Life update

Lately, it seems that everything has been a little crazy surrounding my business ventures as well as work in general. I have changed my schedule around, work wise, so that I can spend my weekends doing something fun without being overwhelmed. This gives me time to hang out with my kiddo and perhaps do something fun, crochet, and work on other fun projects as well as spend time with my Raph. We have been doing good, although this spring weather has really put a damper on being able to go out and do anything. All the changes with work and now my blogger interface have gotten me all kinds of fuzzled. Yes, I made that up. Work is becoming more of a popularity contest than journalism. Apparently, it is the industry standard to earn barges such as "Read 5 articles," "wrote 5 articles," "logged on." Woopty Do! If you were doing your job, all those things apply anyway. Eventually, all these things are going to mean something, so I simply have to go with the flow whether I like it or not. My page views are doing phenomenal and I will have a great pay check this upcoming payday. I started using twitter this month to promote my work and now I'm being followed by Rachel Ray, Food Network, Martha Stewart, and Parenting Magazine. These are huge successes to me as they have millions of readers and my work is being shared with all those millions. I am nearly done with my first character hat. Hail will love it because it's Elmo, or Memo as he calls him. I posted the question on my FaceBook as to how much someone would be willing to pay for a hat such as this and I only got one response. I feel that I may have to do some research and find out how much others similar to it are selling for. I was thinking of selling the fuzzy ones (like this Elmo Hat) for $20 because the yarn is expensive and I can't guarantee that I will always be able to get it on sale like I did this time. So I had to estimate the cost at full price. With that being said it cost me $7.75 just to make the toddler size hat. Most all other hats are not going to be that expensive because they are not made with furry, expensive yarn. Obviously I want my price to reflect that I am not a factory and I made this from hand. I made a dentist appointment for myself and Hail. I am terrified. I haven't had dental insurance in over 10 years and I know I need work done. the extent of the work is what scares me. Ever since I was a kid, I have been scared of the dentist. When I was 12 and had to have my double canine teeth pulled, those fears were justified when I found out I was allergic to the Novocaine. NOT FUN. This will be Hail's first dentist visit and I hope that it goes well. I have a few concerns that I am hoping I will be able to be relieved of or have fixed at an early age so it doesn't become a problem. It seems, but I can't say for sure because I'm not a dentist, that Hail has a narrow upper jar like my brother and his father have. Both had to have their jaw widened and I know it was significantly more painful as adults. If possible, I would like to have it done sooner so that his teeth grow normally instead of needing to pull those and get braces too. All things I know I can't afford. School starts up again on Monday and I am excited yet not about my classes for this quarter. Classes start at 8 in the morning so Raph will have Hail until nearly 3PM Monday and Wednesday. I have almost three hours between two of my classes, but can't go home to hang out because by the time I got there, it would be time to come back to school which is simply senseless. I am taking an Intro to Fiction course, Writing 121 and a basic sociology course. I know I am going to have a lot of papers to write, so work may be limited, which is also going to severely limit my pay.I know that I will somehow be able to make it work, I am just not happy over the prospect of limiting my funds, as most people are not fans of. I'm still working on my book challenge, although the book I am reading now seems to be dragging on. It is part of a series and like most series in recent years, I read the first three books, then the fourth one is a prequel. Shouldn't that technically be the first book? I don't need back story now after I've already slogged through 3 books and figured it out just fine on my own. Most all my favorite characters are missing that I was hoping would be in those installment. Such is life I guess. I will have to punch through it and move on.

