Insert New Blog Title Here

Getting busy for our troops

Here is what I will be busy doing (among other things) between now and December 1st:






I am going to make as many cards as I can and collect them for others as well (co-workers, family members etc). This is the first time that I have done anything like this and it is already making me feel GREAT! If you are down in the dumps, take a few minutes to send a card to our troops...it will lift your spirits for sure.

MC Hammer and Me on Twitter

Loving the integration of cool tools. I've been Twittering for quite a while now and have recently discovered Skitch. Skitch is a tool that allows you to take screen shots from your computer, do fun things with them, and share them in many ways. To test it out I recently took the screen shot below of an email I got notifying me of my newest follower on Twitter:

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Who knows if this is the real flat-top sporting, baggy pant wearing 80's icon that I know and love. But even if it is not, I love the screen shot!

Twitterific

Staying connected to the people you care about and/or are interested in. That is a main reason why people blog, email, use Facebook, etc. Many of you already know this, but some of you don't, so I would like to share with you this cute little video about Twitter. I have been Twittering for, gosh, I don't know about a year now, and I find it so accessible. Partly because it is in such little bits, you don't have to commit to a long period of time posting or reading about something that is interesting or informative. I must say that since I have been Twittering (or Tweeting, depending on who you talk to) my blogging frequency has declined. For good, or bad, it is what it is.

Check it out and see what you think (if you haven't already): Props to Ryan in Willow Glen for this:

Damon doing McConaughey

This is really good work by Matt Damon....no they are not getting all "brokeback" on us...it's just a good impression...

Going green with your iPod

There are so many cool things about this, I just don't know where to begin.

The video below shows you how to charge your iPod using an onion and Gatorade.

First of all, you could say that this was a way to "go green." No pulling electricity from the power grid, just using some household food items.

You could also use this as a way to charge your iPod in case of a power outage, say in an earthquake where you might be out of power for days. (I say earthquake and not some other natural disaster because I do, after all, live a couple of miles from the San Andreas fault).

The only bummer is that you now have an iPod USB cord that has onion goobers in it.

What a wonderful world

A big thanks to one of my favorite bloggers, Christine, for this one. It is so sweet and clever. It will make you smile. I promise! Enjoy...

Fresh eggs frying

  fresh eggs frying 
  Originally uploaded by thomas pix

I would like to take this opportunity to share the experience that a dear friend (and co-worker to boot) has had over the last many weeks. Thomas' endeavor involves a coop, a backyard and two feathery friends named Sophia and Zsu Zsu.

He is raising Urban Chickens! Check out his blog detailing the trials and tribulations of such an undertaking. He has even been interviewed by a Canadian radio station...really you must check this out.

Anyway, today Thomas enjoyed the fruits of his family's chicken labors: Sophia's first eggs. I can't do the story justice, so you must go see for yourself.

Simpsons Avatar

My Simpsons avatar (make your own here)...thanks to hvy TK for the tip...kind of fun, but I like the South Park avatar thingy better...

Cool purple shoes, no?

iPhone Madness

So I must admit that I am a bit atwitter about the new iPhone. If it weren't so damn expensive, and if it were more compatible with office email applications, and if I knew they had worked the bugs out of it...I might be standing in line for one of my own. Alas, I am just an admirer. But I've been checking up on folks who have jumped in with both feet. Here are some of the funnier things I've found:

Drob on YouTube

I did it! My first YouTube upload. I did this slide show for Darren's graduation showing him from birth to the day he graduated...enjoy...

Way to go SC!

San Carlos is part of a pilot program to properly dispose of and recycle used household batteries and cell phones. It is such an easy process and the right thing to do (especially now that it is illegal to throw batteries in the trash). I must say how proud I am of my 'hood for being an early adopter of this program!

Technorati Tags: batteries, recycle, trash, cell phones

Sisterhood of the Traveling Skinny Pants

The blogosphere has once again demonstrated it's kindness and usefulness to me. While I have been chronicling my recent weight loss you have all been so supportive in so many different ways. One of my Woolfcamp comrades, Debra Roby, has also shed some pounds in the recent months and has skinnied out of her size 12 jeans (pictured here).

Now, this is wonderful enough, mind you. However miss Debra has taken it one step further. SHE SENT ME HER PANTS! I arrived home from work one day last week to a wonderful package in my mailbox (don't you love when you get something other than bills and junk?). It was the traveling skinny pants.

