I know I said no resolutions, but I changed my mind.

So this was my post 1 year ago, with all my resolutions. *Sigh* I didn't fully keep one, but most were with good cause.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

I know I said no resolutions, but I changed my mind.

I've been giving it some thought and I decided to do resolutions this year. I don't remember what I did last year.

#1~ Spend more quality time with my kids. I want to find some fun activities to do with them. I'm so tired of being the one who has school, homework, housework and general "mean mom" stuff. We get about 3 hours a night together and I want to make the most of it. *** We did work on this. I'm the scout leader for the girls and I tried to find a cub scout troop for my little guy. This one is carrying over into the new year. I actually have a plan this time!***

#2~ I have to start going to gym again. No just for the usual I need to lose weight spcheel. I need to exercise to help control my diabetes. I've been feeling like crap and I know its due to out of control blood sugars. So, its time to do something about it. Besides, I don't actually have to pay for it, since my apartments have a gym. :)***Well, I did not do anything about this one. Nada. I did walk with the girls at work on our breaks, but that was it. We moved out of the apartment and I never joined a gym. This is still on my list.***

#3~ It's time to take control of my diabetes. I need to take my meds as prescribed, check my blood sugars 3X a day like I'm supposed to, and I need to research diabetic cooking and change my eating habits. I know I can do better than I have been. ***I did change my cooking and eating habits a little. And I do take my meds like I'm supposed to. I don't check my sugars like I should because I don't have insurance to pay for the testing supplies. ***

#4~ Organize and Prioritize. There are a lot of things going on in my life and I need to start keeping a schedule. I don't want or need anymore surprise dentist visits, missed birth control appointments, or things like that. Being organized will help with that too, because I won't waste as much time searching for the things I need. ***I did really well with this one. I made my own planner with space for what I needed, no cookie cutter planners for this girl! And I've really tweaked the planner pages for the upcoming year. ***

#5~ Stay in control of my finances. I filed bankruptcy for a reason. Now I need to keep it under control. I'm going to develop a budget, start a savings account, pay my bills on time and keep my debt low (like just my car payment and ONE credit card). Savings goal: $1200 for the year. More would be even better. *** Well, losing my job put a real crimp in this plan. I was doing great before I was laid off. I've still managed to keep my payments on my bills on time (for the most part) and budget my meger income. I have some tweaks on this one this year, and I think it's gonna work. ***

#6~ Scrapbook more. I have tons and tons of stuff. And I just don't. I see so many inspirations and I forget them as soon as they're out of sight. My first project is going to be an idea journal. I gotta start somewhere, right? And I'm going to work on some of the challenges I see on the MB's. There is so much inspiration there it's unreal. Goal: 6 projects per month with only $20 spending per month. ***Didn't get to far with this one. I managed to buy more stuff, but I didn't really make too much.***

#7- Spend less time on the computer. And spend more time reading. I made a list of authors about 4 months ago, and I haven't even started looking up their books at the library yet. And I need to find a place to look for new authors. My goal is one book every two weeks, so about 26 over the year. *** I read a bunch of books, but I don't think there were quite 26. At least 10. I'm still spending way too much time on the computer, but again.... I have a plan, lol. ***

So there you have it. My so-called resolutions for 2008, lol. Let's see what sticks.

Well, that's where I stand on 12/31/08, lol. I didn't do too bad, but it wasn't all that good either. Oh well, next year I'll be better. I swear! :)

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Christmas, Christmas time is herrreee.......

Okay, so my family didn't appreciate my singing either, lol. Nor did they like my recital of the Night Before Christmas. But that's alright.:) I liked it.

I managed to make Christmas pretty good for the spawn this year. Well, good in the sense that they got many small, inexpensive gifts so it looked like a lot. Walmarts $4 hoodies and track sets went pretty far. I managed to get those great deals I mentioned earlier, and my mom had gone to Mervyn's right before it closed and got coats, and other stuff for like $2.99. And I utilized my brother's employee discount at Best Buy to get some video games for like $8 and a really nice bluetooth for $20.

So for Christmas from my Hunny, I got {drumroll, please} - SNOW TIRES!!!! That is the single most romantic gift I've ever received! Seriously. It tells me that I'm loved and it matters to him that I'm safe. Plus I whined after Monday's mishap. A LOT. (**eta** He ended up paying for them so I didn't have to. He's so cool like that.)

I also got the software for my wishblade to make it compatiable with Vista. From my mom, I got my Crop O Dile Big Bite and a Dronkey. He's so cute! I also got two very nice tennis bracelets, one from my grandma with pink stones and one from my daughter with CZ's. And stop my beating heart..... my brother got me headphones that match my mp3 player that Santa got me. My neice gave me a box of chocolate. *sigh* I've been staring at those since 3pm.

We didn't have Christmas dinner or anything, but I think that's okay. My little ones are at their dad's until next week, so my holiday was really over around 2 o'clock. If there's one thing I can't stand about divorce, it's sharing the holiday's with my ex. Of course, my kiddos have already called me wanting to come home. I feel sorry for them, but I can't really do anything about it. Perhaps he'll bring them home early.

Anyway, I'm going to go play with my new software. I'd go into my scrap room, but I can't get in there. It's a MESS. That is tomorrow's project, cleaning that disaster area. I've decided that I am getting a new desk next month. I cannot stand it. Something about that desk I got last year just kills my mojo. I can do stuff, but I feel forced. It's not the relaxing experience it's supposed to be, lol.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Stay safe and warm!

