De-Cluttering Me Finding Freebies

Today I am finishing up the laundry (oh fun!), and other miscellaneous items that I've been neglecting...

One thing I really like is http://www.freecycle.org/. This is a wonderful site where you can get rid of (or find) items that you don't want to through away, but don't want to pile up for a yard sale, either in hopes that someone else may be able to use it. It is a great way to help someone else help you. I was "piling up" items to "freecycle" items and finally realized... I need to get rid of it, not just store it, so... I finally posted things that have been sitting here, just waiting for me to do just that. Hmm... maybe next week I'll finally get to taking pictures and listing stuff on e-bay or another site... One thing crossed off my list!

Another... today is the 27-fling paper clutter boogie! (Check out the link of the FlyLady to the right...) And so, I boogied 2 sets of 27 items, some of them being magazines! Yay me! I checked out one of the magazines, though... I just got it this week. It is called Successful Living. Very interesting, had some quick tips and thought to get yourself organized, had some easy recipes and a little bit about a lot. If you would like a FREE charter subscription to this magazine, subscribe to it online: www.tslc.com/magazine. It is pretty good for free...

Also, on the inside cover of this magazine was an ad for Coleman Natural Foods. If you go to their website, and fill out a quick survey, you get a booklet of coupons and a FREE apron: http://www.colemannatural.com/. The survey only took one minute of my time, and for those of you who like it really organic, they are the brand for you!

And those scraps of paper that I had written phone numbers, addresses, and e-mails are NO MORE! Typed them into the computer and waa-la! Gone is the little clutter of little papers... By the way... send me your phone number, address (e-mails, too!), and birthday, if you don't think I have it. Technology makes it so much easier to keep in touch, free of charge!

Love those freebies! I'll keep going... Toodles for now! lisa

Another Day with Calliou

"Who's 'Calliou' (pronounced Kie[like pie]-you)?" you ask? He's a bratty little four-year-old on the PBS stations who whines all of the time to his parents and learns good lessons. I can get through his whiny-ness, since he does learn to respect and share, laugh and learn, etc. Otherwise, he is really annoying! But Marissa loves it and laughs and plays well (well, sometimes).

She likes to listen to the show as she plays, like now. At this very moment, she is playing with her new Little Tikes kitchen, a gift to her from her friend, Ashley. How it came to be in our house is a cute story... Ashley's mom had asked Ashley if it was time to "move" the kitchen to another area (she hardly ever played with it anymore - she's 8!) or was she done with it... much to Ashley's mom's surprise, Ashley announced, "Mommy! I only keep it so Marissa can play with it!" And so, they asked if we would like it for Marissa, and we all know what I said... "YES!!!" It is quite a little gem, and Marissa loves it.

Today will be another busy day. I think all people's days are really busy, even though they don't think so. There are lots of people who felt they haven't accomplished much during a particular day or any other time... I say to them, write down each and every thing you did, even your normal routine things, like making lunch, making breakfast, putting away the dishes, getting ready (even in that there are a whole bunch of little itemizations...). Do you see how much you truly do? It is a lot! So, if you are feeling blue and having "one of those days," do this. It is sure to make you feel a little bit better.

As for my day... I've just finished making Juan's lunch/our dinner and putting it away for further packing/consumption. Other than that, I've been playing with Miss Marissa, doing dishes, reading a couple of articles, getting ideas, and have so much more to do. I keep going back and forth to this entry! Don't think it all gets done in one shot! Sometimes, it does, but today isn't one of those times. I still have yet to pick up Rey (I cancelled Sylvan for today-sitting on the west side of town for over almost 5 hours just really does not appeal to me...), then go pick up Stacy/take Rey to practice. Thank goodness I've gotten my menu planning together and am on the ball with dinners! Yeah!

I actually have everything until my menu is up on Friday! I'm on a goal to budget better and am actually putting a dent in my frozen food stash. I am gradually getting to the bottom of my freezer, I hope... But we all know that I will still put stuff in, but I am using up what I already have and am only buying what I truly need. Not bad, if I do say so myself! This has been in effect since last Tuesday. ...and I'm still hangin' in there.

As for other things, yeesh! Okay, I started fairly early last year (July) with my making of Christmas presents. I went through moods where I got nothing done towards that, and didn't get everything done that I had planned... Whelp, folks... as soon as I get another project done that I'm currently working on, I'll be off on this year's presents, much earlier. I figure this should give me time to go through my "moods." I have so much in my brain with things I want to do, it's hard to get them all done. I mean well, and maybe I'm just dreaming, but I hope to at least partially succeed with that goal.

But... on another note, I'm currently looking for inexpensive Valentine's Day-type crafts to do, so send me your ideas and/or links! Thanks!

Stacy's game was pretty good. The other team was way aggressive. One player from the visiting team even head-butted one of our players, in an effort to get the ball. It wasn't necessarily "legal" but she was only called foul, not ejected from the game. I thought it was pretty dirty, but hey... those are our kids out there...

Rey didn't anticipate going from school to game to swimming and so was not prepared with swim bag in tow. Bottom line: she didn't swim. But! She will swim tonight. We are back in the water, people!

