Auditions and More

For the past month, I have been taking Andrew and Jenna to auditions for movies and commercials. Jenna really loves doing it. Andrew not so much. Jenna has done 2 independent films now and Andrew has done 1. Both should be out next year. A friend of mine took their pictures for me which you can see above, she even did the comp cards. I love the way they turned out! She did a great job!

The job market for me has been horrible. I'm still looking for a job every day with no luck! I have a feeling my kids will find a job before I do! School doesn't start here til Sept 8. I'm running out of things to do with the kids. Especially things that don't cost a lot of money.

I've Discovered EBay!

A whole new world has been opened up to me this weekend. A new addiction! I have discovered EBay. I had been complaining about my face breaking out lately since I ran out of Arbonne stuff. It is so expensive and with me not working, I just don’t feel like I can spend hundreds of dollars on stuff for my face. So, I was checking out EBay, and I thought I could sell some of my Arbonne stuff that I don’t use so I can buy stuff I want to use. I could not believe all of the bargains I found on EBay! I can now afford Arbonne again even with me not working! I’ll say sorry now to all my friends that are Arbonne consultants, but money is money and I’d rather spend less money.

So, I’m going around my house looking for things I can sell to make money. I’m amazed at all the stuff I can sell. Between Craigslist and EBay, I should be able to get rid of a lot of stuff. Who needs to have a yard sale? So, my mind has been racing all weekend about how I can make money selling stuff on EBay. There has to be a way to make money. People do it all of the time.

Well for now I’m experimenting with EBay buying and selling. Check back with me and I’ll let you know how it is going.

I was shopping with my Boston friend who also loves Vera Bradley purses. I told her that Marshalls and TJ Maxx are now carrying Vera Bradley stuff. She did not believe me, so I had to prove her wrong. We went to TJ Maxx and found this cute Vera Bradley purse perfect for spring. I was right, and she found herself a real bargain. The purse was regularly $63 and she got it for $9.99. You are lucky if you can get discontinued patterns online for half off the regular price. So, for those of you out there that like Vera Bradley purses as much as I do, check out TJ Maxx and Marshalls to see if you can get as lucky as my Boston friend. And if you don't like Vera Bradley, you will still find really great bargains on purses and other stuff at both Marshalls and TJ Maxx.

Why so unkind?

So, I’m back at the JCC. Well, partly back. I’ve been taking classes at 24 Hour Fitness which has been great, but still want to run some days. I’m sure you are asking, why I can’t run outside. It hurts my lungs to run outside with all of the crap in the air, so I prefer the treadmill. And, I like to see how far I’ve run and how fast. Anyway, I jumped on one of the treadmills yesterday at 24 Hour Fitness and hated it. The treadmill was not smooth at all, and it didn’t have a built in fan! So, I decided on the days when I don’t take classes at 24 Hour Fitness, I’m back at the JCC to use their incredible treadmills that are so smooth and sleek, and best of all have built in fans blowing right on me.

So, I went to the JCC today to run. Stupid me forgot to turn the overhead fan on before I started to run. So, I was at about 1.5 miles at this point, and did not want to stop to turn on a fan so I thought I would suffer it out. Then an older gentleman got on the treadmill next to me. Then his trainer came over and started jibber jabbing with him while he warmed up. She was there talking away with him just shooting the breeze, and was literally 2 steps away from the fan. I asked her if she minded turning the fan on please. I wasn’t sure if she heard me or if she was asking me what because she was surprised I was asking her something. So, I repeated my question saying please and how much I would appreciate it. She looked at me with a not so nice expression on her face, gave her client a look, and took the 2 steps to the fan very slowly and turned it on. I thanked her and told her how much I appreciated it. She didn’t say anything and walked away with an unhappy expression on her face.

I said something to the gentleman next to me about the fact that the trainer seemed offended that I asked her to turn the fan on. I said something about the fact it was sad that our world was like this. He told me that he didn’t think that was the case, and that she took offense because it wasn’t her job. I told him I didn’t ask her to turn the fan on because I thought it was her job, but that I asked her because she was standing there, and that I would have asked anyone that was standing right there. I told him that if someone who was working out on the treadmill asked me to turn the fan on, I would have gladly done it because it is the right thing to do. I probably would have commented on how hot it was without the fan on, and turned it on for the person with a smile. I just don’t get why a simple question would have offended the trainer. I certainly wouldn’t have been offended and I would have walked the 2 steps, reached up, and turned the fan on with a pleasant smile. Like I said, I would have even conversed with the person about how hot it was, and probably would have said something about how I always forget to turn the fan on also.

