Happy New Years Eve!

So here we are again.  The end of a year, yet an other end.  Now come all the resolutions.  The I don't wanna do _____ any more, or the I wanna do more _____.  It becomes a cycle of promises we make to ourselves, that no one ever keeps for any longer than at the most a month. 
I'm no different.  (I know, it's hard to imagine; me princess of all that is good and wonderful. LOL.  Ok, moving on, nothing to see.)  I like to say I'll lose weight, I'll become more organized (that is a hysterical joke to anyone who knows me), I'll go to bed on time (my kids will think THAT is hilarious),  all this with the FULL intent of actually doing it.  But then I begin to trick myself into "one time won't hurt me".  So, I eat that candy bar, because it's only one.  Or I'll stay up and watch just "one more episode".  Then I find myself saying "Well, I did it last night and I was ok, so I'll do it again, because I can handle it".  Next thing I know, I'm sitting on the couch eating a snickers, drinking a coke and watching Star Trek until midnight!

Vicious cycle I tell ya.

So, this year I'm going to keep doing what it is I have been doing, simply because if it ain't broke, don't fix it right?
I'm going to start school this year, so why add to the stress?  I'm beginning 2 years of intensive RN training, that if at any time I fall under an 80% I fail.  No pressure.

So, I'll continue on my way, buying stuff at the dollar store (which, I totally think my sister should get a discount for working there; then I could get a family discount. :-D), going to Winn-Dixie to buy my groceries because of their gas rewards program.  (oh yeah, forgot to tell ya'll that I jumped grocery stores)  Things that help me and my family save money.  Things that make our family work.  Sure things will get rough in the New Year.  Sure things will get so bad that I'll wonder what I was thinking.  But what will get us through these hard times is the knowledge that things WILL get better, and now is not forever.

Our future is ours alone to shape.  We can't control everything that happens to us, but we CAN control how we respond to it.

I'm so horrible at this sometimes

We've been sick at our house.  Bill's been sick for weeks, and I'm just getting over a week long cold, actually since it's Wednesday, I'm getting over a 10 day cold.  I came down with it the last weekend I worked.  Stephanie is now sick with what we had, and on top of it, it's "the most wonderful time of the year"

This is the time of year when everything is beating down on my head like I'm in charge. 
There are so many things that I should be doing right now.

1. blogging.  Oh wait, that's what I'm doing
2. setting up my school notebooks
3. (this should really be a subset of #2) printing out the work my teacher has e-mailed the class.
4. compiling my Visiting Teaching information.
5. writing a letter to the Hillsborough County School District
6. deciding what bill I'm not going to pay because I have to buy expensive books for school
7. deciding which child to berate (not really people, relax-sheesh)
8. watching Star Trek Next Generation
9. going to bed
10. wrapping presents
11. reading
12. making out Christmas cards (I know they won't get there in time)
13. writing a few letters
14. cleaning the house
15. cleaning the girls rooms (I know they'd love that one)
16. figure out what's left to buy for Christmas
17. figuring out how much money I have to spend on my school books
18. taking away the Play Station eye-I'm sick of hearing it
19. walking away from the computer so I don't freak out
20. catch up on my blogging-I even took PICTURES!!!!!
21. figure out when Santa leaves the North Pole (norad rocks)
22. see if Stephanie's fever has come back
23. make sure Brina has cleaned up the kitchen properly
24. change the chores around so we can get use to me not being an active member of this household
25. get over this OCD clicking of my fingers things...for petes sake, no one-especially me-wants to hear me clicking out whatever song is in my head before I can talk to them, or even finish a single thought!!!!!
26. exercise
27. journal
28. pet the dog
29. cut the dogs toe nails
30. walk the dog
31. take a shower
32. take a $5 bath (we have a garden tub, so we call it the $5 bath cause it probably takes that much water to fill it up)
33. clean out the van
34. play tetris
35. play pipeworks (my new obsession)

This is why nothing ever gets done with me.  I sit down to do one thing, and then all of a sudden I'm hit with ALL the things that I think I need to do.  EVERY SINGLE THING.  I don't know if I even need to do all of these things; yet there are things on there that I KNOW I need to do, and there are things on there that I know I want to do.  Whatever people!

Can you see my frustration?  Can you feel it?  Can you so completely understand that you are right here with me clicking your fingers in discontent to the tune of....oh lets go with No Rain by Blind Melon?  Between the dog jumping up on me for who knows what reason, and the children playing with the PS eye; I think I just may end up on the hill wearing my bumble bee outfit dancing in the flowers too.  I wonder if netflix has White Christmas.....nope-how stupid is that.

Alright.  This has turned into a great big fat rant, and that is not at all what I wanted it to be.  I wanted to come and enlighten you on my wonderous Christmas spending spree at the dollar tree. 

Ahhh, I think I'll try to start again tomorrow.  Maybe show a few pics that I took just for the blog.  Maybe even not go off on some side rant that people will try to have me committed for.  LOL.....maybe, just maybe I'll read this tomorrow and think HOLY CRAP!  WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frustration

So far this week our bank balance is in the black.  Awesome!  Yeah, not really.  I have 22 miles left in the van, and I know Bill is running low.  Tonight is Church.  This is the second time we've missed Church because we couldn't afford gas.   Wonderful right?




alright, today is a different day than the previous paragraph.  Infact, that was last night.  This morning I put $2 in the gas tank.  TWO WHOLE DOLLARS.  Hey, it worked out.  So, we have a whopping $.62 in the bank.  ALRIGHTY!  PARTY!


Good news though, I got my financial aide straightened out.

Been a long time since I......

well, the answer certainly isn't "rock and rolled".  Rock and roll is a part of this house all day everyday.  Even today Zsusanna busted out the violin and played some rock for us!  Woo Hoo!  Rockin' on the violin!  Anywho... I have a bad habit of going long periods of time and not blogging.  BAD BLOGGER, BAD BAD BLOGGER.

Recently I've considered selling stuff on etsy. WHAT? ME? noooo, not possibly true. I've always wanted to make money
on crocheting. I LOVE to crochet, and it is relaxing (unless the dog runs away with my skein and knots it up.)

Making the Grab!

Making a run for it!

What the blue looked like when we got it back

"Ooooh, I got it again!"

Not giving it up so easy this time

and this is him trying to run away with the white. 
See what he did to the blue?

 I see so many people on there selling their wares, and I think....I could do that-couldn't I?  Bill asked me today, how long would it take me to make a snowman.  It would take a day if I sat my butt down and did it from start to finish, not surfing the net, not checking out the forums, not playing WoW.  Yes, if I sat down and treated it like a job, I bet I could make SOME kind of money off my goods.  Problem is... me.
I enjoy what I do, when I do it.  I don't have a set pattern that I follow, I make it up as I go along.  That means, I don't ususally get the same item twice.  Snowmen, well, that is a LITTLE bit different, because a ball is a ball, unless I think I wanna change it up, then I get like, oh, an oval or something.

