My Favorite Things

I don't get very much time anymore to do any blog reading. I used to have just five or six craft blogs and a few mommy blogs that I would read, but my problem is, that I have so many great blogs in my favorites area, that I get overwhelmed and really don't get to many of them. So I pick out a few of my favorites once a week and try to catch up. These ladies are everyday bloggers unlike myself, and really keep them running like a fine tuned machine. So here are a few that I found inspiring today. I always love the full color pictures. I am visual you see, so these make me happy....................................

First off is Bitter Betty's Blog. She has a great rick rack tutorial for her cafe curtains. I am done with blinds. It's all about the cute cafe curtains. So easy to make, you can change them up as often as you like. Look at her beautiful kitchen. Nice. And then, there is this beautiful jacket that she made. Love it. Wished I owned it. IKEA fabric. Next, we have Posie Gets Cozy. This picture here is off an old post, but I love the color and design of the scrapbooking paper that has been framed.

Thirdly, I love reading Naughty Secretary Club. Jennifer Perkin's mom made this fabulous little piece of kitsch for her yard. This definitely made me want to learn to mosaic. One craft I really really want to try. So that was my inspiration for today. I have been busy filling a few

orders for people before I head out on vacation. Hope to be in full blogging order when I get back.

It's Been A While

I'm back. It's been a few weeks. We are still fighting illness. Scout is much better, I came through my bug, but now the Peanut has a virus with croup. Tis the season for illness. So, I have been busy with sick kids, and distributing Girl Scout Cookies. I have already polished off a box of Thin Mints. They are my favorite.

I did make some time for crafts last week. I made about eight little tissue holders for Valentines Day. The first one I made was Betty Boop on a Harley for my good friend Michele. She and her husband Johnny love their motorcycle and are totally into their customized bikes. Check out their blog to see Johnny's creations. The tissue holder came out really cute!

I bought a yard of Valentines Day fabric to use for various projects and thought that these tissue holders were the thing to make. The girls loved them! I don't give the girls candy on Valentines Day. I know, what a boring Mom. This year, they got tissue holders and Valentines Day books. They thought they were cool! If you would like this super simple pattern for these tissue holders, check out one of my favorite blogs : Skip To My Lou

I also busted out several batches of Valentines brownies for different friends! I used Martha Stewarts idea about cutting them out with heart cookie cutters and also used another tip that she had on her show to get the brownies out of the pan without greasing it. I used parchment paper to line my pan, and lifted them right out. Go Martha! You are the best!!! It worked great. Most of you probably already know that trick, but I am just a little behind the times.

The Peanut wanted to make goody bags for her class party. I usually try to be really crafty and creative, but this year, it was all about the dollar store. I spent way less money and I think they turned out really cute.

So that was the week that I didn't blog about. Next project.......salt dough ornaments!

My Only Creativity for the Day

O.k., I got lucky and didn't get the flu bug, but the Scout now has a head cold and has lovingly,(through many wet kisses) passed it onto her mommy. I am a little sluggish today and just feeling like my head is ready to explode. So, needless to say, there will be no crafty post today. I did do some blog reading though and picked this up off of Sweet Jessie one of my favorite blogs to read. This was the only creativity that I could muster today, so please bear with me. I realized that I still have a lot to do in my life after looking at this list, especially travel!!!!

Here are the rules: Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog!

1. Started your own blog - Duh?!
2. Slept under the stars - My favorite to go along with #5.
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii - hopefully in a few years
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain - Mt. Lassen
9. Held a praying mantis - this is not happening, so just forget about it. They are my worst of worst phobia. See prior posts on the subject.
10. Sang a solo - in the shower?
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning - I think?
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables - when I was a kid we grew our own strawberries and grapes
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort - No, but I built a snowman, does that count?
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping - Sorry Mom!
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke - Just Beat It
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance - Nope, but I rode with my daughter twice. It was interesting.
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud - Yesterday
54. Gone to a drive-in theater - I love the drive-ins
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen - I worked at a homeless shelter for my internship
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies- Currently engrossed in over 200 boxes
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason - I am still wondering about those random daisys left on my windshield years back?!
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt - not yet, but soon!
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone - Does a crack count?
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person - hopefully next summer
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve - I don't think any strangers
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - Does fish count?
88. Had chickenpox-When I was seventeen and right before prom, ugh!
89. Saved someone’s life- Go Epipen!!
90. Sat on a jury - but never got selected
91. Met someone famous - o.k. I didn't meet him, but Robin Williams stood right next to me at the Exploritorium in S. F. so cool
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby - x2
95. Seen the Alamo in person- so serene and humbling
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit-my old gym said that I was and gave me a free pass for a week
98. Owned a cell phone - who doesn't?
99. Been stung by a bee

