Consolidation: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

Well, folks, you have probably noticed that I haven't posted an entry here in, uh, shall we say AGES?  As you can all surely agree, sometimes life gets in the way and sometimes life gets overwhelming.

As I mentioned a while back (when was that exactly?  Sometime before I was buried in boxes and diapers, oh my) I've been trying to figure out ways to consolidate and simplify.  Things are starting to come to a head, as you've noticed if you were a visitor to several of my other blogs. 

Here's the skinny: until this process began - originally a good couple months back, in truth - I was the author of six (yes, SIX) blogs.  I resigned from one, SmallBizMentor, in order to focus on Workerette.com, the other blog I was writing for Know More Media.  I was down to five blogs.

Then I decided to consolidate my three Blogger blogs (This Organic House, Homeschool Dirt, and Momma & More) onto one: Momma & More.  Trying to repost all of the entries from TOH and HSD became beyond time-consuming and cumbersome, so I just said DONE and hit the delete button for both of them.

Another time-waster deleted: my MySpace profile.  Wasn't really using that for much other than communicating with a "friend" who really isn't one these days, and filling out quizzes and surveys with the few who really are true friends.  Deleted that puppy last weekend, and GOOD RIDDANCE.

Now, on to the more gut-wrenching and difficult to say goodbye to: THIS blog. 

I've come to the decision that three blogs is still one too many.  Something still has to give. 

So it is with a bummed look on my face *insert bummed look here* and a beauty queen wave *insert Barbie-handed wave here* that I give you all super huge hugs, thank you for your comments, support, visits, and tips, and tell you goodbye, many blessings, and keep in touch.  I have resigned my position as author of Stop the World, and the fine folks at ClubMom will probably be deleting this blog fairly soon.

You can still find me blogging at Workerette and Momma & More, if'n ya please, ma'ams.  And Mums.  And the like.

Oh, forget the formal professional stuff....  BIGGGGGGGGGGG HUGSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.  (Awwwwwwwwwwww.  I wuv y'all.  *sniffle*)

Be well, be safe, be happy.  (And if you're not happy, eat Oreo DoubleStufs til you are.  Wash 'em down with a nice, cold Frappucino and think of me.)

Now THAT is Irony! (From the Dog)

So my Momma thought that I would throw up the whole time during our move.  But you know what?  I've made it almost halfway there and I haven't thrown up in the truck.

Mind you, I did throw up in the hotel room a couple times last night and this morning.  Daddy said it was a wasted pet deposit, but Momma said it was worth it.  And everybody is saying they are sick of dog smell in the truck, but that it is better than puke smell.

I do, however, think that when we get a house in California they should give me a bath.  I feel dirty.  They made me stay outside ALL DAY for the past couple of days while they were dealing with packers, movers, and cleaning the other house.  But that is better than being left in the hotel room the whole time.  I would have just howled the whole time to make myself feel better, but Momma said that would be bad cuz we'd get kicked out.  So they took me with them.

At this point I'm just glad they took me with them instead of getting rid of me or worse.  If ya know what I mean.  Daddy mentioned a syringe and the vet and I'm going to just be as nice as possible and assume he was joking. You can't always tell with my Daddy; he's a pretty tough cookie.

NOW It Gets Stressful...

Now that the details are getting worked out for our move, it's becoming incredibly stressful.  The odd part is that things appear to be falling into line, between our lodging before we leave (Manly changed the dates, on-post lodging wasn't available, so we get to stay at a hotel that allows pets, thus eliminating the kennel for Muttly, who has never been kenneled before and was probably going to flip out when we left her at one) to getting details dealt with around here - so you'd think I'd be less stressed, not more.

Well, it doesn't help that originally I was focusing more on whether the C-section would go okay and if Winky would be healthy (affirmative on both).  Now I have nothing to focus on but the move. 

And we can't prepack much, because the moving lady came and did a pre-move survey and told us not to bother; basically they have standard size boxes and they'd probably have to repack stuff anyway.  So we passed along all our (mishmosh sized) boxes to Ma and Pa for their move and now we're sitting here twiddling our thumbs.

