Category: Life

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Not Yo Mama’s Strollers

Folks, having a baby is expensive. We all know that. Not just the birthing part – but the cost of all the gear and clothing and supplies you need adds up really fast. Plus, the little rascals outgrow all those clothes really fast.

I wanted to buy a stroller for my friend, Jenny’s, baby shower next month. I thought that I might find something nice for about $40 or $50. So I started shopping on Ebay to see if there were any good deals or if shipping would make that impractical. Holy smokes! The strollers on Ebay are running $250 – $400 dollars!!!

For those of us not plugged into the baby scene, the idea of buying a stroller to push your kid around the park or mall has become buying a “Travel System.” These systems have car seats, permanent anchor bases for the car and convertible stroller frames with deep recessed cup holders, a cargo basket, removable washable covers and pads, front wheel shocks and all kinds of engineered mechanics for easy collapsing and assembly.

I’m suffering from sticker shock and making sure to refill my birth control pills for another 3- 5 year supply.

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Ants!

There were ants all over my computer desk this morning. I couldn’t understand it, because I do not eat or leave food anywhere near my computer. I have stacks and stacks of papers, but nothing sweet to attract ants. But there were dozens of them swarming all over my desk and as soon as I sat down, they started crawling up my arms and biting my hands and arms and some of them even got up on my neck.

Sorry to admit that I was freaking out. They were not army ants or anything big and fierce, but dang! Those little black “seed ants” can bite, too. I figured out that they were attracted to a little terrarium that my nephew had put next to my printer. He had filled a little plastic jar with dirt and bugs and worms that he found outside last weekend. I thought he took it home with him, but turns out that he left it on the corner of my desk and it sat there unnoticed all week.

I guess the bugs or worms started to die and decompose and attract the ants. It didn’t smell bad to me, but I’m sure that ants have a much greater sense of smell, as they were all over it. I knocked it over into a plastic bag and took it out to the dumpster. But the remaining ants fought back, swarming all over. So I had to spray my desk area with bug spray to kill them and it stinks of bug spray. But it sure did kill those ants.

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Going to the Lake!

This looks like it is going to be the first really nice weather weekend we’ve had all spring. In fact, it is like summer now!It was in the 80’s yesterday and it is supposed to be the same again today.

So my sister and I are going to take her son to the Lake and put a blanket out on the sand to watch him play. There is a really nice public beach just 5 minutes from my house, with a huge sand beach, a nice playground with slides and swings, and a bath house with indoor toilets and sinks and private changing rooms. It is all free except for the parking fee.

The State charges $5 per car for daily parking, but I found out that if you buy a season pass, you only pay $35 dollars for unlimited parking all year. The parking fees go directly to the State fund for taking care of the parks, so I don’t mind contributing to that, since I use it a lot.

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Strange Cartoons

Last night I spent a few minutes at my neighbors house. Her 3 year old was watching cartoons on the TV in the living while we visited. I couldn’t help but notice some of the cartoon dialogue.

I have to say that these cartoons are a little strange and it bothers me that children are watching them. I don’t see why cartoons for small children should have any reference to college age pranks, like panty raids. In my opinion, this is not appropriate for young children to hear and how would children even know what a panty raid is? Too strange and very disconcerting.

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Bargain Bin Movies

At Wal-Mart there was a big bin of movies priced at $5 each, so I took a look. There were a bunch of titles of movies there were big hits in the 1980’s and 1990’s. I thought it might be good to pick up a few kids movies and a couple sci-fi movies to have onhand in case of a rainy weekend. for $5 each, it was easy to find several and not spend very cash.

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No Chess

Most of the games that I play are on the computer and online, but I decided that it would be nice to have a chess set in the house. So at WalMart I looked in the toy section and even with 12 aisles of toys and games, I could not find a chess set. I guess WalMart does not attract the smart people who like to play chess and other intellectual games.

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Brush and Floss

My teeth are not the strongest, thanks to something in my DNA. Both of my parents are British, so I think I was doomed to have bad English teeth. It’s not a myth – it’s real.

My dentists over the years have tried every approach to get me to brush my teeth regularly and floss. I have resisted just about all their efforts throughout my childhood. But now that I am older and realize that healthy teeth are an important part of a nice appearance, and are important to overall health, I am actually trying to take better care of my teeth and gums. I do brush twice a day and I do floss every night. I hope it’s not too late to keep my smile.

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Having the Talk

There has never been a good outcome for me when someone (whether friend, family, co-worker, or boss) has told me, “We need to talk.” When I hear that I want to run right home, crawl into bed and pull the covers up over my head!

My mother had a unique way of bringing up a problem. She would say, “I have a bone to pick with you.”

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Critters Today

What a day!

This morning as I went to get in the car and go to work, I stepped off my porch step and over (thank GOD!) a snake. It was about two feet long and was just laying across the bottom step. I thought it was a stick at first, but then it moved. I about had a heart attack! It was a black snake, so it was not a venomous type of snake, but it still startled me!

Then I came home at lunch and found a big brown rabbit in my front yard. He hopped away as I got out of the car. I wonder if he will come back after I leave? I wonder if the snake has high hopes of catching that rabbit and feasting on that big bunny?

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Monthly Duties

There’s a lot of things that I have to do every month. Maybe not all on the first day of the month, but the first day is a good reminder to get started on them. Some duties can be scheduled but others depend on receiving things in the mail before you can start on them.

Water the cactus
Get a mani/pedi
Hair cut and color
Balance the checkbook
Change the air filter in the furnace
Change the oil in the car
Pay bills
Toss last month’s magazines
Heartworm pill for my dog