Leftovers

I haven't written in so long that all I have are random bits and pieces of thoughts. A lot like leftovers. You don't have an entire entree or meal, all you have are Tupperwares of cold corn, lettuce salad, french bread, and 1/4 casserole dish of lasagna. And hence, my leftovers post.

Tupperware thought #1: I've been thinking a lot lately of my dream job. I still love working at Costco and although it's the early shift, I love the physical elements. On the days I feel like quitting (usually the initial 3 days when I get back from vacation) all I have to do is talk to a coworker who has been with the company for a couple years. Then, I am reminded of the great benefits, the pay raise scale, and the awesome bonuses you get after serving the company for x amount of hours! Anyway, my dream job I've decided is to write. Write books, children's books, young adult fiction, historical fiction, freelance, etc. The only problem? The other day when I was at Barnes and Noble with Kelly and my nephew, I got to thinking that I don't even buy books. For me, it is borderline a waste of money because why buy a book you're only going to read once when you could just rent from the library? So, I decided I'll keep my dream job as my great hobby: blogging.

Tupperware thought #2: One of my favorite TV shows growing up was "That 70's Show" and still is. We don't get cable, so you could imagine my sheer joy when I found ALL 8 SEASONS on Netflix!!!! Since mid-February I've been having a "That 70's Show" marathon. Don't ask me how, but where I thought it would take me 8 months to finish them (one month per season) I am currently all the way through 6 seasons and halfway through season 7. I love the 70's. Also, I'm learning life lessons such as, there were recessions in the 70's (and throughout history) so we shouldn't get so down about the ones we are going through. Learn from them: yes. Get depressed: try not to. Stay positive. It reminds me to keep my head up, that things turned around in history, they will turn around for our futures. It also makes me wonder, did no one in the 70's wear a bra, or is that just part of the show?

Having been obsessed with this series leads into my 3rd Tupperware....

Tupperware thought #3: If you are going to hoard something, why not try and hoard something productive that you could turn into a business? Like, I would hoard buttons. Then, I would make a store, call it something cliche like "Cute as a Button" and sell crafts that I make with buttons in them. If my hoarding was really extreme, I might buy a few dressers, fill the drawers with buttons, and sell the buttons along with the crafts. I would have called it "The Button Boutique", but someone beat me to it. http://www.etsy.com/shop/ButtonBoutique

(Who knew there were so many button crafts!!!)

I would love to attempt to make this clock!

Tupperware thought #4: I miss getting up any day of the week and going for a 90-minute marathon training run. That would also mean I miss not having to start work till sometime after 11:00 am. But, mainly I miss feeling great and in an "exclusive group" of the few who have a resting heart rate below 50 beats per minute. That lead to thought of what life would be like if I didn't have a baby. (It is okay to mention this thought because every book about having kids that I've read say this is a natural and normal thought.) I thought of all the restful nights I would be having, messes I wouldn't have to clean up, laundry bill going down down down, being able to run to the store on a whim and have it take less than 30 minutes, having a full time job, taking my 90-minute marathon training runs, and did I mention GETTING SLEEP?!? Wow, that's just to name a few....

But, that would mean I would miss out on raising a baby, cuddling and kisses, having someone who needs me and loves me unconditionally at every hour of the day, playing and creating, being creative, finally getting to buy those miniature outfits that are adorable, having so much in common with so many people and swapping stories, feeling like I have something so special and worthwhile in my life, feelings of accomplishment that outweigh any other project or event thus far, and logging every first-->first smile, first giggle, first crawl, first tooth, first steps, first time I caught her climbing in the dryer...to name a few! I wouldn't trade being a mom for anything in the world! Not even a lifetime supply of 8-9 hours of sleep every night!

And those are my leftovers. I hope you enjoyed!

Proof that your mom can dance, Lauren!

...She just doesn't always bend her limbs!

Pea Poo and Defining a mental health need

I've had a long weekend, do these constitute a "need" under the mental health clause?

