i think i want an iPod touch

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I have been using Palm PDAs since 2001. They have been great but lately I get so many errors when trying to sync. I even use the Missing Sync and it's not helping. I think it might be time to move to the iPod Touch especially since eReader has an app so I can keep reading my books that way.


Of course the problem is money. I don't have any. And I would really like the 32 gb but I think I could be happy with the 8 gb. I don't see this replacing my iPod so much. Then again...


So if I happen to find $229 to $399, you know where I'll be.

book reports, halloween costumes

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Ryan has to do a book report every month. Each month, they are given a different genre of book to choose from. Last month it was fiction, this month it is biography. Not only do they have to do the book report, they have to give it orally! And there is the added feature of something creative combined with this all. Last month, they had to make a t-shirt design showing the main characters on the front and a scene on the back. (Ryan chose the book Matilda by Roald Dahl and since the illustration were not in color, his t-shirt had no extra color as well.)


This month, they have to choose a biography. I asked Ryan who he would like to read about knowing that there is a series of books his level about US Presidents. Ryan picked his favorite president, Richard Nixon. (I have NO idea why but interesting to note that Nixon was Gail's favorite president but seeing as Gail died before Ryan was 3, that knowledge was not passed from father to son.) Getting the book was easy. Here comes the hard parts. First of all, they have to write the report in first person narrative. Ryan has to pretend that he is the president! Can he even do this? And, AND! since the report is due October 31, he has to dress up like the character so he can walk in the book character parade.


Makeup and masks are not allowed which means Ryan has to wear a suit. He doesn't have a suit and I see no reason for him to own one in the next 8 years.


So I look inline and fine cheap suits for $50 and up. I think about goodwill but don't want to hazard into those neighborhoods. I think again about just buying a suit figuring that it's about the cost of a Halloween costume. But first I check a nearby consignment shops and find a suit coat. I check more shops and find nothing. I had forgotten that there is a goodwill store not too far from me and I go inside. It depresses me and I want to go home and donate all of my kids clothes. I had see that Target carries suits online and went in to find only dress pants. OK, I'll get the pants and go back for the suit coat. What color was that coat? Fine, I get one pair of black pants and one pair of navy and will return the wrong color.


The suit coat is supposed to be navy but we will see in the light of day. But really, he is a 4th grader who will wear red & orange stripe shirt with blue plaid shorts.


Luckily, I don't have to worry about a costume for Andy as his class is doing some Alphabet book. But there are only 8 kids and I'm pretty sure there are 26 letters in the alphabet.

Loving these cool mornings.

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Andy was getting dressed this morning. He had on his underpants and t-shirt then stuck his head out the patio door. After a few seconds, he turned to me and said, "What is it?" I knew what he was thinking.
"Is it cool?"
"Yes!"
"But it will get warm this afternoon."
He stared at me.
"Do you want to wear pants?"
"Yes!"
"But it will get too warm. Maybe in November you can wear your pants."
"And 2 shirts?"
"Yes, if it is cool enough, you can wear 2 shirts and pants."


He is the boys who likes to bundle up.

cinnamon

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Who knew cinnamon could be healthy for you?


I recently read that adding cinnamon to sugar lessens the body's insulin reaction to it. I add cinnamon to my oatmeal. I added cinnamon to my apple slices and find that I like enjoys apples more this way.


I decided to check out if this is true and found a few articles about the benefits of cinnamon. This article from The World's Healthiest Foods even mentioned the sugar and insulin effect.


Of course it mentions not to overdo it as too much cinnamon can be toxic. But I doubt that it a problem with a apple a day.

countdown to poppa!

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My dad is getting ready to come down for his winter visit. He is arriving later than he would have liked because his nephew is getting married this weekend and he is going to go. The wedding is in Indiana. Then he will drive to my sister's and spend a couple of three weeks with her family. I might see my dad before Thanksgiving. So now it's time to start cleaning!


Today I filled a large trash bag up with stuff that has accumulated in my bathroom. One baby-step to reduce the clutter.

youtube

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Last year when my dad came down for his winter visit, he brought his laptop with the newly updated google earth. The new feature were youtube videos. Most of them were road videos taken while people drove from one place to another. There were some improv videos that were silly but mostly harmless. The problem is, the boys loved the videos so much that dad never got a chance to use his own computer. So I made the decision to put youtube on the boys' computers. So they watched their favorite videos over and over again. And over again.

Now I know youtube is not child friendly and there aren't ways to make only safe videos viewable. But the boys played the videos loud enough that I could tell what they were watching. And they pretty much stayed away from the questionable stuff. Ryan found old NASCAR videos and Andy got hooked on a kid named gluse who loves to ride in elevators. One of the features problems of youtube is that they suggest other videos. Andy found more elevator videos. But some of these users swore and Andy would repeat it. So I had to give him other words to say instead of damn and hell. (Poppa will not be happy to hear even darn and heck used but then again can't we blame him for this whole mess? )

Ryan found video game videos on youtube. He would watch someone else play rather than play himself. Oy! One of persons he chose to watch used even more colorful language. I was able to tell Ryan not to use those words before I heard him say them. He has a better understanding of bad language.

