Family 2 comments

American Girl Dolls

By on January 4th, 2012

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When I first heard that American Girl Dolls cost $100, I couldn’t believe anyone would buy them. I thought it was the most outrageously expensive toy. And I couldn’t come up with any type of scenario in my head that would justify such a purchase. Really, just how educational could they be?

And then, I heard parents and children extol the virtues of the dolls. Again. And again and again.

Hmmm. Finally, my most practical friend, said she had purchased one doll for each of her daughters. This friend proudly refers to herself as cheap. I stared in disbelief. She said the girls read all of the books.

As a parent, I am not above material goods as a form of motivation, within reason. Most particularly motivation to read.

And so I began researching the dolls. The quality, price, social aspects. We live in an ordinary middle class suburb. Every little girl seems to have one of these expensive dolls. And, turns out,  I like the dolls. Oh, the horror.

DD7 gets one for her birthday. Kanani, a little girl from Hawaii. We have tea at American Girl Place. DD7 gets the dog. And all she wants for Christmas is stuff for her doll.

I’m teaching her to sew the doll clothes. She had no interest in constructing  clothing for human beings. She’d leave that to me. But for Kanani, that is different, interesting, fun.

And she’s reading the books. All of them. We own two. The library has 74. She’s read about one per week since November.

Yeah, anything that gives me a positive activity with my daughters, and promotes reading is a good investment to me.

And they’re cute. Even I couldn’t resist.

Technology No comments yet

Kindle vs Nook for Android

By on October 1st, 2011

I’m pretty sure ebooks have saved my brain cells from additional deterioration. That temporary atrophy that comes from parenthood, lack of sleep, and frustration. Or perhaps that statement is redundant.

I’ve been reading on the Kindle for Android for months. I chose it because I wasn’t able to make the adjustments that I wanted with the Google reader. And DH had good things to say about the Kindle software. So it was an easy decision.

This week I became frustrated with the (meager) selection of magazines available for reading on the Kindle. So I decided to try the Nook for Android. I had previously browsed  a magazine in the Barnes and Noble, hoping to purchase an ereader at a later date. And it was really slick. Unfortunately, the price was and still is pretty high as well.

The Nook for Android is nice. Terrific even. I understand completely why my SIL raves about her Nook. The interface is clean, and intuitive. It took minutes for me to find the software, install it, and download a book. And it looks like a book.

Ironically, one of the books I tried to read on Google reader has been scanned for Nook. Pamphlets on Agriculture in Guam, by William Edwin Safford, which sounds like dry reading, but isn’t. The OCR, or whatever technology is used, created a lot of misspellings. But, being able to adjust the font makes it legible.
The super irritating thing about the Nook for Android  is that it refers to the Merriam – Webster Dictionary, that tries to force you into a paid subscription, and thereafter spams you with lots of JavaScript and popup boxes. It is a huge interruption to train of thought. It discourages me from using the dictionary. And it is just plain greedy when you’ve already charged the reader a high premium for a propriety device, and the book.

My book buying experience with Nook for Android wasn’t great either. At the end of the sample, there isn’t a link to buy the book. And there isn’t one on the sample menu. You have to return to the main menu, then you can buy the book. Choosing the buy book option got me an error. To buy the book, I had to find it again in the virtual store. Then buy it.

I did not feel encouraged. And am now disinterested in buying the Nook Color that I’ve coveted for several months.  Nook looks awesome. Kindle actually works.

And now I can read library books on the Kindle. One might think having access to free books (not really free, since we pay taxes) would prevent me from buying books. But instead it gets me into a mood of wanting a greater selection. And then I buy books in addition to checking them out from the library, more of them now that I don’t have to find storage space or lug them around.

So my personal assessment, at this moment, is that Nook beats Kindle in attractiveness; Kindle beats Nook in useability. And both Kindle and Nook have better features than Overdrive.

Family Tree No comments yet

Family Search Indexing

By on September 29th, 2011

The site Family Search, has a project where volunteers can transcribe genealogical documents for general use. I found out about the site and it’s services shortly after I stumbled into family history research. And signed up to do some indexing shortly after that.

