Jonah Lisa Land

Boobs, meet belly. Belly, meet boobs.

They've actually met before, but it's been so long since they grew apart, I think they'd forgotten all about it.  I know I had.

It was just a strange sensation at first.  I wasn't even sure what it was.  All I knew was something felt...odd.  Then the realization slowly grew.

My boobs were touching my belly.  Resting on it, I guess you could say.

The unfortunate part of this little 19 week hook-up is the...well, moisture.  OH hell, I'll just say it, the boob sweat.  But me?  I like to look at the upside of any situation--at least now I have a place to keep my Chapstick.

Subscribe to The Toby Show!

Well, things are beginning to change around here.  And more changes are on the horizon.  I've opened an Amazon shop, begun to create series badges, widened my text column to accommodate larger photos, changed the layout, and I've "optimized" many of my popular posts.  Fancy stuff, huh?  Let me tell you, the learning curve is steep my friends. I'm still working on a new masthead and "look", and few other things, but most of you will be happy to know that the poll was a blow-out and I'll be sticking with The Toby Show as the name of the blog.

One of the more important things I've done so far is worked on my RSS Feed.  RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.  That's right, The Toby Show is now syndicated!  See, for those of you who didn't know, you can get a subscription to a blog, just like a magazine and an RSS feed is what makes that possible.  You subscribe to a blog's feed and then you read it through a feedreader.

If it feels like I'm speak Swahili don't glaze over yet, I've linked to 2 great articles below that do a much better job of explaining what subscriptions are and how to use them.  Feeds are really handy if you follow more than a couple of blogs.  You don't end up forgetting to check all your different bookmarks or wasting time checking ones that haven't even updated.  With a feedreader, you go to one place, all your blog feeds are organized there and you can quickly see which blogs have new posts. 

If you want to know more about RSS check out these 2 informative and well-organized articles:

Subscribing to Blogs 101: the Why, the How and the Where by simplemom

What is RSS? by Darren Rowse of ProBlogger

"Great, lovely, thanks for all that info Jonah Lisa, now how the hell do I do it here."

How to follow The Toby Show

• SUBSCRIBE VIA RSS - You can subscribe to The Toby Show's RSS feed by clicking this icon (the correct term is a "chicklet") wherever you see it.  That's the standard RSS icon.  It will connect you to a page where you can choose from one of many feedburners to get your feed through--Google & Bloglines are the biggies.  Here on The Toby Show you'll find that orange RSS icon in the sidebar near the top of every page.  I've also peppered them throughout the blog, down at the bottom of some of the more popular posts, and if your using a newer search engine, like FireFox, your find an RSS icon in far right of the the url address bar.

• SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL - If you don't want to use RSS you can still subscribe to my feed via email by clicking this icon wherever you see it.  You'll be directed to a form where you can enter your email address and you'll be sent each day's post that way.  The "Get Email Updates" icon is also in the sidebar near the top of every page.

• SOCIAL BOOKMARKING - Some of the more popular social bookmarking sites are Digg, Delicious and StumbleUpon. When you bookmark one of my posts through one of them you have a way of finding it (and all the other cool sites and pages you find out there) later when you need it but you also spread the word to other people about  The Toby Show.  And that's a good thing in my book.  Up at the top in the sidebar is this button.  Click that button and you get an extensive choice of social bookmarking sites to share the site or post with.  Currently at the bottom of every post, where the category of the post is listed, are links to "DIgg This" and "Save to Delicious" but I'm working on getting the all-inclusive Bookmark Button down there instead.  We'll see.

• BOOKMARK IN YOUR SEARCH ENGINE - If all this is just too fancy and not the way you roll,  then you can always just bookmark the site or any page on the site in your search engine while you're browsing.  Easy Peasy.

There's also a shiny new button to email me directly at The Toby Show at gmail dot com.  I'd love to hear from you.  ANd now that I'm getting all fancy, I'll try to reply to all comers.

So, now you have no excuse!  It's all here at your disposal.  Gimme some love out there!  DIGG it, Stumble on it, Twitter it, tell others how Delicious it is, comment or email when you can and...

Subscribe to my feed!

Potty Training

We started yesterday.

Huck's been "ready" for a couple of months now but I've just been lazy about it.  I knew it might be rough going and I was loath to give up our comfy little routine.  I don't know what possessed me to finally start but we're in the game, damnit. 

I picked 3 days where we don't have any plans or need to go anywhere.  So here we will be for the next 3 days.  I've spent the last 2 mornings water-boarding him and keeping the potty with us wherever we go.  I don't make him sit on it the whole time, I just kept him naked, kept my eye on him and kept the potty within arms reach.

