Excessive

I've said this before, Americans are excessive in everything they do.

I'm guilty of being excessive.

So are you.

At the end of last summer when I went through my son's clothes, pulling things out he wore one time, things with tags still attached, it hit me, kids don't need an excessive wardrobe.

I stopped buying tons of clothes for him.

No more beginning of the season shopping sprees, dropping $100s on clothes that will never get worn and if they do it is only 1 or 2 times.

I cleaned up my act.  This summer I spent exactly $40 on clothes, a few new basic shirts and a few shorts.  I bought him 2 new shirts for his pictures with a gift card received from his 2nd birthday. Wow!

The rest of his clothes were hand me downs from my cousin.

I feel so good about that.

Now I'm on a toy rampage.

My husband and I pulled out not 1, not 2, but 6 large Rubbermaid storage totes stuffed with toys.

Toys I forgot we had, toys he NEVER played with.

Hell, we found 2 of those bins out in the garage and didn't even know they were there.

I was toy crazy today.

I made 2 piles.

A keep pile and a take to the local resale shop pile.

What went to the local resale shop were 3 large bins of toys, several large toys that were too big to fit inside a bin, a box of clothing from last winter and another bag of clothing that they refused last time we went.

We had so much stuff we had to remove the car seat and lay the seats in the back of the Jeep down. (don't worry, Davis was with my mom, he wasn't riding with no car seat, ha!)

When the lady realized how much we had my husband saw her mouth, "OMG", to her co-worker.

OMG is right.

I said to her, "this is all from one 2 year old who is an only child and only grandchild, it is out of control"

She laughed and nodded her head in agreement.

Davis is not getting any new toys for a long time.  He doesn't even play with the ones we did keep.

Kids don't know any better, they don't care if a toy is new or used, they also don't care how many toys they have.  What matters is they can make fun for themselves out of what they do have.

What a kid will be happy about is when he or she hits 18, is that his or her parents saved them a nice amount of money for college by not being excessive with toys or clothes.

Davis has a savings account.  Everytime I think about buying him something, we will make an extra deposit on top of what we already put in it each month.  The grandparents can start adding to the account as well for holidays and birthdays.

That is what will make Davis happy someday.

Not a $500 playhouse or a $300 sandbox or a $500 summer wardrobe or a $50 pair of shoes he wore one time.

Randoms

1. I'm considering embarking on something HUGE for me!!!!  I will not divulge any information until I'm 100% committed though.

2. Davis is a talking fool, if I didn't know better I wouldn't know we were told at 18 months that he had the vocabulary of a 6 month old.  I believe, without a doubt, that all his speech issues were from enlarged tonsils.  Since his tonsilectomy I feel like he is even with his peers the same age in regards to speech.  In 1 month my child went from 5 or 6 words to so many I cannot keep track.

3. We have decided to buy my Jeep Grand Cherokee.  I think our last lease payment is this month.  Crazy.   I've never owned a car.  I've always leased.

4. I have been off the Weight Watchers bandwagon for a month.  Time to hop back on.  Today is the day.

5.  I'm going to see Bob Dylan in concert next week!!  I cannot wait!!!

6. I will never understand why some parents feel that a 2 year old needs to be involved in activity after activity or that they need to go on certain trips (i.e. Disney), they are 2 years old!!!  First of all, you are wasting your money and second of all, 2 year olds don't care nor do they remember.  They would be happy digging in a pile of mud, for free.

7. My husband and I are thinking about going to Vegas in September, this is a huge MAYBE.  He is receiving an award and I might tag along.  This will be an adult only trip which is why I'm hesitant.

8.  I always feel sorry for first time moms.  Motherhood can be so hard, so much harder than you expect it to be. 

9.  I have been so tired all week, no matter how well I sleep at night, I'm pooped.  I blame the heat.

10.  We have maggots in one of our outside trash cans.  Ewwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hair Shorts

I was in the 6th grade, I was 12 years old.

I had the hairiest legs EVER.

