Did you know?
I had no idea?

You can deduct Volunteer Driving Mileage!

I looked up the rate.. I mean.. let’s get some moolah for all my driving to and from PTO, Cub Scouts, etc.

What’s the charitable mileage tax deduction rate you ask??

FOURTEEN CENTS
More than a dime, less than a quarter?

WHAT’s With the Tiny Rate?
Do they think we drive #TinyCars?

VolunteerSpot.com asks the same question. And asks you to ask your Congressperson to change it!

Would you simply die to have one of these amazing Christmas Photo cards?

I was super excited to have my friend Julie from Leelou-Blogs.com create them for me!

{If you hurry she might make one for you… I paid her in babysitting and Wingers Potato Skins.. but you can just send cash.}

So how did Twitter save my Christmas (Cards)?

See.

If you had one of these amazing photo cards, you would have a friend take a wonderful family photo (all dressed in coordinating red/black/grey colors), and you would ship off the custom photo cards to Costco (for $20 you would get 75 cards made) and your husband would drive 1.5 hours over the mountain to go pick them up.

AND then you would do like I did and create a beautiful EXCEL spreadsheet of all your 75 closest friends and family.

You would then TRY to figure out how to create a merge mail label on Office Word 2010. And you would fail. And beat your chest, and cry a little when you think about the carpel tunnel from addressing that many envelopes by hand.

And THEN you would announce to the Twitter world that you are a failure and need Excel/Word merge help PRONTO.

And @MMangen will come to your rescue and Save Christmas (Cards) for you!

Michelle is a sweetheart, she even wrote a full tutorial for me titled: “When Carissa is too dumb to figure out Mail Merge on Word”.
(Okay I lied, she titled it: How to: Create Mailing Labels Using Excel and Word.) But we all know it was really for me.

And it worked.
Erm.. I mean…
The first TWO pages of my labels worked. I have no idea why, but the third page wouldn’t print. It merged alright, but just sat there inside my computer and refused to come out in ink and stickers. So I pouted a little bit and then shipped the whole dang document to Michelle who… Yes.. Saved Christmas (Cards).. AGAIN.

Turns out she had to copy and paste the data from the old Excel into a new Excel doc and Voilá all is right with the world.

If I can do this. YOU can too!

Christmas Card Labels, EASY! (Not easy for me… but I’m sure for YOU… EASY!)

HTC Flyer VS the iPad… You Decide

Let’s pretend for a minute that I’m an uber techy mom.
You know, lots of gadgets, fun tech things in my mom-van, a purse full of electronics…

This is NOT me, but she seems like a techy mom right?

Oh wait. That IS me.

I had a Blackberry ‘Pearl’ a few years ago. Loved it. Used it pretty much till I destroyed it. It was pink. How fun is that? But about two years ago I began hearing everyone talk about all the fun things they were doing with their phones?

My um.. BB? Yeah it couldn’t do those things. AT. ALL.

Other Techy Schtuff In Our Lives:

• We got an early edition iTouch about 3 years ago (hate it btw, unbelievably hard to use, where are the settings, options, and BUTTONS for pete’s sake?). My oldest daughter uses it pretty much only as a Pandora ‘music box’ now.
• Last year I bought a Kindle for my husband. Turns out I wish I had waited. The early Kindle kind of sucks. The Nook seems much better and I’m guessing most of the tablets on the market now have comparable e-readers built in. Why would you buy a device that is ONLY an e-reader? (M’bad.)
• We currently own several iPods including an early clunky white one (the battery never lasted more than 1 hour) all the way down to a sleek, tiny ‘Shuffle’. (Why is THAT kind of tiny, coveted? Can you please tell me?)
• We gave in and bought a Wii, AFTER the grandparents had one mind you.
• And to this day I do not understand iTunes. We have 3 separate ‘accounts’, and I swear, every time I attempt to sync an MP3 player it deletes every friggin’ thing on the device! EVERY THING. Please shoot me now.
• I own a really nice speaker dock that has slots for iPods etc. and we rarely use it for anything but our cell phones (Android based) to play saved music, audio books and yes.. Pandora.

