Is it just me, or have you noticed that kids have a way of knowing when we have that little bit of money left that we are saving up for ourselves?  I’ve heard to so many people tell me about ways they have to spend their money.

There’s was one friend who had to re-buy a 1 week-old retainer for $700 for her son who took it out to eat at a fast food place, put it on the tray and threw it out.  Then was scared to say anything until later that night.  By the time they got back, several garbages had been thrown out and although they looked through the trash, it was never seen again.

Another person told me about 15 years ago, her then 6 year old daughter got into their car and drove it right into a neighbors fence, destroying it.  In this case, it was lucky that the fence was there to impede her escape… this creative use of money cost her $1900 to replace the neighbors fence.

This is just a tidbit, I will write more as time permits… what creative ways to spend money have you heard about? 

Don’t forget to set your holiday budget, people first, then money, then things.

I cannot believe it was this simple!! Thanks homemom3

I’m typing here in shock!!  8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve 2006 and Madonna’s show is ridiculous.  I am very disappointed that programmers have NO respect for families.  I like Madonna well enough, but why not make something that families can watch at this time?  Something that does not involve men behaving as horses (is this some mythological reference?)

I was reading a magazine a few years ago and it said that Fear Factor was a top show for kids of 5 years old!  I was so surprised, Boy 2001 is 5 and I cannot imagine letting him watch that show.  What is the point of having a 5 year old watching a show where people will do ANYTHING to get money? 

But now that I am trying to find a show with a 5 year old it is clear that there is nothing for us to watch… thank goodness I have so many things on dvd for us.

I’m watching the American Music Awards right now on ABC.  Gwen Stefani just finished her performance.  The song was bad, the dancers had blonde wigs, emulating Gwen’s current hairstyle… then she has this horrible yodel thing going on…  All the female dancers look just alike… it reminds me of that movie with Christopher Reeves, The Village of the Damned.

William Shatner you’ll always be Capain Kirk to me, I love you from the days of Star Trek, I admit you lost me on T.J. Hooker and I haven’t come to watch Boston Legal.  I did enjoy your comeback with Priceline, although I’ve never used the service.  I also love Reality T.V. and I love Reality Game Shows!  Sometimes things are so bad that they become good.  That is the case with Show Me The Money.  I think the whole thing is incredibly cheezy.  Growing up like Ugly Betty in Queens (my maiden last name is even similar to her’s) everyone always had on Sabado Gigante.  That is exactly what this show reminds me of, is America’s t.v. production going down the drain?

The most offensive part of this show is when he says, “show me the money”.  The girls already have the scrolls at chest level, so when they “show” it looks like they are flashing the men.  It really is disgusting.  The funny part is they are even dancing in a latin style, did I see some salsa steps in there?  ABC stands for American Broadcast Company doesn’t it? stop taking your cues from cheezy telemundo shows, even there novelas are better than what’s going on here… and as a 1/2 Brazilian I am in total shock over this turn of events.  But the fact in my mind remains, things are so bad sometimes that they become good and classics.

This is my response for the Blog Carnival organized on Mom Gadget, see the compilation here:  http://video-game-tips.blogspot.com

 I recently purchased a Leapster Lmax for Boy2001. He LOVES this thing and it has been a life saver on car trips.  He used to whine so much for a 20 minute ride, now he happily graps his leapster and hops in.  I often wonder how the whole tech thing is affecting him.

When we bought our minivan 6 months ago, the salesman was pretty insistent that we NEEDED a dvd player for the kids.  I pushed back and insisted that I was totally against the idea, I have enough trouble pulling them away from the t.v. at home, now when I want to go into the store I’m going to have more trouble?!? nope not me, it would be nice for very long trips, but we’ve only made one long trip in the last 4 years, so I really don’t think it is worth it for us personally.

The Leapster LMax seemed to be a perfect compromise, but now even that is infringing on family life.  Usually we only go to two restaurants… Bugaboo Creek for steak every 2 months or so, and the Chinese Buffet on weekend nights because they have a GREAT selection of seafood and meats for only $12.  Anyway, last weekend we were to early for the dinner and went to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch.  It was a mistake, paying for hamburgers and waiting on not-so-great service.  Anyway, boy2001 asked if he could bring his leapster in and I said, “yes, but we have to turn off the volume”.  He relunctantly agreed and we entered the restaurant.  It was great, I got to talk to daddy and we had an ok lunch.  There were a lot of young families with kids in high chairs, etc… so we didn’t feel uncomfortable about that BUT there was this one older couple with no kids, looking around and I caught them looking at my son twice and whispering about him, what they said, I do not know but I’m sure it was how horrible we were to let him play with his game through lunch.  I agree, they were/are right, it was not correct for me to let him play with it, but he wasn’t bothering anyone, there was no volume to disturb anyone and we got a little bit of a break.  In retrospect, it’s not something I will continue because I don’t want my son not to be able to carry on conversation while eating, this is one of those skills I think many people are lacking in and want to make sure this will not be a problem for him.  So, I am trying to cut down on the technology for him.

