Social Gracious

Social Media Club Jacksonville

First Meeting of the Social Media Club of Jacksonville

Tonight I attended the first open meeting of the Social Media Club's Jacksonville division. I thought it would be quite a turn out as the first Social Media Seminar held in Jax was well attended with people from many different industries. Due to quite a few last minute cancellations, and maybe the lack of a sexy venue (held in the library), only three of us and the organizer were in attendance. So, of course, we were the very best three members of the Social Media Club of Jacksonville. I wonder if we will get to be called founding members?

It was still a lot of fun to hear from the organization's founder, Kristie Wells via Skype, about the purpose of the organization, it's values and mission. She shared the resources the national club would provide as well as their experiences starting the organization. It was really interesting to gain her perspective. 

From the national Social Media Club's website:

Social Media Club is being organized for the purpose of sharing best practices, establishing ethics and standards, and promoting media literacy around the emerging area of Social Media. This is the beginning of a global conversation about building an organization and a community where the many diverse groups of people who care about social media can come together to discover, connect, share, and learn.

I really enjoy social media as a way to connect with other people and engage in conversation about topics relevant to my life, profession and interests. I think that is the key, it has to be a conversation, two way, providing value to me, and to those I engage with. If you are in it just to sell a product, or your company, it is not going to work and people smell a rat. That is why I am excited that Social Media Club of Jacksonville is looking to engage professionals in all areas, in a conversation about social media best practices and guidelines. I'm looking forward to our next meeting.

How to Save Money on Your Grocery Bill and Still Eat Healthy

I think most people want to eat healthy, or if they aren't eating healthy, they want to improve their diet. I am not a dietitian, and this is not advice from a registered dietitian. If you need one of those I highly recommend Preferred Nutrition, Marilyn "George" Dahl is amazing and so is her staff. If you have a medical condition or eating disorder it is imperative that you regularly consult with a registered dietitian, ask your physician to refer you.

Most of my information is common sense and from my own experience, speaking with our pediatricians from the time our children were born, consulting with our Mayo Clinic physician and reading a lot! The first thing I will tell you is to read labels, if the product you are considering putting in your cart and feeding to your family has long, hard to pronounce names and you don't know what they are, don't eat it. Try to avoid high fructose corn syrup, white sugar, white bread, white pasta and white rice, instead look for whole grains. Never drink soda, ever, and never give it to your children. My kids won't touch the stuff; I tried to give them Sprite and ginger ale once when they were sick.  They had never had soda, were not used to so sweet a drink and carbonation, they refused to drink it. 

This includes diet soda, there are a million reasons for not drinking diet soda, even if you are diabetic, ask Marilyn at Preferred Nutrition if you want all of them. In general, it is better not to put chemicals, that are not prescribed or approved by your physician, into your body if you can avoid it. If you would like to learn more about the dangers of toxic chemicals in our bodies Devra Davis of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute does a better job of explaining it than me here.

 

So what, you might be thinking, should I drink? Water mostly, also iced tea, iced green tea, hot tea, and for a special treat have a club soda with a splash of 100% juice. Club soda/seltzer water comes in cans for travel which is handy. For kids, you can give them a choice of water, milk or juice, watering down juice and limiting it to once a day. All juice should be 100% juice, check for high fructose corn syrup. To sweeten your drinks you can use a natural sweetener low on the glycemic index, my favorite is Agave Nectar. You can also use sugar in the raw or honey, use all sweeteners very sparingly. 

What do we eat at our house? We try to eat a lot of whole foods, fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, some fish and whole grains. Several times a week we do our best to eat meatless dinners, it is less expensive, good for the planet and our bodies. When possible, we avoid processed food, but it is good in a pinch and for a treat. During the week at breakfast we often rely on processed cereals, cereal bars and frozen waffles in addition to fruit, lunch meat and cheese sticks. We try to limit snacks to fruit, yogurt, and nuts/trail mix. I always try to mix a complex carbohydrate with a protein to give the kids long lasting energy. If you are using syrup on your pancakes, waffles etc. try to use natural syrups like maple syrup; the major table brands are filled with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Be aware that many of the studies that show that high fructose corn syrup is not so bad were sponsored by the beverage industry, Mayo Clinic talks more about that on their page on HFCS. Our pediatrician has urged us to avoid HFCS since our kids began to eat. Don't forget to add some healthy fat to your diet with a few nuts and healthy oils like olive oil. 

