PractiGal

I've found my Zen

Like I'm going to be able to get any work done now that it's in the house.  All I want to do is play with it, learn how it works, and fill 'er up with good stuff!

Music. Pictures. Even video!

And I have to set a bunch of FM stations on it, too. Just because it can do that.

I want to accessorize it. (Why doesn't the spell checker like that word? Doesn't everyone accessorize?) The case is on its way. I need a car adapter. I need better headphones. I will need speakers very soon. Good speakers.

And OH MY GOODNESS! I'm leaving the dark ages!

Even though in five years my son will roll his eyes at it, because by then everyone will have a little chip for an earring that brings in everything by satellite.  And he'll say "Mom, that thing is SO 2007!"

And I'll say, "Well,... well,... well, you should see my vintage SONY Sport walkman. Yeah. It used CASSETTE TAPES. You won't be laughing at me when I cash in that puppy on eBay. So there..."

Anyway. We've only just met, but I already love my Zen!  I have 30GB to fill.  And I'm so excited!

They don't all go postal

We have a cool mailman. John is his name. Since we're around during the day, we're here if he rings the doorbell. Like today. John had a couple of packages that wouldn't fit in our mailbox.

Our car is sometimes parked on the front lawn, so my hubby can snowplow the driveway without putting the car on our little street where it'll likely be in the way of town snowplows, garbage trucks, and passing cars. The car's a Subaru Outback.  So today John the Mailman made the astute observation that when we park the Outback on the lawn, it's Infront.

Heeeheeeheee!

That's entertainment

Not a regular Academy Awards viewer, I did tune in for the first 20 minutes to hear Ellen's monologue. (Because Ellen rocks!) Then I had to put a little boy to bed. And every time I flipped by the channel later on, I didn't see Ellen. Did she get to do much more than the first 20 minutes?

I don't usually watch the Oscars since I don't see many movies when they're current! This year, the only one I'd seen was Little Miss Sunshine, which I did enjoy very much.

So this morning I've updated my Netflix queue. I want to see The Departed, since that was a big winner. I want to see The Queen, too, when it's out on DVD.  Another one I've added to my queue of not-yet-on-DVD flicks is The Astronaut Farmer. I don't think it was up for any awards, but I heard a local entertainment critic raving about it on the radio last week.

In other behind-the-times entertainment news, I'm hooked on Six Feet Under.  We've just started watching it on DVD. We're only half way through the first season, but I'm ready to watch it all. The writing, the acting, the comedy, the quirkiness. I really like it. Yeah, it started in 2001... I'm a few years behind!

Chronicles of a chatterbox

I guess every first-time parent goes through the "I can't wait til he starts walking" phase. Then it happens, and the walking quickly turns to running, and then you're chasing him between the stacks at the library...  And you think back to how easy you had it when he wasn't mobile.

And there's talking. Oh! To know what those frustrated babbles actually mean!

We're quickly learning that it's true what experienced parents say: Once they start talking, they do not stop. Ever.  As the little guy approaches his 3rd birthday, it's not a stretch to say that he's talking or singing or making some sort of sound with his mouth from the moment he wakes up til his eyes close at night. Every. Day.

Sometimes I wonder if he'll go into sales...
"Mom! Come into the wiwing woom (living room) and pway with me! Come on! It's fun!!"
Who could refuse that pitch?

... or politics
Mom: Honey, please don't touch that cabinet. That's a no-no.
Son: "But it's a yes-yes!"

... or maybe he'll hit the comedy club circuit
Mom: What are you doing in the bedroom with that toast?  Toast stays in the kitchen!
Son: "No it doesn't! It stays in my mouth!" ... before shoving an entire piece of toast into his mouth.

... or will he be a drama-rama?
(Mom returns from a brief outing to the grocery store)
"Mommy! You came home! I knew you would. I'm so happy to see you. I've been looking for you all morning!"

... or a big sweet, sensitive teddy bear like his Dad
(After head-butting Mom in the face with his ginormous noggin -- giving Mom 2 fat lips and an all-day headache)
"I'm so sorry for hitting your head, Mommy. It was an accident!"
(words chosen with Dad's help)

How can you not forgive your little sweetie? Especially when he looks at you with that sweet face and says "Wanna play trains with me?" and you tell him that you can't right now, as you're busy applying an icepack to your throbbing face. And he insists "But you want to play trains. Come on! It's fun!"

All the freedom you want -- in your own home

Earlier this week a local TV station aired a story from an undercover news investigation (follow link to video).  A news crew had visited our area's main public library, where it found people viewing p*rn on library computers. Apparently, it's no big deal to have the filters turned off if you're 17 or older. With ID, a librarian will turn the filter off, no questions asked.

