Long Time No Post

Well I've not had much Internet time over the last two weeks because we are down at our new place in North Carolina and while we called to get Internet hooked up it hasn't been hooked up as of yet. 

Me and the kids are driving back to Chicagoland tomorrow, so at least Tom will get the benefit of Internet and a home phone. 

Arriving back in the Land of Lincoln will be a bit of a shock as we have just gotten used to warm sunny days in the 70s and cooler evenings.  Now we will have to get reacquainted with rainy gloom and temps in the low 50s.  Booo. 

This pic is Patrick modeling his new robe on the deck which needs painting.  This pic was take right after we arrived as you can see the trees are pretty bare.  Today I can report that on many of the trees unfurling of leaves has taken place.  Total Nature Splendor in every direction.

My friend K would be so happy if she was here, as my SIL found 2 baby snakes--which may or may not have been copperheads--We needed a herpetologist.

Now I am dreading the drive home for a few reasons, would you like to hear them?
1. It's a long drive all to be driven by me having consumed massive doses of caffeine.

2. The afore mentioned crummy weather.

3. The kids just got accustom to the move and the area, so there will be another adjustment period as we come back to finish the school year and another one when we come back down in June.

4. I have to pack up the house.

5. The Man is going to move all the stuff in our NC house around and I won't like the way he will organized stuff.

On the bright side we had an offer on our old house! Woot!

Some deals That I like

I have gotten this deal before, spend $10 and get $20 to spend at overstock.com .  It's up again at Living Social and when I got it last I bought 4 super awesome pillows so now I can sleep without tossing and turning because my neck hurt.  Set of 4 pillow from overstocks was like $37 after my discounts.

Also today is Friday which means people who search the web with swagbucks are earning lots of extra swag on Friday.  They call it MSBD.  If you aren't signed up with Swagbucks here is a code to get you an extra 70 swagbucks for joining!  So you always get 30 when you join and if you sign up now and enter  MARCHSWAG and it must be entered during registration! The code expires 11:59pm PT on April 2nd.  You can click the pic here to sign up. 

Why bother to use swagbucks?

1. Makes searching a bit more fun.
2. Free stuff.  You can get trinkety stuff for as little as 30 swagbucks--so could be fun for the kids. OR you could save all your bucks to get gift cards!  Nothing better than a nice amazon.com gift card for example. Gift cards start at the 500 level. I've been a member for about a month and we have over 1200 bucks. And that is without much effort frankly!

But wait...there is more. If you join Swagbucks and then go to One King Lane you should see a 10% off discount code pop up on the right hand side of your screen.  You can couple that with my $15 off your order referral code and get some great deals (think even better than TJ Maxx or Marshalls!) on all sorts of great home stuff. I like to look at the awesome furniture.

On Google Offers there is a $20 for $40 at One King Lane available for 2 more days.  I bought one and redeemed it last night.

This is one of the items I got a set of 4 rooster salad plates.  It has an en francois motif. Cost before discounts on the plates $19.

Everything is closeout so sales are final.  The products are grouped and sold for about a max of 7 days. All of it is great looking.  Some is designer highend tag sales and/or antiques and some is for the stylish budget concious.

So those are my favorite things and my fav deal for today! I hope you have a great Friday, it's nice and rainy here which means the grass is going to grow.  Not cool with Tom being out of town...

If you put it on your timeline, does it make it true?

Facebook pleaded with me to add my University/College to my timeline.  The reality of my attendance and subsequent Associates Degree is so boring, I decided to attend Oxford University and graduate with an English Lit degree.  My favorite class was the impact of Jane Austen's novels on modern Chick Lit.

Good times, good times. 

How about you?  Is your Facebook Timeline or profile completely accurate? 

More Recent Activity

• Victoria added University of Oxford to her education.

 

Wordless Wednesday Counting Down to Season 2

Today I got all set up with HBOGO so I can watch the season premier of Game of Thrones Season 2.
Can't wait. Might have to lock myself in a bathroom to get some peace and quiet to watch it..but will be worth it!

I don't know about you, but I love Professor Snape.

So how was your weekend?  I had a busy one! Saturday was a Relay For Life Tastefully Simple Fundraiser Party. Sunday Anna and I sold Girl Scout cookies at a local grocery store.  We sold 71 boxes, I am not sure if that is great or not, but I'm going to say we did a great job. Last night I was on the phones for my work at home call center job. I made that a link in case anyone is looking for a work from home job that is legit! 

