I planned something witty, but this is what you’re getting June 30, 2008

  I wanted to write something up to my usual standards of mediocrity, but my body is not cooperating. My aunt Flo has stopped by for a visit and she is beating the crap out of me. So I am curled up in the fetal position with my bag of dark chocolate M&Ms. It is possible that I have consumed half of a bag this evening. And this after hearing a wonderful talk today by my friend Heather about controlling your cravings. I am just going to assume she forgot to put an caveat in there that there are certain times of the month where that just flies completely out the window and then you are free to eat your weight in chocolate.

I thought I was done dating June 29, 2008

  I spent a fair amount of time in the dating world before I met my hubby. Let me just be frank abou that. It stunk. And I don’t ever, ever want to go back. So imagine my delight when I discovered that once you get married you still have to date.

I am not talking about the marital advice to continue to “date” your spouse. That is fantastic advice and we try and do that a few times a month. No, that part is a cake walk. I am talking about the dating of other couples.

How hard can this be? You just want to find some other couples to hang out with. There are millions of couples running around so this should be easy. But the key is, all 4 people have to like each other. Do you know how many chances there are for this equation to go awry.

The hubby once had a good girl friend (not girlfriend, but friend who was a girl) who was dating this guy and we all went out for pizza. The hubby and his friend talked non stop while I was stuck talking to Mr. Personality. Actually he was Mr. Void of Personality. Seriously, this guy grunted one word answers the whole night and was about as fun as a root canal.

Then there have been the times where I have made great girlfriends and the hubbies get together and could not have less in common. The conversation stalls 2 minutes into the evening. Or even worse you hang out with people that you think you both like, but then when you try and go out on a “date” you find you really don’t like these people at all.

I just want to be clear to any of my friends reading this that you and your spouse are quite lovely people who we would love to hang out with anytime. In all seriousness, lately I have found that the biggest hurdle to dating couples is time. Everyone is busy with kids or life and suddenly hanging out with people who only live a suburb away is a big ordeal. Or maybe their dance card is full. They already have that “couple” to hang with and they are in a monogamous couple dating relationship.

We had a few of great couples back in Chicago. The ones you could call up at 5:30 and say “Come over for a last minute BBQ and bring the kids and a bottle of wine.” The ones you could vacation with and not worry about them seeing you in the morning with your stanky breath and crazy hair. The ones who you laugh so hard with over a game of Balderdash that soda comes out your nose.

Since we have moved to Michigan, we have met some great couples that we have really hit it off with. A few we have even thought briefly we could commit to. And then suddenly, they aren’t returning your phone calls right away. You sit by the phone and leave Friday night open, but nothing. Would it kill you to pick up a phone and call? I even shaved my legs!!

So anyway, the position is still open. Must like wine, a good BBQ, a lot of laughs and possibly even a board game or two. We are currently auditioning a few couples so get in on the dating scene while you can. I am ready to get off the market already.

And then I hung out with Madonna’s dad… June 28, 2008

  Sorry for the lack of post yesterday. I am up in Traverse City, Michigan for a wedding his weekend. Without kids!! The hubby performed the ceremony and I sang. Also, if you need a couple flower girls, I got those too. We should start a business.

The wedding was actually gorgeous. It was at a winery overlooking the bay. The weather was mostly gorgeous except for a brief torrential downpour about an hour before the ceremony. The ceremony was very unique and sentimental. The hubby and my parts went off without a hitch. Did I mention we are without the kids? Does anything else remotely matter?

Well, one thing. The vineyard we were at? Ciccone Vineyards. Yeah, that meant nothing to me either. Until somebody reminded me that Madonna’s full name was Madonna Ciccone. Actually Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (although reportedly that last name might be in jeopardy…too.much.People.magazine). And this is her dad’s vineyard. So I am thinking that is kinda cool and I am wandering around the grounds preparing for the wedding when an older man comes over and asks me if I will be needing a stool. Now this man, looks like some sort of hired gardener so I think nothing of it. Then someone tells me that was Madonna’s dad.

