Go Steelers!!

Here we go, Steelers, here we go! Pittsburgh's goin' to the Superbowl.

Anyone who knows my husband knows that he is completely and totally ecstatic that the Steelers are in the Superbowl. He is a Pittsburgh boy, born and raised. He is a football fan through and through. He knows and loves the game like nobody I know. Still he gives up much of his football time to be with our daughter on Sundays, the one day I work and the one day he doesn't.

The last time the Steelers were in the Superbowl we happened to be visiting my parents. It was NOT a good time for my husband, even though the Steelers won. I felt so bad for him that the one game he gets to watch was ruined by the person he had to watch with that year.

This year we are having a Superbowl party with our dearest friends. Princess will love it because she will have friends to play with while Daddy watches football - the one game a year that he actually gets to watch. My husband (the Lizard King) is preparing Pittsburgh style sausage and found Iron City Beer (Pittsburgh's own) at New Seasons (our local grocery store). It promises to be an exciting and delicious day! Go Steelers!

Hair of the Blog '09 - Part II

I am writing my post now (this morning), but waiting to actually post it. It seems that my camera sucks. I tried to take picture of my armpit hair, but it was all a blur. I tried five times. Nothing. Well, the hair is there but the camera can't focus on it.


While talking with Freckle this morning (she has an AWESOME camera - I covet it) I asked her if she would take pictures of my armpits while we're at her house today. She said yes and informed me that it was a true testimony of her love for me. I would have to agree.


For those of you new to my blog who think that I have suddenly lost my mind, please refer to the lovely hairy pit photo in the sidebar to the right. If you click on it you will magically be taken to Rachel's blog where she will explain everything to you. Thank you, Rachel for allowing me to kick all your asses in this contest.


So now, without further ado...


WARNING! Graphic photographs to follow!

Okay, maybe not so graphic. I wrote all of the above this morning, went to Freckle's house and with her awesome camera only got mediocre photos. (Sorry Freckle!) She said that if we went outside the pictures would come out great. However, I didn't really feel that inspired to go outside in my bra, let alone in 40 something degree weather. Still, the pictures came out WAY better than my camera. I will post all the photos we took with the hope that you will be able to see something.

No Shoes Required

It has been a long time since I worked out or did anything physical (other than being the mommy of a 5 year old). To be completely honest, I hate to work out. The thing I hate most about it is wearing shoes. Weird, I know. Then there is the fact that I have my daughter with me 24/7 and the fact that I just don't want to join a gym.

Yes, I certainly have created a lot of obstacles. Still, I'm getting older and I want to be healthy and fit. I eat a healthy Nourishing Traditions style diet. Which I have to say is the most delicious way of eating. Now if only I could get myself moving, right? The vertigo is finally waning and I think I have found the secret.

Wii Fit! Oh my gosh, this is so fun! I actually look forward to working out. And I don't have to wear shoes. I go for a run through this cool park and I'm barefoot. Loving that! I get to hula hoop and have even earned a super hula hoop game. I tried the step aerobics and confirmed what I already knew, I hate step aerobics, so that will be something I never do. But the rest of it, at least what I've tried so far, is FUN! I still can't believe I'm saying this.

Then just for giggles, and the fact that there are no shoes involved, I started the yoga class offered at Village Home on Thursdays while the Princess is in her Village Life class. It was an awesome yoga class and I look forward to next week. I have to say after two days of Wii Fit and a day of yoga, I'm feeling pretty sore and really great!

I also wanted to share that I tried Aliceson's favorite salad with a slight modification (blue cheese instead of feta because that's what I had on hand). I made a giant version to have for dinner and I have to agree that this is YUM! Thanks for sharing it Aliceson!

Living

I was going to title this post "On Death and Dying" but that just sounded so gloomy. I realized that this isn't about death or dying, but about living and how much more there is to do.

I have very few memories of my childhood. Some say that I have blocked them out because it's easier to handle not remembering. Still, it's weird to listen to others talk vividly about their childhood when I have some random and odd memories.

