7QT: Family time, Singing Nuns, Snow Monsters

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My entire family was here last week for Thanksgiving. They drove up in one van on the 12-hour trek from Georgia. That means my husband had to step over every single one of his in-laws for 6 days straight. He handled it quite gracefully. Also, with my niece Emma here, it meant we had two potty-training toddlers under one roof. Emma's almost 3 and we were hoping having her see Cora on the potty would help, but I don't think it did.

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So yeah, we're still sorta potty-training Cora. As a cloth-diapering mom, it is sooooo nice that my kid usually poops on the potty! She doesn't really communicate when she needs to go, though, so we're definitely not there yet. I just put her on both before and after her nap, and that's usually when she poops. I've only cleaned TWO poopy diapers in the past month, and B has cleaned one! My goal is to go a bit more full-force around when she turns 2.

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Family pics!
While my family was here, I forced them to take pictures for my 2014 calendar! And my wall, of course.

Cora and her 2 cousins

All 9 of us (and 2 more in my sister's tummy!)

Also, I would like to note that Cora and her cousin Emma were wearing the same shirt in different colors, and it was completely unplanned. (It's hard to see in these pics, but the shirts have sparkles across the chest.) My sister and I didn't even know they owned the same shirt until they both were wearing them that day.

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Okay, who watched The Sound of Music Live! on NBC last night?

:: raises hand ::

It wasn't terrible, but Carrie Underwood is obviously not an actress. It was weird without any audience, but still being a stage version. The truth is I have a lot of respect for Carrie because I, too, am a singer and not an actor. I really do want to be cast in a stage production of . . . something one of these days. Any pointers are welcome. Also, let it be known that I suck at auditions.

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The closest I've gotten to being in a play or musical was back in high school. My school chorus would put on a musical revue every year--just singing and dancing various songs within a theme, no acting. But at least we got costumes. So here I am as a nun. (This was on VHS, and I just filmed it off the TV. Low tech.)

I'm on the left, and yes, I KNOW I'm off-key. I probably even knew that as I was singing it back in 2002.


But yeah, it's pretty obvious I don't know anything about acting.Why am I looking down? Or is that just my eyebrows playing tricks?

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Oh hey, have you checked out my giveaway yet? It's buried in a post about how to actually win giveaways, because that's how I roll. Just like this is buried in Take #6 between a ridiculous video and a cute picture.

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My mother-in-law got Cora a new jacket that makes her look like a yeti.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Going Screen-Free

Did you know this upcoming week is National Screen-Free Week? I'm guessing not? I wouldn't even have known about this if they hadn't mentioned it at our library story time. It goes from April 29-May 5 (Mon-Sun).

It used to be called No TV Week, but times, they have a-changed. Screen-Free Week is a time to "turn off screens and turn on life," according to its website.

I think this is a fantastic challenge! I have definitely noticed how I use 'screen entertainment' way too much and sometimes even ignore my own child while trying to watch a show or waste time on the internet. I know I need to be more engaged with her, and now that she is walking and the weather is getting nice, we need to get out of the house and explore. I have a friend who made it a rule to not have the TV on when her child is awake, and I always thought that was great but not something I could do. (Disclaimer: I have a degree in Advertising and used to work in cable television. I am also a firm believer of "everything in moderation.") But going screen-free for one week? Let's try it. (In a modified way--I'm not a "jump in head-first" kinda gal.)

My resolutions for Screen-Free Week are no screens when my child is awake (and she's down to one nap, for the most part, by the way). That means no TV, no DVD's, no Kindle, no computer, no Wii. I don't own a smartphone so that's not an issue. We have Pandora on our Roku box, so I will allow the use of that since it's an easy way to play music. I'm also picking one day to go completely screen-free for the whole duration (I picked Tuesday). I might pick an extra day to do this too, depending on how Tuesday goes.

If you want to join  up with Screen-Free Week, read all about it here. If you're at a loss for how to fill your time, print out this list of 101 Screen-Free Activities. And maybe you even want to sign a pledge to keep yourself accountable? You can do that here. Have fun turning off the screen and tuning into the world around you!

the re-introduction of Victorian calling cards

Last week, I needed to get someone's address. I see this woman on a regular basis (we volunteer together). I was about to write it down on a scrap of paper, but before I could she just whipped out a "business" card and handed it to me.  She's retired and doesn't have a side business or whatever, so it was totally unexpected.

