Vacation Mode = True

Typically, when one goes on vacation the first thing you do the first day of your vacation is to sleep in. Apparently, that's not the case for me. My body is still in full-time work mode and I've been popping up in bed at 6:15 AM. Totally unacceptable.

But, considering the holiday, I suppose I should be thankful that at least I'm sleeping in an extra 15 minutes and slept well.

Also, when one goes on vacation, they usually don't work harder around their house than they do on the typical week. Apparently, that's not the deal with me. I've been running around like a crazed woman trying to get my house ready so promptly after the last crumb of Thanksgiving has been wiped from the table, I can instantly transform into Christmas mode. I'd really do it now but my husband would stab me in the face for putting my tree up before the ole' Turkey is served. Okay, not stab me in the face literally, but he would shoot me stabby-looks until I would prefer if he would have just physically done it.

But, I should be thankful again that I have the time off from work (and gainfully employed) to do all of this!

See, I'm getting better, I'm not all bitter! I'm only 50% bitter during the holidays!

Nerdz Alertz! Kindle vs Nook (my view)

Every few days I sit down and I do a Google Search on "Nook vs Kindle" and it's interesting to see the results (hint: click back there). I really wanted a Kindle. Like really, really wanted. To the point that I wanted it because it was a Kindle, not because of it's features or it's books or because it was worth $279 in my mind. It was... (drum roll).. the Kindle, right? I mean, nothing is supposed to be better.

Then I actually read the specs on the Barnes & Noble's Nook.

Wait a minute? Dual Screen? Color? Expandable memory? Android OS? Seriously? Those are just a few of the features that first stood out. The "lend" feature that allows me to lend out my purchased e-books for 14 days to friends running the Nook application. Built in Wi-fi, exclusive content while I sip my coffee at my local store, PDF reader compatibility! OH MY!

Most importantly, I can read my eBooks on multiple platform devices, PC's, iPhones, Macs! What?

Do I need to go on? Of course!
I can preview titles in store, I can personalize my screen saver and I can replace the battery!

I started off fighting the Nook, I fought liking it. I cursed it's name because it didn't start with a "K". But now... I embrace it.. I welcome it's beautiful Android OS and..

Hopefully, I'll be doing an unboxing video come Christmas day!!! (Hint Hint Hubby!!)

“Time waits for no man”

Not only is that a quote that has arguably more sources than the alphabet does letters, but it’s something that most adults will argue becomes truer after becoming parents.

Here I sit almost a week after Halloween and I've realized that Halloween has come and gone and I look at my calendar and see the looming November and December months waiting ahead. It’s like driving into a dark tunnel, you know there will be light at the end of it all, but the thought that you won’t make it out is always in the back of your head. This one weekend of Halloween festivities was exciting and fun but it was hectic and chaotic at times, and the thought of that lasting for 2 months straight, accompanied by travelling, shopping and cooking, tied in with Christmas parties and festivities and everything else that comes along with the Christmas cheer – scares me.

Every year seems to spin by faster and faster, leaving me less and less time to do things I need to get done, let alone the things I want to get done.
But, with every year before, I look ahead as I sit the week after Halloween, and then halfway through the thick of it, I realize that I’m having fun and it’s not really as bad as I thought it would be.

So, I think I’ll spare myself the grief for the next week or two and just jump into the looking forward to egg nog (and brandy) and have myself an old fashioned Griswold.. er.. whatever.. Christmas!

St. George Scenery

This is some video that was forgotten about on my Flip until today, so I just wanted to share with you a little of what I consider to be Southern Utah's beauty.

Tattooed & Curly

At least for now.

See, I have an inner fight with myself & my curls and well, right now the curls have won.

But we will see for how long.

But for the meantime, you can read all about my curls here and at my other wonderfully neglected blog.. A Girl and her Curl

Video killed the blogging star...

It’s been a while since I’ve last blogged and I blame video for that. I am looking to go almost all vlog format now and keep my text posts to a minimum, and I still have all intentions to do so, however my little nit-picky self made it to a point that I was spending entirely too much time on the editing part of the video that by the time I got a video where I liked it, it wasn’t relevant anymore!

