Because I'm awake, and I need something to do until child falls asleep, I am going to share some of my favorite websites with you right now!! Bonus post!
I love craft fail. When I crochet two booties that don't match or sew a cape that ends up looking like a tarp, I can go to craft fail and feel the warm and fuzzy feeling of camaraderie. Even the craftiest have their dark moments, people.
PostSecret makes me love people again. It started with a guy named Frank who wanted to start an art project where people sent him anonymous secrets on a postcard. It blew up into a worldwide phenom. Frank has since released several books full of secrets. Frank posts secrets to his blog every Sunday. Most of the secrets don't relate to me. Every once in awhile, though, there is that one secret that I read and know that I could have written that. It's an amazing feeling to connect with people you don't even know when you realize that you feel the same pain or joy as they do. Someone somewhere in the world feels the same. Warm fuzzies!
I found this site when I was pregnant with M. It is the coolest baby name site I have ever seen. I love how it shows the rise and fall of popularity of names.
Helps me remember who I've given what to and helps keep my giving organized. Since my family is HUGE this is a lifesaver of a tool for me. It also helps you keep track of gifts that you may want to "regift" to make sure you don't give them back to someone who gave them to you!
If we had a money tree in our backyard, this is where I would buy my clothes. Just go to dresses and scroll down and look at the blue and black Silhouette Dress on page one. If we had money, it would be hanging in my closet right now!
So spill in the comments. What are your favorite sites?
This is my first thrifty Christmas post. I know I said I'd start these in August, but it's July 31st and it's my blog, so shut it. I'll start them when I want. Anyway, I've really been wanting to write my first post and I'm so excited about this concept the more I research into it. I thought with my first post I would explore WHY I even want to do a thrifty Christmas. We were going to spend no money on pre-made gifts, but Hubs wants to buy a couple of things for M and for other people. I don't want to force him to do handmade, so I'll be the only one doing handmade this year. Works for me. But back to the question of why. It's simple, really:
1) Growing up my family didn't have a lot of money. We never got the best and most popular toys, but we were always happy and I always remember Christmas as being a fun time with my family more than a toy-fest. I want M to remember the togetherness more than the "getting." If you ask me about my favorite Christmas memory it would be that time my dad hung candy canes on the tree and the dog pulled the tree over trying to sneak one. Not "the year I got (insert hardly matters toy name here).
2) I love to make things. I'm happiest when I'm sewing, cooking, or crafting. I love being able to take something like scraps of fabric and discount binding and turning it into something cute, like a blanket for M's dolls. I like to make things for people rather than buy them because I can personalize them and make them according to what those people like. I don't make things because I'm cheap. I put a lot of thought into the gifts I make for people. Why shouldn't I do that with Christmas? I also want M to learn early the value of learning skills. Not skillz, although those come in handy, too, especially on the dance floor on New Year's Eve.
3) Money. The economy is tight right now. So our tiny home economy is tight, too. Although projects are going to cost money, it will be a lot cheaper to make things than to buy them. Kind of like how it's cheaper to make cookies from scratch than to buy the pre-made dough or a box of oreos.
4) It's better for the Earth. Less packaging going into the trash, fewer plastic shopping bags going into the trash, and the use of recycled materials (a lot of the projects I'm planning use supplies I already have on hand).
5) Christmas is about Jesus. And it's about doing for others. And our society is so focused on "take take take" and " I want I want I want" and I'm tired of it. Not only are we doing handmade Christmas this year, we're doing a service project as a family every week between Thanksgiving and Christmas, starting with serving lunch at the homeless shelter on Thanksgiving Day. Christmas is about sharing with others, not taking all you can get.
So there it is. My reason for thrifty Christmas. I will try to update this feature at least once a week with projects I'm working on and tips for having your own thrifty Christmas.
Thrift Tips:
-Start making your lists now and look for things on sale. I'm making M a craft caddy with a crayon roll in it. I'm also going to melt down some crayons to make her some rainbow crayons. I can get 24 count box of Crayola crayons for 25 cents a box at Wal-Mart right now because of back to school. If I wait to buy them in October or November, they will cost 99 cents a box. Think of people you want to buy for and start looking for those supplies NOW. Have a relative who is a bird watcher? Most stores have garden stuff on clearance now. Buy them an unfinished wooden birdhouse for dirt cheap and paint it. Go all out and get a bag of birdseed to go with it.
