Okay, if the government ever wants to investigate me, they will probably be bored and confused...Over the past few days, here are several of my Google searches:
What is the difference between purple and violet? (After an argument with hubby as to whether moreno or violeta were a better word to teach for Spanish class)
Homemade disinfectant with dish soap and tea tree oil (after I lost the scrap of paper I scrawled the formula on out of a book a read a while back)
and today's entry is:
Homemade laundry detergent with Ivory soap (after having to buy a six bar pack of Ivory for a science experiment and upon realizing that I am running low on detergent)
Okay, on t0 the meme (how is meme pronounced, anyway? Hubby and I had a fight about that several months ago, too!)
SWEETHEART TAG
The rules are posted at the beginning. Each person answers questions about their sweethearts. At the end of the post, the person then tags 6 people and posts their names; then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged.
What is your husbands name? il postino
How long have you guys been married? 9 1/2 years in December (or 9 years in December if you don't count the half a year we were married before we were married in the church)
How long did you date? Well, when we took our FOCUS inventory non-test (that really is a test) I was hoping that we would put down the same amount of time. We did, and I think at that time we said 11 months. Of course, we didn't really have a clean start to dating at all...we met my first day of college (hubby was helping with orientation) and we kinda had a love/hate relationship from that point on...however, we didn't start sorta dating until around his 21st birthday.
How old is he? Just turned 31, so he's in his mid 30s, and I am still in the under 30 crowd (yes, I'm mean to him about his age!)
Who is taller? He is, by just a tiny bit that would probably be negated if I ever bothered to wear heels.
Who can sing best? I can! Well, I tend to be more musical, and I actually can 1) read music, and 2) remember the words to songs. Hubby probably sings more often, because it annoys his coworkers (thankfully they deal with the worst of it at 7 am!)
Who is smarter? Well, he got better GPAs generally speaking, but I never really applied myself...When we went to grad school (he was going to the law school, and I was in a straight to PhD Sociology program) at the law school introduction it was suggested that the spouse of the law student should get wireless headphones so that they could do things like watch TV while their spouse studied for hours on end...we didn't figure it would be a problem for us, since I was doing grad school, too...in the end, we got the wireless headphones so that HUBBY could watch TV without disturbing me with my studying/writing/grading, etc. Of course, we discovered that law wasn't right for hubby and teaching wasn't right for me...so we have no need for the headphones anymore!
Who does laundry? I grew up in a family where my dad did the laundry...in fact, right up until we eloped, I'd walk my laundry bag over to my dad's office on campus for him to take home and wash for me (he worked at the college we attended) and he'd bring them back on Monday...sadly, I had to learn how to do laundry after marriage, and I do most of it now...being a homemaker and all...
Who pays the bills? I pay the bills, hubby drops them off (if they are local) or mails them (if need be)...one time he dropped our mortgage payment on the ground on his way to work...it was winter and very snowy...I got a notification that we hadn't paid our mortgage...I blamed the post office and set up an auto pay on our mortgage...when spring arrived, we found the mortgage payment under the snow...too bad we already paid the $20 for a stop payment!
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I sleep on the side furthest away from the door, and always have...so if the bed moves or if we are vacationing, our sides of the bed change!
Who mows the lawn? I have never touched a lawn mower in my life. I hope never to learn. Most people I know find this very strange...
Who cooks dinner? Me. The first time hubby made me supper, he took a box of Spanish rice, a can of black beans and mixed it together with salsa, Tabasco sauce, chili powder and any other spice he could find...I could not eat it...it made me cry...hubby cooks sometimes, but he's pretty gentle with the spices now...
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Neither of us! Hubby's favorite thing to say is "Do what you want, but I know I'm right!" and of course, Eva has started to say it, too...I don't like being wrong anymore than he does, so we just don't dwell on being wrong very much.
Who kissed who first? I think it was me, but 10 bucks says that hubby thinks it was him...
Who wears the pants? Well, most of the time we both wear pants...and so do the girls! Really, I don't know...I try not to be pushy, but I probably fail a lot, particularly since hubby thinks "I don't know" is a fine option for decision making!
I tag:
Let's face the facts, I don't have 6 people to tag...So, if you read this, consider yourself tagged...and if you don't have a blog, feel free to post in the comments!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Bloggy Giveaway - Slime Laboratory!
I was just checking my blogs this morning before getting ready to start school with Eva (I'm running late AGAIN!) and noticed that the Bloggy Giveaways have started again!
This time, I thought I'd give away a product that I sell.
I've been with a great company called "Learning is an Art" since last summer, when I ran into their products at our local homeschool conference. We have education games and toys for kids, teens and adults. We have several favorites around here.
But for today, you are entering to win "Slime Laboratory" a great kit for kids ages 10 and up. Since my oldest is 4, and I have two girls, I figure slime is never going to be that popular around here...but maybe you have kids just the right age!
To enter, please pop over to my LiA website and let me know what product you like best. The great thing about the company is that 100% of the corporate profits are donated to top rated charities. Make sure to leave an e-mail or blog so I can contact you if you are the winner! I will draw using a random number generator on November 1st.
If you see anything you'd like to order or would just like more info about the company, please drop me a line, or you can just order straight from the site. Check out tons of other Bloggy Giveaways, too!
This time, I thought I'd give away a product that I sell.
I've been with a great company called "Learning is an Art" since last summer, when I ran into their products at our local homeschool conference. We have education games and toys for kids, teens and adults. We have several favorites around here.
But for today, you are entering to win "Slime Laboratory" a great kit for kids ages 10 and up. Since my oldest is 4, and I have two girls, I figure slime is never going to be that popular around here...but maybe you have kids just the right age!
To enter, please pop over to my LiA website and let me know what product you like best. The great thing about the company is that 100% of the corporate profits are donated to top rated charities. Make sure to leave an e-mail or blog so I can contact you if you are the winner! I will draw using a random number generator on November 1st.
If you see anything you'd like to order or would just like more info about the company, please drop me a line, or you can just order straight from the site. Check out tons of other Bloggy Giveaways, too!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Hello Olds!
Okay, since Katie was curious...our new-to-us car is an Oldsmobile Eighty-eight.
It is slightly smaller than the other car (mostly we lost a little bit of trunk space) and is blue.
It appears that this car is ALMOST as popular out here as the other one was. 95% of the...(I can't say the name at the moment...I'm still having some problems!) like our old car were white and looked just like it. Blue appears to be the most popular color for big Olds around here.
We visited Britt at the hospital yesterday, and she is looking much better. Still in a coma, but making little bits of progress each day. Eva sang her "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", but wouldn't do an encore. Her parents and sister are holding up as well as can be expected. I know they all have good days and bad days, but I think having company helps.
We met my in laws at a McDonald's on our way home because they were heading up to visit Britt, and needed to give us our dog. We had stopped to do a little grocery shopping, so we saw them pulling into the McDonald's while we were waiting for the stoplight to change. They parked next to a (drum roll, please) blue Olds 88, and did a double take when we pulled in the parking spot across from them a minute later. They had thought we were already inside (it belonged to an older gentleman, and I'm sure had they looked more closely they would have noticed a lack of kids car seats!)
As the Olds and I are still getting acquainted, here are some of my likes and dislikes about it:
Likes:
Working cup holders (the old car's cup holder broke about 2 years ago)
Working door handle (they also seem sturdier than the old one)
Color (blue is much nicer than white)
Glove box (when you open it up, it serves as a tray to hold my coupons as I sort them while we travel...weird, I know, but what can I say?)
Dislikes:
Trunk (not because it is smaller, but because it and I have issues with closing)
Floor mats (they just get bunched up under my feet)
Backseat seat belts (the buckles are loose rather than rigid, which made for easier buckling of the booster seat)
Side mirrors (smaller than the old car)
So, the good seems to overall outweigh the bad.
It is slightly smaller than the other car (mostly we lost a little bit of trunk space) and is blue.
It appears that this car is ALMOST as popular out here as the other one was. 95% of the...(I can't say the name at the moment...I'm still having some problems!) like our old car were white and looked just like it. Blue appears to be the most popular color for big Olds around here.
