A Skeptic's Review of The Amazon Kindle

Let's be honest here. We're not the most tech-savvy family on the block.

Or, continent.

I'm pretty darn proud of my Blackberry, so yall can just save the "I Phone" sales pressure. Not interested!

With that being said, I was skeptical of the Kindle. I love books. I love the feel of books.....the smell of books......the sight of books stacked on the floor in my bedroom, on my dresser, on my nightstand, on just about any flat surface in this house.

Pa brought his fancy Kindle in town recently and asked me what I thought of it and I told him I was on the fence. Yall know I bargain shop and rarely spend over a few dollars for a book. And, when you read as much as I do, paying basic retail prices adds up too quickly for our budget. I enjoyed the tour and wondered to myself if I'd ever own one.

Then, Pa bought us one for Christmas. Obviously, we need some gentle pushes into the world of technology and Pa is usually the one to do it. (Flat screen TV, Keurig, Ipods, Kindle, etc)




So, I just finished my first Kindle book. Some immediate reactions:

pros:

*Light weight and easy to carry.
*Moron proof - I'm your best test dumby in this department.
*Holds a charge forever. I turned off my 3G hook up after downloading the book and then barely made a dent in the battery life.
*Books are less expensive than I anticipated.
*Many classics are free, like Treasure Island I downloaded for Carter. Huck Finn was $.85.

cons:

*Rather than knowing what page you're on, you know what % of the book you've read; this will take some getting used to for me.
*Can't hand Carter the book I just read (Hungers Games) and go on to the next in the series.
*My usual anxiety regarding one of the punks dropping it in the toilet.



Overall, I love it. And, I feel super cool carrying it around. Giving people the impression that I'm smarter than I am is one of my favorite accomplishments.

How about you?

Do you have one?

Will you buy one?

More Scoop

I'm all over the place today. Bear with me.

Carter recently saw just the face portion of this picture (in the new part of my Facebook profile) and said, "Mom, where was that picture taken of me?"

Obviously, he missed the braids. But, that is me. And, Caroline. Lord have mercy, Carter looks like a Clemens. Yes?




I love California. LOVE it. I recall several years ago, a friend saying, "I wake up each morning and thank God I live here. It's that good." I concur. This morning, I took Carter to school, drove down by the water to get coffee and paused a second to take in the Pacific Ocean. I never thought my life would take me here. So glad it did!


Our kids have not been sick since early Spring of 2010. We made it through 5 months of Cobra, a cross country relocation, acclimation to a new climate and 3 months of Preschool without a sniffle. I know it's coming. And, since I just wrote that down, Blake will be hysterically worried that I just jinxed us. If our kids get sick within the next 6 months, he will blame me. Since I stopped listening to him years ago, this really doesn't have a huge impact on me.

However, several people have asked me recently how our kids stay so healthy. While I'd like to pat myself on the back for feeding them fruits and veggies night and day, I cannot due to Jack's extreme pickiness and gastro issues. Instead, I'll attribute it to some simple, old school tactics:

*Carter sleeps 10.5+ hours each night. Jack and Lainey sleep 12.

*Each kids eats 1 vitamin a day. A generic version of the Flinstone variety.

*They drink a ton of milk.

*We stay active and keep busy.

I'm not saying it's the perfect formula, but it works for us.

I've started straightening my hair every day. I'm 36 years old and I just took this on. Turns out, it's not as painful as I thought. And, my arms didn't fall off.


Lainey received the motherload of shiny heals from Aunt Jody for Christmas. Can you tell she likes them?


I finally hung some art above our fireplace. I'm thinking of painting the scrolly-type wooden pieces a teal color. Thoughts? Still working on what will sit on the mantle.

I also hung my sweet birdy plates Aunt Donna gave me for my birthday. Love them!


This makes me happy. Jack and Lainey are playing so well these days. Yes, they still fight and would strangle each other at times if I allowed it. But, they're becoming good friends.


One of my favorite parts of our house and another reason I love California. Mid-January, doors open, fountain trickling and a view of the gazebo and mountains.


News:

*We moved Jack to the back of the Suburban in order to prevent a likely surgery ahead. Carter was coming from the 3rd row and would plow through Jack or Lainey's legs, seated in the 2nd row captains' chairs, upon leaving the vehicle. Carter is now in the 2nd row, Jack is happy in the back and our guests will be, too, since they don't have to maneuver to the 3rd row now.

*The Bachelor is the best show on TV.

*Both of my wrists are scratched up via Batman trying to play with my hands while I type. Depending on who I report this to, it could be as believable as the returning the scale scenario.

*Pa is booking a villa near the beach for the kids during his stay next weekend. Super close to the water. They're going to have a blast!

*I'm loving my job. 10 hours a week, from home, doing what I enjoy. Happy.

*Les Miles is staying with LSU. That's 2 football related mentions in 2 weeks. How you like 'dem apples, Mae Mae?

