A holiday to remember

So Christmas is over. I thought it would tell you how mine was this year.

For the first time ever I spent Christmas with out either my, or one of Evie's family. Evie had to work the day before and the day after so we could not go anywhere. All of our families had other plans already and were not going to make it to see us, so it was just me and Evie.

We were not sure if we were goign to like Christmas without family (well we are a family, but you know what I mean). Let me tell you this though, it actually was quite nice. When we have Christmas we would normally go and spend 4-5 days where ever we happen to be having Christmas that year. We have to travel at least 3 hours to get where we are going, sometimes 6. The first day is normally chill, then the drama starts. I have yet to have a drama free Christmas. One year one of Evie's step sisters tried to stab Evie's sister with a knife. Last year, Christmas was not only family but 20 people Evie's mom and aunt are trying to "Save". As I call them, "the strays". I could go on and on, but I won't.

So this year, we did not travel anywhere. We woke up late, had some coffee and breakfast. Made some phone calls, and sent some emails. Evie then says, "Lets pack up the Christmas decorations." So we spent a couple hours dechristmasing the house. At this point is is the afternoon, so what did we do? Nothing. We sat and talked, Evie read some, I played some UNO. So needless to stay it was a chilaxed Christmas.

Christmas was enjoyable this year, but at the same time I did miss family. Next year is going to be interesting. We will have are little one and will officially be a "Family" ourselves. I think that we will end up staying here, and if anyone wants to come see us, they are more than welcome too. Hopefully we will have a bigger house by then.

I hope all my readers had a good Christmas also.

Leia Mais…

Holiday Funnies

So I did some searching for some funny holiday cartoons. I thought I would share them with you all. Enjoy.

Todd

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Leia Mais…

SNOW!!!

Well Seattle has been hammered over the last couple of days. We got a total of 13 inches in Bellevue over a 3 day period. Now for some of my readers I know that isn't much, but for a city that owns about one plow, that is a ton.

Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful here. It's a site you do not see in the Puget Sound area very often, but I am ready for summer. We are supposed to have off and on snow for the rest of the week,, and then rain this weekend. What a mess.

Fortunately today I am at work, and my patients have confirmed. So we will see.

Leia Mais…

Been a Bit

Sorry to all my "Fans" for taking so long to get a blog out. Life has a way of getting in the way.

So here I am.

My cat seems to bee improving. The balance is now only an issue when she tries to stand on her back legs or look up really high. She just kinda falls over. It appears that she still can not hear us.

The neurologist thinks that she will heal up nicely, but may never hear well again, or be as playful as she used to. Its sad, but I am happy to know she should live a somewhat normal life.

So all of you know I will be starting another blog soon with one of my very Good friends Heather.

We have decided that we need to help people learn what and how to be green. Together with a little research I think we will create a great blog that will be very informative and fun.

Until next time. Peace.

Leia Mais…

Christmas Wish List

After talking with a friend today I have figured out what I want from all my friends for Christmas. I want them all to get the Xbox 360.

Now you are probably thinking, wow what an unselfish gift idea. Well it isn't really. What I want is for you all to be able to get the Xbox, and on line account so that we can play games together.

So I have done some research so you don't have to. Here is what the cost would be.

Xbox 360 Arcade: 199.00 This includes one controller and 256 MB of storage (not much but it will let you save games), and some arcade games.

Xbox 360 pro: 299.00 This includes one controller, 60GB hard drive (a ton of storage allowing you to save movies, music, pictures, and even the games so you don't have to put in the disc), one controller, Kungfu Panda game, and Lego Indiana Jones game.

So now that you have the system, you will probably want to get another controller. A new controller will cost you 49.99

I suggest picking up some sweet games to play online such as Madden 09, Halo 3, and Rockband 2. Each game is about 60 bucks.

You will also need an online account for 50 dollars.

So for as little as 358 dollars you could be playing and talking shit to me online.

With the turn for the worse in the economy we probably have some tough times ahead of us. All the more reason to be getting this very therapeutic gaming system. We may all be sitting at home not doing much. Why not play a game with friends. You can even get a camera for it so that way you can watch the look on my face as I school you all.

Don't forget that the Xbox 360 is also a high quality DVD player, and makes a statement as far as home furnishings go.

Lastly, if you have children, there are a wide array of childrens game that will challenge their mind and their hand eye coordination.

