Just some stuff

*Thanks so much for everyone who commented on my Delurking Day. I'd say it was a success. Although I know there are more of you out there reading (at least twice as many as commented), because I see you on my SiteMeter.

*I feel bad that I haven't been blogging much this week. I'd really like to. I finally started feeling better by Wednesday. Then the weather was cold, snowy, and icky. I have only left the house twice in the last week (plus a few days). I tutored on Thursday, then we went out for supper. And this morning I went to pick up our Angelfood box.

*Have you heard of Angelfood Ministries? I remember discussing it with someone (maybe you, Sarah?). But I don't know anyone who has participated. There is a church just down the road from us who does Angelfood. They have been promoting it at the apartment complex where I tutor. The coordinator came in one day to talk to our afterschool program leader. He gave her some coupons to hand out, and I got one. It was $10 off the regular box ($30 price) for this month for a new participant. So, Matt and I figured why not. We got a ton of food for only $20. I was very impressed with how they run the program and give out the food. The people who were working were so nice. And the food looks great. One box is supposed to be enough to feed a family of 4 for a week. Honestly I don't think the 3 of us could eat it all in 2 weeks.

I won't talk too much more about that, but I think it will be a great way to help our grocery budget. We're already planning to get a box next month. If you want to ask about my experience with it, go ahead. This is not an income guided program, anyone can participate.

*Even though I haven't been posting as much this week, I have been posting on Twitter. Look me up: http://twitter.com/mommydaisy.

*Potty training is going great. Zachariah goes potty most of the time. We've had a few accidents, but I'm impressed. He doesn't go as much when we aren't home. He hasn't figured all that out, so he still wears a diaper. And he's always wet after naps and bedtime, so he wears diapers then too. But I'm happy to have him in underwear at home during the day.

*Matt determined this morning that we need to have more sex. We're still "trying" to have a baby. We don't have sex often enough, he thinks. ;) Guess I'll have to work on that one. (Shouldn't be a problem.)

*That's all I can think of for now that I wanted to share. Have a great weekend!

Help cheer me up

Here I am sick and stuck in my chair. I can't eat, I can't move, and I can't do much of anything. I have been sick since Thursday afternoon.

So, what a perfect day for this......DeLurking Day!

If you've been lurking here (reading, but not commenting), here's your chance just to say "Hi" or tell me who you are.

If you read and comment here often, do it again today. I want to see everyone who is reading today.

Let's see how many comments we can each get today. I'll be checking to see if you're doing a DeLurking Day. Leaving quick comments might be all I accomplish from my chair today.

Please, leave a comment!

How it went down...and up

So my husband has been at his job for over 10 years now. He's young, he started young, he can retire early if he stays there. It's a good job. It pays decent. The benefits are nice. He's happy there.

The problem with his job is that there is no room for advancement. He works on the computer systems, and there is only one other person who does that too. That person is *Tom, and Tom is my husband's supervisor. They are the only two in their department. Tom has only been working there 5 years longer than my husband. His only hope for advancement was if Tom left or when Tom retires, but that's a ways off.

On Tuesday Tom left. He "resigned". My husband knew it was coming. He was waiting to see how things would actually happen. And then he had to make sure that everything is cleaned up (so to speak) after Tom left. That's what he's been dealing with this week.

The waiting and anticipation has been stressful. Tom's leaving was stressful. This is a guy he's worked with for many years and gotten to know very well. They've gotten together outside of work many times. And just knowing he's gone is tough (especially in the economy we have right now).

The rest of the week has been stressful just dealing with the changes and things that need done too.

But through all of this, we are excited. My husband has been promoted to Tom's position. It's considered a management position and it brings more money for us. Right now he's not in charge of anyone else, but eventually they may hire someone under him to help out.

So, the good news is my husband got a promotion and raise. He's also been promised step raises to bring him up more. It's been a pretty significant raise too, so we're excited at the possibilities that brings.

All these years at the same job, and it finally feels like he's going somewhere. It's a great place to be.

And now I think you all know enough about what's going on around here. Feel free to ask questions. I'll answer them through e-mail. Thanks for your interest and support. We're happy that things are over and really looking up.

*I have changed names/not written names to protect the people in this story. If you need clarification, please ask.

What to say, what to say

So, I want to tell you about the "personal" things that happened this week. I've been torn about what to write about here and what to say.

There is bad news and good news. The good will outweigh the bad very soon. But right now we're dealing with some of the bad, and that part has been stressful. It is getting better, though.

OK, I think I will try to gather my thoughts and write about this tomorrow. And just so I don't drive you crazy wondering WTH, it's about Matt's job.

Until tomorrow then.

