StayFocusd: Putting the Prod in Productivity

One of the downfalls to a blogging life is that blogging is on the Internet. Need to research something? Internet! Need to share a post? INTERNET! Need to see what someone answered on a facebook status on your facebook page? Internet!

If you are like me, once you are on the Internet, you can easily get lost for hours doing things you didn't go to the site to read. I am notorious for going onto facebook to find a post answer to your favorite foods you miss, only to end up 25 sites away watching a video of ninjas kicking in a car window. 

I have tried several methods to keep me on track and behaving. Timers didn't help as I usually don't hear them. Or I turn them off and head back to what I was doing only to end up on another link clicking fest.

Today, I found something that is really going to get my butt in gear!

StayFocusd- A Google Chrome Extension

StayFocusd is a Google Chrome Extension that keeps you on track. It helps you stay focused on work by restricting your time on other websites (that you choose) where you can waste a butt ton of time goofing off. 

I now have 20 minutes on each of the websites I waste time on. Facebook is one of those. So is Cracked.com because I can surf that site all day!

StayFocusd- Settings and Customizing

One of the best things about Stayfocusd is that I can customize it... a LOT! It starts out giving you 10 minutes to visit the sites you blocked. That's 10 minutes TOTAL. Not just for that one site. I chose 20 minutes to start out. I'll let you know how that goes.

You can also choose which days it runs and which days it is turned off. I am leaving them all on for now. I'll see how that goes. You can also choose which hours during the day it is turned off. I set up a three hour window where I can play a little longer, if I really want to!

StayFocusd- Blocking Sites

In the upper right hand corner of chrome will be a a little clock icon that you can click on. It has a red clock and a timer showing minutes left (after you click on it) if you are on a blocked site. The clock is green if you are on an allowed site. You can also choose to block the site from there. If you notice you are goofing off too much on your favorite site, just block it. You'll now have only a small amount of time to play.

If you open the settings, you can add a lot of sites at once. I added facebook, YouTube, and news sites (and a ton more). I basically added any site I tend to keep clicking and reading.

StayFocusd- Time for Housework!

Oh, StayFocusd is going to be my new best friend! When I go to start housework, I tend to take a small break in between chores, or while the washer is filling, or while I wait for the clothes to finish spinning in the spin dryer... But then I get lost.

StayFocusd is fixing that for me. I can block EVERYTHING! Every single website will be blocked for the time I choose. I haven't played with this setting yet. But I am going to later today. I'll let you know how it goes!

What StayFocusd means to you

I think this means I will be able to stay focused on blogging and not get lost in cyberspace when I should be working. It also means that I will probably be posting more often. That's exciting to me! Now, I will get blogging done, still be able to surf a little and still get my work done. 

I am stoked! Time to go block the Internet for an hour to see how it goes...

Fall is in the Air! The Leaves are Turning Colors! OH YES!

I am so excited! Fall is finally in the air and the leaves are turning beautiful colors. I was outside with the girls and Nikky, playing in the leaves and I took some fun pictures to share with everyone.

Here is a brightly colored tree on my street. I took this one to show the kids when they get home from their trip, just in case all the leaves have fallen.

Here it is next to all the other colorful trees. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!?

Nikky and the kids racked the leaves into a big pile so we could fill bags our landlords bought. Of course, you can't just fill the bags without...

JUMPING in them first! WOOHOO!

Nikky crawled into the leaf pile too and they had a leave attack! It was so much fun!

Here is an awesome picture of Nikky! Love the hair, girl! Love the hair!

And then the kids buried her in leaves MWAHAHAHAHA!

But popped out long enough for smooches on the cheek! Awwww, they are adorable!

I managed to get this wonderful picture of all three of them in the leaf pile.

OMG! Where did they go?

Of course, I had to get in on the fun too! I ended up being leaf attacked by GIRLS!

And dogpiled. They totally dogpiled me... and tickled me!

I made it out alive, if not a little leafy LOL

Then we got to the part we actually raked the leaves for... filling the bags! Linny wanted to fill them all by herself! she did a great job!

The sun was starting to set by then and I got this awesome picture of the evening sky!

And finally... we have pumpkin bags for decoration! 

Aren't they cute!

I am fat and okay with that!

I was browsing the web looking for an idea to blog about that fits with “home, health, happiness, family, friendship, and fun”, when I found The Nearsighted Owl.

