The best $5 I've ever spent

Beware!

Be Careful Out There:

IDIOT SIGHTING: We had to have the garage door repaired. The Sears repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener. I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one Sears made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower. He shook his head and said, 'Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower.' I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4. He said, 'NO, it's not.' Four is larger than two..' We haven't used Sears repair since.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
My daughter and I went through the McDonald's take-out window and I gave the clerk a $5 bill. Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her a quarter. She said, 'you gave me too much money.' I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar bill back.' She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request. I did so, and he handed me back the quarter, and said 'We're sorry but they could not do that kind of thing.' The clerk then proceeded to give me back $1 and 75 cents in change... Do not confuse the clerks at McD's.

IDIOT SIGHTING : I live in a semi rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road. The reason: 'Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.' >From Kingman , KS .

IDIOT SIGHTING IN FOOD SERVICE : My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.' He said he was sorry, but they only had iceburg lettuce. From Kansas City

IDIOT SIGHTING: I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, 'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?' T o which I replied, 'If it was without my know ledge, how would I know?' He smiled knowingly and nodded, 'That's why we ask.' Happened in Birmingham , Ala.


IDIOT SIGHTING : The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it's safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker of mine. She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, 'What on earth are blind people doing driving?!' She was a probation officer in Wichita , KS

IDIOT SIGHTING : At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworker. She was leaving the company due to 'downsizing.' Our manager commented cheerfully, 'This is fun. We should do this more often.' Not another word was spoken. We all just looked at each other with that deer-in-the-headlights stare. This was a lunch at Texas Instruments.

IDIOT SIGHTING : I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the sake of her life, couldn't understand why her system would not turn on. A deputy with the Dallas County Sheriffs office, no less.

IDIOT SIGHTING
When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. 'Hey,' I announced to the technician, 'its open!' His reply, 'I know. I already got that side.'
This was at the Ford dealership in Canton, MS

STAY ALERT!
They walk among us... and the scary part is that they VOTE and they REPRODUCE

The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...

Outside my window...

I see only stars and lightening bugs.

I am thinking...
That I am doing this late, but oh well

I am thankful for... my family. I was surely blessed with them!

From the kitchen... Pizza Hut Pizza. Hey, I've been gone a week, I have to go grocery shopping before I cook a big meal.

I am wearing... white and green polka dot babydoll tank with a white tee under it, jeans, and green hollister flip flops

I am (re)reading... A Day Late and a Dollar Short by Terri McMillian

I am hoping... that we get the pool up and running this week

I am creating... not much at the moment

I am praying... for something so dear to me that I'd rather keep it to myself. But God knows what it is.

Around the house... everyone is just chillin in their own rooms right now.

One of my favorite things... the band Daughtry

A few plans for the rest of the week... Cleaning and trying to get all my laundry done up from my trip, Chase's 8th grade graduation on Thursday, and then Awards Day at school on Friday. Last day of school is Friday!!!


I found this at the Simple Woman's Daybook site.

Check it... My new layout :)

I LOVE my new layout. Thanks so much to Brandi. She is an awesome girl. She is a flight attendant who is just getting into making layouts for blogs. She is one talented girl. She also has a blog with all her designs. You should go visit her... You can find her at Bwise Templates.


Now go on... Check out her site.

Look out Cincy....

Here we come! I'll be chaperoning my oldest son's 8th grade trip next week. Say a prayer that I survive. LOL

Look what the cat dragged in ....

Hello?? Anyone here? I guess you guys have forgotten me by now. I have been so busy, that I've not been online in FOREVER! Who would have thought that I would be offline for this long? My lap top is still on the fritz. Mainly because I've never taken it to the shop yet. And I haven't dragged the old desk top out of the closet to hook it up. I have been way busier than any one should be. My kids are into too many sports. Not that I'm complaining though. I love them being so active. This is the first year any of my guys have played baseball. Our whole family has fell in love with the sport! We are at the field 6 days a week. Heck, 7 really. Besides all of the practices and games, we usually go down on Sunday afternoon for a quick game with some friends of ours. We all love playing too. I found that I'm a beast when it comes to hitting the ball. I can knock it into the outfield. Just thought I'd brag on that a little. LOL

I have soo many blogs to read and catch up on. I'm at my mom's on her computer right now. It seemed easier to come here and use hers than it is to hook up my desk top. Lazy huh?

