Open-mouth surgery

I was told it wouldn't be a very big deal--they do these all the time, they don't even put you to sleep, and I'd be able to drive myself home. What they meant is it isn't a very big deal TO THEM!

On Friday I went in for surgery at Dr. Williams, the Peridontist.  I had a frenectomy and a gum tissue graft because my frenem (frenom? frenam?  however you spell that--Jenny & Brian could tell me) was pulling down the gum tissue around one of my lower front teeth.  They gave me some nitrous oxide to breathe and numbed the area to be operated on.  It is the weirdest feeling laying under the knife, being able to see the cutting motions, and blood on the latex gloves and be okay with it. (Thanks to the nitrous oxide.) 

But the happy feeling and the numbing medication wore off before I even got home and my mouth was throbbing!  I couldn't wait to take some of my pain killers that make you very drowsy.   

So here's the deal with a frenectomy--they don't just snip the frenom.  They cut all along the bottom inside of your lip and stitch it up.  I'd post a picture, but I can't even extend my lip out far enough to look at it myself.  Plus it would probably gross you out.  It's a big pain. Eating is a pain, talking is a pain, and smiling is a pain.  And those are three of my FAVORITE THINGS! 

My advice to any of you out there who are contemplating a frenectomy is this:  Make sure you really need one before getting one of these things done.  I'm wondering if a receding gum line wouldn't have been so bad . . . 

One Voice

I just wanted to say that this morning I wrote three emails: One to each of my senators and one to my President. A lot of times when I think about the public officials who represent me, I think, "What do they know? They have NO idea what's important to me!" Well, this morning, I emailed them, and let them know what is important to me with regards to couple of different issues. So whether or not they agree with or follow my sage advice, at least my opinions are now sitting in their inboxes, and not just swimming around in my head.  It feels pretty good.  I think I'll do it more often.  

Just FYI

• If you want to email President Obama, to congratulate him, let him know what's important to you, or both, click here.  
• If you're a New Mexican click on the Senators names for a link to their contact page.

Tom Udall

Jeff Bingaman

• If you are in another state, you can do a google search for your senators and find their website with their contact information.  It's quick, easy, and painless!  And you'll feel really good about doing your democratic duty.  After all, how can a democracy work, if the representatives don't hear from their constituents?

A little concerned . . .

We recently saw a Glenn Beck show in which he illustrated the amount of money that is being printed and put into our system right now and how that compares to other times in history (Great Depression, WWII, 9/11 etc.)   This clip is just under 4 minutes long, but worth your time!

Glenn Beck "Inconvienent Debt" Video

Regardless of political party, this is something we should all be a little concerned about. In fact, when I saw it, I yelled right out loud, "HOLY COW!" We have yet to feel the effects of printing so much money, but in the next few years, we are in for a dramatic rise in inflation!

Unfortunately, printing money is controlled by the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve.  I don't know how accountable they are to the people, or if there is really anything we can do to influence this.   Maybe we could write to the Treasury Secretary and just tell him how concerned we are about the rate of infusion of cash into the supply and the inevitable rise in inflation.  (Hopefully we all have our food storage ready because we are about to see the dollar turn into the peso.)

That being said, there is something we CAN contact our representatives about:  

President Obama has just introduced his stimulus plan to the congress, which is currently up for debate in the Senate.  And in my humble opinion (if any of my opinions are humble): This plan will NOT stimulate the economy.  The plan entails borrowing $819 BILLION (essentially doubling our trillion dollar deficit)  from other countries.  (If the government was borrowing this amount of money from its own citizens, each American Household would be required to fork over $10,000!)   Recessions are never solved by borrowing more money.  They are solved by getting money back into the hands of the tax-payers through tax-cuts.  (And that doesn't mean handing out "tax refunds" to people who don't even pay taxes, as nice as it sounds.)   

So, what will the money be used for?  Here are just a few things included in the bill that  I think are questionable:

• $200-300 billion to go toward bailing out state governments that have overspent their budgets.  So the taxpayers in Indiana whose government was responsible and lived within their means will be bailing out Californians whose government has overspent like crazy.  As my kids would say, "That's not fair!"
• $650 million for digital TV coupons. . . . Really?  (When did TV access become a civil right?)
• $50 million endowment to the National Endowment for the Arts (I'm all for the arts, but  we've got to distinguish between needs and wants here.)
• $400 million to study global climate change
• Hundreds of millions for contraceptives  
• $20 million to re-sod the National Mall
• $620 million for new government vehicles
• $136 billion goes toward 32 NEW federal government programs 

Now, there are some good things in there too.  It does include $275 billion in tax cuts, which is good.  It also includes $43 billion for infrastructure (bridges, roads, interstates, etc.) which is something that government should be paying for.  But that $43 billion is only 5% of the entire bill!  And, it won't even be spent for a couple of years, which doesn't do anything for the economy right now.  

