Discover Strange New Worlds...

My mother has always said that I could talk, almost before I could walk. In first grade they were bumping me up to second grade for reading because I had done everything they were working on already. By junior high I had burned through anything I had even remotely considered interesting in the school library. Books were always a good birthday gift, but people were hard-pressed to find something I hadn't already devoured.

Did I mention I like to read?

Fantasy is a particular favorite of mine, and so I was thrilled to be offered the chance to review Deborah Harkness' latest book: A Discovery of Witches through the Blogher.com Book Club. My review just went live today. Click the link above, and hop over and check it out!

Relishing the Dirt

Some days I marvel, and wonder what would I do without the Internet. I can hop online and find the phone number for my mechanic (urrgh, yes, the car needs more fixing.). Or I can map out the route to that new bookstore that has a story hour that Daniel might like. A bit of information overload led to my finally discovering and (somewhat) mastering the art of using a feed reader to keep up with posts on my favorite blogs and stay a bit organized.

In an effort to keep my own little corner of the Internet organized, I have been keeping a separate blog at Relishing the Dirt. Accessible via the top tabs here, it is where you will find tips, advice, giveaways and reviews. I enjoy passing along fun products we've tried, like the Build-a-Bear Workshop or telling you about the new breadmaker I've been trying out. Or even giving you the heads-up about funky contests that have tickled my fancy - like guessing Mrs. Butterworth's first name. Recently I was contacted by AllChildrensFurniture.com about doing a product review. They sell items as varied as kids bedroom furniture, decor and a multitude of playthings. They look like a good spot to do some hunting for that perfect item for your kid. Stop by! I hope to have more good things soon!

More Work? Less Work? About the Same?

I'm not sure if other stores have a similar program, but Daniel and I tried something a little different for our weekly Stop and Shop grocery run yesterday. Termed Scan It, you basically shop with a hand-held device, scanning your items and bagging as you go. Checking out then consists of handing over your scanner and coupons to the cashier, and paying while none of your items ever have to hit the belt in the checkout line.

I'm sort of undecided as to how I feel about the system.

Pros: The scanner keeps a running tally of items in your cart. Gone is estimating just how much money you are truly spending. Scan It-only discounts occasionally pop up on the device. (The loud Cha-Ching! when this happens had Daniel spinning, looking for the noise.) Once items are scanned and bagged, they are handled just the once and do not have to be unloaded at checkout.

Cons: The produce department is now unwieldy. If I'm buying a tomato, I have to weigh it, put it in a bag, print a sticker from the special scale, stick it to my tomato bag and then scan it. Luckily Daniel was in a mood to simply ride along that day. If he had decided to be contrary about something (anything) it would have been that much harder to focus my attention on the work I was doing. If I were a Mom with multiple kids in the store, forget it for the same reason.

I am willing to concede that I probably didn't pick the best day to try this system. It was a rainy Saturday just before Easter, and the store being chock-full with customers didn't help matters. For this reason, I'd like to try this again mid-week sometime. While it is nice to check out that much faster at the end, I'm not sure the trade-off with all the work I had to do up front made it worth it. We'll see.

Relishing the Dirt

My little review site is back up and running again. Head on over to Relishing the Dirt via this link, or the tabs above. Today I'm checking out a new planner, and hoping to up my Mom-organizational skills just a bit.

More to come!