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ModCloth Style Gallery Contest (sponsored)

March 13, 2013 By

Have you guys been to ModCloth? If not, GO. They have really unique clothing and some kickass decor (like this jack figurine that I just found and NEED). I’ve gotten nearly every dress I own there, and lusted after some of their gorgeous wedding attire, as well. I have my eye on this one for a friend’s upcoming wedding.

But you don’t care about my clothes (probably). This is what you’ll want to know about – ModCloth has one of the coolest new contests going on the web right now! From today through 7 AM PST on 3/18, ModCloth is inviting community members to check out their brand new Style Gallery, upload a photo, love images and share the looks that inspire them throughout the week of 3/11-3/18. The image that gains the highest community-generated loves will win the top prize of a $100 ModCloth gift card!

In addition, two random lovers of that winning image will also each score a $50 gift card!

Head over to ModCloth right now to participate in the Style Gallery or maybe just check out all of the great fashions available!

Extra Style Gallery Details:

How will winners be selected, you ask?
The owner of the image with the most ‘loves’ between 7 a.m. PT 3/11 and 7 a.m. PT 3/18 will win a $100 ModCloth gift card.

When will winners be announced?
ModCloth will contact the winners via email by 3/22 and announce the winners on the blog at 7 a.m. PT 3/27.

Disclosure: This post contains sponsored content, but my opinions about ModCloth products are my own and I really do own several of their items! For more details about my sponsored posts, please see my Disclosure page.

Filed Under: Shopping Tagged With: , , , , , Leave a Comment

Jack at Age Six

March 7, 2013 By

Jack doesn’t do favorites. He likes all the colors. He likes a variety of cookies and books and animals and activities.

He likes how he looks in black and red.

He doesn’t like obnoxious cartoons. He swears that the sole purpose of Johnny Test is to be annoying.

He prefers Mystery Incorporated and What’s New Scooby-Doo? over the original Scooby-Doo cartoons. He says the artwork looks better.

Jack thinks skateboards are the worst toys ever. He’s “not into” cars or trains.

He’s obsessed with aliens and monsters. He likes dragons a lot, too.

He totally hates it when someone talks about (or jokes about) bodily functions. It will ruin his day and any friendship.

He thinks spiders are cute.

Jack says cancer is “the most boring thing ever.” He doesn’t want to talk about it.

He won’t wear jeans or tank tops. He doesn’t like pants with buttons. He likes knit hats.

He doesn’t drink juice – only water and milk and sometimes Vitamin Water. Oh and he hates carbonation!

Playing in dirt is not his idea of a good time. Sticky things are even worse.

Despite his parents’ love of board games, he’s not that into them. And he’s only now liking coloring – at least if he’s coloring dragons. He did seem to inherit a love of crafts, though.

Jack can read really well. Recently he’s read some 60-page books. We read three books every night before bed – one from school that he reads and two chapter books that I read to him.

Plush animals are probably the number one toy for Jack. He has a ton of them (most are cats or monsters). Several sleep with him at night. When we are choosing the order of books to read at bedtime, he usually selects a plush to make the choice for him.

Our (mostly alive) cat Wicket also sleeps with him.

Jack draws and draws and draws. He’s been drawing since he was 2 years old and was handed a magnedoodle. We have boxes of his drawings and I don’t know what the heck to do with them all! He even draws on his schoolwork!

He’s awesome and I love him to pieces (even when he’s acting like a little jerk).

Filed Under: Babyman, Family, Growing Up Tagged With: , , , , , , , 4 Comments

Everything Is Against Him

March 6, 2013 By

It’s been a hard week. And it’s only Wednesday.

Monday and Tuesday Jack was late to school. This is sadly too common. He is soooooo slow to get anything done and any hurrying I try to do just stresses him out and delays him further. The school office doesn’t blink anymore when we come in late. They also don’t mark his tardies as excused, though.

The biggest issue we’ve been fighting with is clothing. Monday he had trouble with pockets being too bulky. Tuesday it was that the waist of the pants was too loose. Sometimes things don’t feel good on his skin. Or they feel damp (when they are probably just cold). This pair of underwear goes up too high, or this shirt isn’t the one he feels like wearing today.

Today it was all about socks. They bunch up. They don’t fit right. They feel weird when he puts his shoes on. The heel is in the wrong spot. The seam bothers his toes.

