Toilet Paper Rant

Super Toilet Paper Roll
Here it is.  I have not been on my blog in almost two weeks.  An event affected me greatly and then life just rolled right over me.  My husband brought up the fact that this is one of the ways I hold myself accountable, but I haven't been, have I?

So I know it is Thursday, and I should be featuring the site of the week.  The only site I have been on this week is for work, no one wants to hear about that.  I mean it is a fantastic site, but alas, it is boring.  So I decided to start up with toilet paper.

Toilet paper.  We only use one kind in our house.  Charmin Extra Soft. That has not changed in years.  What has changed is the size of the rolls.

So I now have to go to the store to buy more toilet paper even though I have a huge package at home. You see, I can't fit it in my toilet paper holder in the bathroom (it is the silver canister on the bottom) and it will not even fit in my roll. It does fit downstairs and in the kids bath, but today I had to just hold my toilet paper. Very weird to say the least.


I tried to start a price book. To compare prices on things I buy the most. But the toilet paper confused me. I mean I only buy one kind but there are sooooo many different variation on roll size. I looked it up on the web and it just amazed me. You don't know how much you are spending on toilet paper because you have no idea what you are buying. Today I went to Sam's and got family rolls. Now I have bought mega rolls, giant rolls, regular rolls, but never family rolls.

At this point I believe they keep changing this just to confuse us.


Now I have spent more time pondering the size of toilet paper rolls, and oddly enough most people may not care. (Honestly neither did I until I couldn't fit it on my dispenser). So why all this rambling over toilet paper?



Because I can! Happy Friday everyone!

MammaDar

Whew.....what is today?

I had a big meeting first thing Monday, I had tried to do my menu planning on Sunday, and I had a good start until my husband and I talked and we decided to chuck what we have and have something different. At the beginning of the week we had one birthday, one of the other parents was sick over the weekend so we had extra kids we weren't counting on. It was just one of those time periods when a menu plan was probably key. We had a difficult week at work, I had two educational meetings for one of the kids and doctor appointments, just life's craziness showing it's ugly head. The sad part about it is that I can't even remember what we ate this week. One good thing that came out of my lack of planning was I got to take my ladies out to dinner last night. I am not really a spontanious person, but my husband suggested I take them out. They were shocked to say the least. It was nice. Tomorrow we are going to have a nice Easter dinner since we will not all be together on Sunday.

Happy Easter everyone. I will see you Monday with a new meal plan!

Wednesday - Whatever Wednesday

Ok today did not start off like I thought it would.  I killed my blender.  Yes an unfortunate household accident that involved a smoothie and an electrical short.  By the time I realized that a small current of electricity was going through my body it was too late, my blender was dead.  Lucky for me I had a handheld blender that came to the rescue.  Even though 2 cups of apple juice made friends with my counter, my children started their day with delicious smoothies.   

And then my day went on.......

I came home early from work to finish working from home......nope, my Internet was down.  (Internet was fine router was killed in the recent storm) After an hour of reconfiguring and restarting the network in our home was back up.  Then we move to my brand new phone.  The wonderful Evo 4g from sprint.  Can I tell you how many cuss words I used in a 30 minute period?  No since it was well into the hundreds I should probably keep that to myself.  I purchased the phone on Friday and now it has a mind of its own and we do NOT agree.  So I am waiting for my fabulous sprint representative to be at work tomorrow at noon to replace this malfunctioning piece of dung for one that actually works. 

My daughter informed me today that her friends' (twins) father passed away on Monday and she would like to go to his funeral tomorrow to support her friends.  Now coming from a 13 year old that is very mature.  We spent our evening shopping for clothing for her to wear tomorrow.  So even though my day started out with a shock and continued with everything electrical that I touched breaking, I should not complain.  There is a wonderful family that lost a wonderful man.  A great provider, a loving husband and an outstanding father.  My petty complaints have no room to be voiced when such a great tragedy has occurred. 

I am sitting here with my daughter looking over my shoulder as I type this (first time for everything) and I must admit that anything that I went through today pales in comparison.  I am thankful for each day I am given and each time I can check in on this blog.  Who knows what each day holds.  So live each day like it were your last. 