So now it's your turn to copy/paste and bold the ones that you have done. Let me know.

Why We Rock!

I thought this article on Shine today was pretty interesting. Thought you ladies might enjoy it!

Staying Alive: Four Reasons Why Women Are Better Survivors Than Men - Love + Sex on Shine

Some Old School Scrapbooking and My Leaky Cup

So New Years is here and everyone and their brother is making their resolutions to lose weight, get in shape etc. Although I know that I have packed on a few pounds since the holidays, my resolutions this year include getting my office organized and functional and cutting back on my Starbucks consumption. Ha Ha.

As you have seen from my prior posts, I pretty much live out of my office space. The rest of my house will be neat as a pin but I can guarantee you a mess behind the office door. Most of my problem resides with incoming paper and constant craft projects. You see, I like to have several going on all at once. It's in my nature. I do this with books too. Have five going at one time. It drives my husband crazy.

So far, I have been doing a great job of getting everything organized. I purchased a stack of inboxes over at Costco for each member of the family. That way we don't have paper stacked on the front counter. I have been downsizing my crafting supplies since last year and only keeping the things that I know that I will finish.

One of my largest ongoing projects has been my pictures. I love everything about pictures. Although, I am not the best photographer, I love taking pictures. The problem is, that they get stuck on my hard drive and never printed out. Last year, I decided that I was finally going to go "old school" on my photos. I was just so "done" with all of the scrapbooking craze. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am in love with scrapbooking stores and all of the paper and the embellishments and everything. Embarrassingly enough, I probably have enough to open my own scrapbook store. The problem is, is it takes me so long to get one page done and every page seems to be so expensive when you are buying ribbon and grommets and chipboard words. I needed to simplify my life a little. I needed to get these pictures in books so that we could really enjoy looking at them.

My Grandma Margie is the most organized scrapbooker I know. Her albums are just pictures and captions. She takes pictures and has them developed and puts them in the same day. She sometimes includes announcements, thank you notes, letters, obituaries and the like. I love going to her house and pulling out one of the dozen or so albums and flipping through them. So, I decided to simplify my own pictures and do the same. I bought albums a couple of months ago and just started putting pics in chronological order. When I have time, I go back and add the captions in my own writing with a black pen. All of you scrapbookers are fainting in horror right now, sorry for that. Nothing fancy, no embellishments, no stickers, no glitter, just simplicity - and you know what . . . I almost have a whole year completed. I have been feeling very accomplished with my "old school" style of scrapbooking.

So as for my organizational resolution, I am still struggling with the organization thing, but I am slowly accomplishing small bits and pieces. I have downsized quite a bit and am feeling pretty good about my progress.

My other resolution this year was to cut my Starbucks intake in half. Ha Ha. It's the hardest thing that I have ever had to do. I started a few months ago when I bought some Oregon Chai Tea from the grocery store. Though I love the chai tea and how easy it is to fix at home. I just really miss going to Bucki's and saying "hi" to all of my Starbucks friends and getting my hot steamy latte from the friendly barista. Today I resigned myself to go because I had a little bit of a gift card still left and I was really jonesing for a hot drink. I knew that I should have abstained, my conscious told me so, but I still needed my Starbcuks fix. So through the drive-through I went and got my delicious cup of joe and began to pull away. I noticed a drip on my hand and so I grabbed a napkin and brushed it away, then another drip on my jeans as I was driving. Maybe the lids not on tight enough? I readjusted the thing and made it home and then...... drip, drip, drip... what the heck? And lo and behold I have a giant fissure running down the side of my cup. Ahhhhhhh! I was already home, so I grabbed a cup and put it underneath the leaky mess. Yuck! All in all, I should have stayed at home and had my cheap chai teal latte instead of spending $3.80 on my latte and leaky cup. Will I ever learn?

