What am I thankful for?

It is November, and that means Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

A wonderful understanding husband

Two beautiful and healthy children

A roof over our head

Food on our plates

A car to get us from point A to point B

The list could go on forever...but I will stop here

What are you thankful for?

Oh yes

I have a blog....LOL


Sorry for no recent update... Ive been a bit busy with school! I graduate on the 28th!! Woot!!


Tata for now

Change Me Plan: New Healthy Food Sunday

I kind of cheated. I tried my "New Healthy Food" yesterday. And at that, it really was not a "food". I keep coming across things that say green tea is so good for you because of all of the anti oxidants that are in it. So, that is what I tried last night.

I bought a package of green tea, along with two fresh lemons. I made the tea per the directions on the box, added my lemon, and drank. OMFG. Green tea tastes like regular tea, which I only force myself to drink when I have a sore throat or am under the weather. I will not be having anymore green tea until I am sick. That was about as nasty as regular tea. BLEH!

So, new healthy food, FAIL.

Next week, either avocados, papaya, or real figs (not the kind in fig newtons lol)

The Change Me plan

There are several things that I would like to change about myself. First, I am overweight. This happened after having two babies, and one of my medications doesn't let me loose weight, but it wont let me gain weight either. I would like to spend more time doing stuff with my family. Hubby and I have been having Date Night once a week, every Monday. I take Lil Red out to do something on Saturdays, and Tiny Red and I go do something together on Sundays. Friday night is ME time, and I usually watch a movie on VOD.

Other parts of the change me plan is to exercise every other day, along with yoga on the opposite days. On Sundays, I must try one new healthy food. Yes, only once a week. Other wise it could get very expensive. By Tuesday of next week, I will be down to a half a pack of smokes a day, while my quit date is roughly the last day of October, pending graduation date. Also, I am trying to walk the dog every day. This one is difficult because he is a big pain in the arse when it comes to walks. He pulls, he walks in circles, he runs into me. I have tried several ways, such as those taught by the Dog Whisperer, and by Its me or the dog, but none have worked. Yesterday after taking him for a short walk, we returned home due to my frustration. I went to Fleet Farm and purchased one of those nose harness things. Apparently a Large is too big for my chocolate lab... Today I get to exchange it for a smaller size. Maybe the smaller size will not put pressure on his EYEBALLS.

Anyways, my plan is working ok so far. It helped to create a list of things I can do with the girls along with what new foods to try. Now I just need to figure out the yoga and exercise thing. I know walking the dog is exercise, but I would rather keep that as just spending time with the dog.

Ok so now you all know about the "Change Me" plan! I will keep you updated on my progress.

The Bus and More

Ok. The bus this year has been faithfully coming at teh same time everyday. This is a first. Last year it would come anywhere from 7:45 to 8:15. This year, it has been right on time (as the time sent to me by the bus company), or well a minute early. It comes every morning at 8:00 (the schedule says 8:01). Every morning I send Caitlin outside at 7:50 just in case. Every morning the neighbor can not get her kids out the door before the bus sits at the corner. Today it took her children two minutes to get out the door and on the bus. First the older one came out, then the middle boy and then the youngest. She insists on yelling at them their entire way to the bus. Why?? Why can she not get her boys outside and ready to go before the bus arrives?? I just sit back and watch the mayhem happening across the street. Its my morning entertainment...

I shop at Target, and their generic appears to be "Market Pantry". So I have been trying to shop more frugally since food prices seem to be rising with no relief on the way.. I have started to buy generic poptarts, cereal bars, jelly's, baking soda, and snacks for the kids. I must say, I do not like the generic poptarts, but that is ok since I probably don't need to be eating them anyways!! The children have not complained one bit, even though I have been buying generic cereal bars on and off for years. Caitlin was rather excited to have "Chickadee's" instead of "goldfish"...

Smoking.

