Converting To Dvorak

Photo courtesy of Miss Karen

Okay, call me crazy but I have decided to take the plunge and convert to Dvorak.  Well, my computer is, really.  For those of you who don't know what Dvorak is, it's a change you make on your computer that changes the location of your keys on your keyboard.

I read a blog posting by an author that I have been taking lessons from and she was saying that because she is always typing, it has caused major pain in her wrists over time.  It is because the normal QWERTY key system was not made to prevent stress on her fingers and wrists and in turn she has been in pain for years.  Dvorak is not a new thing (though I had never heard of it) and I am not sure how widly it is used, but apparently the key placements are in a better position and there is not as much stress put on your hands.  Since the main thing I do is type, I thought it wouldn't hurt to try it out and possibly prevent future damage that could be done to my wrists and fingers.

I am typing this out right now using the Dvorak keys and it is taking me a long time due to all the keys being in the wrong order.  Converting to the Dvorak keyboard is difficult in that you have to relearn how to type.  I took typing in high school but I was never good at it.  It wasn't until I started writing that I really got the hange of typing so now I am starting all over and taking lessons online and it is all disorienting.  But I know I will get the hang of it and I hope it will be benificial in the long run.

If you do not use the computer often then it probably wouldn't be benefitcial for you to make the change over to Dvorak so don't think it is some craze sweeping the nation.  No, like I said before, I'm not sure how much it is used but for me it was like "Why not?"  Why not try it and if it doesn't work out I can always switch back.  (With maybe a little difficulty to remember QWERTY again.)

I will give an update on how it is going in a couple weeks.

Happy Typing :-)

Slim in 6 Workout Program with Debbie Siebers

AAAHHH!!!  Exciting News!  My latest article "Slim in 6 - Debbie Siebers' 6 Week Workout Program - Review", has become a Featured Article, my first EVER, on Suite101.  I am soooo excited.  It has also been nominated for consideration for Editor's Choice.  AAAAHHHH!!!!

This really gets me thinking about what I could possibly do to have this happen more.  There is nothing like being told that you did a great job in something that you wrote, that is by someone other than your mother (yes, there you are again, Mom!), to get you motivated to write more.  Then again...it puts the pressure on to produce the same kind of quality in everything that you write, which may not be such a bad thing.

Anyway, this article is a "must read" for those of you who are looking to drop a few pounds.  Just a quick overview of the article, I committed myself (not to a psych ward) to doing Slim in 6  which is a six week workout (I should have opted for the psych ward, honestly).  It kicked  my butt, but in the process made my butt look better :-)  I hated every minute of it, but results don't lie on how good it was for me and so it has given me a new respect for Debbie Siebers and her "I laugh when I'm in pain."  (I usually cry!)  So, check it out and no, it is not meant for you to go out and order this product, it is motivation to just get yourself to try anything. 

I hate to exercise but I made myself do it and I am very happy that I did.  I haven't been this weight in...who knows how long and I feel so good with myself for sticking with it.  The lost weight (almost 30 lbs. and 3 inches from my waist) are just the added bonus for completing this program.  Now, to lose the rest! 


I hope you enjoy the article. ;-)

Chemistry for Kids

If any of you have ever watched PBS (Public Broadcasting Station) you have probably noticed a show for kids named Sid the Science Kid.  With Sid the Science kid, your children see fun and easy science projects and concepts that are easy to do at home with your younger children.

So this got me thinking about this years preschool curriculum that I was going to be doing with my 4 year old. I decided to add science once a week, along with math, and have her do simple science projects and keep a journal where she can draw pictures of what she has done.  Just like Sid.

This is one of the projects I found.  It's called Chemistry Fun With Pennies: Learn About Metals by Anne Marie Helmenstine, PhD.  You just simply take salt and vinegar, mix it in a cup until dissolved and add in some dirty pennies.  There is instant gratification with what the solution does to the pennies and then it is almost "magical" (to kids at least) what happens to the pennies after a long period of time.

