The orthopedic professional told us that Daniel needed braces. He told us when, how much it would cost, and how long Daniel would have them. Before we left, he put some spacers in between some of Daniel’s teeth. He said there would be soreness. For the first day or so there was no pain, but then on the second and third day, there was some soreness. For the rest of the two weeks he was fine.

On January 17th, a snow day at school, Daniel went and got his braces put in. Apparently he didn’t even know that the bracket were in until after he left the room and saw them in the mirror. He got a swig of water and returned to get the wires put in on the top and bottom teeth.

For the first day, there was no soreness, just moderate discomfort. However, Daniel could not eat anything except soup. The second day, which was touted by the orthodontist as being the worst day, was dulled by some ibuprofen. On that day, Daniel was allowed to eat ice cream for dinner, and he did it with great pleasure.

His teeth were sensitive and unable to bite down onto any food until this morning, when he successful bit into a banana at breakfast. No more ice cream for dinner, I told him. By the way, the before-and-after picture is not of Daniel, because he doesn’t wear lip gloss…

Original reprint, old news, one choice, ocean shore, one hundred percent chance, one person crew, outer core, once again, obedient defiance, obviously concealed, open minded, opposite attraction…

Let’s keep moving right along…

Partial success, plastic glasses, previous history, player coach, pool table, perfectly normal, quickly slowing down, quick fix, quiet noise, questionable answer, real potential, retired worker, recorded live, required donation, running idle, realistic fantasy…

On to the plentiful S…

Sad smile, single pair, study break, seriously funny, student teacher, still moving, sun shade, small fortune, small giant, sit up, soft rock, solo ensemble, sure bet, serious fun, somewhat destroyed, talk show, tremendously small, tentative conclusion, terrific headache, turkey ham, true story, thinking out loud…

And now to round it up…

unacceptable solution, unsung hero, uninvited guest, upside down, voodoo science, virtual reality, week day, withheld contribution, war games, young adult, zero deficit…

Well that wraps up the second of my oxymoronic posts. Feel free to add a comment with some of your own!

Well, the other day, Daniel-son brought home a D on his midterm exam. That’s a 66 to be more accurate. If this had been some little quiz or homework assignment, he would have gotten off with a small lecture at dinner. But this was a test, and clearly something was wrong. Over the past weeks, D-for-Daniel’s grades had been dropping from consistently high A’s and B’s to consistently lower C’s and D’s. The test was not a standalone incident.

This is what we decided at dinner. Daniel was to have all of his video games taken away for two weeks. At the end of two weeks, if his grades improved, we would allow him only to play one hour per night on weeknights. Like any good gamer, he whined and complained and tried the guilt trip and told us he was depriving him of his only source of joy. We told him that all of this complaining was a sign of addiction. He adamantly disagreed, but scaled back on the whining.

Instead, he turned very lawerly, and started defending his right to play video games. He told us it would not happen again, and gave us several pretty good reasons why he needed to keep at least one or two of his favorite games. At that point, as weak parents, we felt that we were a bit harsh on him. That does not mean, however, that he got the games back. We compromised, and Daniel was allowed to keep Guitar Hero and Madden NFL ‘o8, provided that he only play after all of his homework was done.

Well, it’s really quite easy to identify yourself as a procrastinator. Do you ever say to yourself, “I’ll do it later?” That is an obvious sign of procrastination. Pretty much everybody does it at some point, usually with school or work-related projects. Acknowledging that you have this problem is the first step to beating it.

Next, I think about how much time I think the task will take. Then I ask myself what I would rather be doing. If I can think of something I’d rather be doing, like watching TV, I go and unplug the TV. If I can’t think of anything better to do, I know that I need to do it.

But what if I still don’t want to do the task? One strategy I have found useful is to write down the different components of the task. For instance, when my son has to do a book report for school, he breaks it down into writing the summary, drawing a picture of the significant scene, and gluing it to posterboard. Suddenly the ominous book report doesn’t seem quite so big, huh? Make a list, and gradually check things off. The sense of accomplishment will keep you going.

