Eye Doctor

I had my yearly eye appointment this morning and when I arrived, they asked me if my insurance was the same. While our insurance provider is still technically the same, Wells Fargo changed the plan they offer to employees, so our yearly eye exam is now covered under a separate vision plan instead of under our medical plan like it used to be. So I showed her the new card and they don't take the new vision plan! I have been going to this eye doctor since I moved to Wisconsin and am completely pissed off about this. I called the new insurance company to see if they possibly reimburse you for out-of-network providers. Ironically, the hold message kept repeating how this vision plan is the number one accepted plan amongst eye doctors in the nation. The lady told me that they reimburse you up to $55 for out of network exams. So I asked my eye doctor how much an eye exam cost and they said $170! WHAT?!?! Yeah, so now I have to find a new eye doctor and I am really pissed off about it.

America, I hate your stupid healthcare system.

What I learned: My eye doctor does not accept my "new" insurance.

Jewish Baptism

Today I learned something both interesting, disturbing and weird. Apparently, the Mormon church has a  practice where they baptize posthumously. More specifically, they are adamant about performing them for Jewish Holocaust victims. They have apparently baptized Anne Frank 9 times. Well known Jewish author Elie Wiesel found out that he was on a list of living Jews whom the Mormon church planned on baptizing once they died. Elie Wiesel, rightly revolted and astonished at this practice, has called on Mitt Romney, being a notable Mormon now in the public eye, to condemn this practice. I did a little bit of research and found that Jews (and others) have been fighting the Mormon church about this for decades. Obviously it is reemerging because of the campaign, but also apparently because as much as the Mormon church claims it is taking Holocaust victims out of their genealogical database to be baptized, it was found this month that the parents of Simon Wiesenthal, a Jewish rights activist and Holocaust survivor, were added to the database. This is also when it was discovered that Anne Frank had been baptized for the ninth time by the church.

What I learned: Mormons practice Baptism for the Dead.

Dentist

Today Jared and I went to the dentist. Ever since I turned 23, I have had cavities at every visit (of course, this coincided with me graduating from college and starting to eat really well instead of eating like crap and drinking mountain dew all the time, so it completely makes sense...). Jared on the other hand has never had a cavity his entire life. So I expected today to be told I had a few more, but by some miracle, I don't! No cavities! Jared didn't have any either. Yay.

What I learned: For the first time in 6 years, I don't have a single cavity.

The Artist

Tonight was the annual Hohenstein Oscar Party. This is always fun because we get to see a lot of friends, eat great food, play the ballot game and of course, watch the Oscars. Jared and I were only able to go to part of the party since we had to be home before Avery woke up (yes, he still wakes up a few times every night...), but we found out later at home who won Best Picture. While I had only seen three of the nine nominated films (The Help, The Descendants and Moneyball), I picked The Help to win best picture, but The Artist won. I really want to see this movie and now I want to see it even more.

What I learned: The Artist won Best Picture.

Hawaii

I have never been the type of person who enjoys hot weather. This is due to the fact that I lived in Georgia for 18 years, being sticky and gross and uncomfortable for most of the time. I hate it. So when it comes to going on vacations, I have also never been the type of person who would ever want to go someplace warm or tropical. For our honeymoon, Jared and I went on a cruise in the Mediterranean in November when most people would have gone to the Caribbean for a cruise to get away from the Wisconsin winters.

However, after reading Moloka'i (see earlier post) and then watching The Descendants tonight, both of which take place in Hawaii, I really want to go there. Now I have always wanted to go to all 50 states (I think I've been to 35-40 of them) so in that sense, it's not that I didn't want to go to Hawaii. But now I want to plan a vacation there. I mean, I really really want to go. Maybe Jared and I can go there for our 5 year wedding anniversary next year...but probably not. Too bad flights are ridiculously expensive these days. :(

What I learned: I actually want to go on a vacation to Hawaii.

Moloka'i

Today I finished reading Moloka'i. I had maybe 150 pages left to read and even though I had a few more days to finish before book club, I couldn't put it down. The book was just so well written and was very intriguing. It's one of my favorite books that I've read in a long time.

What I Learned: Moloka'i is one of my new favorite books.

Ryan Braun

I, like most of Milwaukee, has been following Ryan Braun's story closely. I think most people in Milwaukee believe Ryan Braun about his steroid test and have been praying that his appeal goes through so that he won't be suspended for 50 games (plus, that would completely suck for the Brewers as we already lost Prince Fielder this year!). Today it was announced that he won his appeal and will not be suspended! Apparently, MLB is pissed off about this and completely disagrees with the decision, but Milwaukee is rejoicing. Go Brew Crew!

