Life Factor

Molluscum Contagiosum Treatment – What the Whaaat?

by Jodie

(It is important to know that I am not a medical doctor. I am only a mother of a boy that suffered from these. Please do not take this as medical advice, only something I came across that worked to cure my son.)

So I will assume that most of you have never heard of that mouthful of a name. I hadn’t either until June of 2011. That’s when my youngest son started developing these flesh coloured little bumps on his neck. It looks similar to the two images on this page. The best description I can think of are skin coloured moles that protrude from the skin. That doesn’t sound particularly unpleasant. However, these things multiply like rabbits. One isn’t just one, it is many more in the making. Simply put, these bumps spread through touch. Once you have the virus, you have to kill them and not touch them while you are treating them in order to make the little pests disappear.

Please know that you can catch MC anywhere. Children are particularly susceptible because they touch a lot of things and then themselves. Also, they share clothes, painting aprons, etc.

My son caught his from his day care providers children. To be clear, I did know that her son had something on his body, but I was never told they were contagious. It could be quite a long story, but the short sto

ry is that she didn’t realize they were contagious, even though we share the same doctor, etc. She felt awful about it since her children’s disappeared quite quickly.

Suggested Cures

Our family doctor told us to let the virus run its course. No need to interfere as the Molloscum Contagiosum would disappear without treatment in two years. That made us believe it wasn’t a big deal and that they wouldn’t do much but show up as a couple bumps. WRONG! So – so very wrong. They spread and spread and spread. At this point I was getting nervous. My son had started preschool and I thought if this is happening to him, could other kids catch it?? I then started googling and I was shocked to find out how contagious they actually were and how many people suffered with large amounts of them all over their bodies for years. :(

What Impact Contracting Them Caused Our Family

My son was kicked out of preschool. They couldn’t risk other children catching it and they thought it would cause some emotional damage if they didn’t let him use certain centres and interact like the other kids did. I fully agreed. It was heart breaking for me to have to take him out. They assured me that if it disappeared, he would be welcome back.

He stayed at home with me for about a month. We did tons of things, bowling, bike rides, dog walks, children’s story time at the library, etc… but the little dude needed more from me. I contacted my older son’s school and they said they would be happy to have him. Because of the different type of interaction at the kindergarten age, he would be allowed to attend. Phew! (He has a December birthday so we had decided to wait a year, but that went out the window.)

How I Discovered A Cure

I visited my doctor again because my day care provider had told me that she would write me a note to say they weren’t contagious. When I got to the doctor, she told me that she could not write such a letter because they were in fact very contagious. (NO KIDDING!) We then told me I could try the off the shelf product for curing regular warts. She still didn’t want to use the liquid nitrogen on him (even though that was the method my day care provider had done on her son… from the same office!!) she said she didn’t want him to scar. At this point, he likely had 30 spreading all over his body. Neck, torso, legs, etc.

I was stunned. Do nothing??? Then they started up his neck and on to his face… That is when I started freaking.

I googled and googled and googled to figure out a Molloscum Contagiosum Treatment.

I found and tried:

Tea Tree Oil
Duct tape
Liquid band aids
Oil of Oregano
Acne medication
Picking them off
Hankerchiefs to hide his neck
Bandaids to keep him from touching them
I even ordered a special product to cure them online before I found this miracle cure! The package is at our house but unopened… not sure what to do with it other than bin it.

Nothing worked. It made it worse it seemed. :(

Then I asked a group of parents I have had contact with online in regards to my other son’s speech issues. Within an hour they had pointed me to what they had tried…. Get this…. Apple Cider Vinegar. Yup. That’s it.

About Molloscum Contagiosum Treatment

It sounds bananas. I know. But it works. The parents in the group shared a link to a website called Frugality is Free. The blog post is called Frugal Living: Molluscum Contagiosum Apple Cider Vinegar Treatment.

In that post, a lady shares her own son’s struggle with MC. She told her story and how she cured them. It boils down to this.

Buy copious amounts of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV), a bag of cotton balls and a box of bandaids that are sticky, but not too sticky (we bought larger rectangular bandaids and cut them down as it begins to irritate the skin when bandaged the 7th time in seven days).

Option 1 – Pour 5 – 7 cups of ACV into a bathtub, add water and submerge your body for 30 minutes. Continue doing this daily.

