Denmark....You can keep Oprah!!

As I sit here watching Oprah, she's doing a show regarding "The Happiest People on Earth". According to Oprah, the good people of Denmark don't have to pay for schooling, they have year long maternity leave, they don't have to pay for health care, and if they are laid off, they get up to 90% of their salary paid by the government for up to four years. Sounds good doesn't it? A regular utopia! Eureka even!!

And it gets better....they're the most "environmentally friendly" country where a third of the population rides their bikes which makes them one of the healthiest countries AND babies can actually sleep outside the restaurants while their parents eat!! It's just that safe. Wow...a country where your kids are so safe they can be left out, a country where the government takes care of everything from health care to jobs, what a utopia!!

Oh and something very "insightful" was brought up by this blond, perfect resident of utopia. She said "isn't it funny that we're the happiest country in the world and we're the least religious country in the world?" After her, all of her clones were agreeing with her on how they don't believe in God and there's no higher power. Well why would you believe in a higher power if you're already in Heaven?!? Right then and there was an eye opening moment and something Oprah didn't even touch on.

It just goes to show how "heaven" can actually be hell. Hell is the state or place of total and final separation from God and so of eternal misery and suffering, arrived at by those who die unrepentant in grave sin.

Oprah, Copenhagen chick...y'all can keep your "heaven" and go to hell.

Oh sweet hangover

Yes, I am hungover. Got together with some friends last night and the vodka was going down too smooth. I'm so very blessed that my dear son can entertain himself and doesn't require me 24/7 and the fact that I can trust him not to tear down the house. Unfortunately, I'm a bit too liberal with the Wii on the mornings I wake up this way and before you think I'm a lush, it's maybe once a week (is that too lushy?). AND I make sure he's at home, asleep with his dad so he's in good hands.

Do you ever wake up after a night of drinking and think "what the hell did I say?". I hate that! Along with the flowing drinks, I have a flowing mouth and I don't get too mean, but I do speak my opinion without thinking. Luckily this time I didn't say anything and I didn't drunk text anyone! Oy vey...nothing like waking up seeing the evidence of your drunken haze.

Here are my rantings for the day:

Sarah Silverman....idiot.

Jon & Kate....good riddance!

Sleep....I need more of it!!

Mom guilt

Well first off, we had the best weekend this past weekend. Going to see Thomas was wonderful (although the ride could have been better!) but just spending that time with the family was a nice thing, especially on a Friday afternoon. I really feel blessed that my husband is self employed and is able to take time of whenever he wants to and he doesn't have to miss out on family activities.

Now...on to mom guilt. I'm watching Dr. Phil and he's got the old debate of working moms vs. stay at home moms and it's such a touchy and difficult subject. On one hand, I do think that the most important job in the world is being a parent and in my opinion it is best to stay at home and raise you children. No one can raise your child better than you can, hands down. No one will love Simon more than me, no one will give him more kisses and hugs and cuddles more than me. It's important to me to have this time and we have given up a tremendous amount in order for me to say home. We've got a nice home, nice car, nice things but it hasn't been without struggle. Yes we have a little bit of debt, we can't go on vacations regularly and there are a lot of things that we miss out on so we don't have to miss out on Simon.

Now...on the other hand. There are just some things that parents MUST do in order to survive and working is one of them. Sometimes parents have to make difficult decisions and sometimes that requires working. That is a sacrifice that some moms have to make in order to make ends meet or to meet a goal or whatever. In no way do I ever think that a mom loves her children less because she's working. In fact, I know a lot of moms who loves their children dearly and work to give them the best of the best and that is what is most important to them. No parent wants their child to want for anything so they're going to sacrifice their time to ensure their children are taken care of and how can you argue with that? How is living in poverty just for the sake of staying at home helping children? It's not!

I don't understand the judgment from either end. Being a parent is difficult enough without judgment and it's important just to support one another no matter the situation. My mom worked 95% of my childhood and I was at a top notch daycare and loved it!! I had an awesome time and I was very blessed my parents were able to afford such a great institution and I have very fond memories of my daycare. If I ever had to work, I would love for Simon to stay at a place like that and you know, it may have been better for me to be in daycare.

To be honest, sometimes kids will get a better mom when she does work! I liken it to breastfeeding. Would we all like to breastfeed and give our kids the best? YES! But...sometimes we're unable to for whatever reason. For me, I lost a lot of blood and my milk never came in. I tried for five weeks to breastfeed. I had women who never even breastfed in their lives tell me how to breastfeed and it never worked. I was made to feel like less of a mom because I couldn't do it and I badgered myself for weeks! My poor baby was hungry and I wasn't enjoying the first few weeks of his life so I said "F them!" and formula fed and I do not regret it one bit. Why? Because although (according to these BF Nazi's) I was giving my child "poison" and didn't "try" enough, he was eating like no ones business, thriving and most importantly, he had a happy and less stressed out mother.

Sometimes moms who work are not working just for money but for mental stability and mental stimulation and when they work, they become better people. The important thing is a happy, well adjusted child and what does it matter how they get there? Working mom, stay at home mom...we all are doing the best that we can and we all need to do what is best for us and our families!

