Healthy Me

I'm trying to online shop right now for Christmas and my dogs won't stop barking outside. How can I price saxophones and reeds for alto saxophone while my Shepard is barking her fool head off?

I just LOVE the day when we got new neighbors (a month ago) who brought two dogs with them, who don't leash them so they run into our yard and get my fenced dogs riled up.

Ugh.

I better get back to shopping. I'm trying to come up with things that aren't junk. That won't get discarded two days after Christmas like so many things. I'm trying to make this a smart Christmas (huh, I'm assuming that I, myself, am smart enough to do that).

Anybody know how to teach dogs to only bark a warning and then keep their canine mouths shut when I tell them to?

My husband is in the middle of selling a bunch of his stuff (music stuff, bike stuff) to buy a few things for protection.  Once he gets what he wants, I know he is going to miss all his stuff.  He's going to want another electric guitar, he's going to want an amp, he's going to want his mics he sold.  I was looking at the Shure SM58 Mic at musician's friend for him but after reading how it can take abuse, I think I'll buy it for my two youngest daughters to use.  They abuse their microphones like crazy - dropped, knocked into things, left out.  This might make a great Christmas gift.

Have you started Christmas shopping?  My youngest daughter literally has PAGES of things written down on hers and then hundreds of things in her wishlist online.  It's CRAZY!!

I just opened up a Kitsy Lane boutique (jewelry and more)! It's called Enchantments and includes oodles of jewelry and pretty scarves.

Since I love great coupons, I created one for anybody wanting to shop for some bling.  Right now, you can get $20 off a $45 purchase using coupon code TXHJL7GBKR.

I haven't had anymore gallstone attacks this past week. I cut back on the chocolate and pizza (notice I said "cut back" and not "eliminated").  For some people, I imagine they have to totally eliminate certain foods but I find that if I do most foods in moderation, I can handle them just fine.  Really, shouldn't we be eating healthy foods and the bad ones only in moderation anyway?

I need to find a "thank you" gift for a friend who has been there for me through these things and have been looking for gift baskets that say "thanks" and I found some that includes fruit!  What better way to say thanks and in a healthy way?

I shopped all day long.  I was looking for personalized baby picture frames and ended up with a huge supply of toiletries, cereals and juices (from coupons).  I'll go online tonight to Personal Creations and find the personalized gift that I need for a friend's baby (she just found out she is having a girl).  In the meantime, I need a whole other room to store all the stuff I bought today!

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!!

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!

A friend was talking to me about nemo tents.  I was thinking Nemo (as in Finding Nemo, the little clown fish) and that it was a tent for kids - a great christmas gift idea for my kids.  Oops.  I was wrong. 

This is one design of a Nemo tent pictured on the left (there are many different kinds of Nemo tents to choose from).  If you're a camper who wants to travel lightweight and camps in unpleasant conditions, check out the Nemo tent!  It's not a clown fish tent (boy am I silly). 

I had another gall bladder attack on Friday - worse than the first but not as bad as the second.  Thankfully, it only lasted a few hours and was over with.  A quick trip thru a drive-thru brought it on.  I knew better too but I am hypoglycemic and when I started getting nauseous while on the road, with little time to spare, I couldn't pull over to eat a salad so I ate the bad stuff while I drove.  It looks like potatoes in grease is my trigger (such as french fries, hash browns). 

I need to eat better this week so I can enjoy the five day holiday my kids have from school, plus my in-laws are coming into town.  Then, there is shopping!  I am looking forward to Cyber Monday so I can start shopping for my four kids.

I hope everybody has a Happy Thanksgiving later this week! 

I've lost five pounds, my income is coming along nicely, and we are going to have a nice holiday season.  I can feel it!  I get to start Christmas shopping next week and I am excited to see what I find for our kids.  I would imagine the retail jobs are booming this time of year and I plan to take advantage and do some shopping.

It's less than a week to Thanksgiving!  Then there is Black Friday (which I avoid like the plague honestly) and then it'll be time to hit the retail stores and shop, shop, shop!

My nine year old says to me this morning, "I am going to turn on the tv to watch commercials so I can make my Christmas list." 

Ugh.  Her list is going to be a mile long with the commercials that are going to be starting soon for the holidays! 

My teenager wants an ipod for Christmas, the iPod Touch specifically. I would imagine my 11-year-old son will add an mp3 player onto his list as well.  They'll both be able to tune me out when I tell them to do chores with their iPod buds in their ears.  Hmmm...perhaps I should use my iPod Touch to tune them out.  Ha ha.  Actually, I'll just turn up my stereo and then I won't have to hear teenage griping.  Sounds good to me!

Can you believe that Christmas is already just around the corner?  School has started, summer heat is coming to an end, and pretty soon we'll see leaves falling gold and red from the trees.  From there, it's a hop, skip, and a jump to Christmas toys, family visits, overeating and snow!  Oh yeah, don't forget the coming new year too! 

2010 is really flying by.  I can't believe how fast.  Does that happen the older you get? 

Summer is unofficially here.  With the mid-80's to almost 90 temperatures are any indication, we skipped spring and went right into summer.  Sad for me because I love wearing boots and was hoping to extend my wear of them a little longer but it's just too warm. I'm not sure how my husband does it having to wear heavy, steel-toed boots to work the way he does in this heat without an air-conditioned work environment. 

I'm glad he does his own laundry for his work clothes.  I'd imagine those socks of his smell!

I don't do well in heat though so you won't catch me outside sunbathing in this sun!  I'd pass out.