My Favorite iPad Apps

I wasn't going to post today....but my last post was number 6.6.6 so....I can't let that hang out there like that and invite the devil in.  DEVIL...you are not welcome on my blog.

Today I'm going to tell you about my favorite iPad applications.  My friend Jessica just got a new iPad and I haven't had time to really tell her what apps are the best.  I blame Sanjay for this.

Also..over there on the right...the BlogHer people are giving away Newman's Own Pizza prize packs.  

Netflix....

I'm sure you already have a Netflix account so this one is a no brainer.  There are many movies and TV shows available to watch on your iPad.  This will also come in handy when Ryan is older and likes to watch movies.  My kids are addicted to Veggie Tales on the iPad right now....

ABC....

As a new Mom...I know you watch a lot some TV since it's harder to leave the house with a baby.  If you are a fan of Grey's Anatomy, Bachelor Pad, Desperate Housewives and Castle...this will become your new favorite.  You will never miss your ABC shows again.  I'm about to start watching All My Children because I need more Afternoon Delight in my life.


Twitter for iPad...


I know you don't tweet...but I think you should reconsider. Twitter is a great way to keep up on current events and breaking news...and I sometimes tweet after I've taken a sleeping pill and I'm told it's kind of entertaining.

iBook...

I love to read and iBook is my favorite app for buying and reading books. It has a built in dictionary for all of the hard words that I don't know and you can highlight passages to refer to later.


Instapaper

This is one of my favorite apps of all time. Because I love to research stuff and I come across lots of great websites that I'd either like to refer back to later or I don't have time to read right that minute. This app will save websites and make it so you can read the pages later on your iPad.

Feedler

This is the app you want for reading blogs from your reader.

Epicurious...

I know you like to cook and this is a great app for finding recipes.  It shows the ingredients and directions side by side so you can take your iPad into the kitchen with you.  I love that you can email a copy of the recipe to yourself or your friends.

Kayak...

I love to plan trips and check on fares to cities I'll never visit.  LOL!  Someday....

Zinio...

I love magazines and some of my favorites are available for subscription.  The only downside is that I can't tear out the pages of stuff I like but instead I make nots on my NOTES app.

iJournaler...

I love to keep a journal, as you know.  I love this one but I need to make time to write in it.

Angry Birds...

I love Angry Birds.  I stayed up many a night past my bedtime playing this game and Alex is excellent at this one.  Often times when I get stuck...he kills the piggies for me.

Words with Friends

I had never played scrabble before so this app was challenging but addicting! Invite me to play a game...my user name is ConnieWeiss.

GLEE...

Yes...there is a GLEE app.  Do you want to be on the show?  Now you can...just sing into the app alone, with friends or with the cast and it makes you sound amazing!

He Likes Big Breasts....

and he can not lie! 

I tell you what.....there is so much more interesting news items in the Denver news than the Utah news.

This poor man was just commenting on how nice the size of the chicken breasts were at Safeway when the deli clerk took it personally and called the police on him.

According to the trespass notice issued by police, Al Stults 'told a deli clerk that he liked her big breasts.'

Now he's banned from the store.

I hope he finds some big breasts somewhere else...

It reminds me of the time I was working at a lumberyard and a man bought several cans of stain from me....and I said, 'Wow...you must have a really big deck!'

Good thing people weren't so sensitive in 1991.

I Blame Sanjay

I should have known that my day wasn't going to work out the way I'd planned when I went down to the laundry room at 7:08am and found Sanjay down there.

Sanjay is my neighbor...right next door and this was my first time meeting him.  Except that he wasn't interested in meeting me.  He stared at the floor as he walked swiftly past me...having just put his clothes in the dryer.

I'm sure he could tell why I was there...what with the giant white laundry basket that held my unmentionables.  I tried to say hello to him but he wouldn't look me in the eye.  Whatever...maybe young men from India don't look old white ladies in the eye.

