There has been so much media-hype over these enhanced interrogation techniques put in place by the Bush administration. I've heard the term 'waterboarding' several times and didn't really understand exactly what it meant. So I just looked it up on wikipedia and I think what I endured yesterday is a hundred times worse than that ....
An orthodontist visit.
I'm dead serious. If we really want these terrorists to start talking (and we don't, as evidenced by Obama's stance on these interrogation methods) then all we really need to do is send them to my orthodontist! After five minutes in his chair, those clowns will be singing like canaries!
The procedure I had done was called IPS. I'm not sure what that stands for exactly but the way it was explained to me is that he needed to polish between two of my upper teeth to create room for them to move and align corectly. Based on that definition, I thought they were basically just going to use that scraper thing that the dentist uses. Sounds pretty harmless, right?
WRONG.
Immediatley when I sit in the chair, the hygenist starts putting together this saw-looking contraption. A little scary, but I also saw the scraper tools on the tray so I figured the saw wasn't even for me. I was wrong again. When Dr. Williams finally got to me, he checked my teeth quickly and started in with the saw.
A SAW.
BETWEEN MY TEETH.
This was certainly uncomfortable and of course I had concerns about what if his hand slips, etc but it wasn't really that big of a deal. When he finished I breathed a little sigh of relief, thinking that I was done. Nope! He then pulls out this little metal strip. Think dental floss, but thicker. And made out of metal. He scraped that thing between my teeth several times and it HURT. LIKE. HELL. My man even drew blood! My gums are still sore today.
I let him know how torturous this procedure was, and he acted like he understood but I got the feeling he's never really endured it. I go back to the ortho in August and if they tell me that they are doing that IPS thing again I'm going to quit. My teeth are straight enough and I can't take another round of that torture, thankyouverylittle!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Finally
Remember how I reported a few weeks ago that I was in the midst of a huge closet clean out? Well, after about 3 weeks I have finally finished the job! It was quite overwhelming. Our master closet is typically the place where we just kinda 'throw' things so it gets pretty messy. As much as I would like to blame Ben for the mess in our closet, its just as much me as it is him. Anyway, here are before and after photos. Can you believe the difference a good spring cleaning makes?? Oh! And as a bonus ... I'm throwing lots of stuff out so there should be a good What Not to Wear post in your near future :)
Oh, and the BEST thing about cleaning out my closet? I found 2 brand-new pairs of summer shoes that I don't even remember buying. Sweeeeet! Here a picture of one of the pairs:
New topic now. Man vs. Wild. Did anyone else hear that Will Ferrell is filming an episode with Bear Grylls? AWE. SOME. Ben and I both love this show despite all the allegations of him sleeping in hotels and staging certain scenes. No doubt he stages stuff. And frankly, I wouldn't spend the night in a forest full of bears either. The man still drinks his own urine and eats bear droppings. He's pretty tough! I'm not sure how Bear got hooked up with Will Ferrell. Will doesn't strike me as the type to do hard-core stuff like climbing waterfalls and eating puff adders but I think we'll definitely put it on the DVR list anyway!Last new topic .... my desk chair at work has been sitting at the perfect height for a midget for the past several days. (Not sure why it was adjusted) And I've JUST NOW figured out how to raise it! Yaay! I feel like a brand new person now.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Weekend Recap
Ben and I had been planning to spend this past weekend up at the lake for several weeks now. When the warm weather finally rolls around, he knows that the only place I ever want to be on the weekends is the lake. So that's just what we did!
He went fishing with people from his work on Friday afternoon/evening. Things have been pretty stressful at his office (hello: shitty economy!) for the last few months so the owner organized this fishing excursion just to lighten the mood a bit. He spent several hours outside Friday afternoon, meaning he got a head start on me in the tanning contest. (Yes, we're 30 and still ruining our skin by tanning) He also caught lots of fish.
So he claims. (Ben, if you email me your pictures I will post them and you can prove yourself!)
