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)

An Update

So, it's 11:30pm on August 25th. It's late, I'm still awake, I missed the rest of Futurama. Good thing it'll play again next Thursday so I can finish it.

So far, according to WAVY's Hurricane Irene: At This Hour article, Category 1 areas of Norfolk are being mandatorily evacuated and Category 2 areas are strongly suggested to leave as well. We are a Category 3 area in Portsmouth.

It's been raining for a few hours now (since the kids went to bed) and has just slowed down enough for me to take some things out to the van. I didn't get the chance to get the big crate for the cats taken out there & set up so they will be spending a while in their single carriers if need be.

I still need to get some toiletries and foodstuffs packed up but those (+ the bag of coloring books & workbooks) will be the last to go between taking the cats out and getting the kids out & going if we're called to leave. I have a sheet with the addresses of 2 pet-friendly hotels there as well as basic directions on how to get that way in the case the GPS wants to go out on me.
Of course, while I was out loading things into the van, Jason woke up and puked all over his bed. I got the sheets off of it and taken care of but we wouldn't let me do more than wipe down his pajamas. Hopefully he's not getting sick because then we would all get sick and that would just suck.

Luckily, I have a few first aid kits in the van and have some Tylenol and the like for everyone if we do get sick.

I'm super nervous but I know panicking won't get me anywhere. Hopefully if there is an evac, it'll be during the day tomorrow so I'm more awake & level-headed.

I have a great friend on the west coast that's going to keep checking the reports for me and then call the Hell out of me should there be a mandatory evac for my area. <3

OCPD seems to be coming in handy.

Well, we're almost ready to evacuate. Not saying we WILL but we NEED to be ready just in case.

We're mostly set for 2 full days without power. I still want to go pick up bottles of water to go with our gallons of water as well as some more fast snacks and meals that are easy to grab & go.

I packed a bag and a backpack with enough kitty food, juice, water, small first aid kit, vitamins & medicines, etc. for a 2 day hotel stay. I still need to pack a few changes of clothes for everyone as well as toiletries, entertainment items, and misc items in another bag.

The goal in case of an evac is to make a trip to the van to put the cats in their (readied) crate, a trip to take our grab & go bags out, and a trip to take the kids and actually leave.

So, tomorrow I'll hit the store one last time, fill the van with gas & fluids, and get the van readied for us to go.

Here's hoping we just get a weekend of rain and maybe a day without power.

Just in case-

We picked up some supplies from the store. We're more than set on diapers, pull-ups, and both baby and flushable wipes. So, no worries there. We also have a fair amount of paper towels.

Went to the store and picked up 24 rolls of toilet paper, five gallons of water, 16 bottles of Powerade, 12 cans of kitty food, 2 aseptic packs of milk, 3 cans of soup, 12- 8oz bottles of apple juice, 2 loaves of bread, a big jar of peanut butter, 2 mini first aid packs, and 2 boxes of cereal. Surprisingly, only the water & the milk were for the hurricane. lol

Of course, we got more than that but those are the big things. But we're set for Irene, even though she appears to be shifting. We'll still get rain from her this weekend but she may not make landfall over us after all. Either way, we're set for at least 2 days without power. Each of the kids even got a tiny little flashlight so they won't fight over one of our main ones.

Well, that was random

Earthquake! A 5.9 centered here in VA just out of Richmond. Felt all the way up to upstate NY, down to GA, and over to IN even!

We were outside playing and I thought my vicodin was messing with me until I realised that nobody was shaking the picnic bench I was sitting at and the streetlamp kept wobbling long after it'd ended! Kids were busy playing on the equipment and didn't feel it.

It's clogging my Facebook feed right now. I guess this just doesn't happen here on the east coast. Cell service is basically gone and has been since it hit an hour ago.

"MSNBC reports that two reactors tripped and shut down at the North Anna Nuclear Power Plant in Lake Anna, Virginia, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. There are currently no reports from the Surry nuclear power station, according to Dominion Virginia Power spokesperson Bonita Harris." -> WAVY article.


And now Sunday morning, Hurricane Irene is supposed to pass directly over us. But I mentioned that in the post before this. Once my head's back on straight, the kids & I will head over to the store to stock up on a few gallons of water just in case we're trapped. We've got basically everything else we'd need but water from last year's hurricane season.

An update

Mail call yesterday brought some Babies R Us coupons, some BJ's coupons, some coupons from a coupon exchange, and 4 postcards (Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and Canada)! I LOVED getting such an influx of postcards. I can only imagine how many I'll get at a time as I get up in numbers and can send out more at a time! <3


Yesterday also brought a trip to the ER because I got food stuck between one of my partially-erupted wisdom teeth and the flap of skin covering it and it got infected. Yup. Three hours later and I'm now on an antibiotic, a narcotic, an anti-inflammatory, and an anti-microbial mouthwash. Again, yup.

Which means after those are all up, I have to get into the dentist to have these jerks yanked out. The jerk in question is also splitting so it's undoubtedly rotting inside. Delicious. I'm hoping to hold off until the husband is home or else I'll need to man up and do it without sedation so I can drive myself, and just have a neighbor look after the kids for a few.