I must quit. I told myself I will quit when I graduate with my AA in CJ from Kaplan. First I was done in June, but then Hamilton switched to Kaplan, and that moved my graduation date up to April. Sometime in there I got a letter saying I was done in January. Then I got a letter for my externship, saying I was done in October, but as I was meeting with the person in charge of the externships, the registar stopped by and said I would not graduate in October, but in January because I was short credits. When I picked up my schedule, my graduation date went back to October, because the registar found some credits from when I went to college right after high school. Thank you art class! So anyways, back to the smoking.. My quit date keeps changing. I was ready to quit in January. But keeping my word, I must quit in October. I have been visiting a few websites and one of them said to keep track of my *triggers*. Thats going to be hard, since everything is a *trigger* for me to go smoke!!! I must be down to a half a pack by September 16th. Wish me luck!


Ok thats all I have for now..

Politics.

*sigh*

I have to admit, I never really get into politics... I usually vote for who ever my very smart husband suggests.

This year, it is hard to stay silent. We watched the Republican thing (see I don't even know what it was called...) on TV last night and listened to what Sarah P. was preaching about. I managed to get a few things out of the garbled politics boring crapola. Mainly, she would fight for more nuclear power plants in the US to help us get away from foreign oil. Wow. Where does she plan to put all this nuclear waste?? Does she wish to have more Chernobyl's?? Ugh. That just absolutely disgusts me. Why not put all of the money saved from NOT building more nuclear plants into wind, solar, water, and geo thermal energy?!

The other thing that I took away from her speach was that she is an average every day mother. I am sorry, but an average everyday mother who wishes to continue to be there for her children would not want to run for vice president of a very large country. How does she expect to raise her special needs child, and a grandchild if she is too busy following around the president?? She has FIVE kids. I have never really seen the vice president's job as a 9-5, Monday - Friday job that ends when you leave the office. No, I am not after working parents. I just dont think she would be good for the job.

Another thing that was not discussed at the Repblican thing (Convention?) was how many controversy's that Sarah P and John McCain have been envolved in. Google it. Why would we want people who create controversy in Washington??

Lastly, Sarah P.'s youngest child has a disability. As far as I know, Republicans are the ones who always vote against keeping programs that benefit children with disabilities. Can she continue to call herself a Republican?! when they themselves deny children with disabilities the programs that they and their parents need?? Many of her views do not seem to back the Repblican way. How does a country expect to elect a president whos VP doesnt follow the ways??

I do not think that Sarah P. is right for the job. Not because she is a woman, but because of the things above that I mentioned. Yes it is great what she has done for Alaska, but do we really need to change a law that was made several years ago because one party does not agree with it? (Roe vs. Wade) Why does government feel they must step into someones live and tell them that they can not have an abortion?? We settled this issue! Leave it alone! There are more important things to worry about! Off the top of my head I can name a few... The ecomonmy, the war, local energy, less foreign oil, balancing the budget, social security... Lets worry about those before we try to dictate US womans lives.



/Rant

The Great Battle

Ugh. Time for homework again for Little Red. Thank goodness that Tiny Red does not have homework yet in Headstart! LR loves to fight me tooth and nail about doing her homework. Yesterday, she came home with her spelling words for her test on Friday. She also came home with math homework that is due on Thursday. Today she will come home with her Anthology book, and that homework is due Thursday also.

I always have her write her spelling words a million times, then I test her on Thursday night, day before the test. Last year, every time she did this, she got all five correct. This year she has a list of ten. After writing the first couple of words a few times, the complaining started. She continued to ask why she must do this, she claims to know the words, and how she doesn't like doing this. She took forever getting to the end of the list. Then came dinner, and as that passed, I told her she must do her math homework. After getting up from the table a few times and mom telling her to sit back down and just do it, she got up again. At this time, I told her that if she got up one more time, or complained again, it was time for her to go to bed. Five minutes later, she was up. I said BEDTIME. She argued. I said BEDTIME three more times trying to talk over whatever she was complaining about. UGH. Day one of homework. Only a couple hundred more to go...

I do homework daily. I have been since October of last year. I tried telling Little Red that mommy does homework all the time to get good grades and she too should try to get good grades. Does not seem to work.

Hopefully today homework time will go smoothly, since I have class at 5:30. We also have to start to find distractions for Tiny Red while Little Red is doing homework. That was another issue we had to deal with last night. Maybe her homework will be identifying the letters on the alphabet and writing them each a couple of times. I don't know yet...

Ok speaking of homework, I must study for my test in statistics tonight...