Love like you have never loved before.  Be kind to those who need it the most.  Put your own problems in perspective.

(A daisy, a gift from my husband and children last year)

MammaDar

Tuesday - Gratitude, April 12, 2011

In early 2003 I lost a dear friend of mine.  She was a wonderful person and she was 47 years old and died of a heart attack.  She had a husband and two boys.  She was happy.  She worked way too much (that is where we met) but she enjoyed her time with her family and she really enjoyed her work.  Shortly after she died I started to re-evaluate my life.  In doing so I picked up a book called Simple Abundance.  It has an entry for each day.  You can start the book on any particular day and start reading about her journey.  She talks about gratitude, focus, self nurturing and various other topics.  Some of the essays really didn't fit me but it was ok for me, it gave me a starting point.  A few years later, I made my future husband a gratitude journal, so he could write things down that made him happy.  It turned out he really didn't use that, he loved the gift but it just wasn't the format he needed.  I have searched for several different formats.  I have decided that it is up to each person what works for them.  For my young daughter I found a diary for her ipad.  She can write whatever she wants and add pictures.  Sometimes she uses it as a diary, but most of the time she just put thing that makes her happy. 

I just purchased a package of ebooks.  In that collection was a book called Gratitude Journal.  You can print it out and write in there.  It is $5.99 but if you like this format it might be a good one for you.  If you like Ipad or Ipod you can get search for gratitude or you can just get a free journal on ipad or ipod.  You can go buy a calendar at the dollar store or even just use a cheap note pad. 

I do not think it matters what form you use to write down what you are thankful or grateful for, I just think it is important to record it.  We are working on our geneology right now.  My husband's grandmother passed away a while back, but a couple of years before she did he interviewed her and asked her all kinds of questions.  He is very grateful that he has those now.  So wouldn't it be great if later in life your children and grandchildren found the things that YOU were truely grateful for.  What a wonderful gift, for them to know a part of you!

Monday - Menu Plan Monday

Drum roll please.....just kidding.  You are not going to believe this.  I didn't cook at all this past week.  So the entire plan was scrapped.  Our kids were out of town and my hubby decided that we would take it easy this week.

This week, everyone is back so we will be eating at home this week.  On Monday we will be going to celebrate our oldest daughters birthday.

Monday:  Out to Dinner

Tuesday:  Tater Tot Casserole

Wedneday:  Eric Ripert's Carbonara / Salad

Thursday Paprika Chicken with Sour Cream Sauce

Friday:  Crockpot Blue Cheese and Steak Roll Ups / baked potato

Saturday:  Tuna Noodle Casserole

Sunday:  Shepherd's Pie

Breakfast Selections this week:
Cinamon Rolls
Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal
Asparagus, Candian Bacon and Cheese Fritata
Morning Rise and Dine Cups

Please visit all of these wonderful recipes.  Many are directing you to new blogs for you to enjoy. 
Run over to Orgjunkie.com for other great meal plans!

Saturday - Family Fun

I am late on my Saturday post because of all of the fun I had yesterday.  My husband and I took the top off the jeep and we went driving.  We took a trip up to Athens with a couple of friends and visited a nursery.  Thyme After Thyme was a great place tucked away in a small southern town right outside the University of Georgia.  We picked up a few things but the place was great.  If you have a second jump over to their site and enjoy the natural beauty.  We spent out day just driving around and enjoying nature.  He got a little sunburned  but we had a blast.

Friday - Taking Care of Me - April 8, 2011

Today is my first daughter's birthday.  She turned 13.  It is so odd to think that 13 years ago I was holding that precious girl in my arms.  She is not here with me today.  It is the first time that I have not seen her on her birthday.  But she is getting older and she chose to go out of town on her birthday.  She is having a great time in California and even though I miss her terribly I know this is what she wanted.  So my mother is visiting me.  She came down to help me catch up on some paperwork that I just couldn't handle on my own.  We have just ordered out for dinner and we are enjoying just talking and catching up.  My husband is hanging out with us and we are having a good time.  Sometimes just spending time with the ones you love can provide you with comfort. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!