-Be creative and think of what the people in your life like to do year round. If you live in a climate like I do, where it's going to be 30 below on Christmas Day, think about buying them things they like in the summer like gardening supplies or fishing gear. Bring a little warmth in. I have to remind myself that everyone doesn't love the winter like I do. I love hot cocoa, cozy sweaters, fireplaces, and down comforters. My grandmother hates the cold. So she gets a lot of summer stuff. Last year I made her a gardening tote. At the end of the planting season I bought seed packets at half price. I filled the bag with them for next to nothing. She loved it. Be creative and think of sales.
I will post a project that I've completed in the next couple of days. Every time I post a project I'll also post how much it cost in supplies.
If there is anything in particular you would like for me to research or write about for Thrifty Christmas, please let me know in the comments. :) And Merry last day of July.
A couple of weeks ago Lauren wrote a post on her wonderful Busy Bee blog about things she thinks are lamespice. She invited everyone else to do the same and I didn't do it. Because I'm lazy. But lame stuff has been plaguing me lately so I decided to go ahead and write it, even though it's really late in the game. So here is my list of things that are lamespice:
1. Myself
Hubs, M, and I went on another road trip yesterday. We planned to be home around 8pm, but something else on my lame list happened and we didn't get home until after midnight. I was stumbling around and shooting my mouth off out of complete tiredness. I told Hubs that if he let his alarm go off multiple times in the morning instead of getting out of bed I was going to flog him. He just laughed, so we had this conversation:
Me: I mean it! I'll wear those things and if M cries you'll have to get up and take care of her 'cause I won't hear it!
Hubs: What things?
Me: You know, those things you plug your ears with.
Hubs: You mean earplugs?
Duh. 2. Tire blow-outs
Yeah. On the interstate. In a major city. During rush hour. Win! The worst part was that no tire place was open within a 30 mile radius. We were still over 200 miles from home, so we couldn't just drive home on the doughnut spare. We finally found a Sears in a nearby city that was open. They are NOT lamespice. They hooked us up. And they were in a mall, so I didn't have to sit with M in a stinky automotive center while they fixed the car. Instead we at Sbarro's and went to Macy's. It was still lame, though, because it set us back 3 hours in our trip. As for the not lame Sears workers, we bought them a cake at Great American Cookie Company, because we love them so much. I wanted one that said, "You're Awesome," but the GACC workers said it would take to long to make a new cake (hello, welcome to the lamespice subcategory). So I just bought a generic one. 3. Abercrombie and Fitch
First of all, their ads are borderline pornographic. For the men, pull your pants up and invest in a belt. No one wants to be walking through the mall with their two-year-old and see your almost uncharted territory. As far as the ad ladies go I'm going to share something with you that you don't know. If you don't have a shirt on you cannot just brush your hair over your chest and have that suffice. You will still get arrested for indecent exposure.
Aside from the nasty ads, I hate the way this store smells. I can smell it from three stores down. It may be the most offensive thing about your store. I will never buy your clothes because I never want that smell in my house. It seems to permeate everything. And it's not even a good smell.
4. Our Newspaper Man's Aim
Really? In the ditch again? You can't hit the meters of yard past the ditch? 5. Special Agent Oso
If you haven't watched this show on Disney, then I applaud you for living Oso free. M loves this show. I can't stand it. Why IN THE WORLD is he a special agent when he can't even rake leaves or tie his shoe without instructions from a 3 year old?
6. Seafood
I hate seafood. Hubs loves it. So I occasionally aquiese and let him eat at Red Lobster on our date night. Everything smells like a salty foot in a seafood restaurant. I have never smelled fish that smelled good. It makes me gag. So seafood is lamespice in my book. The only one that's not lame is tilapia.
7. The Third Harry Potter Movie
I love the Harry Potter books. Love them. Lots. I was visibly crushed when we left the theater after the third movie. And what made me even more sad was that everyone else in the world seemed to love it and think it was wonderful. Here are the reasons it is lamespice:
The whole Marauder story is not properly explained. It is a BIG factor in the book (and subsequent books) and it barely got acknowledged in the movie. They're in the Shreiking Shack and Harry wants to kill Sirius. And Sirius is all, "I was your dad's friend!" And Harry is all "Ok!" What??!?! That took about ten pages of dialogue in the book! And I'll add that Hubs was VERY confused as to why everyone suddenly trusted Sirius. He hadn't read the third book yet when we saw the movie. So I'm not the only one who thought it was confusing. I had to tell DH that Lupin, Sirius, James, and Wormtail were the orginal Marauders and that Remus and Sirius were, in fact, friends. That should have been explained in the movie because it's and important plot point.
