The Elephant in the room?

Husby and I try and penny pinch wherever we can. Though we do treat ourselves every so often we actually don't really have disposable income. At the moment all of our efforts are going into paying down our credit card bill that racked up unexpectedly last year. So quite literally this week our bills left us with very small double digits in the bank with which to buy groceries for the week. Luckily, we had some stuff already on hand and we both really enjoy a plain pasta dinner (one box pasta + one can condensed soup sprinkled with a bit of whatever cheese is available).

I'm not a coupon fiend, I can't be, it's far too stressful for a working mum. There's also too much on sale that we don't need/like and not enough on sale that we do need/like. We also seem to have fewer coupon friendly stores north of the Mason Dixon line and most of the useful blogs aren't that way inclined. Not to mention that in Maine we are considered out in the boonies and so our selection at Target/Walmart/Rite Aid or other coupon friendly places is generally slim.

Though I retain my positive outlook and enjoy the bargain hunt, often this can leave me feeling quite despondent, yesterday while desperately hunting for applicable coupons I came across this posting http://amysfinerthings.com/the-best-way-to-save-money

What brilliant timing for Husby and I, the perfect reminder for this unusually tight week

I have long been a believer in saving money by not spending money (the tower of condensed milk in my cupboard mocks me as I type) but that very often doesn't come across well in the majority of coupon/saving blogs.

It's only worth $1 if you were going to buy it anyway.

One of my best money savers has actually been paying for a membership at Sam's Club. They don't take coupons there which is often irritating but neither do they take credit cards which is refreshing. Toby and Husby both like Cheese, I buy a big block every two weeks usually. The store brand cheese at my local grocery store is $7.50, Land of Lakes is $5.50 at Sam's Club. That's a saving of $52 a year so even after taking the $40 membership fee into account I have saved $12 on Cheese alone and all other savings are a bonus. The other saver here has been time and stress. I bought a giant jug of detergent in September and only needed a replacement last week. Not having to buy detergent every month has been wonderfully liberating. also not having to buy toilet paper, kitchen roll, dishwasher fluid. It's liberating to only have to worry about immediate consumables each week.

One of the commenters on the aforementioned post used a quotation I had never heard before but may use daily from now on, if only in my own mind when staring down Vera Bradley...

Elephants at two for a quarter are only a bargain if you have a quarter and need two elephants!

Amen!

Move over William - Tea is king

Tea is king in England. I had pondered giving up my daily brew for Lent but as this was timed with a trip home I knew it would be nigh on impossible.

When visiting people in England you are almost immediately offered a cup of tea. The acceptance or denial of this offer will determine the nature of your visit. A nay means a short visit, long enough for chit chat but not long enough to meander down every conversational alleyway that you happen upon. A yay means you are there for the long haul. Water will be boiled, tea will be brewed, tea will cool enough to drink and then leisurely drunk. A yay means this visit is a main attraction, a nay means this visit is a pit stop. This is not to infer that a nay is a negative response, quite the contrary. It merely sets the general content of the visit not the tone; everyone involved then knows what to expect.

Rare is the case in which a nay is issued and followed minutes later with a yay but it does happen, when it does biscuits will invariably follow suit. While I would never say yay if I didn't want to stay {ahem}, be it through time or inclination, sometimes a nay simply means I'm not thirsty!

Some interesting things noted on this trip:

1. In any given household whomever wakes first must make tea for all those still sleeping whether it will be too cold to drink when they awaken or not. Fie on those who only make one cup of tea!

2. When we visited my 86 year old Grandmother in the hospital she had a sippy cup of water and a sippy cup of tea.

3. My 18 month demanded and was given his own cup of tea (Tbsp of my tea mixed with a half cup of milk lest you be concerned for his caffeine intake)

4. Tea is rarely carried in the way that Americans carry coffee, there are no drive through tea shops though you may buy tea at any "hot-dog stand" in a styrofoam cup. The travel mug industry in England is in a sad state of affairs.

What a Wonderful World

Monday morning is not usually a favourite part of my week but this Monday morning was so lovely it seemed noteworthy.

I have a wonderful Husby who on occasion will get up before I do on a weekday. This means I get to sleep in just a little. This also means I get to sprawl under the duvet for a good twenty minutes. This also means that he is 100% ready to go before Toby gets up and so we have a nice leisurely morning because only one of us is dirty, unkempt and in pyjamas when Toby wakes up. It also usually means Husby gets those early morning diapers :-) Today was that kind of morning.

