Month: September 2008 (Page 1 of 2)

I was watching some daytime talk/news show on tv and they had a segment on buying the right bra. One thing they said stuck with me. They said that you should have 3 regular bras that you rotate through, and your bras should be worn for no longer than 18 months.

Seriously? That’s 18 divided by 3… that means that on average, you are buying a new bra every six months. Ew. Who does that? Bra shopping is the worst! You can’t bra shop with little kids, and there’s the whole try on the bra, then see how it looks with a shirt over it, then take off the shirt, take off the bra, try on another bra. It’s exhausting! And there are so many choices! How does one truly decide which is the best means of support?

So, my questions for you are: How long have you had your current bra? Do you have three bras that you rotate, or is it just the one poor bra doing all the work. And, how much is the most you’ve spent on a bra?

We had a really neat Young Women activity last night, where each of our girls invited a guest speaker to come and speak about their jobs. They were supposed to pick someone who is working in a field that they might want to work in when they grow up.
*First Peg talked about how she had been a journalist, run an ad agency, and is now in real estate. She told how much she loves what she does.
I want to be a real estate agent when I grow up.
*Then Kathryn told us all about the neonatal unit and how she takes care of babies as small as one pound. She showed pictured and even the tiniest blood pressure cuffs. She told us all that she loves her job and he never ever wants to quit.
Wow, maybe I want to be a nurse when I grow up.
*Next Jo told us all about how at 52 she had gone back to school to become a chef. We learned all about cooking school and the fun things you could do with a degree in foods. She brought homemade caramels, thumbprint cookies, and cinnamon hard candy.
I probably don’t want to be a chef, but it’s nice to have one as a friend.
*Dee told us about how she LOVES being a teacher, even though she took a round about way to becoming a teacher, and only just got her license last year. She says she doesn’t feel like she’s teaching so much as she is helping those kids feel like they are good at something and important every day.
I wish my kids had her as a teacher. Maybe I should be a teacher when I grow up.
*Lisa gave a wonderful analogy of flowers and being a mother. She explained that even if we aren’t “working” in a career, as mothers we use all the knowledge we have gained, and it’s like having all of those careers wrapped up in one.
I’m glad I’m a mother.
Even if I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

It was really a wonderful activity, and it fulfills a personal progress requirement. It was good for the girls to have to ask their own guest speaker and take some initiative there, plus they got so much information on some of the wonderful choices they have, and the importance of getting an education.

It’s a good thing I read lips or I may not have understood the soccer mom who was pulling into the Wendy’s parking lot when she saw the very large drive-through line at 12:00.

“Oh, no WAY! No WAY!” she said.

No, actually, you’re right. I think EVERYONE could understand her.

Just for future reference, when the guy at Grease Monkey tells you on Tuesday that you need a new serpentine belt and takes you back to look at the frayed and old belt, maybe you should let him replace it for $69.99. If you don’t, someone might just be driving along to a soccer game in the early hours of a Saturday morning and that same belt might just break and come off, leaving that someone with no power steering and no way to charge the battery. Lucky for me, that someone was Ryan this time, and he just drove the car with no power steering. He made it all the way to the repair place by our house before the battery died. Then he and Megan walked home. It was “Dad and Megan’s amazing adventure”. I’m just glad it wasn’t Mom and Megan’s amazing adventure, because Mom doesn’t handle thing like belts breaking while driving quite as well as Dad does.

In other news, we’re in the grips of a flu bug here. In German the stomach flu is called the “Grippe”, and I know why. Because it gets you in it’s grips and never lets your family go. Natalie felt yucky on Thursday, but still went to volleyball practice, and then threw up on the way home. She threw up all night, stayed home from school on Friday, but then acted fine Saturday morning, but didn’t feel fine again Saturday afternoon. She stayed home from the wedding reception we went to last night, and Cole was her caretaker–just to be safe. The other three kids had a great time. Right up until John threw up in the car on the way home. Then Nobody was having a good time, I tell you. So, John threw up all night, and now Ryan isn’t feeling very good, and neither am I. It could all be phycosymatic in my case, though. I don’t do really well smelling….that smell.

So, stay away from us. And here’s some Purell. Just in case.

updated–Well, another one bites the dust. Two, actually. Natalie was the only child well enough to be in the Primary program today. John and Jenna and Ryan stayed home sick. And now Cole’s complaining about a headache and stomachache and I’m still not feeling all that good myself. I’m sure Megan will wait until a very busy school day to get sick–just to get the most out of her sickness. Stay Away. I repeat. Stay away from us all!

I don’t have good pictures of the “Before” for this room, but if you can imagine just plain off white on the walls and a whole mess of toys and clothes on the floor and some ugly curtains on the windows, then you’ve got it about covered. I’ve been thinking about the girls’ room for a long time, and then finally, at the end of the summer, I got the bee in my bonnet to get it done. And I’m so happy I did. I love how it turned out. Let me show you some pictures….

