Crafting Area

So this is where I work. Well I do clean it off a little to be able to move around, but at the end of the night everything has to go back somewhere so this usually what it looks like. Oh look there's Carrie's pillow I made for her. I forgot to take a picture of it before her birthday. (It has elephants and trees on it.)

Apron and potholders

I made this set for one of my clients. I used the Debbie Mum fabric I got on sale at Jo-Ann's.

A Scarf

My second attempt at crochet, a scarf for mom for Christmas. The first scarf came out all wonky lookin.

Christmas Goodies

I have been busy in the kitchen for the last couple of weeks. Chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, zucchini bread, cookie dough truffles, chocolate truffles, peanut butter truffles, sugar cookies, smores bars, rich and creamy brownie bars, cinnamon pecans, pretzel/rolo/pecan candies. I think there's more but I can't remember all of them.

Christmas Wreath

This is a wreath I made for Brenda. The wreath was actually her old Christmas wreath and she had some ornaments and pine cones she wanted me to reuse. The other ornaments I rescued from the re-sell shop. It's not a very good picture. One of these days I really should take a photography class.

Fleece Blankets

This picture is really bad! the girls asked for fleece throw blankets for Christmas. Of Caitie didn't want just any kind of fleece. She wants ultra-cuddle fleece. This isn't ultra-cuddle fleece but it's just as soft if not softer! And of course Hallie's only request was that it have horses on it. The one on the left is Hallie's of course. The one on the right is actually pink on top and cream on the bottom.

Mr Possum

Finally caught the little nuisance! I put up with him part of last winter and he just thought he was going to move back in this winter. But I said no way! The cat is glad to be rid of him. Venus finally has his food to himself. I know a male cat named Venus. We thought he was a girl when he was a baby.

Got a good deal on some fabric

The kiddos and I went to Jo-Ann's last Saturday. I had some really good coupons. (40, 50 and 20% off) I found some Debbie Mum fabric to make an apron and some potholders. And then I found some fun pieces in the remnant bin. I've used just a little of the elephant fabric for some potholders.

Tree is up!!

The kids and I put the tree up last Friday evening. Hallie has already turned it over and broke one of the feet. I was wanting to buy a pre-lit tree for next year. I guess now I have the perfect excuse. Anyhoo we have the tree propped up with a brick. There is no way I'm tearing it apart and setting up a different tree this year.

What's Done

So here's what I finished up:

1. Chocolate Fudge- Hallie decided to eat a big chunk of it even after I told her it was for Aunt Carrie to take to work. She was lots of fun to be around once the sugar and the chocolate kicked in. I didn't think bedtime would ever get here. aaaarrrggggg
2. Peanut Butter Fudge- Surprising it doesn't taste horrible considering I forgot to add the vanilla. I think the kids only require my attention while I'm on the phone or cooking.
3. Magic Cookies--- MMMmmm I don't need to say anything more.
4. And the tote bag for the swap is finished. How many times should you have to remind children to stay away from a hot iron? Poor Hallie got too close and wound up with a pretty big mark on her arm. There's a blister, but she'll be ok.

Well now I'm off to cover the goodies and go to bed. I have a super long day of work tomorrow. Have a good night.

My To-Do List Today

1. Make peanut butter fudge, chocolate fudge, no bake cookies and magic cookies.
2. Get them all wrapped up and put together with the candy list
3. Deliver list and candies to Carrie
4. Finish making shopping tote for swap
5. and if time permits finish cleaning my house

I can see getting #1 and #4 finished up. Possibly getting #2 and #3 done. #5- only if I learn how to bottle Hallie's energy and sprout wings and a jet pack. Well I just realized that it's after noon and I just done got drinking a mountain dew. I may just get my list finished as I most likely will not sleep tonight.

I Almost Have My House Put Back Together!

Almost there! It all started yesterday when I got rid of that nasty old recliner. Normally when you think of threadbare furniture, you think of a few spots where the fabric is worn. This thing- there was practically no fabric left to it. After putting the dog outside I decided it was time for it to leave my home! I drug it over to the front door, wriggled it out onto the porch, pushed it off, loaded it into the back of the van and then hoisted it up into the dumpster.