Call me crazy, but I was expecting this.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Frugal Friday- My Last Post About Dishwashers (Probably, well maybe) June 26, 2008

  Well, I just can’t resist carrying the dishwasher theme one more day. Let’s recap what we have learned so far for those of you joining us (can you stand the suspense?)

1. I have deep seeded dishwasher issues. Let’s just get that out in the open.
2. You should arrange your silverware in your dishwasher in an orderly and slightly anal fashion.
3. Cascade rocks, whether liquid or little cubes of ingeniousness. And although it is typically a bit pricey you can usually stock up when Walgreens is doing a P&G deal (see how I threw in an extra little frugal tip? That’s a freebie)

Now here is a dishwasher confession. Despite my anal retentive dishwasher ways, I have never been one to use a rinse aid. It just always seemed like an extra unneeded expense and when I use Cascade my dishes don’t really get rinse spots (reason #49 I love Cascade). However, I read that it speeds drying time and if you live in a place with really hard water it is essential. Do you use it? Just curious.

Anyhoo, I recently read that one of God’s greatest inventions, vinegar, is an excellent rinse aid (reason #366 I love vinegar). Bonus: way better than commercial rinse aids for the environment. All you do is unscrew the rinse aid cap and fill the well with white vinegar. Bonus #2: if your dishwasher parts or the inside of your dishwasher is looking a bit dirty, fill the actual detergent dispenser with vinegar and run and empty load (also gets rid of funky towel syndrome). Then when people come over you can distract them from the messiness in the rest of your house with the sparkling inside of your dishwasher (as well as it’s perfect organization and appropriately sorted silverware containers…well that would impress me).

For more frugal tips, head over to Biblical Womanhood.

Things I Love Thursday- Cascade Complete June 25, 2008

  Welcome to round #2 of the Things I Love Carnival!! Thanks in advance for playing along. I actually did not realize how much I would love reading your posts and finding new things to love. I am not sure this is going to be good for the wallet But marketers everywhere will live in fear.

This week, I was asked to try out Cascade Complete dishwasher detergent. So we are just going to continue with the dishwashing theme. I have let you in on my dishwashing neuroses, now we are going to talk about the hubby’s. He is a major pre-rinser. And he has won me over to his side. We practically wash the dishes before the dishwasher does. So when I read on the Cascade website in big bold letters that there is no need to prewash I was skeptical to say the least.

But I put in some nasty dishes to give it a whirl. I mean nasty. Plates with massively caked on food. Even a slotted spoon where you could hardly see the slots. I put in the detergent closed the door and practically double dog dared that detergent to get the dishes clean. And you know what? It totally did. Not a spot of food on anything. Anything!! I am majorly sold.

Now here is a freebie cause I wasn’t asked to review these babies, but I also majorly love the Cascade 2in1 ActionPacs (no that is not a typo, apparently the good folks at Cascade are not a fan of spaces). They are insanely easy to use. You just pop them in the little cup and go. I picked up 4 packs back when Walgreens was running a P&G promotion so I got them for a steal which is even better. Needless to say I won’t be buying dishwasher detergent until 2011.

If you have a tip you want to share, leave a link below. For guidelines, check here.

 

Works For Me Wednesday- Dishwasher Organization. June 24, 2008

    First some quick bloggity business. Thanks to all of you for your brilliant advice last WFMW. I am happy to report that we are 90% of the way to being funk free thanks to some hot water, bleach and vinegar. In case you want an update, we ran an empty load with hot water and bleach and then threw in the towels with some vinegar. There is the smallest trace of funk left so we are doing a little “second verse, same as the first.”

Also last week, I started a new blog carnival over here on Thursdays called “Things I Love Thursday.” If you are lacking in inspiration tomorrow, come on over and tell us about a product you love. More info here.

Now onto the tip. I might have mentioned a time or two (or twenty) that I am bit anal about the organization of my dishwasher. And other people’s dishwashers are not immune from my meddling. So imagine my delight when a while back I was hoping around on WFMW and stumbled upon this tip from Blog in my Eye. She somehow moved me from anal to anal 2.0. When arranging your silverware in your dishwasher do it by type so that when you are putting it away, they are already grouped by where they go. You should also mix up their orientation for the best cleaning (that’s a bonus tip I got from Martha Stewart so you know it is good).

