Category: Uncategorized (Page 58 of 118)

Wow. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday that marks the beginning of Lent. Which means no sugar for 40 days. Ugh. I know, I know, I’m not even Catholic. We’ve been over this before, folks. Robin and I have been giving up sugar for Lent for years and years now. Not for religious reasons, but just to prove to ourselves that we can do it. Sugar is an addiction, and it seems that I am indeed an addict.

So, to gear up for my 40 days of no sugar, after I went to Curves to workout this morning, I had the breakfast of champions today–a brownie. Yum. And then I found some Lind chocolates that a friend gave me for my birthday. I’ve eaten most of those, too. Woo-Hoo! Got to eat all the sugar I can, so that tomorrow I can give it up.

Wish me luck.

Oh, and by the way, my American Express Bill came today. Last month my bill was $3400 or so. This month, my bill is (drumroll please)… $1100. And most of those charges are for gas at Costco and food. Only one little trip to the auto place, thank goodness.

So, I’m pleased that I could indeed curb my shopping urges for a month.

But that’s over. Yesterday I went to Target, and it was as if the sale racks were saying, “Hi, Paige, where have you been? We missed you!” I did buy myself some cute shoes (because nothing cures the blues like a new pair of shoes), but sadly I won’t be wearing them for a long long time because I have to wear these blasted BOOTS every day. I’m getting to hate my boots. And my coat. Which really needs to be cleaned. And speaking of things that need to be cleaned, all of our vehicles are so disgustingly dirty it gives me the heebie jeebies to even get inside. I actually stopped by the car wash place yesterday to see if I could at least clean off the top layer of grime and salt, but they were closed due to the weather.

So, that’s the latest. Shopping–back on. Sugar–on it’s way out. Wish me luck, folks. I will need it.

Today I won ticket to go and see Blue Man Group on Saturday night. Hoo-Ray!

That will be a great reward for NOT SHOPPING all month. I’m happy to say that I only caved a little. I only hit Target that one tiny time. Same with Old Navy, and then I returned some of it. I didn’t step foot in Kohl’s at all, and there was very little on line shopping, either. I’m hoping that the January Amex bill will be at least 1/2 of the amount of the December bill. And the snow and cold? That helped, because I don’t really want to leave the house at all, so shopping isn’t so much of a draw.

I’m getting things ready for Jenna’s birthday party on Saturday. Yesterday I made lots and lots of cupcakes. 3 different kinds of cupcakes, and then I’m going to frost them and somehow make toadstools or something out of them for her upcoming fairy party. Or so I thought.

Since they frost easier if they are frozen, and since it’s a frozen tundra wasteland out there, I covered a tray of cupcakes with foil, and set it out on the trailer in the garage. Cold enough to freeze, but it’s not going to get snow on it like outside.

Until the whole tray somehow fell off the trailer and onto the garage floor. Well, not ALL of them fell on the floor. A few of them landed on a stroller. Yippee. Now, I don’t know about you, but I just wouldn’t feel right about giving these cupcakes to…well, anyone, so I threw them all in the trash. There was also a great deal of stomping around on my part, I’ll tell you.

Now I get to repeat the whole process (well, not the falling on the floor part, but the rest of it) tomorrow. Ugh.

I’ve never been one to cut my own hair. Maybe I was seriously scarred as a child after a bad haircutting experience, I don’t know. But I haven’t been blessed with a hair cutting talent. And I haven’t studied and learned it as a skill. I just don’t cut hair. Even with little kids, I can barely bring myself to cut bangs or even out their hair in the back. When the boys need hair cuts or it’s time to do a buzz, I let Ryan wield the clippers. I don’t even trust myself to do that.

Once in college, I had a roommate who made me cut her hair. I told her ‘No’, but she made me do it, anyway. “Just cut in a straight line starting here,” she said. Well, I cut, and it was a straight line, but it started at the level she wanted it, and by the time I got to the other side, it was about two inches shorter. She was rightfully mortified at what I had done to her hair (although it was the late 80’s and asymmetrical hair cuts could have been in back then). She called in a different roommate to fix the botched hair cut I had given her. Now WHY she didn’t just ask her in the first place instead of traumatizing me, I don’t know. So, after the haircut was fixed and even and all that, it actually looked really cute in a bob. Even though that wasn’t what she had been going for in the first place. So, really, it was my creativity that helped her get a really cute haircut, right?

