By Lily
Welcome to February. The month of hearts and Valentines. Boyfriends and husbands, if you are feeling the stress of expectations for the holiday, you only need to be prepared, thoughtful, and do your best to throw in some romance. Your worries will be over on the fifteenth. Ladies, if you’re wanting to indulge in some new makeup for the big day, be sure to check out Jo’s review of Mia Mariu Cosmetics.
We start off with National Freedom Day on the 1st followed by Groundhog Day on the 2nd. Those of us in the cold and snowy states await word on how many more weeks of Winter we must endure when the little rascal pops out of his burrow.
I hear there’s a big football game on the 3rd that always airs entertaining and innovative commercials. Stop by and cheer for your team or chat about your favorite commercials.
February 10th rings in the Chinese New Year. And, a day off awaits most workers and releases the kids from school on Presidents’ Day, February 18.
The inspirational story of the Landfill Harmonic Recycled Orchestra in Paraguay is a must-read. A documentary about children making beautiful music by restoring instruments made from the trash in which they live.
Molly takes us along for the adventure of her twin boys experiencing snow for the time on a trip to Mt. Hood. While, PattyPie is on a quest for the perfect sofa and considering all-white! What is she thinking?
IW’s Classic Of The Month is an interview with The Farmer’s Wife. One of our series of Ordinary Women, Uncommon Lives.
Celebrities garner a lot of attention for the work they do and their “stressful” schedules. They deserve credit but so does the everyday working women and mothers who step up to the plate day in and day out to get the job done. One can think of these “ordinary women” as filming a major full-length motion picture that either never ends or has many sequels!
We would also like to give a shout out to everyone with a birthday or anniversary this month! Let us know in the comment section below so we can celebrate with you. Please use this thread for Open Discussion as always!
Lily Doe has written for ImperfectWomen.com since 2009. She has never been shy about sharing her opinion and enjoys writing on a variety of topics. Her life’s focus is sharing good times with family and friends.
Happy February!!
School basketball season is almost over which means we will be back to traveling for basketball tournaments. Spring soccer starts very soon for my 2 little ones. Kickball starts at the end of the month but my youngest has decided she’s not playing this year, only will have my oldest playing but she drives so she can get herself to practices I just have to show up for games. My little decided not to play baseball this year. Whatever will I do with all my free time?
stxmom…..heal and rest in your free time.
Well for V-Day, my hubby will buy me flowers a card and take me to dinner. I would rather have a Lowe’s gift card… He should know that by now…. But I will be super excited (to him anyway) with my girly girl gifts, because at least he remembered that evening to get it all on his way home from work. LOL. Love that man. We have 3 birthdays to celebrate in February (one is a leap year)(so I can skip her if I want too)…. But most of all, what I love about February? is that Spring is ON THE WAY….
I like February too! I love Valentines day but it’s become more of a family love day! we usually spend the day together as a family then my husband and I go out together on the weekend after.
Stxmom – you are a busy gal!
Roozerdo – I have the feeling your hubby is one lucky guy!
Wavin’ hello to Kmom too!
Hello Pattypie! Still smiling from being able to talk about cooking bacon in the oven on the super bowl post!
LOL at the leap year birthday skip! My birthday is the 28th of this month. I just made it!!! LOL
Goodness stxmom, you’re going to have free time? I don’t know what you will do. You are a busy sportsmom.
Happy February to everyone!
Kmom I recently found out that turkey bacon works great in the oven too!
COOL! Now I can cook 2 kinds of bacon in my oven!!!
My daughters team won tonight 49-42, we are tied with another team for 4th place in our district (top 4 teams advance to playoffs). We have 1 more regular season game.
Congratulations StXMom you must be a proud Momma! 😉
Great news, stxmom! Hope they make it to the playoffs.
Congras Stxmom! Enjoy the rest of the season. March madness is always fun!
Congrats! ^^^^^^^^^^
Hi all. Happy-We-Are-Nearing-the-End-of-Winter aka February!
I LOVE the picture you all chose for the header!
I like (love!) the family love day concept, Patty. And it’s an excuse to eat chocolate! So I’m all about St. Valentine’s Day.
