My aching head!

Lately, I've been getting some pretty bad headaches. I've never had a migraine. However, I'm wondering if these headaches might be considered something like that.

I think more than likely they are allergy related and for some reason our house has either gotten dusty or moldy and my head is paying for it!

It could be that we have a new heater that has a humidifier. This is great and all --- but it also makes mold build on the window sills faster and each day you can wipe the windows and get black on the towel!

We want a new TV!

There's really nothing wrong with the televisions we have except we want bigger and better. More than likely when/if we remodel we'll make the upstairs (new room) our family room and get a nice big screen television and home theatre system!

Of course, we'll also have to be in the market for tv stands too. Our local vendors don't have a very good selection so I'm guessing we might have to find a good vendor on the internet.

Oh man...

Shawna has this mad idea that she's not going to shave her legs til the third trimester of her pregnancy. Of course, she's at the second trimester now and I must admit...it's getting pretty wooley!

I can only imagine what would happen if she had a gold anklet! I think it'd probably get lost in the mass of leghair and it'd be gone forever!

We should really look into..

making our air better with air purifiers!

We looked a few years ago and didn't know where to start because there are so many different options. Plus, we weren't sure where in our house we'd put it since we have a pretty small house and they tend to take up a lot of room.

Maybe we can get a good deal on one and order it before spring time and the baby gets here!

I'm so fat.

I'm starting to realize that I'm on the pregnancy diet too. Of course, Shawna's the one that's pregnant this time and even she has only gained a few pounds over the past 16 weeks!

I keep saying that I've got to do something about my weight but maybe I should look into seeing a lap-band doctor. JourneyLite.com offers a great and less evasive way to lose weight than the typical banding procedures.

They have offices in a few of the big cities out there and I'm sure that I'd be a pretty good candidate for the surgery.

This post sponsored by: JourneyLite.com

Happy Monday!

Okay, not really.

Our non-productive weekend started with us purchasing Super Mario Galaxy Friday night. We played a little bit and went to bed.

Then Saturday came around and we ran some errands, did some shopping, and came home and played more Mario and watched television.

Fast forward to yesterday. Sunday we literally didn't do a thing. Graem stayed in her pajamas all day and we watched many episodes of Tom and Jerry, played more video games, and caught up on Weeds.

Of course, this morning I'm back in reality and realize that I probably should have put a few hours in at work.

Crap.

Las Vegas!

I'm not sure we'll get a chance to check out Las Vegas again but I was quite impressed at all of the hotels in Las Vegas when we visited a few summers ago!

Some of them had so much decor it was a little overwhelming! Of course, I wish we were able to enjoy the fine dining a little bit more.

Next time, we're going to have to check it out without kids in tow!

Watch me!

I've never been one to wear watches. I had one that my father bought me while we were vacationing in the Carribbean, but I have no idea where it is or if it still works.

I am starting to realize that I need to increase my look a little bit and look a little bit more professional. With that I'm thinking about dressing nicer and maybe adding a little jewelry to my wardrobe!

I especially like Franck Muller watches. They are sophisticated and might be the style that completes my look.

A day of rest...

Well, today has been a funfilled day! We went first to the mall to finish up all of the Christmas shopping we had to do.

Then we went to the commons to check out the ice sculptures and some good food!

Graem woke up way too early this morning and she's been a major crab this whole afternoon.

Of course, it's 4:00pm now and instead of giving her a nap we're all just hanging out in front of the television playing Mario.

I love a good auction!

A few years ago when we were looking for a mortgage for our house we did tons of legwork and spent so much time trying to get the best deal.

I wish we would have known about NameYourLoan.com, America's 1st Online Mortgage Auction!

I love a good auction and it seems like it would cut to the chase and allow all of the companies to come together and work for your business. Not only would this have saved us a lot of time - it could have saved us a lot of money too!


Check out this press release for more information:

NameYourLoan.com Diversifies Current Lending Environment for Borrowers with New Approach to Online Mortgage Loans.

New online mortgage auction site, NameYourLoan.com, has revolutionized the way borrowers obtain mortgage loans online. As a unique and creative online community, borrowers can easily connect with the best mortgage lenders while lenders benefit from a wealth of real time mortgage leads and opportunities for business growth.

(PRWEB) – In today’s tough lending environment, littered with deceitful lenders and cunning tactics, it’s high time for a revolutionary tool that can empower borrowers yet still benefit lenders. NameYourLoan.com has answered the need with the launch of a new online mortgage auction site designed to give consumers access to an increasing mortgage lenders network to ultimately obtain great online mortgage loans.
“For centuries, auctions have been the most efficient and effective way to get the best deals in everything,” says Al Salahi, President and CEO of NameYourLoan.com. “Why not have auctions for all mortgage loan types?”
NameYourLoan.com is an online community where borrowers can easily connect with the best mortgage lenders. Lenders compete with one another in an online auction to win the borrower’s business. As numerous lenders submit loan offers, the site enables consumers to see “apples to apples”, compare mortgage interest rates and achieve the lowest rate mortgage online such as the best home equity loan rate or home refinance loan.
The site’s sophisticated computer system compiles and calculates all the information submitted by lenders (interest rates, points, fees, terms, etc.) and then ranks loan offers, based on their true worth relative to the borrower’s stated preferences (lowest rate, lowest fees or best combination of rates and fees). This simplified process gives borrowers a coherent presentation of information without having to do the math themselves.
Unlike other online mortgage comparison shopping services, only those lenders who come out at the top of the auction with the lowest interest rates and fees get a chance at the borrower’s business. Moreover, borrowers can invite their friend or relative lender to participate in the borrower’s auction quickly and without cost. Lenders who refuse to participate are most likely high priced and not the best mortgage lenders.
“Through advanced technology, we are starting to make haggling and deceptive lending tactics a thing of the past,” explains Salahi. “At the same time, we are transforming a generally stressful and complicated process into a very pleasant and easy experience for borrowers. Our multiple bid auction format, coupled with constant consumer feedback, will make it easy for us to weed out dishonest lenders—and hopefully put them out of business!”
Use of NameYourLoan.com is completely free for borrowers. Borrowers are under no obligation to accept any of the online mortgage loans offered in the auction. To protect against identity theft and fraud, site users are never asked for sensitive information, and lenders that receive multiple consumer complaints will be barred from future auctions.
For more information, visit NameYourLoan.com.
About NameYourLoan.com:
NameYourLoan.com is the world’s first online mortgage auction, designed to advance the lending process by helping honest and competitive lenders grow their business, and at the same time, make it possible for borrowers to instantaneously reach multiple lenders and receive competitive loan offers online, in an auction format. NameYourLoan.com uses a patent-pending concept powered by sophisticated proprietary software that has been developed by a number of technology heavyweights from the Fortune 500 arena.

This post sponsored by: NameYourLoan.com

A little bit here...little bit there.

So I'm looking out of my window and I'm really trying to work. However, I just want to be in my warm house, in my pajamas watching television and hanging out with the girls!

I keep hoping that the snow picks up a bit so that I can head home!

Of course, I would have to shovel the driveway and do laundry.

Maybe work isn't too bad afterall!

Show me the silver!

One thing that never loses it’s value is us silver coins! Even when our stocks are floundering you can always look to silver, gold, and precious metals to maintain their value.

Monex Deposit Company offers silver, gold, and other precious metals for delivery or they will make arrangements to have your metals stored privately and securely at a bank or depository.

I didn’t realize this but Monex Deposit Company (MDC) is an industry leader. They sell gold in two forms: coin or ingot. The world demand now exceeds the supply demand for gold - which makes it a pretty smart investment.

Especially with the economy doing so poorly and people losing all of their investments with the stock market!

Brrr.

Well, winter has hit full force. I can't believe the past few days have brought on so much snow! In fact, just a day ago I was raking up leaves and now we have close to a foot of snow on the ground and due to get another 6 inches or so this evening.

I was able to get into work pretty easily and there wasn't too much ice on the ground.

I don't think Shawna realized how snowy it was until she got the call this morning that her doctor's appointment at 1:00pm had been cancelled!

This might be perfect for me!