Then of course the Ex had to FINALLY get involved in the process.  Legally I only have to give him 30 days notice of a move and I gave him, what, close to 90, even without official orders?  So last WEEK he announces that he wants paperwork filed about the move.  Grrrrrrrrrr.  Thanks, dude.  Thankfully C, Bookly's mom, was willing to give me advice about how she went about the process when she moved Bookly out of state, and sent me an email stating what dates Bookly goes to the Ex and links to the Washington government website with the forms I'll need.  So guess who downloaded forms today and has to write everything up tonight?  (I could do it now, but I'd rather cool down and work for a bit first.  That way I don't type in something like "father must recognize publicly that he is a crappy excuse for a 'dad' and he is only doing this to be a buttnugget about the whole deal".  Would I do that?  *sigh*)

I think I'll take out my concerns on the storage room upstairs that still needs to be sorted through.  I bet I can get rid of a bunch of sh- er, stuff, from there, and purging belongings always makes me feel better.  Now, if only I could throw them at people who piss me off, right???

Trivia Tuesday - Randomly Fun Questions

My friend KH posted these over at her blog and I just had to join in.  Here's some random stuff you may or may not know about me - we'll pretend you wanted to know.  ;-P

Do you have Justin Timberlake on your ipod?
no (I don't have an iPod)

Where were you July 4th, 2007?
coming home from the hospital after having Winky!

Do you like Oatmeal?
sometimes

What was the last movie you watched, and who did you watch it with?
the last one I went out to was Knocked Up, with Manly

Who was the first person you wanted to be like?
my third grade teacher

What are the colors of your bedroom?
walls?  government issue off-white.  decor?  well, we have a blue comforter...does that count?

What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
right now?  feed Winky!

Where were you when the 9/11 attacks happened?
sitting on the couch feeding Chatty her bottle.

Where do you wish you lived?
i like where i live

Where is the last place you ate out at?
a Mexican restaurant near here

Do you have a TV in your room? What size is it?
yes, a 13" TV/VCR combo of Manly's

Where was your default picture taken?
in the parking lot of a local restaurant

Are you good at saving money?
yes

When is the last time you went over your cell phone bill?
not in years

Do you like Ramen noodles?
sometimes

Do you rememeber Furbies?
yep

Do YOU smoke?
never have, never will

Where is your favorite football team from?
Baltimore

Who were you with Saturday night?
Manly and Winky (we picked Chatty up from the Ex on Sunday)

Did you go to church Sunday morning?
no

Are you taller or shorter than the rest of your family?
shorter

How long does it take you to get ready?
about a half hour

Does laundry really need to be separated?
Yes!

Do you own a webcam?
no

When is the last time you played basketball?
probably high school

Do you like orange juice?
sometimes.  i have to have it if i'm eating breakfast at McDonald's

Have you ever been arrested?
nope!

Have you ever gotten locked in a trunk of a car?
no

What sport would you improve at, if you could?
jogging.  (is that a sport?)

Do you wear chains?
no

Can you sleep in jeans?
not very comfortably

When you get out of the shower..do you put your clothes on in the bedroom or bathroom?
bedroom

Have you ever eaten duck?
yes

Do you watch Big Brother?
no

10 states you've been to: (If you can, name ten! If not, just list what you can...)

1. Washington
2. Oregon
3. California
4. Mississippi
5. Nevada
6. New Jersey
7. South Carolina
8. North Carolina
9. Tennessee
10. Alaska


9 lasts:
Last dollar spent:: magazines
Last beverage: Propel Calcium mandarin orange flavoe

Last phone call: my hubby
Last bubble bath: last summer
Last time you cried: yesterday


Last text msg received: from Manly

Last text msg sent: to Manly

Last birthday: 33

8 "Have-you-ever's?"

Have you ever dated a best friend?
no

Have you ever stayed up and partied 'til the sun rose?
I've stayed up that late, but I wasn't partying; I was working

Have you ever kissed someone & regretted it?:
Yes

Have you ever lost someone you loved? like as in died?
yes

Have you ever been dumped?
yes

Have you ever dumped a bf/gf?
yes

Have you ever run away?
no

7 favorite restaurants in no order:
1. The Keg
2. Red Robin
3. Olive Garden
4. Famous Daves BBQ
5. The Rock
6. Red Lobster
7. Subway

6 things you've done today:
1. woke up
2. took a shower
3. checked email
4. found paperwork for Manly
5. fed kids and dog
6. went for a 1.2 mile walk with the family after dinner

5 of your favorite things in no order:
1. family
2. friends
3. books
4. magazines
5. days that are sunny and 75

3 places you want to visit:
1. Scotland
2. England
3. Germany (as a tourist instead of living there)

2 things you want more than anything:
1. healthy family
2. to be happy and debt free!

