Someone being me

Another sleepy Monday..

2008-08-04T11:06:00.006-05:00

How is it that at the end of every weekend I am so relieved it is over? I used to love the weekends. Look forward to them. Savor them even. The past few weekends have just been such a whirlwind that I feel like I can't catch my breath.

I didn't think me or my husband would survive Friday. He spent from 5:30 a.m. Friday morning until 9 a.m. Saturday laying on our bedroom floor with a few pillows and blankets moaning in agony. It was awful. I wanted to help but there was nothing I could do but fetch him food, ice and Ibuprofen while trying to keep my child from using him as a jungle gym. His last spasm hit around 7 p.m. causing him to throw up the pizza I had delivered for dinner all over him, the floor, and the blankets and pillows. I ended up throwing away the pillow and sending him to the shower so I could scrub the carpet. Friday night was the night the Fabreze came to die in my bedroom. Ugh.

Saturday came around much too early and I ran around trying to get Bear ready for a pool party at 10:30 and making sure my husband was settled. My parents called and said they were in town and would swing by while I was at the party and keep my husband company until I got back. The party was fantastic. This country club has the best pool I have ever been to. It has a huge kiddie pool part with a beach entrance that goes no deeper than 2 feet. It had little spouts of water for the kids to play in and tons of pool toys. The only downside was that it was already in the mid-90's at 10:30 in the morning and I was playing in 1 ft deep water which isn't really all that cooling.

I got home from the party and my parent's wanted to take us to lunch before they went home. My husband was up moving enough to come along. We did that and then I took my husband over to our Urgent Care center so they could check him out since he was in too much pain to go in on Friday. They gave him a shot and some muscle relaxers. As soon as we got home and I got Bear down for a nap my best friend called and said their apartment countertops had been varnished or sprayed or something and the smell was about to kill them. With the 100+ degree temps it wasn't an option to open the windows and let it air out so could they please come over and stay the night with us?

I barely had time to straighten the house before they showed up. My friend and I ran to Target to pick up a new pillow for my bed and look for a new lamp to replace the one that died in my living room. Then we swung by Taco Cabana and picked up dinner to take back to the boys. We stayed up watching movies that night.

The next morning we got up and made pancakes and visited before they left. I got everything cleaned up and then it was off to the grocery store. I am tired...

And the winner is ....

2008-08-02T15:07:00.002-05:00

Cheryl of Gibson Moments! Congratulations Cheryl. I will be contacting you by email regarding your $20.00.

You may be an unsympathetic wife if...

2008-08-01T12:12:00.012-05:00

...you debate taking pictures of your husband lying on the floor to post on your blog.

I kid, sort of. I slept very poorly last night due to watching Cloverfield. Cloverfield didn't scare me but apparently it brought back bad flashbacks of I am Legend and the virus infested zombie people. So I spent the night tossing and turning running from zombie people. I was awakened at 5:30 by unholy moaning and groaning from my bathtub. Luckily it wasn't a zombie person. It was however, my husband having back spasms.

He spent this whole week at work moving incredibly heavy equipment and apparently it caught up to him. So I got up and tended to him rubbing his back and bringing him drinks and blankets. He was certain it had to be something more and insisted on going to the hospital. Bear was still in bed and I was in my jammies. My husband was in...well..less. He called his uncle who lives nearby and asked him to come get him so I wouldn't have to take Bear to the hospital.

His uncle arrives at 7 a.m. and convinces my husband that yes, it is really just your back. He went and bought us a couple of bags of ice and helped get my husband settled on the floor of our bedroom. We gave him Ibuprofen and have been putting ice on for 12 min and off for 20. I also made him breakfast and served it to him on the floor. Brought him his laptop and movies....doing all the things a good wife should.

I got him all set up and Bear and I went to run a few errands. I told him I would bring him back lunch. I get back from my errands an hour later with his lunch and I see a tell-tale open pantry door and peanut butter out on the counter. The kitchen counter. The kitchen counter in the kitchen which is on the complete other end of the house from our bedroom. Uh huh. So now his back is hurting badly again and the moaning and groaning is back. Grrr....If men had babies we would all be an only child if the population didn't die off completely.