Hope February is starting out lovely for you all. <3 <3 <3
Kudos to all the farmers out there. I thought of snicker’s family when I saw this –
Truly one of the best commercials I have ever seen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AMpZ0TGjbWE
Anya, I also love the pic. But, you never need an excuse to eat chocolate. Mmmm, it’s a necessity of life.
stxmom, Whooo Hoooo! Go Team! Congrats to your daughter and her team.
We lost our basketball game but the team we were tied with for the last playoff spot lost too! We will have a playoff game to see who gets that last spot.
Stxmom… well you have a chance and that is all you can ask for. Good luck and I hope you get in the playoffs.
Last night our school basketball season came to an end with a 59-51 loss. Moving on to kickball, soccer & traveling for non school basketball tournaments. Prom dress shopping today.
stxmom,
Congrats to your daughter and her team for a great season. 🙂
How did Prom dress shopping go?
Prom dress shopping! How fun! I think I need a new prom dress. Mine’s a bit dated!
Hope you had a fun time.
🙂
Now this is scary, more “unintended consequences” of the Health Care Bill:
From the Los Angeles Times:
CA State lacks doctors to meet demand of national healthcare law
Lawmakers are working on proposals that would enable physician assistants, nurse practitioners, optometrists and pharmacists to diagnose, treat and manage some illnesses.
Currently, just 16 of California’s 58 counties have the federal government’s recommended supply of primary care physicians, with the Inland Empire and the San Joaquin Valley facing the worst shortages. In addition, nearly 30% of the state’s doctors are nearing retirement age, the highest percentage in the nation, according to the Assn. of American Medical Colleges.
Physician assistants, nurse practitioners, pharmacists and optometrists agree that they have more training than they are allowed to use.
“We don’t have enough providers,” said Beth Haney, president of the California Assn. for Nurse Practitioners, “…so we should increase access to the ones that we have.”
Last year I went prom dress shopping with my daughter to a bridal salon. It was so much fun watching the prospective brides try on dresses! I thought I found my new “I-have-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-Saturday” activity! LOL Oh we also bought a great prom dress then hung out for a little bit watching longer! LOL
I saw my prom dress featured on GMA several years back. They were doing a look back at the 70s and there it was.
I didn’t have girls so I never got to do the whole shopping for prom dress thing. Nor will I get to do the whole shopping for a wedding dress either.
Pam,
Maybe you could appear on the show “Say Yes to the Dress” ! Many future brides invite their future MIL’s to come. 🙂
We didn’t find a prom dress. She tried on many but none were “the one”. The search continues.
Well I am assuming you have some time? When is prom? Is this a junior or senior prom?
snickers, I think I will pass on that. LOL
Holly,
It is my understanding that physician assistants and nurse practitioners already diagnose and treat many illnesses. So I don’t think that is anything new. Are they expanding the scope of what they can diagnose and treat?
I bet they will have pharmacists diagnosing minor illnesses like strep or ringworm and prescribing the proper treatment. They already have pharmacies set up with hours where you can see a PA or a NP and get prescriptions for those type of illnesses.
Pam,
Yes they are going to expand the scope of care provided by Optometrists and Pharmacists to actually seeing and diagnosing Patients. When do they have time? Have you been to a CVS and seen the line just to talk to a Pharmacist or pick up a prescription? I recently read this:
Suddenly, NY Times Realizes Obamacare Prompts Doctor Shortages
Dr. G. Richard Olds, the dean of the new medical school at the University of California, Riverside, said, “We have a shortage of every kind of doctor, except for plastic surgeons and dermatologist.”
Dustin Corcoran, the chief executive of the California Medical Association, which represents 35,000 physicians, said:
It results in delayed care and higher levels of acuity. (People) access the health care system through the emergency department, rather than establishing a relationship with a primary care physician who might keep them from getting sicker.
The federal government has recommended that a given region have 60 to 80 primary care doctors per 100,000 residents, and 85 to 105 specialists. In the worst area for doctor shortages in California, the Inland Empire, there are roughly 40 primary care doctors and 70 specialists per 100,000 residents.
Pam, we could set you up in an office as a NP and I could sell your service and we could make a fortune!!!!!!!!!!!!! The wheels are turning already!
