New Years Eve

Spent by myself with the kids. Mikey's gone out. A friend that said she'd come by didn't and didn't bother to contact me either. Not sure I care to invite her to anything again.

Had a mini bagel dogs, an apple & cheese tray, and a veggie tray. Pink champagne for me and sparkling red grape juice for the kids.

Its only quarter to 7 but I don't have the energy to stay up any more. Last night was Hellish but tomorrow should be awesome.

We're driving 3hrs north to a friend's house for lunch. Hopefully that helps.

I just want to know if you're okay.

I hate goodbyes

Especially when they're said in a rush in the way out the door at 4:30 in the morning.

Especially after heated words the night before.

Especially when you just want a kiss goodbye to know everything's going to be okay.

Especially when you cry yourself back to sleep after the door shuts and you can hear the car pull away.

Whether he's just leaving for the day or for months at a time.

I hate goodbyes.

Been a While

A lot has happened since the last post. My husband came back, we celebrated my son's 2nd birthday, and then we moved a few states away. Now we're in a house, partially settled, and trying to get back into our usual routine and get unpacked before Christmas comes.

My daughter is coming up on 5 in a short few months and so we're doing her party at the zoo. We got a year-long membership (that will pay for itself on our next visit!) and I have to book her party first week of January to ensure we get the day & time we want. It's a minimum of 10 persons for the party and a max of 24. I have the guest list already planned out and the party itself is going to run a few hundred dollars but it'll be the first one she really remembers so it'll be worth it.

Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Day

Today is Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Day.

I have lost 3 early-term pregnancies in the past 2yrs with a probable 4th. It doesn't make me sad. It doesn't mean you have to skirt your own pregnancy news around me. It just means that now is not the right time for one to stay.

That time my never come but I have 2 of the most wonderful/horrible children that anyone could ask for so I have come to terms with my losses. ♥

I cried the first time. It was right after I turned 21 and Jason was still really little. But then I took a breath, stepped outside myself, and started to believe that THAT PARTICULAR baby was meant for someone else and not me. The body is just a shell. It's what's in it that counts.

That soft, soul-filled nougat center. xD

I think it would take considerably longer for me to cope if it'd been after the first 10wks. After the doctor agrees it's viable. I could never imagine the way it feels to have a stillborn child. Those women that can move on are stronger than I am.

All of mine were after Jason. I had this ridiculously-strong drive to get pregnant directly after he was born and I was so scared it was because my body was nearing the end of it's time for babies.

The longest I've held a pregnancy in the... last 2yrs was about 7.5wks (wasn't completely certain). I've gotten a positive test 3x in the past 2yrs. All failed. It's exceedingly hard for me to even get pregnant. We've been "trying" for a year now.

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Stop. Turn off the TV. Step away from the kitchen. Put the sock down. Randomly start singing "Old MacDonald" (Or any cultural rhyme of your choice). Are your kids old enough to sing back? Old enough to at least crack a smile/coo/kick their feet when they hear it? ARE THEY?

If the answer is anything but yes, you need to unplug your TV, put your phone down, get off the damn internet, and teach it to your kids. Seriously.


The thought came to me randomly while I was getting spaghetti made for dinner. I turned away for a minute, looked at the kids, and started singing. To my utter relief AND delight, they both started singing back. Even Jason (23mo) was singing along, even if it WAS simply "I-O-I-O-OOOO!"

Why did I do this? Because I realise I had spent the majority of my time on my phone as opposed to talking to the kids like I usually do. And I'm sure I spend entirely more time plugged in than I should. I think we all do. But that's just the world we live in.

We might as well start genetically-engineering humans with a smart phone built into their palms because that's basically how things are going. We live in a world so full of technology that people like the Amish seem like cavemen. Books are on the out. Your car insurance drops if you go paper-less. Banks are dropping free-checking with the rise of online banking. How much longer before our food is being replicated?

Hell, if you weren't plugged in so fully you wouldn't be reading this now via computer, phone, or PADD. And I wouldn't be writing it if I weren't!

