She said I needed to take a vacation, and that my insurance would pay for a jet charter and a week’s lodging in Jamaica. No, not really.

I had my checkup today, and now she’s got me on medication and lined up for tests and more tests. Not much fun, but at least she is taking my concerns seriously, and not brushing them off like some doctors I’ve had. Now, where do I start explaining all this?

We discussed my knee, and she agreed with the ER doctor’s decision to have me do exercises and not put it in a brace or anything. I told her that they seem to be helping (which, to my surprise, they do), and she said to keep it up and let her know if it didn’t get all better soon.

I apparently have cycts in one of my breasts. She is sending me for an ultrasound, taking a look at that, and then going ahead and sending me for a second opinion regardless of what she thinks just to be sure. I hate to go through all that, but I’m glad she’s being thorough. That’s not something I want to mess around with.

She put me on depression meds. She seems to think that might be the root cause of my lack of concentration due to all of the stress I’ve been under for so long, even though I don’t really feel depressed. I do have a history of it, so she may be onto something. But she’s also going to check my thyroid and some other stuff, and she still wants me to do a sleep study to see if I have apnea. That could also explain the lack of concentration and the fact that I get tired a lot during the day, even when I get plenty of sleep at night.

I guess that’s pretty much it. Nothing too serious (as long as the cysts are just cysts).

I’m the world’s worst dancer, and I know it. I did some clubbing in my younger days, but I would never get on the dance floor. One of my best friends kept begging me to get out there and dance, and one night I finally gave in. In less than a minute, she was begging me to stop.

Still, I’ve been known to break into a happy dance every now and then. I think there’s something inside everyone that just makes them want to move when they’re happy or excited. Snuggle and the hit show So You Think You Can Dance realize that as well, and they’ve taken the opportunity to ask contestants and viewers to show the world their happy dances.

So what does this mean to you? Well, it means that you can make a video of yourself doing a happy dance, upload it, and possibly win a trip to Los Angeles for the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance! Afraid of making a fool of yourself? Don’t be. Check out this guy, who fell flat on his butt and still won week one:

Snuggle is a perfect sponsor for this contest. They’re launching the new Snuggle with Fresh Release, a fabric softener that keeps your clothes smelling fresh all day long. If that doesn’t make you feel like doing a happy dance, I don’t know what will.

So you think you can do a happy dance? Well, head on over to the Happy Dance Contest page, check out the rules and guidelines, and start taping! You could win a trip to L.A. or other great prizes! And if you just can’t bring yourself to show the world your happy dance, at least go check out the other videos. There are some real gems.

The opinions expressed on this site are those of the author and are not endorsed by FOX, 19, Dick Clark Productions, or Snuggle.

When I was younger, my hair was extremely frizzy. Some days it just looked like a great big puffball. That was the only thing I didn’t like about my hair- other than that it was my favorite feature.

I still have frizz, but it’s not nearly as bad these days. Still, it seems like every time I want to look nice, I have a puffball day. What I wouldn’t give sometimes for a ceramic flat iron.

My hair has a good bit of curl to it, and I used to blow dry it straight because that was the only way to tame it. That only made the frizz worse, though. A flat iron would produce much better effects. Hana makes a couple of different models, and I would love to get my hands on one of them.

The ceramic plates heat more evenly and efficiently than metal. And for those who share my frizz problem, Hana’s plates contain tourmaline, a precious metal that generates negative ions that eliminate frizz and increase shine. And you don’t have to go completely straight- these irons have curved edges that are capable of producing nice curls and flips.

I’d love to give one of these a try. I don’t go out a lot any more, but I can definitely see myself using it from time to time. Especially on those frizzy days.

Hubby’s family is in a bit of an uproar. It’s an extremely long story, but to make it short, one brother and his wife are taking money that rightfully belongs to another brother, yet another brother and his wife owe their mom a bunch of money and are refusing to pay it, they’re joining forces to alienate most of the rest of the family, and the mom is mad as hell over it all.

Everyone is cussing one another out and hurling insults around at people who aren’t even involved. I’m trying to stay as far away from it as possible, but in the midst of it all some stuff is coming out that is making me very angry. I know it’s none of my business, but there are kids involved. For now I’m just hoping it all comes out in the wash.

Hubby is getting dragged into the middle of it too. He has shown a surprising amount of restraint so far, but I don’t know how long it will last. If I had any extra money, I would buy him a PS2 and unhook the phone so he could stay occupied and forget about it for a while. I hope it will all blow over soon. They’re all acting like a bunch of raving lunatics.

How rude of me! I promised details on my trip to the emergency room, then didn’t deliver. So sorry. Here’s the lowdown:

A week ago this past Friday, I started having trouble with my left knee. It wasn’t really hurting or anything, but it was a little bit hard to bend. But I could bend it almost as far as I could the other one, so I wasn’t too concerned. I had an appointment for a checkup scheduled for next week anyway, so I figured I would just ask the doctor about it when I went in.

Around the middle of last week, it started getting even harder to bend. I tried to ignore it, and even did some in-depth house cleaning. I guess that was a mistake, because it got to the point that I could barely bend it at all. By Thursday, I was having great difficulty working the clutch on my truck.

Still, I thought I would just wait and ask the doctor when I went in for my checkup. But it was becoming difficult to get up and down steps and hills, both of which I must cross to get from my house to my driveway. And Hubby was dying to go to his cousin’s house for the Fourth, but I was afraid my knee would get in even worse shape and I didn’t want to be down there if it did. So we decided that I should go on to the emergency room.

I went, I waited, and I finally got checked out. The doctor poked and prodded and asked some questions, then ordered some x-rays. By the time all that was over with I needed something for pain, and they obliged. After waiting for what seemed like forever, the doctor came back and told me I had a subluxated patella.

She said it couldn’t be popped back into place because it wasn’t really out of place, just sort of out of line. She gave me a bunch of exercises to do, and said that they should help the patella reposition itself. Well then.

I’m going to talk to my regular doctor about it when I go in as well. I hope exercise is all it takes, but I would like to hear her opinion on it. Will keep you posted.

Hope you had a great one! Mine was pretty good, except for a trip to the emergency room (more on that later). We ate hamburgers and hot dogs, watched fireworks, and found me a laptop.

We didn’t go to the store hunting for electronic deals. We just went to Hubby’s cousin’s house. Her husband refurbishes computers, and Hubby asked him if he could hook me up with a good laptop. He showed us a brand new one he had gotten a great deal on when he bought some parts, and I fell in love.

Hubby talked him into holding onto it for me and letting him make payments on it. So if all goes well, I’ll have a laptop in a few months. I’d love to have it now, but I’ve been waiting for well over a year now, so I guess I can wait a little longer.

We spent the night down there and came back this morning. Everybody had a good time. I almost didn’t go, but now I’m glad I did.

Today I’m babysitting a troubled child. It’s a girl that a friend of mine who works with troubled kids for a living keeps for a while each summer. Hubby and I watched her a couple of days last week, but today it’s just me, her and Pumpkin.

Things have gone pretty well. She’s really not a bad kid, but I worry about her telling Pumpkin things I would rather her not hear at her age. So I’ve been keeping a close eye (and ear) out. The worst that has happened so far is them pretending that they had been kidnapped. That was one day last week, and Hubby put a stop to that quickly.

This is actually the first time I’ve ever babysat for pay. I’ve watched other people’s kids before, but it’s always been as a favor. I don’t plan on making a career out of babysitting or anything, but the money is helping us out. And it’s not going to be for much longer anyway. So it’s all good.