Sticky Note Nut

I have become a sticky note nut. When we got our new desk, we, of course, needed some supplies to fill it with. I didn't go overboard. We bought a little divider for the pens and stuff in the top drawer, some filing folders, tabbed dividers, and sticky notes. Since then, I have started using them in place of my to-do calendar in my home management journal.

I've also restarted FlyLady and so when I go through my emails, I write on the sticky notes the things I need to do that day. That's fine, except (I don't know if you know this) but I can be a bit messy. That whole idea of putting things away when you are done with them seems to have eluded me. So the top of our pretty new desk is littered with little yellow sticky notes. There's one on the computer with some code written on it (not mine), another with an on going list of future projects (embroidered dish towels and an emergency prep list), directions to a Starbucks on the other side of the city, information about a measles outbreak I received after calling the health department, a couple of doula's names and phone numbers, my Morning, Evening, and Afternoon Routines, indoor activities for Fritter from Brightly Beaming, my Weekly Home Blessing Hour, the dimensions of my face to see exactly what shape it is (I was trying to figure out a haircut), and my to-do's for the past four days, not counting today's.

So on today's to-do:

CLEAR STICKY NOTES FROM DESK

I'm thinking this counts as a hot-spot.

Fetal Homicide and Abortion Link

Jennie C. has just posted about the inconsistency of the law regarding fetal homicide and abortion. She also has a few links. Go read.

Bruisee Boy

This morning I checked the temperature and it read below 100 so I thought it was a great opportunity to take a short walk. Just around our area and without the stroller so Fritter could explore a little. We came to a large grassy area, so Fritter decided it would be fun to run across it. Unfortunately, there was also a sidewalk in the middle of this area. Since he's only 19 months old and still rather clumsy, as he was crossing the sidewalk, he fell. Flat on his face. I ran to check him out and right where another bruise had just healed he had a large bump forming. Great. He's still healing from a bruise on his cheek, and now he has a big one on his forehead. He is constantly hurting himself.

Last evening, Fritter chased DH into his room, and right before he caught up with him, he did a face plant. Luckily he wasn't hurt, but we have at least three of these episodes a day. My cute little boy now has bruises on his face. Sigh. Tell me they grow out of this stage. Please.

My New Haircut

This isn't a great picture, but at least it shows my new haircut. This is right when I got home from my day at the spa. Don't I look relaxed?

Clearance Racks

Today I went to Kohl's for some maternity tops, despite the excessive heat warning for our area. 113 today! Yikes! I had never been shopping there before. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by racks and racks of clothes with signs that read "60% off", or "70% off", or "80% off". I realized later that I was shopping in the Juniors area, but that didn't really matter. Did you know the new style is maternity clothes? I don't know how that works out for the juniors, but for me it was great. I was able to get 6 tops for $46, including tax! I did venture into the two racks they called the maternity area and found two of my tops there, but most of the stuff came out of juniors. I even think a few of the tops will last me all the way through this pregnancy. Score!

What's That Supposed To Mean?

Her: So I think I'm going to need a couple of maternity tops soon.

Him: Why don't you just get a couple of mumu's?

Tick Tock

Can I just say, I love my Seiko watch! It was given to me by my SIL for college graduation a year and a half ago. Today, as I pulled the laundry out of the washer to transfer it to the dryer, I heard a scraping sound. It was my watch. "Oh no," I thought. No way could it have survived. I have pants that barely survive our washer. And with the soap and the spin cycle, I knew it had to be done for. Nope, it was still ticking, and even had the correct time on it! I don't think I'll ever own another watch brand.

Do you have something that not only survived a sure death, but was found to be in perfect condition? I'd love to hear about it!

Summer Menu Plans

Danielle Bean has posted a new Your Turn at her site. This one is about summer menu ideas. Since moving to Arizona last summer, I have had to rethink how I cook during the hot months. When the temperature is consistently above 110 for months at a time, no one wants to turn on the oven. I even have a hard time eating when it's so hot. So this summer, I have planned a three week menu cycle. The meals are pretty balanced. Most of the time DH and I will only eat a little for dinner, but we'll have the leftovers for lunch the next day or in the later evening when things have cooled off a little.