So, although it is true that I could probably make a little money on the side selling my incredibly wonderful stuff, I know myself, and I'm a bit lazy.  Yes, I said it, and I put it right out there on that table.  Hey, at least I admit to it.  No trying to sugar coat anything.  I'm good at my job, I bust my butt at my job, when I get home at the end of the day, I'm tired and I don't want to be pressured into making something.  If I WANT to make something, that is completely different.   However, I fear that if I make something because I'm going to sell it, that I will become so anal retentive about it having to be perfect, I just may make everyone's life a living nightmare.  On the other hand, because I know it may only take me a day to put an item fully together from start to finish, I may put it off and put it off, and then when I realize I only have "X" amount of time to go, then I"ll bust my butt to finish, just barely making the deadline, and still being anal about things not looking right, and then having to listen to whomever (myself) berate me by telling me "If you had started this earlier, you wouldn't feel like this."  Sounds like I know myself pretty well huh? 
I know I can do this.  I KNOW I can do this.  I'm not stupid by any means, and I make pretty good stuff; but why doesn't that translate any farther than my mouth?  Why can't I realize it?  Hmmm, something to think about maybe.  However, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to make money on my "wares".  See my issue?

ahhh, if only it were that easy to convince myself of my own worth.

hmmmm

so much to say,
so little I want to say

hmmmm

so much to say,
so little I want to say

blah-ity blah blah blah blech

I just feel so...meh

I also feel buggy.  You know the feeling you get when you feel like bugs are crawling all over you, but they are not?  Like you just found out your close friends have lice, but you have not been able to go home and check youself out.  Grrrrrr, I feel nasty buggy.  (no, nobody has bugs)

I didn't take my meds last night, because it was too late to take them when I got home.  I wanted to be able to wake up in the morning and go to work.  Really, it was only one night; but today (tonight actually) I feel really on edge, and irritated, and blah.  I seem to have a short fuse.  Withdrawls...gotta love em right?  WRONG I hate them.  ick.

So, we cut all the bills down and we STILL don't have enough money to pay everything.  I was suppose to go tomorrow and get my background check done for nursing school.  Doesn't look like we'll be doing that.  First, I don't have enough gas to get me through the weekend, and second, we don't have the money to pay the $50 for the fee.   Love life.  It keeps throwing punches, but we keep bobin' and weavin'

I should be doing my Visiting teaching, or making a grocery list; you know-useful things...but I just feel so eh.

Stephanie wants me to teach her German.  Zsusanna is suppose to be helping me learn more Spanish.  When I try to recall Spanish phrases, the first thing that pops into my mind is German.  :-(  I'd say I'm too old to learn anything, but that's a crock and I know it.  I'm still young enough...but I feel so overwhelmed really.  Lots going on.  At least, I feel like I have lots going on.  Probably not as much as other people have going on-but for us I feel like it's a lot. 

Picking up Stephanie from school every day REALLY sucks.  I hate it.  They won't let the kids walk to their cars any more, so I have to go through "the circle".  I hate the circle.  I don't even leave the house until Stephanie is OUT of school.  Even then when I get there-the place is still packed.  I hate it.
Tuesday is cheerleading, and Wednesday is Church and dance class.
Add work to any and every one of these days.


I keep getting side-tracked by Ghost Whisperer.  Stephanie is watching, and I don't wanna watch, but it's interesting.  Oh well, guess I'm gonna resign myself to watching the rest of it.

I'll worry about our "money problems" later.

Watching General Conference

1. forget not to be patient with yourself

2. forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a poor sacrifice

3. forget not how to be happy now

4. forget not the WHY of the gospel

5. forget not, that the Lord loves you

These were the points made by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf tonight at the Womens Session. 

Life as we know it

Is about to change in approxamately 3 months.  I recieved my confirmation letter from HCC for the nursing program.


 But right now, I'm not exactly thinking about that.  I'm thinking of the spiritual well being of my family.

I'm to angry/hurt/mad/confused/pissed/heart broken to blog right now.  Guess we'll all have to wait out the "emotion" storm Amber is about to go through to see what's going on, and how I'm going to handle it.  Probably the same way as always, so we end up right back here.  Just sit and wait and see if anything changes, knowing FULL WELL it won't.

amazing how I planned on blogging about nursing school, but the kids got me side tracked to something completely different.

Reading. I'm actually READING!

Since we did some budget cuts, and got rid of the easy entertainment in the house, I took my second oldest to the library and paid her $10 fine.  (My fine is almost $40.)  So, I unrestricted her card after we reinstated it.  We can get out like, a ridiculous amount of books.  I mean, seriously, I think they said we could get out 50 books.  Really?  Do we need 50 books?  SHEESH PEOPLE.
Any who....back to the story.
I got a book.  YAY!  That's right, I, me, got a book.  Now, I love reading, so really getting a book isn't like the end of the world, but I do have  4 kids and a full time job-so when do I have time to read?  Normally I don't, but today I did.  We went to visit family about an hour and a half away, and so I REALLY got to read a lot.  I'm reading "The Kid-Friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook".  I've always been interested in what food does to Brina.  (ADHD)  There are things in this book that make so much sense, even when applied to myself. 
I've tooled around with taking gluten out of our diets before, because I had heard that some ADHD children have an intolerance or even an allergy to it; like it just kinda comes with the territory.  So, now that I'm reading, and learning, I can see things that completely correlate with what is being said in the books.   So, of course I want to see if removing these things from our diets bring changes that others have seen.  If not, what's wrong with a little experiment?  Nothing at all.  The family still gets food, and I get the satisfaction of knowing if I'm right or wrong.

So, while I was grocery shopping a few weeks ago, I found this.  I'm not sure if I was allowed to take the picture or not.  I really don't know, but it reminded me of my friend Lisa.   The row above it was GF (gluten-free) also.  I'm thinking I may have to buy some of this and frequent it.  Although, I complain about having to pay almost $2 for a loaf of cheap candy white bread.  However, eating better, and possibly making my child have an all over better feeling about herself and life-is fully worth it.  My husband isn't so keen on my idea of eliminating things out of our diet, but if I make it so he can't taste that anything is missing, then I don't think he'll fight me too hard on that.  I think it just reaffirms for me that I know in my heart what I need to do for my child.  Many times I have prayed over what to do with her, how can I as a mother, HER mother, the one God chose to care for this precious child on this Earth, best care for her.  I pray every day, and often I pray about what to do about "things" with the family and the girls.  I'm going to take the plunge next grocery day (in a little over a week.  I've gone back to shopping for 2 weeks.  It is cheaper, but I got away from it, because I was lazy, and shopping became a chore.  I'm going to head on over to Lisa's and see what's up over there.  She's my GF momma friend who rocks.

Tomorrow Zsusanna gets her learners permit.  We tried to get it Friday, but we were too late, and the tax office wasn't accepting drivers license business any more, and then when we went to the DMV, the woman who was checking people in said "I can't serve everyone, but you all can make an appointment.  I have cut the line and after that you'll need to make an appointment."  Problem is, she never told us where she "cut" the line off.  So, tomorrow is the day!

