Archive for October, 2008
Snack attack!
So I guess I didn't scare you off, huh? Good! Welcome back!
Look, I’m a busy mom. I don’t always have time to cook and sometimes its just me at home so its not worth it to cook a full meal. When the kids are gone, I usually eat leftovers, fast food, or frozen quick meals. But the frozen meals all seem to be low-cal, low-fat, low-taste. I mean, come on, if I wanted to eat watered down bland stuff, I’d stick with Ramen noodles.
So when I got the chance to try out something new, I said “Of course!”
Pillsbury now has a new line of appetizers called ‘Savorings’. Here’s how they describe them:
Yes, they look that good in real life!
Pillsbury Savorings Flaky Pastry Bites feature warm, flaky pastry dough wrapped around tasty fillings and come in three varieties; cheese and spinach, buffalo style chicken and mozzarella and pepperoni. They are easy to prepare (just 20 minutes in the oven) and are the perfect accompaniment to a glass of wine.
Ok, admit it. We’re all a little skeptical when it comes to ad copy. They use all of these yummy sounding descriptions for food that ends up tasting like cardboard. Not this time!
When they say “flaky pastry dough”, they mean it! The crust part came out perfectly. Kinda like croissants but a little crispier. I wanted to try the cheese and spinach but Princess was with me when I went to get them at the grocery store, so we got the mozzarella and pepperoni. Oh they were so good! Its hard trying to describe how something tastes so just think of them as gourmet pizza bite thingies. Is that fancy enough?
Now I don’t drink anymore or any less but let’s just say I’m familiar with wine and these really would be great with a glass or two of red. I’m thinking the cheese and spinach ones might go better with white though.
Hey, that’s a perfect lead-in to the giveaway!
For one lucky winner, I’ve got a coupon for a free box of Pillsbury Savorings and a gorgeous organza gift bag that contains a wine bottle topper, wine glass charms, a bottle opener, a wine and food guide, stampable wine tags and an appetizer plate that also holds your wine glass.
Just leave me a comment letting me know which flavor you’d like to try and you’ll be entered to win. I’ll take entries until Friday 10/24/08 at 10 PM Central then I’ll choose a random number based on the number of comments.
Good luck!
P.S. If you have a hard time finding these in your local grocery stores, like I did, you can visit the General Mills product locator to find which stores closest to you carry them.
UU & Me
No, that’s not a typo. UU = Unitarian Universalists which happens to be the kind of church I’ve been going to for the past month. (Yes, I go to church. You wanna make something of it?)
You’ve gotta understand, a heathen like me going to church is a big deal. I grew up in the Bible Belt and was brought up in the Baptist church. When I say “brought up” I mean we went to church whenever we spent the weekend at my grandparent’s house. And I went to Vacation Bible School when I was like 6 but I think that was more of a daycare solution than a religious choice.
Anyway I gave up on God after some things happened in my life that made me feel like He gave up on me. I decided there was nothing in some thousand-some year old book that could explain the things that happened to me. The only Bible that was in my house was the one someone gave my parents as a wedding gift (I told you I grew up in the Bible Belt) and that I ended up with somehow since my parents got divorced.
In my early 20s, I married a Catholic. I went to a few RCIA classes – 2 to be exact – and decided the Catholic church would be better off without me, thanks. When Sissy and Bubba were tweens, I began teaching them about pagan, nature-based religions. I was happy there. Holidays built around the changing of the seasons, the changes in our lives and our physical bodies, things I could see and touch gave me reason to believe and to celebrate.
So I’ve considered myself pagan for about the past 7 years or so. And in some ways, I still am. But I also like what other religions have to offer. I am intrigued by Christian mystics, especially Hildegard of Bingen
But lately Princess has been asking about God and church and stuff. I already knew about UU and had considered going to a UU church in Omaha for a while. So I finally said “Ok, let’s go!” And we went.
