Family Blog!!

I have neglected my personal blog in favor of updating our new family blog.

The Art of Discipline

Recently I have been engaged in a forum discussion concerning discipline. First, know that my presuppositions are that the application of Scripture’s principles to all areas of life is required to live as a Christian. The term would be theonomy: believing that God gives us an answer for every issue in His Word.

That being said, I have been greatly assisted in the practical application of Proverbs by Michael and Debi Pearl of No Greater Joy Ministries. Please note that I do disagree with some of their other teachings, but on the subjects of discipline and submission I find no fault nor find them to stray from Scripture at all.

My first point is to give the verses oft quoted in defense of my position, and the Hebrew definitions behind them.

Withhold not correction from the child for if thou beatest him with the rod he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from hell. (Prov. 23:13-14 KJV)

Health – Eating, Breathing and Drinking

It’s funny – I was flooded with hilarious (though not at the time!) memories after reading one of my husband’s cousin’s notes on Facebook. She recalls not having sugary cereals or Kraft singles – and remarks at the very end how she is doing the same now that she’s a mom. I recall that I was about 5 before my mother was unable to keep a grain of sugar out of my mouth (a friend gave me a lollipop which I POPPED right in before my mother could take it from me graciously) and how until I was 13, we did not even have actual sugar in our house. I remember eating several odd things over the years:

Tofu burgers (which have the consistency of wallpaper paste)

Tofu Chili (which isn’t that bad, though lacks a good bit of flavor)

Soy Milk (which we now know isn’t so good for us)

Rice Milk (which was runny)

Almond Milk Cheese (I don’t know how to milk an almond but I’m not sure I want to know)

Soy Milk Cheese (which doesn’t melt even when said child attempts to light a fire to it)

Resolutions

Resolutions for 2009:

• 1. Figure out a bit more about my Roth IRA. I don’t get it. I should!
• 2. Read more than a magazine in a month. Writing in my journal and reading a real book should be prerequisites to eating an ice cream sandwich. (And a good excuse to do so! As if I need one….)
• 3. Write more frequently on my blog – that’s what they’re for, right?
• 4. Update my resume, which hasn’t been touched in nearly 2 years. I’ve managed to add quite a bit to my repertoire of “can-do.”

Parent Proverbs

All’s well that ends in a nap.

All that glitters is not a Disney princess costume.

Once bitten, twice afraid to go on a play date.

And my favorite:

A binky in hand is worth two under the car seat.

I think I could come up with a few more like:

When baby sleeps, let not dog see neighbor children.

A penny saved is a penny baby’s now earned.

A change in time saves nine squirts of pre-wash stain remover….

Ok anyway.

Thanksgiving Day – Feast and Family

Thanksgiving Day is in just 2 weeks approximately, and I have to say that I am looking forward to being this year’s host for Joe’s family.

Hopefully I won’t age quite that much in the process of doing so….

I don’t have a hard time being thankful all year, but I must admit that as the chill fall air strikes the world around me and the wind swirls colorful leaves across the road of my life – I tend to take a little more thought into the general goodness I have been blessed with and become a little more aware of just how much I have to be thankful for, especially this past year: 2008.

1. I celebrated a year of marriage.

2. We visited one of the most amazing historical sites in the country, Williamsburg.

3. We still have 5 days of vacation left over.

4. We have the most beautiful, fun, enjoyable baby I’ve ever known. (Slightly biased, I’m aware…)

Christmas is in the air

Christmas is in the air!  We took Reese to Portrait Innovations and then promptly spent way too much money on photos because they were so darn good.  She was laughing her head off and talking and we got some really great shots…..irresistable.  They’re posted on Facebook, for those of you who read this and not that (which highly probably is very few if any….).

My little munchkin has had a slight cold the past week – probably caught from her daddy. She’s fine except her nose is stuffy and requires much cleaning out every day.  Other than that you’d never know.  She’s as happy as can be and currently standing and sitting while holding on to me while I type.  Maybe I should hold on to her….

Hospitality

We had some folks over for supper last night which was really fun! I’m working on getting over my inhibitions to hospitality which have been: Our house is not exactly built for large groups. Our table seats 4 comfortably, not 8. Our living room seats 6. We have 4 plates that match. 6 glasses that match. A tight meal budget that doesn’t allow for “fancy” food. So I did spaghetti (and yes, I threw some of it out because I got it on sale anyway and made way too much of it……), we ate off mismatched plates and cups while our plastic 6 foot table from the wedding and our regular table made their way into the living room, where the guys talked and the gals gathered on the master bed. And you know? It was great fun and good conversation abounded. We have another round of dinner guests on Nov. 7 and we’re working our way around the office. Anyway – a hospitable home is a happy one. I’ve always known that. I’m glad to be able to start working on being one!

My child now groweth

My little baby is 14 some pounds now, growing like a little weed and has begun burbling at me, then cackles at whatever she is burbling about.  It is quite a fun stage in life.

I feel extremely tired.  Not sure why, because she’s pretty much sleeping all through the night or at the very least, almost all through.  We go to bed at 10 and get up around 6 or 7 depending on what day it is, and most days she sleeps from 9pm til about 6 – sometimes gets up at 4:30 to eat.  But I am literally about to fall over dead asleep almost all the time.  Yet when I try to take a nap, I can’t.

I’ve read two great things lately which I will share.

1 from Money magazine: People seem to forget around about every 4 years that the man elected will have less to do with the big decisions/changes than this little thing called Congress…..thank you, people!  I am so sick of people acting like whichever is elected will make SUCH a huge difference.  You’re more likely to get “different” if you try worrying a little bit more about your local judges and politicians and then your state representatives.  The city of Griffin, for instance, is run by horribly corrupt politicians.  Yet the people are more concerned with who owns the title “Mr. President” because in their deluded little minds they really believe that THIS time it WILL be different than LAST time…..and the time before…..and the time before….  Yes.  I am a realist and not a pessimist.