My new shoes

I almost forgot to tell you all about my new Keen shoes. I really did value the opinions of each and every one of you. I also talked to my mom about it (she usually has good fashion advice/taste), plus she knows me really well.

After taking everything into account, I chose these new shoes.....

The Palermo MJ's!

Once I had placed the order for these shoes, I was checking the website constantly seeing if they'd shipped yet. They hadn't. I was getting worried that they weren't going to arrive before we left on our Christmas vacation. I even contacted a Keen representative to see if I could change the shipping address to my mom's house. It was too late for that.

The shoes were scheduled to arrive on Christmas Eve. I was happy that they would come before we left, because we were leaving that afternoon. The only concern then was that they came early enough before we left. The day before I got a separate delivery from UPS....at 7:00PM!

I was worried. I didn't think my shoes would come in time. I let my neighbors know I was expecting something and didn't want it left on my doorstep, so could they please check for them and just keep them until we got back. I was sure I wasn't going to get them.

Wouldn't you know it, though, exactly 45 minutes before we left in pulls the UPS truck. I was jumping up and down. I brought the package in the house, ripped it open, and put on my new shoes.

I wore them for the rest of the day. They fit like a glove. I love them so much! They are cute, adorable, and even more importantly....comfortable. I couldn't believe how comfortable these shoes are.

Thank you Keen for my new shoes. I appreciate the advice to go a size bigger to, you were right on. And I'm sure this will not be my last set of Keen shoes. They are fantastic, and I tell everyone I know.

My football rant

If you don't like football, I'm sorry. I just need to get this off my chest before I go to bed.

The Ohio State Buckeyes just lost to Texas in the Fiesta Bowl tonight. Honestly I'm proud of our boys. I think they played a great game. So many people thought we'd go down badly. Well, the 23-21 score proves that we fought the good fight. We didn't win, but we sure came close.

Some people (many people...well Buckeye fans at least) have been disappointed in the OSU team the last few years. Two years ago we lost the BCS championship game badly. Then last year we lost the championship game again. But last year there weren't even any hopes early in the season (or late in the season for that matter) that we'd make it to the championship game. We had a decent season and due to other teams losing at the end of the season, we made it to the final game. I felt like it should be an honor to even be there. But people were upset that we couldn't win.

Maybe I'm too much of an optimist. I'll keep rooting for my Buckeyes. And I'm not mad that they lost. (A little sad maybe, but it was a great game.)

One last note, then I'm done. I was so happy to see Boeckman back in the game tonight making some big plays. I think he got cheated out of his final season with the Buckeyes by a show-off freshman. I like Pryor, and I think he'll be a good player, but I believe he needed some more work first. He has many years ahead to be a star, and I'll support him then. Boeckman, I believe in you! Good luck with your professional career.

So much to do

The holidays are over. I can't believe how fast it all went. But that's how it always go.

I feel like it's time to get my life organized again.

*My house needs to be reorganized. (Especially our office.)
*I need to start exercising regularly again.
*Zachariah's toys and clothes need to be sorted through.
*I have movie reviews that need finished.
*I have books that need read.
*I go back to tutoring tomorrow.
*I need to start menu planning again.

Now, I just need to get to work. I am sure there are so many more things floating around in my head that need done.

500th & I want to tell you about potty training

I knew I was quickly approaching my 500th blog post. Here it is. I have nothing fantastic or fascinating planned. Actually I got on to talk about our potty training efforts, then realized it's my 500th post. Isn't my life glamorous?!!

Several of you commented about the potty training from my last post. I knew I'd have to say more about it, because most mothers want to know. It's a thing that we all go into not really knowing what we're doing. I honestly haven't met a mother who doesn't sweat potty training even a little bit.

We are not doing anything too special right now. We've had Zachariah sitting on the potty off and on for over a year. He didn't have too many successes, but he knew what it was for and what to do there.

About 6 months ago we started pushing it harder. He went poop on the potty for several days in a row. But we couldn't get him to pee on it. Then we hit a stand still. Zachariah just decided he wasn't having that anymore, so that was it for a while.

I haven't given up. I ask him several times a day if he needs to use the potty. For months and months, he said no. Most times he got mad and flat out refused to even try. I knew at that point it was futile to push him.

About 2 months ago, I decided to start trying harder with him. On days that he would allow it, he wore underwear and tried going in the potty. There were a few random successes, but mostly I just washed a lot of training undies.

We use these training pants with a liner over them. That way if he has an accident, he feels it but it's not wetting through all his clothes. And they are both washable.

