Thursday, September 24, 2009

Only YOU can prevent car accidents

4

During my 40 minute commute to work today, I counted 4 people talking on their cell phones without using a handsfree device. 4. And that was just the people directly in front of or behind me. I didn't scrutinize every car on the southbound 55.

That means that roughly every 10 minutes, someone decides they're willing to risk my life (or at the VERY least, my car's life) just to make or answer a phone call. I don't like that statistic (which is in no way scientifically proven, just based on my observations), and I shouldn't have to live with it. The handsfree only law was created for a reason, just as the no-running-red-lights law was: to save lives.

I think I'm going to follow someone else's idea whenever I see someone breaking this law: hold up my iPhone like I'm going to take a picture and look at the person in their rearview mirror and say, "Smile!" Of course, I won't take the picture if I'm driving; that would be just stupid and hypocritical. But it may entice the person breaking the law to hang up the phone, thinking that I might just send that "picture" to the police.

Think it'll work?

Or maybe I'll just make a sign to hold up: "Please don't kill me, hang up the phone!"

Anyone else want one? I'll make it double-sided: one side written so the guy behind me can read it, and the other side written backwards so the gal in front of me can read it in the rearview mirror.

AUTHOR'S UPDATE:

I counted 5 drivers on my way home, 2 of which were texting with both hands!


Thursday, September 17, 2009

My first BlogCrush

No, I don't have a crush on a blog or blogger...

I'm talking about the BlogCrush/meeting of the minds of OC/takeover of a local restaurant I went to last night!

A Restaurant (and later, Market) were taken over by a bunch of crazy bloggers for the evening. A has guest bartenders every Wednesday from 5-7, but last night they let us have the bar until we were ready to head home!

Kara-Noel and JJ were the first to try their hand at bartending.


During our visit, we were served wonderful food, including this Spicy Yellow Fin Tuna with crispy eggplant, garlic aioli and sweet soy glaze. YUM!

Um, Marcy? I think you're supposed to use a knife and fork. But, hey, that's just me.


And the wonderful chef who prepared our food!



More of our guest bartenders (BlogCrush folks: help me out here with names, please!)

After we'd had our fill of drinks and food, we headed over to A Market for a special after-hours tour.



Big thanks to Marcy and Suz who organize this gathering once a month. I'm hooked! See you in October!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Hi, I'm a PC. Literally.

Today on my way to work, I was struck with this intense thought that I felt like a robot. I'm stuck in this loop with no ability to think for myself. I just do what I'm programmed to do, nothing more, nothing less. As I merged onto the 405 from the 55, I felt like I was just sitting on a conveyor belt, on my way to do some grunt work for a higher class of being who recognizes me only as a machine and not as a thinking person, joining other fellow robots on the slow, agonizing path to the same dull chores we perform every day.

If computers get upgrades to make them run better and make the people who utilize them appreciate them more, when do I get mine? My last service pack installation was 4 years ago. In the computer world, that makes me pretty much obsolete, slow, waaay past my warranty, ready to break down at any moment. This makes me fear being replaced. But is it all my fault? If my owner doesn't take the necessary steps to upgrade my system, then my owner may not realize my full potential. In this world of consumerism, I may just get taken down to the local Goodwill where they recycle electronics and my owner will replace me with a cheaper, nicer-looking model.

Sure, I get my share of viruses, but only because I'm connected to a smaller PC that shares data with many other PCs. But the longer we stick around, the better our virus protection gets; again, because of upgrades. But do our owners see that? No, they just see that we are out of commission a few times a year and focus on that downtime.

I feel like I need to be placed on Craigslist: "Free to a good home. Runs like clockwork, reliable and when maintained ($$) properly, will continue to offer support for all necessary tasks."

Monday, September 7, 2009

Giveaway from Eli's Lids!

Hey, y'all! Welcome to my blog! As part of Eli's Lids 3rd birthday giveaway, I'm giving away $50 in your choice of products from The Pampered Chef. Here's how it works:

First, go to the Pampered Chef site to figure out how you'd like to spend your $50
Second, leave a comment on this post with your name, e-mail or twitter name and your choice of Pampered Chef items
Third, head over to Eli's Lids for more ways to enter the giveaway

Oh, and of course check out the other posts on my site. You might find a story that makes you laugh, cry or think, "That's exactly what I was thinking!" Maybe you'll even find a friend.

God bless.
Update from blog owner (9/16/09): Congratulations Barbara Wright of Cary, NC on winning $50 of Pampered Chef products of her choice! It's never easy trying to figure out what to get from The Pampered Chef, but I'm sure Barbara is up to the challenge. If you'd like to place your own order, click the Pampered Chef hyperlink above to start filling your kitchen! Again, congratulations, Barbara!

Friday, September 4, 2009

The invisible milestone

Smiling when they recognize you. Laughing. Rolling over. Crawling. Eating solid foods. Sitting up. Pulling up. Walking. Talking. Reading. Going to school. Riding a bike w/o training wheels. Losing a tooth. Driving a car.

The parenting books missed one: Bathing oneself.

"Em" can now clean herself without any help. She can turn on the shower. She can scrub off the dirt that accumulated in the last 24 hours. She can apply and rinse out shampoo and conditioner. She can turn off the shower and wrap a towel around herself. She can comb the tangles out of her hair.

Know what this means?

I can have dinner ready before her bedtime!

Now if she could only do her own laundry...

Thursday, September 3, 2009

I'm a winner!

Well, almost. I'm a runner-up.

A few months ago, Parents Magazine and Lever 2000 did a photo contest called "Make Every Touch Count." Contestants could submit up to 6 photos of 2 or more friends/family members showing "touch." The grand prize winner would get a dining set (table and chairs) from BH&G and a Lever 2000 advertisement photo shoot. Runners-up would get a digital camera.

These are the photos I submitted, taken by friend and fabulous photographer Julie Shendelman:


I'm not sure which one Lever 2000 liked best, but they decided that one of our pictures was a runner-up! This is the camera I just received yesterday:
It's a Canon PowerShot SD780 IS. It's 12.1 mega pixel, has image stabilizer, and a humongous menu when it comes to customizing the environment and shot settings. I've tried it out a bit, but I can't show you any pictures because I don't have an SD card for it; I'm picking one up today. But it is a fantastic little thing. It's smaller than the palm of my hand and thinner than my thumb.

So, thanks Lever 2000 & Parents Magazine!

But most of all, a HUGE THANK YOU, JULIE! Your pictures, professionalism, personality and pizazz ROCK MY WORLD!
(P.S. Julie, when are you coming back down to OC? I need more pictures!!)

My fearless child, friends and I on Tower of Terror at DCA
 

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