Cutting the fat

I know, that last post was about cutting spending, and all that jazz.  We've decided to keep the Internet.  It's going to the the only way we watch TV, communicate with others, and of course blog! LOL

But seriously.  I google "How to save money" and I get "Trim your credit card bill",  "Pay down your debt".  OK, lets be realistic.  1. I'm way too poor to have a credit card.  That is just so hysterically funny to me, that people out there actually think that everyone in the world has a credit card.  Well, they don't.  Some of us have screwed up our credit so bad, that the pens we apply with laugh in our face.  That's right- the pens laugh.   And of course 2, which I have already mentioned bad credit.  I think even if I HAD good enough credit that I wouldn't really get a credit card.  Why?  They are SO inviting.  The whole "I don't have enough money for that, but I REALLY REALLY want it, lets put it on credit" thing...just too temping you know?   Seriously, I can see myself doing it-and I don't like that.   I guess the next thing to do is stop taking showers?  Stop washing my clothes?  Our electric bill is on a levelized program-so it stays the same every month; but around February it "adjusts" and we either owe or get a credit.  I think we've gotten a credit the past few years, which is nice.  Although this year our bill went up.  However, I think that's because of a rate increase. 

I'm going to cut about $40 out of our Verizon bill.  (OMgosh... every time I type the word bill, I want to type Bill, because in my mind the word bill is Bill. sheesh)  That mixed into the $90 a month we are cutting by not renewing our cell phones, is a good amount of money.
 98.42                                 43.43
-54.99                               +90.00
----------                            ----------
$43.43                              $133.43

Ok, so that's not a bad load of money to save right off the bat.  Now, just to wittle down everything else.  Oh yeah, I cancelled my WoW account, so add an other $14.99 to the saving's and that's $148.42!  Woot! 

That's enough mind blowing math for one day (simple math-not my forte').  I have to work in the morning, so I'm going to run away, read my scriptures, do my prayers and try to sleep.


Guten nacht; meine damen und herren.

Wow, it cost HOW much?

So, it's time to buckle down and actually do what I was setting out to do MONTHS ago. 

trim down the bills

so, here I am...looking through pages upon pages of how to cut this, and trim that, and this can be moved here, and that can be watched there.  It's exhausting!  It really is!

I had to actually TALK to someone at Brighthouse to find out prices.  Actually, I should be more specific and say that I had to "chat" with someone at Brighthouse.  I would NEVER call them for anything.  We've had them before, and the service we got from them, well, the call center really wasn't ever a problem, but we have moved on to Verizon.  We like them.  They talk to us, they actually SHOW UP when we call them.  They fix it the first time (insert shocking look here)  (and no people I am not paid by anyone to tell you this, so keep your pants on).  So, I was looking at prices, and yeah, we're gonna stay with Verizon. 

I hate to put that out there so bluntly, using names and all, but I guess I could disquise it, but eh-I'm a consumer, I am entitled to my opinion, and there it is people....there it is. 

Bill and I discussed buying a little beater car so I can drive to work.  Right now I'm driving the van, and well, at $75 a fill-up, that's pretty spendy.  He has the truck, but the truck is BARELY driven.  Like, I think if he filled up the truck (ha ha ha ha, he would never but I think he should) it would probably last him AT LEAST 6 weeks.  School is back in session, and he takes 1 girl to school, and 1 home from school.  So, maybe something like, a geo metro death trap, that gets 500 miles to the gallon (or squirl as Bill says LOL); just something I can drive back and forth to work.  Then we can use the minivan for going to Church, and to the Zoo. (If we ever go again)

Speaking of school.  HOLY CRAP THIS IS EXPENSIVE!!!!  I save everything.  My husband, and parents can attest to this.  If it were not for some VERY carefully interjected "cleaning" I would probably keep every thing.  (it's a sickness people...it's an evil evil sickness)  Anyway, because we have 4 kids in school I save everything that may be used again.  Binders, dividers, crayons, colored pencils, rulers, calculators, scissors. Do you know how many pairs of scissors I have?  HOLY PIZZA ROLLS!  (figured you guys were getting sick of holy crap. lol) Anywho; today I finally yelled at the kids for not getting me the list I wanted, by the second day of school (yesterday).  I got a kid telling me "my teacher wants me to have my stuff by tomorrow".  Well, maybe you should've given me your list.  I'm pretty sure, we have most of the stuff they need, but I don't really wanna hear "I don't want that binder, I want a new binder."  Eh, new is over rated.

So, it's back to school time, it's cut the budget down time, and it's figure out what Santa's gonna bring the kids time. 

I'm starting to lose track of why I came here.  So many interuptions.  Kid stuff, dinner stuff (who knew we had to feed these children?), I'm also getting a cold.  :-(  A lovely sinus thing that Shelby decided to share with me.

So, I'm off to peel, cut, and chop my way to dinner.  It's salad night.  Veggies for everyone!  Oh yea, and loads of fruit too!

The a/c went out last night. LORD GIVE ME STRENGTH. Cause the kids are already on my nerves. Also say a prayer for Bill who is home with them all day tomarrow.

Cleaning up my craft area/sewing table/yarn. Makes me realize how much stuff i got! Holy cow! I want an afghan hook too! Maybe later when i go to walmart...

Happy Sad Day

This is a happy sad day for our family.  Today my second oldest turned 13.  I now officially have 2 teenagers in the house.  YIKES! 

This morning, my grandpa's wife passed away.  She suffered from Alzeimers for quite a while.  Grandpa took care of her.  During the end of her life, her daughter helped, and for the past week my mom has been taking care of her so grandpa could get some rest.  My Aunt Cindy went over there for a bit one day too.  (I say a bit, but it was an all day thing)

It's really hard being in Florida while all of this is going on in Michigan.  I hate being away from my family, but here I am, and I guess we're here to stay for a while.

So, happy sad day in the Pattee home today.  Bitter-sweet.

Rest in Peace Clara.

Had a friend of the family come over and fix the tarp on our roof. Paid him $20. The roof leaks worse. Dude, really? Just like when he "fixed" the van a/c.

Christmas Presents

Sooooo, as a family who has limited income, I'm considering my present list right now. 

Problem I have is the whole actually seeing something through to being finished.  I have a blanket that all I need to put on is the border and it's done.  But I procrastinate so much, it doesn't happen.  My girls started this blanket 2 years ago for their cousin who wasn't born yet.  By the time I finish the stupid thing, the kids gonna get it as a graduation present.  So, that is an example of how WELL I do home made gifts. 

Every year it starts out the same.  "I wanna make X person Y for Christmas, and then I wanna make Q person I for Christmas" and person X and Q never find out that I'm thinking of them, because the present sits half done for years....and then it is frogged.

I need to find some ambition here people!  Or borrow some.  Just for a few months, just so I can get my projects together, and maybe clear out my space in the bedroom so my husband shake his head every time he walks by. 

Thinking about everything life has to offer can be overwhelming. But thinking about what the here after has to offer is even more overwhelming.

