12 Days Out of Town

The last three days were spent getting Shannon ready for his trip out of town. His employer wanted him to fly to Kansas City, MO for training. There are other new Property Managers flying out as well. They paid for his airline tickets, rental car, and hotel stay!

Shannon bought a 4 piece luggage set at JC Penney's that was on sale! He wanted professional looking luggage, especially since he's traveling for work. He didn't want to go through the airport and then arrive at the hotel with a huge duffle bag.

I made sure Shannon had clean clothes, while he packed and organized what he needed.

I woke Shannon up at 1 AM this morning. His flight was at 6:30 this morning so he wanted to make sure he got there earlier enough.

The weather was crazy last night. Along with the wind and rain, there is damage in the backyard! It knocked down part of their fence and there are big clumps of dirt all along the fence. There is also debris against the fence from the neighbor's yard.

Frugally Fun

I am so proud of myself! I made my own sugar scrubs and homemade laundry soap! I decided to make my own sugar scrubs because I recently became infatuated with Bath and Body Works and browsing their website. Although it doesn't help that I am on their email list, so they are sending me specials and coupons now. I don't mind it, it's just so tempting

I love using different beauty products (even though I have way too much already). When I have time to pamper and treat myself, I am going to take advantage! I saw some sugar scrubs on the "bath and body" website and that got me thinking about making my own! I love searching online for beauty recipes to try and found many different versions. Thankfully I found a simple recipe that I made with things I already have.

After I made my sugar scrubs, I decided to finally make homemade laundry soap! I found this recipe not too long ago and it looked really simple to make. I liked this version since it uses DRY ingredients, without having to melt or mix it with water and store it in a bucket, etc. The hardest part was grating the soap, it took me so long to do since I did it by hand using a cheese grater! I decided to make it because my skin is experiencing an odd reaction and I am not sure if it's with our current laundry detergent, our bath soap, or just a reaction to the winter weather! I don't think it's our bath soap because I recently switched brands and I have used this brand in the past and never had a problem.

Regardless, I love going natural, going green, and saving money whenever I can! Overall, both recipes were really easy to make. Grating the soap was the only "un-fun" part of it.

3 Days Home

Shannon came home last night. He has 3 days off and then he'll have to fly out to Kansas City and stay there for two weeks (instead of one) for training. A few hours after he got home, he received a call from the President of the company he works for asking if he can train for two weeks in Kansas City. Thankfully Shannon and I can communicate via email while he is away from home.

Meanwhile, I found an apartment complex that I like. Hopefully we'll have time to see it in early February and then decide whether or not to apply. We want to move out there as soon as we can, that way we won't have to be apart for so long.

I will be inquiring about getting Kyle enrolled into the new school district and ask about the process. So far, Kyle seems to love school! He looks comfortable going into the school and in his classroom.

To the Mall We Go

My MIL had a 3 hour shift to cover as a volunteer for the Artist Guild here in our city. My in-laws belong to the Artist Guild and they are asked to volunteer in the gallery. The gallery is located in the mall. She asked if Kyle and I would like to go and just hang out at the mall while she is working. They have a place where they have 3 different bouncy houses and she wanted to see if Kyle would like bouncing in them. It turns out, he didn't. I even got in with him and bounced a few times. He got the idea of the bouncing part, but he wasn't having any fun. After that, he pretty much whined and cried the entire time. He did calm down near the end and was even running around and jumping as usual.

In between his whining and crying, I walked through the department stores. The only other store I did stop in was Bath & Body Works. I bought 3 lotions and 3 lip glosses! While in there, I noticed that most of their products don't even has prices on them, which is really sneaky. The lotions I bought were actually marked at $4, so that's why I bought them. They had several signs that said "buy 3 get 1 free" or even "buy 4 and get 2 free" or something like that.

I think the 3 hours wouldn't have been so bad if the mall was bigger and offered better stores. The mall here is really lame, plus they don't even have a food court! Their "food court" is an IHOP and some other place I have never heard of that offers southern-friendly food. YUCK! I entertained Kyle with the little waterfalls they have in the center of the mall. I also brought snacks and juice boxes, which I am glad I did!

