C is for Cookie -- that's yummy enough for me

If you don't already know the witty and entertaining Kym, you should. Not only for her writing, but also for her husband, Frank. Whom I wish to steal.

You see, Frank has Big Ones. And by "big" I don't really mean big. I mean HUGE. I mean GINORMOUS. You should see them. You should taste them. You will love them.

Frank has recently started a cookie business, thereby turning me into an addict for his Big Ones. Frank's cookies are not only delicious, they are HUMONGOUS.

Kym and Frank thoughtfully sent me a package of Chocolate Chip Big Ones, a value of $18. Other flavors include CherryBomb (cherries and toffee), The Monkey Boy (bananas and walnuts), Sugar Daddy (sugar cookie, with a twist) and Pecan Chocolate Chip. And even MORE. No one could blame you if you can't decide, so there is an option to have Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other.

How big are Frank's Big Ones?

• You could call a Frank cookie the "quarter pounder of desserts." But only if you took out the word "quarter" and replaced it with "twenty."
  
• A package of a dozen gave my UPS guy a hernia. Beware, Workers Comp.
  
• I took a cookie on a flight, just in case we got stranded on the tarmac or something. Not just for me and my family, but for rows 21-28.
• Their size is rivaled only by their amazing TASTE. Yumyumyumyum.
  

And guess what!? Just in time for the holidays, Frank and Kym are offering a 10% discount on orders placed by November 15. Save off the regular prices of $16 ("nice" cookies) and $18 ("naughty," premium cookies). You'll still have to pay shipping (what? -- you think moving such tonnage is free?), but it's SOOOO worth it.

From now through December 8, Frank and Kym are running a How Big Are Frank's Big Ones? contest. Think you're big enough to enter? Get the details on how to win free cookies.

You still here? CLICK OVER and order! Crazy people.

***

Want easy access to products recommended by Lori and Chicklet? Help support us by visiting the All Thumbs Store, which has no added markup. Just easy shopping, good prices, Amazon security and thumbs up ratings.

You Too Should go to U2

I don't know if we've done a concert review before, but I gotta say, after what I saw Wednesday night, you HAVE to go to U2 if they're coming to your city. Oh, and if you're a fan of course.

Wednesday night, at 37.5 weeks pregnant, we went to U2. For my first EVER U2 concert. To see a band who many many MANY times before I'd WISHED I'd gone, but many many MANY times before I'd cheaped out instead.

This time though, it was like the last hurrah. You know - what if they NEVER toured again? Or what if once we have Tiny B, we NEVER leave the house AGAIN? It was DO or DIE people! If we didn't go THIS time, we might not EVER go! And I just couldn't bear going to my grave never having seen U2.

And as a pretty big fan (ie. I know MOST lyrics to MOST songs, but I don't know EVERY lyric to EVERY song they've ever written), even at $120/ticket, and bone-sober, it was worth EVERY penny. Admittedly, when you first go in, the stage seems as OliveGirl said... ostentatious. But don't let it put you off, because once they start it up, you'll see it's actually just the gear AROUND the stage that's insane - everything else is pretty damn cool. And pretty damn smartly built to boot! (I refuse to give away secrets in case you go.)

They do a good mix of old and new, but if you haven't heard the new album, it's worth getting it ahead of time so you're familiar as they DO do a fair amount of it. However, they also do some acoustic versions of some of the songs you go SPECIFICALLY to hear (because you've played them for 10-20 years now!) - and well, they're wicked. RELIGIOUSLY so. Meaning there's DEFINITELY some songs in there that had this pretend-to-be hardass a little teary-eyed. Yea, it COULD have been the hormones, but really I think it's just that these SPECIFIC songs done acoustically were really just THAT powerful.

They also do some pretty damn cool things related to issues going on in the world right now. Again, I refuse to give away secrets in case you go, but even as a fairly NON-political kinda gal, this stuff was VERY cool. It wasn't over-done in ANY way, and it definitely wasn't overkill at all. Just some nice touches from a band who holds a lot of clout, so why NOT do some of these things.

And so without even being trashed (sometimes a necessary state to be in to enjoy a concert), U2 rocked my world Wednesday night. They also rocked Tiny B's world cuz good GAWD the vibrations had him going insane all night, but two BIG thumbs up from me. So much so that I'd go again if they were to ever come back.

***

Want easy access to products recommended by Lori and Chicklet? Help support us by visiting the All Thumbs Store, which has no added markup. Just easy shopping, good prices, Amazon security and thumbs up ratings.

