Musings of a Michigan Mom

A couple weeks ago we ended up doing our big vacation for the year!  One thing I was looking forward to was the use of our new GPS that my parents got us for Christmas.   Using it around home and to the Detroit area I already knew I was going to like it, but on our vacation I found out how much more I would like it.

I do have to say I have a lot more pro’s than con’s about it.   Here is a list of my pros…

• You don’t have to study on a map or mapquest how to get somewhere… instead you just punch in the address on your GPS and hit go!  (I still recommend having a map in the car with you just in case she goes off track a little.. I have read horror stories about that)
• It shows you what the speed limit is and how fast you are going!   I used that feature on it a lot as I hated the speedometer on the van we had rented as it showed 20, 40, 60, 80…. not 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. 
• If you miss a turn she will let you know and will recalculate to get you back on track.
• It will show you were the nearest doctors/hospitals/police.. etc are.  So say you are driving through Plano Texas and you break a tooth.. you can look up Plano dentist and it will show you where the closest one is!
• It has a clock on there that will show you at what time you will arrive at your destination.   The only thing is if you stop for gas, supper..etc the time will change so they don’t put in account you stopping for gas even.

Cons:   I really can’t think of to many, but here were a few

• Sometimes they will tell you to turn on a “road” which could be a two track (that was our case.. but we used our better judgement and just kept driving) or a seasonal road.   I’ve read in the papers about how people got stuck in snow on a seasonal road and was stuck for days on end.  So while it’s nice to not have to think and do what the talking lady says.. you also have to use your better judgement as well.
• Sometimes it can be a little hard to understand ours at least.  It always sounds like she is saying our next turn will be on the left.. I’ve now learned to look down at it to see which way for sure I will be having to go.

One thing I wish they could add to it that would make me love it even more…  I wish it would beep at you when the speed limit changes!  That way I don’t always have to look over at it to make sure I didn’t miss a speed limit sign.. I could just listen for the beep!   I actually am surprised they haven’t come up with that one yet.

Do you have a GPS?  If so, do you like it?  Or do you have more con’s than pro’s with it?

I never realized it until my sister said something awhile back, but one thing that is heredity in our family is my sister & I along with some of the kids all have dark circles under our eyes.   Here I thought it was always me and I always wondered why me… was I not sleeping enough?  Now by just looking online I found out it actually could mean quite a few different things.  It could be an allergy thing, or it could be a sign of an iron deficiency, Persistent eye rubbing, dehydration or maybe even Velocardiofacial syndrome. 

But I guess there are many different things you could do to try and get rid of them.  Besides trying to find the best under eye cream, you could also try to get rid of them by applying cool tea bags, an ice cube wrapped in soft cloth or cucumber slices to your eyes every night for 10-15 minutes, avoid rubbing your eyes, eat a healthy, balanced diet, take vitamins and drink plenty of water or even reduce salt intake.

I never really thought about it until the other day, but have you ever noticed that even with tv shows have teenagers in them, the teenagers never have acne?  Why is that?  Why does tv/movies always make out the teenagers on tv to always be perfect and never how they are in real life?  How great would it be to have a show where they showed teenagers that go through the problems that real teenagers go through?  They could show what the best acne treatment might be?  Or have teenagers deal with other issues that teenagers in today’s world have to deal with.  I’m sure they don’t deal with the same problems we used to deal with.  Maybe then, parents could relate to their teenagers a little bit more too?   Just a thought….

Do you understand much about Mardi Gras?  All I know about it is they celebrate around Fat Tuesday (which I’m not sure what that is, but it makes me think people would be looking for something like a phentermine diet pill because they will be eating to much) by having a parade where people dress up with masks and throw beads. 

We currently are in Orange Beach, Alabama and they will be having a Mardi Gras parade today and my guess is we will be grabbing another bag full of beads today like we did last Saturday.   Even though I really don’t understand it all, I do have fun with it!

It’s crazy thinking about how many diet pills are out in the world today.  It seems like every day another pill comes onto the market, but the question I have is how many of those pills are fda approved diet pills?  When you are looking them over at the grocery store, do you actually do some research before buying one?  Or do you just pick one that has a nice package or is in your price range?’

I never really thought about it before because I assume everything on the shelves are approved, but that just might not be the case.  So before buying that next bottle, do your research and make sure you are taking a pill that is good for you instead of one that might do more harm than help.

It’s amazing how much I put my skin through on this vacation.  First off we leave Michigan and it’s a little cold, but for winter not so bad.  We arrive in Florida and it was warm enough where we got to go swimming, but then that night it started raining and got a little colder.  The next 6 days were COLD and WINDY!   Put it this way… Wednesday night was so cold & windy we were debating on staying for the Spectromagic parade and fireworks.  I honestly was ready to skip the fireworks as it was so cold and we were dressed for it except for our hands since we forgot gloves and no store down there had any.   That night when I got home my face was red and it wasn’t from the sun.. it was from the wind I’m sure!

Now that we are away from Disney and are in Orange Beach my skin is still being exposed to many different things.  It gets hot when sitting outside on the belcony away from the wind, to it getting dried out when you go swimming in the coline filled pool to getting the cold and wind when you go out to watch the Mardi Gras Parade.

So what did I learn this vacation?  Don’t forget to bring your exposed skin care treatments at home, because you never know what you will be exposing your skin to!

I really hope that my kids take after me when it comes to clothes.  When I was in high school, some of my friends had to have the name brand jeans like Guess?.  (Do they even make those anymore?)   For me, I didn’t care what brand clothes I wore, as long as they fit and were clean.

As I walk through the mall I can’t help but look at all these high school age kids with their iphones, brand name sunglasses and hip clothes and wonder how much money their parents spend on clothing these kids.

I’m so glad my kids don’t care, granted they are only 4 & 6.  I just went garage saling with my parents (yes.. garage saling in Feb, but that’s because we are in Orange Beach, AL) and I bought $4 worth of clothes for my daughter that would cloth her for the year!   When I showed her what I bought she loved them all!   To think I was able to get enough clothes for the year for a lot less than what some people pay for 1 shirt!

Of course things might change when she gets in high school, but I really hope she looks at the sale prom dresses instead of looking at  Vera Wang dresses.   Sometimes those off brand name clothes are just as good as the name brand ones.