This Blog Has Never Been About Politics

but today Banana Boy has brought it to the forefront. Apparently, he's a Republican.

He was snuggling in bed with me tonight and an ad came on the TV.

"Aaargh! He's on all the TIME! Why does that Marak Obama have to be EVERYwhere???!" he said with disgust.

He didn't learn it from me!

That Would Be Tacky!

Pepper said to me today, "I'm glad I'm not a cork board. Everyone would be sticking me with tacks all the time. Isn't it a good thing I'm not a cork board, Mom?"

I'm so happy, Honey, that you're not.

The Last Day of Nothing

It was hard today, not to run out and spend money. What would it matter, just one day away from October 1? What's the difference between today and tomorrow?

I'll be the first to tell you (and my kids will be 2nd through 6th!) that I am not a committer. I never stick to diets. I never stick to chore plans. I never stick to resolutions. I never stick to behavior modification charts.

I didn't stick to the 30 Days of Nothing.

But I think I made a good attempt. With a few leaps off the wagon to get me through, I didn't quit. I climbed back on and tried again the next day.

We definitely have saved money.

It has been good for me to curb my impulse spending. I really really did! I even talked myself out of a few purchases by making myself wait and having time to think it over.

Some of it wasn't hard. Driving less was easy. Actually, I didn't really drive less than I have all summer. That was something I cut way back on when gas went over $3.00/gallon.

Grocery shopping less was easy. With our garden and our fairly well stocked pantry, I was able to make it through the month without really buying anything but bare necessities like fruit & milk. I did use the food I'd bought from Market Day at the beginning of the month. We've eaten all the Italian wedding soup, half the ravioli and some of the salmon. The pop tarts have made a great snack for the kids.

The challenge will be to avoid the impulse purchases at the grocery store from here on out.

The tough thing for me was not eating out. At the beginning of the month it was easy, but near the end I've been weak. I had that little mental health date last week. And last night I took the kids out for pizza as a reward for doing bonus chores over the weekend. And because I was hungry for pizza. Plus there was McYuk last week, too. Total spent on eating out this month: $130, including tips. Number of meals for that price: 21.

I didn't do the awareness of the state of the world exercises that I wanted to do with the kids. They did get into this more than I thought they would, though. They were often the ones who reminded me, when I wanted to spend money, that it was the 30 Days of Nothing. Even Banana Boy, who is usually pretty far from reality, being only 5 and not a very good listener, warned me the day we went out to lunch: "I thought this was the 30 Days of Nuthin'!"

I know some people are starting new fun ideas of a different sort for the month of October. Owlhaven is doing Love Stories for October.

In our house it will be The Month of Birthdays. We have three coming up this month and Banana Boy's quickly following in November.

Goodbye to the 30 Days of Nothing. It's been fun hangin' with you. I think you've taught me a few things. Maybe I'll see you next year.

30 Days of Nothing: A Date

Mr. GT and I have decided that Sundays will be our date night (afternoon). Today was the first one and I was delighted to be able to see Fireproof (see my sidebar) on its opening weekend. We spent $12.50 on the tickets and then had Starbucks as a treat afterwards, courtesy of Auntie who sent me a Starbucks card for my birthday. What a treat!!! Thanks, Auntie! It was a great date! Oh, and I guess it cost us $15 for babysitting: $14 for Rose Bud (payable in text minutes for her phone for the month of October) and $1 for Banana Boy towards his I-want-to-buy-people-birthday-presents fund for behaving while we were gone.



The movie. I really enjoyed it. I normally hate to watch movies. I'm so ADD and for some reason, as I've gotten older, it's a big emotional effort to get involved in a movie. Most times, I will choose not to watch one, so I was dreading this just a little bit.



But it was a very enjoyable movie. It entertained me.



And that was the big difference, Mr. GT and I decided afterward, between this movie and Facing the Giants (which I've seen 3 times, believe it or not!). Facing the Giants moved me and changed my thinking about some things. It motivated me to change parts of my life.



Fireproof entertained me. It was funny, it was suspenseful, it was romantic. But I didn't find it as inspirational as I had Facing the Giants.



I was a little disappointed. I was expecting more inspiration for marriage. I mean it was there, but I was expecting something different. I don't want to give too much away before you've seen it.



Should you see it? Yeah! Take your spouse or your girlfriends and go see it, especially in the theaters. Send Hollywood the message that consumers want this kind of movie. And enjoy it.



Maybe it will speak more to you than it did to me.



If it does, I'd love to hear from you about it.

Please Pray for Little Noah

Posted on Kate's blog this morning

If you don't know Noah's story, read here

If you are a homeschooler, you are likely familiar with Kate's family business, Hands and Hearts.

My Target List

Here are the things I've been waiting to buy....

Dish soap
Laundry Soap
Stain Stick
Coffee Filters
Kleenex
Cat food (the cats have been very patient about this)
Cat litter
Snacks for BB's classroom
Diapers
Kitchen sink cleaner
Coffee Pot
A new computer (birthday present for me: I want a Macbook and have money from closing out my dad's estate to use)
Rose Bud's birthday presents: AB, LB, ITC & ES (she reads my blog!)

