Wanna save Money?

Visit my coupon blog and learn how to save money by using coupons, bargain internet shopping and using natural products that you typically have on hand for blemishes and cleaning!
http://www.calistylecoupons.com/

"Raising kids is like being pecked to death by chickens"

So, next week I will officially have a high-school graduate and a middle schooler and I have mixed feelings on this. 18 and 12 yrs have literally flown by like the speed of light. It's had it's share of ups and downs and for the most part, I wish it wasn't over. Caroline Manzo on the Housewives of New Jersey summed it up quite well when saying, "It's one of the proudest times in your life but it feels like a stab in the heart at the same time". When the kids were little, I thought I would be so happy that the car trips with car seats were over. I thought I would scream if I had to search for Bailee's shoes one more time after she removed them on those car rides. Or how lucky I'd be if I didn't have to stop the car to threaten a spanking to the kid who weasled their way out of the car seat straps....AGAIN!! Now I think to myself (and to Rich at times), gone are the wet toddler kisses, baths in the kitchen sink and excessive band-aids for miniscule "owees". No more dances to document with my camera for my oldest (not that he attended very many of them which is all the more reason to be sad it's over). For my youngest, it's already started, the roll of the eyes, attitude and "Oh Mom" after EVERYTHING I say.

I know I have to look forward to the future. With that hopefully comes another diploma (even if it is from a JC), Alex if you are reading this Humboldt still accepted you, it's not too late! Then in the very FAR future, a wife for Alex and grand-babies for me which I can't wait to share with him. Let me clarify by saying that doesn't mean he should hurry. I will look forward to dances overly documented with my camera for Bailee if she has any say in it. I am also sure I can count on many more walks with just Bailee and I, her doing most of the talking (such a typical girl, I pray that her future husband has lots of patience and the gift of silent listening).

Raising kids might feel I am being pecked to death by chickens but I am not sure I am ready for the torture to come to such an unwelcome stop.

"Never say Never" from a previous entry Feb 12th, 2011

Tonight, my daughter and I went to go see Justin Beiber’s “Never say Never” documentary on the big screen…in 3-D. I’ll start by saying I didn’t care for the kid when he first came out. I NEVER thought I would like him myself. I thought he had no talent (I literally rolled my eyes and said to myself “another force fed teen idol”) and I heard rumors about his tantrums and attitude in public, from gossip mags of course. I must say I stand so severely corrected, I was incredibly moved by this documentary, so much so that I found myself crying through 75% of it. His mom was a young single mother, her parents helped raise Justin and they are a very spiritual, super supportive, tight knit family. I learned that he is actually extremely gifted and from a very young age had this natural musical talent and a way about him that is just mesmerizing. He also did not take no for an answer, he kept plugging away eventually achieving his dream at the age of like 15! It made me think of my own kids and their dreams. I am 18 yrs into this parenting thing and with my first born, I feel like there just wasn’t enough time. I “NEVER” thought I would be here, 4 months away from my son’s high school graduation and on to pursuing his ultimate dream of becoming a big time soccer player. I cherished tonight, sitting next to my daughter (although she sat so far on the other side of the chair, closer to her friend but that’s ok) and I thought to myself, only 6 more years and I will be once again thinking where did all the time go?

I also thought about all the “Nevers” in our lives. People said we would never make it as husband and wife and here we are 2 months from celebrating our 19th year. I thought I would never make it through a 17 month deployment but I did…all while raising two kids, volunteering at school, making a walkway in the backyard through the grass and (with the help of friends and family) building a play house for my daughter. My eye twitched nearly the whole time that he was gone mind you, but I made it! I never thought I could make it through beauty school, I thought I wasn’t smart enough or that I didn’t have it in me. There I was every Friday, exam day, receiving 98% on nearly every one I took! When I didn’t score nearly 100%, I studied harder for the next one. Amazing coming from someone that took every chance she had to cut class in high school!

So basically the moral of the movie is to “Never say Never” which I am sure you figured that out by now. Never say you can’t be who you wanna be, love who you wanna love, achieve what you want to achieve. And NEVER, EVER, until you have a pre-teen of your very own, say you’ll never fall in love with the latest teen idol sensation…cuz you just NEVER know!