You can find the Google document for my Menu Plans here (click on the summer tab). The other tabs have Winter and Lent Menus. The summer recipes are here. My summer menu plan is also below.

Week 1

Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: BBQ Burgers, Veggie Tray, Chips
Monday: Potato Salad, Whole Roasted Store Chicken
Tuesday: Chicken Sandwiches (use the leftover chicken from Monday), Leftover potato salad
Wednesday: Tuna Salad Pita Pockets, Homemade Mac n Cheese
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Chicken Linguini w/ Veggies, Garlic Toast

Week 2

Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Grilled Chicken Kabobs w/ Wild Rice, Watermelon
Monday: Chicken Caesar Salad (I cook this chicken with the kabobs on Sunday)
Tuesday: Hoggies, Macaroni Salad
Wednesday: Chef Salad
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Tacos(or Taco Salad)

Week 3

Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: BBQ Chicken, Baked Beans, Salad
Monday: Pasta Salad, French Dips (this is a crockpot meal)
Tuesday: Roast Beef Sandwiches, Leftover pasta salad
Wednesday: Spaghetti, Broccoli, Garlic Toast
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Manwich, Frozen Veggie

If you have any other ideas, post them over at Danielle's!

I Couldn't Resist

One of these days we're going to sit down for dinner and the table will fall apart on us!

My Boy

I'm gonna get you!

Squish your head!

Hi!

*By the way, we found that dresser at Craigslist too!* ;-)

I love Craigslist!

I've shown you pictures of our old desk before. Here's a shot of it after we moved it out of our room.

We had been thinking that we needed something that would help us organize all of those papers. You know the ones that just seem to pile up and you can't throw them away because there are important things on them. Yep, those papers.

Originally, we went to a couple of yard sales to find a filing cabinet. I'm picky and didn't want a metal one. I wanted something that was made well and made out of wood. We live close to a retirement community and I figured we could find something that would fit my standards. We didn't.

We did, however, find a new chair and ottoman to replace our old recliner. (There's a picture of the recliner on my blog, but I'm not linking to it. It's that yucky). We also found some great classic books for $1 apiece. I'm a sucker for books. Anyway, we had no luck finding a filing cabinet.

When we got home, I decided to check out Craigslist to see if I could find something at a reasonable cost. I didn't want to just go to Walmart and get something that we weren't going to love and would eventually replace. I'm really sick of having that kind of furniture. Now that we're finally out of college, we should have things that are both functional and beautiful. It's not really about acquiring things, it's about not having things that make your home feel crowded and yucky.

For this very reason we got rid of a very large entertainment center we had bought from Walmart while still in school. It crowded our home, it made the television the focus of our living room, and it became a headache keeping Fritter away from it. We moved the TV to a corner of the room on top of an old wooden record player. It's old but nice and has a lot of character, and the best thing is that we didn't buy it.

I also wasn't willing to pay an arm and a leg for a filing cabinet. Right away, I found the desk pictured below. The guy who was selling it made it himself. So it has character, it has drawers for organizing (one of which is a double drawer for filing), it's pretty, and it was a good price. Score! It pays to hold out for something you like. Now if I can just remember this lesson.

My Hubby Loves Me

Roses and chocolates. What else could a pregnant mom want?

Don't Look At Me...

...I have green gook on my face. My skin has been doing strange things for the past couple of weeks. What used to be a here and there pimple has become a constant breakout all over my face. But it's not because my skin is extra oily like some women experience during pregnancy. It's actually dryer than usual (which is saying a lot, I generally have really dry skin). So I put on an avocado face mask to help correct some of these areas. I've noticed that when I do this, my skin fixes quicker than if I do nothing but keep it clean.

In other news, my first choice babysitter said yes! I was able to talk to her today. She said the going rate was around $3 an hour, and when I offered to pay $4, she said $3 was fine. We'll still probably pay a little more, just because it is so worth it to us to be able to go out. I get to see a movie! I'm not sure what we'll see yet, but it doesn't really matter. Just being out with my honey is good enough for me.

It's time for a nap after I wash this stuff off my face.

Upcoming Date Night

"I'm so excited
and I just can't hide it..."

