March Madness Controlled/No Spend Thread

[sheilaincali]

SES: If enough people are interested I can call my cousin and set something up. I should probably be nice and drive up and see them anyway. I haven't seen my aunt since my sister's wedding (nearly 8 years ago) Oops

mrsb: Welcome back

[shanendoah]

No new NSDs because I had to buy milk yesterday.
We took Junebug back to the dog park and got a nice walk in. She gained a little more confidence by the end, but she most definitely isn't interested in dogs bigger than her. We're thinking we might do a dog park day with friends whose dogs she has already met, and see if that makes her a little less nervous.

I decided not to count MOANs this month, but thought I'd share this bit of sunshine from my morning. While I know I've lost weight (at least 15 lbs since Christmas) I haven't really been noticing it. Today, I put on a top that I haven't worn in a while, and it fits different. It used to be tight across my stomach and hips, and today it just flowed on over.

I spent yesterday planning a vacation we won't take. (I knew we wouldn't when I planned it.) Disneyland the week before Labor Day is not weather we want to be out in, and we certainly have better uses for the $1000 plus food, but it was fun to plan.
Maybe I'll look at the time DH has off between fall and winter quarters and plan something for then.

[muttleynfelix]

Mar 22, 2011 20:39:46 GMT -5 @mrsbradford said:

I found the board!! I'm so excited!!!! Very much need this board now. But... my baby just started screaming. Will be back though

She's back!!!!! YEAH Mrs. B!! How is your LO doing? Besides screaming.

Ok, so Ben has been super cute this week (which is good because he was super whiny this morning - stop spending an hour playing in your crib before going to sleep at bedtime and you won't still be tired in the morning, but alas 14 month olds don't understand, sigh). Ok back on track, this was my facebook post last night. I think you all will appreciate it (I am doomed): Ben has been full of cute funny stories this week, but the best one was tonight. I got home from work and Bill said Ben come over here and say hi to your mom. So, I pull him up in my lap and I notice a distinct smell and I look over at Bill and I can tell he smells it too and he goes to Ben, "Perfect timing, give me 5" and that little stinker gave his daddy five!!!! (And yes I had to change the very dirty diaper)

[dakota4600]

Muttley- I remember those day when it seemed mini-D waited for me to get home to have dirty diaper. Here is what you have to look forward too. He has learned to pee standing up, I walked in the bathroom and found him peeing on the back of the toilet ON PURPOSE. He was trying to aim for the hole in the seat but he isn't quite tall enough yet. He had the biggest smile on his face and thought it was funny. Luckily that is the boys bathroom and I don't use it often. Ughhh! DH just laughed and said don't put anything you don't want pee on in the bathroom, he's a boy and aiming at things is fun.

Though this morning he made me go awwww! When we got to school, he told me he wanted to cuddle before going in. So he curled up on my lap and we snuggled for a minute, then he was off and ready to play with his friends.

[Honeylioness]

rennee - SOOOO sorry I missed wishing you a Happy Birthday ON your actual day. And sorry to hear your friend backed out on plans. I can empathize with feeling a bit miffed that you are putting in such effort for her B-Day yet not getting a reciprocal gesture of time and commitment.

On the upside I hope the meeting with the store about this new opportunity goes great - I am sure you will just blow them away with your talent!

SES - while I consider you one of my only darning egg/bodkin friends ... I am afraid I did not recognize what you were describing in the way of a thread minder for your spools of thread.

But then I did a bit of research based on your description and I think I have found what you are looking for.



They are called Spool Caps and are originally intended as a sewing machine accessory to keep the thread from snagging on the spool edge as it feeds into the tension dial. This one is from Singer and runs about $4 but I bet you could find them at a sewing machine dealer - or order them online from Singer.

Hope this was helpful.

Muttley ... ah, the joy of boys. Honestly, they will put anything into their mouths!! No girl I have ever known would eat a worm, or slug, or weird looking bug. And I think your DH has been teaching Ben some very sneaky tricks in "waiting til Mommy gets home"!!

starsmart - Cannot even BEGIN to say how jealous I am of your lemon delivery!! What I could do with 30 pounds ..... ahhhhhhh

Random Challenge - this fits perfectly with my recent sojourn to the grocery store. I really MUST start making my own bread again. The girls can go through two loaves a week and I am feeling very old indeed when I get sticker shock at what even generic loaves go for. And the healthier ones with more grains are just insanely priced.

MrsBradford - Welcome back!

April Vacation - I discovered this weekend that I have made a somewhat boneheaded move. We are leaving Boston the morning of April 13th. Great. Fine. Got a really good price. But I seem to have had a momentary brain meltdown because the night before is our annual Condo Association Owners meeting and election of the new Board. Great. So I have THAT to look forward to and prepare while at the same time getting the cat sitter situated and the girls and myself packed. AND trying to finish my Mom's birthday quilt which is already WAYYYYYYYYY overdue.