When we got home, we all ate because we were so hungry! I am exhausted and I hope Kyle goes to bed early tonight.

First Day of a New Job

Today is Shannon's first day of work with a new job! He was out the door right at 6 AM! He had packed his bag the night before.

Today was also my first full day of watching Kyle. It sure has been awhile. I think I will have to let Kyle play outside tomorrow because he got pretty antsy today. If the weather permits, he will play outside! I may even take him for a walk. Kyle is doing better with eating. He ate a good breakfast of cereal, had a corn dog for lunch, and tuna helper for dinner. I am making an effort to offer him milk and juice at each meal.

Shannon is hoping we can move as early as mid-February! We're open to renting a house or an apartment. Since I found his job on craigslist, we are looking on craigslist for rentals. We are aware of the many "scams" on craigslist, so we're being careful and cautious.

Booster Seat Time

Ever since Kyle started Preschool, it made me realize that perhaps it's time for him to be in a booster seat! When we go to pick him up from school, they have it set up like a drive-thru at a fast food restaurant! It's actually kind of funny how it works. I guess we never realized the process until we had to start doing this. Each car pulls up and lines up in a long line in the parking lot and the teacher(s) walks each child up to the car [in the front of the line] and help him/her into the car. The kids just jump in and seem to sit down in their booster seat on their own. We're not sure if they buckle themselves but the parents just drive off after that. However, when it comes to our turn, we have to buckle Kyle in because he's still in a car seat. It's a little awkward because we end up holding up the line because we have to strap Kyle in and adjust the seat belt, etc. The other parents aren't complaining, I am sure they want each child to be safe, but it's just time consuming for everyone!

For the last few weeks, I have been telling Shannon that we should get a booster seat for Kyle. He's been putting it off saying he still fits in his car seat. Well, today, Shannon finally saw that Kyle has outgrown the car seat! Shannon had to move Kyle's car seat out of our car and install it in his Mom's car (since Shannon is going out of town to start work). Shannon said he saw on the side of Kyle's car seat it says: up to 35 lbs. Whoops! Shannon finally gave me the "go ahead" to buy a booster seat online!

I found a booster seat that was very affordable and will adjust with Kyle's growth! This should be much easier to buckle him in.

Getting ready for New Job

Shannon has spent the last few days getting ready to start his new job on Monday! Yesterday, he went to JC Penney's and bought "business casual pants" and polo shirts, all in neutral colors. He also bought work shoes and a belt. Today, we went to Walmart and bought groceries for Kyle and myself. I also bought toiletries to pack for Shannon, since he wouldn't think of those to pack. I had to buy him a travel soap container, lotion for men (for face and body), and travel size shampoo. He picked out a laptop shoulder bag for when he travels. We didn't need soap since we still have plenty of soap left from when we bought a 16 pack of soap from BJ's Warehouse! LOL Which reminds me of the following commercial:



Shannon is due to start work on Monday at 8:30 AM, which means he will be leaving at 6 AM. The job location is about an hour and a half away. He wants to leave early, just in case. He doesn't want to be late on his first day!

As for groceries, I planned out Kyle friendly food choices. Plus, I am a little rusty on feeding Kyle on a daily basis since I was working so much. Hopefully Kyle will like them, or at least try them. This week he likes corn dogs so we bought more of those. He also likes broccoli, which is another surprise! He'll eat both the stem and floret. I also bought a variety of breakfast foods, such as bagels, yogurt, and frozen blueberries (to add to yogurt). I picked up a few packages of Uncle Ben's rice that come in the pouch, I have never tried them but they look good (plus I had a coupon). I had coupons for a few other things, so I bought some food items that we haven't tried yet.

Back in November, I bought Kyle 2 pairs of slippers. When I tried to put them on, he didn't like them on his feet and he quickly took them off. Well, 2 months later, I finally put a pair on his feet and he didn't take them off!!! He seems to like them too!