So for Christmas ask for best buy gift cards and hook it up. I will see you all online. Prepare to die!

Leia Mais…

Recessions Suck

Recessions Suck. Just letting you all know how I feel.

Leia Mais…

Cats having issues

So about 2 weeks ago we took our cats in for their annual appointment.

Our cat Judy had an ear infection so they said they cleaned out her ears really well and placed some drops. They gave us drops to take home and place daily.

An hour after seeing the vet, my cat started acting funny. She seemed to be drunk. She was apparently having a vertigo problem. We took her back to the vet. He said that it was strange that it just happened and maybe they affected the inner ear.

He gave us an antibiotic and steroid to give her. Well she soon after that was unable to eat. her cheeks were no longer working, and her 3rd eyelids were covering her eyes. We took her back and the dude had no clue. He referred us to a neurologist.

I think they must have beat the crap out of her ears when cleaning them. I will let you all how it goes with the Neurologist. We see them on Monday.

Leia Mais…

Selling Our Home

Life is strange. What one week you think is great, the next it just isn't what you want.

This is the case for our condo. We purchased a 1100 sq. ft. Condo 2 years ago here in Bellevue, WA. We are about 10 - 15 min from Seattle if the traffic is okay. When we decided to move to the area, Seattle was our first choice of places to live.

There are a wide array of communities, good schools, and lots to do in Seattle. We chose to live in Bellevue however because my father in-law purchased a practice here. After living in Boston and having to commute 45 minutes each way every day, I was not about to do it again.

Now it's 2 years later. Bellevue is a great city. What it is lacking is charm. The other thing is, in 4 months I will have a child. I could not imagine being a child growing up without a yard. Not that there is going to be much running around the first year, but still.

My good friends who live in Seattle just found out that they are pregnant. She is a teacher and is planning on taking a year off of work after her child is born. She offered to watch our child during that time so that we could continue to work. This gives our child a chance to be around people other than ourselves, and another child.

The last thing is the money we would save renting, vs. our mortgage. We can get a much larger home with a yard and pay almost half of what we pay now. With the economy the way it is, we can use all the extra cash we can get.

Life is funny. You never know what is around the next turn. We just need to adapt, and hope for the best.

My advice to all that read this is when you all move here ;) live in the Seattle area. You wont regret it.

I will keep you updated on how it goes considering the market.

Leia Mais…

Christmas Trees

Thanksgiving is over. I am 5 pounds fatter, and there is one less turkey roaming the earth. This is all good news because it is officially time for me to listen to Christmas music and decorate.

Over this last weekend we decorated our condo and put up our Christmas tree. Last year we decided to do something I never thought we would do, we purchased a fake Christmas tree. This was very difficult considering I used to work on a tree farm and it was my job to trim the damn things.

The reason we felt we should move to a fake tree was to avoid burning down the house. We have 2 cats and did not want to risk them jumping from the couch and attacking the tree causing it to fall over and some how ignite. I also like to have a tree up for long periods of time so a fake tree lets us do that without worrying about it drying up.

Now that I am another year older and wiser I find that there is other benefits to having a Christmas tree that is fake. First of all there is the environmental factors. Our tree was made from recycled plastics, what a great way to use old plastic. The other thing is, there is one less tree that will be cut down. Actually if we are careful this tree should last us many years and still look good, so that is many trees that will not be cut down.

In 2002 20,808,065 Christmas trees were harvested in the USA. I am sure it is even more nowadays. That is a lot of O2 we are taking out of the environment.

So I propose that we all get fake Christmas trees made from Recycled plastic to help our planet.

I will post some pics of my tree after I take them. My village also. :)

Leia Mais…

The Old Thanksgiving Flip

I may have mentioned that I love the holidays. Christmas is my favorite, but Thanksgiving kicks some ass also. My wife is a planner (sure she doesn't always tell em the plans) and we planned to go to my brother and sister in-laws in Oregon this year. My brother-in-law was going to make a gourmet meal that he learned from his cooking club. Freaking sweet. I don't need to cook, I can watch football, and I don't clean up afterward. What a deal.

Well we found out this weekend that plans have changed. They are now all coming here for Thanksgiving on their way back from Canada (my sister and mother in-law are Canadian). So we are now eating dinner at noon, and doing all the cooking ourselves. right after we eat they need to head back to Oregon. Talk about eat and run.