As a very young child I have a memory of realizing how quickly it seemed life was passing. In the blink of an eye I was 6 or 7 or 8. I really can’t remember how old I was. And it scared me how quickly I had gotten to be that age. Then something changed and I didn’t think about that anymore…until recently.

I just had a birthday this month. I realized that I am 44 years old and that about half my life was gone. Again, I began to worry about it. Forty-four years had gone by so quickly. How did that happen? Then again I realized that maybe it wasn’t quite so quick and that I probably have another 44 years in me. My family, for the most part, live long and fairly healthy lives.

I have no plans to go anywhere. I waited a long time for my daughter (due to lack of sperm and fertility issues once the sperm, ahem, man came into my life). I am going to see her grow up, get married and have kids. I am going to be the coolest grandma ever. Yes, I'm going to stick around for a long, long time.

So here's to another 44 years and who knows, maybe I’ve got more than that!

Dinner Time

This is how we dressed for dinner last night. The adornments on our heads were space helmets that were necessary for our trip to Mars. This is the second day in a row that we have had to take this trip. The reason we visit Mars is that it is a hot planet. Perhaps Princess is looking for a break from the cold?

And yes, this is evidently appropriate attire for washing dishes as well.

Later we had conversation about our day tomorrow. I reminded her that we have Math class with Rooster X. Her reply? Can we stay for the whole class this time? Yes, homeschooling rocks. My daughter was disappointed when we had to rush out last week for my chiropractor appointment. I assured her we could stay for the whole class this time.

Out Of the Dark Ages

The last video game system I had was Atari back in the early 80s. Remember “Pong” and “Space Invaders”? Yes, it’s true. I had played no video games since then. To be honest, my husband and I talked about it and decided that it was highly unlikely that we ever would get one. He had concerns about becoming obsessed with it and honestly he doesn’t have the time to sit around playing video games, but then, who does? I, well, I just never had a desire. The little Princess plays online games and computer games all the time so she has been fine with our decision. Well, she didn’t really know we made a decision, but she didn’t know about video games other than on the computer.

I started to change my feelings about video games when I heard about the Wii Fit. Nothing really came of it and I moved on (sort of). Then my sister and her boyfriend got a Wii and brought it over to play during Hanukkah. Princess LOVED it! My husband and I sorta dug it, too.

The thing we like about the Wii is that it isn’t a traditional video game where you stare at a screen with that glazed look on your face, pressing buttons. This video game is active! You move! Yes! So we are now the proud owners of the Wii and Wii Fit. We just bought We Ski and some pirate game (pirates are very popular in our house) from the used Wii game shelf at the store on Sunday. We need some more game ideas though! We are definitely more interested in the active ones that a princess and fairy loving 5 year old would like, too. Any suggestions?

I've Been Tagged: 25 random things about me

I was tagged by a friend on Facebook and thought I'd share my 25 random facts with you all!

1. My all time favorite movie is “Titanic”. My husband bought me the movie poster and had it framed beautifully. It’s hanging in my living room and I always feel self conscious about it because it seems sort of high school. On the poster it says “Nothing could come between them”. My husband says that was us. His ex-wife tried to move heaven and earth to break us up. She almost succeeded. In the end it didn’t work. Perhaps it's not so high school after all.

2. My former favorite movie is “The Wizard of Oz”. I used to be able to recite practically the whole movie.

3. I’ve always wanted a dollhouse. This year we bought one for our daughter. Do you think she’ll let me decorate it for her?

4. I absolutely LOVE to play board games. We rarely get a chance to play. My husband hates Pictionary because of a past experience. I kick ass (or at least I did) at Pictionary. I’d like to change his view about it one day. Anyone up for a game?

5. In my early twenties I partook of a particular drug that gives one lots of energy – enough energy to stay up all night. Those of you from my past will probably know what it is (are you reading this Steve?). One of our favorite things to do after partaking was to stay up all night playing Pinochle. (Yes we did wild things, too. I won’t mention those at this time.) We played teams with trading cards. You would think after the incredible amount of time I spent playing that I would remember how, but I don’t. I would love to relearn and find another couple to play Pinochle with.

