Less than 3 months!

Until Spring!  Whoo!  I hate winter with a passion, and after Christmas, count down the days until Spring arrives.  Even though sometimes Winter likes to stick around, it's never so bad once Spring hits.

Christmas was good.  We went to our family homes up north, and got to spend some much needed family time with our respective parents.  It was good.  Luke got almost everything he wanted, except that he didn't tell Santa until 3 days before Christmas that he wanted a Fidget Friend.  And by that point, there wasn't one to be found.  At. All.  Oh well, he didn't seem to miss it, and if he's still talking about it come his birthday, we'll revisit that issue. 

Everything else seems to be chugging right along.  I'm ready for the New Year to arrive, 2012 will be better than 2011.  :)  I swear!  :) I'll be working this weekend at both jobs, trying to bank some extra money for the spring, when we're moving.  No, we haven't found a place to live, but I'm working on it. 

Housing Woes

I know, definitely first world problems.  However, when you live in an 800 square foot cracker box, you start yearning for just a bit of space to call your own. 
The lease on where we are renting right now is up in just a few months.  So of course, I'm stressing out about finding another place to lease.  It's the perfect time to move, because Luke is in kindy, so it's acceptable, and not too stressful to move before first grade.  But, that leads us to all sorts of other problems....school district vs. school district, public vs. Catholic, that school vs. this school.... do we stay at our home school, or do we not worry about that, and just move where we find the best deal? 
We've pretty much decided to move to another community, or at the very least, not stay in our home school.  The principal of Luke's current school made some crappy comments regarding my son, and I found out about it.  And the PTO/parents are way too 'holier than thou', which makes me want to vomit.  Really.  It just really irritates me, and know that I'm doing my best to raise my child, and that no one can tell me differently.  And, I don't take kindly to others telling me that I'm doing something wrong or whatever. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We've got the tree up after a lovely Thanksgiving weekend dustup, I purchased supplies for making candy/cookies, and I've started purchasing Christmas presents for my family.  Dave's family can suck it.   LOL!!  No, it's his turn to buy presents for his family.  I told him that last year, and I've stuck by it. 

My parents are done, my one brother is done, I haven't figured out what to get the other brother.  He's so hard to buy for, which irritates me.  My middle brother got a gag gift from me, he loves Hannukah, even though he's not Jewish.  So I found a Menorah ornament for him.  Which, hello, a Menorah on a Christmas tree?  Wha?  And I'm honestly not trying to be offensive in any way shape or form.  I just know that he will enjoy it.  So I bought it. 

Luke is almost finished, I'm hitting the Scholastic book sale tomorrow, to see what I can get there, and then I'm done with him.  He's got a book, a game, pajamas, and well, he doesn't have a need, but that's fine.  He can go without his need.  Although, I might have to pick him up some underwear.  ;)  But, if I don't, it's not a huge deal. 

Whoo hoo to Target!  When I went shopping this morning, I forgot my $10 gift card coupon.  So they are giving me the gift card!  All I have to do is bring in the receipt and the coupon.

I feel so disjointed in this blog post.  I've got the beginnings of a migraine, so that might be why.  I'm just so damn tired because of work, and what seems like my entire life is just stressing me out. 

11 cents!!

Seriously?  I looked at my paycheck online today, and I'm 11 cents short of the next dollar.  Couldn't you have just given me the extra 11 cents?  LOL!! Oh well, it's all good.  :) 

I was supposed to go to our friends' house tonight, but I am too tired.  So I'm playing around on Pintrest and trying to relax enough to go to sleep, as I only got 3 hours this afternoon, and I have to work yet again tonight.  Oh well, only 3 more days, and then I'll be good for one whole day. ;)  And I still have to work both days.  So we shall see how exhausted I am by Christmas.

Lying....

I've been thinking about this a lot recently.  I tell Luke ALL. THE. TIME, I hate liars more than thieves.  How can you teach your child not to lie, when you lie?  And I'm not talking about 'Oh, your hair looks fine', or 'That skirt doesn't make your butt look big'.  I'm talking about 'I have a college degree' or 'I've swum the English Channel' type of lies.  When neither one of those are true.  The college degree one really bothers me. I've got a degree that I worked my a$$ off for, and am still paying Sallie Mae for 10+ years after graduation.  For someone to just blithely say 'Oh, I have a degree' when they don't, makes it seem like anyone can get one, it's just super easy.  When it's not just super easy. 

And how do you tell your children not to lie when you're lying yourself?  Apparently, it's do as I say, not as I do.  Which how hypocritical is that?  And that shows the kids that it's ok to lie as they grow up.  They're the kids that when they're adults aren't going to think twice about lying and saying they have degrees or higher degrees than they actually have.  I've tried to teach Luke that even if you're going to get in trouble, it's better to not lie and be honest, because once I find out you've lied, I will punish you more for that than I would have if you'd told the truth.

I read this book last week, and I'll be danged if I can't remember the title.  It was all about lying and why people lie.  His basic premise was that people lie to make themselves feel better about themselves.  Which makes sense.  Why would you lie about something that really, no one cares about.  To make yourself seem more important than you really are to others. And really, who cares if you don't have a million dollars and a horse?  If you say you do, and we find out you don't, then it makes people judge you poorly. 

Monday, Funday....

Although, really, not so much.  It's cold and dreary here in Central Indiana, and I've heard the dreaded word 'snow' in the weather report already.  Yes, we've already had snow, but every time it snows now, or even mentions snow, I dread it- knowing that one day soon, the ground will be cold enough for it to stick, and cause slippery roads.  Ugh. 

Tomorrow, technically, is St. Nick's Day.  So today, I have to wrap the present my mom gave Luke and get it ready for him.  I should also dig out a present that I bought a year ago for him, and completely forgot about!  I was going to run to Meijer, but just remembered the book/game, and that will work for me.  I still need to get the scooter out of the truck though.  I wish I still lived at home, my mom and dad would give me something.  I don't know- I'm missing my family really badly right now.  They only live 3 hours away, and I just saw them a few weeks ago, and I'll be seeing them this weekend as well.  But I am missing them a lot right now for some reason. 

What in the world??