Here’s a picture of the “artwork wall. I painted four frames on the wall, and then the girls can just put their own artwork or pictures up on that wall. This one’s a picture of Natalie and her best friend that Megan took.

Here’s another one of the “picture frames” with a picture that Jenna drew.

This is the big hibiscus flower and a picture of the curtains. I copied these flowers from some my sister did in a bedroom. For a while there it looked pretty much like a big old blob, but I like how it turned out. I made my own “stencils” by cutting out two big old flower petal shapes, and then I would trace two on the wall, and then reposition them to trace the other petals.

Here’s another picture of the curtains, although the light’s not good because of the window, but you get the general idea.

Here’s their bedding. I picked those up at a garage sale for $10 each. With the big pink flowers they don’t match the best, but at least they match with each other and look kind of cute with the wall color. And there’s another big flower over by the desk.

And last but not least, here’s the parakeet on his own table.

Cost wise, this was a pretty cheap room makeover. The most expensive thing was the curtain rod, which I got at RodWorks and used a 25% off coupon, so it was a little under $30. The curtain fabric cost me about $24, and the bedding was $20. I was given one gallon of paint, and we bought another gallon and then a quart of the pink, so we probably paid $25-$35 in paint and brushes. So, about $100 for a newly designed and decorated room for the girls! Of course that doesn’t count my TIME, but I guess that’s cheap.

Today is a TOTALLY crazy busy day. We’ve got two piano lessons, a soccer game, volleyball practice in another city, marching band practice and a marching band fundraiser concert with Jon Schmidt. Oh, and Parent Teacher conference at the Junior High. With two kids at that school, that makes around 16 teachers. Then there’s the usual stuff like make dinner. (Not to mention my Book Club that I can’t go to-Boo Hoo!). I signed up to help with the concert tonight, and I’m supposed to sell concessions. Ok. But nobody’s really told me what time to be there, or what I need to do–the story of my life. Thankfully, we have a friend in volleyball, so we don’t have to drive both ways, but someone’s going to have to pick those kids up in Pleasant Grove at 7:00. I guess that would be Ryan.

ANYWAY, my point is that I’m extremely busy today and don’t have time for a lot of distractions. Got to keep on schedule, you know. I just came home from a PTA meeting at the elementary school, and there was a message on my machine from the sweet piano teacher that went something like this: “Paige, I’m going to have to cancel piano lessons today because my son broke his finger, and the only time we can get into the doctor is 3:00. So, we’ll cancel your lessons at 3:00 and 4:00. Call me and we’ll figure out when we can reschedule.” Oh, thank goodness! Reschedule? No, thanks. My girls will be happy that they don’t have to go to piano, and I’m just happy that I have an hour that’s just opened up. I’m sad that her son broke his finger, and I never would wish that on him, but sometimes other people’s tragedies are another person’s blessings.

You know when you get something that you just LOVE and you want to share it with everyone? Well, little while ago I ordered a shirt and pants from Coldwater Creek. They came today and I’m in love. Seriously. Let’s start with the shirt.

I looked at this shirt a while back and thought, “Wow, that’s such a nice looking shirt for $16.99!” But I didn’t order it right away, I had to wait until I had a coupon for 25% off. Unfortunately, I don’t have that coupon code for you because it expired, but honestly, I would buy that shirt at $16.99, even without the discount. It’s already on clearance, and it’s such a fabulous shirt. You’ll soon see me wearing this shirt with skirts, with pants, and with everything. You’ll get tired of seeing me in that shirt. I’ll wear it out with love. Oh, no! Maybe I should hurry and order another one! Well, if you’d like to see if they have it in your size, you can click here and check it out. Darn, it looks like unless you are really small or a big girl like me, you might be out of luck. All the better for me, since my average sized friends won’t be seen in the same shirt as I am. Ha ha ha ha! (evil laugh)

Ok, and now on to the pants.

These pants are also in the clearance section, and when they arrived, I put them on immediately. And I smiled in my happiness. They are comfortable, they fit right, and they make me look good. And if they can make my ample behind look good, you KNOW they’ll look good on you normal people. Now, I know it’s almost the end of the capri wearing season, but I might just stretch these into fall. Or I’ll wear them a few times and then savor them for fall. So CUTE!!! And they are on clearance for $10.99! Under 11 bucks, people. Find them here, if you are interested. And there are more sizes on this one, plus they are available in white or black in addition to the brown that I just picked up. I think I’ll be buying the black! And on their website, it says $20 off all pants and jeans. I don’t think they would give you $20 off a pair of $11 pants, but I might just check that out.

So, I will go off to my daughter’s soccer game in my snappy new brown pants, and I will have a smile on my face and in my heart, knowing that I feel good in these pants (I’m not wearing the shirt right now, but I probably will be tomorrow!), and knowing that I only paid $8.24 for them (’cause they were 20% off, too!). How cool is that!?

So, go forth and shop. Find your bargains. You can thank me later.