Working from home

One of the (possibly the only) thing I love about my job is that I can work from home when I need to. That's what I'm doing today. Figures, though, that today has to be the cold, rainy, good-day-to-do-nothing-but-take-a-nap day, and tomorrow is going to be warm and sunny and Spring-like. But I can't do nothing because: 1. Kyra has a doctor's appointment, 2. I MUST exercise and 3. I want to put together a new cabinet we bought from Ikea for the playroom. Work? There's no time!

The real reason I'm working from home is because of Kyra's appointment. Kyra has Vitiligo, which is an auto-immune disease that causes your skin to lose pigment. For Kyra, it's mostly on her torso. We've been using a topical cream twice a day on her "spots" for six months only to have minimal results. The dermatologist, Dr. Yan, who is the head of dermatology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, was "not impressed" with the results. Not what you want to hear. So now we're taking a break from treatment, which makes me nervous. To do nothing at all. Of course, no one can predict if the patches will spread. Or if she'll lose what has repigmented. It's a toss up. We'll wait and see. What's worse is that no matter what SPF I put on her in the summer, Kyra gets really tan. The white spots, because they have no pigmentation, don't get any color. So they become even more obvious. I can only imagine the self-esteem issues we'll be dealing with as she gets older.

However, there was a little bit of good news, if you can call it that. It's common for people with Vitiligo to develop thyroid disease. Because Kyra is so small for her age (like the 5th percentile), we were becoming afraid that she wasn't growing and possibly having issues with her thyroid. They told us it is very uncommon for that to happen with children. Plus, she's not having any other symptoms, like being hot or cold all the time, etc. Her four-year check up isn't until May so we'll know officially then.

Okay. Off to exercise.

Morning art project

I love this! Our spontaneous art project this morning is a peel and stick foam book from Lakeshore Learning. It's so easy to do, and my girls love making up a story in their own book. Stickers, coloring...can't beat that! Plus, you can make 15 books with this kit. I can't remember where this came from so I googled the name and found the Lakeshore website. They have lots of great stuff categorized by age/grade and product. Worth bookmarking.

Do you Twitter?

My brain is on overload with the amount of websites and social networks out there. The last two days, I heard more than usual about Twitter. I was trying to stay away because I don't need another addiction, but I figured I'd better check it out so I could stay in touch with the technology of the nano-second.

I signed up for my free account, and within 60 seconds after "exploring', I deleted it. Thanks, but no thanks. Maybe I'm missing something. But, it seems you simply connect with your friends and answer the question, "What am I doing right now?". That's it! Friends can "follow you", but maybe I didn't spend enough time there because that can't possibly be all it is. Where are they following you? On a quest to answer the question? That's really lame. Sorry.

Earth Hour

Did you know that tomorrow night from 8 to 9 pm is Earth Hour? Do you know what Earth Hour is?



Earth Hour, created last year by the World Wildlife Fund, has become an energy-saving movement. Turn off your lights for one hour and see the global impact. Of course, Philadelphia hasn't jumped on the bandwagon so there will be no significant impact here, but maybe it's happening in your city. Or, maybe you just want to participate on your own. I know one thing for sure...next year I'm making Earth Hour candles!

Inspiring

On NPR this morning, I heard Julio Diaz tell this short story about how he was mugged at knifepoint, then had dinner with his mugger. Some people are truly amazing.

Party time!

I just can't say no to a party. Mommies United is a new site for moms. Surprise! And, to launch their new site, they are hosting a party. So, mom or not, blogger or not, check it out and win prizes! If I were selected to win, my favorites are:
1. A Hoodie and tote from Positive Chicks.
2. A $35 gift certificate from Alli's Originals.
3. From Natural Pod: a house play pack, with various items for imaginative house play to the value of $150.00.
4. A game from Sexy Slang.

Funnies

You know when you're somewhere, anywhere, and it's really really REALLY quiet and it's really REALLY inappropriate to bust out laughing...like at a funeral!? So, that makes it even funnier? Well, that's how I felt when I saw these because I'm at work and cracking up would draw attention to that fact that I'm not working. At all. (To spare some of you the shock, the first one is far from innocent.) Losing Lisa. Amerifug Idol. This site has some funny stuff. It could also be that I'm freakin' tired from getting up at 5 am to exercise. I'm just sayin.

