We just received very sad news. Our friends, Nita and Bruce Ward, did lose their home in the Bastrop fire. First and foremost, please pray for them as they begin to rebuild their lives after this tragedy.
Last night, Nita was taken to the hospital with afib, most likely due to stress and lack of eating and lack of sleeping this week as they awaited news of their home. Please pray health, peace and comfort for the Wards as they grieve their home and belongings.
The home that Bruce and Nita lost was their dream home. Delfin's parents retired a few years ago and moved from Odessa to Bastrop where they built this lovely home surrounded by a gorgeous forest of trees. We have visited the Wards in Bastrop several times, and I have always left envious of the beautiful home. I'm sure they are grieving this terrible loss. But at the same time, we are praising God they are both safe.
If you are interested in helping our friends, please contribute here.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Just after church on Sunday, a few wildfires began in our area. The closest one to us was out by Monday morning and burned just 200 acres in Pflugerville, about 8 miles from us. I know, I said "just". But, if you were here to see all the smoke and smell the burning homes today, you would know that 200 burned acres is miniscule now.
A large, upscale subdivision near Daniel's workplace in Austin was on fire and he barely got out of work Sunday evening before the roads were closed. That fire is still burning but the residents were finally allowed to drive through the subdivision today and see what has burned.
When we went to dinner Sunday night in Cedar Park, we were inundated by the smoke. Watching the news a few hours later, we saw that another two subdivisions near the restaurant had been evacuated and were on fire.
The Bastrop fire, which is just now 30% contained today, is the largest fire that started Sunday. It's now burned 35,000 acres and 1,387 homes. The parents of Daniel's best friend and best man in our wedding, Bruce and Nita Ward, live in one of the first of 20 subdivisions that were evacuated Sunday night. They are still in a hotel and waiting to find out if their home survived the massive fire. The initial news does not look good for them.
Late Monday night, Daniel alerted a co-worker who would be at work through the night that the area he lived in was beginning evacuations as a new fire spread to Dripping Springs. By Tuesday morning, the co-worker was forced to find alternate routes as three different roads were closed in his usual hour-long commute home. Fortunately, his home remained safe.
By Monday night, the entire city of Austin had large wildfires almost entirely circling the city. The northeast side, where we live, is the only area that has not had a large fire burning.
Today when I took the kids to school, the smoke in the air was so thick that visibility was limited. By the time I arrived at work, my throat hurt and my eyes burned. It was as if I had been sitting at a campfire for a few hours. The school kept the kids inside all day to avoid respiratory issues. No one has complained about the situation, though. The air is filled with ash from the homes of thousands of people. Discomfort and breathing issues aside, we feel blessed to be safe during this time.
Please pray for the many, many firefighters who are in our area battling this massive fire.
Please pray for the thousands of people who have lost their homes and every possession.
Please pray for rain to end this awful drought in Texas.
Have I ever mentioned that Cooper is all boy? Yeah, he is. And, have I ever mentioned that boys are an entirely different parenting excursion than girls are? Yeah, they are. The older this boy gets, the more he keeps me on my toes. Forget the exhaustion of teaching a toddler not to bite people. And, don't even think about the trials of potty training. Those days were nothing compared to our current parenting trials.
After Cooper's swim practice on Friday, he went to the boys' locker room and never came back. Well, I shouldn't say "never". He did come back in about 15 minutes, which is an eternity when you are a nervous mom considering everything he could be doing while unsupervised. As I was debating on which dad I would sucker into going into the locker room to find out what Cooper was up to, Cooper emerged from the locker room with his swim trucks around his ankles. Take a minute to take this mental scene in... We are at the local YMCA pool. The majority of Abigail's swim team is present. Plenty of other unknowing swimmers are enjoying the family splash pool. It's not a nudist camp.
Sitting in the bleachers with the other parents watching Abigail's practice, I sprang into action and tried to get to him as quickly as possible while he just stood by the pool in his complete nakedness. Abigail's head coach got to him before I could and quickly pulled his trunks up. I still have no clue what gave him the idea that I wouldn't want to tar and feather him for this stunt. He claimed that he couldn't pull his trunks up. Yeah, right. It was just Cooper being Cooper.
