More Summer Fun=Less Blogging

I will likely not be making regular posts to this site for the rest of this summer-there's just too much fun to be had and then there's much downtime needed after it all. Almost every day is booked for something: story time at Wheeler Farm with a wagon ride, splash pads, swimming pools, kids club at the mall, birthday parties, farmer's markets and petting zoos...the list just goes on. In between those I've been trying to make the front of the house more presentable by painting the hideously peeling lattice. I would have liked to just replace it with vinyl but me with a saw, measuring, and hammering just spells the Money Pit disaster and my husband has neither the time nor inclination to do it so I do what women usually do-use paint for a face lift on the worst of things. :)

Anyways, this will be the last post for a while-I plan to resume it in Fall. Happy Summer!

Summer Fun

Although I'm typically an Autum, October, Halloween type of girl, when you have kids there is just no better time than Summer! Before I had kids, I only thought about what it'd be like to have them around the holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. But Summer is truly the best time for my daughter and I. There are just so many things to do and most of them are free and the ones that cost are open earlier during the summer than they are in the cold months when stay-at-home-mom's really need them to be open.

Yesterday the Library threw their Summer Reading Program at West Jordan park, complete with a juggler on stilts, people dressed as The Incredibles (my daughter loves them) and 5 gigantic bouncy houses. Gardner Village has started their Saturday Farmer's Market and also have their petting zoo and pony rides, Wheeler Farm has Sunday Farmer's Market as well as wagon rides and animals. The splash pads are open and my daughter cannot get enough of the water, not to mention the little backyard waterpark we have going and the nice walks down 90th to hit some stores or just peruse all the flowers at Home Depot. Airborne is now open at 10am and Jungle Jim's has $2 Tuesdays, tons of fun.

This week was the last Mommy and Me class at The Little Gym. This week starts her one day a week for six weeks dance class. 60 minutes long instead of 45 and the parents sit in the waiting room and watch through the glass. It'll be interesting to see what Janessa thinks of that as when it comes to dancing she's an absolute fiend...providing I'm dancing with her and swinging, twirling her around.

The potty training is coming along nicely, however. No accidents and even when she's in the middle of playing, inside or outside, she tells me she needs to go and we run into the house. We still have a couple hurdles, however, one of which is that she'll only use her training potty. My husband and I found toilet seats in Home Depot and Lowes that have the toddler training seat built in so you don't have to use a portable one that never seems to fit properly and is more of a threat to her falling in than not. I haven't gotten them yet but I wonder if I do, will we still have a problem getting her to use the restroom anywhere else where that isn't an option? Ugh. Just when you think you've got the whole training mastered you realize you have a lot further to go.

Without Pride

Without Pride is officially e-published and available for Kindle through amazon.com! The paperback version is still pending the arrival of my proof copy. I had taken a picture that I wanted to use for both covers but ahhh Createspace, ever the more difficult of publishing services, needed the picture to be in a PDF file, not a Jpeg-very unusual for a picture. Not having anything but Adobe Reader, I was initially unable to upload the picture because I didn't want to pay $7.95 a month for the full Adobe that would allow me to convert pictures. Praise to Youtube, however, that allowed me to find a free way in which to convert the file. However, Createspace doesn't add the title, author, etc to the cover so I had to spend more time trying to add that and I suspect it will only be on the cover. It is very likely I'll get the copy and see nothing on the spine and nothing on the back but my picture. If that's the case, I'll be forced to use one of their very few, plain cover options-so frustrating since it's a physical book but at least I'll have the proof copy with the picture I chose. Being the author, I don't care how the rest looks on my shelf but I won't have it that way for any other purchases. Such a hassle but there it is.

Scanner

So I was fortunate enough to be one of the people selected to use the Neilson Consumer Panel scanner. I have it as long as I want it and am just required to scan what I purchase and upload it to be awarded points toward rewards and entered into drawings for prizes. The first couple weeks were a pain, remembering to scan, having the receipt handy, knowing what coupons and for how much on some items, etc. But now it's second nature and I've been racking up the points. I'd especially enjoy winning the drawing on having my shopping trip paid for but baby steps till then.

