You Knew This Was Going to Happen Didn't You...

Remember last week when I posted "Brace For This..." and was all "ha ha the oldest child needs braces, oh he's growing up ha ha haha"?  Well the universe heard me and the universe said "Oh you think you can handle that? Well, you do have that little second child that I always like to throw at you when you think you've got things figured out."

Knowing that Zack had to be in the orthodontist's office every Friday morning for the next few weeks and realizing that Skyler didn't have school last Friday and loving a good multi-tasking sesh I called the office to see if they could do a consult on her as well, as her dentist had requested one at her last appointment.  I'll tell you how I thought this was going to go.  I thought they'd say "Oh yes.  She's got crowding, look at that tiny mouth.  We'll keep an eye on things and since she's only 8, we'll see you in a year or so to take another look."  The way it went was, the orthodontist looked at her last year's x-rays and knew that Ms. Thang needed braces immediately, before we even left the waiting room.  She told me all kinds of mouthy things that I don't remember that boiled down to - "her face is going to be a hot mess if you don't get a handle on this now" and "we will take all of your money, tyvm".  I didn't even look at the numbers.  I just knew that, per the contract I apparently signed at her birth, hers were going to cost more, and take longer, and be a bigger deal.  I just signed our vacations away and commenced dishing with the Ortho about our mutual love of Dansko clogs and Pandora bracelets.  It's a good thing we'll have something to talk about since I'll be there for the next four Friday mornings and likely once a month thereafter.

 

Growing Up...

The kids opened their own savings accounts and made their first deposits in Friday. They were so excited and proud of themselves.

Books books books...

Mmmm boooks.

I made this mistake but it turned out okay! :D

Goin' Super Bowlin'...

Go Patriots!!!



We're so excited to be in the Super Bowl again. We're wearing Pats gear all the time. Skyler is especially into it with polls of all the students in her school and making signs that say "Go PATS!" She's gonna love this song that her Aunt Shelle pointed me to. It's been playing on the radio up in the Boston area.

We're goin' Super Bowlin'!!!!

40 Bags of Clutter - the Master Linen Closet

Last night I worked on the master bathroom linen closet. It was hard to take pictures of because it's in a narrow hallway. This is where I keep all things medicine, hair, eye, razor, etc etc. Right now we toss unused towels on the top shelf, all things we sometimes use on the central shelf, and the lower shelves are a jumble of items I don't remember and my empty prescription bottle collection (more on that later). Here's the before:

Can we discuss that I had four FOUR boxes of a hair color I don't even use anymore, I stopped coloring my hair over a year ago.  I wonder if I can return those?

Here are the afters:

I got rid of an entire HUGE Target bag full of crap no one uses. The kind of Target bag you might use if you bought two pillows. I have no idea what I was keeping all that old unused stuff for. I do have an issue with hair product. I haven't found one I like since we lived in San Diego and my hair salon had their own product that I L.O.V.E.D., that was eight years ago. So I try and dislike a lot of hair products. Now on to the prescription bottle thing.

I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia two years ago. I've had a hard time dealing with it and take SO much medication. I saved the bottles for some reason. There were more, orange bottles, cardboard packages, syringes. I couldn't throw most of it out - it was some weird psychological thing about seeing the accumulation of all the medicine I took/take. Anyway, 2011 is on the left and 2010 is on the right. I really thought there were more.

I threw them all away yesterday and it felt good! I'm thankful to this project. Bleh bleh bleh - I'm not going to get all emotional about it, but it was a good thing.

Are you clearing out your closets?

Brace for this...

It's official. The oldest child is starting his journey with braces. He got spacers this week, partial braces next week, an expander the week after that. I'm guessing that this will be fun for exactly no one. YAY!

I've stalled on the 40 bags of crap project but do still have the momentum. I just need to pick the next target. I did do a mini clean-out of my closet and made these piles for my cousin Jackie who mentioned in the comments that I could deliver my cast-offs to her before they went to the donation pile.

Sure, there were three garbage bags full, but no that didn't make a dent in the problem that is my closet. *sigh*

Which problem areas have you cleaned out lately?

Limitations of a Friendship...

I have a hypothetical for you and I need some feedback.

Let's say that two guys both do the same job but one of them is employed directly by the "company" and the other is a contractor. Please make the assumption that being employed directly by the company is more beneficial in several ways. Let's say that there is another position coming available in the company that is a higher rank and both guys are interested and qualified. Okay.

So guy who is employed by company tells guy who is contractor that he intends to apply for the job. Guy who is a contractor throws a tantrum saying that guy who works for company isn't a true friend if he goes for that job.