They added way too much stuff that DIDN'T need to be there and omitted the Marauder dialogue. I honestly can't remember all the dumb stuff that was added, but off the top of my head, they could have removed the choir holding giant frogs and added 3 minutes for Marauder explanations. And Harry's Buckbeak ride didn't need to be so long. And the ride on the Knight Bus was neverending. Just sayin'.
Sirius the dog looked like a Muppet. I know that they couldn't use a real dog, but they could have done better than that.
I didn't like the CGI werewolf at all. He didn't look like a wolf. And I was uncomfortable the whole time because he looked way to much like a human and part of my brain kept thinking "He should be wearing pants."
So there it is. My list of lamespice stuff. I'm sure it's much longer than that, but that's all I can come up with right now.
Sun was born Sun-Hwa Paik in 1980 in Korea.She was the daughter of a rich, powerful, and mean automobile manufacturer and heavy industries magnate.Mr. Paik was a very controlling daddy and you can totally see why.She’s gorgeous.She needs protecting from the drooling mens.Sun was afraid of him, even as a child.When she was little she dropped and broke a glass ballerina.When her father asked her what happened, she blamed it on the maid.Her father didn’t believe her but he fired the maid anyway.
Sun went to college for four years and got a degree in Art History.Her parents wanted her to get a husband in college, not necessarily a degree, so when she graduated and was still single, they send her to a matchmaker.They introduced to her to that bald guy, Jae Lee.They got close and Sun fell head over heels for him.That is until he told her he was only seeing her to appease his parents and that he wanted to marry his American girlfriend.Hmmm…I wonder if his American girlfriend is on the island with his Korean girlfriend.Everyone on this show is connected….Anyway, she was heartbroken and wandering around the city and wandered right into Jin, who just quit his job at Jae’s hotel.Small world.
They fell in the loves and got married.Sun wanted to elope, but Jin said he was going to do this right.He went to Mr. Paik and asked to marry Sun and he said, “Sure!” with the stipulation that Jin worked from him from there on out.Jin’s mother, a lady of the night, showed up and threatened to reveal her profession and her connection to Jin to the whole world if Sun didn’t give her some moolah.The world must be interested because Sun gave her the money and told her she’d kill her if she ever showed up again.Oh, and Jacob was at their wedding.
Mr. Paik made Jin do bad things like beat people up and steal their puppies.This made Jin feel bad and he and Sun started fighting, probably because she was tired of washing the blood out of Jin’s clothes. They decided to try to have a baby, which is the world’s worst way of solving marital problems, by the way.They can’t, so they go to the doctor and the doctor says Sun is sterile.Then Jin leaves and the doctor says, “Just kidding!Your Hubs is sterile.I was afraid to tell him because I didn’t want him to break my face.”
Sun decided she was tired of the shenangins so she decided to let Jae teach her English so she could go live in the USofA and leave her husband and evil daddy behind.Jae and Sun fell back in love and had an affair (CHEATER!I hate that so much)Mr. Paik caught them and told Jin to deliver a message to Jae because he stole something from Jin.No kidding he stole something.Jin delivers the message, which basically was never come back here or we’ll drive your face like a truck.Jae is so ready to leave that he tries to fly out of his hotel room window.He falls instead of flying, though, and hits the pavement like a garbage bag full of vegetable soup (best metaphor ever).Sun was going to leave Jin in the airport and fly to the US, but Jin gave her a flower and she realized she still lurved him, so she got on Oceanic 815 with him.
After the crash
Sun and Jin both survive and Jin starts his days off bad by attacking Michael.He gets handcuffed by marshall Jack to keep him from beating everyone up .Because they can’t understand him so his plan must be just to beat everyone up.There couldn’t be a more rational explanation for the fracas, but no one asks questions on this island.Anyway, Sun tells Michael that it’s because of the watch he’s wearing.It was the watch Jin was supposed to be taking to Mr. Paik’s friend in LA.He convinces Michael to let Jin go and also convinces him to hide her English skills.Michael agrees.Sun goes into the woods and grows a garden with helpful plants.She’s such a Suzy Homemaker. One day she takes a walk on the beach in her bikini and Jin f-r-e-a-k-s and tells her that’s not allowed.It’s 900 degrees on the beach.Keep your long sleeved shirt and long pants on!Anyway, someone accuses Jin of trying to burn down the raft and Sun defends him in English and gets everyone to leave him alone.He’s not grateful.He’s angry that she can speak English and communicate and save his butt from tribal council and he stomps off to mope.Later he sees Sun walking down the beach in her bikini again, her way of saying, “If you’re going to leave, I’m just going to be looking fine in a bikini without you.”