Another note on being cheap is sometimes just being cheap. I really like Smiths and I thought it was so great they had these Psst items that were half the price of the name brands, but ugh. Let's just say that unless you only have a couple bucks and desperately need the item right then, do not bother. My feedback on the following items:

1. Cheese-Yuck. It doesn't taste funky but when you try to use it for a grilled cheese, the cheese doesn't really melt but some of the color comes off on the bread making it look like you have toast with mustard and plastic cheese-do Not bother.
2. Garlic salt-not as strong as the other brands and I LOVE garlic salt, so no on this one.
3. Toilet paper-Yikes! Single ply paper thin like you find in the stalls at the library. You have to use 4 times as much to get the job done.
4. Paper towels-also too thin and less absorbent. If you're using twice the amount for spills or in my case, child potty accidents or cat puke, well you're basically not saving money-spend a couple dollars more to have it go further.
5. Paper plates-again. Less is just less. You use more than one to support your food instead of buying a stronger brand and just using one at a time.

That's all for now-happy Memorial Weekend!

The Original Bipolar Disorder

So I know bipolar disorder is thrown about as much as OCD, but I've come to the conclusion that ALL toddlers are originally bipolar. Only they can go from "I love you. I'll do whatever you ask. I want to be babied, yada yada" to "NO! You're mean and unjust and I can do it-but I won't because you can't make me!"

Sometimes it's almost laughable, watching the transformation happen as fast as you can blink, but then it's somewhat terrifying as well. The potty training on my daughter is going good, for the most part. Diapers and pull ups do NOT work-my daughter knows she can just go in them and she does. Underwear works for the most part and she's excited to announce to the entire house that she's going to the potty-yay! But then she has weird moments, like even when she's in pull ups-where she actually hides-usually because she's going number 2. She will suspiciously disappear from the room and I'll find her hiding in a corner or by the table and when I ask her outright she will lie or say something like, "No thanks." Not sure what that's about. In all the books I've read when you start potty training you pick WHICH training you're doing. In some cases, it's easier to train on the movements because they're more obvious, have more warning, the kid's more aware, etc., but they're less frequent. To get the idea ingrained it's easier to just start with pee training and forget about nighttime training for quite a bit as well.

I wasn't in a hurry to train my daughter. She wasn't going into preschool so no pressure there and well, the toddler's bladder is quite small and they don't develop muscle control for holding it for some time. With me taking her out to do things and socialize, I was content to leave her in diapers so we weren't stopping every 10 minutes to find someplace for her to go. However, now we're getting to the point where in her classes or birthday parties, she's one of the few still wearing them for her age so I'm trying to make a push for it now, but careful not to push against her own will on the matter. THIS is going to be a phase I'll be glad to get past. Not being around kids or having younger siblings I've been playing the whole thing by ear and reading and trying everything but every kid is different and well, looking back, 2 to 2 1/2 would have been an easier time to get her potty trained because the bipolar toddler personality hadn't come fully into fruition. Alas, we'll get there some time. :)

One Chapter Done

So the chapter on my husband's legal trouble is pretty much done. We took the DWI deal which was a lesser fine, no interlock device and no further suspension on his license. He needs to do some community service-of which he gets to choose, which is great and that is it. We were advised that the lawyer could have fought to maybe get it all completely off by suppressing the breathalyzer but it was 50/50 and if we lost, well we'd probably get stuck with that damn interlock device. Did you know that it's used to not only start the car but to keep it running? So you will randomly have to blow into it to keep the car from shutting down? I was appalled at first but then realized it made perfect sense-so you can't have someone else blow into it and start your car. It's sad these kinds of measures are made but then again, in court our lawyer was representing 2 others. One got the DWI class A misdemeanor, where ours was class B-the lesser. And the third guy was just screwed. He'd obviously been in the system a few times and he actually had to wear an ankle monitor that would detect alcohol-ANY alcohol. No mouth wash, cough syrup, hand sanitizer-nothing. I didn't even know they made those!

While we waited for the hearing a man from Spain showed up and was trying to get information-but no one was available to speak or read Spanish-boy I wish I'd kept up on the Spanish I learned from the U-I could have helped him out. I also watch the series Switched At Birth which involves a lot of sign language, I can sign a few basic things and know the alphabet from grade school and every time I watch it I think, "I'd like to learn it but when would I ever use it?" Then, when I went a bought my sewing machine there was a lady there looking to buy one but she was deaf and could only communicate through sign language-of which no one knew. I felt bad watching people start to talk to her then when she signaled she couldn't hear they would immediately be like, "Oh. Ok," then completely back off. So my newest conquest involves some library holds on ASL and Spanish-we'll see how they go. Nothing beats actually taking a class or having a tutor for it but it's better than nothing. If you can communicate in another language at all, you're taking a step in a direction that may benefit someone else later on. At the very least, you're learning and that's something I do enjoy even though I have little time for it.

It's All About The Little Things

So this has been a nice, not anxiety-riddled week. It's been awhile but it really does make you appreciate those little things-those little breaths you get in between stressful-everything-going-wrong kind of times. Considering the way this year has been, I don't consider this the incline to good luck but a plateau of peace which I'm SO grateful for.

