ThatBrunette - Shameless Shill

The Brunette goes a little less brunette

2010-07-18T00:15:00.003-04:00

Not by choice. I have always had a stray gray hair or two. The odd strand hidden within my dark hair wasn't a big deal. At 15, it seemed to me that is was a sign of maturity. Now, at 38, they have started coming in clumps. Within the last few months, I've noticed an increase in the visible glinty silver hairs.

I've tried to hold off the feelings of vanity but, I seem to be losing that battle. I look in the mirror and see the glinting of my old lady future.

So, I am going to dye my hair, again. I've done it before but I did it for fun. This is a new plan, a new direction and new batch of dye.

Should I go for something a little funky like eggplant or should I go for a more sedate burgundy. My hair is, as the title of the blog suggests, dark. No, I'm not going to red or blonde. I make an awful looking blonde. I'm not looking to do something drastic. Just something that will tone down the silver and possibly give me a bit of vain fun.

If I were a good blogger, I would take pictures of all the steps and document the results.

I think I will start with the low-priced interesting colors. This experiment will probably take a long time to get decent answers and come to any result. Yes, I could use on-line color try-ons but, they never seem to look right.

I am goign to attempt to get a picture of the glinty silver as a 'before' picture and to compare to the new colors.

Well, off to do some research on dying hair and what I should do and what I should avoid.

Product Review - Little Debbie Petites Chocolate Cake

2010-06-13T18:52:00.002-04:00

These little cakes are darn good!

I'm always on the look out for a low fat dessert but, because of the calorie count, I never bothered to look at Little Debbie. Tasty fatty stuff.

Well, because it was lower in fat than the Weight Watchers little cakes, I decided to give them a try.($1.79 at Target) I'm glad I did. I think they have a better chocolate flavor and taste like they have more fat. They are tiny and on one grumpy, low food intake day, I had two. I'm somewhat worried that they are going to discover that they have more fat and calories then reported and take them off the market.

I recommend them!

I read a review for the Strawberry Cakes and it wasn't a positive review. I didn't try the red velvet or the strawberry because they both contain Red Dye #40. No, it's not a knee-jerk reaction. My kid got hives when he had red and black makeup on his face. Both contained #40.

Party with the Rat!

2010-06-12T22:26:00.002-04:00

I hate hosting parties. I get anxious about every detail and the attendance of the guests. Last year, I decided to off-load some of my stress and have my son's party at a 'party place'. It worked out so well, I did it again, this year.

Chuck E. Cheese rocks the birthday!

They will do almost all of the party for you. Depending on how much you are willing to pay per child, you can unload all your party stress on them. Invitations from e-vite, food, coins, cake, singing, set-up, clean-up and, my favorite, entertaining the kids.

The good: It's not in my house! We got a great party hostess, Cindy, and she made sure we knew when to expect the party parts and that we had everything we needed. There were other jparties going on at the same time so I got to see other hostesses in action. Ours was the best. The food is okay. The kids have a great time taking their cups full of coins and spending them on the noisy games.

The bad: The air-conditioner was broken and it was HOT. There were 3 other parties going on at the same time and it made it HOTter and tough to navigate. The bathrooms were filthy. The store manager came over and apologized for the air-conditioning and the bathroom. CEC is an assault on the senses. It is that way on non party days. You may end up with siblings tagging along with the invited guests. A week after I booked the party, they changed the party packages and raised the price per kid. I sent an e-mail and called to make sure I was going to be charged the lower price. I was assured that there was a note on my reservation and there wouldn't be a problem. It was. Thankfully, my brain was in working order and I printed my original party confirmation e-mail with the lower price. There computer system couldn't handle it but, they charged me for one less guest and it made up for the price change.

Book the party online when they are running a special. Usually, the specials involve extra coins if the party is booked for Sundays or weekdays. You can update your total guests and add extras like food and toys for the kids.

No Love - Felt Fun Pack

2010-05-24T20:57:00.002-04:00

I just bought the Felt Fun Pack from The Kunin Group. I'm not happy. The assorted color pack is missing green and white. Some of the pieces are stapled together with pieces of plastic. The package says "Sizes may vary" but why bother stapling pieces?

The positives: The felt is nice and thick. According to their website, the felt is made from 100% recycled materials.

I'm disappointed in the pack, not it's content.

I bought the pack, rather than individual pieces, because I wanted to make a Darth Vader mask for a Zhu Zhu pet. I've made a test and it's kinda dorky looking but, I'm hoping to make a better, post-able one, soon.

MyGetTogether - A New Kind of Party

2010-05-06T19:33:00.002-04:00

Pillsbury is trying out a new type of advertising, direct marketing. They offered to send me supplies if I hosted a Pillsbury Crescent Roll Party for them.

I joined the Pillsbury site a while ago. I probably joined to enter a contest or get coupons. It was a pleasant surprise to get the opportunity to get free stuff and an excuse to have a party.

We loved the idea of having a food-themed party. Okay, we like any reason to have a party. We had a problem with the Crescent rolls because they contained Red Dye #40. My son, and a few guests, could not eat the foods prepared with the theme ingredient because of their food restrictions. I made alternative food but, I was a bit sad and disappointed with Pillsbury for using this unnecessary ingredient.

Fruit 2day - a review

2010-05-04T12:46:00.002-04:00

I was looking for something to drink the the grocery store and noticed that a new product, Fruit2day was on sale. I grabbed the 2-pack of Cherry Grape and headed off with my son to music class.

In it's defense, it does not call itself a drink. On the front of the bottle it says "real fruit bits". On the back it says "It's not juice. It's a snack." It's true! My first mouthful had chunks of fruit. Not bits of fruit, chunks of fruit. This product requires chewing.

Positives: It has two servings of fruit. It has real chunks of fruit. It doesn't have artificial sweeteners or dyes. It makes it easy to get two servings of fruit without getting your hands messy. Easy to drink/chew on the run.

Negatives: It isn't thirst quenching. It is a little weird. (The first sip is the weirdest)

Would I get this again? Yes. It has a decent taste and makes it easy to get 2 servings of fruit. I wouldn't get it if I were thirsty.

Would I give this to my kid? Maybe. He might choke if he forgets and tries to drink it. He might like it as a snack.