We visited Britt at the hospital yesterday, and she is looking much better. Still in a coma, but making little bits of progress each day. Eva sang her "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", but wouldn't do an encore. Her parents and sister are holding up as well as can be expected. I know they all have good days and bad days, but I think having company helps.
We met my in laws at a McDonald's on our way home because they were heading up to visit Britt, and needed to give us our dog. We had stopped to do a little grocery shopping, so we saw them pulling into the McDonald's while we were waiting for the stoplight to change. They parked next to a (drum roll, please) blue Olds 88, and did a double take when we pulled in the parking spot across from them a minute later. They had thought we were already inside (it belonged to an older gentleman, and I'm sure had they looked more closely they would have noticed a lack of kids car seats!)
As the Olds and I are still getting acquainted, here are some of my likes and dislikes about it:
Likes:
Working cup holders (the old car's cup holder broke about 2 years ago)
Working door handle (they also seem sturdier than the old one)
Color (blue is much nicer than white)
Glove box (when you open it up, it serves as a tray to hold my coupons as I sort them while we travel...weird, I know, but what can I say?)
Dislikes:
Trunk (not because it is smaller, but because it and I have issues with closing)
Floor mats (they just get bunched up under my feet)
Backseat seat belts (the buckles are loose rather than rigid, which made for easier buckling of the booster seat)
Side mirrors (smaller than the old car)
So, the good seems to overall outweigh the bad.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Bye Bye Buick...
...well, today was the day. We no longer own our Buick.
It's amazing how much a car can mean and represent in your life...and generally speaking, I am not very attached to possessions. But the Buick was more than a possession to me...it was a constant...a constant full of memories.
Hubby's parent's gave him the Buick as a present for his college graduation in 2000. We had been married less than a year. It was hubby's third car (farm kid, lived WAY out in the country), but it was my first car. Sure, my parents had an extra car for my brother and me to drive, but I didn't have my own car. When we got married, hubby's car was definitely still his car (I hated it...the cup holders were these little dents in the glove box...the car made no sense...but I guess now I kinda understand why hubby loved that dumb car!)
We hoped we would start a family soon after we both graduated, so the big old boat was the perfect car, in my opinion. Well, we didn't have kids right away, but it has been with us ever since.
It has lived at 8 different addresses with us, and traveled all over Colorado, and through Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, and Idaho. We've taken trips planned far in advance in it, and also last minute mini vacations where we slept on the road (not while driving, of course!)
The gas gauge broke in 2000...I also pulled down the oh s*** bar that year. The bar we were able to fix, but the gas gauge only worked for about a day after the repair. We drove it down the canyon everyday to catch the bus to grad school until we got into family housing. We drove it every weekend to church, and probably THOUSANDS of times to my in laws house. It only lived in a garage for a few years of it's life with us...for 6 months at our first rental house and for 2 1/2 years at our first purchased home. This house has a small one car garage that generally doesn't hold any cars (only when we know it's going to snow).
We broke the driver's side door handle somewhere along the way, and had that repaired, but when the same thing happened to the passenger's side over a year ago, we never got it fixed. About two years ago, the tape player stopped working halfway through a tape with the divine mercy chaplet on it, and we never got the tape out (just a homemade recording, though).
It's the car that took me to the hospital to have Eva, and the car that brought us home again. It's also the car that we brought Charlotte home from the hospital in.
It was our only car for 5 years.
It had so many cosmetic defects (and strange problems with accessories) but always ran well. We were never stranded in it.
I do remember changing one flat tire in my parent's driveway...
I also remember the day that the back windshield shattered on my way home...I still am not sure what caused it...maybe a BB Gun...
I know that many of my friends think of the Buick when they think of me...it just has been a part of my life for a very long time.
But, now sadly, it is gone. We ended up selling it to a salvage yard...in part because I probably couldn't have handled watching it get rejected if we tried to sell it. Maybe we should have donated it to a charity, but honestly, there were so many things that really needed to be fixed that I don't know if we would have been doing the charity a favor.
I think that we probably will give the proceeds from the Buick to a charity of some type. What, I am not sure yet.
I do know that all four of us (okay, maybe just 3, I don't know that Charlotte really noticed what was happening) were pretty sad to see them dismantling the car as we signed over the title and were paid for it based on its weight.
But at least it was quick, and mostly painless.
It's probably not normal to have so much emotion about a bunch of metal...it's not like it was a collector's car...or even really a nice car...but it was our car.
We bought a new-to-us car last week (sadly, it is an older model year than the Buick, but with 95,000 fewer miles on it) and I'm still adjusting. But I'm hoping that I am just as sad for all the happy memories we have in it when it comes time to move on to another car...
It's amazing how much a car can mean and represent in your life...and generally speaking, I am not very attached to possessions. But the Buick was more than a possession to me...it was a constant...a constant full of memories.
Hubby's parent's gave him the Buick as a present for his college graduation in 2000. We had been married less than a year. It was hubby's third car (farm kid, lived WAY out in the country), but it was my first car. Sure, my parents had an extra car for my brother and me to drive, but I didn't have my own car. When we got married, hubby's car was definitely still his car (I hated it...the cup holders were these little dents in the glove box...the car made no sense...but I guess now I kinda understand why hubby loved that dumb car!)
We hoped we would start a family soon after we both graduated, so the big old boat was the perfect car, in my opinion. Well, we didn't have kids right away, but it has been with us ever since.
It has lived at 8 different addresses with us, and traveled all over Colorado, and through Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, and Idaho. We've taken trips planned far in advance in it, and also last minute mini vacations where we slept on the road (not while driving, of course!)
The gas gauge broke in 2000...I also pulled down the oh s*** bar that year. The bar we were able to fix, but the gas gauge only worked for about a day after the repair. We drove it down the canyon everyday to catch the bus to grad school until we got into family housing. We drove it every weekend to church, and probably THOUSANDS of times to my in laws house. It only lived in a garage for a few years of it's life with us...for 6 months at our first rental house and for 2 1/2 years at our first purchased home. This house has a small one car garage that generally doesn't hold any cars (only when we know it's going to snow).
We broke the driver's side door handle somewhere along the way, and had that repaired, but when the same thing happened to the passenger's side over a year ago, we never got it fixed. About two years ago, the tape player stopped working halfway through a tape with the divine mercy chaplet on it, and we never got the tape out (just a homemade recording, though).
It's the car that took me to the hospital to have Eva, and the car that brought us home again. It's also the car that we brought Charlotte home from the hospital in.
It was our only car for 5 years.
It had so many cosmetic defects (and strange problems with accessories) but always ran well. We were never stranded in it.
I do remember changing one flat tire in my parent's driveway...
I also remember the day that the back windshield shattered on my way home...I still am not sure what caused it...maybe a BB Gun...
I know that many of my friends think of the Buick when they think of me...it just has been a part of my life for a very long time.
But, now sadly, it is gone. We ended up selling it to a salvage yard...in part because I probably couldn't have handled watching it get rejected if we tried to sell it. Maybe we should have donated it to a charity, but honestly, there were so many things that really needed to be fixed that I don't know if we would have been doing the charity a favor.
I think that we probably will give the proceeds from the Buick to a charity of some type. What, I am not sure yet.
I do know that all four of us (okay, maybe just 3, I don't know that Charlotte really noticed what was happening) were pretty sad to see them dismantling the car as we signed over the title and were paid for it based on its weight.
But at least it was quick, and mostly painless.
It's probably not normal to have so much emotion about a bunch of metal...it's not like it was a collector's car...or even really a nice car...but it was our car.
We bought a new-to-us car last week (sadly, it is an older model year than the Buick, but with 95,000 fewer miles on it) and I'm still adjusting. But I'm hoping that I am just as sad for all the happy memories we have in it when it comes time to move on to another car...
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
We've got singing! We've got dancing!
Obviously, Brittney's accident is still very near the forefront of our minds around here, but I thought I'd describe something that happened last night at my folks' house because it was just...too....cute! I'll provide a quick update on Britt at the end, too, if you're interested; thank you for all the well-wishes and, especially, prayers!
So, MM's Aunt Paula gave her family a game callled Songburst (70's and 80's Edition) a long, long time ago and it didn't get played much, despite being generally right up MM's alley, just because the music was a little too old for her and a little too new for her parents. The game turned up recently as MM's parents were cleaning out their basement, and it was still in good shape. MM thought my mom would enjoy it, so she gave it to her as a thank you for watching the girls this past weekend while we were up visiting Brittney, etc.
