Let The Party Begin!!

Ok, so Mommy is in town! (Yay!), but my vacation is just officially getting started...(also, yay!, but a delayed yay). So, mom and I have kept it somewhat low-key, because, well, I had to get up early for work. We spent the last few nights watching TV, chilling with the kitties, and generally having some fun.

However, we have a plethora of things planned for the next few days. Here's just a smattering, with potential details (depending on where we get kicked out of) to follow: We'll be hitting bingo, a nice lunch at Zinc Bistro, (thanks to the Food Network and "The Best Thing I Ever Ate"), checking out the Pandora Jewelry store for some new charms (thanks for my lovely bracelet, mom, BTW), and probably hitting My Sister's Closet (an amazing consignment store). Other than that, we have Festival in the Park this Sunday, on Halloween, and we're seeing Nickelback on Friday!!!

Lots going on. :) Can't wait!!!


Later,
Kelly :)

Woohoo!!!

Just a quick little post in case the two of you who read this care (and didn't already know (and since one of the two of you is who this post is about, I'm PRETTY sure you already know...I hope)) that tomorrow is "M" Day!!! Yes, that's right, the day that my MOMMY comes in to town!!! (And, yes, I'm in my 30s and still call her Mommy, shut it.) :)

So, mommy is in town for 10 whole days (Oh, BTW, if you follow my kittehs, she is known there as "Grammy Gloria", FYI) I have some vacation time coming up next week, and we have a TON of stuff going on. Yay, yay, yay!!! I can't wait. :)

If you're lucky, you might get to hear about some of it...or see pictures, or I might Tweet about it...we'll see.

Later,
Kelly

The Battle of the eReader: Kindle vs. Nook - Round One

So, one day my mom calls me and tells me that she knows what she is getting me for my birthday. "A Kindle," she shrieks, all excited! She just got her Kindle and it is the best thing since sliced bread...possibly even before that. Now, you have to understand - I love reading and I love books, and I learned this from my mom. I was initiated at an early age, I picked up the TV Guide at four years old and started reading from it. (With beginnings like that is it any wonder that I love television and have a degree in Film and TV production? Yeah, I didn't think so either.) Sorry, shiny objected there (and no matter what else you hear, or who you hear it from, that is MY phrase...I turned it into a verb. Yep, me.) Ack, I did it again though...so easily distracted. Where was I?

Oh, yes, "The Kindle". So, my mom, after telling me what I was getting for my birthday (which, by the way, this particular conversation was at least a good six months before said event (it's next month, if that matters)), proceeds to tell me that I need to forget that she told me, so it can be a surprise. Yeah, right. Cause, as much as I love books, I love techie stuff, and the Kindle, well, it's pretty much a techie dream!! (Well, for books anyway...and maybe .PDFs, but you get the point.) Well, sometime around our conversation, this shiny new product came out, from my favorite bookseller no less - the nook, by Barnes and Noble. Oooh, color touchscreen, android platform, browsing full books when inside a B&N, look ma, shiny things!!! (The actual origins of shiny objects and shiny objected). So, now what? My mom LOVES her Kindle, she's pretty sold on that, but I'm not my mom - for the most part. I am, however, a researcher; there are plenty of Kindle vs. nook websites out there, with reviews on design, speed, reliability, and a host of other things.

So, lets get started, cause there is a lot that each eReader has going for it.

Now, I've noticed that whichever way people are leaning towards is typically the ones the reviews start out with, I mean you have both Kindle vs. nook and nook vs. Kindle, with each one giving slightly biased reviews based on the device listed first...so, I'm breaking that particular mold...and going with the underdog first.

