Digital Dreams

I have been checking out all of the "sales" for my Christmas shopping, and you know, I'm ALWAYS drawn to the cameras. You know, big-beautiful-professional looking cameras like the Canon Powershot. But what is so sad, even if I got this amazing piece of equipment, I wouldn't know the first thing about using it.

My little brother is a professional photographer, and after seeing all of his amazing pictures of his kids (yeah, his wife is a pro too) the green eyed monster starts welling up in my gut! I do cute things with my kids, and my pictures are garbage. How I would love to not only own a professional camera, but also to have the know how to actually use it!

A Moment On The Future

Schaweet!! That is all I can say! You may remember a few days back I was talking about finding a new insurance company to get an umbrella policy under. I found one that was such a great price, and even better after we added life insurance quotes!

I've thought a lot about life insurance but because we are pretty young, and relatively healthy, but you know...if something were to happen to one of us, the other would be TOAST! Me for income, the hubby for child care and the running of the house. So it was nice to be forced to sit down and think about the future, and plan for those moments that no one really wants to think about!

Happy Turkey Day!!

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Setting Some Goals

I mentioned watching the Biggest Loser two weeks ago, and how I despise the "troll" Vicky!! I was amazed watching it last night, that the people going home have lost like 75 pounds in 3 months, and that's not with the help of Tonalin or anything like it. Just good old fashioned exercise--I would LOVE to exercise more...but I don't! How bad is that?

I have a treadmill that I was pumped up and excited to use, until we moved, and it ended up in the basement! It weighs a ton, but I'm going to see if I can't get it up to the master bedroom this week so I can walk while I watch "my shows". I know, that's bad...but honestly, it's not getting any use hangin' in the empty, cold basement!!

That is my goal for the week!

What A Week!

I wrote last week about Butch coming to live with us. I have to say, after a few days with him...I'm exhausted! There is no need for a fat-burner like Fenphedra in this house, this puppy has us all wiped out!

Have you seen the dogs that run the agility courses? THIS is the kind of thing Butch would be amazing at. Sadly, I don't know where one is around here...and I don't know how much they cost.

My husband is 6'2" and if he holds a dog treat in his fingers with his arm straight out to the side, this dog can totally jump and get it. From the ground. Without a running start! It's absolutely amazing. Tiring...and amazing!

Budget Friendly

I have been online checking out auto insurance quotes this week. The minor (not my fault) fender bender a few years back, has just dropped off. So it's the perfect time to find something more affordable.

I've narrowed it down to two companies. One will be cheaper if we can get our home owners insurance covered with them as well (I'll have to let you know) and the other won't do our home owners policy, but will be cheaper if the first company can't either!

Honestly, how do people work 40 hour work weeks, and take care of the house as well? I have endless days ahead of me, and I'm still drowning in errands!

Shopping!

We only have 2 days off this week for Thanksgiving. I was unhappy at first because my sisters kids have the whole week off, which would mean some "sleep in" time for me, but as it works out I need to find a new desk for my computer, and shopping for office furniture with my 4 year old is never fun. So I can drop him off at Pre-K, and head out. Currently the computer I use lives in my kitchen. It resides on a bakers rack that is not only falling apart, but is also too high to comfortably type on.

But because it takes up the corner of the kitchen, I would like something much smaller, to keep the room from closing in around us.

Butch's New Home!

We have a new puppy, Butch. Sadly we are not prepared for this! We have hedges that surround our property and in the summer it works as a great barrier between our yard and the neighbors, but with fall in full swing and winter coming on, the hedges are barren and the puppy has no problem finding his way out of the yard. I've looked into pvc fence installation, and it looks like the perfect solution for us. It's cheap, and easy, and the whole thing can be installed the same day. I was originally looking into one of those underground fences, but I wasn't thrilled with the idea of shocking the poor little thing if he crossed the line, so we had to look into something else.

I'll have to let you know how it works out for us!!

Fixing A Broken Drain??

