E-mail This!

Ever go to a website and find something fabulous that you want to e-mail to someone but the website/page does not have an e-mailing option. I have run in to that so many times. I would want to e-mail the entire website/page to someone rather than give a link which doesn't always work. I stumbled onto the E-mail This service that is free from Clickability and can be used by simply adding their E-mail This button to my browser (currently I have it on my toolbar - so handy). I think I discovered it when I was on TIMES website. If you are interested check it out. You can develop an address book or import an existing address book from your personal information manager. Now I am able to e-mail any website/page to anyone any time.

Headphone Happiness

I just thought I would share this idea that my husband and I came up with recently. We used to go the the show all the time, that was just about our favorite thing. Now that we have our son we have to rent movies. A few months back we first tried, and it was minimally enjoyable. Why? Our son is the lightest sleeper . . . seriously. Plus we have a very little house and a vaulted ceiling living room right outside our sons door, this makes everything louder (hardwood floors don't help either). In the beginning we had the sound barely on, turned on the subtitles, scootched the loveseat right up to the front of the TV and had to whisper to each other any movie comments or questions. I should also mention my son has a white noise machine in his room and we would turn on the bathroom fan (bathroom is right next to his room) to muffle more sound. As time went by our son could tolerate more sound but never anything very noisy, especially not stereo sound at an audible level for special effects and the such.

I thought of getting some headphones so we could watch movies at a more audible level. Our TV does not have a headphone jack but it is hooked up to our stereo. So we went to Best Buy and purchased 2 pairs of headphones (they are about $25/pair, not the ipod earbuds or walkman kind), an extension (so the headphones could reach the couch), and a splitter so we could hook up both pairs of headphones.

This worked fabulously. There are a few tiny things that take some getting used to though: 1) The headphone cords. 2) We can't really talk to each other while watching a movie because we are each wearing headphones. I should also mention that we have a baby monitor that has sound AND lights that we place directly in front of us while we are watching movies. This way if we don't hear the sound clearly (we almost always do anyhow) we see the lights and immediately hit pause and investigate. It may not be the movie theatre but it is something we can do together "after hours", well besides makin' more babies. Not yet thank you very much.

The investment was about $70-$80 which may seem like a lot but is well worth the investment to be able to watch movies kinda like normal people again.

Happy Easter, Happy Spring!

Bigelow's Orange & Spice Herbal Tea

Thank goodness I found this tea. My true favorite tea is Bigelow's Constant Comment. I am however still avoiding any and all caffeine due to breastfeeding a 14 month old who is extremely sensitive to it. Also know that decaffeinated tea is not the same as caffeine free. Decaffeinated tea is decaffeinated with a chemical process whereas caffeine free tea is caffeine free naturally, I drink caffeine free. Who needs more chemicals in their bodies, right? I was drinking several different kinds of tea and was never really satisfied because it wasn't Constant Comment or a spicy chai which I also love. So one day when I was shopping at Meijer (where I never shop), I found Bigelow's Orange & Spice. It's spicy and has a mellow orange taste similar to Constant Comment. I am not a huge fan of extremely fruity teas but this is more spice than orange. I have a huge pottery cup I use from a 2nd hand store and I like to steep extra long for a stronger taste. I typically put 1 heaping teaspoon full of honey in each time. I like to have a cup of tea at night after little guy has finally gone to bed. I enjoy it as I watch either a movie with Mr. Mommaval or with the news, etc. That is how I like to wind down. I kicked coffee after little guy was born, and I no longer drink pop of any kind unless it's a special occasion but then even still just a bit. Once I made the change to water it's way too sweet for me now, plus I'm trying to eat right. I'm glad I found tea. It is a comfort and good for you in so many ways. I find herbal tea to be very relaxing. This summer I plan on making it the same but then adding lots of ice and maybe some lemon. This is by far my favorite of all the other herbals I've been drinking. I will review them one by one in the months to come.

Black Bean Burgers For Dinner

OK, I have to announce I am officially down 17 pounds 8 ounces as of this morning. This is a huge deal because when I first had little guy, my weight plummeted down pretty well. I wasn't eating anything just sleeping all the time in pj's and I had tons of work to do to get the breastfeeding on track . . . . round the clock. It was a very dark time in my life to say in the least. Anywho, I was told by the LC's, my mother, and my doctors that if I wanted my body to produce the milk that was needed to feed this baby I had to eat and eat well. That was normally not a problem but with a new baby and a strict lactation program it wasn't easy. I ate and I ate well and I actually got back up within 11 pounds of my full pregnancy weight, but on the bright side the milk was a flowin'!! I graduated from the lactation department's program last year on this date. So I was going to bake a pan of brownies for the LC's, Beth was my saviour but all the LC's were top notch.

On with my story. The weight that I plummeted to was 28 pounds below my full pregnancy weight (I put on 54 total . . . . oink). So today I am actually 29 pounds below my full pregnancy weight. I only have 25 to go to be back at my weight at conception. When I conceived I was still higher than I am happy to be at but I will take it if this whole eating thing continues to go well.

