Daily Bzz Star wars!

I love what BzzAgent is doing with the new Daily Bzz. I'm tossing in my super-dope post to try for <insert drumroll>

Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Buuuuuh buh buh buh ba buh buh buh buh ba ba buh ba ba ba baaaaaaaah!!!!! 

 

  Ok, so the Star Wars theme in buh buh buh sounds way better in your head then it looks when you type it... But I know the theme by heart and I hum it while I do dishes xD 

We're huge Star Wars fans here.... 

AND we're huge Blu-Ray fans. So this is the best campaign in the world for me to get!

 

  My kids have always loved the Star Wars movies (all of them), and they watch the Clone Wars cartoon religiously. They've even gotten neurotic and obsessive about Star Wars. My son wore his Darth Vadar mask into the shower until he was 9. Refused to bathe without it.... My daughter wants to be a princess because of Princess Leia, I've even dressed up as Leia for Halloween... 4 times. We all have our own lightsabers that we built (custom FTW!) and we regularly stage fights with them in our living room (to the star wars theme, of course). Sometimes, my son even lets me wear his Darth Vadar mask and tell him that I am his father.... we all giggle over that. My husband has every movie memorized from beginning to end and can literally recite every movie. Anyway, we are Star Wars nerds through and through.

 

We're all also Blu-ray nerds (and we have a PS3 in just about every room xD). My son can tell you all the differences between Blu-ray and DVD from quality to disc size. I'm afraid he's going to grow up and be in infomercials. We all know that the quality of a Blu-ray movie is astounding, and we have a huge 62" tv with surround sound to watch ours. We'd love to see the Star Wars saga in HD with all our friends and family, and I'd love the opportunity to bzz about it!

 And for the record, I don't call shotgun, I call Chewie =P

Bounce it Off Millions

  Have you ever had one of those mind-blowing decisions that you just can't seem to make on your own? Are you trying to decide between white or black socks? Bounce fans can help you! This is your opportunity to Bounce it Off Millions!

  If you head over to the Bounce Facebook page, you can click on the Bounce if Off Millions tab and submit your question! Your questions will be turned into a poll and other Bounce fans will vote on it to help you make your choice. Its really great because you can use the poll to help you decide. Or as an excuse.... Like my question. "Should my husband have blue hair?"

My husband: "But honey, I don't think my hair should be neon blue!"

Me: "PSH! In a poll, 71% agreed with this decision. Now you HAVE to have blue hair!"

  I'm still fighting him over the blue hair. He doesn't understand that the decision has already been made and I WILL win.

  Not only that, to celebrate Bounce it Off Millions, four lucky users will be chose to win a grand prize: A chance to turn their big question into a Facebook-wide advertisement! If you win, over 150 million Facebook users can help you decide between your two options.

But that's not all!
If you head on over right now, fans can also enter a sweepstake for the chance to win two Bounce Dryer Bars (which are so awesome!). If you win, you get one to keep and one for a friend. They're picking 5, 000 winners but the contest ends September 19th, so go-go-GO! Bounce it Off Millions

**Disclaimer:
I do not receive any monetary compensation and all opinions in this blog are mine and mine alone.

Dreamlights!

BzzAgent is doing some really awesome things with this new "Daily Bzz". I love having the opportunity to get into a program that I normally wouldn't. I especially love Dreamlights. This is my "dope" post telling why I'm excited to join this campaign.






   I have been completely infatuated with fireflies since I was 6. I would catch them when I was camping and put them in a jar. I always kept that jar by my sleeping bag. Those fireflies were my night light until I started getting sleepy and I set them free. I did the same thing every single night. Never even got tired of it. I miss those childhood days. I miss seeing the thousands of fireflies gathered on wild blackberry bushes lighting up the night by the lake. I've tried recreating them at home with firefly magnets, firefly lights, and firefly candles, but its never been the same to me as camping all summer with my fireflies.

   Sadly, I live in an area where there aren't many fireflies, so I can't introduce my children to the wonder of a firefly nightlight or the beauty of gathering fireflies outside of the pictures from my camping trips. I can't watch them light up the bushes and trees like they did when I was a child. We see a stray firefly now and again, and my kids are enthralled, but its nothing like the magic and the wonder that I experienced during my childhood. I would love to bring this to my children, even if it is simulated. My daughter has the same exact wonder and joy that I was filled with as a child. I would love to see her eyes light up at this. I'm sure she's invent a story about the fairies that live inside the jar since fairies are her world.

   I love how the Dreamlights look very authentic. Its almost exactly what fireflies look like inside of a frosted glass jar. I love imagining the stories my daughter would make up. I love giving my daughter the power to believe in fairies and fairy tales. I love the warm feeling I could get just from gazing at it and recollecting those carefree kid days where I had nothing more important to do than catch bugs. These are all the reasons why I'm excited to join this campaign.



