another giveaway coming soon

Soon, I will be doing another review and giveaway for CSN Stores, purveyors of pretty much everything -- sling backpacks, snow booties for dogs (no joke) and the coolest Lego sets ever made (I want this).  And today is Cyber Monday, don’t forget, if you are still working on that Christmas shopping list…

(On another note, this is my first post using the updated Windows Live Writer. It’s very, very nice. Thank you, Bill Gates.)

prematurity awareness day

(Grocery giveaways below… Please scroll down and enter.)

(Great information below, but there are some sick little ones in this video. FYI.)

I have been privileged to help tell the stories of several families whose babies were born far too soon. The March of Dimes has made dramatic steps in saving these babies. (Surfactant, which helps tiny underdeveloped lungs inflate, is probably the single greatest advancement in saving the lives of preemies. Babies as young as 23 weeks gestation have a chance at survival now.) However, there is much to be done. Our state got a big fat F on the prematurity report card issued by MOD last year. 

Please watch the video, click over to the March of Dimes’ site and learn more about this. If you are pregnant, know the signs of preterm labor!

pen nerds, unite

We received some Frixion erasable pens and highlighters to try out. I am a bit of a pen nerd. These work really well – surprisingly well, actually. The boy demonstrates (video taken via Blackberry, hence the low light):

 

These have been on sale lately in the school supply section at Publix. Visit http://bit.ly/bpBjYt to download a $1.00 coupon. I found a three-pack of highlighters at Walgreens for $1.05. Less than $.02 per highlighter? I’ll take that.

 

Pilot and SheSpeaks sent us products to review. Opinions are my own.

silky sheets

I mentioned a while ago that CSN Stores had contacted me about reviewing their online shopping. I am in the midst of a bedroom redo (more to come on that – and you can tell me how close I came to my inspiration room) and I looked for something from CSN that would add to the new do. I landed on these 600-thread count sheets and I am happy to report that they are silky smooth and wash beautifully. They are 100 percent cotton so they wrinkle like nobody’s business but they have shown very little, if any, shrinkage and the quality seems to be excellent. CSN has almost anything, really, and I found their prices to be quite fair. Shipping is free on almost everything – and my sheets were delivered earlier than the projected delivery date. It was a flawless experience and I will definitely shop at CSN in the future. You will get a peek at the sheets once I get the walls painted! Coming soon… Until then, there is a cool feature on CSN’s site. The CEO’s home is featured in the July issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I am a sucker for BHG.

 

Though CSN did supply a review product at no charge, my opinions are my own.

despicable me

If I had minions in my office…

I need minions – an army of them. I could finally clean off my desk and defrost the freezer. Dr. Gru (Steve Carell) already has his. :)

We attended a screening of “Despicable Me” last night and though it had a slow start (and was predictable), it was fun. I think the amount of laughter it creates is inversely proportional to age (my 11-year-old was cackling and a little girl in the theater was laughing so hard I thought she might hyperventilate), but parents, you won’t be covering your child’s ears or wishing for that hour and a half of your life back. (I’m talking to you, Shark Boy and Lava Girl.) There were actually a couple of times when I suspected people were staring at me, I laughed so hard. (I don’t want to give anything away, but read all signs. :) )

I’m a fan of “The Office,” so I found that I was picturing Michael Scott doing a funny voice, which makes it even more fun, I think. (FYI, Mindy Kaling – Kelly from the Office – has a small part as well.) Steve Carell brings a sweetness to Dr. Gru that makes him, well, not despicable, even when he tries to be. Agnes (Elsie Fisher) all but steals the show as the youngest orphan and Julie Andrews (Gru’s mom) is Julie Andrews. Who doesn’t love her?

Overall, everyone in my family enjoyed different parts of the movie, but we all laughed and had fun.

