Itty bitty little growths

That is what I have on my fingernails.  What the heck am I talking about?  Well…I’ve been a nail biter for as long as I can remember.  Always bit my nails (and my toe nails when I was younger..YUK!).  They are always little teeny, tiny stumps for nails.  No way I could paint them…they would look ridiculous! 

But, I haven’t been biting them for a few weeks now.  I keep putting clear nail polish on them and this awful tasting No Bite.  It’s working for now.  Every now and then I put them to my mouth but I’m trying *really hard* to fight the urge to chomp away and let them grow.

Last time I let them grow was for my wedding.  They were so pretty.  But back to stumps they went.  It’s sorta funny because my nail is hitting the keyboard as I type and that never happens.

Wish me luck…we’ll see if I can actually grow my nails.  Would love to be able to polish them and make them look beautiful!

Are you a former nail biter?  Any tips (no pun intended) for me?

Cell phones for kids

My 9 year old keeps asking for a cell phone because “all my friends have one!”  I really find it hard to believe that there are a bunch of 9 year olds running around with cell phones.  Or am I wrong?

I just don’t see *why* a 9 year old would need a cell phone!  Maybe if they were home alone frequently or had to walk home from school…then they might need one for safety.  But just for the heck of it?  No way! 

I tried telling him that there are plenty of reasons why he doesn’t get things that “all his other friends have” but he doesn’t see it…he just wants what they have.

What about you?  Do your kids have a cell phone?  What age did they get it?  Why did they get it? 

Refinancing

We’ve been trying to refinance our house for almost a year now.  Started the process last April, locked in a rate in the low 4’s.  Got the appraisal done and then the bank dropped the ball.  And I guess we did too for not staying on top of them.  Well, a few months ago we started it again…rate is a little higher now but still mid 4’s (we’re close to 6 right now I think).

Everything was going fine except first we needed like $5K to close…ok, we can find that somewhere since it’s going to save us money.  Well now they want us to come up with $15K to close.  Um….yea, if we want to wipe out our savings!  Not.

So we work hard, pay our bills on time every month and are jumping through hoops to try and get a lower rate.  But you have people who are handed low rates because they are behind on their bills and in danger of losing their house?  Seems a little backwards to me and honestly makes me mad.  I’m sure there’s all sorts of stipulations with those type of refinances (I think they call it a modification) like L O N G terms or being locked in without being able to refinance again but still…where’s our break for being good customers? 

 

Towels

I most certainly can’t be the *only* one in the world that must have my towels folded the *right* way???  I like my towels to look neat in my closet and it must have a nicely rounded edge at front so it’s easy to pull a towel out. 

I’m so bad that I will refold hubby’s towels and do them again the right way. (and why is it so hard for him to learn to do it the right way?) 

Yea, yea…I should just be happy that they get folded at all, right?  But it bugs the crap outta me if they are wrong.  Sorta like the toilet paper…must go the right way!   What about you?  Do you care how your towels get folded?

February??

I can't believe it's February already. It seemed like it was Christmas last week (or maybe it's just because my Christmas lights are still up and some decorations are still in my sunroom??? hmmmm...) January flew by! And before I know it, it will be February vacation already. For vacation, I'm really hoping it's either 1. nice out...so we can do a letterbox or 2, or 2. snowy out....so I can take the kids sledding out back of the house at the bogs. But it can't be too cold...because I don't like the cold so much.

And the groundhog saw it's shadow today....6 more weeks of winter. Someone needs to tell my bulbs that since they are popping up already!

Blessings Jar...

We've never been the type of family to say grace before dinner. But a few months ago, I thought it would be a nice tradition to start. It's also a nice way to try and have the kids appreciate the food in front of them every night and be grateful for what they have. We're not really the "off the cuff" type so I went online and printed off a bunch of blessings that were nice and appropriate. I put all the blessings into a "Family" jar and it's in the middle of our kitchen table. Every night, one of us pulls a blessing and reads it aloud. The kids actually fight over who's turn it is! The kids had friends over for dinner a few weeks ago and they actually thought it was pretty cool too. =))

I'm very glad that the kids have taken to this idea so fondly and was thinking it's time to put some new blessings in the jar. So I'm asking you....what are some of your favorite dinner blessings?

Scrap Happy!

I've gotten the digi scrap bug again! I got a new computer and had Photoshop Elements 7 put on it so I could learn how to use it. Well...yesterday I bought a page template set and that "made" me learn to modify it in PSE! I can't believe how simple it really is using the templates! Here's what I've done yesterday and today:

Kit: It Boy by Traci Reed; Template: A Whole Year by Dani Alencar

Kit: A Mother's Story by Julie Bullock; Template: A Whole Year by Dani Alencar

Kit: Backyard Fun by Julie Bullock; Template: A Whole Year by Dani Alencar

Kit: Tickle Me Pink by Julie Bullock; Template Elizabeth York Designs at www.scrapsandblessings.blogspot.com

Woo hoo! I'm so excited! Now I just need to hook up my wide format printer and print them for the kids scrapbooks!