Informal Critique

Oh How I Love to Save Money

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 03:09:00 +0000

I admit I'm a procrastinator, so I usually wait until the very last minute to shop for Christmas gifts each year. The downside to that is I'm rushing around trying to buy everything. The upside is there are a lot of sales right before Christmas, so I usually end up getting huge discounts on a lot of the things I buy.

This year I have a lot of commitments that will take place right around Christmas, and that's going to cut into my shopping time. Because I'll be so busy I thought maybe I should try to get my shopping done early this year before the official holiday season arrives. Considering I'm already seeing Christmas decorations in stores in September I may not have much time before the "season" begins, but I'm going to get to shopping now.

How do I shop early and still save money, though? I think my best bet is to shop online and use some of my favorite coupons and deals sites to help me find things at a discount. For instance, I can order music equipment through retailmenot musiciansfriend coupons because the average user saves over $24 through retailmenot. I love that site!

Time To Give It Up

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 05:21:00 +0000

My head is spinning right now. I've spent hours working on an assignment for an article I'm supposed to write that focuses on music.

The only problem is the group I've been working for wants me to write about a topic I know absolutely nothing about, and that translates to hours and hours of research and staring at my computer screen until I found a headache.

At least I was able to answer one question. A search for info on what is bit depth gave me a pretty good article that explained a lot I needed to know, but I still have hours more research to do. It's almost 1:30am, everyone is asleep except me, and I would much rather be in bed that doing this.

Maybe it's time to consider walking away from one of my long time freelance groups. Why continue to write for a group that no longer sends me work that interests me, right?

Nurturing Musical Interests

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 May 2015 06:13:00 +0000

I want my kids to develop an interest in music. At 2 and 5 years old I'm not running out to buy them jerry jones guitars, but I am working to point them in the direction of the instruments they want to learn to play. My oldest runs around the house with a recorder most days trying her best to play Mary Had A Little Lamb. Does this mean she'll want to play a wind instrument when she's older? Probably not, but I still want to nurture her love of that little recorder. Actually, she is rather fond of the drums, and she has asked if her grandpa will teach her how to play. I want to invest in a few instruments my kids can grow with, so I'm considering purchasing a child size drum set. It might drive me crazy, but it will melt my heart at the same time!

Protecting My Favorite Shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 May 2015 05:31:00 +0000

The truth is I'm not your typical chick who loves shoes. All my friends think I'm crazy because I don't go gaga for every pair of cute shoes I see. I guess most of that comes from a lifetime of being frugal. When I bought the shoes for my own wedding I spent 3 days staring at the pair I wanted because they were $57, and I had a feeling I wouldn't wear them very often. I eventually broke down and purchased the shoes, but it was really hard to do!

Now I do spend a good amount of cash on shoes from time to time, but I'm still don't own many pair. I would rather buy 1 expensive pair of tennis shoes, 1 expensive pair of boots, etc, and I expect them to last me a long time.

If you take care of a good pair of shoes they will last! My favorite (and only) pair of cowboy boots is going on 14 years old, and that's because I've taken really good care of them. Not everyone knows how to properly care for their shoes, though. Check out Hanger Project's shoe care guide if you want to keep your shoes in great shape but aren't sure how to do so. I bet you'll learn some really useful tips that will keep those favorite shoes around a lot longer!

Ready To Go Out

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 03:14:00 +0000

I'm so excited because I finally get to do something this weekend I haven't done in a long time. We're getting some kid free time, and we're going to a local bar and grill to hear our friend's band play. Hubby's dad used to play drums for the same band, and we haven't seen them since his dad had to leave the band a couple years ago. I can't wait to get to actually go out and do something. That's how long it's been since I've had a night out away from the kids.

Hubby will actually end up working part of the night because he's been asked to play roadie. He's done so a few times for this band in the past. He meets up with them and loads up some of their equipment in the truck like their portable amps and stuff, transports the equipment, helps them setup, then we get in with no cover charge to hear them play. He'll help them back up and haul everything home at the end of the night, and we'll head off a couple miles down the road to pick up the girls from Grandma's house. It's a win-win for everyone.

Like I said I'm just happy to get to go out and do something. It's long overdue, and this mama needs a little break. I love my kids, but every no and then I need a little "me time" to unwind.

