And we're off

We will be leaving shortly for the Tomlinson family vacation to the Gathering Place in Wisconsin. I should have internet access while there, so I'll try to post once in awhile from there. In case of an emergency, please call my cell at 714-851-0849. Love to you all!!!

It's nights like these that make me feel like I know what I'm doing

Inara's sleeping schedule seems to be pretty irregular lately. It might be because she's walking so much, because she's teething, because she's simply getting older. It used to be super easy to put her to bed every night. Lately, it's been a roller coaster ride. Some nights she's pooped and goes to sleep with the greatest of ease. Other nights we seem to struggle for an hour. I've been thinking that maybe she's hungry and we should feed her a bottle before bed because she does eat dinner at 5:30 and doesn't wake up until 6:30am. With her increased daily activity, I can only imagine the poor thing being more hungry. Tonight Shawn tried to put her to sleep the first couple of times. She seemed to want absolutely nothing to do with it. I was downstairs in the kitchen, so I went ahead and made her a small bottle. When she saw me come upstairs with the baba, she tried crawling over Shawn to get to me. So I took her back in her room, sat in the rocking chair, and fed her the bottle just like old times. She laid in my arms so peacefully and comfortably. We rocked and listened to a little Jack Johnson. Before I knew it, my little girl was fast asleep in my arms. It reminded me of when she was just born and how she'd fall asleep in my arms after I'd breastfeed her. I actually miss those days of her liking being rocked. To truly let the moment sink in, she and I just rocked together for a few songs. I even lifted her over my shoulder so I could burp her. There is nothing more special at this age than having her nestled closely in the crook of my neck, snoring away in total peace. Boy did that feel good. I actually felt like I knew what I was doing. It's moments like this that make me think I'm getting the hang of this whole mommy business. I know tomorrow she'll throw me a curveball though and I'll find myself wondering what that all means and I'll be back to square one trying to figure out what I'm doing as this adorable baby's mommy. But for tonight I'll revel in my triumph. Good night sweet pea!

This should put an end to McCain's criticism of Obama's lack of experience

McCain just announced his VP running mate. Who the heck has heard of Sarah Palin? Elected governor of Alaska in 2006? Now that's one lengthy political record. I love the sentence from AP: "She has more experience catching fish than dealing with foreign policy or national affairs." That one cracked me up, especially since there seems to be a lot of political bashing directed at Obama's short time in Washington. If the Republicans win, we all better pray nothing happens to McCain while he's in office or we will have our first woman President with the least amount of experience. Given McCain's age, that's a scary thought. Lets hope this means the Republicans will drop this criticism and get to something of significance. How about criticizing policies and positions rather than age or experience? That's where things get real nitty gritty doesn't it? Looking forward to the debates in the coming weeks. Can't wait to see the one VP debate. Have a feeling Biden will win the VP one, unless they ask questions about fishing techniques. Ha ha. Boy, Palin sure has a lot of studying to do now. Things just keep getting more and more interesting in this historical presidential race. (One personal criticism: who the heck names their kids Track and Trig? She must have some Hollywood connection or something? Please tell me they are family names.)

I'm not the only one loving Dave Grohl

Randomly came across this article on Foo Fighter's lead singer and had to share. I'm telling ya...he's one sexy rocker for many reasons. Being a family man is one of them.
http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/goddess/foo-fighting-family-man/89

2 new burger joints

I've recently learned about 2 new burger restaurants here in CO. First is Smash Burger, which was started here in CO and will soon be opening up across the US. Visit www.mysmashburger.com for more info. The other one which has restaurants outside of CO and that sounds really good is The Counter. They have over 312,000 combinations for building your own burger. It sounds crazy, so I can't wait to check it out. Visit www.thecounterburger.com to see their insane menu.

