T's Big Day with Obama

Yesterday was a busy day, but the most exciting part was that T was able to attend the town hall meeting President Obama had in St. Louis yesterday!

We had been at my parents house on Sunday and on the way home saw the big helicopters flying in and landing at the high school (they must have been doing a security thing before Wednesday's big event). Being the nosey person I am I pulled out my iPhone in the car (Hubby was driving, not me) and Googled it. I found out about the town hall meeting and that we could apply for tickets. I applied right then and later my mom also applied. Monday night she got the call that she was picked for 2 tickets to the event. She called us and said she would take T with her!

T was very excited about this chance to see President Obama in person. He has been following him thru the campaign and election. The day he took office that was our entire school day. T even sent a congrats note via the WhiteHouse.gov website on that day, plus he wrote a snail mail letter as well. He received an email response to the note even which was exciting. Yesterday they had to wait about 2 1/2 hours after they arrived before the actual event started and when T told me that he include "but it was worth the wait Mom!" Isn't that great? I mean I am just thrilled that he was able to see the President in person and that he gets the importance of it all. My mom had never been in the same room as a President either so she was very excited as well. At the end of the meeting President Obama put his hands out to sort of shake hands, high five, etc. with the crowd and my mom was one of them. Poor T said "I was too short", he will be shooting up soon though I'm sure.

T recorded the event on his Flip Video and is going to put it on a DVD to keep along with making another video of himself describing the day and his thoughts and feelings on all of it. This will be such a great keepsake for him. All of this on 100th day in office too! We just could not have had a better social studies class for homeschooling yesterday!

Wordless Wednesday

Was in the ER today and hubby made me this get well soon balloon. Will write more about the ER stuff later today or tomorrow.

Mapping of the Cat Brain

This is from MS Magazine July-August '92 issue
Click the image for larger, more readable image

No Lifeguard On Duty

The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard on duty!

(my favorite quote from Twitter today)

Goody Green Bag Free Shipping

Goody Green Bag is offering a special discount in time for Mother's Day shopping - free shipping on all orders of $25 or more until May 15.

I have been proud of myself for using reusable bags, but I tend to buy them in the store I shop and in my mind I feel funny using bags from one store in another store. Crazy I know, but it is just how I feel. So I have been on the hunt for bags that are not labeled with a particular store name on them. Goody Green Bag is one that I will be reviewing soon - so stay tuned.

If your mom likes to shop a few of these would be a great gift. If she isn't a big shopper, they are also a great gift wrap idea. Instead of buying the typical gift bags, buy a reusable bag like this and put the other gift inside - now it is two gifts in one!

Deli Creations

I recently received a coupon for a free Oscar Mayer Deli Creations sandwich. T is a big sandwich eater so I gave him first dibs but he was not interested, so I picked up my freebie at the grocery store the other day. My choice was the Bistro Ham & Provolone kit.

The flavor was pretty good, a bit on the salty side for me though. It does contain a lot of sodium, 51% of your daily allowance. Maybe some of the other non-ham varieties are a little less. The size is good, not too big, not to small - at least for me. I think Hubby or T would want 2 of them at a time.

Since our family recently started doing the recycling on all of our trash I really notice packaging on items. The Deli Creations unfortunately have a lot for one small sandwich. There is the outer box, this actually has that gray foil type thing in it also that you put the sandwich on in the microwave. Then there is a plastic wrap on everything individually - the bread has a package, the cheese has a package, the ham has a package, and the sauce has a package. It is understandable why they are packaged individually, but still a bit bothersome to have so much trash.

I have been hunting for my receipt but must have already put it in the recycling bin, but I believe the cost is about $3.50 or so. Not cheap, but you really are paying for convenience with these kinds of kits. It is cheaper than buying your lunch out generally, but still quick and easy to grab and go with.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure St. Louis

Today I went with my mom to the Shades of Pink Luncheon which is put on by the Susan G. Komen St. Louis group. It is for breast cancer survivors and their guests. My mom is a 9+ year survivor and has become quite involved with the Komen organization over the years. This was my 2nd year to attend the luncheon and I am honored that Mom asked me to go with her again.

On June 13 is the Komen Race for the Cure in St. Louis. If you cannot make the actual walk on the day you can "Sleep in for the Cure" also which is a cute idea that still helps raise funds. This year they are also doing a "Dine Out for the Cure" on June 11. Just go out to eat and a participating restaurant and a portion of your bill will be benefiting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure St. Louis. Of course, you can just make a direct donation as well.

There is plenty of information on all the different events and options on the Susan G. Komen for the Cure St. Louis page. If you are not in St. Louis you can find your closest city on Komen.org.

Walmart Remodel - UGH!

I have been avoiding shopping at Walmart. Our closest store frankly has never been that great - cranky employees, dirty store, always out of stock on normal items, etc. I normally would drive a few miles farther to the nicer Walmart. Then the started to make the good store into a Super Walmart. The last time we went it was crazy. I cannot believe how HUGE they are making this store. Frankly, I just do not want to shop at a place that big because Murphy's Law says I would need something on two completely different ends of the store. So since they were all crazy I made a few trips to the closer store, guess what? They are remodeling this store too! They are not making it into a super store, but why in the world are they doing them at the same time? Come to find out the next closest store after these is also being remodeled! It seems Walmart is not being hurt any by the current economy I guess.