His shoes are a whole other story. He wears one pair and the soles are badly worn down. I’ve bought two pairs in the last two weeks and he can’t stand to wear either of them because they are too tight or too uncomfortable. Even though he tried them on at the store and said they fit!

Homework hasn’t been easy. Jack hates to be corrected. We ask him if he’s put forth his best effort and he says no…so then he has to keep trying. And then he says he’s tired. Or he storms off into his room and slams the door and hides because he’s frustrated about having to think. He did this several times last night. I try to get him to focus on doing what he knows first. We can worry about corrections later. But he stumbles over some of the math concepts and gets frustrated when he can’t grasp them quickly.

I don’t doubt he’s tired, honestly. He is difficult to drag out of bed in the mornings (at least, during the school week). He gets to bed much later than I would like because of how long it takes him to eat, and then the hour of waiting time before he can take his pills, and then the dawdling that happens during bed prep time. By the time I get him to bed my evening is gone, too. We’re all tired.

Time is a big problem. He eats slowly and runs out of time to play, which upsets him a lot. At school he hasn’t been finishing his lunch because he’s afraid of running out of time to play. Or sometimes another kid distracts him from eating.

Jack exclaims, “Everything is against me!” or “I never get to have fun!” Then he berates himself – “Ohhhh, why do I waste so much time?!” and smacks himself in the head.

We try to remind him that he has friends and family that aren’t against him. That clothes aren’t out to get him. That he gets to have fun at recess and he gets to watch Scooby Doo and work on various craft projects. We make deals (he’s been a fan of deals in the past) – if he finishes two pages of homework, we can build or color or craft together. We have reward charts for things he needs to focus on – finishing homework, being gentle with the cat, brushing his teeth without dawdling. Various things work for a day or two before they no longer seem to motivate him.

I don’t know how to help Jack. I don’t know how to help myself, either. I feel defeated and so very tired.

Somehow, we need relief.

Filed Under: Cancer, Cancer Mom, Growing Up, Illness Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

Almost Spring

February 22, 2013 By

So, it’s February. Barely so – it’s closing in on March quickly! And I will mostly look back on the first two months of 2013 and not remember what the hell I did with my time.

But! Jack got glasses a week or so ago. We found out he is very farsighted and so now he has a pair of glasses with very thick lenses. It bummed me out a bit – another thing for him to have to deal with, and the glasses hide his gorgeous long eyelashes. But his vision shouldn’t worsen with age (this is a genetic thing and not cancer-related) and he can now read more easily and quickly! And this should mean less headaches for him, as well, which I know he’ll appreciate.

The adjustment to having glasses has gone surprisingly smoothly. Jack doesn’t normally handle transitions well, but with the glasses he tends to forget he is even wearing them and I have to remove them at bedtime. His classmates chattered a lot about the change when Jack showed up at school, but as far as I know there haven’t been any problems with teasing.

Jack’s teacher told me recently that he has caught up academically with his classmates! She has been very impressed by and proud of him! This was before he got glasses, so I’m sure that he will continue improving with the aid of being able to see properly. He recently read his first 40- and 50-page books, too!

I’m still a bit mystified by Jack’s social interactions. On any given day he’ll say he doesn’t have any friends or that no one wants to play with him. Yet walking through school and seeing all the kids who say hi to him tells a different story! He even gets hugs sometimes! It also seems that, from what we can interpret from the few details Jack gives us, it’s not that kids don’t want to play with him but that they don’t want to play what HE wants to play OR they don’t play it the way he wants them to. I’m not sure how to help him be more assertive with his needs (it’s taken a ton of work just to get him to tell us when he’s not feeling well – he doesn’t want to upset us!) and also to be less rigid. I’m hoping he’ll get it figured out on his own. :P

Physically Jack is doing fine. Maintenance continues as normal, although we did have to add Tums to his regimen on the weeks he takes steroids. A 6-year-old with heartburn is a pity (and kinda scary because all he knows is that his “chest hurts;” I already had the worry about when his stomach hurts – kidneys? liver? just constipation?). He’s also had either the same cold or four different colds since before Christmas. But his ANC is good and his exams have been fine so I try to focus on that. Plus, he is definitely growing! The kid needs new clothes and shoes again.

