Jeanette's Work At Home Corner

Whew, what a weekend!!

2007-05-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

Friday we attended Jenn's graduation ceremony from Arizona State University. We had all the kiddos with us and let me just say, 2 1/2 hours of sitting through a university graduation had some of the younger ones a little bit antsy. Heh heh. No biggie though, we're just so proud of Jenn and everything that she has done - graduating magna cum laude as well. Way to go! We had a big steak dinner at my parents' house with just family to celebrate and then Saturday was Jenn's big graduation party. It was held at one of the big Chinese restaurants here in town and we all had a great time, it was a little sad as well, since both of my sisters and their families left early this morning, so it was the last night we were all together. Ugh, I was also in charge of making a toast (I guess that's what I get for being the oldest) but held it together. There's 14 years difference between myself and Jenn, and basically I let everyone know how much we have always viewed Jenn as a baby in all of our eyes since she is the youngest but how very proud we are of her and that she now joined the ranks of "adulthood" in our eyes now. She's got a couple schools already lined up as far as teaching positions in the fall, so she is very excited!

With all the hoopla, I almost forgot that it was Mother's Day today and I woke up to a flurry of cards from the kids and Bryan. I saw a Godiva bag on the counter and thought, OMG chocolate, hellooo, trying to diet here, but there was a nice nightgown from Bryan and another envelope in the bag. Holy cow, he got me a $250 gift certificate from Merry Maids!! Gah, I jumped up and down and gave him the biggest hug. Since I've been spending so much time with my family this week, my house is a disaster area! It really came at the right time :) All I did was spend the day relaxing, even got a little catnap in as well, heh heh. What a great day. Sure wish Mother's Day came a little bit more often, don't you?

Awesome kitchen

2007-05-10T22:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had lunch over at my sister's godmother's house. She had her kitchen recently remodeled and let me tell you, it is to die for. It really is a chef's dream. She has so much storage room and it's wide open. She has the latest appliances and I just leave her beautiful granite counter tops. I love her cookware as well - definitely top of the line. It really inspired me to rethink the whole layout of my kitchen and what I'd like to do to change it. Now, if I can only convince Bryan of letting me do it....

Whew, it was hot today!

2007-05-10T22:48:00.000-07:00

So with all my running around today I was a little punchy too, because I hate it when it's so hot outside. The temperature gauge in my van said it was 106! I can't believe it, it's really only the beginning of May and here we are already over the 100 mark. Well, that's what it's like here in Arizona, but luckily for us humidity doesn't come with it - it's a dry heat. Because it is so dry here, I have to moisturize my skin quite often. I found a line of products that I might try - skinceuticals. Prices are reasonable, so I think I'm going to order some this weekend. Mother's Day is coming up so I thought I'd treat myself for a change.

I AM EXHAUSTED!!

2007-05-10T22:44:00.000-07:00

Today has just been a crazy day for me...it's only now that I'm able to really sit in front of my computer. Had lunch with two of my sisters and my parents, then attended a focus group from 1:30 to 3:00 (got paid $100 woo hoo), then took Kaitlyn to the Zoo for her overnight field trip, and then hung out at my parents' house with all the grandkids. Needless to say, I am exhausted! My little niece Brielle is 2 1/2 years old and this 38 year old body just can't keep up with her. I don't know how my sister does it. I was having a hard time understanding some of her words so her 4 year old brother Xavier had to be my interpreter. It was too funny. The other day I was over there playing with them and Brielle wanted to brush my hair, so I took my glasses off and set them on the coffee table. Brielle looked at me and said, "Are you still Aunt Jeanette?" Out of the mouths of babes.... :)

Addiction

2007-05-10T22:32:00.000-07:00

By now you probably know that I also have a celebrity blog and since blogging about all these celebrities, it is really surprising to me how many of these celebs are addicted to one thing or the other - whether it be prescription drug addiction, drugs, alcohol, whatever. Every week I seem to be blogging about someone going into rehab. It's ridiculous. Some of these celebs are looked up to and what message are these celebrities sending to these kids who just idolize them? It just makes me sick.

Family in town....

2007-05-10T00:38:00.000-07:00

We have lots of family in town and so of course I have been running around with them all and catching up. It's nice to see all of our kids interacting with each other. Cousins are always a good thing, aren't they? Brandon is the oldest of the grandkids on my side of the family and it's funny how now he's more concerned about being on the computer or listening to his ipod than hanging with the "younger" kids. Well, I guess when you're on the verge of becoming a teenager your priorities certainly change. For me, it's been hard to swallow - his voice is now starting to change and there's no second guessing as to who it is on the phone when Brandon answers it. In the past my siblings would think it was Kaitlyn who answered the phone when it actually was Brandon. Boy, they grow up so fast, don't they?

Our Phoenix Suns advance to the next round

2007-05-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say congratulations to our Phoenix Suns, who beat the LA Lakers Wednesday night and wrapped up their series 4-1. Next up are the San Antonio Spurs, and it's going to be a tough one. I am optimistic that we will be the victor in this series as well, but I think it will take all 7 games to do it. First game is this Sunday at 12:30, Game 2 on Tuesday night.

May is a busy birthday month in our family

2007-05-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

I have two sisters who celebrate birthdays this month, as well as our Dad. Today is my parents' 39th wedding anniversary. I wasn't sure what to get my parents for a gift, I thought about maybe getting them a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant, but I wanted to get something more personal. I saw a nice clock that I could get engraved, but I decided against it. It's kind of funny how you can get anything engraved nowadays - personalized pens, pencils, blankets, pillows, frames, jewelry - virtually anything can be engraved. I think I'm just going to stick to the gift certificate - I know it will be put to good use (and maybe I can tag along too LOL).

Halfway done...

2007-05-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I got half of my errands done...no biggie, tomorrow is a new day, right? I just got back from the grocery store and I'm a little ticked that I just can't find anything. You see, the store that I frequent the most has now remodeled everything, including all of the aisles. In the past, I've been able to walk in there with my eyes closed and know where everything is. Now, a simple trip that should have only taken me 20 minutes ended up being 45 minutes. Grrrr. Don't you hate it when stores do that?

Busy day today

2007-05-02T07:23:00.000-07:00

I've got tons of errands to run this morning. I should have taken care of one of them yesterday but time just wasn't on my side. I need coffee, but I think I'll just run to Starbucks while I'm out and about. I try not to go there too often since it's so expensive just for measly cup of coffee but I can't make myself a grande hazelnut latte with nonfat milk and one sweet and low at home!

Bird Watching Binoculars

2007-05-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

Are you an avid bird watcher? If you are, Eagle Optics has some great deals going on right now on a wide selection of bird watching binoculars. If you're watching faster moving birds, you'll need to get 7x or 8x binoculars - they provide wider fields of view. If you're watching birds from a longer distance away, then 10x binoculars are the ones to purchase, these are higher powered so a steady hand is helpful! Oh, and if you wear eyeglasses, then consider models that have at least 15 mm of eye relief.

Why should you purchase through Eagle Optics? Well, not only do they have a great selection and great prices, but they have a top notch customer service department and they offer free financing on orders over $200. You can't beat that!

*This is a sponsored post.*

It's about time!