First Day of School

Well.. Today was Caitlin's first day of school. My little girl is now in the 2nd grade. Where did the time go?? Seems like just yesterday that she was born and we took her home!!

I started my next term yesterday. It went ok. I have statistics this term. I have very mixed feelings about this class... but hopefully I pass.

Everything was great this morning. I woke Caitlin up, she got dressed and brushed her teeth, I brushed her hair ... She got her stuff... Then came time to feed Zoe. I got out the oatmeal, and put the empty box on the counter.. CRASH! Apparently, the counter that always is consumed with recyclables was too full and the empty cardboard box pushed it all over the edge of being full. The radio from which we took camping with us fell over, then knocking over the ceramic flour canister, and sent it straight to the floor.. It was almost as if it exploded leaving tiny shards of white ceramic all over the floor. Of course, both girls, the dog, and both cats had to come investigate the noise.. OMG. Get out of the kitchen! *sigh* The morning was almost perfect..No one got yelled at before this incident, everyone was following mommy's directions...

I finished Zoe's breakfast, and sent Caitlin off to school on the bus.. Ugh. The bus. I hope it manages to come on a consistent time this year...

There is always tomorrow for the "perfect" morning before school.

Now time to find my desk under all these receipts, coins, thread spools, and paper work from everyones school... so I can do my statistics homework..

I am a bad mother.

Every so often, my children's cute little voices stream into my ears like nails on a chalk board. Everything they say "SCREEEEEEETCHHHHHH". Am I the only one??

ADD & ADHD

Ok ... First of all.. I am not saying I do not believe in these disorders and they can severely impact families.

I have 5 boys that live in our neighborhood. Four out of the five have ADHD and a few other acronyms.

Is ADHD just a mystery diagnosis that if a child acts out or is out of control, they add this label to them?? Why does it seem like some (SOME) parents use these disorders as an excuse as to why their child is a disobedient monster?! Could it be the parenting of these children?? Maybe their diet of fast food and foods filled with chemicals?? Why are so many children labeled with this?? Do a few of these parents just give up and let this disorder take over their family??

From my observations of the neighborhood boys, I see a major lack of parenting, and extreme cases where fast food is a major part of their childrens diet. One of the parents' only consistancy is that she will ground her children, then ten minutes later tell them to go outside and play. Grounded for ten minutes?? Does she send them outside to play because they are bugging her?? I often feel bad for her because she is a single mother of three young boys... But there has to be other ways of dealing with these children.

How do these labels affect them later in life?? How long does ADHD "last"? Is there an age where it no longer becomes an issue? Maybe when the children start eating right, or have solid rules and schedules?

Maybe in some cases, parenting skills and diet are part of the problem. Has anyone explored this??

Yet another reason...

... to avoid Walmart...

Customer Service

Its been a while since I have done a product review on my blog.. Today I will share my best and worst customer service stories...

Its been almost a year since I have contacted these ones, but they stand out in my mind as having EXCELLENT customer service...

GE - Bought some CLF's and three burned out... They sent me two 20$ coupons for free light bulbs

TAO - I bought a photo key chain on clearance at Sharper Image.. It would not charge... They sent me a replacement with a box for me to return the non working one.. No credit card number or anything... they just sent me a 60$ replacement with the hopes I would return the broken one!

Select Comfort - We have had a sleep number bed for a number of years. Our remote died... I called them, they sent me a new one with a postage paid label to return the broken one.

HP - online chat. I was having a driver problem, and I figured I would try out the chat with tech support. Few minutes, I was up and running with my new drivers

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE (Yes they deserve all caps..)

XM radio - I never get an American. Well at least not an American that can understand plain simple english. I have spent hours upon hours on the phone with people from India, or where ever they are just because they do not understand I want to add a gift card to my account, no more. Just the gift card.

Leap Frog - Zoe has a weird thing stuck on her screen on her leapster. It looks like it is something under the screen, so I got on the phone... waited...on hold... for more then an hour before I gave up. I later read in the book that came with it that they only have a 3 month warrenty. WOW. Thats kind of short!

Hmm well thats all I have for the worst... course I could add Walmart...

