Monthly Archives: November 2011

I was going to write a post about Epic Thanks and the school that must be built.

I was going to tell you about Gideon and Leah and how these two young people marched into my home and changed us forever.

I was going to tell you how I cried and cried when Mama Lucy left because I wanted to bask in the warmth of her smile for more days.

I don’t really have time for that today. Sloane has written beautifully about the Shepherds Junior School and the need to build a High School for these bright and motivated children. I don’t need to reinvent the wheel, go check out the Causemopolitan.

This Thanksgiving a few dollars can go a long way. I’ve set up a widget here, but of course I already donated my money over on Sloane’s widget. If the Twitter Kids have touched your heart the way they touched mine please make sure they can attend High School.

Leah will be an amazing Physician, Gideon will be an astronaut and Mama Lucy will continue making miracles by turning chicken coops into classrooms. Don’t you want to be part of that magic?

Recently the folks at Sleep Number asked me if I’d like to try their bed. I told them that I was sleeping on their bed, but I wasn’t very cozy with it. This wasn’t the answer that they were looking for and I tried to explain to them how very hot the bed was. I told the rep that I’d even considered the Dux bed as a replacement but then I remembered that we work for our money and that a five figure bed is for someone rich or stupid, perhaps a little of both.

We talked a little more and I explained that Mr. G. and I were just roasting at night. They suggested that we go to the highest sleep number and we realized that we’d both crept up there over the years. Effectively we were laying on, not in, the mattress. The next step for us would have been to add one of those egg cratey looking things on top of the mattress for a little added ventilation but then I was assured that the Sleep Number i8 would be a massive upgrade from our old 500 series and that there was an egg cratey thing involved.

I need you to know that I was skeptical. So skeptical that I didn’t allow them to remove my old mattress. I had a feeling that this might not work out.

Thank goodness I was wrong.

There’s a whole process to buying a Sleep Number bed and if you’re reading this blog you’re just nerdy enough to really appreciate it. When you’re at the mall stop by the Sleep Number store even if you don’t need a bed and find out your sleep number (yes, I realize they employ the same marketing tactics as crack dealers). If you’re curious about the entire process Kim wrote a great post and you can read it here. If you want to see what it was like for me watch this.

After you find your sleep number and pick your bed you schedule a delivery. My delivery was interesting. Again, this is not my first Sleep Number bed and I did remember that they’d been lovely to deal with in the past. I was not at all surprised when they sent out two delivery men that were clean and nice. I peppered them with questions about the bed and then asked them if they knew anything special about the delivery. Often times when people know I’m a blogger I get extra special service. These two knew nothing (or were incredible actors straight from Central Casting) and I can only assume that everyone gets the same thoughtful and tidy service (I made them slip their shoes off to come in the house).

Now to the good part. The sleeping part.

Something has changed with Sleep Number. We liked our last bed… until we didn’t like it. But we did have 8 good years and someone else is enjoying it now.

The i8 is amazing. I cannot tell you how much I love getting into bed and how happy I am to be swaddled in it all night long. It’s an interesting sensation to drop into a bed that is really quite firm but at the same time envelops you. If you have Rheumatoid Arthritis like I do the Sleep Number bed can be a godsend. Imagine if you will that you’ve just had an imperfect night’s sleep. You wake up with a stiff back and it takes a few hours to work it out. If you’re me and you have RA coupled with a bad night’s sleep you can just give up on the day. It’s narcotics for breakfast and prayers for lunch. I really don’t screw around with my body anymore and that’s why I didn’t let them take my old bed away, it may have been overly warm, but it let me feel good.

When I was in the store finding out my sleep number the sales lady was talking to me about the adjustable bed frame. I was all like, “Listen lady I spend half my life telling people arthritis isn’t just for old people, I’m not getting a hospital bed before my time.”

And then she smiled and explained to me that most buyers were actually really young and into technology. That by lifting the feet just the tiniest bit they are able to sleep comfortably on their backs… which could mean no icky pillow to face wrinkles in the morning.

The i8 was and is a wonderful bed. I shipped the old bed off to a family that doesn’t have means for a new one and the fact of the matter is that after eight years it really doesn’t show any signs of wear. Now I’ve got to decide if I want to spring for that adjustable frame. It’s been calling my name.

Today Alexander’s class is having their Thanksgiving feast. Last week the room mom sent out an email asking everyone to volunteer to bring something and then there were eighty bazillion reply all’s and I set up a filter for the conversation so I didn’t have to be involved but I wanted to hijack the whole thread and put it into a form on Google Apps where it belonged.

I ended up being the pumpkin pie mom. I like pumpkin pie. My mom makes great pumpkin pie. Her pie is so great that I never bothered making it and instead spent my early adulthood perfecting my apple pie. If the class mom asked for apple pie I’d be taking out my mixer and chilled butter and those kids would have a kicky apple pie, but since I spent the last four days in Mexico and it’s the wrong kind of pie I sent my son to school this morning with a pumpkin pie from Trader Joes complete with all the plastic and even the price tag.

I didn’t even have enough shame to transfer the not very impressive pie into a piece of Tupperware like a good mom would.

Instead I’m busy getting the last pieces of paper together to refinance the house and I’m going on a crazy search to find the hibiscus liqueur that I brought back from Riviera Nayarit as a gift for my father, but it exploded all over our luggage instead. If I ever find that same brand I’ll be sure to give y’all the details as it’s a lovely shade of pink but still doesn’t stain clothes.

Alexander is totally obsessed with card tricks. He comes home from school, locks himself in his room and watches YouTube tutorials. After about an hour he’ll emerge to show us a trick. Sometimes it will be good, other times we have to pretend we didn’t see the first mistake and use our best judgment about the second time around.

