Rachel Callahan

Cozy Potato Soup: The Cure for What Ails Me.

September 6, 2012September 5, 2012 Rachel Callahan Can I get a copy of that recipe?, Just My Luck

So as much as I wanted September to be a fabulously fresh start full of unicorns and Technicolor rainbows, I woke up on Tuesday at 3am with an abscessed tooth.

But, as I am a professional at such revelries as abscesses, and I shan’t have you feeling all sorry for me twice in one week, please understand that this was the best abscess I’ve ever had.

(Then again, my last abscess happened three weeks post-partum and during a rare Alabama ice storm that kept us homebound and every business in the state closed for days, so I couldn’t get relief for 72 hours and my face swelled up to the size of a giant squid and then when I did get to my Endodontist and he cut into my face, it exploded with the force of a gallon of green slime. So really, what abscess wouldn’t be awesome after that??)

Oh I’m sorry – were you eating?

Anyway.

This abscess really wasn’t bad – I took Ibuprofen, and within 45 minutes, I was back asleep – a true miracle.

Tuesday afternoon, I paid a visit to my favorite slime-removing Endodontist, who was delightfully relieved to find no such substance stored in my gums this time. On the way home, I was mulling over my options for (edible) food, and I latched onto what I MUST have: Potato Soup.

I texted Chris and told him not to pick anything up – I was going to cook.

I’m pretty sure he looked at his phone with a ludicrous expression towards my inexplicable industriousness after being drilled upon, and his reply was something to that effect.

I reassured him that Potato Soup was extremely easy to make, and that I MUST have it.

It is one of the first recipes that I remember memorizing as a kid – I used to make it for my lunches all the time. Then, after I married and moved, my Mom dumped this recipe for what she thought was a bigger, better potato soup recipe.

I assure you – it was not.

Since she’s currently busy adventuring and surely will not be reading my blog this week, I think it’s safe to tell you: she made a grave mistake. Her new recipe as compared to the old recipe would be like replacing Ryan Seacrest with Nicholas Cage – too rich for it’s skill set, way too cheesy, and a bit thick.

So a few years ago, I focused my memory on recreating the Potato Soup of my youth – the potato soup in which you could actually taste the potatoes – the REAL potato soup.

Here’s all that you need:

5 lb Regular Idaho Potatoes
3 Large Onions (I use Vidalia)
4 Beef Buillon Cubes
Salt
Pepper
1 – 2 c. Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 – 2 c. Milk

Optional Table Garnishes:

More Cheese
Sour Cream
Bacon – freshly cooked or real bacon bits. But not Facon – that stuff is nasty.

And here’s all you have to do:

1. Peel the potatoes and rinse. Cut into large chunks.
2. Cut the onions into large chunks.
3. Put the potatoes and onions in a soup pot and cover just barely in water.
4. Add a liberal amount of salt and pepper (freshly ground is nice), and the buillon cubes.
5. Bring to a boil, then cook on medium until the potatoes are very tender and starting to break up. Set on low (uncovered) until the broth thickens to a potato-heavy consistency, but before the chunks of potatoes have completely dissolved.
6. Add cheese and milk, stir and simmer on low for a few more minutes.
7. Serve with table garnishes.

I typically start eating mine without any garnishes, because I love the simple flavors.

Then somewhere halfway through, I add cheese and sour cream. NOT bacon – that was just for the photos.

(Chris, however, adds ridiculously large portions of bacon.)

(But I don’t complain – I’m just happy to have a husband willing to eat soup.)

In short, it’s good. Real good. It’s even worth an abscess of the agreeable variety just to have an excuse to eat copious amounts of it.

The Payoff.

September 5, 2012September 4, 2012 Rachel Callahan A Day in the Life, Every Now and Then I Can Be Sappy Too., I would NEVER take too many pictures. . ., Kids: The Experience.

It’s only fair, since I told you of my humiliating story surrounding it yesterday, that I now get to show you a nearly reprehensible amount of photos of my children taken with my new camera (Canon t4i) and lens (Tamron 17-50).

(But first – a thank you. People often ask me how I could stomach to put my life out on the internet for the world to see and critique – especially the embarrassing stuff when I totally fail at life. Besides the therapeutic benefits of literally translating my tragedies into humor, yesterday’s post is where I’m going to send them from now on to find understanding. Because when you put your crazy out there, people are compelled to chime in and admit that they, too, are crazy – and it just makes crazy so much less crazy when you’re crazy in the same ways as everyone else. So thank you, thank you, thank you.)