It had seemed we were making progress on the self-flagellation but yesterday Jack got really frustrated with himself for going through several pairs of socks before finding comfortable ones and slammed his forehead against the arm of the couch. He said he didn’t have time to draw that lesson (we were running late for school). And unfortunately he wasn’t feeling well enough to go to therapy on Wednesday since he’d had chemo the day before, so we’ll have to wait until March to address that again with his therapist. Maybe in the mean time I’ll coat the walls and hard furniture with bubble wrap!

So that’s what’s going on with my little ewok dude lately. It’s fairly tame stuff and for that I am grateful!

Filed Under: Cancer, Cancer Mom, Growing Up, Illness, Milestones, School Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

Box Tops Pantry Stock Up Giveaway

February 15, 2013 By

If you have a child attending public school, you likely spend at least a little bit of time ripping little squares off the packaging of your pantry contents and collecting them in an envelope to give to your kid’s school. You maybe even hit up your childless co-workers for THEIR box tops. (I can’t be the only one!) I know that since Jack entered Kindergarten, I’ve become much more aware of which products I buy at the store and whether they have the Box Tops for Education label on them. I’m much more likely to choose a brand that will help my son’s school – especially if it’s a better product than the alternative.

Did you know that since its introduction in 1996, the Box Tops for Education program has provided $500 million in funding to schools? That’s a lotta money and it’s the simplest thing in the world to collect little squares of paper and drop them off at your school. These things are on TONS of products that parents buy – food, containers, organizational products, etc.. I guarantee you have these sitting in your cupboards right now. (If you aren’t using them, send them to me! California schools can use all the help they can get!)

Check out this press release detailing the Box Tops program:

Cash-Strapped Schools Welcome Record-Setting Funding from Box Tops
Box Tops for Education® Raises More than $500 Million for Schools

Minneapolis, February 1, 2013 ─ Box Tops for Education®, the nation’s largest school fundraising program, today announced that it has earned more than half-a-billion dollars for schools across the country since it started in The General Mills program began as an experiment on boxes of Cheerios in California with first year earnings of only $1 million. It has grown to include more than 240 participating brands providing needed cash for 90,000 enrolled K-8 schools. At the heart of the program is more than 75,000 volunteer Box Tops for Education coordinators who motivate local school communities to collect the 10-cent coupons which are redeemed for cash schools use for whatever they need most.

To celebrate this milestone, this winter, the program is offering a variety of bonus Box Tops on more than 50 million packages at grocery stores and at btfe.com, allowing shoppers to double their earnings with select products.

School budget cuts have made the program more and more important over the years as it provides unrestricted cash to help schools with their basic operating needs and programs that would not be possible otherwise, such as field trips, textbooks, musical instruments, playground equipment, classroom technology and arts and cultural programming.

“I witnessed the power of the program when I visited several schools in the state a few months ago,” said New Mexico governor, Susana Martinez. “After seeing how easy it was to earn cash for schools, I started encouraging everyone to participate to help students get the things they need most to improve their education experience. I congratulate Box Tops for Education on reaching this impressive level of support for students
everywhere.”

“We are very impressed at how far the Box Tops program has come,” said Mark Addicks, chief marketing officer at General Mills. “To say that we’ve awarded schools more than $525 million through this simple program is amazing to us. However, it’s due largely to our participating brand partners and passionate coordinators that have propelled the program to this level.”

On average, schools in the U.S. earn around $900 annually through the program, but many schools earn more than $20,000 by clipping Box Tops, participating in bonus programs and shopping 300 online eBoxTops® retailers at the Box Tops Marketplace®.

About Box Tops for Education
America’s schools have earned more than $525 million through the Box Tops for Education® program since the program started in 1996, including $47 million just since March 2012. More than 90,000 schools use that cash to purchase items such as computers, library books, art supplies and playground equipment. Schools can earn up to $20,000 by clipping Box Tops coupons from 240 products and can earn eBoxTops by shopping online through the Box Tops Marketplace. To learn more and for a list of participating products, visit www.btfe.com.

