Nature vs. Nurture

I hardly ever post here, and that needs to change.

I decided to post today while looking ahead to my plans for next week. I'm going to spend a longish weekend with my birthmother and her family in Knoxville. I dug through my private blog archives (from the long lost, dusty days of MySpace) and pulled up my entries from when I initially found her. I wanted to post them here not just for those who might read them, but also for myself--to remember. It's become so comfortable that I guess I needed to be reminded of how far we've come. So here goes. Memory lane...

~~~~~~~

6/25/06 found her
Current mood: content

I finally got up the nerve to make the call today. Took me several hours of crying and a little panic, but I called. My biggest fear was that I wouldn't know what to say, but she fixed that because she had *so* much to say. Turns out we were both keeping low expectations--she thought I'd only be interested in contacting her for my family's medical/health history in case I ever wanted to have kids; I thought she wouldn't be that interested in getting to know me--and we were both wrong. She's lovely, and what's awesome is that she made it clear that she knows I have a family that I know and love as my *parents* and that she has no intention of trying to take their place. She said she'd very much like to be like a big sister to me, or, as she put it, wherever I can fit her in, she wants to be a part of my life. This is such a relief! Oh, and get this--I have a little brother and sister!!! Aack! For the first time in my life, I'm not an only child! So weird. My sister is 10, and I got to talk to her for a couple of minutes; my brother is 12 and was a little too shy to get on the phone, but considering he's a prepubescent boy, we'll understand that and give him time. : ) Also, she said that my birth father (long story there) has at least two daughters that she knows of, so I have *more* sisters! The thing there was... they got married about a year after she gave me up but separated two years later, sort of a peaceful, mutual "we made a mistake" thing. They still communicate every now and then, apparently. The last time they spoke was a few years ago, and he asked her if she'd heard anything from me yet, but they couldn't have because I wasn't 21. So she said she would give him a call and let him know about me, and eventually I'll probably get to meet him and his family--way more than I expected, since the fathers usually don't want anything to do with the kids in adoption situations. She lives in TN (driving distance, so we may be going up there soon to meet her) and he lives in NJ (definitely not driving that far anytime soon!) where they are both from. So yes--I'm a yankee. DO WHAT NOW?!? (Ana was ecstatic--for those that know Ana, you will understand.) And we figured out that she's where I get my musical side--she and her kids all sing, her son plays guitar, and her daughter plays piano. Her daughter is also in a theater workshop this summer (how ironic since I'm *teaching* theater this summer) and is very much of an artsy turn of mind. She sounds a lot like me at her age. She sent pictures too! She and the kids are all fair-skinned (like me!) and thin (not like me!). She and her daughter have my face shape, nose, and chin, and her daughter has blue eyes like me. Her son doesn't look a bit like me, and he's 5'9" at age 12! Her husband and mine both think we look alike--I see it a little bit, but it'll be interesting to see if we have similar mannerisms and whatnot. It's nice to have this all out in the open.

So that's what's been up... thanks to everyone who prayed for me on the birthmother issue. Things are going great and I suspect they will only get better from here.




6/28/06 so what do *you* think?
Current mood: curious

observe: my half-sister, my birth mother, and me. resemblance?


(little brother has been omitted from comparison, as it seems he is the mini-me of his father, who is not my father)














7/4/06 after 21 years...
Current mood: full

I promised. Here it is.

So for those of you who've been keeping up with the Janae show, I spent the past weekend with my birth mother and her family. It was Family Day at camp (oh the irony) which means all our campers' parents came that afternoon for a long program in which the kids performed all the stuff they'd been working on the last 2 weeks. All that to say, I spent the day running about like a headless chicken, making props and getting costumes in order, so I had exactly zero minutes to think about meeting my birth mother that night. It worked out well, because if you know me, you know ordinarily I'd be nervous as all get out. I mean, who wouldn't? But as soon as post-program cleanup was over, I headed back to the apartment to take care of the puppies, and we left as soon as Scott got in from work, about 5:20. This was the plan: since Scott's mom and dad didn't want to keep the puppies for the weekend, and since boarding costs ridiculous amounts and doesn't even allow them exercise or playtime, and since they're too complicated to get someone else to come and let them out and feed them for 3 days straight, *and* since my husband is too much a protector to let me make the 3-hour drive to Tennessee by myself, he decided he'd drive me up, spend a little time there, drive back, spend Saturday resting from the drive, then drive back up Sunday morning, get our Meggie to come let the puppies out that afternoon, and both of us come back late Sunday night. I tried to talk him out of it, but if you know him, you know how he is. : ) It was only supposed to be a 3-hour drive anyway. We just didn't take into account the holiday traffic. Yeah. We were on I-26 for an hour and a half around Asheville (I think) and