I originally found this project in my resource book "I Teach K!" 6th Annual National Kindergarten Teacher Conference, 2005 Sponsored by Scholastic, but it had different ingredients for the solutions (hence the added glasses and solutions which are in the resource book project).  The results were not as quick as the above article project but the added glasses were nice because you can compare the different solutions and their effects on the pennies.

Then, Chemistry Fun With Pennies takes it a step further and adds another short project to it by having you make "copper nails" with the left over solution.  (So do not dump out the solution until after you make the copper nails.)

The initial project takes about 10-15 minutes total and the drying of the pennies and the copper nails take about an hour, but that is where the "magic" happens.

Below I have pictures and the extended version of Chemistry Fun with Pennies from when I did it with my daughter.

Chemistry Fun with Pennies (Extended Version)

• 4 clear 8oz glasses
• 3 cups water
• Dish soap
• 3/4 cup Vinegar
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 36 pennies (4 for each glass, 1 for each glass for dipping halfway, 16 to add to glass #4 in the end.)
• 2 steel nails
• Paper towels

1. Fill glass #1 with 1 cup of water

2. Fill glass #2 with 1 cup water and a little dish soap (no measurement needed for soap)

3. Fill glass #3 with 1 cup water and 1/2 cup vinegar

4. Fill glass #4 with 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 tsp. salt (stir till fully dissolved)

5. Place four pennies in each cup

6. Take one penny, not already in the solutions, and hold them halfway in the solution for about 20-30 seconds. (Watch what happens.)

• What happened to the pennies in each cup?
• Did the pennies change at all or did they stay the same?
• What glass changed the pennies the most? Least?

7.  Add the rest of the pennies to the salt and vinegar solution.

8. Allow pennies in the salt and vinegar sloution to soak for about 5 mins then take out half the pennies and lay them on a paper towel labeled "Not Rinsed."  Now take out the rest of the pennies, being sure to NOT dump out solution.  (Keep it because it is needed in the next step.)  Rinse the second half of the pennies with water to get off all of the salt and vinegar.  Lay them out on a paper towel labeled "Rinsed."


9. Wait about 1 hour for the pennis to dry and see what changes happened to the pennies. (For full explanation of Verdigris which is the green effect on the penny, please see the linked article above.)






Meanwhile:  Take the steel nails and place one laying completely submerged in the salt and vinegar solution and stand the second one up so it is half in and half out of the solution so you can see the change.

• What happened to the nails?

Have your child record what happened to the pennies in their science journal by drawing pictures of the experiment. (My daughter loves this part.) 

I do not go into full explanation of what happens to the pennies chemically but I do try to "kid" it down a bit saying we are cleaning the pennies and that the air is what makes it turn so dark over time and that the "dark" part of the penny, which comes off in the salt and vinegar, then attaches to the nails.  Also that the salt and vinegar cause the pennies to turn green because we didn't rinse them off and it kept making the penny change like magic.

If it looks like I missed something in the instructions please let me know;-)


Happy Investigation!

Preteen and Teen Mystery Series That Are Great For Even Adults

Since I embarked on my author track a couple years ago, I have read a plethora of preteen and teen books to get a good feel for how a book in that age range would sound.  So with my many visits to the library to see what was popular or what looked interesting just from its cover (yes, I am one of those people who judge books by their covers, horrible, I know, but only books, not people :-), I have stumbled upon some great authors.  Two of these authors, which I will mention in a moment, are two of my biggest writing role models.  Interesting enough, Stephenie Meyers is not one of them, though I did love Twilight.  I'm a big fan.  I'm just not obsessed.

I cover this topic of preteen and teen mystery novels at length in my article "Great Mystery Series for Preteens and Teens" on Suite101 where I give a quick over view of mainly the first book in each series.  One of the most fun series, especially for preteen girls, is Sammy Keyes by Wendelin Van Draanen.  Van Draanen is probably my biggest role model when it comes to writing.  Every book that I have read of hers has been fantastic.  Because I was writing about mystery series, I didn't get to mention several of her great stand-alone books that are just as much fun to read.