Parents: Your Family Constitution (with giveaway)

When I was a new mom, a friend who had teenagers told me, unsympathetically, after I complained about yet another sleepless night: Little children, little problems. Big children, big problems.

It scared the peawadden out of me. You mean parenting would get harder?

Eight years later, I know it's true, and it's not true. I mean, everything is difficult when you're not sleeping. But also, as children grow and assert and become the independent beings we want them to be, balancing their needs with ours can become a high-wire balancing act, at best, or a combat zone at worst. Think divvying up household duties, leaving for school on time, negotiating clothes, sibling fights, annoyances big and small, tantrums yours and theirs.

Your Family Constitution was born out of such consternation. Author Scott Gale hit rock bottom at the end of a family outing, dared his wife to stop to let him out of the car, and walked home -- 4 hours -- in a snit. But he spent that walk contemplating a better way for his family to function.

Which came in the form of fantasy football. Or, to be more precise, the way his fantasy football league organized itself. To provide Clarity, Consistency and Commitment, a group comes up with its guiding principles.

In 102 pages, Your Family Constitution helps other families go through the process of creating their own document. For each dilemma, rather than having to choose the Easy Way (where the child wins, the adult loses; like "fine! have a second bowl of ice cream for dessert!") or the Hard Way (where the adult wins and the child loses; "because I said so!"), there is the Constitutional Way. Members of the family have previously defined and bought into a system of rewards and consequences, and stand a better chance of being self-regulating.

My family has not yet formulated our Family Constitution, but I can certainly see how having one would help us align more with unity, justice, tranquility and promotion of the common welfare, in the same vein as another Constitution.

Available through the Family Constitution website for $20 or through Amazon for $12.50.

Scott Gale, the author, is giving away a signed copy to two All Thumbs Readers. Please enter to win by leaving a comment below by November 2 and we'll randomly draw two winners. The author will send the books to the winners directly, so please make sure I can easily find your email address.

WINNERS: Random.org spit out 5 and 1. So Andy and Adopting1Soon. I'm trying to reach you to mail you your Family Constition. Congats, and thanks to all for supporting All Thumbs!

***

Want easy access to products recommended by Lori and Chicklet? Help support us by visiting the All Thumbs Store, which has no added markup. Just easy shopping, good prices, Amazon security and thumbs up ratings.

Tums Are My Best Friend

I, chicklet, am 36 weeks pregnant. And I, chicklet, have been suffering from ENDLESS heartburn for the last two months. While I've had a SUPER easy pregnancy overall - with heartburn as my biggest complaint, so yes, I know, "woe is me" - the thing that's been driving me out of my MIND lately, has been the heartburn.

I get it from eating, from NOT eating, from drinking, from NOT drinking, from exercising, or from doing the complete opposite - laying on my side but apparently laying too "level" or flat. And while it started off pretty intermittently, and was just some simple heartburn, it progressed into FULL BLOWN acid reflux, with the charming side effect of waking up in the night to having thrown up in my mouth... good times...

And while I'm very aware there's all SORTS of home remedies out there, I can honestly say I'VE TRIED THEM ALL, and for me, NONE OF THEM WORK. And yes, while there are drug options, I don't really know why, but I've been really hesitant to go that route unless I really REALLY can't take it anymore. So while it drives me CRAZY, I CAN take it, so no drugs for me just yet.

What HAS worked though, has been Tums. Tums, Tums, and MORE Tums. I had some stashed in my desk, I have another container in my purse, and I leave a couple on my night-table for those good times in the middle of the night. I LIVE and BREATHE for my Tums.

The best thing about Tums is that they work within MINUTES. The other bonuses? Well, they've got a TON of calcium in them (which is never a bad thing for a woman, let alone a pregnant woman, to have), they're CHEWABLE so you never need water to wash them down, and if you buy the fruit-flavored ones, they're even kinda "candy-esque" so can feel like a little TREAT in some ways.

And while the container says not to take more than 5 in a day if you're pregnant, my OB was fine with me taking more if I needed. His preference was like mine - to avoid the drugs if I could. So if that meant more Tums, he was A-OK with that.

So at roughly $8-10 a pack (for 160), or at $18.70 for Amazon's double-pack, they're worth EVERY PENNY if you're suffering from heartburn. Two BIG thumbs up from me.

***

Want easy access to products recommended by Lori and Chicklet? Help support us by visiting the All Thumbs Store, which has no added markup. Just easy shopping, good prices, Amazon security and thumbs up ratings.