What's that smell?

Ok, so Eric made it through his procedure ok. He's still alive. Barely. I'm kidding. But he did tell me that he was in so much pain, he thought he was dying. He was a whole new respect for women who have given birth now. Anyway, it's done and not something he ever wants to experience again.

Now, onto the topic at hand. I received a catalog yesterday from Yankee Candle. I really love the smell of most of their candles. But sometimes I wonder where in the world they come up with some of those scents. They have just released their new summer scents and there were even some scratch and sniff's in the catalog. The first one I came to was "Ocean Water". Ok, not bad. I don't know anyone who really wants to have a candle that smells like ocean water because honestly, I think the ocean stinks. Then I came to the next one. "Dune Grass" Are you kidding me?! Dune Grass? Who in their right mind wants to have their house smelling like dune grass? Well let's scratch and sniff anyway. EWWWWWW. Excuse me while I go puke. I didn't think anything could smell worse than that. I thought wrong. "Fresh Cut Herbs" was next. The name sounded alright. Scratch and sniff. Double EWWWWWWW. It smelled like rotten grass. It was twice as bad as the dune grass. And I'm sitting here thinking, people want their house smelling like this? I'll stick with the Fudge Ripple scent. That one didn't even have a scratch and sniff. I assume that's because it probably smells great and people would buy that one instead of one of the nasty smelling ones such as "Beach Walk" which smells like moldy wood to me. Where do they come up with this stuff? You can click on this link if you're really interested in having your house smell like rotten grass or moldy wood.

The Power of a Look

A look can be quite effective when you want something. My daughter gives me a "puppy dog" look when she wants something and probably about 75% of the time, it works. My son hasn't discovered the look yet. When he wants something, he whines or screams at the top of his lungs, which is quite effective too. When the trash is nearly overflowing, I can just look at my husband and he knows, the trash needs to go out. The look can work on strangers too. When I'm at a store waiting for someone to come help me, I can stand there looking annoyed and that probably works about 25% of the time. Last week is a wonderful example of the power of a look. It was around 10:00 p.m. The kids were asleep in bed. I was in my nightgown in bed watching TV when all of a sudden, the windows start rattling because our neighbor kid has his dang car stereo turned up. Now, I don't mind loud stereos during the day so much. I've been known on occasion to turn up my radio when a good song comes on the radio. But this was 10:00 at night. I waited a few minutes thinking maybe he would be turning it off soon. Finally, I was ticked. I was worried he was gonna wake up the kids. So I put some pants on and walked to the front door. I first turned on the porch light thinking that maybe if he saw that come on, he might have enough sense to turn the dang thing off. I waited. Still playing. That was it. I opened the door, flung open the screen door, stepped out and gave this kid the "Look". You know the one. The look that says if you don't turn that damn thing off, I'm gonna come over there and turn it off permanently. He was in the process of walking towards his house, with his car stereo still blaring. I must have given him a pretty dang good look because when he saw me, he said, "OK" and ran back to his car and turned it off. I didn't even have to say a single word. I calmly walked back inside shut the door, turned out the light and went to bed. Ahhhhh. The power of a look.

Finished Packing FINALLY!!

And it only took about 10 months. I've spent the past couple of weeks rearranging, organizing, and cleaning the house. There are absolutely no more boxes in our house! I put everything I wanted to keep (i.e. old school awards, mine and Eric's diplomas, etc.) went into Rubbermaid containers (I could buy stock in Rubbermaid) and anything that neither of us wanted anymore either went into the trash or into the garage sale pile. I got our master bathroom completely organized so now you can actually see the countertop. I rearranged our bedroom and you can actually walk through it (so long as a certain someone keeps their clothes picked up!). All of this was a really big task and I feel so relieved that I have finally finished it. I'll try to take pictures later today and post them. I'm really proud of this accomplishment and anyone that has ever moved knows exactly how I feel right now.