Jin started helping Michael build a new raft.When they were ready to launch Sun poisoned his water so he couldn’t leave on the raft.Michael drank the water instead.HAHA!I laughed so hard.Anyway, Jack figures out what happened but keeps it on the down low.Jin tells Sun he’s leaving to save her.Aww.She gives Jin a list of English word pronunciations.Then raft gets blown up and Claire finds the message bottle on the beach.She gives it to Sun who buries it and loses her ring in the process.A few days later she is reunited with Jin when Ana Lucia shows up.
After this someone tries to kidnap Sun in the jungle.Everyone thinks it’s the others and grabs their torches and pitchforks.Turns out it was only Charlie.He was helping Sawyer steal the weapons from the Swan because he’s NOT SMART.After this Sun starts getting sick and hello!We’re having an island baby!
Sun, Sayid, and Jin went sailing for awhile.Some others boarded the boat and Sun shot Colleen Pickett.They abandoned their boat and walked back to the beach.Juliet and Sun meet and Juliet takes Sun to the medical station to check the progress on the baby.She confirms that the baby was conceived on the island and then tells Sun that all pregnant women who have conceived on the island die in their second or third trimester.Sun didn’t care.She was just happy that the baby was Jin’s.Hussy.
Around this time the camp split into Jack vs.Locke.Sun picked team Jack as her only hope of survival was to get herself and her unborn baby off of the island.During this time Sun found out that Juliet is a nasty liar who can’t be trusted.She tries to leave for Locke’s camp, but Juliet tells Jin about the affair so he’ll make her stay.Jin forgave her.Jin and Sun made it to the freighter but Jin did not make it back to the helicopter before the freighter exploded.Sun saw this from the helicopter and believed Jin to be dead.
After the island Sun moved back to Korea and had a daughter.She named her Ji Yeon, which is the name Jin picked on the island.Hurley came to visit the new baby and all three of them went to visit Jin’s grave.Sun turns all vigilate with the intent on snuffing out Ben.She makes friend with the devil incarnate, Charles Widmore, to accomplish these goals.Eventually she goes with Jack and the others and meets Mrs. Hawking.Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid (by accident), Ben, and Sun board the flight and are transported to the island.Sun is transported to 2007 on the island instead of the 1970s where Jin is trapped.She hits Ben in the head with an oar (awesome) and she and Button-your-shirt-please Lepedis take a canoe ride to the island.They find Christian.When she asks him where Jin is he says that he’s on the island, but she has a long journey ahead of her to reach him.
Sawyer Nicknames:Betty, Tokyo Rose, Sunshine, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Off Island Connections:Sun met Jacob at her wedding.She was watching the wretched Nikki’s TV show when she went into labor.
Sources: Lostpedia, wikipedia, my brain, LOST dvds, muckety, lost.about.com
* Last night we were eating dinner and I asked Hubs if he needed something more to drink. He said, "Yes, I need a TEA-FILL!" The sad part is that I laughed because it's the best joke I've heard in weeks. The Office really needs to come back on.
* Our neighbor's dog barks for infinity and I don't know what to do about it. It's frustrating.
* I don't understand people who cut me off on the interstate and then go 10 mph below the speed limit in front of me. Why WHY?! It makes no sense. Oh, and on a side note, if you drive really slow, stay out of the fast lane.
* M and I took a trip to the Wal-Mart today. We had to drive across town to the ghetto Wal-Mart because the one by our house doesn't carry the trash bags we like. When we got there a cart came rolling across the parking lot out of nowhere and smashed into the side of the car. Did I mention I'm driving Hubs' car this week? So now I have to explain that to him. Oh the way into the store a bird pooped on our cart, so I had to go get a different cart. Then M had to go potty so I took her in the disgusting public restroom. While I was washing my hands she threw my keys into the trash and they didn't sit on the top. They sunk all the way down to the bottom, below all the soggy paper towels. So I had to go trash can diving. Then I had to wash my hands with scalding water and wash my keys with scalding water. Then I bought some hand sanitizer and have been dousing myself all day. I'm going to be so mad if I catch swine flu from the trash can.
* I hit myself in the face with a door the other day so I have a huge bruise on my face. M fell off the porch last night and has a huge bruise on her arm. A lady in the Wal-Mart bathroom gave me a card with the name of a women's shelter on it. Poor Hubs. He's innocent.
* I'm making superhero capes for a friend of mine and her husband. It is so hilarious to size a cape for a 25 year old man. He was so embarrased.
