Monday, July 09, 2007

New Toys!

I went to Stephen's house today for his son's 4th birthday party. It was fun. not quite what I expected, but truthfully I don't know what I was expecting. :) His parties (and I know he's reading this. ;) ) always have such an interesting mix of people. It kind of fascinates me honestly. It was fun and it appeared his son liked the book I got him. What book you might wonder... Be Nice to Spiders. The one I'm always talking about. :) I also got him Wedgehead the Ugly Doll.

Although that's not the new toys I'm talking about. On the way home from Kenmore, I stopped at the pet store and bought the girls some new treats. I also bought Tess some new toys. She loves these little balls of fur that I can get in the kitty toy section. She's been so cute all evening with her new ball and takes it and hides it and then she pulls it out and runs and hides it in a new spot. And then she picks it up from there and hides it in a new spot. It is cracking me up.

I threw out my back again. I'm really sick of my back. I'm sure it is because I've got so much going on and I'm stressed and it is one of those things that happens. Sigh. I bought a heating pad and a back brace today to help me. I just about toasted myself though since I had my laptop on my lap and the heating pad against my back. Although I think that might be the key to being cool... Heat oneself up a lot and then step away from the heat. :D

5 comments:

Stephen said...

Thank you for the wonderful compliment! My goal is to have a diverse brew of friends [both Benni and me] to broaden our experiences and our personality dynamics.

I've always prided myself on being able to interact with different people. I don't know how my own personality feels to others, but I like to think I can be accommodating.

Extra special thanks for picking up the crafty stuff. And you totally read my mind on both gifts. I'd been telling a few people I was looking for UglyDolls for him for his b-day for a few weeks, but didn't get around to it. And you know I love spiders and prefer them to the nasties that eat my plants.

Hope you enjoyed the pasta :) Sorry I couldn't visit more.

Stephen said...

ps ~ have you looked at that Vicks Vapo Rub? Or Icy-Hot?

Do you like herbal remedies or only thermal oreos?

Joanne said...

There's a store on Madison next to the hospital and the 1101 Clinics that carry the Ugly Dolls. They only had a few to choose from but they were really cute. I chose Wedgehead because his tag had something about giving hugs. :)

Have we never had the discussion about herbal remedies? I don't believe in them. Modern Medicine hasn't come this far for me to go and suck on tree bark or anything like that. :) I'm taking 3 Aleve to curb the pain (which seems to be working nicely actually) and just doing the other two things to help out. I have icy-hot too. I feel like it doesn't last long enough.

Stephen said...

I'm not opposed to pharmaceuticals, but you have to consider this...

The Chinese and Indian cultures have been using herbal medicine for thousands of years, while western civilizations have essentially been living in the stone ages until the last couple hundred years.

And as with everything else western cultures do, we replace experience and patient natural solutions with rapid, quick-fix, bandaids.

You do realize that most of the pharmaceutical industry is driven by profit and shareholder value don't you? That's not to say doctors are evil, but I wouldn't trust a purple pill ad anymore than I would trust an escort service in the back of the Stranger.

Joanne said...

Here's the thing... When I'm in pain. I want rapid quick fix band aids. I have a hearty pain tolerance, but honestly when my back is so siezed I can't stand, I could care less about patient solutions and I want relief.

There are plenty of medicinal things I can be patient about. I've been patient about my tendon. If I were actively trying to lose weight, for example, I certainly wouldn't expect a miracle pill to help me do it quickly. I can be patient. I just don't choose to be with pain.

I also realize many of our pharmaceutical answers have some basis in the old ways. I know asprin is from the willow tree blah blah blah.

Of course I realize that the pharmaceutical industry is driven by profit. I'm counting on that. People will buy what works. Slick marketing campaigns can only take you so far. If your products really don't work, you don't get repeat business. They stop producing what doesn't sell well. (Which is sad for me because I LOVE Aleve cold & sinus, but can never find it.) I tend to not buy what's new and awesome, instead sticking with tried and true things that work for me. Although I will say I first bought Aleve when nobody knew what it was. :)