The week of Christmas Zachariah was using the potty with success now and then when he felt like it. We were very proud of him. I took our potty chair along on our Christmas vacation. I thought he'd like going potty at Grandma's. But he didn't. He spent plenty of time sitting on the potty while he suckered aunts and grandparents into reading to him while he sat there. I think he just wanted the attention. Other than one pooping success for Grandpa, he didn't do anything. So we called that a fail.

Since we came home, he's wanted to sit on the potty a lot. And here is the shocker...he's peeing almost every time he tells us he wants to go. Hurray! Today he spent most of the day in undies. He put them on when he got up in the morning, then we did a pull up for nap time and diaper for bedtime. He only had 1 (one!!) accident all day. Otherwise he went potty on his own. I've just been shocked. I think something just clicked for him, and he's now peeing in the potty.

Most of this has been a lesson in patience. As much as we wanted him to use the potty, he had to decide to do it on his own.

We are by no means finished. One successful day may not mean much. I worry about church tomorrow, and I also don't know how he'll handle errands and tutoring when we're not home. But we'll get there.

Jana was asking about potty training a boy. Woo, this has been an adventure. I need advice from the rest of you in this too. So far we are just sitting on the potty for everything. He's using a training potty, and we have to use the cup in front for him. He has some interest in standing up to pee, but he won't aim his pen1s. Unhelpful. So when he wants to try to do it standing up (not often fortunately) I must help him with that.

This makes it difficult to take him potty when we're not home. To sit on a regular potty he has to use both hands to hold himself on it, then he can't aim "it" down. I get that job. I'm thinking it would be helpful to have a foldable potty seat for errands and such, but that doesn't help with the aiming thing (none seem to come with a cup for boys).

So here's what I'd like to know from you. First of all how do you teach boys to pee standing up? And how can I get him to understand he must hold it down for now in public restrooms? I am the oldest of 3 girls, my mom is not helpful in this area. This boy thing is new to us. Any more helpful hints and tips for where we are now?

That's all folks. Sorry I don't have any great wisdom.

Blurpy blurp

Some quick blurps. Please tell me if you'd like me to expand on any ideas/statements. I will if I can later.

1. Zachariah is doing GREAT with potty training. He is by no means done, but he's making great progress.

2. I've had to be tight-lipped about a personal issue for over a month now. I can't tell my family, friends, or you. It stinks. I might be able to talk about it in a few more days. Thank goodness. (No, I'm NOT pregnant! Has nothing to do with that.)

3. I never make New Year's Resolutions. I think I will this year. I have some in mind that I really want to make. I think writing them down and talking about them will help.

4. I need to get moving with movie reviews. We got some new ones that are being released soon. Plus you all love getting free movies right?

5. My shoes came an hour before we left for Christmas vacation! I was so excited. I'll get photos soon, so you can see what I chose.

6. I got a new book just before Christmas break too, but I haven't read much because I'm finishing another book right now too.

7. My blogroll list is SO VERY outdated on my site. Can you tell how often I (don't) change things? Yikes.

8. I need to get my Christmas decorations put away tomorrow. Oh the joy. It's much more fun putting up than taking down. Plus I've already helped my mom take down most of her house. Ugh.

9. I think we'll hit up a few local stores tomorrow and try to spend some Christmas money. Always nice.

10. College football is just about done. What will my husband do after Monday?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope that 2009 is a great year for you.

We are finally home after a trip home for the holidays. I hope that you all had a nice Christmas too. We enjoyed our break.

I have plenty of stories, pictures, and toddler quips to tell you about. But for now I am unpacking suitcases and putting away all our great Christmas gifts. My house is a disaster zone, I'm tired, I'm trying to finish a book, and I started crocheting an afghan.

What have you all been up to? I will try to catch up on all your blogs (but I can't promise lots of comments). And I will come back soon to catch you all up.

So, until next time, enjoy the weekend!

DVD Winner- Pingu

And the lucky winner for the Pingu South Pole Adventure DVD is.....


.........Pam! Congrats, please e-mail me your address. I will try to get this to you soon! I hope that you and Jack enjoy it.

Winner: Snow Days DVD

Congrats, Andria!! You are the winner of the Hit Favorites: Snow Days DVD. Please e-mail me your address, and I'll make sure that goes out to you soon! I hope that you and the kids enjoy it.

DVD Review & Giveaway: Pingu's South Pole Adventures

Have you met Pingu yet? He's an interesting fellow. He is a mischievous little penguin who is always looking for trouble....errr....adventure. There are so many things that a little penguin can do in the good ole South Pole. In Pingu's South Pole Adventures Pingu meets up with the Abominable Snowman. He does many other fun things too.

