All this talk of bananas has made me crave a Rocket Fuel Smoothie from Fresh by Juice for Life. One of my favourite restaurants in the T-dot, since it is vegetarian, but I always leave feeling stuffed. Since I can't get downtown, I looked up their on-line menu, and it looks like it includes espresso, banana, maple syrup and cinnamon, and your choice of milk. Hmmmm, my choice is Silk Vanilla Light soy milk, which just happens to be in my fridge right now. Gotta go get fueled!!
Man, I'm blogging about my mid-morning snack, what am I avoiding???
How are you celebrating the 4th of July?
By wishing all of the Stateside Voxers a most excellent long weekend. Happy 4th of July!!
Last night was the first night that ReRe went right into his crib after stories without needing an extra cuddle or rocking to help him fall asleep. The reason he was eager to get into bed was because Red Teddy, a little red teddy bear that was a Valentine's gift from his grandmother, was in his crib, and ReRe wanted to cuddle with him. He's shown little interest in cuddling with toys, even though I have actively encouraged it as a way for him to fall asleep without myself or his father. The reason that Red Teddy made an appearance was because yesterdat was Teddy Bear Picnic Day at preschool, and he randomly picked him as his +1. I'm glad, because I'm awaiting the delivery of the mattress for his big boy bed, and the more comforts he will have for the transition, the better. I'm just so surprised how the order of his stages of sleep are so different than any book I read, and doing what was right for us, rather than what was prescribed, has always been the best decision. Yes, it has made it difficult for anyone other than us to put him to bed, but we've worked so hard at getting a predictable (and peaceful) bedtime routine together, that I don't want it compromised.
According to ReRe, ambulances pick up people with big boo-boos and take them to work.
While falling asleep the other night, ReRe spontaneously said, "Simon Says, tickle your ears!"
While I'm very happy to hear his speech coming along, I'm also just a little sad at hearing the end of some of his own words for things. For the longest time, he called bananas daddle-la's, watermelon was watermetton, and oatmeal was o-o-oatmeal.
That's it for this week!
Kindly translated by the wonderful CarlaZ, nu in het Nederlands!
I'm serious people, if you like reading and blogging about it, then Lex has free books for you at http://www.minibookexpo.com/. The rules are simple: Claim it, Read it, Blog it. This year, in addition to books picked up at the Toronto Book Expo, Lex has publisher-direct books from dozens of publishers, mailed directly to you, both in Canada and the US. There are also RRS and Twitter link-ups, for those of you who connect in digital real-time. And while I'm at it, if you eat in Toronto or Ottawa, you must purchase a copy of CheapEats Toronto or CheapEats Ottawa, the definitive guides for good food at low prices in these two cities. These guides are written, directed and produced by Lex, with whom I had the pleasure of sharing a burgoir (fancy burger) yesterday at Craft Burger on King Street. You know you are part of the digital age when you start a lunch conversation with, "Now pretend I'm not caught up on your blog...."
The eagle-eyed among you might have spotted this already, but for those who had to blink at some point yesterday - MOO's launched Business Cards! As so many of you have asked for the MOO MiniCard magic just that little bit bigger, we felt duty bound to indulge you.
MOO Business Cards are a similar size to standard business cards, but with some very cool differences:
Unlike lots of business cards, MOO gives you the option of a different image on every one.
Using magic technology we've decided to call 'PrintFinity', you can have a different photo, logo or design on every card. So, when people ask you what you do, you can show them - everything! It's a little portfolio in your pocket, a product catalogue, a trading card, anything you like.
You can buy your Business Cards in super-short runs
We're an experienced bunch at MOO HQ. We've all worked in different companies before, and we still have the business cards to prove it. The traditional way is to buy business cards in batches of 250, 500, even 1000 or more, and no matter how hard you network, its impossible to get through so many before something changes - your phone number, your job title or even the company you work for. We realised if we still have stacks of old cards sitting about, you probably have too.
So, we give you the option to buy in smaller batches of 50:
- it's more economical (much less waste)
- it gives you the chance to update your cards as you update your products or your details
- it's greener - even if you're using virgin stock, at least you're not throwing it away!
And talking of 'green' - there are now two paper stock options available
We're slightly obsessed with paper at MOO, and take a great deal of care looking for the best paper, with the best feel, print quality and outstanding credentials. We've decided on two different stocks for our Business Cards:
MOO 'Classic' - which is sustainably sourced and elemental chlorine free. Matt-laminated, it has a smooth and sturdy feel. It's the same stock you've seen and loved on MiniCards.
MOO 'Green' - which is 100% recycled, 100% recyclable and biodegradeable. It's totally chlorine free, uncoated, crisp white, and prints nicer than any other recycled paper we've seen. (And we've seen a lot.)
The cards come beautifully packaged
Every pack of cards comes with a free Business Card holder. Designed by MOO, the box is made of recycled pulp board and fits in a briefcase or bag. We've even included two (recycled) dividers too, so as you empty the box of your own cards, you can fill it up with the ones you're given, without mixing them up. (Another problem we've had ourselves, that we thought it would be good to fix).
