I'd Walk A Mile For A Camel

I started smoking when I was 12. It started when my friend Cathy and I decided to steal a pack of her mom's cigarettes out of the freezer. Cathy's mom noticed packs missing and confronted us about it. Shortly after the missing packs were discovered, Cathy's mom began letting us buy our own cigarettes. Back in the 1980's parents could send their kids to the gas station or party store with a note giving their kid permission to buy cigarettes. It was easy and convenient.

January 2005 I quit smoking cold turkey. It was easy, Drew had just gotten sick and was in the hospital. It was during these two weeks that I quit. I was spending all my time at the hospital. At the time I was unemployed. I was spending 12 plus hours a day with Drew at the hospital. Quitting was a snap and I thought I wouldn't go back. I did great for a while. I was completely smoke free for over three years. Last year I began caving - here and there. I didn't think anything of it, an occasional cigarette was harmless. I didn't think I would go back to smoking again. I've quit off and on over the past year. I have been getting progressively worse with quitting and for some reason I feel like I can't stop.

I don't like smoking. I don't smoke to look cool. I don't smoke so some guy will like me. I don't smoke so I can smell like stale cigarettes. I don't smoke to get winded when I walk.
I smoke because it's addictive. I smoke because I grew up around people who smoke. I smoke because Drew smokes.

I want to stop smoking because smoking has taken the lives of so many people I love: my Uncle, my Aunt, my Dad, my "second" mom, my "second" dad.

I'm 33. I have been smoking off and on for 21 years! 21 years!! That is MORE than HALF my life! What is it going to take for me to quit? I don't know. I'm not going to quit quitting.

Fabio. I Feel Your Pain. Without The Cameras Of Course

Yesterday I was doing homework, editing to be exact. I was sitting crossed legged with my laptop on my lap. I leaned over to grab something off the coffee table, as I'm leaning my leg twitched or moved or something and I ended up whacking myself in the nose with my laptop. It hurt so freakishly bad (at the time) it wasn't even funny. I had this shooting pain going from the bridge of my nose radiating into my eye sockets and down into my cheeks. Immediately my nose begins running and I notice one nostril is just about blocked. I start to freak out a bit thinking my nose is broken. I went online to look up how to know if your nose is broken, I didn't want to go to the Emergency Room just to find out it wasn't broken. I have a few of the symptoms described online. I found out with a broken nose, it's not always obvious right away. Sometimes a person won't know their nose is broken for a week or two. From what I read, the big test with the nose is when going to sleep. Lying down causes a lot of pressure and pain to the nose. I did have quite a bit of pain when I was trying to sleep last night. I may have slept a total of four hours - due to pain and 50 mile per hour winds.

My nose still hurts. It hurts when I form certain letters and when I drink out of bottles. I can't scratch my nose too hard and vigorously trying to rub my nose is completely out of the question. All I can do is keep an eye on my nose, look for swelling (none) or bruising (none) or abnormal amounts of drainage (none). I think I'm good. I'm no doctor, but I'm guessing my schnoz isn't broken, probably just bruised.

Happy Birthday Heather!

This Friday, yes the 13th, is my sister's birthday. Heather is turning 36. In the past we have always had family parties, but this year we are trying something new. A few months ago Heather saw an ad for the movie "Confessions of A Shopaholic", excited about the idea of the movie Heather told Matt about it. Matt looking extremely uninterested but thinking about giving in and agreeing to see Confessions, told Heather the movie sounded interesting. Heather looked at Matt and explained she didn't want to see the movie with him, she wanted to see it with the only person/shopaholic she knew could fully understand the movie, her sister. Heather called me that night, told me about the movie and just about let me know I had plans with her on her birthday. I am really excited to see the movie. I've read reviews and such about the movie and it's not getting awesome reviews. I'm sure it's going to be one of those cute kind of movies. I'm not expecting it to be Oscar worthy or as delicious as "Mean Girls" but it doesn't really matter to me.

I get to spend all day with Heather and the kids and while spending all day with Heather and the kids I get to remind Heather that she is 36 and that she will always be older than me. That's what sisters do =)

11 minutes is all it takes for that fresh from the Dentist feeling

I am a bit obsessed with my teeth. My friends and family make fun of me for how particular I am when it comes to the general care of my teeth. I wasn't always this weird about my teeth, the obsession started when I was 22. I got braces when I was 22 (I have always been a bit of a late bloomer). When I got braces, I got the clear ceramic ones put on. My sister was getting married a few months after I got my braces put on and my mom didn't want me to have a mouth full of metal for the wedding pictures. Getting my braces put on was so beyond painful. I had to have a palate expander put on as well, which sucked really really really bad. Anyway, so having the clear braces made me very aware of getting things caught in my teeth, so I began brushing a lot during the day. When I had my braces on, I was brushing about 12 times a day, obsessive right?