(Another great example of this phenomenon? Talking Breast Pumps. The responses on that post are still my absolute favorite comments EVER. So thank you for that, too.)

So now. The photos.

For clarification, I’m certainty no actual photographer – I just keep hoping that the nicer the camera, the more it will make up for my lackings.

And sometimes that proves true.

(About one out of every 200 photos.)

So I just keep snapping until I get a keeper.

One thing that could help my photography would be taking the time to clean my children’s faces before capturing them forever…

Or even perhaps just wiping their noses. You can barely tell that I photoshopped a huge wad of snot from his upper lip!

With the Older One, I get a range of faces, usually varying between impatient frustration,

and cheesy fake smiles.

But every now and then I catch something that actually resembles a genuine grin – it’s a shine-down-from-heaven moment for sure.

And when she asks me to photograph something, I jump at it. After all, maybe it will produce a real face.

This time, it was her “Cup of Nature.”

The Younger One refuses to lay eyes upon me if I have a camera anywhere on my body.

So I have to perform a complicated spell from The Invisible Book of Invisibility (Available at Flourish and Blotts) to make myself disappear, then voila – I get the “I’m looking straight through you” expression.

And then when the magic wears off, I receive the “You evil trickster!” look.

But one out of ten thousand, I get this:

And sometimes, even his refusing-to-look photos make me smile.

But the best photo so far was blessed with terrible lighting, angle, clarity, and A BROOMSTICK IN THE BACKGROUND.

But it was spontaneous, genuine, un-posed, and made my heart melt completely.

So maybe it’s not all about the camera after all.

A Technological Breakdown.

September 4, 2012September 3, 2012 Rachel Callahan Giveaways and Contests, I embarrass myself just for your amusement., I'm a Blog Geek

So I don’t usually do two giveaways in a row, but I need you to understand.

I HAVE TO DO A GIVEAWAY TODAY.

For the ongoing health of my mind, body, and even my soul. I NEED to give you something.

(And it’s even worth $500, if that makes it any better.)

Let me explain.

You see, I got a new camera, and even a big girl lens. This is all ultimately my Dad’s fault because he wanted my help choosing a camera that he could buy for my Mom for their 40th anniversary and I was all like, “Hey! I can sell you mine for cheaper than you can get a lower quality camera, and then I can get a new one and they have this new really awesome camera out and I’m kinda drooling over it and…”

So Dad liked this idea.

So I started shopping.

But the problem was, the camera I wanted was new – like, it had just been released the week before. And I can’t stand the thought of paying full-price for anything – at least throw me a rebate bone or something! So I began shopping our local stores, Amazon, Adorama, and all the other places I could think of.

Maybe I can find a package deal that will get me what I want…

Or maybe Amazon will come out with one of their specials…

Or something.

The weeks of August slipped by without finding any such thing.

Mom and Dad’s trip loomed ahead of me. They HAD to have the camera before their grand adventure!

So finally, I caved.

My camera was NOT going to go on sale.

…but on Amazon, the lens I wanted had a $100 rebate, AND there was this super-duper Canon photo printer that normally cost $500, was on sale for $350, and, when bought with my camera, earned me a $400 rebate. AND a $100 pack of super-big photo paper came with it for free.

So…Amazon wants to give me a $500 printer and $100 paper AND $50 cash. Seemed like a good enough deal to me.

So I bit. I bought the camera, the lens, the printer, and the paper. And began psyching myself up for filling out two rebate forms PERFECTLY because they were worth $500 and I wouldn’t have them denying me my hard-earned cash.

The camera and lens came in quickly, and I enjoyed playing with them. I delivered my old camera to my parents in the nick of time, and all was well.

Until last Wednesday.

But first, a bit more history. In general, I have been a bit more emotionally unstable than usual.

“High Maintenance,” I believe it’s called.

A lot of stuff happened in the month of August, and it seems to have worn down my capability to handle life, even after receiving REALLY good news.

(The REALLY good news being that all of my Dad’s tests checking for metastasizing came back clear!)

But I’m still a bit on edge, and easily pushed back into levels of great anxiety over things that are not worthy of anxiety.

So, with that in mind, I had also not slept well Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday night.

So came an exhausted Wednesday, and a series of minor events, emails, problems, and little things began to pile up. I was feeling overwhelmed and stressed about everything, and then the UPS man came.

And with him, the most inordinately enormous printer box I’d ever seen.

No – I mean really – this thing wouldn’t fit through my front door, let alone the gates of hell.