Recently, Andy found Thomas and Friends. We have the dvds but he likes watching the clips. I think he likes that he has more control and can start and stop without me yelling at him that he's going to break the dvd player. From there, he moved to Elmo's World and Teletubbies. Oh no! I thought those days were gone forever! Today he has found Simpson's Hit and Run on youtube. He first saw this in 2005 when we went to visit my sister and her (older) boys. It was one of the first video games the boys got for their GameCube. Andy thought it was fun to crash into things and get points for it. At the time, I thought it was harmless. And it a way, I like that he likes it as he is 11 and boys likes those sort of things. Frankly, I'd rather have him watch Homer that Teletubbies. At least until he understands the humor and uses it against me.

710 calories for lunch?!

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I went to my favorite place for lunch yesterday, Tijuana Flats. I am avoiding fried foods which meant no chips, no crunchy tacos, no flautas and no chimichangas. I decide on the enhiladas thinking that the corn tortillas must be healthier than flour if I go with the burrito. I love corn but not corn tortillas, it's just a weird texture. I also get the "meal" which includes refried beans and rice. Yes, it was good. No, it wasn't great. The whole thing was 710 calories (not including my tea). I am not sure it was worth it.


I could have tried the "power light" which means reduced fat cheese and fat free sour cream. eh. I'd rather eat less of the real thing. And I will probably just go there less often which will also save some money.


(Sorry, Puffy. I know we all hate when Wanda would talk of nothing about her diet and exercise transformation, I guess I could whine about the economy and the presidential campaigns?)

fitday.com

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Years ago, I found some software called BalanceLog. It worked on my Palm and it was wonderful for keeping track of diet and exercise. You could set up what kind of diet you wanted to follow and it would tell you want you needed to eat more of and what you had eaten too much of. It also told you what kinds of activities would give you the best results, ie calories burned.


Then the company who sold BalanceLog was sold and the new company doesn't support it for the Palm anymore. It does comes in a desktop version but only for Windows. It's not worth the effort to get Windows just for that. Besides, my program on my Palm worked fine for a few years.


I tried using it the other day and I needed a passkey. I couldn't find one so I started looking online for something similar. I liked the look of FitDay but it is also just for Windows. But luckily they have an online version which is free. So now I can log on at any computer but I can't just grab my Palm. Oh well.


I am on Day 3. The first day was a little tedious finding and altering some of my foods. But then there is a drop down menu for recent foods so you don't have to go searching so hard.


One of the good things I have discovered is that my favorite chocolate is only 1/4 of a serving. All this time, I thought one square was a serving and making sure I never ate more than one a day, trying to go days without any, and now I learn that 4 squares is a serving. No, I am not eating more, OK, just one extra square somedays, but I feel less guilty when I eat one at all.


And I don't follow the calories so strictly. But one of the best ways to watch what you eat is to keep a food journal. When you have to write everything down, you are less likely to cheat.


I notice that my "obsessions" seem to have about a 6-9 month life span. So if I can keep this up for 6-9 months, I will be doing well. And I had better be losing some weight too.

puzzled

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The last time I worked on a jigsaw puzzle was 1994. I was given one of those 3D foam puzzles for Christmas a couple of months before and was putting it together while my dad watched the Espy Awards. It took me the evening and it was sort of fun.


I've always enjoyed putting together puzzles. I did it quite often at the cottage as there wasn't much else to do, no personal computers way back then. I preferred the puzzles by Colorbok. They were more expensive than the ones from the drugstore or Kmart. But the images were much better than the typical landscapes of covered bridges and wild horses. I remember the hot air balloons, the cheeseburger and the marbles.


For a while I tried keeping them together with the thought that one day I would frame them and hang them up. That never happened. And actually, who would want to look at a finished puzzle on the wall? Just get a poster! But what do you do with a puzzle once it's done? I know I have no desire to put it together again. In that case, they should have puzzles for rent. But who would count the pieces to make sure they are all there?


All this is leading to the puzzle I got Ryan for his birthday. I told him he had to wait until the weekend to put it together as it has 1000 pieces and won't be too easy. He never said anything so I asked him if he wanted to put it together today. Yes! I showed him how we start out getting the edge pieces. He tries to put them together and gets bored pretty quickly. I told him he could leave and come back if he is bored.


Two hours later, I have the frame almost complete. I cannot find 2 of the pieces. Ugh! But I am putting together the top and bottom parts where it is black and white only. No, I don't like going for the more difficult parts first but the rest of the puzzle is made up of photomosaics! And the print is so small I can barely make out which direction the piece goes in and not what is on the piece. This is a major pain in the ass puzzle.


When my nieces and nephews were Ryan's age, they enjoyed puzzles too. They liked the ones with no picture, just a solid color. Or better yet, the one with an image on both sides. I have never tried puzzles like those and after I get this puzzle of Ryan's done, I think it will be another 14 years before I try again.


Yes, I have to finish it.