I must admit that I haven't been up for scary movies in the past. In part because I don't want Graem to get the same scared reaction as myself and I really don't want her to watch them.

However, I just looked at the Sweeney Tood movie site and I can say that it looks like a thriller that I can actually tolerate and probably enjoy!

I'm happy to see that Johnny Depp is at it again. He's a great actor and always pulls off any role that he is in. Most recently I enjoyed him in Willy Wonka and he was just as scary as Gene Wilder in the original movie!

He also did a good job in Pirates of the Carribean. His acting made the movie what it is today! In fact, it's lead to the huge success and many sequels too!

I'm sure he'll do a perfect job in the Sweeney Todd Movie and make it a chartbuster you just can't miss!

If interested... visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site


I've never been much of a myspacer myself (I'm addicted to Facebook) but you can now visit Sweeney Todd on MySpace!

I'm all about making friends on Facebook and I'm guessing it's equally intoxicating to find friends on MySpace!

We have heat!

So I know last week I was bitching about us having heat. Last night Shawna's parents called cause they were under the assumption that since we hadn't posted about our heating situation --- we still weren't heated!

Well, I'm happy to let you know that we are fully heated. Of course, the installers are total dumbasses and haven't quite finished the job.

They've come out 4 times now and still not been able to finish a job that should have taken two days. However, they have promised that they will have it totally finished and up and running by FRIDAY!

Help!

We all need a little help sometimes.

I remember when Shawna and I first started living together and I was in school. To say the least...we were poor!

At one point we were even going around and collecting cans to pay for our next meal!

I don't remember seeing much about payday loans but now it seems like they are the "in" thing that people are doing to get by.

There's now a place that offers Faxless Payday Loans!

PayDayLoanQuotes.com offers an easy to use website that specializes in making payday loans easy and convienant.

This post sponsored by: PayDayLoanQuotes.com

1/2 way through...

I don't know how I'm going to be able to get through the next 7 months!

Things at work have been pretty hectic and the deadlines are never ending. When I told my boss about Shawna being pregnant and told her I wanted to take 8 weeks maternity leave - she mentioned that I'd have to save my vacation and not take time leading up to the baby's arrival!

So, it looks like I'll just have to endure and pray to god that I don't burn out before then.

I think it's all about pacing myself and just not overdoing it on any one project. Of course, with that said...I'll still make sure that things are done good and the job gets finished on time!

Traveling?

I can honestly say that we're probably not going to travel for a while! We might go to New York for Christmas but that's only if we can find a place for the dog to stay.

We've thought about breaking the trip up and actually finding Hotel Reservations half way - maybe in Scranton.

We've checked out HotelReservations.com before and the website was easy to use and they really did have some great prices and good specials.

This post sponsored by:

MOES.

Today I noticed that my boss had put out a card for a free lunch at the new restaurant Moes. So since I'm all about free lunch I called Shawna and asked if she wanted to come down and go for lunch, my treat.

We actually ended up going with some work friends too who wanted to hook up with a free meal!

I got the nachos and although the queso was good there was hardly any meat on the nachos and the bottom nachos were just chips because they didn't put enough toppings.

Shawna got the burrito and it was pretty good.

But how can you screw up a burrito?

All in all...I'm glad it was a free meal. However, I don't think we'll be going back. How in the hell can they charge $6 for a burrito or nachos?? We all know that it takes just pennies to make these crappy foods!

Our almost three year old!

I can't believe I wrote that. Graem's birthday is in almost a month and we haven't even started to think about what we're going to do to celebrate.

More than likely we'll do cupcakes at school and also have a small party for her. I should probably get some kids party invitations and get them out since her birthday is around the holidays and I want to make sure that people mark their calendars.

I'm guessing that Graem is going to want to go with a Backyardigans theme this year!

This little light of mine...

At some point we're going to have to get a few more lights for our house. We've had a few table lamps break on us and I'm tired of getting cheap lighting that breaks! So I think we might check out the lighting stores available both online and locally.

I'm guessing that the quality of their lamps are top notch and they'll probably last longer than our cheapie target ones!

I've never been one to...

use tons of products. However, I'm starting to realize that my skin is having a hard time battling the brutal upstate New York winters. One solution that I've looked into is Jane Iredale cosmetics and products.

Lately, my eczema has been making my face rash out including my nostrils and around my lips. Maybe I can find something that will help make it less noticeable.

The time has come...

for us to look into getting some new luggage! A few months ago I saw a great piece of Samsonite that was pretty reasonably priced. However, I've heard that travelpro is also a good brand too.

We just want something that's easy to use, lasts through tons of traveling, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

You got to keep in mind...the less we spend on luggage...the more we can spend on traveling!

We need more dinero.

So, I'm looked at our checking account this morning and realized we are broke! Merry Christmas, right??

I think we're going to have to figure out how to get more money! Shawna's been subbing and we have some money coming in from that and doing some computer work. However, with us now having to pay for a new heater and then some Christmas gifts.

Eek!

Can I be excited...

about our new furnace? I mean, there are many other things that I'd rather spend $5,000 on - including saving it for maternity leave. However, I'm excited that we might actually be warm in our bedroom and I'm also excited about the humidifier option and the possibility of having some decent gas bills this winter.

Oh, the joys of being a homeowner.

I'm so ready to go back to renting. That way when something breaks or craps out we can just make one call to the landlord!

MONDAY.

I hate you, Monday. It seems like after every weekend I have the hardest time getting to bed Sunday. Perhaps it's that I just don't want Monday to come. Or maybe it's because my mind is racing through all of the things I'm going to have to get done Monday.

This weekend was pretty productive. We ended up cleaning the house Sunday and Saturday we went out ran errands, and had a good time at the Farmer's Market.

It seems like the days are going so fast. I don't want to be at work and by the time I get home at 5:30pm it's pitch black and I can't even take Graem outside.

I guess I shouldn't complain because in a few more days it's going to be snowing outside!

We *heart* New York!

Of course, since I was born and raised there I have a passion for New York and the great things it has to offer. Sometimes it makes me sad that Graem will never get to experience the many things that I took for granted when I was a kid.

That's why we feel like when we go to the city to visit my dad or brother that we have to make the most of it and go to all of the museums, plays, and shopping that we can fit in during our visit.

During the holidays they are now offering a New York CityPass. The CityPass is offered at a price of $65 for adults and $49 for youth. The pass allows you to go to all of the great museums and includes a pass to the top of the Empire State Building! Plus, MOMA, Museum of Natural History (we went to that a few months ago), and the Guggenheim.

All together the price for these tickets would be around $130 - so you can see the great savings.

This is a great gift for anyone that you might know that is visiting the city or even someone that lives in the city but might not take advantage of all of the great arts and entertainment.

The great thing about these museums is that they are HUGE and there's no way that you can full see one of them in less than a day! Plus, they constantly have new shows and are always changing. So even though you might have visited the museum a year ago --- I'm sure it has a new exhibit or has added new features.

This evening's plans.

Well, it looks like Shawna might pick me up after work then we're going to go pick Grammy up at school. I love picking up that kid because she get so excited. She loves seeing both of us too!

I think we might go for Vietnamese tonight. WE weren't planning on eating out. However, Shawna had a harsh day subbing, I had a rough day at work, and we didn't thaw anything out.

Plus, it's Thursday and we're all friggin' exhausted!

I know...

I'm totally a spoiled brat when it comes to appliances. At least I admit it, right?

Just a few years ago we looked at Maytag Dryers. Our old dryer worked fine but it was making our clothes smell like mold and baby barf.

We looked online for reviews of Whirlpool and Maytag washing machines. We really couldn't find a great website with opinions or customer reviews. We even went to consumer reports website and we've trusted their opinions for years. Who would have thought that a website would be able to charge you to see a review?

Now, I wish we would have known about krillion.com. They offer reviews of thousands of different appliances and it's easy to use and search. They also have information on how to order the specific machine if you are interested!

I love a place that offers one-stop-shop.

I guess that goes back to me being a spoiled brat!

Is Friday here???

God I can't believe it's almost a weekend. I think I'm going to try to get some geocaching in this weekend. I know a time will come (maybe next weekend!) when it's going to be snowy out and I won't be able to get outside.

Plus, I need to do some yard work. We have about 20 million leaves outside that need to be raked up and I need to prune some of the peonies.

Tomorrow should go by fast since we have our midwife appointment at 2:00 and that will probably take an hour or so.

YAH FOR A WEEKEND!

Everynight...

I make sure to spend time with Graem teaching her letters and sounds. We try to do it in a fun way and typically that involves spongy letters and the bathtub. She's doing a great job and just the other night was able to read "hot dog".

At some point we might be interested in hiring Reading Tutors to help her out.

Score Learning Centers offer trained tutors to help your kids.

This post sponsored by: Score Learning Centers

2 more weeks and over the hump.

I'm talking about the pregnancy hump! I can't believe that we'll be out of the first trimestr and into the second.

WOW.

Despite all of the early complications things have actually gone pretty fast. We were lying in bed last night and Shawna mentioned that Thanksgiving was in two weeks.

I really can't believe it.

So far we've made plans to leave Wednesday afternoon and go to New York City and spend Thanksgiving with my family. Of course, I'm leaving my brother and his girlfriend in charge of getting everything together.

That could be dangerous.

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Check it out!

This stuff rocks!

At some point...

Graem's not going to want me to teach her.

Every night we've been doing letters in the bathtub and she loves it. She looks forward to bathtime and I think she really appreciates learning.

When she gets older we might look into getting her an Innovative Tutor from Score Learning Centers.

They offer tutoring services for kids 4-14 and are the professionals in the area of learning.

Now we just have to look online to see if they have a Score Learning Center in our area.

This post sponsored by: Score Learning Center

Great weather...

I don't want to jinx things...but I really can't believe what great weather we've had. Sure, it's cold but that's nothing and I can always wear a jacket for that.

It's been sunny and beautiful! Of course, I know that anyday can bring a blizzard and we can end up with 8 feet of snow outside of our door.

But for now, I'm just going to take advantage of it and enjoy the time I have with my sun!

We need a garage first...

My dad has a garage that he spends tons of time in. Of course, I think he loves to tinker and I'd probably do the same thing if I had a garage!

However, I'd want to organize my tools and make it my little "haven". I'd want to install garage cabinets so that everything can have a place and I can find everything easily.

CarGuyGarage.com offers just about everything to organize and have a sweet garage. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can find something for my dad for Christmas! That's been nearly impossible each year.

This post sponsored by: CarGuyGarage.com

Sick kid...again.

Well, it looks like G's cold has gotten worse over the weekend. I swear this poor kid always has something going on. Of course, when she gets sick the asthma kicks in full gear and she sounds horrible.

She was going to go to school this morning, but instead, Shawna's going to keep her at home and take her to the doctor.

I think at this point we're going to push for her to get on some antibiotics.

Poor kid.

Maybe I should...

go back to school. In my profession they offer a Masters program in Landscape Architecture but I'm not sure I'd benefit from it unless I wanted to teach college or university.

In most cases getting a higher education means going to classes during the day, staying up late at night working on assignments, and no income while attending school.

That's not the case any longer! capella university makes it easy to get your online phd while working full time. You can attend their online university and they have many different degree programs that you can enroll in.

They have a great blog where you can see the ongoings and get a feel for what college life would be like for you.

In fact, I have a few friends that are attending online schools and it's fitting in perfectly with their day to day routines - including a full time job!

I can't believe...

we're already at 10 weeks! This weekend we had a bit of a scare. All of a sudden Saturday morning Shawna woke up and had bright red blood. We both freaked out a little...but it wasn't tons and we figured it could have just been from her cervix.

Sure enough, she went to the Re's office and they did a check up. Things look good and the baby was doing well. Shawna's cervix was nice and long and everything looked pretty good!

So, I guess it's just one of those flukey things that we'll have to get used to.

Our smart girl.

Every night I play with Graem in the bathtub and we go over letters. She's really doing good and she gets excited when it comes to learning.

I'm sure she'd love Math Tutors that specialize in teaching.

Score Learning Centers are designed to tutor kids 4-14 and located in many big cities. I'm sure she'd love to learn about math and it'd be good for her to learn from someone besides me!

This post sponsored by: Score Learning Centers

Oh Monday.

Well, we had a fun filled weekend. Saturday Graem and me met up with Dobbs and his moms and we went geocaching at the Cayuga Nature Center. We were able to find two good caches.

Then we went to The Pines and got burgers. Shawna wasn't feeling very good so she stayed home and rested.

Yesterday we went to "The Bee Movie" and then over to Jen and Terry's for delicious chili. I was also able to get out and mow the yard.

Boy, it's a bum deal that when I come home now that it will be dark outside.

Need a good dealer?

I'm talking about a coin dealer of course!

One thing that never loses it’s value is gold coins and other precious metals! Even when our stocks are floundering you can always look to silver, gold, and precious metals to maintain their value.

Monex Deposit Company offers silver, gold, and other precious metals for delivery or they will make arrangements to have your metals stored privately and securely at a bank or depository.

I didn’t realize this but Monex Deposit Company (MDC) is an industry leader. They sell gold in two forms: coin or ingot. The world demand now exceeds the supply demand for gold - which makes it a pretty smart investment.

Especially with the economy doing so poorly and people losing all of their investments with the stock market!

When it rains...

aside from the damn bathroom that is falling apart I get a call from Shawna that our furnace needs to be replaced. Supposedly, we have two cracks in the exchanger. Of course, that means that if we turn on the furnace it will release horrible gasses into our house that could cause us to go dumb.

Or something like that.

Now, it looks like we're going to have to pull $4,000 out of our asses to pay for this damn furnace.

I'm ready to move.

Go to the best!

My dad is a plastic surgeon so I've heard horror stories of people who have gone the cheap route or to someone they didn't quite trust and had bad work done.

In fact, my dad has a whole scrapbook of people who have received bad care and needed to be "fixed".

First of all a place needs to be reputable and have references. I think if you're looking to have any medical care you should be confident in the place you're having the procedure and equally impressed with the doctor.

The Times has rave reviews about MYA Plastic Surgery in the United Kingdom.

Plastic surgery is one of those things that you don't want to cheap out on and you only want to go to the best for your care! God knows if you do try to take short cuts you could have to pay for it later and it might be something that is damaged for life.

This post sponsored by: Mya.co.uk

YIkes.

We are totally strapped for cash these days. I just got a call from Shawna that the fertility center wants her to do another one of the $1,400 transfusions again. Last time I tried to get it paid for within the month so that we didn't have to pay interest on it...

Now, it seems like it's snuck up on us again and it's a lot of money!

I know we should just do it without thinking twice at least I'll be getting back a nice chunk for our taxes and most all of it is tax deductible.

Cop friend.

We have a new friend who is a cop and I must say that it's quite interesting when we hang out. I'm always afraid that I'm going to say something against the law and admit to speeding or doing something bad!

Of course, I seem to be more sensored and just know that Shawna's going to open her trap and talk about egging houses as a kid, or something else that she did in her terror years.

I'm sure our friend has 5.11 Tactical gear. She's a park police right now but they really handle just about everything including park incidents and they get calls for the local area - which includes our area.

511TacticalOutdoors.com offers some great gear for police who are in the field. When it comes down to it ... in this line of work. You only want the best out there with you.

This post sponsored by: 511TacticalOutdoors.com

WTF?

was I thinking by not coming in this weekend to work? Last weekend although we had quite a few appointments I was still able to get in forty hours.

This weekend I don't have any appointments scheduled except maybe a haircut appointment and I can see some overtime in my near future.

The harsh part about this is that it's dog work and I'm sure that a full 40+ hours of dog work is going to make me a major bitch by Friday!

Viva!

I'm not sure I would mind going to Vegas again. The first and second time we went it was for infertility treatments and it really wasn't that much of a getaway because we were pretty stressed out - plus we brought Graem with us!

I think it'd be a great place to go and do the nice dinners and go to the shows. Since I'm not into the gambling thing I'd more than likely choose not to waste my money at the casinos!

The shopping at the outlet malls wasn't too bad either. We were able to get some good deals!

Golf carts!

When we used to go golfing I used to have a great time driving the golf cart. God knows, I couldn't golf to save my life! So I was surprised to see half of the carts sitting on the side.

