Maggie Moo, it doesn’t get much cuter than this….

No time to blog….

I need to change my header, put up a new slide show, add entries to Jan Can Cook and Eating Right.

Instead I’ve been to Louisville to the dentist, major work looming.  Sinus lift, bone graft, implants.  Oh fun…

It’s literally been the week from hell, oh, my purse was stolen, too.  Blogging has been on the back burner, I’ll get it in gear again, check back, I’m still kicking…

Monty’s Joy Juice

 

This plant  food is apparently “da bomb” girlfriends.  The company is based out of Louisville, my neighbor uses it, and her fleurs are beautiful, and tomatoes are huge.  She swears by the stuff!

Here’s the click.  Catchy name, huh? *wicked grin*

Strawberry Smoothies, best thing EVER!!!!!

I talk about these on my Eating Right blog, but if you don’t read it, you’re missing out on the best treat of the summer.

Take a cup of frozen strawberries (50 calories) , 3/4 cup of Dannon Lite & Fit Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt (110 calories per cup) (I buy it in the large containers) 3 packets of Splenda, put all in a blender, or your Magic Bullet, if you have one, whir it until smooth, and you have this wonderful thick ice cream like concoction.  It’s absolutely wonderful, you would never know it’s healthy, it’s only 2 WW points, or if you count calories, it’s under 150 calories.  Even if you don’t eat healthy, you’ll love this – totally awesome.  I cut the frozen berries in half, they blend easier.  I don’t add skim milk or soy milk to this, but if you would prefer it not so thick you could add probably 1/8 or 1/4 cup.  But why anybody would want to thin this down is beyond me.  It’s great just eating it with a spoon.  Any frozen fruit works, frozen bananas, pineapple, peaches, raspberries or a combo of fruits.  This stuff is totally yummy, totally decadent, but without the guilt!  Pinkie swear…

Love is…

When you’re on a road trip and hubby goes in the grocery store to buy you a healthy, low fat,  lunch to eat in the car, instead of driving thru fast food for junk!  And even better, it was his idea, and he didn’t complain about it…

Why eat in the car?  We had the M&M’s, it was so hot, I didn’t want to have to put them in their Sherpa carrier and take them in a restaurant, and besides, I’ve always loved to eat in the car…  

It’s those simple things. again…

A refreshing shower, the smell of  baby lotion on my skin, the sting of Carmex on my lips, a glass of iced water with lemon, a good book, a comfy bed, the M&M’s nestled against my side,  hubby snoozing beside me.  I’m feeling pure joy right now…

It doesn’t take a lot to make my day night, I’m such a cheap date…

The Furminator, it’s a very good thing…

Heads up, girlfriends, obviously I have stumbled onto something here…  If you have dogs that shed, which thankfully, my Yorkies don’t, but most of you do, there is a product called The Furminator that removes up to 90% of excessive pet hair.  Just link to their website, lots of information about it, even a video of a dog being groomed with it.

I heard about it last week on Martha Stewart Radio.  The vet show was on and they were discussing how good it was.  This weekend, I was looking at one of my FaceBook friend’s page, she was commenting about her shedding dogs, so I told her about this.

Another one of her friends read it, went right out and bought this tool, and here’s what he has to say about it -

Just bought a Furminator for Titus. FANTASTIC! When I was done our deck looked like one of those photos. It's the best gadget I've ever had for trimming a dog.

You can probably buy this deshedder locally, at your pet store, there is a store locator on their site, several stores in Heavensville sell them, including PetSmart.  It’s also available from Amazon, of course it is, absolutely  everything is available from Amazon.  It’s not expensive, just $20 or so, and well worth it to get rid of pet hair in your house!

The girls are doing well with their Natural Instincts Flea and Tick Spray.  I give them a bath, dry them, then saturate them with the spray.  I work it into their skin really well, especially the pads of their feet and legs, around their tail and behind their ears, then I blot the excess with a towel, and comb them and put them in front of the fan until they dry.  I don’t want to use the blow dryer on them after I soak them with it, I’m afraid it might be too harsh.

