Trying to get organized

While I was not completely lazy during my time not blogging, there were a few things that were running away from me. You know, the normal things like laundry, cleaning, dinner, that kind of stuff. Probably one of the funniest things is that while I haven't been blogging much, I have been on the computer a lot. Probably a lot more than I really should have been, given the number of things on my to-do list.

So the last couple of weeks or so I've had this feeling of being completely unorganized and it's very unsettling for me. I can't stand it when I have to search through piles of clean clothes to find an outfit to wear because I didn't make myself just fold the laundry as it was removed from, the dryer.

There's also the fact that we never knew what was for dinner until about 20 minutes before we should be eating. Some nights the "What's for dinner?" discussion would actually make us not even want to eat. Usually it wasn't the discussion itself, it was the lack of either one of us actually making a choice in what we'd like to have.

The dinner problem seems to just compound the other issue of our budget lately. We've both been really bad about not discussing the budget at all. The paychecks come in, he pays the bills, I have my allotment into my grocery account and that's it. I was spending most of the grocery budget on eating out. Most times we would have to use some of the money in the regular account because the grocery money was either gone or getting close to gone.

Last week I made a menu for a month. Nothing fancy, just meals we like and haven't had lately. Some nights are easy like hamburgers, grilled cheese, steaks, things like that. Most times if I have a larger meal that takes more work I schedule the next day as leftovers. Seth will eat leftovers 2 times at the most, and usually only if it's lunch and dinner the next day. I tried to keep that in mind while I was making the schedule.

Even though most mornings the kids can eat breakfast at daycare, a lot of times we are running late, so I just went ahead and planned breakfast as well. After I started following the menu I realized that if I get up and have breakfast ready before I wake the kids up, they eat right away and the morning goes so much smoother than usual. Go figure.

It took me about 3 hours to actually come up with the schedule. I also made a list of things I knew I had to buy. I pretty much knew what we have on hand (which was getting pretty close to nothing). Having the list and shopping without my kids was the best thing ever. I can't speak for anyone else, but having kids when you're doing serious shopping (even with a list) just drives me crazy and I wind up forgetting too many things.

I still have a few things that I couldn't get at one store, so I'll have to make a quick stop at my other store for those things, but overall I am digging the menu. Since we were sick we already deviated a bit, but it was easy enough to just switch with another day and I knew I had what I needed to make the meal. Plus I scheduled a couple of repeats, and 2 nights of ordering pizza.

I also found a helpful blog in the process. It's called http://unclutterer.com/ . I found one of their older posts where they had a meal planner pdf, or excel sheet you can use for your weekly menu. It looks great, and I've printed it out to copy my plan down since I was just using a montly calendar printout from outlook. Give it a try if you need some extra organization, it may save you some sanity and a litte cash as well.

Coffee break in the middle of the street...probably not a good idea.

Being on the road for work makes for some interesting conversations once in awhile. This world is just jam packed with crazy drivers.

One example could be the people who pretty much decided to stop and have coffee in the middle of a busy 4 lane street today. I turned and was going down the inside lane with a small blue truck in the lane to the right of me. The speed limit is 40mph on this particular street. The blue truck pulled over in front of me and slowed down to about 30mph. Just then a white minivan pulled up on the right and slowed, rolled down the driver's window and started talking to the people in the truck. As they were talking the truck and the van each moved left one lane, so that the van was now in front of me. They pretty much cut me off, and proceeded to stop in the middle of the road so they could figure out where they were going next. Apparently the world revolves around them and we are all just supposed to watch and make sure we avoid their stupidity.

Another random list of uselessness

Sorry (again) for the lack of blogging. We've been pretty busy lately. On my birthday we kicked off a month long mail count at work. It's not going too bad so far, but we shall see. The first week always makes you want to pull your hair out.

Hunter, Seth, and I have been sick this week. I didn't sleep well Saturday night because of a sore throat and Sunday had no energy for anything. Then Hunter woke me up at 2 am Monday morning and threw up on me. Seth got sick on Monday as well, so it's a good thing we all stayed home.

I have finally gotten a few sewing projects done and I have a new listing in my store. If you see anything there you like or have an idea for something, let me know. I am hopefully going to get my giveaway items mailed out soon. I just have a couple little finishing touches and they will be ready.

We dropped our 42" plasma tv on the floor last weekend. I would not suggest it to anyone. Lucky for us it still works. There were a couple of cracks in the plastic casing, but other than that it's fine.

Rylie is doing great. She's been without any accidents for about a week now. I think there's been a couple of times where she was in the bathroom and just couldn't get her pants down quick enough, so those don't count. She's started putting her pants on all by herself too. She found a pair of sliky pj pants and loves to wear those around all the time. She's got more words, cute is one of them, and right now I can't remember the rest.

Hunter is getting so big. He's being very helpful lately. Last night they were at the kitchen table eating and he was talking to Rylie about going to take a bath after dinner. It was so cute how he was being such a big brother. He said the other day, "Rylie come over and give me a hug."