Someone just shoot me now.

[startsmart]

Sicky - it feels like I have mono again, which I know is not supposed to happen but ug, when I go to sleep at 9pm and then sleep in until 8:30am there's something weird going on. I really hate this feeling of no energy!

blue eyes - is good, we've been working on my website and incorporating a few new features. I'm definitely behind on content creation but we've both been busy.

no spends- between taking 10 days to travel at the start of the month and trying to catch up on my client work I have no idea. I know I've added $5,000 to savings since January 1st and all my bills are paid. That's about it.

[ses]

Such exciting news!!! I have been asked to apply for a part-time position that hasn't even been created yet. It would be as an alternate testing monitor at the college testing center. It might fall through due to budget issues, so I am not counting on anything. But even an occasional extra $75-$100 would be nice. I am glad I kept my professional certification current. I'm drooling at the thought of being able to buy more books. Bad SES, it should all go to savings, if it comes to pass.

Off to clean out the freezer and hem a pair of pants. Yuck, the tedium of everyday life.

[muttleynfelix]

Dakota - LOL It must be a boy thing. DH is a sit down pee-er, so I think we're going to tell DS he has to sit down to pee at home unless he wants to clean the toilet daily.

Honey - I don't know what all DH is teaching him, but Sunday DS showed me he can walk down our (brick) front steps as long as he is holding on to the railing with both hands. He is definately not a baby any more.

Startsmart - Feel better soon.

[muttleynfelix]

Ses- Congrats!!

Oh, I found out today an architect I was working on a project for and just met 2 weeks ago died of a massive stroke. How sad. Anyway, back to work. I have things to do before leaving tomorrow morning for my best friend's wedding in 'Bama.

[mizbear]

startsmart- I had mono when I was 13 in 8th grade (almost 22 years ago - yikes!), I have had several flare ups over the years, never as bad as the original case- usually after being exposed to mono or strep.

I will reserve all comments on guys who pee on seats, floors, poop or barf on demand, etc- I think I have been related to at least one male in all categories.

[MittenKitten]

I made a post last night but the board ate it.

Happy Belated B-Day Reenee!

Yeah living in a house full of men and boys plus the boys friends YUCK. Really glad the kids have their own bathroom upstairs. In fact I just cleaned that one.

School was cancelled for the first time this year. I know Sheila's boys school has been cancelled lots but I think ours only takes a national emergency. In fact had DS#1 walking out the door when we found out. So of course the boys were up and didn't need to be.

[sheilaincali]

Boys and Bathrooms: DH is in charge of cleaning all of the bathrooms in our house. Especially DS' bathroom. DH makes DS help him clean DS' bathroom. I refuse to step foot in there

MK- we barely got any snow down here last night. And by 10am it was all slush again. I think we had 2 late starts, 3 early dismissals and 2 fully canceled days. A couple more days would have canceled but we were already off those days for teacher workshops or holidays. I for one and DONE with snow for the rest of the year!

[dianartemis]

Update: 10/15 NSD 12/15 NEO 4/15 MOAN
I don't think I'll make the MOANs.
reenee: Happy be-lated Birthday!

[moneysquirrel]

Update: 15 NS Days and 6 CS Days = 21 NS/CS Days

Wishing all a good night because it is for me.

[shanendoah]

Update: 8 of 12 NSDs

start: You can definitely have relapses of mono, especially, as mizbear noted if you have strep or kidney infection (much rarer than strep, but linked to both mono and strep). And you can have strep and not have a sore throat. If you're still feeling really run down today, I suggest making an appt with your doctor's office.

[sapphire12]

Start -- feel better!

SES -- congrats on the preliminary job opportunity!

SES -- Rapid City Road Trip -- Please ask at the Hotel(s) about cell phone coverage in the area. My mom and I have Sprint/Virgin Mobile. I'm just curious if we'll be able to use our phones out there or not.

[mizbear]

SES- I asked my grandmother and she agrees with honey that spoolcaps are most likely what you are looking for- although she says if you do a lot of machine sewing you might want the bobbin mate type thing too. We are in the process of packing up her sewing area for the house reno- OMG! I forgot how much stuff was in there! Of course, she is going to kill me when she gets out of the rehab because I broke her ironing board (which is older than me)- apparently after over 35 years of standing, it didn't want to fold back up- OOPS!

Random baking challenge- I am having difficulty with this one. It looks like I am either going to attempt a cobbler or slump of some sort that does not involve milk (as I am out) or maybe homemade baked beans. I think I also saw a promising cake recipe in a cookbook. I have no milk or cheese this week- so this is definitely a challenge. Othewise I would make a veggie frittata~

[mizbear]

Update: 1S, 3CS, 20 NS

[dividend]

UPDATE 9 NS; 4 CS + 11 AS

Lunches have been my kryptonite this week. I had such good intentions. I made a huge big pan of chicken tetrazzini, and I have just not want to eat it. Monday I was out sick from work, and since then it's been BBQ, Thai, and a deli today with my mom. Not to mention stopping for pizza and beer while on a bike ride on Sunday. So that's less than stellar. Not over budget anywhere except for gas though, but definitely spent enough on lunches that there's not enough left to buy the new black pencil skirt I need. I think I can still make my goal of 12 NS.