As the first day back, both of the girls were happy. They didn't get much homework assigned and got to see all of their friends. I sure hope the "happiness" with school will last! Here's hoping. Toodles for now - lisa

Did Ya Miss Me? Yeah... RIGHT!

My girls are back in school today. It was an earlier morning than usual, even for school time. Since today marks the first day of the new semester, the high school kids had to be there by 7am to pick up schedules. Thank goodness I get up when I hear an alarm... usually...

And so... the busy schedules begin again. It gives me more time to catch up with my blog, update all of you... and do things with Miss Marissa.

Today we started something different. Our local library does "Story Time," as I'm sure most of them do... but we (Marissa and I) had never gone. We walked over there before the 10 o'clock start time and they had already begun when we entered. I got Marissa seated, and she stared in rapt attention. The librarian's voice enchanted her. It also helped that the first two stories were two of her favorite characters (Clifford-the Big Red Dog, and Spot). She appeared pretty amazed that someone else knew the stories, too! Then they all got up and sang "Farmer in the Dell." It was the shorter version, but made simple for small children. They gathered around in a circle, and tried to move the circle... Marissa, my socially sheltered child, kind of stayed put (although she did hold hands with the others) and let the circle kind of move, but awkwardly around her... She'll get the hang of it eventually. They read a few more stories, sang some more songs, and played with musical instruments like maracas and tambourines. Marissa didn't smile once (probably because she was surrounded by total strangers), but stayed put and didn't come flying to me. So... I'm guessing she had a REALLY great time, as she keeps talking about it. I think we'll go back on Wednesday!

We checked out a couple of books, and bought some, too. In case you don't know about it, most libraries have a "Friends of the Library" section. Books are donated to the "Friends of the Library" and are sold, with the funds going directly to purchase new books for the library. Don't say, "Whatever..." Check it out! They are usually really inexpensive. I walked out of there paying $.50 each for one hard back and three soft covers. It is an awesome deal!

Stacy has a water polo game today. She's really good at it. She starts almost every game and has gotten quite aggressive. (That's her - #3, attempting to make a goal.) Luckily, a friend was there to get this great picture. If not, I wouldn't have gotten it... I'm not really good with the digital yet...

What you can see in the background is our previous "home" pool. Right now, we are relocated at another pool (for the swim team, as well) until this pool gets completely re-done. I'll try to snap a picture of that soon, before they finish construction. It currently looks almost ghostly. It took a while to drain the pool, as it is around one million gallons of water. What did they do with it? Got me! I've been wondering myself...

As for the swim team... Rey is getting back into the water tonight (I think...). Both she and Stacy are in a meet at the end of January (Marissa's birthday, to be exact!). It should good and cold, but Rey actually wanted to do it, so, kudos for her!

The vacation was nice, kind of still busy, but nice... And I sure am going to miss "sleeping in" and being semi-lazy, if that's what you want to call it. But, it's time to get the show on the road! Juan's lunch (and our dinner) awaits fixing, as well as an early pick up for Rey and Stacy's game, then a Board meeting and swim practice! Gotta go! CHARGE!!!!! Toodles for now - lisa

Good Morning and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas! I hope yours is wonderful and well! I'll get back to you all later... Toodles for now! lisa

"Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Everywhere. Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Do Your Share!"

Yeah Right! And so... I got to yell at all four kids this morning. No one helped out last night cleaning up, so I left the big stuff for this morning, needing a little help. All four got up, saw things were done, or semi-done, and just did their own little things. You would think this was a different time of year. You wouldn't think they'd be pulling stunts like this at this time of the year. Maybe Santa a been a little too slack-a-daisical...

Coal is sounding really good to me about now. And so, I cleaned and put away EVERYTHING all by myself. I don't want pats on the back. I don't want to be dramatic, but tables, chairs, and all of the other extras that a big party brings is very time-consuming for one person to do. It gone done, and when I vented, not one of them apologized. And what kind of kids am I raising? I can't take credit for the behavior of the two older ones... they are with their mom most of the time, and their dad doesn't speak up, but my two?!? Yikes!

I thought, for the most part, that I was teaching them to help everywhere they go, including home. Think again, Lisa... Let's just say, this was my wake-up call. If they thought I was being bratty before and too strict, watch out. The new year is bringing on new rules. I'll let you know how it goes...

After putting away all of the tamales and packaging things up, I have absolutely no room in my fridge for anything else. And the kids asked what is to eat! I had to laugh. What do you think? You guessed it... tamales! Pick one, slather it, if you wish, and eat! Mmmm... do not ask me what is there to eat for the next day or two... it is kind of obvious.

Now I've still got to wash all of the crock pots and make sure they are ready to go. I don't have that much room in my house for everything... LOL! Baby steps... But, I'll get to that a little later. It's break time! I'm going to heat up some tamales, sip some cocoa (or coffee) and watch a Tivo-ed Snowglobe. It is supposed to be a good movie... nothing like Christmas movies at Christmas time. Toodles for now - lisa

Tamales Finales! and Moving On...