  As the days get longer, and the nights get warmer, people are venturing outside their doors and enjoying the moonlight. As they walk down streets and paths, the flickering lights of fireflies are hard to miss. During some summers, trees would light up with more fireflies than there were stars in the heavens, turning the whole sky upside-down. As kids, many of us ran through our parents' back yards, collecting fireflies in jars. They'd flicker inside, blinking out their little buggy code to each other. We would wonder what their bio luminescent blinking lights were actually saying. No - nothing that heady. In fact, their gentle flickering communicates their ability to mate and their location - the entomological equivalent of "Hey baby! Over here, good-lookin'! So where bugs fail us, robots fill in. These robots come in the form of tiny LEDs inside a frosted glass lantern. You can set them to glow as long as they have power, or only when you shake the lantern. Don't worry about harming the little fellas - they aren't real. Your karma is safe. So traipse across your moonlit garden again, like you did when you were a kid. Set it on your night stand to offer a soft soothing glow while you sleep, or just take a walk using the lantern as cool illumination as you go. The fireflies won't mind - in fact, they'll probably come to check out the hot little robotic numbers inside. 

Are your children scary?

My children are scary. My daughter is 8 (almost 9) and she acts like a teenage girl. My son is 11 and he acts like a teenage girl....
In the past, I've always tried to be rational and responsible when dealing with my children's outbursts.

For example:
"But, Mom! Everyone else is wearing make-up in 2nd grade! Why can't I??!!"
Because this is not "tramp training camp".
I don't say that, but I'm thinking it. Instead I take a deep breath and say "What other parents let their kids do is their business. You're my business, honey. Girls that are wearing make-up at 8 years old are trying to look and act older than they are. You're 8, Morgan. Try to be 8! You'll be older soon enough and you'll have the whole rest of your life to wear make-up."

"I hate you! You're the worst mom EVER!"
What I really want is to stick my tongue out and say "I hate you too, stupid head!".
Instead, I calmly say "You can hate me if you want, and I'm sorry that you feel that way, but I love you."

With my other child it's not much different:
"I don't want to put my laundry away! This isn't fair! You make me do everything!"
[inner voice] You do nothing. You don't even pick up after yourself. You play video games, leave butt-prints in my couch, and make my life miserable every chance you get....
 "Son, I'll gladly put your laundry away if you'd like to go to work for me, wash and fold the towels, sweep and mop, load the dishwasher, take the dog for a walk, dust, and cook supper. No? That's what I have to do today, so I don't think its much to ask for you to put your own clothes away after I kindly washed and folded them for you."

My children are the ones that make other people decide against reproducing. My kids make me understand why some animals eat their young. I'm torn between telling them the bald-faced truth, and being a mature, caring adult. Occasionally, I can diffuse a situation with humor, but more often than not they make my head explode. I've been known to use sarcasm.... heavily. I've been known to yell back. But, I always try to be mature when my kids act like spoiled brats. The fact that they act like spoiled brats kind of shocks me to begin with. They don't get everything that they want. I've tried to instill values in them. I've taught them right from wrong. AND I've always been a super-cool punk-rock mom!

How would they feel if I threw a fit because I couldn't have what I wanted. What if I refused to do anything? What if I hated them and slammed doors? What if I went out in public in a ripped and stained red shirt with yellow plaid shorts without brushing my hair or teeth?

Last week, I had enough of the door slams. When my son slammed the door, I proceeded to tell him he was doing it wrong. I then demonstrated the proper way to slam a door and made him do it the "right way" for nearly a half hour. I won and there hasn't been a door slammed since. Yesterday, my daughter started screaming and flipping out because she couldn't find her favorite shirt. I yelled gibberish and flailed my arms around. When she finally stopped her tirade and looked at me in shock, I calmly said "Now you know how ridiculous you look screaming like that."

Obviously I have to be just as obnoxious as they are to get my point across. I guess when I say what that sarcastic little voice inside my head WANTS to say, they get the point much better than when I try to be calm and understanding. To think that these are just the 'tween years. As teens, I'm probably going to have to resort to psychological warfare. I'm going to have to shave eyebrows and draw mustaches while they sleep. I'm going to have to drive them to school in pajamas with feet. I'm going to have to saran-wrap the toilet. I can't wait.

Do you have the same problems? How do you deal with your 'tweens?

The internet

   I truly feel like the internet is a wonderful place. Its a constant learning experience. I've been everywhere on the internet. Company/Brand websites, social networking, forums, download sites, upload sites, blogs, the list just goes on. You name it and I've been there. From the faces of Facebook, to the depths of FatWallet, even to the farthest reaches of GaiaOnline. I love the internet. I love to hate the internet. 

There are ups, there are downs.... all in all its like a neurotic high school "I love you, I hate you" roller-coaster relationship for me.

  There are things I've learned from the internet that I would like to share. Those of you that know the internet as I do may shake their heads. You may laugh. Those who don't should take (most) of these words to heart. You may agree or disagree, but this is my internet experience over the years.


1. Google knows everything. EVERYTHING. If you need to know something, ask Google. (Warning: if Google does not know, this may be the end of the world as we know it, government censorship, or some other conspiracy!)