So back to the Blackberry. I needed/wanted/coveted a new phone. And maybe you guessed from the above list.. I AM NOT AN APPLE. We own several PCs, and have owned multiple PCs over the years. What I’m saying is I was NEVER interested in an iPhone.

I purchased an Android based HTC Incredible (via my Verizon 2yearcontract deal), at the time I was all: what’s Android?? And a year later I upgraded to an HTC Thunderbolt (insert thunder sound effects). That upgrade was thanks to HTC, because they sent it to me as part of the BlogHer experience.

I use this phone like a mini laptop. It’s everything in one… and it’s great. And it’s pretty. (And yes I play Angry Birds on it.)

But of course I want more. When at blogging and social media conferences the main goal is to tweet as much as you can. (I think they give out prizes for the person with the most tweets.) And my phone rocks, but it’s hard to type fast on a phone. I have fun apps that speed things up, but still. And believe me, dragging a large laptop to a conference like that is NOT a possibility.

So I began hinting to my husband that I would really like to have a tablet of some sort to use while traveling. (Okay I’d play Angry birds on it too.) And surprise! He bought me an iPad for ‘our’ anniversary. Don’t get me wrong I was very excited to test it out, but see the bullet points above? I don’t have a very good track record with Apple. We aren’t friends. (Do we think maybe HE wanted the iPad?)

I tried hard. I did. BUT…

For one… I don’t dare let the kids play with it much, HELLO, it cost more than my honeymoon!! For another, that business where it DELETES everything with iTunes? Yeah. Hate that. Oh and typing on it isn’t great, I’m still using the one finger method, and you know what your option is? Spend ANOTHER $100 for… get this… a KEYBOARD! Srsly? People? For $700 do you know what kind of amazing laptop I could buy? One that comes WITH a keyboard, that’s for dang sure!

Okay enough about my NOT-fondness for Apple. (Whoops I lied. Right now the iPad won’t ‘connect’ to our home wifi network. Why? I don’t know, there are only two ‘options’ and I tested both. Still won’t connect. And in hotels? Yeah about 50% of the time it won’t connect there either. I’m done now.)

I got to test out an HTC Flyer this week!

We’ve been playing with it all weekend.
And by we.. I mean my kids won’t let me see the thing!

(My 11yearold just marched off with it so she could use the ‘calculator’ to do her homework.. oh yeah sure… I believe that…NOT.)

• Cool thing #1: I was able to get all my previous Amazon Downloaded apps onto the Flyer easy peasy! Yay me!
• Cool thing #2: Who knew a game called “Moron Test” would entertain my 7 and 11 year old for hours? (Nearly made us late for school this morning).
• Cool thing #3: I love the size. I was worried the 7inch screen would be too small. But turns out the reader on it is FABulous. Perfect size for holding. In fact, I’m pretty sure I prefer the 7inch to a larger screen. (That was a surprise?)
• Cool thing #4: This should actually be cool thing number one…  the whole experience is so close to my HTC thunderbolt that set up and start up were non-existent. Where is the home button? Right where it SHOULD be. Where are the settings.. same place as my phone and in the same manner.  My kids already know how to run my phone making it super easy for them to use this device as well.
  I could be in a world of hurt because my 14 year old thinks SHE needs one of these MORE than I do.. WHAT?? I mean. BACK off. Mom first. Right?
• Cool thing #5: Connecting to the Wifi. It just works. AMEN.

Shall we talk about price?

You get what you pay for and all that?

How about $299? SHAZAAM! Over on BestBuy.com it sells for this price. There are extras, like the HTC Scribe pen (fun!) for about $50 and yes real keyboards and stands etc.. for additional costs as well. But still keeping you so far under ‘other’ tablets it’s still worth it.

The bottom line for me. The Flyer is So Dang Much easier to use than an iPad. If you already have an Android based phone everything will make SENSE. Oh and when you connect to your PC to download fave music, are you ready? It does NOT delete everything!

Joyful AND Triumphant.

(PS. Yes I’d like to test out a Kindle Fire, but I keep wondering? Even tho it’s less expensive do you get what you pay for? Are you limited to only Amazon content? Because that’s one of my main problems with Apple products, you buy the product and then you are roped into ONLY using their content. I hate that. And just how much of the Android market works on it?)