New Product - L'Oreal 360 Clean

2010-02-13T14:35:00.004-05:00

Okay, I bought it because it had the little scrubby thing on it. Total impulse buy!

I bought the Go 360 Clean Deep Facial Cleanser for Sensitive Skin. I wanted something to replace my discontinued Avon cleanser and the 360 cought my eye. It was also the day before one of our (Maryland) big storms and I wanted to buy myself something beauty-related.

What I like: It is a nice gentile cleanser. My face doesn't feel stripped after using it. The scrubby thing is kinda fun and feels good. There is a nice storage hole in the bottle for the scrubby.

What I don't like: The directions are part of the wrapping and comes off to open the package. No, it's not a difficult product to use it's just a weird place to put instructions. The scrubby thing can be a bit slippery. A stiffer material for the handle would be nice.

It gets extra cool points for advertising during Project Runway!

Candy Bar Love - Ritter Sport Milk Chocolate with Butter Biscuit

2010-02-10T16:05:00.004-05:00

This is my favorite candy bar. I get this when I am treating myself or I'm a bit stressed. I bought it as an impulse item when I was staying in a hotel one night. I ate half while watching movies and the other half for breakfast.

I like the one with the crunchy cookie center. Normally, I don't like stuff in my chocolate. If I am going to eat chocolate, I want to eat chocolate. Although, I do allow for peanut butter.

I have tried some of the other varieties but, I always come back to the cookie one. One of them has corn flakes in it. Not my favorite. I have not been able to find a la Mousse au Chocolat in my local stores. I might have to send husband out to look next time he is overseas on travel.

Official Page

I can't have it in the house and not eat it.

Snowmageddon update

2010-02-10T16:02:00.001-05:00

We got our power back after 30+ hours. We turned on all the space heaters and started working through the laundry.

There is no firewood or D-batteries to be bought. :-P We're okay on the batteries, low on the wood.

The plows came Tuesday afternoon. Actually, they were front-end loaders and they scooped the snow on to the island in our cul-de-sac. I am hoping to get a picture of my son climbing the mountain.

I'm having trouble remembering the day. If my TiVo keeps up, I'll know the day of the week by the shows it records!

Snowmageddon 2: Electric Boogaloo / Snoverkill

2010-02-10T15:51:00.003-05:00

Well, it's snowing again. Okay, actually it started snowing last night and it has finally gotten down to just flurries. The winds are high and we will probably lose power again.

It was an adventure. A difficult adventure but, an adventure. After we escaped the house, we decided to plan for this round using what we learned last time.

On Saturday, I cooked over coals in the fireplace (properly ventilated). We thought we had an hibachi but couldn't find it. I took an old baking pan and filled it with charcoal. It took over an hour to get it going. I've never been good with charcoal. I wrapped hot dogs, sausages, potatoes and eggs (yes, eggs) in tinfoil and set them on the coals. Not bad.

For this storm: We got a small grill/hibachi. There are only three of us so, getting a large propane grill doesn't make sense for us. Yes, it would be easier and quicker but, a waste of power and space. It's K-Mart brand so, I don't have high hopes. I just hope it works. This one will also go in the fireplace. It's too windy to attempt lighting coals outside. I still have the charcoal-lighting problem but, I will have a grilling surface and it might be a bit neater.

We've been doing dishes and laundry non-stop since we got power back. I am going to make sure we have plenty of clothes and layers to use for the next few days. Husband ran out of clean pants from the multiple snow-shoveling trips. Why not reuse? Too wet.

We gathered all the board games and bought a few new ones. My 5 year old can now play chess and Chinese checkers. He didn't like Clue but, he liked playing with the pieces. I have the Disney's Haunted Mansion Clue. :-)

Mom in a storm

2010-02-07T16:03:00.006-05:00

Snowmageddon 2010.

Well, we bought food, we charged the chargeable stuff, we got extra batteries, we got a few bundles of wood and, we were still under-prepared. I think the final snow-fall total was 31 inches. We we in one of the heavier-hit areas.

We first lost power Friday night around 9pm. My son woke up and was both frightened and excited. We gathered all the flashlights and prepared ourselves for a dark night. The best part was my son running around with his Fisher Price flashlight helping us find things in the dark. We went around the house turning off the things that had been left on and went to bed. Son slept with me so I could calm him down after all the blackout excitement.

The power came back on around 2am and back out at 7am.

Here's where it got tough as a mom. At 7pm, the house was down to 54deg, by midnight it had gotten below 40deg. I didn't sleep well thinking about having to keep my 5 year old warm without electricity. We only have a few bundles of wood and it was still going to be very cold at night. I was able to keep him warm under the blankets but, he is a restless sleeper so, I spent a lot of my night re-covering him (as well as getting kicked and elbowed).

Montgomery County, Maryland is spending all of it's resources keeping the major roads clean. If it's not a major highway, it's not going to get done until Tuesday. Our development is usually one of the last to get plowed. Another snow fall is being predicted. If we can get out, my husband plans to grab as much firewood as he can. I'm guessing there won't be any kerosene heaters left in any of the stores.

Game Like - Wii YourShape

2009-12-25T14:20:00.004-05:00

I got a copy of Wii YourShape featuring Jenny McCarthy. Big title. It's a new exercise game. Nifty idea. You get a camera with the game and when you first enter your profile, the game scans your body.

Your image is projected on to the TV next to your trainer, Jenny McCarthy. She says little phrases of encouragement during your workout and lets you know if you aren't doing the exercise properly. I get "Watch your arms!" a lot. The game also scores your performance by how well you do the exercises. It won't let you cheat.

Likes: With over 400 exercises, it isn't like using a DVD with the same routine. You can tailor the workout to your body by choosing targeted areas. It also allows for adding equipment like weights or a balance ball. The workouts are pretty good. You can enter in other activities to get credit for exercising.

Dislikes: The encouragement is a bit perky for my tastes and is very inappropriate during the yoga exercises. I chose 'Burn' for legs and abs and ended up doing the same 5 exercises for 15 minutes. I look very chubby next to trainer Jenny. I can't always figure out what I am doing wrong in an exercise. The only choices for 'other activities' is walking, jogging and other.

Vacuum Love (No, really)

2009-12-19T21:42:00.003-05:00

Is love too strong of a word for a vacuum? Allow me to explain, I have a Roomba. We got it on sale a few years ago and I still love it. I hate vacuuming. It's noisy. It smells funny. It's noisy. It's cumbersome. And, it's noisy. My hearing is a bit sensitive and the vacuum is almost painful.