1 date you will never forget
my kids' birthdays and my anniversary

Temporary Insanity, Huh?

I just spotted this article about a fellow who wrote quite the, uh, story about his ex-girlfriend.  He's now in the hole $52,000 thanks to his efforts.  This, folks, is why it's important to either stick with the old philosophy of saying nothing at all if you can't say something nice - or of at least making sure the information is true and supported. 

(In case anyone's wondering, the stories I've told about a certain someone are all true and can be supported by witnesses.  I promise.  Actually, most of those people have even better stories to tell than the drama I've gotten.  *chuckle*)

Anywho, on a lighter note, Mr. Winky is doing well.  You can see a picture of him and Miss Chatty over on my Wordless Wednesday post.  Chatty is with the ex as of this evening, and tomorrow Manly and I are heading to the gun show with Mr. Winky and Grampa.  As I'm sure you can imagine, plenty of pictures will be taken of him at his first gun show.  He even has a camo bib and hat to wear, courtesy of the ladies who sew bibs and knit hats and booties for the babies who are born at the hospital here.  And I'll be hunting (no pun intended) for a little baby hat in safety orange.  heh heh. 

Speaking of ladies who sew things, I have to give a major shout-out to Operation Home Front.  While we were in the hospital a representative from their local chapter came by with goodie bags for each new baby.  We were gifted with a quilt (red, white, and blue of course!) and a little blue shirt.  Too sweet. 

And yes, I cried.  Imagine that. 

Mr. Winky Arrived Safely

Just a real fast update for those wanting to be in the know: Mr. Winky arrived safely via C-section Monday, 2 July 2007 at 0956.  He weighed 6 pounds, 3.8 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long.

We were discharged from the hospital today - both of us are doing well so far.  I am, however, beeeeeat down tired so this is all you get for now.  *chuckle*

Hope you all had a safe and happy 4th of July! 

Escrow Paperwork Review

Well, I couldn't sleep this morning so I hauled my self out of bed and folded the towels I washed last night, did a few other little things in the kitchen, then finally sat down and braced myself to open that stupid escrow paperwork.  I read it all through several times.  I'm not a happy camper. 

Apparently they do still owe me a small amount.  The amount I thought was owed to me is before taking out the funds the buyer handed me in December due to the delayed closing; that makes sense and is fine with me.  HOWEVER he did NOT hand me the full amount shown as being due to me, so I get to call the escrow chick and tell her that.  And demand the difference.  Yet again.  Yay.

Another reason I ain't happy?  Come to find out that the reason I'm still getting a water bill for that house is because what they marked as the "final utility bill" payment didn't necessarily close out the account!  According to the paperwork from the water/sewer folks, I was supposed to give them a ringy dingy and close the stupid account.  Had I had my copies of this escrow settlement paperwork back in FEBRUARY when the buyer signed I would have known this. 

So now guess who gets to try to hoof it over to the ol' city hall with the paperwork and explain to them that I woulda closed out the stupid account had I KNOWN I was supposed to.  Smart me has a few brain cells yet that aren't firing only on trying not to totally freak out about the upcoming surgery and I made sure to calmly place all the paperwork back in the UPS Overnight envelope so I can show the gals at the counter that it was literally delivered yesterday.  I'm sure they won't care, frankly, because there is a security deposit there that will pay most anything that is due - but what a freakin hassle for me and them.

Now to try to explain it to the electric/gas company who aren't even ON the paperwork for a final payment and get them to figure out what is really MY bill from before the signing date and what is the buyer's since then.  Apparently he/they haven't taken over the billing there yet, as I keep getting notices that they are gonna shut off my power.  Uhhhh, guys?  Me no live there.  GO FER IT.  Shut it off.  PLEASE!  heh heh.