2007-05-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

Our yard guys finally came over did a major trimming of both our front and backyards. Yesterday they came over to trim all the palm trees so now they look pretty funny with only two or three leaves hanging up there..heh heh. It took them over two weeks to get over here and do it...sheesh. Now I don't have to worry about our uber strict HOA telling us to get our palm trees trimmed.

What? Lowest bid wins?

2007-05-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of this site yet? It's called bid4prizes. You bid on prizes and the twist is that the lowest bid wins, not the highest. Crazy, huh? There's a prize of $500 out there right now available for bid and I would love to snag that - it would come in pretty handy with our upcoming vacation!

So here is how it works: You choose one of the prizes that you'd like to bid on, and can bid in one of two ways. You can simply enter your cell phone number and bid on the item in cents. Bid4prizes will then notify you via text message if you have the lowest bid or not. The second way to bid would be by actually texting a message, they provide you with the keyword to text, and then you enter your bid. Again, they'll let you know if you are the lowest bid or not. Don't worry, you don't actually pay for the prize that you have bid on, it's FREE!! Check it out, I've already bid on a couple of items so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

*This is a sponsored post.*

Clocks

2007-05-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

Last night Kaitlyn's alarm clock went off right at midnight and just about scared the living daylights out of me! I didn't get up right away, thinking that the blaring beeps would wake her and she'd turn it off herself, but no, the girl could sleep through an earthquake and not wake up. I can remember when I was younger and we had visited my aunt's house for the first time, she had one of those grandfather clocks that was so loud we all didn't sleep a wink while we were there. Kind of funny how certain things remind you of memories...

Our Rocky Point trip is fast approaching

2007-05-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

We are getting our plans underway for our Rocky Point trip in June. There's a deep sea fishing trip that the guys are going on and I'm not sure if I will go or not. My family would go on these trips quite often when I was younger - we'd travel to San Diego and just hang out at the beach, do the Sea World thing, etcetera, and it was always such a highlight of our vacation. Why can't I decide? Well, it's either a fishing trip or shopping. It's kind of a toss up for me. Heh heh.

First Communion time

2007-04-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

Next month we'll be attending a First Holy Communion ceremony for a friend's daughter. I can remember last year around this time when we attended Kaitlyn's First Communion as well. I need to get to the store that sells catholic gifts. I plan on getting her a gift much like the one I got Kaitlyn - a necklace with a crucifix on it. What I loved about it was the fact that it was a child's necklace, so I didn't have to worry about the chain being too long. It was the perfect size.

It's been a busy week

2007-04-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

My transcription and recruiting responsibilities have increased this week and thus have been running ragged. Because of all of the extra typing, my carpal tunnel has flared up a bit. I am supposed to be wearing wrist braces when I type but I find them to be uncomfortable. I wore them all the time last year when I typed and they really helped a lot, my pain lessened, and so I stopped using them. Well, since it's been a busy week on the computer, I started wearing them again and they've really helped. I guess I shouldn't have stopped using them in the first place.

Renting is definitely the way to go!

2007-04-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

My sister and her family recently took a Florida vacation. They did the whole Disney World thing and rented a vacation home in Orlando. They had a great time and the weather was perfect. The home that they stayed at had a pool in the backyard and it was heated so my niece loved to swim in the evening after being at Disney World during the day. I was really surprised at how much she told me she saved by renting the home instead of staying at the hotel. They had stayed at a hotel before and it cost them an arm and a leg. This time around, since they saved so much money with the rental, they're planning another trip this summer! I'm tellin' ya...renting is the way to go!

The natural way?

2007-04-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

There have been so many pictures plastered all over the net of Courtney Love in a bikini looking better than ever. Supposedly she had lost 52 pounds by watching what she eats and exercising. She lost all that weight in just four months? Personally I think she had some help in that department, either some kind of surgery or some kind of Ephedra product is my guess. At any rate, she does look pretty good!

Insurance

2007-04-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

Before I decided to stay home with the kiddos, I worked for a company that sold Funeral Insurance. Morbid? Not really. It makes sense. I wore many hats in that company - from customer service, to marketing, to claims. I can't tell you how many families I have talked to who were so grateful that their loved one took out this policy to pay for their funeral. Otherwise, they don't know how it would have gotten paid for. Just a thought....

When it rains, it pours

2007-04-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

What a crazy week it's been. I've been inundated with my transcription work and my recruiting has picked up again. There are times when I feel I'm at wit's end but will usually take a deep breath, take a swig of alcohol (no, I'm just kidding!), and relax. There are times I just need to walk away from my desk, sit on the couch for five minutes, channel surf on the TV, and then I'm all better. I've been doing my walks at night, but this morning I decided to do it this morning and let me tell you, it's a nice way to start off your morning. It gave me time to think about my game plan for the day and listen to my own music and not some of the garbage that Brandon listens to while we're in the van. Heh, I'm turning into my Mom - LOL. Speaking of Moms...it's her birthday tomorrow and the whole family will be going over to my parents' house for dinner. So, a lot of laughing, loudness, and karaoke goin' on tomorrow night. Yup - we're karaoke fools. Hey, even Bryan has made a stab at it too..and that is definitely a sight to see!!

Our vacation

2007-04-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

Our big vacation this year is our annual trip to Rocky Point, Mexico but the kids seriously keep bugging us about Disney World. It is so expensive as far as airfare is concerned - especially that we are a family of 5 as well. An Orlando vacation home is the way to go. You don't have to worry about eating out at every meal while you're on vacation, and it's much more relaxing than staying in a hotel. You save a considerable amount of money staying in a vacation home than you would in a hotel as well. We need to start saving now if we're going to end up going to Florida in the next year or so!

It rained last night...

2007-04-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

I know that's not really big news to most of you, but here in AZ, it is. The temperature actually dropped to about 50 degrees and we had some pretty gusty winds as well. Earlier in the week we were boasting temperatures in the 80's so for it to drop that much was quite a shocker to us Zonies! We're back on track though, it's a nice sunny day out and 70 degrees!! Gonna take my walk in a few.

Furniture

2007-04-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Now that our kids are older, we have been slowly revamping the furniture in our home. We have a really nice sectional that we bought a couple of years ago and unbelievably it is still in good shape. The kids really adhere to the rule of no drinking or eating on the couch. Now I'm looking for some quality furniture - maybe a leather recliner or something like that. Obviously, the better quality, the longer it lasts. For example, north carolina furniture has a reputation of being top quality, so I'd like to see what they have to offer.

Play Date

2007-04-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

Madelyn has a play date this evening with one of her friends from class. She has been so excited about this - we actually had to schedule it about two weeks in advance since our calendar fills up quite quickly. I hate to admit it, but it was also a great bribing tool - there were times that she was getting a little bit whiny and I told her that she needed to stop or risk not being able to go over to Marah's house. Am I a bad Mommy or what??? LOL.

DNA

2007-04-11T23:27:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to me how there has been so much press coverage on the whole Anna Nicole Smith story and the paternal parentage of little Dannielynn. Luckily through DNA, they were able to prove 99.9% that Larry Birkhead is the father. I think everyone already knew what the outcome of that case was going to be, and I'm glad that Howard K. Stern is stepping aside and not going to fight Larry Birkhead for custody. I think the only thing that Larry Birkhead needs to worry about is Virgie Arthur.

