It Works For Me - Fluorescent Lighting!

Little by little, I am swaying my husband over to "my" way of thinking - the economical, penny-pinching, environmentally conscious (working on it) mode of thought. And, it is WORKING!

Two weeks ago, Scott came home with a bag from Lowe's. In it, he had enough light bulbs to replace about 75% of our lights! They weren't just ANY bulb, though - they were fluorescent bulbs.

Here's what I love about fluorescent lights...

1. They aren't just those funky spirally bulbs anymore. They are frosted, domed, spotlights, dimmed, tinted - whatever you want and LOOK LIKE REGULAR BULBS!

2. They use a fraction of electricity that a standard bulb uses. For instance, we replaced 3 60-watt bulbs in a ceiling fan (180 total watts) with three fluorescent bulbs. The total energy usage for the new ones? 38 watts. TOTAL. Wow. A fifth of the original usage!

Now, there are a couple of things we've had to get used to because of the bulbs...

1. Think stadium lighting. Sometimes it takes a minute for them to get warmed up and fully "on". This is probably why we haven't replaced the bulbs around our mirror in the bathroom. I am only slightly impatient...

2. The price. Yeah, the upfront cost can scare you a bit, but remember...fluorescents not only use an itty bitty amount of electricity, they also last for something insane like 10,000 hours. You'll buy less of them! It was a bit of sticker shock to do so many bulbs all at once, but if you did just a few at a time, or a room at a time, you probably wouldn't feel the money oozing from your wallet so quickly!

That's what works for me! Visit Shannon's site to see more about Works For Me Wednesday!

I Heart Freecycle

Saturday, someone posted an old hamster cage and exercise ball on our local Freecycle group. And I couldn't pass it up. What is one more critter? They apparently have the run of the house anyway!


The rule is, though, that Travis has to save his OWN MONEY for bedding, food, a water bottle and the actual critter. He might get it together by September. But I'm not holding my breath!


YAY for freecycle! Great stuff to be had for free!

Something Possessed Lives Here...

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I awoke Sunday morning at 6 to a most unusual noise over the monitor in the boys' room...


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I sat for a brief moment, trying to determine what it was...electrical? water leak? something outside? The noise kept on going.


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I clambored out of bed, made my way down the hall, and slowly opened their door. Yep, there was that noise - somewhere over by the train table maybe. Perhaps our Lights and Sounds Thomas or the Lights and Sounds Percy had a battery about to go out...so I made my way into the room to retrieve them.


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Nope, that noise wasn't at the train table. Or the fish tank. But, it was definitely at the air purifier (Ionic Breeze - Sharper Image). Egads, it was probably sparking and getting ready to start an electrical fire! I quickly turned the dial off.


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Wow, it was POSSESSED. I unplugged it.


Silence.


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And the sound - WAS MOVING. Under the boys' bunk beds. Under the dresser. Making a run for the door! I'm panicking. Something ALIVE is in here with us, and I have no idea what to do!


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I make my way back to the door, leaving it cracked. And I turn on the hall light.


And that's when I saw the DERN HERMIT CRAB ON THE FLOOR!


The noise? His shell dragging on the hardwood planks and hitting the beveled edges.
ARGH!!!!


I picked him up and took him back to our bedroom where I deposited him on Scott's side of the bed. "THIS!" I exclaimed. "THIS IS THE NOISE!"


Scott took the poor frightened possessed demon-crab back to the boys' room and his home on the 3rd bookshelf (yeah, I'm not sure how he got down either), but old "Blue" let him know he wasn't happy to be going back - he gave Scott a good pinch!

Note To Self: For The Sake Of All Things Normal: Buy A New Bra!

Love: over 30 pounds lost (yay for my doctor appointment last week!)
Love: My doctor, who told me, yes, go ahead and lose those last 10 pounds!
Love: My reflection in the mirror, after 9 years of HATING it!


Hate: The fact that I've manage to lose something more than 30 pounds, and all my "good" bras are now just huge, gargantuan slingshots. At least they no longer sag to my belly button, right? There's not enough there to sag that low!

Daily Bread

Its Sunday, so time for a church-related post...

Last week, we were sitting in our "regular" spot in the sanctuary (third pew from the front, on the pulpit side, all the way at the end for those quick escapes, haha). Tyler was, for probably the first time, halfway paying attention to the service. We were praying and reciting "The Lord's Prayer" and he's getting fairly good at it.

Then we got to "Give us this day our daily bread"...and he couldn't get past that. He quickly jerked up his head, looking up at the altar and says above everyone else:

"MOM! WHERE'S DA DAILY BWEAD????"

At least he's familiar with communion (which we only do on the first Sunday of the month, and last Sunday wasn't the first Sunday!) and realizes what it is! So does everyone else now!

Working Through The Loss (pardon my emotion)

5 Stages of Grief:

1. Denial

2. Anger

3. Bargaining

4. Depression

5. Acceptance

I think I'm finally at Stage 5 this morning with the baseball debacle from last night, although I find myself misting up from time to time (see stage 4). I know, I know, it is a little league game, for crying out loud (literally), but it all changed when Travis was the pitcher of record. His first assignment as pitcher. In a playoff game. And we lost.

At first, I started laughing - there's NO WAY we lost that game! Are you serious???? Stage one was quickly replaced with anger - towards the coach. Why in the world did he think my son was ready for that kind of pressure???? And, what coach leaves him in to pitch 60+ pitches in ONE INNING (and 16 runs later) in a playoff game? Weren't there 3 other kids waiting in the wings to pitch???