My 23mo can work my old phone (now expensive toy!) well enough to pull up his favorite APP: Baby Flash Cards. Yeah. And I'm sure of you have little ones that can work Tablets like a pro. In fact, there's even baby products on the market to help keep your tech toys safe from tiny hands WHILE tiny hands are using them!

There's nothing wrong with giving your kids a head start. In fact, schools are dropping cursive writing courses and replacing them with keyboarding classes. I learned both in grade school but I was taking Reading Counts! surveys on 5" floppy discs. A floppy disc is an old-school flash drive for those of you out there younger than 20.

My 4.5yo is at a disadvantage technologically. She doesn't know how to work the computer and only has a basic knowledge of working my phone. But on the other side of that coin, she's been reading for the better part of the last 6 months and can not only write a fair amount of things but can also phonetically spell things. And, for the most part, these were self-taught on her own part.

It may seem a little silly at some points but nursery rhymes are one of those things that get stored in their brains for 20-some years until they have children of their own. And, suddenly, everything comes out again and they smile and silently thank you for teaching them those silly songs.

I AM THE KINGS OF JCP!

Okay, so.

Went to the mall today armed with a "$10 off $25+ purchase" coupon for JCP, a "Buy One Pretzel Nuggets, Get a FREE 21oz Soda or Lemonade!" coupon for Auntie Anne's, and a "Get a FREE signature body care item (up to $13) with any $10 purchase" at Bath & Body Works.

We went to JCP first. I figured I'd peruse the "60-80% off!!" racks, grab a new outfit for each kid, and spend about $20 on everything (after coupon). No. NOOOO. Not even close. JCP had a bunch of racks of baby/kids things for 97¢ as well as racks of adult things for $2.97. Maybe getting to $25 was going to be harder than I thought!

We spent about 45 minutes in there alone trying to find things. But find things we did! Long story, short, here's the breakdown for JCP.

Items bought: 15
Money spent: $18
Money saved: $303.32
Items free: None

Yes, you read that correctly. I saved $303.32 off the full retail of all items. My biggest save was a silk panel Charlie Sheen-esque shirt for my husband originally priced $50 bought for $1.81. It's a size larger than what he wears but IT WAS $1.81! He'll live. lol


Then we ate pretzels. Medium lemonade and pretzel nuggets.

Items bought: 2
Money spent: $3.50
Money saved: $2.50
Items free: 21oz lemonade

Then we went to Bath & Body Works.

Items bought: 5
Money spent: $12
Money saved: $17
Items free: 3.7oz can of men's body spray.

Now for the total numbers for the day! (All approximate, of course. I don't know if the retail for the lemonade is correct or not)

Items bought: 22Money spent: $33.50
Money saved: $322.83
Items free: 21oz lemonade and body spray


Yup.

Stupid jerks

Stupid jerks around here broke into my van and stole the kids' portable DVD player they've had for 2wks. I've decided it was someone IN the neighborhood. Housing isn't doing anything about it but having security patrol the street my car is parked on because it's now a "problem area." Awesome. But if they'd been patroling my area to begin with, my shit wouldn't have gotten stolen!

This is military housing. We pay entirely too much to live here. There should be cameras on each street. This is the ONLY place we've had issues in housing. This place is bullshit and I let the housing lady know about this. Apparently they can't "prevent" incidents like this from happening.

Yeah. You go home where you don't go to bed everynight afraid of EXACTLY what happened or worse. You really must not care that there's crime in your housing area. Why should you? YOU don't live here.

Lincoln Military Housing is bullshit. Do not EVER live in Portsmouth, VA.

Another long overdue update

Got to visit Mikey again. Another super long drive there made easier by a portable DVD player. We're overnight in South Carolina for the night and should be home right around lunch tomorrow.

Next month we're moving while Mikey's out. I'm hoping to delay the move til November in hopes he'll be back to help. I'm not sure I can do it without him. I NEED help.