2 from Parenting magazine: Ignore the common “rule” of not worrying about the housework when you have a baby around.  Reality is that falling into a state of chaos does not help a new mom’s stress level.  AMEN!  I’m kind of sick of that advice, actually.  That and sleep when the baby sleeps because as I just said, I can’t get to sleep on the drop of a pin.  My body clock says to be awake during the day regardless of how much I wish my bodyclock would go on daylight savings time or something.  lol

I remembered a third thing of interest.  There’s such a thing as a Jane Austen Society.  Guess what I will not be joining?  :-p

Quack Doctors

First, research and other pediatricians have stated that a bilirubin level under 12 on the first day after birth and under 15 on the second day after birth is completely fine and NORMAL. 

Reese had a 9 on the first day, a 10 on the second day.

Also, hospital paperwork itself states that breastfed babies lose up to 10% of their birth weight within the first 72 hours and that this is NORMAL.

Reese had lost 7%.

Stephen Carter was our attending pediatrician. Word to the wise – if you think the dr. you want goes to that hospital because the hospital says he does, check with the dr. so you’re not stuck with the pediatrician that comes in who may or may not be an idiot and a quack…..

Ok. Carter wouldn’t let us go home the first day when she was a 9 saying that was a dangerously high level for a baby and that her 7% birth weight loss was dangerous and scary too. He talked to us for like 10 minutes about how she could have brain damage and that we had to put her under bilirubin lights.

Bilirubin lights are medieval torture instruments. When a baby is most vulnerable (first 2 days after birth) and need warmth and swaddling and cuddling, our poor baby was instead required to be naked under bright lights, thus also requiring her to have a scratchy mitt over her eyes that was too big and thus she was always pushing it off. I will hold that guy personally responsible if she goes blind from UV ray damage at 10!

He almost wouldn’t let us go home the second day, stating that because her bilirubin level was rising, she was very dangerous and needed to be monitored by a doctor at the hospital. We pushed back because I had called someone who told me what the true concerning levels were, and he came back and said we could go home IF they could get us bilirubin lights to come home with us. We had to stay an additional 5 hours in the hospital while they attempted to find us these lights – but the insurance company wouldn’t pay for them because her level was not a dangerous one thus the lights were not required.

So we finally get home, and the only requirement is we have to get an additional bilirubin test the next day to make sure she’s ok.

Guess what?

First, we get a bill from the insurance company for “partial” payment for the two additional bilirubin tests. Why? Because they were not required tests because she was not in a dangerous position at all. Basically we were just curious to see what her level was and that’s why we had two more tests done. (By the way, just ask what it feels like to stand in a room while a nurse uses a razor to cut open your baby’s foot and then squeezes on it for 10-15 minutes trying to get blood out while your 2 day old baby cries piteously.)

Second, the hospital sends us more bills to pay for the remainder of those bilirubin tests (so we’re paying 100%) because the insurance company now claims that these were to go under Reese’s account which meant another $1,500 deductible, even though she supposedly is under my account with my already paid $1,500 deductible…..

Third, the quack doctor who put us through all this and caused us another $400 in costs, sends us a bill for $50, which is the cost of his two visits to us.

Add in that I’ve been on the phone with the insurance company for 2 hours and 27 minutes about one situation or another, waited at the hospital for over 30 minutes two different times for those additional tests, the additional 29 hours we had to be at the hospital, the two torturing tests done to my poor baby, and the horrible lights she had to endure.

ALL because one doctor out of the whole bunch needed an adventure and think that her perfectly normal self was dangerous. 

Oh yes, and when I complained heftily that day I was told we could go home IF we signed a release saying we were leaving against medical advice (which is an immediate insurance won’t pay one penny situation).

Lovely?

Stay away from Stephen Carter! He is the reason I will never go to a hospital for a birth. It is also a sign to me that I should have listened to my intuition and my research and ignored the “free” hospital birth option and simply gone with a midwife at home.

Sleep

Sleep is a very elusive commodity.  One cannot live without it.  One’s brain apparently deteriorates without an ample supply of it.  One’s husband revels in it.  One’s baby continually drifts into it.  One’s dog relishes it.  

Why then does it elude me?  I had a cup of coffee at 10:30 this morning.  I’ve organized and de-cluttered and done a ton of housekeeping this weekend.  

I shall list my thoughts of such housekeeping in hopes that the blase boredom of thinking and writing of the mundane will lull me into the land of Winken, Blinken and Nod (as Bill of the Sugar Creek Gang would always say).

Laundry – to be considered completely clean, one must wash one’s clothing, bedding and towels on a regular basis.  Rugs and living room throws that one’s dog lies upon are also benefited from such activity.  Detergent is used at a higher rate than shampoo around here as I cannot bear to let anything sit waiting to be laundered for more than a day, while shampooing one’s hair falls into a secondary necessity on a schedule of every other day (or so).  I do however shower every day so being clean looking is not an issue (at present).  Currently Melaleuca’s green, cheap and extremely concentrated detergent is my favorite means to an end: clean fabric throughout our house and persons.

Dishes – eating off slimy plates is an activity I hope to never undergo.  Therefore, like laundry, dishes must be clean by process of washing in high-powered hydro technology.  The dishwasher was a great invention.  I’ve heard the word crap came from the inventor of the toilet (whose name was Crapper).  If this is true, then I still wonder why no one has decided to start saying JOSEPHINE! as a term for what one also would use the word crap.  Josephine Cochran invented the dishwasher in 1886 and yet, no one (that I am aware of, that is) says Josephine for anything but a proper name.  Perhaps that is because someone had already invented the toilet and thus a word for such things already in the works.  

Carpets, bathrooms, kitchens, trash cans and desk surfaces – likewise, must be cleaned in various ways.  Mundane speaking is getting to me – I feel the evasive presence of sleep becoming less evasive as every moment progresses into this horrifically boring conversation I am having with the keyboard.  

Closets – organized closets are a must for interacting sanely with society around me.  Cupboards, desk surfaces, bathroom shelves, and generally every other space that can possibly be organized, de-cluttered or re-organized also creates a more sane Liz.  If that is a conceivable notion whatsoever.  (That I can be sane, not more sane……)  Currently my favorite aid to organization is Real Simple magazine.