Now. My office looks like a hoarder’s living room on a good day – between working from home, blogging, homeschooling, and running our entire life from my office, a lot happens in there. And occasionally, the messes start to wear on my psyche. Wednesday had been one of those days.

When I saw that ridiculously sized printer box, I began to get the vapors.

“Where am I going to PUT that?? I already have two printers – why did I order that?? This is SO not worth getting $50 back. Oh my goodness oh my goodness….”

Then I began deep breathing.

“Calm down….maybe it’s just the box that’s big. Maybe it’s like a bag of potato chips. Maybe it settled in shipping.”

I opened the box.

It had not settled in shipping.

I sped up my breathing to keep from fainting.

In a completely illogical manic state of anxiety and hysteria, I began feverishly reorganizing my office.

Chris came home during this and saw my dilated pupils and shallow breathing.

“Um…what’s wrong?”

“It’s the printer. It’s huge. I don’t need it. I shouldn’t have gotten it. I don’t know what I was thinking. I want to live simpler. I hate it. But I’ve got to get it put together so I can quit thinking about it.”

I cleaned off the longest filing cabinet in my office. I headed back to the box and began pulling the printer out. I about fell over, which would have resulted in the crushing of my chest by the evil titan-sized printer.

Chris came running in the room.

“Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Let me do that!”

He held down the box as I lifted it out, and I pushed past him to get it into my office and in place as quickly as possible, hoping to assuage my extreme anxiety.

I put it on the cabinet and it fit perfectly. And by perfectly, I mean barely not falling off of both ends at once.

“WHY IS THIS THING SO HUGE???”

I read the box.

“Oh. It prints 13” x 19” photos. …… WHO needs to print 13” x 19” photos?!?!? The Louvre???”

I had to install the software on my computer and try it out to make sure it worked so that I could remove it’s proof of purchase and immediately fill out the rebate form and finish this ridiculous process.

The install went smoothly, until it said,

“Now connect the printer to the computer with a USB cable.”

What?? WHAT??? WHAT??!!!

The last printer I bought (aka received free with a rebate) works on wi-fi. I assumed that this printer would do the same, seeing as how it’s newer and expensiver and sinfully huger.

But NO.

And I had placed it all the way across my office. And they didn’t send a USB cable. And I didn’t have one without unplugging something else. And certainly not one that would be long enough.

At that point, my breathing reached new high levels of speed. I ran out of my office and Chris caught me, as I tried to explain between breaths the latest cataclysm of debacle.

“It doesn’t (gasp) work on (heee) wi-fi (squeak) and it’s all the (gasp) way across my office (pig squeal) and I don’t have a USB cord (gasp) and I HATE THIS PRINTER!!!”

“Are you pregnant?”

“I don’t (squeaky pig squeal) think so.”

Ali, who had recently come downstairs for dinner and had been watching all of this, asked,

“Mommy, can I have a roll with my dinner?”

“I don’t think (gasp) I can talk right now.”

And I ran out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Chris followed me, and watched as I had my first ever panic attack.

I managed to get out, “I need to call Mom and ask if she’ll take the printer. She prints pictures. Surely she’ll take it.”

“Go upstairs and close the door. I’ll take care of the kid’s dinner and bedtime.”

At that moment, I heard Noah rounding the corner.

“MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA!!!!!!”

“Go. Upstairs. Or you will get no peace.”

Ali: “What’s wrong with Mommy?”

“She’s sad. So she’s going upstairs to pray. It’s a good thing to do when you’re sad.”

And I was.

I was praying that Chris would CALL MY MOM RIGHT THEN and get her to come pick up that printer BEFORE I CAME BACK DOWNSTAIRS.

No but really…I was praying and I got my anxiety under control enough that I was able to laugh at the ridiculousness of it…by the next afternoon.

But I still called my Mom. And begged her to take the printer. And she said she’d talk to my Dad. And he said no.

Which means that I still have The Printer From The Underworld.

That makes me very unhappy.

And I can only hope that one of you out there could be made happy by this printer…surely.

So.

If you want this printer, tell me HOW this printer will NOT stress you out and will actually make your life better. I’ll randomly pick one of you sometime next week and ship it to you.

(Without the Proof of Purchase, obviously. I WILL GET MY REBATE IF IT KILLS ME.)

And, if the paper comes in time, I’ll ship it too, because you might be the Louvre and need to print monstrous photos to hang in your Grand Ballroom or something.

Oh – and if you don’t want the printer, feel free to comment, too – just make it clear that you don’t want me to send you my problems printer. And please assure me that you, too, have had a panic attack over something as moronic as a printer.