Yard Sale Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 17:20:00 +0000

All the Autumn-like weather we've been experiencing this past week has me giving my whole house an overhaul. While most people get Spring cleaning fever, I find myself with Fall fever each year. I tend to want to clean out the clutter and do a major deep cleaning right before I have to close everything up so to speak for the year. I guess that comes from knowing we will spend the majority of our time indoors in the Winter, and I don't want to live in a musty old house (and this one gets very musty) while doing so. I can't help it if these cooler temps induced my Fall fever a way early this year!

I've spent the last few days preparing for a yard sale this weekend. As much as I want to get rid of everything I tend to procrastinate when it comes to Summer yard sales because it's just so muggy and hot so early in the morning in the South. The cooler temps have me prepared to do the yard sale thing this weekend and get it over with.

I've pulled out so many baby and toddler clothes I think I could supply a small baby army. I've got a huge stack of books, some housewares, and a few video games. Hubby went through his tools and picked out a few things to sale, too. He doesn't need 3 jig saws! He's even willing to part with one of his old motorcycle helmets and his old pair of leathers we both know he'll never fit into again. I convinced one of our friends to turn it into a multi-family yard sale, so they're bringing more clothes, some furniture, and some musical equipment. He used to be a DJ, so he has turntables, some records, a digital recorder, and from his band days a trumpet and a guitar.

Now if I can only find the time to sort through the mass amount of toys we have in this house and successfully get them out of here without my bigger munchkin screaming that we must hoard everything! At least half of the 26 baby dolls she has accumulated will be out the door if I have my way!

Which State Should We Live In?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 03:45:00 +0000

I never thought I would be torn over which state in which to buy a house. We've been looking at homes for a few weeks now, and we can't settle on anything. That's mostly because we can decide which state we want to live in. Do we stay in South Carolina or move to North Carolina? Hubby works in both states because we are so close to the border. Still we're an hour away from the office which is in SC. We can choose to live in either state and still move closer to his job, so there is a lot to take into consideration.

I personally would love to live in NC, but I'm leaning more towards staying in SC now. We wouldn't have to pay income taxes to both states. Plus SC just ditched Common Core, and that's a major plus for me. It will be thrown out beginning in the 2015 school year, just in time for DD1 to start Kindergarten. The cost of living in both areas are about the same, so that's not an issue, but I'm being told it could be a lot cheaper for us to have health insurance in NC. I wish I could get nc health coverage quotes before committing to a location, but that's practically impossible.

I guess for now we'll have to keep weighing the pros and cons of both areas. I just hope we can make a decision soon because I really really want to get out of the place we're stuck in now!

March Still Bringing Sickness

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 00:22:00 +0000

March hasn't turned out to be such a great month so far. Sure, we've had some good things happen. Actually one great thing happened, and that is Hubby has a new job. He's back to doing what he loves, and it's a lot more money than the crappy job he was previously working until things started to improve in the job market in our area. That's just about the only good thing I have to report right now, though.

Unfortunately a lot of bad is happening right now that I really wish I could change, but I can't. I was hoping the nicer weather would mean we could say goodbye to all this sickness that has plagued our family this Winter, but that isn't how things are going. My girls and I are feeling better, but the sickness is still running rampant for others. My sister-in-law is being hit really hard right now. She picked up a cold that has turned into pneumonia. She's a type 1 diabetic, so that's not good at all. She was admitted to the hospital a couple days ago, and the doctors are working to find out exactly what type of pneumonia she has. The doctors actually used the term "bad" when describing what she has because it's not your typical pneumonia. That is very worrisome because the last time she ended up in the hospital with pneumonia she almost died and was in a coma for months. Prayers would be greatly appreciated. On top of that two very dear family friends have had strokes this week, and both are in icu. It's going to be a long road to recovery for both, so of course prayers would be appreciated for them as well.

All we can do is wait and pray that the doctors will get her fixed up and home very soon. I would love to put life on hold and spend my days at the hospital with her, but it's not easy to do with 2 young kids at home. For now we're going to press on with our daily lives as much as we can. I have an appointment to go house hunting with a friend who is an agent tomorrow. If things work out the way we would like we'll be out of this dump by the Summer, and it would be nice to be closer to Hubby's family where I can be of assistance when my sis-in-law is sick. I've picked out a few houses in their area that I like, but I'm also looking at houses closer to Hubby's new job location, too. Honestly I like the area where he is working now a lot better, and I've talked about moving out that way before. We'll just have to see what happens. I'm also going to try to remember to let my friend know about the goconnect app for agents that I saw today because I really think it could be a great tool for her. Whether or not I remember to do that is to be determined. I've got so much going on in my head right now I'm surprised I remembered to feed myself dinner tonight!