When I got back into the house, what did I find but a big gaping hole that stood out like a sore thumb. So that began the deep clean and re-arranging of the living room. And that's not so bad to re-do one room. But now there isn't room for my gate leg table in the living room. Well I'm not about to part with that! It has to find a place somewhere in this house. Ah Ha! The kitchen! I just have to stack the cabinets and scoot this here and that there. Yeah I had to re-do the kitchen too. But the kitchen is pretty well finished. Just a couple of things to put away. The living room on the other hand. Ahhhh I still have a stack of boxes with junk to go through. The kiddos have 2 bags of stuffed animals and a stack of boxes with books in them to go through. After that maybe we'll be back to normal. OH CRUD! Where in the world am I gonna put the Christmas tree?! Do you really have to have a tree at Christmas? I'll figure something out surely.

I'm tired and sore. Hadn't really planned on doing the kitchen tonight, but got a call to clean tomorrow morning. So tomorrow evening I plan on working on candies and cookies and tote bag for a barter. I can not wait to get back to my crafts. I haven't worked on anything in so long. I wonder if I still know how to make anything. LOL

Cleaning Up

I have been busy going through boxes and boxes of junk the last few days. I have posted a bunch of stuff on my swap-shop blog. I have all kinds of things listed. So hop on over and check everything out. My goal is to barter for things I can use for Christmas gifts and well maybe some new lil things for me as well.

As you may have guessed, the move to the other house doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon as I had originally thought it would. A little aggravating - yes. But it will be ok. Maybe we won't get moved this year, maybe we will. And maybe it will just hold out till next spring when the weather is better. It's starting to get pretty chilly here. And I don't know about the rest of you, but I have no desire to move in the freezing cold. My hands just will not cooperate in the cold.

There is one reason why I do not like holidays. They totally screw up my work schedule. I still have the same amount of work to do just one less day to get it done in. Plus I wind up working days like Black Friday and Christmas Eve. Not that I have any desire to fight the crowds in the stores, but it would be nice to not have to spend the entire day after a food-filled holiday working.

I made myself a list of chores to get done last weekend. Ummmm I got about half the list done. I wonder if I will get the rest done this weekend. Probably some of them. But I'm planning on working a while on Saturday so I don't think I'll get the whole list finished.

Speaking of lists- I finally have the rough draft of the candy list made out for my sister to take to work with her. And tonight I was going to type it up and print it out and wouldn't you know the printer is running out of black ink. Hmmm I wonder maybe I should try another color. Yes dears I did begin my life as a blond. Do not let the brown fool ya.

Well I'm off for tonight. I have a full day of work tomorrow and then some. Have a lovely evening!

I'm ready to move

I am so ready to get moved. We are almost down to just basics left to box. But of course we won't be boxing those until we know for sure when we will get to start moving. If the kiddos hadn't came down sicj this week, I had planned to call my aunt to see if she needed help cleaning out the house. But of course things don't usually go the way you have them planned. The kids are feeling better and should be returning to school tomorrow. And of course next week is my busy week of work. Please keep your fingers crossed for us that we get to get out of here soon. I know I'm impatient but I can't help it.

Well that was aggravating!

Just about lost the computer. Poor Cat accidentally opened up an infected email and it decided to wreck havoc on the PC. I spent a good bit of time working on it earlier today. I first tried a system restore. No of course not. That would be waayyy to simple. Had to do a full system recovery. This not only takes a lot of time it also wipes out everything that was stored in your PC after it left the factory. I didn't lose all of my pictures, but I would guess more than half of them are gone. I'm just very grateful right now that I am still old fashioned in my business record keeping, as it's all in paper form. Oh well we're back together and online again and we have all leaned a very important lesson.

And the Winner Is.....

Melody June from the MJF! ! Congratulations Melody on winning the B-DAY Giveaway!!! I will get this little goodie box wrapped up and mailed out to you in the next couple of days.

A Gift for Me

I thought I would treat myself since I got off work early yesterday. I went to the Goodwill. I LOVE that store, especially the one here in Boonville cause it's new and clean. I have been wanting some new shirts for a couple of months now. I haven't really had the extra cash so I just kept putting it off. Well the bills are finally caught up and the kids got some much needed clothes earlier this week so it's my turn. I found 5 shirts for $2.50 a piece!! I found a couple of skirts I really loved but wouldn't you know they were too long and too big. Bah-humbug! I also found Matthew a Levis denim jacket with the woolly lining. So it's little frayed at the cuffs, but he loves it and it will gt him through the winter. I told him when winter is over we'll get him a Carhartt coat on clearance. My babies are gonna know how to shop! If they don't learn anything else from me, they will know how to find a bargain! This may sound strange but do you know what I really want right now. I mean "Really really" want--- a bouquet of flowers. I look at them all the time at Wal-Mart but can't see paying $5-$10 for cut flowers. Well I would if they were for someone else, but not for me. Maybe just maybe I will break down and get buy some later. I will at least stop and smell them.