Exciting day

Well today was an awesome day!! I woke up semi hungover but not too bad and had some great friends over for coffee of course. A friend of mine told me about Thomas the Tank Engine coming and I of course wanted to take Simon because he's just a fan. Well I'm so glad I didn't buy the tickets because I WON THEM!!!!!!!!!!

I fell asleep watching TV and the show "We are Austin Live" came on and I saw that they were having a segment on Thomas and there would be a chance to win. I kept watching and they had the number on TV and they were giving away three family four packs to callers number 5,6,7 and I was number 6!!!!!!!!!! God works in such awesome ways because I really didn't want to pay $54 just to go see Thomas but you don't really get chances like this too often and who knows, Simon might not be into Thomas next year so I really wanted to take him and now we can do that without having to pay.

I was bummed though when I learned that Darren might not be able to go, then a couple of friends couldn't go and it kind of burst my bubble, especially because I wanted Darren to go so bad so he could experience this with us. I started feeling really down but then he worked it out to where he can do most of his work tomorrow morning and work this weekend along with the record convention so he can go!! I know he really wanted to go but I understood his position. Making the money is a priority especially being a one income family but I'm so appreciative and grateful that he'll be able to go tomorrow. And to make things even better, some friends of ours will be there tomorrow with their kids!!! I will take a million pics tomorrow and I'm going to wake up early just to get things like food, entertainment and extra clothes since it's a two hour drive to our destination.

Another biggie happened today too!! For a couple of weeks now, we have let Simon poop in his "poo poo pull up" since we had major issues with him pooping and holding it in because he refused to poop on the potty. Well at dinner tonight, he first asked for a poo poo pull up and I told him he needed to wait a bit after dinner so then he said that he's going to poop in the potty and he did it!!!! He went all by himself and he's never done that!!! I'm so glad that we just gave in and let him do it in his own time because none of us were getting anywhere.

So all in all, today ended up really good. I'm so excited that we can all go as a family to see Thomas and cannot wait to see Simon's face. Tonight I'm getting all the camera's together to capture it all.

It's October...

Ahhhh....October, one of my favorite months of the year. I'm not sure why because when you think about it, Halloween is kind of morbid, but I guess it's the fact that it's kind of like a new beginning. The summers here are so damn hot you really don't want to do anything and I'm NOT a fan of hot weather. So naturally, when it cools down, I celebrate it. Not only that but I love the colors of orange and black LOL!

So what has this week brought us...we had a decent week of course it was spent with family and my great friends. I really am blessed to have such supportive parents, a great husband and son, and some really good friends. They all made my birthday so special and I appreciate all of it! Especially my friends, they are like family to me...and in some cases, more like family than family! LOL They support me in all I do and I know if I ever needed something, I could call on them and they wouldn't hesitate to help us. That is a very comforting feeling!

Tupperware has been doing great for me! Thanks to my mom and my sister Rosie, I had an awesome turn out from them! In fact they had such a good turn out, I got 3 gifts from Tupperware and I can't wait to receive them! Unfortunately, there are some things on back order which I feel horrible about but it's on one of the more popular items so I hope they understand. I wish TW would give me some indication that there may be a delay but I guess if several orders are put in at once, they won't know about it. Besides, it is coming up to the Holiday season and this particular item is a good item for the Holidays.

My Simon...what can I say about my Simon? I promise I'm not trying to be a bragging parent, but my three year old is adding and subtracting!!! I couldn't believe my ears when I heard him and my husband working out addition and subtraction!! I kind of thought it may be a fluke, but this morning I started doing some basic addition and subtraction and he did it!!! We really need to start considering what we're going to do for him as far as education goes. I would love like a co-op homeschooling kind of thing but like with anything we do with Simon, we really need to look at what is best for him!

Tough week

This week was good and bad. Good because God was gracious enough to give me another birthday and bad because it was a difficult week with my lovely son. Saturday I decide to make some homemade pizza for dinner and Simon wanted to help me so I pulled up a chair to the stove for him to put on the mushrooms. He tasted the homemade marinara and wanted more so I gave him a little bowl of marinara for him to eat and I had to move the chair to take one pizza out and put in another. I didn't want to disturb him so I thought I'd just move him myself. The chair went right and Simon went left and fell directly on his head onto the tile. I get shivers just thinking about that awful sight and sound and of course I picked him up immediately and just cried and cradled him. It was horrific and something I hope never happens again because I felt so bad for him. That night I couldn't sleep well because I was so afraid that there was an underlying problem and I would wake up to find him dead or in a coma and I just had to pray about it. Luckily there's a doctor in the family and he did put my mind at ease but the guilt just ate at me.

Then...on my birthday, yesterday, we had another poo poo incident. He had not poo'd in four days and I could just see he was trying his hardest not to poo. He would dig himself into the sofa just so he wouldn't have an accident and it just broke my heart so...I went and got him some liquid laxative. He is not a good medicine taker so I had to force it down his throat and he freaked out and cried and vomited three times from the gag reflex. Luckily Darren was home so he showered him while I cleaned up vomit and pee (poor baby peed in his pants) and I was so tired of the anger, frustration and guilt I've been feeling about him pooing on the potty!! I spoke to a great friend of mine (Thank you Laura!!) and she helped the both of us come to a decision to just stop tying and let him come to us when he's ready. I cried and told Simon that he can poo in a pull up and it's okay with us. I just wanted this to stop and get him regular again before it really effects him. I'm so happy with that decision because now we all relax. In fact today, I went and got him some cheap pull ups and put them on him and told him to go poo and sure enough, he did!! I just want him to be healthy and not have this as a source of anxiety.