Spoilerish content alert for parents of wee littles: There were a couple of uses of “Oh, poop,” one “He’s gonna kick your butt,” and a couple of instances that were rude but not awful (a minion sits on a copier to copy his rear end, kids make a crayon drawing of Gru sitting on a potty). Just stuff to know, but it did pass my cleanliness test. YMMV. It is PG for rude humor and mild action. The movie is in 3-D, which bothered me a bit during a rollercoaster scene, but I am weird that way.

phone dump

I really need to take the pictures off my Blackberry more often…

Snapped at the post office, because it looks so much like the Bud dog, right down to the tippy head.

This photo was taken at Sears. This is the model we ended up buying. Dear High Efficiency Washer, where have you been all my life?

This is the boy having fun (yes, really) on the ropes course at Adventure Base 100, the Boy Scouts’ traveling 100th Anniversary exhibit.

about a mouse

Either you get the appeal of Walt Disney World or you don’t. I am convinced there is no middle ground. No other company on the planet does things “the Disney way,” by definition. In fact, the Disney Institute actually teaches companies from around the world how to provide meaningful service that keeps customers coming back.

And we keep coming back.

I was fortunate to be able to attend a press event at WDW last week and I will share the details in a few upcoming posts. The Cliff Notes version is that innovation continues, with unmatched attention to detail and a firm grasp of what appeals to children, their parents and grandparents.

The Magic Kingdom is undergoing its biggest expansion in history, with a variety of interactive attractions coming. Below is a rendering of Belle’s village (Belle!!), which will be part of the expansion. The village will include several restaurants as well, including a Gaston-themed spot, which presumably will use antlers in all of the decorating.

Guests will be able to participate in a surprise party for Princess Aurora (that’s Sleeping Beauty, of course) and will learn to be a Royal Knight or dance with Cinderella. (Pause to sing the Stephen Curtis Chapman song. You know you want to. When you are done crying, read on.)

For every parent who has ever said, “Please, can we skip Dumbo?” I have great news. The attraction will soon be doubled in size and have a covered queue and activities to pass the time in line. Prayers have been answered from across the land.

Have you traveled via the Disney Cruise Line? We haven’t, but I hear wonderful things. In addition to amazing expansions, the new Disney Dream is going to boast the AquaDuck (points for the name). I get the heebie jeebies just watching an animation of this thing, for I am not a dare devil. OK, on some things maybe, but not things that involve water or enclosed spaces. But I would pay money to see my son and husband on this. Check it out online.

I am, however, a geek. Pictures below are from last week’s event at the newly themed ESPN Wide World of Sports. It was my first visit to the complex and it is all kinds of great. The athletic facilities are impressive and the new ESPN theme is going to make athletes who are competing there feel like they are on Sportscenter. And they might be. It truly is becoming THE place for youth sports and many, many adults, including the Atlanta Braves (Go Braves!), are finding the facilities to be top-notch.

Chip and Dale – Chip has the chocolate chip nose (above). Never be confused again. It’s just another public service I provide. You are welcome.

Pluto! Minnie! Mickey didn’t come to my table. I made up for it by eating Cracker Jack.

More to come….

525,600 minutes, give or take

I have a tendency to take pictures (really bad pictures) with my cell phone and then totally forget about them. How bad am I at this? Well, I downloaded today and it looks like it has been about a year since I last did so.

So here you go – a year in (really bad) pictures:

At Walt Disney World (where the heck was my camera?)

 

Waiting in line to vote

At the da Vinci exhibit

Fog (yes, I am weird that way)

 

Snow – and I am driving in it. And apparently taking pictures.

Handsome guy I’m having coffee with at the Inn at Biltmore

At the pool

Hey, the wedding rehearsal has started.

They sell these at Target. Really. I ask you, how could I not take a picture of this?

We are the only people at the pool. My toes, they are happy.

Listening to the iPod at church

These shoes are cute. Do you want them? They’re on sale. Text me fast. Love, Mom

By the end of summer, everyone else had given up.

