Jo-Lynne over at Musings of a Housewife started a carnival today called What I Learned This Week.  I learned something big over this past weekend and I’m very excited to share it with everyone.  I learned about friendships and reconnecting with old friends.

This past weekend I reconnected with not just one, but two friends that I have somehow managed to lose touch with over the years.  For a few years now I’ve been dogging myself about not being a great friend and letting people I care for slip away.  But I’m starting to realize it is not so much that as it is that sometimes life just gets in the way.

Through Facebook, I reconnected with my friend Michelle from x-ray school.  Michelle and I were close friends throughout our 2 year stay at The Reading Hospital and Medical Center.  After we graduated I moved away to Philadelphia.  We managed to keep in touch for a little bit after that because I was getting married and she was in the wedding.  Then I had Kiki.  I saw her once after that when Kiki was about 2 months old and that was that.

I was beyond excited when about a month ago I had a friend request from her on Facebook.  We quickly made plans to get together.  I think we were both a little anxious because seven years had passed since the last time we saw each other.  Seven years.  Since then, she has married the guy she was dating in x-ray school and they have bought their first house together.  We have moved as well in those seven years, changed jobs once or twice, and had AJ.

So we met up on Saturday night.  We got to the restaurant first and while we waited, I started to get really nervous.  But when they got there, it was like we picked up where we left off.  The conversation flowed and the laughs were abundant.  We closed the bar that we ended up at and I still didn’t want to go home.  It was a blast.

Michelle and I

The reunited gang from our x-ray school days.

Sunday afternoon, I had plans to meet up with another of my friends that I lost touch with as well.  This reunion I was more apprehensive of because the separation stemmed from hurt feelings and miscommunications.  Melissa and I met a few years ago when we worked at the same hospital.  We became close and it wasn’t long before we found ourselves together a lot outside of work.  Her and her husband even moved out near us which we were very excited about.  But then, like I wrote earlier, feelings got hurt and things became awkward.  For me it was easier to distance myself than talk about stuff.  So two years went by with out communication.  She recently just sent me an email about friends she didn’t want to lose in 2009 and that got the ball rolling.

Our meet up was a little awkward at first because we needed to clear the air which is never really fun.  But after that it was smooth sailing.  Our lunch began at 1 and we left the restaurant at 6 that evening!

To sum up what I learned this week: friends are important and friendships require work. My stubbornness is not a great asset to my friendships (notice that both Michelle and Melissa made the first move in both cases).  But I am so thankful that they did!  Some friendships are worth holding onto and now that I have them both back I refuse to lose them again.  They both mean too much to me!

I have a phobia when it comes to public restrooms.  I would rather hold it and get a bladder infection than step into the disgusting world of public bathrooms.  Truth be told, I would rather my kids hold it too.  Now before you go all child abuse crazy on me, I’m not that insane.  If they really need to go, I begrudgingly take them into the dark abyss.  But you better believe I try to talk them out of it first.

Last night we are out to dinner with my in-laws.  Everything was going swimmingly until AJ turns to me and says: “I have to potty.”  Just so you know, he is not potty trained.  However, he started this new thing last week where he willingly uses any potty but the ones nestled safely in our house!  He will fill his diaper to the max if we are home. But when we run errands or go anywhere that isn’t home,  he transforms into a fully potty trained 3 year old.

Since I would like him to be potty trained at his point more than I want world peace, I took him into the bathroom.  Actually, first I ignored the statement but when he repeated it I knew I should comply.  So in we go.  This is my first time taking him into the bathroom.  He is too small to stand up to go so I form the toilet paper safety barrier and sit him down.  He starts going but it isn’t flowing down into the toilet, it is flowing out.  Luckily, it all hit my little strip of toilet paper that I laid across the front.  No problem.  And I was beyond excited that he went plus his diaper was dry when I took it off of him.

“Mommy, get out,” he so lovingly exclaims.  I figured he needed some privacy to complete the rest so I waited outside the door of the stall.  And that is when I hear it.  It was the sound of a waterfall hitting the floor of the bathroom.  “Uh-oh, Mommy,” AJ says from inside the stall.  I open the door to find a huge puddle running towards my feet.  Plus the waist of his pants are now wet.  Now here I am “Miss Public Restrooms are the Devil”, squatting down wiping up the floor of the bathroom.  There are not enough scalding hot showers in the world right now to make me feel less dirty!

About 15 minutes later, we emerge from the bathroom and go back to our table.  It takes everything within me to not curl up into a fetal position and rock back and forth.  “I pee-pee all over the floor,” a way-too-excited AJ shares with the table (and the tables around us.)  I explain to my table (and possibly a few eavesdropping neighbors) the events that just took place.  I ended my story by telling my husband that he is taking AJ to the bathroom from here on out.  He says that I should have rolled up a ball of toilet paper and placed it in front of him.  Although my MIL says she doesn’t recall ever having to do that with her boys when they were younger.  She suggested that I buy one of those portable toilet seats to take with us.  Preferably one with a shield for little boys!  I think I’ll be out looking for one of those today.