Catching up and such..

2008-07-29T22:13:00.003-05:00

Sorry I have been so scarce lately. I spent 3 days last week in Dallas visiting my dad and basically eating my way through the metroplex. I love how parents always want to spoil you and pay for everything. We ate out every day, watched movies, swam, and played in an outdoor fountain. It was wonderful. Although I forgot my camera. Grr...

I got to spend my weekend unpacking, doing laundry, grocery shopping and basically catching up. Then Monday morning rolled around and sucked me into the black vortex of the Bloggy Giveaway carnival. Holy crap. I think my fingers are going to fall off before I finish entering all the great giveaways.

I did break away from my computer long enough today to run some errands. Including going to my bank to set up a rollover IRA from my previous job I left 3 1/2 months ago. Procrastinate much? The lady had never set up a rollover IRA before and did not instill a lot of confidence in me. Like when she asked me to sign in the spot that was for her to sign and the spot for my spouse to sign. Oh, and calling her customer service to have them help her walk through the process. Sigh. But its done for now I hope. Cross your fingers that she dotted her i's and crossed her t's.

Bloggy Giveaways Carnivals

2008-07-28T10:12:00.007-05:00

It's that time again, the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival hosted by Bloggy Giveaways. In the past I have given away a subscription to Wondertime Magazine and jewelry. This time I decided in light of the bad economy to give you something we could all use, cold hard cash. OK, probably warm papery cash.

I will mail the winner of the giveaway a $20.00 bill .

To enter just leave your name and email or a link to your blog. If you would like a second entry you can post about this giveaway on your blog and come back and leave a link to the entry. I will draw a winner on Friday, August 1st at 5 p.m. CST.

Good luck!

I survived the weekend, unfortunately the blender didn't make it

2008-07-21T12:10:00.003-05:00

I survived the weekend. Whew. I may need to get t-shirts printed up that say that. Perhaps sell them to college kids on spring break. We had a great time but it was tiring. There was a steady stream of people in and out of our house from 4 p.m. Friday till my friend left at 2 p.m. yesterday. My in-laws even dropped by for a surprise visit with ZERO warning 30 minutes before my guests were to show up.

My husband wasn't there because I had sent him on an emergency mission for a gift for the birthday guy, which I had forgotten to get, and bread, because my bread maker was too hot for me to make the second loaf of bread right away. Then my friends brought an extra guest. And the blender died just as I was getting ready to make the 1st batch of margaritas. My husband got to make a second emergency run to the store for a new blender. Then another couple was an hour late because they didn't realize we were eating at 4. And my friend who was in town visiting got back from the wedding early and announced they didn't have food at the wedding. I barely had enough food to feed everyone which you know is a cardinal sin in my Southern hostessing little heart.

But in the end it all came together thanks to a fabulous brisket and copious amounts of alcohol. Everyone declared the party a success. Sunday morning my friend and I snuck away for ginormous breakfast burritos at a local Mexican restaurant while the boys slept in. She was even so kind as to go to church with me even though my church is quite a bit different from her own. After she left I got to relax and finish watching Season 1 of Mad Men I rented on Netflix. If you aren't watching this show yet go add it to your Netflix queue. Now, go ahead, I'll wait. The new season starts this coming Sunday at 9 p.m. CST on AMC. I can hardly wait.

Now if you will excuse me I have to go catch up on laundry, dishes, and getting my house back in order.

2008-07-17T21:20:00.005-05:00

I am preparing for a mini invasion this weekend. My best friend's husband's birthday is today and they requested to celebrate his birthday with a BBQ at our house Saturday. No biggie. They have a small apartment so it makes sense for us to cook a brisket at our house. But on top of having the get together on Saturday I also have an old college friend coming in to town tomorrow to stay the weekend. She is set to attend a wedding here on Saturday so she won't be here for the BBQ but she will stay Friday and Saturday night.

