…and some men, too.

Working at the high school has made me remember why I liked being around academics so much. I’m not saying that my life has been devoid of contact with intellectual people these last several years, but the contact has indeed been scant. Even when I was working at the publishing house and then running the art division for a manufacturing company back before I decided to quit working out side the home to be with my family, I still found myself surrounded by people who were not as enthralled with the concept of ongoing education as me.

Those of you out there that teach at the university level may turn up your noses at the idea that a high school is filled with the intellectual and the very highly educated, and that’s really a shame. While I expected to meet a lot of people who were certainly at least qualified to teach when I started at the high school, I had no idea how many of them would have advanced degrees and be so self motivated when it comes to ongoing education. There is a TRUE love for learning happening at my place of employment, folks.

My headline referenced woman, brainy women to be exact. It is not as though this is a high school comprised only of female educators, but as is the case with most any public school – most of the teachers are women. I work with many of the men, too. One has more advanced degrees than I can count on my fingers. However, it is still the women I witness striving harder to obtain new information every step of the way.

I love being surrounded by brainy women. I used to think that I worked better with men in the workplace. Now I am just looking back at my former jobs and realizing I got along better with the more intellectual people in my offices, and they were generally men. What I see now is that when it comes to those who are learned, academia is the field that appreciated and rewards smart women more than possibly any other field. This is the field where you rarely have to wonder if you lost out on a job you were more qualified for just because the other candidate was a man.

When I was pregnant with Gigi I did so much research about strollers that when I was finally ready to buy, I knew exactly what I wanted. And do you know what? I ended up absolutely loving my Graco travel system. The stroller remained easy to steer, no matter how heavy Gigi got. It had a handle that was higher than most, but was VERY important since I’m so tall (strollers with low handles just cause tall people to have to stoop while pushing). It folded without a hitch, and that was such a blessing when I was a new mom and bewildered with the mechanics of getting Gigi and the seemingly hundreds of supplies I needed to take with me just to make a short trip to the mall. The infant seat had a base that was easy to install in my car and the carrier latched in and out like a dream.

In fact, my stroller lasted all the way to last summer. When I say lasted, I don’t mean that it wore out. I mean that it was so roomy that even up to last summer I was able to take it to Busch Gardens with me when I had my daughter and my nephew along and they could BOTH sit in it when they got tired of walking (keep in mind my daughter is 5 and my nephew 7). It was a really trooper, that stroller. I finally gave it away last fall.

But, back to the fact that I did an awful lot of research before buying my stroller. That was the difficult part. I ended up having to use a plethora of different internet resources to find the reviews I wanted and to comparison shop for the best price. And believe me, I was definitely after the best possible price. The process was tedious.

I could definitely have used the website ShopWiki.com back then. ShopWiki literally finds every store on the internet by crawling the web much like Google, and the results don’t just reference paid listings – everything is included. That means the ability to use ONE site to locate everything you need to know about a particular product. You can find the stores that might have user reviews, and then look for the ones with the best price. My quest for the perfect stroller would have been a whole lot less time consuming. And, I would have known I wanted that Peg Perego highchair (best thing ever!) even before my mother-in–law bought it as a gift.

Today was the first day of finals exams for the first semester at the high school. What a crazy day. I am not sure how I feel about the District allowing students in all grades exempt exams. I understand seniors with good grades and attendance being able to do so, but I think it is a reward you need to earn and giving it to just seniors would make it so much more special. Of course, it’s not my call.

We had a staff meeting and they served pizza and brownies. Pizza and Brownies! Are you kidding me? *sigh* I love pizza and brownies, very much so. But, you will all be happy to hear that I was VERY good. I sat and socialized and did not touch a single bite. I snacked on pumpkin seeds throughout the day, so my hunger was in check. I just had to hold back on the sheer desire to eat such yummy food. It’s getting easier as time goes by, and I have to remind myself that in the first month of my diet I lost 17 pounds. Not bad, huh?

The last two homes I have owned had security systems. I very quickly learned to rely on them for that extra sense of safety at night, when I was home alone, or when we were out of town. I thought that when I moved to my current home I would not miss a security system, because before those two prior homes I had now lived with one anyway.

I was wrong.