I did talk myself out of a new pda. In researching the Macbook, I discovered the new ITouch and coveted it! I stopped at the Apple store the other day to play with one and it is nice, but I realized it doesn't hold files the way my Palm does (ie: my booklists!) nor does it have a very useable Bible program (what I use my Palm for more than anything else). So I decided I'd maybe upgrade from my Palm Tungsten E2 to a TX (which can access the internet). Then I talked myself out of doing it for my birthday, because my E2 still works just fine. So I'll watch for a sale and wait for my current Palm to die before I upgrade.

And I discovered that I will be perfectly happy with the 13" Macbook and don't need the 15" (which Mr. GT thought I would).

Oh, and I found the most darling computer case to go along with my new Macbook!!! Want it want it want it.

So there you have it. My shopping plan for October!

I'll get around to posting what I've learned for the month in a day or two.

The 30 Days of A Little Bit

Have you noticed I haven't been here?

Um, yeah. I've been cheating.

Kind of.

Mr. GT thinks I have been cheating.

Well, I have, actually.

Let's see, I've gone out to lunch with a girlfriend, her daughter, my kids and a neighbor kid. It was a mental health date. She and I both needed it. Amazing what a glass of wine can do to make you a better mom! That and an hour with a girlfriend!

I also went out for a glass of wine with the same girlfriend plus one more the next night. More mental health work. My mental health is pretty excellent right now!

I fed my kids at McYuk one night. In my defense, I have been doing a GREAT job making supper every night so we don't have to eat out, making sure we eat lunch at home (or at my mom's!) so we don't have to eat out if we run errands, and cooking with just what we have in the house or the garden. I really haven't bought any extras at the grocery store.

But Rose Bud had a cross country meet and Daisy had piano lessons and Banana Boy had Kindergarten parent night and Sunshine had a doctor appt. all morning and my mom was babysitting. I just didn't get supper made ahead of time for my mom to feed the kids.

So I drove through McYuk. You have to know, though, that I fed all five kids, me and my mom for $7.26! I think that should count for something!

I've had Starbucks twice. But I use my Starbucks card. Once was a total lazy thing--that same day Sunshine had his doctor appointment at 8:30. I never got coffee made before we left. The other time was another mental health prop. Banana Boy and I shared a frappucino over therapy. It makes a great reward for hard work at the therapist!

I went to the grocery store and spent $80. I bought milk, 5 packs of deli ham (on sale 8 oz. for 99 cents!), 6 packs of shredded cheese on sale (hey, I have to have something to work with if I'm going to cook!), yogurt raisins and bagels for Rose Bud's school lunch and some more poo]p treats (hey, the kid poo]ps a lot!). Oh, and ice cream (on sale!) which is a total necessity. Also chicken to donate to the youth fundraiser cooking project thingy and some items to take along with the dinner I brought a wounded friend one night.

In the savings department, I made 4 birthday cards with my long-neglected Stampin' Up supplies and used 2 more birthday cards from my Current stash. Didn't spend any money on birthday cards this month!

I also talked Rose Bud out of ordering cross country sweatpants for $25. She was pretty ok with that.

Back in the spending department, I ordered school pictures for both Rose Bud and Banana Boy, $19 and $27, respectively (BB's package included a yearbook and there was no way to exclude it, hence the extra cost).

Rose Bud spent $4 going to the football game last week.

And I need to order birthday presents for the girls so they arrive in time for Rose Bud's birthday. I could just order hers, but it makes sense to order all of them and take advantage of the free shipping.

Oh, and there was a garage sale. Here's what I got:
2 pair of jeans for Rose Bud
2 pair of plaid cotton pants for RB (these are really cute and some fancy brand she likes)
2 pair of like-new Land's End wind pants for RB
1 pair pajamas for RB
5 pair of pants for Pepper (size 6 slim and she likes them)
1 pair jeans for Daisy (she's a plus size, so she's hard to fit)
3 sweatshirts /fleeces for Daisy
1 new with tags Land's End sweatpants for Daisy
1 top for Daisy
5 Land's End t-shirts for the boys ($1 each, most with tags on)
1 like-new Land's End spring/fall jacket sized for Daisy now, but in red so the boys can wear it eventually (this was FREE--there was no price tag and I asked if she'd just throw it in as a volume discount!)
1 Land's End winter coat with a hole in the sleeve for $2 (will patch hole and use as play coat now for Daisy, later for Pepper and the boys. It's Navy)
1 new-with-tags Land's End winter coat for Daisy $10
a couple of books she threw in
5 little dolls and a bead necklace kit for Pepper--free

Total: $71.25

So there you have it. The ups and downs of my 30 Days of Nothing in the last week.

Only 3 days to go.

I keep thinking, maybe it's silly to not just buy something now that we're only going to run right out and buy Oct. 1 (I have a Target list!), but then I remind myself, it's not just about going without, but more importantly for me, delaying gratification. Yes, I could buy it now, but how about I just WAIT.