Tonight there were a couple of items that I needed that Target does not carry so I had to go to Walmart. Upon entering it was not too bad, just a whole lot of emptiness actually. Then I actually tried to find things on my list. The store is totally turned around and aisles going every which way. It makes no sense how they are laying things out. Obviously some things are out of order still, but you could tell some spots were finished and they make no sense.

My biggest grips is not that they are remodeling. It is that they do not have people in the stores to help guide their customers around during the remodel. Maybe some extra signs would be helpful as well. There were plenty of employees in the store, but as usual they were standing around talking to each other rather than helping customers (this store is bad about that). My last gripe on this visit was that the cashier seemed annoyed - she rolled her eyes actually - when I said I had my own bags when it was my turn. I mean come on we are all trying to reuse bags these days, don't roll your eyes at people when they actually do it.

Walmart work on that customer service please!

Does This Pomegranate Count?

We all know how good pomegranates are for you. Do you think this counts? It is the Bacardi Silver Mojito Pomegranate - I mean it has to count for something right? C'mon, just agree with me!

Seriously these are very tasty. I picked them up at the grocery store today. T about fell over I think because I am not a big drinker and so it just surprised him that I bought them. They just seemed to call my name though as I walked by. Robyn.....oh Robyn......

Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific...

Do you see those two bottles? Notice anything? Looking at them side by side you can see plenty of differences, but when they are sitting on the counter by the sink in the morning and you are not quite fully awake, even after a shower, they are just both skinny light green spray bottles.

You can see where this is going right? This morning I grabbed one of the bottles and started squirting it all over my hair. Hmmm, this is spraying out really easily today. Then I go to rub it into my hair and, wait a minute, it isn’t sticky either! Ack – I squirted the cucumber melon body spray all over my hair! Luckily I just towel dried it a bit again and it was ok and I moved onto the spray gel. I guess it could have been worse; I could have used the spray gel all over me as body spray. That would have been a sticky mess!

I remember my aunt telling me a similar story long ago. She was getting ready for work and thought she was grabbing the aerosol hair spray and instead she grabbed her aerosol antiperspirant/deodorant. She laughed and said her hair did not sweat all day!

Happy Earth Day!

This picture is from NASA and the Apollo 17 Crew from 3/25/07

Learn more about Earth Day from the Earth Day Network

Participate in Earth Mosaic 4/22

Have a camera? Great, then take pictures tomorrow as part of the Earth Day celebration and share them as part of the Earth Mosaic event. It is super simple to participate and you do not have to be a pro and you do not have to have a fancy camera. Just point, shoot, and share!

You can find all the details on the Earth Mosaic website and you can follow them on twitter @EarthMosaic

Holocaust Museum Visit

Today T and I went with two other homeschool families to visit the Holocaust Museum in St. Louis. If you live in St. Louis make time to go and visit this museum! There are several other similar museums around the country and in other countries. You can find a list of Holocaust Museums here and I really do urge you to make the time to go and visit one of them.

The St. Louis Holocaust Museum is not huge at all, but it is packed full of history, photos, displays, and actual items. The museum has school groups going thru regularly and they told us that all other visitors are welcome to tag along so you can hear the docent as well. Plus, today the student groups were going to have a survivor speak and we could sit in on that as well. We halfway followed along with one of the school groups and halfway read on our own. We did go in with them to hear the survivors talk. This gentleman told his story of being a child in Germany and the beginning of everything and how things changed for him, how his father was taken away, and about his mother being able to legal get him out of Germany as a child. When he graduated from high school here in the US he was able to join the US Army and went and fought in Germany even. After his very moving talk we went back out to finish looking around and we were very lucky to meet another survivor who stopped and spoke with us. She was a survivor of Auschwitz and told us about some of her time at the concentration camp and about when they were freed. It was chilling listening to her retell this story to us. I really feel so honored to have been able to hear two survivors of these horrors today. I just truly cannot put into words the feelings I felt today, I can only say that it was a very moving experience.

T said it was odd to him to feel such sadness and anger at the same time. He felt so sad for what so many people went thru and all those who suffered and those who died and all those whose lives were completely changed. At the same time he was so angry at Hitler and those who committed these horrible acts along with those who did nothing to stop it from happening. It was definitely an intense experience for him but something I’m glad he was able to experience, especially hearing from the two survivors in their own words in person.

History is generally not my favorite subject. I did not enjoy it in school because I found it a bit boring; I struggle with teaching it sometimes for the same reason. T finds more of it interesting that I so that helps, but it still is not his favorite. Today however, we were able to make that connection to history which brings it to a new level. We have done other museums and events to learn about history before as homeschoolers, but today was undoubtedly the most moving and influential for either of us.

Always Infinity Review

Today is an example of the fact that I have the chance to review all types of products. I actually am fairly selective and pass on many things. I try to stick with products that I do already use or might use. When Family Review Network asked about reviewing the Always Infinity pads I said sure – I mean it is a product area I have to use.

Let me start by saying generally I am fairly brand loyal when it comes to feminine products like these. I mean you find something that does what you need it to do and just move on. When samples are available though I will try them to see what is new and/or improved. It has been many years since I have tried the Always line of pads because frankly I did not like the old top lining on them years ago. When I received the samples I was happy to see that the top lining had changed a great deal and was less “plastic-like” in feeling. The other interesting change was that the outer “envelope” of the pad is also the sticky protector that you tear off – one less piece of trash. The Always Infinity is a nice shape and stays put very nicely. Absorption also just as it needs to be and they are super thin which is a must for me. Overall, I would say the changes since I last tried are all for the better. If you would like your own sample you can request one (USA only) on the Always Infinity website.