B-Day Giveaway!!!

I wound up with the morning off. I have taken advantage of the extra time to catch up with friends online and put together the B-Day Giveaway box.

We have:

An embroidered table cloth, vintage handbag, jar of buttons, two votive candles- flowering herbs and plum pudding scents, autumn wired craft ribbon, lavendar essential oil and small chunk of jasmine vanilla homemade soap.

Drawing will be September 13th, Sunday evening. My son, Matthew will be drawing the winner. Remember to leave a comment. You can leave comments here on my blog, on MJF, facebook or email 'em to me. Have a wonderful day and Good Luck!!!

I'm 31!!

We celebrated my birthday with family yesterday. My sister bought me and apple slicer and griddle. Hallie and I had to try out to griddle this morning for breakfast. Mmmmm pancakes. Wouldn't it be nice to say that my day was spent lazing around the house doing nothing? But not me. I spent the biggest part of the day working. I did find a little time to swing into Jo-Ann's and pick up a couple of things I need for Christmas gifts. Friends and family have called today sending me wishes as well as my friends leaving me messages here, MJF and facebook. It is such an amazing feeling to know that little ole me has crossed the minds of so many wonderful people today. Thank you for making my day special!!

Oh I'm still working on the giveaway. It has been crazy busy today. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit slower. Have a wonderful night!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

It's my birthday tomorrow. And if you read my last post you know I am celebrating me this week. Me, me me me me meeeee LOL

I think this picture was from my second birthday. If I was 16 years old, I would probably find this snapshot somewhat embarrassing. But I'm going on 31 and have three kids. There is nothing that can embarrass me anymore. If I can have a 7 year old sitting in the waiting room at the dentist office, pull some feminine pads out of my purse and ask, "Why do you have diapers?" loud enough for the whole office to hear and shrug it off like it's nothing I figure I am immune to embarrassment. Come on lets face it we all have this picture as well as the naked baby pictures. Most people think I look like my mom. Actually we have been mistaken for each other more than once. But in this, I think I look more like my dad.

Happy Labor Day!!

Here we are the close of summer, well not technically the last day. It's the last day for swimming. Passing time tilll family and friends start arriving for the cookout. Burgers covered in bbq sauce, burnt hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans and mac and cheese. Sounds delicious, doesn't it?



I'm amazed the weather has cleared up. We have had some nasty thunderstorms and pouring rain the last couple of days. The sun is shining and the skies look fairly clear. Cross your fingers it holds out for a nice gathering.



I am working on a website on yola.com. It's called Made by Melanie. I have the home page almost finished. I wish I could get a mental picture of what I would like for it to look like. I chose yola because I can set it up as an online store front plus it has a blog. I haven't had much time to play with it lately but I think I can really make it a nice site and for free-- well you can't beat that.



The cleaning biz has been bubbling over with work. I had a full schedule last week and this week will be full too. That is awesome! My body hurt like no other, but it was well worth it.



Tomorrow is my birthday. I will be 31. Last year I didn't even notice turning 30, but this year I'm feeling old. I'm going to blame it on the work load. Hahahaha Tomorrow also re-starts my diet. Keep your fingers crossed, say some prayers for me please. I'm just not feeling the mindset I need to lock myself in on this diet. I really really need to get serious about this though. It's not about looks, it's about health so please keep me in your thoughts.



I just had a crazy little thought. I'm thinking on of my friends did this on her blog. I think I will celebrate me this week since it is my birthday. Everyday there will be a post about me and Sunday the 13th will be the final post -- the giveaway. I'm not sure what will be in the giveaway yet, but I'll think of something and post it later. To put your name in the drawing for the giveaway, you just need to place a comment on any of the Celebration posts this week. For each comment you leave you get your name placed in the bowl. Since Hallie got to pick the last winner, Matthew will draw the name this time. Anyone can enter, just make sure I have a way to contact you.

