Mariannes Motifs

We're Back Home

We flew back to Atlanta yesterday.  There were some major delays in Atlanta due to rain and fog, so it took us about 9 hours between leaving my parents and getting home.  The kids were amazingly resilient and behaved really well.  The Rochester airport has a great kids play area that really helped out.  What a great idea!

There were people scheduled on our flight who were missing their connecting flights in Atlanta and were being told that they had to wait till Monday (2 days later) to get another flight.  What a mess.  And because it was due to weather they were not even offering to pay for a hotel or anything else.

The stock market is so low right now there are a lot of good deals to be had.  My mom has been shopping for bonds to provide income now that they are both retired.   With the bond market in the tank there are actually bargains to be had.  She was on the phone with her broker doing some telephone and online trading right before the markets closed for the holidays.

My car needs a new battery so tomorrow Jin and I have some major errands to run before we go back to work on Tuesday.  From looking at my work email it seems that while I was out just about everything broke.  I hope they missed me and realize how much I do there. 

Tuesday Chit Chat

Here is a picture of the kids from Sunday when they were playing in the snow.

This is the first year in a long time that we're able to travel without having to board doggies back home.  My pug Ivana died a few months ago, and Jin's dog Becky died last year right around this time.

Its possible that we will be thinking about getting a new dog.   Its kind of nice not having a dog, but I also really miss the pitter patter of little claws.  Its nice not having to buy dog supplies and its really nice not to have to clean the lawn off.

Home for the Holiday

All four of us flew from Atlanta to Rochester, NY on Saturday and I have been enjoying my mom's home cooking.  She's cooking gluten free these days but yummy as anything nonetheless.

No need for any of those best diet pill thingies here - its all healthy food.  Well except for that Wegman's triple chocolate cake.  Ahem...  It was pretty funny to watch the kids all eat cake and then run around the house like lord of the flies.

We had my 2 nieces over and my former babysitter down the street brought her 5 year old.  The kids were even sledding down the small hill on the side of my parents house.  They had a blast.

Right now its a quiet moment - my Sister in law Stef took to boys to visit cousin Lydia at school for lunch.  Ahh... peace and quiet for the first time since Saturday morning.

Thanksgiving Coloring Pages

While we are on the subject of Thanksgiving (See previous post for Scholastic Thanksgiving) let me list some really nice Thanksgiving Coloring Pages for you as well as other Thanksgiving printables for kids.  There were a lot to chose from across the net but I have done the work for you and found the best!

Free Thanksgiving Printable Activity Booklet from Education.com.

Here is a cool Turkey in Pilgrim hat that has nice feathers from Coloringpages.net.

This one aslo from Coloringpages.net  has a Pilgrim and American Indian.

Wampanoag Indian Girl coloring page from ABCTeach.

Turkey word worksheet from Teach-nology.

FamilyFun has this great Thanksgiving activity page with a maze and connect the dots all on one page.

Color the Mayflower from ABCTeach.

Turkey shaped book for kids to make from ABCTeach.  (Very cool)

For those looking for online coloring try this online color the turkey page from Kaboose.

Scholastic Thanksgiving site - a great way to learn about the holiday

Scholastic has a a great area on their website dedicated to the uniquely American holiday Thanksgiving. 

Scholastic Thanksgiving

The site includes a tour of the Mayflower, descriptions of daily life of the pilgrims,  and more accurate information about the origins of the Thanksgiving feat we celebrate today.

The English colonists we call Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion. But these were days of prayer, not days of feasting.

Our national holiday really stems from the feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag to celebrate the colony's first successful harvest.

Shopping and Stuff

I had a bit better end of the week than the beginning.  I hope we've found a way to work around a technical problem we were having with Exchange 2003. 

I got some good deals at my local Goodwill.  A shirt for me, some books, and some really nice kids clothes.  I got Ben a nice striped Izod polo, a nike tracksuit, and a like new longsleeve shirt from The Childrens Place.  I also got the kids 2 nice electronic books.  One needed batteries and thankfully it worked when it had the new batteries.  A fun Sesame Street puzzle/game book with a pen that reads the words and lets the kid pick out rhyming words.  Pretty fun.