I'm grateful for our tax return-before last year we usually had to pay so how nice for once, we're getting money back! I'm grateful that with it, I was able to splurge a little on my daughter and buy new jammies (since she'd outgrown the others) and buy her cute summer clothes. I was able to get my hair done-haven't done that in a year and yay-professional dye jobs keep those stubborn grays covered so much better and longer than box dye jobs.

On my daughter, the potty training has stagnated but I was thrilled that when I took her to Chic-Fil-A she played with every little girl that entered the play area and, more importantly, they played with her. She's often so timid and shy I worry about her being left out or bowled over. She is also extremely polite, saying "Please," "Thank you," "You're welcome," "Bless you," "Sorry". I love that she's so polite, that's something you don't hear enough of these days from kids or adults and it makes me proud.

She can be hard to understand, however, as she has a problem with S words. The S and proceeding consonant typically fall at the end of the word instead of the beginning so spot becomes, "potst", stuck becomes "tuckst"-I know, harder to mimic than just saying the words. I'm planning to get her to a speech pathologist to try and correct it before she goes to school. My husband says she may have gotten it from him as he had a problem with S's when he was kid. I thought, "Well at least I understand what she's saying, I just have to stop and think about it sometimes," however, I was startled yesterday when she said she spit but it came out sounding like, "pist". Hmm. I may need to get that speech impediment addressed very soon so people don't think she's saying, "I pissed", and giving me condemning looks.

Blessed Is The Mundane

After 32 hours I got my car back, good as new and I was excited to drive it again-finally! It would have been nicer if that had been the case when I first got it back and there hadn't been all those little things that weren't done right, but it's all good now and all I want is the mundane. I have a strong tolerance for monotony and all these little kicks in the ribs the cosmos keeps throwing me has reminded me how much I struggle when the unexpected (especially the negative) happens. If only it could just stay mundane, but alas in 2 weeks I take my husband to court to find out if he's getting the DUI or a lesser charge. Finding out the UHP will be testifying does not bode well, however. But then again, it's 2015 so if our luck has any say, we're totally screwed on that.

Until then I spend my days cleaning up the every other day vomit-fest from my poor old, Crazy-with the occasional empathy barf from Mojo and trying to get my daughter potty trained. Between cleaning puke and pee, in addition to cooking and cleaning it's no wonder I feel like I have enough on my plate already and just want to have the resources to deal with those things for now.

On a lighter note, I bought a new sewing machine-I'd received a flyer about a killer sale on sewing machines and since mine is missing some parts and isn't as user friendly as a destructive newbie like myself needs, I succumbed to the purchase, using my stashed money I'd received from my only advance on my published book. In looking at my sewing books for beginners I'm thinking, "Yuck. I know these are beginner projects but do they have to look that shapeless?" Then there's the whole finding the size as what you buy is not the size you are in the patterns and you have to measure, adjust, etc. I thought, "Hmm. I wonder if I could just take mine and my daughter's clothes and trace them-create a pattern that's already measured to fit perfectly and just add a little seam allowance for the sewing? Turns out-this is a common thing! Gotta love Youtube-it showed me how to install my daughter's car seat and now it's showing me how to trace your own clothes to create patterns that fit in styles you already love-and it's FREE! Because really, at this point I'm only interested in making t-shirs, tank tops, stretch pants and jammies-for me and my daughter. For readers that are interested, Professor Pincushion on Youtube has videos on how to do this very thing and save you the time of searching for the right style, in the right pattern, for the right size, yada-yada. Go no further than your closet!

Repair Fun

So 2 weeks ago we received the 2 parts to replace our washing machine-yay! My husband was astonished to find the belt a good 2 inches shorter than the one our washing machine had eaten. That and a new pulley had to be installed. After sweating and swearing for several minutes with both of us trying to stretch a measly half inch out of that very short belt, my husband was ready to throw in the towel and I slumped away, feeling yet again defeated by the bad luck cosmos.

However, once upstairs I heard a loud exclamation and bump and my husband came up and said, "It's done. It's fixed." Wow. I looked him over carefully, sure that when I'd left he must have turned green and hulked out in order to make that thing fit. But yay! It's done and that has been fixed.

Yesterday I picked up my car. I thought I'd be thrilled but I kept finding little things that just reminded me my baby was no longer brand new. The inside of the replaced door had a slight gap that wasn't there on the opposing door. There were dirty prints on the roof where I sat. The driver side mirror was fogged and once home I was unable to remove the film with any manner of cleaning agent. There were 2 scratches in the tint on the window of the replaced door-tint that was a Christmas gift from my husband and was only two months old!