Well, last night Eva, Charlotte, and my mom tried playing the game on their own, and hilarity ensued! Eva would make up lyrics completely from scratch for any title Mom read, and Charlotte would dance around the room to her sister's singing. My dad and I just cracked up!
Anyway, just a quick update on Britt: she's opened her good eye a couple more times and seems to be responding to stimuli somewhat, but she's still technically comatose. The trauma ward she was in has done about all they can for now, but she's not quite far enough along to really go into any rehab center, so she's been moved into a long-term care facility until the time she's ready for rehab (which we are praying is not too far off). Her friends and family have set up a fund to help with medical expenses; if anyone is interested in more info on that, let us know and we can privately e-mail you the details. Thank you all again for all your prayers and support, and please keep "storming Heaven" for Brittney!
So, MM's Aunt Paula gave her family a game callled Songburst (70's and 80's Edition) a long, long time ago and it didn't get played much, despite being generally right up MM's alley, just because the music was a little too old for her and a little too new for her parents. The game turned up recently as MM's parents were cleaning out their basement, and it was still in good shape. MM thought my mom would enjoy it, so she gave it to her as a thank you for watching the girls this past weekend while we were up visiting Brittney, etc.
Well, last night Eva, Charlotte, and my mom tried playing the game on their own, and hilarity ensued! Eva would make up lyrics completely from scratch for any title Mom read, and Charlotte would dance around the room to her sister's singing. My dad and I just cracked up!
Anyway, just a quick update on Britt: she's opened her good eye a couple more times and seems to be responding to stimuli somewhat, but she's still technically comatose. The trauma ward she was in has done about all they can for now, but she's not quite far enough along to really go into any rehab center, so she's been moved into a long-term care facility until the time she's ready for rehab (which we are praying is not too far off). Her friends and family have set up a fund to help with medical expenses; if anyone is interested in more info on that, let us know and we can privately e-mail you the details. Thank you all again for all your prayers and support, and please keep "storming Heaven" for Brittney!
Monday, October 06, 2008
A little bit of hope...
Well, we spent all weekend with the in-laws...MIL and I took the girls for pictures (we did both girls birthday pictures and Christmas pictures all at the same time...first time I've done wardrobe changes at the photo place!) and did some shopping (including buying a new washer and dryer for MIL, but the good news on that one is that we will probably get their old one (to replace the one that is the squeaky background of our lives!)
Then, we met hubby and FIL for a Cajun broil fundraiser for the hospital there...the girls LOVED the crab legs and shrimp (although MIL had quite a time trying to keep up the cracking and shelling with their appetites, since they both wanted to sit with grandma!) and I even tried a crawdad. We spent the night and went to their church in the morning, spent the afternoon visiting at their house, and the evening at a Rosary/prayer service for Brittney, then a community gospel concert/fundraiser for her. Finally, we had a late supper and drove home (we also picked up hubby's grandma's old car, which we are considering buying).
Right before we left for the rosary, etc. MIL was on the phone with about nine different people (no idea who all she was talking to, but every time she said goodbye to someone, the call waiting would ring again!) when her cell phone started ringing...I went to pick it up off the floor (and found Charlotte playing with a steak knife...I think we may need to have a discussion about trying to keep the house a little more baby proof again...) When I answered, it was Britt's sister, calling to let us all know that Britt opened her eye for about 5 seconds, and then batted the nurse away with her right hand (she's used her left hand to do so before, this was the first time she used her right hand, though).
Of course, we don't know what this means, but it was such a glimmer of hope to hear that she opened her eye up, even if just for a minute...and I am sure that it was exactly what her parents and sister needed to see!
Then, we met hubby and FIL for a Cajun broil fundraiser for the hospital there...the girls LOVED the crab legs and shrimp (although MIL had quite a time trying to keep up the cracking and shelling with their appetites, since they both wanted to sit with grandma!) and I even tried a crawdad. We spent the night and went to their church in the morning, spent the afternoon visiting at their house, and the evening at a Rosary/prayer service for Brittney, then a community gospel concert/fundraiser for her. Finally, we had a late supper and drove home (we also picked up hubby's grandma's old car, which we are considering buying).
Right before we left for the rosary, etc. MIL was on the phone with about nine different people (no idea who all she was talking to, but every time she said goodbye to someone, the call waiting would ring again!) when her cell phone started ringing...I went to pick it up off the floor (and found Charlotte playing with a steak knife...I think we may need to have a discussion about trying to keep the house a little more baby proof again...) When I answered, it was Britt's sister, calling to let us all know that Britt opened her eye for about 5 seconds, and then batted the nurse away with her right hand (she's used her left hand to do so before, this was the first time she used her right hand, though).
Of course, we don't know what this means, but it was such a glimmer of hope to hear that she opened her eye up, even if just for a minute...and I am sure that it was exactly what her parents and sister needed to see!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Brittney and the Parable of the Two Sons
We're visiting my cousin Brittney in the hospital yesterday and today before we need to head back home in a couple of hours so I can be at work at 7 tomorrow morning (it's about a 3 hour drive). The girls have been behaving remarkably well and seemed to have learned a major lesson about wearing seatbelts. Now that Britt is pretty well cleaned up and looking more like herself (and not as sensitive to noise in the room), we let the girls come in and see her and join us in praying for her.
In the middle of all this, we did manage to make it to Mass this morning. I'm really glad we did: it always seems like, at times like this, the readings speak to exactly the situation we're in. Today the first reading, from Ezekiel, and the Gospel from the 21st chapter of Matthew both spoke about how we are given free will to choose to follow God's command and live or to turn away from God and face the just consequences; not only that, though, they both tell us that we are not stuck with bad choices we make at first, but can repent and choose God later, and still be just as saved. This message was of some consolation to me thinking about not only Brittney, but her whole family as well. When Britt was just a little girl, her parents--for reasons I'm still not sure I really understand--stopped going to Mass. This became a fairly big source of tension in the family because my mom is Brittney's godmother and, rightly, saw it as her duty to try to make sure the Britt and her sister were receiving an education in their faith. This, if anything, wound up pushing the girls further from the Church (obviously through no fault of their own) because my aunt and uncle felt pressured by my mom and seemed to get defensive about it.
A few years ago, though, when Britt was probably about midway through high school, her grandfather on the other side of her family died. The really amazing way our parish priest at the time handled these issues and interacted with Britt's family went a long way toward bringing the family back to the Church; not too long after, Brittney and her sister received the sacraments of communion and confirmation and fully entered the Church. From that point on, with a few glitches here and there, they've generally been very active in youth group and other activities in the parish, and have often acted as St. Paul reminds the Philipians to do: "humbly regard[ing] others as more important than [them]selves."
Brittney's a sophomore in college and, as so often goes (including with myself), has sometimes acted out more of the "fool" part of the "wise fool" year. But I feel pretty confident in the state of her soul and, regardless of how her medical condition goes from here, comforted knowing that she, eventually, did "go out and work in the vineyard."
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Prayer request!
Sorry I've been MIA...but I am resurfacing today to ask for prayers.
Hubby's cousin, Britt, was in a very serious car accident Thursday night. She was not wearing her seatbelt (she was a passenger), somehow went through the back windshield AND had to be extracted from the vehicle.
We are still not sure if she will pull through, but things are looking much more hopeful.
She fractured her skull, lost an eye, and broke a leg in several places. To the best of my knowledge, they have not done anything with the leg yet. She is in a medically induced coma, and had surgery yesterday to remove a blood clot and place a drain. She also had to have some brain tissue removed. Unfortunately, the tissue is saturated with blood, so the drain isn't helping as much as it would otherwise.
No one is allowed to speak to her or touch her, as the doctors don't want her brain stimulated.
Hubby and I are heading up to the hospital after he gets off work to be with the family. We aren't going to let the girls see her, but I think that hubby's aunt and uncle, cousin (and his parents who have been at the hospital with them) will be happy for a little distraction from them.
So, please pray for Britt, her parents, her sister (who is having a really hard time with the whole situation) and also for Britt's friends who were also in the car, but all sustained fewer injuries.