Trying to clean these blinds

2007-04-11T23:14:00.000-07:00

Today was somewhat of a cleaning day for me. I did as much as I could and of course I didn't get to everything I wanted to. One of the things on my list was to tackle the Blinds. It's one task that I'm not particularly fond of - especially since I have allergies. What is it with blinds that attract dust so much? We have faux wood blinds in our home and supposedly they said that it's easier to clean those but seriously, I've had both wood and faux in my home and they're both equally hard to clean. I thought about maybe changing some of the Blinds to Roman Blinds, but Bryan pretty much nixed that idea real quick. Okay, anyone got any ideas out there?

*This is a sponsored post.*

Hope you all had a nice Easter!

2007-04-11T23:11:00.000-07:00

It was nice and quiet over here at our house. We headed over to my parents' house for dinner and that was about it. Well, of course we did the whole church thing too - Brandon was the altar boy at Mass. We didn't get to color Easter eggs this year...the girls were kind of bummed but we headed over to Bryan's aunt and uncle's house for her 65th birthday and they had a shrimp boil...Yum!! It was sooo good. I think I ate enough shrimp to last me a while..lol.

A diet comparison

2007-04-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

I recently read an article on Diet Comparison and it's interesting how some diets work for some and not for others. For instance, I did try the Atkins Diet a few years back but could not handle it even for the first three days. I had major headaches and got lightheaded from it. I have friends who have been on it and lost quite a bit of weight from it (but they gained it all back). They did not experience any of those withdrawal symptoms that I had. It just goes to show that everyone is different. Just because one will be successful doesn't mean that it will work for everybody. You just need to figure out what your own body will do. Unfortunately for me right now, I haven't found it yet. LOL.

Sometimes you just want to get away

2007-04-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

I've been stressed this week with work and other things, I wish that we could just take off for a weekend and maybe head to a New York Bed and Breakfast. We could then head over to Connecticut, where we lived for four years. Kaitlyn was born there as well. The only thing I miss about living there was the changing of the fall leaves. It was absolutely beautiful. Otherwise, I'm glad to be back here in Arizona. I definitely did not do too well with driving in the snow and the mosquitoes. Heh heh.

Okay, here's the Amazon story

2007-04-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

Three years ago, I got an email from Amazon saying that my order was placed and that it should be shipped out in a couple of days. I didn't order anything so I asked Bryan if he had ordered something. He said he didn't and of course I just laughed because I thought he was just trying to cover it up or whatever...he was really adamant that he did not order anything so I had to figure out what it was that was ordered. It ended up being a Polly Pocket orange convertible car. Hmmmm. Never ordered that...I asked Brandon and Kaitlyn if they had been on the computer and no, they weren't. I did remember Madelyn being on a Barbie website that I showed her and so I looked at the site and sure enough, there was that same Polly Pocket convertible. It was available through Amazon so I clicked on it, and it took you right to the Amazon site. Well, I do order through Amazon frequently so I have a one-click order account and that's exactly what Maddie did...she clicked on it and purchased it. Oy!! In the confirmation email it said "Thank you for your using your free shipping coupon". Don't know how in the heck she was able to do that??? Anyways, we asked Madelyn about the purchase. We sat her down in front of the computer and asked her if she ordered a Polly Pocket convertible on the computer. She innocently said, "Yeah, did it already come in?" Oh my God. 3 years old and was ordering things on the computer. Needless to say, we're thankful that it wasn't something much pricier, if you know what I mean. Hey, the girl got free shipping! LOL.

Speaking of parties...

2007-04-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

I just remembered that I need to bring over some folding chairs to my parents' house this weekend. When our family gets together (there are 8 kids in our family) it gets kind of crazy! I'll probably just leave them over there - in May the youngest in our family, Jennifer, is graduating from college and we're throwing her a HUGE graduation party. I suspect over 100 people at my Mom and Dad's...Eeks!!

Gah, the diet is going to be hard this weekend

2007-04-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, we've got a big birthday party to go to tomorrow and then Easter is on Sunday so I don't think I'll do too well in the Weight Loss department this weekend. Heh heh. Tomorrow's birthday party will include a shrimp boil - yummo - and you know, the usual appetizer fare. I'm going to be bringing my famous spinach dip. Now that I don't feel too guilty eating...it's got spinach in it, there's my veggies for the day. LOL.

Kindergarten and MySpace

2007-04-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, I was not prepared for this one. Madelyn came home from school and turned on Bryan's computer. I was doing my own work on my computer when Maddie asked me how to spell "space". So I just spelled it for her, not really knowing what she was doing, I mean she asks how to spell oodles of words all the time, so no biggie. Well, about 10 minutes later, she says, "I can't see what Mara was talking about. I looked on MySpace and I don't see her picture." OH MY GAWD. I quickly ran over to her and asked her what in the heck was she doing? She seriously was on the main MySpace page and Lordy I was in shock. Apparently her friend in class told her that there are pictures of her on her Mommy's MySpace page so Maddie wanted to see the pics for herself. Oh geez. Kindergarteners know about MySpace? Well, I told Maddie that she was not allowed to go on that site again. Of course she just looked at me with her sad puppy dog eyes and said "Okay Mommy". It's kind of funny to look back on it now - just how computer savvy these kids are nowadays. When Maddie was 3 she ordered something on Amazon...but that's a whole 'nother story...

Been transcribing quite a bit

2007-04-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of days with my transcribing. I transcribe a variety of things - medical transcription, insurance statements, focus groups, web conferencing, etcetera. Some of it can get kind of tricky - especially if there are multiple speakers, if one of the speakers has a very soft voice and I can hardly hear them, or if someone has a thick accent. I get through most of it, though, without any problems. This week, unfortunately, I seem to have gotten the worst of it. Arrgh, and it gets me so frustrated! That's when I step away from my computer, take a break, and then come back to it. If I re-listen to it, that's usually when I'm able to catch what I couldn't hear before. Funny how that is, isn't it?

Happy Easter!!

2007-04-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

Heh heh...got that sent to me by my friend Tim. Hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend.

Pens, pens, pens

2007-04-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

I swear I can never find any Pens in this house. After the big "Back to School" sales I grabbed myself a bunch of boxes, but now they seem to have vanished. I am a little particular about the type of pen I use too. I do not like the fine point tip pens - I like them to have at least a medium point and I prefer black ink over blue ink. I know. I'm weird.

North Carolina

2007-04-03T16:41:00.000-07:00

If you are thinking of moving to the North Carolina area, then check out the beaufort nc real estate market. They look to be quite affordable - compared to here in AZ that is. I found a beautiful 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home through a search that is absolutely gorgeous for only $289,000. A home like that here in our area would run almost $400,000. So check that out if you're looking to move to North Carolina!

American Idol

2007-04-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to see how those remaining 9 contestants do tonight during Tony Bennett week. I'm curious to see what Sanjaya does to his hair...gah this kid needs to go big time!! Check out my celebrity blog later tonight for a recap!

My computer is much faster!!

2007-04-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

I recently upped my computer memory and boy, what a difference that makes! It had been running slow so I increased it by 2 G. I just wasn't ready to buy a new computer. I have so much on here work wise and Bryan had just purchased a computer of his own. I can live with shelling out about $150 rather than another $2000 - definitely the way to go!!

Funny, isn't it?

2007-04-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

Brandon was so adamant about growing his hair out long that he finally asked to have it cut. I knew it was just going to be a matter of time before the heat got to him..heh heh. It's much shorter and I'm MUCH happier!!

Teaching Maddie how to ride her bike...

