CLEAR USB modem review

I'm certainly not one of those bloggers who delights in doing giveaways and/or reviews so they can receive a free sample or product. In fact, I have zero interest in those "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" arrangements. But every once in a while (in my case, twice) an opportunity comes up that I can't refuse. A couple months ago, I got one of those opportunities.

I got an email from a CLEAR representative, asking if I would like to try their new service a month. Normally this kind of email would have gone right into the trash, but I was curious about CLEAR. I'd heard about their launch, and wondered how different they were from other Internet service providers. And to be honest? My husband and I had already been thinking of signing up for a new ISP at home. The offer was for a portable USB modem -- not home service -- but I thought it would give me a good idea of how the company works. I knew that one thing I wanted in a ISP was MORE customer service, not less.

I was pleasantly surprised. The emails I sent to my CLEAR representative were always promptly returned, sometimes within just a few minutes. Right around this time, we tested a CLEAR modem for our home and the glitches we had during setup with the home modem (which, again, was separate from the free USB modem trial) were quite easy to resolve thanks to their customer service department, both online and over the phone.

But most of all, the CLEAR USB modem was a joy to use. While testing it, I knew I would never be without internet access, because it created a wireless zone around me that I could tap into in minutes. And on more than one occasion, I found myself needing that modem. Several times I visited a couple of different coffee shops where the internet was down. But with the CLEAR modem, it wasn't a problem for me -- I could just keep on working even though people around me had to shut their laptops and pick up a newspaper to pass the time.

I was a little sad when I had to send the modem back to the CLEAR company. I liked having it as backup when I needed Internet access outside my house. But we did go ahead and purchase the CLEAR service for our home, and we are thrilled with the results. Overall, I think CLEAR is a good company that offers a good product at affordable prices. I'd definitely recommend CLEAR and its services/products to my friends and family!

Full disclosure: I was offered a free one-month trial of a CLEAR USB modem for this review, but the opinion expressed in this post is mine exclusively.

Day at the park

We recently spent a little time at the park with Grandpa Ron and Grandma Carol. And since there were plenty of people around to play with Kellan, I was free to take tons of pictures. Actually, I think I took more than that -- I think I took a gadzillion. Here are a few favorite pictures of my favorite boy, who obviously had a fabulous time.

Sunset sandcastle

Sandcastle construction at sunset -- sheer heaven.

Oregon Coast!

We haven't even been here a full 24 hours yet, but we're already having an absolute blast! Here are some of our pictures so far:

The first thing Kellan did was grab handfuls of sand.

Our first family portrait of the vacation!

Just over the hill is the place we're staying in -- the one with the windows.

Sunset on the beach, 10 minutes after we arrived.

Look at this stick!

Kellan's first beach sandcastle! (He had a little help from Mom and Dad. Just a little.)

Whoa! What's that?

A seal is peeking at us!

Happy faces. :-)

Mr. Blue Eyes

Just look at that kid. Is he not handsome? I snapped this picture at Payette Lake a few days ago. I'm actually shocked that I was able to get Kellan to look at the camera, because he was dead serious about throwing every single rock on the beach into the water.

"Take a picture of my plate, Mommy."

So cute.

I'm always doing a lot of cooking and photo taking in the kitchen, so I can post new recipes on AnchorMommy. And a couple nights ago, I was clicking up a storm taking pictures for my Huckleberry Pizza recipe. As I analyzed and framed a pizza slice in the LCD screen, I heard Kellan say...

"Take a picture of my plate, Mommy."

I had to oblige. Just look at that face.

The most elusive creature on the planet

This is an "Oreo" cow. It is known to breeders as a Belted Galloway. 

I refer to it as my worst nightmare of a writing assignment ever. 

I'm doing a little freelance writing for a local publication, and I'm excited to be on board with this particular project since I'll get to write more long-form, feature pieces. One of those stories is about -- you guessed it -- "Oreo" cows. 

The magazine is slated to go out for circulation in early September. My deadline? The end of the month. Which just so happens to be in a matter of days.

A few people have said they've seen these elusive creatures in a couple of pastures around the valley. Great information, except cows don't give good interviews. I need to find the people responsible for raising them.

But at this point, if I found one of those cows, I would press for an interview and not take moo for an answer.

Mountain adventure

So, you saw my flower pictures from our mountain hike near Bogus, right? Here are a few more of us! 

Kellan did an amazing job. He hiked most of the way all by himself. We only carried him for a few minutes at a time when we encountered rough terrain. He's definitely an outdoorsy kid!

The mountain air was cool and refreshing, and we wrapped up our hike with a delicious picnic.

Summer flowers

We took a hike up near the Bogus Basin ski resort this weekend -- what a treat for the senses! Everywhere we looked, there was something beautiful, from the sparkling mica scattered across the ground to the rainbow of wildflowers.