A serious talk about modesty, the inappropriateness of being naked in public, threats of banishment from the pool, a lifetime ban on the men's locker room, and a lifetime ticket to the pool's family bathroom with a parental chaperone took over the remainder of the night. Sigh... See what I mean about exhaustion?
As if I needed proof to know that Cooper couldn't care less about our long talk after the pool stunt, he gave full proof of the idea that he doesn't listen to a word I say. On Saturday we were invited (for the first time) to a friend's house to swim in their pool. My friend greeted us in the entryway of her gorgeous home, and Abigail and I followed her into the living room to meet her grandfather who was visiting. Here is where I should not have assumed that Cooper was following us and demostrating approprate social skills. Nope. I should never assume that Cooper is demostrating appropriate social skills. As I was shaking the grandfather's hand, Cooper came into the living room stark naked. Yes, he did it again, but this time without the swim trunks around the ankles. He had stripped down to nothing in my friend's entry way and now wanted to know where his swim trunks were. I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. I'm not making up one bit of this tale. It's just a verbal snapshot of my weekend. And, I don't have actual pictures to share. This kid is going to wear me out before we get through the next 14 years of him living at home.
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My paying gig has slowed to a normal 40-hour week recently so I've had the time and energy for photography, which is certainly not a paying gig. Since my schedule forced me to discontinue the class I was talking at UT a bit more than a year ago, I've had no chance to get back to learning how to use my camera correctly. In essence, I've been using an expensive point and shoot. What a waste. But, the important thing is that I really do want to learn how to use it. I have a new instructional book and am going to start memorizing it tonight. And, I hope to get plugged in to a workshop very soon. Even more exciting, my awesome mother-in-law bought me a new portrait lens last week for my birthday. I can't wait to put it into action this week. Surely I can snag a few minutes to use it on my kiddos. (That is, if Cooper will keep his clothes on.) In the meantime, my sister's mother-in-law asked me to take a few pics of her youngest son for his senior photos. Again, I don't know what I'm doing with a camera so I hope she doesn't absolutely hate them. (At least she'll know she got her money's worth. Ha!) Here's a few pics of Colin to share with you.
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I've been working on filing our taxes for the past month. I just work on it as my schedule allows. It gives me a headache of annoyance so I try not to let my schedule allow for very long periods of availability. It's just annoying because I am working terribly hard at trying not to give the government 8 of the 10 pennies we own, but they are incredibly insistent on prying them from my hands. And, every time I hear a news report about the deficit and lack of budget and all the yahoos (not) trying to balance Uncle Sam's checkbook, it makes me want to hold onto at least 6 or 7 of our 10 pennies. I just can't stand the idea of giving so much to someone who can't use it wisely. On that note, I have to share this video with you about our current federal budgeting woes. It speaks very wisely to those who think higher taxes are the answer to our country's problems. They can't continue to suck all of the money from people who have it or we'll end up with no one who has money to take. Check it out...
See what I mean?! Surely these yahoos can figure out that they are spending entirely too much money! Something, or a lot of somethings, have got to go. The value of programs should not be debated, they just need to be cut. Know what I mean? I love, love, love a Starbucks frappucino to start my morning. But, it's just unrealistic to spend that kind of money. I never made a list of pros and cons to figure out if $1456 of our annual budget should be allotted to my Starbucks habit. It just didn't happen. And, I love to listen to NPR at various times of the day. I especially enjoy the Texas music show on our local KUT every Saturday morning, but we don't have the money to fund it so it has to go. Stop taking all of my pennies and leave some for me!
Okay, that's enough random ranting and rambling for Monday. If you made it all the way to the end of this novel, you deserve a cookie...
We have new neighbors, Sergei and his wife, Tamara, and their son, Yuri, who just moved in next door. Upon getting to know Sergei a bit more, we discovered that he is also from Odessa, however he is from the other one, in the Ukraine. Moreover, he has a very interesting job as a full-time musician in the The Flying Balaika Brothers, a Russian folk band. He plays the balalaika, a Russian instrument shaped like a triangle and very similar to the guitar.
Since the kids are gone, and Daniel was in the middle of a week-long break between shifts, we've been staying up late, sleeping in late, and trying to occupy our time with outings that aren't convenient with small children. I would definitely say a concert that doesn't begin until 9:30 falls into that category, so we headed to South Austin on Monday night to hear The Balaika Brothers.
