So Tired

These past couple of days have been crazy busy here in our little household. I feel like I have been going non-stop! We were supposed to meet a girl to interview to sit for us for lunch, she was a no show. But that was due mostly in part to her being sick the night before and yahoo being what it is, I had no idea! Tuesday was MOPS. Always a good time, and the boys and I really enjoy this. But we get home in the afternoon and time seems to fly right past us. Today I scheduled a spur of the moment visit to a Preschool we have in mind for our oldest guy. Followed by finally meeting our girl for lunch.
My son LOVED the Preschool and if he could, would go tomorrow! He was so excited and loved looking in the classrooms with the other kids. He also got to play on the playground for a few minutes with the 3yr old class. He listened closely to the lady giving the tour and was very obedient. It uses Christian curriculum which is SUPER important to us, and the price is just right! Then since I needed to pick up some legal pads for my business, we ran by Target because we were a little early for our lunch meeting. Of course I bought more than I intended. Can someone tell me if they have EVER gone into Target and ONLY bought what they went in for??
They have EASTER stuff out! Of course I had to get a few things....
From there we went to lunch at Panera's. The sitter to be was running a little late so I got the boys and I started on lunch. Well, they were done by the time she and her son arrived. So they were getting BORED. As little guys will. The new sitter was very sweet and I know she will work out great. The boys warmed right up to her. But as time passed they got very restless and we were soon trying to keep them from running all over the restaurant. Tough work! I have absolutely NO NEED for a gym or an exercise video at this point.
We came home, and my goal was to start pulling stuff together for an out of town client who is flying in tonight and I will be meeting with this weekend, as well as get the house picked up for the sitter. I was checking my email, only to discover my client last minute had decided she also wanted to meet with some of the photographers and the 2 florists I had sent her info on a MONTH ago. Just now. The day before. Yeah, like they have nothing better to do than to wait for me to bring them clients. So I have been scrambling to schedule MORE, yes you read that correctly, MORE VENDORS. Which has been near to impossible. Where we live, it is almost always considered Wedding Season. And most vendors are either working at a wedding on the weekend, or with their families. Which I understand. And had she given me a little more notice, I may have been able to schedule something. But certainly not the day before. I did my part, but she needs to do hers as well. I managed to squeeze in two on Saturday morning. I am EXHAUSTED. This woman is tiring me out and I have not even met her in person yet.
In the middle of all this, I discovered my young guy, who was supposed to be napping, had LOCKED himself in his room. And its not the type of lock where you just turn the little knobby thing. No, you have to push on the door knob and turn it to lock it. I couldn't get him to do it again. So I took the door knob off. And then promptly called my dad. My poor guy was trying to help and sticking his little fingers under the door. I finally got it to unlock and he was so happy to finally be free!
Now it is close to when I usually start dinner and I haven't cleaned anything yet. I am so very tired, I am not done putting together things for my client, and I need to clean up and organize my desk space. Procrastination does not pay people! Alright, I am getting up and getting to work! I am sure I will have some GREAT stories after this weekend. Notes will be taken, and I may post some pics if I can find my battery charger for my camera!

Chicken and Dumplings Link

I thought I would link you all to Chicken and Dumplings in the Crockpot. I found it through browsing and finally landing at Slow Cooker Thursday hosted by Sandra. It looks incredibly simple and sounds super tasty! I am going to be out of the house all day Thursday with a client, and the boys will have a new sitter. I wanted to make something yummy that I thought they would both like (we'll see how that goes!) and that could be ready when I get home! I got my crockpot as a wedding gift, almost 6 years ago. And only recently have really begun using it. What a great item to have!

WHACK!!!!

