Jackie’s boy’s blanket

I made this blanket for my sis-in-law's baby boy. Her nursery is in greens and browns, and anyway, I don't really like baby boy blue for boys, so the greens and brown were the perfect choice. I even invented a little alligator/lizard and sewed him on. I really hope little baby Payne (they haven't told us his name yet) really enjoys his blanket from his *favorite* aunt. 

Baby Stroller Goodness

Now, I’m not a mom, and I’m not pregnant yet, but my friend is and I’m helping her research baby products. Also, I intend to eventually have children, so I may as well start researching now.
I want to be sure that I have a stroller that is lightweight and folds up enough to fit in my car trunk since I can’t be sure to have an SUV by the time I have a baby. My favorite thus far that I’ve found is the Baby Jogger City Mini. It weighs under 17lbs and folds up with one hand (just grab the handle in the middle and lift; simple as that!). It also comes in great colors. Here is the link: http://www.babyjogger.com/city_mini_sngl_dtl.aspx.
A slightly more affordable option that still weighs in at around 17 lbs is the Graco Metrolight Stroller, shown here: http://www.gracobaby.com/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=1750856. This one comes in many different styles, and its lower price includes accessories that would cost extra on the City Mini, such as the cupholders and the baby tray with cup holder. Those are nice accessories that would definitely come in handy.
I got to see the City Mini in person today at the Bellies and Babies boutique in downtown Chattanooga (Northshore), and it was a real beauty! It seemed to “drive” nicely, with larger wheels than the Graco stroller and a sleeker style, as well. But for the cost savings I may have to go with the Graco. I have lots of time to decide.

My new computer

I am so excited to announce that I have a new computer. It is a 15 in. Dell Studio laptop, and its color is purple! How fantastic is that? Ryan would want me to tell you that it has a Core i3 processor (which means, I guess, that my computer is fast), 500GB hard drive space (I think), and lots of RAM. Hehe. You can tell I care most about the color. :) Actually, it will be nice to have a computer that works. My previous laptop is on the verge of dying, and we sold my desktop since I need a laptop more now. Teaching classes at two different schools will be much easier if  I’m mobile. Hence the new laptop!

I hope this will improve my blogging time. Also, the fact that I’m going to ask my students to blog should help, as well. I can’t ask them to do something I’m not willing to do, can I? Also, my computer also came with Windows Live Writer (which I’m sure anyone can access or download, but which was on my desktop and I had never seen before), which allows me to blog offline and save drafts on my computer. I can also see the actual look of my blog as I’m typing this (as opposed to the post interface in blogger which is just a blank white box to type in).

I’m also thinking about starting up a wish list on here of all the things I want (birthdays, Christmases, etc.). This way I have something to refer back to when I actually get around to buying some of it. If other people want gift ideas, too, that would be fantastic, but I’m not really asking for gifts here. We’ll see how this develops.

Book Review: Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men

 The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I love Tiffany Aching and her compatriots, the Nac Mac Feegle. This story and the two that follow it are thoroughly entertaining and imaginative. Tiffany is a young girl who learns she has witchcraft in her blood. In her three-book series, she learns to use (or, rather, not use) magic to benefit the people of her village. The Nac Mac Feegle are 8-inch tall, vicious, comical men who aid Tiffany in her quests. Aside from the plot, The Wee Free Men is about a strong, courageous girl who must rely on herself to save the day. Magical.

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Book Review: Terry Pratchett's Going Postal

  Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


My introduction to Pratchett's imaginative world, Going Postal was extremely entertaining and captivating. I definitely want to read more Pratchett. I really enjoyed that the main character is a "good" person (has character, concern for others) even though his actions are "bad" (he's a con artist and isn't afraid to lie, cheat, or steal to get his way). There are evil characters and good characters, and Moist falls into the good category while stretching the readers' normal ideas of good vs. evil.

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Mini Grammar Lesson of the Day: Their, They're, and There

Today's lesson is another word choice lesson. It seems that figuring out the correct word to use can be difficult for many people. In a previous blog I have already covered the usage of to, two, and too, and I've touched on other confusing word choices as well. Today I'm going to show you the difference between the words there, their, and they're.

There is indicative of a place: "We're going to go there after we are finished here," or "Look over there!" "There are some awesome apples in that apple tree over there."

Their is a possessive pronoun: "Their car is in the shop, so they are (they're) borrowing their parents' car."

They're (as shown in the sentence above) is a contraction of they + are. "They're going to their parents' house in the morning."

Simple, right? So don't let me catch you mixing them up!

Mini Grammar Lesson of the Day: Quotation Marks

Most people easily grasp the main use of quotation marks: setting off direct quotes in writing. This does get a little tricky when working with other punctuation marks, however. For instance, periods and commas go inside the end quotation mark here in the U.S., but in England the period and comma go outside the end quotation mark. (Lori said, "I am going to the mall."--U.S. vs. Lori said, "I am going to the mall".--England). Most of us are used to writing quotes, so this understanding comes naturally to us. I'm not going to go into more detail right now about how to punctuate direct quotes. For a more detailed description, see Purdue OWL Quotation Marks. Instead, I'm going to talk about other, less-known uses for quotes.

Sometimes quotes are used to indicate a level of sarcasm or denoting that what is said is not quite true. For instance, if I were to describe dingy socks, I might call them "white": meaning, they used to be or should be white, but are white no longer. You might be familiar with people using "air quotes." Many times these are used for this same purpose: Don't you just "love" this rain we've been having every day for a month?? Quotations around individual words like this are approximately the equivalent of a speaker rolling her eyes while saying the word. The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) defines this usage this way: "Quotation marks may additionally be used to indicate words used ironically or with some reservation."

Recently I've noticed an increase in the use of quotation marks to set off a word or to give it emphasis. This can cause some hilarious situations. Have you ever seen signs that say, "Sale" today! or, Everything is on "sale." What this means to me is that everything is not really on sale. We're having a fake sale. Come see all the regular prices in our store! Or what about a sign for tomatoes: Fresh "vine-ripe" tomatoes for "sale"! (haha). Are they vine-ripe? or is this a lie to get us to buy these tomatoes on "sale" (for the regular price)? Listen up: quotations are not meant to be used to set apart words as important. To do that, use italics, or bold type, or underlining. These methods work much better at getting your point across. So, go buy those VINE-RIPE tomatoes on sale! and save yourself some money.