Later, when on my mission in Germany, I had a companion ask me to trim her hair for her. It was very long and she just wanted me to cut off a couple of inches in the back. Oh, NO, I told her, she wasn’t going to fall for that trap again! I told her of my previous hair cutting experience, but she still persisted. Unlike the roommate, she had thin hair and I could just bunch it up in the back and cut it all at once. I did manage to do that one tiny haircut without calling in reinforcements, but I still have no desire or talent to cut hair.

So when I woke up Saturday morning so irritated with my hair that I was ready to cut it, I knew something was seriously wrong. I never cut my own hair. I make an appointment and wait for the trained professionals to do it. I mean, what if I mess it up? It’s not like I have thick bushy hair and I can afford to lose any of it. But I’ve been really irritated by the “bangs” situation here for a while, and I guess I just went over the edge. You see, I’ve been trying to figure out if I want to grow out the bangs and just push it all over to the side, or still have some bangs. I’ve tried to do the long chunk of bangs that just kind of sits to the side, but I guess that’s just not a look that my hair can master.

So. Yesterday I just got out the scissors and cut a few pieces of bangs. By myself. With my plain old scissors that are usually used for cutting off tags that I keep in the bathroom. Brave, huh? Or maybe it was just stupid. I’m realizing that they are not even, but I think I can deal with it until I get an appointment for a real haircut. I hope.

Yesterday I had the privilege to supervise the playground during lunch recess. Yi-pee. I could barely contain my excitement. I actually spent the day wresting with myself to decide if I really was going to go, or if I should just flake on my obligation. Well, my conscience won out and I went and did my parental duty, grumbling about why in the world my daughter’s class had to be in charge of a week in JANUARY. But I was prepared. I bundled up with a coat, a scarf, gloves, a hat, and even a pair of handwarmers should I need it for my 45 minute outside ordeal.

Overkill? Maybe a little.
When I got there, I saw all the kids out there in sweatshirts or coats, some with gloves, but most without, and all with a severe lack of headgear. What? Are these kids crazy?

Well, yes, actually, they are.

But I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t as cold as I had thought it would be (a balmy 27 degrees), and the kids were fun. But I’m not signing up for any more of those until maybe….May.

Oooooh, I hate it when a post that I’ve worked on for a long time just disappears. Arg!

So, I’ll do it again. I’ve been tagged by Forgetfulone for a meme (really, what does meme mean? Is it so much about me that I have to say me twice?), and although this is late, I’m playing along.

Five random or weird facts about me. Even though this may not be new to those of you who know me, since I far too often say exactly what I mean and my life is an open book, right?

1- When we moved to Illinois, I decided to change my name from Paige to Jess. I’ve never really loved the name Paige, and since I have no middle name, had to create my own. What’s weird about that?

2- I don’t eat broccoli or it’s evil cousin cauliflower. Ever. Yuck. And you can’t make me.

3- I like to sing along to the songs on the radio, and if I don’t know the lyrics, I just make something up.

4- I’ve never had a bloody nose or a broken bone.

5- I love candy cane ice cream. Yum.

So, there you have it folks. I had actually tagged 5 people and included links to their blogs, and I think I emailed them, but then all that disappeared. So, if you would like to play along, let me know in the comments so I can find out 5 random things about you!

Way back at the beginning of December, I mentioned the the kids had entered a winter art show, and done very well. Well, since that time, I’ve been meaning to post pictures. Their artwork hung in the library until the beginning of January, and I finally got it back and took some pictures.

This one is Natalie’s (age 9) and I love how it turned out. She did such a great job. I love the elf, and how he’s facing away from us. She earned a first place ribbon and $5.

Jenna did this snowman scene. She’s done quite a few snowmen this winter season.

This one is Megan’s Santa picture. I’m really proud of her, and think she did a great job. She won best in show, but then the show is only for kids ages 5-11, so as an 11 year old, she had a sincere advantage. Along with her big ribbon came a cash prize of $20!

Today I went with John’s preschool class bowling. Oh, what fun it is to take 18 4 and 5 year olds to the bowling alley! Really! I only had three kids to look after on our lane, and they are all kids I know. So we had a good time! With bumpers and those rolling things, those kids can do pretty well. I think John scored an 89 and his little friend Hunter scored a 90. Hunter was very pleased that he had WON and talked about it all the way back to school.
“That was so much fun, wasn’t it boys?” I said.
“Yeah, and I won!” said Hunter.
But even if they didn’t win, I think all the kids had a good time.