How do we shop healthy on a budget? Here is what I buy where:

Costco (approx 1x month):

Organic Beef-3lbs $12.99 (individually packaged in 1lbs)

Aidell's Chx and Apple Sausages-no gluten, no nitrates or nitrites-$12.99 2 packages of 8 sausages

Chicken breasts-not organic, it's just too darned expensive

Loaves of bread

Polly-O string cheese

Bunny Luv organic baby carrots

Eggland's Best eggs

Coleman's nitrate/nitrite free hot dogs (sometimes they have, sometimes not) buy a lot and freeze when they do

La Croix Seltzer water

Honest Kids drinks for travel/in case lunch drink containers are dirty (Super Target has these too but they are more expensive)

Whole Foods (approx every 2 weeks):

How to keep it from becoming whole paycheck!

(their generic brand is 365, most of these are organic but some are all natural)

generic brand cereals 

Puffins Peanut Butter cereal if on sale and I have a coupon

generic brand cereal bars

generic brand toaster pastries for UberGeek only, kids don't get these

generic brand mac & chz

generic snack foods

generic organic fig newtons (also perfect snack for long runs 1/2 and full marathons)

Pirate's Booty

generic brand condiments

generic brand maple syrup

generic brand strawberry jam large jar (UberGeek says this is THE best strawberry jelly ever)

generic brand frozen cheese pizzas

generic brand frozen waffles

generic brand frozen organic french fries or tater tots

generic brand frozen organic veggies

generic brand frozen organic fruits

generic brand organic milk

Applegate Farms Stadium Style hot dogs 

Do not, I repeat, do not go in that store hungry. If you do, buy a slice of pizza and pack a sandwich for the kids. If you eat at their delicious take out bar it will tack on another $30 to your bill. See produce section at bottom. 

Walmart (approx every 2-3 weeks):

frozen veggie burgers: Boca Burgers All American Flame Grilled and Morningstar Grillers Prime

those two types of veggie burger are pretty yummy for a fast dinner with a whole grain bun, cheese, produce etc.

3lb bags of organic apples

Jones Farm all natural frozen precooked breakfast sausage links no nitrates/nitrites(taste even better than fresh, UberGeek's fave!)

frozen Kashi meals for quick lunches at work

frozen Amy's organic meals for quick lunches at work

Publix  (every week) our local grocery store:

lunch meat

whatever is on sale on The Grocery Game  buy one get one free that week

Produce: I only buy what is on sale. Kiddos come with us and indicate vegetables that they want to try and that look interesting. They know what the yellow Whole Foods sale signs look like. Oranges, bananas and apples are almost always cheap. When deciding whether to buy traditional or organic produce it can be tough. Some organic produce is very expensive. The Environmental Working Group produces a free pocket guide to the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and the 12 least contaminated. Try to always buy the most contaminated ones organic. Also, farmer's markets often have local produce that is not certified organic but many of the growers did not use chemicals on the plants. You can also plant a tomato plant in spring, Costco had them this weekend, in pots, with tomatoes already on the vines for $10 a piece. They will certainly pay for themselves. It does mean getting creative with food that is in season and on sale but it can be fun for you and your kids. Eddie Haskell recently discovered that he really likes grilled onions and eggplants. He just saw them in the store, they were cheap and he announced that he liked onions and eggplants. Of course we have had a lot of refused food too. I always try to put one or two things on the kids' plates that I know they will eat in addition to the main dish. They won't starve but I am not running a restaurant, we serve one meal, eat it and enjoy. When you have your own kitchen you can cook what you like.  