Wow! What a day! I have been on a roll with rearranging, decluttering, organizing and cleaning. I started in my bedroom which also doubles as my craft room. Have you ever seen a "Master" bedroom in a 14 x 70 mobile home. Yeah it's not the roomiest. I had a queen size bed, nightstand, standing fan, long dresser, armoire, and large wooden desk crammed into my bedroom. Not alot of room to move around in. First thing to go was the desk. Behind this desk I had stashed a folding table. Now I'm using the folding table for my sewing machine. Then I moved a heavy cherry telephone cabinet from the living room to the bedroom to stash some fabric and crafting supplies in. Put everything away in the bedroom, dusted and vacuumed. DONE-- TA-DAAA

Then I went to Wal-Mart. Got some groceries and a zippered cd case for the kids movies. Came back home and put away the groceries. Kids movies are all in the cd case now, empty dvd cases stored in a cabinet in my room. Moved our board games to the cabinet on the entertainment center. Got rid of the shelf the board games were on. Moved some other stuff around.

Wonder what I can get accomplished tomorrow? I know for sure I have to make a trip to the Goodwill to drop off some stuff.

Hallie's such a goon

At least she is creative in the ways she finds to entertain herself.

Of course a Cap'n Crunch box makes the perfect party hat. And only the best housekeepers know that blue swimming goggles make the dirt show up better. LOL

A reminder of what I want to do with my life

Every so often I get a request for a wreath. This is the latest. I even got a compliment out of Matthew on this one. Now Matt is very choosy with his compliments. The most I have ever gotten out of him was an "it's ok." Today he told me, "You know I think this is the best one you've ever done. I actually like this one." Let me know what the rest of you think.

Yesterday was a wonderfully busy day. I didn't go into work but I did plenty around the house. The only room that I did not clean was the bathroom and it's not bad yet. It will be after the kids all get their baths in a little while. Maybe I'll muster up some get up and go and scrub later this evening. On top of cleaning the house I also mowed the lawn and ran some errands and did a little baking for the dog. Yes my poochie is a spoiled princess. She just LOVES her homemade dog treats!

Today however has been more of a blah day. I messed up yesterday and drank some caffeine loaded soda. So of course I didn't sleep. I only worked about three hours this morning. I made some lunch for the kids and washed up the dishes, then took a short nap. Felt a low grade temp coming on a couple of hours ago so I took some Tylenol and ate some chocolate covered peanuts. Now I have a hot flash and feel fine. I'm not cold anymore. HAHAHA

Well anyway I'm outta here. If nothing else I really need to get some packages ready to mail off this week and get mom's doll done.

Ooops Forgot One

And here's another purse I made to go to Aunt Donna's shop. I knew I was missing something.

Some new projects....

The dolly (finished) went to Sue for a Christmas in July giftie. The teddy and the pillow are a couple more things going to Aunt Donna's shop. And the poor girl with the little puff of hair and no face is mom's. The hair is just taking forever!

I Wish They Would Get This Done Already

I tried to find a before picture but the only one is in a video and I don't know how to upload a video to my blog post. Anyhoo.... Jeff has been working on tearing out this old trailer for a week or so now, well probably a couple of weeks. Doesn't this look horrible?! If the looks of it isn't bad enough, it's almost impossible to get out of the driveway some days. I can not wait for them to be done with this mess!

Blueberry Muffins from Scratch

Caitie and Matt talked me into buying some blueberries at Wally World. Then Matt decided we should use them to make muffins. They look much better than they tasted. I think maybe I shouldn't multi-task. Baking and talking on the phone. Maybe not such a good combination.

Fighting Kids

The kids have been pretty well behaved the last few days, just a couple of little squabbles. Yesterday Cat decided to bring Matthew to an abrupt halt on his bicycle. She tried to grab the handle bars and caused him to wipe out. His elbow got scraped up a little and his knee really got scratched up.

Brought him in and got him all cleaned up. Sat them both down on the couch and was trying to decide on what to do with Cat. She's not usually one to pull a stunt like this. But to make it worse she was acting like she didn't care, so not like her. I was about to blow my top but I took a deep breath and it hit me- Matthew gets to choose her consequence. I told him he had to be fair and resonable, but just. I offered some suggestions, but said it was his decision.

Now you have to understand Matthew. He is very hot headed and has trouble controling his anger. I took him to anger management but unfortuantely I don't believe it worked much.

I gave him a few minutes and then asked him if he had come up with anything. He wanted more time to calm down. Wow! Caitlin of course is getting really antsy.

4 hours later Matthew had still not came up with anything. He told me that it was really hard and he didn't like it. I looked at him and said, "Now you know what it's like for me. It's not a fun job. There's nothing pleasant about it."

Cat's consequence-- Matthew forgave her.

I don't know that Cat really learned anything from this. Maybe that her brother can show compassion. But does she realize it?