Shopping – for groceries in particular.  It is my most hated chore.  The only thing that keeps me from ordering everything online is that above all, I am a cheapskate and ever obsessed with obtaining a better deal (the best one is preferable) and even more obsessed with trying to find those obtainable “best deals.”  Currently my favorite site is Couponcabin.com.  Research shows that 1800 contacts.com has a rebate and free shipping, which puts the order to $160 for a year’s supply of contacts.  Further searching locates Drugstore.com has those two benefits but adds a $12 instant savings through their third party site, Vision Direct.com.  Still more research on couponcabin.com locates a coupon code for 15% off Vision Direct orders.  My $160 contacts were purchased for an end total of $95.  (Hallelujah……hallelujah……)  Back on track to grocery shopping however.  I hate it.  I hate the narrow shopper-crowded aisles, the unwieldy buggies with the ever present stuck wheel, the annoying beep of the scanner and the incompetent teenager who bags my fresh vegetables with raw meat!  The only somewhat good feelings from grocery shopping arise when one watches one’s total start at $128 and end up at $82 because of coupons and sales.

I can’t think of any more mundane chores.  Perhaps this is because I am finally…..just about…..asleeeeeeeeeeeeeee

So Friday is going to be Freaky

I hate traveling.  I love to visit new places and old ones, explore new surroundings, smell different air.  But I HATE traveling – the act of getting from point A to point B.

On Friday, my parents, my husband, my dog and my baby will squeeze into my suddenly seeming-very-small SUV and travel 600 some miles away to my grandparents, Boyd and Phoebe in Northwest Ohio farm country.

My grandpa is 96 as of April, my grandmother 90 as of July.  Grandpa is in a nursing home due to the small but insurmountable sorrow that he got old, couldn’t walk well, fell and broke something and they supposedly were only going to keep him long enough to get him walking again.  Ha.  We all know “they” in nursing homes tend to be full of crap.  Anyway, he hates it because he’s still got his head and just lacks his legs – well, they’re there in body, just not in spirit.

My grandma spends her days at home watching TV, eating chocolate and visiting my grandpa.  She is quite lonely but there are lots of relatives and friends and distant cousins thirty times removed who visit her often.  She paints china, a lost and dying art that I am actually good at and will pick up soon as she is giving me a small kiln that she never uses so I can doodle with some small projects, vs. the bigger ones she does like vases and such.

Anyway, we are leaving on Friday and will get there probably around midnight based on the time we will probably leave and the many stops we’ll have to make to ensure that everyone arrives with full mobile capacity and all their toes.  Oh and there will be a hungry baby every two hours approximately and a dog that will need to be walked…..

Oh boy.  This is going to be an adventure to say the least…..  I shall chronicle it upon return.

Life goes on…but the thrill certainly ain’t gone!

Standard days go something like this now:

11:30 pm – wake up to viciously-grunting-with-hunger baby. Crawl over snoring dog and husband.  Sprawl in chair with head hanging low half asleep as baby, now grunting with happiness eats.  12:00 am – flop back into bed on top of snoring dog….

2:30am – repeat.

5:00am – repeat.

6:00am – Joe kisses me goodbye and I mutter things about lunch and work and time and he tells me it’s all taken care of and I’m asleep again before he leaves the room.

9:00am – viciously grunting baby begins to scream bloody murder.  She has apparently taken lessons in torpedo launching and has done so several times in small diaper.  Then of course, eating must commence as quickly as possible.  

Basically this is repeated all day.  I’ll stop boring you with the same details over and over.

Life is Like Beer – It flows so fast but tastes so good

Ok that was lame.  :-)

So I’ve had this baby around for almost three weeks.  It’s fun!  A few dozen diapers and feedings a day, keeping up with the house, dishes and laundry consistently, a few hours of work here and there remotely, I even read a magazine front to back!  Haha.  Seriously though, the past few weeks have sincerely put fire in my heart to get us out of debt so that I can be a stay at home mom completely.  My goal is by our anniversary next year.  This means an even barer bones budget than we’ve managed this past year, and being extremely careful with the necessities.  But I think we can manage it.

That being said, I found out Amazon is now delivering (free over $25 of course) household goods.  I will be looking into that for price comparisons.  That would be fantastic if they were cheaper (for those of you who know and those of you who are about to know, I HATE SHOPPING with a passion) or at least comparable in price.

I did pretty good with my last run to CVS – I had coupons for $4 off some razor and its refills which happened to be one of the Extra Bucks items so I got like 3 packs of refills and the razor for like $12 instead of $24 and got $10 in EB which I then bought stretch mark eraser (hopefully lol), dry skin moisturizing shower gel stuff for Joe, and some other stuff which now escapes me…..  ?  Oh well.  In any case, I got like $40 worth of stuff for like $15.  Just wish CVS was on the corner here and not Rite Aid – I have to go out of my way down to Dallas for a CVS.  

In the midst of this busy life I have passed the milestone of 24.  Why is 24 a milestone? Because it’s one year away from being 1/2 way to 50 which is a milestone.  :-)  In any case, Joseph surprised me with a Falcons game – Pre-Season #2, first in Atlanta, against the Indy Colts who won, darn them.  But it was a blast.  We had Reese in her Falcons onsie and there were some big ole guys who saw her and freaked out at how cute she was.  lol  

Yesterday I moved two bookshelves double stacked with books from the office to the guest bedroom, dismantled, moved and reassembled the crib from our bedroom to the office, rearranged so the changing table is next to the crib and the other bookshelf is where the changing table was, and hung some picture frames differently.  It felt so good to move stuff!  Honestly, just to be able to move myself more freely has been fantastic. HA!

Later…….

  

 

  

I’m a mommy! :)

Well, Reese came on Sunday the 3rd!

Started early labor at 9am on Saturday.  By 8 they were getting a little harder….  My water broke at 4:45 am.  The doula came in and we went off to the hospital.  Got there at 6.  26 minutes of pushing and she was born!  :-)

She was 7 pounds 15.3 ounces, 20 inches long.  She has Joe’s nose and fingers and feet but my chin.  :)  She is the cutest little puddin’ and hardly ever cries whatsoever.  We’re all in love with her.  :-D

Joseph has been the sweetest and most endearing and considerate husband ever.  He is so good with her and with me and I’m more in love with him than ever before.