So, tell me people, would you be offended by the interaction I had this morning with the trainer at the JCC? I really want to know if asking the trainer nicely if she could turn the fan on was really that offensive. Would you have asked someone to turn the fan on? If someone asked you to turn the fan on that you were standing right in front of, would you do it? So, my interaction this morning with the trainer was not a positive one. I certainly will not be hiring her to work with me anytime soon. I get that the gentleman had to defend her because he is paying good money to have her train him. You don’t want to feel bad about shelling out all that money for a trainer and then have to admit that the trainer is not a very nice person. That’s just my opinion of course.

Back to 24 Hour Fitness. Bye Bye JCC

One of my friends convinced me that I needed to set a goal for myself when it came to working out. So, I let her set it for me. My original goal was running at least 15 miles a week and to reach the 100 mile mark within 6 ½ weeks. I thought she was crazy at first, but I was also determined to reach the goal she set. This was a friend of mine who hardly ever worked out when we were in high school or college. Now she is working out like crazy. She runs 11 miles in one day, and says she loves it. I know, it’s absurd!

Well, I have hit my 15 mile goal a week for the past 15 weeks. I’m not getting the drastic results I thought I would see. So, today I decided that it was time to kick it up a notch. I’m going to keep trying to run 15 miles a week, and throw in kickboxing and step aerobic classes. I’m finding out I need to do something to work my core. I went to my first kickboxing class in months. I had an incredible workout! The last time I went to this class, the instructor was pregnant. She is no longer pregnant and looks incredible. You would never even know she recently had a baby. So, I worked my butt off literally this morning. I am so sore. I’ll have to let you know in 15 weeks if I’m finally seeing results by supplementing my running with other stuff.

Oh yeah, and can you tell me why people feel the need to wear thong underwear and low cut workout pants? I really don’t want to see someone’s thong when I’m trying to workout. I don’t care that you matched your red thong to the red tag on the back of your pants and that your pants are mint green. I just don’t get the whole thong wearing sticking out of the back of your pants thing. Can someone tell me what that is about? It’s not like we have a bunch of guys in this class. We are all women and I’m pretty sure no one else wants that view either.

So, if you are hitting the gym again and you want this to be a lifestyle, like my sister does, don’t make the mistake she has made. She continues to pay around $30 a month for her 24 Hour Fitness membership and has been paying this for the past 10 years. She uses the gym probably 5 to 7 days a week and even takes multiple classes in one day, but she is paying way too much. I have tried to train her, but she is stubborn. Anyway, gyms are willing to negotiate their fee. I paid for my membership up front for 3 years which worked out to $15 a month. I even had them waive the initiation fee. Now once the 3 years is up I will only have to pay $49 a year for my membership for life. It makes me a little ill to think about all of the money my sister has been throwing away for the past 10 years. I have offered to even help her get the deal I have, but she continues to be stubborn. Somehow she did not get the same thrifty gene I got, but I’m working on her.

So, I'm leaving my friends at the Jewish Community Center and heading back to the meatmarket of 24 Hour Fitness. I would take the classes at the JCC, but it is hard to concentrate because all I see are overly enhanced boobs on the instructor(like cartoonish type), and she singles me out and not in a good way. Now, why would an instructor do that? That is not encouraging! That is discouraging!

Did I mention how crowded the 24 Hour Fitness was this morning at 10:00 am? I’m a little concerned about the fact that there were so many people working out during work hours that were in their 30’s and 40’s. So not only am I competing with them to be fit, but I’m also competing with them for a job. Is it possible that all of those people this morning are all unemployed right now?

Girl's Night and Free Stuff makes me happy!

I love free stuff! I had some girls over for girl’s night this past week. My friend, Laura from Ohio, had girl's night perfected. I learned from the best. She would make popcorn, cut up cheese, and the wine from a box was always flowing. I loved going to her house each week. The key was to tape whatever show we were going to watch, so I could chat the whole time and catch up with everyone. Some of the girls were talented enough that they could watch the show and chat. Me, not so much. I don't like missing anything, so I had to tape the show, stay up even later to watch it when I got home, just so I would be able to talk to my friends at work the next day about what happened on Ally McBeal.