We had an accident right out of the gate yesterday but I blame myself.  We had been down in the playroom and I knew it must be getting close to the time he'd need to pee, but he said he wanted to run upstairs and get his beanbags.  Instead of going with him, potty in tow, I asked if he needed to go potty before he went up and when he said no, I said, "Don't pee on the rug up there.  Just get your beanbags and come back down."  Of course, it started to feel like it was taking a little longer than it needed to so I ran up and he was....yep, peeing on the rug.  Mother's know these things.  I should have listened to my instincts and joined him to get the beanbags.  Oh well.  Next time I'll know.

We had success the next time though and he was SO thrilled with himself. 

Then we called Jazz who made a big fuss over it even though she was in the middle of Wal-Mart when we called.  That's what grandmothers are for and I'm sure if anyone heard they understood and got a big kick out of it.

Midway through Day 2 and we;ve got about a 50% success rate--3 pee's in the potty and 2 accidents.  And one large, unfriendly turd loose in the house.

After we've had our 3 days of potty basics I'll put him in his cool new Elmo and Mickey Mouse undies and we'll try to keep our friends dry during the day.

Anyone else going through "the change?" 

I have a reader

Is this normal?  This kid will lay in bed for hours after he wakes up in the morning "reading" books to himself. 

He's also willing to hear as many books as you're willing to read throughout the day.  I've done 20-something in one sitting and finally been the one to call uncle first.  I guess he's a reader. 

Don't get me wrong, he loves to run around like a madman, too, but this is how I find Huck every morning when I go in.  If he's being very quiet, sometimes the only way I know he's awake is that I can hear the pages turning.

I think it's a genetic thing.  Stephen and all his sibling were this way and so were all his nieces and nephews.  My sister was a big reader, too.  Me, not so much.  I didn't start loving books until I was well out of high school really. 

Anyway, I have a reader.  And a houseful of books.  When my kids are grown and I've picked through for the ones to save, I'm going to make some library very, very happy.

Cheap & Easy :: Reusable Bags

My friend Caroline from Cheaper by the Half Dozen was the first to introduced me to the idea of making reusable shopping bags out of old T-shirts.  Since then, I've seen the idea mentioned on several green blogs.  It's a perfect solution for someone who doesn't want to shell out 2-10 bucks each on reusable bags. 

I still love my compact folding bag that I keep in my purse.  I use it all the time.  And my set of 4 grocery bags from reusablebags.com are indispensable.  But I found myself wanting another set for our second car.  A "just in case" set for my husband for when he makes a small grocery store stops.  But I need to keep all 4 of my biggies in my primary vehicle since I do most of the grocery shopping and I didn't want to shell out the bucks for a second "nice" set. 

So back I went to the bookmarks and found the T-Shirt bag tutorial Caroline first sent me from Martha Stewart.

These work great!  All you have to be able to do is sew one straight line and use a pair of scissors.  I used 2 old T-shirts and a tank top that...ahem...no longer fit.  Cleaned out the closet AND got some new grocery bags to boot.  I think these would make really cute additions to a green gift basket or hostess gift.

And if you don't have any old T-shirts heading for the thrift store, head to the thrift store yourself and pick up some funky message T-shirts.  They are often about a quarter each!  A set of bags from old concert shirts would be very cool.

And speaking of the reusable bag issue, hop over and visit EnviroMom who's having an interesting discussion about the idea of plstic bag bans or taxes here in the US.

For more reading on reusable bags click over to my Plastic Bags Blow post.

Great 2-5 year old gift

We've been invited to a birthday party on Sunday and Huck is very excited.  We saw the birthday boy and his mom on Thursday and she mentioned the party to Huck.  I hadn't brought it up yet.  I figured it was too early, and boy was I right.  Since Thursday, every day has been filled with countless "...and then we go to da pardy, huh Mom?" 

I can't get him to shut up about it.  And it's not like he has any real understanding about the days of the week or anything.  I've tried 3 more bedtimes, then 2 more bedtimes.  But every time he wakes up it's the first thing on his mind, "Is it pardy day, huh Mom?" 

And by the way, I am hating that he's calling me Mom right now and not Mommy or Mama.  Hating it!  It makes me fell like he's growing up way to fast.

So we got the birthday boy (he'll be 2) a pail and shovel and I've filled it with a set of 10 colorful beanbags and a little handmade bag of 16 Crayon Rocks.  It's about a 50% handmade gift and I'm having a little gift anxiety over that.  I hope they think it's cool and not that I'm cheap or a weirdo.  