Really think about what you are eating, this is part of mindful eating. If you pull up to a fast food restaurant, start to think about how the ingredients to your meal got there, the animals that produced the meat, the vegetables, who is in the kitchen preparing it, who will serve it to you. Take a good look back in the kitchen. When you receive your meal, really taste it, slow down and chew it. How does it taste? Visit the fast food place's web site and read the nutritional info for the items you ordered. This can cut back on many of your fast food trips and save you a lot of money! We are often guilty of being in a big hurry and pulling through the chic-fil-a drive through, which for fast food is the top of the crop as far as I am concerned. The kids get the small nugget meal though with fruit and white milk, I get a kids meal but can't resist the fries and the lemonade! No one is perfect but we keep on trying. 

This blog post is dedicated to Colette. I figured you might not be the only one who was wondering. Thanks for all you do for the kiddos!

A Healthy Cookout for a Bargain Price

Recession Style Healthy Cookout

We have been more and more conscious of simplifying, lightening our load and tightening our belts. Recently, everywhere we turn friends are losing their jobs. This wasn't that big a deal a few years ago, before so many of us had kids, mortgages and lots of bills. Now losing a job can mean losing the life that means so much to your family. It means learning to live with much less, losing things but not each other. UberGeek and I feel fairly secure in our jobs but we are acutely aware of the need to batten down the hatches, save more and spend a whole lot less.

Fortunately, I grew up with a dad who knew how to be frugal, some, eh hem, most, might even call it cheap. I know how to turn those genes on when necessary and it's not always pretty. After a recent discussion with UberGeek about the state of the economy, the world around us and what we want for our family I think it's time to turn them on full force. I am just warning you that I am a sight to behold when I play The Grocery Game with my giant coupon binder at the grocery store. I'm just saying, if you EVER pay for a toothbrush or toothpase, you are paying too much. Plus, the free items are often toiletries that I don't use and I can donate them to our local homeless shelter, the Sulzbacher Center.

This weekend we ran the gauntlet of stores, Whole Foods, where I spent a grand total of $78 for two weeks of supplies there, rock on bargain shopper, Costco and WalMart. Tomorrow I'll do Walgreens because there is one near my workplace. Why so many stores? Because they all have stuff they do well at great prices. If I bought all my items at Whole Foods I'd spend $250 each week, that is why my friend Caron calls it Whole Paycheck. I'll tell you what I buy at which stores in tomorrow's post.

Tonight we enjoyed the fruits of our labor. Aidell's Chicken and Apple sausages with vegetable shish kebabs and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Grand total for the entire meal for four: about $10 including dessert. It could have been really inexpensive but we just couldn't do without shortcake!

Shish Kebabs
one potato cut in chunks
one zucchini cut in chunks
1/2 red pepper cut in chunks
1/2 red onion cut in chunks
mushrooms
grape tomatoes

marinade:
olive oil
lemon juice
sea salt
pepper
garlic diced
red wine

Put veggies on sticks then place on foil packets, pour marinade over, refrigerate for a while if you like. Place foil packets on grill for 15 minutes. Yummy!

 

How Big is Your Bible Cover?

Some time ago, during our ongoing quest to find a church we could both agree on, UberGeek and I decided to try a church not too far from our house. We got dressed, packed up the kids and headed out. Before long we were pulling into the parking lot. We noticed that many of the church members were already heading into the building. We also noticed that we appeared to be missing something that all of them had in hand, a Bible. Not just any Bible though, not a plain, nondescript Bible that could be any book, but a blinged out super Bible. Every member had a Bible with a super fancy hand made Bible cover. The Bibles were big too, big, ruffled, some sparkled, glittered, all colors but not all sizes, they seemed to only come in one size, XL. In our house, the Bible is scuffed, shoved from bookcase, to bedside table, to floor to chair. It is not in a beautiful cover and it is definitely not fancy. Some years it gets read pretty frequently, other years not often at all. The children's Bible is the only one you can depend on always being read on a very regular basis. At least we all get a daily Bible story that way, even if it is Jonah and the Big Fish over and over. UberGeek spotted the Bible covers and he gave me "the look" that is his pleading look. The one that means, I think this church may also be the kind that would go to a foreign country and teach them to read but only if it was from the Bible. 

