Dentists & Dental Plans

Along the lines of one of the World’s Worst To Do Items that has languished on my TD List for months, even years…

I’ve been trying to find a new dentist in Midtown Atlanta.
We have no dental insurance, 2 adults and 3 children.
It’s been at least a year for the kids; could be two, possibly even three years since the adults have opened wide and had to bite down on those horrid little pieces of cardboard…

1) I’ve discovered DentalPlans.com, which offers dozens of different group programs for discounted dental services, as long as you go to a participating dentist.

Benefit: I like the Dental Plans because you at least know up front how much it will cost, from the Discounted Fee Schedules.

Problem: Finding a reputable dentist near you who participates in one of the plans (GE Wellness, Aetna Dental Access, DenteMax, etc.), and then finding reliable information or recommendations for that dentist.

2) I emailed my Neighborhood Parent’s Group to ask for recommendations, and received tremendous response from people I know and trust in my immediate neighborhood.

Benefit: Personal referrals.

Problem: None of the recommended dentists participate in any of the Dental Plans.

3) Through exhaustive research and several drive-bys (if the office is located in a dirty, scary building, I’m not even going to call), I found a dentist who participates in a good plan (Aetna Dental Access), just up the street from my building (in a really nice building, right on Peachtree Street).

Benefit: I even found positive reviews for the dentist on Kudzu.com — but who are these people, really?! Are they just friends or employees who put up good reviews to help the dentist? Is it the dentist, using a bunch of alias email accounts? I don’t know. There are ten great reviews and two not-good reviews, but the dentist actually responded, thoughtfully and reassuringly, to the not-good reviews, which I think is good.

Problem: Still, this is all frightening.

4) I did it. I called the office and arranged an appointment for myself. I’ll be the Scout for the family and check it out before I subject DH and kids…scary, scary, scary, but the receptionist was very nice (very reassuring) on the phone. I couldn’t get in until May 22. I’ll let you know how it goes…

Gotta Get Goals

I was TAGGED recently, by my Blog-friend, Wendy P. at emomsathome.com in Get Your Goals On – Only Big Dreamers Need Apply.

Wendy’s Blog-friend, Alex Shalman at Practical Personal Development began this interactive blog discussion, or MEME, by throwing out the challenge of sharing your Gotta Get Goals, meaning goals that you already have, that you gotta get (achieve); not that you gotta get you some goals. This is the way we generate discussion and networking in the Blog Universe, which is fabulous — for the “rules” of this game, see Alex’s post: click here.

Feel free to join in, in Comments below, or link-back on your own Blog!

Gotta Get Goals

I have been thinking about all of this, and my past, present, and future goals, for several days. I will be 40 this year (in October, mark your calendars, thank you very much! . I have been married almost 19 years, and I have 3 children: son, Z, age 12; daughter, HK, age 9; and son, T, age 6.

I have always been extremely goal-oriented and self-motivated to try new things, achieve and succeed, and although I have suffered great challenges and setbacks (play big, win big/lose big sometimes), I have accomplished a lot in my almost-40 years, especially the last 20, with my hubby and family. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that, because we’re always looking forward, always reaching, always adding to the To Do List.

It’s also interesting, at almost-40 (old to some, young to others, I know), with the hubby and the 3 kids…I’m tired and so busy! I’m not where I thought I would be, but I’m really, really happy where I am, with the things (people and relationships) that are most important to me. I’ve been bumped off the course I had set many, many times. I’m not even sure I’m the eternal optimist anymore, or that “everything happens for a reason.” Does it? I don’t know. Sometimes I think, stuff happens and it is what it is…

Old people like me are supposed to have this all figured out, yet in some ways, I feel like I’m constantly starting over, off on some new adventure, or a refinement of the journey due to obstacles, current conditions, or certain circumstances. I also keep coming upon the realization that I’m halfway there, almost in the 2nd Quarter of the Big Game, and I have a lot of responsibilities and commitments. I no longer have the luxury of messing around or catering to my own narrow focus. (Maybe in another 12 years when the youngest goes off to college?!)

And this is turning into a way-longer post than I like, but here goes (again):

Gotta Get Goals
by Sherri, age 39, 3/30/2007

#1 – Family
My goal is to raise and release to the world, 3 happy, healthy, self-confident, compassionate, responsible, independent adults to pursue their dreams, whatever they may be, and make the world a better place.