Ole' Ball and Skein

Yesterday, I got to go yarn shopping and it was the most fantastic retail therapy I have had in a long time. I spent $110 on yarn. Yep, the old ball and skein. I absolutely love my local Joann store. That was the first time that I have ever walked into a store and found everything I wanted, and then some. It was so well stocked, even their sale items were fully stocked. I bought about 8 Caron one pound skeins, 4 Fun Fur, 7 Vanna White, and 25-ish super saver size of Red Heart. I use those colors more than anything and it seemed logical that I would need more of them. Most of the yarn I purchased was Red Heart-- not my favorite, but for money saving purposes, and because they have awesome colors, it was the smartest choice. I was surprised that I saved over $12 on my purchase, especially since I had no coupons, discounts or anything else. Most of what I purchased wasn't even on sale. I found some of the prettiest variegated colors that are perfect for quick hats and scarves, because Lord knows we still need them here in Portland. Like always, I left telling myself that I was absolutely, under no circumstances, not get something for Hail, but he ended up getting a small thing of diapers (lol, not from Joann's) and a couple of sweet Elmo and Cookie Monster bibs that actually cover his clothing. It seems to never fail, every time Hail and I go to Wal-Mart together, he poops. I always change him right before we leave and he still poops. There is something about the place that must make him feel at home. I usually keep a couple diapers in the car but had none left so I had to get a small pack to keep in there. Really, it wasn't a bad price-- $5.27 for 30 diapers. It is a "trial" pack but is perfect for the car. Really, what I need to do is make a little box or bag that I can keep in there that contains nothing but extra clothes, diapers, wipes, and a couple of snacks. That way I will always be prepared no matter what event is going on or where we are. Here's the new stash :)

I hate my neighbors

Yesterday, Hail and Raph went and rode around on the max train for awhile so that I could clean up the house. I spent 4 hours extensively cleaning everything in my house, I even scrubbed out my bathtub, one chore I can't stand. I fished out cars from under the fridge, and I took out all the garbage and recycling that I found throughout the house. Surprisingly, when you go on a cleaning frenzy, more garbage comes around that you thought was in your house.

When I went to carry out the garbage, I found that someone had threw up on the landing between mine and the neighbor's house. I live on the third story, it is highly unlikely that a bum or some random person would be up on my level unless they were visiting me or the neighbor since they are the only two condos up here. There is also a bunch of garbage in front of the neighbor's house-- phone books, food wrappers, the tobacco from cigars, and someone wrote, in bright red, on the building. It is some sort of graffiti that I can't read but it's offensive and I don't care to look at it every time I look out my front door. I have contacted the HOA and my complaints have gone unheard. I am beyond frustrated and I really don't know what to do about it any longer.

Getting Crafty

Yesterday I decided to make the executive decision that I am no longer going to work on weekends any more. While I love my job and the topics I write about, I feel that I spend far too much time working and not enough time doing anything else. My two channels that do exceptionally well are crafts and food. While my family eats a home-cooked meal at least twice a day, I feel as if I am not getting to do enough "testing" and playing around with my crafts and food as I would like. The thing that I really miss is getting to crochet and work on my clay jewelry.

I used to have a booming business on Etsy selling my handmade items, them the arthritis set in in my wrists. For a long while I had to stop production and stop crocheting because it was too much to handle after a couple of rows. Now, I feel that I am at a point that I can manage with some Excedrin before and my wrist braces, if needed. I really want to make more hats and scarves, seeing as how, in this crappy weather they may be needed all throughout the summer months.

Yesterday, I spent my day on a pattern hunt and found exactly what I was looking for-- I was so excited, I sat down, copied the patterns all down on paper (because I still don't have any ink) and went digging in my box of colors. Unfortunately, I found that I didn't have all the colors of yarn I needed to make a single project. That was a huge bummer. Raph and I talked about it yesterday, because he knows that this is something I really wanna do and I know could make me great money, and we have decided that when we get our Oregon State taxes back, I get to spend $100 on yarn. YAY HAPPY DANCE!!!! I plan on buying one of every color I can get my hands on. I have a wide array of projects I wanna do, so I was thinking the one pounder yarn skeins would be awesome, but it's too bad they don't make them in every color. :(

Have a case of the Sundays

Yes, you heard that right. A case of the Sundays. I think I need to quit working on weekends so that I have a time to regroup for the week. I am all caught up on my work and only have 4 articles to do this morning but I still feel rather lazy and would prefer to hang out with my little man and watch Doc McStuffins. We like to color and I also need to organize my week for spring break and what my plan of attack is going to be.

I have found that Pintrest, after all my complaining about it, has become my favorite time waster ever. I have also found it to be very useful as well. I have found several projects to do for my column which kind of makes it worth poking around. They have so many food and craft projects that I won't run out of ideas for a long while. I could literally spend hours and hours on there looking for new ideas.