So we now have our tiny condo, 10 people, and a 22 pound turkey. I'm sure it will be fun, but it seems like a lot of work for 3 hours of company.

The good news is that because they are leaving early, I will be able to put on the Christmas music and decorate my condo. Bring on Christmas.

Leia Mais…

My Birthday

Well I am officially 30 Plus years old. Funny thing is I don't feel any older. I thought when you hit 30 it was all down hill. Looks like I may have been wrong.

So my birthday was not one of my most memorable. The weekend before I got together with some friends and drank some beer. so that was actually what I would consider my party. The day before my birthday I came down with the flu. I knew it was going to be a fun one.

I went to the office on my birthday at 6:30am because I was actually feeling fine. I ate a sandwich during lunch then all hell broke loose. Needless to say I canceled the rest of my day and went home. There I sat on the couch and played on the computer until Evie got home. There was also a trip to the bathroom here and there.

Evie got home, we talked for a bit then I proceeded to go to bed early and try to sleep this flu off.

So it was not the most exciting of birthdays, but a hell of an introduction to my 30's. I think for my 40th I am going to throw a hell of a party. All that read this will be invited. See you in 10 years.

Leia Mais…

It's a boy to be

To my faithful readers. I wanted to let you all know that Evie and I went to the hospital today so Evie could get an ultrasound. The baby is healthy, has all his appendages, the heart is beating. Everything checked out.

So what we learned today. Well first of all its got a hell of a package. Or so a father would like to think. Hell, I honestly didn't have a clue what I was looking at. But the lady says she is never wrong and she sees the penis and scrotum. Of course there is a chance she is wrong. So I think I will stick with stuff that is not gender specific. Secondly we learned that we are right on as far as how far along Evie is. Evie is at 21 weeks now. That puts the birthday at the end of march, or beginning of April, depending on if he wants the fuck out or not. 9 months is along time in the hole.

So today was a great day. Very reassuring to know that as far as we can tell everything is going smoothly. I will keep you all updated as we progress.

Leia Mais…

One long ass day has just ended. For this to make sense, let me explain a typical day.

I get to work at 7am, and my first patient usually cancels, so I then wait until 8 or 9 and do a little filling. While I wait, I check my email, write a blog, go to face book. You know, the important things. Then my next patient shows up, something like a crown, so I spend a little time with them. By this time its time for food. I get a bite to eat. Then maybe do an exam or something. At that point I call it a day and go home.

NOT TODAY!!! I get here, and I have 2 patients. One an emergency, the other is scheduled for 4 fillings and 2 crowns. So I extract a tooth, after getting my other patient numb. After the extraction I go ahead and finish up my restorations. The whole time I am also doing exams. As soon as I finish with my patient the next was there. So I see them.

So now its lunch time. I have a meeting with the banker here at the office. Well About 10 min into the meeting I find out my partner is an hour behind, so I need to go do an extraction for him. We cut the meeting short, and I precede to do one of the hardest extractions I have ever done. I finish that up thinking I must have a break. nope. next patient is here. I do the filling, next thing I know its 3pm. My day is done.

I am pooped. Good news is we were busy and the day went by fast. So I may bitch about it, but in the end I am happy. :)

Leia Mais…

Somethign new I will try but probably give up on later

So I was looking at my profile and thinking, "Sure everyone loves to read my writing, but we need some visual changes." So I will be periodically changing my profile picture to match my mood for that blogging day. For Example, the picture on there now is showing me receiving gifts. I am in a receiving mood today, so that is why I put it up there.

The issue I will have is I do not have a picture for every mood that I have, so I occasionally will have to take a shot with my phone to capture the essence of my mood.

Now if wanting to read my blog daily wasn't enough to get you to come back, now you get a chance to see pictures of me no one else will ever see. Hell you might get to see pictures I would not want anyone else to ever see except the two readers of my blog.

I might even add the picture to the end of the blog after I move on to the next so you can all remember what type of mood I was in that day. It may help explain why I wrote what I wrote.

Now if you think this idea sucks, make sure you let me know.

Leia Mais…

It's that time of year

So it's November, thanksgiving has not even happened and Christmas is everywhere. I can't go into a store without seeing some sort of Christmas advertisement, or in some cases here Christmas music. In fact, I went to Costco and they had a lady singing Christmas karaoke.

Here is the problem with all this. I don't care. In fact I love it. I love Christmas. This time of year for some is very stressful, worrying about who to get gifts for, if you are going to be able to afford them, what you will get, getting the decorations up.....

