2008 March

Seams right

Regular blog readers will recall my Open Letter to Lee Jeans in December. I’m happy to report I’ve heard back from Missy at Lee Jeans, who assures me “mom jeans” are a thing of the past. Hurray! Seams like times are a changing for the better all the time!

Hello Margo!

I am actually the brand manager at Lee Jeans. First, thank you for your letter. Sorry it took me this long to find you on the Web site and post a reply. Iâ€™ll zero in on you for your reply to thisâ€¦.

So here goes: Iâ€™ve actually got some pretty good stuff to share with you! Here at Lee, we really do listen to our consumers. I think youâ€™ll find some of our new products reflect that we listen, we understand what women (over 30) need and wantâ€¦and that we are really improving our products.

The first bit of good newsâ€¦.in the last 3 years, Lee has gone through a massive brand refocus. Our female target consumer is the 30-50 year old women. We are not trying to play in the crowded teeny-bopper or 20 something market. The majority of women in the 30-50 year old range are mothersâ€”this means that their bodies have changed, their need for fit solutions is heightened, and their â€œshare of walletâ€ has changedâ€“but their desire to look and feel attractive is intact.

Lee has a huge database, filled with the actual body dimensions of REAL women in this age range. We have used this data and countless fit sessions to develop Fit Solutions: REAL jeans that flatter and are comfortable. But we havenâ€™t forgotten that Mom still wants to look stylish and updated. AND we understand that most folks with families donâ€™t want to pay $100+ for a great fitting stylish pair of jeans. So we offer value to boot. I like to think of the Lee brand as the Trifecta of jeans: They are comfortable and fit, they are stylish and updated and they donâ€™t cost you an arm and a leg!!

I mentioned Fit Solutions. Our research has found that women 30-50 have 2 big requestsâ€”one is to look slimmer, and the other is to be more comfortable. So we offer two exciting collections out there.

First, our Lee Natural Fit Jeans are designed to flatter a womanâ€™s figure and Instantly Slim You. The rise is at or slightly below the waist. (Belly Buttons can stay anonymous!!) Knowing many women wish to trim their tummies, the jeans have a soft but supportive tummy panel built in them to flatten your front and provide a trimmer silhouette. The leg seams are also moved forward slightly to make the thighs appear longer and leaner. We use premium stretch denim which is comfortable and not restrictive. Lastly, the jeans come in todayâ€™s darker washes (with updated details like hand sanding) to give you that slimmer appearance.

We have also recently launched the Comfort Waist Jean. This jean is at waist and designed for the woman who loves comfortâ€“but still wants to look good. Weâ€™ve put an innovative (but invisible) flex waistband in them so they totally move with you. Premium stretch denim adds to the comfort and flex of the garment. Weâ€™ve used updated colors, finishes and styling details so that â€œmom jeansâ€ are simply a thing of the past. In particular, weâ€™ve paid attention to pocket size and placement so as to flatter the ol booty. These jeans feel as good on as they look.

Thanks for your letter. We are really trying here at Lee to make jeans for the real American woman. Comfort, fit, style and value are hallmarks we focus on daily. We offer some great values onlineâ€¦check out http://www.lee.com. A great pair of jeans should be affordable!

Opening Day

We LOVE holidays here at our blog. And the baseball season opening up - finally! after a long, long winter that even groundhogs despised — is great news. We are just relying on one spring factor — rain to stay away. Let’s hope they don’t have to bang it today. (I LOVE that “bang it” term for calling off a game.)

Speaking of baseball, anyone see Bill James on 60 minutes last night? It was a good profile.

Better than EVOO

Rachel Ray can keep her EVOO — her name for “extra virgin olive oil.” We discovered the beta (same as “extra virgin?) version ooVoo today. It’s a FREE software program for web cam conferencing and phone messages that’s easy to use. In just minutes, we both downloaded the software on different platforms (me on PC — but not much longer — and Joe on the Mac). The video streaming was a second or two delayed between computers, but the picture and sound was very crisp.

Not that we’d need to, but up to six people can be in on one conference call. This EASY TO USE software is a great boost for this crazy month of travels for Joe. I’d list his schedule but I cannot keep up with it. Suffice it to say, if KU wins tonight, he’ll be very busy with hoops and baseball (starting tomorrow! hurray!)

