madameblogalot

In all the swirl of life we are going through right now, there are so many needs that have to be taken care of. I cannot believe the amount of money that has been spent by us this year. Money for physical therapies, college fees, eyeglasses, driver’s ed, the dentist, sessions with specialists, required health insurance for a college student…and this is all among the regular expenses required just to live and run a household!

I know some changes are in store for the next year’s budget planning. Things like driver’s ed are over. Physical therapies have ended. And for eye wear I will definitely check into cheap eyeglasses . This year I let my daughter talk me into “glasses in an hour.” In the future I want to check out some prescription eyeglass web sites to help control some of the outrageous costs while still meeting my family’s health needs. I hear they can provide sturdy, affordable and yet stylish eyeglasses to help meet any budget. So while health care often feels like a luxury I am hopeful to be able to meet all my family’s needs while remaining safely within our budget.

This summer I became lifeguard certified. Part of the lifeguard training included CPR training and certification. All participants in the class had to go through step-by-step instruction to learn the proper technique and procedure for executing CPR. The CPR course included the chest compressions and the mouth to mouth resuscitation. Some people are very uncomfortable giving mouth to mouth to a stranger, but it seemed like there was no other way to help save a life. However, in a campaign from the American Heart Association and the Ad Council, a new digital application has been introduced to help teach the steps of Hands-Only CPR. This could be a good solution for the people who still want to help save lives, but don’t like the uncomfortable situation of mouth to mouth with a stranger. This could become a very popular idea!

My daughter can hardly wait for her brother to go to college. She is counting down the days until she has her own bathroom! She has plans for renovating and remodeling the bathroom they shared (that she never used-she always uses ours!) That is a whole story in itself. I was thinking about that project while I was scrubbing my kitchen sink the other day. And I started wondering if I should do the same with my sink.

When we did remodel our kitchen we got a white ceramic sink. It’s pretty. But it is hard to keep that way. It stains easily and it is filled with scratches. So I wonder if I should have went with a stainless steel Undermount Sink in the kitchen. I don’t know if that look would match the look of our kitchen, but I am guessing that all stainless steel Undermount Sinks pretty much match everything and are not as hard to keep looking nice.

It’s that time of year again. The time for new school clothes, new shoes, new school supplies, and spending a whole lot of money. I come from a family of what I like to call “Master Sale Shoppers.” My mother and my grandmother are both people that have achieved this “master” title. It seems that no matter where they shop they always find some type of sale. Unfortunately, however, I have not yet learned this skill. It seems to me that there are two choices when it comes to shopping: cute clothes - that cost every last dollar that I have; or cheap, affordable clothes - that for some reason never seem quiet as cute as the others. My mom and I go shopping together a lot. We go to the same stores but she will somehow always come away with 5 items that all added up to the same price as my 1 item. Every time I shop with my mom she always says the same thing on the way home. “You really need to learn how to shop,” she says, “you just never seem to find anything on sale!” Sadly, I know this is true. So, I recently decided to start trying to live up to my mother and grandmother’s reputation of finding amazing sales. I have discovered that it is actually possible to find some cute things - without spending all my money! I have found deals at Savings.com for just about everything! No matter what you’re looking for, whether it is clothes, electronics, or chocolate, there is a discount! Maybe with some help from sites like this, I can also become a “Master Sale Shopper” in my family!

It took me most of June and half of July to finish this book. *Spoiler Warning* It’s a Christmas gift for a certain someone who I am pretty sure will read this post!!

The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, The Witch and The Worldview: I bought this book on sale as a Christmas gift for my sister. The title really intrigued me and I knew she would love it. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it as I was afraid it would spoil the magic of Narnia too much. But, after reading the table of contents I went ahead and decided to read it. While I do not agree with everything presented in the book, it was very interesting and thought provoking. It made me both sad, seeing how much I have failed my own kids in so many ways, and it also made me long for Narnia like I did when I was younger. It made me want to re-read the Chronicles, especially wishing I had time to read all seven books to my kids again before my son leaves. I will rate the book as a HIT.

A Case of Need: This is one of Michael Crichton’s early books. In fact, he originally wrote it under a pseudonym. I enjoyed the story, though maybe not as much as some others. I will still rate it a HIT.

Mother: While away at a small bed and breakfast, this was one of the few movies available. It was not that good of a movie and only served to reinforce the feeling of dysfunction in my own relationship with my son. I rate this one as a MISS.

Cold Mountain: Another of the few movie choices. I went into it thinking I would like it. It was a romance set in the Civil War. While I know that people were brutally slaughtered, I don’t like to see it graphically displayed or sensationalized. Nor do I like to see folk’s brutally lewd side either. Even though I know the things probably represent very human things that happened, I do not want to SEE it! Nor do I even want to SEE the sexual encounter that is to represent “true, pure love” in the story. There were some big names in the movie-Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Renee Zellwegger, Donald Sutherland, a young Natalie Portman. Even so, I rate this one as a MISS.

