Another Product Review: Hartz brand pet supplies

After using the Hartz ADVANCED CARE 4 in 1 flea and tick drops for our dogs all summer, we got fleas. I really liked the price of this product and the availability at the stores. They had two different ones to choose from, the 4 in 1 and the 3 in 1. I of course got the one that "Kills fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, PLUS flea eggs.

So after washing the dogs with HARTZ brand "Rid Flea" dog shampoo, and following the instructions to the T, we still have fleas.

So today I called HARTZ to see what they could do for me, I dunno, send me some coupons or a refund, or whatever. I figured since the back of the box it says "Guaranteed to work or your money back" followed with "if not completely satisfied, return unused portion for a full refund." But apparently those rules are different if you call them first. They told me that there was nothing they could do, and it sounded like the fleas became resistant to the drops, and told me another laundry list of products I could buy. Then I asked about the guarantee on the box, and he told me that if I send the product back, along with the sales receipt, I could get my money back. I do NOT have this receipt! Can you imagine the clutter one would have if they saved every receipt for EVERY product they bought?? Its bad enough that I saved the cardboard and receipt for the hose that I bought and it happened to burst! LOL

UGH. So, my suggestion, with the horrible customer service that HARTZ has, do not use their product. NONE of it. If you call they will contradict what their packaging clearly states.

8 dollars and 10 minutes

What can you do with 8 dollars in 10 minutes??

I created this head board... out of bamboo place mats from dollar tree...

Obsessive

I really can not wait until I go back to school. Other then the fact that Zoe might switch days and I will have to find a sitter on Mondays. I think that would be the only conflict day. But until I start school.... I have been printing lists, calendars, weekly & daily planner pages...

I got a "binder" organizer idea from flylady a while back, but have not been utilizing it to its full potential. My friend KCBlueGal brought up that she has been using a binder and gave me her idea of what sections / tabs she has. So I took some of her ideas and flyladys ideas and came up with one that works for me!

I had one binder sort of done, but I did not like how it was done, so today, I redid it.

I am also almost out of calendar pages for my ginormous desk calendar, and went on a hunt to find new pages. I have had no luck locally. I think I might try Iowa Office Supply sometime next week. I also tried to find a planner thing that I can tote to school or where ever with me so I always have my schedule and everyone else's schedules with me. Again, I failed to find something that I liked. So I bought a new binder and some tabs to create myself one that will work for me and my busy family.

Obsess obsess obsess...

I did it!

So after working on the front pillars on the porch all summer long, I finally had my husband finish scraping the paint off the tops so I wouldn't have to do some funny acrobatic moves on top of a ladder that is way too far off the ground for me. Then comes the paint. I am completely finished with painting the pillars! I am so excited! Now I just have to clean off the porch and all its contents that seem to multiply when I go inside.

Whats on my to do list next? Finish the door of the girls room that I was going to scrape the paint of and stain and polyurethane. But the rain for six days helped the paint pealing process go a bit faster. It also ruined the door to the point where I no longer can stain it. One painted door among two stained doors is going to look kind of funny. Not sure what to do now.

I also would like to finish relocated my rock pile to the 8th flower garden that I am making. 8 you say? Why yes. Because this 8th flower bed will make it so I do not have to haul the mower all the way around the house and between mine and the neighbors garage just to mow a six foot by ten foot space of green. I plan to take the preannuals that are all over my yard and divide them up and start new ones in this area.

There are about fifty other things on the "To Fix" and "To do list" but for now, I am happy with completing one of the things on there.

Saturday

WOW! I was busy today! I raked the front yard and mowed it and the back yard (theres no acorns in the backyard). I scraped some more paint off of the pillars (I borrowed the neighbors' contractors ladder) and did the other things I do during the day LOL.


ok.. thats all..

Quote of the day

"You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it."
– Robin Williams

Going back to school

No, I am not talking about my 6 year old or even my 3 year old. I am talking about me. I decided that I am going to go back to college. I want to be a counselor or a talk therapist. I just feel there are not enough of these in the world, since every time *I* try to make an appointment, I can not get one for three months. In order to do this, I would either need a PhD in Psychology, or a Masters in Social Work.

Of course the college that I want to go to does not have this exact field at this point. They are switching to a different college, so at that time, they will have more of what exactly I want. So for now, I am in the "Criminal Justice" program, which will help me be more aware of the system which would help me have a bigger client base.