Max and Alli’s Wedding & False Alarms…

So Mr. and Mrs. Max Thelen are off to their honeymoon after a very sweet wedding and hot reception.  It was in the coolest place – the Heritage Club that had like 40 foot ceilings and a great layout for a reception.  It’s like a  group of subdivisions surrounding a park area and this humongous building with a fantastic set of pools and a water slide which were quite tantalizing considering that the A/C was either not working or not on and the entire building was 85 degrees or higher and outside it was only like 80…..  But in any case, the dancin’ was fun, though I did notice everyone out on the dance floor (except for good ole Captain KC and his 5 days post-delivery wife – man that woman is amazing) were young single guys and gals.  LOL  

Catie and I observed the crowd dancing and determined marriage must make you realize how much THAT will hurt tomorrow…..  I think Carol wanted to dance but Gary wouldn’t – we kept telling him the next early 90’s funky beat song was his cue but no success in getting him out there.  The guy who was to be the champagne pourer never showed up so Brandon and another gentleman volunteered.  I think I ate an entire bag of ice due to my pregnant obsession with it and the heat in the room making it necessary to avoid feeling dead in a ditch.  

Joe and Eric taped the epic moments – I never realized the great advantage Joe has but he can really get over the heads of most people at all times.  Which is why I probably never made it as a photographer – I was always having to clamber around people who were all 2 feet taller than me and all my good shots were either shadowed by shoulders or two seconds too late.  People have no respect for a camera.  They blankly gaze into the face of a camera/videocamera and fail to note the objects behind them (thus blocked by them) are the focus of said camera and not themselves.  SO MOVE ALREADY!  Sigh.

But I got some good shots which I will set up online for Alli if she wants them.  Some people, I am told as I would not understand this, don’t really have obsessions over as many hundreds of photos as they can possibly get of an event of such importance.  

Sigh.  

 

So onto false alarms – Thursday and Saturday night were major false alarms.  Thursday I had what felt like one solid contraction from 10 til midnight, with vociferous expulsion of stomach contents somewhere in the middle.  Last night, the contractions were starting in my back and moving front but they subsided both times after a cup of red raspberry tea.  But I think that means it’s getting closer…..  ???  :-D  :-D  :-D

I made the mistake of checking what orders we have so far.  BV did a “free book with $1 donation.”  Well there’s 800 $1 donations and a few $5 and $10.  The cost of shipping that “free book” alone will be probably $2.  I’ll refrain from further comment in this area.

Well, I’m off to a baby shower – I’ve had to miss church almost all this month just because of baby showers that have to be at 1 an hour away from us on a Sunday.  So much for trying to find a good Presbyterian church before the baby comes.  Speaking of which, we were going to try out one but were recommended to by people who go there not to.  That was a little weird.  I assume they must be in the process of not being there anymore.   But in any case, the church they recommended, we know people who left it too, so ….  ??  Church is depressing.  Finding one, being in one as “life” happens to those in it, feeling the need to leave one….  I’ve grown up leaving churches.  Joe has never left a church.  We both tend to want to find one and stick with it, good and not so good.  As Josh Harris says, stop dating the church.  As my grandfather said many times, church would be perfect if it wasn’t for all the PEOPLE that go to it!  The only thing that should majorly deter you from attending a church and sticking with that church is blatant heresy.  Smaller things can be tolerated.  That being said – the main purpose of the church is not to advise people on how to live (God’s Word is for that and we have three different versions of it in our house to refer to) but to be a close knit fellowship and family of believers who gather together in the name of God to worship Him and attend to each other.  

Sigh.

Our newly decorated bathroom and Aberdeen lovin’ on Reese.  :)

Kroger Today

So I went in needing to buy $75 in order to get $10 off, plus I had a 15% off $50+ coupon.  Several of the items I was already going to buy were buy 10 get $5.  You could do it multiple times so I did, getting juice and Propel vitamin-infused water for my labor (suggested by my doula) and some snacks and cheese.  I needed 2 more items so decided that we really needed 2 containers of Edy’s ice cream which would finish off my required items to get the money back.  Then I happened to see that if I bought ANY two ice creams I would get a free litre of A&W root beer.  Coke was also 4 for $11.  So I walked out with $125 of groceries for exactly $75.86.  

Fun stuff.  Oh and my receipt said I can enter to win a $500 gift certificate.  :-)

July is almost over…

Boy did I have a pregnant moment yesterday!  BV sent me off to get binder tabs for the board meeting binders.  I went rushing off to Staples.  I scavenge through the store.  I found some decent and cheaply priced tabs, 5 in a pack.  We needed 5 tabs per binder.  I bought 3 so we’d have 1 extra.  

Can anyone explain that screwed logic to me?  I literally counted it out and bought THREE packs of 5 thinking I’d have enough for 8 binders to get 5 and still have one left over.  I think I must have been thinking of Jesus feeding the 5, 000 or something.

Anyway, that was rather embarrassing.  So I sent Joseph off to the store to get the remaining needed packs, whispering to him in the hallway my idiotic mistake riiiiight when BV walks out of his office.  He got quite a kick out of it I think.  Sigh. 

I hope my brain comes back.  :-|  :-)

On other notes, we went to the pool yesterday – one of the few times I’ve been able to go this summer due to events on weekends.  It was glorious.  Perfect water temperature.

We finished disc 2 of John Adams – he has just been elected President.  We’re enjoying it immensely but rather disappointed that during their arguments about whether or not to support the French Revolution they make absolutely NO reference to two of the main reasons they did NOT: religious reasons and lawful reasons.  The series indicates that the only factor was “with Britain or against Britain” and that was a very small part of that heated discussion which endeavored upon the American people in the 1790’s.  It is quite intriguing to watch Jefferson and Hamilton at each other’s throats and Adams and Jefferson remaining friends………for now.  Anyway, it is quite worth a watch.  

