Since Loki is now Pre-K, soon to be Kindergarten, and Halo is closing in on being 18 months old, I started really feeling the itch. The itch of "What am I going to do now?" I LOVE being a mom, and I love taking care of my family, but I love working. I MISS working. So I've been scanning democraticgain.org, the classifieds, craigslist...just looking for something that would interest me. I applied to a company for a copywriter position. A couple weeks later they mailed me a letter saying I didn't get the position. Oh well, life goes on, right?
A couple weeks later, I was driving the kids back from a beach trip when my phone rings. I clicked the blue tooth connection thing (I was still on base so I had to be hands free) and took the call. Turns out it was a rep from the company that turned me down for the copywriter position. They had looked over my resume and thought that I would be a great fit for a customer service position in a new office they were starting up nearby. Would I be interested in a interview? Well I needed some more information about the position, but I could always ask that during the interview. I agreed and scheduled the interview for a time when my husband would be home with the kids.
Two days later, I am putting on my lucky Calvin Klein suit (that I got on sale at TJ Maxx). I wore it on my first day at the DNC, I wore it to my job interview with the Nevada Assembly Democratic Caucus and it is my go to for important meetings because it is lucky. I am discussing this potential job with Kiel and going over my "bottom lines" that we agreed on; mainly that I would accept $10/ hr if it is a work from home position, and minimum of $15 if it's a desk/field job. Ideally, we wanted the compensation to be what it was from my previous job (which was a salaried job that came out to about $20/hr) and of course, if it wasn't something I was going to like, to get the hell out of there.
So I drive to the their office and walk in, smiling my brightest smile, having a slight strut and extending my hand ready to shake it and get down to business. But before I could even shake a hand, I was escorted into a conference room with three other people and given a generic job application form to fill out. Why the hell did they need me to fill out an application? These people have my resume, right? What position was I applying for? I put a big question mark and wrote "The one I was called about." The back of the application had a little test for me. Circle the incorrectly spelled words and write the correct spelling. A fucking spelling test. A. FUCKING. SPELLING. TEST. I swallowed my pride and did the test. After all, I have been on social media and people nowadays can't spell for shit.
I finished the application and went to hand it off. Eager to get to the actual interview. Oh no. Not yet. I needed to do a typing test. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?! Well it's been awhile since I had actually done a typing test, so let's see if I still got it.
100% accuracy and 81 wpm. BOOM.
A lady that was supervising a group of us during our test, wrote down my results and noted, "WOW. You did really good at this!"
"Yeah," I replied sheepishly, "I actually have a bachelors in English."
After that, the interview finally started. The woman was friendly, asked most of the generic interview questions ("Why do you want to work here?" "Are you a people person?" "What do you do if don't understand what your supervisor has asked you?"). Come to find out, they basically want me to make phone calls (which after working on campaigns, I am a whiz at), in order to increase customer retention for certain companies. So it's not my dream job, but it's a job I would kick ass at doing.
Would I be working from home? No. I'd be in a cubicle for nine hours a day.
Would I be interested in this job? "Well," I said, "to be honest, that depends on what you want to pay me."
The woman looks over my resume and my "test results."
"Well with your experience and education," she starts, "we could offer you....$8.50."
Eight. Fucking. Fifty. Less than half of what I was making before. To sit in a cubicle. To put my daughter in day care and my son in daycare for his summer. To call and talk to people that (for the most part) really don't want to be bothered. One dollar more than the minimum wage. Now I'm not trying to knock this job or sound snobby, but I don't think anyone that was doing the job they were asking me to do should be getting paid a measly $8.50, and I definitely wasn't going to work just to keep my kids in daycare when I could stay home with them and have fun. It just didn't make sense for me.
"No," I said.
"No?" she asked, as though she was shocked that I was turning down such a generous offer.
"No." I got up, shook her hand, thanked her for her time and left. To be perfectly honest, if I didn't have kids, I probably would've taken it because staying home doing nothing is boring. But I'm not going to give up snuggling Halo while she naps, picking up Loki from school, going on spontaneous day trips with the kids, greeting my husband as he walks in the door and all the other perks of being a SAHM for a job that doesn't challenge me, won't help me to accomplish any of my career goals and would be a huge step down in pay. I would be leaving behind too much and gaining too little.
Seriously though, they gave me a spelling test.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Thursday, September 25, 2014
The Family Bed
I know it has been forever since I have posted anything. I guess we have just been getting settled into our life in Florida. Loki has started VPK (voluntary pre-k), Halo takes the occasional couple of steps, Kiel is determined to get the physique of The Rock and I'm making friends and trying to figure out what my next move is be it work, getting my MA, or keep riding this whole domestic mommy train.
But those are topics for another time. Today I wanted to talk about "The Family Bed." Basically it is when a family shares a bed. It is also referred to a bed sharing, cosleeping and I'm sure it has had a plethora of other names throughout time.
Flash back to Kiel and I's first year of marriage; so many nights we would lay in our king sized bed. Basically still kids at 21 and 22, we used to snuggle in a bed that was way too big for us and picture a time that would come when our bed would be full of us snuggling with sleeping babies.
Then came Loki:
But those are topics for another time. Today I wanted to talk about "The Family Bed." Basically it is when a family shares a bed. It is also referred to a bed sharing, cosleeping and I'm sure it has had a plethora of other names throughout time.
Flash back to Kiel and I's first year of marriage; so many nights we would lay in our king sized bed. Basically still kids at 21 and 22, we used to snuggle in a bed that was way too big for us and picture a time that would come when our bed would be full of us snuggling with sleeping babies.
Then came Loki:
Granted, Loki didn't really sleep in our bed after he weaned off the breast and we got him in his crib. He just wouldn't fall asleep next to us. But when we moved him to a toddler bed, he started to wander into our bed a few nights a week and when Kiel deployed, he spent almost every night Kiel was gone in bed with me. And I was fine with that. Lots of changes going on for him and it was comforting to be asleep next to his Momma.
Once Halo arrived, he slept in our bed less. But then we had a little lady who was nursing every 2 hours and I was exhausted. After nodding off while I was sitting up and feeding her, I realized it was easier on me and safer for her if she just laid next to me and nursed so I could get some more sleep.
She would sleep longer next to me. At first I didn't sleep well (always scared I would roll over on top of her) but eventually that passed and I would actually get some decent sleep. Kiel says when Halo and I are asleep, he sees her reach for me. He has even heard us "talk" (basically make noises back and forth to each other) while we are asleep.
Then Loki started to climb back in bed with us. Initially we were so scared about the possible consequences as it is said that while mothers are able to sleep next to their babies and still be aware of their positioning, siblings are not. And Loki is a wanderer. Somehow when he would sleep with us, both Kiel and I would end up with slivers of the bed to sleep on and Loki would be spread out, as comfy as can be. Most of the time, it works out just fine. I'm pretty sure that is because Kiel becomes super aware of Loki's positioning and just snuggles him over to his side of the bed.
So for almost a year (Halo turns 1 next month), we have had this sweet little girl in bed with us for just about every single night. She won't sleep anywhere else. We had a short time where I could get her to sleep in her crib for a few hours but now as soon as we start to lay her down, her eyes snap open and she grabs our shirt with her "kung-fu grip." Every now and then Loki will climb into bed with us. And yes, Kiel and I tend to wake up on a slivers on our bed and sometimes with really bad back aches. Making love in our bed really isn't an option when you have a baby in it (although that hasn't stopped us from exploring other areas of the house- *hint for other bedsharing families) and sometimes I just crave to have my bed belong to just my husband and I and not my entire freaking family ("This is not your bed/room!" is a common phrase for me to say to my kids).