I am looking forward to seeing my friends this weekend but I am also dreading it a bit. Not because I don't like them or don't like entertaining. I just don't have a lot of time with my husband with all the hours he works and I will be out of town part of next week in Dallas. So there won't be a lot of time for us to hang out and decompress with people here all weekend.

Before I got married I used to dread the weekends and nights. I lived alone and made every effort to never be without company or plans. Now that I am married I have become quite a homebody, perfectly content to spend a weekend in pjs with my hubbie and a stack of videos. I have gotten a little better about going out but I still prefer to keep my outing to a few hours and then back home.

Riding along in my automobile

2008-07-14T15:35:00.004-05:00

My Mom and Stepdad came down to visit Sunday and brought Bear a present.

Isn't she a beaut? Check out the gas mileage on this baby.

Hmmm...how do you get in this thing?

Ohhh...OK, got it...

10 and 2, 10 and 2...I can totally do this..

Can I get fries with that?

The woman behind the mask..

2008-07-10T21:38:00.005-05:00

As I settle into my new routine of domestic bliss as a SAHM I start to wonder who I will be in 20 years. How will my children see me? Will they see me as a boring coupon clipping, bread making, plain old housewife? Will they think that I couldn't possibly ever had a life outside of cooking, cleaning and picking up dirty socks?Will they take my advice because they respect where I am coming from? Has there always been a June Cleaver poking out from under the exterior cool facade waiting to be set free?

I like to think I will be the cool mom. The house that all the kids come over to hang out at. Be the mom that has an open relationship with my kids that they will be able to talk freely with me without the fear of judgement. That they will see that I am protective not closeminded.

How do you balance openness with your kids versus TMI? Will they throw my past sins in my face like my sister did to my parents? Who am I to judge them when I used drugs and alcohol as a crutch to survive high school and college? That I couldn't make it into class without getting stoned in the parking lot first? Will they understand that I warn them out of experience and love and not out of being a hypocrite? Will they look at me and say you did all this and turned out fine without seeing the scars hiding under the apron?

Will they know that I screamed at my parent's that I hated them? That I ran away from home after saying words so mean and hateful that they still echo in my ears 12 years later? That I was a teenager and yes, I know EXACTLY what they are going through. Will they be impressed that I turned my life around and that I finished college early? That I studied abroad? That I worked with rape victims for 4 years rushing to hospitals in the middle of the night? That I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up either. That I still don't?

It is a fine line to walk. You can stay mum and let them see you as nothing more than Mom or you can spill all and let the chips fall where they may. My older sister suffers from overknowledge, the sins of the parent's visited upon the child. I suffer from the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil syndrome refusing to think of the past and wanting to know as little as possible. We fight our demons in our own way. I see my Mom as Mom, the boring old housewife. My sister sees her as part sellout, part hypocrite. Maybe we were both right and yet both so wrong. Either way, who do you think is the first person we call when it all goes to hell in a handbasket?

Thoughts from the middle of my night

2008-07-09T11:28:00.003-05:00

So my husband and I have been discussing expanding our little family. It actually makes my heart race a little to write this. As if putting the words out there might jinx something. We are not officially "trying" yet but we aren't officially trying not to. The pressure is on.

My track record with pregnancy so far is not exactly stellar. Not terrible, but not stellar. I had one pregnancy that made it to 6 weeks and one that made it to just under 33 weeks. I would prefer one that makes it to at least 35. After 35 weeks they are just freeloading right? Just kidding.

I try to make light of pregnancy and all that it entails but honestly deep down, I am scared to death. Scared of the pregnancy. Scared of miscarriage. Scared of preterm labor. Scared of labor, period. Each step of the way is fraught with peril.

But I do desperately want to have another baby. In all honesty I would like to have more than one more. I am so jealous of those women who can teach aerobics classes up to the end of their pregnancy and have a relatively easy natural delivery. Yes, I do have a friend like this.