Holly,
From reading reports about California, not only a shortage of doctor’s but business is leaving because of taxes and Obamacare. Looks like Rick Perry is whooing them to Texas.
I do think there is a need for PA’s, as a sore throat or simply symptons are already being done in drug stores and some major grocery chains. I see a broke country when O care becomes in place, no one can afford what he is trying to do, and Congress has a mess on their hands when people start going after their jobs. It already is a huge topic in my state, and it is not going to go away.
Snickers,
I agree there are alot of things a PA can do, I have no problem with that. An Optometrist, that’s another story! As far a Gov Perry, personally I don’t like him at all. However I have alot of friends and business associates living in TX and their businesses are thriving. We have had two Clients move to TX last year and my friend who owns a Mortgage Co is going to Austin to check it out next month. I had a discussion with someone who is a Prof at UCLA specializing in the Health Exchange and her goal is to get rid of “for profit” Health Care and make sure that Doctors are paid no more than any other City or State Worker! What would be the incentive for someone like my Sister, to go to school for eleven years,incur $100,000+ in loans to make $50,000 a year!! Welcome to CA. Everyone is exactly the same (with the exception of those in the TV and Film Business) of course!
Holly,
The health care issue is just the beginning of the spiral out of control. It seems for now, the smaller rural areas are keeping their Doctor’s as they chose those areas because they didn’t want the big city life for their families. I have seem first hand the care that is NOW starting to change for cancer patients as Obamacare is being introduced. It’s not pretty, it’s down right ugly. The nurses are the greatest under the pressures of Obamacare. I agree, free market in the medical field should be up to patients to receive the best care possible, but seems life is not worth it anymore, bottom dollar is. Maybe your sister is going to have to move where she can have a contract with a hospital and a clinic business on the side. For now, that’s what we have here, but for how long, who knows.
Gov Perry at least has a postive outlook for his state, instead of doom and gloom that other Gov’s are saying. If business leaves Ca in droves, who is going to pay all these taxes that Gov Brown has put in place. Ill seems to be having the same problem, but surrounding states offered their hand to them, so they are leaving there after a 66% tax increase on business there. I know this, because my sister closed her real estate business there after 40 years in business. Not only did she sell, she spent 20 years redoing old business places and developments and had as many as 13 crews on her payroll. Between the taxes and Obamacare, there was no way she could furnish everything for all of them. 450 jobs were lost in one day in Ill from her small business, plus the buying of truckloads of supplies she bought has lost a a customer.
I don’t have any answers, just frustration with all of it. Seems like any direction you look, there seems to be a problem everywhere. If only we could have one wish in life for a united country. (sigh)
Is anyone else going to read “Beautiful Bastard” or did you already read it as “The Office”?
http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Bastard-ebook/dp/B009UVCYLS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1360613923&sr=1-1
Mo,
I have never heard of it. I will have to check it out. You read more books that anyone I know.
I’m a book addict, Pam. I can’t help myself. LOL
The fact that I can download a book in seconds – a lot for free – makes it easy to keep up the habit. I read on work breaks, in bed, waiting for the kids while at practice, etc. 🙂
Finally saw the surgeon today (my appointment was at 11:45, didn’t even get called back to the little room until 1 pm). He aspirated both cysts at his office, he used a very thin, long needle and a ultrasound machine to find them. It was all over quickly, I wasn’t prepared for the procedure to be done today but I’m glad he was able to do it, the pain I was feeling was immediately gone, I am sore at the site where the needle entered and have a huge bruise. There is a chance they will fill right back up but right now I feel pretty good.
stxmom, I am happy to hear you have gotten relief. I can imagine that was surprising to have it taken care of right away, hope that bruising goes away quick.
Aaaah, As usual, tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year (as it should be for any decent chocoholic). Half-off good chocolate day! Will be stocking the freezer with some.
My oldest is all set up in his first apartment. I asked what he was going to enjoy most about having his own place, he said he was going to enjoy the quiet since our house is never quiet. I’m sure all that quiet will be boring after a few days.
I think so too, stxmom. I think it is a big deal for them at first but eventually they get lonely. Both of my sons came over to our house a lot more than they ever thought they would after they moved out for the first time. They missed what had been such a big part of their life for a long time.
Good luck to your son and I hope it works out well for him. They do need their space.