So.. I think I’m going to stick to my spontaneous posts in text and vlog – it seems to work much better for me in the long run. I may not have the fun little graphics and whatnot but at least it’s relevant and timely, plus you get a lot more material to make fun of me for when I wing it.

Behold, the suitcase destink-a-fyer!

Almost a year ago, we went on a family vacation to Myrtle Beach to have some family portraits done and while there, we bought my son a very cool Lightnin’ McQueen suitcase (which now, I can't find a picture online to save my life, so I'll have to snap one later to post) from the Disney store at Boardwalk at the Beach.

Upon getting back to our rented house and opening the suitcase up, we found there was an absolutely gag-i-fying (which in real people vernacular means it stinks big time) smell in the suitcase. It smelled like burnt plastic wrapped in sweat, in 100 degree weather, near a landfill. You get the point.

I was certain this wouldn’t be a problem, so I just drenched the bag in Fabreeze and went on my merry smell good way. The next day I check the bag and now it smells like burnt flowers, wrapped in burnt plastic, wrapped in sweat… and so on and so forth. Literally, over the past year, my husband and I have tried everything. Baking Soda didn’t work. Vinegar didn’t work.. in fact that was a big mistake. Airing it out for days didn’t work. I was really getting concerned that the bag was going to just sit in the attic because I couldn’t get the smell out.

In the meanwhile, I bought a new luggage set off of Woot! for our upcoming trip out West and when we opened them… there was that exact smell again!! What’s the odds? It must be something in the way they are made! But now… it’s not just one Lightin’ McQueen suitcase, it’s now a total of 3 suitcases!

Then, last week my husband sends me a link to Tap-A-Drop on Amazon and asks me to order it, that he was going to give it a try – I mean, really what did we have to lose. So the Amazon box arrived on Tuesday and we ripped open the box and ran upstairs to the bonus room, as if we had just acquired some secret spell book and was about to perform some life changing ritual.

This is the cut to the chase, how to de-skink-a-fy stuff!!
We took one cotton ball and a safety pin (and I say we, meaning my husband did while I watched) and we doused the cotton ball with the Tap-A-Drop and then pinned it to the inside of the suitcase and zipped it up.

Fast forward 2.5 days (today!) and we open the bag to smell… NOTHING! In fact, it smells… GOOD! I’m so thrilled, it’s only taken a year and, who knows how much money, for us to resolve the stinky suitcase issue but it’s done.

And that my friends, is my gift to you… the power to defunkify your suitcases!! I'll be posting a review on Amazon for it as well because it's just that awesome!

218-724-2094 who?

For those of you who didn't know, a few months ago I got a brand spankin' new cell phone, the superlicious LG EnV Touch and with that came a nice, clean phone number.

You know, the number that no one has, that you have total access control to. Or so I thought.

I started getting random calls from 218-724-2094, I would never answer because I didn't recognize the number. And they never left a voicemail so it was just one continuous cycle of calling and not answering.

Well I googled the number and found out from 800notes.com the following:

This number is in fact Teleresources. They are calling on behalf of either Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, Allstate Insurance Roadside Service, columbia House, J J Keller, Centele Telephone. Basicially if you are now or were a subscriber to any of these services and your subscription has run out, Teleresources is calling to see if you want to re new your subscription. To find out why they are calling you simply call the number back and punch extenstion 111 to be removed from the list.

So, I called the number back, pressed the 111 extension and talked to a very friendly person who said he'd take my number and put it on their "do not call list" and that within 24 hours the calls should stop.

It actually went very smoothly.
Now, let's just hope I didn't activate my number on some random, weirdo porn company's list of "haha we got 'em" who they end up calling once a week with strange voicemails.

Don't let "Guide To Pirate Parenting" Walk The Plank!

Guide To Pirate Parenting

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Also, if you really are bored and want to see why I will never be able to do live reviews.... watch this: