I just wanted to spread the word that there are a couple places where I've been downloading free and legal music. For starters, amazon has tons and tons of free music (3,210 songs when I last checked) ranging from Heart to Hermans Hermits, and from Sarah McLachlan to Nina Simone. If you take a few minutes to look, you just might find some worthwhile tunes. I might be one of the odd people who finds Hermans Hermits to be worthwhile.
Also, MTV has a dozen or so new songs available for free. I've only downloaded a couple of them so far, but I liked the Keri Hilson song.
Enjoy!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Make a Stepping Stone for Grandparents Day
If you're looking for a crafty gift idea for Grandparents Day, which is quickly approaching on September 7, you might consider making grandma and grandpa a lovely stepping stone or garden stone.
Daphne and I made a stepping stone for Leo for Father's Day, and he was really surprised and happy with it. And I was surprised that it really wasn't all that hard to do. I found this mosaic stepping stone kit at Michael's. There are tons of other kits to choose from, too.
Now, the true DIY, crafty people out there will probably scoff, but I thought it made sense to buy a kit because I was brand new to this craft and I can reuse the plastic mold a few more times. My particular kit also ended up including way more glass mosaic pieces than I was able to use with one stone. In the future, I will look for damaged, odd, and assorted glass and ceramic items at garage sales or on Freecycle that can be used for making stepping stones. What a great way to reuse and recycle!
Here are a few photos just to give you an idea of the "steps" involved with creating a stepping stone.
1. Before I mixed the cement, I arranged all of my glass pieces in the box that the kit was packaged in.
2. I mixed the cement in one of our old buckets according to the package instructions using the stirrer provided in the kit. The result was supposed to look like brownie batter. I thought that mine did, but in retrospect it was probably a little too wet. I would use a bit less water next time.
3. I poured the globby concoction into the plastic mold, smoothed it out, and pressed my glass pieces into the cement, making sure that all edges were under the cement.
4. I pressed Daphne's feet into the cement after it sat for about an hour. Luckily, I had plenty of baby wipes on hand for this step! For some reason, I was able to get a great footprint of her left foot on the very first try, but her right foot did not want to cooperate (funny, that is the same darn foot that was trapped in our bathroom vanity). I tried about six different times, each time smoothing over the botched print to get a fresh, flat surface to work with. After the sixth time, the novelty of the whole thing really wore off for Daphne (at first, she thought it was funny to stick her foot in the sandy substance) and I said to heck with it, at least the left footprint was decent.
At this point, I also used plastic stamps that came with the kit to stamp Daphne's name on the stepping stone. At first I just stamped her first name, and I tried to make a little floral, wavy design between her name and the footprints. But it was really looking cruddy, so I smoothed over my failed design and just stamped in Daphne's middle name instead. By that time, the cement was getting firmer, and the stamps wouldn't press as far into the mixture as they had with her first name. I don't think it turned out too bad, but it is something to keep in mind for next time.
5. After covering the stone for a few days and letting it completely dry and harden, it was ready to be taken out of the plastic mold and admired!
I also polished the stones with a wet rag and toothbrush in order to get any excess gunk off and really make them shine.
You can see that the areas I smoothed over turned out to be different shades; for instance, there is a dark stripe through "Rose" because I smoothed over it to eliminate my crappy floral design. Next time I will be more careful with smoothing over the cement. Or better yet, I will really try to get it right the first time.
All in all, I was pleased with how it turned out!
Daphne and I made a stepping stone for Leo for Father's Day, and he was really surprised and happy with it. And I was surprised that it really wasn't all that hard to do. I found this mosaic stepping stone kit at Michael's. There are tons of other kits to choose from, too.
Here are a few photos just to give you an idea of the "steps" involved with creating a stepping stone.
1. Before I mixed the cement, I arranged all of my glass pieces in the box that the kit was packaged in.
2. I mixed the cement in one of our old buckets according to the package instructions using the stirrer provided in the kit. The result was supposed to look like brownie batter. I thought that mine did, but in retrospect it was probably a little too wet. I would use a bit less water next time.
3. I poured the globby concoction into the plastic mold, smoothed it out, and pressed my glass pieces into the cement, making sure that all edges were under the cement.
4. I pressed Daphne's feet into the cement after it sat for about an hour. Luckily, I had plenty of baby wipes on hand for this step! For some reason, I was able to get a great footprint of her left foot on the very first try, but her right foot did not want to cooperate (funny, that is the same darn foot that was trapped in our bathroom vanity). I tried about six different times, each time smoothing over the botched print to get a fresh, flat surface to work with. After the sixth time, the novelty of the whole thing really wore off for Daphne (at first, she thought it was funny to stick her foot in the sandy substance) and I said to heck with it, at least the left footprint was decent.
At this point, I also used plastic stamps that came with the kit to stamp Daphne's name on the stepping stone. At first I just stamped her first name, and I tried to make a little floral, wavy design between her name and the footprints. But it was really looking cruddy, so I smoothed over my failed design and just stamped in Daphne's middle name instead. By that time, the cement was getting firmer, and the stamps wouldn't press as far into the mixture as they had with her first name. I don't think it turned out too bad, but it is something to keep in mind for next time.
5. After covering the stone for a few days and letting it completely dry and harden, it was ready to be taken out of the plastic mold and admired!
I also polished the stones with a wet rag and toothbrush in order to get any excess gunk off and really make them shine.
You can see that the areas I smoothed over turned out to be different shades; for instance, there is a dark stripe through "Rose" because I smoothed over it to eliminate my crappy floral design. Next time I will be more careful with smoothing over the cement. Or better yet, I will really try to get it right the first time.
All in all, I was pleased with how it turned out!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
I Can't Believe It's Not Buttery Baby Spread
What a morning we had yesterday! I was in the bathroom drying my hair, and Daphne was playing with her foamy blocks on the bathroom floor. When I looked down at her as I put my dryer away, I saw that she was starting to get upset and trying to (unsuccessfully) crawl away from the sink area. "Aw," I thought, "she thinks she's stuck under the bathroom cabinet." I figured her foot was at a weird angle under the overhang where the cabinet connects with its base. I crouched down and asked, "Are you stuck?" But as I looked, I realized she really was stuck. My heart began to pound faster.
There is a gap between the base of our bathroom vanity and the main cabinet piece. Daphne somehow managed to get her foot over and into the base part, so that it rested underneath the floor of the cabinet part. In total, the vanity seemed to have her pinned in three spots -- at the top of her foot, near the ankle, and across her calf. I tugged as gently as I could at whatever tiny leg and foot parts I could grasp. Then I yanked a wee bit harder. But she was really starting to get upset, and I was afraid I was going to hurt her. I ran to the kitchen and got a tub of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter from the fridge. I slathered every bit of leg and foot that I could reach with the buttery spread and tried pulling again, but she and I just weren't able to budge that foot.
I called Leo at work, but his line was busy. I thought for a split second about racing to a neighbor's house, but then I realized that 1) it wasn't a good idea to run out of the house with Daphne in this predicament and 2) most of the folks around me who are home mid-morning on a Wednesday are older, and what would they be able to do anyway? So I did the only other thing I could think of. I called 911.
"I know this is going to sound crazy, but my 10-month-old has her foot stuck in the bathroom sink cabinet," I exclaimed. I really tried to sound calm when speaking with the dispatcher, but I seriously was getting kind of freaked out. I wasn't sure just how tightly Daphne's precious little footsie was being squeezed by the wood surrounding it, or whether she cut herself as she explored our bathroom's hidden treasures with her toes.
It seemed like an hour had passed as I envisioned the jaws of life being used to extract Daphne from my bathroom vanity, but it was probably five minutes later when an ambulance pulled into the driveway. Two fire and rescue workers came into the bathroom and assessed the situation, which they later admitted they have never seen before. They talked about rolling or tilting Daphne in an effort to turn her foot, but she was getting more upset and didn't seem to want her body turned by these men. A fire truck then pulled up by the house, and two more fire and rescue workers jumped out and quickly made their way to my small bathroom. One of them had a crowbar, and after devising a quick plan with two of the others, he pried the cabinet off its base just enough to create more of a gap for the release of Daphne's foot.
Hooray!! Now I know how Baby Jessica's mom felt. Okay, now I'm being overly dramatic. But it truly was a wonderful moment of relief and joy.
Daphne received an official check by one of the friendly workers and was declared to be no worse for the wear. She had a small scrape on her ankle and a larger red mark across her calf, but the mark is already gone today and the scrape doesn't look bad at all. As I signed the official emergency documents, Daphne held on to me tightly but already seemed to be in better spirits. By the time they drove off, she was quite calm, and minutes later she was crawling around the living room floor, no doubt looking for more secret passages.
As I replay the events in my mind, I wonder the following:
1) How is it possible that we could have all the doors and drawers of the bathroom vanity baby-proofed, and not realize that there is a Daphne-foot-sized gap at the bottom?
AND
2) Why didn't I run for baby oil instead of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter?