There's the cleaning, the people packing, the people taking our stuff, the cleaning, the 10 day motel stay while we wait to check out of that housing, the 2 day drive (with kitties this time), and then the stay there while a house comes available. Yeah. Awesome. Also selling off his car for scrap in that time frame as well so I have to have someone watch the kids while I clean THAT mess.

That'll put us down there by Halloween. Just in time to trick or treat and go to a friend's Halloween party for the kids. But we'll have an empty house for it. Maybe I'll have a friend take Allie out while Jason & I pass out candy and meet others. Unsure as of yet. And I hate being unsure.

It also really sucked having to drop Mikey off during this wicked thunderstorm. The road was flooded, the wind was killer, and the thunder was directly overhead while I was driving. Of course it was done by the time the kids and I got back to the hotel.

But he's out of his days off and is back to crazy work hours before they go out again. Unsure of how long. It could be gone a week or it could fail and sink and never come back. Both very real possibilities. Not helpful to think about, but it could happen.

Barely slept last night so the drive here was horrible. I was tired but Jason napped before lunch so that was helpful. Started the day with Tangled and then moved onto Pokemon: the First Movie. Not sure what the kids will watch tomorrow.

I am not looking forward to a week's worth of normal laundry plus the extra outfits the kids went through. Also have to repair the zipper on one of Jason's footie pajamas since it tore. Not awesome in the slightest.

Of course, there's also going to be 2 angry cats waiting for us at home. And a week's worth of litter box to clean. Hopefully its not in the hallway again this time. -.-

But, its about 7:30 now and I can't drive another 5hrs on 3hrs of sleep again. Hopefully the kids FINALLY calm the Hell down and go to sleep. No more rolling, kicking, whining, and "BUT I CAN'T SLEEP!"-ing again tonight or else I'ma wind up napping by the side of I-95.

Fair winds and following seas (or whatever submarines need) to my very-missed husband.

I hate ending phone calls with "I love you. Don't die."

Overdue update

Well, we went down to see Mikey last week. It was super short notice and is a 10hr/ 520mi drive. Which is fun with kids as young as mine.

We made it down alright and with good time. The kids didn't mind staying so many nights at hotels. The car didn't burst into flames on I-95 and nobody got hit by a bus . I call that good. lol

We wound up going to the zoo in Jacksonville with a friend one day and the other was spent not doing much of anything. But we got to spend it with Mikey so that's what was the best part. Allie immediately started jabbering away and wouldn't stop talking and it took Jason a day to warm back up.

Hopefully, if all goes well, we'll get to go see him again next weekend if his schedule cycles back to having a 2-day weekend. He will be going out again so that's why we're going through so much trouble to see him.

Of course, I plan on on investing in DVD players for the van and taking a few movies along so that the kids won't be so bored. We'll also be stopping 5hrs in for the night and then driving the next 5 the following day so we'll get there the night BEFORE his night off and will be able to get settled in the Navy lodge ahead of time.


Also, once we got home, Jason peed in the toilet for the first time and ate toothpaste. Not in that order, but still. Glad he's 5lbs larger than the "average" child his age and that he only ate about 2x what is used for brushing (it was Allie's and had fluoride). A cup of milk later and some grumblies in his stomach and he was better.

Yay.

The Spirit Temple

So, I can't remember if I posted about it or not, but we got Mikey a 3DS & Zelda for when he gets back. I'm not looking foreward to relinquishing it but Zelda has 3 save game slots so it won't hurt too bad.

I've been playing it every chance I get (the kids love it) and I couldn't gotten through some pieces without the help of an amazing walkthrough. I've beaten all the temples but the Shadow Temple originally but it's been so long since I've even done that.

Which brings me to this video.

It's basically 3 Norweigan guys compressing all of Ocarina of Time into 4:01 minutes, acting it themselves, and doing the soundtrack (Gerudo's Valley theme) themselves on a marimba. Yeah.

So, think about that until I get around to posting again. lol


Why so far in between posts lately? Well, simple. I'm cleaning. I have a hallway again. And a computer desk! And Jason's room is clean (for the night) and Allie has a bookcase ($15 Walmart) for all the books she can read now and I've done more laundry today than I have since Mikey's been gone. lol

Towels are folded and in the linen closet. Quilts & extra blankets are in the linen closet. Kids' blankets are folded and in their under-the-bed storage tubs that hold their sheets/blankets. Even washed a pillow since one of the cats was a jerk and puked on it. lol

Now, maintaining this clean is the hard part. I want the house to be awesome for when Mikey gets home. Plus, it'll help the move go faster if everything's mostly clean & organized. I mean, the folding tables will remain under the dining table since I can't get the shed open to put them up. Same with the cat carriers.

I've been working on/off since I got up this morning and it's worn me out. I'm certain that I've fallen into a bout of depression lately since Mikey's being away has worn on me so much. It was novel & sad at first and now it's just annoying. I'm sure this is how every underway is going to go.

...

I'm tired and going to bed now.

The Za-Za Man is their idol

Ordered pizza last night for dinner. Kids got a pepperoni & bacon and I got an anchovy & banana pepper. Also got a side of cheese bread. Nom.

This is the second time since Mikey's been gone that we've ordered pizza. This time, it was a little past dinner when the doorbell rang and the kids were there before I was. Once I moved them and got the door open, Jason started screaming "ZA-ZA!!" at the top of his lungs and basically trying to get out to tackle the pizza man & steal his pizza.

I think Dominos knows our address by now because we've never had anything but awesome, polite delivery persons. One's grabbed the cat for me after it ran out, one held the doors and stared down the kids so I could maneuver the pizza boxes inside, and they've all been enthusiastic and worked up the kids by repeating Jason's "Yay! Pizza!" attitude.

Of course, aren't kids supposed to WANT to eat pizza for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner? Mine don't seem to agree with this but it's the only way the 3 of us can take down 2 medium pizzas in under a week. lol


Hell. I broke the computer chair. I just leaned back and one of the bolts holding the back/armrests onto the seat pulled out. Because I totally wanted to spend my afternoon hunting down an allen wrench to fix it.


Jason found a penny (Allie found it but left it on the table) so I got down their pig banks that my uncle made them for Christmas and they're putting the pennies in the banks. I don't like the kids touching gross coins so we went to the dollar store for plastic coins.

The only ones we could find were pink & paired with toy bills. Great. Like I want MORE toy bills around. But now we have 48 large plastic coins that are less of a disease AND choking hazard that normal pennies. After breaking the tail off one pig bank and chipping the ear on the other, I've decided that an empty Cottonelle fresh wipes dispense works GREAT as a toddler-proof bank.


Also, going into day 2 of no TV going in the living room. Children still spend just as much time sitting around the living room and just as much time playing in their rooms/outside. Funny how that works.

Of course, this is all because I'm too lazy to go get a new remote for the living room TV. I still watch things at night in my room. lol

Something I forgot in the chaos

A few nights ago, we went to Walgreens at about 7:30pm. I had forgotten all about this because of everything going on lately. But, while we were there, Allie said the most wonderful and childish thing ever.

While we were standing outside, Allie stops for a second, gets really excited, and goes "I hear the moon!!"

It took me a minute to realise she was referring to the crickets chirruping and bugs making general bug noises like they do at dusk. Or, as Allie called it, "the moon."

The Peaceful Housewife- Natural Cleaning Products ebook review

So, I got to be emailed a copy of The Peaceful Housewife's ebook about natural household cleaners so I could review it. :] I even get to run a small contest and email out 2 copies of the PDF to winners. But more on that later.


It's a good collection of cleaner recipes from everything from laundry products to oven cleaners. Some recipes even have variants listed under them so there are more options on how to make the product if you're allergic to something or are out of something.

