Every Mother Counts

It's Mother's Day and a Sunday, which means I'm watching my favorite show, CBS Sunday Morning. Today features several interesting stories, but one stood out in particular. This one highlights former supermodel Christy Turlington Burns' fight to stop delivery room deaths of new mothers across the globe. The numbers are staggering. A woman dies every 90 seconds due to complications in childbirth. And 90% are preventable. It took Christy's personal experience to jump start her advocacy, as she too could've been part of the statistics. Luckily, excellent medical care saved her life; now she is dedicating it to saving others. She traveled the world, created a film, and developed an organization dedicated to mothers everywhere. The organization and film, simply called Every Mother Counts, recently debuted on OWN. Excellent timing, as Mother's Day is a great time to show every mother indeed, does count. If you want to learn more about the cause and find out more information about the film, check out the link below. Happy Mother's Day!

http://www.everymothercounts.org/

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Last Minute Mom's Day?

It's 5 o'clock, most stores are closing soon, and you still have no clue what you're getting your wife/mom/significant other for Mother's Day. Here are some ideas that may spare you the unnecessary stress of coming up empty handed.

1. When in doubt, feel her out. There's no shame in bluntly asking what the mom in your life wants for a gift. You probably shouldn't have waited until the day before, but most likely if she knows you, she expected nothing less.

2. Jewelry. My aunt has a saying that goes something like "an apology is fleeting; a diamond lasts a lifetime." If you can't afford expensive pieces, consider a tasteful charm bracelet or earrings.

3. Get crafty. A quick trip to a craft or hobby store is a great way to find a simple project for mom. One idea is customizing and painting a wood picture frame, which can be done for less than $10. Pop a picture in of her favorite kids and you're done.

4. Say it with a card. A gift card that is. Often misinterpreted as impersonal, gift cards can be the best way to give mom exactly what she wants. Find out her favorite store and give her the gift that keeps on giving.

5. Make the effort. If you don't have money for anything fancy, offer to give her a break. Watch the kids while she enjoys a girls day (on you, of course); cook her dinner; make coupons for the items on the chore or honey-do list.

Remember to keep her in mind and I'm sure she'll love whatever you come up with. It's the thought that counts. You just don't want her to ask, "what were you thinking?!"

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Design Diva

Maybe I missed my calling. I've been enamored with staging/diy/home improvement shows and every time I watch I wonder if I could've done that. Not the work, but the design. I have my BS in interior design; perhaps I should be transforming homes into dazzling dwellings instead of being stuck behind a desk for 9 hours a day. I don't know how well I would mesh with hardheaded homeowners or camera crews following me around, but I'm sure it's nothing a little creative editing couldn't fix. In the meantime, I'll see if I can whip my own house into shape. Maybe I'll post some pics when I'm done.

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Free Android Apps

We all know Angry Birds is a must have, but what about the other excellent apps floating around in the Android market? If you're not sure what to get, here are a few completely free apps I have that you may like:

Spades by bytesequencing - good game play, lots of options, AI partner could be better

Gas Buddy - saw this one on tv; enter in your zip and it loads gas prices close to your location. No need to sign up, search as a guest

Words with Friends by zynga - the smartphone version of Scrabble, play virtually
with a friend, a stranger, or pass n play with someone in your house.

Our Groceries and Kroger apps - Our Groceries lets you enter your own items & stores, add multiple items at once, and choose how you sort your list. You can also email and sync your lists so everything stays updated.
The Kroger app is useful if you shop at Kroger and have a Plus card. I can load coupons onto the card while I'm in the store and they'll show up in my discounts before I check out. Very convenient.

Uninstaller - a quick and simple way to uninstall an app. Just open the installer, scroll to the unwanted app, and hit ok. Done.

And lastly, one of the apps I use the most, Blogger. I can update, view, add video, images, and links right in my phone. And after I post, I can share with a variety of different platforms from one location.

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Half an Egg

Today I got a crazy hankering for a German chocolate cupcake.  A super moist, melts in your mouth chocolate treat accented with a healthy smattering of coconut pecan icing.  The more I thought about it, the more I felt like going to buy the ingredients to make it happen.  So I went and got the mix (you didn't think I'd make it from scratch did you?), but I don't feel like cooking an entire batch of cupcakes.  Since the box calls for an odd number of eggs, I will have to halve an egg.  If you don't know how, here's a nifty trick I saw on a cooking segment.  Take a small container with a lid, like a large baby food jar or a mini-sized plastic container.  Crack the egg inside of the container and put on the lid.  Shake the container really well so the egg is all combined.  Then, just pour out half into your recipe and save the rest until you need it.  Voila!  Half an egg.  And if you'll excuse me...I've got cupcakes to make!

This is why...

I love Clean House! This is the craziest show ever. The sheer amount of crap people pack in their homes is astonishing. And the families' ability to irrationally justify why they haven't cleaned anything never ceases to amaze me. The family on this episode didn't clean their floors so they put another piece of carpet down on top of it!! Are you serious? Who does that? In their defense, it would've been difficult to vacuum around the mountains of stuff in their living room. Sometimes episodes are so disgusting, my husband asks me how I can stand to watch. The answer is simple. For motivation. I tune in, see the results, then get up and start going through all the stuff threatening to take over my house. So today's episode served its purpose. Play time over, time to make things happen.

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Ahhhh Youtube!

I wonder if the inventors of Youtube knew they'd revolutionize the world with their website. Maybe they did - everyone wants their fifteen minutes of fame. And there are uploads for everyone: conspiracy theories for the suspicious, clips of old school movies for the newbs, comedy routines, television shows, kittens sleeping, how to make/do/fix just about anything, drag races, babies dancing, poetry, etc. etc. etc. It's addictive. Electronic crack fed through wireless veins. And just like any addict, sometimes you need to go to rehab. So if you ever happen to notice everything you reference in life is based on something you saw on Youtube, it's time to unplug. You CAN have too much of a good thing!

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