It was then that my FIL reminded us that when Kiki was just being potty trained, she too needed to visit every bathroom everywhere we went.  Which just proves the old what goes around comes around theory.  After years of dodging public restrooms, I find myself cleaning up their floors.  IRONY!!

My husband and I have been together since September of 1996. We were married in 2001 and here we are in 2009 still going strong. After all this time together, I feel like I really know my husband.

Yesterday, he informs me that he and the guys from work are going to the shooting range during their lunch break. I find this bizarre for a few reasons. First of all, we are not really gun people so the thought of him shooting one just seems out of place to me. Secondly, he works in Corporate America. It is humorous to picture a group of guys in their dress shirts and ties walking into the shooting range. Finally, he is too much of an animal lover to be a hunter so it’s not like he needs to keep up with his shooting skills. But if it makes him happy to go shoot a piece of paper from a distance, so be it.

But then he shows me the video of him at the shooting range.  To watch this man I have known for what feels like forever using a gun is surreal. Add to that the fact that he is all handsome in his dress shirt and sweater vest and he just seems out of place. But you have to catch the end of the video. You can tell he is all proud of himself! I love my gangsta/business-like gun toting hubby! But no, hon, you are NOT getting one!

A couple of days ago I wrote a post called For The Greater Good.  A quick recap: I switched to deodorant without aluminum in the hope of decreasing my chances of breast cancer.  One of the comments I received was from my bloggy friend Terra.  Terra wrote:

Let us know in 30 days if you still feel the same way

Forget 30 days.  How about 4?  I’m back to my “clog-up-my-pores-with-aluminum” deodorant.  Let me tell you what changed my mind.  It has been arctic cold around here for the past 3 days or so.  On Thursday, as I left for work I bundled up in my warmest winter coat, a scarf, and my gloves.  Once inside the freezing cold car, I turned the heat up to 73 degrees and turned my seat warmer onto the highest setting.  I went from arctic cold to Africa hot in about 3 minutes.  30 minutes later I pull into the parking lot at work not only feeling nice and toasty, but more than a little sweaty as well.

Needless to say, once I disrobed from my winter garb, I noticed I was one stinky girl.  Good thing I keep an extra stick of deodorant at work because it was desperately needed!  I owed it to my patients that I would be x-raying not to knock them unconscious with my body odor.

But I may check out the local Whole Foods store to look for another brand.  I was also told about a deodorant stone that sounds like it is worth researching.  So for now, I’m back to my old deodorant.  (As everyone around me breathes a collective sigh of relief!)

Kiki has been telling us for a couple of weeks now that our cat, Muzbee, is pushing her off of her pillow at night.  It’s not that we weren’t believing her, it’s just not very characteristic of our cat.  I admit the cat does come into her room when we are tucking her in at night, but he is not the kind of cat to sleep on our beds.  He prefers the one end of our couch.

Imagine our surprise last night when we came upstairs to go to bed and found this:

Poor Kiki!!  If only she had parents that actually listened!!

Recently I found out that a woman I used to work with has been diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer.  She is 37 years old.  Hopefully it was caught in time.  Hopefully she beats this cancer and stays around to see her two children grow up.  Hopefully she and her husband can reach their golden years together.

It seems lately there have been more and more women in their 30’s and even 20’s who are being diagnosed with breast cancer.   This has been in the forefront of our conversations at work since we are x-ray techs and deal with radiation on a daily basis as well as perform mammograms at our facility.

One of the topics we often discuss is the aluminum in many deodorants.  While it may keep the sweat from seeping out of pores, it may be increasing the risk for breast cancer.  The reactionary part of me wants to stop wearing deodorant and have my breasts removed.  The realistic part of me knows that is not really an option.

Last night at the grocery store, I meandered down the organics aisle in search of aluminum free deodorant.  Not being familiar with this product, I was impressed with the selection.  It wasn’t huge but I had more than one to choose from which made me happy.  After a few minutes of scrutinizing, I finally pick one.   Once I get home, I’m so excited with my deodorant that I show my husband right away.  The first thing he does is open the cap and smell it.

“Did you bother to smell it before you bought it?” he asks me with his face all scrunched up.  “No,” I reply.  “Who does that?”  He hands it back to me and I take a whiff.  Wow!!  My deodorant that is supposed to help keep the breast cancer at bay, smells HORRIBLE!  How am I supposed to lather this in my pits with its pungent odor?

Well, I paid 5 dollars for it so I’m going to do it!  I have it on now and I have to say I don’t think I smell all that bad.  Of course, I’m the only one here, but the cat and dog are still coming over to me to show me some lovin’.  So for those of you who associate yourselves with me and find yourself frequently in my presence, you may find I smell funny for awhile.  But we are all just going to have to deal with my “new scent” until this deodorant runs out and I buy a new one.  I will probably smell the next one before I purchase it although I just don’t like doing that.

But I can live with my funk if it means my pores aren’t clogging up with aluminum.  It might just save my breasts for a few more years.  If any of you use aluminum free deodorant and you have found one you love, please let me know.  And make sure to leave in the comment something about its scent!

My morning started at 6:00am today when the school district called to announce a 2 hour delay.  Because the phone call woke me up from a sound sleep, it took me a minute to calculate what time I would need to send Kiki to the bus stop.  But this much I knew, she could sleep in!