I was given a brilliant idea and am following up on it.  In a nutshell: my mother’s only sister was killed in a car accident in 1970-something two weeks before her wedding.  She was on her way with her fiancee to pick up her china set at the store or their wedding rings (I have repeatedly heard both stories….).  A drunk driver hit them in the fog and she died instantly.  Anyway, the china set (which was a 12 piece place setting and several serving pieces) fell to my mother who did not like it.  I always liked it so it was kept away for me.  It’s probably been used 4 times.  Several plates were broken and a bowl, but most of the set is still in fine condition.  Replacements Limited, the huge store in NC that stocks patterns from all over the world and times, is sending me a list of what they will buy and what they will pay for it.  The rest I will attempt to sell on Ebay or something.  For those of you wondering why I am selling such an ‘heirloom’….which apparently I like….’tis because while I do like it, it cannot be washed in the dish washer and I am notorious for hating to hand wash dishes (due to 13 years of non-dishwasher capabilities in our house) and while the green and gold is very pretty, I am a black and silver kind of person and so our everyday china which can go in the dishwasher is much more to both Joe and my liking.  

Plus as of this week, I have switched to 30 hours a week (though somehow managed to do 33 this week…how DOES that happen – haha) so the pay has gone down so the extra money and two extra shelves in my cabinet will be handy.  

Oh yes, and I picked up Pink Pig from the pottery Girl’s Night – I am quite eccentric now that I see the finished product.  It was a fun night – I was a little worried that it wouldn’t be as fun as Joan’s planned night and I don’t think it was, but hopefully everyone enjoyed it nonetheless.  I wonder who will plan the next night……

Kroger Savings….

So the Entertainment Book coupon for July at Kroger is 15% off your purchase.  With that and another couple $5 or $10 off certain amounts coupons – I had $23 in coupon savings and a total of $193.25 savings.  I spent $299.15 for $484 worth of groceries….

So that was fun.  :-D

What they never told me about pregnancy…

It amazes me how many pregnant women or those who have been pregnant I’ve been around, yet was never informed about certain things.  For instance:

Taking one’s perfect fit engagement ring off.  Before it gets so tight that cold water, lotion, grease, butter and all other remedies for getting off rings are rendered useless.  I’m at the stage where my finger itches but I can’t even move my ring the slightest.  Yes, I know that’s not good.  I don’t know what to do about it.  So will continue to ignore the problem in hopes it will go away or my finger will fall off and the ring with it. 

Breathing normally becomes a long forgotten commodity.  You can be sitting completely still and be out of breath completely.  I think there is a 3 inch girl foot stuck in my 3 inch lung.

On a different note: I found Ben on Facebook.  Ben was a friend of mine when I was like 9 or 10 from the Messianic congregation we went to.  My mom was cleaning out stuff and found an old Hanukkah play program that we kids did and I started randomly looking for people.  Some people are hard – you find a name and you see the photo and you’re like hmmmmm, I don’t know.  Others you’re like that HAS to be them.  That is exactly what I picture them looking like from the 14 year old picture in my head of them at 7 or 8 years old.  Isn’t that weird?  I think that’s weird.  But whatever, it’s him and we said howdy.

Yigh

I feel disgusting.  Poor Jo had a time of it last night – ended up with a horrible temperature, achy, etc.  I appear to have got it today – had a VERY rough day.  I kept thinking I need to leave…..I need to go home……and then I didn’t.  I made it til 5:30.  Amazing.  Jo drove me home and made me go to bed but when he went back to the office to work on a side project, I got up and am now writing a blog post.

Silly me.  Sometimes I wonder why I have such a hard time just doing nothing. I feel sooo gross right now.  :-(  Worst headache I’ve had in a couple months….

Dave Ramsey Agrees With Me!

Cool.  Believe it or not, I was just yammering on at Joe about this in the car yesterday and today Dave Ramsey’s article was about the very same subject.  He also uses words like butt, crap, and twit so I appreciate his writing style.  :-D

His article as follows:

A couple of weeks ago, I worked late like I sometimes need to do to run my business. It was a nice Tennessee summer evening, and I was enjoying the drive home. About 7:30, as I pulled to a stop light a few blocks from my office, I noticed a light on in the corner office of a friend’s office building. Through the twilight I could make out my friend’s silhouette as he bent over his desk. Being a fellow entrepreneur, I knew what he was doing.

He was looking over some receivables. Some turkey hadn’t paid him, and he was trying to make his accounts balance so he would have the cash to make it another day. In that instant, I had a flashback to some of the ridiculous statements I’ve been hearing on the talking-head news channels and from some individuals during this political year. And I’ll be honest—I instantly felt the heat of anger flow through my body.

Let me tell you why. You see, my friend who I saw working late—we’ll call him Henry—is a great guy. He’s what you want your son to grow up to be. He loves God, his country, his wife, and his kids. He didn’t have the academic advantage of attending a big-name university. Instead, he started installing heating and air systems as a grunt laborer after he graduated from high school. He was and is a very hard and diligent worker, and before long, the boss taught him the trade. But when he was 24, after 6 years of service, the company he was working for got into financial trouble and laid him off.

Henry still had his tools, so he bought an old pickup to haul around his materials and tools, and suddenly he was in business. He knew about heating and air-conditioning, but not about business, so he made a lot of mistakes.

He persisted. He took accounting and management at the community college to learn about business. He started reading books on business, HVAC, marriage, kids, God, and anything else someone he respected recommended. Today he is one of the best-read men I know. Soon, because of his fabulous service and fair prices, he developed a great reputation, and his little business began to grow.

Henry started 15 years ago, and now he has 17 employees whose families are fed because he does a great job. He is in church on Sunday and seldom misses his kids’ Little League games. Sometimes he has to miss a game because some poor soul has their AC go out in the 96-degree Tennessee summer heat, but Henry makes sure they are served. He is, by all standards, a good man. He is, by all standards, what makes America great.

Henry and I are friends, and so he asked me some financial questions last year. I learned in the process that his personal taxable income last year was $328,000. I smiled with pride for this 70-hour a week guy because he is living the dream.

At the stop light that evening, I also thought of another guy I know—and that is where the anger flash came from. We will call him John. While John does not have the same drive Henry has, I can say that he, too, is a good man.

John also graduated from high school and did not attend a big-name university. He went to work at a local factory 15 years ago. When 5:00pm comes around, John has probably already made it to his car in the parking lot. He comes in 5 minutes late, takes frequent breaks, and leaves 5 minutes early. However, to his credit, he is steady and works hard.