On an unrelated note, Lauren has been eating more solids, and her...poo's have been...how do I put this....fascinating in the name of scientific wonder. I tried to take a picture, and luckily it didn't turn out, not that anyone but a mother would care to see her baby's poo; but, I've been giving her little bites of "big kid" food and her poo literally had a full edamame pea right there, perfectly intact, like it never went through her system. Below, I've tried to capture the image in a painting. I'll warn you, it's graphic:

Fascinating, I know. It's amazing what can and cannot make it through our systems.

Regrets

Have you ever done something you deeply regretted? No, I didn't break my spending fast on that $1.00 bag of mixed buttons at Porter's Craft Store. And, I don't regret spending half of my don't ask money on a traditional Valentine's Day gift exchange for my sisters.

I actually won't get into what I regret doing, and, I can't even give you a ballpark range for the event that brought on this post. I guess why I'm writing is because we all have something in our lives that we wish we could take back. This is the first time that I've spent the past 3 days at work (5 hours each) replaying in my head what happened over and over, when I realized how much energy and time is wasted thinking about this thing.

I once clipped out of a magazine a quote from Drew Barrymore, where she said, "I never regret anything. Because every little detail of your life is what made you into who you are in the end."

So, I can only keep going and learn from this. It's like I told my clients in my PSR days, "forget about yesterday, it's a whole new day." We get a new chance everyday to be the person we want to be. If I'm trying to not gossip about people, I only have today to say nice things. If I want to treat everyone the way I would like to be treated, I only have today to set an example.

Mistakes will inevitably be made along the way, but you learn to laugh off the small ones, apologize and make restitution for the big ones, and spend everyday striving to be the person you make your mind up to be.

This is Tough

This spending fast is tough! I've created some dangerous habits that include (but are not limited to) running to Target because I'm bored; running to Target because of after-holiday sales; running to Target just because I saw a funny Target commercial. And by Target, I umbrella all retailers. I'm finding that it gets harder and harder to save my money...and it'll take a miracle to make it 3 more months in this spending fast. I'm down to $10.00 in my "don't ask, don't tell" money, and I thought by now I would be closer to $100.00 so I could go back out to shop for my dream jeans. Every time I go to the store, I think I find something my subconscious can't live without!

The moral of the story is, take only one trip per week to the store to get the necessities, which, while not fun and totally against my current habits and routines, will inevitably help me control my spending and succeed at this fast.

The Long Road of Layaways

Jeff had a gift card to spend at Nordstrom's Rack, so we went this weekend in hopes to find something right around the amount on the card. While he set off to the Men's department, Lauren and I casually scoped out the jeans' racks. I've been wanting a pair of True Religions for quite some time. At the actual T.R store, they run for about $300 a pair, so you could imagine my sheer delight and astonishment when I found an adorable pair at the "Crack" (as we sometimes call it) for $87.00!

Do I need a pair of jeans? No, not exactly. Do I badly want a pair of T.R? Naturally. So, as I showed them off to Jeff, I racked my brain to see where in our "guidelines" of this spending fast I could get away with spending just shy of a hundred on a fashion entity...not necessity. The only solution I could muster involved finding out if Nordstrom's Rack had a Layaway program, and if me, my spendy-self, and I, could wait 6 weeks to pay them off with my "don't ask don't tell" money. (Because this past Friday was payday, I'm up to a whopping $38.87.)

I ended up handing the jeans to the fitting room lady and walking out the store empty handed, and needless to say, I didn't even bother finding out about the Layaway program.

This is seriously one challenge that is just that: challenging! I don't know what would be easier: a) continue this spending fast? or b) get an additional part-time job?

And Just For the Record....

....my husband is doing no better than I! He just spent a quarter of his "don't ask, don't tell" money on a paper shredder that he insists "we really need". Let the record show, we both need to pace ourselves, and thank goodness for the 'don't ask don't tell' accounts!!! (Now, if we can only keep enough money in those accounts to keep this spending fast going longer than the month of January!)