Target had an awesome sale price on their Graco Nautilus car seat in Beckett and it was knocked down from $180 to $130. Why, yes! I will take advantage of a $50 price drop on something we were waiting til mid-October to buy. Especially considering it came out to a few dollars cheaper than Walmart's sale price and I LOVE. THE. PATTERN. Love it. Love green. Love the shade. Love it. lol


Oh, also, Irene.

Yup. That should be enough explanation. lol  It keeps moving a bit. Hopefully it'll pass off to the side, we'll get some non-damaging wind and rain enough to put the Dismal Swamp fire out, and then drop the temps and go away.


Guh... I roasted a chicken for lunch after not eating for 2 days and I ate too much chicken (obviously possible) and now I feel sick. Bleh.

Cinnamon Sugar Spread

So, we're in love with Land o' Lakes new Cinnamon Sugar Butter Spread. Love it. L O V E  I T.

Cinnamon toast is a favorite breakfast for the kids and something they'll never turn down, even if they had it the day before. It's fast, it's filling, and it helps gets more grains into their diets. Potato bread? Whole Wheat? Doesn't matter the kind, they're all over it.

If you don't know us personally, than you don't know that my 4.5yo daughter is spirited. Yes, it's a thing. Which means she's more. More of what? Everything.

Tags have to be carefully cut out of jeans so they don't rub her. The house has to be kept at a solid 73 year round because she's sensitive to temperature. For the longest time, every meal had to be deconstructed and put on a divided plate so it didn't touch. She doesn't giggle if something is really funny, she breaks out in a laugh that can be heard a block away.

It was the same with foods for a while. The pancakes were too blue from the pancakes. The spaghetti sauce had too many spices in it. The toast had too much cinnamon on it.

No problems with this. It's the perfect ratio of cinnamon and sugar. And it's mixed into the butter so I don't have to worry about too much or too little cinnamon/sugar on the toast. And it comes in tubs small enough that it won't go bad before it gets used up.

There's even a 75¢ off member coupon so you can try it out yourself.

Yup. I'm in love with this stuff.

Mail call and other stuff

Went to the mall today. Old Navy, Macy's, Auntie Anne's, and Victoria's Secret. Allie ate most of the pretzels and Jason chugged down almost an entire Large lemonade by himself. lol

Got my Princess Diaries DVD in the mail today from Disney Movie Rewards. Got another code entered and now have Princess Diaries 2 on the way. It'll show up in about 2wks. Personally, I don't like Anne Hathaway. Mainly because I know that William Shakespeare's wife was named Anne Hathaway. There's really no other reason. I mean, I LOVED Ella Enchanted with her in it. I'm just sick of thinking of the connection immediately when her name is mentioned. lol

Also got a candy sample from a survey panel I'm part of. It was good. Kids helped me sample it and do the survey. But I ended up with sour powder in a cut on my finger so that sucked real bad.

Lastly, got some coupons from a lady I traded with from the Krazy Coupon Lady's Facebook page. There should be 2 more envelopes on the way from 2 other ladies in a few days and mine should arrive at their places soon as well.


I spent a little (little? LOT!) more than I'd planned at the mall today. But I hit VS for their 5/$25 panties + my "Get a pair free!" card they mailed me. So...6 pairs of panties (I hate that word). And the free one was lace-back. OooOOOOooo! Husband won't care about that.

Also got a new pair of jeans at ON for $15.75 and a nice purple blouse at Macy's for $10. An entire outfit (jeans, shirt, panties) for $25.75? I call that a win. Now I'll have something nice for when Mikey comes home. Yay! No more too-tight jeans and band shirts.

Mail call!

Gymboree order arrived! :]

Also got my entire-line-of-colors eyeshadow samples from La Coquette Cosmetics. Woo-hoo!

Also got something from Victoria's Secret but I'm not really looking into that right now. More excited about the eyeshadow.

Deep cleaning sucks

Couch & love seat are taken care of. Plastic bin is FULL of toys. Have another canister of dirt to get dumped. Knifed all the nastiness out of the ridge around our coffee table and filled it in with glue to prevent further nastification.

Fry: [discussing Fry being his own grandfather as a result of going back in time and getting with his grandmother] I did do the nasty in the past-y.
Nibbler: Verily. And that past nastification is what shields you from the brains!


I like clean. But I don't like cleaning. Because there are times when it feels like a switch has gone off in my head and I become so focused on cleaning that I neglect other things to the point that the kids are NOT allowed to touch anything lest they make a mess of what I've just cleaned.

And it's hard to turn that switch off so I'm capable of living again. That same switch comes on when we move and I usually end up filling an entire 1-subject notebook full of lists and notes of what needs done, what needs packed, what needs taken to Goodwill, etc. It's rough.

I also absolutely cannot stand other people in my space and touching my things. You want to help me clean? That would be amazing! You can hang out on the couch or at the table and mind the kids while I get cleaning.

I've just finally gotten to where I'll let Mikey help me. While pregnant with Jason, we lived in South Carolina and had a large hurricane closet where all our excess boxes went. I cleaned it by myself and organized it to where there were only a few boxes in there of holiday things and the like. It took the majority of my pregnancy to do because it was just me but I got it done.