The nine-member band was amazingly talented and beyond impressive. They played two sets over a two hour period, and it was foot-stomping, dance-inducing fun that we can't wait to go back to hear. I think we'll even try to find a show that the kids can attend, as they will love the dancing. See for yourself...
I don't usually post when I don't have pictures or something personal to share, but I just don't have anything right now. Things have been beyond crazy right now. Life has been unreasonably out of sorts for a few weeks now, so my brain has followed suits and is terribly out of sorts. Thus, I haven't been in any shape for trying to right. I'm posting this as a form of blogging without having to think too much.
Instructions:
Copy the list, bold the ones you've done (with explanations if needed), share with friends. 1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars (in a tent near the Grand Canyon was my most recent adventure)
3. Played in a band (I was a bank geek as a teenager. I played the trumpet and was even a majorette for a few years. I know, what you're thinking and I can't imagine me in sequins and twirling either!)
4. Visited Hawaii (even better, I lived there!) 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity (obviously not more than I can afford, but have a regular tithing habit)
7. Been to Disneyland (went with my Mom and sister when I lived in San Diego)
8. Climbed a mountain (smaller mountains in New Mexico as a kid and then a dormant volcano in Hawaii) 9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a thunder and lightning storm (I live in TX. 'Nuff said)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (sewing) 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (I was just telling Daniel yesterday that I want to do this. I'm starting with tomatoes this week!)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping (Don't get any crazy ideas. I was a kid.)
27. Run a Marathon (that's just ridiculous)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (the best are in West Texas) 31. Hit a home run (only an in-park) 32. Been on a cruise (only whale watching)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (Does the exit sign count? I didn't think so. I'm still mad at Daniel that we couldn't stop for just a few mibutes to see it.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language (Does the mancode count?) 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted (if those caricatures count)
48. Gone deep sea fishing (No, but I love laughing at my husband when he gets disgustingly sick while deep sea fishing. He's a sailor for goodness, sakes!)
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (Snorkled in Hanauma Bay, Oahu, the Bahamas, and Cozumel, Mexico)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching (in San Diego, Oahu and Maui)
63. Got flowers for no reason (those are the best kind of flowers!) 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check (many, many moons ago. I was a terrible money manager as a teenager and when in college) 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (my rocking chair I got when I turned 1, all of the books I owned as a child and my wooden toy box are now bequeathed to my children) 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial (I've been three times and am always in awe) 71. Eaten caviar 72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square (
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone (it's lame, but my nose has been broken three times) 78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car (I've had two - my 2001 Jeep Liberty and 2006 Chevy Suburban)
83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper (many times while playing softball)
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve 86. Visited the White House
(I had a great opportunity at Presidential Classroom when in high school)87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. had chickenpox (twice!) 89. Saved someone’s life (Does giving life twice count?)
90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous (When I was a reporter, I did this on a weekly basis. It's not that impressive.)
92. Joined a book club 93. Got a tattoo 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee
First, I must apologize for the horrendous quality of these photos. I mistakenly left home without my camera, and was forced to learn how to use the camera in my BlackBerry. But, I couldn't get away with not sharing our fabulous new (to us) experience from last week!
I think we've finally found an outstanding babysitter in our area, after being here for almost a year, and we enjoyed the new amenity with a night on the town. The kids were excited to have a movie night at home with Madison, and we were thrilled to have a date night.
We did see Funny People, and were pretty disappointed in Adam Sandler, but our date night meal did not disappoint. Daniel finally indulged me with a trip to The Melting Pot. I've been hinting and leaving coupons around the house for about six months, and I was thrilled that it finally worked out for us to go!
If you're not familiar with the restaurant, it's an interactive fondue experience. We chose a meal with all courses (of course!), and took our waitress' suggestions rather than building our own selections. We were very pleased with her suggestions, but now that we're familiar with the process and menu, we'll likely branch out and be more adventurous next time.
We started with the cheese fondue. Ours was the Quattro Formaggio Cheese Fondue. It had stuff that I'm not familiar with (Fontina, Grùyere) yummy cheeses, roasted garlic, basil and tomato pestos and fresh mozzarella Perlini. In other words, it was fancy queso and was absolutely delish! There were fresh veggies, apple slices and a variety of breads for dipping. Man, it was so yummy. I could easily live off melted cheese in any form because I love it so much, but I don't think I'd be able to get in our front door I'd be so fat!
