Month: August 2014

Not Sleeping! NEVER!

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Bed time battles? What’s up with that? I would gladly lay down and pass out for an entire 8-10 hours if possible. No need for prompting, bedtime stories, snacks, drinks, cuddles… just quiet, a blanket and a pillow. I’m good to go. Pillow and blanket optional if it’s quiet without kids to worry about.

Here’s bedtime at my house:

G: cuddle, pop in bed = asleep five minutes later.

S: Pick up toys, brush teeth, tuck into bed. Has to go potty. Brush teeth again. Tuck. Needs a snack (he is ‘starvin’ ). Brush teeth again. His water is old (it’s from ‘laaaaast night). Needs new water. Tuck. Bed time story with his big ‘ol flashlight (those super awesome ’80’s Playschool ones that turn color. Yah, it was mine as a child). Water. One more snack please? Uh-oh, potty emergency! Teeth again. Tuck. Lights off. Mom leaves.

You would think that the hour of activity listed above would result in an hour or quiet for Mom right? Oh no, it continues…

S: ‘Mama, mama, mama! One more thing! One more thing! I LOVE YOU!’. Tuck. Cuddle. Drink. Mom leaves again. Camps out right in the hallway with my tablet as he peeks out at least twice and mumbles something like ‘mama needs to go downstairs’. She doesn’t. Read for another 15 minutes. Tiptoe in to see if he is asleep.

Most nights he is. Some night, like last night, I go downstairs and sit to talk to my husband (who is out of town working). I hear a big crash from above the living room (in my room), then quiet. I go up to check and he is not in sight. Guess where? Yep- under the bed with his sleeping bag and some treasured items. He is safe. He is asleep. Mission accomplished. Off to enjoy a celebration beer… very quietly… don’t want to wake them up and start again!

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Bed in a Box

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You know those Tempur-madic-foamy mattress deals? I made a huge mistake! I bought one to replace the destroyed mattress in our travel trailer. It was an awesome deal (via Amazon, of course) and came in a box. Super heavy, but easy for my hubs to get in the door of the trailer. I was not there for the transport, but did get to sleep on it. Heaven. Heaven in a trailer is saying a lot.

Bad news friends. Amazon sells those things in KING size. Perfect for my bed! 70% off the retail price and same brand as the one we bought for the trailer. FREE SHIPPING! Be there in two days.

… and it was. FedEx brought it right to my garage door. He nicely asked me if I wanted him to put it inside since there were stairs, but he seemed to have a ‘bad back’ when he lifted it out of the truck. And I was super concerned. He even had a special belt on. He mentioned something about waiting until my husband came home. Hah.

Turns out the thing weighs as much as a car. At least one of those small ones. I pushed and slid it to the stairs. Then rested. Then it was easiest to sort of walk it up the stairs, since that meant I didn’t need to lift any of the weight. Got it inside. Done for the day. Wishing I had one of those special belts.

Day two of the mattress moving was a big one. To get it to our room, it had to go up the stairs, turn, then up another set of stairs, turn, down the hall, big turn and into our room. All the while keeping my littles out of the way.

I sent the kids up the stairs to move them out of the way. I pushed it laying down up the stairs, but it was so heavy it required me (well me specifically because I didn’t weigh enough to push down on one end to pop the front up higher) to lift the top up a little and push at the same time. Does that even make sense? Well we got to the landing and G had come back down the stairs to see how we were doing (we, being the mattress, my new best buddy, and I).

I stood the mattress box up, picked her up and put her far into the office and ran back. Huffing and puffing. Playing the same lift/push game as the first flight, we made it up to the top. From here I did a superwoman run/push  combo into our room. S was very impressed and did refer to my super powers being almost as strong as his.

Day two and a half. After some panting, water drinking, stretching and resting… I was ready to switch the mattresses. Took the old one off- simple. Muscled the box onto the bed. Not as simple, but did it. Wrestled the mattress out of the box. Cut it out of it plastic wrap and BAM! Instant mattress. It was so amazing I wish I would have video taped it.

It. Is. Heaven.

Worth losing five pounds of sweat getting it in there. Worth the back breaking push/pull method. Worth the $600 (seriously. Good deal) But… the old mattress is definitely taking up residence in the hall until there’s some men around to move it.

Accidental Restaurant Denial

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Every once in a while you forget things, right? Like… oh man, did I leave on my curling iron? Or: Did the garage door close all the way? Is the alarm set? And what do you do? You go and double check.

Tonight I forgot something and had to experience it to remember. Wondering what it was? THAT I HAVE A THREE YEAR OLD AND A ONE YEAR OLD. Know what that means? I should NOT be allowed in a restaurant. Seriously. Embarrassing.

Off my mom, step dad, S, G and I go… happily skipping into the Japanese delicious dining center. I’m in denial, so excited for my soup they put crispies in and it pops in your mouth. And tea! And egg rolls!! Oh- egg rolls.. .delicious.

We go to sit down and my son is instantly bouncing on the booth seats and my daughter wants nothing to do with the high chair. We manage to get everyone seated. S kindly pours himself some ‘tea’ which doesn’t taste quite right. Turns out to be soy sauce. Got him a new cup as I look over to see my mom’s face after tasting her ‘tea’. Turns out to be soy sauce. Strike One.