Twitter & Celebrities

I love Twitter. It is fun, interesting, entertaining, useful, engaging, helpful, well you get the idea. This weekend many who know I twitter asked my thoughts on @Oprah being on twitter. Hmmm, well I don’t really consider her on twitter. I mean I know they said she sent out her first tweet on her show, but she has all these followers and only follows 10. My guess is that if anyone continues to use that actual account it will just be someone on her team to do PR stuff. I don’t mind that celebs do that, but you really aren’t using twitter in an interactive way doing that. Just spitting out stuff and never responding to others is not what I think “being on twitter” is really all about. I’m sure many have their own private real twitter accounts too – but that isn’t the follow me link that you are going to find on their websites now is it?

Balsamic & Garlic Pork Loin Roast

Hubby generally does not like pork roasts so it is not something I make very often, but they were on sale this week so I picked a roast up. The biggest problem Hubby has is usually that they are dry. This comes from overcooking which is why you really need to use a thermometer and pull the roast at 145° to avoid drying out. I served this with mashed potatoes and Trader Joe's Brittany Blend of veggies (haricot vert, wax beans, and carrots). By the way, this was our first time trying the Brittany Blend from TJ and it was good.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pound Pork Loin Roast
• 6 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning (this is the brand we use and love - other brands of "Montreal steak seasoning" just aren't the same)
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Poke a few holes into your roast all over with a paring knife. This lets some of the marinade seep into it. In a glass baking dish combine the garlic, steak seasoning, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil and combine. Place the roast in and rotate to cover with marinade, you may also want to spoon a bit on the top. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 3 hours turning once or twice during that time. Make sure you use a glass baking dish that is not too much larger than your roast.

Preheat your oven to 350° F. Take baking dish out of fridge while oven preheats and remove plastic wrap. Place in oven when ready and cook for about 75 to 90 minutes, until the roast reaches 145° F in the center. Baste the roast about every 15 minutes as it cooks. Definitely use a thermometer to check for 145° and do not go just on time as you may overcook it. Remove from oven and let rest at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Joolwe.com Earring Review

For the past few weeks I have been wearing a new pair of earrings from Joolwe.com from a Family Review Network campaign. I have had more folks commenting on these earrings during that time than any of the others that I wear.

When I was offered the chance to review an item from Joolwe.com these lovely sterling silver CZ stud earrings jumped right out at me. I was not sure though what they would be like in real life when they arrived since in the past I have been slightly disappointed with jewelry purchased at other online stores. When the package arrived I was delighted by the earrings and their sparkle and shine. The other thing I really noticed was their weight - these are not dinky light weight earrings at all. They are substantial! Now I was given these earrings as part of the review tour so I am not sure if the way they were shipped was standard or not. Mine arrived in a small plastic zip bag inside a padded envelope. If that is the standard way they are shipped you would of course need to repackage them if giving as a gift.

Joolwe.com has a variety of pieces available, including more great sterling silver earrings. While you visit them to see what other offerings they have be sure to sign up for their monthly giveaway where you can win a set of these same earrings. Plus they have a nice blog that currently as an interview with my fried Zipporah Sandler from Champagne Living!

Visiting Grandma

This morning I am headed off to visit my Grandma who is still in the hospital. She lives "in the country" and the hospitals in those areas just tend to move much slower than they do down here in the city. We are hoping by Monday she will be able to go back home.

I usually send her flowers when she is in the hospital, but this time I thought I would try something different. I just picked up a small, super-soft teddy bear to take to her today. He can be something for her to hold on to on know that we love her when she is alone at the hospital. It feels like you just want to give her a constant hug to make her feel better, but of course that is not possible. Hopefully, the teddy bear can be like a little hug when one of us can't be there.

Go Green & Win 2 Washer/Dryers and more!

I am loving these new Electrolux eco-friendly washer and dryer sets in this beautiful limited edition shade of Kelly Green!

Electrolux has also kicked of a virtual flower garden to help raise awareness and funds for Global Green USA. When you go to electroluxappliances.com and plant a virtual flower for a friend, Electrolux will donate $1 to Global Green USA to support their healthy green schools initiative across America. PLUS when you log on to the site and plant virtual flowers you are entered for a chance to win the Kelly Green front-load washer and dryer!

PLUS Mom Central is giving away a set to a member of the Mom Central community! After you plant your virtual flower head on over to Mom Central and let them know which flower you planted and share your own laundry tips to enter their giveaway!

That is TWO different chances to win this amazing Electrolux Kelly Green Washer & Dryer Set!

PLUS to earn 2 extra entries in my Comment & Win Giveaway for a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card follow these steps. (You can see the full details of my Comment & Win Giveaway here)

#1 - Comment here on this post with a green tip!

#2 - When you go to plant a virtual flower on Electrolux's site, send a flower to me (you will see the form on the site) for another extra entry (one time only please). You can send it to robynsonlineworld@gmail.com - make sure that you put the email address you normally use here on the blog so I can track who you are. You only have until April 27th to earn this extra entry chance!

Good luck and remember to share your green tips in the comments!

Ragu's 2 New Flavors!

