Click here and your screen will be cleaned automatically!!
You'll be glad you did!
I have a lot of stuff to go through before next week's Children's Clothing Sale. (Last year I even found somethings that I swear might have fit me! Well maybe before I got my postpartum hips.) They don't just take clothes, but also toys, books, strollers, etc. So I'm excited about getting rid of some stuff. We have already passed on a ton of stuff to our Hansen pals. I think Izzy might have to grow into the stuff. I kept the 2 preemie outfits that The Younger wore. The Elder was naked in the bili-lights so much after birth that I don't think he ever wore preemies. He was closer to normal size anyway so he may not have ever worn them. Boy did I digress.
I think I'm losing my voice. The Hub says, "yeah, you're starting to sound froggy." I personally refer to it as my sexy voice. Sexy is much better than Froggy wouldn't you say?
Anyhoo, I have a retreat to go to this weekend so I will probably completely lose my voice by Sunday.
Well, Happy Leap Year everyone!
Spring Cleaning
Attempt to be a poet
What is a Haiku?
Does it have to have purpose?
So much for trying...
inspired by Niksmom
All it takes is a shot of...
Like I said in a previous post, if I had know that January was going to be so crazy I would have taken some vitamins. Well, I should be taking vitamins anyway just because.
Well other than picking the BEST WEEK to be away from my family (See The Hub's post), I knew that my trip to Houston was going to be packed and I needed all the energy I could spare. So we took a trip to Sam's Club to get me some Centrum (the kind you only have to take one pill a day - nice). While we were there I cam across Glacial Milk Compete Nutrition. One ounce contains a butt-load of nutrients. One bottle's suggested retail is 40 bucks but at Sam's it was only like 20. Anyhoo, I took a swig of that before I left for the airport and then took the centrum around lunch time and let me tell you. I lasted from 3:45am until 11:30pm with literally no resting - oh wait, I did catnap on the plane for about 10-15 minutes. When I got back to the hotel at the end of the day, I had to shower because of the humidity and the walking around, and laid in bed and STILL had to play a Sudoku game to fall asleep. It had to be almost 1am (EST) by the time I fell asleep. I was way impressed. The next 2 days were just as jammed packed but I didn't have The Shot of Glacial Milk and I did have to hunt down a Starbucks both of those days.
Since being back, I've been so tired but started back on The Shot of GM and have been so impressed with my ability to function. Thursday I was on The Younger Duty at 6:30am but The Gma picked him up around 10. So my plan was to take a nap to catch up from the trip but I got on the computer and started being productive. Wassupwiddat? Then I had a great time with the kids in the afternoon and got ready for my Dream Dinner with my consultants for that night, coming home around 9pm. Then yesterday I was supposed to bring a Non-Sweet snack to my bible study so I couldn't back out of it. Plus I like being able to bring the kids to the nursery they provide at the church to give The AP a break. I got home in time to eat and welcome The Teacher to the house for our monthly meeting. Which again was awesome. (I'll post another on that and I haven't forgotton about the Routine Post I've promised everyone). Then I was late for an appointment with Gwen (Check out her stuff - it was the first time I got to see everything in person and LOVED it all. Gwen, I'll trade you one of your fab scarves for a mascara anyday!). Then it was date night. Originally I just wanted to rent a movie and stay home because I thought that I would be just totally beaten down. Then I called The Hub on the way to Gwen's to see if he wanted to eat out. Then at the restaurant I asked if he wanted to go to the dollar theatre. Unfortunately it was past time to catch anything earlier than 10pm. So we stuck to the original rent-a-movie idea. On the way home, The Hub said he was going to stop at Big Lots and I was like, I want to go to Big Lots too. So I met him there and we stayed there until it closed! By the time we got home (The Hub stopped to get the movie and I went straight home) I came inside and started being being productive again. Crazy I know. When I went to go find The Hub to watch the movie....he had fallen asleep! It was only 10:30, but he had had a pretty rough week (See his post again) and I suppose he needed his rest....
Saturday morning, I slept in but honestly, I wish I had gotten up sooner because I had a lot of stuff I wanted to do today. Anyhoo, I better close this because I'm expecting a customer at 2pm. RUN to your local Sam's Club and grab yourself some of this stuff!
