Pornaments, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Wiccan Symbols

Ah...Monday morning and it's snowing. Fortunately, the snow is light and not sticky. Traffic was easy to get through. Shoveling will be nice and simple. Let's hope it stays this way throughout the week. I suppose when it rains on Friday then we'll be in for a nice day of slush and goo.

Dinner Talk With Unintelligent People
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Gwenyth Paltrow has recently told the Portuguese magazine "NS" that dining with the British is far more interesting than dining with Americans because all we talk about is money and work. Hmmm...let's see Ms. Paltrow, the conversation at dinner is what you make of it. If you're stuck in the middle of a conversation that you do not like then learn how to twist the conversation to something you wish to talk about. That is the intelligent thing to do. Then again, you have said we are not as intelligent as your new British friends so I guess that must not work...or have you even tried it?

Missouri Storm
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Our hearts go out to those in Missouri today. The storm will pass and life will carry on. We pray for your safety and warmth.


Pornaments
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Florida is certainly in the Christmas spirit this year. Several stores around the area are selling naughty tree ornaments called "Pornaments." Now this might offend some, but I find extremely creative. The elves look rather small so maybe to be so offensive they're well-endowed.



From The Man Who Invented The Internet
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Perhaps Al Gore invented global warming, too. Okay, bad joke, but I find it frightening that a company in Scotland has offered a ticket to every school child in Scotland to see Al's recent attempt at frightening people. Personally, I haven't seen the movie so I really cannot comment on the content, but taken from the man who told us he invented the Internet and believes the people should be treated equally but is said to be a slumlord (http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment061400c.html), I'd wonder about such things. I sure hope he relays both sides of the global warming story and not just his personal vendetta against the oil companies. Then again, doesn't he own quite a bit of oil stock? http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=468

So It's Not Just For Satanic Rock Stars and Horror Flicks
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Many people fear the Wiccan symbol of the pentagram because it is always portrayed as a symbol of the devil. Personally, I don't have a problem with people doing whatever religion they want as long as it does not take the lives of animals or people or practice inhumane and unsanitary conditions that can spread disease.

What I will find amusing about this whole pentagram issue are the people who do not know it doesn't stand for killing and devil worshiping. I'm sure it will cause a number of riots and issues among those who feel their religion should be the only religion.

Just a quick note: Symbols have been around forever. Their meanings are twisted with whatever value the next person or fanatic has to label it with. All one needs to do is place symbol in an area where people can see it with either a plethora of words or other symbols and people will create a story around the meaning of the symbol.

Imagine what symbol the Pornaments have!

Product Review
Torani Sugar-Free Hazelnut syrup

This is the first Torani Syrup I've tried and either I didn't put enough in or it just doesn't taste good. Perhaps I do not like the taste of hazelnut in my coffee. I took a very good French Roast from Starbucks and added some of the Torani Sugar Free Hazelnut Syrup and a bit of Half-and-Half. Normally, I would add heavy cream instead of the watered down version, but I'm out. It's kind of bitter and has an after taste. It's not so terrible that I will waste a good cup of coffee over, but unless a blogger can convince me to try it another recipe then I'm afraid I will need to waste my hazelnut syrup.

Swiffer pictures

Here's the swiffer pictures :-) See the previous posting for details on the sweeper in the furnace.

Has Your Swiffer Sweeper Ever Melted in the Furnace?

A few days before Thanksgiving my adorable child accidentally dropped the Swiffer Carpet Flick in the furnace vent. At first it was okay because the darn thing was stuck on a pole. Unfortunately, it was halfway down with no way to pull it up.

Fast forward a few days later—we begin to smell this melting plastic aroma. What a pleasant thing to wake up to! I look down the over-sized vent and see the Sweeper melted to the top of a metal plate in the furnace.

Besides several choice words that flew out of my mouth at that moment, I also shook my oldest son awake and told him to help. Goodness, he has to help with something, right? So he goes down into the basement and unscrews the vent to the furnace where the Sweeper has fallen and realizes it’s stuck. We had to turn on the furnace to melt it again in order to lift it!

From there we tied a rope to the crafty little broom and because it is too big and melted to fit through the middle of the vent where it was originally stuck because of a so-called protection pole, it is hanging by a rope tied to the extra large vent in my son’s room.

