Family Calendar Tricks and Tips

Today I’m talking calendars because school is resuming here in Arizona.

On an average week during the school year, my boys have a combination of about eight hockey practices, up to two hockey game, extracurricular activities, homework and a doctor’s appointment. Add in my husband’s hockey, my work events and just fun social activities, and we are packing the calendar.

We have used a calendar tool named Cozi since January 2010. In six years, we have learned a few tricks and I think I’ve recommended it to anyone who asks.

Color-Coding

I love color-coding. I’m pink (of course!), Rob’s purple, Corey’s blue and Brody’s green. As the calendar lays out, we can easily pick out who goes where when. Even Corey pops in to the app occasionally to find out what is going on. (He was less than thrilled recently to see his name next to a booster shot he needed, and I was reminded he has access to the calendar!)

100 Percent in Sync

When we have a calendar breakdown, it’s usually because something didn’t appear on Cozi. (And it’s usually my fault.) I do use a bullet journal (#bujo) and I just like PAPER, plus I have a work calendar I can’t share directly with Cozi, so I need to do a little juggling. I juggle using a Google calendar that syncs to Cozi, and I just need to remember to pop work events that happen outside of working hours on my phone so they’ll appear in Cozi. However, we’ve found that syncing hockey team calendars has worked really well, so we don’t even end up typing in every practice or game. Cozi also syncs with most school calendars.

Lists, lists, and more lists!

We use the shopping list on Cozi too. We all can add things to the list, and if one of us happens by the grocery or Costco, the list is ready to go. (This also backfires with Corey’s access because I buy Pop Tarts and other unnecessary snacks thinking Rob put them on the list when Corey did it.)

We also use the lists feature to keep a list of things we need to take camping. Each camping trip, we tick off each item as it gets packed, and then when we’re done, we un-check the boxes so it’s ready for the next trip!

Free

Did I mention that the basic Cozi service is free? There are a few features we don’t use (yet) like recipes, but I think the gold service adds things like birthdays, contacts and a monthly view. Maybe I will check it out sometime, because Cozi has been good to us for six years and counting.

Balls!

Yes, balls.

Since we got our sweet dogs, we have been on the hunt for the perfect ball.

It has to float and it has to be absolutely, positively indestructible.

I know what you’re thinking. How about a KONG? Destroyed.

You see, Mikko’s sole purpose in life? Chase the ball. Parise’s sole purpose? Destroy the ball.

We have tried them all. Or at least we thought we did.

We went to the neighborhood Pet Club and asked for the toughest ball they had, and she took us to a random end cap near the food, nowhere near the other balls. And the Bionic Ball was introduced to our family.

Rob wanted to buy two, but I thought $20 was a bit expensive, so let’s just try it out first. I’m glad I did, not because it’s not worth every penny, but I’d rather save my pennies, and the Bionic Ball is just $8.20 (at the time of this post) on Amazon!

We plan to freeze it with peanut butter, play with it in the pool and live with it for a very long time.

*This post has affiliate links. Basically that means if you order from the links here, I may benefit financially. However, I would not recommend a product or service I have not used myself and been 100 percent happy.

3 Things I Learned About Butter Chicken

I made the best meal ever.

And let me just say it is not particularly low-calorie or healthy, so I’m going to divert a little here. However, it is a little piece of heaven in a bowl.

I made Butter Chicken, my first item from What’s Gaby Cooking. Her pictures are far more beautiful than mine for sure. But I did learn three things I want to share:

1. Chicken thighs are the best.
   I am a chicken breast girl. It’s a staple. We load up on frozen chicken breasts at Costco. No more. For once, I followed the recipe and actually used what it called for. (This is more due to me not having Costco chicken available and having to buy something anyway, but that’s not important.) I will not go back, and now I’ll probably substitute thighs far more often for breasts. The texture is better and the taste is delicious. And they didn’t dry out at all.
2. I need to make more of her recipes!
   You can bet this is the first of many, many recipes from Gaby. She said this recipe would “change your life,” and those are fighting words for me. Not many things are life-changing. However, my life’s about to change. I’m going to make more of her recipes!
3. That is a lot of butter. A lot of butter.
   
   I’m just saying. Anything that starts with onions melting in butter is going to be amazing. It’s always a good start.

So … needless to say, I fought for every last bite and while I normally do not eat leftovers, I stole almost every one. It reheated perfectly for lunch!

If you’ve made one of her recipes and have a favorite, let me know. I’m having difficulty choosing the next perfect meal!

3 Reasons I’m Thankful for Pokemon Go

Yes, of course I downloaded Pokemon Go.

And while it still puzzles me a little, I am very thankful for the game.