Over the years, due to his steadiness and seniority, he has worked his way up to about $75,000 per year in that same factory. He seldom misses his kid’s ballgames, but most nights you will find him in front of the TV where he has become an expert on “American Idol,” “The Biggest Loser,” and who got thrown off the island. When he is not in front of the TV, he spends a LOT of time and money bass fishing on our local lake. He never works over 40 hours a week and hasn’t read a non-fiction book since high school.

This is America, and there is nothing wrong with either set of choices. Nothing wrong, that is, until the politicians and socialists get involved …

I have seen several elitist people on the talking-head channels make the statement lately that people making over $250,000 per year have a “moral imperative” to pay more in taxes to take care of the country’s problems. This is not only infuriating—it is economically, spiritually, and morally crazy!

Where in the world do these twits get off saying that Henry should be punished for his diligence? If you are John, where do you get off trying to take Henry’s hard-earned money away from him in the name of your misguided “fairness”? If you want to sit on the lake, drink beer, scratch your butt, and bass fish, that is perfectly fine with me. I am not against any of those activities and have engaged in some of them myself at one time or another. But you HAVE NO RIGHT to talk about “moral imperatives” about what other people have earned due to their diligence. That money is not yours! You want some money? Go earn some! Get up, leave the cave, kill something, and drag it home.

We are in a dangerous place in our country today. A segment of our population has decided that it is the government’s job to provide all of their protection, provision, and prosperity. This segment has figured out that government doesn’t have the money to give them everything they want, so somebody else has to pay for it. That is how the “politics of envy” was born. “Tax the rich” has become the mantra of the left, and this political season it has been falsely dubbed a “moral imperative.”

Ninety percent of America’s millionaires are first-generation rich. They are Henry. To tax them because you think it is a “moral imperative” is legalizing governmental theft from our brightest, most charitable, and most productive citizens.

If I can get a law passed that says you must surrender all your cars to the government because it is the “moral imperative” of anyone who owns cars to support the latest governmental program, that would be a violation of private property rights and simply morally wrong. This new “moral imperative” to redistribute wealth is no different from that. It’s the SAME THING!

Please, America, re-think the politics of envy! You are sowing the seeds of our destruction when you punish the Henrys of our culture. 

If you think taxing the populace to support government programs is the best way—and I don’t—then at least tax every single person the same! There are very few Henrys out here who would squawk much about paying a set percentage of their income—if everyone else did, too. But this idea of somebutt-scratching bass fisherman saying government should tax his neighbor and not him—just because his neighbor has succeeded—must stop.

So the next time an elitist media talking-head starts telling you it is the moral imperative of our culture to tax my friend Henry, change the channel.

The next time you see someone wealthy who feels guilty and is preaching the politics of envy, change the channel.

The next time you see some celebrity who feels guilt over their income preaching socialism, change the channel.

And the next time you run into a misguided, butt-scratching bass fisherman who says the evil rich people in our culture should have their private property confiscated because that is fair… well just shake your head walk away—and make sure to vote against his candidate. If he and his type win, God help America!

Weekends

Weekends are amazing.  Imagine having no break between work weeks and how burnt out one would get.

Clark and Bekah came up from Griffin to see us, always fun.  

I’ve always felt one thing is unreal about all the masked superheroes.  One day, surely, one of them would leave home and forget to put on the mask, thus revealing their identity.  They would, of course, be blissfully unaware for several minutes (possibly hours) such as one who exits the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to their shoe or worse, the bottom of their skirt stuck up in their underwear as they walk around the department store.  (Don’t ask.  And in answer to the question you’ve already asked: yes, it has happened to me.)

I cannot believe we are a week away from the end of June already.  I thoroughly intend to bust the savings out at CVS next month.  :-)  There wasn’t anything major this month that we needed or wanted, so I’m waiting to see what EB brings out next month before I spend what I got this first time this month.  I have some manufacturer’s coupons saved up too, for useful but not dire urgent needs, such as a Venus razor and bandaids.  I could go much crazier but then I would have stores of stuff we use very slowly, so I am holding myself back.

I am plagued by a constant desire to straighten up my house.  But inevitably, the house gets straightened up and there’s nothing left to do.  :-D

Wild Hogs, Baby Pains and Deal Catcher

So I got to feeling so poorly today I gave in to my weakness and came home from work 2 hours early.  I can’t believe how bad I felt – after a few hours of rest, food, vitamins and trips to the lou’ I feel much better.  (Sorry for that last descriptive.)

Joseph discovered for himself today that wild hogs have fur-like hides.  I said yes dear.  Can I have one?  I want an alpaca and a wild pig.  He says I may as soon as we have a large farm for said menagerie.

I found a new website – www.dealcatcher.com.  It lists coupons, Sunday ads, and useful information like today is the last day to buy a Windows XP computer.  Starting tomorrow, all they can do is sell you the Vista and offer a downgrade to XP.  Sigh.  The end of an era is at hand.  

 

Crib Sheets & Trash Service

I got the said crib sheets for $2 instead of $8.43 at Walmart.  Go figure!  

Our trash service forgot to pick us up last week – and of course that was the week we had extra trash for some random reason.  :-p  They promised to pick it up this week and not charge us for last week though.

Aberdeen is driving me crazy with her BARKING!  She barks at everything.  She NEVER barked at all and then we got back from our conference trip to OH and she was barking at everything.  Animals, noises, cars, unsuspecting Jehovah’s witnesses, children a mile down the street! Ugh.  The other day, a 5 year old attempted to chase her down to pet her.  She stood her ground barking at him until he began to say “treat! treat!” while heaving small pears from our tree at her.  She took off running for the front door yelping like he was throwing grenades at her.  Small children do not understand the concept of small dogs.  In any case, she packs a ferocious bark but the minute anyone looks at her she flies off in the opposite direction like bullets are flying.  Silly thing.

Work has been a little crazy the past few days – I’m in the midst of crazy plans and events.  Fun, but harrowing.  :-)

Another day, another dollar…saved. :-D

My first trip to CVS as an Extra Bucks hound.  I was apparently beaten to the store by a similarly minded local resident, because the toothbrushes and mouthwash (in Strawberry) that I intended to get for FREE for Joe were not in stock.  Very sad.  Especially the strawberry mouthwash – he would have loved that!  

BUT…

I made out with

A pack of razor blades that also got me a 

Free Shaving Gel

2 Packages of Twizzlers

1 Package of M&Ms 

1 Package of Peanut M&Ms

(the above candy got me $5 in EB)

a Revlon mascara and Revlon three-in-one eye shadow (buy 1 get 1)

A Cherry Coke and a Sprite (buy 1 get 1)

3 St. Ives facial scrubs which got me $5 in EB. But she only rang up 2 which I realized at the car so I went in and they said forget it so I got a 4th (to get me up to the point I needed to get the $5 EB).  Go figure.  So I got 4 for $10 which isn’t bad at all – plus $5 EB back!

And because Joe needed it, I got 2 different kinds of bug/poison ivy relief things that were offering $1 EB each.

A pack of Bandaids ($2 EB)

And a pack of 2 Toothbrushes (1 EB)

I didn’t make out as good as I hoped….

Mostly because of those 2 things I had to get Joe that were like $8 total.  The razor blades were $12 but that’s just about as expensive as Walmart is without a free shaving gel.  And the candy was obviously not a necessity but who can resist getting candy AND EB???  :-)

So I spent $55 and got $14 back in EB.

Next time it will be much better because I won’t be needing expensive razor blades or Cortizone cream.  Haha.  Oh which, by the way, came with a 2nd smaller tube free. 

 

Pampered Host Party

So I went to a Pampered Chef Host Party – as in I hosted a party in the past year so I get to go to Jenny’s big party and get a ticket and get called at some point (this time it was actually not in the final 2 like last time) to go pick out a free thing.  I chose the set of cranberry, plum, sage and evergreen place mats, napkins and table runner that are of an astronomical price for those type of things but quite pleasant to receive for nothing.  :)

Saw people I know from our old church and (one of) my best friend’s sister(s) Sharon.  My mother has been staying with us last night and tonight.  The doula forgot our meeting was at 3 today and thus we had to reschedule.  

The Dr’s appointment ended up being pretty short, other than the annoying hour of sugar high from the glucose test.  Orange is SO much worse than red.  I won my Rhogam battle – they won’t force me to go against textbook and get the shot while I’m still pregnant – I will get it after the birth.  Rhogam manufacturers lobbied the FDA to get it “strongly recommended” that all women with negative blood get the shot at 28 weeks.  Never mind the fact that if the husband is also negative there is no reason to get it and never mind the fact that if the baby is born with negative there is no reason to get it.  And that there is a small risk to the baby if you DO get it during pregnancy.  No, it would make Rhogam manufacturers a lot more money if 100% had to get it once and then 30% twice instead of 30% getting it once……eh?

Smell a scam, people?  

My dog is a dear.  My husband is even dear-ier.

My baby is very active.

I am very tired.

Good night…

 

Determination to Save More Money :)

My previous excuse was an inability to search online and print out coupons from home, due to a lack of internet access at said residence.  However, with the recent addition of such a joy to our home, I will now have no excuse but the lack of time.  Soon enough, I will endeavor to add to my repertoire of money saving techniques.  

Urged on by the amazing abilities of Joan and her daughter Emily to get deals on necessaries and near necessaries, I have determined to begin myself.  Once rolling my eyes at those who shop at numerous places (Publix AND Kroger AND Walgreens AND CVS) to find good deals, I will now be resorting to the same such methods in order to sweep in great benefits and bargains.  

No longer will my savings at Kroger alone suffice to satisfy my longing for money saving!  Although, I’m rather proud of myself.  Today I will shop at Kroger after getting my 2nd of the allowed 4 gift cards which will give me $330 for just $300 monies…..  And I will use a 10% off coupon from the Entertainment book (on my purchase of 30+ so it is limitless!) and a $10 off a $75 purchase and numerous coupons which my mother so nicely cuts out for me out of the goodness of her heart.  She disapproves of the junk food I buy with them (such as sugary cereals and ready made pizzas) but so far still cuts them out even though I never asked.  :) 

Then I will begin my multiple-store-escapade by also visiting Publix to get 4 12 packs of Coke for $11 and $5 off my purchase of $30.  I would continue onto CVS and Walgreens for more deals, but feel that would be a little too taxing on both my recently found determination to MSS (Multiple Store Shop) and also recently sprained knee which is rather painful to walk on.  BUT NEVER FEAR – the MSS will continue to be my goal.  

To great deals – cheers!

UPDATE: As of a few hours later, our trip to Kroger reveals the savings…. OH yeah.  :)

With about

• $40 worth of Kroger Plus Card savings off individual prices
• $1.50 off $7 Dairy purchase
• $10 off $75 purchase
• $14 off $140 purchase
• $2 off $10 Produce purchase
• 10% off your total purchase of $30+
• $18 in standard Manufacturer’s coupons (save .55 cents, etc.)

I watched the total on my month’s grocery bill go from $228 down to $134.  And as I had gotten a $300 gift card, Kroger also gave me $30 “free” so, peeps, I spent $104 bucks to get $228 worth of groceries.  

Kind of makes my day.  My husband loves me for it.  ;-)

 

It’s a GIRL!

The baby is healthy, normal, perfectly adorable and a girl. 

Fantastic

I love it when someone challenges the political correctness of this country that allows any religion BUT Christianity to be publicly practiced!  I don’t mind other religions nearly as much as I mind that they are allowed but mine is not.  Check out this article from World Net Daily….

Fish Stories

So I have found out that the scare of eating a lot of fish, especially tuna, while pregnant is actually an environmental group scam. 

According to extensive research, even if a pregnant woman eats double the amount of fish recommended by the FDA (Frequently Dumb Apples) she will still be protected from reaching the “mercury harm” limit by 500%.   

Going even further in the research, fish contain the necessary Omega 3 fatty acids that prevent heart problems, strokes, diabetes, arthiritis, different kinds of cancer, and kidney disorders.  Furthermore, fish consumption help to eliminate pre-term delivery, post partum depression and even low birth weight! 

A 2005 study published in Archives of Neurology showed that elderly people who eat fish at least once a week can slow their rate of mental decline by between 10 and 13 percent.  Research published in the same journal in 2003 found that adults who consume fish once or more each week have a 60 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease.  

A 2004 study of children in Bristol, England showed that the children of pregnant women who consumed high amounts of fish scored higher on mental development tests.  (I read elsewhere that those who were born to those who avoided fish while pregnant scored in the low 25 percentile of the IQ test given.) 

Even if Americans could eat enough fish to jeopardize their health from mercury intake, it would take decades for the speculative health effects to take place.  Environmental Protection Agency scientist Kathryn Mahaffey created the statistic that 630,000 children are born with such high levels of mercury in their blood that they are at risk for having neurological disorders.  This statistic was based on the amount of mercury intake recommended by the FDA, which is 10 times lower than the amount of mercury that the EPA believes might cause health risks.   

The standards set down by the Canadian government, the British Food Standards, and the World Health Organization for fish intake (especially while pregnant) is 4.7 times higher than what the American EPA/FDA permits. 

Long story short – environmentalists have created statistics and myths to protect fish from being eaten, despite the numerous health and brain power benefits that research proves fish hold, despite the small amount of mercury they ingest because they are fish.

Statistics Reign Supreme Over Opinion

The controversial subject of gun control rises to the surface in many conversations and debates.  Plainly and in few words, my personal opinion of guns and the controlling of them is as follows:

A human being that has committed a criminal act using a gun or any other weapon of deadly possibility should not be considered a human being with continued rights to own a gun.  John Douglas (my hero and former director of the FBI Profiling department) will be the first and foremost word on this subject.  A paraphrase of his beliefs: persons who commit crimes against other persons have taken the rights of another person (whether it was that person’s right to happiness, innocence, possessions or life)  and thus no longer deserve their own inalienable rights.  This is also a general concept of the civil laws in Deuteronomy.  If you murder, your life is forfeit.  If you rape a woman, you are to pay her father lots of camels and marry her….or else. 

However, gun control for the rest of the population of decent law biding citizens is in essence leaving decent law abiding citizens wide open (and empty handed) to the risk of being prey to those persons who would take rights to happiness, innocence, possessions or life. 

Time and time again, we can argue that guns are dangerous and yes, they are.  So are drivers using cell phones, tractor trailers and apparently routine connecting flights.  (I refer to the Conair takeoff that ended in the entire plane going up in flames due to a overworked employee’s distraction.)  We can also argue that a gun can be used against a person – indeed.  Someone could also stab you in the eye with a pencil or gossip about your moral character at church.  We can list instances of horrible abuse with a gun – but I can also name off horrible abuses at the hand of fist, tree limb and belt.  Some of the most vile serial killers DO NOT USE A GUN to commit their heinous and degrading crimes.  (I refer to the case that haunts me the most….perhaps because once upon a time, I could have been in such a similar place.  Suzanne Marie Collins, USMC.)

What is the key to proper gun ownership?  Knowing how to use a gun properly.  For just a few hundred dollars one can be thoroughly trained in the proper and safe use of a gun in a controlled defensive manner.  The government would be well off in sending current wild eyed shaking handed untrained gun owners to these classes instead of trying to prevent them from owning a gun.  

Note Canada, where gun ownership is similar in fashion to the US.  A license must be purchased, background checks are conducted and permits are sometimes required to carry.  There are approximately 2.3 million gun owners in Canada, approximately 26% of the population.  Canada gun laws requires that owners take a Firearms Safety Class and pass a test demonstrating basic understanding of how to handle a gun safely and properly and the responsibilities of owning a gun.  The violent crime rate in Canada has been declining over the last few decades by approximately 10% each decade. 

As for violent crimes involving guns in Canada – approximately 300 per year, or 5 per million people.  In Great Britain?  9,974 – 125 per million people.  I see gun control (complete removal of citizen and police gun ownership) has done a lot for GB.  The US reported in 2000 there were 5.5 homicides for every 100,000 persons.  Canada that same year was 1.8 homicides for every 100,000 persons.  (Note violent crimes include robbery, rape, assault vs. homicides/murder.) 

Gun usage in violent crimes in the US is 41% vs. Canada’s 16% per 100,000 persons.  These statistics take into consideration not the total amount of people, as Canada is less populated than US, but per a specific number.  Canadian gun owners are reported in using a gun in self defense against human and animal threats 40-80,000 times per year.  US statistics show that there are 80-82,000 uses of a gun in self defense per year.  There is an approximate population of 33,000 in Canada; US population is approximately 304,000.  So the same number of reported self defense incidents occur but they have a population of 271,000 fewer! 

Approximately 39% of American households own at least one gun.    America currently requires licensing, background checks, and permits to carry.  There are no other requirements on how to use a gun properly and safely. 

In a study conducted in the 90’s it was estimated that approximately 2.45 million crimes were thwarted each year by a gun owner presenting a gun in self defense (US).  In most cases, the potential victim did not even fire the weapon; in approximately 28% of the cases, the potential victim did fire the weapon in self-defense at the violent offender.  During the same period of time, approximatley 46,000 homicides involving guns occured, and another 2,628,532 non-fatal crimes involving guns occured.  So approximately 4 million crimes occured and another 2.4 million were thwarted.  I would say the odds could be improved if of that 1 in 1000 persons owning and knowing how to use their weapon in constructive self-defense (remember, 72% of those persons did not even fire their weapon!) was 100 in 1000 persons. 

Leftists who jibber about how much crime is caused by so many people owning guns should look at the actual numbers and note that while Canada has 33 million people and the US has 300 million, their crime per capita is nearly half what the US suffers and we have half as many self defenders preventing crimes from happening to us as Canada. 

Rightists who jibber about the government messing in their business should get a more balanced opinion and realize that some of us moderate folks are just as scared of someone who thinks everyone should own a gun without any restriction or training as we are of someone who thinks no one should own a gun.

The long and short bottom line of all this is: those who sit on the fence on the right hand or left hand side are both incorrect.  The balanced and logical key is for the government to require training for decent law abiding citizens prior to gun ownership and to continue to ban criminals from getting anywhere near a gun or any other dangerous weapon (even if tree limbs and fists are plentiful enough).