Month: September 2010

Friday Fun

Friday Craft: Crafty School Supplies

Karen

Kids bummed about going back-to-school? How about jazzing up their supplies just a bit?

When I saw this first craft, my very first thought was, “I want one of these to put on my desk!” And no, I’m not kidding.

Tell me these aren’t the coolest things evar!


Speed Eraser

Have your kids turn a handful of office supplies into a busy fleet of cars and trucks.

Materials

* Various types of erasers
* Knife
* White glue
* Thumbtacks
* Cardboard
* Permanent markers

Instructions

1. Begin by cutting erasers with a knife (a parent’s job; kids can use scissors for this, but the cuts won’t be as straight).
2. Stack the erasers to make cars, trucks, and trailers. Pencil-cap erasers and automatic pencil eraser refills make good cargo. Use white glue to hold the pieces together.
3. To make tires, press thumbtacks into a piece of cardboard, color them with permanent markers, then remove the tacks and press them in place on the vehicles.


Tote-ally Cool

This tubular art tote will keep your child’s projects safe on those masterpiece-crumpling bus rides home.

Materials

* Cardboard mailing tube (found at office supply stores) with two end caps; our tube is about 25 inches long and 3 inches wide
* Duct tape
* Permanent markers

Instructions

1. Make the strap by unrolling about 40 inches of duct tape and laying it sticky-side-up on a table. Place a second strip of equal length on top of the first, with the sticky side down. Carefully press the two together.
2. Attach the strap to one end of the mailing tube with duct tape. Measure the strap so that it’ll fit comfortably across your child’s chest, then cut off the excess and attach this end to the tube with tape.
3.Tote-ally Cool Wrap tape around both of the tube’s ends a few times. Have your child decorate the tube with permanent markers.


Colorful Coverup Notebook
Here’s a fun and fuzzy way to dress up your plain notebook.

Materials

* Spiral-bound notebook
* Tacky glue
* Pipe cleaner
* Colored paper

Instructions

1. Spruce up a plain spiralbound notebook with bold stripes by using tacky glue to stick pipe cleaners (the extrawide, fuzzy type work especially well) onto the cover.
2. The Colorful Coverup Notebook – Step 2 Fold the pipe cleaner ends against the top and bottom edges of the inner cover, then conceal them with a glued-on sheet of colored paper.

(clever!)


Tardy No More

When her son, Joel, was in first grade, Priscilla Johnson of Tigard, Oregon, quickly discovered that gentle reminders like “five more minutes” mean nothing to a child who doesn’t really understand the concept of time. So, she hung up this photocopy of her kitchen clock with the hands set to the time Joel had to leave for the bus next to the real clock to help him. Joel “is constantly comparing his ‘clock’ to our real clock, even telling me how much time we have left,” Priscilla told us. The result? “We make it out the door in record time,” she says.

Materials

* Kitchen clock
* Photocopy of kitchen clock

Instructions

1. Photocopy the face of a kitchen clock with its hands set to the exact moment your child needs to leave for the bus.
2. Mount the copy on a circular piece of construction paper, and hang it up next to the working clock.


Backpack Shirt

Take the shirt off your back, and turn it into a bag you can wear — on your back! This project calls for an eyelet or grommet kit, which may require an adult’s help to use.

Materials

* T-shirt
* Sharp scissors
* Needle and thread
* Large safety pin
* Clothesline cord, about 6 times the width of the shirt
* 7/16-inch eyelet (or grommet) kit

Read the instructions here.


Secret Code Backpack Chains

Sometimes it’s hard to commit a phone number or locker combination to memory. Here are a couple of innovative ways your child can use letters or colors to record hers.

Materials

* Beading cord or hemp
* Lanyard hooks or key rings
* Assorted lettered or colored beads

Instructions

1. Tie a long piece of beading cord or hemp to a lanyard hook or key ring.
2. Write the telephone number or locker combination your child needs to remember on a piece of paper. Then have her choose one of the codes below and string on beads as described.
3. Tie a secure knot at the end of the strand and trim the ends.
4. For a phone number, follow the key (see below in Tips) to select the appropriate letter for each numeral, and use ornamental beads as spacers between the area code, exchange, and last 4 digits. The chain on the left shows part of a phone number with the numbers 31-665.
5. For a locker combination, use the letters to form double-digit numbers, if needed, stringing spacer beads between them.
6. Color Codes: To represent a locker combination with colored beads, use one hue to represent units of 10, another for units of 1, and a third as a spacer. For a phone number, simply string together the same color beads so they add up to the correct digit, where 4 green beads in a row equals the number 4 and so on.
7. You can even add letter beads to the end of the string as a reminder of what number is being coded. For example, MC could stand for Mom’s cell phone.