Facebook at www.facebook.com/BoxTopsforEducation
Twitter at www.twitter.com/BTFE

To celebrate the awesomeness of this program and their $500 million milestone, I am hosting a Pantry Stock Up giveaway. One lucky winner will get a box full of products with the Box Tops labels right on them. You can stock up your pantry AND help your child’s school raise money at the same time with these tasty items:

  • New Peanut Butter Toast Crunch® cereal
  • Nature Valley® Chewy Trail Mix Dark Chocolate Cherry and Protein Salted Caramel
  • Fiber One® Protein Bars
  • Progresso® Recipe Starters
  • Food Should Taste Good® Chips
  • Green Giant Fresh® Box Tops for Education pencil pouch
  • Hamburger Helper® Sweet & Sour Chicken and Parmesan Crusted Chicken
  • Betty Crocker® Mac & Cheese and Au Gratin potatoes
  • Kleenex® wallet pack and 184 count box
  • Scott® toilet paper (4 roll) and paper towel roll
  • Avery® dry erase weekly calendar
  • Ziploc® bowls and bags
  • Yoplait® Frozen Yogurt free product coupon

Check it out:

To enter:

  • Leave a comment and tell me if you collect box tops for your child’s school!

Get extra entries for:

Please submit a comment for each entry. All entries must be received by Friday, February 22nd.

Please note: This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

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Disclosure: Information, products and promotional items have been provided by General Mills and Box Tops for Education and its program partners. For further information on my media policies, see my Disclosure page.

Filed Under: Gear, Parenting 101, Reviews, Shopping Tagged With: , , , , , , , 43 Comments

The Littlest Disciplinarian

January 22, 2013 By

Living with cancer is no easy feat (duh) and the medications certainly don’t make things any smoother. There are side effects galore and dealing with those on a regular basis can be be SO incredibly frustrating. Aside from the physical effects, Jack has had difficulty with memory and regulating his emotions. Then there are those weeks when he’s on the steroid – and we are all tip toeing around hoping that we don’t make a joke that offends the kid and sends him into a depression spiral.

Jack’s done so amazingly well this past year dealing with all of the cancer crap that it really should come as no surprise that he’d stumble a bit. But still, it was surprising AND alarming.

I don’t recall when it started exactly, but sometime in the last year Jack started to get really upset with himself for forgetting things or doing things wrong and he would react by hurting himself. Sometimes he would hit himself in the face, sometimes he’d bang his head against the wall, and we even saw him push his thumbs into his eyes (cringe!). Not too long ago he came home from school and told me he’d put himself on time out during recess after a teacher asked him to stop bouncing on her shoulders.

We’ve told him over and over again how much we love him, how it’s our job as his parents to protect him and not let anyone hurt him – including himself! We explain that it’s okay to make mistakes and that we are there to remind him of what to do when those mistakes come up. His job is to try to do better in the future – not to punish himself for making those mistakes! This hasn’t seemed to get through to him, though.

Sometime before Christmas I sent a message to Jack’s Case Manager at the hospital to ask for a referral to a therapist. It was clear that Jack was having some anger management problems and we were at a loss as to how to help him express himself better. We were referred to the department’s social worker, who, unfortunately, happens to be the least helpful person who very much would like to help EVER. And so she called me and got some information and then sighed and expressed her sympathy and said she would get me some information so that we could take Jack to therapy. Except she didn’t.

A couple weeks later when I saw her at the clinic and she still hadn’t gotten me that information (and it was STILL an issue), I reminded her. Alas, no help came.

Then, in the epic awesomeness (ha) that was last week, we had another incident that scared the shit out of us. Jack was working on his homework but kept getting distracted by a paper monster sitting nearby. When David attempted to move the monster so that Jack could concentrate, Jack got upset and grabbed the monster and threw it. David reminded him that throwing things isn’t okay, and Jack responded by grabbing his pencil and aiming it right at his own eye. David grabbed it before he could do any harm, thank goodness.

But holy crap! Our six year old almost stabbed himself in the eye with a pencil to punish himself for throwing a paper monster!

So it was time to take matters in my own hands and I made an appointment for him to see a doctor that afternoon. After some discussions with the pediatrician’s office I was then referred to the intake psychologist in the psychiatry department, who gathered more information about our situation and decided we should probably skip the regular intake routine and go straight for an appointment ASAP.

Had Jack had any big changes or stressful situations in his life over the last year? Oh, gee, where do I start??