Walmart - I was in the check out line and finished putting my stuff on the thing. I then went to go pay and mysteriously cut my finger on the pad where you write checks. The check out lady asked if I needed a bandaid, and so I looked ... I had blood running down my arm. YES I need a bandaid. She handed me a paper towel and called for the manager. She went on a hunt for a bandaid and came up with nothing. UM HELLO? Is there NOT an entire isle of bandaids?? I would have bought the box had she went and got one... but no... I was left standing there with a paper towel on my cut finger... UGh.

OK thats all I got ...

10 Things that I have learned this Summer

1. Summer vacation is short, about 12 1/2 weeks. Make the best of all of it. Best of all plan some down time to do nothing.

2. Do plan on free activities around the area. At the beginning of the summer I went through the community calendars and found several free, and not so free activities for our family to be apart of this summer.

3. Anticipate major weather events to interfere with those free activities. The Sunday of the "500 year flood" or whatever they are calling it, was also the McNader Arts Festival. We did not make it because we were either glued to the TV or were walking down to the river. We were prepared to be evacuated if necessary, but also missed the arts festival.

4. The dog likes a sandbox that has rain water in it. Oh boy. When it was hot, the dog would roll around in the sandbox, and actually kick the sand out so he could have more water! Yeah. We got out the pool for him that same day. He did manage to sneak in there a few more times during the hot days.

5. My children would rather help clean the house then their own room. Zoe helped Tony clean the house several times... (Caitlin was at summer reading camp).

6. Buy stock in sunscreen and bug repellent. I have two redhead girls with very fair skin. Caitlin swells up were she gets bit by the pesky critters... Should have bought stock.

7. Dollar store toys last only a short time - buying the more expensive higher quality plastic or even wood version will save you time in shopping for toys next year. Best part? They will last many years in stead of many days.

8. Along with the weather issues, the fair can turn into a disappointment because of poor planning on the boards account although they did pass the buck and say it was the carnival company's fault.

9. Wet laundry in the washer stinks twice as soon as wet laundry in the washer in the winter. Who knew...

10. Having a DVR helps you to forget about time when you are doing something fun. The DVR came in handy several times through out the summer. It also is nice to have something to watch when you feel like chillin'.

Well I probably could add more, but would you continue to read it if it was 100 things I have learned this summer?? lol

Welcome to August!

Already?? WHAT? Ok... My terms are ten weeks long.. I started this term June 4th.. I shall be done by Aug 12th. That means the summer is roughly 12 weeks long. WHAT? TWELVE WEEKS?! *sigh*

So I have been doing some school shopping here and there. I did grab a new pair of pants and a tee shirt from KMart today... The shirt was too cute to pass up.. "Save the Trees, Ban Homework". I dont know if I blogged about Caitlin's issues at school last year, but apparently she had not done her home work for like a month. The teacher finally called me to tell me she had a good day after not having good days. That was the first I had heard about Caitlin not doing well!!! Why did she wait so long?? I implemented a few things into our after school routine, and Caitlin was back on track with in a week. ONE WEEK. Anywho.... Perfect shirt for Miss Caitlin who does not like to pay attention in class because she "likes to watch people".

So yeah back to school shopping... Our college put on a item/money drive for the victims of the flood that attend the school. No one... NO ONE affected from the flood stopped by to see what they had to offer. So after a couple of weeks of the stuff sitting in the college, they opened the room up to the entire college. There were about 20 tables full of clothing. I did get some stuff for all four of us... Mostly tried to aim for the children, since hubby and I really do not need much...maybe another pair of shorts or something... But, I lucked out ... I got about 4 outfits for each of the girls...

I also have been Ebaying... I got a pair of Gasoline jeans and a sketchers tee for dirt cheap... Still waiting on the shirt, but the pants are brand freakin new. I LOVE Ebay other then the fact that people sometimes go over board on shipping packaging.

So yeah... August... We are planning a trip to the Zoo next Monday, so hope for no rain, and a day in the high sixties! LOL The Zoo is our last Ha rah for the summer before we all go back to school. I have a short week long break .. I go back August 20th, Caitlin on the 21st, and Zoe starts head start on the 26th. Busy busy...

Now we just need to find a job for the Hubby and all will be well!

