playful. I figured this would be good because Cooper is very social and playful and I know that if I brought a couple goats onto the property, Cooper would at least try to play with them.
Then I REALLY started thinking it over. I would have to get up at the ass crack of dawn every day to milk them, and I HATE mornings. They would have to be milked daily and I know that I couldn't count on anyone to come and milk them if I go away for a weekend, let alone a week in Europe or somewhere.
If I do end up with a larger garden next year, I would have to build a fence to keep them away from it otherwise they would eat all of my gardening efforts. If that happened I would have to invite all of my friends over for a fire roasted goat one night. So, ixnay on the oatgay.
However, the idea of making my own goat cheese stuck with me. Last night I stopped at Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods, and picked up some goat cheese. If this first attempt goes well, I found a rancher up in El Dorado Hills where I could purchase raw goats milk for future batches of goat cheese. Yes, raw goats milk would be unpasteurized, but that just means that its full of probiotics.

4. PHOTOSHOP
Four weeks ago a couple of my friends got married and I photographed their wedding. At first, I just started working on the photos slowly because, they're going to be in Ireland on their honeymoon for three weeks? Pshaw! I've got plenty of time! No reason to rush!
Then I started having all sorts of dental complications and was on either valium and/or vicodin and/or white wine each night. Now, I'm confident enough to work my photoshop magic with a glass or two of white wine, but I am not going to work on a friends wedding photos while hopped up on vicodin and/or valium. Next thing I knew, they were home. Now I've got to haul ass to get the photos done.
ALSO, last weekend I belatedly took some photos of one of my younger cousins for her Senior Portraits. The kid graduated high school early a few months ago but wouldn't coordinate with me for when we could get them done. Every time she wanted to get together it was a weekday when I was working and she only wanted to spend the weekends with her boyfriend. We finally got together last Sunday and now I need to go through those photos.

5. THIN OUT MY BOOKSHELVES
I seriously have too many books. Its a sickness, really. I keep every single book that I buy, with the exception of the ones I loan out and don't get back. THEN whenever anyones getting rid of books I always take a healthy portion of them. As a result, I've got books everywhere. I figure that I'll take some to a used book store and try to sell them and the ones that they don't take I'll donate to the library or goodwill or someplace.

6. FLIRT WITH THE BUTCHER
Last weekend I decided to stop into my local butcher and support the local businesses. Can I just say that the guy working the front counter was super cute?
Now, I'm BAD a picking up on when a guy is flirting with me. My natural thought and reaction is that he's just friendly.
When I went to the butchers, I had my cousin with me (we had just finished her portraits) and when we walked out I said "WOW. He was cute." Cousin said "He totally was! AND he was totally smiling and flirting with you!"
So, I think I need to go back this weekend.


Hopefully I'll be able to get at least half of this done.

I Need To Learn How To Follow Directions

I've never been big on directions... especially recipes.
I've always thought that recipes were a loose guideline, really just a set of suggestions, and I have always ventured off on my own. I've come up with some great meals this way.
However, I recently had an experience that made me think that following a recipe can be a very good thing. That sometimes, sometimes, recipes are the way they are for a reason and that diverting from them can result in an outcome that is not desired.

A couple of months ago I made my own powdered laundry detergent, read the details here.
I have been extremely satisfied with the detergent - it works FANTASTICALLY and I have used it on everything... including some VERY dirty loads of laundry (dog beds, towels used to clean up mud, all kinds of nastiness). The only thing that was a bit of a pain was that since it was a powdered detergent it had to be used in hot water so that it would dissolve. It wasn't too big of a pain, if I needed to do a load in a cold wash I just turned on the hot for about 20 seconds at first, then switched it to cold, then loaded in the items I was washing.
This dilema had me wanting to make my own liquid detergent (recipe here). The recipe for the liquid detergent essentially calls for the same ingredients that I used in the powdered version, just melt them together, pour into a 5 gallon bucket, add water and let sit overnight to gel, then use 1 cup per full load of laundry.
Thats what the recipe said. However, that is not what my insane mind said.
My thoughts went like this:
"What if I used double the ingredients so that you would only have to use 1/2 cup per full load?"
"Heck, if I'm going to make a concentrated version, then I could quadruple the ingredients so that you only use 1/4 cup per load. Thats even MORE environmentally friendly! Its conserving water, and since Northern California is practically always in a drought conserving water=GOOD!"
So, this past week I set about making my super concentrated laundry detergent. I did not end up with laundry detergent. What I ended up with was something closer to a super soft playdough. Now, I have to go buy a couple 5 gallon buckets so I can mix some of this stuff with hot water and try to thin it out to an actual detergent like consistency.