On another note, Eric is having laser Lithotripsy done Thursday morning for a kidney stone. It's a non-invasive procedure where they use shock waves to break up kidney stones that are too big to pass. He has one right now that is 7mm. He's not in any pain right so that's good, but the doctor wants to get it out ASAP before it gets any bigger. So we'll be checking into the Kansas Medical Center at the butt-crack of dawn 5:00 a.m. on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, Eric will have to miss 2 days of work. Let me rephrase. Eric gets to miss 2 days of work for this. He has to be on an all liquid diet all day Wednesday along with drinking two bottles of magnesium citrate. But at least he doesn't have to have surgery to have it removed. Thank goodness for technology.

Both kids are doing great. Ereka's favorite phrase right now is "I don't want to live with you no more". Four year olds are so much fun!

Final Round!!

So now the Wichita Wingnuts have made it to the final round. I wonder if KU will be so lucky. Anyway, here is an updated link (http://www.cnbc.com/id/23898413). So go vote for the Wichita Wingnuts!! I may have to actually take up a baseball game this year and see how well they really play. I wonder if they can live up to their logo. hmmmm.

Go Wingnuts!!

CNBC is hosting a Minor League Baseball Logo Contest and the Wichita Wingnuts have made it to the Final Four! Go Wingnuts!! Click on this link (http://www.cnbc.com/id/23878416) to vote. The polls close at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, so vote now! This team hasn't even played a single game yet and they are already so close to winning this contest. So forward this to everyone you know (cause it may be the only thing they ever win).

And while we're discussing Final Four victories (even though I'm a K-State fan), congratulations to KU for their close call victory over Davidson yesterday (and my joy for their win has absolutely nothing to do with my March Madness bracket). GO KU!!

Catchin' Up

Ok, so I know it's been awhile, but I've been super busy. Honestly. Work has been crazy. And by the time I get home in the evenings, the last thing I want to do is sit at the computer and update everyone else on my life. But things have quieted down somewhat for now. So now I get to play catchup at work and at home. Although I did make time to work on my knitting. I just finished two more projects. I finished Ereka's legwarmers a couple of weeks ago. Here's a couple of pictures.

I also finished a lighthouse dishcloth 2 nights ago. I'm pretty proud of the dishcloth. It was a needle knit pattern that I converted to loom knit. I only made a few mistakes which I now refer to as "kid distractions" because I'm sure that's what happened. Here's a picture of the dishcloth.

And I'm super excited because my new wonderloom from dalooms finally arrived today. I can't wait to try it out this weekend. What else have I been up to? Not a whole lot (as you can tell from the pictures of Ereka with my dirty floor that obviously needs to be vacuumed). But I have proof that I've been doing laundry because I did manage to do this to Eric's brand new white T-shirts.

Nice, huh. It took half a gallon of bleach to turn them white again.

Eric and both kids were sick this week with a stomach bug. YUK. That's all I have to say about that. Other than that, everyone is doing great. I wish the weather would warm up and stay that way. Ereka is going bonkers inside the house all day everyday. I'll upload some new pictures of the kids this weekend. Have a great weekend everyone!!

You ate the WHOLE box?!

Girl scout cookies were recently delivered. We had ordered some boxes from my sister and some from Eric's cousin. My absolute favorite are the Caramel Delights. They have always been my favorite. When I sold cookies, they were called Samoa's. Same cookie, different name, still taste great. Anyway, so I ordered 2 boxes of those from my sister. One evening while I was knitting, I devoured about 7 cookies. When I got home the next day, the rest were gone. Eric said he and Ereka ate them. Ok, no biggie, there's still a whole other box. Well, fast forward to Friday evening, I wanted some cookies. I go in search for the purple box and I can't find it. I ask Eric about it. He looked at me and said, "Well I was just going to eat a couple, but they were so good, I ended up eating the whole box." Are you kidding me? At first, I thought he was just joking and he had hidden the box from me. But no. He ate the whole dang box. He said, "Don't worry, I'm sure I ordered a box of those from my cousin." Ok.

Well Sunday, we picked up the cookies he ordered from his cousin. Hmmm. There is a red box, an orange box and a green box. I look at Eric. He just smiles and says, "I'm sorry. I must have ordered you the green box instead of the purple one." Oh well. It's not like I really needed them anyway. Yesterday, he was scrounging looking for something to snack on and I commented, "Well why don't you eat a box of cookies." I was joking, but apparently he didn't realize it because he ate another box of cookies. Well that's ok. Last night, I proceeded to hide the rest of the cookies, with the exception of the green boxes because I know he hates Thin Mints. Ahhhhh. I feel much better. We'll see how long it takes him to notice they're gone.

On a completely unrelated matter, both kids have had their well-baby and well-child checkups. Ereka had hers last week. She is doing great. The doctor went to check her ears and lo and behold, an ear infection. Go figure. Other than that, she's fine. She's growing perfect. I was a little concerned about her weight, but she is in the 98% for her weight and 77% for her height. The doctor said she will probably burn quite a bit when it warms up and she is outside more being more active. Although I'm sure the snacking her and Eric do everyday doesn't help. And she didn't get any shots. She was sooooo worried she was going to be getting shots or blood taken. The doctor asked me if I wanted to do it that day or wait until next year. Well since I had Ethan with me, I opted to wait. The doctor said that's typically what they do anyway.

Now on to Ethan. He had his 15 month checkup yesterday. He wasn't quite so lucky with the shots. He got three yesterday. Ethan is weighing in at 23.5 pounds and is 30" tall. He's developing great. He's doing everything he's supposed to be doing with the exception of talking. He's still not talking. He does a lot of babbling. Everything is dada dada dada dada. The doctor said he could just be a late talker. She said we'll give until he's 18 months old before we start worrying. She's not too concerned about it because he's doing everything else he supposed to be doing. She also said, that if we, um, lose, um, the, um pacifier, that would probably help. We're working on it. I promise. I think we're just going to have to round them all up and toss them in the trash. The doctor said they really don't need them after 15-18 months anyway because typically, they can be given something else to soothe them, such as a blankie or a toy. I see a sleepless weekend coming on.

Happy Birthday Ereka

And Happy Valentine's Day to everyone else! Today is Ereka's 4^th birthday. Awww, my baby is growing up L. I asked her how old she was today and her response, "I'm 3 years old."

"No, you're 4 today."

"I don't wanna be 4, I wanna be 3."

"Well I'm sorry honey, but you're a big girl now and you're 4 years old."

"Well I'm mad at you now."

"Well I still love you."

"I love you too mommy. I guess I can be 4."

I'm glad that's settled (cause I'm not sure I could handle her being 3 again)

So after I got off work yesterday, I stopped at the store to buy something for Valentine's Day for Eric. Let me tell you something. Valentine's Day is all about Women. Everything is for women. Nothing for Men. Unless your man likes cutesy little animals or heart-shaped anything. And I was not the only person waiting until the last minute to buy anything. It took me 10 minutes to get through the VD section. I was finally able to find a lovey dovey
cutesy nice card and a frog balloon. Here is a couple of pictures of the balloon.

It's actually quite cute. And my wonderful husband got me a very nice card and a stuffed bear. And we're going to double date with my brother and his wife tomorrow night and go out to dinner. YAY! An evening among adults (thank you Mom!!). HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Moment of Truth

I don't know if any of you have seen this new show on fox. Click on the fox link and watch some recaps. It's actually quite entertaining to watch. However, I don't know who in their right mind would ever be a contestant on this show. There is not enough money in the world for me to go on this show. The contestants have to answer several VERY personal questions and if they are telling the truth, they move up the money pyramid but if the lie detector says they are lying, they lose everything. These people are insane. I consider myself to be a truthful person, but there are just some things in my life that everyone doesn't need to know. Everyone has secrets. And I guess if you want to tell the whole world what those secrets are (and risk ruining relationships/friendships, etc), then by all means, go on the show! I, however, will keep my secrets to myself. Watch the show. It's on tonight. What's your opinion? Would you go on the show?

