Monday, June 1, 2009

JumpStart Winner

Sorry it has taken me so long to post this. The winner of the free 3 month membership to JumpStart is:



Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

6

Timestamp:
2009-06-01 23:39:28 UTC



taysmommy said... i follow ya mama

May 18, 2009 8:46 PM

Congrats!!! I'll be in contact with you shortly!!

Mickala

Friday, May 29, 2009

Father's Day Craft

For anyone who has a father in their family that loves DIY stuff...this is perfect for them!


Car Nut Frame
By: Amanda Formaro
Difficulty: Very Easy
Age: 5 and up
Parental supervision is recommended







What you'll need:
Small wooden frame
Black acrylic paint
Washers and bolts
Permanent adhesive glue (recommended: GemTac jewel glue)
Photograph of you

How to make it:
Remove glass from frame.
Paint frame black and let dry.
Use permanent adhesive glue to decorate outside of frame with nuts and washers. Let dry completely.
Insert a family photo and the glass into the frame.

Tips:
Get nuts and washers from Dad’s toolbox with his permission or have Mom buy them at a local hardware store.
Try to find a photograph that shows you riding your toy car or helping Dad in the driveway.
GemTac is glue that is specially made for attaching jewels and glass to other surfaces. You can also use Super Glue

http://crafts.kaboose.com/car-nut-frame.html

Feel free to post a comment with a picture if you try this one!!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Infertility

Infertility. Really....me? Huh...infertility is one thing I never thought I would have to deal with. I have one child, and it only took 5 months to get pregnant with him. This time around, it has been 5 months since I have had a period. So I went to the Doctor to try to figure out why.

May 13, 2009
I talked to my Dr.'s office today to get the results from my ultrasound from last week. I had already received the results of the blood test and everything was normal. The nurse told me that he has dictated a letter, but it hasn't been transcribed yet, so she can only tell me what he has written in the notes. His notes say that the results of the ultrasound are consistent with PCOS, Polycystic ovary syndrome, which is the reason I have stopped getting a period recently.

I have a disease - a syndrome technically. I have always hoped that I had been dealt all of my major health issues early in life being born with a cleft lip & palate. Apparently, I will get to deal with at least one other thing in my life.

I have PCOS. My first thought when I heard the news...thank God for an answer. I can deal with this. It isn't cancer...it isn't life threatening...it's just a pain in the butt. I felt major relief. Then, all of the questions...the unknowns hit me:

*Is this something I'm going to deal with my whole life?
*Clomid - really, do we want to temp fate when twins run in my family anyway?
*What does insurance cover?
*Clomid - are we really ready?
*How much does it cost?
*Clomid - really? How am I going to talk my Hubby into that one anyway?
*When did this happen?
*What can I do to make it go away? (does it ever go away?)
*Clomid - really? What if it doesn't work?

I'm still waiting for that letter from the Doctor's office, almost a week later. Wish they'd hurry up and send it out. I'd like to know what all it said...but no hurry, it's just my health we are talking about.

While doing some looking online it looks like the best way to stay on top of this is to eat healthy, lose weight and exercise...all things that hubby and I have been really working at recently. I guess now I have more motivation than ever to stick with it.

Now, I'm back to being relieved, and grateful...grateful for the health I do have...so happy that my family is healthy.

So for now, we just wait. Wait for the letter, wait to see what happens when I lose some more weight, wait to see what the insurance company says...just wait.


I hate waiting!

Lessons Learned

A few weeks ago I posted about a co-worker of mine and our Campaign against Squatting (if you missed it, click here). Later that week I received another email with her lessons learned for the week. I have told this person she needs to wear a helmet cam every day of her life...I'm pretty sure she could have some pretty interesting footage.

Life is just a big series of learning events, isn't it? And to think that I, at
age 31, am still learning some pretty big lessons. Below are 3 lessons that I
have learned this week, that I thought I'd pass along.

1. Look on the bathroom stall floor to make sure nobody has peed on it.

2. Police officers cannot slim jim into your car to remove a toddler who is locked inside. Also interesting, they don't like to be referred to as "Captain Obvious" when
they tell you that leaving your keys in the ignition was probably not the best idea.

3. Never, ever, under any circumstance, try to envelop a tow truck driver in a loving embrace, no matter how elated and relieved you may be to get your 2-year old out of a locked van. Apparently, tow truck drivers do not = huggers. Just say "thank you" and give them your insurance card.
I hope you have learned something here today!