Tips:
Key: A-1; B-2; C-3; D-4; E-5; F-6; G-7; H-8; I-9; J-0

*Disclaimer: These crafts are from Family Fun. Family Fun did not compensate me in any way for this post. I’m simply a fan of Family Fun and thought I would pass these crafts on to you.

Giveaway/Contests

Coffee Chat: September 2010

Karen

AND THE WINNER OF THE $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE IS: #96 GRANDGIVEAWAYS!!!

THE WINNER OF THE $10.00 STARBUCKS GIFT CARD IS: #73 BETH SHEPHERD!!

Thank you to everyone who visited and played!! I really enjoyed reading your answers! We’ll do this again in December!

(Grandgiveaways and Beth, if you read this before I’ve contacted you, please email me!)

Coffee Chat is ALL about YOU! Here’s what you do: Answer the daily question. That’s it! (Beware! The questions get more challenging as the days go by!)

1. Each answer you leave in the comment section counts as one ticket. (One comment per day, please).

2. Subscribe to my feed, receive another ticket. (Please leave separate comment if subscribed).

3. Follow me on Twitter, receive another ticket. (Please leave separate comment if following).

On September 17th, at 4:00 p.m. CST, I’ll draw two winners – first place winner gets to choose a $25.00 gift certificate to an online retailer of his/her choice (see this page for store listings) AND, the second place winner will receive a $10.00 Starbucks gift card (U.S. residents only for the Starbucks gift card, please).

Confused? Contact Karen.

Ready for the questions?

Question 1. What’s something you intended to do today, but didn’t. Why not?

Question 2. What’s something about yourself that you hope will change, but that probably never will?

Question 3. Which do you prefer: the hustle and bustle of city life or the quiet and serenity of country life? Why?

Question 4. What photos do you cherish from the past? Where do you keep them now?

Question 5. Was there ever a time when it turned out you were right, in spite of many others who thought otherwise? Explain the situation.

Question 6. If you could go back in time, what year would you visit? Why?

Question 7: Are people trustworthy? Explain your answer.

LAST QUESTION: How are you different now than you were before September 11, 2001?

My answer: I’m more aware of what is happening in our country. Before 9/11, I never paid much attention to politics or policies or where our country was going. Afterward, I started paying attention, becoming more involved and voicing my opinions and concerns. It also gave me a much deeper appreciation for our great country and a renewed sense of pride – we truly live in the greatest country on the earth – we have earned that title and should not be ashamed of that fact. Ever.


Thank you for playing along! I truly enjoyed reading your answers!

More from Write From Karen

Life

My Family Sticks Me in a Corner

Karen

I saw this over at Laurin Evans’ blog and thought I’d share my writing/working space, too.

My desk, my electronic life, is actually stuffed into a corner of the family room.

I didn’t bother cleaning my desk for this post – I just grabbed my camera, scooted my chair back and *click*, there you go.

Starting from the left side of the photo:

That is an information about the day of my birth plaque. My sister gave it to me for my 40th birthday. It has all sorts of interesting tidbits about little-known facts about the day I was born. For example:

  • 190,000 American soldiers are in Vietnam, Anti-war protests start.
  • Enormous power failure causes 9-hour blackout in eastern Canada and U.S., leading to surge in national birthrates nine months later.
  • Black leader Malcolm X is killed at Harlem rally. Riots occur for six days in Watts section of Los Angeles.
  • Winston Churchill dies.
  • The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is completed.
  • Sony introduces the Betamax, a home video tape recorder. Nearly all of NBC’s programs are in color.
  • Bell bottom pants and long-haired boys are the fashion.
  • Medicare passes.
  • “The Sound of Music,” “A Thousand Clowns” and “Dr. Zhivago” debut.
  • “Wild, Wild West”, “Hogan’s Heroes”, “Green Acres”, “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Batman” are the hot TV shows.