I’ve been going every other weekend since September 7th which, coincidentally, is kind of the start of their ‘new year’ at this particular church. Princess loves Sunday school, Sissy and her boyfriend have gone with me the last 2 times, and Bubba the self-proclaimed atheist has even said he likes going.
Tonight I went to an informal education session called “UU and You” where the minister, the director of the membership committee and a couple of other volunteers talk to new members about what UU is, how the church operates, etc. We all introduced ourselves and described our religious backgrounds. There were former Lutherans, Presbyterians, Catholics, Baptists… Of course, I had to be a smartass and say I was a dyslexic insomniac agnostic that lays awake at night wondering if there really is a Dog. If I’d used that joke at any other church, I would’ve had several sets of wide-open eyes and dropped jaws facing me, but not this place.
I have to admit, I’m getting pretty comfortable there. I like what they stand for. I like the atmosphere. I like the causes they support. I like the people. I like the fact that there is clapping and laughing going on. I really like it all.
Of course, some hard core Christians will still think I’m a heathen and that UU isn’t a (McCain airquote) real (end McCain airquote) religion but that’s their issue, not mine. It works for my family just fine.
Just to give you an idea of what UU is all about, here are their seven principles:
There are seven principles which Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote:
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
- Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
- Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
- A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
- The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
- The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
- Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Now that’s what I’m talking about!
The Case of the Disappearing Posts
I screwed up. All of the review posts that I’d written and scheduled to publish on different days last week didn’t post. Now that’s happened to me before so I’m not too surprised. But I should’ve checked to make sure they had. So I call a do-over. Its my blog, I’m allowed to do that. I’ve made myself a note on my To Do list to check on them this time.
Honestly, though, the reviews are getting to be too much. I have so many opportunities that were just too cool to pass up. But now I’m going to be a bit more choosy about what I review. I thought about doing a separate review blog so the review posts don’t take over but the last thing I need is another blog.
Plus I’ve had a few other awesome opportunities come my way that I want to focus my energy on. One is a review network that’s going to be launched soon by a major company that I’m really excited about. I’ve worked with one of their PR people on a few reviews and she’s wonderful. She’s been so great to work with and so helpful that I didn’t hesitate.
The other great things I’ve got going on for me involve business stuff. One is Moms United in Business where I’ve recently earned the honor of becoming a Team Leader for the Bloggin’ Mamas group. The other is writing for Kelly McCausey’s new site, Profitable Mommy Blogging. While both of these will give me some experience and some exposure, the main reason I’m happy and excited about these is the fact that, in some ways, I’ll be helping other WAHMs. Someday I hope to be able to help out on a much larger scale but this is a good start.
I’m also giving my other blog projects some much-needed CPR. My co-parenting blog, my mental health blog, my single WAHM blog, and both of my business blogs are being neglected mainly because I was having some problems prioritizing and coming up with content. I lacked focus.
That has changed now, thanks to the influence several women have had on me. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some amazing women, a lot of them via Twitter, who have inspired me and encouraged me. I’ve also finally got a great team of women who are volunteering to help me get the NAVLA site launched. After a couple of false starts with other volunteers who had no follow-through and disappeared on me, I’ve found a few dedicated VAs who are genuinely interested in contributing to the project.
So…basically I’m taking back my blog. I’m going to be That Crazy Mom again. I’m drawing some lines between blogging for business and blogging for ME.
Its a love/hate thing
Isn’t it ironic that I love the legal field enough to make a career out of it yet I absolutely detest it too? I like the law firm/attorney side of it, I like the ambiguity and the interpretation of the law, the legal analysis. But the Court system….it sucks! There’s no such thing as equal justice. Its all about the money. And the only way to protect your rights is to pay someone to make sure they’re protected. And even then your rights are subject to being trampled on.