Nursing School

So, it's only one of the most important decisions I have to make for me and my family.  I'm currently an "applicant" at the local Community College.  Problem is, they are suppose to give you an answer in 6-8 weeks, and that was oh, 9 weeks ago.  I'm so....confused.  I wanted to explore other options.  There are 2 other girls at work who have decided they wanted to go to nursing school also.  However, we are all not on the same page.  I'm an applicant for the nursing program, an other girl is taking pre-req's for her pre-req's, and the other one (I just found out about today) says she doesn't like school, but she's over the CNA stuff, and ready to move up. 

I'm so confused.  I feel like giving up sometimes, but then I realize that I have 1-2 other people who want to do this with me.  If I get into the community college, do I accept?  Do I wait?  Do I go to a different school?  My plans all along were to go to the comminuty college, but recently I've learned about other nursing schools.  I never really even thought about them, but they have recently come into my view. 

Most schools I look at you have to do their LPN program to get to their RN program.  I've only found 2 schools that offer straight to RN, and that's the Community College, and Everest University.  However, the latter of the two schools is over $56k!   EEK!

So, then we have Galen, Fortis, and the local Technical school.  The local technical school is the cheapest.  They start in January, and is around $5k.  The others are $27k and $20K.

I just want to cry when I think about it all.  I mean really sit down and ball my eyes out because it's such a hard decision to make.  What am I suppose to do?  Really?  Seriously?  I have a family to support, I have wants and dreams to achieve.  So, I have to work full time while I go to school full time.  There seems to be NO SUCH THING as a part time LPN course.  Sure, they have part time RN classes, but no part time LPN courses. 

Also, the added "no pressure" of 2 other people wanting to go with me.  At the same time.  Not in a different class.  What if I get in, and they don't?  What if they get in and I don't?  What then?  Do we say, nah, don't worry about it, I'll get the next class?  Or do I sit and feel stupid/terrible for either a.) moving on or b.)being left behind.  Yeah, no pressure.

Bill is posting on the forums...im blogging....just so he'll get the beep on his phone. Lol

grocery day, and other assorted errands

Ah yes, grocery day.  The day that I use to like, and sometimes look forward to.  However, lately it seems that I LOATHE grocery day.  Maybe it's because the kids are home from school, and I have to buy for an extra few meals a day, or that I have to actually make sure there is snacks for them, or maybe they just are the worst grocery companions ever, and even though my husband would keep them all home for me to go alone, I kinda like the idea (before I leave the house) of not being alone in the grocery store.  However, Shelby will NEVER EVER EVER go with me when I go "big" grocery shopping.  Mostly because I'm not even down the first aisle before she's asking when it's time to go home.  I could probably get, $10 worth of produce in my cart and she'll be saying things like "Salad?  Really?  Just, Really?"  "We just had salad the other day, why do you want me to eat that stuff?"  Or, if we go down the meat aisle, she'll remind me that Zsusanna is sick of what ever meat that I pick up and put into the cart.  (that would be the buggy for all ya'll southern folk)  Then, because the Little Debbie display is right across from the meat section, I hear "Mommy, we haven't had (enter whatever overly sweet box of sugary goodness you want) ____ in FOREVER!"  So, when I say no, and there is a meltdown of epic proportions, everyone in the freezer and meat section will stop and look to see why that child is melting down, and then as she gets more aggressive in her plea for sugar, the dairy aisle will begin to hear, and they then change the way they are walking to come around the back corner to make sure that some poor child is not getting a beat down with a box of Twinkies.

 I just want to say that Twinkie the Kid is a wonderful acrobat.  He has flung himself into my cart unbeknownst to me on SEVERAL occasions.

Anyway....back to the problem at hand.   Grocery shopping.

So, yeah, Shelby doesn't go with me, unless there is an actual emergency that requires said child to accompany me to said public place.  It isn't pretty, and usually I need a couple of anti-psychotic drugs by the time I get home.

The older 3 have their own specific advantages, and disadvantages.  Zsusanna I can send off to get various things around the store, and she'll come back with JUST those items.  Stephanie, I have to worry about if she runs into a slim jim display.  The girl is addicted to dried meat products-and this is the child who wanted to be a vegetarian!  Dude, really?  Actually, it was a slim jim that interrupted her vegetarian run about 6 months ago.  It was the only time she feel off the wagon, until we kicked her off.  She was doing really well on it, but then she started to lose weight, and well, we thought it was the vegetarianism, we didn't realize she had mono.  Poor kid. 

Ok, how did this go from groceries to mono?  Oh yeah....my train of thought.  HOLY CRAP, it's after 11!  I really need to get on that list.  I've been REALLY slack in the past few months about grocery shopping.  Usually I'm really good at getting it organized and such.  But, as said previously-I think it's the summer thing.

Ok, So, back to the kids:

• Zsusanna-good at coming back to the cart with JUST the wanted items. 
• Stephanie-good at getting what she SHOULD have unless there is a dried meat product around.
• Shelby-no way, uh-uh, MAYBE if I have to-but mostly stays with the Daddy.
• Brina....we have not yet talked about Sabrina.

Sabrina is my go-to organizer.  When I come home with a lot of cans (like I will today), she is the one I get to organize the cupboard.  She is awesome at it.  Like, she's been the one in charge of cans since she was like...oh, I don't know-3?  However long I've been with Bill.  Whenever I get home from grocery shopping, she's the one I plop down in the corner, and I tell her, when I hand you cans, please organize them.  (Now, if I can get her to do her room-that would be AWESOME).  In the grocery store, Sabrina is always ready and willing to help.  I can send her to get things, and she'll come back with what I want, but if she isn't sure, she doesn't make stuff up (like a box of slim jims), she'll come back for clarification.  However, as my Special Child, she requires a lot of patience and love, and sometimes we don't get that at the grocery store.  Once in a while, I need a couple of valum when I get home from grocery shopping with her too.  Mostly just out of worry of what other people who are unwilling to share the world with people who are not "the norm" are going to do. 

So, I guess since it's after 11, and we have to meet the missionaries at the Church at 6, and I have not been grocery shopping in...well, I plead the 5th.  I should get off here, get that list completed (at least there are meals on my list), pick a kid and go.  Last time there was a fight over who wanted to go! LOL

ahhhhh, the joys of parenting bored children in the summer.

Family Ties

Does anyone remember that show?  When Alex Keaton was in Kindergarten, he had green mittens that had money signs on the palms.  Skippy had green mittens too, (just with no money signs) that's how they became friends.  Why do I remember that?  Why do I remember any kind of useless crap like that?  My mind sometimes is a non-filter memory machine--but when it comes to me remembering the important things, sometimes I'm a little lax.  Just a little.  But seriously, talking about long term things, I can remember a LOT of stuff.  It's just that short term brain thing I need to work on.

So, family.  How do you define yours?  What is your family?  Today I had to draw on the love I have for my family to stay with my job.  I told my mom about the day I had (because my husband doesn't usually like to hear about the grossness at work), and I felt a teeny bit better.  My husband asked me to tell him about my day, because he knew I had a REALLY bad day.  After telling him, I looked back and I can't believe I let so much ruin my day.

