Which also means its payday, which unfortunately means that I'm sitting on the computer paying bills and drinking hot chocolate(I don't drink coffee), which means all that money will be gone very shortly. But I'm just thankful that we have the money to pay said bills.
Miss E and I started the 25 days of Christmas crafts yesterday. She remembered us doing it last year so she was very excited to start this year. We started off with a construction paper Christmas tree. She loved cutting the strips of paper with her little safety scissors, she thought that was a big deal. I'm thinking we will do the Popsicle Santa's and Reindeer today.
As most everyone knows, Miss E is and will be home schooled. We don't like the public school system here, or really anywhere close to here. If she gets older and decides she doesn't want to be home schooled anymore, we will look into private Christian school. Right now since she is only at the Pre K level, we don't have to report yet nor do I have to follow a set curriculum. I started her when she was 2 to just get her into the routine of it and it became something she loved doing. She knows when we wake up and eat breakfast, that afterwards it's school time. She loves talking about it to other people and telling daddy about what she did for school when he gets home at night. It has just become a routine part of our day.
She knows her alphabet really well and you can say a random letter and she can tell you what comes before and after it. So now we are on to letter sounds. She thinks letter sounds are hilarious, she particularly loves the 'Z' sound. She knows how to spell her name and knows how to spell it in sign language, so she is working on writing it right now. She does the 'E' and the 'L' well, but has a hard time with the 'Y' and 'S'. That wasn't something I was going to start with her yet, but she drew the 'E' one day and said "look mommy, I drew E" and we just went from there. She loves drawing smiley faces and circles and squares too. She just loves to learn and soak everything in right now, so I want to cram all this knowledge in there while she is so willing. We don't have a set amount of time we do for school, just whenever she starts getting antsy, it's usually an hour to an hour and a half. I don't push things on her, I really just follow her lead, she usually lets me know what she is ready to learn and that has been what works for us. So far anyway. The day she tells me she doesn't want to home school or if she gets older and it is just something that isn't working anymore, we will enroll her into private school. I'm not going to push it on her because that just defeats the whole purpose of it.
Since we are done with school and bill paying for the day, I'm going to take her to do some Christmas shopping:) We still have a few people to buy for and she loves picking out presents for other people!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Lets play catch up!
Truth: I am a horrible blogger. It's been almost 2 months again since I've blogged and I said last time that I wouldn't let it go that far again, but I did. I think about it often, but since the death of my laptop and my desktop being a dinosaur, and it's just a pain to blog from my phone or tablet(unless it's something really short) so that is why I haven't been keeping it up. Brandon did a reset on the dinosaur computer and it's actually working really well now, so here I am.
Lets see...since my last blog post, Miss E has been to Disney for the first time(without mommy or daddy), we've had to switch her dance schools because of a bullying issue, and I'm sure there have been significant other things, but those are the 2 that pop into my head right away.
So Disney...it was a very last minute thing. Like night before last minute. My MIL called the night before they were leaving(they already were planning a trip to Fl for a vacation) and said that they had been given tickets to Disney and really wanted to take Miss E. I was invited too but I had no one to take care of the 3 dogs on that short of notice. We had been planning on taking her next year to Disney for her first time and so this was a difficult decision to make. We decided to let her go because what if something happens and we aren't able to take her next year? Plus, I didn't want to be selfish and not let her go just because I wouldn't be able to. So she went. It was a hard 5 days for me, but she had so much fun with her aunt, Grammie, and great grandmother. I know she will have those memories forever(and the pictures) and I don't regret the decision one bit to let her go.
We had to pull Miss E out of her old dance school, and that was a very tough situation. She adored her teacher, it's the only teacher she has ever had. She had her last year, over the summer, and this year. But it was something that had to be done. There were 5 little girls in the class and one of them, who was the youngest in the class btw, was a bully. At first, it was a push here or a kick there. The mom always had an excuse. No nap, loud house, something about daycare, etc...Well the behavior continued and was getting worse. The girl just didn't want to be there, she was always trying to escape from the class while her mom held the door shut from the other side. The mom eventually stopped watching the class, she would wait in her car for it to be over. The teacher was spoken to, I know we all had communication with the owner of the studio, and I spoke to the mother as well as one of the other moms did. Nothing was done. The owner said she was going to sit in a classes for a bit, she sat in the class the day that I spoke to her and the bully wound up leaving halfway through the class. The next week she showed up the last 20 mins of class bc her kid was sick. Well that week the teacher shut the curtains so we couldn't see in and I was pissed about that. When the owner finally showed up, I told her I was NOT happy about being shut out and she kinda laughed it off and went it. The girls Halloween party was also that day so we tried to be calm for the girls sake, but after class was over, I pulled the mom aside and basically let her have it. A few days later I sent an email to the owner saying we weren't coming back. All four of us left that week. So she lost 4 students over that one. Bad business, bad policies, just all around bad. We tried 2 studios the following week and really liked the second one. The first thing I asked was the policy on bullying.
