We’re with the band

Ok, so I was writing out this long, tedious blog to try to explain our whole night of excitement at the concert, but even I was bored. So let’s fast forward and cut to the chase. We got a great parking spot, hung out on the tour bus and with Reba and Kelly’s band, got to catch up with an old friend-Jason (who made this whole adventure possible btw. thanks!!), got in the back entrance and avoided swarming crowds, got the VIP backstage tour, and got to shake hands and snap pictures with Reba and Kelly themselves. Now, on to the highlight of my whole night. While backstage waiting to meet Kelly and Reba, this girl walks by with Kate’s haircut (of Jon and Kate plus 8). And I go, “Wow, she has Kate’s haircut (which is being copied unsuccessfully by mothers everywhere). It looks really good.” This birthed a long discussion of the show, and while I’m trying to explain to Jason how fun it is to watch this family potty train and buy “big kid beds”, the girl walks by us again. This time she walks right by our table, and with no restraint I yell, “That IS Kate!!”

This is when I turned into a blubbering idiot. She kind of looked at me and said hi, and I didn’t know what to do. I want a picture, I want to chat, I want to sit with them at the concert and be BFFs. Daina lifted me by the arm and told me to go ask for the picture. She was over there now dealing with the twins (the 6 were not there), one of whom looks like she might be throwing up in a cup. Ah, motherhood. Jon’s sitting with them and I finally get the nerve to say, “Hey, I really don’t want to be one of these people who interrupts because she’s such a big fan, but I can’t help it. I tried, I can’t help it”. She looks a little wary of me, but smiles and concedes.

I think they were there as guests of someone in Reba’s band, so we ended up getting shuffled to the same places. Which was awesome. I ended up getting to talk to Jon for awhile about all kinds of stuff, and Daina chatted it up with Mady and Cara. We talked about parenthood, road trips, Walmart, and the show of course. I asked him about the show where Kate broke down on the plane (they were going to Utah and the plane was diverted 3 hours out of the way). I told him how I cried with her. He said he was the one who happened to be filming that, even the crew had given up by that point. He told me how weird it is for people to know so much about their life, and becoming a celebrity just for living it. Kate was tiny. I really think that’s why I didn’t recognize her at first. She looked like a little miniature of what we see on tv. And she was just like she is on tv. After the concert we got to meet up with Jason and head out the back entrance (this is SO the way to go to a concert btw). When security tried to stop us, we got to point to Jason and be all, “We’re with the band.” We ran into them again back there and Kate kind of threw me a look (I was standing right behind her), and I promptly said, “I am not stalking you, I promise I’m with him.” She laughed and I told her that I forgot to mention how much we love seeing that her and her husband put scriptures up all over their house. “It’s all about controlling my mouth”, she told me. The girls were exhausted and Jon told them to just put on a happy face for a few more minutes as they left. This was because there were people lined up behind ropes at the back entrance waiting to see who would come out of it. They went nuts when the Gosselins came out right behind us, and we totally pretended they were cheering for us. The people are screaming, “It’s Jon and Kate AUGHHHHHHHH!!!!” I looked over at Kate and said, “See I could’ve done that (I totally wanted to).” She thanked me. 🙂

Now, I haven’t mentioned the concert, but I’ll have to save that for another blog. It really was awesome, and had the Jon and Kate sighting not overshadowed it, I would probably be sitting here raving about those 2 songbirds. They really really rocked. I forgot how much I liked me some good old school Reba. And watching Jason in action was pretty cool too. The last time I saw him play was on the stage at Cathedral in the Pines in Beaumont, TX. Now he’s playing for Kelly Clarkson and texting at the same time. Rock on.

This whole experience has made me realize that I’m not as capable of “keeping it cool”, as I thought myself. Stu and I only have about 3 shows that we enjoy watching together, and J&K is one of them. It sparks so many great discussions, gives us parenting ideas, and oddly enough, makes Stuart want tons of kids. When Jon and Kate argue, Stu and Kathy argue. Well, not always, but, yeah.

Let me end with thanking the husbands of Daina (mad props, cause he was with all 3 kids so that my sister could fly to Maryland to play), Kelli, Sara, and me. Good times, good times.