I chose this college for several reasons. 1) Its smaller, and has less students and smaller class sizes. 2) The other college in town, NIAC, is so busy with students, sports, and other things. 3) I wont have to take a zillion English or Math classes to get where I want to go 4) Its close. I don't have to drive out of town or to a bigger city

I am very excited, yet disappointed that I can not get into the fall term until October 8th!

Dogs vs. Cats

So I have been a cat person all my life. In fact I say that after my children leave home, and if my husband were to pass before me, I would be come "CAT LADY" ...

I have not had a dog since I was a child. Ive always had cats though.

Today I just realized that a dog is so much more loyal then a cat. Dogs want your attention all the time, and don't really care. But I do know we have two very needy dogs. But cats? They will only pay attention to you if you are busy. You know, reading a newspaper or magazine that they can lay on . They also only want attention from you when THEY want, if you want to socialize with them, they usually have other things to do. You know, very important stuff... like nap... take a bath... lay in the sun...

New product on ETSY

I just put a new digital kit up in my Etsy store! This one is called "Back to School" Go check it out!

Back to routine.

I get stuck in a rut. A lot. My house is a mess, my family and myself mostly is disorganized, everything is just messy.

Last week I attempted to "get back into my routines" and failed. I am unsure why I failed, but I did. FAIL.

So this week I am going to keep on track of my daily tasks, attempt to keep up my routine, and hope that I can slide into the new school year smoothly. So you may find several posts on what I have done, or need to do from time to time. At least if I type it in here, I can reread it over and over, and feel better about getting things done. Checklists do not always give me the satisfaction of putting a line through a task.

Also. I figured out another little way to remind myself to take my morning medication! At night, as I take my medications, which I never forget to do, I flip over the bottle of morning meds. That way in the morning when I remember to take my meds, I will know for the rest of the day because the bottle will be right side up! I still write it down, or try to remember to write it down, but I have been doing this for three nights now, and have remembered both mornings! WOOT!

when I am bored...

I do stuff like this...

Before

After

Dont click on them to make them big. because it probably looks totally edited when HUGE. hehe

Seeds...

Last night while grilling I discovered that my saliva's were seeding! So promptly after dinner, I went outside to pick some and collect the seeds. This was fun, and I got a lot of seeds! I did mix the red and the white, but Ill get over that. (someday) I have enough seeds to plant the same amount, if not more, then I bought from my local greenhouse. I am excited. These were fun to watch flower and they grew nice and tall. I would like to plant them thicker next year...

WARNING: If you plan to do this, think about it first. If you are scared of spiders or other type of small insects, do NOT attempt this. I repeat, DO NOT attempt this!

I found several spiders and small insects that live in the petals of these flowers. They are kind of bell shaped, but longer, and make perfect hiding places and nesting spots.

The crab spider was one of of several that I found. I swear he stopped moving and put up his arms like he was going to pinch me. It was kinda scary other then the fact he was smaller then a pencil eraser!

Big People Stuff!

We had some friends that invited us over for dinner. We have not done this (with FRIENDS) since we lived in St. Louis Park. We were very good friends with our neighbors, Jana & Jeb. We often made dinner for each other and were almost always at one an others apartment. I miss that so much. I miss having friends live so close that you can go over in your pajamas or even barefoot!

We had a good time chatting with other adults on other things then work! It was awesome! I guess its our turn to invite them over! I cant wait! :D

Oops.

So I figured out why the frogs died. When I got the organic dirt stuff, you cut it into chunks and place it into water so it expands. The stuff expands like 10times from its original size.

Our frogs are (were) small. They absorb the water from every thing they sit on or in. Since I did not treat the water that the "dirt" soaked in, they absorbed plain old tap water with all the wonderful chemicals that the city and who ever put in there. :( Thats what did it. Sorry little buddies!

Bad mother bad wife bad pet owner

I killed the frogs. Not on purpose, but accidentally. I think they dried out when I put in the organic dirt. *sigh*

My husband could not find pants or a shirt today because I thought I only had to do his laundry for work once a week, because I thought he had enough clothes. Oh, and I forgot to buy an ironing board when I went shopping. And no I don't have a surface that I can iron on. *sigh*

Something got into our trash last night. Again. It seems to be happening once every couple of weeks. Its getting old. I would put my trash can into the garage, but that would be too easy.

Its a TRAP!

So.. We have had a fruit fly infestation since the last time I had bought bananas. That would be sometime in early June. They are EVERYWHERE. Does not matter how clean the kitchen is, they still multiply. Its getting very old. I have put out little "traps" of vinegar and dish soap, but this has only killed a few.

I accidentally found another "trap". One day a piece of lettuce ended up in a glass of water. Apparently, they are attracted to the lettuce, then get wet and die. The glass has become a graveyard for the fruit flies!

