Yeah Right

I'm not sure if I've told you about my DH and his paranoia. He's always expecting the worst and it sometimes seems like he even hopes for it. Yeah, I know...how the heck did I end up with such a weirdo? LOL! It wasn't always this way. He used to be normal but over the years has gotten almost outta whack.

One of his things that he brings up every now and then is about life insurance. He really wants us to have something in place if something happens to him. I don't know what could happen outside of anything of an unexpected accident or something. Anyway, when this happens he has me check all over for quotes. All I can do when this occurs is try to assure him that nothing will happen and that (especially right now) we can't afford anything extra. The upside is that I have found a few really good sites for future reference. I didn't know there were sites where you could get quotes from a bunch of companies at once. Like when I did my term life insurance quote from Wholesale Insurance. That was REALLY convenient.

Even though he's getting all weird on me, I still hope that nothing bad will happen to him. It would be much better if he would admit he has some sort of problem and get some help but it doesn't look like anything is going to happen any day soon...unfortunately. UGH.

Bunny Money

I was having my regular read of odd news and came across this story. Apparently I live in the wrong part of CA because in October a lady went into a Whole Foods store in Irvine and came out with $10,000.

When the lady and her daughter got home, her DD opened the new box of Annie's Sour Cream and Onion Bunny crackers (my favorite) to find an envelope with a white unmarked envelope with all that money inside of it! OMG I SO would have died!!! The lady was nice enough to have called the police and turned the money over even after being told it may have been for a drug drop. A few days later police heard from the store manager saying that an old woman had come into the store freaking out because she returned a box of crackers accidentally which had her life savings in it. (Why the hell would you put your money IN THERE?!) The old lady had lost her confidence in the bank and took her money out and put it in there for some stupid reason. I didn't even know that you could return food. LOL! Lucky for her the lady that bought the box was nice and turned it in! On the flip side, the old lady could have been nice enough in return to call to say thank you and give a small reward, of which she did NEITHER. Ugh, some people, really.

Getting Started

I am in the beginning stages of learning how to get my own home based business off the ground. I don't really have any idea what I'm doing but I figured that I should start some where. So, what am I doing? I figured since I make jewelry already that I should start designing some of my own. I know it's a lot of work and not that many people are crazy about buying it but it's worth a shot.

There's been a huge uprising in people that have devoted to buying only handmade stuff too. I'm really happy for that because I think that it really keeps craft alive and a lot of creativity has been lost because of the way that everything is so mass produced now. Yeah you can get everything made cheaply but you really can't trade the quality for anything. So much that's out there to buy is total crap and only lasts a little while. I think when it comes to certain items, it's better to spend a little more for something that will last at least a couple of years as opposed to just one season. Don't you?

Work Wanted

I'm VERY close to trying to go back to work now that things are so bad. Too bad there's like no jobs out there to be had anyway. It is going to be one of the biggest achievements I think...getting a job in this economy. LOL One thing I have noticed is that if you're really computer smart and know a lot, there are still a bunch of jobs in programming. I wish I knew about that even just for my own knowledge but I can't figure any of it out to save my life. LOL I'm just hoping that DH can find something no matter what it is soon!

Ho Ho Ho

So...are you ready? I can't believe that Christmas Eve is tomorrow! I'm SO not ready. I still have TONS of stuff to do including wrapping the kids' presents. We didn't even get a tree this year. Instead I bought No-No her own little fake tree like her brother's and put them both up on our side tables. Actually, it works out quite well since No-No is a big booger and may start tearing everything down anyway. She's very happy with her little ornaments that we picked out. She has Sesame Street, Care Bears, and Hello Kitty.

Every year I end up waiting until Christmas Eve night to wrap the gifts and by then it ends up being a complete waste of time and paper because they will only sit there wrapped for about 8 hours. Since we are home by ourselves each Christmas, we've finally taken to opening gifts in the morning even if that means that we have to drag my parents out of bed. When I was young I wasn't allowed to open anything until Christmas night, after dinner, when everyone else was opening theirs. That always sucked and was stupid to me so I kind of let my kids do whatever they want...as long as I'm up and have the camera ready. LOL

Downward Spiral

Now that the economy has gone in such a downward spiral, I’m sure tons of people are out to try and clear up their debt with no success. It’s kind of hard to pay off anything when you don’t have any money to pay it off with. I know that for us we are living day by day just trying to make it as many other people are too.

One thing that might help out is looking into doing an IVA. An IVA is an individual voluntary arrangement between you and the companies that you owe money to. I guess you could say it runs along the lines of credit counseling and other more well known options. This site has a lot of information on it and many helpful resources. I think we’ll probably be going to talk to someone soon.

I have met MANY people going through the same thing as we are and even more in cases worse than ours. I REALLY hope that things will turn around a little faster than expected so we can all just enjoy living again. If there is one good thing that comes out of all this is the amount of caring and sharing that everyone has already begun to display. I’m thinking that it will bring us all closer together as a whole…like how things used to be before greed took over this country.

What Did They Say?!

Okay, I swore I wasn't going to talk about Caylee Anthony but I read something today that just made me sick. I have decide not to link to it but there was a post that I came across today where the author had apparently read some other post or something about this whole situation.

I haven't been keeping up too well about what's going on with the Anthony family because of my own sensitivity to the whole thing. From what I could piece together there is a deal between the family and the Lifetime channel to tell their story for 2 million dollars. I'm not sure I really support this but I know they can use the money like the rest of us. Ugh, I don't know...it's all so complicated.

So what's my beef? The author of the post that I read stated that they didn't agree with the person's post they had read (are you still with me? LOL!) about not supporting the large amount of money to the family. Like I said, I myself have a few mixed feelings on this because although we all need the money, I'm not sure about people gaining monetary worth from a horrible ordeal. Anyway, this person ended up using a comparison between abortion and the murder of that sweet little 3 year old! Excuse me?! How can you even compare the two?! Okay, this is where I end because I really don't want to stir up too much anger within myself. LOL And your thoughts are?

Jackpot?

Okay, I was just going through my email and found this diet pill called Lipovox. It's supposed to help you lose weight AND control acne which is another HUGE problem I have. Ever since I was pregnant with Yes-Yes I started breaking out and it got way worse over the years. Then when I was pregnant with No-No at certain points I guess my hormones would fluctuate and my skin would miraculously clear up out of now where. Then of course it would come back like it was never gone so that sucked.

I read through a bunch of Lipovox reviews and I'm SO going to give it a shot. They were really honest about what was said and some people didn't have much uck at all with it while others didn't get skin clearing effects. Either way I don't think I can lose out completely so it's worth a shot. One of my friends tried taking Accutane for her acne and ended up with terrible side effects as if she was a 90 year old woman. I don't think I'd EVER go that route.

Time for a Resolution

Okay people, I'm tired of being tired of being fat. I know that I'm not totally obese or barely able to move but having the extra weight and not being able to fit into my damn clothes is really starting to wear on me without a doubt. I'm getting more than ready to bring out the weight loss pills. I was thinking of taking something sooner to jump start my fat melting but it really isn't a good idea to be taking anything while I'm sick and trying to rid myself of this nastiness.

My one and only resolution for 2009...to lose enough weight to feel better, have more energy, and fit into my closet full of clothes before they go out of style! What's #1 on your list?

SOB!

I'm such a mess since Christmas is right around the corner and I've been sick for SO long. I still am but am trying to plow through everything that needs to be done. Of course No-No couldn't have had better timing in being a booger that she is and slammed her face into the bathtub last night chipping both of her front teeth! I just about had a heart attack and heard that God awful noise for hours afterwards. I seriously don't know what to do with that kid. Now I'll have to remember to call a dentist on Monday to see what to do with it since there are some sharp edges that I'd rather not be there. BUT, if it ends up costing us, then they'll have to stay till they round out naturally. Great.

So now any chance of getting a decent picture for the next 2-3 years is totally out of the question unless I try to photoshop it. Which is fantastic being that we are going to take tons of pics in less than a week! I swear life cannot keep getting this good...I don't know what to do with all the fortune that I've had in the last few months! Geesh.

WOAH!

WOW! I haven't actually been here for a while! I didn't even notice it since I'm always writing on here.

Lately, the days have just been flying by like crazy. I'm over worked, over tired, and sick as all heck! Yup, I've got the flu this time. I've been in bed for days and I can't remember what day it is at all. The best part is that my work is piling up all over the place and now No-No is getting sick too! So, the two of us are in bed all day long watching movies and trying not to freeze our butts off.

A nice BIG storm is blowing in tonight FAST. It's cold and windy as all anything. There's actually a cold warning and the guard is setting up shelters since it will be so cold during the day too. The snow level is supposed to drop lower with this storm too. Well, at least there will be snow at Tahoe soon. I doubt we're going up there this year but it would be nice.

Okay, I promise there will be more interesting stuff the next time I write. LOL!

Favorite Things

Every year we have waited and reacted almost as dramatically when Oprah had announced her favorite things on her show. This year was really pretty crappy and I feel SO bad for the people that were in her audience. I know for sure that I wasn't the only one disappointed by the show.

You must know by now, but if you don't, every year Oprah will announce her 'favorite things' ranging from grills to TVs and whatever it is that she promoted, she will give one of everything to each member in her audience. It is THE most anticipated show of the year on TV and is normally replayed at least 3 times before Christmas. People have been trying to get into the audience of that one show for YEARS and will try over and over again for the free stuff supplied by the more than happy manufacturers. The first time I saw it I nearly fainted and Yes-Yes went absolutely crazy as she passed out flat screen TVs, camcorders, and clothes. He is one of the thousands that wants to be there for that show.

Well, this year Oprah had decided with her better judgement that it is not a time when she should be shoving all kinds of expensive gadgets and toys in front of so many desperate people. Instead, she showed all kinds of things that you can make yourself and lower priced gift ideas. I have to admit, I stopped watching the show almost immediately. It couldn't have been an easy decision and I applaude her for her good form in not carrying out the marketing of all the social hype but it couldn't have been more disappointing. Can you imagine what all those poor people were thinking once they realized what was going on? It's not an opinion of greed I don't think but rather a bright spot that had been burned out. I know that being in the financial position that we're in, I would have LOVED to get all that stuff so that I would be able to give some things away as gifts and have something nice for myself. It is something that can go back and forth for a while but I kind of think that she should have done something for them, small at the least. I can go on and on but I won't...either way it's crappy for her or the people who have waited to be there for that show.

YAY!!! I'm Portable!

I'm SO happy I can't even tell you! I finally got my first laptop yesterday and have it mostly up and running. I've tried to take some pics for you to see my pretty pink laptop (that No-No thinks is her new toy) but the lighting in this house is terrible at night and I'll have to wait for tomorrow's daylight. I almost didn't open it because even though I got a GREAT deal on it, I feel kind of guilty because it did cost quite a bit for our budget and the money could have gone to other things. It really was a sacrifice for us and I made sure I talked it over with DH first. Since it is for work, I know that it is money well spent and is an investment towards me working at home but I still can't help the 'mommy syndrome' and the guilty feelings.

I ended up getting a Sony Vaio CS120J with the Centrino technology in it and I really couldn't be happier with it right now. Yeah it's taking some time to get used to and it is doing a bit of jumping around (of course that's vista)the mouse pad buttons are loud when they click, and you can hear it running a bit (not much) but I'm sure I'll have all that taken care of once I figure out how to work this stupid thing. LOL! I'm totally in love with the keypad which is fashioned after the macbook's. I love how the keys are separated so there's no weird overflowing confusion. It's SO cool. The keys are ultra quiet expect for the tapping of my nails which are kinda long right now. I think my favorite thing is that it's energy efficient. Since I tend to leave the pc on all day and all night, I won't have to worry about running up some huge bill. So far the only complaint that I have is that the color on the screen is a bit off and kinda funky for me to adjust to but I'm sure it's not the end of the world.

I had a REALLY hard time trying to find a review for this Sony Vaio CS120J and hope that someone will end up reading this and find it useful. I know this is only the first day but I will definitely be posting updates and my likes and dislikes as they come along and of course, pictures are coming soon. I could just post pics from other places but it really doesn't look like the same color as those. I can't believe I finally got it! The only thing I really need right now is a mouse...which I have ordered but it's backordered and won't be here for a while. I got it pretty cheap so I guess it's worth the wait.

Artsy Fartsy

I just found the cutest gift idea for my parents! There’s this site company called Photofiddle and they take your photo and turn it into paintings and things. You can choose the style of how you want your picture to be done. The Photofiddle Before & After Sample look REALLY cool and it would be neat to have one done of the kids and framed for them. I’d love to have one done of the cats too for the kids. That would be really cute in their rooms…one would be in mine since No-No is in my room. LOL The best part is that they are really inexpensive for what they are so I could even afford to get my grandma one too. She’d love such a unique piece of art. Here's some more info about them...

DECK THE WALLS WITH PHOTO ARTWORK MASTERPIECES ON CANVAS -

-- Just a Few Minutes of Fun to Create, and Less than a Week to Receive From Photofiddle.com --

LINDENHURST, NY, Dec. 3, 2008 – Holiday shoppers looking for low cost, original and thoughtful last minute gift can turn their best photos of precious moments, people and places into one-of-a- kind photo artwork at www.photofiddle.com.

Photofiddle offers numerous styles for both contemporary and conservative tastes. Simply upload and recreate a typical 3" x 5” snapshot into a compelling canvas piece or framed on archival photo paper in virtually any size. With over 70 instant designs from pop art to impressionist to choose from online, any photo design can be instantly shared with friends and family members in digital form, prior to ordering. And, because fiddling with several dozen designs and styles is lots of fun, gift certificates are available online, so recipients can fiddle their own photos for themselves.

With prices starting as low as $14.95 there is Photofiddle artwork available for any budget. Order by Dec. 18 in time for receipt before December 25.

PhotoFiddle, headquartered in Melville, New York, which PC Magazine gave 4 stars, on the Oprah O list, offers 4 day turnaround on customized photo-artwork that users design online, at far less cost than custom framers or home design professionals. For more information visit: www.PhotoFiddle.com.
See the Photofiddle.com before & after photo art gallery.
###
Contact: Eric Gold
516-847-1152
Eric@photofiddle.com

Over Medicated

I was watching Boston Legal last night and one of the topics that they touched on was all this anti-doping stuff that's been going on in recent years. The scenario they gave was a girl who had set her whole life out of pressure to get into Harvard and had her application revoked because she had admitted to taking a drug to preform at her optimum level. I myself do believe that this world is WAY over medicating and think there has to be a better way. I mean don't you think we have just a few too many medications for things that don't necessarily need meditating? I think that we can do without a few things and try changing our eating and exercise habits. I know it's a touchy subject since our children are now involved so I won't go all out on this one but I think we can lighten some of it there too.

The funny part is that I was reading this article today about a Japanese soccer player who has been in trouble for "doping". He was having intravenous drips containing garlic done to himself. First of all, I don't know how in the world garlic helps you play at your peak but I think the whole thing is just kind of weird. The player was banned last year for about 6 games for taking the drips by the club or whatever his overseeing group is. He had appealed and won the case after it was the club that administered the drips but then was later taken out of the game by the higher group (sorry, I'm not sure what they are called) that has regulations against intravenous treatments. I don't know...the whole thing is just weird altogether. LOL!

Pearls for Grandma

I know this year we are all on really tight budgets for gifts and I for one am trying to find THE best deals I can for anything and everything. My parents and I have already agreed that we won’t be getting each other anything this year so that we can have more to get the kids and my grandma something. We usually combine our gifts to my grandma and this year I think we’re going to get her pearl earrings. We were thinking of a necklace but she already has a bunch of those. She’s always loved jewelry and used to buy a lot when she worked at J. Magnin WAY back before they closed. She always prides herself on one of her stories about how she stopped a thief that was brazen enough to reach behind the counter and grab things in the case. Don’t ask me how she did that, it’s kind of a long reach. LOL Anyway, they were nice enough to give her something out of the recovered lot. She wears that necklace everyday and never takes it off.

Pearls are one of her favorite things because to her they never go out of style. I have to agree. Some people think they are old looking but you can still wear great pieces with pearls that have less pearls on them and it will totally change the look. Of course, I think thepearloutlet.com has some of the best prices I have seen. They have a vast selection of different type of pearls and jewelry and have wholesale prices. This way we can afford to get my grandma something really nice for the same amount of money that we’d get nothing for. She’s gonna love it!

Is It Over?

I'm having a pretty crappy day today. You know when you hit a road block and things don't work out as planned? Yeah, that's me right now.

I've been working really hard for months toward a goal that just doesn't seem to be reachable for me. Maybe this just wasn't for me? Maybe the stress of knowing that my family depends on all of this has made it overly stressful? It's really a hard blow knowing that out of the friends that I've made, I'm the one that's having all kinds of problems. I feel like I just don't fit in anymore because I really have nothing to say anymore. I know that everyone's doing well and I'm really happy for them but at the same time it's hard to watch knowing that it's not going in the same direction for me, you know? I try hard not to be bitter, petty, or gage my own success off of other peoples failures but...I don't know. Sometimes it's just too much and I can't watch the opposite happen from me everyday. It's pretty depressing for me.

I've always tried to be optimistic and do know that this is a slump and it will get better but for right now, I just don't know what to do. What do you do when it looks like all of your options have run out? Sorry if you find this overly dramatic but I swear it isn't some 'woe is me' crap. I've had blocks before but nothing like this. When things happen to me it doesn't just rain it storms and I hope that this hasn't rained on your day. I needed to get this out. Thanks.

Where Do We Go Now?

So, we’ve finally reached a true recession. That is not good news at all. I know it’s going to take some time to bounce back and hope that it does really soon…I’m getting tired of eating the same thing everyday. LOL

One business that I think may do pretty well despite the economy is moving services. Even though people can’t actually afford to sell their homes, some will have no choice but to move anyway. One of them might be us too. At least there are services set up to help us try to get the best prices out there for things like this. I know that most of us try to do the move ourselves to keep costs down but sometimes this isn’t a choice and that’s when you can go to places like relocation.com and internationalmovers.com. They are price comparison sites for moving services and they will definitely help you get the price that is affordable, not to mention that they are really easy to use. They count the weight of stuff you have by the room that you need to move so you can get a pretty good estimate. If we have to move, I’m not sure where we’re going to put all of our stuff…we are going to have to pare down to bare bones then.

My Pie Review

Just so we're clear from the beginning, this is not a formal review, nor have I been paid by anyone. I was highly disappointed in this product and you should know.

Okay, anyone who knows me knows, I LOVE Martha Stewart. I grew up watching her and love just about everything her team comes up with no matter how ridiculous it is. Well...when I was watching her show a couple of weeks ago, they were talking about the new, branded, seasonal products that would be coming into Costco soon. One was this great looking pie with apples and raspberries and it was a great deal for around $11.00 for a 3lb pie. I knew exactly what I was going to buy when I went back there. So, on our next trip I almost forgot but grabbed the pie for that night's dessert.

When we got home, I went to read the baking instructions on the box. I knew it was possible we would not be having it that night after I was half way through. You have to defrost the pie for an hour before you can bake it for about another hour and THEN let it cool for what might be another hour. WHAT?! A three hour pie?!?! You've gotta be kidding me. Well, I followed the instructions and waited an hour to bake it, which wasn't too hard since it took time from the freezer, to home, after unloading, and cooking dinner. Right before we sat down to eat, I went to open the box and put the pie in the oven. When I opened the box, I found a disgusting mess inside. There was the pie covered insecurely in plastic wrap, not sealed, oozing with some sort of liquid which could have been anything from butter to egg wash. It was yuck. I peeled what was left of the wrap off of the pie, put it on a baking sheet and put it in.

We ate dinner and after it was about time to take the pie out. I pulled out this pie which tended to look a bit plasticy but smelled pretty good. I did have to poke at it a bit because of its unnatural appearance, which you may be able to see with the reflection of light from my camera's flash. Set the timer again. We went about our business and waited until we couldn't anymore. It was really late by now but my grandma was over and we really wanted her to try some to. We went ahead and cut into it leaving very little time left. The pie was still quite hot and there was a enlarging pool of liquid surfacing. Being out of ice cream for once we threw on some whipped cream. I'm glad we did...I don't think there was much if any sugar added to the pie at all. It was quite tart and not something I would have expected for dessert. I think I've had cobblers that were sweeter than this. The crust on top was pretty decent and the bottom would have been too had it not have been sitting a pool of juice (which you can see). We didn't eat much more of than what you see missing before we threw it out.

It was a very disappointing experience for a Martha Stewart product and I know I won't be buying it again for sure. I could have saved some money by getting some refrigerated pie crust, apples, and raspberries and making this myself....and will definitely consider next time.

Holiday Spirit

When I was young in elementary school, I had this teacher that would always dress herself up in all kinds of really fun clothes and accessories for the holidays. I always wondered where she managed to get all of these really neat clothes since I had never seen anything like it anywhere else. Now of course I think it’s kind of tacky but for little kids it’s pretty fun to see your teacher wearing earrings with Christmas tree lights on them or a sweater with tons of hearts all over it. LOL

I’ve thought about dressing up some of my clothes as well as the kids’ clothes for the holidays. I’m not sure how far to go with it so that it doesn’t look too bad but it shouldn’t be too hard with No-No. She has a pretty fun personality anyway and I would just need to “brighten” her up. As for me, since I wear glasses, I thought it would be fun to get some sort of different Holiday frames. Zenni optical always has the best prices, so it would definitely be affordable and their selection is fantastic. I personally like these because they are festive with the little jewels on them but not all bright with color. Yeah, I’m pretty boring. LOL