2007-04-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

We are trying to teach Madelyn how to ride her bike without her training wheels - we bought this handle that you can screw into the back of her bike so it's easier to teach her, rather then bending down and holding the seat the whole time. Well, she's not too keen on it and no, she hasn't fallen, but she's jumped off several times and has gotten quite a few bruises and scrapes. The last time she fell, she got quite a nasty cut on her knee and I couldn't find the Bactine in any of our First Aid Kits. we must have used them and never replenished our supply. Anyways, now she's refusing to get back on her bike. She keeps telling us that she falls off and we tell her, no, you're jumping off the bike. I'm sure with a little coaxing, she'll get back on sure enough.

Disney World!

2007-04-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

The kids were kind of bummed that we didn't go anywhere during their Spring Break. Lots of their friends went on vacation - Sea World, Disneyland, Disney World, etc. Well, the kids have been to Sea World and Disneyland and now want to see Disney World. Ugh. It's so expensive, with airfare and hotel. I've looked at vacation home rentals and found that there are a lot of Orlando Pool Home rentals to choose from and quite affordable - much cheaper than staying in a hotel. That way we're not spending a fortune on eating out either. For a family of 5, that can be quite expensive. So, renting a vacation home..with a pool...is the way to go!

Need to lose some weight!

2007-04-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to lose some weight these past couple of months but have not really been successful. I haven't been going to the gym regularly and I haven't been walking as much as I'd like to. I have thought about taking some appetite suppressant pills like Phentermine. Hey, if Oprah and all those stars take them and look as great as they do, then maybe there's hope for me!

Spring again

2007-04-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

It's nice to be able to be outside again...it's been so beautiful here in AZ, but it can get hot here very quickly. We've been working on the yard - trying to get that grass grown in spots where it never seems to grow. I need to get some flowers just to spruce things up a bit. I've noticed some of our neighbors have yard markers up as well.

We had a really bad freeze back in January which basically shocked the living daylights out of most of our bushes and I'm so glad to finally see some green back on them. I was really afraid that they were history. But with the nice weather comes a price - allergies. Enough said.

Blah...

2007-04-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Been feeling under the weather lately - I think that my crazy week last week and some late nights have done me in. It's Bryan's birthday today - just going to lay low tonight...He's taking Friday and next Monday off so it will be a nice long weekend for him.

Gotta get those Easter baskets this week too - well, actually just put stuff in their baskets. I use the same baskets for each of them every year since they were little, kind of a tradition I suppose. Madelyn saw some Barbie perfume that she wanted - ugh, 6 yrs old and wants perfume already? Anyways, I think I'll do that in the morning. Right now I'm working on getting those loads of laundry done.

I need to order some business cards

2007-04-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

It's just nice to have some business cards handy - for personal or professional use. I am thinking of ordering some and putting my blogs on there to promote them, but it's always handy to have them if you need to leave your phone number with someone - for instance, my daughter had a birthday party she attended a couple weeks ago and everyone was writing their information down, home phone number, cell phone, etc. in case of emergency. It would have been nice if I had some on hand and all the information would have already been there. Just a thought.

Got a business?

2007-04-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for a way to promote your own business? There are so many different ways that you can do this - promo pens are a simple, yet effective marketing tool. They are inexpensive, and there are a myriad of choices available. My father has attended several medical conventions in the past and each time he brings home tons of these promo pens. They are effective - my Dad remembers a product simply from the pens that he has picked up at these conventions and contacts them from the info provided on the pen. So they definitely work!

Stomp!

2007-03-31T01:10:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen this show, believe me, if it comes to your town, buy yourself a ticket and go. It was so entertaining and just...wow!! These guys and gals definitely get a workout on that stage! My kids would have loved to seen this show. Have any of you seen it?

Need a new hair dryer now...

2007-03-31T00:03:00.000-07:00

I'm on the lookout for a new hairdryer...can anyone recommend one to me? I knew it was going to be a matter of time - at Christmas I go light crazy, so I couldn't use my hair dryer while all of my thousands of lights were on outside...heh heh. Well, of course I forgot and used the hair dryer one evening and boom the hairdryer did not work and all the lights went out as well. We were out of power. I really thought that I fried everything and wondered how much it was going to cost me for power supply repair? Bryan was going to kill me! So, I knew it was going to be a matter of time before the hairdryer was going to go kaput. I guess I'll have to go shopping tomorrow for one.

Oy it's been a crazy week!

2007-03-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

The kiddos started back up again this week with school and of course all of the extracurricular activities as well. I have been bogged down with recruiting work and trying to catch up on my other blogs too. Monday is Bryan's birthday and I haven't got a clue what to get him. We're going to see Stomp tomorrow night so I'm excited for that. I've got so much to do these next couple of days my head is starting to spin!

Thinking of moving?

2007-03-24T01:04:00.000-07:00

Why not check out the Raleigh North Carolina Real Estate market. Being from a metropolitan area, homes around here are quite expensive if we were to go bigger. In Raleigh, I found a home online through listwise.com that was similar to what I wanted and considerably cheaper than homes here. We have some friends who live in Raleigh but we've never been. They're always boasting about how their cost of living is so much cheaper than here. From the looks of listwise.com, I believe them!

Yet another piece of furniture we need...

2007-03-23T22:44:00.000-07:00

Bryan has been wearing this boot on his foot for the past week or so for his Plantar Fascitis. Now we're looking for a bench that we can put at the end of our bed so that he can put his shoe and boot on comfortably. Our bed sits a little bit too high for him to do that. So surfin' the net I went and found some benches by Powell furniture. Reasonably priced and it gives me an idea of what's out there. At least this way he can see for himself what's out there so we can narrow it down a bit...

Mom's birthday is coming up

2007-03-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

Mom's birthday is right around the corner and I've been trying to think of what to get her this year. She's so hard to buy for, it seems that she has everything. I don't know how many more spa gift certificates she can handle..heh heh...She does like to go those stores where you can purchase christian gifts for people, in fact she went to one last year to buy Kaitlyn a necklace with a crucifix on it for her First Communion, so maybe I'll go to one by my house and see what they have. Better yet, I think it would be easier just to get a gift certificate from there for her...Yup, that will be the plan!

Did you hear about Mel Gibson?

2007-03-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

What is wrong with this man? He went through another tirade last night. You can read about it here at my new blog. Evidently he still has some anger issues...

Baby Rosaries

2007-03-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we went over to my brother and sister in law's house for a barbecue. I love visiting my brand new niece Isabella. She is getting bigger and bigger everyday and you can finally see her personality shining through. I was rocking her in her room when I noticed this little box on her bookshelf. I asked my brother what it was and he opened it up and showed me this beautiful baby rosary that they got as a gift from Alanna's aunt. I had no idea they made baby rosaries. I would have gotten one for each of my kids when they were baptized! They are gorgeous though, and will have to remember that for the next niece or nephew!

Italy Vacation

2007-03-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

Years back my parents went to Italy for vacation and they have always raved about it there. They went on a group tour with about 20 people. Although they loved being on the tour, they would like to go again, but this time by themselves so that they can do their own thing and not be on a schedule. I told them to look at Villas in Italy that are available to rent while there - I think it would be more economical to do so rather than stay in an expensive hotel. So guess who's been looking online trying to find some for them? Ha ha.

Kiddos went bowling...