But Matthew learned about controling his anger, calming down, being logical and compassionate, patient....

I Was Busy Yesterday

Busy, busy busy. Mowed the lawn before the rain moved in, got the laundry finished, mopped the kitchen and went grocery shopping. Then I got busy on making some things for Aunt Donna's shop. I have some more that I'm working on but three projects completed in a day- WooHoo! What do you think?

Well it's been awhile. I seem to be getting into the habit of this again. Of course it doesn't help that I've fallen off into that pool of wanting again. Seems to be happening more and more lately. At least I don't want everything I lay eyes on, just a house. Hahha I said that like it was nothing. Just like the little kid that wants that really expensive video game and their parent only has $5 to their name.

I didn't used to be this way. I used to always just be grateful for what I had. Maybe it's that I have been in this home for 4 years and I'm feeling a bit restless. This has been the longest I have ever lived in one place. Maybe it's that this small two bedroom mobile is about to suffocate me and three growing kids. Maybe it's the neighborhood. Maybe it's me. And maybe it's a little bit of everything.

I've been reading this book for the past few months. Yes it really does take a few months for me to finish a book. LOL It's called reading more than 3 at a time. I probably shouldn't do that. ahh oh well. The book is called Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and It's All Small Stuff. I can't recall the author's name off the top of my head. Anyhoo, one of the chapters is about appreciating what you have. Believe me I am trying to do this and I do really good. It's just when I get to the kids' bedroom I seem to lose focus.

In my mind I can come up with fairly simple solutions to fix most every problem with my home. I just can not seem to figure out a way to make their bedroom have more space. Hmm either I stumble upon a magic wand or find a house for sale on contract cheap.

Flowers

I can't remember when the last time was I made an arrangement with silk florals. I just have not had the desire to play with them. I've moved on to "real" flower arrangements for the time being. I've never had a green thumb, but I'm trying to see if I can grow one. My plants this year are doing very well so far.

These are some planters I put together the other day. The four with the pink petunias, geraniums and vinca vine were given to the kids' teachers and Hallie's girl scout leader. The one with the darker pink geraniums is mine. :) I love geraniums! They're one of my favorite flowers. And then the little white pot was my mother's day gift from Hallie. It came with a packet of Morning Glory seeds too. Those little boogers are already starting to sprout.

And this one is my wildflower seeds growing and growing and growing.....

A Relaxing Day

Today was so nice. The sun was shining and even though it was a little humid it was still really beautiful out. I spent the morning cleaning house. I took care of the critters, washed up the dishes and finished up the laundry. Picked up all the out-of-place-thingies in the kitchen and living room. Ran the sweeper and watered all the plants. Finished painting with the roller in the hallway. Now I'm just down to trim work. Moved an outside table around front and some plants. Picked up a bunch of sticks. Let's see.. and hauled off some stuff to Goodwill. I guess I was busier this morning than I thought I was. :)

Then later this afternoon I headed off for JoAnn's and Hobbly Lobby. My sister really wants a quilt and I finally found a pattern I want to make. I didn't get all my material, but I bought enough to at least get the blocks made. I went to get material done in shades of blue, cream and brown. Well I got a couple of kinda blue colors, but more greens. Hmmm sounds like this quilt will be done in more my colors than Carrie's. I made a small quilt for Hallie last Christmas. This will be my first full-size and also my first time just picking my own fabrics and not going by someone's "recommendations". I'm very curious to see how it will turn out.

We had such a great weekend and I've been having such a busy week, that's why I'm so late in posting. Saturday I started off my morning with driving into Evansville to get a leather working book from Hobby Lobby. And of course since I was there I stopped at Burlington Coat factory to see if they had any blazers like the one Jeremy is looking for. I didn't find any but I did find a couple of tops for me for next to nothing. I also figured out my favorite color for this week is no longer red, but turquoise! LOL And before heading back home I stopped at JoAnn's to price some fabric.

Then later Saturday afternoon, Jeremy and I went to the BBQ Festival in Owensboro, KY. We had a really good time. He showed me the Bluegrass Museuem. We bumped into some fellas that play in a band (Kings Highway) while we were there. We walked the festival, ate some bbq, got our picture taken old timey style and then went and saw the Bluegrass show. Sunday I took mom and Carrie to lunch for Mother's day and the rest of the day was spent just kinda lazing around the house.