Mikey's major job in cleaning is carrying the boxes/bags of trash out to the dumpster and keeping the kids in check while I clean. I get so angry when he sits down and things need done but at the same time, there's no task I feel comfortable giving him. So, he plays with the kids, clears the trash, and does the heavy lifting/moving and I'm the one that winds up head-to-toe in dirt at the end.

It's that switch again that makes me upset when he touches my things or wants to help but I can't communicate what I want done for some reason. It's also the same switch that makes me write so many lists that I understand are unnecessary but I have to write them once that switch turns on or else I start to itch.

That same switch makes me get up 5+ times a night to actually re-lock all 3 doors into the house and check to ensure random windows are locked. I wake up to the smalled noises and will mull over them to determine whether or not the cats or the kids moving in bed made that noise. If neither of those possibilities seem likely, then I have to investigate. Usually with a flashlight in hand.

I gues Psychotherapy can help but at the same time, that won't work unless I acknowledge that I have a problem that can be fixed. It's not a problem so much as a quirk. Things have gotten better over the years. I'm not as obsessive during flu season and I don't stop halfway to my destination to turn around because "Did I leave the toaster plugged in? What if the cats jump onto the counter and turn it on and knock something into it and the house catches fire?"

I kinda like being part of that 1%. Also, I hate cleaning.

Cleaning

Just got a wild hair and decided to vacuum the rug & clean under the sofa, loveseat, and TV stand.

I hate toys. Or, rather, toys small enough to get shoved/kicked/rolled/thrown under the livingroom furniture. Yeah.

So far, I've only cleaned under the couch (it's a pull-out bed so that's easier) and the front half of the TV stand. That leaves the stuff that got shoved back against the wall under the TV stand when I was reaching and under the loveseat that requires being moved.

I've found:

7 books, more dirty husband socks than I care to think about, about 9qts of toys (in a 19qt plastic bin), and have emptied 3 canisters of dirt. Not to mention a diaper box full of too-big-for-the-vacuum trash and a plate I haven't seen since January.

And, I still have more left. This is ridiculus. But all the stuff is pre "KEEP YOUR TOYS IN YOUR DAMN ROOMS OR I'M TAKING THEM ALL TO GOODWILL!!!" meltdown so it's understandable. Now, the kids are doing considerably well at keeping everything in their rooms where it needs to stay.

Plus, there's the upside of having all these "new" toys that Mr. Man has been climbing all over things to try to get out of the bin. lol

It's break time for my cleaning binge since I started to sweat (hot flashes don't help either). My goal is to clean (and possibly scrub down the floor) in the living/dining room today. The hallway laundry is going but dishes are still waiting on me.

I've been reading The Help by Kathryn (hey, nice name!) Stockett. Why yes! It is also a movie! One that I'd really like to see, I might add, as the book is fantastic! Then again, I love books like this for some unexplainable reason. Like Sula and A Mercy and practically anything by Toni Morrison.

I figure I'll get the house cleaner than it has been in the past year (we've lived here a FULL YEAR! Our first place we've lived that long! Wow!) and really surprise Mikey when he gets home.

...Unless he reads this and isn't surprised. Then I might kick him in the shins unless he acts surprised. Hint. lol

BrytonPick [Product Review]

So, my sample of the BrytonPick arrived today for trial! Sweet! Even more convenient was that we just finished a chicken in mushroom gravy dinner so I got my chance to really try it out.

So, here's the thing in use:

 And it's even safe for braces!

First, a few basics on the product from the pamphlet that was sent with the trial as well as what I've found from their site.

It retails for $4.99 for a 3-pack at Drugstore.com. And, considering they're reusable for up to around 30 days, sounds like a fair deal to me rather than spending close to the same amount for single-use flossers. It is, though, a different kind of flosser.

I have a neighbor that I recently noticed would tear apart an old landscape photograph into little pieces and use it to clean the food out from between her teeth. I thought it was weird at the time but I can see why she does it. Not only does it latch onto the food stuck in there, it pulls the entire piece out as there's more for the food to cling to.

From my letter insert that came with the product:

Did you know: ADA statistics show that only 12% of the population flosses regularly, mainly because floss is not convenient or easy to use. With today's busy lifestyle, there is rarely time or a proper place to floss after meals. Since not many products are reusable or comfortable to carry, people often use dangerous improvised tools like; a pen cap, paperclip, staple, fingernail, edge of paper, or worse!

[A/n: Now, of that list, how many have you ever used to clean between your teeth? Yup. Uhuh. That's what I thought. Me too.]

Solution: BrytonPick is stylish, convenient, and discreet, making it more socially acceptable than typical products. It is designed to be used daly, when on the go, to remove food debris and plaque from between teeth after meals and snacks.

BrytonPick is made in the USA [Woo-hoo!] from completely recyclable materials. [Another woo-hoo!] An additional environmental benefit is that BrytonPick is reusable (because of its germ-resistant stainless steel cleaning strips), thereby reducing the waste stream.

End company information & back to me. :]

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to think of this thing. I hate flossing. (Hate it. H A T E it. Seriously) And had to spend forever looking for our thing of floss yesterday because of a piece of chip stuck between my molars. In the end, I ended up using the flippy-out pointy thing on nail clippers to dig the chip out. Yeah. It was gross but the chip hurt more than the nail clippers (NOT TOES!!) was gross.