Husband got me a Roomba. We set up the walls, cleaned the floor and set it off. My son and I sat on the couch and watched it work. We actually sat there and watched it spin around the room! My son named it and insisted it liked music and dancing while it worked. If he leaves the room, I am instructed to dance until he gets back.

Likes: It is quieter than a regular vacuum. It goes on it's own. It makes us keep the floors cleaner. My son likes to clean for it. The customer service is great, if you get a seasoned operator. Some models come with a docking station so the Roomba will park itself and charge.

Dislikes: The walls broke early. The walls don't work all that well when they do work. The customer service sucks, if you get a new operator. The house alarm can't be set (the Roomba will bump into things and things might fall). The connection on the charger is a bit loose and gets worse over time.

We got one for my MIL and she hated it. She also has trouble using her phone. We 'borrowed' it and now have the Roombas duel it out.

We got one for my parents and they love it. For the first month, my mother would leave the light on in the room and talk to it. She can use her phone and she called me laughing because she was treating like it was alive.

I also have a Scooba but, that is a post for another time.

Game Love - Coconut Queen

2009-12-19T21:11:00.003-05:00

I have fallen in love with a new game, Coconut Queen! For the gamer, it's a time management/build-a-lot kind of game.

You are an employee of Colorado Coconut Company and are transferred to their tropical island to help business. Once there, you become their queen and help to build up the resort and bring prosperity back to the island.

Build resorts! Restore rainforests! Wrestle sharks! Ogle the hunks!

There are 7 locations around the island with 55 levels for building (on some levels, destroying). Hunky men do your bidding and confirm your instructions with phrases like "Yes, your lusciousness" and "Anything you say".

The first half-hour is a bit dull but, the game is addictive and funny. Very funny. Finishing levles earns you ruby which you can use for useful upgrades or reaching new map locations. The upgrades are actually noticable and can help with game play.

The story is cute. The animation is nicely done and they put in some cute effects. The female tourists sigh when the hunky builders run past. The hunky builders leave footprints when they run across the sand.

I highly suggest the Gamezebo walk-through not for playing the game but for the suggestions on when to use the upgrades and how to earn tikis.

This game made me giggle. I played it through twice and also did the freeplay. After playing for a while in free play mode, I earned the last building. I think I played it for an hour total. Maybe? The free play mode gives occasional goals and events too keep it from getting dull.

After arguing with my 5-year-old it's nice to hear "We live to serve you".

Diary of an Insomniac

2009-11-24T21:02:00.002-05:00

I am an insomniac.

I don't have 'a little trouble' sleeping. Yes, I've tried that. Yup, tried that, too. It's not a problem of 'just relaxing and letting go'. It's a real thing.

I've had trouble sleeping since childhood. I'm the can't-fall-asleep variety of insomniac. My pediatrician told my mother is was a phase. I would learn to fall asleep on my own. (He also misdiagnosed my PCOS)

My insomnia has also been misdiagnosed and mistreated as depression and anxiety.

Normal sleepers have occasional insomnia. It can last for as short as a few days to as long as a month. It is short-term and temporary.

There are some great tips on dealing with temporary insomnia. They work great! In the majority of people, their insomnia goes away and they go back to regular sleep. Turn the clock faces away from the bed. Visualize a calm and happy place and try to get into a dream state. Warm milk. Wet tea bags on the eyes. Warm shower or bath. Calming yoga poses. No TV in the room. The bed should only be used for sleeping. Get up, do something soothing for 20 then, get back in bed.

For me, a good night is one when I fall asleep before 1am. A bad night would have me falling asleep around 6am. Both scenarios make getting up at 7am very difficult.

I've argued with doctors about my insomnia and since I can't prescribe for myself, I usually give up. My GP sent me to a psychiatrist to get treated for depression. The psychiatrist had me on one drug for the depression and Ambien for the insomnia. The depression drug made me feel dull. I fell in love with the Ambien!

Don't worry, this isn't an addiction story.

I overheard someone talking about splitting their Ambiens in half and still getting a good night's sleep. I tried it and it worked. Now my supply would last longer.

I got pregnant and went off both drugs. Now, I couldn't sleep and something was kicking my bladder.

I stayed off the drugs for 5 years. I complained about my insomnia again. My GP tried to treat me for anxiety. I ignored the anxiety pills and slowly used up my stash of Ambiens. (I had to go on Trazadone for mal de debarquement and they made me stupid). My GP is a great doctor but, he admits he doesn't know enough about insomnia to treat it properly. He is also very aware and worried about the side-effects of Ambien. I don't blame him, they are pretty freaky. Also, the insurance company hates paying for the brand name. At $10 a pill, I don't blame them.

In 2008, I made an appointment with a sleep specialist. I did a two-night sleep study. The first night was 'regular' sleep (regular = hooked up with wires and taking a prescribed Ambien). The second night was with an apnea mask. The guy who did the wires did a bad job and both nights were uncomfortable. The good news...I have a diagnosis for insomnia and a prescription. The bad news was that I had mild apnea.

I tried a mask and ended up with bloody noses and sinus infections. I stopped using it.

I have my lovely sleeping pills again. I don't use them every day. I don't use full-strength every day. The wonderful thing is that I have them and can get an occasional good night's sleep.

I am planning on using this blog as a diary of my insomnia. Hopefully, I can explain what it is, how it effects me. If I am really lucky, I can help someone who has insomnia, too.

I have a label maker!

2009-10-07T21:56:00.007-04:00

I got myself a happy, the Dymo LetraTag at Michael's Crafts the other day. I've been eying different label makers for a while and I had a grouchy day so, I used my 40% coupon and got one. I debated getting one because I don't really *need* one.

The reviews on the lower priced models were mixed for both the Dymo and the Brother brands. The biggest negative reviews were aimed at the battery-sucking power usage. There is an adapter available for an additional $26.25 for the Dymo (more than the price of the unit!). Some people had issues with the tapes, the cutting blade or had odd printing problems. For a product under $30, they seemed like minor problems.

I knew this was the label maker for me when I discovered that it has an alligator border feature! It draws a little alligator around my words!

