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August 30, 2007
Hi diddle Ho Neighbors
Craziness still in abundance at the Katespot residence. Many feelings of being overwhelmed... dreams of drowning... all that fun stuff!
BUT - some fantastic news -
My brother and sis in law had their baby on 8/19. His name is Hunter. Isn't he the cutest EVER???!
Posted by Cate at 11:25 PM | Comments (6)
August 28, 2007
Million Dollar Video
Two college kids are getting sued by A&P for one million dollars.
The crime?
Creating a music video using produce. Apparently, A&P had some issues with the video. Check it out here or watch it below.
Fight the Power boys!
Posted by Cate at 08:45 AM | Comments (2)
August 26, 2007
The Schedule
I've been sitting at my desk for over an hour, trying to work out my two Girl Scout troops' trip schedules. Of course, a lot of the activities for the Brownie or Junior troop are actually on the same day, which totally sucks for me. I don't have an assistant for my Junior troop so it's just me. We only have 8 girls in the troop. I might start to have meetings at my house if it gets any smaller! Now, my Brownie troop - I've got 13 girls. They are so good, in fact, sometimes they are better behaved than my Junior troop.
I'm getting frustrated with all the conflicting events offered by our Council and all the activities offered locally. Arrgghh! I need to clone myself!
:::deep breath:::
Ok, I feel a little better now. I've got to call all my Brownie moms tomorrow and try to hook up with them for some start up money and to beg for a cookie mom. Wish me luck!
Posted by Cate at 11:25 PM | Comments (1)
August 24, 2007
Musical Evening
Last night, the four of us went to a local theater group production of Annie. I've got to admit - they did a good job. It's hard to follow up Albert Finney and Carol Burnett from the movie. The girls enjoyed it as well. Olivia, all by herself, asked for autographs from the people who played Annie, Miss Hannigan, and Daddy Warbucks. It was quite cute!
My only complaint - we got home at 11pm. Youngesthas to get up in about half an hour for her last day of camp. She should be loads of fun today and even more so by this evening. Too bad I won't be home to enjoy the grumpiness. I have Buncos tonight. Hooray!
Posted by Cate at 08:27 AM | Comments (2)
August 21, 2007
A BABY!
Much congratulations to Deb and Jay on the birth of their son - Henry Adam.
Go on over and wish them all well!
Posted by Cate at 04:46 PM | Comments (1)
Posting to Excess?
Ok - I removed my blogroll and placed everyone (and I mean everyone on my Google Reader. I'm so proud of myself! So, if you read here and I don't know you, please leave a comment and introduce yourself!!
Posted by Cate at 12:15 PM | Comments (3)
Live and Learn
Eldest just discovered that it's not a good idea to flush a wad of paper towels down the toilet. Guess who gets to fish them out of the toilet? I'll give you a hint....
Not me!
Posted by Cate at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)
So THIS is what my blog looks like from the inside!
Forgive me readers - it has been six days since my last entry. Speaking of last entry, I did not get any feedback or response at all from Real Simple. I suppose that was to be expected. I want to apologize to poor old Zonk who had a great comment but, since I messed something up with my MT, he is unable to comment on my blog. I don't even know HOW to fix it either! ::sigh::
Time for a blog-lift.
It's been raining since Saturday. Now, I do consider that a good thing because it's forcing me to stay inside and get some work done around the house. I tackled my bedroom yesterday, trying to declutter. I did pretty well and now I have a pile of papers to file away and another pile to shred. I'll get the girls to feed the shredder, they like that!
I've got lots to do so I'd better hustle and get it all done. How the hell are all you people doing??
Posted by Cate at 10:14 AM | Comments (1)
August 15, 2007
Cash Cab
I gotta say that I totally love this show. What a formula - a free cab ride, NYC, and the opportunity to win cash.
And - the host? His name is Ben Bailey and he rocks too. First of all, he's a Jersey guy. Secondly, he's funny as hell.
Go watch Cash Cab - you'll love it!
Posted by Cate at 09:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Real Simple... or Simply Expensive?