On a second note, I have been trying to talk myself out of getting some plants for the back deck when I get money for school. I want something bright and colorful to cover up my view of the hoarder house. The bad thing about getting some plants is that I kill them. I have no growing prowess at all. I killed a tomato plant that I received for mother's day last year. I also killed all my herbs that I had growing last spring. Each year, my grandma gives me a fuchsia for my deck-- last spring, I killed that too. The only plant that I ever remember keeping alive is a bamboo shoot that I got for my 16th birthday. I kept it alive for 2 years until I went off to college and gave it to my brother to care for. It died then.

Bummin'

Today I completely have no motivation to do any work. While it it is officially the start of my spring break, a time that I really need to sit down and work AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, I chose to do some spring cleaning instead. I cleaned out my sons toy box and man, had I have known before I started buying him toys that garbage would be more exciting I would have saved my recycling. In his toy box was a huge stockpile of straws, empty containers, pieces of paper and strings.

I got all my things ready for school so that when I starts again, all I have to do is grab my backpack and go since everything is already inside. My laundry is folded now, my dishes are clean and I was thinking of vacuuming but I can't do that until Hail is asleep. He's terrified of the vacuum.

Last night, I made spaghetti for dinner knowing full well that Hail wasn't going to eat it. His pediatrician keeps telling me that I need to continue to give him things to try, but I have had about 20 failed attempts with sketti until last night. He didn't eat the meat but he did soak up as much sauce as he could and ate all the noodles. This is the face that I ended up with when he was close to done.

50 Book challenge- Book 12- Cupcake

I can't believe I have been doing as well as I have on this book challenge. I love to read but I'm not a strong reader. Currently I am actively reading book 13 which seems super hard to believe in the end of March.

Book 12 for me was called Cupcake by Mariah Jones. This was a Kindle edition book I purchased for $0.99. I was intrigued by the title as I love cupcakes. I also really liked that the story was set in Portland, my hometown. Sadly, I quickly came to find that there was no landmark to make the story based in Portland at all.

In the beginning, I was able to easily resonate and become akin to the story as it was about an overweight female living in Portland who was perpetually on a diet to lose weight. Darcy Miller is the owner of Cupcake, a bakery. In a near robbery of her store, she gets shot because she is wearing uncomfortable underwear, the hot guy who opens up an art shop right next to her shop asks her out on a date, and she embarrasses herself at a health club in a way that only a big girl can do.

While she likes the guy that asked her out, she feels uncomfortable with him because of their size differences. Then her ex-priest ex-boyfriend comes back to town to proclaim his undying love to her. Who will Darcy choose? Will she lose the weight she so desperately wants to be rid of? Read the story to find out.

I liked this book because the story was interesting and easy to follow. I really hates that most of the story did not have any in-depth details to really pull me in. The formatting was a little off and chapters would often start at the bottom or middle of the page. The editing didn't seem to be very thorough as there was several words not capitalized that should have been, missing quotes and other issues that were a little off, making the story a little challenging to read. Overall, I give this story a B- more for grammatical issues than a story line.

Motivate me

Lately I have had no motivation for anything. Yesterday I tried to sit down and do some work. I got one article done before I decided that I wanted to test some recipes then make dinner. Because I have been procrastinating at work, I now have 14 articles I need to do which will more than likely not all be getting done today because there is no possible way for me to humanly do that.

I really want that Dragon Naturally Speaking program that will allow me to talk through my article instead of having to write them down. That is part of what trips me up and slows me down. Not only do I not type as fast as my brain thinks of the stuff, but I would much rather be playing with Hail, something I don't get to do when I have to work. I get up early to work before him, but by the time I'm done checking emails and writing my blog post, he's up and I haven't done any work yet. If I wait until he goes to bed, then I have another 2 hours to work before I start getting tired and need to go to bed. Because of school, I miss nap time to work. Although, he has started telling me that he doesn't need a nap. Then, this happens:

It's cute but exhausting. I really need a job that will pay me all day to do nothing. I thought about going into child care so that I could play with my son all day but that would require me to hang out with other people's children all day and I have found since becoming a mom that I don't like a lot of other people's children. They aren't mine, they don't listen well and I can't really discipline them so I just have to deal with bad behavior. No thank you.

I love Easter

I have always loved Easter. I'm not one of those super religious people that insists on church and christenings and things like that on Easter. Our family has always done Easter baskets, the cute bunnies, chicks, and ducks, have fun with eggs and that sort of thing. Yesterday while I was out and about, I stopped at Wal-Mart, something I should have learned a long time ago that I shouldn't be allowed to do, and picked up a few things for Hail's Easter basket.