I went to work today, expecting it to be a normal day, yes, I had to watch my hours, but that's not too bad.  I come in, and my boss is walking out.  WTH?  Talked to another girl, and found out he got fired.  Because he was on final warning due to our 'productivity'.  Even though he's not doing the hiring, and there are really slow people that were hired.  And we're down several team members.  But it's his fault, so he had to take the fall.  Whatever.  Who fires someone 3 weeks before Christmas?  Well, apparently, my job does.  So I just need to keep my nose clean and just put my head down and work as hard as I can.  I ended up staying 40 minutes over today, and the big store manager was upset because I didn't want to stay later than that!  Um, you schedule me until 8am, that's the time I want to leave.  Unless you ask me to stay later.  Just don't expect it.  Ya know?

Cookbooks, oh how I love thee!

Several years ago, I started becoming very interested in local cookbooks, which led me to Junior League cookbooks from various cities around the nation.  I love them because they are 'home grown', meaning members 'donate' recipes, they are triple tested, and then accepted into the cookbook.  So you've definitely got the best of the best from each area. 

Last night, I signed into Association of Junior Leagues, International's website.  Honestly, I was just looking around to see what kind of stuff they had, bags, sweatshirts, whatever.  BUT!  I found the cookbook section.  Oh Yes, they had cookbooks from all over the nation, direct from their respective Junior Leagues!  Momma is one happy camper.  :)  I know what I'm asking for for Christmas/my birthday.  And when I want to treat myself to a cookbook, I don't have to scour Half Price Books or Paper Back Swap to just wait for a copy to become available.  I am so excited!!  It totally just made my day!

Beyond all that, I am getting my butt kicked from work.  I am currently on day 14, and will be working 21 straight days without a day off.  At least the paycheck will be really sweet.  And just in time for Christmas shopping!  Yay!

SNOW?!?!

Already?  Ok, ok, it's already almost December, but STILL!  I hate snow!  It snowed 2x when we lived in Charlotte, it was barely snow- it was more like wet fat flakes, and I didn't like it then either!  And since I work early mornings, I always dread snow at night/early morning.  Since no one is driving at that time it makes it really super slick.  Although, I'd rather be the only one on the road, that way I don't have to worry about other idiots on the road. 

I'm finally finished with my overnights for work.  They kicked my butt, especially since my 'manager' decided to call in sick 2 days in a row.  Which, fine, whatever, even though he misses a lot of work, but he totally screwed us all over by doing so.  His manager ended up working 16+ hours, (which is why he gets paid the big bucks!), and then what should have been only a 5 hour shift for stocking turned into an almost 8 hour overnight shift.  UGH!  It's money, and I'm fine with it, it was just the entire idea of we've been working our butts off, and then people don't care, and will just call in since they don't feel like working!

But, in other awesome news- I sold an afghan on Etsy!  I've had them listed for a few days, and I'm just glad it sold!  Now, I still have more on there, but at least 1 is gone!!

Really??

I had to be at work on Thanksgiving at 11:30pm, and worked until 5am this morning.  Let me just say that I saw nothing to restore my faith in humanity.  OMG!  The crowds were nuts, and people were just mowing each other down!  I got hit 6-10 times by televisions because people were just pushing others out of the way.  And I'm not a small girl, I'm not Jennifer Nettles, and you CAN SEE ME!  But people didn't care, let's just run over people.  Argh!

But, that steels my resolve for shop local Saturday, and next year, purchasing Christmas gifts all year round, so that I can relax, and probably work instead of stressing out about what I still need to get.  I hate that!   It also makes me realize that we don't need as much as we get for Christmas.  I'm still resolved to get the 4 things for Luke, but that's it.  I'm not going bigger, I'm not getting more.  And,  we are all cool with that. 

Christmas is Coming

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is in a few weeks!!  Then that means that Christmas is right. around. the. corner.  ARGH!  I have figured out what I'm getting Luke though.  We do "something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read" for presents, because it helps cut down on the vast materialism of the holiday.  And then of course a stocking, but that's a small stocking- just 1 small thing, candy, and an ornament.  For his want, I'm buying a Thomas the Train set or Sponge Bob Lego set.  For his need, I'm purchasing a dinosaur sheet set for his bed.  For his read, we are holding the school's book fair this week, so I'm getting  something from him there.  Of course, I don't know which book, but that's only because I don't know what they're going to have there on offer.  And his wear is a pair of pajamas, we do that as a tradition every year- we buy a new pair of pajamas to wear for Christmas Eve. 

I love that- it's 4 presents, and it's not obscene.  I know people who give their kids 10 gifts!  10!  Not including stocking stuffers or outside their immediate family!  Crazy!  But, these are the same parents who complain because their children are spoiled.  Really?  Gee,  I wonder why your kids are spoiled brats- you give them everything they want! 

Fall Break

It's so nice to have a few days off, where I'm not required to be at work at 4am, or whatever.  We went away for a night, and it was just enough to recharge my batteries.  I'm still getting ready for a craft show next Saturday, but I definitely made a dent in what I want to get accomplished for that show.  I'm not going to get finished what I originally wanted to finish, but I'm definitely pleased with how much I will be able to get accomplished and ready for sale. 

The light at the end of the tunnel

is not an oncoming train!  I got some good news yesterday tempered with a healthy dose of guilt.  But, long story really short is that we might actually be able to start saving here soon, and looking to purchase a house in a few months!  Whoo!!

RealAge

A friend of mine posted on her blog about the realage test.  And I decided to take it.  I'm 35, and my realage results say that I'm 35.4.  Which isn't bad, because I'm actually turning 36 in February.    But, I'd love to be younger, or at least living like I'm younger.  I want to live for a long time, and then die when I'm old and crotchety.  ;) 

I had my weigh in today.  I didn't gain, but I didn't lose.  So that means that next week, it'll come off.  My goal is to be down 4 lbs before we go on vacation next week, and down another 5 by the time I see my oncologist in 2 weeks.  It's totally doable, but I just have to keep on it!

Cold and dreary day...

I'm sitting in my nice warm house, watching CNN, and crocheting snowflakes for a local craft show I'm participating in in a few weeks.  It's chilly outside, and the rain is dreary and cold.  :(  As much as I don't want to admit it, I know winter's almost here.  Boo.  That means scraping my truck before work, bundling up to go outside, and freezing my tushy off.  Boo!!!!  Winter is so depressing anyway, and I always try and avoid the thought/images as much as possible. 

