Rubber Band Fever

Has it hit your local elementary school yet? The "fever" I am referring to is the shaped rubber band explosion that happened in our town this Spring. It was the most amazing thing to see unfold, and I could just kick myself for not coming up with the idea first. If you have children, then you probably know about the fun, colorful, funny shaped rubber bands that are being sold all over. I first saw them several months ago--I think even before Christmas--and thought they would make good stocking stuffers, but I didn't purchase any. Around the beginning of May, I purchased a couple of packs of sea creature shapes and funny shapes for my daughter for her birthday. Ever since then, we can't seem to have enough of them. The crazy thing is, that apparently there is no patent on them, so there are many different manufacturers and many different places to purchase them. I have bought them at Walgreen's and Hallmark stores. The Walgreen's ones cost .99 for a card of six, and $2.99 for a pouch of 20 or 24, I think. The Hallmark ones were between $5.00 and $8.00 depending on what shapes. So, anyway, the kids (elementary through high school) have all been collecting them and trading them since early this Spring. They actually are not rubber, but silicone and there are many different names: Silly Bandz, Zany Bandz, Stretchy Shapes, Rubba Bands, Band-It-O's, and Bama Bands to name a few. I noticed that they can be purchased at Amazon.com as well, so now you know. If your kids haven't caught the "band fever" yet, they probably will soon.

Huh?

Here are a couple of questions for you.

How is it that you can mow your yard, meticulously watching that you catch every blade of grass, and then look back and see that there is one dandelion standing straight up right in the path you just mowed? How can that be? And, if you see that bold dandelion standing pin-straight, do you go back and mow over it, or do you just let it be? You do have admire it's tenacity. Sometimes it just feels like the right thing to do is to let it stand until the next time you mow. . . 

Speaking of doing the "right" thing, here is another mowing question. Do you delay your mowing if you see that the neighbor lady is having a gathering of other neighbor ladies on her deck? Or do you just go ahead and mow because this is the only time you are going to be able to fit it into your schedule? I mowed the front yard with the push mower, and am now waiting until the gathering breaks up so I can bring out the big tractor to do the backyard. Still, I really wanted to get it done now. I have other things to do.

New Hydrolyze and Dark Circle Info

Thank you to all the readers who have posted comments, ideas and experiences with Hydrolyze and other dark circle remedies. Please keep them coming. New things seem to be posted every week or so. We have to keep trying to find something that works and PLEASE, please be wary of the Hydrolyze product! I have yet to hear of anyone getting past all the scam to see if the product even works. Please scroll down to my Hydrolyze post(s) for the most recent information.

Where Have All the Good Men Gone?

What an awful day for both political parties today! In my home state, the shocking resignation of Representative Mark Souder has thrown everyone in a tizzy. On the Democratic side, that Blumenthal guy lied about serving in Vietnam. I just don't get it. Where are all the fine, upstanding men (and women) who could/should be serving as our country's leaders. The whole Mark Souder thing really gets me. I haven't liked him very often, but he has been in office for a long time, so I am used to him, and his "family values" speeches and I just don't get it. The guy is from Grabill, Indiana for goodness sake! The place is tiny, has a large population of Amish, and is not the kind of place you would think would produce a guy who acts like he is the moral authority on everything, but conducts his personal life in a completely opposite manner. Another thing is, the guy (God bless him) is rather homely, so I can't figure out why someone/ anyone (including his current wife) would find anything very attractive about him. I'm just saying. . . The liar about serving in Vietnam has a whole other problem. No one likes liars, I don't care what party you belong to, a liar is no good for anyone! So, for you Mark Souder, I hope you are able to get things right with your family and God. For you Mr. Blumenthal, just go away, no one likes to be deceived, and now is a terrible time for you to be "misspeaking" Let's see if any good men can be found for the dirty job of politics!

Dermajuv Eye Revolution-Have You Tried It?

I am still on my never-ending quest to find a product that will reduce or eliminate the horrible dark circles I have under my eyes. So far, all the products I have tried have not really worked. All the other products out there are either scams (please see my posts and comments on Hydrolyze) or just too expensive for me to try. Today I found out about a product I had not researched before, and I hope someone out there will be able to try it and post back to me. The product is called.Dermajuv Eye Revolution Gel, I read several reviews on it and it seems like it might be something all of us dark circle sufferers are looking for. Best of all, it is not an "autoship" trap. I looked on the product's website and it is quite expensive--$99.99 for one 1.5 oz. bottle--so unfortunately, I cannot personally purchase the item. I also looked on ebay and saw that there were a few bottles listed with the lowest priced one starting at $98.50--pretty pricey! If any of my fellow dark circlers have used this product, or are able to purchase the product, please leave a comment here. If any of you come across any new products, please also leave a comment here. I know we are all desperate for help and don't want to be caught in a scam! Thanks for reading!!!

