Get A Life....Seriously!

Seriously, what is the deal with truckers? Don't get me wrong....I know some of them are nice normal people. But what's with the male truckers who feel the need to express themselves to other women drivers?

I'm sure as a child, you remember being in the car with your parents on your way to some sweet vacation spot (for me it was usually always Myrtle Beach). You're driving along and you come upon an 18-wheeler. So, you do what any normal American child has been taught to do. You start making a pumping action with your arm so that the trucker will blow his horn. Just go ahead and admit it....we've all done it. We can wallow in our humiliation together.

This past week, my mom was visiting from West Virginia. We headed into town to do some shopping. As we were driving, I heard mom start giggling. I asked her what was up and she told me to look out her window. I glanced out to see this 18-wheeler driving beside us. The driver of the truck had held up a cardboard sign to his window and was smiling real big at my mom. His handwritten sign said "Hi Pritty." Ok, first of all, that's so lame. The man had a pre-written cardboard sign in his truck, which means that he does this often! That's just wrong people! If that's not enough, the ding dong misspelled pretty! BAH! My mom was totally embarrassed and we couldn't stop laughing!

Here's my advice to all these hard working truckers......#1 stop being so lame. It's not very attractive. # 2, and most importantly, learn to spell! As my good friend Jenny would say, sheeshamoley! Pretty really isn't a hard word to spell and if you're going to use it, you really should know how to spell it!

That's my two cents for the day........

X-14

The good people over at Mom Central were kind enough to include me in the testing of another product recently. I received a bottle of X-14 Mold & Mildew Stain Remover and quickly got to work. Now, I love to clean my bathrooms. Nothing thrills me more than to walk into the bathroom and see everything all shiny and clean. Having said that, I do not like to deal with mildew and it plagues my shower curtain all the time.

This week, I happened to have overnight company coming. When they called to say they were coming early, I panicked since I didn't have time to wash the shower curtain. I grabbed the X-14 and gave it a quick squirt. When I came back a few minutes later, the work was all done. The mildew stains were gone and everything smelled fresh and clean. Problem solved just in time! There was no scrubbing involved. You just squirt and go! It worked wonderfully for me and this is a product I will use in the future.

If you have problems with mold and mildew, give X-14 a try. I think you will be just as satisfied as I was!

Christos Anesti!!!

To all of my Orthodox brothers and sisters around the world, Happy Pascha! Christos Anesti!

Love Me Some Ice Cream

I love me some ice cream. I love it for dessert. I love it for a snack. I love it for breakfast. I love it before bed. I never turn it down! With so many companies making it and so many varieties, I never get bored where flavors are concerned.

When the good people over at Mom Central asked if I'd like to sample some new flavors, I jumped on the chance. They were kind enough to send me some samples of the new Haagen-Dazs five. It is made with only five ingredients and has less fat than other types of ice cream (ah, let's face it....all ice cream is fattening and that's why we love it!). When the UPS guy knocked on my door to deliver the samples, I almost trampled him! Nothing comes between mamma and her ice cream!

I received samples of the ginger, mint, brown sugar, and passion fruit. I gathered the family around as I opened each container. Of course, I got the first taste and then I passed each container on to the family. Passion fruit is quickly becoming my favorite! It is very rich and creamy. I think the only thing more exciting than finishing this batch is going out and getting more! As a matter of fact, I think I'll go out and get the new chocolate flavor this weekend. If you haven't tried the new Five, I urge you to do so. It's worth every last spoonful :-)

Ten On Tuesday: 10 Signs You're Getting Older

I could probably list a bunch but I'll stick with ten :-)

1. I get excited about reading the news online every morning.
2. By the end of the day, my knees are killing me from going up and down the stairs all day....and there are only about ten stairs.
3. I actually like to scrub the bathroom.
4. Cleaning out the refrigerator is my idea of a party!
5. I have no idea what a Pokemon is :-)
6. Gaining weight is EASY to do! When I was young, I could eat all day and not gain an ounce.
7. My idea of "going out" is a sit down meal and a trip to Walmart on Friday night.
8. I get heartburn. I swore that it didn't exist as a teenager because I never experienced it!
9. My kids have no idea what I'm talking about when I mention the Roger Rabbit or the Electric Slide.
10. The word stress has a permanent place in my life :-)

For more, visit yaknowwhatimean.com.

 

I Say Eco You Say Friendly

If there is one thing I spend a lot of time doing, it's laundry. I do at least one load a day for our family of four. That may not seem like a lot but when you consider the water and energy it takes to do this everyday, it adds up. I am constantly trying to find ways to conserve. Many companies are making this easier all the time with the production of new eco-friendly products. One such company is Electrolux. They have joined forces with Kelly Ripa and created a new limited edition, Kelly Green, eco-friendly, front load washer and dryer.

