Category: Around the House

New Home

· Leave a comment ·

On Saturday morning I went down with fresh water for the chicks and was greeted by one of the barred rocks sitting on the lip of the plastic tub the chicks were calling home. She (oh how I hope they are all Shes) just sat there and looked at me like “yeah, and” until I got close enough then she flew, FLEW down into the bucket. It was time to relocate the birds to larger living quarters.

Ladies and gentle fowl, I give you Casa De Perro, Chez Canine, or Chickens in a Dog Crate. 

A large dog crate with a heat lamp in the back and lined 1/3 of the way up with cardboard.

Along with more space and a full containment field, the new digs also offer a roosting pole. I *think* they’ll be able to stay here until we transfer them to their permanent home in a month or so until they are fully feathered and can maintain their body temperature.

Who Will Save The Sing Off?

· 2 Comments ·

Dear NBC,

When you cancelled The Sing Off, you cancelled one of the best reality shows on TV. Certainly one of the best shows on your network.

I did my part. I watched faithfully all three seasons. I shouted from the treetops about how awesome the show was. Between the kids and I we purchased no less than thirty of the tracks available on iTunes and grumped about the ones not made available (Nicole Sherzinger and Jerry Lawson’s duet from Season two). I liked my favorite groups on Facebook and followed them on Twitter. I JUMPED at the chance to see season three groups perform live. What more could I have done to show you I cared?

Right on the heels on the cancellation announcement, you announced the acquisition of a new singing show from the producer of The Voice. Meh, who cares. It wasn’t the competition that compelled me to watch. It was the talent and the reasonable panel of judges. I have enough stress and drama in my day to day life. I don’t need it in my entertainment. The Sing Off was a show I could sit down and enjoy with my kids. Shows like that are few and far between these days.

My first reaction to the news was shock, followed quickly by anger. I signed the petition in support of bringing the show back, but with the announcement of the replacement, I knew it was a done deal. So to NBC I say ~@#$%!!!!

Sincerely,

Lee Laughlin

So, *dusts off hands* now that NBC has released The Sing Off, who is going to pick it up? C’mon, this isn’t unheard of, there are shows that have struggled on the broadcast networks who have thrived in the land of cable. What about MTV? You know MUSIC Television? Maybe CMT? How about USA Network? TNT?

SOMEONE PLEASE AIR THIS SHOW.

Mama needs her a cappella fix.

They’re HERE!!!

· 1 Comment ·

We picked up the chicks on Friday!

Their new home in a bed of wood shavings in a big plastic bin. Three pictures of kids holding chicks.

They were really cute balls of fluff. I say were because they are growing like mad and are beginning to enter that awkward teenager stage. They are eating/drinking/pooping machines! But they are super cute.

This is a cooperative project between four families. Almost everyone has met our feathered friends and some have even been initiated (ahem pooped on). I think the award for most excited for their arrival goes to Becky. We’re pretty sure that K, (Becky’s youngest girl) has handled each of the 24 chicks at LEAST once :). It is cute to watch the kids take to them. We are carefully handling them so that they will become very used to humans. Before you ask, we instituted strict hand washing policies!

Fish is super excited and has requested that caring for the chickens become a permanent chore of hers. Mim hasn’t shown a ton of interest, but he’s held a few chicks and that’s good enough for me. A-man keeps asking them when he’ll get some eggs.

Last weekend we went away for one overnight and Becky and her husband stepped up to care for them. It really is pretty straightforward but they do require regular attention, so the only way this would work for us is if it is a group effort. We’re lucky to have such awesome neighbors!

This will not become exclusively a chicken blog, but watch for more chicken posts in the near future.

He and I

· 1 Comment ·

Mim and his drawing Crazy Kids climbing structure, water break. Coooookieee!

It was just he and I. His sister was off at the American Girl Store with her grandparents. We were supposed to go to a hands-on museum with another mom and her son, but Son got sick. Boo. Fortunately, Mim took it in stride. I offered to take him to the museum, but that was AFTER I offered to take him to the indoor play space in town. Silly me.

The place space is clean and safe and teaming with noise and pre-pubescent energy. Clearly I’d need fortification to sustain myself so we went to lunch at the local dinerish place. He brought cars and proceeded to draw on his placemat. The tale that surrounds this house is quite involved, it involves a police officer, his wife the race car driver, and their free-to-them house with an arcade, a huge swimming pool and a football field. I’ll have to video tape him giving the tour.

After lunch we ventured in to Krazy Kids. I brought my kindle, but my intention was to play with him. We climbed through the oversized inflatable maze and he disappeared on me. So, I found some wall space and settled in with the Hunger Games. I heard a “Hi Mama!” several different times as he whizzed by chasing others. When he came over for a water break, he launched into a detailed discussion of the monstrous climbing structure so I asked him if he wanted to give me a guided tour. We climbed and crawled, but it soon became clear I was harshing his vibe and he was only doing this to placate me. I released him from his duty and he was off again. I knew it was time to go when the stops for water or a quick albeit sweaty, snuggle, became more frequent.

