Being the geeks we are, we have a ton of books that we must now pack for our move. Packing books is pretty tricky since they can become quite heavy. I have come up with a packing solution that I’m sure my back will appreciate.

I have bought small plastic boxes to pack our books in. This way the containers will be easy to get a good grasp on and won’t be too large. This will help to ensure that the boxes do not become too heavy for me to lift. My system might take more boxes but at least I can actually lift the boxes instead of dragging them around.

It’s an easy thing to do. You go to the park, snap a few photos, might even pack a lunch. One distraction after another and you leave behind your digital camera. While digital cameras are reasonably priced and could easily be replaced, your photos can’t be. Suppose a good Samaritan finds your camera and wants to return it to you. Here are some tips to make sure that your lost digital camera will find its way home.

Write your phone number on the memory card. Writing your phone number on the memory card will give the person a way to contact you without having to write on your camera. A phone number will allow them to call and then make arrangements to return your digital camera.

Keep a picture on camera of you holding your phone number. If someone finds your digital camera, chances are pretty good that they will look through the pictures for clues to whom the camera belongs to. If they find a photo of you with your phone number and a message like “if found, please call..” it will give them a way to contact you. Also it will be a nice way to identify the camera as yours.

Use dog tags. Dog tags just aren’t for military personnel can be found online or even in vending machines. You can have whatever information you want engraved on the dog tag like a phone number and name. Attach the tag to your digital camera strap so it is on your camera at all times.

Make sure to write down your serial number of your digital camera and also register your product with the manufacturer. This might come in useful when checking with the police lost and found department. Having the serial number will also come in handy if you check at the local pawn shops. When you’ve lost your camera, take out an ad in the local newspaper since most papers will publish lost and found ads for free.

Taking a few precautions now will help make it easier to find your lost digital camera for you and the person who finds it.

A friend of mine just bought a beautiful antique desk. It is made out of mahogany and is just lovely. It makes me want a new-to-me desk, too. Old desks are so nice because they are so big and have plenty of drawer space. Of course, some office desks do offer the same kind of space but just don’t have the character the a really old desk has.

His antique desk has a little history. Apparently it was made in the 1920s and belonged to a stock broker who committed suicide after the stock market crash. Furniture with a story always makes it more interesting. It’s like a mini history lesson to learn something about the previous owner of an antique piece.

Usually when shopping for furniture we are limited by budget and space, but it’s oh so fun to look and imagine the possibilities.

Guess what Raegan’s favorite new word is? Oh it’s something she has heard from Mommy on occasion. It’s just one of those that slip out in traffic or when things aren’t going my way. I’m talking about the word that is a substitute for poop. This has to be the easiest cuss word to say for little ones since it seems practically every toddler I’ve known has picked it up pretty fast and early in life.

So, we’ve taken to saying “Snap” when we she says the word to try to get her to say Snap instead of it. Now she has picked up the word Snap but usually says the word for poop followed by Snap now.

So far it hasn’t landed us in trouble, ie her dropping the S bomb in front of Mamaw, but I’m sure that day is coming.

At our rummage sale Saturday, there was a little girl who looked to be about a year old. She had a cute bracelet on her wrist. I’ve seen gold bracelets for toddlers but not really sure if I would want to get one for Rae. I do think they are adorable. I would probably worry too much about her losing it.

Although this one seemed pretty snug on her small wrist. It didn’t look like it would easy fall off. Then I would worry about it being too tight. My neurosis gets the better of me sometimes especially if it is anything pertaining to the little one.

I will probably get Rae a little bracelet either for Christmas or her birthday next year and let her wear it to church or other special occasion. They are just too cute not to get one at all.

To make packing easier, I have decided to use colored plastic boxes so at a glance I can find items. We will be using plastic boxes for items that will be stored and cardboard boxes for things that will go in the house. My only problem with this is that the local store only has two colored plastic boxes right now.

The colored plastic boxes are at least $2 cheaper than their see-through counterparts. See-through boxes are quite handy since you can see the content at-a-glance. So, with my system of using colored boxes for certain items, I’m hoping to save money and know what is in each box.

I already use red plastic boxes for Christmas decorations and when I need more they are on sale around Christmas. Orange containers are usually sold around Halloween. I plan to use the orange boxes for items I plan to sell on eBay. The gray boxes will be for books.

Using colored boxes can make it easy to spot the boxes that you need. Hopefully I can locate enough different colored boxes for this to work. It will be very handy if it all comes together.

My Mom and I had a rummage sale this weekend at her house, so I’ve been staying with my parent’s the past few days since my truck isn’t running properly. It just makes it easier instead of someone having to drive back and forth to get me 30 miles away. My parents still have dial-up, which means I have been checking my email and that’s been about it. It’s so nice to return to the land of broadband.

I do love it out at my parent’s place. It’s in the country and is a great place to grow up. That’s why I’m so excited to be moving onto their land as it will be a wonderful place for Raegan. I have such great memories like flying remote control airplanes and shooting off a model rocket my brother got for Christmas one year. It was nice to have the space to do things like that. You miss it living in the city that’s for sure.

Luckily we will have broadband out there thanks to cable. Just having dial-up might have been a deal breaker as I doubt I could ever go back to it again.

With Hurricane Dean in the Atlantic and with the talk of the possibility of severe weather next week, I can’t help but to worry just a little. We are just a few weeks from the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. With a big storm even a remote possibility is a little nerve wracking.

Tomorrow I go to my folk’s to prepare for the weekend rummage sale. I will probably stay a few days and then my husband will come and get me Sunday. Hopefully the weather won’t be too bad and the storm will miss us. One of the bad things about Katrina was that we were so unprepared. Thank goodness we were at my parents’ house but still have only brought one change of clothes since we were certain that Katrina wouldn’t be that bad. Boy, were we wrong!

It will be time to prepare the hurricane kit. We have some things from the last storm like flashlights that run on kinetic energy and not batteries. We will need to pick up some can goods and water. Also a jigsaw puzzle as it was super nice to have something to do when there is no electricity. We might as well go ahead and fill up the car since it needs it but also because gas will certainly rise in price in a few days. There might also be mass hysteria at the pumps this weekend.

Hopefully nothing will become of Dean and he won’t be a threat to the U.S. I’d rather plan and nothing happen than not plan and something happen.

We are in the process of moving and are quickly learning what we don’t use. Those items will either be donated or recycled. We are also seeing the need for new furniture since some of ours is old and worn out. I’d like a new computer desk when we get settled into our new place. A nice Bush furniture desk would do the trick. There is plenty of work space, which is a must. My current desk is really too high for me. I can’t sit comfortably in a chair and type at the same time.

You should be able to sit flat-footed in your chair and type with your wrists parallel with your elbows, or close to it. If I am remembering correctly, this is what I learned in school many years ago. It helps to create better posture and over a long period of time is more comfortable.

My current desk I cannot sit flat-footed and type comfortably. I really need a lower desk for it to fit me. The joys of being short. The desk works great for my husband but doesn’t have a lot of work space. The best solution is to sell it and get something that will work for me instead of just making due with it any longer.