Why is Everyone So Twitterpated?!

I think almost everyone I know Twitters, and I just don't get it. For those of you who don't know, again I went to Wikipedia to share with you...

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers). Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow anybody to access them. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications. The service is free to use over the Internet, but using SMS may incur phone service provider fees.

Since its creation in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Twitter has gained extensive notability and popularity worldwide.  Estimates of the number of daily users vary, because the company does not release the number of active accounts. In November 2008, Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester Research estimated that Twitter had 4-5 million users. A February 2009 Compete.com blog entry ranked Twitter as the third most used social network (Facebook being the largest, followed by MySpace), which puts the number of unique monthly visitors at roughly 6 million and the number of monthly visits at 55 million, however only 40% of users are retained. In March 2009, a Nielsen.com blog ranked Twitter as the fastest-growing site in the Member Communities category for February 2009. Twitter had a growth of 1382%, Zimbio had a growth of 240%, followed by Facebook with a growth of 228%

For starters, I just don't get texting. I did begin texting, only when someone else texts me, after getting my BlackBerry in October. The full keyboard made it not such a huge pain to send texts, but I still don't understand why I can't call or send an email. I'm much more comfortable with those. And, a quick call takes me much less time than a text. I know I could send tweets from my computer, but then, wouldn't I just want to send an email?!

Secondly, I don't know anyone who wants to get up-to-the minute news on my daily life. "Changing a diaper now. It's green and gross," just doesn't sound like the kind of news that everyone I'm wirelessly connected to via Sprint wants to hear about. What happened to having a personal and/or private life? Is it that I'm just not as interesting as all the other millions of people using Twitter on a daily basis? Or, are those millions of people not near as busy as I am on a daily basis?

I've heard of people using Twitter when at a restaurant. If they've never been to to the restaurant, they send a tweet requesting the best items from that menu. I'll just stick with asking the waiter or being spontaneous. I do have a mind of my own, sometimes.

 

However, I did find myself using Twitter last week for the first time. The Longhorn baseball team was playing in the regional tournament again Boston College. I assumed they would win the game and didn't stay home that night to follow it. When I returned home around 11 that night, I checked the local newspaper website to find that the game was in the 19th inning! Holy Cow! I tried to get the radio station carrying the game, but they were on to their regularly scheduled Fox Sports program. I ended up following the reporter covering the game via his Twitter updates online. I was maniacally refreshing the page every few seconds as he gave a play-by-play commentary all the way through the 25th inning. It was a historic moment that I'm glad I didn't miss, but I can't believe I was a part of it via Twitter. I was so close to signing up for Twitter just so that I could go to bed and receive the tweets on my phone instead of sitting at my computer until after 1 a.m. But, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Do you Twitter? Why or why not? Please enlighten me as to why I seem to be in the minority on this new technology.

A New Tradition

Abigail is so proud of her James Avery charm bracelet she received in April for her birthday. I've been itching to get her started on one of these for quite some time, but wanted to wait until she was old enough to keep up with it herself. 

I started her off with a couple of charms as part of her gift, my dad and sister each added a charm as their birthday gifts to her, and Abigail purchased a charm with the money she received from her Great Grandmother Mimi and Great Aunt Mayanna.

The birthday cake is one of my favorites, and I plan on having the back engraved with the date of her 5th birthday at a later time. (The charms have to be sent to the James Avery headquarters for engraving and we're not patient people, so we opted to wait until later.) The palm tree is what Abigail picked out for herself to represent her birthplace, Hawaii. My dad gave her the alligator charm because he and Abigail always say goodbye to each other with "See you later alligator" and "After while crocodile."  The longhorn was from my sister, as one of Abigail's favorite things to say is "Hook 'Em Horns" as she flashes the longhorn sign with her hand. The high-heeled shoe is symbolic of all the girliness and dressing up Abigail shows us.  I also added the "I Love You" charm and princess crown. 

Hopefully, by the time she's an adult, she'll have a collection like this to represent her life!

Craigslist Crazy

Is there a meeting I can go to? I'm thinking CA. It's not the abbreviation for the bankrupt state of California. It's the group meeting to cure addiction to Craigslist. If it exists, please sign me up. 

For those of you not familiar with Criagslist, here's the Wikipedia definition:

Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities, featuring free online classified advertisements– with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, anddiscussion forums.

Craig Newmark began the service in 1995 as an email distribution list of friends, featuring local events in the San Francisco Bay Area, before becoming a web-based service in 1996. After incorporation as a private for-profit company in 1999, Craigslist expanded into nine more U.S. cities in 2000, four each in 2001 and 2002, and 14 in 2003. As of April 2009, Craigslist has established itself in approximately 570 cities in 50 countries.

As of 2009, Craigslist operates with a staff of 28 people. Its sole source of revenue is paid job ads in select cities and paid broker apartment listings in New York City. 

