Box of Chocolates

I started looking at dogs about three days after Delta was no longer with us. Mark on the other hand could have lived without a dog. As the days got longer in number the more I missed having a dog. Last weekend Mark told me that he would like the kids to get a puppy for Christmas. What I heard was GREEN LIGHT, GO!  Once those words left Mark's lips I was running at full speed.   We decided that a puppy on Christmas would be cool but not ideal.  We wanted to adopt a puppy. Rescue is a first come, first serve situation. I started looking in hopes to find the perfect dog for us before Christmas.  Most dogs in rescue are already full grown and a big dog mix.  If you want a Lab or Pit Bull mix they are astronomical in number.  It is sad how many dogs are up for adoption.   On Monday while searching petfinder.com I come across a Jack Russell puppy in Ft. Payne, Alabama. For my Florida friends that is about the distance from St. Pete to Orlando.  It seemed so crazy to drive that far to

Finished project  (Not quite) I have been working on many projects which I thought I would have posted by now. With Pinterest in my life I keep finding better ways to do some of my ideas. I have a lot of materials and a bunch of half done projects. I wanted to post the stools I made for the craft room. The are not 100% done (they need a clear coat which is the hubby's department). I need seating in the craft room. I will admit I was being very selfish with my craft room and realized one day that this shouldn't be my room but a room that I enjoy with the kids. So, I turned the table short end to the wall.  Which gave us two sides of 6 ft work space. I really don't want to buy more damask chairs seeing they cost over $150 and well, I like having my queen chair. I didn't want to spend a lot which is hard to do and still get what you like. I was inspired by a friend that has started to recently antique/distress/paint furniture. I bought a couple of stools at Walmart. T

Do you have a pile of paper work from your kids school, clubs, sports or PTA that is worth keeping for a few weeks but taking over your life? The small mountain on the corner of a shelf or on the desk. The one you move 100 different places during the year. I surely am not the only one that has a pile with miles. You move it because company is coming.  It is an eyesore so you move it here and then over there. You don't know what to do with it. I have a solution!     I have three kids and the paper work from outside the house is a forest full of trees. For example, the "Don't Eat This List" from the orthodontist that my oldest reads like the bible, the PTA newsletters, or the softball schedules. I don't have enough room on my refrigerator for it all. I tried to read things and throw them away as I got them but I would forget all the details. I started a pile in the kitchen one day and it was there for years. Literally! I would go through it at times and toss old m

I couldn't find a valence to match my daughters pink and black Paris themed room that didn't cost my husband a lot of his hard earned money. I wanted an inexpensive yet girly look to hide the roller shade. I also don't like to sew.  Although, I was going to sew but I couldn't find material to match either.  So one day I accidentally found Eiffel Tower pink and black ribbon. You all know the great accidental find, the one while roaming around aimlessly at the local craft store you when you find what you had NOT been looking for. Of course you fall in love and buy it knowing that one day you will use it for some project. After months of sitting around I started to google ribbon curtains and found some similar ideas but then my idea took on a life of its own, no sew!   Materials After this picture I took a couple trips back to the store to get different ribbon. Who buys all their needs for a project on the first trip? I ended up with... 2 rolls of 9 yard, 1.5 inch Pa

Have you ever sat down and thought, "Who am I?"  That should be a clue that I am having a major identity crisis.  I am in my middle thirties.  Right smack in the middle. 35, treinta y cinco, vifendertig, trente-cinq, trettirem.  I thought the other day, "Does 35 sound better in a different language?"  I took Spanish for years and treinta y cinco is still 35.  The only cool thing about treinta is the r sound it makes in Spanish. My husband jokes that I am half way to 70, which is really not funny. I'm not sure of how long I will live but life expectancy in America is around 78.  As I look into it more I am thankful I am not in central Africa where life expectancy is in the 40's. I would not have many more years ahead.  Then I look at the countries with longer life expectancy in the 80's and wonder what is going on in Germany, France, Australia, and Japan. Spain has a longer life expectancy too, maybe 35 does sound better in Spanish. I feel like I am a

The score was 10 - 13.  It is the bottom of the fourth (they only play five innings). Two girls on base.  Madison was up to bat.  My bench bunny is letting her light shine and WACK!  She hit a hard ground ball up the middle of the field past second base, past the out fielders and she is running like the wind.  In field HOME RUN!  Three runs scored and the game is tied 13-13.  So exctied I got to yell, "that's my girl!" Next inning the team held them off to zero runs.  Our first base girl gets two outs in a row (she is really good).  Our team is up to bat, one run and our team wins.  First base girl is up and gets a hit, the next girl up hits a fly ball the center field and our first base girl gets the winning run 14-13. Coach gives the game ball to a player that worked hard, went to every practice and kept a good attitude (see he noticed).  She kept a good attitude even though she has only played one or two innings a game and other girls have got to play every inning.