So, there you have it. MOO Business Cards - as nice as MiniCards, but bigger, and a little bit different. We like them, and we hope you'll like them too.
Oh! And if you want to see what other people have been doing, check out our ideas pages. See what other people have made, and how you could use the cards yourself.
Yesterday, on my Noon walk, my hawk appeared to me again after a long hiatus. It was good to hear the screech and watch him alight just under the top branch of the distant tree as is the wont of a hawk. Mt Diablo was still shrouded in the great smog from the fires buring in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.
The sky looked like this:
It was as if I was at smog central:
But, today, it was blue skies once again:
Thank you lord for another day.
Lex introduced me to a new listserve that has me addicted: http://www.helpareporter.com/. It is a list put out trice daily by a guy names Peter Shankman, and basically it is a list of pitches from journalists looking for expert or anecdotal points of view. I've replied to one request, a woman looking for environmental tips for new moms. The requests range from the very serious, to very light, to almost absurd. But the thing is, we're all experts in something, and if not, we all have opinions, and there are journalists, authors and freelance writers out there who want to hear from you. Here was today's list for the evening (full stop means they got enough responses):
1) FULL STOP: Andrea Kay and "Intense Focus Executives."
2) FULL STOP: Ways to make your child feel special
3) Decline of Pay-Per-Post Job Boards (Boston Business Journal)
4) Got Asthma? (Reader's Digest)
5) Hotel Restaurants and Gas Prices
6) Brain-Boosting Tibetan Secrets (Woman's World - On Deadline)
7) Consignment Shoppers (Philly Only)
8) Aculpoco - Top Tips
9) Commercial Real Estate Merger
10) Stopping Antibiotics Too Soon (Reader's Digest)
11) Prolonged Labor - Anecdotes
12) Hotels vs. Vacations Rentals
13) Speedstyle Seeks Insights
14) A day in the life of a rancher
15) Fit Female Role Models
16) Green Hotels/Hotels that Recycle
17) Employee Loyalty
18) Celebrity Wrist-Watch Lovers
19) Latina Youth and Suicide
20) Insurance and Classical Singers
21) Need Film Professors or Expert
22) Single Minded Women Needs Experts
23) Teen Girl Campaign Volunteers
24) Holiday Gift Guide
25) Daily Task Management
26) Profiles of Baby Boomers
Each e-mail contains more detailed information on each request, but you get the idea. If you think you would like to get the list, just go to the link above, and sign up. I've just found it fascinating how many different things people are writing about today.
For the first time in I don't know how long, I flipped open my planner to this week, and there was nothing in it. Well, there was one little note "Table/supply pick-up" for this morning (tables and dishes for the BBQ), but that is done, and I'm staring at a week with nothing planned. I'm getting a sick, panicky feeling in my stomach. It may be because I pretended I wasn't home just now, when the JW's came knocking, but I think it is the blank slate of a week with which I am having a hard time dealing.
MUST.
PLAN.
Quickly. Right. Agreed to teach Colleen how to knit this Friday night. Must go to Romni Wools (20% off everything, making some things below cost, people). Must make shopping list for Romni. Lex said she might be free for lunch this week, right? Oh, the library called and my reserved book is in. Feeling better. Tomorrow is a holiday, so ReRe will be home all day; must plan activities. Should we try to get to TO Island? Discuss with Getalife. And OMG, I must clean my office. And isn't this weekend Afrofest? Phew, that's 2 days scheduled, right there. What else? Hotlink every possible noun in blog. Done.
Now what? Oh right, I'm Self-Employed. Last week I had a flurry of meetings with potential clients, which I think is why I have very little planned for this week - something flipped my over-commitment switch, and I stopped making plans. We also had a very busy weekend, with our Canada Day BBQ (which went really well, no rain, yah!). So now that I'm realizing how busy last week was, I'm seeing why I haven't committed myself to very much this week. I'm also thinking about the possibility of full-time employment, and the fact that all this opportunity for self-planning may come to a screeching halt very soon, and that I need to tak advantage of my time while I have it. Hence the panic. So while I make a mid-day trip to the library, I'm going to think about all the things I would do this week if I knew it was the last week I had to myself before starting a job full-time. And the funny thing is, I think I'm going to use my time to Plan. To finally make a weekly dinner plan, along side a weekly housework/errand plan. These are things I've been trying to put together for months, but have never had the pressure of really having to make my non-work hours as efficient as possible. The added benefit is, if I don't end up going back to work full time, and stay self-employed, these plans will help me to segregate my work-time from my non-work time, as I will no longer feel the need to do things, like go to the library mid-day, when I should be responding to all those nice folks who made time to meet with me last week. That, I have planned for this afternoon.
Hmmmm, now that I've got the week planned, time to find me some lunch. Anyone have any hints on planning your non-work time to its greatest efficiency?