Don't judge a book by it's look..and appreciate your loved ones

So, my mom, my Grammie and I decided that we would try our new business out at Denios Farmers market.....during the Mother's Day weekend. Who needs a fancy brunch with a hefty price tag and a stomach only big enough for one trip anyway, right? Well, not exactly. The first day felt like a total bust and I went home with a headache, nausea and completely exhausted. I also had only operated on 3.5 hrs of sleep and not enough nourishment or hydration...pretty foolish. While driving home with tears in my eyes, I told myself what failures we were and how much of a waste it was to spend our holiday weekend in a dirty flea-market. I kept thinking what a joke we are, our stuff is not marketable, who are we kidding??l I am a little off track here since my posting is about the people selling next to us not about the fact that we thought it was a great idea to forgo relaxation for our failing business.
So about the sellers next to us. I thought perhaps they were friendly at first, after all they were gonna give us a stuffed dog to use in our doggie tote for the display-we insisted on paying for it of course, but the point is they offered. After that I felt blank stares and dirty looks and decided to take it personally. I kept telling my mom that I thought they were rude and stuck up and that the vibe was awkward. I did notice that a few of them were going through items as if they hadn't seen them before. Examining them even putting some items in their cars. I thought perhaps they had purchased a container or a storage unit and as they were selling they were finding things they wanted to keep. It was none of our business but while we were twiddling our thumbs waiting for a customer, it gave us something to discuss and we are ( I am sure it is very obvious at this point) a very nosey family!
I woke up the next day feeling like a train had hit me and I was very tired but I mustered up the strength to get ready to face another day at Denios with very low hopes for profit or exposure and zero energy. We arrived a little late and our neighbors on both sides were parked in such a way that we had to wake up the driver on one side to temporarily move and then our best friends on the other side seemed to be really ticked off that we pulled in. She sped off with a Cruella Diville scowl to take their car to the parking lot. I remember thinking, "gosh what a bitch" as she drove off. They immediately gained a massive amount of interest too, marking everything down to 2 for $1 with an exception of some select items. I felt jealous (embarrassing as that is to admit) and at one point I even said "good" to my Mom after she told me they were leaving. I thought it was quiet enough but after all the dirty looks I thought I had received all weekend, I didn't care if it wasn't. My mom was very interested in their items, chairs that appeared to be vintage and a couple of wool blankets. I, on the other hand, was not going to buy anything from them no matter how great their things may have been or the amount of people swarming around googling at their treasures. 
My mom ended up buying the blankets at the end of the day from what she learned was the daughter of the original owner of those wool blankets. She was the one that I saw examining every piece of clothing, jewelry she came across even grabbing some things and slipping them back into the car to keep for herself. She told my mom that her mom had died on Wednesday, just 3 days prior at the very young age of 64 and these were all of her belongings. She also told my mom that she wanted the wool blankets to go to someone who would love them. She said she was the closest to her mom  and that she would have wanted them to do this. Turned out she was a very sweet lady and the dirty looks and awkwardness I thought I felt was actually them mourning the loss of their mother.  I felt like a terrible person, rude, judgemental and selfish.   I was the one with the bad attitude and I was doing what my mama always told me not to, Don't judge a book by it's look (or cover). It's nearly Tuesday and I still feel very guilty for the way I acted. They offered us what was left in their stash because they were trying to get out of there early which made me feel even worse. She explained that she wanted to hurry home to Sebastapool to her kids, 15, 6 and 4 who missed her very much, it was after all, Mother's Day and she had been gone all week. I can't even imagine how it must have felt to be selling  your deceased mother's stuff on that day. There were 4 or 5 siblings there selling and periodically they'd hug each other from behind, big bear hugs. I remember thinking how sweet that was. While they were hugging and being sweet, we were bickering with my Grammie, my Mom's mom about her noseyness. We snapped at her that we had no idea why the people a few stalls up hadn't set up and "Oh my God, why did she care anyway?" They stared at us, which pissed me off even more, but now I knew why they were watching us argue. They were probably thinking that we should appreciate each other more because we could be in their shoes someday very soon. Maybe they saw themselves in our interaction with Grammie on the other hand, they could have been feeling guilty for doing the very same thing to their mom. The daughter that was the closest to her mother did explain that she didn't get a lot of visitors and that a few of them lived out of state. So, maybe we didn't make a ton of money this weekend and I walked away feeling beat up and unsuccessful. I can say that I learned such a valuable lesson from total strangers. Not to judge people, you don't know the burden they're carrying and to appreciate the loved ones in your life, because you don't know just how long you will have them next to you to do so.