School

School is right around the corner. Caitlin starts August 21, and Zoe starts August 26. I am so excited that Zoe got into head start this year. She will be gone Monday through Friday from 8:45 to 1:30. This will help me out while I continue to go to college.

Problem with having two in school? Double the school clothes!! Luckily I do not need to provide supplies to head start (or at least they have not told me yet). Bleh!

Money Green Money

We have spent $3777.82 on our gas and electric bill over the last 18 months. WOW. Our highest for gas was in February 08 for $307.05. Our highest electric bill was in July of 07 for $144.75. It averages out to be about $210 a month.

We have changed all of our bulbs to compact florescent. We turn lights off when we leave the room. We keep our thermostat low (Not too low because I refuse to be COLD in our HOME). We grill in the summer, as to not heat up the house more then it already is. We have curtains with backings along with pull down shades. Closed in the summer, open in the winter and at night. We only wash and dry full loads of laundry and dishes. I spent weeks caulking around our windows and doors and any other place that heat / cold air could escape.

I know we need insulation. We need it bad. I guess I am blogging about this to keep track to see how much we save after we get insulation.

BLEH. Thats a lot of money that could have been saved or spent on other things. (like insulation?) lol

Finals...

Ok so we have a week called "Finals" week, which is week 10 of our term. But for some reason, here in week 8, I have a final project due for class # 1. Then in week 9, I have final essays for class #1, final essays and final exam for class #2, and a final project due for class #3. For week 10 (FINALS WEEK), I have a final exam in class #1, and final exam and final essays for class #3. I guess I am ok that it is not all due in week ten, but why have an entire week called finals week if the finals are spread out between week 8 through week 10?

For those of you that are keeping track, that means I have three things due for each class; a final project, final essays, and a final exam.

Ok. Rant over. Going to work on final project in week 8 for class #1.

So much to post about!

Hmm where do I start? I talked about the flooding last week...

We went camping from Sunday through Thursday of last week... Came home because I had class on Thursday and Tony DJ's on Friday and Saturday...

Heres a covered bridge that is near our campground...




Some canna lilies that my neighbors mom gave me...





The blackeye susans that I planted last spring that never grew... I went out back one night, and omg, there they were, about three feet tall!




Some celosia that I planted ...





I had four rose buds this year!




I finally bought some shrubs for the front of the porch! They are "globe arborvitae" and have a cedar like leaf...

Rewind a couple of weeks...

So Tony and I went out on Saturday... The sky was very pissy... Thunder and lightning everywhere... before we had went out, there were tornado sirens and a huge nasty storm cell coming our way.. We put the kids and animals in the basement and tuned to the local channel. I think we had the kids in the basement for over an hour due to the bad weather, tornado warnings, thunderstorm warnings, and so on.....

Fast forward to Saturday night... Drive home, awesome because you could see all of the lightning ... Little did we know.............

Sunday morning, I wake up ... got ready to go to the store...I realized our quiet little dead end road was busy with traffic... I decided to head towards the local park... I hope to never see what I saw that morning again! The river had rose so much it was going (and fast) over the bridge and the entire N. Carolina was flooded....

A wagon, one of the green ones... floated down the river...

No one in our city was injured physically. The emotional part will effect several for a very long time..

I drove home to find out the river was at an all time high of 18.67 feet... previous record was 15 something in like 1933...

Water everywhere. Except our little house on the hill! Countless number of peoples houses and basements were flooded... we were lucky.. the carpet was just damp.

Late Sunday afternoon, they shut the water off in our city... The water treatment plant had flooded.

Wednesday, we had water to flush the toilets and to shower... Friday we had clean drinking water.

It was a mess, the city is still a mess and peoples homes are now condemned.

Of course the water went south. Cedar Falls, Des Moines, and many other cities flooded. All but 8 counties were listed as a "disaster" by the governor

Heres pics of the river, well normally there is a trail there and not the river... and other areas of the City.

Moles? Dwarfs? Gnomes?

Something is digging up our yard at night. Strange part, there is no hole under the piles of dirt... there are no ants or other bugs in the dirt... they are just piles of dirt on top of the ground that keep appearing over night. Is it the garden gnomes?? Are they playing a trick on me? I know they can be mischievous, but WHY THE YARD? Is it aliens? Are they dumping the dirt in the back yard as some kind of out of this world experiment?? WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE BACK YARD AT NIGHT?!

