My New Fake Boyfriend

Posted on | August 27, 2010 | No Comments

We Have a Winner!

Posted on | August 25, 2010 | No Comments

We have a winner! The contest for Chantal Kreviazuk’s newest CD, “Plain Jane,” is now officially over! By the time I closed the comments on that giveaway post, we had a total of seven entries in the contest. This morning I used the random number generator at Random.org and it chose the #4.

So congrats to Audrey (acg@ (or twigerina@)) for winning the latest CD by Chantal Kreviazuk! I’ve sent you an email (to both email addresses that you provided with your comment) – so keep an eye out for it!

Artist: Chantal Kreviazuk
Album: Plain Jane Deluxe Edition
Release Date: August 24, 2010
Label: MapleMusic Recordsings

Official Site (which has samples of her songs):
http://www.chantalkreviazuk.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chantalkreviaz
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chantalkreviazuk
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/chantalkreviazuk

Thanks, Freddie!

Posted on | August 21, 2010 | No Comments

A long time ago we set up our laptop at the end of our kitchen table. Since the four of us use the other end of the table for family meals, we just left it there. Additionally, because I hate laptop keyboards, we had an external keyboard plugged in which also stayed there at all times. This area became a favorite place of Freddie the Freaky Cat to lie down during all hours of the day because (1) he could get his head scratched by whoever was working on the laptop and (2) he could feel the warmth emanating from the laptop power source while he took his naps while we were at work.

***Warning, this gets gross – stop reading now and flip down to the next “starred off” area (***) to move past the gross part. Seriously, you’ve been warned – don’t read the next paragraph***

A couple night ago we were all at the table eating dinner and I happened to look over at the laptop, only to find two relatively recently deposited piles of cat vomit – one on the laptop keyboard, one on the external keyboard.

***

“FREDDIE!” I screamed, the food in my mouth suddenly tasting like cardboard. “THAT’S DISGUSTING!”

So that Denis’s food, too, would taste like cardboard, I pointed out the mess to him.

We both immediately realized that our already dying laptop was most definitely murdered at that point. I hastily finished my meal and got up from the table so that I wouldn’t be next to it. Denis bravely cleaned up the mess and once sanitized he tested the laptop.

A few weeks ago I had discovered that the left side of the actual laptop keyboard didn’t work. But now the right side was a bust as well. When we plugged the external keyboard back in, we still got nothing – our laptop screen stayed on the login screen no matter what we typed.

When I started my new job (almost a year ago now!) I had taken in my own keyboard when the one supplied by my employer was determined to be crap. I told Denis I’d bring mine home to test whether it was our newly cleaned keyboard that wasn’t working, or whether the laptop was now junk and unable to function (much less acknowledge typing from an external keyboard).

Yesterday I brought home the keyboard, plugged it in with great hope in my heart, and was crushed when nothing happened. Zip. Nada. Bummer.

During my workday I had been realistic about our chances, and had done research on possible replacement laptops. I knew our budget was about $700 for a new laptop that would have all the options we wanted in a new laptop (read: high speed, large memory, long battery power, wireless networking, etc.). I narrowed it down to two laptops and sent off the info to Denis in an email.

Once we were both home last night we talked about the laptop situation again, and debated our next step. We were both in favor of one of the two laptops I had chosen, despite the fact it didn’t come with Microsoft Office. But since we can buy the suite at Amazon for $122 right now, it wasn’t that big a deal. The biggest “negative” in the hundreds of reviews I sifted through said that the outside of the laptop can get covered in fingerprints very easily.

Seriously? THAT’S your complaint? FINGERPRINTS? Who cares about fingerprints???

SOLD! We hopped online last night and ordered it. Fortunately, I’ve been diligent about building our emergency savings account over the past year, so we had the cash available to pay for it outright instead of insurring debt to get it. But still, it’s painful to watch over $700 (after taxes and shipping) leave your savings account in an instant. But I guess that’s what savings are for, right? Unexpected expenses.

The new machine? She’s going to be LOVELY.

And this time around we’re NOT going to leave her on the kitchen table 24/7. We’re going to put her away when we’re not using her.