In the work world, would you ever not apply for something that is better for yourself and your family because another employee might apply for it? What are the expected/understood limits of work friendships?

I personally would never expect a work friend or outside of work friend to not try to better himself or his family in deference to me. I'd encourage him/her to apply and expect that we'd keep information to ourselves until another person has made a decision.

How would you feel?

Striking to Support Stop SOPA and Stop PIPA

Strikey strikey strikey strike.

Take Care of You...

One of the things that I knew that I wanted to do for myself in 2012 was to have better skin care. I am the fortunate recipient of good genes in this area, but I wasn't doing my part in taking care of things and as I head swiftly in the direction of 40 I felt that this was the time to really start paying attention.

I've always sort of loved products. I'll try anything that another blogger recommends so I had a few things in mind as I started my Christmas shopping. I did Big Daddy the "favor" of buying several things to put in my stocking this year. Aren't I a nice helpful wife? I'll tell you what I'm using now and tell you that my skin looks GOAH-GOUS. If only I were photogenic and could show you, it just won't work though. I've tried. You'll have to trust me.

One of the first things I decided I needed was one of those rotating face scrubbers. I wasn't willing to shell out the big bucks for a sonic one so I chose the one by Olay that also has good reviews.  I lurve this thing.  I leave it in the shower and use it to wash my face about every other day.  So so pleased.

Then, despite my friend Ashley's "meh" review, I ordered Philosophy's Hope in a Jar.  I was just determined to try this, I have no idea why.  I don't love the scent but it does work really well.  My face feels moisturized and it dries in a non pore cloggy way.  I probably won't buy it again and will go back to my last favorite which was Olay Definity Intense Hydrating Cream.

 

Next I purchased a full sized tube of something I had been given a sample of from Sephora, Too Faced Primed and Poreless Smoothing Face Primer. I love this stuff. Love love love. I wear mineral makeup (from Everyday Minerals) and this face primer helps the mineral make-up stay put all day.

Then I came across some StriVectin - SD eye cream at TJ Maxx for far far less than I have seen it on amazon or in any other store.  I only know about StriVectin because my former-supermodel friend Sue mentioned it once and I looked it up and quickly determined it to be out of my price range.  But it was Christmas, it was cheap(er) and I bought it. I love it so far but I wouldn't go looking for it at full-price.

One last thing I did for my skin was to purchase some Tarjay brand make-up remover wipes. I know it's very anti-green but really, I am so lazy that I wasn't washing my face at night because it's SO much work to get a face cloth and wash my face and have water run down my arms and whine whine whine. I'm almost too lazy to bother to grab a wipe each night but I manage to do it.

In conclusion, I am washing my face at night with a wipe. I am buffing in the shower with the Olay thingy.  I am moisturizing at night and in the morning with the Hope in a Jar.  I put Strivectin around my eyes in the morning and use the Too Faced Primer before I put on any make-up.  If I can manage to get through the day without rubbing my hands across my face in frustration, I should be looking all right!

Big Daddy, Doin' it Right in 2012...

I know that I bitch about Big Daddy (he's big and he's the Daddy) on here a lot but he says he's a new man in 2012 and so far he's rocking it!

Last week Matt took special care to get an auto-car starter installed in my little car.  I'm a total cold weather weenie and used to have a car starter in the van.  I can't describe to you how nice it is to push a button from the warmth inside your house and wait for the frozen windows to clear and know you'll be getting in to a vehicle whose seats are warm and toasty on your tushy.  This little luxury is entirely for me because I leave early in the morning and I'm the only one in the car.  Thanks honey!

THEN yesterday for no good reason at all, I stayed in bed.  I never got up.  Matt and the kids delivered all three of my meals to the bedroom.  I read books, caught up on shows, and actually watched a movie (which was interrupted three times for kid "emergencies") and enjoyed it.  I was even able to direct the hated bedtime routine from my throne while watching The Golden Globes.  I told Matt that this delightfully restful/wasteful day made up for one (and only one) of the many many days I have had the flu or some other deathly virus in the past and spent the day like any other, chasing after children and going to work like I usually do.

Thanks Big Daddy!  You're doing right!

I'm on a Roll...

This is known on the list of 40 Bags of Clutter as Kitchen junk drawer 2.  This drawer is dangerous.  You're just as likely to find a knife as a measuring spoon, and by find I mean cut your finger open.  All of our kitchen gadgets go in here.  Want to search around for a wine opener?  Oh oops you caught your hand on the pizza slicer.  Dangerous I tell you.

Exactly 15 minutes later:

Skyler helped me and we even took the whole drawer out and washed the inside.   While we're here can I give a woot to one of the products in this drawer?  See those two black vegetable peelers in the bottom right of the drawer?  Those are OXO Good Grips Swivel Peelers.  We got them as a wedding gift when we got married TWELVE years ago.  They are still awesome.  Twelve years.  Best veggie peelers ever.

