Names have been changed to protect the innocent...and my husband...and me...but not the dog. His name is Dexter.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Locks and locks of Love

I like growing my hair long. And I like cutting it off. So, I decided that I might as well do it for a good cause and not just for something to do with my hair. Last year I decided to grow out my hair and donate it to Locks of Love. Recently I found out that my sister in law, we'll call her "S", was doing the same thing.
A couple of weeks ago S, another sister in law we'll call "K" and I went to get our hair cut. K doesn't really have enough hair to cut off, but she wanted to go along for the ride! I took my two girls and K brought her youngest child and S brought along her first baby that is currently in utero. It was quite the party! Since I don't have a thousand words to share with you, you'll have to settle for pictures.

S was the first to go under the...scissors.

Here's Lolly checking her cute self out in the mirror.
Babs is just hangin'. She's not all that interested in hair just yet.
And here I am getting my hair chopped off....without batting an eyelash!
And here we are, victorious with our charitable donations and fabulous new hair styles. Isn't S adorable with her cute little pregnant belly!

As you can see, S's pony tail is lovely and still intact. Mine, on the other hand, didn't even make it home in one piece! The elastic that was used to hold my hair in the pony tail had....well, lost it's elastic. In K's car it all started falling out. It was EVERYWHERE! Ten inches of hair was scattered from here to kingdom come. Thankfully, K just laughed. I got as much as I could, but since the elastic didn't really work all that well I had to kind of crumpled it up and wrapped the elastic around it as much as possible until I thought it would hold on until I could get home. My plan was to undo the ball, comb it out nicely and re-elastic it to send to Locks of Love. At this point, it's in a cupboard, reminding me everyday that it hasn't been done yet. Maybe sharing this with the world wide web will inspire me. I'll keep you posted.


Thursday, April 24, 2008

Update

Life has been pretty interesting lately. As you all know, we are selling our house and with everything going on there, we could start a whole 'nother blog! And then we have our usual daily adventures. Just this week we have shown the house 3 times (wahoo!) and during one of those showing Dexter stepped on my foot, which really, really hurt and left a bruise. And he still hasn't apologized. Babs will be turning the big oh-one soon. Lolly is enjoying life and the new bubble machine. By the way, the bubble machine is worth it's weight in gold. No more hyperventilating to provide the required amount of bubbles for Lolly, Babs and Dexter.

So, to sum it all up, I've got a sassy three year old, a curious almost one year old, a house for sale and an unrepentant dog. All in all, things are going well.

***Can you tell I'm having a hard time thinking of what to blog about?!?!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

"Eleven Tips on Getting More Efficiency out of Women Employees."

I saw this on another blog and I just had to share. Enjoy!

1943 Guide to Hiring Women:
The following is an excerpt from the July 1943 issue of Transportation Magazine. This was written for male supervisors of women in the work force during World War II.

"Eleven Tips on Getting More Efficiency Out of Women Employees"

There's no longer any question whether transit companies should hire women for jobs formerly held by men. The draft and manpower shortage has settled that point. The important things now are to select the most efficient women available and how to use them to the best advantage. Here are eleven helpful tips on the subject from western properties:

1. If you can get them, pick young married women. They have these advantages, according to the reports of western companies: they usually have more of a sense of responsibility than do their unmarried sisters; they're less likely to be flirtatious; as a rule, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it — maybe a sick husband or one who's in the army; they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.

2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Most transportation companies have found that older women who have never contacted the public, have a hard time adapting themselves, are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.

3. While there are exceptions, of course, to this rule, general experience indicates that "husky" girls — those who are just a little on the heavy side — are likely to be more even-tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.

4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination — one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit but also reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job. Transit companies that follow this practice report a surprising number of women turned down for nervous disorders.

5. In breaking in women who haven't previously done outside work, stress at the outset the importance of time — the fact that a minute or two lost here and there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.

6. Give the female employee in garage or office a definite day-long schedule of duties so that she'll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.