What a busy weekend

This past weekend was packed full. Friday Inara and I took my mom to the airport. I was sad to see her go, but I knew she was going to be back in 3 weeks, so no tears. The rest of the day Inara and I did some minor projects around the house and took an hour walk. That felt great to get out and do some exercise. Saturday we went to a birthday party for one of the little girls from my mom's group. It's the first time I've gotten to see some of my mommy friends since before I went to CA, so it was great to see them. Too bad we couldn't stay long. We had to head over to Bear Creek Lake for Shawn's work picnic. It wasn't too hot out, so the picnic was pleasant. Kristi won 2nd place in the baking contest. Yay!!! Both Shawn and Thane then won gift certificates to Cold Stone. Guess we'll have to do a double date for ice cream some time. After the picnic, we rushed home to leave Inara with Barb, so Shawn and I could get away to a movie for my birthday. We saw Death Race, which, yes, I wanted to see. Jason Statham's in it and he's hot, so I was excited. It was actually a good movie. I expected it to be more cheesy, but it was fun. I think at this stage in my life anytime I get to go see a movie I'm going to think it's good. It was rainy by the time we got out. We rushed home and Shawn bbq'd dinner for the Tomlinson clan. We then did cake/ice cream and opened presents. By 9pm that night, Shawn and I were both exhausted, but he crashed hard core. He does need his 10 hours of sleep every day, especially after hectic days. Ha ha. This birthday wasn't the best because it was my first without my family and friends here to celebrate with me, because it was a bit of a hectic day and not what I would have chosen for my day, but all-in-all, it was a nice one. Plus, I'm now 35 and that ain't fun to think about at all! A pleasant surpise to end the day though was a call from my cousin April. She wanted to wish me a happy birthday and see how things were going. That was probably the best part of the whole day. It meant so much to me to hear from her. A big wow!

Sunday was our fantasy football draft. I told Shawn on Saturday that I should have just dropped out this season because I figured it would be rather difficult to do the draft with Inara here with us. I was totally surprised by her though on Sun. She took a 2 hour nap while we were drafting and when she woke up, she had a bottle and played in the room with me for another 45 min or so. It was the best case scenario, almost as if she knew mommy and daddy needed her to cooperate this one special day. Sunday night we went to dinner at the Douglas's. They are old neighbors from way back when. The son Ian was Shawn best friend growing up, so he was really excited to see him after 15+ years. I was excited to meet Ian too after hearing stories about him for years. He and his family were all very friendly. I was most impressed with Ian who's a poet, photographer, etc. Just your "average" artist. Ha ha. I wish I was half as talented as he is. His girlfriend was very sweet as well and loved playing with Avery and Inara. Baby girl kept me busy wanting to walk all over of course, but I again was impressed by her because she did super well when people held her and she didn't get fussy until the last 30 min or so but it's only because it was her bedtime. Needless to say, she crashed in the car and slept most of the ride home.

This week will be another crazy one. I've got a couple projects in the house I want to tend to before we leave early Saturday morning for Wisconsin for a week. We are all going for a Tomlinson family vacation for Barb & Ed's 40th wedding anniversary. We've rented a couple cabins on the lake at the place we went a couple years ago. A lot of Barb & Ed's family are coming at some point in the week to see us too, which will be nice since they haven't got to meet Inara yet. I'm just concerned because Inara won't have a crib to sleep in. She'll have to make do with a pack 'n play, so starting today I'm having her nap in hers so she can get used to it. I'm also nervous because I've decided traveling with an 11 month old is going to be stressful. She won't have all her "toys" particularly the walker, so she might be a bit cranky. Yes, I'm thinking the worst, but I'm mom and I know my daughter best. I'll just have to make do with what I've got there. Let the packing begin in a couple of days.

Adopt an animal

Through the African Wildlife Foundation, you can adopt a wild animal and receive a plush doll in return. Check out this link for more info http://shop.awf.org/adopt/. This is a great gift idea for those who have everything or you don't know what to get.

One more art post

If you're looking for something to do tonight and live close to LA, check this out...pulled from Kevin Smith's myspace page with samples of some pretty cool movie art. Wish I could go...

