Monday

Monday is my new favorite day of the week.  Both Brandt and Lillian go to school on Mondays so I get almost 4 whole hours to myself.  By. My. Self.

Alone.

Last week I used that time to clean out their rooms and donate some toys & items that had definitely seen better days.  I also tried to remove clutter from the rest of the house and tidy it up a bit.  Although you'd never know since the "clean" lasts until 5 minutes after the kids get home.

We are most likely putting our house (back) on the market to try to once & for all to sell it.  This time it will be a short sale, though.  We've mostly given in to this idea and are ready to move on.  The house is too small and too expensive for our needs.  We're not as upside down as a lot of people but it's still enough to get the heck out.  All the stress and worry and frustration and fear ... I'm ready to let go of it.

Moving forward.  Starting fresh.

"Don't Carpe Diem"

One of the best parenting commentaries I've read in a very long time:

Don't Carpe Diem

Occupational Hazzard

You know what's fun about working at a financial institution?  Not this:

Armed Robber hits Tucson Federal Credit Union

Midtown has been robbed twice within the last 3 weeks.  Luckily I work at the East branch, but it's still very scary to think about this happening at all while I'm at work.

Just Between Friends

Just Between Friends is a great event where you can consign your outgrown baby items and earn some sweet cash twice a year.  Tucson just had their sale this week and I got rid of a bunch of outgrown kid clothes and a few toys & random household items.  It is a bit time consuming to prepare your items for the sale, but JBF provides an online inventory & tagging software that makes the process go quickly once you get the hang of it. Our house is small, so I will take any opportunity to purge unneccessary stuff.  Especially after Christmas throws up inside my living room. 

If you have JBF events in your area, I encourage you to check them out.  It's fun ... and $ rewarding $

Swagger Wagon

We finally got a new car and I couldn't be happier. A black Chrysler Town & Country that we purchased through our brother-in-law, who is a General Manager at Jim Click Chrysler Jeep.  I was surprised (and excited) to discover that the "base" models come standard with a build in DVD player, so we are SET for road trips.  I do realize that a minivan is on the opposite spectrum from what I used to drive: a red Mustang convertible.  But I'm happy to have "evolved" to a Minivan Mom.