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Another camera bites the dust

Posted on January 23, 2009 9:37 am by TheAngelForever

It has not been a very good week with electronics in our household. First, my cell phone decides to spontaneously crack. Apparently it could not handle the extreme cold and the hard plastic just gave up. Of course, my warranty is no longer valid. For $50 they would give me an identical phone, but I am eligible for new phone in June. We will be digging out one of our old phones until after our trip to Disney World.

The real kicker is this:

My precious digital camera is basically dead. The item that I keep with me practically at all times has kicked the bucket. For several months, I blamed our rechargeable batteries for everything that was happening. Little did I know, it was the camera the entire time. The Canon camera that I purchased in the fall just over a year ago is gone! The battery sensors are not working properly. The other day I put in fresh batteries, took 3 photos and the camera started to flash low battery and then shut down. JL took the batteries to work to check their voltage readings. Sure enough, they were 100% perfect. Do you know how many stinking batteries I thought were no good because of this camera? Grrrr!

This will be the second digital dud that I have purchased. It just does not seem right to me for a camera to only last 12-14 months (my last one did not even make it that long – that was a Fuji). Of course, the review for this camera were amazing when we bought it. Then last month JL did some research and others were complaining about the same battery sensor troubles. Canon will allow us to ship it to them to check and then tell us the cost of repair. My theory, it will cost way more to fix this camera than just purchasing a new one. Does this make me angry? YES!

So my question to you today:

Do you have any suggestions on a new digital camera? I want one that will last several years (a fair request I believe), has its own lithium battery within (no more replacement batteries), and is portable for on the go. One other item, I would prefer something other than Fuji and Canon for obvious reasons.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating. Th

Aloha #32

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Aloha Friday customer service decisions me moments shopping

My life in points

Posted on January 22, 2009 9:36 am by TheAngelForever

As I have mentioned before, I officially started Weight Watchers online almost two weeks ago. My decision to do this online rather than the meetings was not an easy one. Since I have a great support system at home, I did not feel that I needed meetings, especially since they were at least double the price of online. What I wanted was something for ideas, the message boards (if I use them), recipes broken down in points, and something to keep me motivated. For some reason paying money makes it more real and keeps me on target.

I know that the Weight Watchers point system works for me. I unofficially did Weight Watchers when NHL was about 6 months old. By his first birthday I had lost about at least 50 pounds. When I started teaching again, I weighed less than I can ever recall. I felt wonderful and could finally shop for clothing in any store. I made a mistake part way though the year. I stopped journaling what I was consuming. JL and I were not eating as healthy and our portions slowly increased. Then when NHL was almost two and still not walking, my world fell apart. I was faced with stress at school and not knowing what was wrong with my little boy. The daily offering of goodies in the faculty room were calling me, and I the will power slowly declined.

I know I should have started back on Weight Watchers before this point, but I was afraid. I partially blamed myself for sabotaging my milk supply when I was nursing NHL. I did not want to jeopardize this for JSL. When we made our reservations for Disney World something clicked in my brain. I did not want to be uncomfortable walking there, I wanted to fit into the rides, and I did not want to be heaview than I was on my honeymoon there almost eight years ago.

Starting Weight Watchers in the winter is not easy, I have done this twice now. The fruit and vegetables available are not as good, and oh my are they expensive these days! In addition to this, many of the comfort foods of winter that keep you warm are high in calroies and fat. Being healthy is far from cheap and definitely not easy, especially in these economic times. However, I know in the long run that better health will save us a lot of money.

JL and I have found some snacks that fulfill our need for "junk" food. Kashi and Fiber One products have been amazing. We have also tried several recipes from the Weight Watchers website and have a few more that are ready to go. After my first full week, I lost two pounds. Sure, it is not a ton of weight like the Biggest Loser contestants, but losing 15 pounds or more in a week seems so unhealthy to me. I know that if it comes off gradually it is more likely to stay off.

Do you have any great healthy recipes to share?

