Resolution Keeper (1): Floss

Okay, so it is 3:00am and I am awake with a toothache. The pain is pretty bad so I wanted to check WebMD to see what causes toothaches and when I should go to the dentist. (Not like I have a dentist here in DC though.) 

It seems that I now have something to add to my To Do list - Find a Dentist

I found this tidbit (thanks RealSimple)

-Call the Academy of General Dentistry's help line (877-292-9327) for referrals to three dentists in your area who can answer your questions.

Dental Health: Teeth and Gum Care
With proper care, your teeth and gums can stay healthy throughout your life. The healthier your teeth and gums are, the less risk you have for tooth decay and gum disease.

There are four basic steps to caring for teeth and gums:
-Brushing
-Flossing
-Eating right
-Visiting the dentist

Tips for Flossing
-Floss once a day. Flossing gets rid of food and plaque between the teeth, where your toothbrush cannot reach. If plaque stays between teeth, it can harden into tartar, which must be removed by a dentist. 

To floss:
-Remove about an 18-inch strip of floss from the dispenser.
-Wind the floss around the middle fingers of each hand, leaving a 1-inch section open for flossing. Floss the top teeth first, then the bottom.
-Place the floss in your mouth and use your index fingers to push the floss between the teeth. ---Be careful not to push too hard and injure the gums.
-Move the floss up and down against the tooth and up and around the gum line. The floss should form a C-shape around the tooth as you floss.
-Floss between each tooth as well as behind the back teeth.
-Use a clean section of floss as needed and take up used floss by winding it around the fingers.

Daily Candy: The Weekend Guide

What to Do This Weekend

EAT

Georgetown Cupcake

What: The charmingly tiny new shop serves up cupcakes in flavors like lemon blossom, chocolate mint, and bubblegum pink.

Why: Get ’em while they’re hot.

When: Tues.-Fri., 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun., noon-5 p.m.

Where: 1209 Potomac St. NW, b/t Prospect & M Sts. (202-333-8448).

BUY

Alexandria Boutique Warehouse Sale

What: Big discounts from Old Town shops like The Shoe Hive, Treat, Apple Seed, and Hysteria.

Why: Don’t ware out your welcome.

When: Sat., 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Where: George Washington Masonic Memorial, 101 Callahan Dr., Alexandria.

SEE

Tracy Morgan

What: The comedian stops in the District.

Why: It’s sure to rock.

When: Sat., 8 p.m.

Where: George Washington University Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW, b/t G & H Sts. (202-994-6800).

Tickets online at ticketmaster.com.

To Do: Chili Cookoff

Yes, yours truly had to participate in a chili cook-off today for work. If you know where I work you will understand the random humor of this.

We have to make an award winning chili (I found a great recipe), create a poem/skit to present our chili, decorate a table/booth and tie a U.S. President into the theme. WHAT? Yeah, that's what I thought.

We hadPresident Grant. Here is the receipe we used and poem that I created...

Kentucky Bourbon Chili
* 4 pounds lean ground beef
* 1 cup Kentucky Bourbon
* 3/4 cup chili powder
* 1 teaspoon oregano
* 1 tablespoon diced onion
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 16-ounce can kidney beans
* 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
* 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
* 6 8-ounce cans water
* 1 teaspoon cumin
* 2 teaspoons paprika
* 2 teaspoons garlic powder
* 4 small cans chopped green chilis

Brown ground beef and drain off fat. Add ingredients one at a time in order listed. Simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Makes about 1 1/2 gallons of chili.


President Grant
Our 18th President left his mark in so many ways,
we can thank him for Colorado and OPM snow days.

He was praised by Lincoln for being bold and risky,
and this made Lincoln want to give all the Generals that Old Crow Whiskey.

Grant may not have been an Ashton Kutcher,
but he sure was known an our Nation’s butcher.

He was known as a General who loved to kill,
I guess this earned him a spot on the fifty dollar bill.

By winning his wars in the bloodiest way,
he was the obvious choice for 8th Prez of the NRA.

