Review: Calvin Klein Reveal (Men)

It's been a while since I've blogged, but thanks to some new product test assignments, I'm going to get back into it. I have been asked to review a product and was sent a free sample of said product; I am not being paid in any way, and all opinions are 100% honest and 100% my own. 

Influenster sent me a sample of Calvin Klein's fragrance Reveal for Men. My husband has his own favorite fragrances to wear, so I didn't make him try it--I tried it myself. :) I don't make a habit of wearing men's fragrances (in fact, I don't think I ever have), but this was a good one for a first try! It's pretty gender neutral, in my opinion. I enjoyed the way it wore on me throughout the day, and while I didn't think it was feminine in any way whatsoever, I did not find it to be uncomfortably masculine (i.e. out of place on me) either. 

This fragrance is a unique and refreshing combination of woodsy musk and fresh spice. According to the description from CK, the fragrance notes include crystallized ginger, pear brandy, agave nectar, vintage vanilla, and golden amber (among others). The list includes such unordinary notes that the cologne doesn't remind me of anything else I've ever smelled, and the resulting combination made it difficult for me to identify even the notes that should've been more familiar--meaning I didn't take a whiff of this and say, "Oh, yeah, I smell the vanilla." And that's good, because most men I know aren't racing out to buy vanilla cologne.

Will I purchase this on my own? If my husband or father ever want to change up their tried and true cologne routines, this will be at the top of my recommendation list for sure. I probably won't buy it for myself because, while I was comfortable wearing it and did enjoy it, I would honestly just feel weird buying men's cologne to wear mysef. 

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Okay, here goes...

I've wanted to write this post for a very long time but haven't gotten around to it (story of my life). As I sit here on this "desk day" with nothing better to do, I've decided this post is getting written, dagnabit.

My name is J, and I love trying new things. 

I've been on the online surveys and mystery shopping circuit for several years now and have made giving my opinion a big part of my life (and also a part that earns me free swag and/or a little fun money--if you're interested, ask me how!). I hope I don't become one of those people who feels she needs to blurt out an opinion on every little thing in her day--if I do, someone please punch me--but I enjoy giving feedback on products, places, experiences, etc. It occurred to me that I need to keep track of these things in one place in case anyone cares to hear (/read) my opinion on such things, so that place is going to be here.

That being said, welcome.

If you've stumbled upon this post, I can tell you a few things about me that will give you an idea of the things I plan to review here: I'm a mom, I like shopping, and I enjoy everything from beauty products to techie gadgets. I love checking out new places, and my side job as a mystery shopper has formed me into a bit of a picky customer. Not the "these potatoes aren't the right color; send them back" kind of picky, but the kind who pays close attention how long it takes for someone to greet me after entering a store, or the kind who notices whether or not the server refills my drink promptly. I have been conditioned to remember names, glance stealthily at my watch, and count the number of customers in a store immediately like a savant.

All that to say that I am pretty detail-oriented and give decent reviews. If you're looking for that, then I'm glad you're here, and I look forward to sharing some experiences.

I miss blogging.

So here I go again. 

In the time since my last entry, I gave birth and watched my baby boy grow at an alarming rate into a toddler; in a few weeks, we'll be celebrating his first birthday, and I still can't believe how quickly the time has passed. 

It's been a year of change, and for a creature of habit such as myself, that's been challenging at times. Just yesterday my summer camp season ended for the year and I said goodbye (with a great deal of difficulty and tears to match) to several graduating staff members who are growing up and moving on, as they all do eventually. 

Even though change and goodbyes can hurt, I'm looking ahead with high hopes for the coming year... And, yes, even the changes it, too, will bring. 

More letting-go

Today I didn't fill a trash bag or recycling bin with a significant number of things in my decluttering process (primarily since we had several errands to run in town and were thus gone a large part of the day, so I wasn't here to go through much). But it was still a big day for letting things go.