There is a gap between the base of our bathroom vanity and the main cabinet piece. Daphne somehow managed to get her foot over and into the base part, so that it rested underneath the floor of the cabinet part. In total, the vanity seemed to have her pinned in three spots -- at the top of her foot, near the ankle, and across her calf. I tugged as gently as I could at whatever tiny leg and foot parts I could grasp. Then I yanked a wee bit harder. But she was really starting to get upset, and I was afraid I was going to hurt her. I ran to the kitchen and got a tub of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter from the fridge. I slathered every bit of leg and foot that I could reach with the buttery spread and tried pulling again, but she and I just weren't able to budge that foot.
I called Leo at work, but his line was busy. I thought for a split second about racing to a neighbor's house, but then I realized that 1) it wasn't a good idea to run out of the house with Daphne in this predicament and 2) most of the folks around me who are home mid-morning on a Wednesday are older, and what would they be able to do anyway? So I did the only other thing I could think of. I called 911.
"I know this is going to sound crazy, but my 10-month-old has her foot stuck in the bathroom sink cabinet," I exclaimed. I really tried to sound calm when speaking with the dispatcher, but I seriously was getting kind of freaked out. I wasn't sure just how tightly Daphne's precious little footsie was being squeezed by the wood surrounding it, or whether she cut herself as she explored our bathroom's hidden treasures with her toes.
It seemed like an hour had passed as I envisioned the jaws of life being used to extract Daphne from my bathroom vanity, but it was probably five minutes later when an ambulance pulled into the driveway. Two fire and rescue workers came into the bathroom and assessed the situation, which they later admitted they have never seen before. They talked about rolling or tilting Daphne in an effort to turn her foot, but she was getting more upset and didn't seem to want her body turned by these men. A fire truck then pulled up by the house, and two more fire and rescue workers jumped out and quickly made their way to my small bathroom. One of them had a crowbar, and after devising a quick plan with two of the others, he pried the cabinet off its base just enough to create more of a gap for the release of Daphne's foot.
Hooray!! Now I know how Baby Jessica's mom felt. Okay, now I'm being overly dramatic. But it truly was a wonderful moment of relief and joy.
Daphne received an official check by one of the friendly workers and was declared to be no worse for the wear. She had a small scrape on her ankle and a larger red mark across her calf, but the mark is already gone today and the scrape doesn't look bad at all. As I signed the official emergency documents, Daphne held on to me tightly but already seemed to be in better spirits. By the time they drove off, she was quite calm, and minutes later she was crawling around the living room floor, no doubt looking for more secret passages.
As I replay the events in my mind, I wonder the following:
1) How is it possible that we could have all the doors and drawers of the bathroom vanity baby-proofed, and not realize that there is a Daphne-foot-sized gap at the bottom?
AND
2) Why didn't I run for baby oil instead of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter?
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Archer Farms Coffee Pods - Get Them Now
While I was thinking of it, I wanted to mention that I was in Target today and found that Archer Farms's coffee pods are on clearance. I have owned a Senseo coffee pod machine for about six months now and love it, but I have long stopped buying Senseo's coffee pods. The Archer Farms pods have always been less expensive, plus each pod makes an 8 oz., rather than a 4 oz., cup of joe. The clearance price makes them an even bigger bargain, but I am wondering if they are actually being discontinued or (hopefully) just repackaged. I love both the Breakfast Blend and the organic Archer Farms varieties of pods. Stock up now!
Any suggestions for other pods to try in the event that my Archer Farms pods are discontinued?
Any suggestions for other pods to try in the event that my Archer Farms pods are discontinued?
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Hooray for a Home-Cooked Meal
My home ebbs and flows from complete disorder to tidiness and harmony. My linens do not come out of the laundry crisp. And my bed does not get made every day (though I am working on this habit). As Leo pointed out to me last night, however, I am pretty good at meal planning and preparation, or "throwing a meal together" in his words. It occurred to me tonight that this is something not all people are either good at or good about doing on a regular basis.
While Leo has done the bulk of the actual cooking lately via our new grill, I do prepare most of the meal ingredients by peeling, slicing, dicing, marinating, seasoning, etc. And perhaps most importantly, I shop for the ingredients.
I am becoming more and more fascinated with nutrition and our ever-expanding food choices, and I like to think that I purchase healthy foods for the most part. I have not bought packaged meals such as Hamburger Helper since we were first married. I check ingredients on products religiously, and if there is an artificial anything or an eight-syllable word, I put the item back 99.9% of the time.
Now that it's summertime, I am a devotee of my local farm stand. I was thrilled to find one just a couple miles down the road from us, and even more ecstatic when I saw the quality of their produce. The stuff is beautiful. And tasty.