Options 2 – Put cotton ball into ACV, use bandaid to put cotton ball on skin and hold there.

We did both options with my son. Both worked well. I do believe that the bandage route is likely more effective, but it just irritates the skin so much that you will have to eventually give your skin a break or risk getting an infection from raw skin.

It is also important during the treatment process that you change your clothes each day/night and never reuse a towel. The virus can stay on these items and you don’t want that. In fact, if you have them on your face or neck, you will want to change your pillow case daily too.

The bumps will become larger, likely redder and then develop a white looking pit, similar to a pimple. I have heard of some people removing the white stem and some people simply leave it. Our son said it hurt when we tried to remove them, so we only tried when they were almost falling out, directly after a bath. My husband would use a piece of toilet paper and quickly wipe at it. If it didn’t just fall out, it was left there.

Some people say their MC turned black after it was white. Our sons never really did. The white part would shrivel up and a scab would form over the MC. That’s it.

Because of the scabbing, there are going to be some marks on the body. This could turn to scarring so use Vitamin E to help with that. Also, some people used polysporin (or something similar) to help with the scabbing or if the bumps were irritated from the ACV or bandages.

Some people said they cured in two weeks. Others it takes longer. I think the difference is how many you had to start with. As well, people with a lower immune system will have to use the treatment for longer as their body is not as healthy and not as able to attack the MC like a healthy body.

Are They Cured?

Aaaaalmost. He has four active bumps that we are still treating. Two on his neck, one on his arm and one on his foot. We began treating them on December 15th and have watched his 50+ bumps disappear down to four!!!! I am guessing that within the week he will be MC free. Of course we need to keep watch on him to make sure no others crop up, as well the rest of the family needs to keep watch. But I’m confident we have kicked the ass of Molluscum Contagiousum.

I needed to share this info because it is shameful how none of the medical professionals are aware of such a simple cure. Even when I showed my doctor what was happening on December 20th, she responded with “You think that’s working” and proceeded to prescribe an acid that I was to apply at home and would burn them off. No thanks little lady… I’ll look after my kids on my own like I always have.

Other Tid-Bits

- One person I spoke to thought that MC was a sexually contracted disease. This is false. Although it can obviously be transferred during sex if there are uncovered bumps and they touch the other person, but this IS NOT a sexually transmitted disease.
- They can grow anywhere on the body, except for the palms of hands the soles of feet.

Ramblings

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CitiKitty Review – It’s crap! No really… it is.

by Jodie

Just a blog post about our experience using the CitiKitty. I learned about it on Shark Tank and decided the minute I heard the owner giving her account, that we needed to get one for our cats.

Well, that one turned into two, but I’ll get to that.

The product claims “Works with all Cats of all Ages and Size”. That is a very false statement, and if I had taken a minute to read the reviews on Amazon.com, I would have saved myself a small investment of money and a HUGE investment of my time. Feel free to check them out here.

We decided to use our guest washroom for the cats. The product claims you can continue using the toilet that the cats are training on, but I have no clue how. The cat litter gets all over the floor and I wasn’t letting my kids walk on that and then through our house.

The other initial drawback, which I should have taken as a sign, was that we needed to get our cats to start using flushable (read: EXPENSIVE) kitty litter. That stuff is pricey!

Now, after that, things started off promising and both cats began using the toilet to do their business… but once we cut a hole into the bottom of the device, that was the end of our happy CitiKitty life. One of the cats revolted and started pooping on the floor. One cat even urinated in my son’s bed!!

We followed all of the steps.

1. We diligently changed the litter when we noticed it was dirty.
2. We rewarded them with treats when we caught them correctly using the litter.
3. We used cat nip in the kitty litter to also reward.

Now, I was about to type out everything that happened, but instead, I’m simply going to cut and paste the emails I sent them and received in response. I think that will paint the most accurate picture and I won’t be accused of making up what they told me…

But before I do that, I want to add this…. to get the cats to progress to the “next level, you have to cut the unit… You actually need to use a knife and cut the holes. It is disgusting! I read about a similar product where the inserts simply lift out… do yourself a favour and find that brand if you still want to try this after reading about our personal hell. – Anyway, the cats started defecating on the floor again.

Ok, so here goes our journey, email style.

