Eliminate Your Blind Spot!

Good Tuesday morning evening to everyone, and welcome to Tuesday Travel Tips with Tiffany! To read previous editions, you can find them here.

I drive between 15,000 and 20,000 miles a year - and I'm sure some of you drive many more. This is the best advice I've seen to-date on avoiding blind spots while driving, and I simply had to share!

Over on Car Talk, a site hosted by NPR, this thought is posted:



For years, we'd been setting our side-view mirrors so that they gave us a view of the back corner of our cars. This is the way it's been done for generations - from grandfather, to father, to us! But we finally discovered something very interesting. The back corner of the car never moves. It always stays in the same exact place. So there's really no reason to keep an eye on it.

By moving the side mirrors farther out, you can line up all three of your mirrors so they have minimal overlap -- and you can see everything behind you and beside you.

Here's how to do it.
For the full article and instructions, click here.

And until next time...

Safe Travels!

McDonald's PlayPlace in Pantego Review

Big Girl, Bubba Boy and I are out running errands today, and after 2 hours in the car shuttling between stops, they decided to exercise their majority vote and demand a stop. Where better than a McDOnald's with a PlayPlace?
We ended up at the McDonald's at 2422 W Pioneer Parkway in Pantego, just E of the intersection with Bowen. (Pantego is a small town entirely contained within Arlington. My backyard is bigger than their downtown. You get the idea.)
I was apprehensive when we first pulled in; parking on this Saturday afternoon was a challenge. After we located a spot in the back 9, we headed in. Great little setup between counter and seating space...but the entrance to the PlayPlace area was touch to negotiate with the SUV that is my tandem double stroller. So, to be fair, I'm a wide (er, long) load. But having a table right in front of the entrance with a tight turn to the left necessitated would probably be hard even with an umbrella stroller.
Next up: the bathroom. Unlike some PlayPlaces, this location doesn't have a kiddie potty contained inside. So we negotiated our way back down and navigated the tight walkway in the dining room to the bathrooms. If my right arm was back up to snuff, I would have ditched the stroller and carried Bubba Boy while making Big Girl walk. But I'm not quite there yet.
Headed into the ladies room and...Uh, yeah. Getting the stroller in there was akin to my first k-turn driving lesson 15 years ago. Not pretty. And the changing table was obstructed by the door. As in, when it's down, the door can only partially open. And to avoid being killed by said door, you have to stand at the narrow end of the table, instead of the long side. Plus, I hate to use the handicap stall, but it was the only place I could ditch the stoller. There was literally nowhere else it could go. So total fail on the bathroom design.
Back to the PlayPlace: cool setup. Toddler friendly (so long as the big kids play nice or their parents make them) and Big Girl is having a blast playing while Bubba Boy crawls around and people watches.
So a few design failures, but still a fun time. Hope it clears out a bit before we have to navigate out!




Carrot Induced Bulimia

Bubba Boy hates carrots.

With an unholy, fire-breathing passion.

Whenever I try to sneak little carrot bits or mashed carrots in with his other food, he makes the most awful face.  Then he retches and uses his tongue to push any food in his mouth back out.  In case I've missed the point, he follows that lovely scene by forcing himself to throw up.

My 9-month-old has carrot-induced bulimia.  Wow!

A.A.A.D.D.

(I originally posted this to my old MySpace blog in mid-2007, after my husband forwarded to me with a note that said "this is YOU."  Aw, honey.  Too funny not to repost here!)

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left.

My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Coke on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.

Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day: the car isn't washed the bills aren't paid there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter the flowers don't have enough water, there is still only 1 check in my check book, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail....Do me a favor. Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember who I've sent it to.

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

Samsung 500 at TMS

I love me some NASCAR and one of my favorite track is Texas Motor Speedway...by virtue of the fact that it's only a few miles away and we used to be season ticket holders.  And hopefully future season ticket holders, once the kids are older!

Here are my thoughts on this week's Saturday NIGHT race:

  • How 'bout that wind???
  • Hey Jerry - did you have 160k at the Super Bowl?  Yeah, didn't think so.
  • Very classy National Anthem with the Armed Forces Brass Brigade.
  • Note to Fox: never ever ever again break away from a flyover to show Jimmy Johnson making out with his wife.
  • Note to Jimmy: Shave. That is all.
  • Note to Fox, again: Gee.  Cowboy hats in Texas.  That's original.
  • Note to Patti: thanks for letting me borrow .
  • "Boogity, boogity, boogity - let's go racing TEXAS style, boys!"  Yeehaw!
  • Lap 4: Husband asks Toddler for a beer.  Toddler obliges.  Husband remarks, "I knew I had a child for a good reason."  Mom rolls eyes.
  • Laps 5-119: Yaaaaaaaaaawn.
  • Lap 120: One word for this wreck: OUCH!
  • Lap 298: Ya'll might like Pit Stop Roulette, but I am not a fan.
  • Lap 300something: Can we go back to 2005 numbers and colors?  I just realized I was rooting for the wrong damn car.  *Sigh* It's late.
  • Lap 320: Get off the track, Kurt.  Just go.  I don't care who wins, just not you.
  • Lap 321: Kenseth.  Really?
  • Lap 331: Kenseth.  Really.
  • Lap 334: Kenseth.  Really!
Good race, guys.  Always glad to have ya'll in Texas.  And many, many congrats to Kenseth, one of the truly nice guys in racing!

See ya'll in 'Dega!

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

Welcome Ultimate Blog Partiers!!  I'm thrilled to participate in 2011 - my last Ultimate Blog Party was in 2009!

Here at 0 to Mom, we talk about parenting at the speed of life.  Frazzled Mommy and Funny Daddy aren't likely to be profiled by Parenting Magazine, but we have funny stories and the occasional tip, trick or technique to share to keep a family going strong even when the rest of life is in fast forward!

Welcome - please make yourself at home and stay awhile - and come back to visit again!

Love,

Frazzled Mommy

aka Tiffany

The Oxygen Mask Principle

I had to run a few errands after wrapping up the work week and brought the kids with me since Funny Daddy was headed to work. Errands done, and what's looming ahead? Why, Burger King with a playground. Score! I had promised Big Girl Mickey D's, but I love BK food so much more.

But tonight's post isn't about WHERE we're eating, but HOW.

I'm on my own with Big Girl and Bubba Boy many dinnertimes, since Funny Daddy works overnights. Sometimes, dinner takes eleventy billion hours. Gotta feed Bubba. Big Girl pretends to need help. Around midnight, I'm shoving food in my own face. Blech.

So I'm trying something new, using the Oxygen Mask Theory. It goes a little like this:

Inflight, passengers are advised to secure their own oxygen masks before helping others, in the event the cabin loses pressure. (Personally, I'd prefer a parachute, in the event the cain loses the capacity for sustained flight! But I digress.)

So tonight, I (BK) fed myself first. Let Big Girl hit the playground, had Bubba chilling with a toy, and I ate. And it was wonderful. Big Girl reappeared to begin eating before dashing back to play with her new 8-year-old boyfriend. And now Bubba's numbing down his pureed sweet potatoes and chicken.

And we've only been here 20 minutes.

Ahhhhhh. Like a breath of fresh air - or oxygen!