Disclosure: I did NOT pay for the HTC Flyer, it is on loan. Also I was not compensated for this article. I did receive the HTC Thunderbolt free while at BlogHer, but that in no way swayed my opinion. I already loved HTC. So there.

The app that keeps your kids corralled without destroying your phone!

Here’s the scenario:

Your 4yrold asks to play with your phone in the car.
Sure you say, handing over your brand new Android Thunderbird.
5 seconds later you hear: “I can’t find IT mommy”!

You can’t find what?
Of course you are driving while all this is happening and can’t help him anyway.

Once you get to the grocery store you realize by ‘find it‘, he means he can’t find ANYTHING on the phone! It’s as if he deleted your whole operating system in that short 5 second blip. How is THAT possible!? (Marcel on Friends changing the language come to mind?)

If you have a 4yrold, you KNOW what I’m talking about.

In the Doctor’s office, while waiting in a restaurant for your dinner, on loooong road trips…  whether educational apps, mobile books or a whole lotta Angry Bird Tossing… we’ve all done it. Handed over the phone, and regretted it.

NOT ANY MORE—

Welcome to the land of Famigo.
Where there’s a Free APP for THAT!
It’s called the Famigo Sandbox App.
And once installed it’s (Did I Mention It’s FREE?) simple to use and worth the STRESS you WON’T have any more!

What I love about Famigo Sandbox

• They’re our kind of people. The creators get that families are moving more and more towards mobile. Youtube, Games, Social Media. And they really want to help you-help your family, stay safe, and provide a convenient tool for mobile families!
• The App is brilliant. First it will locate a list of games and apps already on your phone. Then you can add more or remove any that you don’t want to give your 4 yrold access (soon there will be a way to segment the app according to ages of your kids)!
• When you want to download a new kid friendly app, simply click to discover new apps and you’ll get safe, family friendly recommendations directly from the Famigo App Reviewers, something they’ve already been doing for a long time!  Takes you to the Android Market and boom… your new app is loaded on your phone and already available in the Sandbox.
• It saves my sanity. It has a lock feature, so when I hand my phone to my kiddo… just like a sandbox… HE CAN’T GO ANYWHERE ELSE! He can’t ‘kid-dial’ my husband, he can’t delete a client’s phone number, he can’t even TURN OFF THE SANDBOX APP without knowing the screen code.
• A nifty side effect when using the Sandbox App is that when you open the app it doubles as a holding zone for all the games/apps/mobile books etc.. on your phone. No more digging around to locate that new game you downloaded the other day but can’t remember what it was called!
• Wanna hear the best thing of all?
  Are you ready? Are you sitting down?
  SSSThe ads are disabled while in lock mode!
  Did you HEAR me?
  Your kid cannot click on an ad! (Ads are still there and when clicked a redirect screen sends you back to the game/app.)

Can I get a Hallelujah!

Go get your own free copy. You’re phone will thank me. (Sorry about the peanut butter fingers, I can’t help there.)

NOTE: I love Famigo. I practically begged them to let me write about the launch today! I am also a member of their parent advisory board. Which means they LISTEN to me when I complain about something and they are tech geeks so they add features when I help suggest them. This means that if you love the app, let me know and I’ll tell them! If you have a problem at ALL with the app DEFINITELY let me know and I’ll dial the creators myself and share the issues! I was not directly compensated for this article.

Find great family fun activities EASILY when you travel!

(Or locate something new to you close to home?)

There’s an APP for THAT!

GOBY.com Totally does this for you!

We are all about researching a destination WAY before we travel as a family.

What are we going to do when we get there?
What’s fun for kids?
What would the grown ups like that the kids definitely will NOT?

And where are great local restaurants?

I looked at the Online version of Goby.com and pulled up a couple cities close to home where we might take a day trip.

First I checked out Bend, Oregon.  And BAM!
30 listings ALL under Family Activities!
A few examples:

• High Desert Museum
• Tumelo State Park (Float the Deshutes River)
• Sunriver Nature Center

How about Restaurants? I want a new place we wouldn’t think to go:

• Hottest Dog (chicago style! yum!)
• The Breakfast Club (breakfast all day!)
• Cafe Yumm (vegetarian options!)

