The Easter Candy from...

Aaargh! I HATE Easter candy. Just hate it. I do everything in my power to ration it out to the kids, but it calls to me ("Beth! Beth!") from it's place in an out-of-the-way cupboard every hour of the day. I even buy candy I don't like that much, so I won't want to eat it, but then my mom buys the REALLY GOOD STUFF and, well, what does a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup do to you?

So, in an effort to combat the effects of the aforementioned candy, I decided to do a little light strength training yesterday, just a few calisthenics to assuage my guilt. I overdid it on the squats. I can barely get up and down the stairs! My quads hurt so much. And of course, they look the same as ever, as I only did one day's worth, but I still have to endure the pain. It's like punishment for my sin of gluttony.

On a weight-related note: I've been weaning myself off of the chocolate-covered pretzels. I just don't buy them. Just don't go down that aisle. (Since they're in the toilet paper aisle, I also don't buy toilet paper, unless it's an endcap display). As a replacement, I'm snacking on the Malt-O-Meal Fruit Loops that we use to make edible necklaces with Helena. Gross, huh? I couldn't possibly switch to, say, carrots, or apples, or edamame. That would be far too chic and healthy for me.

On yet another food-related note: The McDonald's Southwest Salad will soon be returning to my local McDonald's restaurant. This is a wonderful thing. This is a particularly tasty salad, that isn't bad for you in any way, and has no faults except its exorbitant price. I'm happy to pay that price just to know that I won't unexpectedly find any mouse parts ground up in my "all-beef" patty, or eat oddly-modified chicken, or whatever.

More seriously, I have to declare my utter love for my kids. What did I do before they came along? They can be so sweet sometimes that it just melts my jaded old heart. Bless them.

Desperate for Design

Our lovely son is now over a year old, but he has had a bad...habit, we'll call it, of screeching when he wants something, or is bored or upset. This most often happens, and is the most annoying, in the dining room. Because our dining room is empty of anything but furniture, the screeching sound bounces off the walls like we're in an auditorium. I have actually been driven to wearing foam ear plugs during dinner. I'm not kidding.

We've decided to bite the bullet and dip into our savings to purchase some window treatments, a larger and more sound-absorbent rug, and whatever else we can throw in here outside of egg foam on the walls to reduce the amount of sound that reverberates into my soon-to-be-deaf ears.

Will you help me? I have no design sense. I mean, REALLY no design sense. I included a picture of our dining room...it's from when we moved in; I'm too lazy to take another one...but it looks the same except for a couple of things on the walls, a hutch, and a table and chairs. What colors to use on the wall, if any? What do we do for curtains? (I'm not into overdressed windows.). Rugs??? We already have red curtains in the living room, blue in the family room. Sage green walls in the kitchen, sort of grey in the family room, same off-white in the living room and front hall.

You guys know me well enough to know what would work. I so, so, so could use some help. (I always thought that when I married Dan the Designer, he'd just take care of things like this, but alas - it's become my responsibility.)

Thanks in advance!

Frugality

Today's post might not be full of fun and laughs. Just a warning, which was probably unnecessary.

I've been thinking about money. It's one of those things you can't really talk about with your friends, along with (sometimes) religion and politics. But it is something that everybody has to consider, me included.

Now, we are not wealthy by any stretch, at least in the American mind. (Compare us with any Bangladeshi, and we'd likely win hands down, right?). We've been blessed, however, in that we've both had employment when we wanted, and occasionally when we kind of didn't want it, and sometimes with a little extra employment on top. Dan has his bachelor's degree, and I'm finishing mine. We're in good health, we have a nice home, and our cars work, like, 74% of the time, but at least they're paid off. Other than our house we don't have any debt.

Having exposed a big chunk of my Personal Financial Secrets to the world at large, I have to admit that we are not as careful or frugal with the money we have as we could be. We don't just blow it on anything - by anything I mean stuff like flat screen TVs and time shares in Hawaii - but in comparison to some families we're positively spendthrift.

I felt chastened today while reading "The Tightwad Gazette III" by Amy Dacyczyn. There are, as you've figured out, three volumes, all of which I have on my shelf and have read cover-to-cover at least once. I have the information about HOW to be frugal but haven't adhered too much to any of it. The book was written by a mother of 6 kids who, along with her husband, have lived and raised their children on (in 2007 dollars) $22,710 a year in a large, rural house in Maine. Her husband was in the Navy but retired when the newsletter Amy started began to really take off. By comparison (in 2007 dollars) the federal poverty guideline was $34,000. They wanted to be frugal initially so that Amy could be at home with the kids and they could purchase their antique home, but continued to live that way even when it wasn't strictly necessary. (I keep saying "in 2007 dollars" because the books/newsletter were written in the 1990s, so I did some math - well, Googling - for you).

