Driving in Winter

Good Tuesday morning to everyone, and welcome to Tuesday Travel Tips with Tiffany! To read previous editions, you can find them here.

We've had what I would consider to be more than our fair share of winter weather in north Texas this year, and so we've experienced more than our fair share of drivers who could use a little...help.  Especially with more weather predicted later this week.

So for today's Tuesday Travel Tips with Tiffany, I'd like to explore some ideas to make us all safer on the roads.

1. Your SUV is worthless.  If you think it's going to protect you from ice, just do us all a favor and park until spring.
2. Countersteering is king.  Think of your car on ice like a boat on water: sometimes, you need to do what's counterintuitive to keep from capsizing.
3. Carry kitty litter in your trunk.  Not only will this give you some weight to make your car less of a deadly brick, you can also use it to spread under your tires to gain traction when if you get stuck on ice.
4. Bridges = bad.  See, they have no land beneath them that can retain heat and ensure against unnecessary freezing.  That means you need to slow waythehell down before going across a bridge that might be is icy.
5. Unless you have an emergency or a boss who was raised in Alaska, you might just want to stay home.  It's just not worth fooling around with other drivers who probably haven't read this post!

Until next time...

Safe travels!

Scheduling for Success

We all know that police officers work some of the toughest and most-oddly scheduled shifts, compared to nearly any other profession.  And we all know how optimistic we can be, as police spouses, about things magically "falling into place" around our other half's shifts.

*Snort*

Hey, I got it out with a straight face!

Dealing successfully with the realities of being a police family can often depend on how well you can schedule your time.  I've found and started using a FABULOUS tool I want to share with you all.

The Cozi internet calendar has it all.  You can set up schedules for limitless numbers of household members, schedule with all of the rigidity of Outlook but all of the flexibility of a more user-friendly format, and sync with other calendars on the web, desktop and phone.  Plus, you can keep task lists there and access "been there done that" advice from their calendaring geniuses.

I started using it back in August of 2010.  Cozi lets me put appointments on the calendar in a different color for everyone in my house - plus I can set up an additional "person" to represent the house and schedule our chores!  (There's an interface for FlyLady if you're into that routine.)  It keeps my shopping list...and then I can have it texted to me while I'm in the store.  And task list items can have a due date set and go right on the calendar.

Another nifty part of Cozi is that you can sync it with multiple other calendars.  For instance, if you and your husband maintain separate Outlook programs, you can download *just* your appointments to yours, and *just* your husband's to his.  You can also take advantage of the recurring calendar function, which allows far more flexibility in choosing multiple days and patterns.  I have my husband's entire year plotted out so I can figure out the best weekends for us to go visit family...and the best weekends to stay home and do work around the house.

Highly recommend.  You'd think they were paying me, I'm so enthusiastic.  (They're not.  But, uh, they could.  Email me!  Mwah!)  Go check it out and let me know what you think!

Mommy is Busy Right Now

I subscribe to Newsweek magazine.  I have since I was a freshman in college; before that, I just read my parent's subscription at home.  I've literally read this publication since I was old enough to read and reason.

Sometimes, especially in the past 5 years, I find myself snorting over my perceived left-leanings of some of the columnists.  Most days I'm convinced that George Will is the only conservative writer in their employ.

But some articles transcend politics, and one in particular recently caught my eye: Mommy is Busy Right Now.

Boy, did the sentiments of writer Lisa Miller (with whom I often find myself disagreeing) ring true in this piece.

The premise is basic.

• 1: 77% of women work; for many, it's not a choice but a necessity.  
• 2: Most household "administrative" functions are performed by women, i.e. travel planning, banking, managing health issues, etc.
• 3: Neither corporate nor marital structures accommodate work+household administration.

This. Is. My. Life.

Now don't get me wrong.  Funny Daddy can outcook me any day of the week.  And he cleans a ton.  He's better at buckling down to physical types of chores than I am.

But when it comes to budgeting, tax prep, vacation planning, doctors appointments, school forms, und so weiter...well, that's me.  But I want it that way; I love that kind of stuff.  But on the flip side, there ARE only 24 hours in a day.  And like my husband, I have multiple jobs: between the two of us, we police, engage employees, serve legal documentation, write, judge debate tournaments, provide security, and flip houses.  Two kids.  Four dogs.  Parents living in 3 different states.  By any measure, that's a busy life.

I find myself falling into the guilt trap pretty consistently, too.  If I'm working, I feel like I ought to be with my kids.  If I'm with my kids, I wonder if I've accomplished enough work for the day.  If I'm on vacation, I want to check email so people aren't left waiting on me.  If I'm working on a writing project, I'm reminded that a project at my full-time job needs completing as well.

So what say you, other busy mommies.  Do you just compartmentalize?  What's the split like in your world?

Mommy is busy right now...

Now I Lay Me Down...

Dear Funny Daddy,

Thanks for buying that cute little doll for Big Girl at church last Sunday...you know, the one that recites the "Now I lay me down to sleep..." prayer.  Big Girl has now pushed it's buttons (and mine!) for the 64th time in the last 3 minutes.  It's yammering on constantly and I'm fairly sure, having burned through God, Jesus, Yahweh, Jehovah, and Allah, we're now praying to deities of which I was previously unaware.

Big Girl is enthralled.  Bubba Boy stood up in his crib to see if he could get in on the Hour of Power.

And I'm wondering if the little doll, which is starting to remind me of Gospel Chuckie, could fit in a prayer or two for me.

But not until after it prays to God # 65.

Now I lay me down to sleep...

Love,

Frazzled Mommy

Favorite Part of Police Lifestyle

After a few somber posts, let's cheer up a bit. What's your favorite part of the law enforcement lifestyle?

My favorite part, hands down, are the stories my husband brings home of the idiots he see out in the big wide world.  You know who I mean...the people who even Jerry Springer would reject.  The people who, if they had a brain cell, it would be lonely.  Or the winners who believe they are entitled to act in a certain way for the most, uh, unique of reasons.

What's your favorite part?  The floor is yours!