I got my braces off when I was 24, and the obsessiveness continued. I have since cut back on how many times a day I brush, but I have increased my routine of how I brush. I had gum surgery two years ago, since that surgery I've had to make minor adjustments to my routine. Today happen to be one of those do everything in the brushing routine day. As I was pre-brushing and pre-rinsing and actually brushing and flossing and post rinsing, I decided to time how long it takes me to brush my teeth in the morning. Roughly 11 minutes. Is that crazy? Probably. This is my breakdown of my brushing routine:

1) With a baby soft bristle toothbrush (mine is Hello Kitty), warm up the bristles with hot water, apply toothpaste, warm up the toothpaste with hot water, with one hand lift upper lip and brush the upper, outer part of the gums with slow circular motions for one minute. Rinse toothbrush, apply toothpaste, warm toothpaste and while holding down lower lip, brush lower outer part of gums in slow circular upward motion for one minute. Rinse mouth and brush with warm water.

2) Rinse mouth for one minute with PLAX pre-brushing plaque remover rinse. The directions say 30 seconds, but I like to make sure the PLAX works to the max, plus the freak in me thinks swishing longer helps me with flossing. Whatever. Spit out rinse.

3) Floss upper and lower teeth starting on the upper left side of the mouth and moving to the right. Once done with the upper, move on to the lower teeth also starting on the left. After flossing the lower, move back to the upper part of the mouth and repeat flossing the upper and then moving to the lower. After I floss twice with regular floss I use threader floss (a piece of floss with a semi-stiff piece of plastic to help guide through braces and bridge work) and starting on the left, I floss my lower front teeth which have a permanent retainer cemented in. I have to be extra careful around the retainer area, because that's where I had my gum surgery. It's very important to keep plaque out of the area. Flossing can take me anywhere from 1-2 minutes, it depends if I'm in the mood to floss After flossing, rinse with warm water.

4) Brushing. I have been searching high and low for years to find the perfect toothbrush. I think I found it. Oral-B Vitality. It's awesome. It's a rechargeable and really gives your teeth a clean feeling. I love it.
This is the best part of the tooth brushing routine. I have the brush attachment that has semi-hard pieces of plastic around it to help reach parts of the teeth that may not get super clean while flossing. It's a great feeling. My toothbrush has a timer on it. So when brushing my teeth, I brush them for a total of five minutes. 2 1/2 minutes brushing on the top and 2 1/2 minutes brushing the bottom. Such a great feeling I get when I am done brushing my teeth. After brushing, rinse with warm water.

5) Fluoride Rinse. After brushing for 5 minutes, I use a tooth strengthening fluoride rinse. I swish the fluoride rinse for one minute and then spit. The important thing when using the fluoride rinse is to not eat at least 30 minutes after rinsing.

So there you go. 11 minutes of my everyday explained in 5 easy steps. Toothbrushes are very important to me. I do have a collection of toothbrushes used for different brushing jobs. Some I use just on the gums, others I use in certain parts of my mouth. I believe I have about 10 toothbrushes I rotate between. I also have 4 types of toothpastes I use for different brushing jobs, along with 4 types of mouthwash or pre-brushing rinses to use as needed. Since floss is a big deal, I rotate through 5 or 6 different types of dental floss, again used for different flossing jobs.

Call me obsessive or crazy or weird, I've been called a lot worse. I like brushing my teeth. I love the feeling of clean. Try my routine someday. Let me know how you like it

People Are People And Sometimes They Bother Me

I am an easy going person, right? I think so too. I have noticed there are people who I see out and about, here and there that really bother me. I am going to breakdown people that bug me, why they bug me (not naming names). This is in no particular order, so please excuse the mess.

Bumper Humpers - These are the people who sit behind you at traffic lights and creep up and up on your bumper. These Bumper Humpers may or may not honk at you if you don't floor it as soon as the light turns green.

Light Creepers - These people are probably cousins to the Bumper Humpers. These people will stop at a light and slowly creep and creep and creep up on a red light, waiting for it to change. The kicker about these people is that when the light does change, they don't go right away. The person behind them will give a friendly honk to get the Light Creeper on their way.

Parade Route People - These people are also known as The Sight Seeing People. These people like to drive around town and look at EVERYTHING as they drive around. You can see the person in front of you rotating their head back and forth and back and forth as they drive around.

Non-Blinkers - These people are the ones who DO NOT use their blinkers at all or EVER!! These people will also slam on their breaks as they are approaching their turn. They don't use their blinkers to let you know they are turning, they just turn.

Hey I've Been There Person - These people are people who talk only about themselves and like to throw in bits and pieces about themselves into your stories and or other conversations. They feel the need to insert bits about themselves all the time. If I want to know about you, I'll ask. These people have also, somehow, experience everything you have experienced and will one up you on every story.

Enough About Me, Let's Talk About Me - People who only talk about themselves. You try talking to them about something other than them and they somehow bring the conversation back to them.

