What Geeky Gifts are a Must for Your Christmas List?

I have a family of geeks. There's a mommy geekette (the author of this brilliant little gazette), a daddy geek, and three little geeks (teen, tween, and toddler) who all love geeky gifts this time of year. The current status of the economy however has us seriously watching our geek pennies in search of gifts that are as fun as they are functional.

One such gift that the tween geek in the family my find beneath the geek tree (and what a tree it will be) is one of these nifty Lego Watches. What kid can resist the call of Legos and this particular geek kid happens to be the time Nazi in our family. In other words, this is a gift that he can truly appreciate. His big gift this holiday season though is below. It's time he moved up from the training bicycle to something a little more rough and tumble.




The other geek children each present unique challenges of their own. The teen, of course, wants everything that costs a few robotic arms and legs in the process. She's pretty much out of luck on the high end gifts this holiday season. Hopefully we will find a few little surprises that she neither expects or will shun as somehow inferior to her absolute geek superiority (yes, we say things like this to her face too). She does enjoy studying about Japanese culture and language. She is picking up the language quite nicely. We're thinking of something like this lamp to encourage her pursuit of knowledge about this fascinating culture and language.


The little geekette in training is the easiest to please and to shop for. Unfortunately, she's also the most fun (because she's so easy to please--she likes everything). We want to get her something that will provide hours of enjoyment but also work as an aid to learning. Our choice was a learning toy perfect for any little princess. More importantly, in the right color scheme for our little princess.



When we make one special gift the cornerstone of our Holiday giving and supplement with other gifts that are hand made or low in cost but high in value and you can still have an excellent Christmas suitable for the geek in all of us without creating a budgetary nightmare.

Battlestar Galactica PC Mod

As a fan of modding PCs and the television show Battlestar Galactica (say it isn't true that this is the final season), I couldn't let this amazing PC mod go by without a serious Geekette-Gazette nod. Being the SciFi geek that I am, I, of course, have a subscription to several of the little email newsletters that the SciFi channel sends out each week. One of those newsletters is for DVICE and in this week's installment you will find this lovely little PC modification.

You can see a great video of the mod below.



Even if you aren't a fan of the television series you should be able to send a serious nod to the creative mind it took to come up with the idea of this particular PC mod. I'm impressed by the actual implementation. At any rate, I'm lacking a caffeine infusion and you are probably getting ready for a busy day ahead. Go check out this cool computer box and then get to work! TTFN!

Awareness is Key to Cure

The fight against breast cancer is one that all women must fight. This is a global illness that impacts women of all races, ages, national origins, sexual preferences, and economic standing. There is no woman that is completely free of risk of this deadly disease and yet awareness, despite various campaigns, is still limited to a select few women around the world.

In an effort to increase awareness, there is a contest going on. The prizes are two beautiful pieces of jewelry that can be worn to share the message of awareness to everyone you come in contact with. Check out the contest and these beautiful prizes at From Cribs to Car Keys. While you are there take a good look around. You will find plenty of humor on this great blog in addition to the beautiful message of awareness.

If you value education about women's health and the issues that impact women globally, then you really should check out these pieces of jewelry and the message behind them. Even if you aren't the winner of the contest, you can follow the link to purchase these important items in the fight against breast cancer.

Why I LOVE Working at Home! I've Been Tagged

I really try not to get too personal on this blog. Probably an excellent plan since this blog is so badly neglected. However, some who read this probably know I'm a work at home mom. I work from home as a freelance writer and have been doing so for about three years now. Kelly McCausey at Wahm2.0 has issued a challenge for which I have been volunteered thanks to my good friend Dana at Momphabet Soup. It really is all good though. At least this is a challenge I can sink my teeth into.

So why do I LOVE working at home? Let me count the ways (okay I couldn't help but indulge in a moment of corny behavior).

1) I LOVE the fact that my commute is 30 seconds.
2) I LOVE the fact that I don't have to "dress" for success in corporate attire.
3) I LOVE the fact that I do not have to make the choice between contributing to the household expenses and leaving my child in daycare.
4) I absolutely adore the fact that I don't have to beg a boss for permission to leave when my children need me, are sick, or have something special going on at school.
5) I LOVE the fact that I get to pick the decor of my office.
6) I LOVE that I am not bound by four walls or eight hours in order to get the job done.
7) I LOVE the fact that unless I'm in a particularly masochistic mood I never need to wear pantyhose again!
8) But the most important thing I love about working at home is that I am surrounded each and every day by my favorite people in the world rather than an office of strangers.

Of course, there is no substitute for the fact that the latest and greatest office gadgets and gizmos are now tax deductible.