All posts by NerdMom

I Have Slayed the Linen Closet!!

I know that doesn’t seem like much of an accomplishment does it? But look at how horribly messy it is!! It was in just a fright that it took me hours spread over a few weeks. Hey, with 4 kids when do I have a few hours to dedicate to clean out 1 closet;)?

I had to sort through all the back stock of bath and beauty products. A lot hit the garbage. You know girls, the lipstick you wore twice decided you didn’t like it but thought you might like it some day? And what stayed just got organized! 1 bin for hair products, 1 bath product, so on and so forth.
Then I went through all the linen! Having had 4 babies, currently have 3 twin beds, a spare queen aero mattress and a king bed well that makes for a lot of linen. Since we are done with babies I got rid of all the baby blankets that are too small for the toddler bed, some of the many crib sheets (had something like 10) and a similar number of crib mattress pads.

I brought in some big plastic bing. One is for twin sheet sets, one is for extra twin mattress pads and blankets. Then I brought in a very big one that is in the very top of the closet. In that I put the extra king size mattress pad (that thing is huge!), blanket and flannel sheets.

Not only am I now much more organized, I can actually see what we do and don’t need! I found we need more blankets and more hand towels but we definitely don’t need more twin sheets!

Ahh, now my head is a bit clearer. So have you gotten any projects done this week?

The Stories of the Mugs

I have never considered myself a mug collector. At least I don’t try to be. I have standard white mugs that we use when I have girls over for coffee but you know how life is. You pick mugs up. When I saw Mom Spark’s post on the origin of her mugs it made me reflect on mine.

This is my oldest mug. I got it for my 14th birthday. 1 of my dear childhood friends and locker mate, Susan McNeil, had left it in our locker with a birthday card. It totally threw me off from the fact that she and a few other friends were throwing me a party at lunch. That was my last surprise party until last year;).

Fresno State Mug
This was the mug that my husband got as a graduation present from SWE (Society of Women Engineers) which he was a member of that year. Now that may have had something to do with the fact that it was a)the year we dated and b) my friend Kathy (who was President) said it was a prereq to dating me. He was given that at the pizza party where we honored the graduates and ushered in the new officers. I went from Treasurer to President;). By the way, Kathy also maintains that it was belonging to SWE that got him Dean’s Medal of Engineering;).

Our New Parent Mugs!
These are the mugs NerdDad and I got when we had our first child. NerdDad got his from his brother Mike. It was the mug Mike got with his first child! Mine was part of a mommy gift from my friend Carrie. It came with tea and chocolate and other girlie stuff!


These were a 25th birthday gift from my friend Santine. I got them at a birthday dinner with a bunch of girlfriends in San Jose. I always think of them all when I use these!


These are from my belated father in law’s insurance agency. He opened it and got these around the time we were in San Jose. I can’t see us ever using these or getting rid of them.


Ahh, the Pelco mugs! NerdDad got 1 when he started working there. He then got the big blue one for his 1 year anniversary. I then took it over. I mean, look at how big it is! And NerdDad doesn’t even drink coffee or tea!


I got this mug at the first New Covenant Women’s Retreat I attended. I was pregnant with NerdPie and Donna Partow spoke!


Last but not least! I am not a big one on play dishes. So I got these super cute plastic cups for my kids! They are the perfect size for cups of cocoa or tea for little hands. But, there weren’t any boy ones. So I just give the boys the ones with frogs on them;).

So that is my mug collection. Do you have any special mugs? Or any dishes for that matter?

Meal Plan Monday 3/7

It is time to plan our meals again! What are you and your eating? They say that you save both time and money if you do a meal plan. And that is in addition to just eating better. So if you aren’t meal planning just jump on in and try it!

Monday: BBQ’ed burgers and hot dogs
Tuesday: Kids are getting broccoli mac & cheese
Wednesday: Beans & rice with shredded beef
Thursday: Chili baked potatoes
Friday: hashbrown casserole with bacon and broccoli (making a new recipe)

The New Home for Contesting Monday!

Welcome to the new home of Contesting Monday!!! Since I have most of my giveaways on this blog, I thought it made sense to host this giveaway linky here!

So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you!

Buy New or Fix Old?

I saw in the Fresno Bee that First 5 of Fresno County (an agency funded by tobacco taxes) has $50,000 in seed money for a children’s museum. Of course, a local consultant has been hired to research this. Now this isn’t necessarily the beginning of the First 5 money so it needs to self sustain. 

Umm, has anyone heard of the Discovery Center? Do we remember when what happens when our museum eyes are bigger than our stomachs in Fresno? Why don’t we have the local consultant research how to use the $50,000 in the best way with in our 1 existing children’s museum? Granted, I haven’t been out there in years but it has survived in some state since I was a kid.

Granted, maybe some of that money might go to restructuring and improving what is already there. But the idea of trying to build something from the ground up? $50,000 won’t get you far and as far as community financial support? Aquarium anyone? And let us not forget what happened the last time we used the “if you build it, they will come philosophy”. Has the City of Fresno found anyone to rent the Met building yet?

I saw over at the Beehive that someone said that one of the reasons to not use this money to strengthen the Discovery Center was that not all kids are interested in Natural Science. I understand that point, I love the Tech Museum in San Jose. But then I read this in the original article.

Rogers and the handful of residents behind the proposal envision a large indoor learning center with interactive children’s exhibits on science, art and local culture. Agriculture and water would be central themes.

So, isn’t that the Discovery Center? I just don’t want to see Fresno City or Fresno County start wasting money down the rabbit hole of a new high tech facility. The way to do that is to wait for the money to exist before building begins.

So my vote? Spend the money on fixing the old! Invest that into the Discovery Center.

Tech Tuesday: What is That Hymn

This may not be a common problem but it is mine… I get an old hymn in my head. I remember 1 line but since I haven’t heard it in many years I obviously don’t remember the rest. What can I say, I am easily haunted. And there isn’t an IMDB for hymns. So it is cool when I found Hymnopedia! It sorts information by hymn, hymnal, composer and author. It is the wikipedia of hymns! And what is technology for if not to get me information? And I want that information for free of course;).

Meal Plan Monday 2/28

So here we meet again! It is time to figure out what I am feeding my family. I have been so busy lately that I haven’t tried any new recipes and am so bored! Maybe next week;).

Monday: Steak Bowls with Rice and Asparagus & Cauliflower, Buttery Rolls
Tuesday: Hot Dogs for the kids, Dinner out for the parents;)
Wednesday: Beef and Asparagus Alfredo
Thursday: Corned Beef, Broccoli, Potatoes
Friday: Breakfast (TBD)