went 15 miles. Besides this nice little detour we took in Hendersonville where we got in the middle of road construction and *that* took another hour. We finally reached their house at 10:30. When we got there Chris (birthmother) cried just a bit, and we both laughed a lot, and just sat there at the kitchen table and looked at each other. Not saying much, what is there to say at that point? It just took a while to take it all in, finally meeting a part of you that's been missing 21 years. Weird feeling. So when we finally got past the awkward silence, we talked a bit with Scott and Riley (my ten-year-old sister) while Chris's husband Danny (not my father) and Taylor (my twelve-year-old brother) were kinda bashful and didn't talk much. Eventually Scott left and the boys went to bed, so Chris and Riley and I stayed up till 3am talking. Riley has a mouth like mine, so it was hard to get a word in edgewise and ask the questions I really wanted to ask Chris. It was still cool talking to them though. Riley found my knitting in my bag and wanted to learn. That was also distracting. But fun. The next morning we all sat around--Riley and I knitting, Taylor playing guitar and singing (we figured out where my musicality comes from). Chris decided she wanted to learn to knit too, so we took a trip to Michael's and they got needles and yarn (clearance only--I also figured out where my severe frugality comes from). So when we got back home and all sat there on the loveseat knitting, Taylor played his manly guitar and made fun of us for knitting. Then all of a sudden *he* decided he wanted to learn. But he refuses to call the needles anything but "sticks." Cute kid. We were up late again that night--knitting and having a singalong with Riley's keyboard. Sunday morning we lazed around, and Scott got there before brunch. We spent most of the day just talking and visiting and taking pictures, and of course, knitting. We left out about 8 that night. Chris cried and cried when we left, but I promised her we'd see each other very soon--they're coming down here in a week and a half.

Everyone thinks Chris and I look a lot alike. I definitely see it from the nose down. She's so beautiful though, I don't think I can compare myself to her. Her personality and attitude are very easygoing, not in a hurry, just sweetly and contemplatively enjoying life. She looks very much the California girl and is skinny (darn her) and smiley. She looks and acts a lot younger than her age, so it's hard to think of her as a "mom" at all--I definitely see her as more of a big sister. She's awesome. I think the biggest surprise of the weekend was finding out how truly much she did want to keep me, but she gave me up for my own good and has regretted it ever since, to some degree. She told me over and over, "I wish I'd kept you, but you turned out so much better than you ever could have with me." She's such a sweet woman. Loves God very much, loves her family, loves music, loves animals, loves helping people. She and her husband own a bus company (selling and renting tour buses) and she developed a side business of sign-making and lettering (for the buses) which she uses as kind of a pro bono ministry. She's helping this band from Charleston by making decals and bumper stickers with their name on it, trying to help them with publicity and stuff. That's why they're coming down in a week and a half--the band, Leslie, is playing in downtown Greenville next Thursday night, and she wants the kids to see them in concert.

Speak of the kids--Taylor is 40 trapped in a 12-year-old's body. They don't have cable or satellite at their house (good for them, I say) so he and Riley watch DVD collections of old shows like Andy Griffith, A-Team, McGyver, Dr. Quinn, and his favorite, Dukes of Hazzard. He's amazing on guitar and has such a sweet little voice--pretty deep for a 12-year-old, actually. He likes Johnny Cash and bluegrass, and he likes dressing up. He saved up his own money and bought his first tux when he was 7, and wore it to school. No occasion, just wanted a tux. He's very sarcastic and brainy and just fun. I like him a lot. I taught him to play "Bad Day" on the keyboard and he's gone crazy with it.

Riley is full of energy. She's just like Scott's 10-year-old niece Abby--never quits going. She's always bouncing around and talking and saying "yeah" when you tell her stories or explain things, very much the "oh, of course I understand" type of kid. She looks a lot like me. Except she's skinny and all legs. We have the same profile and eye color (which is weird since Chris and Danny both have brown eyes, and my birthfather who isn't Riley's dad is where I thought I got my eye color) and the same skin. She's also musical (I got her some starter piano books for the keyboard she just got) and craftsy. I was amazed she could sit still long enough to knit. She's loving it though--making clothes for her teddybears. Small steps.

Chris's husband Danny reminds me of everyone at my home church--quiet Southern guy who sits in the corner and doesn't say much, but you know he's paying attention and taking everything in. He's a hardworking, good-natured, supportive guy and a great father to Riley and Taylor. I like him a lot too.

They also have the fluffiest kitty I've ever seen, bar none. Her name is Muffy, and she has long fur growing between her toes. She is the queen of the house, and we bonded over the weekend. They also have a cute dog about Karma's size named Lizzie who has the most gorgeous ice-blue eyes ever.

I feel so blessed to have so many families. My mom and dad and their families are awesome. Scott's family is also awesome. And now I have a third family that is equally awesome. I'm a lucky girl.

Pictures of my weekend are here.