But then you have those moments where you wake up and look at the sleeping people next to you and you realize- your whole world, your heart is laying next to you. The people you love more than anyone or anything else love you so much that they feel better, safer sleeping in your bed with you. And one day Loki will be a man and Halo will be a woman and they will no longer want to sleep next to me. They will want to fall asleep next to their friends, lovers, spouses and children. This is a very special time when they love their Momma and Daddy as much as we love them. Kiel and I will never be more loved than we are right now. So I will continue to share my bed with my children as long as they wish to snuggle in bed with me. It doesn't mean that I'm going to stop trying to get Halo to sleep in her bed every now and then, or not put Loki to sleep in his room every night. It means that I won't feel defeated when I try to lower Halo into her bed and her eyes open and she grabs me. Nor will I send Loki away when he comes into my room in the middle of the night asking to sleep with me. I'm going to ride the snuggle train until the wheels fall off that bitch!
Saturday, February 8, 2014
How I Fought Off Mastitis Naturally (NO ANTIBIOTICS!)
I don't know any modern mommy that wasn't petrified of getting mastitis while they were breast feeding. To gloss over- mastitis is a breast infection that is usually caused by a plugged milk duct which is usually caused from baby not feeding enough or from an over production of milk. Clogged ducts are EXTREMELY common during baby's first 8 weeks because your body is regulating itself to baby's feeding demand and basically feels like a lump in the breast with some soreness. With Halo, I got my first plugged duct shortly after my milk came in (and yes I went all WebMD on it and thought I had breast cancer and made Halo's doctor feel my boob and reassure me when we went to Halo's two week appointment). Usually if I take a hot bath where I submerge the twins (and massage them in the tub). pop an ibuprofen and then feed Halo and pump vigorously, I can work out a plugged duct on my own. For a really stubborn one, I have had Kiel massage the lump. This isn't a sexual thing folks, and to be honest- Kiel really doesn't like doing it because he has to massage very, very hard and he is afraid that he is hurting me. BUT- this has worked for me numerous times.
Now, the reason why mastitis is so scary is because it makes a super sucky situation for both mom and baby. It presents itself as flu symptoms! The flu sucks, so that alone is just awful. OH but it gets worse. Many times the only solution a doctor has for mastitis is to use antibiotics. What is a common side effect of antibiotics with women? YEAST INFECTIONS. That's right. A good ol' batch of crotch rot to go with your tit infection- therefore turning this into a full on suck fest for your lady parts. BUT I'm not done yet.....How about we take that yeast infection and we give it to your baby and infect your baby's mouth making it a breast to mouth yeast infection also known as thrush. Oh yeah. Let's not just infect you but let's poison the well and infect your baby. Then the baby has to go through treatments to combat thrush, but there is the possibility that baby and mom will just pass the infection back and forth to each other. This scenario leads to many women feeling as though they have to stop breast feeding which denies baby the best food there is and makes many women feel sad that they had to stop. Not to mention the whole other situation about how we are so quick to take antibiotics as opposed to letting our bodies heal themselves which leads to an immunity to antibiotics and how rough they can be on little one's tummies. The first time Loki had antibiotics, he was a year old and it was so rough on his digestive system, it made him throw up. Lord knows what it would do to my newborn.
See why this is such a terrifying situation?
So one morning, a couple weeks before Christmas, I wake up feeling achy. Did I sleep wrong? I'm walking to the bathroom and as I pass the mirror I stop and take a look at myself. Across my breast there is a large, red, splotchy patch (I sleep with a nursing tank which is low cut so it was easy to see this). I touched the patch and it was warm. These were signs of mastitis. Then it made sense. The body aches. The run down feeling that I had attributed to having a new baby and not sleeping. I had even thrown up the day before, but I thought it was simply because I had taken a pain killer (for mentioned body aches and residual C-section pain) and perhaps I didn't have enough food in my stomach. I lifted my arm and felt my breast with the opposite arm. I couldn't feel any lumps but this was text book mastitis. Suddenly thoughts of my waiting in a military clinic waiting room, antibiotics, crotch rot, thrush and my dreams of exclusively breastfeeding (or EBF) my daughter for at least the first six months of her life being squashed flashed in my head. I had to beat this, and I had to do it without antibiotics.
Now here are some disclaimers- I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not even an EMT anymore and please do not take my situation and what I did as the holy grail. I urge you to do your research and if mastitis doesn't start to improve 24 hours after trying natural remedies then get your ass to the doctor. That being said- this is exactly what I did-
1: DO NOT STOP FEEDING THE BABY!!! Baby needs to eat and you need that duct to get unclogged. So feed feed feed. DO NOT STOP FEEDING FROM THE INFECTED SIDE! It is going to hurt. And increased feedings are not going to make your nipples feel better. But dammit you are a woman. You dealt with pregnancy, labor and that hell we call the first few weeks of baby's life (you know- BEFORE you and baby got into your groove). So pop an ibuprofen to help with inflammation and pain, put on your big girl panties and feed and pump like there is no tomorrow.
2: GARLIC. Garlic is the freaking king of natural remedies! It's basically a natural antibiotic and boosts your immune system. And you are going to eat it raw. That's right: RAW. I love garlic so this wasn't a huge thing for me. So this is how I ate it: chopped garlic on a piece of buttered toast. I ate it like this about three times a day and then I also put chopped garlic on every meal.
3: EGGS. Eggs are a natural source of lecithin. Lecithin supplements are used to unclog ducts. So guess what you are eating? For an even bigger boost- put some raw chopped garlic on those over easy eggs! I thought it was yummy. PLUS- lecithin supplements have been linked to depression, but since you are getting your source from an egg and not from a pill- no depressed side effects :)
4: CRANBERRY JUICE- We all know how awesome cranberry juice is for infections (how many of us have chugged it at the first sign of a UTI?). I read that cranberry juice is good for preventing just about any bacterial infection, so I figured why not? And chugged it along with my water. BTW if you are breastfeeding, you should already be drinking a ton of water so keep that up.
5:HOT BATHS- Warmth is good for getting rid of plugged ducts. So I filled up the tub and submerged my boobs in the water. I tried to massage my breasts but they hurt so fucking much that I just let them hang there. Plus it is super relaxing and one of the other reasons a clogged duct can turn into mastitis is because new moms are tired and stressed. As hard as it sounds- taking it easy can do wonders to help your body heal itself.
6:SLEEP. I stayed in bed just about all day. I plopped Halo in the bed with me and we snuggled. I had my breast out right next to her so whenever she was hungry all she had to do was turn her head and start to feed. Catching up on your zzzzzzz's gives the body energy to heal.
7: CABBAGE LEAVES- I thought that this was a bit hokey when I first read this- putting cold cabbage leaves on the breast. Basically, stuff your bra with cabbage leaves. Sounds crazy but it works! The coldness of the cabbage feels great on achy breasts and apparently cabbage leaves are able to pull moisture or something to that effect so they are able to dry out the plugged duct. BUT do not leave the leaves on you for a long time because they can, in effect, dry up your supply. The rule of thumb that I found while scouring the internet is to leave them on until they start to wilt then toss them (this was about 30 minutes for me) and to only put them on about 3 times a day. Also- I had tried to put the leaves in the freezer but it was too cold for me and basically as soon as the leaves thawed (about 10-15 minutes) they were wilted and gross. So just stick the head of cabbage in the produce bin in the fridge. In fact- make sure to have one on hand in the fridge from here on out.
