Thursday Experiment

Well, I have another rash, again. I believe that it is from the Purex that I used before because it was on sale instead of getting my usual $12 HE Cheer. There are some clothing I have not worn lately and I believe that it was washed with the purex last. That is the explanation I have for why I wore this certain blue long sleeved shirt and only my arms have broken out. It's always my arms and it's always in about the same area.

So, to combat the rash I have an experiment. Now, it is good to moisturize by really laying the lotion on thick and then putting on gloves or socks all night. I decided to go with this and throw on the anti-itch cream really thick and then wrap my arms with an ace bandage for hours. Therefore if the anti-itch didn't work, at least I couldn't scratch myself all the time.

So how did that work? Pretty good, actually. I slabbed on the cream and at first it burned because I had scratched myself to injury. Then I wrapped the ace bandages around each arm. At first it was itchy and then after awhile it stopped. The only place it really hurt was where it was too tight on the inside of my elbow and I was bending my elbows. IT kept my arms from rubbing against anything and it kept me from scratching. I took the bandages off now and rinsed my arms of the caked on, dried anti-itch cream. The rash isn't red right now and some of the bumps aren't as prominent. Right now only my elbows really itch. I am going to slab on the Desitin next and rewrap my arms for bed. I figure if Desitin can cure diaper rash within two days it can work on my rash too. The wrapping of the arms will help me to sleep tonight without itching all night in bed.

More progress tomorrow.

Thursday Money Day

Well, most of our tax money is gone now and I don't feel that sad about it. Usually you end up buying just nothing and you wonder where the money went. Instead, we got things that were pretty important like new glasses, a truck registration, and an oil change. We also bought our privacy fence stuff! It will be delivered the next week that Rod has off and then we will be doing a whole privacy fence week project.

I am excited about this privacy fence. I've wanted one for a really long time and every time Rod says to wait then I give him more and more reasons why this privacy fence is important. Not the entire thing will be privacy though, just the sides. The front will be a 4 foot fence so that we will be able to see the vehicles and save us some money. Rod is also getting a removable post thing so that he can remove a part of the fence in case we need to drive vehicles down into the yard.

Aria's cold is getting better. You don't have to wipe her runny nose every few minutes anymore. I took her outside to play until she starting coughing, then I brought her back in. That's another reason to get this privacy fence-when she's outside playing I won't have to block her from running out in the alley.

I just ordered some Wiggles DVD's because I am getting tired of watching the same ones over and over. I was quoting everything as they were saying it and so I decided it was time to watch something different. The new Wiggles DVD's are more for me than Aria because she doesn't care if she watches the same thing over and over. It's me that cares.

My sims2 love has been renewed again in my need to make cool houses. I got my Jill Smith into the secret society and now I'm all about the secret society. I went thru a period where I was all about the Greek houses.

I've found one way to keep Aria from wanting to pound on the keyboard. The solution is to pull up a playlist of the Wiggles on youtube and then put the headphones on her ears. She loves this. She loves this so much that she comes over to you with the headphones so that you'll put them on her ears.

What to do with the rest of the tax money:

1. Put some in savings

2. Pay off some doctor and dentist bills.

3. Try not to spend the rest of it. (That's the hard part!)

Sunday is a Funday!

We got our taxes back just in time for us to not be seriously poor. I was wondering how I was going to pay for diapers, it was so bad. Well, we will have enough to get our privacy fence, Rod to get some glasses, pay for our phones, and have some left over. Probably to pay doctor and dentist bills with. It will be nice to have some money to play catch up with even if the privacy fence is considered my 'fun stuff'.

Aria has her first real cold. Before she's just kind of sneezed a few times. Now she has a real cold with coughing and a runny nose. Poor little girl is miserable and doesn't want to eat much. I wipe her nose every hour or so. She also wants to sit in your lap all the time. Rod said she took three naps today.