I got home ornery and depressed. I felt like my car had been violated, held against her will for a month while she was beaten and bruised and then rinsed off and given back to me. And here's the kicker-they held it for so long and were so careful because I was related to one of the workers. However, that cousin told me that they weren't even going to look under the car which I'd told the other guy TWICE to check because the reflector was concave from driving over rocks the size of softballs when we were hit. My cousin had to tell them to do it. Apparently autobody shops cut a lot of corners in order to turn out like 40 cars a day, they need to beat the insurance rental coverage so they "hurry" things along. I'm not a car aficionado or anything but aside from the things mentioned, there were a couple other little things I noticed because knowing cars or not, I know MY things, as most women do. So, word of advice if you ever have to take your car in for repairs from an accident, know someone that works there, take someone with you that knows cars, or KNOW your car. The things I found will be fixed, as promised by the guy working there, but there we go, another day without my car when they had it for almost a month. Yikes! Imagine if I weren't related!

And the hits keep on comin'!

Wow, I don't think I've ever had so much bad luck in my entire life as I've had this year. In addition to everything else, there was some more damage to my car and the ETA for me getting it back (right now anyway) is the 15th. Originally they'd said 9-10 business days. I've been without my car for a week now (boy do I miss my car and so does my daughter who sadly keeps stating, "Momma's car broken" and it's looking like 2 weeks more. Let's just hope the car IS done by then because my insurance will only cover the rental until the 19th. Sigh.

On top of that, the washing machine decided to break yesterday. Oh yay, my day for doing laundry down the tubes as we look into finding the parts to repair it...another $100+ down the drain. It just gets better and better.

On the plus side, my daughter did have a wonderful 3 day 3 year old birthday celebration and we saw very little of Ms. Hyde...she did make a devil of an appearance on her birthday when it was time to leave the pool and go to lunch. In fact, I've never seen an episode like that since I watched Sally Field perform her famous freak out as Sybil! Ms. Hyde has been coming out semi-regularly though. She showed herself to my parents tonight when it was time to leave. Kicking, crying, fighting, the whole spiel. It's almost one of those moments where you think, "Is this where I call the exorcist?"

Lists Lists Lists

So I've always been a little OCD about planning and scheduling. It goes back to the last resolution I ever made to not procrastinate. "Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today." What sage advice! So ever since then, I've been big into lists. I never did another New Year's resolution because that was something you promised for a single year and if you fell off the trend in March or April, you'd either hate yourself for failing or you'd shrug and say, "Well, we'll try again on next year's resolution!"

So instead I'd do weekly resolution lists. I'd plan my meals, shopping, work, cleaning, gym work out-everything. If I didn't accomplish everything for each day, eh, it wasn't the end of the world and hey, what about all those other days I nailed it? Well for this past weekend I'm so grateful for this OCD method because it truly saved time and stress. From planning the kiddo's kid birthday party at Jungle Jims on Saturday (with me running to fill balloons and buy the cake first thing that day), to the family luncheon the next day (with me running to buy platters after getting the crockpot soup going and putting up decorations) to today, planning fun activities like the pool and the zoo to make the day extra special for my daughter. Whew! Not to mention the beginning of the week I'd portioned out painting 2 coats of paint in the bathroom-walls and trim, cleaning the whole house-I'll say it again-whew! Everything came together Each day ON TIME and for that, I'll always champion the list making method. And my daughter even mimicks me when she has paper and a pencil, she'll make a little slash and say, "Check!"

The Terrible Two's

My mother says it's called the Terrible Two's because it lasts 2 years-from age 2-4. I've been pretty lucky with my daughter. She's very helpful-well as much as she can be at her age. She turns 3 on the 30th and I must say, the "terrible" has arrived. We will be having the best time and any changes, or time for end or any transition whatsoever causes a complete and utter meltdown. She'll randomly throw things, she kicks in play, even when I let her know it's not okay. She fights eating at dinner and she refuses to let anyone do anything but pay absolute attention to her. She used to be so mellow and so almost OCD in helping in cleaning or doing what was asked of her I must say that just makes this phase much more jolting. I'm very excited about the birthday plans we have for her this weekend but I must admit, I'm a little tentative as well. Will it be the angelic Janessa that comes out for the fun? Or will it be the Mr. Hyde version that freaks out in the middle of things? Being a planner, this is difficult because no matter what, you cannot plan how your children will behave, you just work with what they give you. And maybe keep your fingers crossed behind your back the entire time. :)