Reason #83 Why I Should Not Be A Mother

This morning I went to the Susan G Komen Race For the Cure. I walked it. I do not run.
After the run, I mean walk, my friend and I went to lunch with her 4 year old son. As we're leaving the cafe, I'm hugging him goodbye in the parking lot when his hand accidentally gets caught in the neckline of my blouse and he copped a little bit of a feel. He put his hand back, patting my chest, saying "ooooohhhhhh. Whats this?".
I was all "Uhhhhhhhhhhhh?" and looking toward his mother for help because, really? I have no clue how to handle that situation.
So, lil' guys mom was all "Those are Vanessas doobs" apparently thats what he calls them, and yes he fully knows what they are and was just trying to play dumb/cute so he could cop a feel, "and they're not for you to touch. You don't get to play with doobs for a very long time."
And I'm all "Yeah kiddo, you've got about another 14, maybe 13, years before you can play with doobs"
And his mom is all "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Twenty! Thirty! Fourty! Years before he can play with doobs!"
And I'm all "Yeah, you can't play with doobs until you're your grandpas age"
and in my head I'm thinking "damn, I just said 13 or 14 because that would make him 17 or 18 years old and I thought that was a conservative estimate of his approximate age before he'd cop a feel on a girl and actually my gut reaction, which I quickly shot down, because I do have a LITTLE sense about me, was to say 10 years because I'm thinking 14 is probably the young side of average for a teenage boys first grope. Damn. I'm glad I didn't say that."

Testing sending blog updates via my text. Is this just Blogger trying to keep up with Twitter?

Theres A New Phone In Town

For the past couple of years I've been using the LG Fusic phone from Sprint.
Overall, it was decent, but in the past year it had developed some... issues.



For example, while closed, it would randomly turn on the speaker phone and redial my last call. Keep in mind, this is a flip phone so while closed the phone should not be making or receiving any calls.
Also, it had these little buttons along the sides. Those buttons had become hyper-sensitive... I guess.
While in my purse or pocket, again closed, the MP3 player would randomly turn on and start playing music. Sometimes the camera would turn on by itself and I would end up with extreme close ups of the contents of my purse.
However, the weirdest and hardest for me to figure out, was a voice I heard in my ear one day as I was driving down the road. I had my headset in my ear and out of nowhere theres a voice saying "Call from Mom" except this voice almost had a british accent, so it was more like "Call frum Mum". What the bloody hell? I jumped to the point of almost causing an accident. What else do you expect my reaction to be when I'm alone in my car and hearing british accents in my head?
That one took a while for me to figure out. Apparently the phone had a "Voice Guide" mode that had somehow been turned on.

AGGRAVATING.

So, I've been wanting a new phone for a while now. Of course, being an Apple junkie, I really wanted the iPhone. However, that would involve switching carriers. I've had Sprint for 8 years now and am content to stay with them. Also, the iPhone, while coming down in price in the past year, is still rather pricey and my understanding is that the plan needed to support the iPhone would be a substantially higher monthly bill than what I currently have.
I decided to stay with Sprint and was initially just thinking that I would get a phone that has a full QWERTY keyboard because I text a lot and was tired of texting on a standard phone key pad. Then, a coworker who has the Samsung Instinct (Sprints iPhone knock off) let me play with her phone for a bit this past week.
I went with the Instinct.

