How to Get Out of Working This Weekend ...

1) Mulching stinks ... literally. If you live near New Territory (or Telfair, River Park, Greatwood, etc.), call Boy Scout Troop 732 to come out and do all of your mulching this Saturday! Time is running out so be sure to call right away. For $3.50 or $4 a bag, plus $1 to spread it, the boys (with help from some girl scouts!) will come out and take care of spring's worst chore. We had them come out last weekend and, boy, were they done fast ... and it looks lovely!

Call 281-762-3044 or email 732mulch@gmail.com.

2) While the boy scouts are mulching, don't feel like you have to be there to help them (as if you were going to help). Leave them a check and head out to the corner of U.S. 59 and Hwy. 99 (River Park Shopping Center), where the members of the Lamar Consolidated High School band will be washing cars this Saturday between 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. to raise money for a band trip. 

Can't get out there Saturday? E-mail band booster jansrussell@earthlink.net and give the band a pledge per car. (If you pledge 5 cents per car and they have 200 cars show up, you owe the band $10.) 

3) Sit back and relax knowing you helped the youth of America ... without lifting a finger. 

You, the Pope and the Boss ... all on PBS this week!

I love PBS. I contribute to their drive every year because I figure, if I can give the cable company tons of money every year, I can at least throw HoustonPBS a little something for giving my kids gifts like "Arthur" and "Sesame Street." Because I am too busy watching highly intelligent programming like "The Real Housewives of New York" and "Celebrity Apprentice," I often neglect to check out what is on PBS in the evenings. You know what? There is some cool stuff on there!

Just got my weekly listing e-mail from HoustonPBS.org (you can sign up to receive their "don't miss list" each week) and I am going to set the highly expensive DVR I rent from the cable company to record these three upcoming shows on PBS. I thought you might like them, too!

1) Wednesday, March 4 from 8:55 p.m. to 10:26 p.m.  (PBS has funky time slots)

You: Inner and Outer Beauty with Dr. Michael Roizen

Forget about beauty being in the eye of the beholder. Beauty in the way it's going to be defined in this program is in the eyes, the skin, the hair, the face, the brain and in the soul of you. 

2) Thursday. March 5: 7-8:30 p.m.

Discovering Secrets of the Vatican

It's Lent ... why not?

3) Saturday, March 7: 8:30-10 p.m.

Bruce Springstreen & The E Street Band, Live in Barcelona

If you saw the Super Bowl Half-Time Show, you are not wondering why I want to see this concert. 

Happy watching! And, remember, it's public and commercial-free programming. If you like these shows, email HoustonPBS a few dollars. Big Bird says "thanks."

Is Your Child a N.E.R.D.?

My son will admit to anyone that he's a N.E.R.D. – a Naturally Exceptional Righteous Dude. Just the fact that he has come up with that description is pretty nerdy, don't you think? 

The term "nerd" dates back to, of all people, Dr. Seuss in the 1950s. In recent decades, though, there has been a lot of "nerd pride" with movies like Revenge of the Nerds and, as Charles Sykes said: "Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one." 

I love nerds. I married one and gave birth to at least one. (The jury is still out on the second child.) I even have an "I Love Nerds" t-shirt. 

Do you have a nerd in your house? There are certain signs and here's one ... 

If your child is in the top 5 percent of their grade level in 4th grade and up, you may have received a letter from Duke TIP or your school's gifted program director inviting them to join the Duke Talent Identification Program. Students who join Duke TIP (www.tip.duke.edu) for $30 a year get, first of all, "recognition," online enrichment and resources, exclusive publications, a chance to compete in contests and the opportunity to take standardized tests normally taken by children older than them.

I know what you might be thinking (or at least this is what I was thinking) ... is the opportunity to take another standardized test really a good thing??? I can already see my son's reaction to being presented with the opportunity to take more tests and do more work. "No, thank you," is what I expect him to say. "I'd rather play video games."

So, do you join? 

