July 28, 2007 by Karen of Scottsdale
My friend and Blog Son CJ is the proud father of a baby girl born Friday, July 27. Visit his blog to see pictures of the beautiful redhaired angel.
Also, another friend has started blogging, so I guess I have another blog son. Check out Ken’s blog called On Second Look.
Category blogging, miscellaneous stuff | Tags: | Comments Off
July 28, 2007 by Karen of Scottsdale
Yesterday’s mail came in and Norm went through all of the goodies junk mail that arrived. One was most interesting because it claimed we could possibly be winners of $10,000, a Wal-Mart gift card worth up to $2500, or $100 cash. Norm scratched off the number hidden under the silver paint and low and behold it matched the numbers in the box next to it. That meant we had won something. The mailer was from a car dealership way out in far east Mesa. It turns out that we had to go within 2 miles of that location for an appointment so I suggested to Norm we go and claim our prize. $10,000 would really come in handy and I certainly wouldn’t turn down $100 cash, and it said no purchase necessary on the mailer. (more…)
Category life with Norm | Tags: | 1 Comment
July 18, 2007 by Karen of Scottsdale
I’ve been using Gmail and Google search engine for several years. In the last six months I started using many more of Google’s fantastic and free tools.
Google Calendar: I especially like this because I can share it with other Google users, specifically my husband Norm. We each have our own personal calendar and then we share them with each other so that whenever I look at my calendar on Google I also see appointments that Norm has scheduled as well. Something that could be useful for businesses is also great for families. The neat thing is that I can create separate calendars within my own Google calendar so there are personal things that I want to notate on my calendar view that I don’t necessarily want to share with Norm. All of these different calendars are color-coded so they’re easy to keep track of. If I wanted to I could share any or all parts of my calendar on a webpage. It probably won’t happen anytime soon, but I wanted you to be aware of that useful function. Oh, and least I forget, you can import public Google calendars from the Internet. I did that for US holidays. That function would be useful for community groups.
Google Homepage: it’s the home page for my Firefox browser because of all the Uber cool things I can use there and it has several pretty themes to choose from. Google had tons of “stuff” that you can put on your home page, but I’ll focus on the ones that I find most useful.
Gmail and Google Calendar are both listed on my homepage so I can see at a glance if there is unread e-mail in my inbox and my agenda for the day or the next few days.
Google Bookmarks allows me to add bookmarks my most frequently visited websites. It’s a much shorter list than going to the bookmarks or favorites menu in the browser.
Web Stickies Mod v3.1: customizable sticky notes you can move around your home page. I absolutely adore this because it’s so much easier for me to use than trying to find that little tiny sticky notepad and pen when I’ve got an idea I want to note. There’s no paper clutter because they are virtual. Talk about Green computing.
Google Notebook is very, very useful and you don’t even need to use it with Google home page. It’s a tool that makes research on the Internet fun. For example, I ran across a website that got some very useful information I want to refer to later. I could use the browser bookmark or favorites tool, but Google notebook allows me to make notes about this particular webpage. You could highlight text on the page and it will added to your notebook entry. You can then type your own notes on the entry in your notebook.
I have only scratched the surface on how useful the Google Homepage and other Google tools can be. Using Google’s tools is environmentally friendly because of all the paper you aren’t using and you can login to your Google account from any computer with Internet access so it’s with you wherever you go. Check it out for yourself and see what all the buzz is about.
Category cool stuff, favorite things, high-tech stuff | Tags: | 5 Comments
July 15, 2007 by Karen of Scottsdale
GrannyJ of Walking Prescott tagged me last month for this fun, but difficult to complete, meme. Here are the rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each participant posts eight random facts about themselves on their blog.
3. At the end of the post, eight more bloggers are tagged
4. Go to their blog, leave a comment telling them they’re tagged.
1. I have an MBA in management from San Diego State University and a BA cum laude in public administration.
2. When I was seven years old my father and I fell out of a tree house together. He hung onto me until the last 3 feet of our 15 foot fall when the aluminum ladder he was standing on buckled out from under us. Neither one of us broke any bones. The wind got knocked out of me when I hit the ground and my father’s legs got banged up a bit in the ladder. In case you’re wondering — that’s not why I’m in a wheelchair.
3. By the time I was 11 or 12 years old I had learned three-dimensional drawing and embroidery from my mother.
4. Not long after that she taught me calligraphy and through high school and college I learned all I could about calligraphy through various workbooks.
5. Around the age of 9 my younger brother and I got this great idea to earn some extra cash during the summer. We found discarded rubber bands from newspapers on our neighborhood lawns and driveways and went door to door selling them for a penny apiece or six for a nickel. Our entrepreneurial endeavors were soon brought to an end when my mother received a phone call from one of the neighbors telling her of our moneymaking operation. She had no idea where we were up to!
6. Although I am a native of California, I spent 10 years in the deep South in a little town called Morgan City, Louisiana. We moved back to San Diego when I finished high school, so I quickly lost my Cajun accent. Get me around anyone from South Louisiana and it’s not long before I pick it up all over again.
7. I used to be crazy about doing origami. Gave that up when I lost a lot of strength in my hands. It was fun and a great hobby because you can make cool gifts for people. One time I made a bouquet of flowers.
8. I’ve read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It’s an amazing book and one that you can read over and over again and always learn something new.
I’m tagging NormRadio, Espresso Pundit, Pat’s Pond, The Mad Tea Party, Mountaineer Musings, CJdotcom.com, Scott Sands Alive, and Vox.
Category blogging, memories, miscellaneous stuff | Tags: | 5 Comments
July 12, 2007 by Karen of Scottsdale
Category funnies | Tags: | 3 Comments
July 9, 2007 by Karen of Scottsdale
Norm’s got the scoop at Normradio.com.
Category life with Norm | Tags: | 1 Comment
July 5, 2007 by Karen of Scottsdale
Since I got here on Monday afternoon I’ve been having a good time in San Diego with my family. I’m missing Norm quite a bit, but we’ve talked every day. I know he’s missing me too.
Yesterday we celebrated my mother’s birthday and America’s independence. First we had a little party for mom at her favorite place, Summers Past Farms, with a handful of her friends and family. Later we went to my brother’s house for barbecue ribs and chicken. It was good! Mom and I were rather worn out from the day’s activities so we went home and my grandmother came over for a short visit. She’ll be 87 this year. My dad went with the rest of the gang to watch fireworks at Lake Murray Park. Mom and I stayed home and I watched a little TV. It was a fun but long day and I was tired.
Today I’ve rested quite a bit and did a little shopping with my mother. We just got home and I had a most delicious snack of Langer’s red grape juice and some Cheez-its. I guess it’s like having wine and cheese without the alcohol. I can’t stand alcohol — yuck. But I do love good red grape juice and it’s impossible to find in Scottsdale, so I make sure my mother has some on hand when I come to visit. Thanks Mom!
This evening I think we are having dinner with my brother and the Spice Girls. I didn’t get to play with them much yesterday because they had a friend over and their friend occupied their time. I guess I can’t blame them because when I was a kid I probably wanted to hang out with the kids too. They had fun playing in the sprinklers late in the afternoon while my brother’s lawn was being watered.
Category family | Tags: | 5 Comments