ROFL! Look what I found at the Fancy Dress website!

OMG that’s funny. That is one cool costume! LOVE that hair! We don’t “do” Halloween, but my kids love to dress up. They have a huge, huge box full of funny clothes and costumes. I think if I got one of the kids that costume, they’d freak, though. But I’ll bet they’d do a great impersonation, anyway! LOL! Check out the website, there are loads of funny and cute costumes.

Please please please PLEASE don’t play music on your blogs. It makes my browser crash and sometimes I have to reboot the whole blasted computer. Besides, sometimes I have my own music running, or my speakers are up a little too high after the last song I heard… PLEASE don’t automatically play your music on your blogs. If I don’t drop my Entrecard on your blog (and I am a devout reciprocal dropper) anymore, that’s usually why. Also, if you can’t control yourself and can’t have a lucid thought without also having to have a naked woman in every post to titillate you, then that’s why I don’t recipro-drop, either.

I was just talking to my husband about us going ultra-natural with our diet the other day, sayin we should eat more fish and perhaps take fish oil supplements for all our joint pains, when I see THIS going on: a Seafood Cook Off! Oh I just love seafood. I grew up by a lake where freshwater fish was abundant. My favorite is salmon– I’m totally nuts about salmon dishes. I prefer salmon grilled with a twist of lemon and sprinkle of dill, but I’ll even eat it right out of the can. I love replacing the tuna in tuna casserole with canned salmon. I also add chunks of mild cheddar cheese and a good teaspoon of Creole seasoning, for kick. Wow, it’s soo good.

The Great American Seafood Cook-Off for 2008 is held in New Orleans, Louisiana. Someday I am going to go there and get very, very sick by gorging on all the delicious seafood dishes there…. the website has a link for recipes and chefs– it looks like it’s still being built, and I’m eager to browse the recipes. The Cook Off emphasizes what is called the “positiveness of domestic seafood sustainability,” which means eating the local fish, fresh and restocked. Here where I live, it is not advised to eat any fish from the creeks, as they are filled with dangerous and toxic PCBs. Local factories dumped their toxic waste into our creeks and pretty much destroyed the local fishing. So I am happy to see folks encourage not only the eating of fish, but the wise maintaining of the fish supply.

Anyway, I really need more fish recipes. If anyone has a good one, feel free to comment. Or you can even write a post about it on your blog and I’ll link back to you. And keep your eye on that website, for delicious recipes forthcoming!

Well, the bloggers and news outlets are abuzz with the newly released Cuil (pronounced “cool”). It’s the brainchild of a former Google employee, and went live Monday. After the latest severe swath of Page Rank deaths (Freaky Frugalite got a 0, thank so much you Google jerks; except Andrew- you’re not a jerk), we are all panting with baited breath, ready to cheer on a competitor– any competitor. I suppose this is why Cuil has gotten such rave reviews. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? Google has waaaay, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much power, and right now it looks like the proverbial corruption is on its heels.

I checked it out. Eh. I looked up New York Traveler– I come in #7 for that phrase on Google (after Wikipedia and the Big Wigs), but on Cuil what do I get?

Look closer– Number One is “Aviation Consumer Protection Home Page”?!?!?! And the NYS Thruway Authority? And the New York Times’ “Frugal Traveler”?!?! That guy is never in New York!

So :-p. Cuil has some improvement. Lots of it. But at least they aren’t powerful enough to kill off my income. Yet.

I believe in “experimental” medicine. I do, I do. Of course, I believe in all-natural medicine. I was a guinea pig for US obstetrics when I was pregnant for my child. My pregnancies always run very late (3 to 4 weeks late– imagine that!) and my babies are HUGE. So my doctor, a Canadian, asked me if I wanted to try a new procedure to induce labor. It had been very effective in Canada, where the medical industry is more liberal about such things. And I was as fat as a cow and feeling very ill. So I signed the paperwork and was injected with prostaglandin gel (prostaglandin is a naturally-produced hormone that stimulates uterine activity). In two hours, labor started! I was able to have a natural childbirth and I felt GREAT! Unfortunately, the prostaglandin technique did not work for my later inductions– I had to have the Pitocin IV drip, and that was miserable.

