Oops, I Got A Little Wet

    "One day, you'll know exactly how I feel. When you kiss your youngest child before he steps on the bus to enter his first day of school, you'll remember this day. Perhaps my words will ring in your ears, ‘This is a big day. My youngest boy is starting junior high school - and I'm not old.' And maybe you will smile because you were thinking I was old." I explained it all to my 11 year-old son who sat at the bar dunking his cookies in a glass of milk like it was just another day. But, he looked at me as if he "got it". And he smiled at me. I know he was thinking I was old.

    One of the worst things about getting old is that the days grow shorter. It's not enough that every time I look into the mirror another wrinkle appears or another gray patch of hair shows up. Now every time I look at the clock the hands are spinning faster. Wait, I guess that's the second hand moving. My eyes are getting worse. Okay, so now every year I need new glasses to keep up with my aging eyes.

    For crying out loud, I'm acting as though I'm old! And like the first day of a new school year, this 25^th day of the month of August 2008, is about me. Yikes! How on earth did I let myself get so self-centered? Wow, that was scary - getting pummeled by a random cloudburst of fake reality. I might have a few gray hairs, fortyish wrinkles, a creaking back and puffy eyes (only in the morning), but I still know to come in out of the rain. Now where was I?

Want to Save $$ on That Purchase?

If you've ever purchased anything online, usually before you check out, you are asked if you have a coupon or promo code. I always figure that if they are asking for one, there must be one somewhere and I would like to have it. But, where is the code or the coupon?

A good place to start looking (other than your mailbox which - if it's anything like mine gets jammed with the crappy coupons I don't use) is a handy dandy website called retailmenot.com.

Happy hunting. Hope you find scoupons and codes you can use. I have saved lots of $$ on purchases!

By the way, I love chocolate and send me a private email if you need an address. Wink.

Andersoon Cooper What?

I could have sworn last night I saw the marquee on the Fox News channel alerting viewers of a high-speed chase involving Anderson Cooper! Today after searching the web, I learned it was an apparent weird joke by Red Eye, a Fox channel late night program. That was good. But, I'm not laughing. Guess I'm a poor sport.

I admit sometimes I usually don't miss much, but did any other viewers catch it?

What Is Your Cell Phone Taboo?

A few weeks ago I was sitting in a worship service listening intently to the pastor deliver an intriguing sermon when someone interrupted.

"Where you at?" The man beside me asked.

I looked at him feeling rather dumbfounded and wondered if he was addressing me. Then I saw the cell phone attached to his other ear and was nearly embarrassed thinking maybe I was voyeurish for overhearing his private conversation - not that I could avoid it.

"Yeah?" he continued, "well I'm towards the back. Like over in the middle."

I tried to ignore him and refocused on the minister, but it was a challenge. You know what it's like hearing two conversations at once.

Last Sunday during worship service I heard a cell phone blare and then I see a woman get up and run past us, and exit the sanctuary with a cell phone stuck to her head. I wondered if there was an emergency and considered following her out to be sure she was okay. But, before I could make a decision she had returned and sat back down. Thirty minutes later I hear another cell phone blare. A few seconds later the same woman jumped up, ran past us again and exited the sanctuary. A few minutes later she returned, sat down and remained until the end of the service.

Our family does not take cell phones into the sanctuary. The way I see it, If there's an emergency I'm in the best possible place I could hope to be anyway.

I'm a curious individual and I'd like to hear what you think.

Where to Post and Sell Your Photos As Clothing and Art FREE

If you're looking for a place to sell your quality images, RedBubble is a friendly possibility. While you're not going to get rich quick selling images, there are many professionals who offer invaluable advice and tips. Usually you merely have to ask. But, even if you don't when you load your images, others can comment (like they do on PNN).

RedBubble will sell cards, clothing, and prints from your images. They do all the the work. All you do is load your image. They do a great job explaining how it works when you set up your account. But, basically, you load your images for free.  If you have a sale, they share the profit. Most of it goes to RedBubble obviously because they facilitate and provide everything except the image.

You can also load your writing, short stories poems etc. Although most of the groups primarily focus on art, there are writing groups as well.

RedBubble is also open to other artists. So if you're a sculptor, you can photograph your work and sell the image in a "painting" that you could further enhance through photoshop.

From time to time there are writing and photogrpahy contests, which are free to enter. But, you have to set up a (free) account to enter.

The site is not only clean and classy, they do an excellent job with your images. You can select various types of mattes and frames and see how an image looks before it is purchased.

The company is based out of Australia, but there are many groups or forums. You can hook up with a community of Americans, for example.

We purchased 2 cards from RedBubble. The card stock was thoroughly professional and the images were excellent. They were so beautiful we gave them as gifts.