In order to raise awareness and funds for Global Green USA, Electrolux has also kicked off their virtual flower garden campaign. For every virtual flower you plant while visiting their site, Electrolux will donate $1 to Global Green. Global Green will in turn use the money to support their healthy green schools initiative all across America. Also when you plant a virtual flower, you will automatically be entered for a chance to win your very own Kelly Green front load washer and dryer. I don't know about you but I would be more than happy to make room for these!

Want to hear more great news? Mom Central is also giving away one of these sets! In case you missed it, you get TWO chances to win this product, plus you get to plant a virtual flower and help Global Green USA in the process, plus you will be a proud contributor to "green living." How great is that!! Visit Mom Central to sign up for your chance to win!

Love Your Veggies

When it comes to my ten year old and food, we have issues. She loves her dairy but is very picky about anything else she eats. Veggies are no exception. If they are green, you can pretty much give up on getting her to try them. I continue to encourage her and many times that helps. However, she is still apprehensive about trying new things. I find that if I can get her excited about veggies, she is more apt to try them. I usually do this by allowing her to help me prepare the food or by reading something neat about it. Last year she helped plant and maintain our garden and that was a great way to expose her to several different kinds of vegetables.

These days, kids are all about computers. They love to scour the internet for information and games. The brilliant makers of Hidden Valley Salad Dressings had an excellent idea. They recently introduced a new website geared toward children, to help expose them even more to the wonderful world of vegetable eating! Love Your Veggies is filled with information and games that your child is sure to love. From the website:

As part of their continued effort to help parents and educators overcome the challenges of getting children to eat their vegetables, the makers of Hidden Valley Salad Dressings have created Veggie Adventures, a free online game that can be played now at LoveYourVeggies.com. Keeping in mind a recent study that indicated that 60 percent of parents play computer games with their kids, the makers of Hidden Valley Dressings hope Veggie Adventures will be yet another tool for moms to utilize to expand their young children's appreciation for vegetables.

Veggie Adventures engages families in a three-part vegetable adventure that begins with growing vegetables on the farm and ends with serving and sharing vegetables with friends. Along with fun and easy game-play, Veggie Adventures provides players with great tips and vegetable facts meant to be transplanted outside of the gaming experience. At the end of each stage, players receive a printable certificate to commemorate their success.

My daughter loves playing Veggie Adventures and I am thrilled that she is learning lots of neat things about vegetables. I can already see excitement in her eyes when we talk of planting our garden this year. I look forward to making many yummy vegetable dishes this summer!

As always, thanks to Mom Central for alerting families to such useful and helpful products and websites!

Reflections 3/31/09

Well, the days of needing a steam cleaner are almost over. After years of putting it off, we're finally pulling up our horrid carpet and putting down flooring. I am very excited since I have allergies and the carpet breaks me down :-) The only problem now is that we are still remodeling a bathroom and Jeff's new job takes up every spare minute right now. Perfect timing, huh? Just when our "to-do" list needed to shrink, we go and make it bigger. Ah well.

As for everything else, things are going great. School is good and I have maintained an A average so far. Only five more weeks to go and I'm hoping I keep that A. As I get older, I realize that it's really hard for me to accept anything less than the best from myself. In many ways that is a good thing. Having had self esteem issues all of my life, I'm finally proving to myself that I can accomplish my goals with a little bit of hard work. I think our transition to Orthodoxy has helped in that area too. That's a story for another time though.

The kids are doing great and Logan's co-op classes are winding down. I think we are both happy about that. She's been enjoying her biology class. They have been dissecting animals over the past several weeks and I think she's learned a lot. I don't think she's actually done any of the cutting but I'm proud of her for being able to sit through the dissection without loosing her lunch. She's really found something she loves in writing too. She is taking an IEW class and has loved every second of it. The only other class she is taking is Spanish I and we won't even talk about that! It's been a nightmare and we've determined that in the future, foreign language will be done at home. Caroline wasn't involved in co-op this semester because I didn't have time to commit to helping out. Plus, she has weekly piano lessons and Jeff and I really wanted her to focus on that. She has so much natural ability in that area and I really hope she develops a great love of music. Right now, much of her piano learning is effortless. I only wish I had half the talent my girls have. They are very inspirational.

This summer looks busy for me. The girls and I usually have a pretty laid back schedule in the summer. Since that's the case, I'm going to load up on pre-nursing classes. I'll be taking four classes from June to August. I have two classes from June to July and then the other two courses will run July to August. They are quick since I'm taking them in the summer but most of them will be fairly easy. The only one that even worries me a little is, of course, the math course. Lots of prayer and hard work have helped this semester so I pray I don't lose focus.

You know, just when I think life couldn't get any more full, it seems to. I'm not sure if that happens to you but more often than not, it happens that way to me. Spiritually, I'm in a place I've never been before. I am very happy and content. I have a clear purpose and I am striving to fulfill that. I'm surrounded by people who love me and whom I love dearly. I'm making friendships that are unlike any I have ever had. Life is good. I pray I will not squander a single second of it.