But this this is weird. It just feels weird between my teeth. I know it'll take a few uses for me to get used to but I don't really mind it. I've actually had it in my mouth this entire review just because.

It comes in little plastic pouches that you tear in half to open and the bottom of which you can actually use as a carry case to stick the pick back in. It's also super thin and about half the size of a credit card so that you can stick it in your wallet/purse and carry with you.

Plus, these things are shaped like little boomerangs so that's cool.

I did get a free product sample so I could review it. I did use it to pick chicken out from between my teeth. I do plan on using it some more. Overall, would I recommend this product? Yes. I really would.

I've seen lots of family/friends use photographs, fingernails, knives, etc. to pick their teeth. Dangerous and gross. But this thing has a lot of potential. Especially considering it's green and made in America. Everything America loves. <3



Also, this is supposed 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.

Today is Tuesday.

We were going to go to Bluebird Gap Farm but then I remembered it was Tuesday and not Wednesday yet. So, I've decided that we'll hit the grocery after breakfast tomorrow, pick up some things for a pack lunch, and head up there in the morning. That way we can hang out there in the morning, eat our lunch, and then go home.

I just need to remember to pay in cash at the grocery tomorrow and get as many quarters back as the cashier will allow so we have money to buy feed for the animals (from those little quarter machines that never dispense enough).

Tomorrow is 88° with no chance of rain so I'll take those odds. And school has started or is starting soon around here so hopefully it won't be crowded. Hopefully pictures will be taken that I can upload tomorrow. :]

For Strange Women

So, perfume review time! I haven't gotten to try out Astral Projection yet but I did the other 2 as well as the lip balm. I wear my samples behind each ear and on my wrists. The lip balm goes, well, on your lips. But that should be obvious. lol How I ordered was by the Mix & Match minis set.


Winter Kitty is nice but I find it's very light and has a very licorice-y scent. Of course, that's probably how it sits with my body chemistry and it may be stronger or smell different on you. You can definitely smell a light smoke/tree smell and I like that. While not a fan of this particular scent, it was nice to wear for a day. But again, it's all based on your own body chemistry and what doesn't smell very good on me may smell fantastic on you.


I just tried my Rosewood lip balm today but I love it. Not only does it have a gorgeous smell but it's also got a very light kiss of flavor as well. It reminds me of a Renaissance fair with all the smoke and oils and dry flowers in a shop. It goes on wonderfully and is super soft. I find that it sits on the skin just a little so hopefully I won't have to reapply it all the time.

According to the tube, it comes in a compostable bio-degradable tube made with 100% PCW recycled paper, printed with soy ink and is sealed with an organic adhesive. No plastic! It also contains no preservatives, petroleum, artificial coloring or flavors and they're against animal testing. Sounds like a win to me!

The ingredients include: "100% natural contents: Beeswax, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, shea butter, meadowfoam oil, rosewood essential oil, vitamin E, rosemary extract, stevia extract, and mica."

Next up is Decadence & Debauchery. And man is it strong! No, seriously. I think I put too much on. Ugh... Well, before it got too strong for it, it was fantastic. I love it. It's my favorite so far. It's a very heady scent and smells of tobacco, smoke, and booze. Really. It does. But not like you're thinking. Add in some dust and the feeling you'd get walking into an old west saloon or into a Victorian bordello.

Yup. That's the scent. And it's strong. And I love it. It just seems to keep going. It was considerably too strong after I put it on so it was hard to eat breakfast. I'd watch out for anything that raises your body temperature before eating because it may come back strong again.


I think I'll order another sample box for the other 3 scents (Bollywood, Moss & Ivy, and November in the Temperate Deciduous Forest). Of course, there're other lip balms, a long list of solid perfumes, and even bath salts to try out as well. Even cologne for the menfolk.

Rain. Finally

It's been raining for about an hour now. I wish I'd brought the watermelon in out of the van before it started. There was no hint at rain when Jason and I went to bed at 3 but when I woke up at 4:30, it was in full-force.

Hopefully this will give the firefighters a boost when it comes to the Dismal Swamp fire. Especially considered it's up to 5,700 acres (9sq miles). But what's crazier is that it was on fire a long time ago for 3 years. YEARS!

Taken from the linked page:

"A fire raged for three years - from 1923 to 1926 - long before it became the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in 1974.

The Great Conflagration consumed nearly 100,000 acres, or 150 square miles, after it was sparked by logging debris at a time when there was extensive logging in the forest.

For perspective, the refuge is 112,000 acres."

Daaaaayyuummmnn!

Those 4 storms lined up I posted about yesterday? One's Hurricane Franklin and has moved well past us. The other three, in order, are now high-potential, medium-potential, and low-potential storms. Those coming close enough to the coast to give us rain should be enough to put the fire out.

But then we'd be doused with tropical storm/hurricane rain. And then the question comes up as to which is the lesser of the evils.

Hrmm...

It's like a big potential-hurricane gang rape of the east coast. Awesome.
(From StormPulse.com)

Clickity-click for the full picture if you're so inclined.