If the above still doesn’t work, I diagnose you to be an extreme procrastinator, and recommend counseling. And no, you can’t put that off until next week!

Okay, sometimes you might not be in the mood for some electronic gaming. That’s okay, you can go play monopoly, or watch a movie on demand. There are free ones, too, so you don’t have to necessarily spend four dollars. None of that floats your boat? Go out and toss the football (or a baseball) around with somebody. The best thing you can do is to stay occupied, because boredom is not very productive.

There’s a world of entertainment options out there, both electronic and non-electronic. One of my favorite ways to cure boredom is to drive around town and stops wherever I feel like, usually someplace I’ve never been before. On a boring Sunday afternoon, I might stop at five different places, and just spend a few minutes looking around. Getting out of the house will increase your mood level.

All I’ve talked about so far is how to deal with home boredom. But what about if you’re bored at school or work? Say you’ve been called into a meeting or a class that you have absolutely no interest in. Next time, bring along piece of paper and pretend to be taking notes, when in fact you are doodling, or making some kind of dream house plan. Or bring along one of those “livestrong” rubber bracelets and fiddle around with it for a few minutes.

Or, for a quick fix for boredom, you could also go and check out the latest post on Rolly Dollar! 

My personal New Year’s Resolution is a strange one. I resolute to fulfill last year’s resolutions, and to think up some more resolutions for 2009. Basically 2008 (which I learned from a certain enthusiastic person “rhymes with great!”) is my resolution vacation.

The types of resolutions that often get fulfilled are ones like organizing, learning to cook, spend more family time, and so on. Small things like that are usually better to resolute on. Bigger (pardon the pun) things like weight loss and writing a novel are somewhat harder to undertake.

It would be very interesting to take a poll of people and see how many of them fulfilled New Year’s Resolutions. My guess is that some people would lie in an attempt to make themselves feel like they actually accomplished their goal. But the real percentage is probably somewhere in the range of 20-30%.

Well, here’s hoping everybody had a great New Year’s, as well as a great 2008. Please list some of your New Year’s Resolutions as a comment.

If any of you well-informed readers watch one of the major national nightly news programs (ABC, NBC, CBS) you know that the commercials are rampant with prescription drug advertisements. These ads will only sometimes tell you what they are even for, and most of the time, the viewer is left bewildered as to what the drug is for. But this post is not about that. It’s about all of the side effects of the drugs.

Nowadays, side effects are so common, we barely even hear them when we watch an ad. But they are still there. Next time you see one of them, really think about what the side effects are, and try to recall a time when you had one of the conditions that is a side effect of this drug. I think you will be a bit sickened.

For instance, one new drug commercial I’ve been seeing almost nightly is for Lyrica. Apparently, the drug is for some kind of diabetic nerve pain, also known as Fibromyalgia. They claim it’s very common, but I’ve never heard of it. Anyway, when I hear the side affects, I shake my head. Dizziness, sleepiness, dry mouth, swelling of the hands and feet, blurry vision, weight gain, trouble concentrating. Before starting Lyrica, somebody might not be able to move very quickly. But with Lyrica’s side effects, they’ll have trouble getting out of bed in the morning!

I was even more horrified when I saw the side effects of the drug Caduet. This drug is for high cholesterol, but it has extremely common side effects like constipation, diarrhea, dizziness, drowsiness, flushing, headache, nausea, stomach pain, tiredness, and weakness. I think I’d explode if I felt all that… I’ll take the high cholesterol!

Another aspect of these drugs is that you should not drive or operate machinery until you know how “blank” affects you. How long will it take before I know, exactly? So basically, these drugs won’t allow you to get out of bed, drive, use a computer, do the laundry, or anything else normal, for some indefinite time. That’s just wonderful, isn’t it?

Have any of you ever taken one of those prescription drugs? How were the side effects?