The dreariness isn't helped by some news I received last night.  My mom's older brother has been in the hospital for over a week, and we just found out about it.  WTH?  Yup, he's having heart issues, along with internal bleeding and diabetes.  I can't believe my aunt never even bothered to call her own brother and sisters in law to let them know!  I just hope that nothing happens to him, and he continues to recover.   I just can't imagine it- my mom called his wife(my aunt) and my aunt 'had to' call my uncle to see if he wanted his sister to know what was going on.  I just hope my brothers and I aren't like that when we 'grow up'.  Yeah, I still consider us children, even though we're all over 30!  :)

Apparently I'm obsessed....

With the word 'So..."  I have been thinking about what to post the last few days, and ALL. OF. THEM. start with the word So....  Notice:

So, I've been working a lot....
So, we decided to go to the pumpkin.....
So, thank heavens tomorrow is.....

Yeah, I'm a little annoyed by it.  It's not even a good word to use!!  What the heck ever!

Weigh in was not good today.  I gained 2 lbs.  It'll come off next week, but still....  I am just tired of the excuses that they like to come up with.  Oh, I gained because I didn't make good choices.  Yup.  That's it.  I didn't exercise, I didn't track, I didn't do this or that.  It is what it is, and you just have to work around it, and through it.  

Tarred

I was at work this morning, and my boss comes up to me to assume that I can stay late.  I really hate when they do that, I do have a life out side my job!

   I'm on a house cleaning kick lately.  I threw out two bags of garbage today, and that was only in the few hours that I was home alone before the bus arrived!  I can't wait until tomorrow, when I'm home all day by myself, not working tomorrow morning, and can actually clean for several hours.  Yay!  :)  So excited!  But, I have to go grocery shopping too.  Which will be fine.  :)

  My whole budget is $75 for the week.   Every week.  Sometimes it's less. But, I very rarely go over $65 in terms of spending.  I'm lucky in that I know prices, and am not brand loyal at all, except for Tide.  I cannot see spending almost $2 on a can of beans that I can get for less than a dollar in another brand, or cheaper than that when I purchase a bag of dried beans. 

All of my meals are made from scratch, and I try new recipes as well.  And, before you say, why, Frugal Girl, you must love your beans!, I say to you, I hate beans.  I eat them when necessary, and that's all.  :)  I serve meat at 4 out of 7 meals a week.  Portion control is so important, and so many people overlook it. 

Yay! Maybe?

It seems like I've broken my plateau!  After 8 LONG weeks of losing and gaining the same 2 lbs, the last two weeks, I've lost 5 lbs, breaking my lowest weight, and just making me feel all around awesome!  :)  So I celebrated by eating fast food 2x today.  Plus baking my yummy sourdough bread.  :) 

Sad Really....

My husband's brother..... I shall call him Dingbat, because really, that's what he is, but anyway, he's married to a girl named Chris.  Chris is actually interested in a lot of the same things I am- green living, self sufficiency, raising animals, living on a farm, canning, cheese making, etc.  Yet, I barely talk to her because I do not like him.  He's very black and white, he's right, you're wrong, and I just can't deal with that.  I'm not like that at all.  It's definitely sad, because we have so much in common, that we should be best friends- or at least better friends then what we are now- which is to say, there is no friendship, and I ignore them unless spoken directly to. 

They were even supposed to be the guardians of the kids if anything were to happen to us before the oldest was 18.  Yesterday, I facebooked them, and told them that we've decided to go in a different direction with our guardianship needs.  Dingbat wrote back, and was like, we understand, and we know that we've 'wronged' you in some way.  Forgive us for whatever.  And I want to write back and say, where do I start?  But that doesn't solve anything, and really, it's just better that we leave it alone now that it's 'taken care of' for the most part.  I care that we're not friends, but unfortunately, not enough to make a change about it. 

Only 14 more days....

If I can just deal with Comcast until then, we're done with them.  They are crashing 60+ times an hour, and I am unable to do any work!  I have work to do, and I have to spend hours at a time trying to get the pages to load/refresh.  I'm so sick of it.  I've refused to pay, because I'm not getting what I'm paying for.  The woman who I just talked to told me that oh, you don't have service anymore, why are you complaining about it?  Um, bitch, our cancellation is Oct. 20.  It's not past Oct. 20.  Why would I not have service until then?  And decent service at that.  So I've asked to speak to a supervisor, which I'm not holding out hope that she'll be able to fix it.  They can't do anything.  However, something she said makes me wonder if they've not jacked our service because they don't know when we've cancelled. 

Thankful Thursday

Especially the way everything's been going recently, I have to remember to be thankful.  I feel like I can barely get up, before I'm knocked down again.  But, there are so many good things in my life, that I have to be thankful.

*My family and friends.  I love them, and know that I can count on them for anything.
*My health.  I know that I'm definitely blessed with that.
*I have a roof over my head and food in my belly.  Even though it's not where I want to live, I'd rather live here than in my car!
*The ability to read- so many don't have that ability, and  reading is my escape!

Finally Friday!

It's been a rough week, I've worked every day, and if I can just get through tomorrow morning, I will actually have Sunday off!  Whoo!!  I am thrilled, even though I still have to work my other job on Sunday.  At least I'm not in retail!  I'm excited!  And then next week, I don't have nearly as many hours, so I can just relax and just deal with my other stuff that needs to get done!

I really need to get crocheting and crafting for the 2 craft fairs that I've signed up to participate in.  I just want them to go well, and just get stuff sold, and a following!  That's all I want, is that too much to ask??

At least everything is fixed now....

The entire matter has now been resolved.  Thank Heavens!  There was a massive mis-communication between myself and the president of Luke's school's PTO.  Thankfully, it's been resolved, and I'm all good now. 

Let me back up a bit.  I've been volunteered to be the head of the book fair, and was told to change the spring book fair.  I changed it, but not before someone else did, and no one caught it until recently. I spent over an hour on the phone with people today, just to get it all straightened up, even though it wasn't my fault.  At one point, I offered to step down.  That wasn't met really well, but at the same time, I viewed the whole thing as being micromanaged, and I am so not cool with that.  I'm an adult, and I can do things on my own.  However, you need to communicate with me, not just go behind my back. 

