My turn to post

To all our amazing and fabulous readers I would like to apologize. Today was my turn to post on Bossy! and I totally blew it.

Why would I do this?, you might ask. Well, I have no good reason at all. On Monday, I thought, "Oh, I need to do my post for Bossy! tomorrow", and I started to gather some thoughts about what to post. But perhaps Emily's Neti Pot post just pushed it all out of my mind. I don't know. Everytime I've blown my nose though, since Em's post (which is frequent as I'm getting over a cold), I think "I wish I could try a Neti Pot." This morning, that was one of the first thoughts to go through my mind after, "Why can't my 15 year old use an alarm clock? What is wrong with him? What is wrong with me that I continue to support this self-indulgent behavior?" Then my mind went straight from there to "I wish I had a Neti Pot". I don't know, it's hard to beat a post that has a woman pouring liquid into one nostril and watching it pour out of the other. Thanks Em!

Anyway, I just have one little thing to blog about today... that is time. I have a lot of time on my hands now, as I was just laid off of my job (which stinks!). And guess how I am filling my time? Yup...T.V. All the new seasons have begun. I am DVRing, among other shows, The Biggest Loser (Holy Smokes!), True Beauty (my guilty show - but my kids don't know it or see it), Psych (my favorite), American Idol (I'll decide after a few episodes if I want to continue), Ugly Betty, 30 Rock, The Office, and Superstars of Dance. Good-Grief! Like I'll ever have enough time to watch all of that.

I need to get focused. Can I justify all this TV if I do jumping jacks during all the commercials? Probably not because I fast forward through them. Maybe if I do jumping jacks during the opening theme song portion of the show?


What are your T.V. shows? Do you DVR or just watch? Do you have "guilty" shows that you watch? If so...dish!

Today's Fave: The Neti Pot

by Emily

As someone who suffers from typical allergies and sinus colds, I was so happy when my s-i-l encouraged me to try the neti pot during our Christmas holiday. I was on day 3 of a sinus cold, and it was only getting worse. I was a little freaked out about the neti pot, but she walked me through it. It was easy! And it really helped. If you want to try it, and are freaked out, call me and I'll walk you through it.

I felt an immediate improvement--it relieved the sinus pressure, rinsed out a lot of gunk, and let my body get ahead of the cold. It's not a cure-all, and it's not a drastic measure to take, but it simply rinses things out so you can start to feel better. Plus, I feel like the salt in the saline soothed my post nasal drip sore throat. Also, it improves your sense of smell.

This is the same brand neti pot I use. You can buy it at any pharmacy (CVS, Longs, Walgreens, even WalMart has it.) I like it because it comes with pre-measured saline packets, so all you have to do is add warm water. Easy. It was only $14.99, and worth every penny.

So, have you heard of it? My first reaction was: gross, I want to try it! But will it hurt? Is it invasive? How can you breath while you do it?

Basically the neti pot rinses out your nasal passage with the gentle force of gravity and saline water. It doesn't actually go into your sinuses, but creates a gentle drop in pressure that gently drains your sinuses. Gentle. Really, it is gentle, and you use warmish water, so it feels good too.


Here is a video demonstration. I don't bother with the "stretch exercises" afterwards, but why not? Easy enough and might feel nice if you have time.


And finally, a NY Times article, because, you know, if it's in the NY Times, it's gotta be good.

Le's go to hav sum fun!

My first grader made this for me right before school started this year. How could I resist this request? We went to the beach, and I keep this visible to remind me to hav sum fun.

One of my favorite ways to have fun is travel. It may be my most preferred (and most expensive) hobby. Before children, I traveled extensively for education, fun, and business and also lived in Moscow, Russia; Paris, France; and various states in the US. Now that we have these crazy little people running around, we've dialed it back a lot. Still, we take trips whenever we can, and I look forward to visiting Asia and Africa and other exotic locales as soon as our family and budget allow (sounds like a long time from now). In the meantime, we mostly stay in North America.

I am not a high-end traveler. When my husband and I lived in Paris 12 years ago, we spent a whole month sleeping in our rental car as we explored all of western Europe. Even if I'm on an expense report, I don't need the most luxurious hotels or the trendiest restaurants. However, I do want a good night's sleep in a comfortable hotel, and I need to eat delicious food and see the most interesting things. Do you like to travel, too? If so, you are in luck today. Because I am super nice, I'm going to share with you how I manage: my three favorite travel-related websites.