Today was one of those days everything got to me.  EVERYTHING.  I even said to myself:  "If my family didn't need me to keep this job, I would walk out, even though I would lose my license."  I don't like being taken advantage of, I don't really think anyone does, but today it seemed that I was, not belittled, but berated maybe because I am a caring/thourough person in my care as an aide. 

The ADON (that would be assistant director of nursing) called me in to have me ask her what is wrong with a patient.   When I mentioned something she said "Oh, I didn't even see that, what else is wrong here."  Finally I gave in and said "What?!?  What is wrong?"  It did set the tone for the whole day, but really; I'm a DAMN good CNA, and I'm seriously thinking about taking my "compassion" skills somewhere else.  I give good care, I just don't have enough time to give the highest quality of care I can with the current patient load.  I have to do "run throughs" on some people.  I have a resident who actually asked me one time to "run her through the car wash"; meaning she wanted a quick shower.  But, as I sit here I think-how did she come up with that analogy?  Did she think it up?  Did an other aide say that to her?  I don't know, but it's got me thinking.

So, back to family.  My family is the CORE of everything I do.  Whenever I have a thought, I think about how it'll affect my family life.  I don't much go out, because I'll miss out on my family time.  My kids are not going to be home the rest of the life (Despite Zsusanna's adament remarks.)  I have to be here to enjoy them.  I have to be here to encourage them.  I have to be here, to be their mother.  I can go out after they are moved away, or even in college.  (once again, Zsusanna is insistant she is only going to stay in the dorms for freshman year)  Today it just reaffirmed to me that I love my family, and how near and dear they are to me.  So much so, that I would deal with my crappy day and not let it get me to quit.

I came home and warned the children.  "Mommy had a bay day, let me calm down."  Too bad the dog doesn't understand American English!  I was trying to relax in my room, when I stood up to come into the living room, the dog jumped up and knocked the glass of pop in my hand, spilling it on my comforter.  I tried to knock if off/clean it up, before it sunk it, but it was too late.  The splatter reached farther than I had originally thought.

It's alright....
It's ok....

Because this is what makes life all worthwhile:



Thank goodness their room doesn't look like that any more, or I may come home and wanna pull my hair out too!


So, just to give a little shout out to my family here.  I love you guys and you all make my days worth it.  With out you, I would truely be nothing.

So much to say, so much time to say it.

Yet, I NEVER seem to have time to get up here and post anything. I have pictures of the rag rug I made for Bill last year.  I washed it, and took a picture of it since I started making it like, two years ago. 

  
 I also have some pictures of Zsusanna's red cabbage that we had for lunch one day.  She is arguing with me about it being purple, and even though I insist that it's red cabbage, she is insistant about it being purple.  It also stained my pot purple.

 I have pictures of my cutting area in the closet, and pictures of the finished closet.

We were finally able to bring in the games from outside in the shed.  Now we can actually PLAY the games we have!

Even got a rare picture of myself at work.  All decked out in isolation gear.  YUMMY!  (my co-workers hate when I say that.)

Sometimes I log onto WoW just to listen to the music.

bored, uhm....

Today is my day off of work.  I got up this morning and ran some errands, but now I'm feeling a little....eh.

I am crocheting a doggie restraint so we can start taking the dog places again.  I use to take him anywhere I didn't have to get out of the car.  Like, if I had to pick one of the girls up from school, I'd take the dog with me, just to get him out of the house, or if we were going to the park, he'd come along for the ride.  That was until he wouldn't sit still any more.  So, I stopped taking him places. 

Today I decided I wanted to go to what we call the walking park.  We use to go every other week, on my weekends off, and when we got Gator, we took him with us to walk the trails and go on the boardwalk.  Well, when he stopped being a good dog in the car, we stopped taking him places.  So, I thought it would be nice to go to the park on my day off, and take the dog with us like we use it.  Well, I got to searching car restraints, and then I got on ravelry, and then it popped into my head "HEY, I can make one of those!"  So, now here I am; making a seatbelt restraint thingy for my dog for the van.

Tomorrow we are going to what we call the skating park.  There is a small area to play on, and then a quarter mile paved circle.  Not exactly sure how long we'll be there, but I plan on taking the dog, Shelby's bike/scooter, Stephanie's friend, and well, I'm just not sure what else we'll be taking. LOL  We'll be there around 10 I told Stephanie's friend, so I'll pick her up around that time.

Well, back to my crocheting!  This is a pic of what the chest area looks like.  I took it so I could put it on my projects page on Ravelry. 

Wow, my desk looks really messy in the picture.  I got a pile of reciepts back there I need to input; and apparently, my caps lock was on. (the 3 lights in the back, last one on the right)  I know, you don't need to know that right? LOL!!!

"I care"

I have said this past weekend that my "I care" button has been broken.  It seems that there is nothing I can do for myself that will cause me to actually WANT to do something for anyone what so ever.  I'm burnt out on caring.  It's a fact.  I want to walk around flicking people in the ear, or in the back of the head and tell them what's wrong with them.  I don't, because well, that would be REALLY bad, but I sure as heck don't wanna give a crap about someone  I don't like very much.  (no, not my husband-but a couple of my kids maybe...or, well, I'll leave some imagination for you guys.)
Anywho, I really have had a hard weekend at work, actually this whole past week was horrible.  State showed up this week to do their yearly survey.  They walk around, make sure everything is a kosher dill pickle, and all that jazz.  Well, we got one tag, just like last year we only got one tag.  Thankfully it wasn't the SAME tag.  Last year it was dining, this year it was call lights.  So, on top of that stressfull situation, our lead CNA was out on vacation, along with our unit manager, and one of our regular girls.  So, as back-up lead CNA, I got to play leader while state was in the building.  So, I got to do my assignment (which has some very flickable people on it-but I would NEVER. EVER.) make sure all the paperwork was up to date, and make sure all my own paperwork was completed, then run around behind everyone else and make sure THEIR paperwork was completed.  It was too much.  I'm burnt out.  I need a vacation from this past week.  I need a $5/hour raise just because of last week alone.  There were some problems end of the week (I told you I don't really flick people) that I thought I would have to stick up for a resident (even though they were in the wrong) because she fully has her mind and knew the consequences of her actions.  I can not force someone who is there own person to do the right thing, even if they are wrong.  Not my job. 

anyway....sorry....moving on...

Today is Sunday, and we are broke.  I have less than a half tank of gas, a tire with a nail in it, and no cat food.  We have just enough money in the bank to cover the auto payment for the a/c that is coming out at the end of the week.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let Friday get here before we go negative in the bank.  We have not been negative in the bank for a long time.  We do have a pretty strick budget that we pretty well keep to, but there are a few times a year we look and think, wow...did we party last night?  Cause if we are that low, I wanna at least think that I've had fun blowing it all.  Sheesh.  Being a grown-up is hard work, like, REALLY hard work.