So, I decided to have some friends over to see the movie, The Jane Austen Book Club. I had already seen it, so I could watch it again with friends and not worry about missing any of it because of talking. The great part was that Rick popped the popcorn, cut the cheese up, put nuts in a bowl, and put everything out for us on the table. It was just like going to someone else’s house, and just showing up for the entertainment. The even better part was I went to bed and left all of the dirty dishes on the counter, and you know when I got up the next morning everything was cleaned and put away! I’m thinking I can host girl’s night every week. Next time I have the girls over, I'm thinking we should watch Bride Wars, and dress up in our wedding dresses to watch it.

What really made the night great was that Kimberly brought her Clairol House Party to my house. If you haven’t done a house party, you really need to. Go to Houseparty.com and pick your party. Included in our gift bag was a free sample of the Gillette Venus Breeze Razor. This is the best razor ever! It’s a razor with built in shave gel bars on each side of the blades. All you have to do is get it wet and start shaving! This razor had to have been designed by a woman. Who else would come up with such an ingenious product? I don’t know how I lived without it before. I probably won’t want to pay for the expensive replacement blades, but for right now, I’m enjoying my free razor.

Pre-School Open House

Jenna's self-portrait

What Jenna wishes her family looked like!

This weekend was our very last open house for Pre-School. Jenna will be graduating from Pre-K and entering Kindergarten in the fall. Above is a picture that Jenna did that was posted on the wall for open house. I wasn't quite sure who all of the people were in the picture. Last time I checked the only people in our family were Dad, Mom, Andrew, Jenna, and our dog Reilly. So, a couple of parents were asking Jenna how many siblings she had. She told them she only had Andrew and her dog Reilly. So, I asked her why there were so many people in her family picture and who are they? I guess to Jenna it was very obvious. The two bigger people are Rick and me. The boy and girl are Andrew and Jenna. I asked who the other 6 people were. She said that there were only 2 other people and the other 4 are dolls for each of the kids. So, there are 4 kids and 4 dolls for the kids. Well, that makes much more sense. I was really hoping she didn't think that I was going to have 6 more kids. I know she wants me to have a baby, but 6 more is a bit much. It's a great thing that she has an incredible imagination because she can just pretend we are a family with 4 kids and 4 dolls.

Discount Shopping

I think people are finally figuring out how great Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and Ross are. I stopped by my friend’s house the other day, and she was so excited about something she purchased and couldn’t wait to tell me about it. I didn’t think anyone got as excited as I did about bargains, but I think she may have come close. So, she shows me a top she bought at Old Navy, then went on to tell me that she was taking it back. I asked her why, and she said I would not believe what she found and that I would be so proud of her. So, she shows me how she found a very similar top at Ross for a third of the price. She was able to get 3 different tops at Ross for the price of 1 top at Old Navy. And you know, the top from Ross, in my opinion, was much cuter then the one from Old Navy.

I’m so glad that my friends are finally catching on to the bargains that I have known about for many years. I can’t tell you the last time I shopped at a department store. I don’t want everyone to catch on though, because our economy sucks right now, so we need some people to keep spending their money at expensive places and not caring about saving a buck.

So, some of the bargains I have gotten recently at Marshalls have been: Asic running shoes for Andrew for $10.00, New Balance running shoes for Rick for $19.99, and Maidenform bra for $8.00. One of my really great finds was when I pulled a little black dress off the rack for my friend to wear to her husband’s Christmas party and it fit! That dress was only $10.00, and she loved it! I don’t think anyone can beat that one!

I’ve had people tell me that they don’t have the patience to go through the racks to find the bargains. The mistake they are making is shopping with their children. If you are trying to shop for yourself, don’t ever bring your children. You can bring a sister or friend, because you will need that person to tell you if the jeans are cute or absolutely ridiculous. And if you have to go by yourself, don’t fret because you can buy the item, show it to your friend or sister, and then return it within 30 days for a full refund if your friend tells you how ridiculous you look. You really can’t go wrong at these stores. I’ll even go with you to introduce you to this wonderful world of shopping. They get new shipments all the time, so I won’t be bored.

So, congratulations to Kimberly for entering the club of discount shopping. What a rush you will get! Next I’ll have to take you to Goodwill, and I’ll even help you go through the racks. Hope you are enjoying the Bebe skirt. You’ll never believe where that one came from and how much it cost! My mom will be happy to know the skirt found a new home and the new owner is very excited about it!