Happy Pi Day 3.14

I think the fan in my lap top has stopped working. So I might not be around for a while while it's being fixed.

Hopefully, I'll be back soon.

What I did last night...

I made cake pops! They are sooo good. Hopefully, with practice, I will get better at decorating them. I am going to try to make some for the bake sale that's coming up for the baseball team. So I think I'll make more tonight. Seriously y'all, you can't imagine how good these things are!

The Economy and the small country town.

My Great Grandma lived to be 103 years old. She died 2 years ago. I was always kind of in awe at what all changes she had seen in her lifetime. She was born in a little cabin with no electricity. So to have died only 2 years ago, she saw some major inventions when they were first coming to life. I was always asking her questions about how it was when she was a young girl. I really tried to question her about the Great Depression. But I never got the stories and answers I wanted to hear. The only thing she would tell me is that they really wouldn't have know there was a depression in this part of the country if it hadn't been in the newspapers and such. She said they were so poor that the Depression didn't affect them like it did other people. And now in this time of an economic downturn, I can finally see what she means.

My town is a very poor town. Not all of us that live here are living in poverty. But the majority does. I don't think that most people around here know how bad it actually is in our country. Things always take longer to show up here than they do in the rest of the country. Even fashion fads. What was the big thing 2 seasons ago, is just now getting big here. Same thing goes for economics.

We haven't seen very many job layoffs or foreclosures here. People are actually living a better life now than we were this time last year. Last year, the gas prices were sky high and people were having to take from their food budgets to put gas in their car. And when you live in the country, a car is a must. When town is 10+ miles from your house, you pretty much have to have a car to get there. But we are much better off now since gas is only $1.84 a gallon vs. $3.95 last year!

I thought all was well here... Until last week. My husband logged on to view his retirement statement. We nearly fell over! We have no where NEAR what we thought we'd have. We have been looking at it everyday since then. In 2 days it's lost over $200!! I can't imagine how I would feel if we were close to retirement and lost all of our nest egg. I feel so bad for those people that have worked all their lives to retire to find out they have nothing left to retire on. So sad. It's enough to make you fall into a depression if you think about it long enough. I wonder how the world will be for my sons when they are young adults? Scary thoughts... I do know that there is a cycle of ups and downs in economics. I guess we are just on the downward side right now. I hope it's back on the upturn by the time my sons are older.

I still haven't decided on going back to work. If I do, it will only be 3 days a week. But I have to run it by my mom to see how she feels about keeping the two little ones after school until I get home. Once I talk to her, I guess I will call my old boss and see what my options are.

Life changes? Maybe.

I realized today that I have no spring clothes that fit me. How did I not notice that I've gained that much weight this winter? Actually, I don't think I started gaining until I quit working. I have became so sluggish.

I've been thinking about going back to work. I saw 2 of the guys from work this weekend and they were both telling me how much they need me back there. So I'm thinking it over. I liked my job, I just felt like I didn't have any time for my home. I wanted to be Suzy homemaker. But I realize now that I will never be Suzy. Ever. I don't like cleaning, crafting, or cooking. Which is what I envisioned myself doing when I decided to quit. What I have actually done, is veg out with my husband all morning (he works nights). Then I'd rush around getting everything around the house finished up before the boys got home from school.

I'm still not 100% sure I'll go back. But its something that is cooking in my brain. I am pretty sure that my boss will hire me back. He told me he was going to hold my job in case I wanted to come back. And so far, he hasn't filled it yet. So I might go down and talk to him tomorrow.

