We got our microwave over the weekend and the new vacuum last night. I love them both...especially since they are free. Microwave was combined Christmas money (thanks everyone) and the vacuum was paid for from cashing in our wachovia rewards points (the gotta spend money to make money logic). We lucked out because the one we got came with a $20 gift card...more free stuff!
I had Jake move my computer back to the dining room today. I hated having it in the bedroom. I wish I had a big open kitchen with a built in office area...maybe in the next house.
I'm itching to buy some new cookbooks...Last week I checked out a couple at the library and I always check the friends of the library that sells used books for $.50 - $1.00 for cookbooks. But last week I only had $1.00 on me and Ara wanted a CD he found. So I put my Taste of Home cookbook back and got him his CD.
We are still attempting P90X. We don't last the whole 90 minutes, but commit to 30 minutes. Last week we did three nights, this week's goal is 4 nights. Baby steps. Exercising ALWAYS makes me hungry. And this week I'm on a kit kat kick. I should be banned from 7Eleven, at least temporarily.

Cold Rooms and Warm Hearts

Farmers Almanac predicted a harsh winter. We got one of those electric oil filled radiators to take the chill off the living room. It works okay, but I think I have to come to terms that I live in a house that is always going to be too cold downstairs.
Cole's pediatric cardiology appointment went well. He's perfectly fine with no heart problems. He does have a heart murmur, but it is not caused from any defects or holes. It's a vibratory heart murmur and most likely is caused from him being so slim. His EKG reading was abnormal again, but the echo cardiogram ruled out any problems and instead discovered that his heart is slightly tilted. So that abnormal EKG will always exist and is normal for him. He is almost recovered from having mono, but is grouchy as all get out. He has a lot of make-up work since this started around 4Nov and has lasted until the first week of Jan. He's working his butt off to get it all done before the end of the semester this month.

Now Reading...

I charged my Nook and loaded a gift card that a friend got me for Christmas. Note: I love Barnes and Noble gift cards. Two of the most recent reads are Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen and The Glass Castle by Jeanette WallsWater for Elephants is also being released as a film sometime this year. I hope they did the book justice and I'm not disappointed.

I also read Strange Bedpersons by Jennifer Cruise. The characters reminded me an awful lot of the sitcom Dharma & Greg from the late 90's. It was OK, but I've read better.

Now I am reading The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller. I found it when I was looking on the shelf to see if the local library had anything else by Jeanette Walls. I remember the movie so I though I'd read the book and the epilogue A Thousand Country Roads. And then for fun I got some more Sophie Kinsella books-- The Undomestic Goddess, and Shopaholic take Manhattan.

Up and Coming Attractions

I don't think I mentioned the hideous floor length pajamas Ara got me from Land's End. Or that we paid off one of our credit cards and had a cash only Christmas this year. Long story short...I returned the PJ's to Land's End, but he had used the credit card that we paid off (so I wouldn't see the purchase) and the return was credited to that card. So now we have a negative $40 balance. Then yesterday we got a $10 off offer at Best Buy if we use that credit card, and my boss gave Ara a $50 gift card to Best Buy. So our convoluted plan is to purchase an over the stove microwave from Best Buy with our gift card and credit card and use the Christmas cash we got as gifts to pay off the credit card. Now were hoping Best Buy will have a great deal on microwaves within the next month.
We also get rewards points every time we use our debit card as a credit card. We checked our balance and had enough points to get a $200 gift card to Target....so we sent off for that. Hopefully it will show up before the 29th because Target has the Shark Navigator vacuum on sale for $179 with a $20 gift card back. I plan on using the leftover gift card money and the $20 one to buy a cool touch fry daddy. And hoping that if the deep fryer goes on sale that I could get an electric tea kettle too! I know. Crazy.

Resolutions

I totally ignored making resolutions this year because thinking about it caused stress. However, day two and I came up with a few.
I resolve to:
1. Spend less money on groceries. We tallied up the total for the year and I almost had a heart attack. The figures came it at over $600 a month...but that includes everything bought at the grocery including batteries, shampoo and other health & beauty and household items.
2. Pay off credit card number two. We managed to pay off one in December.
3. Eat smaller portions. This should help with #1 listed above.

That's it. Just those three things. Not losing weight, being a better mom/wife or exercising because a) I'm already awesome at those things or b) I'm sick of failing at them. :)

reads of late

I recently finished The Art of Eating In written by Cathy Erway. And now I'm knee deep in Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine. Both authors had experimented with giving up consuming--one eating out and one shopping. Although, I'm not up for either challenge, I am re-thinking every meal out and every shopping excursion. I drive my kids crazy with all my shopping hang-ups...I really have a hard time spending money on something that is not useful in some way...the more useful or longer it will last the more I am willing to fork over. Tonight we had to exchange a pair of shoes that I ordered online for Andi in the wrong size. They were on sale for $19.99 and I had a $20 rewards card so the shoes only cost $4.54 (tax and shipping). At the store socks were buy one get one half off. So I picked up some Puma socks for Cole (they wash up softer and last longer than Hanes) and Andi picked up socks. Both needed, but then Ara had to have socks. Long story short I spent $45 on socks. I put Cole's aside for Christmas, because it just wouldn't be Christmas if I didn't get at least one un-fun thing to open. I hate that I spent so much on socks. Tonight we were eating diner in almost complete darkness. Ara made fun of me because all but two of the light fixture's bulbs are burned out...I just know I will find a good deal on light bulbs soon. Besides it gives the illusion of romance if the dining room is dimly lit.

Room Refresher

Ara got two walls in the bedroom painted...not the high ones. I think the Thanksgiving break is reserved for that. Andi now wants to paint her room leaving only one orange wall. I told her she has to wait since her room was the most recent room to get paint. We've only been here 4 1/2 years and I can't believe how yucky the walls are already. We're just doing antique white and getting rid of the green wall in our room. It's weird right now with the curtains down. Wish I was getting new bedding and curtains, but I'm just making do with what we got. I am moving a double curtain rod that used to be in the dining room and is now in the breakfast nook up to our room and hanging a double layer of curtains. The tops of all the furniture is in bad shape and I'd like to refinish the tops if possible. I'd like a lot of things, but getting around to it is another story.

We made a list of all the little projects we can do with the existing supplies we have in the garage. Mostly painting stuff. And then we made a list of all the things that need fixed and hopefully will have all that tackled by the end of Spring or Summer. The honey do list has something like 38 things on it. Lists overwhelm Ara so I had to stop.