BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

Well, Hell's Bells!  In the month I had to take off from doing really anything, I've managed to let my house go all to hell, gain 11lbs. and leave my kids and husband without a workable amount of laundry.  Poor Hubby tried to do laundry and ended up bleaching his clothes all out. So, I'll probably spend the better part of the next week catching up on laundry and dying the color back into his jeans, if I can.

I also need to get my messy house in order.  Usually, it's neat as a pin because that's how I like it, but what can I say?  When Mama goes down, everything follows!

However, I did manage to read all of my Sookie Stackhouse books, and I'm all caught up. I'm excited to see where Charlaine Harris plans to take my favorite southern heroine!  The cliffhanger on the last book had me reeling a little bit, but it's okay.  Charlaine's books are so much better than True Blood, but I think it's because in True Blood, there's an expiration date. You can only keep people looking exactly the same age for a maximum of 7 years,  After that, it starts to show through.  So, all of the story lines that they want to cover have to be blended in such a way as to wrap up the story in X amount of time.  Which is a shame because I'm enjoying the cavalcade of hot guys! ;)  I also caught up on my True Blood DVDs! :)  I like Alcide the best because he reminds me of my husband, both in the books and the show.  Yeah, that's about what my Hubby looks like, and that ain't not bad!

My auntie has a sort of fascination with Aleksander Skargard. (I need an umlaut!) I think he's ok, but my big Scandinavian crush is Alan Hyde, who's too adorable for words! Check out his online show: "Alla Salute!"  It's hilarious! I think it's obvious I've had a lot of extra time on my hands this week...lol.

Well, I plan to post reviews of the Sookie Stackhouse books as soon as I find mysef having more free time, though it won't be anytime soon.  But for my SVM pals, just to clear something up, Sookie has Eric's blood twice in DEAD IN DALLAS and again in CLUB DEAD.  Eric has Sookie's blood twice in DEAD TO THE WORLD...I'll go back over my books again to see when he has her blood the third time, but suffice it to say that while reading of their 'times' together, it's hardly my first concern.

mildly off-topic side note: My husband has decided that he likes the name sookie for our next baby girl...not really sure if I'm a fan or not. I'd have to live with it for a while to see, but I'm definitely not saying no! :) Although, I'd spell it differently. Maybe Suky? We'll see!

 Have a good week Y'all!

Swimming Alone in a Pool of Nothingness and It Feels Good!

My sweet, loving, adorable manly husband is my only blog reader.  That bothers him.  He thinks it should bother me too. But it really, really doesn't.  I don't write this blog in the hope of attracting followers.  I write it so there's something of myself out there for my friends and family to keep tabs on me, if they choose. And besides, I'm not much of a diary keeper, and on the off-chance that my little ones will want to know more about me as a budding mama, they'll have a resource that's likely more lasting than a spiral notebook.

Last night, I dreamed of Spanish Moss in bare trees with multicolored leaves on the ground and I could actually smell the cold in the air. I wasn't anywhere special, just outside in the cold. I love the cold! One day, I'd love to move to someplace where it actually gets cold.  Maybe Denmark, since I've got family there. (Hej, Broder!) But more likely Norway, so I could see the Northern Lights.  Canada's too familiar to be exotic, so Northern Europe would be good, at least to visit. I'd kind of like to see the sun rise at midnight.  But to be truthful, I will probably never make it there. By the time we've saved enough money to be able to afford to take our time in another country, we'll probably be too old to go and will likely just give the money to our kids.  That's why we're doing everything we're doing: to give our kids better than we ever had when we were kids.  Maybe they'll have kids and try to give them better, too. 

That's sort of my only real dream: give my children better so they'll do better and keep going, getting better, making the world a better place, generation after generation.  Otherwise, it would all be a waste.  Everything I do, I do for my family because that's all we have in this world.  Friends, even best friends, come and go but your family's yours no matter what. Sometimes, that's good, sometimes that's bad, but they're there, and that's all that matters.

October...A time to heal...from a URI...