Anyway, we headed up to Lake Hartwell late Friday night and were both so tired from the week that we passed out immediately! We got up Saturday and had breakfast and immediately went out to the dock. The weather was fabulous -- a nice breeze in the morning made it easy to lay out and get some much-needed sunshine. We rode the jet-skis for a while and just explored the lake. The lake has been really low the past year, so it is good to finally see the water levels coming back up. Anyway, we finished our ride and parked the jet-skis.
Somehow, when Ben parked his, he was attacked by ants! Weird, huh? Somehow I guess they had build a nest on the Sea Doo platform and they sprayed up on him when he parked. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal when you're reading it, but he seriously had about 100 bites!
Once we got inside, Ben was in a cold sweat from getting bit so much, so I had to give him a benadryl! I then rushed him to hurry up and grill our hot dogs for lunch so we could eat before he knocked out. We grilled and then I returned to the dock for the afternoon while Ben slept off his ant bites. After he woke up from his nap, Ben went out and fished a little bit in the cove before dinner.
We went to one of our favorite local restaurants for dinner that night and were disappointed to find that they had a 'special' menu which was terribly inferior to their regular menu. Oh well, we at least enjoyed a few drinks even if our food wasn't any good.
That is about all I have for you today. It was a good weekend, where Ben and I got to hang out and relax. We definitely needed the break as we spend so many weekends "on the go" these days!
Writing this post pretty much put me to sleep ... I promise I'll think of something more exciting to tell you tomorrow!
He went fishing with people from his work on Friday afternoon/evening. Things have been pretty stressful at his office (hello: shitty economy!) for the last few months so the owner organized this fishing excursion just to lighten the mood a bit. He spent several hours outside Friday afternoon, meaning he got a head start on me in the tanning contest. (Yes, we're 30 and still ruining our skin by tanning) He also caught lots of fish.
So he claims. (Ben, if you email me your pictures I will post them and you can prove yourself!)
Anyway, we headed up to Lake Hartwell late Friday night and were both so tired from the week that we passed out immediately! We got up Saturday and had breakfast and immediately went out to the dock. The weather was fabulous -- a nice breeze in the morning made it easy to lay out and get some much-needed sunshine. We rode the jet-skis for a while and just explored the lake. The lake has been really low the past year, so it is good to finally see the water levels coming back up. Anyway, we finished our ride and parked the jet-skis.
Somehow, when Ben parked his, he was attacked by ants! Weird, huh? Somehow I guess they had build a nest on the Sea Doo platform and they sprayed up on him when he parked. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal when you're reading it, but he seriously had about 100 bites!
Once we got inside, Ben was in a cold sweat from getting bit so much, so I had to give him a benadryl! I then rushed him to hurry up and grill our hot dogs for lunch so we could eat before he knocked out. We grilled and then I returned to the dock for the afternoon while Ben slept off his ant bites. After he woke up from his nap, Ben went out and fished a little bit in the cove before dinner.
We went to one of our favorite local restaurants for dinner that night and were disappointed to find that they had a 'special' menu which was terribly inferior to their regular menu. Oh well, we at least enjoyed a few drinks even if our food wasn't any good.
That is about all I have for you today. It was a good weekend, where Ben and I got to hang out and relax. We definitely needed the break as we spend so many weekends "on the go" these days!
Writing this post pretty much put me to sleep ... I promise I'll think of something more exciting to tell you tomorrow!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Miss California Controversy
I heard a little blip about this on the news the other day, and then a friend told me the whole story of the Miss California controversy. I did a little research into the facts behind the controversy and really feel that the whole thing was unfair. (I hate that word, but its the best way to describe how I feel about it)
At the Miss USA pageant on Sunday night, Miss California was asked a question by one of the judges, Perez Hilton. Immediately after it was revealed that Miss California had drawn Perez's question, one of the commentators said "are we worried?"
Perez's response: "you should be"
And then he delivers his question: "Vermont recently became the 4th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?"
Her response: "I think its great Americans are able to choose one way or another. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised, and that's how I think it should be -- between a man and a woman."
Now, I'm not writing this in order to spark a debate over gay marriage. Don't even go there.