2007-03-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

They had a great time this afternoon with my in laws. They all bowled four games and they had a blast! Maddie told me everything that she ate...popcorn, fries, onion rings, and a Coke. Heh heh..leave it to her to give you the scoop...lol

I need to get more sleep

2007-03-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

I've been spending lots of late nights working on my other blog that the next day I seem to not have any energy. Sometimes I think about taking Energy Pills. I've been trying to limit my coffee intake to only one or two cups a day but it doesn't seem to be helping. I think I need to start up with my exercise - that's always given me more energy too!

Ugh!

2007-03-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

It's been over a week since I posted...sorry about that. Life just gets in the way, KWIM? The kids are still on break - they go back on Tuesday. It's been crazy around here. My parents took Kait to a Phoenix Suns basketball game and she had a great time! We're die hard Suns fans...ever since my Dad would take me and my siblings when we were younger. I'm glad to see that the tradition still holds on - and that they can spend time with each other. Growing up, we never really spent that much time with my grandparents since they lived in the Philippines, so it's nice to see my kids enjoy their grandparents and vice versa....

Finally....

2007-03-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

I'm getting a little bit caught up now..my transcription work, recruiting, laundry, etc. I see the light at the end of the tunnel!! Heh heh. Brandon spent the night at my parents house last night to hang with his Aunt Jenn and when I called my Dad this morning to see if he wanted to go out for lunch I asked him if Brandon was awake yet. He said, "He and Jenn just went to bed." I said "What???" My Dad said that he and Jenn stayed up all night watching movies. He's a night owl, just like me. Kaitlyn did a great job today helping me clean around the house, funny what a little bribing will do, eh? Maddie is sulking right now because Kait has a friend over and Maddie feels like she's being left out and no one is paying attention to her. Oh, the drama around here. Good thing I only have one little drama queen.

Are you having problems with your cable?

2007-03-14T00:05:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while our cable goes out and I kept blaming it on our provider. Bryan said it really wasn't their fault, we just needed to get an HDMI Cable and that would fix the problem. You don't need to go to an electronics store to purchase one, you can buy one online at cables4sure.com. They have a wide selection available and at prices that won't break you. Besides, do you really think you get the best buy at Best Buy?

I wish I was retired

2007-03-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

My sister in law Alanna called me up today and asked when my parents were going to be getting back from Las Vegas. Las Vegas??? Um, I didn't even know they went to Las Vegas. She told me that my brother told her and that they left yesterday. Hmmm, I wonder why they didn't call me to let me know? I mean, I am the oldest and I know EVERYTHING that goes on with my family (heh heh, well not everything). So I call my Dad and he said that they were leaving the bank yesterday morning and they just decided to go. Just like that. I wish I could just up and leave whenever I wanted to...but, my Dad deserves to be retired. He's been off and on retired for the past 10 years it seems. He retires, then he misses working, then he gets called up by a medical head hunter agency telling him that they're looking for an anesthesiologist so he goes back to work, etc. Last year he finally did it. He said no more. AND I'M GLAD. I'm glad that he can do whatever the heck he wants and I'm glad that my kids get to really spend more quality time with him. Let's see...another how many years before I can retire?

Budget, budget, budget

2007-03-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

Well, now that we have our income tax refund, we are trying really hard to adhere to this new found budget of ours. I swear this is always something that comes up, but this year I vow to make sure that we stay on track. I can only imagine what corporations do to stay on track. Corporations can utilize Budgeting software through Prophix.com. This software can help these corporations get a comprehensive view of their financial data, thus helping them truly understand the cost of their products or services. Hmmm, I wonder if they have a personal version just for myself? I definitely could use one!

Just a little rant....

2007-03-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I returned a phone call to someone and when she answered, I could barely hear her. It was almost as if she were whispering. She asked if I could hold on and then all of a sudden I could hear the toilet flush. Can you believe it? She was in the bathroom of wherever she was because then I could hear about four or more flushes as well. I was sooo grossed out about that. I mean seriously, would you answer the phone if you were in a bathroom stall?

Speaking of furniture...

2007-03-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Bryan and I came to the realization that we need to get a bigger dining room table. I'd like one that seats six comfortably. The one that we have now really sits four and we bought an extra chair so that it could seat all of us. Seriously, we've had this set for 12 years, as old as Brandon. Egads, we need to update. So I had to check online to see what the latest styles were and found some at homeandliving.com. They have some great deals with some of their Coaster Furniture plus you get FREE Shipping on any Coaster Furniture that you order. Check them out!!

Quiet night last night

2007-03-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

It was pretty quiet here in the house without the kiddos. They were pretty busy over at Grandma and Grandpa's yesterday. This morning they were headed to one of the local airports here in town (it's pretty small) to have breakfast. They have a really neat cafe that has an outside patio where you can watch the airplanes take off and land. They love it. They'll be back home this afternoon. It's amazing how my house stays so clean when they're not home. LOL.

Sectional Sofas

2007-03-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago we bought our first sectional sofa. It fits our family perfectly. When we have people over at our home, they always comment about how comfortable our sectional is. Here's a pic of a sectional that is similar to what we have:

And yes, my permanent seat on there is the chaise chair. It is soo comfortable. Oh, if you like that type of sectional and its setup, check out Clubfurniture.com. They have a variety of beautiful sectional sofas to choose from. Each of their sectionals are sold by the section and can be pieced together to your liking, so no sectional is too large or small!

Sunglasses

2007-03-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to get my eyeglasses this week. I really like the frame that I have chosen and hopefully this will help reduce the eye strain that I have when I'm on the computer. My next agenda? Aviator Sunglasses. The eye doctor that I go to does not really have a lot of selection of sunglasses to choose from, so of course I headed online to see what I could find. I found a site called Opticsplanet.net that had a wide range of prescription sunglasses available in the aviator style. They even provide FREE SHIPPING on orders over $29.95. What I like is they give you detailed information on how to read your prescription when you place your order, and if you're still having trouble, you can call them up and they'll walk you through it. So, now I'm going to check their site in more detail and see if I can order myself a new pair of sunglasses!

*This is a sponsored post.*

Spring Break

2007-03-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

Since the kids are on Spring Break, a lot of their friends are away on vacation this week. The kids are kind of bummed that we're not going on vacation as well, but we didn't really plan on going since March is such a busy time for vacationers. They have asked to go to Disney World - they've already been on Disneyland, and boy just thinking of the airfare makes my head spin. One thing that can definitely help in the money department is staying in an Orlando Vacation Rental. We have stayed in Vacation Rentals before and you definitely get more bang for the buck. We don't have to worry about spending a fortune on eating out for every meal, because most of our meals we can make in the rental. It works out perfectly. Try it if you haven't already - rentals are the way to go...

What a crazy weekend

2007-03-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

Life just gets to be too much sometimes for this household. I feel as if I need to take a breather every once in a while...thus...taking a break from blogging over here just to catch up on some other stuff.

The kids start their 2 week intercession. They just got picked up by their Grandpa to spend a couple days over at their house. Nice little break for me to not hear the fighting amongst all of them. Of course I have tons of laundry to do again and lots of catching up to do blogging wise and transcription wise so off I go....

