I am trying to get back to my blog but “life” has been getting in the way. Funny thing since blogs are supposed to be about our lives. My little guy has a cold, which isn’t that big a deal but he’s also cutting molars and apparently, that adds up to a CHILD WHO WAS HYPER UNTIL MIDNIGHT AND THEN WOKE EVERY 45 MINUTES AFTER THAT SCREAMING AND POUNDING HIS FISTS.

I understand that slitting my wrists is not an appropriate response and might, in fact, be considered an over-reaction. I have no alcohol in the house and Advil is just plain boring.

I want — no, I need — chocolate chip cookies but the oven in our rental house DOESN’T WORK right and the cookies I tried to bake the other night were flat and mushy.

So I’m having a cookie crisis and I have a sick baby. Oh and we still don’t have heat in the master bathroom. But we’re supposed to break ground today or tomorrow so it’s all good. Right? Right?

Right.

I’ll be back soon, I promise. In the meantime, here’s my munchkin, posing for the camera. Isn’t he going to make the cutest Ewok for Halloween? The snot-dripping, sneezing, but still smiling Ewok.

I like to participate in the Wordless Wednesday posts, where bloggers post fun pics and share with other bloggers. I’m going to count this as a WW post, OK? Check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

We’re finally moved into the teeny, tiny rental house and all systems are “go.” Last week, we were shuttling back and forth to a hotel at night because we had no gas (meaning no heat or hot water). Then when we did get the gas turned on, we had not one, but TWO, gas leaks. I thought my husband was going to explode with all the challenges and issues.

But everything seems to be working now (please don’t let me jinx it by saying that) and we’re looking at final floor plans for the house we’re building and getting to know our new neighborhood.

I’m ready to get back to my blog, too! I’m working on some “Find it for Me ‘Rean” posts. If you’re stuck for a gift idea or trying to find something for yourself, shoot me an email and if I can find it for you, I’ll send you a $25 Amazon gift card. (Email is sherean at gmail dot com.)

I’m also wondering if you’d like me to do some more contests? Let me know in the comments section or email me what type of prizes you’d like and I’ll see if I can get them!

One more question. I started this blog a couple of months ago and had no real plan for what to write about. I know, shocking, isn’t it? I’m usually SUCH a planner! Do you have suggestions for how I can make this blog more useful? Or interesting? Please let me know! I’m going to continue to keep it ad-free and without sponsored-reviews.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you’re all having a great start to your week!

GUEST POST FROM CARA:

As a mom of two little boys, I’ve experienced the many highs and lows of child behavior. And with that, I’ve run the gamut with methods and tactics for discipline. Some things have worked, some things worked for a while and some things have really backfired. When we come off of a bad behavior week (you know, the times when something goes disastrously wrong every. single. day.) and I’m at the end of my rope, I’ll try anything — short of electric shock therapy (for me, not the kids) — to get back on track.

And that’s exactly where I was when Sherean approached me with the opportunity to review a parenting course from Positive Parenting, and co-host a free Webinar for other parents at the end of their rope. I jumped at the chance! I buckled down and sat through the online video Breakthrough Course… and loved it!  I started implementing the new tactics right away and not to sound cliche, but I really did see immediate improvements. Now, I’m not going to tell you that my boys are at 100% (or even 75%) every day, but at least now, I have effective tactics and tools for addressing behavioral issues.

So here’s the cool part for you: by reviewing this course, I get to provide you with a FREE Webinar called “The Art of Consequences,” which applies to kids ages 1-16, presented by Amy McCready (founder of Positive Parenting) that will teach you:

The free Webinar will take place on Wednesday, November 18 at 9 p.m. EST. RSVP for your “seat” here.

I highly encourage you to RSVP in advance as the seats/space is limited (yes, even though it’s in cyperspace). Not to mention, once you RSVP, you’re more likely to put it on your calendar — this is your chance to get a new lease on parenting! I have seen first-hand results from these techniques and am so excited to be able to share some of the lessons with other parents who need a break from the crazy.

See you there!

We moved last weekend. I’ve never moved with a baby before, which definitely made it more challenging! But also lots of fun. See?

Sorry the 2nd shot is so washed out; I took it with my cell phone. I just love the expression on his face so much, I’m overlooking the photography flaws!

And this last shot is from our hotel room (We’ve been in a hotel because the gas company can’t hook us up till today; no heat or hot water in 36 degree weather? No way!). He loved looking down at the cars.