It is taking a bit of getting used to, and I'm trying to fully explore it this evening so that I'm not a bumbling idiot with it when actually trying to make/receive calls.
Also, normally I am one of those people who always passes on the additional insurance for electronics. Everything I've read about them says that they're a total waste of money. However, considering my luck with anything technological this past year, I did opt for the insurance this time. Hopefully I won't have to take advantage of it too many times

Adventures in Dentistry

I will be the first to admit that I have more than just a little dental anxiety. I'd even be willing to classify it as a neurosis...I would even go as far as to say that it could be categorized as dentophobia.
I definitely go through the "cycle of avoidance" in that I NEVER go in for regular check ups or cleanings. I wait until I am in pain and then go in in crisis mode and end up having to have a whole laundry list of procedures done... root canals, abscess, pulp capping, multiple fillings, extractions.... NO BUENO.
My personal dental experiences have been nothing less than horrific.
Disclaimer - DO NOT read further if you have dental anxieties and are easily freaked out. I will be detailing my horrifying experiences. However, if you are morbidly curious or need motivation to maintain your regular dental appointments - a "don't let this happen to you" - then please, read on....

My earliest dental memory was at approximately the age of six. I had been racing bikes with my cousin and a couple of the neighborhood kids. At one point I look back over my shoulder to see how far ahead I am and steer my bike, at full speed, directly into the back of a parked van. I was a bloody mess. Four teeth, thankfully all baby teeth, were broken off at the gum line and one of them went through my lip. I spent a few hours in the emergency room that afternoon getting stitches in my lip, I still have the scar, and had to wait until Monday to go in to the dentist so that they could dig out the root structures of the four teeth that had broken. This was my regular dentist for a LONG time. Lets call him Dr Black (since that may or may not be the opposite of his real name).
It was a while until I had my next horrific dental experience.
When I was 18 I had to have my lower wisdom teeth pulled. Dr Black said that they could be pulled under local anesthetic, Novocaine, and nitrous oxide if needed. At that time he informed me that he wouldn't touch the upper wisdom teeth.
He said that the wisdom tooth on the upper left didn't need to be removed at that point so why go in there since the uppers can be more difficult and painful. Then he told me that on the upper right I had TWO wisdom teeth. Yes, TWO. I'm a freak. He told me that he would never touch those because with how far up the root structures went into the cheek bone area, that if not done right the result could be facial damage and because of this he would never touch them, that I would need to see an oral surgeon. Fantastic.
The day I went in to have the lower wisdom teeth pulled I stayed awake all night the night before at the suggestion of a friend. She had told me that if I was exhausted and on nitrous oxide that there was a good chance I would sleep through the whole ordeal. No one has ever been more wrong in their entire life.
I was loaded up with Novocaine and he started digging in. Even being numbed I was still experiencing pain and pressure. So, he gave me more Novocaine and turned on the nitrous. I still felt uncomfortable pressure, so they turned the nitrous up. Then the Novocaine started wearing off, so they gave me more injections.
This cycle kept repeating itself, the Novocaine would wear off, they'd stop to give me more injections. It finally got to the point where he said "I've given you the maximum Novocaine I can safely give you, the nitrous is turned up to the maximum level I can safely have it at, but we're too far in to stop". It was so incredibly painful, and all I could do was sit there and cry through the rest of it.
As an added bonus, I got dry socket almost immediately afterwards. That is a pain I would not wish upon anyone. Seriously, it was the worst pain I have ever experienced.

