Dear Period & stuff

Oh how I hate that you add an extra 5 (or more) lbs to the scale when you come around. How I want to eat chocolate morning, noon & night, and how I feel like a crazy person in regards to my kids & husband. Thank you for leaving & taking that extra weight with you. 

I was feeling like such a failure in the workout department, because I wasn't loosing any weight in the last 2 weeks, but alas it was my period (the pre, during & post) weight. Now, after all of that has left - I am 3 lbs lighter than I was before all of the monthly junk...yay! That means I have lost 33lbs & I am feeling good! It's really not just about the weight, it's about feeling good (& feeling good about me in my own skin)...and the working out makes me feel good, so that's the point. I will keep going to the exercise class once a week at our gym - even though I think the gal is trying to kill me. ;-) I will where sleeveless shirts - even though I have the mother of all arm flab, because at a certain point I am who I am, I am doing the best I can & I am tired of feeling insecure. I even bought this super cute summer dress that is sleeveless & I will be wearing it this summer! 

This is my first 'Not Me Monday' :-) 

I did not have an hour long conversation with my husband about how we need to be tightening the financial belt & then go shopping for clothes (for me) an hour later...Not Me.

I also would never be unsure of how long my kids had been watching TV in the morning, because I was asleep, and I would NEVER say that cartoons don't count as TV time until after 8am...nope Not me.

I never wait all day to take care of the house cleaning (until an hour before my husband comes home)...Not Me - I'd never do that! 

I would also never go to move toys off the lawn in my backyard while still in my jammies, (without a bra on). And while doing that, I would not unknowingly flash "the girls" at the onlooking  neighbor while bending over to pick up toys...Nope, not me! 

Saving Money

Alright - it's about that time again to tighten the belt & figure out new ways to save some $$ in our everyday living. The obvious is not going out as much & all of that, shopping the sales food wise, etc. I already do most of that, but need to do something else. 

Tomorrow I am planning on calling Senske to cancel the 4 times a year spider spray that we get from them. This is a VERY big deal to us though - we HATE spiders & cannot live with them in our house, so I am only canceling, if I can buy spider/insect spray & rodent repellant to apply myself. This may sound extreme (especially the rodent repellant part), but I am DEATHLY afraid of mice. We have never had any trouble with them in this house (THANKFULLY), but don't really want that to start either & since that is all included in Senske's spray, I must find some! 

I actually DID find some repellant online (thank goodness for the internet in this case), and there is an insect spray that is sold all over too, so for the cost of one application of Senske's spray, I think I can get at least a year's worth of spray for the house. Hopefully, it is just as effective! I would really like to save almost $300 a year this way. 

I am also planning on calling Comcast to see if I can't haggle a lower payment out of them for us...fingers crossed!! 

We are also in the middle of a refi on our home mortgage, which will save us $150 a month, once it is final.

My hubby is dying for an iphone & I have to admit, I'd like one too, but I absolutely can't justify the expense right now! 

Does anyone else have any ideas of ways to save $$...I'm sure I could let my yard die by not watering it ;-) but we aren't insane water-ers anyways, so I don't see that as a 'huge' savings. 

Here's hoping for ideas to just come to me :-)

It's been too long!

Sorry - things have been busy in the real world, so I've been a slacker in the blog department.

Life has been full of party planning (FUN!), building a shed, & some family drama (my dad & I). The long & short of it - my parents divorced a year ago = traumatic & sucky. blah blah blah...it's better now, but it was a hell of a few weeks.

So, now more party planning is on the agenda! My friend Morgan is having her first baby (after 5 years of trying & finally going through IVF to get pregnant). So, needless to say, this mama & baby are getting a big ole party! I took pictures of her & her hubby too a few weeks ago  SO fun! 

Then of course there was the shed raising that we had over a series of 3 different days.

The shed is FABULOUS! The guys all worked really hard on it while the moms watched the kids run through the sprinklers & fed everyone. God bless our incredible friends who love us enough to invest so much time & effort. THANK YOU!! My heart is full of gratitude! 

Dear Craigslist sellers,

Labeling your old junk 'antique' is not going to make me want to buy it. Especially when your 'antique' is broken & peeling & disgusting. 

Though, I am a firm believer in buying good quality stuff 2nd hand, I am not interested in people's crap-tastic stuff. Calling something 'shabby chic' is inaccurate - it's just shabby lady. And, why waste your time putting up the add if you're not going to add a picture...I assume that what you are selling is total garbage if you won't even put a picture up...come on people! 