~~~~~~~


One of my kids' vocab words last week was "nurture," and I used my adoption story to illustrate the difference between this and nature. I've always been really interested in the Nature vs. Nurture debate because of my background. Meeting Chris and getting to know her over the past five and a half years has allowed me to come full circle with that and to form my own theories on the argument. I've concluded I'm almost exactly half and half. (And no, that's not a copout.)

If you've met my mom, you know I'm her made over. She came to my school last week to do a cake demo for my kids for careers, and I got to watch her as an instructor... and I realized, though I didn't technically learn teaching from my mom, I picked up on so many of her tendencies. She bounces around--not in an unorganized way, but trying so hard to get in every little detail that's important. Guess who also does that? :) We're alike in too many ways to count. I inherited her workaholism, her drive, and her inability to say "no" to anyone... among other things.

Then there's Chris. Chris is where I got my music--and that, to me, is at least a third of who I am, despite how exaggerated that might sound to some. (It's kind of like that movie August Rush, except way less dramatic.) I also got my psychoanalytical side from her, I think, and a little bit of OCD, and possibly some of my love for animals... and other things I'm continuing to learn more about.

It makes me wonder what, if anything, I got from my birthfather. Am I like him at all? I'm not a great deal like Dad (though I love him dearly and am my Daddy's girl through and through), so I wonder if maybe who I am is primarily an amalgamation of my moms. Maybe he was just the one who made my blue eyes blue. Thinking about it makes me wonder, probably for the eightieth time, will I ever get to find out?

Well, that's enough soul-baring for one week. Off to lesson planning and playwriting!

Get cash back when you shop online!

A good way to get free cash by doing things you already do is to shop online through sponsored links. You can do this through several different sites, and you can compare cashback rates to get the most money back for your time.

Check out my Get Paid to Click post for info about companies like MyPoints and InboxDollars. These sites do paid shopping, and the cashback rates change from time to time for various websites.

Shop at Home is another great site. Shop through their links and you receive a percentage back on whatever you spent. Cashout comes when you reach $20. Refer and friend and get $5 added to your account!

23 Things You Don't Need (All You)

I love All You magazine. It's the best coupon mag out there, and they always have great little articles (and e-articles) about saving time and money, along with recipes and cute ideas for home. (If you ever see a deal online for a year's subscription at a discount, grab it up; you'll thank me later.)

Today's e-mail feature article is "23 Household Products You Don't Need to Buy." It's a list of other uses for common household items that you can use instead of buying other one-purpose products. It's really interesting and worth the few minutes it takes to scroll through. Did you know you can rub out scuff marks with a banana peel?! Pretty cool. Check it out!

525,600 minutes

I realized I hadn't posted a personal blog in a while. I should, in case anyone actually reads this.

I hate endings. I know they're a necessary and natural part of life, but I don't like them. I also know that when anything ends, it opens up a door for something new to begin, and that's great; but I still find endings difficult and beginnings intimidating.

There are a lot of endings on my mind lately. One thing I absolutely hate about my line of work is having to say goodbye to kids. It's in my nature/nurture-induced character to attach easily to people, and that makes goodbyes really, really difficult. As a teacher, every May I'm forced to say goodbye, and sometimes even before then.

I think I can say at this point without any air of secrecy that it's been a rough year for Jonesville. In April, we said goodbye to an assistant principal who encouraged me throughout my first two years of teaching, and an administrative assistant with one of the biggest hearts in the world. On the first of May, we lost our art teacher unexpectedly to a plethora of health issues that culminated in what seemed like an untimely death. And in the past couple of months, we've had to get used to the idea that our amazing principal will be leaving us for the high school when the year ends. This, in addition to the usual goodbyes that the end of the year imposes, has sort of overloaded me emotionally.

To top it off, I have another bittersweet goodbye in order; I learned last week that I will no longer be teaching at Sims. At this point I'm slated to split my days between Jonesville and Lockhart next year, but that could change before August. I learned a lot during my year at Sims, I grew as a teacher, and I became close to a few students, though not quite so many as I have at Jonesville. I will miss those kids, as well as the administrators who have been so graciously welcoming and encouraging to me this year. However, I think the two smaller schools will be a better fit for me, since I grew up in a small school and tend to prefer closer-knit environments. Still, my dream teaching situation would be to stay at Jonesville full-time like I did my first year. (But don't get me wrong; I'm grateful to have a job, especially in a time like this, and I think the change will be a positive one.)

Tomorrow my Jonesville 8th graders will graduate, and I will reluctantly say goodbye to several of them. I didn't get as close to this graduating class as a whole (not by a longshot in comparison to last year's group), but there's a handful that I'll really and truly miss.

I guess it's Jonesville tradition for a chorus of 8th graders to sing at graduation, and last year I became involved in the preparations for this (which is now apparently becoming tradition as well). A chorus that included some of my favorites sang "For Good" from Wicked, and I bawled like a baby at the lyrics that rang so true of these kids. This year some of my favorites will sing "Seasons of Love" from Rent (when I'm involved, you'd better bet there will be Broadway!), and like last year, I'm getting emotional about it. I've always been hit pretty hard by the lyrics. That goes double for this year.

