99 Things

Back to blogging, with a meme!  Bold indicates something I've done.  In some cases, I've elaborated on them.

1. Started your own blog – Sadly, I've started many.  What I'm not so good at is continuing them!
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band – Symphonic band in high school.  Yup, I was a band dork.
4. Visited Hawaii – Three times.  If it weren't for the bugs, I'd say that I could live there.
5. Watched a meteor shower – Many times, I'm lucky to say!
6. Given more than you can afford to charity – I almost always give more than we budget to charity. This is both a good thing, and a bad thing. :-/
7. Been to Disney World – In junior high, on a class trip.
8. Climbed a mountain – Several.  Some that even have names.  I'm far too out of shape for that now, but I hope to start hiking again this summer.
9. Held a praying mantis –Oddly enough, yes. 
10. Sang a solo 
11. Bungee jumped –I was dumb, and in high school.  I don't think the company was even insured.  Never again.
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch – I had to learn to draw for my undergrad degree.  It was ultimately something that I managed, and even became decent at, much to my surprise.
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning –Far, far too many times.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables – I always have a containerized garden, and even kept one when we were living in a 425 sqaure foot apartment.  Someday, I will have a real garden with rows and everything, but for now, I'm too lazy.  Containers, it is.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train – EEK!  I don't know that I've slept per se on a train, but I took the AmTrak with my grandparents when I was 14.  They had a berth in a sleeping car, and left me alone in the main section.  It was one of the most terrifying nights of my life.
21. Had a pillow fight – Cliche, but yes.  During a high school sleepover.
22. Hitch hiked – Several times, when I was a kid with my dad.  Never on my own, as an adult. I'm not dumb.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill – I like to think of them as mental health days. :-)
24. Built a snow fort – My snow forts rock!
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping 
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run – Uh, no.
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community –Without realizing that it was totally taboo, I tried to take a photo of an Amish buggy while driving through Pennsylvania.  They cussed me out.  Loudly.  I still feel awful about it.
36. Taught yourself a new language – Does starting Spanish as an undergrad count?  Because that was hard work.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied – As an adult, I've never been without a significant amount of debt.  This makes me sad.  We're working on paying our debts down, but it is going to take years.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing – I'd love to start climbing again.  I was never very good at it, but it's so exhilarating!  I like the climb up, but I hate hate hate going down.  This is something I'd like to work on.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke – I think it looks fun, but I've never done it.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt – One of the more formative memories of my childhood, I think.  Incredible. 
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted 
48. Gone deep sea fishing – Many times.  I even caught a king salmon on a halibut charter once as a kid.  I love to fish.  In fact, I wish I loved eating fish as much as I love catching them.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling – I saw a shark while snorkeling in Hawaii in 2003, and it scared the bejeezus out of me.  I've since decided that I want to learn to scuba dive.  It's on that list of things-to-do-once-we're-financially-solvent-again.  :(
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud – I still love to play in the mud.  Isn't that what gardening is all about?
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia – I haven't visited, but I've seen Russia while flying over Western Alaska.
60. Served at a soup kitchen – A long, long time ago.
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching –We saw Humpback whales last May in Alaska and last January in Hawaii.  I'd like to think they were the same whales, in different locations.
63. Got flowers for no reason – Sometimes I buy myself flowers if I'm in the right mood.  I haven't done it in a while, though.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma – They don't much like me as a blood donor.  I tend to pass out, and my veins are, apparently, really difficult to stick.  Plus, I tend to heckle them about their ridiculous policy of not allowing homosexuals to donate blood, which adds a certain element of awkwardness to the whole situation.
65. Gone sky diving – Uh, no, thanks.  I'm not much of a fan of heights.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check – Right after I got out of high school.  Never again, I hope.
68. Flown in a helicopter – This was one of the neater parts of graduate school.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy – I have two lovely stuffed animals that I've saved.  One is a woolen goose that a family friend brought back for me from Nepal, and the other is a handmade teddy bear with hand-carved, articulated joints.  Both are treasures.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial – Several times, though I much prefer the FDR Memorial right next door.
71. Eaten Caviar – Yuck. I'm not much of a fan of roe of any kind.  When you chew it, the eggs sort of pop in your mouth, and I find that sensation utterly revolting.  Perhaps you aren't supposed to chew caviar?  I don't know, but I won't be eating it again.
72. Pieced a quilt – I adore quilting.  Straight lines!  Fabric!  I wish I had more time for it.  I only made one small quilt for my son while I was pregnant.  This makes me sad.
73. Stood in Times Square 
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job – Yup.  It was a long time ago, but I probably deserved it.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 
77. Broken a bone – Many.  I'm not graceful, by any stretch of the imagination.
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle – As a kid, I remember riding up on my grandma's dirt bike.  She kicked ass.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person – Several times.  It never ceases to amaze and inspire me.
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper – Yes, as a kid.  I was playing soccer in a tournament.
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House – Twice.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating –A grouse, as a child of 6 or 7.  It was traumatic.  Since then, I've helped butcher a lot of meat, but I have never (and hope to never) killed anything myself.  Yet I eat meat.  Happily.  I know, I'm a hypocrite.  Oh, well.
88. Had chickenpox – I had a terrible case of chickenpox when I was 15.  I ended up having to take antiviral drugs, and missing almost an entire month of my freshman year of high school because of it!
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club – I'd love to join a book club, but I don't know of any other than online ones, and I think that I'd prefer a club that actually meets in person.
93. Got a tattoo – My husband has a wedding ring tattoo, and I keep saying that I am going to get a matching one, but... I never follow through on it.  I'm too chicken.
94. Had a baby – What a harrowing experience THAT was!  Worth it, but he may be an only child, if you know what I mean.
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit – Unfortunately, yes.  Both professionally and personally.
98. Owned a cell phone – I was one of the first people I knew to have a cell phone.  I kept it in my car in high school, because we lived way out of town and my mom worried about me driving alone in Alaska in the winter. 
99. Been stung by a bee – A few times.  I don't have all that awful of a reaction, actually.

