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I love Sliders…not the mini-hamburgers.

October 3, 2011 by Niki

We do this thing at our house that we call “Leader of the Day.” Each of the kids is the leader 2 days a week. The leader is responsible for loading and emptying the dishwasher, and setting the table for meals. They also get to be first in line and assist in making important life-changing decision like which movie we’ll watch as a family, or what veggie to have with supper. The best reward for the leader? At least an hour of one on one time with me.

Today was Max’s turn and we decided we’d find an old TV show on Netflix that we can watch together and discuss. Lucky for me, my son loves Sci-Fi as much as I do. After watching half an episode of Kyle XY, we decided it was inappropriate and did some more searching. Up pops a picture of Sliders. YES!

“What if you found a portal to a parallel universe? What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds — where it’s the same year, and you’re the same person, but everything else is different? And what if you can’t find your way home?”

Sliders aired on FOX from 1995-1998 until it was cancelled, but received a second chance on the Sci-Fi channel in 1999-2000. It follows a group of travelers as they “slide” through wormholes to parallel universes trying to get back to the earth they are from. A hand-held timer device determines how long they are in each world, and if they miss their window, they’ll be stuck for 29.7 years. I think Max is going to love it and I’m already predicting that he’ll have created his own timer by the end of the week.

Hooray for Mommy/Max time, Sliders, and Netflix!

What show would you watch and discuss with your tween?

Posted in Family | 4 Comments »

What I read this week…

October 2, 2011 by Niki

I’ve been on a dystopian fiction kick for a few months now and I’ve decided to track down the books that will be made into movies in the next few years. I like to be ahead of the game, which is a great segue into writing about The Hunger Games Trilogy, my current favorite in the genre, but that will have to wait a few more days. This past week I read 2 novels by Lauren Oliver, both have been picked up by studios already.

What if you only had one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world’s most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last. Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.


Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love–the deliria–blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Haloway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: she falls in love.

Delirium was much better than Before I Fall. I think it was because I get tired of bitchy high school girls. One can only take so many “mean girls” scenarios. I kind of like Lauren’s style, I’m just hoping she doesn’t become the Nicholas Sparks of dystopian fiction. I hate that someone always has to die, especially someone you’re rooting for.

I like the questions that dystopian books ask, and pondering how things might be in the future. I like “the system” being challenged and abuses being exposed. Some of my favorites in the genre are: Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Children of Men by P.D. James, and Jeanne DuPrau’s The City of Ember series, which is geared for middle readers. LOVED IT!

Next up for me is Divergent by Veronica Roth, and Uglies (a series) by Scott Westerfield. Also due out in November is Ally Condie’s Crossed, a sequel to her book Matched, which I also enjoyed.

Other than reminding me I’m not 13 anymore, care to share your opinions on this genre? 🙂

Posted in Random | 3 Comments »

September’s De-cluttering Challenge – Medications (And a new challenge for October)

October 1, 2011 by Niki

As we prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse, it’s important for us to know how long our medicines and vitamins will last and update our stash of expired bottles, so I made that my September de-cluttering challenge. 😉

Seriously, we are as homeopathic as we can be, but a few weeks ago my son had such a terrible headache that we went for the hard stuff. I pulled the ibuprofen & acetaminophen out of the medicine drawer and it was expired. I wasn’t all that surprised because we hardly ever use it, but then I was faced with a dilemma. Let my child be in pain, or give him expired drugs in the hopes of killing the headache.

I hopped online and did a little research (after giving him the Tylenol) and found out that it’s up to me to decide how long to continue using medicines after the printed expiration date on the bottle. Whew. What a relief. Thank you Google for clearing that up for me.

According to this article by the Harvard Medical School, and many other sites I found, drug manufacturers are required by law to stamp a date on their products. This is the date at which the manufacturer can still guarantee the full potency and safety of the drug. HOWEVER, in a study done by the FDA, at the request of the military, 90% of more than 100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, were perfectly good to use even 15 years after the expiration date, so the expiration date doesn’t necessarily indicate a point at which the medication is no longer effective or has become unsafe to use.

“It’s true the effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, but much of the original potency remains even a decade after the expiration date. Excluding nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most medications are as long-lasting as the ones tested by the military. Placing a medication in a cool place, such as a refrigerator, will help a drug remain potent for many years.”

Good to know.

We’re not into taking medication unless it’s REALLY needed, so we don’t keep a full medicine cabinet, but I still decided to take a look at every bottle we do have and toss most of the expired stuff – especially the liquids. Here’s a picture of what I threw away. I added the quarter for size comparison. I’m clever like that.

One more thing. Here’s an article from the FDA which explains the proper disposal of over the counter and prescription drugs:

http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm101653.htm

Moving on…

October’s Writing Challenge:

I emailed Don, my American friend living in France, and asked him to hold me accountable with my writing. Being a blogger himself, I knew he’d understand the need for motivation in the form of a challenge. WordPress issued such a challenge back in January, but suggested it to me again for the month of October. A post-a-day challenge is just what I need to get my butt in gear and quit making excuses for not writing. You can read about it at http://dailypost.wordpress.com/.