525,600 minutes
525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes
how do you measure, measure a year
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In 525,600 minutes
how do you measure a year in the life
How about love
Measure in love
Seasons of love
525,600 minutes
525,000 journeys to plan
525,600 minutes
how can you measure the life of a woman or man
In truths that she learned
Or in times that he cried
In bridges he burned
Or the way that she died
It's time now to sing out
Though the story never ends
let's celebrate
remember a year in the life of friends
How about love
Measure in love
Seasons of love
In diapers, report cards
in spoke wheels
in speeding tickets
in contracts
in dollars
in funerals and births.
525,600 minutes
how do you figure our last year on earth
figure in love
measure in love


How do you measure a year? Especially a year as eventful as this one has been. I think it will suffice to say that I'll measure this year in memories. And by that scale, it's definitely been a big one.

Recyclebank

As part of my teacher education program, I did a unit project for a gifted ed class about conservation--the whole "reduce, reuse, recycle" thing. I didn't really know or care that much about it before that project. The strongest memory I have from my research was learning how long it takes glass, plastic, styrofoam, etc. to decompose in a landfill (according to a Penn State study, 500 years, 450 years, and never, respectively), and looking at photos of landfills. What a sad testament to our wasteful society... and I very much include myself in that group.

I think it was then that I started getting more into recycling. I have since tried to be more mindful of waste at home and work, and I don't do quite as much as I could, I guess, but I figure every little bit helps. My husband already did recycling before we married, and because of him (and curbside pickup--one perk to living in the city) we've always had a recycling bin next to our trash can in the house.

I just joined a program called Recyclebank, which seems to be a cool rewards program for those who choose to try to live a little greener. Not that we need rewards to motivate us to be good to the environment--but, you know, it's still nice. :) Recyclebank has programs in place in many cities that actually weigh recycle bins on collection day and reward families with savings and coupons in exchange for their continued recycling. (If there's not one in your city, as is the case with mine, you can download and distribute letters from the site to your garbage hauler or city office asking them to implement the program!) In addition, the site has lots of suggestions for how to reduce, reuse, and recycle in your home, as well as green ways to earn points through the site (to redeem for savings). Seems like a win-win to me. Check it out!

Awesome article - 26 ways to get stuff free!

My favorite coupon mag, All You, has an excellent article online about 26 ways to get things free and cut costs in your daily life. There are some great tips here--some new even to me! Check it out!

Lärabar: I'm in love

Aren't snack bars just the greatest? (Wow, that sounded cheesy and lame. Forget I said that.) But really, aren't they awesome? It's like a mini-meal you can throw in your purse and munch on throughout a busy morning/afternoon/whatever. And normally it satisfies one of my major cravings--salty, crunchy, and/or sweet.

Problem: snack bars can become junk food. Why is it so many things I like are packed with junk?! Not fair!

I was recently diagnosed with an insulin-resistant disorder and was urged by doctor and nutritionist to purge my diet of excess carbohydrates. This was a huge undertaking for me, because all my favorite foods are in the carb column--sugar, baked goodies, chocolate, ice cream, pasta, potatoes, even my favorite veggie--corn--is a starch. I haven't been able to cut carbs completely from my diet yet; maybe I'll get there. At any rate, I have cut back. My nutritionist also recommended the several-small-meals-a-day plan, which is a good idea for everyone but especially for those with insulin issues, as waiting a long time before eating, then gorging, will cause blood sugar slumps and spikes. She was precious and looked at my schedule with me to determine when it would be best for me, my body, and my schedule to fit in my small meals. My planning period at the school where I teach in the mornings is right around 9am, and this is my mid-morning snack time. I've found the best (and really the only) way for me to eat during this time is to have something I can throw in my purse and munch on gradually throughout my half-hour planning. Enter the snack bar.

For me, the key to finding a good snack bar is that it's not only low in carbs but also as natural as possible. There are some carbs you're supposed to have, the kinds that come from fruits and whole grains and other wholesome ingredients. So if I'm eating something that's packed with fruit, yeah, I'm gonna have some carbs, but I also get one of my fruit servings out of the day.

I found Trio bars at Costco and got into them for a while. The tagline of these bars is "3 fruits, 3 nuts, 3 seeds." And each flavor has exactly that--3 kinds of dried fruit, 3 kinds of nuts, and 3 kinds of seeds. Plus, they've got all the right lines on the labels: "No Cholesterol, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, Wheat Free, No Preservatives, No Trans Fats, Kosher." All sounds good to me. However, there's a big fuss in the blogosphere over the fact that these bars are made in China, which unnerves some folks (though the company has released a good bit of information to assuage their fears). Also, Trio bars contain "evaporated cane juice" (essentially sugar) and "rice malt" (puffy stuff, the consistency of Corn Pops) which serves to hold the nuts, fruits, and seeds together; for me, these just add empty carbs I could be using on something better. Plus, the abundance of nuts and seeds jacks the fat count up to 12g--about the same as a bag of potato chips. :/

Fast-forward to a couple of weekends ago. My mom brought me a large box of fruit and nut bars she had bought at a club store, saying she didn't like them and wanted to let me try them. I didn't give them a second thought until a recent morning when I was running out the door with an empty stomach (a big no-no for me, since I've now grown accustomed to breakfast) because I couldn't find Slim-fast mix in the house. I literally had my hand on the doorknob when I thought about these bars that were still in the bag in which Mom gave them to me. I glanced at them skeptically--if it's health food my mother couldn't handle, it's probably straight bird seed. The flavor names, "apple pie," "cherry pie," and "cashew cookie," were intriguing enough for me to grab one and toss it in my purse.