I did all of this on day 1 and when I woke up on day 2, the patch was still there but much less noticeable, I didn't have flu symptoms anymore and while my breast still hurt- I would attribute that more to the torturous regimen I had just subjected it to as opposed to the mastitis itself. By day 3 the patch was completely gone and the pain in my breast went away a few days later.
So that's what I did. And it worked for me. I certainly hope it could help someone else but I must stress again- if your symptoms do not improve after 1 day of vigorously trying every natural remedy you can find- then get your ass to a doctor! Many women that have dealt with mastitis and thrush have still continued to breastfeed and its not guaranteed that thrush or anything bad will happen from using antibiotics. I just know my body and know that I will get a yeast infection if you even mention antibiotics to me. And I'm not trying to bash the use of antibiotics either. I think they are great. But they are not to be used every time you feel ill or you will develop an immunity to the antibiotics and they wont work as well when you REALLY need them. So if you are like me (or if you just would like to avoid antibiotics) please try the steps I have listed above and see if you can use the power of natural remedies to cure the evil breast infection known as mastitis.
Now, the reason why mastitis is so scary is because it makes a super sucky situation for both mom and baby. It presents itself as flu symptoms! The flu sucks, so that alone is just awful. OH but it gets worse. Many times the only solution a doctor has for mastitis is to use antibiotics. What is a common side effect of antibiotics with women? YEAST INFECTIONS. That's right. A good ol' batch of crotch rot to go with your tit infection- therefore turning this into a full on suck fest for your lady parts. BUT I'm not done yet.....How about we take that yeast infection and we give it to your baby and infect your baby's mouth making it a breast to mouth yeast infection also known as thrush. Oh yeah. Let's not just infect you but let's poison the well and infect your baby. Then the baby has to go through treatments to combat thrush, but there is the possibility that baby and mom will just pass the infection back and forth to each other. This scenario leads to many women feeling as though they have to stop breast feeding which denies baby the best food there is and makes many women feel sad that they had to stop. Not to mention the whole other situation about how we are so quick to take antibiotics as opposed to letting our bodies heal themselves which leads to an immunity to antibiotics and how rough they can be on little one's tummies. The first time Loki had antibiotics, he was a year old and it was so rough on his digestive system, it made him throw up. Lord knows what it would do to my newborn.
See why this is such a terrifying situation?
So one morning, a couple weeks before Christmas, I wake up feeling achy. Did I sleep wrong? I'm walking to the bathroom and as I pass the mirror I stop and take a look at myself. Across my breast there is a large, red, splotchy patch (I sleep with a nursing tank which is low cut so it was easy to see this). I touched the patch and it was warm. These were signs of mastitis. Then it made sense. The body aches. The run down feeling that I had attributed to having a new baby and not sleeping. I had even thrown up the day before, but I thought it was simply because I had taken a pain killer (for mentioned body aches and residual C-section pain) and perhaps I didn't have enough food in my stomach. I lifted my arm and felt my breast with the opposite arm. I couldn't feel any lumps but this was text book mastitis. Suddenly thoughts of my waiting in a military clinic waiting room, antibiotics, crotch rot, thrush and my dreams of exclusively breastfeeding (or EBF) my daughter for at least the first six months of her life being squashed flashed in my head. I had to beat this, and I had to do it without antibiotics.
Now here are some disclaimers- I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not even an EMT anymore and please do not take my situation and what I did as the holy grail. I urge you to do your research and if mastitis doesn't start to improve 24 hours after trying natural remedies then get your ass to the doctor. That being said- this is exactly what I did-
1: DO NOT STOP FEEDING THE BABY!!! Baby needs to eat and you need that duct to get unclogged. So feed feed feed. DO NOT STOP FEEDING FROM THE INFECTED SIDE! It is going to hurt. And increased feedings are not going to make your nipples feel better. But dammit you are a woman. You dealt with pregnancy, labor and that hell we call the first few weeks of baby's life (you know- BEFORE you and baby got into your groove). So pop an ibuprofen to help with inflammation and pain, put on your big girl panties and feed and pump like there is no tomorrow.
2: GARLIC. Garlic is the freaking king of natural remedies! It's basically a natural antibiotic and boosts your immune system. And you are going to eat it raw. That's right: RAW. I love garlic so this wasn't a huge thing for me. So this is how I ate it: chopped garlic on a piece of buttered toast. I ate it like this about three times a day and then I also put chopped garlic on every meal.
3: EGGS. Eggs are a natural source of lecithin. Lecithin supplements are used to unclog ducts. So guess what you are eating? For an even bigger boost- put some raw chopped garlic on those over easy eggs! I thought it was yummy. PLUS- lecithin supplements have been linked to depression, but since you are getting your source from an egg and not from a pill- no depressed side effects :)
4: CRANBERRY JUICE- We all know how awesome cranberry juice is for infections (how many of us have chugged it at the first sign of a UTI?). I read that cranberry juice is good for preventing just about any bacterial infection, so I figured why not? And chugged it along with my water. BTW if you are breastfeeding, you should already be drinking a ton of water so keep that up.
5:HOT BATHS- Warmth is good for getting rid of plugged ducts. So I filled up the tub and submerged my boobs in the water. I tried to massage my breasts but they hurt so fucking much that I just let them hang there. Plus it is super relaxing and one of the other reasons a clogged duct can turn into mastitis is because new moms are tired and stressed. As hard as it sounds- taking it easy can do wonders to help your body heal itself.
6:SLEEP. I stayed in bed just about all day. I plopped Halo in the bed with me and we snuggled. I had my breast out right next to her so whenever she was hungry all she had to do was turn her head and start to feed. Catching up on your zzzzzzz's gives the body energy to heal.
7: CABBAGE LEAVES- I thought that this was a bit hokey when I first read this- putting cold cabbage leaves on the breast. Basically, stuff your bra with cabbage leaves. Sounds crazy but it works! The coldness of the cabbage feels great on achy breasts and apparently cabbage leaves are able to pull moisture or something to that effect so they are able to dry out the plugged duct. BUT do not leave the leaves on you for a long time because they can, in effect, dry up your supply. The rule of thumb that I found while scouring the internet is to leave them on until they start to wilt then toss them (this was about 30 minutes for me) and to only put them on about 3 times a day. Also- I had tried to put the leaves in the freezer but it was too cold for me and basically as soon as the leaves thawed (about 10-15 minutes) they were wilted and gross. So just stick the head of cabbage in the produce bin in the fridge. In fact- make sure to have one on hand in the fridge from here on out.
I did all of this on day 1 and when I woke up on day 2, the patch was still there but much less noticeable, I didn't have flu symptoms anymore and while my breast still hurt- I would attribute that more to the torturous regimen I had just subjected it to as opposed to the mastitis itself. By day 3 the patch was completely gone and the pain in my breast went away a few days later.
