My Mornings and Folgers

I was recently asked by Folgers to create a post about my morning routine.  Because apparently, Folgers enjoys watching a sluggish woman mumble orders at her helpless family.

Coffee is important in this house, people.

It's important to let you know that I don't drink coffee.  I've never been a coffee drinker, even when I worked as a barista part-time lo those many years ago.  But coffee is still important in this house for one very tall reason:

You know how there are fairy tales about an ogre who lives on the mountain and breathes fire? That's my husband before he's had his coffee.  If it wasn't for a daily dose of Folgers, he would have driven all the townspeople away years ago.  Seriously, I'm amazed they aren't assembled on our front lawn with pitchforks as it is.

My mornings always start with coffee for my husband, while I'm sitting across the table from him, checking my email and trying to find motivation.  And that search for motivation inevitably ends up at my playlist where I seek "Eye of the Tiger" or "We Will Rock You".  And my husband's coffee and my song become even more necessary when my youngest son informs me that he flushed my keys down the toilet and that my older son threw one of his shoes on the roof.  Sweet crikey, we're going to need another song on repeat up in here.

Coffee and music: two things that can energize you in an instant.  Really, listen to the song "Hall of Fame" and tell me you don't feel like conquering the world.  It's impossible, trust me.  And Folgers knows about the effect music can have on your morning.  That's why they've come up with their Folgers Jingle Contest, where aspiring musicians can put their own spin on "The Best Part of Waking Up" jingle... you might be singing that all day, you can thank me later.

The jingle contest seems so fun, I told the hubster I wanted to enter!  And then he reminded me that I can't carry a tune in a bag and that Folgers would probably prefer people with actual talent to enter the contest.  He's just afraid I'll become a sensation and leave him for Ryan Reynolds.  Which might happen if he keeps insulting my awesome singing ability.

So tell me, how important is coffee to your mornings?

 

Be sure to Vote for the best Top 10 Finalist in Folgers' Jingle Contest! Meet the Top 10! Take a look at Folgers® Jingle Contest Finalists, and listen to the tracks that earned them a spot in The Top 10. Cast your vote once every day through June 19th. You could win exciting prizes, like free Folgers Coffee, iTunes® gift cards, signed CDs from Gavin DeGraw, and even a $10,000 Grand Prize just for voting!

Vote Now at http://www.folgerscoffee.com/folgers-jingle/vote.

Before you vote, follow the Road to the Jingle on Facebook to see how they traveled the U.S. to track down the Top 10 contestants!

Remember, you can vote once a day through June 19th!

 

Click here for the official rules.

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Teaching Tolerance Early in the Morning Can Backfire

You've gotta love kids.

My eight-year old son asked me a question this morning:  "Mom, why are there different races in the world? Why isn't everyone the same?"  It was far too early to remember/explain geographical anthropology, so I decided to take a different approach... I compared all people to birds.

"Well," I began, wishing that it wasn't so early, "think of people like birds: there are all sorts of birds in the world.  There are some with lots of colors and some with none at all.  There are birds that are big and there are birds that are small.  There are birds that fly and birds that don't.  And think how boring birds would be if they all looked the same."

I was satisfied with my answer for just a moment... then my son replied, "I think all birds are too noisy."

You're not kidding there, fella.
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Things I Can Do While I Feel Horrible

Hello again! Thanks for all your well-wishes about the sea monkey that is sucking the life out of me.  Really, it's been so great to hear from all of you and it's taking my mind off the vampire who is absorbing all my favorite nutrients.

Since I've been sick, I've had a lot of time to lay down and think.  About everything.  For example, just the other day I had a long conversation with myself about why hovercars aren't around yet.  When I was a child, all the sci-fi movies about the not-too-distant future promised me hovercars.  And since I've been disappointed with the lack of hovercars, which filmmaker should I sue?  I need to continue thinking about this.

But while I was in the midst of my hovercraft-sadness, I thought about how I can be useful even though I don't want to get out of bed.  Here are things I am good at, even if I'm not upright:

1.  Celebrity critic - I have a lot of opinions about celebrities, mostly ones from Bravo TV's reality show lineup.  I feel like it might be my duty to the world to fix these people.

2.  Creating new workouts - Specifically, I can create a workout for people who don't want to get out of bed.  My favorite exercise was when I put the remote just slightly out of my reach and then had to really work to get it back.  In the interest of full-disclosure though, I finally called the hubs in to get it for me.

3.  Rating smells - This pregnancy has made my sense of smell really intensified.  I can, without difficulty, tell you if something smells awful.  My research hasn't been expanded beyond my home and family, but from what I've learned I can share that everything smells terrible.  Just... terrible.

4.  Crying over nothing - I am so good at this.  Last week, I cried because we didn't have any cheese.  It was a sad day, indeed.

5.  Answering every question with a movie title - I am pretty darn good at this, too.  I did this with my sister a few weeks ago and the best part was, she didn't even notice.  Which probably means that she wasn't listening in the first place, but I'd rather believe that I was just really good at the game.  Did I enjoy myself when I was playing this game?  Casino Royale.

6.  Renaming animals - I think some animals need better names.  In fact, I've never been fond of the term 'birds'.  Rather, I think they should be called 'flappy things'.  Much more descriptive, no?

