Angry Julie Monday

Kindergarten, we have arrived

Angry Julie — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:00:40 +0000

Angry Kid started preschool when he was two years old, yes it was mostly daycare in those days. My son thrives on structure and it was better for him to be in a school-style environment. Within this structure, he had a schedule that he followed everyday. The day started off with us nagging him to wake-up. We then got him dressed and drove him there. When he got to school, they fed him breakfast.

When he started camp at the beginning of August, they also fed him breakfast. We made his lunch for the first time ever, but they handled lunch and breakfast. Today, well that was hard to explain to the kid. He got dressed (with a small fight), and ready for school. I asked him what he wanted for breakfast and he said “nothing”. I advised him that they would not be serving breakfast at school. He then replied that he would like “blueberry pancakes”. Who is this kid? Does he not realize whom his mother is? I replied that we had one frozen waffle, if he wanted it. He agreed. His other choices were cereal and some other nonsense. He told Angry Husband that he would like blueberry pancakes tomorrow, though.

But we made it out the front door in time to walk to school. Yes, we live close enough to walk. Please ignore the twisted garden hose in the background of this photo. It is a hose, not a snake. Although the photo would be quite awesome if it was a snake. The sun was blaring in the kid’s eyes, hence the squinting. The hair is a tad short, new barber. He looks like he is ready for the Drill Sergeants at Boot Camp, or something, right?

I even got Angry Kid to take a photo with me. He was not happy. Angry Husband bribed him with something to make him smile, whatever I got my picture with him. I’m usually the one taking the pictures, so this is quite rare, almost like a unicorn picture.

Well, after the little photo shoot, we headed to school. We were old fashioned and stuff, we walked. Angry Kid was yelping and whining the entire way about his legs falling apart or something. And then he saw the line of cars…the traffic…the drop off lanes..the insanity. I think he instantly understood why we were walking there.

We waited for the classroom to be open, while I checked everyone out. I got a compliment on my necklace by another mom, she knew it was a Lisa Leonard necklace, because she had seen it on a BLOG. I think I mumbled something about, “Lisa is my friend and she gave me this awesome necklace or something.” Because the wheels in my head were turning. I had an “oh crap, people read blogs, moment mentally”.

A few minutes later, Angry Husband gave me the look, and we started walking home. I told him about the necklace. He advised me to keep my mouth shut about “said blog” because once you tell one person, they tell another. I actually agreed with my husband, for once.

We headed to breakfast after that, and then it was time to go get Angry Kid. He has half day kindergarten, which ends so fast. Angry Kid had a great day, and made some new friends.

I got home and opened his backpack, looking for paperwork. Yep, there was a thick folder of papers. I think there should have been a note on the front of it that said, “before opening, please grab your calendar and checkbook”. Seriously, so many events and places to donate.

Tonight, I will be shopping for ingredients to make blueberry pancakes, because that is what the boss requested for breakfast tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy to Angry in 2 Minutes

Angry Julie — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:01:21 +0000

Welcome to “Angry Julie Monday’s Wordless Wednesday Linky”! If this your first time here, HELLO! I do a link-up every Wednesday! Post a picture(s) that you took in the past week and link back to it here. Wordless Wednesday is a great day to post an awesome picture that “speaks” for itself, no words needed.

Fear and Parenting

Angry Julie — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:01:34 +0000

I posted this on Twitter yesterday. Another one of my rants about the cost of parenting and preparing my child for his elementary school career. I figured that people are tired of shelling out money like I am, and they would agree with my bitching about back-to-school preparation. Nope, I got freaky responses and private messages about the “privacy” of my child.

Apparently, because I had my son’s name embroidered on his backpack, so that it won’t get taken by another kid, he is going to get kidnapped. Yep, that creepy guy in the ice cream truck is out there looking for kids with their name embroidered on their backpacks. My son is five, he is going into Kindergarten. We will be walking him to and from school everyday. He goes to school only three hours, and three days a week, he will go to the after care program at school. I’m trying to figure out how there will be time in between all of that for Angry Kid to be kidnapped?

I didn’t realize that I was a “Free Range” parent until I read Lenore Skenazy’s book, “Free-Range Kids”. My friend Carrie recommended the book last year. It was a fast read for me. I did a lot of head nodding while reading it. I may not always agree with everything said in the book, but it did make me realize that I need to chill out sometimes as a parent. I think kids are way too micro-managed these days in the land of the helicopter parent.

I’ve heard this phrase way too much lately, “Perception Is Reality”. What does that really mean to you? I would like to compare it to, “Innocent Until Proven Guilty”. People hear things on the news, read them on the newspaper, and/or Internet and believe this all to be true. I wish people would take more time to research things, than to jump to conclusions without really thinking about these things through.

I’m more freaked out about my son getting into a car accident than being kidnapped. I think people need to really think about the statistics, and trust their better judgment and instincts, rather than the media. I would assume that most people know that most kidnappings you hear about these days are parental or known family abductions, usually related to child custody. Yes, there are stranger abductions, which are very rare, and of course you will see those all over the news.

