tHiS iS wHaT i LiKe (post 191)

Dearfoam Slippers!

Happy to the Monday peeps! I trust everyone survived the weekend intact? I trust this should be the case if you are reading this, so here's another round tHiS iS wHaT i LiKe!: My trusty Dearfoam slippers! 
I find myself within the confines of my house frequently these days, due to lack of funds more than anything, and in keeping our heating costs as low as possible it isn't the toastiest of places. No complaints though, you can easily keep the temp at 68 if you are willing to dress appropriately. In a house with all hard surfaced floors, keeping your tootsies warm is essential! That's where my favoritist fuzzy foot covers come into action! I love my Dearfoam slippers, especially the fuzzy scuffs! I am sporting a pair of them as we speak, just like the one's pictured above (in purple though, if you must know!). I had a different pair for about 6 years that I loved so much, that they finally starting giving out on me and my man came to the rescue with this pair for Christmas! I wear them in the house, they accompany me as we shuttle children to school in the morning as well and nothing beats the squishy soft comfort after wandering around in heals all day! I love that if they get dirty, just toss them in with your laundry and they are fresh and clean again!
Are you looking for an extra comfy, durable, fuzzy pair of slippers? Well, you're in luck! Dearfoams rock! This is definitely what I like! ;0)

ThOuGhT fOr ThE dAy (post 190)

J. Lamb

“I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” ~Robert Frost

As we meander through this journey called life, do we follow the footsteps of those who went before us? How many of us can honestly say we forged our own paths? It's by no means easier to follow a path less taken, but the result, I'll bet, will be exactly where you wanted to end up. Just a thought. ;0)

Sisters and other deliberate irritants

I love my daughter, I have only one. Feisty and determined, talkative, friend to all, she puts me to shame with her initiative and drive. She is a huge help when helping to herd her brothers about, she also does her best to irritate them to no end. Sigh...there has to be one who keeps things stirred up I suppose and that is a calling she takes seriously!
"I'm no one's favorite!", my daughter wailed as she pouted over something yesterday. "Boys?", I asked her brothers, "Is A. anyone's favorite?" They laughed, "No!" they called annoyed at the question. "Boys?" I asked again, "Does A. mostly gets what she wants because she pouts about it the most?" "Yes!", I heard and shook my head. If anyone gets what they want, it's usually her. The only girl. Um, yeah. Not that this is intentional at all, she's the only one who cares if she has something nice to wear, or not falling apart shoes, or likes to go shopping at all. She is the only girl as well. Boys think shopping is lame, boys could care less if their clothes are falling apart and threadbare, boys are well...boys! I have to have an ally against all the testosterone wafting through the air and she is it.
At this moment she is bossing one of them around because she believes it's her duty and I am trying to go to my happy place. Any minute I'll hear a yelp of resistance and will have to come to the rescue...again. "A., seriously leave them alone!", I shout over my shoulder and press my fingers to my temples again in an attempt to maintain my sanity. Sigh. ;0)

When we lose...

J. Lamb 2011

time just seems to never stop...

only speeds up as it passes... 

I was speaking with a friend yesterday and we were discussing loss, a friend of ours from growing up lost his child to a long illness over the weekend. Both of us know how it feels to lose a child and imagined the heartache our friend must feel. (You can read her story here) Even though I'm not going to promote any sort of belief here, I do believe personally that we will see our loved ones again. Losing a child is so very hard (especially when they are so young), you never get to see them grow up and achieve their potential, you ache for small arms around your neck, for sticky kisses, for little voices calling your name. Aching for what might have been is especially hard even if it never occurred in the first place. When you lose a loved one, you never stop missing them even when they've been gone a very long time.

My friend and I are right, time never stops in only speeds up as it passes. I look back almost 14 years later and still wonder what might have been, who he would have looked like, what his personality would have been like. I can't help, but to wonder how my life would be different now had he survived. My thoughts and prayers are with our friend and his family and hope they are able to find peace, for I know that they will see her again.

 

TiP fOr TuEsDaY (post 187)

Develop your talents.