I’ve got two different court cases that are destroying my life right now. One of them has been dragged out for 2 years now and has no end in sight. That one cost me 75% of my income. First, I lost a very well-paying job because of a hearing that dragged on for 18 hours spread out over 6 days. Then the Sperm Donor’s attorney snuck some order in without my knowledge that put a stop to the child support I’m entitled to so now I’m having to fight to get that order dismissed. Now because of my income, my other case is screwed up and Bubba’s dad keeps getting away with screwing me over and I can’t get any help. Yes, I’ve tried legal aid. Yes, I’ve tried law school clinics. But because the ex has an attorney and I don’t, I’m getting nowhere. Yet all I’ve asked for is for the Court to enforce and abide by the law. Apparently its not that simple. Because I stood there and tried to represent myself, I wasn’t taken seriously. I was interrupted and told by the Judge that he didn’t have time for it. I tried getting transcripts to prove my case but guess what. You have to pay for them. I don’t have the money to get a copy of what was said in court. I don’t have the money to have an attorney prove to the court that my ex and his attorney violated the law.
So I’m just screwed. And so are my kids. How am I supposed to have faith in a legal system that has done nothing but make things worse for me no matter how hard I fight to make things better for myself and my family? How am I supposed to believe in a system that has failed me and my children time after time?
It ain’t easy. Its enough to make you wanna pack up, change your name and move to another country just to protect yourself from it. Or worse…
I’m not much of a praying person but I sure do need some strength and I just don’t have much left.
Review-a-palooza: Unique Skins (and a giveaway!)
UPDATE: Winners have been picked via my ultra-scientific random integer generator. Ok, so I had my kids pick a number between 1 and 9.
Diane from Crazy Mom’s Journal
Ginny from Mom of 2 Dancers
Karen from Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls
My kids and I are very into technology. Cell phones with unlimited text messaging? Check! Laptops? Check! iPods? Check! We’ve got an XBox, PlayStation 2, and Bubba has a PSP. So when we had a chance to try out Unique Skins, I knew we’d have no problem putting them to good use.
A few months ago, I got the new Samsung Instinct touch phone from Sprint. Since its so new and different, there aren’t very many cases available for it so I was pretty much stuck with the plain black one that came with the phone. Now I’m the type of person who likes my accessories to match my personality. For example, my old phone was red – my favorite color – and so is everything else in my purse. So to have a plain ol’ black phone in a plain ol’ black case was just annoying.
Not anymore. Now my phone matches my blog. (Don’t laugh! You laugh and I will hurt you. Ok, not really, but I will be very, very upset with you.) I’m serious. On the front of my phone is my tan background with the stars and the “Mom” tattoo and then on the back is a larger version of it. I can’t even begin to tell you how cool it is to have a “That Crazy Mom” phone thanks to Unique Skins.
These skins are really inexpensive so I had enough to get another custom skin. I had one made for Bubba to put on his PSP (Play Station Portable) and his also matches his blog – black with purple flames and then his name written in a purple graffiti font. He was thrilled! It looks so cool and it doesn’t interfere with actually using his PSP like another skin did.
Unique Skins are easy to apply and if you mess up – like I did….3 times – its really easy to take it off and put it back on again. If you end up with any bubbles during the application process, they can easily be pushed out without leaving any marks.
As far as design, they have a bunch of ready-made designs you can choose from, you can add text, rotate and resize the images, do whatever you want to get the look you want. I opted to upload our own images. If you use your own images and you also add text, I’d suggest making your own image with text so that you can be sure the colors match. We used their text editor on Bubba’s skin and their purple was a little different shade than the purple from his image.
Now the fun part….I have THREE gift codes to giveaway, worth $15 each. All you have to do is visit Unique Skins then come back here and leave me a comment telling me what kind of skin you’d choose. Would you decorate your iPod with your son’s school picture? Or customize your Blackberry with your business logo?
I’ll take comments through 10:00 PM Central time on Sunday, October 12th and then choose a winner using Random.org.
Ready? Go!
*This review is part of a Family Review Network campaign.