When It Pours, It Floods

So to top of my Rain it Pours blog, we had our 5th "2015 hates us and wants to kick us while we're down" incident. While driving my husband and daughter to a cousin's birthday party we were in a car accident. It was the other lady's fault but in Utah, it's always the fault of the person making the left turn (me) unless under a protected arrow. Never mind the fact that she'd slowed to stop, changed her mind, punched it and neither slowed nor swerved to avoid me even though I certainly swerved to avoid her. No brake marks showing she attempted to avoid to slow down or stop, nothing. But it's my fault now. I'm the one who got hit, I'm the one that has that on my record for 3 years and I'm the one that will have a fun time getting covered by insurance companies. Talk about victimizing the victims! After this incident I learned my brother-in-law when he totaled my old car-he was making a left turn. The guy who appraised my car had a daughter who'd just totaled hers due to a driver "changing his mind" at the last minute. A friend of mine had been in the intersection when the light turned red and other driver ran it and hit her-still her fault. What does this tell me? Not that it's unfair-hell, life is unfair. This a man made law and it is Wrong. Ultimately, the other car is hitting the left turner, not the other way around and not only that, the left turner gets penalized three fold by the system. Now I understand the line, "You can't fight City Hall." This also tells me that hey, if you're the other driver you can get away with Anything. Absolute B.S.

However, in my attempt to squintingly see a cloudy silver lining-no one in my car was hurt. My daughter's car seat is behind my seat because I've always anticipated that I'm more likely to be hit on the right side than the driver's. My swerve prevented the SUV from hitting the passenger door where my husband was and instead hit the back right door. The car is still driveable and will be repaired (hopefully in the near future) while I'm given a rental. My husband's starting to have the mentality that the "It could always be worse" just makes more bad things happen which is ironic as he used to be the blind optimist and even though he called me a fatalist I'm what Psychology books would describe as a defensive pessimist. Expect the worst, be pleasantly surprised but never disappointed. Of course, with the year we're having the defensive pessimist in me has thrown up her hands and gone into a corner to hide. :)

Here's to hoping my next entries will be less in the tales of woe department!

Competitive Pricing

So this is a great time to hit multiple stores for those killer deals. If you live in Utah, these are some the best prices per product for Reams, Maceys, and Smiths:

Reams:

• Ground beef $2.89 lb
• Sarah Lee Bread 2/$4
• Pepsi 12 pack 3/$10 (also available at Maceys)
• Chef Boyardee pastas 99 cents
• Coolaid packets 7/$1
• Yoplait 8 pack $3.99
• Cantalope 59 cents
• Large Ambrosia apples 69 cents
• Yellow Onions 5/$1

Maceys:

• Currently doing their fill a bag of select produce for $10-mainly apples, oranges, potatoes, onions, and pears
• Frito Lay Chips $1.99
• Jack Links Original Jerky 2/$6
• Tomatoes $1.29 lb
• Lay's Chips 2/$5
• Claritin 10 ct $9.99
• Keebler cookies 2/$6
• Tostitos Chips 2/$6
• Rockstar drinks 5/$5
• Baby Back Ribs $2.99 lb
• Grapes $1.89 lb

Smiths:

• Milk 2/$4
• Cottonelle Toilet Paper 12 Double Rolls 2/$10
• Kroger crescents/biscuits 10/$10
• Kroger cheese bars/shreds 2/$5
• Strawberries 2/$5
• Dial Handsoap 10/$10
• Simple Truth carrots $1.48/2lb bag
• Select bakeware 20% off
• Pork Shoulder Butt Roast $1.99 lb
• Kroger frozen potatoes select varieties $1.99

That's to name a few. Hurry out, sales end Tuesday!

Weak Trick

So not much in additional news other than a little trick that personally helps me and who knows, maybe it can help you too. I'm the one that does the bills in my household and it's always been that way because I'm a tiny bit OCD on getting things taken care of and when you have money coming/going and you can have your power turned off (had that happen once in the beginning of my marriage) because you're not paying close attention, well, you either get OCD or you get to move everything out of your fridge to somewhere cold before it rots.

Anyways, when we're getting near to the next paycheck, especially after coming off one that gets hit with the biggest bills, there's the money crunch/anxiety. This is where being the bill payer has its advantage. If you don't pay the bill and hit the ATM you may see a larger number in your account than is actually there-pending charges that haven't hit, bills that are automated but haven't deducted yet, but will before the next paycheck. I account for every single bill due for each paycheck as soon as that paycheck hits. I go through my account and use a super simple excel spreadsheet (no formulas even, I use the computer calculator to do my tallies-this also makes it hit home where your money is going) and I add the date of every charge that cleared already and make a rough estimate of the expenses we'll cover before the next paycheck.