Hotel:

biddingfortravel.com This website is a web forum that will help you get great prices on hotels (and car and air). People come here and learn how to strategically bid for hotels on Priceline, then they report their winning (and losing) bids. The first time you visit this site, ignore the clunky design and read all the instructions. Then go crazy. We have stayed at super luxury resorts for $100/night. We were in Quebec City about 2 years ago and stayed at a Loews with a killer view room that would have been $325/night, but we got it for $67! On the lower end, I've stayed in Residence Inns for $30/night. Emily just got a great room at a luxury hotel in Chicago for an upcoming trip, thanks to Priceline and biddingfortravel.com. Never book a hotel without checking here first.

Food:

Chowhound.com message boards This is my kind of place. These are people who love good food but don't care for pretension. People ask questions, write reviews, and give advice freely. There are some snobby foodies, but you're likely to see a hole-in-the-wall Thai joint recommended right alongside a tres chic, expensive French restaurant. When I am traveling to a new destination, I always do my research at Chowhound first to find out what the local specialties are, where are the best places to eat at any budget, and what to order. I've found fantastic places to eat in LA, New Orleans, Hawaii, Mexico and even Germany. This is one of my favorite websites of all time because I LOVE TO EAT GOOD FOOD.

What to see and do:
Fodors Travel Talk Forums These forums are populated by experienced travelers and locals who want to share what they know. I have used these forums to plan trips to everywhere from Rio de Janiero to Rome to Provo, UT. Seven years ago we took a cruise through the Caribbean. I planned wonderful and fun excursions for us at every port thanks to the Fodors forums. We traveled by cab, daily rental car or pedicab, got to all the sights when they were still peaceful and easy to see, and just as we were leaving to go to our next activity the cruise buses would pull up with their hundreds of passengers. We also saved money by not going with the cruise line. I will never forget snorkeling in Jamaica--we were the first ones to the reef, saw barracuda and amazing fish, and after an hour or two we left when the hordes of cruise tourists arrived. Sweet! One tip--before you ask a question, do a search on the site first to see if the question has already been asked. There's so much great info, not just on sightseeing and activities, but also hotels and restaurants.

All the Bossy Sisters like to travel. We love travel stories. If you want to share yours with us, please do! When my friends go on vacation, I always request a detailed trip report when they're home. Vicarious travel is pretty good if you're as addicted as I am.

I'm going to go to hav sum fun now.

Holding

I was at the hospital with a friend last night. A few minor complications with her precious baby girl, left her 6 hours out of the womb and not being cuddled yet. My friends arms were aching. All she wanted was to hold her baby. I couldn't help but go back in my mind to the 10 days we waited to hold my Eve for the first time. 10 days. My arms literally ached for her. One time we had to go 21 days. 21 days without her in my arms. Torture for a mother or father. It just struck me how much we want to HOLD to fix things. My friend kept saying, "If I could just hold her, maybe she'd be ok." (she is ok by the way, more than ok, beautiful and fine. Just fine.)

So, I got thinking as I drove home (after finally watching Mom and Baby cuddle and love and bond.) Holding. It is so important. I love to hold my babies, awake, asleep, big, little, cuddly, squirmy, hurt or healthy. We offer to hold hands when someone needs comfort or safety. We hold hands when we walk, to show affection and/or protection. We hold each other to show Love. Isn't holding so nice?

Holding. I think it is Human Nature to want to "Hold" someone when they need help. Do you?
So reach out! Hold someone!
Images from Flickr, aren't they good?

My Deadly Habit

As I type this, I have crumbs on my kitchen floor, fingerprints on the sliding glass door, a laundry room overflowing with dirty vacation clothes, and leftover Christmas Crud in the family room.

But my ears are clean.

Clean ears are my obsession. Oh, I won’t notice if your ears are dirty, I’m too busy thinking about mine. I don’t even notice if my kids have dirty ears. In fact, it’s not uncommon to find actual potatoes growing in my boy’s ears. But you will never find anything in my ears except swabs.