The ink washed off but the label stayed on in the dishwasher. The tape that comes with the unit is not made for water. A label I put on a plastic storage bin peeled off. I put it on a rounded corner, I don't know if that helped with the peeling-off-ness.

The keyboard is in alphabetical order rather than the qwerty I am used to, it takes a bit longer for me to find the right letters. There are so few keyboards that are in alphabetical order so, I am not sure why they chose that layout.

Game Review - Cookie Shop DS

2009-10-07T20:19:00.002-04:00

I loved Lemonade Stand. I originally played it on the PET computer during the 1980s. I think I had a version for the Commodore 64. Yes, I am that old. It was a text-only game. Yup, made for a dumb terminal with a monochrome screen.

For those not as old, it is a tycoon-style game. Your mother gives you $10 to start a summertime lemonade stand. With the $10, you buy your supplies of lemons, sugar and cups. Each day, you read the weather report (temperature and wet bulb) to determine the price and amount of supplies needed. At the end of the summer, you must return the original $10 investment.

I could play that game for hours! I even attempted charting the temperature vs price so I could become more of a tycoon.

Lemonade Tycoon is a more recent version of the game.

What does all this have to do with Cookie Shop? Well, it is a tycoon-style game with pastries.

I like this game. I really wanted to love this game.

You are a choco-dog and your dream is to have the best sweet shop in the sweets mall. You compete against other sweet shop (pastries) owners and other stores in the mall.

With over 100 recipes (a rumor says there are 200 but that might be for the original Japanese version), and only slots for 30 in your store, it makes it difficult to chart and figure out which pastries/sweets to sell during the different seasons.

There is a chance to make a recipe twice during a day to increase it's flavor. Perfection can be reached after making it 50 times. After making some recipes 5 times, you 'remember' a new recipe. There are recipe categories like 'Pancakes' and 'Japanese Sweets' that contain 7 recipes. Every time a new recipe is discovered, a mini game must be played before it can be made. Some of the games are easy and cute while others require knowledge of baking or just random luck. By visiting the other shops, you gain ingredients and new recipes.

There are some cute features like the ability to change outfits to match holidays or seasons. It doesn't seem to effect the game but, it's cute. You can also change the furniture in your store to help boost sales. The boost works for the entire season.

There is a lot of needless dialog and clicking. Some buttons aren't explained. Many things in the game seem random. I've read some of the user boards and most people are confused as to how to get certain recipes or get events to trigger. I'm on my second 'year' of the game and I am still missing recipes. Only a few people have gotten the 'Research' feature to work.

My overall opinion: playable but flawed.

Birthday Party at Chuck E. Cheese

2009-07-19T16:18:00.007-04:00

TOTALLY WORTH IT!

I hate throwing parties and having people in my house. My mom throws great parties and loves doing it. Apparently, that gene was not hereditary.

Signing up online is very easy. There is a spot to sign up for guests and another spot for additional guests. In other words words, how many kids and how many adults. The additional guests number reserves seats for the parents. We wrote "This is not a drop off party" on our invitations because I did not want to be responsible for a slew of kids that weren't mine. Some kids came with both parents. I was very happy that all the kids did not come with both parents.

CEC offers two Star and Super Star party options. I did some research on the web and with other moms about the party options. The Super Star has goodie bags included and everyone said they sucked. I did my own. The kids get fancy cups and a balloon and the birthday kid gets a few other pieces of junk...uh...fun toys. To me, the extra money for the extra objects wasn't worth it.

Since we demanded the parents join in the noise, we opted for some extra food. We got the vegetable platter offered on the site. Ours offered wings, fries, sandwiches and would even make the cake for us. We used coupons from the CEC site to order extra pizza and cups for the parents. They allow multiples of the same coupons. Collect them from your newspaper and from other CEC promotions to get the best deal. Ours was a large pizza, four cups and a bunch of tokens for $19.95.

Each party gets a 'party host'. Ours was about 17 and had no personality. I had to remind her of a few things. She miscounted the cups and didn't understand that I didn't want to add a kid, I wanted the correct number of plates and tokens. I told her more than she told me. Even with her lack of personality, she kept the party moving.

As the guests came in, I gave them a cup of tokens and told them they had about 45 minutes to play games before the food came out. When it was food time, Dippy pushed a button and a goofy voice came over the loudspeaker and told the birthday guests to come to the table.

The rest of the party was automated. The screens and the automated CEC told the kids to enjoy the food. It told the kids to chant and when to sing Happy Birthday. Oh, someone came out in a CEC costume. The parents were noisier than the kids. The kids wanted to eat their pizza and could have cared less about chanting Happy Birthday. It was very funny. The loud birthday recording lasted about 15 minutes.

The parties are made to run about 90 minutes from the start time. We picked Sunday at noon so they didn't rush us out but, Dippy did clean up as the kids got up from the table.

I got a lot of extra coupons from the adult pizzas and from on-line promotions so I gave the parents extra tokens to keep the fun going. Some parents gave back their extra tokens and their tickets. It costs 10 tickets to get a Dum-Dum pop. The other pieces of crap...uh...wonderful prizes start at 10 tickets and go up in increments of 10. I grabbed our extra tickets and rounded up when our guests came up short.

Worth mentioning: all games cost one token. Husband and a few of the guests mentioned how happy they were that the big games (driving games and basketball) cost only one token to play.

If you ask questions using the live chat on the site, they will give you the "official" answers. We had 3 kids with allergies. According to the live chat, we could not bring *any* outside food, except for cake. According to the manager, they understood allergies and would work with the parents to find something for the kids to eat. The allergy parents came with their own food and no one mentioned it. The managers were very helpful.

For 15 kids and 17 parents we came in under $300!

This was at the Gaithersburg, MD location so, your mileage may vary. Check your store rather than taking my word. :-)

RWA - My first conference

2009-07-16T21:34:00.005-04:00

I had a great time!

The Romance Writers of America (RWA) has a conference every year and one night of the conference is dedicated to their charity, Readers for Life. This one night allows non-conference members/readers to buy books and get them signed.

First, I'm not a romance reader. My bookshelves are filled with mysteries, horror and ghost stories.

