I Miss You Friend

Today I am taking my boys and their friends to a viewing. The deceased is the mom of one of their close friends, and she just happens to be my friend too. I don't know that I am as strong as some people believe, as this is tearing me up.

Laurie was that friend that you could always call. She would listen to anything, no matter how trivial or how big and try to help. That is what I am missing, Yesterday was a difficult day for me. It was supposed to be a fun filled day with another friend, but we ended up taking her son in for a medical evaluation -- and it lasted for hours. I thought about calling Laurie, because I knew she would be understanding. But then I remembered she had passed away. I can never call her again.

So as I sit here thinking about her, I look at the clock. Her husband and children will be getting ready to go to the viewing. One last evening with their family together.

I hope she is somewhere comfortable and at peace -- and walking again. Whole and doing things for herself. I forgot to say that she passed from Multiple Sclerosis. She hated being trapped in her home, in her body. She wasn't negative about it, actually downright gracious of how other people helped her. But she felt she was a burden, and she didn't like it. She didn't like that she couldn't do things for herself.

So in a couple of hours, I will go see her with my troupe of young men. Going to support their friend. And tomorrow I will go back with my son to her funeral and burial for one last goodbye. I sure do miss her -- and the world today is a little bleaker without her presence.

Dr. Scholl's Massaging Gel Insoles -- You Gotta Try these!

I am a member of BzzAgent -- I know you all have heard me talk about them before and the word of mouth campaigns that I get involed in.  My last one was the soap one -- which, by the way, I love and still use!  My latest campaign has been trying out a pair of  Dr. Scholl's Massaging Gel Insoles.

Right off the bat I have to say that I love these and gave them the highest rating possible at BzzAgent. And I plan to purchase them for all of the shoes that I wear frequently.  I am being totally honest here -- they are that good.  I captured a link to the Dr. Scholl's page for them -click here- you should definitely check it out to learn all about the support and massaging comfort these insoles provide.  Also, there is a link on the page to a coupon. If you are are local to me (St. Louis), I also have a couple of coupons left from my BzzAgent kit that I can give you.  Here is the down and dirty on my expereince with Dr. Scholl's Massaging Gel Insoles.

Getting them ready for my shoes was super eaasy.  Trimming had to be done, but it was a snap, and the insoles went right into my shoes.  I have had problems in the past with insoles getting all scrunched up at the toe, but I didn't have that problem with these.  I think because they are gel insoles and thicker and more stable than most.

The first day I used them was a crazy busy day for me.  I wore them on a day that I had lots of errends to run plus a huge estate sale to go to. The first thing I noticed is that once I was wearing them -- or really didn't notice -- is that I totally forgot about them.  I was so busy -- but my feet didn't hurt like they usually do on a busy day either.  When my day was all  through and I was home again, then I remembered that I had been test driving a pair of Dr. Scholl's Massaging Gel Insoles!  It was really amazing -- the difference that I felt. No feet fatigue or even lower leg problems. The difference between pre-insole and post-insole use was very noticeable.

And now -- after several weeks of using the insoles -- I still love them!  My cute pink high tops are one of my favorite pair of shoes to wear thanks to the confort of the insoles.  I totally give this product a five star rating!

As always, if you are interested in learning more about BzzAgent, yyou can ask me or check out their website here.

What's all the Bzz about Touch of Foam Hand Soap?

If you follow me at all, you know that one of the fun things that I do is participate in BzzAgent product testing word of mouth campaigns.  (Check out their web site  here.)  I am in the middle of another product test.  This time it is Lysol Touch of Foam Antibacterial Hand Soap. (Check out the Lysol website here.)   I was so excited to get the new kit in the mail yesterday. 

 

You all probably know that the boys get excited too, as there have been some oh so cool products to test before.  They were a little let down with the product being soap, but ever the troopers, they agreed to a product test.  Fortunately, I already had the Toys R Us version of foaming hand soap, so it was super easy to set up a side by side comparison.  (In fact, it worked so well, that I think I am going to continue doing the side by side when visitors come over.)

At any rate, here is what we found out in our side by side comparison:

Positives

1. More soap per squirt or pump. The other brand requires two squirts for the same amount of soap.
2. Great consistency of soap, not at all runny like some other foaming hand soaps we have tried.
3. Didn't dry out hands.
4. Hands felt clean after one washing. (even with greasy I have been doing the dishes hands.)
5. Washed off hands easily.
6. Bottle size is not so small that you are going to be running out to get more soap in a hot minute.