It was getting warm and time for shorts, so I begged my mom to let me shave.

She agreed.

But, you never shave above the knees she says.

Actually she demands I never do this.

Why?

You will grow thick, black hair back if you shave above the knee.

She scared me shitless.

I would not shave this area.

I was so excited to pick out my first razor.  I chose this little gem.

It was all the rage in my copy of Teen Magazine.

This razor would not cut your skin.  Perfect for a first time shaver.

What they don't tell you is, it also doesn't take the hair off either.

I also wanted shaving gel or cream, my mom said that was useless.  Use a bar of soap she tells me.  At the time we used this kind of soap.

Only the most drying soap you can possibly buy.

I proceed to attempt to shave my legs with Safeguard soap and a Flicker razor.

Failure.

So my mom busts out one of these, it is what she uses.

I now shave with Safeguard soap and a single blade Bic Classic razor.

Awesome.

No wonder I broke out in a rash.

My older cousin who lived behind us and enjoyed poking fun at my sister and I, lost it when he heard I shaved.

He then proceeded to make fun of the fact that my legs had a weird line of division at the top of my knee.

He said, you look like you are wearing hair shorts.

Hair Shorts!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I cried.

It took some convincing, but my mom finally let me shave above my knees.

Guess what?

I never did grow thick, black hair above my knees when the hair grew back.

WTF MOM?????!!!!!!

Enter my 10 year old sister.

Who is apparently a gorilla.

She begs my mom to let her shave because I did.

I gotta defend her though, her legs were REALLY hairy.

My mom wouldn't let a 10 year old shave her own legs though.

So she grabs the Safeguard, a pack of Bic Classic single blade razors and takes my sister out to the backyard.

She proceeds to gather a bucket, the garden hose and a lawn chair.

Oh yes, she shaved my sister's legs in the backyard.

This was quite the sight.

I wonder what the neighbors thought.

My mom still thinks if you shave any part of your body that isn't meant to be shaved the hair will grow back thick and black.

I just had a Dermaplane done on my face.

She was pissed.

She said I'd grow a beard when the hair grew back.



I'll let you know if I look like the cave men in the Geico commercials when my peach fuzz grows back.

Taking It Too Far

The majority of the world thinks Casey Anthony is guilty of murder.

I am saddened that Caylee didn't get justice.

I am saddened that we will never know the truth.

I am disgusted that Casey has walked free.

BUT

There really wasn't a lot of concrete evidence placing Casey as the murderer.

Did she do a lot of weird things that make her look guilty?

Absolutely.

But I can see how the jury came to their not guilty verdict.

I cannot imagine being them.

Having someone's life in your hands.

How can you put someone to death, not knowing without a doubt that they killed someone.

You can't.

I am very disgusted by the way some Americans have reacted to this.

Death threats to the jury.

Death threats to a man that lives in Pennsylvania and bears the name Casey Anthony.

Attacking a girl just because she looks like Casey Anthony.

Just because your angry that she wasn't convicted doesn't mean you need to end up in prison over it.

It is what it is people.

It is sad.

It is unfortunate.

But please, stop acting like this.

It saddens me that some people have stooped to this level.

They are taking it too far and two wrongs, don't make a right.

Giving Up the Fight

I am constantly being tested by my 2 year old.

He is testing his boundaries every day.

Some days I just want to give up the fight, it would be easier.

Sure, throw the glass cups around the house, let them break all over the floor.

Throw cereal wherever you want.

Dump water all over the new furniture.

Put my Blackberry in the toilet.

But then I think of Super Nanny.

And I think of those kids that you dread see walking up your driveway.

You know the ones.

The ones that the parents did give up the fight on.

I then take a deep breath and remind myself that he won't remember that mommy wouldn't let him do all of these ridiculous things.

I WILL NOT GIVE UP THE FIGHT!!

Very Sad Things

I'm FB friends with most people I went to HS with.

One person posted a link to a website started for his brother's legal defense fund.

It didn't mention details, so I of course googled the brothers name because you can find anything on google.