Six Years…

Posted on | August 18, 2010 | 2 Comments

Not Exactly As Planned

Posted on | August 18, 2010 | No Comments

Chantal Kreviazuk Giveaway!

Posted on | August 14, 2010 | 7 Comments

I don’t do giveaways very often on Cootiehog, but this one is too good for you to pass up! I’ve been a fan of Chantal Kreviazuk as far back as 2005, and she’s releasing her latest album, “Plain Jane,” in October. Isn’t that album name so appropriate for a giveaway here on Cootiehog?? Anyway, anyone who reads this post now has the opportunity to win their own copy of “Plain Jane” on CD.

It’s dead easy – all you need do is comment here about anything you like (within reason, obviously), and you’ll be entered to win! I’ll have the contest run for 10 days, and will pick a winner on Tuesday, August 24. I’ll randomly select a winner using a number generator online.

Anyone can enter, but you can only comment ONE TIME. Duplicates will be deleted in the spirit of fairness for all! Please provide a valid email address so that I can contact you after the contest ends.

Artist: Chantal Kreviazuk
Album: Plain Jane Deluxe Edition
Release Date: August 24, 2010
Label: MapleMusic Recordsings

Official Site (which has samples of her songs):
http://www.chantalkreviazuk.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chantalkreviaz
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chantalkreviazuk
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/chantalkreviazuk

Is It Really Starting In a Week?

Posted on | August 12, 2010 | No Comments

School, I mean. Is it really starting next Wednesday? That seems so…soon. Summer just sped on by. It seems like just yesterday they were bringing home the last of their class papers and celebrating the first day of no school. And here we are – a week away from the first day of 2nd grade for CG, and the first day of 1st grade for CB. Wow.

Last year summer seemed to last forever, but I think it was helped by the fact that I was unemployed. CB was with me all day long starting mid-January. Then once CG was done with kindergarten I had to entertain BOTH kids all day, every day. So we were constantly going to the pool, going back and forth to VBS (morning AND night sessions), going to free movies at the theater, and whatever else I could find to fill their time so they wouldn’t be bored.

Not so this year. Summer 2010 was but a blip on the radar. And now it’s gone. I think we ended up going to Carowinds about 12 times through the whole summer. For a $300 investment, I’d say it was worth it since most times we went it was BOTH kids and me. Plus, we’ll go a few more times on the weekends as the weather cools down (it stays open on weekends until November) making our per-visit cost even lower. Will I be getting season passes again next year? OH YES. The kids had a blast and by next year they’ll be able to ride even more rides.

The kids recently got their teacher assignments and while CG gets to enjoy a THIRD year with her best friend, CB is not so lucky – only two kids that we know of from his kindergarten class are in his 1st grade class, and one of those he doesn’t care for too much. Most importantly, his “girlfriend” is not in his class, which makes him sad. However, he still gets to sit with her on the bus to school each morning, so he’ll still get to see her every day.

CB’s reading continues to go through the roof. He is ALWAYS reading something – basically, anything with words he tries to read. As such, I’m confident he’ll be one of the – if not THE – top readers in his class this year. CG struggled last year, and so last week we went back to basics and I pulled out the reading book that I used with CB to teach him to read. She has done really well and I’ve figured out the problem.

It’s not that she CAN’T read, it’s that she can’t be BOTHERED to read. She plows through it so fast that she messes up the words – but yet as she’s reading she comprehends the story just fine, so she just makes up the end of the sentence based on how it started. My solution? I have her use her finger to follow along with each word as she’s reading. It forces her to slow down because she ends up concentrating ONLY on the word above her finger.

Obviously she can’t do that forever (I envision her in college, finger furiously following physics formulas (heh)), but for now it has helped a lot. I think she’s FINALLY starting to enjoy reading. Not as much as her brother, but more than she did a few months ago. I predict this will be the year she catches up to him in that area.

The good thing about school starting? Early bedtimes for the kids (they’ll go from being in bed by 9 p.m. to being in bed by 7:30 p.m.). The bad thing about school starting? I have to get up 30 minutes earlier since they need to be on the bus by 6:50 a.m. Harrumph.