Oh hey, hi there

So. Is anyone still here? Yeah, probably not. Clearly I stink at this whole blog thing--sorry friends! I was thinking about it today and I realized I'm a fan of instant gratification. I like to tell stories and get the immediate reaction of a laugh and then follow that up with a friend telling me another story. This is also why I think if I work out once I should suddenly lose 10 pounds. Rather than working out once a day for a month and maybe losing 3. (You know, because in my mind I CAN have that extra something something "since I worked out today.")

So here I go, trying to to update my bloggy again...back on the horse...trying not to go 4 months without adding anything...

As always happens this time of year, the swimsuits my children started out with back in June have frayed and thinned, the elastic is shot and it's shrunk a bit while the children have grown a bit. In response to this, I took G to the local big box store for a new suit. Two problems with this plan:

1. Despite the fact that it's August and 92 degrees outside, all of the big box stores think it's October. Seriously, they have Halloween decorations out. Stop the insanity! They are also fully engaged in their "back to school mode" so all of the summer things are now squeezed into one aisle. Boo. Finding the silver lining though--it is all on clearance now, and you know how I love a bargain!

The 2nd problem with my plan is that I'm not raising a tart. Or a tramp. Or Lady Gaga. I'm raising a girl. Someday she'll be a young lady. Right now she's 6. She likes Sid the Science Kid and Arthur books. I swear I'm not trying to sound like a Duggar here, really I'm not, but I was quite surprised by the ahem, style of many of the suits. Is there a fabric shortage I didn't know about?

There were about 20 different types of suits hanging on the wall. First I eliminated the ones that didn't have a back (it hooked at the neck then was an open oval down the sides of the body and then just barely covered the bottom). The ones that had a back, but had large cutouts on each side from the ribcage to the hipbone also stayed on the rack. Goodbye to the two piece numbers that hooked at the top and then just hung down, open, in the back, and so on. Finally we found 4 (only 4!) that might work and even some of these were just awful. One had glitter all over it. One had sequence forming triangles around her (non-existent) breasts (did I mention she's 6?). Two seemed like they might be a bit low cut, but off to the dressing room we went. Despite twice a day applications of SPF 50 my girl is quite tan, which means you can roughly see what the new suit covered compared to the old suit. Or should I say what the new suit didn't cover. With every suit I could easily see an extra inch of white on the top and most were also cut much higher up her thigh.

Is this what people are buying? Am I so very old fashioned? These are swimsuits sized for girls ages 4-12. What's left for her to wear when she's 16? But I knew her current suit wouldn't last. I had her try everything on again. It was even worse the second time around. Then, inspiration struck! I called my mom. Here's how it went:

Me: Hey mom, have you been to Costco lately?
Mom: I'm at Costco right now!
Me: Great! Could you see if they have any one piece Speedo swimsuits left? (As a side note, she currently has a two piece Speedo and part of the problem is that the bottoms keep scooting down, giving her a bit of a plumber's crack situation.)
Mom: Sure hang on. I just had a yummy sample of the mango salsa with tortilla chips and now I'm walking over to the suits.
Me: OK. (Thinking to myself, as I have many times, if my parents had a blog it would be all about what they just ate.)
Mom: They have two in her size, should I get both?
Me: Yes please!

And today my mom arrived with the suits. G tried them on and delight of delights, they matched up with her existing tan lines quite nicely. And they are covered in sweet, adorable pictures of watermelons and flowers and lemons. Very appropriate for the 6 year old crowd. Best of all, not a speck of glitter in sight.

A little fun...

Friends! For the first time in 3 weeks I slept with my down comforter on Monday. It was lovely. It had been in purgatory in the basement while we dealt with our um, bug situation. I had missed it's delightful comfort more than I would have thought. Oh, sweet sweet down. So much warmer than a towel! If the down people are looking for a new marketing slogan, I probably should copyright that right now, otherwise you may be seeing that phrase in your next issue of O Magazine. "Down. So much warmer than a towel."

And now on to other matters. We have a room in our house that we call the "Christmas tree room." While it is the room where the Christmas tree is on display in December it is always called the Christmas tree room. It could be the middle of summer and I'll ask the kids to take something to the Christmas tree room. Right now the Christmas tree room is proudly displaying a few Easter decorations:

Cute huh? I know, I know, it needs some height, and a few more items, but I'm typically only willing to buy holiday decorations when they are on clearance, so maybe next year...

Let's take a minute and admire the adorable carrot wagon shall we? Sassy and purchased around Christmas time--hello discount!!

So I breezed by the Christmas tree room this afternoon, and then paused for a slightly closer look when I noticed this...

A few rebel soldiers from the ice planet Hoth. Why yes, I do live with a 10 year old boy. Why do you ask?

Evidently those Rebel soldiers were on to something--there's Lord Vader. Look out guys!!

And this guy...he looks like trouble. I'm not exactly sure who he is. 5 minutes into the latest and greatest description of the most recent episode of "Star Wars Clone Wars" my eyes begin to roll to the back of my head, I start to hear a faint buzzing noise and part of my brain oozes out of my ear.