I have taken another Mom Central tour, this time tasting the two new flavors from Ragu. Growing up my mom always made spaghetti with Ragu's Old World Style Pasta Sauce, and as an adult for a quick spaghetti supper I use the same thing. I have recipes for homemade sauce that I make also, but for a nice quick, always delicious, and super easy dinner I brown up some hamburger, stir in the Ragu Mushroom Sauce, and serve it over spaghetti. Sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese over the top and add a piece of garlic bread and the family is set!
Now Ragu has two new flavors that I had the chance to try. The first I tried last night was the Sweet Tomato Basil. My cousin and her hubby come for dinner on Wednesday and she is a tiny bit of a picky eater so nothing extreme for her. I decided to make my stuffed green peppers and use the Ragu Sweet Tomato Basil sauce in it. The basil in the sauce is not quite as pronounced as I would have liked, but it still tasted nice in the dish. It is a thick sauce though so in the future I may thin it down with a bit of red wine for this dish. Regardless, the meal was a success because they ate every last bit of it. T was looking for even more - sorry T.

Tonight I tried the Margherita flavor. I thought instead of using my own recipe this time I would try one of Ragu's recipes from their website. Hubby is a steak kind of guy so I tried the Steak Pizzaiola with Mozzarella. This got 2 thumbs up from Hubby. T liked it as well and while I thought it was good, it was more a 1 thumb up for me. It is a fairly quick and easy recipe to make. I did use a sirloin tip steak rather than the ribeye steaks the recipe called for - I mean we are all pinching pennies these days! For the mushrooms I used crimini rather than plain button mushrooms since we all like them a bit better. Along with the meat I made some mini bow tie pasta to use the extra sauce on, plus I sauteed some broccoli.

I think the new flavors of Ragu are a great addition to their lineup and I will be using them again in the future. While I love that Ragu sauces are quick and easy, I also love that they are all natural, low fat, a good source of lycopene, vitamins A and C — and more than a full serving of veggies in every 1/2 cup of sauce! Trying to get more fruits and veggies in our diet is a constant for me so this is a no brainer for me.

Thanks again to Mom Central and Ragu for letting me participate in this tour, it was delicious!

Life

I know all of the ups and downs and goods and bads and births and deaths are part of life. We have to have them all. My head logically knows all of these things, but my heart does not seem to want to go along with the program.

My great aunt passed away on Sunday. I have wonderful memories of her from when I was a little girl, although she grew apart from our family in my late teen years. This was one of my Grandma H's sisters, you might remember that Grandma H just passed away in late December.

Now, my Grandma C is back in the hospital. She was admitted again last night. This has been a back and forth thing with her over the past year or so. Grandpa has been trying to take care of her but he has his own health issues also. I am hoping that my mom and her brothers will be able to figure out a solution to have someone come into my Grandparent's home to help take care of them because I know Grandma does not want to be in a nursing home. I really wish we lived closer to them right now. A few minutes ago I called her on her cell phone, she always takes it with her, and she sounded awful. She said she was trying to sleep so I told her I would talk to her later but I took them time of course to tell her how much I love her. That is what I try to do the most often for her, just remind her that I love her. I am afraid she will not be with us much longer and it just breaks my heart.

National Poetry Month & Shel Silverstein

April is National Poetry Month and while poetry is not something I "get" all the time, one of my favorites goes back to my childhood. Shel Silverstein was delightful when I was a little girl and I still am equally delighted with him as an adult. I started reading his poems from A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and Falling Up to T long ago and he enjoyed it just as much.

T actually seems to understand poetry a bit better than I do. Maybe for homeschool lessons we will flip flop a bit and I will let him be the teacher and I will be the student for some poetry. It is always nice to change things up now and then.

For those of you interested the Shel Silverstein website has a PDF of some lessons that you might find helpful. The website also has a kids section with activities, downloads, and more fun. For more lesson suggestions on all types of poetry, check out Poets.org's Tips for Teachers.

It Smells Good In Here!

Recently I was sent some samples of The Fragrance Collection by Glade and I have to say, it smells good in here! That is not to say that it was stinky before, it was more unscented (unless I was cooking). I received one of the new scented reed diffusers in the Currants & Acai scent plus a soy based candle in the Earth Awakening scent.
The soy candle I took with me to my cousins last week because she is a candle fanatic. The scent was very nice and light. At first she thought it was not as strong as she would like, but then she realized the air was blowing it away from where she was sitting. In that area though it was a very nice scent. The other noticeable difference was that when you blow out the soy candle there is not that unpleasant smell and black sooty smoke.

The reed diffuser I have had out in my house for well over a week. The currants & acai scent is very light and fruity, but not overly sweet. I have the diffuser in my office which seems to get more of a stale scent as it has the least amount of airflow into the room. It is not overpowering the small office at all and it has lightly drifted into the hallway and into the family room even. T keeps a different diffuser in his room (teenage boys rooms smell) and his is huge, what I really liked about this new Glade diffuser is the size. You can see in the picture it is only about 6" tall. It is easy to tuck away and not have this giant reeds poking out everywhere.

I have mentioned before that Hubby has asthma. With his condition certain air scents can aggravate him easily, but neither the candle or the reed diffuser seem to be a problem for him. He spends a great deal of time in the office with me in the evening even and still no problems.

I really would recommend trying out any of The Fragrance Collection by Glade if you want a lighter, fresher scent solution for your home. Thanks again to Glad for the chance to try these out!

Robyn's Artichoke Pasta Salad

We headed up to my grandparents house today in the country to celebrate the holiday. I was asked to bring a side dish, so I brought the one they request most often which is my Artichoke Pasta Salad.

I originally found the recipe in Cooking Light magazine a few years ago, but I have changed and adjusted it over the years to come up with my version which I am sharing today.