Take a look!

Answering the Go Local Challenge

I'm honored to be a guest blogger for a good friend of mine, Heather of Living Senses! She shared a post of mine with her readers on Monday. Click on over and check it out!

Heather is spearheading Go Local 2009, a challenge to eat and prepare locally grown food. I admire her dedication to this cause -- she is quite the expert at gardening and food preservation! While I'm not operating at her level -- yet -- my post at Living Senses is all about our first foray into vegetable gardening. Who knows? Maybe I'll be canning by the fall!

In the studio with Uncle Scott

Hmm. Could this be a peek into Kellan's future? 

His Uncle Scott has a pretty sweet setup -- electric guitar, amp, headphones -- and Kellan was quite happy to help take his act from solo to duo. And I think Kellan actually showed Uncle Scott a thing or two, including how to use a guitar stand as a microphone. 

Scott generously provided his guitar skills to back up Kellan during U2's "Elevation" and "Vertigo." Scott also helped him learn a couple of new songs (new to Kellan anyway) by the White Stripes and The Black Keys. Then Kellan treated us all to some of his new material, "Flying" and "Halloween."

I'd say this could be a musical match made in heaven.

Horses, ice cream, cotton candy and horses

Every year the Children's Home Society puts on an Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social complete with carriage rides, a bounce house and clowns. Most years, we forget about the event until we're driving by and see everyone cleaning up. Not this year! (Thanks, Michael.)

Kellan enjoyed a delicious cup of chocolate ice cream with sprinkles and tried cotton candy for the first time! He didn't really like it though. Which is a-okay by me. I'd really prefer that he not like spun sugar.

Another big first: Kellan's first pony ride! He rode like a pro. Check out the video!

Our Hawaiian Getaway!

Look at us! Don't we look tan and refreshed? Betcha didn't know we recently snuck away for a Hawaiian getaway! Probably because we didn't have to go very far. Just about 10 minutes from our house, actually. Michael's tan comes from soccer coaching. Mine comes from the bottle.

This photo of us was taken at the lovely Ono Hawaiian Cafe. It's a great place with great food, and a relaxed vibe that instantly makes me feel like I'm on vacation. My former place of employment treated us to this meal, thanks to the generous gift card they gave me during my last week on the job. And I was more than happy to enjoy the gift. In fact, we all did. 

I tell you what. I am really enjoying having dinner with my two favorite guys every night, instead of shoveling down food at my computer keyboard in the newsroom. 

Kellan's first bowl of cereal

Sometimes I think I take this healthy eating thing a little too far. 

For example, last week I decided Kellan was ready for his first bowl of cereal. His spooning skills have come a long way, so I looked over the cereal stash for something reasonably healthy. I pulled out Uncle Sam. Now, I bought this because of the "toasted whole wheat and flaxseed" description on the box, which sounded pretty healthy. What the box does not say, however, is that you might as well just eat the box itself. It probably tastes better than the cereal.

But I figured if it's the kid's first bowl of cereal, he doesn't know the difference. Am I horrible, or what? This kid has no idea there's a whole world of Captain Crunch and Froot Loops out there. And I'm happy to keep it that way. 

Sure enough, he gleefully gobbled it down. At least I chopped up some strawberries to sweeten up the cardboard crunch. I'm not a totally horrible mom. I hope.

The long road of friendship

She's the friend who's seen me at my best, and my worst. The friend who remembers each of my teenage boyfriends and crushes, and I hers. The friend who hates the idea of touching other people's feet as much as I do, yet thinks nothing of taking a needle and tweezers to the sole of my foot to remove a highly irritating deck splinter. The friend who lives hundreds of miles away from me now, with a husband and kids of her own.

What a treat it is to be able to see her -- to delight in the way our lives have changed, and remember the many years we spent trying to find our way in the world. Not to mention the mistakes we made along the way. 

During our weekend visit, we took one outing together without her newborn and two-year-old. Just like the many years we spent tooling around in her Subaru sedan as teenagers, I sat in the passenger seat, she in the driver's seat. Back then, I was the navigator (she had a terrible sense of direction) pointing her to the appropriate left or right turn and sometimes warning her to watch for a stop sign or red light. Now, I may sit in the passenger seat from time to time, but she's in the driver's seat.  She knows her own way around her own life, and doesn't need my help. That's the way it should be. 

We meandered around the grocery store, throwing things in the cart not just for ourselves, but for her family -- all the while scheming ways to get her toddler to eat more green vegetables. I still remember the days we would shop for just a pint of ice cream. Or once we were (finally!) 21 years old, a case of beer. 