The nook - Yep, I said it...the nook is the underdog in this case. I mean, it certainly does have the Android platform going for it (I love the Android platform...a discussion best saved for another day, before I get shiny-objected again). And a pretty slick color touchscreen component. And yes, expandable memory, Wi-Fi, and a multitude of other cool things - wait, which side am I on here? Oh, yeah, underdog...ok, better now. But there are two big downfalls of this reader - battery life, and speed. From everything that I have read, which, trust me is a lot at this point, even though the nook says that it gets up to 10 days on a single charge, that isn't always the case, 5 - 6 seems to be more the norm...and what is the big drain on the battery you might ask? Well, I'll tell you - the slick color touchscreen, and Wi-Fi. Surprised? No? Me either. : )

The second thing I mentioned was speed. From the majority of the reviews that I have seen, the nook is sorely lacking in speed, from power up to page turning, it's slower, hands down (or so they say - and whoever "they" are is also a story for another day). Now, those things might not seem like a big deal, but when we are talking about 3 seconds from power button to reading vs. 1 minute and 30 seconds for the same action, that is a gaping chasm. And, for someone like me who can churn out approximately 100 pages of printed text in an hour, an eReader needs to keep up with my reading pace. Which brings me to...

The Kindle (or, Kindle 2 more appropriately) - What the nook offers in flashy "upgrades" the Kindle balances out with all that a true bibliophile needs...but nothing more. And while it lacks some of those nice options, Wi-Fi, expandable memory, and even a removable battery (truly a downfall of the Kindle, IMHO), the purported speed of the device, with its unmatched and unparalled battery life, if true, will keep me a Kindle customer for a very long time. The speed I mentioned above, and it is the lack of "bells and whistles" that allows a much smoother, sleeker start-up process. I don't necessarily need to see the image of the book that I want to read, I (usually) already know what it is about, so the simple "home" page with it's list of titles is fine for me. And the touchscreen on the nook is said to be somewhat clumsy as well, so I'll stick with the KISS principle (look it up if you don't know) on this one. And if the pages turn and load as quickly as they say they do, well, that will be a big plus for me.

Additionally, I'm terrible for charging things, I usually forget until they, well...die, so the longer this lasts on a charge, the better. Websites and reviews claim up to 14 days, but the norm seems to be about 10 when hand-ons reviewers take over. (Which, if I can "math it up" right (another term I coined...) is still better than 5 - 6)

I am aware of one other thing...I am only comparing two eReaders, while there are a ton of others out there, not the least of which is the shiny, new iPad. But that isn't what this blog is about. Because, even though the iPad is definitely a cool device, at this point, I'm not looking for that many features, options, and other stuff going on. (Yet) I want an eReader. Something that I can easily take with me on trips, to work (for lunch hours only), or anywhere else that I might have some down time, and not have to lug all of my books along with me. And don't get me wrong, no matter which way this ax falls, visiting Barnes and Noble will still be one of my favorite relaxing activities, and I by no means intend to dispose of, or stop, my book collection.

Here's my dilemma though, I'm a visual learner. So, "Round Two" of this particular topic will have to be once I actually have my Kindle (that is, if my mom actually does get me one for my birthday (sorry mom, I tried to forget about it...sorta)). If not, well, Round One will be the only round in this fight until I can afford the frivolity.

-- Kelly ( :

(Oh, and P.S. in case you're keeping track (and I'm not entirely sure why you would be), this now matches my total posts in 2008, and is more than my posts in 2007 and 2009, both separately AND combined. Just saying...)

All Quiet On The Western Front

Wow...my house is empty for the first time in a month. My mom, step-dad, and grandma all went home today and I came home from work to a quiet, empty house...it is kinda nice. Not that I'll be able to enjoy it though...what, with the three people at work that quit yesterday...yeah, that's right - three IN ONE DAY!!! I have to admit the overtime will be nice, but my last day off was Friday (11/11) and my next will be Sunday (11/20) which sucks...and I might not get that off if they are still super short staffed...sure, my next paycheck will all but pay for Christmas this year, but I am already exhausted. (Put it this way, and I know some of you have "been there, done that..." but, I have already worked 24 hours this week - this is about normal so far, three days...average of 8hrs/day, but I still have four days left this week, tomorrow is 11 hours, then possibly eight, then 1 1/2 (meeting) plus eight, then 9 1/2 for a grand total this week of 61 hours this week alone! *NOTE: Math may not be accurate at this point...please forgive the girl who had three hours of sleep* And that is if I actually only work eight on Thursday and Friday.)