I am not complaining by any means. I know I am extremely lucky that I can get pregnant and that I have a healthy baby. But it would be so nice to have a pregnancy free of worries beyond names, crib decorations, and back pain. Worries that keep me up at night sitting on the floor next to Bear's bed watching him sleep. Stroking his fluffy blond hair through the crib slats. Thanking God for every breath he takes. Praying that I will get to do this all again, and maybe again.

7 things about Bear

2008-07-07T11:12:00.002-05:00

I got tagged by Haley for a meme that luckily is not about me!
1. Link your tagger and list the rules on the blog.
2. Share 7 facts about your kiddos on your blog…random, weird, funny…whatever you want!
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post
4. Don’t forget to let the tagged people know!

7 things about Bear:

1. He climbs on EVERYTHING. This has resulted in many bumps and bruises and one scared mama. At the rate he is going he should be ready to tackle Everest by his 3rd birthday.

2. He is addicted to YoBaby yogurt. It is expensive but he loves it so I usually buy 4-5 six packs a week for him. I love that he is snacking on something healthy although crackers (animal and graham) are still way high on his list of requested foods too.

3. He has moved past walking and is now on to running. It is so funny to see him running away cackling. Luckily we can still outrun him although I know our days are limited.

4. He is obsessed with pushing buttons. I could kiss the person who designed our TV for putting the buttons on the side. I wish I could say the same for the DVR, DVD player, and XBOX. Don't get me started on the remotes.

5. He is cutting 6 teeth right now that I know of. I am a little afraid to probe around in his mouth too much as I am fond of my fingers.

6. If you want to make him laugh, show him your belly button and then show him his. He thinks belly buttons are the funniest things ever. Followed closely by noses and eyes. I encourage the belly button poking over being poked in the eye.

7. He wakes up in the night and talks to himself. I hear him through the baby monitor going through his vocabulary. Mama, Dada, cracker, Juice, more, bite, etc. There is no feeling in the world like laying snug in your bed with your husband and listening to that sweet little voice over the baby monitor.

I am not going to tag anyone in particular but if you are looking for some inspiration for a post feel free to consider yourself tagged.

Playing in the rain

2008-07-03T20:25:00.002-05:00

Ok. Not the actual rain since we don't get much rain here in the summer. But we did indulge in the next best thing. The sprinkler. Bear is still afriad of the kiddie pool but not the sprinkler pelting him. Go figure.

In other news, he is getting so many teeth at once I am about to change his nickname to Jaws.

Where the animal crackers go to die

2008-06-30T14:54:00.008-05:00

Today I was busily typing on my laptop while my darling child entertained himself. All of his toys are right around the area of my recliner and side table that is home to my laptop so I can easily watch him. Lately he has become bored with his toys and has zeroed in on the squeaky toys in Rocky's cage. So of course, I heard him squeaking the dog toys the moment I looked away. I retrieve the toys and return them to the cage.

Bear, in the meantime, has scrambled up in my recliner. He often engages in diversionary tactics to get Momma out of the recliner so he can scramble up into the recliner and explore the Mecca that is my side table. On this table rests my laptop, a lap, 2 picture frames, and more often than not a glass of iced tea. This weekend he nabbed a coke off the table which luckily did not get on the laptop but did get all over the carpet. Today he scrambled up and immediately started messing with the laptop. Mind you, I am only approx. 10 feet away securing the dog toys. So I run over and scoop him up. During the scooping he drags his little fingers over the keyboard popping off 2 keys. Not just the keys but also the little white plastic tabs that hold the keys on.

I take him into his room and lay him down for a nap and return to the laptop to contemplate my options. So of course I turn to my trusty friend Google, which kindly showed me that people have WAY too much time on their hands. There were step by step instructions on replacing the keys and several YouTube videos. I checked a few of the videos but they were poorly lit and blurry so I turned to the step by step instructions. I found http://www.laptoprepair101.com which had pictures and instructions. I managed to get one key back on after about 15 minutes of figuring out how the impossibly tiny pieces of plastic fit together. So I go to put together the plastic pieces and one tiny clear piece pops free and disappears. #$@%^*!!!!!