Grammatical Trials of Marriage

I have been married a long time and it amazes me that we have stayed together given our differences. Marriage is no piece of cake! The man I married twenty years ago is not the man I live with today. I am sure the reverse is also true. Some of our current differences are causing a bit of a strain on our relationship, but some of the differences, while annoying to me, are rather humorous, and I have to just pat myself on the back for biting my tongue and push forward. Here is an example of the somewhat humorous differences that have annoyed me through the years, but are, at the same time kind of funny. My husband and I didn't meet until we were in our mid-twenties, so I don't really know what his family life was like as a child. I was the product of two teachers who were adamant about grammar and spelling and sentence structure and manners and all that stuff, so when I married this guy whose parents are first generation Italian-American, and non-college educated, I had to back off a little. So. . . here are the things that bug me. My husband insists that words like long and song and wrong all end in the hard g sound---lon-guh, son-guh, wron-guh, etc. I insist  that those words end in the soft g sound, unless you are saying longest, strongest, etc. Another thing that is annoying to me is that he insists the correct usage of the plural of pair is pair. One pair, two pair. I, on the other hand, learned that it is one pair, or two pairs. My husband's reasoning is that one doesn't say, "I have 2 dozens of eggs" but I don't think that reasoning is really right. I'm not sure what the rule is, and truth be told, I think both ways are correct, but I think my way at least sounds the best. Another thing that really isn't grammatical but something that gets on my nerves is every time someone says "...it changed my life forever..." he has a fit because he says that the "forever" isn't necessary. Change happens and things will never be the same, so, according to him, adding forever to the statement is superfluous (my word, not his). The adding of the word "forever" just doesn't bother me. I think it is often added for emphasis. One last thing that bothers me is that my husband thinks the words bring and take are interchangeable. He says, "You need to bring this library book back." Whereas, I would say, "You need to take this library book back." Come to think of it, I don't think he ever uses the word take. I'm not sure why his use of the word bring instead of take annoys me so, but I really do not believe the two words mean exactly the same thing (thin-guh). At any rate, at least I can recognize the little bit of humor in it now instead of the annoyance of it  when we were first married.

Next-To-Last Bonnie Hunt Show

It is unbelievable  to me that "The Bonnie Hunt Show" has been canceled, but that embarrassing, and slightly disturbing "Tyra Banks Show" continues to have life. I just don't get it. The Bonnie Hunt Show was so funny and zany, informational, uplifting, and sometimes tear jerking. Why in the world has it been canceled? I hope the powers that be have huge plans for Bonnie. She is one of the most generous, and genuine entertainment personalities.  It is a shame no one really gives her a real chance to showcase her talent and wonderful personality. I had a dream last night that I gave Bonnie a huge hug and told her I would see her later (as if. . . she doesn't even know who I am) so I hope my dream was a premonition and that Bonnie Hunt will be offered some other, better show (time, production company, tv station, etc.) so that more people will get to be blessed with her crazy comedy and big heart.

Students Send Home For Wearing Red, White and Blue: Are You Kidding Me?

Well, I think I have heard it all now. I just read an article about some students who attend Live Oak High School in San Francisco, California who were sent home because they chose to wear t-shirts, shorts and shoes displaying the American flag and red, white and blue on May 5, the Mexican "holiday" Cinco de Mayo. The assistant principal asked the boys to turn their t-shirts inside out because they were offending some other students in the school. The offended students were of Mexican descent. The boys refused the assistant principal's request and so they were sent home. Excuse me???? This sort of stupidity and reverse discrimination, and violations of free speech are really getting on my nerves. This is the United States of America and if a kid wants to wear clothing expressing his pride in his country, then go for it. Some student was offended by the flag and colors? Please! With all the other crap that can be found on kids clothing these days, I can't believe the assistant principal had the audacity to lump the American flag into the dress code violations pile. To top it all off, one of the boys who was wearing the shirts has a father who is Mexican! Apparently the assistant principal was also Hispanic. This kind of stifling of our freedoms is really starting to get under my skin! What is happening that people are so sensitive? Normal dress codes do not allow revealing clothing, or t-shirts with guns, drugs, alcohol, or sexual references on them--those sorts of things are offensive and not conducive to learning. Thank goodness the school superintendent and school board reacted appropriately by meeting with the boys and their parents and telling them that the school was wrong in their interpretation of the dress code. God Bless America! Wear Old Glory and be proud!