A Room with a sm00 I write about my life in general, but specifically about my daughter, my husband, life in Texas, and my hobbies Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 0 3342

Articles from A Room with a sm00

What a Ripoff! 2008-01-31 14:29:35 I was going to wait until I had more links from the Frogpond to share them here, but I think this one is worthy of its own entry. Ripoff Report is an excellent site for reviewing bad reports on various companies. Yes, there are probably some vindictive people writing reports so the information should be taken with a grain of salt, but it's a little easier to find the negatives this way when doing research before dropping a bundle of money. So many times when trying to find the skinny on various services or products, I run into either advertisements or people who are selling/promoting the product or service in some way. It's not always easy to get both sides of the story. The nice thing about Ripoff Report is that people (including businesses trying to defend themselves) can submit rebuttals/updates/comments to any negative report filed. Another thing about RR is in the event there is actually a serious issue that many people have reported, it's much easier for info ...

One panel down 2008-01-29 13:47:22 Sophie decided she wasn't on board with the morning nap. This isn't really a big deal, other than it puts my shower on hold. I got her up, changed her diaper, and got her dressed. As we were heading back to the living room, I noticed something different about the neighbor's backyard. It took me a minute or two to realize that the difference was the fact that I could actually see the neighbor's backyard. We lost a fence panel to the wind. It's the panel smack in the middle of the back fence. I'm just glad Chui was inside when it fell down.What's really frustrating about this is the fact that we've been talking about replacing the fence with one of our neighbors. Of course, the back fence wasn't the part we were talking about replacing, although we knew it needed to be done soon.I wouldn't be surprised if other panels start to tumble now. They're doing a lot more flopping in the wind now that the first panel has gone down. ...

Ack! 2008-01-28 14:23:49 I have a phone interview 11:30 AM Wednesday this week. Here's hoping Sophie sticks to her normal nap schedule and I can actually carry on a conversation without sounding like an idiot. Ugh. Stomach is already in knots. Fun times ahead. ...

Type it... type it fast. 2008-01-27 02:12:17 73 words free Touch typing This is depressing to me. Way back when, I used to teach a keyboarding class and when I started I was typing 42 words per minute (yeah, I sucked). By the time I reached the end of teaching that class, my scores were somewhere in the 90's. Of course, then I got lazy, I suppose. This test was taken on my laptop so it's possible I would get a slightly higher score sitting at a desk with a larger keyboard, but not by much, I'm sure. Perhaps if I take the test again Edited to add: Taken again at 10:17 AM Sunday 1/27/2008 - Scored 78 with 0 errors. Yes, I am pathetic. I know this. Edited to add: Taken again at sometime Monday 1/28/2008 - Scored 81 with 0 errors. I just had to beat B. Now, I need to get a life. ;) ...

A day at the pond... 2008-01-25 01:03:48 I was catching up on frogs over at the pond today and found a few I thought worth sharing. Jott will actually work with LiveJournal, so I figured a few people on my list will be interested. It also works with Amazon, Blogger, Google, Remember the Milk, and various other sites. Call Jott from any phone, say what needs to be said, and Jott will transcribe what you have to say into readable text. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm very interested to see how well it works. Pipl is almost a little creepy. Type in a name and you can find info here that Google or Yahoo might not be able to find. Granted, it only can list public information, but it makes it pretty darn easy to find that public information. I found many of my old addresses (big deal, right?) as well as information about my deed and my marriage license simply by looking up my name. I will probably use this when looking into daycare centers and such, just to be on the safe side, although I know that's a bit of ...

Scramble... 2008-01-24 15:52:34 Apparently Thompson and Kucinich are out.Drop-outs: Biden Tancredo Dodd Richardson Thompson Kucinich Am I missing anyone?So... who's left?Dems have Hillary, Obama, and Edwards, right? Anyone else? Reps have McCain, Romney, Huckabee, Giulliani, and Paul, right? Who the heck is Hunter and when did he jump into the race? I don't think he's been in any of the quizzes I've taken.Oy. ...

'Scuse me while I puke and die 2008-01-23 23:52:36 This scares me more than snakes and spiders. I mean... like, really creepy scares me, worse than Identity scared me (I don't dig on the scary, but I do love John Cusack!).I think we might not have to worry about whether or not the world is supposed to end in 2012. ...

Tennessee makes me sick... 2008-01-23 22:31:21 It dawned on me while trying to unplug my ears (which decided to clog up on me today, of course) earlier that the last time I recall being seriously ill was when I was in Tennessee on work. I flew home with massive congestion and wound up with an inner ear infection and vertigo, which made for incredibly fun times (like my own personal roller coaster). What is it about that state? I know I don't get sick every time I go there, but still...I woke up this morning thinking the fever was gone to find I was somewhat mistaken. It was still there, just not as high as before. I feel a thousand times better, even though I'm still extremely congested, my cough has worsened, and my ears are all plugged. I was actually able to interact with Sophie today for more than just diaper changes and cuddles. The only problem with that is she is constantly doing stuff to make me laugh (unintentionally, I'm sure) and it sucks to laugh right now since I wind up feeling like I'm abou ...

