New Colander

Beth bought me one of those collapsible colanders at work tonight. Have you seen them? They collapse down so they store better.

I hadn't until we were at the outlet mall on Friday, but Beth said not to buy it there because they have them at Marshall's and they're cheaper. So she called me when she got off work, before heading to Tim's, of course, and said she bought one. So now I'll have to see if I like it. If it works it will be really nice because I can get rid of a couple other ones that take up too much room in my cabinet.

I guess if I don't like it, Beth will want it for her kitchen when she gets one - because it has orange on it. No blue, but at least orange.

Free Games at the Mega Brands Kids Zone

It seems I always have something else to do on the computer, and I don't have much time for games. When I do have time, I usually choose word games that make me think but don't require too much coordination. Maybe if I had started playing video games when I was younger I would have developed that coordination? Or maybe if I force myself to play now, it will help. What do you think?

Whether it helps with coordination or not, I believe kids (and adults) can have a lot of fun playing games on the computer. The MEGA Brands Kids Zone has a lot of great games for kids. I tried a few of them out. I liked the Legends of King Arthur game, not because I actually knew what I was doing, but because it was fun to click around in the game world. There's a castle that looks like it's made out of Mega Bloks, just the way you'd imagine your castle to look - if you could build it and bring it to life. I got to control a knight and fight off a dragon. No, I didn't know what I was doing, but I just kept clicking and beat that dragon!

I also tried a game called Dragons Metal Ages where I got to be a dragon. I think I was supposed to drop fireballs on things and people on the ground, so I kept dropping, but in the end my dragon fell to the ground and the game told me maybe I'd do better next time.

There are several more games available that I haven't tried yet. Did I mention it's free to play them? Check them out with your kids and let me know which ones you like - if you can tear yourselves away, that is. I'm going to go play some more! Maybe I can convince Cory that this is more fun than that mouse hunting game he keeps playing.

Speaking of being prepared...

I really have been thinking about how unprepared we would be if the power went out for any length of time. If the power went out now, we would be really cold! On the news I saw some people from Kentucky explaining how they were burning their wooden fence to keep warm and planned to move on to the kitchen cabinets or 'anything made of wood' if they had to, until the power came back on. At least they had a stove to burn that wood in, though I had to wonder why they didn't have some wood to burn in it. I guess they never expected to use it. At least they had it - we don't even have that. When we built our house, a fireplace was an added expense we couldn't afford, and we've never gotten around to adding one or felt we could justify the expense.

We do have quite a bit of food around here, so we wouldn't starve, at least not right away. We could even cook on the grill, at least for a while - since we don't have a wood cookstove. (Yes, mom, one of those would be nice. I like yours)

Fresh drinking water might be a problem if the water stops running, and since I drink a lot of water every day, that really concerns me. I'm thinking this Big Berkey water filtration system I just read about on my dad's blog would be perfect. It's supposed to provide safe drinking water no matter how bad the water is, and from what I can tell, the filters are good for thousands of gallons, over 10 years worth of water filtering. And it doesn't need any power to work. So it's exactly what you'd need during a power outage.

Mom & Dad have had a reverse osmosis system for several years now, and we've talked about getting one of those - just never actually did it. Now, I'm thinking we should just skip that step and move right to their back-up system.

Are You Prepared?

In the book I'm listening to now, the power unexpectedly went out, and it doesn't look like it's coming back soon, if ever. People have to learn how to survive without so many things they took for granted. No lights, no air conditioning, they can't cook on the stove or use the oven, the food in the refrigerator will spoil if it isn't used quickly.

Stop and think about it - how dependent are you on the electricity that comes into your house? I know I've complained when the power went out for a few hours, because there's nothing I can do. Everything seems to use electricity. I guess I should be thankful and take advantage of the time to sit and read a book - at least while it's daylight.

The more I listen to this book and hear about power outages like they're experiencing in Kentucky right now, the more I think some kind of back-up system would be a good idea. I know some people have gas powered generators, but I like the idea of Solar Back Up Power better. With this kind of back-up, you don't have to worry about having gas to run the generator or being able to get the gas, or in my case, living with the smell of the motor running. As long as the sun shines or the wind blows (with the optional wind generator), you can have power. Without added pollution.