Today has been a good day so far and I'm praying that this week will be one as well. I'm so thankful for everything and everyone in our lives and truly feel blessed.

What's new....

Well this week has been a super productive and busy week. I've been babysitting of course and selling lots of Tupperware. I was able to reach my goal and am getting lots of awesome things in the process so I'm happy. I never thought I'd be in a place in my life where getting a buttload of Tupperware would make me giddy and excited for packages.

Also I found something that is absolutely awesome thanks to a Facebook friend called TweetDeck. It is SO cool because it combines your Twitter, Facebook and Myspace so you can update all three from one platform. I'm really starting to enjoy twitter too and am trying to find something to put on my blog to follow me at twitter.

Okay now to something I'm very concerned about....Swine Flu vaccinations. I know a lot of people are concerned with the H1N1 but honestly, more people die of the regular flu than H1N1 and as of fright now, H1N1's strength is decreasing! I've known a couple of people to have it and from their testimony about it, it's really not that bad. The way it's been shown in the media has been something like..."50% of the world population will be infected with H1N1" Okay, lets replace H1N1 with something like "a cold". Believe it or not, people can die of a cold because it can turn into pneumonia and people with compromised immune systems or people with no health care can die from that. For some reason or another, they are really pushing H1N1 with fear. Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real.

I am honestly not scared of my son getting H1N1. I AM scared of the vaccine and if there is a decision to force this vaccine. I know many people think that you can "opt out" of the vaccine, but if there is a statewide mandate pushed through from the Health Department, you CAN be forced into getting this vaccine. First of all, it's just scary that the Health Department has that much power and second, it's scary that they want to vaccinate over something that really isn't as bad as the regular flu. The H1N1 vaccine is loaded with thimerosal which is said to be taken out of immunizations for kids. Yeah, what a great job that is! Look everybody, they're taking it out of our vaccines to make it safe for us!!! Oh and wait, in order for us to be safe we need this H1N1 vaccine (loaded with thimerosal) or else we'll die!!! Somehow that nasty poison finds it's way into our bodies and vaccines. Before you make any decision regarding vaccinations whether it be for regular vaccines for you or your children or the H1N1 for your family, LOOK and READ!! It absolutely amazes me that parents just go blindly to the doctor for many many inoculations yet do not take ONCE glance at the ingredients. I'm not completely against vaccines, if you read and you decide what is best, but education is the key!

Third times a charm...

I've been so busy that I've truly attempted to write this blog THREE times. It's been busy around here and it's amazing that having one more child really does make a little bit more work. Not much but enough to change your routine. I'm babysitting a friends child and really it's been kind of fun having two and a glimpse of perhaps a sibling.

Well it looks as if fall is very near. The weather has turned cooler and all of us in Texas have come out of our heat induced hibernation. It's amazing at how the weather really does have a large impact on your life. It was so hot that we didn't do a thing! We stayed indoors, playing video games, coloring, watching TV or going over numbers and letters. But now those days are over for a bit (hopefully).

So far we've been to the park more in one week than in the past 3 months and even feel like getting out for some activities. It just feels fresh. And to help that feeling, I've put out my fall/Halloween decor complete with Pumpkin mugs! I'll also be putting the Airwick cinnamon/apple air fresheners out in the house and the sugar cookie one in the kitchen. Oh man this makes me so happy!!

Simon. What can I say about my love? He says the funniest stuff to me all the time and I'm trying to absorb it all because I know this his last toddler year. I wish I had a better and smaller camera to capture it all instead of taking my mammoth 2001 digital camera. But at least I'm able to be here with him and get it all. I really feel truly blessed that I am able to be here with him to see his first years. Years I'll never be able to get back and I have to just thank God every day for this opportunity!

Bad blogger!!

Oh man, I have been very busy so as you can see...there isn't anything on my poor blog.

First things first...I have been earning money!! I'm taking care of my friends daughter which is really nice for two reasons. 1) Simon loves playing with her and 2) it's money in my pocket!

Then I had my first Tupperware party this past Friday. It was a success and I earned $100 just from showing my friends Tupperware. I was nervous and that day was a packed one. If it weren't for my husband working from home, I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much done because I needed him to keep an eye on the kids while I went and ran some errands.

I'm getting a hang of the whole Tupperware thing and I hope this is something I can do long term. It's pretty fun and it is a way of making money and saving people money at the same time.

I've been getting the house in order because, well because when my house is in order, I feel my life is in order. I'm coming to grips with reality. I would love to be 100% debt free and have 6 months reserves in our account but the reality is we will always have some debt. Getting out of control is one thing, but having revolving debt is another. I know I know...no debt is best but I'm being real.

