PIMP MY RIDE!!

Isn't she pretty? I'm the envy of all my friends. AHHH Who wouldn't want a minivan like this? It's clearly a fan favorite because there are hundreds just like this in the Wal Mart parking lot which makes it difficult to find my car or remember where I parked! At least now mine is the clean one. My poor old van had been neglected and needed some TLC. This was a job that spanned several days. One day I just spent hours picking up the trash my kids leave in the rear row and I vacuumed out a full canister of sand and debris. Another day I spent some time washing the windows from the inside, cleaning the dashboard, and chiseling out the toxic waste from inside the kids cup holders. I also hung tote bags from the seat backs for the kids to throw their trash into instead of leaving it on the ground. While I was on the inside, my husband was outside giving it a detailed car wash. And as a bonus it got an oil change and new windshield washer fluid! My van is now a happy van. May she carry us safely where we need to go for many more years.

Did I save? Or didn't I?

Number 17 is document $500 in coupon savings. So far I have documented $74.87 ($54.87 on one day and 20 on the other) but did I really save? I was following the grocery store advertised specials. There were a lot of BOGO deals and 10 for $10 deals so I stocked up. But the question is "did I save over all?" If I had bought a store brand item would it have been cheaper anyway? HMMMM. After the first shopping trip I started to question this so immediately I went to iTunes and downloaded an app for my iTouch to set up a price book. My goal is to sift through some old receipts and add items to my price book. Then each week as I look for special coupon deals I'll know if it REALLY is a deal. I also belong to www.couponmom.com and www.thegrocerygame.com but they don't usually compare the prices to store brand daily prices. The Grocery Game is a paid site I'll have to deduct my payment from the amount saved or unsubscribe from the service. But either way with my price book I'll always know if the savings are truly earned. PS I brought my cloth bags today total - 3 times

Turtle Hatchings!!!

No I didn't fail #1 NO NEW PETS. The incubating eggs were a "pre-existing condition". Mama turtle layed her eggs in an unprotected location in the middle of our yard on July 2nd. We carefully removed them from the hole right side up and incubated them at around 84 degrees. 56 days later they are hatching. There were 9 in total and so far 3 have begun to emerge. We will keep them for a few days and when the weather is nice and sunny we will release them back toward the lake.

2. Declutter - a few days ago I spent a good part of my day removing everything from and reorganizing my bedroom closet. I was in and out all day but I counted it as a solid 3 hours of decluttering time to bring my total to 5 hours.

In the process I set aside 12 nice items to donate to Good Will ( #42)

39. Have a Home Energy Audit - This was completed on August 26. It will be another 2-3 weeks before the full report comes in. I do know that my windows are still good but I need PILES of extra insulation in the attic. The woman who did the audit was shocked by my home heating bills. When she writes up the report she will estimate the cost of the improvements vs the cost saving it will generate to help point out areas where I will get the most bang for my buck. I learned that my refrigerator uses $20 of electricity each month and that is very high ( average is $8 / month for refrigerators newer than 1997) Turns out I am supposed to get UNDER it and vacuum out the coils once a month! Who knew? I cleaned it out (#40). Maybe my electric bill will go down now.

5. Shine sink for 28 days

I was determined to get this challenge started early in the 1001 days hoping it would stick. If you follow FlyLady.net then you know that SHINING THE SINK is the first of the baby steps to get your home in order. I was up until 11 last night getting this done. The goal is 28 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. It takes 21 days to form a habit but Flylady says people like me need an extra week to make it stick. Let's see what happens. day 1 and counting.

I'm well adjusted

Been there, Done that, Got the T Shirt! I went back to the chiropractor for my follow up visit today. He used his fancy shmancy adjuster tool all hooked up to a computer and everything. Another visit on Wednesday AND Thursday. But NO at home exercises. And he said I can't do any significant exercise for 2 weeks. Bummer, I was going to mow the lawn today. *snicker*.

Other 101 progress- I called a roofer to see about getting some snow blockers or fences or whatever to keep the avalanche of snow from blocking us in the house this year. Guys are coming to give me an estimate on Friday. I can't very well be shoveling snow with my new, well adjusted back can I??

Dum Dums to the rescue

Number 70. Get Strider to sleep in his own bed. This has been one of our most difficult challenges we've had with Strider. None of the other boys had trouble sleeping on their own. By 18 months they all happily said good night and climbed into their own beds and stayed there. Strider is different. Well maybe HE'S not different, we are. We are older and more tired. The effort of laying on the floor and waiting for him to fall asleep and trying to sneak out was too much. It was so much easier to let him fall asleep on our bed then move him later but then he ALWAYS comes back. And if we were too tired and lazy at 9pm to make him stay in bed, we were MORE lazy at 3 am. So this dragged on for YEARS. He is now 4 years old.

Two nights ago I bribed him. I told him if went to sleep in his own bed AND stayed there all night I'd give him a lollipop every morning with his breakfast. BUT I didn't have any of the goods to deliver that I promise so I told him the first morning he'd get a marshmallow and that day we would go out shopping to buy his special bag of pops.

He went straight to bed! He woke up in the morning and came down stairs all pleased as punch and and announced "I sleeped in my OWN bed, where's my treat!" Later we went to the store ( 2 times and brought CLOTH BAGS!!) and he got a bag of Dum Dum Pops. We keep them safely hidden away and ONLY as a prebreakfast treat.

Again last night he went straight to bed. This morning a repeat of yesterday. He came into my bedroom singing "Mooooooom, I sleeped in my own beeeeeeed!" And he got his lollipop. Now he is collecting his special pop wrappers to send away for a Dum Dums T shirt.

It's only been 2 nights but it's a start!