So I get down on my hands and knees and start feeling for the piece on my biege carpet. There are toys all around so I move the toys and the chair. I learned that this particular area of the living room is the animal cracker graveyard. So I have to decide, do I crawl around on millions of crumbs or do I vacuum and risk sucking up the impossibly tiny plastic computer piece? After 15 minutes of searching I get out the shop vac and start sucking up pieces of cracker while feeling for the plastic piece with my other hand. After 30 minutes my carpet was clean and the plastic piece was nowhere to be found. So I visited my other trusty friend, Ebay, and paid way too much for a new H key to be delivered with plastic clippy pieces. So for now I am typing without the key on the H and I am becoming painfully aware of how many times I use the H key in a day.

The moral of today's story?

1. Animal crackers are the handiwork of the devil.
2. Children and laptops don't mix
3. I am in the wrong line of work. I need to start an Ebay business selling keyboard keys. I would be rich. Rich I tell you!

2008-06-29T15:45:00.006-05:00

Why is it that weekends are almost always more tiring than weekdays? Even when I worked full time the weekends just wore me out. Although I do miss those heady days before having a child where I slept till noon on the weekends. Even in those days we stayed up half the night so the sleeping in didn't help much.

Friday night we went out to dinner with our neighbors and another couple who are friends of theirs. Between the 3 couples we had 4 kids. Which shouldn't be that big of a deal but they certainly ran us ragged. Luckily the restaurant was almost empty so it wasn't too big of a deal. Bear fell in love with a gum ball machine at the front that lit up. He spent half the evening running to the front of the restaurant and wrapping his whole body around it. Whoever invented high chairs for restaurants needs a new job. Those things couldn't keep a rock strapped in much less a squirming 1 year old. They need to invent them with the harnesses that come over the shoulders like they have on the roller coasters.

Saturday we got up and went out for sushi. We decided to stop at a couple of furniture stores to check out the 4th of July sales. But of course we couldn't agree on anything. Furniture shopping is the adult equivalent of if you buy a mouse a cookie. If you buy an adult a sofa, he'll want a matching love seat. If you get the love seat then you need a new recliner. It gets a wee bit ridiculous after awhile. Then we got home and I put together a banana split cake. I have had this cake before but never made it myself. It was a pain in the butt to make. And my pudding never set right. I even got cherries for the top and drizzled chocolate on it. I also threw together a corn casserole. We headed over to the neighbor's house for a BBQ/game night. We ate and drank ourselves sick and by the time desserts came out everyone was too full so I ended up bringing home 3/4 of that cake. Ugh.

Today I did my weekly shopping. I managed to hit 3 grocery stores, Walmart, and CVS. I got some good deals but shopping in 100 degree heat takes it out of you. How sad is it that I am ready for the week?

Wasting time...

2008-06-26T21:00:00.007-05:00

I spent 4 hours on and off today playing my least favorite game, Find the Mail Key. We live in a neighborhood where the mailboxes are grouped together in locked boxes. When we moved in the previous owners only gave us one key to our mailbox because apparently we are not the only ones who have a hard time keeping up with the keys.

I could go to the post office and get them to put in a new lock and give me 2 keys but that would involve me going to the post office of my own free will and waiting 3 days for them to install the new lock. I'd rather have flaming bamboo shoved under my finger nails. So instead I tore apart my house for hours. We dug through the trash, checked under all the furniture, checked our cars, etc.

I finally gave up and sat in my recliner to check my email and thought I should check the chair one last time. I had already moved it earlier to look underneath but this time I popped it up and looked with a flashlight. There in the wood frame I saw a tiny glint of gold. The key was wedged in the wood frame in such a way that it would not have fallen through. Grrr.....4 hours of my life. What a waste.