6. The decision to homeschool is one of the smartest decisions I have ever made.

7. It has taken me more than 40 years, but I think I have found the best friends anyone could ever have. My dearest Freckle and HerbiFaery. I just hope that I can be as amazing to them as they are to me. I love that my daughter’s dearest friends are my friends’ kids. I love that my husband gets along with their husbands and that he becoming friends with at least one of them.

8. I recently stopped watching TV. For the most part anyway. Up until January 8th I watched at least 2 hours a day. Since then I may watch 2 hours a week. I’m not sure how this happened.

9. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. (but then you all knew that, right?)

10. People are always surprised to find out that I am extremely shy. Why? Because once I know you I don't shut up or if I am in a comfortable place I appear very outgoing. Pick me up and put me in a place with a lot of people and watch me shut down.

11. I used to be anal, very type A personality. Since having a child that has changed. It was a slow progression, but I have relaxed a lot.

12. I smoked for 14 years - Marlboro Lights. Now I think it's totally gross.

13. I have always wanted to be a teacher and secretly wanted to be an actor. But the thing I really wanted more than anything was to be a mom.

14. I consider myself a pretty smart person, but feel intimidated by very smart people.

15. I don't have eyebrows. I totally over-plucked in high school and they never grew back. Somehow, nobody notices that I draw them on.

16. I absolutely LOVE fireworks!!!

17. I can't think of a food that I don't like. Within reason...I'm not eating bugs.

18. I love David Bowie, particularly his older stuff.

19. I wish I could sing like Pat Benatar or Ann Wilson.

20. I correct people's grammar in my head ALL THE TIME. (and my husband recently told me he's been infected with this as well ;)

21. Spelling is important to me, especially when it comes to names. And I really hope that I didn't spell anything wrong in this list. (okay so maybe I'm still a little anal.)

22. I was a "wild child" in high school and for a while after.

23. I don't accept gifts on Facebook.

24. I am totally addicted to Vanilla Rooibos tea. Thankfully it's caffeine free.

25. I love to cook and I hate to bake. Fortunately, I have a husband who loves to bake. Now he needs to learn to bake gluten free for me due to my recent affliction.

I read the "Life Without School" blog. A variety of unschooling moms post there. The other day this video was posted by Jena. I find it hugely entertaining, wildly inspirational and it's something that reminds me why our decision to homeschool/unschool is right for us.

Our daughter needs to move. We provide her with ample opportunity to do so. She takes ballet, swimming, art, and soccer. She has asked to take piano and voice lessons. She participates in classes at VH that, for the most part, are active. Kids need to move.

At any rate, I wanted to share this video from ted.com featuring creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson. The website describes it this way: Ken Robinson "challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence."

To my knowledge he is not a homeschooler or a homeschool advocate. He is simply an academic, speaking to the establishment. I found him to be very entertaining. Enjoy!

HOTB '09 photos

Here they are...as promised. My camera had a little trouble focusing but this is what I got.

WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS TO FOLLOW

left armpit

right armpit

Let the contest begin!

Hair of the Blog '09

Well ladies and gentlemen, she talked me into it. My blog friend Rachel (who is turning out to be quite the wacky woman) is hosting her first annual Hair of the Blog. What is this you might ask? Well you can read the details on her blog post here.

Originally I was not going to enter because the rules state that on Friday the 23rd the hair needed to be removed. I kindly told Rachel that with my current vertigo situation (2+ weeks and counting) I wasn't bending over to shave anything, even knowing I could win the contest hands-down. Rachel then offered the challenge of armpits. After all, there would be no bending involved there. I decided to rise to the challenge, so here goes!

For those of you faint of heart, please skip the update posts that I will place here each Saturday. Of course now comes the part where I have to remember. You see it wasn't until last night that I remembered that I had to post a link on my blog and that I had to blog this on my blog. Oops! And I totally forgot that I had to take a picture yesterday so my picture will have to be from today once I get my butt out of bed. Then I need to remember to update you brave folks.