Well I love all of that stuff, of course this year Christmas will be a little light in the gift department, but that to me is not what Christmas is about. I love the feeling of joy that seems to come with it. Call me old fashioned or what ever, but that's how I feel.

If I could have my way, my dental office would be playing Christmas music right now. Patients I think would get a little pissed, and I know the staff would be livid. So We will wait until after thanksgiving.

So here's to Christmas, and here is to the yule tide joy that I will be spreading.

Leia Mais…

Dentistry and economy

Today I want to talk about the state of profession.

In times of hardship dentistry is one of those fields that suffers because priority's change. Having a beautiful smile is not as important as feeding your children.

I understand that, at least the cosmetic stuff. What I don't understand is people waiting to get a filling done until the pain is so bad they have to. It happens all to much.

So what is this visit like for me as a dentist. I am the one that gets to tell that patient that because they waited until it was in so much pain that they could not bare it anymore, the tooth now needs a root canal and a crown. So what would have cost 200 dollars to do if they had not waited, or cost even less if they continued to get their cleanings done, is going to cost them 2000 dollars.

This has happened more in the past 4 months than I have ever seen. So here is what the patient does. They ask me how much it costs to just take it out. WTF. You are now going to loose a tooth because you chose not to take care of the problem or see your dentist earlier. So I tell them and almost always they get it pulled. They then get mad at me, like it is my fault.

The real kicker is they still are spending tons of money on their cigarettes, beer, pets, cable TV, movies, what ever it is, but are now mad at me because they took to long to get their work done.

So I do sympathize to a point. Dentistry is important and can be expensive. People need to understand though, even in times of hardship your health is so important. Cut other places, and make sure you are keeping healthy.

Leia Mais…

80's come backs

So New Kids On the Block or NKOTB are back in full swing and singing some awesome songs (so they think). Well it got me to thinking. what other groups would you love to see rockin your home town. Here is my Top 10 list of 80's bands or groups that I would like to see.

10. The B52's - Rock Lobster - need I say more
9. Devo - Who would not love to see a revised version of whip it?
8. Hewey Lewis and the News - I want a new drug has never meant more to me.
7. Yes - really it would be just to hear one song. If they came out with any others im sure they would all suck also.
6. UB40 - Another one that played a large role in my life. Still drinking Red wine to this day.
5. Tears for fears - just an all around good group
4. INXS - Why is it Australians can sing so well?
3. Toto - Makes me want to hold someone
2. Wham - I mean really. The pink gloved rocked.
1. Journey - I relate to every freaking song. I'm sure they have another 20 - 30 good songs left in them.

So tell me who you would like to see grace a local venue near you.

Leia Mais…

Vote Vote Vote

Let me be honest with you (well the 2 people who actually read this thing). 8 years ago I voted for Bush. I was a Student and he had a great education plan with all these tax breaks and bla bla bla. Well none of that happened. So I have to take partial credit for the state of the nation. Now I know that it's not Bush who got us where we are, but he certainly didn't help.

So now here is a chance for all of us to make a difference. Honestly I don't care who you vote for. I will tell you that Barack Obama will be the person I am voting for. I have many reasons for this, and if you ever want to give me a call we can go into it. The important thing here is, you just need to get out and vote.

I think this will be a record year for voters. People of all ages will be turning out this year. I am excited for us as a nation. People are starting to realize that what we do, how we vote does make a difference, good or bad.

The one thing I ask is that people make an educated choice. I talk to family and friends who have always voted one way or the other. I ask them who they are voting for and they tell me "The Republican of course," or "The Democrat of course." I then ask them why and they don't have a clue.

So please get out and vote.

Leia Mais…

Time change

My body was not made for this. I just start getting used to the way things are then we go and switch up the time. Why I ask, Why. Really it makes no sense to me. I actually just read an article that said after daylight savings ends the number of heart attacks increase. They think it is because circadian rhythms are all fucked up. I believe it. I am like, it's five but my body says its six. Why is my body wrong, when really it is right.


I have friends who have had to prepare their child for the time change by keeping their child up later and later so when we change the time their child does not go crazy (or they them selves) from having to go to bed an hour later. We do this for what? Save some energy? Make our summers seem so much lighter?