Ingredients:

• 3 cans artichoke hearts, drained and divided
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup cold water
• Juice of 1 large lemon (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• pinch of salt
• 6 medium cloves garlic, minced finely
• 1 16oz box of cooked radiatore pasta (spirals or bowtie pasta also work well)
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 can whole black olives, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

In a food processor, combine 1 1/2 cans of the artichokes, oil, water, lemon juice, basil, oregano, pepper, salt, and garlic. Process into a paste consistency. This is the dressing for your salad.

In a large bowl combine cooked pasta, onion, tomatoes, olives, and remaining 1 1/2 cans of artichoke hearts. Now toss with the artichoke salad dressing you made. Chill for at least 2 hours.

When ready to serve add in the feta cheese and toss again.

The Mixer - Online Cooking Club

Need some cooking hints and tips? Betty Crocker has a free online cooking club called The Mixer. They are going to have free online cooking class videos, tips, recipes, etc. I just signed up myself and it looks like they have some interesting things.

Email Rules To Know

While many of us have been online for a while and are used to emails, there are new people still learning about email all the time. Of course, those of us who have been using it for a long time can use some helpful reminders also. None of the following things are set-in-stone laws, the email police will not hunt you down, but they are common "rules" most folks try to follow and appreciate when others follow as well.

All Caps - I will start out easy. TYPING IN ALL CAPS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING! Please avoid it (unless you really want to shout). For the vast majority of people it is hard to read an entire message typed in all caps. If you do it because it is bigger, instead just increase your font size on your screen instead of torturing others.

Antivirus - Be sure to have an anti-virus program running on your computer and keep the definitions up to date and of course make sure it is scanning your incoming and outgoing email if you are using Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.

Warnings - I know that some things just sound scary and you want to warn your friends and family. About 99.9% of the things I see forwarded (or posted on message boards) are fake. Please take a moment to search and find out first if it is true or not. Pick a couple of keywords about the warning and put that on Google along with the word hoax and see what comes up. If you do not want to take the time to verify a warning then just do not bother sending it to start with please.

Jokes, Chain Letters, Forwards, etc. - Email is fun and we enjoy sharing, but some folks get carried away and just send everything to everyone they know constantly. Edit yourself. Limit the number of jokes or funny animal pictures or cutesy things you send out. If it has been forwarded to you and tons of other people but you still want to pass it along be considerate and strip off all the other forward headers first. The easiest way is to just copy the actual part you want to share and paste it into a new email and send that.

Subject Lines - Try to give an idea about what is in the email. Do not use "how are you", "hi", "check this out", etc. because so many worms and viruses use those now also. If you are emailing about dinner next week - use that as the subject. If the email is about a cooking blog you want to share, use that as the subject. You get the idea.

BCC - If you must send a message to many people then use the BCC function in your email (they all have it - just read your help guide if you do not know where it is). This is instead of putting everyone's email address in the TO or CC line. Why? Because if you use TO or CC then everyone you are sending the email to can see everyone else's email address also. Not all folks want to share their email address with everyone, please be considerate of that.

Attachments - Do not attach huge files. Many email providers have caps on the size of attachments anyway and it can really bog things down. If you know the recipient still uses a dial-up modem to connect then definitely do not send anything big. If you want to share photos be sure to shrink them before sending. There are plenty of file sharing options other than email these days also which might be a better option.

Spell Check, Periods, Paragraphs - No one is going to mark up your email with a red pen to correct your mistake, but do put a little effort into making it more readable. I think all email programs have a spell check feature these days, run a quick check before sending. Try to use periods or hyphens or paragraphs to separate ideas. It is very hard to read one continuous run on sentence that is about 27 different things.

I've covered some basics but I'm sure you all have other pet peeves about email. Share in the comments what drives you nuts about some emails you receive (other than spam which bugs us all). If you have a helpful tip be sure to include that also.

Acts of Kindness

I am always still amazed at how you get that nice warm & fuzzy feeling inside when you do something nice for another person. Today I was able to help my neighbor with something just by printing out some information from the internet and making a phone call with her. She has had a lot of tough times lately and she teared up because she was just happy that this was done. I saw her tear up and that warm & fuzzy feeling just washed over me and I was happy to have been able to make such a positive impact at least on a few moments of her day.

There are always lots of things about helping groups, charities, etc., available to us but sometimes it is that one on one act of kindness that is the most rewarding. I encourage you all to try to find one simple thing to help another person out as often as you can. Hubby and I both have always tried to be helpful and we are able to see that T has picked up that same spirit and he tries to be helpful as well. Even a smile can make a big difference to a single person and change their entire day!

Haagen-Dazs Five Review & Giveaway

As you may recall, the other day I mentioned I received a goodie packed in dry ice. We used the dry ice for some fun experiments already, but tonight we sampled the goodie that came in it. Four new flavors of Haagen-Dazs “Five” ice creams! This is part of another great Mom Central tour that I am thrilled to be a part of. Along with sending samples for me and my family, Haagen-Dazs has also provided some to giveaway to my readers!

The big question of course would be “are they good?” Of course they are good; it’s Haagen-Dazs for goodness sake, what a silly question! Honestly, Hubby and I really did enjoy these flavors. T’s opinion really was not as favorable but his palette is still learning and growing even at 14, plus he is a vanilla ice cream kind of person.