I'lll let you know more tomorrow. I'm going to take today to go over the pros and cons with my family. I think it should be a family decision if I do decide to go back.

**I am headed out to spend the day with Greg's family. So I didn't have time to proof read this. Sorry if it's all over the place.

You gotta see this to believe it....

When I first saw this picture, I though it was a photoshop pic. Then I clicked over to this story and read it. This would be the coolest thing to see!

In one of the local state parks near my house, there is an albino deer. I have yet to see it, but I have seen pics of it. I would LOVE to see an albino animal in the wild.

Here we go again.

I can't believe it, but my kids are sick AGAIN! They even canceled school today because of sickness. I think we need to do a lesson on hand washing today!

I called the doctor's office to get Trey and Trev in today. They suggested that I don't bring them in. He is going to call them in a prescription instead. Since they just have an earache and cough, he said it's better not to expose them to all the germs in the office and risk them getting the flu. Shew, I wish spring would come. Fresh air would do wonders for everyone.

I want Sushi dang it!

Can someone please tell me how to keep this template and make my blog cute? I like the way the pics are shown in full size on this one. But I don't like the plain white background and black writing. Is there a way to change the color of the background and font? And what about the cute headers? How do you make those? I have photo shop, but I have no idea how to use it. I am helpless when it comes to all that jazz. I wish I were creative, but I'm not. If I tried to make my own header, what size does it need to be?

Anyway, yesterday was Trey's Governor's Cup competition. He didn't place in his written test
:( Booooo. But he did awesome in the quick recall portion of the competition. He answered every question for his team except one. He answered 8 in the first round and 7 in the second. I was beyond proud of him.

We went to the movies this week. Twice. To watch the same movie. We don't really like to watch movies at the cinema. The cinema in our town is old and it is always cold. So we usually just wait for it to come out on pay per view or DVD. But my kids wanted to go watch 'Madea goes to Jail'. Much to my surprise, we all loved it. The boys and I went to watch it with my sister and a few of our friends. We all knew Greg would love it too, so we went back with him. It was so funny. It also had a serious story line to it. It was by far the best Madea movie yet. So if you want to be entertained for an hour or so, watch it!

What else, what else? Humm... I'm craving sushi hard core. I mean I really really want some. I live in the middle no where in a very small town. So of course there is no sushi to be found. I have to drive 1.5 hours to find any. I have been watching videos on you tube and a few cooking websites on how to make your own. I'm seriously considering trying it. Have any of you guys tried to make your own? I think I'll start off by trying to make California Rolls. I found some good kits online that aren't very costly, so even if I never try to make it again, I won't be out much for the kit. I have some pinto beans and corn bread cooking right now. Somehow, I don't think they'll satisfy me for dinner. I want sushi dang it!

Good Grief!

Since I don't really want to clean at the moment... I decided to read my own blog. I went back from the beginning and read all my post until now. What I read made me cringe. Seriously. One of my pet peeves are parents that brag about their kids all the time while making them out to be perfect. And that is exactly how I came off in my blog. Sorry guys. I sooo don't want to be one of those people.

I have a friend that swears her kids never argue or bicker. All I have to say about that is BULL CRAP. I have never seen two (or more) kids live in the same house with out fighting. I believe her about that as much as I believe she is a real redhead. LOL.

I don't have much of a problem with Chase about fussing with his brothers. But man, Trey and Trevor will fight from the time they wake up until they go to sleep. I finally got so tired of it that I went a little bit psycho on them. One day when I picked them up from school, as soon as they got into the car, they started. It even came to blows in the back seat of the car. All because Trevor beat Trey to the right side of the back seat. They both always want the right side. I don't know why, but they do. So I went into psycho mom mode on them. When they came home, I made them go straight to bed. They had to stay there with no tv, games, or even books. And I kept checking on them so they wouldn't go to sleep. I told them that if they continued to act like that in life, they'd end up in jail someday. I wanted to get the point across at how very bad that would be, so I told them they were in kid prison for the rest of the day. At dinner time, all they got to eat was a bologna sandwich with water to drink. After dinner, they each got to take a 5 minute shower (I set a timer). And then it was back to bed with lights out at 7. The next morning, they didn't have one ill word to say to each other.