I've seen some of the recipes online before (the laundry detergent) and, if you have the time and energy to devote to searching, you can find them yourself. But some of them I'd never even considered making at home (like furniture polish!).

The products are easy to make and I could make almost all of them with things I have around the house right now. You can even buy the products from her site (as linked above). The ebook contains everything in one place to make it easier to find. I've actually been looking into making my own powdered laundry soap lately just to see if it's as awesome as I've read.


Now, to the part where there's free stuff. lol I've never given anything away (mainly because this is a blog for my thoughts and life, but whatever) so hang with me on this one.

Leave a comment letting me know what chemical cleaning product you rely too heavily on and what product you wish you could find in a less-chemically form.

I'll use Random.org on September 6th (that's a week from today!) to pick out 2 people to recieve a copy of the ebook. Fo FREE.




And, because it needs to be at the bottom:
"I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers."

As written on actual paper + some extra on here

We weathered the storm at a Fairfield Inn in Chester, Va.

The first night (Friday) was very uneventful. It rained that night. We hit up Walmart for a few provisions including a cheap $40 playard for Jason.

The second day (Saturday) we met some other military wives, spent a few hours at an indoor playground/bounce house, and then all went in on some pizza for dinner. That night, it rained like Hell and upset Dinah. She spent the night laying on my feet & crying. 

On the last day there (Sunday), it took forever to get the van loaded up. Eventually, I just left both kids in the hotel room (instead of taking Jason with me) while I loaded up.

The drive home made me nervous. Saw close to 12 trees/branches that had knocked down power lines. Drove over around 7 down lines; saw one broken line, live, and laying in a pool of muddy water. There was more organic debris everywhere than I'd ever seen and we even passed by three houses that had been crushed by trees. By the time we'd made it home, at least 2 out of every 3 stop light was dead.

The house was fine but power had been out all weekend. It came on not around the time we walked in the door and was off again 2hrs later for the night. It was so humid and hot from the storm that I started sweating within minutes once the power went out again. It was definitely not working for me! I opened a few Windows and that seemed to make it worse!

So, we spent the night at a Days Inn in Chesapeake. Since I hadn't booked ahead, the a/c wasn't on in the room and the kids kept playing with it so it took forever to cool down. There were 2 double beds so Allie couldn't kick me in the face anymore. It took the kids forever to go to sleep and I kept waking up paranoid in the dark so I ended up turning the desk lamp on and sleeping much better after that. Not sure what that was about.

On our way to the hotel, Allie encountered a cicada while getting into the van. She thought it was dead and went to stomp on it when it started buzzing. That scared the absolute Hell out of her and she jumped back. Of course, her noise made the bug start buzzing MORE as it attempted to right itself (it was on its back on the ground).

I'm pretty certain that was the largest bug she'd ever encountered in the wild and she hadn't realised that bugs got that large. It was hilarious watching her scream about it! >.<

When we got back this morning, power was back, but the fridge goods were bad. I found an awesome list here that tells you what's safe to keep if it's been above 40° for more than 2hrs. Since our frozens were still frozen, I didn't have to worry about those, but almost everything in the fridge had to go.

So, we went to Walmart and stocked up on a few things. Since I'd bought tetra packs of milk in the case of a power outage, I didn't have to get any of that for now.

Damn, it's dark outside for only 4pm! There's still about 3.5hrs of sunlight left but, adding insult to injury, it's supposed to rain again soon. -.-

Also, here's a picture of Irene taken from space on Friday evening. Just so you can see how much of a bitch she was.

Mail call!

My eyeshadow order from La Coquette Cosmetics arrived on Friday! I imagine it was hastily stuffed into the mailbox so the mailman could get home to avoid Irene. I haven't gotten the chance to open & wear them yet, but I've worn the sample colors and I LOVED them. :]

I have an order from Payless Shoes coming today as well as a large order from e.l.f. Cosmetics. Yay! My shoes are a nice pair of blue flats and a pair of slip-on sneakers. My makeup is a large (9 item) order thanks to a $35 for $15 Groupon I bought a weekish ago and used.