I hate it because this has really stayed with Miss E and the other girls. We all four wound up at the same studio, 2 of us in one class and the other 2 in a different day. But they all 4 still talk about it. Every week when we go, Miss E asks if that girl is going to be there and how much she hurt her feelings and how she was mean to the other girls. I'm hoping eventually she can put it behind her. I can't believe this starts at such a young age. I teach Miss E to be nice to everyone and she is. She is such a sweet girl to everyone she meets, so she just didn't understand why this girl acted like that. But I am glad that it is over and we have moved on.
Oh, we've started going to story time every Tuesday, she has loved it. It has replaced our home schooling on Tuesday mornings. They sing, dance, learn sign language, and of course have 2 books read to them. They wrap it up every week with a craft. We both really enjoy it and I wish I would have learned about it sooner.
Miss E turns three in a month and a half. I will be a mom to a three year old. It looks weird even typing it. But I am very proud to say that she is fully potty trained! I may have mentioned that in my last post, I don't remember. She's been partially trained for a long time now, but she would still still have an occasional wet pull up in the morning. But for the past few months she will wake up to go pee in the night if she has to go, so now I say she is fully potty trained. I can't really take credit for anything because all I did was put her on the toilet, she completely did this by herself, no pushing from us. Now she just goes whenever and just calls me when she needs to be wiped. I'm just glad she decided to do it before she was 3 and I'm thankful it was so easy because I know it's not easy for everyone.
We are in Christmas mode full swing here. All of our decorations are up and the majority of the presents are under the tree(I am on top of it this year!). Miss E actually likes Santa this year, she had a photo shoot with him and got to hang out with him and drink juice and eat cookies and she thought that was really cool. The only thing she wants for Christmas is a Cinderella carriage with Cinderella and Prince Charming. She's going to be a happy kid come Christmas morning:) We were talking about Santa the other day and she said "mommy, does Santa come in the house to bring presents?" I told her yes, and she said "while we are all sleeping?" So that freaked her out some, I told her that mommy and daddy would meet Santa and he would give us her present and we would put it under the tree. She said "good"!
I've been at this for awhile now, so I think that's going to be all the catching up I do tonight:) I'll catch up on her schooling and stuff tomorrow hopefully!
Lets see...since my last blog post, Miss E has been to Disney for the first time(without mommy or daddy), we've had to switch her dance schools because of a bullying issue, and I'm sure there have been significant other things, but those are the 2 that pop into my head right away.
So Disney...it was a very last minute thing. Like night before last minute. My MIL called the night before they were leaving(they already were planning a trip to Fl for a vacation) and said that they had been given tickets to Disney and really wanted to take Miss E. I was invited too but I had no one to take care of the 3 dogs on that short of notice. We had been planning on taking her next year to Disney for her first time and so this was a difficult decision to make. We decided to let her go because what if something happens and we aren't able to take her next year? Plus, I didn't want to be selfish and not let her go just because I wouldn't be able to. So she went. It was a hard 5 days for me, but she had so much fun with her aunt, Grammie, and great grandmother. I know she will have those memories forever(and the pictures) and I don't regret the decision one bit to let her go.
We had to pull Miss E out of her old dance school, and that was a very tough situation. She adored her teacher, it's the only teacher she has ever had. She had her last year, over the summer, and this year. But it was something that had to be done. There were 5 little girls in the class and one of them, who was the youngest in the class btw, was a bully. At first, it was a push here or a kick there. The mom always had an excuse. No nap, loud house, something about daycare, etc...Well the behavior continued and was getting worse. The girl just didn't want to be there, she was always trying to escape from the class while her mom held the door shut from the other side. The mom eventually stopped watching the class, she would wait in her car for it to be over. The teacher was spoken to, I know we all had communication with the owner of the studio, and I spoke to the mother as well as one of the other moms did. Nothing was done. The owner said she was going to sit in a classes for a bit, she sat in the class the day that I spoke to her and the bully wound up leaving halfway through the class. The next week she showed up the last 20 mins of class bc her kid was sick. Well that week the teacher shut the curtains so we couldn't see in and I was pissed about that. When the owner finally showed up, I told her I was NOT happy about being shut out and she kinda laughed it off and went it. The girls Halloween party was also that day so we tried to be calm for the girls sake, but after class was over, I pulled the mom aside and basically let her have it. A few days later I sent an email to the owner saying we weren't coming back. All four of us left that week. So she lost 4 students over that one. Bad business, bad policies, just all around bad. We tried 2 studios the following week and really liked the second one. The first thing I asked was the policy on bullying.