August 22 at Gallery 1988, on Melrose in Los Angeles. View some wicked cool, movie-inspired art, then hang out afterwards for a party in the parking lot. If it's anything like last year's show, it's gonna be crowded (over a thousand peeps showed up) and fun.

This one made me think of Jason

Just read this entry on Pop Candy's blog, so I had to share it so everyone can keep an eye out for this doc. It sounds pretty cool. Briefly had a discussion about art last night with some moms. I stated that I'm not an "art" person in that I don't know what's supposed to be considered art or what not. It's too subjective. And I sure as hell don't want someone telling me what's art for commerce sake. I just look for things that catch my eye and interest me and make me say, "hey that's cool looking." I think that's what art should be about. Finding something that speaks to you, that represents you, that you can connect with. I bet some of the artists from this doc would feel the same. Check out www.beautifullosers.com for more info on the doc.


'Losers' looks like a winner at the theater
Some of my friends in New York and San Francisco have been raving about Beautiful Losers, a new documentary that spotlights a group of NYC artists who are "rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti."
Several artists are profiled, and the most recognizable names are film/music video director Mike Mills (Thumbsucker), Shepard Fairey and writer/director Harmony Korine.
Screenings have inspired workshops on both coasts, and you should head to the website to find out when it's coming to your town. (You can also request a screening.)

Happy Very Belated 11 Month Birthday Inara Grace

With everything going on with the move and what not, I have been a bad mom and neglected to write a blog for Inara's 11 month birthday. Please forgive me baby girl. We did do her measurements. She's 20 pounds and about 28 1/2 inches long. We also took her monthly picture on the octopus chair, which Shawn will have to upload for me. At least he got the pics from our CA vacation posted. That was a huge undertaking, so thank you so much honey for taking one night to get them all done.

Inara's new skills are increasing pretty quickly. I already wrote all about her love of the walker and trying new foods. She has also begun crawling...finally! Her crawl is a bit odd though. She doesn't move her legs. She pulls her body with her arms. It's pretty cute but kinda looks like her legs don't work, so it's a bit sad looking too. At least she'll have great upper body strength, and we know her legs work fine with all the walking she does around here. My favorite part is when I'm laying on the floor with her and she crawls next to me and can now pull herself up to lay on my chest. It's super cute.

Bedtime has been a challenge lately, but it's because she's teething pretty badly. I feel so bad because I wish there was more I could do for her, but she doesn't like any cold teething rings, chewing on a wet washcloth, or even being rocked for comfort. I generally lay her in her crib and just end up talking to her, rubbing her hair and her back, and playing with her favorite toys. She still loves Giddy Up, but she's also taken to a brown monkey rattle I'm guessing Uncle Jason got her. She loves to shake Monkey because he makes noise. A couple nights a week she wakes up screaming as if in pain or waking from a nightmare. It scares us when she does that, but generally, we can get her back to sleep rather quickly. She also loves to squirm all around her crib. She's never in one place for long. I might lay her down with her head on the right side and go in to check on her and find her laying in the corner with her head on the left side. It's too funny. Shawn and I love watching her sleep. It's one of the greatest images you can ever imagine.

Happy Belated 11 Month Birthday, Baby Girl. Mommy and Daddy didn't forget. We love you more than you could ever imagine!!! We can't WAIT for your one year birthday next month.

What's for dinner?

Lately I've been introducing Inara to lots of new foods. At our last doctor appointment, the doc said it was alright to start presenting new foods. At first I was a bit hesitant because Inara didn't have any teeth, but now that she has 2, I figured it was about time. It's been fun watching her taste new foods and textures. Some she spits out right away; others it takes a few bites for her to get used to. So some of the foods Inara has tried are green beans, cucumbers, cheddar cheese, toast, rice cakes, yogurt, ice cream, and Shawn even gave her some of a smoothie sample he got when we were at Sam's Club. The only one that she really didn't like was the cheese cube I gave her. Otherwise, Inara doesn't seem to be a picky eater, which I'm very grateful for. This week I hope to make some pasta for her to taste and I'll try scrambled eggs again. Baby girl sure is growing up fast.