Rearranging Things

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 20:48:00 +0000

I guess I can blame it on being stuck inside most of the week because of snow going stir crazy, but today I decided is the day to rearrange and redecorate. I can't do too much with very little money to spend, so new furniture isn't an option. I've been walking around the house trying to find things I can reuse or repurpose into some neat decor, and I've found a few things I wouldn't have considered using before. Hubby has some pallets stacked in the carport that can be cheaply made into all kinds of stuff, so I've been on pinterest a lot today. I also found a Steel Case from one of Hubby's old saws that no longer works. I'm thinking about spray painting it and using it for storage in my office. Maybe the kids will let me attempt that during nap time, that is if nap time ever arrives today.

Sick Sick Sick

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 00:28:00 +0000

I seriously hate being sick, especially over the holidays. All we've really done the last few weeks is fight off one virus after another. Hubby has been sick since Thanksgiving, and he's finally getting over bronchitis. The little ones have been sick, but luckily the big one came through it pretty quickly. The little one didn't fair as well. She came down with a cough right before Christmas, and we woke up Christmas morning to find her running a pretty high fever.

The day after Christmas we were in the doctor's office for a viral cold turned ear infection. She's still getting over the ear infection, and we'll have a checkup on Monday to see how that's going. It was my turn to be sick over New Year's. I spent New Year's Eve curled up on my in-laws couch running a fever and shivering with cold chills while Hubby and the biggest one shot fireworks. I was over the fever in a couple days, but I'm still battling the congestion and cough.

Today I feel like I've got a golf ball in my throat, so I've spent every minute possible curled up on the couch with hot lemon tea and the laptop. With the exception of looking up a couple things on www.reidsupply.com that Hubby needs I really didn't even touch the laptop until now. The kids haven't really given me a chance, and I just haven't felt like being online much.

Hopefully tomorrow will be different and I'll finally feel like trying to get back into the swing of things. After all with all this sickness I've seriously neglected my blogs and my work online, so I really need to get back to making some money. All the meds we've all been on have depleted any little extra cash we've had!

Tune Them Out

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 04:22:00 +0000

When the Hubby and bro-in-law sit down and talk djing I can only handle so much before I have to tune them out. Don't get me wrong I'm a big fan of the music, but a lot of the equipment and stuff is confusing to me. Like when they were talking about how my bro-in-law could save on ns7 at musicians friend I have to tune them out. I have no idea what that is or why he needs it, so it's like a foreign language to me. That's where I am tonight, stuck in tune out mode while they ramble behind me!

A Sad State

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 01:00:00 +0000

I ran into an old friend today, and it saddened me. Here lately everywhere I turn I'm running into someone I know who used to have it together but now suffers from an opiate drug addiction, meth, prescription pills, something. Drugs seem to be taking over our community, and it's horrible. People I never thought would touch drugs are caught up in such horrible things. A friend from school who was a straight A do no wrong kind of guy just got sentenced to 30 years without parole for getting messed up on drugs and trying to kill someone over even more drugs. It's a very sad state, and I can only hope they'll get straightened out before it's too late.

Lacking

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:09:00 +0000

Why is this time of the year always so busy? Between Hubby's overloaded work schedule, doctor appointments, and birthdays I feel like none of us are ever home. The last two weeks I've been super overloaded with work myself, and I feel a bit overwhelmed right now. I finally got all the laptops I had fixed and out the door. Now I need to work on my own personal and business computers because they're all majorly lacking in maintenance lately.

I would really like to order ESET security licenses for my business computers, but I only have 2. If I added my personal desktop and laptop I would have 4, but you have to order a minimum of 5. I need to see if any of my friends are interested in combining an order to have enough. For now I guess I'll stick with my usual stuff and manually cleaning anything that doesn't get until I can add ESET to my regimen.

Moving On Up

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 01:24:00 +0000

The bad news is Hubby is working his so much we've hardly seen him this month. The good news is we've caught up all our bills and we're well on our way to having a down payment saved. We've started the process of looking at the housing market in our area. We don't want anything new. We want something older we can remodel. That's because we want to find something with some land, and we know we won't be able to find much less afford anything new that comes with a good chunk of land. If we find something older we can remodel it the way we like at a price we can afford, the beauty of being married to a master carpenter.

I'm already daydreaming about the remodel, too. No matter what we find I know I'm going to want to remodel the kitchen, add some custom touches to the rooms that are already finished out enough for my liking, etc. I would love to have a chandelier in both the dining room and our bedroom, but I don't think I should go hunting for swarovski lighting I love just yet. I don't need to get ahead of myself!