Q-tips are the only thing that works. Store brand swabs won't cut it. I buy Q-Tips in bulk at Costco.

I have to clean my ears everyday – sometimes 3 times a day. I wash them with shampoo in the shower and then thoroughly dry them with the towel and then I swab them. If I am showering later in the day due to my (vigorous) workout schedule, I have to swab them before I workout, and then again after my shower, and sometimes I even swab them before bed. Just writing this make my ears ache to be swabbed. It’s ridiculous.

The origin of this obsession is too personal to share on the World Wide Web (but it involves a boy trying to stick his slobbery tongue in my ear, on a date, and I still haven’t recovered – I am still trying to get rid of his nasty germs). But I can tell you it has been going on for over 25 years and will stick with me until the day I die.

The day I die may not be far off. O Magazine said you are not supposed to clean your ears with swabs because it forces the earwax back into your ears. Now, the article didn’t say this part, but think about how close your ears are to your brain…what if that wax got forced into your brain? Generally, it is dangerous to force anything, waxy or not, into your brain.

I engage in life threatening behavior daily.

Don’t try to talk me out of my addiction. There is no 12 step program strong enough to stop me. No tough love strategy can change my ways. When my time comes I will be ready with clean underwear and Q-Tips.

And my ears will be clean.
Just in case.

Productivity and an Educational Time Waster

I was very productive today. I worked on building my home based business (Scentsy) for several hours, I drove my teenage son and his friend to school, I did 3 1/2 hours of home-schooling with my 12 year old and drove him to and from band. I actually made both breakfast and lunch for my boys (but not dinner - they were on their own for that), I read for an hour in a book I've been trying to find time to read, I downloaded my Christmas pictures, and I did some housecleaning.

But this is what I did tonight as I was trying to wind down and get ready for bed...

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/states_experiment_drag-drop_Intermed_State15s_500.html

I apparently don't know anything about where the states belong in the mid-west, because I totally messed all those up. But, I did pretty good on the west coast, southwest, south and east coast.

I got a score of 80%, in 302 seconds, and average miss of 55 miles.

How good are you at Geography?

Next Christmas Wish List

by Emily

Have you, your children, your husband, or anyone else you know, already begun to make next year's wish list?

I thought I would be gifted-out to the max. Done, done, and done. But then I saw what cool gifts others got, and to top it off, I read the Sky Mall magazine yesterday on the airplane.

The Sky Mall magazine is great, it has all the gadgets and gizmos you've thought about inventing for yourself and then realized that it really wasn't worth it. It has a way of making me feel anew in my motivation to organize every little thing in my life when I arrive home.

It is also great fodder for some hilarity during your flight. Joe and I flip through and show each other various items with our own commentary, "Now, I've always wanted one of those!" or "Seriously, is pouring yourself a glass of water so difficult that you need a machine that does it for you?" Etc. You get the idea.

Here are a few of my faves:

The "Progressive Wake-Up Clock"

I love that it isn't called an "alarm" clock, because HELLO! that would be too ALARMING which is beside the point. I've been wanting one of these for the last 6 years. As with everything in Sky Mall, I don't want it bad enough to spend the ridiculous money on it ($60+, no thanks)

The "Slanket"

Buy multiple Slankets for your guests to enjoy! Embroider them with family members' initials! Get one for the dog! These Fleece One-Size-Fits-All Slankets are FAR superior to those nasty old blankets the proletariat use. Our Slanket can be WORN! WORN, I SAY!

The "Pet Crate End Table"

Seriously? Why do you even have a dog?

And finally...

The "SkyRest Travel Pillow"
Oh Please, oh please, oh please, don't let me sit next to that guy. And do you really want to be "that guy"? You know, the one who is still blowing up his travel pillow halfway into the flight? "Ahem, excuse me while I inflate my huge drool pillow. Could you just scoot? I need some elbow room while I puff this thing up. If I pass out, I think there is an air-mask thingy you can use to revive me."

Is there a Sky Mall/As Seen on TV gadget you've pined after?

Buh-bye, Santa

It's still Christmas at our house. Josh Groban is singing Little Drummer Boy to me, three reindeer are enjoying their spot in the kitchen, and not one ornament has been packed up.