A New Idea

This is a thought that just kind of popped into my mind the other day, just out of the blue. A new business idea- for lack of a better word.. a daycare of sorts. My mom has told me before that she thinks I should open a daycare. But to be quite honest the thought of having 30 or so kids ranging in age from infants to 12 years and enough employees to take on this many kiddos is less than appealing. So now you're maybe wondering why I said daycare? Remember I said "daycare of sorts".


I started thinking about the time that my children spent in a traditional daycare environment and how miserable they were with it. I even helped in this daycare on occasions. After I saw first hand what my children were so unhappy with in daycare, I re-made my work schedule and they came out of daycare. I would not ever consider opening a daycare like this! Also another problem in my area is that the major daycares are trying to get away from taking on school age kids. And children 12 years old are considered "too old" for daycare. While I agree that some 12 year olds are quite mature for their age and could be trusted alone for a short time, there are 12 year olds that aren't quite ready and even worse- sickos who prey on kids.

I really hate to use the word daycare and I'm desparately trying to come up with a different word, but for now it's - daycare. My daycare would be for school age kids, 8 years old and up, with a limit of 6-10 kids and full of activities. None of this sitting in front of the tv everyday. Our activities would consist of crafts, such as making model car kits or small sewing projects to gardening and flowers to other things; outings like trips to the museum, hiking, trip to the zoo and campouts; and then I would also like to have other people come in from time to time to teach us, like a nurse teach us about first aid, someone that could come in and tell us about plants and such. And if I base this from home (my future home, cause the one I have now just does not have the space required for this) I really believe I could keep the cost pretty close to that of a traditional daycare.

The Secret

I have heard so much about The Secret here lately that I decided to pick it up and read it. While some of it I find hard to buy other parts I find very interesting. Over the week or two it took me to read this book I decided to collect my favorite quotes from it.

This is one of my faves from Marci Shimoff- "Many people in western culture are striving for success. They want the great home, they want their businesses to work, they want all these outer things. But what we found in our research is that having these outer things does not necessarily guarantee what we really want, which is happiness. So we go for these outer things thinking they're going to bring us happiness, but it's backward. You need to go for the inner joy, the inner peace, the inner vision first, and then all of the outer things appear."

The Secret also suggests you make a vision board. Well I have the board, now to get busy putting my dreams up.

Cure for Boredom

Sometimes I wonder where Hallie gets her imagination. But one of her favorite things to do is aggravate the dog. And what better way to do that than put on Matthew's Optimus Prime Mask (complete with voice changer) and make crazy noises in Ruby's face. Ruby looked at Hallie like she knew her but then looked at me like what is this crazy thing and is it going to hurt me.

How About Some Containers

Look at all these containers I dug out while going through everything in the house. Now picture some pretty flowers in these. I haven't worked with flowers in so long. I'm not sure if I should do some with silk florals or do them all up with real. hmmmmm

Purging Spree

I have been on a "clean out the house" spree. This is my pile of junk to go to the church yard sale or goodwill or freecycle or somewhere. Now it will make me crazy till it leaves the house. LOL

More of Hallie's Artwork

I can't remember when she did this one. It's a picture of her riding a pony.

Lil Feet

I know these are not baby feet, but they are my baby feet. Hallie is my youngest. She's seven years old. She actually laid down and took a lil nap this afternoon. I was just about to lay down and get a lil shut eye with her and the phone rang.

Out With the Old, In With the New

Have you ever had one of those days or weeks, where anything that can go wrong most likely will. The last couple of weeks have been extremely busy for me. In the last couple of weeks I have cleaned 7 empty apartments, a couple of homes (not mine), the public areas of the apartment complex I clean for and then of course enough of my house to pass as clean. I was already one pooped out momma. Then it happened. I was doing up a couple of loads of laundry. The dryer died before I could get it all finished! I was just going to buy a dryer straight out but gave it some thought and decided with my luck the washer will go out too in a couple of months. So I went to Aaron's Rental and got a new set. I hate renting to own, but it does have some perks. First I have the set I want well close enough. It's a new, high efficiency front loader. It's just not red. I can live with white. hehehe And Aaron's (from what I've heard) will report to the credit bureaus. So it will be a way for me to boost up my credit some without having to get a credit card. YAY!! I have never had a credit card and would love to keep it that way!

Flylady.net

So after listening to a bunch of my friends talking about FlyLady, I decided to check it out for myself. I admit I looked over her site a few months back and thought there was no way I would have the patience for it. But recently I realized I had to do something. My house has totally gotten out of control. Which is also really embarrassing to admit since I operate a house cleaning service. Oh no not filth and grime, CLUTTER is the main culprit at my house.

