Thank Goodness Easter is Early This Year

Cadbury eggs are evil.

money and blog business

There is a person I know that always complains about not having any money. In my opinion, this person doesn't do a whole lot to help their financial situation and I find it very difficult to have pity on them sometimes because MY GOODNESS! WHY CAN'T THEY DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT BESIDES COMPLAIN? It's not like they're uneducated or incapable of getting and holding a significant-enough job. It's just that they're MAKING CHOICES that contribute to their current financial status.

Over the last few months we've really struggled financially. I've found myself complaining about it a lot because I've obsessed and worried over it a lot. I've started to consider going back to work part-time or full-time this fall. Still in the thinking process though. Right now I'm just concentrating on not bringing other people down because I realize that the choices I've made have affected my situation, not the choices of someone else.

Anyway, tonight I finally got to looking at the information for ads I placed on this blog at the end of last year. I finally figured out how to see how much money I'm making off of them and I have to say that I was pleasantly suprised that it wasn't a number really close to zero. Of course, the ads don't do much, but at this point something is better than nothing. So I'm pleased.

Thanks to all of you who click over and send me a few pennies each time. It's much appreciated.

And if I start whining too much about being po' then I declare you a winner of this Slap Bet .

i hope this stickks

A while back I discovered Stickk and committed to quit drinking soft drinks from January 22nd until my birthday (March 5th). It's not that I didn't want to ever have one again. It was more that I had gotten to the point where I didn't like to drink anything BUT soft drinks. I had always tended to choose water over anything else and I wanted to be that way again and after multiple attempts I realized that I really couldn't do it without quitting them cold turkey for a while first.

Anyway, the way Stickk works is that you put a contract on yourself to reach whatever gol you set. You then choose a "referee" to monitor your progress and it can be anyone. All they really have to do is vouch for your success (or failture) at the end of the time period. When you "sign" your contract you put up a (determined by you) set of money that you will either get back or lose at the end of the contract period. You do have to pay the money up front. You can designate who you want the money to go to. It can be a friend, an enemy, a charity (chosen by Stickk), or an anti-charity (an organization that you would NOT want to give money to). Read more details here.

I know it's not for everyone, but for me this is the perfect set-up. For one thing, I am super-tight with money. Not that I don't spend it, more like I love a bargain, try very hard not to throw money away, and do my best to get a good deal on everything. I hate seeing my money go to waste! Also, it incorporates friend and family participation if you follow the plan correctly and recruit supporters to encourage you along the way. And when you're done with the contract you've either met your goal and gotten your money back to apply to the next contract or you've failed and suffered the great loss of not only falling short of reaching your personal goal, but you're also out a few bucks.

I would like to point out the obvious fact that if you don't put up a significant-to-you amount of money in the first place (whatever that may be) then you're sort of not really committing fully to the goal to begin with and you're setting yourself up for failure. Certainly different goals would warrant different sums of money, but whatever it is you kinda know from the begininng if it's going to be an amount valuable enough to you.

I gave Stickk $25 of my desparately needed dollars and then earned it back. And I was super-duper proud of myself.

That was on March 5th. Today is the 12th and I still haven't had a soft drink. I just haven't really wanted one that badly and even when I did want one, the experience of the past couple of months made me actually stop and think about it before I poured that glass or opened that can.

Now I have $25 back and I'm trying to think of my next Stickk goal. Maybe 15 minutes minimum exercise per day...?

So tell me. Do you think this Stickk thing would work for you? What are some personal goals that you want to work towards? Aren't these people geniuses? To come up with an idea like this where all they really have to do is set up the site and then just hold people's money for a designated time period before they give it away again. They get the benefits of holding the money, as a bank would I suppose.




**Also, please don't forget Vinny!

ain’t it good to know you’ve got a friend

I have a friend who has a sweet little boy named Vinny and he is deeply in need of your prayers. You can read more about him here. And of course, if you would like to provide financial support to the family for the mountain of climbing medical bills, please click the link below.