It blew

A few months ago, I received a $100 gift certificate to Overstock.com. I was really excited! I could buy something for myself, something decadent to spoil myself at a time when money is relatively tight. I spent, quite literally, months poring over the website, trying to figure out what I wanted the most, what would make me the happiest. I eventually decided that my 5-year-old hair dryer, which makes my hair SUPER static-y and frizzy, should be replaced by the T3 Evolution, a dryer that my hair stylist uses and swears by, and has been trying to get me to purchase for the last couple of years. I mean, if he can use it for 8 hours a day for years on end, it has to be great, right? I rationalized that it would last a lifetime.


I ordered it, then waited for a few weeks for it to arrive. (I live in Alaska, and it takes about twice as long and costs four times as much to ship things here.) Finally, it got here! The next morning, I was so excited to use it, I fairly danced out of bed and into the shower. I'd even put my old beat up Revlon dryer in the Goodwill bag, in anticipation of my fantastic new superduperdeluxe hairdryer. Bad move. The T3 didn't work. I mean, it blew. That much is for certain. It blew COLD air. It didn't even heat up.

So, now I have to go through the pain in the rear that is returning a product to Overstock, and pay for return shipping myself. Ultimately, though, I've learned a lesson. Sometimes what seems like a price that is too good to be true is just that. I don't think that I will ever have the means to buy a $300 hair dryer at retail, nor would I consider that a wise way to spend that much money, honestly. But I doubt that I will ever buy something at two-thrids off again without wondering if it will be defective. My old Revlon dryer is looking mighty good right now, what with the fact that it actually dries, and doesn't just blow.

Fall

Fall is definitely here! We have hard frost on the cars every day, and it snowed two days this weekend. With thoughts of winter come wonders about whether we are heating our house in a sustainable way. I think that we could do better, use more wood, less heating oil, but in general, I think that we do a fairly good job. Our house is older (almost 60 years old), but has been extensively retrofitted to make it more energy efficient. Despite its age, it got a 3 star energy rating when we had it reviewed a few years ago. We could probably use a newer furnace, and perhaps a new, more efficient hot water heater. But besides that, I think we're doing pretty good. How about you? What are your secrets for maximizing your energy efficiency during the winter?

(Image from http://www.deltanewsweb.com/archives/images/bohemian_waxwing_framed.jpg)

Mambo Sprouts Back-to-School Giveaway!

Win a Keen bag filled with Organic products from Mambo Sprouts!

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Sof-t mug

So, I think I've found what I'm getting all the coffee and tea drinkers in my life for Christmas this year: Sof-T mugs from active-gear.com

With a $10 donation, you get a stainless steel, silicon-coated, dishwasher safe travel mug. And it's cute, to boot!
Win one of your own at http://busy-mommy.com/

Baby Star

Baby Star is having a fantastic sale right now! They have a lot of really nice baby items at 50% to 80% off, and then if you use the coupon "20twinkle09" at checkout you get an additional 30% off the already reduced sale prices. I can attest to the fact that their stuff is really fantastic - Ollie was given a poodle blanket of theirs (it's the blue and brown one in the photo above) and it is my absolute favorite baby blanket. It's soft and snuggly and really well made. What are you waiting for?

PumpEase

Are you breastfeeding, and pumping?

You need a PumpEase*. Trust me on this. I lived without one for four months, and it was four months too long.
I have had to pump since my first week home from the hospital. At first it was because I was engorged, but now I just make more milk than my almost-five-month-old baby needs. So I pump, and freeze it.

I pump twice a day on workdays, because I'm able to go home and nurse Ollie at lunch. The PumpEase bra has shortened my pumping time from 30+ minutes to less than 20 minutes per session, and I'm still pumping as much milk. The best part? I'm able to pump at my desk while working.Thank you, PumpEase, for making breastfeeding just that much more compatible with working. Your bra ROCKS!

*I'm not receiving any compensation for this review. I paid for my PumpEase. I'm just thrilled with the product, and I wish that I'd found it sooner. I'm hoping that through this review, other mothers won't have to wait four months to discover this fantastic pumping bra!