Our samples were of the new “Five” line from Haagen-Dazs. They only have 5 ingredients each. Milk, sugar, eggs, cream, and the other flavor item. No odd unpronounceable names on the list of ingredients. Just simple, quality ingredients that you can feel good about indulging in. You can see the lists of ingredients for all the new five varieties and the nutritional info (because I know some of you will ask) on the Haagen-Dazs website

• Mint: This was my favorite of all the flavors we tried. It is just the right amount of mint, not over powering like many mint flavored things sometimes can be. This is good on its own, but I could easily see this being served with some chocolate curls or maybe alongside a flourless chocolate cake.

• Passion Fruit: Hubby gave two giant thumbs up to this flavor. I liked it as well, very fruit, but again not overpowering. Hubby grills pineapple rings frequently in the summer and I think they would be great with this flavor.

• Ginger: I was shocked at just how much like fresh ginger this tasted. I always keep a hand of ginger in the freezer to mince up into dishes when I cook and had just used some Tuesday and when I tasted this ice cream it was just the same exact flavor and smell as when I minced up the ginger the other night.

• Brown Sugar: When you first taste it, it really does taste like brown sugar. However, after a second or two it goes into that molasses flavor (brown sugar is made with molasses) and it is a bit on the bitter side. I don’t think I would like to eat this alone, but with another item that balanced the flavor it would be wonderful. Maybe with some fresh from the oven apple cobbler?

The Giveaway: Haagen-Dazs has supplied me with prizes for 5 winners! Each winner will receive a coupon good for a free Haagen-Dazs item of their choice (14oz or bars).

Required Entry: Visit the Haagen-Dazs Five website and tell me which of these new flavors you would like to try first.

Extra Entries: The following are all extra things you can do for more entries. Leave an additional comment for each thing you do to earn extra entries.

• Blog about this giveaway on your own blog (please don’t copy my entire post onto your blog though). Leave the direct link to your post in your comment for an extra entry.
  
  
• Subscribe via email to my feed and let me know in your comment for an extra entry.
  
  
• Follow me on Twitter @RobynsWorld and send a tweet about the giveaway. Leave a direct link to your tweet (instructions here) in your comment for an extra entry. Here is a tweet you can use (or make your own):
  Win Free Haagen-Dazs Five Ice Cream from @RobynsWorld http://snurl.com/HGfive Plz RT

Rules: Only one of each entry method listed per person/family/household. No entering on behalf of others, using extra identities or others identities, no automated program entries, etc. If I catch you cheating you will be banned from this and all of my future giveaways! This giveaway is only open to those with US mailing addresses, ages 18+ only. All entries must be received by 11:59 pm Central Time on Friday April 17, 2009. I will pick the winner and email them and they have 48 hours to claim the prize. If no response, I will pick a new winner. Good luck!

This giveaway has ended
Watch for the winners and check out the active giveaways on the main
Giveaways & Winners Page

Meet the iPhone

Hubby pitched in with my other birthday money from family and I got a new iPhone for my big birthday present! Isn't she pretty? Yes, I have decided the phone is a she for some reason. Maybe I will have to giver her a name even. Hey, if we can do it for cars we can do it for iPhones too!

I really am amazed at all the cool things I can do with this phone. It has some great applications built in plus so many more to pick from in the App Store. My first download was twitterfon, of course, so I could use Twitter while I'm away from the computer. I am loving that!

Finding a case is going to be my goal. I did buy one at Target last night, but I am not crazy about it since it crowds the sides of the phone. I need something a little more minimal I suppose. I did put a screen protector on right away to protect the actual screen from scratching and to make it easier to clean off.

T helped me last night (yes I got my gift the day before my birthday and I didn't want to wait to use it) setting up the iTunes stuff. He is our resident iTunes/iPod guru as I have mentioned before. His fee was paid in trade because I gave him my old RAZR cell phone to use which was an upgrade for him.

Since I am new to all of this I would love to hear from you about any accessory suggestions, app suggestions, tips, tricks, etc you all have for the iPhone. Comment away!

Making Life Better - Revisited

I shared with you all about the Making Life Better site in March and so many of you found it helpful in a variety of ways. Today I thought I would share a few more of my favorite things from their site.

Many of us are preparing for a big holiday dinner coming up, some are celebrating Easter, some Passover, some just celebrating Springtime! If you are a coupon clipper no doubt you spotted the free holiday ham or turkey rebate form (details here) in this past Sunday's newspaper. If you are doing the ham rebate they have a fantastic recipe for Country-Style Glazed Ham on the site - very simple and sounds very yummy!

Even tho my family is not Italian, we always seem to end up with a pasta dish (or two or three) at many holiday meals. Ragu No Boiling Lasagna is simple and inexpensive crowd pleaser at only $19.92 for a huge 12 serving batch.

If you are running around like a mad woman these days preparing for guests you might feel you have run out of time to look nice. Make Life Better has a great list of 10 Everyday Beauty Tricks for busy moms. Taking a minute or two for even just a couple of these tricks might give you the pick-me-up you need to get you through the craziness of the holiday.

Do you eat breakfast? This is a meal I skip pretty regularly, but after reading Bob Greene's article I can see it's something I really need to try to fit in each day. If you are trying to lose weight this is particularly true according to the article.

You can also sign up for the Making Life Better newsletter also to get emails about coupons, promos, sweepstakes, recipes, and more - it's free of course

Thanks again to Mom Central for turning me on to such a great resource!

Dry Ice Experiment Videos

Today I received a shipment of some goodies (more on that in a later post) via FedEx that was packed with some dry ice pellets. Since we don't always have dry ice just laying around we thought we would experiment with it a bit. I think that this is another benefit of being a homeschooling family - taking the opportunity to do things like this whenever the opportunities arise. Nothing fancy today but here are a few short videos of some of the things we did.

