I’m going to Carowinds tomorrow. I’m leaving right after church today. Diva and Country are going, too. Yep, she got her room clean. We’re going with the church youth group. It will be great to spend some fun time with them.
Remember I posted about the mop thingie I picked up in the truck accessories department at Walmart? I’ve used it several times now, and I need to let you know that the lining on mine is ripped from putting it on/off the swiffer. It’s not a big deal, because the lining can just be snipped out, but I wanted to let you know, so you would expect it. I still totally recommend it. In fact, I recommend you come on over and try mine out. Right now, even. 
See, that’s what I ought to be doing. Well, that and laundry, and dusting and vacuuming and, and, and. The list goes on and on, and here I sit typing. And Also, my uncle just called, and he’ll be here in an hour. My only uncle. My childless uncle. Bye ya’ll.
Everyday when I bring in the mail, I am greeted by a litany of ‘anything for me?”s. Now, my kids get maybe one piece of mail per month, but they have to ask daily. We do get plenty of junk mail though, 2 or 3 pieces a day, and it all goes in the garbage. What a waste of trees, and money! We get the phone calls, too. You know the ones. Always at dinner, always for products I would never buy, and vacations for “you and a friend”. Uh, no. Give me a va-kay for 10, and we’ll talk, ykwim?
I can tell that the people who mail and call me are not using lists from Martin Worldwide. See, Martin has developed a list of people who are proven responders to direct mail and phone solicitations. Yeah, they make mailing and telemarketing lists of proven spenders. And while I usually like to be on lists, I’ll gladly pass on this one. I spend plenty on stuff I actually think of, without someone calling me up with suggestions, ykwim?
Hey, sometimes you gotta buy stuff. I happen to need to buy a lot of stuff. One of the things I need to buy is memory for my computer. It’s an Acer, but I’m looking at other types, including Dell Memory, because I can usually poke around the sites I find and locate the memory that will work in my own computer. I’m just sneaky that way.
I read this the other day, and it started me thinking about my floors again.
While it’s always important to have an impressive trade show display, it’s also important to remember the little things about your display. Top quality trade show flooring is just as important as the display, and I think you’ll be happy you went with Modern Day Displays to get yours. They have the best selection of flooring for all of your trade show displays.
I still haven’t done anything about either the kitchen or the living room, and they are both still on my last nerve. Could anything possible work better for a family this size than industrial quality flooring? I think not! I should totally quit complaining and just do something about it, shouldn’t I?
The problem is two-fold. Well, actually is several fold, but the reasons all begin to merge together when I think them through. Because of the size of our family, we put a lot of stress on household products. Not from abuse, just from use. The stuff that would last a “normal” family a decade or so, lasts about 5 years for us, IF it’s a high quality product, less if it’s not. That’s why I haven’t done anything about the floors. I could get it done for about 200 bucks, if I was willing to go with a cheap product. But I know if I do that, I will be angry with myself in less than a year when my “new” floor looks like crap. So, I’m holding out for the good stuff, and the good stuff is spendy. I’m not a business that can afford to drop a couple grand on a floor, yet that’s the quality I need. It’s a juggling game, balancing cost and quality.
I know I keep coming back to this, but it’s such a cool concept, and something I am trying harder to do with my children, that it just bears repeating. The fact that I’m also using it on myself with decent results just adds to the appeal! So what is it again? Appreciative coaching “uses positive questions, mindfulness, and other tools to acknowledge the strengths of individuals and effect change”. It’s a fancy name for that technique we’ve heard about before–praise the good stuff, and ask questions to point to the areas where we’d like to see changes. One of my favorites is “how’s that working for you?” because it helps the child in question (or me) see that poor choices affect them in concrete ways. You can find more info in the book written by Capella University faculty member Sara Orem, Appreciative Coaching: A Positive Process for Change.
It’s going to be a fly-by weekend around these parts. DH and the boy-oes are leaving this afternoon for a much anticipated camping trip. The living room is awash in backpacks and bedrolls, voices are loud and excited, and man, I just can’t wait until the take some of that boy-sterousness on out of here, LOL.
They will be back on Sunday morning, and Diva and I will be leaving Sunday afternoon for a trip to Carowinds. (Country isn’t going because her room is still not clean. It’s been six weeks with no life, and she still won’t clean it. Stubborn and crazy girl.) We’ll be back late Monday night. We are going with the church youth group, so I don’t even have to drive. That’s my kind of trip–no worries, just free time and fun.
Suncreen? Check. Clean under-roos? Check. Yarn? Check. Phone number for an Atlanta locksmith? Not my problem.
A couple of days ago, I was reading to the boys for school, and I looked over at Stuntman, and you will never believe what I saw. Remember, he’s just 9 years old. He had a tremendously large zit on the side of his nose. Without being overly gross, let me just say that I got the overlay of skin off that pore, and if the sebum had been gold, I’d be living in a five bedroom rancher about now, ok??
Now, I never suffered over much from acne as a teen, though I usually have a good outbreak in early pregnancy. It doesn’t affect my face so much as my back, for which I am profoundly grateful. Since mine is hormonally induced, I just deal as best I can, and assure myself that it will be over in a couple of months. DH suffered abysmally as a teen, however, complete with regular trips to the dermatologist. Sad to say, I think at least a couple of the children will share his fate.
The internet is a wonderful thing, though. I can read bout acne, so I can help my kids! And the first thing I will say is “no chocolate”. Muhahahahhaaha. Oh, that has nothing to do with acne, it’s just so I can keep it all for myself! That’s right. In spite of hearing all through my teens to avoid this and that food, fact is that scientists have not found a connection between diet and acne. That stuff we heard about acne and makeup, though? It’s true. Choose wisely and cleanse well.
That last bit is not for the boy, don’t panic
I see from the comments that I hit a nerve with that post on socks. Or perhaps I just hit the nail on the head. Regardless, it’s obvious that I’m not the only one who feels like playing with socks is about as smart as using a high interest credit card. There are search engines to find better credit cards, and there are sock makers to find better solutions to my sock issues. I only need 2 different kinds of ladies socks, and 3 different kinds of boys to hook me right up, and yeah, I’ll probably use a credit card to buy them. That’s okay, and you know why? The interest charged will be worth less than my frustration, LOL.
You know I’m still learning about this thing called motherhood. I’m much smarter and better organized now than I was when I just had a couple of children. Of course, there’s ever so much more to do, too. They say necessity is the mother of invention, and even though I giggle as I say it, I’m still willing to admit that it’s true.
Technorati Tags: socks, credit cards, motherhood
Today, I want to talk about the sock game. I play this game with great regularity, as I am sure most mothers do. Only I have 8 kids (yeah, cause TheClone left unmatched socks here) to play it with. I hate the sock game. It takes up a couple hours to play it all the way to completion, only it’s never really played to completion because I always have socks left. Always.
Now, I’ve read advice to just buy same socks. You know what I mean, mega packs of same style socks, that way they all match. And I’ve rejected that advice because *I* happen to like cute, patterned socks. But you know what? *I* happen to be responsible enough to make sure BOTH my socks make it to the hamper. I am therefore responsible enough to have cute socks.
I’m thinking that once I get today’s laundry done, my sock game days are over. I’m passing out the unmatched patterned ones to their owner, throwing out the unmatched plain ones, and the next time I hear “I need socks”, I’ll go buy them. White. Or black. Plain. Done. I’ll use the money I save to buy more cute socks for myself. Or shoes, or yarn, or make-up……….
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