We have an older home with the small closets, so twice a year I have to do the clothing switch. Since I have been home recovering, I have been working on it, but just a little at a time.

I started in Tiernan's room, because well, being a boy he had the least to switch, in fact I found there was nothing to switch, but I did clean out the old clothes that no longer fit him and got things looking nice in his room.

I then moved to the girls room. This takes some time. I had to go through everything, getting rid of what no longer fit, passing things down from Maeve to Molly, pulling the summer stuff from last year out of storage and seeing what fit who this year, then putting the jeans, sweaters and other winter wear away, but only stuff that fit. It took me awhile, but I have that looking good. The girls have some pants put aways for the fall, and they have some summer clothes, although Molly has more because Maeve outgrew her stuff and passed it down to Molly, now I have to find new stuff for Maeve.

What is funny is that it feels weird to go to the store and only buy for one kid. I used to think that I needed to bring home equal amounts for each child, but I now realize that they grew at different rates, and this is a good thing. Right now I only have to get stuff for Maeve, and then if a few weeks or months I'll need to get for another. This breaks up the cost of clothing the kids nicely, and makes it easier on the budget.

Today I worked on my room. That is probably the biggest undertaking! I have work clothes, play clothes and church clothes, and so I had to go through the winter stuff, and anything that I did not wear this past year went into the Goodwill pile. I am not going to keep holding onto stuff, just because I think I might wear it, or something. I got all my winter stuff packed away and the summer stuff out, and that feels so good.

Over all, while I have been doing this bi-annual clothing switch, I have taken five garbage bags of stuff to Goodwill already and I have another two bags to go next trip. That is seven bags altogether. I know, I can hear you all yelling "yard sale" but you know what? I tried that last year, and I ended up with more stuff left over than I had to begin with! How is that you ask? Well, when my mother-in-law found out I was having the sale, she brought over a boat load of stuff, so when the sale was over, I had more stuff than I started with, and it all stayed at my house. Yep, everything my mother-in-law brought over that didn't sell, all got left in my basement! Not doing it again! It was way too much work for way too little reward, I'll just take it to Goodwill and write it off on taxes next year.

HGTV Green Home Sweepstakes

Anyone else love HGTV as much as I do? If the tv is on, and the kids aren't in front of it that is, I have either HGTV or DIY on. If you watch then you know that through June 4th you can register to win the HGTV Green Home.

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv-green-home-2010-tour/package/index.html

That is the link to a tour of the home. Now, I would LOVE to win a Green Home, the solar panels are probably my favorite. I have wanted solar panels on a house for years now! And so of course I have entered, but you know the likelihood that I win is slim to none, which is probably a good thing.
I was looking at the house yesterday, and I realized that for this nice big home, it only has TWO bedrooms. Granted that one is a hugh master suite, but that only leaves one other bedroom, listed on the tour as the kids bedroom. Well I can tell you right now that my three kids would refuse to have to share one bedroom, and who would want them to!
You would think, that for such a large house, and all the things they are talking about in the home, it would have more than two bedrroms. Although there is a sitting room off the upstairs that I guess could beturned into a third bedroom if you needed it to be.

Oh well, it's fun to enter the contests, and fun to dream about a luxury green home, but it just wouldn't fit my family, so time to come back to reality and get on with the laundry. Oh, what I wouldn't give for those new big load washer and dryers, and a dishwasher!! Maybe in another life!

It has been a wild month. It rained forever and a day, pretty much all the month so far, until the last couple days, now the sun is out and it is looking nice.

Earlier in the month it was so cold, the kids have been having to wear sweatshirts and such to school, then all the sudden overnight the temperature has risen, and it is mid-summer like right now!

What is up with the weather? It is not just this month either, it seems like all year has been messed up. We never have snow days anymore. I remember when I was in school there was snow, but anymore none. This year we had EIGHT snow days! That never happens around here anymore.

Then just as spring came along, it got really hot, for about three days, then back to freezing, then hot, then back to freezing. It has been one wickedly weird year for weather!

Sunny Sunday Afternoon

It is a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon here in the MidWest. After almost a whole month of rain, it is so good to see the sun.
My daughter and I headed out to the yard to plant some marigold around the new pin-oak tree that she got. All the third graders in her school were given a pin-oak tree on earth day, and we planted it in the yard. It needs lost of water, so we planted in down in the "swampy" part of the yard, the part that seems to hold water when it rains, and this is suppose to be good for the tree according to the information they sent home with it.
Today we went out, and planted some marigolds around the tree, added some potting soil to the ground around the tree, and made sure it looked nice, then watered it with some miracle gro water and here's to hoping that it does ok.
Since we were out, we went down to the mailbox and planted some Zinnas around the mailbox. Hoping that makes the place look a little more like we care about the yard.
We have such a slope from the top, or left side of the property, looking from the street to the bottom or right side of the property. It would probably look good if we terraced it out of something, but it is so hard to figure out what to do with the slope.
We haven't done much with the yard since we bought the house in 2001, although we have the lawn grown in to a lush thick yard, it did have a number of bare sopts throughout the front yard, and we have planted a few things, but not a whole lot. Although I would love to do more, I always stop myself because I think, well if we do this or that remodel that we are talking about we would have to lose whatever I was planning in the yard, and so I stop myself. Here we have been in the house almost 9 years and haven't done a single remodling project, although they are all LONG overdue. So this year, I think I am just going to go ahead and do what I want in the yard, and if we do remodel, oh well, I can move it I am sure.