Has he ever said he wanted to die? Um, no! Shit! He’s six!

Thankfully, we got Jack an appointment with a child psychologist scheduled for Friday. I was told to keep all sharp objects, medications, cleaning supplies and other harmful things out of his reach. Which is just NOT something you expect to EVER hear in relation to your first grader! (And, well, he doesn’t have access to those things anyway! But David did hide his safety scissors from him just in case. And now he’s a bit behind on homework since pencils suddenly posed a threat.)

All of that and Jack wasn’t even on the steroids last week. He started those today!

The appointment went well. Jack liked the therapist and even drew him a picture that he got to keep (which is pretty rare). He and the therapist came up with the idea that rather than trying to hurt himself to teach himself a lesson and help him remember, he would instead draw a picture of what he wasn’t supposed to do and tape it to the wall in his bedroom. This has seemed to work so far – Jack now has a “DO NOT JUMP ON MOM” picture on his wall.

This week is steroid (Decadron) week, though, so we’ll see how it goes. We see the therapist again on February 4th. I’m hoping things won’t be too chaotic in the mean time. We could all use a less eventful week.

Filed Under: Cancer, Cancer Mom, Issues, Parenting 101 Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Tips For Caring For A Kid With Cancer

December 4, 2012 By

When Jack was diagnosed with Leukemia, I looked for tips on how to prepare our household for the journey ahead. I didn’t find much in the way of practical tips, so I’ve made my own list in the hopes that it can help others. If you have something to add, please feel free to add your suggestions in the comments!

Get a CaringBridge (or similar) website – this way you only have to go to one place to tell all your friends and family what is going on. It will save you a lot of grief!

It’s a good idea to keep five million different types of food in the house – you never know what the chemo-affected appetite will call for. The kid may suddenly become sensitive to sweet stuff and prefer salty stuff, for instance.

Buy foods that have individually packaged servings to avoid throwing away leftovers. You won’t want to feed your kid anything that is even remotely questionable.

It’s a good idea to have soothing tea on hand for the kiddo, as well, such as the Traditional Medicinals ‘Just For Kids’ Throat Coat or Tummy Comfort.

Buy hand sanitizer in bulk and place it strategically around the house, particularly near food items, and in the car and your purse and the kid’s backpack. Throw in some Clorox wipes, too.

Pills can be administered by using various liquidy substances (and you may find yourself trying them all): pudding, yogurt, applesauce, peanut butter, nutella, whipped cream, jello, jam, chocolate syrup. You can also try FlavorX. Crushing the pills into any of these substances or making them into candy is an option, too.

Don’t argue or joke with a kid on steroids – it’s just not worth the drama.

Stock up on items (perhaps disposable) that you won’t reuse and can’t wash quickly enough – drinking glasses, silverware, towels.

A pill organizer is a godsend. I prefer a pill organizer that has slots for multiple times per day. It’s best to organize the pills into the little compartments a week at a time – you can then easily see what refills you might need.

Teach the kid how to let his friends know about being careful around any dangling medical apparati. We let everyone who plays with Jack SEE his Broviac catheter so that they don’t forget it’s there and accidentally pull at it.

Have two thermometers on hand. That way you can cross-check temperature readings if something looks weird or you’re feeling extra paranoid.

If you are doing dressing changes (with a Broviac catheter, for instance), get some adhesive remover to make it easier.

Get some books to help your family (especially kids) understand what is going on. Often these books are free from foundations like the ACCO or your social worker can recommend some titles. Some of our favorites are The Famous Hat, Little Tree, and Taking Cancer to School.

Attend activities for families dealing with cancer. The support is amazing, and you can gain so much perspective from others’ experiences.

Stock up on cozy things – soft clothing, pajamas, lovies, and blankets. When a body aches or a child needs comfort, soft things are the BEST. Jack’s favorite pajamas are long-sleeved flannel and button up the chest – this way he can be warm and cozy while he’s getting a dressing change.

An adjustable, compartmentalized organizer box is fantastic for keeping medical supplies such as Heparin, specimen tubes, and dressing supplies in.

Embrace convenience – meal delivery services, drive-thrus, prepackaged meals, protein shakes.

Assign a friend to screen medical information in books or on the internet – they can then relay the important information to you MINUS the horror stories.

