Purex Giveaway!

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Nobody

*update: Thank you Anna and Julie for being my first commenters! this is the first time i’ve attempted the first-come-first-serve style of giveaway, and i think it’s my favorite! from now on that’s how i’ll give free things away on my site. after all, i’m not trolling for new readers, i just like giving free things to my friends. better luck next time to everyone else who couldn’t get to a computer bright and early this morning!*

yep, it never fails. as soon as i buy a huge super-sized jug of laundry detergent at Sam’s, Purex has to go and make me regret it. for now, my bucket o’laundry detergent is going to be shelved in favor of Purex’s new product, Purex UltraPacks.

they’re stupid simple to work with… no more drippy detergent to clean up, no more guestimating how much detergent is the appropriate amount for the clothes you put in the washer. all you have to do is pop 1 Purex UltraPack in the washer (the drum, not the soap section, for those of you with front loaders like me) and go! it’s…. laundry simplified. you can’t screw it up. which is a good thing, because i’ve ended up with more puddles of detergent from drippy bottles than i care to think about.

anyways, the good news is that they sent me coupons for FREE Purex Ultra Packs. the bad news, is that because i just bought laundry detergent, i’d feel bad if i kept them all to myself.

SO.

i’m going to have a giveaway.

the first two individual commenters on THIS blog post will receive 1 coupon for FREE Purex UltraPacks detergent AND 1 coupon for a FREE bottle of Purex Triple Action detergent. i know. you’re welcome.

so if you look down, and you see there’s only 1 comment, or multiple comments by only 1 user, or no comments at all… COMMENT ALREADY! because if you’re one of the first 2 individuals to comment, i will e-mail you soon to get your information so i can send you your kick-ass coupons.

♥

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Posted in Memes | Tagged | 4 Comments

Ponderables.

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Nobody

there is no “bad taste” or “good taste”. there is “your taste” and “my taste”. 

you won’t like or be liked by everybody you meet. that’s okay- just refrain from pointing out all their faults (or making up new ones) every time you think about them. 

don’t ever say anything about someone you aren’t fully prepared to say to their face.

everyone has their own cross to bear, their own battle to fight. if you can’t help them or be sympathetic to someone’s plight, then move out of their way so they can find someone who is. just because you don’t agree with their problems, doesn’t mean you should create another one for them out of yourself. 

no one deserves to be high-fived in the face with a chair, or patted on the head with a hammer. that’s just gruesome, and horrid.

(admittedly, that last one is because the first time i heard it, it was directed at me. otherwise, i might have found it humorous. as it is, it just gives me a headache) 

wine has a LOT of calories in it, and is apparently filled with boob-miracle gro.

(just don’t ask how i know that. i’m ashamed.) 

look at the mistakes of your past, and learn from them. “hurt me once, shame on you. hurt me twice, shame on ME.” listen to the advice of the people who love you the most, they’ll most likely keep you from repeating your mistakes if you’re only willing to listen with an open heart and mind. 

don’t feed your husband nothing but bean-based meals for 2 weeks straight. he will NOT thank you kindly. 

i love purple. i think it’s the best color ever… but i love to surround myself with friends who like all different colors. more purple for me. think about it. 

even a messy house can be warm and inviting if it smells like baked goods. 

children fill a home with love and laughter, but when they leave you can finally fill the house with your own. 

dogs will love you no matter what. haters will say it’s because they’re stupid like that. lovers will say it’s because they’re smart like that. does it really matter? they love you unconditionally, and that’s more precious than gold.

i don’t have much formal education. i don’t have decades of life experience. i’m not religious or spiritual, and i don’t have plans to do something great for man kind. i just want to live my life every day the best i can.

with that in mind, don’t prevent me or anybody else from doing so with negativity. it’s a lot easier to avoid someone than it is to seek out their attention. speak of the devil, and he doth appear. 

and finally,

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Posted in Memes | Tagged | 5 Comments

Sail

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Nobody

“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?”
-Oscar Wilde

♥

♥

Coming soon: a non-traditional giveaway. Stay tuned, because it’s going to come and go fast. 

♥

Also, i feel pretty good right now. It’s possible i’ve reached heights of exhaustion that reach beyond feeling like shit. hmmm.

♥

Finally, i giggle every time i watch this video. and i love this song.

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Posted in Stuff I Forgot To Categorize | Tagged | Leave a comment

Book Shelves and Feminism

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Nobody

i suppose i’ve been having a bit of a self esteem crisis lately. don’t get me wrong- i’m okay.  my home life is surprisingly fantastic. my kids are happy with their various extra curricular activities, we’ve made a pledge to get better financially (and it’s working) and my house looks fantastic.

see that? my husband pulled together his creative genius and worker-manliness and built me an entertainment center/bookshelf with a gift card to Lowe’s that we received for Christmas. our little home may only be 800 sq. feet of living space, but by GOD it’s 800 square feet of comfort, class, and most recently- cleanliness.

that’s what i do to relieve stress, you see. i clean. my internet-funk hasn’t receded at all, so yesterday i tied on my proverbial housewife apron, and cleaned the fuck out of my home. i re-arranged, scrubbed, washed, folded, and wiped down everything that needed it. except the windows and blinds. for some reason i have a “thing” for not doing windows and blinds. i don’t know why. anyways, i spent the entire day making my house look pretty enough for me to finally relax in it.