That was me about 15 minutes ago. God hit me in the head with a 2x4. I just was not paying attention to what He was trying to get me to do. Currently we have Comcast cable, the digital service with OnDEmand, or rather On Occasion since that is about when it works. I am always looking for ways to lower our monthly bills, and had always been under the impression that I could not switch to the Dish Network because of our location and sticking with Comcast was our only choice. Anyone who lives where we live, probably recieves something called Mint Magazine. This comes with ads for local businesses and coupons for things. The most recent one had an ad for Dish Network. As far as I knew, Comcast and Dish were the two cable networks in town. The ad for Dish was very enticing and a good deal less than Comcast. I have always hated paying what we pay. So I called. The first person I talked to, went through my options with me, ran my info and told me I was approved no problem! But because someone else was using our home number for their account so they sent me to someone else. At which point I was told I was NOT approved, and would have to buy the system for $249. But we could restart my husbands account no problem. But oh wait, the leasing offer was not eligible to re-activate. I would have to PURCHASE the equipment anyways. All this to save about $40 a month. I got disconnected several times. I think that was the first WHACK! I called back. They had no knowledge of my husbands account being reactivated. GGGGRRRRR!!!! WHACK!!! HELLO! HEY YOU, I AM TRYING TO TALK TO YOU!!!! I'm sorry, God, could you hold on a sec, I am trying to save some money here. I called AGAIN.
The guy I talked to still didn't know what was going on: "You were approved, and then not approved with the same info? You want to purchase? You do know its cheaper from Radio Shack, right?"
Me: "Ummm, no, does Best Buy carry it too?"
Guy:"Oh sure, go purchase it and then call us back"

I can do that. So I called Best Buy. No, they only carry Directv. I am sorry, "Whats that?" Thats not the Dish Network, for those of you who are as clueless as I am. And the cost for a reciever? $49.
I called Radio Shack. $99 for a Dish Network reciever. Now, which sounds better to you?? I am still thinking I need to purchase a reciever.

Now, our phone company is Bellsouth, and that is also who I have DSL through. And I KNEW that if I had the Dish Network, I could bundle and save more money. That was my goal anyways. So I called Bellsouth, thinking of course I was going to be told to purchase the reciever and get set-up. They bundle with Directv. Thats right. I finally heard my Heavenly Father gently tap me on the shoulder and whisper,"Thats what I was trying to tell you..." Oh, and because I am in good standing with Bellsouth, I was already approved and they are coming on Saturday to install. And will pay less than $40 a month for our cable, because I bundled services and stopped being so stubborn.

God cares about our finances! I know He does, and all that time he was trying to tell me this was a better deal, stop trying to get the Dish Network, I have something better for you. Good thing I eventually listened to Him before I spent over $150 trying to SAVE money!!

Menu Plan Monday

I love this new image for Menu Plan Monday, makes me want to run out and buy an apron! Anyway, this was my first week grocery shopping using The Grocery Game. It took me a bit longer than I thought to figure out what it was I wanted to do. I clipped and sorted coupons and made a Menu for the week all at the same time! So I will share my menu first, and then my experience with The Grocery Game!

Sunday: Pizza
Monday: leftovers or scrounge night
Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner, Pancakes, scrambled eggs, etc.
Wednesday: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Thursday: Chicken and Dumplings in the Crockpot
Friday: Chicken Pesto Pasta, Salad and garlic cheesy bread
Saturday: Roast, Mashed Potatoes, and baby carrots

My hubby went out again this morning, but thankfully will be back on Friday for about a week before he goes out again. It was so nice to have him home this weekend, and even nicer to be able to sit back let him do things around the house. He always likes to let me relax as much as he can when we are home. Unfortunately we had a TON of stuff to get done while he was home. And I really wanted to get ALL the grocery shopping done while he was here, so I wouldn't have to do it by myself with the boys and trying to haul everything upstairs!
Now, with the Grocery Game, you are supposed to wait until between Sunday and Tuesday of each week to shop. The reason being that the stores do 72 hour sales you normally wouldn't find during the week. Our list was a lot longer than I usually make it because of that. We had run so low while I tried to NOT run to the store. I think you are supposed to pick just one store to shop at, but all three of the store on my list are literally in a five mile radius. And I don't think I would have done as well otherwise. I made my list, went through the online list and marked what to get at which store. I pulled my coupons for what I needed and off we went. I saved OVER $60 my first time out! I think I did pretty good! I learned that I could use 2 coupons on an item, even if it was a BOGO. I even got a FREE gallon of Milk! And as I learn to stockpile and only get what I need, my list will get smaller and I will spend less because we will need less! I think this is GREAT!!

Saucy Crockpot Meatballs

You can go here for the recipe!
It is really good, I am going to make it actually for Saturday night because tomorrow is my littlests birthday and we will go out for dinner then instead of tonight. And my hubby gets to come home tomorrow too! It turned out he did have duty today. At least we have the weekend!