UberGeek loves God and follows Jesus' teachings, it's some "Christians" he can't stand. The stone throwers and neighbor judgers drive him bonkers. People who will complain openly about gay people (or as they call it the gay lifestyle) but happily sit next to a divorced person even though Jesus never specifically addressed homosexuality but said plenty about divorce and remarriage. In our minds it's best to sit next to whoever shows up and worry about our own sins, we've got plenty, if you need to borrow some, let us know. We're not sure the whole "love thy neighbor" thing had exceptions so for us it means love your poor neighbor, love your drug addicted neighbor, love your gay neighbor, love your conservative neighbor, love your liberal neighbor, love your immigrant neighbor, you get the drift. 

Although he enjoys contemporary music in his Sunday services, if there is a Jesus rock band and anyone is wearing heavy eye shadow, closing their eyes and swaying, UberGeek cannot contain himself and begins to suppress bubbling laughter. If we enter a church and there are leather couches, marble floors and crystal chandeliers everywhere we are both turned off. How much of that money could have been given to the poor we wonder? What is the mission of the church if the contents of the building are so important? It's not that I don't believe that people in those churches don't do good things, I'm sure they do. I do think a church should be safe, comfortable and attractive, but there is no need for luxury. I prefer a little edge of shabbiness to my churches, it reminds me of my childhood parish. 

That day UberGeek's eyes continued to widen as giant Bible cover after Bible cover marched toward the church building. Finally he turned to me, "Could we please just go get breakfast and say our prayers together?" "There is no way I'm ever getting a Bible cover like that." I agreed, I prefer my Bible understated as well.

Social Night at Broadway Pizzeria

 

Today the kiddos came home from their first overnight trip to Granny and Granddads. From all accounts it was a rousing success including a trip to the fair, pancakes at a restaurant and sleeping in sleeping bags. Granny and Granddad fulfilled our requirements for babysitting, they returned both children alive. On the way to drop the kids off at our house Granny and Granddad passed one of the kiddos' favorite local parks, which we call the squishy ground park, because it is paved in a squishy rubber material. It's a very nice playground with two play areas and the holy grail of playgrounds, restrooms. Eddie Haskell asked if we could please, please, please go there tonight. UberGeek and I had hoped to pack a picnic dinner, put the kids in the stroller and run up to the park down the street from us to get some exercise. Still, Eddie Haskell's eyes were pleading, his will was strong and we had missed the kiddos. We went with his plan, packing the kiddos in the grocery getter and heading to his desired park. We had a great time as expected but then it was getting late and we had to grab some dinner. We decided to head to nearby Broadway Pizzeria on Baymeadows Road. 

  We sat down at a granite topped table in the restaurant, oh how I love granite, and our server greeted us quickly. I looked over and at a table near us, a family was sitting with two dolls in doll sized table side high chairs. I walked over because I just had to know where they had purchased them. The lady of the table explained that she worked for the restaurant company and Broadway had several of them available for customers' children to use. She went on to say my daughter was welcome to bring her doll to dine table side next time. Then she asked her daughters to bring our kids over some toys and games from Broadway's enormous chest of goodies for kids. Now you are talking about a seriously family friendly restaurant. She introduced herself, and I noticed that her daughters appeared to be twins. Suddenly I was pretty sure I knew who she was. The name was familiar from my local twins club, which I'm a member of, naturally. We introduced ourselves in the flesh and it was like old home week. We have actually communicated via Yahoo email group for years. We chatted for a while about social media and how it might benefit Broadway, until I realized at some point I probably needed to order food.

We ordered our meal and then proceeded to color the kids placemats and play various games.   Then I heard someone say my name and I turned around. There was my friend TC, whom I hadn't seen since the Disney Princess Half Marathon. She and her son had come to Broadway for a mother son evening out. She said that she and her husband began their ventures to the restaurant during the days of 25 cent beer night and it later morphed into a favorite family spot for meals. She sat directly across from our table and we did our best to chat over the partition about the state of Duval public schools, our kids, when we were having the momento, beer and scrapbooking night and other similarly exciting topics. 