I didn't think I was going to like the salad. I'm not much of a fan of greens, but this was the tastiest of salads. I'm not sure what made it so special, but I think it was the yummy balsamic glaze. Man, oh man, that glaze was tasty! And, the fresh mozzarella, vine-ripened tomatoes, and fresh basil were almost as good.
The main course was a cornucopia of meats including lobster tail, shrimp, sun-dried tomato chicken, pork tenderloin, filet mignon and sirloin. When added to the variety of glazes, especially the sweet and sour, all of the choices were tasty.
The experience includes cooking the meats and seafood, but it just takes a few minutes of soaking up the yummy boiling juices and they're ready. In between the meats cooking, we also enjoyed mushrooms, potatoes and broccoli that we'd been cooking in the pot. The mushrooms were my favorite when topped with this yummy, creamy Greek sauce. Oh, that sauce was certainly not low in calories because it was the tastiest of sauces!
For dessert, we combined amaretto, pecans and white chocolate in our fondue pot. I wish I could share with you all the treats we dipped and drizzled with the white chocolate sauce, but I was too busy devouring the platter to remember to take a picture. Ha!
As you can see, we easily found somewhere to put the cheesecake, marshmallows (chocolate and coconut), strawberries, bananas, pound cake and rice krispie treats. Surprisingly, my favorite treat was the chocolate marshmallows. Those things better be our pillows in heaven!!! (God, if you're reading this, that's just a suggestion, but it's worth looking in to.)
For the past week, Daniel and I have been on vacation from work, and it's been a whirlwind! I'll give you the Cliff's Notes version of our hectic time.
First, we traded in our Suburban for a 2007 Cadillac Escalade. We're very much enjoying all the bells and whistles this treats us to that our Chevy did not feature. We have never traded a car in, choosing to sell outright in the past, but we took the easy way out this time and do not regret it one bit. With all the research Daniel did on this and time spent working out the deal, it was exhausting, but a good deal!
On Thursday, our dear friends Maggie and Kevin had some troubles flying to Austin from South Carolina. At the last minute, we jumped in the car and booked it down to San Antonio because that was the closest American Airlines could get them to Austin without waiting another day (or more!). We decided to make a mini-vacay out of it and stayed over in a hotel and...
...put our SeaWorld season passes to work the next day. It was super hot so we mostly stuck to the water rides and splash zones at the shows. Needless to say, I don't have any pics of our fun because I didn't want to get my camera wet, but I can pass on a tip. We bought the Quick Queue passes to avoid any time spent waiting in lines, and it was well worth the money! Those things are manna from theme park heaven! I don't think I'll ever visit a theme park without getting a fast pass. Fun times!
After a day of IKEA shopping, eating, napping and being lazy, we were rested up enough to go south again, this time to San Marcos. Daniel, Abigail, Maggie and Kevin took a trip floating down the river. They said it was a great time of relaxation and staying cool in the spring-fed waters (read: super cool in our super hot weather). Meanwhile, Cooper and I stayed dry at the San Marcos outlet malls snatching up some good deals and avoiding any You're-A-Mean-Mom-For-Making-Your-Frightened-Child-Get-In-The-Water-When-He's-Scared-To-Death scenes at the river.
On the way back into Austin, we enjoyed some yummy shrimp enchiladas at the Hula Hut on Lake Austin. But, that wasn't our only feasting for the week. Since it was a vacation, we went all out - great seafood at Pappadeax, yummy Mexican at Chuy's, tasty steak at Salt Grass, delicious pie at the Texan Cafe, Kevin's favorite Steak & Shake. Yeah, we were certainly well fed and will have to do some serious backing away from the table over the next month to make up for it.
On the last day of our staycation, we toured the State History Museum in an effort to get out of the house but escape the deadly heat outdoors. It was interesting but we were mostly bummed that we slept in too late to catch an IMAX flick at the museum.
The only adventure I caught on film was our last sightseeing trek in Austin, which I'll share tomorrow...
When we lived in military housing in Hawaii, we had the most outgoing neighborhood I've ever lived in, until now. Our Texas neighbors top those Navy families! From block parties, to weekend barbecues at the pool, to kids playing together every day, our block has to be the most out-going block of neighbors. Saturday night was no exception when we were invited to our neighbors home to celebrate Brenden's and Nick's birthdays.