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

I have a friend, Amy McCready, whom I met through another friend, Lisa McLeod. Amy is the founder of Positive Parenting Solutions, an educational resource for parenting toddlers to teens (I am NOT looking forward to the teen years but with Amy’s help, maybe it’ll be a breeze!).  She has kindly offered to do a FREE webinar for our readers on Wednesday, November 18th. I asked another friend, Cara, to host the webinar since she has two toddlers and therefore has a little more insight into parenting challenges than I do. Right now, my biggest problem is getting my son to eat finger food. (He puts EVERYTHING ELSE into his mouth so I don’t get it. Anybody?)

Tomorrow, Cara’s going to write a guest post on the blog telling you all about the webinar and Amy’s other online offerings. (Cara’s blog, Repurposeful, is a great read, too!)

Amy is an amazing woman, full of energy and ideas. I’ve already referred her Breakthrough Course to several people and hear nothing but praise for her training classes. I recently read an article she wrote on why time-outs don’t work. I’ve bookmarked that for future reference! I plan to sit in on the webinar and take her online course. My little guy will be a toddler soon so I might as well get prepared.

So I’m thrilled that she offered to do a free webinar for you all, and excited that Cara will be hosting it. Stay tuned for more details!

Still up to our eyeballs in boxes and of course, all the utilities hookups are not going smoothly (I’m talking to you, Comcast, and you, Atlanta Gas Light.) No heat or hot water so we’re staying in a hotel until that is resolved (tomorrow). Technically no cable or Internet and Comcast gave us the wrong phone number.

But it’s still Tech Tuesday here at Random Neural Firings so I thought I’d take my real-life moving fiasco and tell you what technology tools we’re using to make this easier.

First, let’s start with the moving company. We found a great one through Kudzu. Have you ever used them? The company we selected had rave reviews and indeed, they have been great to work with.

Second, with the cable fiasco, I don’t even mess around with calling customer service. I send out a tweet about it and generally, Comcast responds very quickly on Twitter and escalates it to corporate.

How do I tweet without Internet service, you ask? I have a Palm Pre smartphone with a Twitter application called Tweed. So yesterday, while the installer was here telling us what he couldn’t/wouldn’t do, I launched Tweed and had at it with some of the Comcast folks on Twitter.

So how am I creating this post without an Internet connection? Well, I could have done it last night from the hotel but I was too tired, and I was still dealing with Comcast until very late. I have a MiFi card from Sprint. It’s basically a portable Internet connection that is about the size of a credit card. It’s around $50/month and it allows you to have a good Internet signal from just about anywhere. Does your local coffee shop charge you for Internet service, like my new neighborhood shop does? Screw ‘em. Take your MiFi card with you. Is your hotel Internet connection so slow it feels like the old dial-up days? Screw ‘em. Fire up your MiFi. Are you WAITING FOR COMCAST to come back out and do what they were supposed to do in the first place? SCREW ‘EM and find a warm spot between a tower of boxes, boot up your laptop, fire up your MiFi and surf your troubles away.

Interested in any of these tech tools but need help? Drop me a note and I’ll be happy to assist. (sherean at gmail dot com)

OK, on a lighter, non-technical note, my 11-month old seems to be surviving the move pretty well. He’s been a bit fussy at times and he would NOT go to sleep the first night in the hotel, but he slept well the last couple of nights. And last night, he scooted/crawled forward for the first time! In the hotel! He’s obviously a late crawler, and usually all he does is scoot himself backwards or in circles but last night, he inched himself forward about a foot.

Of course, I immediately Facebooked and tweeted about it.

Come back tomorrow for a CUTE moving picture!

What do you give a colleague or friend when you want to mark an occasion with just a little token? Not a full on gift, but a little somethin’? Candles are tried and true, but what about a 100% soy candle with a twist? Friend just got pregnant? Check out the “knocked up” candle from Scent of a Scandal (baby powder fragrance). I gave that to my friend, Lisa, when she was pregnant with #2.  Know someone about to take a dream trip to the Amalfi Coast? Give her the BEE-OTCH (honey fragrance) candle and let her know how you really feel.

Wanna bring in something other than candy to the office for Halloween? Try the “Turning Tricks” (candy corn) candle.  Guaranteed to bring a smile plus it smells good!

p.s. I’m just getting settled into the house so I may be updating some old posts this week. Follow me on Twitter for all the gory details on the move. On second thought, you might not want to. As a friend told me yesterday, he’d rather slam a stapler into his forehead than move. I so get that.