Our food was delivered and it was delicious, Eddie Haskell had the chicken fingers, which came with his favorite side dish, curly fries. The rest of us shared a pizza topped with ham and the signature Broadway bread, you have to ask for it. Things got quiet and some serious eating was going on, everyone enjoyed the meal. Finally we packed it up and headed home, ready to get the kiddos to bed. Fine dining post preschool playground style!

Borrow Bling Blog Week from Adorn Brides!

Ice Ice Kristie

Six months before I met UberGeek I had extricated myself from a long term relationship. It was one of those relationships that just sort of dragged on without any vision for an ending or an evolution. Finally, I decided to take a position that moved me 650 miles South; I told the person I was in the relationship with that he could move here with me if he wished. He didn't wish and off I went. Occasionally when I go home to visit family we meet for a cocktail to reminisce, he remembers that I broke it off with him, in my mind it was his inertia that ended things. I was a little blue about it at the time, my mom was not, she described that boyfriend as too "vanilla", nothing really wrong with him, but nothing too special or just right for me either.

A few months later my mom came to visit me in my new town. I took her shopping down in the chi chi area of Ponte Vedra where we window shopped in great boutiques and lingered over lunch. Finally we ended up in Underwood Jeweler, a fabulous and upscale jewelry store. My mother and I drooled over the sparkly bling laid out in velvet cases. Mom said, "One day, when you meet the right person, this is the type of store he will want to come to to buy your ring when he is ready to marry you." I laughed, since the last person I dated had not wanted to spring for the cheese on my hamburgers. I couldn't imagine anyone buying me anything from such a store.

Fast forward two and a half years, it was New Years Eve and UberGeek and I were at a party at a friends house. He got down on one knee and proposed, diamond solitaire sparkler in hand, the box, which is in my unmentionables drawer now, said Underwood Jeweler. "It's internally flawless, just like you." said UberGeek. Inside I thought, wow, that's a lot to live up to. After I stopped stuttering and said yes, he said something else, "Well, that's it, I'm done with jewelry shopping, I never have to buy another piece of jewelry." I thought he was kidding. Nine years later and true to his word, I have not received so much as a genuine diamelle.

So it is that I look longingly at my friend Nadine's blog on Adorn Brides where people can rent amazing bling for social occasions or weddings. For a modest rental amount you can choose from their absolutely spectacular selection of jewelry. They will mail it to your doorstep, provide you a mailer to return it in, you keep it for a few days, wear it to your wedding or social event, pop it back in the mailer and drop it in the post! I imagine myself, at the next charity event I am invited to, with a little extra sparkle at my neck, a glimmer dangling from my ear. Maybe a sexy bauble draped just so from my wrist. I don't mention this to UberGeek, just cruise the Adorn Brides site from time to time. I figure maybe one day I'll just turn up in a drop dead gorgeous cocktail dress dripping bling and make him think I've cashed in our 401Ks. Better be sure his last Mayo physical went well first. 

I wouldn't dare do this without giving my readers a chance to win their own personal bling borrowing opportunity. You too can shimmer and sparkle even in tight times!  We’ve teamed up with my friend Nadine at Adorn Brides as part of their "Borrow Bling " Blog Week to give one lucky reader the chance to “borrow” a stunning piece of jewelry for a special day! Through Adorn Brides you can rent gorgeous pieces of fine jewelry including earrings, bracelets and coordinating sets made of genuine diamonds and pearls for your wedding or other special events, allowing you to look spectacular while remaining on a budget. The red carpet is not just for celebrities! Adorn Brides has been featured on The View, CBS’s The Early Show, and in The New York Times, Modern Bride (as #1 out of the 50 best web sites to help plan your wedding), Inside Weddings Magazine, Wedding Style Magazine, In Style Weddings.

Here’s how it Works:

1. Browse the Adornbrides.com website

2. Select your favorite piece of jewelry

3. Come back to this blog post and comment on your favorite piece of Adorn Brides jewelry and why you fancy it, get creative. I will announce the winner selected by my non partial guest judge, Dave Strupp, Marketing Communications Coordinator and Tyrant of Technology, in my Monday, March 30 post.