Below are pictures of the mysteryous dirt piles... Number 1 was the first one to happen about three nights ago... Number 2 was the next night, and number 3 & 4 appeared this morning... The last picture is all of them...

Sorry for the low quality, it was taken with my 1.3 MP camera phone since my actual camera batteries are D E A D.

New things

Ok... the last few months I have come across several websites claiming to have the best product and if you send them 10 dollars you can give a hippo water roller to poor people in Africa so they can haul clean water to their homes. Then I come across another website about sending the people in Africa croc shoes so they no longer have to walk barefoot. Now today, I came across the next new lifesaving product called a LifeStraw. As much as I would love to help out the African people, I must say my family must come first. Whether it be shoes, clothes, books, toys, they just come first. Usually, I then come second lol. I hope if you read this, and if you have an extra $10 you could help send these people the shoes, straws, and rollers that they need.

In my next life I hope to be a rich humanitarian so I can travel the world and lend a hand where needed. It wont happen in this lifetime, and I apologize for that...

And.. I just want to add, that if I did have an extra $10, I would put it towards one of several things on my current "want & need" list: getting the fence put up, cutting down the Mulberry tree so we can have back that part of our yard, an outdoor patio set so the inlaws and us have a nice place to sit outside while we have BBQ's (and so I have a table outside to do homework on), insulation for our attic and sidewalls, a hammock chair and stand, and well an emergency savings fund.

So again, I feel bad for those who are starving and can not have safe drinking water in Africa, I do think that we should focus a bit on the American society too. There are starving people here also, even though you can not tell by looking at the number of morbidly obese. There are also homeless people who have families... For the richest country, we sure treat our own pretty shitty when it comes to them being homeless, disabled, or even an armed forces vet. Lets get AMERICA put back together first.

Card

My husband asked me at the last minute to make a card for a co-worker for his 15th wedding anniversary. Heres what I came up with

Well fine.

I will update my blog. I don't remember how long it has been, but here I am...

I am currently trying to keep up with my homework, housework, kids, laundry, and this thing called spring cleaning. I actually love to do spring cleaning, but because of my backlog of laundry and housework, the spring cleaning does not get done.

My children have managed to keep their room clean since I cleaned it. They do go a couple of days without picking up, but it is still considered manageable.

I am so bogged down with homework, it seems to take me the entire week to complete my readings and assignments. Its ok, I wont be in school forever, right??

UGH The housework... We had Caitlin's birthday party on Wednesday night and the house still has trash here and there from the presents, tags, and toy packaging. Why must stuff come with so much packaging?? Ill work on this sometime today.

As for the yard, I did get all of the MONTHS of dog poop in the front yard cleaned up yesterday. That was a nice accomplishment. Now for the side yard!!

We have one less dog (long story) so you would think the poop would be cut in half. Unfortunately, it was the little dog that was banished, so the large pooper is still adding large dog logs to the yard! LOL

As for the laundry... ugh. If I could remember to start it at a decent time, and remember to put it away when its out of the dryer, I would be a million miles closer to being caught up then I currently am! Fly lady says a load away keeps the mountain away. I wish I could grasp that concept!

Ok back to writing my paper that will determine what the subject of my final paper will be about. I am having problems starting it, knowing what order to put it in, and just plain getting it organized. We are supposed to pick a social problem and why we want to write and research this problem and which perspective we feel it has.

Frosting...

UGh.

I read on someones blog about how they took the premade frosting and whipped it in with their mixer and it almost doubled in size. DO NOT TRY THIS!!! All it did was make the frosting sticky. It did not double in size, nor was it light and fluffy... it was a sticky gooey mess.

Pictures and stuff to come later...

APRIL FOOLS!

Unfortunately, this is no April Fools joke. If it is, its a pretty elaborate one that affects the entire city...

Every morning...

All I can think of is "STARBUCKS?! WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST OUR CITY?"

*sigh*


I just want a Frappichino, Caramel, Extra sweet :/

No one around town seems to sell the bottles of caramel frap anymore :(

Yes I am fully aware of the Latte' Factor, and don't really see this as a problem since I usually buy a bottle of frap from the gas station anyways.