A few years ago, I entered a contest and ended up winning a romance novel. Then, I noticed the same site had chats and chat giveaways. I love winning stuff so, I attended a chat. I lurked for my first few times until I got the hang of it. I ended up loving the community and even read a few romance novels. I prefer romance-mystery or romance-paranormal crossovers but, I learned an important lesson: romance does not equal crap.

I started reading blogs and getting involved in the romance community. People talked about different conferences and reader gatherings. Since I only liked a few authors, I never looked into them. This year, the conference was in Washington DC, a Metro ride away.

It was overwhelming! 500 authors and their fans. It was noisy, it was crowded, it was hot and I had a great time. I could have left after about 20 minutes but, I decided to wait for a friend and wander the convention hall and look at the other authors and other readers. Everyone was nice. I talked to authors, readers and even some of the hotel staff.

I had a short list of must-see authors. Out of 500 authors, I wanted to see 4: Terri Garey, Shirley Jump, Anna DeStefano and Samantha Hunter.

I am a big dorky fanboy, er...fangirl.

I was so nervous meeting my 4 authors, I babbled a bit. I'm pretty sure I said nothing of importance and repeated myself. The coolest thing was that all four of the authors recognized me by my screen name! It really made me feel appreciated as a reader. Some of them inscribed my books with my real name and my screen name. All of them talked to me as if I wasn't a big dorky fangirl asking for them to inscribe books.

I was looking a bit overwhelmed and author Hank Phillipi Ryan took the time to talk to me. She told me not to be nervous or worried about telling authors that I was a fan. Authors love to hear that people love their work. I've never read anything by this author and yet, she was nice enough to give me some nice verbal comfort. I didn't tell her I hadn't read her book but, I think she figured that one out on her own. She also gave me some cool lip balm with her name on it. I love swag.

I ended up meeting Nora Roberts. She had sold out of all her Nora Roberts books so, her huge line had disappeared. I hopped over to tell her that she and I had a 6th degree of separation and noticed that she had a stack of J.D. Robb books. I've never read Roberts but I really like the Robb series so I happily bought an expensive inscribed hardback copy for myself. After I left the table and man with two cameras came over to me and told me he was from the Washington Post and he had been taking my picture while I was talking to Nora Roberts. Figures. I should have dragged him over to one of my 4 authors.

I have been to author signings. Well, I've been to signings for two other authors. Ed McBain and Elizabeth Peters.

I was 20 when I saw Ed McBain and it was my first. I was so nervous and when he put his hand out to shake mine, I stuck my copy (VHS) of The Birds in his hand. He got a good chuckle. I was the youngest person in line, everyone else was over 40. I think he was a bit surprised to see me and that I knew he had written the screenplay to The Birds. I'm pretty sure I babbled then, too.

When meeting authors, I'm slightly calmer now but just as thrilled.

Sesame Place - Day Two

2009-06-30T00:41:00.006-04:00

We had our breakfast with Elmo scheduled for our second morning. Well, Husband and Son did, I planned to sit out in the car. It didn't make sense to me to pay two adult tickets (around $20) just to watch my son be too excited and distracted to eat breakfast.

The boys had a great time. The characters walked around the tables and spent time with the kids. As part of the package a picture with Elmo is given. The picture wasn't great but, my husband made up for it by getting some other cute shots. Husband recommends the breakfast to families with pre-schoolers. It is a fun and cute experience. Grandma will probably want to go when she comes to visit.

We ended up running into friends from my son's school so we spent most of the day with them.

There are wet rides and dry rides. Most of the park is taken up by the water rides. Slides, sprinklers, wading pools and, my favorite, the lazy river.

There are very few rides small children can ride without having an adult with them. The plus: you spend more time with your child. The minus: you have to go on rides you might not like.

It is a decently run park. The younger employees, like in any summer job, run from decent to apathetic.

The best think I saw from the employees was the missing child alerts. An announcement would come over the park speakers announcing that a child had been found and was in the 'Lost Child' room. Pretty standard. I saw the employees help a child to get to that room. It's done fast and friendly. Most of the employees are near park phones and will call a manager. One girl closed her game stand to help a little boy. They must get some training because she was quick and calmed the child before taking his hand and leading him to 'Lost Child'.

The parade is cute and worth seeing. It was a rock-themed parade so they didn't do all Sesame Street songs. I would have preferred all songs from the Street.

The food is kinda crappy. Well, the quality was okay, it was the selection that sucked. Mostly toddler food. Chicken fingers, fries, pizza, hotdogs were available for kid meals. There were a few adult choices. Emphasis on few. The food itself was good and were decent portions. There are some adorable Elmo cupcakes that have a good flavor. The prices are a bit high for a normal lunch but comparable to any amusement park. We had a season pass (gotten through some special deal) and they give 30% food and souvenirs in the park. We saved a lot of money.

Sesame Place - Day One

2009-06-30T00:31:00.005-04:00

We got to our hotel, checked in an unloaded. Since it was early afternoon, we decided to head over and check out the park. When we got there, we noticed a lot of people leaving and the gates to enter the park, closed. A thunderstorm had been sighted and they were closing the park. Son was a bit sad but he knew he had a lot planned for tomorrow.

We got our passes from the window, and a picture of Son in front of the closed gates and then went off in search of entertainment. Entertainment was found in the form of Target.

A few things to know about Jersey: They are mean to their drivers. To make a left turn, the driver must first make a right, then try to get back to the road and then go across an intersection. It makes about the same amount of sense in writing as it does in driving. In brief, driving in Jersey was annoying. the GPS was only slightly helpful.

Our hotel was in Jersey and the park is in PA. Next time, we're staying in the same state as the park.

Sesame Place - The Adventure Begins

2009-06-09T21:36:00.003-04:00

So, after the glowing review from another mom, we decided to take our face to Sesame Place for a little 'school is over' vacation.

Since we are Marriott members, we tried looking for deals through the Marriott site. Nuthin'. Occasionally, their site ties into local attractions and will offer decent deals. Not this time.

Husband and I decided to look at the deals through the Sesame Place site. At first glance, the deals looked good. Husband did some research and found out that the lower-priced hotels were in a crappy area and were run-down. People complained of car break-ins and dilapidated rooms. My husband comes from a long line of paranoid people so, we decided to look a bit further from the park.

Husband found a deal at the Hyatt, Princeton. (Odd aside, their website layout is identical to Marriott's site) Yes, Jersey (shudder). The hotel is 15 miles away and doesn't have a shuttle. We're going for piece of mind not convenience.