Winner will receive a $150.00 gift card to Adornbrides.com. All others readers: Luckily I have some connections within Adorn Brides, please use this code FLBC2003 and receive a 20% discount towards any fine jewelry rentals from Adorn Brides.

You could borrow me for free! Don't miss the chance to win our contest, see above!

Growing Up on Two Wheels

Recently the kids decided that they had outgrown their tricycles and truly they had. Eddie Haskell's knees were all scrunched up to his chest. Diva still fit, but it was obvious that she was mature enough for a two wheel bike with training wheels. Knowing they needed bikes, UberGeek and I first headed to my least favorite place, WalMart. There we discovered a very small selection, no assistance and the lowest of quality. When I say low quality, I mean parts already falling off. Seat adjustments were difficult and there was no one there to answer questions. This is of course how WalMart is able to offer lower prices. We made a decision that WalMart was not the place to buy our kids first bike. We wanted safety, durability and quality. We also did not have a lot of money to throw around on new bikes.

We told the kids that the neighborhood was having a yard sale on Saturday and they needed to look through their toys, decide which ones were too young for them, sort them out and put them by the front door. If they wanted new bikes this would be a way they could help Mama and Daddy pay for them. They were excited and sorted through all their items, stacking and sorting "baby" toys and games they no longer played with and piling them up. Soon a good sized lot was amassed in the foyer and UberGeek and I also raided the garage and closets for other unused toys and possessions. By the time the morning of the yard sale dawned we were ready and so was our "junk", soon to be someone else's treasure. After a morning of sales and a few purchases from other neighbors we totaled up our take and it was good! Not quite enough for two new bikes and new helmets but it was close.

UberGeek works with a cyclist who is a software engineer on the side; he recommended a local bike shop whose team he rides for, ABC Bicycle. We headed there and saw two awesome quality bikes, one very girly pink with a basket and streamers and one black, red and seriously badass! Perfect for our princessy girl and, newly into all things cool, boy. We negotiated a discount for purchasing two bikes at once and also sought out quality helmets, even more important than the bikes. The bike shop pros adjusted the seats for our kids heights, made sure the training wheels were adjusted for their level of comfort and before we left Diva and Eddie Haskell were riding circles around the bike shop. Big difference from WalMart.

When we got home and unloaded the bikes and helmets from the minivan the kiddos went straight for the cul de sak. Only the promise of doing a family floor puzzle could lure them inside toward the bedtime process. I was so excited for them, and yet, in a small way it feels like they are pedalling away from us so much faster than it took us to get them here.

I'll Take My Chances

This is a guest post from my friend, Candid.

CLOSE MATCH!
It’s not easy for a man to get my attention. I was your classic “late bloomer.” Sweet 16 and never been kissed? Yup. That was me. I was too busy with friends and extracurricular activities…and completely oblivious to the attention of the poor souls who were brave enough to ask me out. The relationships I have been in have always kind of slammed into me at unexpected times. I literally bumped into my first boyfriend. Smashed right into him on my way to class. He helped me pick up some books I had dropped. I said a quick thanks and ran off, leaving him dumbfounded and staring after me. Somehow he got my phone number and introduced himself properly at a later time.

I haven’t changed much at all as I’ve grown older. Still ambitious, focused on the demands of life, and clumsy. The dating scene, however, has changed exponentially! Word-of-mouth and advertisements would have you believe that if you’re not online or speed dating, you will spend your evenings alone. Online dating sites hold no appeal for me. As I said, it takes a lot to get my attention. There isn’t a particular “type” for me…although I do like tall men and baldness freaks me out a little, but I can deal. It’s more about their “vibe.” I also like smiles and lately I’ve realized how important voices are too. If you’ve ever perused E-harmony or Match, you will notice that a lot of men don’t smile in pictures. A lot of them look angry or like they’re being arrested, and for Pete’s sake, put a shirt on!

Meeting online works for millions. In fact, many of my closest friends met their spouses this way and in all honestly, they are some of the best, most well-suited couples I know. On the flip-side, I could share some hilarious, as well as some pretty scary stories. Sadly, the equation for success on these sites is lost on me.