July 21, 2011 – Email from me

Hi there,

We bought CitiKitty a couple months ago and have been eager to train our two cats. We did the process very slow to get them used to the new kitty litter and using the CitiKitty on the toilet. Everything was going great until we removed the first ring. One of our cats urinated on my son’s bed. :( We immediately put the second insert on to the training seat and have been using this ever since.

I read in the pamphlet that we should use the insert in the bottom of the toilet instead. I think our problem was that the kitties were freaked out by the water and if the hole had been smaller, we may have had more success.

Knowing this, how should we proceed? Do we put the insert in the bottom of the toilet and then remove that after a few days and try the open hole again? Or should we instead cut out the tiny piece of the insert and set that on top of the training seat and see if that gives us success?

Please help. I would love to move forward.

Thank you!

July 21, 2011 – Email received from CitiKitty

Good afternoon,

Your best bet may be to place the insert underneath, on the bottom of the seat. This will create a platform for the seat and block your cat’s view of the water. After about a week of staying at this step, proceed by removing the insert from the bottom of the seat and continue with training.

If you have any additional questions please let us know. We are happy to help!

Kind Regards,

CitiKitty Pet Products

July 21, 2011 – Email from me

Hi again,

THanks for your quick reply. I’m a bit confused by your wording.

So I should.

A) Put insert into training seat.

B) Put insert below training seat on top of water of bowl of the toilet.

Thanks!

July 21, 2011 – Email received from CitiKitty

B) Put insert below training seat on top of water of bowl of the toilet.

October 3, 2011 – Email from me

Hello Again,

I’m writing again with both a question and a comment.

First off… I’m confused why the insert that sits on the bottom of the toilet has bumps in it. If it is just to sit inside the toilet, what purpose do the bumps serve? It makes it terribly difficult to clean it. Wouldn’t it make more sense just to have it smooth?

My question is this. As you can see, we’ve been trying to train our cats for months now. We managed to get them both going on the toilet with the first slit cut out. Unfortunately, even after all these months, we still cant’ move forward. One of our cats refuses to now defecate on the toilet and now poops beside the toilet. We have even put the insert back into the bowl of the toilet and still, the cat will defecate on the floor. Some times, we have luck and it will in fact poop on the toilet, but it’s very rare.

Can you please advise on how to move forward? We have two cats and one is being difficult and the other is ready to move forward.

Thanks,
Jodie

October 4, 2011 – Email received from CitiKitty

Hello Jodie,Thanks for contacting CitiKitty with your questions. We have a few recommendations listed for you below. We will also explain the purpose of the insert.If your cat has had accidents and you have begun removing rings from the training seat we recommend making the following modifications to the training process: * First you want to let your cat know their alternative bathroom spot is not a place for their waste. You can do this by taping a piece of aluminum foil onto that area of the floor or placing a heavy object there. If they are having accidents in your tub or sink we recommend leaving a small amount of water there until you complete the training. We also recommend closing the doors to the extra rooms in your home so you can keep your kitty close by and see how they are progressing. * Make sure your are giving your cat praise every time they use the toilet. Also, give your cat a special treat after they use the toilet. Tuna/Bonito flakes work very well. These types of praise is very important in the toilet training process in that it acts as positive reinforcement, letting your cat know that this is a desired behavior. In this way, they are more likely to repeat the behavior.* Sprinkle a small amount of the catnip provided with the kit in the training seat periodically.* Start feeding your cat at the same time everyday to regulate their bathroom habits. This way you will know when they are ready to go and you can be there to give your cat praise afterward and treats. * During the remainder of the training we recommend limiting your cats access to just a few rooms in the house. You can do this by closing the doors to the extra rooms in your home.* To make the transition even easier for your cat you can remove just 1/4 of a ring. You can continue to move through the training at the same pace as before but by making each individual transition smaller you make adapting to each new step easier for your cats and hence, avoid accidents. If your cat is back on track with the training with the above recommendations you are all set. If they are still having difficulty we recommend the below:* The bumps you are referring to are the perforations which make it possible for the rings in the insert to be removed as you move throughout the process.* Use the CitiKitty Training Disc to move back to a previous step in the training process until your cat is ready to move forward. The training disc fits inside your existing training seat enabling you to move back to any previous training ring. * This training disc can also be used in conjunction with the training seat by placing the disc inside the toilet bowl while the CitiKitty Training Seat is on the toilet. This provides a lower platform inside the toilet bowl and covers the water of your toilet until your cat adjusts to the training seat above and then it can be removed.* If you feel that you need to start a complete re-training, please use the following link to purchase additional CitiKitty Training Inserts - http://www.citikitty.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CK03We hope the above recommendations help you. We are happy to help!