We will be doing Breakfast with Elmo on our first day in the park. Well, Husband and Son will. It seemed a bit silly for two of us adults to pay the $17 fee. My favorite was Oscar and I don't think he would throw a good breakfast party.

You've caught me, I'm not one of those mothers who feel the need to be present at every childhood event.

We booked through the Sesame site. While they confirmed immediately, we didn't get the hotel confirmation until a few days later. That made Husband nervous.

The tickets for Sesame Place and the Elmo breakfast are meant to be printed out, which we did. Husband had me check them multiple times.

Wilderness Blogging

2009-06-09T21:30:00.004-04:00

We went camping in Rocky Gap this past weekend. Ah, camping with a 4 year old.

Husband had found a tent and some sleeping bags on sale so we had some equipment. Camping would be a lot more fun if it didn't require so much equipment to be comfortable! Friends of ours camp regularly so they allowed us to share their good stuff.

Our friends have a lot of nifty equipment to make camping more comfortable. They have a camp stove and love to do a little gourmet cooking. We ate well when it was their turn to cook.

For lunch on our last day, I brought hot dogs, chicken sausages and beans. I wanted to give the boys something to cook over the fire. I found marshmallow forks in the Dollar Spot at Target because it isn't always easy to find a perfect stick. Okay, I bought them because they were a dollar and I thought they were cute. We put the stick through the middle of the hot dogs and split the ends so they would spider out when they cooked. It was a version of octo-dogs. I think the boys had more fun cooking than eating. The night before, Son got tired of eating s'mores and offered to cook marshmallows for everyone. A grate was provided over the fire pit so I put the cans on the grate over the fire to cook. I felt so chuck-wagony!

I froze the hot dogs and sausages so they were thawed by the time lunch came around on the second/last day. They helped to keep the other stuff cold and were ready to go when we needed them.

I like camping in short bursts. I don't know if I would like it for a week or more. One or two nights seem to be my limit. I like my house. I like my bed. I like a clean and private bathroom. I like my electronics! Nice to visit but, I wouldn't want to live there.

X-treme food!

2009-05-26T20:24:00.002-04:00

If it has X in the name, the food must be exciting, right? X-treme pizza! X-treme juice! I've noticed a lot of misspelled X-foods on the market. My 4-year-old is more about the taste than the name, for the moment. Tonight that changed. We had X-ghetti for dinner. He has never mispronounced it before so it really stuck out. Was it the mild sausages I used instead of the regular meatballs? Maybe the garlic bread really matched well with the sauce. Did I really create something worthy of an X-rating?

I thought the X generation was lazy and the Y generation had all the energy and sporty-ness. How did the letter X become exciting? Does it remind people of a 'keep out' sign? Does it remind people of the word exotic? How did this letter become associated with fun food and wacky sports?

Lunchables has changed their packaging to a more sedate look, recently. Gone are the big lettering and wild adjectives. Now, the boxes show pictures of the food with simple descriptions of the food. Are we no longer extreme? The intended audience is still kids but, they removed all the kid-attracting kooky-ness. I say the intended audience is still kids because their website has pictures of kids, not adults, having fun and their current contest is for a summer camp. What changed?

Food and Friends or Food as Friends?

2009-03-06T13:12:00.003-05:00

The owner of Studio 54, Steve Rubell, told the bouncer he wanted a 'tossed salad' of people in the club. What was in the tossed salad of the 70s? The actual real salad. Lettuce, some stray vegetables maybe some real imitation bacon bit?

This is what he wanted in his club? To me, that does not make for a diverse crowd. Heck, I add a lot of weird stuff to my salad when we have "Big Salad Night" and I still wouldn't consider it very diverse.

I don't own a club but, I like diversity within my group of friends. Smorgasbord? Buffet? Oh, maybe a Vegas-style buffet? The buffet at the Rio was huge!

Does the food represent my friends or do the stations of food? I think I lost myself in my own metaphor.

I had many different types of people in my circle of friends. Sometimes, they didn't get along with one another and it would make for awkward parties.

Do your friends fit in one bowl or do you need a few plates?

Low Salt Living - In the Good Old Summertime Fish

2009-02-27T21:21:00.000-05:00

This recipe cam about because Husband and I were trying to fix the shower while I was trying to make dinner. I asked him how he wanted the fish and he said "surprise me". I started to think about what flavors go well with fish and what I had on hand. Lemons go good but I didn't have any lemons. I did have lemonade. Well, pink lemonade. We also call this "pink fish".

It tastes better than it sounds. Really.

Tilapia or other white fish
Powdered Lemonade Mix
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Ground Pepper
Olive Oil

Spread some olive oil on the fish. Enough to make it moist so the other stuff sticks.

Sprinkle the fish with the dry ingredients. (no, I don't have any real measurements) Somewhere around 1-2 teaspoons depending on the size of the fish.

Cook it in the oven until it is done.

For a moister fish, make a thicker than normal mix of the lemonade and pour it around the fish. Wrap in tinfoil.

I've also used chili powder for a bit of heat.

Web Fun - Big Fish Games

2009-02-23T18:31:00.002-05:00

I like to play computer games. I like the distraction and, sometimes, the challenge. My faves are the resource gathering/building games. Husband has found me some great games like King's Bounty, Heroes of Might and Magic and Dungeon Keeper. These games are kinda big and take many game hours to complete.

Husband game me a new-to-me game, Garden Defense, a time management game. I kinda liked it. I went searching for hints and found Big Fish Games. http://www.bigfishgames.com/ They have all different types of games. Most of the games are small and only take a few hours to complete.

Back in the 80s, I played Lemonade Stand on the dumb-terminal-monochrome-(orange)-screen-text-only Pet Computer. I didn't need no stinkin' graphics! For those who aren't ancient, it was a game where you ran a lemonade stand and tried to make back more than your $10 investment. Your mom gave you the money and you had to buy supplies and price your lemonade depending on a vague weather report. The line "you would have made ___ if you charged ___" is forever burned into my brain. I loved it! I babysat for someone who had the program on their Commodore 64. I got so bored one night, I made a chart for the prices and the weather. Early geekdom.