When asked what was wrong the guy replied

"we are having a hard time looking for golf cart parts!"

Being that we're so isolated I think it's pretty hard to be able to go to one store and buy locally. That's why I'm glad that we now have access to online stores and shops and are able to buy and compare stores in order to get the best deals!

Graem's pictures!

This morning I picked up Graem's pictures from school. They are so cute and she's smiling in all of them! Of course, this makes it pretty hard to select the cutest ones to keep!

This would actually be the perfect gift for Grandpa and Uncle Dennis. Maybe I'll just get some nice frames for their desks and call it a day!

Good times.

We're always looking for good weekend trips. Lately, we've been staying close to home because we've been pretty broke - plus we've been somewhat leary of Shawna's pregnancy and not wanted to venture too far.

One thing that's really caught our eye is St. Augustine shopping. On the last Saturday of October and November or October 27th and November 24th the city becomes a wonderland for shopping, adventure, music, and train tours.

All of the participating stores offer goodies including wine and and refreshments and you walk from shop to shop.

This is a great idea for those who are looking to do their Christmas or holiday shopping and don't want to spend a long time doing it.

You might want to head out one Saturday night with an idea of what to get your loved ones. By the end of the night you are sure to find something for the whole family.

GetAway4Florida.com offers a great website and useful information on how to have a nice Florida get away. The great thing for northerners that are interested in getting away is that Florida has great weather year round!

Plus, you can get to Florida on less than a $200 round trip ticket and it's a nice weekend getaway!

Of course, you might not want to do this on a snowy weekend because God knows they love to close the airports down these days over anything and then you'd be stuck in Florida. (Poor thing!)

Monday.

I'm so sick and tired of our house.

This weekend our windows became so fragile that as I was putting in the damn storm windows I almost had one break in my hand. So I went to Lowes to get this caulk and materials to try to remake the windows. Hopefully, that will hold them through the season.

As I'm doing that the rednecks down the street are riding their four wheelers up and down the street...but get this, they are using a truck and a rope to pull the four wheeler in order to get it started.

This morning I think we have something funky going on with our septic and Shawna's going to call out the septic guy to take a look.

Ugh. I'm ready to move.

More website traffic?

We're constantly looking for ways to increase traffic to our websites. It's amazing how much a pregnancy or the announcement of a birth will send ratings through the roof!

However, not everyone has that option or the drama that we have in our lives!

We've even looked at getting more website traffic by purchasing advertising and links on some of the bigger search engines such as google.

Since we blog a lot and page rank is everything it's important to be one of the first websites that comes up when someone does a search on something.

Since our websites deal with infertility, babies, and gay parenting we'd love to be one of the first links that someone finds when looking for specifics.

If you're looking for more website traffic you might be interested in ThinkBigSites.com.

They have been around for a while and they're starting to get a good reputation on the internet for helping the "little guy".

They offer a search engine where you can purchase spots and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

In order for us to even consider doing advertising on one of the big search engines we'd have to put out quite a bit of money --- which, very honestly, we don't want to do!

Maybe we should just -- THINK BIG!

Nice rack!

Boy, do I miss my truck. I admit that I probably should have never bought domestic and the reason why I don't have a truck now is that the Dodge was about to bite the bullet even though it didn't have more than 15,000 miles on it!

I've been drooling over my bosses truck - a Toyota Tacoma for some time. It has four doors and perfect for a family and someone who might have to go to contruction sites like me.

Of course, I'd want all of the trim on it including a truck rack.

Isn't it funny that the whole time we were renting I had a truck and then a month after we moved into our house I sold the truck and ended up getting the X-Terra? What were we thinking?

It should have been the other way around!

BuyAutoTruckAccessories.com offers a great selection of truck accessories and has great prices too!

Life insurance.

I swear we have every type of insurance that is offered! We pay about 20% of my net earnings on insurance premiums! However, I have piece of mind at night and I know that if anything ever happens my family is protected.

Now I've read about life insurance for kids!

It makes sense really and I know when I was a kid was when my father took out a life insurance policy on me and my brother.

To this day it's been nice because he rolled it over to me and I'm able to use it in case something happens to me it will help my family out financially.

Getting excited?

Tomorrow we go for our 8 1/2 week ultrasound and I'm pretty excited about what we're going to see. I'm guessing the kid will be bigger but we might actually get to see him/her move on the ultrasound.

Originally, Shawna was going to go to the appointment alone since I've been missing so much work but I decided that I really didn't want to miss seeing the baby move for the first time on the ultrasound!

Yikes!

This isn't suppose to be happening! The other night I weighed myself and I was back at my pre-pregnancy weight! It seems like since Shawna's pregnant I feel the need to eat just as much as her. But of course, I'm not feeding a growing baby.

I think at some point I might need to hook up with some hoodia. I have a few friends that have tried it for weightloss and it's helped them get off the unwanted pounds.

This is just another reason why I want to nurse the new baby. WIth Graem I lost around 20 pounds in the first three months of nursing!

ROCK ON!

I've never been much for rock-n-roll, however I do love many of the classics. I'm always surprised to see listings that some of the oldies are touring.

In fact the other day I just say that they are selling Van Halen tickets. I feel like at some point we should just take the plunge because you never know when they might not be touring.

Plus, I think it's pretty cool to say that you've seen a legendary band like Van Halen. Who would have guessed they'd all make it out of their 70's drug induced haze?

Looking for brochure printing?

A few years back when Shawna started her business we decided to build a whole marketing theme. We devised a catchy phrase, logo, and even made a brochure. We went through an online website for the Brochure Printing and were so impressed at the quality and price they were able to offer.

Of course, when we went to get a second batch we realized that they had almost doubled their prices and they didn't have our old brochure on file.

What a pain...especially, since we had spent hours designing the brochure and saving it to their website.

It's really hard to find a place that does 4 color Brochure Printing. Locally, they want to charge an arm and a leg and we really couldn't afford to have it printed.

Not to mention, we'd get the exact same product whether we ordered it online or through a local vendor.

PSPrint.com offers a great website for all of your printing needs. They offer brochures that are professional and sure to leave a mark!

Not to mention, right now they are offering $100 off brochures! That's a savings you can take right to the bank. Whether you're a small business or a large business - it pays to shop around and look for savings.

Man.

Well, I thought it was hard before doing everything around the house, cooking, cleaning, yardwork. Now Shawna's back is down which means that even the little stuff that she was doing is no longer.

I think at some point it might be best for us to go ahead and hire our old housekeeper back. It'd be worth it for me to work another 2 hours to pay for her so that I don't waste 4 hours of cleaning and still not getting it done.

I love coupons!

Shawna's become quite the shopping professional when it comes to getting good deals. In fact, we have friends who have asked her to look for things around town and she always ends up getting them a good deal too!

The past few months we've been using Coupon Chief for all of the best promo codes out there!

This holiday season I'm sure that I'm probably going to have to get the following gifts:

Shawna - books, music
Graem - toys
Dennis - music
Dad and Gala - something house related

That's why I'm glad that I can get Target coupons and Best Buy coupons online!

It makes my shopping a piece of cake and I might even be able to get it done before December 25th this year!

Yikes.

This morning Shawna was suppose to take Graem to her first gymnastics lesson at the local gymnastics place.

I got a call at 8:30am that Shawna's back was pulled and she couldn't move. To say the least...this sucks. We both wanted Graem to get in lessons and this morning they were pretty close to actually getting out of the house and to the lessons on time.

Maybe we should just take Graem to the Saturday morning lessons. That way we can both watch and it's later so we can both work on getting her out of the house by 8:15.

I need some no medical exam life insurance!

With a new baby on the way I'm sure at some point I should really consider getting more life insurance.

The last time I looked to increase my policy I was told that they had to take out a completely new policy. SOmeone came out to the house and took my weight, blood pressure, and also asked tons of medical questions.

Come to find out since I have asthma it's nearly impossible for me to get coverage that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

I think my best bet would be to go through no medical exam life insurance. There are a few places on the internet that offer life insurance where you don't have to give medical information.

My asthma has been controlled for years so I'm not sure why it's really such a big deal!