The other day, I had one of the girls fetch the mail for me. To my surprise, I received a copy of Real Simple Family. I have a subscription to Real Simple and I really enjoy browsing through it. I have found great recipes and some pretty interesting and inexpensive decorating ideas.
I settled down in the backyard, on my lounge chair, along with a glass of iced tea in order to read my "special Real Simple issue" (as it says on the cover) while the girls went swimming in the pool. In order for you, my gentle and kind readers, to understand the rest of this post, I have scanned the cover of the magazine just so you can view it for yourself...
See?
So, as the girls fight over pool toys merrily splash and laugh while frolicking in the pool, I relax with my magazine. I lazily flick the pages, reviewing the table of contents. So far so good. I anticipate reading the interviews of four moms listed under the "real life" section.
The first interview was titled "meet a Real Simple mom". I know the magazine is called Real Simple but couldn't they come up with a better title than that? You know - it reads like the mom is simple..duuhh simple. But, what really sent me over the edge was an article titled "they've got your back"
This article was all about helping us dopey parents choose and purchase a backpack that would be specific to your child's needs. I know what my child needs - something to carry her books, notebooks, and lunchbox. But wait, I am getting ahead of myself. Real Simple had the reviews broken down into age groups, for example, best for toddlers, best for ages four to seven, best for teenage boys, and best for teenage girls. What really tweaked me the most was the $100 dollar Jansport backpack recommended for teenage girls. Yes, you read that right. A $100 backpack. The other backpacks were, in order, $35, $26.50, and $30. Even worse was the written review of this one particular backpack:
Meet the ultimate media-savvy sack. Your daughter can slip her iPod into the exterior pocket, plug it in, then use the buttons on the padded strap to switch from Gwen Stefani to Hilary Duff. Inside, you'll find organizing pockets for a cell phone and other adolescent necessities, like lip gloss and Sour Patch Kids. Also available in black and houndstooth
I've got numerous problems with this particular review. First of all, $100? For a backpack? Cut me a frigging break. BUT, I found it offensive in the way the review was written. A place for my daughter's lip gloss? And her iPod? Thank goodness she has a place to store them - don't worry about books or anything like that. All your daughter needs to do is listen to her pop music, apply her lip gloss, and eat candy. WTF? Is it me? Seriously - Real Simple expects me to run out and purchase this backpack because it's "media-savvy"? It's a dang backpack!
The teenage boy's backpack, which was only $30, states this:
Equipped with exterior bungee cord pockets for securing water bottles or sports equipment, a supplies organizer, a detachable Velcro case, and an iPod holder with an exit port for headphones, this satchel comes with a protective bottom to guard against wear and tear that goes with, you know, being a teenage boy. Also comes in two other colors
Again, no mention of those silly things one may get from school, like, you know, books. While this backpack had a slight mention of being sturdy, again, it's all about the iPod. At least this review didn't mention lip gloss.
I am very disappointed with Real Simple. I thought they were better than that.
Shame on you.
Oh - here's a copy of the email I sent to Real Simple (yourwords@realsimple.com):
I just received a copy of Real Simple Family and I had to email you about the reviews of the backpacks on pages 106 and 107. I was quite disappointed to read that the one backpack that was reviewed for teenage girls was not only $100 (which is quite a bit more costly than the one reviewed for teenage boys) but the review was, frankly speaking, obnoxious. A place for "adolescent necessities" like lip gloss and candy? A place to keep cell phones and iPods? Not once was there a mention of how sturdy the backpack was or how many books it could hold. In fact, there was no mention of books whatsoever. Shame on you Real Simple.
I also mentioned this review on my blog, http://katespot.com/archives/2007/08/real_simple_or.html
I do enjoy reading Real Simple and I look forward to reading next month's copy. Please, in the future, try to have more balanced and reasonable reviews of your products
Posted by Cate at 12:56 AM | Comments (3)
August 12, 2007
More pics!
Why don't you clickr on my Flickr and check out our new toy?
Or, you can just peek below!
Posted by Cate at 03:59 PM | Comments (4)
August 11, 2007
It's All About Me.. or Is It?