I absolutely feel the lack of a security system here, even though this is historically a safe neighborhood and I know most of my neighbors. We also have two neighbors closely who frequently host the sort of parties that means a hundred drunken people using our streets as a social hangout. Plus, with every month that passes in our current economic times, I am hearing more and more about the increase in robberies. People are becoming desperate. Well, I don’t want their desperation to mean the loss of my belongings or danger to my family. home security is worth quite a bit to me.

On ADT’s website, I see that I can get a system installed for under $100, after rebates. Not bad. After that, all I need to fuss with are the monthly monitoring costs. It’s worth my peace of mind.

I have quite an amazing computer desk. It’s large. Very large. It is multi-tiered and has plenty of room for a printer and a scanner and a lamp and piles of bills and paperwork. When I bought it, I was in love with the desk I had at work, which was even bigger – so I was pretty much looking to find as big a desk as possible.

When I moved this last time, I actually had to take the fool thing apart to get it into this room. The doors in this house are narrower. Must be something to do with the house being older. I have absolutely NO desire to have to disassemble and once again reassemble this desk when I move yet again!

So, I have been looking in the local classifieds for sales of used office furniture. I am basically looking for a narrow work station. Now that I am doing less graphic design, I do not need as much table space. I would rather use the dining room table to pay bills and do lesson plans anyway.

I’m actually still shopping around for a new wristwatch. Now that I work at a school, I have needed to see the exact time at any given moment. I know I cannot really count on the wall mounted clocks, since they run on batteries that tend not to be changed as often as they need to be changed. I don’t carry my cell phone into the school with me, and that used to be my primary was of telling time.

I want a high quality, very durable watch. I started by looking at some of the better known brands of high end watches and while I was VERY impressed with how well the watches would perform, I was unwilling to acutely make the investment. Most of them just cost SO much. I’ve been looking at Orient watches lately and they appear to have a solid reputation and are deceptively low priced. I’ve been digging through reviews and thus far they like an excellent choice. Now I just need to find my favorite style.

I like to have a lot of time to buy things. The more time I have to plan, the better prices I can generally locate. I never feel all that great when I’m in a situation where I have to buy something right away – like the day our hot water heater broke and was flooding water through the ceiling of my last house.

Since I know that I am going to make a good effort to buy a townhome this year, I am looking at some of the home items I came out of the divorce having to leave behind. I need a couple of tv stands for our televisions, a guest bed of sorts and quite possible a new washer and dryer. I was supposed to get the washer and dryer I had when I was married, but I somehow let my ex talk me into keeping it at the house so he could use it until I moved to my own place I’m becoming more concerned that as time passes, it won’t be in any shape to bother taking.

So, I’ve got my list of things I need and I am reading reviews, looking for sales and watching prices. I’ll be able to grab the best deal when it comes around. I wish all of life could be like that.

After the 2008 gas price fiasco, we started off 2009 right. Gas prices here in my part of Florida hovered right around $1.50 a gallon. The, last week they shot up 20 cents everywhere. I tried to look at the going price per barrel to gain some insight into WHY the prices went up, but I could not locate any information that made sense. I grudgingly filled up my tank and wondered what might happen next week.

AAA Auto Club South keeps tabs on gas prices in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee and says the cost per gallon of regular gasoline did indeed rise about 20 cents all around our region this past week.

Here’s the part that might make you angry. Those gas prices went up, but the closing cost for a barrel of oil actually went DOWN last week, to $5.51 less than the prior week. Oil closed on Friday at $40.83 a barrel – down about $9 from, earlier in the week.

AAA is saying that the lower oil prices might finally have an effect on gas prices this coming week.

I was just talking to one of the other teachers at my school Friday about the odds of Tim Tebow staying for one more year to play football at the University of Florida. We were speculating about whether or not he would accept his placement in the draft this season or wait it out another year. We were also excitedly wondering what the Gators might look like next year if decided to stay.

Today Tebow announced he will indeed stay at UF for his senior season! UF is already a force to be reckoned with when it comes to so many of their sprits teams and now this just about seals in the reality that next year’s Gators football will be astounding.

All of Florida rejoices!

Do you love video games? Are you the first one in line the night before a new version of Halo is released? Does your entire family find yourselves spending more time together now that you have Guitar Hero at home? Is the Wii Fitness part of your New Year’s Resolution?