Our journey together from teenage years to early adulthood seems a distant but not completely foggy memory, especially when I'm sitting in the passenger seat of her car. And even though the people and circumstances of our lives have changed, what a comfort it is to know that we possess one of those rare friendships which easily withstands the many miles and years. During those few-and-far-between occasions that we are able to spend time together, it's not hard to remember the days when the two of us had nothing but a car, a long road, and time on our side. 

And maybe a pint of ice cream, just in case.

AnchorMommy is here!

My new website has been monopolizing all my free time, but it's FINALLY up and running! Here's a look at the home page.

The address is www.anchormommy.com -- take a peek, and tell your mom friends to do the same!

Preparing for a new start

Boy, have I been a hit-or-miss blogger lately. 

I have a good reason, I swear. I'm preoccupied by the fact that soon our household will transition from two incomes to one.

Well, I'm not being truly honest. I will have a little pet project once I am no longer gainfully employed, and just about every spare minute I have lately that's not occupied by cleaning, cooking or laundry has been devoted to getting that little project off the ground. 

I can't wait to unveil what I'm working on. But the final product is probably about a week away from completion -- if all goes according to plan. 

As soon as it's ready, I'll post the big announcement here! Until then, wish me luck. I have seven more workdays before my career as I know it will come to an end. Knowing me, I'll be a blubbering mess on my last day. 

But good things are just around the corner.

All right, seriously now...

Okay, I know it's a weekend and we're all busy trying to have fun and enjoy time with our loved ones. But I'm serious about this Pay It Forward thing. Now I'm gonna have to get a little pushy.

Who doesn't want something fun and thoughtful from little old me? I know it involves a promise to pay it forward in return, but that's easy enough to do, right? I swear I will make it worth your while. 

So once more...

The Rules:

1. I agree to send a lovely little something (or somethings) in the mail to the first three blog owners who post a comment on this entry. In turn, those three will post this Pay It Forward project on their blog, pick three people to send something to, and so on.
   
2. You have to promise you will post about this on your blog and link to mine.
   
3. Make sure to include your email address in the comment (if I don't have it already) so I can email you to request your shipping address.
   
4. If you don't have a blog...I don't want you to be excluded. Just make sure you leave your email address in the comments, and we'll agree to skip over the blog posting part. But you still have to pay it forward to three others!
   

Come on now! Don't let me be a slacker on this project and not see it through --help me keep my promise!

This is between me and Coffee

Dear Coffee,

You know I love you. I really do. But I think it's time you and I spend a little less time together.

I just think I'm becoming too dependent on you. Even when I try not to think about the two of us together, my thoughts inevitably drift back to you. And your scent. And what it feels like to hold you.

Okay, there I go again. See what I mean? You obviously don't need me in the same way. Can you honestly say you can't start your day without me? No. Our relationship is clearly out of balance.

I just need some space.

Don't get mad if you see me hanging out with Excedrin in the meantime. Yeah, I can admit it's a rebound relationship. But I'll have to do something to take the edge off of how much I'm going to miss you. Every... single... morning.

Love,
Me

Pay It Forward Time

A while back I signed up to be a part of a Pay It Forward project my friend Danielle suggested on her blog. This is the lovely package she sent me:

Well, I've been worried/wondering how the heck I would pay it forward, but then I realized something. I won't know how or what to give/do until I know who's on board with me. So here's where you come in.

The Rules:

1. I agree to send a lovely little something (or somethings) in the mail to the first three blog owners who post a comment on this entry. In turn, those three will post this Pay It Forward project on their blog, pick three people to send something to, and so on.
2. You have to promise you will post about this on your blog and link to mine.
3. Make sure to include your email address in the comment (if I don't have it already) so I can email you to request your shipping address.
4. If you don't have a blog...I don't want you to be excluded. Just make sure you leave your email address in the comments, and we'll agree to skip over the blog posting part. But you still have to pay it forward to three others!

That's it! So who's in?

I've been tagged!

Megan hit me with a photo tag, so here I am folks, in all my Monday morning glory:


Hair poofed up with a clippy so it will dry with volume, and I am leaning inside our computer armoire checking my email and whatnot while Kellan colors at the kitchen table behind me. I know you can't see him, but I promise, he's there... drawing pictures for his Grandmas and Grandpas.

Anyway, I'm supposed to tag some people for this exercise now: Heather, Kimberly and Jesma. (Sorry Jezz -- you're probably not up for the task with the new baby and all, but I can't think of anyone else who reads this blog that might actually do this, other than Meg, and she already tagged me.)

Here are the rules:

1. Take a picture of yourself right now. No primping or preparing.
2. Load the picture onto your blog.
3. Tag three others to play.

Remember, no primping! We'll be able to tell if you do!!!

Counting down the days

I adore spring. 

The air is fresh, the blossoms are radiant and everything seems lit up from the inside with LIFE.

The tough thing about spring is, it can be fickle. Warm and wonderful one day, windy and wicked the next. It is Mother Nature's rollercoaster ride.