I cannot imagine what impact it would have on me to discover that my daughter had a tumor at the base of her skull, but I can imagine the warm fuzzies I would get just knowing that people around the world were praying for her. Thanks for whatever you can do for Vinny.

three oh

It was a great day to have a birthday. I got the BEST PRESENT EVER first thing in the morning when I opened my eyes. I realized that, Hey, it’s 6:20 in the morning and my daughter hasn’t woken me up ALL NIGHT. How long has it been since that happened? I CANNOT REMEMBER. Anyway, then we went to a friend’s house to play and from there to the DMV to get my driver’s license renewed. There were only four people ahead of me and it was a relatively painless trip with the exception of one small tantrum on our way out the door. [IDON’TWANTLEAVE!!!! NO MOMMY! NO HOME!] Luckily the people there were kind-hearted about the pile of 2 year old spilled out across the grungy tile floor and one even remarked, “I’ve never heard of anyone not wanting to leave the DMV.” hee

From there we came home and had lunch and naps. Well, the girl had a nap after singing happy birthday to me a dozen times over the baby monitor. I just sat and paid bills while she sang. After singing happy birthday to me she decided to sing, “Jon-san’s birthday in April. Daddy’s birthday coming up” over and over again.

After nap we got to go to the dentist where Julianna did two things right for each and every thing she did wrong yesterday. She was an angel. Or it may have been a fluke of nature.

And then to exercise followed by a quick dinner after which my lovely sister arrived to babysit while the DH and I got to go see our first movie since the dark ages. He gets major points for picking a chick flick (27 Dresses) and setting up the babysitter himself. All in all it was a great day. Thanks for the well wishes everyone!

all i can say is amazing

A friend pointed this story out. Did you hear about this? I’m speechless. Toddler reads at 17 months

ten reasons why today could not end soon enough

1. It has been one sucky, sucky day. Especially since it started at 4 am for me thanks to the doesn’t-ever-want-to-sleep-anymore toddler.



2. My daughter has spent the better part of the day in time out. First for biting (YES- BITING), then for pulling on a kid’s shirt, and several times after that for not listening to Mommy.



3. My antibiotics for c diff run out Thursday morning. I am having major anxiety issues that it will grow back and get my GI system out of balance and I’ll get sick again. I want to believe that two rounds of this antibiotic will be enough, but this junk is hard to get rid of and I fear that it won’t be enough.



4. I can’t drink while I’m taking these antibiotics and while I don’t drink that often, I could really use a glass of wine right now. After the crappy day I’ve had and the whole month of being on this medicine, I could stand to relax a little.



5. As if the alcohol weren’t enough, I’ve been trying to limit my sugar intake while fighting c diff. As I understand it, this type of bacteria thrives on sugar so I’ve been doing all I can to make myself cut back lately. This has made me lightheaded and nauseas each morning and afternoon. It makes me feel pregnant and I can assure you that I am most certainly not experiencing morning sickness. (see previous whinings about great desires for baby #2)



6. Julianna threw the mack daddy of all temper tantrums today. It began with not wanting to go upstairs for naptime and ended with her practically catapulting herself over the crib rail at my parents’ house screaming “No Naptime!” in between gasps for breath. While she survived, my mom and I were questioning our newfound abilities to join the WWF.



7. It hasn’t stopped raining all day! I hydraplaned on the way home and that scares me to death.



8. Tomorrow’s my birthday! I know I mentioned I’ll probably skip the birthday cake (see # 5 above) but did I mention that I’ll be OFFICIALLY OLD tomorrow?



9. I have to go to the dentist tomorrow. I’ve found that as I age I dread visits to the dentist more and more. Besides, I’m planning on taking Jules with me for the first time ever so that she can get used to the dentist’s office, etc. But did I tell you about the time I got my hair cut and took her with me to the salon with no help and then I watched her in the mirror take out ALL of the items in my purse, distribute them neatly across the floor (including open chapstick and lipsticks), AMONG THE FRESHLY CHOPPED HAIR? I just want to get it over with.



10. We have absolutely NO MONEY. Wednesday is pay day around here and I have some bills that are desperately in need of being paid. Tomorrow is Wednesday.

So here’s to tomorrow. I hope it’s a fun one!