It was about six years until I went back to the dentist.
I was employed part time and didn't have any dental benefits, or any benefits at all, when I got a horrible toothache. I went into a random dentist - lets call him Dr Forget since I can't remember his name or the name of his office, that advertised themselves as affordable for any budget and Dr Forget told me that I needed a root canal on the last molar on my upper right side. I did not have the funds to pay for a root canal, so I went with the more affordable option of having the tooth extracted. My rationalization at the time was that not only was it more affordable, but it would also give room for one of the double wisdom teeth to come down.
Dr Forget had a horrible time removing that molar. The root was curved in a C like shape, so he couldn't just pull it. He had to break the tooth into pieces and remove them all individually. Again, painful. The Novocaine kept wearing off and he had to continuously stop to give me additional injections. Apparently my body processes Novocaine rather fast.
The removal was done, and I was sore. I expected to be sore though - I'd just had a large molar removed. However, the pain was awful. It was almost to the level that I started to wonder if I was developing dry socket again. After a few days I went back to Dr Forget because of how painful the pain still was. That was when we discovered that when Dr Forget had broken the tooth into pieces, HE HAD LEFT A FEW SHARDS BEHIND.
So, once again, I didn't go back to the dentist for a couple years.
Once again, I found myself in extreme pain and made an emergency appointment with Dr Black. I needed a root canal, a pulp capping, and a few fillings. Three or four appointments later I was all fixed and all dental issues were remedied. However, I was left with some hefty bills. Since I'd gone in to Dr Black in extreme pain I hadn't bothered to confirm that my insurance covered him. They didn't, and they wouldn't.
Did I learn from these experiences and go in for regular check ups and cleanings after that? Ummmm....no.
Because I can, at times, be incapable of learning from my past mistakes I went another couple of years with no dental care. Even though I had insurance. Yet again, I found myself in the position of extreme pain, again in need of a root canal, on the phone with my insurance crying and begging them to find me an appointment with anyone who would do a root canal. The only dentist in my area who performed root canals on my coverage had a month long waiting list. Because I was clearly in a "position of crisis" (thats what the insurance lady said) they extended emergency coverage to the dentist of my choice. Not knowing many dentists I went back to Dr Black. He performed the root canal and did a couple of fillings as well.
Again, my dental issues were all solved.
A while after that I became aware that some fillings had fallen out and that I probably had new cavities as well. However, I also hated my dental insurance and didn't want to go to the dentists that they covered. This was in mid-2007. I rationalized that during the benefits open enrollment at work I would switch to the better dental coverage and in early 2008 I would research a good dentist, take recommendations from friends, and go get these issues addressed. I kinda didn't do that. I didn't switch my coverage during open enrollment, and when 2008 rolled around I still had the coverage that I didn't care for and didn't want to go have the issues addressed. Last fall it started becoming increasingly apparent that I needed to have dental care, so when benefits open enrollment came around I changed my coverage almost immediately. However, when 2009 began I still didn't make an appointment. The anxiety and dread were there. I would take recommendations from friends, but never actually call for an appointment.
Then, Thursday before last, I bit down on a piece of crispy bacon with the upper right wisdom tooth that had come down and was in extreme pain. Recognizing this pain I was certain that I was in need of yet another root canal.