Brenden, on the left, lives across the street, and is the father of Morgan and Ashton, Abigail and Cooper's favorite playmates. Nick, on the right, lives down the street from us and is the husband of Nicky, who is the social coordinator of all the fun on our block.
The party was Hawaiian themed, and nothing was left out.
Gary sported the coconut bra...
Daniel was more subtle, but still showing his Hawaiian spirit with his Aloha wear...
Kristy was rockin' the bikini and grass skirt...
Brenden brought out his grass hat and speedo...
The girls were the official hula dancers...
The kids danced through the limbo rounds...
The palm tree pinata was a hit. Ha! "A hit" Pun intended...
The kids (and later, the adults) raced through some relays with floaties, inner tubes, a soccer ball and hula hoop.
Even Catherine, due to give birth in just a few weeks, raced through the relays, with the kids and adults!
Needless to say, a fun night was had by all!
Thanks to Brenden and Nick for sharing your birthday and fun with us!
When I graduated from college, oh, a few years ago, my grandmother gifted me with the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class.
At the time, I thought it was a slightly lame gift since other gifts were money, money, diamond ring, James Avery jewelry, money and money. BUT, in retrospect, that class has been the wonderful gift that keeps on giving! As we've inched along into our eek! 30s, Daniel and I have gradually eased into attempting to be more financially responsible. As of late, we've put it into seriously high gear and attempted to get our act together, in order to make our salaries stretch as far as possible.
You may remember me making a big deal out of cutting my grocery budget here and here It was a big success, and I report back to you almost four months later and can say we are saving A LOT of money with our new system. No, it's not as convenient as running down to Wal-Mart once a month, but it's getting easier the more I do it. I don't even have to refer to my deal-spotter-spreadsheet very often because I've been able to memorize the prices and where the deals are. I don't venture out to other stores for weekly deals very often, but only when the prices can beat the deals I get at Sam's or Wal-Mart.
We took it a step further and are now reigning in the rest of our spending with a throwback to my Financial Peace University (FPU) class using the envelope system. Ramsey teaches that you should budget every dollar of income each month and assign it a location for spending or saving. Then, take all the money to be spent and distribute it into assigned spending envelopes for the month (i.e. gas, groceries, Daniel's personal, Steph's personal, kids, eating out, etc.), so as to have no need for check cards or, heaven forbid, credit cards. We've had a lot of success with this system in the past, but had not returned to it after our long move to Texas. Now, we're back on track. We're even more serious about it this time, and have the official FPU envelope instead of just a stack of loose envelopes clipped together and hanging on the fridge.
We've stuck to the system for a couple of months now, and we're giving ourselves a pat on the back for how well it's working. You don't realize how much all the unnecessary spending adds up at the end of the month until you see that you've spent all your money by the 15th! Our biggest spending addiction is eating out, and in May, we had spent all our eating out money by the middle of the month. Fortunately, we learned our lesson and have rationed it out much better this month and have plenty left to enjoy throughout the rest of the month!
Some of the new ways I've started saving money are:
1. Buy gift card at Wal-Mart with my monthly gas money. Wal-Mart gas is almost always the best deal around, and if you pay with a Wal-Mart card (credit or gift), it is five cents cheaper per gallon! With gas prices going up this summer, this is helping to stretch my gas budget.
2. We're trying to eat out at different places. We've traded Salt Grass Steak House for Jason's Deli.
3. I asked my doctor for a different prescription that would cost less than what she had been giving me. Not only did she give me a script for a less expensive product, but also a card from the drug company that acts as a coupon that certifies me for a lower price at CVS. This is saving me $33 per month!
Y'all had awesome suggestions about grocery shopping savings in March, now, I'm coming back to you for more tips! What are your favorite ways to save money? Where are the restaurants you eat (not out of an unhealthy brown bag) out at for less money? I can't wait to hear all your tips!!!
Last week it was National Donut Day that we all missed. So that you don't feel left out, I want to make sure you're aware of tomorrow's significance - National Skinny Dipping Day. Guinness (the world records, not the beer) has created a new category for the largest number of people skinny dipping simultaneously, and tomorrow will be the day of counting. (Question: Are we unpatriotic if we don't participate in National Skinny Dipping Day?)