"Is there anything you can't do?", my friend C. queried, wide-eyed in amazement. I was standing over a canvas squinting to make sure the coloration was right, brush in midair. When she rang the doorbell a few minutes earlier, I presented her with a Christmas basket with a crocheted hat for her daughter and a bag full of homemade oven caramel corn. I chuckled, dismissing the notion, "Of course!". As I think about the exchange, I remember all the times she has come over where I'm cooking something, sewing something, playing something on the piano and I get why she asked. I consider myself well-rounded, but a master at a particular talent? Nah. We've had a very frugal year this last year and I've found myself sequestered in the confines of my house due to lack of funds a lot. You can't have any fun without any money though, right? Au contrare, my blog reading friends! I've used the last 9 months of unemployment to develop my talents.
I grew up in a very small town, this has some advantages such as: it was safe, um...it was quiet? Um, okay so the advantages aren't many in number. Unless your idea of fun was hanging out at the local lake and drinking and being stupid, you had a limited amount of things to keep you occupied. My best friend and I rode our bike to the library every week during the summers, we rode our bikes to the pool too and when we hung out at home we learned how to make stuff. We got ideas from books and whatnot and her Mom would set up her sewing machine and taught us to sew a little. As I got older, I took electives in Middle School and High School and learned to play the flute, learned the basics of cooking, took beginning and advanced sewing. I learned the basics of crocheting, of embroidery, of applique. I was on the Yearbook staff for three years and learned how to take good pictures, to write-up short articles, to crop pictures and create layouts.
Aside from the ability to play piano by ear, to read and compose music, I learned the basics as a preteen and teenager and have taken the time to develop those talents as an adult. When I hear, "I'm not good at anything" it drives me nuts! There is no such thing as having no talent. Saying you have no talent is like saying. "I have zero interest in anything" and unless you are a slug, that simply can't be true. Developing a talent is basically just pursuing an interest and if you haven't developed one yet, then why not? Blah, blah...I don't have time. I know that excuse well, I'm a Mom too! Even if you take a class once a week, think of it as Mommy refueling time because if Momma ain't happy, then no one's happy!
I even developed a talent as an adult, something I didn't know I could do. I grew up drawing and sketching and I could copy anything from a picture, I'm just not great at drawing from memory. I am a huge HGTV buff and love the designer David Bromstad and all the beautiful paintings he paints for his clients. I have always wanted to learn to paint landscapes and decided to give it a try. I'm not saying they are awesome in any respect, but I love to paint now and turns out, I'm not too bad at it either!
Encourage your children to try new things, to take classes to learn. As an adult, work on developing your talents or learning something new because being well rounded means, "You know how to do everything!" Thanks to my friend C. and here's your TiP fOr TuEsDaY! ;0)

tHiS iS wHaT i LiKe (post 186)

                                                 Avia Sneakers with Cantilever Technology

I went for a brisk walk this morning with my man. We logged about 2 1/2 miles in about 25 minutes and I love the feeling of being active, but not killing myself in the process. What I really love is my Avia walking sneakers! I picked the pair I have up a few years ago for 20 bucks at Ross (gotta love Ross!) and they continue to perform wonderfully to this day. They are lightweight and sturdy and what I love is the "cantilever" heals that provide a great spring to my step as I speed walk along. No sore ankles or heals and they have great shock absorbing power as well.
If you are looking to be a little more active and want a great walking shoe, try these Avia Sneakers with Cantilever Technology. I know I like them, I'll bet you would too! ;0)

ThOuGhT fOr ThE dAy (post 185)

J. Lamb 2011

"I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day."  ~Abraham Lincoln

Can you say you did just that today? Were you as patient, attentive, steadfast, and affectionate as you would like to be today? Just as we ask our children to do, we should lead by example. At the end of the day as you face yourself reflected in the mirror know you did your very best in the day and really be okay with it. Now if you didn't? There is always tomorrow. Just a thought...;0)

Now, who is G-d?

God couldn't be everywhere, so he created mothers ~ Yiddish Proverb

*Disclaimer* I am not feeling well, for some reason that translates into being overly opinionated , You've been warned!

