I love Saturday mornings. I take Saturday mornings as me-time. If my husband is not working, I sleep in, or take a bath. If he is working, I let my daughter watch cartoons (or a Disney movie). This morning was one such morning. My husband went to work, and I fed Eileen.
After breakfast, she went to play in her room. I checked to make sure she hadn't taken anything with her, and let her be. She closed the door. This fact made me a little uneasy, considering that she hates being in her room with the door closed. I again went to check on her. She wasn't doing anything wrong, and a quick search of her room proved that she didn't have anything she shouldn't.
Okay, I let her be, and sat down to read the news. After about 10 minutes of Eileen not leaving her room, my stomach began to turn. I went to check on her, yet again. What I discovered was.... (*insert squeeking horror music*).....a mess. When a toddler has nothing bad to play with, they create their own. I encountered art from the diaper (Yes, poop smeared into the carpet in several spots.)
So, part of me wishes that I had let her watch a movie this morning when she asked. After bathing her and scrubbing the carpet, I realize that it's almost time to get ready for our barbecue with friends.
My stubbornness has decided that we can be a few minutes late....I will go now, and pour my cup of coffee. Then I will read at least one article. Life is too busy to not take some relaxation time.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
My Guide to Moving
Okay, so..no, I'm not moving AGAIN anytime soon (at least I hope not). I did realize, however, that I have A LOT of experience moving. Okay....so, I guess this could also be called a "guide" to moving.
I will mainly be focusing on Out-of-Town moves, but many of the same principals can be applied to same-City moves.
First, look at how much of a budget you have. Next, try to see if this budget can be expanded (even the most budgeted mover will be astonished at the cost of a long-distance move.)
In an ideal world, your company would pay to have a professional moving company pack, and carefully move all of your possessions. Well, we all know that this is Not an ideal world.
After your budget is established, decide whether you will need to sell furniture, and "downsize" to afford your move. Let's face it, going through all of your things and "purging" can be the most fulfilling part of a move, if you let it.
For the furniture and big items, you may want to consider something more than a simple garage sale. Take pictures of all your high ticket items, and post them for sale in your local Craigslist a few weeks before your garage sale is scheduled.
After posting big-ticket items, get prepared for your garage sale. Remember....The goal of your garage sale is to purge items while making some money. It's too late in the game to be trying to "get rich" off of your extra things. I will place a guide to running a Garage Sale later.
When Packing, decide whether to buy boxes, or work a little more to get free ones (people post "free boxes" on Cragslist every few days). When wrapping fragile items like dishes, decide if you would rather buy a box of wrapping paper, or use newsprint (remember that the ink can rub off onto your things)
After Downsizing, choose your truck company. My husband and I have been very pleased with prices and truck quality from "Budget", and "Penske".
Keep in mind when choosing your truck, that Diesel trucks get much better gas mileage. If a diesel truck is $100 more than a regular gas truck, then you may actually be better off going with the diesel truck (you will save more than $100 in gas on a long distance move).
If you are moving a family, and have 2 adults, decide whether the better option for you is to tow the car and fly the family, or drive the car with the family (keep in mind the expense of this option includes extra gas and motel/hotel costs, as well as possibly losing your sanity)
When budgeting, keep in mind the deposits on a new apartment/house (or the down payment if buying). Also, there will be deposits on most utility companies.
Last of all, but one of the most important.
ASK FOR HELP
Moving is never fun, but the last thing you need to do is overwork and over stress yourself to the point of getting sick (something I have done with far too many of our moves).
Ask for help with the packing. On moving day, ask for as many people to help as possible (you could offer to provide pizza for everyone helping).
I hope this helps anybody thinking of moving
Signing out,
Me
I will mainly be focusing on Out-of-Town moves, but many of the same principals can be applied to same-City moves.
First, look at how much of a budget you have. Next, try to see if this budget can be expanded (even the most budgeted mover will be astonished at the cost of a long-distance move.)
In an ideal world, your company would pay to have a professional moving company pack, and carefully move all of your possessions. Well, we all know that this is Not an ideal world.
After your budget is established, decide whether you will need to sell furniture, and "downsize" to afford your move. Let's face it, going through all of your things and "purging" can be the most fulfilling part of a move, if you let it.
For the furniture and big items, you may want to consider something more than a simple garage sale. Take pictures of all your high ticket items, and post them for sale in your local Craigslist a few weeks before your garage sale is scheduled.
After posting big-ticket items, get prepared for your garage sale. Remember....The goal of your garage sale is to purge items while making some money. It's too late in the game to be trying to "get rich" off of your extra things. I will place a guide to running a Garage Sale later.
When Packing, decide whether to buy boxes, or work a little more to get free ones (people post "free boxes" on Cragslist every few days). When wrapping fragile items like dishes, decide if you would rather buy a box of wrapping paper, or use newsprint (remember that the ink can rub off onto your things)
After Downsizing, choose your truck company. My husband and I have been very pleased with prices and truck quality from "Budget", and "Penske".