Negatives

1. The smell is too strong and too girly.
2. Smell lingers for too long after washing hands.
3. The fragrance for our Lysol Touch of Foam Antibacterial Hand Soap was creamy vanilla orchid, but none of us could detect anything remotely vanilla smelling.  

Conclusion

Overall, we really like this soap. It isn't as messy as some soaps are, which is a plus for me. We can live with the fragrance as all of the other positives really out weigh the fragrance. AND it does come in other fragrances.

Snow Day in Spring

Monday was supposed to be back to school for my boys as the first day after their Spring Break.  But -- they had a snow day instead!  The St. Louis area had the worst thunder snow since since 1983.  Usually, I am a fan of the snow, but I am a bit under the weather this time.  I heard, though, from some others that it was a great snow for snow balls and snow man building.  It was quite beautiful.  Just google St. Louis Spring Snow to get some great images.

Unfortunately for some people, the unexpected weather was a big buzz kill.  They had come long distances for the Wizard World Comic Con St. Louis only to get socked in by the weather.  My favorite of the show, Jason David Frank, posted on his facebook account that his flight out of St. Louis was cancelled so he was driving to Little Rock, Arkansas to catch a flight back to California.  There were many, many cancelled flights, as well as many disappointed out of towners who intended to got to Comic Con, but couldn't make it because of inclement weather.

I spent the majority of Sunday nursing the flare that I knew would result from all of the activity the previous day.  Monday was a light day also, as it takes several days for a flare to die down.  It is tolerable, though -- and for that I am very thankful.  I always keep in the corner of my mind that things could always be just so much worse.

St. Louis Comic Con, part 1

I am dog tired!  The ComicCon was a blast!  There is an after party that I wanted to attend, but am just too tired and sore  to go.  The big thrill of the day by far was getting to meet Jason David Frank!  He is such a nice guy.  I'll post more later about him.  In the mean time, check out his facebook page here.  He said today that he really does read it and post.

There were so many celebs there.  I was amazed.  First thing we see as we enter t he building is Stan Lee!  I just knew that the day was going to be a good one!  Did you know that he is 90?  Amazing!  He looks 25 years younger, and how he has the energy he does -- well, I just don't know. Check out his web site here.

Talked to James Hong.  He was heading out for the day, but he was super nice.  I remember him from the original Hawaii 5-0 tv series.  Man, that dates me, doesn't it!  he is in amazing shape and has tons of energy. Check out his filmography here.

Saw lots of other celebs: Henry Winkler, Lou Ferrigno, John Shea, Tom Felton, just to name a few,  -- and so many artists that I can;t even begin to remember names.

Costumes were awesome.  Saw so many great ones.  I tried to remember to take pictures!  Check out the link to my facebook ComicCon photo album here.

I will post more later about this awesome event.  However, I am just so tired right now -- I am headed off to bed!

Selflessness vs. Selfishness

My soon to be graduating from high school son really doesn't want to participate in his graduation ceremony.  He can't say why -- just that he doesn't want to.  I, on the other hand, remember every struggle that we have been through to get him to this point, and is is hugely important to me for him to participate in this right of passage.

I get that he doesn't want to participate, although I don't understand why.  In my head, I can run through probably a hundred reasons that my son can give that has kept him from participating in a lot of school functions.  I know these play a part in it.  But to me, we have worked so hard to get to this point, and it is the one thing that he can do that, for me, completes this part of the cycle.  Selfish of me, I know.

Lest you think that the selflessness part of the title is on me also, let me quickly put you on the right track.  This boy, no - not boy any longer, but a young man, who had said at least a hundred times that he won't participate, that he can't participate, that he doesn't want to participate in the graduation ceremony, put aside all of his reasons and in a great moment of pure selflessness, said quietly to me today, "I didn't know it meant so much to you.  Mom, I'll do it."

Dictionary.com defines selflessness as "having little or no concern for oneself."    That is what my son is doing -- putting aside his concern for himself in order to do this one thing for his mom.  I couldn't be more proud.

Check out my new look for eBay!

Decided to make some changes to my eBay listings by making them look a bit more professional.  Here is a link to the one item that I used an embedded footer in.  new look  Tell me what you think!