Nummies 911

Tech Tuesday

Today, I'm highlighting an app that I use all the time.  Behind my calendar, email, and to do list, it is my most useful app I have.  

Your post it notes, clippings from magazines or websites, lists, social security cards and medical papers, insurance forms, knitting patterns, books to read, school papers, art articles on how to make something, notes about holidays, anniversaries, gardening, home design, inspirational quotes, pet records, travel notes, memorable meals, medicines and appliance records.  

All the things that used to go into a pile and eventually into a box, now all go to my Evernote account. No more searching for that paper, clipping, note, etc. that I KNOW is somewhere on my desk, beside my bed, in my purse, etc. I know it exists in Evernote, and a quick search finds it, even if I forget which notebook I put it in.  See you can have many notebooks to store different information. That should put most information in order, but if the info is ambiguous, then Evernote will help you search for it. 

You can scan things to Evernote, email things, web clip things or even "print" to Evernote much like you print to a PDF file. 

You can try to service for free, but it you find it as useful as I did, join the Premium membership not only for the extra perks, but also to reward the software team that not only created the original Evernote, but keeps adding more and more features all the time. You will not regret it. (And no, I don't get a referral bonus, I just like things that take stress away from my life in an easy and simple way. Evernote is just that.)

I'm finally back

Hello Readers, 
That is, if there are still any of you out there. I know I've been absent here for almost a year, but it was a very difficult time for me, probably the hardest in my life. Let it suffice to say I'm letting the lessons learned in adversity help me move forward in a positive way. 
For now I'd like to say I'm healthy and content and looking forward to sharing with you all the better things in my life, like art, children, family, technology, yoga, recovery...well you get the idea. 
Sometimes I wish I could write a blog on just one topic, but that is not my life and I'm sure it is not yours either.

Happy Birthday Molly!

Happy Birthday to my delightful daughter Molly Ellen Beene who is now 14!

In keeping with tradition, here is her birth story.

Molly's Birth Story

 

Tech Tuesday - Pop Phone

I've lost touch with today's trends. Not that I really tried at any time in my life, but recently (meaning the last two years) I've been totally out of the loop. When I worked as a nurse, I read People magazine on the night shift and that allowed me the insight to know what my two teenage children were talking about at least 50% of the time. Now, working from home, and being on a stricter budget, I seem to have become ignorant of anything that doesn't appear in the few art related magazines I still get. Sadly People isn't one of them. 

So when I took Camille shopping with her Christmas money, the store had a huge sign that read, "We have POP Phones!" And here I was, the quintessential out-of-touch mother who had to ask the salesperson, "OK, what is a POP phone?" Boy am I glad I asked.  It's a handset.  A real handset that plugs into your cell phone and allows you the long forgotten comfort that only the weight and curve of a real handset can bring. Try it and believe me, it brings back memories like the smell of cookies baking in the oven. I'm in my 40's, so if your much younger than me the effect may be lessened. But if you are over 39, run, don't stop, and get yourself a POP phone. You won't regret it.

Over the past years I've become to disdain talking on the phone, and with the purchase of my very own purple POP phone, I think I may have found at least part of the reason why.  It's just not comfortable to hold a small and very hot box up to my ear, constantly trying to adjust it so I can hear the other party while trying desperately NOT to push any buttons that would put my conversation on hold or even end it. The POP headset solves all that, in addition to lessening the amount of radiation you receive from cell phone usage, again not something I was searching for, but a bonus. 

Here's a couple of pics I saw while surfing.

And one more.

So tell me, did you know what a POP phone was? Do you have one? Do you love it or hate it? Leave some comment love on this one.  I know you have something to say.

 

Tech Tuesday

Apps We Love

I have an iPhone. I made the switch to Apple products about eight years ago when I started to have less time and patience to devote to programming my PC to connect to the internet and keeping it free of spyware and pop-ups. I just wanted to turn something on and it WORK. Just work, without me knowing how it works. Apple products do that. They work. Period.

My first iPhone was the first product I ever bought with a fully charged battery out of the box. Really? Who would have thought of such a novel idea? Even Santa every year on Christmas Eve has to open boxes and plug in chargers so the next day children don't have to wait 24 hours to play with their toys. But I digress. I was going to talk about apps. 

Since my first iPhone, I have waxed and waned about my interest in apps. I guess because first and foremost, I see my iPhone as a phone. Novel idea, I know, but that's why I bought it, because I needed a phone. However, since my iPad came along, I've delved deeper into the world of apps because my iPad is NOT a phone. But it's not a computer either, so basically it's an APP runner. 

I'm rambling, I know. Long introduction to a short subject, but here is today's app review. 

Grocery Gadget is one of the few apps that I use every single week. Honestly, I don't know how I survived without it. More than just a list maker, the best thing is that you create your own "group" or "network." That allows you to share information with members of the group. Simply put, I can make a list, hit update, and it sends a message to the group that the list has been updated. In other words, I can add items to the grocery list and notify Anna to pick them up on her way home. I can add a photo to the item so she'll know EXACTLY what I want. I can even scan a barcode to add information. 

