So, my youngest has a dentist appointment on Wednesday. I have to admit that I am more scared of going then she happens to be currently. If anything, she's a little bit nervous but nothing to major. I am seriously hoping that I like this dentist so that I can book an appointment with the same dentist. As it turns out I ended up finding a dentist that handles young kids and adults. In short, I hit the jackpot so while the dentist looks at my youngest I can ask the dentist questions.

Now, I've never had a bad experience at the dentist per say but I just don't like the sensations that come with going to the dentists. The sore mouth afterwards, the swelling that can sometimes happen, that and I get very worried when I can't see what the person is doing to me. The only person I've seen have a bad experience at the dentist was my husbands older brother. He seemed to run into issues with dentists all the time and that just kinda scared me a lot from going. I mean, at one point I wanted to get my tongue pierced but I couldn't do it. Mostly because of the metal being in the mouth, the healing and just knowing the fact that the human mouth is gross. I know how many germs are in there and they just don't go away..Yeah, the human mouth is gross.

Anyways, I'm really hoping I like this dentist so I can finally get the deep cleaning I know I'm well over do for..I also hope the little one likes the dentist and doesn't just have the same experience I have with them..The one dentist I went to in Michigan always called me a 'worry wart' which yeah...I am...but seriously, a ton of people fear the dentist and now dentists kinda know that people hate them and fear them. For a reward for getting this done I'm going to go in and get a touch up on my tattoo and possibly get my ankle tattoo as well..I know it seems silly reward myself with more pain but hey, it works for me. I just hope that Wednesday goes over smoothly and the little one like going to the dentist so that its not a fight every time we have to take her in for a check up. Here goes nothing...I guess..

 Okay, so last night I rented "Mean Girls". Yeah, I know I just had an urge to watch it and didn't want to bother anyone else with my movie choice so I put it on once everyone else had fallen asleep. Mind you, this is one of the most recent movies that showcase the women pecking order. I went searching for other movies and I found a laundry list of not just movies but also books on how to survive the female pecking order and how to help your teen survive the female 'girl world'. I found these interesting since I know I've had my fair share of "Mean Girls" over the years and I know my oldest has mentioned lately having to deal with girls who are just plain and out right mean.

 So, as of this Friday we are going to see 115 degree weather in Arizona. That means one thing: The monsoon is coming and very, very soon. Let me get one thing straight here- our heat is nothing to kid around with especially before a monsoon. The kids do not play outside here until after sunset. Nobody and I mean nobody allows their kids to play outside until after the sun has started to set especially now since hey, its going to be 115 now this coming weekend. The whole 'its a dry heat' does not apply to just before a storm...our storms need dew point to form so its kinda like walking into a oven when you step outside nowadays. If you want to do anything outside..you better do it early in the morning or late at night otherwise...you aren't the smartest crayon in the box.

  Now, I love monsoon's and ha boob's- they used to scare me but that was many, many years ago when we first moved here and I had never experienced a storm. We've experienced a few storms over the years that were pretty brutal. One in 2012 left us without power for about five hours which is pretty much unheard of in Arizona but it happened, another we went through we lost power and it took down about a 30 year old tree on a golf course. Certain monsoon's have also been known to rip roofs off of buildings and even cause flooding...There was one storm in 2010 that we actually saw hail and we have what we loving call 'bullet holes' in our house..of course, they came from hail but the holes look like bullet holes so we call them as such...bullet holes.

Our weather this time of year is not for the faint of heart or for the faint of health- that is why we have whats called 'snow birds' here- aka retired community who live elsewhere during the summer's but once winter hits they come here because in the winter its basically like everyone's Spring. As much as the summers suck I know that everyone has horrible winters and this is our trade off- there is no hurricanes and it is very rare that anyone ever see's a tornado..Typically, tornado's only happen outside of the valley and I live inside of the valley. Our weather has its trade offs and hey, it sucks this time of year but I'll take it since I hate snow and cold.