i’m still not feeling 100%… i have 5 lbs on my belly that wasn’t there last year, painful acne on my face (goddamnit, i’m almost 30 years old! this shit shouldn’t be happening to me!) my stomach is increasingly worsening (thanks insurance for denying my prescription, you ASSHOLES) and i’m still wondering if i take my online friendships too seriously.

i know from experience that it’s as easy as the push of a button for a friend you met online to cut you off (it’s been done to me, and yeah- i’ve done it too) and for some reason it really irritates me that i can’t let it go. do i really want to invest any more emotional energy in people that i don’t even really know? *sigh* clearly, my years of living away from civilization has addled my brains. that’s what friendship is all about, isn’t it? nothing worth having comes without emotional risk. i need to just suck it up, let it go, move on, and be happy. cleaning yesterday helped a little- it cleared my brain, worked out my body, and i swear, cleansed my spirit with every bit of dust and dirt that went the way of the trash can.

which brings us to another issue i’ve been having lately.

my own self-worth. i’m worth approximately 1 pre-feminism 20s housewife. i cook, clean, and take care of the kids. the only thing i don’t do is take care of myself. i’m not bemoaning my career choice… we should all go with what we’re good at, and handling matters of the home and hearth are what i’m good at. if i were an inanimate object, i’d be a warm fireplace. or a broom. probably just a broom.

according to feminists, i should be grabbing my own life with my two bare hands. i should get out there, get a career, and NOT be dependent on the man i’ve married. i should have job-skills and education and my own bank account, and not fall neatly into the role of June Cleaver.

no, i don’t bring home a 6-figure paycheck, and to be honest seeing some of my all powerful women friends talk about theirs makes me feel, well, worthless. yes, i depend on a man for every material possession i have. 

what my brain knows and my silly hormones haven’t quite figured out yet, is that’s okay. 

i am doing what i’m good at… i love being at home with my children. i clean to relieve stress for chrissakes. when it comes to a career, i am being true to myself… i’m doing what i’m best at, what i enjoy the most. i don’t miss working, and until somebody else shoves their paycheck in my face, i don’t miss having my own paychecks either.

feminism is about the power of choice. it’s about me being able to go back to school, and get a job if i wanted to. if i had to. it’s about the fact that i am happy with my life where it’s at. my husband and i have a very co-dependent relationship, and we both realize and appreciate what we do for each other. that’s what it’s about.

feminazi’s may not approve of my “career” choice, but in the end, their opinion isn’t what matters, is it?

and now, if i don’t go play a board game with my son he might actually implode from impatience. have a lovely day.

*interesting observation to leave you with: i was going over my list of blog tags, and saw “forget-me-not friday” and realized- i have no idea what it was all about. lol, how ironic.*

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Posted in Grown-Up Stuff | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Let’s do our ABC’s!

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Nobody

my daughter… she’s 3. she goes to dance, hangs out in the karate school while her brother goes to class, and has speech therapy once a week. she doesn’t get much in the way of a “formal education”.

the time is coming, though. next year she’ll be 4, and the summer after that i’m going to have to begin the kindergarten registration process. by then, she’s going to have to know how to count to 20, spell/write her name, know her address… things like that. right now, she knows her name, but that’s about it. no, i did not give birth to the next wunderkind, and please kindly skip listing in the comments all the wonderful smart things YOUR kid does or did by this age. i don’t care, and all you’re doing is making me feel WORSE for not shoving education down my kids throat at an earlier age.

back to the programming.

she’s never been in a preschool or daycare. right now, we have our monthly funds stretched to the max- between karate, dance, and trying to make a serious dent in at least one of the car payments and a credit card- we don’t have much breathing room to spare. do we have $270 extra each month just laying around so my daughter can go to a bonified preschool for 2 half days a week? no. we don’t. not without cutting out either dance, or karate, or laboring under the weight of our credit card payments just a little longer. my son was easy- for $15 a week we paid a cute little Christian Preschool to teach him the kindergarten necessities, and they did a wonderful job. we don’t live out in BFE anymore, though. we live in the city now and everything, including education, is 5 times more expensive in the city.

with that in mind, i’m going to tackle her education myself.

i know. it’s a huge mistake. i’m impatient, grouchy, terrible at all things school related. (once again, i’ve given myself another good reason for being done with kids, in spite of desperately wanting more!) i can barely speak and write a legible, well-punctuated sentence myself without mistakes. i’m also lazy as fuck, and subscribe to the “why do today what you can put off until tomorrow” way of life. *sigh* i am trying to better myself, though… and sometimes, just sometimes, where my kids are concerned i can push myself to do uncharacteristically good things. my knuckles are cracked and bleeding from washing my hands OCD-style, yet i just kissed a dirty little toddler toe because it was stuck in my face with a “hurt spot”. if that’s not love and dedication, i don’t know what is.

so…

i bought a work book. something we can work slowly on every day. i am giving myself until next fall to get her ship-shape. if i can at least teach her letters by the time she’s 4 years old, i’ll continue her education myself until i walk her into her first public (FREE) classroom.

i’ve never done anything like this before, so a few well-placed “good teacher” vibes sent in my direction would be welcome.

it’s going to be a long spring/summer.

time to practice the letter A.

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Posted in It's All About the Children | Tagged | 2 Comments