How I Survived Being A Girl - this book is about a sixth grade girl who finds that life it
                     unfair as a girl.  She gets ditched by her brothers, pounded on by them, and
                     annoyed when boys don't want to play with her just because she is a girl.  She
                     kept her hair short, wore boys clothes, and loved to spy on the neighbors but she
                     still didn't get treated the same.  But then things start to change when she meets
                     Charlie and she realizes being a girl isn't so bad.

Flipped - this book was turned into a movie in 2010 starring Madeline Carroll and Callan
                    McAuliffe.
                   
                    Bryce, a young second grader, moves to a new town and is ambushed by a girl his
                    age who lives across the street.  From that first meeting all the way up into
                    seventh grade, Bryce has tried everything he could to avoid her.
                    
                    Juli, a second grade girl, finally has a kid her age in the neighborhood, and he
                    lives across the street.  What luck!  But when she first lays eyes on him, she 
                    totally flips.  From that day on she was in love.
                   
                    But then in eighth grade, things changed.

Runaway - An orphaned girl, Holly, runs away from her foster family in hopes of finding a
                    better life for herself that is not full of abuse and neglect.  She keeps track of her
                    thoughts in a journal that was given to her by her teacher Ms. Leon and finds that
                    even though she hated the journal idea in the beginning, it slowly turns into her
                    one companion as she travels across the country to find home. 

Wendelin Van Draanen has written several more books, both stand-alone and series, that I have yet to read but I am anxious to get to them soon.

Another author that needs specific mentioning is Margaret Peterson Haddix.  She also has really inspired me as a writer with how creative she is.  Her Missing Series is so inventive and it is a great way to get teens to learn about history without it being boring.  Just think, 36 crying babies on a plane that just appears out of nowhere.  Where did they come from?  Who is missing them?  Now jump thirteen years into the future.  What do you think might happen?

Another one of Margaret Peterson Haddix's series that was not mentioned in the article is The Shadow Children Series.  Once again, very creative.  Imagine a world where having more than two children would result in the government taking that child and killing it like it was a rabid animal.  How would you keep your child or children safe and away from being detected by the police?  This is the way of all the shadow children.  No school, no playing outside, no going to the store, or even eating at the kitchen table with the rest of the family.  They didn't exist.  Not outside those walls of the home, and sometimes not even inside the walls of the home.  Life was a thing to fear.  Death was inevitable.  But how can they stand up against the government and make it so they didn't have to hide anymore?

The Shadow Children Series

• Among the Hidden (1998)
• Among the Impostors (2001)
• Among the Betrayed (2002)
• Among the Barons (2003)
• Among the Brave (2004)
• Among the Enemy (2005)
• Among the Free (2006)

One series that I did not mention in the article, because I had written a previous article about it, was The 39 Clues written by various authors, one of which was Margaret Peterson Haddix which is how I had learned about the series in the first place.  Another author, Rick Riordan who wrote the Percy Jackson & The Olympians Series, also wrote the first book in The 39 Clues.  If you have not heard of The 39 Clues then you are in for a real treat, especially if you have children who love both mysteries and online gaming.  This series not only gets your children involved in the mysteries in the books but it also gets them involved in the mystery first hand online.  To read more about The 39 Clues and how they are not only fun to read but very educational, then click here.  This article gives you an overview of the first book which will, hopefully, draw you and your kids into the fun, exciting, and dangerous world of the Cahills.

I love reading and it is an important part of being a writer and so when I find something great, I love to share it.  I hope you will all take a look at the article to see the several series that I did not mention on this blog but are also great books for teens and preteens.  You can say that everything has been read and approved by a mother and it is all wholesome, though I must give a warning for one series I did mention in the article, A Forensic Series by Alane Ferguson.  This series is great but it is graphic and not for younger teens.  If you have a teenager who is wanting to go into the forensic field, then this will be great for them.  If they have weak stomachs then I do not recommend this series for them.