Avoid and relieve burnout:

  • Get out of the house/hospital/etc. Don’t worry about what people might say/think/etc about it – take any kind of relief you can get during this super stressful time. This can mean a vacation, a stiff drink, physical activity – what relieves you may vary from what relieves someone else.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask for or accept help. You need it – otherwise you WILL get burned out. Cancer is a long journey.
  • Help includes financial. Accept money offered. If you don’t end up needing it, you can give it back later. There are ALWAYS surprise expenses that insurance or foundations won’t cover.
  • Take a nap. It’s easier to handle things if you’ve had rest.

Consider getting a prescription sleep aid and an anti-anxiety medication for yourself before problems arise – it’s likely that your sleep will be interrupted at some point, and panic attacks often hit at the least convenient times.

You can’t be too cautious or careful. If you feel like you need to take your kid in to see the doctor, DO IT. Better safe than sorry!

Hang in there and take it one hour, minute, second at a time. Somehow, you’ll get through this.

Filed Under: Cancer, Cancer Mom, Illness, Issues, Parenting 101 Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Decking The Halls

December 3, 2012 By

We’re gearing up for Christmas. This is our first Christmas in our new house, so we are pretty excited! It’s been a rough year, but we are taking every opportunity to celebrate life. I’m trying not to let the fact that Jack has a lumbar puncture and chemo scheduled for Christmas Eve get to me. Blech.

Last year our dog ate our stockings, including the personalized knit one I’ve had since I was a child. To write that wrong, I went to Etsy and found an awesome stocking shop called Forshee Designs and now we all have coordinating stockings with our names on them. They are big and sturdy and gorgeous (and we hung them high – out of Lambert’s reach!).

David and I bought ornaments and Christmas lights at Kmart, since we only had decorations fit for a miniature tree (having lived in apartments for so long). David decked the house with white dangling lights and the windows are lined with blue lights. I put snowflake decals in our front window and we have flickering LED candles in all of the windows. That went a long way to making things feel pretty magical.

Our shopping is nearly done. This weekend I did a blitz on getting stocking stuffers at Pier 1 and Target. I also got some holiday crafts to work on with Jack, including a gingerbread cookie decorating kit. I then hung our Stampin’ Up! advent calendar – filled with chocolate and small toys. I’m not super excited about most of the things we got for Jack this year, but I think the top three would be the Little Thinker CDs (a story is told or question asked on the CD and the kid is supposed to draw along with it), the Creatures Card Game and the animated Ewoks DVD (which he may not like at all!).

To complete our home decor, we just need a tree! We’ve decided we’re getting a real tree this year. I found a Christmas Tree farm in our new town where we can cut our own. I remember doing that as a kid and LOVING it. I can’t wait to take Jack and search for our perfect tree and then take it home and decorate it!

One thing I’m super excited about this year is a DVD we got from Your Santa Story. I went onto the website and input Jack’s info and asked that Santa tell him what a brave and strong kid he is. On Christmas morning a note will appear from Santa to tell Jack about the DVD. Santa will then talk right to him and even tell him where his last present is hidden. I can’t wait to see the look on his face! If you want to give your Christmas a little extra magic this year, go check it out.

I thought I would share the other websites I’ve found helpful in getting ready for Christmas this year for those of you who are dragging your feet! I know it can be hard to get started and it can be stressful to spend all that money. We certainly don’t have a lot to spend this year after buying a house, a car, and paying a bunch of copays so we are watching our spending, but the celebration is important to us so I took extra care to find deals and rebates. Maybe you can benefit from my shopping experience via these websites:

  • Pinterest – This is where I keep track of holiday craft ideas, recipes, and gift ideas. You can follow me there if you’d like (not that I profess to have especially great taste). :)
  • Ebates – You get a percentage back from merchants you buy from when you click through the Ebates site. It’s free money, so you are screwing yourself if you don’t do it – I’ve gotten over $400 back since I joined in 2008! This year I am getting cash back from purchases on Groupon, Amazon, Tanga, The Children’s Place, eBay and Zulily.
  • Etsy – For unique, handmade anything! There are some really good stocking stuffers to be found (like mojito lip balm), personalized stockings (as mentioned above), or that special thing for that quirky friend of yours who likes things like Velveteen Rabbit necklaces or beard beanies.
  • Threadless – For unique artsy or funny shirts. Everyone loves t-shirts, right?
  • Tanga – A great deal site! I particularly like the deals on board games, such as this 3-pack of Dominion for $60 (we love this game!).
  • Nomorerack.com – This site has a bunch of new and amazing deals every day. There’s a flat rate shipping fee of $2 per item. You can get some really fantastic deals!
  • Naked Wines – Usually it’s a losing proposition monetarily to run a small winery. This company helps independent wine makers distribute their wines without the crazy overhead, which means cheaper and more unique wines for customers! If you click my sidebar button over on the right you’ll get $100 toward a $160 purchase – perfect for stocking up for the holidays.