Anyways I went back to flylady.net and really took the time to look over the site. Very impressive! The only drawback is you really need to have some time to invest in going over flylady's site thouroughly to get the whole picture of her plan. And to be quite honest if you are super lost in a crazy mess of a home and you come to the site all scattered brained you are probably going to throw your hands in the air and scream "It's too much! I can't do it!" So before you lose hope and go all psycho, take a deep breath, ignore the mountains of dust and clutter, fix a cup of java or tea and just take the site one step at a time. It may be hard to get in the swing of things at first but hang in there. It will get better!

Another Bunny... Peanut

This our new baby, Peanut. He will be a year old in July. (I think that's what the lady told me.) We got him from a family not far from us. She told me that he is a mini-rex mixed with something else, but she couldn't remember the somethin else. Peanut is such a cutie! He doesn't mind being petted but isn't crazy about being picked up yet. He is getting a little better with that each day. I'm just not so sure how much longer my hands and arms will hold up during the "lovin process." How do you trim the nails on a rabbit that doesn't want all that much to do with you to start with?

Introducing.....

Max Blackfoot. This is our new bunny. Jeremy and I found some bunnies at Tractor Supply this past Sunday. He was like, "Why don't you get one?" I just looked at him like he had fallen off his rocker. Every time I even mention maybe getting another critter he looks at me like I'm nuts, like I'm going to turn into the crazy cat lady. Come on I like cats but not that much. LOL Well I just couldn't resist and I went back Monday and got him. The kids and I had a fun time picking his name. We all picked several names and wrote them on small pieces of paper, folded them up and threw them in a bowl. The kids each picked a name and then we put those three back in the bowl and I picked the final. So our last three were -- Max, Peppermint (for a boy? hmm oh well) and then Bubba J. If any of you have watched Jeff Dunham and know how Bubba J is and you ever get to meet Max, you would think Bubba J was a more fitting name too. But anyways we wound up with Max and Hallie decided he needed a last name so that's where Blackfoot came from. And no none of his feet are black. hehehehe. Max is so purty and soft and really gentle too. But he hates Ruby. I don't blame him. I don't much like her either when she's barking.

Heads or Tails

Heads- keep my cleaning service going, tails- go back to a "real job". This has been weighing on my mind since I completed my taxes about a week ago. Time for a pro/con list.

Pros to staying self-employed--

• Make my own hours.
• I can take and pick up my kids from school.
• Weekends and holidays off.
• No overtime.

Cons to staying self-employed--

• Pay through the nose in taxes
• Most of the time cannot get a full day of work
• Have business expenses other than taxes
• No overtime, not even 35-40 hour weeks (paying hours)

Pros to going back to a "real job"-- (considering going into nursing)

• Full-time work
• Possibility of overtime
• Pay would be a little more than what I make now
• Chance for health insurance/ life insurance
• Possibility for other benefits
• interaction with other co-workers
• mom will probably get kids on and off to school

Cons of going back to a "real job"--

• Most likely working weekends and holidays
• probably need grandma/sitter to get the kids back and forth to school
• have a boss
• may have a different schedule every week

I'll add to the list as I think of more and if anyone reading this can think of something I might have overlooked, please leave me a note in the comments. :)

Facebook....

Ok so this is the reason I have been slacking on my blog, posting on the MJF boards, umm catching up on craft projects..... You get the pic. It seems I have become addicted to facebook! HELP!!! Lol

V-Day

Yeah yeah yeah.. this is late. Thinking of Valentine's Day you tend to paint a picture of something like roses and chocolates or a romantic dinner, yadda yadda yadda...
No not me and Jeremy. hehehe Since he's not really into mushy stuff, I took him to see Friday the 13th and then dinner. He laughed through the movie, not that it was funny. Well there was one funny part, the little rich boy screamin like a lil girl . LOL Nah Jeremy was laughing at me. I never have been able to do scarey movies. I jumped, wriggled in my seat, covered my eyes, squeezed his arm. I know it I am such a sissy!

Crazy Winter Weather

The freezing rain started in last Monday night. I listened to it hit the roof of the trailer all night. At first it was kind of a nice sound, then it just got plain annoying. By Tuesday morning, we were covered in ice. Everything stopped for a few hours and then started back in and didn't let up until the wee hours of Wednesday morning. That was about the same time the power went out. I sent the kids off to their dad's house since he heats with wood. Jeremy came to my rescue a few hours later. The power was out for about 10 hours. We were lucky not ot have any large tree limbs or anything hit the house. I just wish we'd have a heat wave and all this snow and ice would disappear. Wishful thinking I know.

