Chewing The Fat About Native American Teeth

I remember when I was a little girl and my permanent front teeth came in. I had a ridge on the backs of my six front upper teeth. I thought that was the thing about permanent teeth, that there were ridges on the backs of every one's upper front teeth just to make a really secure bite. But did you know that not everyone has a ridge? They are called shovel teeth and they are a racial feature of Native American People. The backs of Bob's front teeth are smooth thanks to his Scottish Ancestry. How can he really hold on to anything when he bites down? All of our children have the ridge. Shovel teeth must be a dominant trait. I am only 1/32nd Cherokee. My children are 1/64th and still carry this trait.

The result of shovel teeth is that the root base is about twice as thick as regular European or African people's teeth. Maybe this is a good trait for primitive people to have in case we need to chew on some leather to make our moccasins soft.

Another trait of Native American teeth is an extra root in the molars. I have heard dentist complain about how Cherokee's roots are wrapped around the jaw bone and harder to extract. Another trait which makes chewing the leather for our moccasins easier?

Many people have unconfirmed rumors of Native American Ancestors in their blood line. If you have that ridge on the backs of your front teeth you might really want to investigate that possibility. The only other group of people who have shovel teeth in the world are small pockets of Asians.

Another good quality about being a white Cherokee is that I can get a really good tan. Thank you Martha Jane Savage.

100th Post A Memorable Memorial Day

Yeah, Happy 100th post! I have been blogging for a little under a year.


Today is Memorial Day and we celebrated the occasion by attending our neighborhood parade. Here is a picture of Erin and Paul Thorsen carrying the Memorial Day Parade banner followed by some other Thorsen family members.



Miss Teen Dallas



Hula Kids. I never saw them doing the hula. Maybe this was just an excuse to wear tropical clothes and look really cute in the parade.


This is me, next year's PTA president and the current Spring Creek PTA president , Cathleen Hill. We were pretty popular, especially when we were throwing candy!



We were protected by Imperial storm troopers and an Imperial pilot. I think I remember Darth Vader being there but his asthma must have kicked in because by the time Bob took pictures on the parade route he was no where to be found.



RHS Cheerleaders and the band.



Pete Sessions, our congressman. He didn't stay and make a speech today.



Cub scouts.



Veteran's float.



Boy Scouts

After the parade we went to the school for the hot dog feast, bounce houses, face painting, police helicopter landing, DJ, sodas, water, and slushees. It is a really fun neighborhood party.

A Month of Pictures

May has been a really busy month and I have not taken time to post our amazing pictures. To start this post you have to remember that Bob and I went to the DC area for a conference for Bob. We went a few days early to celebrate our 28th anniversary.


We went to Annapolis and hung out with our favorite midshipman, John. I told him I would take him anywhere he wanted for lunch the first day. I was hoping this wasn't going to cost us too much. I was surprised when he said he wanted to go to Burger King.


We hung out with John but eventually he had to go school and Bob had to go to his conference and there I was alone. I decided not to sit in the hotel room enjoying cable. I had never been to the Jefferson Memorial because it is just kind of out of the way. With no one to slow me down and a rental car at my disposal I finally visited his monument. I never really thought about Jefferson too much. I remember studying him in history but I was pretty young at the time. I was struck by the fact that I disagreed with almost all of his economic and foriegn policies.




I took a picture of one of the famous cherry trees. I was about 3 weeks too late for the Cherry Blossom Festival.


Everytime I go to our nation's Capital I am struck by how poorly maintained the grounds are at the mall and around the monuments. I took this picture to show how well the National Park Service is taking care of the grounds. Three words Weed and Feed. Okay, a sprinkler system would also help.



I was surprised a few weeks ago when John called and told me he had bought a ticket home for a three day break from school. We were really happy to see him. He got to help serve at the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon at Spring Creek Elementary because that is what I was doing. John was a really big hit. Some kids asked him for his autogragh. Others told their teachers that they did not need to sit down and keep quiet because they were in the presense of a Navy Seal.