How do fix a bathtub drain? The faucet works great, but when you lift the little drain plug switch, nothing happens. Our upstairs bathroom has 3 inches of water from yesterday's baths that I can't get to drain. I've looked it up online on a few sites, but I haven't been able to find anything that helps. I SOOOOOOO don't want to call a plumber, I can't afford that this week! I may have to just bite the bullet and unscrew the face plate to see if there is something I can figure out by looking at it. If not, it isn't a problem that can wait, so I will have to call someone.

Any ideas??

Christmas Parties & Gifts

I got a phone call today inviting us to another Christmas party. Now I'm one that normally minds a ton of holiday plans, seeing that they are my most favorite part of the year. But with 15 parties on tap from the hotel's employee party on down to our New Years Eve party...I think I'll be swilling dietpills and eggnog just to get my waistline through it all.

The one thing I do have to do in the coming weeks is figure out what homemade gift I'm giving this year. Last year was cookie mix in a jar. The year before that it was homemade caramel sauce and sinful hot fudge. If I had been smart earlier in the year, I would have stocked up on my homemade raspberry jam, it is AMAZING!

The Little Princess!

I have a little princess here! It's hard not to be when you are the only girl in a family with three brothers. What is so cute, and uniquely her-she is a tomboy princess! It would not ever be a surprise to find her playing in the mud wearing a tiara. That is just how she is. There is some really cute "blingy" items of wholesale fashion jewelry that I'm looking at for a stocking stuffer or two for her.

There is a cute bracelet with a heart lock and a little key. That is just her. Cute, sweet and all around precious! I'll have to show it to my husband to see what he thinks. It's a go for me!

Hubby Thoughts

What do you give the man that has everything he wants? It's not necessarily EVERYTHING, but there isn't anything that the man wants! I would love to find something for just him,whether it was clothing or one of those Victorinox swiss army watches. Do you wanna know my brilliant idea? A new PS2, a game or two and a locking toolbox to keep his stash away from the kids! We have had so many PS2's in our house, but each one has met it's demise at the hands of the little ones. So something that he can keep all his own, in perfect condition, that would be perfect!

Snow Already?

I drove home today in the snow! How cool is that? I told my husband yesterday that he may just come home to find that his house was all decked out for Christmas, but it just didn't feel like it was time. Now with the snow, I'm thinking the tree may just go up tomorrow! Sadly, I think I will have to spend that time cleaning out the garage so that we can get both of our cars into it. Otherwise, I'll need to invest in some car covers so that we don't have freeze our rear ends off cleaning off the snow every morning.

The one problem I have is that there is a love seat and two recliners waiting to go to the dump, sadly we've never gotten them there and two cars won't fit in as long as they are there. I'll have to see if a sticker will do for the trash man, otherwise we'll have to rent a truck to get them outta here!

Twilight Is Coming

Have you ever heard of downloadable audio books? I have actually never even listened to an audio book. But I've always been pretty intrigued by them. I just found out that the "Twilight" saga is being banned from being downloaded. Again, something just a little intriguing!

I LOVE the Twilight series, and even have a group of friends lined up to make it to the movie opening night. I just wish there were more books coming in the near future.

Hmmmmm, Maybe!!

Have you seen the billboards around talking about franchise opportunity? There is one I see everyday on my way home from the kids school. I've never been one to really think of myself as a business owner, but I have to say it's sounds so exciting. My brother in law runs a major restaurant here in the Chicago area, and honestly there is a ton of work that goes into it. I'm not sure I could handle one on my own, but how fun does a little family business sound??

Happy Halloween!

How was your Halloween? Ours here was pretty hectic! Four kids, four different costumes, four different ages. One group wanting to run ahead, while a 3 year old assumes he's finally old enough to cross the street on his own (without looking both ways!!) But along with four kids comes four kids worth of candy! There will be alli diet pills in the not too distant future...for all of us!

Although it was a hectic day...is there any other time when running around willy nilly in funny costumes ringing doorbells and collecting gobs of candy? What isn't awesome about this holiday? Especially with two little ones that can hardly wait to get to the next door. Too fun!