Treo Post
Trying this out to see if I can post from my Treo without using the Mobile Blogger (a pain). I've had my Treo for about a year now and it took me a week to decide to get it. Even among the wave of blackberries and iPhones I must say I have grown fond of my gadget. I have even learned to wrap my right brain around it to make it more visual, thus more and more functional.
Any other Treonauts out there?
Oops...moving forward...
One of the things I wanted to do this year was publish a post every single day. Well, I missed January 1st....so much for that goal! Ha! That was a result of a gluten hangover from New Year's Eve. We spent time at The Couple Friends' house and totally indulged in breading and pie crusts.
BUT I'm all about Being Great in 2008 and that means, accepting that I'm not perfect, accepting that some things can be perfected and others can be delegated, learning to think like ME and not how others expect me to think, asking for advice and opinions without obligating myself to take or adopt them, and moving forward after a fall!
So on to the next goal, I'm doing something EVERY DAY toward writing my book. Not just thinking or talking about it, but something concrete like research or writing. So far so good. I like that because then I won't get hyper-focused one day and then burn out the next.
I'm also in the process of embracing my right-brain and learning to organize everything tailored to my needs. According to The Book, that means I am allowed to pile and not file! Yahoo! I'm so excited. The most immediate project is my closet. Sounds mundane and non-productive, but it is the source of the most clutter in my bedroom which totally shuts me down because I have to walk through my closet to go to the bathroom AND when I lay down on my bed I can see right into the closet. Not what I need to wake up to! So I sat in my closet and observed and tried to figure out what was my biggest struggle with keeping the closet tidy....1) shoes (though part of that is because the Kiddos like to wear my shoes around the house..???) and 2) not hanging up clothes from the laundry, and 3) lack of proper handling of those items that are in laundry purgatory - been worn, but not ready for the washer yet. Specifically jeans and PJs and lounging clothes that I wear in the middle of the day between my daytime biz suit and my nighttime biz suit.
The solution you might be wondering? I'm adopting a "Drape" philosophy!! I've been researching Trouser Racks and Hooks. I think it will work. Does anyone else have this problem special need? What are some of the things that you've tried? Did it work?
I'm also in the process of changing management systems for my businesses and I'm going to break it down into segments so I don't get overwhelmed. Imagine that! Project management - what a concept! The difference is that it is not linear. I'm using the "mind-mapping" strategy. I did this over the weekend and was totally amazed at how much I got accomplished.
Well, off to get something to eat!
Find Out How To...
For my friends and family who aren't blog savvy...yet...
First of all, thanks for making the effort to visit us and keep up with us! It truly means a lot to us, especially if you are not a techie or if you are too busy to sit in front of a computer and read about us all day. =o)
Post a Comment
Why? Want to add your input, opinion, suggestion, kudos, or just say hi? You can Post a Comment to any post. I really encourage that you do this on the blog (as opposed to sending me an email) because I truly value your input, whether I agree with it or not (I might agree with it later when I've learned my lesson!) and I appreciate having the ability to go back and have you a part of my journal. Emails get lost and sometimes don't get read either (sorry)! Comments get treated like gold!Creating a Backlink
How? Click on the link at the bottom of the post that says "# - Find Out Who Comments on This Post" or "Post a Comment" and scroll all the way down the popup window or clicking on the link "Jump to comment form" at the top of the window. Leave your comment, word verification, and then Publish.
(ok you might have to be a techie to use this one)
Why? If you are a blogger and want to reference a post of mine so that my readers will be able to link back to your site, then you'll want to create a backlink. The link to your site will be shown at the end of the post under "Find Out Who Links to This Post." Keep in mind that using http://whatjenfinds.blogspot.com as a backlink will not create a link back to your website and will not link your readers to a particular post on my site (only to my front page of the most recent posts).Subscribe to this Blog
How? There are several ways to create a backlink.
- If you are not on the individual post page, click on the title of the post to get to the Post Page (for example, click on "Find Out How To..." above to get to this post's individual page). Click on the link at the bottom of the post that says "Create a Link" and a popup window will appear with the link in a new post.
