Red Stamp

No one is paying me anything or giving me anything to write this post.  I just like to share the cool stuff I find with you all from time to time.

I suck at thank you notes.  I mean, really, really suck.  It's not that I'm ungrateful, I'm just really busy, and for some reason finding a stamp is as hard in this house as finding tape or a pair of scissors that is still suitable for cutting fabric (seriously, family, lay off Mommy's scissors!).  Excuses, excuses, it's one of the things on the short list of things I wish I could change about myself (we don't need to get into the rest of that list, it's depressing...  But I'd like to be in a single digit size between now and when I die, and also I really would like to cure my chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome).

And then I found out about Red Stamp, and everything changed.

Red Stamp is an iOS app.  You download it free from the app store, then you give it permission to muck around with your photos and your contacts, and BAM!  Instant thank you notes.

Seriously, look at the one I made from our Halloween picture in like 33 seconds:

Or this one that I sent to my mother-in-law after our trip to Chicago:

Or this one I sent to Uncle Doug and Aunt Kathy:

Once you've designed your card, you can email it, text it, save it to your camera roll, post it to Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or you can pay $1.99 to have Red Stamp print it and send it to your recipient in the actual mail!

I am using the heck out of this thing.  Sure, the same functionality is available from a variety of websites (I've used Shutterfly for the past several years to do our Christmas cards, for example), but this app is so quick and so slick, and it makes sending personalized thank you notes so easy, that I have officially run out of excuses.  I don't have to plug in my camera, upload to my computer, walk uphill both ways to the post office...  I just choose the cute layout (and they have a lot of cute ones!), choose the picture, change the text, choose the recipient, and hit "MAIL IT!"

The other thing that I love is that they're something that the recipient will actually keep and enjoy, rather than just reading and saying, "Oh, that's nice," and tossing away.  (Actually, I keep every single personal piece of mail I get, from letters to thank you notes to Christmas cards, but I'm crazy like that.  Most people don't.)  I wish I had found the app before we left the Jack Hanna show, because I would've taken a picture of the kids.  I found it later that same day.  I just happened to have taken a picture of the logo on the wall and the screen to blog about it. 

So, there you go.  I just made your holidays a LOT easier if you have an iOS device.  You can just email me the thank you note. 

Organizing My Life with Evernote

(No one paid me anything to write this, although I'd happily accept a year of Evernote Premium in return for being such a nice blogger, if the Evernote people happen to find this...)

I've been looking for a solution for literally YEARS to the information overload that plagues me.  I think I've found it with Evernote.

Evernote is free.  You download the app to your phone and your computer, and you can access it through the 'net, too.  You can save images, photos, lists (with check boxes), web pages, PDF files, notes... and in the premium version you can save Microsoft Office documents.

I have to admit, I've had it on my phone for a long time without realizing its potential.  But yesterday I had some time to fool around with it, and I'm really excited about the possibilities...

One area where I have total info overload is recipes. I'll be surfing and I'll see something and think, "Gosh, I really want to try that!" but then when I sit down to plan our grocery list I have NO idea what to make.  I can't remember that there was this recipe on Allrecipes and that recipe on Pioneer Woman and so on.  Well, now when I'm surfing and I come across a recipe, I just "clip" it to Evernote.  Just this morning I made Oatmeal Pancakes from Smitten Kitchen (LOVE these) and I clipped it to Evernote (with a picture copied and pasted into the file!) so that next time I want to make them, I don't have to search for the recipe (and run the risk of finding the wrong Oatmeal Pancakes because I can't remember which blog it was, or the risk of the whole blog being taken down for whatever reason).  If the internet is down, I can still make them, because the file is mirrored on my computer.

I can scan in my own recipes and put them in the same "notebook."  Then, when I make them, I can take a picture with my phone and upload it to the recipe easily.  I can tag all of my recipes, too.  Entree, Beef, Chicken, Dessert, Must Try!, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Christmas Cookies....  The possibilities are endless, and it will make them easy to find.  And it's SEARCHABLE!

Now, imagine I'm at the grocery store and I suddenly have an urge to make pancakes...  I can call up the recipe on my iPhone and make sure I have all the ingredients (ok, bad example, because I always have all those ingredients, but if I wanted to make some exotic recipe that didn't just use pantry staples, and I couldn't remember if I needed lemon or lime or whatever, I'd have that information at my fingertips).  If I'm up in Grammaland and I want to make a new Christmas cookie with Mimi, we can pull up all my recipes on her computer and use them there.  And since it's web, phone, and computer based, I don't have to endlessly print out the same recipes (or type up the same recipes to send to someone - I can e-mail it to you straight out of Evernote).

Ok, so beyond recipes and groceries, I have plenty of ideas for how Evernote can simplify my life.  If I'm talking to someone and they mention a book I'd like to read, I can put it in a special note (with check boxes!!) called "Books to Read" - then, 10 years from now when I have time to read again, I can call up that list and have all those book titles at my fingertips.  Ditto for movies.  How many times have we been sitting in a theater watching previews and said, "That looks great!" but then we get to movie night and we can't think of anything to rent.  Oh my gosh, that happens every time!