Zachariah enjoyed this DVD with the funny penguin. It puts me in mind of the Shaun the Sheep DVD that we viewed not long before. There is little to no talking going on, and it is really silly comedy. But I believe it is fun for the target audience of children ages 2-8.

Would you like to win this DVD for a child in your life? Lucky you, I have one to give away. To enter just leave a comment telling me your favorite winter sport (mine is probably figure skating- to watch and not participate in). Make sure that I have a valid e-mail address, so I can contact you when you win. If you'd like a second entry, just link to this contest on your blog and come leave another comment (that counts for the second entry). The contest will end Friday, December 19th at 11:00 PM EST.

Stick around for more giveaways. I have two more I will be posting soon. And I'm not leaving the contests open for too long, because I'm hoping that you'll get the videos sooner that way.

Help! I can't make this decision on my own!

If you didn't know yet, I won a pair of shoes (or anything from their website) from Keen. Jen at Absolutely Bananas is my new best friend. Go give her a hug for me. Keen has all sort of lovely things like shoes for the whole family, socks, and bags (above- Laurel: Port Royale-Beet Red).






I could get a cool pair of shoes that would look great on Matt (see above- Bandon Shoe WP: pinecone), or I could get Zachariah the most rockin' pair of toddler sneakers (below- Targhee: dark gull gray/old gold).





But let's be honest. I won this prize, so it's going to be all about me! I don't very often do nice things for myself, and this is my chance. (below- Wasatch Crest WP: cloud blue/lunar rock)


I could get myself some shoes or a bag (see the cute one above or check out the other neat ones on their site). But I truly need some new shoes. (below- Ventura Suede: pinecone)






Most of the time I wear tennis shoes. Nothing fancy, just some Sketchers I picked up on sale. I have worn my current pair day in and day out for two years now. They are due for replacement soon. (below- Targhee II: charcoal/warm olive)
But let's be real. I truly want a pair of cute shoes just because! I was looking to replace a pair of black, chunky, dressy/casual shoes anyway, so I think that's more of what I'm leaning towards.

And here's where you come in. I need your help to decide.

These (below- Calistoga: Orion Blue) are so adorable! I love the style, and I really like the blue. Problem is that for Christmas my mom ordered me a pair of shoes from Land's End that are blue.


So that makes me think about these black ones with the little flowery things. Cute cute cute! I think these are my second place choice right now (below- Calistoga: black).

Then these (below- Palermo MJ: black) are my first place choice. These are the ones the I told Jen that I would choose, but I thought I might change my mind. After looking at all of the options, I'm still strongly leaning towards these. They are really cute, and I think I could wear them with jeans and my black corduroy pants (which is what I wear everywhere about 85% of the time- jeans or corduroys). I'm hoping these look kinda-dressy and casual...that's what I'm going for.

Here is what I want from you. What would you choose? Keep in mind my opinions and options here. I'm definitely leaning towards my first or second choice. Pick one of those or talk me into something else.

1. Calistoga: black

2. Palemro MJ: black

3. One of the tennis shoe options (which ones?)

4. Something else that I haven't considered that I must have

Go forth and vote! Your opinion is needed and valued. I'm also going to run these by my mom and grandma when they are here tomorrow (they both have good taste). Plus I may run to the store here in town that carries these shoes to try a few on and see them in person. That may sway my decision too.

DVD Review & Giveaway: Snow Days

So, I've been winning (or at least getting nice things) left and right this week. First I got a $100 gift card (from a friend), then I won a book from CP at 3 Giraffes, and finally I got free shoes! (I totally need your input and advice about the shoes. I'm composing a blog post for later about that- complete with photos.)

Now it's your turn! I have several reviews/giveaways that I want to get done before Christmas. To be honest I wanted to get them done over the last two week but that didn't happen, so here we are now. I can't guarantee that the winners will get these before Christmas, but hopefully they will get them soon after at least.

*****

Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment have done it again. This time they've put together a collection of fun preschool oriented shows about SNOW. HIT Favorites: Snow Days is now available online and in stores.

This DVD includes episodes from Barney, Thomas & Friends, Bob the Builder, Angelina Ballerina, Fireman Sam, Pingu, and a bonus episode from Fifi and the Flowertots. There are shows about Christmas, Santa, Christmas trees, winter, hockey, sledding, and more.

We enjoyed this DVD. I love the collections of videos with a theme like this. It gives Zachariah a chance to see all his favorite characters in one place and have fun celebrating the season.