Kind Regards,

I would like to take this moment to point out that they tried to sell me MORE CRAP to solve my problem.

November 21, 2011 – Email from me

Hello Again,

I am writing once again to report that we cannot train our cats. We have followed every step you have provided.

We add cat nip after every clean.

We clean after every time as soon as we can.

We have tin foil all over our bathroom – too which they have pooped on numerous times and urinated on yesterday.

Our tub is sealed off so they only are using the toilet and the floor.

We award treats when we see them using it.

We added the bottom piece again last night and the cat still pooped on the floor this morning.

To add to all of this, we had to purchase a second citikitty a few weeks ago because my cats actually made the perforated piece break two pieces larger than it should have. It was only their weight that did it.

So now we’ve been down to one washroom for months, we’ve bought two citikittiy’s, worked our butts off monitoring it and we are no further along then we were months ago.

At this point, I think you would have to admit that this has been a failure and that not all cats will be able to be toilet trained.

Do you have any further advice?

Thanks,
Jodie

November 28, 2011 – Email received from CitiKitty

Good morning,The only other advice we can offer is returning to the litter box and place it in your bathroom next to your toilet. Over the next few days, gradually raise the height of the litter box so that it is even height with your toilet. Next, you may transition to the CitiKitty, with a full pan of litter. We would also like to suggest simply placing your cat up on the toilet a few times each day and rewarding him with treats as well as showing affection toward your cat. This creates a sort of positive reinforcement for your cat that the toilet is not to be a burden, but a comfortable place to be.

If you have any additional questions please let us know. We are happy to help!

Kind Regards,

December 12, 2011 – Email from me

Hi Again,

It has taken me a couple weeks to get over your last response to my issues.

First off, my cats have no fear of using the citikitty… they use it when they feel like it. We offer them treats any time we catch them going potty and I have gently set my cats on it many times… it does not bother them. Giving me advice to raise my own kitty litter is ridiculous. You can go back and see how many “tips” you have given me that I have followed that never worked.

My husband and I were relentless in our attempts to toilet train our cats. We used all of your advice. Even though the box says “In 3 steps”, you have managed to give me an additional ten (at least) to get my kitties to use it properly. You would likely do a lot better admitting that you do not have such a high success rate.

I assumed that after reading that we had even bought a second CitiKitty because the first we purchased split simply from the weight of my cat, that you would feel a bit more empathy at trying to help us. Instead I get told that even though we followed all of the directions, there are more now.

We are quitting your product. The advice never helped and the product was cheaply made and simply didn’t do what it had promised. I should have read all the Amazon reviews prior to purchasing.

I purchased your product because I saw you on Shark Tank where you said any cat could learn to use it… That’s simply not true. After all of our efforts, I know we did everything that I read and that you suggested… The few weeks turned into many many months without ever making it to the final goal.

It would be great to hear back from you to know that you heard me.

Regards,
Jodie

And then you know what happened that exact same day???

Your message to <info@citikitty.com> was automatically rejected:
Quota exceeded (mailbox for user is full)

That’s right… their mailbox was full. So they never got it. They stink and if you are looking for my CitiKitty Review, it is zero stars… Do not buy it. Two thumbs down. They stink.

Uncategorized

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Nutrii Veda – Helping Our Son With Apraxia

by Jodie

Our oldest son was recently diagnosed as having a form of Apraxia. There are a few different names for this, but for simplicity’s sake, I’m going to refer to it as Oral Apraxia.

We have tried many different things to help him.

- Chiropractor
- GFCF diet (Gluten Free/Casein Free)
- Naturopath
- Speech and Language Therapy (from the age of 2, although issues identified as early as 9 months)
- Fish oil supplements (VERY IMPORTANT)

That’s a large list, but I would do anything to help him reach his very best.

A few months ago I was searching for information on whether I should allow my son to move on to Grade 1 or repeat Kindergarten. During my search I discovered a group whose goal it was to help children with speech difficulties, especially those with Oral Apraxia. The group goes by CHERAB because of the cherab like look that Apraxic children have from not using their muscles in the mouth area like other children.