Well, Madison made All Stars for girls 8 and under coach pitch softball.   This is great considering that last year was her first year to play t-ball and this year is her first year in coach pitch softball.  I have to add too that her sister played on the same team and is not on the All Star team.  We have had a lot of tough life lessons around here the past couple of weeks.  It is hard to watch your kids sit on the bench for three of four innings of the first All Star game.  Part of me wishes that they only selected 10 girls instead of 12 and that two girls didn't have to sit out.  Madison gets to bat in rotation but she had a really emotional night not being in the field.  What do you say?  I feel like it is an honor just to be asked but understand her disappointment.  I can't shield her from all the disappointments in life. Every fiber in my motherhood whats my child to always be happy but life is not always happy.  Sometimes life gives us lemons.  How do we make lemonade

We went 8 1/2 years without a kid getting stitches.  Not bad.  I hope that average gets better with time.  Nathan crashed Sunday in the indoor playroom at church.  He was riding a four wheel push car and he described the accident as, "I was going really fast and tipped over."  He now has four stitches to prove it.  I wanted to post on FB but figured it might be a bit gross.  I had to post it somewhere. He had to go to urgent care and the doctor was great with him.  Recited 10 little monkeys with him to calm him down with a story about his own son jumping on a bed.  The doctor talked him through the whole process before hand and then told him what he was doing as he did it.  Nathan was awesome.  No one had to hold him down.  I have heard so many stories from parents how it took both parents and three nurses to hold them down for stitches.  Okay maybe I went a bit far with three nurses.  Regardless, he was an awesome patient.  The doctor thanked him for being good and Nathan

I am amazed at the impact a dog can have in your life.  Delta was over 13 years old.  We aren't really sure how old she was because when we adopted her in 1998, she was full grown.  Mark and I got her from the Humane Society after Hurricane Georges. They sent a truck of dogs from Mississippi to our local Humane Society.  One reason why we called her Delta.  We paid $35 for her because she weighed more than I think 30 lbs.   I thought it was funny the bigger the dog the less expensive. We had her in our lives for 12 1/2 years.  Needless to say today is different.  She will be missed greatly.  She had bone cancer and yesterday was her last. I learned a lot about my kids yesterday.  I waited until the girls got home from school to tell all of them at once.  All three had a different reaction.  Madison wears her heart on her sleeve and between sobs wanted to know "more information" and then in the very next breath said, "can our next dog be a Golden Retriever?".

Okay so it might be a streach to list the 104 things I learned from not having electric for 104 hours (4 days 8 hours) but here we go...... 1.) Always get gas before a storm that is predicted to be bad. 2.) The first couple of days are the worst. 3.) Do a load of whites when you know a storm is on the horizon. 4.) An 80 gallon water heater will keep lukewarm for about two days. 5.) Empty milk jugs and rubbermaid bins make pretty good water heaters if the sun is out. 6.) A small child only needs 2 gallons to bathe, a woman 3 and a man 4. 7.) Use your iphone sparingly. 8.) Have unused craft projects on hand always. 9.) You will still try to turn on the lights on day 4. 10.) A tent will not keep your kids entertained as long as you would hope. 11.) You can brew coffee without electric (not good coffee but keeps the headache away). 12.) Have a stash of cash. 13.) You can cook eggs on a gas grill in your glass pyrex 13x9 pan. 14.) Buying in bulk can save you or sink your ship

EEKS!  I finally decided to read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.  I'm not seeing the end result being one we can achieve unless I go back to work.  Mark and I have worked our way to zero car payments, we have been and continue to be credit card debt free.  We refinanced the house for 15 years and are actually saving money monthly but paying off the house faster. I can dig the step 1, step 2 (because I don't need to do them) Step 3 is taken care of, Step 4 is not what Dave says it should be but we are making contributions to 401k and we have a Roth IRA and saving for retirement.  Step 5 is a thought we have on occasion, saving for the kids college fund.  Step 6 is more appealing than the college fund, paying off the house.  Step 7 is give, give, give which I can totally dig.   After reading the book I am feeling pretty good about our financial state.  Mark and I are NOT normal.  Weird is okay for me in this area.  The statistics blow me away.  I can't believe Ma

I first want to say I am not cheap!  I don't buy the cheapest item just because I want to save money.  I do like finding a good deal on things that are high quality.  I don't like sacrificing quality for price.  I try to never pay full price for anything.   When I say our spending it intentional what I mean is that Mark and I sit down around November and hash out the budget.  Some things are constants in the budget.  Mortgage, phone, insurance pretty much stay the same.  Some vary like gas, water, electric.  After years of budgeting we can average out what we spent the year before and add if needed to the new budget.   Here is what we do know we have to pay something first so they go in the budget first.  Then what is "leftover" is up for dividing.  This is not a fool proof plan. Medical never gets budgeted enough money.  Which is why you should have a savings account.  Every category gets a set amount of money that doesn't exceed our yearly income.  We spend i

What I have learned in the past few years I wish I would have known before I got out of high school.  I wish I was smarter about money from the beginning.  Would I have listened?  Probably not.  I do have to say I am very thankful for my mom that although didn't explain to me the way credit works entirely she always said to me, "you don't need a credit card it will only get you in trouble."  That is the fact for 9 out of 10 people in my age group that are in debt. Which apparently are the most in debt group in history. I think when Mark and I got serious about debt we really started to understand what you pay for the convenience.  For too many years I thought of things as the lowest monthly payment.  What is the most we can have for the least amount of monthly expense.  Not thinking about the long term cost.  Let me run some numbers for you.  In 2008 the average house cost $292,600 dollars.  The best rate in 2008 was about 5% so I will go with "best" case.

