There's a football game happening??

It’s that time of year. That special time football fans wait for all season. The decision has been made. The teams have dwindled to two. Now, and what some consider a holiday, now is that time:

Super Bowl Commercial Time.

That’s right. Sure, there is some football happening between each set. We have to endure some whistle blowing, some grunting noises, and a few choice words from “fans” that really are here “to watch the game.”

But we all know what the highlight is. And it isn’t halftime, though that’s not bad either (now that we as a community have recovered from the whole Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake trauma.)

Even though the commercials aired during the Big Game are humorous, I long for the days of the 1990’s marketing teams. Remember those darlings? The Miller and Anheuser Busch marketing departments that really brought their genius to the brands and kept us glued to our seats when we desperately needed to run to the bathroom?

The “Bud-Weis-Er” frogs, the Clydesdales and their loyal Dalmation, the “whaaaaaa’s uuuup?” from so many years ago. The cleverness of the Dorito team. Heck, I’ll even tip my hat to the Cat Herding commercial of 2000. Not bad, friends. Not bad at all.

Where, oh where, did those marketing geniuses go?! Why have we been left with mediocrity, with average chuckles and run of the mill ingenuity? Seriously, can anyone deny that the commercials of the present pale in comparison to the past? Where is the humor? The imagination? The vision?

You know, maybe I’m being too picky. Maybe I’m suffering from nostalgia, where I’m remembering things as being better than they actually were. Maybe today’s marketing teams are churning out epic challenges to their predecessors. Maybe I’m just getting old.

I mean, okay, I’ll admit the E-Trade baby commercial, along with the little Darth Vadar kiddo magically turning on the car, yeah, those did deliver quite a few giggles…

~A

 

Social Media: Shrinking the World One Post at a Time

I remember a time. A time before technology had latched its’ fingers onto practically every portion of our lives. Back when correspondence happened with letters and stamps, bills had to be paid in person or by mail, and darn it! If you didn’t get to the bank by 5 pm, well, you just weren’t getting money that day! It was a time when that harrowing research paper had to be typed on a typewriter (and you best not make a spelling error or the whiteout would give it away!) A time when thumbing through the encyclopedia was your best (and only) source of information, the theater was the only place to watch a movie, and telephones did not travel outside of the home. So much simpler were those days…

Today is a much different time than that. Children of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s are lucky that their formative years were not caught on video and placed onto the internet for the whole world to see. They are lucky that those immature musings about junior high crushes or high school rivalries were not forever engraved on the walls of Facebook or Twitter, and that they could stumble through adolescence with only VHS and Kodak as their nemesis. Who knew that those would be the “golden days?” 

Today’s children are being raised knowing what a selfie is, that to “google” is a verb, and that any piece of information they seek can be answered immediately by the small rectangle in their hands. They will never know the panic about getting to the library in time to finish their history report. They never have to miss an episode of their favorite program because it can be pre-recorded on their DVR (what?! I had to wake up early on time Saturday mornings to see my favorite cartoons!) They will never know the dial-up tone while waiting in agony for the computer to finally allow you on the internet. And you’d best hurry, just in case someone needed to use the phone!

The internet and social media allow us instant access to real-time photos or videos, all which are viewable worldwide. As a parent, that’s a scary thought! Considering how little I thought my parents knew in the 90’s, I can only imagine what battles lay ahead dealing with my own kiddos. Even colleges and universities are weeding out scholarship candidates via social media postings and photographs. That's intense.

Perhaps the best we can hope for is that, as a generation of parents who ushered in the age of the internet, we are able to successfully educate our children on the dangers and longevity of things they put online (seriously, it’s probably easier to get Congress to work together than to every fully remove something from the internet!) and how a seemingly harmless photo can come back to haunt them in their adult years. Show them how posting a “cool pic” of them doing something dangerous can hinder their opportunity to land a good job in the future, or how a skimpy swimsuit picture can land in the hands of someone with less-than-stellar intentions. It’s a big, scary world, and the internet is shrinking that world smaller and smaller every day.

So stay involved. Interact, investigate, and stay interested. Let them know that perhaps auditioning for the cast of MTV’s The Real World (is that even still on?!) may not be the most desirable way to advance their own popularity, and that in twenty years…do they really want video of themselves doing a kegstand, surrounded by inebriated classmates, showing up on their children’s YouTube feed?