Last year, he was too young to really care about Easter, but this year, now that he is a little bigger, kind of understands gift giving and can have a little candy, we are going all out. I found a super cute shirt that I couldn't resist picking up since he is growing like a weed and I can't keep clothes on him. Of course, a new Hot Wheel car was necessary since he is a little boy and there is nothing cooler than cars. And I picked up two movies from the $5 bin. I love that $5 bin, there are so many great movies in it that I have seen a million times over but would gladly watch a million more. He will be getting Thomas the Train and a Sesame Street count with me movie. I still have a few more things I have to pick up such as a basket and a few filler items. But then his basket is finished.

We are going to be making Jello eggs this year since nobody really eats hard boiled eggs in our house and they end up going bad. Jello eggs are easy, and they make an awesome sugar free snack. I also wrote this great tutorial about dying Easter eggs with Kool-Aid. I don't know why I never thought of that before. I would much prefer fruity smells to vinegar in the kitchen! Here's the tutorial for anyone that wants to try it at home.

Getting up early is so hard to do

When I was younger, I had absolutely no qualms of getting up at 6 in the morning for school, 5 was even acceptable as long as I had gone to bed before 11. Now, I can't do it to save my life. I set the alarm, I wake up to turn it off but for some reason I have every excuse in the world as to why I can't get up then. This mornings excuse I told myself as I dragged myself out of bed is that it's cold in the living room and Raph was snoring all night so I couldn't possibly get up because I didn't sleep well. Not sleeping well is always the excuse I use. Admittedly, most nights I don't sleep well. I wake up to most every noise, it takes me forever to get to sleep and then when I do I have insomnia and I'm wide awake for hours in the middle of the night.

When I wake up, aside from getting up to use the bathroom, I don't get up and do productive things because I know if I were to get up I will fall back to sleep for a long time and I can't afford to do that since Hail will be up at 8 in the morning. For some reason my child likes to be up early in the morning and not stay up at night. I don't know where he got that from as I am not a morning person and it stays relatively dark here in his room until about 8:30 9 in the morning.

Hopefully, this new Silver Spur cowboy coffee I bought will do the trick. It is STRONG. Seriously, as much coffee as I am used to drinking, I haven't even finished my first cup and it feels like I've been kicked in the teeth by a horse. I think one cup will be fine for now. I do love coffee though. Such a delicious invention....

50 Book challenge- Book 11- English Tea Murder

Admittedly, I have a problem. Once I start reading a book series, I can't stop until there is no more. Leslie Meier's newest book is not an exception to that rule. Admittedly, I should have read this one before chocolate covered murder because it precedes that one, but the story panned out just fine. In this novel, report Lucy Stone goes to England on a once in a lifetime vacation with her friends. While on the plan, the tour guide dies of an asthma attack, but Lucy isn't convinced that it is simply allergies. Her own daughter has asthma so she knows about it and something with the account doesn't sit right with her. Throughout the trip, the other members of their group act oddly; her friend is pushed into a busy London street, a girl jumps off a bridge into the icy, dangerous pier, and it appears that the whole group, excluding herself and her friends, have conspired to kill a man because of a crime that he committed years before and paid his debt in prison for!

The plot thickens when the group returns home and Lucy finds out that the replacement tour guide was engaging in inappropriate conduct with one of the students and now she is pregnant! Will this one end in murder too??? Read this fantastic story to find out.

I Wish I had Some Ink

I really don't know how I have lived as long as I have without ink in my printer. I have a nice Canon color printer sitting in my office area, one I can't use because I have no ink for it. I don't know if the price of ink has skyrocketed, or they have discontinued my printer, but I can't find ink for it anywhere. The one time that I did, it was way too expensive to justify purchasing.

I have seen coupons on line, coloring pages my son would love, and I would love to print off a copy of my taxes for my own records. I could do so at the library, but it would cost me $0.10 a page and that is only if what you are printing is approved by the librarian. I'm nearly positive she wouldn't allow me to print coloring pages and coupons on their printers. Also, you are only allowed to have a total of 10 copies of anything per day. Because I now live in Oregon which has a separate state tax, I would have to print my taxes over 3 days to print off one full copy!