Whew! I'm not sure how many we made, but I know there were two huge trays of pork tamales, one huge tray of chicken tamales, and 2 dozen pork with green chili tamales. Whew! You can say that again... and so the tamale fest leaves us until next year.

We just had our family party. My husband usually has to work either Christmas or Christmas Eve, so we had our larger family festivities tonight so that he can sleep either way for either day he has to work. It sucks, but it works.

The only thing majorly thrown in the mix this year is... you guessed it (or didn't!)... his kids. Juan has Christmas Eve off this year. So, since his kids didn't have practice after tonight, we pretty much thought it was safe to be able to have them and take them back. Whelp folks... they made "other" plans. Apparently, they "assumed" we were doing the "Santa" stuff tonight as well. Uh... hello! I'd like to not have to alter the calendar! (Can you tell I'm pretty upset?) We haven't had them for the past two years... this would be three... on Christmas or Christmas Eve, so they haven't gotten to spend the magical "Santa" moments with their little sis, Marissa. Two years ago, their mom got a wild hair and just plain withheld them. Last year, since Juan had Christmas Eve off, but something weird was happening, he just told them to stay at their mom's. This year... whatever! I sure hope they can change their plans... If you don't speak up and say something, selfishness will generally take over. Enough venting... I'd like to be able to sleep somewhat tonight... * UPDATE: Actually it was just a total lack of communication. They don't know how to talk to each other or tell the whole thing... so it just makes me NUTSO!

We had a cozy night. Tamales, rice, beans, with chips & salsa (and some dip, too!), finishing off with a cake... yum! I actually did not make the cake this year. Wow! It was difficult for me, but I'm trying to let go, so it won't be so stressful. I bought a Costco Cake. It was pretty OK. I got a "white filled buttercream." For whatever that was worth... so I had no clue what kind of "filling" was in the cake until I cut into it, but I couldn't be picky. When I got to Costco, it was the absolute last cake (sheet cake) they had that did not say "Happy Birthday." We had lots of people, lots of food, and good cheer. The night didn't last that late, but after staying up almost all night (tamale time), I guess this is pretty late.

I'm turning lazier than I thought I already was. Right now... I'm promised myself I'd clean up, but here I am, typing away and eating tortilla chips. They're pretty good, too! It is quiet here, and I guess I can do it, but I'm tired. I just want to chill and fall asleep. And even though I feel quite groggy, it doesn't appear that I can fall asleep, unless you count the typos before I backspace and correct them.

OK, I really do need to get my butt in gear. Not only do I have massive clean-up to do, but I need to finish other things prior to Christmas. I totally sucked this year. I intended to get more stuff done, even started earlier, but yet again, I did not accomplish even 1/2 of what I wanted to, and so... now I'm doing the typical Christmas shopper thingy... running around... QUICKLY!

Uh... and I'm still sitting here, not wanting to get up... wanting to go to sleep. Hmm... sleep is so winning! OK... I'll 1/2 it! I'll set my alarm for 2 hours, do what absolutely needs to be done, and go back to bed! Yeah... see you in the manana!!! Toodles for now! lisa

Takin' a Break from Shredding...

Uh! I've just finished shredding 4 pork picnic-sized roasts... and am now roasting my chickens. I need the break! Tamales are a traditional thing here. We do them every year at Christmas. This year, tonight is the night. Then, with Juan's family, we will have our Christmas party and eat them tomorrow night! Yummy. With some beans, rice, salsa, etc. it is bound to be a great feast. Last year, we introduced the somewhat more American flavor and added a crockpot of chili. Yep, you got it. Some of the more Mexican traditionalists in our family scoffed at the idea, but guess what! It all gotten eaten. Us Americans like to put a little bit of chili (con carne) on our tamale and top it off with cheddar cheese. Totally yum! Anyway, we are doing it again this year.

The picture you see is all of my kids! Clockwise from top left is Juan's daughter (Renee-15), Juan's son (Jr.-18), my daughter (Stacy-14), my daughter (Rey-Rey [another Renee]-13), and our daughter (Marissa-2). No, this is not copyrighted... they took one, and so did I! It's the one "kiddy" thing they will all do for me annually without complaint. They realize (by this time) that they have no choice! They will all change ages within a month-and-a-half after Christmas! They're all getting so big and changing so much. It's extremely hard to keep up with it all. Between school activities and other activities, I'm running all of the time.

Cute tidbit... Marissa was carrying around a copy of this photo. She loves it and all things Christmas. When she took it to her Daddy, she showed it to him and said, "Look! There's Charlie's Daddy!" It took Juan and I a couple of seconds to get it, and Juan started cracking up. Then Marissa told him, "Charlie's coming, too!" If some of you don't get it, my FAVORITE movie (besides the original Gidget and Pretty Woman) is The Santa Clause with Tim Allen. It is so amazing that she has put that in play with reality. She is one smart cookie, and cute, too! It is a great story, but I'm not sure I want to incorporate "Charlie" into the tradition of Santa... hmmm... any ideas?

Whelp, gotta get back to my Crisis Crunch (I'm still the procrastinator...)! Wish me luck! (I may stop by again to take another break...) Toodles for now - lisa