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

Don't VW Bug Me! 2007-11-02 11:55:51 I have a friend who has a Volkswagon Beetle. It's old and I have no idea what year it is, but I'm sure he'll comment here and inform me. He also has a blog he keeps for it, but sadly, I don't remember the link. He's had a few things to replace on the car, but nothing has been terribly major, like having to replace the Beetle engine, at least, not that I know of. Hopefully, he won't have to do that any time soon, since an engine can be a tricky thing to replace without a garage. His car has pretty cool character. Maybe he'll be kind enough to post a picture in comments, along with a link to his blog for the bug. ...

MomPack: BarkTalk 2007-11-02 08:44:36 I'm sure some of you saw my post about Lisa and My Little Rembrandt. Well, she also owns (and created!) BarkTalk! Dog lovers/owners, this site is for you! Actually, this is a great place to find a gift for the dog lovers in your lives, too.Lisa has quite a few products available. She sent a few samples of some of the greeting cards, as well as a pack of Christmas cards. She also sent a long sleeved t-shirt. I will be giving away the t-shirt and the cards as a gift or a prize of some sort, but haven't quite decided how that's going to work, yet. If anyone has any ideas, please share them! You guys will love this stuff! This is a size small (adult) long sleeved t-shirt that is so nice and soft. When I first received it, I wasn't entirely certain I was going to like it because the transfer area has a sheen to it. Then I remembered I had ordered shirts from comics.com that came with a similar sheen and these are some of my favorite shirts. They don't ha ...

MomPack: My Little Rembrandt 2007-11-01 23:55:22 Lisa is owner and creator of My Little Rembrandt, a website designed to let people turn children's artwork into custom gifts. Of course, as a parent, I am completely in love with this website. I know my parents would love to have some of Sophie's scribbles (eventually) on a mug or t-shirt. Lisa sent me a sample card (artwork by her daughter) and it is printed on quality cardstock. A nice feature the cards have is the free personalization on the back.(name erased by me)This site is the perfect place to shop for gifts for babysitters, teachers, grandparents, God parents, and even Mom and Dad. I just love this idea so much! Idea: get your children to sit down and draw holiday images (Christmas trees, dreidels, Santa, etc.) and order a custom set of cards for the holidays. You can be assured no one else will be sending the same cards as you!Bonus: Lisa is offering a 10% discount to my readers!! Just use coupon code "sm00" (without the quotes) when checking out (remember ...

Larson Electronics 2007-11-01 19:21:24 B is master when it comes to lighting. He gets the final say in everything. Of course, we're both very conservative when it comes to indoor lighting. When it comes to tasks outside in the garage, however, he doesn't skimp. He's got lights everywhere, including snake lights, hanging lights, fluorescent lights, desk lamps, and probably even more I haven't seen. MagnaLight has nearly every task light imaginable, including 24 volt lights, hand helds, spot lights, flood lights, and more. B would have a field day browsing through this site. Thankfully, I think we have all the lighting we need for now, although every now and then he surprises me with a new light. I think the only thing I can think of at this time that we're talking about replacing is the outdoor lighting on the patio and in front of the garage but I don't think they carry those types of lights, just task lighting. I can see him buying up a bunch of floods or something so he can work on t ...

New flooring for me, perhaps? 2007-11-01 17:35:22 I have to chuckle. B saw the iFLOOR entry and suggested we replace the flooring in the old office/new guest room (which should be next weekend or the weekend after, depending on when the fencing is replaced outside) before we move the furniture back in there. My jaw nearly dropped. I would love to replace the carpeting in there! I'm so excited. I'm not sure it will happen, since we're in a crunch now to get all these projects done before my parents get here, but it should would be nice.He's thinking bamboo, and I'm totally on board with that. I was looking at the cork flooring, and I think the bamboo is just a little less expensive. Maybe sometime next week we can head out to the showroom. Of course, we don't have to buy from iFLOOR, but it doesn't hurt to look. :) ...

iFLOOR stands by its customers 2007-11-01 12:39:48 When B and I were looking for a house last year, I started doing a lot of research on various companies that sold certain housewares and the like. I have links saved for faucet and fixtures as well as furniture and flooring and I am constantly weeded by the email from lists I don't even remember signing up for. In all honesty, I've been on iFLOOR's mailing list for some time now.iFLOOR, America's largest online flooring retailer, today announced a $1,000,000 limited warranty designed to protect its customers from predatory manufacturer policies that exclude warranty coverage from online purchases.The policy, which goes into effect immediately, offers up to one million dollars of coverage in the event that a customer's warranty claim is denied specifically because they made their purchase online. It is complimentary for every iFLOOR customer, and protects the buyer under the same terms as the original product warranty.iFLOOR, Inc. CEO, Steve Simonson, came up ...

Calling all scrappers! 2007-11-01 01:01:23 callita623 and rredhead, you both might be interested in doing something like this. Personally, I would love to, but I have no experience.Actually, ...