Michael Phelps: An ADHD Success Story

    We know that every day he ingests over 10,000 calories and practices about 5 hours. But did you know he has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, also known as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD)? A recent article in ADDitude magazine features Debbie Phelps, Michael Phelps' mom, candidly sharing an intimate look at Michael's struggles as a child. He was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 9 years old. Perhaps that's not so important to most people. But, for me as a parent of an ADHD son, it's incredibly inspiring.

    One of the biggest struggles for ADHD kids is staying focused long enough to complete tasks. ADHD can be treated with or without medication. Even so, medication is not a cure-all. Many parents opt for a combined approach which may include, medication, behavior therapy, counseling, diet changes and more.  It takes a monumental amount of effort - patience, discipline, and teamwork between home and school for kids to achieve educational success. Extra curricular activities like piano lessons, sports, church and social functions demand dedicated kids and parents, because often when ADHD kids get home from school, they aren't interested in working overtime on "focus" issues. They would prefer video games or playing, which is like a fix to a user.

    ADHD kids are good at hyper focusing on activities they love, i.e.sports. But sports programs require structure and discipline. Both of which are very good because they reinforce fixed boundaries. However, structure and discipline are not always easy to employ, because their brain tells them to switch gears too frequently. So even fun sports require a concerted effort.

    When I shared the Michael Phelps story about ADHD with my son, I saw more than a twinkle in the look he returned; I read a chapter on success in the hopeful eyes of a young boy who struggles to achieve it in all his endeavors. I felt his excitement and his bolstered confidence. And I felt proud to be his mom.

    Every day ADHD kids must fight a disorder that would plunder their hope of success, rob their positive attitude, self-esteem and focus, then hang them out to dry if not for diligence, determination, faith - and a lot of teamwork. My boy may not be a Michael Phelps one day, but the promise of success lingers a little closer within his reach.

Tired of Waiting on Hold, and Automated Service?

After reading Lauren's post about his nightmare phone call with the bank, I was reminded of a telephone cheat code I heard about a couple of years ago. Basically, if you're sick of talking to machines lacking vital organs...like brains, you need this website.

Hope it helps: http://gethuman.com/

My Remodel: You Decide

Thanks for the tips some shared with me! I accidentally deleted this article when I was tinkering around the other night. Obviously I reloaded it -  forgive me for losing your comments. Feel free to drop another note - I promise not to delete it this time. 

Flipped That Room: The List

It took about a week to convert the dining room into a study. As you know, we got rid of the cantaloupe color. The existing chair rail and crown molding were stained colonial maple. I had to sand them down. We painted them with a primer that adheres to glossy surfaces. We used the same primer for the walls. After several coats of primer, we painted the trim Ultra White satin finish from Valspar. We painted the walls Pony Tail satin finish from Olympic Paints.

Since we need to use the room for a guest room when mom-in-law visits, we needed either a sleeper sofa or a futon. We selected a futon because we have allergies. There’s no fabric on the futon except the mattress, which is encased in a good mattress cover under the futon cover.

We kept the same carpet, which is about 5 years old, but will likely change that next year to a hard wood floor. For now it looks great.

We selected a dark espresso finish wood for the desk because we felt it would make the trim pop out. The corner stands were the leftovers from a a gazebo we bought last summer that was destroyed during a bad storm. Although there are no shelves on them, we found some to fit them which will be installed next week. We’re still shopping for the perfect coffee table (or trunk), bookshelf and ceiling lighting. We considered a corner armoire, but ditched the idea when we discovered that the thermostat would have to be moved to accommodate an armoire.

I reused the mirrors, picture and a clock. More than likely we’ll hang another couple pictures and a wall shelf. But, it takes time to find exactly what we want, because often we don’t know what we want until we stumble across it. But, the room looks great as it is.

Here’s our shopping list:

Primer – $18.00

Valspar Premium Interior Satin Ultra White - $23.00

Olympic Premium Latex Interior Satin Pony Tail – $22.00

Plastic to put down on the floor - $5.00

Paintbrushes - $5.00

Rollers - $10.00

White roman blind – around $35.00 (on sale)

White tabbed cotton window panels from JC Penney’s - $40.00 (on sale)

Futon from Mattress Mart - $350.00

Upgraded futon mattress from Mattress Mart - $400.00

Futon cover from Bed Bath and Beyond – $40.00

Desk from World Market - $200.00

Mum-in-law Likes the Room!

Just a little update for readers. I posted a pic of me and my mum-in-law sitting at the desk in the room we flipped. Hubby set up the computer with her favorite games and it sits on the desk we purchased for the room. Initially I think she felt a little pushed out of the family room where she normally stayed when she visited. But, once she realized that it was a much better situation all around, she very warmed up to the notion of having her own space when she comes.