This last one really cracked me up. Nothing says "Happy Easter" like a duck packing heat.

Just crying into my towel over here

Totally left you all hanging there didn't I? So sorry. I had a big ol' post written in my head about how we met our frugal February goals (woo hoo!) and even some inspirational nonsense about how just sticking with something, seeing it through to the end was the real reward. And about I used my share of our FF savings to buy some crazy craft stuff my friend AC talked me into. (I think it was about a 30 second phone call, but do you see how I like to blame someone else for my purchases? It feels like it lets me off the hook.)

And I was ready to write all of those things. It was Monday, March 1. I was working from home on papers and since I wouldn't spend my day on the computer I was ready to spend my evening typing up my little posts. However, a fateful phone call changed all of that. And now, to protect the innocent (and because I'm not really sure how to use real pictures) I present to you a bit of Short Arm Theatre. (Spelled theatre because I'm fancy.)

Please enjoy the following (clip) artist rendering of the events...

Here I am on the phone earlier in the day...

Feeling a bit smug because thanks to my dialing quick fingers I had just won the following:

...to our local movie theater. And a gift certificate to a local restaurant. I was sure it was going to be a great day. I was wrong. Here I am 45 minutes later after another phone call...

And 25 minutes after that phone call at the local big box buying...

And 15 minutes later I picked up my precious bay-bee from school. We went home and I spent the next 2 1/2 hours doing this...

Combing and combing and combing. Quite literally with a very fine tooth comb. You could say I was...
nit-picking.

Oh yes. Somehow, over 9 years of daycare and public school my peeps had avoided the head lice. But that record was over. I thought I was going to die. I was totally grossed out. The school nurse was very nice, with lots of "it happens to everyone at some point" and more "it's really common and hard to avoid once someone else gets it" and an extra helping of "it's nothing to be embarrassed about." Still I was mortified. Needless to say my OCD kicked into high gear. After a bit more of this...

there was lots of this...

And when I realized exactly how many blankets and pillows and car seat covers and stuffed animals and bath towels and sheets and clothes and bath mats we have/use on a daily basis, I collected all of these...

(Wasn't it so handy that we just ended frugal February so I had a few "extras" laying around?)And I went here:

Where I proceeded to use 12 washing machines and 9 dryers and washed every single thing I could jam into a machine. I'd like to also let you know, at no time did I look this relaxed. Just as I was finishing getting the last load going, the first one finished. And just as I'd finish folding the load from one dryer another one would beep. It's been a loooooong time since I was in a laundry mat. Let me save you the suspense--they haven't changed much.

Everything that couldn't fit in the washer went in the basement. Like this...

I'm pleased to say after much checking and lots of vacuuming and lots of spraying and lots of hot water we are all clear. Thankfully no one else got them. (Knock on wood.) So please do forgive me for not writing for a few days. I was a smidge busy.

And finally, this last picture? Well this was what I used as a blanket and a pillow for the first 3 nights of this adventure.

The one where April makes excuses

Well. It's official. Frugal February blows.

It's been a few days since I posted because I wasn't really prepared to admit the truth. The frugal wagon and I have separated. You could say I fell off it. Payday was a couple of days ago and my plan what to transfer the full amount of one check to our savings account. But we had friends over for Valentine's Day brunch (and I felt obligated to buy tasty treats and few decorations). We also had a bill I wasn't expecting (what??) for our CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture)--essentially we needed to pay for all of the vegetables we'll get from May-October this month. I didn't think they would take too kindly to me calling them up and saying, "hey guys, I'd love to pay the bill right now, but I'm in the middle of this crazy experiment, so can I wait until March?" And I like to pay extra on our mortgage. Again, I'm not going to skip paying extra on the mortgage just so I can fulfill the terms of an experiment I've set up for myself. (Did you like how I justified my choices right there?) And it was Tuesday. No seriously, Tuesdays kill me. I get in the car at 2:45 and proceed to spend the next 3 hours shuffling the kids around town to various activities. By the time I pick G up at 5:25 I'm done. If I don't have something in the crock pot it is very hard to resist the siren call of pizza. And from my last post, you know getting something in the crock pot sometimes means tardy slips for the peeps.

So, I'm resolving to keep trying. A small amount of glory is better than no glory, right? I have resisted many things. I keep reminding myself that the things I want are big ticket items (a new car, a laptop, a Kindle) which will require giving up lots of small ticket items. I also keep reminding myself that the things I want are only "wants." Not needs. We're good. We've got a roof over our heads, food in the pantry, jobs to go to and our health (knock on wood) and I'm grateful for that.

The month is halfway over and there's still time...

Day 7 update

Frugal February is going fairly well so far. Today was the real challenge. We went to my version of the happiest place on earth. My mecca. My little spot of sunshine. Costco. Oh Costco, how I love you. I mean really, what's not to love? Delightful prices, great options and lovely social policy. Plus free samples! (Side bar, what is up with those samples? I do wonder about them sometimes. Are there honestly people who don't think a Milano cookie is delicious? Or tortilla chips? Or chocolate covered almonds? Do these items require a free sample to convince people to buy them? Really?)

