I live in the land of complainers.  Present company excluded, the moms that I know are big whiners. Sure, it is coming from a place of love and dedication to their children, but the administration and staff at the schools that my children attend are probably very happy that school is out if only so that they don't have to answer parent phone calls and emails for the next 80 days.   

  They complain about everything as mundane as the color of the PE uniform shorts to important things like bullying and school safety.  There is not a lot of discrepancy as to the tone of their concerns. Everything is a major emergency.  If a child is not placed in the same room as her friend during the overnight field trip, calls placed to the administration have the same sense of urgency as ones made about the child not being able to pass a reading test. 

Funny T-shirt from Zazzle.com

   They are a tough crowd so I have made it my business to make sure that when a teacher has done an outstanding job, I write a letter at the end of the year. Not to the teacher, but to her boss.  I only write when I feel that it is heartfelt and honest. I don't blow smoke.  Some years, none are written. This year, as I exit a school that I've been involved with for many years, the letter will be sent to the " superintendent" and will praise more than one person by name.

    Not only do I live in the land of complainers, I live in the land of major gift givers.  It has been rumored that court-side seats to Miami Heat games and complimentary weekends at local five star resorts have been given as Christmas and End of the Year gifts to teachers and staff by well connected parents. While well intentioned, that $10 gift card to Starbucks or a scented candle that most of us pass out seems a little chintzy. My letters are appreciated though. In fact, one of the teachers that I wrote a letter about many years ago, came up to me during the book fair this year and told me that she still has a copy the letter in a box of mementoes from her first years of teaching. She said that she had really been touched by the fact that a nice letter was written to her principal about her. 

   So along with that #1 Teacher Coffee mug which included a thank you letter to the teacher herself, you might want to pen a few lines to her boss about how lucky the school is to have her on staff.  Use examples but make it short and sweet. (One page is enough ). Send a cc to the teacher.   Even if your school year is over, it is not too late. Principals still work for part of the  summer.  It might not be extravagant but it is a thoughtful gift.  

Summer J is in the house...

Today is the last day of school.  The very, very best part of summer is that School Japolina is sent to the trunk of the car for the next 81 days  and Summer Japolina (let's call her Summer J) is in the building!

Summer Lovin' T-shirt 

Summer J is way more fun than that other lady. Her alarm does not ring at 5:45 a.m. She does not spend hours being a jitney driver. She does not make lame lunches at 6:15 in the morning that often get traded or thrown away. 

Summer J gets to have girls night out during the week with her summer friends without having to be home by 9:30 p.m. Once she gets the camp trunks packed, Summer J does not have to run to Target, Michaels and Publix on a daily basis. Summer J does not have scream about doing homework every day.

Once the children leave on their summer adventures, Summer J is even better. She never has to go to Publix, she just runs into the gourmet market to pick up a few things for dinner for two, or eats out. Summer J has happy hour. Summer J does not yell at all during this period. Summer J's husband remembers the girl he married. 

So if you run into Summer J, make sure to say "hi" because she is much more fun and friendly than that other girl who lives in her house for the rest of the year and she is only around for a limited time. Summer J does not think about her limited time as she is too busy seizing the day! 

Happy Summer! 

Private Browsing...

   Sometimes it really pays to live with teenagers. While searching for travel ideas on the internet, my son told me that I should turn on "private browsing".  HUH?? What the heck is private browsing, I thought.  

   My son explained to me that when you search the internet, third parties can track you and see what you are looking at to track buying patterns, etc.  For example, if you go onto "IwantToRunAwayToTahiti.com" every day to check prices for your escape, they know that you really want to go and may not lower prices for you.  If I log on just for fun, they may quote you a different price.

   I really did not believe that this was actually true. It seems so unfair. I compared it to me going to Target three times a week and paying one price and my husband going in only once a year and getting a better price. That is insane.

