Tuesday Trivia

~ Colgate's first toothpaste came in a jar

~ Giraffes are unable to cough

~ Only female mosquitoes bite and drink blood

~ The average lifespan of a hermit crab is 75 years!

Recurring Dreams

Do you have a recurring dream? Mine is that I'm back in high school. Three things usually happen in each dream: 1) I forget my locker combination and have to go to the office everyday to see what it is, 2) I'm always skipping a class (not intentionally, when the dream starts I'm a few months into the year and I have never been to the class), and 3) I forget to do an assignment or put it off to the very last minute.

On average, I would say I have this dream about once every month or every couple months. It's always the same scenario. The major theme in the dream is usually one of the 3 instances listed above. I had this dream again last night and it was a combination of #2 and #3. The class I was skipping last night was Math class and the assignment I was putting off was two essays for an English class. In the dream I was walking down the hall and my teacher passed by, Mrs. Kopec (she was actually my 6th grade homeroom/math/social studies teacher), and she asked how the essays were going. I said good because I didn't want to get in trouble, but in my mind I was stressing out because I had forgotten about them!

I don't know why I keep having this dream. It's been seven years since I've been in high school, so it's not like I'm stressed about a new year starting. I'm three years out of college and have no plans for grad school, so it's not like I'm stressing about that. So why am I having this dream? Why am I still, even subconsciously, thinking/worrying about these circumstances? Maybe I need to get more organized in my life? In each of the scenarios I'm forgetting something, whether it's a locker combination, a class or an assignment. Am I really stressing about what's going on in my life now and I'm worried that I'm going to forget something?

Maybe it's time that I get a remembrall. The only problem is, I can't remember what I've forgotten.

Tuesday Trivia

Today's trivia is provided by nicefacts.com:

~ 80% of millionaires drive used cars
~ A lion's roar can be heard from more than 5 miles away
~ The placement of a donkey's eyes in its' head enables it to see all four feet at all times
~ The U.S. has more bagpipe bands than Scotland does
~ 15% of Americans secretly bite their toes (ew!)

One Year

A year ago today, Eric and I were married in Detroit, Michigan. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by! We have had such an amazing year down here in Charlotte. I love every day I get to spend with Eric. After 3 and a half years of long distance dating, it is so nice to be able to be with him every day. I love learning more about him each day.

Eric, I love you with all of my heart. Thank you for being such a caring, supportive and loving husband.

Ramblings

What a gorgeous day it was today! Too bad I had to work all day and couldn't really go out and enjoy the beautiful weather. I did have all of the windows open though and the birds were chirpin' all day!

A while back I wrote this post about my injured finger. Well, nine weeks have now passed, the finger is still swollen and I am now in physical therapy to get the mobility back. I went in on Wednesday morning to meet my therapist. The office is right down the road from us and my therapist is super nice. She did an evaluation, did some strength tests, had an ultra sound treatment done to help with the circulation and had a nice little finger massage. She determined that I need to go in once a week for about 6 weeks and continue to do some exercises at home. They are going well so far, but it's still going to take up to 6 months for this finger to heal! I'm just looking forward to the day that I can wear my wedding band again!

Eric and I had a gift certificate from Dell from our recent computer purchase, so we cashed it in for a webcam. It came yesterday and boy did we have some fun with it! I was laughing/crying so hard for like twenty minutes as we played with the different features of the camera.

Those are just a small sample of what we took the other day. Our real intention for getting the camera is so that we can talk to our parents through the computer and actually see them! Eric was on Skype for a while yesterday talking with one of his friends in Ohio. I can't wait to test it out myself!

Tuesday Trivia

Did you know...

~ Maine is the toothpick capital of the world

~ Des Moines has the highest per capita Jello consumption in the U.S.

~ Pinocchio is Italian for "pine head"

Confessions of a Boy Band fan

I admit, I am a boy band fan. My love for boy bands began when I was in first grade and discovered the New Kids on the Block. I had a New Kids pillowcase, some books, a watch, a towel, tapes and of course the trading cards. I had about 200 trading cards! I remember my mom would punish me when I was being a brat by taking away 5 cards at a time. Of course she knew that Joey McIntyre was my favorite and those were the first ones to go. Sad, I know, but I would cry when she took them away.