Throwing Clay…and a Giveaway!

August 31, 2012August 31, 2012 Rachel Callahan Earthborn Pottery, Giveaways and Contests, I'm a Glutton for Adventure

One of my favorite girl’s nights is to drive 20 minutes down the road to my Aunt Tena’s pottery studio.

Although she teaches with kindness, patience, and a humility that might lead you to believe she simply does this for a hobby, Tena is quite famous in the pottery world.

Her beautiful dishes are used by the most exquisite of restaurants from here to London, have been featured in multiple national magazines, and even on Iron Chef America, when local chef Chris Hastings of Hot and Hot Fish Club defeated Bobby Flay.

To be taught by the best – and have fun doing it? A fantastical experience.

We had a great group of bloggers come to check out Tena’s studio, and we all looked really clean before we started.

(And somehow avoided the “after” shot all together.)

(Front, l-r: Maree, Laura Kate, Alicia, Jamie, Rhoda, Lora Lynn. Back, l-r: Kelli, Beth, Krista, Katherine, Kim, Steph, Brandi, Amy, and myself.)

Another artist, Nabeel, was also on hand, offering one-on-one training to each of us.

Not to say that I’m an expert. I spent most of my time trying to keep my clay on the wheel instead of on my elbows,

Cheating off of my neighbor’s work,

And trying to explain to everyone that kept asking me “how do I do this?” that I HAVE NO IDEA – this talent is clearly not genetic.

We spent our time divided between the potter’s wheels and making “pinch pots” by hand, all of which will be fired and glazed and magically transformed into beautiful works of art.

But until that happens, here’s me and my somewhat second-grade looking art project:

Oh, its going to look fabulous when it comes out of the kiln…

Notice how everyone else’s pinch pot has texture and character and shape…

Perhaps it was because they were all laughing and talking and paying no attention to what they were doing…

Or perhaps it was just beginner’s luck.

Then again, they also all seemed to have better luck on the wheels than I,

Focusing on creating symmetry,

Perfectly shaped bowls,

Creative designs,

And – oh I’m getting a complex!!

At least Jamie was there, who also felt the need to shamefully hide her work.

But in the end, everyone ended up with beautiful creations that will be made even more fabulous by Tena’s glazes.

….and had a WHOLE lot of fun doing it.

We got to tour Tena’s warehouse,

and shop her “atypical” (and deeply discounted) area.

I bought two beautiful platters, and I’m still trying to find their atypicalnesses – they look perfect to me.

Tena also bestowed upon us gifts – a beautiful square dish created to be the perfect depth for an olive oil dipping sauce (or as I discovered later, a salad) – as well as one to give away to you (but I’ll get back to that).

The very next night, I used my two new platters, my gift dish, and three pieces of Tena’s pottery that I had previously purchased combined with a take-home meal from Nabeel’s, creating a perfectly Greek, perfectly local, perfectly beautiful meal for Chris and I.

(The colors of Tena’s plates make me so happy.)

Tena offers Girl’s Nights Out for $35 per person, and six week pottery lessons for $165. The lessons meet weekly for two hours, plus all of the practice time that one desires. And if you mention my blog, you get a $15 discount on the classes!

As I left Monday night, I was already ready for more, so I went ahead and booked a Girl’s Night – for which any of you local enough are welcome to join me! It will be on Monday, October 22, from 6-8pm, and the cost is $35. Everyone gets lessons and the opportunity to make some awesome pottery. If you’d like to come, let me know as soon as you can (via comments or email – graspingforobjectivity at gmail dot com), because there are only 15 spots available, and 5 have already been claimed!

So now. I know you’re all waiting for the giveaway – right?

I brought home one of those fabulous plates for you. Your plate is a deep olive with speckles of bright blue. Isn’t it gorgeous??

If you’d like to win it, simply leave a comment below. For extra entries, you may do one or all of the following:

Like Earthborn Studios on Facebook or follow Earthborn Studios on Twitter.
Like Cahaba Clayworks on Facebook.
Visit Tena’s online store and tell me your favorite piece.
Like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Tweet, Facebook, or Blog about this giveaway.

Be sure to leave separate comments for each of your entries! This giveaway will be open until Monday, September 10. I will announce the winner Tuesday, September 11 on my Giveaway Winners Page.

Disclaimer: As mentioned, I was given a piece of pottery and the opportunity to go to this event. Also, I suppose you could call me biased because Tena is my Aunt. But did you SEE how beautiful her work is? Who couldn’t be excited about that?! That’s what I thought. My opinions are always my own.