This one is the Singing Spoon

This is just some standard dry ice fog.

This pitcher we added some dish washing liquid to along with some red food coloring. The bubbles were still the same, but the red made it easier to see the boiling inside the pitcher.

Happy No Housework Day!

You know from reading I enjoy all types of holidays, well today is a doozy. It is No Housework Day! Can you believe they have a day for this? I love it!

Apparently, this is every April 7. A nice early birthday present for me (by birthday is April 9). I was actually planning on doing housework today, but hey, I can't let this momentous holiday pass without acknowledging it. The dust bunnies, well I guess they are more like cat fur bunnies at our house, will have to wait another day.

If you are normally the person who does the housework in your home, take the day off! If someone else in your home does the housework, let them take the day off. Whatever the situation and however good or bad you are at housework, know that the effort you normally put in is appreciated.

Now go dig out those bon bons, sit back, and enjoy your day off.

100+ Free MP3 Downloads at Amazon

For the music lovers out there, Amazon is offering over 100 free songs from 12 free Indie album samplers. Lots of interesting songs to pick from.

Cat Solves Printer Problem

Too funny! This is not either of my cats - but I just love the video and wanted to share.

Win Morel Mushrooms!

Mushrooms - you usually either love them or hate them. I am a lover and morels are at the top of my mushroom list. Although I would really love to be greedy and win this for myself, I have to share the chance with the rest of my fellow morel lovers.

UPDATE - Oops, sorry folks. The entry period for both of these has now past. I'll keep an eye out for more mushroom giveaways though :-)

Twitter too much? Try Flutter!

Is Twitter just too much, too many characters at 140 per tweet? Here comes Flutter! This is a hilarious mocumentary about the new concept of nano-blogging!

Math Emergency!

Apparently this boy thinks his math homework is an emergency! He called 911 to get help with his math problems. I am guessing that his next lesson will not be over math, but more about what is and is not an emergency that we call 911 about.

Click the play arrow to hear his call.

New Pots & Pans!

Woohoo - yesterday afternoon FedEx dropped off my new Emerilware Stainlees Steel 14 piece Cookware Set! I have a large 12" skillet from the Emerilware line that I have been using for about a year and a half now and I abosultely have loved it. That is the pan I always grab to cook with first so I knew I wanted more pieces from the Emerilware Stainless Steel Collection. Generally, I would buy individual pieces since I have noticed in some sets there are items I end up never, or rarely, using. This set though really did seem to have all pieces I think I will use on a regular basis so I took the plunge. To my delight they were on sale for $254.96 when I finally went to order them and I had saved up enough Amazon.com gift cards from here and there so that, along with free super saver shipping, my total cost out of pocket was $0! Happy dance, you gotta love free - it's a good price! On top of that I got an extra free pan from Emeril's non-stick line also.

One thing I have to say though since I now am starting to appreciate recycling more, while I love that they want me to get my product safely, there was a ton of packaging with this. One jumbo outer box with a ton of brown paper stuffed in to take up the extra space from another inner box, then the actual product box. Inside the actual Emerilware box was plenty of cardboard pieces, foam wrap, and plastic wrap also. Yikes! This is going to fill up our recycling bin for the entire week - maybe I can find someone on Freecycle who can use them when I offer up my old pots and pans too?

If you are in the market for new pots and pans I would really recommend the Emerilware Stainlees Steel collection. I know TV chefs put their names on a lot of things and sometimes I think they are overpriced and not the greatest items, but I really feel Emeril has done a nice job with this collection and it is worth the money.

Clorox Wipes Decor Review & Giveaway

I have been using the original Clorox Disinfecting Wipes in my home for a while now. They are very handy to just pop open the lid and pull out a wipe to clean up all over the house, especially the kitchen and bathrooms. When I learned thru Family Review Network that Clorox had a new package design I jumped at the chance to try them out!

As you can see the outer package has changed significantly. My sample was the pink design, but there are several other designs available. The box is a more attractive shape as well as design which is nice since I usually leave them sitting out because we use them so frequently. I thought that design change was it but then I was thrilled to see they had updated the dispensing part inside as well. In the original packaging the dispenser has been the cause of many grumbles and groans in our house. The originals are all one continuous, but perforated, sheet of wipes. To start them from the center was difficult and you always ended up yanking out several. Also, if you pulled to hard you ended up with it sticking out and you could not shut the lid all the way which would dry the top one out. Once you got towards the end they always fell down inside and were very difficult to get back out without pinching your fingers in the top or getting wet. The new package design is so much nicer and easier to use. They are single sheets which mean they dispense easily right from the start. There is plenty of room to grab a wipe out of the box also and the lid seems to close nicer even. On top of this they also are a bit thicker and just seem to work a bit better even. Bravo to Clorox for making these needed improvements!

The one drawback is that the new Decor Canisters are more expensive and they have fewer wipes in each package. You have to decide if the price difference and difference in packaging is worth it for you. For me I really like the added ease of use of the new package along with a more appealing look since I leave them out on the counter.

Clorox is also having a design contest (the deadline to enter that portion has past) and you have a chance to win a $1,000 Macy's Gift Card just by voting for your favorite design between April 1 -15.