Excuses for not blogging...

Another excuse for my lack of blogging recently would have to be Facebook.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love my Facebook. I have found and reconnected with a number of friends from high school, caught up on their lives and children, and even a few grandchildren, and I love it. I will never give up my Facebook all together, but I have found that I go through cycles on it, with the games.

Yep, the games. I get caught up in a game and then I spend all my time playing it and I don't get my work done or blogging or writing or anything else. Then I will cycle through were I get bored with the games, and get back to regular life and blogging and working. Of course, I said it was a cycle, so I get hooked on them again, then off then on again, and around and around we go, where it stops no one knows.
At the moment, since I am home, I am not playing the games as much, which seems opposite, I should be playing more since I have the time, but at the moment I am more into figuring out a do-able schedule that works so that I can get what I need to done during the day, play a few games, and still have time to blog and review.
Being a stay-at-home mom again, even if I am recovering from surgery, is a joy and a blessing to me, and I love being home, but if I spend all my time on the computer and don't get any of my work done, then it is not working out for the family. That is my mind-set, finding a way to balance the rerecation of the games, with the chores and other things that I need to do. And yes, writing, whether it be blogging or writing reviews of products and books, is something that I really must do every day. I find that when I devote time to writing I am a much happier person, so I need to find the time to write each day, but still do all my work around the house, and then some relaxing time with the games.

It is still a work in progress, but I am getting there! Isn't life a long work in progress? I don't think we ever truly get it figured out until the end, and then there is no way to change anything. That's ok, I am living a learning from the choices that I have made so far, and the choices that I will continue to make, and what I learn from them is what will make me into the person I am and the person I will continue to be.

Peace and Love to you all!

Car Insurance

Car Insurance

If you have been following my blog, you will remember that I recently had surgery. To do that meant that I had to take a leave of absence from my job at the school. What that in turns means, we are living on one salary at the moment. It can be a scary thing, and so I have been doing alot of research and comparasions.

One place that I thought we might be able to save money was on car insurance, but where to start. We have all seen the commericals on tv, but I went to this website:
Car Insurance
and found a great resource. The website allows you to get quotes from different insurances, which a number of other sites will do also, but my favorite thing about this site, the information.

On the main page you get definations and explanations of all kinds of insurance terms, you know those ones that you have no idea what means and they can effect the price you pay for insurance greatly. Things like liablitity policy, collision coverage, comprehensive coverage, theft policies, and no fault policies (which is not available in my state, but is available in 12 other states). I had never even heard of no fault policies, and being that they are no available in my state that is probably why, but it was still neat to read about them and whay they offer.

I was impressed with this site. If you are looking to cut some cost in your budget, check it out. If you do, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!!

CarInsurance

Delayed allergic reaction, is that possible?

Of course over the past few days I have been talking about this "rash" or itching that has been occuring on each of my four incisions. Never had anything like this occur before in my life.
It started Friday with itching. Each of the incisions was itching like crazy, so I tried plain antibotic cream on them. Saturday they were still itching, but the skin around each one was getting red. Continued with the antibotic cream, but ended up taking Benadryl to get to sleep. Sunday morning they were still itchy, still red, but now they were puffy, so I switched to cortizone. Got up this morning, still itchy, still red, still puffy, so I called the doctor's office and they wanted to see me.
Turns out I am having a "delayed allergic reaction" to something that touched each incision during the surgery. Most likely something on the robot arms that were in each incision. Never heard of this before and defintely never had something like that occur before. So, I am continuing with the cortizone cream and Benadryl at night if needed for the itching. It should clear up in a couple of days, if not will be checking back with the dotocr's office.
On a postitive note, the incisions are healing wonderfully and looking great too. They are almost completely healed over, and it is not even a full two weeks post-op yet. Feeling pretty good about that too!

A Healing Rash?

So for most of the day yesterday, I was itching. It was around each incision, so I figured that it was the small scabs that had formed on them that were healing and thus causing the itching. So to try to help with the healing and lessen the itching I was putting antibotic oinment on them all day. Went to bed last night and woke this morning itching even worse. Got up and headed to the bathroom to look in the mirror, and what to my wondering eyes did I find but a red, puffy rash around each incision. It doesn't hurt in the normal sense of the word, it just itches, like crazy mind you!