I hate it because this has really stayed with Miss E and the other girls. We all four wound up at the same studio, 2 of us in one class and the other 2 in a different day. But they all 4 still talk about it. Every week when we go, Miss E asks if that girl is going to be there and how much she hurt her feelings and how she was mean to the other girls. I'm hoping eventually she can put it behind her. I can't believe this starts at such a young age. I teach Miss E to be nice to everyone and she is. She is such a sweet girl to everyone she meets, so she just didn't understand why this girl acted like that. But I am glad that it is over and we have moved on.
Oh, we've started going to story time every Tuesday, she has loved it. It has replaced our home schooling on Tuesday mornings. They sing, dance, learn sign language, and of course have 2 books read to them. They wrap it up every week with a craft. We both really enjoy it and I wish I would have learned about it sooner.
Miss E turns three in a month and a half. I will be a mom to a three year old. It looks weird even typing it. But I am very proud to say that she is fully potty trained! I may have mentioned that in my last post, I don't remember. She's been partially trained for a long time now, but she would still still have an occasional wet pull up in the morning. But for the past few months she will wake up to go pee in the night if she has to go, so now I say she is fully potty trained. I can't really take credit for anything because all I did was put her on the toilet, she completely did this by herself, no pushing from us. Now she just goes whenever and just calls me when she needs to be wiped. I'm just glad she decided to do it before she was 3 and I'm thankful it was so easy because I know it's not easy for everyone.
We are in Christmas mode full swing here. All of our decorations are up and the majority of the presents are under the tree(I am on top of it this year!). Miss E actually likes Santa this year, she had a photo shoot with him and got to hang out with him and drink juice and eat cookies and she thought that was really cool. The only thing she wants for Christmas is a Cinderella carriage with Cinderella and Prince Charming. She's going to be a happy kid come Christmas morning:) We were talking about Santa the other day and she said "mommy, does Santa come in the house to bring presents?" I told her yes, and she said "while we are all sleeping?" So that freaked her out some, I told her that mommy and daddy would meet Santa and he would give us her present and we would put it under the tree. She said "good"!
I've been at this for awhile now, so I think that's going to be all the catching up I do tonight:) I'll catch up on her schooling and stuff tomorrow hopefully!
Monday, October 1, 2012
It's been awhile...
It's been over 2 months since I've blogged. I just never seem to remember to do it and I've been staying pretty busy these days. But a lot has gone on in the past 2 months.
First thing is I turned 27 in August. I didn't plan a night out or anything like that because I just wanted to spend the day with my family. And that is what we did. We went and ate lunch at the Olive Garden then went to Mountaisa where we spent the day. We played putt putt and played all the games and Elyse loved getting to trade her tickets for prized. She told daddy that she wanted to get a prize for me since it was my birthday so she picked out a purple bracelet and I wear it all the time. Brandon got me the Hunger Games DVD and a ring with Elyse's name on it. But the company sized it wrong so I haven't been able to wear it just yet. Then my sis in law made me dinner at her house and surprised me with cheesecake(my absolute fave). It was a really great day. Brandon took his stress days on my birthday and the day after. So the next day we woke up at 6 am for family pictures. It was so worth it though because all the pictures turned out amazing! I will eventually post some new pics on my blog, but since my laptop crashed and I mostly use my phone and tablet and the slow as Christmas computer, I just haven't done it yet.
The next weekend Brandon and I headed to Blue Ridge for our anniversary. We spent the day wandering around and then we did horseback ride through the mountains. It was so peaceful and amazing and we have decided that we are going to make that a tradition. I was SO incredible sore the next day though! But I can't wait to do it again.
The end of Aug beginning of September was our staycation. We had so much things planned and made a ton of great memories. We went to the aquarium and spent all day there. We hiked Stone Mountain (the sky lift was closed, so we had to hike). That was tough with a 2 year old. Every day we did something, it was almost better than actually going somewhere, there is something comforting about getting to sleep in your own bed every night and we didn't have to worry about boarding the dogs.
Elyse had her first dance performance for the new dance year. They performed at Paulding Meadows and she did a great job. That kid loves the stage and loves putting on a show. She is doing great in the older class and it was definitely the right move putting her in the next class up. She has another performance in a few weeks and then she will also be in the Nutcracker in December. I really appreciate that the new owner is involving the younger kids with everything and not just having them in the end of year recital.
The fair came into town and so we went to that. Elyse wanted to be in the beautiful baby pageant, so she got to pick out her own dress and walk across the stage. After that, she rode every kid ride and one not so kid ride and had a blast. I think I had more fun this year watching her enjoy everything so much than I ever have in the past before we had her.