Interesting stuff, right? (Okay, interesting to ME).

That’s the stereo I use to play the music from my iTouch on. (And the music I then tweet from the blip.fm website). I also listen to talk radio there, too. (*gasp* Say it ain’t so!!)

All of the papers you see stuck in the CD slots? I have no idea what those are. I just keep them there to fool my husband into thinking I’m actually working on something. (Okay not really. Though it’s true I have no idea what 3/4 of them are).

The clutter on my desk? Pretty normal. I have at least one, or two squares of paper towels on my desk because I almost always have something to eat at my desk (can you see the Nutter Butters? And you thought I tweeted that to be funny. Reader, when will you learn to take me seriously?).

There’s also a JCPenney catalog, a pretty purple journal that I just can’t bring myself to write in cause it’s so pretty, a brochure to a portrait place that I want to take Dude to to get his senior pictures taken (NO, I still haven’t made that appointment – I SUCK!), an appointment card for Jazz’s next dentist appointment, and the days I ripped off my Baby Blues calendar that I keep for scrap paper and to use as bookmarks because I’m notorious for losing bookmarks and that gets expensive over time.

The picture to the right is my diploma from the college I graduated from in ’03. (Why yes, I am proud of that expensive piece of paper, thanks).

So, as you can see, I have nothing to look at, which doesn’t stop me from being distracted, I can assure you.

But if you look to your right, you’ll see this:

This is our back door. Dude is sitting in Kevin’s office, playing XBox. So, I can get a glimpse of the outside world on occasion. That chair? Is where Kevin sits to read. In fact, he’s reading right now. And he’s reading this, in case you were interested. Oh yes, yes he is.

When you look to your left, you see this:

I don’t look to my left very much. You can see why, right?

I am a huge multi-tasking procrastinator. Let me explain. I will have no less than about five windows open at one time. I continually toggle between Facebook, Twitter, my blog, the weather, Flickr (if I’m posting pictures), Google Reader and Google – because I’m constantly Googling something that I’m curious about or I need information for.

I also have my Dreamweaver program open at all times (I maintain websites for the schools), PhotoShop Elements (because I’m constantly editing photos or making graphics for said websites), and of course, my Outlook that is scheduled to check for mail every 20 minutes, but I get impatient, or caught up, and I routinely run it to see if I gotten any new mail.

In between reading these sites, posting on Twitter, updating websites, or answering emails, I blog. Or I’m reading other blogs. And often times, I’m doing them all at the same time. Because I find that I think better when I’m not thinking. For instance, when I’m trying to think of something to write, I’ll work, or do something else while I stew on what to write, and often times, something will come to me while I’m doing something else.

I’ve always been that way – I like to have several things going on at the same time because I tend to force myself to focus more. It’s when I have nothing to do, or am bored, that I get absolutely nothing done. And when I say nothing, I mean, I’ve showered. That’s the extent of my accomplishments on those days.

The busier I am, the more productive I am. Does anyone else have this problem?

Often times, Kevin is sitting in that chair, reading, and I’m at my computer trying to write something, or thinking about writing something while Tweeting, or checking Facebook, or reading a blog post, or watching a video and Kevin is like a back seat driver, only he’s looking over my shoulder and asking me, every few seconds, “what’s that,” or “who’s that,” or “what are you tweeting,” or “who’s on Facebook” or, “who just emailed you, ” or …. AARGH!

I can’t work like that. So. When he’s reading, like now, I go to plan B.

My laptop. On the dining room table.

Which I’m writing this blog post on right now.

I CAN NOT focus, or work, when someone is in the same room as I am. I have to be alone with my thoughts. It must be quiet. I can listen to music as I work on websites, but whenever I write something, whether that’s a blog post, a story, or even an email, it must be absolutely silent or I snap and snarl like a rapid dog.

I’m normally such a pleasant person to be around, unless I’m trying to write or working on new designs.

Then? Not so much.

Maybe THAT’S why my family sticks me in the corner.

Ah. It all makes so much sense now.

Day-By-Day

Tired, Class, Floor

Karen


(photo credit)

I am tired.