   Unfortunately my son was right, at least in the case of American Airlines.  I was searching for fares for an upcoming trip.  I searched the same exact trip a few times before booking it.  The fare was  $686 with fees, taxes etc. I booked the ticket but put it on a courtesy 24 hour hold.  I then searched it in private browsing. The fare for the exact same trip (same day, time, flight & seat)  was $654. That is a 5% difference.   SERIOUSLY??? This seems illegal, but I guess it is not.
  
    Different browsers have different ways of turning on "private browsing" so good how to do it. On my mac, I use safari and you just go click on the drop down menu for "Safari" and  click "Private Browsing"

    I'm going to try this again and see what other variations that I can find. Has this ever happened to you? I'd love to hear other stories of this.

What do you get for someone's 80th birthday???

   First of all, I promise you, this is not a sponsored post. (I wish it was!)

    My father-in-law was about to turn 80. My mother-in-law decided to plan a little surprise party. She put me in charge of making a slide show to play during the party. She gave me a shopping bag full of photos and let me loose.   It was a labor of love to weed through the photos, pick out the best ones, scan them and then figure out music etc.   I went with upbeat songs so as not to make the birthday boy depressed.  It was  a family only party so I was not really worried about keeping the slideshow short (My feeling about photo montages of people you are not related to has been discussed on this blog. In one word, they are… BORING ).

    After I finished the montage, I wondered what the heck we would buy for this 80 year patriarch. He is one of those people that has EVERYTHING. He buys the latest and greatest gadgets and loves to shop online. He is impossible to buy gifts for.  In my post-scanning haze, I remembered what I did for my grandfather's 90th birthday a few years back. …SHUTTERFLY.

    Shutterfly and other online photo companies make great hardcover photo books.   For my grandfather's 90th, I made a story book, like a fairy tale…It started with photos of him as a child and then he met the princess (grandma) and the rest of the story of his life in photos. It was really sweet and he loved it.

     For this current gift, I just took the slideshow photos and made a large 11 x 14" premium photo book. It is like a coffee table book and turned out well.   Everyone in the family wrote messages in it (like a yearbook) so it is an instant family heirloom.  It was a big hit and I think that he liked it more than the slideshow.

    I decided to make this book 6 days before the party. I paid for express shipping but that still put the estimated delivery window on the day after the party. I called Shutterfly and they said that they could not promise anything but would put a note on the file to see if it could be rushed. It arrived three days BEFORE the party.  Thanks Shuttefly…You rock.

     I would say that this gift takes a little bit of time and effort but despite it's relatively inexpensive cost (under $100 shipped), it was one of the best things we could have given him.

     I've made similar albums for anniversary gifts, thank you gifts and more before. These photo books are make special gifts which show that you put in effort into getting.

    Here are a couple of shots of the book that I made for my grandfather a few years ago.  (faces have been blurred out to protect the innocent!We all have cute faces in the real world.)

Your crazy is showing...

Available at  Nordstrom.com

Do you think it would be really bad if I gave this to someone? Just kidding.

 You know that I am banned from blogging about my kids so let's just say that someone I know is graduating 8th grade in a couple of weeks. I asked him this morning if he thinks that I will cry at the graduation.  I thought about it and while I can't believe that this person is actually old enough to start high school, I don't think that I will cry about it. This person and his brother started at this school in Kindergarten and honestly after 11 years there, I am ready to graduate myself!

 What I may cry about it is the fact that my BSMF (Best School Mom Friend) is heading off to a different high school.  She has been my rock since pre-school.

 She is the one that carries a handbag that is so heavy because it contains every single thing that you would ever need in a mom emergency, including a tide stick, clorox wipes and nail glue. She has a full school uniform set and extra flip flops in her trunk. She always has a cooler after school with extra drinks and snacks in case she has to pick up someone else's kids when they are stuck in traffic and won't make it to carpool on time (She is ALWAYS the first car in line).  

