What? Seriously?

I woke up from a nightmare this morning. I reached over and I wasn't alone. I took a shower and walked slowly to wake the two little ones, one at a time. I knocked and my oldest was putting her make up on her sweet face that needed nothing. My mom probably told me the same thing at her age.

My dream brought the past present and drove lightening bolt through my brain.

My babies are growing up so fast. I wouldn't change a minute of it,well except for all the time k was sick and in the hospital. Well, and I'd waste much less time on the little crap that muddles through our female brains. I'll take 40 and some of the wisdom and run with it, also fight my damn slowing almost 40 metabolism the entire time! :)

Happy Wednesday. Enjoy it! Cherish it! Have a glass of wine at the end of the day and forget it if you need to, because it's that bad! XOXOXOXO

Christie

Just A Little Bit...

So life does happen and we need to go with it, whether we like it or not. Choices are made. Learning from the choices and owning them can make a person move forward into the light. God doesn't expect perfection. Lord knows I'm so beyond perfection. Loyalty, devotion, and kinds to others is expected of me. After 40 years on this planet I can say I'm doing pretty well. The kids keep me going and on my toes every single day. They crack me up, make me want to scream, and sometimes just cuddle nice and quietly with me. I'm excited to watch them swim and kick butt in the pool. They love swimming. I'm so proud of my open minded girls that don't live with blinders and know that if two souls are in love tolerance is necessary.

That's all I really have today. I hope it didn't sound preachy, because that wasn't my intent. It comes down to love, acceptance, and living without fear. More importantly I had to find my voice. I had to learn to tell someone when something was OK. It felt good. It feels good. I was brave and it paid off immensely.

xoxoxo
Christie

Sluggish

I don't know what is going to happen today. Everything seems like it's in slow motion. Days like today, when I'm feeling like this, I completely overthink life. Do you know what I mean? Hmmm My keyboard is slowmotion, too. LOL..now that is someone or something trying to tell me something.

Ok, I grabbed a Zone bar and a cup of coffee. I'm sure the fingers should catch up with the brain soon enough. Bye for now...
xoxo
C

Talking About A Revolution.,...

Feeling Feisty! Loving this right now. Stand up friends...work it...work hard..make it work (a little Tim Gunn style.)

Doing The Best We Can Do...

I have a blog friend and she wrote a post about women judging women in regards to attachment parenting vs non attachment parenting, co-sleeping and non co sleeping. She was just so sick and tired of all the extremists on these issues. I agree!


As women, shouldn't we support one another? Judgement should never be present, unless physical harm is emminent to our little ones. We do what we do to survive during the tough moments, and just try to enjoy them during others.

I pumped for my preemie while she was in the hospital and didn't know how to even suckle. I pumped and bottle fed the second because after preeclampsia she was not taking anything that required work. I breastfed my boy for maybe 5 months...because after you have 3 children running around, finding the time to just sit and nurse is quite the rarity. LOL. My point is,who the heck cares. My kids flock to me like I'm the Candyman. The one who never ever breastfed is the closest with touching and being near to me in proximity..so no bonding was ruined there! I just say hey...we're all moms. We've been there. Done it all and if you want to vent...let me help. Screw the extremists in any debate on "CORRECT" parenting. LOL. I don't think there is such a thing. Plus, one day they'll be 15 1/2 and not want to color Easter Eggs and you'll sigh an remember all the Easters before and just cherish those memories. They grow up and we need to enjoy them while we can.

Love is a given and unconditional. I think we should all learn the signs an symptoms of postpartum depression and help our friends with staying healthy and letting them know sometimes a doctor and an antidepressant can change the entire parenting paradigm for their infant. Just love one anther and support one another. xoxoxo

Just When You Open Up A Little....He

All I had to do what read the text message that she couldn't stop crying and didn't know what to do or who to call, my heart broke for her. What can I do all these miles away? What I do is listen, offer advice, and just try to encourage her to trust her decisions she's made. Divorce isn't easy...but continued verbal abuse, secrets, and disappearing is not what loving husband does to his wife and children. Skillfully a manipulator can work himself right back into a soft part in an already vulnerable heart. It's our jobs as women, friends, and family to remind ourselves and one another of all the previous crap that the manipulator has caused and put everyone through.