So everyone who responded to me yesterday, “Thank you for thinking about this, but we are not worried that predators will seek out our child because his name is embroidered on his backpack and lunchbox.” I don’t think that the school is too worried either as they told us to label everything, and they also posted his full name on the front doors of the school for class listings.

Oh, and I posted my presentation last week on Privacy and Your Blog-Ten Things To Think About. This was an outline and guidelines for everyone to think about. I didn’t write down my thoughts and rules on these subjects, but a general outline. Everyone has their own opinions about privacy and I am not going to judge you for that at all. I have my reasons for doing certain things, that I will not go into here, but most of the time, I’m an open book. Seriously, there are many things that I leave wide open. My e-mail is provided on my contact page if you have questions about privacy, etc. I promise to get back to you as soon as I can.

P.S. My son’s goggles got taken at swim lessons the other day. He was in the pre-swim pool with about ten other kids. It was like they disappeared out of thin air. My husband had to drop $16 for a new pair before his lesson. I wish I could have monogrammed those damn goggles.

Booze Photography

Angry Julie — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:18:12 +0000

I think I selected the perfect title for this post. I have gone to several blog conferences and events this year. I’m not a big drinker, actually I rarely drink anymore. It is a good thing, believe me. Julie can drink like a fish, but at the end of it all, she’s floating at the bottom of the tank…or maybe it is the top of the tank. The bottom line, it is not pretty. I learned my lesson at BlogHer last year.

I think I could probably say the my specialty is photographing drinks now. I love all the different kinds of glassware, and the colors of the alcohol. It is also much easier to edit photographs of drinks than people. I captured all these beauties at Bloggy Boot Camp in San Francisco over a week ago. I miss everyone, even the pretty drinks.

So if you need someone to take random photographs at blog conferences, or pictures of booze….I am the perfect person for you!

I edited this photo of Tiffany, founder of SITS…and I had to post it. It is pretty timeless and classic. I decided to make it black and white. We were at a club called Slide, which was a speakeasy during the Prohibition Era. How cool is that!

and the photo below, what happened?

So the big question is, who do the shoes belong to? What is the story of the broken glass?

Although there are several photos, I think they are all sweet shots. So go and visit the rest of the sweet shots at Sweet Shot Tuesday on Life with My 3 BoyBarians. There is always wonderful and beautiful photos to be found every Tuesday on Darcy’s site.

Where I Blog

Angry Julie — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:48:01 +0000

I have a bazillion blogs that I read. I try to get to most of them daily. I have a few design and style blogs that I read. I’ve seen many of them write about where they blog and what inspires them. They have pictures of beautiful spaces, with their offices perfectly organized, and color coordinated, but not too coordinated.

I look around and think, “Why don’t I have these serene place to work on my blog?” Because, I’m in reality. My reality is finding a time and place to blog when I get it. We have an office in our house with built-ins and everything. But my husband’s computer (a PC) is hogging up that space. I’m usually at the kitchen table, on a table in the family room, or perched between the blankets in our bedroom.

Oh, and sometimes, I’m hiding out at places that offer free wifi. You never know where I might be found blogging.

Here are some photos of my blogging spaces:

My kitchen table. I sit here mostly, because I can dump everything out on our table. I’m able to pay bills, organize paperwork, and sometimes, yes, I eat while blogging.

Do you like my double stacking computers? Actually triple stacked if you count my iPhone. I was using Angry Husband’s PC (A Dell) to view a show on Hulu. Yep, I was using it as a video player. I barely use PC’s anymore, and my husband has all kinds of things on there that I don’t know how, or want to learn how to use.

My laptop desk for my bed, was actually a shelf that we used to have in the garage. It is a piece of melamine. I loathe the touchpad on my Macbook. It frustrates me, mostly when trying to edit pictures. I usually prop up pillow under the shelf when blogging to get the right height. I was sorting laundry, and watching Bethenny Gets Married earlier today.

I should probably get a proper desk for the bedroom….now to find the perfect one.

So the big question now is, where do you blog?

Back-To-School Giveaway Bonanza Winners

Angry Julie — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 03:39:07 +0000

Well all my giveaway winners have been selected and contacted. I want to thank everyone for entering all of my giveaways. It was a ton of work, but also fun! I hope everyone continues to read and enjoy my blog. I will have more giveaways coming up in the next few months. My son starts Kindergarten on Thursday, so we are preparing for everything right now.

Here are the winners from my giveaways:

Dell Inspiron 14R Laptop

Bethann (Bxxxxx@gmail.com)

Mabel’s Label’s

Elaine (elxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com)

A Modern Eden

Jamie (nuxxxxxx@mchsi.com)

Crocs

Heather (mxxxxxx@gmail.com)

Lauren (lxxxxxxxxxxx@hotmail.com)

Jessica (jxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com)

Lyra (uxxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com)

Agoo

Kristie (jxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com)

Ashley (mxxxxxxx@yahoo.com)

Goodbyn Lunchbox

Mitzi (mixxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com)

Shannon (kixxxxxx@yahoo.com)

Sandy (sandy@joxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com)

Ronell (dexxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com)

KIND Snacks

Mindi (maxxxxxxx@yahoo.com)

Dayspring

Donna (doxxxxxxxxxxxx@rocketmail.com)

Carter’s

Heather (okxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com)

Flip Ultra HD Video Camera

Kim (luxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com)

OfficeMax Backpack with Supplies

Amber (imxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com)

Cisco Valet

Anna (ncxxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com)

Twitter at Night

Angry Julie — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:41:57 +0000

I love Twitter, don’t you? Are you on Twitter? Am I following you? Twitter is good for people like me who have ADD, and only have to think in a 140 characters. Some of the best online experiences that I have are on Twitter. Lately, my Utah friends have been keeping me in hysterics late at night. If I’m having a bad day, they make me laugh.