Great!! I had trouble right before the one-week date with the bandages making me break out into a rash and so I had to take them all off. It was probably well past time to take them off, but i was trying to be cautious and leave them on until it had been one week. So I had to but ointment on them, and that cleared up in a day as soon as i got rid of the bandages. Now I am breaking out around the incisions, and this one I am not sure what it is from. I have used the ointment I was using for years with no problems...no, not the same tube, but the same brand. It is what I had grown up with, what my Mom always had in the house when we were kids, and what I have always kept in the house since I had kids. We have never had a problem with it until now. Not sure if it is the ointment, or something else, but part of me finds it hard to believe that I could develop a reaction to the ointment after all this time.

Healing is always a touching process, and it occurs in different waves for everyone. Like a good friend had the exact same procedure a week earlier than me, nd she is worn out very easily after doing things, but she is walking fine. Me, I have the engery to do things but I am walking so slowly. I just can't speed up my pace or it pulls at my incisions. Every person reacts differently and everyone moves at a different pace, I understand that and I am okay with it, it is just the itching that is driving me crazy! So on to another phase of healing in this journey!

Bullion, and not the type to make soup with

Let's face it, the economy is still not what it was, and more and more folks are worried about their finances. Especially with the cuts in education funding that seems to be htting a number of states. Have you thought about Bullion? No, not the stuff you use to make soup with, but the gold and silver varities? Did you know that with the United States Gold Bureau you can purchase silver, gold or other precious metals and coins for immediate personal delivery or arrange for convenient and safe storage at an independent bank or depository.

We've all seen the commericals on tv about once an hour from some group or another that says they will buy your scrap gold at the best prices around. So we know that the price of gold is good, but what you have to remember is that the price of gold has always been pretty stable, as far as I have been able to research. I mean think about it...."buying gold has been recognized for centuries as one of the best ways to preserve one's wealth and purchasing power.", doesn't that make you think? I mean, it's a whole lot more stable than my "stable mutual funds" in my IRS that now has less money than ever in it!

Since Gold bullion is a unique investment, and has been invested and traded since from the time of ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans to more modern times, it only makes since that it would still be a good investment now. Something that has been around that long, has been invested and traded for that long, has a lot more historty than any mutual fund out there on the market, so to me it gives a peace of mind that you can't find with other things.

The thing is, like any investment, you have to research it yourself, not just read my blog and do it because I said so. I want you to looking into what it takes to buy gold bullion yourself, and I think a great place to do it would be the US Gold Bureau website, http://www.usgoldbureau.com/. Once you have looked into it, tell me what you think? I think it is worth a look, and the research, and you know, it just might be the think you are looking for.

daVinci robot and life

So nowdays, if you have to have a hysteroctomy and you happen to have a great docotor and live in a town that has one of the new daVinci robots, you are in luck! My advice to you, if your doctor recommends one, make sure they can do it with the daVinci, you will not be sorry!

Wednesday May 5th I had a full hysteroctomy with the daVinci. Now, I have four little incisions where the arms of the robot went in, but no stitches, and I only had to spend the night in the hospital, no more. The surgery itself was long, a little over 3 hours, but the recovery time is amazing.Typically they say it is a 6 to 8 week recovery for a normal hysteroctomy, but at one week after surgery I am feeling wonderful! I have no pain, haven't had a single pain pill since Saturday May 8th. My incisions itch, but then again they are healing and have some small scabs on them so of course they itch. They don't hurt and they don't cause me discomfort for the most part, but I am walking at a much slower pace than before. I feel really good, but I do take care because my post-op note say that I can wear down more easily right now, so I try to take everything slow. Not lifting much of anything, but still doing awhole lot better than anyone I have talked to that had either of the previous versions of the hysteroctomy. My mom had the traditional vaginal one, and she was down for a good 4 weeks before she started feeling like herslf and definetely took the full 8 weeks to recover.

Now, to figure out a schedule for my days that allows me to get some things done and feel like I am doing my part for the family while I am home, while at the same time not scheduling too much and wearing myself out and setting back my recovery. That is the hard thing, but I am trying. Life is ....good!

Medical issues

Due to medical issues, I have been absent from my beloved blog for far too long.

I started having issues last fall, but they finally got to the point that I could no longer put them off and on Wednesday May 5th, I had surgery. I had a full hysteroctomy, and am recovering nicely.

The fact that I have been off all pain medications since Saturday, and that I was living on daily pain meds before the procedure is wonderful. I still have a long road to recovery to go, it is going to take awhile to be back up to speed, but I have my blogs and that is going to be a wonderful thing! It will be so nice to have somewhere to vent and talk again, someplace that I had lost for so long with the pain and problems of the past.

Welcome back!!