I’m getting used to them smelling like cloves, and they could care less what they smell like! I’m not seeing any fleas, and since they are little dogs, the bottle will last forever.

I had a few questions, so I called their company.  I was concerned about them licking themselves and ingesting some of the product, but they assured me that it’s 100% safe, non-toxic, I have nothing to worry about.  There is also the usual blurb on the bottle about not getting it in your eyes, flushing your skin with water, etc., but they told me that 99% of people and dogs have no problem.  The representative says she uses it on herself because it repels mosquitoes.

Did I blog part of this already, about the smell, calling the company and the mosquito repellent?  It seems vaguely familiar.  Oh well, I’m old, I’m senile, ignore me…

I had been applying it with rubber gloves, but she said no need to do that either, so I applied it with my hands, and she was right.  No irritation whatsoever, in fact, it made my hands really soft. 

It conditions their coat, but does not leave it greasy.  That was a big no-no for me, if it did, I want them fluffy, not greasy!  It just soaks in, and they are soft and shiny, like always.  What I don’t understand  is why they get fleas anyway!  They are much too cute for nasty old fleas to bother them…  Well, they are!

I’m outta here, gonna to go outdoors and sing in the sunshine.  If any of you try The Furminator, let me know what you think…

Former President Bush joins the mile high club, ummmm kinda…

 

No, not that mile high club, and not that  former President, this is the old guy, the  85 year old former President…

He parachuted on his birthday.  Impressive???  Well, not in my opinion.

I think the old fart is actually pretty stupid.  Geezy Pete, he has brittle bones,  his ticker is probably on it’s last leg and he’s parachute jumping?  Now that’s really smart.

Oh my, I bet Babs was watching him from the ground, hanging on to that pearl choker and his life insurance policy for dear life.  Silly old man!

What guys won’t do to chase a thrill!!!!  Even the old ones…

Men Schmen!!!

Do you remember baby doll pajamas?

Mother made me baby doll pajamas,  just like these, when I was growing up.    Mine  always had bloomer bottoms,were trimmed in  ruffles and lace, sometimes they were made of pink or lavender or my favorite yellow gingham checks, I had a pair made from white eyelet, and several pairs made from  breezy cotton prints.

They were adorable, those pajamas.  Now, girls,  (women, too) sleep in tank tops or tee shirts and boxers, nothing even resembling pajamas.

They don’t know what they’re missing.  These PJ’s that look so dated now, were absolutely the cutest things in the day.  Mine were always dried on a clothesline, and smelled fantastic when I slipped them on.  Such good memories…

Oh my age is really showing,  isn’t it… 

Spoiled little dogs…..

The M*M’s are so rotten that they won’t eat if I’m not in the room with them.  They will leave their food in the bowl until it dries up and turns brown.

I make them lunch, go in the other room, they follow me, and stare at me.  So I cave, I bring the food to where I am, and they happily eat every bite!

Are they spoiled, do you think?????

And about that flea spray.  It really works, but holy crap, my house is starting to smell like cloves.  When I go out, I smell like cloves! 

I don’t wanna smell like grandma’s Christmas cookies!!!  I called the company, asked them if they were going to make this in another scent, of course they aren’t.  But the girl did say that she sprays this stuff on herself, that its a great mosquito repellent.

I might as well go ahead and squirt it, I reek of cloves anyway….

Aging and not being in the loop

I’m fifty-nine now, that big 6-0 is staring me in the face and I’m finding more and more that I have a hard time “fitting in” with our youth obsessed culture. 

My taste is diversified, I was always a fan of of magazines like Glamour, In Style, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, and Ladies Home Journal. to name a few.  But when I look thru them now, I can’t identify with the content.  Their pages are geared toward women in their thirties or forties, or young mothers and twenty somethings, all of which I’m not.  I can remember the days when I couldn’t wait for the latest Glamour to arrive in the mail, I thumbed thru one the other day and couldn’t relate to any of it. 