Yesterday's Mail Call + stuff

My package from For Strange Women arrived yesterday. The package had loose leaves and a fragrance in it and it smells wonderful.

I haven't worn the perfumes yet but the owner of the company just lost her beloved kitty Jaqk to what is believed to be a dog attack so I'm about to put on my WinterKitty scent in his honor. He was a beautiful cat and I know everyone that has lost a pet feels that pain right now.

I also got an envelope full of coupons from my gramma. I've yet to sort them but I need to. I also need to package my expired/extra coupons and get them mailed off for overseas. Plus wash blankets & linens. And get the trash taken out since I was tired and put it off last night.

I haven't had the energy to do much lately. Mikey's been gone a while and I'm sad. The kids are sad. The cats could care less since it means more bed space and less feet-to-the-face at night for them. I just feel grey. Not so much depressed as just...grey. I know that'll make sense for some of you.

It's been coming and going and never staying longer than a few days at a time before I feel colorful again. I've been forgetting my vitamins lately so that might very well be why I feel like this.  I've not been sleeping well lately so I think that may also be contributing to it. Plus the heat preventing us from going outside for very long.

It's cooled down considerably today and it's only supposed to be 87° plus a little rain. I'm considering heading over to the lake park and walking later. I just need to remember to pack the stroller's rain cover and my new jellyfish umbrella. I've always wanted such an umbrella but never managed to find a reasonably-priced one. (And why it's called the "jellyfish umbrella.")

Misophonia

So, I just found out that being set off by repetitive noises or "annoying" noises is actually a thing. It's called Misophonia and I found out the most about it here (<--best) and here. There's even an online support group in the UK.

You know how the sound of nails/broken chalk on a chalkboard make you want to crawl out of your skin? Or how mad you get when the toilet's running at night and WON'T FREAKING STOP!? Yeah. That's an actual thing. But it's a new thing, only coined back in 1991.

It seems that most commonly, the noise of chewing sets people off. That doesn't bother me. No.

I HATE when Allie calls the cats or talks in the same pitch as when she calls the cats. I can't stand utensils scraping on ceramic plates. Repetitive noises like when one of the kids taps a book on the floor or when bed springs squeak. Empty plastic bags rustling is a big one for me as well. I didn't switch to reusable cloth bags for the environment, you know. I switched for my own damn sanity.

These things aren't just annoying to me, they make me angry. They make my skin crawl. And that's just a few things. I know there are more that I'm blocking out right now. Sometimes being out in a crowd starts to make me feel uncomfortable because of the different pitch of voices. Sometimes just the cats meowing at night makes me want to throw a pillow at the to make them stop. 

And up until recently, I didn't even know it was it's own thing. I thought it was part of one of the things I already have (like OCPD). But there's nothing wrong with making lists, right? They're helpful things; for nurseries/new babies, moves, cleaning, etc.


Then again, maybe I'm just one step closer to the deep end. lol

The world is still on fire

Be it London or a few miles away, the world is still on fire.

The air around here has been smokey and when you step outside you can smell something burning, even though I live about 10mi away. The smoke from the fire has reached D.C. and over 3,000 acres have been destroyed.

There's been an air quality alert for the past few days and it doesn't look like the fire's going to stop any time soon. We need rain. And soon. At least 6" of it from what the reports say.

We might get that rain on Sunday. There's supposed to be a thunderstorm and lots of rain that day. Hopefully not much more of the refuge will be eaten by then.

Mail call!

So, it's mail call time and today was a special day for mail. Around 10am this morning I got an email from Mikey! It was short, it was to the point, and we miss him.

Now, on to snail mails!

We start out with a Redplum insert before moving onto a Toys R Us ad with coupons, a postcard from Italy!, and Jason's first issue of Wild Animal Baby. It's like Ranger Rick but for children from 2-4. It looks like a little magazine-style book. Since Allie gets a subscription to Highlight's High Five magazine and they fight over it, I thought Jason could get his own every month.

That's it for mail today. Hopefully more postcards start to roll in. I just mailed out 4 new ones today to Taiwan, Germany, Poland, and Australia. :]

Operation Shower

What is "Operation Shower?"

Operation Shower is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to provide joyful baby showers for military families to ease the burden of deployment.

For military families who are expecting a new baby and are experiencing or have recently experienced deployment, we accomplish our mission through:

• hosting amazing baby showers
• delivering high-quality products
• creating a shared experience
• partnering with organizations to provide value-added services, such as health-related information

I like this organization. I like it a lot. Like, more than I probably should. (No, I'm not getting anything for this post. This is something I've begun to feel strongly about, even if I've only known about it for the better part of 15 minutes. lol)

It's a small organization so far and it need help. It needs funds. It needs box putter-together-ers. It needs people to spread the word and host parties and help set up/clean up parties and maybe even secure large donations from businesses.

Because America likes our military members. And as such, businesses that like & support our military members. Especially their families.

Because the people at home are just as important as the people out. I mean, knowing that your pregnant wife is going to give birth while you're gone is stressful enough because all manner of things could go wrong during labor & delivery.

And knowing that your wife has people that care enough to put together the very bare basics of baby care for her and to throw her a party and make her feel special and make sure she's not alone takes a large weight off.

