A wake for my printer

Well, not really a wake, more like a ceremonial walk to the garage to put it in the recycle pile. I guess I could say a little prayer as I set it next to the old shoe rack and bag of clothes for AmVets. "Thanks for all the millions of copies you made for me the past 5 years. I'm sorry for all the times I let you run out of ink and paper. You'll be missed. There is an empty space in the office, now that no other printer can fill..." At least until Costco opens at 10:00 and I can get a new one.
I have to say I was suprised that my husband told me to just go get a new one. With electronic purchases, he would usually do his homework and check out Consumer Reports, shop around, get online to look at customer comments, look at the Sunday paper for sales, then double check with Consumer Reports. The only thing he asked this time was if the new printer would take the same ink cartridges. That really threw me for a loop. I was hoping to get a new printer by the end of next month, but he said I should just go to Costco today. Wow, that was easy...what else can I ask him for?!!
I think I stick with HP. The one that just died (sniff) lasted longer than expected. I think I'll call my sister and tell her I put it in my trash bin. Then I'll sit back and listen to her blood pressure rise.

"NO!!! You can't do that! It's toxic! There are places that will take things like that and recycle it!!"
"Yea, but I'd have to drive it across town. Gas prices, you know...do I use the gas to get the printer to the recycle place or dump it in my trash and call it even?"
"Hmmm...you have a point there. Why don't you sell the gas guzzling Durango and get a Toyota Prius, then drive the old printer to the recycler? That would solve all your problems, save you money AND save the planet."

No chance. The Durango stays. The printer goes. But I will wait until my husband's office does their monthly recycle day and send it to work with him. Meanwhile, I'm off to Costco for my shiny new printer!! Don't tell the old one I said that!

Adult onset ADD?

Is there such thing? If so, I think I might have it. I'm a little worried about myself. I can't concentrate on anything! I'm always doing about 65 things at once. I can't walk down the hall without stopping to organize the hall shelf. But when I go to put my keys away (because I left them on the shelf) I can't find my purse. Which leads me to the laundry room (where my purse might be) and I remember that I need to start a load of stinky soccer clothes. I go to my son's room to get his soccer jersey out of his laundry basket and I stop to make his bed and open the window. The light from the window shows the dust on his desk, so I go to the kitchen to get the pledge and dust cloth out from under the sink. When I open the cupboard, I see the garbage can and remember that I wanted to clean out the fridge because garbage day is tomorrow. So I get a bag out from under the sink and remember that I need to add garbage bags to my Costco list so I go back to looking for my purse. That's where my Costco list is...I think.

Gotta Share my favorite things!!

Have you used Downy Wrinkle Releaser yet? Hello?! Where has this been all my life? Not only does it work GREAT...but is smells nice, too. Love this stuff. (Disclaimer: I don't work for them, I don't own stock in Proctor & Gamble and they aren't an advertiser of my site ...obviously!) Here's what you do...lay a wrinked T-shirt on your bed. Lightly spray the Downy, now smooth it out with your hands. Flip the shirt over and do it again. It'll be a little tiny bit damp, but smell fresh and clean. I use it on my daughter's denim skirts where the hem seems to pucker up around the bottom. Just spray it on and smooth it out. If you don't want to invest in a big bottle (around $8 at Target), then look for the little travel size bottle to try it out. I've never bought the travel size because I take the big bottle with me when we travel so I can de-wrinkle the whole fam damily.
Give it a try...you'll love it!

I need a bigger plate

I told my husband last night that I need a bigger plate. Or another day added to the week. Either one would make me happy. I don't want you to think that I'm complaining about my life...I'm not at all. I love my life/family/home. It's just that I've been trying to cut back. Not doing so well with that. So lets do a run down of my current activities:
**Arts Attack administrator. I coordinate the art program at school with all the teachers and volunteers. Time consuming at the beginning of the school year, then tapers off a little.
**Arts Attack volunteer. In both my kids' classes, of course.
**Jr. Great books reading program with the GATE kids for my son's class. I pull the kids out once a week and we read and talk about a story we read.
**Posssible room mom for one or both classes. Depends on if anyone else ponies up to do it!
**CCD co-teacher. How did I, an adult convert, become responsible for the religious education of 10 second graders getting ready for 1st reconciliation and 1st communion? Dunno about that one!
**Taxi driver. Not really, but my kids do have soccer and dance lessons to get to.
**Neighborhood watch co-captain. Our meeting is October 2nd if you'd like to come. We've had a rash of car break ins and and episode of really bad grafitti. (The kind that gets the FBI and Anti Defimation League involved.) Really weird because my little 'hood is really nice and quiet.
**CEO of my house. You know, the one who cooks, cleans, does laundry, shops, does some yardwork and any other necessary tasks to keep my home running smoothly.

This is all kind of ironic, too, because I've been trying to SIMPLIFY my life and make things easier. If I don't find a bigger plate, I'm gonna be in some trouble!

Car Troubles, ugh

So my '02 Dodge Durango is having issues. Transmission issues. Luckily most of it is covered by the extended-bumper-to-bumper-extra-maxi-super-warranty we paid through the nose for when we bought the car. Turns out the FACTORY might have put the wrong transmission filter (whatever that is) in when the car was manufactured. We've never had transmission work done, so how else could it have gotten there? That might be a problem.
I've been car-less for 2 days now. Not real fun. We don't have public trasportation here like in other towns. I can't ride the bus or train to the grocery store. Okay, so I could walk there, but its really hot now, 87 least today. And besides, the closest grocery store is a big chain store that I don't like. I'd rather shop at the mom & pop shop a few miles away. Anywho, when I talked to the dealer today, I told them that I HAVE to have my car on Friday. (Appointments, soccer clinics, lots going on.) The service advisor picked that moment to tell me that my extended-bumper-to-bumper-extra-maxi-super-warranty covers a rental car at no charge. Huh. Could I have been advised of this YESTERDAY?

Gotta start somewhere...

So here I am jumping into the blogging world. Do you remember your first blog? I'm sure you're all sentimental about it. Not even sure anyone wants to hear what I have to say, but I've been a frustrated writer for a while so I thought this might be a good outlet. I'm not frustrated that I haven't been published...I haven't even tried! I don't seem to have time to write that great american novel. Its in my head, though! I'll get it out someday. Until then...



I'll be blogging about being an @home mom. Some people wonder how I can do this "not working" thing. Its really not "not working". I'm always 'working' on something. I plan meals and playdates. Keep the house in order. Laundry. Vacuum. Dust. Work in the yard (no mowing, that's my hubby's job). I'm with a direct sale company. I'm on the PTA board. I volunteer at school. (I get volun-told to do a lot of things!) I jazzercise. I walk and run a little sometimes. I'm always looking for ways to make things easier.



So my new motto SIMPLIFY. I'll try to incorporate that into my blogs.

Later...