They're called Lärabars, and it was love at first bite for me. The ingredients in the Apple Pie bar fit on one small line on the wrapper--dates, almonds, unsweetened apples, walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon. That's literally all. And the cinnamon just makes all the difference in the flavor; it's amazing. The bar is made of a fruit puree, so it's moist and sweet and chewy (and a bit tart, just enough to be interesting), and the walnuts and almonds are interspersed throughout which give it a good crunchy element. I get my solid serving of fruit with a few less fat grams than the Trio bars, 24 grabs of carbs (not terrible considering that they come directly from fruits and nuts), and I actually enjoy the taste. Oh, and it's also got all the good taglines the Trio bars boast, in addition to "Soy Free" and "Non-GMO." The website has all sorts of info on how Lärabars work with many special diets and conditions (including celiac, kosher, low-carb, vegan, allergies, and even raw diets). There are 19 flavors (all of which I now want to try), and the best part is... the company also makes chocolate. (insert Hallelujah Chorus here) The chocolate products, cleverly named Jŏcolat, are organic and made from Fair Trade Certified ingredients (no more than 7 ingredients per bar, by the way), also with no added sugar (or dairy, soy, or gluten). I'm now on the hunt for these as well.

Update: I wrote the above two weeks ago and have since also tried the Cherry Pie and Cashew Cookie Lärabars, which are also tasty. I think Apple Pie is still my favorite so far. The cherry bars have cherries, dates, and almonds in them--that's it!--and are really, really tart, but still good. The cashew cookie bars, which actually do have a cookie sort of taste to them, only contain cashews and dates. Wow. Amazing what can be done with only two ingredients. All this to say... try a Lärabar. Odds are you'll like at least one of the flavors, and it's likely better than your current daytime snacks!

GraveyardMall Deal: Hair Straightener

Confession: I can't live without my flat iron.

My head is chock-full of hair that is fine-stranded and wavy--not curly enough to wear it curly, but not straight enough to wear it straight. After letting it dry naturally post-wash, it fluffs up like a lion's mane.

My first flat iron lasted me about six years, then literally exploded last summer (not violently, but it definitely popped a side and stopped heating up). I hated trying to find a new one; there are a billion different combinations of sizes, styles, features, etc., and of course (as with most things) the nicest ones were way out of my frugal price range--and that was just in the Walmart aisle!

One of my new favorite online deal sites, GraveyardMall, has an awesome deal on a Conair flat iron with infrared heat, which apparently is gentler on the hair. This straightener retails around $100 and is on sale today (and possibly for the next few days, until they sell out) for $18 plus about $6 shipping. I would take advantage of it myself, except for the fact that I had to replace mine just last summer!

I'd recommend signing up for GraveyardMall daily emails. Sometimes the deals aren't incredibly useful, but they have great buys on "lots" of sunglasses with decent brand names, some stuff for the home, and occasionally electronics. It's one of my new favorites to check each day!

When surveys are worth it...

If you are ever looking for something to do with your spare time and have access to a computer (or if you need something to keep you busy during down-time at the office), I can't even tell you how strongly I recommend getting into online surveys. (Check out my post about surveys to get started.)

Today I have an excellent reason to advocate surveys! In early February, I took some survey--I don't even remember from which company; there are so many that I can't keep track--about computer productivity software. The survey was a pre-qualifier for an online focus group that lasted a little less than an hour and was scheduled for a weekday evening a couple of weeks later. The group focused on benefits and features of an upcoming new release of Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint (and integrating the two), with an emphasis on data charts. The subject matter wasn't too terribly enthralling, but the format was kind of cool (part phone, part online) and the new features of Office look promising. I always enjoy giving input on new products.

But here's the best part: the incentive for participating. It was advertised as a $50 Amazon gift card (which I actually didn't know about until I finished the screener), but when it arrived in my email... it was $100. :D Nothing makes me smile quite like earning a nice incentive. All that to say this--surveys are worth it. Give it a try.

Groupon... join the craze

If you haven't already gotten on the Groupon bandwagon, I recommend doing so. Anything that's free and gets you a chance to grab a deal is completely worth it in my book. Groupon has daily deals for each metropolitan area--some are really good and of general interest (like last month's half-off Amazon gift card), and some are pretty specific, like recent ones including maid service, cupcakes by a local caterer, and a discounted round of golf somewhere. More than half the emails I get from Groupon get deleted on first glance, but there are some amazing deals that pop up from time to time, and that's worth subscribing. And as I mentioned already, it's free--and safe. Go for it!