IFGINS.com offers a great insurance website where you can get more information about life insurance and the other types of insurances available.

At some point I should see if they offer no medical Senior Life insurance for my dad.

I know he has many policies, however, since he's been diagnosed with cancer and treated I'm not sure he'd be eligible to sign up for any other insurance policies.

Gotta love it...you buy health insurance to keep you alive and life insurance once you die!

I swear after life, home, health, and car insurance I spend about 20% of my income each year!

Thinking about a life settlement?

I never knew what Life Settlements were until I started researching it.

When I was a kid there were times when we barely had enough money to pay for food. My dad was in and out of work and we owed every in the world. At that point I would have thought that my dad would have let all of our life insurances lapse. I mean putting food on the table does seem a little bit more important that making premiums!

Little did I know that despite everything he was able to keep the premiums up and now I am in charge of a life insurance policy that he's invested in for my future and family.

Many people who have invested in policies and just can't afford to make the premium have the option of doing what's called Life Settlements.

Life Settlements allow you to get cash for your policy that you've invested. Basically, if you don't make your payment to your insurance provider you can lose all of the money that you've invested.

With Life Settlements they purchase the policy from you and you can actually receive a percentage of the money you've put into the policy.

If you're not able to afford things... this is a good option to get out - while you still have a sturdy investment.

Plus, it's a nice way to get a little bit of money.

I can't believe it...

but in 8 months from now we'll be sending out birth announcements again! WOW.

It sounds like a long time from now but I know the next 8 months are going to go pretty darn fast.

Tomorrow we go for our 7 week ultrasound and I can't wait to see the little bean on the ultrasound with his/her heart flickering away!

At least this time we won't have to buy all of the baby gear that we used last time! I wish someone would have warned us on the baby wipe warmer! Boy, that was a waste of money!

Do you collect?

When Shawna was a kid her grandmother used to collect dolls and stuffed animals. I remember going to her house and seeing all of these amazing old gund bears that I'm sure were worth a fortune.

Maybe at some point we could continue the hobby of collecting with Graem. I'm sure at some point she'll find something of interest aside from Backyardigan dolls!

Of course, now we just have to hope and pray that it's not the Bratz dolls!

Poker!

A few years ago our friends M&E had a fun game night party. We had the best time and of course this was before we all had kids.

We played poker, trival pursuit, and video games! The house was packed and there was great food and drinks.

They had everything but poker tables for the occassion! We played on their kitchen table and it was a little small so only a few people can play at a time.

Maybe for the next game night they will invest in a nice game table and professional poker chips!

What are you watching?

A few years ago I purchased a nice watch for Shawna for Valentine's day. She still wears it and it's been through the ringer. I'm guessing over the next few months I'll have to purchase a new band since her old band is bent.

I have my eye on a nice Patek Philippe watch. The pieces are timeless and quite classy.

I like the watches with a leather band and some of them have a few dials. All of them are sophisticated that you can wear them to work or relaxed enough to wear on the weekend.

Do you know what PPHN is?

A few years ago Shawna used to work at the newspaper and there was a guy who used to live on his daily doseage of Paxil. He was a nervous wreck half of the time and you could really tell when he didn't take his medication.

Then of course, we heard of the horrible effects of Paxil and we instantly thought of our friend and possibly the ill side effects he might be experiencing.

It's good to know that there are attorneys out there who are fighting for the rights of the people that are suffering from the pharmaceuticals mistakes. Paxil Attorneys California offer a group of attorneys who are specializing in the PPHN.

They are handling the cases of many clients who have used Paxil in the past only to have horrible effects and have life changing situations.

Our friend recently became a father and we're just hoping that he stopped the Paxil in time and that the horrible effects are not going to be shared with his newborn child.

As an expectant parent and someone that has trusted drug companies to have my best interest at heart --- I'm saddened to know that Paxil has withheld information that has hurt unborn and newborn babies.

PPHN is know as Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension and affects children whose mothers were on Paxil while they were pregnant. The mothers were not warned nor were they stopped from taking this horrible medication.

Looking for swimming pool tile?

When I was a kid we always had a swimming pool. Many times it was the type of pool that you can purchase at Sears. One year we even made ours collapse and it ended up flooding our back yard!

Being an adult with a kid I always think about what it would be like to have a nice in ground pool in our back yard. I realize that with that I'd have to provide a fence around the area and also make sure that it was well maintained through the winter.

That really doesn't sound too bad though. Our friend, Diane, has an above ground pool and she really doesn't have to do too much maintenance other than add some chemicals, cover the pool, and get the water tested every so often.

She got a great deal on her pool too. I think she was able to get the whole thing for around $4,000 installed.

I'm sure at some point we'd have to get the swimming pool resurfacing option so that the pool stays like new. God knows when you make such an expensive investment you want to maintain it's integrity and obviously it's health by taking good care of it.

There are so many great swimming pool tile options available that I'd take forever and probably change my mind a million times before choosing the perfect tile. I think I'd go with a nice blue or aqua glass tile.

That's what I'm most familiar with and it seems to keep clean the longest.

I love a good deal with a reverse auction!

I'm constantly looking for good deals. Just a few minutes ago I was looking on ebay for some summer baby clothes. It seems like many of the popular websites out there have become too expensive and the asking price or auction price exceeds the amount of the value!

That's why I'm all about looking at Reverse Auction websites. Hedgehog.com connects sellers and buyers in one place and offers a website where they can meet and exchange information and ideas. What a great idea!

Reverse Auctions are becoming quite popular in the business world because you can find just what your looking for and really cut out the middle man or just pay a small fee and be done with their services.

Plus, with an auction you can see what your purchasing before making the investment. Many times the auctions can be for as little or big as you want and it doesn't matter if you're buying or selling products or services. Many times there is always a demand and whatever you have --- it can be marketed positively.

If you're looking for something to complete your business --- look no further. Check out hedgehog.com and see if you can find the missing piece for your puzzle!

Not enough hours.

With all of Shawna's appointments and then the big scare last week I didn't have enough hours next week. Which meant that I had to use vacation time. Ugh. Totally sucks and I'm really not happy about it.

I think I'm going to try to stay late tonight so that I don't have to take out anymore vacation time. I'd really like to be able to take off 6-8 weeks when the little guy gets here.

What is colloidal silver?

I bet you are wondering what I’m talking about and at first I would have had no clue! However, I’ve been reading up on colloidal silver and its use as a potent antibiotic. From a chemical standpoint it just makes sense that it would work in a positive way without the awful side effects of antibiotics.

When we were in the Phillippines I had a terrible case of dissentary. I am guessing it was because the water is horribly polluted and as much as I tried to stay away from it I had to have ice cubes! Plus, I used it when brushing my teeth.

One morning I woke up and had the worst stomach cramps. Then the diarreah and vomitting started. Within a few minutes I went from feeling fine to feeling like I was going to die.

Margot ran out to the pharmacy and was able to find Cipro. I took two tabs and instantly I felt better. Then I continued to take the medication for the next five days.

The reality though is that I hate taking heavy duty antibiotics because I know at some point my body will become immune to the antibiotics when I really need them.

Colloidal silver is a natural antibiotic and has been known to prevent infections. I’ll try anything once!

Tired

Mama is silly...

See No Evil...
Hear No Evil...
Pee No Evil...
Speak No Evil!

San Francisco: Day 1

We started our day at 6 AM, seeing as it was actually 9 AM for our bodies! Our choice of morning nourishment consisted of a nice heavy breakfast at Mel's Diner.

We started our day at 6 AM, seeing as it was actually 9 AM for our bodies! Our choice of morning nourishment consisted of a nice heavy breakfast at Mel's Drive-In--a touristy diner that had reasonably priced, basic American fare.


Grammy's first cable car ride to Fisherman's Wharf














Mommy and Grammy at the transfer at the Ferry Terminal

Yesterday's results--and a cool graph!

So as you can see above, our numbers are rising nicely. Great news to start our first morning in SF!

It's the new billboard!

I'm talking about web site marketing! Almost all websites that you go to have some kind of marketing or advertising.

Of course, the advertisements that actually work are the ones that are geared towards the clientele.