I guess we'll just have to see how this goes. I wanna win a prize! Wish me luck!!

P.S. I promise a photo is coming later today...

Dysfunctional Relationships

How do you change a seriously dysfunctional relationship when said relationship has been dysfunctional for 44 years (a.k.a. my whole life)? In my past I ended the relationship with my mother because I was not willing to accept her abuse. That was twenty years ago. I have no regrets.

It took me a long time to realize that my relationship with my father and stepmother is just as dysfunctional. This has become even more painfully obvious with our recent trip to Disney. I finally sat down and wrote them a letter last night. I received a response this morning. I could feel my blood pressure rise as I read the response and I was shaking I was so angry.

I forwarded both emails to my dearest friends (Freckle and HerbiFaery) for their perspective. They had some wonderful things to say. I need to stop allowing him to treat me like a child. I need to stop allowing him to manipulate me and exert his power over me with regard to money. I have a lot of thinking to do. I have two wonderful friends and a wonderful husband (who will be home from his business trip this afternoon) to support me and help me navigate my way through this.

Things are different now than with my mother because I have a child now. The question is this. Is it important to maintain the relationship for her sake or end it for her sake?

Forgetful

Have I mentioned that I am forgetful? That I have a horrible memory? When my husband proposed I didn't even cry because I was staring at him watching and listening to everything he said with such intent because I wanted to remember everything and still I had to write it down within a couple of hours or I knew I would forget it. Now if only I could remember where I put that paper.

I learn lots of things and in the last year I've learned a huge amount about health and eating. I do lots of research and make informed and educated choices. The problem is that once I make the choice I sort of forget the why. Then I look like something resembling an idiot because when asked why I do "X" I can't seem to recollect why it's a good thing that I made this choice.

This evidently runs over into my blog and the things I share or say I will share and then find I forgot about. While perusing the titles of my posts I realized that there are things I've forgotten. Here I will try to catch up. I'm sure I will forget something, so please feel free to remind me.

Starbucks Vanilla Rooibos Latte. What I got was a huge disappointment! They handed me a cup of steamed milk with a tea bag in it. Excuse me? But what makes THAT a latte?! It was weak and terrible. I was expecting some loose leaf tea brewed like espresso, dark and strong...something with power. I was hugely disappointed. Sure it was free, but come on, I'm not coming back to spend a dime on that.

New Years resolutions. I said that I don't generally make them and yet again this year I haven't made any. Although, I may be making the resolution to never speak to my parents again but time will tell. My step-sister convinced me to write the parental units a letter. I haven't done that yet but I do plan to get to it. They have noticed that I'm not returning their calls, though.

Oh...and I got new shades! On our way out the door to the airport I realized I couldn't find my big shades. (I must try to remember to check the lost and found at VH - I forgot yesterday.) I bought a new pair of big shades at the SLC airport. I'll have to post a photo so you all can see the bling. They're so cool.

And one more thing! We're starting Sunday school on February 15th. Classes are only twice a month. After talking with the teacher it actually sounds kind of unschooly so I'm jazzed about that. I'll try and remember to post about it once we start.

One more thing! The Inauguration yesterday...I loved Obama's speech! Why you ask? Hmmm...I don't remember, but I know it was good.

So, if I've forgotten anything else....please...let me know. I love comments!

Sunday School

An odd concept for the Jewish Atheist Unschooler, I know. But, I've been feeling like there is something missing. I love the traditions of Judaism and we have some beautiful traditions in our little family. Still, there are things that I have forgotten over the years and some holidays that we don't really do anything. I would also love for my daughter to know that she isn't the only Jewish kid out there.

We are fortunate to have a Humanistic Synagogue here in Portland, perfect for the Atheist Jew. A while back I thought about becoming a member of the congregation and "getting involved". It never happened. It never happened because I realized that (at this point in my life, anyway) I didn't want it to happen. Still, I felt that something was missing. I've been thinking a lot about it this week and finally realized that it doesn't have to be a package deal. We can just do Sunday School.