I joined the TY Beanie Baby craze in junior high and ran with it for several years. I was one of the many suckers who thought these things were worth their weight in gold and bought up the rare ones, complete with plastic cases and tag protectors. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and we all know how nonvaluable these things are now. Lesson learned: if it's a fad, it's not a collector's item.

I mentioned before that I'm kind of a frugal freak. I don't drop large amounts of money without some serious thought. So when I bought some of these toys, though I was a teenager at the time, they were purchases I never thought I'd part with. Cut to now. Thank God I don't remember exact prices paid for these things, because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to get rid of any of them. But I am. I'm giving away a bag, and another bag is moving to my classroom (mostly holiday and international bears--I figure they could come in handy when I teach world music and celebrations). I'm keeping the cats and dogs (always my favorites) and a few others that I think my son might enjoy playing with. And all the big plush toy versions, because they're huggable and kid friendly and will make good additions to Taven's toy collection.

In addition to this minor victory in letting go, I sent my parrot Mango off to his new (hopefully for good) home today. There's a long story behind this, but in the interest of brevity I'll just say I've had the bird less than a year but still got attached to him, much to my own dismay (so not a bird person, thank you very much). He got possessive of me, which isn't safe with a baby on the way, so we found him a home with a friend and former boss who is a real bird lover and who I hope and pray is able to bond with him. I hate goodbyes, even to a bird, so it was an emotionally draining day.

So now I'm thinking I will go through one more bin, try to throw away some inconsequential items, then detox from this day with something relaxing or fun. I bought Manic Panic in Shocking Blue to put in some semi-perm streaks for camp, so maybe that will be on the agenda. I may even make some ice cream. I have fresh strawberries and peaches and a new ice cream maker. Sounds like a plan to me. Jumping back on the purging wagon tomorrow.

Decluttering, day 2

Today I tossed:
- Awards and certificates from throughout my school years (took pictures of first place stuff so I won't forget)
- things I shouldn't have kept to scrapbook in the first place (e.g. All the bubblegum wrappers I emptied during a game at a BCM event; a fingerpainting from Summer Serve)
- letters from a college pen pal program when I was in 3rd grade
- piles of drawings from campers and students years ago
- a Christmas card stamping kit I've had for longer than I can remember (Goodwill is getting it; the stamps are still in fine condition and some kid might like it)
- event programs out the wazoo
- scrapbook pages of movie and concert tickets dating back to 1995 (The Babysitters' Club, when movies cost $3.75 to see). I took pictures for amusement's sake.
- some kitchen gadgets I didn't use to begin with (to Goodwill)
- a few decorative and/or holiday things we got as gifts years ago
- bedding odds and ends--cause guess what. There is no earthly reason to have as many sets of sheets as we do. (I am still wrestling with the idea of cutting up some of the tshirt knit sheets to use as cleaning rags and/or burp cloths... This is where I struggle with finding the line between sensible repurposing and packratting.)

I kept:
- photos and relevant scrapbooking things (e.g. pages already made)
- a reader's theater script from high school (to be typed and saved, then paper copy trashed)
- report cards from 5th and 6th grade (I always liked looking at my mom's old report cards, which tells me this might be relevant one day)
- most stuff to scrapbook from my senior trip (sorry, but I've only done NYC once and I made memories I'd like to keep. I think I've earned this one.)
- serving pieces we got as wedding gifts. I use them two or three times a year, but that's the point--I do use them. I like being able to pull out a nice vase or trifle dish or cake stand when the odd occasion calls for it, and I hope to do more entertaining at home that would call for it, now that I'm in a new place with more room.

I wish I had a whole month free to get all this done at once. However, I don't think I'll ever have a month free at one time ever in my foreseeable future, so I'll be happy with what I can do this week and in whatever time I can steal throughout the summer.

On a completely unrelated note, I am pretty much in love with country life after just a few days back in it. I also adore this house. The windows are enormous and let in the perfect amount of natural light, and it's so quiet, not a neighbor in view. And I had forgotten about fireflies, living in the suburbs for so long. Turns out they just don't come out as much there. There are so many outside my house right now that it's borderlining on being an Owl City song. Srsly.