What I learned: Ryan Braun won his appeal.

Hertz

Today's Google logo was in honor of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz' birthday (2/22/1857). Everyone's heard of the hertz as a unit of measurement for frequency but that's about all I knew about him. So I did some research and found out that he was responsible for clarifying the electromagnetic theory of light. He also proved the existence of electromagnetic waves by making instruments that could transmit radio pulses. I also learned that a hertz technically stands for cycles per second.

What I Learned: What exactly Heinrich Hertz accomplished as a scientist, as well as what a Hertz more specifically stands for.

Leprosy

This month, for the book club I'm in, we are reading Moloka'i which is a novel about the leper colony in Hawaii. It is a really good book and I realized while reading it that I don't really know that much about leprosy other than what's in the Bible. Upon further research, I found out that what is called leprosy today is not actually what leprosy was in the Bible. However, since it was translated as leprosy in the Bible, this created the idea that leprosy nowadays is super contagious, requiring people diagnosed with it to be sent to leper colonies. People still consider leprosy to be a really contagious disease.

The book, which takes place in the late 1800s and early 1900s, relates how scientists were trying to figure out the disease-both how it was spread and how to cure it. In my own research I found that scientists still aren't exactly sure how it's spread, but one thing is certain-it is not as contagious as people think. About 95% of people are naturally immune to it first of all. The disease is not spread by contact of the lesions as was once thought, but possibly by respiratory droplets. So you basically would get it much like you would catch a cold, except it's not that easy to catch and like I said, most people are naturally immune and can never get it. With all this information, I think it's even sadder that all these people were ripped from their families, some when they were just 7 years old, and sent to live in leper colonies in Hawaii. It was all so unnecessary!

What I learned: Leprosy is not very contagious and is a completely different disease than what is called leprosy in the Bible.

Lapsit Storytime

This morning, Jared and I took Avery to the library for lapsit storytime. One would assume from the name of the event that it would involve your child sitting on your lap and listening to a story. However, that was not the case. It was more like a Kindermusic class. The librarian led the kids and parents in some songs with actions (that were clearly meant for older children so it was just the parents participating really). Then she passed out bells to the kids to shake along with more songs. She also had a puppet that she walked around with as well as a teddy bear that she later demonstrated could get dressed "all on his own" by putting all his clothes on correctly (what 1 year old can understand that?). Then she brought out toys for all the kids to play with on the mat, and that was the end of lapsit storytime. Avery still enjoyed it, but the library seriously needs to consider renaming their events.

What I learned: Lapsit Storytime at the library does not involve reading stories.

The Odd Pains of Pregnancy

When I was pregnant with Avery, around the third trimester, I would occasionally get these weird sensations/pains in my butt (sorry if this is tmi...). It would feel like a nerve was being pinched combined with the need to pop or crack my hip. It is more uncomfortable than painful and has sharper pains when walking or if I move a certain way. Well I just started getting this again and it just seems so odd. I have never read anything about this specific kind of sensation. Well today in my weekly email from babycenter.com, it actually talked about it! It said this was called posterior pelvic pain:

Then there's what's known as posterior pelvic pain, which you may feel deep inside your buttocks (on one side or both) or in the back of your thighs. This pain can be triggered by activities such as walking, climbing stairs, getting in or out of a low chair, twisting, and lifting. Positions in which your hips are bent — such as when you're sitting in a chair and leaning forward — may make posterior pelvic pain worse.


 It's good to know this is a real thing as it's kinda hard to describe.

What I learned: The sensation I'm feeling in my butt is called posterior pelvic pain and is normal during pregnancy.

Tahitian Dancers

Tonight, Jared and I went to the Volunteer Recognition Night at our church. It was luau themed so they had great decorations and yummy food that corresponded to this. While we were eating, they also had a dance group perform to a few songs (Who knew that Milwaukee had a Polynesian dance troupe?). Before one of the dances, the group's leader informed us that in Tahiti, the dancers only dance to drums. The music never has any singing or other musical instruments. They proceeded to dance wildly with their hips (I'm sure you all have seen this kind of dancing before on TV) which was really impressive because most of the people I would say were over age 50. They also danced some traditional Hawaiian dances as well. Overall it was really cool and I am still surprised this dance troupe exists in Milwaukee!