Zulily: I Can’t Help Myself.

August 30, 2012August 29, 2012 Rachel Callahan Shopping: A Girl's Best Friend, Smocktastic, Weird Strange and True, Zulily

I’ve been trying to stay away.

Really, I have.

I came to the conclusion that my Zulily purchases were pure fluff – not things that I needed for the propagation of my family.

Wait…that’s not quite the right word. They weren’t NECESSITIES. You know what I mean.

However. I ended up with a credit because something didn’t fit right (Zulily is really nice when it comes to credits), and so I began my daily Zulily browsing habit again.

And I must say, I had missed the entertainment. Now if I could only get the entertainment without the shopping temptation…

But really – who could resist an Eggplant Romper?

And what kid doesn’t want Strawberry Crotch?

(Thank goodness they stitched an explanation on those shorts – just in case you were confused and thought it was, perhaps, an albino tomato.)

Or on a bad day, Ladybug Crotch?

The mid-munch quality of those cheeks is by far the most disturbing thing I’ve seen in at least 26 Zulily Browses.

And for the kid who already has everything (sewn on their crotch), it’s such a relief to know that you can now purchase Two-Pandas-In-A-Helicopter Crotch.

This next one tempted me based on price alone. I mean, how GREAT must a pair of hideously sewn grey shorts BE to originally cost $67??

If I bought these, I’d be getting nearly a whole leg of those ugly shorts for FREE!!!

And free is better than ugly any day.

Zulily also has a way of transporting me to a land of nostalgia long ago lost in the gifting and re-gifting of highly favored wedding presents…

And then there was this one…apparently, for child stilt-walkers.

For the Mother who doesn’t discriminate between different types of tastes and prefers them to be all thrown together, this next one might be The Trifecta of all that Zulily stands for.

Smock, Animal Prints, And Peace Signs. All wrapped up in one fantastic bikini.

And since there’s no better way to declare your Angelicness than writing it with RHINESTONES on the BUTT of SKIN TIGHT LEGGINGS, Zulily has you covered…kinda.

And of course there’s the DJ Lance Costumes. Because what parent doesn’t want their kid to grow up to be an exceptionally odd, seemingly tripping, curiously tall adult who dances with puppets?

But you know what you’ve gotta do if you REALLY want to be a good example… right?

Get the matching adult costume.

That father and son duo would beat any Hanna Andersson matching outfit set EVER.

(Even the plaid Christmas pajamas.)

My favorite discovery, though… perhaps my favorite Zulily item ever – is this one:

The tie chair.

In many, many different patterns,

…to keep your kids from falling when a high chair isn’t available.

You know – it’s for safety.

Does that kid look like she needs to be tied in a chair for safety?

Nope.

We all know what it’s really for.

It’s to get your kid to sit still for one blinkin’ minute so that you don’t have to repeat 56 times,

“Get back in your chair – it’s dinner time!”

“No – come back. Don’t smear your strawberry into the couch!!”

“Stop licking the floor! SIT BACK DOWN IN YOUR SEAT!!”

“KETCHUP DOESN’T CLEAN WINDOWS.”

“IF YOU SHOVE ONE MORE GREEN BEAN BETWEEN THE PIANO KEYS, I’M GOING TO SHOW YOU HOW WELL GREEN BEANS CAN BE SHOVED!!!”

Let’s call it what it is, people.

Mealtime Bondage.

And a mighty good idea.

A Letter to My Dentist.

August 28, 2012August 27, 2012 Rachel Callahan Homeschooling: Not just for the socially awkward anymore., I embarrass myself just for your amusement., Parent of the Year, Toddlers: The Experience

Dear Dr. Jayme,

Thank you for taking care of my constantly-deteriorating oral situation. You’ve done an excellent job, despite the fact that all of my teeth were rotting out before I met you.

I just wanted you to know that I’m really trying to prevent the spread of my horrible oral issues to my children. I’m taking your advice to heart – “make sure they don’t have too many sweets and that they brush often.”

See here, as my toddler brushes his teeth.

Thoroughly,

And all day long,

Without stopping.

He never lets his three C’s out of his sight: Cars, Cookies, and Clean Teeth.

Even during baking!

Okay, granted, you probably wouldn’t be too pleased with the fact that I’m allowing my children to make (and eat copious amounts of) Soft Butter Mints, which, among it’s ingredients, boasts of two pounds of powdered sugar.

But please understand – it was a reward for Ali reading three books, and reading doesn’t come easily around here. Surely literary proficiency is worth a little oral decay every now and then! Right?

