stickyfeathers

do you budget?

i need your help!  for days, weeks, months, hell, even years, i've been wanting to create a budget for our family.  i've scoured the 'net to find help in doing this and though i have probably found exactly what i need more than once, i still can't bring myself to actually create the budget.  why?  i have no idea. 

my friends, the days of procrastination are over for me.  i have to make a budget because there are some big changes coming our way.  matt is going to start shift work soon, which at first glance does not seem appealing, but for us i hope it will be better.  the perks: more money per check, and a little bit less money for daycare as he will have a day or two off during the week.  another change is that my job will be going from 40 hours/week to 32 hours/week.  that's right folks, i get one day at home, but i also will lose over $7k a year in salary.  that's not even including the cut i suffer in vacation/sick accruals, my retirement plan, etc.  but, it is what it is.  i think we'll be just fine, but, now more than ever, i want to make a budget so we don't get into a nasty mess with our money.

this is where you come in.  how does your family take care of the money situation?  do you have a budget?  do you just wing it?  do you use software that helps you keep it all in order?  or possibly a tool on the web?  please, share, share, share!!! 

if you don't have a budget, maybe you can check back here and see what people offer up.  i'll keep you posted on what i do, and maybe that will help hold me accountable for actually doing this!

spell it!

so i came across this neat tool today.  i know how all of the mom's out there love seeing their little one's name on everything (walls of nurseries, playrooms, up in lights, wherever), so you have to check out spell with flickr.  if you are not happy with the letter result, you just keep clicking away until you find something you like!  i had to spell my little dude's name...of course!  have fun!

happy birthday marcella!

tonight some of us got together at the muni for marcella's birthday.  we only went out for a few hours, but we had a good time.  pizza, drinks, and conversation about the good ol' days...heck, you can't go wrong!  before we left to go pick tucker up (who was at great-grandma lylia's with my dad and natalie) we had matt take a picture of t3.  on the left, there's me, jen, then in the middle is jen (the birthday girl), then to your right is jenn.  yeah, when we all hang out together and someone is trying to talk to one of us...things can get confusing.  also here is a shot i took of jenn and jen...the settings were all goofed, but i like it anyways.

had a great time girls.  love you both! 
birthday wishes for no hangover tomorrow marcella!

ten questions.

so i asked myself:

1. if you could change one choice you've made in your life, what would it be?  i would have picked a different career.  i want to do something i love and right now, i'm not loving...hell, i'm not even liking.  i'm not sure what i would have done, but it would have been something that is more fun and creative.  maybe someday...
2. what shows do you tivo (or if you are old school, what shows are a can't miss)?  days, the office, er, friday night lights, 48 hours mystery, the real world. 
3. what is your favorite day of the year?  every saturday.  i don't care what i have planned, it does not include going to work so i'm good to go.
4. what is your favorite type of animal?  an elephant.  i like 'em and that's that.  i was just thinking about this tiny little stuffed elephant i had when i was younger.  hmmm, i wonder where he went?
5. what drives you crazy?  people who think they know it all, jealously, work, and chewing with your mouth open, among other things.
6. what event changed your life the most?  having a child.  compete life change.  i'm sure all you first time mom's out there can relate!  :)
7. what is the one thing you wish you were better at?  photoshop. 
8. what is one thing you wish you had?  more benjamin's in the bank.
9. if you had to leave home, never to return, what five items (not including family/pets/friends) would you take with you?  my camera, my pictures (technically more than five items here, but let's just pretend it counts as one), tucker's blankie, my laptop, and a diet coke.
10. what is one of your favorite things to do?  go camping/fishing with friends and family.  gotta love gettin' out of town to enjoy the wilderness!

so, what are your answers?  put this puppy on your blog and let us read!

big shoes to fill...

so one of tucker's latest obsessions is eating putting on our shoes.  he thinks it is the coolest.  as you can see, he has some big shoes to fill...

a quick hello to gram who is in alabama working for the next few weeks!  tucker got your 'care package' today.  he loved ripping open the envelope!  thank you!  love and miss you mom!

my little dirtball.

tucker spent saturday hanging out with nana jamie at our house while i was 'working' at the rummage sale.  he had a great time.  they went on a walk, played outside for hours on end, watched the guys finish the siding on the house, and even threw in a little nap.  when i got home, i was so happy to see my little dude.  i walked up and boy did he ever look like a little dirtball.  i love it when you can see how much fun kids have been having just by looking at 'em. 

oh, and i think that uncle corey must have taught tucker to do this to the camera (hahaha)!

gotta love it.

rummage sale extravaganza.

holy friggen crap.  how do seven strangers, picked to have a sale, and have their prices recorded...sell over $900 worth of used goods?  okay, we weren't strangers, but whatever.  yes, you heard right...$900.  the bummer was little of it was mine.  i had only brought down two totes because i did not spend the whole week looking through my crap, just two nights.  jenn cashed in with over $300.  i think she sold more clothes than i even have in my closet.  bum.  :)  here is a picture from the day of the sale.  see how she is beaming because she knows how much money she is making?  oh, i love ya jenn!  saturday was fun!