Free online classes

Because I don't do enough with my free time or spend much time on the computer (note the dripping sarcasm here), I've signed up for some free classes. (I can already hear my husband feigning enthusiasm, "Greeeaaaat!") Digital Scrapbooking and Get Organized at Epson's Creative LearningZone. Did I mention they are free? I'm interested in Digital Scrapbooking for the obvious reasons, but also because they use Photoshop Elements, which I've recently purchased and have no idea how to work with. If anything, I'll learn the software. And, if you've ever been to my house, you'll know why I need to Get Organized. My idea of organization is to throw everything away, but the clutter keeps getting ahead of me. It just materializes.

The classes, organized and written by "professionals", run for several weeks; and you can enroll anytime taking each lesson at your own pace. When the session is completed they offer new courses, which seems to be about four at a time. I was expecting the "Williams-Sonoma Recipe", you know...you can only make the recipe if you have the pan, utensil, accessory, ingredient, etc. that they, and only they, sell. But, so far it hasn't been ridiculously self-promotional. Yet. When I complete a course, I'll report back. Hopefully as a master of Photoshop. Organized? Fat chance.

The Dirty Dozen

Have you heard of the "Dirty Dozen"? Well, I hadn't. It's the top 12 vegetables and fruits with the highest pesticide load. It feels like every time I blink, there's another deadly food item in my kitchen. I give up. I'm just going to live on dark chocolate and red wine.

Anyway, I came across this article in Fitness magazine about "eating green". One way is to consume more organic foods. Simply washing and peeling skins doesn't eliminate the pesticides. After all, pesticides are toxic chemicals meant to kill things. So, you really don't want to be eating them, especially when you're pregnant. Because even tiny doses can affect fetuses and growing children. (How dare you think you're being healthy by eating all those fruits and vegetables!) Ok, drumroll...here are the top 12 foods (vegetables and fruit) with the highest pesticide load.

Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Lettuce
Grapes - Imported
Pears
Spinach
Potatoes

How many are in your kitchen? Right now, I have 5, but come summer it would be up to 10. The Environmental Working Group has a list of fruits and vegetables ranging from highest to lowest pesticide load, and lots of information about why you should eat organic. I know I will be.

My Ghost Dream

I had a dream about my ghost last night: My oldest friend, Kelly, and her husband were coming for a visit to see the house. (Immediately, I know I'm dreaming because Kelly NEVER comes to visit me.) They live in Maryland. They came with friends, Val and Matt. (I know them, and I haven't seen them in about 100 years.) What's even weirder is that it's not my real house. It sort of resembles it, but it's not the exact one I live in. So anyway, they walk around, check things out. Then Val tells me she senses an energy in one particular room. Not a negative energy. But she can tell that my ghost is a grandmom. At this point, I'm sitting in a rocking recliner chair (Again, don't own one. Never, ever, would.) and it starts rocking all by itself. So I yell out to this "grandmom" that her grandchildren are probably waiting for her on the other side. And the chair stops rocking. Creepy, but I'm not scared. Which is odd. Then, we come across a VHS video with a family and three kids in it. People I absolutely don't recognize. One girl appears to have Down Syndrome. And that's about when my alarm went off. Ugh!

It was the kind of dream that I was disappointed to wake up from. So I kept thinking about it and analyzing it. And, I simply have no explanation. Although, I'm pretty sure my ghost was not around during VHS days.

Now, to round this out, I haven't seen my ghost since the first (and only) time. But, when I'm in my house, I wonder if it's there and I just don't see it. This might actually drive me crazy. Literally. I'm pretty confident I'm going to start talking to the air soon. You know, just to tell it to leave. There's no harm in that, right?

Monday's Menu

I picked up "Kid Favorites Made Healthy". It has 150 recipes kids can't resist, so it claims. How can I go wrong? Plus, a nice layout with photos so the girls can pick something they like. The verdict...I found a near winner...Creamy Chicken & Rice Soup. I know, not very exciting for the adults, but I've got to please kid-palettes. Kyra actually tasted it! And liked it! Except for the celery, but it's a step ahead. The husband even liked it (with a salad, of course).

Here it is:

1/2 c chopped onion

1/2 c sliced celery

1/2 c sliced carrot or mushrooms

1 tbs butter

1 14oz can chicken broth

1 10 oz can cream of chicken soup

1 c water

1 package chicken flavored rice pilaf

1/8 tsp pepper

2 1/2 c milk

2 c cooked chicken

In saucepan, cook onion, celery and carrot in butter until tender. Add chicken broth, soup and water. Stir in pilaf mix with seasoning packet and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in milk and chicken; heat through. Voila!

The "healthy" part is using low-sodium, reduced-fat soup. If I do this again, I'll definitely add more carrots and maybe string beans instead of celery.