Rod isn't working this week, so I am picking up some hours at work. I am working 4-9 on Monday and on Friday because that's when my department manager needs someone extra. The schedule was really screwed up as it was and for the next two weeks we basically have to rework the whole thing. If this did not happen then we would have entire shifts where no one was in meat at all. Crazy, I tell you. Anyway, I will get an extra big paycheck then of about 2 days and that means that it will help us a little bit, if for nothing else than to get us more groceries.

If you were at my house this week, this is the breakfast you would have eaten. I made chocolate pancakes. Then I put peanut butter on them and then chocolate syrup. They were very tasty. I also made cinnamon pancakes, and I would have made chocolate chip pancakes if I hadn't taken the chocolate chips upstairs and ate them out of the package while playing Sims 2.

Aria found her stroller by the table and pet carriers and pulled it out so that she could first push it around the kitchen and then sit in it. I gave her some yogurt for breakfast and she wanted to eat it in her stroller. Both times I gave her yogurt she went to her stroller to eat it. Too bad that she uses her rocking chair as a stepstool and her stroller as a chair.

Aria also now will try to step down the steps if you hold her hand. Once she reaches the windowsill or something else she can reach she wants to try to do it herself. Otherwise she wants to hold onto your hands as she goes down. Going down the stairs is just about her favorite thing to do right now. Second only to going up the stairs.

Things to do:

1. Get privacy fence permit and materials.

2. Enlist people's help to put it up.

3. Get Rod's registration renewed.

4. Buy cat food.

5. Dance with the devil in the pale moonlight.

6. Find out just how Doritos can get even CHEESIER!

7. Go to work more and therefore complain more.

8. I know there is more I just can't remember.

A lazy Thursday

Today I didn't do a whole hell of a lot. Now, that may seem like every day, but today I went even beyond that. I didn't do any laundry and I just barely did dishes. I picked up a little bit at the end of the day and I sat on the floor all day playing with my baby girl.

Aria is really kissing now! She's not just putting her face up to yours, she's making a real kissy face. Only her kissy face looks like fish lips. She makes the sound and everything. She still goes right for your lips. She doesn't want to kiss you on the cheek or the forehead. She wants to kiss you right on the lips. She's such a silly girl. I got about 3 or 4 kisses from her today. She also sat on my lap a lot and played with the finger puppets that she got for Christmas. Now, a few months ago she didn't care about those things at all. However, a new love of putting absolutely everything on her hands has triggered her love of the finger puppets. She only likes the giraffe and zebra ones though. Fuck the lion!

She also crawls into her stroller and puts her sippy cup inside my snowboot. I walk around all day looking for her sippy cup and there it is-in the snowboot! She even stacks sippy cups on top of each other in the snowboot.

Let me tell you how hard it is to get ahold of an audiologist. I have mentioned it before, but since Aria isn't talking it was recommended that we give her a hearing test. Well, the Mississippi Bend does it for the younger kids, I guess, so that was the number I was referred. I called a total of 3 times, leaving a message once. No answer on three separate days. I guess they either don't ever work or they don't hear their calls. (snicker snicker)

So I looked up places here in Muscatine and I called the Audiologists Consultants. the first time I called no one was in. It's like Audiologists never work! I called again today and finally got a person. They told me that they don't do children that young and so they referred me to the Mississippi Bend again. I told them that I already called there and so they referred me to someone else. That person actually works and answers their phone, but they were booked up for a month. Lotta people who can't hear. Aria's appointment is in April. No big deal. I really doubt shes' going to dramatically change in a month considering she's been babbling the same stuff for 6 months now.

I am rocking with the cooking! Today we had pineapple pork chops, creamed peas, and jello. A few days ago we had apple and onion stuffed pork chops and green beans with bacon. While we were getting our new phones I asked Rod where he wanted to eat. He answered, "Honestly, at home." So the ladies there said that I must be a good cook and Rod goes, "Yeah, she is." I was so happy and proud.

