Pink Polka Dot Thoughts

Decisions, decisions!

Since I won my GE Side By Side Refrigerator,  I've been rethinking my entire kitchen. I've decided that my appliances need to match. Even though I just bought a new stove 2 years ago, it's driving me nuts that it's not stainless.

To be honest, I never thought I would even like stainless steel. Yeah, I know. It's top of the line and all the cool kitchens have stainless, but to me, it always seemed cold and just not me. I've discovered though, that I love the way it looks.

Now, I'm convinced that all my appliances need replacing and I think doing it during our addition renovation would be a great idea!

I'm looking at a new dishwasher and realizing I don't know that much about them though. What in the world is a "tall-tub?" I guess I have to do some research. I do know that I want the controls to be hidden. I really like that idea!

As for the stove...I may have to wait on that because it is so new. I wonder if I could spray paint it? No? Probably NOT a good idea.

Since the addition is going to give me a spare room for just storage, I'm going to have more room in my utility room. I think it would be a great time to replace our old washer dryer.

I'm looking at top loaders. I'd like to save money and the environment, too. Plus there are those rebate opportunities! I'm not sure we have enough room to stack them though. That would involve removing a few cabinets, but I guess that's not a BIG deal, right, Mr. Contractor? 

Since the laundry room is right off the kitchen, I'd like to have stainless, but I've really fallen in love with this one:

Oh, what to do!

And the Winner Is...McDonald's!

It appears that Cooper is a burger connoisseur.  Who would have known that he can tell the difference between a 99 cent burger from Wendy's and one from McD's.

Tuesdays are "Mom Doesn't Cook" nights. It's also LOST night and I'm not going to spend the time cooking and cleaning on Tuesdays until the season is over. So, Tuesday night, Mr. Polka Dot went out to pick up pizzas and after stopping at Papa John's, he swung by Wendy's because The Boy does not like pizza.

While he was there, he picked up a burger for Cooper. Normally, Cooper loves his burgers and devours them. Yes, usually, we get them from McDonald's.

We fixed his burger for him--he doesn't eat the top bun or the pickles--and we put his plate on the floor beside us. He sniffed and refused to eat. That's right. He wouldn't touch it.

Then Mr. Polka Dot mentioned McDonald's and he got all excited and started to literally whine.  You guessed it. He convinced Mr. Polka Dot to go back out to McD's for a burger which he then devoured.

Who would have known there is such a difference to a dog. Yes, we threw out the other burger...

And yes, we know we're crazy. You don't have to leave a comment saying so! ;)

Webcam Spying?

 
Apparently when you have a webcam installed on your computer, you may be vulnerable to other people spying on you. I don't know if you've heard about the case in PA where a family is suing their son's school district for allegedly spying on him via a school issued laptop.

The school, of course, claims they've done nothing wrong. However, the boy's parents received a call from the school stating their son had been caught in some "improper" behavior. The school administrator accused the boy of doing drugs or heck, maybe DEALING drugs, but as it turned out, they'd caught him on camera eating candy. It seems the boy is a big fan of Mike and Ikes!

So what does this mean? Is it easy for someone to spy on you via your webcam even when you think it's off? What if that school captured images of the students changing clothes or in other awkward positions?

As a parent, I'm livid that the school did this. There is an argument that paperwork was provided that stated they could track the computer if lost or stolen, however, apparently it doesn't state that they could turn on the webcam and watch your kids without them knowing.

That's as creepy as some stranger watching your kid without your knowledge. Why would any educational professional need that access? Not only that, but the police can't enter your house without a warrant, so why did the school think they could?

There was also that guy not long ago convicted of hacking into young girls' computers and watching them on their webcams. (I don't feel like digging up the link, but it did happen and it was freaky!)

There's a webcam on the netbook that I use sometimes. I think I'll be covering it up with a piece of paper from now on...I'm just creeped out!