The problem I have with this? Perez Hilton. Perez may be more polarizing than Jesse Jackson. So why was he chosen as a judge? Because the pageant owner (Trump) knew he would ask controversial questions which would ensure media coverage and debate.
Secondly, Miss California had no choice but to respond controversially. Had she said that she believes all states should legalize gay marriage, she would have been criticized by conservative groups out there. Her other choice was to state that she did not believe states should legalize gay marriage. And now, of course she is being slaughtered by the media. It was virtually impossible for her to give a middle-ground response.
Shortly after the pageant aired, Perez Hilton posted a video blog. He stated that Miss Prejean's response was "THE worst response in pageant history". He then went on to say that she lost because she was a "dumb bitch". I will give him credit in that he went on to explain what would have been a better answer. But the answer he suggested? It didn't answer the question he had posed. Furthermore, as a judge of the pageant he really should not speak out for or against any of the contestants.
I feel that Miss California was treated unfairly. She was a victim of Trump's love of media-controversy and Perez Hilton's desire to be a #1 you tube or google search. What are your thoughts?
At the Miss USA pageant on Sunday night, Miss California was asked a question by one of the judges, Perez Hilton. Immediately after it was revealed that Miss California had drawn Perez's question, one of the commentators said "are we worried?"
Perez's response: "you should be"
And then he delivers his question: "Vermont recently became the 4th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?"
Her response: "I think its great Americans are able to choose one way or another. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised, and that's how I think it should be -- between a man and a woman."
Now, I'm not writing this in order to spark a debate over gay marriage. Don't even go there.
The problem I have with this? Perez Hilton. Perez may be more polarizing than Jesse Jackson. So why was he chosen as a judge? Because the pageant owner (Trump) knew he would ask controversial questions which would ensure media coverage and debate.
Secondly, Miss California had no choice but to respond controversially. Had she said that she believes all states should legalize gay marriage, she would have been criticized by conservative groups out there. Her other choice was to state that she did not believe states should legalize gay marriage. And now, of course she is being slaughtered by the media. It was virtually impossible for her to give a middle-ground response.
Shortly after the pageant aired, Perez Hilton posted a video blog. He stated that Miss Prejean's response was "THE worst response in pageant history". He then went on to say that she lost because she was a "dumb bitch". I will give him credit in that he went on to explain what would have been a better answer. But the answer he suggested? It didn't answer the question he had posed. Furthermore, as a judge of the pageant he really should not speak out for or against any of the contestants.
I feel that Miss California was treated unfairly. She was a victim of Trump's love of media-controversy and Perez Hilton's desire to be a #1 you tube or google search. What are your thoughts?
Monday, April 20, 2009
Redundant
This isn't the greatest quality photo, but I think you get the point ....
Am I the only person who thinks this is too much? So you want to put a 'G' sticker in your back window -- no problem! You're a proud UGA fan, I get it. And hey, I can even understand why you might put the 'UGA Alumni' border around your license tag. Someone probably gave it to you as a gift after you already had the 'G' sticker on your back windshield, but you put it up so that you didn't hurt anyone's feelings. But do yourself a favor and stop there.
Am I the only person who thinks this is too much? So you want to put a 'G' sticker in your back window -- no problem! You're a proud UGA fan, I get it. And hey, I can even understand why you might put the 'UGA Alumni' border around your license tag. Someone probably gave it to you as a gift after you already had the 'G' sticker on your back windshield, but you put it up so that you didn't hurt anyone's feelings. But do yourself a favor and stop there.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
April Faves
I have a little (semi-annoying) housekeeping item to talk about before I get into this month's favorite products. You see those google ads over there on the right hand side of this page? Those ads support my love of blogging, so if you'll just throw me a bone and click on those when you visit my blog that would be fantastic! If yall start clicking, I'll maybe be able to do more frequent "favorites" posts. (I'm sure I'll do them regardless ... but just click!!)
Sorry for that -- I know it is annoying.
Okay, so I haven't done a 'favorites' post in a couple of months now so this is long overdue. I have been blogging about more serious topics (mainly because someone accused me of being 'overcome by consumerism') but now I think its time to switch it up! These are some of my most recent discoveries.
Tide Total Care
I think I've mentioned this before, but I am a total sucker to a good ad campaign. Tide claims that washing your clothes with their Total Care product will help to prevent your clothing against the 7 signs of aging. I have mixed emotions on that, but mostly I believe that P&G invented a new formula which allows slightly higher profit margins than the rest of their line and the marketing department decided to come up with a convincing ad campaign so they could sell it. I needed detergent, so I of course picked up a bottle.
I can't and won't speak to their claim that it protects clothes against aging. Maybe that is true, maybe it isn't. But the stuff SMELLS FANTASTIC! It honestly doesn't smell all that great in the container, but once you pull your clothes out of the wash .... ahhhh! So fresh and so clean.
Thomas Strawberry Bagels
These were a bit of an impulse purchase the other day at the grocery store, but definitely a good one! I haven't noticed these before so they may or may not be new but they are delicious! I toasted one this morning and put a little cream cheese on top ... they were fabulous.
Crest Pro-Health Night Toothpaste
Mamacita recommended this one to me. At first I was skeptical because I am a stickler for making sure that any toothpaste I use has the ADA seal of approval and sometimes these 'weird' toothpastes do not (even if they are Crest or Colgate). Anyway, I tried it and it is great! It has these little notsurewhattocallthem bubbles in with the paste that kinda massage your gums and really scrub your teeth. You really do get that just-left-the-dentist clean feeling after using it! I'm not quite sure why it is recommended for night use, but I use it day or night.
Coffee-Mate Italian Sweet Cream
Another one my mom introduced me to! (She's a savvy shopper, I tell you) If you are like me and like your coffee sweetened with a little flavored cream, this is a must try! I don't think it comes sugar free or fat free, but I promise its worth it.
And don't forget .... click on my ads!!
Sorry for that -- I know it is annoying.
Okay, so I haven't done a 'favorites' post in a couple of months now so this is long overdue. I have been blogging about more serious topics (mainly because someone accused me of being 'overcome by consumerism') but now I think its time to switch it up! These are some of my most recent discoveries.
Tide Total Care
I think I've mentioned this before, but I am a total sucker to a good ad campaign. Tide claims that washing your clothes with their Total Care product will help to prevent your clothing against the 7 signs of aging. I have mixed emotions on that, but mostly I believe that P&G invented a new formula which allows slightly higher profit margins than the rest of their line and the marketing department decided to come up with a convincing ad campaign so they could sell it. I needed detergent, so I of course picked up a bottle.
I can't and won't speak to their claim that it protects clothes against aging. Maybe that is true, maybe it isn't. But the stuff SMELLS FANTASTIC! It honestly doesn't smell all that great in the container, but once you pull your clothes out of the wash .... ahhhh! So fresh and so clean.
Thomas Strawberry Bagels
These were a bit of an impulse purchase the other day at the grocery store, but definitely a good one! I haven't noticed these before so they may or may not be new but they are delicious! I toasted one this morning and put a little cream cheese on top ... they were fabulous.
Crest Pro-Health Night Toothpaste
Mamacita recommended this one to me. At first I was skeptical because I am a stickler for making sure that any toothpaste I use has the ADA seal of approval and sometimes these 'weird' toothpastes do not (even if they are Crest or Colgate). Anyway, I tried it and it is great! It has these little notsurewhattocallthem bubbles in with the paste that kinda massage your gums and really scrub your teeth. You really do get that just-left-the-dentist clean feeling after using it! I'm not quite sure why it is recommended for night use, but I use it day or night.
Coffee-Mate Italian Sweet Cream
Another one my mom introduced me to! (She's a savvy shopper, I tell you) If you are like me and like your coffee sweetened with a little flavored cream, this is a must try! I don't think it comes sugar free or fat free, but I promise its worth it.
And don't forget .... click on my ads!!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Update
This is just too good not to share! Remember my post the other day about the cigar dude wanting to use my picture in some photo group?