The one thing holding me back was the fact that our daughter is very attached and would not be comfortable going on her own just yet. My husband said he would be happy to take her, but honestly, his plate is so full I didn't want to add yet another thing. Well, it seems that my Sundays will be clearing up a little so I will be available. I am really excited about this! It's a bit early now, but I will make some phone calls and make it happen...maybe even in time for Purim.

Color

I was just reading this blog post and decided I had something to say, so here it is.

I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but in my little naive world I tend to forget about color. When they announced that that Barack Obama won and "this is history in the making" I was confused. After all, it's not like we haven't had a president before and while yes, it's been a long time since we've had a democrat it certainly isn't the first time. After a moment it hit me...oh, that's right! He is black/bi-racial. I had totally forgotten.

I really rarely think about color and you see, in my daughter's world we are all brown. We're all just different shades. She and I tend to be pretty fair skinned so she calls us very light brown, my husband works outdoors in the summer and gets pretty tan so he's brown and well, I think you get it. I love the way she views color. The color of someone's skin is no different than the color of someone's clothes. And it isn't at all unusual to her that people in the same family can be drastically different colors. My hope is that she always views color the way she does today.

Where was I...

I am quite behind on blogging. I have just uploaded the rest of the photos to Picasa. Check them out! Again, there are just so many and I haven't had time to go through them. I know there are a lot, but I hope you enjoy them.

Day 3 we went to Magic Kingdom and got a bit of a late start. We heard that if you ask and there is space that you can ride in the front of the monorail. We asked a few times and finally on Magic Kingdom day we got to. Our little one loved it...I was a little freaked out. We didn't get to go on as many rides as we had hoped, but we had a lot of fun. We took the monorail over to 1900 Park Faire for dinner with Cinderella and her family (Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine aka spepmother, Anastasia the step-sister in pink and Drusilla the other step-sister). The food was fabulous and the family was very entertaining. After dinner we returned to the park for a few more rides, the SpectroMagic Parade and some amazing fireworks. It was our little one's first fireworks so I took way too many pictures of her watching them.

Day 4 (my birthday) we went to Animal Kingdom. The photos of the safari were all taken by our little one. My husband and I rode Everest, but the ride conquered me. I was not in good shape afterward. It took a good couple hours to recover. We saw some great shows here. Nemo the musical, It's Tough to be a Bug and Festival of the Lion King. All excellent shows.

Then there is day 5. This was the day we were supposed to fly home. Supposed do, but didn't. I woke at 4am not feeling well at all. Let me just say that it wasn't pretty at all. We think it was food poisoning (not from a Disney restaurant). I was in no shape to fly so we changed the flights to the next day and hoped I'd be well enough to fly. My sister had to go to work so my parents took her to the airport (they live in South Florida and had driven up for the Disney vacation). And then they left...and drove home. They didn't have any plans that they couldn't change, it was just that they had planned on returning that day so they did. We paid for the change fee for our flights, paid for the extra night hotel and for the taxi we had to take to the airport because they were not there to take us. Yes, my family certainly is unique.

Fortunately, when we bought our park tickets we got 2 days free. I sent my husband and little one to Magic Kingdom for the day. They had a blast together! Me, well once the worst of it was over I slept.

We're home now and I'm still recovering. You see, I have this equilibrium problem that acts up every once in a while. It started before we left for Disney. I finally went to the chiropractor yesterday, but I had waited so long that one adjustment just didn't do it. I go back again on Monday. I am seriously dizzy.

Our first two days at Disney World

It’s been an exciting couple of days. Yesterday (Saturday) was our day at Disney Hollywood Studios (DHS). For little ones like mine it’s pretty fun, but I’m glad I chose it for our first day. We were completely exhausted after getting to sleep at 2am and waking at 7am for some of us and for the little one sometime between 8 and 9. Definitely not enough sleep. Anyway, we spent the day at DHS where we saw an awesome parade, a Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid mini-shows. The shows were so well done! We all really enjoyed ourselves.

