Celebrating National Coffee Day With Melitta Coffee #melita

Melitta Coffee is taking a look back at their century-long commitment to innovation, spurring from founder, Melitta Bentz, the inventor of the pour-over. In fact, every time you take a sip of drip coffee it’s a nod to Melitta Bentz, who revolutionized the process back in 1908 when she invented pour-over coffee. We’ve come a long way since she first punched holes in a brass pot, took a piece of paper from her son’s notebook and created the first two-part filter system.

We’re excited to share some helpful tips on behalf of Melitta Coffee – everything your readers will need to enjoy that delicious coffee shop experience right from the comfort of home. Follow along, and a great cup of coffee (or two or three) is just a mug away.

The 411:

We are huge Keurig coffee drinkers. We are always in a hurry so we love the convenience of a K-Cup for a cup of coffee that we can run with. All that being said, I was raised on Grandma, peculated  coffee and really miss that sometimes. For those days when I have a ton of time I use my Grandma's old Pecolator.  Honestly, there is nothing like it! It is by far the best. BUT...we can't always do it. Come on who has time for that, plus you need to wait by the stove to make sure it doesn't spill over or burn. The other day I received one of the new Melita Pour Overs. It is perfect for work. They have a Keurig there but I hate using it. It is only good for one cup and I am not sure if they clean it out so I took my Pour Over in with some filter and Melita's Cafe de Europa Classique for a almost as good as percolated coffee. It smelled amazing. My co-workers who came in all commented on the smell.

Boil some water. At home I use a small pan and at work I put a cup in the microwave. While that is happening I place the ceramic pour over on top of your cup, place a filter inside it and fill with coffee I will use. Then pour the boiling water over it and drink! It is easy and I love that I am contributing to making myself a cup of coffee that tastes amazing.

Surgery Scheduled Today For My Almost 6 Month Old Cat

On September 18th I wrote that my cat Jinxy a rescue from the shelter I worked had a fracture in the growth plate of the ball joint in his right hip. He probably had this forever. He came into the shelter very sick and was unable to hold up his back end. the volunteers there worked with him and put mats down in his cage to give him traction and he seemed fine when I adopted him. 

At his first vet visit he was only 2 pounds. 2 months later at 7.5 pounds he was limping and the x-rays showed the fracture. It is probably something that never healed and his own weight was the problem. I felt so bad because in retrospect this cat was slower the my other two, climbed, ran and jumped less than the others, when we pet him he would bring his whole body to the floor while still standing and using the litter box would sit in a very strange way with his hip completely open and the leg almost flat to the the litter. I just thought this was his personality. Now that I know it was a hip thing I feel bad that he suffered before we knew.

I brought him to the animal hospital that every doctor suggested and they were amazing. I gave him over to the ER doc who took him and the x-rays telling me she would look it over with the surgeon. An hour later I was told that the only surgery option for the situation was a Femoral Head Osteotomy.  Once the femoral head and neck are removed the muscles and developing scar tissue works to support the area and acts like a false joint. When he moves his limb the force is transferred to the pelvis instead of the leg.  His leg will be slightly shorter but he will do amazing well and resume his normal activity after the surgery. 

Sounds great as he was in a lot of pain and living on pain killers and in a cage so he didn't hurt himself more. BUT...I had no idea that when I handed him over at 9:00 am yesterday that it would be the last time I see him until I pick him up. I felt so guilty that I just left him. I thought we would be scheduling a surgery not leaving him there for surgery. It is better for him but I had such guilt.

Last night I called the hospital 2 times because when I left at 11 am I was told I would get an update call and I still was unsure as to whether he had surgery yet or not. Finally at 9:45 I was told that he had not had surgery but that he ate and his surgery would be scheduled for today.

Hoping to hear something! It is 11 am now so I left 24 hours ago...I miss him dearly and pray everything will be Okay. I know he is in good hands even if the communication wasn't up to par.

More on Jinx when I know.

Never Miss That Perfect Pet Shot Again!

The 411:

How many times we tried to get our cats to look directly at the camera! We would call their name but they would look at everything except the camera. Now with Woofie, you just put a treat or in our case your cats favorite toy into the clip and wah-lah instant perfect picture.

My kitten Sage loves to nurse on our clothing when she wakes from a nap and nothing will stop her from doing this. She looks up when you call her name but will never leave the nurse! In the above case she was sucking on my daughter's shirt while my daughter did her homework. The moment she looked up and saw her toy, she was out of there looking right at me!

I could imagine with a dog it would be the same as they are way more aware.

This is the perfect stocking stuffer for pet owners and since I am drafting my Christmas Gift Guide you will surely find this on there when it goes live early November.

Just took this! She wants that jiggly fish so bad! Never miss the shot again. Perfect for photographers or families looking to get that family photo with their pets.
 

Unplug Your Family And Enjoy A Night Of Card Games - Goddess and I LOVED IT!

The 411: 

This is the perfect magnet set for kids learning to understand the days of the week as well as colors and shapes. My preschool class loves touching the magnets and shouting out the colors. I have heard these colors at least 500 times today. I find it strange that everyone knew all the colors except white but I did have one child ask why the star wasn't yellow LOL.  

The website had suggested tracing the shapes. They are great for tracing. They also love counting as much as stating which color they are pointing to.

They have so many card games and so much more at Home Learning Company. These are just a few.

This was probably our favorite game! We laughed a lot! It is definitely fast paced and so far we have played it 4 times even though I thought my daughter would be bored with it.

The 411: 

The cards were really cute. There is no reading required so even my 2 year old Preschool class could play this one. They loved matching the cards and really loved the bunny. 

Even my 13 year old daughter loved playing this game with me!

The 411:

This was really a fun game. My daughter, my class loved it!  We played probably 50 rounds of this the first night before I brought it to my class.

 

Honey Cream Spreads Has Me Washing My Fair Share of Spoons Lately

Hey OMG Guys I am so happy to introduce you to Bumbleberry Farms. Prior to an email I had never heard of them but I am so thankful they reached out to me. Bumbleberry Farms is a woman owned business that is transforming honey cultivation. Their unique approach helps promote healthy environment while also supporting community development.

Let me tell you....this stuff is good unfortunately for me too good. I have found myself going in with my Demitasse spoon more than I should.  

We received Squirrel Crazy which is truly the yummiest.  This morning I made some Grands Biscuits and my daughter and I both went to the fridge laughing that we both had the same idea.  We spread a little inside the warm biscuits and ate more than half before the boys even know the biscuits were out of the oven.

So far we have used it on waffles, bagels, biscuits.  My daughter was very impressed with the ingredients. "Mom it has ingredients we can all pronounce; whole milk, cane sugar, pure maple syrup, vanilla and sea salt. THAT IS IT!"

We definitely love it and will be purchasing again!

The other sample was Molten Lava which we both thought we would like more because it was chocolate. We liked it and probably would have loved it if it was the only one we tried but like Squirrel Crazy a little more. 

Check out their website if you have a chance and maybe you will find something you love but don't complain to me if you find yourself sticking a Demitasse Spoon into these little jars of sunshine!