The biggest negative in Costco's corner is that I love their products too much. It's gotten to the point where I just automatically allow myself one impulse item, knowing that there will be an impulse purchase regardless. This is where I knew Frugal February would met its match. Costco vs frugality. Who would win this showdown?

Call me a coward, but I didn't want to find out. So I went to lunch with a friend and sent MD. The only items purchased were those on the list! So impressive! Someday I hope to be this strong. I'm working on it, I swear. For now, avoidance seems to be the best (and most frugal) policy.

Another excuse for being late!

Do you know the Seinfeld episode where they keep saying "these pretzels are making me thirsty?" Well, in the same tone say "this frugality is making me tardy."

This morning I was made aware that there really weren't enough leftovers from dinner last night to make 2 lunches for today, let alone enough for tomorrow (I was at PTA so MD cleaned up and put the small amount of leftover chicken in a container for one lunch). I remembered that I had planned breakfast for dinner tonight (a favorite around the short arms house) but breakfast for dinner doesn't give you any leftovers for lunch the next day. So my first thought was, "I'll just swing by the grocery store, pick up some turkey and some rolls and we can have sandwiches for lunch tomorrow." My second thought, "Really? You can't go one day without buying something?" Then I remembered I had a crock pot recipe that called for frozen chicken and BOOM, problem solved!

Not so fast. I don't usually (ever) allow much spare time in the morning. AND I hadn't set anything out the night before. Cut to me trying to find the cans of beans in the pantry, splashing myself with chicken broth because I'm trying to pour it too fast and realizing I only have one cup of salsa instead of the two the recipe calls for. (Believe you me, I was thinking of another word that goes along with Frugal February.) But I persevered. Everything was in the crock pot, ready to go, I quickly packed myself a lunch and then looked at the clock. Hmmm, suddenly I had two minutes to make the seven minute drive to school.

So, the peeps were a bit tardy, but dinner was tasty and they will also be delicious for lunch tomorrow.

Since we're all being honest here I did spend one dollar today (on a package of M & M's from the stupid vending machine). I wanted the 90 cent package of cookies so I could have 1/2 today and 1/2 tomorrow. However, when I (repeatedly and aggressively) pressed its number I kept getting the "make another selection" message. Then when I pressed "coin return" it wouldn't give me my money back. Then the nice person behind me offered to push the button and it didn't work for her either. So her friend offered to push the button, no dice. I contemplated asking them to just give me a dollar and they could use mine which was already in the machine, but I try to avoid being looked at like the crazy lady at the vending machine. Hence the M & M's. Next time I'll just have a piece of gum.

February is Frugality Month!

Back in January, after the bills had been paid from Christmas gifts and all of the holiday fun, I started thinking about February. And how it might be time to buckle down on a few things. Every now and then I like to set a challenge for myself, plus I'm a big fan of alliteration, therefore I have declared February to be frugality month. Frugal February.

This month I have decided we will live on just one income, just to see if we could make it. Thankfully, this isn't a necessity. So far both MD and I have managed to survive the numerous layoffs that have occurred at the company we work for (knock on wood). However, it has been stated that another 13 million dollars in cuts will most likely need to be made this year, and we all know you don't cut 13 million by just eliminating pens and copy paper. So I thought it would be good to see if we could survive on less. We've done this before. Years ago, before I got pregnant we did the same thing, just in case I decided I wanted to stay home with the baby we (I) needed to know if we could pull it off. It worked out OK. Not great, just OK. Even for a cheapo like me, sometimes it was a bit too much. The fact that I knew we could do it was comforting though. I've always liked working for pay so I returned to my job although I've now worked half time, 75% time, full time and 80% time trying to find the right balance. I also don't want to turn this into a post about working at home vs. working for pay (I would be the first to tell you working at home as a "stay" {ha ha} at home mom is HARD, HARD, HARD work).

I digress. Back to the challenge. I decided we would start the month with whatever money was "left over" in the checking account. Side note--I love that idea--"left over" money. HA! It reminds me of the days in college when people would ask you if you had "any extra beer" like the case suddenly came with 25 or 26 instead of 24. Not that I was drinking a case of beer, or with people who were doing such a thing mind you, this was only an example...

ANYWAY, I figured the "left over" money would be enough to make it to payday on the 10th. Piece of cake. Most of our bills are due after payday and I really couldn't see any surprise expenses in the next couple of weeks. Only January was kind of expensive. Insurance was due. We also typically pay the full year of our shared cell phone in January. We had a date night at a fancy restaurant. A deposit on Boy Scout camp in the summer was required. After making our usual transfers to the savings account and minus a donation to the Red Cross, it appears that our "left over" funds total...gulp, $42.40.

And so we begin. I'll let you know how it goes.