I'm quite content today. That pretty much sums it up. Looking forward to another productive day to follow.

Decluttering my life

This weekend my husband and I moved out of our "starter home" in the suburbs and into a farm house we will be renting from very good friends for a while before we buy it. (Side note: please pray our old house sells quickly.)

I am already a creature of habit and do not like change, so the move was difficult in that regard. I get way too attached--to people, to places, to things, to routines. I haven't moved a lot in my life, and those few times have been serious emotional turmoil (yes, I'm being over dramatic, but that's what it's felt like each time). Little did I realize how my tendency to attach would make this transition even more difficult.

I am a packrat. Third generation born and raised. There is nothing cute about it, I'm now realizing--hopefully not too late to fix it. I grew up staying a lot with my dear wonderful Granny whom I love so very much, and she was part of the generation that lived through the depression and learned to hang onto things for meager times. They had a good excuse. I learned to find comfort in clutter, I think, partly because she had so many little odds and ends and trinkets that she would keep, either for sentimental value or for a rainy day or simply because they'd always been there and had become part of the scenery. And I was comfortable and at home in her house, thus in that environment.

My mom wasn't nearly as intense, but I still remember her occasionally calling herself a packrat; I think her reasons for hanging onto things were more out of sensible frugality than anything else. If it could be fixed, altered, repurposed, or given away to someone who could use it, that was being a better steward of things than just throwing it away. That makes sense.

Then comes me.

I don't know when it started. I've always been comfortable in clutter, and it truly has never consciously bothered me. I have joked about my "organized clutter" numerous times and laughed off the fact that, yes, there are twelve piles of paper on this table, but I can tell you exactly where everything is within those piles! I was one of those kids who had to be constantly ridden and nagged to clean up my room. It wasn't necessarily dirty, just unorganized and full of... just stuff. I collected various things over the years--dolls, figurines, jewelry, Beanie Babies, bottles of a few kinds, shells, nail polish, CDs, t-shirts, books--and those things compile and take up space and collect dust, and the dusty piles become things you just block out and want to forget about. So you forget them and leave them in their dark corners, only to move on to some new collection that will inevitably take up space in some opposite corner, thus repeating the cycle. Then before you know it, you're moving boxes of your clutter to new phases of your life for no good reason other than that they've always been there and you're attached and it feels like an amputation of part of yourself to get rid of them.

(takes a breath.) You know, just generally speaking.

I moved my stuff, my clutter--years of it--to college with me, then into our first apartment when we got married, then into our first house, and much of it followed me to this new house. And guess what.

It. Is. Exhausting.

I'm just now beginning to have my eyes opened to the fact that stuff weighs people down. It seems a lot of people have been enlightened to this fact already and I'm one of the last to catch on. And I'm sure people have tried telling me this before, and I didn't listen, because I'm a Taurus and I'm stubborn.

I started throwing some things out before we moved, so there would be less to move and because I was starting to get clued in to the idea tht I really didn't need all this stuff. For me, being the emotionally attached person I am, it was a big deal to throw away every student/camper drawing I've vet been given, or every piece of clothing associated with a memory. And having picked up on my mom's frugal tendencies (and taken them to the extreme), I didn't want to toss anything I'd gotten free or at a good deal. But I started to. I felt like I was making progress.

Since we got everything moved, I've made more baby steps (which to me feel like leaps) toward a simpler, less cluttered life. Today I purged a scrapbook-stuff box of all the cards we received at our wedding. Yes, I was still holding onto them. No, I'm not entirely sure why. I wanted to scrapbook them, and each of them had some emotional value, but I realized how ridiculous it was to keep hanging onto things that don't matter in the long run.

Here's to small victories as I clear out my life of junk and make room for the new life that will soon be a large part of mine. No, it's not easy to let go, but it's necessary and healthy. I'm learning. I'm progressing. I'm getting there.