We did some online research and, pretty much, found that Duke TIP is -- just what we expected -- a Nerd Club. Many of its members and alumni refer to it as such online in blogs and various chat rooms. Since I know and love some very cool nerds, that didn't negatively impact my opinion of TIP. So, I went straight to another Sugar Land mom for advice. Her son joined Duke TIP in 7th grade.  

"The biggest advantage is taking the ACT/SAT in 7th grade. I think the 4th/5th grade take the EXPLORE test which is similar to a test given to 8th graders to assess their readiness for the ACT/SAT that they take when they're juniors. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of all these standardized tests, it is the world we live in, so I think it's good that the kids get used to taking them so they're comfortable and do their best when the test scores really count."

I'm not sold on Duke TIP yet but, if nothing else, getting the letter verified what I pretty much already knew in my heart ... my son has surpassed me in intelligence and I am in big trouble. 

 

Ommmm! Free Yoga!

Lisa Kastens, an awesome Sugar Land mom and yoga instructor, is inviting Sugar Land moms for a free yoga class on Valentine's Day, Saturday, Feb. 14, at 10:30 a.m. at 24 Hour Fitness, Hwy. 90 and Dairy Ashford. Lisa says it's part of the club's "Open Door Saturday" program where friends can come free, so consider yourself Lisa's new friend and stop by for the yoga class. The club will not try to sell you a membership unless you want them to, according to Lisa, and childcare is FREE! 

Just tell them you are "Lisa's guest" at the front desk.

Call 281-242-7500 for more info. 

Check out info on Lisa's Kid Yoga class in Greatwood at SugarLandMOM.com's HealthyMOM page. 

Good Night and Good Bye Extra Pounds!

Watched the Today Show this morning and learned that the "hunger hormone" is triggered when you don't get enough sleep. About 7 1/2 hours of sleep is the ideal amount most women need to be well-rested. "Getting enough sleep is as important as the food you put into your mouth," according to the Today Show's medical correspondent. If you're anything like me, you find it virtually impossible to get enough sleep between work, the kids, the husband and all the other things that need to get done. If you do get enough sleep, please tell me how you do it. I'm not sure when the last time is that I got 7 1/2 hours all at one time, but I'm starting that diet ... tonight! 

Food Glorious Food!

I hate grocery shopping. With a passion. I will do anything to avoid it, even if it means eating 2-year-old peanuts from the back of the pantry accompanied by Kool-Aide made with powder purchased over a decade ago (and borrowing the sugar from a neighbor). When you have kids and a husband, though, it's hard to get away with not grocery shopping for very long. After a while, they start complaining ... and begging for food at the neighbors' houses!

(That reminds me of a story where my sister went begging for "bread money" from a neighbor when she was little. Everything was fine, and we had food at home. The neighbor called my mom asking if everything was OK, and if we needed to borrow money! Needless to say ... my sister was "paying" for that strange episode for quite some time. To this day, she isn't sure herself why she did that!)

Anyway, before my kids decided to go begging for bread money, I decided to make the pilgrimage to the grocery store and $285 later ... a full fridge! It's amazing, though, how long we went without shopping. Try it. Take a week off from going to the store and see how much money (and time) you save. Your family may not like it but a few meals comprised of raisins and saltines won't hurt them! 

Like Water for Pizza

There's a new pizza place at First Colony Mall and, apparently, the secret ingredient is water. They had a chemist come in to "analyze and recreate the mineral content and exact composition of the water" so that the dough tastes the same as at the original Brooklyn restaurant. Located in the outside shopping area, Grimaldi's Pizzeria is currently only open for dinner from 5-11 p.m. but lunch hours will be added soon. 

Who knew Brooklyn had such great water? I love Chicago pizza and have never heard that it was Lake Michigan that made it taste so good.  However, I would be willing to go to Chicago and drive back with large containers of Lake Michigan water if someone would be willing to open a Lou Malnati's Chicago deep dish pizza place in Sugar Land.