Friday night Patrick and I watched Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Of couse we really enjoyed it, and it was so compelling Patrick didn't talk the whole time.  Ever full of questions is how one can describe Patrick at any time of day, but more so during a movie.

As all the kids at my house know, my favorite character in the land of Harry Potter is Severus Snape. 
I had to make a very concerted effort not to cry during Professor Snape's last scene and the flashback.  Good Stuff. Give me an anti-hero in my fiction any day of the week.

Overall it was a prety good week in reaching goals.  I am especially proud that I was able not to be annoyed at The Man for breathing.

This week what are you working on?  I am working on:

Family/Mothering Goals
1. Get kids to sleep on time for it is ISATS (state testing) time.
2. Ensure The Man and Bryce are up to speed on Cub Scout stuff they need to work on this month.
3. Review Bills

Personal Goals.
1. Run 8 miles 4x this week.
2. Read Clash of Kings --Only 18 days til Season 2 of Game of Thrones Premiers on HBO!
3. Track food and exercise on Sparkpeople.com

Home Management
1. Cancel thing The Man set up.
2. Take pics of bedroom furniture set to sell for $300. (King bed, nightstand and tall dresser w/mirror all mission style)
3. Make the Tastefully Simple Tonight Meals --using the freezer meals option. Then I won't have to have people ask me what is for dinner. Well, they will still ask but I"ll just point to the freezer and tell them to have a look.
Business Goals.
1. Team Email
2. Client Email
3. Check in with Upcoming parties

Goals from last week.
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Try not to be annoyed at The Man for breathing.
2. Sell Girl Scout Cookies with Anna on Sunday.
3. Work on better system for Bryce "Oh I forgot I have a project due tomorrow that I've know about for a month."

Personal Goals
1. Run 7miles 4x this week.2. watch all the David Tennant Dr. Who episodes on Netflix :-D
3. Look into going to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. *Interesting note, Joyce Kilmer not a woman, actually a man.
Home Management
1. Take pics and post bedroom set furniture.
2. decide if tiling the top of a cocktail table is a good idea or not.
3. TCO Utilities.--don't 4get to sch. ATT4. Make the Tastefully Simple Tonight Meals --using the freezer meals option. Then I won't have to have people ask me what is for dinner. Well, they will still ask but I"ll just point to the freezer and tell them to have a look.

Business Goals:
1. Host coaching for my upcoming parties.
2. Send out Team Feb Incentive awards to winners.
3. Put together ppwk for March parties and print recipes for Stagg Craft Fair.

Wordless Wednesday, Summer It's been too long

Children playing baseball barefoot with a wiffle bat and ball.

Woo Hoo Post 300!!

Below you will see my goals from last week of which I got 2 out of 3 in each category.  I call that progress.  How about you?  Did you make a goal list last week?  How did things shake out? This week I'll be working on some other things...

Family/Mothering Goals
1. Try not to be annoyed at The Man for breathing.
2. Sell Girl Scout Cookies with Anna on Sunday.
3. Work on better system for Bryce "Oh I forgot I have a project due tomorrow that I've know about for a month."

Personal Goals
1. Run 7miles 4x this week.
2. watch all the David Tennant Dr. Who episodes on Netflix :-D
3. Look into going to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. *Interesting note, Joyce Kilmer not a woman, actually a man.

Home Management
1. Take pics and post bedroom set furniture.
2. decide if tiling the top of a cocktail table is a good idea or not.
3. TCO Utilities.--don't 4get to sch. ATT
4. Make the Tastefully Simple Tonight Meals --using the freezer meals option. Then I won't have to have people ask me what is for dinner. Well, they will still ask but I"ll just point to the freezer and tell them to have a look.

Business Goals:
1. Host coaching for my upcoming parties.
2. Send out Team Feb Incentive awards to winners.
3. Put together ppwk for March parties and print recipes for Stagg Craft Fair.

***
Twas a lovely Tuesday here full of sunshine and crazy windy.  All that in like a lion and out like a lamb stuff for sure. I am hoping that rain holds off until after dark tomorrow and we can have another sunny day in my neck of the woods.

