FindingMe

Why I Hate School

No, it's not the homework nor is it the hectic mornings rousing sleepy kids.

There are two reasons, actually. The first is the covering of the workbooks. Anything that involves contact paper should be illegal. The process of pulling the backing off contact paper and applying it to a workbook is equivalent to pulling each one of my fingernails off. It NEVER goes on easily and AlWAYS ends up with air bubbles and creases in it that my child must live with daily for the next ten months. We have devices that can read books to you in America, but we can't seem to create a product that can easily cover a workbook! Go figure! (Don't talk to me about BookSox either, because it has to be a clear covering!)

My next peeve about school - and I about to hear Amens from across America - is FUNDRAISERS! I am a technical project manager not a salesman. If I wanted to sell stuff, I would be a salesman. I know fundraisers are critical to my kids' school, but, at least give me some options. How about a car wash? Now, I can wash some cars! Or, a bake sale - I can bake some mean cupcakes. Just don't ask me to sell another trinket that no one needs. Don't make me hound my family and coworkers to for another dollar. Don't make my kids beg me to sell "at least 10 items" so they get a prize they don't need. Make them work for the money just like I'm doing every day.

For now, though, I've gotta go -- only two more days to sell ten things so the kids can participate in Fun Day.

Save on travel

Here's a little bit of money saving information that I learned this year. We've been going to the Outer Banks with two other families for years. And, every year, each family shells out over $1,000 to stay in a luxury home for a week. We've paid as much as $4,000 total for lodging. Incredible, I know.

This year, with two families deep into the real estate and car industry, we knew we'd have to get creative to get to the Outer Banks. We looked for months for something we liked and could afford. Finally, one of my friends decided to email the realtor and ask if the owner would accept less for the week. My friend suggested almost $1,000 off the list price -- and guess what, they accepted. We were and still are flabberghasted! I guess $2500 is better than $0. So, before you decide you cannot afford a vacation this year, get creative and make an offer. All they can say is no.

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Cold Wash

My husband and I don't have a supersized house. Yet our electric and gas bills continue to amaze me. As with gasoline, these bills have skyrocketed over the last year. Honestly, I was sick of it. So, with the guarantee of our gas company to charge me less if our consumption decreased (we lock in a rate at the beginning of each year), I set out to find a way to decrease our hot water usage.

The number one way to see a substantial decrease in your hot water is to wash everything in cold water. Hmmm, seems reasonable right? But, how many of us just wash in hot or warm because our moms did? How many times do you press the button for warm wash/cold rinse because it doesn't feel right to do it all in cold water?

I'm here to tell you that for your regular laundry it's fine to wash in cold water. No one has pointed out stains on my clothes...no one has said my children smell offensive. And, my gas bill went down. It's all good!

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Did You Know: Batteries Should Stay in the Package

We go through a lot of batteries in my house. With three kids and a technically equipped mom, batteries are a must have. I have a wire basket in my laundry room that we keep stocked with a variety of batteries. I noticed recently, though, that the batteries are not lasting as long as expected.

Typically, we purchase them at SAMS Club. My son loves to open the supersize packages and drop them in the basket - wire basket, remember. Well, I recently read an article about batteries and realized what was happening with their lifecycle. I thought I would share!

Our first mistake was storing the batteries in a wire basket. They should not touch any other metal or they will lose their charge. The second mistake was allowing the positive end to touch the negative end. Evidently, this weakens the charge as well.

Now all of you handymen out there are calling me all kinds of names right now, I know. But, I really didn't know this and I'm sure there are lots of other "uninformed" people as well. So, I'm not afraid to admit my ignorance on this! Keep the batteries in their original packaging for best performance!

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Redbox Update and Warning

Yesterday, I went to my favorite place - Redbox - to get my free Monday movie. (UPDATE: After my last post, Redbox changed their policy to give a free movie one Monday a month instead of every Monday -- guess all my blog followers bombarded them!) There was a lady in front of me returning a movie. She touched the "Return a DVD" button, popped the movie in and walked away.

As I approached the box, her movie came back out. It seems she did not have the barcode facing the right direction and the machine could not read it. So, it asked her to check the barcode and re-enter. However, she was gone. Now, for a brief second I mulled the fact that I could watch the movie for free and return it, but only for a second. I simply flippd the movie over and returned it for her.

Moral of the story: NEVER walk away from the Redbox until it says your movie was returned successfully!

Eat and Donate (for free) to My Marathon Fund!