Some not so good news is that Brandon got caught in a speed trap and got 2 tickets that we have to pay for in a few days. I really need one month with no unexpected expenses. The cop was a prick, he gave him a speeding ticket and a window tint ticket. I've had my car for 5 years and no one has ever said anything about my tint. I bought the car the way it is and had no idea that my back windows were illegal. It was the end of the month and you know how cops have to get their quota in. He should have given us a warning, but no. I don't like power hungry cops. They really piss me off.
Anyway, our yard is really looking good and Elyse loves having a huge front yard to run around in and all 3 dogs love having the back yard to run around it. It's a win for everyone.
I know I'm missing some things, but my mind is drawing a blank. Maybe it's because it's dinner time and my stomach is growling:)
I know I say this a lot but, I really will try to keep this more up to date!
First thing is I turned 27 in August. I didn't plan a night out or anything like that because I just wanted to spend the day with my family. And that is what we did. We went and ate lunch at the Olive Garden then went to Mountaisa where we spent the day. We played putt putt and played all the games and Elyse loved getting to trade her tickets for prized. She told daddy that she wanted to get a prize for me since it was my birthday so she picked out a purple bracelet and I wear it all the time. Brandon got me the Hunger Games DVD and a ring with Elyse's name on it. But the company sized it wrong so I haven't been able to wear it just yet. Then my sis in law made me dinner at her house and surprised me with cheesecake(my absolute fave). It was a really great day. Brandon took his stress days on my birthday and the day after. So the next day we woke up at 6 am for family pictures. It was so worth it though because all the pictures turned out amazing! I will eventually post some new pics on my blog, but since my laptop crashed and I mostly use my phone and tablet and the slow as Christmas computer, I just haven't done it yet.
The next weekend Brandon and I headed to Blue Ridge for our anniversary. We spent the day wandering around and then we did horseback ride through the mountains. It was so peaceful and amazing and we have decided that we are going to make that a tradition. I was SO incredible sore the next day though! But I can't wait to do it again.
The end of Aug beginning of September was our staycation. We had so much things planned and made a ton of great memories. We went to the aquarium and spent all day there. We hiked Stone Mountain (the sky lift was closed, so we had to hike). That was tough with a 2 year old. Every day we did something, it was almost better than actually going somewhere, there is something comforting about getting to sleep in your own bed every night and we didn't have to worry about boarding the dogs.
Elyse had her first dance performance for the new dance year. They performed at Paulding Meadows and she did a great job. That kid loves the stage and loves putting on a show. She is doing great in the older class and it was definitely the right move putting her in the next class up. She has another performance in a few weeks and then she will also be in the Nutcracker in December. I really appreciate that the new owner is involving the younger kids with everything and not just having them in the end of year recital.
The fair came into town and so we went to that. Elyse wanted to be in the beautiful baby pageant, so she got to pick out her own dress and walk across the stage. After that, she rode every kid ride and one not so kid ride and had a blast. I think I had more fun this year watching her enjoy everything so much than I ever have in the past before we had her.
Some not so good news is that Brandon got caught in a speed trap and got 2 tickets that we have to pay for in a few days. I really need one month with no unexpected expenses. The cop was a prick, he gave him a speeding ticket and a window tint ticket. I've had my car for 5 years and no one has ever said anything about my tint. I bought the car the way it is and had no idea that my back windows were illegal. It was the end of the month and you know how cops have to get their quota in. He should have given us a warning, but no. I don't like power hungry cops. They really piss me off.
Anyway, our yard is really looking good and Elyse loves having a huge front yard to run around in and all 3 dogs love having the back yard to run around it. It's a win for everyone.
I know I'm missing some things, but my mind is drawing a blank. Maybe it's because it's dinner time and my stomach is growling:)
I know I say this a lot but, I really will try to keep this more up to date!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
My name is Meagan and I am a co-sleeper.
Today Brandon and I made a super bed. Meaning we pushed Miss E's twin bed up against our queen bed. It's pretty awesome!
I guess that by the above statement you realize that we are a co-sleeping family. Not just co-sleeping, we take it one step further and bed share. That's right, our 2.5 year old daughter still sleeps in the same bed with us. *GASP* (enter eye roll here).
I am SO sick of people thinking co-sleeping is unnatural or weird. Some people are very understanding, they are usually other peaceful parenting people like myself. Others just think it is so weird that we co-sleep.
Let me start by saying that before we had a child, we said we would never bed share. That changed the day we got home from the hospital. I had a c/s that I had complications with and was breastfeeding. The thought of getting up every 1.5 to 2 hours to pick the baby up, feed her, then put the baby back down didn't sound too good to me. She did have a bassinet set up in our room. When she was hungry, Brandon would get up and bring her to me so I could feed her and then put her back down. But that got old really quick. It was SO much easier to have her beside me and when she got up, just pop a boob in her mouth til we both went back to sleep. Lazy, yes. I was a new, very sleep deprived mom. I had an incision that had complications and I was very sore. Plus I had a colicky baby that cried. A lot. She only seemed content at night when she was in bed next to me. So it worked. We all started sleeping great. She would still wake up to eat(she didn't drop her last night feeding til she was right at a year old), but she always went right back to sleep.
