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 2 2719

Articles from A Room with a sm00

Attention Post Secret Lovers: 2007-11-15 09:22:07 If you don't already follow Post Secret, you really should check it out.Frank will be donating $10 every time the new Post Secret book, A Lifetime of Secrets, is purchased this coming Sunday through the Amazon link at Post Secret. Amazon will also be donating 10% of any purchase made using this link. I'm not sure if the Amazon 10% is only for Sunday or not, that part wasn't clear. The donations are going to HopeLine.There is also a new discussion group for Post Secret. It's actually possible to discuss secrets with people outside of LJ-land now. Speaking of LiveJournal, there is a feed for ...

Attention Billzy! 2007-11-15 02:48:39 Look out, here I come! ;)You can be my personal tour guide while I travel from London to Paris to Berlin... Someday, even if it's only in my dreams. ;)You could even be the one to tell me which is the best of the hotels in London!Of course, I'll probably have to do my own research for hotels in Paris and hotels in Berlin, unless you've been, of course. I've been to Germany but it was a long long long time ago and I never drove there.Speaking of driving, you can cart my bum around from country to country since you have a handy little driver's license registered in the EU and I don't.London is at the top of my list of places to visit (I would try to take in a lot of the country while there, not just London). Paris is only a stepping stone on the way to Berlin. I long to go back to Germany someday. Perhaps when B and I are out of debt and have a year or two to save a bit, Sophie will be old enough that we can actually consider a trip such as this. I wo ...

Shared Web Hosting 2007-11-14 12:26:29 Even though I'm considering going back to work, I'm still very tempted to have my own domain. I don't trust our server here to be reliable enough to host a website for us, so I've been looking into other options. One of the hosting companies I've considered is Concentric, with their shared web hosting plan. I still have some shopping around to do, but their basic plan seems to have about all I'd need. Of course, once I have a plan in place and actually have the website up and running, I'll have a better idea of what I'll need. I suppose it's time for me to get cracking on CSS finally. ;) ...

Crap on a Stick 2007-11-14 02:12:37 I think I forgot to do this, probably because B and I have been busting tail trying to get these rooms taken care of before my parents are in town. I feel like such a goober now.gan_chan, happy belated birthday! I hope it was decent to you. :)We need to do dinner soon. Has the data center moved yet? ...

Not What I Really Wanted to Do... 2007-11-14 00:59:40 I hate to say it, but B and I have discussed this and it seems as though our finances are dictating I return to work now. I may be able to reduce hours after all debt is cleared and we are able to stash some in savings, but until then, I must somehow find gainful employment to help us go from barely treading water to basking in the sun.I was hoping to keep Sophie out of daycare at least until she was out of diapers. I doubt very seriously I'll be able to find somewhere that will be willing to change a cloth diaper (no matter how easy it is). I also know it costs a little more for children Sophie's age. I am not ready to let my baby go to daycare and find that this is the most emotional part of me going back to work. We do hope to find someplace that will encourage her signing as well as other learning, and we don't want it too far from home or too far from work. It will certainly be quite the task.I don't want to think of what's going to happen to the hou ...

Get Me to the Church on Time! 2007-11-13 14:27:05 I know a few people who are doing a little Wedding Planning, and I have to admit, it's not typically an easy task. I've planned two weddings, and while the second one was easier (not sure if it was because it was smaller or if it was because I had done it before, or a combination of both), I still had my work cut out for me. WeddingChannel.com is an excellent resource for anyone planning a wedding, offering lists of local vendors as well as ideas and advice. They offer a nice selection of tools that are helpful to anyone planning a wedding, whether it's the first or the second or for someone else entirely. ...

Food 911, take 2 2007-11-13 13:55:40 So, it just dawned on me that Thanksgiving is next week.=:oI recently posted a food request here, and had several responses. I'm going to relist my menu just for my own use here, but feel free to comment. I still have to fill in the blanks. Eesh. I will be going back to reply individually to comments (I promise, I'm just behind as usual), but green bean casserole is out since I'm the only one who likes it (I haven't met anyone in Texas who likes it, actually - they call it one of my Yankee dishes). Yes, I'm sad about this, but I'm not making it just for myself. I found this out the hard way and wound up having to toss a lot of it. Also, Mrs. Uplander's is an orange salad with cottage cheese and various other ingredients - quite possibly called orange stuff by others (that's what we called it).I am still very open to suggestions! :) I tried to buy a turducken last night at Kroger (was told they would all have them) but that was a bust. ...

What a Card! 2007-11-13 09:01:54 Vista Cards, the same people who bring the world great business cards, also offer a wide variety of Christmas Cards. They have a great selection of folded cards, postcards, foil accented cards, and collage cards. It's even possible to upload images or photographs to make the cards more personalized. They also offer speedy shipping so it's possible to receive an order within three days! ...