But how does the mobile version of Goby work?

I have an Android phone so I LOVE it when the fun apps work for me too. Use this QR code to download the FREE Goby Android App! ——>

We are heading to Seattle in a few weeks so I looked up Family Fun Ideas in the Seattle Area:
(I love that it gives you directions right in the app!)

• Seattle Aquarium (of course!)
• Museum of Flight (my little boy is all about paper airplanes right now, perfect!)
• Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art (my 10yrold daughter would be in HEAVEN!)
• Kidsquest Children’s Museum

WIN AN iPAD 2 During #TMOM!!

HOW?
In 4 Easy STEPS:

Click over to TravelingMom.com and RSVP for the Twitter Party on MONDAY! (May 23rd).

Leave a Comment with your Twitter Username

Visit www.goby.com and search for an adventure in your city

Show up to the party and use the hashtag #TMOM

Good Luck! See you on Monday night!

This is not a compensated post. However, as a contributor of Travelingmom.com this post counts as entry to win an iPad2.

Time = Money

No one knows this better than a blogger in the poor economy year of 2011.

If you are a blogger who has been writing on your own website for more than 6 months you’ve probably been contacted by a brand or PR agent. And at first you were all, surprised, ME? Really, they LIKE my site, they want to work with me?! You were impressed  they found your blog at all.

In fact the brand was one you’ve gushed about with girlfriends at bookclub! When they asked you to write about a new product release or a service campaign they were involved in, you said heck yes! And told yourself it’s enough that it’s ‘just for the exposure’.

Soon after another company offered to send you a bottle of their newest product in exchange for a giveaway of the same product or for a review & write up on your site. You were still willing, after all, you received something for your time, right?

No Thanks I’d Rather Get Paid In Toilet Paper

What if I really don’t need the widget/gadget (or heaven forbid) another bottle of lotion? I can’t really feed my kids with that. I certainly can’t fill up my gas tank with it. IF they want to send me something practical like toilet paper, wonderful! I ALWAYS need toilet paper. Week after week after WEEK.  But lotion? Yeah, there’s only so much lotion I can use (even if I love it!).

I understand they need to get the word out about their product. But a product that has little practical value or worth less than $25-50 isn’t worth a BLOGGER’s TIME. You can’t buy my space for a bottle of lotion. Toilet paper?

Yes, feel free to send it my way.

The Blogger Unpaid Bell Curve

Most new bloggers go through a cycle like I’ve just described. At first they have little traffic and no brand association. But slowly they increase traffic and jump on the Twitter stream, maybe attend a blog conference and quickly PR agents follow. That same blogger might write and work with several brands for a few months, only to realize hey? I’m getting paid NOTHING and often giving out a lot of creative ideas and content, not to mention press for a brand or company.

Soon they slide back down the curve and decide their own content is more important than simply writing a press release for a company. And they also realize free product isn’t worth their writing time and influence.

It’s Time For Bloggers To Get Paid

Determine what your time is worth.
Ask around, find out what types of paying gigs other bloggers are getting:

• Sponsored Posts
• Guest Writing on Company Blogs
• Advertorials
• Press Junkets (not usually paid but expenses often are)
• Joining a Blog Tour
• Paneling a Twitter Party

Anecdotally, I have been told that bloggers charge between $25 and $500 for a one time sponsored writing gig depending on their overall traffic and social media influence (this may or may not include a product sample). Blog tours usually include a more well rounded campaign, including: blog posts and/or giveaway posts as well as time spent on a Twitter party or other Social Media outlet.  Also be sure to calculate the time you spend running a really great giveaway. Ask for hourly compensation for the time spent.

You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned finding an ad network, or selling your own sidebar ad space. That’s because the amount of work you need to put into finding your own sponsors tends to outweigh the price you’re able to charge. Some bloggers make this work, but they are far and few between. And your traffic must be HUGE to get involved with a trusted ad network.

I’m also not a big fan of spending time writing or working with the current blogger intermediaries where your only income option comes in the form of a ‘chance to win a $50 gift card’. I don’t have time for sweepstakes.