For Mother's Day, my awesome dh gave me a gift certificate for a Mommy-To-Be spa! I've never been to a spa before, I've never had a facial before, and I've never had a massage before. This package gives me a facial, a prenatal massage, a pedicure, a shampoo and style (I'm adding on a new haircut to this, because I really, really need one), a makeup touch up, and lunch! I have been putting off scheduling this because I've been feeling sick (as you already know). At 15 weeks and counting though, I'm feeling great, and things are going good.

Anyway, I finally made the appointment for Saturday the 21st, and I'm going to really enjoy myself. I'm also hoping to find a babysitter for Fritter for that evening, so Hubby and I can go on our first real date since he was born. That's right. We haven't been out alone together in over 19 months! Because of our move and not knowing anyone here, I've been even more nervous than the average first time mom to leave her baby with someone else. But I have a fairly good acquaintance with a couple ladies in my church group now that have older daughters that I would trust to watch him. I plan on putting him to bed myself (with her here so Fritter can meet her) and then things should be pretty easy for her. I'm going to ask my first choice this evening.

I'm very nervous about asking anyone to babysit for me. This is part of that infernal pride of mine. I don't like needing people to help me with stuff. I don't trust people easily, and also I don't want to be a burden on anyone. This should be a good experience for my humility. Especially if both girls say no. I just keep trying to remind myself that when I was young I would jump at the chance to babysit for people. I loved being around kids, I got extra money, and they usually had more food in their house than we did. I realize that this particular girl is probably fed just fine at home, but extra money is always nice. By the way, what is the going rate for babysitters?...

Manic Monday

On Monday, I decided to write down everything that I did and at what times like some of you have already done. After reading A Mother's Rule of Life: How to Bring Order to Your Home and Peace to Your Soul, I wanted to actually see where my time was going and what was the natural flow of my day, so I could tweak it a little and make it more efficient. I planned on doing this for a week, so I could have some sort of an average. I don't know about you, but though I plan on waking up at the same time everyday, it just doesn't happen. Also, some days I'm more tired than others and do less, and other days I do a lot more. However, I think after only doing it for one day, I have a pretty good idea of how things go and what I'm capable of. So, if you're interested, this was my Monday.

7am: wake up

7:15: drag myself out of bed, morning prayers and meditation

7:35: Hubby leaves, I have breakfast and watch the morning news

7:45: Make some Traditional Medicinals Organic Pregnancy Tea, 16-Count Boxes (Pack of 6), Fritter wakes up, change him and feed him breakfast

8:05: turn on Sesame Street for Fritter (I know, I know), I shower and get cleaned up

8:30: played with Fritter

9am: check emails and to-dos

9:30: put Fritter down for a nap, finish my tea, check my blog

9:45: put Master sheets in washer, pay bills and update budget

10am: cleaned front porch area

10:15: dusted, cleaned mirrors, unloaded dishwasher, cleaned glass door and table, emptied bathroom trashes, wiped down counters, put sheets in dryer, and purged magazines

11am: had lunch and watched the end of "Martha"

12pm: Fritter woke up, made him lunch (most of which ended up on the floor), made bed with clean sheets, changed Fritters sheets, washed duckie and a load of clothes

12:30: cleaned Fritter and his mess, got him dressed, went downstairs to check mail, paid rent, dropped off bills and Netflix, got a gallon of Reverse Osmosis Water

12:45: sat down to update this list

1pm: made grocery list

1:20: fed Fritter a snack, put clothes in dryer, put away towels

1:30: swept entryway and kitchen, vacuumed

1:45: cleaned up Fritter and his mess, we picked up his toys and his room

2pm: Fritter naptime, remade Master bed with summer blankets

2:05: lay down with a book to nap

2:30: put book down tried to sleep

3pm: couldn't sleep, listened to a podcast and cross-stitched

3:30: Fritter awake, left for the store

5:15: got home, hubby brought up groceries while I started dinner

6pm: Dinner

6:50: Cleaned up kitchen

7:05 got Fritter ready for bed

7:15: read books to Fritter

7:30: Fritter in bed, I sat on my duff

8pm: watched a season 2 episode of BSG with Hubby

9pm: asleep