I guess I could drive 35 minutes to the Casino for a frap...hmm naw...

Srsly...

The Box

I came home from grocery shopping yesterday to find a box on the porch. I did not have time to open the box until 9pm. When I opened the box, there was another box inside. When I opened the second box, there were two boxes inside. I ordered one teekwood bathmat from JC Penny's on Sunday. After opening the boxes, I realized they sent me two teekwood bathmats! I paid with a gift card, so its not like they can charge me for two, and according to all the paper work, they only sent me one!

Mmm

OK so according to the calendar today is the first day of spring. According to my weather plug in, it is 32 and foggy with a chance of snow.

GET IT TOGETHER WEATHER!

Back to Class

Well, my break is over! The only real accomplishment this week was the fridge got cleaned...I did do some laundry and other things, but not what I had planned.

I am so happy February is over. It seemed to last forever!!

I planted impatiens seeds from the store, and some salvia seeds that I harvested. I guess we will see if I am a good seed harvester or not!! I have pictures, but I have not downloaded them yet.

Ok well off to class!

Hotpocket!

I had a hotpocket for lunch and could not stop thinking about the comedian who did a skit about them...

watch the hotpocket video

Sundays

This is what I do on Sundays...

Scrapbook
Watch tv
Think of design ideas for my craft room
Organize things
Make weird projects such as these below.. rope coasters! I want coasters, I really want thirsty stone ones, but I never find the ones I want...

I saw some online that are made out of rope, but they glue them together on a piece of cardboard. I just can not see them holding up... so I am lightly stitching them together then I will glue some felt to the bottoms...

Ramblings

Well I got two out of three of my grades for this term:

Criminology A
Juvenile Delinquency A-

Im a bit disappointed in my A-, but I will live. I just hope to PASS composition II! LOL Next term, I have Introduction to Corrections, Crime Scene Investigation, and get this... SOCIAL PROBLEMS! I know I have problems, but sheesh did they have to make a class about it?? I am all ready to go for next term, but since we switched from 11 week terms to 10 week terms, we now get a week off between them. Let me tell you... this is the second longest week ever! The first longest week was winter break. It just did not want to end!

Since I have not had to worry about going to class, or writing several papers a week, I have managed to do silly little things around the house that I usually put off cuz I have more important chores to do! Yesterday, I gave Zeus a much needed bath, and I cleaned out the fridge! It was so nice when I got home from grocery shopping today to just put everything in and have room for it all!

I never really thought we did ok money wise for groceries until today when I bought food only. I spent about 100 bucks on food for two weeks. The grocery list was longer then usual too! This doesn't include our soda or junk food, but wow. On the menu:

Tuesday
B Oatmeal
L PB&J
D Meatball Subs

Wednesday
B Cereal
L PB&J (Zoe gets PISSED if she does nt get PB&J)
D Mediterranean Chicken & Rice

Thursday
B Oatmeal
L PB&J (See above)
D Sloppy Joes

Friday
B Cereal
L Nuggets
D Going Out

Saturday
B Cereal
L Mac & Cheese
D Chili

Sunday
B Oatmeal
L open
D open

Monday
B Cereal
L PB&J
D Sketti & Sticks

Tuesday
B Oatmeal
L PB&J
D Beef Chimichangas

Wednesday
B Cereal
L Mac& Cheese
D Meatball Strognoff & Potato wedges

Thursday
B Malt O Meal
L PB&J
D Fettichini Alfredo

Friday
B Oatmeal
L PB&J
D parmeasan chicken

Saturday
B Oatmeal
L Mac& Cheese
D Tuna Noodle Hotdish

Sunday
B Cereal
L open
D Ham & Scallop Potatoes

Monday
B Oatmeal
L PB&J
D Meatloaf & mashed potatoes

Recycle...

Footprints in the snow

The longest

I have a small bit of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and every February is the longest month of my life. Funny how the shortest month seems like the longest every year...

Schools going great, kids are growing...

It was Craft Room Sunday today! I finished a page and a half... (well 4 and started another set for each of my family albums)

Finals are coming up the second week in March! I can not wait to see what my new classes will be! I already know my schedule, same as this term, 1 in house class, 2 online...