I've joined Pintrest.  It seems pretty interesting, and basically what I've been thinking about doing anyway- making a dream board.  What I want my house to look like, what I want the rooms to look like, where I want to visit, etc.  We shall see how it turns out.  :)

Cooking with Frugal Girl

Let's just be frank here, I love cooking.  In my dream world, I have a huge farmer's kitchen, with tons of cabinets and counter space, where I bake bread daily or every other day, and I create wonderful home cooked meals daily for my family.  In reality, my kitchen is....not quite that nice, although, I try and compensate for it, by having pantries in addition to my meager counter space.  And in terms of cooking, I do the best I can, I bake bread almost every few days, and have struggled with, and have mostly succeeded with cooking 6 days out of 7, and going out only 1 time a week.  I've told my husband that if I had a bigger/better kitchen I'd cook more!  And enjoy it!  :) 

I collect cookbooks, and am a semi professional cook (I get paid for it, but I don't do it daily).  So I can look at recipes, and kind of change things around so that the recipes are good for me and my family.  And I'm also on Weight Watchers, so that is another thing that I am constantly tweaking in recipes- the nutritional content.  And I enjoy doing that.  I enjoy making things healthier and better for us. 

I don't know that I'll ever post some of my recipes here, just because it seems almost pretentious, but I might.  If I'm feeling....well.... pretentious!  

Tired... so very very tired....

I was at work this morning, and I agreed to stay later, a little.  I didn't want to stay a whole long time, and I think I pissed off the guy I was supposed to be helping.  Oh well, tough crap, I was totally not even supposed to be there anyway, so screw it.  I've been there almost a year, so it's not like they're going to fire me after the Holidays.  Ya know?  All I know is if they ask me to stay tomorrow, it's not happening!!  Not. At. All. 

And part of it was that I had to take Luke to the doctor this afternoon.  We've pretty much decided that it's an allergy thing, so we need to start trying Zyrtec to see if that works.  If it doesn't, then we'll move onto something else.  But until then, we'll just go with OTC meds.  

But beyond that, I did get exercise in, I did 3 miles to Leslie Sansone.  Whom I hate more than life itself some days, but I plugged in my Brantley Gilbert and walked to him instead of her. 

Good Bye Comcast!!

I just placed an order for AT&T U-verse.  We are getting rid of Comcast- prices keep rising, and the service just keeps getting worse.  Our modem crapped out, so we got a 'new' one, and the same problems are still occurring.  And while I could give them another chance, I'm not going to, because we've been contemplating the switch for a while, and we're just tired of Comcast in general.  We are getting installed on Oct. 19th, which given how much they're advertising, they should have tons of openings!!  Oh well, there's an end in sight for Comcast. Which is totally the most important thing!

Central Indiana Pickers

Could totally be an A&E show!  I was talking to a friend this morning at work because I was telling him about my Goodwill adventure yesterday.  He has agreed to help teach me what to look for so that I can start picking too.  He's even going to take me to auctions to teach me what to do there.  I would love to get into storage locker auctions as well.  My brothers do that, and I think it would be awesome. 

So in my first foray into picking, I visited two Goodwill stores.  One, I bought a few books, one for myself, and the other two to read with the intention of reselling to Half Price Books or listing on Paperback Swap.  The other one I sort of lucked out, I found a pair of jeans for me to wear (that I thought would fit sometime this winter, and for $6.99 with tags, I really couldn't beat that), and several Aeropostale and Hollister shirts. So tomorrow, I need to take those to resell.

But, in terms of the pants, yeah, I looked at them, went, they look like they'll actually fit me.  And they did.  They're a bit tight, but nothing major, like I can totally wear them.  So there goes that plan of having them when I need them later.  Which kind of stinks, because I really do have enough jeans that fit, while they might be bigger than normal, and I wanted a pair of jeans that I could wear when those were just WAY TOO big.  So now do I return them, and then get something else?  Or just throw them in the pile of stuff to sell tomorrow?  Decisions, decisions....

We all want things....

But, that doesn't mean we're going to get what we want!  We are working on this with our oldest- he's decided that since he's ridden the bus both ways a few times, he deserves a moving train.  Um.... not so much.  :/  Like I told him- we all want things, but we don't always get what we want.  We get what we need.  And, he doesn't need another train.  He got 2 this weekend, and he didn't really do anything to deserve them.  I'm tired of bribing because he doesn't want to do something that he needs to do.  So I told him when we got off the bus, you got two this weekend, and you don't get any more  any time soon.  Sorry.  Too bad, so sad. 

I'm not sure how else we can break this habit of his.  We do give an allowance, and are trying to do the Dave Ramsey method of saving, spending and giving, but I don't know what else to do.  I never got an allowance when I was kid, so I'm totally in uncharted territory with this!

It's weird- I'm kind of 'off' today.  I don't know why, because everything is going awesome for me.  I had to work this morning, and I got off a bit early, so that was nice.  Now I'm home, preparing to drive north for another job, and seeing a friend for dinner tomorrow night. I am mailing in an application for a craft fair I want to do in November.

But I feel like I'm missing something?  I don't know- it's hard to describe.  All I know is that I feel slightly off, like I'm forgetting something, or missing something, or something.  Oh well.  Maybe it's just me being odd because I actually have 2 days off in a row.  :)  I mean, I went from 6 days this past week, to 4 days next week, and then back up to 6 the week after!  Truck is being odd, so that's why the random scheduling problems. 

I am super proud of myself though- we all know my struggles with weight, how I'm slowly taking it off, and everything, and we went out to dinner last night, and I actually got something healthy (fajitas) and brought some home with me!  Now it's my lunch for Monday or even dinner tomorrow night, depending on when I get home from up north.

I did it!!

I am thrilled to announce that I will be participating in the 2012 Mini marathon here in Indy.  I am nervous as hell, but I know I will be able to finish it.  My goal, literally, is just to not get picked up by the van, but that's fine.  2013 I can go for faster.  :) 

Behind the 8 ball

Or at least I feel like I am!  I feel like I'm being pulled in 3 different directions at once, and I don't know where to start!  I've been proactive already this morning- I got off work an hour early, so I came home and wrote  1 of my 4  messages, but still need to call people.  But as it's only 8:10am, it's a bit early to be contacting businesses! I am in charge of the book fair at the elementary school we attend, and I need to change the spring book fair.  I called the woman 4 days ago, and she still hasn't called me back.  So this time I'm just calling her cell, instead of her business line.