We distract the kids with ice cubes. That gets us a few minutes peace. Luckily they are quick with the appetizers here so those come out quickly. G loves food and chows down on some cabbage salad for a while. S refuses to eat anything and is busy making ‘soup’ in his water glass. Yes, it does definitely involve spitting food into the glass for the desired texture.

G doesn’t really like much else beyond cabbage and rice apparently. Everything else she tastes and then whips (seriously… she might be a pitcher someday) into the areas in front of our neighboring booths while making a uh-uh noise. Strike Two.

S has relocated to the floor under the table. Seems safe and quiet. Next thing I notice he is under G’s high chair. Not so bad, right? A few minutes later he is LAYING in the middle of the floor with waitresses walking around him. He is making Japanese food angels out of the food G has discarded onto the floor. Strike Three. We are out.

This whole time I’ve disillusioned myself into thinking I could have a conversation with my parents. No such luck. Add to that I see five groups of people I know (which never happens) and there’s other families with kids that are behaving perfectly. Off we go to the car. Obviously my son was not a fan of this choice, so he was kicking and screaming while I tried to scoop him up. Then he crawled under the table screaming ‘I want ice cream!!!! I. Want. Ice. Cream!!!”. Who’s kid is this and what happened to mine?!

You forget things? You go back and check. So… check. No eating out for us.

 

My Other Self

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There’s a lot of role filling that goes on in life. I remember in school having to make a list of who you ‘are’: mom, wife, sister, aunt, teacher, maid, diaper changer expert, etc. It’s amazing how you can get swept up in those terms and forget to think of what ELSE you could be.

That’s what happened to me. I loved my life, had what I wanted/needed for the most part, but I had forgotten what it meant to dream. To think about what could enhance or improve mine and my family’s lives… experiences, special treats, retirement plans (yah… self-employment really impaired my retirement planning), and at some points to keep us full of the requirements (food, electricity, gas, etc).

Let me put you in my shoes May 2013…

My second baby was two months old. My husband left to go to work out of town when she was six weeks old. That leaves me nursing, teaching again (self-employed means a very short maternity time), taking care of a newborn and a toddler (he was two at the time). We had relocated my preschool into a new school we built on our property (next to our house). This was a rebuilding/recovery year. My school’s enrollment was 1/3 of what it generally was. The income was 1/3 of what we were accustomed to.

There I am at the grocery store with toddler in the cart and baby in the carseat in the cart. We are finally going up to visit my husband and then his sister. I’m buying groceries to take with us, along with diapers and pull ups, snacks for the road, etc. Picture me, standing in the fruit section, looking at the delicious apples.

Bright, shiny, honey crisp apples: $712 a pound;

Red ‘Delicious’ apples (which, btw, are not delicious): $free.

Okay actual prices were not that extreme, but it felt like that! There was no way I could splurge and buy the expensive (and my favorite) apples.

My latest promotion certificate came in the mail! We checked on the way home from snowmachining at the cabin!

My latest promotion certificate came in the mail! We checked on the way home from snowmachining at the cabin!

I paid for our groceries, got us all into the car, and proceeded to have a small meltdown. I called my mom babbling about apples and no money and realized I was going to have to do something to change that.

That weekend we were up visiting my sister in law and she was telling her friends all about her energy business. It was a kismet moment. I was so excited to find something I could do, in addition to my preschool, that not only would create long term residual income (Hello, retirement!!) as well as weekly income… plus all she does is help other people save money!

I started May 2013 and haven’t regretted a day. I refer to that trip up there as a gift and a blessing… something that changed the direction of our lives. If you’re reading this you definitely should check out my website and learn a little more about it!!

http://lifelongenergy.whyambitworks.com

Unlimited E-Library

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Kindle Unlimited. Seems like a trick.

I am doing the free month of Kindle Unlimited. I got a tablet from my hubby for our anniversary last December… with the craziness of Christmas I didn’t really get into it until January.

I couldn’t believe how many books I devoured in the first month. It was ridiculous. Plus they were so affordable compared to buying books in print.I think now my husband might strongly dislike the tablet due to the attention it receives.

Disclaimer:I do have to say I love books. Like real books, in my hand… the smell of books combined with the fact that they aren’t going to go all ‘low battery’ on you. Oh and library books/used books.. .don’t even get me started on that kind of magic! Who knows who has read the book you have in your hands?! A germ-phobics nightmare and my paradise. I have (what could be considered) my own library of books, including some hidden in the crawlspace (to keep them safe from my kids) from my childhood.

There I am on Amazon and they are offering a Kindle Unlimited!! What?! $9.99 and you get unlimited books to read. Well… not any book. Just the ones in the Unlimited library. Not that I’m saying I’m going to  consume all those books and be out of material…. just saying that the ones I seem to want to read still cost money. That leaves me with the dilemma : do I just read books and discover new authors I may love, because they are ‘free’ with subscription? Or do I cancel said subscription and buy the ones I want to read?

These are the problems of a mom who needs an outlet. We’ll see how the Kindle Unlimited journey develops. While exploring the new unlimited library… I did end up ordering some awesome ‘real’ books… that site really just sucks you in.

 

*UPDATE! They keep adding more and more books to the Unlimited. It’s pretty much awesome!