I was a slippin' and slidin'.....

So this morning turned out to be interesting. I got up around 4:30, made coffee, took a shower, got the kids up and dressed, ate breakfast, warmed up the car, and left the house. Then I proceeded to fishtail when I turned off my street, correct myself and continue on. I made it to the round-about and my car didn't go round, it went sideways. Up on the sidewalk, into the rocks and into a pole. Yeah me. After missing a day of work, a new set of snow tires and an alignment, my day ended up costing me about $800. Sweet!!!! *sigh* But I now have supposedly awesome snow tires, Bridgeston Blizzaks. We'll see how well they actually do.

I'm all ready for Christmas. Everything is bought, everything is wrapped and I am not cooking dinner, lol. The kids' will be happy. My hunny will be happy. And I'll be resting over the weekend. It's all good. :)

Right now I am burning a recording of my niece's Christmas dance recital to DVD for my mom. I love being the technogeek of the family. I get all the cool gifts and I get all the requests for assistance. I was thinking about changing my major from accounting to computers/IT. I know I could do it. We'll see, I have to finish my core requirements anyway.

Crappy Birthday to me.....

This has to be the worst birthday in my entire life. How's that for an opening line? Well, it's sad, but true. I didn't get a birthday card. Not one. Well, scratch that, I got some virtual cards on Facebook, so I guess technically those are cards. My boyfriend is out of town on work. Sure he called me and texted me and such, but he's not here to hold me or tickle me or whatever. So that in itself stinks. My kids were well, my kids. Obnoxious. I love the little boogers, but for just one day, I'd like to have peace in my home. *sigh* My mom called me today and said happy birthday, then without taking a breath, asked me to do things for my brother. My dad didn't even call. I got a chance to have a drink with Jaima, but that was cut short because of the kids.
And now, I'm sitting here trying to go to sleep and I realized that I haven't gotten a phone call from one of the sixteen kids invited to my son & daughter's birthday party. Today was the RSVP date. :( So now I'm sad and mad all rolled up into one. I'm sad because we've made the effort to attend parties for other classmates. Even when the weather was bad, we still did it. But for some reason my kids are social lepers. When we first moved in, they were friends with the neighbor kids. They played a lot over there. Then out of nowhere, the kids were always sick. They were at school, but afterwards, they were too sick to play. And the mom goes out of her way to avoid me. I've tried to say hello when I see her and she literally side steps me. I don't know what I did. Personally, if it was just about me I wouldn't care. But it's about my kids and the momma bear in me is starting to growl. So, anyway, not one parent called to confirm for the party. And I'm left without the $88 that I really had to scrape together to pay for said party. That's what makes me mad. I wasn't going to worry about a party. But I wanted to have one just because we've been to so many, I didn't want anyone judging the kiddos because they weren't invited to the party we didn't have. (Does that make sense?) Unless I get some late calls, it's going to be just the 6 of us, plus my mom, brother and nephew. We could have done that at home.
Hey, anybody reading this want to bring your kids to an indoor pool party? Jan. 3rd. I have 12 open spots. **BIG SIGH**
I guess now would be a good time to end my crappy birthday. I'm going to bed.

I wish this was a lazy Saturday, lol

So this past week has been hectic to say the least. A little re-cap:

*I lost my children. Yep! Just pass me the mother of the year award. On Wednesday, their normal after school activity was canceled, and I was unaware of that fact. And guess who was unavailable by phone? (That would be me) So my poor chitlin's were stranded at school for two hours. Ugh! Thank heaven for the school staff. They stayed with my kids until I got there. And that was feat in and of itself. I broke a lot of speed limits and common courtesy rules of the road.

*I finished my semester of school. I got all A's! Man, I forgot how hard school was. And my dumb butt is gonna do it all again next semester. Thank God for winter break.

*I got my first paycheck yesterday. And it's already spent. How does that happen? Oh yeah, planning birthday parties for the chitlins, buying Xmas presents, paying my car payment and all the other "little" expenses that added up fast.

*Today we have two birthday parties to attend. Yippee! 4 hours of cake and screaming children. I couldn't be happier. :)

*The chitlin's set up the tree last night. Tonight, we have to decorate it. :)

*The temp job is going well. I've moved from copy/paste monkey to research/copy/paste monkey. *giggle* But they're paying me well. I shouldn't complain. I do have one thing to say though. Staying awake for 8 hour stretches at a time is a bitch, lol. There is not enough low-carb Monster on the planet.

*And last and most importantly, my little man won an award for improving his reading. I am so proud! He's overcoming his speech issues and he's improving by leaps and bounds. I took a picture but it didn't come out. So here's a video (isn't he cute?):

Alright, well, I need to shower and wrap birthday presents. And decorate for Christmas. And clean house. And do laundry. And make Christmas cards. Where's my Monster??

I'm still alive... I think....

I survived a week of employment. I cannot believe how hard it was to get back into it. But I did it. :) Of course, everything else suffered because of it. My house looks like a bomb hit it and several projects have been tossed to the wind. But I'll be getting a paycheck. It's all about compromise.

On my last post I forgot to tell where I got my fantastic deal on a guitar. I found it here. And this is the only style they have left: lightning

It is a fantastic deal, but hurry, they are running out!

So this weekend is busy. I have a final in Economics tomorrow morning and the Christmas parade in the afternoon. Hopefully, I'll be able to sleep in on Sunday. And make those Christmas cards, lol.