Selfish Mom

Another Mystro Time Warner update: what’s different?

Aug 30, 2010 Product Review

Last week while I was watching TV my Time Warner DVR shut down and started another software update.  It was annoying that I wasn’t given the choice to wait, since I was in the middle of a show – just because it’s two in the morning doesn’t mean that everyone is asleep – but whatever.  After it was done and the system rebooted I tried it out.  I was eager to see the changes, because after the last Mystro update there were some huge ones.  But it’s been about a week and so far I’ve only discovered one obvious change: a new fast forward and rewind speed has been added, 4, and it is quite fast.  Hitting play still makes it go back too far, but at least it doesn’t take so long to get through commercial breaks anymore.

Anyone notice anything else?  It is of course quite possible that the update had more to do with how the system runs than with features that a normal user would notice (since there’s no indication after it’s over that any update took place, who knows how often they happen), but if there are new features I’d like to know what they are instead of accidentally finding them two months from now.  So if you’ve found any other differences please add them in the comments.

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, Momtourage, and podcasts with The Blogging Angels.

Tags: Explorer 8300HD DVR, Mystro Time Warner update

When the hell did Fred Savage die?

Aug 30, 2010 Blog & Social Media Stuff

It’s usually harder than this to pinpoint the origins of internet death hoax rumors, but the Emmy Awards made it easy last night.

In the little pre-commercial preview of the “In Memoriam” segment this image was flashed:

And sure enough, Twitter lit up with “OMG Fred Savage Died?” tweets.  Of course, it was revealed in the actual segment that that was a very young Corey Haim, who did die earlier this year, not Fred Savage, who is alive and well and directing episodes of all of the tween shows my kids torture me with.  But my goodness it did look like little Kevin Arnold.

So that’s the end of it, right?  They showed the name with the picture and the rumors were quashed.  But no, this morning rumors are flying that Fred Savage died in a drunk driving accident.  It appears that this rumor is not new, but was resurrected by fans googling for info.

Fred Savage is not dead.  But really Academy, you couldn’t have picked a clip that actually looked like Corey Haim?  He did several TV series, there must have been other clips to choose from.

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, Momtourage, and podcasts with The Blogging Angels.

Tags: Corey Haim, Fred Savage Emmy, Is Fred Savage dead

The sticky spot on my floor that is breaking my brain

Aug 28, 2010 What's Going On

Our floors downstairs have always been dirty.  We don’t have this problem on the upper floors; sand comes in from our front entrance and dirt from the back, and I’d just sort of given in.  I run my Swiffer WetJet over them occasionally, and we sweep frequently, but there’s just always been a dark dirty base on them that I’d never really tackled.

Then last weekend we had friends over for brunch, including an adorable toddler.  We all had a great time (and the quiche was delicious), but I was mortified as his dad was getting him ready to leave, trying to brush the black off of his little feet.  I’m used to it with my feet – dirt in your own house is somehow not as dirty as what you encounter in other places.  But seeing it on his feet made my really embarrassed.  Almost as soon as they’d left I started moving furniture.  A round of sweeping and vacuuming and two passes with the Swiffer WetJet didn’t do it, so I got down on my hands and knees with a bucket of vinegar water and some rags and did what I should have done years ago.

Growing up  I watched my own mother clean the floors this way.  She was (and still is) meticulous, tireless and consistent.  I always thought to myself, why doesn’t she use a mop or something easier?  The answer, of course, was that nothing else does the job as well as a bucket, bruised knees, and effort.

Seven hours total it took.  For one floor of our house, about 600 square feet when you take out the stairs and the counters and other areas covered by bookcases and appliances.  My shoulders were killing me and my knees were aching.  It’s not like I would have to do that all the time, that’s just what it took to get rid of years of construction dust and dirt and sand and spilled juice cups and dripped ice cream and ground-in crumbs.  Now all I would have to do is maintain it.

So here I am, a week later, staring at a sticky spot on the floor the size of a dollar bill.  And instead of just grabbing a sponge and wiping it up, every fiber in my being is telling me to get out the bucket and move the furniture.  For one sticky spot.  The rest of the floor is still amazingly clean.  I was a total pain in the ass all week about our new no-shoe rule.  All I need to do is wipe up that one spot and leave it.  But I can’t.