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go! 2007-11-01 00:47:30 I would love to go to Australia. It ranks pretty high on my list, above Spain and just below the UK. Sadly, I don't remember very much from when I taught about Australia when I was living in Illinois, but I do remember trying Violet Crumble (fell in love with it) and Vegemite (hated it). I know B would love to check out the car racing and we both would love the wine tasting. If we were to take Sophie, we could check out the zoo and the Wildlife Park, as well as the Botanical Gardens, and of course, stay in one of the many Adelaide Hotels. Some of the Hotels in Adelaide are so beautiful, too. After taking in Adelaide, I think we would seek out Brisbane Accommodation to take in some more wine tasting and some sunny summer beaches. I would especially love to go dolphin spotting or to feed the dolphins. I think Sophie would just love that.Someday, perhaps, we'll be able to enjoy a trip like this, but I don't think it will be any time soon. ...

Go Organic! 2007-11-01 00:22:21 Last week, B sent me a link to an article from the New York Times Blog listing Five Easy Ways to Go Organic. I don't really think the title is appropriate, since it really isn't talking about ways to go organic, but which foods are the most important to buy organic.PotatoesApplesMilk (which should always be in opaque containers, not translucent)Peanut butterKetchup (yes, ketchup)I think I would add strawberries and peaches to the list since they rank right up there, along with any other fruits or vegetables that are thin skinned. I'm not exactly sure why she picked the items she did, especially after looking at the information on the Environmental Working Group's site that she linked in her article.I've been buying organic milk for Sophie, but after reading this, B has decided we're going to buy organic for us as well. Of course, this is fine by me since I think it has a better flavor. It's also not easy to find it in an opaque container, but he m ...

Pearls of Beauty 2007-10-31 23:40:35 I love freshwater pearls. I just think they are some of the coolest gems available, mostly because they require no cutting and perfect in their natural setting. I have a pearl and sapphire necklace and a set of earrings (maybe? I don't remember for certain about the earrings now) that had been given to me by my parents when I got married to Johnie that I think are freshwater.I also love black pearls. The color is just incredible. One of my friends had gone on a cruise and brought a strand back for me.I don't wear a lot of jewelry, but I've been thinking it's time for me to invest in some nice earrings that I can wear that won't bother my ears. I'm not sure if I'll be able to wear anything other than surgical steel, but if I can, I would like to have a set of pearls that hang (close to the lobe, not dangling on my neck). I don't think I want to spend money on earrings that might be uncomfortable, though. I'll have to do a little inves ...

Such a Gimp! 2007-10-31 23:22:13 I've been editing images with The GIMP, and have liked what I've seen so far. I can see all of my images that I've edited when I upload them to LJ when I'm using Firefox but I can't see them using IE. I'm not sure what the heck I'm doing wrong, but that's the only thing I can think of that is different about these images. It doesn't make any sense to me that a simple .jpg file will show in Fx, on my computer, in my LJ gallery, but not in IE.Anyhow, I've just downloaded Paint.NET to see if I can get anywhere with this program. Fingers crossed it actually works. ...

She's a Lady... bug! 2007-10-31 21:47:10 Halloween was a huge hit. Sophie had a blast and was so well behaved. B took her around trick-or-treating and they actually hit more houses than I expected. B said she carried her little pumpum (pumpkin) bucket the entire time and held onto his hand the entire time without being reminded. She even wore the little antennae I made for her the entire time (she was pulling the headband off earlier). What a trooper! Of course, we wound up giving out some of the candy she had gotten because we ran out near the very end. I had to chuckle at her with how protective she was of her little bucket because she doesn't really know what candy is yet (although she does know the sign for it). I let her have the Goldfish tonight (I need to vacuum tomorrow). Sophie absolutely loved the pumpkins after we carved them. She likes to bend down to see them up close and say hi to them. They got a few hugs and kisses out of her last night just before we carved into them. Silly girl. Speaking of ...

kikifitz, thesynergizer, and anyone else concerned with PageRank: 2007-10-31 16:48:06 I'm not sure how much this will help, but here goes: Google Drops PageRank For Many Sites : Paid Links or New Algorithm? 8 Things We Learned About Google PageRank Gaulard.com Blog » Blog Archive » Google PageRank Change What Does This Google PageRank Message Mean? Google Changing the PageRank Algorithm? Google Declares Jihad On Blog Link Farms ...

Take Me Home, Country Roads 2007-10-31 13:21:08 I'm sure many of you know my extreme love for New England. I enjoyed living in Massachusetts about as much as I loved living in Illinois, but for different reasons. Of all the places I've lived, those are the two I miss most. I don't miss Michigan quite as much, except for the fact that my family is there. New England has some of the best color this time of year (although it's probably all gone, now). I honestly don't remember ever seeing colors as beautiful as when I lived in Massachusetts and was driving back and forth between Worcester and New Brookfield on my commute to and from work. That is what I see in my mind's eye every time I think of fall. I miss it. I have always considered the Cape or Martha's Vineyard to be summer vacationing spots, but I was thinking today that it would be pretty cool to see if we could find some off season Martha's Vineyard vacation rentals and see all the colors of autumn, with hopefully fewer tourists. ...

Top Five: Halloween Costumes 2007-10-31 13:08:56 Happy Halloween, everyone! Instead of doing candy today, let's list the top five favorite Halloween costumes! These can be costumes you've worn, costumes you'd like to wear, or costumes you just think are seriously cool. If there isn't enough room in the box to give details, please share in comments. Let's spread around some Halloween love, and give ideas to everyone for next year. Feel free to post pictures in the comments, but try to keep them to a reasonable size.View Poll: #1080594 ...