Thank goodness the weekend is here

Wed night was great in that my mom arrived. She got lost at baggage claim, but thankfully Shawn was able to find her. She was at the wrong baggage claim. Figures. I was so excited to show her the house that Inara and I met her outside and got to take her on a tour of the place the second she stepped out of the car. She was very excited to see our new house finally. The next day was our crazy day in that we had a gardener come over to give us an estimate on trimming trees/bushes and weeding our backyard. Man, do things add up fast? I'm going to call to get another estimate or two before we decide what to do. Then our new dresser was delivered. Shawn scored on this find. Our nightstands are from Bassett Furniture and we wanted the matching dresser, but it runs about $800 at the store. Shawn found a great website that had a used one for only $400. We were of course a bit worried how bad this one was going to look considering it's used but were jazzed to find it in perfect mint condition! Yay, honey!!! Then we had the Direct TV guy here to set us up so we can finally watch some TV. I've been bummed watching the Olympics on Shawn's laptop. Last night I got to watch Phelps win another gold medal on our big screen TV. It's the little things that make me happy. One mishap from yesterday came from our washing machine. Who would have guessed? As I ran my first load of laundry, I noticed the cold water was really hot. I asked Shawn to come see and we discovered that our hot and cold water lines are reversed in the laundry room. Ugh! I swear this laundry room is becoming the biggest challenge in the house. Shawn had just tightened the tubes too because of the water leak we had the day before, so he had to undo them and switch the pipes. He's becoming quite the handyman around here. Wink, wink! Mom and I did make a dent in the kitchen boxes at least. Shawn said things are starting to come together around here. Thanks, buddy.

Today, Mom and I ran errands and made a Walmart run. I picked up some little things we needed for the house, like a shower caddy, couple trash cans, and curtains for Inara's room. Add that to the credit card bills we're accumulating. Thank goodness Shawn has two side jobs now so he won't have to sell his other kidney quite yet. Although, I did bring up that I'm sure we could sell some eggs, sperm, and blood before we consider selling Shawn's other kidney. Tonight, Kristi is making dinner for us. Then tomorrow Mom and I are going to check out a consignment sale in Castle Rock as I'm on a mission to find a bath seat so I can bathe Inara in the regular bathtub, but I don't want to spend the $35 Babies R Us is asking for it. Later, Mom, Shawn, Inara and I are going to Bed, Bath and Beyond to look for a couple other things we need for the house. This way the 3 of us can make purchases and use 20% coupons I've been saving. Hey, it's all about the best way to save money right now.

Our appliances must hate us

Perhaps because we kept them stored up for 5 months. Anyways, we got the dryer and washer finally hooked up last night. Yay us! Well, it was actually Pop that saved the day. His tip for using the tape worked perfectly. Too bad when I woke up this morning (Shawn had already left because he was going to get in a round of 9 holes before work), I noticed the washer was pulled out from the wall. Then I noticed a damp bath towel on top of it. Damn Shawn didn't leave me a note though or tell me what happened when he came in to say goodbye this morning. Ugh. I finished feeding Inara her breakfast, and we went outside to look at the trees. That's when I saw a totally went bath towel laid out on our back steps. Shawn finally called to say the washer must have leaked last night because there was a small lake in our laundry room this morning. I swear our appliances hate us. The ones that came with the house work great. It's the ones we brought in with us that are giving us the most trouble. Pop, please come save us! Can't wait for you to get here in Sept. so you can check all our pipes, tubes, hook-ups to make sure everything is done correctly. Hang in there, Shawn. We will not let these appliances get the best of us!