The Source Code: This movie is tough to describe. My husband said it’s an Inception wannabe. It has elements of Groundhog Day and Knowing. It is an interesting concept-a man relives eight minutes of the immediate past in order to help change the future. The lead actors do a pretty good job. There is some rough language. Overall, I rate this one as a HIT.

The Great Train Robbery (novel): When I realized this was written by Michael Crichton I had to give it a try. This is based on a real event. I always love how Crichton does his homework on a book. This story was hard to follow at times because of the slang of the time which Crichton uses to make the story even more real. As always, I will give it a HIT.

Do you ever walk into a room and forget why you came in there in the first place? I had seen it happen with my grandparents and parents but was not ready for it to happen to me (at such a young age!) It actually has been happening for years now, but it’s not altogether uncommon anymore! And I have even had moments where my brain is completely blank when thinking of a name or trying to remember some fact. I had never had that experience until recently. I know that I am getting to be middle aged, but I was not prepared for my brain to start slipping so soon!

And now more than ever, people are needing better brain fitness and longevity. It is not only frustrating in day to day living, but it is imperative now that people are working til older ages. As folks live longer and the economy cannot sustain their lifestyle, people are choosing to stay in the work force for more years. This makes brain acumen a must, especially as the older generation finds themselves competing for their jobs with ever younger colleagues.

There are numerous ways to keep your brain in shape. I have always heard that reading and doing puzzles like crosswords or sudoku are helpful. Getting together with others and talking about things, staying up on current events and learning something new can all be good ways to keep a brain in shape. I have even heard about some online programs that can help keep the brain fit by training cognitive skills. Looks like I better get to training!

It has been HOT here! We are setting records nearly every week for high temperatures. When we dumped out some coolers of ice, our poor old dog just went and stood in the ice to cool off. So when I saw a blog post about a blogger who had 25 tons of wood to heat his home for three years, I must admit I was not thinking ahead of the heating bills to come next winter! I know when it cools off around here (which may not even be til after the first of the year if this summer heat wave and drought does not pass on by) then I will be wanting a nice warm house.

Since I do not like either extreme-being too hot or too cold-I like to keep things at an even temperature. That can mean too high or too low on our thermostat. But things like ceiling fans and storage heaters can help keep things more evenly cooled and warmed.

I guess my blog friend is like the ant who prepared for winter (or three!) while I am like the grasshopper who is wondering when the summer heat will pass on by!

I was thinking just yesterday about Father’s Day coming up. I was trying to figure out what to get my husband and how to have it be “from the kids”. Each year for the past several years, my family is gone to church camp for the whole week leading up to Father’s Day, so trying to shop during that week means me just picking out something and having the kids give it. So I thought it would be better to get an early start this year!

In trying to think about a good gift for Father’s Day, of course ties always come up. But I think my husband (and his closet) has his fill of ties. And then there are nicer gifts, like watches. That could be a good idea. There are many different types of watches to choose from: casual watches, sport watches, dressy watches, scuba dive watches and Military Watches. Any of those would make a perfect Father’s Day gift, sure to last several years and sure to get used almost daily.

Whatever we end up choosing, I am glad I thought about it earlier this year and hopefully we can come up with a great gift to give on Father’s Day.

It has happened to everyone at least once. You go into a store, either just to look around, or with a specific idea of what to buy in mind. You come out with your chosen item, happy you finally got it. You take it home and are totally happy with it, until the next week. That’s when you wander into another store and discover the same item for half the price you paid. That’s when it starts to upset you and make you feel like you got ripped off. But what can you do? Can you really be expected to know which stores have which items for the cheapest prices?

Actually, there is a way to know just that. By using Savings.com coupons, you can gain access to organized lists of which stores offer the best deals, along with when and where these buys occur. They even have a section for printing out coupons so you can save even more.  There are sections from electronics to jewelry to pet supplies.  Their biggest priority is to save you money, and they are accomplishing that goal in a quick and easy manner. Anyone looking to find a good deal could never go wrong here.

Maybe I am a bad mom. But late last year when my daughter needed new glasses for the upcoming school year, I declined taking her to the eye doctor. She does not wear her glasses like she should, and going to the eye doctor and getting her prescription eyeglasses is not cheap. Since her prescription is very light, I thought we’d try to just get over the counter reading glasses. She did find a pair that helped her to read better, but she doesn’t wear them much because they are too heavy and give her a headache. (So she says, or maybe she just doesn’t want to wear them at school!) At any rate, I never had checked in to buying prescription eyeglasses online. I read an article that talks about how much cheaper it is to buy your eyeglasses online. While there is the risk of not liking them once you get them in, it is argued that the price is so much cheaper that it’s worth it. I will have to remember that in the future when my daughter next needs glasses. (Especially if I buy them and then she doesn’t wear them all the time like she is supposed to!)