2. Everyone on the internet is completely prepared for (and even anticipating) a Zombie Apocalypse. They even sell "self defense" tables that break down into a club and shield to defend yourself if you are surprised by an attack. In case of a Zombie Apocalypse, proceed to the nearest PC for survival advice and always remember to remove the head.

3. The internet is a little like school. Except that you don't have to be in the same grade, school, state, age group, race, sex, or country to have someone threaten to come to your house to beat you up because you disagreed with them. 12 year olds, 30 year olds, even 72 year olds are magically transformed into 6'5"- 300 pound professional street fighters by the internet. I've seen people get seriously mad and carry on in real life over an internet fight with a total stranger. Sometimes fighting on the internet is like trying to grab the last pink Zhu Zhu off the shelf when you're surrounded by other moms packed in an aisle in Toys-R-Us at the Black Friday sales. Someone is going to win, there's just going to be a lot of hair pulling and yelling first.

4. The internet has the best T-shirts, and the best demotivational posters.

5. People of all ages go to the internet to unlearn most (if not all) proper english and punctuation. Dropped vowels, intentional misspellings (and not-so-intentional), CAPSLOCK screaming, run on sentences and abbreviations are the language of the internet. Learning "chatspeak" and "leet" is like visiting a foreign country and trying to learn the language by repeating what you hear. If Google didn't know everything, there would be a serious financial gain to "internet speak" lessons.

6. There are tons of witty comments and comebacks everywhere on the web. You find witty responses in some unexpected places. Some are great, some are not so good. My research suggests that "your mom" is still one of the most popular comebacks of choice. 

Ironically, even moms are using it.

7. There are many links on the internet. Some of them go to relevant sites, some of them take you to horrible, sick, scary places that are best not spoken of even in the worst of all nightmares. It is always best to check where a link goes before you click on it. You wouldn't want a virus, or some random man/lady parts popping up. Trust me. It happens. A LOT.

8. Animals are incredible. People's pets are making Facebook accounts and playing Mafia Wars. Cats have their own websites and YouTube channels. Birds have their own online comic. All my dog does is lay around. My fish kinda just float in their tank. I've realized I must have raised my pets to be lazy and unproductive. I'm a terrible pet-parent.

9. Not everyone is as technologically advanced as others. Occasionally, explaining to the "technologically disabled" how to do something as simple as clearing your cache turns into a 3 hour conversation that leaves you beating your head off your desk. Instead of explaining, you should refer them to Google as Google knows everything.

10. Social networking is AMAZING! I have friends that update and post pictures when they go just about anywhere. To New York. To the hospital. To the bathroom. To the pool. To the zoo. To get sloppy drunk. Its great to be able to keep up with everyone and hear all about every aspect of their lives. I also learned that social networking sites probably have privacy settings for REALLY good reasons.

11. Online gaming and MMORPGS are huge. If you're not on Farmville, and you're not playing WoW, you don't understand the sheer importance of PC gaming. You probably don't know how very incredibly rare that neon red pig with the pink, blue, and orange spotted stripes is. You have no idea how important someone's level 200 Arcane Mage is. You have no idea how significant it is that they can teleport to Tol Barad, warp the flow of time, and transform an enemy into an animal. YOU HAVE NO IDEA. These people are very passionate about their gaming, which is great on the internet. Beware the person that randomly launches into a 3 hour conversation about their farm in person. Note: When someone starts talking about their new pole dancing job, you may want to ask to which game they are referring to. You don't want to launch into a lecture about strippers when your sister is talking about Second Life.

12. Funnier things happen on the internet than in your life. Things you never thought could happen to anyone in a million years is on YouTube. For the record though, its not polite to laugh at the poor boy up the street that rode his bike into a parked car. Its not nice to laugh at the crazy cat lady that has 38 cats crammed in the back of her tiny Geo Metro in the parking spot next to yours (complete with litter box). Unless you see it on YouTube. Then it is appropriate to not only laugh, but to also share it with all your Facebook friends.

  These are the things I have learned from the internet. I'm sure there's more I've learned. Just as I'm sure I'll learn a whole lot more in my life time. These are just the important bits that stand out the most. Perhaps this is just my tired rambling as I'm typing this out on my laptop at 4am. Maybe I'm more perceptive than my mother ever hoped I could be. Whatever the case may be, the internet has surely educated me in many ways.

 Has the internet taught you anything today?

Healthy Food Fight!

I'm sure we all know cooking and eating healthy can be kinda tough.

Through SheSpeaks.com I heard about the Aetna Healthy Food Fight

Aetna is providing healthy tips from a nutritionist, cooking and eating tips from Bobby Flay, among many other things. They have tons of recipes from Bobby Flay, The Culinary Institute of America, and everyday people.

Visit the Aetna Healthy Food Fight and explore all the wonderful recipes and other helpful features of their site.

I particularly love the "Healthy Recipe Analyzer". You can enter your recipe/ingredients and it'll rate how healthy your recipe is! You'd be surprised at how many recipes aren't as healthy as you think they are.