There’s a story behind this one…

The force is with our dentist.

i am not a mime (or, notes from the crazy house) and a giveaway

My hands are getting better now – after a trip to the allergist and lots of medicine that I hate putting on or in my body. I have battled my worst eczema outbreak in decades and I can’t pinpoint a specific reason why. I think it was the perfect storm of physical and environmental factors, but in any event, my hands are on the mend. White cotton gloves are awesome, by the way. (I look like a deranged mime, or Michael Jackson circa 1985.)

• Method hand soap is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is the only fragranced product I can use with eczema impunity. I heart you, Method.
• Seventh Generation Free and Clear dish soap is equally wonderful. (Sadly, I can’t say the same for their dishwasher detergent. I want to love it, really I do, yet I can’t abide dirty dishes. If I have to run the dishwasher twice, it ceases to be environmentally friendly.)
• In my ongoing quest for natural, homemade floor cleaner, I think we have a winner: water, white vinegar and washing soda. I want to give it one more test run before conferring the championship title upon this latest concoction.

Want some free stuff? Tell me the best thing about back-to-school -- homeschool or otherwise. The folks at MyBlogSpark will send one of my readers a super cool gift box with a reusable lunch bag, a ruler, a pencil sharpener, a pencil case and a coupon for a free package of Pillsbury Shape cookies. (They sent us a package as well. My son loves the school supplies and I love reusable stuff! My local grocery stores aren’t carrying Shape cookies yet, but soon…) Please comment by noon eastern, Sept. 2.

under the knife

No, not me, thankfully. But I am planning some changes and upgrades in this space over the next week or so.

So here’s the recipe for disaster:

1. Me + HTML (really, that’s enough right there)

2. My beloved (who is also my tech support) will be camping

3. Stuff like css and sifr. (I don’t know what that means, but hey, I’m doing it.)

 

There is great potential for things to go awry, so if you visit and get some weird error, please come back again. If it goes bad, I can always revert to the old template. Probably.

look, over there

Yes, there – to the right. Down just a bit. See that box? If you want to keep up with things here, you now have the option of signing up for updates via email.

I’ll try to make it worth your while.

going ‘up’

So, the original point of this post was to urge you to go see “Up.” Go. It’s really, really good – better than Wall-E, I would say. And I really liked Wall-E.

For sensitive adults and kiddos, I am going to give you two heinous spoilers. Highlight below if you are sensitive and don’t want to feel like your ribs have been kicked in while watching a cartoon. If you’ve got the chops, go spoiler-free and have fun.

Spoilers:

The movie includes a montage, of sorts, of scenes from the life Carl and Ellie share together. Spoiler one: There is a reference to the fact that they are expecting a baby and then they are not, complete with sad scene in the OB office. Spoiler two, which you have probably figured out from the commercials: Ellie does not live to go “up” with Carl.

Now, on to summer. We are doing school a couple of days per week. I feel like I have the world at my fingertips. Still working, with a big project in high gear this week. The kids have Vacation Bible School next week – the girl is teaching, the boy is participating. I am working on my own personal projects next week because I DID NOT VOLUNTEER FOR VBS. Aren’t you proud? I have zero guilt about this decision. So there.

I am hoping for productivity and good things to post.

prepare for the beginning, and other miscellany

My fellow geeks, run, don’t walk, to see the new Star Trek movie trailers. This makes “Heroes” tolerable again. Yatta!

While you’re surfing, my column on turning the big 4-0 is out in this month’s Upstate Parent (and others, but this link is to Upstate). Also, if you’re on Facebook, Upstate Parent has a fan page now. Your support is greatly appreciated. Really.

It was pinewood derby time on Saturday. Think he had fun?

Now, I am off for a little time in the 80 degree temperatures. It’s hard to believe that one week ago, we had 6.5 inches of snow. Goodbye, winter. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

my focus is probably misplaced

But I like that headline on the catalog.

ode to craig and his list

I’m baaack. My blog is probably on a milk carton somewhere. This is what happens when homeschooling and working collide. Many thanks for the blog design and retro dress advice. I plan to make/do both.