I'm sure some will thumb their noses at me for thinking this, but why is this allowed in a public library at all? They're so concerned about peoples' "rights" that they allow the tax-payer funded library to provide access to material that is commonly found to be offensive? Not to mention that it's completely inappropriate in a public facility frequented by children. In my opinion, allowing access to p*rn on public computers is completely irresponsible. Go look at it somewhere in private, and on your own dime -- not the tax-payer's.

And our county executive Maggie Brooks agrees with me. She has seen the news story as well, and has spoken. Either the library changes its policy, or it loses $6.5 million in county funding. 

I wonder how long it will take for them to update the policy?

A recipe for Pancake Day

In honor of Pancake Day...

Ever a fan of The Pancake, I've been trying to stay away from conventional pancakes lately.  On my quest to cut down on sugar (hello, white flour and maple syrup!) and increase my protein intake at breakfast, I've tried this unique pancake recipe a few times now.

I've shared some wonderful pancake recipes here -- oatmeal pancakes that are simply amazing, and pumpkin pancakes -- a special treat.

Today, I share an ultra healthy pancake recipe. Low in sugar, high in protein, and interesting in texture and taste. Here's the recipe as written in this book. Below that are my tips after making these a few times.

Cottage Cheese - Cinnamon Pancakes

1 c. rolled oats
1 c. low-fat cottage cheese
2 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
milk
fruit

Chop the oats in a blender or food processor; add the cottage cheese and blend until the mixture is smooth. Beat egg whites until fluffy. Add to oatmeal cheese mixture. Add vanilla and cinnamon. If the batter seems thick, thin it by adding a little milk. After blending, stir in pieces of fresh or frozen fruit. Bake on a nonstick skillet or lightly greased griddle over medium heat, dropping batter onto the griddle using 2 Tbsp batter per pancake. Turn when edges are lightly browned.

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Suggestions: 

Unless you have a mega blender or food processor (or cement mixer!) at the ready, I suggest chopping the oats and smoothing the cottage cheese separately. I tried to get my blender to do all of this together, and it brought the blender to its glass knees. Instead, I use my mini-chopper to process the oats, then I use it to smooth the cheese.

Also, after noticing that I liked the pancakes better leftover the next day (less oat crunch), I decided to soak the chopped oats in milk before combining them with the cottage cheese.  I add 1/4 - 1/2 cup milk to the oats and soak for 20-30 minutes.

When they're done, I do drizzle a bit of maple syrup on top, because I can't help myself. This is still a low sugar, high protein meal!

I double the recipe, too. I was concerned that the leftovers would be tough as hockey pucks, but I think these pancakes are actually better the next day!

Um, I'll take one of those Day-extenders here...

My gym has a computer system that you can use to log your workouts. Since I like the idea of earning prizes by getting zillions of fitness points, I do this for my cardio exercises.  And the strength-training circuit I use is connected to the computer system, so all I do is punch in my code at each station, and my workout is recorded. That's pretty neat, since I can go to a kiosk and track my progress and see a report any time I want. My inner-geek likes that.

But even cooler than that is the monthly report the computer system sends me by e-mail each month. I did pretty well in January. You can see how many calories I burned on this graphic from my January report. I like that it translates the calories into ice cream sundaes -- something I can relate to!

 

The strength-training graphic is even cooler. It makes it sound like I'm a serious weight-lifter, with weight measured in elephants. Mind you, I do not lift any free weights, these are just machines that use weight for resistance. Oh, and with
this computer system, the coaches can log in and see how you're doing. They send out

messages too, like "I see you've been averaging 60 minutes per week. Way to go!"  So the personal positive feedback is nice of course.

Well, that was January. Here it is February 19th, and my February workout schedule has been pretty darn pathetic. Of course I have excuses. Who doesn't? I was sick. I've had a lot of work to do for my paying job. The weather has been sucky.  I was scurrying around checking out preschools. Excuses, excuses. Blah, blah, blah. 

So anyway, I'm imagining the message I'll have from my coach next time I log in to the system.

"Marie, where in heck have you been? Did you forget that you made a commitment to yourself to exercise three times a week?  Do we need to make an appointment for an intervention to get you back on track? " It'll be like getting a written message from my conscience.

Then I'll get my February  e-mail report.  It'll tell me how I've burned 15 calories on the cardio equipment, and then it'll shake a can of whup-ass at me. And it will laugh while it tells me how much weight I've lifted. Bwahh haaa haaa!

BusyMom has mentioned Day-extenders. Now maybe she's just yanking our chains, but then again maybe she knows something the rest of us don't!  Anyway, I'd like to get the 2-hour variety. And I'd like to add them to the beginning of the day, before anyone else is up at my house. Early morning is my very best time for cranking on work.  With the extra hours, I can free up some afternoon time and get back to plugging in the headphones at the gym (during my brain's peak non-functioning hours).