And still, the fact that my child never loosened his grip on his toothbrush – I’m certain that he offset his sugar intake with proper and thorough brushing.

I mean, look! Retrieving the excess batter with one hand, but ready for oral cleansing with the other!

What’s that? Did he discover that his toothbrush was the perfect utensil for wiping up the spilled powdered sugar?

Yes, yes he did.

Oh – and you want to know if he brushed with said sugar?

Yes, yes he did.

Um.

…But he was very helpful in making sure that every last bit of the mess was cleaned up…

and surely a habit of cleanliness is worth a little bit of oral decay. Right?

I’ll start his dental savings account now.

Sincerely,

The World’s Worst Mom.

DowntonHack: How to Watch with the British.

August 27, 2012September 22, 2013 Rachel Callahan Actually Possibly Informational, Downton Abbey, I'm a Glutton for Adventure, Mystery Solved

9/22/13 Update: Season Four of Downton Abbey has started and the following directions still work. Episode One will be available on iTV for the next thirty days. If iTV asks you for a zip code, N70AA works.
There are some free ways to do it noted in the comments, but I did hear of some streaming issues with those methods.

It’s true.

If you can’t wait any longer to see if Mary and Matthew have a wedding…

If your Dowager Countess Quote Tank is on empty…

You do not have to wait until January for Downton Abbey to make it’s long voyage across the pond.

With the right tools and proper determination, you should be able to begin watching it when it airs in the UK next month.

Some facts:

Downton Abbey Season three premiers in England ~~on an as yet unknown date in September~~ on Sunday, September 16. It won’t begin airing in the US until January. If you’re willing to wait until January, you have my permission to skip the rest of this post.
iTV, Downton Abbey’s home station, allows live streaming of their stations for some shows (not yet sure if Downton is one of them), and posts full episodes after airing, leaving them available for 30 days.
However, iTV will not let you watch episodes or clips unless your computer is located in the UK.
The UK is an expensive place to move just to watch a show three months earlier.
But there is a way to have your internet connection in the UK, something I’ve been testing and experimenting with for the past week (after a tip off from my Twitter friend Michael.)

The Discovery:

Tunnelbear is a service that allows you to “experience the internet as if you were living in a different country.” Basically, it hooks you up to a network which spits your internet connection out in another country, thereby allowing you to access UK content.
Tunnelbear also allows you to gain access to US internet content, so this would be a great tool for Americans (or others) abroad.
If it sounds sketchy or untrustworthy, I did research it, and it has good reviews from many people geekier than I, including LifeHacker and MacWorld.
Tunnelbear works on a computer or as an app on an iPhone or iPad, but there are some further complications* with the latter two options, so at least from my experience, using it on your computer is the only way to access UK episodes of Downton Abbey.

How to:

Download Tunnelbear.
Tunnelbear is a free service up to 500 MB per month, or $4.99 a month for unlimited data usage. I went with unlimited since the average size of one television episode is 500 MB. (My romance with Downton Abbey is totally worth $4.99 a month.)
After installing, open up your Tunnelbear dashboard and switch the dials to “On” and “UK”.
It’s a quirky little program, so watch until it says it’s connected.
Open up your normal web browser, go to iTV, and watch an episode of whatever you like.(No Downton Abbey episodes are currently available because it’s been more than 30 days since the last one aired, but you can test your Tunnelbear out by watching one of the episode clips, or watching another show on the iTV player.)(Also – enjoy the British commercials – they’re pretty awesome.)
When you finish watching, turn off your Tunnelbear and exit the program. It’s a relatively new service, and as mentioned, rather quirky. It will slow down your connection and possibly cause interference with other computer functions – only use it when needed.

Disclaimers/Explanations:

* Complications with the Tunnelbear app: iTV’s player is in Flash, which of course you can’t watch on Apple devices. But iTV has a solution – it also has an app. Unfortunately, that app can only be downloaded in the UK, and even though Tunnelbear can fool iTV, it doesn’t fool your iPad, so you can’t download an app that is restricted to the UK.
iTV is fairly secretive with their scheduling and internet availability. All that I could find out is that Downton Abbey starts in September – I don’t have dates yet (but I will update this post when they are publicized) on Sunday, September 16. Also, I’m not positive when they post full episodes – all of this will have to be seen as the season starts. // The first episode is up fully!
Double check your virus protection software after installing Tunnelbear. Bears and McAfee don’t seem to get along on my computer, but with a bit of tweaking, I believe I’ve gotten them to have an amicable “not speaking to each other” relationship.
This is all somewhat theoretical – it works with current shows, but obviously, I haven’t tried it on a “real” Downton Abbey episode. All of the research points to the conclusion that it will work, but no representation is made that the accuracy of this post will be perfect. // Update: It worked perfectly!!
Tunnelbear and I have no affiliation whatsoever.