Thank You Heather!

This is a little late due to a big family vacation, but wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU to my wonderful SWAP partner for the "My Favorite Things SWAP" - Mrs. Heather Larson. The first time I read Heather's two blogs I knew that I was going to have the coolest partner - EVER! Her package arrived and I couldn't wait to bust right into it. Check out all of the cool color coordinated goods that she hooked me up with. Her theme was how to survive a summer pregnant. Although I am not prego, she is expecting her first little one in September and also lives in Arizona. I can't imagine dealing with 110 degree heat while having a swingbelly. I used to complain in the middle of June when it reached 95 and I had gained 70lbs (gulp) of a swingbelly. I can't imagine 110!!!!! Heather had it going on with all of her cool things to survive a pregnant summer. I am a handbag junkie so the cute little seahorse handbag was immediately put to use as well as those hot yellow sunglasses! I love all of the fun things in the package and have already used every single thing that was in there. Thank you Heather! One of my favorites was a mood magnet that she included. The hub checks it every day to see what my mood is and if he needs to proceed with caution. LOL. Thank you so much Heather for the fun package and I hope that you like what I sent! Check out Heather's digi blog. I wished that she lived closer so that she could teach me all about digital scrapbooking! It fascinates me!

Cooking Mayhem

A little while back I had finally succumbed to the fact that my bread maker was going to continue gathering dust in the cupboard and I really wasn't going to be making tons of bread for my family. I decided to ask my sister-in-law if she would like to have it. She said, "sure." So the bread maker went to her house. She baked us up some fabulous french bread a while back in my old bread maker and then I kinda got the urge to have a bread maker again so I could make my own yummy bread. I also thought it was a great alternative for the Scout. I am always looking for breads that have no milk or egg products, and this way I could totally control the contents. I was telling my Aunt Sharon of my longing to again be the owner of a bread maker and she said that she had one that she would give me because she never uses it anymore. Score! I was pumped this afternoon to bust out a loaf of french bread. I made a pot of soup and a key lime pie for dessert. We will be headed to the Jazz Jubilee tomorrow and thought this would be the perfect thing for when we got home late and I didn't feel like cooking. I followed the recipe that my sister-in-law had given me. It was easy. I followed the directions on the bread maker. O.k., no problem, good. I hit the button to start, and the bread maker took off kneading the dough. Excellent, I am three hours away from my hot french bread. And then I heard a loud knocking sound and suddenly the thing shut off. Hmmm. Maybe its starting to rise. No, the book says it has to knead the dough for 18 minutes and its only been 7. Uh oh, I smell the motor burning. Uh oh, its not working. Drat!!!!! So I call up my Uncle Tom and Aunt Sharon and shared my dilemma with them. Not like they would have been able to fix it when they are all the way in Napa, but I needed a consult. They said they didn't know what it could be, but that it was probably something that could be fixed. Now my Uncle Tom has been a fabulous baker most all of his adult life. He started working at Napa City Bakery when he was 14 sweeping the floors and eventually moved to Buttercream Bakery where he decorated beautiful cakes for everyone, and I mean everyone in Napa. His cake decorating was well known wherever he went. He told me "Punkin," this is what he has called me since I was born, "just throw it in your Kitchen-Aid and put the bread hook on and let it knead it for awhile. Then just let it raise where its warm and throw it in the oven." O.k. I will try it. I really had my doubts, not in his abilities, because I know his would turn out good, but I was worried about my ability to follow his directions properly. So I kneaded it with the bread hook in the Kitchen-Aid and then let it raise for about 45 minutes and then I threw it into the oven at 350 for about an hour. This was a total guess on my part. I just sat by and watched it. In the meantime I went to work on my key lime pie and the recipe called for me to whip the mixture until it formed soft peaks. I have made my own whip cream on several occasions and know it takes a while for it to form the soft peaks, but I whipped this thing with my mixer for over 20 minutes and then got frustrated and threw it in my Kitchen-Aid for another 10 and no soft peaks. It got a little bit foamy, but there was no peaks. My brother popped by at this time and I was so frustrated with cooking I was about to cry. The kitchen was a mess and the poor guy was trying to tell me about his day and all I could think about was my stupid bread maker not working and the dumb key lime pie not making those foamy peaks. Sorry bro, next time I promise to be a better listener, I was a little to preoccupied with my many mishaps. To make a long story short, the key lime pie came out o.k. minus the peaks and the bread came out of the oven and was "done to a T" as my Uncle Tom likes to say. Thanks Uncle Tom, you really helped me out with your great tutelage! The girls dug into the bread like it was the last thing on Earth to eat and I thought it was pretty great too!

