The World’s Greatest Thermometer
Imagine this.
You’re get up, you feel just awful or maybe it’s one of your kids (if you have them.)
You need to take a temperature. Now. You stumble into the bathroom looking for a thermometer. Is it the old fashion mercury don’t-drop-and-break-it-or-you-instantly-lose-braincells-from-exposure? Maybe it’s the 5 min or 2 minute stick in the ear variety? Or, as LeBetsy shudders, the rectal baby thermometer.
Whatever. You’ve managed to locate the damn thing but you can barely see ’cause your contacts are out or you have a severe case of eye boogers, or both…
Desperately you try to get the temp, did you wait long enough? Was that a beep? Yes… no.. yes? Crap, you did it wrong. Do-over.
All you want to do is take the damn temp, take the appropriate meds and limp back to bed.
By now, you’re more awake, paying attention and you got it. The Temp! YOU GOT IT! You (or your significant other you’re dealing with) REALLY IS sick. Meds. Bed.
And now you can’t sleep. You’re awake.
Damn.
Short of a shot of NyQuil, you’re not sleeping. But it’s too late for that.
And you have work tomorrow.
This totally sucks.
Stress no more.
Enter in the World’s Greatest Thermometer!
Hooray!
Not as sexy as a Porsche but when it’s that late (or early depending how you look at it,) it starts to look pretty damn fiiiine.
Meet The Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer.
Having twins, when one gets sick about 3 days later the other would also be projectile vomiting. Crying babies (in stereo!) and taking temperatures any other way was not an option. Our pediatrician introduced us to the Temporal Artery Thermometer, they use it to take all the kids temp at each apt. One quick swipe, maybe 3 secs, and WHAMO! temperature is taken.
(Cue heavenly sent savior music)
What no kids? I tell you, I don’t care if you’re Old Mother Hubbard or one of the boys from Entourage, you need this. Nothing stinks than being sick and having to wait for confirmation that, yes, you are feeling like crap for a reason. Especially at 3:30 am.
It’s also much more hygienic, no shared bodily fluids as it’s a swipe across the head.
Best deal- it’s freakin cheap (around $33!!)
Go to your Walgreens or Babies’R'Us (if you’re single say you’re shopping for a shower gift!), Walmart, CostCo and Sam’s Clubs.
Or make it easy and get it at Amazon
Speaking of baby shower gifts, it’s not the cutest present, but this is what I give. And I always get a call from the new mother thanking me. It’s usually starts “I thought it was an odd gift, but last night at 3:30am (and it’s always 3:30am, why, I don’t know.)….” and ends with “and it saved our sanity!”
I should be on commission.
Pulling Off Super-Secret Disney
So based upon my last post, things were a bit topsy-turvy.
A little like Alice and Through the Looking Glass.
Having enough “Off with her Head!” this Alice went on vacation.
Actually is was a planned vacation. My husband’s company was hosting a customer conference in Disney World, and the family was invited to come.
In fact, my hubby and I decided to pull off the parental coup of the century by totally surprising our children with the trip. We “dropped Daddy off” at the airport and handed the kid’s their suitcases. They had no idea where the final destination was until the park bus driver welcomed them to Disney World.
They loved it. And we totally rocked as parents.
From this, here’s the benefits to keeping a trip a secret:
- No one knows, no one asks. When you’re kids don’t know their going on a trip, they can’t ask you every 5 mins WHEN you’re going to Disney, skiing, the beach, Aunt Ida’s house…. Your sanity intact. Priceless.
- You (and your partner) look like the world’s greatest parents. I’m not a perfect parent, far from it. But this one time, this one moment, husband and I totally rocked. From the friends, to ticketing agents everyone loves the story.
- No pre-trip mayhem. “I want to bring Fluffy” the 40 lb stuffed iguana? Nope. You pack their bags, you get to decide what they bring. My daughter can’t argue over which bathing suit because it’s my choice.