I saw something completely ridiculous today as was I scrolling down the newsfeed of my Facebook page. I "follow" several pages for celebrities and various groups and businesses and all of these have content on Facebook. Honestly, I ignore many of them (except maybe the news organizations I follow), but today there was a post from a ridiculous page called I "heart" being a Mom. In fact it was the quote I used above only different, the author had purposely spelled out G-d instead of God. As you can imagine, there were a flurry of comments about the purposely misspelled "God" and the absence of it in people's lives and whatnot. It annoyed me too honestly, but maybe not for the obvious reason you would think. I believe in God, but would never be offended if someone else didn't or even believed something totally opposite of me. I was more annoyed at this page administrator's feeble attempt to be "politically correct" than anything else.
Political correctness has seriously gotten out of hand in my opinion, I might be able to understand the omission of the word or a letter if the word itself were used in offensive way. To purposely massacre a saying just because it contains the word "God", is ludicrous! It's like not saying the Pledge of Allegiance because it contains the phrase, "One Nation Under God". Since when has the big guy upstairs been so controversal?
I'm not naive folks, the last question is just an example. God himself has the power to cause quaking of fear amongst his staunch followers and the power to evoke cries of prejudice among the atheist crowd. How can you get more controversial? The mere whisperings of his existence within the earshot of mass media is enough to raise the hairs on the backs of the necks of the all powerful, enforcers of "political correctness".
I was annoyed enough to comment on their ridiculous page, "Now this is a prime example of the overindulgence of the notion to be politically correct, to remove a letter from a perfectly good and decent proverb in fear of "offending" someone in purely ludicrous." And then I did the mature thing,  I deleted their page. ;0)

Is it just me?

I have to ask, but does everyone's cell plan carrier suck? It seems I hear more complaints about quality of service, questionable billing practices, ridiculous rates, and having "customer service" calls be directed overseas than anything else. I thought I'd give a quick (albeit somewhat anti-climatic) update about the phone bill battle incident. (Psst...I blogged about it here.)
After my man was on the phone with our carrier for at least 45 minutes, still trying to get his issues resolved, I got on a phone with a customer service rep (in India, most likely). He asked what my concerns were and asked how he could help. I mentioned that I had 18 minutes worth of roaming charges on my bill and that was ridiculous because I hadn't left my calling area even once. He asked if it was the first time I had ever received any roaming charges in my calling area and I told him it was. That was it, he said he'd credit the charges and e-mailed what he had done.
Am I grateful? Of course. Does this rouse some suspicion on their sneaky billing practices? Absolutely! I mean, all it took was a phone call and a question and they fixed it, no questions asked. It makes me think that my man and I are not the only one's to be complaining about such incidents. It also makes me wonder if they are intentionally doing this in hopes that people will just pay their bills through their bill auto-pay and be none the wiser. How many people would you bet just have? Shameful.
I know, I know...why don't you just change your provider? They are all bad and try as I might, I have not been able to beat my plan anyplace. Where else can you get 1000 anytime minutes, unlimited nights/weekends, unlimited text and data, vision package (web access), unlimited Sprint to Sprint (unlimited calls to other Sprint customers), all for 49 bucks a month? Yep, you can't. Try as I might, I have not been able to use up all my minutes even once and everything else just makes my life easy.
Is it really just me? I highly doubt it. Since I'm not doing anything about it but to complain, I'll stop and continue on with the well-monitoring of my phone bill. Shameful. ;0P

TiP fOr TuEsDaY (post 182)

-TEACHING OUR KIDS THE VALUE OF SERVICE

What is the MLK Day of Service?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'"