A Gripe

I just have to gripe for a second about something that struck me as odd. My Dad and my Grandma both save coins for our kids to put in their piggy banks. When the piggy banks get overloaded we take the coins out and roll them and deposit them into their bank accounts. So my husband had rolled all of their silver change and had it ready for me to take to the bank but had not rolled the pennies. There was a lot of pennies and the job was quite daunting! So I jumped in the car and headed to the bank to make the deposit. I waited in line and a cute blond girl of about 18 welcomes me and asks what she can do for me. I said, " I would like to make a deposit into my daughters' accounts. "O.k." she said. "But ma'am, ( I loved being called this when I am all of 31) we can't accept coins unless they are rolled. Sorry!" What? I thought. Is she joking? No, she sure was not joking. I looked at her kinda in awe and said, "But you're a bank." She said, "Sorry ma'am." There's that horrid word again. 'O.k. well, I guess my pennies aren't going to be deposited today,' I thought. I guess the thing is, is that they don't have a coin counting machine. Do you believe this? This is a well-known financial institution that has been around since the beginning of time and their banks do not have coin counters? Does this seem a little odd to anyone or is it just me? I know that this sounds ridiculous, but I'm just so in shock by a bank not accepting your money because its not rolled. Interesting.
All in all the girl was nice and of course I know it wasn't her fault, but I just think that if they have the ability to transfer money over the computer, you sure as hell should be able to take your hard earned pennies to the bank and have them accept them. Abraham Lincoln would have been appalled! My mom told me that her business banking is done at another fine financial institution that has also been around forever and they to do not have coin counters either. What the hey guys? What's so bad about coin counters? They are able to put them in grocery stores and then take a percentage of your hard earned cash, but they can't put them in the place that is designed to account for your monies. Again, interesting. Sorry for the gripe, I am just irked by this whole banking negligence!

Sayonara Sucker!!!

Oh yeah, I want to do the happy dance right now. Why you ask? Because I just said goodbye to diapers until I have grandchildren. Ha Ha. Super Cool! This (pictured above) is the last diaper from the final box of diapers that I purchased a few months ago. The Scout got potty trained over President's week and pretty much was trained over night. She is of course still using diapers at night or pull ups and big girl panties during the day. She has been doing great and no accidents during the day. But this here, is the last diaper ever! Just pull ups at night from now on. In a way, I am kind of saddened by the whole thing as strange as it may sound, to think that the baby part of my life is over. It is a strange feeling to come to that realization that your baby is not a baby anymore. Boo Hoo! Ok. I am over it. But I can tell you, on the other hand, how happy I am that we don't have to buy diapers anymore. Wahoo! Saving some cash and saving the environment, well not quite, we are still using pull ups, but soon, very soon we will be out of those too! So humor me for a bit while a celebrate this strange but relevant day in my life!

The Tudors is Smokin

Wow! Two postings in a row regarding T.V. shows. I really don't watch that much T.V., just an hour or two at night after the Scout goes night night. I love On Demand. I watch old movies on Turner Classic Movies and all the freebie movies because hey, they're free! I just saw a preview on On Demand for The Tudors under Top Picks. I tried at first to open up the one in HD, but I guess you need some sort of special box, and we don't have it. But then I found it a little further down on the list and started watching Episode 1. It is sooooooooo good. Its a little love story(o.k. big love stories, yes stories) lots of history, drama, violence. Just a little bit of everything wrapped in a blanket for you. Not to mention super hot actors - always a plus in my book. So far I am on Episode 4 and I wish that I could stay up later tonight, because I am dying to see Episode 5. So check it out if you get a chance. Its On Demand till March 5th. I guess the new season will be starting on Showtime soon. Wish I had it, but I will have to wait till the next season is On Demand again.

