Update (or Not)

Well, I was supposed to update you on the perfect mom story within the last few days…however it didn’t work out as I planned. She was there, I was there, but nothing. I didn’t have time to sit and listen to her at all and she didn’t bring one of those God-awful bags with her. Damn. I thought I’d have something really good to report. Oh well. The holidays are quickly approaching so maybe we’ll have more luck then. LOL

Make Your Own Brochures

With the kids’ birthday’s coming up in January, we are already thinking past Christmas. LOL I told Yes-Yes I thought it would be cool to Make your own brochures as invites instead of sending cards. We just aren’t really sure what to put on them yet…probably Star Wars and stuff. For No-No, we still need to think about that. She really hasn’t picked anything as her favorite yet besides animals. She loves them! It doesn’t matter what it is, she’ll have to try to hug or kiss it. And yes, most of these are pictures. LOL Maybe we’ll be going with that. I need to start looking for neat pictures too. *sigh* There really isn’t enough time in the day. Matter of fact, I’m still up from yesterday as I type! I can’t get anything done, hence the thinking of birthdays already. We don’t even know where we’re going to have it or what to do. So really, I don’t know why we are thinking about it already. I think that Yes-Yes and I got a little carried away when I got this discount code FreeBrochures08 which gives you 25 FREE brochures. LOL Isn’t that cool?! There is all kinds of other free or highly discounted stuff at this site too. It really helps out since we’re short on change…we never pass up a great deal.

Do You Think...

A friend of mine recently told me that my No-No looks like Dora the Explorer. Hmmm…What do you think? After seeing this side by side, dh is now convinced too. LOL I guess I can see the resemblance a little.

Lots of people ask what mix my kids are because you really can’t tell what they are by looking at them. Some people think that they are islanders of some sort. Well, technically they are…a bit. They are ½ Chinese, ¼ Peruvian, and ¼ Dominican. They really do look like a good mix of me and dh but even I wouldn’t know what they are. Now a day it isn’t easy to guess anyone’s ethnicity with all the different mixes there are. I think it’s really cool.

What Time Is It?

I’m still looking for a new watch. Ugh. I just haven’t found anything that I like. I did find a great selection of Breitling watches though. They are really nice ones. I usually buy watches with an open style linked chain though. I find them way more comfortable than solid bands. I also need something really durable because No-No is always beating up everything we own. LOL I just don’t know what to do with that girl. And, I need something with a low price since we can’t afford anything really expensive right now. Breitling watches are expensive though. I’m way too picky when it comes to this kind of thing.

Critter Corner

Meet my new friend. I haven’t named him yet. LOL Dh calls him “Bushy” because his tail is quite shorter than normal and full of fur.

I think I’ve seen him before. Around this time last year, I was walking back home from dropping off Yes-Yes at his karate lesson and I saw a squirrel crossing the street. He wasn’t going very quickly and my neighbor was coming down in his van. I started getting really nervous as I watched the squirrel and the van coming closer together. Then, as the van was almost to me, the squirrel made a mad dash right in front of it. I freaked out thinking that it was squished under the tires. But the squirrel made running out from underneath it. When it came out, its tail had gotten stuck under a tire and the tip of its tail was taken off. Poor thing…the tip floated down the street with the wind. I had to look and was thankful because it was just about all fur. *phew* Anyway, I think the surviving squirrel is my new buddy.

This little guy runs through our backyards via our fences and when he sees me out there he comes running for some nuts. He’s too cute. He gets right up to you but far away enough to stay safe. I’ve gotta think of a better name for him than Bushy. LOL

More Car Problems

Well, it looks like we’re going to need more car repairs. Dh’s car is pooping out on us and we either are going to have to fix it or try to get a loan for something else. The last repair place charged us more than we expected so I have to find a new one. Ugh. I hate searching for things I know nothing about. I found a great search site though. I was surprised how many auto body shops bellflower has listed. The best part is that there are customer reviews which are always how I choose where to go. We’ll see what happens.

What's in a Label?

Okay, being that my step-dad works for United, he comes home with some stuff form different countries. Most of the time it’s something from China or somewhere like that. When I was doing the dishes the other night, I noticed this Coke can which was ready to go into recycling. From the top, I could tell it was from somewhere else. During this quick glance, something caught my eye. It was this square with writing in it. It wasn’t our way of doing ingredients or nutrition facts so I looked closer. Can you read it? If not it is a nutrition label from Singapore. I had to laugh when I saw the first thing listed is…ENERGY. After that came fat! Don’t you wish you knew how much “energy” is in your soda? LOL!

Problem Pants

Dh works in a physically demanding job and is desperately in need of new work pants. He has put holes through just about every pair! We've gotten him all different kinds too. It's crazy Hopefully we can afford something for him soon…it doesn’t look very professional when he shows up to work like that. He really wants something extremely study almost like the 5.11 Tactical Pants that government officials wear like the police and military. They are quite affordable for the quality that they are. Once his back gets better and things settle down we can get shopping for his new work wardrobe.

Government Gripes

Okay, so what do you really think of this bail out deal and the stuff happening with it? I don’t know the exact details in it but I do think that it may not be the best solution. I think it is a bit hasty to just push something forward. I do want to know why they feel that we need to pay the way out. I have to agree with the republicans on this one. We shouldn’t be bailing out a bunch of people who wanted to gamble now that we’re struggling. Now, since we don’t know the details of their proposal, don’t think that I’m for whatever it is they have in store. We still know nothing yet. I just think that they all need to come together like they were supposed to and figure this mess out in a smart way. Maybe that’s wishful thinking. LOL

I'm Aging!

Omg…I’m getting old. Okay, I may not be old to many people but I’m starting to feel it. I’m even starting to get wrinkles and stuff! No, it’s not my imagination. LOL! I’ve been watching tons of things about wrinkles and prevention on TV and shopping for them in stores. I’m new to this area so I really don’t know what works and what doesn’t. I would really hate to spend money on things that don’t work. Someone told me about Chantal Pharmaceuticals. They are using a breakthrough skin-rejuvenating molecule called Ethocyn that drastically reduces the natural effects of aging. I’ve heard about them before and it sounds great. I think I’ll pass it to my mom and see what she thinks. She’s heavy into the same thing right now.

What's Going On?!

This morning I went to check my email and everything was fine. Then I tried to sign onto aim and it didn’t work. Neither did some other sites. It was really weird and now things are way slow. I have no idea what happened. If anyone knows why the internet seemed to have tripped up last night, let me know. I was thinking it was just me and my bad luck lately with the computer. LOL!

Scary Times

Since the economy has taken the turn, some of the cities around my area have had a huge rash of crime. I’m sure we aren’t the only place. One city is having on and off heats of hold up robberies in restaurants. That is SO scary! I’d hate to be sitting at dinner having a good time and guys come running in with guns taking everyone’s stuff. Thank goodness most of them have or recently installed security camera systems. Some of the people have been captured but there are still some out there and more keep coming up. There are a lot of car burglaries around here. For a while we had someone going into homes during the day and stealing stuff too. That’s scary since I’m always home and could be in the backyard at any moment. We haven’t put up gates. IT Planet has all sorts of security systems and I was seriously considering putting something up. I think I may still do that.

Stormy Weather

Wow! Another hurricane headed towards the US. Tropical storm Kyle is headed for Bermuda and will eventually hit parts of the east coast. For now it looks like it will miss most of the country and hit around Maryland ending up in Canada. The outer storms cannot be fun for everyone is passes though.

So many people have told me that they would hate to be in California because of the earthquakes we have but there really aren’t any. Yeah, they happen all the time but it is usually so small that we don’t feel a thing. I would much rather live here than in severe weather places. I’m cool with hurricanes and tornadoes. I really couldn’t imagine worrying about emergency supplies and rebuilding my house every time the season comes around. That wouldn’t be fun. Good luck to all of you over there.

Life Stressers

Hmmmm…what’s new? Dh threw out his back the other day…no paycheck for next week. He really wants to get acupuncture or a deep tissue massage. Too bad we can’t afford a massage chair. I saw tons of great massage chairs and beds at Takemi Select Wholesale Outlet .

*sigh* That would be really nice.

Yes-Yes is going through major puberty, and No-No is freakin crazy and tearing the house apart bit by bit. My mom is freaking out cause she thinks we’re going to lose the house, while my step-dad works as much overtime as he can. We are actually trying to convince him to change career paths. He works for United and basically works for nothing. Yup, life’s friggin great right now.

The Apple Farm

Apple has released their new(er) ipod nano a little while ago. It is smaller and they are going back to the second to last design with a sleeker, rounded edge shape, it is packed with tons of new features. It will be equipped with the new accelerometer motion sensor technology for everything from shuffling your music to playing specially designed games on its 2 inch wide screen display. The Genius feature is the newest addition, creating your own personal dj by selecting songs for you that blend with what you are already listening to. The newest nano is already available starting at $149 for the 8GB and $199 for the 16GB in an array of nine vivid colors. Apple has also redesigned all of its other ipod models, added new features, and changed some of the pricing of them. I have to say it is pretty cool but can we really keep up with the economy the way that it is? Yes-Yes just got his “new” nano last year and now it is already passé after a year or two. When I was his age (which wasn’t too long ago) we had to wait years for something new to come out, including VHS movies. LOL! It’s hard to believe what’s going on now. I’m thinking that family values definitely need to be taught or re-enforced as “upgrading” moves faster and faster, which is something that I feel has been lacking.

Alaska Fishing

The dh has always wanted to go to Alaska for a fishing trip. Did I ever mention that he loves fishing? LOL It’s his life. I’m always competing with it. Anyway, he keeps talking about what we can do for family trips and stuff when we have some money to do it. I’m never sure because everywhere he wants to go involves water. lol Even when we go camping, there has to be a lake and we have to be camped right next to it. Otherwise he sees no point in going. Yes, it gets hard to deal with. lol He had me checking, to put his mind at ease, for hotels and the plane costs to go on a trip. Alaska would be nice with all of the actual wilderness around. So I guess I can agree with this one. HotelsCombined.com has a great easy way to compare where to stay. Now dh is really excited to go and get out to catch some big fish. I feel kind of bad because after all the fishing he’s done in his life, he’s never caught a salmon of any kind and everyone he knows always has to tell him about the ones they’ve caught. Poor guy. We’ll get there someday I’m sure.

I've Got Issues

It seems that this year is going to end in a bad way for me and my family this year. We're having trouble holding down the house, buying food, family issues...you name it we've got it. It is nothing short of "ugh".

Anywho, the point of this one is that I am having the world's worst with my blogs. On one blog, the sidebar dropped on its own and I can't get it back up, I may have to redo the whole template...again...and I had problems with the contact form on this one. It just doesn't end. And one of my friends says that she has gremlins when it comes to the computer, HA! If anyone knows how to fix the sidebar thing, that would be fantastic...but I'm thinking it may be time for a change anyway. It is not a browser issue, although some things are, I have looked at everything in both IE and FF. Still bad either way. I'm really just not looking forward to the LONG time it takes someone like me to fix this kind of thing or create my own.

So, if you see or don't see certain things, they are probably here, or somewhere. LOL! Who knows. I'm doing my best to fix everything and have it all back to normal soon...hopefully. :o)

The Honest Water Company

I heard about this new bottled water company called TAPD NY the other day. Sounds okay, I guess. They claim to have “honest” marketing tactics by letting you know that you are buying purified New York tap water. So all the hub-bub was the question of would you buy New York tap water. *sigh* People really just don’t keep themselves educated, do they? Most people know that tap water is marketed as distilled water so yes; they probably would buy it because they don’t know what they are drinking to begin with. LOL Many people do prefer the taste of distilled over spring water because of the taste that the natural minerals give to the water. So what’s my beef? I don’t care if they are honest or deceiving…Do we REALLY need ANOTHER bottled water company?! Come on! Look at all the companies there are now and all the imported water that we get. How much MORE plastic is this world going to have to produce just to satisfy lazy people?! For goodness sakes, save some money and buy a few water bottles to refill instead!

Unsecured Business Credit Lines...Is It For Me?

This may sound super stupid for timing but I have been looking at Unsecured Business Credit Lines. Why? I’m starting to think of starting a business. You may recall that I have just started working at home doing jewelry production. Well, after just a week of doing it, I have realized that it may not be for me. Not that I don’t expect to work and get paid to do nothing but because I have been doing just the opposite. I’m working my tail off for hours and hours, even staying up all night, just to finish one item. Can you believe that? Just one! On top of that, I’m getting paid hardly anything to do it since I’m being paid by the piece and it’s a low fee. I really don’t know how I could possibly be making enough money to make those long hours worth the time. So, I started looking around because I know the cost of start up is going to be ridiculous should I go ahead with it. I can try to get something with rewards which would help give something back to the business too, as little as that may be. I’m thinking that when I start to bring in a bit of money, that I may think having my own set up would be worth the time since I’m doing it anyway. Don’t you? Remember, this is just a thought…there’s lots more to consider.

What's Your Color?

I read some of this book some time ago and thought of it just recently. It’s a book called Colorstrology and tells you the color that suits you best according to your birthday. Supposedly mine is Etruscan red and if I wear or surround myself with this color, I’ll be more “in tune” with my true nature. I’ve always been drawn to blues, which is the color for my month, but not this particular shade of red. However, I am drawn to earth tones, so that may be something. The description wasn’t dead on either but some others were for people I know. It’s pretty interesting. If you want to check it out, click here. There’s no registering, this is the author’s site (Michele Bernhardt). I’d love to hear what kind of experience you have with this. :o)

My New Job

Some of you may know that I have recently started working as a jewelry production assistant. What’s that? I make jewelry for a local small business. It’s really fun and I love the lady I work for. She’s fantastic! So, where did I get my training? Me! Yes, I taught myself some years ago. I’m quite handy and it was a perfect fit. You can imagine my surprise when I hit it off with the lady I’m working with and she hired me with no real experience. I originally wanted to start my own business and sell my own products but around 10 years ago, it wasn’t as easy as it is today. I had purchased thousands of dollars worth of beads including Austrian crystals and freshwater pearls to name a few. Not to mention all the wire, chain, and findings. It was REALLY expensive and still wasn’t enough to start off a business with. I really thought I could do it but that ended up just being the tip of my learning experience. Now, I know that it was to prepare me for the work I’m doing now and hopefully into my own business. I’m really happy to know that I’ve found a niche and something I’m good at. It’s taken a long time for me to try and figure this out. LOL

What's for Lunch?

I saw this recipe and had to think wth?! It’s not that is sounded yucky or anything but I just kept thinking, isn’t a kid’s lunch supposed to be easy to eat? Do they really need to sit there and figure out how to eat their food? Take a look:

1 hot dog bun
1 T peanut butter or cream cheese
1 T jelly, jam, or honey
1 whole banana
rasins, shredded coconut, chopped peanuts, or toppings of your choice

Here’s what you’re supposed to do:
In the morning you open the hot dog bun and spread one side with the peanut butter or cream cheese and the other with the jelly, jam, or honey. Then you wrap it up in plastic wrap and pack it away. You then put the toppings in a little container to keep it separate. When your child is ready to eat lunch, they open up the wrapped hot dog bun (that is now sticky and gooey with goo) and peel the banana to place inside. Then they can sprinkle as much of the topping that they want on top.

So what do you think? Now, I know it depends on the age of your child but how many kids can do all this without dropping it or ripping the sticky mess apart? I’d imagine that my child would have come home saying that he ate it in alternate bites because he couldn’t get the banana in there, or that he’d dropped it altogether and only had the banana and toppings to eat. LOL! It sounds okay as far as taste but not too kid friendly in my opinion.

Our Musical Family

I miss playing the violin. I played for a few years when I was younger. The weird part was that I never learned how to read notes. My teacher just wrote it all out in numbers and stuff for us. Kind of weird, huh? Yes_Yes has been playing the flute for a few years already and is getting very good at it. His class was really excited a couple of years ago when their teacher taught them how to play the Star Wars theme song. You could tell that they were all happy with it because you could actually tell what song it was. LOL! I’ve always wanted to learn how to play the piano though. My aunt plays all sorts of things and it was always impressive when she would come home from Germany and play the violin or our Steinway piano with me. My mom said that they all had lessons as children but she never really kept up with it. I found a great forum on LindebladPiano.com about pianos and all the things that go with it on top of all the wonderful services that they offer. I thought that maybe I could learn to teach myself how to play. Well, it wouldn’t be the first thing I’ve taught myself. LOL!

Fortune Telling?

Do you ever read your horoscope? Normally, I don’t because it all turns out to be a bunch of fluff. However, the daily horoscope for me on Yahoo has been dead on in the last week, which is kind of scary. LOL! I have read it, on random occasion, before and after my day had really gotten going. Each day what was said has totally applied to the day I was to have or did have once I reflected back upon it. Pretty interesting, huh?

I know that sometimes things are so generalized that you could MAKE it apply to you but I have to say that id actually did. A lot of people read these and anticipate what they were told by it as some kind of prophecy. Not only do I think that’s just weird but it is surely not a way to live your life. Others look too hard for some kind of “answer” to all their problems. That’s weird too, in my opinion. Nothing dictates your life other than the choices that you decide to make. Call it God’s will, fate, or whatever you want but life is life and YOU make the choices that will make the impact on it. Until some people realize that and earnestly believe in it, NOTHING will change. Not even the largest library of self help books.

Looking For a New Computer

I know nothing about computers or technology. I still am trying to find out why it is necessary for some people to have an external hard drive. LOL I’ve really been thinking about getting my own computer again, that last one succumbed to some sort of virus, and this pc is getting really slow. I think I may be loading it with too much stuff. Performance Data Resources has an online chat that will help me figure out everything I need to know. They have a wide range of products including IBM eServer i5 processors, both new and used. They also have a great satisfaction guarantee which is something I’m always looking for. I think they will be hearing from me soon. LOL

A Bit of History

If you’ve been reading this from the beginning you may already know that my grandmother has Alzheimer’s. I pretty much have made my piece with it when we found out but still resent that she has it. I have watched a good woman change over the last two years into someone almost unrecognizable. She still has most of her qualities but cannot remember anything short term, only select memories from the very distant past, and is very bitter. Hardly a word comes out that isn’t something awful and negative.

When this had all started, she refused to accept it and live everyday to the fullest. Instead, she had denied it and pushed it aside. She still talks of having to be moved out of her house and accuses my mom and her siblings of throwing her into a home. This was not the case and she had been told throughout the whole process, but this is what she wants to believe. We had signed her up for a meal delivery program and they are connected to a social program, so a social worker had come to the home. They found the old house falling into disrepair and deemed it unsafe for her to continue to live in. My family had a limited amount of time to find a place and move her to where she is now. She claims that she is locked up and has no one to talk to but we know that she signs up for every activity, socializes with a few people regularly, and goes on the scheduled outings.

It is really difficult when we see people that don’t really know what’s going on. She will tell them of all of these unpleasant things and they in turn come to us for an explanation and the real story. It’s even worse when we see acquaintances because they have no idea at all and we can’t say anything in front of her. I really wish she didn’t decide the path that she did and am most upset of that if anything. I hate seeing her resent her life and go through the feelings that she has placed upon herself. She could be happy but chose not to be. It’s really sad.

Holes in My Wardrobe

I have always loved Indian clothing, especially tunics and their flat shoes. I while back it was a trend to wear these things and still is a little but I’ve always found that the ease and comfort of wearing such things is perfect. I especially loved to wear this stuff to work because it is so easy to move around in. I do need to replace my favorite pieces soon, since I have really worn them out, and found Sulbha.com. They have a fabulous selection of very well made clothing and accessories. I can’t wait to update my collection!

Random Thoughts

Do you ever wonder why people have to be SO mean? I mean, there are some people that just HAVE to do it and get something from it. I keep getting some comments that are just so ridiculously rude and unprovoked, that it just blows me away. I mean, who are these people?! Why do they have to be so nasty? I just really don't understand. I would never go to their blog and start being rude. Even when I disagree, I'm not rude. Ugh, it just really makes you feel like crap when you read it, you know?

Safer Weight Loss Surgery

There is so much debate about bariatric surgery, or weight loss surgery. Personally, being through 2 non-voluntary surgeries, I don’t think I’d do it unless I had to. I have heard about people doing lap-band surgery and I’m thinking that it’s better than gastric bypass but it still is surgery. Lap band surgery doesn’t sound as dangerous because you aren’t having your stomach cut in two. They place a lapband surgery around part of your stomach to close it off. I’ve heard this is much safer and easier to do and undo if needed. What do you think?

Here Kitty, Kitty

I just realized you guys haven’t met our cats! Unless…you happened to read my other blog, which I’m not too good with keeping up with. LOL! So here they are. The tuxedo is ZuZu and the Tonkenese is Jasmine. Jasmine was our “new” kitty after my other cat passed away at 17. Missy was one of 3 kitties I grew up with and was my best friend through out my life, I still miss her. When I went to my first cat show in years, I met a lady who was selling her. She was the, then, president of the west coast branch of the Tonkenese club and took very good care of her show cats. After thinking over it for a long time, I bought Jasmine from her. She had been selling her because she wasn’t show quality as her eyes never changed to the aqua color they are supposed to be. She had a small litter also but they had the same defect. I call her my reject kitty. LOL ZuZu is our rescue from our local humane society. Yes-Yes really wanted a cat of his own, which I can’t argue with, and he picked her because he had loved a kitty the same color where I used to work. Needless to say it was a good pick for Jasmine but not us. She’s not the cuddly one at all. No-No is learning this the hard way…scratches and bites all day long. LOL But, that’s her lesson to learn and don’t think I don’t warn her. Those two are a good match though. Both of them get into everything. Always poking their heads into something or opening something else up. ZuZu has even started to figure this out and will follow No-No around when she wants to see whatever it is that No-No is in!

Baseball Flashback

Do you like sports? I’ve never been into football but my dad used to take me to the baseball games. He had season tickets to the San Francisco Giants in the ‘80s early ‘90s. It was fun for a while…then got old quite quickly. LOL He did have four tickets, so after a while, he let me bring a friend and we would go running around the park. At least our team was good then. I miss watching Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, Jose Uribe, and all the other guys. They were good…and we won. Now it’s all been such a circus with the steroid scandal and Barry Bonds being the jerk he is. He drives me nuts. One of the girls I worked with said that when she worked at a different store, he came in and naturally all the kids asked him for an autograph. He brushed them off and walked away. His wife had to go over to the crying kids with pre-signed baseball cards that she makes him do. I mean really. What a jerk. Sportsviews are so different now a day. It’s all about the money or fame and attention. Dh would love this sports community site that I came across. It’s like Myspace but a whole lot better if you’re a sports fan. They even have a way to create your own bets and stuff. It’s pretty cool.

Ghostbusters 3?

Okay, more ‘80s…I just heard that Columbia Pictures is trying to revive Ghostbusters and has already hired writers. Can you believe it? I’m hoping that it’s not going to be that awful. If they can’t get the original cast, I think I’m gonna have to pass. Can you imagine it without Dan Akroyd and Bill Murray?! I’d even be happy if they brought back Annie Potts and Rick Moranis. LOL I really can’t see it being nearly as good as the old ones though. Those are such classic movies.

Now, I did hear that The Lost Boys 2 wasn’t bad but I have yet to see it for myself. I’m not sure if I can handle more Corey Feldman this late in life. I am really glad that they did not make another Goonies movie! Oh, could you imagine what that would have been like. Just devastating. People need to know when to leave things well enough alone.

Got Credit?

Earlier I mentioned wanting to start my own business. I’ve dappled with the idea so many times but it is hard to figure out what to do. I have bad credit and no idea what type of business I want to have. Either way I would need to get a merchant account to be able to accept credit cards. I really have no idea how credit card processing works though. I’ve taken them at all of the jobs I’ve had and still had never found out exactly what the merchant services do. I thought that was kind of funny. I’m the kind of person that likes to know exactly how things work from start to finish. I wanted to ask some of my employers but didn’t want them to think I was out to get them or anything. I thought I’d take a look at OnlineChecks.com. They offer many services including a free merchant account. You are able to try it out for 30 days with no fees attached. They even give you a free terminal so you can accept credit cards. I wasn’t ever really sure if I could get a merchant account with the credit history that I have but I will keep them in mind. One of my friends had a merchant account for her online business and it worked out well. She didn’t have very good credit either. LOL!

My First Award!

Whoo Hoo! I got my first award! This is so cool. Thank you very much to Razz for thinking of me on my birthday…although I’d like to forget about it. LOL If it wasn’t for her none of this would have been possible…no, I’m not kidding, really. That sounded pretty corny, huh?

Here are the instructions for the following Brillante Weblog Premio award recipients:

1. Place the logo on your blog.
2. Link to the person who awarded you.
3. You can nominate up to 5 blogs.
4. You can then add their links to your blog
5. Leave a message in the comment section to each nominee on their blog

Here are the 5 fantastic blogs that I've chosen:

My So Called Blog
Life of Lele.lumz
Kimmi's Krazy World
My Weekly Beef
World of Homemaking

Getting Organized

Getting organized is such a problem in my house. No-No throws her stuff everywhere as you’re putting it away and Yes-Yes is always misplacing things. He’s already lost one pair of gym shorts for school in the first week! Having a DYMO Labelmaker would help us out tremendously, not to mention that I love label makers. LOL I could make sure that everyone has a place to put things by labeling the spot it goes in and make sure each item has the person’s name on it too. I didn’t know that there is a way to iron-on a label to clothing. That’s really cool! All I’d have to do is print out the label and iron it onto the piece of clothing. I could use this for all of Yes-Yes’s things that he needs to take to school. It would really help with his gym clothes since the marker we use to write his name with eventually wears off of them. Last year, that had happened and we have no idea where his clothes went. That’s so frustrating. I would love to have labels on all of the things I need for work so that I don’t keep forgetting which folder is for which project or what notebook has what information in it. I hate just writing all over my things. It looks so messy and then it isn’t as nice to look at. *sigh* I wish I had a label maker right now.

Returning the Favor ;o)

A while back, a blogging friend of mine did a post about me and now it’s my turn to return the favor. Her name is Lele.lumz. She’s a sweet, young mommy of 2, like me, working form home, like me, but she lives on the other side of the country. LOL! Her blog is terrific, being the noobs that we are, and she always has something insightful but funny to say. I love reading her posts because she thinks of all kinds of things that I sure never would. She really does have a great sense of humor, always has something off the wall to say, and can talk your ear off…but that’s why I love her. LOL! Didn’t you know, chatter boxes make the best writers? ;o) Go visit her, will ya?

Sweating Yourself Cancer Free?

Have you ever used Infrared Home Saunas? Was it alone or with other people? That last question is one reason why I don’t use saunas. I am not at all good with being anywhere near nude in front of other people. Especially when you all are just sitting there staring at each other. LOL

I was reading this blog called "Sex in the Sauna" and there was an interesting article on it about how marathon runners don’t get cancer because they are constantly sweating out their toxins on a daily basis. Apparently, there was a study done in Germany on it. I think that’s a very interesting idea, and poses a very good question. If I were to sweat a lot everyday and follow a healthy lifestyle, what are my odds of getting a cancer?

Double ARGH!

*sigh* I was messing with my templates and messed up a whole bunch my things on my blogs. Kind of ironic since I was just complaining about ec not being on people's sites. I apologize to everyone and will have it set after I sort myself out. Things just aren't looking good for me lately. :o(

School Stuff

Yes-Yes had his first school fundraiser yesterday. They call it spirit night and the families go to have kind of like a hang out night. They sell pizza and sodas and usually have a bake sale but this year it was free soft serve ice cream. They invested in an ice cream machine last year…good idea. It was great that it was free…they hardly gave you any. LOL! They also have a raffle for some school promotional items. They aren’t too good but the kids love it.

The whole thing is basically run by the kids, so you can imagine what that was like. Getting the pizza was an experience to remember. Try talking to any one of the ten screaming kids behind the table as they are trying to figure out what they were doing. The raffle is always hysterical, you know kids with a microphone. LOL! They call the raffle number then give the winner like ten seconds to run up to them before they drop it and go to another number. Not to mention you have no idea what they’re saying. Yes-Yes won something this time…a pair of crappy soccer socks and a plastic coin holder, the kind you squeeze with a slit in the middle. Hey, he won. LOL

As you can see, No-No had a good time…thank God. She had pizza for dinner, good thing we hardly eat it, and wanted some soda which she did not get. Part way through the pizza, she noticed all the kids lined up getting something. All she could see were kids with bowls but somehow she knew it was ice cream. She sat up in her stroller, no where to sit, and started clapping, her signal for ice cream, yogurt, or any runny dessert. I was floored. How did she know?! So, the line shortened and she got her ice cream. Good thing there wasn’t a lot, she can really eat! She also knows when you’re running out because you start scraping the bowl. So she starts flipping her hands back and forth, the actual sign language signal for gone. That was a natural occurrence, not me. LOL When it was over, I told Yes-Yes to see if they’d give her a balloon. He comes back with the whole arrangement of them. It was huge! Thank God my mom drove and has an SUV. I had a heck of a time just getting them in the car! He had 3 I had 3 and No-No had 1 as we were trying to keep them down in the back seat. She was a happy camper when we got home…pizza, ice cream, and balloons. What more could a girl ask for? LOL!

Clothes for Me?

It seems that no matter when I shop for the kids or someone else, I always end up buying things for me.While searching for great quality cheap clothing, I came across this site that has all kinds of stuff for $17.95 or less. They have lots of great basic clothing,which is what I’m always looking for with No-No running around. (It would be a great selection for back to school shopping for high school girls too) There’s a great selection and I noticed new things within the last few days, so the styles aren’t always the same old same. I can’t wait until I get a bit of cash to buy something from there. I’m always looking for some good Discount Clothing since all my money goes to the kids clothes and stuff. I think I deserve something once in a while too. LOL!

More 80's!

I have gotten quite a few comments about the '80s on my post...it's funny how that decade really changed things. When I was doing the last post, I came across pics of all these sayings from back then. Here are a few more ( could have posted a ton!):This is the one thing that Yes-Yes would say when he was around 3. He'd run around the house with two chopsticks (yeah, I know, not safe), say this line, and give you the other chopstick to sword fight with him after he said his bit. I still love The Princess Bride.

This one never made sense to me. Then the kids changed it to a silver spoon. That was a little better but still...really stupid. LOL!

I LOVED Thundercats! I remember being little and wanting all the toys for Christmas...I didn't get them but the boys did. :o( Dh even had to have this shirt when he saw it at Target. They're still cool!

Election Year

Being in a democratic part of California, I’ve already seen a bunch of these Gigantic "See-Thru" Obama Stickers. The stickers themselves are pretty cool. You can see out but the picture is still really colorful. They seem to stick well too, not like those ones that peel off or have funny air bubbles in between.



I’m not sure about election year. Everyone is on edge all the time and ready to debate or attack…which ever comes first. I mean, people can’t even talk about it in general without getting some kind of third degree, as if they are picking sides. I would like to talk about the candidates and each of their point of views but how can you when everyone has chosen a side already. It seems like there aren’t very many people out there who can just have a conversation anymore.

Happy Birthday Dad

Yesterday was my dad’s 59th birthday. I haven’t seen him since I was 15 and he died about a year later. Both his birthday and death anniversary are very hard times for me, especially when it hit the 10 year mark last year.

My dad wasn’t the greatest person but he did teach me some things that my mom didn’t teach me and that made me look up to him. He was a bachelor and wouldn’t give up that life for me. He ended up owing tons of money to the IRS and ran to Thailand. He ended up marrying a girl only 9 years older than me and she soon left him, I think because she figured out he was never coming back here. When he died he lived with a different girl, his common law wife, and she’s the one who found him. He had been shot a couple of times in the back of his head as he was getting out of his car. The FBI went over there and worked to help the local police. They ended up getting the guys behind it but I don’t know exactly what happened to them. None of my dad’s personal things were brought back here. The girl said there was nothing but we know she lied. He always had some type of jewelry, on at the least, and had an obsession to have the new things first.

Miss you Dad…Happy Birthday

Turn, Turn!

(Image courtesy of www.zhome.com)

LOL! I saw this picture today and started cracking up. Did you ever have one of these? My dh did. It was a 280z 4x4. I can still remember riding around in it wondering who was staring at us as we drove by. LOL! There was one time that a friend of mine had to move the car and she almost couldn’t because there was no power steering. She had no upper body strength and plus you’re sitting kind of low, right. Omg, it was the funniest thing to watch! Dh really wanted to hang onto this car and put a new steering box in. Not to mention add a newer steering rack and all kinds of other stuff. Yes, I made him get rid of it…we wouldn’t have the money to do that for a really long time. He was even showing me this site where he could have gotten the parts with free shipping the other day. That’s a pretty good deal, I have to say.

Wanna work at Home?

Many of you work at home or would like to. I have heard of a ton of companies that hire workers from home and have looked into a few of them myself. (Be careful about giving any kind of info!) I've been asked a lot, which ones are better to use. Really, I'm not sure myself since I have never worked for any of them. So many of us have tried to apply with these companies and have either failed their tests or never heard anything back. The demand for this is ridiculous. It is so idea for moms wanting to make a bit of extra money in the tiny amount of free time we have, that it's amazing how little we would be paid on top of the wait that we would go through to get it. Some just think it's fun, which is fine with me. At least someone is willing to work for nothing.

For example...I do frequent a forum that has been an extreme help in figuring out this whole blogging thing. One of the folders in there is about not opening up threads about Cha Cha. I was like, what the hell is Cha Cha and why wouldn't they allow people to talk about it?! It sounded pretty stupid to me. In a way I was right. After looking into this company, it sounded fun, but then enormously stressful. After reading more, I was furious! Here's the deal, you are basically a virtual 411/information. People ask any random question they want like is the sky blue or how many crayon colors are there. You have just a few minutes to research this question and answer back, making it as interesting and friendly as possible while keeping it short enough to read at a glance. First of all, I don't know if I could handle that kind of pressure. Second, I've heard of very few people actually pass their tests for employment. Third, do you know that you would only be paid 10 cents for each question you answer?! How retarded is that?! Talk about slave labor! It's basically an abuse of people that want to work at home (moms)! How can they get away with it? Because you are an independent contractor and are being paid "by the piece". They can pay you whatever they want to and have no problems in doing this, morally or legally.

When I hear good thing of REAL companies paying REAL money, you will definitely hear about it. Feel free to leave any companies that you have experience with too.

Business Blues

I want to own a business someday. That has been my goal for years. *sigh* Too bad I don’t know exactly what kind of business I want to have. LOL! I’ve worked in so many different job settings and still nothing has stuck with me. I can’t even figure out whether I want to provide a service or a product. Well, I think product might be nice but I’d rather sell something I have made myself sometimes, rather than a resale product. Too bad I don’t have anything great right now. I’ve tried making various things from soaps to jewelry. I can’t say that anything that I made, I’d buy for myself, so that didn’t work out too well. Maybe I hold my standards too high. Hmmm.

Another problem I have is my terrible credit. I mean, it’s really just awful. I’ve heard of getting a business cash advance, where you can get a loan based on future credit card sales. But then I need a merchant account and those aren’t cheap if your credit stinks like mine. I saw something on a site that seems really good. You can get a great merchant cash advance for bad credit without having it show as debit on your credit report. There’s no collateral (which is good, I don’t have anything), no fees, a high approval rate, and no credit check. It sounds pretty good so far…now, if I can only think of a business that I’d like to start. LOL!

Growing Up '80s...Again

OMG! When I heard they were doing a newer version of Bevery Hills 90210, I almost flipped! Do we really need that?! Okay, I admit it...I watched that show when I was like 11, but come on. The acting was bad, they were old, and it ended. Why is it that creativity is lacking so much now a day? Even worse, Lori Laughlin and Rob Estes are in it! Are theythat hard up? Needless to say, I doubt this remake will survive.

Being a product of the '80s was fun until all of the things I grew up with started making a come back. My Little Pony, Popples, Cabbage Patch Kids, Strawberry Shortcake, and Care Bears are just a few victims of my fond memories. *sigh* And, (OMG!) New Kids on the Block?! That one almost knocked me over too! Okay, when you're losing your hair and going through mid-life crisis, it doesn't always make it okay for everyone else. Didn't they try for one last album before they disappeared? I thought that one flopped, no? I'm glad I got to live the real excitement of these things when they first came out. The second time around is never the same...especially when the companies distort Strawberry Shortcake from her original cuteness.

Got Bills?

A while back, I lost my job and it was TOTALLY unexpected. I worked for a local small business and the owners were (are) terrible. They were mean to everyone, expected way too much of you, and paid you hardly anything. You were even expected to have your lunch there…so that if they needed you, they could cut your break short! Too bad I didn’t know my rights then.

Anyway, since this had happened to me, I wound up in a financial disaster and am trying to find out how to consolidate debt. Right before I lost this job, (and no, I wasn’t fired) I had charged a ton onto my credit cards for Christmas and Yes-Yes’s birthday. I couldn’t pay off those charges once my job was gone and was hardly getting anything at all from unemployment. I almost filed bankruptcy but was way too scared about doing that, which was kinda dumb because I could have had it almost finished up by now. I did look into debt counseling and debt consolidation. I had no idea how this worked and people didn’t talk much about it yet, so needless to say, I couldn’t find anyone with very good advice or information about what to do. Now the economy is in such a mess that it’s hard to pay anything off or save any money, which is really important for us to try to do. I’m finally looking into bills.com because they offer such a huge amount of information about my options. They are unbiased and tell you what everything is, how it works, and give you additional resources to make the best decision. Man, I could have used this when my nightmare began!

So What's the Deal?

I have to admit, I know nothing about why High School Musical became such a huge hit. Being the mom too old for this, with a pre-teen (tween) son, and a baby surely does not put me in their target category. LOL! My cousins, who are girls younger than my son, are SO into this stuff. The older one, we'll call her OMG, had to have High School Musical birthday party. My aunt got all the girls together and watched the movie from a projector making it HUGE on the wall while all the girls sang and danced around. Cute, but I still don't get it, and surely, not the high school I remember.

I guess my imagination has run dry with age and I can't understand the concept of a bunch of "high schoolers" running around singing and dancing. Unfortunately for me, I keep getting these songs stuck in my head without even seeing this movie. I guess marketing does work on everybody. LOL!

Hosting For Beginners

The other day, I was sent a link to check out for one of my friends. She is looking for a web host and there is a great directory that not only provides a list of web hosts, they also provide quality web host rating. She is really new to the whole thing and has no idea what to be looking for. There are some of the best breakdowns in there of each host company that I have ever seen, with easy to read package information. I could have used the articles they have a long time ago when I was really new to all of this. So many other directories are very hard to read, and most of them look like a directory of advertisements. They will have flashing banners and links everywhere. This one is “clean” with the reader in mind. Maybe I’ll look into this too…you never know when you’re going to need these things.

Update: Paid Surveys

I one of my products on Saturday! I'm really excited to FINALLY be a part of a focus group. I've been trying to get into this for a while. I think it's really fun to have something like this to do...AND, I don't have to leave the house. Even better! I love free stuff! LOL

If you want to do any of this, I have to warn you, there are a lot of sites that claim to list companies to sign up with but they do not actually send you anything or you don't actually get anything for taking them. I have tried a lot of these. They will say that you will earn points or be entered into contests instead of getting paid or trying out products. These are a huge waste of time. The reality is, you WILL be sitting at your computer answering the same questions over and over for at least 15 minutes. If you can handle this knowing you're not getting paid for it, then that's great. I, on the other hand, can't do it. I know I'd be sitting here anyway, doing nothing of importance, but I would like to feel like it was worth it. Wouldn't you?

I wanted to post a list of these companies for you but am still trying to compile them. If you are interested, please subscribe so you will know when this list is posted. I should have it ready soon.

It's Too Quiet!

I’ve always wanted to watch TV shows and things, on the computer but never knew where to look. I came across this cool Internet Television and Radio directory that has like 1,750 TV channels and over 9,500 radio stations! It’s pretty cool, you can download a free, recently updated toolbar that works with most browsers so it’s always at your grasp, or you can download the free stand alone version for when you feel like having a “session”. LOL! The toolbar is what I’m going to use. I love having things “right there” so that I don’t have to keep switching back and forth. There’s even an updated, sound recorder, a cd ripper, google search bar, over 20 games, and a ton of other stuff! What more can I ask for?! Now, I won't have to get so frustrated when I've got that song stuck in my head and I don't know what it is. LOL!

How's Your Weekend Going?

I hope everyone is enjoying their longer weekend. The weather has been good to us here and it's nice to get out.

Me, on the other hand, has stayed mostly indoors. Yesterday, we went out and ran around to get Yes-Yes's school supplies for the 3 lists that he was given lst week. Ugh. I hate that they wait so long. Do they have any idea how hard it is to get stuff AFTER school is in?! Come on. Today, is mostly clean up day, which is fine....WE CAN REALLY USE IT. Baby No-No loves to throw her s**t everywhere! Then, when you clean it up she's right there with you to throw it around the second it leaves your hand. *sigh* The never ending battle. LOL!

At least I'm not at home alone with her today. Although short, it is a nice relief. I've been feeling like such a crazy lady lately!