Now we need a new computer desk

2007-03-09T11:38:00.000-07:00

Since we bought Bryan's new computer last month he's been itching to get himself a new desk. We've been looking around at different computer furniture and he's not real sure what he wants. So, I checked around online to get an idea of what's out there, etcetera, and he's leaning towards a workstation of some sort. Here's something similar to what he'd like:

We can make room for it in our bedroom...as it is his desk is in the Great Room and he'd rather not be there. I think he's looking for a place to hide out. LOL.

We've been looking at chairs as well and my gosh there are a lot to choose from. He likes the leather chairs mostly. I wish I could have one for myself...but with all the work I do on the computer I really need a chair that is going to give me optimal support because of my Carpal Tunnel. Hmmm, I think I need to look for a chair for myself!!

*This is a sponsored post.*

Conferences today

2007-03-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

We had student led conferences today and they proved to be quite interesting. They all are doing very well in school but it's funny how different each one of them were when they told me all about their life in school. The conferences generally take about 20 minutes and whose conference do you think lasted the longest? Kaitlyn's. She is quite descriptive (as some of you already know) thus, her conference ran about 28 minutes. She's quite proud of the work that she has done so far in school and it really shows.

Maddie's conference lasted all of 10 minutes. Remember, she is only in kindergarten and well, there's not a whole heck of a lot going on. She loved showing me her Star Binder, which is a binder filled with all of her Excellent work...Her desk is quite neat and organized...which is surprising since her room is always a complete mess.

Brandon pretty much zipped through his...he seemed like he just wanted to get it over with. I know towards the end they all were pretty much tired so with his being last, he was a little bit grumpy. I loved his Poem Book that he showed me...it's a compilation of poems that he wrote that my sister helped him with (she basically took him to Kinko's to get it binded lol). His teacher asked if she could keep it so that she could show future classes how the Poem Book needs to be done. He was pretty proud about that...

So, pretty happy with the kiddos...looks like they're all doing well.

Need some frequent flyer miles?

2007-03-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

Then your best bet would be to look at the different airline credit cards that are available. CardFusion.com is an extensive website which helps you select the right credit card for you to apply for and earn the mileage credit you deserve for money that you spend on that card. You can get discounts on hotels, car rentals, and more. I need to let my sister in on that site. She travels all the time with her family - and with a family of four we all know how expensive that can be. If you're a frequent flyer, then check out CardFusion.com to see for yourself which credit card will give you the most mileage.

Gah my eyes are killing me

2007-03-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

I had my eye appt today and my regular prescription has not changed....I can see fine distance wise, etcetera, but now I must wear a different pair for reading and working on the computer. Hello....can we say bifocal? Eeek!! So I basically have to wear one pair for reading/computer and another pair every time else. Sucks. Oh well...this way I won't have so many headaches and my eyes won't grow tired as fast. Hmmmph, growing old is no fun.

Spring Cleaning

2007-03-04T21:06:00.000-07:00

It's time for the annual spring cleaning in this house and boy does it need it. I find it nearly impossible to keep up with everything, as busy as I am, even with the daily stuff. I do what I can and don't stress over it. I read an article on The Housekeeping Channel on "30 Quick Cleaning Tips for a Tidier Home". I was shocked that I actually use one of the tips!! I put extra trash bags at the bottom of my kitchen trash can so that when you empty the trash you already have some available. Heh heh, I must be doing something right! I also like the tip of setting a timer for 15 minutes and see how much cleaning you can get accomplished in that amount of time. It doesn't seem that bad if you're cleaning for 15 minutes versus two hours. 15 minutes at a time is certainly doable for me. So if you're crunched for time as far as cleaning goes, check out The Housekeeping Channel for handy tips and ideas. I've bookmarked the page myself so I can reference it whenever I need to.

*This is a sponsored post.*

These new blogs....

2007-03-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

I have some new blogs that I've been writing on Jeanette's Deal Corner and Jeanette's Celebrity Corner. I love my new homes...it's nice to have my own domains. I use Wordpress for all of them and since I've only known Blogger it is a little daunting to say the least to get used to this new platform as well as figuring out everything with my hosting company. I hope you come and visit. If you love to go to the movies, then check out my post on FREE popcorn. I've got lots of other deals there too :)

Errand day

2007-03-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

Wow what a busy day we had today. It started with Maddie going to ballet and I had no idea that they were shutting a part of the freeway down that I use to get there so I wasn't very happy. Taking surface streets really sucked. I was only 5 minutes late, so not too bad. On the way home was another nightmare - a trip that normally takes me 20 minutes lasted 45. Ugh.

We ended up putting one of the computers in Kaitlyn's room so we had to get some things for that....Fry's Electronics was super busy and even though checkout line seemed a mile long, the line was moving pretty fast.

I bought a book at Fry's called Search Engine Optimization for Dummies. I'm not too up on all of that so when I saw the book I thought why not. I'll keep you posted on that one. I'm sure a lot of you already know the ins and outs of SEO anyways.

Okay, time to post on my other blogs. :)

Awesome resource for Teachers

2007-03-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

My sister is in her last semester of college. She is actually student teaching right now at an elementary school and will be graduating with her degree in elementary education in May. I'm so proud of her!! She is going to be an incredible teacher. She has patience with the kids and she loves what she does. She already has had some offers for teaching positions in the fall, so we'll see how that goes.

I found a great resource site for teachers, counselors, principals, etc. It's called Youth Change. It's a site designed to help these educators with some creative strategies to help out students who are struggling. Some of their methods are cutting edge when it comes to helping students who have poor motivation, bad attitudes, and truancy. It really is quite informative. It's a perfect site for someone who is starting out in the teaching world. I've already emailed her the link - I'm sure she'll be referencing it once she has her own class.

I ran out of address labels

2007-03-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

I thought for sure that I had some address labels left over from Christmas but I guess not. I just buy the plain labels and print them on my computer but how boring is that? I found some really nice address labels today on returnaddresslabelsonline.com. They offer a wide variety of styles - from labels that are monogrammed to ones that show off your patriotism. Here's a style that I'm going to order:

Once you've chosen your style, you enter your information and you can preview what your address label will look like. You can change the font, size, and color of the label as well. It's totally up to you. The prices are reasonable as well - 150 labels for $4.95. Now that's a great deal!

*This is a sponsored post.*

Book Fair

2007-03-01T15:13:00.000-07:00

Madelyn's class went to the Book Fair this morning at school so I gave her a check for $10 to purchase some books. They all run around $3 to $5 for her age group so I figured she'd probably end up with at least two books to read. Well, I was wrong. She came home with one book, some Princess lip gloss, and Princess hair set. What????? This is a BOOK FAIR, not a toy store. Geez. I asked her, "Maddie, why did you buy this stuff and not more books?" Here's her response: "Well, it was a great deal." Enough said. Couldn't really argue with that one. LOL.

Ft. Lauderdale

2007-03-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

This is where Brandon was born. He has been asking lately about wanting to visit. You see, he was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, but we moved away about 10 months after he was born because Bryan was transferred to New Haven, Connecticut.

I really enjoyed living in Florida. The atmosphere is like no other I've experienced. We lived literally five minutes away from the beach. There were such an array of restaurants to choose from and there was so much to do there. Brandon asked if we could maybe take a trip there this summer. Hmmm, that takes some planning.