If you have any other FREE ways to attract these little buggers, please please please let me know!

Title (not sure what to call this post)

Monday I sold my car to the junk yard. I got a check for $350! They weren't able to pick it up until yesterday, so there it sat taking up a parking spot in our driveway. So yesterday, I was looking out the window, and I see this car that looks like its floating down the road. Then I realized it was on a flatbed and it was the tow truck coming for my car.

The money came just in time. Our water bill was DUE Tuesday, and my husband got confused on his payday. So I was able to take care of that, buy all of the animals some food, buy a few fast food meals, hubby a couple new work shirts, and a baby shower and wedding gift, and some clothes to wear to the wedding!

Tony is doing good at his new job as a car salesman! Hes sold two cars so far, and has several leads on other sales. He is very relived to no longer be working at the factory, and I think he likes dressing in nice clothes again.

I think my sleeping pill might need to be raised. Seems like every other night I am unable to fall asleep after they have kicked in. I do not have an appointment with the doctor until October, so I am going to try to call him.

I have my "shop" up on ETSY! So where are all of you digital scrapbookers?! My website is still under construction, and I am unable to put all of my kits up on ETSY, so let me know if you are looking for a particular style of kit! I might have it laying around on my hard drive! If not, I will make it!

Before I moved here, I had started to put together a plan to do Party / Wedding Planning once I got down here. I have a business plan, and lots of information already figured out. I was pleasantly surprised on Monday. A girl called to book Tony for a wedding. I talked to her for about 20 minutes, and let her go. She called back ten minutes later asking if I would be able to help plan her wedding and to let her know what I would charge!! SWEET! Her wedding is in August 2008, so I have plenty of time to help her get organized.

Now if only I could get my digital scrapbooking business going, I might be able to add some extra cash to our family's income!

My shop!

Visit my Etsy shop! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5223388

Walmart.

I'm not sure the last time I posted about Walmart but here goes....

Cons

-Cashiers do NOT know how to bag groceries. Considering this is an average size store with a grocery store, you would think they would be trained on how to put food in a bag. Anything that could be squished or smashed, was. Cold stuff was with canned, dry with frozen. WTF Kind of packing is this?? I put my stuff on the thing the way it should be bagged. Like items together. I first put my heavy stuff such as sodas, juice boxes, propel, power aid, on first. Then I put the canned goods along with other non squishable items, then dry goods, and last of all, my bread, buns, chips. I don't know what this guy did, but NONE of it was together, I had cold stuff in every bag, propel in with my kids individual packs of gram crackers, frozen stuff not together at all. I also ended up with three bags with no more then one item.

-They move stuff around the store about once a month. Just when you figure out where they moved it, its gone, it went to a new home.

-They constantly discontinue things that I like. Doesn't matter what it is, if I like it, eventually it gets discontinued.

-Takes no less then an hour to grocery shop. Seems like no matter what I go there for, it always takes an hour or more. Wow what a waste of my valuable time! (Not that I have anything else to do...)

-Never have enough lanes open. Target has a 1 plus 1 policy. If theres more then two people in line, they open a new line. Walmart has not heard of this. They never open more lanes, no matter how many people are in line.

-They put the "special" people at the regular lines, and the fast people at the express checkouts. Um hello??

-Parking. Its as if all of the employees park right by the doors. Even when the store is not busy, you still can not park NEAR the store. I always try to park near a cart corral when I have my children with me.

-No one to be found. If you need something, and want to ask someone a question, there is NO ONE around. Employees should be cross trained in all departments. When you ask someone in the Hardware, they should know something about the department next to them, and that happens to be be housewares, or garden. And if you do find someone for that department, it usually takes no less then three employees to answer your question.

Pros

-Cheaper to shop here for groceries then anywhere else. The selection of MOST items is good, and so is the price. There are two other grocery stores in town, one is very expensive, and the other is cheap, but has zero selection.

-Self check out. This is nice if you only have a few items, and you are shopping between the hours of 9am - 7pm.


hmm... I can not think of any other "pros" oh well...

/end rant

bleh.

Its gonna be one very long week. I ran out of my medication that I take in the morning. Monday was the last day I took this medication. You say go get more? I can not. I have a stupid 35$ dollar copay for it, and I have zero dollars to my name. I have no way to get these until Friday! Ugh.. Later today, I will get crabby, dizzy & sick to my stomach. I have no idea what will be in store for Thursday and Friday, because I have only gone two days with out this med, mostly because of forgetting to take it.