The perils of teeth whitening

I decided this weekend to try some of those teeth whitening strips. I figure a whiter smile might take a few years of my age, or at least a few months, as Nora Ephron says.

I've tried those whitening gels you put on your teeth with a Q-tip. My problem is that I can't stand the taste of the peroxide and start gagging long before the stuff has a chance to start working.

The strips are a little better. You slap 'em on your teeth and wait 30 minutes. The problem is that they slip around a lot, and my mouth still gets filled with that foamy peroxide spit. I tried the first strips yesterday while watching a great show on Frontline about the candidates (I didn't get a chance to see it all the way through the other day), but about 10 minutes after I put the strips on I realized that I'd clamped my front teeth together and now had to keep them that way or the strips would come off.

This morning, I thought I'd use them while I showered. I figured I would kill the 30 minutes by showering, getting dressed, putting in my contacts and slapping on some make up. All I had to do was hold my lips still and not touch my upper and lower teeth together so the strips would stay in place.

Easier said than done. I never realized how much I talk to myself in the shower. Just minutes in the water I found myself oddly frustrated that I couldn't move my mouth. Apparently, I work column ideas out aloud and wage debates with myself while I shower, which I never realized I did until I couldn't do it anymore.

So maybe I am a little crazy after all. But at least I'm crazy with a big white smile!

Frontline's show on the candidates

I'm watching an interesting, and oddly well-balanced, show about the candidates on PBS' Frontline.

If you think that John McCain is another George Bush, you'll change your mind when you see how much they really don't like each other.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/choice2008/

Meet Minnie the Hamster

Last week, on a whim, I went to the pet store and bought a hamster.

We've had a bunch of the furry little rodents over the years, from Ramona and Amelia Bedelia to Alvin, Simon and Chester (aka Hamster). Ramona and Amelia Bedelia were Cassie's, and when she outgrew them I started keeping them. What can I say? I like hamsters.

I miss having a squeaky wheel keeping me up at night, and pine shavings strewn across the living room. So I brought home a cute, tame little blonde hamster we named Minnie.

Scout was great right from the start. He's so timid and gentle that I was able to hold Minnie in my hand and let him get right up close to sniff her.

Murphy, on the other hand, had evil intentions right from the start. Not only did he tower over the cage for hours on end, he knocked the whole cage over in my office. I thought maybe the open wire cage was too much of a temptation, so the next day I went and bought one of those funky Habitrail-like cages, with tubes and a pod. I figured it would be more fun for all of us anyway. Within a few hours, Murphy knocked it over; the tubes all came unsnapped and little Minnie spent a few dazed minutes wandering around my office.

All in all, Minnie's been a fun addition to the family. I'm easily amused, so I get a kick out of watching her race in her wheel and sleep hanging upside down in a tube, like a bat.

David asked me last night what would happen if you put wheels out where hamsters live in the wild. Would they just start running in them? How do hamsters know what the wheel is and that they're supposed to run in it? These are the things he and I talk about after 17 years of marriage.

I wish I could figure out a way to hook up the wheel to something that would generate electricity.

Today is Blog Action Day and the topic is Poverty

Today is Blog Action Day, where bloggers all around the world blog about the same topic. This year's topic? Poverty.

You can read my post at Beliefnet.com, Blog Action Day: Poverty, Compassion and Christian Music. You might also want to check out this blog post I wrote a while ago, called Grocery Fairyland.

Rainy days and Tuesdays

Beliefnet has been having some tech problems with the blogs after the new design changes. Apparently it has something to do with more people trying to access the blogs than the system can handle, so I've been unable to blog for a couple of days there.


That's OK, though. I did a review for MovieJungle.com for the movie "Save Me," and I've done a little bit of organizing and updating.

The past two days were absolutely gorgeous, but now it's kind of dark and rainy. I'm ready to go crawl on the couch and take a nap before David gets home. I'm tired of hearing about how the country is on the precipice of a depression, tired of the election blather, and I have a touch of vertigo again. So I'm checking out for the afternoon. Nap time!

Treeless, kinda

I was without power yesterday while Genesee Tree Service came and took down a big, old silver maple tree from our front year. According to neighbors who have lived here for years, the tree was planted in 1945 when the son who lived here went to war. That makes me even sadder that it came down.

But in the end, it was clear that the tree was rotten in the middle, and it was just a matter of time before it would have come down on its own - on the house and the neighbors' houses and cars.

Our yard feels naked now. I used to be able to move around and feel some semblance of privacy, but now when I walk outside, I'm there for the neighborhood to see. Not that it really did shield me, looking at the pictures. But it did feel that way.

The tree really was massive - they estimated 70' to 80'. The circumference was 192", diameter 61". You can see how big the stump really is, with David and Scout posing on it.

Here's a video of how they take down those big branches. They anchor the branches with a pulley to other big branches so that when they cut it it hangs, and then they lower it to the ground. It's like a carefully orchestrated, tree trimming acrobat show.

And the tree comes down

Today is the last day that I'll have two gorgeous maple trees in my front yard. Tomorrow morning, one of them has to come down. It's hollow inside, and is getting dangerous.

The tree trunk is 192" in circumference; or 16'. Sixteen feet! The pics below don't even do justice to it's height. The branches are so far about the power lines that RGE has to come and take down the lines. I'll be without power all day, and possibly internet service. You can see the tree below; our house is the blue one. From the back, the tree is on the right with the red leaves towards the top.

Anyway, this is the last time that I can give directions to people, saying, "We're the blue house with the two enormous trees in the front yard."