DQ Giveaway

Beginning at 1pm this Wednesday, Dairy Queen is giving away... well, something, though no one quite knows yet what it is. A few weeks ago, a message went out to DQ's email recipients with a link to a countdown clock. The page is entitled "DQ Mini-Treatment," and it mentions the "biggest giveaway in DQ history" and the relatively new Mini sized Blizzard. I'm under the assumption they'll be giving away Mini Blizzards, then; however, again, no one knows for sure. I know I've set my calendar to remind me to check the site at 1pm tomorrow, though!

PineCone Research accepting new member households!

This is kind of exciting... PineCone Research, an invitation-only survey group, is accepting new members. I managed to get on board with PineCone last year, and I've loved everything I've done through the panel. My favorite thing about this particular panel is that it pays per survey as soon as it's complete--no cashout rules to worry about! They do send checks, so by the time mine $2 or $3 arrives in the mail, I've already forgotten what the survey was about... but still, it's nice not to have to calculate points or wait for a $25 cashout threshold.

I just got an email from PineCone saying they're taking new members referred by current members. Only one per household. Here's the link--no referral incentive, but with this one, I have to brag on them even if there's not something extra for me!

www.pineconeresearch.com/signup/ds632.aspx?&sid=BGR

Free 1000 Minutes w/ AT&T

I saw this on Southern Savers and had to post it here; if this is good for all AT&T accounts, my summer camp budget will $100 better off. 


If you are an AT&T user, text "yes" to 11113020. You should receive a confirmation text that 1000 free rollover minutes will be added to your account within 4 weeks, after verifying account eligibility.


I use Verizon for my personal cell, but my summer camp line is an AT&T GoPhone. We refill our minutes every year (and thus renew our number) by purchasing 1000 minutes for $100. If this deal is good for GoPhones (which, according to some forums I read, it has been for some), the higher-ups that review my budget are going to be quite happy. :)

Join the Revolution

Tomorrow, I will wear black for the tenth year in a row, in silent protest of an over-commercialized celebration of a barbaric, antiquated, pagan fertility ritual.

Yes, it sounds overdramatic, I know. But after ten years, I still hold firm to my feelings about the most unholy of holidays, the time of red and pink everywhere (while, any other day of the year, that would be considered a clashy fashion faux pas), the favorite season of the chocolatiers and greeting card companies.

Truth be told, most people are miserable on Valentine's Day. You have your singles (I of which was one when my tradition of protest began years ago, more specifically of the "single bitter misery chick" genre) who are forced to sit and watch the "happy couples" strolling by, staring deeply into each other's eyes and whatnot. But it's not just them. I've always felt bad for men on Valentine's. I've actually read studies that showed men in particular experience tangible signs of high anxiety levels when placed in retail situations (in short, shopping can literally make them go nuts). Let's cash in on that by creating a holiday atmosphere that requires them to purchase many things to prove their love, right? Jack up the prices on everything applicable to the holiday; they won't even look at the price tag because they'll be so anxious to get out of the store. Grab some chocolates here, a sweet card there, flowers at the next place, jewelry, clothes, and of course, don't forget to save some money for the dinner date (and movie, or whatever else after dinner). They'll have cashed out a few hundred each before they even know what hit 'em. Sounds pretty sweet if you're a manufacturer/retailer of these products, right? But if you're the one emptying his wallet, no, not so much. So there's a small percentage left on this day that are happy--females who have dates. And I'm guessing about half of them end up finding fault in something--he got the wrong kind of chocolates, or the card doesn't express how she thinks he should truly feel, or some such nonsense.

As usual, America has managed to commercialize and monetize a holiday older than our country (think: Christmas, Easter, Halloween). But where do Valentine's Day traditions come from? What was the holiday originally about?

The Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia was held February 15. This marked the beginning of springtime in that era and location; spring, as we know, is associated with life and birth and, it would naturally follow, fertility (think: bunnies). This date (and the day before it, our Valentine’s Day) was also believed to be the date birds chose their mates, and why not follow the birds?

One of the more common themes in the variations of this celebration over the years included young men running through the town swinging “sacred” goatskin cuttings, and the young women on the sidewalks “lucky” enough to be touched (or rather, lashed) by the sacred skins would be blessed with many children. (Fun fact: the skin item was called a “februa,” and the Latin word for lashing with these items was called “februatio”—see a similarity to “February” here?) Soooo, beat your women and get babies. Great thing to be celebrating.