On a totally unrelated note, I want to thank my cousin Destiney for earning me $0.62 by purchasing the greatest looming book of all time through my Amazon link. This is the first earning from this blog. THANK YOU!! By the way, if you're interested in the same book, you can search "Loom Knitting Primer" or "Isela Phelps" in the Amazon box to the right. Thanks again!!

I was having fun 10 years ago

I got an email last week from our senior year class president regarding a 10-year reunion. WHAT?! 10 years already!! I can't believe it. It has flown by. I absolutely loved my senior year of high school. I went to every single sporting and school event I could. I went to my prom after only deciding to go the day before (which made shopping for a dress interesting). I had tons of fun. I would love to be a "professional student". LOL. Get paid for going to school. Now that would be a great job! Maybe later this week, I will scan in some old pictures from high school. Ahhh, the good ole days.

On another note, I learned that Ereka's bed (the frame) is about 51 years old. It's a bunk bed set. My mom and my aunt slept on the set for years and then me and my sister slept on the set for several more years. So it's on its 3^rd generation now. My cousin brought up an interesting fact yesterday though. Lead paint. Hmmmm. This thought never even crossed my mind. So I went home and examined the bed. It didn't appear to be painted, just finished. But I thought better be safe than sorry and dug out a lead tester (thank you Mom & Bob) and tested the wood part and the metal part (hey, you never know). And the results were…NO LEAD!! (whew).

This past weekend, I pulled out my container of yarn and made note of what I had. WOW. That crap stuff accumulates fast. Here's a couple of pictures.

This was before I started digging it out and organizing it.

And this was after I organized it.

And here's a picture of a mitten I made. It's really thick and warm. I need to sew the thumb better, but other than that, I think it's pretty good!

And here's a recent picture of the kids.

Can you hear me now?

Well I am still fighting this stupid ear infection. My ear doesn't hurt anymore, but it still feels full and it's still ringing and I can barely hear out of it. It's driving me crazy!!

On another note, I finally was able to finish my plastic bag holder. I was on hiatus from my knitting since Ethan was sick and I was sick. I finished it last night and I really like it. Here's a couple of pictures:

It was really easy to make and I probably could have had it done in just a few evenings if I hadn't had sickly interruptions. I'm gonna make another one and try putting some stripes in it and if I can do it, eventually I want to make one with our last name down the side or maybe at least just an H. We'll see. I haven't decided what my next project is gonna be. I want to practice some different stitches first.

Some more news on the home front, Ereka got a new bed last weekend. Here's some pictures:

This was the first day we brought it home and put her brand new sheet/comforter set on it. We just set on the floor and picked up the frame the next day.

This was after we put it on the frame and rearranged her room a bit. Some of you may recognize the footboard. It's the same frame me and Kandyce slept on for i don't know how many years!!! Now if only Ereka would actually sleep all night in her bed. I could have just bought the sheet set and set it up on the floor.

Mommy, M.D.

I don't care what doctors say. I'm a mommy and I say ear infections are contagious. They are in my household anyway. And I'm betting just about every mommy will agree with me.

I woke up Sunday morning around 3:30 am with the worst earache ever. And of course Ethan was sleeping comfortably on my chest (after yet another very looooong night) and there was no way I was moving. So I laid there for an hour in excruciating pain. Finally, Ethan sat up and then promptly laid back down on the pillow next to me. I'm not sure he even opened his eyes. I quickly, yet carefully, took this opportunity to get up and take something for the pain.

I rummaged through my medicine bottles and was thinking that I'd really like to take the Percocet or the Demerol I have, but I better just stick with the prescription Ibuprofen. The others would make me too drowsy to function and since I am a mommy, I still have to take care of everyone else who is sick. Luckily, the Ibuprofen worked and the pain subsided. When we got up for the day, I decided I was not doing another night like that and told Eric we were going to Immediate Care that day. Surely they won't be that busy on a Sunday. He and Ereka could go eat lunch while Ethan and I saw the doctor and by the time they were done, we should be done. That was a stupid idea.

The place opens at Noon on Sundays and we pulled into the parking lot around 11:45. You would have thought the place was having some kind of sale. The line stretched clear across the parking lot. It probably would have been a 3-4 hour wait minimum. And so we exited the parking lot and went back home. I called our doctor first thing Monday morning and by the time I actually got through and was able to talk to anyone, all of their Monday appointments were taken. So I made an appointment for Ethan today. My ear didn't hurt anymore, so I opted not to make myself an appointment. Another stupid idea.

About 8:00 pm last night, my ear started hurting again. I took some more medicine and went to bed. Luckily I was able to see our doctor at the same time as Ethan this morning and found out I have an ear infection and Ethan has a double ear infection. I give it a couple of days and Ereka will have an ear infection too. Like I said, ear infections are contagious in our household.

Practice makes perfect!!

My recently finished loom knitting projects...

This is a beanie hat for one of Ereka's babies.
This was supposed to be a potholder. I did much better on it after the first half.
World's ugliest hat ever. I was just practicing with some ugly yarn that had been given to me.
Can Coozie. Again, I was just practicing with the ugly yarn. I'm gonna modify this pattern and try it again though.

No these are perfect projects, but the only way to learn is to practice. And yes these are ugly, but I'm gonna use my good pretty yarn on practice projects. I'm currently working on a plastic bag holder. I'll post a picture of it when I'm finished. TTFN!!

The sick really are sick

Ok, maybe I was just a wee bit cranky yesterday. I blame it on lack of sleep. Eric went to the doctor yesterday and I told him since he was going anyway, he could take Ethan with him. Well Ethan doesn't have an ear infection, just a little bit of fluid and a red throat. Hmmmm. I would assume the red throat was due to the screaming fit the night before. Eric, on the other hand, has a severe double ear infection! The doctor wanted to know why he hadn't come in sooner. Soooo, Eric really is in pain and I don't know what the heck Ethan's problem is other than he just wants to be a PITA…(btw, he was up at 3:30 this morning, hence my cranky mood again). And now, Ereka is starting to get a head cold. The vicious cycle never ends…

Here are some things to ponder today…

If aliens are smart enough to travel through space why do they keep abducting the dumbest people?
If we're not supposed to eat late night snacks why is there a light in the refrigerator?
If babies are so cute when they're born, how come half of them grow up to be ugly old men?
Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick?"
If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
Why do psychics have to ask for your name?
If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth?
Is it really an optical illusion, or does it just look that way?
Can a person without eyebrows show surprise?
Why can't women put on mascara with their mouth closed ?

Why don't I ever get to be sick???

Why are men such big babies when they're sick? They are worse than children! My son has been sick for a few days now with a stomach bug and I'm pretty sure he has an ear infection now. I came to this conclusion at about 3 am when he was crying his head off and pulling at his ear. I think I got about 2 hours of sleep last night so I'm a little cranky today. But things like this come with being a parent, right? WRONG. Things come like this with being a Mother. Because when the kids are sick, apparently only mommies know how to take care of them. My son wanted nothing to do with anyone on Sunday except me. That's ok. I had the day off. Sunday night, he was still sick and at about 4:22 a.m. Monday morning, I had decided that I would not go to work on Monday since I probably wouldn't get much done anyway because of lack of sleep. On Monday, he was doing soooo much better. He actually let my husband hold him in the afternoon and he ate dinner pretty well. He only woke up once Monday night (it was my husband's turn to get up with him…funny how it always works that way) and so I thought GREAT, he's better! Last night proved me wrong. On top of all this, my husband has a head cold. And you would think it was the end of the world. He has quickly learned though that he will get no sympathy from me whatsoever. When I'm sick, I still go to work, take care of the house, take care of the kids, cook, clean, etc., etc., etc. That's what mothers are supposed to do. That's the way its been for generations. HELLOOOOO. We are in the year 2008. It's all about equal opportunity! And that includes roles in the home too. You're sick? I'm sorry. Here, take this, suck it up and give Ethan a bath. You can still walk, talk and breathe, so you can still help out around here. If I can do it, so can you. And that's that.