I just came across a great article that highlights effective web site marketing. I was just viewing one of my Landscape Architecture websites and lo-and-behold but they have some advertisements for pavers that we use.

Now that's directed marketing and almost scary that they can pinpoint such an audience who would actually be using their product.

Of course, with the right amount of money, research, and brains, you can probably get just about anything you want these days!

Shaw's next gift.

Since Shawna found out she was pregnant, last week, I swear she goes to the bathroom every 10 minutes. There have been times when she's had some close calls too.

I think at some point when she gets bigger and the baby is putting more pressure on her bladder she might need to think about getting some protective underwear.

That way if she does have a little accident at least she's covered and it won't get on her clothing or be an embarassing situation.

The best Valentine's day gift...

A few years ago Shawna had made the comment that she loved Skagen watches. Of course, it was just left at that and she never even told me which one she wanted.

Well, I guessed and for Valentine's Day I wrote her a nice card and purchased the stainless steel Skagen watch from the local jewelry store.

I'm surprised she hasn't lost it and wears it almost daily!

Score one for Mommy!

Butterfly tattoo?

I remember when Shawna and I were dating online. There was also another couple that was dating online and when they met one of the girls couldn't believe how yucky the other one was. All she could say was "she has a butterfly tattoo on her butt."

Of course, that was funny for us ... but it was a nightmare for our friend.

Tattoo dating can be a scary thing especially if you find out in a very "special and romantic" moment that someone has a winnie the pooh tattoo on their back.

The best way to find true love and to make sure that the person hasn't abused the right to tattoo is to go through tattoo personals!

That way you can talk about the tattoos before meeting someone. You will know instantly if the person had a list full of women's names down their arm that this might not be the person for you!

Have I mentioned?

Not sure if I've mentioned on this blog or not...but Shawna's pregnant.

I'm really just taking it one day at a time. I mean it's a huge step that she's pregnant but after losing one baby I just can't get too excited until we see a heartbeat and I know that this is real.

I wish the miscarriage wouldn't have jinxed everything. I feel like we can't even enjoy the first few weeks of this pregnancy.

Maybe it's just helped us appreciate every little step a little bit more.

Bikerbabe!

Well, I've always thought that biker girls are pretty hot. When we were in college we bought a couple of motorcycles ourselves and looked like total dweebs with old motorcyles that made way too many bad noises!

Biker dating is all the rage these days! Being a biker really must be fun. I can imagine many of the people that you meet on the road or in the bar might not be the person that you are looking for in a soul mate.

That's why I'm glad that biker planet specializes in online dating for bikers and the ones that love them! BikerPlanet.com offers an easy to use website where you can see profiles and sign up instantly.

You could find your Romeo or Juliet and go off in the sunset...on your Harley of course!

Happy Birthday to me!

Well, I'm hoping that 32 is a better year for me than 31. Hopefully, with Shawna getting pregnant we've turned the corner and this one will decide to stick. Who knows...I might even become a mom again in the spring time.

Of course, time will tell and I just can't get too excited yet.

Merry Christmas!

Not really. Although, the seasons are starting to change I'm glad to know that Christmas is really about three months away.

Of course, I have yet to buy one Christmas gift and I'm hoping that Shawna has started some of it!

I might need to think of some christmas gift ideas for my family.

I know my dad loves his photos and for his birthday we got him a digital frame. Maybe, we'll actually get a nice family Christmas photo done and I can order a nice canvas of it for him to hang up.

Sprung?

Many men have a problem getting and maintaining an erection. We have an older friend who seems to be somewhat proud of his dysfunction and even showed us his pump. *distgusting*

There are many different ways for men to get help with this embarassing situation. Some decided the pharmaceutical route. I have heard of men purchasing generic Cialis and viagara online.

I know that when I purchase from online I always wonder if I'm purchasing from a reputable place. There's really no way to tell.

Now you can check out ManOfPeople.com. They have a whitelist and a blacklist for online pharmacies. You can check out which ones got good reviews and which ones aren't too great.

Plus you can look at the pros and cons of using generic versus name brands drugs.

This post sponsored by: ManOfPeople.com

Distgusting.

If you've been reading our other blogs you'll see that our cat passed away. We decided to bury him under the tree. We figured as long as we buried him deep enough and put something on top of him that it should all be fine.

This morning I walked out and it looks like something has been trying to dig under the big log that I moved over the sight.

How can I keep that damn cat buried?

Dell!

We've had this laptop for a little over six months now. Our original Dell computer kept breaking down and getting error messages I have a feeling that it wasn't the computer, though, and it was Windows Vista.

I love the laptop because it's portable and I can take it everywhere. Half of the time I drop Graem off at school and then I head to the local coffee shop to do my work. It's easy to connect to almost all wireless internets and our laptop weighs close to five pounds.

If you are in France or the surrounding areas and are interested in getting a good deal on a good computer then check out: http://ordinateur-portable.dell.fr.

Right now you can land yourself on a pretty great machine for less than a thousand U.S. dollars.

This post sponsored by: http://ordinateur-portable.dell.fr

Working on a Sunday.

I have to go in for a few hours today because I feel the need to make sure that I'm ready to go first thing when I walk in tommorrow.

I have a huge deadline that's been looming over me for some time and I just need to finish it so that I can go to conference in a week and not feel burdened.

Of course, I'll probably still end up taking work with me to San Francisco.

We need another computer?

We have had Dell Computers for our past three computers. The first one Grammy spilled a whole bottle of water on and within a year and a half we had to buy a new one since that one was fried!

Our second Dell must have been a lemon because within 4 months it was back at Dell and they sent us a new Dell. It's done a great job and we haven't had any problems. *knock on wood*

We might keep looking for cheap laptops though. We constantly fight over the computer and it's really gotten to the point where we need another computer in the house!

Even though there are thousands of different laptop brands out there it just isn't worth it to buy an off brand because you really do get what you pay for when it comes to laptops!

If you're looking for a steal check out - http://laptops.dell.co.uk.

This post sponsored by: Laptops.dell.co.uk

T.G.I.F

I am so friggin' glad that it's a weekend. I'm going to try to stay out of the office this weekend and spend it at home. I was able to get my work out yesterday for the deadline today and it felt pretty good.

We had my birthday celebration today and I got a great massage gift certificate that I really should take advantage of.

Boy, I think I've totally forgotten what it's like to sit back and get a nice massage.

Calgon, take me away.

Me wants.

I've been horrible about actualy keeping all of my tools together. Shawna put the grill together and of course she left half of my tools in her car (don't ask).

I have a toolbox but it's a pretty cheap one and not big enough to keep all of my tools in.

I'd love to get a stainless steel tool box. Hmm...I guess it is my birthday in just a few days and what could be better than getting a girl the gift of tools.

CarGuyGarage.com has everything you could ever imagine when it comes to tool boxes and making your garage an awesome place.

This post sponsored by: CarGuyGarage.com

On the road again...

I just can't wait to get on that road again.

Well, to say the least I have a morning meeting in a few minutes then I'm off and running. I have a meeting about 2 hours away. Then I have a crappy meeting at 4:00 in the town offer.

Which of course, means that I won't be home til about 6:30pm or so tonight. We ended up hiring one of our friends to help Shawna at home with Grammy. She's going to be on bedrest til Tuesday and I want to make sure that she's not superstressed with an overly active and grumpy Grammy!

We love our cars!

When we went to Texas I was so shocked to see how much people loved their cars. Even the crappiest of cars was equipped with some hot rims and a killer stereo system.

These days we're just happy to get the mat in the back of our cars that protects the carpet in the trunk!

Of course if we had sports car we might be interested in Dodge Charger accessory parts! I think it just depends on the car. I know when we had a Jeep it was easy and fun to buy accessories because there were so many of them and it was easy to go overboard!

Broken.

I swear when it rains, it pours.

Literally.

Our home theatre system has seen better days and it's just a matter of days before we have to replace it. We purchased it with our television a few years ago and pretty disappointed that a name brand system didn't last longer.

Of course, if we really wanted to make our living room into a sweet home theatre we'd look into getting home theater lighting too!

Maybe, we'll look into this when we buy our new house! (Yeah, right.)

Stupid phones.