Once he was arrested for speeding in his horse and buggy,
and then hoofed it back to the White House in weather so muggy.

His beautiful First Lady was a little cross-eyed,
but Grant said he liked her that way… he may have lied.

And after he had a tumbler of his whiskey,
he and his wife were known to get a little frisky!!!

Poor Grant got throat cancer from smoking a lot,
I guess he should have just stuck to his whiskey shot.

Though when he was surrounded by his wife, son and daughter…
his last request was not for whiskey, but for water.

And a game show contestant once met his doom,
when he incorrectly answered “Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?”

Grant's scandals arose when he kept lots of gifts…
but Jane says, “I never would have let this happen on my shift!”

To Do: Post Something

Reasons why I suck:

a) I haven't posted anything in a couple days

b) My last few posts have been pretty generic

c) I have a lot of funny/blogworthy events happening in my life now that are worth posting

d) My goal was to have more interesting posts that arent just about my silly little life

e) I have failed at it all so far. 

More to come tomorrow. Hopefully.

*** forgive me flowers brought to you by realsimple

To Do: Support a Hometown Girl

Hey, so I have to give some props to Stephanie Mae, a hometown girl who just released her own music album. She is absolutely amazing. Stephanie Mae - check her out here.

My Favorite Thing Today: Another Troop Video

My Favorite Thing Today: Yellow?

As you may remember, not too long ago I redecorated my office with a yellow theme. Then not too long ago I was reading a blog-favorite frolic and found this great site with fun desktop wallpapers where I added a little more yellow to my office.

Then you may remember I have been meaning to purchase a new yellow jacket/blazer, which I did this weekend at H&M because of my little incident this past Friday. (I was just trying to do my part to stimulate the economy, geez.)

And to make matters worse, I am now seeing a theme with the lunch that I packed myself today. Now I sit here in my yellow desk in my yellow office with my yellow blazer eating a banana, a egg salad sandwich, with my sugar-free, 60-calorie banana pudding snack and all I can do is laugh at myself. Awkward! Hahah.

My Favorite Story:

Dog Saved by Marine Gets Permanent Home
By CHELSEA J. CARTER – 13 hours ago

SAN DIEGO (AP) — It began with a simple act of kindness to save an abused, injured dog from becoming one more victim in the Iraq war.
But what followed for Marine Maj. Brian Dennis and the mutt was a tale of friendship and loyalty that spanned miles, borders, and overcame long odds — a tale that took a turn Friday afternoon when the dog arrived at San Diego's Lindbergh Field airport.

"This dog who had been through a lifetime of fighting, war, abuse ... is going to live the good life," Dennis told his family in an e-mail from Iraq.

The tale unfolded in October, a few months after Dennis deployed to Iraq from San Diego to work as part of the military team building infrastructure along the Syria-Iraq border and training Iraqi forces to take over.

Dennis, 36, of St. Pete Beach, Fla., had volunteered for the assignment. It was a departure from his role as a fighter pilot. He had seen the country from the air, but it was different on the ground.

Dennis wrote stories home about the reciprocal relationship that desert dogs, strays wandering outside border towns, had with Iraqis.

"The dogs get to eat the Iraqi scraps and have a home in the middle of the desert," he wrote in an e-mail. "The Iraqis get an incredible early warning system; these dogs hear anything approaching from miles away and go nuts and scramble to defend their territory."

While on patrol in the Anbar province, Dennis spotted what appeared to be a gray and white, male German shepherd-border collie mix. He named the dog Nubs after learning someone cut the ears off believing it would make the dog more aggressive and alert.

Within weeks, Nubs was greeting Dennis during routine patrol stops along border communities. The Marines fed him bits of their food and by November, the Marine and his unit were keeping an eye out for the dog, which routinely chased their Humvees when they departed.

Life on the run, however, was taking a toll on the dog. He had lost a tooth and been bitten in the neck. In late December, Dennis found Nubs near death in freezing temperatures. The dog had been stabbed with a screwdriver.