The site serves over twenty billion page views per month, putting it in 28th place overall among web sites world wide, ninth place overall among web sites in the United States (per Alexa.com on March 27, 2009), to over fifty million unique monthly visitors in the United States alone (per Compete.com on April 7, 2009). The site receives over one million new job listings each month, making it one of the top job boards in the world.  The classified advertisements range from traditional buy/sell ads and community announcements, to personal ads and services.

Now that the introduction is out of the way, I can tell you that I've been frequenting Craigslist for years. I've predominantly sold baby items, such as strollers, a swing, or any large baby gear that the kids have outgrown. I think I've sold everything the kids have outgrown, except clothing. I've sold one car and, I've also sold a lot of furniture on Craigslist. We used to have garage sales, but now I just frequent Craigslist when we have items to purge.

A couple of months ago, I set out to re-decorate and furnish both Abigail and Cooper's room. However, I challenged myself with not spending anything I didn't earn by selling items I wanted to get rid of in their rooms. I started off with Abigail's bedroom set, which I sold for what I wanted to spend on her room in just a few days. Now, she has all new Pottery Barn bedding, a chair rail installed around her room and freshly painted walls. (She also received Cooper's bedroom furniture to replace her sold furniture. Her new bed was our guestroom bed.) I came in just a few dollars over my Criagslist budget in her room, which was a success.

The past week, I've been working on Cooper's room. I picked up a gorgeous antique dresser and mirror from... You guessed it! Craigslist! And, today, I listed Cooper's crib and various other baby items like our pack and play that we no longer need. It was just a few minutes after posting, that I began receiving emails from people wanting to buy my items. It looks like I'm going to be able to come out in the clear with my budget for Cooper's room. I think the $40 in paint may be over budget of what I'll end up bringing in from my sales, but I'm pleased as punch with that result!

Daniel regularly advises the kids to keep moving. He says that I'll sell anything that sits still long enough around our house. He may be right, but it's fun!

Tuesday Treats - A Meal for Moms

A few weeks ago, I got the chance to spend Mother's Day with my Mom. I had not done that in about eight years so I wanted to treat her to a feast of a meal. I won't fill up the blog with all the recipes, but I'll give you links so you can check out some of my favorite recipes next time you're putting a feast together.

Pecan Encrusted Pork Chops with Honey Mustard Sauce
The entree was one of my favorites I have made many times. Yummy and super easy! It's the only way I've ever cooked pork, aside from a baked ham, but it's worth a try. 

Green Bean Bundles

These Green Bean Bundles from Paula Deen are also one of my staples. They are a pretty and elegant way of serving fresh veggies, and as I always like, easy to make. Since I was making a Sunday lunch that needed to ready quickly after church, I prepared these the night before so that I just had to stick them in the oven right before lunch. 

Jiffy Corn Pudding

A few weeks before I served this meal, I had corn pudding for the first time. It was served at one of my favorite local restaurants, The Texan Cafe, and was delicious! I went in search for a recipe that sounded similar, and I found it! It was risky to try a new recipe out for this meal, but it paid off. I liked it so much that I've made it for a meal with friends from church and a dinner at home since then. 

Butterscotch Pie

This was another risky endeavor with a never-tried recipe, but it paid off as well. It is another Paula Deen recipe, so I didn't have much doubt in it's success. Boy, was it rich, but so very tasty. I love making pies, and I'll be adding this to my holiday pie repertoire from now on. 

Gooey Butter Cake

Again, I tried a new-to-me Paula Deen recipe and it was, of course, delicious. My sister, Kelly Ann, baked this cake, and it was the yummiest thing on the table that day. I've made it myself a few times since Mother's Day, and it was just as yummy. Oh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. 

Enjoy! 

Movie Monday - Doubt

I'm not quite sure what to say about this flick. Although it wasn't awful, I wouldn't recommend it. The acting was superb, but the plot was a bit boring. I love Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Meryl Streep, so I expected more entertainment from this group. But, I don't think the screenplay gave them much to work with. 

In short, the film takes place in a Catholic school where Meryl is the headmaster and Amy is a young teacher. Phillip is the priest of the church where the school is located. True to Catholic schoolteacher stereotyping, Meryl is cold and mean and directs that towards the priest when she suspects him of priestly behavior. And, in thinking about that actual plot, I think I've figured out why I didn't like the movie. That was all of the plot! I'm not leaving anything out. That was it. So, I think it was the lack of story that left me wanting a better movie. 

You may want to rent it if you need to wind down and are having trouble sleeping.

Strange Things Afoot at Texas Concerts

I'm finally getting around to sharing with you that Daniel and I accomplished one of our goals for the year. And, to think, we did it in April! That's pretty early in the year for a yearly goal! 