What I learned: Traditional Tahitian dancers dance only to drums.

Blue Moon City

Tonight I went over to the Sonnenberg's for game night and learned another new game: Blue Moon City. This game involves dragons and crystals, and has really cool illustrated cards. The game was really easy to learn and had a straightforward concept, as well as being really fun to play. I really like finding games that don't take an hour to teach and multiple hours to play. While there are plenty of games like that that I really love (Agricola, for example), there's just something nice about being able to play a fun game that only lasts an hour and that can really easily be taught.

What I learned: How to play Blue Moon City.

Jury Duty

I failed to mention yesterday that I was at jury duty all day. I have always wanted to do jury duty, and after having to postpone it three times, I finally was able to go in this week. I really wanted to get on a case. Yesterday afternoon around 3:30, my name was finally called for a jury panel. I was so excited. About 30 other potential jurors and I went into the courtroom and underwent about an hour and 20 minutes of questioning. I was sure after all of this that I would be picked for the case. It was 4:58 and the prosecutor and the defense lawyer were still deciding on their jury when the judge said that there was no time left for them to finish. By law, we all had to be out by 5:00 because court was closed, so they couldn't read out the list of names anytime after 5:00 as it had to officially be on the record and be before 5:00. This meant that we all had to come back in the morning just for them to read the jury list to us to know if we made it on the case!

So this morning we all headed back into the courtroom and were read the final list of names. I was not chosen :( I was confused by this until I remembered that one of the last questions they asked was if anyone had a college degree. Those who did had to say what their degree was in and where they went to college.  I don't think a single person who said they went to college got put on the jury. The case was a battery and domestic violence case so maybe they thought educated people would be more biased or judgmental? I'm not sure, but I am sad I wasn't chosen. Now I won't get called back for at least 4 more years, even though I wasn't even on a jury. Boo.

What I learned: I did not get picked for a trial at jury duty.

Priceline

I have never used Priceline.com before, specifically the "name your own price" feature. This is mostly due to the fact that I am leery of paying for something before I know exactly what I'm paying for. However, I know a few people who have used it before and have never heard any complaints. So when it came time for me to book a hotel in Milwaukee (I am getting a Day of Solitude, courtesy of my wonderful husband, where I will be leaving on Friday morning, 2 March and not returning home until the following afternoon. I have never left Avery for this long or overnight and think it will be hard, but I also haven't slept for more than 3-4 hours in a row in almost 2 years, so I need a break before baby #2 arrives! And I digress...) I decided to try it out. I only wanted to spend $40 at a hotel but wanted to stay in the Glendale area. Thinking that this would never happen, I filled out all the required information, gave them my credit card info, clicked "submit" and waited, assuming that it would come back saying that no hotel took my offer (I also said I required at least a 2 star hotel). But to my surprise, it came back with a 3 star hotel that took my offer! The Northshore Radisson Inn in Glendale had accepted my offer. I went to their website and pretended to buy the same room on the same night and it cost $130. And I got it for $40! What an awesome deal! I think I'll be using Priceline again.

What I learned: You can get awesome deals on Priceline.com.

Brussels Sprouts

My mom and I were taking turns reading each other trivia from her new Trivial Pursuit book that she got for her birthday from Blake. The answer to one of the questions was Brussels sprouts (something like, what vegetable is named after the capital of Belgium, a no-brainer). My mom told me that until recently she never realized that the real term was BrusselS sprouts, not brussel sprouts. Well, until that very moment, I didn't know that either. Most people don't really think about it since when anyone says it, no one pronounces two separate "s" sounds. And I suppose I've seen it written out before but never actually paid enough attention to realize that there is an "s" at the end of brussel since it is named after Brussels. I wonder how many other words are like this.

What I learned: Brussels sprouts is the correct spelling of the vegetable.

English Hothouse Cucumber

I am currently helping Sarah out with a photo project by posing in pictures that include me holding produce that corresponds to the size of my baby in utero. Every week I get an email from babycenter.com that details the length and weight of my baby and compares it to a fruit or vegetable. Sometimes they choose a fruit or vegetable based on length and sometimes on weight. This past week, it stated that my baby was approximately the length of an English hothouse cucumber (14 inches) (see picture here). But what really is an English hothouse cucumber and how is it different than a regular cucumber? Wikipedia for one doesn't even have a page for it! But according to this website, a hothouse cucumber is longer and has less seeds. Okay, that's really not that much different.