- You feel like a super-secret agent-spy. Pulling off a doozy of a surprise is fun. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a whole lotta fun doing it, and fun work really isn’t work. This is why you became a parent, not the changing the umpteenth number of diapers. That was sweat-equity so you can do these things. And it’s totally worth it.
- The kids will remember it. They always remember surprises. It’s like Christmas morning.
- The look on the kids faces as they figure it out. Two words: Kodak moment. They love it. They love games and surprises. This is the best game ever.
How to pull off a doozy of a surprise trip for the kids:
- It’s a secret, so keep it that way. So don’t tell anyone the destination. I know it sounds simple, but simple plans work the best. Tell a few trusted friends, for us that meant Sumo my dear friend and god-mother to my Golden Retriever, Ginger. She was dog & house sitter. If you do tell, tell them it’s a secret and not to mention it to their kids, etc. You’d be surprised how much little kids pick up. And repeat. Big kids too.
- Plan, plan, plan. School? Write ahead to let teachers know they’re going. Get homework if they’re old enough, or like mine (1st grade,) just wait they can do make-up work when they get home. Since it was warmer than Boston (thank gawd!) I went through my kids summer things, purchased what they needed and (bonus!) I am a step ahead for spring/summer.
- Make flight reservations for morning or just after school. Basically instead of going to school you veer off to the airport or you pick them up from school and go to your flight. No time for them to question what’s going on.
- Pack the night before and load the car. Or pack as much as you can the night before. They shouldn’t know until the very last minute, when they least expect it.
- Make their backpacks full of fun things. Why? Because it’s fun (duh.) I put puzzles, crayons, sunglasses, new books, stickers, etc. Keeps them busy at airport gates, in lines (we had a 2 + hour one but that’s another post,) during down time at the hotel room. Believe me, it’s worth it.
- Fly Jet Blue. Pack Lunchables (without the juice box, security purposes.) These are two things my kids don’t get usually so it’s extra special and they were glued to Cartoon Network the whole ride.
- The art of misdirection. By the gate they knew from the announcements we were headed to Florida, but we made it a game by talking about all the different places we could go- Miami, Key West, Red Sox spring training. In Orlando they saw the signage (it was Cinderella’s castle)- I told them it was the hotel. Prolonged the fun and they were having a ball trying to figure it out.
TheBetsy: No Job (dot) Com
That would be my job.
Gone.
I also have a confession: I totally stole the title of this blog from my good friend Flames.
Amidst losing her lawyer gig during the brouhaha of Internet start-up failures of 2002, Flames sent out a very classy, “No Job Dot Com” email to all her friends and acquaintances informing of her (post-maternity leave) pink slip. She was on the fence about returning to work anyway, but her company’s demise forced the issue and now Flame is a very happy former- lawyer-cum-stay-at-home-mommy.
Hooray!
And then there’s TheBetsy. And Inquisix.
It was an idea before it’s time, Inquisix put networkers together based on who they wanted to meet — rather than the “who do you know, that knows this person that plays squash with that person, who is the cousin of a person I’d really like to do business with…” We basically cut out the middlemen. We got traction early, but never the zenith needed to go past the start-up stage. The founders moved on, and this week Inquisix was officially closed.
As the Vice President of Marketing & Communications, I was also community manager, chief copywriter, blogger, brand, marketing, social media and PR consultant and strategist… oh, and I swept the floors as well. Hustling to help grow the user base, keep the fires burning and, hopefully, turn a profit. It was hard work and it was exciting. Start-ups always are.
For me, Inquisix was an especially good opportunity. Prior to joining the company, I had put my MBA-honed marketing strategist mind on hold to have children. Out of the workforce for any length of time is tough, but try finding a gig after being out for a couple of years, in a bad economy, and things get decidedly harder. The arrangement was simple: they needed the help and I needed the stimulus and experience, and it was a great while it lasted. For this, I have truly grateful to Inquisix’s founders Michael Kreppein and Dave Dupre.