Another great feature is Aetna's "Fast Food Alternatives". Unless you're like me and you get sick just thinking about calories and fat, you probably grab fast food now and then. I personally have a hard time cramming down any "fast food" beyond Subway, but my husband has no issue eating a Double Whopper with cheese *shudders*.

If you're on the run a lot and you have to grab fast food, this tool is for you! Not only do they recommend a healthier alternative to some of your choices (such as getting vegetable pizza instead of deep dish), they also include the calorie count AND tell you how long you'd have to walk to burn off those calories!

You can also submit your own healthy entree recipe to compete against others.

Three top qualifiers from each region will travel to the Semi-Final recipe cook-offs.

The Semi-finalists will cook their dishes in front of a representative from The Culinary Institute of America and local VIP judges. The winner from each region will receive an all-expense-paid trip to New York City to compete in the Final Cook-off judged by Bobby Flay. Four Finalists will be competing before Bobby Flay and other VIP judges. The winner of the Final Cook-off will receive a grand prize of $10,000 worth of groceries donated by Recipe.com!

So, if you have a great healthy recipe, join the fight and submit it! If you don't have a healthy recipe, check out the Healthy Food Fight recipes and try something new.

While you're there, you can also enter for a chance to win a set of Circulon gourmet cookware!

I'm hoping some of the tips and recipes Aetna has provided will help my family be a little healthier. They're all junk food addicts and its hard to get them to eat anything that could possibly be good for them. If your kids are the same, give this healthy alternative to Fruit roll-ups a try! No dehydrator needed. My kids love fruit leather!

Apple Spice Fruit Leather
Yields one 11”x17” pan of fruit leather
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 5-8 hours at 170°F

INGREDIENTS
1 25-ounce jar of applesauce
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves

INSTRUCTIONS

    Preheat oven to 170°F.
    Line an 11”x17” jelly-roll pan or lipped cookie sheet with greased parchment paper (wax paper will smoke in the oven) or a silicone baking mat.
    Spread the puree until it’s about 1/4” thick. Pick up the pan and tilt back and forth until it’s evenly distributed.
    Bake in the oven for 5-8 hours. Rotate the pan halfway during the baking time to ensure even drying. Timing will vary depending on the fruit used. It’s ready when it’s smooth and non-tacky.
    Let it cool, then cut in strips with scissors or a pizza cutter. Stack or roll them and store in an airtight container or a zipper storage bag. I roll them with plastic wrap or parchment paper so they "peel" like real Fruit Roll-ups.

Tip: Store in a cool, dry place. You can store fruit leather for up to a year in the freezer, six months in the refrigerator or a few weeks at room temperature.

Other ideas/alternatives:

• Spread a thin layer of melted caramel over the fruit leather and allow it to harden a little before rolling.
• Cut fun shapes with cookie cutters, stack on parchment paper and tie with a ribbon to make a unique hostess gift or a lunch box surprise.
• Spice up a can of pumpkin with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves for another twist on fall-inspired fruit leather.
• Puree a can of peaches or other canned fruit in the blender for a quick option that requires no washing and slicing.
• To sweeten fruit leather, add a couple teaspoons, or to taste, of vanilla, sugar, brown sugar, honey or maple syrup.
• You can adjust this recipe for just about ANY kind of fruit! All you need is fruit puree (seasonings can make a difference!), sweetener, and a little tweaking of the recipe cook time (some fruits cook faster than others). Feel free to experiment and share! My favorite is plain strawberry (pureed fresh strawberries, sweetened to taste). Mixed berries are great as well.

**Disclaimer:
I do not receive any monetary compensation and all opinions in this blog are mine and mine alone.

Electric bill..... What? O_o

I'm going to complain. I'm going to rant... maybe.
I just got my electric bill. I just had a WTF moment. I just hyperventilated.
I have Ohio Edison as my electric provider. Ohio Edison is owned by First Energy.
I opened my bill today and I see my bill is $125.80. I think "holy crap, my kids are using too much electricity!".

As I examine my bill, I realize that this is not the case. We only used $69.25 in electricity, which is slightly high, but its been hot. This is where the WTF moment came in, right before my self righteous indignation  took front and center. Where did the rest of the bill come from? I proceeded with my examination.....

I'm being charged an extra $56.55.
$4.00 for a "customer charge", $4.58 for a "cost recovery charge", and $47.97 for a "DISTRIBUTION RELATED COMPONENT".WTF is that? According to my bill, a "distribution related component" is "a charge (including taxes) for moving electricity over electric distribution lines to your home or business. Formerly, Delivery Charge".

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd....... Cue self righteous indignation.

They're going to charge me for distribution???!! Hey, Ohio Edison, you're OWNED by the company that provides my electricity. You're the only company I can HAVE for electricity.You want me to pay for YOUR company to bring YOUR company's electricity into my house, and then you want me to pay for the electricity too???!! AND you want to charge me for being a CUSTOMER??!! You're almost doubling my bill!