Now then - who wants to sit quietly beside me while I try really, really, really hard not to get all stressed and freaked out about Monday morning?  It was a lot easier with Chatty being an emergency C, y'all.  This time around I've had waaaaay too much time to think about what could go wrong.  And to think about the fact that this is a busy military hospital with babies being born beyond frequently - these C-section teams probably do this multiple times in a day.

So that is a GOOD thing, right?  Yes.  (Not thinking about the fact that maybe they do so many they get in a rush and could do something wrong or overlook it or that they may do staples or stitches that have to be removed later, as opposed to just glueing me shut like the first doc did.  I've never had to have that sort of thing done...it grosses me out.  BLEAH!)

Not thinking, not thinking, not thinking.  Let's go clean something.  Yeah, that'll help.

A General Update with Much, Much Rambling

Well goodness - it's been a crazy week.  At least it feels like it to me.  I keep thinking that I've gotten a lot of stuff done, but on the flip side I feel like I'm getting nothing done!  Perhaps because most of it is online and I can't see it around me here at home.  Hmm.  That'd do it.

First of all, for those who have been begging to see my Happy Shiny Baby Buddha Belly, it's now posted here.  After a trip to the hospital yesterday (I'm fine, Winky's fine, I was just feeling woozy and weird so I went in and got checked out - I repeat, everything is FINE; as far as they could tell I was just mildly dehydrated because I wasn't at home chugging water like I had been the day before) I told Manly that he better go ahead and take some shots of my Buddha juuuuust in case I happen to go into labor before the scheduled C-section on Monday.  I can just see some of my gal pals hunting me down if I didn't finally show them the Buddha.  (Is that anything like "show me the money"?  I've still never seen that movie - but then Tom Cruise in a role makes me avoid movies.  Can't stand that guy.)

And before I forget, for those who have asked where we registered: Babies R Us.  I keep forgetting to reply to that very simple question.  Duh.

Anywho, as for the hospital trip - guess what ELSE I found out!  A certain someone has decided that his older sister is a prime example for how one should enter the world.  Yep, the doctor was shocked to find that little man is BREECH.  Chuh.  Apparently in the past couple of weeks, since we last saw a different doc, Mr. Winky has decided to spin himself around and sit butt first.  Hmm.  The doctor saw no reason to try to turn him at this point since we're doing a repeat C-section anyway, but having never met me before (he was the triage doc for OB/GYN yesterday), he was shocked to not be able to find a good heartbeat right away based on my size, shape, and charts.  The other docs have found his heartbeat nice and low each time I've been in - yesterday it was way up over my belly button!  Good grief. 

Chatty did really well during the whole thing.  I had just picked her up from the ex and got the shakes (yes, I had eaten and such, I wasn't skipping meals or anything) so I figured I better stop and get my BP checked to see if it was low as has been known to happen when I'm not preggo.  She did great until the end, when said doctor told me everything's fine, no need to try external manipulation since we have the surgery Monday anyway, but to be aware that if my water breaks between now and then I must not pass go and collect $200, I must go STRAIGHT TO THE L&D WING.  (He emphasized that quite, er, emphatically.  lol  Perhaps I seemed a little too calm through everything?)  That's when Chatty informed him that she doesn't "want Winky to fall out into the toilet."  He kept a straight face, I gotta hand it to him.  Then I explained that Winky's not going to fall out into the toilet, and the doctor agreed with me and we both reiterated that it just means that I have to go right in if my water breaks.  I think she's remembering the story of me laboring with her and wanting to stay in the bathroom after my water broke and the ex threatening to take the door down if I didn't get out and get in the car RIGHT THEN.  lol

So, on top of it all (ha ha) I finally have escrow papers in hand from the sale of the old house.  Literally, they just arrived via UPS Overnight as I was typing that second paragraph.  Anybody remember when I sold the house?  Yeah - initial closing date was in December 2006.  I actually signed 23 January 2007.  And yes, the paperwork JUST ARRIVED.  After a multitude of emails, phone calls, and even Manly stepping in this week and calling the escrow lady.  GRRRRRRRR.  I am content to live in military housing for another 5 years or so at this rate, possibly longer, to NOT have to deal with a mortgage and closings and sales of any sort or shape.  Not up to Manly's expectations, but man, I am SO BURNT OUT on home ownership.  Notice I haven't mentioned opening the envelope as soon as I was handed it.  I think I shall wait until I am calm.  I don't want to go back to the hospital today.  LOL  Perhaps I'll take it with me to my checkup tomorrow afternoon (funny, my 38 week checkup is at 38.5 days - 2 days before my C-section).  That way when my BP goes off the frikkin charts the nurses can monitor it and place bets on how high it will go before my hair catches on fire and I turn into one of those spontaneous combustion cases on t.v.