I have been looking for a shed on craigslist (since ours was victim to the snow this winter). I have seen SO many that are completely dilapidated & outrageously priced. One guy was trying to sell his shed for $800. Then he goes on to state that he used it for a chicken coup. It wasn't very big to start with, but he USED IT FOR A CHICKEN COUP! Have you ever smelled chicken poop?? I have & let me tell you it's AWFUL! As if I'm going to pay someone $800 for all of my storage stuff to smell like chicken poop...seriously?! 

I get that people want to make some money by getting rid of some of their stuff, but just because you bought said item how many years ago (possibly in 1989) for $500, does not mean that I am going to pay you $400 now. I will not be paying you the over-inflated sense of worth you are placing on the crap you are trying to get rid of thanks. 

That said...I actually have come into some really great finds on craigslist too, but boy do you have to sort through the junk! 

Loving the weather

I am absolutely LOVING the nice weather that we are having right now! I don't think my house is though...yikes! It is looking so neglected these days, and don't even get me started on the laundry & the laundry ROOM...AHHH! You'd think that I'd stop today to deal with it all, but I'm not. I am going to go out again today. :-)  I guess that funky smell that I can't quite track down in my kitchen, family room or office (???) will have to wait. :-) 

What has happened to my lovely 3 year old son??

We had a brunch yesterday at our house. It was so much fun - an Allen gathering :-) It was Toto's birthday & we celebrated with chewies (breakfast burritos - Othello style...YUM!) & cake later on. 

It was not without event either...toward the end, all the guys got to change a flat tire. Too bad they wasted an hour by not heeding the wives' advice right away. Eventually, they did in deed make a call (as suggested by said wives) and they got the solution to the problem they were having. 10 minutes later - the tire was changed & everyone was off. BUT, not before my 3 year old son came in with a head injury that looked like something out of a movie...blood running down from his head to his face and onto his neck. Thankfully, it looked a lot worse than it was. As any mom knows, head & mouth injuries are the WORST bleeders. After getting him cleaned up & neosporin-ing up the injury, people headed out. I made sure said son, stayed awake (just in case of a concussion & about an hour later we headed off for church. Now, because of all of the activity of the day & NO NAPS, my son of course fell asleep in the car on the way to church. Since it had been long enough, I wasn't worried & knew it was coming. We arrive at church & he has to wake up. I get a pit in my stomach that tells me this could be a rough night....LORD help me. Aaron was already at church since he was playing the drums for the worship service. 

I am carrying him in, but set him down just before we get into church, because he is fully awake. This is when the first fit was thrown. I finally get him inside & we get find our seats that my hubby saved for us...except that there are people behind us too (yikes!...our church is NOT a big group of people, so loud & spazzing children are very obvious...which is why we like to be in the BACK...easy access to the door & the potty). Anyways, we get through the first song okay since it's kind of a louder song & the kids are sort of playing & talking. I ask the kids to be quiet for the next song, and tell them that they can stand up or sit down, but no more talking...we're here to sing & all of that. Well, everyone was really good about it, except my 3 year old. He just looked at me in defiance & started shaking his head no. Then as I got closer to him, he began spazzing out and saying no. At this point I picked him up to have a 'talk' (which usually includes some sort of a spank). This was utterly pointless. He was just beside himself & crying no, no, no...Then my 4 yr old daughter ran to me declaring that she had to go pee. As I turned to talk to her, my 3 yr old ran back into the sanctuary & to our seats in an attempt to get back to the people where he is pretty sure he can get away with his fits & defiance (all the while still whining  'No, no, no', etc). This made my blood boil. So, then I was torn...run after my naughty 3 yr old & let my daughter pee her pants OR help her & let my son stay in the service with my 7 yr old. This is the point that in the middle of our worship service I really wanted to scream 'SHIT!' at the top of my lungs. I refrained & asked a friend to keep an eye on the boys while I took my daughter to pee. Thankfully, as soon as she was done, it was time for the kids to go to kids church, so the only one left was my youngest & now my hubby was done with the drums, so he could take care of the boy, so I didn't kill him. I was still seething & declared in an angry whisper to my husband that our son is lucky to still be alive. They went to have a talk about how we treat mom & all of that. They stayed at the back of the sanctuary for the rest of the service (thank GOD for my husband!). When we left, my youngest finally fell asleep for the rest of the night. 

All I can say, is dear LORD - help me not to kill this child! I hope this isn't a fun new phase for the 3 year old.