The Giveaway: Clorox has been very generous and sent me some coupons to share with my readers along with an apron and a totebag! Each coupon is good for a free Clorox Disinfecting Wipes Decor Canister. We will have 5 winners in all: (1) Apron and Free coupon, (1) Totebag and Free coupon, (3) Free coupon.
Required Entry: Visit the Clorox Disinfecting Wipes Decor Canister website and then return here and leave a comment letting me know your favorite new design.

Extra Entries: The following are all extra things you can do for more entries. Leave an additional comment for each thing you do to earn extra entries.

• Blog about this giveaway on your own blog (please don’t copy my entire post onto your blog though). Leave the direct link to your post in your comment for an extra entry.
• Subscribe via email to my feed and let me know in your comment for an extra entry.
• Follow me on Twitter @RobynsWorld and send a tweet about the giveaway. Leave a direct link to your tweet (instructions here) in your comment for an extra entry. Here is a tweet you can use (or make your own):
  Win Free Clorox Wipes Decor & More from @RobynsWorld http://snurl.com/cloroxdecor Plz RT
  

Rules: Only one of each entry method listed per person/family/household. No entering on behalf of others, using extra identities or others identities, no automated program entries, etc. If I catch you cheating you will be banned from this and all of my future giveaways! This giveaway is only open to those with US mailing addresses, ages 18+ only. All entries must be received by 11:59 pm Central Time on Monday April 13, 2009. I will pick the winner and email them and they have 48 hours to claim the prize. If no response, I will pick a new winner. Good luck!

This giveaway has ended.
Visit the Giveaways & Winners page for the winners
and all of the open giveaways still available!

Thanks Hubby!

Just wanted to say publicly thanks to Hubby who is spent Friday night so far, and I know probably most of his Saturday (if not all) fixing the air conditioning in my Durango for me. I so appreciate you doing it for me!

More Silly Instructions

Just a quick video of some more silly instructions on a product I bought today. A sink strainer of all things.

Birthday Coupons Have Begun!

You all know about signing up with your favorite restaurants and stores online for their "clubs", "memberships", email lists, etc. don't you? They send various discounts, notices, events, and coupons throughout the year, but on your birthday so many of them send you freebies. My birthday (April 9) is just a week away and that must be the trigger for companies to send out the birthday goodies. So far (I'm sure more are coming) I have gotten these today...

• Free chocolate cake from Macaroni Grill
• Free dessert at TGI Fridays
• Free Swirl Shake at Arby's
• Free dessert at Fazoli's
• Free "something delightful" from Orange Julius
• Free Blizzard from Dairy Queen
• Free burger from Ruby Tuesday
• Free ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery
• Triple point offer on my Best Buy Reward Zone Membership
• Free burrito from Qdoba
• Free burger from Red Robin
• Buy 1 get 1 free coupon from Sweet Tomatoes

It seems the non-food ones come a little closer to my actual birthday so we will have to wait and see what happens with those. It would be nice if more of them would offer maybe a choice of appetizer or dessert, we don't tend to eat dessert when we go out to eat very often but we do order appetizers. They all vary on if you are required to purchase something else or not, so if you sign up just be sure to read the details on any offers you get.

April Fools Pranks - Final Report

The day is coming to an end so I thought I would update you all on the pranks.

The coins glued to the street did not work out. Sigh. T swore "Shoe Goo" would do the trick but it never hardened I guess and so the coins did not "stick" to the pavement. We will give that one a try next year with some super glue maybe.

At dinner I set the table with the plates upside down and the silverware and napkins on the opposite sides. The silverware and napkins T and Hubby didn't even notice, they did notice the plates though. Both of them both just looked at me and shook their heads and flipped over the plates to get their food on them. They both seem to accept my silly moments as a part of life with me and just go with the flow.

Now the big successes of the day were the pranks T and I played on Hubby via the computer. The screen shot of his desktop so nothing was clickable worked fabulously! Hubby was clueless and looked at me pitifully and asked what was wrong with his computer and could I fix it. I didn't let on and said "oh great, you've been downloading weird programs and stuff again haven't you?". He swore up and down that he had not and that the computer worked fine before he left for work. I made him click all around and let him sweat it out for a minute and then let on that it was a prank. Then we made him sweat a little longer trying to fix it. Finally T showed mercy on him and put it back to normal. Hubby was impressed with the prank.

Finally, we had also changed Hubby's browser homepage to HelloKittyOnline.com instead of our normal family intranet homepage. This took a while for him to notice because many times he opens his browser via links in an email or within another program and it goes to those pages directly instead of just opening the homepage. Right before he went to take a shower I tried to get him to open it and it worked when I asked about the weather. Upon opening he looked and sort of tilted his head for a sec and then "What the hell?????". T and I both busted up on that one. The look on his face was priceless!

I hope you all had a fun April Fools Day! Oh, and yes I seemed to escape the wrath of both T and Hubby for some reason this year. Lucky me!

April Fools Pranks in Progress

T and I have 2 pranks in progress for April Fools Day.

#1 - We glued a handful of change to the street in front of the house. Later this afternoon when kids start coming home or when neighbors walk their dogs we are going to video them trying to pick up the change from T's window.

#2 - On Hubby's computer we took a screenshot of his desktop. Then we created a bitmap image with it and applied it as his desktop image. We hid the real icons and moved the taskbar and hid it. Now when he comes home and goes to click on things to check email or go to websites nothing will happen.

Ahh, the anticipation of this is just cracking me up, T also! I hope we get some good laughs on this. One year I got hubby with giving him a message to call Mr. Lyon and gave him the number to the zoo. It was so funny. Today Hubby was going to try that on some of the guys at work.

I love April Fools Day!