Video games conventions aren’t just for the diehards anymore. Gaming has become a family pastime and a part of our modern era. So, if are looking for somewhere to take the family next weekend, consider the video game fest Otronicon @ Orlando Science Center January 16-20, 2009 at the Orlando Science Center. Even better, Otronicon is open for school trips and groups from January 21-23, 2009.

It’s appropriate for the entire family. There will be tournaments for Rock Band, Wii Fitness, and Guitar Hero. You can try your hand at racing, medical, and flight simulation; experience Wii on a big screen; and get in on the free-play for Super Smash Bros and GameCube. Hang out at the Dance Dance Revolution disco or perform for a live audience in the Rock Band Concert Hall. For the little ones, there are games like V-Smile and a chance to design your own storybook adventure. For those of us who have fond memories of the classic arcade games, there will be a longue where you can play Donkey Kong, Pacman, Frogger and more.

Don’t miss the Machinima film festival to get a first look at this emerging genre. There is even an art show where you can see submissions from local artists and students.

Otronicon even has a soft side. A couple who met while playing Halo 2 will be having “A Match Made in Halo Wedding”.

Admission is $17 for adults and $12 for children under age 12. OSC members get in free.

It’s funny that I would look at current headlines and see a peanut butter recall due to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened people in 42 states since September. OK, not Ha Ha Funny, but the kind of funny that makes you grimace uncomfortably.

I was just with one of my students last week as he sat in his Nutrition and Wellness class learning about food borne illnesses. The kids were mostly shocked to hear that you can get salmonella poisoning from tainted peanut butter. They were actually surprised at quite a lot of information contained in that particular lecture.

And so here we are, looking at yet another food recall involving peanut butter. This time it seems to be centered in Ohio and King Nut Companies has recalled two brands of peanut butter after finding that an open jar tested positive for salmonella bacteria: King Nut and Parnell’s Pride with lot codes that begin with the number 8.

Although distributed by King Nut Companies, the product is actually manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America in Lynchburg, Va. The two brands in question are not sold in grocery stores, but rather used in institutional settings, including nursing homes, schools and colleges.

Keep in mind that the tainted contained was discovered in the kitchen of a nursing facility and very well could have been cross contaminated by another food source. That is something all of us should think about more often in our own kitchens.

Just about two years ago we had that big national peanut butter recall. ConAgra recalled all Peter Pan brand peanut butter (which included Wal-Mart’s “Great Value” brand), which caused at least 625 salmonella cases in 47 states.

So, just how does peanut butter become tainted with salmonella? While we know that poor hand washing, poultry, meat, and eggs are the most common source of the bacteria, fruits and vegetables can sometimes be infected if they come into contact with livestock fecal matter. Keep in mind that the FDA does not regulate the safety of produce. In the past, salmonella outbreaks in peanut butter have been most likely due to post-processing contamination with fecal matter.

Salmonella in peanut butter is actually very rare. You face a greater risk, in reality, from aflatoxin, a potent carcinogen. This toxin is produced by a mold that grows on peanuts while they are in the ground. The USDA allows peanuts to be certified and sold as aflatoxin-free as long as they contain less than 25ppb, or below 20ppb in peanut butter.

When I was a kid, my family had Pong and that made us pretty cool. Then my dad got an Apple IIe and we had text-based games like Lemonade Stand and Oregon Trail. Yep, we were the hip family in the neighborhood with the techie dad. The only thing that even came in as a close second was the fact that my friend Kathleen had an Intelevision system. Man, I LOVED playing Astro Smash at her house.

I don’t have to tell you how much times have changed. My daughter and my nephew were born into a world dominated by a video game culture. My nephew got a DS last Christmas and my daughter got one this Christmas. Neither of them can image a life without computers. My nephew has a couple of console systems at his place, but here at our house we stick to the DS and games we can play online.

Both of the kids are little sports nuts, too. They’ve recently graduated out of the kinds of games you can find on Noggin or Nickelodeon. They want more “grown up” kids’ games Of course, that means I have been screening more online games than ever to find ones that are safe, kid-friendly, and fun. Free is always good, too. You have to watch your pennies in today’s economy.