Until that afternoon when Trey beat Trevor to the right side of the car. I knew that something else had to be done. So enter the "days of Trey and Trev".

I bought a calendar to hang on my fridge. And on it, I wrote Trey's name on one day, then Trev's on the next. Then the next day goes back to Trey. On their day, they get to be the one to chose everything first. They get the first choice of where they'll sit in the car, they get to go last in showering at night, and so on. So far, it is working out really good. And having it in writing on the calendar, they can't say it's their day when it's not. I wish I would have thought of this sooner. Now, if I can figure out a way to make them hang their jacket up with out being told, I'll be on a roll.

Sickos

Everyone in my house is sick! Half of us have really bad colds and the other half has a stomach bug. Greg has missed work the last 2 days from the stomach bug. He NEVER misses work, so it has to be really bad for him to do that. Trevor also has the stomach bug. Chase and I had the really bad colds. We had a fever and the body aches were terrible! I'm finally getting over it now. I just can't seem to get rid of a headache. Trey came home from school today with a fever and a cough. So I guess it's his turn. :(

I haven't gotten any housework done in the past few days. I mean nothing. So I need to get to it now that I'm feeling better. I am going to run to the store to get some Lysol. I will spray anything and everything! And I am going to wash all the bedding. I also need to stop and get new toothbrushes for all of us.

Hopefully Trey will start feeling better soon. He has the Governor's Cup Competition on Saturday. If he is sick, I don't know what they'll do, he is the captain of the Academic Team. They rely on him to answer most of their questions. Plus, I hate to see my kids sick.

I'm off to get the Lysol. I hope to get all of the sickies out of here!

Photos anyone?

My friend Brittany just got her new camera last week. She quickly becoming a wonderful photographer, and she started a new photoblog. You would never know she is just starting out when you look at her work. She has even started selling her art work on this site. Check it out and buy something while you're there!

Picture Post

I can't wait until Spring!! As beautiful as the mountains are, they look so dead this time of year. I can't wait for green leaves and blue skies with big fluffy clouds. And in the last pic, I love that rock wall!! I wasn't posting a pic of my car, I was posting the wall. Just in case you were wondering why my car was on here. LOL

*Thanks Brittany for telling me how to post pics easier.

My blogger friends.

Recently, Nancy (who is my favorite West Coast girl!) and Bridgett did an entry about friendship. They each named me in their posts as being a friend. Which really touched me. I loved reading their posts. I remember back when I first started reading journals in j-land. I was more of a reader than a writer. Which is pretty much the same as I am today. I love to read about all your lives.... When the myspace thing became popular, is when I really got to know most of my good j-land friends. Some of my favorite times have been sitting around on a Friday night talking to all my j-land friends that bonded together on myspace through a group that Brittany started called the L.A. girls. (don't ask what that stands for lol!). Those were some good times.

I also 'met' Terri through j-land. I live in the same state as she does, and maybe one of these days we will be able to meet up and go do some bargain shopping together since she is so good at it!

And then there is Tricia... She is pregnant with her 3rd child and lives far away from her family. I relate so much to that because I was in her shoes 9 years ago. So when I read some of her posts about being homesick I really know what she is going through. She is a great mom and I am happy that I have found her through our mutual j-land friends.

I am so happy to call all you girls friends. I hope we stay in contact for many many years to come!

**NOTE**
I would have put the cute little 'friendship award' graphic in this post, but it wouldn't let me add pics. I always have a hard time adding pics to this blog for some reason. IDK, maybe it's something I'm doing wrong?