We took John to our new favorite BBQ place Hard 8 BBQ. Evidently John liked it as much as Joe.


We each took a turn giving John as much love as we could before we sent him back for Sea Trials and Herndon.




We found this picture on line of John. He is jogging with his company after finishing 18 hours of grueling physical challenges known as Sea Trials. He told me that he just threw his tee shirt away. He knew that it would never come clean after the Wet and Sandy challenge.



On May 20th Joe and his friends got their Arrow of light awards! It is always cool to have the indians from the Order of the Arrow. They did a great job this year.

Swine Flu Death Excuses

Have you noticed that whenever anyone dies of swine flu in the US that the CDC blames the death on a pre-condition of the victim? He was a sickly baby, she had psoriasis and a respiratory condition, he was fat and had sleep apnea. Honestly, the excuses are getting thinner and thinner. Many of the victim's families are trying to correct the record by reporting that their deceased relative had none of the reported conditions. I am just wondering how my death would be justified, why I would deserve to die. She had acne as a teen-ager, she has a fungus under one of her toenails, she had pneumonia last year because she ate cashews way too late at night, she has an allergy to shell fish. Well, I could go on but I might invade my own right to medical privacy. I just think the excuses are seeming more and more contrived.

Am I worried that I will die from the Swine Flu? Not really. I could see that I might get Swine Flu if there is no vaccine for it. There have been a lot of confirmed cases in Dallas County. I get the flu almost every year that I don't get the vaccine, and some years when the vaccine isn't effective. The flu brings me down, but I have learned that the secondary infections make me more miserable. I have a supply of antibiotics that I keep on hand that I bought in Mexico. If I get bronchitis or an ear infection as a result of the flu I will treat myself for that. I think it is unwise not to treat the secondary infections, but amazingly I have seen so many MDs who are hesitant to treat a secondary infection when the initial cause is a viral infection, like the swine flu. Maybe there is a lot of drug and gang violence in Ciudad Juarez, but I always cross the border when I am in El Paso and go to my favorite farmacia to buy amoxalina. I figure that if the Mexican government trusts it's citizens to take antibiotics responsibly, then I can be trusted too.

Plebes No More 2009

Herndon Monument Climb | Video (www.HometownAnnapolis.com - The Capital)

Posted using ShareThis

If you click on the above link you will see a condensed version of Herndon. This event marks the end of the plebe year. The Herndon Monument is greased with lard and the plebes climb the monument replacing plebe blue rim hat with the naval officer hat. In the video, they are throwing their white works at the monument to try to wipe off some of the grease. They were issued the white works during Plebe Summer. John said that he was at the bottom of the stack helping support the base and allowing the guys going up to climb on his shoulders.

As a mom of one of these kids this brought tears to my eyes because I know what this means. It is the end of the entire year they have spent as second class citizens. It was a hard year, and John is a tough, smart, good guy. We are looking toward a brighter future.

Eleven Pretzels

Today is Joe's eleventh birthday. I started a tradition when Joe was in Kindergarten of making soft pretzels in the shape of his age. When he was six I made pretzels in the shape of the number six to take to school instead of the traditional cupcakes. When he was in first grade I made the pretzels in the shape of the number seven. You get the picture. Today was the easiest birthday of all. What could be easier than 11, two pretzel sticks?

Here is the recipe

1Pkg yeast
1/4 C sugar
2 T Brown Sugar
1 1/2 cup warm water(pretty warm but not hot. You can put your finger in it but you would say the water was very warm)
1t salt
4 C flour
1 T Butter

Put all of the ingredients except 2 C of flour into a bowl or in your kitchen-aid.

Using the beater attachment beat for about five minutes.

Remove the beater attachment and put on the dough hook, unless you are going to finish up by hand kneading. Add the two remaining cups of flour and knead for 5 minutes by machine or hand knead for 8 minutes.

Let the dough rise until doubled.

Put 2 T baking powder in a large pot with 2 C water. Bring to a boil and then let cool while you are working on the dough.