I couldn't do this yesterday

I know that everyone was posting about the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks yesterday, and I thought about it, but I KNEW in my heart, I couldn't do it.  I just couldn't.  You see, 10 years ago, I was living in Ohio, along with my then fiance, now husband.  My younger brother, who is just 18 months younger than me, had decided to move to NYC in August, 2001.  He and a friend had gone out to New York City, found an apartment in Jersey, had gotten some interviews set up, etc.  They came back home, and were waiting for the apartment to be ready.  It was supposed to be ready 9/1.  Then 9/5.  Then 9/10.  See where I'm going with this?  By the time they got to the 10th, the landlord had PROMISED, it's going to be move in ready and they felt comfortable starting to make interviews.  He had gotten an interview at a company that was involved with the stock market somehow.  It was set for 9am on Sept. 11, at the World Trade Center.  A few days before 9/10, the boys had called the landlord, is the apartment ready?  It wasn't, so all interviews were canceled.  Including the one at the WTC.  Obviously we all know what happened 9/11.  And the company that wanted to interview him ended up losing several employees, and they never hired/interviewed my brother after that. And 10 days later, my brother and his friend rented a u-haul and moved to NYC anyway.

I spent the day yesterday watching all the shows, remembering just being so grateful and relieved that nothing happened to my family, and that the fire inspector in Jersey hadn't gotten his poop in a group and signed off on the building.   My brother now proudly wears at tattoo on his arm, signifying that time, it's roman numerals IX- 9/11. 

I am so incredibly glad...

I only have boys!  I was at work this morning, stocking Halloween crap (yes, it's already out!) and I came across girls fishnets.  There is no costume in this world that is appropriate for a 6 year old that requires the use of fishnets.  I don't care!  Fishnet gloves are ok, because apparently, the 80's are coming back for costumes, and that's fine.  But, all the costumes that are coming out this year for little girls are hooker-y.  I can see adults, but not kids!

Which brings me back to Reason number 569 that I am so glad that God didn't 'bless' me with girls.  >:)  One of these days I will write a list! 

I am thrilled- I finally found a chip that I absolutely hate!  I love most chips/salsa, they are completely my downfall- so much so that I can't have them in the house at all.  So but anyway.... 

I went to Meijer this morning to pick up milk and sausage so I can make *Lucas breakfast burritos for next week, and saw that Meijer now has baked chips.  Thought, what the heck, I'll try them.  Yeah, never again.  They are NASTY!  They are supposed to be like the Baked Lays, but they aren't.  The Meijer brand is thicker, so it doesn't crunch as much, and you can actually see the salt glazed on them.  They also don't have a good taste to them-there's a chemical aftertaste to them almost.  The only good thing is they're slightly cheaper, but really, it's not that much of a difference, so in the future I'll just splurge when I want to blow points on chips.

And I was so excited to try them.  The Meijer brand is usually awesome- there are some things that  I won't buy name brand anymore- I have completely switched to Meijer.  So this was completely unexpected.  Maybe because it just came out, they haven't gotten all the kinks out yet?  I don't know- but Meijer, if you're reading this, please fix the baked chips!  They're gross as they are right now!! 

I hate when I cannot remember what I was going to blog about right when I go to sign in and start typing!  Argh!  Oh well, I'll blog about something else, and then when I do remember, I'll just do another blog post. :)

I've been losing weight, and recently, I've just decided that I want to run a marathon before I'm 40.  It's on my 40x40 list.  Well, by May 2011, I'm not going to be ready to run a full marathon, but I've decided that I am going to walk the Mini in Indianapolis.  My whole goal is just to not have the bus pick me up, so that's under 4 hours, walking 13.1 miles.  I've talked to people who've done it, and they say that it's not bad, but it's a mini marathon, so it's bad.  So I'm signing up here in a few weeks, and we'll start training.  I want to do it, to prove to myself I can.  And I will do it, I want to put that sticker on my truck. :)

These are a few of my favorite things....

Since I'm having a downer of a day, I've decided to overrule that part of my head, and think of things that make me happy!

*Watching the First 48.  Yes, it's a crime drama.  Love it!
*Ghost Hunters!  Again, love it!
*My son.  Love him with all my heart.
*My family- mom and dad and younger brothers.  Don't know what I'd do without them.
*Reading- which reminds me, I need to get myself to the library this evening to return some books!
*Live music- I saw Jason Aldean/Chris Young/Thompson Square last weekend, and just purchased tickets to Brantley Gilbert here in town. 

An attitude of grattitude

I've been thinking so much about that kind of attitude.  I try so hard to be grateful for everything I've been given, although I know sometimes I fall short. I have enough to eat, somewhere warm to sleep, a car to drive, a job to go to.  I also have enough money to pay my bills. I have my health, and a wonderful son.  All that is more than I can say for a lot of people. 

Sometimes, it's so hard to remember how blessed I am though- I want to go somewhere, and I don't have the money.  I want to do something, but I have to work.  I'm so grateful I'm not saying, I want to go somewhere but I can't, because of my health, or because I have no way to get there.   

One of my jobs, I work for a gambling establishment. Most of the women (and really, if you saw this place, you'd realize I wasn't exaggerating!) are fantastic.  They say please and thank you, and are grateful for what we do for them.  But, there are some that you can't please no matter what.  You do and do and do, and they still want more.  I wonder what's going on in their lives that they just expect everything to be handed to them.  Were they raised that way?  Is it because of something else?  I don't know, and it's rude to ask.  *shrugs*

I love live music

One of my new favorite musicians is Brantley Gilbert.  He wrote My Kinda Party that's sung by Jason Aldean, so you know what he sounds like.  He also has "Country Must Be Country Wide" out right now.  Well, he's coming to 8 Second Saloon in November!  Whoo!  Tickets go on sale on Tuesday at noon, so I'm totally buying tickets for a few of us.  I'm so excited.  I love his music. 

ETA: I purchased VIP standing room only tickets for the show this morning.  Granted, I totally think I was the first or second person to buy them!

