Inadequate Materials

Tamara over at Mad Boastings of a Cheapskate Mom has a new feature called Drabby to Fabby Friday . And yes, I know it's almost Tuesday. But cut me some slack here. Frankly, I'm lucky I made it to within a week! Having had a distracting last couple of weeks, I didn't read the instructions quite right and thought I had to fab up my feet. It turns out I didn't, but I figure it was still a good start. This week, I'll do my feet, next week maybe I'll move upwards and shave my legs. And before you know it, I'll be showing off my rock hard abs! Why do I hear hysterical laughter coming from somewhere... Anyway, Drabby to Fabby Friday served as a timely reminder that if I want to be the best I can be for my family, I have to take care of myself first. We moms always say that, but then our needs are the first to hit the road when time is at a premium. So I got strict and forced myself to toss the piles of laundry aside last night and get working on my gross, crypt-k...

Today is my one-year blog-iversary! What does this mean? That I'm a nerd who celebrates made-up holidays... But it's an excuse to eat cake--or at least those dried-up old donuts that have been sitting in my fridge for a few days now. And since it falls on a Friday, it means that after the kids go to bed, I'll make some cheesy popcorn and the Captain and I (and possibly my new purse which, I admit, I've been cuddling and stroking like a small dog) will have a glass of wine and watch a movie. Date night! Woo hoo! In the past year, life has changed a lot, and stayed the same as well. I've made some great friends in the blog community, and found so many awesome blogs that make me laugh, or drool, or feel inspired. I've also spent way too much time online. Some of my worries have been resolved, but they've made way for new, sometimes bigger worries. But I guess when it comes down to it, no matter how brutal life gets, if no one dies, you'll probably be a...

I'm not really up to blogging at the moment, so bear with me here. But I thought I should confess that my plan to not buy anything unnecessary has hit a sort of grey area. The Captain has aided and abetted my shopping habit by buying me this: Now, here's the dilemma. The Captain bought it. I didn't. BUT, we have a joint bank account. And I did not, in any way, need a new purse. So, did I cheat? Or is it all his fault? Either way, I'm not too bothered if I cheated right now. This bag has been the very best part of what has, without doubt, been the worst week of my life. It is also absolutely the most beautiful, buttery-soft, high-quality purse I have ever owned. I always wondered if having a really nice purse would turn me off the allure of something cheap-and-cheerful forever. The verdict's in. Cheapness will never beat out quality again!

6 years ago this week, I began my journey as a military wife. The Captain and I had already been married for 6 years, and we had never, during that entire time, spent a night apart. But when the Captain decided he needed to make a career change and try something he had always wanted to do, like the devoted wife I am, I shrugged my shoulders and said "okay". Our timing was terrible. My sister was getting married at the other end of the country when Firstborn was due, so family members were simply not available to come down for the birth. Most of my friends were teachers who had just started the new school year and couldn't possibly take any time off. In the end, I had one awesome friend, a stay-at-home mom who kept her phone on night and day for me, and a doula we hired just to ensure I had a ride to the hospital. I owe these two a debt of eternal gratitude. On the morning of September 19th, a week after the Captain had flown across the country to begin his new career, Fir...

I've made it safely through another trip to Wal Mart ! Yes, I had to go back already. Rosemary's Baby had a medical appointment this morning and we needed a few grocery items and a couple of things for Firstborn's upcoming birthday party, so I killed two birds with one stone and went to the home of everything you could ever need in life, and then some. And once again, I made no impulse purchases! A few people have been asking how I'm managing this not-making-any-unnecessary-purchases-for-the-rest-of-the-year business. Truly, it isn't easy. But it's not as hard as I expected either. Of course, I'm only a month in, and there are almost 4 months left of temptation, so we'll see what happens when I finally have reason to set foot inside my ultimate nemesis, the thrift store. But I do have a few tips to share for others out there who are trying to save their money and their sanity by not buying any more clutter. 1. If You Must Shop, Make a List . The advanta...

Behold! The Bounty!! I was starting to think we weren't going to get anything out of the garden this year. Things have ripened up very, very late due to the weird weather. But the veggies are starting to roll in now, and as always, we have more summer squash than we could ever possibly use or eat. This year, I have been determined that none of it is going to end up on the compost pile simply because we can't keep up. We all know about zucchini muffins and zucchini cake with chocolate and spices and all sorts of other creative things (if you don't know about them, click here , and it will become all too familiar in no time). And the first zucchini recipe I ever tried was the popular southern technique of dipping slices in egg and then bread crumbs or cornmeal and frying them. This is tasty on its own or in a sandwich, and is a great alternative to meat if you're into that. One of the issues I have with most zucchini recipes, though, is that they call for a mere 1 cup of ...

How Exciting! I got an award! Thanks to Allison at the wonderful blog, Life of a Tater Tot Mom for this: I'm tempted to put on an evening gown and make an acceptance speech for the dogs! This is like the blog equivalent of a forward. I have to pick 4 bloggers to pass this on to. Frankly, I could pick 40. I'm now following, officially and not (I often forget to hit the "follow" button and just keep coming back on my own), so many blogs, I can't keep my head on straight anymore. There are many, many great blogs out there! But I'm going to pass this on to some bloggers who have been hanging out with me from way back when I was only getting three hits a day! So, without further adieu, here are the awesome, crafty blogs that inspire and amaze me: 2BKrafty : This is one of the first blogs I followed when I was a newbie, and Janine generously devoted some of her own blog space to introduce her readers to my little blog. Before that, my mom and my sister were my only ...

Because I'm afraid to put ingredients I can't pronounce into my children, I've been trying to make as much as I can from scratch. So, last night, I decided it was time to take an old favourite of ours, Cornflake Chicken (which is exactly what it sounds like--a chicken breast dipped in egg and then into seasoned, crushed cornflakes and baked) and adapt it so that my kids thought they were eating chicken nuggets. It didn't fly. So to speak. We've long since learned that battling with Rosemary's Baby over food is a waste of time. So when he doesn't eat, he just doesn't eat. We don't offer an alternate meal, and dessert isn't a regular thing around here anyway, so he sometimes goes to bed on an empty stomach. He's never given us any indication that he's bothered by this, and he's a pudgy little thing, so we're not worried about an occasional missed meal. Firstborn, on the other hand, is old enough that we sometimes think we can persua...