New Hobby!!

Well I picked up a new hobby last week. Like I really need something else to do with all my spare time (please note the sarcasm). Anyway, my new hobby; Loom Knitting. I absolutely love it! It's sooooo easy to do. I had taught myself to knit (with needles) a little over two years ago. I wanted to learn so I could make blankets. However, I quickly realized just how long it would take to make a blanket and I just don't have time to keep up with a long project like that. I'm an instant gratification kind of person. So I pretty much picked up the needles every few months or so. Well last week I discovered loom knitting. My very first project was a hat for my daughter and I started AND finished it in just one evening! It took about 4 hours (with a few interruptions). I was so thrilled, I started a hat for my husband the next night and it only took 2 evenings to finish that. The first hat I needle-knitted for my son took over 4 months!! This weekend, I made a beanie hat, a potholder and a coozie! I'm hoping to keep this up and start a blanket in a month or so. Eventually I hope to be good enough to design my own patterns. There is tons of stuff online that makes learning sooooo easy. There are even instructional videos on YouTube! Here's a couple of pictures of what I've done.

Another Baby? Over my dead body!

Ok so I'm a few days late, but Happy New Year!! We didn't do anything for New Year's; heck we were in bed by 9:30 (wow I feel old). I had a lot of things I had planned to do on New Year's day though and I didn't even get half of them done. That's what happens when you have kids. You make to do lists so you know what you're not getting done.

We did get all of Christmas decorations put away (well except for the lights still on the house that never even worked) and put them back in storage. While we were reorganizing our storage unit, I decided to pull out some baby stuff to freecycle. I pulled out the walker (that my son never even used) and the swing. My husband wanted to get rid of the bassinet too but I said nope.

"Why not"

"Cause I'm not ready to have another baby yet" and he looked at me like I was nuts.

"Huh?"

"Don't you know anything about Murphy's Law? When a woman gets rid of all her baby stuff, she gets pregnant soon after. That's the way it works. So we can't get rid of too much stuff cause we're not having another baby right now"

"Whatever"

Anyway, here is the video I promised of my Christmas Day mess. Everything hadn't been brought in quite yet, but you get the picture.

You could barely walk through the living room by the end of the day. Here's what our living room looked like only 2 days later.

And here it is January 3 and we still don't have everything out of it's packaging yet. But we're getting there...slowly. Maybe the kids will have all their new stuff opened by March.

That Dreaded Visit

I thought about whether or not to talk about this as it's rather personal, but I thought what the heck. I'm sure almost every woman out there can relate to this. I had a doctor's appointment this morning for my annual exam and women, you know exactly what annual exam I'm talking about. The nurse does all her usual stuff; weight (ugh, didn't lose any pregnancy weight); blood pressure (still perfect).

"Any pregnancy's?" I'm sitting there thinking, you have my entire chart on your little laptop there and you have to ask if I have had any pregnancies? I guess I waited too long to answer cause she asked again.

"Pregnancies?"

"Yes." And then she just sits there looking at me like I should have more to say.

"Do you want to know when they were?"

She says, "No, how many?" Well why didn't you ask that in the first place. Again though, I wonder why she's asking when all of this information should be in my file.

Then she asks, "Are you still taking Mez….(I can't even pronounce it, let alone spell it)?" Ok, you have to ask me about my pregnancies, yet you know my primary care doctor gave me a prescription for dizziness 2 months ago?

So anyway, after we're done playing 20 questions, she tells me the doctor will be in shortly. There's the sheet and the gown. So after she leaves, I get undressed and recover myself up in about 30 seconds. There is nothing more embarrassing than the doctor walking in while you're still standing half naked trying to cover up. Trust me.

