Healthy Me

I am turning 40 in October.  I can't believe that.  When I was a kid, 40 seemed so OLD.  It's not SOOOO old to me now but still, it's the point where people can start saying I am "over the hill" right? Somebody told me last week that they thought I was only 34.  That was cool.  I didn't mind that at all.

A friend of mine wants to celebrate my 40th birthday like it's 1999 (she said) but I'd have to take a cash advance out pay for it. With school starting, we're financially depleted and the outlook over the next few months doesn't look any better - homecoming, sports, band trip.  I plan to cry on my 40th anyway so why spend a lot of money to sob at a party when I can do it at home for free, right?

My six-year-old has been asking for a swing set for the last two years now.  It's important for kids to spend time actually playing as opposed to zoning out in front of a computer or video games.

I've been looking at the type of swing sets in the picture above, but just looking. We can't afford one of these right now. By the time child support is done and we can, she'll be too old to care anymore.  I'd love to have one of these in our backyard!

Do you know what I did recently all by myself?  I actually fixed the toilet.  Me - who has never been handy around the house!  I was so proud of myself.  The flapper chain was broke and the handle broke off (guess kids thought pushing harder on the handle would make the toilet flush but it doesn't work that way when the chain isn't there).  My husband would wait months for his dad to come and fix it and with all these kids in the house, I was not willing to wait months and reduce us to one bathroom with eight people in the house.

I looked it up on YouTube, went to the store for a new flapper and handle and did it all myself!  I was quite proud of myself.

I wonder if I can lay floor in the family room and install a blu ray home theatre system all by myself?  I think I better aim smaller to start and replace the tub spout (kids broke that too).

Seeing a theme here with kids and things breaking?

My husband gave up smoking for the kids - guilt works great!  Well, he said he did and the last two cigars we knew he was given are still in the fridge.  However, did he really give up his Cohiba or is he just not bringing them home anymore? Yeah, I think that's it. Cigars were a once in awhile thing for him. I'd be really surprised if he gave them up completely.  I think he learned just not to do it in front of the kids and on his weird work schedule, it wouldn't be too difficult to get away with it.

My teenage daughter might be taking a trip with her band class to Disney this winter and I'm a bit nervous about it.  That's scary to me - her going that far away without parental supervision.  I'm slowly cutting the apron strings here but she is just a freshman.  I don't have to cut them completely yet!

I do my best to save money where we can, but I have one guilty pleasure - jeans from The Buckle.  They fit GREAT.  They look fantastic and they last.  From the attention my husband gives me when I wear them compared to other brands, they've become a favorite! With my kick to save money, I've been on the search for buckle coupons.  So happy I found them!!

Summer is coming to an end.  We took one vacation to our home state to see family back in June but that was all that was affordable this summer.  Between hotel, dog kennel, etc., it's just too expensive anymore.

My sister gave me an idea for us for a future purchase.  She has both a 5th wheel to pull and a regular RV to drive.  I'm wondering what 5th wheel insurance is like, but I am thinking - rather than pull a trailer, perhaps we should buy a regular RV that drives itself so I don't need to put the wear and tear on my new truck, we won't have hotel expenses, and we can even take a dog with us if we want.

Something to think about for next summer.

For the past month, I've dived into finding deals - deals on food, deals on health care needs, deals on school supplies, and even finding whatever great sale for school clothes that I just can't pass up.  When you combine drastically reduced prices on online school clothes with free shipping, how can you not buy it?  I actually have a small stockpile of things like toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, etc. so we won't run out (which happened too often before with all these kids in the house) and found a pretty little pair of Nike hi-top tennis shoes for my daughter at sale prices.  I've bought school supplies for little to nothing. In this economy, saving money is the way to go.

Once I'm done with school clothes, it'll be time to think about Christmas (can you believe it?).  I finally bought myself a Wii Fit (I really wanted it to help make exercising fun and it does), but the kids need some things for the Wii system too and Christmas is the perfect opportunity to get it for them. My son also wants those Monster Beats headphones all the kids are wearing.  It's become a challenge for me to find the best price for everything I buy now.  I keep watch on Buy.com for great deals!

It's been awhile since I've posted.  I took some time off and enjoyed the hectic schedule with my kids finishing up last school year, enjoyed the summer off with them, and now that school starts in little more than a week, I am getting excited about school starting and getting back to work myself.

In terms of healthy news - - I have kept off the weight I lost earlier this year.  Yeah for me!  I stopped dieting because I wasn't sure if I wanted to go further or not.  I've decided that I do.  So, on the day my kids start school, mom starts The 17 Day Diet: A Doctor's Plan Designed for Rapid Results again.  It's just too easy to lose weight this way (and after all these months, I've kept it off) so I'm going to get it finished up.