The next day, a Friday, I started calling dentist. I was amazed at how many dental offices are closed on Fridays. I was thinking I was going to have to suffer through the weekend and try to find a dentist on Monday. I finally found a dentists office conveniently located partway between work and home (closer to home) that was open and could schedule an appointment for me. The drawback was that even though I was in pain, they couldn't see me until Tuesday morning.
I went to my appointment Tuesday morning and had x-rays done then the dentist, Dr Thompson (real name), examined my mouth and said this
"Well, here's the good news. First, you don't have any signs of oral cancer. Second, with all of the work you need done we can give you free whitening."
From there he went on to tell me that the exposed wisdom tooth on my upper right was decayed to the extent that any efforts to save it would first be extremely complicated because of its positioning (at an angle) and heroic and should just be extracted by an oral surgeon. While in there, they should remove the other wisdom teeth on both sides. Then he went into the complicated issue. The last molar on my upper right had been root canal treated by Dr Black several years prior. He asked me if there had been any complications during the root canal process, if there were I don't recall. He went on to show me in the x-ray where one of the files used to clean out the root canal had broken off in one of the canals and Dr Black left it there. In addition to that, the decay had not been completely cleaned out and had continued up the root and was now encroaching on bone. The solution - remove the tooth before the decay could affect (effect?) the bone and cause even more extensive damage that could potentially require bone grafts and such.
The dental office I went to only has an oral surgeon in once a month and he would be in on that Thursday, just two days later. The dentist then asked me if I wanted to have this done with local anesthetic, Novocaine, to which I replied "HELL, NO. Knock me out. Put me under. General anesthesia and nothing less".
Unfortunately, he couldn't guarantee me an appointment that Thursday if I was requiring general anesthesia. I was having to hope for someone to cancel their appointment, otherwise I would either have to wait a month OR find an oral surgeon who could get me in ASAP.
To recap, I went in anticipating that I would need a root canal and a handful of fillings. I left being told that I needed to have my upper left wisdom tooth, two upper right wisdom teeth (freak weirdo) and upper right molar removed. Thats right, FOUR teeth. Three of which were all right in a row.
Wednesday morning I got the call from the dental office that they had a cancellation and would be able to get me in at 11:30 Thursday morning.
I was simultaneously relieved and terrified. That night after work I went out with some friends. Figured that I'd been eating soft foods for nearly a week at that point and knowing that I wouldn't be able to eat anything other than soft foods for at least another week, I wanted meat. We went to the pub where I had a few pints and a few buffalo wings and distracted myself from my anxieties. But they came back. When I went to sleep that night I had a dream that only demonstrates my anxieties.
I dreamed that I showed up at the office and had the following conversation with the receptionist:
Receptionist: Okay, have you taken the Valium we gave you?
Me: Umm... you didn't give me a Valium. Do I really need it since I'm having general anesthesia?
R: Oh. Well. Um, here take this now and it should kick in by the time we're done with all the paperwork.
M: Okay.
R: So, did you eat or drink anything after midnight last night
M: No
R: Good. Did you go to the pub with your friends for a couple beers last night?
M: Yes
R: Oh. Thats not good. Did you have buffalo wings?
M: Yes
R: You weren't supposed to do that
M: Nobody told me!
R: Did you have ranch dressing with the wings?
M: Yes
R: Ohhhh, not good. Not good.
M: Wha...?
R: Did you stop on your way home last night and buy yourself a new set of loungewear for today?
M: Yeahhhh.
R: Sssssssssss. That was not a good idea.
M: How....?
R: Did you fall asleep watching a movie last night?
M: Yes
R: Oh no, you shouldn't have done that.
M: But...?
R: Did you take Sunrise to get here this morning?
M: Yes, you're ON Sunrise!
R: Not good. Not good at all. Just so you know, theres probably going to be some complications.
M. But? How? Why? What????

