MommyWizdom

Terra Nova

mommy wizdom — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:42:40 GMT

So we watched Terra Nova and I really liked it.

It's a nice mix of Earth 2, Star Gate, and Avatar.

I love utopias, time travel, dinosaurs, futuristic anything, and the idea of starting over.

The show is a fresh cast of people and I like the way they interact. I like the premise and I like the freshness of it.

I hope it continues to be a good show.

Boxtops Coordinator

mommy wizdom — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:00:00 GMT

I volunteered to be Boxtops Coordinator for my kids' school, all the while, not having a clue what was expected. I figured I could go to their website and all would be clear. Boxtops is wonderful about helping you get your Boxtops in. I participated in a webinar a few weeks back with all the pertinent information, but I still think it doesn't hurt for me to blog about it.

So, here it is.

First of all, there is a deadline that will soon be upon us - November 1, 2011, for the fall submission and there is another deadline in the Spring - I'll have to look up the date.

If you submit your Boxtops by this deadline, your school will receive a check by December 2011!

How do you submit your Boxtops?

1) First and formost, you must register on their website as coordinator so that you can have access to the online form and all the pertinent information! This is easy to do. Go to www.boxtops4education.com/ and click the coordinators link at the top left.
From there you will have the option to upgrade to coordinator. Login (or sign-up if you're not a member) as usual, then you will see a screen that allows you to upgrade. There is a dinky little arrow inside of a pink circle under that. If you click it, it will take you to the next screen where you can sign-up to be the coordinator. You may have to call the 800 number ((800) 799-2444) in order to get your school ID. Then, type it into the form and voila! You are now the coordinator!

2) Now you must collect Boxtops from everyone you know! And clip them down to the little dotted lines. Yep, every single one, no matter how itty bitty. They must be trimmed down to size!

3) Then, you must make sure that they are not expired. I had to buy a magnifying glass, no kidding.

4)Now you must sort them in piles of 50. You can paperclip them together, use rubber bands, snack bags, whatever you can package them in, as long as you have them sorted in bundles of 50. In fact, I've started using regular ol' paper envelopes so as to be green!

There is an exception here. Bonus Boxtops and certificates do not have to be bundled and they must be accounted for separately. They are bonuses, not regular Boxtops. Just put them in a baggie all by themselves and account for them separately on the form.

5) This is important. You must fill out the form with the number of Boxtops you are submitting, your school's information, etc, etc.

6) And finally, you must mail them in. They HIGHLY suggest that you track your package. They must be Post Marked by November 1, which this year is a Tuesday, in order for your school to receive a check this year. They must be mailed to:

Send via U.S. Postal Service to:
General Mills Box Tops for Education
P.O. Box 2185
Young America, MN 55553-2185

Send via UPS or Fed Ex to:
General Mills Box Tops for Education
717 Faxon Road (Dept 2185)
Young America, MN 55397-9481

You may submit Boxtops at any time during the year, but checks are only issued twice a year, in the Fall and in the Spring.

This is it in a nutshell. Feel free to comment if you have questions and I will be happy to help you get answers.

Best of luck and I hope you're earning lots of free dollars for your school.

Soon I will do a similar post for Labels for Education - as soon as I figure out what the heck to do with that one!

Comfort Food

mommy wizdom — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:51:51 GMT

Here is a great recipe for the upcoming winter months that you're sure to love.

It's called Turkey Rice and Bean Bake

1 lb ground turkey
2 packets taco seasoning
2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Mexican corn, drained
1 cup instant white rice, uncooked
1/2 cup water

Cook ground turkey in large skillet over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain.
Add taco seasoning, tomatoes, beans, corn, rice and water to skillet; mix well.
Cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring as needed.

Makes four servings

Try it and let me know how you made this meal yours!

Another telephone story

mommy wizdom — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 13:52:52 GMT

I remember when the internet was first introduced. I was in college and they had just gone from intranet to having internet. We sat attentively in the computer lab which consisted of long tables up against three sides of the room with about ten or so computer stations per side. As they explained e-mail (which back then was DOS based) we had no choice but to e-mail each other. Side by side, we would each cackle and giggle as we received each other's e-mails. The sillyness of it didn't escape me, even then. But I knew no one's e-mail address, few did.

Recently, my daughter has discovered the telephone. As she called me on my cell phone from one room in the house to the other, I couldn't help but remember that day in the computer lab.

She called me about eight times. And each time I answered "Hello?" just to give her the satisfaction of making a phone call. She tried to call her uncle and grandma, but neither could come to the phone. So she was left with only my cell phone number for veritable communication.

The joy of the experience was so palpable.I felt her grow up just a little bit more then with the responsibility of being able to use the telephone.

I actually tried to teach her once last year, but she had absolutely no interest. I guess now it's important. I guess e-mail will come next, huh?

TV Junkie

mommy wizdom — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:41:26 GMT

My name is Mommy Wizdom and I am a TV junkie. Lately it seems I have become quite the TV junkie. I mean, I used to watch TV before, but now it seems I watch a lot!!!!

