live from sublurbia

So friends and family (originally linked to me from the Feminist Breeder’s FaceBook wall) have been passing around this particular Toys R Us link for trading up old baby stuff for new.

A great idea to encourage turning over of stuff that’s just not safe after a while – strollers, cribs, baby seats, carseats. A 25% discount is not a bad deal, either. Sure you can surf for coupons or save up points or wait until the kid is 47.95 inches tall to get her a more height-appropriate carseat, or you can take this easy trade up discount and go.

I’m going. Well, maybe one of my carseats is. I don’t actually need any new carseats, or strollers, or anything else. My eldest is well enmeshed in school and my youngest is itching to go. We’ve gone through and rid ourselves of nearly every infant- and toddler-safe toy in the house. So I’ll turn in my beloved Fisher Price Safe Embrace and ensure it will be disposed of safely and properly.

The last time I tried to get rid of one of those, I was adamant that I destroy it enough that it wouldn’t be reused. I slashed all of the buckles, and took a sledgehammer to it. It was TOUGH. Tougher than I, though a couple dozen sledgehammer hits later, we had a good, visible crack in the shell.

This time I let it sit in the garage, passed over every time we did a clean out. Every time I’d remember it was there, I’d forget to find out where to get it destroyed safely. But this is a great opportunity. Take in the carseat, and ensure it’s destroyed by someone responsible (Toys R Us). We have local fire stations that do inspections, but I’m not sure they handle destruction. And all of them are already rather busy with fires and as gathering points for Haiti relief efforts.

Thanks to TRU – sure it’s a marketing ploy, but it certainly can’t hurt to get some of this older gear OUT.

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For more WMFW tips, visit our hosts at: We are THAT family.

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You think with my mega food prep post last month (I know, it’s been a crazy month) I would have covered beans. Small error on my part, sorry.

I’ve been using dried and frozen and freeze dried vegetables for years – there was a metals allergy in my family so I never was much for canned veggies. And maybe it’s my inability to plan meals correctly, but the “standard sized can” of veggies isn’t quite enough for two meals, and too much for one. Continue Reading »

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Think of a something Thursday

I’ve been thinking wayyy too much about food lately. The holidays are coming, I’m packing lunches and snacks for folks, planning my own meals away from the family, either on the road doing small writing projects or at home.

And LEFTOVERS. Oh, the leftovers. And quick-fix meals. And long-term cooking. And my freezer that keeps clicking.

The cycle usually goes like this. I get in a mood to cook a lot, or I find a deal and make a lot of something. Then I have the same tasting leftovers in the freezer forever, using up all of the few containers I have.

So I came up with a better idea while brainstorming this problem. Turn all the food into ice cubes. It worked for my breastmilk in my pumping days. It worked for kiddie purees. It works for my leftover broths! Continue Reading »

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Busy working here and there, picking up freelance projects and juggling just as much as I was when I put in a forty hour work week at Corporate. Phew.

And I’ve gone through and upgraded everyone’s website and life except for my own. Shoemaker’s children and all that.

Soon. Sooon! Big changes rolling out.

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Summer of cousins is over :(, school year is begun :), Tropical Storm Danny has me out getting my six five-gallon water bottles refilled :(.

My sister and mom decluttered the panlaundrium and kitchen a bit (See, I told you my methods make sense! They put everything where I expected except for my little plastic IKEA bowls – I think they ate them.) and it didn’t “hurt” as much as I expected. Decluttering for me, as opposed to me decluttering, drives me NUTS, but now that it’s over and I didn’t know it was happening, well, maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

And seeing progress makes it easier for me to make progress.

Anyway, I have ton of blogging and reading to do, but I need to go spend some hours on my clients first, catching up on their bloggy administrivia and support, then do the same catching up on my own (I’m revamping the site so don’t mind if I go dark a few days).

Stay tuned and happy back-to-school!

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Speaking of disposable diapers, head on over to Pittsburgh Mom to read my guest post: tips on shopping for disposable diapers.

Thanks, Heather*, and good luck on the Diaper Drive!

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So far I’ve uncovered:

6 size 1 disposable diapers from my eldest’s short time in disposables

1 flannel 2T jacket

Size 0 left shoe, worn once for pictures

Information about recycling at our old home

A packet of unopened crayons suitable for school this year

Lots of random unsharpened pencils from various goody bags over the years

A peanut M and M that looks like a Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle

Can’t wait until school starts; with the kids out of the house I’ll probably find even more.

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_{For other WFMW tips, see our hosts at “We are THAT family”!}

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I told myself I wouldn’t pressure myself to WMFW on vacation, but sometimes inspiration smacks you upside the head.

Instead of making sixteen billion different custom sandwiches for the kids every lunch day we have sandwiches, we made three or four and cut them up. The kids served themselves, family style, and all we had to do was shout “This plate is peanut butter, this plate is jelly” half a dozen times.

One time we got smart – jelly on white, peanut butter on wheat. Two days later even smarter – different shapes! Pictured are cheese (triangle), jelly (square) and peanut butter (rectangle). We’re still repeating ourselves, but not quite as much …

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Catching up, cousins “downloading” new things to each other Matrix-style (“I know kung-fu!”) and just generally hanging out without the rush and bustle of the everyday work routine. Dinner with this clutch of family, beach with another, and more to come. Summer isn’t long enough.

And of course, sitting down with a round of milk and cookies, because it’s three o’clock somewhere! I love milk and cookies time. But I think we all (adults included) need a nap time, too.

Going to be a bit quiet here the next few weeks as family season ends and school starts, plus I’ll be ripping out the website guts a bit so pardon the mess. :)

Happy last days of summer!

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So we’re done with school shopping; probably need some paper or notebooks, but we’ll find out more the day before school (though I’ll stop by the office tomorrow to see if there are any basic lists out). One thing I finally figured out! Use the shopping cart to boost the kids up for a drink at the water fountain instead of trying to hold them, a purse, the fountain trigger, and stay dry.

Dear Target,

Oh, Target, Target, Target, you make me laugh. Buying more underwear means less laundry? Noooooo. Maybe a less frequent need to launder for fear of running short of running shorts, but really? You’ll have to do more once you get there. I don’t call it our Laundry Pile of Doom for nothing. Continue Reading »

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