Speaking of things finally getting resolved, Manly got his orders for our move last week.  Yes, we're supposed to be there at the beginning of August and he got official paperwork last week.  Ah well.  No big shakes, he is so on top of things that he's already zooming through a list of stuff to do (hence the pre-inspection of the house last week).  I'm so lucky - I done got me one of them thar smart men.  He's hot too.  wink nudge nudge *Cover your eyes, Nana.*  heh heh.  Anywho, all hormonal lustiness aside, he's taken on the task of trying to figure out lodging and deal with all the stuff on the military end of it so that I can focus on trying to slam out work here before Winky's arrival and bring in extra funds to pay off some debts before we hit the road.

And thus we come to the final, glorious, HALLELUJAH point: the Division of Child Support and the Ex's employer MAY HAVE FINALLY GOTTEN IT ALL FIGURED OUT!!!!  *huge sigh of relief*  It appears that all of the paperwork is finally straight because we got close to what the right amount should have been yesterday.  He's still in arrears to me and Bookly's mom for the amounts left unpaid during the past couple of months during all the cluster of a situation it became, so we'll see when he gets around to paying that.  BUT at least DCS and the employer got things situated (hopefully - based on the appearance of yesterday's amounts, which I verified with Bookly's mom) and we'll at least get current support next month.  YEEEHAWWWWW.  Manly has been trying everything he can to cover everything and I've been trying to slam out work too, but since military folk don't earn overtime and I also have that whole homeschooling/raising Chatty/dealing with all the other things thing going, there's only so much we can do to cover what's not coming in for her.  Manly hasn't said anything about it but personally I don't feel it's fair/appropriate that he's been covering everything for her for all this time without the funds being put back into the budget, especially when Winky's on the way and if you wanna get down to it, if one were to divide responsibilities in the eyes of the state, Manly covers Winky, Ex covers Chatty.  And I'm responsible for half of each of them, of course, but y'all know what I mean. 

SOOOOOOOOOOOO...what's new with you folks?  *chuckle*

Finally, Some Good News!

Woohoo!  The rep from the housing management company popped by for an appointment today - a pre-inspection walk-thru.  We were able to breathe a huge sigh of relief, I tell you what.  (Little nod to you King of the Hill fans there.  heh heh).

Manly was wondering how things would go when the first thing the guy said was that they expect the drip pans to be replaced, new, in the stove.  Frankly, I keep mine pretty fresh as it is, because I used to be in property management and I know that folks will let them get soooooo nasty, and then you've no choice but to replace 'em, because they'll try to clean them with an SOS pad and it still doesn't help, so then you've got burnt stuff, crusty stuff AND a multitude of scratches.  But anywho, even grabbing them new is normally about $10, so sometimes it's easier to just consider that worth your washing time.  But Manly was thinking oh no, we're not even in the hallway yet and they want us spending money?

It worked out fine though.  Can't figure out if we are just cleaner than we thought (possible, I suppose) or if folks just really thrash their government housing (highly probably, from what I've seen of certain folks' outdoor areas), but this gentleman spent maybe 15 minutes here checking things out and giving us a few suggestions and pointers.  Manly showed him the piece of chain link fencing that we found inside a huge bush (that took up half the patio when we moved in, and Manly was able to get rid of all of it but the two branches that have grown THROUGH the fence and are bigger around than my wrist - trust me, when MY husband can't cut through something like that with cutters or an electric chainsaw, it's been there a while).  He said that it shouldn't be an issue; it's very obvious that the fence has been there for much longer than we've lived here, and we aren't responsible for its removal or lack thereof.  I'm wondering how the heck Maintenance is going to get it out of there, frankly, now that we've found it!  But it was nice to know that they understand that we didn't put the fence there.  lol

Best part was that since we have vertical blinds in the living room, and one broke and fell off the track (as they are wont to do - I hate vertical blinds!) - when Manly said we will replace it, he said, "Oh no, I'll give you one from my van.  You don't want to do that unless there are more to replace; they come in ten packs!"  So he promptly checked the color and gave Manly a new blind slat to replace the old one with. 