I think it is time to buy a new printer when my financial aid comes in for school. One that is smaller and has cheaper, more widely available ink. In most cases, I believe you can still get a cartridge of ink with your new printer...

Time for carnival!

You know the old saying, "rain, rain, go away, come again some other day?" Well, this weekend would be a perfect time for that. This weekend we are have a carnival down the street that we would love to take Hail to. We are still planning on going even if it rains, because that's what it does here in Portland, but it would be nicer if it wasn't pouring.

When Raph took him past the carnival on the bus he showed a huge interest in getting to ride some of the rides, and perhaps win a few stuffed animals. It's a small carnival and I know we wouldn't be there long but it definitely would get us out of the house, something that we could all benefit from.

How 'bout this weather?

Portland has had the strangest weather lately. Last week, it slushed on us off and on all throughout the week. Thursday and Friday it was in the mid to high 60s. It was so nice out that I wore a tank top to the park! Sunday comes along and it's cloudy and cool, but nothing too noticeable. I start to think, "Spring is finally on its way!" Monday is raining and super windy. Living close to the gorge we get a lot of wind- so nothing unusual. Tuesday comes and IT IS SNOWING!!!!! This morning, it's back to being overcast and rainy again.

A friend told me a weather related funny the other day that seems applicable here:
"Mother Nature is on her period."
"Someone hand her some Midol."

50 Book challenge- Book 10- Chocolate Covered Murder

I love a good murder mystery as most anyone else does. Leslie Meier is one of my favorite writers for this because she has built a believable character in Lucy Stone, the Tinker's Cove, Maine news reporter turned snoop. Not only does she love to get a good story for her local newspaper that she works at, but she is also a pretty good detective, getting people to answer questions that the police miss or cant get an answer for.

Chocolate Covered Murder was no exception to this rule. It is true that Max may have fell through the ice while ice fishing at night. That doesn't explain why he was wrapped in his own fishing tackle before going in. Tamzin was a floozy that flaunted her overly large chest to every man in town, including Lucy's husband, Bill. That didn't mean that she deserved to be found dead and covered in chocolate. While Lucy struggles to keep up with her reporting job, take care of her family, and bake a fabulous dessert while on a diet, she also really wants to solve this murder.

In the end, not only does she solve the double murder, but she also finds the person responsible for smuggling drugs into her town and distributing them to all the kids in the area.

If you like a good murder mystery with a heroic lead character, Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone series is the perfect one for you. To date, there are over 20 books in the series, I've read every one and they always get better than the last.

My neighbors are hoarders

Since I moved into my condo, I always knew that the neighbors that lived behind my complex were trashy. They always allowed their 4 kids to run around buck naked if they felt, (on a busy street no less!) their yard is full of cigarette butts, and the trash bins that line the side of the house are overflowing. Last week, they moved out, claiming that it was time to get out of the neighborhood because of its declining atmosphere. Perhaps in the 10 years they have destroyed their rental home the neighborhood has declined but it sure hasn't since I moved here.

I knew that something was wrong with their house when the Oregon State health department showed up last week to inspect. Recently, the family has had Aaron's and Rent-A-Center bringing over a lot of furniture and appliances. It is my only guess that one of the delivery people called about the condition of their house. When they moved out, they didn't seemingly take much, probably because there wasn't much left to take except the things they have rented to own.

The day after they left, A very large dumpster showed up in the driveway. A few hours later, people were dressed in painter's clothes and breathing masks and started to shovel. Everything in the house, including tiling, doors, pieces of walls, and other things started piling up in the dumpster. It didn't take long to fill the first two, then a third appeared and is mostly full now. One of the workers told me the other day that the house will more than likely be condemned because of the condition it is in. When walking to the corner store on Friday, I had to walk right passed their house. There were no doors left to hold back the smell and garbage, it was atrocious! The smell emanating from the house was enough to make the strongest stomach turn. The walls were covered half way up in what looked like toxic black mold and dirt.

The saddest part of all of this is that this family has small children. One of them approximately 5 and the other no more than 2 or 3. I honestly don't understand how people can allow their houses to get that bad. Especially a house they are renting and doesn't even belong to someone. While I may not be the cleanest person ever, I am at least pleased to say my house doesn't smell, my floors and everything else is moderately clean and my house is safe for a toddler to be in.