I signed Gigi up for an account at ActionAllStars.com. She got to choose how her avatar looks, dress her, and even give her a hairstyle. She even named her (GigiA). I made a screen cap when we were done creating the character. That made her happy. I was happy, because I was able to determine whether her avatar could use Safe Chat or Safe Chat Plus. Both chats allow players to communicate with one another, filtering each message that includes blocked words or personal information. The Safe Chat Plus (which is what I chose) only lets the player use predetermined phrases and words.

Once we were done, I had to click on a link in an activation e-mail that was sent to my e-mail account and we were ready to have some fun. He headed over to the Pavement server and played a little basketball, baseball, football, and took a turn with some virtual surfing (Gigi especially liked doing the “Dolphin Ride” and the “Lazy Boy”). You get to pick your favorite team for some games, because MLB.com (MLBAM) and NBA.com (National Basketball League) have partnered with Action Allstars. Gigi picked the Tampa Bay Rays when she was trying out one of the baseball games that was sort of a cross between a baseball diamond and a pinball machine.

Since she needs to get the hang of things, we played everything in regular mode instead of challenge mode. She earned a few tokens and was able to shop for new items for her avatar. You can even buy furniture to add to your “Home Turf”.

All in all, this was a great experience for both of us. We had a lot of fun playing together, I felt like it was a safe environment, and many of the games were simple enough for her to play without my help. I very much recommend giving it a try.

My daughter is a Daisy Girl Scout this year. Back when I was her age, we did have Daisy scouts. I had to wait and start scouting when I was a Brownie. These little girls are pretty lucky to have an early start at such an amazing organization.

Anyway, this is the first year Daisy Girl Scouts are allowed to sell Girl Scout Cookies and my daughter and I could not be more thrilled! I think seeing one of my daughter’s friends selling cookies with her troops mate in front of a Blockbuster last year is what got Gigi hooked on the idea of scouting.

When I was selling cookies, I think they were $1.25 a box. Now they are $3.50 a box, but we all have to remember this is a non-profit organization and the cookies raise funds for this very noble institution. I can hardly think of a single person who would pass up a box of Girl Scout Cookies.

Anyway, if any of my local friends who read this blog are up for some cookies, give us a call. We’ll hook you up

A garden is a wondrous thing. My mother always had a garden in our backyard. Actually, she had several. She would plant a vegetable and herb garden. She had one side of the house where she cultivated amazing roses. She also put several amazing flower gardens in at different places all over the front and back yards. I think she got her green thumb from her father, who always put in acres of vegetables and came from a long line of hobby farmers.

The focus of my fascination when it comes to gardens has always been when people come together in urban spaces to create a community garden. Not only is that garden going to brighten the neighborhood, but it also facilitates relationships between neighbors that may not otherwise spend time together.

I’ve been reading tonight about one of the coolest grant projects I’ve ever heard of. It’s called the Fiskars Project Orange Thumb grant. What this grant does is provide up to $1000 in green goods and up to $1,500 in Fiskars gardening tools for garden projects in the United States, Canada and Australia.

Gardens or gardening projects that focus on community involvement, neighborhood beautification, sustainable agriculture, or horticultural education qualify – and that includes schools! As soon as I read through the site I immediately thought of my daughter’s school and the HUGE courtyard area they have in the middle of the campus. Some of it is bricked, but there are these patches of grass that are perfect for a school wide gardening project.

Of course, not only future projects are eligible. You can apply for the grant if you have an existing garden or gardening project that qualifies. I just printed out the main page of the site to send to the school and I want to encourage all of you – my readers – to apply for projects in your community. The application deadline is February 17, 2009 so you have plenty of time. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that others at my daughter’s school will be as excited about this as me.

My super great deal this week was on Colgate toothpaste. CVS has several varieties of the 6 oz. size on sale this week 2 for $5. That makes them $2.50 each. I bought three and used a $1.50 off printable coupon I found online – making them $1 each. I paid using $3 in Extras Bucks I had from my CVS vitamin purcahse last week. On top of that, CVS gave me $2 in Extra Bucks for buying the Colgate that I can use on a future purchase in the next month.

So, I “made” $2 on the deal. Actually, it was more like $2.50, because the register spit out an extra 50 cents in Extra Bucks based on my “fall spending”. Nice bonus.

Looking back at the ad just now, it looks like the limit was not on three toothpastes, but on three EB deals. So, If I go back and buy one more toothpaste and use another $1.50 off coupon, I should get another $2 in EB. I will give it a try tomorrow.