The card simply had her name, email, phone, and address.  She had printed it herself on her own computer.  I threw it in my wallet and went on my merry way, thinking it was the coolest thing ever!  It actually reminded me of the calling cards you hear about them using in the Victorian days (except now with a lot more information).

Old style: just a name

I knew that you can get a free sample pack (with free shipping) of 10 business cards from moo.com, so I decided to make my own!  We have less than a year left at this address, so I think 10 will be plenty.  I'm excited to get my cards in upcoming week!

What I ordered: I put my phone number in black instead of a title or industry

By the way, this may be only news to me, but apparently Shutterfly has a decent selection of calling cards (a lot geared toward moms) if you want to get fancy.  I found a few other sites have them referred to as "mommy cards," which I can definitely see being useful when you meet other moms and want to set up play dates and such.

*Neither moo.com nor Shutterfly gave me jack squat to write this post.  But if you're out there lurking, feel free to get in touch.
 

music monday: presidents day edition

Oh yes, people, I'm going there.  Funny how I didn't post love songs for the holiday last week, but this week I'm on board!

How about a little ditty about James K. Polk from They Might Be Giants?  It's not the catchiest or their best nerd-rock song or anything, but thanks to this number, I've always remember Polk is the 11th president.  And something about Manifest Destiny.




And it just wouldn't be right to not listen to this Animaniacs song today!  It obviously needs to be updated with the most recent two, but it's got most of them.



Happy Presidents Day!

the thankful list

I have a confession to make. I've actual been "blogging" [in a way] since 10 years ago. Yes, you heard that right: TEN YEARS. It all started my junior year of high school, when I took Driver's Ed at a neighboring school and met a guy named Jay. He had a weekly email called "The Jay Newsletter" that he sent out to all his friends (and me).  It was witty and weird and I loved to get them in my email box.  So of course I started my own for my own friends.   I called it "The Litterbox" Because my name is Cat, and that's just downright cool when you're in high school.

So anyway, in its heyday, my 'Lbox' had over 50 subscribers (including my AP Econ teacher), its own Geocities website (R.I.P.), and articles written by some of the greatest 17-year-old minds in suburban northeast Atlanta.

I was thinking of doing a "what I'm thankful for" post to celebrate the upcoming holiday, but then I remembered that I had already done that!  I still remember going around and asking my high school friends what they were thankful for and then compiling a list for The Litterbox.   And thanks to floppy disks, hard drives, and flash drives, with no thanks to defunct geocities, I am bringing you this article today, in its original form.

So here it is, the Thankful List, originally published in issue #21 in November of 2001 (my senior year of high school).  The only edit is that I've added a few links into the mix to help you out if needed.

The Litterbox
(A place to deposit crap)

Topic 1)  The Thankful List:

Compiled By Me

      In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I asked around for a few days, and here are the many wonderful, Litterbox-worthy things that people have said they are thankful for, in random order:

      Bowel regularity . . . a cappella music . . . duct tape . . . cheese . . . genitalia . . . Comic Sans . . . Poptarts . . . breathmints . . . email . . . Pez . . . disposable diapers . . . dumb people who make others look smart . . . "my clavicle" . . . the Shakespeare Tavern . . . cheesy pickup lines . . . monkeys . . . Fibercon . . . the BBC . . . German exchange students . . . clear skin . . . Homecoming dances . . . Jell-o pudding . . . toes . . . 2-ball blue . . . optimism . . . homeostasis . . . Burger King . . . sexual innuendo . . . the way girls' hair smells after they wash it . . . the Dollar Tree . . . deodorant . . . Pop Rocks . . . boxer shorts . . . 3-ring binders . . . indoor plumbing . . . "that I'm not Afghan" . . . rainbows . . . Velcro . . . sidewalk chalk . . . long underwear . . . Harry Potter . . . Grant's t-shirt collection . . . mojos . . . cargo pockets . . . parallelism . . . "myself" . . . curly hair . . . peristalsis . . . green M&M's . . . mix tapes . . . SparkNotes . . . the Naked Chef . . . dirty jokes . . . processed meat . . . Rodney Mullen . . . March 15th . . . "my musical nose" . . . Dr. Seuss . . . my mind . . . Frau . . . ambiguity . . . bliss . . . unslurred speech patterns . . . LIFE

What are you thankful for?  And what were you thankful for 9 years ago?

As for my old Litterbox newsletter, I'll definitely pulling some more articles from there to re-post here!