We still have two feet of snow on the ground but the temperature is moderate enough that we no longer have to always bundle Toby to and from the car when we go out. Hence we got to walk around outside this morning while we waited to leave. He likes crunching the dead leaves that surface as the snow recedes. He likes holding my hand and taking me to things he thinks are interesting.

Toby has many names for me, mama, mmmmm, mummy, ba and, more often than not, mine. Today as we dropped him off at daycare I unbuckled his seat, said "come to mummy" and he smiled that glorious little smile and said "mummy" clear as a bell. This is the one that is said least and I melt every time he uses it.

Husby and I had a nice chat on the drive from daycare to his work, some days we are zombies and little is said so that was nice. It also helped that I had a nice cup of tea in my ceramic travel mug.

After dropping Husby off at work I stopped by Trader Joes to pick up lunch. It's always a pleasant place to walk around and today was made even more pleasant when I was handed a piece of French Toast topped with warm apple pie filling. Finish that off with a chat about hiking Mt Washington at the register and you've got the perfect visit regardless of the fact that they were out of my favourite Curry again!

Plus - I look cute today in my new cape :-)

This morning has been that perfect confluence of events where the world seems to be conspiring to make me blissfully happy.

Have a blessed day.

Taking a Toddler on an aeroplane part one

Last year when we returned from our annual pilgrimage to the homeland I spent a few weeks posting on and off about things I learned both before, during and after traveling such a long distance with an infant. Well that infant is now a toddler and while some things remain the same, many others have changed.

For last year's flight I had a backpack well stocked with clothes, diapers, wipes etc and it did not work well in the confined space we had to work with. We therefore changed Toby's diaper less often than we should have done and he peed through everything upon arrival at Heathrow airport, resulting in new clothes for both the little prince and his mummy! This year I wanted diapering to be effortless and thanks to a few simple things it was.

I packed lighter this year, bringing on board fewer things for Ben and I. We used our regular diaper bag so everything was where it needed to be and in convenient pockets. However the biggest difference was made by a tip I read but did not utilize last year. I give you the aeroplane diaper genie...

You take a diaper sack, insert a throwaway changing pad and one diaper then tie the top loosely.

I made up eight of these for the journey. In the airport they were quick and easy to pull out while Toby tried to dismantle the hand dryer. Once on the plane we simply put two in the seat pocket along with a packet of wipes (and diaper cream for the return flight but that's another story all together). This enabled us to store the diaper bag in the overhead safe in the knowledge that should he need a diaper change we wouldn't need to begin by pulling that down and then getting everything out in the tiny cubicle they allow for you to pee in! Only when the second one was used did I hand Toby to Husby and reach in for two more bags, I barely even had to remove the bag from the compartment because I just reached in grabbed two plastic knots and pulled. I think had I been traveling alone like I almost had to (another story for later) this would have still worked beautifully.

Often the simplest things can make such a big difference.

We are usually much more eco-friendly in our diapering needs but when traveling with a toddler rule #1 is that all the regular rules no longer apply.

The readers dilemma

I finally picked up the gauntlet and began reading The Once and Future King by TH White.

I acquired my copy after reading the Julie Andrews auto-biography that came out a few years ago and have been eyeing it every time I have chosen a new book since. Toby and I have spent the last six months blasting the Camelot record and fie-ing on everything.

Fie on duckies Fie.

Fie on diapers Fie.

Fie on airports Fie.

I'm now wondering how many reading this will know what I am talking about and how many will quickly click the back button and pick another favourite blog to read today until that crazy English woman begins speaking sense again.

This is a wonderful book detailing the childhood of King Arthur and taking us all the way through to the fall of Camelot. It is wonderfully written and such a compelling story. But it is also one of those heavy handed books that takes a while to get through, especially when reading is confined simply to a half hour lunch break on a daily basis. It does fit nicely into the old Vera Bradley though!

These two books on the other hand will, I know, be devoured in a very short space of time. Lightly written, simple storyline, easy to push through. They do not fit into my purse.

They are also library books with holds on them upon my return date so I only have them for a few short weeks before I'm back at the end of the waiting list. Neither are books I feel the need to purchase but I do want to read them.

So it is with a heavy heart that I lay aside the throne and pick up the fluffy romance saga of Ree Drummond. Fortunately I will be back in Arthurian England in probably a week and a half!

I hate to do it but sometimes circumstances dictate a fate other than that which we would choose for ourselves. Hmm maybe I'm still there after all...

