On October 6, 2010, I found out that my mom had finally received a diagnosis on why she had been so tired and achy. My mom has been tired for years, but the real bad aching just started this year. I thought most of this was because of the long hours she spends on her feet as at work as a cake decorator.  I often goofed on my mom for spending the other hours of her time not working on WebMD. I told her that all those symptoms could fit anything from allergies to lyme disease! I said, of course, if you look hard enough you will find some disease that will fit your symptoms. Oh how I would like to kick myself now. My mom was officially diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis.

Did you know that October 12th is World Arthritis Day?

World Arthritis Day was first celebrated in 1996 by Arthritis Rheumatism International giving a voice to those suffering with arthritis around the world.  The goals of World Arthritis Day are:

• To raise awareness of arthritis in all its forms among the medical community, people with arthritis and the general public
• To influence public policy by making decision-makers aware of the burden of arthritis and the steps which can be taken to ease it
• To ensure all people with arthritis and their caregivers are aware of the vast support network available to them.

Join @ResourcefulMom and the experts at @Arthritis_Org for the #ArthritisDay Twitter Party

When: Tuesday, October 12^th from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. ET/11:00am to 12:00 PST

Where: #ArthritisDay on Twitter

How: Follow host @ResourcefulMom and the experts at @Arthritis_Org to have your questions answered and learn important information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of arthritis and related conditions.

Just wanted to thank you all again for reading and commenting on my post to win a smile makeover from Invisalign. You guys are great to me! I thought I would let you know the results. I didn’t win, but I am happy to announce that my friend Lolli at Better in Bulk won it for her teenage daughter!!! Please stop on by her blog and congratulate her (if you’ve got the time.) Or you can leave a comment for her here and I’ll let her know to check it out.

I hate my smile. Not that I don’t have a great smile, I think I do. The fact is every picture when I smile where my teeth are visible, the only thing I can see is the imperfection in my teeth.

It all started when my canine teeth grew back in. I don’t remember how old I was. My canines started to come in and it is almost as if they got stuck coming down because there wasn’t enough space.  I have had three different orthodontic consultations. The first one when I was 16. The orthodontist told me that the only way that we could fix my teeth was to break my jaw and reset it. Then I could get braces. Talk about terrifying a teenager! I am glad I didn’t go through with that option because one of my friends in high school went through with a procedure like that and she said that her jaw has never been right since (and she has recommended that I not have it done). My second orthodontist appointment. Same thing. Break and reset jaw, then apply braces. Oh and while he was at it he could fix the symmetry in my face because it just isn’t perfect and little bit off. Huh?! As if I didn’t have it rough enough, he points out that my nose doesn’t align correctly with my face. Last orthodontist appointment was the most frustrating – believe it or not. Two options – 1) break and reset jaw, then apply braces and 2) break and expand my palate, then remove bottom front tooth to move teeth around. Now you can see my frustrations. Hundreds of dollars in consultations and nothing but confusion left. All I know is that my teeth are overcrowded, my palate is narrow, and I’ve got TMJ.

I would love to win a smile makeover from Invisalign. You see once we had our son, I considered my braces long gone. I quit my job to stay home with our son because I felt that staying home with him was more important for our family than going back to work. Money is tight, but we make it work. The full cost of braces for me would be an expense we just can’t afford right now. Not to mention, I would feel guilty paying for braces when it isn’t need, but a want for me. This would be great to win, even if it is just a partial cost for me, it would actually force me to go through with my braces before our son is grown which was what I figured would happen.

I love the idea of Invisalign because of the fact that I would feel even more self conscious wearing metal braces at my age. I am almost 30! I also remember the annoyances one of my dearest friends had in high school with her metal braces. She made it looks so painful wearing them. I like that I would be able to floss and brush normally with Invisalign. This same friend had to get her teeth whitened when she got her braces removed because of the markings left behind with her braces. I would love to get Invisalign to help straighten my teeth without having to make a huge adjustment with my lifestyle. Invisalign would allow me to straighten my teeth without screaming it to the world. And I would still be allowed the dignity of looking like an adult while straightening my teeth.

A friend of mine, Lolli, at Better in Bulk is trying to win this for her teenage daughter. If you get the chance please stop by her post because if I don’t win, I would love for her to win this for her daughter.

Disclosure: Invisalign is one of the sponsors for Blogalicious. By writing this post, I am entered to win a $5000 Invisalign Treatment. If you or someone you know wants to enter this contest, it ends tonight, October 9, at midnight.

Recently I’ve been watching the Twitter stream watching tweets from others saying they got to try out the new Twitter. I’ve been a little envious of those that got to try it out before me. Yesterday, I was notified that I was able to preview the new Twitter. You bet I jumped on that opportunity! It has taken me a few hours to get used to the new look. And I’ve thought a few times that I should just go back to the old Twitter, but if I did that I would never force myself to learn the new features. It was a bit overwhelming at first. I had to change the color for my links because I couldn’t see them anymore, but according to someone else that I talk with she said she had the same problem. Besides changing my Twitter design colors which I ended up doing because once I changed my link colors I decided the rest had to change (become I am obsessive like that), I am liking the new Twitter. You can read what people think about the new Twitter by following the search on Twitter called #NewTwitter.

