Now that our roof and ceiling has been fixed (in shaa Allah!), my rowdy ruffians and I are excited about doing up our bedroom and library (aka The Lightbulb Lab). Last week, I looked up several homeschooling blogs for inspiration and discovered two things:

(a) that I must stop looking at other people’s school rooms – going green with envy is seriously injurious to my mental well-being :P and
(b) Pinterest

What’s Pinterest, you say? Well it’s a nifty little thing really! It’s a virtual pinboard that lets you organise and share the goodies you find online. You can get ideas and inspiration for your many interests, connect with other users and check out their pinboards and even promote your own business/brand! If, like, me, you have a bazillion bookmarks, hobbies and projects, then Pinterest will be right up your alley.

You will need an invitation or request an invitation to set up an account. I am still waiting for my request to get approved (*sigh*), but I know it will be worth it, in shaa Allah :) I’ve already checked out several pinboards and got lots of ideas for homeschooling, crafting and green living ideas!

I’m pining to pin but ah… patience :)

Update: I’ve got my much hankered after Pinterest account! Alhamdulillah :)

I have nothing but the deepest loathing for IE. I hate it… haaaate it with a vengeance.

I use the lovely Firefox – if you don’t use it, WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN? Get it… Go on! *shoo*

Another browser you should try is Opera. Yes, I am sure you know about all the different browsers that exist, so why this post?

Well! The Opera browser comes with ads – you would have to pay US$39 to get rid of them. Opera is having its 10-year online anniversary party now and giving out party favors! If you join their party, which lasts till 12 midnight Wednesday, August 31 2005 (PDT), you will get a free registration code which will make the browser ad-free.

It’s nice having it around if only to see if your site’s design is cross-browser compatible.

*Update* – It’s FREE!

I am not totally convinced that Google isn’t up to no good but I’ll take my chances with them. *S* They have unleashed yet another useful tool – Google Talk. It is supremely quick to install, preloads your gmail contacts and best of all, it is PLAIN and SIMPLE. I pray that they don’t add smilies, winks, emoticons and what not… those foolish things irritate the life out of me.

I really love the site Enchanted Learning. It is a little online encyclopedia catered to children on a diverse range of subjects, from animals to plants to geography. Enchanted Learning also has an online picture dictionary, illustrated science dictionaries, crafts pages and more. Some materials are also available in other languages. Subjects are arranged thematically and also in alphabetical order for easy navigation.

What I like best about it are the fuss-free printables – they aren’t fancy for sure, but that is EXACTLY how and why I like them. Illustrations are mostly black and whites with only outlines so that helps me save on ink for the printer! Much of the information is free but with membership (it’s WORTH IT, I tell you!), one gets so much more printable material.

I have been so psyched about this site that I’ve been busy all morning reading and downloading…

I’m SUCH a mom…

Life is good, didn’t I tell you? Alhamdulillah.