Colorin' Eggs

We finally got around to coloring Easter eggs. It's much more complicated now then when I was growing up. There are stencils, stickers, glitter...oi, just give me a bowl with dye and let me at it.

Bowling

As much as I wanted to laze around in my pjs this morning, I had to motivate for a bowling playdate. The girls and I were meeting my friend and her two boys at Wynnewood Lanes. We've only been bowling once before. And all I have to say is, "What happened to the duck pins?"! These little kids have to manage an adult size ball. Even at the lightest of 6 pounds, it's still awkward. So, if you've ever gone bowling with young kids, you know it's a test of patience to watch them push the ball and wait, and wait, and wait for it to hopefully knock over a pin or two. But, this bowling alley has some contraption, like a ramp, that gives the ball momentum. Whew!The kids had fun and I didn't have to worry about them pulling a muscle. They got a little silly when it wasn't their turn.

Then, they moved on to air hockey and Kyra played photographer. It's always fun to see how she sees the world. Here are some of her pictures. The unidentifiable photos are the carpet and the air hockey table.

Friday Fill-In

I let my kids do this one...

1. _My birthday_ is so exciting!
2. Strawberry fields _is where we go to pick strawberries__!
3. _Chocolate bugs_ sounds like it would taste delicious!
4. Why does _tumbling_ make me feel so good?!
5. _All my stuffed animals get up and start talking_ is something I've always wanted to see.
6. It's sad when _somebody kicks me_.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _a pajama party_, tomorrow my plans include _going to Grandmom, Grandpop and Aunt Christie's house_ and Sunday, I want to __look for a lot of Easter eggs_!

A bunch of girls!

I want to preface this post by pointing out that I love my husband and am confident in his masculinity, but...my husband and his friends are a bunch of girls! They text each other and get into email debates over sports, tv shows, who knows what else...more than I would ever have the time or patience for. As I'm typing, he's on the phone with one friend debating the latest espisode of Lost. Seriously! And, he's over 40 (barely, but still!)! I'm not concerned, it's actually amusing. But, I don't know, maybe I should be? Is this a mid-life crisis phenomenon?

Monday's Menu for Tackle it Tuesday

If I post it, then I must do it.

For Tackle It Tuesday, I'm introducing Monday's Menu. My new self-improvement is to plan our dinners for the week. I’m pretty confident this is not new to many of you. But to me, this is a big deal. We eat as a family finally! And, bonus, I’m not packing on the LBs because I’m not chowing at 9pm every night.

Like many kids, mine are picky eaters. So I’m only trying one new recipe a week. That’s all I can bear. My new meal will happen every Monday. Mind you, this won't be anything fancy. Prep and cook time needs to be an hour, and not ridiculously unhealthy. I’m going to post the recipe here, and the results. Maybe even a picture of Kyra in tears because she’s so horrified at anything that’s not pasta and butter. Wish me luck, and join me. I would love to have a collection of recipes that actually pass the kid test. So, if you've got a tried and true recipe, send it my way. Meme, anyone?

P.S. I have never gone wrong with a recipe from cooking.com.

I'm a day behind, but Tackle it Tuesday inspired me to make a commitment. Last night's recipe:
Chicken Divan

2 cans cheddar cheese soup
1 cup mayo
1 cup white wine
2 tsp curry
2-4lbs cooked boneless chicken
8 oz broccoli (option: steam for 5 minutes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine soup, mayo, wine and curry...stir. Place chicken and broccoli (I use raw broccoli so it's not so rubbery) in baking dish. Pour sauce over. Bake 45 minutes or until sauce is bubbling.

I did find a recipe on cooking.com that had more interesting ingredients, but, let's be real, I'm trying to please kids, plus this one is super quick, and good over rice.

Review: While definitely not light on the fat or calories, it does include all ingredients my kids will eat. Of course, mixed together, it's not so pretty. Kyra was in tears. She got pasta and butter. Ella liked it, but I'm not sure if it was more because she wanted to out-do crying Kyra. I think the curry gives it a nice flavor, something a little different.

Conclusion: This is a keeper. I just need to wear Kyra down. ;-)

Birds with megaphones

When we moved out of the city, it never occurred to me that BIRDS would create a noise disturbance. But they do. At exactly the crack of dawn. Every day. Really, during the week it's no big deal. I'm up. But come Saturday, when I can sleep in, I need silence. A little tweeting in the distance is fine, but this gaggle of birds literally perches above my window with megaphones! This morning, it went on long enough for me to become WIDE AWAKE with no chance of falling back to sleep. I laid there imagining different ways to drive them away...a cat (wouldn't reach them)...building a scarecrow (umm, no)...running outside screaming and waving my arms (again, no). Then, all at once, it stopped. Silence. For two minutes. And Kyra woke up.