Then around 7th/8th grade came Hanson. I had the biggest crush on Taylor, the middle one/lead singer. I still love listening to MMMBop and even their new songs are good. I also thought it was cool that Taylor's birthday is on March 14, only 3 days before mine!

Shortly after Hanson, NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys arrived on scene. You were either a fan of one or the other and I was loyal to NSYNC. I remember watching the NSYNC's 100 favorite videos special on MTV with my sister and learning the choreography to their songs. I also had the Official NSYNC book. Actually, I had two copies: one I bought myself and the other was a gift. One day, I was bored so I cut out all of the pictures of Chris from one of the books and taped them all over my sister, Mary's room. She found this hilarious and the pictures were passed back and forth between rooms for about a week. (I know, we are pretty easily amused!)

Along the way I fell in love with the British boy bands too: 5ive and BBMak. I was able to see BBMak in concert at the Michigan State Fair in downtown Detroit one year. That was a pretty sweet concert. However, my favorite British boy band is 5ive. I own two of their videos: one is about the band and a collection of their music videos and the second is a concert from their second album. Mary and I frequently watched these as well. 5ive was supposed to open at one of the NSYNC concerts we went to, but unfortunately they did not show up.

Anyways, today it was announced that the New Kids on the Block are reuniting! There is a bunch of info on their site NKOTB.com and this fall they are going to go on tour! I remember in the first grade my teacher, Mrs. Hea, took her daughter to see them and all of us girls were so jealous (well, I was anyways). If they make their way to the Charlotte area, I may just have to buy a ticket and go!

Crowned

I don't know about you, but one of the worst pains for me is a tooth pain. I hate feeling any pain in my teeth. Obviously, this mostly applies when I am actually at the dentist. Regular cleanings are fine, but I've had my share of fillings over the years. A few weeks ago I had my first visit with my new dentist down here and the hygienist looked in my mouth and said, "Well, you're no stranger to the dentist, eh?" No ma'am I'm not, but just because I've had multiple fillings does not mean I'm used to them. Anyways, I found out that day that one of my molars was fracturing and that I would need a crown. Ok, not the best thing I'd like to hear, but I've had one before. The previous crown was due to a root canal and, compared to the root canal experience, the crown was nothing. I went in for all of the drilling and stuff two weeks ago and everything went fine. Although apparently I was very expressive in my eyes; the hygienist said that I had a look of terror on my face. And, when the hygienist put in the temporary crown that day, she decided to floss around it too! This was not the smartest idea as the crown popped right off. This meant that I had to stay an extra 20 minutes so they could remove the old cement, put in the new one, let it sit and finish it up.

Today I went in for the permanent crown (it takes two weeks for it to be made). I get in the chair and the first question the hygienist asks is, "Do you want to be numbed?" Ummm, yes please!! She said that some people when they are getting the permanent one don't want to be numbed for it. Um, ok, I'd rather be numb in my gums all day than feel an ounce of paid during this procedure. I'm sure glad I got the shot too! After the dentist gave me the shot and took off the temporary crown, the hygienist came around and started to clean the old cement off. She started scraping and I could feel it a little bit but it wasn't terrible, then she blasts a burst of cold air on the tooth and I jerked my head away and let out a grunt of pain. She said, "Ok, well, let's just let that sit a bit and let the medicine take effect." Oh man, that one hurt, it felt like she got me right on the nerve. She left the room and I just prayed to God that I get through the rest of this visit without feeling a thing. Thank the Lord my prayers were answered! She came back about five minutes later and blew some air on the tooth and rinsed with some water and I did not feel anything! The rest of the appointment went well and I now have my new tooth.

I told Eric today that if this were twenty years ago, he'd have a wife with two gold teeth!

Tuesday Trivia

Today for Tuesday Trivia I'm going to share some of the top pranks that have been pulled on April Fools Day:

The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest - In 1957, the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."

Instant Color TV - In 1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.

The Left-Handed Whopper - In 1998 Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."

Click here to see some of the other top 100 April Fool's Day pranks of all time. They are pretty funny.