If you meet someone through professional means, you better believe they’ve Googled, Linked-In, My-Spaced, and Facebooked you before using the number you gave them. If they do use the number, it’s a precautionary text. I am starting to wonder if men have lost their nerve or if they think this allows them some sort of freedom. Many even attempt in-depth conversation this way. Last week I think I was dumped by a guy I didn’t realize I was dating. Boys, if this is your preferred method of communication, count me out! Today a friend sent me a text saying “look up Mr. X on Facebook and let me know if you’re interested. It’s crazy! Who has time for that? If I’m going to spend my energy I want a real flesh and blood man, with a real voice! I have to wonder what the world will be like when Diva, Eddie, and Wheels reach dating age.

Love always seems to find me when I’m least expecting it. Despite the craze, I think I’ll take my chances.

We're Listening

 

Tonight UberGeek and I were watching 20/20, big Friday night movers and shakers that we are. Anyhow, the program detailed families living on the edge. Some of them were homeless families, people who had formerly been gainfully employed, but had lost their positions due to the current economic climate, through no fault of their own. Little kids who used to have a backyard to play in  now played on the rooftop of a homeless shelter. I turned to UberGeek and said, "That could be us, that could be our kids." No one can say they are totally safe. Of course, both UberGeek and I feel safe in our positions. UberGeek's company printed their own money in the Depression and have not had a large scale layoff in their entire existence. Still, you never know. We have some savings, but how long would it last? How long could we pay our mortgage if something happened and we did lose our positions? We are blessed to have a family that would take us in in the event that something like that did happen. Still, it would be difficult to ask for that kind of assistance.

When I saw those families that were hurting, delivering pizzas just to try and make minimum wage, competing for the open positions that are few and far between my heart went out to them. We don't have a lot of extra money lying around but it is time to figure out how we are going to help those families. Those children in shelters, or in school worrying every day about whether they will soon be homeless are innocent. In fact, families are the largest growing group of homeless, and have been for some time.

UberGeek and I had a talk tonight. We know a lot of people are hurting and right now we have a lot to be thankful for. This weekend it is time to put our heads together to figure out what we are going to do in our community to help. We're listening.

Mom's Best Friend

 

Our dog, Lily,  used to be the baby of the family, before the kids were born. Really it was ridiculous, I baked her dog friendly birthday cakes and we took her on daily walks, bought her special food and made sure she had every toy imaginable. Then Diva and Eddie Haskell came along and she quietly became part of the furniture at our house. The walks dwindled and there were definitely no more birthday cakes for her. She loved the kiddos when they were babies, licking their milky faces and retrieving their pacifiers when they dropped them. I still had to clean the pacifiers but at least someone picked them up for me. The pediatrician assured us that Lily was providing a useful service, exposing the children to various allergens and dander would reduce the likelihood that they would have allergies later on. Too clean a house was bad, she assured us. For all this utility she provided, she received little in return, UberGeek and I were wiped out, she was lucky that we remembered to feed her twice a day and let her out. Still, she was our patient and loving companion, waiting each night until someone went to bed to join us, the only time she had our undivided attention.

Then she hit the mother lode, Diva and Eddie Haskell started eating solid foods at six months. There is nothing that inspires passion in a labrador more than food. As soon as she heard the wheels of the high chair begin to screech across the kitchen floor her entire body began to wag. Then she would make a running leap and slide belly first underneath the chairs. In ecstasy, her body tight like a spring, she lie in wait for the rain of Cheerios that would soon fall. My floors never, ever, have had a crumb on them, anywhere in the last 4.5 years, despite having two small children. As the kiddos have gotten older they have become more interested in playing with her, throwing her the ball endlessly, riding her like a horse, petting her and chasing her around the house. She is definitely our family's best friend. I have her shaved every few months for the hair factor, and that makes her pretty much perfect.

On Lily's last vet visit she weighed in at 79 pounds. Despite the fact that the children have finally been trained not to feed her scraps, except for vegetables, she remains overweight. This is probably due to inactivity and her propensity to sleep. So soon I will have a new running partner, I owe her good health.