1. There are kids outside!

The Phoenix area isn’t normally bustling with children around July. (Well, until one of the local schools starts at the end of the month!) It’s HOT. It’s more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit most of the day, and usually into the darkness. When I lived in the Midwest, I didn’t see my neighbors from November until February. Here? That period is June to September.

Temperatures aside, this is still really great to see. They’re in the park, they’re walking down the street. I love it, and I smile every time I see someone looking at their phone and stopping to catch one.

2. The community is connecting.

You can’t help but start talking when you are all in pursuit of similar goals. I know my kids enjoyed running around with their cousins this week. I’ve seen kids connecting at playgrounds where I normally don’t see anyone hanging out. And these kids aren’t sitting at home playing video games (as mine would try to be doing)… they’re out being social. I love it.

3. They are getting exercise.

Shh, don’t tell them. But it’s true, they are running around the neighborhood from PokeStop to PokeGym, and the steps are accumulating. (Note: I think there’s a real opportunity here to sync with FitBit. Hint, hint.)

How are you getting in on the fun?

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5 Reasons I Don’t Return Your Call

As a digital marketing director, I get hundreds of emails a week. There are many reasons I don’t return calls or respond to emails, but here are a few. Maybe it can help you polish your sales pitch. 😉

1. You have the wrong girl.

Do you know how many emails I get offering me lists of “healthcare decision makers?” You’d think I actually worked in the healthcare industry, but I do not. I’ve been in Aerospace my entire career. And while I often am mis-segmented, I get particularly upset when the email is addressed to Mr. Carrie. Why would I buy your lists when you can’t get my segment or name correct?

2. The timing isn’t right.

I live in Arizona, so I’m a good two or three hours behind the rest of the country from the moment I wake up. So obviously, my phone is full of emails first thing in the morning. Thankfully the iPhone makes it super simple to swipe away all the nonsense. And if you’ve emailed me a pitch for a new service, tool or product, it’s very likely it got swept away in the noise. I leave the office every night with an empty in-box, so if I can take a few minutes first thing to clear out the haze so I can focus on what matters, I do.

3. We are tool-rich.

Anyone else have that problem? We have one tool for our editorial calendar, one tool for internal document storage. Another tool for external document sharing. Another tool for content management. Yet another to store digital assets. I’m sorry – we just don’t need one more tool that does just one thing! I dream of a world where one tool does everything, but in the same vein, that’s a super-scary scenario of putting all of your eggs in one basket. I think I’ll live with the tools I have.

4. There’s no content.

I do get some clever emails. A new trend?

Carrie, you’re not responding. Is that because:
a) You are just too busy but you really are interested.
b) You’re not interested.
c) You are fishing for salmon off the coast of Alaska for the month.

Okay, it’s clever. But generally not really useful. I get a lot of emails where people just don’t tell me what they do or what they offer. “Getting the most out of Sitecore?” I don’t know. What does that mean? What are you really offering? What does getting more look like? Tell me a story. Publish a blog. Give me interesting content.

5. You say it’s about me, but it isn’t.

The newest pitch: I just need 15 minutes of your time so I can better understand the issues you are facing. Really? What do I get out of that? Nothing, that’s what. I hate to be critical, but the only reason you want to better understand my issues is so you can better pitch me a solution. And I get it. I’ve done network marketing for several years, and I can offer solutions better when I really listen. However, if you want 15 minutes, perhaps you should think about what’s in it for me?

The last pitch that worked on me? The business offered me a free look at my website analytics to show me how their package worked. They offered me value, and as a bonus, I really got to see their tool. When I saw data and analytics that I had not seen before, I was ready to sign up.

Are you offering value, or just pitching blindly?

Weight Loss

In the past year, I have dropped about 28 pounds.

I am by no means done, nor have I done it particularly quickly.

In fact, I won’t give up delicious dinners and yes, wine. (That would certainly have sped it along!)

I used – and still use – meal replacements that each serve me the nutrients of three plated organic meals. A year later, they are still delicious and I don’t feel the need to mess with success.

I aim for 7000 steps a day, and 30 minutes of activity five days a week. I’ll share my progress as I go!

Baked Parmesan Zucchini Chips

Oh my!

I wasn’t sure how these chips would turn out. After all, I was trying to follow Ellie Krieger’s recipe and I was lacking in bread crumbs. I purchased probably THE smallest zucchini in the world, too.

These were delicious.

So delicious, in fact, that this was round two in less than 24 hours.

Confession: I didn’t follow the recipe or measure anything. I just sliced them up, drizzled the bowlful with olive oil and then dumped my Kroger Parmesan (yes – the cheap powdered kind!) On my trusty Pampered Chef stone, they sizzled up quickly to make a delicious treat!

Worth the effort!

I’d love to hear from you; what’s your go-to healthy treat?