#2 – Marriage
So far, so good — great, even, 19 years in. (I think he would say the same!) My goal is to continue the strength of this marriage and partnership into the future, celebrating our almost-20 years together (unbelievable!) each day; to continue to be mindful of each other; and always work on the most important aspects: Love, Passion, Communication, Adventure, Partnership.

#3 – Best-Selling Author
Ah, now we’re into it! My first book, The Rebel Housewife Rules (women’s humor), which I co-authored with my best friend/former Atlanta neighbor, was published in 2004 (Conari Press), and I am so proud of The Rebel (huge goal accomplised!). The book did well, earning out our advance and launching my career as The Rebel Housewife(TM) – Author, Writer, Reviewer, Online BlogMom Extraordinaire. But it was not a best-seller, and no, I never got on Oprah. I am, alas, not yet the financially self-sufficient, independent writer I aspire to be, but I’m working on it:

a) I am working on my second book, a novel, making the fiction/non-fiction leap;

b) I freelance and write book reviews (see Rebel Reviews), which I would love to develop as a career offline in print media;

c) www.RebelHousewife.com & The Random Rebel Coffee Blog

#4 – Basically, I want to make money — a lot of money! — doing what I love the most: Reading & Writing. That’s The Big Goal.

#5 – Financial Freedom & Independence
To live where we want;
To live life as we want;
To travel, experience great adventure, and take our children around the world.

That’s all.
Live, Love & Laugh,
Sherri

Housewife Wisdom: #1 All-Around Best Ever Kitchen Tip

Okay, so my day today is a bit domestic, what with grocery shopping (trying to stretch to the end of the month & payday), cleaning house, and transmogrifying the icky, brown bananas into something yummy.
(See Best Banana Muffin Recipe – Quick & Easy Snack!)

I’m off to work on this week’s Rebel Review, which eventually I will have to update and move everything over to WordPress, I know. Not today.

Being in the domestic mode today, I want to share with you the #1 All-Around Best Ever Cooking/Baking Tip I have come across in my 30+ years of life in the kitchen: The wonders and many, many uses of the handy-dandy Ice Cream Scoop. This is a Betty Crocker tip I recently discovered on the back of a box of Betty Crocker Premium Muffin & Quick Bread Mix, which is a mighty tasty quick box mix. It’s changed my life!

Betty’s Tip:
Use an ice cream scoop to fill muffin cups with batter.

That is Housewife Wisdom for The Ages right there. Elegant in its simplicity, you can truly appreciate this tip if you have been cooking/baking for years, as I have, trying to fill those little cupcake or muffin papers, or drop uniform cookies or biscuits onto a pan with a minimum of mess & hassle (nearly impossible)…so there you go.

Please Comment below and share your Housewife Wisdom: #1 All-Around Best Ever Kitchen Tip! (No, you don’t have to be a housewife to participate.)

Best Banana Muffin Recipe – Quick & Easy Snack

Best use for those over-ripe, brown bananas nobody will eat –
My kids love these!

Best Banana Muffin Recipe – Quick & Easy Snack

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium)
1/3 cup water
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

1) Heat oven to 350°
2) Mix sugar and butter in large bowl.
3) Stir in eggs until blended.
4) Add bananas and water; beat 30 seconds.
5) Stir in remaining ingredients, just until moistened.
6) Scoop into cupcake papers†.
7) Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean; 20 – 25 min.

† Use an ice cream scoop to pour muffin mix into cupcake papers — perfect portions, no mess!

Please feel free to Comment below, or Leave a Link to your favorite
Quick & Easy Family Recipe!

Parental Escapes & The Movie 300

A busy weekend. It’s nice to have everyone back at school & work, but there’s a lot to catch up on, even more so than usual, recovering from our weekend getaway and with family from Walla Walla, Washington coming to visit next week for Spring Break in Atlanta.

It’s YELLOW here, very yellow, from the pollen in the air. Everything is covered with the fine, yellow dust, even in Midtown: the streets, the cars, the sidewalks, everything on our balcony. What a mess. But it is a sure sign of Spring in Atlanta; that and warm weather on its way.

Too warm, since we reached record high temperatures this weekend, and in what seems to be a second tradition of Spring in Atlanta, after the pollen: our AC isn’t working. Big Sigh.

And speaking of the Weekend Getaway…just so you know:

When we finally got to our ’secret’ getaway destination Friday afternoon, desperately looking forward to nothing more than laying around the pool, not setting foot off the resort property for 48 hours straight…
1) The pool was closed and drained for repair, which was noisy and dusty.
2) The restaurant was closed, no bar service, no food or drink to be had at our little resort in the N. Georgia ‘mountains.’
3) Our little cabin was musty, moldy, and kinda dirty.