And when there's less to wear on your mind in regards to things back home, you're capable of putting forth more effort for your cause.

I have a few friends that went through the birth of their babies without their husbands. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without him by my side. But there's a good chance I'll find out one day. And I can only hope this organization is even stronger then and spread out across the US better.

Not because of the items. I'd gladly turn a box away for a woman who needed it more. But for the gathering and the knowledge that I am not alone. 


You can donate cash or mail a check, donate items off their list, volunteer your time and energy, and even purchase items directly from their Amazon wishlist.

I like stuff

Mainly reviewing stuff. Especially if it's been won, it's free, or it's handmade. Or it's just plain awesome.

Speaking of awesome, I ordered some stuff off Etsy recently and it should arrive soon. :]

I ordered some eye shadow samples from La Coquette Cosmetics for super cheap. I'm not one for bright eyeshadows so I'm trying to break out of my comfort zone on this one. While looking through her colors, I fell in love with her Antoinette, Nefertiti, and Arsenic colors but wasn't sure how well they'd go with my eyes (green and very) so I went with the whole line sample. :]

I also ordered some lip balm and perfume samples from For Strange Women. It took a while to pick out which scents I wanted to try out because they all sounded like they smelled amazing. In the end, I went with Astral Projection, Winter Kitty (what made me want to buy in the first place), and Decadence & Debauchery. I have a feeling that the Winter Kitty scent is going to be exactly like I think it's going to be.

I can't wait for everything to arrive! I'm super excited about all of it and will definitely get around to reviewing everything once I've gotten the chance to test them all out. I know the perfume reviews will take a few days since I plan on wearing a different one each day for 3 days so I can really get a feel for the scent.

I also have a German Deli order on it's way as well! That's supposed to arrive Thursday and I have to make sure to get it in immediately. I ordered some Spreewald pickles, licorice & lemon penguin candies, some powdered soup and gravy mixes, iced coffee mix, some frozen bread, and some candies that will undoubtedly explode on the flight over. lol

I ordered from there for Mikey for Christmas. Mustard, bread, meats, cheese, candy. It was fantastic! I knew I had to order from there again. They have a huge selection of products and even have a retail store somewhere in Texas that you can go to.

Welp, it's about time to brave the heat to go get the mail. If there's anything awesome, you can bet there's going to be a follow-up post.

Fair winds!

Mr. Man is Helpful!

He's doing great at helping me around the house. I just brought in our haul from BJ's and he was gracious enough to carry the box of flushable wipes AAAALLLL the way down the hallway, open the closet door, put the box on the right shelf, shut the door!!, and then come back to help me carry the box of mac & cheese to the kitchen!

And he's just hit the 21 month mark! He's nice and helpful, can follow "Go put this box in the closet in the hallway for me, please" commands, and knows that if he hurts someone (by accident or on purpose) that a hug & kiss is always the correct way to respond to someone else in pain.

He just...doesn't have anything to say. Sure, he talks, but not a lot. He doesn't repeat words and he maybe has a new word to say once a month. Allie's the one that talks for him so why should he have to do it himself? I know he'll say more eventually, but he's content NOT to right now. And I don't mind.

He's affectionate, emotional, outgoing, adventurous, and understands small commands. He can point to his head, hair, eyes, ears, nose, belly, toes, and teeth.

He's also good at getting into the closet and rummaging through everything in there while I'm blogging and covering himself and the hallway in Old Spice: Denali body wash. Awesome. Good thing he figured out after a quick taste that it's "UUCCK!!"

At least he now smells like the man my man could smell like.

Crayons!

Looking for cheap crayons? Walmart has the Crayola 24pks for 40¢ whereas Kmart has them for 25¢. Ad-match and save 15¢! Ta-daa!

A friend just asked me, "Why not just go to Kmart...?" Well, I'll tell you. Because Kmart is 1.1mi further away from me than Walmart. And that's 2.2mi roundtrip. Besides, why drive to all these different places when you can ad-match at Walmart?

Just went to Target and picked up a 26ct pack of Dropps laundry detergent pacs for $2.99. They're originally $7.99, marked down to $4.99, and Target.com has a $2 off coupon. Turned out to 11¢/load. They'll be perfect when we move and need to use the laundromat for the first 1-2wks.

Plus, I've heard the dye-free ones are safe for cloth diapers. Of course, it might be too much detergent unless you're washing a full load of diapers at a time. But I suppose if you just toss in some like colors to fill out the washer load, it should be fine.

At Walgreens the other day, I scored a bottle of Yes to Baby Carrots shampoo/baby wash for $2 on clearance instead of the normal $8. Uhm, YES! The kids had a lot of foamy fun in the bathtub that night. And they wash themselves playing with it so I don't have to try to hold onto a wet and squirmy 21mo!

But Walgreens is always a win like that. Take the time to walk the aisles and check out all the tags. A lot will be gone but you'll eventually score some awesome deals. Just make sure not to clear the shelf!

If there's 4 bottles of juice left for $1 each, don't take them all. Take 2, tops. If there's only 2 of something and you legitimately need both of them, it's okay to take them both. But remember that other people may need that same item. Don't clear out the teething tablets if you don't have a baby at home that uses them.

Seriously.