so, you have to be asking...what the heck did they sell?  well, there was LOTS of women's clothing, some boys and girls clothing, lots of household things, man-tools, and some furniture.  we kept the sale open for nine hours (7-4), put signs up all over, even on the highway so people would come into town and check it out, and we had it at a public building in the middle of town so it was easy to find.  well, holy hell it worked.  we even had tourists at our sale!  it was nuts.

i'm really anxious to be able to sell all my baby stuff.  the problem is...i plan to have another baby and i don't want to get rid of all of it until i have um, closed up shop.  :)  i can't wait to have that sale though...holy baby bonanza!

so, do any of you out in blogland hit up the ol' rummage sales?  or have rummage sales?  what was your most successful sale?  tell me!  i wish they had them in the bay on saturday, but no, the rummage sale 'day' here is tuesday.  i mean really, don't people work?  i love hitting them up when i can.   

that was me: then.

thought i would give you all a little history lesson on myself. 
kim had this on her blog and i thought it was interesting! 
wow, time flies when you look at it this way.

20 years ago I...
1. was in mrs. eide's first grade class.  she was scary.
2. was hanging with my bud from 'hood, kim.
3. was building forts with my brother and derek.

10 years ago I...
1. was working at split rock lighthouse historical site.
2. had my license to speed drive.
3. was talking to breann about boys every night on the phone!

5 years ago I...
1. became a homeowner.
2. started working for the county.
3. had my first legal drink.  :)

3 years ago I...
1. went on the best fishing opener trip, ever. 
2. met my brother's wife for the first time.  right tina?
3. was living the life, sans child.

1 year ago I...
1. had a child.
2. had emergency gall bladder surgery (that was pleasant).
3. received anonymous hate mail relating to my job...and my blog.  nice huh?

So far this year I...
1. have left a job i loved.  long story.
2. watched my brother get married to an amazing girl!
3. invested $$$ into our house projects.

Yesterday I...
1. set up some automatic bill pays.
2. started eating healthy with melissa @ lunch.  :)
3. priced rummage sale items.

Today I...
1. didn't eat birthday cake for a co-worker!  thank you very much.
2. walked with melissa to get lunch.  bonus points!
3. got ready for the big sale...by having a drink.

Tomorrow I...
1. will sell, sell, sell.
2. will hopefully have a sitter.
3. will have friends over for good times.  dance off baby!

In the next year I...
1. have a bun in the oven.  maybe.
2. will go on a vacation with matt and our best buds.  onion house anyone?
3. will be poddy training tucker (hoping and praying on this one).

your turn!  slap this puppy on your blog and share your history!

needing a little motherly advice here...

lately i have been thinking a lot about tucker and his binkie.  that's right folks, he still has his binkie at 17 months.  i have no idea if it is a good or a bad thing, but it is what it is.  i need some advice.  maybe i just have my own issues with it.  i hate the binkie.  i hate when kids try to talk with one in their mouth.  ergh.  i have no idea why i have let tucker have his as long as i have.  i think it is because it has magical powers. 

of you who are mom's reading this, when and how did you get rid of your child's pacifier?  i know people who get their child off them before the age of one, but i also know people who still let their two-year-old's have them.  is it different for everyone?  i've read article's like this a lot, trying to figure out what the best way and when the best time would be to take it away.  oh, maybe i shouldn't worry about it so much. 

i lost my binkie in mexico.  i wasn't even a year old and my parents drove to mexico in the ol' firebird.  while we were there, i lost it and never looked back.  they didn't think so at the time, but how lucky were they?  :)

a conversation between sisters.

so, i've got a little crush on keith urban.  i could watch his video for 'i told you so' over and over and over again.  well, on one such occassion when tucker and i had been dancing in the living room to the video, my little sister natalie came over.  she said she loved this song too...and this conversation followed:

natalie:  jen, how old is he (keith urban)?
jen:  oh, i don't know, probably about 40. 
natalie:  oh.  huh. 
jen:  why?
natalie:  (huge grin)
jen:  do you think he's cute?
natalie:  yeeeaaah.
jen:  i think so too.  (he's not just cute, he is down right hot.)
natalie:  yeah, but jen, you know who my favorite is!
jen:  (oh crap, i'm supposed to know this!) um, i think i forgot!
natalie:  you know!!!
jen:  tell me what the first letter of his name is.
natalie:  v.
jen:  (v...v...v...v...are you kidding me?) can you tell me his first name?
natalie:  vanilla.
jen: oh! vanilla ice!
natalie: yep! 

that's right folks.  my eight-year-old sister loves vanilla ice.  she told me about two months ago her favorite song right now was 'ice, ice, baby'.  weird, we have so much in common!  okay, it's not my favorite, but who can resist dancing to that?  right t3? 

i just got a kick out of our conversation and had been thinking about it today...while i was listening to my man, keith.  :)