I repeated the above speech to customer service. Its explained to me that the "distribution charge" is similar to a rental fee. First Energy is providing electricity to me through Ohio Edison's power lines and I have to pay a fee for that. FIRST ENERGY OWNS OHIO EDISON. I'm using First Energy's power lines. Does anyone understand this other than me? O_o
Basically, the customer service rep gave me a "that's how it is and everyone pays it" speech and hung up on me.

Everyone is broke. Money is tight EVERYWHERE. Everyone is in debt including our own government.
Evidently, this justifies raising the prices on everything from food and gas all the way to electricity. Even after pondering over it for hours now, I still can't understand why First Energy/Ohio Edison would create such a ridiculous charge with the economy the way it is.
I guess the theory must be that they already raised the electric prices, why not go all out and take every dime?

Crowdtap and Old Navy Shorts!

First off, I want to thank Old Navy and CrowdTap for providing me with wonderful opportunities to share products and brands with my friends and family.

Recently, I was provided (by CrowdTap and Old Navy) an Old Navy Style Council coupon booklet that included 4 coupons. Each coupon was good for a free top, a free pair of shorts and a free accessory of our choice (including shoes, jewelry, hats, scarves, bags, etc.)

I invited a couple of my friends and I dragged my mum along for the fun of it (she's never shopped at Old Navy O_o). We had a lovely lunch at Chipolte and headed to the nearest Old Navy store to cause mayhem and destruction.... err... I mean.... to have fun and check out the shorts ;)

The Old Navy Staff was wonderful. Not only did they go above and beyond the call of duty, they had wonderful suggestions and recommendations. The whole staff treated us like royalty even though we were probably being a pain in the ass. It was absolutely wonderful.

We had fun trying on outfits and critiquing each other's choices. It was really fun to give "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" to each other while we were trying things on. My mum and I had some fun with some of the accessories since we're a little crazy. We had all the girls laughing (store staff included).

All in all we had the best time. We had girl time, and we got to shop. Everyone was exhausted when we were through, but I'm pretty sure they still had enough energy to call around and rave about Old Navy. I would gladly do it again anytime.

I picked a lime green top with black cut-off shorts and a pair of wedge shoes with my coupon. Then I HAD to buy a hat to match it because it was so adorable. I don't think anyone walked out of the store without buying a little something extra. The only thing that upset me a bit was that my Old Navy store doesn't carry jewelry.... but I think I have enough anyway!

This was a great opportunity for all of us and we all agreed that it was the most fun we've had in a very long time. Thanks CrowdTap and Old Navy!

**Disclaimer: Products were provided by CrowdTap and Old Navy. 

I did not receive any monetary compensation and all opinions in this blog are mine and mine alone.

What happened to Jalapeno poppers?

  
  Now, I'm usually not a picky person, but there are some things in life that make me picky. My latest complaint is jalapeno poppers.

  I had a strange craving for some cheddar cheese jalapeno poppers. It came out of nowhere. It struck me hard and fast, and of course I was left reeling since I haven't had poppers since I was a teen. Hell, I haven't had many deep fried ANYTHING since I was a teen. But the craving was there none the less and I had to do something about it.


  Skip to the grocery store. Freezer section. I grab a box of TGI Friday's poppers. I take them home, I cook them.... I'm thoroughly disappointed :/
They're not very popper-y. They're not really spicy at all. I was left feeling like I ate a deep fried hunk of green pepper with cheese. This did not fulfill the craving. I had to try again.
Skip back to the grocery store. Freezer section. Another brand, another disappointment. I tried 4 different brands of poppers at this point and they weren't what I needed. Don't get me wrong, they didn't taste BAD. They were just missing that "bite" that I was craving.


  Some people don't like spicy or hot things, and I understand that. I happen to have a large tolerance for hot-n-spicy, but its not exactly what I was looking for. I'm looking for that nice "whoa this has kick" taste. I don't want to burn my face off, but I want to feel like my poppers aren't sissies. xD


  Last night, to my surprise, I was browsing Wal-mart. Its family movie night, and I decided that pizza rolls were the way to go. Next to the pizza rolls, I see something called "Snapps SnackBites". I'd never seen them before (not that I pay much attention to things around me most days), so I decided to check them out. I noticed they had "Cheddar Cheese Pepper Bites". Thinking they may be just what I need for this week-long craving, I grabbed a box along with our pizza rolls.

  I get home, and I inspect the box. These aren't jalapeno poppers. They're some kind of diced jalapeno and cheese mixture that's been breaded. I'm thinking "this can not be good", but I put on my big girl panties and I toss them in the fryer anyway, refusing to read the ingredients or nutrition information because I know I'll chicken out. Two minutes later and they're done. They LOOK like jalapeno poppers. They SMELL like jalapeno poppers. Do they taste like jalapeno poppers?

  I tentatively put one in my mouth and bite down. They have "THE TASTE", that "bite" I was looking for! The texture was different, the cheese wasn't the highest quality (kinda tasted a bit like cheez whiz), but it had that flavor I needed to satisfy my weird popper craving. Why, oh, why can't real jalapeno poppers taste like this?