So that's what I did. And it worked for me. I certainly hope it could help someone else but I must stress again- if your symptoms do not improve after 1 day of vigorously trying every natural remedy you can find- then get your ass to a doctor! Many women that have dealt with mastitis and thrush have still continued to breastfeed and its not guaranteed that thrush or anything bad will happen from using antibiotics. I just know my body and know that I will get a yeast infection if you even mention antibiotics to me. And I'm not trying to bash the use of antibiotics either. I think they are great. But they are not to be used every time you feel ill or you will develop an immunity to the antibiotics and they wont work as well when you REALLY need them. So if you are like me (or if you just would like to avoid antibiotics) please try the steps I have listed above and see if you can use the power of natural remedies to cure the evil breast infection known as mastitis.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Baby Stuff
So on October 24, 2013, my daughter Halo Taryn was born. Kiel got to be here for it... Which I can't even explain how happy that has made me...but I thought I would tell the story of Halo's birth and share my experience with a repeat C-section (being that when I was nervous and googling "repeat C-section" like crazy, for the most part I got a bunch of sob stories or judgmental "do a VBAC" type crap).
The worst part the night before surgery was having to stop eating and drinking at 10. Not because I was hungry, but because I was thirsty! I must have chugged 4 bottles of water in the half hour before my deadline, hoping it would tide me over until I woke. Thankfully we woke up at 4:45 am so I could get to the hospital by 5:30, but I was still thirsty. I may have taken my pills early just so I could have a drink of water....so sue me. The info paper said I could drink some water with medication.
So after waking up my moms (they flew in the night before), kissing Loki goodbye (which did make tear up) and telling my mother "You don't need to put on makeup to go to the hospital so get your ass in the car before my spot gets bumped," we were on our way.
Now if only the hospital was ready for us....
We got here and they hooked me up to the monitors and got an IV started on me. My moms went to get coffee because they are insensitive like some mofos, and I just sat there staring at the clock. They told me I was estimated to go into surgery between 7:30-8:30. When 7:30 came and passed my nerves turned to getting pissed off. I was tired, hungry and soooo thirsty. Let's get this show on the road people! Turns out there was a commander's call that all the doctors had to be on...be seriously, if they had this call why did they schedule me so damn early?!
A little after 9:00, I was given this funky drink that was about the size of a shot that was super sour and tasted like lemon. It was to help keep me from barfing during surgery. It just made me more thirsty. A nurse gave Kiel scrubs so he could go into the OR with me (he looked so tired and so excited). Then I stood up and we followed the nurse to my operating room. Kiel had to wait outside and I went in to get my spinal block and get all prepped for surgery.
I sat on the bed. And all of sudden I went from being impatient to super fucking nervous. I saw all the surgery stuff and seriously thought of telling them to just forget this whole surgery thing and let's have her get here on her own. I even thought about forgetting the whole baby thing and sticking with Loki but my next thought reminded me that at 39 weeks pregnant that thought was fucking dumb and that this baby was coming one way or another. I remembered Loki's scary birth, preeclampsia, Kiel
on Skype from Iraq, gestational diabetes, being pregnant with a three year old and Kiel being in Afghanistan. The tears, the fears, the nausea, the inability to sleep, the thirty pounds, the bloating, the waddling, feeling as sexy as day old dog shit, the hormonal bitch fits, that my husband waiting outside was able to get home to me for this and that my moms were already on their way to my house
to get my pop pop and Loki who was so excited to meet "his baby Halo."
I could do this. All I had to do was lay there.
I arched my back in preparation for the spinal block. I felt the prick and then it felt like fire was shooting down my right leg. I think they missed. "My leg," I said as I started crying, "my leg burns."
The nurse...or doctor. I met a lot of both that morning. Redid the injection and by the time I was fully positioned (and even though this was a scheduled c section, my arms were strapped down...at least
one of them was for sure, my whole body felt heavy and immobile) on the OR table, I felt numb. But I also felt sick. Like that kind sick you feel when you drink too much and you aren't sure whether you want to run the bathroom and throw up or run to the bathroom and sleep on the cold floor. I told the nurse (doctor?) that I felt nauseated, but at the same time the narcotics in the injection hit me so I started crying because I wanted Kiel there. Some medicine was added to my IV, and my nausea went away, leaving me feeling high (so for those wondering- those are the differences I noticed between epidural sand spinal blocks. 1-a spinal block is a single injection to the spine vs. an epidural's
constant and direct line into the spine and 2- spinal has narcotics in it because it wears off faster than an epidural and yes you will feel high). I was told that nausea I felt was due to a sudden drop in blood pressure. That made me giggle a bit. Both pregnancies I had to deal with high blood pressure (not so much with Halo as it went down and back to normal after I went back on my anxiety meds).
Then they brought Kiel in and he was such a sight for sore eyes. With Kiel there, I didn't feel alone. Even though with Loki, I had my moms and my sister, it just isn't the same as having your husband there with you. He just calms me and I know that with him, everything will be fine. He sat down on a stool next to my head. I think he held my hand? Like I said, I was high (which I promptly told him when he sat next to me). And then surgery started rolling along. I didn't feel anything for the most part. A nurse asked me if I felt anything. I said no and she said "Well that's good because they already started." I don't really remember what Kiel and I talked about. I doubt it was anything other than our usual small talk about silly things, but I'm still going to put as one of the best chats ever because of who it was with and what was happening around us.
Then I felt a ton of movement in my stomach. I knew this was them maneuvering Halo out. I was told I might possibly feel nauseas and throw up, but I didn't. I just felt excited. So excited that I held my breath waiting for those first cries and Kiel had to remind me "Breathe, baby." I looked up at the light above me and in the mirrored edges of it, I was able to see a bit of what was happening on the other side of the curtain. I saw a tiny leg. A tiny, chubby, pink leg (she was laid on top of me while they were severing the cord). And then I heard her cry. At 9:38 my daughter was born.
She was so tiny at only 6lbs 3oz, but she was perfect. Scoring a 9 on her initial APGAR test (an assessment of her appearance, breathing and other functions done right after birth, a 7-10 is a healthy score with 10 being perfect and most C-section babies scoring on the lower end of normal or sometimes even below normal with the initial test), she was deemed healthy but still needed to be monitored for her blood sugar, since I had gestational diabetes. Kiel went with the baby and helped clean her up. Then he brought her to me so I could kiss her and they left so that I could get stitched up.
I was wheeled into recovery. By now the narcotics had eased up enough to where I didn't feel (super) high, but I also didn't feel pain. "Let's hurry this up folks, I have a little girl to meet and snuggle and a little boy on his way here to see us," I told them. They were so awesome. I was told that I would be in recovery for a least an hour. The point being, to monitor me and also to check and see when the spinal block had worn off enough for me to regain movement, control and feeling in my legs. They had me out of there in less than 45 minutes. My blood pressure (which was quite low during surgery) was back to normal, my pulse was in the 70's, and my sugars were normal. As soon as I was at the minimal required levels to get out of recovery, they sent me out stressing "She needs to get to her baby to initiate breast feeding and maternal/child bonding."
They rolled me into my room and there was Kiel, holding this little wrapped up bundle. He looked so ecstatic, talking to her. Then he handed her to me. She was so beautiful. I unwrapped her and looked her over. 10 fingers, 10 toes, a vagina (it was definitely a she!), bald, and looking almost exactly like my Loki when he was born! I put her to my breast and after only a few minutes, she latched perfectly! A technician came in to check her blood sugar once more, saying that with her last test she was right at the line of normal/low blood sugar. They checked her and her sugar was a little bit higher and perfectly normal- meaning that she wasn't diabetic AND that she was already getting colostrum from my breast (breast feeding after a C-section can be difficult, but I was able to nurse Loki for 7 months and Halo has been even easier to nurse!). A little later, my moms, Pop Pop and Loki arrived and I was in heaven having both of my children with me.