Happy, yet Sad

But, really, just really happy.  :)  Let me explain.  I've been on Weight Watchers since Mid- February.  Since then, I've lost 33 lbs.  Whoo!!  But, I had these awesome shorts that I used to be able to wear, before I was pregnant, and early in my pregnancy.  I tried them on before the Jason Aldean show, and they FIT!  Whoo!!  So I wore them to the show.  And they're awesome- they fit perfectly, they're short, yet not too short, and they fit great around the waist- not too mom jeans-ish, yet not 'here's my thong'-ish. 

So I'm sad that I won't be able to wear them, after this year, but happy because I'll be able to get better shorts next year in a smaller size.  :) 

I hate Fall

Not because of the weather, but because I get sick every stinkin' fall.  And for the last few days, I've been super dizzy when I lie down, and yesterday, I started getting a sore throat.  Today, my ears started itching inside, and I'm getting sniffly.  Yup- I'm sick.  So I am planning on making my chicken noodle soup to help nip this crap in the bud, so I'm not sicker than I am already.  I'll pick some stuff up from Target tomorrow, hopefully that will help!

Things I've learned in my 30 something years....

*Never never shake a baby.  Duh, but that stupid commercial gets stuck in my head every freaking time I hear it.

*Mom and Dad are always right.  Never doubt it- they've lived longer.

* Never ever work for someone else's family business.  Unless it's run like an actual business, not one of those where mom and daughter get into a fight during service hours, and daughter runs to the office to cry for 2 hours.  Yeah, I had the second one. 

* As much as you think differently when you're first married, eventually, you do realize you married his entire family as well.  Sometimes that's good.  Sometimes it's not. I'm not telling on that one.

* You can never have enough plastic bins or bookcases.

*Facebook is NEVER the place to tell bad news or good news.  Your wife is pregnant?  Call the family, don't let them find out via a status update.  Mom died?  Phone call, thanks!

*Same thing goes for texts.  Actually call the people and TELL them.

* You can never over use the words 'I love you'.  Tell those you love often. 

New recipes I want to try

I really want to try something with Squash and apples next week.  I was stocking baby food at work the other day, and saw that combination, and was like, yummy!  So that means I get to start looking for recipes with that, and try them out!!  Whoo!!

Success!!

It has been a rough week in riding the bus for our little kindergartener.  I'd like to report that for the last TWO days, he's been very calmly riding the bus, and has been super excited to go to school!!  YAY!!!  I'm so happy about this- he's been fighting riding the bus, and all last week, *Charlie has been having to drive him to school.  Yesterday, I got off work early, so we could try a new trick to get him on the bus, and it worked!  Today, we did something similar, and it worked again!  So now we'll see how tomorrow goes- but it looks like it worked, so we're good to go!!



*Not his real name.  Names that have been changed will be marked with an asterisk the first time it is used.

My Random Monday thoughts...

Yes, I know it's usually Fragment Friday, but I was pretty tired on Friday, so I neglected it....

* I hate 90 degree weather.  I am so ready for fall, or at least cooler weather, so I can buy cool  new jeans that actually fit me.  

* I wish I wasn't so blasted tired all. the. time.

* The Colts game was awesome- even though they lost. :)

* My dream house is on the market again, and it's a $10,000 price drop as well.  Makes me wonder what's wrong with it, and how much money it would cost to renovate it.  That leads me to my next question- can we do it? And get a loan?  This house is awesome.

*My little boy finally got on the bus today without his daddy.  He's been having to take him to school while I'm at work.

* Concert this weekend.  And, I have a day off tomorrow.  Whoot!!

Football is back!!

So this morning, my husband called as I was doing my running, and told me that he was given 3 Colts preseason tickets for tonight's game!  Now, I bleed Blue, I've been a huge Colts fan since 1994 when I came to Butler as a freshman.  So I'm crazy excited about going, and cannot wait to see it tonight.  I know that it's just a preseason game, and no starter is probably going to play, but that's fine, I'm just thrilled about going!

It's also pretty cool, because it's the first home game of the season, and this season is important, because the Super Bowl will be held in Indianapolis this year.  My husband and I are volunteering at the game, and there is a kick off meeting being held in a few weeks, where we can start signing up for shifts.  Super excited about that, I can't wait to find out what we are able to do.  It's going to be an awesome experience- how many 7 year olds can say they had the Super Bowl in their town, and they got to participate in all the activities beforehand, and their parents volunteered? Yeah, that's cool.  

I will be sure to post pictures tomorrow of everything! 

Second Day of Kindergarten

Was not so good for my little guy.  My husband said that he had to drive him to school this morning, because he wouldn't get on the bus.  When I asked him about school, he says he didn't want to talk about it, but he doesn't have any friends.  It breaks my heart, because we held him back, all his friends are in first grade, and now he doesn't know anyone in kindy. 

Birthday Party update!

Hugeish success.  It was a success in terms of it being over, not so much otherwise.  People didn't show up that were supposed to, and just well.... it was ok.  The kids had a blast, but I just sat around and talked to a friend and my parents, the inlaws just literally ignored me.  Not one person said anything about my weight, and no one said thank you for inviting us.  Screw it.  They've literally given me every excuse to shut them out of my life, and not worry about it. 

Crazy, crazy....

Well, the big birthday party is Saturday.  Two days away!  I need to get cleaning on the house, and I need to bake the Stegosaurus cake.  I will definitely post pictures when it is done, if it turns out.  Well, even if it doesn't, I will!

We've got people coming from up north, and we're looking at 12 people shoved into our tiny little home.  It'll be good, because it's visitors, but it's sad, because we have no room to just shove the kids outside, and the parents just all sit around and watch them play.  We're going to have 3 kids between 16 months and 26 months.  It's going to be crazy!  We've just decided to have pizza, and then I'm making a veggie tray and a fruit tray, and then onion dip with crackers.  It's so much easier, and much less stressful than in years past, and I'm so looking forward to Saturday night when it's all over. 

It's HOT outside!

So it's been 90+ degrees almost for the past 2 weeks.  It's enough to make me just stay inside and play trains with my son.  He wants to go shopping for trains, or he wants to go to the Children's Museum again.  We try and settle for McDonald's Playplace.  He meets lots of kids his own age, and I sit and read/do my weekly menu, depending on what the day is.  Today, we're planning on going out there, as soon as he wakes up.  I'll be doing my menu, and probably reading/making lists for his family birthday party next week. 