Now, here is where you get a tiny bit of insight into my crazy. I have 5 sections (spoons, forks, knives, steak knives and other utensils that don’t go in the silverware organizer thing, and kid utensils). I am slightly bothered by the fact that my small spoons and soup spoons intermingle as well as my forks and salad forks. Sometimes if I am feeling particularly anal, I will orient each one in the same direction so that the intermingling is offset a bit.

*uncomfortable silence, crickets chirpping…ahem.

Please come back and read me again after that was just put out there for the world to read. I swear in many ways I am a very normal person (hubby, mom, dad, bro and Nicol-shut it).

For more tips, head over to Rocks In My Dryer.

Things I Know To Be True June 23, 2008

1. If your regular aerobics instructor is not there and you see that the woman who is teaching the class, although very nice, is known to sing loudly along with the music and regularly shout “Who Hoo!!” you are probably not going to enjoy the class as much as you usually do.
2. If your you or the hubby (that would be the hubby, I don’t rise early EVER) sets the alarm so that he can wake up early and work out, your kids will wake up during the night culminating in a 5:40 am wake up call.
3. If you have worn the same bras for years on end, chances are that the new bras you try on in your size will seem oddly small. But only around your chest, not in your actual boobs. Those babies have shriveled up like a raisin after nursing 2 kids. And you will be sad when you try on the “Super Sexy Push Up Bra” and they still look that way.
4. If you drop your children off at your parents for the afternoon so you can go to the doctor, chances are they will behave like angels only to unleash some exceptionally nasty behavior on you for the rest of the night.
5. If you go to CVS at an alternate time than when your usual cashier (who you know and who knows you on a first name basis) is working, you will get hassled about the coupons you are using forcing you to add a Twix candy bar to your total to deal with the stress.
6. If someone wants to pay you $20 to participate in a taste test that actually is a “smell test” in which you smell various samples of cereal and provide feedback, that is a pretty easy $20.
7. If your brother and sister in law get you a pedicure for your birthday, you can assume they know you fairly well. Also, you must use it as soon as possible on the day it arrives. That kind of thing can’t sit around collecting dust. Especially when my toes were beginning to look a bit funky.
8. I will never grow tired of listening to the song “Falling Slowly” which won the Oscar last year.
9. There is nothing better than sitting on your patio in a lounge chair with I-tunes playing, a glass of wine and your trusty laptop keeping you company.

There really seems like there should be 1 more observations to round it out to an even 10 so throw a couple in the comments dear readers.

That’s an Odd Place to Keep Your Pickles June 22, 2008

   Remember this? Well, Miss Hannah has struck again. Yet, Lily keeps wanting to take baths with her. This time, I put them in the tub and then laid down outside the bathroom door with a delightful copy of Home magazine. I look up occasionally to make sure no one has drown and that most of the water is staying in the tub (no one had and it wasn’t).

Suddenly, Lily screams “Emergency!!” On a quick side note, she has been going to Safety Town for a week so we are experiencing an even larger flair for the dramatic. The two girls jump out of the tub. How Hannah managed to scale the edge, I have no idea, but it could be because she was 5 pounds lighter than she had been a few minutes before.

Lily somehow manages to emerge unscathed and begins breathlessly recalling how it all went down.

“Mom, Hannah and I were just playing and all of a sudden she just handed me a pickle…but then I realized it wasn’t a pickle and I jumped out.”

The hubby and I of course burst into laughter at the thought of Hannah somehow producing a Vlasic out of thin air while bathing. Lily catches onto the fact that she has somehow been funny and proceeds to repeat the pickle story over and over for the next 10 minutes. I shower off the kids in the other shower and the hubby (my knight in shining armor) is once again left with the fabulous task of fishing out the poo and cleaning out the tub. He is always there to get us out of a pickle

Ode To The Bikini June 20, 2008

    We had many good years together the bikini and I. Back when I was skinny I always wore one. I didn’t even think twice about it. My thighs knew no cottage cheese and my stomach was rock hard. My biggest concern was getting a top that helped me out a bit in the cleavage department. I rejoiced when Victoria Secret put out its Miracle Bra suit. I never stressed out about swimsuit season or under the harsh lights of a dressing room.