Poverty and Food Banks

After 16 years living elsewhere, I now live back where I grew up. For some reason, I don't remember things being the way they are now. I don't remember the poverty. I don't remember the way some areas around me look incredibly depressed.

What I remember from growing up here, is the love of family, the friendliness of strangers, the community. That's why I wanted to come back. There's so much good here, but in many places there is also a lot of hardships and sadness.

When you think of Appalachia, many people think of poverty.  It's certainly here. I see it every day, but to be honest, I'm not sure I realized how widespread it was until recently. That extent of poverty around here was driven home to me over the weekend when I found out that my daughter's high school has set up a food pantry in the school for students. I know that a huge percentage of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch but hearing that kids are going hungry at home, too, really drove it home to me just how bad things are. This is also something that the school had never felt necessary until now.

There's definitely been an economic downturn.

So many people are out of work. So many can't afford to feed their families. There are millions of children going to bed hungry at night. How can this be going on in this country. This is something you think about happening in third world and underdeveloped countries -- not the United States!

Even before this weekend, I'd been doing some research. Jennifer Garner recently teamed up with Save the Children to bring their program to West Virginia. To be honest, I had no idea that STC worked here in the US. I thought they were just the commercials to "adopt" children in other countries.

Their programs have been effective in other states and STC through the assistance of Jennifer Garner, who is the Children's Ambassador for them, managed to get funding through the state. One of the goals of the program is to bring up literacy levels. They want children to be reading on grade level. Programs like these are needed in this state. They're needed in the entire country. Raising literacy and test scores will lead to more kids finishing high school and going to college. That means a brighter future for them.

If somehow, this cycle of poverty can be broken with education, it will benefit everyone. Education is the KEY to success in life. It is the answer to this problem.

I know that it's impossible to solve the problems of the world and that there will always be impoverished people--and perhaps some want to be that way. Yes, I realize that no matter what you do, a certain percentage is never going to get out of their situation, but life can be better. The children at least deserve the chance to see that.  If change can happen, maybe we won't have hungry children and no need for food banks in schools.

Love Happens, but apparently without WiFi

After finishing up my taxes tonight, I decided I needed a break. I'm behind with my Netflix movies, so I decided to watch LOVE HAPPENS which arrived about 2 weeks ago now. I keep forgetting it. Oops. I've probably pissed someone off who is waiting on it. I bet it says "long wait" in their queue!

This isn't a review of the movie though. Probably everything you need to know is in the trailer. Just so you know, I watch all Jennifer Aniston movies, just because. I love her and I'll watch a movie with her in it no matter what. Still, this one was not so great. It was so-so, but could have been a LOT better.

There was something about it that bugged me though. When movies aren't that great(and sometimes even when they are) I'll find one little detail that will distract me throughout the rest of the movie. That happened with this one.

Jen and the leading man had this deal where they were sending  long, obscure words back and forth. What was strange to me is that when he saw the first word, he had to go to a bookstore(yes, I realize it is Seattle) to find a dictionary and look up the word. This is the same guy who was nerdy enough to have a video of his wife on his cell phone, but he couldn't just dial up Google or Dictionary.com from his Blackberry or laptop to find out what these words meant?

The same with her. He sent one back and instead of sitting down at the computer which was clearly visible, she raced to a bookcase and pulled out a 100 pound dictionary to find the definition.

HELLO! This is 2010. Use some technology! We could watch you scrolling through  screens as easily as turning the pages of the dictionary. I like books as much as the next guy, but this was just odd--especially after seeing the video on his phone. Maybe it was supposed to add romance, but all it did was annoy and distract me!

Or perhaps I'm just such a techie that I didn't realize people even owned dictionaries anymore...I know I don't!

Cooper and the Laptop

Just a picture of Cooper that I've never shared. He's sitting with dad.
 

How time flies...

Yesterday, I got an email from The Girl's school that scheduling for next year will start next week. WHAT? I'm so not ready for this!