A few years ago we had major issues with our cordless phones. PLus, Shawna ran over one of the phones. She left it on top of the car and 10 miles away the phone fell off of the car and we ran over it.

We were able to buy some used replacement phones but the cordless phone battery is constantly dying. The phone could be ringing and you go to push the button to pick up the call and it dies.

It's quite annoying and we've missed many important calls. I keep debating just replacing the phones all together. But I'm guessing it might be cheaper just to buy one battery for the broken phone.

Shocked.

Some of the stories Shawna has had from subbing are unbelieveable. Second graders who don't know how to add and subtract. We're talking about simple math here.

If Graem ever needed help we'd hire Math Tutors instantly - no questions asked.

Score Learning Centers have been in business for years and offer services for kids 4-14.

If your kid needs help, make sure to reach out before they get so far behind that they become discouraged.

This post sponsored by: Score Learning Centers

Overload.

This weekend I had to go into work and update the computers. Of course, this would also have to be the same week that Shawna's on bedrest since she had the embryo retrieval Friday.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed because not only am I doing my own job 45 hours a week, but I'm also doing housework, laundry, and kidcare.

Not to mention, the lawn is a foot high and I'll probably have to do that at some point this week.

Ugh.

Just what dad needs...

when I was growing up my dad would buy the most bizarre items. He wouldn't just buy one either...he'd buy three or four!

When we were home for family reunion we had a great time playing Jenga, UNO, and monopoly.

It dawned on me that maybe my dad should look into purchasing poker tables!

We all love cards in the family and it'd be fun to have a game night or two when we visit.

Our furniture...

has seen better days. The couch has seen it's share of baby barf, pee, poop, and God only knows what else. We have decided that we're not going to get anything until the kids graduate high school and go off to college!

In fact, when we do start looking for furniture we'll need to check out discount furniture stores. We've never been much for spending tons of money on furniture and would much rather have a nice vacation or a new electrical devise!

Scotland?

I'm always looking for new places to think about moving. Of course, I come home from work and tell Shawna constantly that we should move out of Ithaca to a place that values my profession so that we can live better, make more money, and have a bigger house.

She tells me to get lost.

My latest thought is that we should move to Edinburg, Scotland! She had a look at the Edinburgh jobs and can't believe how many great jobs are available. Not to mention, the pay conversion works out pretty good too.

Jobs in Edinburgh seem to be in high demand too. There were a lot of listings and unlike upstate New York I was happy to see that they aren't all low paying non-professional jobs.

Scotland, here we come?

She can read!

I've been working with Graem almost every night to help her read. I've decided to start with words like HOT, GRAEM, MOMMY, and MAMA. I figure she'll learn more as time goes on.

When she turns four years old we can actually look into Reading Tutors at the Score Learning Center.

One of our friends currently has a child that goes to a Score Learning Center and she can't stop talking about how they've helped her daughter since she was struggling with math in the second grade.

This post sponsored by: Score Learning Centers

Date night?

Our friend, Jenn, has agreed to come down from Syracuse once a week and watch Graem so that we can go on a "date night". It's been so long since we've actually had quality time alone without the kid!

I'm going to miss her but at this point in our relationship I think it's important to talk and touch base every once in a while. Especially, since we've both been feeling the pull of work and these infertility treatments.

Tonight we're going for Vietnamese food and maybe a movie.

Dallas Cowboys?

I've never been much into football. Since Shawna was born and raised in Texas her family is constantly watching Texas football on television.

Her dad even used to have season tickets to the Houston football team. I'm sure he'd love to have some Dallas Cowboys tickets too!

Last time we were in Houston we saw the Houston Comets and were able to get pretty good seats. However, that isn't always the case in a big city.

The next time we go we wanted to watch the Houston Rockets. Of course, those seats are pretty popular and Shawna refuses to go to a game unless we have great seats.

That's why I've bookmarked PremiumSeatsUSA.com for all of our seating needs!

Fatness.

After I had Graem I lost tons of weight and in fact I'm not sure I'd ever been that skinny. Then as time went by I started eating, stopped nursing and gained about 20 pounds.

Now I feel fat and know that I probably need to do something about it. I've even considered taking some of Shawna's pills!

Although, I'm probably not ready for obesity surgery I do find it interesting to read about and get the facts.

JourneyLite.com is a great website for people who are considering the surgery and looking for a surgeon in their area. Plus, it has a lot of answers to the questions that are surrounding lap band surgery.

This post sponsored by: JourneyLite.com

To have a two year old...

means no sleep?

So I have finally gotten to the point where I agree that Graem should start sleeping in her own bed. However, last night was absolutely dreadful. She cried and cried and cried.

I know it has to happen but at what cost? Of course, I was upset and exhausted and I just wanted to bring her upstairs and all of us sleep snuggly in the bed.

This five hours of sleep thing just isn't cutting it for me and something is going to have to give pretty soon.

I love Minnie and Mickey!

We figure in a few more years Graem will be old enough for us to take her to Disney! We went a few years ago with my uncle and aunt and fortunately, they paid for everything! So we never got to really see how much it costs.

One of my friends went a few months ago and told me the cost of tickets and I couldn't believe it!!

Disney World Tickets were very costly and her kids weren't even old enough to do most of the rides.

That's why I'm glad I stumbled across OrlandFunTickets.com. They offer a lot of good information about the Orlando, Florida area and also offer discount tickets for many of the entertainment venues.

Don't leave home without your coupons! The more you save before you get to Disney - the more you have to spend in their overpriced gift shops!!

Just the other day...

I bent over and peed myself! I'm not sure what happened and I think it might have been due to the fact that I sneezed.

I never had this problem before having a child and I think after having Graem things downstairs just got all crazy.

At some point I might even have to look into incontinence products. I can't imagine this problem getting any better and if it does get worse then I'm going to have to figure out something. Especially, if I were to have an episode at work.

That's not scary...it's sexy!

So I must say that I like seeing other people in sexy Halloween costumes but could never imagine myself dressed in something sexy!

Perhaps it's the butchy thing I have going on...but I do like to see a nice little french maid now and then! (Yeah, right. This would never happen!)

Too bad I could never talk Shawna into wearing something skimpy like that!

Naughty Halloween Costumes are something I don't see in our near future. Maybe if/when we lose a couple of rolls we'll be up for some action but until then we don't want to be too scary. Even if it is Halloween!

OurSexyCostumes.com offers a great website that specializes in some hot costumes. In fact, I really like the sexy Snow White outfit! Who would have guessed that Snow White would be wearing fish net tights.

Of course, I'd wonder who would want to be the seven dwarfs! I'm sure in this outfit it wouldn't be too hard to rally up the troops.

We were able to pick up Graem's costume online and she's going to be Pablo. Too bad we can't find adult Backyardigans costumes. We could have been three out of the five Backyardigans! I think I'd like to be Tasha!

Moving?

We've gone back and forth on whether to move into a bigger/better house or just stay put and build on to our existing house.

Of course, the most recent forecast that we've heard from our Real Estate Agent friend, Mary, is that it's a buyers market and to sell might be pretty hard.

Real Estate has always been hot in our area and so I know it's just a matter of time before it picks up again. Maybe, it would be the perfect time for us to purchase another house with the buying being good.

NationalRelocation.com is a one stop shop that will you look for houses to rent or buy. They also have some great options if you're looking to find many different kinds of mortgages.

I can't do it.

Yesterday we had an appointment at the couples shrink and so I missed 1.5 hours of work, Friday I'm going to try to leave a little early so that we can be on the road by 4:00.

I feel like there's absolutely no humanly way to finish all of the work I have today.

I'm out on the road this afternoon and that's a good three hours of my day to drive back and forth.

At least I can put a few hours in this evening.

Where's the sun?

Today is the fourth day in a row that we've had crappy weather. IN fact, last night our power was out for most of the evening and we had thunderstorms which caused us to have to leave the local carnival.

I'm craving some Orlando weather! Plus, I think Graem would absolutley love going to Disney. She's started showing interest in the whole princess look and we even got her a matching tiara, earrings, and necklace set!

If we were looking for a place to stay we'd probably hook up with Orlando Villas. It just makes sense when you have a family to be able to spread out and enjoy yourselves.