No. Tired doesn’t even cut it, I am fatigued. Actually, I’ve crossed the fatigued threshold, I am exhausted.

And here’s the kicker – I haven’t even DONE anything! I mean, other than living life, taking care of my family, working (and how taxing can that be, I work on the computer!), cleaning, baking, and doing the normal weekly errands, I honestly haven’t done anything.

And before you read that and go, “but Karen, that’s a lot!” It’s truly not. It’s not any more than any of you guys do on a daily basis and yet, I am so tired I can’t even keep my eyes open.

I’ve dealt with fatigue my entire life. I was able to combat it for so many years because I worked jobs that kept me physically active. If I’m constantly moving, then I don’t have the time to get tired.

And when I got home, I slept like the dead.

But now, now that I sit in front of the computer all day long, and I’m not physically active, it (whatever “it” is), catches up to me and I honestly can’t think, I can’t move, I can’t keep my eyes open.

I’m not depressed. At least, I don’t think I am. I’m not bored (most of the time). I’m not stressed (okay, maybe I’m a little stressed – this not having steady income coming in every month is sort of taxing, but we’re okay, financially, if we continue to play our cards right), I think my fatigue stems from something physical – I’ve always battled anemia and when I remember to take my iron, I usually snap out of my fatigue.

The problem is, I’ve been taking my iron and I’m STILL dead tired.

One problem is because I haven’t been exercising. But I’ve been too tired to exercise. Which is a stupid excuse because you actually have more energy when you exercise, but it’s the getting started part that’s hard. Once you get get going, it’s not that bad and I end up feeling great! And I sleep good.

Which is another reason I’m so tired all the time; I’m not sleeping. I toss and turn and jerk myself awake three or four times a night to check the time. I don’t want to oversleep. Even though the boys have their own alarms, and they use them, I need to get up because, well, how is it fair that they have to get up early every morning and I sleep in? If I’m up, it’s easier for them to get up. Not to mention, I need to get up. It’s morning, it’s time to get the day started.

So, I know I’m not getting quality REM sleep, which only exasperates the problem.

I’m so tired of feeling tired all the time. Something must change.

Beginning this evening, no matter how tired I am, I am going to get on that treadmill and walk/jog my three miles. I might even do 20 minutes of Turbo Jam.

I’ve gained weight. Which does not help the tired factor. But even at my skinniest, I’m still tired.

I’m tired of being tired. Oh. I already said that. See? I’m so tired, I’m repeating myself.

I’m breaking down. I’m going to try the stuff my in-laws sell. It’s called Reliv and they SWEAR by it. Kevin has also been drinking a shake every morning and he’s been a blur ever since. I’m like walking in slow motion and he’s buzzing around me at top speed – it’s frustrating and a little embarrassing.

So. Beginning tomorrow morning, I will drink some Reliv. I will try and remember to update you guys on how it makes me feel. I only hope it serves to inject a little energy into me because I can’t go on feeling this way. I have plans. I have a future mapped out for me. I can’t afford to be tired.

Literally.

I finally broke down and bought my textbooks today. As in, just now.

I had been oscillating back and forth on whether I wanted to buy them or not. Which is stupid because I’ve already signed up, and paid for, the class. The books were not cheap. And I even went the third party route on Amazon.

I think I hesitated on ordering them because once I hit that “pay” button, there was no going back. I was making a commitment to pursue this paralegal career choice.

I MADE the commitment. It’s a done deal.

My class starts next Wednesday. It’s an online class through a vocational college here in town. I have to sign on every Wednesday and Friday to get my assignments.

This class is the first of a series of six. It’s a non-credit class that is designed to prepare me for a paralegal career. Since I already have a Bachelor’s of Science (in Professional Writing), then all I should be required to do is take these preparation courses and then take the paralegal certificate exam. After that, I should be able to get a job as a paralegal. I figure with my writing degree, that should give me an edge.

Keyword: should.

I am polishing my resume. This is actually quite a process because I haven’t had a job outside the home in seven years. Though I’ve technically been “working”, it probably won’t translate into anything impressive when I get to the interviewing stage.

At any rate, I found a site that lists attorneys in my area and I plan on trolling those sites to see if they are possibly hiring. And by hiring, I mean looking for law clerks or even receptionists. I am not too proud to take a lowly position just so I can get my foot in the door.