In many ways, this spring's ups and downs seem to be mirroring my own life. I'm more than ready for change. But just as I start to take baby steps toward that change, I feel as if I get bogged down in mud.

I know I don't have much longer to wait. But my well of patience is drying up!

Laundry lament

Laundry.

It is always around. Only the girth of the laundry pile differs from day to day.

There are piles in the closets. In the bathrooms. In the laundry room. On the bedroom floors. On the sofa.

There are dirty piles, and there are clean piles. And the "clean" laundry piles are quickly outnumbering the dirty. Someone should do something about that.

Oh. I guess that someone is me.

At this point, I feel like it will take the better part of a day to wrangle those piles in and out of the machines, and back into closets and drawers. Who has that kind of time? I don't, apparently. That must be why it's reached critical status.

If laundry could laugh, all those evil piles would be snickering at me right now. I just know it.

Navigating the stormy seas

Okay. So I know to any parent, this is no big revelation. But wow -- having a two year old is a bit like being being adrift on the ocean in a tiny lifeboat with no paddle.

At least that's the metaphor that comes to mind at the moment. I think there's probably a dozen more I could come up with off the top of my head.

It's the irrationality that blows my mind. Lately, the fits include shrieks of: "NO! I don't want milk!!!" Followed immediately by: "My millllllk! I want my MILLLLKK!" That kind of stuff. On repeat.

Not only that -- sometimes there is absolutely no way whatsoever to talk him down. Today I muddled through two fits that lasted at least a half an hour each. Plus one mini-fit (probably about 10 minutes' worth) because he didn't want to leave the bank. Well, more specifically, he didn't want to leave the four toy trucks they have in the bank lobby.

Today, time outs did not work. He was actually in one big long one (three time outs back-to-back) because he would not sit up and stop crying long enough for us to have our "talk" about the unacceptable behavior. It was like reasoning with a tree. A shrieking, howling, 1,000-decibel, rolling on the floor, tree. I got so tired of the never-ending discipline session that I finally just lectured about the prior unacceptable behavior as he rolled on the floor. I told him I was leaving the room to go do something fun and that he could come play when he was done crying. After a few minutes, he came out. Still crying, but at probably a third the decibel level of before.

And tonight's fit? Just thinking about that one makes me exhausted all over again. But in a nutshell, we went from watching him run and play all over the backyard to battling over a much-needed sweatshirt to ward off the evening chill. That evolved into a scream session throughout the normally pleasant bedtime routine. Not pretty.

That said, I think the highs are equally as intense as the lows. I mean, aside from the rough moments, we had a great day together. We played at the park, had some lovely conversations (which prompted some sweet compliments on his communication skills from a passing shopper at the grocery store) and made a killer house out of Mega Bloks. 

Even if the waters get choppy from time to time, we're still having a wonderful journey.

But if anyone happens to see an oar float by, toss it to me, would you?

The joy of chocolate

We had a wonderful Easter. Kellan had an especially wonderful Easter.

He experienced M&M's for the first time.

Once he realized what was inside his Easter eggs, there was no stopping him. He popped those suckers non-stop! In the photo above, Michael is trying to coax him into giving up his handful -- no luck.

What can I say. He takes after his mom. 

A simple antidote to Mommy Mania

I had a particularly crazy day last week, which was especially nuts during the hour just prior to my departure for work.

I managed to get meals/snacks packed, and make myself somewhat presentable, just before whisking Kellan out of the house and into his carseat. As we pulled away from the house, my mind was spinning with worry over a problem I knew was waiting for me at the office, mixed with nagging anxiety that somehow I'd forgotten to do/take something. 

Then two simple words cut through the frenzied chatter in my head:

"Mommy! Pretty!"

Nothin' like an unsolicited compliment from a two-year-old to take the edge off a case of Mommy Mania.

What I was doing two years ago today

April 10, 2007 -- Kellan's very first real bath.

If you can call sitting in a shallow, sorta warm, plastic tub of water a bath.

His belly button stump took WAY too long to fall off. About a month. (The pediatrician griped at us about it, but I still don't think it was really our fault.) Hence, the extended delay between his birth and first bath experience. 

And for those of you that don't know, the First Law of Bathing Newborns is, don't immerse their belly buttons until they're somewhat human-looking. I think the Second Law of Bathing Newborns is, cover up your boy's you-know-what if you'd rather not get a shower during the bath process. Cause it'll happen.

Just look at that face. Priceless.

By the way, there are no fancy iPhoto filters involved here -- we ran the shower to super-steam the bathroom so Kellan wouldn't get cold. Were we first time parents, or what?

Now for some fun. 

Ever see that 'guess the caption' segment on AC: 360? Make one up for this picture and leave it in the comments section. Just for fun.