But, yes, we got new phones. It was time up for our contract and Rod needed a new phone so we both went in to get them. The money to pay for it is just added onto our bill for next month. No biggie. Rod got the updated version of the phone that he already has and I got a purple phone...with GPS! My purple phone rocks. We kept Rod's old one for Aria to play with. So far she doesn't know my phone exists.

Tuesday itches

Today Rod and I got our new phones, which is always super fun. This time I got myself a flat, purple one because the way that I pick out which phone I like is the same way I pick cars-if they are pretty or not. That's because most phones and cars have all of the features that I want and so it doesn't really make any difference which one I get. This one has GPS so if I want to I can subscribe to it and never get lost!

My phone we gave back to them so that it can be donated. Rod's old phone we kept so that Aria can play with it. She can't dial out anymore and there is nothing really on there and so she can hit buttons to her delight if she wants to. Naturally she wants Mama's pretty purple phone.

Rod was hungry and I asked him where he wanted to eat today. He said honestly, he wanted to eat at home. That means that my food is better than restaurants. Go me! I am a real cook now!

I think I've got bed bugs. I combatted the bed bugs by cleaning all of the sheets and blankets in hot water and then drying them twice. Then I cleaned the bed and sprayed around the room with that 12 month killer stuff. I was getting bit and it was leaving huge, itchy, red, swollen bites on my legs that are annoying. Rod, naturally, was never bit once. If we have anything at all, any kind of infestation I am the only one who is ever bit. Fleas? I'm the only one bit. Chiggers- biting me. Ticks? they only get me. Ants, anything at all-they come after me. I wish I was a little less tasty.

So I was reading up about bed bugs and it says that sanitation makes no difference and that you can pick them up anywhere. Thanks...good to know. I find it amusing that the house is actually the cleanest it has ever been and it is within the last few years that we have bug problems. It's stinking crazy. Here's to not being bitten any longer.

Thursday Food Day

I went a little insane with the groceries, but we really needed the food. I had cleaned out all of my freezer so that there was nothing left but a Dole fruit chiller and three ice packs. I had no milk, no juice, and Aria hates our water as much as I do. We were out of meat except for one 1lb roll of 93% lean.



But...now I have food again since I got paid this week! Yay! I spent way a lot on food but I had to do some major restocking. I also had to buy Pampers since they were out of Luv's in Aria's size and other things like that which made my bill even higher. I bought a lot of produce and a lot of meat too.



Today Aria and I went outside to play. It was nice out for once and I thought she'd really enjoy it. She did. She ran all over the yard like it was the best thing in the world. She picked up sticks and tried to step up the tiny hump of a hill to our cars. I put her slide outside and she played on the slide. We played with the ball. I also cleaned the litter out of my yard. My stupid neighbors, who I wish would all die, threw a whole lot of cigarette butts in my yard over the winter. Seriously, these people should rot. Please please please I need a privacy fence.



Rod watched us play outside but he was too lazy to put on some clothes and come outside as well. It would cut into his Mythbuster watching time. Therefore he missed out. Mama is just that much cooler than daddy!

She's getting better about letting me do her hair now. She doesn't try to get away, she just whines until I am done and then she is fine.

Dinner today: Check steak grilled with red wine, worchestershire sauce, and rosemary. We also had tomatoes baked with oil, mozzerella cheese and basil. It was all very tasty. Both were Rachel Ray recipes. I like all of the spices and different tastes that she has in her cooking. Nothing is plain with her and I like that. I need about 50 more cookbooks.

Wednesday Declutter

It is so much easier to get rid of things that aren't your own. If it is something of Rod's or my mom's then I am all about just tossing it away. However, if it is my own I am like, "Oh, I wonder where this went" or "I may need this later" or "I should put this somewhere". Then I put the item on the couch or a table and I don't look at it again for another six months.

That's why I need someone to go through my house and to just toss away worthless things. I am getting better. If I don't remember who gave something to me then I toss it. I got rid of a bunch of pans I didn't know existed beneath my stove today and I got rid of my burnt pans. I threw them away and I never looked back!