7. Whenever possible, let the inside employe change from one job to another at some time during the day. Women are inclined to be nervous and they're happier with change.

8. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. Companies that are already using large numbers of women stress the fact that you have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and consequently is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.

9. Be tactful in issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can't shrug off harsh words the way that men do. Never ridicule a woman — it breaks her spirit and cuts her efficiency.

10. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl's husband or father may swear vociferously, she'll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.

11. Get enough size variety in operator uniforms that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed too strongly as a means of keeping women happy, according to western properties.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Tip Tuesday-Going Green!

As we all know, today is Earth Day. But I have been hearing quite frequently that every day should be Earth Day. Being the hippie that I am, our family is trying to do our part in conserving our resources. And over at Seattle Mom Blogs, they've been doing a count down to Earth Day with tons of great ideas and products that are more Earth Friendly.
In honor of Earth Day, for this Tip Tuesday I'm asking for tips on going green. What works for you with a busy family? To get this ball rolling, I'll start. We're pretty fanatical about recycling our plastic, aluminum and anything else we can possibly recycle. Lately I have also started "repurposing" things. For instance, I'm using fabric that has been used for something else (CG's pants) and I'm going to make them into reusable grocery bags. As soon as I have time to sew them. And I've also been using more Earth friendly cleaning products...like baking soda. We've also been working on our own compost heap. But that has stopped recently because the next owners may not want our compost!
Now, it's your turn. The world needs to know what you're doing to help out. And I need some more ideas that are feasible with kids.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Things That Make Me Happy

Since yesterdays post was such a spectacular success (she says sarcastically), today I have decided to steal a post idea from a fellow blogger and write about a few of the many things that make me happy. And I think that it's a good thing to do every now and again, especially if life is a bit rough.
So, without further ado, I present my list:
  • the smell of rain
  • my girls laughing together....it's the best sound in the world
  • the feel of a bar of soap fresh out of the box.....yes, I know I'm weird
  • a baby in a clean white onesie.....one of my own, of course
  • shoes....you can never feel fat while shopping for shoes
  • Goodnight Moon
  • bubble baths
  • clean sheets
  • the smell of the dishwasher running....lemony fresh
  • walking barefoot on the cement on a summer evening
  • pina coladas in Mexico
The End

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Tip Tuesday?

Well, last week I completely missed Tip Tuesday and didn't realize it until Thursday. Maybe I need tips on how to keep track of what day it is, besides calendars and planners because I have them both. Or maybe this week should be suggestions for future tips. I'll do an official Tip Tuesday for each suggestion and dedicate it to you. It will be very exciting and we'll all get to know each other better. It will be like an online slumber party! Let the tipping begin!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Safety Punkin', Safety

Recently we went to a health fair sponsored by CG's place of employment. It mostly consisted of the vehicles used in emergencies. There were fire trucks, police cars, swat vans, a helicopter and a few others. The people assigned to be there were very, very nice which surprised me because it was pretty chilly. Maybe it was because there were not very many people there and they were happy to have anyone to talk to besides each other. Anywho..........
Here are some pictures from our tour of the health fair.

Good view from the front of a fire truck

Hopefully this is the only picture taken of Lolly in the backseat of a police car!
Shortly after this picture was taken Babs and I decided to enjoy the scene from the comfort of our warm and non-windy car.

And here is Lolly in front of the "helcicopter".
This was CG's & Lolly's favorite. We even stayed to watch it take off.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Shopping Spree

Going shopping and buying things that would cost $361 full price....$58
Going shopping all by myself.....priceless

I may be posting some of the lovely treasures I found....if we get our camera fixed!

Monday, April 7, 2008

Stylin' Shades

Lolly loves dressing up.

Doesn't Babs look happy to be wearing such hot sunglasses?!