This last weekend as the money ran tight I decided to be even more OCD (if that's possible) for every cent. After I did the bills, subtracted pending charges, etc, I typed the balance amount into my phone calculator. Then, any errand I or my husband made, I immediately went to my phone and deducted that amount so I knew exactly where we stood as we go. So much easier than running home to pull up my excel sheet. Lame but effective. That's my tip for the week. Such as it is. :)

When It Rains It Pours

So 2015 is just not shaping up to be a good year:

• I rang in the New Year recovering from a headcold
• My husband was pulled over for a DUI during Sundance-the cost of which is going to eat half our savings
• Halfway through a Chips Ahoy bag I chomped on something that appeared/felt suspiciously like bone-I am very thankful it was me, however, and not my 2 year old-the results of that make me shudder still.
• A puppy tried to attack my foot while I was walking my daughter in her stroller-and here I've always been the cat/dog whisperer!
• My husband and toddler were afflicted with a terrible headcold on Valentines Day of which I'm now catching
• One of my cats I abruptly realized was no longer an adult, but a senior and sick enough that's he's lost 7 pounds in the past 3 months-immediate trip to the Vet for testing! Chalk up another $500 and a vague notion of a possible problem that could be confirmed with an ultrasound but won't be necessary if I can get him to piece meal special food, not vomit it up and appears to be without pain. On our first day with that and so far, doing ok so I am thankful for that.

I've always believed in the scenario that when it rains it pours and that karma IS real whether you believe in it or not-so if you've been putting out negative vibes, even just mentaly-well it's gonna give you a knock-or five to wake you the hell up. I also believe in Murphy's Law such as when you have no excess money that's when the real spending begins.

Moral of this story? Be grateful for what you have while you have it. Negativity will bring bad things-one way or another, even if you don't think you're acting on them. Things can always be worse so try to find the silver lining in that if nothing else. Oh and the irony? I don't do New Years or Valentines but ya, those were the timelines for sickness. Maybe I should change that tradition. Hmmm.

Live and Learn

So although I am so grateful for the ability to be an at-home mom I must say that what I miss the most is all the disposable income. I'm sure that goes without saying for anyone who is in the same situation but it really is surprising how much you take it for granted. Even for the first two years I was still working and earning a bi-weekly check which alternated from my husband's pay date so we were getting paid every week. Now I'm not a big spender really. My obsessions were an occasional online clothing spurge (cheaper than stores), crafts (when the mood struck, which wasn't that often or that expensive), books and movies-I still struggle here. Books and movies are my lifelong compulsion. I can go months without buying anything and then suddenly-bam! I have to own those hard to find books or those old movies I grew up watching. It's not enough to stream or check them out from the library-even if that is an option. I must have them. After my daughter was born, spending on her was my new obsession. She had to have those adorable brand new outfits, the coolest toys and tons of them. Never mind the fact that she doesn't care what she wears and she'd rather play with me than any toys-it was just that need to inundate her with everything, especially around the big events-birthdays, Christmas, etc. And of course eating out and ordering pizza was a regular thing-now it's very rare as it's healthier to eat homemade and it is SO much cheaper.
As they say, hindsight is 20/20. Oh well, live and learn.

There are some great things out there for those trying to save money. It's just a matter of subscribing to things or just keeping your eyes open to some of the things that come in your mail. For instance, Joann's is offering a killing in savings this weekend for President's Day. I've decided to try my hand at a patch quilt from my Sewing 101 book. I bought 20 quilt squares and Queen matting and with the savings and the coupon they mailed me, spent only $32 and saved $42-wow. If you have a mind to start projects that are going to ultimately cost-keep an eye out for these kinds of deals. But yikes, don't go on Saturday! I had intended to buy backing for the quilt, but the line to have fabric cut was about as long as the ones to get through the registers...only moving much slower. Luckily I have more coupons from being on their mailing lists so I will go back another day and use them then. Also, if you know someone who qualifies as a senior, they save 20% on February 25 just by showing their ID.

Home Depot offers free workshops. Another project is to completely redo my small main bathroom. If that goes well, I'll move onto the rest of the house. The classes they're offering this month are PERFECT: Interior drywall/paint repair, updating cabinets, basic elecrical and tiling. Be warned, it may be a class of one or maybe several and it's held in any given area of the store but if you come armed with questions or need the A-Z spelled out for you, this is the place and e-how or youtube can be your emergency aid during the project.

Sew Inept!