I have read and read and read about Dave Ramsey and talked to a lot of women who do the program and in theory it sounds like a great and reasonable idea but to be honest...it's just not for me. The idea of putting every single penny towards paying off debt just makes me cringe because when is the fun? If we made enough to have fun and pay off debt every month well that's a different story, but we're one of the millions of families that have some debt (not a whole lot but debt is debt) that can't afford to be 100% debt free at the moment.

I know my husband would like to be and one of the reasons I'm working is to pay off debt but I don't want to pressure myself. It will get paid and there will always be that bit of outstanding, revolving debt, and I'm now okay with that. Of course this in no way means that I want to have all of our cards maxed out and us to have 50,000 worth of debt...HELL NO!! But that bit of small revolving debt doesn't bother me as much as it was. I just have a plan of how much I'm going to pay towards our credit cards per month to at least half them within the year. Luckily it's a low amount per month but it's enough to make a difference.

So it's the end of summer and I really couldn't be happier. I cannot wait until fall!! October is my absolute favorite time of the year to be honest and I know it's silly but I love all of the scary movies that come on during that time. Halloween is one of my all time favorite scary movies and probably the only movie that scares the crap out of me. I, to this day will turn the commercials when they come on for Halloween because the music and the mask scare me! Okay...so enough of the scary movies, I also love fall because the temperature drops. Drops...I didn't say gets cold. Being in Texas, we don't get the nice chill, we just get temperatures that aren't a degree below the temperature of hell. We at least will be in the low 90's or even high 80's.

After October comes Thanksgiving! Another one of my favorite holidays. I love getting together, eating, drinking, playing games etc...The colors of fall are my favorite and it just gets me all excited.

Of course the day after Thanksgiving starts the Christmas music on Majic 95.5 and that right there just makes me giddy! I know listening to Christmas music for almost a month straight is insane, but I really love almost all of the Christmas songs!! Well except for Barbara Mandrells version of Jingle Bells...she sounds like she's on speed and I have to turn the radio off for that.

Well to all of my blog readers...I am truly sorry for being such a bad blogger, I will do my best to blog as much as I can this week!!

Can't sleep

Again, this is the third time this week where I am unable to sleep. I think I just might be figuring it all out but of course, sometimes lack of sleep is just as bad as being drunk so we'll see. This week has been absolutely crazy busy with friends, work, and hangovers. All in all I think it's been a successful week!

First off, I know we moms are always told to take get some "me time" but what does that really entail? I know that most moms think of "me time" as going to a spa or getting your hair done or something like that but is it just that? What about taking time out to get YOUR affairs in order? The majority of my day is making sure that my son and husband are taken care of. That they have what they need, that the bills are paid, that dentist and doctors appointments are taken care of, food is in the fridge when they need it, but how many hours in a day are devoted to what I need to take care of? I'm slowly figuring this out just as I have decided to take on my new Tupperware venture because I'm now having to make time for me and realize how much little time I have to make it.

Luckily Tupperware doesn't require hours and hours of work as if I were working in an office, it requires as much or as little time as you would like to give but it is something that I enjoy doing and just makes me realize that maybe this IS me time. This is something that I am doing to make ME feel productive and to change things up for me. Hair, nails, massages....those are all great, but for me they're not enough. I need to feel a real change, a real difference and looking good isn't going to pay things off or save money which would make me feel a thousand times better than any pedicure or manicure.

Okay so that was one thing that came to my mind this sleepless night LOL Another is making some sort of schedule. I'm on the right track, but now I need to make a schedule that is not only a real schedule but is flexible if that makes any sense. As anyone with kids knows, flexibility is a moms best friend. Since I have moved my lap top upstairs in my new office, I have found that I am on it less and playing with Simon more which is awesome, but now I need to find time to actually do some work when he's napping or sleeping rather than leaving him downstairs alone.

In addition to being productive and adding an income to this family, I also MUST (and this is a big one) MUST take time out to make healthy choices. I joined the YMCA to get some exercise and this week, I have forgotten about my all time favorite Zumba class. How silly! I was so wrapped up in thinking about other things that I have neglected a part that is not only good for me mentally, but good physically! Maybe it's all a circle and once I do one good thing, I'll roll to the next. No matter what I start with, I need to stick with it and that's one more challenge that's on my list.

Surprises!

Well this week was sure full of surprises. First of all, I found out that we can get some great health insurance through Tupperware for $235 for both myself and my husband!! Simon's already got his own health insurance (kids GOT to have health insurance!) but we were paying close to $600 a month just for Darren and I so this is a huge help! Also, I had my announcement party last night and all of my dear friends showed up.

It's times like these that I just feel completely blessed to have such support from my friends and family. We had my show here at my house and I was taking tons of notes on how to do my parties. I've got four booked so far and I'm hoping to do well at all of them. It's so hard not to go nuts and order everything you want at once, but one thing at a time. Today I ordered a lot of little party gifts and such because that really does go a long way! Sorry if I'm talking Tupperware too much but really, that's what's going on in my life right now!