Huck is very excited to give his little buddy some beanbags just like his and seems very clear and quite proud that those beanbags are for Owen.  I also made up a little list of fun beanbags games that we like to play with ours.  Printed it on a bit of colorful card stock, 4 to a page, and punched a hole in the upper left corner so I could attach it to the bucket with ribbon.  Very cute.

Thankfully tomorrow is the big day!  If I can just distract him through this afternoon and tomorrow morning it will be Party Time and all will be right with the world.

In case you want a little further reading about my Handmade Beanbags.

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Update:  This gift was HUGE HIT!  It was well loved by the birthday boy, and his mommy.  He had to stop and play with everything a little bit right in the middle of the party and there were many Oooo's and Ahhhh's.  I was so relieved.

Cheap & Easy :: Reusable, Homemade Tissues

No, this is not like the good old April Fool's Day "let's all use river rocks as toilet paper" post.  This one for real, suckers.

I think you'll remember my Useful, Homemade Baby/Toddler Toy that was resurrected as a useful green solution to tissue in the playroom.

Well since we first realized we could comfortably use these for things other than animal blankets or just pulling out ad nauseum, we use them all the time downstairs.

And even so, it still never occurred to me to make reusable tissues for the rest of the house.  It was actually my Mom's idea.  We both have pretty bad nasal allergies this time of year.  I'm actually hoping the bong water I'm drinking twice a day will take care of that as well as my lower platelets during pregnancy.  We'll see.

In the meantime, I am going through BOXES of tissue and my little nose is sore.  My Mom mentioned she might go to cloth tissue for the comfort, so I suggested that flannel might make a really nice soft tissue.  Then, of course, I had to try it myself. 

And lucky me, I had a bunch of natural flannel on hand because I use it instead of interfacing with things that need extra weight but not stiffness.

I simply cut about 30 tissue-sized squares with pinking shears (to stall fraying) and have been blowing in style ever since.  It couldn't be any easier.  Of course, you could certainly spend a bit more time and effort to do a rolled hem for a longer lasting, nicer looking solution but I went for simple and quick and it's fine for now.  I didn't even measure them.  I just eyeballed the size of a paper tissue.  Notice I don't even call them hankies.  The are so basic they really are more like reusable tissues.  And the great thing is that they are so small and lightweight, they really don't add to your laundry.  Just stick them in with any other load.

I might do a few nicer ones for out and about or as Christmas gifts. I love these Flour Sack Hankies from Blue Yonder.

This project really gets at the big REDUCE in the RRR cycle if you have allergies. 

Hankies are the new cloth napkins, don't you know. 

Update:  After a couple of washings, the flannel has frayed more than the regular cotton prints I used for the toddler tissues.  Not a biggie to me, but it might make others want to either use plain cotton fabric or do a rolled hem.

Cookies & Milk

Not for him!  For me!

Some women want a long bubble bath or a cup of tea or a romance novel when they have time all alone. Me? I want a cold glass of milk and big soft cookie in bed while I surf craft blogs.

This is a Ginger Molasses cookie that Stephen brought me. They were so good. This is the last one.

Ginger Molasses and Snickerdoodles are my favorite cookies. I have a good snickerdoodle recipe but not ginger molasses.  I think I'll find one and give them a try.   Lucky you.

But for now, it's just me and this one last cookie and a warm laptop.

Pie Night!

I really swear, this is NOT a food blog. But it was a special occasion with Stephen home for the weekend so he got to pick dinner on Saturday night and he chose PIE NIGHT!!!

On pie night we eat ONLY PIE for dinner. And then we all lay down and succumb to a sugar induced coma. Not really. We don't have just sweet pies.  Last night we had my Chicken Pot Pie for dinner and Key Lime Pie for dessert.   See?  Pie Night!   Isn't that fun?

The Key Lime Pie is a the recipe from Joe's Stone Crab restaurant in Miami.  It's an institution and they do two things perfectly there--crab claws and key lime pie.  They even ship the pies on dry ice around the country.  Fortunately, we found their recipe online years ago and make it alot in the summer.

Joe's Stone Crab Key Lime Pie

Be it known, this recipe calls for making your own graham cracker crust.  I don't do this.  I use a store bought one and follow the package instructions for pre-baking it so it's extra crisp.  I do make homemade whipped cream most of the time, but not always.  It's your call on both.