Another hot day today

High of 95°, low of 76°. 10% chance of rain. 100% of being hot and humid outside. Awesome.

I've been trying to get out and walk with the kids but the weather's been either hot or threatening rain every day so it's hard to get out there. I've considered going to the mall to walk but then I'd be tempted to shop rather than just walk. And I don't like the kiosk people trying to sell me stuff each time I walk by.

On a better note, our Postcrossing card made it to China! It took 15 days to travel 8,258 miles! Now we should have 3 dfferent cards coming to us as 3/7 of our cards have made it to their destination and have been registered! I make sure to tape over the card ID so that it stays safe from dirt/rain/whatever.

I can't wait til we start getting postcards. Hopefully they'll be sent ahead if we move while some are still in transit. I don't want to miss one. I don't plan on sending out any more for now because I don't want a lot traveling to us if/when we move.  Maybe we'll get one today. Maybe tomorrow. Eventually.

Yesterday was one more day closer to having the husband home. My outlook keeps changing but we're closer. Millions of wives have done this before me, millions will after me.

Toy Soldiers Unite!

Today I became an official Toy Scout (ID# TS41474). I've ordered my identification booklet and what we need to make Allie her very own Toy Scout-in-Training uniform. Yes, she also loves Dr. Steel and aspires to be a mad genius like him one day. Minus the beard, of course, because girls don't grow beards. Then they'd be boys.

She's "-in-Training" because 13 is the official age to use the TSU site & forums. One day, dear child, one day. Her uniform will consist of a tan jumper, white blouse, black socks, and black shoes. Very simple and cute. Something very...unassuming.

Mind, nothing is more manipulative than a little girl that knows she's adorable and knows how to use that to her advantage.

So, when the day comes to pick up the husband from the train station, we'll be there early with a basketful of propaganda pamphlets for anyone interested in picking one up from the little girl with the big eyes.

March on.

Scones!

It's raining. I'm in bed, HGTV is on, the kids are asleep. It's tacky to say but I miss my husband so much more right now.

I've been playing Angry Birds: Rio lately and the kids love it. Lol Jason dance to the music and Allie likes watching the birds "explode."

Stupid delivery services

Well, good news is that our Amazon package to a friend's little boy arrived ON his birthday (yesterday) and my packages were supposedly delivered at the front door at 4:41pm. Yeah, no they weren't. We left at about 5pm for the store and they weren't there. So, looks like someone stole them off the porch (wouldn't be surprised here; do NOT live in this housing!!) or they were just not delivered. I'm leaning towards the former.

So, a quick email to Amazon and both packages will be resent and arriving tomorrow or Friday. And it looks like I'll be tacking up a sign on the front door that says "Do NOT leave packages on porch unattended. Ring bell repeatedly before leaving. Thank you."

Of the easily hundred things we've ordered from Amazon over the past few years for others and ourselves, from pacifiers to the stroller, we've never had a problem. At one point, I ordered a snack bar for the stroller and 2 were sent accidentally. Nothing a quick "Returns" message and a normal trip to the post office couldn't solve.

That's why I love love LOVE Amazon! They carry things for cheaper than most retail stores, they have the best selection, their delivery is usually super fast & super cheap, I can choose to avoid 3rd person sellers and order directly from Amazon, and if there's a problem, their reps always fix it in one way or another!


On another note, our Postcrossing postcard to Finland arrived! It took 10 days (from address request, 7 days from actual mailing) to arrive and traveled 4,442.8 miles! That makes 2 down sent and us on the list for 2 to arrive here. :] I can't wait! I'm about to get another address to send out what will be our 7th postcard since we joined 13 days ago.

Fair winds!

Super special post time!

I love you, Mikey. <3

Yup. Just for you. Just because I know you'll read this sooner or later. (Hopefully sooner as opposed to later)

Going to get the kids ready for bed now.

SwagBucks!

Also, there's a SwagCode out there this morning. Make sure to check the widget ASAP before you miss it!

It's over there. --->
On the right side bar.
Just in case you wanted to find an easy place to find one. :]

Also, don't laugh at my SB count. I just started a few days ago and took the chance to put about 100sb into swagstakes. If you don't know what SwagBucks are, go check out this awesome post by the Krazy Coupon Lady on them.


A few tips on finding/earning SB:

-Make sure you do all your internet searches through them. Bucks pop up from things as normal as "weather.com" to random thoughts like "watermelon recipes."

-Answer the Daily Poll for 1SB.

-Go to the Trusted Polls section daily for 1SB.

-Make sure to check out their Ad Rewards daily (dead center of the site, second thing down. It's under the changing thing). There's usually about 5 ads there to watch and you pick up 1SB per ad.

-Have fun with it. Don't get upset if you're only pulling in the basics each day. Some days I'll earn 20SB on searches, other days I only pull SB from the dailies. I still haven't figured out the codes. lol

-If you coupon, print your coupons through their site. Even though it takes 8 to 12 weeks after coupon redemption at the store, you get 10SB per coupon. There's also a recipe area (in the coupon area) so you can look up what to do with what you're using a coupon on, especially if the coupon is for a New! product.

-Again, have fun with it! Play games! Watch videos! Win SwagBucks!

Bubba, why are you naked?