When Rome invaded France, they brought along their traditions and festivals, including Lupercalia (which, at that time, consisted mostly of the men drawing women’s names to determine who was their Valentine, and exchanging gifts at the festival). However, around 469, the Pope of the day decided to Christianize this pagan festival and rewrite its history. From henceforth, Lupercalia would be the festival of St. Valentine, a Roman martyr who quite conveniently was put to death on Feb. 14, 270. As luck would have it, Mr. Valentine was put to death by the emperor because, after the emperor banned marriages (because of the tendency of married soldiers to lose their focus on the whole fighting thing), Valentine had been performing marriage ceremonies in secret for young people who were in love! How romantic! But the even more coincidental part of the story was that Valentine fell in love with his jailor’s daughter (who was blind, and he cured her of that, but that’s another saint story for another day) and wrote her a note on execution day signed, “From your Valentine.” Some legends say this was scratched into a leaf shaped like a heart, which makes it even better. That's why love notes or gifts on this day came to be known as "Valentines," thanks to St. Valentine's legendary story. Awwwww.

I opted out of all this business ten years ago. My friends and I wore black in 2001, and I've done it every Feb. 14 since. I've been happily married for five of these Feb. 14's, and my plans on this day still don't involve celebration of the holiday. I don't plan for that to change. 

So, who will join me this year in wearing black? :)

A free book for my teenybopper heart

Despite what started off as a rough week, I've begun today on a happy note. I got a free book!

There's a by-invitation survey group called E-Rewards (which I wrote about, along with many other survey sites, in this post) that I have mixed feelings about. I get at least one survey invite a day from E-Rewards, and most yield several dollars per survey. However, the rewards are kind of disappointing for me. Most of the rewards fall into one of two categories--coupons (e.g. $15 off a $30 purchase at eBags or Omaha Steaks, where you also have to pay an arm/leg for shipping) and frequent flyer miles (which I have virtually no use for since I rarely travel). And to top it off, you can only redeem one reward of its kind in a calendar year. So when I do find a good reward and snatch it up, I can't get it again until the following January.

This January, I redeemed $15 of my accumulated $40ish rewards for $15 in Borders Bucks. I think I've been in an actual Borders store maybe once in my life (there's not one near me), but the website occasionally offers good deals. And, really, $15 off books (no minimum purchase) is more valuable to me than $15 off $30 worth of mail-order steaks. I redeemed my $BB in January, and the amount was put into my account for redemption in February. I marked my calendar for the first of the month (today!) to remind myself to redeem the $BB as soon as I could. Then this morning, after I saw my reminder, I checked my email and found a coupon code for free shipping valid this week at Borders.com as well. Add that bit of happiness to Borders' 46% off price for a book I've been wanting, I got my book for zilch out of pocket and have about $5 left to spend on my next purchase. Happy February to me!

If you wondered what book I ordered... well, you probably didn't, but I'm going to share that part, too. ;)

The House of Night series by P.C. & Kristin Cast came into my life a couple of years ago on the coattails of the Twilight Saga. (Yes, I'm a Twi-hard. Don't hate.) While House of Night doesn't hold a candle to Twilight (and is truly nothing like it other than the inclusion of vampires), it's interesting, intriguing, and indulgent reading for fans of light vamp literature. I have to admit--I kind of hate myself for loving House of Night for its annoying teenybopper-ness...  yet, for some odd reason, I found myself oddly drawn into the series from book one. It's different from my normal reading material. Disclaimer: the series contains some material/language that is included for no other reason than to push it into the "older teen reader" category. If you can ignore that, it makes for interesting reading. The eighth book in the series, Awakened, was just released in January--that was my free book. (The ninth, Destined, is rumored to come out this November. Apparently there's also a movie project in the works.)

Get Paid to Click - CrownGPT

I participated in the CrownGPT program about a year ago, then it went into something of a hibernation period, so to speak; apparently members were not holding up their end of the bargain on the paid-to-click front. I'm happy to report that it's back up and running! Like other paid-to-click programs, this is a really easy way to make money. Sign up with CrownGPT, then verify your account and make sure you're signed up for Daily Emails. Each day, you'll receive an email. You'll need to do 4 things with each daily email:
1) Click the banner or "click here" link within the email.
2) Click one sponsored link on the website you're taken to by the first link. (Check out anything you're interested in on the next page--I normally click a link there for good measure.)
3) Go back to the email and click "Click here to receive credit."
4) You'll be taken to the CrownGPT homepage where you'll have to prove you're not a robot by reading the letters in one of those "captcha" things and choosing the correct letter sequence from a drop-down box.

It takes less than a minute to do this, and it earns 20 cents. The minimum cashout is $5 and can be done through PayPal, check, or AlertPay. Take that one minute a day and in less than a month, you'll be $5 richer than you were before! Increase your earnings by referring friends; you get 15% of your referrals' earnings (and 5% of their referrals' earnings). CrownGPT also has other paid offers, normally surveys that redirect to other survey sites you're probably already affiliated with if you do surveys, or those "complete 5 offers and win an iPad!" kinds of things where you end up paying out of pocket; I leave those alone and stick to the emails. Give it a shot for some spare cash. You'll be surprised how quickly you can cashout!

Bright Ideas --> Looxsy

I've posted a few times about my favorite online community, Bright Ideas. I've enjoyed being a member of the community (and my husband has enjoyed the monthly $10 Amazon gift cards I've gotten in exchange for my participation!) for about a year now.