Quarterlife Cool

Tonight was the premiere of Quarterlife. Definitely a good one. I checked it out and loved it. Check it out on Sunday. Definitely worth the watch!

Craziness

Craziness!!!! I know.... No blogging for like a week straight. What up dog? Well, lots actually. The Peanut started Little League this last week and what fun!!!! The Peanut is only one of two girls on her team and she (to my surprise) is hustling and paying attention more than the boys out there. Most of the boys had even a few tears shed, but the Peanut, she just went out and had a great time playing. I think being in soccer this year really helped. It always amazes me how quickly kids can make friends with other kids. Adults can't even hold a small conversation with a stranger and kids just gather and in less than five minutes they have a game going and chatting it up with the other kids. Adults should take note.

On the craft front: The Sac Craft Mafia meeting was fabulous. It was a pretty small group due to a lot of the rampant illness flying around Sac town, but it was fun. I told you about our two challenges that we had. One, was to make a gavel for our current president Amy. Our Craft Mafia colors are pink and black so I definetly wanted to try to incorporate that into the challenge. I wanted to make it as crafty as possible so I headed to Michaels (I know I said that I was supposed to stay out of there, but it was for club business, so it was allowed) and picked up a few small wooden pots and a wooden thread spool. Painted them, super glued them together, added some ribbon and embellished with my favorite tool in the whole world - a Sharpee marker! It came out pretty cute. I am really not into to many wood crafts, but it came out o.k. I was surprised when they asked if anyone did the gavel challenge and I raised my hand, but nobody else did! Mine was the only one there and everybody said it turned out cute so I was pleased. Our second challenge of the night was not really a challenge, but more of a swap, a Valentine swap. It could be a card or a favor. Now, I really love anything paper, and my first reaction was to do a fantastic card, but I decided instead to do one of my paper topiaries on a small scale. I have made a few of these now, all of them rather large. They usually take me about three days to complete, but because this one was so small, I completed it in just one day. It came out cute. I still tried to use pink and black and of course hearts, its for Valentines Day. Here are a few pics. We chose names and swapped our items, so much fun. Guess what I got............. I got the most fabulous pair of heart earrings made by Craft Mafia sister Lorain of Rain's Embellishments: http://www.myspace.com/rainsembellishments & http://www.rainsembellishments.etsy.com/. Here is a pic. Aren't they awesome? Please check out her sites. She is one very talented jewelry designer! Thank you Rain!!!!!! I have worn them almost everyday since. Especially in the spirit of Valentines Day! Speaking of jewelry, the hubby gave me a huge surprise Valentines morning - a beautiful gold heart necklace with lots of bling. Wow! We usually just exchange cards with flowers or a coffee from Starbucks which I love, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw a little box next to my card. Thank you cute husband of mine!

On the scoping front: I finished my final, yea!!!!!!!!! And, I got a B. I was a little disappointed because the two questions that I missed, I second guessed myself and should have gone with my gut. I always do that on tests. But, I passed, and that is the most important thing. I already began the next class which is Transcript Production. I have been producing transcripts for reporters for over five years now so I thought this section would be a breeze, but so far, not the case. Its hard when you have to learn a different style of doing things than you are used to. So only nine chapters in this one. Hopefully, I will have it wiped out in two weeks or so.

On the personal front: I did it, I went out and chopped my hair. I have to do this every now and then. It makes me feel like I am a completely new person every time I cut my hair. My first idea was to cut it and give it either to Locks of Love or to the Pantene program for women with breast cancer, but no dice. I guess that I can't have color treated hair. It has to be au natural in order to donate, and sadly enough, I have to color mine because of my quickly becoming evident, premature graying. I know, I am only 31, but it is coming in fast and furious thanks to my great gene pool. I was bummed not to donate my hair. It seems like such a waste. I had close to nine inches taken off. Wow! So here are my before and after pics. None of them are great pics of me. It could be the light, and my lack of camera intelligence and the fact that I held the camera up and took it myself, but at least you get the idea. I brought in a picture of Jenny McCarthy. I covet her hairstyle. Isabel over at our local Ulta in Birdcage on Sunrise in Citrus Heights did a fantastic job on my cut. I have had several bobs, but this one is so nice because she thinned it out a ton so I don't look like my head exploded. Thank you Isabel at Ulta. Go visit her she is fantastic!

