Hello, My Pretty

Have you ever seen such beauty?


This, my friends, is what a terabyte looks like...otherwise known as a trillion bytes, or 1,000 gigabytes. And it makes me very, very, very happy!

I bought this at Costco tonight for $200. A friend tells me I should have held out until the price went down...but I needed space NOW. And I don't think $200 is all that bad for a thousand GB!!! Yeehawww!

Get One Of These If You Can!

We just bought a Wii and a Wii Fit (it was our one big splurge after selling the rental building I told you about). I'll tell ya...it's changed my life! Well, okay, that might be a little dramatic.

But I went from talking about exercise and it's benefits (not to mention the ever expanding size of my rear)...to actually doing exercise about 5 times a week. I'm boxing. I'm running. I'm doing yoga and strength exercises. I'm improving my balance, my posture...and yes, my weight.

And it's actually FUN. Most days, I stop the sweating and heavy breathing after 45 minutes or so only because mommyhood demands my attention, not because I'm exhausted or bored. It's revolutionary, I'm telling you!

The hardest and most painful part of the Wii Fit was actually finding one for sale! The buggers were selling out withing half an hour of being put on the shelves, and I had a heck of a time getting there in time.

Give it a try! And when you do, let me know how you do on the Super Hula, okay? I rock at the Super Hula!! (if you can push past the exploding heart and burning thighs, it's lots of competitive fun) :)

Are Debbie Meyer "Green Bags" Worth It?

I'm a sucker for a good infomercial. I've spent way too much money on fantastic looking products on TV, only to get them home and realize that they're junk and that I've just wasted my money. So I've been skeptical of Debbie Meyer "Green Bags". The commercials claim that they'll keep your produce from spoiling over really amazing amounts of time.

I finally broke down and bought a box of 20 for about $12. I found them in my grocer's produce section (not by the other ziploc bags and such).

Before taking them all out of the box, I decided to do an experiment. I took two bananas off of a bunch that I'd just purchased. One went in the bag, and the other didn't. I put them aside in the same corner of my kitchen so they'd see the same light and temperature conditions. After 3 days, I compared them, and here's what I found:


You can see in this following picture that the banana in the bag looks like it just came off the bunch. The stem is firm and still green. The other banana...not so. The banana is starting to show signs of aging and softening.


Interesting, but compelling? Not really. BUT THEN....

Then, I cleaned a bunch of grapes that I planned to bring on the airplane for our vacation. I couldn't fit them all in the carry-on, so I put them in a green bag to see what would happen.

You know how grapes practically whither in 30 minutes once you take them off the stem? And how they get a bit soft and slimy even if you leave them in the fridge?

Well, take a look at these beauties:

Folks, these grapes have been off the stem for 15...FIFTEEN...days. That's more than two weeks! And these grapes were still crunchy!

That did it for me. I am completely and totally sold on these bags. I'm going to do some shopping and try to stock up before my garden produce really starts coming ripe. I'm so thrilled to have found these things!

Now, if Miss Meyer and her people could come up with some sort of facial cream to take care of my signs of aging. I'm tempted to poke a few holes in a green bag and sleep with one over my head tonight! :)

Give 'em a try, they definitely work for me!

BTW...I did a post last week Wednesday, but never got around to linking it to WFMW. If you'd like to read about the Best Parenting Tip Ever, click on over.

Otherwise, head back to Rocks In My Dryer for more WFMW tips.

Thanks for stopping by!

My 2nd Home...

I've been having some fun with my photos and Light Room. Come see me at my vacation home...my photography blog...to take a peek :)

I Got My Garden In!

Yippeeeee!!!


I'll tell ya what...it is MUCH easier to do things like plant a garden and two flats of annuals when you're not waddling around pregnant! As much as I enjoyed being pregnant, it sure it nice to have my body back.


Here's what I planted this year:

3 tomatoes
1 red pepper
4 jalapeno
3 rows of carrots
3 rows of red onions
1 row of corn
2 pea bushes (who knew they came as a bush these days?!)
3 zucchini
an then we have raspberries coming in too


What are you planting?