I Only Have A Minute!

Barely that. After talking myself in and out of attending our church's M.O.M.S group at the park every time I woke up last night, I finally decided to go. I knew once I told the boys we were going to the park, and that one of their favorite little friends would be there too, there shouldn't be too much fight in the getting dressed process. So you would think. My oldest has grown VERY attached to this shirt he got from his cousin. Its mostly white with orange short sleeves and an elephant in various shades of orange on the front. He LOVES this shirt. He sleeps in it, then I wash it and he wears it during the day.
He wore it last night to bed, and I figured since he was clean when he went to sleep, he could wear it today. Until I discovered he had gotten into my desk before I got up and drawn all over it with a dry erase marker. I made him change, and OH MY HEAVENS I think I commited the unpardonable sin! I told him he couldn't wear it to the park, but could put it back on when we got home. He wanted to take it in the car and change after he was done at the park....
And then my little guy wanted to go pantsless to the park. Ummmm, yeah.... NO! I don't think so! But we finally got there and they had a great time. It was nice to be out in the sunshine (it was actually kind of warm out, my little guy was sweaty in a shirt and pants) and fresh air. Plus I think it will help the day go by a lot quicker. And it was nice to meet some moms from our church!
And now I should be cleaning like a mad woman, and getting my house back in order. Am I motivated? At this moment, no. I am tired from the park expedition, and then the store and now home.
Here is my one vent for the day! When I got home, the UPS man was sitting right in the middle of the parking lot. Blocking the 5 EMPTY spots right in front of our apartment. I had to get the boys upstairs and a few groceries too. But instead I am just sitting there. I honked my horn to get his attention to move his truck. Nothing. Pretty soon I see him coming from upstairs, which is where we live. So I rolled down my window to get his attention. He still had the packages and since my little guys birthday is tomorrow I figured they were for us. But he ignored me, got back in the truck and drove off. I had to get the boys and the groceries upstairs and there was of course a little note saying they would be left at the office. And since I had just gotten the boys out of the car and up the stairs I was not about to go and put them back in the car to get packages he could have just handed to me!!! But, deep breath, its all good. I will get my house together, have a nice evening and we will be able to get Damon in the morning! YAY!!

Am I My Mom??

Nah, probably not completely, or even close for that matter. Its something we all fear and hope never happens! That dreaded statement, "I sound just like my mom!" And there have been occasions when I could see her lurking around the corners of my mind.
Growing up, my mom was known throughout our circles of friends as the strict one. I am talking if I could have been the girl in the plastic bubble, because I would have been safer, she would have done it! We were never allowed to walk to the corner store by ourselves, or ride our bikes to our friends houses. Going to the mall with a friend, not a chance! And I understand to a point now, that a lot of this protectiveness was born out of fear for our safety. Not a lot of this changed as we grew up, we still couldn't ride with our friends to the mall until they had been driving for a year, and while my friends were out TP-ing eachothers houses on the weekend (don't worry we always helped clean it up the next day!) I was told proper young ladies did NOT need to be out at that time of night.
But on the other end of things, I was close with my parents, we talked about things, crushes, boys, dreams, goals, etc. And my mom always tried to do what she thought was right. A little misguided perhaps from events in her own childhood, but well-meaning.
One thing I remember was that my mom went out of her way to make really GREAT lunches. Most of the kids in our classes had the average sandwich, chips, milk and cookie. Maybe hot lunch if it was edible. Maybe the occasional bagel or muffin.
My Mom got creative, we had whole wheat fritters cut into animal shapes with a yummy PB spread, oatmeal bread with strawberry creamcheese, and ham and cheese roll-ups. And I am sure other things I am forgetting about. But I remember how all our friends were in awe of our lunches, they were never ordinary and always good and healthy too!
Now, as I am packing my boys lunches for the first time ever, for MOPS, I have been thinking about those fun things I had to eat. I wrote down the recipes for these items at one time and now I would love to find them and make them for my boys lunches!
I know alot of things my parents did, we probably won't do with our kids. But that is what being a parent is, learning from our parents mistakes, tweaking the rules we lived with and making new ones for our own families.
My sister and I were loved, and even though we didn't have all the things our friends did, we still had quite a lot.