I also have a share in a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. I will explain this more in a future post, as I think it is an interesting idea that has had its ups and downs for me. For now, suffice it to say that I can count on getting nutritious produce from my CSA, and I have had fun trying varieties of fruits and vegetables that were previously unknown to me.
Tonight I'm giving myself a pat on the back, because nine dinners out of ten lately, we've had a balanced, home-cooked meal. I consider this no small feat with our hectic schedules and a baby in our midst, and I only hope that Daphne becomes as appreciative of my throwing a meal together as her daddy is.
While Leo has done the bulk of the actual cooking lately via our new grill, I do prepare most of the meal ingredients by peeling, slicing, dicing, marinating, seasoning, etc. And perhaps most importantly, I shop for the ingredients.
I am becoming more and more fascinated with nutrition and our ever-expanding food choices, and I like to think that I purchase healthy foods for the most part. I have not bought packaged meals such as Hamburger Helper since we were first married. I check ingredients on products religiously, and if there is an artificial anything or an eight-syllable word, I put the item back 99.9% of the time.
Now that it's summertime, I am a devotee of my local farm stand. I was thrilled to find one just a couple miles down the road from us, and even more ecstatic when I saw the quality of their produce. The stuff is beautiful. And tasty.
I also have a share in a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. I will explain this more in a future post, as I think it is an interesting idea that has had its ups and downs for me. For now, suffice it to say that I can count on getting nutritious produce from my CSA, and I have had fun trying varieties of fruits and vegetables that were previously unknown to me.
Tonight I'm giving myself a pat on the back, because nine dinners out of ten lately, we've had a balanced, home-cooked meal. I consider this no small feat with our hectic schedules and a baby in our midst, and I only hope that Daphne becomes as appreciative of my throwing a meal together as her daddy is.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Catching Up on My Digital Photo Printing
Over the last couple of weeks, I have made a serious dent in printing out my Daphne digital photos without making a dent in my wallet. I had barely printed out anything since she was born, but I finally decided that it was time to do something with her beautiful photos. Call it my latest spider in my freezer. :)
Since I was new to all of these online photo services, I was able to take advantage of some awesome free print deals. Here's a recap of what I've done so far and still plan to do, just in case you find yourself swimming in jpgs this summer, too.
Snapfish - By far the best deal I found, I used the instructions here to get 150 free prints and free shipping. The instructions worked perfectly for me. I am still awaiting the arrival of my prints, which I ordered about a week ago, but I guess I can't expect quick delivery AND a bunch of free prints.
Shutterfly - 50 free 4x6 prints and a free 11x14 collage poster that is very easy to create here. You do have to pay for shipping of these freebies, which was about $6 in my case. Shipping was quick, and the quality of the prints and poster is very nice. I probably wouldn't have messed around with creating a collage poster if it hadn't been free, but I am happy with the way it turned out.
CVS - 50 free 4x6 prints here if you have a CVS ExtraCare card. Upon registering, you will be emailed a code for this offer. It may end up in your spam folder, like it did for me. With this offer, you can choose to pick up your photos at a CVS or have them delivered (at an additional cost). I chose to pick them up. They were not ready when the system said they would be, but they were ready when I stopped back the next day. I will warn you, though, that I found the CVS photo center website to be a huge pain to use. I lost everything that I had in my cart at one point. I would never use this as my go-to digital print solution.
PictureWagon.com - I had not heard of this one until I came across their ad in Parents magazine. 50 free prints here. I have not used them yet but plan to upload photos and try them out this week.
PhotoWorks - 25 free prints here. This is another one I want to try this week.
Do you have any other tips for getting cheap or free prints? Which photo service is your favorite?
Since I was new to all of these online photo services, I was able to take advantage of some awesome free print deals. Here's a recap of what I've done so far and still plan to do, just in case you find yourself swimming in jpgs this summer, too.
Snapfish - By far the best deal I found, I used the instructions here to get 150 free prints and free shipping. The instructions worked perfectly for me. I am still awaiting the arrival of my prints, which I ordered about a week ago, but I guess I can't expect quick delivery AND a bunch of free prints.
Shutterfly - 50 free 4x6 prints and a free 11x14 collage poster that is very easy to create here. You do have to pay for shipping of these freebies, which was about $6 in my case. Shipping was quick, and the quality of the prints and poster is very nice. I probably wouldn't have messed around with creating a collage poster if it hadn't been free, but I am happy with the way it turned out.
CVS - 50 free 4x6 prints here if you have a CVS ExtraCare card. Upon registering, you will be emailed a code for this offer. It may end up in your spam folder, like it did for me. With this offer, you can choose to pick up your photos at a CVS or have them delivered (at an additional cost). I chose to pick them up. They were not ready when the system said they would be, but they were ready when I stopped back the next day. I will warn you, though, that I found the CVS photo center website to be a huge pain to use. I lost everything that I had in my cart at one point. I would never use this as my go-to digital print solution.