She'll be a SENIOR. A Senior in HIGH SCHOOL.

How did this happen? I'm at such a loss. I'm usually not the most sentimental person and know my kids have to grow up, but this hit me like a ton of bricks. It almost made me cry just to read the email.

Then today, I picked her up from school. We were just chatting about different things and scheduling came up. I said something to the effect of all the things we'd have to do next year because she'd be a senior -- senior pictures, all the graduation expenses -- and she mentioned the slide show they do at graduation.

All the seniors bring in a baby picture and a current picture and they put them in a slide show. For some reason, the thought of my little baby now all grown up turned me into a sentimental fool. Yes, I cried in the car and now I feel it welling up again right now.

I keep seeing my baby girl in her little Snow White sweater she loved so much when she was 3. I can't fathom what it will be like to not have her at home with me.

How will I survive next year?

All of my photos are still on my old computer or I'd share a few...

Congratulations to...

 
Remember my secrets from a while back? I'm a little late in sharing one.  Of course, it's the best one--even better than winning a fridge!

My friend Michelle is pregnant! Yippee!! I'm so excited for her, her husband and their girls! It's been a long time coming!

Leading up to finding out, I had some weird experiences. About a week before, I was looking at her Facebook page and said out LOUD--out of the BLUE--"I wonder when she's going to tell me she's pregnant!"  Seriously! I did.

Then a while later, I had a dream that I was pregnant. It wasn't me though and I'd just found out. How weird it was when I found out the night I had the dream, was the night before she took a pregnancy test?! Yes, freaky.

She tried for a few days to tell me. She kept missing me on IM by just seconds. We were missing one another. Then I saw an IM from her that said "That's it. I'm calling you." Somehow, I missed the call! LOL

I called her back and she said "I'm pregnant."

I said "WHAT?"

She said "I'm pregnant!"

My reply? "I knew it!"

Anyway, congratulations, Michelle! I can't wait to be subjected to daily pictures of sleeping baby, eating baby, crying baby, smiling baby, and on and on! You deserve it.

Of course, you could consider naming the baby after her favorite internet Auntie if she's a girl.... ;)

Whip It.... GOOD!

Whip It finally showed up in my mailbox the other day. I love Drew Barrymore, so I was anxious to see this one.

To put it simply, I loved it! Ellen Page was great. The whole cast was great. It was a cute, funny movie and I'm sorry we didn't see it at the theater.

It wasn't a blockbuster movie, but one of those movies that had a real story and characters you easily cared about. It was easy to root for the girls and the characters. You just wanted it all to end well, but the movie had a "real" quality to it that so many movies just don't.

I also learned quite a bit about Roller Derby! I loved the sequence in the movie that explained the rules. If you were going to be a Roller Derby Girl, what would your name be? I have to think on that...I'm probably not tough enough!

I stay in my pajamas all day. So what?

I work from home. One of the benefits to working at home is that I can lounge in my pajamas until I have to leave the house. I don't have to buy clothes for work. I just have nice pajamas!

Most days, I don't get even out of my pajamas until after 1pm and only does it happen then because I have to have real clothes on when I pick the kids up from school. For some reason, when I show up in my Mickey Mouse pajamas it really embarrasses them. Who knew!

If you show up at my house at noon and I'm still in my pajamas, don't be surprised. I'm not lazy. Chances are, I've been up working longer than you've been awake! I work better when I'm comfortable. Who doesn't?

There are days when I just change from pajamas to sweats because that's all I HAVE to do. I don't HAVE to get dressed to go to work. I don't have to put on make up. Heck, I don't have to brush my teeth(but I DO!)

So next time you pop by unannounced, don't give me a look like I haven't been DOING anything all day. I've put in a long day at work by noon whether or not I look like I've been working.

Ok? If I want to sit here all day in pajamas, I'll do it because I CAN! Did you hear me? I CAN!

(This has been a public service announcement for all of us who work from home in our pajamas.)