Now she is 2.5 and still loves to sleep with mommy and daddy. She was asking to sleep in her room on and off and we would always let her choose where she wanted to sleep. Even when she did go to sleep in her bed in her room, she would always wake up at some point and come in our bed. She has never slept an entire night in her room. We have never forced her to sleep where she doesn't want to. We have never made her "cry it out". We want her to be comfortable. If that's in our room with us, then so be it. We don't mind at all. There is going to be a day when she doesn't want to hang out with mommy and daddy so until then we are enjoying it.
I get asked a lot why we just don't make her stay in her own bed in her room. I just simply say that is not where she wants to be. Then I get asked why don't we just let her cry. I then say that we are not believers in cry it out and we think that it is a horrible thing to do to a child who is crying. I could *never* let Miss E just cry and not respond to her cries. I wanted Miss E to know from day 1 that if she cried, mommy and daddy were going to respond and resolve whatever was wrong, even if she just wanted to be held. Then we, without fail, get asked the million dollar question. "If she is sleeping in your room/bed, then how do you and your husband have 'quality time'"? Or the "Oh, you guys must not have a very good sex life with your kid in your room all the time" To this I answer(with a smile on my face), "if you can't have a sex life without a bedroom, then you have bigger things to worry about than where my child sleeps". Because that is the truth. If you can't have sex except for on a bed in your room, then you seriously have bigger issues than how my family chooses to sleep.
I can only do what feels natural to me. Having my child close to me is what feels natural to us. To some, it only feels right having them in their own bed in their own room. To each their own. My kid is a very well adjusted, smart, independent, thriving child. So no, you don't need to worry yourself about how and where we all sleep because we are all doing just fine=)
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
FINALLY!
Are you ready for this??? After 4 months, we finally have a yard!! Sod was laid on Sunday and it looks amazing! I finally have the huge yard that I have wanted since we moved in. The backyard is still getting worked on, but it is close to being done as well. As I type this, the fence guy is here putting up the fence in the back. It will be awhile before the pups can have full reign of the back bc we have to wait til everything settles, but they are going to have a great place to run back there. The best part is Shyla finally gets a bigger pen, more than double the size of her's now AND she won't have to stay in it all the time, she can run around the backyard as she pleases.
I had NO idea how much work was involved taking care of sod. Apparently we got the high dollar, best grass, very thick and durable once it takes (it's good to know people). Watering it is seriously a full time job. We have three sprinklers in the front that I have to alternate and watch the time bc it has to be wet, but it can't be too wet. Then there's the sprinkler in the back (we only laid sod where Shyla's pen is going to be and connecting it around to the front of the house on the far side) that I have to move to 3 different spots, it has to be in exactly the right spots to hit everything for a certain amount of time bc again, it has to be wet, but not too wet. Then there's the other grass that has to be hand watered. It's just really a lot of work, but in about a week or so, we are going to have a beautiful front yard! I can't wait to plant rose bushes and plan the garden out(which should be fun since I have never planted or taken care of a garden ever). So basically, we are almost done with the yard renovations and I couldn't be more happy with the out come.
Now for some updates I guess. I recently got back in contact with an old friend. We just kinda lost touch after I had Miss E (although we were friends on FB, so we both kept up with each other). She came over and we got to catch up and talk and it was like we never lost touch. We had a girls night out a few nights later, we went and ate and had margaritas (only 1 each, neither of us are drinkers anymore) and saw Magic Mike (horrible plot, great eye candy). I have really missed this girl and didn't realize it until we started talking. It's nice to have someone that understands how you think and are on the same page about so many things. I have few friends that are like that and I need to keep those close. I've had friendships fizzle out bc we just have nothing in common anymore, from religion and politics to the way we live our lives and raise our kids. I'm not saying you have to think exactly alike to be friends with someone, but there does have to be some common ground that you can base a friendship on and sometimes as we get older people change and part ways.
I think I wrote in my last post about Miss E going to Florida. She had a blast. She was gone for 5 days and the day she was coming home, I was over at their house 2 hours early. She loved telling me all about the beach and the pool and everything she did. I'm so glad that she got to have that experience with her aunt, Grammie, and Memaw, but I think it will be a long time before she is away from me for that long again.
I'm counting down the days til Brandon is off for vacation. We are at about a month and a half. I am so excited about our weekend anniversary trip(which we still need to book) and about our week with Miss E. I did some research and wrote out a list of things to do and how much each thing is so we are prepared. Brandon doesn't know this, but I've been putting money up every week so we can pay for that week in cash and that way I know we have the money to do everything.