What I learned: A hothouse cucumber, often just called an English Cucumber, is longer and has less seeds than a regular cucumber.

Moneyball

Tonight, Neal, Blake, their friend Jake, my mom, Jared and I all watched Moneyball. I knew the basic gist of the story since my mom had already read the book and told me about it, so I knew that the Athletics used Sabermetrics to assemble a baseball team to try to combat the unfairness of ball clubs that had less revenue to work with, and that they ended up not going to the World Series that year (although they were close). I also knew that most people in baseball tried to dismiss this method and criticized Billy Beane for using it, citing the fact that the Athletics didn't even go to the World Series that year. I did not know that regardless of that fact, the Athletics set an American League record that season, winning 20 consecutive games, and they finished first in their division with a record of 103-59.

The other thing I learned is this: I knew the Red Sox broke their curse in 2004, winning the World Series, but what I didn't know is that they did it using Sabermetrics (they actually offered Billy Beane $12.5 million to be their GM but he declined the offer in order to stay with the Athletics. They hired Bill James, the "creator" of Sabermetrics, as a consultant instead, and promptly won the World Series).

What I learned: The A's hold the American League record for most consecutive wins and had a record season using Sabermetrics to build their team. This method also helped the Red Sox break their curse in 2004.

Whitney Houston

Tonight right before we were going to bed, Jared saw online that Whitney Houston had died. I didn't believe him at first because it seemed like a really random announcement, but yes, she had indeed died. I can only imagine that this is going to be another long investigation culminating in various rumors about the cause of death until the truth emerges and by that time, everyone will have forgotten what was rumor and what was fact. I'm not shocked, surprised, or particularly saddened by this news, but find it to be another sad story of a celebrity dying too young.

What I learned: Whitney Houston is dead at age 48.

Sublime

Tonight we were playing a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit for my mom's birthday and the question was thus: What happens to a solid when it sublimes?

I have never heard this term before. I mean, I have heard of the word sublime, of course, but always as a noun or adjective, but not in this context (as a verb). So I was surprised to hear the answer: that it turns into a gas. Upon further research I found that the exact definition states that not only does the solid turn to gas upon heating without ever liquefying, but it also implies that it then turns back into a solid upon cooling. How have I never heard this before? Then I remember who I had for a chemistry teacher in 10th grade and am no longer surprised.

What I learned: When a solid sublimes, it turns into a gas when heated and turns back into a solid when cooled.

Ephod

I was doing my daily Bible reading today (in Exodus) and I came across the term ephod a number of times. I don't know if it's because I was tired or not reading carefully, but I couldn't grasp from the reading what exactly an ephod was or what it looked like, other than the fact that it was an article of clothing worn by the priests. So I looked it up here. It most likely looked something like this:

What I learned: That an ephod is like a priestly apron.

Military Honors

Today I attended my Uncle Harold's funeral. It was a really nice service and afterwards some of the family headed to the cemetery in the funeral procession. At the cemetery, we were met by two military men so that they could perform military honors. According to my grandparents, you have to call and request that this be done and you have several options. You can have someone play taps, have a gun salute, fold and present the flag, etc. They decided to just have the flag presented to my grandpa (Harold was his brother). But there was already an American flag folded on his coffin at the church. I was confused by this because I thought that the flag would be folded by the military men at the cemetery. When the ceremony began at the cemetery, the soldiers took the flag off the coffin and ceremoniously unfolded it, then refolded it, then presented it to my grandpa. I'm not sure if this is normal practice (that's not what they show in the movies!), but I  got the impression that it was. I guess I just assumed that they would arrive with an unfolded flag and just fold it upon arrival. I guess this looked better and was more formal anyway.

What I learned: You can request what specific form of military honors you have performed at a veteran's funeral; also the ceremony of folding the flag also consists of unfolding it first.

Lady Gaga

This morning, my mom, Afton, Avery and I drove to MN to attend my great-uncle's funeral (which is tomorrow). In the car, we listened to a variety of music that we could all agree on. One of the last CDs we listened to was a burned CD of Afton's that had various current pop songs on it, including songs from Kelly Clarkston, Adele, Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga. Afton was about to skip a song stating that Mom wouldn't like it, so I asked what it was-it was Lady Gaga's Edge of Glory. I told her that we should listen to it anyway and see if Mom would like it, because how would we know since she had never heard it before? And surprisingly, she really liked it! Who would have ever guessed that Mom would not just tolerate, but enjoy Lady Gaga?