We stayed one night. We drove out to dinner, which we didn’t have because of the movie schedule, and a movie, 300 (which was fabulous and visually stunning, very gory in a graphic novel kind of way, lots of flying blood), which we didn’t get to see on the IMAX because it was already sold out, so we saw it on a regular screen, which was fine. The movie, 300, even on a regular stadium-seating movie screen, was incredible. All those Spartan warrior abs — OMG. But I digress.

Still, even after maintaining the good mood and a sense of adventure, happy to just be together with some time off, after all of that, we got screwed, literally: We ended up with a big ol’ screw stuck in the rear tire of our nearly-new Jeep. (Today’s second Recovery Mission, after scheduling AC service. Laundry is next. Woo hoo.)

We came home. We parked the car in the garage, left the kids at Grammy’s and spent the rest of our weekend beside our own pool, with a Thermos pitcher of margaritas. It was awesome.

Oh, by the way, the nice guys at Kauffman Tire fixed the flat tire this morning. It took about an hour — no charge!

More on Pets & Saving Money

Classic Rebel from The Rebel Blog May 2006:

VETERINARY SECRETS REVEALED

I know, I know: Who needs another eBook?! Not me. I have sworn off downloadables (again and again and again…). But darn it, when you need good information on a specific topic, and trying to research on the Internet is running you around in circles, and you find the promise of just the right thing — exactly what you are looking for — and there are bonuses and a “Rock-Solid 90 Day Unconditional Guarantee…”

We have a dog I love dearly, and we also have three (human) children. We paid $85 for our furry friend, to rescue her from the county animal shelter, and then we invested several hundred dollars more on veterinary care, vaccinations, training, treats, toys, leashes, beds, etc. (She’s only been with us about three months.) We do not have health insurance for the dog, nor can we afford it. We can barely afford the health insurance for the humans in the house, much less the $40 co-pay anytime one of us needs to visit the doctor.

So when a non-emergency, seemingly-minor veterinary concern arises, I have to hesitate because I know it’s going to be expensive, even if it turns out to be nothing, if I take her to the vet. This time, it’s a case of “goopy eye” — messy, but no other symptoms of illness. Whatsoever. She’s running and leaping all around at the moment, happily tossing and catching a rawhide chew — like a cat on catnip (crazy dog!).

For less than the price of a visit to the vet, I downloaded VETERINARY SECRETS REVEALED by Dr. Andrew Jones, a DVM in British Columbia, Canada. AND the “Three Super Bonuses Valued at $122″ — mine to keep, even if I end up requesting a refund on the big book (173 pages, with a full index, table of contents, and well-organized, easy-to-find, easy-to-understand information) — which I won’t! Goopy eye resolved (and reassured), and that’s worth the price right there.

That’s all I have time for now, but I’ll put it on Rebel Reviews soon. Meanwhile, if you need veterinary information, practical help, or common sense advice on pet issues A to Z, check out VETERINARY SECRETS REVEALED – CLICK HERE.

Wal-Mart, Target & Wii

So I was at the new Wal-Mart in Atlanta today…I know, I know what I said yesterday, but there you go. I was on a Wii mission, and I was just hoping maybe no one else inside the City of Atlanta shops at Wal-Mart either, because we’re all so Urban Cool and Target has such a lock on the market inside The Perimeter (I285, which goes around Metro Atlanta, and forms a very distinct Urban/Suburban, ITP/OTP chasm-which-should-not-be-crossed, for those of us who live, work & play on the Inside).

But Target’s got no Wii. Nor does Best Buy, EB Games, or anywhere else Inside. I’m going to have to go back up to Dahlonega, just to get stuff for this Wii.

I ended up going over there anyway, to my favorite Target in the new Edgewood Shopping District. No luck on the Wii, but I picked up a storage shelf, a shoe rack, and some great spring/summer shorts & tees for my daughter…so I’ve got stuff I should be doing.

The Internet search begins for Wii Play w/controller; another controller; and the other little do-hickey thing that you can Box with, but only if both players have the do-hickey thing, and the Wii only comes with one do-hickey and one controller. What’s up with that?!

Wii Birthday & Getaways

What do you get a 41-year-old techie for his birthday?
A Nintendo Wii, of course!

(Now that they are finally available on the Free Market — at Wal-Mart in Dahlonega, GA, anyway.)(I have to mention here that my favorite store is Target — I am not a Wal-Mart shopper! — but my inlaws helped me out by finding the Wii up in the mountains, at the Wal-Mart near their home, since they (the Wii’s) are still nowhere to be found inside the City of Atlanta!)

