Category: It’s all about me

How I Watched the Superbowl

February 7, 2012 · Leave a comment ·

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.

Amazon Mom

January 23, 2012 · 1 Comment ·

This blog post did not end up at all where I expected it too, thank goodness I have writing to help me get my thoughts straight.

Amazon is that company you love to hate right? Some things they do blindingly well (You can’t beat their selection, the Kindle is awesome and let’s here it for Subscribe and Save). Then there are those things that they fumble.

Have you heard of Amazon Mom? It is a savings program targeted at families with young children. The discounts can be significant plus, regular shipments of necessary items can show up on your door step with just one click? Awesome. Where was this 11 years ago when I was digging the least milk stained clothes out of the laundry so I could schlep to warehouse stores for diapers and wipes?

Despite the fact that we are long past diapers, wipes and formula, I still purchase one product regularly via Amazon Mom. The pediatrician, she tells me it is about biology, and that he’ll grow out of it. But, for me, it s about precious sleep and not having to change wet, smelly sheets in the middle of the night.

Amazon recently sent an email announcing changes to the Amazon Mom program. For me, my 15% savings via Amazon Mom will go away because I didn’t join Amazon Prime. Small problem, I AM a member of Amazon Prime. My membership is subordinate to my husband’s primary Prime membership. We share the same physical address and everything I emailed customer service and was told “sorry, you have to join Prime to retain the savings.” Really Amazon, Really?

I’ll admit, I love Prime. Two day free shipping is a wonderful thing and moderately priced overnight shipping has come in handy a time or two as well. But really, the benefits such as free streaming don’t matter because we share the same geographical space and even the same electronic devices. There is just no point to having two accounts.

I emailed my concerns to customer service and explained that I would simply sign my husband up for Amazon Mom and because I do 95% of the purchasing, all the emails detailing specials etc. would be electronically round filed. Their loss. The reply was professional, but non-committal except to say that they weren’t currently accepting new Amazon Mom memberships and the program would reopen late winter.

As I write this, I’m it occurs to me that my complaint is kind of lame. Amazon is after all a business trying to make money and ultimately what it comes down to is that I’m only peripherally a member of the target audience for this program.

Ever have a temper tantrum about something and upon further reflection realize maybe you were wrong? Yeah, I’m 43 and still learning it isn’t all about me <grin>. I guess I’ll have to be grateful that I was able to get the discount for as long as I have.

Here we go!

January 9, 2012 · Leave a comment ·

Well, hello there! How are you?

Sorry to have been away for so long. Christmas was great and we had a great New Year’s Eve with friends. My 2012 began with a 7 year old sobbing my arms “I’m going to MISS 2011!! There are too many good memories.”

Santa brought me a new iMac and I spend much of last week getting that set up and my office cleaned out. It was one of the few rooms passed over in the great purge of 2011.

I took about an hour last Tuesday and completed this worksheet from Susannah Conway (Hat Tip to Jennifer Louden for the link on Facebook) I found it provided a valuable perspective on 2011 and allowed me to plan for 2012. My word is commitment.

I have make three commitments to myself for 2012.

I will lose ten pounds.
I will build a writing practice (that will ultimately lead to a book). I did a good job in 2011 posting here regularly and I have several snippets of books in play. It is time to commit the time to finish the first drafts so there is something to edit.
I will find a financial planner and get our retirement funds in order.

One week in I’ve made some progress. I’ve signed up for Sparks People, downloaded the app to my phone and started tracking my intake and exercise. tracking what I ate worked before, it is time to commit and do it again. I’ve also sent inquiries to a few people looking for recommendations for a fee-for-service financial planner. I don’t have a lot of leads yet, but it’s a start.

Today, I’m starting to build my writing practice. I’m trying to carve out the mornings for writing and afternoon for life management activities. Everyone knows that a mom’s life is not her own from 3pm until 8pm weeknights. It’s going to take some work on my part to put my writing first, but it is important to me so it’s time to make it happen.

That’s what’s new from here.

What are you plans for 2012?

I’m NOT just talking to myself. No, REALLY!

December 5, 2011 · 3 Comments ·

I’ve been blogging in various forms for a few years now. This blog is my longest running endeavor yet. I don’t do it for fame or fortune (although those would be nice). I blog because I have things to say and sometimes it feels as if my head will explode if I don’t say them in one form or another. Writing them down gives me a way to share my thoughts. For better or for worse, I am usually passionate in my thinking. Sharing via the written word allows me to refine things (some attempts more effectively than others) and say exactly what I mean in a socially acceptable manner.

I know people read this blog. Google Analytics (software that tracks general information about who visits the blog, where they come from, what they read and how long they stay), tells me that most of the people who read this blog, already know me. 43% of my visitors come from Facebook. The second largest group of visitors is from the search engines. I take that to mean that I’m writing about topics people are interested in. That’s a good sign indeed. When I see people IRL (in real life) They comment on one of my posts, another good sign.

More than anything blogging is about community. Writers share information, opinions and experiences and readers add their two cents via comments.