Eh? 2008-01-23 14:46:43 I suppose I'm a little confused by a few aspects of the writer's strike. I understand that reality television isn't affected, nor would news casts be affected. I'm confused as to why soap operas aren't affected, though. Of course, I suppose also that it's possible they are affected and that I just wouldn't know the difference since I don't watch them and wouldn't know a show was in reruns unless it was scrolling along the bottom of the screen.The other thing that confuses me is all the people who pirate movies stating they're supporting the writer's strike. I mean, I get that piracy doesn't really have anything to do with the strike (right?). but it does have something to do with money and DVDs and such. Wouldn't that thereby put the movie pirates in the little boat of hypocrisy? Maybe there's something else I'm missing. I'm sure there is.I seriously do not recall this happening years ago, but I read ...

Tears are backing up but the faucet appears to be broken... 2008-01-18 00:54:25 Our road trip to Forrest City, AR was rather uneventful... until about 11:00 PM or so. Sophie woke up screaming and had a very difficult time going back to sleep. She eventually did sleep again, but only to wake up screaming. The trip to Union City, TN was much easier, though (also much shorter). She's been very social and pretty well behaved, all things considered. I have to give her lots of credit. We've had no real meltdowns other than in the car the first night and we knew that was because she was tired.She has been quite amusing lately, especially on this trip. B and I have noticed that she's done a lot of maturing and growing within the last week or two. I'm so sad to watch my baby grow up and lose little bits of baby each day, but I'm so proud of the little girl she's becoming. She's putting more and more words together to form longer sentences every day. She's also paying very close attention to her surroundings, listening to so ...

I married a closet liberal! 2008-01-15 01:03:56 Hah! ...

Sophie cuteness 2008-01-14 14:55:36 She's growing so quickly right now. There are things she was doing just last week that I wanted to catch on video but never did, and now she doesn't do those things any longer. Cookie is now teetee instead of toodoo. :( Pizza is still potsy, so I should try to get that one on video. Cracks me up! Anyhow, enjoy the pictures.Sophie's first day with pigtails...This is when Sophie was stuck... poor baby. :( She loves to wear this hat. She often pulls it down over her eyes. Just a shot of the pigtails from the back.Sophie was hopping around on a diaper while I was trying to get them folded. B and I were watching the Packers game (Rob, you'll love this video) and Sophie was using her elephant rocker and watching the game with us. This is the better of the two videos, but it's also longer. ...

One decision down... 2008-01-12 13:39:49 The funeral is definitely scheduled for Friday. I plan to go, but other than that, nothing else has been decided. We don't know if B is going with us or not, or if we're driving or flying. If we fly, we'll probably try to get Sophie a ticket since she's so darn squirmy now, although it's not required yet. There are many things I don't like about flying, but there are some benefits to it as well. If we drive, we might wind up having to split the trip into two days each way, even though it's only 14 hours. B is busy at work, so we're not too sure if it will work for him to go with us or not. What's really frustrating is I don't want to have to travel with Sophie on my own yet again. We have a lot of decision making. I know his boss will understand that family comes first. It's not like we intend to be gone forever or anything. If B doesn't go with me, I'll probably stay in Tennessee a little longer, but only if m ...

Meh. 2008-01-12 08:48:42 Well, my father is doing better. However, my grandmother is not. She passed away sometime this morning (I suppose depending on viewpoint, she might actually be doing better). The doctor says my father is well enough to travel. No arrangements have been made yet.I honestly haven't decided if I'm going to go or not. I would very much like to, but I don't want to do it alone. Hopefully, B will be able to make the trip with me. I seriously have no desire to fly, and with it only being in Tennessee, I'm tempted to just drive, although I don't think he'll want to do that.In other news, Sophie was hell on wheels last night. I don't think I got more than an hour's worth of sleep at a time, if that. "Pills?" "Tyn?" "Nurf?" "Uhndy (pronounced un-die for "other side")? ALL . NIGHT . LONG . Well, that's not entirely true. It didn't start until about an hour after I went to bed and it didn't register with me at first, either. I c ...

MomPack: Scrapbooking for Beginners 2008-01-10 23:04:03 Debbie Krumpos has an absolutely fabulous website offering many scrapbooking supplies as well as links and various tips. Scrapbooking for Beginners really is an excellent place to start when taking the scrapbooking plunge. I have to be one of the least experienced scrappers around (I'm late to jump on that train), but her site has made it easy for me to find what I need and has given me some great ideas (now just to put those ideas to good use!).At this site, I found step by step help with techniques and scrapbook layouts (I need all the help I can get!). Debbie also offers FREE downloads for digital scrapbooking as well as layout ideas for many occasions ( ...