Nummies 911

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

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.

 

Anthropologie, etc.

Here are a couple of my favorite finds this past weekend.
The first...slate coasters, that also double as food markers or place cards when you use the chalk to write on them.

Then, wooden plates and utensils. Cool for outside and travel use. I really don't like to eat off plastic, but with children, glass can be dangerous. So, birch and bamboo it is for me.

Nothing in particular

I’m finding it hard to write lately. I guess you’ve figured that out since you guys are still stopping by and surely saying, "What the hell?"

I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s just too much stuff rumbling around in my head for me to be able to organize it into a neat, well-written, witty blog entry. So instead, you get this.

Weekend before last, I went to Atlanta with Camille and stayed with Anna. We shopped and shopped. We went to the children’s museum, which Camille loved. We tried to sleep in on a rainy morning, but Camille didn’t cooperate. I went to at least four bead shops, a yarn store, Perimeter Mall, and IKEA. I finally figured out why IKEA can sell you anything. They lay out the store like a video game in which you get completely and utterly sucked in and then subsequently lost and distracted. You find yourself shopping for things and rooms you never even dreamed of because they have trapped you in “Work Rooms” when all you really wanted to shop for was “Kitchen Wares.” But isn’t that the cutest desk organizer you ever seen! And by the time I get to check-out, I’ve got to cough up my first born just to get back to my car.

I liked being in Atlanta. I like big cities with endless food and shopping choices. I like seeing the actual store fronts of the catalogs that litter my coffee table. Perhaps it comes from growing up in a very small town, in a time before the internet, during which time, if you needed something the slightest bit eccentric, you were just SOL! If you know me at all, you know that most of what I desire is totally eccentric, so I spent many years frustrated beyond belief. At least now I can order whatever I want off the net, if I can part with the money for the shipping. Of course, that doesn’t stop me from shopping in person for things, which obviously just do not exist. Anna accuses me of trying to stare into being the object for which I am searching. No, it’s just years of practice in not finding it.

I left Camille with Anna on Sunday, knowing that they would both be home on Tuesday evening. So I drove back Sunday night, all by myself. I went to sleep in the house ALL BY MYSELF. I’m trying to think. I know I haven’t spent a night alone since Camille was born, and so this was the first time in over three years that I have been totally alone. It was creepy…for about five minutes, and then it was calming, very calming. I slept, worked, ate, wrote, created and read without being interrupted. I think that is the thing I miss the most, the ability to focus, to finish a task without being interrupted 60 times a minute. When I started nursing school a few years ago, it was popular to get a prescription for Ritalin or something like it so one could focus and study harder. Being curious and of course wanting to do well in school, I tried it. I couldn’t see the difference. I would listen to my study group go on and on about how much better they could focus and stay on task while taking the Ritalin. I am naturally focused, to a fault. When I get something in my head, it takes on a life of its own. It’s hard for me to put it down, whether it’s an idea, a problem, or a task. I remember many days before children that I would walk into a closet or room in the morning and decide right there and then that this needed cleaning and organizing. Fast forward to 10pm that night and I would still be in my pajamas with boxes for Good Will and the trash and a beautifully organized room, however neglected the rest of the days agenda. But then came kids. Children don’t let you do that. I try. Oh, do I try. But instead, I get two minutes into something and lo and behold someone wants something to eat. Eat? You want food? But I’m about to reorganize the gardening tools and fertilizers in the shed. I’ve just pulled everything out! I can’t stop now! But I do, and if I’m lucky, I may get enough time to throw out a couple of things while putting everything back into the shed, still not organized, but now urgently calling me in the middle of the night or shower, nudging me, reminding me of tasks undone. I’ve been a parent for 12 years and I still don’t like that part of it.

Wednesday, I went to see a friend’s new baby. Very sweet! Really enjoyed holding her and feeling that little baby heat that builds up in your arms. She’s such a gentle soul and I felt she was right at home with her new family. Thanks for that gift. I really needed it.

This past weekend was hard. Work was hard, news from family was hard, being without Anna was hard. Feelings keep surfacing and demanding attention. I try to keep a balancing act. It’s one I haven’t perfected yet, despite years of practice. (I think if one has lessons to learn in each life, I’ve been a slow learner this go ‘round as I find myself saying “years of practice” quite often.) One word that keeps coming to mind is compassion. Compassion for myself, when I feel exposed and judged and dissected.  But on the other side is “fight.” Fighting for what is right, fair and what should be. It did help today to watch the movie Double Jeopardy with Ashley Judd. My favorite quote, “I gotta hand it to ya honey, it's just sheer hate driving you on.”

Favorite Rings

I received these beautiful rings as a gift.

I first saw them in a magazine and then bookmarked the Nelle and Lizzy website. I've been drooling over them for the last few months. They arrived in such a way, that I know I would love to work with these women.

The packaging was a delight to the senses. When I opened the cardboard shipping box, the aroma of lavender seeped out. I thought perhaps that the tissue paper was scented, but as I kept opening, the simple design of the packaging gave way to a natural, packing material that was an added bonus.

The rings are intertwined and each band has one of my children's names on it. It's hard to explain, but the bands rotate over one another so that at any given time, a different child's name might be on top.

I LOVE these rings. They are beautiful, shiny, and fun to play with. Plus I get to tease the children that whoever's name is on top is my current favorite. Nothing like a little competition.