I had a blast helping my two big kids plant their very own gardens this year. Hubby sectioned off a part of the garden for each of them, and they sorted through the seed packets to choose what they wanted to plant. I can't wait to see how they enjoy watching the fruits of their labor begin to sprout!

I found the best garden glove this year: the Wells Lamont latex coated glove. They give protection from nasty thorns, keep my nails relatively free from dirt, are latex coated so I can really grip with them, are thin enough that I can move my hands naturally, are also thin enough that they're not hot, AND they have a fairly tight fitting cuff so that stuff doesn't end up in my glove. They're not exactly pretty, but I love them! I had to buy a men's size because the women's were too small for me. Does that mean I have "man hands"? I hope not.



I have a great gardening tip for you. I can sum it up in two words : Miracle. Grow.

You organic gardeners out there probably aren't all that impressed with me right now, but I love the stuff! I just sprinkle a little bit of the blue powder in the bottom of the hole, mix it in with the dirt (so bare root doesn't come into contact with the fertilizer), plant my plant, and water thoroughly. I also sprinkle a little bit into the trenches when I plant seeds.


Leave a comment and share your favorite gardening tips!

The One Sling I Couldn't Live Without

When I was pregnant with Thomas, I started feeling all anxious and sentimental that he would be my last baby. I felt like maybe I would just never ever...ever...let him out of my arms since he would be, well, my last baby.

I saw a woman wearing the New Native Baby Sling in the store one day, and I knew I had to have one. It would be the perfect thing to enable me to keep my babe in my arms until he turned, oh...36 or so.

The first time I carried him in it was when he was about a week old. I had to gasp! It felt like being pregnant again. Except without the swollen ankles. Or the heartburn. Thomas spent a lot of his new-babyhood in that sling. Here he is when he was about 2 months old:



He'd get all snuggled in, and just crash. I had my hand free. I had a happy baby. And most of all, he was close to me.

Here's me steam cleaning the carpet after the dang dog...oh, never mind. The point is, see...free hands...I could get stuff done even while holding my precious babe. And even though I was still supposed to be taking it kinda easy. And even though I was still wearing nothing but maternity clothes.


And here we are two months later, so Thomas was about 4 months old. And look! I'm wearing my normal jeans! Yahoo! That reminds me...the sling is also really nice because it hangs over the waistline of your pants, thereby hiding the rubber band holding your jeans together. Just you never mind. But see? Still holding baby near, and still able to care for my 3 other little monkeys.


Here he is sitting up in the sling when he was about 6 months old. I love the adaptability of this thing...Thomas no longer wants to snuggle all day long. He wants to look around and grab and interact. He can still do that in this sling. And I can still slip him little nibbles of my ice cream. I'm worried about him after all. I mean look at him...he's practically wasting away to nothing!


Lest you think I never put him down, here's proof. It's not an excuse to show cute happy baby bottom pictures. It's not. It's NOT, I tell you! See...proof....there's the sling in the background. See? This IS a sling related picture.


And so is this one...see the sling in the upper right corner. It's a great sling. I love it. You should get one.


Oh. OK. I admit it. This is a cute happy baby rear-end picture. And no. That is NOT a lifted hospital blanket he's lying on. It just looks (a lot) like one. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.


And here we are using the sling in just the past couple of days. I don't use it quite as much as I once did because Thomas would rather be rolling around on the floor or sucking his toes. And even with the best sling on earth, your back is going to start aching while carrying around an 18 pound baby. The kid just has to get down from time to time. He HAS to, I tell you...

....or maybe not.

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PS. I was in no way paid or encouraged to write this post by the folks at the New Native Baby Carrier Company. I really do love this sling just that much.

PPS. Folks from the NNBCC...if you'd like to pay me, I won't complain. I happily accept payments via RevolutionMoneyExchange.com!