Valentine Day hits and misses

Do you remember the 30 cupcakes I had to make for the V-day party on Friday? Well, I seriously hate baking. I mean really hate it. I don't care to cook at all if it doesn't involve baking. I just stink at it. So I wasn't happy at all when I had to make the cupcakes. I told the boys to NEVER volunteer me for cupcakes again. I will make anything else but those. I don't know why I have an aversion to baking cupcakes. I wish I felt the same about eating them. LOL. They turned out kinda messy looking. I had planned on bringing out my cake decorating kit and making them really pretty. But I was running so behind on Friday morning (which is when I made them. I should have done it on Thur night) I didn't have enough time to decorate them like I wanted. I ended up just throwing on the icing and then putting on sprinkles. The sprinkles were cute though. I love sprinkles. I always buy seasonal sprinkles.

I made about 75 of the marshmallow pops. They were a huge success. The kids loved them! They were all impressed with them. They were pretty easy to make and it was fast once I got going. Those will probably be my signature treat from now on. LOL. I can already see doing them for the Easter party. I'll dip them in yellow chocolate and use pastel sprinkles.

I took pics of them. Don't laugh at the cupcake mess. I tried. Oh, and even if they were ugly, the kids still ate them. hah!

Tonight was the play at school that Chase's class has been working on for about 3 weeks. They did such a good job. I will write about that later and post a few pics. I also have some pics Greg and I took on our Valentines 'date'. We stopped on the side of the road and took some pics of the mountains. I tell ya, I live in a beautiful place. Just wait... When you see the pics, you'll think I do too. :) I can't wait until the trees get leaves back on them. I'll take pics then too.

I have all these plans for future posts. But I always get busy and end up not posting. I really want to get in the habit of regular posting here. I would love to be able to look back on past entries to read some of these post to bring back memories. I wish I would have migrated my AOL journal over here. I know I didn't post much there, but I would have liked to have had it here anyway. Sigh..... Lesson learned I guess.

W-O-W!!

I am quite possibly the proudest momma ever! :) :) :)

Chase's basketball team played their last ball game of the year last night. It was very sad to see Chase play his last game ever for that team. He will go on to high school next year. But his last game ended on a GREAT note. He was voted by the radio station as player of the game!!! He only scored 2 points in the game last night, but he played his butt off on defense. Greg didn't get to go to the game, but he did listen to it on the radio. He said the sports commenter said this about Chase "That kid might not put a lot of points up every game, but you won't find a better defense player in this whole county". Man, talk about being proud of a kid. He was so excited. He wouldn't show much excitement at the game, but he couldn't stop talking about it once he got in the car. He was trying to act all cool about it in front of his friends. LOL

I am kicking my own butt over and over because I forgot my camera! Uggh!

Our kids have been learning about the Civil War for the past several weeks at school. Chase's class put on a play for the whole school. You know how hard it is for 8th grade boys to want to be in a play, but the teacher made it part of their grade. So they were all trying their best. They worked hard to make their play a good one. Chase and his best friend had to get into a fight in one scene. It was so realistic that Trevor got scared while we were watching it because he thought that they were really starting to fight. LOL. Chase also got shot in one scene. It was such a good play! And guess what? Once again, I forgot my camera! But luckily, they will be doing it for the public again on Monday night. Yesterday's performance was just for the school, it was kinda of a dress rehearsal for the "big night". I will definitely take my camera on Monday.

I can't believe how fast this school year is flying by! It seems like it was just yesterday that they started school. It will be the last year all my kids are in the same school. I love the school they go to, I'm glad Trevor and Trey have several more years there.

Trey is preparing to compete in the Governor's Cup competition. It's a competition for the Academic teams to compete against each other. Plus, they have individual test for the students to take. You have to be chosen by your teachers to get to compete in it. It is a very prestigious thing to be chosen to represent your school. Trey gets to do it every year. This year, he is testing in Science and Language Arts. I am very proud of him for working so hard and getting chosen again this year to compete.

