What timer do you have?

I have two timers and I LOVE both of them for different reasons.

The Oxo Timer - if it was a dude, it would kick your ass and steal your beer!

I just recently picked up the Oxo timer, and love it for these three reasons:

1. You can time three different things at once!  Plus, it has a clock!
2. It tells you how long each of the individual timers has been going off before you stop it from beeping!
3. It can be used as a stop watch (i.e., it can also count forward).

For timing how long a kid has to do something, I use the Time Timer because it shows them exactly how much time they have left in a way that is meaningful to them.

Are you paperless yet?

I put my hand in the picture of the Fujitsu Scansnap to show the size of the footprint. The top of it flips down for smaller storage.

No.  I’m totally late to the game.  However, it’s my goal to be (mostly) paperless in 2012, and I’ve started early.  I spent the last two days scanning in documents with my new Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M (M is for Mac), and let me tell you, I LOVE THIS THING!  Seriously.  It is amazing.  It’s a document scanner, so it’s not the kind of thing you would use for photos, but oh man, for taxes, receipts you have to keep, notes from grad school, all the crap that makes up the mountain on (and around) your desk, it’s amazing.  I would not be able to achieve my paperless dreams without this thing.  The task is just too daunting.  When the ScanSnap is closed up, the footprint on your desk is slightly less than 6″ x 12″.  And it’s fast — blazing fast — and accurate.  Really.  OMG!  I have to get back to scanning, but for realz, the Fujitsu ScanSnap is da bomb.

 

Alert: Cyber Monday at Raw Guru!

Rawtella

 

Folks, Rawtella is 10.49 a jar at Raw Guru right now (11/28/11)!  Maybe you’ve found some bargains, but this is the cheapest I’ve ever seen!  Bariani olive oil (my olive oil of choice) is $18.71 for 1000 ml bottle (again, cheapest I’ve seen).  Plus, free shipping on orders over $99 and free stuff for orders over $99, $150 and $250!  I got the free one pound of raw, organic oats for my order of over $150.  Yes, I did order 10 jars of rawtella.  It lasts a long time!  Don’t judge me!

Do you let your kid play shoot-em-up video games?

Yes I do.  In fact, I encourage him to play Pemdas Blaster from MangaHigh.  It’s a first person shooter game that only allows the player to shoot once he or she solves an equation.  The equations start out very easy, but can get VERY hard on higher levels.  I love to play it as well.  Check out the games on this site.  You’ll be glad you did.

Pemdas Blaster by Manga High

Alert: Down Comforter Sale!

This beautifully cooked chicken has absolutely nothing to do with this post.

Loyal readers, do you remember me going on and on about how much I loved my Down Factory comforters?  Well, October is sale month at Down Factory (I just got an email about it), so if you’ve been dying to get a down comforter, this is your excuse.  You’re welcome!

 

 

When should I start my cold and flu season regimen?

If you haven’t already, start right now!  Today, September 19!  Build up your immunity now, so you’re ready for the onslaught!  I think the most important things you can do now are get your Vitamin D levels up, get the bacteria in your gut in good shape and get into the habit of washing your hands (all these are explained, and more — see below).

Home made ginger and turmeric root tea is a cold and flu season favorite!

Get proactive about cold and flu season this year:

• Get some sun on your entire body to maximize your Vitamin D! (Sandy Hook, NJ has a clothing-optional beach, btw, and the last ferry of the year is this Sunday!)  By “some sun,” I mean 10-12 minutes each side, around noon, no sunscreen, and don’t shower for as long as you can manage after exposure.  Any more sun than that per day, and you risk getting sunburned, which will inhibit your ability to get Vitamin D from the sun.  If you can’t make it to a beach, then lay out in the skimpiest attire you can manage.  You want maximum surface area exposed — your face and arms are not enough.  You’ll get a LOT more Vitamin D from safe exposure to the sun than you will from a supplement, but if you have to go the supplement route, take Vitamin D3 (not D2) with a meal that has fat in it.  I take 2500 units a day – talk to your health professional about your own dosing.  In New York, you only have until the end of September to get a good amount of Vitamin D from the sun.  So, get your ass in the sun!
• You need good bacteria in your gut.  Just google gut bacteria and any health condition you can think of, and you’ll see that it pretty much helps with everything, especially immunity.  I like New Chapter probiotics in general.  they’re expensive, but I feel like they do things right.  Also, I like it because there are either 9 or 10 different strains of beneficial bacteria and you need diversity in your gut as well as quantity of bacteria.  They put the additional things in there, too, like a pre-biotic (basically food for the good bacteria).  I have taken this product for a year (when I need it – not daily, but I’d say I average a spoonful every week), and I feel it has worked for me.  After I had bacterial pneumonia a few years ago, I built up my bacteria after very heavy antibiotic use and I took almost a half bottle of probiotics a DAY and had no ill effects.  Reminder: I am not a doctor or even someone who does this professionally, so you should totally run all this past your doctor or nutritionist or whoever it is that you trust in this area.
• If you are not already, get into the habit of washing your hands!  Make sure you wash them well before all meals and before you touch your mouth, nose, ears or eyes.  Keep a packet of wipes in your bag or pocket.  I like CleanWell wipes because they are natural, don’t use alcohol (so they are not drying) and the smell is not offensive.  Teach your kids to wash or wipe their hands before all meals and snacks.
• Get your sick kit together.  Here are my recommendations from last year.
• Get a good humidifier.  Here are my recommendations on what to look for in a humidifier.
• Note: Vitamin C is a great thing to take for colds, especially when you feel one coming on.  If you’re going to buy some, try to get any whole-food version of it, such as Tru-C or Truly Natural Vitamin C.  Also, crazy blood sugar swings mess up your immunity (and pretty much everything in your body), so go easy on the sugar and alcohol, and while you’re at it, get some sleep.  All that helps, too.

If you like raw sauerkraut, eating it can be a great way to get Vitamin C and beneficial bacteria all winter long!

Alert: Avoid cash register receipts whenever possible

I take and store every receipt I am offered, even optional ones (which isn’t very “green” of me, I know… sorry) because I check all the charges on my credit card every month.  However, aside from saving paper, there is a new, very compelling reason to avoid cash register receipts whenever possible.  They contain BPA, which is a dangerous toxin we should all try to avoid, and it has been shown that BPA rubs off on your hands very easily.  Here is a recent article and another that discuss the issues.  If you’re not going to read the articles, at least do this, as the second article recommends:

At least pregnant women would know to wash their hands after picking up a BPA-laced receipt. And we’d all know to keep such paper out of hands of kids. We might also want to store those receipts in some zip-it-closed plastic baggie, not our wallets.

Alert: CitySights NY Coupon

I found this in my coupon pile and hope someone can use it:

50% off All Around Town Tour, Uptown Treasures and Harlem Tour, Downtown Tour, Brooklyn Tour, Night Tour.

Offer must be redeemed online at www.CitySightsNY.com  Please use code 039136

Valid until 12/14/11.  One tour per coupon.

Enjoy!

Organic housewares and linens?

I love Lifekind for bedding, towels, mattresses, pillows, linens, furniture, baby stuff, laundry stuff, bath stuff, etc.  I have ordered from them for years (at least 7) and I wrote a post a year ago extolling the virtues of their mattresses and pillows, but I thought it was worth repeating, because 1.) I love them so much, and 2.) they have a discount code “SUMMER11″ for 10% off when you order online.  I don’t know how long that code will last, but it worked for me (I just ordered some pillowcases).

Many things about Lifekind impress me.

• Their customer service is excellent.  They have intelligent and helpful people manning the phone.
• When you tell them to keep you off the mailing list, they do it (unlike most other catalog companies).
• Their stuff is VERY well made (yes, it’s definitely not cheap, but worth every penny, imho).
• They’ll send samples of materials for allergy testing (not that I have had to use this, but it’s an awesome idea!)
• A lot of their stuff is American made (my recent pillowcases are!) and it’s a good idea to support American manufacturing, especially high-quality American manufacturing, such as what Lifekind sources.
• They make their own mattresses, and they make them to order.  If you need anything customized, it’s no problem.  You aren’t getting something that’s been sitting around in a warehouse.

Lastly, if you are interested, one particular thing that is on sale in their summer sale is the Organic Cotton Hooded Youth Robe in size 4/5 discounted from $69 to $34.50 (plus that 10% discount, which I assume would work on it).  I bought my son that robe years ago and it’s very well made.  Recently, I passed it along to a friend with a younger child, and I think it looked like it was still new.

Where can I get my math on?

Some time in 2012, you’ll be able to get your math on at the Museum of Mathematics, which will be located at 11 East 26th Street in Manhattan.  The New York Times had an article about it recently.  I noticed that Stephen Wolfram, founder and CEO of Wolfram Research is on the Board of Trustees, and I just read an interesting article in The Economist about him.