I don’t know why my brain works like this.  It’s perfectionism, self diagnosed from dozens of talk shows and internet sites.  People hear the term “perfectionism” and think I must be someone who has a perfect house and perfect body and perfect life, or at least I’m working tirelessly towards those things, but that’s not how it works.  It means that if I can’t make something perfect, then I simply don’t do it.  It’s why I’m a control freak, why I have trouble delegating, why I’m overweight, and why my house is a mess.

And I feel like if I could just clean that sticky spot and move on, then I could also exercise on a Monday and not give up on the rest of the week after skipping Tuesday.  That I could clean one small shelf when I have a spare fifteen minutes, instead of waiting until I have a free weekend to clean all of the shelves at once (a time that never seems to come).  That I could let Fiona help me fold the mountain of clean laundry on our guest bed (she’s been begging!), even though she won’t do it “right.’  That I could pick up a couple pieces of trash from my sidewalk on my way in without waiting for a free morning to put on gardening gloves, grab a garbage bag, and do the whole block.  There’s nothing wrong with cleaning all of my shelves or folding all of my laundry myself in one big marathon session or picking up all of the garbage, except that I never get around to it, and waiting to do big projects stops me from making a small dent.

The saying that has helped me the most in my life is this riddle: How do you eat an elephant?  One small bite at a time.  Occasionally I’m able to let that kind of thinking win, and get things done.  But those times are infrequent, and I fall back into old habits quickly.  If I could learn to take small bites consistently I could change my life.  I’m going to start with that sticky spot.

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, Momtourage, and podcasts with The Blogging Angels.

Tags: cleaning, mental illness, perfectionist

How important is sleep for a mom? Just ask my crying daughter

Aug 26, 2010 Kids

I think this past week may have been my worst week of sleep ever.  I’m talking in my whole life, excepting of course the months when I had newborns (there isn’t even a word for that kind of chronic exhaustion).  In the past four nights I went to bed once at 4am, twice at 2, and once at midnight, and was awake around six each day.  This would have been salvageable if I’d been able to just get the kids to school or camp and then go back to sleep, but this is a weird week.

Jake is going to a week of science camp that’s an hour away from us, and it’s only a half day (9-12).  So, it makes absolutely no sense to drive out there, drop him off, drive home, and leave again in an hour.  Instead, Fiona and I have been hanging out on Long Island and having some fun mommy-daughter time (pedicures, the mall, lunches, tennis, and one morning spent in the car that we’ll just skip over).  That part’s been great, but by the time we all get home at one I’ve been absolutely exhausted.  It doesn’t matter what I tell them, what I bribe them with, how much I yell or beg, they haven’t let me nap for more than an hour a day.  So I’ve been exhausted, and digging myself in deeper with every late bedtime.

It all came to a head this evening.  I was up on the third floor folding laundry and the kids were watching TV on the first floor.  It was just about bedtime.  There had been some stupid fighting at dinner, but other than that it had been a good day all around.  Then I heard the screaming: blood-curdling screeches from Fiona that traveled up the stairs and in the windows on both sides of the house.  I called on the intercom phone and yelled for Fiona to get upstairs.

I was tired.  She was tired.  They’d been fighting over the remote.  She just needed to go to bed.  But she felt the need to try to explain to me, over and over, why she was screaming (it was all Jake’s fault, of course, in her mind).  And every time she tried to explain I tried to drill into her head that it just didn’t matter.  That screaming was not the answer and not OK.  We were both being incredibly stubborn and one of us needed to just back off, which is what I’m always telling them when they’re fighting.  Someone just needed to be the hero and say “Fine.  Let’s agree to disagree.”  But being completely sleep-deprived I was unable to see it.  I was completely unable to recognize that I just needed to give her a hug, tell her that we were both tired and tomorrow will be another day.  That’s all I needed to do.  So simple.

And yet I couldn’t.  She kept making excuses for her behavior and I kept pushing back.  I was on automatic.  And eventually she was in tears and I was near my breaking point.