Ok, so, sorry to whine and moan about work and overtime - I know, I know, just say no, but you see...if you know me at all, you know that isn't something that I can do - I'm the helpful one who gives up her day off to help out the store, not the one who says too bad, so sad, let the customers deal with it...so I shouldn't really complain. It is, after all, my own fault.

So, moving on to other things: How are you guys? I don't see much of my friends anymore...who wants to visit me next? You are more than welcome to come for any period of time...I have a spare bedroom. Please come visit me and enjoy the 70 degree November afternoons - I know I do ( :

-- Kelly ( :

It's So Nice

Okay, so I don't really want to have a theme running through my blog, but...well, I haven't seen my mom in so long that I think she'll probably be the focus a little bit for the next few weeks...and that's - OKAY.

Anyways...my mom and grandma are here and it is fabulous. I miss them so much...also, what is it about parents that makes everything better when you need it...it is better than chocolate. I know that some of you do not have the relationship with your parents that I have with my mom, but, well, maybe you can have that relationship with my mom (I used to bring home stray children when I was young...she took them in and fed them well) Anyways, I love having her here, but she is also a slave driver...(well, you know, the kind that works her fingers to the bone right next to you)

So, Day One: I mention that I think the patio shrubbery needs some cleaning up (you know how I love gardening *coughsarcasmcough*) my mom really enjoys gardening so I thought we could spend some time pruning shrubs together (god, when did I turn into an adult) So, did we just prune a little...hell no, we ripped out every plant in the patio and threw out the faded crappy patio furniture too. If that weren't enough, we spent the evening cleaning the inside (yes, even though she told me that it looked beautiful and spotless and that I passed the white glove test - this is just her personality and I love her for it)

Day Two: We needed to find plants to replace the ones that we ripped out, so the day began at Lowe's, looking for plants...which we found and the patio is going to look fantastic when it is finished. Then we went to Wal-Mart (hey, they have easy access to groceries) We had decided that we were going to recover or slipcover or something this truly ugly couch, and since we were in Wal-Mart we started looking for fabric...which we found. But now - between my mother and myself neither of us has touch a sewing machine in well ever I think...and we bought 9 yards of fabric to recover a couch. And, if that weren't enough, being the seamstresses that we are, I picked out "heatbond", she was looking for glue and I thought maybe we should buy a pneumatic stapler, cause we really have no idea how to actually make the fabric stay on the couch...I wonder if the 450 straight pins we bought will hold it...this should be interesting. (Worst case scenario we cover it but no one can EVER sit on the couch again for fear of serious puncture woundage)

So, for now, I am back to work today - and slightly interested in seeing what mom decided needed "straightening" while I was gone.

-- Kelly ( :

It's All Relative...

Ok, so it is finally all done. It is Sunday night, 8:30PM, my mom and grandmother arrive in 24 hours, but the house is clean. Why does it matter you ask? Well, because....it just does. It isn't like it was that bad, but now it is perfect - well...as perfect as it can get. I know that even if the house were trashed my mom would love me just the same...she may not like me very much for living in a garbage dump, but she'd still love me.

So why do we torture ourselves when relatives come to visit? Why is it ingrained in us that we have to clean and scrub and vacuum and dust until our fingers fall off? I think I finally figured it out. We do it because we want them to stop worrying about us. If our house is messy, we obviously can't take care of ourselves, so they worry about what else we may be "messy"ing up in our lives. However, if we have a nice clean house, we (hopefully) are carrying that into other areas of life as well and therefore they can worry less. Yeah.

-- Kelly ( :