Josh Groban - Brave [Official Behind The Scenes Video]

La Tua Semplicità - Placido Domingo & Josh Groban

Sunday, Sunday, not a sleep-in day by any means

As usual, I was up and out of bed by 6:30 this morning.  Sunday is not a lazy day around here.  No.  Sunday is chore day.  But the chores are now are done.  I even made my lunch for tomorrow!  *\o/*

No, wait, chores are almost done.  On Sundays we wash all of the towels and right now I can hear the washer churning away.  So once it's done working it's magic, we'll pop them into the dryer (a worthless model that takes two or three drying cycles to finish even the smallest loads), fold them, and THEN chores will be officially done.

YAY!

Now, I don't consider dishes to be a chore because they have to be done immediately after we finish eating.  No kidding.

My husband is a bit of an OCD neat-freak and the idea of just rinsing a coffee cup and spoon after some afternoon tea is just unthinkable.  No dishes are left on the counter, in the sink, in the drainer EVER.  He keeps a very clean kitchen, my Zach.  And here I was worried that getting married would mean having to pick up my man's dirty socks and underwear, etc.  Nope.  Not the case at all.  I guess it's a good thing he's so particular.

Going to the dentist to get a temporary crown

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had made appointments for me and my husband to go see the dentist.  Being a terrible coward, I fretted and whined the entire time because it had been more than twenty years since I had been to the dentist and I was afraid that I would need extensive (and expensive) dental work. 

As it turned out, this was not the case.  My teeth and I are doing fine.  And, while I still don't like going to the dentist, It is not something that I am afraid of any longer.

My husband had lost a hunk of tooth from one of his back molars, and, as expected, he needed a crown.  Poor guy.  It must have been painful having a hunk of tooth missing, but he never whined or complained.  I admire that, even though I don't emulate his behavior. 

Our new dentist explained what to expect when you need a crown and made the first appointment for Monday, December 3rd. 

The appointment day came and I went with my husband for moral support.  It was my day off and I didn't have anything better to do, anyway.  The weather was cool and I was wearing my new, but slightly uncomfortable tennis shoes.   (Note to self, never buy shoes if they aren't 100% comfortable right out of the box!)  I thought about going for a walk, but decided against it because I'm a puss when it comes to cold weather, my feet hurt, and, most importantly, I wasn't sure how long the procedure would last.  I ended up sitting in the waiting room flipping through a variety of glossy magazines and wondering how many germs were lying in wait and exactly how many people had leafed through those same magazines and if they had washed their hands after they had gone to the restroom. 

Time went by fairly quickly and in less than eighty minutes my husband was returned to me as good as ever, maybe even a little improved seeing as the gaping hole in his tooth was (temporarily) fixed.  He even showed it to me when we got back to the car and the temporary crown they had put in blended well with the rest of his teeth.

Impressive!

Now, he still has to go back on the seventeenth of December to get the permanent crown installed.  And that will hopefully be the last I have to see of the dentist until my six month check-up in May.  *knock on wood*

Chu-ko's Mouse Bites - Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Poem

I've been doing puppetry for a long time now, since I was four or five years old.  Of course, I didn't use puppets when I was a kid because I didn't have any.  So I just used my hands, just like you would if you were using a sock puppet, just... without the sock.

A lot of people - especially adults - think I'm a bit odd, but I don't care.  It's something I love to do and enjoy.  But if it is odd - and I'm not saying it is - blame my aunt Barb.  She started it all.  She would tell us stories with her hands again, sans socks.  And I've been doing it ever since.

Video taping myself while I'm doing puppets, well, now THAT is something new.  I've made a few videos before using my sister's camera and it was interesting.  And my nephew really liked them.  I just wish I wasn't so tense.  I guess it doesn't matter if I'm doing a puppet or not, I get stage fright.  I'm hoping that will improve with time because it only seems to effect me when I'm in front of a camera.  Go figure.

Going to the dentist... eek

I found a dentist that is in-network with my insurance. They are less than a mile from the house, in fact, we pass them every day to and from work. After some prompting from my husband, I called and made an appointment for both of us on the fifteenth of November. *eek*

It's been a very long time since I've been to a dentist. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that, but former job didn't offer dental insurance and neither did any of my other minimum wage jobs. I've spent my entire adult life up until now barely making ends meet so I didn't make seeing the dentist much of a priority. If your teeth weren't bothering you, why worry about it? I know that isn't a good attitude, but it was how I thought. 

Still... the dentist. Even when I was a kid I hated going to the dentist. And now that I'm an adult, I STILL don't like going. But I will. For my husband if for nothing else. He can't ignore a gaping hole in his back molar. He's going to need a crown, at the very least.  So if he can man up and do what's right for his teeth, well, so can I.

But I still don't like going. What can I say? I'm a coward.

Why the fascination with Muppets?

I love puppets!  Hand puppets, glove puppets, finger puppets!  All puppets!  And some of you may be scratching your head and wondering why a grown woman would be interested in something like that.

I don't know what the fascination is, exactly, but I have always enjoyed puppets and everything to do with them. From Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop to Sesame Street, the Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, and even the ever funny comedian/ventriloquist/puppet master, Jeff Dunham, I have watched and loved them for as long as I can remember.

I guess you could blame my Aunt Barb. When I was very little, like four or five years old, she used to use her hands to tell us stories. Since we didn't have any puppets, either socks were used or, as I said, just the bare hands. It's a habit I kept for many years and even though I now own several puppets, to this day I'll occasionally talk with my hands puppet-style, if I don't happen to have a puppet or stuffed animal, well, 'on hand' if you'll excuse the pun.

I'm not even joking. Though sometimes I think my family wishes I were.

Another reason I enjoy the Muppets is pure nostalgia.

I remember going to see the Muppet Movie in a drive-thru theater when I was little. And we also had both the eight track (for the car) and record versions of the soundtrack and my sisters and I would listen to it over and over and OVER again. Though, of course, the only way you could keep listening to the eight track was to convince your parents to keep on driving.

The Muppets remind me of a time of joy and innocence, imagination and pure fun. They were creative, they were funny and they are embedded in the childhood memories of hundreds if not thousands of children.

And now a whole new generation of kids can go watch their newest movie in the theater... or while sitting in the living room of their own home.

Isn't life grand?