My back is never going to heal

This time I can totally blame it on my daughter. I've been meaning to post about her new favorite pasttime. She loves to walk. I mean LOVES IT! She can't do it on her own yet, of course, so that means Mommy has to spend a few hours a day hunched over walking her little one. This is the absolute best cure for a cranky Inara right now. She is at the age where she wants to explore everything around her, which currently means all the boxes sprawled about the house. Today her favorite item to walk to was Daddy's X-Box controller. He will soon learn he cannot leave such precious items out in baby girl's reach. She doesn't seem interested in the stairs, so that's a good thing. We do have a walker she uses quite frequently and is rather entertaining as well. However, I have to keep my eye on her because she has now discovered cupboards and drawers. I'll have to baby proof those here pretty soon. I love watching her walk in the "Imperial Walker" as Shawn has dubbed it. (Yes, the Star Wars nerd comes out once in awhile.) She gets booking around this place pretty fast actually. It's funny in the mornings when I'm in the kitchen and she comes right up to me practically taking me out at the ankle. I look down to see the biggest smile on her face as if to say, "Hi mommy. Hope you didn't forget me and how adorable I am." Thank goodness our house has a fair amount of hardwood on the main floor so she has plenty of room to roam. One funny part of her exploring in the walker is when she's going top speed and runs into the carpet. DENIED! Her head bounces forward, and she usually lets out a grunt. However, she's figured out a way to manuever onto the carpet going backwards. Maybe she has more power going backwards. Go figure! I'll take a video of this new skill and, hopefully, get Shawn to post it soon for everyone's enjoyment.

My dad needs to move closer!

I think I've called him at least twice a day since Saturday. We need his expertise! What am I going to do without him close by to help us? I better start taking some classes or doing some reading here and quickly!

So a quick note on the latest dilemma. We can't seem to figure out how to get the gas dryer hooked up correctly. Poor Shawn is going insane. He says he thinks it's easier to build a space ship than it is to hook up the dryer. I told him I don't know why he thought it was going to be so simple. Yes, it's a few hoses, but it's a MAJOR appliance and we're talking an electrical and a gas hook-up, both are serious in my book. Well, he finally got the right gas hose and tried to hook it up last night. Too bad the damn big silver vent tubing kept falling off when he'd try to move the dryer back into the spot. Then he tested the dryer for a minute, opened the door to stop it, and smelled gas. Yikes! He was so upset by this point that he unhooked the gas tube, turned the gas off, put the cap back on the pipe, and called it a night, all after about an hour of work and cussing. I don't think I've ever heard Shawn use the F word as much as he has the past few days. This morning I called the plumber who just put the gas line in for advice. He told me to put some soapy water around the connections to see if there are bubbles when I turn the dryer on, which would indicate a gas leak. Otherwise, he said there may be a problem with the dryer since it hasn't been used for a few months. He said if I am concerned about a gas leak from the pipe, they would be more than willing to come check it out. I'm sure for a fee of course. I then called my dad to get his advice. He suggested I do the water test as well. Then he told me about special gas pipe tape to get at Home Depot or Ace. Looks like Inara and I will be taking a trip to the hardware store after lunch. Also, Thu will be a chaotic day. We've got a gardener coming to give us a free estimate since the yard needs some attention quickly here, our dresser is getting delivered, and Direct TV is coming to hook up our satellite. Thank the lords that my mom will be here to help out. I miss my mommy and daddy. Haha!!

We survived yet another move

We are moved in! I don't have my computer set up here yet, so I'm using Shawn's laptop while he and Ed are working on setting up the dryer. Can I just say how hilarious things have been around here watching Shawn being Mr. Handyman? I just heard him say, "This is what drives me crazy. I have to go to Ace Hardware every day for SOMETHING!" Spoken like a true home owner. I guess the tube he got to run from the dryer to the gas hook-up has two males and he needs a male and a female or some crazy thing like that. Who knew pipes had gender?