With the way our power bills keep going up, I'd be interested in finding out about using solar power on a regular basis. I wonder how long it would take to come out ahead?

Win a Breadou!

Remember my favorite scent in the whole world? Fresh baked bread? That's why I think these ergonomically designed computer wrist rests from Breadou are the neatest things I've seen in a while. Not only do they provide comfortable support for your wrists while you work on the computer, they look and smell like fresh baked bread! Seriously, I just want to squeeze them - they make great stress balls, too.

Interested? Check out the Breadou giveaway on Table for Five. You could win one. I really love that little Happy Coffee Cream emoticon. Which one do you like?

All in a Day's Shopping

Beth and I went shopping today. Last Friday we went shopping for fun - if you can call shopping fun. We went to the outlet mall, checked out all their clearance, and bought some clothes. Today I was just going to run to Walmart, Walgreens, and Pick 'n Save for some groceries and stuff we need. Pretty boring stuff, so I was surprised when Beth decided she wanted to go too. She did have an ulterior motive, since she wanted to get some haircolor, but I didn't really mind. It was just nice to have her along. She did want to rush me a little because, once she picked out her haircolor at Walmart, she wanted to get home and color her hair, but she was stuck with me for a while longer.

We stopped at Walgreens for milk and free after rebate items. I got some Starbucks chocolate, usually 2 bags for $10, for $1 per bag with coupons. There's a $6 coupon in the rebate catalog, and they had $1 coupons in a shelf dispenser. I thought that was a pretty good deal! They were out of the reusable shopping bags, 3 for $1 with coupon, but I got a raincheck for those. Then I really am going to start using those instead of getting plastic bags all the time. Like I said before, I have too many plastic bags!

Before we went to Pick 'n Save, Beth and I went to McDonald's. I wanted coffee, and they have that buy a drink, get one free between 2 and 5. So I got a hazelnut cappucino, and Beth got hot chocolate - and a Big Mac and fries. And I bought two pies, apple and cherry. I have to say I liked the pies better when they were deep fried instead of baked, but I enjoyed the cappucino.

We didn't take too long in Pick 'n Save - picked up the rest of the stuff on the list and got out of there. I think Beth rushed me just a little. I'm sure I could get my shopping done quicker if I tried really hard, but I don't go grocery shopping very often, and I want to get the most for my money when I do. I may not save enough to pay for yearly Vegas vacations but I think I do OK. As we were checking out, Beth said, "you ought to take Randi shopping and show her how to do it." I guess that means Beth thinks I do OK, too - even if it does bug her sometimes that I'm so cheap.

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(Randi is the mom of Tim's best friend Jesse, and Tim lives with her and her husband)

The Facebook 25

Rules:
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I was tagged at least 6 times for this on facebook, but I just haven't done it until now.
2. Because I'm really good at procrastinating.
3. That's because I'm a perfectionist - meaning, if I don't have time to do something right, I have a hard time doing it at all.
4. This really drove my mom crazy when I was in college because I rarely wrote home. I didn't have enough time to write a real letter that was worth a whole stamp, so I didn't write at all - waiting until I had the time, which, of course, I never did.
5. Nowadays I don't write letters - because email, IM, and facebook are so much quicker - and I don't have to worry whether I have time to write enough to justify a stamp - especially since stamps cost even more nowadays.
6. When I do buy stamps, I buy the Forever Stamps now. I buy them at today's price, and they're good even when the cost goes up. Since I pay all my bills online and don't write letters, this is a good deal for me.
7. I have a whole bunch of rebates I need to put together and get mailed. That will probably use up all the stamps I have now, and I will need to buy more.
8. I am extremely cheap, not just with stamps, but with everything.
9. My favorite store is Goodwill.
10. My favorite coffee mug is one I bought for my brother Craig several years ago at the Feast. Craig really liked the mug - so much that he had already bought one for himself. So I kept the one I bought, and that's the one I use every day.
11. I just learned to send pictures from my phone to my computer via Bluetooth last week. So cool!
12. I do laundry on Mondays. (This is not #5 as I mentioned in a previous post, because this is a new list)
13. This is a new list because I saved my list of 25 as a draft on Facebook, thinking I could go back and finish it later, but now I can't find it. Wasn't there a 'drafts' tab?
14. I understand HTML. I understand CSS. I can't find a draft on Facebook.
15. I have unlimited long distance on my home phone, but I rarely call anyone. We have plenty of minutes on our cell plan, too. I used 8 minutes last month.
16. I'm perfectly happy to talk if someone calls me. I'll even give you a link so you can call me for free.
17. Did I mention that I like free stuff? and good deals.
18. I don't know if I'm capable of paying full price for anything. I can't figure out why anyone would want to.
    