More pictures:

Stay tuned…

Don’t you hate it when people say that?  Like what we have to say is so important that you shouldn’t change the channel during the commercial or run to the bathroom or get a snack.  Well, I said it anyways.  Because I have so much to tell you, but no time at the moment.  My weekend story with Daina, Jason, Sara, Kelli, Reba, Kelly Clarkson, and Jon and Kate (plus 2!) cannot be rushed.  We are leaving for Chicago tonight and the baby is sleeping so I should be packing, not blogging.  But I promise, it will be fun story time when I can get all this down.

Until then, I hope you are all all gearing up for a Happy Thanksgiving week.  Be grateful, no matter where you are, there is so much to be thankful for.  You’re breathing, aren’t you?

It makes you appreciate…

So, the baby and his Aunt D are upstairs asleep, napping.  I’m so jealous of people who can nap, because around 10 tonight when everybody is still wanting to party, I will be wanting to go to bed because I didn’t take a nice nap today.  Read back 2 blogs and I’m pretty sure you’ll see me complaining about that. 

Anyways, I was thinking about bedrest today; I think it had something to do with the 2 preggos on Days of Our Lives.  I was pondering about how people on bedrest tend to miss doing the simplest things in life, like being able to go run your own errands, getting out to see other people.  And then I realized how annoyed I usually am with the mundane chores and errands I have to get through in a day.  So I decided today to appreciate being able to do what I do in a day (without being forced to).  How lucky am I??

And while I’m counting my blessings, do you know why my is sister here?  Well, besides that she misses me and wanted to hang out.  Thanks to an old friend, tomorrow we are going to meet Kelly Clarkson and Reba.  Then we are going to see their concert.  I got my hair cut today in case they want me up on stage.  Always be prepared.

My mommy

She made this a little while back for Blake’s first birthday using a recording I made in Ash’s studio.  I wanted to keep some of the lullabies I sing for Blake, and she got all fancy with it.  

http://myacornblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/make-smilebox-scrapbook.html

Mommy insomnia

OK, can anyone else relate to this?  I used to be an awesome sleeper.  I could just place my sleepy head on the pillow and be gone to dreamland in seconds.  Then I had a baby.  And besides being exhausted because a crying infant would wake me up every few hours all night, I now have this new mommy system that is super sensitive to ANY noise.  So Blake sleeps through the night now (except for the occasional bad dream, btw, what’s that about??  Nothing bad ever happens to him thanks to ME) and I can’t.  It takes me hours to fall asleep.  And my poor husband just can’t win.  If I go to bed before him then everything he does wakes me up, walking through the house seems SO loud when I’m trying to fall asleep.  And heaven forbid he uses the ice dispenser.  The other night I must have looked like Miss Hannigan coming around the banister of the stairs yelling at him for it.  The poor guy was just trying to get a drink.  So then he comes to bed with me, so that he doesn’t get in trouble for “tromping around” downstairs.  And then the race begins.  Quite unfortunately, Stu snores.  This was not a problem when I slept well, it’s not really that awful, but now that apparently I’m on high alert for who-knows-what, it seems pretty bad.  So I race him to sleep.  I try to fall asleep before he does, so that the snoring won’t get to me.  Then he wins, starts snoring, I kick him, and we start over.  After several losing rounds on my part, I give in and go to the other bed.  This bums me out.  I like sleeping with my husband (oh, you know what I mean).  But I have to do it.  It is exhausting for him too, being kicked all night and falling asleep “trying not to snore”.  So we are going to try to address the snoring thing.  How ironic is it that I’m going to send my husband to a sleep clinic because I have a sleeping problem? 

And lets not even get started on naps.  You would think I could catch up at some point during the day because my child catches at least 3 hours of daytime sleep.  But no.  It is more frustrating to try to nap than to just be tired.  Funny side note, one day I gave myself some benadryl in hopes of catching a nap while he napped.  It was the first time in months that he refused to nap altogether.  Boy, that was a hilarious day.

Road trip!

So, I don’t think this is going to resemble the movie.  Oy, I hope not. 