Family/Mothering Goals
1. Make Patrick an end of the school year countdown.
2. Try not to be annoyed by The Man because he makes an annoying IMO sound when he eats.
3. Work on Breakfast Offerings for the kids that they can quickly eat b/4 running off to school.
Personal Goals
1. Run 5 miles 3x this week and add on 1 -2 miles of walking at the end of the run.
2. Blog 3x3. Research Beekeeping, or raising chickens for eggs. * I know, I know, really? Hey, I have a dream of living off the land. :-D
4. Do something with the mop on my head! It's awful!
Home Managment
1. TCO misc. bills
2. Clean out the playroom
3. Try Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup recipe.Business Goals
1. Get everything set to start working on Thurs as Independent Call Center Rep.
2. Client Newsletter
3. Team Newsletter4. 15-30 calls.

Email notifications I really need to unsub

I enjoy the quest for enlightenment and self-improvement.  I also enjoy social media and the big wide world of the Internet.  Because of the mashup between these things I love, I get emails entitled:

1. From 43 things (a goal setting website I signed up for back in 2007):
RE:   Take Family to Hawaii in 2008!

Here we are 2012, haven't done that, have never gotten even close to saving enough $$ to go there.

2. From Mint.com (a financial organizational website I signed up for back in probably 2009?

Did you know you are using too much of your total credit?

Yes. Yes I do. Very well aware.

3. From Sparkpeople.com (food diary website)

We miss you! You are only 18.8 lbs away from your goal of losing 20 lbs!

cringe.

4. From Zillow.com (a real estate website)

Your Hickory Hills Home Zestimate has decreased by 1.8%!

Thanks for the reminder that we bought at the height of the real estate bubble.

5. Every single Martha Stewart Daily Craft email.

Dear Email In Box:
Stop Mocking Me!


Thanks God the Internet is chock-full of LOLCATs.

My first Wordless Wednesday! (posting a few hours early)

We are moving to North Carolina!

Weekly Goals! 90% more likely to actually be reached

because I am going to put them here and that way I'll have them where I can see them and not in my little head. Do you make goals on a regular basis?  How does it work for you? Im using the format from Money Saving Mom

Family/Mothering Goals
1. Make Patrick an end of the school year countdown.
2. Try not to be annoyed by The Man because he makes an annoying IMO sound when he eats.
3. Work on Breakfast Offerings for the kids that they can quickly eat b/4 running off to school.

Personal Goals
1. Run 5 miles 3x this week and add on 1 -2 miles of walking at the end of the run.
2. Blog 3x
3. Research Beekeeping, or raising chickens for eggs. * I know, I know, really?  Hey, I have a dream of living off the land. :-D
4. Do something with the mop on my head!  It's awful!

Home Managment
1. TCO misc. bills
2. Clean out the playroom
3. Try Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup recipe.

Business Goals
1. Get everything set to start working on Thurs as Independent Call Center Rep.
2. Client Newsletter
3. Team Newsletter
4. 15-30 calls.

Okay there it is, a very do=able list if I do say so myself.  And big bonus is that I already have my next 2 blog topics ready to go.  If I am feeling crazy I may just go ahead and write them tonight and post them later in the week!

Yesterday I spent over an hour getting knots out of the back of Anna's hair.  And I still couldn't get it all out.  The stress of it all was enough to get Anna on board with short hair.  Yes I know I am the Mom and I have final hair say since she is 7; nevertheless, it is good to have the buy-in from her.

SLOW COOKER RECIPE!
Originally from this month's Family Circle.  It is called Soupe Au Pistou  (Provencal Vegetable Soup with Pesto)  I made some changes of course.
4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
3 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 medium onions, chopped  I used 1 large onion and 1 medium shallot
2 medium zucchinis, chopped
8 cups of water
Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
2 cups cooked or drained and canned cannellini beans  In the future I would use Butter Beans.
1 cup small pasta.  I used Barilla Piccolini Mini Farfalle and I didn't mix it in with the soup--that way it stays al dente.  I put a small scoop on the bottom of the bowl and then ladle the soup over it.
I also added about 1/2 a tbsp of chopped rosemary because I had fresh rosemary in the fridge.
I also added a tablespoon of Garlic Garlic as well.

You just take everything listed above except the noodles and the beans and put that in the slow cooker for a good 8 hours on low.  Add the beans for 30 min and then it's ready to serve.  You have to top it with prepared pesto.  I, of course, made some Tastefully Simple Dried Tomato and Garlic Pesto with our Roasted Garlic infused oil. The soup would be terribly bland w/o the pesto on top.  I think if I make it again, I'm going to use broth instead of the water.