To get to the point, it was here I discovered Nutrii Veda. Parents were touting how this product had immediately helped their children. I did a bit more research and jumped on the bandwagon… and never looked back.

My son has had language surges that we never thought imaginable. I have been documenting his progress on youtube and am always amazed when I look back at his first video and his inability to share a story. We still have a journey ahead of us, but Nutrii Veda has given us so much hope!

Now, if you have a child that suffers from speech and language issues, you know that it is one of the most expensive impairments for families to help supplement. Currently, to assist my son we spend per month:

$100 on Chiro
$360 on Tutoring from the Learning Disabilities Association
$80 on fish oils
$200 on Nutrii Veda
$20 for various iPad apps to help with language.
$200 on supplements from Chiro to help lower Neurotransmitter levels like Serotonin and Epinephrine.

That totals $930 per month to help my son keep up with his peers. The only assistance that is provided is that we receive one hour of speech services from his school each week.

Are you shocked?

There are
The second purpose of this page is to ask for your assistance. Not your financial assistance, but ask if you are going to try Nutrii Veda, that you give my name to Lisa Geng when ordering. Any additional money we can raise for our family will go directly to helping us support our beloved son. two purposes of this post. One is to introduce Nutrii Veda to you. I will have upcoming posts where I share his growth and exactly what we have discovered from this product. We are in the middle of writing up a Testimonial for the website Pursuit of Research as we want as many parents to try this product as possible.

Simply visit the Pursuit of Research page for more information on Nutrii Veda and to order. If you try to order direct from the Nutrii Veda site, you will not have access to the Original formula that is helping all of our children with impairments.

Apraxia Nutrii Veda

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Red Deer’s Worst Handyman

by Jodie

Why is it that you cannot find a good handyman? Why has our experience been that these creatures are slimier than a slug in the morning dew. Seriously!!

Since we have lived in our house, we have had three handymen come to our “aid”. I will give the one a passing grade because he was a family friend and I adore him, but he really wasn’t a handyman and did his best.

The second one robbed us. Not literally but figuratively. I’ll admit we were new homeowners and really naive, but the guy actually convinced us of a giant lie… just to make us feel guilty and fork over much more money than we ever needed to. My husband and I cannot remember the name the man went by exactly, but it was something like “Handy Randy”. I doubt that was even his name to be honest. The lesson we learned here? Never use a handyman whose ad is a paper with the pull tabs on it! You know the type… the ones where people are giving away kittens or offering babysitting service. But live and learn… Check!

Ok, so that brings us to number three. We crossed our T’s, we dotted our damn I’s. We had three companies come out and give us quotes. We went with the gentleman that called us back and said “I can’t do what you guys are asking me to do. You do not need to replace the entire wall, you only need to remove a small segment, it will only cost a fraction of what I quoted you. Sounded honest, right?

Well, he was honest. He showed up the first day and did what he was supposed to do. All was going well. We paid him… but he insisted on cash. (This was a major lesson we learned here… because a person can’t accept a cheque in the wrong name). We had asked him to quote us a few different projects but needed him to do some important ones first. When it came time for the second leg of work, he was harder to get in touch with. He wouldn’t show up on days he promised he was coming. You know the run around. Finally the work was completed and we paid in cash again.

I’ll back up here… One of the main projects we needed was to have our tub surround replaced with the panel stuff you can buy at Home Depot. No problem. Easy for him. Well, I have no clue what happened, but under our hot water tap in the shower, it has turned a beige colour. It looks gross.

We called Handyman Mike. We called and called. We emailed. Finally an answer with an excuse about being out of province. We explained the problem. He had us open up the back to see if the faucet was dripping. We did that and it wasn’t. Now here is where this goes pear shaped. Dude stopped answering our calls. He stopped answering our emails. Proud Mike, the Mike who promised us quality is number 1… well, he disappeared. We have given up. We now have a problem that neither myself or my husband can fix. And now we are on a hunt for a Truly Honest Handyman in the Red Deer area. Someone who just wants to do a job and get paid. We aren’t asking for miracles, we just want what we paid for.

As a side note, we have noticed errors in at least three different areas that Handyman Mike did. That man played with my kids… What kind of a person an do this kind of stuff?

