Mishmash Musings

For today’s list of five things, I decided to write about five foods I haven’t eaten in five years (or more). The items on this list weren’t things that I consciously eliminated from my diet in an effort to be healthy or anything like that… they’re just things that I used to eat but for some reason haven’t touched in a long, long time.

1. Twinkies (and a bunch of other Hostess products, really)
2. Pop Tarts (I used to scarf these down all the time when I was younger. Not anymore.)
3. Granola bars ( Just got tired of them, I guess)
4. Grilled Chicken Sandwich from Wendy’s (I used to eat these three or four times a week… blech!)
5. Eli’s Cheesecake (once my favorite dessert)

My best friend went to Cancun for her honeymoon a few years ago, and absolutely raved about the 10 days she spent there. From beautiful beaches to exciting activities and extraordinary service, she swore that it was the closest she’s ever been to paradise!

Well, ever since then, I’ve wanted to visit Mexico with my husband. We’ve only been south of the border once, when we crossed over to Tijuana while visiting San Diego. That hardly qualifies as seeing or experiencing Mexico, so we’re currently looking into Cancun Vacations instead.

There are a bunch of different vacation packages out there, but we’re leaning towards one of the all-inclusive deals offered by Karisma Hotels. From everything I’ve read about Karisma Hotels, I have a feeling that they would be perfect for us. They have superb properties, delicious gourmet food, and competitive prices, so if we do end up going to Cancun, you can bet we’ll stay with them!

I know you’re probably tired of all of my tax-related posts, but this is going to be the last one of the year because I can say that I’m finally done with my return! It took a little longer than expected even after I stopped procrastinating, as my receipts were a bitch to go through. I had them organized and everything, but it was still a very time-consuming process.

At any rate, I’m happy to report that I don’t owe Uncle Sam any more money. The estimated payments that I made in quarters 1 through 3 turned out to be higher than my actual tax debt by $49. I was fined $7 for making late estimated payments, so that leaves me with $42. Instead of getting a refund check, I opted to put the money towards my 2008 estimated taxes. The first payment is due on April 15, so why not.

And yes, I qualify for a $600 rebate from the stimulus package! Score!! I can’t wait to get that check, as I fully plan to dump it right back into the economy by buying stuff .

So after all that hullabaloo surrounding the Mitchell Report, did Major League Baseball ever come out with a revised policy regarding steroid use by players? If so, what is the final word?

I know that most performance enhancing drugs are probably prohibited, but I do know that there are legal steroids available on the market. Has anything been said about these kinds of products?

I would just like to know this stuff before investing any time and money watching baseball games this year. I don’t want to find out three months from now that my favorite players’ records and achievements are being called into question because of some supplements that they took or whatever.

Has the commissioner released a statement since the Clemens grand jury appearance? If so, I haven’t seen it. Maybe I ought to head over to MLB.com to check it out.

I just got done reading an AP article about how inmates in Vermont are filing a class-action suit against the prison system over what they deem unfair punishment — involving food.

Apparently, when inmates misbehave in some instances, they’re given something called “nutraloaf” which, according to reporter Wilson Ring, is “a mixture of cubed whole wheat bread, nondairy cheese, raw carrots, spinach, seedless raisins, beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, powdered milk and dehydrated potato flakes” instead of regular cafeteria fare. This nutraloaf tastes so bad that prisoners claim it’s punishment, and as such, there should be due process before they’re given the concoction.

Ring further writes that inmates are usually put on nutraloaf for such offenses as messing around with their food, utensils, and trays in the cafeteria, or for throwing feces and urine. Prison officials believe using nutraloaf as a dissuasive tool helps protect staff from this type of behavior.

I can’t believe that a case like this is actually going to the Vermont Supreme Court. I get why prisoners might not like nutraloaf, but it’s not as though it’s in the same league as solitary confinement or restricted yard privileges, is it?

The article said that one guy was given nutraloaf after smearing his own feces all over his cell. Yeah, he sounds like a class act right there. Let’s listen to him boo-hoo about the food he’s given… at least he gets something to eat, all on the taxpayers’ dime.

It’s official: at 34 years of age, I already have very noticeable crow’s feet around my eyes, as well as more than a few gray hairs on top of my head. I’m not worried about the gray hair because a simple dye job can take care of that. It’s the crow’s feet and other fine lines that concern me. This is stuff that makeup just cannot hide, so I’m going to have to figure out what to do about the problem.

I probably need to revamp my skin care routine and add a few extra creams and solutions to the mix. Since I’ve never used any of these products before, I’ll have to spend some time looking for and reading unbiased wrinkle cream reviews first. Once I get an idea of which products can help me, I’ll pick one and try it.

You know, I never thought I’d be one of those women who worried about wrinkles and other effects of aging, but I’ve got to admit that this is hard to ignore!

I had my monthly orthodontist appointment yesterday, and I was really happy with the results. I can now see a definite improvement in my overbite — which is to say that it’s nearly nonexistent these days! There’s still a tiny bit of room for my overbite to close a bit more, but I’d say that will be taken care of by my next visit.

My ortho performed two different adjustments in this visit. First, he took out the expander that I’ve been wearing (in one form or another) for the past 18 months, so now I have nothing going across the roof of my mouth! Wow, it’s so awesome to be able to chew food normally and actually be able to taste what I’m eating.

Second, he changed the archwire across both the top and bottom teeth to something a bit thicker. Now that the major tooth movement is done, it’s time to work on straightening the teeth so they become nice and even.

The next few months should bring a lot more progress, so I’m very excited to see how things go!

I received a package of stuff that I ordered from Amazon.com today, and as I was in the middle of opening it, I got a phone call that I had to take. I was on my cell, so I was ambling around the house as I was talking, and didn’t stay in the living room with the package.

When I came back, I was horrified to see that my dog was trying to chew up the box cutter that I was using. Fortunately, I had slid the blade back down into the handle before walking away, otherwise who knows what kind of damage my spaniel would have done to her mouth.

Obviously, I’ve got to be more careful about this kind of thing. I’m just thankful nothing bad happened.