What I learned: Mom likes Lady Gaga (well, at least the two songs she heard!).

The Nutritional Merits of Jell-O?

Recently, my mom and I have had several conversations about the nutritional value of Jell-O. My mom thinks it's healthy for you (I think her exact quote was, "It's filled with protein!") and I do not. Now, this isn't to say that I don't like Jell-O or think it's terrible for you or don't eat it myself, because I really like Jell-O. I just think that we have very different ideas of what "healthy" means in this case, so I decided to do some research and this is what I found.

Daily recommended intake of protein:
women-46 grams
infants-10 grams

Daily recommended intake of sugar:
women-20 grams
children-12 grams
(these numbers are confusing because on the same website it said that your daily intake of added sugars should be 40 grams or less, and then it says that the American Heart Association states that you should only have 20 grams of sugar a day, so I'm not sure which numbers to go with).

Jell-O has 2 grams of protein and 19 grams of sugar per serving. I think it's fair to say that the amount of sugar contained in Jell-O overrides the fact that it has 2 grams of protein in it. Again, there are WAY worse things for you to eat, and I am not advocating not eating Jell-O. I just think that choosing to give Avery meat for his protein intake instead of offering him Jell-O is probably the way to go :) Sorry, Mom!

What I learned: Jell-O has a LOT of sugar in it and not much else.

Burned Cheese

We are at my dad's house today to hang out and watch the Superbowl. I brought over some tortilla chips and shredded cheese to make nachos in the oven. At home, we have a gas oven and when I make these at home, I use the broiler and I wait about 3-4 minutes, check on it, and usually keep it in for another minute or so before it's done. Well, my dad has an electric oven and I put them in on the broiler, waited three minutes and when I walked into the kitchen, smoke was billowing out of the oven. I opened up the oven and was engulfed in smoke. The entire pan was black and burned and the kitchen and the entire downstairs of the house filled with smoke. After THREE minutes. Geez. I hate electric ovens!

What I learned: Apparently electric ovens broil things at a much faster rate than gas ovens do. Either that or my dad's oven is super powered and mine is crappy.

Cream Cheese Pillows

Today I made some cookies to bring with to MN for my Uncle Harold's funeral as the family will be providing dessert after the funeral. I first made some no-bake cookies, a family favorite. I then decided to make something I have never made before. I looked in various cookie cookbooks that I have and settled on making Cream Cheese Pillows. This recipe has dough made out of butter, cream cheese and flour which is rolled into a ball and then refrigerated for four hours. Then you roll the dough very thinly and cut it into 2.5 inch circles. In each circle you put 1/4 teaspoon of raspberry jam, then fold it over and press the ends together with fork tines. While the process was easy, it was really time consuming, especially rolling out the dough, which took me about 45 minutes. After the mini pastries bake for 10 minutes, you dip them in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. While these "cookies" took a long time to make, they turned out to be delicious.

What I learned: How to make cream cheese pillows.

Uncle Haircut

This morning I found out that my Great-Uncle Harold passed away. He had suffered from Alzheimer's for a few years and had come down with pneumonia again, so his passing wasn't unexpected. While a great-uncle might seem like a distant relation, we were closer to him since we saw him as often as we saw our grandparents growing up. My mom grew up calling him Uncle Haircut, a name we continued to call him as children. While he was no longer himself at the end, I will still always remember him in his immaculately kept garden in St Paul. You will be missed, Uncle Harold, but we know you are finally at home in heaven.

What I learned: My Uncle Harold passed away this morning.

Burning Calories

Today I was reading an article on babycenter.com and they had a list of common household activities and how many calories each one burns. Everyone has seen these lists before showing how many calories you burn by vacuuming or doing laundry, but this list had something I found interesting and don't remember ever seeing before. It stated that you burn 216 calories per hour playing with a toddler, which means that I burn probably 1000 calories a day (an estimate...)! So now everyday when I feel bad that I don't spend any time exercising, I can remember that I actually exercised for hours by just playing with my son. How awesome is that?

What I learned: Playing with Avery burns over 200 calories per hour.

Nutria

Tonight I was playing Trivia Pursuit with my mom and the answer to a question was the nutria. I have never even heard of this animal before, so I looked it up. It's a semi-aquatic rodent that lives mostly in South America. It's weird to think of a rodent as aquatic. What's weirder is that they are very similar to otters and yesterday I learned something new about otters.

What I learned: The nutria is a semi-aquatic rodent.

This is my 100th post! Woohoo!