Anyway, I started this blog to be able to write about anything and everything I want. A huge pet peeve of mine is poor service. Another pet peeve is dishonesty. I cannot do anything to get back the money we paid, but I can warn others. I googled and searched for information on this man, but I cannot find anything online or in the phone book.

So please note:

Mike Johnson or Mike Johnston
Red Deer
Red Deer, Alberta
Red Deer, AB
403.358.0145
403-358-0145
(403)358-0145
qualitycounts@hotmail.com

Mike resided on Inglewood Drive when he did work for us.

I have no shame for posting all of his details. If he chooses to come back and complete his work I will add a note to the end of this post. I really do hope someone comes by searching for him and avoids him as a result. If you have found my post because you may have work done by him, please leave a comment.

If you know of a good, honest handyman in Red Deer, please send me an email or leave a comment. We have work that needs done and no one to do it.

Red Deer Services and Businesses

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Speech and Language Services in Alberta (and Canada)

by Jodie

For those reading the blog that do not know me or my life situation, let me share a large piece of my puzzle. I have a son who is six years old and has a language impairment. I could provide many many posts on this.. Speech impairment vs. Language Impairment. Speech/Language Delay vs. Speech/Language Disorder. Developmental Delay vs. Language Delay. Apraxia vs. other Language Disorders. And on and on and on….

So, I will save all that for another day… because I do want to blog about it. But today I am starting a quest and I want to begin documenting it from inception.

Perhaps this information exists and if it does, it will be an easy quest, but if not, I’m making it my goal to complete the task.

See, speech and language services are dismal in Alberta. Pathetic. Well, I’m not being truthful… if your child is in Kindergarten or younger, there is funding. But if your child is in grade one or older, it’s sad.

My son has the diagnosis of Expressive Language Disorder (although I don’t agree with this diagnosis, but that is for a later post). His language abilities will never be that of his peers, but with support and access to qualified professionals, they can come pretty darn close.

Currently, my son sees a Speech Teachers Assistant twice a week for a half hour at a time. Did you hear that??? ONE HOUR PER WEEK!!! Ok, so we should subsidize. Know how much it is to hire a private Speech and Language Pathologist? $125 per hour. Yup… you heard right.

Guess what… if we lived in the USA and had insurance, my sons support services would be covered and in school he would be receiving a much larger amount of support. It honestly makes me sick to my stomach.

So I’m going to find out what the recommended number of hours of services is for children (specifically those in grade 1) with language disorders and compare that to what is currently being offered.

If you know where I could start or have information on this, please feel free to share. I would also love to learn of blogs of mom’s that have a child with a speech impairment so we can blog and share together.

Speech and Language Disorders

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Red Deer Restaurants

by Jodie

Ever since our family became gluten and dairy free a year and a half ago, we have sought out restaurants in Red Deer that could accommodate our dietary restrictions. Although this task seemed daunting at the beginning, we quickly learned that we were safe to eat at almost every asian restaurant in town without any side effects. The best part about all of this was discovering new food that we love.

I can see me blogging a lot about the restaurants in Red Deer in the future. We eat out about once a week (it is our weekly treat) and love to try new places and visit our favourites.

The plan is to even provide a list of blogs and websites that review restaurants in town so that diners can make informed choices about where they are going.

First off, Red Deer has quite a few little gems to visit. Our absolute favourite was the Thai Gardens Restaurant located on Ross Street. Sadly, we went to eat there a few months ago and we all nearly broke into tears when the doors wouldn’t open. They closed down!!! You could order a delicious and fresh entree for about $10… The food was GOOD! And there was tons of sauce in it that you could manage an extra meal for the next day when you got home. We were devastated.

Although we love Asian cuisine, we are particularly fond of Thai. YUM!! Such a great balance of sweet and spicy, soft and crunchy… *Drool*

We now have to travel to the North end of the city to get our Thai fix (that or head to Sylvan Lake). Blue Dragon – Cambodian/Thai Food is where its at. The food is good, the ambiance is nice and their server is pretty awesome. We’ve always had the Owners sister as a server (she also serves at a Vietnamese place in town too). Unfortunately, the food there is much more expensive then our dear Thai Gardens. :( And although the food is good at Blue Dragon, at least one of the sauces comes from a bottle (the sauce used on the spring rolls… admitted to us by the server). How disappointing.

But… it is Thai food and we love it. :) They are kid friendly and there is always something on the menu that satisfies our need for heat. We’ll be there tonight with giant smiles on our faces.