The rest of the stay was pretty basic but here are some things I noticed during my stay with the second c-section that differed from the first:
- It did hurt more once the medicine wore off. The uterine contractions from breastfeeding were much stronger than the first time around. Once I got home, I actually needed to use the pain medication given to me. It wasn't unbearable pain, but it did suck.
- With a second child, I was up and moving much faster. Probably because I had a 3 year old, so I knew I needed to get my ass walking around the hospital ASAP so I could recover as fast as possible and play with him. Having said that, I was pushing myself too hard and so much of my post partum bleeding would stop and then start back up due to over exertion.
- Being that I knew what to expect, I had packed a lot more stuff that I knew I would need. Night gowns instead of pants (as they hurt the C-section scar), my belly bandit compression wrap (the tightness of the wrap helped to ease the pain and it's much more comfortable than the hospital wraps, I recommend the bamboo wrap if you are having a C-section), some lullaby music on my phone and my boppy pillow to ease with nursing.
My next blog (if I ever get to it! GRRRRR moving/ buying a house is very time consuming), will be about how I defeated mastitis (a breast infection that many nursing mothers know about and are terrified of) using natural remedies (NO ANTIBIOTICS!!!).
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Let's Talk About the Shutdown...No fuck that...Let's Talk About PINTEREST
So I was going to talk about the shutdown, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), how many of us are struggling and how we all know that it is the GOP's fault (sorry, spin it anyway you want to, but it's reminiscent of what they did during the 2011 Almost Shutdown except replace the ACA with Planned Parenthood and they were actually stupid enough to go through with the shutdown this time. And if I hear or see another facebook post about the Constitution by people that obviously have never read the document and have no idea that article 1 of the Constitution specifically talks about the "power of the purse," a.k.a. the budget and how it's CONGRESS' main job-not POTUS- I'm just going to freaking lose it. Reading crap on Facebook that is, at best, maybe 35-50% factual does not make you a fucking authority on our government- actually reading our documents and getting involved in government does. And no- posting shit on facebook does not make you a political activist- it makes you one of those people that are constantly bitching and moaning. You want change? Get off your fucking computer, knock on doors and make some calls....ok I'm done now).
We've all probably heard more about this shutdown that we can bear. And unless the next thing we hear is that the shutdown is over and all the furloughed workers, and essential workers are getting their backpay- I'm sure most of us don't want to hear another fucking thing. So let's take a mindless break from everything involving government- and look at some shit I've been doing on pinterest! YAY!!!! Crafts and food and hair! Let's get domesticated up in this bitch! (BTW- for those that aren't following me on pinterest- you should....)
So let's look at the first craft- the shaving cream + corn starch = cheap at home play dough. Well- take it from me- put the shaving cream in the bowl first. The recipe calls for equal parts shaving cream and corn starch. I put about 1 cup of corn starch in the bowl and then emptied a thing of shaving cream that one of my family members had left in the guest bathroom. The ratio was WAAAYYY off. And while we still had play dough and Loki still had a blast- it was a MESS!!!
Then I got bored and tried that whole side fishtail braid bun thing. I tried twisting it in different ways but I just couldn't get it to look like the picture. Still cute, but not as cute.
We've all probably heard more about this shutdown that we can bear. And unless the next thing we hear is that the shutdown is over and all the furloughed workers, and essential workers are getting their backpay- I'm sure most of us don't want to hear another fucking thing. So let's take a mindless break from everything involving government- and look at some shit I've been doing on pinterest! YAY!!!! Crafts and food and hair! Let's get domesticated up in this bitch! (BTW- for those that aren't following me on pinterest- you should....)
So let's look at the first craft- the shaving cream + corn starch = cheap at home play dough. Well- take it from me- put the shaving cream in the bowl first. The recipe calls for equal parts shaving cream and corn starch. I put about 1 cup of corn starch in the bowl and then emptied a thing of shaving cream that one of my family members had left in the guest bathroom. The ratio was WAAAYYY off. And while we still had play dough and Loki still had a blast- it was a MESS!!!
this mess took about four rounds with our vacuum (a Dyson BTW) to remedy
So, let's talk about food- specifically s'mores. Here are some s'mores bars. They were effin amazing and easy to make. The top and the bottom layers are like a graham cracker cookie that I could've eaten by itself- but no, there is also two giant hersheys bars in there and a layer of marshmallow fluff that is baked to perfection. Eating these in the days before my gestational diabetes test probably helped with my diagnosis of having gestational diabetes...but....all the finger pricks I have had to go through since are totally worth it for this beautiful slice of heaven. I can't wait to give birth just so I can eat it again!
Then I got bored and tried that whole side fishtail braid bun thing. I tried twisting it in different ways but I just couldn't get it to look like the picture. Still cute, but not as cute.
So I had a bunch of bubble wrap laying around (packages from family, plus...I am always Christmas shopping), so I made a "bubble run," for Loki to run around on in the hallway. I made sure to tape it down bubbles up, so that way he wouldn't slip off and end up putting a hole in the wall (yes- when it comes down to whether my child is going to get injured or my house- I put money on the house getting injured. Three year olds are still pretty elastic). It was a fun afternoon. He loved it and it got rid of some of his energy on a day where my pregnant ass didn't have any.
Another day we decided to do science experiments. We did the "volcano" one (baking soda plus vinegar) and that was a winner and then we also attempted to do the "naked egg" experiment. This is the one I kept seeing on pinterest where you put an egg in vinegar (completely submerged) and let it soak and it will basically turn the shell see through and the egg into an elastic ball.
BTW my kid is wearing underwear. He has regressed in potty training over the past few months (probably related to having a deployed dad and new baby on the way- poor kid that's a lot to handle), and keeping him minimally clothed helps cut down on laundry and accidents.
See the egg in the mason jar cup?
Well the next day, we went to check on our naked egg and for the most part, all of the shell had dissolved and it was almost see through. I pulled it out so Loki and I could touch it and it felt SUPER slimy (which we both thought was actually pretty neat), but as to the claims that you would be able to toss it and it would be like a bouncy ball? No. Loki stuck his finger in it within 3 minutes and there was yolk everywhere. Still it was fun.
And for the last one- Loki has been getting into Harry Potter lately because he is awesome. So we decided one night that we were going to make butter beer because I kept seeing that floating around on pinterest as well. There were so many recipes! So I kind of combined them. I used this ginormous Hooters beer mug my husband stole borrowed from Hooters one drunken with his friends (mainly because it was a cold mug and I hadn't had time to chill the soda). I used two glass bottles of cream soda. Then I melted some butter in a sauce pan and mixed it with a couple drops of rum extract and some brown sugar then mixed it about 3/4 of that with the cream soda. The top layer is marshmallow fluff mixed with a couple more drops of run extract and the remaining butter mixture. It was good but it was ridiculously sweet! Loki and I couldn't finish the glass and I'm really glad I did my final finger prick test of the day BEFORE taking a swig of this. But it was still fun to have it while we had a little Harry Potter marathon.