In homage to E’s former favorite player, Mike Sweeney, here’s his smoothie recipe. To ring in the season right (sorry I couldn’t find a current Royals breakfast recipe, but I’ll keep working on that!!!), here’s

THE SWEENEY SMOOTHIE
2 cups 100 percent orange juice
2 cups ice
frozen strawberries, raspberries and blueberries
2 bananas
2 cups boysenberry yogurt
1 scoop raspberry sorbet
Simple … Throw all ingredients into a blender, let it rip for a good 60 seconds, enjoy!!
From: “From Our Plate To Yours, A collection of recipes from the Royals Platers and Staff” cookbook to benefit The Children’s Place.

(Note: I halved the recipe and it still made enough for 4 smoothies. Also subbed out vanilla yogurt for boysenberry flavor and an old unpopular ice cream abandoned in the freezer (frozen lemon yogurt) for the raspberry sorbet.)

Picture this

I just had the girls yearly pictures taken last month, so I’m not that excited to hear there is a SECOND school picture day scheduled soon. I don’t even think it’s group pictures! AND, since Elizabeth has the cheesiest of grins from her FIRST, “fall” picture individual portrait day I’m loathe to spend any more money on photos I must purchase BEFORE seeing.

This is the digital age, right? The photographer cannot get off another click that actually looks like the child? There’s no tripod or black cloth to hide behind is there?

This latest flyer from the school’s photo company will allow us to pick from five casual poses: the elbow on knee and hand resting on face pose — the sitting crossed-leg style (we used to call that sitting “Indian style” but I think that’s not p.c. anymore — the reclined like Cleopatra scene (the flier says “pants recommended” which doesn’t work for my daughter who likes to dress up and wear and something NICE, like a DRESS for PICTURE DAY — arms crossed glam shot — or lastly, the side profile, up close “boring” shot. Joe looked at this latest flyer and said, “Why worry about so many choices? Why not just take one good picture?”

The poses might be more casual now days, but the results are still the same from when we were in school. Why are ALL school photos so cheesy? Is it the line of kids making faces? Did we think about what was for lunch or upcoming homework and tests?

If I could art direct the photos, I’d simply want the kid at a desk working. Why take time out for another picture, just have the photographer go into the class room and get real, live action pics — kids at work. I see enough “lounging like Cleopatra” at home, I want proof that my kiddo is really learning — not primping.

Boys

E announced at the breakfast table that there are 3 (three) boys in Kindergarten who like her. Two are in her class and one rides her bus.

“What do you mean they ‘like you’?” I asked.

“They argue over who can play with me. They raced yesterday to see who’d be able to chase me.”

Yes, survival of the fittest starts early. I wondered, is my E encouraging them? I’ve seen her tell a neighbor boy that he was “handsome.” Perhaps we need to cut back on our Disney Princess movies. Is her schoolwork getting diverted by boys? She’s only a mere 6 years old. But, in the end, I tried not to make a big deal about it.

“Well, it’s better for the boys to be fighting over you than for you to be fighting over boys,” I told her.Â She giggled. I just hope she can run fast enough to keep away from the boys.

On Break

We are still in Texas, and the drivers and roads still amaze me. Suffice it to say, I’m ready to return to normal roadways where I only see occasional tags from “TEXAS.” I always thought those Texas drivers were driving like bats out of hell … I still think that.Our adventures also include mishaps with animals. No roadkill, just cute animals. Our cousins are adopting a puppy from the neighbors across the street. The puppy and four other litter mates were in our cousin’s yard while Elizabeth was petting and holding the dogs. She was even getting puppy licks. We’ve suspected she’s allergic to dogs so she took allergy medicine before petting the dogs. After meeting the dogs, I had her wash her hands and take a nap. An hour or so later, she walks out with her right eye swollen shut from her allergic reaction. A cell phone call to the doctor’s answering service Â – it’s Sunday afternoon — and they ask if it’s an emergency and should they contact the doctor. Since I am 12 hours from home and I’m a bit freaked about the swollen face of my eldest daughter (though I’m hoping it’s not serious enough for the emergency room) I tell them, “Yes! It’s an emergency.” I’m not going to guess what to do with an allergic reaction I’ve not seen from my daughter. The doctor’s advice to keep giving her BenAdryl and take a bath are reassuring that she’ll be okay. (A day later her eye looks almost normal and two days later her eyes look normal expect for the red circles under here eyes from her cousin waking her up in the night to talk.) Â The other mishap was when my father and I were picking up trash along a road (just don’t ask — we were helping my sister and her family clean up near their church’s new area) and I spotted an odd, but sorta cute, fluffy, round object with an ugly tail. I yelled for my father to come see. I was thinking I’d show the kids when my father says: “It’s a mole,” at the same time his black cowboy boot stomp down on the animal. I started screaming. Glad the girls were not close by. Okay, so my dad’s tough — maybe he should be driving the minivan in Texas!

