LaurenandLloyd.com

where our wasted time becomes your wasted time

Gadget

Crayon Boy’s asleep.

by 13 Comments

Lloyd was going to post about today’s dress-up day at school (Crayon Day), but he fell asleep around 7 and there’s no guarantee that he’ll post in the morning. So, here’s a place holder.

I need this. I need this like I need air. It speaks to my soul on every level – gadgety-ness, tree-hugger-ness, and weirdness. Please Santa.
Woo-hoo!
It’s a TOILET LID (sold seperately) that puts the water in the sink before it goes in the tank! You flush, you wash.  (It’s clean water, people, so calm down.) I think we should install these in the Center. Those little boys would flush every single time and have super-clean hands.

Envirosax!

by 9 Comments

Nine by six inches, baby!

So this is why we didn’t have groceries – I was waiting for my pretty bags to arrive!

A couple of weeks ago I was watching ‘Living with Ed’ (Ed Bagley Jr.) on HGTV.  He’s a tree-huggin’, energy-savin’, stuff-recyclin’ guy, and it makes his wife nuts.  I love the show.  This episode they were visiting celebrity homes and showing them little things they could do to make a difference.  They were at Cheryl Tiegs’ house and she had reusable grocery bag, but they didn’t show them in detail.  I looked for the on the internet, and found these instead.  In a fit of spending, I bought the whole pack.  You really need to go to envirosax.com to see all the collections.

They combine re-using with gadgety-ness!  On occasion I’ve walked to our local grocery store with a canvas bag, but these are much, much cooler.  They’re five cloth bags that each roll up to the size of a little egg roll, and they each hold as much as two plastic grocery bags.  I can keep one or two in my little purse at all times!  I’m so excited to get some food!  (I’ll run into a problem, though.  I actually do re-use the plastic bags by putting cat litter in them.  I’ll have to sneak some from the giant stash at school.)  I love you, Envirosax!!!

I could buy acres of food and stuff!!!

Thanks, Kathryn!

by 13 Comments

I got to talk to my good friend, Kathryn, during the start of school and we had a great conversation.  (She’s pregnant, by the way!)  She told me she bought something hilarious for me and was going to send it for an early birthday present. It arrived – and I love it!

Forbidden love

It’s the Peeler Bird on the right, lovingly set next to our trusty Beer Lizard.  It’s adorable!!  Thank you, Kathryn!!

Now, to the next part of our story.  We really need to go grocery shopping, and we’re really scrounging to come up with decent meals.  Last night I was trying to make salad from wilted greens and old carrots.  I thought, “Hey, I’ll use our new Peeler Bird to freshen up those old carrots.”  So I did, and was absolutely fearful of how crazy sharp that bird’s blade was.  I wondered why our old peeler wasn’t as sharp, and then it hit me – it’s fifteen years old.  Fifteen years.  Older than Lloyd’s students.  I started wondering what else around this house is that old, and I think it’s almost all kitchen stuff.  The sugar dispenser from my sister, the silverware from my brother, and our pots from my other brother.  (Minus the tiny pot when I burned the bejeebees out of it making rice – I went to the store and forgot I left it on.)  Good grief!! This stuff is old!  Am I old? Not possible!

I think this might be the beginning of my mid-life crisis.

Um….. thanks, Kathryn.

Dreaming of winter

by 2 Comments

I can’t wait for cold weather. I’m hot and sticky – and that’s in the air conditioning! I know I’ll complain about the cold when it comes, but for now I can dream about turning down the thermostat, being chilly, and saving money on heating bills. (Remember those days?)

I bought some new gadgets to battle the bills. I ordered two mattress warming pads that just go on the foot of the bed under the bottom sheet. They just warm your feet! I’ll never get out of bed! I bought one for our bed and one for Brad’s. (It was so sad when he visited at Christmas and had cold feet. Poor Brad.) These are from www.cozywinters.com. I’d try them out tonight, but even I know that would be crazy.

Where’s that freak blizzard when you need it?

Toasty Toes

Awesome Jewelry!

by 18 Comments

And now a word from our future sponsor: www.twodogpond.com

We have a friend who Lloyd used to work with when he was at Oetting’s Detasseling, Rachel Pozehl. She makes wicked cool jewelry – and it’s a very cool idea. She can take any image – a photo, a map, a piece of a postcard, letter, book, whatever – shrink it if need be, then put it in a necklace/ornament/whatever. She sandwiches the art between two pieces of glass and solders it together. Plus, since there are two sides, she can put something else on the other side! It’s very clever stuff, as she is a clever lady.

Annette has one of her boys when they were little and the word ‘Mine’ on the back.  Kate gave one to her daughter who was going to Chicago for college that had a piece of a Nebraska map with Seward on it and the word ‘Home’ on the back.  We also gave a few as Christmas Presents.

wine bangle ornament Glass Bubble Inspirational Words Photo Charm

Fun with Flickr.com

by 10 Comments

Beth Marshall said we should upload pictures for our High School Reunion Site to Flicker. It’s a good way to share photos, because they are easy to upload and search, and you can comment on the pictures that everyone puts there. Neat stuff.

Well, I found some pictures of Seward sitting on our hard drive today, and I thought I would put them on Flickr too. While I was doing that I noticed that you could also say where the photos were taken, and after that I wondered if anyone else had uploaded pictures from Seward…

(click me)
(Click on the picture to go to the live map)

Those of you in Seward should, of course, upload your own pictures.