I’d rather get paid in toilet paper than in lottery entries.

What types of paid gigs are working for you?

All thoughts on this post are my own.

And who knew there are websites that only sell Toilet Paper? (There are). And ToiletPaperWorld.com contacted me after this post and freaking PAID me in TP to write for them. Yes. I’m serious.

Toilet Paper Mom Types: What Type Are You?

It’s Time To Think FUN!

It’s time to PLAY Fun..
It’s time to learn and play and have fun while you’re doing it!

Do you doubt me?

Click the demo below you unbelievers!
It’s CHESS SOLITAIRE. And it’s fun and addictive and educational! (play all four levels)

We downloaded this app a few weeks ago, and I thought my 6yrold little boy who recently started chess club would be all over this little educational game. (He is freaking addicted to Rush Hour, also made by ThinkFun.) But you know what?

I can’t get it away from my 10yrold daughter!
We play it on our iTouch (they tell me the Android app will be out in a short few weeks…) And it’s a logic game as well as a puzzle game. And while it seems simple, it takes me several attempts each time to solve the set up. Using chess movements; your only goal is to leave one piece standing.

Can You Do It??

Giveaway Details!

WHAT:

FIVE lucky winners!

Each will receive a code to download one THINKFUN Chess Solitaire Game! (Via iTunes: for  iTouch, iPad, iphone.) Value $2.99 per download.

REQUIRED:

Share in the Comments your Favorite Time to Use an Educational App Like Solitaire Chess!

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

Please leave a separate comment for each additional item you complete.

• Tweet a promotional tweet, linking back to this giveaway. (Use the button above.)
• Click over and ‘LIKE’ the ThinkFun Facebook page.

THE FINE PRINT:

Contest is open to US and Canadian residents only, 18 Years Old +, Ends Sunday February 14th at midnight EST. No purchase necessary to enter, FIVE winners will be chosen via Random.org.

I am not being compensated to participate in this ThinkFun campaign. In fact generally I just beg to be part of what they do, I love their products that much. Now if I can only get my iTouch back so I can get past level 3!

My oldest turned 13 this week.  THIRTEEN. Do you get that? As in TEEN. As in all over the place, up and down, crazy/loving/cruel and back to loving again.

She asked about getting a Facebook account recently so I called up my favorite expert in online safety, Mary Heston and from that conversation I wrote out a “Mom’s Terms Of Service” for Facebook Use.

The full article is on GalTime.com.

Many kids and their parents ignore the Facebook Terms of Service (TOS) completely. The kid fudges his or her age and mom allows it—or isn’t aware. “I want to play games” and “I want to connect with my older cousins” are two excuses I’ve heard recently. Remember, though, in four years: your now 10-year-old (posing as 13-year-old) will look like a 17-year-old to his or her actual “same-age friends.”

Facebook age requirements exist for good reason: 13 is a nice age to join…..

Please read the whole thing including my version of a TOS.

Facebook Terms of Service Vs Mom’s Terms of Service

Check out my 7 Day Challenge Score over at WiredMoms.com:

I reach for my cell phone when at a long red light. Checking to see if any new emails came in since I last checked… 10 minutes earlier.

My daughter calls everyday at 3:20 PM, should I ride the bus today, she wants to know. If I don’t answer she panics a little bit. Some days I’m in the car driving home from groceries or carpool for the younger kids at her ‘call time’.

I line up a ‘work’ call for mid morning. But due to traffic or a late gym class I’m still driving home when I’m supposed to be initiating a long distance call.

These are all situations I’ve been failing the grade at in the last two weeks. I gave myself a D-. #DistractedDriving? Yeah, that would be me.

Read More…

photo credit: SEPBLOG

HOO-RAY!!

It’s taken me several months but here I am. WordPress UP, yo.

And now I am super busy learning everything I can about WordPress and my Theme (Vigilance). Wow, I feel like a 3rd grader attempting to learn calculus.

“Sorry Miss Ashley, how do I locate the CSS file again via my FTP client? I can’t remember where my pink crayon is….”

I’m gonna need a lot of help. So if you already invented the WordPress wheel… will you please share a spoke or two?

Thanks.