and thats all I remember of the dream. Seriously? WTF? Nice little peak inside of my twisted brain, huh?
Just to note - I think the part about taking the valium got put into my head because every friend I talked to the night before asked me if they had given me a valium to take in the morning. Apparently all of their experiences of being rendered unconscious for dental procedures was via valium as opposed to general anesthesia.

I went to my appointment Thursday morning and had no issues at all. I sat in the chair, they put in the IV of a saline drip and the oral surgeon came in. He said "You look like you are a nervous wreck". I told him yes, that my anxiety was rather high, and he said "Well, I'm going to give you some stuff here thats going to make you feel like everythings alright with the world."
Thats the last I remember.
The next thing I knew, I was being woken up so that I could get into a wheelchair and was wheeled out to my car where my mom was waiting for me.
I was pretty much prepared to get dry socket almost immediately like had happened when Dr Black removed my lower wisdom teeth so I kept myself heavily sedated with various strengths of vicodin the rest of the day Thursday, all day Friday, and part of Saturday and Sunday.
To be honest, everything has gone rather well. Yes, I have been sore and tender but that is to be expected with what I had done and it has been getting better daily. I haven't gotten dry socket, I haven't been in excruciating pain, and I even felt up to running a couple of minor errands Sunday.
Looking back at my dental history, I think I can attribute a great portion of my dentophobia to repeatedly returning to Dr Black. Looking at all of this objectively, I don't think he's the best dentist out there.
However, I do think I have found a good dentist. Friday, while I was recovering, my dentist called me personally to see how I was doing, how I felt and how I was recovering. Granted, I was sedated so he left me a message, but still... he followed up personally. Any of my experiences with dentists or doctors or anything of that nature in the past was that if they followed up at all, it was a receptionist or assistant who did it, not the dentist or doctor. Also, in my initial appointment last Tuesday, Dr Thompson said that once the surgery was done, before proceeding with any other procedures, he wanted to talk about my dental anxieties, find out why they were so extensive that I would willing go as long as I do without having these issues addressed so that he could tailor his approach to suit my needs.
I think I may have found a good dentist. Its an abstract concept for me.
I will be making an appointment to go back in and have all of my other issues addressed and I think I will take him up on the offer for free whitening. I just hope it doesn't turn out like this (it's long, but watch through to the end if you haven't seen it already. Heck, watch through to the end anyways because its funny):

I Blame The Drugs

If this post makes no sense at all, blame the drugs.
I've been taking massive amounts of vicodin over the past couple of days due to a toothache. A horrible horrible horrible toothache.
I haven't just been taking vicodin, I've also been mixing it with large amounts of acetometaphin, and at times.... booze. Like this morning I drug myself out of bed to go to a friends bon voyage brunch before she leaves for Nepal tomorrow. There I had a couple of bloody marys... that made for one sweet sweet nap once I got home.
Why do I have such a horrible toothache? Because I'm a giant wuss and am afraid of the dentist. I will avoid the dentist at all cost. Yes, when an issue pops up I am aware that if I went in and had the issue addressed right then, it wouldn't be too big of an issue and that if I put it off its only going to progress into something horrible. Like what I have right now. But, I put it off because to me, a trip to the dentist is an awful experience, rife with pain and blood and lectures about brushing and flossing. So, I put off the needed dental appointment until it is a self fulfilling prophecy in which I am in pain like I am now.
So, there you have it. I am phobic about going to the dentist. I'm sure theres a technical term for this condition, but for now I'm just going to call it "hurts-my-teeth-achondria" or "pain-in-my-mouth-aphobia" or maybe "ouch-my-tooth-aphobic" or even "don't-put-that-in-my-mouth-achondriac". Actually, I'm thinking that last one could apply to a lot more than just a fear of the dentist.
The only thing that I didn't factor in to my phobia surrounding the dentist is the 12+ year old black lab lying at my feet and farting like I have right now.
Over the past 2 days I've been neglecting my doggy babies. Since I got home from work Friday, my routine has been this:
take vicodin, let the dogs out, sleep, take vicodin, let the dogs in, sleep, take vicodin, sleep, take vicodin, eat something, sleep, take vicodin, let the dogs in, sleep... you get the gist.
Sam and Cooper are feeling a bit neglected. Coopers being more vocal about it, sitting here next to me saying "arawwrrawawarr" which we all knows translates to "pet me and give me pup-peronis, NOW PLEASE!"
So, now I have a dilema. I'm low on vicodin - I have enough to get me through tonight and possibly through tomorrow. My mom went to refill my prescription... a prescription that was given to me for a different ailment last summer. The pharmacy said that they can't refill my prescription because the original prescription was given to me over a year ago. This is not true. I just dug out the other prescription that was given to me at the same time and I got it last July. Do I go back to the pharmacy myself in my ratty pajamas and unkempt hair and smelly unshowered self and argue with them, or do I just make do with what I have until my dentist appointment Tuesday morning?

Also, I've been using this Toothache Kit

It works okay, takes the edge off of the pain. I think that if I were dealing with your typical cavity pain that this would work perfectly. However, since I think I'm dealing with root canal pain it just takes the edge off - takes it down a couple notches to a dull pain.
The drawback, it tastes like death. Death with a slight clove like aftertaste.

