Lifes Like That

I can’t wait for the weekend to officially start.  Over the next couple of days we have four appointments to go house hunting.  And the weatherman is calling for a great weekend full of sunshine and warm temperatures.  Hopefully we will find something we like and be able to put a bid on them.  I can’t tell you how much I can’t wait to move out of this neighborhood.  A couple of our neighbors are a little “strange” to put it nicely and it will be nice to finally get away from all the drama.  But for now all we can do is house hunt and hopefully find a house that we like and can afford.  Then the next step will be packing and moving.  Yeah!!

I am highly impressed with myself this year. The first of last month I decided that I was going to give my house a complete face-lift and get down and dirty with the spring cleaning. I have accomplished all I wanted to do and now all I need to do is rent a steam cleaner to get all the floors into tip top shape. As this is the first year in seven years that I haven’t worked outside of the home during this process a lot more got done and a lot quickly. So now with the nice weather I won’t have to stay inside and clean and I won’t have to feel guilty when I’m spending extra time outside with the kids.

I do honestly amaze myself sometimes.

Today turned out to be a great day to spend a little time outdoors cleaning up the yard.  We are finally getting some nice spring weather and I just couldn’t resist the urge to step outside and start cleaning up the yard.  We had a pretty horrible winter here this past year and because we were unable to go outside and do any bit of cleaning at all (besides shoveling), the yard really looks neglected.

So this morning I was busy cleaning up debris and garbage and I started to get out our deck furniture.  It’s days like today that make me quite happy that spring is almost here and I can get my outside space looking just as attractive as my inside space.  Just in case I forgot to mention, I LOVE SPRING!

Oh wait.  If I did that, I would have to fire MYSELF and we can’t have that happening now can we?!  Sorry for the rant, but it’s days like today where I get so fed up with my family and the messes they make.  I don’t understand how they can make such a mess when they are either in school or at work.  But they do and I’m the one left to do all the cleaning.  I’m getting so…tired of cleaning!  The only thing I ask of the two younger kids is that they keep their rooms clean.  After walking down the hallway this morning and seeing the rooms in the state they are, I just started seeing red.  But I refuse to clean these areas as well.  And, my big kid (hubby) drives me crazy because he makes messes and just leaves them laying about.  For instance he took apart a little dirt bike the other night that wasn’t working and guess where the bike and pieces now are??  In MY home office.  I wonder how long they will stay there.

So now you know why I should fire “me” or quit.  I’ve just about had it!

As you all know, we are almost done our renovations on our current home. In about a month’s time we will be putting it on the market and hopefully it will sell quite quickly. We have replace a lot in this home with the hopes that the new renovated look will entice buyers to buy. The final room we need to finish would be our daughter’s bedroom. We have the room painted and the floors done so all we need to do is to purchase her some new furniture. When we move, all this new furniture will be going with us, but it will make her room look nicer to buyers when they see new furniture in the room. Our first purchase will be a new mattress and then we will be purchasing a new dresser and night stand. It’s getting down to crunch time and I am definitely starting to get excited.

Usually on the weekends my husband is pretty nice to me and lets me sleep in. Since I have to get up so early in the morning during the week, and stay up, he tries to do this nice thing for me on the weekends. Unfortunately this morning I didn’t get to sleep in very long as the sun was beating through my window and it woke me up quite early. Now if I had of bought the roller shades for my bedroom window like I wanted to, I wouldn’t have had this problem. It’s suppose to be really sunny tomorrow as well, so tonight before I go to bed I’m going to try to remember to put a blanket on the window and maybe I will be able to sleep in tomorrow morning.

Last week I took the plunge from dial up to high speed and I have to say that I don’t think that I’ve ever been happier with a decision that I have made.  Yes, it does cost a little more than what I’m used to paying, but I have to tell you all that the extra cost is so…worth it!  Matter of fact, I just shake my head at the thoughts of me not wanting to spare the extra cash in the first place.  I could have saved myself two years of headaches had I known what I know now.  Not only is one of the benefits of having high speed a faster service, but my husband and I can both be on the net at the same time with no fighting.  We don’t have to take turns and I can work when I want to.  After this past week, I have discovered one thing, I will NEVER go back to dial up.  Never again.

Over the past nine months I have discovered something major. Now that I’m not working and have no outside income coming in, I have discovered that I really need to find some different ways to save money. Although my husband has a full time job and there is income coming in from his job, I would still like to find ways to save money so that we can still give the kids the little extras that they so enjoy. One way that I use to save money is by saving coupons. I collect all different types of coupons such as grocery coupons, department store coupons and Bluefly coupon. Not only do I collect these coupons, but I also use them! I have found that this is a great way to save a little bit of money each and every month and with these savings, we are still able to give the kids the little extras that they have come to enjoy.

Part of my job every day as a mother is trying to come up with exciting and tasty treats for my kids to eat for supper. As I don’t want them to get bored with what is being served to them and then stop eating it, I am constantly on the look out for new and exciting food products for them to try out to hopefully enjoy and beg for more. So, tonight I decided to try something new. I was given two bottles of Grey Poupon mustard to review and try out, and this is mine and my daughter’s honest opinion.

We tested out both the “Harvest Coarse Ground” mustard and the “Hearty Spicy Brown” mustard. Out of the two, I preferred the harvest coarse ground mustard. I found that it was a bit sweeter than the hearty spicy brown. My daughter preferred the hearty spicy brown mustard as it had more of a kick to it. So if your looking for a mustard that is sweet and tangy, then the coarse ground mustard is the mustard for you. But, if you enjoy your food with a little bite to it, then the hearty spicy brown mustard will be the mustard of choice. She enjoyed this mustard so much that even after her pogo was gone, she was spooning up the rest of the mustard from her plate. She has even asked me to make her a sandwich for school tomorrow with this mustard in it.

So, the verdict is in! These mustard’s got an A+ from me and an A+++ from my daughter. With these two types of mustard’s sitting in my fridge, I can be assured that my daughter will definitely being eating a lot of foods that require mustard. And when these two bottles are gone, you can bet that she will have me running to the store for more. So, suppers at my house won’t be quite so difficult any more.

As you all know, we have an ongoing project going on in our home. Yes, the dreaded renovations! It has taken us a lot more time and money that I had originally thought it would to get all these projects completed. When we were re-doing the bathroom, I couldn’t believe how much new bathroom vanities cost. Thankfully for me, my husband has a great eye and is one of those people who can spot a deal a mile away. If it wasn’t for his sense of money, I know we would have ended up paying a lot more for items than we really needed to. So hopefully with the renovation continuations, his sale eye will still be working and we won’t be in the poor house when were finally finished everything we want to do.