Homes.Orlandovacation.com offers a huge selection of great places to stay and the prices are really reasonable too.

Our Vegas trip!

When we went to Vegas last year we wanted to make sure to check out the old and new casinos. So we left our cozy hotel and went to the downtown part of Las Vegas. There Shawna decided to gamble a little bit because she had heard that people can win some big money at the older casinos.

It didn't take very long for her at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas before her $20 budget was down to $0!

We figured she must have been on a losing streak and that it was time for us to run back to our hotel!

It's a good thing that she had such a small budget cause I think she might have kept on gambling until we went broke!

Here we come!

Our next travel is going to be San Francisco. My conference is there this year and we figured what a better place to take the kid and Shawna to than San Fran. Plus, we're going to meet up with Alex and Dom for some R&R and good food!

We have yet to book our hotel and figure we still have time to do that since we're not going til October.

We were just talking the other day about how we'd really like to go with Orlando vacations in the near future. Graem is really into the princess thing and she'd absolutely love seeing all of the characters at Disney.

Me and sports ...

are a horrible combination!

However, I must admit that I have this weird obsession with Golf Equipment! Shawna loves to golf and has a pretty new pair of clubs.

When she tried to teach me how to golf she game me her old pair from high school. They felt like they were designed for kids because they were so light and I couldn't believe what bad shape they were in!

I'm guessing that even the best of clubs couldn't help my game and I should probably stick with online Monopoly instead.

I love Mickey!

I'm sure Grammy will love him too! Of course, she did react pretty negatively towards Santa...but our mall Santa was pretty scary!

I have a feeling that our next vacation is going to be a trip to Orlando! Graem is already getting into the whole princess thing and I'm sure she's going to love seeing all of the Disney characters.

Of course, we'll more than likely want an Orlando vacation rental instead of a hotel. It just makes sense when you have a family and don't want to deal with the racket of a noisy hotel.

Plus, we enjoy cooking and the rentals have great kitchens and some even having swimming pools in the backyard!

So sexy.

Living in upstate New York has it's benefits. Like little to no traffic, a great selection of groceries, and good schools. However, the downfalls are also pretty big including: low wages, small arts/theatre scene, no local zoo, and no fashion updates!

That's why it is my moral obligation to purchase a trashy celebrity magazing every week at the grocery store. I subscribe to "Sports Illustrated", "Entertainment", and Time but those don't cut the mustard. In order to get true trash talk and good fashion information I've got to go to the true source like "In Touch" or "People"

I've also come across a great fashion website - Tobi.com. They have some great fashion advise and also offer some really awesome clothes at reasonable prices. I like the fact that they have a fashion guru that is online to answer all of your fashion questions!

I was surprised to see how velvet clothing has made a comeback! Just a few weeks we were given some velvet apparel for Graem and ended up giving it to the Salvation Army because we thought velvet was out!

Little did we know that velvet clothes would be making a major comeback in the twenty first century!

A good cause

For several years, Shawna was the director of one of the local assisted living facilities--and specifically, for people with Alzheimer's disease. She became very interested in the disease, particularly because she saw so many intelligent, caring, and fun people slowly (and sometimes quickly) succumb to the memory loss.

For a couple of years, Shawna was the chairperson for the local Memory Walk, an event that directly benefits the Alzheimer's Association. The event became something very near and dear to Shawna, and even I participated to help make the event a success. Meeting family members of loved ones with Alzheimer's disease makes you realize how important the work of the Alzheimer's Association is, in providing information and support to caregivers and family.

I helped out by organizing teams together, making sure everyone knew the route to walk and how many laps to do, and making sure there were enough refreshment for both event volunteers and walkers. Shawna made sure to have a live band, t-shirts and other prizes for walkers. It was great to involve both residents of the facilities, families, friends and other volunteers.

The local walk for us is in Syracuse this year, and they're always looking for Team Captains--so if you can, sign up. If you don't live nearby, the event is run nationwide--look for one in your area!

Back.

Well, after a great week with family and eating way too friggin' much...we're back in Ithaca.

We ran into about 2 hours of traffic on the way back home and it wasn't even getting back out of the city. They are doing work on 81 and of course it was bumper to bumper on our way home.

Tonight we're doing quesadillas and beer! Gotta love our low-fat approach after porking out for 7 days.

Send me an angel, right now.

Have you ever thought of car donation? While we were driving into New York City tonight I must have seen a few different signs for places that will pick your car up and you can actually write it off on your taxes.

Of course, I remember years ago when we had a car we were interesting in donating ... noone would take it. Shawna called around all of the places that advertise to take cars. In fact, they even advertised that they would tow it away... Ours was running!

Now there's a new place that will do the exact same thing called CarAngel.com. They are Christian based non-for profit that works on the whole principles of getting donated boats, houses, and cars and selling them.

Then with the profits they use it to provide help with at-risk-teens and also prison reform!

If you are wondering how you can "donate my car" simply go to the Car Angel website. You can fill out the forms online and even get more information about the process.

Donating has never been easier and you might as well donate towards a good cause -- plus the tax deduction is just icing on the cake!

Car donations are a great way to help your favorite non-for-profit and also get the tax deduction you're looking for.

Eats.

Tonight we had noodles, some of the delicious buns, and also some taro. They also made some vegetables too.

I already am starting to feel fatter and we've only been here for a few hours.

This can't be good.

Good ole' Dudley.

Well, we transferred the one embryo back in today. I must say...it didn't go so hot. I think it might be the doctor's lack of experience but I thought Shawna was going to walk right out.

He kept trying to go at it and using different instruments but the catheter just wouldn't go through her cervix.

If this one actually sticks...I'll be shocked.

Vacation!

Well, kinda. We finally got into New York earlier today and I can't believe we're finally here.

Of course, that doesn't stop work from calling me already once. Shawna just about killed me when my cell phone started ringing at 5:00pm. Maybe I should just leave it turned off.

Do you believe in angels?

I'm sure many people have had miracles in their lives and there have been many appearances of angel sitings. I have always been facinated by the paintings and murals in churches of people crying.

Now there's something called Car Angel that is a non-profit organization that works with children and also the community and uses the profits to make it a better place!

In fact, Car Angel accepts donations of houses, cars, and boats, and sells them to the public. Once they receive the money in return they use the money for orphans and also prison reform.

You can even Donate Your Car In Los Angeles if you live in the area! It's easy to do and either you can drop it off or Car Angel can offer pick-up. Plus it is all tax deductible so that you can write off the total on your taxes.

Not only is this a great idea if you are at a loss for what to do with your car...but you can help out people in need and also use the tax receipt to get a pretty nice tax deduction!

Los Angeles Car Donations are the newest thing these days and it's perfect for people with busy schedules who don't have time to make arrangements to sell their car outright.

CarAngel.com also offers Free DVDs for kids too!

Does this work?

I love a deal!

Typically, when I buy something I try to look online first and then once I find what I want I look for a coupon to save me even more money!

Just a few days ago I was looking to buy a portable DVD player and a smoker! I ended up finding the smoker online and the DVD player couldn't get here soon enough so I had to go to the store and buy it.

If I were able to wait though I could have gotten a much better deal.

A lot of the coupon codes out there really have to be checked because much of the time they have expired or just don't work. One website that has some great codes and is a sharing website is DealLocker.com.

I'm all about the free online coupons! Especially when they save me lots of money!

Target coupon codes are pretty hard to come by but DealLocker.com has plenty!

I'm going to hang on to this information and add it to my bookmark list because I'm constantly looking for great deals.

In fact, just this week we ended up purchasing five items online! Since I couldn't find good coupons I had to resort to using eBay which is a great website but most of the time I don't like waiting for the auction to end.

We were even able to use some great codes when we purchased our Dell Computer. In fact, I think we were able to save almost $200 on the laptop and get a free memory upgrade!

I would be so mad if there was a coupon out there and I was unable to find it! How frustating to buy something and then find out that you could have saved some big bucks had you been able to find the secret code!

It's a good thing I've got the websites bookmarked that are going to save me a lot of money in the future.

God knows, I don't have a lot of money to spend...so when I spend it I need to get the best deal possible!