I know, I know I didn't post yesterday. Shame on me. I do (as usual), have a great excuse though...I was taking advantage of a great holiday, in honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When the day was set aside as a holiday 25 years ago, it was created in memory and in the name of service to others. To be honest, I wasn't aware that this was the reason we celebrated Dr. King each year, well, aside from the equal rights movement that is.What a great thing to do for your fellow man, provide service to those in need.
I grew up in a small town in Arizona, I was active in my church youth group and we spent a great deal of our time in serving others. I KNOW I am a better person today because of this. In this "ME" mentality of today's youth, where instant gratification is the norm, I urge other parents to teach your children the value of service. We are in a sad state of affairs, as far as the economy goes, and there are many people who need extra help. Finances aren't all that rosy in our family either, but I know that there are so many people out there that have it far worse off than us. Every year at Christmas, we donate many non-perishables to our local food bank and we donate clothing and hats and mittens to the homeless shelter. I teach my children to never hesitate to share what they have with those who have not.
The service doesn't need to be flashy, or well-publicized. I'll tell you what we actually did yesterday and it wasn't great by any standards, but all of my kids helped and were very glad to do it. My man prides himself on having a beautiful, well-manicured, lawn and yard- he also is very, very busy. He was unlucky enough to sustain a back injury and with a bulging disc in one's back, leaning over becomes quite difficult. All of this has led our yard to be quite, unsightly. When I mentioned to the kids that I wanted to go out and clean it all up for him, they jumped up and were out the door to help before I was. We worked for two hours, raking, sweeping, gathering up leaves and debris and carting it all away. I wish I would have been able to capture the look on my man's face and bottle it, he was so happy and grateful!
Serving others, doesn't mean you have to help strangers either. Helping a neighbor bring in their groceries or collecting their garbage can from the curb provides service. Volunteering to help with a chore or task for a family member is providing service as well. Encouraging your children to participate in a youth group or civic club, will help foster a life-long love of service. Jumping in and helping too, will enforce it as well. I have to ask, "What are you doing for others?" Thank you Dr. King and here's your TiP fOr TuEsDaY!

ThOuGhT fOr ThE dAy (post 181)

J. Lamb 2008

As I was talking to my sister this morning, I realized that she had missed that I started a 365 blog (a picture a day) at the beginning of this year. I made a quick post about it, but I thought I'd share again! 2011 and Points Forward is a a place where I can share my pictures. I take them daily and the ones I've taken over the years ( like the one above) and share them with you along with what I like about the picture or a memory. It's really fun and feel free to follow along and see the beauty we find in everyday. Just a thought! ;0)

Huh, who knew?

I was just trolling through my e-mail (I get a lot of spam, blech) and it usually takes me a few minutes to get through it. Honestly, I end up deleting the majority of it, but I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from a gentleman from Nursingschools.net wanting me to check out an article they published: 
“100 Delectable Recipes for Your Gluten-Free Kid”

I'm not going to lie to you, I don't normally use, "gluten-free" recipes. All of the recipes I share here are either recipes I've specifically created to be gluten-free or they are regular recipes I've tweaked to be gluten-free! The idea that someone has put together an entire list of 100 recipes for gf kids is really cool! I actually don't have a gluten-free kid, it's my man who suffers from Celiacs (and a dairy allergy and a nut allergy too, sigh), but I can easily use these to make him happy too!

Thanks Ken for sharing great gluten-free, kid friendly recipes. I have several people who I know that are gf and have gf kids and this is really very cool and I couldn't wait to share! Awesome! ;0)

TiP fOr TuEsDaY (post 179)

                       *TIP FOR TUESDAY* 

                                                  And the battle of the phone bill begins...

(a quick note, I did start this yesterday but got caught up in the day and didn't finish...no, I am not a slacker...really!)
I noticed that my phone bill from this last month was a little more expensive than usual, by about $15. This is unusual in fact seeing as though- I have had the exact same carrier for the last 7 years, haven't tweaked my plan, never come close to using up all my minutes, have done nothing different in fact. Upon closer inspection I noticed that I had about 18 "roaming" minutes at .69 cents a minute. Roaming? I'd been nowhere, but the confines of my city, for the length of the entire month. How on earth could I have been roaming? It didn't make sense at all, even if I had in fact been roaming, why would I be inside my calling area? Especially when I have never received any roaming minutes in the city before, something was up. 
I recalled the same complaint from my man (who has the same carrier) last month and when he called to question the charges, they were immediately reversed without a fuss. He has had a long battle with our carrier and their refusal to repair/replace his "crackberry", even though they are well aware of it's problems at the corporate level. Every time he goes to get it done at our local carrier store, they refuse to help him or insist that he leave his phone with them for the day to get worked on. He uses the phone for his business and there is no way he can go without it for the day, it is really ridiculous. My man suggested I call and do the same or he would for me and he also suggested I blog about it and research to see if anyone else had the same complaint. What I found was that there were many, many complaints about my carrier (and even a class action lawsuit against them) and their questionable billing practices. See here and here and here. I did not find a specific complaint about my issue, no matter though. I reset my phone and made sure that the no roaming feature was enabled in the interim and I intend to contact my carrier about the charges soon.
I'll let you all know when and if I get to the bottom of it all and my "tip" is to not be afraid to question when you know you're being overcharged. As for my man, he has vowed to switch carriers as soon as his contract is up...not that I blame him!

tHiS iS wHaT i LiKe (post 178)

allrecipes.com

I know I'm a little late for my usual Monday post, I have a good excuse though! It has to do with laundry...and being very backed up on it...poo. As always, Mondays for me seen to be spent more on catching back up after the weekend than anything else. I didn't forget though, so here goes!