I would guess that I’ve been indexing since last December. I find it very interesting to look at old records. I can see how the forms are organized. And by reading an entire group of records, see possible trends in the information. For example, a lot of marriages that include the surname Bailey, who may be related.

I also like that someone else is going to proof my work. But strangely enough, the past two index images that I downloaded asked me to do the proofreading! I make constant use of the handwriting helps screen, and blow images up to enormous proportions sometimes to read them. I did not feel qualified.

I got stuck on a humorous error : mole destroyer. That is what was transcribed. I can see why the person was confused. The words were in French, IMHO. I think louer (to rent) , or noyer (walnut). It was a very old UK form. And the professions of other people on the page related to fishing. And the master list of professions had nothing that looked like it could be handwritten as the words in the field. Ah well, I did my best.

I even waved DH over to help. He was a good sport. But he couldn’t read it well either.

This error plagued me. I imagined this person to be the very old, beloved Uncle Dave of someone else. My Uncle Dave, I eventually found, his name incorrectly transcribed as Atiegna rather than Atienza. So I felt duty bound to transcribe correctly.

Usually, there’s no pressure.

I received a congratulatory and thank you email for transcribing 100 batches. Congratulations, you’re qualified to do more difficult things! Ha.

Fashion No comments yet

Still Shopping

By on September 27th, 2011

I’m still working on my endeavors to break up with the grocery store, and have a reasonable wardrobe. Not all of the non-perishable items have been worked into the online order rotation, due to storage  space and cash flow.

But I went to the loathsome Kroger yesterday  to purchase chicken, milk, and a few odds and ends. And managed to keep the trip short, and spend half what had been the average  cost of purchases before The Reset drove me to online ordering. I did buy some canned goods. But today I am checking out online grocers, besides Amazon and diapers.com.

Netgrocer.com, which I have used before, does not work on Android. So it is out for now. And so far, it appears that for delivery to my zip code, Amazon and Diapers are the best deal.

Over the weekend, I bought a pair of jeggings at Macy’s. They are Hue brand.

The QVC pants that I ordered two weeks ago, three different styles, didn’t work out the way I imagined. Two of them were huge . So I returned those. And one pair is perfect. I ordered another in that style, different color. And of course they are marginally smaller – enough to be somewhat annoying. But not enough to return. Ugh. brand. I would have preferred the pocket style that I did purchase, in black or medium wash, with boot cut. But, I went with dark denim, skinny legs, because the wrong pockets can really kill a pair of jeans. Due to the skinny leg opening, they look far better with heels, than sandals. C’est la vie.

Ah well. At least I finally have three pairs of pants, reasonable to wear in public. And they are all stretchy enough that sitting on the floor minding DD1 is not a problem.

I can now resume my search for a bed for DD1 without looking like a bag lady. Although, the cool Fall temperature has vanished. And it is so muggy that I feel like the outdoors is a greenhouse. This is not ideal weather for pants.

Food 2 comments

What to do with Leftovers

By on September 11th, 2011

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One of my current household endeavors is not to waste food. I grew up in a full house, and family stopped by often. Nothing was ever wasted.

As an adult, I learned to freeze leftovers in individual portions, and eventually, how to cut up cooked meats and vegetables, and put them in soups, casseroles, and eggs. I learned that from Jacques Pepin’s memoir. It had never occurred to me to chop up cooked chicken and make it into some other dish.
Now our household consists of two adults, a small child, and a toddler. So sometimes the girls eat an astonishing amount, and other times very little. I hadn’t frozen chowder before  this week. It is a requested recipe of DD6 and SS. So when he lived here, there wasn’t any chowder  to freeze.

Heating the chowder was somewhat labor intensive, since I had to keep taking it out of the microwave to stir it. And to make sure the milk didn’t curdle. But not nearly so much work as making a fresh pot.

Having leftover rice to use for fried rice has been so advantageous that I’ve gotten into the habit of making extra and putting it in the refrigerator.

I’m still having to occasionally throw out food. But I’m hoping that we will use everything we cook this week, and begin to see an economic advantage, less trash, and fewer dishes.