Diet Advice

Being a stay at home mom means that I know a lot of stay at home moms and we all have one thing in common, fat. LOL! We're always asking each other what the other is doing and are even starting a mom group when the kids get in school so we can all work out and keep each other motivated. Latly the talk was who knew what were the most effective diet pills but since none of us move we really can't say. I'm sure there are some that are better than others but I couldn't say anything at all since I end up falling off the regimen.

Insomniac

I haven't been getting much sleep at all lately and it really stinks. I've got bags under my eyes that stay with me for a good part of the day. DD is on the world's worst schedule and by the time she passes out I really need some me time. Then by the time I go to sleep I'm so tired that I just pass out and when I wake up I can barely see straight. I'll be seeking out the best eye cream before I know it trying to get the puffing down.

Product Reviews

I just found a great site that does a "real person" breakdown of diet pills and supplements called quickweightloss.org. By real person I mean that it's not some site where there's tons of stuff trying to sell you everything. They look at each product and break it down for you listing the pros and cons of each one. That's really something someone like me needs. I can't stand all the ads and end up leaving sites that have tons so this one's great for me to read.

Higher Education

I've always regretted not finishing school and am thinking about going back again. It's kind of a hard decision what to major in once I'm there though. I thought it would be convenient to get a bachelors degree online for me so that I can do it when I have free time. I'm glad that you can find a credible online university now. Before you never knew if the actual school even existed and it was limited to like one or two but now many are using distant learning courses and it's great for people like me. It's nice to have a choice for things like this so you know you can get what you want on your resume. I've been looking at Western Governors University because of their range of courses but I'm still not sure exactly what I'm going to do. I have a while before I can make any decision at all so I still have time to research things.

Hyped Up

There always seems to be more and more fat burner pills coming out every month that it's a wonder if anyone knows what to try anymore. I'm always confused when I think about trying one and it becomes so much of a decision that I end up not buying any at all. Reviews are always helpful but I tend to forget to read any because it's such a last minute thought. Then again, most things are that way for me now, I can't seem to keep my head on straight. lol

Florida Fun

My friends are planning their vacations again. One was telling me how the Orlando vacation packages are really good this year. I wish I could book a trip when she is but I'm not sure we'll have enough money to go that far away this year. Hopefully we'll go some where for more than a day but I'm still trying to work that into the budget. Lord knows I need a vacation.

Losing Weight

I've tried a lot of weight loss programs and although they work I'm just too busy to keep up with anything. By the time I finally have time to work out I'm SO lazy and tired that I can't do anything else. It's funny how I was waiting for DD to get old enough to play alone and she's more needy than ever. Eventually I hope she'll start becoming more independent but she'll probably be in school by that time. At least I'll have a couple of hours to do something for me then!

Hormones

I feel really bad...apparently DS has "my" skin and with puberty he's breaking out like crazy. Funny because I didn't break out that bad then, it came after that for me. The poor kid was asking me what the best acne products were and I felt bad when I couldn't tell him anything because I still have the same problem. I wish I knew of something without side effects to give both of us so that we don't feel so bad or aren't in nearly as much pain. No one really thinks of it being a painful experience but omg it is! Hopefully we can find something that works for us soon and we can stop worrying about what to put or not put on our faces every night.

Down the Toilet

I'm SO incredibly tired of potty training!!! One day things will be going well and the next it's all back to the beginning. We took a day trip that totally messed everything up and I'm having to start all over again after having one of the best days yet. I had sworn that the last case of diapers I bought would be the last but now I find myself needing to buy pull-ups. I was really hoping to only have to buy underwear and that would be it but I guess that was wishful thinking, huh? Ugh, I wish this part would be over already!

On the Books

With my work expanding I've found that I really need to start keeping my books a lot better. my records are a mess with notes and things every where. I had tried to make sure I enter everything into excel but I can hardly figure that program out so that's literally all I do. LOL! I'm thinking of checking out some free personal budgeting software so that I can finally get myself under control. It's kinda crummy using a calculator to add up what I'm doing when the thing should be doing it for me. Who knows, I may even find that I have some extra money some where too!

Dream Design

It's kind of sad and kind of frustrating listening to my mom talk about the house. Since she's stuck on watching all the home design shows she's been talking about remodeling at least once an hour. I can totally understand that she has ideas of how she wants things but 1. we can't afford to do anything any time soon and 2. she refuses to do anything to better the situation now because it's not exactly what she wants. She's one of those people that you see on the shows that hasn't painted or done anything small to the house at all because it became an all or nothing ordeal. It's really frustrating, the house is totally white and it's like living in an institution. Her room including her bedding has always been white for as long as I can remember. Not because she likes it but because she won't do anything to it! She didn't even want to let me paint our bedroom because of her paralysis. The kitchen would be the first thing she would do and she's been eying a Franke sink. It's one of those deep single basin sinks so that we don't get the dreaded splash-back that we get now. Washing dishes is probably one our least favorite things because we're always drenched after. I wish she'd at LEAST start with painting though. She always complains about how bad it feels to come home and just a little paint can create such a big change. I don't think she gets that.