The three of us slept in the new house for the first time last night. I know I was exhausted and slept like a baby. Inara did great in her new room too. She didn't wake up once during the night. Yay! We had one snaffuh last night. I didn't want to tell Shawn as he was stressing moving things over, but I noticed we weren't getting any hot water in the kitchen. I then noticed the same thing in the bathroom. We showered at the other house, so I didn't bring it up until later. He got ticked at first because we just had the plumbers here. I told him not to worry about it and would call my dad in the morning. When I spoke with Pop, he told me how to check to make sure the water heater was on. The damn on/off switch on the heater is so small you practically need a magnifying glass to find it. I switched it on and within half an hour we had hot water. Thank the lord cuz I know Shawn was going to have a fit if we had to call the plumbers out again. Those bills are racking up fast.

As for all our stuff, we've got pretty much everything moved over here. Now that's not to say everything is where it goes of course. We've got boxes stacked in the single car garage and random boxes throughout the house. Furniture is pretty much in its appropriate room though, so that's a bonus. Since my back is still a bit sore, I will be taking things slow this week. I'm going back to the other house to get some things we left behind, like bathroom items, food in the fridge and freezer, etc. Hopefully the dresser will arrive tomorrow, so I can at least get my clothes off the floor. I also need to go buy a curtain for Inara's bedroom. This house has all blinds and it gets pretty bright in here in the morning, so we're hoping if her room is a bit darker, she will sleep past 5:30am. I'll write more later once Shawn gets my computer hooked up. A special thank you to our movers, Marco, Brian and Thane, who is the biggest trooper considering he just moved us 5 months ago. I'm glad to hear that he thought this was a simple move. Heck, anything is a simple move after our move from hell from CA.

Back injury Take 2

I swear there is some curse the Tomlinsons have with injuries and moving. I am officially laid up with a totally jacked back again. It happened on Wed when I was lifting Inara to put her down for a nap. I felt a slight snap in my lower back. Not as bad as the last one, but bad enough that it brought tears to my eyes. I went to the chiropractor, and he said he could tell I was all tight and out of alignment again. Yesterday was a tough one with quite a bit of pain throughout the day. I feel horrible because this couldn't come at a worse time. We are moving into our new house, and I have all these things I want to do but now can't because I can't lift a darn thing and am even limited on simple movements. Forget shaving my legs for one. I also feel miserable because it hurts to lift Inara or to bend over and hold her hands so she can walk, her new favorite pasttime. This makes me feel like I'm a bad mom because I can't do things with her. I know that may sound stupid, but it's just the way I feel. I ended up taking a hydrocodone the past two nights so I could at least sleep some. Shawn said I'm restricted to a "supervisor" position this weekend as we move our stuff to the new house. I'm super bummed because I won't be able to do any unpacking this weekend either. My mom has been asking me for a few weeks if I need her help. I kept saying no because I hate to ask for help and because I didn't want my parents to have to pay for another flight out here. Well, when I told her I injured my back and even cried a bit on the phone (not to make my mom feel bad but because I'm that pissed with the situation), my dad booked her a flight, so thank god she'll be here on Wed. Hopefully that extra set of hand will help with Inara, and if I'm feeling any better, I can do a little bit around the house. But I know I have to take it REAL slow so I can heal quicker. This is soooo not the way I wanted this weekend to go.

So much to catch up on

In the last week I have worked on cleaning the house a few hours here and there. I am now at a total of 11 hours with all the upstairs cleaned and most of the main floor. Once I'm finished I'll be proud to say that I have touched every inch of every floorboard in that house. Ha ha. Unfortunately, I am paying for it because my back is so jacked. My chiropractor told me I should just stop cleaning and tell my husband to hire a house cleaner. Hear ye, hear ye! I'm all up for that one. It's hard to believe how much dirt a house can accumulate actually. Every time we saw the house, we both thought it looked well maintained and in all honesty, it really is, but when I got on my hands and knees and up close to all the windows, the dirt became more apparent. I swear the window sills had never been cleaned. I found 1 dead bee and at least 7 dead flies in the windows I've cleaned. Gross! I just want the house to be as clean as possible before we move in because I know once I get furniture and stuff in the place, I won't be cleaning it this thoroughly for quite some time. I am now regretting the super-sized master bathroom, however. That sucker's a bitch to clean.

