Down and Deceit

Ok okay, so I know I’m a total dork- but I’m gonna tell you anyway.

So I was at Macy’s today….and was looking at their down comforters- so I came home and was looking online- doing some comparisons. I got sooo steamed. Macy’s is totally- in my opinion- misleading people. They have labeled their comforters Lightweight, Medium weight and Heavyweight. So you would assume heavyweight is better right? It’s more expensive. But it’s not. They are selling comforters based on the weight- not the fill power. The heavyweight comforters are only like 500 fill power! But they are thick and bulk. Which tells me that in a year or two- the comforter is going to be crappy= it’s going to get packed down and not work right anymore. Their lightweights have a fill power of 600-700. I just think that’s so crazy. I really hate situations where consumers are misled. Please don't be confused by their marketing ploy's. They are selling heavier comforters with lower fill power- because it cost less to make- meaning a larger profit margin for them.

If you are in the market for a comforter, here's some information to help you be informed. Down is natures best insulator, and keeps you warm trapping heat in the air by the down cluster. You are kept warm by the later of warm air trapping in the comforter, not by trapping heat next to your body. Fill power is the number of cubic inches one ounce of down will fill. The more and larger the down clusters (that's what keeps you warm), the higher the fill power. The higher the fill power, the better the air trapping and insulating capacity of the down. You increase the insulating capability be increasing fill power NOT adding more down. Too much down will compress it down- defeating it's insulating capacity.

When looking at a comforter - you should decide how cold you get in a cold room. In a 70 degree room, are you comfortable, hot, or cold sleeping? If you are hot (warm) you would want a fill power of 550-575, if you are comfortable a fill power of 650-675 would suit you best. If you on the other hand are cold (not by dear sweet husband!) you would want a fill power of 700 or higher. Ahhh- but what to do if you are cold, but your husband is hot (speaking from experience)- rely on the magic of layering. Chose a down comforter that will work best from whichever partner gets warmer- and then add a throw or blanket onto the side of the colder partner. Works great!

Now you know :-D

What have I gotten in to????

I wanna know what happened to "out of sight, out of mind"! Or better yet, the simple stage when they couldn't walk, much less crawl. You could place your little darling on a blanket in the middle of the room and 5 min. later- they are still there! Ahhh the sweet simplicity.
I stupidly believed that 2 year olds were supposed to be innocent and simple. Maybe that's just a creative story that mother's pass down to their daughters to guarentee future granchildren!

So we put a lock on Mickle Pickle's closet door in an attempt to stop the room from throwing up toys serveral times a day. Half his toys belong in the closet, half out for play- and about once a week- we do a switch. Of course that's the plan, - but so far only the closet has only been locked- there are no toys behind the lock. So currently when you walk into Mickle's room- you're practically attacked by toys. Could someone explain how the heck Mickle manages to evenly scatter his toys around the room? I mean there isn't a square inch of carpet showing in the room. There are no piles of toys- it's as if there is a blanket of toys evenly accross the room. I'm sure this natural scattering ability will come be of benefit in his choosen profession. On second thought, what profession would that be? Last time I checked there wasn't a huge demand for seed sowers- and that's the only place I can think of that his "special ability" would actually come in hand.

Well, Allan and I were more than happy with the newly applied closet lock- but Mickel's reaction wasn't quite as joyful. All day long he argued with my, complaining that the door was locked....as if I wasn't already aware, or maybe had forgotten the previous 20 times he told me in that last 5 min. Over and over I tried to explain, and then moved to just being matter of fact "Mommy wants it locked, therefore - IT"S STAYING LOCKED! I'm finally understanding the whole concept of "because I said so" That wasn't the first response I'm sure, it was just that after 5 million times of trying to explain the same answer over and over.........you get down to - BECAUSE I SAID SO. It's that proverbial last straw. By 5:00pm I felt like I had finally gotten through to Mickel (I know, I know, how could I have fallen for that?). He was no longer begging for the door to be unlocked- now keep in mind, there are NO toys in there, it's just the outrage of having something off limits- the horrors.
Mickel- fed up with my responses about the lock, apparently decided to take care of the problem himself- I mean after all, he is a whoppin 2 years old. He had dragged a kitchen chair through the entire house and into his room. Having noticed him as I walked past his room, I now stood quietly by and watched him. He stood on that chair with his little tykes toy drill/screwdriver, trying over and over to to unscrew the lock. "Mickle Pickle Rice!" He startled, and then slowly moved the screwdriver away from the door- as if I might not notice, obviously disappointed at being stopped, and delusional in believing that he was actually succeeding.
So could someone tell me what I've gotten myself into? I didn't think he was supposed to be able to reason enought to pull of stunts like that until he was at least 4 or 5 years old. What am I gonna do when he realizes he just needs to get daddy's drill????

Starter....

So, I'm not really a writer. I'm much more of a talker, as in much much more. Ask my husband, mother, or better yet, my friend's husband(I keep her on the phone wayyy too much). Sometimes though, I have the desire to write. Just an outlet, a way to express emotion and capture events for all of eternity. Maybe it's some kind of prehistoric urge(ok- so they didn't write during the prehistoric era- so maybe a little after that), or more likely a brilliant excuse to avoid closing my eyes and going to sleep at a descent time. Whatever the reason- I've started this blog. For now- this is for me.....yes just me. Who knows, I might share it in the future, or maybe someone will stumble upon it and roll their eyes at the ramblings of a lunatic (also known as mother of a 2yr old), in the meantime- no friends or family.

Little background: I'm 26, live outside of Dallas Texas, and like long walks on the.....oh wait- wrong topic.... I have been happily married (no really, happily - crazy huh?) for 4 years now, and have a precocious 2 year old little boy. Ok- so that's enough for now- everything else you can find out later. I hear my little guy up again- and after all, why not? It's only 3:30 in the morning!