Party with me!

Thank you to 5 Minutes for Mom for organizing and hosting the Ultimate Blog Party. I love the concept, and the great way to find new blogs and interesting people, and win prizes!

Now, on to the fun stuff. I might be a blog party newbie, but I'm no newbie to parties! And, at my parties, I always serve cocktails. So, make sure you've got your favorite beverage and, please, mingle.

Who am I? My name is Stephanie and this is my brain dump of sorts. Well, really, it's my husband's newest source of frustration because, quite simply, I'm obsessed with all things blog-related. But aside from all of that, I'm a copywriter by profession, a critic-of-everything by habit and a wannabe...photographer, designer, business owner, traveler and all-around omniscient creative being.

If I was still making candles, I'd be offering those up for grabs. But, stay tuned, once I get my workshop set up in the new house, I'll be in hot wax again. And when I do, I'll be restocking my line of fragrances, so please leave a comment with your must-have scent, and of course just to say hi.

Here's a fun party game. (And music is below...just scroll down.) Find out what spice you are. Apparently, I'm cilantro...The bad news is that there are some people who can't stand you. The good news is that most people love you more than anything else in the world. You are distinct, unusual, fresh, and very controversial. And you wouldn't have it any other way. Well, I don't think people can't stand me, but the rest is true!

Welcome to my world, and enjoy.

P.S. This post will stick at the top of the blog for a week, so check below for regular posts.

Because I have nothing else to say right now...

From Friday Fill-In's... These are the answers that immediately come to mind.

1. Contact may cause __disease__.
2. The parties hereto do mutually agree _to shut up__.
3. Disney parks _scare me__.
4. _A nap_ sounds really good right about now!
5. I positively _cannot wait for this day to be over__.
6. _My girls_ always makes me smile :-)
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _having no plans_, tomorrow my plans include _my neice's 2nd birthday party_ and Sunday, I want to _stay in my pjs all day_!

What's your fill-in's? Copy and paste and leave your answers in the comments!

Paper Darren

I love this. This is the kind of creativity that makes me wish I was doing something else with my career (but keep the paycheck!).

The guy who made this has a bunch of fun videos on YouTube. Quite a talent. I found it first at A Beautiful Mess. And this chick is having fun every day. Taking photos, playing with her friends, designing anything, scrapbooking everything, even creating her own line of scrapbook products! Every time I visit her site, I feel like I'm missing out on something. How do you get that kind of freedom? *deep sigh*

I don't know how I found this, but I followed it to the Supermarket, and I'm glad I did. If you like to have things that your friends don't, then check this site out. They have everything...jewelry, bags, tableware, decor and stuff for kids, too.... Neat. Different. Not cheap. Sticking out of the computer is a wooden USB stick. Love it. (And, just a heads up, if you click on the USB link, the designer's other product might make you blush. I'm just sayin.) Check out the Designers page to see the super-talent.

A new way to look at letters, and name colors.

I really should be working. But I'm not. Can't focus. At all. Instead, I found this really cute site for kids, and grown-ups will like it, too. It's probably just a once-and-done, but I love the simple creativity behind it.

And this is probably more for the adults. Came across it linked at this cute blog. I haven't committed to memory the odd names for crayons, and it's pretty obvious here. See how you do. I'll give you one answer. "Corn" is a color.

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I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by Saturday Social Meme (cool, my first)! Okay, so I'm new to this, hopefully I get it right. Thinking to self: Should this only be happening on a Saturday?

Questions I have to answer...How long have you been blogging and what do you love best about it?

That's easy...not long, like two months officially. What I love best about it...hmmmm...as a copywriter I'm limited by my clients, the products and the company brand. In a blog, I can write in my own style and say what I want. I have complete freedom, although I do limit the cursing a bit. When I was younger I kept handwritten journals; it was very therapeutic. This is similar, but with color!

Saturday Social Rules:
Post your answer to the Saturday Social question(s) in your blog. Be sure to put in a link to who tagged you too!
Come back, leave me a comment.
Tag your friends... better yet, tag a stranger (what better way to meet someone new!) You can tag 1 or 100, it is up to you. The more you tag, the more you will meet.
Visit other Saturday Social participants by clicking their names in the comments section (if there are any)!

There's a ghost in my house.

