I’ve procrastinated. Again. Not that it is really procrastination, but probably more that I’ve overloaded myself. I’m supposed to work on and have 5 yearbook pages turned in and I have hardly gotten a start on them. Tonight was the night to do it, too. I uploaded the pictures I had and logged into the online yearbook editor, knowing that shortly I’d have to leave the house and take the twins to soccer. But I figured I’d get started on things at home and then I’d be fine. I could upload the pictures and then when I got to where I needed to be (coffee ship with free Wi-Fi), I’d plug in and get 50% done before I met up with a friend later and finished it off.

Good plan, not so good results.

I took the boys to practice (which is 1 hour, so there’s not a whole lotta time to drive off, find coffee shop, work, drive back). ‘Left the twins in the coach’s capable hands and zoomed off to (the first) Starbucks (of two on the same road). The lot was full. Literally NO place to park. The “Free Wi-Fi” sign gleaming, teasing, taunting in the window. Who cares about coffee, right? I whipped out of the lot and went drove on.

Naturally, there’s another Starbucks within the mile stretch of the first, so I pull over to that one, let there be Wi-Fi, let there be Wi-Fi. I saw the T-mobile emblem and ran inside (yeah, so I don’t know what T-mobile whatevery-whatevers are). Ordered my coffee. Asked if I needed to do anything special to connect and they told me, We don’t have internet here. Just T-mobile and I don’t even know what that is.

So now I’m sitting at a Starbucks, sucking down a half-caf of coffee that I DID NOT EVEN NEED OR WANT only so I can sit and stare at a laptop that is of, literally, no use to me. I started a ToDo list because I didn’t want to sit here and look like a fooling moron as the other laptop people clikcity-type away, probably connected to some secret society of Wi-Fi users. Clickety click click goes their knowing fingers on their keys and I type into a Word doc, sucking down overpriced “designer” coffee, pretending I’m doing something important. Suck!!! I have to leave in 10 minutes anyway to pick up my kids. I guess that’s not the worst thing. It would be worse if I had nowhere to go.

I’m not a regular laptop-totin, Wi-Fi using coffee drinker, either. I think this is the first time I’ve brought my laptop with me to use in a public place. I’m just not that cool. See me in a year when I’m all old hat at this, right? But today I’m totally a poser. By “blogging” right now I at least feel some semblance of being online even when I’m not. Look at me!! I’m blogging at a coffee shop. Whoowee. This is what I get for coming to Starbucks instead of my little local coffee house where I KNOW there’s free internet and the coffee is good. But whatever. I’ll make it through.

Last year (well, OK maybe two years ago), we took the two older kids to Chicago to see the Medieval Times. We had a blast, and I thought it would be fun, someday, to bring the younger three. Since we’re heading that way again for a tournament this year, we thought it would be as good a time as any. The ticket prices are rather steep, though, and when I added in our totals (3 kids, 2 adults), I almost lost my functions.

Forget it, we aren’t going, I thought.

But then I found a coupon code for 1 free kids admission with a paid adult. A savings of over $60 for us, since we have 3 kids coming with. Just enter this code: WEBKTF upon checkout and they will be added automatically. It is only good for Schaumburg, and only good through the end of April, 2008. It says it isn’t valid online, but it www.medievaltimes.com

Wordless Wednesday

Such a beautiful weekend. We were outside as much as possible, just soaking in the fresh air. I did a very small bit of yardwork, but found my interest waning rather quickly. My yard isn’t very inspiring. We’d like to plant a garden this year. Something we can feast off of through the summer. Suggestions welcome. Just a note, though: I have blackthumb and plants tend to wither under my care. Even mint, which is supposed to just “overwhelm your yard/garden” has succumbed to the murderous touch of my hand. My pride and glory is chives. For some reason I didn’t kill my chives and they come back every year. I use them, too. They’re a yummy addition to an omelette. Mmm.

Frank planted some garlic last fall; hoping those sprout up. I’d like to grow some tomatoes, maybe some lettuce and peppers. Pumpkins would be cool. Maybe beans? I need a Gardening for Blackthumbs book. Sigh. I so very much love veggies and the idea of growing some delicious foods right in our backyard. Everything is getting so expensive; especially good fruits and vegetables.

—–

A recipe worth trying:

Ol’ Settler’s Beans
(from Large Family Logistics)

Brown together and drain the fat off:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. chopped bacon
1 onion

Add:
1/2 c catsup
1/2 c honey
1/2 c BBQ sauce
3 t dry mustard
1/2 t chili powder
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
4 quarts of cooked beans (red, butter, navy, pinto, black, etc.)

Bake at 350 for 1 hour or in crockpot on low for 4 hours.

Looks simple and would be right up my families ally. Mmm.

Free Yogurt Coupon

Wordless Wednesday.

Something about this, seems entirely wrong to me. Gmail now allows you to change the “Sent” time of your emails (up to 10 per year), all the way back to 2004. Why only 10?

How come I only get ten?

Our researchers have concluded that allowing each person more than ten pre-dated emails per year would cause people to lose faith in the accuracy of time, thus rendering the feature useless.

Hmmm, “…cause people to lose faith in the accuracy of time rendering the feature useless?” OK. I don’t think it is the accuracy of time itself it might cause people to lose faith in, but moreover the integrity of the sender, and email period. If you think for a few minutes on it, there are a lot of ways this feature could be used maliciously (contests, business, personal…etc.).

Gmail developers, in my opinion, could have spent time creating much more useful features. Like maybe a “Future Send” that saves a draft and sends the email at a future date, if they are concentrating on date-based developments. Or streamlining the way mail is handled, like a Forward button as an option (not date-based, but still useful).

I love my Gmail, but Custom Time? People don’t like being tricked; Custom Time could be damaging to those who use Gmail. If I send an email late, I send an email late. I don’t want people to be fooled into questioning themselves because I can’t send a timely mail.

(April Fool’s Joke? :))

Yesterday we went shopping and I loaded up on some Mom’s Best Naturals cereals. They don’t do a lot of advertising, which is why I’d like to give them props, getting the word out as cheaply as possible, so they don’t suddenly disappear from our store shelves or raise their prices.

Mom’s Best Cereals are cheaper and have better ingredients (no preservatives, hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors or flavors) than most of their popular counterparts. And if you haven’t noticed –  cereal is getting expensive, yo. With 5 kids eating cereal in the house, we spend a lot on cereal. Sometimes one of our local chain grocers will have decent deals on cereal, but it is usually the high-sugared kinds and we try to refrain from buying those.  You can read more about Mom’s Best Cereal’s here; and if you see them in the store, give ‘em a try. For the first time I saw they made instant oatmeal, too. We generally make it the old-fashioned way, but instant is nice when you need the convenience of something fast.

Money saving coupon here, although I couldn’t get mine to print out.