Farm Roads

Growing up in the Midwest makes it hard for me to sometimes realize this different state (state of mind & state of chaos) that is Texas — and Texas roads in particular. Elizabeth is on Spring Break and we girls (along with their grandparents) are visiting my sister and her family in the heart of Texas.Â They have “farm roads” that I think mean these are only roads you want to travel if you own a very big-pickup (in black or red and preferrable diesel) AND you want to drive these two-laned “farm roads” very fast. We are north of Austin and we are traveling roads leading into residential subdivisions and the speed limit is 60 m.p.h. (If I were a Mom in this hear neighborhood, I’d be writing a letter to the administer of highways.)Â Â My next letter to the state highway department would ask if the department was on coffee or sweet iced tea break when they came up with the idea for frontage roads. So vehicles (I’m imaging those speedy pickup trucks) are zipping along those frontage roads, and then just merge onto the crazy highway in the middle. Â Â Maybe it works better than it seems to appear, but I only really see this “merge when you want” roadways in the lone-star state.Then, yesterday, after 6.43 hours in the car from Oklahoma City through Fort Worth en route to Austin, we met a clogged highway. A wreck backed up traffic for miles. We opted for the lovely frontage road that was chock-ful of cars, but these Texan drivers were going past the wreck and still merging from the frontage road ONTO GRASS AND A SLOPE to get back onto the highway. I guess merging at any time is permissible, just as following the speed limit is optional.Â Maybe I’ve just driven too much in two days, but I’m not a fan of Texas roads. I can tolerate their drivers as long as they’re merging far away from me.More on our adventures to come …Â

BONDed: Question of the Week

Before my husband launches his official Pozcar site where you can vote for “things — all kinds of things,” (not sure that’s the site’s official slogan), I thought I could jazz up my blog with a question of the week. (It will likely move to Mondays in the future, but stay tuned. Just know you can vote today!)

This warm weather is enticing me to add another “Be a Bond Girl” missive. But I’m not sure what movie to review. We now have joined NetFlix and the MOVIE WORLD IS OURS! (Evil laugh here!)

Leave me a comment with your favorite Bond movie (and why) and I’ll put it to the top of our NetFlix queue (what a great British word, queue.) I’ll watch the favorite and then provide insight on the Bond girl that helps save the day for 007!

And as my husband asks: “What does this have to do with a Mom’s blog?” Simply featuring tough, adventure-seeking women is good for my girls (when they get older, of course) to broaden their perspective of women in film. (Okay, maybe these Bond girls are just damsels in distress, but many are hard-working spies, No?)

Thank you to everyone who recently suggested favorite Royal players to Elizabeth. We LOVE getting comments, and we will indeed keep you updated on her favorite(s) this season.

Here are the James Bond movies:

Sean Connery as 007:
1. Dr. No, 1962
2. From Russia with Love, 1963
3. Goldfinger, 1964
4. Thunderball, 1965
5. You only live twice, 1967
7. Diamonds are Forever, 1971 (featured above)

George Lazenby at 007:
6. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 1969

Roger Moore at 007:
8. Live and Let Die, 1973
9. The Man With the Golden Gun, 1974
10. The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977
11. Moonraker, 1979
12. For Your Eyes Only, 1981
13. Octopussy, 1983
14. A View to a Kill, 1985 (I first saw this on our massive 80s outdoor satellite system and The Movie Channel. We had to go out and manually push the honkin’ thing when it got off track and was probably aimed at some Russian satellite. (The Cold War was still going on, right?) My favorite band, Duran Duran, did the theme song and had their music video shot at the Eiffel Tower. Remember that?)