- If you already have a post written and just need the url, then copy the url of the individual Post Page and paste into your blog.
- Or you can right-click on the Post's Title and select "Copy Link Location" then paste into your blog.
Why? When you subscribe to someone's webpage, you will automatically be notified each time it is updated. You can use a Feed Reader of your choice to manage your subscriptions (I personally use Google Reader). If that really makes your brain hurt to think about, just post a comment, or email me at pinkpowerhouse at gmail dot com, and I'll add you to my distribution list to receive updates. If THAT makes your brain hurt, then just come visit and read when you can!Subscribe to ALL Comments
How? Once you have a Feed Reader, simply click here, choose your reader application in the drop down menu, and then click "Subscribe Now."
Why? I typically respond to comments by posting a comment myself. Therefore if you pose a question(s), I will answer you in a comment within the same post. Blogger allows you to subscribe to comments for an individual post that you comment on by checking the box that says "Email follow-up comments to youremail@email.com." The reason why I personally stopped doing that was because I was getting WAY too many emails in my inbox. I figured out a way to subscribe to Blogger Comment Feeds the same way you subscribe to posts, and it is much easier to manage in Google Reader than in my inbox!
How? Once you have a Feed Reader, simply click here to subscribe to comments, choose your reader application in the drop down menu, and then click "Subscribe Now."
Find Out Who's Who
The Cast
| The Hub | My Spouse (dx with AS in Oct 2007) |
| The Elder | My Elder son (dx with AS in June 2007) |
| The Younger | My Younger son (no AS dx, but so obviously OCD, SPD, and ADHD it's not even funny) |
| The Teacher | The Elder's Goddess of a Teacher of his Special Ed PreK-4 class |
| The Super Doc | The Hub's (now mine) psychologist who dx him with AS |
| The Skipper Dog | Our Jack Russell Terrier (7yo) named Skip. |
| The AP | Our Au Pair from Brazil |
| The Lola and The Lolo | My parents (Grandmother and Grandfather in Tagalog) |
| The Gma | The Hub's mommy |
| The PaPa | The Hub's dad |
| The GF-in-Law | The PaPa's girlfriend |
| The Brother | My Big Brother from Carolina |
| The Sis-in-Law | My Brother's Wife |
| The 6yo formerly known as the One With The No Tooth | My Brother's Younger son |
| The 9yo With The Bendy Glasses | My Brother's Elder son |
| The Niece | My Brother's daughter |
| The Sister | My Big Sister from California |
| The RB Book | The organizing book made for the Creative Person (RB=Right Brain) |
Will add to this as new characters enter my blog!
Let me know if I forgot someone here....
Day -1
Well, we didn't get the car packed last night, but I was impressed with what we got accomplished before midnight. I've been at a Christmas Breakfast all morning and have my list ready to get the rest done today and packed before we go to our last Christmas Party tonight. I'm bringing my computer on our trip tomorrow, so I'll have means for checking blogs and commenting but may or may not pull it out the bag. So in case it is the latter, I hope everyone has a great holiday unless I'm going to be seeing you, which then of course you'd be having a great holiday right? Ha!
I know that me and The Hub have crossover readers so I won't repeat this potty story but had to link to it. The Hub has the funnier perspective on it anyway.
Here's a fun toy to play with. Merry Christmas!
Added this at The Elder's request:
 |
Not quite dead yet...see you Thursday...
Ten Points to the first person who names the source of the title (The Hub cannot play!!).
This week has been tougher on me than I thought it would be - physically that is. Tuesday started the ball really rolling because it was a loooooooooooooooooong day. My first meeting was at 7:30am. The last was in Chattanooga. I actually skipped the meeting, The Hub went solo and I had dinner with a friend. Ha! But we didn't get back home until close to midnight.
