A Mama's Rant

My parents are part of the Borg Collective

Or maybe they're Pod People?

Anyway, if you want to know what I’m talking about, see my latest post, Resistance is futile, at the Rocky Mountain Moms Blog.

Get Scanalog to organize your magazine and newspaper clippings

If you’re like me, you clip and tear articles and recipes out of magazines and newspapers, then file them away in folders – and forget about them. Not a very organized process! Luckily, SCANALOG, a CD-ROM software system that stores, catalogs and retrieves clippings from your favorite magazines, can help.

Get organized

Using your scanner, you turn articles into JPEG or bitmap files. After you scan the clippings, you can toss them in the recycling bin, and if you ever need a hard copy, you can print one directly from the program.

The SCANALOG program then helps you keep all those scans organized. There are 11 Master Categories in SCANALOG that cover a range of interests, from Home Decoration to Parenting and Food and Wine. Then there are an additional 102 subcategories within the 11 categories the user can use.And, even better, you can create your own subcategories.

Sometimes you may have an article that would fit under two categories or subcategories – for example a recipe that also gives a wine pairing. The way to do this is to click on duplicate and then add it to the new category and/or subcategory.

After picking a category, you can fill in name of the article, name of reference (book, magazine, etc.) and date. Remember to be consistent with this. For example, the date saved is usually the date you scanned it. Instead, I chose to label it with the date of the article.

If you’re labeling a bunch of clippings from the same magazine, you may want to do minimum labeling then go back and add more specifics at the same time by typing once and cutting and pasting for all the files.

Win a pair of glasses from EyeBuyDirect.com

As part of a Family Review Network blog tour, I was given the opportunity to receive a complimentary pair from EyeBuyDirect.com. You can read my review of EyeBuyDirect.com here.

Not only did I love my free pair, but I ordered two more pairs during their buy one get one free sale. I’m incredibly happy with all my glasses and will continue buying from EyeBuyDirect.com in the future.

Would you like to win a free pair of eyeglasses (not including sunglasses and designer frames), including any upgrade up to $100, and get 100% free shipping on your order, too?

See below for the giveaway rules.

When is a couch not a couch?

When is a couch not a couch? When it’s a metaphor for motherhood.

Check out my latest post at Rocky Mountain Moms Blog, Couch as metaphor.

And if you see a cool green vintage couch at the dump, just leave it alone. It’s been through hell and back.

Cowboy up with The Rocky Mountain Moms blog

I forgot to share with you that my latest story, Little tract house on the prairie, is up at the Rocky Mountain Moms Blog.

Check it out and find out what my part of Colorado really smells like. (No, not teen spirit. More like turkey butts.)

And yes, that’s my two youngins all dressed up for the National Western Stock Show. Mighty fine bunch of kids I got.

Do you wear glasses? Buy one get one free MONDAY at EyeBuyDirect.com

On Monday, February 9th, you can get a FREE pair of prescription glasses for every pair you buy at EyeBuyDirect.com.

As part of a Family Review Network blog tour, I was given the opportunity to receive a complimentary review pair from EyeBuyDirect.com and was very happy with the glasses I received. Here’s why:

• Great selection – I buy my prescription glasses at a big warehouse store and EyeBuyDirect.com had an even bigger selection. In fact, they carried several of the same fashion designer glasses. The only drawback are their sunglasses – not a big selection. However, you can make any pair of glasses into sunglasses by ordering tinted lenses – prescription or not.
• Amazing prices – For a little over $100 I got a prescription pair of fashion frame glasses (Suzie eyeglasses in honey) with Thin and Lite (1.57), Photochromic (light-adjusting), UV Coating, anti-reflective, and anti-scratch lenses. For the same amount, I usually only get frames and anti-scratch lenses. Also, there’s no shipping charges on orders over $99.
• Easy to order – You may shy away from buying glasses online since you can’t try them on. However, EyeBuyDirect.com has a very cool (and fun) way to try them on virtually – Eyetry. All you do is download a picture of yourself (a straight on picture of your face wearing a pair of glasses works best – see my picture above with my old glasses under the new ones). Then you can load the pair of glasses you want to try on, and adjust the glasses and pictures for size and placement. When you see something you like, you can save it, share it on the site or even put it on your Facebook page.

Ruth Hartman Guest blogs about OCD

Today I’m honored to have Ruth Hartman as my guest blogger as part of her WOW Women on Writing blog tour. Ruth is the author of My Life in Mental Chains, a book she wrote about her struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). For a chance to win a signed copy of her book, stop by The Muffin, the WOW Women on Writing blog.

I asked Ruth to write about how you can recognize OCD in yourself or others and how you can seek help.

What’s Wrong With Me?

By Ruth J. Hartman

I was 27 the first time I knew I had OCD. It hit me like a lightening bolt. I was cleaning my treatment room after seeing one of my patients; I’m a dental hygienist. Suddenly, I couldn’t seem to stop cleaning the equipment. Over and over. Why couldn’t I stop?

At the same time, I had a loop of terrifying thoughts circling my brain: What if I didn’t get the room clean enough? What if my next patient got some disease from the previous patient? And…what if I got some disease from one of my patients?

Never before had I experienced those fears. I’d been a dental hygienist for six years. Where had those crazy thoughts come from? Because of my science and psychology classes in college, I had a pretty good idea what was going on. No one had to tell me.