So when I first stopped working and became an at-home mom I was determined to branch out my interests, of which there were many, as well as to improve the whole home-making scene. I got back into gathering new online recipes, started to try my hand at baking-this is still a work in progress.

The first thing I did was replace our bathroom sink. The thing had needed replacing since before I moved in with my husband. The bottom was so corroded I had a pot in the cabinet underneath to catch the water. I went to Home Depot, took notes on all the items I would need, asked numerous questions and then watched some Ehow videos. After a day of straining, swearing, and running back and forth to Home Depot which was blessedly only a block away (and boy did the workers there get familiar with the sight of me!) I finally got it all taken care of and just needed my husband's help on getting the stopper in and the pipes tightened-yay!

One of my other yearnings has always been sewing. However, like baking, it is a tedious and uphill battle for me. I use craftsy.com for my class lessons. I've successfully completed a french seam pillow cover and am currently working on a skirt. Unfortunately, as I'm pinning the zipper I'll be sewing in, I realize my sewing machine doesn't have a zipper foot. The sewing machine was given to me by my parents that had bought it at a yard sale years ago so it looks like the project will be on hold until I can find the right piece. Not much loss there though, I only have a couple hours a week to devote to sewing as the remaining upgrade to my bathroom will take another chunk out of my week, then writing and coupons/recipes, etc. As for sewing, it is just not a natural ability for me. I'm in awe of the women out there who can sew clothes, curtains, anything. I desperately want to join those ranks but it is very slow going and with so little time it will no doubt take me even longer. Not to mention all the nuances of using patterns, measuring, attention to detail and my eternal foe-patience.

Shopping Success

So today was another grocery shopping day. I had written out my list according to the recipes I was making, setting it up in order of how I would troll the aisles in the store and had my folder of coupons handy. One thing I didn't bank on was that it is Superbowl Sunday. The lines weren't bad but whoa did they get cleaned out! For instance, Smiths had milk 2 for $5 today and they were ALL gone. You'd think that for Superbowl it'd mostly be munchies and such that were the big buy but apparently not! (Mental note to avoid shopping on this day next year).

Smiths had some good deals going, buy 6 of a qualifying item and save $3.49 as well as some of their 10 for $10 mix and matches so I was able to buy what I needed and stock up on many of those favorite side dishes my daughter loves such as Pastaroni, Ricearoni and Mac N Cheese. With the coupons and the occasional grab for a sale item I came in $20+ less than I normally do on a shopping trip. If I'd been shopping at Harmons, for instance, I'm sure I would have hit $200 with the items in my cart. An additional bonus was receiving 500 fuel points loaded onto my card as customer appreciation. NICE! Thanks so much, Smiths. I will be shopping there again!

The Craziest Stories Are Always True

So I'm about finished reading The magnificent shattered lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee by their son, Dodd Darin. I've read many biographies from classic stars such as Natalie Wood, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon and what I've come to realize is you just can't make this stuff up! The demons that lurk in the stories of real people far exceed anything I could conceive of.

The book itself is riveting and very well told for both people through chronology and quotes from those that knew them as well as quite a bit of information from Sandra Dee herself. The funniest thing I learned is that her mom lied about Sandra's age when she began modeling/acting and apparently, this didn't get around too much, even to this day and age. If you look at IMDB for instance, her birth year shows as 1942 when it really was 1944.

I developed my love of the old actors and movies from my mother. The difference is she loved them as performers and never liked knowing too much about what they were really like in life because it disillusioned her. I'm the opposite. No one is ever as perfect as they're portrayed in movies and I probably wouldn't like them if they were. Who wants to know about someone that 1 dimensional? And how crappy would you feel knowing someone that was perfect in every way?

Every person has flaws. As a writer I find the flaws are what give the character depth and I'm most impressed by those that can perform even against the greatest tragedies in their life. Sandra Dee for instance performed like everything was ice cream, rainbows and innocence when she had a very hard life and sad childhood. Natalie Wood performed even more powerfully and sought difficult roles because of her tragic life. I admire anyone that can rise above the worst and make the best they can of their lives. Cheers to those out there that do that each and every day.

You Get What You Pay For

In the search for savings I often resort to buying store brands such as Smith's bread. It's 10 for $10 and well, I'm not a big bread person so I'm not picky. However, you get what you pay for. My husband loves bread and complains about how thin and crumbly it is which leads to me buying one brand for him and another for myself which isn't really savings. However, if it doesn't matter, it certainly beats a coupon of $1 off something that's nearly $4 anyway and you can have it for a lot less. All a matter of taste. Most non-name brands work just as well but if you have someone in your house that loves something, you might want to make it worth the purchase.