All Day TOMORROW, May 12th! The Greene Turtle Sports Bar and Grille at 8249 Teal Dr. in Easton will generously donate 10% of its receipts to Easton ROCKS.

Go in and drop MY NAME (Karen Waters) to the hostess and help me reach my fund-raising commitments. Proceeds will help Easton ROCKS help the YMCA to build it's new Teen and Family Center.

Movies - FREE FREE FREE

If you haven't heard about RedBox you are behind the times.

RedBox is just that -- a red box -- in stores like Royal Farms, McDonalds, Giant, Walmart, and Acme. The box dispenses movies at a cut-throat rate of ONE DOLLAR per night. So, you get the movie out of the RedBox on a Wednesday morning and, if you return it before 9PM Thursday, you pay $1. You can keep the movie additional nights and pay $1 per night. Here's a tip, though...if you are looking for a particular movie, reserve it online on the day you want to pick it up. That way, you won't be disappointed when the movie is not available. Another bonus for reserving movies online -- you get a coupon for a FREE movie.

And, here's the FREE FREE FREE part -- if you sign up to get text messages from RedBox you get a FREE movie EVERY Monday. Whoa..

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I found it - the best website ever!

I found it! It's called PMSbuddy.com -- that's right. It tracks your cycle and emails up to 5 people each month to warn them to BEWARE!

Seriously, though, this is a very intriguing website. It will actually email five people to remind them why you may be a little out of sorts but it also offers tips for dealing with PMS and discussion boards where you can share stories with other PMS sufferers. Heck, you can even send a reminder to yourself because sometimes WE don't even know why we are irritable!

PMSbuddy.com has been featured in online and broadcast media and, the best part -- it's FREE.

So, if you receive an email from me next month -- be afraid, be very afraid!

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Marathon Bound!

I turned 40 last year and am NOT afraid to admit it! My younger years were filled with what I'll refer to as "learning experiences" so at 40 I feel very confident and secure in who I've become as a mother, wife, and computer professional...which led me to seek out my latest challenge -- a marathon!

I joined up with a training program sponsored by Easton Rocks (www.eastonrocks.org). Easton Rocks is a local non-profit group dedicated to helping area youth be the best they can be. Each year they sponsor a marathon training program -- they train people to prepare for a marathon and particpants agree to raise $1000 for their cause. This year they partnered with our local YMCA to create a program for kids that I think is truly awesome!

The YMCA is building a new Teen and Family Center with the goal of building "assets" in area youth. These "assets", as defined by the Search Institute, are developmental traits and experiences that give kids the best opportunity to grow up healthy and responsible. For instance, a child who knows how to make constructive use of his time and demonstrates positive values is more likely to be happy and healthy -- both physically and emotionally -- than one who does not. Each child participating is evaluated to determine the assets they are lacking. Staff then works with adult influences in that child's life to build those missing assets. Incredible, right? Who wouldn't want to be involved in something like this?

So, as a marathoner, I'm required to raise my $1,000 contribution to this VERY worthy cause. I'm asking for your help. I'd love to blow the roof off this thing and be the top fundraiser. I think social networking (i.e. the Internet) can do that for me - afterall I am a computer geek. It won't take much either. If each person I'm connected to reaches out to their friends and family and their connections on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., I can exceed the $1,000 minimum contribution in no time!

Help me prove the power of social networking on the Internet by donating yourself and then sending a link to my runner's blog (http://www.eastonrocks.org/waters-karen).  There is a "Donate Now" button on my site OR you can simply send your check to:

Marathon Rocks
c/o Susan Langfitt
414 S. Hanson St.
Easton, MD  21601

Just don't forget to include my name with your check so it gets posted to the correct account!

Read more about the Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets here:
http://www.search-institute.org/assets/

Thanks so much for your support.

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Bartering

CNN Living ran a story recently about bartering services that was interesting. The concept has been around for a long time but is picking up steam as consumers seek services but are cash poor.

While bartering is interesting, there seem to be a myriad of potential problems. How can you be sure the value of what you are providing is equal to the value of what you are receiving? What happens if there is a dispute during or after the process? Are there liability issues? Unfortunately, we are past the "Little House on the Prairie" days when neighbors just helped neighbors.

Regardless, if you want to give bartering a try, CNN recommends a couple top bartering sites like SwapThing (www.swapthing.com) and Green Apple Barter Services (www.greenapplebarter.com).

Oh, and if anyone needs an hour of computer help, I need a pedicure!

 http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/04/21/barter.is.recession.solution/index.html)