Is winter over yet? Someone make the "winter storm warning" go away. It keeps popping up every Sunday & Monday...

Um Ok...

I woke up this morning to me stealing my husbands pillow. I was having a dream that I was shredding pillows.....

My family doesnt know this yet but...

I have decided that we are going to change our diets in a major way... out with fast food and pizza ... in more healthy alternatives... and get read for this... fruits and veggies..

This will be fun...

Its been a while...

Since I last blogged, and since I have done a product review!

IDog

Ill start with the IDog. I loved the concept of these little critters, they barked, played music, and I THOUGHT they were able to have an MP3 player plugged into them and they would be a speaker for your music. I got the wrong one. I got the cheaper one for 14.99, and it did not allow you to hook up a MP3 player. Well... thats why I bought both girls an MP3 player in the first place! Although, they use them a lot. The IDog goes through batteries like they are going out of style!

My rating: Poor

Leapster

Leapster! We bought two of these, one for each girl. They love them, and still do. Now that they have had them for a couple of weeks, the cartridges are a little bit of work to get them to recognize it. I wanted to buy the battery packs and charging system, but wow! they are almost 40$ a piece. We only paid 59.99 a piece for the system! The girls still love them, and play them a lot. It gives me some peace and quiet, so of course, I love them.

My rating: Great

TAO Key Photo Key Chain

When Tony and I went on our mini vacation last weekend, we bought a TAO keychain that was an open box from The Sharper Image. After tring to charge the thing both with the usb to computer, and usb to wall charger, it still did not work. I called the company and they sent me a new one, and a labeled and postage paid envelope for me to send back the old one. They did not need a credit card or anything. Excellent customer service!!! I have not had the chance to use the product yet, but I can already tell that this one works. lol

My rating: Great

Swiffer Wet Jet

I have a swiffer sweeper vac that I can not live with out. I would cry if it died. Then I would wipe my tears and go buy a new one!! So since I love the vac so much, I figured I would give the wet jet a try! I am not sure I like it. I vac'ed before I used it, and it still seemed to have picked up some dog hair, but I felt like I was just moving the dirt and not really picking it up...But it was very quick, and thats what I need

My rating: Good

My robe

I got a robe and several pairs of pajamas for Christmas. I love them all. Its nice to have new ones to wear around the house. I also love my robe. I never was much of a robe person, but its been kinda cold in here, even with the thermostat cranked, so I have been wearing it. Very nice... lol

My rating: Great



there ya go. I posted

Happy Monday

Thanks to me for forgetting to pick up my pills on Friday, I did not sleep last night... After tossing and turning, I finally got out of bed at 5:30am. So I did some internet surfing and finally went and took a shower around 7ish. After that I got Caitlin up for school, and gave her breakfast. Around 7:50, i told her to start getting ready to go out to the bus... So she did. She walked out the door at 7:55, just as the neighbor and his boys were walking to the bus stop. Not knowing any better, we stood there with our kids until 8:18 and I finally called the school, no water main break this time, they transfered me to the bus depot. Turns out, the bus was at the stop after our stop at 7:58. For some reason she has to call the bus depot every day when she gets to that stop. PROBABLY because she is either way early, or way late, and drives away when kids are four feet from the bus. Anyways, she had already been back to the bus depot. Grrr... so fine. I tell the neighbor boys and Caitlin to get into the car, and I go in to get Zoe... Caitlin and Logan start complaining about space. LOL TOO BAD. I have a dodge neon. not big on space.


So I make it to school almost late myself... Blahblah Composition II lecture thing... get done, go to Tonys work, then to get my pills... I go get Zoe, get home, and theres a small doggie on a chain at my back door... WHOOPS! I forgot to put Zeus back in the house in the shuffle to get everyone to school and daycare!! hehh Good thing its 34 outside today!

Blogging can help with Scrapbooking!

I have not scrapbooked since we have moved here. We moved here June 2006. We moved into our house October 2006. I got my craft room set up sometime in Feb of 07. I have not printed any pictures for scrapbooking this entire time, but I have posted to my blog!

I was writing on the back of the pictures today and simply could not remember when it was or the exact month... I knew I had blogged about it, so I searched for that post and omg! Theres the date! lol


Anywho...