Many years ago, vendor held a user meeting in San Antonio, Texas.  I attended them about every other year.  Often they were held in Orlando but they moved it more central for the other US states that year.  They usually "did it up" with one night being Event Night.  In Texas, naturally, the event was Western Night. Everybody got a silly cowboy hat and bandana, they hired cowboys to do rope tricks, we ate western food, ya know the thing. 

One of the side show was a caricature artist.  We waited in line and he patiently went through the ritual questions: where ya from, got any hobbies, blah blah blah.  When it was my turn I sat down and bounced, "I wanna be a WENCH!!!  I want boobs out to HERE and a tiny waist!"  He livened up and started sketching.  The people watching started howling with laughter but he was being very coy and wouldn't let me see.  And here's the result:

  The sign (in reverse) said Sheryls Cat house and Saloon

  No Credit (on beer)

  Beer 25 cents, Poke 10 cents

It seemed really funny until afterwards, when people were passing their pics around to share a laugh. I was embarassed and tried to hide mine, but by then the word was out.   

That's also the trip where I tried to keep up drinking whisky with an Irishman.  But that's another story for another day. 

I miss Johnny Carson.  From my youth to his retirement, his show was such fun.  I hope the world's image of Americans would be more like Johnny's Tonight Show than say, Jerry Springer. 

There's a nice service planned for my grandmother in April. They're going to invite her friends to lunch and to share memories, then we'll go to the cemetery and inter her ashes.  I loves going into the WV mountains, this should be a beautiful and poignant experience.

People whining that the weatherman screwed up when he predicted 6" of snow and we got none?  Shush already!  It missed us! 

People struggling to make ends meet should check into a financial advisor - my pal's expenses dropped significantly per month as did his blood pressure.

Getting anything accomplished in this company takes 5 signatures and 14 prayers.  It's SUCH a mess.  What is this, the government?  ;)  I'm trying to get approval for a vendor to come give a sales pitch. That should be a piece of cake, right?  I'm two-levels deep into the approvals. Crikes.

A friend's true colors show when times get rough. Some shine, some hide. It's also a good reminder for me to make extra effort to not go in hiding when someone else might need me.

I'm so glad I moved to a city with multi-cultural foods.  My new favorite is Meditteranean.  Mmmmakes my mouth water thinking about it.  drool.

Hi world. Hope you have a good day.

Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com

I fell asleep before 10 p.m. again.  Ya know what?  I could get used to this 6-7 hours of solid sleep thing.  I almost feel human today.  I made it to work on time!  I even put on makeup!  

I finally acknowledged that my panty-size has gone up and put away the panties that are two small.  So now instead of feeling lousy all day because (1) my panties are too tight and (2) that means I'm fatter (L-L-L-LOSER!!), now I feel comfy and am skipping around the place. 

Funny what a little comfort will do for your spirits.

I see the Phantom of the Hot Blogs has been up to his/her tricks again.  I'll say from the get-go that I think it's kinda funny.  It's a public service, in a way, to highlight blogs that might not otherwise get a lot of traffic.  But anyone who thinks it means anything is goofy.  :)

The rank/position on the list seems to be determined by the number of comments made on your blog so it's really easy for someone (bot?) to mess around with it.  You may notice that every now and then that brand new blogs suddenly pop up in the top 10.  If you take a look, you'll see one or two of their posts suddenly have 200-300 blank or nonsense comments from "newbie" or some other outside user. 

Some bloggers have gone so far as to accuse the blog owners of such trickery and I say "Nay!".  It happened to me a while back along with 3-4 others.. now we've fallen off and others have been boosted up.  Just enjoy the view! :)

First, my droolfest.  The dashing Gerard Butler was on the Tonight Show last night and he was adorable.  I love those bright green-blue eyes and hell yeah, the Scottish accent doesn't hurt.  LOL! :lol:

Second and MUCH more important for the universe - my daughter ROCKS.  This morning was her first trip to the dentist. I'd gotten a referral for a pediatric dentist from a friend at work and they were right on the money. They were wonderful.  They sent Katie a package full of the gadgets they use at the office - a little mirror, one of their tooth polishing widgets, a glove and a mask.  I was the dentist first to explain to her what happens.  Then Doug and I let her be dentist.  She would say things like "tsk tsk, this looks bad.  You have a cabbity."   Did I mention she was stark naked at the time?  If she hadn't been, I would post a pic but there are laws, you know.  Damn, she's funny.

She didn't seem very nervous going in or while we were there.  In fact afterward, she didn't want to leave!  She liked the toys they had and the ladies were incredibly gentle and kind. They explained every step to her and let her try things out with her hand along the way.  She was very still and followed instructions 100 times better than she does at home :) 

They found 2 cavities so we'll go back next week for the fillings.  That visit may not go quite so well. They said they'd give her a little "laughing gas" to relax her and it shouldn't take more than 20-30 minutes.  I hope my little trooper keeps a troopin.  She seriously impressed me this morning. 

Afterwards, she started wilting - big ole tears and nothing was quite right.  I think she was decompressing after holding it together.  We got to daycare and she didn't want me to leave.  It was story time so I sat on the floor with her for a few minutes and then she gave me a kiss and said "bye Mommy" so we took our cue and left.  But by then *I* didn't want to go, my baby looked so sad :( 

Yessiree, my girl has some spirit and strength behind those big blue eyes.  Yes!!!

Here's a couple more pics from photo day with my folks. My Dad HATES having his picture made, especially when they start with the "ok, tilt your head a little more this way, now lean that way, now smile, no tilt a little more, back some... " It makes him NUTS.  Look, he's nearly smiling :) 

My daughter has a dark spot on one of her molars.  She's 3 1/2 and hasn't been to a dentist yet and freaks at the idea.  Why, I dunno, neither her Dad nor I have ever made a big deal about it.  They've even had a dentist visit their school and talk about what they do, passing out toothbrushes etc.

Any advice how to soothe her concerns for her first visit? And do they fill baby teeth, if this turns out to be a cavity? 

Thanks in advance...

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