We got back to the condo around 5 or 6pm and decided to go for a swim – well our little one decided, she so loves the water. Somehow her goggles didn’t get packed so we went to the Market Place, a little convenience store within the complex. We got goggles for the bargain price of $1.99…or so we thought. It seems that at some point after paying for the goggles my dear husband, for the first time in his life, lost his wallet. We think it fell out of his swim trunks pocket while he was sitting outside waiting for us to pay for the goggles. What did he have in his wallet? About $200 cash, credit cards, debit card, room key , driver’s licence (aka ID for flying home) AND our park passes. Without said wallet our vacation was effectively ruined…over.

We searched for 45 minutes. We asked at the two places we stopped at. We reported it to security. We found nothing. With nothing left to do I went back to the room to start calling credit card companies and my husband took our daughter swimming with her now very expensive goggles. Just as I was about to start making calls I noticed the message light flashing on our phone. Someone turned the wallet in! After going to retrieve it and checking the contents we found that everything but the money was there – even our park tickets. We were so relieved. Our vacation was saved. And for those of you who believe in Karma, whoever took the money will get theirs.

This morning we woke early (ugh…I’m still tired) to go to breakfast with the Princesses at Akershus which is located in Norway at Epcot. We had a great meal and met a bunch of princesses. It was awesome! And our daughter was elated. She got hugs, autographs and her picture taken with Aurora, Jasmine, Mulan, Mary Poppins and Belle.

After leaving the restaurant we went on the Viking ship, a very dark and little bit scary ride. We also enjoyed riding in a clamshell for the Nemo ride, followed by a talk with Crush that ended in tears because she didn’t get to talk to him. The cast member was so kind and let her use the microphone after the show and told her that Crush would hear her. She felt much better. The last ride we experienced was Soarin’. Wow! What an amazing experience. All I can say is that if you come to Disney World – Epcot – you must go to Soarin’. Do the Fast Pass. Way cool!!!

Walking around the park we also met Aladdin and the Genie. At “The Character Spot” was Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. This was definitely a character filled day!

I have taken so many photos and the connection here is not very good so you can go to my Picassa page to view them if you like. There are lots of duplicates because I just kept shooting so I apologize for the redundancy.

Tomorrow is our BIG day at Magic Kingdom. We are sleeping in and waking when our eyes open. We’ll get a late start and stay late for fireworks. It will be an exciting day!!!

We're here!

It was a long day of flying, including a change in flight plans. We arrived at the airport where they told us that our flight was delayed 2 hours and we had to go to the counter to have our connecting flight changed. We actually ended up with a better flight flying to Salt Lake City instead of Atlanta and got in only 10 minutes later. We are in the condo (with free WiFi) getting ready to go to sleep.

Tomorrow we go to Disney Hollywood Studios. Who will we meet there?

I'm going to Disney World!

Yes, it's true. Tomorrow morning my husband, our little one, my sister and I head to PDX for our flight to Orlando, Florida. We are meeting my parents, who are driving up from South Florida. Sounds like a lovely little vacation, right?


Oh, if you only knew. Things have gotten really ugly. So ugly, in fact, that there is a good possibility that this may be the last time we see my parents. They are treading on thin ice and we are growing quite weary of their treatment of us.


This trip is our little one's first to Disney World. We will do everything in our power to make sure that this is an amazing experience for her. She has a Cinderella dress with accessories that she will wear to Magic Kingdom and to have dinner with Cinderella and the rest of her family (Prince Charming, the step-sisters and the step-mother). We are also having breakfast Sunday morning with a variety of princesses. This is a dream come true for our princess loving girl. She is all about the princesses (and the pink).


I wish you all a magical day!

It's Great to Be Back

Classes started yesterday at Village Home. It feels so good to be back for me and my little one. I think back to when I would return to school always excited only to be disappointed at the reality of it all. It's not like that when you homeschool/unschool and it's not like that at Village Home.