Unfortunately, I am not at all like this with my Toys. I want to keep my toys forever. My toys give me happy memories even though most of them are in the attic. I even tell myself "Someday Aria may want them" but Aria won't understand the importance of the old pound puppies or strawberry shortcake or even fully understand the majesty of the first My Little Ponies! That is tragic, in my opinion.

I discovered that Diet Pepsi tastes 110% better if it has chocolate ice cream in it.

So let's talk 50 years of Barbie. Is anyone as excited about this as me? Okay, probably not. For some reason I am all giddy about it. Barbie is 50 and that is just awesome. The doll has always been a favorite of mine even though I don't obsessively buy them. I like to visit the toy aisles. I always call it, "Let's see what Barbie is doing this season." Then I go down the aisle and I'm all, "Oh, Barbie has new rooms, and she got herself more pets, and she's in a new movie." I talk about Barbie as if she were real, cuz I am crazy like that. She may as well be just like whenever you see one of the Muppets on a show you always think of them as a separate entity and not a marionette puppet on a bunch of strings. I suppose it is just that I have a very vivid imagination.

Barbie's website has a cool little game where you can do her hair. You can crimp it and change its color and cut it. It is actually pretty fun. A good time waster for anyone who likes time wasters and want to do a doll's hair. I know I am a fan of this.

Tuesday Spring Cleaning

Inspired by How Clean is Your House, I decided that it would be fun to do some spring cleaning. I figured that if I helped my mom out then she would help me and we would get more done with the two of us. It was a good plan.

So today I packed up Aria and a box of my cleaning stuff and headed to my mom's. The first project was the kitchen. We cleaned the counter and under the microwave. We cleaned the fridge, even on top of it. We discovered new dishes all over the place, and we cleaned the stove and bar.

We ate tuna helper and bologna sandwiches and Aria chased the kitties around. She didn't actually get close enough to touch either of them, but she was very loud and I think that made the big, fat kitties nervous.

Our next room was the bathroom and that was something to be desired. Mom has a really difficult time getting rid of anything-such as expired makeup and medicine. There were tiny lipsticks in there that I remember her having when I was a kid. There were also old razors and razor blades in the medicine cabinet. I threw away vitamins from 1993.

But the real fun came when I cleaned out the pink cabinet that is above her dryer. That thing had years of dust caked upon it. I ended up tossing absolutely everything that was in it, and not without a fight. My mom wanted to keep generic vaporub from a decade ago. My mom wanted to keep laxatives from 2003. The best one of all, though, was the vasoline I found. I had to look at it several times because I honestly could not believe the expiration date: 1979. The vasoline was as old as I was. It looked exactly the same too, which is really freaky.

Now mom's bathroom is cleaner than it has been in years and there's no expired medicines. I couldn't get her to clean out hardly anything else though. That's okay cuz Aria was starting to get cranky. She needed a nap.

So today I accomplished something and Friday Mom is coming over so that we can do my house. That should also be super interesting. I don't have expired medicine from 30 years ago in my cabinets, but I have other treasures.

Cups make great gloves!

Monday Fun!

The weekend was the usual work crap. It is a lot better now that my assistant is on a remodel and we have someone else filling in for him. We like her tons better and she doesn't do stupid ordering. Things are really easy right now. I enjoy it. I've had her as a manager before in Toys and I liked her then too. She's one of my favorites.

We are teaching Aria to put her diaper in the trash. It's very cute. The only problem with that is that she likes to put other things in the trash too. I had to fish out a sippy, an oven mitt, a toy, towels, and other funthings out of the trash.

I love the flylady website! Today I did the 27 things one. I went through my house and I threw away exactly 27 things. I feel better about it already.

Aria has discovered that pulling things off shelves is a great deal of fun! Cleaning up after her takes longer and is more annoying. Luckily, Rod has gotten better. He actually put his dishes in the sink and he picked up after Aria yesterday so I didn't have to. It was very helpful and surprising.

Our gratutitous Aria pic today is of her and her favorite toys: My oven mitts.