Can someone arrange that for me? Please?

 

Winter fun

Anyone for a picnic?

Turn at the third snowbank on the left....

We'll pick something from the garden....

And then we'll play in the playhouse!!

Just be sure to dress warmly....

(These pictures were taken at dinner time on Valentine's Day, when we got about 20 inches of snow.)

The results are in...

You know what? You might not believe it, but IT works. The Flowbee. Works.

(An aside here -- everytime I think of the word Flowbee, my brain switches it to Furby.  Maybe because it rhymes with Kirby, which is part of the story of the Flowbee... )

The box didn't have time to rest once it entered the house. Oh, and imagine being our UPS man, delivering a box marked FLOWBEE in huge letters. They could have at least shipped it in plain brown wrapping. But no. Soon we'll be the laughingstocks of the street.

"Hey, you know what they got the other day?.... Is it true?... Bwaaaahaaahaa!"

Can't wait til the neighborhood picnic.

So, my husband (who's not the Flowbee Man shown here) unpacked the box and set up the Kirby vacuum cleaner. Yep. If you're not familiar with the Flowbee, let me explain. You see, it's a haircutting system that attaches to your vacuum cleaner. Oh. Yes. For real. The cutting mechanism is inside a tube, which you attach to your vacuum cleaner hose. And to achieve different lengths or tapers, you attach various guides over the clippers. Everything's enclosed, so you can't cut yourself. But ladies, I'd remove the earrings before using this thing if I were you! Holy Hoover!  (And no, I do not intend to use it!)  Anyway, with the vaccum suction, the Flowbee sucks the hair in and cuts it to the desired length, based on the guide you've attached to the clipper. And of course there's no mess, since the hair just gets sucked into the vacuum.

Long overdue for a haircut, Hubby couldn't wait to give it a test run. I came out of my office to see how it was going, and our son was running from the noisy kitchen, ears covered, yelling "Run, Mommy! Run!!" It's loud alright. The Flowbee makes its own buzzing sound, and with our Kirby workhouse howling along too, it's not a peaceful haircut. I watched, and yeah this sucker works! I did a little cleanup on his neck with a razor, but otherwise it did the job.

If you missed my husband's testimonial in the comments on the last post, here's an excerpt:

Yes, they still sell them, about 9000 a year! And I am pleased with the quality of construction and smoothness of operation. These Flowbee things are well made.

The Flowbee works great and I was able to produce very good results on the first use... on myself. In fact, it looks better than most of the Cuts Plus and barber shop cuts I've ever had. (Except for Daryll. He's an artist. But he's vanished into the ether.) Last time I went to Cuts Plus, I had to go to Marie's hair dresser to repair the damage they did.

Never again... and I just saved 1/3 the cost of the Flowbee with my first cut. (Cut + tip + gas. Not to mention travel and waiting time.) I've read testimonials that claim they've saved 10s of thousands of dollars on haircuts over the childhood timespan of their kids.

It helps that I don't have much hair, so the cut I need is short short short and simple. But I think anyone can get good results with it with very little practice. Practice first, on someone who's going to have short hair! ; )  But it's really pretty foolproof. You can even do a nice taper with it.

So there you have it. My husband, who is extremely particular about his haircuts, is pleased with the results of the Flowbee cut. He mentioned Daryll, my former hair dresser, who very meticulously cut Hubby's hair now and then;  Daryll apparently fell off the face of the earth leaving us both without a hair dresser!! I, too, am very particular about my cuts, and with my thick curly short hair, I've had many bad cuts in my day. When I find someone who's good with my hair, I stick with them and follow them around town when they move to a new salon.

My husband hasn't recovered from our loss of Daryll, so he turned to the Flowbee.

I've recovered. I found a fantastic hair dresser, right around the corner. And she doesn't use a vacuum cleaner on my head.

I guess it'll be a few years before Dad can fulfill his dream of Flowbee-ing his son's hair. Unless we get a muffler for the Kirby.

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There are some great Flowbee testimonials here...  Oh, and Hubby doesn't want his head on the Internet, so I don't have before and after shots! And the Flowbee Man above is from the web site...

Blog Fodder Delivery

Ladies and gentlemen...

IT just arrived.

The mailman rang the doorbell to deliver IT.

The box could have been marked Blog Fodder.

Because, you see, we now have one of these in the house. 

No, I didn't order it.

Stay tuned... this should be interesting.....

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On an unrelated note, I'm very glad I live on the south side of Lake Ontario, rather than on the eastern end. Ouch! The town in this article is about 100 miles east and north of here. We've had about 45 inches of snow so far this season, which isn't much. There, they've received 10-12 feet in ONE WEEK. Gotta love upstate NY.