So now I'm sitting on the exam table/bed with a sheet over my bottom half and a gown around my top half. Now that I have every bare inch of my body covered, I sit there and wait…and wait…and wait some more. Usually my doctor's office is pretty quick. I've never had to wait more than 15 minutes in the waiting room and never more than a couple in the exam room. They must have been busy today. 20 minutes later, the doctor finally comes in. (Hmmmm, glad I'm not the only one that's put on a few pounds.) Now we get to play 20 questions again. Only this time we get to play while being examined. Why do doctors do this. Don't they know how uncomfortable we already are. We don't want to talk about how Christmas went or what our New Year plans are while you are examining our most private parts. COME ON!

Anyway, that's over. Don't have to worry about it for a whole year now.

Btw, I was able to get to my computer last night and uploaded the video of my Christmas mess. I'll try to get it on here later today.

Christmas should be a 3 day holiday!!

At a bare minimum. A week would be great. But I'd be happy with 3. A day for last minute preparation, Christmas Day, and a day to recuperate. I am completely exhausted. And our house is a mess. You can't even hardly walk through the living room because there are toys everywhere. Some toys aren't even out of their boxes yet. Guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend. We even took down our Christmas Tree Christmas evening so we could have a little more room to put stuff. My husband and I really spoiled our kids this year. We started buying stuff in October and didn't finish until 2 days before Christmas. This was the first year we were really able to do this so we went all out. Ereka actually got tired of opening presents Christmas morning. She really wanted to start playing right away. I took a video of our mess Christmas afternoon, but I can't upload the video off the camera until I get some stuff put away or at least into some kind of organization. I can't even get to the computer. I'll try to get it done this weekend. When you see it, then you'll really believe me. I will probably be doing lots of reviews for this blog over the next couple of weeks. I researched every single toy I bought this year and read tons of reviews so I want to be sure to leave reviews for others too. So far I only have to exchange one toy. We'll see how well the new one works out before I give my opinion of that one. But like I said, we still have toys that haven't been taken out of their packages yet. There just aren't enough hours in the day. Like I said; Christmas should be a 3 day holiday.

FolderShare

Ok, I haven't done a review or promoted a product for awhile, so here's a new one.

There is an easy way to access all your important (and not-so-important) files on all your computers and you can even share files with other people. FolderShare gives you the ability to do this. It may take a while to master, but once you do, you will love it. FolderShare downloads and installs easily and is compatible with PC's and Macs. FolderShare lets you install the software on all of your computers. Once installed, FolderShare places an icon in the system tray and runs quietly in the background. You can right-click the icon to look at your list of shared folders. Most of the setup takes place via the company's web site. FolderShare is very convenient because it lets you control all of your computers from a single place. FolderShare automatically updates files and so once a file is changed on one system, all of the other linked computers automatically use a direct SSL-encrypted connection to download the updated file. You can even invite other people to share your folders although I've never done this so I don't know much about that aspect about it. FolderShare's web download feature allows you to use any web browser to download a file from any of your computers on your account as long as that computer is turned on and logged in. However, if security is a concern, you should probably avoid using the Web Download feature to access sensitive material. I absolutely love FolderShare. And my boss loves it too. It lets me do work from home when I need to because I can access my work computer from home and vice versa. If I want to put some pictures of my kids on my desktop at work, I can access my picture folder at home. It's great! The company offers technical support via an email form on its web site and there is also more detailed information about this product there. I highly recommend this product and best of all, it's FREE!!!!!

10 things to ponder today:

If a pig loses it voice is it "disgruntled"?
If the pig is sold to the pawn shop, is it considered a hamhock?
If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people happy?
If Wal-Mart is lowering prices everyday how come nothing is free yet?
How can there be self-help "groups"?
Why aren't there any grapes or nuts in grape-nuts?
If Superman is so smart why does he wear his underpants over his trousers?
How do you get off a non-stop flight?
How come wrong numbers are never busy?
What's the speed of dark?