Is iPhone worth switching to ATT June 30, 2009

Sad, sad story: while camping with the kids, my beloved Palm Centro took a dive -and I’m not talking in the pool, not that it matters. Water damage is a death sentence to a cell phone. I had no insurance. I followed the prescribed care: how to save a wet cell phone  to no avail. I’ve come to accept that it is dead. I have been a loyal Verizon customer for over a decade, and the rest of my family and most friends are on Verizon. My dilemma? Well, I have two choices: to buy a new Palm, or Blackberry or other PDA offered through Verizon (excluding the iPhone, because it is with ATT exclusively). OR, I have been coveting the iPhone since its birth, patiently awaiting the day it becomes available through Verizon. Should I jump ship early and buy the now $99 iPhone, and pay the $70 early termination fee? It’s just that I was with ATT once, and it was not good.

 Is it worth dropping Verizon and going with ATT to be an iPhone owner?

 

Phone in the toilet

What do you do with polenta? June 22, 2009

OK. I thought I was being thrifty and gourmet at the same time. But now I have a jelly roll pan full of polenta and don’t know what to do with it. We did serve it warm with shish-ke-bobs, but now what to do with all the leftover? I’m looking for creative ideas. Any out there?

Ultimate Corn on the Cob Recipe June 21, 2009

Served this at a Father’s Day BBQ pool party today. It is easy, different than your usual corn, and always a huge hit! Has a little kick to it, due to the habanero peppers, but you can add more or delete them for your crowd and spiciness tolerance.

Chili Lime Corn on the Cob

Ingredients:

• 6-10      ears of corn
• 2            sticks butter
•  1/2       bunch cilantro, chopped up
• 2            cloves garlic
• 1            habinero chili (or more if you dare)
• 1            lb. Mexican Cotija Cheese
• 2            limes

Directions:
- Peel back (but don’t break off ) husks of corn.
- Get all that yucky silk string stuff off, then put the husks back down
- put corn upside down in a big pot of water ( you want to soak them, because they’ll be BBQ’d later, husks on, and won’t catch fire this way.
- Get 2 sticks butter, cilantro, garlic, habanero pepper, and whip up in the food processor.
- bbq the corn, turning to brown. Then put on tray and pull husks back.
- Then with a pastry brush, put lots of butter mixture on, grated Mexican Cotija cheese, lime juice.
-Serve! Yummy!

Free Summer Activities for Kids June 19, 2009

I’m always searching for cheap or free stuff to do to keep my kids busy over the summer break. One thing they look forward to every summer is the free movies for kids that the chain theaters put on. They are either free or $1 and they usually have a special $3-5 snack pack of soda, popcorn and candy. I’m going to post the links here to them.
AMC Theaters:
http://www.amctheatres.com/smc/index.html
Regal Theaters/Edwards Cinemas: http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx
Krikorian: http://www.kptmovies.com/aboutkpt/upcomingevents_details.cfm?ue_id=56

Bored Kids Already June 12, 2009

Alright, it is the FIRST day of summer break today and my kids are already bored! I’m gonna go crazy by August! I work from home most of the time, so it get’s quite annoying, the “I’m booooord! What can I do???” that I get every 20 minutes. They watched way more t.v. and computer screen than is the recommended quota, and when I demanded it go off, I just get the “I’m boooooooord!!” again. We don’t have many kids in the neighborhood, but still, I remember playing outside a lot more when I was a kid.

What can I suggest for them to do for the next 3 months that doesn’t require my supervision and doesn’t involve the kids staring at a screen? Any advice out there?