I should totally be in bed.  It's 15 minutes past my bedtime.  But at least I can say that our lead CNA will be back tomorrow, and she can have her cursed position.  I would've loved to take her assignment, and have JUST 4 people to take care of, cause then I could actually make sure that EVERYTHING was done properly, and not just "I think" it's done properly.

I can't wait until tomorrow at 3:15pm when I can walk out those side doors at work and say SEE YA!  I mean, really...seriously....I'm gone!  At least tomorrow I'll have that extra 20 minutes that I won't be stuck in the back room supervising breakfast.  20 minutes is an other person out of bed!  If I can get to that tomorrow, I'll be set for the day!  I don't even remember what it's like not having to be all rushed rushed, and actually having time to be able to help my co-workers.  The prospect of it is awesome!  (watch tomorrow be the biggest pain in the butt day)

Anywho....on a COMPLETELY different note...

Saturday is BIG grocery shopping day.  Like, 2 shopping carts kinda grocery shopping.  (oh wait, I live in the south....they call them buggies! ha ha)  Gonna stock up a little bit on some food storage.  Found out the family likes Aldi's instant mashed potatoes.  They only use water, so in an emergency situation, they would be easier to make than other instant potatoes that require water, milk, and butter to make.  Also, their green beans are ok.  Corn is-eh.  I'm a little unimpressed with their corn.  Tastes to me like field corn, but how on earth would I know what field corn tastes like?  Well, that's an other story.


;-)



oh yeah, and the bitch pills worked....crap-well, sorta crap

Ravelry needs a mobile friendly website. And by mobile friendly I mean for my phone~not just "smart phones". That would be awesome!!

I am thinking of buying an afghan hook. I use to have some. But as my mind races about my unfinished blankets~i'm thinking i should get one.

I feel like, I feel like, well, I feel like CRAP

We went swimming yesterday. Here's where we go.  Not exactly the lush clear water white sandy beaches of Florida you think about, but it was the 2 weeks of rain pooling on the beach, stiring up grasscuttings, loose seaweed, and who knows what else on the shore line.  Then, there was the mixed up water.  My kids told me that I looked like a simpson because my body appeared to be yellow underneath the water.  It was kinda gross, but as long as we didn't put our feet on the bottom, and didn't swallow the salt water, we were ok.  Well, I thought we were ok.

Today I'm sick as a dog!  We spent about 2 hours in the water.  Bill sat on the shore and watched us.  Bill is NOT a beach person.  Let me repeat that just so you get it right, and there is no doubt in your mind.  MY HUSBAND IS NOT  A BEACH PERSON.  He loathes the beach.  The sand, the salt, the sweat; yuck.  We have a pool in the back yard ready to be filled up (as soon as the rain stops for longer than a couple hours).  I told him if we fill up the pool, he doesn't have to drive us down to the beach, we can just cool off in the back yard.  We had the pool up for a couple months last year.  Lady down the street gave it to us.  She has been very generous with us; she's the one who gave us the couch, an entertainment center, a kitchen table, and then this pool.  I like having the pool in the backyard.  Makes it easier to get out there and exercise in the pool. 

Yes, she is shop vac'n the pool

Anyway....today I agreed to sub for my friend at Church.  My older 2 children had to help me.  There was NO WAY I would've been able to do it with out them.   We learned about missionaries, the kids even made some thank you cards for the missionaries serving from our ward.  Was a pretty good day for the kids. 

Me on the other hand.  It was not a fun day.

So, maybe tomorrow we'll get that pool filled up, and I can get some more sun posioning!

Oh no....forgot today was day one of bitch pills...i need an old man pill box.

Yes, AN OTHER blog entry today!!!

I had more to say, but I didn't wanna put it all under one entry.  I didn't wanna have this huge entry that ran from my bad day at work to canning.
 :-D

jars o goodies

Zsusanna and I canned some veggies on Tuesday.  We packed carrots, jalopeno's, zucchini, onions, and cucumbers into most of the jars.  I did make one jar with just cucumbers and banana peppers. (as I mentioned early about the 6 year old and her mild pepper "thing")

vinegar "pickling" mix

It was a learning experience. It's been a while since I've canned something. Years since I've done jelly (remember the wedding day thing) and probably at least 1.5 decades since I've canned anything-and NEVER on my own.  

water bath

We opened one of the cans at dinner tonight.  Zsusanna loves it, but there are others who seem to think it is just a little to vinegary.  At the end of putting together the jars, we ran out of vinegar mix, so we had to make our own.  So, I told the family that this maybe one of those jars.  I don't know...it tastes pretty good to me too. :-D

Best part of canning...look what I found in the pantry!

The day from....well, it certainly wasn't something created on a Celestial level

That's for SURE!

Had a REALLY rough day at work.  Laundry person fell at work (she appears to be ok, she came back to work after she went to the hospital), but they didn't replace her position with someone.  ANYONE would've been nice. So, we were unable to give any kind of showers today.  Those who DID take showers either were hording towels in their room, or didn't care if they were being dried off by a blanket.  I however had that one lady who HAS to have a shower with the correct linen.  So, she didn't get a shower.  (yes I reported it-sheesh, I'm not that stupid!)  However, next week the lead CNA, our unit manager, and the back up unit manager are all going to be on vacation.  What?  Is this revenge for my 16 days of vacation in a row?  Is this to get back at me?  Please people...don't do this to me.  Now I get to play lead CNA all next week while working my assignment.  I've decided though, that I'm going to get to work a little early so that I can do the afternoon paperwork at 6:30am and not have to deal with it at 2:30pm.  I know, sounds like over kill right?  WRONG!  I know what I'm capable of, and I'm afraid that I won't be able to drop what I'm doing and run up to the desk and get the paperwork all together.   Oh well.  Such is life right?  I should be thankful they trust me enough to be back up lead right?  Ok, sure...I'll just take your word for it.

My toes are KILLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was my first day back to work after being off for almost 2 1/2 weeks.  My feet didn't hurt this much when I went to Busch Gardens with Beth!

So, I got up this morning.  I got dressed in my scrubs.  I went to work.  I didn't miss work at all.  I did miss the girls I work with though.  They make going to work fun and interesting.  I think if I didn't have the girls at work, I'd be back at walmart cashiering.  (although I really did like that job.)

2 more days and I have the weekend off. :-D

They are giving out new name tags at work.  They are magnetic and apparently they are going in order of seniority.  Well, I have yet to get mine.  I mentioned something to my unit manager, and she told me only people who actually work there get them.  This was a dig on my only working 9 days in the month of June.  As back up lead I guess she didn't apprieciate me not being there to back up the lead.  LOL  Ahhhh, alas...I will live.  However-this is the woman I'll be going to Africa with next year, so I have to make sure to stay on her good side so she doesn't put a cheetah in my backpack.

Just got a call from the Activities Girls Leader...apparently we're suppose to be bringing bread to the parent dinner.  REALLY?  I'm so glad Sabrina remembers these things.  Really...I love Sabrina, I love Sabrina, I love Sabrina.  I really do love my children, but in cases like this it seems like I love them EXTRA.  Well, I guess we'll have to leave a little earlier for church than normal.

ho hum...I was so looking forward to sending my wonderful husband to church tonight and me staying home-oh well.