Have you tried new Twitter yet? What do you think about the new Twitter?

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Allrecipes. Just ask my hubby. I can’t count how many meals I have found on Allrecipes.com that I have made my hubby test out with me. My favorite thing about Allrecipes is that you can find ratings/reviews by other members on the recipes, so I know which recipes to try and which ones to skip.

Allrecipes has easy party tricks and recipes for Halloween – check out their Halloween Headquarters.

Here is one that I can’t wait to try!

Chocolate Mice Recipes by Rosina

If you are looking for something more spooky or creepy, these might be more to your liking

I’m back! We had a mini Vegas vacation this weekend!

The long and boring road to Vegas…

On our way to the Shark Reef Aquarium in Mandalay Bay

This weekend was full of excitement! My cousin got married. No, this was not one of those Vegas dares. This wedding was planned in advance. I got to experience Vegas for a second time. And the extra bonus for me is that I got to spend that time with family in Vegas!

I will admit that Vegas is very different when you have a child. You see the last time I was in Vegas, the hubby and I took a road trip on our honeymoon (5 years ago) from our hotel in Palm Springs. We didn’t have to worry about walking with a toddler or making sure our toddler got a nap. I wouldn’t change it for the world! Little Monkey loved the bright lights and all the movement. He enjoyed being surrounded by all his family and seeing all the sights. Our last night there the hubby, Little Monkey, and I enjoyed a family Gondola ride outside The Venetian hotel. It was wonderful. Although it was kinda weird to have strangers on the strip stop and take pictures of your family while on the ride. I am pretty sure we are going to end up on a stock photo somewhere.

We didn’t get to do everything I wanted to do, but spending time with my aunts and uncles was way more fun since I hadn’t seen them in a while. No worries we plan on going back to Vegas in the near future!

I would’ve kept you guys updated, but our hotel was pay by the day Wifi. Today I will be spending a good portion catching up on everything I’ve missed since we left for Vegas on Thursday.

Yep. Today is my birthday. I want to cry, but not because I turned 29. I am not really sure why I want to cry. Maybe it is because my house is still in boxes almost a month later. Maybe it is because I don’t feel quite comfortable in my new environment. Maybe because we are unbelievably broke living on the West Coast as opposed to our comfortable East Coast life. Maybe it is because my kitty needs to go to vet today (because of his hacking that is getting worse even with all the home remedies) and haggling with a vet isn’t really how I wanted to spend my birthday. There seems to be no one reason why I am blue. I’m so blue-hoo-hoo, blue-hoo-hoo, blue-hoo. I’m so blue I don’t know what to do. (Sorry, too much VeggieTales with Little Monkey.) I guess I need to take a cue from Madame Blueberry and learn that a thankful heart is a happy heart.

Image from: Big Idea

Not my hubby or myself, but the police officers that were standing out front of our door Sunday morning. Oh how I wish I could make this stuff up, but I can’t!

Sunday morning was like any other Sunday morning. We were sleeping in and skipping finding a new church. Maybe this was a sign God wanted us to go back to his house?! In the midst of my terrifying nightmares which have started ever since we moved into our apartment, I was woken up by the sound of a far away doorbell. I thought the doorbell had to be part of my nightmare. We haven’t been here but a few weeks so no one here really knows us. The doorbell rang for a second time. Then was immediately followed up by persistent knocking. I thought what is the deal?! Little Monkey was still sleeping and I was in my pajamas. So I woke up the hubby telling him someone was at our front door. That is when I heard only bits and pieces of a conversation because I was still in a bit of a fog from being woken up so rudely. I heard “need to come in” and “search premises”. I didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the police were at our front door and about to make their way in. The hubby rushed back to tell me the police were here and they needed to search our apartment. Lovely. It was 8am, I still had bed head, and Little Monkey was still asleep. I gathered up Little Monkey in my lap while my hubby answered questions in our living room. A police officer searched our room where I had a groggy Little Monkey on my lap. I answered some questions while the officer searched our bedroom. Little Monkey seemed to stare at the officer in disbelief or maybe just a sleep fog. After the officer was satisfied we weren’t hiding anyone in our room, he offered up a JR police sticker to Little Monkey. Little Monkey was unsure at first, but he can’t resist stickers! After the officer handed Little Monkey the sticker he left our bedroom and all three officers made their way out of our apartment.

Just wanted to say many thanks to the previous tenant who had the warrant and left before the police could get him. I hope they find him and wake him up real early on a Sunday morning.

And thank you local police for doing your job and the warm welcome to California. (They promised that they really don’t receive a lot of calls about our complex.)

Flickr photo by:  Michael Risenhoover