Her post that made me stop and smile has a picture of her naked, holding a drawing that makes it look like she is holding her chest cavity open. On the picture it says:

THERE IS NOT A THIN PERSON TRAPPED INSIDE OF ME!

I gave her a round of applause in my head. BRAVO you brave fat chick! I love it!

I love it because I have always been fat. People try to lecture me on how to lose weight, how to get thin, how to eat less and exercise more, and on and on…

1) I know how to lose weight, thankyouverymuch.

2) I don’t want to be “thin”. I want to be HEALTHY.

3) If I eat any less than I do, my body would kick into starvation mode!

4) I do exercise. Just because I am not jogging a marathon, or hiking up the sides of mountains, or lifting weights, or bench-pressing baby elephants, doesn’t mean that my exercise is less significant than yours.

I am fat. I always have been. I probably always will be. But, more importantly, I am happy with myself as I am. If you have an issue with my weight, that is your problem, not mine.

You can’t tell me you would love me if I weighed less, wore dress size [insert your desired number here], or anything else like that.

You all can love me at 300 pounds or not at all. It doesn’t matter to me. Why? Because I am not looking for outward approval. I am not living my life with the intent of getting every one else’s approval. I am happy with the skin I am in. You don’t have to live in my body. I DO! And that is all that matters to me.

Seeing this fat chick so proud of being who she is, made me feel even better about myself.

I don’t want to be some skinny girl that shoots into orbit in a stiff wind. I want to be myself. Extra weight and all. If I lose the weight, well, it’s not because I am trying. I was over that years ago!

Dotchi… happily 212 pounds and still eating cinnamon toast for breakfast.

69 Things that Make me Happy!

Over a year ago, I started this post about 101 things I love. I stopped at #69 and in proper A.D.D. fashion, I got sidetracked and completely forgot about it. SO, here for you today... 

69 Things that make me happy!

1. Chocolate: I LERV chocolate! It's my favorite tooth rotter on the planet!
2. Coffee: I just don't live without coffee! Add chocolate to it and I am in heaven!

3. My kids! They are the greatest! Let's not forget Brandon too! May his little soul RIP!

4. . Kittens. Yep, I actually love those cute little balls of claws and teeth. 

5. Presents! Yes, all the boxes and bags in this picture are presents... and the kid... that was my Valentines Day present!

6. SNOW! I know a lot of people say that it's a four letter word... Well it is. But I still love it and I don't get my mouth washed out with soap when I say it... except at Nikky's house.

7. Getting fit and healthy! Those orange highlighter marks are my weight loss in inches on various parts of my body. I haven't done the highlighting measure in a while, I should do that again!

8. National Geographic Magazine. I love them so much. My friend gave me a bunch to sell. But I have a problem doing that. No one can pry them from my white knuckled fingers.

9. Stuffed Animal Fights! Oh come on, how can you not love beating the crap out of your parents with flowers?

10. Sunglasses. The darker the better. I think I need a twelve step program for this. Really I do!

11. Damn. It's my favorite cuss word. 

12. Traveling. If I had an endless supply of money, I would have a really cool RV and you'd never see me or my kids again. Well, I'd blog a ton, but you wouldn't see much of me. I tend to get a wild hair and I'M OFF!!!

13. Taking pictures of everyone I drive to the emergency room or a doctors appointment. It's a sick obsession, I know. It's a lot of fun for me, but paybacks are a bitch!

14. Doodling with henna! It's like a tattoo that goes away after a few weeks.

15. My co-workers... I really miss them!

16. My nieces and nephews... and the random photos that come to my phone of them. OMG! He looks like his DAD! Poor kid. Just kidding Karl!

17. Taking random pictures of my face in various settings making various faces. I have no idea why I do this, but 4,000 some odd pictures of my face later and I still enjoy it.

18. Trees. I just want to run up and hug one! Without trees, the land just seems naked.

19. Car scent dangly thingies. They make my car not stink.

20. Fireplaces. They just say HOME and make the place seem cozy.

21. Playing with random camera features on my phone. I have no idea what I was doing here.

22. MOOSE ANTLERS! Way cooler than bunny ears.

23. The cold! Way better than the heat!

24. My kids artwork. They are really talented. This is too good for the fridge. 

25. Icicles. Oh sure, it falls under "snow" and "cold" but icicles are awesome all by themselves!

26. Sledding! Okay, so I won't be doing that anytime soon, but it's tons of fun!

27. Warming up after sledding. This usually consists of hot cocoa/ carob drinks, toe warmers, blankets and lots of snuggling!