[startsmart]

OMG it is absolutely pouring here. wind howling. constant buckets coming down.

I'm under budget on taxes for 2010 so I'll have an extra $1500-2000 to put towards... something. I haven't decided yet. But oomph, I'm soaking wet from retrieving the mail since the dang mailman doesn't shut the door completely and everything gets soaked! So frustrating.

[pointy]

update: 18/23 NS and 22/28 No QVC...
starsmart - hope you start feeling better soon! Rain sounds good right now...Buffalo got about 6" of snow yesterday after it was in the 50s last week
Happy belated b-day reenee!

[sapphire12]

honey -- can you and the girls pack the weekend before your trip?

[shanendoah]

Update: 9 of 12 NSD
If I can do next week what I did this week, I'll meet my NSD goal

I know its spring in Seattle because this week all the cherry blossom trees just popped in to bloom. Yesterday when I got home, we were having intermittant showers, and in a brief moment of no rain, the air smelled of damp grass and cherry blossoms. Its the smell of spring and I loved it.

[mizbear]

Update- 1S, 3CS, 21NS

[startsmart]

Whew, it finally stopped raining and I somehow got energy back in the same morning. Niiiice.

I don't know if I have a relapse of mono, blue is convinced it's me working too hard for too long. He might be right but I won't tell him that

So far this morning I've finished the dishes, folded and put away laundry, made up my bed, worked on emails for 2 hours, fed and watered the dogs, and cleaned up the bathroom.

Still on the list

• drop off towels at animal shelter
  
• take in recycling for cash
  
• rearrange furniture so I'm not tempted to sleep on the couch instead of my bed
  
• finish organizing the guest room closet
  
• drop off a ton of donations at Goodwill and get a receipt
  
• pick up my taxes and pay accountant
  
• juice more lemons!
  
• invoice my clients so I can get paid
  

I've made a 10 cup pot of coffee so it's possible!

[shanendoah]

start: "blue is convinced it's me working too hard for too long. He might be right but I won't tell him that "

And this is why we like blue eyes. I agree with him.

[azmom]

Did you miss me? ;D I'm just popping in to shamelessly plug my new blogging adventure. Actually, you are the first and only to get a preview. I will be sharing it with a handful of people this weekend. I am still trying to get all the technical things figured out...It has taken me forever to even resemble the look I am going for. Anyhow, any VERY HONEST feed back would be greatly appreciated. Here is the link confessionsofanotsodesperatehousewife.wordpress.com

I have missed you all. I have tried to skim but life has been so super busy in a super great way and a few scary moments.
I have two kids playing base/soft ball and DH has been working long hours, and all of our church activities. My DS had his very first asthma attack and that was very frightening. We have the added expense of medications for him but overall I have been managing our money very closely. It has been hard to get NSD because I only have short periods of time to run errands and I have had to break my shopping trips into several days BUT I am spending less.
I hope to get a grip on my new schedule soon and be back to at least keep track of my spending with you all.

[dakota4600]

I'm still in a really blah mood. I wish I could shake it.

Last night I took Mini-D to see the cars from the Cars movie. They were at a local mall and they were full sized models of the characters. We had to wait in line for over 30 mins to see them so it was a little stressful, especially when we were about 4 people from the front and he started acting like he had to pee. The woman behind me said that if she was still in line when we got back she'd give us our place back, but he decided that he could hold it and did. But he really enjoyed getting to see them, though was a little upset he couldn't touch them.

Tonight we have our niece and nephew for a couple hours. We are having fish sticks and homemade mac & cheese for dinner.

My new assistant starts on Monday so that will be good.

Startsmart- I agree with Blue eyes too!

AZmom- I read through what is on your blog so far and it looks good. I'm definitely not a writer so I can't be of much help on that kind of thing, but nothing struck me as oddly phrased. Good luck. I'll try and keep up with the posts!

[shanendoah]

azmon: I like the look of your blog. The only editing thing I noted was on your "Discovering Me" page - you missed hitting enter before "*at eighteeen..." so currently that runs in with the segment before it.

[azmom]

Dakota: Thank You...I'm just looking for general feedback not so much technical writing stuff. I try to keep it as real as possible and inflect my voice which means technical writing errors

Shannon: THANK YOU...I have it fixed
I appreciate all of your help
I have spent way too much time messing around with for one day.. I am trying to add blogs I read but I will have to figure that one out later. It is a miracle I have it set up this far...so I will take a break and add more photos and post on Monday...This weekend is sure to bring some topics

HAPPY NO SPENDING