Keep in mind when choosing your truck, that Diesel trucks get much better gas mileage. If a diesel truck is $100 more than a regular gas truck, then you may actually be better off going with the diesel truck (you will save more than $100 in gas on a long distance move).
If you are moving a family, and have 2 adults, decide whether the better option for you is to tow the car and fly the family, or drive the car with the family (keep in mind the expense of this option includes extra gas and motel/hotel costs, as well as possibly losing your sanity)
When budgeting, keep in mind the deposits on a new apartment/house (or the down payment if buying). Also, there will be deposits on most utility companies.
Last of all, but one of the most important.
ASK FOR HELP
Moving is never fun, but the last thing you need to do is overwork and over stress yourself to the point of getting sick (something I have done with far too many of our moves).
Ask for help with the packing. On moving day, ask for as many people to help as possible (you could offer to provide pizza for everyone helping).
I hope this helps anybody thinking of moving
Signing out,
Me
A New Approach to Repairing Electronics
Eileen's favorite pastime has been putting her own Cd's in the cd player, and dancing. About 2 months ago, the cd player stopped working. Instead of throwing it out, I used it as a radio (yes, call me a cheapskate). I went to move it the other day, and noticed a clunking sound inside. Out of curiosity, I decided to take it apart. Today, I finally got around to doing just that. After taking the 8 screws out of the bottom, I was amazed to find all of my missing jewelry inside. 3 pair of earings, a bracelet (in the gears), and a pendant. My jewelry will now be locked, and the cd player( which is now working), will be out of reach.
Who could Embarras you more than...
Traveling with a toddler is definitely not what I would describe as a low-stress event.
The first flight in my most recent trip, however, started relatively smooth(except that I had a very large man sitting next to me, squeezing me into the window). We watched 5 minutes of about 8 different movies, read books, played with toys, ate snacks, and didn't make too much noise..... until *drumroll* about 10 minutes before the flight landed, my daughter (who is sitting on top of me with a dry diaper) either managed to "adjust the diaper" with squirming, or just flooded her diaper. Needless to say, I was wet from crotch halfway to knees, and had to walk to my next flight.
As I remind myself how much I love my daughter, I change her clothes/diaper. Then I realized that I forgot to put that spare pair of pants in my backpack....great.
Next time you think you have been embarrassed, try traveling with a toddler.
If that doesn't work to embarrass you, I'll tell you about the weeks of loving tigger, and yelling out every time she saw a tigger toy in public (only problem is that her 't' came out as an 'n')
The first flight in my most recent trip, however, started relatively smooth(except that I had a very large man sitting next to me, squeezing me into the window). We watched 5 minutes of about 8 different movies, read books, played with toys, ate snacks, and didn't make too much noise..... until *drumroll* about 10 minutes before the flight landed, my daughter (who is sitting on top of me with a dry diaper) either managed to "adjust the diaper" with squirming, or just flooded her diaper. Needless to say, I was wet from crotch halfway to knees, and had to walk to my next flight.
As I remind myself how much I love my daughter, I change her clothes/diaper. Then I realized that I forgot to put that spare pair of pants in my backpack....great.
Next time you think you have been embarrassed, try traveling with a toddler.
If that doesn't work to embarrass you, I'll tell you about the weeks of loving tigger, and yelling out every time she saw a tigger toy in public (only problem is that her 't' came out as an 'n')
How You Know Your Toddler Will Grow up to be a Neat Freak
It was a ''lazy day''. I wasn't feeling too well, so I was taking it easy. The house was clean, not spotless, but clean. We had just eaten lunch, and were getting ready for afternoon quiet time (Eileen won't take naps anymore, so we have 'quiet time to maintain sanity). I sat down and decided to put Eileen's current favorite movie, Shrek on. We watched it together for about 5 minutes, and she gets a very frustrated look on her face, walks to the table, and brings my dirty coffee cup to me. "Mommy cossee (coffee) ewww...dirty" is what she says as she hands the dirty coffee cup to me. After I take the dirty cup to the kitchen, she comes to me with a paper that who knows where she found it, and says ''ewww...trash''.
I finally get the hint (boy am I slow), and ask her ''Do you think we need to clean the house?'' She looks at me VERY SERIOUSLY, nods her head and says ''YESH"
Also, her favorite thing to do, is "wash dishes".
SHE ISN'T EVEN 2, YET!!!!!!!!!!!
I fear that I am raising a future clean freak.
I finally get the hint (boy am I slow), and ask her ''Do you think we need to clean the house?'' She looks at me VERY SERIOUSLY, nods her head and says ''YESH"
Also, her favorite thing to do, is "wash dishes".
SHE ISN'T EVEN 2, YET!!!!!!!!!!!
I fear that I am raising a future clean freak.
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