Like my pumpkin? It lights up, too! Got it for $2 the day after Halloween. Clearance!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Kryssy's Saving Series Part 4- Christmas Shopping is ALL the time.
So it's September....fall. Pumpkin spice everything (yum!) and my baby is due in about 5 weeks. So how jealous does it make you to know that I am almost completely done with my Christmas shopping? Oh.....the envy is palpable!
I LOVE Christmas. I love the food, the constant baking to make the food, the smells of it, how a house is all warm when you walk into it, the Christmas lights, and being able to shower the people you love with presents. What I don't love is stressing about Christmas. So my husband and I decided we just weren't going to do that. We spent three Christmases in a row with him being deployed to some country in the Middle East (play "I'll be home for Christmas," around me and I will basically burst into tears as soon as I hear it), so when we finally had a family Christmas together in 2011, our priorities weren't so much about stressing about everything because we were just so happy to have our family together! And do you have any idea how much fun Black Friday shopping is when you aren't going out with some die hard agenda, but just checking out the sales for funsies? I buy more stuff for myself on Black Friday (which is ultimately a present from Santa, I guess) than buying presents for other people because I've already gotten most of the Christmas shopping done. So by the time Black Friday rolls around- we get to kick back and enjoy all the little things that makes the Holidays so much fun, but are rarely ever enjoyed (there is a reason why Christmas is the time of year when suicide rates skyrocket.). Stop and smell the gingerbread and mulled cider, people!
So my first tip is not to really set out and say "I'm going Christmas shopping today!" because that crap still puts way too much pressure on you and then the pressure of finding a gift, any gift so you can cross someone's name off of your to do list- just makes it not fun and keeps you from finding a great gift at a good price. By looking year round for presents- it's more so one of those where if I'm browsing the clearance section of a store or notice something awesome on one of my online shopping sites (like groupon, rue la la, bourbon and boots or zulilly) and something jumps out at me that makes me go "Hmm....that's interesting and so and so would like that...." I can just pick it up and go (or if I'm online- check for checkout promo codes or see if there is another site selling the same thing for cheaper). Without that pressure, I am able to use my head to make sure it's not just crappy gift that is going to get re-gifted or disgarded and make sure I'm not breaking the bank. The whole idea of giving a gift (besides it representing the gifts given to Baby Jesus and whatever pagan traditions it was jacked from as well), is to show your love for someone with a little token of your affection. And as much as I love to buy presents for my family, I know none of them would want me to break the bank just to give them a present.
Another thing is to have a signature present- takes the pressure off of you because people are expecting this present. My grandmother always gets her grandkids and great grandkids a really nice Christmas ornament. I have always gotten a silver bell, I think (...not sure if I totally remember) my sister gets a crystal ornament from Waterford, my son gets a Lenox ornament in the shape of a toy. So taking a cue from her, every year I give my parents and grandparents a calendar filled with pictures of my family (mostly my son...he is who everyone wants to see). They come to expect it now and it's easy to do. We go to snapfish or shutterfly (whichever has the best promos- by the way if you do mycokerewards, you can use your points to get credit at shutterfly), go through our pictures and order our calendars. With our families living far away from us- they get a year to look at Loki's cute little face. We usually do some sort of picture gift, too. Like a nice picture of the family or of Loki in a frame. Pictures are always a hit and if you hit up the clearance sales at various stores (I prefer Target, Homegoods, and TJ Maxx when I'm hunting for cheap frames), you can find really pretty frames.
Stocking stuffers- Kiel and I decided to do an every other year sort of thing when it came to the holidays. One year we stay home and invite our family to see us, the next year we go back east. So of course when our family comes out to see us, they get a stocking. Now since the calendars tend to be the big gift everyone wants and our families are flying out to see us- we get them a bunch of little presents (and maybe one that is their "big present") and we fit it in their stockings so it doesn't take up a lot of room (if we are traveling, we ship the gifts out before hand in flat rate boxes to Kiel's parent's house). Also, if your families are like ours- our parents and grandparents seem to basically have just about everything...IN THE WORLD. So my advice is to look for something quirky, original and maybe even funny. Last year, I found a great deal on Diamond Candles so we bought three of 'em and gave them to our family members. At Pier 1, I found a bunch of cute manicure kits and gave those away as presents, too. Just because it is a clearance item doesn't mean that it's a sucky gift. A gift that is personal or shows that you picked it out with them in mind, really is the important part....except with kids. And we all know that when it comes to presents- the focus is mainly on the kids, not the adults.
KIDS- Granted- I'm not at that part in my kid's life where it's all about a "it" toy. But I do know what my son likes and I have an entire year to look for it and hide it in my house (praying he doesn't stumble upon it). Those reward coupons from Toys R Us? All over it. When I happen to be somewhere with a Five Below- going crazy (and not just for the kids...my husband could literally buy out the whole store- he loves that place). Clearance at Target? I am rummaging through that like a dumpster diver. And when I see something online that I know is a good price- I buy that, too! And while we are on the topic- kids really do have a shit ton of toys, so maybe make a tradition out of having them go through their toys and pick out ones that they don't really play with to give to less fortunate kids. It's a good lesson for children and it's less shit for you to step on when their rooms are messy. Win/win!
Now- just because I shop all year long, doesn't mean I don't need extra money for buying stuff at Christmas. We LOVE to enjoy the holidays which means money for baking, money for Christmas lights (my husband sees it as a neighborhood competition) and money for Black Friday shopping (yes it tends to be mostly presents Kiel and I buy for ourselves or each other, but whatever. Deals are sometimes good). SOOOOO here is my advice for having money a Christmas (DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial expert- I am just a woman that really doesn't like to stress about money. Financial security is a type of security that just makes life easier, in my opinion); after you get your tax refund (as this is a time when people tend to get a lump sum of money, this could also be when certain active duty service members get their annual re-enlistment money)- take a chunk of that money (we do about 2,000 to be on the safe side as I like to over estimate things when it involves money). Put that money into a CD (certificate of deposit) that will mature around early/mid November- which you should be able to do online if you utilize online services with your bank . Now that money is locked in that CD. You won't be able touch it until it matures and it will mature right around the time you will need it. And not only is it sitting there, safe and ready to make your holidays less stressful- but it will gaining interest and making money for you while it sits there. We used my husband's recent re enlistment bonus in August for our CD and it has already gained $14....IN LESS THAN 2 MONTHS (ok so $14 isn't a lot of money, but it's money that we didn't have before that our money made for us, just by sitting there)!!!! We won't have to stress about money for the holidays, I will be able to take advantage of great deals (not just for presents, the holidays are great time to add baking supplies to your stock pile and of course all the after Christmas sales where you can get Christmas decorations for next year/candy for dirt cheap).
So try these tips. I know most of them sound like common sense, but that seems to go out the window when it comes to the holidays. Take a breath. Relax and put yourself in a position to ENJOY the holidays and not just "get through" them.
I LOVE Christmas. I love the food, the constant baking to make the food, the smells of it, how a house is all warm when you walk into it, the Christmas lights, and being able to shower the people you love with presents. What I don't love is stressing about Christmas. So my husband and I decided we just weren't going to do that. We spent three Christmases in a row with him being deployed to some country in the Middle East (play "I'll be home for Christmas," around me and I will basically burst into tears as soon as I hear it), so when we finally had a family Christmas together in 2011, our priorities weren't so much about stressing about everything because we were just so happy to have our family together! And do you have any idea how much fun Black Friday shopping is when you aren't going out with some die hard agenda, but just checking out the sales for funsies? I buy more stuff for myself on Black Friday (which is ultimately a present from Santa, I guess) than buying presents for other people because I've already gotten most of the Christmas shopping done. So by the time Black Friday rolls around- we get to kick back and enjoy all the little things that makes the Holidays so much fun, but are rarely ever enjoyed (there is a reason why Christmas is the time of year when suicide rates skyrocket.). Stop and smell the gingerbread and mulled cider, people!