I'm about fed up with this crap 2007-11-12 16:31:33 I am pretty sure I've posted about this before (although I can't find it), but I'm so annoyed I have to post again. This does not stop! I am so frustrated with myself for becoming annoyed, too.About every two or three weeks, I get a phone call showing private name/private number on the caller ID. I almost always answer these calls (why, I have no idea). When I answer, I hear a recording saying that because I'm a credit card customer, I have a great opportunity to lower my rates. I'd like to know who the hell is selling my information because I am on the Do Not Call list. The last phone call I had before today gave me an option to press a number to talk to an agent, or press a number to be removed. I pressed the number to be removed, but apparently that didn't work. Today's phone call gave me only one option, that of talking to an agent. Of course, I press that number to see if I can talk to someone and get my number removed. The agent asked ...

Food 911!! 2007-11-09 15:30:21 Okay kids, I can't remember if I've asked this yet or not. I am hosting a small Thanksgiving Day dinner at my house this year (just the in-laws for now) and then another dinner between Thanksgiving and Christmas (the in-laws and my parents, minus my brother-in-law).For Dinner #1, I plan to serve the following:Turkey (smoked, deep fried, or roasted - TBD)Holiday Sweet Potatoes (might do mashed potatoes here instead, which would be with gravy, and only if we roast the turkey)? bread of some sort? green veggie of some sort? salad of some sort ? otherI was considering making a stuffed pumpkin but I think the pumpkin I have isn't going to make it and I'm not sure I'll be able to find another.For Dinner #2, I plan to serve the following:Turducken (need to get that thing bought and in the freezer so I don't miss out!)*maybe* the Holiday Sweet Potatoes, but definitely not mashed since there's rice in the turduckenMrs. Uplander's Salad? some green veggie ...

Beautify Me 2007-11-09 08:04:22 Either I'm out of the loop (quite likely), or Beauty Icon carries a lot of Natural Skin Care products no one even knew existed. I'm curious to know what natural ingredients are in their Tummy Tuck and Stretch Remover creams, and if all the ingredients in these products are natural, and even if they work. I wonder if they have samples. ...

Experience the Magic 2007-11-08 22:20:49 It's been a while since I've been to Orlando for a vacation (or for work, for that matter), but I would love to go back. It's one of those towns that just has so much to offer. Sure, it can be touristy, but that's the main reason anyone goes to Orlando. I want Sophie to go to Disney at least once when she's little. I didn't go until I was 17 and I only went to Epcot then. I want to experience the magic with her, to see it all through her innocent little eyes. I also want to take her to Sea World, but we can do that much closer to home.I'm not sure if we would stay at one of the resorts or if it would be one of the many other orlando hotels. I suppose it all depends on the money we have when we take the trip. When I was there last for vacation, we stayed at our timeshare (the one in Orlando wasn't nearly as nice as the one in Tampa). I don't remember where I stayed when I was out there for work. That entire year is a blur of airpor ...

Narf 2007-11-08 18:27:25 Well, I'm a little miffed, but there's nothing I can do about this. My PR dropped to a 2. PPP still sees me as a 3 but there are limited opportunities lately. I'm really more disappointed than miffed. I was enjoying the different opportunities available to me by having a higher pagerank. I was tired of seeing the same casinos, loans, mortgages, and plastic surgery opportunities. Looks like it's back to the drawing board for me.If you want to get paid to blog and would like to give another company a try, Smorty is pretty easy to deal with. They pay out weekly and approve posts within five days. They're one of my favorites to work with, but they don't have as many opportunities as PPP. If you haven't signed up with Smorty yet, but are interested, check my sidebar, please, and click the link on the right for Smorty. I could use a few referrals! ;)Other than being paid weekly, one of the things I love most about Smorty is the fact that they hav ...

Everyone Can Get an Education 2007-11-08 14:27:47 One of my favorite teaching positions ever was at a boarding school in Massachusetts. It was specifically for boys with learning, behavioral, or emotional problems. Some of these kids had been kicked out of every school they'd ever attended. Others were there just to help master certain learning disabilities. These boys were challenging, but they were so much fun. We only had about 60 or so boys while I was there, from as young as 11 years to as old as 18. There was never a dull moment.My classes had an average of five or so. I had one with as few as three (my basic English class) and one with as many as eight (my Algebra class). The class sizes were so wonderful. I would go back to teaching in a heartbeat if I could be guaranteed classes of these sizes. Also, there was very little parent interaction, which, believe it or not, was so much better than I expected. We didn't have to worry about parents following through with punishments handed out in class or making s ...

Christmas Gifting 2007-11-08 13:42:52 With all of the toy recall scares this year, I'm trying to decide what sort of gifts I should be looking for when buying for Sophie and my nieces. I would love to avoid toys made in China, but where in the world do I look for toys not made there? Nearly every company has their toys made in China, even companies like Melissa & Doug. I want to get Sophie some wooden building blocks, more books, a bathrobe, some slippers, and maybe some wooden puzzles. Other than that, I'm not sure what else to get her, if anything. If anyone has ideas on where to do the shopping, I'm open to suggestions. I need to come up with some really good stocking stuffers for her and for B, and figure out what I'm going to get B. I have an idea of what to get for B's mom, but other than that, his entire family is a complete mystery to me. His father loves to fish and hunt, but has all the gear he would want. His brother is probably the biggest mystery, although he would probably ap ...