If I Had A Million Dollars

So we recently got a very small plasma screen TV for our bedroom. I have to say — it’s pretty sweet. The picture is crystal clear and I love how little space the television takes up. We have it on a tall bureau that fits under the slant of the roof (our house is a Cape Cod, so the upstairs bedrooms has slanted ceilings), and it fits perfectly, but my friend is researching larger plasma screens for their living room and was investigating tv lifts because it won’t fit in with her old entertainment center. She’s really into the idea of the lift because then the TV won’t be out in the open all the time. (I know that I like shutting the doors on our TV armoire — just makes the room look neater). Oh the gadgets they have nowadays. We totally don’t need one, but they are so cool.

High School Goofiness

So lately Drew and I are really into watching “Veronica Mars.” It’s a fantastic show on so many levels, but one of the fun things about it is thinking back to when I was in high school. Granted I was no private eye, but we had some good times. One time I remember getting a friend who loved to bowl a bunch of trophies for her birthday. She was actually a pretty bad bowler so she got a good laugh out of it. Man, if only we could get away with some of this stuff in our thirties. Growing up kind of sucks, doesn’t it?

Holiday Road

I really could use a vacation. I feel really stressed out lately between work, Jake’s school, the holidays… You name it and I will find a reason to fret over it. Hopefully we’ll be able to take our annual mid-winter vacation this year. We like to go away in late January/early February because rates tend to be cheaper. We also go to destinations that are relatively closeby so for us that means places in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, or Massachusetts. It makes a lot of sense to stay local, I think. You help support the local economy, you don’t have that far to travel, and a quick getaway can really recharge you. You should check out your own local attractions. For example, if you live in Ann Arbor or Detroit, check out Michigan bed and breakfasts. If you are lucky enough to live near Paso Robles, check out the California wineries nearby. Explore your own backyard!

Black Friday

So who went out shopping today? I will admit that I did, though I didn’t do any real Christmas shopping — Staples had a printer on a doorbuster deal and we needed a new one so I waited in line for 45 minutes in the cold for the store to open, but I was in and out within 5 minutes and saved a LOT of money. People do tend to go crazy today buying everything from clothes to movies to home theater popcorn machines to chocolate fountains, and any other sane and crazy thing you can think of. I’ve always enjoying Black Friday shopping even though there is a movement to not buy anything on the day after Thanksgiving. I understand it, but I’ve really gotten some great deals on things I was planning to buy anyway, so… The way I look at it, if you can save some money by going out early, why not? Of course, I am an early bird anyway, so I had no trouble heading out at 4:30 a.m., LOL… Not everyone is like that

Thanksgiving Plans

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! I love that it’s kind of a no-strings-attatched kind of day. Just enjoying time (and food) with the people you love. This year we’ll be spending it with Drew’s mom. We alternate — his side one year, mine the next. When we go up to my mom’s, we usually stay overnight and her guestbed has a memory foam mattress which is so comfortable! So next year I will look forward to that. But staying closeby is nice too because after dinner (which we usually eat around noon), we’ll visit for a while and then zip home to start decorating our Christmas tree. It should really be a fun day. And the best part is always the turkey sandwhich while watching TV later that night. It’s been a tradition since I was a kid! Love that.

Dangers of Sodium

For years I’ve been aware of the dangers of too much sodium. Unfortunately, high blood pressure runs in my family so from a very early age I remember the salt shaker being banned from my grandmother’s kitchen. That was at least 20 years ago. In that timespan, just think of the proliferation of processed foods — and with those foods, incredibly high sodium contents. (Ever checked out how much is in a frozen entree, for example? You’ll want to put it back in the freezer - trust me.)

Today on CNN there is an article about how the FDA is finally recognizing this problem and is going to look into it:

Public health specialists are pressuring the Food and Drug Administration to require food makers to cut the sodium. In a hearing set for next week, they will call the government intervention crucial to fighting heart disease.

“There’s just a growing scientific consensus that current levels of salt in the diet are one of the biggest health threats to the public,” says Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group that filed the FDA petition triggering the meeting.

“This is truly urgent,” adds Dr. Stephen Havas of the American Medical Association. “We need to act.”

The AMA says cutting in half the sodium in processed and restaurant foods within 10 years could wind up saving 150,000 lives annually.

I hope something is done. In the meantime, all we can do is decrease the amount of processed foods that we buy. (Which we all should be doing anyway.)

Oh, to remember

Years ago I was an editor for a telecom magazine and I was really on top of all the latest telephony technology, but these days… eh, not so much. Back then I could have spouted off about LAN routers and HDMI switches easily. Now I’m more likely to wax poetic about the benefits of biodynamic farming and other aspects of viticulture. Times, they sure do change!

Confusing

I have had the strangest luck with my cell reception over the last few months. I have a T-Mobile prepaid phone and when I got it, there was a pretty decent signal at my house. Then, this summer, I don’t know what happened but there was almost never a signal. It was really frustrating because I couldn’t understand why the sudden change occurred. Sometimes, if I stood in a very specific part of my yard I would get a couple bars, but that’s about it. And now with the cooler weather all is well again. So crazy! I wonder if heat and humidity have any effect on signal strength? At any rate, at least I can use my phone when I need to now!

On my wishlist

Drew and I have been trying to help each other out with gift ideas for Christmas. The problem is that I can never think of anything I’d like when I need to! When I go to my mom’s, I always like to use one of her makeup mirrors to do my makeup and pluck my eyebrows. I think that might be a great gift idea to help out my husband It’s so much easier doing my brows when I am not stretching over the vanity! So we’ll see!

Aqua Dots

Wow, you know I almost bought Jake some Aqua Dots not too long ago. He was fascinated by the commercial for them, but Drew was convinced they were kind of junky and not going to be anywhere near as cool as the commercials made it seem. Well, with the news of the recent recall I’m really glad I never bought them. Noah still puts things in his mouth and to think what could happen… Yikes. I’m almost afraid to buy any toys