Scoop

First, let's start with Blake's proudest parenting moment as of yet:

While waiting for Carter's basketball game to start on Saturday, he overheard the opposing team's coach say:

"The only kid on this team that can play is named Carter. Blonde hair. #5. Don't let him near the basket and watch out for fast breaks and lay ups."

Cue Blake slobbering all over himself with pride.

Yay, Carter!

In other news, Lainey ain't got no game. Example:

This was her first attempt at picking up one of Mike's boys. You'll see she succeeded later on in this post. Nicholas was not interested.

That move always worked for me, though? Hmmmm......

Mike and Holly's boys at our house + Jack. There is simply no way for our families to get together and it not end in some massacre of our house or theirs. Always fun, though!


We see a lot of this these days. Lainey playing Preschool, handing out big jobs like "fish beater" and "line leader".

But, looks who is in time-out.


Poor Meow Meow.

These two just won't give her a break.


Have yall seen these? Mae Mae got them for us for Christmas. So fun!


I took my usual position as "Mamarazzi", as Shannon calls me, at Share Day. The letter was J. As always, my kids stretched that as far as they could and came up with this:

It's a dinosaur umbrella with his name painted on it. (J for Jack.) Alisha sent it to him. He ADORES it.

Lainey blew her turn by calling this kitty, "Daddy Kitty", as he's called at home. Carter convinced her to change the name to "Jungle Kitty" for the 'J' share. But, she forgot.


Speaking of Laine, we spent an extra 10 minutes in Walmart recently because she freaked out over this ice cream carton. "Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!! It lost her family! Put her back!!!!"

I tried to rush right by it, but she convinced me to return this random item - incorrectly placed here by someone else - to its home.


We watched the LSU Tigers beat the Aggies at Mike and Holly's house. Laine is in full baby mode here since a real live baby is always present.

Jack just hangs with the boys.

Ainsley!

Love this look from Mike. Giving me his trademark, "What in the hell are you talking about?" expression. I've seen it before. Doesn't phase me.

Lainey held Ainsley again. Kisses this time.


The group joined us the next morning for Carter's basketball game. We are quite the motley crew, no?

Blake wants another baby. See?

Did I mention Carter cut off all his hair? ALL of it. He looks cute.

Remember before when I said Lainey struck out with Nicholas? Well, she made a little progress with Michael.

A romance blooming?


On the agenda this week:

*Thank you notes (still not done - hush)

*Basketball games - two of them!

*Basketball practice.

*Work.

*Valentine preparations.

*Snowboard boot shopping.

*Princess birthday party for Jack and Lainey.

*Babysit Mike and Holly's kids.

*Bachelor! (really should be at the top of the list)

Question Of The Week - Eat, Live, Be for a Better 2011 - Week 2

Hello, friends!

How did yall do last week?

I did pretty well.....lost 2 pounds.....but am not completely confident in my scale. Seriously. Carter had a 7 pound weight fluctuation. And, mine has been inconsistent. But, who wants to be that girl, a week after New Year's, returning a scale to the store?

"Really, sir. I promise it's not me. It's the scale."

I dug my old one out of the trash and compared. So far, it seems to be accurate. Maybe the new one just needed some time to warm up.



So, this week's topic: Support. And, where it comes from.

I bought this DVD and am anxiously awaiting our initial encounter. I moved all of our living room furniture against the walls, swept our floors and prepared the children for an afternoon (or 20 minutes) of exercise......and then realized that our DVD player isn't hooked up since attaining the fancy TV. Damn. We all had our sweat bands and leg warmers on and then NOTHING.

Instead, I went outside and played basketball with Carter. I'm pretty good, peeps. And, I won. Which is even more satisfying than completing the DVD workout.



Back to the subject at hand: Support. Where do I find it?

Well, the DVD is failing me. Or, Blake is. Or, I am. Because I refuse to even look at the wires needed to connect this bad boy TV to our DVD player. All in good time.

I've really relied on myself this week to stay on task. Blake has been traveling and I'm at home with kids most of the time. I ate healthy for the most part. And, I feel good.

I tried an online counter of calories and food intake. That lasted a day. I don't want to sink any money into Weight Watchers or a gym membership because both are out of our budget.

So......I ask you.

***Where do you find support? Any online tools I need to know about? Anyone interested in standing over me, night and day, for the next 6 months encouraging me to work out and eat less Sonic?

Let me know!

Pay It Forward - Jumping On The Band Wagon

Is that the right expression? Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I figure if there is ever a time to succumb to peer pressure, it's now.



It's very simple.

The rules:

"I promise to send something handmade

to the first 3 people who leave a comment here.
To be eligible, you must also post this in your blog,
offering the same thing to 3 other people.
The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it
must be sent to your 3 people *sometime* in 2011."

Sound good?

Let's do it. Let's spread a little kindness. I love this!

(And for the record, I've seen this on a few blogs, including B is for Brownie, but I first found it from my cousin, Erin. Well done, Erin!)