An hour later I went down with another giant laundry basket to find that he hadn't retrieved his clothes yet.  I was pretty sure he saw me...but maybe not.  Maybe I'm invisible.

While I was watching The Young and The Restless at 11am...I told the kids that we were going to the store when it was over.  We needed milk and I needed a few more ingredients for Red Beans and Rice that I planned to make for dinner.

I put their shoes on, gathered my list, my coupons, my purse and my phone.  And then we walked out the door and realized that we couldn't leave the parking lot.

Someone is moving and blocking the driveway to the back parking lot.  Dang it! 

I wrangled the crying children back into the apartment and tried to explain to them that I can't get my giant SUV out of the driveway.  That we can't go to the store.  I'm sooooo sorry.

Then because I didn't have anything else to do...I vacuumed, put my laundry away, made a play area for the kids on the patio and ate a pop tart.

I kept checking to see if the truck was still there...and it was.  And then I saw Sanjay.  Sanjay is the one moving.  Sure would have been nice of him to mention that he'd be blocking the driveway when he ignored me in the laundry room this moring.

At 3:30pm...iKeith finally stopped ignoring my iChat messages and I informed him that the Red Beans and Rice was not to be.  Not today.  And he suggested that I WALK with TWO preschoolers to the store.

As If!

Hikes with Tykes: Mt Falcon Park

Ever since we moved back to Denver 3 weeks ago...I've been itching to go to the mountains. Yesterday I read about some great hiking trails and the Mt Falcon Park trail caught my eye. I think I've mentioned before that I'm not good at aimless hiking...I need to have a goal.

Our destination today was the dream home of John Brisben Walker. In the early 1900's he made his fortune as the editor of Cosmopolitan Magazine, a land tycoon and an automobile entrepreneur.  In 1909 he built an elaborate home on the top of Mt. Falcon.  In 1918, it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground...leaving behind the massive stone walls and fireplaces...a unique mountain castle.

We slowly walked the Castle Trail to the home ruins.  It is 1 mile each direction from the parking lot.  Our 3 and 4 year old found it easy and enjoyable. 

Hiking with Tykes 101

 Always become familiar with the trail by checking the map at the beginning of the trail.  Find the You Are Here sticker and then consult the maps that you've printed in triplicate at home. (one for you, one for each child) This will ensure that you don't get lost and that there is no fighting among the children over who gets to hold the map. It's also fun to watch your husband run across an outcropping of rocks when they let go of the map and the wind takes it away.

When you are consulting the map on the giant board at the beginning of the trail, make sure to check the backside so that when you return from walking a mile with your precious children you don't discover that they could have been eaten by bears or mountain lions.  And never forget this bit of advice...NEVER make direct eye contact with a preschooler...I mean wild animal.

When walking along the trail always keep your eyes open for a possible Naughty Rock.  This will come in handy when your child suddenly decides that they don't like the trail you have selected and refuse to walk any further even though you've driven 30 miles and spent $25 on lunch meat and snacks for this lovely little family outing.

Even though the temperatures will reach the upper 80's on your walk, wear or tie a hoodie around your waist.  This item of clothing doubles as a baby straight jacket for children that lose their minds and threaten to run off a cliff.

An important safety measure when hiking with tykes is to teach them to hug a tree.  This is not some liberal crazy talk...this is to teach them to stay in one place and yell for help if they become separated from you during your hike.   Also tell them that some trees smell like vanilla.

The Walker Dream Home...in ruins.

Finally...our destination! 

Here's a tip to get children to pose for pictures.  Bring a little treat with you in your pocket and use it to bribe them.  I didn't take this advice and I couldn't get them to sit for a picture.

I owe the success of this picture to being at the picnic sight and promising Chips Ahoy Cookies if they'd stand next to each other and not fall off the rock and make a stupid face.

This little girl LOVES hiking! As long as she can spend half her time on her Daddy's shoulders.