I've started watching the new show PanAm and I like it. I like the slight 60's feminist element that it has. I particularly liked a comment one of the pilots made at the end of the first episode (yes, the pilot - ha ha) about the stewardesses being a new breed of woman perhaps without even knowing it. I also like Christina Ricci who happens to be on this show. I like the youthful promise of the show both as a show and in it. And I already like the way the characters are developing. I hope this show does not let me down.

I am also watching, Fringe, In Plain Sight, Eureka, Cold Case, Rizzoli and Isles, Bones, and of course, last but not least, Falling Skies which should be starting back up soon. We've also started recording TerraNova... Did I miss any?? Lol.

So, one beef I currently have with TV is, are they seriously running the show House with him being in prison??? Since when does a good medical drama become prison drama? I guess it was losing it's edge, huh? Same goes for Hawthorne. I was really into that show until they fired the head nurse and made the show about her elicit affairs or lack-there of them. Is that what makes TV these days? Yuck!
Remember the good old days of medical shows like China Beach and ER? China Beach was a great show! Yes, I'm totally dating myself, I know! I was soooo bummed when they canceled it! And ER, well, I watched that show from beginning to end, I think, or almost. And that one ran for a good long time! Ergo Noah Wyle in Falling Skies. See, there is some method to my madness.

What do you like to watch?

Funny

mommy wizdom — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:14:08 GMT

Somehow I ended up on this site and this picture caught my eye.

This picture just cracks me up! I can't really tell you why except that I am a huge Beetlejuice fan and I absolutely love, loved, Heath Ledger.

Getting the last laugh

mommy wizdom — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:14:17 GMT

Until recently, I was just like the brown bear in that video that has gone viral on Youtube about the iPhone 4 vs. HTC EVO - I'm sure you've seen it - the last time I looked, it had 14 million hits!!
I loved my iPhone, I loved my iPhone, and I loved my iPhone! I cried when I lost it and I would never have considered switching, until...

iTunes blew up in my face and Apple wanted to charge me money to fix an upgrade mistake that their software caused. In itself that would not have been so bad except that it happened at a really bad time and it took two hours to get my phone back up and running!! You can imagine how P.O.ed that made me. So, I told my husband it was time for a new phone, ASAP!

A month later I am sitting at my desk wondering why I thought the iPhone was so amazing. That video, as profane as it is, is completely,100% true.

My new phone is so much more advanced than even what the iPhone 5 will be able to offer. The screen is bigger, the resolution is better, the options are greater... "it can even print money, it can grant out three wishes including one for the iPhone, it has an app that will build me an island and it then transforms into a jet and can fly me there!" Yes, it really is all that and I no longer have to deal with iTunes, Apple or their stupid customer service reps. Ha ha!!!

If you're looking to buy a used iPhone, I've got just the one for you!

Technology at it's best

mommy wizdom — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:07:56 GMT

We have Vonage as our telephone provider and within the past year or so they started transcribing audio messages into written e-mails. Usually, they get it right on and I love being able to just read them, but sometimes it's just too funny for words.

This is the message we got from BG's school on Friday:

"Hello Mrs. hi Dave, this is in your face. So I'm gonna send us a Spanish mission teacher. I'm calling you to invite you to what back-to-school night... Hope to see you there. Bye."

Sometimes, we get an e-mail that says they were unable to transcribe the message, please check your voicemail. Perhaps this should have been one of those times.

Hope you 're laughing as much as I am!

In my day...

mommy wizdom — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 01:36:14 GMT

This summer we visited family with the kids. It was taxing trying to keep the kids from going completely berserk while we were on vacation but we did it. Often we stayed up too late, we had too many treats during the day, and we bought too much stuff. But what took it's toll the most were the judgements about how I raise my kids from the older generation.

"When my kids were little, they never acted this way. They never did this. They never fought so much! They weren't attached to the computer like that. They never wanted to buy every single thing in the store like that."

Really??? Because as I recall, they most certain did. I know, since I was there!!

But I guess child-rearing is a bit like child-birth; they say you forget all the pain and only remember the love and the good moments.

I did learn something from the experience; I am trying no to judge anyone else's parenting skills/methods. There is no manual and we are all just doing the best we can.

Speaking of which, I saw something that threw me for a loop today but I had to keep my mental mouth shut. I saw a couple of boys who couldn't be any older than third or fourth graders, wearing earrings. Big, obvious and conspicuous earrings. But what could I say since I'm not judging?

First Grade!

mommy wizdom — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:44:53 GMT

Today was the first day of school for us. And when I picked up my little girl from school today I couldn't believe how grown-up she appeared. She no longer had that slightly lost look. Instead she had this air of knowing. She walked right to the car, she told me all about her day as one would share about the first day at work, so matter-of-fact.

I took her picture of course, but it doesn't tell the story. It's only a cute picture of her in clothes I picked out. I wish the camera could have captured that sense of confidence she was covered in; even though she now has two teachers and two classrooms and hardly a handful of the kids from her kindergarten as classmates. It was amazing!

I'm sure many of you have already started school. I hope that first day was fabulous!