Rambling On

Purchasing a house

Tonight my husband and I have two appointments to view two different houses. One of the houses is not in our area where we have been looking, but since it’s now in foreclosure, the price is right. The other home is exactly in the area that we have been looking, but unfortunately it comes with a higher price tag. So we are going to view both of them and then decided if either house would be suitable for our family.

Thankfully were not in a real big hurry to purchase, so we can look around quite a bit to see if we can get a good deal. I absolutely refuse to spend money on a house that I don’t feel is worth the price tag. We can stay where were at for as long as we want so there isn’t any real pressure to purchase. The only pressure I’m feeling is the pressure I put on myself because I really do want a new home.

Saving money

With only one income coming into our household, I am constantly looking for different ways to save money. I have been using Snapfish coupons, buying things in bulk and cutting out on most of the extras. I find during the summer months that it’s a whole lot easier to save money then when the kids are in school. During the school year I am spending a lot of money in gas driving them back and forth to the bus stop and spending a lot more in food money as they need snacks and lunch items. And don’t get me started on how much cash I fork out in a run of a week for different activities during the school year. Saving money is a hard thing to do for anyone, but everyday I am learning more and more about how to go about doing this.

A little excitement

Over the weekend we had a little bit of excitement here in our park. Not the kind of excitement I would ever look forward to, but excitement none the less. On Saturday one of the other trailers in our park got broken in to. The thieves stole a plasma TV and the plasma mount.

They were very brave and very stupid. They performed this act in the middle of the day time and carried it on foot through the park. So of course they were spotted and identified. The police caught up with about an hour later and now they get to spend some time in jail. Although it was not our home that was broke in to, it did creep me out quite a bit thinking that it could have been. Now a days, you just never know.

I hate cleaning

In my next life time I’m coming back as a very rich person. That way I can afford to hire a made to clean my toilets. I’m not kidding! I hate cleaning and the worst room in the house has got to be the bathroom. I don’t understand why my family feels the need to leave it disgusting after each and every visit. The only reason I can think of is because they enjoy watching me clean. So that is why in my next life time I plan on coming back rich. But with my luck I’ll come back as the maid.

Going to do some shopping

I have been saving my money for quite a few months now to be able to buy a new china cabinet and bookshelf for my living room. These are items that I don’t have to have, just items I want. Last night I was browsing through a furniture catalog and saw the two units that I just have to have. The color and style of both pieces will go really well with the furniture that I already have. And the great news is, is that I almost have enough to purchase both. So I’m going to keep saving my pennies (they do add up!) and when I have enough, I’m going to purchase both at the same time. I don’t want one without the other and I want to purchase them as a set.

Their so messy

Honestly, I wasn’t born yesterday. I realize that a family of five can make a lot of messes in a run of a day, but I have to ask the question: When does it end?? I thought when my oldest son moved out of the home the messes would start to get smaller, but it seems like everyone else in the house has decided to pick up where he left off. I have tried a lot of different methods when trying to keep the home clean. I have even tried to go on strike so that the family would see just exactly who does all the cleaning and how much that person does. Firing the maid didn’t do any good as all the family did then was yell out for the dog to come in and clean up their mess.

So I have had to re-hire the maid (me) but with one condition. That condition is that my husband purchases me a new Energy Star vacuum cleaner. This was the only way I would come back to work. They are more energy efficient than past models and because they are cordless, I can carry the machine to every little mess I find. Purchasing one of these machines is my last hope to keeping my home clean and if this doesn’t work out I’m going to have to try to find a different method to keep my home clean. Getting another dog just might do the trick.

We need to get a bigger driveway

It has finally come down to this.  We either need to get a bigger driveway, or start selling off some of our junk stuff.  Right now we have a fairly small driveway but we have two cars, one truck, one four wheeler, and a pop up camper trailer.  You would think that this would be enough, wouldn’t you??  But nope my husband is right now looking at a motorbike to purchase.  I completely understand his need for “big boy toys”, but when they start to take over the driveway and I have to park on the side of the road I honestly do believe enough is enough.  Hopefully he will slow down a little after this purchase and decide if we need less junk stuff or a bigger driveway.

Protecting our earth

Preserving the earth’s land and waters needs to be a top priority for all citizens, but Columbia University is potentially going to threaten this very concept. They are planning on building a biohazard lab in Manhattan and the citizens of the Upper West side needs our help to Stop Columbia’s Expansion Project.

By building this biohazard lab, they are potentially destroying the Upper West Side and the Hudson river. This lab could threaten the very livelihood of all residents as well as wildlife and the environment. If the enviorment and it’s continued success are going to continue then we all need to get involved. If this is a concern of yours, then I highly suggest that you drop by their site, read up on all the information that they will provide you and help them save this area.

My not so little helpers

I do love my children dearly, but sometimes their more of a hindrance than they are a help.  Around this time of year every year I start to do my spring cleaning.  So yesterday I started on my youngest son’s room.  I usually start on the worst room in the house and this year he won the trophy!  The only way I can find to get his room clean is to take everything out of the room and just leave the main big furniture in there.  Then all I need to do is clean the room, go through the stuff and get rid of what is broken or no good any more.

So I started by taking everything out of his room and putting it in the hall.  Then I started cleaning it.  Well when it was time to go pick him up at the bus stop all his toys were still out of his room and I didn’t have them sorted yet.  So when he got home he decided to help me.  He started going through the toys, but was making an even bigger mess.  So I stopped!  I just let him play with his toys and after he went to bed I finished doing what I was doing.

I appreciated the help, but I sure wish they wouldn’t offer. lol

Were baking a cake!

Yes, the title of this post most certainly did deserve an exclamation mark as I never bake!  But, as today is Valentine’s day AND my husband’s birthday I decided to blow off the dust off all my baking tools and bake him a cake!  And…the kids are more than happy to help me.  Although this cake will not be totally from scratch (I’m not that ambitious) it will be homemade.  I have a cake mix and a can of frosting.  So later this afternoon the kids and I will make their father a little treat for when he gets home from work today.  My daughter wanted me to go out and purchase 41 candles, but since I can’t get out of my driveway today, I guess he is safe for another year.

So, it will be cake making for us today and hopefully (fingers crossed) it will all turn out and maybe I’ll try this again someday.