So my first tip is not to really set out and say "I'm going Christmas shopping today!" because that crap still puts way too much pressure on you and then the pressure of finding a gift, any gift so you can cross someone's name off of your to do list- just makes it not fun and keeps you from finding a great gift at a good price. By looking year round for presents- it's more so one of those where if I'm browsing the clearance section of a store or notice something awesome on one of my online shopping sites (like groupon, rue la la, bourbon and boots or zulilly) and something jumps out at me that makes me go "Hmm....that's interesting and so and so would like that...." I can just pick it up and go (or if I'm online- check for checkout promo codes or see if there is another site selling the same thing for cheaper). Without that pressure, I am able to use my head to make sure it's not just crappy gift that is going to get re-gifted or disgarded and make sure I'm not breaking the bank. The whole idea of giving a gift (besides it representing the gifts given to Baby Jesus and whatever pagan traditions it was jacked from as well), is to show your love for someone with a little token of your affection. And as much as I love to buy presents for my family, I know none of them would want me to break the bank just to give them a present.
Another thing is to have a signature present- takes the pressure off of you because people are expecting this present. My grandmother always gets her grandkids and great grandkids a really nice Christmas ornament. I have always gotten a silver bell, I think (...not sure if I totally remember) my sister gets a crystal ornament from Waterford, my son gets a Lenox ornament in the shape of a toy. So taking a cue from her, every year I give my parents and grandparents a calendar filled with pictures of my family (mostly my son...he is who everyone wants to see). They come to expect it now and it's easy to do. We go to snapfish or shutterfly (whichever has the best promos- by the way if you do mycokerewards, you can use your points to get credit at shutterfly), go through our pictures and order our calendars. With our families living far away from us- they get a year to look at Loki's cute little face. We usually do some sort of picture gift, too. Like a nice picture of the family or of Loki in a frame. Pictures are always a hit and if you hit up the clearance sales at various stores (I prefer Target, Homegoods, and TJ Maxx when I'm hunting for cheap frames), you can find really pretty frames.
Stocking stuffers- Kiel and I decided to do an every other year sort of thing when it came to the holidays. One year we stay home and invite our family to see us, the next year we go back east. So of course when our family comes out to see us, they get a stocking. Now since the calendars tend to be the big gift everyone wants and our families are flying out to see us- we get them a bunch of little presents (and maybe one that is their "big present") and we fit it in their stockings so it doesn't take up a lot of room (if we are traveling, we ship the gifts out before hand in flat rate boxes to Kiel's parent's house). Also, if your families are like ours- our parents and grandparents seem to basically have just about everything...IN THE WORLD. So my advice is to look for something quirky, original and maybe even funny. Last year, I found a great deal on Diamond Candles so we bought three of 'em and gave them to our family members. At Pier 1, I found a bunch of cute manicure kits and gave those away as presents, too. Just because it is a clearance item doesn't mean that it's a sucky gift. A gift that is personal or shows that you picked it out with them in mind, really is the important part....except with kids. And we all know that when it comes to presents- the focus is mainly on the kids, not the adults.
KIDS- Granted- I'm not at that part in my kid's life where it's all about a "it" toy. But I do know what my son likes and I have an entire year to look for it and hide it in my house (praying he doesn't stumble upon it). Those reward coupons from Toys R Us? All over it. When I happen to be somewhere with a Five Below- going crazy (and not just for the kids...my husband could literally buy out the whole store- he loves that place). Clearance at Target? I am rummaging through that like a dumpster diver. And when I see something online that I know is a good price- I buy that, too! And while we are on the topic- kids really do have a shit ton of toys, so maybe make a tradition out of having them go through their toys and pick out ones that they don't really play with to give to less fortunate kids. It's a good lesson for children and it's less shit for you to step on when their rooms are messy. Win/win!
Now- just because I shop all year long, doesn't mean I don't need extra money for buying stuff at Christmas. We LOVE to enjoy the holidays which means money for baking, money for Christmas lights (my husband sees it as a neighborhood competition) and money for Black Friday shopping (yes it tends to be mostly presents Kiel and I buy for ourselves or each other, but whatever. Deals are sometimes good). SOOOOO here is my advice for having money a Christmas (DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial expert- I am just a woman that really doesn't like to stress about money. Financial security is a type of security that just makes life easier, in my opinion); after you get your tax refund (as this is a time when people tend to get a lump sum of money, this could also be when certain active duty service members get their annual re-enlistment money)- take a chunk of that money (we do about 2,000 to be on the safe side as I like to over estimate things when it involves money). Put that money into a CD (certificate of deposit) that will mature around early/mid November- which you should be able to do online if you utilize online services with your bank . Now that money is locked in that CD. You won't be able touch it until it matures and it will mature right around the time you will need it. And not only is it sitting there, safe and ready to make your holidays less stressful- but it will gaining interest and making money for you while it sits there. We used my husband's recent re enlistment bonus in August for our CD and it has already gained $14....IN LESS THAN 2 MONTHS (ok so $14 isn't a lot of money, but it's money that we didn't have before that our money made for us, just by sitting there)!!!! We won't have to stress about money for the holidays, I will be able to take advantage of great deals (not just for presents, the holidays are great time to add baking supplies to your stock pile and of course all the after Christmas sales where you can get Christmas decorations for next year/candy for dirt cheap).
So try these tips. I know most of them sound like common sense, but that seems to go out the window when it comes to the holidays. Take a breath. Relax and put yourself in a position to ENJOY the holidays and not just "get through" them.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Kryssy's Saving Series Part 3: Non Coupon Deals and Steals
So I know it has been a while but it has been a bit hectic. I am 8 weeks and some change away from delivering my daughter and I also have the pleasure of dealing with gestational diabetes (makes me want to find that rude midwife I saw for my 24 week appointment that said I wasn't "high risk enough," to merit my husband coming home- throw it in her face and then punch her in said face). BUT as I was couponing away in Target today (gotta get my stockpile up before my c-section...because I will barely be able to walk, let alone go all over the store hunting deals), I realized I had totally space on this- so here are some routine non coupon (ok some of them may have coupons), money saving tips from me to you.
www.inboxdollars.com
This is one of those sites where you get paid for reading a bunch of junk emails, doing surveys, etc....But seriously- they no shit send you a check once you hit $30. I'm about to request my fourth check from them. And what is super awesome- they have coupons. And when you redeem coupons you print from their site- you get .10 for each coupons. With me- those dimes really add up. Most of us spend a ridiculous amount of time doing nothing on the internet anyway, might as well find a way to make some quick cash.
www.mypoints.com
This is another one of those "read our junk email and get paid," but that isn't where I get the bulk of my points from. I use it for the online shopping rewards. I spend a lot of money at Sephora. And with mypoints.com, I make 6 points per dollar spent at Sephora if I click through their website. Mother's Day flowers delivered? Yup I got points for that. Fruit baskets or gift baskets ordered online? Damn straight I got some points for that, too. I'm going to spend money there if I get the points or not, so I might as well get some points and use it for gift card out to dinner with my family.
www.groupon.com
I freaking love this site! I will go over it a bit more when I dive into the whole Christmas shopping year round thing in the next part. But I really do use this site all the time. We use it to try new restaurants with the $30 for $15 worth of food specials, I used it for our annual smog check, I used it to get my Burberry perfume and my philosophy miracle in a jar moisturizer for a fraction of what I normally pay. You want to save money on every day stuff? You want groupon.Livingsocial is ok, but not even close to the same league as groupon. You get lucky with Livingsocial sometimes but with groupon, you are rarely disappointed.