We celebrated DH’s birthday early this weekend. I am taking him away next weekend (on the birthday) for two nights to an undisclosed location, within an hour or so of Atlanta, just to get away to do nothing but relax, celebrate, and ease the pain of growing another year older (#41).
He’s still lookin’ good.

We’ll probably end up lounging by the pool all weekend (weather permitting, please God!!). I’ll read my Vanity Fair magazine [my all-time favorite mag], a good book or two, and do some scribbling on the novel. He’ll catch up on his brain-candy (tech/men’s mags) and listen to his iPod. We might even work on Our Project, which I’ll talk more about soon, but not yet. (No, it’s NOT another baby!)

And the present he opened last night, but we’ll be leaving with the kids
(& Grammy) next weekend: the Nintendo Wii w/extra controller. Woo hoo — We were Wii-ing all afternoon yesterday with G’Ma & G’Pa [they already have their own Wii] on Wii Sports (Bowling, Tennis, Baseball, etc.) and we now have our own little tribe of Mii’s running around inside the Wii Universe. Even for a non-video gamer like myself, the Wii is pretty fun!

I’ve got to go find the Wii Play game — it comes with an extra controller.
(You do need one for each kid, so now we’ll have 3 and probably get one more.) We’ll be renting games for a while — they are expensive, especially after all the investment in the basic hardware.

Runescape – Intro to Identity Theft?

Does anyone else have any experience, good or bad, with Runescape.com?

Runescape is an online interactive adventure game. My kids have been obsessed with Runescape for the better part of a year, jumping online to play with their friends at almost every given opportunity. Because it is online, with hundreds of thousands of players, there are absolutely security risks and exposures, which we considered and monitor closely in allowing our children to play.

There are also benefits:
1) It is educational, with the theme of a medieval quest, which encourages players to explore, acquire new knowledge, to barter and exchange and work together.
2) It is cooperative play — a rare thing that my children can do and enjoy together, without bickering and fighting. I’d like to think they are watching out for each other, and I think they do, to some extent, when the oldest (age 12) isn’t forcing the younger two (ages 9 & 6) to work for him on some conquest or project. (We’re working on anti-slavery and fairness concepts, another valuable educational opportunity.)
3) It is non-violent and a fairly clean environment.

We’ve kept an eye on it, with the computers in our living room and study, out in the open, where we can look over the shoulder anytime and see what’s going on, what they are reading and writing, who they are interacting with, as they play in this alternate universe.

They all know the rules of computer and Internet safety, with the primary command of NEVER sharing any personal information; never engaging in any conversation outside the game; telling us about any type of strange behavior, conversation or approach from other players — anything that confuses them or makes them uncomfortable.

Up until now, we thought it was non-predatory and safe.

The problem we have now is, in two instances, the kid’s accounts have been “hacked” — where they have worked to build something, or collect objects and treasure, or reach higher levels in the game, and all of a sudden discover they can no longer log on to their own account, that someone else has taken over their Runescape identity.

We have not heard back yet from the admininstrator of Runescape.com, and we are following up. At this point, we will be cancelling the kid’s registered accounts and they will not be able to play on the member levels, which leads to some pretty unhappy kids.

I’m sad, too, that there are no safe places to play, or work, or do anything else in Cyberspace, and sad, but not ignorant or naive, that our children must learn this reality from the start.

No School Today

Today is a Teacher Planning Day (end of the quarter, filling out those Report Cards!), so the kids are home from school, and it is a rainy, gray day in Atlanta. I sent The Girl (age 9) off to work with Daddy for a couple of hours, which is one of the huge benefits of living in a Midtown hi-rise right across the street from DH’s office — we love the Live, Work & Play urban development concept!

I never signed on to become a Suburban Housewife with a Commuter Daddy, especially with 3 kids. I’d take my Concierge and 10th-floor balconies any day over home maintenance and gardening. I could go on and on about the benefits of urban living, but the biggest benefit is having DH/Daddy right across the street, especially on Teacher Planning Days.

I do, however, have to get off my computer at the moment, so that my Young Son (age 6) can get on to Webkinz and check on his cyber-animal. Big responsibility, you know, and his big brother, Older Son (age 12) is hogging the “kid’s computer” to play Runescape online with his friends, who are also home from school today, playing on the computer. I remember when we just laid around and watched cartoons all day…