Disneybear

I found this great article about the history of the French butter keeper. We use them all the time at our house. It really is a great way to store your butter. I used to hate spreading butter on toast when when we used to keep it in the refrigerator. It was impossible to spread! Get a butter bell today! They are wonderful!

Kudos: Interesting Thing of the Day

Apparently someone has hacked Sesame Street’s Elmo Toy! You can read the full story here. What’s next? Suicide bomber Barbie?

Kudos: Endgadget

Today I was watching The View with Whoopie Goldberg and the name of Actor Ed Harris came up. At hearing his name, Whoop let out a quite audible, “Woof”! I nominate Whoopie as an honorary bear!

I am a Great Uncle Again!

Today I am back to school. I am taking only one course this semester, the second half of Anatomy and Physiology. I am taking it online through Seward Community College in Kansas! I took the first part of the course there last summer and it was a great experience. I have a different teacher this time and from looking at the syllabus it appears to be a little more demanding… Lots of busywork. I prefer to just read the book, do a virtual dissection, and take  the chapter test. I also have to do some real dissections for this course also. This week I am on the lookout for a pig or steer eye at a local butcher. I can’t wait to see the looks(pun intended) when I am in the store asking for one! Where do you find a butcher today anyway?

This is the 3rd time I watched this show on FOX. It is getting tired fast. It moves at a snail’s pace!

Apparently the massage therapist that found Heath Ledger called Mary Kate Olsen before calling 911. If any of my friends find me not breathing one day would you please call 911, then Mary Kate?

It seems like I waste a ton of water when I rinse out the plastic for the recycle bin. How can that be good for the environment or conserving resources?

Where does the time go? It really does go by faster as you get older. Everything seems like yesterday. I wish time would slow down a bit. I plan on 2008 being a year of change for me. I hope to finally lose the weight, manage money better, and sell more stuff or donate it this year. Happy New Year!

Today my mother is 84! We took her out to the Country Buffet for dinner. We would have taken her someplace a little fancier, but she was in jeans and didn’t want to change, so the buffet it was! She is in pretty good shape considering she had such a devastating stroke in 2003. I wish her many more birthdays!

Get Scrooged!

Click the pic!



Kudos: Scroogeyourself.com

Okay, I am going to show my true Scrooge. Please don’t send me a Christmas card with a picture of your children unless you are in it too. Since you are my friend, I want to see what YOU look like, and not just your kids. Hey, I like kids, but until they can send their own cards, I really don’t want to see them by themselves. Sometimes I can’t even identify who the card is from since I really don’t know your baby, or 2 year old. Bah Humbug!

P.S. And don’t get me started on your Christmas letter and what the kids are up to!

I just made this fun animated card! Make your own at elfyourself.com!




Kudos: Elfyourself.com

I can’t stand copayments! Mike and my insurance costs have been outrageous lately. I have had to look through a maze of options for us. One thing I don’t see is the need for all these various copayments! Isn’t the fortune we pay per month enough to cover expenses? I understand having a deductible which would lower costs for us and the insurance companies, but if I am paying an arm and a leg each month, why do I always have to pay a copayment? It seems no matter how much you pay, you always get them. Now that I have diabetes, the more frequent office visits I must attend and the copays on the drug prescriptions are really going to add up. According to Wikipedia, “A copayment, or copay, is a flat dollar amount paid for a medical service by an insured person. Insurance companies use copayments to share health care costs to prevent moral hazard. Though the copay is often only a small portion of the actual cost of the medical service, it is thought to prevent people from seeking medical care that may not be necessary (eg: an infection by the common cold), which can result in substantial savings for insurance companies. The underlying philosophy is that with no copay, the perception is that medical care is “free” and then is used more often.” Free? The insurance is definitely not free! I need an incentive not to go to go to the doctor more often? Is this totally crazy or what? Yes, there are hypochondriacs out there, but most of us are not. I just love writing a check each month to someone that believes I am a “moral hazard”! How nice of them to still take my money. While I am on the subject, so many of the plans require me to ask my doctor if I want to see another doctor. Again, I am not to be trusted because I might actually seek out care I don’t need.  I really think for the amount of money involved, I should be treated with a little more respect. Insurance is looking like a scam more and more to me each day. Perhaps they should do away with it all together and just make the health care more affordable. The money that we send to these crooks each month would probably fair much better in a health savings account.