Victoria's Secret
Bet you weren't expecting to see Vickie's on here, were you? Their stuff is expensive, but my boobs and butt deserve it. Especially when I haven't personally paid for a pair of panties in YEARS. Why would I when Vickie's is constantly sending me coupons for free undies in the mail? Every couple of months, I get a free pair of panties and for the most part get my bras when their semi annual sale rolls around.
Panera
I just so happened to sign up for their rewards thing and now I get free stuff from them practically any time I go in the place. Pastry for my son, an iced coffee.....it's free and the food is good. Yes please!
Sephora
Now Sephora is known for "luxury cosmetics." Well I look at this way, I can either shell out what I need to keep skin healthy and pretty now...or I can shell out a helluva lot more in 15 years when I can't help but look like a leather shoe. Now I'm not saying that because something is expensive, it's better. I believe in using what works for you. When a new drugstore product comes out and there are coupons that allow me to get it for free- do I? Fuck yes! Do you know how helpful those little cleansing wipes are when you are exhausted and just want to go to sleep? There are quite a few drugstore skincare products I will use, which frees up my wallet to get the more expensive products that I need (like Philosophy's Hope In a Jar Moisturizer, or Boscia eye cream). With Sephora, you get free shipping if you spend at least $50, and if you are part of their rewards program- you get a deluxe sample when your beauty bank or points hits 100 and a super awesome gift if you wait and cash them in at 500. Plus with every order you get 3 free samples and there is usually a promo code floating around so you can get another sweet sample (I recently got a lip treatment from Fresh with my last order). The best way to try those more expensive products is to get a sample, see if you like and if you don't it was only a free sample. Plus I use their sales to get great stocking stuffers while building up my beauty bank and pocketing the samples (we will get to that later).
Free Credit Reports
This isn't so much a deal or steal, but it is a way to keep money in your pocket. With a good credit report, doors are just opened up for you. We (meaning me with my husband's blessing and power of attorney) just bought a car today, and the car dealerships were fighting over us trying to earn out business. Why? Because we both have great FICO scores, and we monitor that stuff.
Now everyone knows that legally, you are entitled to a free credit report every year. But there is a way that you can work it so you can basically keep tabs on your credit all throughout the year. When you fill out the information- you are asked to select your credit report from one of the credit bureaus. Sure you could look at all three at once. Or you could space it out- check out a report from each credit bureau every 4 months. This way you are able to keep tabs on your identity and your credit more often and safeguard something that can save you THOUSANDS.
There's probably more stuff I could list, but I have wacky pregnant brain. If something pops us again, I'll be sure to write about it. The next blog is saving money at Christmas!!!
www.inboxdollars.com
This is one of those sites where you get paid for reading a bunch of junk emails, doing surveys, etc....But seriously- they no shit send you a check once you hit $30. I'm about to request my fourth check from them. And what is super awesome- they have coupons. And when you redeem coupons you print from their site- you get .10 for each coupons. With me- those dimes really add up. Most of us spend a ridiculous amount of time doing nothing on the internet anyway, might as well find a way to make some quick cash.
www.mypoints.com
This is another one of those "read our junk email and get paid," but that isn't where I get the bulk of my points from. I use it for the online shopping rewards. I spend a lot of money at Sephora. And with mypoints.com, I make 6 points per dollar spent at Sephora if I click through their website. Mother's Day flowers delivered? Yup I got points for that. Fruit baskets or gift baskets ordered online? Damn straight I got some points for that, too. I'm going to spend money there if I get the points or not, so I might as well get some points and use it for gift card out to dinner with my family.
www.groupon.com
I freaking love this site! I will go over it a bit more when I dive into the whole Christmas shopping year round thing in the next part. But I really do use this site all the time. We use it to try new restaurants with the $30 for $15 worth of food specials, I used it for our annual smog check, I used it to get my Burberry perfume and my philosophy miracle in a jar moisturizer for a fraction of what I normally pay. You want to save money on every day stuff? You want groupon.Livingsocial is ok, but not even close to the same league as groupon. You get lucky with Livingsocial sometimes but with groupon, you are rarely disappointed.
Victoria's Secret
Bet you weren't expecting to see Vickie's on here, were you? Their stuff is expensive, but my boobs and butt deserve it. Especially when I haven't personally paid for a pair of panties in YEARS. Why would I when Vickie's is constantly sending me coupons for free undies in the mail? Every couple of months, I get a free pair of panties and for the most part get my bras when their semi annual sale rolls around.
Panera
I just so happened to sign up for their rewards thing and now I get free stuff from them practically any time I go in the place. Pastry for my son, an iced coffee.....it's free and the food is good. Yes please!
Sephora
Now Sephora is known for "luxury cosmetics." Well I look at this way, I can either shell out what I need to keep skin healthy and pretty now...or I can shell out a helluva lot more in 15 years when I can't help but look like a leather shoe. Now I'm not saying that because something is expensive, it's better. I believe in using what works for you. When a new drugstore product comes out and there are coupons that allow me to get it for free- do I? Fuck yes! Do you know how helpful those little cleansing wipes are when you are exhausted and just want to go to sleep? There are quite a few drugstore skincare products I will use, which frees up my wallet to get the more expensive products that I need (like Philosophy's Hope In a Jar Moisturizer, or Boscia eye cream). With Sephora, you get free shipping if you spend at least $50, and if you are part of their rewards program- you get a deluxe sample when your beauty bank or points hits 100 and a super awesome gift if you wait and cash them in at 500. Plus with every order you get 3 free samples and there is usually a promo code floating around so you can get another sweet sample (I recently got a lip treatment from Fresh with my last order). The best way to try those more expensive products is to get a sample, see if you like and if you don't it was only a free sample. Plus I use their sales to get great stocking stuffers while building up my beauty bank and pocketing the samples (we will get to that later).
Free Credit Reports
This isn't so much a deal or steal, but it is a way to keep money in your pocket. With a good credit report, doors are just opened up for you. We (meaning me with my husband's blessing and power of attorney) just bought a car today, and the car dealerships were fighting over us trying to earn out business. Why? Because we both have great FICO scores, and we monitor that stuff.
Now everyone knows that legally, you are entitled to a free credit report every year. But there is a way that you can work it so you can basically keep tabs on your credit all throughout the year. When you fill out the information- you are asked to select your credit report from one of the credit bureaus. Sure you could look at all three at once. Or you could space it out- check out a report from each credit bureau every 4 months. This way you are able to keep tabs on your identity and your credit more often and safeguard something that can save you THOUSANDS.
There's probably more stuff I could list, but I have wacky pregnant brain. If something pops us again, I'll be sure to write about it. The next blog is saving money at Christmas!!!
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