Stirring Up The Pot People - These are people who ask questions or make statements just to be assholes to other people. These people really bug me when they bring up things they know nothing about or are too closed minded to learn about a topic before their verbal diarrhea kicks in and they sound just plain dumb.

Bandwagon People - These are people who hear about something on the news; a recall of products, products containing lead paint, etc; and suddenly all hell breaks loose and these panic people go all nutso throwing things out and clearing out products talked about on the news.

I'm Going To Make Fun Of You For Liking Something And Then Turn Around And Like Said Something, And Be Stupid Obsessed With Said Something Person - This is the person who (pretty much what the title says) makes fun of you for liking a type of music or sport and with (what seems like) a flip of a coin that person is in love with what they were just making fun of you for. What makes this person even worse is when they strike up a conversation with you about what they are now obsessed with, something you missed or didn't get and they turn around and mock you for it.

That's about it. More kinds of people bug me, but for now I'm taking a break. I just got home from school and House is on. Good night!

I Gots My Hair Did........

Some people tell me I am obsessed with my hair. That may or may bot be true. I look at my hair as a security blanket. Eleven years ago my hair was long, past my elbows, it was colored brown with blonde hi-lites. For some odd reason I decided I wanted something different. Over the course of a few weeks, I went from long and flowing brown with hi-lites to a chin length dark brown bob. The bob was a cute look on me for all of 10 seconds. I got home from the salon and cried and cried and did what? Oh yeah, cried. I HATED my hair bobbed. I decided to grow my hair long again. Years and years and years later I am almost to my goal length (yes, I have a goal length)

I discovered a hair "support" web-site/message board. I began looking through this board to get tips about what I could do to make my hair healthier. Some of the tips I've read about are, I'll admit, crazy. Other tips makes sense. I try to wash my hair two or three times a week. In between washings I "work" my natural oils through my hair with my fingers or a wide tooth comb. Natural oils from your scalp are so good for your hair. For a while I washed my hair only with water, while applying conditioner on the ends only. I do regular scalp massages, Drew even helps me out and will offer to massage my head for me. Sounds crazy, but usually the day after a head massage from Drew my hair has such awesome volume! I get criticized for how particular I am about my hair, because I do nothing with it. I don't use heat on my hair and I use very little product on my hair.

I used to get my hair cut once or twice a year, I have since increased that to get my hair cut on more of a regular basis. If I want my hair to grow, I have to get regular trims. I did go back to getting my hair colored, only because the gray hairs were taking over and at 33, I wasn't excited about the grays moving in. Getting my hair colored before would cost anywhere from $70.00 up to $170.00. Because of the length of my hair, I would sometimes get charged for more than one color application. That can add up fast. I was talking (complaining) about this to my sister (bestest sister on the planet!) and she suggested we try doing it at home. I went to Sally's, with my trusted partner in crime Keisha, picked out some color, a bottle of developer and for under $20.00 was able to get my hair colored. I was pumped and excited and I had new hair!

My goal is to have my hair to my waist by my 34th birthday. My long term goal is to grow my hair to my tailbone, realistically I don't think that will happen. Even I think hair can be too long. I'll do my best to not write too many blogs about my hair and my journey. Hard to believe not all people like talking about hair, especially my hair. Weird huh? I know.

I got my hair cut last week. Got an inch off the back and cleaned up the layers. I went to my sister's on Saturday and got my hair colored. Something went a bit wrong with the coloring, my roots have faded to a weird gold color. Whatever. I'm not going to be picky about it. Total cost for Heazy to color my hair was $10.00! Not bad sister. Not bad!

3-Year Old Wonders If Blue Pig Position Pays Benefits

Name: Mya Siekierski
Age: 3
Profession: Toddler and Big Sister
Future Aspirations: Blue Pig

Of all the barn yard animals that Mya Siekierski could choose to be when she grow up, she has chosen a blue pig. No, not a cop. A blue pig.

I sat down with Mya over breakfast and asked her a few questions about her pig aspirations. I opened the interview asking Mya what she wants to be when she grew up. Mya's response was, "A pig!" Interested, I asked her if there was a particular type of pig she wanted to be. She replied, "A blue pig!"

As if to demonstrate, Mya proudly showed me her breakfast plate still splatered with powered sugar and butter, and licked it clean. All that was left was a spot of powered sugar on the tip of her nose.

Regarding the particulars of her profession, she admitted there are none other than marriage and raising piglets of her own. Curious, I aksed Mya what she meant about marriage and raising piglets. Mya let me know she does plan to get married to, "A green pig." and when asked about piglets, Mya responded that she hopes to have,"Five baby piglets" and says they are all going to be "Green!"

Mya is continuing the professional traditions of her siblings. Older brother Peter wants to be an orange elephant, while big sister Evelyn wants to be peacock princess. Mya's parents are very proud of their children's career choices. Although not the traditional following in daddy's footsteps of going into IT, Mya's parents believe Mya will be successful in any career she chooses to go into.