I have 30 cupcakes to make for the Valentines Day party at school. I didn't even know until late last night that I had to do it. I HATE to bake. Even something simple as cupcakes. I love to decorate the cupcakes, but I hate the actual baking. This year, I am going to attempt to make the marshmallow lollipops for Trey and Trevor's classes. I got the idea from the Grace Violet blog. You can go here to see what they are.

Well, I'm off to take the boys to school and then I have to come back and get busy making all this stuff for their parties. Wish me luck on the cupcakes. LOL

Oh yeah, Happy Friday the 13th!

2 posts in 1 day... A rare thing from me....

I just found a new blog I wanted to alert everyone to. I found this blog about Veyiah and her struggle with a heart defect. She had an identical twin sister that died in the womb. You should go read about her here. If you are the praying kind, please pray for this baby.

Random facts about me

*I hate fruit pies.
*I was a cheerleader for 5 years.
*I ate my first bite of beef in over 3 years on vacation 2008.
*I walk my husband to the door every time he leaves.
*I have done this since we've been married.
*I've only NOT done it about 4 times in the last 17 years.
*I would rather read about doing something rather than actually doing it.
*For example, I have tons of books about cleaning and organizing the home.
*I also collect cook books.
*And I don't really like to cook.
*My favorite cookbook is titled "Quickies in the kitchen".
*I used to hardly watch any tv at all.
*But lately, I find myself watching often.
*The shows I watch are:
Jon & Kate plus 8
The Real Housewives of Orange County
American Idol
Big Love
The United States of Tara
Entourage
*But I usually have to catch Re-runs of these shows (except AI) Because I'm never home.
*My kids have been studying the Civil War for the past month in school.
*They had 2 days of activities and plays at the school this week
*Local TV stations and Newspapers were there.
*I was running late to get there by the time the teacher wanted me there(I was asked to help out) so I wore a sports tee and jeans and my Nike shox.
*I NEVER go out looking like that.
* And I ended up being both on TV and in the paper.. GAH!
*I recently learned that Mary Todd Lincoln had seances in the White House.
*In high school my class had to do a family tree. I found out I was related to the teacher.
*We were also related to Jesse James.
* I love to play DVD board games.
*I am a sports fanatic
*My love of reading started in 4th grade when our teacher read Pippy Longstocking out loud to us every day.
*I am not an animal lover.
*But my kids are.
*They would love to have a pet, but 3 of us have allergies that prevent it.
*My first pregnancy lasted 5 months.
*My baby died and they had to induce my labor.
*It was so hard to go through that pain knowing I wouldn't be rewarded with a healthy baby at the end of it.
*His name is Cole and he would have been almost 16.
*I can't imagine how different life would have been had that not happened.
*I think I am a better mother because of it.
* I just quit my job in January.
*I am still happy that I quit,
*but I want to start in school in August.
*I am going to the college to talk to the advisor sometime this month.
*I plan on going back to major in Nursing again.
*I was in Nursing school before, but I ran out of money for school when Greg got laid off from work.
* I didn't want to take out student loans.
* I still don't want to go down the loan route.
*I love the Shopaholic series of books.
*But the movie doesn't seem to be much like the book.
*But I plan on watching it anyway.
*I also loved the Twilight series.
*But I didn't really much like the movie
*I was raised in a very religious home.
*But I rarely attend church these days.
*Just because I don't practice religion doesn't mean I don't believe
*I do pray every night.
*It makes me feel peaceful.
*I like to thank God for all the blessings I have in my life.
* We always have season passes to Dollywood every year.
*I used to love roller coasters.
*But since I was in a car accident, I can't ride them like I used to.
*It hurts my neck for days when I ride them
*I really really want to go to NYC someday.
*Someday soon.
*I'm going back to Myrtle Beach SC again this year for vaca.
*I didn't think I would be able to come up with many random things about me
*I guess I was wrong.