PictureWagon.com - I had not heard of this one until I came across their ad in Parents magazine. 50 free prints here. I have not used them yet but plan to upload photos and try them out this week.
PhotoWorks - 25 free prints here. This is another one I want to try this week.
Do you have any other tips for getting cheap or free prints? Which photo service is your favorite?
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Spider in My Freezer
As I reached for a Lean Cuisine in my freezer this afternoon, I noticed the same thing I've noticed a hundred times now -- just below the ice dispenser, there's a small Rubbermaid storage container holding a frozen spider.
It has been well over two months since Leo caught this creepy arachnid in our bedroom and decided to freeze it so that we could safely and scientifically determine through a google search that it's not a harmful variety. Over that two month period, this container:
1. has fallen out of the freezer
2. has been taken out of the freezer so that I could look at (admire?) the spider
3. has been taken out of the freezer so that I could show the spider to my parents, the entomologists that they are.
But not once have I taken the spider container with me to the computer so that I could complete my google search. Until today.
Why is it sometimes so difficult to do a task that is staring me in the face? Is it because there are so many tasks staring back at me?
I'm sure that's part of it. When Daphne's napping or otherwise well occupied, I sometimes get too overwhelmed by the number of things I could/should be doing. I am trying to get better at this. I figure doing any thing is better than doing nothing (isn't that a variation of a famous quote?). I've stopped making to-do lists, because they end up being way too long. And it doesn't motivate me to cross off one thing from a lengthy list. Instead, I'm practicing focusing on one thing that needs attention. It feels good to get one thing accomplished at a time.
So this afternoon my accomplishment happened to be determining that our spider species most likely belonged to the Salticidae, or jumping spider, family. I suppose this is better than the spitting spider or fishing spider families, but I don't like the idea of a spider that is "known for its curiosity."
Do you have any tips for getting things done? Have you read the book by the same name, and does it translate well to family and home maintenance? I'd love to hear from you.
It has been well over two months since Leo caught this creepy arachnid in our bedroom and decided to freeze it so that we could safely and scientifically determine through a google search that it's not a harmful variety. Over that two month period, this container:
1. has fallen out of the freezer
2. has been taken out of the freezer so that I could look at (admire?) the spider
3. has been taken out of the freezer so that I could show the spider to my parents, the entomologists that they are.
But not once have I taken the spider container with me to the computer so that I could complete my google search. Until today.
Why is it sometimes so difficult to do a task that is staring me in the face? Is it because there are so many tasks staring back at me?
I'm sure that's part of it. When Daphne's napping or otherwise well occupied, I sometimes get too overwhelmed by the number of things I could/should be doing. I am trying to get better at this. I figure doing any thing is better than doing nothing (isn't that a variation of a famous quote?). I've stopped making to-do lists, because they end up being way too long. And it doesn't motivate me to cross off one thing from a lengthy list. Instead, I'm practicing focusing on one thing that needs attention. It feels good to get one thing accomplished at a time.
So this afternoon my accomplishment happened to be determining that our spider species most likely belonged to the Salticidae, or jumping spider, family. I suppose this is better than the spitting spider or fishing spider families, but I don't like the idea of a spider that is "known for its curiosity."
Do you have any tips for getting things done? Have you read the book by the same name, and does it translate well to family and home maintenance? I'd love to hear from you.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Welcome!
Let me start by admitting that I wasn't sure what I'd write about for my first post. I have a million ideas of things I want to cover in the future, but the first step always seems to be the toughest. So, I guess it only makes sense to start off with a brief introduction.
My husband and I have been married for seven wonderful years. We had an especially amazing year in 2007, though, when we had our first baby and, one month later, moved from a condo to a house. Our precious baby is now nine months old and is quickly developing into an adorable, intelligent little girl. Meanwhile, our new house is slowly developing into the perfect home for our family.
Much of my motivation for starting this blog is to share with you my journey as a new mother and home owner. Now that we've taken this first step together, I hope you'll continue to join me.
My husband and I have been married for seven wonderful years. We had an especially amazing year in 2007, though, when we had our first baby and, one month later, moved from a condo to a house. Our precious baby is now nine months old and is quickly developing into an adorable, intelligent little girl. Meanwhile, our new house is slowly developing into the perfect home for our family.
Much of my motivation for starting this blog is to share with you my journey as a new mother and home owner. Now that we've taken this first step together, I hope you'll continue to join me.
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