The family is sick of flying.  You can see in my past blog that our latest air travels have, well, sucked.  We did the math and the last time we flew from Texas to Maryland we traveled for 11 hours.  Now we are approaching Thanksgiving and all of my siblings insist on living all over the country.  We decided to converge in Chicago this year at my brother’s family’s house and Stu and I decided that we will NOT be flying.  So, like the blissful idiots that we are, we are going to drive from Baltimore to Chicago (approx 11 hours- go figure), with a one year old.  We like to learn things the hard way.  Now, in our defense, we are leaving at 7pm next Monday, hopefully Blake’s bedtime.  My earnest desire is that he will saw logs all the way to Chicago and wake up ready to rumble.  Don’t laugh.  And if he doesn’t, I’m going to be prepared.  We are going to have toys, games, music, snacks (the kid would even get a chicken nugget if it would keep him quiet all the way), milk, chocolate milk, and most importantly, my emergency kit.  This includes the portable DVD player and the Bear in the Big Blue House DVD.  I don’t know what it is about that crazy bear, but he can mesmerize my child like nothing else on TV. 

I’m just so excited to be able to pack what I want.  Not to be at the mercy of security guards taking my lip gloss, hoping to find milk for a bottle, packing everything I need to get my hands on for 11 hours of travel in a backpack; I don’t have to weigh my luggage!!  I can bring my own food so that I don’t have to buy a $15 crappy sandwich, and a $3 bottle of water.  I love it.  Not to mention, we love our car.  It is perfect for trips like this.  We have a Honda Element, and you might think they are ugly, but they are great road trip cars.  We’ll be able to take one of the back seats out and have plenty of room for luggage, and for our handy-dandy sleeping palate.  A “palate” is what my mom used to call it when she was going to put a couple blankets on the floor and make me sleep there.  She made it sound so cool.  “Want me to fix you up a little palate for bedtime tonight??”  Anyways, yes, there is enough floor room for us lay out and sleep, which will help both of our moods.  That, and books on tape. 

And that’s the wonderful thing about family travel:  it provides you with experiences that will remain locked forever in the scar tissue of your mind.  ~Dave Barry

Costco should pay me for this…

If you have a baby in diapers, or using formula, you should be using a wholesale store.  I fought it for awhile, because a Costco membership was $50 annually.  Now, it might be hard to plop down that initial $50, but don’t forget that that is $4.17 a month.  Their baby formula alone saved me $60 a month.  Holy cow, in the time Blake was using formula I saved $480!  Tell me that isn’t worth $50.  Let’s not get started on how badly mothers are being ripped off on formula.  I don’t know the numbers on diapers and wipes, but Stu and I think we’re saving about 40% there. 

The reason I choose to promote Costco in particular is that I LOVE their store-brand, Kirkland.  Everything I have bought that said Kirkland on it has completely exceeded my expectations, if fact, I would go so far as to say these products have been better than their name brand equivalent.  Everything.  This includes diapers, wipes, formula, milk, cheese, water, plasticware (we’re remodeling), paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning products, snacks, medicine, and on and on and on.  The produce is not only about 30-50% cheaper than the grocery store (depending on what you get), but the quality has put our grocery store to shame.  Most of their produce and meat is organic, and there are great selections.  Now I do understand that buying things like produce in bulk sounds scary, and it does have to be done thoughtfully or you end up throwing a bunch away.  But after our recent food awakening (we read In Defense of Foodby Micheal Pollan), we have decided that produce should be the bulk of our diet.  Therefore, I have gotten very creative when it comes to preparing all kinds of veggie-tastic meals (back when I got to prepare my own meals, I miss you kitchen!! Kisses!!).  Anyways, even if you don’t buy into the bulk produce thing, alot of meats can be bought in bulk and frozen. 

Hey, speaking of bulk, if you have the time to find them, many warehouses have wholesale stores.  Around here, we have Ann’s House of Nuts.  If you live around here and haven’t discovered that place then you don’t even know how sad you are to be missing out!  Trail Mixes and candy, and dried fruit and (of course) nuts for next to nothing!  Pure excitement.   

So, Costco, you totally owe me a free membership. 