To be officially counted, you may wear a hat and/or water shoes, but no socks or any other clothing. If you're not too fond of skinny dipping, but still want to be included in the record books, they will allow you to take your suit off after getting into the water as long as you hold it up to prove your nakedness. I guess you could consider it a summer holiday from pants! But, please, oh, please, don't take a vacation from your sunscreen!
Here in Austin, Hippie Hollow will certainly be full of participants. And, there's even a travel agency here, Bare Necessities Tour & Travel, that books nude cruises. Who knew there was such a thing as a nude cruise?! The owner recommends you bring a towel to the naked swimming, unless you're not planning on sitting down anywhere. Can I get a collective, "Ewww...."?
It's too late to submit official forms to register your club or group with the American Association for Nude Recreation, but you could surely find a local group to join at Saturday 3 p.m. Eastern Nudist Time.
Is there a meeting I can go to? I'm thinking CA. It's not the abbreviation for the bankrupt state of California. It's the group meeting to cure addiction to Craigslist. If it exists, please sign me up.
For those of you not familiar with Criagslist, here's the Wikipedia definition:
Craig Newmark began the service in 1995 as an email distribution list of friends, featuring local events in the San Francisco Bay Area, before becoming a web-based service in 1996. After incorporation as a private for-profit company in 1999, Craigslist expanded into nine more U.S. cities in 2000, four each in 2001 and 2002, and 14 in 2003. As of April 2009, Craigslist has established itself in approximately 570 cities in 50 countries.
As of 2009, Craigslist operates with a staff of 28 people. Its sole source of revenue is paid job ads in select cities and paid broker apartment listings in New York City.
The site serves over twenty billion page views per month, putting it in 28th place overall among web sites world wide, ninth place overall among web sites in the United States (per Alexa.com on March 27, 2009), to over fifty million unique monthly visitors in the United States alone (per Compete.com on April 7, 2009). The site receives over one million new job listings each month, making it one of the top job boards in the world. The classified advertisements range from traditional buy/sell ads and community announcements, to personal ads and services.
Now that the introduction is out of the way, I can tell you that I've been frequenting Craigslist for years. I've predominantly sold baby items, such as strollers, a swing, or any large baby gear that the kids have outgrown. I think I've sold everything the kids have outgrown, except clothing. I've sold one car and, I've also sold a lot of furniture on Craigslist. We used to have garage sales, but now I just frequent Craigslist when we have items to purge.
A couple of months ago, I set out to re-decorate and furnish both Abigail and Cooper's room. However, I challenged myself with not spending anything I didn't earn by selling items I wanted to get rid of in their rooms. I started off with Abigail's bedroom set, which I sold for what I wanted to spend on her room in just a few days. Now, she has all new Pottery Barn bedding, a chair rail installed around her room and freshly painted walls. (She also received Cooper's bedroom furniture to replace her sold furniture. Her new bed was our guestroom bed.) I came in just a few dollars over my Criagslist budget in her room, which was a success.
The past week, I've been working on Cooper's room. I picked up a gorgeous antique dresser and mirror from... You guessed it! Craigslist! And, today, I listed Cooper's crib and various other baby items like our pack and play that we no longer need. It was just a few minutes after posting, that I began receiving emails from people wanting to buy my items. It looks like I'm going to be able to come out in the clear with my budget for Cooper's room. I think the $40 in paint may be over budget of what I'll end up bringing in from my sales, but I'm pleased as punch with that result!
Daniel regularly advises the kids to keep moving. He says that I'll sell anything that sits still long enough around our house. He may be right, but it's fun!
I'm finally getting around to sharing with you that Daniel and I accomplished one of our goals for the year. And, to think, we did it in April! That's pretty early in the year for a yearly goal!
We spent a Sunday afternoon in April at a concert. I know, you're thinking, "big deal." But, that was a big deal to us. Here in Texas, and especially in Austin, the Live Music Capital of the World, we take our music seriously. And, our geographic locations over the past eight years have not allowed us to keep up with our live music desires. Yes, in San Diego, we did get to see Pat Green as well as Jack Johnson. But, while in Hawaii and Charleston, the opportunity for live music was slim. Now, we've been back in Texas since the fall, and have missed oh, so many live music opportunities. When my dad brought the Reckless Kelly First Annual Celebrity Softball Jam to my attention, I knew we couldn't pass this one up. It was inexpensive, during the day (1-8 p.m.), outdoors and not at a smoky bar, and at the baseball stadium within walking distance from our house! And, it was a blast!