19. I got my bellybutton pierced when I was 35.
20. My favorite smell in the whole world is fresh-baked bread.
21. Perfume gives me a headache. Please don't wear it around me.
22. Same goes for smoking - headaches, sore throat, trouble breathing. I wish smokers would realize that what they do affects other people.
23. I graduated from high school at the end of my junior year - #1 in a class of 34.
24. I collect recipes - from the newspaper, magazines, the internet. I really need to find a good way to organize all my recipes so I can actually use them. That's what my recipe blog is for, but of course I usually have to try a recipe before I can post it - so it's gonna take a while.
25. Dark Chocolate!
    

All that randomness, and I never had to mention Orovo detox. Did you notice that? I'm not tagging anyone here, because I did that on facebook. So I didn't lose my list again, I typed it all here, where I know I can find the drafts, and then copied and pasted to facebook. If you want a tag here, let me know.

Internet Research

I always like learning new things, which is why I enjoyed reading the article about zebras I linked to in the previous post. I probably won't remember what I learned, but I think the important thing isn't memorizing facts, but knowing how to find the answer. I keep telling the kids that's what's important, though remembering enough to pass the test is important, too.

Next time I want to know what color a zebra's stripes are, I can look it up again. If I ever want to know the difference between holodomor and golodomor, I can look that up, too. If you click the link, you can read a little about it. I admit, I don't know much about the Soviet famine of 1932-1933 or who or what was responsible, but the information is out there.

The Internet makes research really easy. The important thing to remember is that just because it's written somewhere on the Internet, that doesn't necessarily mean it's true. After all, if I had told you in that last post that the zebra's stripes are black, that could have been true, or it could have just been my personal opinion. Would you have believed me? Or would you have wanted to do a little research to find out if anyone else agreed with me?

The good news is that there is a wealth of information available online. The bad news is that there is a wealth of information online. You can't just search and take the first answer you find. You need to read through several articles and be selective with the information you choose to believe and share. Internet research is easy, but you still have to put some work into it. And sometimes you just need to go to the library and look through some books.

Heads or Tails – a Past Theme

This week's theme/prompt is: 
EDGE – Any Past Theme

I decided to revisit HEADS *or* TAILS from October 7, 2008 – Black *OR* White.

The question that comes to mind is: What color is a zebra?  Is it black with white stripes?  Is it white with black stripes?

Image via Wikipedia

I found this very interesting article at How Stuff Works – What Color is a Zebra? and I thought it explained it pretty well.  Looking at the picture of the zebra, though, I could see it being the other way around.

What do you think?  Is the zebra white with black stripes or black with white stripes?

Heads or Tails is a fun weekly meme hosted by Skittles!

Excuses, Excuses

Image via Wikipedia

If you happened to notice I wasn't around today, it wasn't because I disappeared to the Outer Banks. It was way more boring than that. I was doing laundry, cutting out coupons, making chili, washing dishes, and all kinds of other mundane household things. I did spend some time on Facebook trying to come up with 25 random things, since I've been tagged a time or two... I'm having a hard enough time coming up with my 25. I can't for the life of me figure out how Misty came up with her 2 million - or whatever the final number was. And I read every single one of them. :) I'm just afraid that when I finally get my list finished, it will be pretty boring and no one will want to read the whole thing.
Case in point: #5 I do laundry on Monday.
Real exciting, huh?

Actually, I don't know what number that actually was on my list because I can't find it. I saved it as a draft so I could go back to it later, and now I have no idea where it went. Help! Does this mean I have to start over again? It's a good excuse for not having done it yet, right?

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