Maya Wrap Baby Sling

November 17th, 2006 by Duff OMelia

I really like this baby sling from Maya Wrap. It’s well made, it can hold your infant or toddler in 4 billion different ways, it packs well for travel, and it always seems to put our children to sleep.

We call it the external uterus.

The one downside is that takes awhile to learn how to use it. A video that ships with the product helps out a bunch. It’s an amazing video. There’s a woman in the video who simultaneously breast feeds twins in the sling with no hands. It’s hard not to marvel at such an incredible feat.



Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser

November 15th, 2006 by Duff OMelia

We use a ton of Cetaphil in our house. Two of our kids have sensitive dry skin so we use this product for their baths rather than harsher soaps which really dry them out. We’ve been to at least 3 dermatologists over the past few years and ALL of them recommended Cetaphil.

I use Cetaphil to wash my face because regular soaps seem to cause clogged pores. This stuff cleared my face pretty fast. It’s pretty amazing.

I have a friend who used to use moisturizer after showering. That was because regular soap often acts as a drying agent. With Cetaphil, no more moisturizer was needed.

We actually use the generic version of Cetaphil which is made by Equate and sold at Wal-Mart. The Equate brand is more reasonably priced.

PeepCode Restful Rails Screencast

November 13th, 2006 by Duff OMelia

Ryan recommended this screencast to me and I’m glad that he did. If you’re a rails programmer and you’d like to write a RESTful Rails application, then this screencast by Geoffrey Grosenbach (a.k.a. topfunky) will be quite useful to you. Geoffrey did an excellent job creating it. It was well worth the price.

Pink Lady Apples

November 10th, 2006 by Duff OMelia

Have I been living in a bubble for the past few decades? Does everyone else know about Pink Lady Apples? Am I the only human to have just discovered them?

I thought I knew all of the apple varieties out there. I’ve always been a fan of the Empire’s and the Granny Smith’s. This year at the farmer’s market we found this yummy variety.

They’re crisp, juicy, and delicious. They’re quite good.



Budget Truck Rental

November 10th, 2006 by Duff OMelia

We’ve used Budget Truck Rental a number of times for out of state moves and we’ve been pretty happy with them.

I’ve been told that their trucks are higher quality than Uhaul’s and I’ve found that to be the case as well.

Light Along the Journey

November 6th, 2006 by Duff OMelia

As of November of 2006, there are over 59 million blogs. That’s a lot of blogs. Unfortunately, there aren’t 59 million life-transforming blogs.

That’s why I’m excited to report that I recently discovered the blog named Light Along the Journey written by James Hollandsworth. A number of his posts have really got me thinking and I’m excited to be subscribed.

I was also excited to see the following statement on the site: “I strive to have several friends who are pastors to regularly review my content for doctrinal integrity and accountability.” That’s excellent. Check this blog out.

No Excuses

November 4th, 2006 by Duff OMelia

I enjoyed this book by Kyle Maynard. It’s a book about figuring out how to get things done even when they seem impossible. It’s a book about a congenital amputee. It’s a book that could inspire you.

Kyle Maynard’s arms end at his elbows and his legs end at his knees. He wrestled quite well in high school and went on to wrestle at the college level. He eats with regular silverware. He drives a car. He achieves goals.

I also enjoyed reading about his family and especially about his incredible parents. This is a good book.

Here is a video of the author:


You can also See the videos on the YouTube site if you’d like.

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

November 3rd, 2006 by Duff OMelia

This is a great children’s book about the three little pigs. There’s a catch though. It’s told from the perspective of the wolf. It’s great for the kids to see that there are different perspectives and points of view. They seem to like it when it’s read using a New York mafia voice, especially when the wolf is talking about his dear old granny.

Jon Scieszka did an excellent job on this book.

The Child's Story Bible

November 1st, 2006 by Duff OMelia

This is my favorite story Bible for children. I have found many story Bibles to be either completely inaccurate or so watered down that the meaning gets contorted. This story Bible is different. I have found it to be quite accurate. The author is Catherine Vos and she did an incredible job on it.