Last night, I tweeted the following:

and then sometime later, Stephanie responded with this:

and she offered a picture of her son’s birthday cake, which was quite awesome. But cake didn’t sound to good at the time.

and @Jenndola and I made some smart ass remarks about chinchilla’s….and Stephanie responded with this:

and she posted this picture, I know what a chinchilla is, but seriously the context of the conversation made me laugh soo hard.

and then some more giggles, and Stephanie responding with this:

and @Jenndola and I cracked up some more…and got this response:

and when it got too late, I typed that I was going to sleep, but @Jenndola responded with this, and I laughed again:

So if you are having a really crappy day, need some laughs, or some cheap and free entertainment, go on Twitter after 10pm, you will be welcomed with other night owls, you can make you laugh so hard, you break into tears.

Photographs Through Windows

Angry Julie — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:35:28 +0000

As an avid photobug, I’m always trying to get some unique shots. I spent the past weekend in San Francisco, CA which is a unique and historical city. I stayed at the Westin St. Francis on the eighth floor. I was there to attend and speak at Bloggy Boot Camp, which was being held on the 32rd floor of the hotel. There were no observation decks at the hotel, so I had to try my best and take some photographs through the windows. I think I succeeded. The main issue you need to think of is FLASH: turn off the flash, and the photographs should turn out pretty decent.

I took the photos above through windows in the hotel, but I also captured some great photos through the windshield of the car. I was not driving, but the passenger in a 2011 Lexus LX570 SUV, which Ciaran had for a review. The windshield was full of bug splatters and road dirt, but I still got these great shots, while moving! This is why I love using an DSLR camera…

Disclosure: Ciaran had the 2011 Lexus LX570 SUV for review purposes. These are my own opinions and I wouldn’t send it back if Lexus happened to throw one on my driveway in the future.

Bloggy Boot Camp San Francisco

Wordless Wednesday: San Francisco PD and Me

Angry Julie — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:01:50 +0000

Privacy and Your Blog-Ten Things To Think About

Angry Julie — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:46:57 +0000

On Saturday, I had my first speaking engagement at Bloggy Boot Camp in San Francisco. I was going to do this whole elaborate presentation with Powerpoint and all of the bells and whistles. I decided to do a handout and speak/storytell about the subjects that I outlined. I stumbled a little here and there, and I may have talked a little too fast at times. But, I think it went over pretty good and I got my points across. I have had some great feedback and e-mails already, but I wanted to share my outline in a post.

Photo by modchik

PRIVACY and YOUR BLOG
Privacy, tracking visitors, and more about keeping your personal info personal, while still blogging authentically.

TEN TIPS TO REMEMBER WHEN THINKING
OF YOUR PERSONAL PRIVACY

1. Real Names

Do you use your real name? Last name?
Do you use your family member’s names?
Do you use examples of people you know (IRL) In Real Life on your blog?
Do you have permission to use this information?

2. Location

Do you talk about where you live? Actual city, state?
Do you talk about vacations, events, before you go to them?
Do you use location based web applications?
Twitter, Whrrl, Foursquare

3. Blog Tracking Programs

Do you have a stat tracking program installed on your site?
Google Analytics, StatCounter, Sitemeter
Have you ever tracked an IP address?
Do you know how to track and IP address?
Previous comments, IP tracking sites

4. Photographs

Do you post pictures of your family? Your kids? Your house? Your neighborhood?
Do you watermark your photos?
Do you post “birthday party” or event pictures with other kids in them?

5. Content

What is too personal?
Search engines and your content?
When you hit “publish” it is there forever, sometimes even if you delete

6. Facebook

Do you have privacy settings “set” on your account?
How do you select and approve “friends”?

7. Domain Registrations

Do you have your own domain(s)?
Are they registered private?
Check Who Is?

8. Cyber Stalkers and Trolls?

Do you have a troll/stalker policy?
Have you ever had a troll problem?
How far would you let it go?

9. Comments

At what point do you close comments?
Have you ever closed comments?

10. Telling People About Your Blog

Have you told family, friends, co-workers, playdates?
Do you regret people knowing or telling them?
Have you had negative experiences because of it?

I may or may not do all of these things. These are just some good points to think about when you are blogging. After blogging for three years, my thoughts on some things have changed. I have loosened up in some areas, and I have totally locked down others. What ever you choose to do with your privacy and your blog is your opinion, and only yours. Because really, it is your blog.