It immediately poppped up several stories spanning from the end of June until now.

He has been charged with murdering his 11 week old baby boy.

I'm shocked and speechless.

I knew this person in HS and to think this is true just boggles my mind.

If you read my blog and you went to HS with me, yes, you know this person too, please send me a private message regarding it.

I don't feel like it is my place to mention this person's name on my blog because it may have truly been an accident.

Miami Vice Called and They Want Their Set Back

My husband and I want to move in the near future.

No, our house isn't for sale.

Yet.

Not sure when it will be.

But it doesn't hurt to look at what is available, does it?

Whenever I am out and about and see a home for sale that looks appealing to me, I go home and get on our local real estate website and snoop.

I saw this home the other day.

Next to a fancy country club.

My kinda house.

Only about $300,000 out of our price range.

But, that doesn't stop me from peeking at the pictures.

All I can say about it is, HORRENDOUS.

I mean, seriously.

Who decorates like this?

A red sink?

All white kitchen?

Horrible wallpaper?

Peach furniture?

Weird plastic tables that look like they came from Mars?

I could go on and on about the ugliness of the interior of it and the horrible choices in decor.

The only cool thing in this house is the sauna and hot tub.

I am going to guess it needs a minimum of $100,000 to update the interior.

Take a look for yourselves HERE.

If we lived here I'd have to start drinking wine coolers and my husband, well, he'd have to dress like this:

*DISCLAIMER: I know that when buying a home you shouldn't judge by the way the current owners decorate

*&*#@^ SPAM!!!!!!

I have been getting hit with spam in my comments so now there is a word verification step you must go through before your comment will save.

Sorry.

I know, it is lame.

But I don't need lame spam comments from Japan either.

Wal-Mart, You Never Cease to Amaze Me

I went to the local Wal-Mart today because a few items that I dearly love are so much cheaper there.

Like my PB & Company peanut butter.

Costs $4.99 at Kroger.

Costs $3.68 at Wal-Mart.

Every time I go to Wal-Mart I leave thinking, what the fuck kind of world did I just walk out of.

I am pretty sure that I saw Dobby from Harry Potter in a motorized shopping cart, yes, I swear the old man looked just like this adorable house elf.

I saw a very large woman in a tank top, no bra.

I saw a younger lady with her baby in a Century brand infant seat that is not only almost 12 years old and extremely unsafe, it was also recalled.  Have I ever mentioned car seat stupidity is one of my biggest pet peeves?

While I am on my car seat tangent, I would like to express my annoyance for a few friends I have on FB that have posted pictures of their children using their new BIG GIRL OR BIG BOY seats.   These happen to be boosters and these kids happen to be around Davis' age.  It makes my blood boil and I want to post this to their FB page.  It is 4 years old and 40 lbs. in the State of Ohio, not one or the other!!!!!!!!!  It is BOTH!!!!!   I just don't understand people who are so ignorant when it comes to car seat safety.  I guess I'll get off my soap box now.

Back to Wal-Mart.

I saw two guys sniffing fresh cut flowers and looking all excited.  Awwww, they were buying their girlfriends Wal-Mart roses. 

I saw a couple that looked like they were serial killers.

I saw Dobby again.

I think he was following me.

The cashier had zero clue how to work the register.  I've never worked a register and I'm pretty sure I would do a better job. She also forgot my coupons.  Bitch.

When leaving I walked past the Wal-Mart Beauty Salon and Nail Salon.

Next time I think I will take pictures of the people in there.  They might be the most interesting Wal-Martians of them all.

Until next time Wal-Mart.

Are You Expecting?

No, no, no, I am not expecting.

I was asked by an older woman today if I was expecting.

I was shocked.

I don't have a belly.

It is flat as can be.

I've lost 15 lbs.

Why did someone ask me that?

I guess it was my flowing shirt.

Or the sweat dripping off my head that must have made me look as if I had a pregnancy glow.

I'm eating celery for every meal next week.

Thanks for giving me an eating disorder lady.