Then came bargaining...maybe something happened with the other team that will force a forfeit and we'll get to take a free ride into the next round. And then, depression. That's where I was about 12:30 this morning. I finally dozed off around 3, only to be roused by the monkey-boys at 6:30. No freaking kidding - my kids do NOT know the meaning of sleeping in - even when they go to bed 3 hours past their normal bedtime! The lack of sleep coupled with all my emotions has made this morning a bit difficult. But, just for me. Travis is fine with it.

Of course, hearing that the Astros got pounded last night as well (16-8 loss to the Rangers) helped a lot, too. He thought that was funny.

So, I'm working my way into acceptance. It is OKAY. We might make the All-Star team; we might not. Either way, it is okay. Travis has learned so much this season. And, not all of it is skills (although I must say the kid is a baseball player possessed when he's out there). He's got strategy, he's made new friends, he's renewed his love of the game. He loves it, and at the beginning of the season, I don't think I could have said that. He knows the difference between a coach who is a good guy and a GOOD COACH. He's motivated. He's a fighter. He showed a side of himself that made my heart want to burst, sticking in there as long as he did last night, not once showing frustration or anger. He was controlled and doing his job. He's a much stronger person than I've ever given him credit for.

We're looking at an empty slate this week - no piano, no cub scouts, no baseball - and it is unknown territory for us. Our neighbors are in the process of moving this week, so that seems to be a bit more unnerving for him than losing the game. We're going to take some time for us this week and shift into a lower gear as we finish out the school year.

It is a good thing. Winning, losing, learning.

PeeWee Rockies - 2008

OVER

Our season is over.

It was a heartbreaking loss. We were ahead going into the final inning, 1-4. Then, the unthinkable happened...Coach pulled his son off the mound and handed the ball to MY SON.

My BABY was the PITCHER.

Travis made us proud. He was consistent. He was accurate. He did exactly what the coaches wanted him to do - get the ball in play so we could field the out.

The only problem was, the team didn't field. Not at all. Over 60 pitches later (yes, in ONE INNING), they finally rounded the third out. But the damage was already done. We lost: 17-4. The other team scored 16 runs against my boy and his friends. It was gut-wrenching.

They're a great group of boys, and I know we'll see them again in baseball. And, Travis has experience (lots of it) as a pitcher now. Lots of plusses to tonight's game.

The good news there's NO MORE BASEBALL PRACTICE!!!! Hooray! That part I'm thankful for.

I just love Travis. He's such a fighter.

Plugged Up

This would be how I would describe Tyler for the past, oh, FOUR DAYS.

The kid WILL NOT POOP.

Not on the potty.

Not in the pull up.

Not in the car.

Not on a chair.

Not here, not there not anywhere...

He will not, will not, POOP! (sorry, Dr. Seussism)

So, we've been in a pull up today...desperately grunting, crying, doubling over, and getting absolutely nowhere. We skipped gymnastics because he couldn't go. He's been miserable.

So, I left him alone. Gave him some "private time". I told Tyler to come and get me when he was ready to be changed, and he was good with that. About 15 minutes later, I realized I hadn't heard anything from him in a while, so I went on a Tyler-hunt. Here's what I found:

Asleep. On the floor. Wedged under my chair. And, do you see that BULGE in his pants back by the heel of his shoe?

Yeah, I'll give you one guess what that is. You can probably smell it through the picture!

That's his Lovey trying to escape the carnage...see her waving frantically???

How Do You Spell STRESS?

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Ohmygoodness...could the pressure be anything more??? Heaven help us all if either of my boys are blessed with the baseball gene and go pro. I'll go into cardiac arrest before their first game.


Travis' first playoff game is TONIGHT. TO-NIGHT! At 8 pm (which is, coincidentally, our bedtime - rock on!). I'm nervous enough for the whole team.


The good news is that we beat this team in preseason. They were our first opponent and we CRUSHED them. Hopefully, we can do that again tonight.


However, if we do, we are probably looking at ANOTHER round of the practice-every-night gig we've had going this week (yeah, you KNOW I'm loving the 6 p.m. practices every.single.night). Tyler's quite accustomed to dinner at the practice field now.


Whatever fate befalls my beloved Rockies (the Peewee version, not the pro team - I'm an Astro fan through and through)...it will be what it is.


Championship game is next Friday. I've blocked off my entire day to prepare for THE EVENT.

Just in case.

See That Girl, Watch That Scene

(quick - name that song and artist!)

Oh my.

We're having our annual TALENT SHOW at the preschool next week. And I'm scared. Really, really scared.

Talent, at four, is apparently soccer kicks off the stage into the audience, some form of dancing that might be mistaken for a seizure, and what might be considered singing by my deaf grandmother (no Gigi, I'm not calling you deaf, I promise!).

It should be a good time. Come and watch! Be sure to bring a helmet.

And earplugs.

and psst! I met with my new BFF this morning (the scale - yah! I actually love the old broad now!) and (drum roll, please)...I'm at my "wedding weight"!!! 8 more pounds to go!

All The Better To Hate You With, My Dear

Criminey, can Mrs. Pitt hack me off even moreso than she already has?

Now she's having TWINS???

Gee whiz...first she basically STEALS Jennifer Aniston's hubby and ends up with what appears to be the dream relationship (more or less), adopts all these great children, carries on for all these worldwide amazing causes, then goes on to have twins?

Can I be any more jealous???

Okay, of everything but those freak-o lips. I so do not get the lip-thing.