We spent a Sunday afternoon in April at a concert. I know, you're thinking, "big deal." But, that was a big deal to us. Here in Texas, and especially in Austin, the Live Music Capital of the World, we take our music seriously. And, our geographic locations over the past eight years have not allowed us to keep up with our live music desires. Yes, in San Diego, we did get to see Pat Green as well as Jack Johnson. But, while in Hawaii and Charleston, the opportunity for live music was slim. Now, we've been back in Texas since the fall, and have missed oh, so many live music opportunities. When my dad brought the Reckless Kelly First Annual Celebrity Softball Jam to my attention, I knew we couldn't pass this one up. It was inexpensive, during the day (1-8 p.m.), outdoors and not at a smoky bar, and at the baseball stadium within walking distance from our house! And, it was a blast! 

The softball game was slightly entertaining. It was mostly Texas country musicians like Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel) and a few Major League players like Greg Swindell (of UT fame). Kyle Petty took a turn at coaching first base in front of us, but he also took a turn with his guitar as a singer/songwriter during the Jam. Who knew Kyle Petty was an aspiring musician? Not me.

While I enjoyed the music, I couldn't help but snap some pics to share with you fine folks the beauty of live music. It always brings out a cacophony of people who are unique and entertaining in their own way.

This women seated near us was wearing a "Beer, Bait & Ammo" do-rag or kerchief on her head. Don't miss the lovely tattoo behind her ear that is highlighted by how she has her hair pulled back with that classy do-rag.

This gentleman apparantly wanted to show his appreciation to the Beatles or Coldplay. I'm not sure which group's get-up he was trying to emulate, but I don't think he pulled it off. Plus, it was stinkin' hot out there. I'm sure he stunk that jacket up to high heaven!

This woman (with the large tattoo on her arm) doesn't look amusing, she just annoyed me, and I want to warn you about her. She is Paula Nelson, Willie Nelson's daughter. If you know me, you know that I absolutely adore Willie. I dressed up as him for Halloween one year as a child and even attended one of his concerts as the celebration for my bachelorette party. So, please know that I mean no disrespect for Willie. But, Paula performed a few of her own songs at the Jam, and she was horrendous. Oh, I was embarassed for Willie. I don't know if he has sanctioned her using his name, but he shouldn't. She's just awful so watch out for her!

This gentleman wore this rice field hat all day. I'm not sure if he was just trying to shield himself from the sun and skin cancer or if he thought the ladies would be attracted to his hat. Either way, we got a good laugh out of him every time he walked by us.

This group of men all wore the same odd black hats adorned with medals and pins. I'm not sure what their gig was, but it was odd.

All oddities aside, the music was great. Reckless Kelly performed here with one of my favorites, Charlie Robinson.

 

The show ended with almost all of the performers playing together. I think you can see Reckless Kelly, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Kevin Fowler, Ray Benson, Randy Rogers, Roger Craeger, Micky and the Motorcars, Jason Boland, Dale Watson and Cory Morrow all on the stage in this final jam.

Hopefully this won't be the only live show we see this year. If anyone wants to offer up free babysitting, I'm sure we could find a show to see on any given night around here. Any takers?

Evil at JC Penney

I did something yesterday that I haven't done in almost seven years. Ugh... Believe me, I haven't been missing it, and it didn't miss me.

I went swimsuit shopping. Yes, you can groan with me, ladies. It was misery. I really wanted to take a picture of the mound of suits in various sizes that I tried on, but I was worried that if the other ladies in the dressing room heard my camera clicking, they would be nervous that some perv was trying to sneak shots of them. So, I refrained. But, really, you should have seen that pile of suits. I did end up leaving with three of them, but I wasn't really pleased with myself. (Needless to say, the serious dieting will be back with a vengeance on Monday. Working out once or twice a day just isn't cutting it.)

It was quite the defeating experience. I went in there with these visions in my head...

...But, was met with this gruesome vision in the mirror. 

The funniest, or maybe most annoying, part of trying on the suits was the girls in a neighboring stall. They were maybe 20 years old and were there trying on jeans. The dressing room, however, was located adjacent to the swimsuit section of the store so they were filling the air with their commentary on the swimsuits. They were on and on about why so many of the suits left in the dressing room were one pieces. One girl was aghast that anyone even considers wearing a one piece suit. 

First, I wanted to spit on the girls. Then, I felt sorry for them and wanted to give them my number and let them know that they can call me in 10 years and apologize when they are fat and understand why all these women who have carried babies in their expanded tummies and spend all their time taking care of a family instead of themselves and because of that, can only wear a one-piece but would opt for a full body wet suit if the opportunity arose. Yeah, those girls will have their day of misery in the dressing room one day. 

The reason I pushed myself into the horror of swimsuit shopping is because we have spent every non-working minute at the pool for the past few weeks. The kids are so sun-kissed that they look like toasted marshmallows. It's been a blast.