I Thought I Had a Leprechaun

Theres been a few times over the past couple of weeks where I have randomly found money is strange places....
A $10 bill in my bed
A couple of $1 in my pile of dirty laundry
A $5 under one of my pillows
and more like this.

The ones in my bed I figured had probably fallen out of my purse and the ones in the laundry I figured that I had left in my pockets.

It was either that, or I had a leprechaun.

A viable theory since this was in the weeks leading up to Saint Patrick's Day, right? RIGHT?!?

I actually spotted my leprechaun ON Saint Patrick's Day....
He's black, furry, and has 4 legs.

I was sitting at my computer and out of the corner of my eye, I see Cooper stick his head in my purse and pull out a few $1 bills and go trotting off with them.

He's stashing cash around the house!

He's not chewing it up. He's just stashing it.

I have no idea what this is other than maybe he recognizes that we're in a recession and wants to build a little nest egg to ensure there are funds available for the future purchase of pup-peroni and fauxreos?

I'm Beginning To Think It Might Be Me

I think technology hates me. Not just Macs/Apples, but all of technology.
I've told you of some of the technology problems I've experienced this past year. Thats right, some. I know what you're thinking "Dude, theres more? Seriously? What more technology problems could one girl possibly have?"
First, there was the situation with the iBook and the iPod.
Then there was the issue with the PowerBook.
Last you heard was the troubles with upgrading the OS on the iMac.

Well, to be honest, my technological trainwreck goes back further than what I have let on.

About a year and a half ago, my brother accidentally cut the power cord to my TV. He was ripping the carpet out of our hallway, and when he took took the blade to cut the carpeting at my doorway, he didn't move the power cord to my TV out of the way and accidentally cut it in half.
Yes, I was annoyed, but I didn't make a big deal out of it. At that time I thought that I had three options to remedy the situation:

1. Buy a new TV
2. Take it to a repair shop and pay to have it fixed.
3. Fix it myself.

Well, anyone who knows me knows that I went with option three. I will DIY just about any project when that is a viable option. I look at it as an opportunity to learn a new skill or further develop a skill that I may already have, and save some money to boot.
I know a little about electrical type stuff.
A little.
My great-grandfather was a electrician and I remember sitting in his workshop with him, watching and helping him with some basic electrical repairs. My grandfather, while not an electrician, did possess a basic knowledge of electrical repairs - I also helped him with all kinds of home maintenance around the house, including some tasks of electrical nature.

Looking at the issue in front of me, I knew how to fix the problem of the cut power cord. I had the piece that had been cut off, all I had to do was strip both of the cut ends, match the ends up, splice them together, and seal well with electrical tape.
I set about my project, cleanly stripped the ends and spliced the appropriate copper wires together.
Here is where I faltered. I did not have any electric tape.
I searched the house with no luck. In a lapse of judgement I thought to myself, "Duct tape. Duct tape can fix everything, right? I've got duct tape!"
And I duct taped the cord together. I taped the two separate sides (I forget the technical term) and duct taped the entire outside of the spliced area to ensure that it was completely sealed and protected. Heh. Those of you with more knowledge of the composition of duct tape are already shaking your heads.
I plugged the TV in, and it worked. It worked well for a couple of weeks. Then, one day, I come home and go to turn on my TV. It starts to turn on, then theres a "pop" and as the TV turns back off, theres a "pssssssssss" type sound.
I assume that perhaps I didn't twist the wires together tightly enough, or didn't tape them together securely enough, when I was splicing the cord.
So, I start to remove the layers upon layers of duct tape. A couple of layers in, I find that parts of the duct tape appears to be charred and I think to myself "hmmm. Thats odd". Once I remove all of the tape I am really confused because there is no visible copper wire. Instead, there is this black dust like substance. I do not know what caused this, I just know that it is BAD. My thoughts, in the order that they occurred, were:

1. I'm not sure what I did wrong here, I just know that I was thisclose to having a fire here.
2. Crap, a fire! My TV is right in front of my bedroom door. I wouldn't have had an exit other than to jump out the window!
3. Holy hell! If I had to jump out the window, what would have happened to Grandma? Would she have been able to get up and out of the house in time considering the difficulty she has walking?
4. F! Would I have even woken up? The battery in the fire detector was dead and the beeping was driving me nuts so I took the batter out and keep forgetting to replace it!
5. F, I'd have died!