Dang Cold!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:50:00 +0000

UGH. That's how I totally feel right now. I've been down with a cold all week, and it's driving me nuts. It's totally going to ruin our anniversary tomorrow because I won't be able to taste all the yummy food we're supposed to go eat. We've got plans to go out somewhere really nice since this is the big 1-0...that's right a whole decade of putting up with each other, but what good does it do to spend lots of cash on an expensive meal if my stupid cold won't let me taste any of it? I could be eating bitter natural apricot kernels instead of something sweet for dessert for all I know because I can't taste a darn thing! I'll say it again...UGH! I just want this dang cold to go away and fast.

What To Do With Myself

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 01:40:00 +0000

I can't believe it. Both of my kids are asleep before 10pm, Hubby doesn't get home from work 'til midnight, and I don't know what to do with myself. These nights are few and very far between. Usually if I can get both kids to sleep at a decent hour I go straight to bed with them because I'm exhausted, but tonight I'm wide awake. I spent 15 minutes picking up the house, I started a Hash brown Casserole in the crock pot, and now I'm going to get my work done peacefully. Lately just mentioning the word "work" has me racing like a mad woman to type up some jobs on my phone before the midnight deadline hits. I'll actually be ahead for once!

Once my work is finished I'm going to see if I can't list a few things online to make some extra cash. I really need to get my handmade gifts site up and running again, but with the baby it's been impossible. I've been making a few bows and diaper cakes here and there that I've been listening on a few auction sites, but I need to do more. I may see if I can sell books at becksbooks.com because I have a few textbooks sitting in the closet from classes I've taken over the years. Hubby is going back to school next semester thanks to his new job, so we'll have even more textbooks to buy and then hopefully sell over the next couple of years. I'd like to make a bit of cash back on the purchases we'll have to make, so I might see how well selling my old ones go first.

Anywho, my list is now made, so I'm going to hop off here and see how much I can get done before Hubby gets home. Maybe I can even enjoy a glass of wine and a show off the DVR if I hurry!

What's Going On

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 16:11:00 +0000

Lots going on over here. The little one is growing like a weed, and she'll be 3 months this Friday. Unfortunately 3 months post partum I'm still dealing will blood pressure issues, and my blood pressure has been spiking the last few days. I just switched medications to something more conducive to long term treatment, so that could be causing the spikes right now. At this point we can't call it pregnancy related anymore.

On top of that I've been dealing with some stuff that's going on with my extended family regarding idiots who blow all their money, georgia and nc bankruptcy laws, and nosey people who can't stay out of everyone else's business. That's about it for what's going on right now around here. Too bad I don't have anything good to report.

Who Knew?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 00:53:00 +0000

When it comes to learning I'm constantly trying to absorb new knowledge. I guess it's just my nature and you can consider me a sponge when it comes to learning random stuff. Today I learned it wasn't a typo I saw. There really are such things as acoustic electric guitars. Who knew? I sure didn't! I totally thought someone was off their rocker writing that, so of course I had to check it out. Turns out it's an acoustic guitar that's fitted with a microphone or magnetic pickup even though I have no idea how it works.

I've Had Enough

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 20:40:00 +0000

Ugh. I am so frustrated today! I'm so sick of certain family members expecting me to drop whatever I'm doing at the drop of a dime just because they want me to do something for them. I'm sorry but it's not going to happen. I really hate telling people no because I want to help everybody whenever I can, but I can't handle this anymore. With two kids, a hubby on 2nd shift, a house to run, and a job to work I just don't have the ability to be there to do everything for everyone all the time without driving myself insane.

To the person wanting me to make hair bows for 12 girls for their daughter's birthday party by FRIDAY for FREE, it's not going to happen. I've gladly made free bows for your daughter on many ocassions because we're friends and I wanted to, but asking, no, practically telling me to make 12 free ones for favor bags is just insane. A good portion of my income is from the bows and diaper cakes I make, and it's not right to ask me to not only work for free but supply the materials to do so myself!

Then there's my cousin who keeps texting me like crazy wanting me to find out the info she needs to go to Europe next year during Summer break. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to Google passports.com for student travel, so she shouldn't have a problem doing it herself. If that's too hard for her to do maybe she needs to spend her time taking Summer classes instead of gallivanting around Europe!

ARGH! Yeah, I think it would be a good idea for me to walk away from this rant before I start saying some really nasty things that I'll regret. Things tend to roll off my fingers easier than they do out of my mouth, and that wouldn't be very good right now.