Doll Swap

I am so happy to have found the MJF chat board. before I "met " this group of ladies, my crafting abilities were limited to wreaths and floral arrangements. Now I am trying my hand at so many different things and finding that with enough patience I'm not too bad at it. So I've signed up for the doll swap and my gal is already on her way to Beverley, but her is her pic....

This is what Lisa sent me....

I signed up for Lisa's (tribalcime- on MJF) January blog giveaway and this is what I won. Lisa makes some beautiful jewelry. You really should stop and check out her blog- http://tribalwitch.blogspot.com/ .

I know Christmas is Past....

but I just had to show everyone the pretty bracelet Jeremy got me. Out of all the cowboy designs the cowboy and cowgirl facing each other with the horses has always been my favorite. I've never told Jeremy this and I also never tell him what I want. I love to see what he will come with on his own.

Annual Book Sale

The annual book sale at the library was this weekend. I found three books. A hardback Life Application Study Bible (NKJV), a small paperback - Don't Sweat the Small Stuff & It's All Small Stuff and a book on rug making. And get this I only paid $4.00 for all three!!

Pondering....

It's that time of month when all the bills start to roll in. I was not sweating bills at all. I thought I had plenty of money in the bank. Then the guy comes with the bill for the lot rent, gass and electric. Electric was nothing, like $63. I was amazed!! Then I looked farther down.... the gas was $350! It had nearly doubled from the last month's bill and the weather has been about the same. Well I have heard through the grapevine that next month will be double what this month was. So instead of 350 it will be more like 700. Needless to say I have gotten out the big roll of plastic and caulking gun and have been going over all the windows. I have weather stripping for the doors too. Downfall to that is it has to be at least 50 degrees out or it won't stick to the doors. Arrggg it's like 33 and snowing.


So anyways, yesterday I was at Tractor Supply pricing woodstoves. I found a lovely stove with a blower motor that will heat my home for $400. That's just the stove. I will also need to get the platform for the stove to sit on and the vent pipe. And why not tack on a chainsaw while I'm at it.

Tax time is coming and I'm sure I can hold out till then, but I am debating on seeing if there's another way I can raise a lil money until then to start putting back. I'm thinking about starting an online shop of some kind. I could do it on bluejay or ecrater. Both of those sites are free, but they do not offer me the ability to be on a personal level with my customers. That is one of the things that irks me about being online. I am really considering using blogger for this venture. I can add a guest book, my customers can also get to know me more on a personal level too cause my blogs are linked together via my profile page... I just have so many ideas! Do you think this would work? doing a shop on blogger?

Homemade Valentine

Here is one of my homemade valentines. I didn't think to take a picture of them till I made the last one and already had the other two sealed up in envelopes. I think it turned out kinda pretty. What do you think?

Tex-Mex Turkey Enchiladas

My honey man gets the Western Horseman magazine and the November issue had this recipe in it. He was like, "ummmm this looks good." I've been meaning to make it since he showed it to me. Well I finally got around to it last night. Since he has adopted a horse and I was just plowed over by the gas company our weekends of eating out are going to be slim to none. That of course does not break my heart. I love to cook and especially love to cook for someone who appreciates good food. My kiddos bless their hearts are not good eaters. They are the pickiest lil peeps. Wonder where they get that from-- hmmm partially me. I have been doing better about trying new healthier foods and I am encouraging them to do the same. I didn't realize that the recipe would make so many, next time I'm going to cut the recipe in half or we're going to invite friends over.

Here's the recipe if anyone else would like to give these a try. For someone who has never cared much for peppers and onions, these were really yummy!!

2 cups shredded, cooked turkey (I used ground) 1 tsp. ground cumin

1 cup salsa 1/2 tsp oregano

3 ounces cream cheese, cubed 1/2 tsp chili powder

3/4 cup onion, diced 2 cups shredded Mexican-mix cheese

1 cup green and red pepper 8 flour tortillas

1/2 cup green chilies, diced

Combine turkey, 1/4 cup salsa, cream cheese, onion, peppers, green chilies and spices in skillet. Place on low heat, stirring occasionally, until cream cheese is melted. Add 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.

Spoon turkey mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll tortillas and place, seam side down, in a lightly greased baking dish. Top with remaining salsa and shredded cheese.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated.

Garnish with lettuce, tomato and olives. (I missed that part. ooops oh well.)