We did a little bit of shopping today.  We got some outlet covers at Lowes to make 2 repairs in the house and I bought a bit of yarn at Joannes.  So many stores were going out of business near the mall - there was a gy holding a "Going Out of Business" sign on all 4 corners of the major intersection by the local mall.  Circuit City, Linens and Things, and a store called Harolds were all going out of business within a mile of each other.

This holiday season there are going to be a lot of bargains available if you have a couple spare bucks.  If you are looking for Seiko watches check out this link, they have some decent prices.

Check out this gorgeous Citizen ladies diamond watch the sell:  Sparkly!

Privacy Vs. Security

Dystopian Science Fiction and political allegories such Orwell's 1984 bave often portrayed a future in which the government controls human beings activities and thoughts.  Western literature and film from Fahrenheit 451 to Gattaca have portrayed worlds where the goverment or a corporate entity control people via various methods of propaganda, censorship, and surveilance.

So when we think of the idea of a city putting up security cameras on lightposts to record the activities of the populace, it seems a bit off somehow.  But there is another reality... security cameras can provide important information for the police.  If a crime is committed they can provide clues and evidence.  Computer programs can even scan for suspicious packages, unclaimed items, or people who may be loitering in a suspicious manner.

Companies may have security cameras placed near entrances and exits to discourage or solve thefts.  They may place cameras in employee parking lots to provide better safety for employees going out to their cars at night.  Cameras can act  as a deterrent as a savvy criminal might pass over the lot with cameras and hit one down the street that does not have them.

As always, there is a strange balance that must be maintained between our rights and passion for privacy, and the desire for security and rule of law.  Companies like ITPlanet.com are selling security cameras to all sorts of companies.  So remember the next time you are walking down the hall at work thinking you are alone:  don't scratch your butt - you may be on camera.

Free PNG Calendar Top Quickpages for Custom Shutterfly Calendars

As part of Kim Hill's design team, we were again this year able to offer  FREE Calender Toppers that are perfect for Shutterfly or other calendars. 

This year the set has even more options, as we have not put the names of the months on the pages and also included extra toppers for alternate climates,  countries, and religious choices.

What would you do with these?  Use Photoshop Elements or any other imaging program to add your own pictures underneath the free .png Quickpages and then upload them to Shutterfly and order a custom calendar. Shutterfly even lets you add your family's special days to the calendar grid of each month. 

Click the picture below to go to Shutterfly Calendars.

Crappity Crap Day

I am not in harmony with the world today.  Its two days before the full moon but I can't explain why people are just plain crazy.

I guess I just have to hang in there and everything is going to work itself out in the long run.  For now, its time to gear down and work hard to make sure all my ducks are in a row.  I went grocery shopping and picked up things for making quick and easy dinners at home.  My cleaning lady is coming tomorrow so that will help me get in a happier frame of mind.  I did all the kids laundry and part of ours.  My next big task is going through toys and giving away everything the kids have outgrown.

Some days are better than others.

Want to check out something cool?  Look at this site TREOmodern that sells swanky home theater seating.  They offer free delivery and all the pieces are boxed separately and connect together when you place them in the room.  That's really pretty neat and their prices are a lot lower than I would have expected.  They also have some really astounding prices on what I would call "contemporary style" area rugs.

It's Online Shopping Time

I am so excited!  I have had some great bloggy paydays this month.  I just made my first payout from my Squidoo lenses.   The most popular one being the KnitSquare page at http://squidoo.com/knitsquare.  I made about $14.50 from this.  I realize its not exactly going to fund my retirement but its a new source of moolah to add to my little drips and drabs.

I also sold another book from half.com, and got some assignments from payu2blog and (company name deleted).  Considering my dayjob is a never ending ball of stress right now, I have to find some excitement where I can.

So -- what to do with the $75 bucks I made?  Online shopping my friends, online shopping.  (Yeah, I said it twice)  Speaking of online shopping... check out this video which is all about the Shop and Confess contest being held by ebillme.  If you enter their Shop and Confess contest and tell about some shopping you kept a secret you can win some of the $33,000 in prizes they are giving out.

However, I must add here that unless this secret item is a present for the spouse I HEAVILY advise against keeping purchases from the ol' ball and chain.  Honesty is the foundation of any good relationship folks so don't be squirrelling away your shop-a-holic tendencies.