Loss and Life

When you get married, you join and commit yourself not only to that person but to his or her entire history and future, and that includes family. I wonder how many people realize the seriousness of that before entering the commitment. You're doubling your family in a day, essentially.

I'm fortunate to have been accepted into my husband's family (now mine) with open arms by all. And I love them. But doubling your family means not only doubling the love you receive, but also the loss you will inevitably experience. That's bittersweet.

Today we will honor the memory of my husband's grandmother. It has been a really rough weekend since her passing early Friday morning. I was blessed to grow up with two living sets of grandparents, but MaMa was the only grandparent Scott ever knew. And she was so influential in the lives she touched, so the pain of this loss is extra strong.

In her last few weeks, she asked Patricia (Scott's mom) to tell us that she was headed into the sunset and our baby was headed toward the sunrise. While I hate that she didn't get to meet this new little life and that her own ended so closely before his... There's almost comfort in knowing she *knew*--not just that he was coming, but that, in a sense, they were trading places.

I've been reading Tuck Everlasting with my students this semester, a novel that discusses the ideas of life, immortality, and death. It's suggested therein that, though it's sad and we hate and often fear it, death is a natural part of the wheel of life, right next to being born; that old life must leave to make room for new. It seems in Scott's family, this pattern is almost always true--death and new life come paired together. I have mixed feelings about this. It's selfish, but I even don't like the fact that my child's birth will be, in a sense, less happy an occasion because it will follow so soon after Belle's passing. People may associate the two and it might make them sad.

I guess there's comfort in knowing she knew he was going to be named after her late husband (Perry--Taven's middle name). I know that tickled her. But I'll always hate that they never met. Not in this life, anyway.

Belle was a wonderful woman whose life deserves to be celebrated, and I hope we will keep doing so anytime the family gets together. I'm thankful for the new life God is sending our way to celebrate even I'm the shadow of loss. He's good that way.

Written 4-15
(Finished later)

Five days

This Friday is our gender ultrasound. I do believe this will likely be the second longest five days of my life, second only to my due date.

Scott and I talked last night about how nice it will be to start talking to the baby in utero. The earliest I've read he/she might be able to hear is 18 weeks, so we have another month on that, but still. Knowing what the baby is and being able to call it by its name... I think that will just help to make it all real.

There have only been a couple of "real" moments, really. When the doctor called with the results of my hcg test and confirmed the pregnancy, I cried, because official results rather than the at-home test seemed to make it real.

The other defining moment was the first ultrasound. I half expected a blank picture to come up onscreen, for the tech to say, "there's no baby in here; what were you thinking?!" But then I saw it, wiggling around and waving and kicking and very much real and alive. I teared up then, too.

I can't wait to see more of this little person who's about to change my entire world.

A special teacher moment

This week has been a tough one at work. Long story vague and short enough for safety, my teaching ability was called into question (by some students who I believe had a bad combination of having it out for me and genuinely not learning as much in my class as others because they put forth less effort and little to no enthusiasm--but, hey, can't win 'em all). It has been a week of self-doubt, defensiveness, desperately hurt feelings, and internal panic. One of my most tragic flaws as an educator is my desire to make everyone happy and my subsequent need for approval (yes, my name is J, and I'm a people-pleaser), not just from administrators but from colleagues, parents, and students as well.

After today's attempt on my part to smooth things over, I felt drained and defeated (despite my administrator's advice not to feel that way at all). Combine this with pregnancy hormones and the chaos that is my multi-tasking life these days, and you've got a considerable mess.

Tonight I logged onto my school Facebook page and scrolled through the news feed, all the usual types of posts from my students--music videos, carefully angled photos taken on cell phones into mirrors, and misspelled updates about the drama of life. Then I noticed a post with my name in it. It read:

dude we have 1 of the best teachers of all time i kno she thinks im playin but shes still best
to mrs O'Shields

This was the student whose truancy conference I attended earlier this week.

Several other students commented and agreed with his post.

These are the moments that remind me it's going to be okay, strange as it is.

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!

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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!