Mickala

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Iowa's Car Seat Laws

My 3 year old child still rides in a car seat with a 5 point harness, of course in the back of the vehicle. I know some other children that are my child's age that are currently in booster seats. I don't think there is any way my son is big enough to ride in a booster seat, so I decided to take a look at the laws in Iowa. I found a very helpful document that shows the laws in Iowa as well as the national standards for car seats. Click here to view the document.

Hope you find this as helpful as I did!

*EDIT I just realized this link no longer works, but I was able to find this website from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that gives some very helpful guidelines.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Scrap Page - Baby Boy

I traveled back in time almost 4 years for this one.




Campaign against Squatting

Have you ever received one of those emails that says, in case you are having a bad day, this person's has been worse and here's the story? Then they go into a bunch of stories about other people's bad day on the job...and you usually find yourself wondering if the stories are really true. I received one of those emails today from a co-worker. As I'm thinking to myself, I don't have time for one of "those" emails right now, I continue reading because I know this person tends to email out some funny things. A few sentences into the email, I realized that not only is this story true, but the person that sent the email is actually telling a story about how her day was going today.



This is the email I received (re-printed with permission)


What you are about to read is real. The name has not been changed to protect my identity - this seriously happened to me just one hour ago. Why am I choosing to share it? I guess I'm hoping that if somebody else reads this, they can be armed with knowledge and may not have to suffer this humiliating incident themselves. Also, if you felt your day was going a little south, read this, laugh, forward it on to share with your friends to poke fun at if you like - at least this experience will not have happened to me in
vain!

I had to pee. Badly. I walk quickly into the bathroom closest to my cubicle, pick an empty stall, lock the door, drop trow and breathe a sigh of relief. In the first 25 seconds or so that I'm in there, I notice that my ankles feel wet. Confused, I look down, only to discover that my pants have become a sponge for a puddle of liquid on the floor. The back of my pants and pants legs are completely wet. My mind is racing - WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? Was this toilet one of the power flushing variety that had sprayed water all over the stall? I stand up, not wanting to pull my pants all the way up, I hold them about hip high and grab a wad of toilet paper. It's at this point I realize the front of the toilet is ALSO wet. I wipe that off, too. Then, it happened. I glanced down at the wad of paper and it's YELLOW!!!!!! My pants have just absorbed somebody's (some WOMAN'S!!!) pee! What is wrong with people that they just can't sit their a$$es on the seat and go? Don't squat and hope your aim is right, people. SIT and go. And if you MUST squat, notice when you miss, okay? Then clean it up. Promptly.

But it gets better. Oh yes, just when you think it can't get worse, it does. I have to pull the stranger-pee soaked pants up and fasten them, haul a$$ to my desk, and grab my jacket and keys. Luckily my workout clothes are in my car. So I get to walk, pee-soaked clothes (yes, because now the bottom of my shirt is soaking it up from the waistband of my pants) and all, to my car which is seriously a long walk. Then I haul it back into the building to change and - guess what? My security badge that says I work here and am not some random sniper is at my DESK. The guards know me but I don't have a badge to scan, so they cut me a break and let me use the phone to call somebody to bring it down. But now, it's lunch time and everybody I work with is at lunch or away from their desks!

They must have noticed the distress on my face as I stand there, (hoping not to reek of pee), and bestowed pity on me - they gave me a visitor badge so I can get back upstairs.

So here I sit, at my desk, in my black dress sandals, black capri spandex/lycra pants with white stripes down the side, and an oversized baby blue T-shirt. What a sight I must be. I'm sure turning heads, and NOT in the best way possible. Now I'm just waiting to be turned into HR for not having business attire on. That would really cap off my day.

Now, ladies - it is time for some action. I know this isn't the first time this has happened and it probably won't be the last. So, please, I beg you, for your fellow women, please join me in my campaing against squatting. Together we can stop the humiliation of walking around in clothing soaked in another person's urine. Let's not let one more person fall victim to the female germaphobic people of our society.

For those of you who squat while at work, don't. Please sit like the rest of us do. Use the paper protectors if your that worried about it. If there are not paper protectors...DEMAND them. If you must squat, please practice at your own home before you do it in public. Other women should not have to be victim of such humiliation because of your fear of germs.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely, Mickala
Campaign Manager for WASP (Women Against Squatting Peeing)