That's it for my mail call for now. While at the hotel last night, I wrote up everything on some paper so I could type it up later once the kids head to bed and not forget anything. Look for that later.

For now, it's time to go get some groceries. The power was out all weekend so I had to clear the fridge but having to replace some groceries is better than property damage!

A lot going on lately

Our house has no power. We were gone Friday through today (Sunday) and are at another motel tonight because its so hot & humid and being inside made me sweat.

I didn't sleep well last night so there's no way I could deal with another night of terrible sleep tonight. I napped a little earlier and Jason covered himself (and me) in stickers.

So, we're at a Days Inn with cable and 2 beds (no more getting kicked in the face by Allie) and Jason's happy in his baby cage. Hopefully this won't affect him sleeping in his own bed at home.

Will update better once internet is back at home and life returns to normal. I wrote everything out on some paper to remember it all.

Night.

Our hotel stay so far

We have the honeymoon suite. Jason is my alligator operator. He also kisses the cats. The cats have taken over the room. And Allie is reading books.

I think that's in picture order.

Mini Vacation!

We're at the hotel now. Have been since 2:30 this afternoon. It's nice. And expensive.

I'm pretty certain the entire hotel is booked solid for the weekend. Here's hoping we can extend the stay by another night as needed. The room the kids & I are in technically doesn't allow pets but there were no rooms we could be traded to so they're overlooking the cats in this particular room.

We ate dinner at Denny's since it was a literal 2min walk from our room to a table there. It was nice. We also made a Walmart run for lunchables and things to eat for lunch/dinner tomorrow if we're stuck inside the hotel.

Because the hotel is so packed, I had to buy a cheap $40 playard from Walmart for Jason to sleep in. The bed is a king but Allie's an active sleeper and if the 3 of us shared it, someone would undoubtedly end up on the floor. A few times. But having an extra isn't so bad. I left ours because I was more concerned with more important things like diapers and drinks as opposed to sleeping arrangements.

It took a while for the kids to conk out. I spent $15.99+taxes to rent Mr. Poppers Penguins but that movie isn't even on DVD yet. Jason finally fell asleep during it and Allie watched most of it and fell asleep after it was over & off. Cats are just beginning their stalking & exploring.

We're up on the 4th floor at the hotel, well out of flooding range. We also have a gorgeous view of the hotel next door. Lol

I wish I knew when breakfast was. I picked up some Uncrustables and we have milk so we don't even have to brave the crowd if we don't want to. But I can't keep the kids cooped up the entire time unless its raining. If its fair enough to, we may walk the parking lot a bit tomorrow since running is not allowed in the room.

We'll see.

Mini-vacation!

Told Allie this morning we'll be spending the weekened at a hotel. Of course, she was thrilled! Until she realises we won't be leaving the room much and we won't be swimming in the pool. But the kitties are coming with us so that made the difference to her.

We'll be staying at a Fairfield Inn up near Richmond, VA. It's got a $25 pet sanitation fee but means we don't have to leave our furry family here alone. Because of almost everywhere being booked full, we managed to snag "the honeymoon suite."

Yup, we'll be spending the weekend in a room with a King-sized bed (& rollaway bed, hopefully) and the big whirlpool tub in the corner of the room. lol But at least there's a tub for the kids! I can hardly wait til bath time tonight. I'm not sure I like that the windows can be opened, though.

The room was about $10 out of my preferred price range but it was the best option. I don't like staying in places where the room door faces the parking lot. They seem less safe crime-wise, not to mention having to run through rain to get to the lobby. Plus, a "Free deluxe continental breakfast, including Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches and waffles" is included in the cost!

The hard part is going to be getting the kids, the cats, and the luggage to the room. Good thing I found my wrap last week and Jason agrees to riding on my chest! (And that he's ONLY 33lbs and not heavy enough to break my back or anything. lol)