Punch down the dough. Divide into 12 parts for shaped pretzels or 24 pieces for pretzel rods. Flour your hands and roll the dough between your hands until it is about as thin as a pencil. Shape the pretzels or leave them in rods. Dip in the soda solution. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake on a pan you have sprayed with Pam for 8 minutes at 375 degrees.

Brush with butter and serve with cheese sauce.(melted Velveeta thinned with water)

Joe is a pretty popular guy at school. It isn't because he can run fast or catch a ball. He has a mom who makes birthday pretzels.

Joe's Baptism and the Ironic Priesthood

Today Joe gave a talk in primary. It was a sweet little talk about the day he was baptized.


My Baptism

Almost three years ago I was baptized right here in this building. I have been going to church and Primary since I was born. I knew I wanted to be baptized because I wanted to follow the example of Jesus. He taught that we must all be baptized to show obedience so that we can live with him again and become members of his church.

I had an interview with Bishop Thorsen. We talked what happened when Jesus was baptized. We talked about why I wanted to be baptized. I felt happy and special. I knew that I was ready to be baptized and to receive the Holy Ghost.

On the day that I was baptized we went into the chapel. There was a talk on baptism. My brother John sang the song Baptism. My Brother John baptized me. He was a priest in the Aaronic priesthood. Did you know that a priest in the Aaronic priesthood could baptize? I was glad that he could do this for me because I love him so much.

When we got back to the chapel my dad gave a talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost. He showed us a gift he got when he was a boy. It was a GI Joe without a head or arms. He talked about how most gifts you get can break and wear out but the gift of the Holy Ghost isn’t like that. As long as I am righteous I will be able to have the gift of the Holy Ghost everyday of my life.

My Dad then gave me a special priesthood blessing and gave me the gift of the Holy Ghost and he confirmed me a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints.

I remember that Erin and I sang the song I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I was a little bit nervous but I was so happy because I really was a member of the church! I was happy for myself. I know my parents were proud of me. I know that Heavenly Father was happy that I was baptized. This made the words of the song so important.

I belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
I know who I am
I know God’s plan
I’ll follow him in Faith
I believe in the Savior Jesus Christ
I’ll honor his name
I’ll do what is right
I’ll follow his light
His truth I will proclaim!

I remember that we had a chocolate fountain for refreshments that day and it was really fun but the most important thing about the day was my baptism and confirmation. I hope all of you little kids can get ready for your big day when you turn 8. You will always remember it.



We knew about this talk earlier in the week but we only remembered when we were out shopping or doing errands. This morning we got up and luckily I remembered, so I had Joe give me the memories of his baptism before we got ready for church. I typed up the talk, then printed it out while I was getting dressed and fixing my hair and makeup. I had Joe practice with out me while I was finishing getting ready. We were running late at this point. Fortunately, Brother Adair was giving his new baby daughter a lengthy name and blessing so we were able to slip in before the sacrament.

So, I never actually heard Joe practice his talk. He got up and did a good job. Almost eleven-year-olds can seem so grown up in Primary. But then I heard it, the ironic priesthood. I thought I must be mistaken, but then he said it one more time. That was when I knew that we had missed something while teaching Joe the gospel. It seems like with the first few children that parents cover all of the bases, but then we forget who we have taught what, and we kind of get tired of the kids getting tired of hearing the same things over and over again. "Mom, I know that already!" That is my excuse. Maybe I have early onset Alzhiemers and didn't cover the needed topics.

During dinner tonight I brought up the subject. He saw the word in the talk and had heard it before, but never said it himself nor had he used it in a sentence, so when he came across the word in the talk he just kind of pronounced a word he had also heard somewhere. I explained the priesthood of Aaron, Moses' brother versus Irony, a literary device. I used irony in an example. Wasn't it ironic that I thought the West Nile Hype was a ridiculous media ploy and I ended up being hospitalized for West Nile? Well, I am not sure he understands irony, but he knows about the origin of the Aaronic Priesthood.