Consider this Day 1. 🙂

Posted in Works for me, Writing | 9 Comments »

August’s De-cluttering Challenge – Clothing

September 6, 2011 by Niki

I swear I’m not sprinkling miracle grow on my children’s food, but Max has gone through 4 shoe sizes and 2 clothing sizes so far this year! His brother and sister have also hit growth spurts which means it’s time to shop. Being homeschoolers, we don’t usually feel the pressure to arrive at the end of August with new wardrobes. Although they did ask for new pajamas, I’m sure that had nothing to do with our schooling. *wink*

I said usually, so here we are in September and I’m tired of the incessant nagging about the need for new clothes. The kids are bothering me about it too, but before shopping for bigger sizes, we had to get rid of the smaller stuff. In true leadership fashion, I started with my closet and dresser then took turns with each of the kids sorting theirs. Here is my 5 step method:

1.  Make 2 piles on the bed: Donate and Trash. Start with the closet and work from top to bottom and left to right.

Does it fit?

If not, let it go. I don’t play the size game. I don’t need 8 shirts I hope to fit into in the next year. When I lose weight, I’ll reward myself with some new shirts instead of ice cream.

Am I comfortable when I wear it?

If not, I probably haven’t worn it in months and it doesn’t belong next to my beloved favorites.

Does it need repairs?

If yes, I usually let someone else repair and wear it. I can sew buttons and seams and that’s about as far as I’m willing to go.

When did I last wear it?

Unless it’s seasonal, I’m ruthless. If it’s been more than a month or two, I get rid of it. There’s a reason for not wearing the clothes you have, and it doesn’t require a therapist to figure it out. Repeat the previous questions to get to the bottom of the issue and move on.

Is it a good color for me?

This one is tricky and makes me wonder if I might need therapy. I wear A LOT of black. I’m talking a 6 to 1 ratio to any other color in my closet which means teal and brown get a small shout out and there might be a blue thrown in there somewhere. I work with street people and dark colors help me blend in better. I’m also a round, red-headed, blue-green eyed, fair-skinned woman. Teals, browns, and greens look fabulous on me. Black is slimming (nobody really believes that, right?) and trendy. Ha!  Besides, all of those colors match my sleeve tattoo. That’s an important fashion detail for me.;)

2.  Moving on to the dresser, I repeat the same questions as above except for the sock/underwear drawer. Old and single socks go into the cleaning rag-bag and underwear beyond repair end up in the trash. Why are they still in there anyway??

3. Shoes. Our house is not overrun by them, so fast growing feet is a bit of a challenge. Everyone has a pair of athletic type shoes and either Crocs (Benny & the kids) or flip-flops (me), and Zoe and I each have a pair of sandals. In warm weather I wear my five-finger shoes about 6 days a week.

I seriously LOVE these shoes. I even got one of our summer interns hooked on them. Max is begging me for a pair of his own. I told him maybe for his 21st birthday or when his feet have stopped growing, whichever comes first.

4.  Seasonal items like winter coats, snow pants, hats, and gloves, and swimming suits are sorted too so we’re ready for the next season, then the previous season’s clothes go in a tub up in the closet.

5.  Max takes the trash out, Zoe takes the donation bag to the van, and Pete…well…that boy needs to step up and get a job instead of standing there with his cute little grin.

There you go. Another de-cluttering month to brag about to you fine people. One last thing before I move on to September’s challenge (which I completed today). I have 2 very important clothing philosophies:

When donating: Be a helper, not a hoarder. If I’m not using it, I know there are lots of people out there that need it. I start with my friends. I pass clothing on to them instead of storing them, but I don’t pass along crap that needs to be thrown away. That’s just rude.

Check out local charities to find out who needs what and how to schedule a donation pick up by visiting:

http://www.donationtown.org/news/donate-clothes.html

When buying new stuff: Be smart and buy what you love and will wear. I don’t buy items just because they’re on sale and there’s a 30% chance I’ll wear it in the future. I ask myself the same questions I ask when I’m de-cluttering so I won’t have buyer’s remorse the next time.

There was nothing weird to report this time, but I’ll bet some of you have stories.

What’s the strangest or funniest item of clothing you’ve de-cluttered?

Posted in Family, Works for me | 4 Comments »

Summer De-cluttering Challenge (May, June, July)

August 22, 2011 by Niki

O.K. I’m flaking out on you. Again. I’m barely functioning over here, so deal with it. 😉

We host youth groups all summer, spend a week in Oklahoma at Camp Zenith, entertain/hang out with our interns, do our regular outreach and Saturday night meals. All of that on top of wearing my wife, mom, writer, reader, Words with Friends challenger hats. I spell “busy” with lots of exclamation marks after it. So a monthly challenge was a little beyond my abilities.

Never fear! I did what Flylady calls the “27 Fling Boogie” on a regular basis. I also donated several boxes of clothes, trinkets, dishes, a desk, 3 chairs, a twin size mattress, and some other odds and ends to 3 different fundraising yard sales friends were hosting. Flylady would be proud of me.

My blogging accountability partners will call me a cheater for this post, but I have a question for them (and you)…

What did YOU de-clutter this summer?

Posted in Random | 6 Comments »

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