What are YOU excited about this Christmas?

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This post is not a sponsored post and only contains retailers and products that I would personally recommend; however, some of these links are affiliate links for which I may receive compensation.

Filed Under: Gear, Holidays & Events, Photos, Shopping Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Save Your Money, Save The World

November 14, 2012 By

Last week I attended a luncheon hosted by my local electric/gas company PG&E and Opower, thanks to Mom Central. The purpose of the event was to share information on how to conserve energy and save money. As a new and, frankly, flat broke home owner, I was very interested in the topic. I need all the money savings I can get and I live in California – home of the rolling blackouts – so if I can avoid those, all the better!

So, here’s the deal with PG&E and Opower. PG&E is the utility company for the majority of California and they have enlisted the help of Opower, a software company, to employ an energy management system that will help engage and encourage customers to conserve energy. PG&E’s revenue is no longer based on how much electricity people use; instead there are regulations in place that state they must develop energy savings programs in order to receive profits. This is a huge win for the environment as it makes everyone more aware of conserving precious resources and a win for consumers because it will save money and keep the power on longer.

A fact that really struck me was that since 2008 Opower has saved enough electricity to take a city the size of Oakland off the grid for an entire year. They’ve done this by harnessing the power of our peers because research has shown that the best way to get people to cut back on their energy use is to educate them about what their neighbors are doing. It’s easy not to think about how much you use on a daily basis and live in La La Land thinking you’re doing plenty for the environment, but if you get a report that shows that you are an energy hog compared to your neighbors? Well, damn, that makes an impact! No one wants to be the asshole neighbor – particularly when they find out they’re being put in a higher rate tier and paying more money because of it.

For my fellow PG&E customers, there are some awesome things in store on the PG&E website. The first is already available – if you log into your account online you can run various reports on your energy consumption and get tailored tips on what your household can do to lower your consumption and save money. It’s super easy to find out about rebates and other incentives you qualify for with this interface, as well. Anybody need some evidence to show their spouse that the old piece of crap refrigerator that clicks all day long needs to be replaced? This is your chance – you can probably even qualify for cash back.

My favorite graph is the one that shows you how much electricity you are using at different times of day – I figure you can catch someone stealing your internets at noon on a Tuesday if you pay attention – “Hm, what’s that curious spike in the middle of the day when no one is home?” You might also be able to detect a malfunctioning appliance before it shuts down completely on you.

Many customers are now receiving printed reports along with their paper bills that show what their consumption is right alongside their neighbors’. A lot of the houses on our block are the same size and have a lot of the same features inside – so if I find out I’m using more electricity than most of my neighbors, I can then go and figure out what they are doing that I’m not! Maybe it really is time to replace those windows.

Even more fun is the social apps Opower has developed. For instance, they’ve partnered with Facebook in order to implement an app that allows you to see how you stack up with your friends as far as energy consumption goes. Nothing like a little bit of friendly competition to inspire environmental conscience, right?

I’ve jumped right into using the online tools. Our energy usage is pretty good so far and our bills are manageable, but I’m hoping we can fine tune what we do around the house and make the most of every dollar. (I know my husband is hoping this gets me to turn off more lights around the house. But I NEED LIGHT!) PG&E has shown that those customers who simply log in to the site to review their account and energy usage save 23% more on gas than other customers. One of the tools to assist with this is their energy alert system, which triggers an email, phone call, or text message when you are about to go into the next (more expensive) rate tier. If there are only a few days left in the billing cycle, maybe you can bundle up a bit more and take shorter showers until your next cycle begins and save a bit of cash! I know I would use that cash for a latte…