So now I write my No Job (dot) com letter. In retrospect, this experience has giving me some insight into myself.
This is what I know, thanks to Inquisix:
- Virtual Offices: I work great in this environment. Arm me with high-speed Internet/Skype/iChat/Twitter and I am a fully operational Death Star.
- Writing and communicating. Some say wordsmith, I say tell ‘em a story that they’d repeat, over and over. You’re reading this, so you probably have a fair idea how good I am.
- Though I pretty much knew this already, you can throw me in the deep end, I’ll be just fine. Social media was not in my marketing vocabulary when I started. Playing around with Twitter I saw the business implications and benefits immediately, now I speak it pretty fluently.
- Go with what works best — if it’s new let’s try it, if it works, let’s keep it. And keeping adding onto our knowledge base. There is no “done” in learning.
- I have the entrepreneurial mind-set : sure my title may be one thing, but if the job needs me to stretch and tap into another skill set let’s do it. It’s actually fun and really rewarding.
- “Good with people” doesn’t come close to describing my client management skills. I make happy customers jealous. If that makes sense.
- Multi-tasking is crap. Or that’s what you get when you multi-task. You pick.
- I’m ready to get back to work. At what yet, I don’t know. I’m interested in finding the right intersection of interesting challenge, environment, locale and cash. Not necessarily in that order. Working remotely would trump a lot. Mostly because my children are still small, and I like to tuck them in to bed most nights and top their day off with a “story-story.”
- I’m open. Suggestions, meetings. ideas. I love to talk ideas or opportunities and strategy. Better than a double espresso. And no jitters. You want to talk to me. You know where to reach me.
To on to the next adventure, and if you have ideas on what that might be, I’d love to talk.
You know I like to talk.
Special Isn’t So Special Anymore.
Special really isn’t special anymore.
A few lifetimes ago, I worked at a start-up television network, UPN. It was a crazy time, chock full of 12-16 hour days as be got close to launch, everyone desperate to deliver their promised piece and everything became a priority. But you know know what that means…
When everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.
Same goes with special. When everything is tagged with a superlative, nothing is… well that super.
In this economy you have to deliver special, super and great, just to survive.
If you think you’ve got something special, guess again. So does everyone else. And their letting everyone know via TV, Radio, Print, POP, Inserts, Guerilla marketing and now Facebook, Twitter, and even Foursquare.
That’s a lot of noise. That’s a lot of “super.”
How do make your super stand-out?
Can you distill your super into the tangible?
Can you take the tangible and answer your customer question “How will this make my life better?”
Are you answering this question in all their languages? Mediums? If your marketing segment speaks Social Media, are you trying to reach them only through radio?
Are you prepared to answer that question at all customer touch points? From first touch, sale, delivery, customer service and to the next purchase?
That IS super, only your customers will be the one saying it. Again and again.
NEW! Gaga & Beyonce’s “Telephone.” Whoa. (Second Update)
Sort of NSFW, but definitely not for the kiddies. Just saw this and thought, immediately, “holy crap.”
Not that I post that many music videos, but I have to agree with the original source, Perez Hilton, that this is groundbreaking.
People are going to be talking about this. Storyline be damned. It pushes boundaries.
(Update: Let me make myself clear, by saying “groundbreaking” I mean she’s pushed some real buttons- love it or hate it- deem it a sexually and ad ladened Kill Bill derivative, you still go “Whoa. What the HELL was that?” I think as far as Lady Gaga goal concerned, “Mission Accomplished!” You’re having a visceral reaction to it, and in this day and age, that’s hard to do. And you’re going to talk about it with others.)
It cements Lady Gaga as a force to be reckon with, like Madonna, and show us a whole new dynamic to the amazing force known as Beyoncé.
I don’t see Lady G, as a one or two album wonder. Think the girl is here to stay.