Not only are these pants in the size that is next on my way down to a slimmer me, but they comply with my "no more Mom jeans" rule. They are a nice low-rise variety and they also have some stretch in them. PERFECT. I could feel the good karma that came with them as soon as I put them on....

So here I am (sorry the lighting isn't the best) in the skinny pants. A size 12...the size I haven't seen in about 6 years. I love them, and I will take good care of them until it is time to send them on to one of you. I hope to soon be holding out the waistband on these puppies just Debra is doing in the first photo.

In the mean time...I was on the treadmill EVERY day this week. I got my ass out of bed early and spent 30-45 minutes walking every day. It felt soooo good and I will be making this party of my daily routine...for life. I took Saturday off (however I did walk to my son's baseball game instead of driving), and today I'm going to fit in a good hour (I like to do the 5k program as a stretch day, something to push me hard).

I also hope to be posting our menu for the week later on today...so stay tuned. Busy busy day!

Tool Time with the Mom!

I sooooo totally surprised myself today.

I got the kids off to school, both of them since hubby is away. Darren puked again this morning, but this time IN THE CAR on the way to school. I pulled over and  he got some air and then he was fine. Off to school. I think I need to figure out different timing on when he takes his meds. I think he's taking too much in the AM and for some reason it has started to bother his tummy. OR it could be stress. Today we find out if he was accepted to Serra or not. He seems to be totally decided on going to Summit, but I know that it would make him feel GREAT to have a choice and to know that he was accepted. He claims that he's not stressed about it, but if he's like his Mom, he internalizes his stress and it affects him physically.

Because I got to take Payton to school (usually Dan does that), I got a rare treat of hanging out with him in the morning. We made a stop at Starbucks and it was a nice start to the day.

Now to the fun part. When I got home, there was a message from the granite place. They had already cut the back splashes and wanted to know if they could come today to install them. Now this sounds like a no brainer right? Of course, why wouldn't I want them to just come get it done so that I could start really enjoying my new kitchen?

HAH! Not so fast! In order to install the back splashes (which are "full" meaning they go all the way from the counter to the bottom of the cabinets), I would have to remove the switch plates (no problem), AND the lights that are mounted under the cabinets!  Excuse me? But....I don't  know how they are attached, and  they are hard wired into the wall!

A quick call to Dan (at 9:00am that was a risky move since he is in AZ partying with his buddies and who knows how late they were out last night...but I had to risk it. So I called). Glory be, I did not wake him up. He had gone to bed by 10:00pm and got a full night's sleep! (that's because he had enough to drink by noon that day and spent the rest of the day recovering...but that's a WHOLE other story). This is about ME damn it! Anyway, he was supportive, but couldn't be very helpful as he had no idea either and not being there to look at it, he just couldn't give me any clues.

So here's where it gets good, with pictures and all....

I decided I was going to make it happen. I had 2 hours before Vladamire and his gang showed up with the back splashes, and I'm not only pretty smart, but can be pretty handy with tools when I need to be (but I don't often need to be, so I'm not very experienced). So I set my mind to it, got the tools I needed and Voila!

Impressive...no?

This is a photo of the first light I took out. It was kind of messy as I learned my way around the thing. By third light, I was a pro and was down to only having to unscrew 2 bolts and disconnect 3 electrical pairings (those are the pretty yellow and orange things in this photo). I don't know that we'll ever get the first one back together, but the other two I might even be able put back together myself! THE HELL YOU SAY? Yep, I'll give that a go.

Here's what it looked like when I was done.

Bring it on, Vladamire!

Now if I can get my strapping young and strong sons to carry the old sink (It's hell-a-heavy) out to the side yard, I just might be able to get the house back together for when Dan returns.

Oh, I forgot about the plummer that needs to come and hook up the dishwasher to the sink and the garbage disposal and put the faucet in. DAMN IT. Scott (a close friend and a helluva plummer), where are you man? I know your kid has a ball game at 3:30 today (so does mine), but I need you, brah!

Getting Paid

One of the many definitions of "professional" is: "Performed by persons receiving pay." In that sense, I am now a professional blogger!

That's right, you see those little ads to the right under the "Blogher Ad Network" language? Every time one of you views my blog with one of those ads on it, I get a smidgen of cash. Over time, that ads up and yesterday I received my first ever check from Blogher! They don't pay you until you have accumulated more than $25 and yesterday I got a check for $27 and some change. It covered the time period between October and December of 2006.

Thanks to all of you for contributing to my payday!

It may not be enough to quit my day job, but at this point it just about pays for my TypePad account. Not bad, huh? (She pats herself on the back).

A super start to the new year

A visit to my favorite tech geek/godess blog (Christine.net) brought me to my first "What kind of (blank) are you" quiz for the new year! I kind of like the results...I think I would have preferred Wonder Woman to Superman, but he's not bad.

 
Your results:
You are Superman

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Federally Funded Teen Pregnancy

I just read something that perplexes me...although I shouldn't be surprised. The first paragraph is rather confusing in how it reads. I'm SURE the writer didn't mean to say that there are actually "federally funded teen pregnancy" organizations. But even getting beyond the poor choice of sentence structure...my blood still boils:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration, to the consternation of its critics, has picked the medical director of an organization that opposes premarital sex, contraception and abortion to lead the office that oversees federally funded teen pregnancy, family planning and abstinence programs.

The appointment of Eric Keroack, a Marblehead, Massachusetts, obstetrician and gynecologist, to oversee the federal Office of Population Affairs and its $283 million annual budget has angered family-planning advocates.

Keroack currently is medical director of A Woman's Concern, a Christian nonprofit. The Dorchester, Massachusetts-based organization runs six centers in the state that offer free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and counseling.

It also works to "help women escape the temptation and violence of abortion," according to its statement of faith. And it opposes contraception, saying its use increases out-of-wedlock pregnancy and abortion rates.

Now, I know I'm not alone in thinking that it is wrong (at least from my point of view) that someone who opposes contraception should be leading an organization charged with the oversight of the "Office of Population." I honestly can't believe that there are still people in this world that oppose contraception AT ALL, but they certainly shouldn't be leading an agency such as this. ARE THEY NUTS? Oh, wait...yes, in fact...they are.

Read more reaction by Melinda Henneberg on the Huffington Post.

Oscar Night in November

Kodak Theater, originally uploaded by KRob2005.

This weekend we had a big event at Serra (High School). It was our annual fund raising auction and the theme this year, as you can tell, was a night at the Oscars. The school was absolutely transformed into a Hollywood event that was not only a great success financially, but was a blast for all who attended. The details put into place were amazing. Dan helped out in the weeks before hand with doing data input on the RSVP's  and helping in several areas and I was in charge of setting up and running the silent auction area the night of the event.

We had a great time with all of our friends and came away with a couple of purchases (although I can't tell you what they were because some of it is a gift for someone who reads my blog occasionally). A photo of Dan and I (and some other photos from the night) are on my flickr page.

I'm exhausted today, however. I just don't bounce back from nights like this quite as easily as I used to. I ditched my heals after a couple of hours and eventually was just in my stocking feet. My dogs were barkin'!

New Tool! Quaman

New to me, anyway! Got the idea from The Human Capitalist. It is a blog editing tool called Quaman that can be used on or off line, and can link to all of your blogs. It imports your already established categories etc. This is the first post that I'm trying using the new tool.

Anything to help me blog more/better!

Tags: quaman, blog tools, blogging

Powered by Qumana

Heat of the Moment

Bummed that YouTube isn't supported by TypePad yet (if you know how to imbed their videos in TypePad, please, do share!), but here is the link to one of my favorite South Park moments.

I figured it out! Thanks to Liz from I Speak of Dreams!

I'm a child of the '80s and this version of Heat of the Moment from Asia is priceless!

TED Talks

In February of 2006 there was conference held in Monterey, CA called TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design). The attendees and speakers/performers are 1,000 of todays brightest, most creative people on the planet. I HIGHLY encourage you watch the videos available on TED Talks, especially the one by Ken Robinson who is an expert on innovation and human resources. It takes about 20 minutes and I think you will LOVE what he has to say. Basically he is making a case for nurturing creativity in public schools rather than squelching it. It has made me completely re-think how I want my children to go about their education. You can visit the TED blog and you can also subscribe to the audio or video podcast on iTunes (search for TED in the podcasting area).

I'm going to listen to the one by Majora Carter next. Let me know what you think!

TAGS: TED