On the kiddo front: We finally made it to see our friends in Redding this weekend. Their daughter was turning the big 03 and the party was at a jumphouse place. Kids love it. Actually, the husband had more fun than the kids and even broke out into a full blown sweat. I was loosing my pants climbing under the poofy things on the obstacle course. So much fun. The party theme was Backyardigans. One of our daughters' fave cartoons. Here are the party masks that they passed out as favors.

We tried to avoid it, but its here, the Peanut has caught the coughing virus that is going around. I was hoping it was just hayfever, but the poor kid hasn't stopped coughing all week. I finally took her to the doctor today and they confirmed it wasn't anything to worry about. She hasn't run a fever but her chest and her throat are killing her. We sat on the couch most of the day and drank 7-up and watched about a billion Sponge Bob episodes On Demand(Thank You Comcast!!!) and then the movie Deck the Halls. Too cute. I love Danny DeVito.

O.k. so that is the week in a nut shell. On to the next one. I am really glad that tomorrow is a holiday and the office is closed and the hubby is off. I need a holiday! P.S. I am pretty sure that my spell check is not working. I know that my spelling can't be that fantastic that I don't have any misspelled words in my post, but when I hit the button nothing happens so bear with me.

Math Girls Rock!

I hated math when I was in school. Mainly, it was due to the fact that I just wasn't good at it or I didn't think I was good at it. The boys in my classes always seemed to be the ones that were getting the higher grades in math and science, where I was more the English type.

My oldest, the Peanut, is in kindergarten. She can add and subtract and read a few fractions. She understands how money works and can count surprisingly high for her age. Is she a genius? Of course I would like to think so, but more than likely not. She is really just your average happy go lucky kindergartner who likes to play with her toys and her sister (sometimes) and paint with her paints. Sometimes I wonder if she got more of my hubby's genes when it came to having a "math" brain, but she is equally interested in English and Art. I really believe that nowadays kids (girls in particular) are being shown that math is cool again. They don't seem to be intimidated by it the way I was when I was growing up.

Today she looked at me while we were working on a packet that the teacher sent home that had to do with "equal values." She pops her head up and says, "Mom, did you know that everything that we do has to do with math?" I asked her if her teacher had told her that. She said, "No, but you know everything does use math." I kinda laughed to myself thinking how amazingly brilliant that that comment was, and if I had just looked at math from that point of view when I was younger, maybe I would have enjoyed it a little bit more.

I recently watched a clip of Danica McKellar, the girl who played Winnie on the ever popular show The Wonder Years. Think back, I know you watched it. She is paving the way for young women to try to appreciate math again and have the confidence to do so. The clip is really interesting and great for all parents out there especially ones with school age girls. She has a book out called, "Math Doesn't Suck." A read that I will definitely invest in. Hope you enjoy the clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugiqRjttL9U

Bikinis at Target

So I am out today attempting to do my hundreds of returns at various stores before the big storm roles in. I end up at one of my all time favorite places to shop "Tar Shay!" My Dad has nicely accompanied me on my wirlwind trip of returns and is helping entertain the Scout while she is happily munching on a box of Barnums Animal Crackers that I always locate immediately when walking into Target and Walmart. Thanks guys for thinking of us Mom's! So I am happily purusing the sale racks and am heading for the checkout which is located adjacent from the juniors section. As I am walking by it suddenly dawns on me that over half of juniors section is covered with bikinis. Yes, I said bikinis. Yes, if you look at the date of this posting it is January 2. I nudge my Dad, "Check it out" I say. He looks over and it takes him a second before it registers. "Oh my gosh, its January!" It seems like the stores are putting out the seasonal stuff earlier and earlier each year but seriously bikinis in January. We discussed this in length on the way home. I always have very philisophical discussions while driving with my Dad. We came to the conclusion that the bikinis were put out as incentive to shed those winter pounds. So many cookies and not enough treadmill (as in my case). I will always love Target but this bikini business is insane. They should at least wait till after the Easter Bunny!