This was his message to me:
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called The Beauty of a smoking Woman, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
I clicked "no thanks" and responded to him in my comments section:
I'm sorry Stefgauloises ... I don't know that the person in this picture with me would approve so I had to decline your request
His response:
awww.. so sorry Katie.. but thank you anyway ;-))
all the best from germany
Stef ;-)==~~
Easy out, right? So then of course I created the starred out picture to put it on my blog. Well since I did that through a Flickr program, it saved the new photo in Flickr. I thought nothing of it.
Then I get another message on the newly saved picture:
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called The Beauty of a smoking Woman, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Since he was so persistent, it really did make me a little curious. I tried to click into the link he put to his gallery but that group was private. Of course that wierded me out, so I just went into this person's public photo stream. It wasn't anything terrible but still strange -- lots of women smoking very provocatavley. All of the photos were posed and looked like professional shots. The photo that he asked me about? Completley a novelty picture. So I really don't understand why he wanted my picture so badly.
BUT
Against my better judgement, I responded to him:
Can I have permission to view the other photos in this group before I agree?
I don't mean to be weird, but I'm just curious as to what I'm agreeing to!
The response:
sure Katie....i would like to invite you to join "The Beauty of a smoking Woman" but i only can send you an invite to join my group when you add me as a contact or friend...the flickr police forced me to make this group private and so i only can invite contacts or friends..... means people who have me on their contact and friends list....
i hope you understand.. i am so sorry for this trouble
Unfourtch for me, I had already clicked on the email to view his group before I saw this message on my Flickr account.
I didn't ever even get into looking at his photos because I read some of the information on his group site and it was just ... EW.
FILTHY.
So, it is a fetish site. I had a bad feeling about it from the very first message but I really didn't think it was going to be something sooooo drastic. I really just thought it was some dude who liked smoking pictures. I mean that was totally plausable in my mind -- some people like pictures of kittens, cars, and all different things. Oh well. Live and learn, right? Needless to say I told him that I was a fairly conservative person and would prefer that he did not use my image in his group.
This was his message to me:
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called The Beauty of a smoking Woman, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
I clicked "no thanks" and responded to him in my comments section:
I'm sorry Stefgauloises ... I don't know that the person in this picture with me would approve so I had to decline your request
His response:
awww.. so sorry Katie.. but thank you anyway ;-))
all the best from germany
Stef ;-)==~~
Easy out, right? So then of course I created the starred out picture to put it on my blog. Well since I did that through a Flickr program, it saved the new photo in Flickr. I thought nothing of it.
Then I get another message on the newly saved picture:
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called The Beauty of a smoking Woman, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Since he was so persistent, it really did make me a little curious. I tried to click into the link he put to his gallery but that group was private. Of course that wierded me out, so I just went into this person's public photo stream. It wasn't anything terrible but still strange -- lots of women smoking very provocatavley. All of the photos were posed and looked like professional shots. The photo that he asked me about? Completley a novelty picture. So I really don't understand why he wanted my picture so badly.
BUT
Against my better judgement, I responded to him:
Can I have permission to view the other photos in this group before I agree?
I don't mean to be weird, but I'm just curious as to what I'm agreeing to!
The response:
sure Katie....i would like to invite you to join "The Beauty of a smoking Woman" but i only can send you an invite to join my group when you add me as a contact or friend...the flickr police forced me to make this group private and so i only can invite contacts or friends..... means people who have me on their contact and friends list....
i hope you understand.. i am so sorry for this trouble
Unfourtch for me, I had already clicked on the email to view his group before I saw this message on my Flickr account.
I didn't ever even get into looking at his photos because I read some of the information on his group site and it was just ... EW.
FILTHY.
So, it is a fetish site. I had a bad feeling about it from the very first message but I really didn't think it was going to be something sooooo drastic. I really just thought it was some dude who liked smoking pictures. I mean that was totally plausable in my mind -- some people like pictures of kittens, cars, and all different things. Oh well. Live and learn, right? Needless to say I told him that I was a fairly conservative person and would prefer that he did not use my image in his group.
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