1 cup plus 2 tbsp graham-cracker crumbs

5 tbsps unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

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3 egg yolks

1 tsp grated lime zest

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cup fresh or bottled key lime juice

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1 cup heavy cream

3 tbsp confectioner's sugar

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Preheat oven tto 350 degrees

For Crust: In a large mixing bowl, combine the grhama crackers, butter & sugar.  Press mixture into the bottom and sides of a buttered 9-inch pie pan, forming a neat border around the edge.  Bake crust for about 5 minutes.

For Pie Filling: Using an electric mixer and a nonreactive bowl, beat the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed for about 5 minutes.  Then gradually add the condensed milk and continue to beat 3-4 more minutes or until thick.  Reduce speed of mixer to low and add lime juice.  Mix until just combined.  Pour mixture into crust.  Bake 10 minutes or until filling has just set.  Cool to room temperature, THEN refridgerate.  

For Whipped Cream: Combine cream and confectioner'ssugar and mix or whisk until nearly stiff.

To Serve: Put pie in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.  Serve each wdge with a big dollop of whipped cream and a raspberry or mint sprig as garnish if you have them.

Note:  The recipe harps about how much better fresh lime juice is than bottled.  I'm sure it's true but who has the time to juice all those teeny tiny key limes.  You can't even get them here most of the time.  But do try not to use that Real Lime stuff.  It really should be KEY lime juice.  The best brand I've found so far is Nellie & Joe's.  You can usually find it near the top on the juice aisle.  Here's what it looks like.

I'm thinking of an expansion on the Pie Night theme.  You know, throw out an occasional Hand Pie Night as well--empanadas and apple turnovers or something--just to mix things up a bit.

Revamping

Okay, it's time for a little redecorating around here.  Now that I have oodles of time on my hands in the evening, I'm going to try and dress the place up a bit.   New lay-out, new masthead, etc, etc.  It will take some time because I'm not very familiar with my design software, Pixelmater.  So don't expect a new look over night.  It'll likely be an ongoing process over the next month.

The reason I bring it up now is that something has been nagging at me.  When I first put this blog up I tossed two names back and forth before I finally settled on The Toby Show.  Now I'm having second thoughts and I'd love to get your opinion.  If I'm going to change the name, now is the time to do it.

Now I know I have a ton more regular readers than just the handful of folks who are comfortable commenting, so rather than ask for comments on this one, I've installed a poll widget. See it up there in the upper right sidebar?   It's totally anonymous, I can't track you by your answer (or if I can, I have no idea how), and it's perfectly safe.  Please help me out here.

So, a little background on the two names.

THE TOBY SHOW - A Toby Show is an early American theatrical form.  They were performed in tents all over the country and always starred a lovable but dopey redhead named Toby.  Get it?  Toby used common sense to get one over on the city folks and always saved the day.  Toby Show's usually included other acts as well, a little of this and a little of that, but the Toby play was the main feature.  Admittedly, this reference is quite obscure.  Most people don't know what the heck A Toby Show is since they haven't really traveled the country since the 1930's.  Still, it's cute.  I'm a redhead from Texas who has lived all over.  I try to take a common sense approach to the world and I flit around on a variety of topics--green, food, kids, etc.  Makes sense, but only if you know what the heck A Toby Show is in the first place!  If you don't, the name of the blog doesn't tell you jack about this place and you probably think me or my kid is named Toby.

SLOBBER - Lot's a meaning here.  Slobber is a word everyone knows and uses in a variety of ways.  Slobber is what I often feel like I'm doing when I write--just running off at the mouth, as my dad says.  Slobber also what Huck and Blue Car will be doing on me for many years to come.  It has a parenting blog feel to it for that becasue we think of kids slobbering.  Slobber is also what I tend to do over certain, foods, crafts, products and green ideas that I think are cool and then bring here to show you.  Slobber is also a silly word with a humorous connotation that seems appropriate for a blog where I spill out my thoughts and words.

3 important things to keep in mind. 

1.  I need honestly, so if you don't particularly like either name or think neither one really captures the vibe here.  Tell me!  I want to know.  Maybe I'll think of something else.

2. I'm also planning to try out an Etsy shop soon--beanbags, napkins, art smocks, handmade toys, kid stuff and houseware.  Ideally, I would like to use the same name to help create more synergistic traffic between the blog and the shop.  It's not a necessity that they both be called the same thing but it would make thing easy.

3.  If you have a particularly strong feeling or reasoning about either name, please leave a comment, too.  I'd like to know your thinking on this as much as possible.

Thank you so much for your help with this, folks.  I really appreciate it.

You'll find the poll in the sidebar for the rest of the week.