For the next month, we’ll be watching Season One and Two in preparation – you should too. And just in case you need another copy of my Simple Downton Abbey Explanation, here it is:

(click to enlarge)

And to make sure that you’re not at risk of being dying unexpectedly on Downton Abbey, check this one:

iLife.

August 24, 2012August 24, 2012 Rachel Callahan A Day in the Life, I would NEVER take too many pictures. . .

This is manmade granola.

Or should I say, babymade granola.

And it’s the kind of thing I like to record for posterity on my iPhone.

Because really, it’s quite talented of a baby to be able to place the correct ingredients (in this case, Nutrigrain, Jellybeans, Broccoli, and other Trade Secret ingredients) between his high chair liner and cover, then instinctually know the correct mush-and-press power for the exact right amount of days, weeks, or months to create such a high quality product.

I’m pretty sure some hipster in Denver would pay big bucks for that product.

I suppose it should also be noted that his food-repurposing talents come from his mother.

Food seems to be a regular pattern in my iPhotos. Although oftentimes, it’s to capture an extremely frustrating moment – as if photographing it somehow makes it less traumatic.

Sometimes this applies to non-food-related tragedy as well.

Why do these visual stories of despair get saved for all eternity on my electronic appendage? I have no idea. But I am positive that it helped in the moment.

Naturally, there are a lot of photos of my children on my iPhone. For instance, when they have exceptional moments of self-chosen-coordination,

Or just moments of exceptional dexterity.

I record their responses to power outages, an oft-experienced phenomena in our house.

The girl – she waves the power trucks down with welcoming fronds.

The boy – he welcomes them with more of a New Orleans flair.

Despite the horrible iPhone camera properties, I sometimes get lucky and catch an expression that makes me want to blow it up and frame it, despite how ridiculously grainy it would be.

Sometimes I photograph random objects, meaning nothing to the naked eye, but somehow hoping that if I record the object, I’ll remember the story behind it.

Example A:

We had been given a single flower at the grocery store, along with the above packet of “flower medicine.” Ali was scrutinizing the instructions in the back seat in preparation for the proper care of her flower when we arrived home.

“Okay Mommy. It says that 1. you pour the packet in a bowl. Then 2. you pour water in. Then 3. you cut the end of the stem, and then 4. it turns into three flowers!!!”

Example B:

I went to a girl’s night out dinner and sat next to Lindsay, my sister-in-law. I read her VBS-Mommy-Identification bracelet, and I totally read her kid’s group name as being “Hell Ya.”

That was quite the Vacation Bible Study.

I’m terrible at keeping track of Ali’s momentous papers, so I photograph them.

Such as her packing list for the beach:

“We ned a pelo a bange we ned a noisemakr we ned sum frins sum sutfd we ned a blo up bed we need han sop som snacs papr tawls wep wypse”

The disproportionately large number of cleaning supplies listed did give me reason for concern…

She’s also started labeling the backs of her favorite photos…

I also find it helpful to record the gory, such as the progress of my quickly re-dilapidating foot.

Fortunately, I do like the color purple.

I record my son’s stripping habit,

coffee habit,

And the results thereof.

I photograph oddities, in hopes of one day blogging about them. Such as the curious notion of a convertible…SUV?

I love to capture moments of family togetherness,

And irony.

Because the kid who screams to get out of his own padded, roomy stroller also screams to get into his sister’s butt-pinchingly-small three dollar doll stroller.

What moments do you tend to iCapture?

Art Education…Kinda.

August 23, 2012August 24, 2012 Rachel Callahan A Day in the Life, Actually Possibly Informational, Homeschooling: Not just for the socially awkward anymore.

Ali is officially in Kindergarten this fall, which means that this is my last year of “Casual Teaching.”

I’m going to sorely miss Casual Teaching – it’s served us well. She’s learned much, with thanks to her iPad, placemats, and fake money.

But once she’s in first grade next fall, I’ll need to have prior preparation and lesson plans and records and curriculum and…stuff. I hope that I can still make it fun, but I’m nervous about the officiality of it all.

(And the fact that if I’m going to be a teacher, I should really learn not to use words that aren’t words, like officiality.)