I hate Daylight Savings

I have come to realize in my 26 years of life, that Daylight Savings is stupid. First of all, I get that an extra hour of daylight in the morning once helped farmers get the same amount of work done no matter what time of the year it was. I simply think that now we could go without the change as modern technology has improved our farming and other aspects of life greatly.

my biggest argument with daylight savings is that it messes with my sleep schedule. I get one hour less than I am used to and my sleep is limited as it is. My little one is napping on the couch right now because he got up earlier than he intended. Why? Because there was light outside.

If Arizona can go without changing the time why can't the rest of America?

Avoiding Homework

Today, I have a day off from working since I'm all caught up. I really need to do some homework as I have a final project due tomorrow, and another due soon after. My project due tomorrow is insane. First of all, it took nearly 7 weeks to do the project in the first place. Just Thursday, the instructor whom is a complete homework Nazi has decided she wants an edited version of the entire project due immediately. How is that supposed to happen when it took over a month to complete??? I am ultimately dreading the edits because she is very unclear in her expectations. I also have several odd comments on my returned assignments that don't mesh with the points I've received. It is going to be a long and exhausting day... I am not looking forward to doing this.

Our Play Date at the Park-- Picture Heavy

Today we had a play date at Ed Benedict park. We had lots of fun with our new friends. Here's what our day looked like.

Yay! We're at the park today to play with our new friends.

First, I went down the slide with mommy.

Then I played "chase" with my new friend Adam at the park.

Yay, I can finally run!

When I got tired, I stopped to rest and pick a flower for mommy. Then I ate it.

I got to swing by myself. Weeeeee!

Then I went down the little slide by myself, backwards.

Then I tried to climb back up the slide.

That was my day at the park, I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Duh Duh Duh Insomnia!

As you may have guessed by the title, I have been suffering from a horrible bout of insomnia again. I had this problem a lot while I was a teenager, often not falling asleep until the wee hours of the morning. Mere hours before having to get up and go to school. Now, falling asleep is not my problem. I can go to sleep as soon as you please, however, I can't stay asleep. I am wide awake by 2 in the morning and it takes hours to fall back to sleep if I'm not just up for the rest of the night. I am tired and cranky most of the day, and I feel lazy and don't want to do much. This is not very productive behavior for working and taking care of homework. Most of the time I don't even want to look at it. I just want to take a nap but I feel that napping will only encourage my insomnia to continue so I try not to give in.

While I can't say I've noticed a huge uptake on article viewership since starting with Pinterest, I have gained more followers. I am going to continue to post my articles as I feel it will eventually be helpful. Also I have seen an increase in Twitter followers. From what I know, there is nobody on my Twitter that I personally know. I don't even really know how to use the site other than posting my articles, which I also do on Facebook. Overall, work has been going well though so here's hoping for continued success.

50 Book Challenge- Book 9- Cinnamon Roll Murder

This was the newest book released by Joanne Fluke. Throughout the story, there are two mysteries taking place. The first mystery being who killed, Buddy Neiman, the keyboardist of the band Cinnamon Roll Six, and the second mystery being is Norman really Diana's father? Hannah must find the answer before Norman's wedding which is only one week away! With such a challenging deadline, there will be less sleep for everyone and a lot of deception.

This book was fantastic as I believe all of Joanne Fluke's books are. This book is full of delicious recipes and intrigue. I am pleased to say that not only did Hannah discover the killer, but she saved Norman from a marriage that wouldn't have worked out anyway because the two didn't love each other. I highly recommend the whole Hannah Swensen series to anyone that loves a good cookie or a mystery.

Taking Hail to the Dr. Today

We're getting ready to go to Hail's dr. appointment. I made an appointment for him because he seems to always be hungry but isn't eating anything. He stores his food all around the house instead of putting it in his little body. It worries me some but he isn't losing weight. I just need to know for my own peace of mind that he is nutritionally sound. We are also going to get some vaccines today... that's the not fun part.

Finally getting with Pinterest

While talking to some members of my work group, one of them suggested that I post my articles to Pinterest. Most people are looking for craft projects and cooking recipes, and those are my two big money making titles. I could gain a huge following by posting there. So today, I have decided that I am going to give it a go. I am not really sure how to pin my own articles to my boards but I know someone that can help me figure it out. I have close to 1000 food and craft articles, some holiday related, that I could really benefit from the views. I am going to try it and see where it generates good views. I am hoping that this will increase my fan base as well. I will be marking it down and seeing how much it increases.

