There is a fairly new business about an hour away that is designed for preschoolers. It’s a giant play area with a lot of play houses, dress up materials, and a playground. It’s all indoors and also has a nice spot for Moms to sit and visit. Something like that would do well in my town. Of course, before starting such a business some market research would need to be done. I think it’s a great idea, though.

In a small town it’s hard to find activities for toddlers. When kids are school-aged, there is a lot more for them to do in the summer like reading programs and summer camps. Small ones are left out, so it’d be nice to have a place just for them. I know Moms would love it. I would start the business tomorrow if I had the money. Maybe I can find someone who wants to start a business because this could be really big.

Our $3 kiddie pool has been a lot of entertainment for Raegan this summer. She is 21 months and loves to splash in the water. I had gotten a bigger pool but she just seemed to stay in one spot, so I thought why hassle with the bigger one when a smaller one is perfectly fine with her.

Since it’s so small, it will be great to take camping to have at the camp site for her to splash around in. It will also be good for the beach and she can play in the water without it being overwhelming. Also since it’s only $3, I can buy another one ring pool if something happens to it.

When I was working, our company’s intranet was an in-house project. They liked to have their IT staff do a lot of projects themselves instead of looking for software solutions. The Intranet consisted of several different pieces of information that was hard to find what you were looking for at times. The first Intranet was done by interns and was mostly style over substance. They would have been much better off with an intranet software package.

They could have tried intranet software from Epazz to see if it was a right fit for their business. Epazz offers a 30 day trial period, which is always good for businesses to make sure the software is a good for their company. Epazz does integration to all back end software, so that is less of a headache for the IT department for sure. I’ve never worked at a place with more committees than my former employer. They could really use the group scheduling and business email solution of the Epazz intranet software. All of those committees had to post their minutes to the intranet. With Epazz’s content management system it would be very simple for those committees to do it themselves instead of having to send it in to MIS.

If I still worked there, I would have to insist that they check into an intranet software solution since doing it in house was very time consuming. With the other business responsibilities of MIS/IT, if maintaining the intranet was totally integrated and easy for the end user to update, it would be a lot better for all.

Plucking my eyebrows is one of my least favorite beauty rituals to do. I have to or either let someone else do it. Usually one side needs more attention than the other brow, which I find a little odd. It’s always the side that needs to be plucked more that hurts worse.

I like to numb the eyebrow before beginning to pluck. I take a little rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and rub over the eyebrow to make plucking hurt less. When the tingling sensation wears off, I reapply some more. It helps to make plucking eyebrows bearable.

Raegan has learned the joy of writing. Well, her writing is more of a scribble. She loves pens and loves to mark on everything. I can’t keep a pen to myself without her snatching it from me. I really need to invest in some discount pens so I have a nice stock on hand at any given time.

Today I noticed a nice scribble pattern on the entertainment center. At least it matches the living room door. Thank goodness for the Magic Eraser. I will have to take some pictures of her art before removing it. Rae usually takes my writing utensil, will scribble on a few things, and sit it down somewhere. Next time I need a pen, I have to go to search for one. Maybe I will get a pen on a string. That won’t work. I’m sure she’ll want that as well.

We have decided to make Saturday night a movie night. Hopefully my Mom will be able to watch the little one while we go to see Live Free or Die Hard! I’m so excited. When I first learned of the 4th installed of the Die Hard series, I was like, “Yippy-ka-yay!”
We love going to the movies since we can enjoy theater seating and a butter station where you get to add as much butter as you want. I remember the days when extra butter was extra money.

I was excited to see Pirates At World’s End but am really looking forward to Die Hard 4. I just love Bruce Willis. Moonlighting was one of my favorite shows and wasn’t sure about this whole “Die Hard” movie when it first came out because he was such a good comedic actor. He can do it all, though. I’ve also read that Die Hard 4 may not be the last time we see John McClane. Maybe there will be a Die Hard 5.

We are looking forward to a night out. We haven’t had one of those in forever.

Speaking of things you can’t see…

I almost sat on the little guy. Glad I took a second glance!

Fellow housewife and wonderful photographer Teresa of Scribblescratch.com is holding a fun contest using some of her photos. Just choose a photo, and write a short story. My short story is more of a memory than a work of fiction. Leave it to the stickler for rules to not follow them.

When I saw this photo, I immediately thought of my husband. When he was little, he would make the “OK” symbol with his hand and then peep through the “O” with one eye. He thought people could then not see him as he was pretending to hid behind a wooden fence and peaking out of the hole that are sometimes in the knots of wood.

He is from a large family and as is the case with large families, even the tamest conversations can become quite rowdy. To retreat from all of the commotion, he would slide his hand up to one eye while closing the other one and peer through his “wooden fence.” Well, someone inevitably would notice what he was doing and then turn their attention towards him. Soon afterward, he would be the topic of discussion, and everyone would put aside their bickering if only for a few minutes. Somehow I think being the center of attention was what he had in mind all along.

It seems the minute I open a pack of crackers they immediately start to go stale. I faithfully use the twist ties but to no avail. Those crackers go stale within a few days of being open.

A great solution to keep those crackers fresh is to store opened cracker packages an in airtight place like a tin. It really does help to keep crackers fresh. I almost hate to open a package of crackers unless I think I will be eating using them all in a few days. Rae loves crackers but like everything else her love for them comes and goes. Sometimes we’ll have half a pack left when she decides that crackers just aren’t the snack she wants anymore. Good thing for the cracker tin, so we can keep them fresh until we use them again.

Tins that are tall and square work the best to store crackers. But any tin can be used, so that Christmas cookie tin will work just as well as a square one. A square one is just easier to manage in any kitchen counter or cabinet.

Using a tin to keep crackers fresh will keep those crackers fresh longer and can add a little decoration to a kitchen.

On the side of our house is a small cemented porch that we never use. Part of my tackle projects is to clean up the area so that we can begin to use it. One of the steps after sweeping it off was to move the planting table to the patio.

 The table usually sits right by the front door and is where we feed the cats. So, since I moved their eating table, I moved their food with it. Usually we just put out enough every day for them to eat. I decided to transfer all of their cat food into a waterproof container and leave it underneath the table.

The next morning after doing this, my husband asks where the cat food is. I go outside to show him when the container is missing. I’m dumbfounded as to whom would steal cat food. I chalk it up to neighborhood kids and decide I will just buy some more. That afternoon I’m convinced that I’ve done something with the container and being searching the yard. My husband joins in the search and finds the container near the fence. The lid has claw marks on it. Apparently it wasn’t the neighborhood kids after all.

We figure it must have been a raccoon. Raccoons apparently love cat food. I guess one or a couple took the container to the fence but couldn’t make it any further. Some of the food was eaten.

From now on I will keep the cat food indoors.