I'm sorry my sweet sister that he tried to get some serious sympathy from you. He got what he needed, a rental car, and he left after trying to make you feel bad about telling your family he demolished his car that is in your name. You're a strong, beautiful, amazing woman/Mom/and sister. REMEMBER that always. I love you.
xoxoxo

Ironing The Sheets!

I read on a great decorating blog by Jill Vargas , about ironing your sheets. Ironing your sheets you say? Who has time, you ask? Well, I did it tonight! It took all of 10 minutes. The Rowenta was hot and the sheets were warm and smelling like my perfect cocktail. You don't know what my cocktail is? It's the Tide with liquid Downey in the ball insdie the washer and the Bounce sheet in the dryer! Yum. Ok, so I took the sheets and ironed them. They folded up perfectly soft and tightly, like they do at my mom's house. I'm sure my mom doesn't iron her sheets. :)

We'll see what happens. The whole goal is have the bed feel like a spa hotel bed. I'm sure it will feel soooo good when I climb in tonight.

In A Rush Without My BRA!

The bus arrives, to drop the kids off home, at 2:30Pm every single day. Yesterday it was 2:20 and I realized I had to grab the Sweet Keeper. The Sweet Keeper is the keeper of the coupons and I needed it for the market stop that was going to happen right after picking up the kiddos. Sooooo, I was in a little bit of a rush. Ok, it was a HUGE RUSH. What do I do? I grab the Sweet Keeper, big bag of a purse, keys, phone....and get to the car. What did I forget? Hmmm...2:27 and something is missing! That's it....NO BRA! Car in park, it's on, and garage door is open , so I run into to grab a bra. Of course there's always a spare on top of the dryer for this exact reason! Grab it and pick up the kids.

I was going to put it on incognito in the bus pick up line. No one would have noticed. However, at this point it's 2:30 when I pull up and the bus is pulling up to the curb. Shit!

That's right it's going to have to happen at the market parking lot! I make the kids get out and stand right next to the car. In a split second..that bra is on under the shirt and I'm in business. Was there a problem? Did it go smoothly? Everything was fine except for the boob shot the old lady in the handicap spot caught. Well, hell if you're going to stare at someone in their car long enough you will see something unsightly eventually!

Bra on, sweet keeper in hands, kids wondering why they had to wait outside the car, and me no worse for the wear! Just another thing in my Wonderful World that I rocked so great, only the old lady staring at me knew I was doing a quick change in the parking lot! LOL.

No Idea....

I have no idea why I get so wrapped up and riled up with what's going on in the world of politics. The violence and stoking of the flames after the bill was voted into law, is unacceptable.

All I can say is this. If you don't like what is happening go register new voters. Get your voters out on election day and vote your candidate into office.

Now, I'm off to make a grocery list and think about all the good going on in our world. :)

Stoking The Fire of Violence and Hate

Where have you gone John McCain? Where is the man I once so greatly admired? I just listened to a man who looked like McCain and Sounded like McCain explain away Sarah Palin's Lock and Load and Cross hair map for "Taking Democrats Out" as nothing more than what he's scene in politics all his life. Really?

He continued to tell Ann Curry that he condemned violence occurring because of Health Care Reform, but then continued it was happenening because people were mad and it's all because of the back room deals and "sausage making" the democrats have done behind closed doors. Really?

Wow. So, throwing bricks at congressional member's offices in the capitol and in their home towns isn't so bad? Threats of violence and the N word thrown at the Rep. John Lewis who marched that bloody Sunday in Selma Alabama isn't so bad, compared to the sausage making of the democrats. Wow. Sarah Palin going on her Face Book and telling her followers to RELOAD with a map of the cross haired states of the reps to "take out" isn't as bad as politics as usual. Really?

Wow. So, now McCain says he won't work on anything bipartisan for the rest of his term. I wonder how this will help his opponent J.D. Hayworth down there in Arizona? I imagine the Senator will change his mind about that really soon.