Opening Day

I'm told that Baseball season officially kicks off in a week and a half. Considering we got a fresh coat of six inches last night I find this a somewhat hard pill to swallow. For me Baseball is a crisp green field, a ball cap to block the sun, sunscreen on my knees and a Slugger the Seadog hat filled with ice cream and root beer.

When Husby and I lived in the tiniest apartment in Portland for a year we were maniacal attendees at Hadlock field. We sat in the cold under several blankets on opening day and drank coffee instead of root beer floats. We shed layers each week watching the season warm up with our guys. We went to at least one game a week that season watching Papelbon pitch on opening day and then watching him pitch at Fenway on telly later that same season. In 07 when opening day was snowed out we were prepping ourselves to sit in the snow right up until a few hours before the game. We were actually disappointed that we didn't get to freeze for three hours.

We didn't take Toby to a game last year, it just didn't happen. Now that he is a walking talking snack machine I expect a ball game is in our future, just maybe not opening day!

Home again

Home again!

For the last ten days we have been in England eating proper sausages, shopping at Asda, walking amongst the Daffodils and visiting many many wonderful people.

Grandad being one
And Nanny being another

As we slowly readjust to a land of fresh snow and winter I shall inevitably wax poetic about green grass, good friends and gads of good food but for now I shall sigh contentedly on my lunch break having just deleted (intentionally) five hours of hard work with the single click of a red x, and move on.

Things to remember on a daily basis

1. Poop
2. Eat
3. Play
4. Scream a little
5. Demand Juice cup
6. Poop again
7. Play at daycare
8. Nap
9. Poop
10. Eat
11. Nap
12. Poop
13. Scream all the way home
14. Scream at home
15. Eat
16. Play
17. Bathe
18. Poop
19. Listen to Mummy tell stories
20. Sleep

Repeat

Things to remember on a daily basis

1. Take the wipey box off the changing table - he can reach it.
2. Take the tissues off the changing table - he can reach it.
3. Take the sewing machine off the kitchen table - he can reach it.
4. Put the remotes out of sight - he will find them and run.
5. Put the gate up before he gets up - he will takeoff.
   
6. Close the bathroom door - it's his homing beacon.
7. Clean off the computer desk - he can reach it
8. Hide the netbook - he will find it
9. Hide the iphone - he will find it
10. Put the juice cups in the dishwasher and out of sight - he will seek them out

I know there was a point in my past when this list didn't exist. I can't quite recall what was on it though!

The art of letter writing

One of the resolutions that fell by the way side in February that I am just now picking up on again is to correspond more.

Helping me with the art of correspondence are these handy dandy notebooks purchased several years ago...
I don't have to worry about writing reams and reams but can feel quite happy that I have achieved "Letter".

Of course I haven't written one since February!

Chapter 11

Borders is closing 200 stores. While I feel horrible for the people losing their jobs I have to say a big YIPPEE!!

I am a Bibliophile, it's a problem. I have shelves of books and still have six paper boxes full. Small book stores, big book stores, online book stores, library book sales, yard sales, church bazaar's - anywhere you can buy a book I have bought a book. New books, old books, used books, dusty books, broken books - I have them all. Not to mention making almost daily visits to the library across the street from my office, I wear out library cards like some people wear out Mastercards.

When I first encountered Borders I was addicted. So many volumes in one clean, comfortable space. So much to see and do and all the time smelling wonderful coffee. So much information and so many hard to find works on the shelves. Then my friend got a job there and suddenly he had a coffee table at home covered in books. I joked with him that he was spending his whole paycheck. But he wasn't. They were borrowed. He borrowed them from Borders, a policy that is encouraged so that staff will be knowledgeable about product. Then they go back to the store and back on the shelf and are sold to the customer as new books AT FULL PRICE. That's right, the new book you just bought was the toilet reading choice of Chuck the guy who works at Borders. And not just Chuck, Fred and Frank took it home and read it too. I love my used books, I love my new books. I like paying $2 for a book and I like paying full price for a crack the seam myself book. I object to paying $20 for something that sat in someone else's house and is now being sold as new. BORDERS LIES.

Since then I have discovered an affection for all my local bookstores (and Amazon shhh don't tell them) and only once have I broken my vow to never shop at Borders again - I needed a new Bible and don't live in the South, so online or Borders were pretty much my only options and I needed to look through it first. Avoidance has become harder to do since Paperchase moved across the pond and into Borders - sigh - I miss my little store at Euston Station.

So when I hear that they are in Chapter 11 and closing 200 stores I'm sorry but I have to smile.

