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August 31, 2005
Haiku
Potluck in the heat
With much perishable food
Oh, my poor stomach!
Posted by Julee at 08:03 AM | Comments (2)
August 30, 2005
So Much for Energy Conservation
Our hot water heater is in a closet in our garage. When it's actually heating water it makes a noise that you can only hear on one side of the 2nd floor. I was up in the middle of the night with Iris (which I have spent too much time doing lately) and I heard it running. I was conscious enough to think, "Hmmmm, that's strange." But it didn't quite occur to me to go find out why. It was about 3:30 am after all.
This morning as Eric was getting ready to leave, he discovered that a boy (we don't know which one) had forgotten to turn off the hot water in the downstairs bathroom. I'm pretty sure that the last time they used that sink was to wash their hands after dinner, which was sometime around 7:00 pm. So it seems that the faucet had been running for about 12 hours. Woo Hoo!!
Posted by Julee at 11:38 AM | Comments (1)
August 26, 2005
Tightwad Living
I nearly doubled over when I opened my latest electricity bill. (OK, not really, but it was a shocker) I was expecting it to be high since we are cooling a whole house in Texas instead of an apartment in Boston. But I wasn't expecting it to be that high!
I would like to think we are more conscious than average. I'm super careful about turning out lights and the ceiling fans. We keep the thermostat set at a pretty high temperature and I turn it way up when we go out. I checked out my local utility provider's website and got a couple of tips on lowering costs: be careful about power usage during peak times when the rates are higher and using lower wattage bulbs in lamps.
So while I stopped doing laundry and running the dishwasher between 3 and 7 pm, I still wanted to do better. I decided to check out what the money-saving classic, The Complete Tightwad Gazette had to say about conserving electricity. I found that I already followed most of their tips for reducing electricity consumption, except the big one: using a clothesline. My dryer has a moisture sensor and our coffee stays warm in a carafe all day instead of on a warmer.
I also discovered that we already practice a fair amount of their other suggestions. Eric often cuts the boys's hair himself (and it shows), the boys use many of the things that could end up in the recycling bin or garbage for their "projects," and we buy a lot of food in bulk and rarely buy processed or convenience foods.
However some of the advice is a little over the top in my opinion.
Making balloon-like decorations for your child's birthday party out of brown paper bags. (balloons are really cheap)
You can use toilet paper for wrapping paper. (I'd like to see the look on the recipient of that gift)
Placing cut-down-to-size styrofoam meat trays behind your switch plates for added insulation.
Instead of using your hot water heater, you can take old plastic milk jugs, paint them black and set them out in the sun all day. By evening you will have warm enough water for a bath. (My personal favorite)*
Scraping out the remaining deodorant at the bottom of the container and storing it in a little dish. When you have done this with 3 more almost-empty containers you then microwave all of it and it will melt. Pour all of the melted deodorant into one of the empty containers and you will have half of a deodorant stick. (Does anyone else find it a little scary that deodorant melts?)*
*Found in The Tightwad Gazette II
Posted by Julee at 08:11 PM | Comments (7)
Friday Random 10
Shuffle Those MP3s
1. How it Should Be (Sha Sha) - Ben Kweller
2. Baby - Imperial Teen
3. Keep on Breathing - Delgados
4. Every Word - Belly
5. Could've Been Anyone - Aimee Mann
6. In the Sun - Blondie
7. Renegades of Funk - Crystal Method
8. Something Against You - Pixies
9. The Marsist - Frank Black
10. The Stars of Track & Field - Belle & Sebastian
Posted by Julee at 07:53 PM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2005
Tired Family
We haven't been getting much sleep lately. Friday night one boy got sick everywhere and then the other one wet the bed. (It must have been the full moon) And then the girl has been keeping us up half of the night practicing all the new words she has been acquiring lately. Instead of sleeping she asks for tissues.
Posted by Julee at 10:05 PM | Comments (7)
August 16, 2005
MP3s and Cuteness
First of all you need to have this MP3 player.
Then you must get these speakers.
Or even these speakers would do.
If you're not into Hello Kitty or pink you could always get an iDog.
Posted by Julee at 09:58 PM | Comments (4)
August 14, 2005
Happy 2nd Birthday Iris
How the past 2 years have flown!