On January 28, the House of Representatives passed the bill.  If it passes the Senate, we will be saddling our children and grandchildren with an impossible load of debt and suffocatingly exorbitant tax rates.   Sooner or later the countries lending us money are going to figure out that we aren't good for it, and cut off their funds.  

So what can we do about any of this?  We can be heard. 

This bill is up for debate in the Senate NOW.  (Februrary 4th, 2009).   Please contact your U.S. senators in the next day or two, and let them know where you stand on the bill.  Plead with them to find other solutions that will be fiscally responsible.  If they're calling it a Stimulus plan, let's ask them to create a bill that will eliminate the things that aren't necessary, and pass the things that actually WILL stimulate the economy.  We need to encourage our representatives to make good choices for our country!  

For more  information regarding the stimulus package you can check out these  websites  & articles:

www.heritage.org

The President's American Recovery & Reinvestment Plan (whitehouse.gov)

Gop Refusing to back Obama's Stimulus Plan

Economic Stimulus (NYTimes)

Happy Birthday to you!

This kid just turned 32!

Dallin had the idea of blowing up 32 balloons, and writing the numbers 1-32 on them.  Then the kids would give him a numbered balloon and he had to say something he remembered when he was 5 (moving from Australia to the United States) or 16 (being a punk) or 19 (noticing just prior to his mission that the organist at church was pretty hot.   It was ME of course!) or 24 (becoming a Dad) and you get the picture.  Daphne thought it was hilarious to keep giving him #32 to which he always responded by throwing it back and saying, "That's TODAY!"

Happy Birthday Arthur!

We love you!

Valentine Votives

Here's a fun little craft for young hands.  You just need empty baby food jars, tissue paper, thinned glue, and about 15 minutes.  They turned out pretty cute!

Indians at Preschool

I had the letter N on my last week of teaching preschool. So I did Native American Indians (kind of a stretch . . . ) but it was a lot of fun. We planted corn, made necklaces and head-bands, played in a teepee learned an Indian song called "Dip Dip & Swing" (about canoes), made Navajo Fry bread and Wojabe! (a berry sauce to go with the fry bread.), and totem poles. I think I probably had more fun than the kids.

Noodle Necklaces--we dyed the noodles in paint, but talked about other things the Indians used to add color to things.

Totem Pole 

Sean & his little friend Callia.  Notice anything different about his hair?  Yes, well, somebody (no one has confessed yet . . . DAPHNE! ) cut his hair to the scalp, so we had to buzz it all off.  

Thank goodness his hair grows fast.

Traditional Indian Game invented by Sean & Callia 

called "Scoot down the hill on your bum."

It's so much fun, everybody had to join in:

Here are some recipes for anybody who might want to try this out with their family.  My kids LOVED this stuff.  Click here for a link about Navajo Fry Bread -- it gives you some history about it and a recipe.  And here is the Wojape recipe.  

Wojape, Berry Pudding

By: Karen Eagle Baca

"Wojape (Wo-zha-pee) Traditionally served with Fry Bread, good stuff!........ Wojape is traditonal to the Sioux and other Northern Plains Nations, and it is a very old recipe. It was usually made with fresh wild berries collected while in season and we also used dried berries, preserved for use through the winter. The berries were mixed with sugar when it became available, and also flour, or arrow root, or some type of thickener.

"In modern times, Wojape, like many other things, has been adapted to the availability of ingredients, and it is still as good today as I can rememer it being when I was a girl. It is usually eaten as a dessert with Fry Bread or as as a main course maybe with a hot cup of coffee...mmm... good stuff!"

WOJAPE (WO ZHA PEE)

5 lb. bag of frozen berrys (blueberry, raspberry, cherry or a bag of mixed berries)
8 cups of water
2 cups of sugar (sweet sand)
cornstarch or arrow root

To a 5 quart pot (enamel or stainless steel) add all the berries and smash them with a potato masher. (If you are fortunate enough to have a food processor this would work fine also. However, stop just short of puree, you want don't want it to turn in to soup, you want small pieces for texture.)

To the berry mash add the water and sugar. Lightly boil for about 15 to 20 minutes or until everything is cooked. Add cornstarch that has been disolved in cold water to thicken to the desired consistency.

Serve warm and eat with Fry Bread. Simply dip the bread into the Wojape and enjoy!

Source: Karin Eagle Baca