My husband is a nut about this party though.  Our son loves dinos, so I ordered a stegosaurus cakepan from Amazon.  Great, right?  Sure, except when I get it, it's crazy difficult.  So I'm going to try and decorate it, so that I can 'win' the competition that isn't even occuring between my husband's brother's wife, and his cousin and me.  Well, according to him it is, he wants his son's cake to be cooler than all the others.  And I've seen pictures, so I've got a tall order. 

Happy Birthday Baby!

(Image Courtesy Google Images)

My little guy is now 6!  OMG!  Where did the time go?







My parents came down to visit, and go to the museum, and then my brother drove down to surprise us for cake and dinner!  I was in heaven!  I miss my brother, he's been working all summer with the Cavaliers cooking for them, and he hardly ever stops at home anymore.  He'll be finished in August, but still.... I think I've seen him 2x this whole summer, and I'm at my parents house weekly. 

I think with the Cavaliers, I'm going to try and attend DCI national championships, since they take place at Lucas Oil Stadium.  I remember going last year, and it was AWESOME!  I love that we can attend these really cool events, and have our baby be exposed to so much more than he would be otherwise. 

So we ended up going to the Children's Museum yesterday, and we spent hours playing.  Digging for dinosaurs, collecting rocks from a Egyptian Tunnel (thank you National Geographic!),  visiting Egypt, and seeing all the old-fashioned trains. 

Free Is Awesome!

So, you know how I said I wasn't going to blog about how I find deals and whatnot?  Well, I'm still not doing that, but I wanted to share with you an awesome find.  This week, so for two more days only, Hamilton County Parks is having free classes for kids.  You get to learn about nature, and  today, they got to enjoy creek stomping.  Awesome!!!!  My guy had an AWESOME time, and really enjoyed finding shells and seeing crawdaddies.  We're totally  going back to the class tomorrow, and cannot wait to see what it is!!

Helicopter parenting

Helicopter parenting is the practice of hovering over you child(ren) and swooping down when you feel it's needed. The downside of this is your child never learns how to fail (or succeed!) on his own. It tends to manifest itself in more affluent communities, although that's not always the case.

Where I live, the helicopter parents are actually really bad. So much so that normal, non helicopter parents are made to feel inadequate because they refuse to play along. I am not a helicopter parent. I feel that my child needs to learn how to succeed on his own. His dad and I will not always be there for him, and I want him to realize that. 

This morning, I took him to a local county park for camp, and I was given the option of leaving, or staying.  Um...an hour doing shopping that I needed to do? Or staying with my child and following him around?  Whoo hoo!  Target here I come!  I left.  I signed the waiver and trusted that he would be fine and I would see him in an hour.  So I did my shopping, came back, and I was completely amazed by how many parents were still there!  A full half to three quarters of the parents didn't leave.  Really?  And these kids were mostly between 5-10, so definitely old enough to be on their own for an HOUR.  Then, all these parents were there, and stood right by their children, so that they could litereally reach out and touch them, if needed (for what, I have no idea, but there you go). 

What do you think?  Are you a helicopter parent?

Happy 4th of July!

                                                      (courtesy of Google Images)



So it's July 4th- I can't believe the summer is already half over.  We've done a lot of things that I've wanted to do with our son, but there's still things I want to do before school starts in the middle of next month!  I know we're definitely planning on going to a local dairy farm, where they make their own cheese, and ice cream.  Yummy!!   I know my husband is also taking him to a state park this weekend to visit his family while I work, and then in a few weeks we're planning our vacation!  Whoo!!  I am so excited, I'm just so ready to get out of here and relax. 

This weekend has been nice.  I've worked the entire weekend, and then my husband was lovely enough to allow me to sleep the entire day, so I've almost got all my sleep caught up from.  But, I'm still planning going to sleep here shortly, since I do have to work again tomorrow.  Which, at least Wednesday I'm off.  That will be nice.    And my husband is even nicer, he took the boy to our town's fireworks festival, so I've got even more time to myself.  I promised him I would clean, and I am, I am just taking this opportunity to blog as well. 

Random thought for Today....

Who ranks Angie's List?  I was watching one of their commercials that I saw on the television the other day.  They talk about how they're the most honest because it doesn't allow businesses to 'buy' their way into the directory.  That doesn't mean squat, in my opinion.  Just because someone isn't spending money to be advertised, doesn't make them a good or bad business.  There are people who had just crappy service through them, and reported it. 

Well, anyway, this commercial and an experience I had a few years ago at a local salon got me thinking about this very subject.  It just so happened I was having a mani/pedi, and I hear a woman shrieking about how her daughter should be allowed to get her hair cut at this chichi salon, even though it clearly states that no children are allowed in said spa.  As I was chatting with my girl, I found out that the woman who was screaming was actually the OWNER of Angie's List, Angie herself.  Wow.  I was amazed.  I just couldn't believe it.  She was APPARENTLY using her 'business' to threaten a reputable salon.  So that brings me to my thought- how is that fair to use your 'celebrity' or whatever you want to call it, just because you can't get your own way?  If it clearly states one thing, why do you act like you're better than everyone else, and the rules don't apply to you?  Dunno. 

And, I realize that this is so disjointed, but I have been thinking about it all day, ever since I saw the commerical.

Snarkiness

I'm feeling rather snarky today.  I want to just say things that I'm thinking, and that's so not good.  Thank heavens I'm not actually saying anything, because that would be horrible.  And no one is immune, I've been thinking things about everyone from my husband to people at the farmer's market this morning. 

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the recent spate of horrible weather, especially in Joplin, MO.  I cannot imagine going through that.  And while we did have some horrible weather last night, it's not anywhere near as bad as what happened around us.  Friends in Ohio reported 3 inch hail, from the same storm that hit us. 

House cleaning!

It's mid-May.  To me, that means spring cleaning!  And for some lucky people, they're getting deals!  Not only have I been listing stuff on ebay, I've been listing stuff on Craigslist, and Freecycling things away.  So peeps are getting deals in my neck of the woods!  My goal is to make our bedroom a sanctuary, with a nice comforter, luscious pillows, and no crap stacked to the ceiling in boxes.  Yeah, I don't ask for much, right? 

Farmer's Market!

I cannot wait!  Our local Farmer's market starts next Saturday.  We're participating, and I still have lots of stuff to make for it!  Tutus and blankets just to name 2!