  Anyway, I still haven't looked at the nutrition information. I'm scared. As if deep fried jalapeno poppers aren't bad enough for you, I'm terrified of what this cheez-whiz-ish concoction contains. All I can say is that my popper craving is gone and they satisfied me. I doubt my arteries will thank me, and I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of extra Pilates to make up for this.... but I'm no longer hovering in the freezer section of my grocery store like a mad woman.


  I understand that food companies have to cater to all kinds of different tastes. I also understand that not everyone has the same tastes as me. What happened to jalapeno poppers? Are they genetically engineering less spicy jalapeno peppers for these food companies? Have my tastes changed so very much? There's different hot levels of hot sauce, why can't companies make different hot levels of other things so everyone can enjoy them?

U by Kotex Tween

  I just had a wonderful opportunity (thanks to the lovely ladies at modernmom.com) to share this wonderful product with my friends who also have daughters!


  If you're a girl, you know getting your first period isn't the funnest experience... And if you're a parent, you know that its hard to find the words to talk to your own daughter about it. Girls are getting their periods younger and younger these days and I can only imagine the experience is scarier and more uncomfortable the younger you get. Kotex has created a product just for tweens "sized just right." U by Kotex Tween products are smaller, have colorful designs and are just all around awesome. The combo packages that we received came with 12 pads and 12 liners. 

  The pads have wings (a big need for young girls for the additional protection) and are "extra absorbent", promising to absorb like Kotex heavy flow pads. They're also shorter and narrower to better fit young girls' bodies. Both the pads and the panty liners have bright multi-colored wrappers and featured cute prints on the pad themselves. The glittery package features reassuring messages, tween-friendly myths and facts, and an information booklet on the inside. U by Kotex Tween has really thought this through and made a tween friendly product that confronts your period with style and fun.

  I honestly wish they would have made products like this when I started my period. Back then, you didn't have very many options. As a smaller girl, I felt like I was wearing a diaper that wrapped from my belly button to my spine xD 
These products makes the whole "process" of having your first period seem more glamorous and fun. And definitely less scary.


  They also have a website which you can check out that has lots of resources 
(helpful interactive calendar, video, advice, etc) and information for YOUR talk and advice about puberty.  And here's some helpful information that I pulled from the Kotex website: 
 

                                                              Click to enlarge


  I got to host a small get-together with 5 of my closest friends that also have tween daughters and are unsure of how to handle the TALK. Our products came in lovely black gift back with a pretty pink tissue paper. There was a packet with information in each bag with tips and advice on how to approach the subject, as well as a Q&A pack to help answer any questions your daughter might have. I also purchased several things that would come in handy, such as: notepads, pens, and extra U by Kotex Tween products.


  Lucky for us, our daughters all got invited to the same birthday party, so we got to talk freely. As we sat down with our coffee and our Harry & David cookies, we discussed first period stories (horror or not). My favorite story belonged to a friend (April) who's niece just had her first period a few years back WITHOUT the talk. Seems she was 11 years old and her mum thought she still had lots of time before she had to talk to her about it.
Not knowing what to expect, the poor girl had been hysterical. When her mother came into the bathroom and saw what the problem was, she gave the girl a pad and explained to her what it was for. The girl shakily opened the pad, and promptly burst into tears over the "Have a happy period, Always" slogan that was printed. (That would probably make me cry too, jus' sayin'.)


  None of us are very confident in our abilities to have this discussion, but we've all had bad experiences, so we knew what NOT to do. We grabbed our notepads and pens, and we got to work making lists. Our first list was positive ways to start the conversation with our daughters. Our second list was a "what to do" and "what NOT to do" list for our daughters including tips that we've learned ourselves. Like "not wearing white pants close to school close to your period" and "always keep products handy in your purse, just in case". 


  As we put these special lists in our gift bags, it occurred to us that they seemed mighty empty. Emptiness is not a very good way to celebrate womanhood, so we went shopping! ^_^
We loaded up in my Suzuki, and headed to Wal-mart to get goodies that would help our daughters through this rough time. Our purchases included small bottles of Excedrin, Midol, cute make-up bag for our daughter's purse/bookbag, deodorant, lip gloss (we all love to be pretty), wet wipes, new underwear, little heating pads, nail polish, small diaries, and of course Lindt chocolates among other things. We then proceeded to head to a small local store to pick up low-cost tiaras, and pocket calendars.


We put together "emergency" kits with the make-up bags for our girls to take with them. Each one had pads and liners, lip gloss, a little disposable heating pad, the Midol and Excedrin, wet wipes, and a spare pair of underwear. We arranged all the stuff we bought in our bags, then we printed out helpful informational sheets and pamphlets, tied them with a ribbon and put them in the bags as well. We're calling our bags the "Welcome to Womanhood Bags".
  
We finished up by discussing exactly what to tell our daughters. Do we just have the period talk? Do we have the sex talk at the same time? Do we have the sex talk first? Do we tie them down and talk to them whether they like it or not? By the time we finished discussing, arguing, and list making, we all felt confident that we could talk to our daughters about their period without traumatizing them xD




Check out my bag and the lovely cookies (which I forgot to take a picture of xD)!