I am going to give away one copy of this DVD. You can enter by leaving a comment here telling me what your favorite Christmas movie is. Mine is Christmas Vacation, we watch it every year and can't stop laughing. You can earn a second entry by linking to this giveaway on your blog, then come back here and leave another comment so I know you linked (that will be your second entry). Make sure that I have a valid e-mail for you (many of you who read regularly, I already have yours so now worries), so I can notify you when you win. Contest ends at 11:00PM EST Thursday, December 18th, so hurry and enter now! Good luck!

**And come back later to tell me which shoes I should get.**

I love shoes!

I didn't get any new computers, but Mama just got a new pair of shoes! Ehhh! I'm practically squealing here. (I really would, but the kiddo is napping and I don't want to wake him.)

I just won Jen at Absolutely Bananas' Keen shoe giveaway!!!

I can't see it in the link for that post, but if you go to her main page and scroll down to the giveaway you can see the picture of the shoe I said I liked. I don't know yet if that's what I'll choose. There are so many options. I can tell you it will definitely be a shoe I get. And it will be just for me. I need a new pair of shoes anyway, and I was already thinking about using my gift card to get some. But now I can use that money for other things.

To be honest, I was just talking to my husband about winning this. The Keen's shoes are so nice. I don't think I've ever owned a pair of shoes so nice. Right now I'm wearing tennis shoes that are 2 years old and starting to come apart (but they still work), and I wear them every day. And the only other pair of shoes that I really have are black dressy ones I wear to church and other nicer events, and I just found out that they are falling apart and that's why they were hurting my feet.

So help me out here. What should I pick from Keen? I can pick anything from their website! Whew, I can see that I'm going to spend hours online tonight picking out the right shoe.

Tis the season, right?

Christmas presents bought - check
Staff Christmas luncheon & gift exchange - check
Ingredients for Christmas goodies - check
Child's Christmas presents hidden - check
Internet shopping done & delivered - check


Things yet to do:
*Bake cookies, candies, goodies
*Matt's staff Christmas luncheon (what to make)
*Small group Christmas potluck (not for another week)
*Wrap Christmas gifts
*Get yarn for baby blankets that need crocheted soon!
*Get new toddler bed from my sister's house
*Post new DVD reviews/giveaways (so far behind)
*Post 10 more times before the end of the year to reach 500th post goal


OK, so my to do list is longer than my finished list. Well, as much as I can think of. I have gotten a lot more done, but those are the big things.


Now a question for you. Say that you received an early Christmas gift. It's a prepaid Visa card for $100. You can do whatever you want with it. What would YOU spend it on?? (I rarely have spending money like this, especially this much at once.)

The Christmas Toy DVD Winner

Wow, has it been busy around here. So sorry. I owe a winner a prize. I finally drew a winner for The Christmas Toy DVD.

The lucky winner for The Christmas Toy DVD is................ #4...

Sarah at No Whey, Mama! Congrats!

Sarah, I already have your address, so I will have that sent right out to you. Enjoy!

Please come back for more reviews and giveaways. I have some that I need to do soon. I had anticipated doing more last week, but some other things came up that kept me off of the computer (surprise house guest for 2 days, Christmas caroling in the freezing cold, church meetings, etc.). So I'm trying to catch up on everything this week. Bear with me please.

More free shoes?

Wow, I can't resist signing up for more shoe giveaways. Go visit Absolutely Bananas for your chance to win too.

DVD Review & Giveaway: The Christmas Toy

This DVD was so much fun. The Christmas Toy is a Jim Henson movie from the 1980s. Talk about stepping back into my childhood. Wow! I'm pretty sure I saw this movie as a young child, it seemed really familiar.

All the puppets and toys are fun and lovable as all Jim Henson's characters are. They are anticipating Christmas. And the movie is about what new toys might join them. Of course this makes other toys feel left out and jealous. But it's a great life lesson in the end for kids of all ages.

Zachariah is in love with all things Christmas right now. The Christmas Toy has been a great holiday video around here. All the cute little toys and animals and dollies are fun to watch and enjoy.

If you love holiday movies, this is a must have for your collection. I can see that we will enjoy this one for years to come (if we don't wear it out first). It is recommended for ages 2-8 (which is pretty broad), but I think adults will like it as well (especially if you are a child of the 80s).

You can find this movie for purchase here, here, and here, and in stores everywhere.

OR you can win this DVD here! I'm so happy to have a copy available to give away. I know that your kids (and your inner kid) will love this movie.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me what your favorite Christmas decoration is/was now or as a child (be sure your e-mail address is available or at least I have it from before). If you'd like a second entry, you can link to this post on your blog. Then come back here and leave another comment with the link to your blog post.

I will be drawing a winner on Saturday, December 6th at 3:00 PM EST and announcing the winner here. Best of luck, and stay tuned for more DVD reviews and giveaway.