Thoughts?
(2nd Update: In the three days it’s been up, Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” has been viewed 7 Millon times on YouTube.com, and touted as the successor to Michael Jackson’s Thriller (seriously, watch it and compare.) Jeepers! It seems I wasn’t the only peep thinking something, good or bad- your choice, culturally epic happened with this video, The New York Observer is citing the opinionists at The Awl , the pros and cons are laid out at United Kingdom’s The Guardian.
And if you think you’re too old to deal with this rubbish, think of yourself as pop culture Margaret Mead… which even I am surprised I’ve made the connection to, but all in the name of high-brow. More Thoughts?)
LocalBetsy: Boston’s Perfect Brows, Flawless Makeup, Perfectly You
The confidence that comes when you know you look your best is pretty hard to beat.
So partly as a reward to myself for working so hard these past months, and partly because I really needed it, I scurried off to get new makeup and a cleaned up brow-line.
All this logic found me, per a friend’s recommendation, at Sarra and in the confident hands of owner Lauren Genatossio. Named after Lauren’s makeup- artist grandmother, Sara (pronounced Sa-Ray) is an extension of her philosophy of beauty- an inviting environment where women have access to top products and advice. An experienced makeup artist, Lauren’s a ”precision brow” guru, listed as Improper Bostonian’s Best of Boston 2009 “best eyebrow shaper.” Her credits include W, Glamour, Elle, Maroon Five, and Bruce Willis.
Needless to say, I felt more than pretty ok with letting her have a go at my eyebrows.
When I arrive, I see TheLiquidBetsy reader Sarah T., having her brows done- she told me she was hooked after her first experience and is now pretty much a regular.
2 1/2 hours later, I had perfect precision brows, gorgeous makeup (on my face and in my bag) and new-found knowledge on what works for me. What I liked about Lauren, was her focus on educating her clients and her practical approach. I learned where most make-up is made, how she selects her own skin care and make-up products and, best of all, how the hell to make it all look good on me. Not the “Joan Collins- Runway-OMG-I can’t do this by myself “way, but the “I’m busy- I need to look put together with the least amount of steps + the few nights I go out with the hubby” nice. I also left feeling I could replicate 9o% what she had done.
And for the ROI crowd, dollar for dollar, this was, without a doubt the best money I’ve spent for make-up. Ever. The brow is included in the lesson, but also the promise that Lauren (and her team) would be happy to do refresher. At Sarra they don’t push what you don’t need- when making the appointment I was told to bring my old makeup and brushes. Lauren went through everything I owned and edited, throwing out what I didn’t need and telling me what to keep, often in lieu of her own product line. Not hard to see why she has such a devoted clientele.
But don’t take my word for it, see Lauren in action. On me.
An appointment with Lauren for a make-up lesson will cost you $180, this includes the precision brow shaping ($40 value,) with $100 going toward any makeup or product purchased during the visit. Not bad, considering any make-up worth a trip to Saks would cost you that within the first couple of items and/or parking, brow not included. My friend who originally suggested Sarra, loves the reasonable prices. After dropping her entire makeup bag- and breaking every single piece- in Las Vegas. She visted Sarra and for around $200 replaced everything she needed. But you should note things can be more, depending if you include skin care products, or need extras like special brushes.
And just for TheLiquidBetsy readers, Sarra is taking half-off your initial precision brow apt.- say “Betsy sent me” at the time you schedule your apt. and save $20.
Can you say “Book’em Dan-O?“
A precision brows last typically between 4-6 weeks. And men are also a part of Lauren’s clientele, so drag your boyfriends and husbands in, tell them they’ll get a more natural effect vs. waxing. (And you won’t be lying.)
Visit Lauren and her team at the Boston and Hingham locations.
Sarra- Boston
840 Summer Street
South Boston, MA 02127-1533
(617) 269-8999
Sarra- Hingham
104 North Street
Hingham, MA 02043-1842
(781) 749-5599
Or check out them out on Google Maps.