Hubby's cousin, Britt, was in a very serious car accident Thursday night. She was not wearing her seatbelt (she was a passenger), somehow went through the back windshield AND had to be extracted from the vehicle.
We are still not sure if she will pull through, but things are looking much more hopeful.
She fractured her skull, lost an eye, and broke a leg in several places. To the best of my knowledge, they have not done anything with the leg yet. She is in a medically induced coma, and had surgery yesterday to remove a blood clot and place a drain. She also had to have some brain tissue removed. Unfortunately, the tissue is saturated with blood, so the drain isn't helping as much as it would otherwise.
No one is allowed to speak to her or touch her, as the doctors don't want her brain stimulated.
Hubby and I are heading up to the hospital after he gets off work to be with the family. We aren't going to let the girls see her, but I think that hubby's aunt and uncle, cousin (and his parents who have been at the hospital with them) will be happy for a little distraction from them.
So, please pray for Britt, her parents, her sister (who is having a really hard time with the whole situation) and also for Britt's friends who were also in the car, but all sustained fewer injuries.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Uncle!!!
Okay, it's over...I didn't make it 30 days...
I'm currently working on listing 16 books to paperback swap, and I am no longer on vacation from it...
Yesterday we went to the K of C meeting, and I had 3 hours with the girls. We went to Walgreens, used up that last register reward and got out of there with only $7 out of pocket. Then there was a little street fair thing going on, and we went over to check it out for a while. Well, I gave in and told Eva she could do one of the inflatable things (can you believe $3 per thing? She chose a little maze type thing, and got to go through it twice...so $3 for about 3 minutes of entertainment for one kid!) but she had to trade me a WalMart gift card for it (she still had 5 $5 cards...don't worry, I used it to buy her some school supplies!)
Then we headed over to WalMart, and I still did okay, less that $60, and that included a month's worth of yogurt, lots of food items (good coupons for things that aren't carried locally, like name brand pasta, etc) school supplies, vitamins, new dress shoes for Eva, and from the clearance aisle (paid for with gift cards) a Disney Princess dance a long thing (I've been singing "Bella, Bella, Bella dancerella" ever since hubby put the DVD in before 7 am!)
We ate at the pot luck, and went out to visit grandma and grandpa on the way home (their town has the cheapest gas pumps in the region...) Overall, it was a really good day, but I did break my no debit card rule...and didn't do too well with the 30 days of nothing!
Today, I ended up ordering catalogs and one new sample for the games that I sell, because the catalogs I have will no longer be valid starting October 1st, and I talked my MIL into doing a party for me in just over a week.
So, I had a good run with my 30 days, but I didn't make it this time. Maybe if I try again in the future, I'll make up my mind BEFORE the month begins!
I'm currently working on listing 16 books to paperback swap, and I am no longer on vacation from it...
Yesterday we went to the K of C meeting, and I had 3 hours with the girls. We went to Walgreens, used up that last register reward and got out of there with only $7 out of pocket. Then there was a little street fair thing going on, and we went over to check it out for a while. Well, I gave in and told Eva she could do one of the inflatable things (can you believe $3 per thing? She chose a little maze type thing, and got to go through it twice...so $3 for about 3 minutes of entertainment for one kid!) but she had to trade me a WalMart gift card for it (she still had 5 $5 cards...don't worry, I used it to buy her some school supplies!)
Then we headed over to WalMart, and I still did okay, less that $60, and that included a month's worth of yogurt, lots of food items (good coupons for things that aren't carried locally, like name brand pasta, etc) school supplies, vitamins, new dress shoes for Eva, and from the clearance aisle (paid for with gift cards) a Disney Princess dance a long thing (I've been singing "Bella, Bella, Bella dancerella" ever since hubby put the DVD in before 7 am!)
We ate at the pot luck, and went out to visit grandma and grandpa on the way home (their town has the cheapest gas pumps in the region...) Overall, it was a really good day, but I did break my no debit card rule...and didn't do too well with the 30 days of nothing!
Today, I ended up ordering catalogs and one new sample for the games that I sell, because the catalogs I have will no longer be valid starting October 1st, and I talked my MIL into doing a party for me in just over a week.
So, I had a good run with my 30 days, but I didn't make it this time. Maybe if I try again in the future, I'll make up my mind BEFORE the month begins!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Day 19 - Keep on truckin'
I have to admit, that I REALLY want to quit...
It's not really that the challenge of 30 days is too much for me...it actually doesn't feel like much of a challenge at all...just a slight irritation.
Maybe if I had been able to stick with the $100 of groceries for the whole month, it would've felt like more of a challenge, but I didn't, and so hubby is getting the second $100 and picking up a few specials at the store in the next town over. Today he is working at an office about an hour away (1 way time) and he'll be back there next Friday, then the following Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday...it is going to be a lot of gas (particularly since we usually fill up his gas tank once a month!), but he is getting paid mileage (but not drive time) and it will get him a few extra miles and hopefully show management that he is willing to work hard and travel.
What's really bugging me is how depressingly empty our refrigerator is...not that we are lacking food! We have plenty of canned and boxed foods in the pantry (though we are low on cereal AGAIN) and lots of frozen foods...but this is an inventory of what our fridge looks like today:
1 grapefruit
1 banana (I keep the really ripe ones in the fridge so they last longer)
2 triangles of Laughing Cow Light cheese (garlic and herb flavor)
2 almost empty coffee cans (regular and decaf)
2 sticks of margarine
1/8 th of a bottle of AppleJack
Brita cube full of water
lots of condiments (most almost empty) such as ketchup, mustard, salad dressings, mayo, vinegars, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, hoisin sauce, jellies and preserves, leftover pickle juice (I'm planning on marinading some pork chops in it) and also about 1/8th of a quart jar of yeast all in the door.
That's it...I look back on my days as a kid opening up my parent's fridge and whining "there's nothing in here to eat!" and just laugh...I wouldn't blame my kids for saying that at this point!
Sadly, I could probably make three healthy meals a day for over a month from the pantry and freezers...
On Sunday we are going back to the city with Wal Mart and Walgreens because hubby has a 4th degree Knights of Columbus meeting. The girls and I are going to do a little shopping (go buy some yogurt and string cheese for the girls, use up my Register Rewards from last time), and then I WAS stressing out because I didn't know how to deal with the fact that we would need to eat while we were up there, and hubby came home from his Knights meeting this week and told me that there would be a potluck afterwards...so God has provided (I definitely can make a potluck dish that will be safe in the car!)
It's not really that the challenge of 30 days is too much for me...it actually doesn't feel like much of a challenge at all...just a slight irritation.
Maybe if I had been able to stick with the $100 of groceries for the whole month, it would've felt like more of a challenge, but I didn't, and so hubby is getting the second $100 and picking up a few specials at the store in the next town over. Today he is working at an office about an hour away (1 way time) and he'll be back there next Friday, then the following Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday...it is going to be a lot of gas (particularly since we usually fill up his gas tank once a month!), but he is getting paid mileage (but not drive time) and it will get him a few extra miles and hopefully show management that he is willing to work hard and travel.
What's really bugging me is how depressingly empty our refrigerator is...not that we are lacking food! We have plenty of canned and boxed foods in the pantry (though we are low on cereal AGAIN) and lots of frozen foods...but this is an inventory of what our fridge looks like today:
1 grapefruit
1 banana (I keep the really ripe ones in the fridge so they last longer)
2 triangles of Laughing Cow Light cheese (garlic and herb flavor)
2 almost empty coffee cans (regular and decaf)
2 sticks of margarine
1/8 th of a bottle of AppleJack
Brita cube full of water
lots of condiments (most almost empty) such as ketchup, mustard, salad dressings, mayo, vinegars, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, hoisin sauce, jellies and preserves, leftover pickle juice (I'm planning on marinading some pork chops in it) and also about 1/8th of a quart jar of yeast all in the door.
That's it...I look back on my days as a kid opening up my parent's fridge and whining "there's nothing in here to eat!" and just laugh...I wouldn't blame my kids for saying that at this point!
Sadly, I could probably make three healthy meals a day for over a month from the pantry and freezers...