Back to Big Fish. BF lets me try games for an hour to help me decide if they are worth buying. Great idea! I like the time management games but not all of the time management games so this lets me give them a test run. The games are small so an hour is usually enough to get a good feel for the game.

BF does download their portal program to your computer. This allows you to easily download new games, play games and delete old games. The price per game depends on the number of games purchased. I suggest finding at least 6 games to make it worth your money. We did a 6-pack before going on vacation and still had some game play left over when we returned.

Some of my faves:

Fairy Godmother Tycoon
Farm Frenzy
Farm Mania
Garden Defense

Who Knew? Tomato Sauce Revisited

2009-02-23T18:25:00.001-05:00

We had spaghetti the other night and I used the jarred sauce. In the middle of the meal Husband said "Ya know, I like your sauce better".

It looks like I'll be making my own sauce for a while. :-)

Real Moms vs. Good Moms – Jarred Spaghetti Sauce

2009-02-06T12:56:00.006-05:00

Certain shows on TV will have us think that to be a Good Mom, one MUST do things in a certain way. A few of you have already thought of a few shows and instances that fit that description. For non-moms or if you aren’t sure what I mean, read on.

I love cooking shows. The birth of the TV Food (they took off the TV part and added Network) was like a dream for me. More on that in another post. As a mom, I now watch the shows with a new perspective. The chefs on these shows will have the viewer think that the ONLY way to cook is from scratch with all fresh, natural, the best quality and the most expensive ingredients they can find. Rather than adding dried basil, they grab a handful from a beautiful plant growing in their windowsill or from their lush garden. Chicken should always be butchered from whole. Never use anything pre-prepared.

Who has the time or the money? Yes, butchering my meat from larger cuts is less expensive but, have you ever cut up a whole chicken? Yarg! My house doesn’t face the right direction for growing gorgeous herbs, indoors. The jar of dried usually costs the same as a plant and won’t wilt or die. The deer and squirrels eat all of my other plants. I have Mums and the shrubs that came with the house.

One of my favorite cooking shows, America’s Test Kitchen, was testing jarred spaghetti sauces. The host of the show, Christopher Kimball, said he NEVER uses jarred sauces. He acted as if, well, it was a crime against nature. He also acted the same way when the tested jarred salsas. He ALWAYS makes his own sauce explaining that it takes the same amount of time and tastes better. He didn’t give his recipe.

I’ve used jarred sauces all my life. Any time my mother made sauce from the garden tomatoes, it was bitter and kinda nasty (sorry, mom). I made it once and it was bitter and nasty. I have since found some easy recipes and have made decent sauces. They still need work because, I have to do the recipe with very low salt. The secret ingredient is usually salt. I welcome recipes but remember, when I used canned tomato stuff, it is usually ‘no salt added’.

Why does using a jarred sauce make me a bad cook? My kid is sick and he wants yoodles. He wants me to sit with him, not cook. If I can dump 1 thing in a pot, I’m happy. My choices are limited because of our salt restriction so the one I use is slightly healthier than the others.

What is the difference between making my own sauce from canned tomatoes and getting it from a jar? I can make it lower in salt. It costs a bit less. It doesn’t really take less time or effort. One jar vs. 3 cans. Aren’t they all pre-processed?

Oh, one last weird thing. I don’t like to microwave my tomato sauce. To me, it tastes better if I do it on the stove in a pot. I am sure it has something to do with the reactivity of the tomatoes and the pan. Does anyone know this for sure or is it just a weirdism of me?

Pilsbury and You

2008-09-19T09:23:00.002-04:00

I've joined a Pilsbury group. Why not!? I think they send me info, and the occasional coupon and I am suppossed to blog about it. Again, why not?

It looks like for their first outing they are featuring their Pizza crust. I am actually planning a Stromboli for my son's class dinner. How did they know? Spies? Did my box of Pilsbury cake mix report back to home base?

MySpace and the Famous

2006-08-02T21:29:00.000-04:00

I was wandering around and discovered a lot of Famous People pages. Some were clearly marked Fan Page while others claimed (or didn't dispute) that they were a famous person. I know some of them are real but, most of them aren't. Personally, I don't understand why someone would put up a false page. Do they get some sort of profit? Why bother.

Anyway, it got me to thinking about the real pages and famous people. I looked at some of the comments left on their pages. Positive, negative, bits of conversations, icons and a few requests for advice or help. What could I write that would make this famous person want to respond to me? What do I have to say that this person hasn't heard before? What would make my comment stand out from all others. I guess because I don't have the answers to these questions, I haven't ever written a fan letter.

I don't have anything against fan letters or autographs. I have met a few of my fave authors and had them sign their books. (Ed McBain is one of my treasured) Would I like a signed DVD of The Sixth Sense? Yes! Would I like an autographed copy of the autobiography of Van Johnson? Yes! Would I write fan letters to these people? No. "I like you and think you are nifty". What more could I say?

The Moody Blahs

2006-05-02T20:36:00.000-04:00

Ever get into a blah funk?

I seem to be in a funk th is evening and can't find a reason why. I wonder if it has to do with me not getting to the gym in a few days? The last time I had a funk, I had just written a story...

A few weeks ago, I started writing a story. It started out in my head as a what could have been scenario. I had a friend I met in high school. We started hanging out my senior year and continued through most of my college years. The only time we spent together was during summers and school breaks since I went to school out of state. I refer to him as the boyfriend that wasn't. We never did anything to consumate the relationship. I'm talking nothing, like in no kissing, nothing. In every other way, he was a boyfriend. A mutual friend told me he never made a move because I was out of state more than in. I told my husband about this relationship. He said it was kind of sad because it was a relationship of what could have been. He's happy it didn't work out but he understands the weirdness. He's a good husband.

I began to put on paper a scenario about what could have happened if I hadn't found my husband and went back to New York. Okay, there was a lot of fiction involved. I had no reason to move back, no job prospects, parents had moved, friends had moved, I was living with evil Ex-Jeff. I couldn't decide if I wanted to do it as Romantica or just a romance. The sex scenes could be fun to write.

Husband suggested a few scenarios and possible plot points. I mixed what I remembered of Matt (forgot to mention his name) and some of my favorate traits of my husband. Husband has some good romantic hero traits. I had us, I mean the heroine and hero travel to my favorate city, Vegas. I just can't decide if I want to finish it or just leave it as a brain cleaning. I had the thought of what could have been and I got it out. Some writers feel that their writing is cathartic. Maybe that is all I needed. I don't fancy myself a writer. I don't have the discipline. Although, Husband and I have talked about writing a sci-fi/fantasy book for fun.