Where's my pen...

I just spent a stupid amount of time wondering where my pen went.

ps - you can kind of see where I dyed the ends of my hair pink on Christmas.  I really thought it would wash out in a week.  Turns out, Manic Panic in fuchsia is a persistent little bitch.

40 Bags of Clutter UPDATE:

It was 7:55 last night and I was sitting on the living room floor, just home from gymnastics with the littlest, working up the energy for the evening's grand "It's Bedtime" Battle, when my mind wandered to this post that I had written earlier in the day.  I immediately thought "Fuuuuuuck!!! What the hell was I thinking?  It's the first day and I already hosed that one up."

I looked at the clock again, gave the kids a 10 minute warning, and wondered which of the tasks on my list of 40 I could do the quickest.  I decided on the junk drawer in the kitchen and then muttered that it would probably take an hour.  Grrrr.

Before (7:55pm):

The only thing I ever look for in there is the nail clippers.  They're rarely ever there and I always get my finger pricked because there are 3000 loose push-pins at the bottom of the drawer.

After (8:14pm)

Target bag full of trash and push-pins (who even uses push-pins?):

YAY 2012 ::cheer kick:: !!!!!!


edit:  I feel the need to come back and tell you that I didn't just dump the whole drawer into the trash bag.  I put away pictures, put lotion where lotion goes, picked push-pins out of my fingertips, found all the pens I can never find...  oh I totally threw away the cucumber seeds.   I didn't even have a garden last year. 

40 Bags of Clutter...

I'm hot on the trail of a plan that we all know I'm not going to follow-through on but what the hell, I have to keep myself busy and blog about something.

I have been searching Pinterest (which happens to have a shit-tastic search engine) for ideas for the Mud/Laundry room that Matt is building me.  Can I get a "SQUUEEEEEEEEEEE" for that?  Any who, in typical Amanda fashion, I was off on a tangent in no time and came across someone blogging about the challenge to de-clutter 40 bags of crap in 40 days. I like the idea mostly because I could make a pretty list.  I like lists.  I like to cross things off.  It soothes me.  Let me say that I'm doing this with the following caveats:  a) I'm not going to do a bag a day or probably finish in 40 days  2) I'm not going for the big trash bag, except for the case of my closet.  I am aiming towards the size of a target bag and b) I will probably jump around and clean out and check off as I feel inspired.

Here's my pretty list:

Care to join my no-pressure, probably won't follow through, 40 bags in 40ish days de-clutterization of your house?  If you blog about it, post your link below.  I want to see what you're de-cluttering.  I might have missed something.

Bwok bwok...

Happy New Year!

I would have written sooner, but I had to declare a do-over, and in all honesty get in the mood where I didn't want to dive under the blankets and hibernate the remainder of 2012's winter away. Thank you to my dear friend, M, for that. She talked me off the ledge this afternoon, told me to make a list, calmed me down and WHEW. That was close.

I usually look forward to a new year.  We wipe the slate clean and go out into the world with a fresh new attitude.  I let Matt talk me into a New Year's Eve party which, as you know, gets my anxiety revved into high gear.  To make it super awesome, my Mom had a 6:30am flight the next morning.  I did it, I went to the party (for a bit), got to bed at a reasonable time, kicked the drive to the airport and back in the ass and spend the next two days just enjoying the inside of my house, games with the kids, movies, books, not going anywhere.  And THEN, bright and early on Tuesday morning (10:15), Skyler was diagnosed with the chicken pox.  Why yes, she did have the vaccine.  Why yes, she was at both a birthday party full of kids and a New Year's Eve party on Saturday.  Why yes, I am immuno-compromised.  Why yes, the pediatrician did recommend that I "remain distant" from my itching 8 year-old.  Oh yup, 2012 was starting off great.  Chicken pox notwithstanding, I felt defeated and like my great new start had been jacked out from under me and the same old usual bullshit was piled up where it always is.

I called all the appropriate people, the parents of the birthday party goers, the school nurse, her teacher, my Rheumatologist, my Mommy.  There seems to be a bit of an outbreak in our area, the health department is tracking it (oh goody).  My RA doctor was the first to set my mind at ease.  He doesn't think it's likely I'll get shingles.  Oh tunnel is that a light?

I declared Wednesday, January 4th 2012, a do-over.  Happy New Year.  Today is the first day of a new year.  We're going to get through the chicken pox.  We're not going into a death spiral of anxiety and depression.  DO YOU HEAR ME 2012?  I declare it.