So, I go down to the pub and tell my guy friends what has happened hoping that they can give me some insight. One of them happens to be a fire fighter. He starts to chuckle, puts his arm around my shoulder, and says "Vanessa, God bless you. People like you give me job security."
He proceeds to inform me that duct tape actually contains metallic filaments so the duct tape was conducting electricity then entire time. I am very lucky that there wasn't an electrical fire.
He also tells me that he thinks the "pop" sound I heard most likely was the tube in my TV blowing out (or something like that - its an old TV, and this scenario took place a year ago... I'm a little fuzzy on some of the details) and its probably dead now.
After this, I decided not to have the TV fixed since it would be beyond just replacing the power cord and I'd be best off to just replace the entire TV. I don't watch a ton of TV in my bedroom since I refuse to have cable hooked up in there (I would never sleep. Instead I would get sucked into Project Runway or What Not To Wear marathons). All I really use my TV for in my bedroom is to watch DVD's.
For a while, I used my laptop to watch DVDs and the occaisional streaming of TV shows that I had missed during their original broadcasting.
Then, my laptop died.
I took advantage of this situation to buy a portable DVD player. It just so happened that I'd been considering buying one of these for quite a while.
I'd like to say that I did extensive research and bought something that was top of the line but still at a reasonable price. I can not say that.
What I can say is that I went on ebay and bought one that was cheap and that I recognized the manufacturers name. I ended up getting a 7" Polaroid portable DVD player, in blue, for something like $50. I was never THRILLED with the purchase - the battery only lasted about an hour when fully charged, so I had to have it constantly plugged in... which defeats the whole purpose of it being "portable". Plus, a 7" screen is pretty small.
But overall, it served its purpose. I set it up on my nightstand and have been using it there since last August.
This past week I went to put a DVD in, and it gave me an error message stating "No Disc". I knew this was BS because I had very plainly JUST put a disc in there. I took the disc out and tried the very high tech attempt to repair... I blew on the disc tray. I know, I know, revel in my technological savy. It actually worked.
I put the disc in and watched my movie.
The next night, I put another disc in. Once again "No Disc". The "blow" technique did not work this time. I tried a different disc, same problem. A third disc, Same. Problem.
I turned it off, waited a minute, turned it back on. No difference.
I turned it off, unplugged it, removed the battery, waited a minute and put everything back together.
I put a disc back in. It acted like it was loading, then made a weird noise and said "no disc". This time when I removed the disc and looked at the disc tray, the lens had moved. The lens normally is positioned towards the center of the tray. Now, it had moved towards the outer edge and is not moving back into place.

It is now clear, technology hates me.

Its not limited to just computers, TVs, and DVD players. No. It also encompasses cell phones and radios. I have a long history of Walkmans breaking for no apparent reason. I've purchased a couple of satelitte radios for my car only to have them randomly stop working.
My cell phone, a flip phone... which should not do anything when its closed, will suddenly turn itself on in the speakerphone mode and call people when its sitting on my desk, not being touched. It also is an MP3 player and will start playing music out of nowhere. I'll be in the middle of a phone call, or text message, and it will just TURN. OFF.
I don't know what this all is. Did I offend the technology gods in a past life and this is their retribution? Fifty years ago, was I one of those old farts who ran around speaking crazy talk along the lines of "That tel-e-vision is the work of the devil! Its Satans Soapbox!" and now the technology gods are exacting their revenge?

Whatever it is, I wish to atone. Because this is getting old. And expensive.