CG is sporting a bit of a serial killer look, but that was on purpose. Really.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Mama told me there'd be days like this

Ya know when you have one of those days where it seems like everything is going wrong and you're not at your coping best and then your oven catches fire? Yeah, well that was my day on Friday.
Let me explain.....it all started on Thursday night at 7:20 p.m. when when C.G. received a phone call asking why we weren't at home for our 7 p.m. appointment to show the house. The appointment that we had no idea about. So, we rushed home because the family still wanted to look at our house and we needed to get home and try to work a miracle with our house. Did I mention that it's not on the market yet? And that it's not "show ready" either? Yeah.
So, we got home and were rushing through the house trying to make it look as fabulous as possible and my sister came to help us. We were both working on the kitchen and she told me that she was putting a plastic bin in the oven for now and to remember to take it back out before we used the oven. I said "don't worry, I always check the oven before turning it on". Never say that. It will come back to haunt you.
So, Friday was a rough day for me, to say the least. Towards the end of this very long day, I was making dinner for my family like all good domestic goddesses do and thinking that nothing else could bring me down more. Never think that. I smelled something funny but I couldn't figure out what it was. I glanced down at the oven door and saw what looked like a flame. Thinking that I was delusional, I opened the door to see what was going on. Smoke came billowing out of the oven and I looked in to see what was making all that smoke. The plastic bin. So much for me always looking in the oven before I turn it on. And so much for having garlic bread with dinner. As shocking as it is, I actually remembered that it's a good idea to throw baking soda on a kitchen fire. Now, where is the baking soda.....oh yeah, the laundry room. I go trucking along down the hall, grab the baking soda, run back to the kitchen and sprinkle it onto the flaming plastic. The fire was out, emergency adverted and then the smoke alarm went off.
Cleaning up was lots of fun. I can now say from personal experience that if you throw baking soda on melted plastic, it will make the clean up easier. Also, the magic eraser does a pretty good job. And Robogrips are a must for any melted plastic event.
I would have taken a picture of the carnage but, alas, our camera is broken. It's been a rough week all around. And after all that, the couple decided that it wasn't the right house for them.
On a brighter note, Babs reached an important milestone in life. She had her first Otter Pop. It was grape and she loved it! She ate the entire thing and didn't even make a mess. Precious Otter Pop cannot be wasted.

Friday, April 4, 2008

WOOT!

My adorable Computer Geek husband has found a new love. It's www.woot.com. It's every gadget guys dream come true. The website posts a different product each day for a fabulous price but you can only buy it that day. At 11 p.m. (our time) it changes to the next thing and you can no longer order it. We've been looking to get C.G. a blue tooth since he travels with his job and we got this one for a great price. Yesterday, he got an iPod Nano. This website is a blessing and a curse. It's a good thing C.G. isn't a shopaholic!
So, share the love of WOOT with all the gadget guys and girls in your life. You'll be their favorite person....until they get their credit card bill!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

The Recipe Box Swap

So, I'm totally into swaps lately, but because half my life is packed and the other half is crazy I'm a little limited in what I can do. As I was reading Life With Nature Girl, she linked to a fun and easy recipe swap that is going on at i have to say and I thought I would not only join in, but share in the love with all you guys too.

Without further ado, here is my recipe for the worlds easiest cookies. And they're yummy, too.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, Muffins or Bread
Spice cake mix
Pumpkin (15 oz. can)
Chocolate Chips (1 bag)

Mix all ingredients together and bake in a 350 degree oven.
Cookies or muffins: 20 minutes
Bread: 60 minutes

Anything more complicated than that will have to wait for another day!
Happy Cooking!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Tip Tuesday-Moving!

It's funny how if you don't post very often, Tip Tuesday comes back around rather quickly.
Well, today is a selfish plea for tips that may not really help anyone else, but you just never know. So, we're getting our house ready to put on the market. We've decided to sell our house and move to a valley that is known for it's happiness and lower real estate prices. We're currently packing up most of our belongings to show how roomy our house is, which is so much fun. But the biggest concern I have is keeping our home "show ready" for longer than five minutes and still actually have toys for the girls and sanity for me. So, tip away!
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