I think I saw a ghost in my house Friday night. I'm sort of freaking out. Now, I can't stop looking for it or thinking about it. Here's what happened...the girls were in the living room playing on the computer while I was in the kitchen cooking/blogging. Husband is out (of course!). I was sitting at the kitchen table facing the window. It was dark outside. I could only see the reflection of what was behind me in the kitchen. Our neighbors are about 15 or so feet away and, if their lights are on, I can see in their house. I happened to look up from my laptap and thought I saw them. But, as I was squinting wondering why they seemed so close, I realized it was a reflection and for a split second thought it was one of the girls walking into the kitchen behind me. I was seeing an arm (the curtain was obstructing much of the window) with a long black sleeve and a ruffle on the end, and I could make out a hand, as if this person had just walked into the kitchen! Then, I realized neither of my girls are wearing black and I jumped up and turned around to see nothing. My heart was pounding and I was scared to death! I sat in the same exact spot at least a dozen or so times trying to figure out what I really saw. Of course, it must be my imagination, strange reflection, something else, anything else. But, it's not there. I haven't had any bad vibes about it or felt that creepy presence of someone in my house, so I'm not afraid to be here. I'm just freaking out! Some people have said to have the house blessed, or talk to the spirit. "Yeah, uh, can you please pass over, and never scare the crap out of me again?" I don't know what to do! What would you do?

Pet Peeve Alert: Shared Driveway

We share a driveway with our next door neighbors. Right off the bat, you know there will be problems with this. We haven't been in our house a whole year yet and already I've got issues. First, that snowstorm we had. It happened while my husband was out of town (of course!). So I was left to shovel THE ENTIRE DRIVEWAY. Guess when my neighbors came out to help...when I was completely finished, of course! Livid doesn't even begin to describe how I was feeling. But, I'm new to the neighborhood and didn't want to create friction. What really burned me up was that they turned the kids away who were looking to shovel for money. I was in clear view with my trusty snowshovel. Why pay when the new neighbor will do it for free, right? Ugh!

Now, (warning: this might get confusing) I find out that they are using the space behind our house where we park our cars, to do a K turn so they don't have to back out down the driveway. This bothers me significantly because they are literally pulling into a single parking space between one of our cars and our house (the living room window is 4 feet away). It's very invasive to me. I'd like to point out that they've been living there for like 25 years! And they still can't back down the driveway? Come on! Yes. Issues. I've got them. The resentment is building. What to do?

Save a tooth.

There seems to be a tooth theme to today's posts. I finally found a good way to save Ella's first tooth, which is currently wrapped in a tissue and tucked into a journal. I came across this crafty idea on Wondertime's site. Cute for one tooth, but a little creepy if you fill it, don't you think?

Funny Snippet alert: I don't want my teeth to fall out!

The background: Kyra's teeth are sensitive to the iron in her vitamin, so she gets a little iron build up on some, which looks black. Not very pretty, but no big deal. I may have mentioned to her, on the rarest of occasion, in an desperate effort to get her to brush her teeth longer, that herteethwouldturnblackandfallout if she didn't brush well. Yes, I know, bad mommy. I'm going to Mommy Hell and my child will have teeth nightmares and brushing issues well into adulthood. The guilt lies within me. To top it off, Ella's teeth are actually falling out. I mean, she's of the ripe old age of almost 6 and is due for her adult teeth. The first one came out almost two weeks ago, and now the next one is loose.

Soooo, with all that said, last night I noticed a little black on Kyra's teeth. In Good Mommy mode, I gently mentioned that we'd have to brush extra well to get it off. It's just from her vitamin. She's brushing and she's scrubbing and she's foaming at the mouth. I take a look and still see a little bit o' black. Ella takes a look and mentions out loud that it's still there. In her cute, little, panicked, about-to-cry voice, she exclaims, "Mommy! You have to help me! I don't want my teeth to fall out!" Yep, I'm going to hell.

Too cute!

Aren't these super cute? I found these at Etsy in JooJoo's shop. The cupcakes are little magnets (3 for $15) and the miniature keychain is $7. They're made with polymer clay. Note to self: Look here for rainy day clay projects.

Can you spot a fake smile?

A smile should light up your face. So, you'd think a fake one would be pretty hard to spot. Take this quiz on the BBC site and see if you can tell a fake smile from a genuine one. I got 16 out of 20. My favorite fake smile is the "jerk smile" --when someone is being a jerk and they're smiling through it as if you wouldn't notice their jerkiness (and I'm being polite). You know who you are, and you don't fool anyone.