2008-06-23T15:47:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since I posted, huh? Saturday we checked out the local wine festival. It was unbelievably hot but we had a great time. I picked up a couple of bottles of amazing Texas wines. Then we checked out a new sushi place that put our usual place to shame. All in all it was a good weekend. We even did a little home improvement by replacing our ghetto mirrored light fixture in the guest bath. The new one is pretty much a piece of crap too but at least it looks better.

Today I went to a local park with 2 girls from church. I say girls because they are 24 and saying ladies just makes me or them sound old. I only know one girl barely and the other I just met today. It is so hard making new friends especially over play dates. They brought 2 and 3 kids with them respectively so it was a little difficult getting a chance to actually talk. Every time we would start to discuss something a kid would run off. I never got a chance to really learn anything about either of them.

Rain on my parade why dont'cha?

2008-06-17T15:09:00.007-05:00

Today was another dreaded 6 month checkup at the dentist. I hate going to the dentist worse than anything. I would go to the OB/GYN every day for a year if it meant never having to go to the dentist again (with no cavities). When I get there the receptionist gives me flack about my insurance card. My husband's insurance only gives you one card for both medical and dental and she was trying to refuse it because she thought it was only a medical card. I got it all straightened out after I explained for the 3rd time that the Met Life Dental number was on the card wouldyoufreakingcallthempleasethx!

They call me back and of course my blood pressure is way higher than normal per usual. It is always fine when they check it at the doctor and always ridiculously high at the dentist. Coincidence? I think not. The hygenist comes in and starts cleaning my teeth and asking a million questions. It is very difficult to sound intelligent while talking with a spit sucker stuck in the side of your mouth. When will they learn?

She gets me all cleaned up and the dentist comes in to verify her work. She tells him I have no cavities and he follows that up with an "I hope you're right, lets just check why don't we". So I get to sit through the stress of him probing my mouth too. (She has missed a cavity before that he found on a previous visit) But alas my mouth was perfect. I like to think it is due to my $100.00 electric toothbrush I bought myself for Christmas. Who needs jewelry or purses when you can have clean teeth?

So at this point I am feeling pretty good. Smug, almost. Then as a parting shot he say "Your teeth healthy but you would be an excellent candidate for cosmetic work like a whitening". Ugh. That just pissed me off. I think its just the way he said it but it just took the freaking wind out of my sails. Now I have a new reason to hate the dentist, he is insulting. Imagine if you went to the OB/GYN and during your breast exam he mentioned that you were healthy but an excellent candidate for cosmetic surgery like a boob job? I really need to find a new dentist.

Another weekend...

2008-06-16T10:37:00.005-05:00

Our weekend was good, busy, but good. Saturday we went to a local vineyard with friends and did a wine tasting and tour. Then my husband and I stayed and had dinner there. I picked up a bottle of my favorite local wine for later. It was wonderful. I even spotted another blogger I read there. I didn't want to randomly walk up to her but I did leave her a message on her blog the next day.

Sunday I got up and made banana bread for my husband and gave him his Father's Day card. After church we stopped at the mall and he picked out a new pair of Oakleys as his gift. We also stopped at Academy and picked up a baby pool for Bear. Our next door neighbors have a 2 year old and we have been talking for weeks about getting a baby pool to put in the side yard between our houses.

When we got home I ran and got a much needed pedicure and picked up some CVS deals. When I got home the neighbors had put a baby pool of their own in the side yard. I took Bear out there and sat him in the pool where he promptly began screaming bloody murder. He refused to go near the baby pool the rest of the day. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Watching the pool from a safe distance.

Playing at the park

2008-06-13T21:18:00.003-05:00

We took advantage of the 98 degree heat today to get outside and get wet. My neighbor and her friend invited me and Bear to go to the park with them and their kids. They have an area where water comes out of fountains in the ground and buckets that fill up and dump on your head. Bear was a little apprehensive and he spent the majority of his time focusing on the smallest water fountain while the bigger kids played with the tall ones. I encourage him to play with the bigger kids but I am also trying to savor this time where he is the little guy.