Jane has her first final exams next week and I’m anxious for her. Today is a full day of school followed by soccer practice, tomorrow is a half day of school followed by more soccer practice and then a fright night sleepover. Fright Night sleepovers are a trio of girls who spend the night at each other’s houses watching scary movies. Thursday is Thanksgiving and then on Friday they play soccer at 8am, 2pm and 5pm. I’m not sure if there are games on Saturday but final exams begin Monday. Jane has an A in every elective and a B+ in every core subject, my hope is that the exams can bring up some of those B’s.

The real overload comes from the fact that Alexander is applying to a different school for 6th grade. It’s incredibly sad in every way because the kids go to a school that’s K-8 and I wanted both kids to have the experience of being in one school for an extended period of time but the fact of the matter is that Alexander had three bad years in a row. His teachers in second, third and fourth grades were let go at the end of each year with him. Jane had those same teachers but she had them in good years. I just can’t risk another year of teacher meltdowns.

There are a million great schools in our part of town but there is only one that appeals to us as a family that has a natural entry in the 6th grade. Alexander has an interview there next week and, being ten, he has a brand new dental appliance that acts as a permanent retainer so the boy now talks like he’s three years old. Totally unintelligible. When I first started exploring new schools I wasn’t firmly committed to making a change, but something happened when I went to this new school. In addition to finding the kids utterly charming, the campus itself is beautiful and there was no religion. I know it doesn’t matter for my kids, but I’m sick and tired of sending them to chapel three days a week. It’s not a real complaint, but it’s something I’m looking forward to closing the door on.

I never thought that this would be a chapter in my life. I never thought a handful of B+’s and a retainer would give me this much anxiety, but it does.

It’s been THREE hours since my last blog post and eighty gazillion publicists have sent me 732 pitches for holiday gift guides. I’m deleting them all, I hope you’ll forgive me when I delete the follow up emails too.

My gift guide is almost done. I’ll suggest a few items that I’ve bought myself this year. That is all. I won’t suggest anything I don’t own and know to be wonderful. You can shop the sales if you want or if you’re like me you’ll shop this week and use an app to get a price adjustment next week.

Actually if you’re really like me you’ll you’re on your way to the grocery store to buy stuff for the food pantry, because stocking up for holiday toys that no one really cares about can be fun, but it’s a luxury and it’s good to be cognizant of luxuries.

In the coming days I’m going to give you details of my trip and why Mexico is my new old favorite, I’ll tell you about my upgraded mattress, and why Mr. G. and I are going to start a new family tradition of flying like the president and vice president.

I will not recommend toys and games for your children for the holidays because if your kids want a toy or a game they’ve probably already told you about it. I will not recommend a special holiday drink because I’m Jewish, we just hold up a glass of wine, say l’chaim and get on with the show.

Buy yourself something nice, buy a stranger something nice. If you want to give for the holidays try giving Gideon and Leah the chance to go to High School.

Mr. G. and I were just hosted on fabulous trip to Riviera Nayarit. The trip was centered around the Gourmet Festival. To call it incredible would be a gross understatement.

This is a trip that every foodie should take. If you love meeting new people, all the better. We had just one progressive dinner but they feature them three times a week during the ten day festival. Our progressive dinner had us visiting five restaurants for eight courses and eight wine pairings (except dessert which was a cocktail pairing and a wine pairing).

The food was out of this world and deserves a better post than this one, but I’m tired, I’m behind on my housework and my cherished bottle of hibiscus liqueur exploded in my luggage so I have to buy Mr. G. new shoes so that he can go to work tomorrow without looking like a child in tennis shoes and slacks.

I found out that I really don’t tequila as a drink, but a sip is good for me. There was one truly spectacular cilantro margarita and I promise to get you the recipe. In the interim here are some images from the trip.

Remember when I said that we spent November 10th shopping? Remember when I told you my Mom hates shopping? Well, my mom hates shopping less when the folks from Savvy.com hand her a little envelope of cash.

So basically with the Savvy app (or website) you take the items that you want and put them on a “want” list. This is good for people who aren’t me. If you’re me, you take the items you want and put them in your home. I have little use for delayed gratification and my husband will be pleased to know that there are only a few things that I actually want.

Now, if you’re me the “want” list is short but the shopping list is long. I don’t shop sales because my experience tells me that by the time things are on sale I’ve either decided I don’t want or need them or they are sold out of my size.

This is where Savvy comes in.

Most retailers will honor price changes within 10-14 days. Most consumers do not walk around with a pocket full of reciepts looking for cash back on a price adjustment. Savvy shoppers do and now Savvy.com steps in to make people like me appear to be savvy shoppers.

Basically you enter your receipt (just snap an iphone picture) and then savvy saves your items. When prices drop Savvy.com sends you an email. You can just pop back into the store and get your money.

So yeah, you can go shopping all week before the stores look like a tornado hit them and then leisurely drop in at J Crew in 12 days and get the price adjustment. It’s really smart.

Any good start up is only as good as it’s executive team. The folks who were at the event were telling us about their lead engineer who grew up in a really tough part of Los Angeles and overcame odds that were stacked against him. Maybe the mimosas made us more receptive to the message, but combining that with the fact that the marketing manager seems to truly admire his wife… well, Mom and I were smitten.

It’s in beta, so if you need your technology to work perfectly at every turn this is not the app for you. If you’re excited about new ideas, getting sale prices without having to shop sales, and supporting new business models then this is for you.

And really, the folks at Savvy.com gave my mom a really great birthday, and that just tickles me.

Savvy is available in the itunes store and coming soon to the Android market.