Let's say I'm out shopping and I see something that my mom would love.  Well, we draw names at Christmas so I don't get her a Christmas present every year... but I could put a note called "gift ideas" in my phone, and jot it down, and then if I draw Mom I've already got an idea for her.  I could also clip a website to Evernote if I'm surfing and run across something I'd like to get for her.  Awesome, right?  I can't be the only one who gets to December and draws a total blank on what to get for everyone.

We get freezer beef every year.  I am considering making a checklist of what we get, then checking it off as I use it.  With the checklist function, there is a lot of potential for inventory. 

But wait, there's more!  If I'm on the phone with someone at work, and I need to take notes on the conversation to refer to later, I have a whole notebook called "Work" where I can keep that stuff, and tag it so that I can find it.  There are about a thousand ways I can use it at work, all of which are boring because they're work, so let's move on.

Kids' sizes?  In a note so that if I'm shopping without them I can remember what size shoe they wear.  I never remember shoe sizes.  I can put BJ's sizes in there, too. 

Medical stuff that I need to remember?  Note.  Tagged with the person's name.  Magically accessible from anywhere so that if (God forbid) we're in the ER and they need to know when something happened, I can call it up and tell them exactly.

We want to build a house in a few years.  As I'm surfing if I run across an idea I like, it goes into Evernote.  If it's in a magazine I can scan in the page.  If it's at someone's house I can take a picture with my phone.  So when we sit down to design our "forever" house, I'll have years worth of ideas at my fingertips.

I can even take pictures of the kids' art projects (or scan them) so I don't have to store the originals.  Tag them with the kid's name and date them, and poof!  Instant preservation.  It doesn't get much easier.

I just couldn't wait to share this tool with all of you.  I hope you find it as useful as I do!

Slick

It scares me that BP's best solution for the oil spill is, essentially, the same advice that BJ's dad gave him when he got hurt playing ball:

Rub some dirt in it, and walk it off, kiddo.

We're screwed.

Google Earth for the iPhone, turning my kids into evil geniuses

Claire:  See, there's the earth.  And you pinch it, and it's huge.
MG:  How big is the earth?
MG:  Wow, it is huge.
Claire:  See, it's huge.
MG:  I want to squash it.
Claire:  Eeney miney moe the earth.  Mary Grace, how's that huge?
(A push notification pops up.)
Claire:  Oh, Scrabble!  ERRRT!

Ha!  Foiled again!  Grandpa Bob, you took your turn and saved the world.

Top 5 iPhone Apps for Kids

The iPhone is the best babysitter ever.  Get yourself a very sturdy protective case, some quick reflexes (for when it drops) and let the magic happen.

5.  YouTube (free)

The beauty of this app is that it's already installed on your phone right out of the box.  In line at the grocery store and melting down over the Polly Pockets that Mommy is not going to spend $5 on again?  Bust out with some Beyonce.  All The Single Lettuce!  The kids will sing along and entertain themselves and your fellow shoppers.

4.  DoodleBuddy (free)

I guess you can draw with friends with this thing.  Whatever.  My kids don't need to draw with all their friends who have also stolen their parents' phones, they just want to draw.  When you put a frog stamp down, it ribbits.  When you stamp with the frowny face with tears, it sounds like a baby crying.  Endless fun.  You can also "airbrush" with your finger.  Shaking clears the screen, so it's easy for kids to start over.  Just be sure that they don't shake the phone into the dentist's fish tank.

3.  Tozzle (light - free; full - $1.99)

I got to go to the bathroom all by myself today (!!!) because my kids were busy fighting over Tozzle.  It's an animated puzzle app.  Claire had no trouble figuring it out.  It even teaches letters, numbers, and rudimentary spelling.  They will quickly grow bored with the two puzzles available in the light version, so be prepared to cough up the $2 if you download it.

2.  Toddler Teasers - Shapes (free)

Claire had fun with this one.  "Find the oval!" and then when you touch the oval it claps.  "Find the crescent!" was too hard.  I said, "A crescent is a moon," and she immediately got it.  So, she learned stuff.  Yay!

1.  Balls (free)

Shut up!  Once you get past the name (or you start calling it "rainbows") Balls is a beautiful zen-like wind chimey ball thing that will entrance your kids for as long as it takes to get through the check out line.  If they shake it the balls bounce and the chimes go faster.  If they tilt it they all fall toward the floor ("gravity").  You can customize the settings, for more balls, bigger balls, different tones, and so on.

What are your favorite apps for your kids?

Now Available On Kindle!!

Amazon.com has opened up the playing fields so regular, obscure bloggers like myself can make our content available to you on your Kindle!!

Who is going to be the first to sign up?

Kathryn maybe?

Tech FAIL

I spent the entire evening, after the kids went to bed, surfing the free Kindle content from my laptop and sending it via whispernet (hello, stupid name) to my Kindle. Other than Dooce's book, (even though she won't friend me on Facebook) I am not going to buy any content until I have sucked the marrow out of the free content available for the Kindle. I figure, I'm never going to buy the Great Works of Literature (that are available on Project Gutenberg for free) but I'm also never going to sit down and read, oh, Pride and Prejudice at my laptop, either. But I should read the GWs. Enter the Kindle.

Anyway, I spent the whole evening surfing and sending... Finally pick up the Kindle to go to bed. Dead battery. Charger? At the office.

FAIL.