The softball game was slightly entertaining. It was mostly Texas country musicians like Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel) and a few Major League players like Greg Swindell (of UT fame). Kyle Petty took a turn at coaching first base in front of us, but he also took a turn with his guitar as a singer/songwriter during the Jam. Who knew Kyle Petty was an aspiring musician? Not me.
While I enjoyed the music, I couldn't help but snap some pics to share with you fine folks the beauty of live music. It always brings out a cacophony of people who are unique and entertaining in their own way.
This women seated near us was wearing a "Beer, Bait & Ammo" do-rag or kerchief on her head. Don't miss the lovely tattoo behind her ear that is highlighted by how she has her hair pulled back with that classy do-rag.
This gentleman apparantly wanted to show his appreciation to the Beatles or Coldplay. I'm not sure which group's get-up he was trying to emulate, but I don't think he pulled it off. Plus, it was stinkin' hot out there. I'm sure he stunk that jacket up to high heaven!
This woman (with the large tattoo on her arm) doesn't look amusing, she just annoyed me, and I want to warn you about her. She is Paula Nelson, Willie Nelson's daughter. If you know me, you know that I absolutely adore Willie. I dressed up as him for Halloween one year as a child and even attended one of his concerts as the celebration for my bachelorette party. So, please know that I mean no disrespect for Willie. But, Paula performed a few of her own songs at the Jam, and she was horrendous. Oh, I was embarassed for Willie. I don't know if he has sanctioned her using his name, but he shouldn't. She's just awful so watch out for her!
This gentleman wore this rice field hat all day. I'm not sure if he was just trying to shield himself from the sun and skin cancer or if he thought the ladies would be attracted to his hat. Either way, we got a good laugh out of him every time he walked by us.
This group of men all wore the same odd black hats adorned with medals and pins. I'm not sure what their gig was, but it was odd.
All oddities aside, the music was great. Reckless Kelly performed here with one of my favorites, Charlie Robinson.
The show ended with almost all of the performers playing together. I think you can see Reckless Kelly, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Kevin Fowler, Ray Benson, Randy Rogers, Roger Craeger, Micky and the Motorcars, Jason Boland, Dale Watson and Cory Morrow all on the stage in this final jam.
Hopefully this won't be the only live show we see this year. If anyone wants to offer up free babysitting, I'm sure we could find a show to see on any given night around here. Any takers?
I did something yesterday that I haven't done in almost seven years. Ugh... Believe me, I haven't been missing it, and it didn't miss me.
I went swimsuit shopping. Yes, you can groan with me, ladies. It was misery. I really wanted to take a picture of the mound of suits in various sizes that I tried on, but I was worried that if the other ladies in the dressing room heard my camera clicking, they would be nervous that some perv was trying to sneak shots of them. So, I refrained. But, really, you should have seen that pile of suits. I did end up leaving with three of them, but I wasn't really pleased with myself. (Needless to say, the serious dieting will be back with a vengeance on Monday. Working out once or twice a day just isn't cutting it.)
It was quite the defeating experience. I went in there with these visions in my head...
...But, was met with this gruesome vision in the mirror.
The funniest, or maybe most annoying, part of trying on the suits was the girls in a neighboring stall. They were maybe 20 years old and were there trying on jeans. The dressing room, however, was located adjacent to the swimsuit section of the store so they were filling the air with their commentary on the swimsuits. They were on and on about why so many of the suits left in the dressing room were one pieces. One girl was aghast that anyone even considers wearing a one piece suit.
First, I wanted to spit on the girls. Then, I felt sorry for them and wanted to give them my number and let them know that they can call me in 10 years and apologize when they are fat and understand why all these women who have carried babies in their expanded tummies and spend all their time taking care of a family instead of themselves and because of that, can only wear a one-piece but would opt for a full body wet suit if the opportunity arose. Yeah, those girls will have their day of misery in the dressing room one day.
The reason I pushed myself into the horror of swimsuit shopping is because we have spent every non-working minute at the pool for the past few weeks. The kids are so sun-kissed that they look like toasted marshmallows. It's been a blast.
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