Something fun for little ones is that every third Thursday a month, Southtown Mall has a "kids club". Free to join and my daughter even got a sport bottle and balloon out of the deal.

Shop Smart

For some reason, the line from Army of Darkness came to me for this post, "Shop smart. Shop S-Mart." Well we don't have an S-Mart but in the movie it looks a lot like Walmart which I just get agitated even being in the parking lot let alone going into the store so I don't shop there. When I was part of a double income family and my parents mentioned shopping at several stores to get the best deals I used to scoff, "Time is money." Well when you're not making money, time is something you can and should be able to afford. So this past weekend I did my first several store hits. I got cleaning supplies including a huge jug of detergent at Shopko-unbeatable price! Then the next day I proceeded to hit Reams and Maceys and followed up on Sunday by going to Smiths. Between those 3 grocery stores I saved about $36 dollars, that includes using those trusty coupons I now clip. With that little shopping spree I have about 2 weeks of breakfast, lunches, dinners-give or take a few items that I'll always need to shop for such as milk and some produce.

Will I do it every time? Very likely, no. But each store was competing for business this time around with case lot sales and such so now was the time to try it. At least on this venture I discovered where I could find items I couldn't find anywhere else. Such as chicken pastaroni-only at Reams now it seems and they also carry my Wild Strawberry energy Crystal Lite which is my "coffee". Harmons used to be where I shopped when I had those steady paychecks and occasionally I was still going back there for that Crystal Lite brand or their freshly made taco bowls. I bought a bake pan set which makes those just fine and have no plans to go back to Harmons as they are without a doubt, the most expensive of the stores. Reams has the best French Bread-very soft and fluffy.

For those with young children looking for something free to do when it's cold and yucky outside, I'm a big fan of tot time at the library. They have sooo many activities ranging from babies to adults. Check out their event calendar online. My daughter enjoys the tot time and then of course, playing in the kids section and pulling all the books off the shelf. It's something to do when it's cold and wet for outdoor playing.

Backstory

So this was really meant to be my first post on this cleaned out/revamped blog. I've read blogs, I've blogged for work and family but never really been a "blogger". I like to write books and I like to read them even more so I tend to view things from a writer's perspective, occasionally hearing a narrative in my head or seeing someone at the store and thinking, "I wonder what their story is." Because honestly, that's the thing. Everyone has a story but you rarely ever get to KNOW it.

Mine is well...I worked my way through college with plans on being an editor and an author. Of course, the whole deal was a catch-22 really because every place I looked into wanted someone with the schooling AND the experience. The catch being I had to work 50 hours a week for a company that did tuition reimbursement in order afford college so I didn't have the time to get the experience other than editing my work and that of friends and family which doesn't really play out on the resume' deal.

So I changed jobs, was promoted to a supervisor position and during that time I worked on my book Deadly Pride and found a publishing house to publish it-yay! Not long after I became a mom. I was able to continue juggling things: work, kid, 50's housewife cleaning/cooking but my writing took a dive. I was lucky that I'd finished the sequel to Deadly Pride and written Immortal Protector during my pregnancy-I knew it'd be a long time before I was writing again and boy was I right! In fact, this is probably the most writing I've done since I had my daughter.

When my daughter was nearly 2, things became too hard-hard on her and on me with the separation and well my company was cutting people. I became a full-time mom. So now I've had to start budgeting things differently. I started clipping coupons-gasp! Which I'd never done before because I wasn't worried about the money and honestly didn't have the time. I got on coupons.com but that still wasn't enough. And doing online surveys which can sometimes be more time consuming than they're worth when you have a toddler clamoring for your attention. Recently I read Point, click, and save: Mashup mom's guide to saving and making money online. Now I have subscribed to so many coupons/savings/deals newsletters I'm bombarded most every day as well as on freelance sites where even now, I still hope to land an editing gig. As much as I love to read, I can't imagine a better job because when you edit, you don't need to worry about writer's block!

So for blogging on this site, it may be for deals, experiences, parent/child activities and perhaps the occasional book posting-either something I've read or written or tried to write. I also am trying to jump start my author site so we'll see how both or either of them go. The key to writing they say, is just write and I've been tapped for creative energy lately but being an English major, I can ramble on with the best of them. :) Ciao for now!

New Book

I had planned to get around to doing a full on intro for this blog, kind of a background on me and what to expect from this blog but I ended up working on my new book instead and finally had it e-published yesterday so yay! Let's start with that!

Immortal Protector now available in Kindle and soon to be available in paperback from Createspace.

More detailed info coming, when my 2 year old gives me a few minutes. :)