The only app I paid for...

I have been enjoying the camera in my iPhone, particularly with the CameraBag app. There are a bunch of filters you can play with. When I mentioned this to my designer friends, they all laughed and said, "That's what Photoshop is for!" This is much easier. My two favorite filters are Helga, which adds a little contrast to the photo and darkens the edges a bit, and Cinema which darkens the photo and shows it in wide screen.


Found on the side of the road. (Helga)

Vintage bathroom. (1962)

My downfall. (Cinema)

Lush

Girls Night Out...It was a good night, but should've happened on a Friday so I could sleep off my wine hangover rather than drag myself into work. You know how I know it was a good night? Lots of talking. Lots of wine. Lots of laughing. Plus, I missed my train stop on the way home. And not because I passed out thank you. My tunes were cranked to drown out the annoying twenty-something yapping on her phone in my ear. At 12:45, no trains are coming back the other way. Well, nothing like an evening stroll to wake you up. There should always be a funny story to tell after a night with the girls. Here's to Girls Night Out!

Random Update

I have been talked into taking tennis lessons with a new friend. She is very excited about learning how to play. I'm just happy to be mixing it up a bit. Last night was our first lesson. After getting the basics of stance and stroke, we hit the balls. It seems my focus, according to the instructor, was killing the ball. Not only did I nail the instructor square on the bicep, I caused the ball collectors to duck for cover more than once. Then, my arm was sore and my knee hurt. Did I mention I'm getting older in two weeks?

It's nearing the end of Restaurant Week(s) this week and tonight the Girls are heading to Privé. As usual I will annoy my friends with incessant note-taking so I can update Table for You. And, if you're interested in the last review, Sauté isn't bad, just get there early, and not because it's crowded.

This has been the first week implementing "1-2-3 Magic" with the girls. I'm happy to report it's going extremely well! If you have discipline issues with your kids, this book is well worth the read.

Lastly, our 10 year wedding anniversary is quickly approaching. We are going away without our kids. Yay! And without our friends. Yahoo! While we may be spontaneous and opt for one of those eSavers that show up on Wednesdays, I need a backup destination within 3 hours driving distance from Philly. Any suggestions??

I need another day

Someone needs to start lobbying for three day weekends. Two days simply doesn't cut it -- ever. Two days of errands, housework, entertaining, and one day of recovery. It's an absolute must.

This weekend was especially busy...Ella and I hit the yard sales Saturday morning. She's had $5 burning a hole in her pocket for three weeks, ever since I took her to her first yard sale. She was hoping to find toys or costumes, but this Saturday she opted for some Matchbox cars, a model airplane, Christmas decor and some collectible figurine. She declared this adventure, a good day for yard sales. My new partner in crime is now as addicted as I am. I was so excited to score a breadmaker for $5! I spent all of $20 on this stuff.

Kyra made bread.

Ella cleaned her room by conquering and dividing.


Soccer happened.
Kyra likes playing goalie best because "she can use her hands".

I hung 5 prints in my living room and 4 plates in my dining room, and picked up a bed we bought off craiglist - love craigslist! for the guest room. And, to get a hold of discipline issues with Kyra, we've introduced "1-2-3 Magic". Stay tuned. I love being productive on the weekends. Except there's no down time, and now I'm wiped out.

Tiny People

I love this. It's so creative and fun.

Multi-tasking at its finest

I am not usually out for a stroll when I'm walking. Typically, I'm headed somewhere, and usually on a limited amount of time. So, you can imagine how annoying it is to me to be walking behind someone who's texting. I admit, I've been guilty of doing this once or twice. It's not easy. But, like I said, I've got limited time and I try to keep up the pace.

The reason I bring all this up is because I came across this iPhone app.

This is "Email n Walk". You can view your path through the camera as you walk and type emails. This is good, or very bad. Imagine driving with this! I think walking, viewing your path through your screen and typing would be very disorienting, but I'm considering downloading it just for the hell of it.

Another ghost?

I'm not sure if there are ghosts in my house or not. The house is nearly 100 years old, so it's possible. Plus, this happened. And this.

Last night at 3:30 in the morning Kyra came up to sleep in our room. She had a bad dream. The three of us won't fit so Jeff went to sleep in her room. Unfortunately, she was pretty awake talking about Fairyland (a story we have made up together about another world of fairies). Then, out of the blue and very calmly, she said, "Mommy, someone's here. I don't know their name. And they're going up and down."

I was pretty much awake from then until my alarm went off at 5:40. I asked her more about it this morning because I wanted to know if it was my ghost lady with the black sleeve. She told me (after many questions) it was a man with brown hair on a ladder inside the room near the window. She couldn't see his face. Is he nice or mean? He was mean. I asked her if she was scared and she said yes. But she didn't seem it last night so now I'm wondering if it was just in her imagination. Or not.

The first week of school

I didn't think much about it until I relayed the stories to my mother who was laughing, sympathetic and horrified all at once. Really, the first two days were fine. It was the following days where things got a little hairy.

Ella appeared to have pinkeye, but nothing alarming. Barely noticeable. Neither Jeff nor I could stay home with her. So off to school she went with clear instructions to touch nothing and wash her hands every 30 minutes. I had hopeful thoughts that I wouldn't get a phone call to pick her up. Bad mommy. I know it's wrong. I'm sorry.

Then, Kyra comes home with reports of a bloody nose and blood-stained clothing. Apparently, she used her sleeve to stop the gushing blood. The next day? A continuation of both. Pinkeye now in both eyes. Well, off to school you go. Don't touch anything. Wash your hands.