Technology has certainly put a spin on childhood, that’s for sure. Adolescence will never be the same…

~A

**Our Army Community Service offers classes on how to read and understand teen texting, as well as how to keep you child safe on the internet. Feel free to call them at 703.696.3510 to find out about upcoming classes!

 

What to do when it's cold outside

What To Do Inside When It’s Cold Outside

What’s winter for if not to hibernate and rest up for the excitement of Spring and long awaited long Summer nights?  Yes, you could just rush home every day and throw your flannel jammies on or you could take advantage of these days and get some stuff done!  …and stuff doesn’t necessarily mean work.  It could mean bonding with the teenager.  Trying a new recipe…rearranging the furniture…painting... a movie marathon…  Don’t let winter zap you of fun and creativity!

We couldn’t resist making another list so here are a couple of things to do inside when it’s cold outside.

1.       Rearrange your furniture. If you are bored with the way your room is arranged, play with the arrangement.

2.       Clean out your drawers and closets. While doing this, watch out for things with more legs than you.

3.       Write a book – or at least put your favorite memories down on paper. Your life has been quite eventful so why not write it down for members of your household to enjoy.

4.       Learn a foreign language.   Use the FREE language learning software, Mango, provided by the JBM-HH Library.

5.       Pull out the ol’ board games. You probably have several board games lying around your house. Pull one or two out and have fun with your family.

6.       Use your phone to make… phone calls.  Catch up with family and friends.

7.       Start a blog (not in “The Shining” sort of way). This is a great way to share your opinions and thoughts.

8.       Unsubscribe to all of that junk email you get.

9.       Read a book – with pages. Reading keeps your mind healthy and young so grab an interesting book and read it.

10.   Make a cocktail and soak in a nice, warm, long, relaxing bath (until Spring).

Did we miss a good idea?  Leave us your Hibernation Hint in the comments section below!

A New Way to Make New Year's Resolutions

We’ve unwrapped the gifts and played with our new toys.  We’ve all eaten well and enjoyed many (maybe many, many) cocktails.  Soon, we’ll be celebrating the dawn of a new year and with that comes the annual resolutions list.  If you’re like the rest of us, you resolve to make positive changes in your life because THIS...IS..THE...YEAR to (fill in the blank).  And, for most people, we fill in the blank with and resolve to lose weight.

So many people don’t even make New Year’s resolutions – they consider them to be a waste of time.  Most people  will break resolutions their before the year is out (a third won’t even make it to the end of January).  But we’re convinced you can accomplish your goals!  Whether your goal is to lose weight, stop smoking, take better care of your finances, or to learn a foreign language, we know you can do it!  Check out these tips to help keep your New Year’s Resolutions!

1. Write It and Measure It

 Writing down goals is one of the best ways to accomplish them, and so is figuring out the exact steps needed to get there.  Be as specific as you can.

2. Make Resolutions Manageable

The key to keeping resolutions is to make changes smaller and more gradual. So if your goal is to go from never running at all to finishing a marathon, start training gradually.  Join a running club or download a beginner’s running app to help you train. There are some really great ones available that are created by expert marathoners! Search "Couch to 5K" or "Couch to Half Marathon" (you get the idea!)

3. Break Up the Goal

Instead of resolving to lose 80 pounds in 2015 (which can be an overwhelming thought), set a goal to lose 5 to 8 pounds a month.  If you do that for a year, you’ll reach your goal weight!  Ready to stop smoking?  Remove a few cigarettes each time you open a new pack.  Small victories lead to lasting results.

4. Treat Yo' Self!

Plan benchmarks to help you reach your goals...and then reward yourself when you do! Lost those first five founds?  Treat yourself to a facial.  Down to ten cigarettes a day?  Buy yourself to that pair of shoes!  Regular rewards can help you reach those milestones faster than you previously thought possible.

(***Side note from a trainer: Don't always "reward" yourself with food. We are not canines, therefore our successes should not always be some "treat" to eat. However, if it's something you are truly craving and believe will satisfy an urge- go for it! Deprivation can be a very slippery slope! ~A)

   
5. Ask for Help

Your family and friends want you to be successful in everything you do.  If you need your mother not to pack dessert in a “to go” bag after Sunday dinner, ask her not to.  Stopping smoking is harder than you thought?  Speak with your doctor.  You don’t have to go at any of this alone.  Get your cheerleader involved!