Should I finish my story? Should I make it into novel length? Should I just chalk this up to a mommy moment?

When you actually want to go to the gym

2006-04-26T20:27:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in a while for no good reason. Well, a sort of a good reason. Well, it's a reason.

I think there is some validity to the "Body in Motion" theory. I haven't been able to go to the gym for over two months. Every time I took the toddler to the babysitting area, he got sick. Now, I don't mean 'achoo, I have a cold' sick. I mean 5th disease, strep, stomach virus sick. It was bad enough that he gets sick from other kids in the playgroup but this was too much. I know it is good for them to get all this stuff out of the way and, in theory, it strenthtens their immune systems. But, 5th disease??? Did you even know there was a disease they were too lazy to name?

The toddler began to hate the gym. I don't know if it was because he was already sick and just didn't want to leave me or if he knew the place was teeming with plague.

Not having that time to myself. Not being able to do something that will help me get back in shape. Not having a few moments a day when I didn't have to, well, look after the toddler. I missed it. You don't need to post a nasty comment, I feel guilty for missing it but, I stopped going, didn't I?

The days dragged on. I realized I was calling people constantly. I was lonely and bored. We stopped going to playgroup and stopped having playdates. I didn't want him to get sick or, when he was sick, didn't want to infect others. This meant I was isolated. The house was a disaster. I was exhausted by the end of the day and didn't have much to show for it.

Today, we went to the gym. The toddler saw the toys and left my side. I was happy. There were a few pittiful 'Mamma' s before I left. I kept peeking in the windows. I did hear him crying but it didn't last long. The babysitters were wonderful. They got him playing with trucks. He wasn't happy but he wasn't unhappy. I peeked a few more times and he stayed in the same place for most of the hour. Everytime someone opened a door (there are quite a few in this small gym) I thought they were coming for me. "Your child is hysterical, come get him"! I did some weights, I did the treadmill and I took a shower. I even got to shave and sit in the sauna!

I have hope again.

Why Blog?

2006-04-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

I have been trying to figure out why I am blogging. To keep an online diary? To air out my thoughts?

I was going to post some events that happened last week but I was worried that the people mentioned might read it. I was told, never write anything down that you don't want someone else to read. While I felt the need to vent, I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

Is that true to the blog spirit?

Well, the toddler is finally sleeping and I am going to catch up on some serious husband time.

Back Again

2006-04-07T00:19:00.000-04:00

Well, the toddler has recovered...again, from the latest bout of plague. Ear infection and 5ths disease. Yes, they ran out of names after the first 4.

DH and I have a countdown until my parents arrive for spring break. (My mother is a teacher) It sounds goofy but we haven't been a couple since their last visit. We spend so much time on and with the toddler there isn't much left for us. Okay, it's not like we're strangers in the same house. We just haven't done anything alone in a long time. We can't even decide what to do while we're out. A whole day to ourselves and the only thing we can come up with is going out to dinner. What do you do when you haven't done anything in years? Okay, it's only 21 months but that is still a long time!

What do other people do? I know we can't be the first parents to face this.

More Toddler Tales

2006-03-17T21:03:00.000-05:00

He's a smart little thing. Well, smarter than I think he is. I am always amazed at his intuitive leaps and his comprehension. Yeah, I'm a proud mama!

Husband took a half day off so I could have a half day off. I went shopping and got a massage. My fave thrift store was having a sale so I went a bit nuts. I bought some crappy jeans and I plan to decorate them with a bleach pen. Well, I will probably have to wait until my mother gets here. Bleach and toddler do not mix. I also got books and a bag of toys for the baby. I have a day off and I shop for him. I also missed him a little.

The day off was great. Husband it a wonderful husband for giving me these days. I'd go nuts without them. Just going to the grocery store with the toddler takes twice as long and I get half as much done. The half days allow me to shop at my own pace.

Goofy Blog Stuff

2006-03-10T22:18:00.000-05:00

Okay, I took a few of those "What kind of ___ are you?" tests. I'm posting the ones I liked the best. I made my husband take a few. He did really well on teh 8th Grade Science test. Yup, I've got me one of them 'nerds'. :-)

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

Very popular, one of you is not enough.

What Kind of Candy Are You?

The Movie Of Your Life Is A Cult Classic

Quirky, offbeat, and even a little campy - your life appeals to a select few.
But if someone's obsessed with you, look out! Your fans are downright freaky.

Your best movie matches: Office Space, Showgirls, The Big Lebowski

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

You Are Likely a First Born

At your darkest moments, you feel guilty.
At work and school, you do best when you're researching.
When you love someone, you tend to agree with them often.

In friendship, you are considerate and compromising.
Your ideal careers are: business, research, counseling, promotion, and speaking.
You will leave your mark on the world with discoveries, new information, and teaching people to dream.

The Birth Order Predictor

Cheese Pizza

Traditional and comforting.
You focus on living a quality life.
You're not easily impressed with novelty.
Yet, you easily impress others.

What's Your Pizza Personality?

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you.
But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft.
You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily.
You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

More from Plague Central

2006-03-10T14:33:00.000-05:00

Both husband and baby have recovered. Well, both are still a bit crabby but, nothing coming out of their bodies that shouldn't be naturally coming out. I went through 4 t-shirts and 3 sets of sheets. It is amazing how bad the house gets when the baby is sick. Then again, it is fairly disasterous when he is healthy.

Back again

2006-03-07T19:22:00.000-05:00

Well, since my first post was such a success, (I think one person looked at it) I decided to continue. The toddler has a bit of a runny nose. That translates to a lot of snot on me and a cling-y kid. It's amazing how many things there are to worry about when you are a mother. "What if this is something big?" "Is it just a cold or something else?" "Did he get it from that kid in playgroup who *always* has a runny nose?"

First Blog

2006-03-04T14:11:00.000-05:00

I guess this is my first blog here. I signed up so I could leave comments for a fave author of mine.

Hmmm, I wonder what I could do with my blog?

Could I change the world? Post exciting facts? Change the life of one person?

Probably not. I'll have to think about it for a while.