From my friend, Cara:

Here’s something you never want to hear your 3-yr-old say: “Look Mom, I’m a pot head!” Unless of course, he’s in the kitchen playing with your pots and putting them on his head. Then it’s OK.

Today’s the day we close on the sale of our house! Yay! So naturally, I have a lot of decorating things open in the browser.

Did you know chalkboard paint comes in COLORS? Apartment Therapy blogged about this the other day and it’s WAY cooler than plain old black chalkboard paint. Not sure what we’re going to chalkboard up, but this is on our idea list for sure. (Can’t do much for the next six months unless it’s to our furniture; we’re renting while we build our house.)

Customize your own Jonathan Adler piece. Are you freakin’ kidding me? Jonathan Adler lets you make your own pillows, rugs, and bags. HOW AWESOME IS THIS? How will I ever decide what to get? As my friend, Rene, says “Eeek!”

My dream kitchen. Saw this pic in one of those kitchen magazines, showed it to the builder, and this has officially become our “inspiration kitchen.” Love the banquette, love the beam pattern design on the ceiling, love it all! Love the Persian rug under the table but think that will have to wait till my son is a LOT older. For now, it’ll be bare or with a splat mat!

Do you all watch Glee? It’s must-see TV in our household. The show has a Facebook fan page, as does its cast of characters. Sue, the evil and hilarious coach of the “Cheerios” (cheerleaders) posted this update on her page:

Health insurance is for the weak. I perform all my own medical procedures.

The peepee teepees. Seems like a cute idea but utterly useless. I should know. I bought them for my sister when she had her son 5 years ago. She re-gifted them to me. I tried it once. First of all, it ain’t going to stay on a wiggly baby’s weenie. And second of all, he’s going to pee right through it. Save your money.

Last week, we took the baby to Callaway Gardens . He hung out with Daddy while I had a speaking engagement. Here he is plopped on the floor at a restaurant, having a good ol’ time being the cute, smiling, happy baby that he is.

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

This site won’t win any design awards, but if you’re looking for serious insider help getting the best hotel rates, you won’t care what the site looks like. My hubby and I were planning a trip to NYC for our anniversary and I was coming up short with my usual research; the room rates in NY were stupidly expensive. Googling away, I found this site called BetterBidding.com. If you like to use Hotwire (and I do), they have all kinds of cheat sheets to help you figure out which hotels match up with your Hotwire search results. You can then go check those hotels out on TripAdvisor or another review engine and see if it’s a decent place. And if you still can’t figure it out, post a request for help on the boards and you’ll get very useful tips, rates, and links. It’s like having a travel agent who really knows how to “game the system.” Be sure and use the links they provide you; this guy makes his money through the referrals.

I found this on Etsy a while back and bookmarked it: a message in a bottle service! This seller takes your text, types it up on vintage paper (using an old TYPEWRITER no less!), seals it with wax and your monogram, rolls it up in a teeny, tiny bottle and attaches a cute vintage key. She then boxes it up and mails it for you. All this for just $15.

How GREAT would this be for a niece of nephew? Just a surprise letter telling them how much you care — maybe on their “half birthday.” Or send your sweetie a note. I think my pirate-loving nephew would love this; maybe I’ll send him one for Halloween.

Stuck for a gift idea? Send me a note (or a message in a bottle) with the subject: “Find it for me ‘Rean” and if I use your question, I’ll send you a $25 Amazon gift card.

This one’s probably going to get me in trouble but here it goes: men are stupid. In my not-so-distant single days, I was obsessing over a loser ex with my friend Ruthie. Exasperated, she gave me the single best bit of dating advice ever: “men are stupid,” she said. A mother of six (!) boys and one grandson, she told me that she loves her boys more than anything, that boys are wonderful, but she said she’s learned that they’re just not that bright. Or deep. We women obsess over what they’re thinking or what they meant when they called or didn’t call. Ruthie told me they don’t mean ANYTHING. They don’t think it through at all, she said. We’re the ones that assign meaning, not them.

He didn’t call when he said he would? Maybe he’s not that into you. Or maybe he’s just stupid. Either way, try to enjoy yourself and size up his character and other things that make him fit to be your life partner. But don’t drive your girlfriends (and me) crazy with the “what does he mean by . . .” conversations. Chances are really good he meant nothing by it.