“What do writers want most of all? They want eyes on their work and a response to their work. Bloggers crave traffic because traffic equals human beings all enjoying the words they’ve strung together. And they like comments because no one wants to speak into a vacuum. We want to know that our words were heard and know how the reader received them.” – Melissa Ford, The Gift of Comments

I’m grateful that you take the time to read and thank you to everyone who has taken the time to comment in the past, but at the risk of appearing greedy, could you leave a comment if a post strikes you? You don’t have to comment on every post, and you need not write a novel. Just let me know if I’m on the right track (I’m NOT fishing for complements, but feedback). Tell me if I’m way off base or suggest a topic for me to consider.

I’ll keep writing, but it would be great to show the world that I’m really NOT talking to myself.

Thankful . . .

November 24, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

…for a wonderful man who walks beside me in this world, who won’t let me take myself too seriously, who provides so I can follow my dreams, who helps me raise these two beautiful children we created together.

… for friends who love me for who I am, warts and all, who help when I ask and even when I don’t (but I should), who call bullshit when necessary, and encourage me always. (NOTE: No photo because I am blessed with so many friends all of their photos wouldn’t fit on this page).

… for family, related by genetics or by choice, who show me from where I came and who collectively, share the experiences that make me who I am. (Again no photo because I am blessed to call many people family).

My husband, my kids, my friends and my family, those are the big ones, if I lost everything else tomorrow, so long as I had them, I would survive.

I am thankful for a host of other things that make my life more pleasant, including:

Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. to Dennis, even though the smell of turnips, hell even the thought of turnips makes me gag, some how it just isn’t Thanksgiving with out at least the THREAT of turnips appearing on the table. Miss you.

My Girls

November 4, 2011 · 4 Comments ·

I can anthropomorphize ANYTHING, just ask my kids. In my wacked out mind most things have feelings. This is especially true of old toys. I don’t have many from my childhood. My one regret being the time my mother and I mutually agreed to give away my Little People (the wooden ones) and all of their accoutrements.

I do have The Girls, Baby Tenderlove (center), Huggums (right) and Little Lisa (Left). Baby Tenderlove was my confidant when I was a toddler and preschooler. I’m told she absorbed an enormous amount of my frustrations when my parents marriage fell apart. Huggums came later and she wore real baby clothes. Clothes my mother saved from my infant years. She and I explored the neighborhood as I refined my caregiving skills during elementary school (she’s the one who taught me the importance of ALWAYS buckling the baby into a stroller!).

Little Lisa came from a high school boyfriend at the height of the Cabbage Patch Kids craze (I had a mass market CPK, but didn’t find it too hard to allow her to find another home). Little Lisa was made especially for me by David’s sister Joan whom I adored. She also wears an outfit I wore as a baby.

When I was in college, my mom, not quite ready to part with my childhood, asked Joan to restore Huggums (thankfully David and I had parted ways on good terms). I cried when I opened the box on Christmas morning. Joan did an amazing job especially considering that Huggums had um, well, let’s just say her head and her body had divorced one another. Joan managed a reconciliation and returned my pal to her glory.

By the time my daughter was born, my mother had sold my childhood home and during the move, I had rescued a naked Baby Tenderlove. Once again I enlisted Joan’s services and she did an amazing job especially given what she had to work with.

Fish never really took to the dolls, but I never really encouraged her either. At one time all of the ladies mattered very much to me, but these days, they are little more than dust collectors. Still, there is a weird connection, to throw them away seems disrespectful of all the comfort and entertainment they provided over the years. And, while letting them find a new home with another little girl (a la Toy Story 3), would be a noble thing, I can’t. I’ve read the Velveteen Rabbit. Dammit people! These girls have experienced enough. They are real!

“Save them,” my mother-in-law said. “Someday you’ll be a grandmother you know!” I used to be a keeper, but 15 years of being married to her son have broken me of that habit. *Sigh* As happy as they might make another little girl, I just can’t bear to give them away. I bought some acid free tissue paper, gave them a each a kiss and told them to take a long nap until their services would be required by a future generation.

Sleep well girls.

I know. I’m a sap.

Restraint

October 19, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

My friend Jeanne and I went to the Outlets is Kittery, Maine last Saturday. There is a Le Creuset outlet in Kittery, Maine. These are pictures of all the beautiful deep purple cookware I did NOT buy. I did however score three red canisters for 25% off the outlet price, so I settled for a purple mug. I think I showed tremendous restraint.

Good WIll Hunting

October 12, 2011 · 1 Comment ·

I lead a pretty casual life style. I’ve always been more comfortable in denim then chiffon. A-Man and I passed the age where our friends are getting married and aren’t yet at the age where their kids are getting married (thankfully!), so I don’t have many occasions to dress up. Thus, I don’t have many dress up clothes. I’m really okay with that, but once in a while, a girl wants to feel pretty and our trip to Bermuda provided just such an occasion.