6. Keep a Schedule

Whether your resolution is becoming more fit, eating healthier, or paying closer attention to your finances, make time to attend to those activities.  Schedule your workouts like you would a doctor’s appointment.  Take time to make a weekly menu and plan what foods you’ll eat each day.  Make time once a month to review bank statements and other financial paperwork.  You must devote time to those things you want to succeed.

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

7. Don’t Be Afraid to Scale Back

Working out five days a week too much to begin with?  Cutting down to a few cigarettes a day not working out just yet?  Saving $100 a month is creating a cash flow situation.  No problem.  Just make a quick adjustment.  Work out three days a week until you can move up to your goal of five days a week.  Instead of cutting down to a few cigarettes a day, try not smoking the car and after meals.  Instead of saving $100 a month, save $50 a month.  Even with the adjustment, you are still working towards your goals!

8. Be Forgiving

We are human – not perfect.  Slipups will happen.  Laziness will overtake us.  We will lose enthusiasm for our resolutions.  The key is to remember why you made your resolutions and to get back on track.  No matter what, keep moving towards your goals and you will reach them!

9.  Don’t consider these Resolutions...resolutions

The word “resolution” makes it feel like if we don’t get started in January, then we can’t do (fill in the blank).  Instead, think of resolutions as a “Things to Do” list.  Make a list of things you’d like to accomplish in 2015, knowing that you can start on that list and work on it the whole year long.  Maybe that approach will relieve some of the pressure associated with New Year’s Resolutions.

10.  Relax.

You have a whole year to accomplish your goals.  You didn’t gain weight overnight.  You won’t lose the weight overnight.  You’ve been smoking for a while.  You’ll need some time to develop a new habit and lifestyle.  Success will happen.  Just relax and let the new habits settle in.

“If you try anything, if you try to lose weight, or to improve yourself, or to love, or to make the world a better place, you have already achieved something wonderful, before you even begin. Forget failure. If things don't work out the way you want, hold your head up high and be proud. And try again. And again. And again!” ― Sarah Dessen

> Happy New Year to you and your family!

~O

The Best (Newer) Christmas Movies

Ok, so, this list of movies shines light on the new Christmas classics.  We know there are more – arguably better – Christmas movies out there.  It really isn’t Christmas until we see “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “A Christmas Story” but these over-looked gems have proven to be classics over the years and never miss putting us in the Christmas spirit! 

Get a blanket, make some hot chocolate, turn the Christmas tree lights on and all other lights off…It’s movie time!

In no particular order we give you our Top Three Newer Christmas movies (and yes, we checked it twice J)!

1.      Elf

Buddy the Elf is a human who was raised at the North Pole.  He talks with Santa and agrees it’s time he go to New York to look for his dad.  Watching a 6 foot tall elf with the mentality of a Christmas elf navigate New York City trying to fit in is the best new idea for a Christmas movie we’ve seen in a loooong time!  It’s easy to get into the Christmas spirit when you see someone live it so enthusiastically!

2.      Christmas with The Kranks

When a daughter leaves to spend Christmas in Peru with the Peace Corps, her parents decide to skip Christmas, save money and go on a cruise.  No parties, no ugly sweaters, no cards and no decoration…a total boycott.  However, the neighbors are not willing to let these modern day Scrooges get away with turning their backs on Christmas and put up a fight to save their Christmas spirit.  It’s a short fight because the daughter calls back the day before they leave to say she’ll be home for Christmas after all. 

3.      Surviving Christmas

A lonely millionaire pays a family $250,000 to allow him to spend Christmas with them…in the home that he grew up in.  They are a middle class family and accept the money against their better judgment.  It’s fun to watch the millionaire force the family into going to buy a tree or to sing Christmas carols when they really don’t want to.  Things become complicated when the eldest child of his newly purchased family arrives.  Things become even more complicated when his fiancé and her wealthy parents come to visit.  This movie gives you a glimpse into what it would be like to live in your childhood home again.

We hope you’ll watch one – or all of the movies on this list!  We chose these movies because based on their stories, performances, and spirit factor.  If we’re wrong, leave us a comment and tell us what we missed!

Merry Christmas Movie Watching!

Where are those flying cars we were promised?

I think it's fair to say that most people who work in the DC Metro area commute.