So this year’s aim is to take full advantage of the last year of Mommy’s Fly-By-The-Seat-Of-Her-Pajamas School.

On Tuesday, I could almost physically feel the need for a craft. We all had nervous energy, and had been reading for a good part of the morning. We needed to break out of the box.

So I headed to my craft closet to see what I could find.

A canvas…paints…crayons.

I formed an idea, mixed some paints, gave Ali a paintbrush, and hoped that Noah’s lunch would distract him for at least the first half of our craft.

We started out talking about color mixing – about how white lightened blue, and black would make it darker.

Ali learned the word “Horizon”. We talked about blending from dark to light, and how the sky looks when the sun is going down.

Noah learned about paint viscosity and it’s effect on a car’s ability to roll.

Ali learned about brushstrokes and how to make them all “back and forth”, and not in circles.

Noah learned that if you’re quick enough, you can try your own hand at brushstrokes.

Ali learned that every painting needs an irregularity to be unique, and little brothers are great at providing just such a thing.

Noah learned that although the act of painting is often short-lived, the consequences are far more long-lasting.

Next, I set Ali to work picking out some bright crayons and unwrapping them. I told her it would involve fire, but I promised not to hurt her – she could be my official crayon holder.

She opted to be my photographer instead.

Ali learned that crayons don’t turn into paint when they get hot, even though that’s what it looks like,

…and that crayons aren’t nearly so pretty after being burned.

Ultimately, everyone learned something, including Mommy: she learned that a boy’s lunch is no match for the intoxicating draw of participating in art.

Dieting, c/o Children.

August 21, 2012August 20, 2012 Rachel Callahan Just My Luck, Kids: The Experience.

I’m a very picky frozen treat eater.

Frozen Yogurt, although highly popular in our city and with the rest of my family, is not my thing. I’ve tried multiple combinations of flavors and toppings and I just can’t make it work for me.

Also, I am highly against mixing fruit and milk.

Sorbet? Awesome.

Strawberry ice cream? Disgusting.

I can pass up almost any ice cream – unless it’s one particular brand of one specific type: Edy’s Rocky Road.

It has to be Edy’s because they use real marshmallows – none of that cementous marshmallow cream crap.

(That’s the kind of nasty product that those colon cleanse commercials are talking about. “Did you know you have five to twenty five pounds of waste stuck to the walls of your intestines? It’s like spackle or paste!” — especially if you consume marshmallow cream or a high quantity of Bit O’ Honeys.)

Back to Edy’s. They also use big chunks of almonds. No slivers for me – I want to bite into a hefty piece of nut.

But since Chris and I had a weight-loss contest last year, ice cream was one of the things that went by the wayside, so I don’t think I’ve actually had Edy’s Rocky Road since around May of 2011.

Until last Saturday night.

I wasn’t feeling well, and hadn’t been feeling well for a couple of weeks. I had gone to the doctor that morning (and from it had a most fantastically bloggable experience, except for the slight complication of putting my own dignity above blogging), and we were having company over for dinner that night.

Chris, being the gracious, servant-hearted husband that he is, volunteered to shop, cook, and completely prepare for dinner.

Which is pretty awesome, except for the bruising of my precious grocery budget – the man loves to buy just an extra thing or two here and there. This proclivity, added to his extra-large serving of the gift of mercy, absolutely guaranteed that he was going to drop some serious change in the hopes of restoring his wife’s mood and health.

One of those many get-well-soon items purchased was Edy’s Rocky Road Ice Cream.

From the moment I discovered it’s new home in my freezer, I anticipated it greatly.

We finished dinner and I began to serve dessert.

I gave our guest a serving. Then Ali. Then Noah. Then Chris. Then, finally, I dished out my own delectable serving of ice cream.

I savored that first bite, letting the perfectly chocolate ice cream slowly melt across my tongue.

I bit into a satisfyingly thick almond, and felt a marshmallow squish between my teeth.

Oh, I had missed this.

I continued to relish in my precious treat while conversing with our dinner guest, and wondered if I’d look piggish for getting a second helping. I was definitely feeling the miraculous healing powers of a well-made Rocky Road.

Ali also seemed to be enjoying her ice cream. I watched her as she ate a bite, got another bite, then looked down at her spoon, studying the contents of Mommy’s Favorite Treat.

Then looked up, cocked her head to the side, and said,

“Hey Mommy – remember that time that Noah had almonds in his poop?”

And there it was.

Yes, I can see why you would remember that right now.

Thank you for curing my need to have that second helping.