       

I don't use half the features this app has, and I still get more than my money's worth. You can add prices and search for e-coupons. You can designate stores for each item and shop by store, or you can designate different lists. Incredibly flexible, yet still very simple to use. It has a website portal that you can use to input items or update your lists. Grocery Gadget is great, and beats other apps in this category by a long shot. It also comes in versions for Android, Blackberry, Nokia and Windows phones. So if you are tired of crumpled scraps of paper, post it notes, or even plain text notes on your phone, give Grocery Gadget a try. You won't be sorry. 

 

Tech Tuesday

I thought I would start to share some of my favorite gadgets, tech tips, etc. with you, my readers, those few of you who keep checking in with me to see if I'm still alive :-)

Let me begin by saying that I am by no means an expert in modern technology, but I do discover things that I have found useful when shared with my friends and family.  So that's what I aim to do, highlight items and techniques that I have found to be beneficial or fun. I'd like to encourage you to do the same by chiming in via the comments.  Let us hear any related information so that we can all benefit without having to scourer the computer mags and blogs every week. 

So today, I'd like to give a big thumbs up to skinit.com. I had read their ads before in magazines and online, but I never ended up on their website. I did however pick up a case for my new iPhone 4S while shopping in a megastore. The case is basically a black bumper with a clear back. The purchase price was only $20, which I consider below average considering the purchase included a free skin of your choice from their website. I rarely see any iPhone case that appeals to my artistic side. They are either boringly corporate, cartoon silly, or just plain loud and rubber. I was attracted to the idea that I could either choose a skin I liked, or customize my own with a photo. (I anticipated a photo upload given my history.)

It was after I started browsing the skins that I became hooked.  There were so many skins that appealed to me, that uploading a photo was quickly dismissed, and the next hour was spent trying to decide which skin to order. I finally decided on a beautiful purple background to an OM symbol. 

The skin and shipping were free with the code included in the purchase of the case. I think that is a bargain. While the check out made it seem as if it would take weeks to receive your skin if you didn't upgrade the shipping and pay for it, I didn't and received my skin in under a week. On top of all that, I also received a code for 20% my next purchase, and Skin It encouraged me to share it with my friends so here it is. 

Enter code FEB12 for 20% off your order.  This code expires 2.29.2012.

Check it out and let me know what you think. As for me, I'm going to be looking for an OM sounding ringtone to complete the look and feel of pure bliss.

 

Better Late Than Never

Many of you know that I have been sick since August.  It gets better and worse at times, but more about that later. I'm just mentioning that to explain why this post is so delayed.

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY CAMILLE!

She is six years old and STILL into horses big time. Notice the red cowgirl boots which were an early present. 

Yoga Retreat Fall 2011

I returned this week from the Fall Yoga Retreat with Lisa Lofthouse of Breathing Space in Fayetteville, North Carolina. 

The following is a poem that was read one afternoon.

Self-Observation Without Judgment

Release the harsh and pointed inner
voice. It's just a throwback to the past,
and holds no truth about this moment.

Let go of self-judgment, the old,
learned ways of beating yourself up
for each imagined inadequacy.

Allow the dialogue within the mind
to grow friendlier, and quiet. Shift
out of inner criticism and life
suddenly looks very different.

I can say this only because I make
the choice a hundred times a day
to release the voice that refuses to
acknowledge the real me.

What's needed here isn't more
prodding toward perfection, but
intimacy - seeing clearly, and
embracing what I see.

Love, not judgment, sows the
seeds of tranquility and change.

by Danna Faulds
from the book One Soul: More Poems From the Heart of Yoga 

Act 10 - Square Hats

 
Lately, I've been into the instant gratification knitting. Thereby knitting small objects on large needles with bulky yarns.  It has been so much fun.

Here are some examples:

Sweet little warm beanies for these fall and winter babies.

A little cocoon that will hold about a 7-8lb baby for a photo shoot.

Party hats in all shapes, colors and sizes, from newborn to elementary age.

Funky square hats that look absolutely daring on.  I don't have a model at the time, but Camille's bear didn't mind. 

 

Act 9 - Dyeing Yarn

While being in Creative Yarns, our local yarn shop (or YSL) is the equivalent of a being in the best bakery on earth, I couldn't help but notice some Montana undyed bulky yarn hiding in the sale section.  It was such a good deal, especially since I had just read an article on how to dye yarn using a crock pot and Wilson's food coloring on Craft Gossip. One of my other favorite hobbies is baking, so I have a rainbow of Wilson's food coloring gels. I have a crock pot, so all I needed was this $8 skein of yarn. 

I dipped one half the hank into hot water with coloring and vinegar. I turned the crock pot to hot and let the water evaporate as it seeped up the yarn.  I turned it around and did the same with another color. The directions were vague, but the results were great.  I am making Camille a watermelon colored hexagon blanket and I thought a green and red skein of thick wool would blend nicely. It did.

Here is the dyed yarn. 

And here is the yarn incorporated in the blanket.  

Pretty good match, if I do say so myself.

  

 This is the hand-dyed yarn.