I happen to use this very site frequently, when I want a recipe or an idea and allrecipes.com is a phenomenal resource! Not only can you get just about whatever recipe you could possible want, you also get detailed instructions on how to prepare it and even tips to make it great! I used it to find a good recipe for Thai Peanut Chicken and I made it last night. Yummy awesome stuff! It was already gluten-free (su-weet!) and honestly all I did was substitute soy-nut butter (my gf eater has a nut allergy too) and it was delish! Let me note that I used authentic soy sauce that isn't made with wheat as well. All the kids ate it and my man and I scarfed it down, so you know it had to be good.

Speaking of gluten-free, allrecipes.com also has some gluten-free recipes, click the link and check them out. Need some ideas for dinner? Want a few cooking tips as well? Check out allrecipes.com, I know I like it! ;0)

ThOuGhT fOr ThE dAy (post 177)

 J. Lamb 2010

"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."~ John F. Kennedy

As the start of a new year is upon us, I feel the need to reevaluate the direction I'm headed in life. Maybe the fact that I feel I lack direction and purpose in a lot of areas is to blame. I wish to be an example to my children, to let them know that you can do anything when you set your mind to it. Just a thought...

Cheer me up

Painting makes me happy :)

 I have been down in the dumps as of late and it was particularly bad yesterday. I couldn't even bring myself to blog, so you know that's bad...cuz I'm a bloggin' fool! I thought I'd take the day today to try to cheer myself up a little with listing the things that make me happy and put a smile on my face. I challenge the rest of you to list the things that make you happy and to strive to make them a part of today.  I think I'll try to incorporate most of these into today too. :) (The kids for sure!) ;0)

These three little imps and the silly things they say make me happy too :)

Wearing knee socks makes me happy :)

Reading warms my soul and makes me happy :)

I have no idea what the world would be like without the good Dr., it makes me happy :)

Converse sneakers and hearts (my birthday is on Valentine's Day) make me happy :)

Beautiful blue skies make me happy :)

Cheery sunflowers make me happy too :)

TiP fOr TuEsDaY (post 175)

 

These are my kids (obviously) from a couple of years ago and I'm not sure how I did it, but I have three very unique little spirits. None of them are afraid to be themselves and to stand up for what they believe. I hope that I've done all that I can to encourage them to not be afraid to follow their own paths in life. Now for Mom. Do you follow your own path? Do you live your life according to you or do you follow the lead of others? If you don't, then why not? Hey , I can speak from experience (yes, the experience of doing things the hardest way possible) that living your life according to you can be very rewarding, but isn't always the easiest. I also have been known  to take the easy way out at times instead of standing up for what I believe in and this is one thing I intend to work on for 2011. I love my kids enough to encourage them to follow their own paths and for me to provide a better example. That's my TiP fOr TuEsDaY!;0)

tHiS iS wHaT i LiKe (post 174)

                      2011 and points forward

Happy to the Monday folks and for those Moms who were fortunate to send their kids back to school today, hooray for you! For those like me who do not have that luxury 'till tomorrow, eh...Okay, so I know that the post says "this is what i like" and all, for those of you who frequent the blog know that usually means a product featured that I love. Not today, nope. I'm sure if I thought about it hard enough, I could think of something...but, seeing as though I did not have the luxury of sending three kids back to school today...yep, that means no ability to think. I have growled at the Wii players twice while writing that last sentence alone. Seeing as though I cannot think long enough to get anything else written, you'll just have to click the link and visit my new photo journal blog instead. Yes, that makes 5 blogs I write now...hey, it could be worse, it could be tattoos! Hmm...;0) This is what I like for sure though, so check it out!