I would love to have some more suggestions to avoid repeating the same items over and over. We keep a kosher kitchen at home, so we tend to eat mostly vegetarian style meals. This does include kosher fish like salmon and tilapia. From time to time, we make chicken or turkey. We use a lot of Morning Star burger crumbles, and other soy based "meat" products.

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food glorious food health awareness looking back me moments

Grilling Goodness

Posted on January 18, 2009 10:56 am by TheAngelForever

Thanks to Kim at Beanish and Other Languages I’m Learning I found a fun new meme that is perfect for a snowy Sunday morning.

Here is the Grilling Goodness questions for this week. Please head over and play along.

1. Do you like scary movies? Not really. I still remember when I read a scene from Silence of the Lambs that I had not watched (hiding behind a blanket) and was unable to sleep for nights. I can only imagine if I had seen it.

2. What kind of cell phone do you have? A very basic LG phone.

3. Do you have a passport? Not yet. We have only been to Canada and do not need it to travel there yet.

4. Has anything sad happened in your life this week? Thursday we heard that JL’s grandmother is not doing well. We are trying to arrange for him to go and visit her.

5. Have you ever broken any bones? No I have not.

6. Did you do anything this week that you don’t normally do? Thursday I spent the afternoon with my mother. She had the day off since she is working this weekend. We sat part of the afternoon and looked at menus for Disney World.

7. What’s the worst thing you ever had in your wardrobe? That would be hard to say since I was a teen in the 80’s!

8. Did you have braces on your teeth? No, I had a procedure when I was little that allowed my two front teeth to go together and avoided years of orthodontics.

Thanks to Tina at Golden Goodness for hosting all of this fun!

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Grilling Goodness me moments web fun

Nalgene my H2O queen

Posted on January 16, 2009 9:33 am by TheAngelForever

Most people would probably find it strange that my beverage of choice is water. Sure, I like an occasional Crystal Light Peach Ice Tea, but I am not a soda person. In fact, about ten years ago I gave up drinking items that contain caffeine. I did it cold turkey, but it was the best thing I ever did.

In recent weeks, I have not been as good about drinking water. Sure, I may have had one of my smaller containers during the day, but not much more. When I joined Weight Watchers online, I was reminded about the 64 ounces of water that you should consume in a day. My reusable water container only held about 20 ounces.

While out on Saturday I went to the store with my brother and sister-in-law and bought myself this:

Pretty isn’t she? This is my new 32 ounce Nalgene water bottle. Nalgene is made in the USA and is PBA free (says it right on the bottom now). I had a hard time finding Nalgene products, but thanks to JL’s coworker I knew the store that carried them locally. I love that I can fill it up to 32 ounces and chug away the water my body needs and fill it one more time during the day to get my daily water intake.

Of course I learned a hard lesson. Do not drink 32 ounces of water right before heading out into the freezing cold temperatures. What can I say, my teacher bladder is not up to that after having two children.

So my question to you:

How much water do you drink? Do you make a conscious effort to concume 64 ounces each day?

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating. Th

Aloha #31

Categories:
Aloha Friday me moments photos shopping

Timing is everything

Posted on January 10, 2009 10:00 am by TheAngelForever

In early November I won a fabulous David’s Cookie and Brownie tin in a giveaway on Mamanista.com. Debbie e-mailed me with the great news and I sent her my mailing information. To make a long story short, things were crazy during the holiday season at David’s and my prize never arrived. A contact at David’s Cookies was great the other day and told me that it was being shipped on Wednesday and would arrive via UPS on Friday. I was never overly worried, just concerned that it had been shipped and someone had taken it off my porch.

Yesterday right before dinner, I popped my head outside and sure enough a package was sitting on my front step. Here is what was inside:

The timing is perfect and ironic at the same time. My brother, sister-in-law and niece are in town this weekend. We kept the tin all ready to take with us to my parent’s house today. This will be our goodies to go with dinner tonight. The ironic part is that yesterday morning I finally signed up for Weight Watchers online. As a non-chocolate consuming person, not too much should tempt me, but I did see some oatmeal cookies. Thank goodness for extra weekly points!