If you have contributions or ideas, share them, I’ll try to incorporate them into this blog. 

If you find this topic to be boring, sorry, I tend to write about whatever is taking up the most of my time.  And right now, you’re looking at it!  🙂

More People, Less Money

I decided to start up this page on my blog because I’ve been discussing budget issues alot with my friends.  As most of you know, at the end of my pregnancy with Blake, I quit my job with no intention of going back anytime soon.  I want to stay home my kids for as long as I possibly can.  Besides the fact that I think it’s great for Blake, it’s just not economical for me to go back.  Once I deducted daycare out of my salary (which is completely ridiculous here in Columbia-I’m finding out what some of you are paying in Texas and it’s not fair!), and taxes, and subtract the couple hundred more in taxes that Stuart brings in by being able to claim me, I’m bringing home a few hundred a month.  Is that worth 40 hours a week (at least), and my extra guilt and exhaustion?  Now, all of you know that I find this to be a very personal decision, and if you are working I would never critique that.  We’re pretty blessed that it has worked for us.  But I have been working pretty hard to find ways to make it work.  I’ve made it my job.  So I decided to make it a part of my blog too.  I make all kinds of little discoveries all the time.  And when I make them, I will share!

The tips today, well, we’ll could call them, “Duh”.  When I list the things we’ve given up it reminds me that our lives were fairly luxurious.  Maybe it will be again one day.  🙂

1. Gave up the gym (finally) $80

2. Gave up the once a month house cleaning (reluctantly) $120

3. Gave up the once a month hair treatment (you know, cut, color) $Embarrassing amount

Don’t worry, the tips will get better.  I’ll be back with some more useful ones soon.

New category

I’ve started a new category (right column), More people, Less money.  Talking about making ends meet in a time where pretty much everyone is trying to hang onto their dollars.  I’ll probably be adding another “What’s for Dinner” category also soon (assuming I have a kitchen and can start cooking).  I miss it, it was my hobby.  Then we can all make dinner together all across the country!  Fun times.  Get excited people.

Now presenting: BLOOD, sweat and tears

Up until now, the kitchen project has only called for sweat and tears. Now it has demanded blood. The countertops are the big project we still have had looming over our heads. We chose ironstone, which I wrote about earlier, and they are giant pavers, but I will be calling them tiles. Just because I like to. Anyways, there was a super-bad wet saw/tile debacle (of which I will not elaborate) and Stuart walked in and told me, “I broke a tile”, I knew he had also blown a fuse because he headed down to the breaker. I also knew he was very angry, because these things are not cheap. Then he comes upstairs and says, oh and I did this. That’s when he showed me what the inside of his fingers looks like.

So now I’m sitting in the ER with him (yay for thinking to bring the laptop!!) and they are “exploring the wound” as we speak. Ew.  It’s on the inside of his pointer and middle fingers right where it bends, so they are looking to see if there is any tendon damage.

And, the entertainment has been the couple on the other side of the curtain.  This couple came in and the guy has an ice pack on his thumb.  We finally found out he stapled his thumb.  I begged Staple Guy to let me take a picture so you guys can really feel like you’re here.  It is definitely time to stop reading if you are easily queased.  But I know how you guys like my gross pictures.  Don’t act like you don’t.  Obviously, I am fascinated with injuries, even though I will pass out immediately if I see someone in severe pain.  No joke.  Okok, here’s Staple Guy’s finger:

 

I didn’t take any before pictures of Stu’s injury (you’re welcome).  I did however take a pic once he was stitched up.  Enjoy.

We had fun with Staple Guy (ok, his name is Dave) and his wife, and it was a nice diversion so that we didn’t concentrate too much on the fact that the guy treating us was taking his lunch break right outside our room.  And in case you’re curious, they just yanked that staple out of his hand with his own pliers (yes, he brought his own).  whoa.  He left with a freaking bandaid on his hand. 

Here are the hospital buddies:

 

Stu is now making a bold political statement, and Dave is an Aggie. 

Now, could someone from HGTV PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come finish our kitchen?? I’m begging. I’m on my knees. I need a kitchen sink. Please. Sniff.

Sniff.

Sniff.

Sniff.