And loved on Muttly a whole bunch too.  Woulda made Gramma proud - he even asked her if she was going to go with him to cut trees while he was petting her and scratching her and letting her shed on him!

*WHEW!*  We've heard a bunch of horror stories about move-outs from folks who lived in other areas...hopefully this is a sign that this management group, at least, isn't like that.

My New Frugal Planner

Well, yesterday I started on my little frugal "day planner", so to speak.  I had Chatty's homeschool-related stuff in a grey 1" binder and had an extra white one from when I went through my office supplies.  Frankly I've always liked the grey one better, so I switched the two and started getting the dividers into my binder yesterday.  I've had a variety of different DayTimers, planners, and the like over the years, and every time I end up getting rid of them because the refills are too bloody expensive.  I recently woke up and remembered how I used to do all that sort of stuff (planning, goal setting, journaling, etc) in pretty little journals I picked up.  That ended over a decade ago, but my thought was hey, I'll go buy a nice journal on sale or clearance somewhere, and start that system again.  It always worked well for me.

Then I realized DUH.  Why bother buying a journal?  I still have $7 and change left on my B&N gift card but why not save that for a magazine or two later?  I knew I had an extra three-ring binder in the office supply box, along with some fairly new subject dividers and a half-pack of notebook paper.  I also have a pack of archival-quality gel ink pens Bookly got me ages ago that still have plenty of ink in them.  So short of using archival paper, what's the difference between a store-bought journal (which has smaller pages and is gonna be full of to-do lists anyway, not necessarily "real" journal entries) and what I have on hand?  If I need a calendar I can use the one over the desk or the little Hallmark freebie in my purse; if I specifically want a calendar page in the "journal" notebook I can print one out from MSOffice. 

Anywho, yesterday I got my dividers set up with the notebook paper in them.  I've got This Week, Tasks to Do, Writing, Financial, and a Journal section.  Since I like to write out my daily to-do lists on notebook paper in the clipboard anyway, I've set them up the same way.  One sheet for each day of the week.  Anything I don't get accomplished I can just add to another day's list quickly and easily.  After the day is done (or the next day), I can use the back of each to-do list page for journaling.  That's where I can document extra things that got accomplished as well as the day's activities that I feel are worth remembering.  As the to-do pages are "finished", they will be moved to the journal section.  Voila - memories preserved, so to speak.

So now my goal for this week is to sit down with Manly and make a list of the debts we have so we can both have a better idea of where we are on tackling them.  Monthly and bi-weekly budgets will also go in that financial section.  I also had two divider pages that have pockets on them that I've put in the very back of the notebook.  I'll use these for receipts and the like.  I want to start tracking each month's expenditures, not only to see how much we spend but to be able to look back and appreciate how much we save when we use coupons, shop on sale, and use gift cards.  I think my weekly grocery sale flyers and such will go in there as well.

The writing section is where I'll be jotting down notes about ideas for articles and posts, as well as links to go check out and bloggers to blogtip.  Since I'm consolidating and eliminating and trying to get things re-organized on current projects, that section will be a major help, and it'll get rid of the bits and scraps that I jot things on and then stick on the desk for later.  One of those pockets in the back will be handy for the things I pull out of magazines to address online also.  Sweeeeeeet. 

That general "Tasks To Do" will be a section to note anything and everything I need to tackle at some point.  Some of them will have specific dates/deadlines, of course, but other things will just be 10-minute tasks that I think of.  Then the next time I'm looking for something to organize or do, I can jog my memory with the list.  Besides, it's always nice to have things to cross off, right?  I don't know about you but it makes me feel more accomplished, even if it ultimately took me literally two minutes (like the  Febrezing of the furniture the other day)!

On that note, I'm off to hit my hope chest.  Going through there and gleaning out things to donate is on today's To Do page.  Luckily a coworker of Manly's gave us a bunch of boxes for moving; I plan to put a couple together and pack up anything in my hope chest that isn't being donated or trashed.  After all, if it's in my hope chest, I'm not actively using it anyway - may as well pack it ahead of time and have one less thing to do after Winky arrives!