On Sunday we are going back to the city with Wal Mart and Walgreens because hubby has a 4th degree Knights of Columbus meeting. The girls and I are going to do a little shopping (go buy some yogurt and string cheese for the girls, use up my Register Rewards from last time), and then I WAS stressing out because I didn't know how to deal with the fact that we would need to eat while we were up there, and hubby came home from his Knights meeting this week and told me that there would be a potluck afterwards...so God has provided (I definitely can make a potluck dish that will be safe in the car!)
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Day 17 - more frustrations from falling off the wagon...
Well, today is hubby's day off from work, so we are visiting his parents again. I really really really wanted some caffeine this morning, so we ended up stopping at an unnamed convenience store that has several numbers in their name...
Well, since we were stopping for drinks (I wish I could say that we were stopping for gas, but honestly, the drinks were the reason) hubby suggested topping off the tank, since the price of gas in our town FINALLY fell (and the price rose in my MILs town where we normally buy our gas!) Of course, they require pre-paying...but at most pre-pay stations around here, I can go in, tell them the pump, and they'll start the pump while I grab drinks.
Of course, the one cashier (there were 5 employees in the store, but only one working the register) was busy when I got in, so I grabbed the drinks and then went to the register. I told the girl that I also had a pump, but I wasn't sure if it was done (it looked like hubby was pumping) and she said that he hadn't started because of the prepay thing. So, I asked her to start the pump.
Well, she informs me that I have to give her money before she can start the pump. I pointed out that I was standing right there to pay, and was going to hand her my card as soon as he was done. She told me that that would not work, and that I needed to give her an amount. I told her I had no idea how much it would be, but that I wanted to fill up the tank. The guy sitting behind her (I think that he was doing inventory) said "just put $85"...well, I flipped out. First of all, our Buick has NEVER taken that much gas, and I was just trying to top it off. I told her that it would be $25 tops, so she put it on, and I had to finish paying before she would start the pump (I think that this is possibly the most inane and retarded store policy I have ever heard.) So, I told her that I was going to stay there until it was done to make sure that either all $25 was used, or to make sure I wasn't charged the full $25.
Well, the girl (I'm having a hard time resisting calling her a "chicky", but I'll try to be mature) walked off, and about a minute later she came back and discovered that she sent the credit to the wrong pump. Thankfully, this being at about 9am, they weren't busy and no one was at that pump. Finally, she got it to the right pump..hubby pumped the gas, she told me he was done. I asked her if all $25 was used, and she said "yeah, he used it up."
So, I finally get back to the car, and tell hubby how VERY annoyed I am at the whole situation, and I mentioned that she told me he had used all $25...and he pointed out that the pump said $18.43...so we pulled up to the building, and I went inside...had to wait for the same chicky...errr...I mean girl, to be done ringing up another customer, and when I told her that she had lied to me (okay, I didn't flat out call her a liar, but technically, she DID lie to me) and that I wanted my money back, she told me that the amount from the pump was charged to my card instead of the amount I signed for, and I asked for a receipt to prove it...she rolled her eyes, and printed me a receipt (am I being unreasonable here???) and I left.
One would think that companies would want to make it convenient to purchase impulse items along with your gas, but apparently not!
I have letters written in my head to both this company's corporate office and the corporate office of Walgreens...but I probably won't write them, as it serves me right that both times I fell off the wagon this month, I had major frustrations with the transactions...
Well, since we were stopping for drinks (I wish I could say that we were stopping for gas, but honestly, the drinks were the reason) hubby suggested topping off the tank, since the price of gas in our town FINALLY fell (and the price rose in my MILs town where we normally buy our gas!) Of course, they require pre-paying...but at most pre-pay stations around here, I can go in, tell them the pump, and they'll start the pump while I grab drinks.
Of course, the one cashier (there were 5 employees in the store, but only one working the register) was busy when I got in, so I grabbed the drinks and then went to the register. I told the girl that I also had a pump, but I wasn't sure if it was done (it looked like hubby was pumping) and she said that he hadn't started because of the prepay thing. So, I asked her to start the pump.
Well, she informs me that I have to give her money before she can start the pump. I pointed out that I was standing right there to pay, and was going to hand her my card as soon as he was done. She told me that that would not work, and that I needed to give her an amount. I told her I had no idea how much it would be, but that I wanted to fill up the tank. The guy sitting behind her (I think that he was doing inventory) said "just put $85"...well, I flipped out. First of all, our Buick has NEVER taken that much gas, and I was just trying to top it off. I told her that it would be $25 tops, so she put it on, and I had to finish paying before she would start the pump (I think that this is possibly the most inane and retarded store policy I have ever heard.) So, I told her that I was going to stay there until it was done to make sure that either all $25 was used, or to make sure I wasn't charged the full $25.
Well, the girl (I'm having a hard time resisting calling her a "chicky", but I'll try to be mature) walked off, and about a minute later she came back and discovered that she sent the credit to the wrong pump. Thankfully, this being at about 9am, they weren't busy and no one was at that pump. Finally, she got it to the right pump..hubby pumped the gas, she told me he was done. I asked her if all $25 was used, and she said "yeah, he used it up."
So, I finally get back to the car, and tell hubby how VERY annoyed I am at the whole situation, and I mentioned that she told me he had used all $25...and he pointed out that the pump said $18.43...so we pulled up to the building, and I went inside...had to wait for the same chicky...errr...I mean girl, to be done ringing up another customer, and when I told her that she had lied to me (okay, I didn't flat out call her a liar, but technically, she DID lie to me) and that I wanted my money back, she told me that the amount from the pump was charged to my card instead of the amount I signed for, and I asked for a receipt to prove it...she rolled her eyes, and printed me a receipt (am I being unreasonable here???) and I left.
One would think that companies would want to make it convenient to purchase impulse items along with your gas, but apparently not!
I have letters written in my head to both this company's corporate office and the corporate office of Walgreens...but I probably won't write them, as it serves me right that both times I fell off the wagon this month, I had major frustrations with the transactions...
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Day 16 - just waiting for the squeaky dryer to be done with the diapers...
Well, hubby opened Quicken of his own accord for the first time EVER! (I think it is the first time he's opened it up, period, he thinks he may have opened up Quicken somewhere between 5 and 20 times in our 9+ years of marriage) Apparently, the way to get him to care about finances is to tell him how much money a politician he doesn't like very much gives...
I have to admit, that I knew this going into marriage. One day when we were dating, I was at his apartment when he got the mail. He opened up his bank statement, glanced at it and threw it in the trash can...I freaked out and attempted to fish it out of the garbage...he seemed confused and told me that he had already looked at it, and that he still had money in his account. I asked him how he was going to balance his checkbook if he threw away his bank statement. He stared at me blankly, and mentioned that he had never actually sat down and balanced a checkbook.
Actually, I asked him last night, and he STILL hasn't ever actually sat down and balanced the checkbook.
Of course, at the time we were dating, I kept all of my receipts, and took all credit card receipts and stapled them to the credit card statement that they were on (after paying the credit card in full) and filed them away. I kept them ALL until Eva was born...then I got a life, and I no longer am THAT anal...
No spending yesterday (having no money left that I can get to easily helps that). I don't think I actually left the house all day either (is it bad that I can't remember much about yesterday?? I do remember that my kitchen was spotless for approximately an hour between lunch and dinner.) No spending today, either. I did go up to church to count collection (yes, I volunteer to count money...surprising? Not really!) and hubby took the girls to the park. I'm also going to go give blood this afternoon (when hubby gets home again) and get a free soda and free cookies...gotta love the snacks there!
I'm looking forward to Friday, when I will be able to get money out of the bank (gotta love paydays!), as our fridge is VERY empty at the moment (we have lots of frozen stuff...but we're down to less than half a gallon of milk, and Eva doesn't like "that yucky milk you made" so I'm thinking that I'll be serving a lot of water and iced tea until Friday). Of course, my plan is to get out $100 to get us through the 30th.
I have to admit, that I knew this going into marriage. One day when we were dating, I was at his apartment when he got the mail. He opened up his bank statement, glanced at it and threw it in the trash can...I freaked out and attempted to fish it out of the garbage...he seemed confused and told me that he had already looked at it, and that he still had money in his account. I asked him how he was going to balance his checkbook if he threw away his bank statement. He stared at me blankly, and mentioned that he had never actually sat down and balanced a checkbook.