Do we dare turn the furnace on? NO. We have to go buy a saw to cut the broom in half to fit through the little vent in the basement.

Kids can be such an adventure!

So what do I think of this gadget? It’s nice for immediate jobs on small carpets. There is no sucking action so it doesn’t get all the dirt out, but it does do emergency jobs. We bought it for a cheap carpet that I refused to run the vacuum cleaner over because the darn carpet destroy three vacuums of mine because of loose running threads.

eBay Woes

So someone hacked into my eBay account. At first I thought the messages I received from users were people trying to hack in so I was deleting them. Then I logged in to make sure. The criminal who hacked in had listed over $300,000 worth of auctions! My fee was somewhere around $3068.00!

I immediately contacted eBay through their live help system. The guy on the other end gave me suggestions on things I had already done such as changing my password and username, etc. Easy enough. He said the listings were removed and I wouldn't be charged. Great! All easy to take care of.

NOT!

The next month I found out eBay had tried to charge my bank $3,068.00. I do not keep my money in the checking account for this very reason. I immediately contacted eBay through their live help. The representative said all the charges were reversed and to get my bank fees back I needed to contact the another department. I wasn't concerned about the bank fee at that point because it was only for $25.00 so I thought I'd let it go.

Well a week later, eBay tried it again! I wrote letters to their customer service department this time. The message I received back was "We owe you money, not the other way around. Go to this link and request a payment for the amount and we'll give it to you."

HUH?

I looked at their account balance. The representative had reversed all the charges. eBay's billing said I owed them $3,068.00 but the account balance claimed to owe me the same amount. I guess their accounting system and customer accounts are obviously not on the same page.

A few days later the bank calls me and asks about eBay trying to charge $2,440.00 to my credit card. I said I did not charge that amount and the bank helped me cancel the card. I then looked at my eBay account status and eBay now says I owe them $50.00 for the "bounced check fee" and for the "late payment fee".

Holy cow.

The $3,068.00 canceled itself because when the amount was "returned" to the eBay account it canceled the old amount.

What a joke.

So, I am now waiting online for eBay's live help. They are going to refund my money and take that amount off. They told me it was a 37 minute wait. I've been on for 30 minutes. We'll see.

I can tell you that after this nightmare I am going to file criminal charges and get my money back no matter how long it takes.

Busy, busy kids

Tonight we had a school function. It wasn't your typical carnival or parade, it was a sports kind of night for the elementary students. It was insane! My son was bummed because he didn't bring his swimsuit and none of his friends were there, but he did end up making friends at the very end.

They had cookies and pie, popcorn and drinks, and other fattening goodies. It blew my low carb diet out the window! I had a piece of strawberry cream cheese pie and some oatmeal cookies as well as some popcorn. My son had chcolate chip cookies and popcorn. I even recieved the wrong change when ordering, but I didn't say anything because it went to the PTA.

So I watched my son run back and forth with a bunch of kids for two hours.

Was it fun? I guess. There wasn't much for the parents to do and no place to sit or put our things. I believe the idea was to get the parents to play basketball and volleyball with the kids. I am so not a sports person and my son knows it. He wouldn't admit it, but I'm sure he was saving me grace by not asking me to go out there and play.

Would I do it again? Yes, I'd anything for my son.

WAHM.com for your at home business needs!

Are you looking for a community that has a gazillion features for the WAHM? If you haven’t found one yet, I think I found one that will fit your needs for just about anything.

If you’re not familiar with the term WAHM then you might not be one. A WAHM is a Work At Home Mom. There are thousands of WAHMs across the country making money by either telecommuting or owning their own business. Where do these WAHMs turn to when they need help?

The URL should be a giveaway, but let’s try wahm.com. I’ve known about WAHM.com since about 2002 when I first started to telecommute. Not only did I find a ton of information to help me on my quest to work from home, but I also found a tight community of work at home moms—and dads—who have made it and are successful at what they do. I was astonished!

WAHM.com brings you articles of the who, what, when, why, and how of working at home. From here you can find a job listing page that lists telecommuting jobs, classifieds to post your services, and a great forum to discuss just about anything you like.