We planned a fancy dinner to celebrate our 15th anniversary and I thought I had a dress all lined up, but it turned out to be too big (a good thing over all, but it threw a wrench in my plans). I tore this town apart looking for a dress that looked nice, would be wearable for the long term and wouldn’t cost me an arm and a leg. I’m pretty sure I hit every store in Concord, New Hampshire that sells women’s clothes and I couldn’t find one dress that met my criteria. I snagged a few dressy tops that went with a black skirt I already owned and called it good. I was disappointed I couldn’t find a dress, but I decided to focus on other issues like getting packed!

Two days before our departure I was running errands that included dropping off some pre-children cocktail dresses at Good Will. While there, I decided to take a spin through their rack of dresses.

My experiences of shopping at Good Will come mostly from my childhood. The first year I went to Girl Scout Camp, I went with all new clothes and a green plastic trash bag for laundry. It rained for 5 days straight. Can you say mildew boys and girls? The second year I went to Girl Scout Camp, I went with a mesh laundry bag and clothes from Good Will.

I frequently donate clothes to Good Will, but never think to shop there. Even though my friend Wendy is an ardent Goodwill fan and I frequently admire her finds, It just doesn’t enter my consciousness. Duh!

The dress — A little jewelry, a pink wrap and some heels and I was good to go.

Lo and behold, I found a dress. Actually, I found a perfect dress. I loved it, it was my size, in a classic style with an updated pattern and the kicker? It was $4.95. That’s right, four dollars and ninety-five cents. A far cry from the $85 I almost spent on a washable silk dress that was ok, but not great.

There is nothing quite liking how you look and knowing you paid almost nothing for it. I suspect the Good Will store will make its way onto my shopping list more frequently.

Rest In Peace Mr. Jobs

October 7, 2011 · 1 Comment ·

I am the proverbial sap, so I will admit to tears when I heard of Steve Jobs death. His inventions have played a major part in my life. As a person with a visual impairment. The Mac was and continues to be the great equalizer. Maybe if the fates had been different, I’d have been a fan of Mr. Gates and his machines, but in 1986 I was a Freshman and Boston College was an Apple campus. My bonus Dad Dennis nominated me for grant from a Philadelphia area charitable foundation. I was given $3,000 to purchase a computer a printer and an external monitor (unheard of at the time, I was a test case).

The computer was cutting edge, an Apple Macintosh 512ke. The e meant it read double-sided floppy disks. They were the NEW disks, the 3.5 inch disks in the hard plastic shells. That computer and all that have followed changed my life for the better. I was the only person on my dorm floor with a computer AND a printer. I traded many a chocolate chip cookie for time at the keyboard. The following summer a job in the university’s IT department dropped in my lap. A Fortuitous occurrence, but only possible because of the skills I had already developed. I was blessed to have an amazing boss. Mary believed we were there to learn as much as work. She would hand me software (Excel, MS File, PageMaker) and tell me to learn how to use it because I’d be assisting in the training classes the next month. When I was staring down the barrel of graduation with no idea what I wanted to do next, Mary pointed out that I was pretty good at my job (training and technical support) and that I could even pursue a Master’s degree. So, I did.

Mac operations and technical support came easy to me. For the first time, I was known for my skills and expertise and not my visual impairment and blonde hair. I worked in Mac tech support for more than ten years. I was briefly dual platform, but Windoze, just never made sense to me.

On the left my Mac LC on the right, my Mac 512ke with external floppy drive. — My Mac LC when it was brand new to me. The 512ke retired. It lead a long life later going to a friend when she web back to school for a B.S. in Nursing and eventually ending up in a kindergarten classroom in Medford.

All these years and careers later and I’m still a diehard Apple user. A Macbook, iPod, iPhone and iPad are all part of my daily routine (yes, I’m spoiled). I use the phone to take pictures of menus at a distance so I can enlarge them and read them. My kids are using the iPad to download books for the visually impaired. With the Read2Go app, they can make the font as big as they need it and change the color of the text and the background for minimum eye strain and maximum contrast.

Could all these things be done on other devices? Sure, but I would argue that Apple did it first and Apple does it better. Their commitment to ease of use and effective interface design has changed everything.

Jobs was a visionary. I hear he could be a challenge to work for, but you really can’t argue with the results he garnered. Rest in Peace Mr. Jobs, you left an indelible mark on this world and I for one am extremely grateful for all you accomplished.

I bought this t-shirt at a MacWorld Expo Boston. I modified it to honor Steve Jobs

Bermuda Briefly

October 3, 2011 · 2 Comments ·

A week ago at this time, I was in Bermuda. It was sunny and warm and on day three of a six day/five night cruise I had definitely found my happy place.

Like all good things the trip came to an end and we touched down into reality. We came back with a lot of great memories with old friends, some new friends, a bottle of rum (or 3) and a desire to make unplugged vacations a more regular occurrence in our lives going forward.

There is much to blog about but in the mean time, here are a few photos to tide you over.

Live Fearless Lee

Or at least that's what I tell myself