I’m quite confident that once I’m in, I’ll impress their socks off and they will wonder how they ever got along without me.

Am I being overly confident, especially given the disaster that is Obama’s economy right now?

Possibly. But I prefer to call it optimistic. 🙂

Now I get to sweat it out for the next week and hope my textbooks come in a timely manner. Of course, if they don’t, I have no one to blame but myself.

As usual.

We asked the same people we bought our kitchen tile from to come out and measure our living room / dining room – they came yesterday.

Then they called us today to give us an estimate on how much they would charge to rip out our carpets, haul it off, and then install our wood floor.

It’s about what we expected.

Expensive.

However, we’ve been talking about doing this for years and we feel like now is the time to do it.

It’s a dark, polished maple and we’re really excited to get it down.

Actually, we’ll be even more excited after it’s installed. Moving furniture is going to be a challenge with Kevin out of commission (sort of), but that’s the perk of having two teenage boys —

cheap labor.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday: Mad Hornets

Karen

You can’t see them, but there were about six hornets trying to find their nest near those rocks. They couldn’t find it because Kevin filled the hole in with caulk and well, they were angry … as angry as hornets.

(*ba-da-bum*)

Silly hornets, don’t mess with the humans.

And in case you’re curious, Kevin is sanding our bench, that we keep on the front porch, next to the hornet’s nest, that is now filled with caulk.

Our lives are very complicated.

ADDED: Those pesky hornets found another way into their hive. Kevin again sealed it with caulk and then proceeded to grab the fly swatter and kill about twenty that were swarming around it looking for the opening. There must be a pretty good-sized nest behind those rocks. I shudder to think of just HOW many hornets are scrambling to get out behind those rocks.

Also? We’ve found two hornets in the house. So, they’re either flying into the house as Kevin swats at them, or, they’re panicking because they can’t escape their hive and are finding a way into the house through the walls. Either way …. EEEEEKKK!

Monday Stuff

You Ask, I Answer

Karen

I’m answering the “Getting to Know You Questions” from MannLand5 as well as my own questions from the Monday Morning Meme.

(Because Mondays are so much easier when all you have to do is answer questions – you know?)

1. Do you like seafood?

Ugh. Hell to the no.

I can’t stand chewing on anything rubbery, or anything that makes a squeaky noise between my teeth. It totally and completely grosses me out!

BUT…

I’m okay with some fish (Tilapia, Salmon, the Long John Silver fish [whatever that’s officially called]) and crab? Is not my favorite, but pretty good with noodles and Alfredo sauce at Red Lobster.

Okay fine, I’m okay with SOME seafood.

My guys love shrimp – I can’t stand to even look at shrimp, cooked or otherwise. Just … yuk.

2. Are mermaids hot?

I’m not sure, I’m not into mermaids – I don’t swim those waters.

If you know what I mean. *wink*

But Mermen … NOW we’re talking.

RAWR

3. Have you swam in the ocean?

Yes. But not just to swim – we went snorkeling a few times. And though it was cool to swim with the fish, I hated every minute of it. One, I’m not a big fan of water – especially big bodies of water (I’m not the strongest swimmer). Two, I swallowed enough salt water that I was burping seaweed for a straight week after that.

Not. Fun.

4. If you got stung by a jellyfish, would you let a stranger pee on you?

Depends on what the stranger looked like.

I kid. (Sort of).

I don’t know. I think it might depend on how badly it hurt. I’ve never been stung but like to think I have a pretty high pain threshold. But then again, I hear jelly fish stings are pretty painful, so again … it depends on how hot the stranger was.

Kidding again. (Sort of).

5. Have you ever pee’d in the ocean?

Um. No. And I’m quite proud to say I’ve never been tempted.

Fish deserve clean seawater, too, you know. And yes, I’m TOTALLY playing the wacko environmentalist card cause I’m a jerk like that.

(Clean – seawater. That’s got to be an oxymoron, right?)

6. Can you make a cute fish face? (Show a pic..if you want)

I’m not sure about the “cute” part, but here goes nothing …

7. When you see the lobster tank at the grocery store do you just have this overwhelming urge to set them free or cook them up?

