Saturday, June 18, 2011

Thanks Bemis!

A while back, I told you guys about a new toilet seat I bought for the kids bathroom.  It was made by Bemis, had a slow close hinge and it popped off so you could clean under and around the hinges.  It was the coolest thing ever in a house with 3 little boys!  Well, time marches on and I still have that toilet seat.  It still works great.  I love that the kids didn't slam their fingers in it.  I love that I don't hear the lid slamming all the time.  I love that I can pop it off, toss it in the tub and spray it with cleaner and rinse it with the shower!  My only beef with it was that it sometimes shifted a little because the bolts didn't sit properly in the holes in the porcelain.  I blamed the toilet, because the holes are a bit off center. I suspect the toilet was a factory second purchased by our homes previous owner! Toilet seats never fit on it right and the kids broke (like broke, in half) several before we found the Bemis seat.  Recently, hubby and I have been doing some much needed home repairs in preparation for putting our house up for rent. We're moving to a larger house a few miles down the road.  While fixing up the kids bathroom, the topic of that toilet seat came up.  Do we leave it for the tenants, knowing it wiggles a little?  Do we take it with us because it's oh so quiet and easy to clean? If we take it with us, won't it just wiggle in the new house? I hadn't seen the same seat for sale in a while, and assumed they had discontinued it. I decided to check the company website and see if they sold replacement bolts, or the little rubber gaskets that we needed to replace so we could keep using the seat, regardless of the house in which it lived.

Well, before I could remember to check the website, Bemis fixed my problem!! For FREE!  I took kid#3 to home depot today to grab a tile cutting blade for my rotary tool and found a tent event going on.  Many of the the big tool companies were outside and some smaller companies were scattered around inside.  As we meandered our way from rotary bits to the tile section to peruse cove base, we happened upon 2 representatives from Bemis.  They were there showing off their new and improved "Easy 2" seat.  I mentioned that I already had 2 of their seats and loved them, except for the wiggle problem.  The rep laughed and said that was their #1 complaint with the old seat and the new seats had solved the problem with a special new seat bolt.  She verified that I did indeed have the "easy clean" hinges and then gave me 2 packages of the new bolts, and showed me how to install them.  I am eager to try them out, but at the moment, the hall toilet is in the tub, while the tiles cure on the floor.  Soon! Soon!

Oh, for the parents of the smaller set, they also make a family friendly potty seat!  Same easy close hinge, but with a seat for small bottoms added in.  The child seat fits into the lid and clips up magnetically so it's not in the way of adults.  When kiddo needs to use it, they can flick it down easily with no pinched fingers! I got to see it up close.  It's great!  Where was this when my kids were potty training!

Anyway, thanks Bemis for acknowledging the problem with the original seat bolt design and offering a fix for it, even several years later!  Just for the record, I'm not affiliated with Bemis, just a happy customer!

How long can I keep lunch meat?

I bought a package of sliced turkey last week.  The expiration date has not passed, but it smells a little funny. Is it still ok to eat?

Probably not!  Throw it out!  Lunch meat is not that expensive and you risk a trip to the hospital if it's contaminated with bacteria.   An unopened package of lunch meat can have an expiration date that is a few weeks away but once it's open, the CDC says to throw it out after 3-5 days!  Meat you have sliced at the deil is also considered an open package and should be tossed after a few days.  If you don't want to run to the grocery store every 5 days, consider buying smaller bags or splitting up a larger bag, and freezing it.  In the freezer, away from the door, it can last up to 2 months.  Just take out the package a day or two before you need it and let it thaw in the fridge.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Are you a foster parent?

Are you a foster parent?

While this one wasn't emailed to me, I've been asked this several times over the past month or so.  Often enough to make me wonder exactly what it is about my demeanor, or my children, that make people think they aren't mine!

Ok, I admit, one of those times I was at the mall with a friends 3 month old baby who's racial heritage is much more interesting than my own and her gorgeous complexion shows it! While her mama is as fair skinned as I am, no one assumed she was my baby but they at least factored in that I could be related.  Other than the one foster mom question that day, several people asked if she was my granddaughter! Ouch!  That hurts!  I'm not THAT old, am I?

The other times I've been asked about fostering I've been out with my own kids.  When they were smaller, I was asked repeatedly if I ran a daycare!  I guess now that they are old enough to not be day care kids, the next most logical option is foster care.  Is 4 kids just that far outside the norm that people would think foster mom before assuming they were simply mine?

I think it's a little funny that people were more likely to assume that the ONE beautiful, little, cocoa skinned baby I pushed around the mall could have been related to me but the 2 gangly teenagers and 2 hyper preteens I took to McDinner had to be given to me by the state! I know there are times when we are out in public that I WISH I wasn't related to them, but yeah, they are all mine!

Parents of larger than average families and foster parents, do you get quizzed?  How do you answer?

I'm Back!

After a long hiatus, I am back! I appreciate all the emails checking in on me and asking me where I've been! It's been a crazy few years, probably best summed up by "3 surgeries, multiple ER visits and 4 simultaneous cases of whooping cough!" That's not all, but it's a representative sample, and none of that was for me! Whoever says being a stay at home mom is easy has never stayed home with my children! Things seem to be settling down and I hope to be better able to field your questions from now on! Send them on in!

Please excuse the construction, as we fiddle with the website and layout. We're still 'moving in' over here and hope to get it nice and comfy soon!