FINALLY!!!

I'm finally back! My computer cord broke (again, I'm on cord #3!!). And my battery ran down so I have been unable to get online. I was about to go crazy! We had a snow storm and my kids were out of school for A. WEEK. I had read every book in this house 5 times. LOL. So I was quite bored last week.

Thanks for all the b-day wishes. I had a great day. I got all that I wanted. So I'm a happy girl. :)

My birthday is coming up. My sister, Mom, and husband have been driving me batty asking me what I want. At first, I couldn't think of anything. But I started thinking about it. So I got on Amazon and made a wish list. Once I got started, I kept adding to it and adding to it! I think I got carried away. LOL

Anyway, I suggest that all of you go and make a wish list on Amazon. It feels good to do some "shopping" sometimes. Even if you don't actually buy all the things you've picked out.

Click here if you want to see what is on my list. :)

Okay, so I have this friend. Her name is Bridgett. She has the cutest lil family. She has a son named Parker and a daughter Autumn. Her son is Autistic. Even though she is an RN, she has renounced modern medicine in a way. She is trying (and succeeding) in healing Parker of his Autism with natural remedies. Recently, she started a new blog. It's all about holistic healing. You can read all about it here .

A few years ago, I was in a car accident. I had a neck injury in the accident. Since then I suffer (and I do mean suffer!!) from migraines. I usually have 2-3 a month. Some aren't so bad. I can still do daily routines and get through the day. But then there are times when I am down for the count from them. Those are the ones that have me throwing up and laying in the bathroom floor in the dark. The docs have put me on so many different meds for them. The only thing that really helps is Phenergan. It's for nausea and it knocks me out. So basically, I end up sleeping the migraine off. The migraines seem to be getting worse over time. They are more frequent now than ever before. Also, a few years back, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. The only symptoms I have are the headaches and the neck pain. The doc touched me in certain places on my body, and it was really painful in the places he touched. I guess that is one way of diagnosing Fibromyalgia. But to me, it doesn't seem like a very good indicator for a disease. I won't take Lyrica for the Fibro. I feel like the side effects would be hurt more than the meds would help. I am weary of medications. Something they say is a miracle drug today will be the next big class action law suit tomorrow. I am going to start researching some natural remedies for migraines and Fibromyalgia. Who knows, maybe I can do some homeopathic medicines to help with the headaches.

It's 10:37 and my kids are STILL awake. They're in the bed, but still awake. I guess I need to get off this computer and make them go to sleep.

My menu (so far)

Monday: (we had) Boneless BBQ pork ribs $7.39 for about 13 ribs.
$1.59 BBQ sauce
Left over potatoes from dinner last night
Box pasta salad $.99
*2 starches, I know... Uggh*


Monday total $9.97

Tuesday: Pinto Bean Soup w/ ham chunks
Corn bread pancakes (we call them fritters here in KY)
Beans $1.99
Ham FREE (frozen from Christmas)
Box of Jiffy Corn bread mix $.59
Fried Potatoes Probably about $2.00 worth (lol)

Tuesday total: $4.58


Wednesday: Chicken tacos (made in crockpot)

Chicken: $5.78 *boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders*
Taco seasoning pks 3/$.99
Burrito wraps $1.99
Lettuce, tomato, onion, sour cream, and shredded cheese $4.00

Wednesday total: $12.76

Thursday: Spaghetti & Meat sauce
Salad
Texas Toast garlic bread

Whole wheat spaghetti noodles $2.99
Jar of spaghetti sauce $2.99
Texas Toast $1.99/ box
Salad $4.00

Thursday total: $11.97

Friday: Don't quite know yet. LOL

I am fortunate to live in a place where the cost of living is low. We have a store here called Save A Lot. It mostly sells store brands. But my family is okay with store brands. We have a few things that we like the name brand of. But very few. We're not picky like that. Greg used to be when we first got married. He would only want velveta cheese (can't believe we used to eat that crap!). We were on a verrrrry tight budget. So I substituted it with the cheap store brand. I just kept the velveta box and I'd put the store brand in it. He never knew the difference. I did that for about 2 years! Seriously. Now he's not a food snob so much. LOL

I made this menu based on what I already had on hand. Next week, I will make my grocery list based on what is on my menu.