Simon has been a doll all day today. I love it when he gets into these lovey modes where he just listens and wants nothing more than to be with you. Yesterday was a three year old day and he was a bit of a chore, but thankfully that doesn't last long. I did something that wasn't very smart though...I wanted to snuggle with him so put him in our bed for nap time so I could nap with him. Well of course my naps usually last no more than 15 minutes then I'm up ready to do things and so who followed me out of the bed? You guessed it...Simon. He only got maybe an hour nap so it was early bed time for him tonight. It's one or the other, a good nap and a little bit later bed time or hardly a nap and early bed time. I need a break and some ME time, as much as I love him, it's for my sanity!

I was watching Oprah today (that's a rarity!) and it was all about school lunches and how kids eat. There were some seriously obese children on her show. It was so sad because they were high school age and already into the 300lb category. I really don't know how their parents could watch that. I know I was no thin mint but no where near that category. In fact, I look back and I was actually pretty thin! I hate that I spent so much time in my high school years thinking I was fat and being told to "watch my weight" when I was not too bad! Oy vey...if I knew then what I know now.... Anyway...the author of "Eat This Not That" was on there and you would be blown AWAY by what is actually better for you. For one thing, at Arby's the turkey and Swiss sandwich is actually WORSE for you than a roast beef with cheddar cheese!! Even Oprah was blown away. I'm really glad we don't eat out a whole lot because you really don't know what is in your food.

Another thing that really disappoints me is the school lunches. It's all fried, nasty foods with almost nil nutritional value. I know that if Simon goes to public schools, every lunch he has will be packed. Seeing as he is not a convenience food type of kid, I doubt he'd even eat the school lunches. He's so funny, he'd rather eat a home cooked meal rather than chicken nuggets from McDonalds or something. I'm very glad that he's like that but it's all he's even known. I bought a package of nuggets once from Costco, I bought a box of corn dogs from the grocery store and that's pretty much is the convenience food from his entire life. Don't get me wrong, he will eat a burger from a fast food joint every now and again, but we rarely eat out. He hates mac n' cheese and really doesn't like foods like that. I think the only convenience food type of thing he likes are hot dogs. He will chow down on some hot dogs!!

I on the other hand grew up eating junk food. It's a terrible habit to break something I'm still struggling with today. Seriously, if it weren't for Darren, I doubt I'd eat as many veggies as I do today. Now I'll pretty much eat anything and I actually love veggies. In fact, we go through about 2lbs of spinach and 2lbs of mushrooms a week not to mention all the mixed veggies we get. It's so much better for you and they actually taste good! Now it would be a lot better if they were straight from the garden veggies, but I plan on doing something like that soon so who knows!

Busy busy!

It seems like this past week and weekend just FLEW by! I was busy with getting all of my Tupperware stuff together, cleaning, friends, and life in general!

This weekend was focused on booking parties and getting organized. There are so many avenues to take and things I want to do and say that I need to remember it all. I just know the things I would like to see and buy and I need to remember there are a lot of people out there who's kids are already grown or who are single so I need to remember to talk about other Tupperware items that are not focused on just kids. Things that will make peoples lives easier.

I think I'm going to order some Tupperware things for me personally. I love their kids line and all of their kids items are BPA free and are super cheap for that! I wanted to buy Simon some BPA free sippy cups at HEB and ONE frggin cup was $11.99!!! FOR ONE CUP!!! Friggin highway robbery!! I can get like four BPA free sippy cups for less than that! Not only that but the plates, bowls and lunch sets are BPA free too!!

Other than Tupperware, I haven't been doing a whole lot. This next week is going to be a busy one so I'm resting up for it. I've got a show on Monday, dentist on Tuesday, Highlights, nails an bachelorette party on Wednesday and I think there's something else going on, on Thursday but I can't remember!! I love being busy, it makes the days go by faster and makes me feel productive!

No TV?

Today has been a day of change and reflection. Today, I brought up my lap top to my office and decided no more lap top on the breakfast table or kitchen. I think Simon will probably grow up seeing the Dell symbol more than his moms face, so I made the change. Believe me, it's not an easy thing to do. I check the computer MULTIPLE times a day and I'm pretty much 100% accessible to anyone any time of day. So I figured, that if I put my computer upstairs, I'll check it less and spend more quality time with Simon and you know....it worked!

As soon as I let that go, I noticed how much the TV was on and that took me by surprise. Today I went to get my hair cut and a friend of mine watched Simon and they rarely watch TV. I went in and it was so nice just having the radio going, the kids playing, eating a good lunch, making up their own play as kids do. Why can't I do that? My husband always tells me how addicted I am to background noise and he is so right. I guess it's a feeling of safety that something is going on even if I'm doing nothing but some mundane household chore...who knows but I do know that I'm going to make a conscious effort to keep the TV off for a good while so Simon and I can just do something together without having to hear the next advert for cheese or milk or whatever.

Childs Play

It's so funny because I really think God is trying to tell me something. It's so easy to lose focus on what's really important. Especially when bills are due, schools is about to start, work etc... Well lately I've been really thinking about time and how it relates to me. Specifically how fast Simon is growing up. Part of that came from looking at old video and photos of when he was a baby, then getting a call from my older sister about her son starting college, and then from a conversation with a friend today.