After I took them back to school, there was exactly 55 minutes until it was time to pick them up. I could
a) Drive home (a 15 minute drive) just to get busy doing something and then have to drive back to pick them up,
b)stay at the school and either help or just be in the way,
c)find something to do closer to the school.

I chose option c, and decided to go and get my van washed. It’s soooooooo dirty, you can’t even tell what color it is. Especially since I was driving right behind a snowplow the other night while it was dumping out salt. Ick. So, I drove the short drive to my favorite car wash, and there was a HUGE line. I guess I wasn’t the only person fed up with their disgustingly dirty car. No WAY was I going to waste my kid free time waiting in line for the carwash.

And look, there’s Target right over there. But I’m not shopping. Oh, I’m torn!

I needed a new exercise ball for our ball class on Tuesdays, and a friend had tipped me off that they were on sale at Target. So, I walked directly to the exercise stuff, found a ball for $9, and started back to the checkout. I was sidetracked by the HUGE sale on paper towels and toilet paper and did fall into the temptation of the sale (30 rolls of Charmin for $9–who could pass that by?!). But even with the exercise ball, the toilet paper and the paper towels (also on a major sale–$4.90 for 12 rolls), my purchases were under $30. -Whew!- I made it through Target without overspending! Hooray for me!

But I still had about 25 minutes, and I knew I couldn’t get my car washed in that time, and there’s an Old Navy just three stores down, and everyone at Book Club last night was raving on and on about the sale at Old Navy…….and…… I’ll admit it. I caved. I’m weak. The song of the shopping was just too strong for me.

I did a quick whirlwind shop at Old Navy, and my, oh my, would you look at these prices! What? 75% off?! You have got to be kidding! I tried to keep it under control (and I didn’t have much time), so I just got a shirt for Cole, a shirt for John, a shirt for Ryan (think valentine’s presents, right?) and I picked up (gasp) three pairs of pants for me. Pants that were $8 something each! If you think I was being excessive with my purchases, you’ll be relieved to know that at least 2 and possibly 3 of those pairs of pants will be returned to the store. I didn’t have time to try anything on in the store, so I just brought them home to try one. Mid-rise, my behind. Which is what you would all be seeing if I wore those pants. I won’t elaborate, but let’s just say they don’t fit well.

So, there you have it. I shopped. I couldn’t even make it a whole month without shopping. I am weak.

But this was just a moment of weakness (well, more like an hour) brought on by the fact that the line at the car wash was JUST TOO DANG LONG. I’m not going to let this tiny setback throw me back into the arms of the lovely siren called shopping. I set out to avoid the shopping for this month, and I will still do it. This was just one little slip-up. I blame it entirely on the car wash place.

It’s the 15th of January. The month is halfway over, and I haven’t been shopping. Really. I do admit that I bought Cole a pair of gym shoes from Amazon, but I used a gift card for that, so the whole purchase (including shipping) cost me $2. And I didn’t even add anything else to the order. Only shoes that aren’t even for me. So, I think I’m doing pretty darn good. I do miss the shopping. I heard that Target was having their huge toy sale, and felt like getting the keys and driving to Target. I’ve also heard that Old Navy is having a huge clearance sale, and a friend of mine said she got school clothes for next year for her 5 year old all on clearance. Oh, how I wanted to go check out that sale. But I did not.

Last night my friend Michelle gave me a brand new shirt (with tags and everything!) from Coldwater Creek. It’s this shirt, only not this color, it’s a “spicy copper”. She didn’t go for the color. Well, even though Michelle and I have very similar coloring, I think it looks pretty good on me. And it’s a brand new shirt! That I didn’t even have to shop for. How do you like them apples?

Now if someone would just give me a new phone.

In my “office” (I use the term very loosely, because it’s also my sewing room, craft room, wrapping room, gift storage,and the place I put things when I don’t know where they go) I have my computer, which I share with the kids. Sometimes it’s really a struggle for everyone to get their “turn” on the computer. Well, now there’s just one more little guy to share with.

My little friend, Popcorn, (here he is with John) who was sitting on my shoulder just a moment ago, jumped down onto the keyboard and thinks he would like to post something on the blog, too.

l 76jhgf is what he says.

Good grief. It’s not enough I have to share with five kids, but a bird as well? Soon I’ll have to be sharing with her , or maybe these guys from the back yard will decide they want to come inside and email Santa.

Sheesh!