So far, today, my Examiner views (from yesterday alone) are starting at 30 page views in crafting and 50 page views in food. After I post my articles on Pinterest, I will give you an update as to how it has increased. I'm hoping for best but expecting the worst.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I have decided that today is my lazy Sunday. While I am still working at doing things, I am doing it at my own leisurely pace. I have done quite a bit of baking, this morning. I made banana pancakes for the family and then I baked some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. I have my chicken enchilada mix prepared, but haven't done much more with it yet, but it's still early. I only have 4 articles to complete today, so this won't be too difficult.

Watching Hail eat his little nacho lunchable for the first time has been more than entertaining. He ate a fistful of salsa and loved it. I knew that kit was weird but I <3 him. Even though he did throw all of them on the floor.

I spent a lot of the morning reading and coloring with Hail. Well, I should say, I colored and he tried to eat the crayons. Then we built a pillow fort on the couch. He destroyed it in 10 seconds by accidentally stepping in the wrong place but I think he preferred it without the blanket over the top anyway.

My day seems limited. I don't really plan on doing anything else after get I get my work done. I may play around on Pinterest and figure some things out if I can. A fried had a great suggestion that I think I may try. It seems like it would bring in a lot of extra reads to my Examiner articles since so many people are on Pinterest now. I don't really get the appeal of a giant online clip board, but whatever tops your taco I guess.

Well, I'm on my way! I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday!

50 Book Challenge- Book 8- Wicked Witch Murder

Wow, book 8 of this challenge was a good one. I love Leslie Meier's writing style because it is so simple. It is so easy to read that it doesn't take me nearly as long as it does to read everything else. I have read this entire series, this book being number 20 of the Lucy Stone murder mystery series.

This is the story of Lucy Stone and her tiny Maine town of Tinker's Cove. While Lucy has her hands caring for her two tween girls working for the Pennysaver weekly newspaper as a lead journalist, she now has to deal with all the craziness of a religious zealot of a new neighbor and a self proclaimed witch that has moved to town and set up shop. When Lucy discovers the charcoal remains of a human body in the woods behind her house, all order falls apart as everyone scrambles to identify the body, keep the witch and the zealot apart and keep up with daily life. Many obstacles get in the way, such as a hurricane, the death of the zealot's wife, and crazy people all over town.

Will Lucy be able to piece it all together before time runs out? Who was the original killer of the burned body? Read this enticing story to find out.

Super frustrated

*sigh* It never seems to fail that after months of complaining that nobody sees Hail and weeks of promises that grandma or someone would like to take him for the weekend, they call the last minute with an excuse as to why they cannot. It frustrates me to no end that he gets hurt like this because someone has changed their mind, or someone else in the family is more important. Not to mention, it would be nice to have some time to myself every once in awhile.

I hate seeing his face when after being told he gets to go to grandma's for the weekend that now he is not. Luckily he is young enough that he doesn't really understand what is going on and that he isn't super affected by it yet. Luckily I had a backup plan for the weekend since I knew this was going to end up happening. It just frustrates me to no end that everyone complains and makes it sound like it is my fault they aren't getting to visit him when really, they are the ones that have canceled. I feel as if I don't even want to be bothered with asking or making attempts any longer. I feel like it is useless to pack up his stuff or even tell him he gets to go until someone shows up on my doorstep and says, "Is he ready to go?"

I just see a sad pattern beginning to happen that I am all too familiar with from childhood. I don't want that for Hail and I feel so thankful for his other family-- the "family" of Raph that Hail has chosen to adopt and who has adopted him as their own. It seems anytime that we call upon them for a night out to dinner or a few hours to grocery shop that someone is always there to watch him. It just seems so sad to me that his birth family can't do the same. Really, the only ones being hurt by this is them. Hail has already figured out on his own, at 17 months, whom he wants to call family and does.

RIP Beloved Coffee Pot

My beloved coffee pot has given up the ghost. I now have to get a new one that I can't really afford at the moment. I don't know how I am going to live without it. I have tried instant coffee before and it tastes like crap. :(

Not sure how I will live through this.