I started to look at airfare for our family of five and egads it's expensive. We could drive there I suppose, but that would be almost a week long trip and I think the kids (and myself) would go stir crazy that many days in the van. I looked at hotels and again, very expensive. So, I decided to check into florida vacation rentals. We've stayed in a rental before in Mexico, why not in Florida? So there I was checking online for rentals available this summer and I found the perfect one. It's right on the beach even!! Here are some pictures:

I'm going to talk to Bryan and see what he thinks. I would love to go so that Brandon can see where it was he was born, plus we can do a day trip and go to Disney World. That will make the girls happy!

*This is a sponsored post.*

Oh my eyes...my aching eyes.

2007-03-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

I read a great article yesterday on webworkerdaily.com on how to be good to your eyes. I spend countless hours on the computer staring at the screen and I wonder why my eyes are so dry and blurry at times. I think one of the things that I don't do often enough is to take a break. He uses a 20-20-20 rule - stop every 20 minutes, take a 20 second break, and look at something 20 feet away. I have started to do that and I must say, it does really help. I did also make an appointment with my eye doctor and will be seeing him on Tuesday. I'm eligible for a new pair of glasses this year, whippee!!

Check that article out. Lots of great tips there!!

Take advantage of coupons!!

2007-03-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

I cannot stress enough the importance using your coupons. Hey, I even get 6 papers on Sundays just to take advantage of them. Heh heh. I scour the internet looking for coupons, coupon codes, etcetera and one of the sites that I use continually is couponchief.com. They have over a thousand stores to choose from, and a wide variety at that - everything from Cabela's to Tupperware to Staples. The one store I check out the most is Best Buy because I have the option of ordering something and picking it up right at the store. (It helps that my Best Buy is less than a mile away from me, heh heh). So if you're like me and are looking for more ways to save money - check out couponchief.com for all the latest coupon codes and deals.

*This is a sponsored post.*

The sniffles...

2007-03-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

I noticed this morning that Kaitlyn started sniffling and immediately thought..."here we go again". I finally have all three kids in school and sick free. Arrrgh it is so frustrating. Luckily next week is their last week before they start their 2 week break.

I went to a meeting at school this morning regarding the 6th grade auction. At the end of the school year, the 6th graders get to bid on items at the auction with money they have earned during all their years at the school. They "____ Cash" (I won't say the name of the school) to each of the kids who come to school each day, work in the various clubs, etc. The auction is something that the kids look forward to every year. As in years past, there are the high ticket items that everyone longs to get - there are Ipods, Nintendo Wiis, Playstations, X-Box's, bikes, electronics, TV's, etc. but the popular items last year were gift cards. Obviously the kids who have saved their "_____ Cash" will be able to bid on the higher ticket items. I asked Brandon how much he has saved in the bank and so far he has a little over $20,000. The going rate for the electronics is around $28,000. Heh heh..he's not sure if he can come up with another $8000 by the time the auction rolls around in May.

Kaitlyn hasn't saved much at all. Every time her class goes to the bank she doesn't really deposit that much and spends a lot of it in the school store. But you know, that's just Kaitlyn's nature. If she wants to spend it, then that's fine with me. Brandon's more of the saver. It will be interesting to see how much he ends up with and what he actually bids on.

The items are donated by local businesses and our FTO organization donates to the auction too. We just learned that an anonymous $1000 donation was given as well. Don't worry, none of the kids go home empty handed. They are all required to bring an item to the auction worth about $15 just so you go home with at least something that you can bid on. I'm excited to be a part of it this year and will be hitting the pavement soon for donations by local businesses. Heh heh.

Transcription, Recruiting, Cleaning...oh my

2007-02-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to finish up my transcription work for the morning and just wanted to take a little break...so what do I do? Go right to blogging. Heh heh.

I have tons of cleaning to do....my house looks like a disaster area. The girls love to "play school" and they rearrange the furniture, etc. to make it look like a classroom. Of course, they then take all of my office supplies too. Arggh, I just didn't have the time last night to get it all back to normal. There has got to be an easier way...I am seriously thinking of having someone come over every other week to help out. My neighbor has someone help her clean every other week and she does EVERYTHING. $60/week certainly seems worth it.

I'm not sure what will answer my laundry issues. I cannot seem to keep up. When I get close to catching up, I fall behind again. *Sigh*.

Okay, I need to get off here and start back up transcribing...

Speaking of social networks...

2007-02-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to give a shout out to my PPP friend Suni. I was having problems last week with one of my domain blogs and she took the time through IM to help me figure out what it was. Seriously. It was just a minor problem and everything turned out fine, but it meant the world to me that she was there to help. She has 10 blogs and I don't know how she does it...She's my Super Suni. Oh, and she also makes Wordpress themes as well. Take a lookie here.

Thanks again GF :)

The Agloco Network

2007-02-27T17:07:00.000-07:00

Since I started blogging, more and more I have been reading about how powerful social networks are. Look at the popularity of MySpace. They are now billionaires because advertisers have realized that they really do generate unlimited marketing possibilities. Obviously the owners of MySpace have reaped the benefits monetarily twofold.

So, AGLOCO was formed. What is AGLOCO? "AGLOCO is A Global Community that is owned by its members." The concept is simple. Sign up (which I have done a couple weeks ago). You will download the Viewbar toolbar (it is currently in beta but will be available for download in a couple of weeks, and no, it does not contain spyware). You start surfing the net just like you do everyday. Get paid. Get paid even more for referrals. Why not join the Agloco Network just like I have? Will I make billions? Maybe not, but I could be on my way. ;)

*This is a sponsored post.*

The Field Trip

2007-02-27T16:42:00.000-07:00

I went with Kaitlyn on her field trip today. It was an Arabian Horse Show which featured "The Black Stallion", which is the book that the whole 4th grade is currently reading. It was a lot of fun - the kids really enjoyed it. There were a lot of screaming kids in that coliseum and my ears starting popping. Seriously. I've been to concerts louder than that. I must be getting old. *Sigh*

The next big field trip is an annual event with the whole 4th grade. They get to spend the night at the zoo. They take a nature walk throughout the zoo in the evening and then do the same in the morning. They get a first hand look of what goes on "behind the scenes". Brandon took this trip a couple years ago and he really enjoyed it. This year, my brother Carl wants to help chaperone the class. God help him. Heh heh.

I found a Mustang

2007-02-26T21:02:00.000-07:00

A 1968 Ford Mustang to be exact. A couple weeks ago I talked about how I missed my Mustang that I drove when I was in high school. Looking back now I realize how much of a gem that little car was. I sold my '68 in the early 90's. It was sad to see it go. My father had completely restored it and really was a sweet looking car. It kind of prompted me to look online just so I could see some pictures of them and ended up on Lemon Free Car Classifieds. Their site is fairly easy to navigate. Did you know that you can list your car for free on their site? You can add up to 10 pictures of your vehicle, you never have to give them a credit card, and your listing stays on their site until it's sold! Pretty cool deal if you ask me.

Anyways, I was able to find a 1968 Ford Mustang right away. Here's the pic below:

The only difference is my 'Stang was blue. *Sigh*. It makes me miss it even more. I'm going to have to show my Dad this site. It might just make him want to restore another Mustang - Brandon will be driving in four years....

*This is a sponsored post.*

Tax return....

2007-02-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

I got the call back from our tax guy. Pretty sweet refund - $4800 from Federal and $550 from State. It's been e-filed so hopefully we'll get it deposited into our account soon - like tomorrow. Heh heh. Gotta pay off Bryan's new swanky computer (which I'm so jealous of because of Vista) and save up for our vacation this summer. It never fails though - something always comes up and we end up using it for that. Such is life.