A penny saved is a penny earned, a fool and his money are easily parted, laugh all the way to the bank, money doesn't grow on trees.   I'm sure you see where I am going.  I am kinda nerdy when it comes to money.  I love budgets, saving money, doing without to save, and being debt free.  Let me just say this up front, I am not CHEAP! I am intentional about my spending. Dave Ramsey is kinda my cheerleader.  Although we don't follow his baby steps we are somewhere in the step 6/7.  7 is the last step ~pay off the house.  I haven't even read his book, yet.  I know enough by listening to him and reading articles about money to know we are doing okay.  The stats that Dave Ramsey's staff post on FB are mind boggling.   I am amazed at the debt of this country and saddened all at the same time.  Let me share some statistics.... 27% of Americans have no personal savings and 34% have nothing saved for retirement. – Harris Poll (27% is about 83 million people! Yes, I did th

Today Mark and I celebrated our 13 wedding anniversary.  He took the day off to spend with just me.   He took the girls to school and Nathan to Nana's for the day.  He finished a small project at my parents house this morning.  I had a car circle free morning and the house all to my lonesome for a couple of hours.  It was lovely. When he got home this morning we had breakfast alone. Talking about this and that.  I was telling him how much I got done without Nathan here this morning.  Kids create a lot of interruptions. Have you ever really thought about the interruptions in a day a child creates?  I love my kids but they need a lot of attention during a day. Don't get me wrong I don't mind the work my kids create because life without them is unfathomable.  I just realized today that in the hustle and bustle of the day I am interrupted from my mom tasks often. The interruptions are welcome at times. The ones that required me to read me a book, playing a game, or looking

Lately I have been reading several teacher resource books.  Mostly to get jazzed up to get certified to teach next year. Believe me I need some intrinsic motivation so I started to read about teaching. In my reading I realized that I have my work cut out for me.  I have been busy being mom and not keeping up with the professional me for too long.  I have let some thing slip into an abyss in my brain waiting to be recalled.  One of the skills in the abyss is writing. I have blogged for a few years now.  At first I did a couple of entries a week.  It then turned into trying to blog at least once a week.  Then maybe, just maybe once a month.  I think I demand an audience. What I mean is we all write to be read.  It is sad but true as the blogging fad faded with some of my friends so did my audience. As my audience faded so did my entries. Some of this is not entirely a subject of interest because of my pending search for a job.  I would love to see more writing at my girls school.  As

I don't think I am the only one in the world that thinks they can "fix" what is broken.  At some point in your life I am sure you have said to yourself, I could do it better.  In enters the job of superintendent of our local school system.  I am not sure 100% what is going on but here are the facts. 1. She has been the superintendent for 10 years. 2. Our school system is 22 million in the hole.  Which is a lot of money but only one months expenses. 3.  They decided not to renew her contract that was supposed to end in June 2011. 4. What the board decided was not to renew her contract and let her have a 6 month contract for transition, that was this summer. 5. She got a lawyer (a good one) and renegotiated her newest contract (approved last night) to get paid through Dec. 2011 but resign as soon as the new superintendent is in place.  Stating she is doing it for the school system. (I will refrain from commenting) Basically she is resigning with pay instead of complet

We are on day five of school being canceled due to extreme winter conditions.  Sunday night it started to snow......heavy.  Within hours we had inches of snow.  This storm is the third on the record books with a total of over 8 inches of snow.  I thought we moved to the deep south? Last night I couldn't sleep so I got up to turn on the water in the kitchen so our pipes didn't freeze.  The ipod touch was on the weather app that showed the temp of 9 degrees.  I guess last night was also a record setting night with the official low of 8 degrees.  I don't know if I have ever been in single digit temps. Looks like 8 is the magic number.  So with that I am going to write 8 things I have learned being trapped at home for a week. 1.) Snowmen are hard work.  I say work because I started to sweat in temps with a windchill of 19 degrees!  Sweat = work. 2.) Never again will I  give the kids their mittens and gloves to put away in there drawers.  For some reason they can never f

Hello 2011! A few years ago I decided not to have New Year resolutions. Not a resolution not to have one because that would be an oxymoron. I don't think I have ever kept my resolutions. I am always so disappointed in myself that I couldn't do that one thing or do without that one thing for a year. In some cases my resolution was over and done with by February. Today I am making a list of things I would like to accomplish or do this year. Mostly for me to look back on at the end of the year.  Maybe for some accountability?  Regardless, here is what I would like to consider in 2011...... Get certified to teach again and possibly go back to teaching. Do a better job at communicating play group activities. Organize my clutter in a fashionable way (this is going to take time and money). Take the next 7 months to spend time with Nathan with no regrets come August when he starts Kindergarden. Do the PTA scrapbook without hating the decision to be the PTA historian.  I als