Senator Boehner, you let me know when Armageddon happens. You said this was the beginning, with the passage of the bill. Is that Armageddon to begin with the violence from the right fringe? All the stoking of the flames might get you just what you've wished for, but then what? If all else fails I'm sure you'll turn to Glenn Beck and let him try and sway the Tea Baggers toward McCarthyism 2010 with all his communist talk.

Beck's Witch Hunt: The New McCarthyism
- Watch more Politics Videos at Vodpod.

What about the Tea Baggers?

How many Tea Baggers don't have health insurance of anykind? How many have Medicare, Medicaid, form of publicly funded care? How many have had times of not being able to get their children insured or seen by doctors due to lack of insurance? How many of those people couldn't get insurance for their children because of a pre-existing condition or a lifetime cap already in place? How many Tea Baggers have walked with signs picketing President Obama as a radical muslim, with a mustache like Hitler, or anything more radical like Obama caricatured like a monkey eating a banana? How many Tea Baggers knew tea bagging was a sexual act involving a man putting his testicles in woman's or another man's mouth? Simple questions to ponder.

Let's have debates! Our differences allow for new ideas to emerge when debated with respect and an open mind. Vote. Vote. Vote. Do the right thing and voice your opinions, but does it have to be demeaning to a human being? Should disparaging race or gender be part of pulling America apart into factions of haters? What does this say about our humanity if we lose sight of our fellow human?

Finally, if you're one of the people who starts posting how we're becoming Communists, then I must draw the line there. I'm sorry, but Obama is not the second coming of Stalin. No one called Bush, Napolean, over his war in Iraq that was over something that didn't exist, like WMD. You know what, strike that. This has nothing to do with Bush or the crazy amounts of millions and millions of dollars the Republicans used to try and impeach Clinton over a blow job in a closet. When their top leadership were also having affiars. Ok, I give in it was the lying about the BJ
that got Clinton in trouble.

I'm now done with the rant of the day.

My Coupon Organizer…

This website is amazing. It's so user friendly and it's very easy on the eyes! Love it!!!!
My Coupon Organizer…

Changing It Up

I am going to work on making this blog into three columns. I'll just put it on my list of things to do. I'm so impired by so many new bloggers, their use of colors, and approach to style. It's very inspiring. I love the creativity!

I'm all over it!

Supersticky Discovery!

How cute is this?! Superstickies

Tuesday's Product Ponder...Bounce Dryer Bar

I love my cleaning supplies. Near and dear to my aroma therapy soul is anything that has to do with great smelling laundry products. Not only do my products need to smell awesome, but they must clean!

Since we have to do laundry, unless you're one of those that just let's it pile up and then uses the cheapest detergent to get the job done, then it might as well smell terrific! There are no allergies in my family and from what I've noticed when trying some of the eco green cleaners, is that they don't work, as well. I'm not against the Eco detergents, but nothing has worked like my Tide or Costco's Kirkland Liquid brands.

This Product Ponder is not about detergent. It's all about the fabric softener. I use both liquid and a sheet. My liquid of choice is Downey. That April Fresh scent is so light and yummy that I can feel the aroma therapy working as I move the clothes from the washer to the dryer. Ok, maybe not so much therapy, but damn it smells good. Oh, and yes I use the Downey Ball. I love that ball! For my fabric softener sheets I do not waiver from my favorite sheets. I use Bounce. Freshly dried clothes with Bounce are the ablsolute softest and best smelling produced loads of laundry in my house.



A few months back I ventured into uncharted territory and bought the new Bounce Dryer Bar. One sticks it (literally) into the dryer with a adhesive holder to its dryer tub. It looks like a long oval bar of soap. I didn't use the sheets with this bar, because it was supposed to work in place of the dryer sheets. Well, it didn't work as well as the sheets. The clothes didn't come out smelling as fresh. The towels were not soft and fluffy like with the sheets. The deal breaker for me was huge, though. This Bounce Bar was supposed to last for 4 months. It was broken into pieces by day 9 of my experiment.