Wordless Wednesday

She got them on all by herself.

(It's supposed to be 81 here today...)

Happy Birthday to ME!

I know, you shouldn't throw yourself a party, ettiquette and all, but since my birthday happens to fall on Valentine's Day I sort of have to, no one else is gonna, they're all celebrating.

So, I got myself all ready...hair cut, liposuction nails done, botox pedicure, the works. Now all I need is some cake and ice cream.....and comment love. I know, I haven't been a good blogger lately, and I'm really going to try and change that.....soon, really.

There are so many things taking away from my blogging time lately, and it just seems like every time I turn around there are new and exciting things to get my attention. I think I really need to figure out a schedule and limit my "fun" because I'm not getting any actual work done.

I keep thinking of things to blog about....and if I only had a little recorder that would take the ideas directly out of my brain and store them up until I had the computer, and then just zapped it right to the darn thing, then maybe I could get it all posted. For now I haven't even managed to write my ideas down. I've always been a really crappy note taker, and taking notes of my own jumbled thoughts is not an easy task impossible.

Plus I hate to listen to my own voice so recording things would only be worse. Plus I'm so freaking anal about stuff like that, I can just see myself - stopped at a mailbox for 20 minutes, trying to get my cell phone to record just the right thing so I don't confuse myself later, while the person who owns the mailbox watches me talking to myself. (Did I say "myself" enough times in that one sentence"?).

So you'll all just have to be a little more patient while I sort myself out some time (and issues clearly). For now, I'll leave you with a picture of my baby getting her first haircut (it did NOT go well).

I've thought of a million things to blog about this last week. None of them seem right. So instead of reading my blog, why don't you head over to Cynthiaa's blog and leave her a comment to help her get through the awful reality she's dealing with right now. My heart is breaking for her.

I've seen 138 out of 239 films....

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life.
Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. If you'd like to play along, copy this list, go to your own facebook account and paste as a note, or blog it.
Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun!!!

()Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
() Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
() Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 7

(x) The Princess Bride
(x) Anchorman
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
() Labyrinth
(x) Saw
() Saw II
() White Noise
(x) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
(x) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 16

(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
() Scream 3
() Scary Movie
() Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
() Scary Movie 4 (didn't even know there was one)
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
() American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 21

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
() Resident Evil 1
() Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
(x) Little Black Book
(x) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 29

(x) Finding Nemo
() Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
() White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
() Robots
Total so far: 35

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
() Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
(x) Kingpin (x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
(x) Eight Crazy Nights
(x) Joe Dirt
(x) King Kong
Total so far: 45

() A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
() Halloween
(x) The Ring
() The Ring 2
() Surviving X-MAS
() Flubber
Total so far: 50

() Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
() Practical Magic
() Chicago
(x) Ghost Ship
() From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
(x) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 56

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
(x) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
(x) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 68

(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
(x) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
() Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
() Predator I
() Predator II
() The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
Total so far: 78

(x) Independence Day
() Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
(x) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
(x) My Boss' Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
() War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
() Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 86

() Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
() Calendar Girls
() Sideways
() Mars Attacks
() Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
() The Terminator 3
Total so far: 94

(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
() X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
() Sky High
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
() Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
(x) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 106

(x) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
() Old School
(x) The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
() Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
() Ice Castles
() Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 112

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
() Basketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
() House of 1000 Corpses '
() Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
Total so far: 122

() The Jacket
() Kung Fu Hustle
() Shaolin Soccer
() Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
() Shaun Of the Dead
() Willard
Total so far: 125

() High Tension
() Club Dread '
() Hulk
() Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
() Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 days
() Orgazmo
() Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
Total so far: 128

() Kill Bill vol 1
() Kill Bill vol 2
() Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
() The Hills Have Eyes
() I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
() The Last House on the Left
() Re-Animator
() Army of Darkness
Total so far: 128

() Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
() Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
() Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
() Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
() Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
() Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 135

(x) The Matrix
() The Matrix Reloaded
() The Matrix Revolutions
() Animatrix
() Evil Dead
() Evil Dead 2
() Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal
Grand total: 138

Now Add them up and... Put "I've seen...out of 239 films" in the subject line and repost it.

Feeling the crunch?

If you are feeling the economy crunch and are wondering how you can save some cash on your kids clothing, shoes, bedding, furniture, etc. there's a new website for you.

The website is called Swap Mama's. It's a place you can go to look for things you're needing, or a place to list things you need to get rid of. All you have to do is join, and then look around for the right category for you.

And there's a giveaway. You can go to Barking Mad and enter, all you have to do is post on your blog about Swap Mama's.

I'm pretty excited because they have a section for cloth diapers, and I've got a whole box of barely used ones that I need to sell or something.

4 years-old

Four years ago I became a mom, and my world changed forever.

Thank you, Hunter.

Your Mommy and Daddy love you more then words.

Happy 4th Birthday!