It's amazing at how fast kids grow right in front of your eyes. So fast you don't even see it! I remember when I thought he'd never walk or talk, that I'd be carrying him around forever in my sling, but before I knew it, he was independent and no longer needed his stroller. Now, he's three. His last year (in what I consider) full toddlerhood. By four he'll officially be a little boy. I'm really trying to cherish this year and let him be a kid. Not get on to him too much about the small stuff (like now where he got my spoon I was cooking with and spilled tomato sauce on the floor) and most of all to play with him more.

I admit it I have sat him in front of the TV or the Wii so I can get some time on the computer. I mean, something major may happen on Facebook!! Or, I might get the all important email in my inbox! Even now...on blogger! But talking to my sisters, who are sending their boys off to college in a little over a week, I feel their sadness. I'm tearing up right now thinking about it because they were my babies too, and now they're not longer babies. They're men. Soon it will be mine. I don't want to think back about the time where Simon asked me to play with him and I didn't because I was "too busy" or something or someone else needed my attention. I want to think I did everything in my power to spend these important times with him so I won't look back with regret. I know no matter how much time you spend with them isn't enough and we do have adult responsibilities, but it takes just a small bit of time to make a big difference.

Cleaning.

Yes, that's all I've been doing today is cleaning!! You know when sometimes you get that bug up your but where everything is dirty? The floor, the carpets, the side boards, the dishes, the bath tub etc... That's where I was today. Nothing seemed to be clean so I had a nesting phase (no I'm not pregnant) and did it all. I've been looking at my Tupperware stuff online and I'm hoping this goes well. I have to admit I'm a bit nervous because I haven't sold anything in a long while but seriously, it sells itself. I've already got people ready to place orders, just waiting for a party and that gets me all excited because I'll have something to do and organize, which is really one of my favorite things to do.

Simon has been awesome today, he's usually a good kid except for those three year old moments, but we've just been playing in between cleaning and he even let me cut his hair! I don't think any kid likes to have their hair cut but he despises having the little bits of hair all over him and so it's a race to get it all finished before he's all pissed off wanting a bath ASAP. I was able to do it and he looks so cute!!

Also...our damn salt water system is broken. We're going to have to take it back and just let the water out of the pool. I'm about sick of this damn pool but love it when it's working.

Been a busy girl today...

I got my Tupperware site up and going today!!! I just played around with it and bam...there it is!

Unfortunately I didn't get to Mass today...Uggg I know that's terrible but for some reason I was so lazy and wanted to delve myself into my Tupperware site. Oh and today I was up at 5:45!! Luckily it's the weekend so Dh was here and so I went to take a lovely nap and I slept for about 2 hours!! Usually I only sleep like 15 minutes for a nap but I was so tired.

Today was a trying day with my three year old. He's older, knows what he wants and when he wants it. He doesn't throw tantrums if you tell him no or take something away, he just gets stubborn and digs his heels in. For instance, he wanted to play Legend of Zelda and I said "no" and he kept asking, and asking, then thirty minutes later, the same question. It was driving me mad! LOL So then...I saw him tearing out a page of one of his books, which is completely unlike him and I said, if you continue doing that you're going to get your books taken away! Well then he decided he wanted to be cheeky so he said "I'm gonna throw this in the trash!". Well he had NO idea who he was dealing with! I took the book and threw it away for him! That's when the crying and tantrum started and daddy took him to bed.

Now it's mommy time, drinking coffee (I'm like a little old lady), blogging, and checking my Tupperware stuff.

I did it!!

Great news...I'm now a Tupperware consultant!!! I signed up yesterday and everything should be coming in within 10 days so I can be ready for my first party!!!! After being out of the work force for three years, this is pretty exciting to me. I didn't miss where I worked, but I did miss having something to organize and do and using my brain for something other than what to watch and which park to go to.

My husband said he was going to make me some business cards and I plan on having a link on here to promote my business and for anyone who wants to place orders. I cannot wait to get all of my stuff in so I play with it and of course show it all off.

So...today, my wake up time was 5:45am. My dear little son decided 5:45 was the time he wanted to come in and "sleep" with us. All he did was toss, turn, sigh, talk to himself. Needless to say I was up and I finally got him back to sleep at 7am and he woke up a little after 9 and you better believe he'll be taking a nap!! I know his congestion isn't making it easy for him, but it really isn't that bad and to be honest I think he'd be up either way because he's decided he doesn't like his bed. Why? I have no idea but he'd better get to loving that thing because I'm tired!

I think today I will clean and organize and of course go to CVS. They've got some good deals, not as good as last week but still good. I hope to get some diet cokes, sun screen, high lighters, make up and whatever else. I know it sounds silly but I want to get my desk ready and organized for business. I really hope I do a good job at this.

Ahhhh a better day

Today was full of ups and downs. First, downs. That damn pool of ours is still acting up and I'm about to drain it and then fill it up again but the husband wants to wait and try something else first. Then...my dear little angel of my life decides NOT to take a nap today. Luckily he did spend two hours in his room playing Thomas the Tank Engine quietly so I was able to get some things done. THEN...Husband comes home and gives me great news about work then gets even better!!
FINALLY a Tupperware lady calls me!!