Actually, I asked him last night, and he STILL hasn't ever actually sat down and balanced the checkbook.
Of course, at the time we were dating, I kept all of my receipts, and took all credit card receipts and stapled them to the credit card statement that they were on (after paying the credit card in full) and filed them away. I kept them ALL until Eva was born...then I got a life, and I no longer am THAT anal...
No spending yesterday (having no money left that I can get to easily helps that). I don't think I actually left the house all day either (is it bad that I can't remember much about yesterday?? I do remember that my kitchen was spotless for approximately an hour between lunch and dinner.) No spending today, either. I did go up to church to count collection (yes, I volunteer to count money...surprising? Not really!) and hubby took the girls to the park. I'm also going to go give blood this afternoon (when hubby gets home again) and get a free soda and free cookies...gotta love the snacks there!
I'm looking forward to Friday, when I will be able to get money out of the bank (gotta love paydays!), as our fridge is VERY empty at the moment (we have lots of frozen stuff...but we're down to less than half a gallon of milk, and Eva doesn't like "that yucky milk you made" so I'm thinking that I'll be serving a lot of water and iced tea until Friday). Of course, my plan is to get out $100 to get us through the 30th.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Three-tenths of one percent?!
One thing I'm aware of about myself is the propensity to become overly proud of having done the right thing; this in turn taints the original, good reason for having done it and makes others (and sometimes even myself) wonder if I didn't just do it to be able to pat myself on the back later on. Case in point: charitable giving. MM and I feel very strongly that we should be generous with our time and money, especially to our parish. We believe, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it in paragraph #2243, "...The faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his abilities." (Thanks to American Papist for this citation.) But we generally don't talk a whole lot about how big a percentage of our income we give and whatnot; one, because I so easily get prideful about it and two, because both sets of our parents already think we're a step away from the poorhouse as it is and the idea of us giving money away would worry them unnecessarily.
The news that Joe Biden (who, like us, professes to be a devout Catholic) only averaged $369 of charitable giving per year over the past 10 years has me sputtering, though, and I can't help but compare our two situations. The Bidens reported earning $319,853 last year--not that much compared to many of his colleagues in the Senate, but plenty by most reasonable standards--yet donated only $995 to charitable organizations. That's three-tenths of one percent of his income to charity. And that was the most he had donated in the past ten years. By a lot.
This year, we'll probably earn between 10 and 15 percent of what the Bidens reported last year, but--as of today, with two and a half months to go in the year--we've already given more than double what they did last year. By the end of the year, we should pretty easily have given six times their average annual donations over the past ten years.
I'm not trying to show how high and mighty we are, or even how bad a Catholic Joe Biden is (even though that is obviously a little bit of an obsession for me recently). To be fair, the Bidens claim they gave more every year but just did not report it on their taxes. This could be true but, if so, their accountant should be fired because they're paying more taxes than they need to be. The point is, this is a man who really does not share the same values I do...and, for somebody who claims to be a big champion of "the working poor," he just doesn't seem to put his money where his mouth is.
By the way, you may notice later on in the story that John McCain is described as giving away about a quarter of what he personally earns per year (his wife's income is much higher, and we don't know how much charitable giving she does--though she does have a long history of philanthropic work around the world). This has served to renew my interest in a book that came out a couple of years ago called Who Really Cares, by Arthur C. Brooks. The premise, as I understand it, is that conservatives--especially religious ones--tend to view it as their responsibility to care for the poor, while liberals--especially secular ones--view it as the government's responsibility; in fact, they consider working to redistribute income as a form of charity in itself, with the main difference being that it's not their money they're giving away. Convenient, huh?
The news that Joe Biden (who, like us, professes to be a devout Catholic) only averaged $369 of charitable giving per year over the past 10 years has me sputtering, though, and I can't help but compare our two situations. The Bidens reported earning $319,853 last year--not that much compared to many of his colleagues in the Senate, but plenty by most reasonable standards--yet donated only $995 to charitable organizations. That's three-tenths of one percent of his income to charity. And that was the most he had donated in the past ten years. By a lot.
This year, we'll probably earn between 10 and 15 percent of what the Bidens reported last year, but--as of today, with two and a half months to go in the year--we've already given more than double what they did last year. By the end of the year, we should pretty easily have given six times their average annual donations over the past ten years.
I'm not trying to show how high and mighty we are, or even how bad a Catholic Joe Biden is (even though that is obviously a little bit of an obsession for me recently). To be fair, the Bidens claim they gave more every year but just did not report it on their taxes. This could be true but, if so, their accountant should be fired because they're paying more taxes than they need to be. The point is, this is a man who really does not share the same values I do...and, for somebody who claims to be a big champion of "the working poor," he just doesn't seem to put his money where his mouth is.
By the way, you may notice later on in the story that John McCain is described as giving away about a quarter of what he personally earns per year (his wife's income is much higher, and we don't know how much charitable giving she does--though she does have a long history of philanthropic work around the world). This has served to renew my interest in a book that came out a couple of years ago called Who Really Cares, by Arthur C. Brooks. The premise, as I understand it, is that conservatives--especially religious ones--tend to view it as their responsibility to care for the poor, while liberals--especially secular ones--view it as the government's responsibility; in fact, they consider working to redistribute income as a form of charity in itself, with the main difference being that it's not their money they're giving away. Convenient, huh?
Sunday, September 14, 2008
100 Book Meme
Well, I'm at my MIL's house right now, and hubby and his dad are watching the Broncos game, MIL and the girls are playing outside, and the second TV automatically switched to "Murder She Wrote" which is recording, so I figure I can do this fun meme that Christine over at Good Company has up. I do have to say though, that I am not the world's biggest "literature" person...I would much rather read a how-to book:
Bold--I've read it.
Italics--I started it.
Gold --I want to.
Nuttin'--I don't care.
Red -- Have no interest and will never have an interest.
Green -- Seen the movie. (I'm not much of a movie person, so I'm not going to bother with this one...but I have seen all the Lord of the Rings movies, and all the Harry Potter and Narnia movies that have been released so far)
1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (I've started this, but I really WANT to finish it someday)
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights -Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
10. Great Expectations -Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (I'm sick, I LOVE Hardy)
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller's Wife -
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (read all the books in the *ahem* trilogy several times)
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (too much Russian lit class...I love Russian novels)
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
37. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
38. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
39. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (although I'm pretty sure I'll have to read it to Eva)
40. Animal Farm - George Orwell
41. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
42. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
43. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
44. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
45. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
46. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
47. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (I LOVED this book and have read it a dozen times)
48. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
49. Atonement - Ian McEwan
50. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
51. Dune - Frank Herbert
52. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
53. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
54. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
55. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
56. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
57. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
58. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
59. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
60. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
61. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
62. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
63. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
64. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
65. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
66. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
67. Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
68. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
69. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
70. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
71. Dracula - Bram Stoker
72. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
73. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
74. Ulysses - James Joyce
75. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
76. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
77. Germinal - Emile Zola
78. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
79. Possession - AS Byatt
80. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
81. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
82. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
83. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
84. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
85. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
86. Charlotte's Web - EB White
87. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
88. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (too many "are you gonna marry Watson" jokes from my youth...the kids weren't really smart enough for a good insult!)
89. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
90. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
91. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
92. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
93. Watership Down - Richard Adams
94. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
95. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
96. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
97. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
98. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
99. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
100.The Outsiders -S. E. Hinton
Bold--I've read it.
Italics--I started it.
Gold --I want to.
Nuttin'--I don't care.
Red -- Have no interest and will never have an interest.