Sometimes I think I pride myself in my weird sleeping habits.  I’m way more creative late at night, when the house is quiet and phones aren’t ringing and emails aren’t flying in every few minutes.  And gee, look how busy I am.  I’m so important to be up and tweeting in the middle of the night when all the lazy people are in bed.  Wow, she’s so busy, when does she sleep?

I stay up until I get shit done.  But at what cost?  I know from experience that what I gain from plowing through work at 2am I lose again by having a disorganized day when I wake up after 4 hours of sleep.  Even when I am free to nap, it’s just not the same as seven or eight solid hours.  I know this.  But I can never see it when I’m tired.

I think the answer may be tattooing some reminders on my arm, like in Memento.  Something like “You’re an ineffective parent when you’re exhausted.”  Or maybe more to the point: “Get more sleep or your children will grow up to be assholes who also hate you.”

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, Momtourage, and podcasts with The Blogging Angels.

Tags: exhaustion, sleep

Get your own pair of simulated diamond earrings, free!*

Aug 26, 2010 Contest/Giveaway, Paid/Sponsored Post

A new website called DiamondEarrings.org has an innovative promotion going on.  They’re not selling anything yet, but are spreading the word about their site by giving away free pairs of simulated diamond earrings set in sterling silver, and will ship them anywhere in the continental U.S.  It works like this:

1) Mention the site DiamondEarrings.org on twitter, facebook, myspace, or your own blog.

2) Go to DiamondEarrings.org and click on “Order Now” on the top right of the page.

3) Fill out the required information and pay for shipping, only $3.77.

4) Wait for your earrings to arrive!

That’s not all: I’m giving away three pairs of these simulated diamond earrings on my site, which will save you the shipping and handling costs!

To enter just leave a comment on this post before I close the comments around noon-ish on September 9th, 2010, and I’ll draw three winners via random.org.  Only one entry per household please!  To enter you have to live in the continental U.S., and you have to be at least 18 years old.  For complete rules please see my Giveaway Rules Page.

Good luck, and go get your earrings!

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has Compensation Levels of 9 & 11. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, Momtourage, and podcasts with The Blogging Angels.

* Just pay shipping and handling fees of $3.77

Tags: diamond earrings, jewelry

Wisk, 70s hair, and the Flintstones

Aug 25, 2010 Uncategorized

The following post was commissioned by Wisk.

I remember an episode of the Flintstones where Wilma and Betty are discussing Fred’s “ring around the collar” laundry problem.  Betty asks Wilma how she solved it, and Wilma replies that she washed Fred’s neck. :-)

I’ve never really been aware of neck dirt on my husband’s shirts, but then again I don’t wash them.  We send them out because I try to iron only once or twice a year, and if I were responsible for his shirts, I’d be ironing all the time.  Would I also be battling this mysterious ring around the collar problem?  Apparently, it used to be quite the predicament for wives in the 70s, as evidenced by this fabulous retro commercial:

I love that commercial.  Sometimes I feel like my laundry is screaming at me too.   And the hair!  Oh, I could make fun of her hair for…wait, the haircut I just got the other day is eerily similar to hers, all I’d have to do is flip the ends up.  Sigh.

So, compare that to this new teaser commercial from Wisk:

We’ve come a long way, baby, from stressing over our spouse’s laundry (why the hell isn’t he packing his own suitcase anyway?), to the science behind the suds (or at least the suggestion of science, what with all the chemical element abbreviations floating by on the screen).

I don’t want to stress over my laundry, it doesn’t define me.  I just want it done, and I want the stains out.  And man, can my kids bring the stains.  I just don’t remember getting that dirty in the 70s, and I was playing outside all the time.  My kids have found new and exciting ways to stain their clothes: my son likes to land on his knees a lot when playing dodgeball or soccer, and I’m beginning to wonder if either of them will be able to go to college without a bib.  Plus, with both of them losing teeth, there’s always a good possibility that someone will come home with blood all over their shirt.

And The Ass?  Well, let’s just say that he’s had issues with every condiment from mustard to salsa.  When we go out to dinner we do an over/under for when he’ll spill something on his shirt.