Blown Away

While we were out the other day I took DD into the restroom with me. It had to have been one of the funniest things I've seen her do yet when she saw the hand dryers and wanted to see what they did. Of course they couldn't be the old funky ones, they were the newer "super" models that blow super-duper fast. So she's standing under one and pushes the button only to get totally blown to bits. She just stood there not really knowing how to react with a blank look on her face. Moments like those are some of my absolute favorites.

Earthquake!

It's kind of funny how my last post was about disasters and here I go talking about earthquakes. Why? Because I finally felt one early this morning! I know with all of the news about Haiti and stuff you would think that I wouldn't be excited to feel any but I haven't felt any in at least 10 years. So many of them happen and we don't notice it no matter how big they are especially during the day when things are so hectic. Of course it was pretty embarrassing when I realized that the quake really wasn't anything to talk about at a "whopping" 2.3. LOL After that I couldn't fall asleep worried that something bigger might be coming, although it was unlikely and I'm glad we didn't have anything else happen. It really does make you think about being prepared!

Are You Prepared?

There hasn't been a shortage of huge natural disasters in years, has there? It was so sad to hear about what happened in Haiti and all of the exploits going on there now. It really should be making us here think that our time is coming soon too. I'm gearing up on earthquake supplies and have also taken into account that if something does happen, the kids may end up alone. I've seen things about how to get an instant life insurance quote and have thought about doing it myself. It's always a good thing to be prepared for that kind of thing even if it's something we don't want to think about on a daily basis.

Locker Fee

I was pretty astonished this school year when the notice was put out that students would have to rent their lockers. Who's ever heard of such a thing?! So since it wasn't mandatory of course my child said that he didn't need one. All I could think was what in the world is he going to do when he's overloaded with stuff? As it is the textbooks have weighed each of us down at some point in our school lives and the backpacks are SO incredibly heavy. Now some teachers even give the kids books to keep at home rather than lug them back and forth. I have no idea what's becoming of our schools but it seems that there's way too many financial issues to maintain any level of decency. We need a major overhaul and someone needs to re-prioritize!

Food Inc. - A MUST SEE

I had wanted to see the Food Inc. film for some time now but like everything else I forgot about it. I rarely even get to watch TV as it is. I got lucky last week and caught the Oprah show about our food system and was reminded of it. So, I bought it through the Amazon special price and watched the digital download. I was HORRIFIED at what I saw.

The thing that is a misconception for many of is that this is not JUST a animal issue, health issue or anything like that. The whole thing goes WAY beyond anything I've ever imagined. We all hear the stories of food poisoning and companies using insiders in government but we don't seem tot think much of it. Most of the time we all turn a blind eye because 1. there's not much we can do about it and 2. we all enjoy the low cost food that's available and that's exactly the problem! Like all of the other problems in this country, mass take over is occurring and the majority of our food is being grown or processed by the few remaining companies. Not only is the majority of our food being processed, the workers are treated most unfairly. After seeing this film even my opinion of illegal immigration has changed because we've been lied to by distorted attention to the subject.

I could go on and on but I won't. I urge EVERYONE to see this film and start buying the products that can help call for change in what we buy and eat. I know it's not easy since so many of us are low on cash but I can tell you, no matter how poor we are, I have made the commitment that at least 90% of our food will be sustainable, come from local organic farms and 10% or less of our food will be processed!

Croc Shoes?

I was SO surprised when I saw that Crocs is making real shoes now. Well, I thought they would eventually expand but it was quite a quick one. LOL So many things have changed since I've stopped in retail it's pretty amazing. Even the oldish looking clarks shoes have gotten a more fashionable update. It's nice to see things changing across the board but it sucks because now I don't have nearly as much money to spend on them. LOL It would be nice if I could win myself a few shopping days because soon I'm going to end up being one of those women that looks like she got stuck in a time warp. O_o

Oprah and the No Phone Zone

I think it's a wonderful thing that Oprah's doing with her effort to get everyone to stop using their cell phones to text while they're driving. Honestly I've never understood why people REALLY have to do that anyway. Being in CA, we already have no texting and hands-free laws besides it naturally making sense to me. I mean, if it's known that eating or playing with the radio can cause a distraction why would people think it's okay to be looking at a screen? It's really sad to know that deaths especially those of children are happening because of irresponsible driving occur so frequently and I really hope that everyone decides to help with changing that. As helpful and convenient as cell phones are we all need to keep in mind that everything needs to come with moderation.

Drought

It drives me nuts that I'll have busy and slow periods but that happens with every kind of business. Right now I'm sitting here again with a limited amount of work to do and it's kind of boring actually. As crazy as things can get it's nice to know when I'll be receiving a larger check. After doing this for a couple of years I've come to know when my busier times will be but even then it's not enough to save and use through out the year. That's the crummy part. I know eventually things will get better for all of us but I wish that time would hurry up and come already.