A successful picnic lunch on top of a mountain contains sandwiches, chips or cheetos, cookies, juice boxes and soda.  Ignore the stares and dirty looks from the other hikers at the neighboring picnic tables who are eating sprout sandwiches, oranges, carrots and plain water.  They are just jealous.

On your way home the tykes will be complaining about being hot and tired.  Make a pit stop at Best Buy and sit in the home entertainment lounge so that everyone can cool off. Just don't let them fall asleep in the comfy chairs or they won't pass out from exhaustion at 6pm.


More tips....

• Bring lots of water.
• Bring a snack for on the trail so that you can fill little mouths with food so they stop complaining about being hungry.
• Don't eat berries that you see along the trail.  They may be poisonous.
• Teach your children to walk slowly going down hill on a gravel trail.
• Bring some band aids in your pocket.
• Teach your children not to approach hikers with dogs because they might try to bite their heads off.  The dogs...not the hikers.
• Put sunscreen on yourself and your children.  Don't rub it in all the way so that people can see that they are wearing it and don't come up to you and ask you if they are wearing sunscreen because they are very white.  *she's white because she wears sunscreen...duh*

The Quiz That Changed My Life

Until the age of 7, I was a nice little Lutheran girl named Connie Oldham.  My Dad would drop me off at sunday school and there was a lovely plastic cake that you were allowed to put your offering into if it was your birthday.

Every Single Sunday...was my birthday.  And I thought my last name was Oldham.  It wasn't.

When I was 7, my parents got saved and started attending an Assembly of God church and as time went on I became the President of the Missionettes and my dad became the church bus driver.  We were very involved in the church.

Then I got my drivers license and Bobbi and I would skip sunday school and go get donuts.

Dear Baby Jesus, 


I'm really, really sorry that I took Bobbi out to get donuts and didn't take her to sunday school like I was supposed to.  Please forgive me.


Connie

And then my Dad was in an unfortunate horseback riding accident that left him with nerve damage in his arm and unable to return to the job he'd held for 25 years.  No one from the church came around to ask how we were or if we needed anything.

They never returned to the church.  And neither did I.

Since then...I've always felt like I have a good relationship with God but I didn't think it required me to attend church.  I pray and I read my bible and I think good thoughts.  I just think I'm a Christian.  I don't think I need to narrow it down any more than that.

I was reading Kablooey's post about Oprah saving her soul and I decided to take the quiz that she suggested to find out what religion I should be.  I have to say I was a little shocked!

I'm supposed to be Jewish! Lucky for me...I know a Jewish Life Coach! Here is the email that I sent my friend Jessica Bern.

Dearest Jessica,


I hope this email finds you and Teddy well.  And I hope Phoebe returns home soon.


Today I took a quiz about my religious beliefs and it informed me that I'm supposed to be an Orthodox Jew.  The good news is that I'm open to all possibilities, and as I'm about to turn 40 in 17 days, I'd like to be all that I can be and/or am supposed to be without joining the Army.  Besides...I think the Army is looking for a few good men and I obviously lack the balls for that.


I'm coming to you today to ask for your assistance in becoming Jewish.


Please oh Jewish Life Coach....can you help me?


Love and Stuff,


Connie Weiss(stein)


P.S. My third choice was Islam and Obama is too busy to coach me on that.  He already said No.

I immediately got a response from Jessica that said 'Oy, call me at once, we must talk'. And so it came to pass that I would call Jessica and she would inform me that my first lesson was to always expect the other shoe to drop. If life is good...it won't last. I informed Jessica that I'd already been taught that by my parents so we were good to go.

And then by the power vested in her and Teddy...she gave me my Jewish name. Tamar, a beautiful hebrew name that means Fig Tree.

Stay tuned for my adventures in Judaism with Jessica guiding me.

*disclaimer: I'm not going to convert.  I'm very interested in Judaism  because my children's great grandfather was Jewish and I'd like to teach them about it because it is a part of their history. Also...learning new things is fun.