Yesterday I received the following email:

Dear Bright Ideas Community Member,

Thank you so much for your participation and involvement in the Bright Ideas Community.  In keeping with our standard practice, we routinely refresh our community members and recruit new individuals to participate.  This process also requires that we remove some of our current members to make room for a new database of participants.  Your account is one that has been selected to be removed as part of this process.  We sincerely appreciate your time and effort in making this online community a success.  The feedback and insights you provide are invaluable.

At this time, we would like to invite you to join another community.

Thank you for your interest in Looxsy Community – a place where women of all ages come to share their thoughts about:

• Current beauty and fashion trends
• Products and services you currently use
• Ideas and concepts for the future!

Leading corporations come here to listen to what you have to say about products/services available today and to find out what you think about ideas they have for the future. 

Registered members of Looxsy will receive a range of different incentives for participating in this online community. Some examples of our incentives are free samples, coupons, or even gift cards.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please click on the link to begin the survey.

Thank you!

So... I'm considerably disappointed that I've been booted from Bright Ideas; however, I'm excited about Looxsy. After looking at their respective websites, I realized that both communities are actually run by the same market research group, LiveBranch. The biggest difference so far seems to be that Bright Ideas was home-oriented while Looxsy is fashion-oriented. I'm okay with that. I hope I'll still get Amazon cards, though! ;) I found a "join now" link on the Looxsy site if anyone else is interested in checking it out.

Contented

Yesterday a student told me, "I always know that you're there."

I know the true purpose of the teaching profession is to educate children. I get that. However, I've always felt there is an equally important goal--not just educating them, but caring for them; not just nurturing the mind, but caring for the overall well-being of a child. I also get that there's a balance between the two that every teacher has to find. If I tried to fix every child's problems, we'd get no learning done at all. But still... I feel like it's a priority.

It made my heart smile to know I came to a student's mind during a discussion of "who we go to with our problems." While it's not in my job description, if my kids know I'm there for them, in a sense that's more important to me than knowing I taught them the most Spanish they've ever learned.

I have a paper taped to the side of my computer that faces my seat at Sims--"Teacher's Prayer." It has been a huge encouragement to me, especially here in a semi-difficult environment with more-than-semi-difficult children. The first few lines are particularly fitting for how I feel as a teacher.

"Lord, let me be just what they need.

If they need someone to trust, let me be trustworthy.

If they need sympathy, let me sympathize.

If they need love (and they do need love),

let me love, in full measure."

A few lines down, it says, "Help me to... temper the rambunctious with a gentle attitude." Yeah... that's the harder part.

Knitty - Winter '11

I accidentally stumbled upon Knitty's latest edition this evening when I went to the site to check the pattern for a skirt I'm ever-so-slowly working on. (The goal was to have it finished by the beginning of winter... maybe I'll have it done by the end instead.) There are so many great projects in this issue I want to try--the cutely brimmed Quest hat, the cable-infested Palisander scarf (which would be one of those projects I'd begin in the hope of finishing it in time to give to my future child when she turns 21--I mean really, it's a foot wide and worked on #4 needles), the Jacqueline sweater (if Michael's still has Thick & Quick on sale this week, I'm stocking up to do this one--I *adore* working with bulky yarn and have been looking for a cute, non-boxy sweater that would allow it), the Shelburne mittens I wish I'd seen before knitting my mismatchers last week, and... (drumroll)... my next Fair Isle project, the Undergrowth cap. I've only attempted colorwork a couple of times, and those have been experimental learning opportunities (putting it kindly).

*Sigh.* Maybe some of these projects can be stash-busters, because I definitely don't need to buy any more yarn--there's nowhere to put it!

Try it.

DQ's treasure--I mean Blizzard--of the month...

Go get one. Srsly. And also, join the Blizzard fan club for a bimonthly-or-so BOGO coupon.

New year, new blog

Let me start by saying this... For those that read Crazy Savers, that was an obsessive part of my life. (Maybe one day I'll be able to explain my tendency toward obsession, but today is not that day.) I love saving and earning money. I'm still a couponer, I still do online surveys, and of course I still enjoy getting things free. However, that's not all my life is about. That would not be healthy. Because of that, I've begun this new blog that will include more than just momentary obsessions. Here's to a new year and a fresh start.


This year has been off to an insane start. After not even a full week of classes, we were hit with a pretty fantastic snowstorm. This kept the kids out of school all week, and teachers in my district had delayed workdays Thursday and Friday. It was beautiful to say the least.

my snow angel on a bank beside Camelot... darn leaves...

our porch and the surrounding area, covered in powder... I love the snow-cone shapes on the trail lights by the porch

my feet got lost in all the snow.

our house and yard

hydrant

squintyfaced--it's so bright with all this white around

a house down the street has a palm tree... which, like everything else, was covered

Scott with his walking stick

just looked interesting under a sheet of ice

I love how our picnic table looks beneath snow.