Woke up a little before 9 to Allie asking Bubba why he was naked. And naked he was. Luckily only a few things had been peed on.

And then when I was turning my phone volume up, the husband called. He's off for a few hours today to go do important things involving houses and moving and badges and just general badassery. Which, in certain circumstances, can also be referred to as (whimsicle) fuckery.

On that note, Regretsy. Tarot Card. I backed it. :] It's also awesome that there are enough fat, stupid, perverted, loser, whatever-else-we-ares backing the project that it's brought in almost 5x the amount of it's original goal. And $20k can bring in a lot of vodka and pain killers.

A bit from the book I'm reading

It's fun watching discoveries

So, in the past hour alone, Jason has learned that a) the bathtub plug is not an oddly-shaped pacifier and that it makes the water stay in the tub and b) that if he turns the bucket juuust riiight, then it fills with water. And buckets of "I told you the water wasn't quite warm yet!!" water are fun to dump on Sissy and listen to her scream. lol

Tonight's tub was more to surface clean than scrub. No hair washing, no soaps, just some red & orange food dyes, Mr. Bubble, and lots of water. They got clean on their own.

And now Mr. Man is running aorund the house in nothing but his "boy panties" as Allie calls them. Which is technically correct, but...no. Just...no. So far, 10 minutes in and no pee. But it's going to happen.

Hopefully not while he's on the couch. Mind, both kids have puked all over the couch so a little pee can't hurt, but still. Pee smell is harder to get rid of than vomit smell.

Just in case you were wondering. lol

School tomorrow!

I've pretty much planned out what we'll be doing for 3hrs each day. Allie's got plenty of workbooks covering different topics to learn. I know that worksheets aren't the best way to learn but they're the best place to start for us.

The spare room has been successfully turned from a barely-used play room to a nice little classroom. We bought a desk and are using 2 of our breakfast table (currently computer table) chairs for that. I've got the room (it's small, 9'x10-11') divided into 2 areas by means of 2 different rugs.

A small coffee table is in there as well as the kids' toybox of stuffed animals, their picnic table, and a 3-drawer bin of different "educational" toys. There's also a 3-drawer bin holding all the papers/workbooks/crayons/etc. next to the desk. On the closet, we have a map of the US with the state flags for all the states we've lived circled, and all of our birthplaces circled on the map.

The plan is to help Allie with worksheets, writing her name, and reading for a 2hr span in the morning (10-noon), break for lunch and an hour nap/quiet play time (noon-2), and then get back into the room for an hour of crafts/music/free playing in the afternoon (2-3). Hopefully that'll be long enough to keep both kids entertained but not overwhelmed.

The workbooks & worksheets consist of material from Pre-K through 1st grade. Allie's more advanced when it comes to language/reading and has almost no concept of basic math. There are also flashcards ($1 from Target) of animals and space and some play $1 bills to help her add money. Once Jason gets a little older (after his next birthday), I'll be investing in large play coins so she has experience with coins.

As holidays/birthdays/special occasions draw near, I'll be encorporating themed-crafts/learning that they can both do. I've been saving toilet paper/paper towel tubes as well as cardboard inserts in packages we recieve. We're also keeping a good eye on our Postcrossing postcards to help learn about new countries.

I'm hoping to have her prepared enough to go into Kindergarten with the ability to write her name in a 4" lined space, count to 100 with little help, write the numbers 0-9, write the alphabet, and read. She did the reading part on her own. She picked it up while we were learning what sounds each letter makes and went from "A says AHHHHHH!!" to looking at simple text "Your coupon binder says 'Five Star!'" without the hesitation of sounding things out.

It's just basics but it'll be enough. But I know she's learning things every day, "Giraffes stick their tongues in their noses and lick! That's silly!" so she's going to go in more prepared than I realise.

I Feel Needed.

Well, that was a funny call. lol  Mikey had gone to Walmart with a friend to pick up the things he'd need to survive on his own.

I answer the call (he used said friend's phone so I was a little confused at first) to "Babe. I need help. I'm in the laundry detergent aisle and I need help." Yes. I started laughing idiotically. And nap/quiet time was officially over for the little man since that got him excited.

So I walked him through which detergent to get (the smallest bottle of Gain you can find. You won't need a lot), which dryer sheets (the smallest count of any brand/scent but we use Gain's Apple-Mango Tango sheets), and made sure he picked up some Tide stain pacs for his uniforms. And he's going to call again in an hour or so when he actually has to go do his laundry.

Of course, my husband is the man that could count the number of (successful!) loads of laundry he's ever done on one hand. Made me feel good to be needed. He's washed uniforms here but everything he needed was directly in front of him so it was easier. When it comes down to standing in an aisle full of options (how much? what scent? cold/hard water? do I need stain stuff? why does a front-load washer need different detergent?!) it can be a bit overwhelming.

I gave him what he'd need for basic laundry loads (uniforms and civvies) since he doesn't need to worry about whites, delicates, children that react to certain detergents, etc. We have 2 different detergents on hand (Tide makes Allie break out), stain packs/liquid/AND powder, and dryer sheets as well as crystals. And each load of laundry requires something different.

Maybe this is what will help him see why I'm so confused/exhausted at the end of the day.