Want to see what other people are saying about their kids and technology?  Check out Char’s blog http://www.casualkeystrokes.com  and for other answers to this blog carnival go to http://video-game-tips.blogspot.com.

hey guys, I’m starting to feel like I’m debating myself… weird thought just came to mind about fighting yourself, remember that video of Mariah Carey fighting herself in a bathroom?  She was her “normal” Mariah self and then she was fighting with a girl with a black wig? 

While I’m on this topic, let me just say that as women we should NOT be fighting physically with eachother!  What’s up with that?  do you not realize that you are giving in to male fantasies of girl on girl violence!  I’m pretty sure men are buying most of the music and movies out there and what they want is driving our media.  Why else would we have such demoralizing shows as Flavor of Love on VH1 or The Bachelor?  It’s disgusting and out of control… men want to see us implode because secretly they are insecure after all the freedoms we as women have gained.  I noticed this with that beer commercial with an imitation Ginger and Mary Ann were fighting eachother in slow motion.  Is nothing in Americana more special than the difference between these two women, no matter what - they were LADIES and should not be portrayed as wrestling whores.  Do NOT give in to all of this, if another girl is trying to start a fight with you, just walk away, be the bigger woman in the situation.

Ok, back to my regularly scheduled post… I wanted to tell you guys about my skin but I have no more energy for that right now after my rant, so I will get back to y’all about that.

STEEPING beauty, Because life isn’t skin deep. Come for a visit http://steepingbeauty.wordpress.com

Dear Baby Gap,

I am sooooo upset with you!! Why will you not make a stage 4 baby line!! some of us don’t have skinny babies!!  I’ve been going through this ever since boy 2001 was born and I’m done, fed up with you.  Make a stage 4 for babies 12-18 months!  Miss L is currently 7 months and I’ve been faithfully buying her 6-12 months for a while… I now want to start buying 12-18 months and cuff the union suits so they will last longer. 

Not all of us baby gap fanatics are rich!  I need to make sure things will last… PLEASE do not point me to your ridiculous jeans and such… can you imagine the poor babies waist stuck with a diaper and then a tight elastic around their waist??  I want the nice soothing layette items in size 12-18 cotton and WHITE and please hurry. Your styles are so cute, why are you trying to rush babies into toddler wear??

Sincerely,

Me

This week’s Mom Gadget blog carnival is how you handle work and home life…  The truth is, it is usually out of balance.  I’ve found that it is easier to work on one thing a day for the most part.  What I mean is… I have myself on a routine of doing things every other day.

I clean the upstairs bathroom, wait two days, clean the downstairs bathroom… both bathrooms are clean every four days which seems reasonable.  I clean the kitchen one day, wait two days, clean the bedroom, or the kids room, or (insert some large zone of the house).  This way, the whole house gets cleaned/organized, just not all on the same day usually and that is FINE with me. 

I also have entire days that I do not leave the house, this gives me the freedom not to spend time traveling somewhere and gives me an incentive to put my FACE on (check out Steeping Beauty).  The problem is on those days I’m usually exhausted when I get home and the last thing I want to do is mess with dinner… so I’ve found that dinner needs to be easy and planned out… I have several strategies…

• crock pot dinners, check out some easy pointers
• buy rotisserie chickens from Walmart $4, not great but decent
• buy 2 large pizza’s for $11.99 from a local gas station

Making a side of rice is easy enough and it makes it a quick/cheap meal.  If I’m cooking chicken breasts, which I buy in large quantity, I cook all of them and that makes two dinners for us.  I do the same if I cook Italian sausage, I buy three packs, which makes two full dinners for us.  So one day I cook, the other it’s leftovers.  I don’t make a big deal about eating the same thing twice and try to reinvent the meal per se, I often serve it exactly the same way, with rice, or spaghetti.

As far as work, I don’t really HAVE to get anything done online at this point, but if someone out there is hiring, please let me know.  I’ve really become addicted to blogging and would love to do more of it.

Check out this week’s other entries at Eve’s Dilly Designs Blog.  http://dillydesigns.com/confessions/2006/11/14/your-invited-confessions-of-a-housewife-carnival/#comments