This morning I got up and got The Elder ready for school at the normal 6am (except it was about 6:40 when I got around to it). When the AP took over The Younger at 8am, I went back to bed until 10:30am. I chose to NOT feel guilty about it because I knew I had a 9-top show tonight AND tomorrow is the Four-fer, which just recently turned into a Five-fer commitment day (I'm delivering an order between the psych and school appointments because her work office is on the way - so not too terribly time consuming). Fortunately, The Grandma came by to see the kids (though we made cookies so it wasn't that relaxing - pretty stressful as a matter of fact being the first batch of gfcf cookies I've ever made, but the quality time was great) and I've got her lined up to Hub-sit after his surgery tomorrow while I'm at my meeting. I told her that he would probably be just fine, but that I would feel less guilty if she came and sat with him.
I left at 5 something tonight to drive to the eastside of town for the party and came home and asked The Hub to make me a vitamin shake because I was going to need the boost to get through tomorrow!
I would post cookies photos (which are so funny) but I'm too tired. I hope I don't forget to blog about it this weekend because it was great. Someone remind me. But not tomorrow...
Good-night...
I think this might count
I have fallen in love with an RSS Reader. I was getting a little frustrated with Google Reader because it had a delay time that varied from day to day. I would get blog notifications sometimes even a day later! Grrrr.
Anyhoo, after a quick Google Search for "rss reader" (after all, Google can't be everything to everybody) I happened to come across this.
I have spent the last hour or so designing my "Klipfolio" and I have to say it is pretty darn cool (a strange sort of nerdy Me Time, but I think the Super Doc would be proud!). The Hub was in the other room and heard my computer ding. I hollar back "You just posted." "How'd you get that that fast?" He is also not so happy with Google Reader. Klipfolio actually checks my Gmail faster than Gmail does.
So now I can keep up with all my cyber friends in a timely fashion. Ain't technology great?
But wait...there's more...
You can also download other klips like weather, news, world clock, bookmarks, stocks watcher, and other "gadget" types. No limit (other than screen space I suppose....and I guess there is a finite number of klips to download but you get the gist).
But wait...there's more...
It is completely customizable to your preference of a sidebar, toolbar at the top or bottom, a floating dashboard. Auto-hide, Always on Top. It is pretty darn cool. Check out this video tour. I think you'll be way impressed.
But wait...there's more...
It's FREE!
If you are new to the RSS technology, hop aboard, because it truly is a time saver! And a butt saver too when you haven't called your brother in forever, BUT you know all about his life because you can keep up with his blog the minute he posts something! =o)
Busy Prepositions
It has been a busy day. I left the house at 7am and I'm just now sitting down at my computer at 3pm sans panty hose and pumps. Tomorrow will be busy too. I have a 9am, a 2pm, and then the whole family (The AP included) are going to the Fantasy of Trees in the evening.
I like being busy. It is stressful at times but I always know what I need to be doing and when. When I have nothing scheduled, my mind goes blank to the things I could be doing. By the time I think about what I should be doing, it's midnight, or time for a scheduled event. Then I feel lazy or like a slacker. I guess that is the stressful part. Having a long list of things to do, places to go, people to call - and then blanking on them. It didn't used to be like this. Maybe I'm getting old mature.
Anyhoo, I guess this post came about as I was thinking about my prescribed "me" time that the Super Doc insists that I do. These are the times when I feel lazy or like a slacker. I'm smart enough to know that I need this time and that I deserve this time, but for some reason it doesn't sit well with me. "Me" time ends up being things like: Take a Shower; Read the last Autism Book I haven't Finished Reading; Google for Insight; Multi-tasking Painting my Fingernails with Checking Voicemail (I get like 20 a day it seems like); and of course Eating.
"Doesn't Count," says the Super Doc.
But honestly, I don't know what to do. Maybe someone can make a suggestion of something fun and entertaining or relaxing that I can do for just me (without family) that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and doesn't have the words autism/aspergers or sales/marketing associated with it. Does something like that even exist?
Yeah. It's called sleep.
I need to get out more
I went to Florida this past weekend for a retreat and I was able to spend a wonderful weekend with my best friend from my high school whom I haven't seen for 2 years! She brought me 4 (repeat, FOUR) photo albums to catch up on her happenings. Me? I wrote my blog url on a piece of paper and handed it to her.