Looking back on those days…I hate that girl. She didn’t know what she had. She probably complained that a size small suit was too big. She didn’t understand that her bikini days were oh so numbered. She completely did not understand that creating cleavage is nothing compared to the miracle it would take to make a stomach stretched out after 2 kids look good without full coverage.

I dream of the day when the bikini and I might be reunited. Sometimes when I am doing my ab crunches at the gym I think to myself that it might be possible. Post kids, I moved on to the tankini, the bikini’s lamer, less popular sister. This year, I gave up the fight and bought a two piece which is the swimsuit equivalent to a retainer and a headgear. I am a couple of kids away from a full mumu.

Sometimes, I go to the pool and see women rocking the two piece with a kid on each hip. I would say that gives me hope, but instead I am just going to chose to assume they are some sort of nanny. Otherwise I would have to hate them. And that would be wrong (right?).

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by BOCA for a chance to win $150 which I will probably spend on wine and chocolate because who am I kidding, my bikini days are sooo over.

Frugal Fridays- The Farmer’s Market June 19, 2008

  One of my favorite things about summer has always been garage sale-ing, but this year I seem to be immune to their siren song. It has been replaced by the lure of the farmer’s market. It has become my new Friday morning ritual to head there and pick up some treasures for the week. I promise you that grocery store produce doesn’t hold a candle to this stuff and I find it to typically be cheaper also. But even when it isn’t, sometimes being frugal is about getting the most bang for your buck.

Here are my tips for enjoying the experience:

• Do your homework: Make sure you know what dates the market is open throughout the year. Here in the Midwest, we only get this opportunity for a few months a year. Some markets are open one day a week, some several, but they aren’t usually the same from market to market. I happen to like to shop on Friday because it isn’t a crazy mob scene, but I also recognize there are more vendors available on the weekends. You decide which part of that trade off is most important to you.
• To Bring Kids or Not Bring Kids, That is the Question: I vote no if you can help it. It depends on how old your kids are and how stroller friendly the market is. I think it is a great experience to show kids an alternative to the bright lights of a grocery store and help them recognize that food doesn’t actually “come from” there, but I am more sane without them there. And find it easier to shop without hearing “can we get that?” whenever we pass a pastry stand. I have a hard enough time passing it up myself.
• Take Your Time: I like to check out all or most of the booths before making my selection to compare prices and see what all is being offered. That beingsaid, don’t be afraid to buy from many different vendors if several have what you want. I have found myself becominga bit partial to one particular farmer cause he always has his whole family involved. Somethingabout gettingyour something from a 7 year old working the family business just makes me want to hand over my cash. To clarify, that would slighty depend on what the “family business” is.
• Visit the ATM: No one is ever going to say no to: “Do you take cash?” They might to a check. A lot of markets participate in WIC so ask around if that is something your family qualifies for.
• Be adventurous: I want to take my own advice on this one. See a strange fruit or veggie? Ask about it and try it out. Some vendors will offer you samples. Experiment with local produce that is in season in your cooking. This is the best place to do it because you can get the info right from the source. Also expect to find lots more than produce. You can find some great meats, cheeses, plants and even crafts for sale depending on your market.
• Bust out the reusable shopping bags: Want to fit in with all the crunchy regulars? Reusable bags are a must. Birkenstocks are optional.

Apparently there are close to 3000 of these babies in the US so there is most likely one near you. Not sure how thorough this directory is, but you might want to check it out. If you live in a rural community without an actual market, even better. There is nothing like grabbing some produce out of the back of a pick up truck parked by the side of the road. That’s how I thought everyone got their sweet corn, growing up in Iowa. I would advise you to make sure they are actually try to SELL produce out of the back of the pick up truck. Grabbing food from a stranger and making a run for it is generally frowned upon. Unless it is chocolate and I am PMSing. Then I can’t be held responsible for my actions.

For more frugal tips, head over to Biblical Womanhood.