FINA Bans Tech Suits for 2010

I’ve written so much about the whole tech suit thing here that I felt obligated to update my site with this information. But, I’m going to be lazy and simply post some links for you.

Here’s one article.

And here’s another.

My daughter’s Blueseventy is a year old, so I feel like she’s gotten our money’s worth out of it. But I really feel for the people who have dropped hundreds of dollars in the last few months. How frustrating!

Monkey Business in St. Louis via Curious George

Curious George – the mischievous little monkey that kids love  —  is doing a live tour for the first time ever and he’s making at stop at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis Oct. 8-11. If you’d like to purchase tickets before they’re available to the general public, you can do so here using this coupon code:

GEWW!

Tickets start as low as $12, although some additional fees may apply.

I’ve been making obnoxious monkey sounds for my toddler since she was born, so I’ll likely have to explain to her why Curious George doesn’t sound like the monkey’s she’s grown to expect.  Still, the show is full of music and dancing, so it’s sure to entertain youngsters and adults, alike.

The storyline invovles Curious George on a mission to help Chef Pisghetti win a world-famous meatball competition.  This adventure takes him to Rome and The Golden Meatball Contest.  

 The tour started last October and is playing across the country in more than 40 markets, including Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Nashville, Kansas City and Memphis.

If you’re not in St. Louis and want to know when/if this monkey business is coming to your town, here’s the Curious George Live! itinerary as of June 15, 2009:

Multiple performances per city.  More cities being added daily.  Find cities and venues at: www.curiousgeorgelive.com.

• Cedar Rapids, IA, Oct. 1 – 4
• St. Louis, MO, Oct. 8 – 11 
• Detroit, MI, Oct. 15 – 18 
• Nashville, TN, Oct. 22 – 25 
• Baton Rouge, LA, Oct. 29 – Nov. 1
• Kansas City, MO, Nov. 5 – 8
• Oklahoma City, OK, Nov. 12 – 15
•  Dallas, TX, Nov. 19 – 22
•  Southaven, MS (Memphis, TN), Nov. 25 – 29

A Bird in the Hand

As the saying goes, a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush — especially if that bird is a beautiful Cardinal that accidentally found his way into your garage and exhausted himself trying to find his way out. Check out these cool photos:

My son caught this poor Cardinal after it exhausted itself trying to find its way out of our garage.

I think it's a young Cardinal.

It's flying away. Yeah!

Going . . going . .

Gone! I made my son stand far away from our garage so it didn't accidentally fly back in and get lost. That place is kinda messy, so I can see how it got turned around. (Ha ha.)

My Baby is Weaned

I nursed my baby (toddler) for the last time last night. But I’m okay with that. She was ready. I was ready (sort of). And it was time, as I described in this post.

I really believe that nursing a baby is one of the sweetest, most amazing and priceless parts of being a Mom. It is a bonding experience that I simply cannot put to words. And while it nourishes the baby’s body, it nourishes the mother’s soul. At least it did for me. I love cradling my baby girl in my arms. I love running my hands through her hair while she nurses. I used to love having her fall asleep while she was nursing, and hear her gentle sigh as she pulled away and then continued to make that nursing motion with her mouth. These are memories I know I will hold in my heart for the remainder of my days.

I will miss this time. And I’m so thankful to have had it.

I’m glad I didn’t succumb to the “peer pressure” of weaning this last baby of mine at that society-imposed one-year mark. I’m also glad that I found a reason excuse (in the Swine Flu) to stretch it out a little longer than even I had planned. (My teen has been declaring that it was time for it to stop for almost a year now. She’s so opinionated!)

In honor of weaning my baby (and in honor of next month’s National Breastfeeding Awareness Month), and because this blog is also a place where I’m recording memories and moments for my kids, I’d like to share a few of my favorite nursing photos:

Ginger nursing when she was about 4 weeks old -- a friend & local photographer, Maria Donaldson at http://mariadonaldsonphotography.wordpress.com took this picture and the next one.

Ginger nursing when she was 4 weeks old. I love these professional pictures taken of these special moments.

One of the last times Ginger and I enjoyed those precious nursing moments.

This was the moment when I really knew she was ready -- she preferred to read "Pat the Bunny" instead of nursing. Yes -- it was probably more about "me" in the end. Sigh.

Budgeting Ideas for a Family Vacation

Like many families these days, ours is living on a tighter budget. And tighter budgets usually mean cutting or reducing the dollars allocated to travel and family vacations.

Because of these circumstances, I’ve spent some time researching cheaper ways to travel and ideas for vacationing on a budget. And this site has a great article with some ideas I’d never considered, as well as links to some resources I’d never discovered. For example, I’d never heard of a home exchange option to reduce lodging expenses, but this article provides links to home exchange sites.

The company that put this informative piece on the World Wide Web is a credit counseling service called Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, Inc. I’ve never used their services, but I liked the travel/budgeting article I found so much that I clicked around on their site to see some of their other articles. I found a few others I enjoyed, like this one on holiday budgeting. They seem to have really put some thought and effort into providing valuable, useful information to the general public. I think that’s admirable.

Finally Back at Goal!

Whew. A little while ago (er, two months ago), I wrote about the fact that I’m a Lifetime Weight Watchers Member but I had gone more than 2 pounds over my goal weight. I “re-committed” myself to the program at that time and vainly suggested that I’d be back to being “free” (i.e. back at my goal weight) at Weight Watchers within two weeks.

Well, eight-plus weeks later, I’m finally free again. It sure does take a lot longer to take off a few pounds than it does to put them on, eh? Well, if I’m honest about it, those pounds crept on over the course of about two months, as well.

Anyway, even though it took me two months instead of two weeks, I’m glad I got back on the Weight Watchers wagon. Sometimes that’s the hardest part — going in when you know you’ve gained weight and getting back to work. The last time I did that, I didn’t make it back in for a couple of years, and then it took a lot longer than two months to take the weight off. It’s always better to head back in when you’ve only got six pounds to lose instead of 15 or 20.