Yes, dear

2008-06-11T22:56:00.004-05:00

So I went out to dinner tonight with a large group of girlfriends and of course the topic of marital relations (trying to avoid the googling) came up during our conversation. One of the girls told me that she has a friend who has been married 10 years, has 3 kids and in the course of those 10 years has never once said no to her husband. Not once?!? So then the question was asked as to the frequency of these marital relations and she says her friend told her that they do it 3-4 a week.

That just blows my mind. Never once say no because of a headache? Cramps? Pregnancy? Not in the mood? Tired? She says that her friend feels it is her obligation as a wife to never refuse her husband. Wow, I wonder if every wife felt like that what the divorce rate in this country would be? I agree that every couple needs intimacy to keep the marriage going but I think this woman deserves a gold star or a cookie or something.

2008-06-10T10:58:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I just really haven't been up to much. My husband was in a golf tournament all weekend so I spent the weekend home with the baby. Although I did sneak away for breakfast with my best friend on Saturday before my husband left for the golf course so that was a nice break. Oh, and I spent approx 3 hours at an Albertson's near my house that is shutting down buying up going out of business deals.

I love being at home full time but it is definitely making me a bit boring. I spend my days playing with Bear, cleaning, and clipping coupons. Saving money is becoming a wee bit of an obsession for me lately. I am trying so hard to be a good steward of our money now that we have cut our budget significantly with me leaving my job. I always thought people who clipped coupons were nerds but I realize now that they were pretty clever. It is hard to keep up with the what you have, when to use it, manufacturer vs store coupons, etc. I have my trusty coupon organizer but it is still a lot of work. I have literally doubled my grocery shopping time.

But I will say that it is a lot of fun to walk out of a store with a lot of stuff for nearly nothing while everyone else's grocery bills are climbing. I think I just really want to prove to my husband that me staying home won't be a hardship on our family financially. Especially since I decided to quit my job just as the prices of gas and food are doubling. I spent $74.00 filling my SUV this weekend and that was at Sam's Club. I wish I had a car with better gas mileage but it is paid for so it still comes out better than making a car payment and I don't drive much anymore.

I think my new obsession with saving money really boils down to my fear of having to go back to work because we can't pay our bills. I know there are worse things in life but now that I am home I really can't imagine going back if I can help it. So if you have any tips on saving cash let me know. I spend a lot of time frequenting the Money Saving Mom website and she has great ideas but I would love to hear any of yours.

When the cat is away.....

2008-06-06T19:56:00.009-05:00

The mouse will buy an obscene amount of Mexican food all for herself...

Well, maybe not ALL for herself...

A decision she will later regret at the pre-bedtime diaper change..

Updates, in case you care

2008-06-06T12:02:00.007-05:00

Yes, I am still here. I noticed recently that I have a habit of posting about something and then never mentioning it again. Some of you may not care but some of you may. So just a general status update for those of you who care....

1. Yes, Bear is sleeping again.

That night

was apparently just a nod to the Teething Gods and their mighty power of sleep deprivation.

2. No, I have not done anything with the suggestive ball found in the backyard. It has mysteriously moved to the opposite end of the yard and I am hoping it will mysteriously migrate itself on to greener pastures. I did, however, throw 2 seemingly innocuous plastic colored balls back into the neighbors yard yesterday while ignoring the ball from Mandee.

3. No, I haven't broken my new camera , yet. *Knock on wood furiously*. Unfortunately the new camera did not come with the ability to upload pictures from itself to my computer by osmosis. You would think for as much as I paid it would but alas, it doesn't. I even bought a nifty device that plugs into the side of my laptop that I just pop the memory card into to upload the pictures yet that still doesn't overcome my laziness.