Dennis rubbed antibiotic cream on the wound and slept with Nubs to keep him warm.
"I really expected when I woke up for watch he would be dead," Dennis wrote. "Somehow he made it through the night."

Dennis thought he had seen the last of the dog days later when his squad headed back to its command post some 65 miles away. He couldn't take the dog with him and watched as it tried to follow the Humvees away from the border.

Two days later, while Dennis and a comrade were working on a Humvee, he looked up and saw the dog staring at him.

"Somehow that crazy damned dog tracked us," he wrote Jan. 9.

But the reunion was short lived. Military policy prohibits having pets in war zones, and Dennis was given four days to get the dog off the base or kill him.

The decision was easy: Nubs was going to San Diego. The logistics, though, were anything but easy.

With help from his Iraqi interpreter, Dennis managed to find a Jordanian veterinarian to get the care and paperwork needed to get the dog to the states. He also negotiated the red tape to get Nubs across the border into Jordan.

His family and close friends helped raise the $3,500 needed to get the dog from Amman, Jordan, to San Diego, said his mother, Marsha Cargo.

"I just can't believe it. Out there in the middle of nowhere these two find each other," Cargo said.

A colleague in San Diego agreed to care for the dog and have it trained until Dennis returns in March from Iraq.

"We anticipate a real steep learning curve for Nubs," Capt. Eric Sjoberg said. "We want him to learn to just be a dog."

For now, though, Dennis will settle for the knowledge that Nubs is finally safe — and waiting for his master to follow him.

Not My Favorite:

Okay, so I am pretty much an open book. I love talking to people everywhere I go and I love hearing their stories and sharing my stories with them. I love to compliment people and, of course, I love it when people compliment me.

BUT... in the last week people have felt compelled to share their personal views about my appearance with me. Things people have said...

"How come you always are wearing black?"

"You like like you are going to a funeral."

"Umm, so lets talk about this hairstyle."

"Nice, you are wearing gray. Well, atleast its not black or white."

"Whoa, what's going on with your hair today?"

"Your hair normally looks really cute."

"So, you are a pretty girl but how come you always wear black?"

And so many others. Urgh. Atleast some of these are paired with a compliment and then a smackdown. Haha.

Now these are coming from:
a) security guys at my office building
b) elderly volunteers
c) people who I dont really value their fashion advice
d) all of the above.

My Favorite Thing Today: Our Troops

Why I love our troops!!!



My friend is the one doing the booty dance and shaking that rump for the camera.

To Do: Cupcakes!

I have been so inspired by all the cute cupcake blogs and shops that I have seen recently. I love cupcakes too. I love to make them, eat them, and the security guys at my office building even call me Cupcake. 

Well this little Cupcake is taking herself and her bff to... Georgetown Cupcake! 

My Favorite Thing Today:

I am obsessed with this house. I saw it on frolic
and that was the end of me. I cannot wait to have my own, cute, little home to decorate just like this. Urgh. I have fallen hard in love again. Check out these photos, I just came a little bit.

New Favorite Site: SugarPaper

SugarPaper: Thier prices are hit or miss but their products are super cute. Totally in love.

Resolution Keeper (6): Read More

Okay... so its like what almost the end of February and looking over my resolutions... I have a whole lot to do!!! Hopefully I can review some ways to actually keep my resolution. Here is one...

Books to Read:
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
The First National Bank of Dad by David Owen
Why Men Love Bitches by Sherry Argov
Homo Politicus by Dana Milbank (currently reading this... slowly.)
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Shopping: Weekend Wants

Hot Pink Dictionary: I have seen this on two different blog recently and although it is not my top shopping priority, how cool is this. Imagine this on a cute trendy desk.

Personalized Stamp: I have always wanted one of these and this is actually a reasonable price. I just need to figure out which one I like more.

Green Alligator Bible: my bff has this and I love it. I think that it would look so cool next to a hot pink dictionary, plus... its great to study you know... the bible!

Cutest, Most Comfortable and Classic Heel Ever: Okay the bff and I stopped at Payless Shoes this weekend and they are having this amazing Buy One Get One Sale and these are AMAZING!!