I track my husband. With GPS.

My husband’s commute to work is a bit brutal. He leaves the house by 5:15AM in order to beat the traffic, showers at the gym and then stays at the office until after 7pm to avoid rush-hour. On a good day, the trip takes 45 minutes, on a bad day it can take 2 hours; the difference merely due to what time he sets out.

The good part is that he loves what he does, running a staffing firm and helping people find work. The bad part is that he misses the kids (and I hope me too) a lot. Usually our kids are in bed by the time he walks in the door.  During a bad stretch, it can be 3 days in a row where he hasn’t seen them awake – and that kills him.

Between video chatting with Google’s GChat and iPhone’s FaceTime we make it work. We’ve also worked it so that he is home early for dinner with the kids twice a week and then will make up for it by doing some work on the weekends.

It works for us for now.

On those days when he sets out from the office in traffic, the kids and I track him.

With GPS.

We do.

I do it to estimate when he’s 20 minutes away so I can put the finishing touches on dinner. The kids love to track him and see ‘where Daddy is’ so they can greet him as he rolls into the driveway.

We like to joke that it’s the best Lo-Jack for your spouse.

And it’s free.

Here’s how you can do it using Google’s Latitude App:

1. Go to www.google.com/latitudes
2. Register your phone or just use it on your desktop.

Pretty simple.

Happy Tracking!

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Oscar Party Marble Corn

Something so yummy shouldn’t be as easy as this to make.

There’s a fantastic dessert shop in downtown Truckee that makes the world’s best fudge and candied apples. Sweets is a local and tourist hot spot. My favorite is actually what they label as their “3rd best seller,” the MarbleCorn.  Made with buttered and lightly salted popcorn, drizzled with caramel and then Belgian chocolate, it’s a dream come true.  We always stop and get a bag of this stuff for our ride home.  This last time I started thinking how great of a dessert this would be for an Oscar party!

So here’s how I’m making it:

Ingredients

• microwave popcorn (I recommend Newman’s Own natural brand)
• 6 oz. of belgian milk chocolate (any melting chocolate will do, I get the Pounder Plus for $4.55 at Trader Joe’s)
• 1  14 oz. bag of Kraft caramels**
• 1 tablespoon of water

** Do not use caramel sauce – it will not harden.

Directions:

1. Pop your popcorn.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.
3. Spread popcorn in a single layer on your lined cookie sheet.
4. Unwrap caramels from cellophane wrappers and place in a deep microwave safe bowl.
5. Microwave on high or medium-high for 2 minutes. Watch closely and be VERY careful, use over mitts, caramel will be VERY HOT when melted!
6. Using a spoon, carefully drizzle melted caramel over the popcorn. Make long ribbons of caramel and let it set until hardened. You can also put it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
   
7. When caramel has set, chop your chocolate.
8. Place chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high until melted, stirring at 1 minute intervals.
9. Drizzle chocolate over caramel and let set in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or at room temperature.
10. Cut into strips and ENJOY!

Serve your caramel and chocolate popcorn on a plate or package it up as a party favor for your Oscar party or Movie Night

The post Oscar Party Treat: Caramel Chocolate Popcorn appeared first on Periwinkle Papillon.

Want to make a show-stopper for your Valentine’s Day celebration? Why not try this gorgeous cake? Here’s the tutorial from i am baker.

Heart Cake Tutorial from i am baker

Wow!

The post i ♥ cake appeared first on Periwinkle Papillon.