And off to school they went....

2007-02-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Maddie was feeling much better today - she was quite sleepy when I woke her up this morning but she was fine once she got up and got changed...she was actually excited to be going to school after missing last Thursday and Friday.

Kait has been doing really well. No anxiety anymore. She's getting all caught up. I'll be going with her on a field trip tomorrow. We'll be heading to the Arabian Horse Show. Eek all day with these kids. I wonder how many I'll be in charge of. It reminded me of a time when my father in law accompanied Kait and her class to Chase Field (where our AZ Diamondbacks play). He was in charge of 5 kids. They all went to a pizza place for lunch and he took that time to call my mother in law. While he was on the phone with her, you could hear him asking Kait, "Where's Johnny (I think that was his name), where is he? Where did he go?" Needless to say, that's the last field trip he chaperoned. Heh heh.

Busy day for recruiting calls and then the two older ones have clubs after school and then Kait has CCD. Still trying to figure out what to do with dinner too. I'll be in and out....

PayPerPost Rumor

2007-02-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, PayPerPost has something up their sleeves. They will be making a big announcement in a couple of weeks and I'm really curious as to what it is. Maybe they're getting a huge tax refund and are sharing the wealth with all of us Posties, heh heh - I wish!!

I've been posting with them for the last four months and it is by far my favorite company to post for. It's evident that blog advertising is the wave of the future and am happy (so's my bank account) that I have the opportunity to post for them. Their recent rollout with segmentation has been a little rough on me, but this has made me realize that I really need to be on my own domain and focus on my niche(s). So, that's what I've done. I bit the bullet and purchased my own domains (4 of them, gah) and am working hard to make sure that they concentrate on the topic at hand. It is easy for me to get off topic, lol.

Okay, back to the rumors. Could Ted be putting in his bid for the presidential nomination? Are we all invited to the Postiecon all expenses paid? I don't know...whatever it is, it should be quite interesting, can't wait to find out!

Weird....

2007-02-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

I thought that Maddie was in the all clear - she was totally fine yesterday, no complaints of upset tummy, no throwing up, etc. Well, 12:30 AM and there she was in the bathroom again. Ugh. She slept until about 11:30 this morning and she seems to be doing fine so far. It's a beautiful day outside today and wants desperately to go play so instead she's making bead bracelets with her sister Kaitlyn.

I've got to catch up on laundry...again. I'm hoping our tax guy calls today to let us know our taxes are done. I hope we get a nice refund like we did last year!!

Hope you all have a great weekend....

Friday's Feast

2007-02-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

Appetizer
Where on your body do you have a scar, and what caused it?

I have a couple chicken pox scars on my face and shoulder. Evidently having the chicken pox as a child did not go over very well with me, as I was a scratching fool (from what my mother said).

Soup
What is something that has happened to you that you would consider a miracle?

You know, I really can't think of anything right now....

Salad
Name a television personality who really gets on your nerves.

Jerry Springer. Can't stand him.

Main Course
What was a funny word you said as a child (such as "pasketti" for "spaghetti")?

Hmmm, I'll have to ask my Mom about this one. I can't think of any...

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I have always thought ______ was ______.

I have always thought that being the oldest of eight kids was pretty crazy at times.

Toner cartridges

2007-02-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when you get that message on your screen that you're about ready to run out of toner? For me, it's quite annoying so a lot of the time I turn it off. Therein lies the problem. When I'm ready to print something - I'm unable to because I'm completely out of toner. So, I always end up having to go right then and there to one of those office supply stores to get toner cartridges. I don't know what it is, but 60 percent of the time they're out of it and have to travel to another store to see if they have it. It's a big hassle. I know what you're thinking...I should be more prepared when I run out of ink...he he...well, I think I found myself the solution. Databazaar.com carries the cartridges I need for my printer plus sell them cheaper than when I buy them in the store. It gets better - they ship for FREE!! I subscribed to get their updates and coupons and I got a $5.00 off coupon to apply to my next purchase. Toner cartridges are not the only thing they carry - they have everything from fax supplies to specialty paper. So now I don't have an excuse to be out of toner. With FREE shipping, I think I'll be stocked up in advance. :)

*This is a sponsored post.*

Well, another one home sick

2007-02-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

You know, just when I thought that we were all feeling better it just hits you again...We just cannot catch a break with all the sickness that has been recycled in my family for the past two months. Madelyn starting throwing up early this morning - 12:30 AM and it went on about three more times...Needless to say this I am quite exhausted and I'm trying my darndest to stay awake and keep up with laundry.

With all of my follow-up calls that I've done today, it just amazes me to no end what some people think is appropriate phone etiquette. I had one gal tell me to hold one while she had a full on conversation with her husband on her cell phone. I'm not interested in hearing about what their dinner plans are. When she called me back and had to leave me a voicemail she sounded perturbed that she had to do so. Tough luck chickie...today is not the day to be messing around with me ;) Okay, enough my ranting. Just had to get that off my chest.

I support the Fraternal Order of Police

2007-02-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

My brother Jeff has just recently joined the Police Academy. I'm quite proud of him - this is something that he has wanted for a long time. This week it really hit home how much they risk their own lives just to protect ours. The City of Glendale lost one of their own police officers while he was in the line of duty. He was only 24 years old.

The Fraternal Order of Police is the largest law enforcement organization here in the United States. If you make a donation to the FOP, you can display a gold, silver, or bronze supporter shield in your vehicle. It's a way of showing your support for anyone involved in law enforcement. You can make a donation online at www.fopdonate.com. You can display this proudly in your vehicle to show your support:

The Arizona State Fraternal Order of Police represents over 6,500 Police Officers throughout the State of Arizona. A donation is the least I can do and it's my way of saying "thank you". Get your FOP Gold Supporter Shield today and let these men and women know that we appreciate all that they do to protect us.

*This is a sponsored post.*

Busy busy busy

2007-02-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

I have tons of transcription to do today as well as do some call backs. I swear there aren't enough hours in the day for everything I need to do...Kaitlyn has basketball practice at 5:00 and I've got Mass tonight at 7:00 for Ash Wednesday...eeks, looks like another late night.

Rockstartup.com

2007-02-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

What is Rockstartup.com? It's kind of a reality tv show, if you will, about the behind the scenes shenanigans that go on with PayPerPost and their quest to build a web 2.0 company. There have been 11 episodes so far, which have included everything from a Postie wedding to a reverse Postie Patrol on Ted (the CEO of PayPerPost) to a hilarious Postie Patrol with Robyn in Chicago. If I had to pick a favorite - I think so far it has to be their latest episode entitled "Can't Hardly Weight". The entire office gets together to lose some weight (they've all set up their own goals as to what they'd like to weigh) and they will be weighing in every week. I hope they'll be showing these weekly weigh ins as episodes as well. I commend them to taking this on as an entire office - I think they will definitely be successful. I know in years past when I have lost weight it was in large part due to the fact that I had put myself out there on message boards for all the world to see in before pictures...What a rush it was to see my success unfold week after week in "after" pictures. Watching this latest episode of rockstartup has renewed my sense of wanting to lose these extra 20 pounds again and hope that I can keep it off once and for all. Here's the episode in its entirety, "Can't Hardly Weight".