Oh and if there wasn't enough to pay for in July and Aug (my tag renewal is in Aug), I got hit with a law suit. I've been fighting this credit card company since 2009. This is the back ground on it: I got a pre approval for this card in 2008 and so I called and got the card because it was to a major store that I was wanting to buy Brandon a new TV for Christmas and I was going to use the card. Well I wound up getting him something else and just paying in cash so that I wouldn't have to worry about having another card payment. So the card was never even activated. Fast forward to a year later when I get a notice from them saying that I owed money. There was a yearly fee and interest on that, plus late charges for every month. I called them and said it had to be a mistake bc the card was never even activated much less used. They said the card went active when I called and accepted the pre approval offer. I said okay, well why wasn't I notified of any outstanding balances in that entire YEAR that had gone by? They said they have sent bills (I never got any). The amount owed was over $1000 and I told them I wasn't going to pay that. I would pay the 1 yearly fee and close the card. Well, they said no and we have been back and forth since then. Last week I got the call that they had filed a law suit against me so I did some digging and it would cost me more to pay the lawyer fees and court cost than to just settle the stupid card out. So I have to pay $826 on a card that was never even used. You better believe that store will NEVER have our business again. I paid the first half last Friday and will pay the last half the first week of August, so that puts a huge damper on things. But at least it will be done and not hanging over my head anymore. And I am also one step closer to having all of my credit cards paid off. I am now down to 1 (from 7). That is one of the lessons I'm going to teach Miss E about for sure. I wish older me could go back and tell younger me to never open those cards(or use them). But it's just another one of those life lessons learned the hard way. At least I learned it relatively young though!
I had NO idea how much work was involved taking care of sod. Apparently we got the high dollar, best grass, very thick and durable once it takes (it's good to know people). Watering it is seriously a full time job. We have three sprinklers in the front that I have to alternate and watch the time bc it has to be wet, but it can't be too wet. Then there's the sprinkler in the back (we only laid sod where Shyla's pen is going to be and connecting it around to the front of the house on the far side) that I have to move to 3 different spots, it has to be in exactly the right spots to hit everything for a certain amount of time bc again, it has to be wet, but not too wet. Then there's the other grass that has to be hand watered. It's just really a lot of work, but in about a week or so, we are going to have a beautiful front yard! I can't wait to plant rose bushes and plan the garden out(which should be fun since I have never planted or taken care of a garden ever). So basically, we are almost done with the yard renovations and I couldn't be more happy with the out come.
Now for some updates I guess. I recently got back in contact with an old friend. We just kinda lost touch after I had Miss E (although we were friends on FB, so we both kept up with each other). She came over and we got to catch up and talk and it was like we never lost touch. We had a girls night out a few nights later, we went and ate and had margaritas (only 1 each, neither of us are drinkers anymore) and saw Magic Mike (horrible plot, great eye candy). I have really missed this girl and didn't realize it until we started talking. It's nice to have someone that understands how you think and are on the same page about so many things. I have few friends that are like that and I need to keep those close. I've had friendships fizzle out bc we just have nothing in common anymore, from religion and politics to the way we live our lives and raise our kids. I'm not saying you have to think exactly alike to be friends with someone, but there does have to be some common ground that you can base a friendship on and sometimes as we get older people change and part ways.
I think I wrote in my last post about Miss E going to Florida. She had a blast. She was gone for 5 days and the day she was coming home, I was over at their house 2 hours early. She loved telling me all about the beach and the pool and everything she did. I'm so glad that she got to have that experience with her aunt, Grammie, and Memaw, but I think it will be a long time before she is away from me for that long again.
I'm counting down the days til Brandon is off for vacation. We are at about a month and a half. I am so excited about our weekend anniversary trip(which we still need to book) and about our week with Miss E. I did some research and wrote out a list of things to do and how much each thing is so we are prepared. Brandon doesn't know this, but I've been putting money up every week so we can pay for that week in cash and that way I know we have the money to do everything.