We've had some maintenance done too. We got the carpets all cleaned. They really pop now when you walk into the house. They look practically brand new. Yesterday I had an electrician in to move the garbage disposal switch. For some reason, it was originally placed out in the open where little hands could reach it. So we had it moved below the sink in the cupboard. Tomorrow we have a plumber/gas company coming to add in the gas line for the dryer and one for the stovetop. I'm not quite sure but many houses here have mainly electric hook-ups. Since we have a gas dryer, we figured why not get the gas line added in rather than buy a new dryer and maybe later down the road we can switch the cooktop to a gas one, especially since gas is cheaper than electric. This Saturday our new fridge will be delivered and later this week the bedroom dresser Shawn ordered that matches our night stands will be delivered. He ordered it from a discount warehouse, so fingers crossed there's nothing wrong with it. The rest of the week we are gearing up and getting things ready here for the big moving day on Sat.

This past Wednesday was our 4th anniversary. I had Shawn meet Inara and I at the house after work. I bought a couple heart-shaped balloons, had a candle lit, played our wedding cd, and had ordered pizza for us for dinner. Too bad the pizza man got lost coming to our house and Inara decided to scream while we ate. We scarfed down the pizza and headed back to the other house so we could get her to bed. She was passed out by 6:45. Oh well. Happy anniversary anyway.

Friday our friend Jason flew in to see us again. This time he surprised us by bringing his mom too. I was thrilled to see Grandma Di, as Avery calls her, because she never takes a vacation. She's known as a workaholic, so I was honored that she took time away from work to visit the Tomlinson clan. Of course, since Jason was here we had to play Mexican Train Dominoes, one of our faves in the house, except for the fact that we all hate how often Ed wins. It is everyone's goal to beat him. It was great to see Jason and his mom. I wish I had more time to spend with them, but for one, I had some house stuff to do and two, Kristi and I already had plans.

Thu, Fri, and Sat Kristi and I had an Arbonne table set-up at a Just Between Friends consignment sale. To all my readers that are parents, you've got to find consignment sales in your area. You can see if there is a JBF group close to you. Otherwise, start asking around and looking in your local paper. These sales are the shiznet! Yes, I spent a bunch of money these 3 days, but I got a few gifts for Avery, Kylie, William, Madison, and Jack (Kristi and Thane's soon-to-arrive son) and stocked up on 12-18 month clothes along with birthday and Christmas gifts for Inara. I saved so much by shopping there. I found her this awesome Little People Zoo playset I've been wanting to get her that runs for $70+ on Amazon for only $15. Then I got another Little People playset that actually ended up having a couple other playsets wrapped with it, which would have come to a total of about $90, for only $15! As for clothes, I bought her 36 items, some of which includes the top and the bottom for an outfit or even a top, bottom, and a jacket, for $79! You read correctly $79! WOW! And some of them are from The Gap and Carters, so we're not talking cheap outfits here. I now swear by garage sales and consignment sales for most of the things we need for Inara. Once you realize how fast kids grow out of clothes and lose interest in toys, it's not worth paying full price at a retail store. Needless to say, Shawn was shocked but rather impressed by my shopping skills. As for the Arbonne prospects, we didn't get as many as we had hoped for, but a few new contacts are better than none. Once I get settled into the house, I will be able to focus on my business again. That's one heck of a motivator if you ask me. I better start bringing in the big bucks if we ever want to finish the basement. Ha ha.

Lastly, I apologize for the lack of new pics. We've been so busy with visitors and house stuff that Shawn hasn't had a chance to upload the pics from my trip. Tonight, he and Thane are writing up a biz proposal for a side job they got. So I promise it's not because he's been slacking. I'm hoping he can get to it before we move on Sat. Gotta have an empty memory chip to take lots of pics of moving day!