Anyway… I don’t think I have ever expressed my deep and abiding love for Craigslist. I know there are some untoward goods and services offered there, but if you stick to the for sale page, you are pretty safe. You know, except you buy stuff.

We have numerous Craiglist purchases floating around here. My favorites are the auction lot containing Mrs. M’s fabric stash and a boatload of vintage patterns (many of which have ended up in my Etsy shop) and the vintage and new Fiesta dishes. We bought our first Fiesta last spring, in an attempt to find something sturdy, lead-free and made in the USA. And not ugly. Craigslist brought us a box of 1930’s dishes, complete with uranium glaze. Very cool.

Last week I hit the jackpot: dinner plates, bowls, serving pieces and more on my beloved Craigslist for a song, relatively speaking.

Head on over there and find what you need. You will save money and keep stuff out of landfills. You might spend some money, too, but you know, you’re really saving money, so…

Miscellany:

Overheard from the family room: “Running with a rocket launcher is not a good idea.” True. (They were saving the planet from aliens via XBox.)

And if you pray (and if you don’t, why not? :) ), Carolina Mama had the most wonderful idea. She has started Pray It Forward Fridays. We are all willing to send each other recipes and answer questions and such, we should be willing to pray for each other as well.

design-y types

I need a three-column Blogger template, people. It’s getting too cluttered here for my taste. Suggestions?

random is the new organized, didn't you hear?

::It's cold -- wicked cold, as my friends from the North might say.

::I could be the fifth cylon. You don't know. I could be. I'm probably not.

::I do not enjoy flying, probably because I have to relinquish control to someone I've never met. (I prefer a Q&A before takeoff: How are things at home? Any medications? Could I have a small blood sample before you head back to the cockpit? Care to do a few field sobriety tests?)After yesterday's events, I'll just ask this gentleman to fly the plane. Or this one.

::Homeschooling is showing me (among other things) that textbooks have giant, gaping holes -- big enough for the Rough Riders to roll through. (The Spanish-American War receives a cursory treatment in the world of elementary school social studies. World War I doesn't do much better.) The omissions are starting to bug me.

:: We need more bookshelves. Soon, the cry for help will be coming from underneath something.

::It's awesome that the verse from our (not a) Christmas card was key in yesterday's Bible study.

::Due to some space issues, one of my editors chose to run a "best of" column this month. It is two years old, but I am happy to report that we still have date nights and we still snuggle on the couch to watch "24." The kids are still grossed out. We still don't care.

:: I welcome advice on scraping popcorn ceilings and using Sonlight homeschool curriculum. If you know about both of those things, all the better.

in 3-d

Go get your free 3-D glasses before the Super Bowl on Feb. 1. To promote the upcoming "Monsters vs. Aliens" movie (March 27), Dreamworks and Pepsi will sponsor a 3-D commercial break during the Super Bowl. Glasses are free at stores all over, located in displays near SoBe Lifewater.

I just received the press release on this today, so glasses may not be out yet. If you miss them in stores, call 1-800-646-2904 to order a pair.

Back in the day, I remember getting 3-D glasses at the Piggly Wiggly so we could watch "Creature From the Black Lagoon" in all its grainy, black and white glory. It was an event, I tell you.

This will be a drastic improvement in technology, I'm sure.

why i need a vacation or possibly a staff

Writing work is just to the left of this picture. Above, dabbling in a little paralegal work since I haven't practiced law in years, school stuff (Love that book!) and the ubiquitous Scotty.

Dang it, Jim. I'm a mother, not a Renaissance woman. (Yes, I know that was Bones... He's still in the Pez box.)

and it's winter again, just like that

The trees are confused.

Green was just starting to pop out all over.

 

But those shadows don't lie...

Neither does my red nose. (Yes, I soft focused my eye wrinkles. It's my blog and I can do what I want to, do what I want to.)