Power Outages Suck

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 00:36:00 +0000

You know what really sucks? The power being out when you've got a newborn that needs to stay cool in these hot temps. Our power has been out for a couple hours now. Something on the transformer next to our house went boom, and that was it. Hubby said it looked like some kind of ceramic insulator busted, but I don't know anything about that kind of stuff. All I know is it was getting way too hot for the baby, so we finally gave in and headed to the in laws for awhile hoping the power wouldn't be off too much longer. Unfortunately it's still out, so I guess our best bet is to send Hubby back to the house for enough essentials to spend the night here. :(

Graduation Time

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:35:00 +0000

This morning I sat down to look at graduation gifts for my little sister-in-law, and it made me realize how time has really flown over the last decade. It seems like just yesterday she was climbing in my lap and asking if she could wear my "big shoes" with her pretty dress. She was the junior bride in our wedding, too old to be a flower girl but still only 7. I remember how old it made me feel when she hit middle school and signed up for band. Back then I would get her something like an exciting alto sax mouthpiece at wwbw if I needed to buy a birthday present. I guess things like that won't work these days. Now she wants cash, makeup, and accessories for her car. As I sit in Littlejohn Coliseum in a couple weeks watching her walk in that cap and gown I admit while I'll be so proud of her I'll be a little sad, too. Boy if I'm this way over my sis-in-law what's it going to be like when it's my own girls?

4 Weeks To Prepare

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:47:00 +0000

What has been happening in your world? Of course we've all had a lot going on over this way trying to prepare for the arrival of baby #2. It seems like just yesterday I was peeing on that stick, and here we are at 35 weeks gestation already. Time really does fly!

I'm probably nuts for thinking it, but wish I could bring her into this world right now. I would save myself a lot of nesting, hormonal craziness, and uncomfortableness. I'm just about as ready as I'm going to get to start my new adventure as a mom of two, so why not do it now? I know she needs to "cook" for a little longer, but it won't be long now. We've got 4 more weeks to go before my induction!

Barefoot Day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 May 2013 15:19:00 +0000

Happy May 1st! I know it's really not a holiday or anything, but May 1st has always been the one Spring day the kiddos in the family look forward to. My great grandma called it "barefoot day" and always told the kids it was ok to finally go barefoot and swimming after May 1st. Ellie is excited because we're going to pull out the sprinkler later this afternoon pending my blood pressure stays down this morning. The doc adjusted my meds yesterday so I won't have to stay on partial bed rest anymore. So far so good, so it looks like the sprinkler will be coming out.

I kind of broke my great grandma's rule this weekend anyway during all the rain we were getting. It was a nice all day steady warm rain, so I let Ellie run around in her swimsuit in the rain for a bit. That is, I let her run around until the drenching rain with the blow ya away winds hit. Then it was time to go inside and watch the rain from the window. By the time it was over we had a puddle of water inside the car port where the wind had blown the rain under the door. That means Ben's got another thing to add to his honey do list to fix. We talked about just cutting a hole in the concrete and installing a drain and one of those floor drain grates as a quick simple fix, but we'll see what he decides to do in the end.

This weekend I think he's going to work on replacing the deck on the side of the house outside the french doors so I'll have an easy way to let Ellie enjoy the outside this Summer while I'm busy with the baby. The deck boards are old and dry rotting, so step one is to redo the deck on Sunday. Then he's going to screen everything in next Saturday so we'll have a nice covered area to enjoy the outside without dragging the baby out in the heat.

Destroying My Business Cards The 3 Year Old Way

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 02:31:00 +0000

Ugh. If I don't find a way to keep the little one out of my desk drawers I'm going to have to buy stock in some companies like business card printers and office supply types. She thinks Mommy's business cards are ready for the taking and made to be colored all over. She was so proud of herself tonight when she brought me a huge stack of my cards that had smears of paint and little crayon lines drawn all over them. She said she was decorating them so they will be pretty when I give them out! Well, at least she understands Mommy is supposed to give those cards to people. LOL!

Doing Some Muttering This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:15:00 +0000

It's been awhile since I got a chance to do a meme, so I'm going to see if I can pop one up here really quick. One of my favorite short memes to do when I want to give my brain a little exercise in a short amount of time is Unconscious Mutterings.

I say ... and you think ... ?

Taco :: Shell
Serve :: Volley
Cubicle :: Desk
Moonlighting :: Waitress
Creaky :: Floors
Bittersweet :: Symphony
Hop :: Scotch
Install :: Program
Quick :: Fast
Hybrid :: Mileage