Canning

Well, today is the day...or night.  I'm going to pickle!  Yes, that's right.  I have not canned anything since I made strawberry jelly on my wedding day.  Yeah, that's right-I canned the morning of my wedding day. LOL.  It actually turned out to be strawberry syrup.  It was REALLY good though. 
So I went to the grocery store, and bought myself some pickling salt, and some more vinegar.  I actually had to go back into the store, because my oldest who was suppose to be helping me remember what to get-didn't do her job very well.  On our way out, I heard someone yell "Hey, I know you!".  It was my Mother-in-law.  LOL, I always seem to run into her at the grocery store, but at 9pm was a first. 
So, 9pm it was the grocery store.
9:25pm it was the garden, picking the peppers off my plants with a flashlight.  I know sounds a little weird right?  Well, I forgot that the peppers needed to sit in a brine solution over night.  (12-18 hours it says)
So, I cut them suckers into strips, and they are pruning up in a bunch of salt as I type!  Tomorrow I'll be adding carrots, onions, and cauliflower to the mix.  I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

I'm specifically making a jar of JUST banana peppers for my 6 year old.  She LOVES pickled banana peppers.  So much in fact that when we go and get subs, it's one of the only 3 ingredients she puts on her sandwich. 

Tonight is ALSO technically the last day of my vacation.  I don't work tomorrow, but tomorrow is my normal day off.  I don't wanna go back to work.  I REALLY don't wanna go back to work.  I thought I'd be ready to go because it's been almost 3 weeks, but I'm not.  It makes me miss being home with the family even more.  But, eh....so it goes.  

Tomorrow is grocery day. 

I feel like I'm cheating on Sweetbay, but I'm going to try shopping at Aldi's tomorrow.  One of my friends from work shops there, and she says she saves a lot of money, so I'm going to go and see what's up.  My parents use to shop there-back when they had a million mouths to feed.  (1 million meaning 6 kids minimum.) 

So, I guess it's off to plan out the menu for the week. 
Or maybe I could just log over and play a little bit of World of Warcraft.  You know....just for a bit.  Or I could go to bed-since I have to get ready for work and all in a day.   I wonder if the staffing coordinator needs people to stay home on Wednesday; I could use an other day of vacation. LOL!!!!!!  (I think my co-workers would come to the house and beat me down.)

Daybook

Outside My Window...dark.

I am thinking...What am I thinking?

I am thankful for...my family and friends

From the kitchen...Quiet....very quiet

I am wearing... t-shirt and shorts

I am creating...a blog entry

I am reading...my blog entry

I am hearing...Stephanie watching Ghost Whisperer, and Bill on vent

Around the house...Stephanie is watching TV.  Bill is raiding.  Brina is asleep

One of my favorite things...sleep

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Enjoy the last 2 days of my vacation.   Try to get a beach day in before I have to go back. 

the 30 day photo challenge

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts

Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show

Day 04 - A picture of your night

Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory

Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day

Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item

Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh

Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most

Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most screwed up things with

Day 11 - A picture of something you hate

Day 12 - A picture of something you love

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist

Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without

Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die

Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity

Day 19 - A picture and a letter

Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel

Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget

Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at

Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book

Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change

Day 25 - A picture of your day

Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you

Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member

Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile

Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss

Day 31 - A picture of yourself


I think I can do this.  I probably could do it all right now if I really wanted to. LOL
However, I'm thinking that it says the 30 day and there are 31 days on here.  So, Maybe I'll just skip one of them...maybe. :-)

Gardening

Yes, I don't weed very well, I know

So, I've decided that I need to pick my cabbages before they all go south. (which is ironic since I live in the south)  I told Z that we're going to pick the cabbages tomorrow and we'll have them for dinner or maybe even lunch.  I planted them because she LOVES cabbage, but I think it's too hot for them to survive much longer.  Two of my heads are still good.  One is COMPLETELY gone, dried up in the heat I imagine.  One isn't completely gone, but there probably isn't enough good leaves on it to get much out of it to eat.

Whoa!  That's Hot!

Look how tall them suckers are!

  So...tomorrow is cabbage day I guess. I'll try my hand again later in the year, probably around September, or maybe October; depending on the weather.  We  seem to be VERY VERY hot this year for some reason.  This was the temp after church this afternoon when I got in the car.  I don't for one minute believe that it was wrong either.  Way too hot down here this year it seems.  Kinda sucks.  In the morning we wake up and it's already almost 90 out. 

6 year old and the tomato plant

On a good note, my tomatoes looks AWESOME! I thin that's because the garden is slightly shaded in that area. The tree in the back yard has grown, and at first I thought it was going to have a negative effect on my full sun stuff. Problem is, the full sun stuff is almost SCREAMING at the sun. Like, every time I walk out of the house and look at the garden, I hear a faint crying and muttering. "there's the woman who put us here to fry." One of my tomato plants are actually taller than my six-year old. It's interesting to look at the before and after pictures. I have two of her standing next to the plants, and to see just how tall they are comparatively...it's pretty cool.  My husband jokes that the first plant is so big because the dog pees on it.  My husband also thinks it's funny that I had to tie up the tomato plants to a block to keep them from falling over.  I told him at least it's not a car/truck.

I've also got some of my green bean plants giving me trouble.  One of them are really growing very well, actually I should say one GROUP of them are growing very well.  I planted 4 groups of 3.  One shriveled up right away, and an other took some time to die off.  The last one to "go away" actually produced some beans before it died.  One grouping of my beans has really taken off and has claimed most of the trellis in that area.  However, as I was talking to my mom about the type of beans they are, I noticed that I have two different kinds of beans.  They were suppose to be a bushing bean.  However, I have a bush of beans, and then a trellis full of runners. I also have long beans, and short stubby beans. 

Pepper plant

 They all taste the same, so I'm not gonna be too picky, but since I'm new to Florida gardening, I'm just gonna blame myself for not knowing what is what and who is who.  (Or I can blame the store for mis-labeling, or whoever labeled the seedlings....but-no harm no foul at this point.)
We've gotten a lot of veggies out of the garden.  Next thing I'm going to do is let the pepper plants get a few more peppers on them, then I'm going to pickle a bunch of them.  My family likes them pickled, so I'm going to do them the favor. :-)  I like them just plain, but I'm just one of six.



Sick

And I don't mean the kind of sick my older two kids are.  I mean the I just had to tell my long lost brother we're not coming to Texas kind of sick.  

We can't afford it, two of my older kids are sick, and the dog ate my glasses.  Yes, you read that correctly, the dog ate my glasses.  I mean, what kind of stupid dog eats glasses?  Seriously people.  I'm not going into everything, but here's some pictures to illistrate the stupidity of our family dog. 

Just so you know, that is NOT water on the lens. Those are teeth marks.

this is the earpeice on the right. That is metal sticking out

Lens popped out and frame bent from being chewed on

So, here I am, feeling horrid.  I know my kids were looking forward to going too.  We had the whole weekend planned.  The Alamo, Zilker Park, concert in the park on fathers day, visit with family I have not seen in a VERY VERY long time; and cousins were going to meet each other for the first time.  Everything good.