7.  Eating - I AM AMAZING AT THIS.  I can eat just about anything at anytime.  Of course, as I mentioned in #4, I can also cry if I don't get the food I want.  Pregnancy is a heck of a thing.

You had no idea I was this talented, did you?  Pregnancy has done this to me and my family will never be the same.

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Holy Schmoly. I Am Alive.

I know, I know... it's been forever since we've talked.  I know you've missed all the wisdom I spew forth on a daily.  Don't worry though, 'cause I've been spewing it at my husband.  Here's the rundown, based on what he has heard:

You haven't missed much.

Oh, but why have I been absent?  What a terrific question.  I have been a bit under the weather.  An all over malaise sort of thing.  It's actually been quite miserable.  Luckily, I've kept the whining and complaining to a minimum.

My husband just spit out his coffee at that.  ARE YOU INSINUATING I'VE BEEN ANYTHING BUT AMAZING? How dare you, sir.

So, what has caused this malaise?  I really shouldn't tell... Here's a hint:

That's correct, my bloggy friends... there is a sea monkey inside me.

I haven't been crafting at all lately because I've felt so rotten, but I'm coming out of it.  I've actually been upright ALL MORNING.  This is a banner day.  I'm going to try to get back into the crafting side of things and actually have a couple of things in the works, so I should be around again soon.

Also, lots of you have sent me emails suggesting a search party to locate me.  Sounds awesome.  When they get here, have them bring me some Arby's.

I'll be back soon and I'm trying to answer all your emails! Thanks for your concern!
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Thrifty Crafty Girl Goes Green Update

I made a resolution this year to use only reusable bags for shopping.  NO MORE PLASTIC BAGS, I TELL YOU.  So, how am I doing?

Awesome-sauce.  If I entered that sauce in a sauce contest, it would win the award for 'awesomest sauce'.  On an unrelated note, if anyone knows of a sauce contest in the area, give a shout.

I have not brought home A SINGLE PLASTIC BAG since I made my resolution.  I know, I'm just terrific.  My husband went shopping one day and didn't have any bags and brought home paper bags.  After I beat the crap out of him gently reminded him of my goal, we recycled them and moved on with our lives.

And my reward, as I plainly stated in my resolution declaration, was a trunk organizer for myself.  I likes to gets little treats.  Here she is, in all her glory:

It's actually pretty large but it was really cold outside when I took the picture and I didn't want to spend a billion hours trying to fit the whole thing in the frame.  'Dedicated' was not the word of the day that day.

And I took my 'going green' a step further: I have eliminated all paper towels from this house.  THIS HOUSE IS CLEAN.  You know, from "Poltergiest"?  Let's all watch that movie tonight, it'll be great.

I bought a whole bunch of bar towels and put them all over the place.  And then, I just stopped buying paper towels.  I just stopped, cold turkey.  Sure, I had some initial withdrawal... but I persevered and no longer even look for a paper towel to clean up a spill.  And I've saved quite a bit of money not buying them, even if I use coupons and if I count my extra towel investment.  Love it.

It's almost March, have you all kept up with your resolutions?
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Hanging Crochet Hooks

This is such a little thing, but it has made me so happy.  I spent no money on this project, very little time, and came out with my favorite thing for the moment:

I used ribbon to make a crochet hook holder.  I know, I know... it IS awesome.

So, I have all sorts of crochet hooks.  And a handy little pouch to house them.  Only see, the pouch is not actually holding all my hooks.  The little loops that they go through are only pretend apparently, since half of my hooks won't fit in them.  Bummer-sauce.

As you can see, something had to be done.  It was truly a crochet hook crisis up in this hizzy.

I took a length of ribbon and pinned it around each of my hooks (in order of size, of course) and pinned it in place.

Yes, I do need a manicure, thanks for noticing.  Please send all complimentary manicure gift cards to my home address, thankyousomuch.

Then, they were all pinned:

After that, I sewed up near the pin.  I had to take out the hooks for this part, but whatevs... I still pulled it off.

This ribbon is intended to let me hang my hooks on the inside of my crafting cabinet.  Yes, I have a crafting cabinet.  Her name is Bernice.

I used Command Picture Hanging Strips to put the ribbon on the door.  Those strips are so amazing, there are no words.  OK, there are words: amazing.  Also, awesome.

Done and done.  Here are my hooks, hanging happily in their little cabinet:

I'm in love.  Now I just have to weed through the eleventy-billion crochet projects I want to tackle and pick one...
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Storing My Vinyl

I know, I know... all my posts lately are about storing things and organizing things.  I agree, it's getting ridiculous.  But, my husband has started to twitch every time I bring in another crafting whosit into this house.  So I've been trying to find places for all my stuff.  'Cause I like my stuff.

I collected a billion Pringles cans, which didn't take too long because Pringles are awesome-sauce.  I cut the little ring at the top off and started to work.

I also cleaned out the insides of the Pringles can because I didn't want my vinyl to be crumb-y.  Next, I used double-sided tape to put some pretty paper on each one and I stacked them together. I did glue them as well, but added a ribbon to tie them together too because I like extra pretty on my Pringles cans.

And after several minutes of diligent work, I had vinyl storage.  I am so good at projects that take less than an hour.

This system is way better than the one I had before: putting vinyl wherever I was and having to look for it all over.  Progress.
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