In case you were wondering what a monsoon looks like I've give you a picture- it looks pretty scary and over the years well, I have a ton of pictures and they vary in what they look like..sometimes its completely brown from the get go- sometimes you see a wall coming at you, sometimes its black clouds but eventually the world turns brown..I just hope we get a good storm and a good show very soon because I do get joy out of watching a storm roll in.

      Oh wait, were you looking for something here...??.

 Okay, so the hubby and I have been trying to catch up on the movies that we wanted to see in the theather and are now coming out onto DvD and yet again, the typical trend is still happening. I will now ask..Whatever happened to movies under two hours long? It seems like nowadays everyone wants the epic movie of the season...I blame James Cameron for all of this since he's the one that pretty much started this trend. Mind you, a lot of the movies we've watched recently that were long were good but still..I miss the days of being able to sit down and watch a movie and still have it be kinda the same time of day as when you started the movie.

A couple of summers ago I took my oldest to see "Harry Potter". We left in the morning and with travel time, previews, grocery shopping after the movie and travel time back home by the time we got home it was pretty much dinner time. The entire day was spent at the movies pretty much.

It seems like every movie thats based off of a book now just wants to try and throw in every single detail as they can from the book to make the movie last longer..I also remember back in the day when they didn't do that and they would sometimes leave out chapter upon chapter of storyline in order to keep the movie at a decent length..Seriously, nowadays you have to go to a movie and prepare for sitting down for nearly three hours with a ton of food and drinks that will last you for the nearly three hour movie..Oh and you have to hope that you don't have to pee in the middle of the movie either..I remember when I saw "The two towers" in the theather..that movie was long and by the end I really, REALLY had to pee. I went running straight to the bathroom the second the credits rolled because I didn't wanna get up in the middle of the movie and possibly miss something.

Seriously, movie producers- STOP making long movies just because so you can be part of the 'cool crowd'. I don't wanna waste an entire portion of my day watching a movie!! Oh, and also stop rebooting everything..come up with some orginal ideas and leave my childhood movies alone..

  So, my oldest is coming into town this weekend and long story, she has an issue with reading. As in she doesn't wanna do it. I've sent her books in the past and even given her a deal that if she reads a certain amount of books in a year and gave me a paragraph about the book that I would personally get her an IPad..but nope, no effort there. She's even telling her Daddy that she won't even read for own Mom let alone her Stepmom...so yeah, I have numerous books sitting here waiting for her..She may not like me much by the end of vaca because there is going to be a half an hour of reading a time a day..either before bed or sometime in the afternoon.

I remember myself going through a phase of not wanting to read and my Mom snapped me out of it and once I learned to love it...well, that was it. I even finished my Senior year book project about a month before everyone else in class and while everyone else was reading their books in class I was doing my Math or History homework. I actually got into trouble once because I was caught with a math book during reading time in English- I handed over my journal and once my teacher found out I was done and not lying about the fact I was done..well then, she didn't care anymore..

If there's one thing I hope to get through to this child over the summer is that reading can be fun and it can be an escape. The IPad is a wonderful tool for reading especially hence why I will buy her one once she completes her project of a certain number of books. Seeing as how her Dad is a writter it just doesn't add up that she doesn't like to read or write...Its maddening to me to say the least. Each one of the girls will have their own little set of goals for six weeks and I can tell you now that her biggest thing to overcome right now is this reading/writing thing..If its not nipped now she'll end up having a ton more issues in High school which I know is coming. I still see her as a little girl and now she's pretty much a teenager..oh, how kids grow up and quickly at that.

For a certain point in time in High school I was borrowing my Mom's sci-fi books. It started out with "Jurrassic park" and grew from there and even on certain days I'd come home and find a new book on my bed and that was always exciting for me because it was something new to read. I really hope that one day my oldest can get that type of joy outta books..but, well..she's not here until this weekend so we'll see if I can get through to her.

  Okay, so we all know parenting is hard and sometimes you have to make your best judgement but my question here today is..What gives any parent or even an adult for that matter to question your parenting choices? This is nothing new and I think every parent goes through this- I know my Mom wrestled with this a lot especially with other Mother's. Sure, everyone will LOVE to give you input and how to handle your own child but at the end of the day it is your child. I may hand out advice to a parent whose looking for it(if its not asked for its rude by the way) but I also make sure I tell them to use their best judgement and their own instincts when dealing with the situation. Thats really what it comes down to at the end of the day anyways..How the parents make the judgements and not you. Mind you, its also especially rude and outta line when a non-parent tells you how to run your household. I think its cute when single/unmarried women even men play the 'if I was a parent card'..Seriously, this is sarcasm here...but you are talking about an pretend child and playing the what 'if' game. Once upon a time, I had a nice glossy view of parenthood back when we would only get our oldest for a few weekends here and there and I didn't have our youngest. Yeah, that was pretty easy compared to actually giving birth to the kid. Parenting gets messy and it does involved a lot of poop(literally and not so literally) that you kinda don't figure out is there until you have your child..

 Anyways, we as parents need to well, do our job as we see fit. I think in general we as Mother's as programmed to feel guilt over certain things even if we shouldn't feel guilty about them. Its hard enough to deal with those things without another Mother or even non-Mother coming down on you for everything little thing. Notice: I am saying Mothers a lot here because in my experience its only the women who cross that line into getting the middle finger because they want to just butt in or look down on you because you don't do things they way they do..Dad's on the other hand really don't do that. I've never met a Father who acted like certain women do. As a Mother you have your own standards and your own rules to live by..Now, I've gotten slack for not volunteering at my daugthers school and you know what? I'm taking the steps my Mom took which was she never took part in the school stuff because she didn't want to deal with other Mother's who would judge and point a finger at her and because well, what kid wants their child at school with them? I like to give her that space at school to explore without me..She needs it and I can't always be around to protect her but she does know she can talk to me about stuff that goes on at school.

 Parents do know their own children and know how to make the choices that are best for them..Sometimes, I think women just need to close their mouths more when it comes down to things and a lot of times when women open up their mouths its partly out of jealousy or partly out of lack of understanding of a certain situation. The whole point of parenting is to kind of adopt your own way..Sure, you'll make mistakes but thats part of the process...Urgh, and I really love those who don't show their mistakes..As I said in another blog...We all have poop somewhere and I'm sure it stinks. If you don't point out mine than I won't point out yours. No one is perfect and everyone will mess up..deal..thats just how life is. Also, never assume..that gets on my nerves as well..even if you think you know everything about something I highly bet you don't. If anything Mother to Mother and women to women sometimes end up acting like children to each other and bullies to each other..So what? We all do things differently..thats the point of parenting. If you don't like it..that doesn't mean you have to say it and myself as a Mother..Well, I live up to MY standards as a Mother not YOUR standards as a Mother. In short, women be nicer to each other be nicer to Mother to Mother. We all know this job is hard at times and does suck at times so pratice the compassion that you try to teach your kids.

 Yes, yesterday my youngest had her last day of school and so begins summer vacation! Now typically, everyone else in the USA is going outside and playing and taking their kids to the zoo's and whatnot while here..Its basically our winter. It gets too hot to let the kiddos play outside so you have to keep them occupied inside at least until sundown then they can at least go play at the park or do whatever they want outside. Of course, our monsoon season also starts in June and those storms typically hit mid-afternoon to evening so even on certain days your stuck inside all day while you watch a huge storm rolling in. We are at least kind of prepared this year. We're going to have both girls this summer and they both need a little help here and there for school in certain area's so I'm going to set them both up with goals for over the summer. I haven't done that yet but this is only day one of summer break. Come Monday though I'm gonna make a little chart thing for our oldest. The youngest already has her goal chart for the potty so we're a little head of the game there.

 Oh and of course, today for my 'welcome to summer vacation' from my youngest she ended up having a pee accident on the couch. Mind you, she's been basically potty trained for a few months now but nope, just today on the first day of summer vacation she ends up not telling anyone she has to go potty and just wets herself..Happy Summer Vacation!