Oh and if there wasn't enough to pay for in July and Aug (my tag renewal is in Aug), I got hit with a law suit. I've been fighting this credit card company since 2009. This is the back ground on it: I got a pre approval for this card in 2008 and so I called and got the card because it was to a major store that I was wanting to buy Brandon a new TV for Christmas and I was going to use the card. Well I wound up getting him something else and just paying in cash so that I wouldn't have to worry about having another card payment. So the card was never even activated. Fast forward to a year later when I get a notice from them saying that I owed money. There was a yearly fee and interest on that, plus late charges for every month. I called them and said it had to be a mistake bc the card was never even activated much less used. They said the card went active when I called and accepted the pre approval offer. I said okay, well why wasn't I notified of any outstanding balances in that entire YEAR that had gone by? They said they have sent bills (I never got any). The amount owed was over $1000 and I told them I wasn't going to pay that. I would pay the 1 yearly fee and close the card. Well, they said no and we have been back and forth since then. Last week I got the call that they had filed a law suit against me so I did some digging and it would cost me more to pay the lawyer fees and court cost than to just settle the stupid card out. So I have to pay $826 on a card that was never even used. You better believe that store will NEVER have our business again. I paid the first half last Friday and will pay the last half the first week of August, so that puts a huge damper on things. But at least it will be done and not hanging over my head anymore. And I am also one step closer to having all of my credit cards paid off. I am now down to 1 (from 7). That is one of the lessons I'm going to teach Miss E about for sure. I wish older me could go back and tell younger me to never open those cards(or use them). But it's just another one of those life lessons learned the hard way. At least I learned it relatively young though!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Empty Nest Syndrome
Today is day 1 of 5 with no Miss E:( We were invited to go to the beach with my MIL, SIL, and Memaw, but with Brandon's work schedule and 3 dogs, it was impossible for me to go on short notice. Finding someone to take in the 2 inside dogs is hard and it was too short notice to board them on a "maybe". If we could guarantee that Brandon would be home, it wouldn't have been a big deal. But either you book a room for the pups or not, they don't do "maybe's". Elyse was SO excited, she has been wanting to go back to the beach since we left last year, that it wouldn't have been fair to not let her go. So we dropped her off last night and I cried the whole way home. This is the longest that I have ever been without her and I'm kinda lost to be honest. Brandon is working so I'm by myself for 3 days, then who knows if he will even be home this weekend, so I could be by myself then too. But I know she is going to have so much fun, this kid LOVES her Grammie, Aunt Shell and Memaw(her great grandmother), I'm just sad that I won't be there to see her excitement when she sees the beach again and have those memories. But I also know that it is important for her to have those memories with them. The house just seems so big and empty and quiet without her and I'm just lonely without her.
On a different note, we have been trying to decide what we wanted to do for our vacation this year at the beginning of Sept and we finally got it figured out. Brandon asked me if I wanted to go away for the weekend for an anniversary trip just the 2 of us to Savannah (this is SO unlike Brandon to even think to do something like that) so I jumped on the offer. So Miss E is going to stay with her Grammie for the weekend (2 nights is so much easier than 5) while we do a mini vacation. Then we are going to use the week to fun things with Miss E. Like go to the zoo, aquarium, stone mountain, Acworth Beach, things like that. This way, we don't have to worry about boarding the dogs for 7 nights(which is really expensive). We still get to do fun things as a family and have the time together. We figure Miss E is still young enough that she doesn't care if we go out of town, just as long as we all do things together. Next year is going to be the fun year though, we plan on taking her to Disney next year and I can't wait for that! Everything from the time this vacation is over is going to be about planning for Disney next year:)
On a different note, we have been trying to decide what we wanted to do for our vacation this year at the beginning of Sept and we finally got it figured out. Brandon asked me if I wanted to go away for the weekend for an anniversary trip just the 2 of us to Savannah (this is SO unlike Brandon to even think to do something like that) so I jumped on the offer. So Miss E is going to stay with her Grammie for the weekend (2 nights is so much easier than 5) while we do a mini vacation. Then we are going to use the week to fun things with Miss E. Like go to the zoo, aquarium, stone mountain, Acworth Beach, things like that. This way, we don't have to worry about boarding the dogs for 7 nights(which is really expensive). We still get to do fun things as a family and have the time together. We figure Miss E is still young enough that she doesn't care if we go out of town, just as long as we all do things together. Next year is going to be the fun year though, we plan on taking her to Disney next year and I can't wait for that! Everything from the time this vacation is over is going to be about planning for Disney next year:)
Sunday, June 10, 2012
I fell off the wagon this weekend.
Yep. I was doing so good. I haven't eaten fast food or anything "bad" in about 3 weeks. I was doing my elliptical for a min of 40 mins a day. Then this weekend happened. I ate Zaxby's, Little Caesars, Arby's and Chinese. I didn't do my elliptical Fri or Sat. I also drank a Dr Pepper (which if you know me, you know that I NEVER drink soda) and haven't drank any water since Friday. Bad Meagan.
In my defense, Friday is the one day a week that Miss E and I go to lunch and I have my "cheat meal" of the week. This week it was Arby's. We played at the playground for a few hours and did lots of walking in the 6 stores we went to. The reason I didn't do my elliptical is because when we got home, It was 76 in my house (normally it's around 72) and I realized that our AC was BROKEN. It got up to 86 that evening in the house, it felt cooler outside than in my house. It was miserable. So I didn't cook (didn't want to turn the stove on and make more heat) so Chinese it was. I probably would have burned more calories since I was sweating on the elliptical that night, but I was just too hot to care to be honest.