 

****I would like to take a moment to thank the ladies at ModernMom.com and Kotex for this wonderful opportunity. I'm sure I wouldn't have done so well talking to my daughter, or had as much fun planning the talk without the resources they've provided. Thank you so much! ****


**Disclaimer: Products were provided by Modernmom.com and Kotex. 
I did not receive any monetary compensation and all opinions in this blog are mine and mine alone.

I'm awake, I swear I'm awake.... *snores*

  Thanksgiving was lovely. If you discount the fact that I was too exhausted to walk after everyone left, it was good.

 If you discount the fact that my dear mother tried to kill me, it was awesome. 
I mean it. She tried to kill me. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of person loads the dishwasher with EVERY sharp object pointing up. There I was, loading the dishwasher, not thinking about it too much because I was tired.... and then.... she STABBED me. Not literally of course, because she had already gone home, but I know she meant to do it. I was putting a spoon in the silverware part when got stabbed in the meaty part of my palm (below my thumb). It probably wouldn't have been so bad if the blade of the steak knife hadn't gone under my thumb ring and stabbed me, but because it did I couldn't get the sucker out from under the ring without cutting myself more. That's right around the time that I looked down and realized that I could have died.

 I'm sure you think I'm exaggerating, but imagine how you would feel when you looked down and realized that there were 12 knives sticking blade up in your dishwasher, and every single one seemed placed for maximum damage. All I had to do was trip and I'd have had a blade through most of my organs. Thanks mom. Happy Thanksgiving to you too. >.>

 Hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving. <3 

Is it really time for Thanksgiving? O_o

  Evidently, the week has just flown by me. Tomorrow my little-big brother will be here to start helping with the cooking. YES. I can cook. Of course my mother is making the pies and other deserts. But only because everything I've ever tried to bake has gone into the oven beautifully, and come out looking like a charred turd. I blame my oven. It couldn't possibly be me. My cooking is way too good for my baking to be so very terrible. Evidently, I didn't inherit the skill from my mother. I'm not sure I inherited anything from my mother other than a really twisted sense of humor (THANKS MOM! Its all your fault I get funny looks at the grocery store!).

I'm not sure if I'm ready for all this cooking. I'm not sure I have enough booze for Thanksgiving. I'm not sure my family has enough booze to deal with me either xD

Weekend! Yay!

  So.... its the weekend. Finally. 
I love my weekends. I literally do nothing. I sit like a lump and complain if anyone asks me to do anything that even remotely sounds like work or chores. And I usually pity the fool that asks for a weekend ANYTHING, because if you're ruining my Saturday, I'm not being polite about your opinions on what colored furniture you should have in your basement.

I finally finished my order for Shutterfly at 5am. I decided to buy photobooks for a few people and order my Christmas cards. I got some prints too, but at 5am, I can't be very sure that I ordered anything more than the same print over and over. Oh well. I'll share my 2 favorite pictures of my children. One is because they're insane, and the other is evidence that I'm not the one abusing them :/

  And of course, I included these pictures on my Christmas cards. I'm not one to claim my children are anything other than the mean, hateful, abusive kids that they are. A very good example is what my son and daughter did this morning. I woke up at 10 am to Jacob beating Morgan with a PS3 controller, and of course Morgan has to get even, so 10 minutes later she junk punched him when he walked out of his bedroom. Gotta love them kids xD


At least I have my Saturday. Tomorrow I'm obligated to actually do things. I have to do shopping for Thanksgiving dinner. I've been putting it off, but I've decided to finally do it. Don't get me wrong, I'd tell my family they're having Ramen for Thanksgiving and they'd probably just shut up and like it. I just don't like Ramen.


I'm thinking that its a Subway night. I don't like cook on Saturday, so we usually eat whatever leftovers we can find or we order something or I toss something in a pot and pretend like its a meal. Subway sounds good. I'm a little upset that they don't have the $5 foot longs around here anymore (Go team Chuck? xD). But I like Subway, and thus we shall have it. Because I said so.

A new day, a new layout

   Finally finished the layout. Its nothing fancy, but it suits me. Not quite sure why I decided on a Bleach theme, but I like it. Hopefully it is easy to navigate and read. I'll be getting the rest of the pages up soon. If anyone reads this and has a tip, leave a comment so I can make my layout more friendly.


   Today was a blah day. I woke up late, so we had to rush, and then I spilled coffee all over myself. Although, the highlight of the morning was when I stood on my porch in my coffee covered pajamas and screeched at the bus driver. 

   I hate my kids' bus driver. There has never been a meaner, more nit picking bus driver on the planet. Now, I realize that my kids are far from perfect, but if you're going to try to kick one of my kids off the bus for looking behind them, you probably deserve to be screeched at. 