No. I have an overwhelming urge to avoid even going within ten feet of the tank. Lobsters are the things nightmares are made of.

I can’t believe people actually eat those suckers.

I mean think about it a minute – how was it even discovered you could eat those things? Did someone walking down the beach one day spot one and think, “I wonder what one of those ugly, creepy, monster-looking things would taste like?”

I mean, I can’t even comprehend that thought let alone think about putting something so hideous into my mouth.

Just … ew.

8. Are you afraid of sharks?

No. As long as they’re on the other side of glass.

Would I ever get into shark-infested waters? Only if I were unconscious.

1. If you could take back something you did to someone, what would it be?

I can’t answer that, it might incriminate me. (No. Seriously. It’s bad. Sorry to be so cryptic, but … well, sorry to be so cryptic).

But there are plenty of things I’ve said over the years that I wish I could take back. I have a big mouth (I KNOW! That’s such a shocking revelation), and I have a tendency to just blurt something out before thinking, especially when I’m annoyed and especially when I’m ticked off.

It’s funny, most people get a little more outspoken as they grow older, I find I’m starting to exercise restraint as I get older. And I really think it’s because I’ve said so many stupid things in my lifetime that I’ve met my quota.

My stupid meter is close to being maxed out – I have to dole out my stupidity slowly now.

2. Would you describe yourself as spiritual, religious, or something else?

Definitely spiritual. I have a strong faith in God and I trust Him implicitly. I study His word (the Bible, for those not in the Christian faith), and I follow Jesus Christ.

Religious, to me, implies people who put too much time and energy into belonging to an organization or a group that enforces strict rules, regulations, or rituals that one must follow in order to One, belong to the group or organization and Two, to stay in the group or organization.

I personally don’t believe that God meant for Christians to be so … restrictive? I guess, for lack of a better word. I never make it a secret that I’m a Christian on this blog and if you’re interested in learning more about what I’m only glossing over here, you can find more information here.

3. Did you ever receive detention in school? What sort of kid were you in school – bookworm, smart kid, troublemaker, quiet … etc.

Erhm, yes. (*said in a tiny, child-like voice*)

What can I say, ya’ll, I was a bad girl back in my day.

I got suspended for skipping school.

It wasn’t my fault!

(Okay, yes it was).

I had good intentions. I drove to school. I drove into the parking lot at school. Then I would think, “Wow. It’s a beautiful day. I don’t feel like going to school today,” and then drive back OUT of the parking lot.

*sigh*

When I was AT school (*ahem*), I was a huge drama geek. I was stage manager (for a show we took all the way to state and WON, thank you very much) and student director my senior year for the school musical.

I very much LIKED being student director. I totally had license to boss people around.

I’m sure that’s hard for you all to accept, but yes, I was (am) a bossy person.

4. When’s the last time you ran a mile? How often do you exercise?

I don’t run. I don’t want to ruin my knees, but I will do one of those pathetic walk/jogs where I’m not technically walking or running but just sort of … skipping?

The last time I exercised was about two weeks ago. I did Turbo Jam and then walked skipped three miles. I was so sore the next day that I couldn’t move, let alone exercise and then I got distracted and never got back to it.

But I will. I go through exercise “spurts” and I feel another one coming.

Soon. Very soon.

Monday Morning Meme

Monday Morning Meme: September 6, 2010

Karen

Happy Labor Day!

Aren’t you glad I’m here to give you something to blog about?

I thought so. 😉

All you have to do is answer the questions below either in the comment section, or on your blog. And elaborate! Make these questions show your unique and special personalities. This meme entry will post at 12:01 every Monday morning and will be the first postentry listed on WFK all day Monday. (This is an all-day Monday meme, so please, play all day!)

Monday Morning Meme at writefromkaren.com

September 6th Questions:

1. If you could take back something you did to someone, what would it be?

2. Would you describe yourself as spiritual, religious, or something else?

3. Did you ever receive detention in school? What sort of kid were you in school – bookworm, smart kid, troublemaker, quiet … etc.

4. When’s the last time you ran a mile? How often do you exercise?

5. Bonus: Write a caption, poem or short story inspired by this picture:

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Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

(please be patient, it’s a little slow sometimes)

Want to see next week’s questions? Your wish is my command.