Timothy Dalton as 007:
15. The Living Daylights, 1987 (This might have been the first Bond I actually saw in the theaters!)
16. License to Kill, 1989

Pierce Brosnan at 007:
17. Golden Eye, 1995
18. Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997
19. The World is Not Enough, 1999
20. Die Another Day, 2002

Daniel Craig (my hands are getting sweaty just typing his name) as 007:
21. Casino Royale, 2006
22. In PRODUCTION: Quantum of Solace, 2008. Anyone know what the hell that title means?
(List source: Wikipedia.)

And now, I leave you to your own devices…

Royal Fandom

Okay, I leave the baseball posts to my husband, most of the time. At one point I eagerly volunteered to edit all of his daily posts about baseball and life. Somewhere, on day two, around paragraph 34 I realized that if I didn’t stop reading (and trying to figure out his statistics!) and start watching the children we would never have anything to eat or any living spaces that weren’t covered in permanent ink from the toddler who feels everything is in need of her artistic flair. (She learned this trick from her older sister.)
There is a nice curly-cue design in red on the dining room wall. I know it’s Katie’s because Elizabeth precisely pointed out, “I don’t do curly cues.” Elizabeth only does words in lipstick or other make-up from her make-up sets, though she seems to be keeping the makeup on just her face or Katie’s. Little does she know I’m throwing away all the lipsticks and chap sticks and glitter gels as I see them splayed about the floor in her room. I don’t think she’s caught on yet.

I have hopes yet of putting her into a T-shirt and a ball cap and having her watch an entire baseball game with me and Joe soon and ENJOYING it! Tonight she’s wearing a purple K-State T-shirt to bed and this is a big step since just days ago she and Katie both were spouting off that “T-shirts are for boys!”

I just so want a tomboy or for my children to at least show a passing interest in sports. Are there subliminal tapes I can put on that will detox them of “pink” and at least start considering “powder blue?” Listening and watching the Royals Baseball Network (19 more days!) seems to be the surest way this spring.

After dinner this evening, Elizabeth mentioned how she was ready to cheer on the Royals and her favorite player, Mike Sweeney. It was at this point that I had to tell her the sad news. Her hero wasn’t with the Royals anymore. I didn’t get into specifics, she can read her father’s columns soon enough on the real world of baseball or start watching live Web programming on MLB.com. But she surprised me with her next question.

“Did Mike go to the team with all the money?” she asked.

“Money? Oh, you mean the Yankees?” I said. “Nope, he’s not a Yankee. He’s with the Oakland Athletics. They’re called the A’s.”

That seemed to satisfy her curiosity, and then she started talking about that time she got a hug from Sluggerrr when she’d just gotten out of the hot tub in the Pavillion and “got him all wet!” It’s truly her highlight moment at the K. (Katie digs the fireworks and associates them with the Royals more than that holiday on the 4th.)

I hope the girls will have more memorable moments from the K and that someday we’ll be able to really talk baseball around the dinner table. In the meantime, thank goodness for Sluggerrr. We’re starting a search for Elizabeth’s new favorite player! Got a candidate for Elizabeth?

Pushing the envelope

I am exhausted and all I have done is:

A. Addressed a few envelopes for my husband and sent off pictures of the girls. But as uneventful as it sounds, I was choking and gagging after licking one of the manila envelopes. It had the worst aftertaste ever, and I started thinking of the “Seinfeld” episode where George’s fiancee, Susan, dies from licking her wedding invitations. I actually think that harm could come from something as foul as that envelope glue I encountered today. I plan to use a wet paper towel to adhere envelopes in the future.

B. Pushed Katie in the red wagon around the block. First time for the red wagon since this past fall — 4,645 eons ago! Our block is a hill, so it’s not as leisurely as it sounds.

C. Washed the car by hand at the car wash. Though I did notice the minivan still has some murky grime on the sides from the tonnage of salt on the roads to battle the 55 snowstorms this winter.

Ah, next week is spring break and by golly, it almost feels like spring. I’m pondering what seeds I want to plant where, bearing in mind, my success rate with seeds is .049 percent. (Though I did have good luck with peas from seeds!) I’m waiting for the ground to thaw so I can plant pansies and sunflowers! Ah, a real Monet garden, or as close to a Monet garden when you’re in clay-hard Missouri and not fertile France.

My neighbor, Carol, (who is my lifesaver when Elizabeth misses the bus or I cannot be back home in time to meet the bus) recommends this book for inspiration for gardening with children. I’m chomping at the bit to dig in the dirt.

A Course for Adventure

Exploring Countries for Kids Without Leaving the House