   My son, Jacob sits in the back of the bus. He brought me home a letter yesterday saying that his behavior was up for review and he may get kicked off the bus. The list of offenses included: "Looking over shoulder when asked to stop repeatedly", and "Getting an attitude and being disrespectful when written up". To be fair, I made sure of the facts before I got angry (I called the bus aid). Jacob was on his butt in his seat, and he wasn't actually causing any trouble. Who are you to govern where my child looks. lady? And what harm comes to a child looking out the rear bus window? Once I was sufficiently upset, I sat down and had a talk with my son. I asked him to give his bus driver a message for me.... mostly my son just said "I can't say that mom!", but after the offer of pizza as a reward, he agreed to tell his bus driver my message. 


   Call me a bad parent if you'd like, but I took great satisfaction in seeing the look on the bus driver's face when my son stood at the curb and told her very loudly "My mom says she's going to kick your ass if you don't stop being mean to me and my sister for no reason!" The woman looked like she peed all over herself. Then she had the nerve to start yelling at me about how he was never permitted to ride the bus again because "cursing on the bus" is against the rules..... 
This is the part where I ended up screeching on my porch in my pajamas. My son had not been on the bus when he cursed. He was actually in my front yard, so the rule doesn't really apply. Take that, you mean bus driver! 

   AND I get pizza for supper! xD 


   Normally, I wouldn't react this way, but my kids have had the same bus driver since they started school (Jacob is 10, and my daughter Morgan is 8) and this lady has always had a problem with my kids. I remember incidents last year where she would take things away from my daughter and refuse to give them back. Once thing that sticks out in my mind was a rock. My daughter is a dedicated artist and she loves making things. This particular rock was one of several that she has on her dresser. She searched high and low for the smoothest, roundest rocks, and then she painted them to look like lady bugs. She was taking one in to school for show-and-tell that day, and the bus driver decided that she must have "stolen" it. Even though my daughter's name is on the bottom of this rock, the bus driver confiscates it and writes my daughter up for stealing someone else's property. I'm very sure there are tons of kids that paint lady bugs on rocks by the name of Morgan that ride that bus, right? <insert eye roll> I just don't have the patience to deal with people like that.


   Welcome to my life.

BLARGLEARGLE

Waiting for my kids to get off the bus, decided to write a little. 

Its raining. Normally I love the rain. I love the wet, earthy smell. Today, not so much. Its cold. I hate the cold. I don't want to leave my house if its cold.... Hell, I don't want to get out of bed when its cold. People think that I'm weird because I hate the cold so very much because I was born on Christmas eve. Like the day I was born is somehow supposed to make me like freezing weather better. It sure didn't make me like Christmas any better, but that's probably to be expected when you're 5 years old and everyone tells you your present is "for your birthday AND for Christmas". Cheapskates. I'm sure being a "Grinch" is expected of someone in my position. If not, then I'm starting a trend. And someday, the Grinches of the world will unite to take over the entire universe! DUN DUN DUNNNNNN! 


 But I've wasted enough time for now. I have grand plans to finish the look of my blog today. I'm sure it won't turn out TOO bad. Photoshop, here I come!

Day One

 So, I'm writing a blog. I'm not sure if I even care if people read this or not, I just think it will be nice to keep some sort of record of life around here. I'm not quite finished with the design, so please don't take this as the final product, its just what looks pretty for now. I need to find a Kris-ish background that makes it easier to read.
If you're reading this.... there is no turning back. 
Like s'rsly, yo.

One of the things you'll discover is that not only am I twisted, but those around me have twisted me. I swear I was normal once, but since meeting my husband, I've somehow turned into a degenerate, perverted shell of the bucket of sunshine that I used to be. 

So. Onward to the blogging. 

As I danced around my living room today (pretending to dust), several thoughts occurred to me. Thought number one was I am a hell of a dancer. Thought number two was along the lines of "where did the dog come from?". Shortly after my second thought, I was on the floor. 
To explain, I'm the proud mother of a female Boxer. Her name is Rukia. She also happens to be the neediest, clingiest dog known to man. If you need to use the bathroom, she will literally whine until you come back. I can't get out of bed without stepping on the poor dog. Anyway, I stepped on the dog..... I know. I'm terrible... But I can't take all the blame. What kind of dog stands under someone that is dancing around like a drunken stripper?
 As I lay sprawled out on the floor, cursing, I realize that my "accident" has been witnessed. My new mailman was evidently in the process of searching for my mailbox to cram my mail into when I fell, and he had a perfect view of what happened.... It was officially the first time I've ever seen a mailman laugh. Stupid dog.


To add to my day, my mailman brought me goodies. I love my mail. I get great stuff in my mail. Like, awesome stuff. Today, Todd's cell phone case finally came. Todd would be my spouse. Because I'm such a nice wife, I ordered a fitted cell phone case for his Omnia 2 in a really pretty blue color.... his favorite color. Imagine my surprise when he broke it within five minutes of having it in his possession. Go figure. 


I suppose that's it for now because I have to load the dishwasher and do the other menial housework that everyone hates to do. I'm sure I'll have more to say later or another day.