* Hubs and I have decided that we're going to have a no-buy Christmas this year. M has so much stuff that she never plays with, and we just give our families gift cards every year because we never know what they'll like. So this year we're not buying ANYTHING. Scary, huh? We're making everything. I've spent the last week working on some gifts for M. I made her a diaper bag, velcro diapers, a hooded towel, and other baby items for her dolls. Hubs is building stuff too. It's so much fun, but a lot of work. That's why we're starting early. Starting in August I'll have a regular post on what we're doing and how to make your own Christmas presents. If you have any suggestions leave them in the comments!
I love you. I love your hot pizza that is delivered to my door by your magical pizza fairies. Please never go away.
Dear Hubs,
You are the loudest morning person ever invented. Here is a rundown of how LOUD you were this morning while I was still trying to get my snooze on: You left your alarm on after you left the room. And I couldn't figure out how to shut it off, so i had to resort to wrapping it in your underwear and sticking it in the bottom of your sock drawer. Then you peed forever. See a doctor. After that you ate your cereal. SLURP SLURP CLINK CLINK. Seriously? We have been married forever and a day and I've never heard you eat that loudly. Then all the opening and slamming drawers in the bathroom. I don't understand. You tried to explain and I still don't understand. Sunday is the ONLY day that I don't get up at 5am to go to the gym. I just want to sleep until 7. Sunday is the ONLY day that you are a sasquatch when you get ready in the morning. What gives??
Dear Cars movie,
I have you memorized. Please break so M can't watch you anymore. Thanks.
Dear People who want to see Harry Potter with us,
It's not going to work. Because you expect Hubs to take a day off work so that we can go to a matinee. He's not going to do that. His company started layoffs this week. Taking a day off so he can go to a movie is probably not a good idea. And I'm not going without him, sorry.
Dear Mouthbreather,
Never stand behind me in line at JoAnn's again. And if you do, have the courtesy to pop a mint first.
Dear JoAnn,
I love you because you have your patterns on sale this week.
Dear Hobby Lobby,
Same for you.
Dear Mall,
I love you because you're getting a Forever 21 and I don't have to pay shipping anymore.
Guess what we're doing?! Moving. Hubs and I were sitting in the living room the other night. I had made a trip to my beloved used bookstore earlier in the day (used books are just better) and we were staring at my little stack of books, all necessities, and wondering where we were going to put them because my books already fill up our two dinky Wal-Mart bookshelves and we have no more room for bookshelves. Hubs finally said, "let's get a bigger house." And I said, "Great!" Because I thought he was going to tell me I had to get rid of or stop buying my books. And I just can't do that. I want M to grow up in a house with books. It's the way it should be. So I've spent the last couple of days packing. Our plan is to get a bunch of stuff packed and moved to a storage unit this weekend. Next week we will start painting and putting up trim, then we'll stage the house. Hopefully we can put our house on the market at the end of the month.
Woot! I'm so excited. I've been wanting to move for awhile. I don't want to sound ungrateful, because I'm not. I love the house we're in and it has been good to us. But it's just time to move. For one thing, I have no room for my sewing stuff. It's just stashed everywhere in the house. We only have two bedrooms, so where else would it go? I'm a cook and I'd love to have more than 3 feet of counter space. I'd also love to have a kitchen that didn't have a washer and dryer sitting in it. Most of all, I want a house with a yard where M can play. Our yard here is too dangerous as we sit right on a busy road. Our backyard is a steep incline, so it's not really conducive to play, either. We couldn't even put a swingset in it if we wanted to. She loves to play outside, so I have to drive her to the park every day. I would love to just have a nice yard where we could just go out and run and play without having to drive anywhere. And I want a garden. A real one where I can grow all of our veggies.
I've discovered something wonderful. M loves poetry. She was crying the other day because she wanted her daddy and nothing I did could calm her down. I finally went into my room and pulled my battered collection of William Blake poems from the shelf and started reading them to her. She clambered right into my lap and sat there in silence until I was finished with "The Lamb." When I was done, she said, "Please read more." So we read poetry for half an hour. Isn't she awesome?
So, I didn't do a LOST post this week. I'm sure Michele noticed. I've decided that since there are a zillion weeks until LOST comes back on (boo-to-tha- hoo), that I don't want to run out of good characters to write about. Because, let's face it. My post about Paulo would be: Paulo=poo. My Arzt post would be: Arzt was whiny then he exploded. So I'm going to every other week. Next week will be Sun.