Our first day was fabulous! I "teach" (I really don't like that word, but I'll talk about that some other time) two classes and facilitate an member activity for adults. The Tuesday class (Sing, Dance & Play for Little Ones) went really well and the kids had a lot of fun - and so did I. :) The adult activity, Discussing Nourishing Traditions, was so great! It's a simple round table discussion about traditional eating and sustainability. There were a bunch of new participants and we had a great discussion.

I am really looking forward to my class today - Sing, Dance & Play for 5-7 year olds. This is an offshoot of the last class. The kids (and parents) really like my format and encouraged me to have a class for the older kids. It looks pretty promising since my class is full!

TeaTime at Starbucks

I believe it's common knowledge that here in the great Northwest coffee is a big deal. You can find a Starbucks on almost every corner, with a smattering of other coffee shops around town as well. I have always loved my coffee and moving to the Northwest I discovered the delectable latte and mocha.

Then after experiencing "issues" I sought out a constitutional homeopath. This means that I take homeopathic remedies on a daily basis. There are a variety of things that "antidote" remedies. In other words it make the remedy not work. The "issues" I have are hormonal, peri-menopausal and consist primarily of mood swings. Well, mood swings doesn't really explain it. It's more like volcanic rage. So, I take homeopathic remedies and I feel better.

As I was saying, there are certain things that antidote remedies, coffee being one of them. This is not a caffeine thing it's just coffee, any coffee. So, I became a tea drinker. I've been drinking tea (black and green) for about a year. Then I got adventurous and tried Vanilla Rooibos. I am now totally addicted to this stuff. It is so good. I start my day with a combo of black and green. Black because I like it and want the caffeine kick, green because my naturopath said so. Then I drink Vanilla Rooibos. I bought a half pound from Mountain Rose Herbs (split a pound with my friend J). It's getting low. I'll be ordering 2 pounds next time. :)

Okay, so this is a long way to come around to the point but...This evening as my husband was reading the paper something fell out. It was an insert from Starbucks, advertising TeaTime at Starbucks where they are offering a Berry Chai Tazo Tea Infusion (eh...I'll pass) and...drum roll please...Vanilla Rooibos Tazo Tea Latte!!! And there's a card for a free one to try! I am all over this. I think I'll be stopping at Starbucks on our way to Village Home tomorrow.

Edit: I got so excited about the new Starbucks TeaTime that I totally forgot I just blogged about my whole tea thing only days ago. Oh well!

No Shows

Here I sit on a Sunday morning at 10:35am. I am blogging when I should be massaging. You see, in order to help make ends meet I do massage part time. I have a nice little practice set up and I work out of my home. I have a good amount of regular clients who are wonderful. Then there are new clients.

I don't get too many new clients because I tend be booked and have no room in my schedule for them. This Sunday, for the first time in as long as I can remember, I have three new clients scheduled. My first client was supposed to be here at 10am and she has no-showed me. No call, no email, nothing. She gave me her work number and told me that was the best way to contact her. Well, it seems she is out of the office, returning Monday. I turned away another client - a long term client - because I was completely booked. Or so I thought.

So what am I to do. My husband thinks I should require prepayment from new clients. I'm beginning to think he may be right. It just feels weird to me to do that. Why are people so inconsiderate of my time? It's so freaking frustrating! Grrr!!!

My New Addiction

I've always been a coffee drinker. I love coffee plain or fancy. Then I started taking homeopathic remedies and I had to stop drinking coffee - all coffee. I switched to tea, black tea that I drink the same way as my coffee. Well, sort of...since I've gotten all crunchy I use stevia for my sweetener. And instead of powdered creamer I use heavy cream. This has gotten me through okay, but recently I started missing coffee. After all, it's been a year now.

Then I ordered Vanilla Rooibos tea from Mountain Rose Herbs. I am in heaven. I still have my black tea in the morning (mixed with green tea - doctor's orders) because I want the caffeine. Then I drink Vanilla Rooibos tea the rest of the day *with stevia and lots of cream*. Heaven! I ordered a pound to split with Herbi-J. Next time I'm ordering two pounds. Yes, it is an addiction. Thankfully, it's caffeine free. : )