Saturday my FIL came over to do yard work (still working on getting it ready from the tornado) and I took Miss E to her Grammie's to spend the night. I needed something cheap to feed the rest of us though so Little Caesars it was. $7 for a large pepperoni pizza and bread sticks. Then the rest of the afternoon was spent getting the AC taken care of(which we did thanks to one of our best friends) and the guys working in the yard. Last night we went to Sam's to upgrade our phones (finally!!) bc we had gotten something in the mail saying that we get to upgrade early. We've had our phones for 2 years and all the electronic nuts know that with all the new technology coming out so frequently, that means our phones were terribly outdated. Plus mine had been broken since November, but I didn't want to pay to get the same phone back so I just stuck it out. I was contemplating on getting an Iphone, but my old phone and Tablet is Android(which I LOVE) and I don't use Apple anything so there was just no point, I was just contemplating a change. Plus the new Iphone 5 is coming in September and I didn't want to wait that long. Anyway, we both got new phones and they are awesome. By the time we got all that done is was almost 10 so of course we didn't want to go home to cook, so Zaxby's it was.
Today I've jumped back on the wagon after weighing myself and realizing I gained a pound back. You may think that a pound isn't a big deal, but when you've been on a strict routine and have been steadily losing, it's really discouraging to gain even a little back. But it's okay, just a minor set back. I went to the grocery store today and got all my healthy stuff for the week so I'm all set.
I wish I had more friends that lived closer to me that actually enjoyed walking. When it's not rainy, Miss E and I take evening walks around my subdivision(which is full of hills so it's a nice workout when your pushing a stroller). But I live out in the boonies and the friends that do live close don't really care about walking or working out. I need more health conscious friends to be doing this with me, but I'm still doing okay on my own, it would just be nice to have someone to share the journey with and swap stories with and share frustrations with. I'm absolutely addicted to MyFitnessPal and I have a good number of people on there doing it with me, but it would be nice to have someone IRL doing it as well.
The good news is I'm 18lbs down, but I still have a ways to go. It really does get easier over time. The first 2 weeks are the hardest, then after that it's just habit.
In my defense, Friday is the one day a week that Miss E and I go to lunch and I have my "cheat meal" of the week. This week it was Arby's. We played at the playground for a few hours and did lots of walking in the 6 stores we went to. The reason I didn't do my elliptical is because when we got home, It was 76 in my house (normally it's around 72) and I realized that our AC was BROKEN. It got up to 86 that evening in the house, it felt cooler outside than in my house. It was miserable. So I didn't cook (didn't want to turn the stove on and make more heat) so Chinese it was. I probably would have burned more calories since I was sweating on the elliptical that night, but I was just too hot to care to be honest.
Saturday my FIL came over to do yard work (still working on getting it ready from the tornado) and I took Miss E to her Grammie's to spend the night. I needed something cheap to feed the rest of us though so Little Caesars it was. $7 for a large pepperoni pizza and bread sticks. Then the rest of the afternoon was spent getting the AC taken care of(which we did thanks to one of our best friends) and the guys working in the yard. Last night we went to Sam's to upgrade our phones (finally!!) bc we had gotten something in the mail saying that we get to upgrade early. We've had our phones for 2 years and all the electronic nuts know that with all the new technology coming out so frequently, that means our phones were terribly outdated. Plus mine had been broken since November, but I didn't want to pay to get the same phone back so I just stuck it out. I was contemplating on getting an Iphone, but my old phone and Tablet is Android(which I LOVE) and I don't use Apple anything so there was just no point, I was just contemplating a change. Plus the new Iphone 5 is coming in September and I didn't want to wait that long. Anyway, we both got new phones and they are awesome. By the time we got all that done is was almost 10 so of course we didn't want to go home to cook, so Zaxby's it was.
Today I've jumped back on the wagon after weighing myself and realizing I gained a pound back. You may think that a pound isn't a big deal, but when you've been on a strict routine and have been steadily losing, it's really discouraging to gain even a little back. But it's okay, just a minor set back. I went to the grocery store today and got all my healthy stuff for the week so I'm all set.
I wish I had more friends that lived closer to me that actually enjoyed walking. When it's not rainy, Miss E and I take evening walks around my subdivision(which is full of hills so it's a nice workout when your pushing a stroller). But I live out in the boonies and the friends that do live close don't really care about walking or working out. I need more health conscious friends to be doing this with me, but I'm still doing okay on my own, it would just be nice to have someone to share the journey with and swap stories with and share frustrations with. I'm absolutely addicted to MyFitnessPal and I have a good number of people on there doing it with me, but it would be nice to have someone IRL doing it as well.
The good news is I'm 18lbs down, but I still have a ways to go. It really does get easier over time. The first 2 weeks are the hardest, then after that it's just habit.
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