So...

I am officially a SAHM now. I am so excited! I went to the store yesterday and bought cleaning and organizing supplies. I plan on tackling my house tomorrow. I have so much to do around here. First, I plan on conquering Mt. Laundrypile.

I'm telling you, it is a shame at how much laundry I have. I found a new blog that had some tips on laundry that I plan to implement. The author has 5 (I think) kids and she keeps her laundry under control, so why can't I? My 3 boys are all old enough to help out here wayyyy more than they do now. Actually, they don't help out at all, so anything will be an improvement. LOL. Before I can get them to help I need to get it all organized first. I am a control freak and it has to be just right before I teach them what to do.

I am getting ready to sit down and plan out a menu for this week. I want to do anything I can to keep the stress level down. And one thing I HATE doing is cooking. Maybe if I plan out the meals I won't dread doing it so much. I want to cut back on what I spend on food also. At dinner tonight, I had my guys tell me some of their favorite meals. Surprisingly, they like the simple to cook meals. And bonus! They like the cheap things. LOL. I found a new blog that has recipes in it. She cooks meals like my guys like. Here is the link if you want to read it. We don't eat much red meat here. And none of us really like to eat meat with bones. LOL. She had some great crock pot meals also. Right up my alley! :)


We never get to eat together during the week. Greg leaves for work at 3:30pm, Chase has basketball practice from 3:00pm to 5:oopm, and Trey has basketball practice from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. So you can see why we never get to eat together. But on the weekends, we try to make it a point to sit down together and eat together. We always do our "best & worst" when we eat dinner together. We each go around and tell the best thing and worst thing that has happened this week. My kids never cease to amaze me at what they think is the best and worst. It makes me so proud of them if they say something like "the best thing that happened to me is that I got an A on my test". But then there are things like this that make me cringe LOL .... "the best thing that happened this week is that I accidentally let a SBD fart in class and no one knew it was me". Yeah, that's my kids for ya. LOL

**note SBD = silent but deadly in case you didn't know.

Happy New Year

I'm not going to make any resolutions this year. I always break them anyway. So this year, I'm just not gonna do it. I do have a few things I hope to change though..... Which I guess, is just a different way of saying "resolution" LOL.



** I want to have more fun this year. I hope to enjoy the little moments in my life. I don't want to let time pass by with out enjoying as much of it as I can!

** I want to get my house organized. I have way too much junk around here. I have been holding on to things that will never be used. I have so many school papers that the boys have brought home over the years. I will weed through them and keep the ones that mean the most to us (I'm going to get them in on the de-cluttering). And the rest, I might scan to my computer and then throw away. I also have a habit of holding on to clothes. I have so many things in my closet that I know I'll never wear again. Even if I lose the weight to get back into them, they are wayyy out of style! LOL

** And I hate to even put this in here... It is so cheesy (lol)... I hope to get healthier this year. I know everyone you talk to says they want to lose weight, or start exercising. But for me, it is all about health. I am getting older, and I now value my health more now than I did when I was younger. I want to be around for my children and my grand children (if I'm lucky enough to have any).

** I want to blog more of my life. I want to be able to look back at this in 20 years when my boys are grown and gone and read over my memories. I want to write about the things that probably won't stand out in my mind. You know, the little things that you let slip your mind because it just doesn't seem important enough to burn into your memory.

2008 was way better for us as a family than 2007. And I hope 2009 is even better than 2008.

Happy New Year friends!


**NOTE**
I'm looking for a new name for this blog. I'm not very creative, so any suggestions will be appreciated.