So there you have it. Updates. Besides that I am just being a sloth this week. I have been getting the housework done, watching the baby, baking fresh bread every day and cooking dinner but all of these things can be done from the comfort of my home. So maybe I am not a sloth just more of a homebody. I did venture out once this week to the library where I picked up some books that I have been devouring after Bear goes to bed. I am currently half way through The Year of Pleasures. I am still working on my Dove chocolate stash although I may need to venture out and replenish it soon. I have been tagged for a Meme which I promise I am working on. I think that about covers it.

This message is sponsored by Motrin, Baby Orajel, and Dove Chocolates

2008-06-04T13:40:00.006-05:00

I have been blessed that for the majority of Bear's 16 months on earth he has been a great sleeper. I have always been a little afraid to say anything for fear of jinxing it. He usually sleeps a solid 13 hours a night with at least 2 hours of nap time or more during the day. I'll duck while you Moms throw something at me.

Last night my illusions of grandeur were shattered. I stayed up late talking to the hubby and we didn't settle down to sleep until around 12-12:30ish. Around 1 a.m. Bear started crying out some. Now it's not unusual for him to cry out a few times in his sleep. So I listened for a little bit on the baby monitor to see if he was settling down. He continued the cry outs for awhile so I decided to peek in. Big mistake.

The little whimpers I heard before were nothing compared to the full on wails of a child who realizes Momma is up and in his room. MUST.GET.OUT.OF.CRIB.NOOOOOWWWWW. OK so I get him up and lay on the couch in his room for awhile rubbing his back. Typically this works if he is upset. Then I lay him down. Big mistake, again. So I leave the room for a bit hoping he will settle down and fall asleep on his own.

I go through this until somewhere in the neighborhood of 4:30 a.m. Trying out milk, juice, food, back rubs, baby Motrin until we finally both crash at 4:30 in my bed. At 8:00 a.m. he awakes refreshed and ready to party. Momma, not so much. I get up and feed him breakfast and let him play for as long as I can stay awake and then put him down at 10 a.m. for a nap. It is 1:48 and he is still down. I know I need to go wake him up or potentially incur the wrath of an angry toddler at 3 a.m. tonight but ugh I am tired. And yes, I did take a nice nap from 10- 1. Thank God I am not working. I still don't know what caused last night's up all night baby fiesta. No fever, not hungry, not thirsty, not cold, not hot, clean diaper. I guess we can chalk this one up to teething. Thank God for the Dove milk chocolates I bought last night at the store. They make anything bearable.

Where has the time gone?

2008-06-02T10:29:00.007-05:00

This week starts my 7th week as a SAHM. It has been flying by. This is the happiest I have been in a long time. I am not as tired and stressed anymore. I have more time for socializing with friends and playing with my son. I have the house clean and dinner ready when my husband gets home so that frees up time for us to just hang out in the evenings. I still have to remind myself every Sunday night that I really don't have to go to work tomorrow. It seems so surreal.

I really never expected my social life to increase once I wasn't working. I figured that I would become one of those Moms parked in front of Oprah in my sweatpants all day. Instead I have found myself becoming less of a hermit. Working full time sucked all the energy out of me. When I got home in the evening I had to do laundry, clean the house, do dishes, take care of dinner, play with Bear, etc, etc. The weekends were spent trying to run errands and finish up tasks that weren't done on weeknights. I really wasn't up for having people over as much because that weekend time was so precious.

Now I actually get my weekends off because the housework and errands are done during the week. We went to a pool party Saturday afternoon then had friends over for dinner that evening. Sunday I went out to lunch after church with a friend and we caught the Sex and the City movie. Then our husbands went to hit golf balls while we watched movies at the house with Bear and cooked dinner. It was amazing. And I knew I didn't have to rush them out the door so I could get everything ready for work and daycare.

I would go back to work if we financially couldn't make it but I am so grateful for this opportunity to not have to. I was afraid when I left my job that I would regret it. That I would miss being part of the working world and earning my keep. I was afraid that staying home wouldn't be everything I had built it up in my mind to be and that I would be bored to tears. But I have to say I honestly love it.