About Dana

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I'm a dichotomy of blue jeans, pretty jewelry, frugalista, and Southern girl living the simple rural life. I want to live my life holistically, thoughtfully, economically, and most of all gratefully, and encourage other women to do the same.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Try this App if You're a Homeschooling Mom

I used to work in the technology field. Even so, I have never been one to appreciate technology just for technology's sake, i.e., "just because you can do it." I guess that sums up why I have never considered myself an early adopter.

I like to wait and see how useful a new application is going to be for my life before I jump on the bandwagon and purchase it.

I discovered an app for the ipad/iphone that I recently downloaded. It has been valuable in our homeschooling experience.

TurboScan is an app for scanning pages and saving them as PDFs or jpegs. I have found it most helpful during the homeschool day because it serves as a copier in a pinch. I'll explain.

I am without a copier in my home office right now. On the fritz. In the trash. These things happen.

The other day, I forgot to make a copy of my son's grammar test. With TurboScan, I took a quick photo of the test page from the book, tweaked it, emailed it to myself, and then printed it from my office printer. Very cool. And quick. Problem solved.

TurboScan costs $1.99 in the app store.

Hope this helps you. Let me know other creative ways you use apps in your homeschooling or work day.

TCB

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

As a Pet Ages

I wrote before about all the challenges that come with a pet as it gets older, especially larger pets like dogs. And although our beloved golden retriever, Molly, has some vision, hearing and arthritis issues now (she's pushing 17 years old), our vet and groomer both say she is alert and healthy and we do not need to consider euthanasia. Thank goodness. It's a decision some people have to make, and I have been hoping I am not one of them.

But she is to the point of wearing doggie diapers. Saves my floor from pee-pee misadventures.
Sorry, old girl. It had to be done.

But my story today is really about the crazy world of manufacturing and retailing. If you think of an outlandish product, it's probably out there somewhere in our e-commerced, frenzied world.

My husband orders the doggie diapers online. Buying in bulk saves money. I surely thought diapers were one of the expenses I had eliminated from our household budget, but apparently not. Who ever thought our dog would live long enough to become incontinent?

Here's the crazy part of this story: Mr. Country Belle inadvertently ordered the wrong product and had to ship it back. What was it? WASHABLE dog diapers.

Say what???

I'm economically minded and eco-friendly, but I have my limits. In the words of a true Southerner: "I ain't never gonna wash a dog's poo and pee out of a cloth diaper."

Enough said.

TCB