I don't want to bore you with the "How in the world did they do that?" stories. My point, I guess, is that we're blessed. We could be saving more than we are. There aren't many guarantees in the world but I am pretty certain that my kids will just need more money, the house will need repairs, and someday we'll be old - all contigencies that require money. There's always a rainy (or, in Michigan in March, a snowy) day, a famine for every feast, and I believe if I can live on less now it will serve my family well later. Since we're still young, saving now can mean incredible returns later through compound interest.

Caveat: Living cheaper day-to-day, paying less for consumables like food and clothes, means that we can still go on vacation sometimes. You all know what that means! :0

Baby Hunger

Oooh, what a tantalizing title! Well, I'm not pregnant (if I were, I'd be too sick to type this!), but I've had those "Baby Hunger" moments lately. Does anyone else have this? For example: I'll see someone else's new baby and remember how sweet mine were when they were like that. Or I'll be looking through Helena's baby clothes and think, "I'd love to have another little girl to wear this dress..." Yikes! Let me say, unequivocally, that this wouldn't be the best time to have another baby but I do think about it once in a while. Thank goodness Megan's having another lovely little girl!

I don't understand mariachi music. The whole thing mystifies me. There must be something cultural that I am missing out on here.

To continue my theme of randomness with this post, I'll throw in a couple of WDW pictures for your enjoyment or annoyance, and this tasty recipe for Chicken Stew from www.thesimpledollar.com.

2 lbs chicken breasts
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups potatoes, cubed
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup sliced carrots
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp thyme
1 small (6 oz) can tomato paste

1/4 cup cold water
3 Tbsp corn starch

Throw everything except the cold water and corn starch into a Crock-Pot. Cook on low 8-10 hours. When you get home (or your time's almost up) put the water and corn starch into the Crock-Pot, turn on high, and cook for another 30 minutes.

Have a random day!

Have You Heard of This?

Who remembers...

Live Aid 1985?

Primitive Radio Gods?

Monchichis?

Mr. Wendal?

The first video ever aired on MTV in 1981?

Where "you deserve a break today?"

"Do you think that it's possible that strangers like us could be friends in just a moment or two?"

Mormon Cove?


Obviously I was walking down my own particular memory lane tonight. Isn't it strange what a late night, pitch black walk when it's 25 degrees outside will do to one's mind?

One good thing about the calling I have is that at least once a month I get to hear the stake presidency speak. This week, they reminded me of the importance of the temple and the love of the Savior. Then, to top it all off, I went to the best youth fireside I've attended since I was a youth myself (thanks, Holly!). It was one of the rare times that I was able to enjoy a church meeting without interruptions, and, well, it's easier to feel the Spirit sometimes when I can actually listen to the message.

"Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast." - Jane Austen

Hidden Treasures of Epcot

When people think of Disney World, I don't think THESE are the first images to come to mind. But to me this illustrates why it's so much MORE than just an overgrown playground. And anyway, these are nice to look at!

More Hidden Treasures of Epcot

Photos from the China and England pavilions

More First Day Pictures

Our First Day at WDW

Sorry for the big delay, everybody! I figure that pictures say much more than words, so I'll give a quick explanation and post a few here.

Our first day at WDW was spent at the Magic Kingdom. All I can say is that it really was...magical. Sorry to be so cliched, but that's the best description. We had an early breakfast at the Crystal Palace, before the park opened. It was incredible to walk down Main Street nearly alone, without the usual crowds (this was why I scheduled a breakfast at 8:15am for our first day!). It was a character meal featuring Pooh and friends. The food was great - but I was so busy keeping the kids fed and meeting the characters that I didn't eat much of it. Our first ride - at Helena's request - was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. She loved it, but closed her eyes as soon as the Heffalumps and Woozles showed up. (Later in the week we tried again, and she kept her eyes open that time.) It was a wonderful day, and the kids were so good!

The best part of the day was Helena's monorail experience. She was charged up and ready for the day when we drove to the Transportation and Ticket Center to board the monorail and go from there to the Magic Kingdom (we had to drive the first day, as it was earlier than the busses were running). When we were waiting for the monorail to come, a cast member struck up a conversation with her and succeeded in getting her to talk. After a few minutes, he handed her a Transportation Trading Card with Snow White on it. She smiled the biggest smile in all of creation and said, "I got a ticket!" Well, after that it was non-stop chatter about breakfast with Pooh and "all my friends from the Hundred Acre Wood" and the castle and how high up we were on the monorail...

By far, the best part of the vacation was experiencing my kids' reactions to everything. Doesn't matter what they remember, because I'll remember!