Just a reminder, these books are great for kids but they are just as fun for the parents.  I enjoyed these book immensely and I don't plan to stop reading books like these just because I am no longer a teenager.  It is great because it takes you back to when you were a teen and you sit back and ask yourself if you were like that when you were that age.  You may be surprised by your answer :-)

Happy reading to all!

The Loss of a Child

Yesterday a great couple, friends of mine and my husbands, lost their only child, a 7 year old boy. He spent all of his 7 years in pain, experiencing seizures and not being able to live the life of a normal child. So most would say, "At least now he is in heaven with Jesus. At least he is no longer in pain." Yes, that's true, he is in heaven with the Almighty but though you know that he is no longer in pain, you are in pain because you have to live each day with him not being there, him not smiling when he saw you.

For 7 years this little boy was his mother's life. She lived, breathed, and dreamed about her son. I know this because I am the same with my children. When you love someone so much, like a mother loves her child, your very existence is your children. So how will she get out of bed each day? How will she breathe air in her lungs and not feel guilty that she had been granted life but he was dealt the hand of death? They knew it was coming, they knew that he was going to leave them someday. They just didn't know when or how long. I wonder how many days they woke up saying "Is today going to be the day I hand my only child over to God?" The strength this mother and father have had over these trying 7 years is more struggle than I myself have ever experienced and in it it shows the power of God's hand in their lives.

I bet if you were to take their life and put it on a projector screen and all you saw were the footprints in the sand, like the poem of how two sets of footprints were in the sand but sometimes, through the hardest of times, there was only one set because that is when God was carrying you. I wonder if those 7 years would have only one set of footprints. God must have carried them through this all, knowing what they would face, knowing the pain it was going to cause, the struggles it would bring forth. That has to be the only way that they would be able to stand right now.

My heart aches for this mother. It is torn from my chest for the pain that she must be feeling. I know the father feels the same way, but as a mother I feel what this mother is feeling, but in only the minutest sense. I can relate to the love that she feels for her son and just the very thought of losing one of my children takes the very breath out of me.

My deepest sympathies go out to them as they start a new chapter in their lives that they never wanted to begin.

Lord,

I pray that you will be with this family, this mother and father who have lost their very existence. Help them to feel Your hand on their shoulder, Your hands holding them up. Help them to know that their son is being taken care of, that he is running, jumping, laughing, and playing with the angels in heaven. Help them to know that someday they too will be with him in heaven and he will be waiting to wrap them in his arms and welcome them home. Please help them to know that their son will always be with them, watching over them and loving them more than he could ever express here on Earth. Give them peace, Lord.

I pray You give them Peace.

Amen.

Zumba Review

Looking for a new workout routine? Check out my review on Beto Perez's Zumba.

Zumba, Get Ready to Dance

The 39 Clues The Maze of Bones Book 1

This series is so much fun and is perfect for all teens out there. You not only get to read the mystery but you also get to join in the fun online. Check out my review in the link below.

The 39 Clues The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

This is a cute little novel written by Neil Gaiman that is great for preteens. Check out my review in the link below.

Odd and the Frost Giants

Diaper Rash Treatments

If you are a mom or dad then you understand how frustrating it can be to have a screaming baby due to a diaper rash. Check out my articles on some special treatments you can try to help get rid of the rash.

Magic Diaper Rash Cream and Treatment

Nappy Rash Soak

Julia's Kitchen by Brenda A Ferber

This book is heartbreaking and will have you crying in the very first chapter. Grab your box of tissue.

Julia's Kitchen by Brenda A. Ferber

The Night Tourist Review

Enjoy this review about a boy who visits the Underworld hidden deep under New York City.

The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh