Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Sorry about the lack of posts!

Our modem at home is acting up again, so I can't get on the Internet :( And with my crazy schedule I just don't have an hour to spend on the phone with the always-very-nice-and-helpful Verizon Fios tech folks. I've turned it off, on and hit the reset button several times, still no signal other than the power signal. I'd rather not post from work (like I'm doing right now!), so the blog may be quiet for a while, but hopefully not for long. Have a great week!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The Diaper Clutch

I was surfing The Mom Buzz today and came across a post about the Diaper Clutch. It is a cute little folding bag that holds diapers, wipes, a changing pad, even a small bottle of hand sanitizer. They come in a ton of cute designs. I am partial to the Girl Camo:



Currently crumpled diapers float around in my purse and I carry around a big ol' Costco wipe pack, so one of these would certainly solve some of my space issues. I switch bags back and forth between the week and weekends, so this would provide for a smooth transition between bags, ensuring I don't forget anything.

The Mom Buzz is giving one away, so click here to enter by February 4th!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Inauguration Day

Just in case you were unable to see it live, below is President Obama's oath and speech. I am home from work today with a sick baby, so I was able to catch it. I thought the speech was awesome. What a great day of hope for Americans!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Free Stuff!

Who doesn't love free stuff? Get some here!
  • Look here to download a free copy of Suze Orman's new book: Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan: Keeping Your Money Safe and Sound, courtesy of Oprah (offer expires 11:59 pm CT on Thursday, January 15)
  • Register here to get a free sippy cup from Juicy Juice. Make sure you choose the sippy cup at the bottom
  • Look here to download free e-books from Random House
  • Look here to email for a free sample of Don't Bite Me! natural insect repellent patch
  • Click here to get a free pocket size copy of the Constitution from the Heritage Foundation. This would be great for a kids' civics or social studies project.
  • Click here to order a dryer vent safety tool from Dryer Vent Wizard. I really need this, I'm sure my dryer is a fire hazard!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

La Vida Loca

Wow, this week is CRAZY. This is the first full week of work, day care, school, and the kids' activities: dance class, karate, swim lessons, and softball pitching clinic. I have been trying to get into work early (7am) so I can leave earlier (4pm) in order to shuttle to all these things and make sure the homework gets done.

So, in order to get to work by 7, I need to leave my house between 6-6:15. I take #3 with me (JV stays home to get Diva & Daredevil on the bus at 8:20 in order to save $ by not using Before Care) so here's my schedule:
  • Wake up between 4:45-5. Shower, blow dry & get dressed by 5:30
  • Wake up #3 at 5:30. Feed her (still nursing, so that takes 20-25 minutes) and dress her.
  • Kiss the sleeping Diva and Daredevil goodbye.
  • Park #3 in her bouncy seat and take bottle bag, breast pump, briefcase, lunch bag and purse (yes I do look like a pack mule) to the car, turn on car to warm up.
  • Come back in, bundle up #3 and put her in the infant seat, put infant seat in car
  • Leave between 6-6:15 for 25-35 minute drive to day care/work
  • Arrive at daycare (usually 6:40-6:50). Parallel park and run #3 in to her room, give her tons of kisses, put bottles in fridge, hand her over to her teacher, and leave
  • Pull into parking garage on next block and run up to my office by 7.

Whew. So far I'm totally exhausted. This is my second day of this schedule. Hopefully it I will get used to it and it will get easier! (The fact #3 woke up hungry at 2:30 a.m. did not help!) Plus, we also start sports clinics this weekend - on Saturday, Diva's starting 6 weeks of volleyball, and on Sunday, Daredevil's starting flag football. They are at our health club, so hopefully I'll be able to get a workout in on one of those days!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

New Years Resolutions

New Year's Eve/Day is my favorite holiday of the year.

As a self-help book addict (and book addict in general) I love New Year's Resolutions and the chance to make a fresh start to set about the task of improving myself and learning new things. Yes, my resolutions are eerily similar year to year. Have I followed through with all of them? Heck no. But I have a lot of fun making the list and starting, ever so slowly, to change for the better, or at least start thinking of how I'd like to change for the better.

Here's what I'm looking at in 2009:
  • Weight loss/fitness. I've already started working on this with JV. See my other blog, Mr. And Mrs. Wannabe Skinny. We just started a few weeks ago, so not much success yet with all our holiday goings-on. Stay tuned for (hopefully) our success stories!

  • Pack rat tendencies. This is the issue that probably needs the most attention. I am a huge fan of the show Clean House on the Style channel, mainly because I have rooms, closets, and drawers that sometimes look like that show. As they say, I have chaos, mayhem, and foolishness. We have too much stuff. I fantasize while watching Clean House that Miss Neicy & crew will show up at my house and make all my clutter go away via a fun yard sale where they do most of the work. Bottom line: We need to get rid of stuff. And figure out a way to keep stuff from accumulating. I've started selling books on half.com, and I've set up an Ecrater.com store, but haven't posted anything yet. Stay tuned, stuff will be there soon. Good stuff.

  • Career options. I'm a paralegal. I do a lot of the same work lawyers do and get paid a lot less for it. I have dreams of going to law school. I need to find a way to make this happen while still being there for my family and pulling in some kind of income. Sounds impossible, but I know other people have done it, so I can do it too. Instead of spending another year being paralyzed by the limitations (fear/time/money), I need to work on solutions and at least take the LSAT test.

  • Learning to play acoustic guitar. I have one. I don't know how to play it. JV bought it for me 4 or 5 years ago for my birthday because I asked for one. It's gorgeous and was expensive. I want to take lessons. They have group lessons very cheap at the local Police Athletic League Center, but the next session was on Tuesday nights, when Daredevil has karate and will soon start swimming lessons. Hopefully I can make the next session.
I think this is enough to focus on. Hopefully it will help that I've already taken some baby steps. If I think of anything else worth mentioning, I'll update. I'll revisit these resolutions next year and see how I did. Maybe I'll do better in 2009 since my resolutions are out here on the blogosphere, rather than existing only in my mind.

Do you have any New Years Resolutions? Comment and let me know! Wishing you a very happy and healthy 2009!