She has 3 kids so she can totally understand the need for adult interaction. But I was starting to feel really delinquent in this area after this weekend. Here are some of our conversations:
Her: "Do you watch that lady who has a cooking show at noon?"
Me: "Um....does she come on Playhouse Disney or Nick Jr.?"
Her: "Do you know that song Shackles?"
Me: "Does it go like this: dd "WHOOOOOO.....lives in a pineapple under the sea?" pp"
Her: "That lady reminds me of an actress but I can't think of her name. Do you know who I'm talking about?"
Me: "Is she yellow....and square?"
Hmmmmm....
Speaking of Quotes...
First story has nothing to do about nothing but it was cute.
When I went to pick the Elder up from school, I came home a different way and had Hub on the phone coaching me on the route. Well, I missed a turn and so I used the turn by turn navigation service on OnStar for the first time (fun!). Of course WITH the OnStar I still took a wrong turn and the lady said "You are off route" or something like that. Eric was so tickled by the man in my car telling me where to turn and the car beeping everytime I needed to turn. We pull in the garage and I say "Safe and sound, thanks to OnStar" and Eric says, "Thank you!" =o)
"I gotta tell Cris."
"Tell Cris what?"
"That we turn here...then turn the wrong way....then turned and turned and the man got us home."
When we got into the car later this afternoon, he says "I wanna hear the voices and the beeps."
"We only need them when we are lost and we know where the park is."
Now my friend Gwen and I decided to start blogging on quotes that will keep us motivated and inspired called Success Sunday. However Eric is a little quoter all on his own and can be quite motivating himself.
At the park, I am swinging him in the swing and he is quoting numbers and math problems from his NASCAR L-max game, Leap Frog bus, and Leap Frog Math Circus video - all rolled into one coversation. So imagine him in a "video game announcer/game show host" voice.
"What's 15 plus 19?"
"30" (I was testing him to see if he knew the right answer...he didn't)
"That's right! Good job. Nineteen.....What number comes next? Press this button if you need help."
"Which button?"
"Choose the correct symbol. Choose the correct symbol. Choose the correct symbol. Choose the correct symbol. Choose the correct symbol.......Press this button if you need help."
"I don't know."
"You can do it. Try again."
"Eric, What number is bigger, 2 or 5?"
"Five. Two.....plus two......e-pulls what?"
"4"
"Good job! You had the right answer! What's One hundred.....minus.....one hundred fifteen?"
I wasn't about to get into a "negative" numbers lesson, so we went home.
Nothing about Nothing II
Growing up I was told I look like Phoebe Cates - especially in the movie Drop Dead Fred. But that was before kids when I had a thinner face. This was a fun activity suggested by casdok, and I must say... pretty remarkable morph. It also said I looked like some people that I don't who they are and I didn't like what they looked like. I think one was a man???? Anyhoo, it also said that I look like Susanna Hoffs (Walk like an Egyptian!), Jacqueline Bracomontes, and Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman!!) at 60% matching.
I tried it with a different picture and got these results in the collage
Try it, you'll like it....
Nothing about Nothing I
I was on my way home from an appointment today when I decided that I would finally try OnStar. I have had the car for a week and a half and today was the first time I pushed the button. Well, my friend and I were talking about accents (not as in home, but as in speaking) today and how to sound professional by suppressing the twang us southerners are known fer (imagine in Mater's voice). Here is how I told her the story...
...But I have the funniest story to tell you about accents since we talked about it. I decided to try the OnStar and that was pretty cool. It unlocked my doors while I was sitting at a red light. It immediately said, "Welcome, Saturn Aura, on Piney Grove Church rd." It was pretty freaky. So I decided to try the phone in the car because the ONStar Welcome said that I have a free trial for 2 months. Well it would not recognize my voice as I tried to dial. I tried over enunciating, doing the opera-golfball in my mouth, saying it fast, saying it slow, all sorts of voices. I got the best results by over exaggerating a southern accent! I was cracking up! I didn't get through until I was already on Lovell Rd and Terry didn't answer his cell phone. By the time I got the home phone number pronounced right, I was sitting in my garage! I should blog on this. Maybe I'll cut and paste. Well my trial is over well before the 2 months...I might try again later for a giggle.
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