Liz wrote up a very nice recap of our visit the other day. The girls and I had an absolutely lovely time. Her children are just wonderful and Liz is fantastic. Her DH, well, let's just say that he's not too hard on the eyes ::wink wink nudge nudge:: Plus, he's got a bit of a wicked sense of humor too and that's always a lot of fun.
Husband and I have a wedding to attend this afternoon. I know I might have mentioned it in a previous post and I might have even whined just a bit about it being an outdoor wedding. In August. Well, the gods must be smiling down upon us because today's forecast is going to be insanely nice. Sunny and clear with only a little humidity. A big props to the gods - you rock.
Of course, I am no where near being ready. We don't have to leave until 130pm so I am running around, prepping the house, doing laundry, all the fun Saturday chores. My SIL is coming down to watch the girls and spoil them. Of course, the girls are in heaven because they get away with murder when she's here. It's good to be them!
Ok - time to switch the laundry. Hope you all have a great day. I'm planning on a day of fun and drinks. Woohoo! Hopefully, Husband can eat the food at the reception. I'd say for most of the weddings we've attended, he has been unable to eat due to nut/peanut contamination. In fact, I distincly remember one of the servers actually offering Husband a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich after he refused a plate and sent it back to the kitchen. The offending food? String beans almondine aka anaphylaxis on a plate. Yummy! The poor guy has left receptions hungry and we'd end up in a diner or some fast food drive-thru picking up a meal for him. So, let's pray for a decent meal for Husband today.
If not, well, there's always McDonalds!
Posted by Cate at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)
August 09, 2007
More sorrow
I was very sorry to read that Angie's father passed away the other day after a long battle with cancer. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers.
Posted by Cate at 11:03 PM | Comments (1)
Today Is An Away Day
The girls and I will be hitting the road to spend the day at This Full House. I hope the weather behaves today so we can all just hang poolside. Youngestis quite excited to visit Mini-Me and Little Man. Eldest and Thing Two are thisclose in age and they always just seem to click just right. I'll take a zillion pictures and, once Liz clears them, I'll post 'em.
Ciao!
Posted by Cate at 10:06 AM | Comments (1)
August 08, 2007
Jungle Heat
It is SO disgusting hot today. When I walked outside this morning to take the garbage out, it felt like I was walking into clear pea soup, all thick and sticky. Visibility is lower than usual due to the haze. It's supposed to get to 95 - with no wind and 82% humidity.
Ew.
Well - off to do some errands. I wanted to wait for it to get really hot before I left the house.
Posted by Cate at 10:57 AM | Comments (2)
August 06, 2007
Terrible News
One of the girls who used to be in Eldest's troop had an older brother who was in the Army. He was fighting overseas. This morning, they got word that he was killed in action. I got a phone call from one of my neighbors who knew that I knew the family. Her brother was only 20-21 years old. It broke my heart.
Please keep this family in your prayers. They sure need them right now.
Posted by Cate at 11:07 PM | Comments (5)
August 05, 2007
Recovering
About two months ago, My neighbor across the street and I planned a block party to be held on Saturday August 4th. We had about 12 out of 30 families that wanted to attend. Oh my - we had SO much food - burgers and hot dogs, chili, baked beans, sausage and peppers, all kinds of salads - green, macaroni, antipasto, potato.. oh my. Don't even get me started on the booze.... beer, beer, and more beer, plenty of Twisted Teas, wine, gin, and even a large bottle of Jose Cuervo premade strawberry maragaritas (which is very tasty!).
We started around 1230pm and the party wrapped up by 11pm. Luckily, we stayed on top of things last night and only needed to put away a few things this morning and break down some tents and tables. But, I'm moving pretty slow today since I had quite a bit to drink last night. Even Husband is wiped out because he ate all the foods he shouldn't have been eating, especially chowing down on the sausage and peppers that my next door neighbor cooked. He loved them!
I think it's time for a nap.
Posted by Cate at 02:29 PM | Comments (2)
August 01, 2007
Make 'Em Laugh
This poor runway model has some seriously wobbly ankles. The best part of this clip are the news anchors just completely cracking up while playing the clip over and over again.
Posted by Cate at 09:19 AM | Comments (5)