Back in the saddle again

This week the words of Tolkien perfectly express how I have felt - like butter scraped over too much bread. Luckily I'm made of full fat butter and not the homogenised stuff that I actually spread over my bread so I have come through the other side - okay I can see the other side - and I feel pretty good about the things that have passed, are passing and are yet to come.

Toby was sick this past weekend but as he does everything wonderfully it didn't last long and he behaved like a trooper. Christian mothers beware what you pray for! When you sit there on Sunday and pray for more time at home with your son and throw it into the air like a dry fleece you may just get to deal with a sick little boy at midnight but then get to stay home from work with a snuggly little fellow the next day! Kellie over at Enjoying the Small Things made a comment on her blog this week that I loved "I welcome their moments of neediness as opportunities to be needed and sometimes, that feels good." As horrible as it was to watch my little boy suffer on Sunday night I was able to spend the next day at home with him and all he wanted was to sit in mummy's lap or sit next to mummy ALL DAY. I cherish the time that he needs me.Being up for much of Sunday night with Toby and not getting a lick of anything else done on Monday brought to a head a week that was probably always leading to stress and exhaustion. But stressed and exhausted are not options I choose and are not situations I will allow to control me. Despite the events of yesterday which I will fill you in on when I have fully digested them I will continue to live as a beloved child of Christ and hold onto those promises that keep me sane

Pitching arm

I'm receiving and absorbing my daily red sox updates from Spring Training, Husby is really loving those iphone updates.

I remember spending a season at the Portland Seadogs watching a few games every week, on opening day we watched this young kid pitch an amazing game. Everyone was raving about Henley Ramirez but Husby and I only had eyes for young Papelbon. Within a season we had traded Ramirez and moved Papelbon up to the majors. His pitching arm has very few equals and his ego finds a match only on that New York team and though I have lost some of my admiration for him as the years have passed I still watch with interest.

I like Pitchers, maybe because my own pitching arm is none too shabby. Maybe because they tend to keep their hair short. Curt Schilling will always have my heart but Wakefield with his unique twist on things is usually a joy to watch. Josh Beckett was injured last week, I haven't had an update from Husby but hopefully he'll be alright to start the season.

MIA

One 18 month old boy plus several days of bad bowels followed by a day of diarrhea and a night of puking equals no sleep for anyone, no work for mummy and a prolonged radio absence on the blog.

Have a wonderful week, hopefully I'll be back soon!

Couldn't resist

I couldn't resist posting this even though it's not done yet. The toddlers at church are going to be Lions in the Kings Kids production this April and I have been set the heavy task of turning these cute little dears into ferocious beasts. This needs a larger mane (I ran out of yarn) and some finishing around the chin strap but my oh my I love this hat!

Virtually pattern free!

Things I did while I was sleeping

We got 18 inches of snow on Friday, very little sleep this weekend and then a storm yesterday that dumped another four inches of snow followed by a few hours of freezing rain and then some rain.

So while Husby dealt with the snow, I dealt with the home.

Toby and I had supper and learned some more about colours with Mr Buns then after he went to bed I did copious amounts of laundry, two loads of dishes in the dishwasher, one load in the sink, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the living room and then started work on our bedroom which is the household dumping ground. I had planned a relaxing evening of letting the laundry pile up to the dulcet tones of Fox Mulder but with Husby working so hard outside I had to give him something nice to come back into so along with a clean house he got King Ranch Casserole, a cup of coffee and honestly - no bragging - the best batch of chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. He came in at 8.30 to eat and then went back out again till 11.

This is my kitchen window:

I look through this window and watch birds in the spring as I do dishes. Can you see Husby's legs? He's walking on a snowbank on level with my shoulders. By the time he had removed the snow from the roof he was walking level with the top of my head! We have a lot of ice and snow and if left too long it causes serious problems. Like the carport caving in last night and the window leaking on Sunday. This is minor compared to past years believe me. When you get this much snow it doesn't matter how well sealed your house is something always finds it's way in. Luckily Husby is wonderful and can deal with all of this. He even got to sleep in and wake up to coffee and warm muffins this morning.

We are both very tired but it's a good tired, a tired that comes from working hard side by side and accomplishing something for our family. That kind of tired I can deal with. Tired because he played too much World of Warcraft and I pretended to be Bakerella I don't deal well with. This kind of tired reminds me of how much we are a team and how well we work together, each contributing their piece. At this point in time Toby contributes cuteness and poo but there will come a time when he contributes his own sweat on our little homestead.

Have a blessed and snow free day!