Anyway, I am very much in favor of more natural medicine. It is with some interest that I am reading a Resveratrol forum. Resveratrol is a natural chemical produced by some plants (Japanese knotweed and red grapes), and can be synthesized, too. It’s been used to lengthen the lifespans of some animals, and is currently being experimented with as a cancer-treating drug. No one really knows if it will work, but there are some brave people willing to try it.

I think our medical industry has, in many ways, failed us. When we are sick or suffering, what is handed to us? Another drug or devastating treatment (like chemotheraphy). My young niece suffered from leukemia, and OH what those nasty treatments did to her poor little body. :( All that money for all those decades going to the American Cancer Society and all we have to show for it is chemo??

I believe in healing. I believe that God heals people. That’s the best way. I don’t know why some people are healed and some are seemingly not… but I believe it is possible and I have seen it happen with my own eyes. But God is merciful, too– He has provided us with a world full of provision for our health and happiness. That’s why I am in favor of natural methods for relief and cures.

I have a back injury that sometimes gives me great pain. But besides that, I am as healthy as a horse, and still stronger and more fit than even my own kids! The back injury came from abusing my own body, by making it work much more than it should have. So sometimes I re-strain it and I have pain. But I am trying to get away from pain-relieving drugs and really trying to trust God. And I am trying to take care of my body, to know my limits. For me, that is the hardest thing of all, knowing my limits, because I want to do everything, ya know?

What do you think? Do you hate all the drugs and advertisements for drugs? Do you think God has provided us with natural things– like plants and the chemicals in our own bodies– to heal us?

Have you ever been in so much pain that you felt like you were going to throw up? Yeah? I feel for ya. I really, really do. :(

I’m delving more and more into the uber-health food and drink products. After seeing how much gunk is dumped into our processed foods, we’re trying to go as natural as possible. Plus, my youngest son has frequent tummyaches, and I’m trying to treat them with digestive-healing foods and drinks. We’ve tried licorice so far– I’m still looking for pure licorice hard candy, so if anyone knows of any, please let me know!

I found one intersting site called Organic India, and they carry a natural organic fiber supplement. Wow, this sure would be better than prune juice every morning! :S The site has loads of products, from bulk herbs (which I love) to teas to organic coffee! There’s also a convenient store locator so you can get the best possible customer service. The business from the website helps the sustainable agriculture in India and they pay their farmers a fair living wage. They have great articles, too– check them out!

This was a fun and, surprisingly, accurate quiz. Of course it should be!

Your Blog Should Be Purple

You’re an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything. You tend to set blogging trends, and you’re the most likely to write your own meme or survey. You are a bit distant though. Your blog is all about you - not what anyone else has to say.

The questions were quick and easy. I think it’s accurate, at least for me. I’m a little quirky, and I tend to blog when the mood hits me. I guess that’s why I got the color purple. :D No boring blue or passport brown for me!

How did you do?

OK, I’m not going to overdo it with a flurry of Hoops & YoYo posts and I won’t rave about how much I love Hoops & YoYo. But they are so FUNNY in a really annoying and mischievous kind of way. Hee. My kids always send me Hoops & YoYo e-cards (they are characters invented by Hallmark), or watch the little videos when they are feeling low. Nothing like 20 minutes of belly-laughing to cheer a person up!

Here’s one of their best. It’s All About Manners. Gather the kids ’round and set them in front of this! LOL! Click on the links on the page to learn a new lesson. :D

My personal favorite? Asking to go out and play. I need more practice!

I’ve been trying to avoid the “recession” woes news as much as possible these days. It’s not because I want to stick my head in the sand like an ostrich and pretend things aren’t there… but I do tend to worry about things, and what can a person do when the governments are bound and determined to wreck the economy?? We can only wait it out (and be very careful about how we spend our own money). The credit card debt is terrible. I know it is for the rest of the country, too– we need some serious debt relief in this country. We have a lot of it. For us, it started years ago, when the economy in New York really started to go south (along with a lot of fed-up people). We used credit to get through some really tight times, in the hopes that things would get better and we could pay things off. Well, it’s pretty obvious that things haven’t gotten better. Sigh. We did try debt consolidation for a few years, but they were schiesters and took off with our money. Not much debt help there! We’ve decided to take things into our own hands, and just pay what we can, when we can, and not purchase ANYTHING until it’s paid off. And things like Bills IQ quizzes help us see where we need to improve. Check it out! I’ve come to realize that it’s really up to the individual to fix things. The more the government gets out of the way, the better!