Then, on the way to the train I landed in an ankle deep puddle in Keds. Fabulous. Yes, karma. I know all about it. Finally, a call from the morning Kindergarten teacher that Kyra had TWO bloody noses by 11:30 in the morning. So my kid likes to pick her nose. What can I do?

On a positive note, the pediatrician does not think Ella has pinkeye because it's not goopy and crusty. Maybe just allergies. But Kyra? Probably just nerves. The week is almost over. Where's my wine?

Two Firsts

Ella's first day of second grade. The only hesitation was that not one of her close friends was in her class. At the end of the day, she said it was "awesome." I can only hope she feels that way every year.Kyra's first day of Kindergarten was the day after Ella's. Someone was anxious to get to the bus... The bus was on it's way down the street and I got a big excited smile and a quick "Goodbye". Wha? Hold on there little one...I want a hug! And off she goes...

Smiling so big and waving...When I finally got home to hear about her first day at school, she said, "Not great...it was fantastic!" I'm so excited for her.

Infestation continued

So it turns out we were infested by Indian Meal Moths. We thought by throwing away the moth/maggot infested nuts that we'd be in the clear. For a couple days, I was still finding stray moths in the pantry. My mom saw the post and alerted me: "They are not gone. You have to get moth traps. Now throw everything away. Everything!" I quick ordered up some moth traps which have yet to arrive. Surely, they're just stragglers which I was sqooshing on sight. But the number of moths in the pantry was still not decreasing. I started looking through other packages of cereal and crackers. And there they were - the larvae, which I thought were maggots. In just about every package, I found at least one larvae. Some in cocoons, others just hanging on. Even in unopened boxes. So, we grabbed two giant trash bags and dumped it all, washed the shelf liners in the tub and Lysoled the hell out of the room. My flour and rice, on the other wall and other shelves, seemed fine under close examination. But, I'm so skeeved out that I might have to dump all that as well. Now, I'm off to purchase some airtight containers, and still wondering if I've ingested any moth eggs. ???

Storing Nuts

Have you ever wondered what happens to nuts if they aren't stored properly? In fact, did you know that nuts should be stored properly? We didn't. And we can tell you what happens to said nuts when they aren't. Maggots. That's right. Maggots. Then, moths. Or is it the other way around? Either way, gross.

Earlier this afternoon I noticed a few moths hanging on the ceiling in our pantry. Upon closer investigation I noticed some "worms" crawling across the ceiling too. Smoosh smoosh smoosh. All gone. Then, tonight, back in the pantry, more moths, more worms. WTF? I call Jeff in. We have an infestation. We have a tendency to keep crackers and chips and things of that nature too long, really just long forgotten. And nuts. I thought maybe the moths were in the crackers so I start pulling open boxes out, dumping them in a trash bag until I get to the nuts. And there they were. In the bags. Flying around the bags. O.My.God! We had all kinds of nuts too. Some shelled. Some not. I just grabbed them all and dumped them in. Then Jeff saw the bag of almonds. Which I put aside thinking they were ok. They didn't have moths. Let's just throw them out he said. I grabbed the bag and looked at them. They looked ok, but then again, something didn't look quite right. I looked closer. Maggots! Holy shit, I threw them right in the trash. I smooshed a couple of leftover moths and another maggot on the wall. Grabbed my glass of wine and tried to pretend it never happened. Now I'm all skeeved out and feel like I need a shower. So the lesson here, store your nuts in the freezer. I googled it.

And that was just the topper to my early evening. I had just finished digging through a FULL trash can TWICE looking for a light switch I mistakenly threw away, only to have Jeff find the it under the table later. Like I said, a shower is much needed here.

Another school year...

It's September. Yes, you're well aware. I'm just saying it out loud because I still can't believe it. School. Ugh. And miraculously, the weather has instantly gone from 80% humidity and 92 degree heat to perfect overnight. I mean, p.e.r.f.e.c.t. I may have to break out the red wine this weekend. It's cool like that.

School is about to start, which means several things, and not all good:

• Supply lists. I love love LOVE new school supplies. Everything is so fresh and crisp and unspoiled. I don't know what it is, but I just love a brand new sharpened pencil with clean erasers. And perfectly molded crayons. A brand new marbled notebook. Writing on that first page is torture. Ugh! Getting a brand new, never-been-opened workbook. It's a sickness, I'm sure. This is Good.
• No more pre-school tuition. Of course, there's after school care, but it's like HALF of the "tuition" we we're paying. This is also Good.
• New morning routines. Without our summer sitter, these include waking up an hour earlier (me!). Like at 5 am. So I can exercise in the predawn, darkness (unsafe!). Get myself ready for work. Getting sleepy children up and fed and dressed and out the door to catch the bus. Hopefully, with lunches made by me in their backpacks. This is all very Bad. It's like a day's worth of work before I even GET to work.
• Finding new after-school sitters. Okay, so we have one from last year. She's just not able to help us on Friday. Which means, the interviews will ensue. Two this weekend, in fact. I've been lucky so far. *knocking on wood* I love Craigslist. This is a Pain in the Ass.
• Days off. I don't know about your school, but if ours can't find a reason to have a full day off, they have a half day. This is Bad.
• Events. Well, our kids are in the school, we have to go, don't we? Forced socialization is Wrong.

Oh, and one last thing. Where are the other cool parents?