Stop by the site and stay awhile. I’m sure you’ll find it addictive and fun. You’ll also find it very welcoming to new members.

Low Carb, Fat Burning Soup that Keeps You Full For Hours

What will I think of next? I love this soup because not only does it taste good, but it is low calorie, low carb, and it really works!

The shirataki noodle is really a miracle noodle. Actually, it's not really a noodle at all. There is a plant called a Konjac root that has been used in Japanese recipes for centuries. It isn't until now that the craze has hit the United States. When made without tofu, this noodle has zero carbs and essentially no calories. It's a fiber that doesn't digest and takes a long time to move through the body so not only is it low calorie, but it's also good for your digestion.

Tonight I made some really good fat burning soup. I used the ingredients that people tell you work for fat burning. Personally, I have no idea if they work at all, but the soup was so darn good that I don't really mind making it again.

1 cup of sliced bell peppers and onions. I use a frozen mix from the grocery store.
1 package of Shirataki noodles. My package claims to have 7 servings but it doesn't seem like 7 until you eat it so be careful.
1 whisked egg
pinch of ginger
dash of garlic
hot pepper flakes
Supposedly the above combo has great fat burning properties because they claim to raise the metabolism. I have no clue if it does or not so please don't take my word for it. The combo just tastes good.

Rinse the noodles in running water for a few minutes then par boil them for 10 minutes. This removes the fishy smell. No, they're not made out of fish. Okay? There are no animal products in the noodles.

Drain the noodles then stirfry. I added organic soup base without sugar and the spices above. I also added a tablespoon of soy sauce and sesame oil. Play around with your tastes.

Add water for soup and bring to a boil.

Add a whisked egg (optional). This is great for low carb diets because it gives you the protein necessary for your weight loss and health!

Immediately eat. If you're going to save some of the soup, which I do recommend, then drain the noodles beforehand and just save the noodles in clear water. The eggs do not save well and I'm not sure how the soup would do with the noodles soaking up all the water.

Now a few warnings - drink lots of water. The soup base will help but these noodles absorb everything! Rumor has it that the noodles will attract and absorb essential oils and nutrients so be sure to have your Omega oils and vitamins in the morning with your breakfast and at least a half hour before eating your soup.

Do the noodles flush carbs? Some people claim they do. I have no idea if they flush extra carbs or not so I've never bothered trying. Carbs hate me. Maybe I should say they love me instead because they stick around on my thighs, hips, and tummy as well as other places around my torso so I don't bother trying experiments.

If you find out, please let me know by posting here.

Enjoy your no-cal noodles! They're yummy!

Geekmom's First Post

My name is geekmom. No, I'm not a geek in the sense that people think. I live and breathe computers and the Internet--I have for twenty years. I am also a mom of three wonderful children.

So, yes, this is my first post. Is there anything interesting here? Why yes! I will bring you my opinions on everything from business opps to cooking recipes. I review books, movies, videos, websites, you name it. I bring you the best--and the worst--of the web.

What does it take for me to review something? It has to have a website attached. I will not bring you articles without representation. If you want me to review something for you, then I'd like some form of representation sent to me. For details, see my website at

www.geekmom.net

California is Just Bitchin'

I just love living in California. I don't know how you feel about my home state, but I know how I feel about it. I know the politics are kind of crazy, but I love the food and the weather. I also grew up here, lived here all of my life and I just love how people are.

They say a lot of bad things about my state, but I don't care. Don't live here if you don't like it.

Did You Know You Can Freeze Beans After Soaking?

We buy a lot of beans because of their wholesome goodness and because, well, they're cheap. When I first starting buying them I would soak them over night then make them the next day. It took up so much time and space that I stopped doing it for awhile. It became a burden.

One of the great things about dried beans is that you can keep them for a long time. Unfortunately, they are also always in my way. So I started soaking them over night then freezing them. According to the US Dry Bean Council they will stay good in the freezer up to 3 months.

So why not soak then freeze?

After taking the beans out I love cooking them in water with spices while they soften then draining them and cooking in chicken or beef bullion and meat then adding mushrooms, garlic, and chopped tomatoes. But you can cook them however you want to cook them because beans are extremely versatile.