For a time I subscribed to MORE Magazine, for women over forty, but now it’s hard to identify with it when you’re approaching sixty!

It’s depressing to shop, my friends and I lament all the time about the fact that there are no great clothes for women our age.  There aren’t a lot of choices out there.  All we want are cute clothes, unique designs that don’t look like they are something our daughters would wear and definitely not things that look matronly.  But the choices just aren’t there.

The department stores are the samo-samo, the other day I was in Macy’s, it was just gawdawful stuff, and on my way out I walked thru the Junior Department.  It was filled with color and style, really great clothes, none of which would work for me, of course. It was really depressing!

Movies?  It’s rare that there is something that really appeals to me any more… And television, forget that.  Just can’t relate to what’s on the tube, maybe that’s why I’m so involved with the computer, I have more choices.

And so I trudge along, getting more and more out of sync with each birthday, wondering what it will be like for me in another ten years if I’m having these problems now.  Will I give up and just not care?

I’m not ready to settle down and read AARP Magazines, I suspect a lot of you aren’t either and can easily relate to this post,

What new interests do we develop at this age that work for us, it’s unchartered territory.  Part of it is cosmetic, do we color or go gray?  Do we need to give up the bronzer and settle for soft pink blush?  Heaven forbid we embrace mom jeans!!!   Silly stuff, I know, but we’ve changed, our bodies and looks have changed, how do we make it work now?

Is there hope, I like to think there is, I just haven’t figured out a new “fit” as I’ve moved away from the old one steadily thru the years.  I think we need a trendy magazine for women 50 and beyond.  A great television show for women our age would be wonderful.  But so far it isn’t happening…

It’s pretty bad when we have to look at what Paula Deen is wearing to get ideas.

Egads, this is a depressing post, but it’s reality…

Home again….

My allergies, which by the way I never had until the past two or three years have been giving me fits. 

I was fine in Nashville, no scratchy throat, no itchy ears, or watery eyes.  This morning we got about an hour from home, my throat closes up and allergies are giving me fits!!!

What is it anyway???  Something has to be blooming or flowering here but not in Nashville.  Egads, it’s only three hours away!!!!

So here I sit, blowing my nose and rubbing my eyes, oh, it’s soooo good to be home!!!

Natural Chemistry Flea and Tick Spray

It’s flea season, and I always seem to have more problems than most.  We wonder if it’s because the horse pasture is right in front of our condo, and are probably transmitting them to our yard.

I use FrontLine Plus on the girls, but lately it hasn’t been as effective, as it should be, after a couple of weeks I start to see fleas on them, so a couple of weeks ago I tried Advantix. 

Well, that was a disaster for Maggie.  She had an allergic reaction to it and was scratching and biting her fur, and I was giving her a bath at 12:30 in the morning trying to get rid of the stuff!

So here we are, two weeks later, at John’s, Mollie is doing fine, no fleas on her, the Advantix worked for her, but Maggie has fleas again!  And we’re at somebody elses house!!!!!

So I’m in a panic, not knowing what to do, and absolutely hating every time I put those toxic drops of flea killer on them anyway, but I’m desperate!  I’ve Googled myself silly trying to find alternative flea prevention, and the words cinnamon oil and cedar wood oil mentioned over and over again.  But I had no luck finding essential oils in Heavensville.

So today we trekked to the pet store, the clerk showed me where the flea and tick sprays were located and John spotted this Natural Chemistry Flea and Tick Spray for dogs.  It said it was all botanical, non toxic, totally healthy for your dog, and the ingredients were, you guessed it, oil of cinnamon, oil of cedar wood, and oil of cloves!

So I grabbed a bottle, and the checkout lady informed me that she has nine Chihuahua's and two great danes at home, and this is the only product she ever uses and never has fleas.  Well, that sold me!!!