Okey-dokey...here's what's been going on the last month:

I got an upper-respiratory infection and have had to stop working out :(

I had to take 2 courses of antibiotics, which i will finish in 3 days, thank God! :)

While I'm waiting to heal, I thought I'd pass along some frugal living tips I've started using to help keep costs down while we try to save up for a Christmas visit to my mommy's house, and hopefully, SNOW!!! (My babies have never played in the snow, or been sledding or made snowmen or snow angels either, so it's a big deal.)

So here's what we're doing to get that money together:

1. I use spot shot for a laundry pretreater...I've tried every natural/economical concoction and never had much success with them, so I just use the carpet spray. It works great and I don't have to stand there, scrubbing out marker like a crazy person, or wash the same clothes 5 times!! (also purell or milk work really good for removing ink stains, and you can get rid of grease stains with baking soda...just FYI)

2. I make my own laundry soap. 4C of boiling hot water, 1C shredded hand soap, 1C borax 1C washing soda. Mix all together in a 2 gallon bucket until dissolved. then add enough water to fill the bucket. Let sit overnight and stir, using 1/4C per load. (or just mix the dry ingredients and use 2TBSP in each wash).

3. I'm making my old gas-guzzler into a hybrid...How? I'm having my husband and son make me an HHO fuel cell for my son's science badge in Cub Scouts, thus saving on gas, which, let's face it, we all need a little help in that area, and simultaneously achieving a badge for my son!

4. Work with my electric company to lower my costs. We have an evening plan that lowers our rates from 7pm-7am which is when I'm up cleaning the house after the kids have gone to bed anyway. There are also weekend plans, where it's free on the weekends, kind of like a cell phone plan.

5. Prepay utilities with my tax return. This one I LOOOOOVE! We take our tax return and prepay all of our steady utilities- Water, sewer, trash, etc. a year in advance. They usually will give us either a lower monthly rate or a free month for paying in advance, and then it's one less bill we have to figure out how to pay, and it keeps us able to pay our mortgage and other floating cost bills we can't pay for in advance. (*NOTE* some electric companies will let you pay $X.00 against the cost of your electricity for that year, that will take a certain amount off every month. example: pay $1200 with your taxes, it will take off $100 every month for the next year. *Some cell phone companies will extend the same free month of service for advanced payment as well.) 

I know not everybody gets a tax refund, and that's okay, you can still save if you do the next step...you'll save a TON, too!!!

6. Shop deep discount sales only with coupons and keep to your list! I only shop with coupons, and only when the item I have a coupon for is on a great sale. For example, if a 5lb bag of tyson chicken tenders is on sale for $6.88 and I have a $1.50 off coupon, then that's what I'm buying, and that's what we're eating! I'll make pot pie with some cream of chicken soup and frozen mixed veg; Or fried chicken tenders, mac n cheese and green beans, which I always buy on sale. My shopping rules are: Only buy what is A) on sale B) has a coupon and C) will keep in my freezer or pantry. I try to keep my fridge open for prepped food and fresh fruits and veg. My kids will eat a pound of fresh green beans before I even get home from the store! :) 

7. Put what you saved into a savings account!   Since I'm out shopping anyway, I add up all my receipts' savings and take out that much from my debit card at my final register/POS. (If it's $6+, I round up to the next ten.) And put it in my savings account at the credit union. I never save with big banks. I'll do checking since it's more convenient while traveling, but the yield rate on a credit union savings account is usually higher than that of a larger bank, and credit unions are non-profit and locally owned, which gives you less chance of getting completely screwed out of your own money.

8. Buy what you can locally! and EAT WHOLE GRAINS! I'm not one of those "save the planet, shop local" types, (I couldn't give a damn) but I find that we eat less when our food is grown locally. I don't know why, but it seems like it's more nourishing when it's fresher, therefore requiring less of it to feel satisfied. I also use whole grains whenever I can for the same reason...Give it a try! Switch to whole wheat for a week, and see how much further it goes! :) Buy whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, etc. Whole grains are your friends! :)

Well, that's about it. I've only been employing these techniques for a month, and I've already put over $200 into savings. I haven't even got that HHO fuel cell in yet! Imagine how much I'll save then when I only have to buy gas once a month!!!

I dare Y'all! Go on and try it! If I can do it, Y'all can too! 

HUGS AND LOVE!