Normally I’d just head home, but this was a special day, so we ventured into town to find a snack. We ended up with HUGE cookies. We nibbled them on our way down the street to the toy store. The primary audience for this toy story is teachers, but since children are the primary audience for teachers, the store is a hit with the short and loud crowd too. Eventually, he chose a pump action soft rocket that was advertised to travel 150 feet, but he put it back in favor of two smaller rockets so he could give one to his sister. *MELT* .

We headed home with declarations of this being the best day ever.  I’d call that a win!

He Spoils Me

· Leave a comment ·

I am an audiophile of epic proportions and A-Man (bless him) is my enabler. If I never saw another TV show, it would be sad, but I’d live. If I never heard music again, that would be the death of me.

The Top of A-Man's dresser including a tuner, a multi-disc CD player and one of the speakers. There a ball cap strategically positioned to block the display of the tuner. I have an iPod and my car came with a great sound system.There are audio sources in the rooms of the house where I spend the most time. The most recent addition is The SqueezeBox Touch WiFi music player. It connects to our wireless network and plays local radio stations (no static whoo hoo!). Pandora (requires a subscription) and Sirius/XM. It will also access play lists from iTunes, but will not play any songs in Apple’s proprietary AAC format (a rant for another post for sure *makes angry eyes at Apple and the RIAA*).

The favorites screen on the SqueezeBoxLogitech makes stand alone WiFi Music players, but this one is a component to an existing stereo system in our bedroom. Set up seemed to go fairly quickly and using it is a snap. This model is a touch screen (it also comes with a remote). I can also manage it from any of the computers on the network. For the most part, I set up my favorites and then use about three different selections depending on the time of day, radio in the morning, upbeat country or rock during the day and mellow at night. One of the best features (and the one A-man spent the most time researching) is the dimming. The SqueezeBox Touch will go dark after about 30 seconds so we can avoid the addition of another ball cap (in the photo above, the ball cap blocks out the light from the display on the tuner).

Do you require silence to sleep? Do you prefer music of just white noise?

 

I am a happy camper when it comes to the Logitech SqueezeBox Touch. These opinions are my own and I was in no way compensated for this post.

 

Award Winning Socks

· 2 Comments ·

A nasty sinus infection sidelined me last week. I don’t do sick well.  While I catch up, enjoy this picture of AWARD WINNING SOCKS.

Boys crew socks made to look like cleats, one foot is kicking a mini football

Mim’s school held a sock hop last week and there was to be prizes for the best socks in each grade.  Mim had the idea to make cleats.  A pair of socks, electrical tape, sharpies, some stickers, a little help from mom and shazam! He won a $5 giftcard to Books-a-Million (BAM!). He was very proud.

 

Parenting in a social media world – an update

· 1 Comment ·

Remember when I wrote about Tommy Jordan, the father who shot his daughter’s laptop in response to a rude letter she wrote? Since he posted the video more than 27 million people have viewed it on YouTube. YOWZA! In his own words “the punishment accidentally outweighed the crime”.

In my opinion, he has handled this situation amazingly well. He has admitted his mistakes and done his best to insure that he has retained control of the story. He has refused any television appearances, choosing instead to reply via text first on his Facebook page and now on a newly started blog. The spotlight doesn’t appear to have gone to his head, and he has used it to raise funds for his local MDA chapter. Good on ‘em!

When asked why he thought the video was so popular, he responded “There’s no way this would have ‘blown up’ like it has were there not already a powder-keg problem ready to ignite.” I agree. People are sick and tired of entitled children and parents who won’t parent. I can’t support the methods he used, but I must say I support the sentiment.

I’m trying to raise children who are kind, motivated to work hard and appreciate all that they have been given. I think with A-Man’s help, so far, so good. My kids aren’t perfect and neither am I, but with a lot of work and a little luck, we’ll muddle through and they’ll grow up to be happy, healthy, self-sustaining adults who leave a positive mark on this world.

———–

One of my pet peeves of modern media is that a story blows big for a few days and there is never any follow up. If you are interested in seeing where this takes Mr. Jordan and his family, you can visit his website. http://8minutesoffame.com/

How I Watched the Superbowl

· Leave a comment ·

In my glider, in front of the TV, feet up, laptop in my lap alternating between Facebook and Twitter.

In my glider, in front of the TV, feet up, laptop in my lap alternating between Facebook and Twitter. A-Man’s not a huge sports fan.  We tuned in because of Mim and the game was good enough we watched through to the bitter. end.  I had a blast watching the running commentary of friends and acquaintances (is that how you refer to someone you’ve exchanged a handfull of tweets with on Twitter?). I enjoy sports, but really only in a community environment.  I really got a kick watching the game with my virtual companions.

Please Just Go Away

· Leave a comment ·

My 8lb cat on top of my four drawer filing cabinet, wedged between a camera bag and the side of my desk.
I was a nestled in for a nice winters nap in the closet when out of nowhere this loud roaring headlight came at me! I managed to get by it and I dove under the bed, BUT IT FOLLOWED ME and yes this IS comfortable thankyouverymuch!

Close up of the cat with her head wedged up against my desk.
Now please just go away.