Now I'll just sit here at my desk moping around, getting angry at myself.  Wishing that I had a better job to pay for everything I need, wishing that I had money to be able to go to a place that I can get glasses in an hour, and be able to go to Texas.  But I don't.  I make enough to live on.  We saved for this vacation, but because of our situation, any little bump that happens (and did happen) has derailed this vacation.

It sucks being poor.  I don't recommend it to anyone.

Daybook

Outside My Window...dark.

I am thinking...That lysol is really strong

I am thankful for...my family and friends

From the kitchen...craziness!  The girls are trying to figure out what they want for fend for yourself night.

I am wearing...jean capri's and a hugo schmidt t-shirt

I am creating...a blog entry

I am reading...my blog entry

I am hearing...kids being stupid in the kitchen...and Zsusanna getting excited about a puzzle.

Around the house...Z's getting out her new puzzle, Brina's playing in the kitchen sink, Stephanie is yelling at Brina, and Shelby is oddly silent...and Bill is reading over my shoulder.

One of my favorite things...Dr. Pepper

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Not be as crazy as I have been the last two days.

Testing crap for hubby's phone

See, this whole couponing thing...totally blew my day.  I'm so over this....grocery store stuff.  Can't the kids go?

Ok...time to see if my husband can read this on his phone yet...or if he gets the e-mail he should.  It's only proper for a husband to follow his wifes blog right?  RIGHT?  That's what I thought.   I told him, it's like listening to me gripe, only in mute!

couponing

I see the benefits. 
I see the "flash".

Really....I do....

But it's just not for me.  I mean...I've been trying to "Coupon" for the last...oh....hour, and all it's gotten me is a headache. 

Now, I know, I know-coupons save you money, blah blah blah.  Yes, they do.  And yes I use them.  But I'm not a "OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG I gotta buy that cause I have a coupon and it's on sale, and OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG they go together."  Just so it can sit in my cupboard for a year and my husband asks me what I was thinking, because we don't have a ferret and why would I buy ferret food.  Or even, why did you buy that economy size jar of peanut butter when you know Zsus is allergic to it?   See, these are the thoughts that go through my head anyway. 
I admit, I don't know how to "do it".  Maybe I do know how to do it, but I'm just too lazy to spend all stinkin' day going through ad's, and coupons, and convincing my husband that it's ok to drive all over Seffner just to get that $8 discount at CVS.  I'M NOT GOING TO CVS TODAY JUST FOR A RAZOR.  I swear. 
The allure of free is awesome.  But seriously, at what cost?  Is it on my way?  Maybe if it was, I'd stop, but the only reason that I would go out that far is to go to McDonalds across the street, and if I'm interested in McDonalds, then why would I stop and get a razor?  I'd be too busy drooling over french fries-unless I dignify myself with the whole "If you save that money at CVS, you can buy a whole meal!  Whatever...Subway is cheaper, and closer to the house.  (see how my mind has this arguement already won?)

This is why I use sweetbay.  (I know, shameless plug-I don't even get paid to say this HEY SWEETBAY YOU SEE THIS?  I DON'T GET PAID, BUT I'M PLUGGING YOU )

They take competitor coupons, I can print out a shopping list-WITH the price of everything, and how much I'm expected to pay for the whole list.  It's nice knowing how much I'm paying before I get there-really.

So, I'm not not knocking all those "extreme" or even "overly" couponing people-a few of my really close friends are couponers...it's just not my thing.  COUPON ON PEOPLE....but I'll stick to what it is I do.

Hmmmm, lower left abdominal pain. Must be my friend ovarian cyst calling to say hi. She's really persistant today.

Day Book

Outside My Window...dark. It's 18 minutes past my bedtime.

I am thinking...The end of my bitch pills are coming-am I ready?  Is my family ready?

I am thankful for...my family and friends

From the kitchen...darkness-it's clean and shut down for the night

I am wearing...blue tank top, and black and white flowered jammi bottoms

I am creating...thoughts

I am reading...Menopause brochure from the dr's office.

I am hearing...The Hannah Montana Movie in 2D

Around the house...4 girls are watching The Hanna Montana Movie in 2D

One of my favorite things...Dr. Pepper

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Go to work and enjoy the weekend, because as of Sunday at 3:15pm, I'm off work for about 16 days.  (figure I'll be crazy around day 7...Bill gives me 5.)

LMBFBO!!!!!! (laugh my big fat booty off) ya'll thought I meant the other f word....for shame!

ha ha ha! i love it!

Decisions....

I've decided to move some posts over here from an other blog I have. I thought about it, and I just don't have time to have 20 million blogs around. So, I'm just going to merge them...

is the post button broke?

well, is it?

Why do mornings come so early? ~Amber

Why is it only 50 out? ~Amber

What happened?????

I tried to get on yesterday afternoon and blog about what I was doing, but about half way through my reveal, I noticed that my "save now" button was stuck on "saving" So, I opened up a new tab and tried to access my other blog, only to met with "NO WAY LADY". Ok, ok, so it didn't say that. Just the polite, we're sorry for the inconvienience, come back later, something about maitenence or Amber talks to much...you know normal stuff. Anyway....I'm back today to discuss adventures of my day off!

As I was thinking of things we needed for this impending family vacation, I thought about a first aid kit. With 4 kids going half way across the country, I think it's a pretty good idea. So, I got to thinking about his caboodles box my girls got years and years ago. We've used it for hair ties, girly "needs" holder, we've put the curling iron in there, and the hair dryer too. As of late, my husband has been putting the "extra's" or "leftovers" from work in there. Gloves that didn't make it on my hands, creams and ointments that didn't make it...well, to their appointed destination, alcohol pads that were given in too many number, and forgotten; stuff like that. So, I thought long and hard about it (ok, like 5, 10 minutes tops) and thought it would be a great first aid kit. It's large, and it's portable. It can be our main first aid kit if something happens here at the house, and if we go on a long trip, we can simply pick it up and take it with us.

Upon opening the box I was met with a huge variety of pocket stuff. Things that over the past few months had, as said previously, migrated home with me; and other things we've inherited. Seeing this I realized I needed to bust out the individual plastic bags that make the clicky noise when you close them. (Is that politically correct? LOL) I put all the gloves in one bag, and all the packs of various ointments in an other. I also had some alcohol pads that I put in a sandwich baggie. No reason to leave it all willy nilly inside right? I can see one of the kids running with the box, and just as they reach whoever needs it, they trip, and fall, and all the alcohol pads come spilling out all over. I can also see one of them flying through the air, and the corner of one of these tiny packs landing in the injured persons eye, and them becoming even more injured. Naturally, this would then require said injured person to roll around on the ground looking stupid, screaming the tripping child's name and how stupid/dumb/idiotic they are. So, at least if they are all in a bag, there will be no eye gouging.

So, I did it. I put together what we had, and it looks pretty good. My next step is to get to the store and see what kind of cheapy bandaids I can buy.