Last year around this time, my friend Paige proclaimed the Christmas Decoration Rule. Christmas decorations must be down by her Jan 9 birthday (her sister Celia probably disagrees). Because I respect and appreciate other bossy women I must comply, even though I live nowhere near her. So it's time to take 'em down.

Goodbye sparkly tree. You make me feel peaceful. Especially the night that my kids and I sat in front of you for an hour singing Christmas carols, my favorite event of the whole season.

Goodbye super cute Santa. Great work not getting destroyed by the kids who tried to ride the reindeer.

And goodbye to you, just a small portion of the medicine we and our many wonderful houseguests needed to get through this holiday alive:

Josh Groban and I are going to hang out for a few more weeks. Sorry, Paige.

Here's a tip on getting the kids to help clean up:

Hide wrapped candies (hershey kisses, perhaps) in a few spots on the tree and around your other Christmas decor. The kids can search for the candies while they help put away the decor. No candy can be unwrapped or eaten until all the decorations are put away. It's like a New Year's Easter Egg hunt.

Need Advice!

One of our readers sent us a request for advice and I thought we should open it up for all to share their sage wisdom:

...............................
Dear Bossy,

I could use some help. My four year old daughter has a bossy best friend. She is five years old and lives next door. I wouldn't quite describe her as a bad influence friend - she can be quite nice, but whoo boy - she needs to control EVERY aspect of play when they are at our house. In my mind I call her the "Little Dictator" . She is starting to drive me crazy.

An example of the dictator behavior: "You stand there. When I blow on this whistle you can dance, when I stop you need to stop. No, no, no you're not playing right. I TOLD you you need to do it this way. I'll go into the other room and let you know when you can come play, but don't move until I call you. No, I told you not to come in until I called you. And stop dancing, until I blow the whistle."

My daughter will play along with her dictates for quite a long time, but eventually she starts to chaffe at having no control over the play. The end result is either me stepping in and suggesting that they take turns coming up with the play or my daughter telling her that she is mean and she does not want to be her friend anymore. Either of these scenarios leads to her stating that she "wants to go home". It's all I can do not to shove her out of the house. I know I need to control my irritation and come up with a solution but I'm at a loss. Any ideas?

A Recipe for The New Year!

My mom gave me this recipe about 18 years ago and it is still wonderful today! This is not a one bowl recipe, but it is worth the mess it makes.

Peppermint Ice Cream Cake

1st Layer:
1/3 lbs graham cracker crumbs
1 cup chopped nuts

Spread crumbs in 9x13 pan and sprinkle nuts on top of crumbs.

2^nd Layer:

1 cup butter - divided

3 squares bitter chocolate

4 cups powdered sugar

1 t vanilla

Dash salt

6 egg yolks *

6 egg whites – beat stiff

Melt chocolate in microwave with ¼ cup butter. Beat in mixer with the rest of the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt (dough will be quite thick at this point). Add egg yolks. Gently fold in egg whites. Spread evenly over the 1^st layer and put in freezer until hard.

3^rd Layer:

2 quarts peppermint ice cream

Soften a little and spread over frozen chocolate mixture. Drizzle with chocolate if you like. Freeze until serving time.

Serves 20

Illustrated Directions (for those of us who are visual learners):

Make your crumbs in your blender - I chop my nuts here too!

Nuts can be coarse in texture.
Beat the whites while the chocolate is melting and set them aside.
Add the melted chocolate. Notice that I didn't bother to clean the leftover egg whites out of the mixing bowl. Just leave them there.

Before you add the yolks the mixture is very thick.

Fold in the whites very carefully to keep them light and fluffy.

Pour mixture over the crumb/nut base and freeze until hard.

Scoop ice cream on top of frozen base and then let it soften until it can be spread evenly.

"Limited Edition". This is still in stores! Go buy 3 cartons now (1 1/2 for the recipe and the rest for leisure eating). This also makes a pretty and yummy Valentine's treat!

The child closest to age 10 in your family can drizzle the chocolate (we used Hersey's syrup).

* Because this contains raw eggs you will want to warn any pregnant ladies or super old people and give them a bowl of peppermint ice cream instead.