Tonight for dinner I made Morningstar's Black Bean Burgers. I have been researching that soy is not very good for you unless it's fermented so I have been trying my darndest to not each too much of the unfermented stuff. These burgers do have soy in them but I would love dearly to make my own black bean patties one day soon. Until then I thought I'd give the store-bought ones a whirl. They have black beans, corn, and I saw a few pieces of barley in the crumbles on my plate. These are a little salty but have a southwestern flavor. They are high in protein, fiber and potassium. They are low in calories, fat, cholesterol, carbs, & sugar. I would buy them again but my only dislike is that they were a little too salty. I actually cut one in half and ate in a wheat pita leftover from the falafel. I then added fresh onions, tomatoes, & lettuce and a smidgen of ranch dressing. Yes it is a "burger" but with the southwestern flavor I thought it would taste better than ketchup, etc. I also figured that eating it in a wheat pita I would avoid bleached flours and as many carbs as a hamburger bun. On the box front they serve with a bit of salsa and cheese, lettuce & onions on a regular bun. Maybe I'll try that next time. They tout 74% less fat than ground beef and 12 grams of protein on the front of the box. I would recommend them but not for an all the time thing because of the saltiness.

I just checked out some vegetarian and vegan cookbooks from the library. I get really tired of salads and "low fat" recipes. Many of the dish's I find in these cookbooks are low fat naturally, I'd rather cook that way. I plan on purchasing a food processor and a juicer too in the next few weeks. I am finding more and more things to make with a food processor these days with my new healthy eating/diet regimen. I plan to post some new healthy recipes in the near future. I am looking for a cookbook that specializes in bean and lentil cooking. If anyone out there knows of one please leave me a comment. As always, if you find or try a great & healthy recipe of any kind please e-mail me or paste into a comment box. Thanks!

How Do Robins Find Worms?

This downloadable poster and more information available at enaturalist.com.

WTF?

I just got this e-mail from Miss Lily. I didn't reply very nicely. How dare this little scammer use blogspot to obtain e-mail addresses. I just opened this e-mail account for my blog only just about a month ago. Guess it doesn't take long for all the fraudulent folks to begin to take advantage. Has anyone ever seen this letter before? I swear I did about a year ago. It was either sent as a mass e-mail with a scam warning or it was on snopes as certified BS. Here goes:

From: Lily Jones

50 mase des yamsok

Cocody Abidjan

Email..............

Dear Belove one

Based on your profile, l am happy to request for your assistance because I beleive that you are not going to betrayed the trust which I am going to lay on you Dear Beloved i pray all is well with you and Other members of your family.

My name is Lily 20 years old and the only daughter of my late parents Mr.and Mrs Jones, My father was a highly reputable busnness magnet-(a cocoa merchant) who operated in the capital of Ivory coast during his days. It is sad to say that he passed away mysteriously in France during one of his business trips abroad on 12th.November 2005.Though his sudden death was linked or rather suspected to have been masterminded by an uncle of his who travelled with him at that time, but God knows the truth!

My mother died when I was just 6 years old, and since then my father took me so special. Before the death of my Father on November 12th 2005 he called the secretary who accompanied him to the hospital and told her that he has the sum of
(USD$17.5 000 000) Seventeen Milion five hundred thousand dollars left in a metalic trunk trunk box, wich he deposited in a Security Company here in abidjan, that he registered it as family valuable items for security reasons, he told the secretary
that I should contact the Company for them to know me as his next of kin wich I have did as he instructed,

He also told the secretary that I should not let any of his relations to know about this because he was kiled by them and if they know about it, that they will do nothing but to kill me in other to take hold of every thing,

He told her that I should seek for a foriegn partner abroad who will help me retreived the trunk box and also travel with him or her in other to continue my Live and Education and also to start a Bussines relationship with the person whom can take cear of me in the fucture,

My dear, this is why I have come incontact with you in order to help me retreive that trunk box from the Security Companys custody and send it direct to your country and also to make an arrangement for me on how I will come over to your country in other to continue my Live and Education and also to go into bussines relationship with you hence I am still a child and I dont know any thing about bussines,

I am just 20 years old and a university undergraduate and really don't know what to do. this is because I have suffered a lot of set backs as a result of incessant political crisis here in Ivory coast. The death of my father actually brought sorrow
to my life, My dear, I am in a sincere desire of your humble assistance in this regards and your suggestions and ideas will be highly regarded.

Now permit me to ask these few questions:

1. Can I completely trust you?
2.Can you accept me as your own blood Sister (Or Doughter)?
3.What percentage of the total amount in question will be good for you?

Consider this and get back to me as soon as possible with your full assurance that you will not disapoint me in this issue so that i can give you the contact of the Security Company where my late Father deposited that trunk box for you to contact
them on how the trunk box will be retreived from their custody and deliver to your country,

Thank you soo much for your understanding and may almighty God bless you and your Family to the Glory of God Almighty,

My sincere regards,
Miss Lily.