Why is “Post” [Anything] a Bitch?
“Post” anything, especially a major health accomplishment, is a bitch.
The thing about being “post”-anything, is that you tend to forget the “pre”-anything that made you do the damn thing in the first place. You get confident in the completion, but it’s a false confidence, because you’ve had blinders on to anything else.
Once those blinders are whipped off, that is when the real challenge begins.
I’ve just had a recent experience of this, and I’ve got an insight or two to share.
I spent 32 days of doing a very intense body cleanse- almost 32 days of no refined sugars, no wheat, no dairy, no strawberries, no tomatoes, no Ho-Ho’s or Twinkies or Girl Scout Cookies. I’ve meditated, drank smoothies, sweating like a Sweathog — all a part of the regimen.
After more than 1/12 of a year, I felt great. Funky rashes were gone, my Rosacea dramatically faded, vim & vigor up, fitness up, BMI down. It was completely worth the time and effort, I am glad I committed myself to do it. I even blogged about it daily, mostly to keep readers of my blog and on the Clean Detox support site , My.CleanProgram.com , up to date, and also for myself to document the process.
Day 2 of my post- Clean Detox diet, I was like a kid in a candy store.
Note to self: this is not the right attitude to have.
Oh and I had a plan prior.
Post-Clean is called “Maintenance” and I planned to use the post- cleanse to see how my body responds to sugar, wheat, dairy and the rest. One food ingredient at a time. I started small. Dark organic chocolate and red wine. Which worked out just fine. Trying one thing at a time, see how it goes, then go to the next one on my list after I gauge my body’s reaction. I was so great at this, totally in control.
Ahh the fickle friend false confidence is.
Then I had an itching for pizza. Which I really knew was probably a no-no, since it has dairy, wheat and tomatoes with each bite.That’s three ingredients, when gauging an allergy it would be tough to suss out the culprit if I had a bad reaction. But I still did it. Then dinner was some of my children’s Mac & Cheese. Oh, and throw in a couple of Girl Scout cookies for good measure.
What the HELL was I thinking?
And today I’m pay for it. I am itchy, feel bloated and ill. That’s just today, can’t wait to see the F.U. my skin will bless me with in a few days.
Post- [Insert Major Health Accomplishment] is a bitch. I’ve spent a better part of 1/12 of a year working on getting healthy, yet day two I’m eating dairy, wheat, tomatoes and toxic totally-not-of-nature peanut butter cookies. What was infuriating, it was just so easy to slip back into “pre-Cleanse” behavior. See yummy, eat yummy. I blame this in part on false confidence, I was feeling pretty damn invincible, and in part to not being “present” about the eating. The See-Eat combination doesn’t work for me. I have to slow things down, do I need the cookie or want? Wants are probably more about stress than nourishment. Again being more present would do good for me both body and mind.
It also helps that I remember why I did this in the beginning. I was:
- Drinking 8 cups of coffee a day and dragging like a sloth.
- Eating whatever struck my fancy. Never a good thing.
- Sleeping fitfully
- Out of shape
- Too tired to get back into shape
- Depressed about all the above and below.
- Tired, did I say I was tired? I was friggin’ exhausted!
- Wearing F.A. jeans. And they were getting tight.
The good news is that it was one day. Really just two meals. And I’ve had a big wake up call. BIG WAKE UP.
So back on Clean Detox, hard-core for a few days, then I try again, working down my list wheat, dairy, tomatoes (just not all at the same time.) And a very sweet “Adios” to the Girl Scout Thin Mints & Peanut Butter cookies. Treats will have to be of the dark, organic chocolate kind for now.
But I can still have red wine!
(God giveth as he taketh away, thanks for leaving the wine G!)
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Herds three kids through life. Mainlines all things media, including questionable TV. SCUBA diver that longs to hang-ten.