Do you know of any restaurants in Red Deer that need to be checked out? Please share with us so we can try out some new places.

Red Deer Restaurants

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Guilty Pleasures

by Jodie

We all have them. It’s true, we do. Is yours a certain type of sweet? Maybe a pop band that you only admit to your dog that you listen to?

Guilty pleasures fall into two categories. Those you admit to and those that you don’t. You know exactly what I’m talking about.

This post falls into the category of those that you admit. =)

CORONATION STREET

There, I’ve said it. And I’d say it again. I love the show. I love just about everything about it. I love how when they kill a character off, that character NEVER returns. Not only that, they don’t turn into their evil twin sister lost at birth. Or they do not return and *oops* they really weren’t dead despite the giant funeral and open casket funeral. When a Corrie member dies… they are dead. =) I suppose I may sound kind of sick typing this, but it is one of the most attractive parts about the show.

Thanks to our purchase of PVR last year, I now am a Corrie Addict. I subject my 4.5 year old to the weird accents and answer questions like “Are they from real life? Like, from planet earth?” lol

Because I live in Canada, I am only just receiving last year’s Christmas shows. What could be better than Christmas in September?

I LOVE my guilty pleasures. And know what? I don’t feel an ounce of guilt. =)

Ramblings

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A Day for Firsts

by Jodie

For the first time EVER, I complained about a hair cut today. Truly. I am quite lazy *ahem* I mean, minimalist in my hair styling. I wash it, use detangler, brush and go. Sometimes I add a clip… All I wanted today was a few inches off the bottom because it had been a year since my last cut and we have family photos this weekend.

Well, I got some off one side and more off the other. Not only was it my first time to receive a bad cut, it was also my first time to complain about a hair cut. It took me ten minutes to work up the courage to phone. I’m happy I did as I did go back in and let her “fix” the error. She was reluctant to agree, but it was undeniable that there was a giant block of hair at the back that was an inch longer than the rest. Let’s not mention the other awful bits that she did trim while I was in the chair.

See, the first round took her all of six minutes. My cut was for 11:15 and I was back in my minivan by 11:22… WTF??

When I got home after round two, I went to my neighbourlady’s house and had her look.. she used to cut hair for a living… She agreed it was still uneven and took another round out of it.

So, although I was uncomfortable complaining… I’m happy I did. I won’t go back though. I will call back and speak with the manager again and let her know that I had it cut by my neighbour. I imagine she’ll offer me money back as she did today already. I will take it because it shouldn’t have happened this way. If the stylist had taken the time to make sure it was correct during the initial cut, she would have saved me time, money and effort.

Good news is my hair is long so if all else fails, I may end up with a pixie cut that I’ve had my eye on the past couple months… but I imagine a cut like that would require that dreaded effort.

Red Deer Services and Businesses

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Time For Action

by Jodie

In theory, this blog has been in the works for years. I began building websites and blogging about five years ago and although I always wanted a personal blog, I never took the time to develop one. It always seemed there was something more important to be working on, online.

Two years ago I registered a domain with huge hopes of using it for this purpose, but time passed, I didn’t set it up and finally let the domain name expire. Last night, I said… “enoughs enough” and I went to GoDaddy and typed in domain names until I found something I liked. It took me all of about 10 minutes to choose this name and all it took was a simple nod of hubby’s head to purchase it. (Not for his permission… to see if he liked the name.)

Anyway, so here it is! All shiny and new. I will spend the next little while finding the theme I like best and adjusting the innards to how I prefer them. FUN!!! And just for me!!!!

The blog will be random. I just need a place to share. Also, I wear many many hats and I have always struggled with how to point people to the correct website easily. Instead of sending people to different places, this will be the site to start with and I’ll keep a list of the sites I manage and businesses I own listed on here.

It is before 9 am on a Monday morning. I would say today is already a success. Now to go do something that is actually on my To-Do list… :)

Uncategorized

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Life Factor

A blog for all things relevant to my life.

Molluscum Contagiosum Treatment – What the Whaaat?

CitiKitty Review – It’s crap! No really… it is.

Nutrii Veda – Helping Our Son With Apraxia

Red Deer’s Worst Handyman

Speech and Language Services in Alberta (and Canada)

Red Deer Restaurants

Guilty Pleasures

A Day for Firsts

Time For Action

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