Posted by Julee at 09:08 PM | Comments (9)
August 12, 2005
Stuff Portrait Friday
Random and Odd has been doing Stuff Portrait Friday for a while. Well I decided that I would finally join in and play along.
My Ride:
There is this perception floating out there that minivans are really uncool. Well, I really like my car. We generally are not a family that stays home much. My minivan comfortably gets us to the places where we need to go and what could be better than that.
A Mile Away:
I have come to realize that just about anywhere you go in San Antonio you will be within a mile of a Bill Miller BBQ. The food is not bad. But since I spent most of my formative years in Kansas City my barbecue loyalty lies elsewhere.
Why I Love Where I Live:
Well, I cannot say that I love where I live, but I am starting to like it. I do really like that the cost of living is low and we can afford to have a house with a lot of space and a backyard for the kids. I also know that I'm really going to like it here come February when the average temperature is 54 degrees.
Posted by Julee at 08:28 PM | Comments (5)
Friday Random Ten
Shuffle Those MP3s
1. Born to Lose - Social Distortion
2. To Daddy - Emmylou Harris
3. In Liverpool - Suzanne Vega
4. Debaser - Pixies
5. The End of the Summer - Dar Williams
6. Ant Farm - Eels
7. The Lonely Ones - Chris Isaak
8. Information Travels Faster - Death Cab for Cutie
9. Whipping the Horses Eye - Calexico
10. Something's Got a Hold on Me - Etta James
Posted by Julee at 09:58 AM | Comments (0)
August 05, 2005
My New Chair
I saw this listed on Craigslist and I could not resist. It's in excellent condition and it was so cheap they were practically giving it away.
Posted by Julee at 10:21 PM | Comments (3)
Google Meme
Here is a fun meme that is going around:
Google your name in quotes with an "is" -- ex.: "(your name) is" -- pick your favorite ten responses and post them.
1. Dont tell anyone, but Julee is a guy in a ladies body.
2. Julee is a dancer to the bone and she runs her own company up in Maine and well, back in the day, I guess I never expected to like my "mother-in-law" this much
3. All in all, Julee is spending too much for her income and not saving enough
4. Julee is the proud mother of four beautiful daughters - all of whom are rodeo queens!
5. Julee is on my Must Have list for ecto-recommendations.
6. Julee is upset that there is no booze in the trifle
7. Julee is a wonderful addition to our family kennel.
8. Julee is going to paint her dome soon.
9. Julee is now a dragoner at the Hatchery, surrounded by her groupies.
10. Julee is a loser--a down and out drop-out that no one cares about.
Posted by Julee at 10:09 PM | Comments (1)
Friday Random Ten
Shuffle Those MP3s
1. Halloween - Rebecca Pearcy
2. Happy and Bleeding - PJ Harvey
3. Los Vecinos - Jonathan Richman
4. Promise - Pedro the Lion
5. Perfect World - Talking Heads
6. One by One All Day - The Shins
7. Ballad of Cable Hogue - Calexico
8. Back of Your Head - Cat Power
9. We're Both Confused - Luna
10. The First - Imperial Teen
Posted by Julee at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)
August 04, 2005
In Honor of World Breastfeeding Week
Thank you Food and Health Communications for your free clip art.
Posted by Julee at 10:26 PM | Comments (3)
Links
I think we will all sleep better tonight knowing that someone out there is preserving this information for us:
The AOL CD Preservation Guild and Museum
Pretty snarky and at times even down right mean, but really funny too:
Baby's Named a Bad, Bad Thing
If you need to make your SUV look more legit:
Spray on Mud
Posted by Julee at 09:49 PM | Comments (1)
August 01, 2005
Questions
Everytime I get in the car with Henry I'm hit with a barrage of interesting questions. Looking at his face in the rear view mirror and can almost see those cogs turning.
When you die how long does it take before your skin rots off?
If your arm gets chopped off will you go to the hospital in a helicopter?
Why do they need to put chemicals in the pool? Won't the germs just drown?
Why didn't they just have rescue teams in space for when the space shuttle exploded?
Do animals smell bad? (because they don't wipe their tush after they poop)
Posted by Julee at 08:37 PM | Comments (4)