Opower is partnering with utility companies all over the country (and the world!), so keep an eye out. Here is a list of where they are now so that you can take advantage of these awesome tools:

  • AEP Ohio (OH)
  • Arizona Public Service (AZ)
  • Burbank Water and Power (CA)
  • Commonwealth Edison (IL)
  • Connexus Energy (MN)
  • Constellation / Baltimore Gas & Electric (MD)
  • Southern Company / Gulf Power (FL)
  • National Grid (MA, NY)
  • Pacific Gas & Electric (CA)
  • PPL Electric Utilities (PA)
  • San Diego Gas & Electric (CA)
  • Xcel Energy (MN, CO)

Have you heard of these tools before? Are you using them? If not, I hope you all will all join me in using these tools so that we can start saving money AND the environment.

***

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of PG&E and Opower. I attended an informational luncheon and received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

Filed Under: Domesticating, Family, Reviews 2 Comments

Learning After Cancer Treatment

October 30, 2012 By

Jack’s dad and I met with his teacher yesterday for a parent/teacher conference. I was a little apprehensive going in – not only do I have a slight issue with authority figures but I also worried about what we would learn about where Jack is academically.

On the positive side, Jack is in the top third of his class for his language and reading skills. He’s made a few friends and he’s already showing improvement in how he interacts with his peers compared to a month ago. And, of course, he’s quite the artist. He’s a good kid and sweet as can be. :)

There are some concerns, and Jack’s teacher is having the same difficulty we are in determining what the full story is on the issues that are cropping up. It’s really difficult to tell what is a side effect of current treatment and what might be permanent damage done to his brain from the intrathecal chemotherapy (that is chemo administered into the spinal cord). We’ve thus far gone with the “wait and see” approach. We’ve been given novels on the possible negative impacts from cancer treatment, but no one can tell us for sure what – if anything – will happen to Jack. Beyond that, probably due to his age and the fact that he only attended half a year of kindergarten, it’s difficult to tell if the issue is related to the cancer (and therefore accommodations need to be made) and what is something he just needs some help to master. He may just need time, or he may need special services.

We’ve learned that Jack is having trouble with internalizing the class routine. Even after a month, he doesn’t know which line he is supposed to be in when the kids split up to go to their math class or what group of kids he’s supposed to work on projects with. Worse, he doesn’t ask for help or direction and doesn’t seem to notice that, for instance, he’s alone sitting on the reading rug while everyone else is going to their project stations. The teacher needs to keep an eye on him and ask him specifically if he knows what he should be doing because he doesn’t look for hints or direction – he doesn’t even look up to the projector for instructions. It may just require some additional time for him to get the hang of things considering all he is going through, but it’s something we’ll need to watch because many of the treatments Jack has received can have cognitive effects that would affect planning and organizing, concentration skills, information processing, and attention span.

Math is another area of concern. The school splits first graders into three groups based upon their level of math knowledge. Jack is in the bottom third and within that group, he is still struggling to keep up with the class. Before he got sick he could count to 20 without difficulty. Now he is shaky above 10. Part of this is that he needs practice, but also he is having trouble seeing the patterns in math and lacks conservation skills. Between his parents and teachers, we need to figure out the best strategy to help him in this area. AND a way to get him to try things that he feels less than confident about. He is the type of kid who refuses to try something that he knows he can’t do perfectly…

A minor thing is that Jack’s handwriting seems labored, so he has poor penmanship. He hasn’t complained but when asked he did say that writing hurts his hands. This is not surprising considering that both Leukemia and some of the treatments can cause various aches and pains. He has also complained of blurry vision, but his eye exams have been fine, so we need to look into what that’s all about. I’m thinking it may be that it’s happening in the hour or so before he takes the medication that controls his spinal fluid pressure (which, when it increases, can put pressure on his eyes).

Our next steps seem to be getting some academic assessment tests and a 504 plan and/or IEP. I’m also giving Jack’s teacher the free copy of Educating The Child With Cancer that I got from the ACCO.

So now I need to get over my fatigue and fear related to reading anything related to cancer after-effects so that I can do some research and be more proactive about helping Jack in school. I can’t ignore the fact that my kid has special needs, however much I may want to!

Filed Under: Cancer, Cancer Mom, School Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments
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