By the way, this isn’t the first time I’ve crossed paths with Wisk.  I’m in a couple of their Mom Blogger videos, and also on that same page is an interview I did with my good friend Maria Bailey.  Why is my voice to freakin’ high in that one?

I’ll be working with Wisk for a few more posts about the newest stain fighting capabilities of their detergent.

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 2. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, Momtourage, and podcasts with The Blogging Angels.

Tags: detergent, HE, laundry, Wisk

Freebies, swaghags, and disclosure

Aug 23, 2010 Uncategorized

The Blogging Angels‘ second podcast went up this morning, and I’m very excited to announce that we’re now on iTunes!

This podcast is all about the free stuff that many bloggers have access to, what they do with it, and what it means for readers.  This is a subject I know a lot about.  I have a swag room.  I let my pregnant sister Cara go shopping in it for baby stuff last time she was in town.  It’s crazy that my youngest child was four when I started blogging and yet I’ve been given tons of baby stuff.  I think it’s just easier and cheaper for the companies to send stuff out to way too many people than to take the time to target the products well.

Almost every job I’ve ever had had some kind of perk associated with it, from free baked potatoes at Arby’s to a great suntan while lifeguarding to free porn on the TV when I was a concierge.  But at least those jobs had paychecks, and the perks were just extras.  For many bloggers, the perks (free products) are the main reason they’re blogging.  For others, free products are evil and they will have nothing to do with them.  I suspect that most of us fall somewhere in the middle.

When I was still a fairly new blogger I was having a conversation with Kim Orlando (TravelingMom.com) about all of the free stuff I was starting to get and what I should do with it.  She told me something that really stuck with me: whatever I do with it, it’s not free.  Dealing with it takes work.  And it can be very fun work.  I like using products and writing about them.  But it takes a lot of time, and yes, it is work.

In fact, the only “freebies” that I would consider totally free are the ones you never ever hear about on this blog: they come to my house and either get given away or collect dust.  And that category makes up about 90% of the stuff that comes my way.

The Blogging Angels: Swag, freebies and responsibility

And please, if you like us, rate us in iTunes!

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, Momtourage, and podcasts with The Blogging Angels.

Tags: Blogging, freebies, iTunes, swag, The Blogging Angels

Quick and easy quiche recipe

Aug 21, 2010 Recipes

I stress about odd things.  I’m fine with speaking in public, walking into a room full of strangers, flying, and nearing forty.  But I stress big-time when I cook for company.  That’s why I’ve gotten quite good at making things that I can put together before the guests arrive and then bake while I’m enjoying myself, so if you come to my house for dinner chances are good that whatever I serve you will be in a casserole dish or roasting pan.

But tomorrow I’m having some friends over for brunch, and I didn’t know what to serve.  I make really good eggs and pancakes for my family all the time, but you can’t make those ahead.  In fact, if I made either of those I would basically be slaving in the kitchen until  the moment everyone had food on their plates.  Not my idea of a relaxing Sunday with friends.

The obvious answer, of course, is quiche.  While in my adult life I’ve eaten my weight in quiche, I’ve never made one. I started searching online for recipes, and settled on a zucchini and onion quiche because I love zucchini and had all of the ingredients. Then I got to work testing out the recipe (husbands are for experimenting on, friends are to please and dazzle).  The first time I made it I followed the recipe exactly, and while it was tasty, it didn’t taste like quiche.  It was very bread-y, not moist, and didn’t taste like eggs.  So, I adapted the recipe to what you see below, and tried again.  Perfection!

Of course, now I’ve got two quiches sitting in my kitchen and will be making another one fresh for my guests tomorrow.  I think some of my neighbors will be getting a quiche delivery after I shower.

Quick and Easy Zucchini Quiche Recipe

(adapted from AllRecipes.com)

UPDATE: The third time I made this I played with the ingredients a tiny bit more, adding one more egg (for a total of nine) and making all of the seasonings into rounded teaspoons, and needed to cook it for about an extra five minutes.  It was delicious, and a little more flavorful.

Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, Momtourage, and podcasts with The Blogging Angels.

Tags: entertaining, quiche, zucchini