I think I'm getting into selling Tupperware. I wanted to get some sort of part time job, I didn't want to sell Mary Kay or Avon (although I did attempt to contact a friend who sells MK and didn't get a return email but she's super busy right now so I'm not surprised, family first!) but I wanted to sell something that I for sure would use myself. With make-up, I don't buy make up, period. I get all of my make up free from CVS so why pay for something you get for free?!? I'm sure some people would but not this gal. So...my brilliant sister said "why not Tupperware!??! It's the IN thing now!" I was like you know, I recently looked on TW's website and wanted to purchase a few things but never thought about selling it! So I contacted the TW sales lady closest to me....nothing. No email, no phone call, zilch. Then I called a manager...same thing. Nothing. Zilch. My third (and in my mind final attempt) I come in contact with a woman named Antoinette. Antoinette happens to be a favorite name of mine so immediately I was like this could be good! And what do you know...she called me back.

She spent a good hour on the phone with me discussing the business and all that jazz and telling me all the great gadgets and all and how it all works and I really, really want to sell it! My only problem is...making sure I don't spend any profits on the products. I'm being 100% serious here. I could spend lots of dough on Tupperware because that shit lasts forever! Not to mention all the cool gadgets that I cannot wait to get my hands on. Things for the kitchen (my favorite), things for the kids, things for around the house, it's endless! Anyway...that made me excited and gave me something to look forward to.

Well, now I'm drinking a nice cold beer, updating my lovely blog waiting for the husband to finish his game of Zelda to put MORE salt in the pool. Ugg....I think I need more beer.

About to lose my marblez!

I love my son to no end. LOVE HIM with all of my heart, my soul, I would poke my eye out if it helped him in some way but GOD BLESS AMERICA I cannot deal with saying things OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!! Not only that, but the same question or statement being said to me over and over again. Really...I try to ignore it. I try to answer the question or statement but the same thing gets said or asked again. I feel like Stimpy when he'd get all swollen with veins and a red face because you know it's the age and they can't really help it but holy cow it's hard to live in their world.

He's in the age of "watch this" "mom, watch this" Mom watch this" "mom are you watching this?" and every single time will be YES SON I'M WATCHING!!! I'm very happy that my son is physically and mentally able to go through this stage of growing up, but the monotony does get old.

I'm still trying to find a great, flexible way of making money and interacting with adults. I need to make my own money, need to have something to look forward to. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change being a SAHM for anything but there needs to be some hours in my day where I'm problem solving, otherwise your brain goes dead. I have great friends to hang out with and talk to on a regular basis, but as I said, I want some problem solving to begin.

Today was pretty eventful again. I went to Wal Mart and bought Simon a cheap little $2 sword that he thinks is the best thing in the world. It's better than my husbands brush that he was using to battle monsters!! I also finally went and bought clamps to put on the pool so the cover won't blow off. We're still battling a nasty pool and I'm pretty sure it isn't algae anymore, it's just dirt because it's all on the bottom. I don't think the filter is doing it's job properly so we're going to get some "DE" or Diatamacious Earth to get the filter to really work. I've heard that it works great in getting very fine particles of dirt out from the pool and that's exactly what we have because of all the wind. I'm determined to get the pool crystal clear again.

As far as dinner goes...I don't want to cook. I'm hoping my husband went to eat Indian food with one of his co-workers because then he'll still be full and won't want to eat a big dinner.

CARD NIGHT..WOOHOO!!

I haven't had a whole lot of time to post or do much of anything today. Today was groceries, CVS, finishing up odds and ends. Now is my time to go and have some adult beverages and relax a bit!

We usually play Phase 10 and it's an almost weekly thing. It's totally my time to just have silly girl talk mixed in with some vodka and all of a sudden...my stresses are gone. Until the morning when the hangover and lack of sleep hit, but that's what coffee's for right?

Mommy talk

I had such a great conversation with a friend of mine today about pacifiers. Simon had a pacifier until he was two and a half and that was my breaking point. Well actually my husband had mentioned that it was time and he pointed out that in almost every picture, Simon had a "baba" in his mouth and he was right.

The last time he had his "baba" was November 22, 2007!! I had heard horror stories about babies crying for days on end for their pacifiers and it being hellish. I really didn't want to put Simon through that or go through that myself. In some way, I wanted him to hold on to his baba because that was still a baby part of him and something he'd had from day one. BUT...seeing ALL of his pictures with pacifiers and a fear that his teeth and speech would be affected made me take action.

I wanted to do something that would have a great impact but nothing too harsh. I had heard putting Tobasco on the paci but hell no, I didn't want to do that to him. So what did I do? I put white vinegar on his baba! I had the vinegar in a spray bottle because I clean with it, so I just sprayed the baba and gave it to him. He immediately took it out of his mouth and said "mama it's dirty, go wash it" so I took it to the sink and washed it and sprayed it again (of course without him knowing!) and again he said it was dirty. I told him that's what happens when he gets to be a big boy, that they lose their flavor and get dirty so he had to throw it away. He went to the trash can and threw it away!! Two hours later he was napping with no baba!! That night, I thought we were going to have problems but all he said was "mama, baba dirty?" and I said "yep! Remember baba's get dirty when you're a big boy!" and that was it! No crying, no fussing, no tantrums nothing. If and when we have another baby, I most certainly would do this method again.