28. Stumbling across cute kids and cats together. It's better than running into a room of a screaming kid and finding the cat attacking them LOL.

29. Birthday PARTIES! (Hey Beck!)

30. Nikky's allergy-friendly apple pie. I eat it before I remember to take a picture :) It's just THAT good! This can of filling pales in comparison to Nikky's apple pie!

31. Museums. Depending on what they are about, they can be pretty awesome!

32. Going to baseball games with the kids. That was a ton of fun!

33. Teaching my kids to be helpful. Miles won these tickets for helping after a boat bash. I was quite proud of him :)

34. Watching my kids learn something cool!

35. Finding random messages etched into sidewalks. I don't know why, I just love it!

36. Window shopping. All the fun of shopping without spending a dime (sometimes!). It's like making a real life wish list.

37. Public fountains, especially the really cool ones that have spinning marble balls on them.

38. The beach. I really love the Atlantic beaches but any beach is still cool with me.

39. Night time at the marina. It's so quiet and peaceful, no sunshine, cool breeze.

40. New tires for my car. I really love the studded snow tires for winter. Green Diamond tires were actually the best tries EVER!

41. Montezumas Revenge on the Commodore 64! My all time favorite video game! 

42. Rock and roll! PARTY ON!

43. Little Golden Books. While not all the stories are golden, I love the books! They are so classic and the stories are cute. These are my two favorite books!

44. Interesting things I find at antique stores. I love browsing the antique stores and finding unusual and unique items.

45. Atari. I still have an old Atari system for playing games. It's doesn't get much better than that!

46. Finding a new food I can eat. How exciting is that! With 47 food allergies, any new food is cause for celebration.

47. Avocado Green. My favorite color!

48. Old books. I have something about them that make me love them. Maybe it's the smell. Maybe it's the old look or the thought that many people may have handled this book centuries before I was born... I just love them!

49. Working with Alzheimer's and Dementia patients. 

50. Wearing colorful, crazy, fuzzy pajama pants. They are so comfortable! It's like a pampering session all day!

51. Seeing happy couples together. Reminds me of the times I felt loved.

52. Being organized. It's a challenge for sure, especially with a back injury. But organization makes me VERY happy and makes my house seem like home.

53. My TENS unit. There is nothing quite like hooking myself up to the TENS unit and zapping my pain away for a little bit. Or at least taking the edge off the pain.

54. Pet Rats. All our rat babies passed away and I really miss them.

55. Flip Flops! It's like being barefoot but not quite.

56. Store bags, handmade bags... just BAGS! I love them! Cloth, paper, plastic... there are so many uses for them.

57. Rainbows! They always cheer me up and I get to spend a moment imagining that I find a leprechaun with a pot of gold.

58. Coffee art is the coolest thing! 

59. Camping at the Fish Creek Wash in winter time. It's so remote, quiet, dark (at night) and oddly enjoyable. The layers of rock with marine fossils are awesome! 

60. Reading Blog comments! I enjoy coming on here and finding comments :) It makes my day! I have a few regular commenters (HI LILY AND SARA!) and some that email me their thoughts (HI DONNA AND NIKKY!) I love them all! Even texting is awesome for comments (HI NIKKY!)

61. Green Diamond Tires. These are the best tires out there! They actually have flecks of green diamonds in them. The traction is awesome!

62. Those "you had to be there" moments with friends. When you are sharing a hilarious story with someone and you are laughing so hard you nearly pass out while everyone is staring blankly at you with a raised brow... oh yea! That is what i am talking about!

63. Sailing on the bay! I do love this. I just don't like the violent puking that goes with it.
64. Benadryl. My lifeline for a life of allergic reactions and stupid doctors.
65. Fishing with the kids... Well, maybe not this time but it's still a fun story to share! And yes, that is a shark!  
66. Playing pool. Haven't done this in a while and I usually lose... but I still love playing it!
67. Night time. I love the night time. No sunshine. Not a lot of people. Beautiful pictures.
68. Penn and Teller. So this is the crappiest picture of me EVER but I was thrilled to get to watch them in person. They have humor AND the best illusionist tricks EVER! In fact they inspired my 11th grade science project of the glowing pickle apparatus! I got and A. :)   
69. Rest Areas. When traveling, these are the best places to stop and sometimes become our overnight sleep spot. The truckers are usually really cool!