New Stuff posted on Ebay!!

I've posted a ton of stuff on ebay, and I'm still going through stuff to post!  I've got Stampin' Up, Williams Sonoma, and Vera Bradley stuff, so check it out!!!! My user name there is Dolphinleuc, so search for my name!!
 Click here to go to my page!!

Farmers Markets

I am so excited!!  My local farmers market starts in 3 weeks! I love getting local produce and local goods from them, and meeting the farmers.  It makes me feel better about the food I buy.  And, I can't wait until all the produce is ready- tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries!  Yummy!

Williams Sonoma

So I have $50 in gift cards from Williams Sonoma.  What I really really want is Le Creuset cookware, or at least a baking dish.  But, they're way more than $50.  But it's an investment.  So I don't know what to do.  I'm leaning toward saving my gift cards until I get another one or two, and then go for it.  I get them from mypoints, so every time I do surveys, or read emails, I get points.

The Royal Wedding

Yes, I was totally up this morning watching the wedding.  And am still watching right now.  Princess Kate is GORGEOUS, and the Princes are so HANDSOME!  I didn't realize how much William looks like his mom.  And, I didn't realize how built Harry is.  Awwww!  I wasn't expecting to be so excited about it, but I am.  I apparently am a closet royal-watcher.  :) 

Living life in absolutes

Is that even possible?  My brother in laws, and my father in law and I were having a discussion about this over Easter.  I see so many shades of grey, and options, and reasons, that I can see both sides to most issues.  My brother in law stated that he sees everything in black and white- no grey.  He doesn't believe in most things I believe in, that's fine, but he won't even see where I'm coming from, or admit that there might be a different viewpoint.  I just don't understand- in his mind, it's either right or wrong, black or white.  The death penalty- no extenuating circumstances.  Abortion- no extenuating circumstances. 

I can't live like that.  I cannot.  I feel that's an immature way of looking at the world, because there are so many things that could turn out differently, and change minds.  And what you thought was your absolute way of looking at the world turns out to be, while not completely wrong, definitely not what you thought it was.

ARGH!!!

I freaking HATE CVS!!  They suck!  I had to fill a prescription, and it's an automatic refill, so I normally get a call, then I know I need to get over there and pick it up.  Didn't get one this month, and my supply runs out tomorrow.  So no biggie, I call, it's ready.  I'm running to the library anyway to return books, so I'll just swing by and pick it up.  I get there, it's ready, but my insurance is jacked for some reason.  So I'm told to 'circle' and they'll get my information from insurance.  I was also given the option of coming in and sitting, as it would only take a few minutes.  I chose not to go in or circle, and I told the pharm tech that I would be going, and coming back later.  Forty minutes later, I get a phone call, oh, we got your information all settled, etc.  In what universe is 40 minutes a few minutes later?  So then, as I'm talking to whomever called me back, I calmly told her that I would be switching pharmacies, as this was not the first time I've had crap-tastic service from CVS.  She couldn't understand why I was switching- Really? what part of craptastic service are you having a hard time comprehending?  And, I am currently waiting on a call back, as I requested, as I have to make a special trip out there either today or tomorrow, for a free prescription.  It's been almost 15 minutes so far, so we'll see how long it takes before they call back.

ETA: They actually did call back, and comped me my medicine.  I'm still not thrilled with them, however, and still have every intention of switching. 

Really good weekend....

Yay!  Happy Easter, y'all!  We had a really good weekend, I did have to work on Saturday morning, and then had to drive up north, but overall, it was a good weekend.  We showed off our new vehicle, and the people that mattered were impressed.  The people that didn't were jealous.  And that just is funny to me. 

Ebay

So I completely LOVE Ebay- where else can you sell your unwanted crap to purchase other people's unwanted crap?  So anyway, I'm selling a few items from Stampin' Up, and people are just so rude.  They don't read the listing, and then email me with a question that was clearly posted in the listing.  Hello?!?! Do you not know how to read? Then I don't ship out of the country- this woman emailed 2x asking if I will.  Um, what part of 'NO' do you not understand?  I'm just frustrated about this. 

Why?

Do I always get the wierd ones?  I was at Target this morning, picking up some Febreze for the house, and I somehow got sucked into a discussion on how it's time to put our pet down.  What?  I don't know why I'm always that person.  My husband Dave thinks it's me, and I give off a vibe that says 'Come, talk to me, I will listen!'  I don't know about that.  It's just really strange though. 

Reality Television

Alright, I admit it, I am a reality television show junkie.  Including, but definitely not limited to, Ghost Hunters, The First 48, Teen Mom 2, 16 and Pregnant, etc, etc.  At least I'm well rounded, right? 

So I've got Maury on for noise this morning, while I'm working around the house, and I'm just amazed by some of these people.  I just thank heavens that my husband isn't like these guys.  We may have our problems, but I know he'd never get another woman pregnant. 

And, tonight is Ghost Hunters.  It's one of those shows that I like watching, but the shows are always slightly more boring than the previews. 

*Disclaimer*

Every person that I mention on this blog has had their name changed to protect the innocent (or not so innocent) as the case may be.  I probably will be dishing about family members, and well, I don't want them to know that I'm dishing.  The dishing is enough for me. 

All ideas/postings are mine, and do not reflect my employer, my family, etc.  All content is my own as well, unless otherwise noted, or snagged from Google Images. 

Just so y'all know.  :)

So I'm currently trying to lose weight.  I love Lily Pulitzer, but my left thigh kind of likes being attached to my body.  To that end, I've been trying a whole bunch of different recipes, and joined Weight Watchers.  I love it, and it's actually working!  Now, hopefully by next summer, my closet will be filled with glorious clothes that are preppy and awesome! 

Welcome!

This is my newest blog, and it's a mix of everything about me!  I'm definitely champagne on a beer budget, and I love finding deals.  I also love reality tv, reading, crafting, my friends, my family, my job, etc.  I tend to be quite 'Pollyanna' like, but I embrace that- I've definitely grown into that over the last few years, and I embrace it wholeheartedly. 

This isn't going to be a deal finding website- I'm not going to post CVS deals or whathaveyou.  I don't have the time, and there are tons of websites that do the work for you.  I'm not it.  I look at those same websites myself!