Around 7:30, I was downstairs starting the coffee and getting AJ his breakfast, when I heard screaming from upstairs.  Kiki was crying and yelling for me.  I ran upstairs to check on her.  She was complaining of a sore throat and a stomach ache.  I don’t know about any of you, but I begin to panic at the thought of cleaning up vomit.  I do feel bad for my poor kids when they are sick.  Not only do they have to deal with their illness, but if it involves the GI tract, they have to deal with me screaming at them to get to the toilet.

Once I got her downstairs, I took her temperature which was 99.9.   In the past, whenever Kiki has had a fever, sore throat, and nausea combo; it has been a case of strep throat.  Her last bout of it was in November and I just couldn’t believe we were looking at this possibility again.  Kiki’s 2 hour delay had just turned into an all day event!

This afternoon, I took her to the doctor.  All day she had been feeling rather nauseous.  I brought a bag with us just to be on the safe side.  We get into the exam room and she asks for the bag with panic in her voice.  I open up the bag for her only to notice that there is a hole in it!  I grabbed some paper towels and threw them in the bag.  Just then the nurse practitioner came in to assess Kiki.  She asked what brought us in today and  Kiki answered her by vomiting in the bag.  GREAT!  She asked me when the vomiting started.  “Right now,” I replied.

I felt so bad for Kiki.  That has to be horrible to be sick like that and then as soon as it’s over a get a big swab shoved down the throat.  Poor thing!  We had to wait a few minutes for the results.  It was positive for strep.  I was relieved in a sense because I knew she would be feeling better by tomorrow, thanks to the “pink stuff that tastes like bubblegum!”

As I sit here on the couch typing this, she is fast asleep next to me.  She’ll be out of school tomorrow as well since she needs to be on the antibiotics for 24 hours before she is no longer contagious.  I know we taught her that sharing is caring, but I would be very happy if she kept this all to herself!

Well, the Eagles and the Vikings faced off on Sunday. My parents (the Vikings fans) showed up to our house (Eagles country) right before kickoff. While everything was still civil, I was able to get the rivals together for a picture.

The game began.  For a while it was close and the tension was in the air. I wouldn’t say there were expletive words being thrown around, but there were definitely some “harsh letters” being uttered.  But by the third quarter it was pretty obvious that the Eagles were coming away with the win.  It was probably at this point that my dad lost interest.

By the way, this isn’t an uncommon sight at family get togethers.  My sister and I have a running joke about my dad falling asleep during family time.  We like to guess how far into an event before he is off to dreamland.  This was pretty good as he made it about half way through the third quarter before nodding off.  Good job, Dad!

My mom even got into it as well.  Although she doesn’t have Viking apparel she still showed up in purple to root for her team.

Notice Kiki being neutral in her pink Penn State sweatshirt.  And speaking of neutral, remember in my prior post I wasn’t sure if I should wear my Eagles jersey.  I was somewhat stuck in the middle.  Well, by the end of the game, the four of us were in our Eagles garb.  Don’t worry, I didn’t put mine on until I got the “OK” from the Vikings fans!

In the end, the Eagles won.  I’m not divorced nor am I estranged from my parents.  My dad and my husband are still buds and life is good!  I think we can all agree that no matter who we were rooting for, we all had a great time!

There is a family feud going on here in Muzbee Crazy land.  And it will come to a head later this afternoon.  What kind of scandal could I possibly be talking about?

That’s right, I’m talking about football!  I grew up in a family full of Minnesota Vikings fans because my parents are from South Dakota and cheer for a team close to their roots.  I married into a family full of Philadelphia Eagles fans as they were born and raised here, close to Philadelphia.  Normally this is never really an issue.  Today proves to be a little different since these two teams are facing off in the PLAYOFFS!  Lets just say the ribbing has already begun.

To make this situation even better, we are having my Viking loving parents over today in Eagle country to watch the game.  My husband is already sporting his Eagles jersey and attempting to put the kids in their jerseys as well.  I have been requested to don my Eagles jersey but I’m not quite sure I will put it on.  You see, I’m somewhat in the middle of it all here and I may decide to stay in neutral territory; the peacemaker, if you will.

What will be the outcome of all of this?  Will there be a rift in the family that will last for years?  Will I be divorced by tomorrow?  Will it come to blows between my husband and my dad?  Who knows?  But all I can say is this…stay tuned!

For any of you that follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/muzbeecrazy), you may remember earlier today I said that I was throwing myself a pity party.  This one started because someone left a negative comment on my money saving tip vlog that is posted on You Tube.  I know I shouldn’t care but I do.  It took everything I had not to respond to the person but my husband and his friend that was visiting at the time talked me out of it.  So now I’ll just stew over it for a little bit.

But as I was reading through my Google Reader today, I noticed that my good friend Kim sent me a blog award.  Kim bestowed upon me The Lemonade Award.  The award goes to blogs that show great attitude and gratitude.  I’m touched that she sent it to me and with that successfully ended my pity party.  After all, I must continue on with a great attitude or I wouldn’t be worthy of the award!!  Thank you, Kim!!