So I buy it, and we come home with the guys teasing me, telling me that I’m such a sucker and that lady probably doesn’t even have a dog.  Yeah, right, she was a nice old lady, I believed her.

So I come home, take Mags out on the deck and start spraying her.  The fleas died, in just a few minutes they were GONE!!!!

So, naturally I’m doing the happy dance here, showing those silly men that it really does work, and thrilled that I got rid of those pesky fleas without chemicals.

So, just had to share, some of you might benefit from this, too.  We’re back home tomorrow.  Back to my regular routine, whatever that is.  I’ll update you on how well this spray continues to work…

~ jan

Bread & Co., oh it was so yummy…

My lunch today was low fat chicken salad, edaname bean succotash and black beans and corn with a sourdough roll. 

Since yours truly has been dieting seriously since April 1, this food tasted absolutely amazing.  This little Nashville deli is so good, it was fun to just sit and people watch.  This restaurant is supposed to be a favorite of Nicole Kidman, I can see why, the food is amazing…

Coppertone, oh, does it ever take me back to the ‘60’s….

We’re at John’s in Nashville for a few days, he’s building a waterfall and pond in his back yard, Dad is helping, Mom made breakfast, and tried not to interfere, but first thing this morning he brought me sunscreen to put on him, I took one whiff, and it was like going back in time.

Does anything smell better than Coppertone Suntan Lotion?  The smell hasn’t changed a bit over the years.  Deanna says Coppertone reminds her of sunshine, it reminds me of being young again, listening to my transistor radio, and drinking Pepsi out of a bottle, while laying in the sun giggling with girlfriends.

Oh, it smells so good.  Hooterville has a bottle of the oil, and regularly takes off the lid and smells it because she likes it, too.

Yours truly is going to be hotfooting it down to WallyWorld to buy my own bottle.  Then I’ll slather it on, and just enjoy!!!  I just bought a new bottle of Johnson Baby Lotion because I’m addicted to the way it smells, I’ll just add Coppertone to my rotation….

Vintage Commercials, this Bayer Aspirin is one of the best!

Well, I had a huge mess…….

It was late, I was making hubby’s dinner, putting the box of rice in the back of the pantry, and all of a sudden there was a loud kersplat!!!  I was trying to manuever the box, and instead of taking out everything in front of where I was putting it, I was trying to wedge it to the back, and I wasn’t paying attention to the large jar of salsa sitting in front of where  was trying to cram the rice, and the friggin’ salsa jar fell on the stone floor, and of course it shattered and sprayed salsa everywhere…

Oh, I was soooo upset.  I was tired, and the M&M’s were looking at me like, snack, Mom?  I scooped up their little furry bodies and deposited them in the bedroom and shut the door.   That’s all I needed was for them to wade into it and cut themselves, or heaven forbid try and lap some of it up!

I had the trash can out, scooping salsa with my trusty bash ‘n chop into the garbage, the girls were in the bedroom whining to get out, and all the while, I’m throwing an absolute hissy fit.  Of course nobody was around to hear me but the dogs, but sometimes you just have to vent!

Oh, what a mess it was!  Hubby came in and cleaned up the last of it for me, telling me not to be so hard on myself, that he does stupid stuff, too.  Sweet man, attitude is everything, and sometimes you just need somebody to understand…

Mollie, one day post-op….

Mollie is out of surgery….

The vet just called, it was a hernia.  Thank goodness that’s all it was! 

She came thru surgery fine, I’ll pick her up late this afternoon.  Now maybe I can relax a bit.  This hasn’t been fun!

~ jan

Susan Boyle, Picasso Style…

Okay, I admit it, this made me smile.  It’s not the cleavage, or the cigar, or even the rose or the champagne.  It’s the mole on the boob.

Maybe I’m just looking for a reason to smile this morning, ya think?  It’s 10:54, Mollie will be going into surgery soon.  I’ll update you later today….