My CVS booty

I paid a total of less than $2 for all of this stuff. With coupons and ECB's (extra care bucks) it's amazing at what you can get!

WHY did I do that?!?!

My son was playing all by himself as good as ever. Drawing on his magnadoodle, singing to himself and I was watching Oprah about the half ton teen. For SOME reason unbeknownst to me...I turn the TV to Wow Wow Wubbzy! He was playing FINE then I put the TV on for him and he of course stops all activity to sit and watch TV. Right then and there I wanted to kick myself in the butt because I completely diverted his attention from using his own imagination to watching someone else's. I'm glad I did this. This has been a great lesson to me. Less TV all around.

I don't think TV is the devil or is evil. I actually think it's great in moderation, but I'm so used to turning on the TV for him when he's awake and I'm sure that's not a good thing. Just thought I'd share that because I'm sure I've done this several times, I just took notice of it today.

Zumba!!

So this morning, I was really, really, really good and rather than lay in like I could have, I went to Zumba! Of course Simon decides to lay in and I have to admit, I was thinking about canceling so I could sleep in that much longer, but I thought about my commitment to going with my friends and that got my ass up.

I have to say I really love Zumba because even if you don't know what the hell you're doing, just shake your ass and you'll look like you do. If you don't know what Zumba is, it's basically salsa dancing incorporated into a work out and let me tell you, it IS a work out. Even if you are painfully uncoordinated, you can some how find a way to do it. There are those in the class that look like they're in a Shakira video, and those that look like Elaine from Seinfeld all together. I start off strong, then crash probably in the middle but if there's a great song then that gets me going.

So now that I'm energized from Zumba, as soon as Simon's head hits the pillow, I'm finishing my resume (yes the same resume I've been trying to finish for days now), and find a way to fix our dadgum pool! I'm so sick of it being so nasty and green and we've ran the filter AND chlorinator over and over and over!! There's GOT to be something I'm missing.

I hope to have at least 2 or 3 hours of quiet time before I'm bombarded with "can I play Mario Kart" "mama look at me" "Mama what did they say?" "mama I want some milk"...it never ends! We did have some potty training success yesterday, he pooped some in his underwear but finished off in the toilet. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but we were so happy because sometimes he'd just cut it off and hold it in, but this time he actually finished so we gave him some smarties (the English chocolate kind) and I really think our laid back approach is helping.

Okay...off to do some work.

Pool of tears...

We recently purchased an Intex 16x48" pool for my son's birthday. In the beginning, it was perfect! How nice to have our own inexpensive pool just outside our door! My husband put it together (in about an hour) and then we started filling it up. It took about 10 hours to completely fill up partially because we had to turn the water off when we left but finally filled up. We put in chlorine and I have to be honest and say I hated putting the chlorine in!! It was nasty and bleh and most of all, expensive! So we also got an Intex Saltwater System. It's a lot cheaper and healthier and we were so excited!

Until...the wind blew all kinds of crap in our beautiful pool! Now it's all murky and nasty and I can't get it to get clean!! We've vacuumed it with the pool vacuum, kept the filter on for hours on end and still looks like crap. Even have been running the chlorinator (salt water system) everyday for five hours at a time. I really think it's our filter system that's not working properly and what I've been hearing is that the filters aren't working as well as they should so we'll see. All I know is I'm frustrated as all get out that we were supposed to have a low maintenance pool and it's beginning to be a hassle.

I guess I'll continue looking on the Internet for some cheap ways of getting all the nasty dirt particles out of there without having to drain the pool (NOT an option!!).

On a lighter note...I'm making my lovely pizza dough! My bread maker is making a helluva noise but soon, it's gonna be the lovely smell of dough mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Bargains...

Here's my first entro to my lovely new blog! I love blogging, I love shopping and another love...I love shopping for free!! All of my friends and family know that. I spend lots of time during the week trying to find the good bargains out there and they pay off big time.

I am also the mother to a 3 year, very active little boy. We're 90% potty trained. We have the #1 down, but #2 is a different story. Anyone have this problem? It's probably been our main focus for weeks now because we have no idea how to get him to poo on the potty. It's seriously driven me to drink! LOL We've tried bribery, celebrating all 3 times he's done it, taking things away, time out when he poops in his undies, making him sit on the potty for a long period of time....everything!! Finally we've come to the conclusion that he'll just do it in his own time, but WHEN!??!!? I've stepped in in, had a poop trail when he pooped in the living room, had him try to put it in the toilet from his undies...oh Lord any scenario you can think of...it's happened. Anyway...that's our current situation.

I've got a great family and great group of friends that I really don't think I could do without. They all help keep me from losing my marbles and most importantly, they are all frugal like me so we usually end up doing things that cost little to no money. We have a wonderful weekly card night that beats any club any day of the week! We have loads of fun and have a great time.

My husband of 10 years is a great father to our son. He spends a great deal of time with him, doesn't mind taking care of him when he's not working, and never tries to infringe on my much needed "ME" time. Currently we're taking a downturn due to this economy, but we're trying our hardest to make the best of a lousy situation. My life can be pretty stressful, but I am very thankful for all the good in our lives.