Then on the third day, as I sat watching television, I heard an annoying buzz coming from the kitchen. I went to investigate. It kept getting louder and louder, until it sounded sort of like an airplane engine. It was almost as loud, too. Immediately I called General Electric and explained the problem over the whir of the fridge.

They did not seem to understand that the fridge was so loud. They said that they could barely hear it. I brought the phone closer to the fridge, so they heard it loud and clear. Then they said that an employee would be able to come over in 2 weeks. I couldn’t believe it.

“I think my fridge is about to explode!” I said.The freezer had turned off, and all of the temperatures were wonky. I actually thought, for a moment, that my fridge could explode. And this guy was telling me that he would have a representative over in 2 weeks. The guy said that at best, he possibly might be able to get somebody over in 8 days.

After I had hung up, resigned, my son Daniel came into the room. He asked what was going on, and I explained. Daniel walked to the side of the fridge, reached back behind it, and unplugged. We sat in silence for two minutes, and then he plugged it in again. No sound, except for the normal, gentle hum. I gaped, open-mouthed, as I saw the temperature creep back up to normal.

“How did you know how to do that?” I asked.

Daniel shrugged. “It was in some useless fact book.”

Well, that useless fact book may have just saved us a bunch of money in repair costs. I’m even thinking about ordering it through Amazon…

At dawn’s arrival, the parents are bleary-eyed and want nothing more than to sleep. But lo and behold! The children have set their alarm clocks for 7:00, and prepare to bound down the stairs and see what gifts lie beneath the tree.

Alas, little Rory, in his haste, trips over Mary’s slipper, and plummets head over heels down the stairs. He ends by sitting in a split position, wailing his lungs out. The family forgets the presents, and hurries to the hospital. After a long wait, because many other people fall down the stairs in their haste, little Rory is diagnosed with several bruises. He wails all the way home.

Finally, we get to open presents. Rory, the smallest, goes first. He opens the first present, a Superman action figure. Instead of cheering excitedly, young Rory begins to cry. “I wanted Batman! I wanted Batman!” he yells. Then, sniffling and wiping away his tears, he proceeds to open the next one. It is an abacus. Rory throws it across the room. “I know how to count without this!”

The other children opened their presents after Rory had torn up his batch, and were quite pleased with them all. Rory tried to steal Mary’s presents, and they got in a fight. Soon feisty Max joined in, and the inevitable happened. The four thousand dollar painting on the wall fell, crashing onto the floor and bursting in half.

Okay, that’s not my personal Christmas story! I just made one up to amuse you. My kid isn’t even up yet. Hopefully he’ll like the iPod, the magazine subscription, and the latest CD from some band he listens to. Merry Christmas everybody! 

Kids these days want iPods. They want cell phones, XBox 360s, laptops, digital cameras, sports equipment, designer clothes, and the parents want them to be happy. The way they see it, if the kids get want they want, they’ll be happy. But the people who won’t be happy are the parents, once they examine their December credit card bill.

Then there is a lesser known expense for the holidays. Think about how many houses you drive by as you walk down the road that have rows and rows of lights. There ae images of snowmen, trees, and reindeer. These lights are often left on all night, started at 5:00 in the evening and being turned off the next morning. In some cases, lights are left on 24 hours a day. Think of the electric bills!

It’s okay to celebrate the holidays and gifts to the ones you love, but don’t feel pressured to overspend. It’s easy to do that when you see all sorts of sales, and hear people talk about all of the Christmas shopping they are doing for the dozens of people on their list. Happiness can come with moderation.

I have been an overspender in the past, but this year is different. My wife and I gave one small box of chocolates to five of our family friends. Then we got my son an iPod, along with a magazine subscription. We sent other small gift to members of our family. At the end, we had only spent about $350, which is a penny in the jar compared to the thousands some people shell out in order to make themselves feel good. And in our front yard, we had no lights.

However, we put a small, decorated Christmas Tree in the window, so that the neighbors wouldn’t scold us for not having enough spirit. Enjoy your holidays, everybody!