I think it's even fair to say that the devil himself must have been the mastermind behind the hot mess that is I-95 and her pals, 395 and 495.

But mostly I think it's perfectly fair to say that, in all my years upon this Earth, my mind is unable to take the years of education and life lessons and then wrap itself around the absolute madness that exists on I-95 north OR south (at any given point in the day) that results in the absolute gridlock which occurs between Arlington and Fredericksburg!

What fresh Hades is that?! I mean, I get it. There are roughly 7 billion people on this planet...but are they all commuting at the same time every day?? Between these two particular points?!

Before I began working in Northern Virginia I must admit I suffered from the occasional bout of road rage (or often, if I'm being honest.) I tailgated, screamed, hit my steering wheel in frustration at the person in the left lane gong the exact speed limit who just WON'T MOVE! But over the recent tenure I've spent commuting I have actually mellowed on my driving habits. It's some sort of commuter hypnosis. I've accepted my fate.

Don't even get me started on holiday traffic...wow.

I have to believe most of my highway brothers and sisters feel the same way, for I see them beside me, sitting, waiting, glossy-eyed and weary, praying for everyone to just GO!

And the traffic stalls all occur in the exact same spots every single day...religiously...like clockwork.We give those spots names: "No Reason Whatsoever" (the exit of the HOV near Quantico), "Geico" (the merge at Hwy. 17), and such.

Just once it would be a blessing to sail home at a consistent speed above 55. Just once I would like to leave work at 4 pm and march through my door before 6. And just once it would be nice for the slow (insert any car here...ahem, Prius) driver to drive in the right hand lane, instead of doing 63 mph in the left (seriously people, move over and stop contributing to road rage!) Just once it would be nice to leave work on a Friday afternoon and not have to pack food for the three hour ride home!

...and if anyone has access to a genie which will grant me one of those wishes, I'll take that ocean front home in Arizona too!

disclaimer: we realize not all Prius drivers are the culprits of the aforementioned slowness. It is just this author's experience.

~A

I Know Why the Silver Bells Jingle Early

…at least in the eyes of this die-hard fan o’ Christmas

We’ve all been complaining about how early the holiday season is coming.  Each year, we can barely finish overeating Halloween candy before the stores have wrapped the first pole with garland.  It’s like Thanksgiving is becoming a has-been holiday.  …and I know why!

First, let’s just give in and remember that capitalism rules everything around us.  So, yes, the earlier the stores are able to awaken those holiday feelings in us, the better for their bottom line.  They’re in business to get your business – and you’re money.  So we can’t fault ‘em.  If it looks like a Christmas duck ...

BUT!!!  Why do we allow them to pull us in with the early playing of holiday music?  Why do we watch the Countdown to Christmas on the cable networks that begins a few days after Halloween?  I feel like if we didn’t watch those movies, they wouldn’t air them.  After all, isn’t the consumer, customer, or viewer always right?

The reason we hum along to Christmas music being played in November and watch the really sappy holiday movie is because – and read this part carefully – we want to.  There it is, out in the open.  Secretly, we want the holiday season here early.  We have to pretend we don’t because the masses are opposed to people shopping on Black Friday and businesses dragging us away from our Turkey comas but…we want all of that.  And here’s why.

This really is THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!!!

People are nicer.  TV shows are movies are suddenly about unexpected and unimaginable miracles and lost loves found instead of ax murderers, demonic possessions, and natural disasters.  Kids get their most wanted toys and romance hangs in the air like mistletoe (not because of mistletoe).  It’s cold outside and houses are warmer and getting into a pair of soft fleece jammies is almost as comforting as sipping a mug of hot chocolate.  Is there anything more beautiful than the glow of Christmas lights in a dark room?  Aren’t the best memories made while doing the annual Christmas baking?

And the thing is, we look forward to feeling these feelings all year!  THAT’S why people put their Christmas trees up before Thanksgiving.  They want to enjoy those feelings and smell those smells and see those lights for as long as they can!

So, we have to give those people who start decorating and celebrating earlier than us a bit of a break.  They are literally bursting at the seams to unwrap the traditions they’ve kept in storage all year.  Can you blame them, really?  What better joy is there that savoring a bite of Red Velvet Cake while watching a Christmas movie and catching the twinkle of the lights on the tree out of the corner of your eye?