If any of you reading this right now love buying the coolest new things for your babies read on! I was reading Vodkarella’s blog and she is now writing for this site drool.icio.us It’s all about the best and awesomest new baby things to spend your money on. I personally have no need for any of it, but I love shopping and spending money so I feel a little anxious that there’s all this neeto stuff and I can’t get any. Or don’t need to get any – but that usually doesn’t stop me. I have a feeling that if I started buying wierd random baby gadgets and stuff that J would fear I’d lost all my marbles. So I send this out to all of you mommies and daddies. Please shop vicariously for me!

Okay, around my house some of the most irritating arguments are over why the open package of whatever wasn’t used before getting a new one! I have so many 3/4 used packages of lettuce, cheese, smart ground, picante sauce, spaghetti sauce, pasta noodles, the list goes on and on, because someone never seems to know how long it’s been there. I go by the old standby of look at it, smell it, and taste it rule to see if things are still fresh, but that’s not good enough for everyone. I’ve found the SOLUTION! These little gadgets are so cool I need one for every container in my house! The timer counts how many “days ago” the food was opened or the litter box cleaned or the dog had a bath – anything you have a hard time remembering! The counters come with either a suction cup back or a magnetic back and you get 2 for $10. I can’t wait to get some. I found this on my favorite of all fun random life improving sites, . If you haven’t heard of it or never checked it out stop by for a lot of “Wow, that’s such a good idea!” moments!

I think everyone knows how much I LOVE being wrist deep in rich black fragrant earthy soil. One of my passions is to be outside, with the sun on my back, digging little holes in which to place my new baby plants. They’re like my children – and when they misbehave I just dig them up, throw them out, and replace them with new ones. What other parent can say that about their kids!? huh? I also love all kinds of fashion accessories. The fun, the funky, the sparkly, the luscious, the cheap, the expensive, all kinds really. SO, I found the most perfect fashion article for others like me today! It is so awesome I almost don’t even believe it’s real! It’s a grass ring! Yeah! Basically it’s a miniature garden that grows right on your finger (or thumb – get it? green thumb?) You plant some tiny seeds inside of a little porcelain pot shaped like a ring, and in a short time you’ll have your own micro lawn to groom and care for at your fingertips! (ha – I crack myself up!) They run from $95 dollars and you can get your own at La Bague Gazon

What do you get when you cross a Canadian creative soul with an enterprising American entrepreneur? Another Schipul moment, that’s what. Schipul moments are the ones that make me go – ‘Hey, my job doesn’t let me do this!’ Jason and the Schipulites – Javier, Eloy, Nicole, and Aaron – came together today to have a little fun in front of the camera. It’s great how every one from this office likes to get together and let the creative juices loose every once in a while. I thought it was awesome the way they all worked together as a team and each one of them did their part and did their best to make the scenes work. I won’t spoil the surprise and tell you what the movie was about, but let’s just say that I couldn’t have kept a straight face if I’d had to be in it. Jason had this great idea a couple of months ago to start filming movies and having Schipul employees be in them. The idea is not to create the next visionary masterpiece, but to have fun and make them purposefully cheesy and silly. If you haven’t checked out “Curse of the Serpent” yet, you really need to before everyone else is talking about it and you’re feeling out of the loop. And like most bloggers I know, you pride yourself on knowing about the coolest things on the internet before others do. The “Curse” was a success by my standards, and I can’t wait to see the first few installments of this movie. It was hilarious to watch them filming the video and then later that afternoon watching the replay! I got to play the part of makeup artist and drove the film truck so Jason could video tape some driving scenes. Awesome! Just awesome! Everyone starts to really act like they’re filming some serious piece of a major motion picture by the end of the day. You can see their faces getting focused and their movements getting more comfortable with every take. Even Jason starts sounding like Mr. In Charge with his ‘okay go’ s and his ‘that’s good’s and his ‘this way’ ‘no that way’ ‘try not to smile’ s. It was a blast, and if you work for Schipul or another web marketing company or you know someone who does, it’s okay to be jealous. I am. My job doesn’t let me do this kind of thing. Does yours?

Hey guys, if you’re at all interested in meeting John Kerry in person and without much travel, he’ll be at Brazos Bookstore on Bissonet this Friday at noon. He and his wife are promoting a new book they just wrote “This Moment on Earth“. Just randomly found this and wanted to share it with anyone who may be reading this. I think I may try to go on my lunch break – sounds like it could be interesting.

We live in a beautiful world. Went hiking on Sunday with some friends and had a great time! We beat the rain by actually getting up early, and drove to the Big Thicket National Preserve. It was only an hour and a half from Houston, near Livingston, and we hiked the Woodlands Trail. About 5 1/2 miles long and some pretty cool sites. I especially loved the registration book that asked for observations from trail – including # of hogs! We saw a snake hunting fish in a water pond created from a fallen tree, tons of cool spider webs, giant beetles, a jackrabbit, and lots of hog tracks but not the owners of them. Jas and I took the camera out with us and took turns snapping cool pics. Not too muddy, close to home, and much more fun than watching old movies on tv. Everyone needs a little fresh air now and then. It helps me deal with the materialism we face everyday in Houston. Oh, did I forget to mention that we had such a great time and it was FREE?

Okay, so everyone has to start somewhere. Here, today, right now is my beginning. Let me start off with the declaration that “I AM NOT A TECHIE.” I don’t hear about things until months and sometimes years later than everyone else, and if it has to do with the internet or the computer, I solely rely on my dear and understanding, if sometimes frustrated, husband Jason to explain it to me ad nausea um. However, the thoughts and ideas in my head flow free and fast, and, with electron cloud like speed, bounce into each other so that sometimes I feel the need to let them out. Blogging seems a fun and harmless way to vent, explain, inform, share, entertain, enjoy, and record these crazy things. So welcome to my head. Some days it’ll be empty and other days it’ll be busting at the hair follicles, and so will this blog.

Inspiration is typically found at the beginning of all decent and virtuous endeavors. I, on the other hand, usually get started doing something when someone says ‘you can’t’ ‘you don’t’ ‘you won’t’ etc etc etc. So, thanks to Ed Schipul (Jason’s boss) and his declaration that he can say embarrassing things around me and no one will know because I don’t blog – here I am! More to come on that later. Now here are my efforts to share my observations on life and all things that matter most to me.