Trying Something New

This is my first attempt using Windows Live Writer (found a post about it that was convincing here). Hoping to have a better time of posting pics and videos now that I’m using a more user friendly program than Blogger seems to be. I’ve posted through Word before, but any pics or videos I include also have to be uploaded to Blogger, so the only helpful thing about it is that it doesn’t time out or glitch and lose what I typed. Problem with that is that my biggest complaint w/Blogger is the pic/video uploading. Rarely do I lose text. But one good thing about using Word to post to my blog is that if I do happen to lose a whole post at some point (I’ve heard it happens!), at least I have a back-up copy. I’ll post my thoughts about using WLW when I have more to say about it.

Case is with the girls tonight. I left him herding them toward sleepytime. He let me get out of the house ALONE for the evening. Very refreshing. I really enjoy having an hour or so here and there to better appreciate all the wonderful things that make up my very blessed life.

When I am away, I can see things more objectively. Like how sweet my children really are, and how much I do enjoy being with them all day every day and what a privilege it is to be the one who knows them best and see all the ways they grow and discover the world around them. Case and I can tell when I need a break when my general attitude has the undertone of negativity and discouragement. Since I use my blogs to decompress in some way or another, it is probably obvious to you, my readers, when I need a break as well! Perhaps it is a very good thing that I do not have time to blog much. I would surely give the impression of an ungrateful, crabby woman much more than I already do!

Another “break” I enjoy is when we have company and I am able to observe the girls more from an outsiders’ view—actually seeing them, not just being with them—there is such a difference! Sometimes, it is surprising to me how much I don’t notice on a usual day alone with them. I also treasure the rare phone call that one of the girls will make to me. I’ll save those messages forever, or so I tell myself. Probably seems strange, but I so rarely hear how they sound on the phone, and it is terribly precious to me to hear those sweet, tiny voices call me “Mommy” on the phone.

What do you know? When I decided to wrap up this post, I thought I should at least try to insert a couple pics to see how easy it could be, and it totally was! Blogger-users, brace yourselves for a shock: I put the curser where I wanted to insert the picture, and, viola! There it appeared, only seconds later! And another thing: I posted the second picture SECOND, and it is AFTER the first one! Such luxury! Now I have only to publish this post when I get home and then try a post with a video, which I'm not sure I can even do with Live Writer, but I'll let you know. That will be the true test of WLW!

(Oh, I guess I should do some sort of caption for the pics I chose: this is why it took us so long to let Haley feed herself “messy” stuff. It just didn’t seem worth it to have a few minutes of peace and then have to deal with the aftermath. Once in a while, after an exceptionally challenging day, I found it worth the clean-up to eat my own meal without much interruption, but it is almost NEVER worth it to Casey. That’s why some nights, I put him next to Haley—so he can decide what he wants to do. Oh, and this pic is from Jan. We have been working on the “don’t put your bowl on your head when you’re finished” lesson these last couple months so messy food isn’t quite as bad here in March. But it still isn’t always worth it. We hadn’t been using bibs for a few months in there, but they’re definitely BACK now!)

Why a Pregnant Woman Should Not Do the Grocery Shopping

You're probably thinking you know where this is going--a prego woman is always hungry and will impulse-buy a ton of terrible stuff.

So, maybe I should have titled this post "Why THIS Pregnant Woman Should Not Do the Grocery Shopping." It is not because of hunger or cravings. This is about brain power.

This afternoon, as Haley finished lunch beside me and the older two played happily in the back yard, I decided to do something that I rarely do nowadays: make a complete and thorough list of items based upon the sale ad. (Normally, I'll just quickly glance to see if there's anything I'd want to stock up on, and note any out-of-the ordinary items we may need. Otherwise, we get pretty much the same things every time, and I'll pay attention to pricing, choosing as we go.)

I spent a good twenty minutes on that list, noting which things and how many I should get in order to get the "10-for" pricing. Then tonight, after the kiddos were in bed, I left to do some serious shopping, where I could pay attention to the ad and leave nothing to chance (a luxury I do not have when my children are in tow).

You probably really do know where this is going now. About 45 minutes into my quest for great deals, I noticed (once again) that the price on this item did not match the price in the ad, (as well as the fact that nowhere did it say anything about a 10-for pricing ANYWHERE in the store). This had happened on a good 6 or more items, and it was now finally dawning on me what the problem might be. I searched the ad for the date and could not find it. Finally, in some very fine print I discovered what I should have suspected the first time I noticed an item not being the right price: the ad expired 2 days ago.

Made a lot of sense then. So much for my preparation and money-saving! I ended up spending another 10 minutes putting items back, and I had spent a good 10-15 minutes just wandering down isles, looking for those "participating items" that I did not usually purchase. Seriously, where do they keep the Velveeta? (Shh. Don't tell anyone that a Bradley teacher was planning to purchase Velveeta. I will have lost any respectability in the nutrition department. But maybe it counts for something that it is so rare that I buy such an item, I had no idea where to look. . . ? And that I did not ever find it, and would not buy it, now that it is not on sale? Maybe? :)

I think I just might stick to the usual mad dash (that ends up being a good hour or more) through the store with all three children, focused on getting the essentials before somebody has a melt-down.

While on the subject, is it just me, or do others find grocery shopping stressful? As if finding items is not already a problem, My biggest challenge seems to be at the end. I must simultaneously empty the cart, keep melt-downs at bay, watch that my children are still with me and baby is not trying to pitch herself head-first out of the cart, watch the cashier/cash register to make sure that the items are priced the way they were advertized, and--here's the icing on the cake: WATCH THE BAGGER LIKE A HAWK SO HE/SHE WILL NOT PUT MY BANANAS AND TOMATOES ON CANNED GOODS, AND PUT MORE CANNED GOODS ON TOP OF THEM!?!?! Do grocery stores not train baggers anymore on what items should and should not be bagged together and that absolutely, under NO circumstances, should produce (or baked goods!) be placed in the bottom layer, under hard and heavy items?!?! I try to counter-act this as much as possible by how I empty my cart (I have become very strategic in my efforts to thwart what seems to be blatant disregard for common sense). However, this is not fool-proof, as tonight reminded me.

Anyone remember Bag-N-Save? Where you buy your items, then take your cart to the bagging station and do it yourself? If I could find one nowadays, that would be fabulous.

Snapshot Update (no snapshots included)

Busy last couple weeks. . . Casey's cousin, then mom in town visiting, my first student gave birth (amazing job!), Case's and my first overnight date in 2 years (and presumably the last for another couple years--Thank you, Sandy!), our rental home goes on the market, getting an offer next day (God willing, we'll close in a month!), Ruby turns 5. . . and I think we are now slowing down.

No pics today--a little much to do at the moment. I'll be doing well to get the house together again by the weekend! But hopefully I'll get a few pics uploaded soon. We are overwhelmed with God's goodness in so many areas. Worn out, but blessed immensely!