Green -- Seen the movie. (I'm not much of a movie person, so I'm not going to bother with this one...but I have seen all the Lord of the Rings movies, and all the Harry Potter and Narnia movies that have been released so far)
1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (I've started this, but I really WANT to finish it someday)
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights -Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
10. Great Expectations -Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (I'm sick, I LOVE Hardy)
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller's Wife -
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (read all the books in the *ahem* trilogy several times)
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (too much Russian lit class...I love Russian novels)
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
37. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
38. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
39. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (although I'm pretty sure I'll have to read it to Eva)
40. Animal Farm - George Orwell
41. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
42. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
43. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
44. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
45. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
46. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
47. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (I LOVED this book and have read it a dozen times)
48. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
49. Atonement - Ian McEwan
50. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
51. Dune - Frank Herbert
52. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
53. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
54. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
55. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
56. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
57. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
58. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
59. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
60. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
61. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
62. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
63. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
64. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
65. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
66. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
67. Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
68. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
69. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
70. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
71. Dracula - Bram Stoker
72. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
73. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
74. Ulysses - James Joyce
75. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
76. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
77. Germinal - Emile Zola
78. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
79. Possession - AS Byatt
80. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
81. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
82. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
83. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
84. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
85. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
86. Charlotte's Web - EB White
87. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
88. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (too many "are you gonna marry Watson" jokes from my youth...the kids weren't really smart enough for a good insult!)
89. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
90. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
91. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
92. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
93. Watership Down - Richard Adams
94. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
95. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
96. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
97. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
98. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
99. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
100.The Outsiders -S. E. Hinton
Day 14 - NFP class
Well, hubby and I have our 3rd NFP class (ending our first series of classes today) to teach this afternoon. And, I have to admit, I fell off the wagon today.
It probably started with yesterday...
My MIL called to find out if we had Saturday night Mass in our town this weekend, and we didn't...it was in the next town over. So, she decided to drive down, pick up the girls and us, head over to the evening Mass and then eat at Pizza Hut afterwards (her treat, so no expense there). Well, I knew that the grocery store over there had a coupon for the store brand margarine for 29 cents, so we stopped at the store, and I purchased the margarine, another several lbs of bananas (2 lbs for 89 cents...I bought a little over 4 lbs) and a big container of Quaker Old Fashioned Oats (on sale plus coupon got them for $2).
I also knew that I wanted to stop by our store for peanut butter ($1.66 per jar for store brand and we are OUT), but it was too late by the time we got home. Since we slept in this morning (until 8!), and had a lazy morning I sent hubby to the grocery store with the rest of our grocery money (until Friday) to get some donuts, some diet coke and the peanut butter...Donuts and Diet Coke are clearly NOT in the spirit of the 30 days. I know my total pretty closely, now...$111.53, since I started with a $100 bill, and hubby stopped by the store and spent $11.53 on Friday.
After our class, we'll head up and get the girls, and spend the evening visiting with my in-laws. Then, it's back to work and school! Other than a trip to the library some time next week, counting collection at church, a blood drive, and a Knights of Columbus meeting, we've got a pretty empty week!
It probably started with yesterday...
My MIL called to find out if we had Saturday night Mass in our town this weekend, and we didn't...it was in the next town over. So, she decided to drive down, pick up the girls and us, head over to the evening Mass and then eat at Pizza Hut afterwards (her treat, so no expense there). Well, I knew that the grocery store over there had a coupon for the store brand margarine for 29 cents, so we stopped at the store, and I purchased the margarine, another several lbs of bananas (2 lbs for 89 cents...I bought a little over 4 lbs) and a big container of Quaker Old Fashioned Oats (on sale plus coupon got them for $2).
I also knew that I wanted to stop by our store for peanut butter ($1.66 per jar for store brand and we are OUT), but it was too late by the time we got home. Since we slept in this morning (until 8!), and had a lazy morning I sent hubby to the grocery store with the rest of our grocery money (until Friday) to get some donuts, some diet coke and the peanut butter...Donuts and Diet Coke are clearly NOT in the spirit of the 30 days. I know my total pretty closely, now...$111.53, since I started with a $100 bill, and hubby stopped by the store and spent $11.53 on Friday.
After our class, we'll head up and get the girls, and spend the evening visiting with my in-laws. Then, it's back to work and school! Other than a trip to the library some time next week, counting collection at church, a blood drive, and a Knights of Columbus meeting, we've got a pretty empty week!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Day 13 - planning for school...
The girls are currently napping (YEAH!!!) and my MIL is coming sometime this afternoon to pick up the girls for an overnight so that hubby and I can practice for our 3 and final NFP class (our first series of classes) and then teach it tomorrow afternoon. We'll pick them up tomorrow evening.
So, I am sitting at the computer desk working on school stuff for next week, and tweaking Eva's schedule. Things I found out I didn't like this week:
-Doing Spanish on day 1 and day 4...will do day 1 and day 3 instead
-Doing PE...period...but will soldier on (I need to come up with something fun!)
-Doing Religion class 4 days a week...will skip Religion on days we go to morning Mass (so, if day 4 ends up being Friday, which it probably will, then we will not do religion as long as Father has Mass and we go)
-Along the same lines as Religion, in two weeks storytime at the library starts again, so on day 3 or 4 (whichever one falls on Thursday) we will skip reading, as long as storytime happens and we attend.
I also decided that I needed a better system then a towering pile of books on top of our bookshelves all week...so I got out 4 file folders, labeled them "Day 1", "Day 2", "Day 3", and "Day 4". In each day's folder, I am pre-tearing out the worksheets from phonics and math (and eventually handwriting, when we start that book) and adding in any extra worksheets (spanish, reading comprehension, art, etc) so that all the worksheets for the day are together. Then, I'll stack the 4 folders with the books needed (religion books, science, the Usborne handwriting book we are using right now, reading stuff) on the top of the bookshelves. Hopefully it will look neater and work better.
So far, so good on the spending thing, as I haven't left the house yet today (don't know that I will, either!) I still have two more days of school to plan, hubby just got home, and Charlotte is waking up!
So, I am sitting at the computer desk working on school stuff for next week, and tweaking Eva's schedule. Things I found out I didn't like this week:
-Doing Spanish on day 1 and day 4...will do day 1 and day 3 instead
-Doing PE...period...but will soldier on (I need to come up with something fun!)
-Doing Religion class 4 days a week...will skip Religion on days we go to morning Mass (so, if day 4 ends up being Friday, which it probably will, then we will not do religion as long as Father has Mass and we go)
-Along the same lines as Religion, in two weeks storytime at the library starts again, so on day 3 or 4 (whichever one falls on Thursday) we will skip reading, as long as storytime happens and we attend.
I also decided that I needed a better system then a towering pile of books on top of our bookshelves all week...so I got out 4 file folders, labeled them "Day 1", "Day 2", "Day 3", and "Day 4". In each day's folder, I am pre-tearing out the worksheets from phonics and math (and eventually handwriting, when we start that book) and adding in any extra worksheets (spanish, reading comprehension, art, etc) so that all the worksheets for the day are together. Then, I'll stack the 4 folders with the books needed (religion books, science, the Usborne handwriting book we are using right now, reading stuff) on the top of the bookshelves. Hopefully it will look neater and work better.
So far, so good on the spending thing, as I haven't left the house yet today (don't know that I will, either!) I still have two more days of school to plan, hubby just got home, and Charlotte is waking up!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Day 12 - Rain, rain, go away...
So, it was raining when we woke up this morning (at 6 am...thank you very much Charlotte!), it was raining when we went to Mass, it was raining even harder after Mass (so I made hubby stop at the grocery store instead of me and the girls!) It was raining while we did class, it was raining while we ate lunch, it was raining while we took naps (I even got one today...and the rain makes a lot more noise in our room now that we have a sidewalk directly behind it!) it was raining when we woke up, it was raining while the girls watched Cinderella, it was raining when hubby got home, and it finally stopped raining right around dinner time. (Trust me, for here, that is a LOT of rain!)
Things have been going pretty well since my shopping day on the 10th.
As I mentioned, I sent hubby to the grocery store today for hotdog buns, a gallon of milk, bananas and a side dish (he brought home macaroni salad...I was so fried that I just didn't have the energy to come up with anything) He spent $11.53, bringing my total to $92.16. I'm thinking that I was a little overly ambitious with my thought of spending $100 for the whole month...I'm going to get out another $100 on payday (week from today) to finish out the month. I guess $200 isn't that bad...when we were Dave Ramsey-ing it a couple of years ago to pay off all our debt (except for our mortgage) I budgeted between $225 and $300 a month. Of course, grocery costs have gone up since then.