She is the one I called for spelling lists, assignments, gossip and other important information.  I always told my son to get in her son's group when there were group projects assigned as her house always produces award winning group projects (She does most of them herself!)  She is my go-to for recipes. She also can tell you where to find any obscure product. This dates back before the every store had a website. She could tell you which store and what aisle to find almost anything.

You get the picture. She is a super-mom but not the annoying kind. Just helpful and never judge-y. I am so lucky that I had her all of these years. She really helped me and rarely asked me to reciprocate.

I want to get her a small graduation present. I don't want to buy anything elaborate because she will feel weird if I did. Just something small and meaningful. Not too mushy. I'd rather go funny.  Obviously the crazy wood plaque above would be what she would give to me but any ideas?

What do you think of these…

Motherhood dish towel

or this minemergency kit. Maybe should could lighten the weight of her magical handbag….

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (no food, flowers or homemade crafts for this girl)

What's on your dining room table….

My mom was having knee replacement surgery earlier in the week. While waiting, I was flipping through a magazine and found myself compelled to read what was in a celebrity's handbag. This is not the exact one that I was reading but here is an example...

These types of magazine spreads are actually ads in disguise for products but they still make me feel kind of lame. If you poured out the contents of my handbag, you'd find a ton of wadded up Publix receipts (Some with gum attached) and lots of other boring things as well as about 12 pounds of change because I cannot get into the habit of actually putting coins in a coin purse.

After a long day at the hospital, I came home to find my dining room table covered in stuff. In fact, despite trying to keep it clutter free, it is always covered in stuff.   It looks so much better when it just has flowers or is set for dinner, but in a house full of busy people, it ends up being a catch-all for everyone's crap.  So at the risk of having three people that I live with being mad at me, I present my version of Lily Allen's Chanel purse….

WHAT IS ON MY DINING ROOM TABLE TODAY?

 (This may become a regular feature on my blog)

Hospital Waiting Room survival kit (Tote filled with scarf, extra cell phone batteries and chocolate which was already consumed)

 Books that my kids have recently read for school

  An empty box of Cadbury Creme eggs. Thank goodness that their season is almost over!

  Coupons/grocery flyers that will go unused/unread

  Four Sharpies and my keys  

 A thank you note from Mickey Mouse

 Biology Study Guide

Three of my handbags 

(Foley & Corrina, Gap, Celine)

Wireless mouse, Can of Axe (Phoenix scent),  absentee note to school and a packet of ketchup

Pinterest worthy huh? Hopefully that Axe or ketchup won't get all over my out of place handbags. 

Okay, I challenge you, what is on your Dining Room table besides flowers, food and dishes? 

We adopted another child...

Yes, it is true dear readers, we have another son living in our home….

for 10 days!!! 

 My son is participating in a fellowship program. As part of this great program that will look great on HIS resume , HE will get to go on an amazing trip abroad this summer and WE agree to have a foreign 16 year old boy live in our home for 10 days. 

This means that I don't get a leg up on college admissions or the chance to go on a life-changing trip this summer but I do get to make meals for this child,  get to drive the child around (the program has a crazy schedule for the visitors while the US kids are in school. I also  get to do this kids laundry. etc, etc. Did I mention that this child has dietary restrictions? I spent 2 hours in the market picking out special food for him before he arrived. Before he got here, I was thinking that this seems like a bad deal for me. I really don't even like when my kids have friend's sleep over. 

Luckily  our visitor is delightful. So well mannered and funny. His english is better than some of the locals around here and he is not scared of our loud, crazy family.  I e-mailed his mother today and said that I might keep him or send the wrong kid back to her.   I can only hope that my son, when he stays with our guest's family during the summer, will be as great as a houseguest as ours is. 

As for the crazy driving schedule that this addition to our household has brought, I've made some new friends my carpool buddies! (They are my BFF's this week!)Yes, I've met some cool new moms which is sort of rare when your kids are teenagers. (new moms… take note, it is super easy to make new friends when your kids are little, it is like that freshman year of college. It is not as easy once your kids refuse to hang out with someone just because you like their mom)