The only bonus to our summer vacations in our area is that its year round school which is only about two months off which I can deal with..As I said earlier with our state and its weather becomes pretty hard to keep the kiddos occupied inside after a while so its nice that its a shorter break. Typically by the time I start hearing 'I'm bored' I'm already shipping her back onto the school bus for the first day back at school. I am at least hoping to get some chance to sleep in over these two months and seal the deal on the potty issues with the youngest once and for all aka get her outta the diaper even at night..*Crosses fingers*. Here's to keep my sanity for two months with two kiddos nit picking at each other..Cheers!

So, my oldest(step daughter) is going to be 13 this Septemeber. That alone is hard to believe since I've known her since she was a tiny baby. I also have a niece who is also pushing 13 and it got me to thinking that being a woman should come to with a warning label..The second you hit teenager it all changes..drastically and you are looked at as a woman for your choices..even the tiniest choice is a big deal and you start to see the world for what it is and how..well, there's double standards out there for boys vs girls. Its just in there and part of society and it never goes away.

You get judged if you do and you get judged if you don't- if you decide to go one path you get called names and if you decide to go another path someone else will have a problem with it..Of course, if your a teen and on birth control as a woman people assume you are having sex and pretty much look over the other reasons that girls take birth control..Either which way you can't win with EVERYONE at the end of the day. I wish I could make society not judge women under such a harsh microscope so that my girls won't feel that pressure but it won't happen..not in my time at least. Everything from weight to job, to kids, to how you dress, cooking or lack of cooking, being crafty or not being crafty...we as women are put under a microscope. No one can live up to everything or even keep everyone happy- I hope all the teen girls in my life understand this..You aren't a failure if you don't get married by a certain age either..you aren't a failure if you never get married and never have kids either.. I know from my experience I was the last girl in my family to marry and I married later than both my sisters did BUT I made my choice wisely.

As women we shouldn't be worried about what others think..only what we think and how we see ourselves..You can't keep everyone happy ALL the time. To the young girls in my life, you have a tough road ahead of you and even a society that will judge you for every choice you make. I encourage you to pick your own path and don't feel guilty for picking your path..Its your path and not theirs at the end of the day. The double standards will always be there but don't listen to them. It doesn't matter at the end of the day and don't feel like you have to conform...ever.

Now, I've been saying for a while now that Facebook is slowly turning into Myspace. I know a few of my friends have made similar comments just because of the layout and a few other things..but seriously, its kind of sad to watch Facebook just slide down a form of myspace.

When I joined Facebook many moons ago..I did so because my sisters talked me into it. Of course, at the time not many people used it so it was way more personable and I only had real life friends/family on my list. There also were no kids allowed so again..pretty easy to handle your account and what you said..

Slowly but surely especially as myspace began to die more and more people migrated from myspace to the wonderful Facebook and then they dropped the age limit and more issues came about and it seemed like everyday in the news you'd hear about a teen or even a 20 something doing or posting something dumb and getting into trouble for it..duh! If your doing something illegal or you aren't old enough to be doing..don't post it about it, kid!

I'd say within the last year people just forget they aren't on myspace and this is Facebook. I've had more random people requests than I have had in like ever and between myself and my husband we've had a ton of issues with people being outta line and disrespectful to the point of unfriending or even in rare cases a blocking. It seems a bit rash but with all these groups spawning and people who have given up on myspace it's pretty obvious that the sewer system from myspace is leaking into facebook. Now, there are a few people out there that just shouldn't be on social media for one reason or another but thats a different story and a different can of worms.

This isn't myspace- and sometimes speaking your mind or going off of a few known facts on someone status message isn't a good idea..Again, this isn't myspace..people do have real life contacts on their profile. I can understand certain behavor in groups but not certain behavor on someone else's profile which is well why now I am starting to become a bit more picky about whose on my friends list and who isn't on my friends list. I figured it was a pretty much unstated rule that you behave on others status messages but apperently not..especially after the comments my husband got a photo about our oldest. Respect = friendship and if someone starts to feel attacked or that you are jumping to conclusions with only seeing a small piece of bread thats there..well, yeah..someone will start feeling hurt. I've seen this a lot in many groups and on myspace but again this isn't myspace.

In short, if you are confused..facebook is not myspace use your common sense before you type..thank you, and that is your public service announcement for today