Fast forward to 3 days ago. I had a coupon for $1.50 odd and it was on sale at my market. So, I succumbed to the Frugalista in me and bought, it with the coupon. This bar was only the 2 month lasting version of the Bounce Dryer Bar. Three days into the re-do of the previous experiment and it failed, again, miserably. It cracked again and came loose from the holder. I ran it again and then realized it was so worn in after 3 days and cracking apart that there was no way this was going to work again in it's holder or with the clothes. The smell wasn't there, again. It seemed as though I dried a few loads of clothes without any dryer fabric softener, even though the Dryer Bar was being used.

Grade: D-
I will never give up my Bounce sheets and go to the Bounce Dryer Bar. In my opinion, the bar is just a waste of money. The only reason it didn't receive the worst grade F, was because I use the bar on a shelf in the laundry room for a little extra Aroma Therapy on the days when I don't want to run another load, for the life of me.

Sincerly,
Christie

Organizing Me...

I have become engrossed in saving money. It's a little sickening and empowering, at the same time. It's sickening to admit it and show my Sweet Keeper,aka geeky Trapper Keeper, with all my coupons and deals that around town. On the other hand, it's empowering to know I can save a TON of money just by some careful clicks of the mouse. Said clicks take me some great websites. There are some terrific women out there sharing some great knowledge with the rest of us. I'm taking to my blog to say...you can save money. Some of the websites say it's easy to find the deals and organize with their printable couponing and parts of it are easy. For me I need to look at my circulars, cut my coupons, print some online, and then list by store. The tough part is making sure you get what you need and making the most of coupons online/newspapers/circulars. For me it does mean going to at least two stores if I want to grocery shop and do the Walgreens or CVS rewards! Walgreens and CVS are amazing. To many of the hardcore couponers it's called The Drugstore Game. Of course there's the Coupon Mom many of you have heard of in the news and online. My new FAVORITE is the Deal Seeking Mom! What great about her is that she always has new deals constantly outside of just the normal circulars. Go to her site and learn about CVS and Walgreens. It's worth it. I have a few more frugalistas on my blogger list.

Discipline, saving, making plans, and then the execution of said plans are all good things. All of this has inspired me to focus on what I want to do with my goals. I don't want to run a coupon site. It wouldn't be fulfilling to my passions. The people running them are so fabulous at it that I couldn't do it any better or add anything more to their deal finding. The focus and organization is bringing me out of mommy land and back to the Wonderful World of Christie! I see the On Ramp right up the road. All this organizing and saving has me working towards a goal. What goal am I looking for? I am not sure. I'm learning about what makes me happy. Not quite sure what the happiness is EXACTLY, either, but I'm pretty close. :)

OMG, I’m Obsolete! - DivineCaroline

OMG, I might not be too obsolete, after all! I've been blogging since 2004 wonderfulworldofchristie.blogspot.com, joined Facebook before my girls, joined LinkedIn, and chose to do Chrisy Snow from Three's Company rather than the feather from Farrah. I will admit to making my girls not use ghetto slang and Z's for S's in their text messaging! The biggie was quitting my job after my second child being born. Not only was child care $1200 a month,b ut how could I leave a tiny baby? With my first child, four years prior, I was fresh out of college and went to work when she was 11 months old. My conclusion is that technically I'm obsolete and I'll be 40 in 10 weeks, but I'm working up that On Ramp in a cool SUV.

OMG, I’m Obsolete! - DivineCaroline

Spanx..for men

I don't even know if I need to type more than the picture says. LOL. The guys are now getting their own Spanx for their tummy and man boobs. :) Sooo cute! It was huge news on Weekend Today. I just wish Lester would have sported one so we could get the full effect. :)

Crazy Christie

Talk about a dumbass? That would be me! LOL I wrote an entire post about being a crazy woman the last few weeks, while being made to wait 2 weeks for test results. I admit to crazy, crying, overly hormonal in a very very bad way, and ok bitchy.

My post made no promises about going back to my perked up self, but I promise less bitchy. Oh and I'll also try to figure out the all over the place crazy ass posts! LOL.

Never a dull moment my friends...never a dull moment!

My uber favorite female...Crystal Blowersox! She will win the whole damn thing, I think. :) She's still really sick form her being hospitalized a few weeks ago with her diabetes. It must have been really bad, because she's sits down at the end. Sweet amazing and talented woman.