There are 2 states, Arizona and Hawaii that don't observe it. they seem to be doing fine. Also If I am not mistaken we lived thousands of years without it. Last time I read the bible I don't remember reading anything about Christ setting his sun dial back an hour.


I make a motion that we abolish this time travel. All in favor say Aye.

Leia Mais…

Talking about the economy...

My wife's family is in town for the weekend, and I mean pretty much her whole family. They are all staying with us in our tiny place (a story for another time). So I wake up this morning hung over from a crazy Halloween, and need some good hangover food. My wife had left for work, so I suggested to the rest of the guests that we go out to this greasy food joint.

As we were sitting there waiting for our food we started talking about the economy. My wifes cousin tells us they will probably have to move soon to someplace where nurses make more so they can support their family. Her husband is in the construction business and has not had work for some time. They have lived in there home for many years, now they must uproot there whole family, which includes 2 children, 8 and 6 years old.

As I practice dentistry I hear this story over and over. I have also been talking to friends, and peopel seem to be getting ready for a whole world of hurt. Cutting back here and there as far as expenses go.

My wife and myself are now doing the same. With a child on the way we need to make sure we are stable when he/she comes.

The hard part is trying to figure out what is important and what is not. Somethings I can lie without, and something I'm not so sure about. We will see over the next couple months what our priorities are. I have a feeling that cable and the gym are going bye bye. Thank god I have Rock Band to keep me busy. In times like these its good to have an activity you and your friends can do together.

To close, here is a quote to ponder,

"He who will not economize will have to agonize."

Confucius

Leia Mais…

Halloween Costume Ideas

So I'm sitting here in my office thinking about cool costume ideas (yes its a slow day). Not the kind that just look cool, but the kind that you go, "OHHHHH, I get it", then laugh your ass off. I asked my staff if they had any ideas. Here are some they came up with.

Costume one: Douche Bag
Where a black trash bag and have an old shower head above you.

Costume two: Deviled Egg
Where an egg costume with devil horns and tail

Costume three: Spread Sheet
Where a sheet and hold your hands out

So those were some of the ones they came up with. I also like these ideas.

Master Baiter
Where a fishing outfit, a graduation cap, and KY in the coat pocket.

White Trash
Just tape a bunch of white pieces of trash to you

Dirty Laundry (for females)
Where a really low cut outfit, short ass skirt, and a laundry hamper around your waist with some laundry in it.

If you got any cool ideas reply and let me know.

Leia Mais…

Into the world of Bloggin I dive

Hello to all those (if any) who read this. I was told by a friend that writing may be an out for me, a way to release. So here it is.

I have a lot to say, and have many opinions on many things. This is someplace I will voice those opinions. I love to hear from my friends, so if you have something to say, respond to the post, let me know what you think.

So on to my first topic for my first blog.

Persian Parties.

Holy crap. These guys know whats going on. Last weekend I went to a wedding in Los Angeles, CA for my wife's best friends wedding. Well neither of us have been to a Persian wedding so I didn't have a clue what to expect. Her friend is not any specific religion and her husband is Buddhist, so all i knew is it would be interesting.

There were 250 people who said they would be attending, but I walked into the room to find 90 chairs. I thought, "that's stupid." I asked the person next to me why there were not more chairs. She told me that Persians don't usually show up until the party starts. Well there were only 10 people standing by the end of the ceremony.

The ceremony was only 30 min long. After it was done the bride and groom left. we went out into another room with no tables or chairs. Within 30 min there were about 250 people. Amazing. I was so excited to get out and eat. I had been starving because I was told to leave room for a big meal. Well it is now 6:15 and I am told dinner will be served at 10:00pm. "WHAT THE FUCK." So there was nothing to do but drink from the open bar on an empty stomach (fortunately I have experience in stressful situations like this). I started drinking, and drinking and drinking. Next thing I know I am on the dance floor looking like a complete ass. Everyone there was dancing, but they are all Persian and do this awesome belly dancing and stuff. I was doing the worm, sprinkler, robot, John Travolta, ect. you get the idea.

Dinner was finally served. everyone downed there food, then it was back to the bar, and dance floor. At some point I stopped remembering what was happening. My wife tells me I turned to her and her friends and said, "I think I am drunk. I need to stop." But it came out like, "ithinkImdrunk, ..........Ineedtoshtop." I at least woke up in my room and not in a hall somewhere.

Moral of this blog,

If you want to party with a Persian. Eat first.

Leia Mais…