Surviving without our DVR

My DVR died last week. I knew it was coming as my DVR continued to make a clicking noise. At times I was unable to select a program I had recorded. Not a good sign. So, I called in to get help from Dish Network. As soon as I told the technician about the clicking noise, he said that was not a good sign. He confirmed that my hard drive crashed, and I would not be able to get my taped shows back. I wasn’t too concerned about my shows, but had a feeling when the kids found out they would not be happy. They are so used to watching everything taped and being able to pause in the middle of a show when I ask them to go do something. Live TV just doesn’t happen in our house. I love that I can tape 2 things at once and watch something else that I have taped at the same time. I never watch commercials anymore! I’m sure the marketers out there are not happy to hear that. Do you realize how much time is wasted by having to sit through the commercials? I have now given myself extra time in my day just by cutting out the commercials.

So, I asked the technician what I needed to do. He told me not to worry about anything. He said that they would mail me a new DVR. I asked how much I was going to have to pay. He told me I didn’t have to pay anything. He said my old DVR was under warranty. He said I would only have to pay shipping. I started to argue with him, when he told me that he would waive the shipping fee. I thought that was so nice of him. Then I asked what I should do with my broken machine. He told me I would have to ship it back to them as soon as I got my replacement. I started to ask if I would have to pay for the shipping. He let me know once again that they would cover the shipping costs. So, now I’m getting a new machine within a few days and won’t have to pay a dime. Wait, my dog is barking like a mad dog! It has to be either the mailman or the UPS guy. I went to check and guess what? My new DVR is here! We won’t have to suffer through another day of having to watch live TV and having to pick what show we like better, The Office or Grey’s Anatomy? The only good thing good thing to come out of this is I have discovered hulu.com. I can watch all of my shows that I missed on hulu.com. Isn’t modern technology great????

So, I was telling my friend that my DVR finally died. It had been acting funny about a month prior to this and we were sure it was going to die. I told her how great the customer service was at Dish Network and that they did not charge me anything. I didn’t even have to argue to get my way. She told me I didn’t have to fight with them because I already had a mark on my account that says, “Difficult customer! Give her whatever she wants!” You know, I’m ok with that!

The thing I didn’t mention is that within the past 4 months I have called Dish Network and negotiated my monthly fees. I have successfully reduced my bill by $20 a month without compromising my services! I never would have thought this was possible until last year my previous boss made me call my business phone and internet providers and ask for a discount. I thought she was crazy, and there was no way they would reduce our bill. I was wrong! The providers are willing to negotiate. You just have to ask. So, if you are not comfortable with negotiating, let me do it for you. I love to argue and get a good deal. I won’t charge you too much!

Wasting Food

Everyone knows how much I love Chick-Fil-A. It’s the perfect place for mom and kids. I love kid’s night. Usually they have a pretty decent event for the kids, plus kids eat free. Then the kids disappear into a place almost like heaven, the sound proof play area, and I get to enjoy my meal in peace with a friend. So, this particular night, we went for kid’s night, it was like any other night. The kid’s ate free and I got to enjoy my meal catching up with a friend. The kids get a free ice cream in a cup with their kid’s meal. Sometimes they get lucky and convince the worker to give them their ice cream on a cone. This particular night they were not successful.

This is how our conversation went:

Me: “Jenna, please don’t use your fingers to eat your ice cream. Use your spoon.”

Jenna: “I don’t want to use my spoon.”

Me: “If you don’t use your spoon, I am going to take your ice cream away, and throw it in the trash can.”

Jenna continues to eat her ice cream with a spoon for a little while and then goes back to her fingers again. I had to take her ice cream away, right? She begged me not to throw it in the trash. I told her that she did not listen to me, so I was going to have to throw it in the trash. My friend is looking at me and giving me this look like I have to follow through with what I said. I go over to the trash can and threw her ice cream in the trash. Jenna starts screaming and crying.

Jenna: ”You are the worst Mom ever! I’m going to tell Daddy on you!”

Me: “What are you going to tell him? That I threw your ice cream in the trash because you were using your fingers instead of a spoon?”

Jenna: “No! I’m telling on you. I’m telling Daddy that you wasted food! You are going to be in big trouble! You are the worst Mom ever!”

Jenna totally had me pegged. She knows how much I HATE to waste anything including food. It was so hard for me to throw her ice cream in the trash. That’s the good thing about being married to a human garbage disposal. Nothing gets wasted. Rick will eat anything. So, I sucked it up and wasted the ice cream, since I had to follow through. I guess the good thing was that I didn’t have to pay for the ice cream since the kids eat free. You know, even though it was free, I still had this awful feeling in my stomach and I really did not want to waste the food. I wonder if my neurosis about not wasting anything is going to scar my kids for life?