I do plan to pick up a few more items this week (we have been out of peanut butter for most of the month, and it's on sale 6 for $10, we're also out of butter, and I'm betting we'll have another store run for milk and bananas.)
We also completed Eva's first week of school...I'm in trouble...she whipped through a week's worth of phonics in two days, and two week's worth of math in 4 days...
I guess it's a good problem to have!
Things have been going pretty well since my shopping day on the 10th.
As I mentioned, I sent hubby to the grocery store today for hotdog buns, a gallon of milk, bananas and a side dish (he brought home macaroni salad...I was so fried that I just didn't have the energy to come up with anything) He spent $11.53, bringing my total to $92.16. I'm thinking that I was a little overly ambitious with my thought of spending $100 for the whole month...I'm going to get out another $100 on payday (week from today) to finish out the month. I guess $200 isn't that bad...when we were Dave Ramsey-ing it a couple of years ago to pay off all our debt (except for our mortgage) I budgeted between $225 and $300 a month. Of course, grocery costs have gone up since then.
I do plan to pick up a few more items this week (we have been out of peanut butter for most of the month, and it's on sale 6 for $10, we're also out of butter, and I'm betting we'll have another store run for milk and bananas.)
We also completed Eva's first week of school...I'm in trouble...she whipped through a week's worth of phonics in two days, and two week's worth of math in 4 days...
I guess it's a good problem to have!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Yes, I am a religious fanatic...
So, this just cracks me up.
Our Bible Study group has done Secret Sisters for several years...I've been involved the last two (and I opted out for this coming year...I'm just working towards distancing myself from the social and drama aspects of the group.) I didn't go to the secret sister reveal on Tuesday night, so one of the ladies dropped it by our house yesterday...so I got home to a black trash bag with a gift tag on it, with the top of this peeking out. Also inside was a little scrapbooking display.
Back to the cross...it's nice, and very heavy and HUGE!!! And we live in a 2 bedroom house with somewhere between 1300 and 1500 sq ft. I have no idea where I am going to put this yet...but it just makes me wonder what my secret sister was thinking when she picked this out for me..."gee, she's the biggest religious fanatic in the whole group, I'd bet she'd love a GIANT CROSS!"
So, here is the really large cross, with my big and little girls!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Day 10 - fell off the wagon...
Well, today ended up being a shopping extravaganza...
And to top it off, I think that I am annoying hubby enough with this challenge that I may have to quit before the month is out (we'll have to see, I guess!)
We spent the day with my MIL. First thing in the morning Eva had her 4 year checkup with 4 shots! She cried a little, but the prospect of getting to go shopping with Grandma perked her up a lot. As did the bug juice that I bribed her with when she didn't want to get her shots...
Hubby paid for drinks at the convenience store...but I have to admit, I succumbed to temptation and got a diet coke...
So, we went with her to the nearest real city (you know, the kind with a Wal Mart and a Walgreens...) and I did quite a bit of shopping (part of being so isolated, it's a big deal to go shopping...)
First was Walgreens. I bought $54 of OTC medicines with our FSA card (we have a lot of money still on it and we'd lose it at the end of the year...) and I was SUPPOSED to get a $10 Register Reward and a $4 Register Reward. It didn't work out right, and the assistant manager was a big JERK about the fact that I wanted the $14 in RR to spend on other items. Finally, after about 20-25 minutes of waiting around, he ended up getting me 3 $5 Register Rewards instead. I was so fried that we figured we'd go back to Walgreens on the way home.
So, on to Wal Mart where I spent just under $40, and Eva spent 3 of her $5 gift cards (my brother gave her 8 of them for her birthday) on a small toy and a new booster seat for the car. In that $40, I got some groceries, a bunch of diaper wipes and dog food.
Then on to Dollar Tree, where I bought two shave gels in a tube (hubby doesn't like cans of shaving cream because they rust in the shower...he's kind of strange) for $2.14
Finally, back to Walgreens, where we really should have done three transactions to use all three Register Rewards, but we were so fried that we did two, and have one left over, that hopefully we will use before it expires when hubby goes up to that town for a 4th degree Knights of Columbus meeting. I had about $23 on a gift card from last months rebates, and used that all up, plus an additional $9.45 (for diapers).
I now technically have $22 left for the month, but hubby is warning me not to get too legalistic on this whole thing.
And to top it off, I think that I am annoying hubby enough with this challenge that I may have to quit before the month is out (we'll have to see, I guess!)
We spent the day with my MIL. First thing in the morning Eva had her 4 year checkup with 4 shots! She cried a little, but the prospect of getting to go shopping with Grandma perked her up a lot. As did the bug juice that I bribed her with when she didn't want to get her shots...
Hubby paid for drinks at the convenience store...but I have to admit, I succumbed to temptation and got a diet coke...
So, we went with her to the nearest real city (you know, the kind with a Wal Mart and a Walgreens...) and I did quite a bit of shopping (part of being so isolated, it's a big deal to go shopping...)
First was Walgreens. I bought $54 of OTC medicines with our FSA card (we have a lot of money still on it and we'd lose it at the end of the year...) and I was SUPPOSED to get a $10 Register Reward and a $4 Register Reward. It didn't work out right, and the assistant manager was a big JERK about the fact that I wanted the $14 in RR to spend on other items. Finally, after about 20-25 minutes of waiting around, he ended up getting me 3 $5 Register Rewards instead. I was so fried that we figured we'd go back to Walgreens on the way home.
So, on to Wal Mart where I spent just under $40, and Eva spent 3 of her $5 gift cards (my brother gave her 8 of them for her birthday) on a small toy and a new booster seat for the car. In that $40, I got some groceries, a bunch of diaper wipes and dog food.
Then on to Dollar Tree, where I bought two shave gels in a tube (hubby doesn't like cans of shaving cream because they rust in the shower...he's kind of strange) for $2.14
Finally, back to Walgreens, where we really should have done three transactions to use all three Register Rewards, but we were so fried that we did two, and have one left over, that hopefully we will use before it expires when hubby goes up to that town for a 4th degree Knights of Columbus meeting. I had about $23 on a gift card from last months rebates, and used that all up, plus an additional $9.45 (for diapers).
I now technically have $22 left for the month, but hubby is warning me not to get too legalistic on this whole thing.
Monday, September 08, 2008
I've got 11 minutes left until my pickles are ready...
So, I figured I do an update of today.
I did end up going to the grocery store:
1.61 lb white onions $1.27
1 gallon milk $3.79
2.86 lbs bananas $1.97
So, another $7.20 towards my grocery total for the month. I'm up to $31.18.
I've also noticed that we drink a lot more milk at this house when we don't have any pop around...we used up our last supply for Eva's birthday party, so we haven't had any in the house most of the month (I think the last few cans were finished on the 1st). It's probably way better for us all around...less junk food, less soda, more veggies (if only massive amounts of cucumber salad!) and more home cooked meals.
I ended up making the goulash that hubby asked me to learn how to make for his top ten dishes, but ended up using this recipe instead, since hubby looked up the recipe I found and didn't think it was close enough to his mom's version. He found the second one and said it was closer. The only changes I made were to leave out the stewed tomatoes (don't have any in the house!) and the green pepper (all our pepper plants died within a week of transplant this year).
Sadly, I still have 4 minutes to go...guess I'll go check some blogs!
I did end up going to the grocery store:
1.61 lb white onions $1.27
1 gallon milk $3.79
2.86 lbs bananas $1.97
So, another $7.20 towards my grocery total for the month. I'm up to $31.18.
I've also noticed that we drink a lot more milk at this house when we don't have any pop around...we used up our last supply for Eva's birthday party, so we haven't had any in the house most of the month (I think the last few cans were finished on the 1st). It's probably way better for us all around...less junk food, less soda, more veggies (if only massive amounts of cucumber salad!) and more home cooked meals.
I ended up making the goulash that hubby asked me to learn how to make for his top ten dishes, but ended up using this recipe instead, since hubby looked up the recipe I found and didn't think it was close enough to his mom's version. He found the second one and said it was closer. The only changes I made were to leave out the stewed tomatoes (don't have any in the house!) and the green pepper (all our pepper plants died within a week of transplant this year).
Sadly, I still have 4 minutes to go...guess I'll go check some blogs!
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