Round Up

My life as it stands...

Some like it hot. So do I.
Our heater went out. Of course it did. J was out of town. Did it go out when he was here? No. Does crap ever hit the fan when my man is in town? Nope. When I got home, it was only 64 degrees in here. I was so cold, I wore a sweater, J's thick hoodie, my pj pants and thick socks to bed and had the bed heater turned up all the way and the down comforter on. I still froze all night and woke up shivering several times. It was down to 62 degrees this morning.

The handy man came over to fix it. His name is Manny. And he is Hispanic. I kid you not. He looks like Handy Manny's Abeulo. Turns out, we had 2 extra filters that Handy Manny said we did not need. They were located in obscure places, too. How often do you change your air filter? We thought it was every 3 months. Turns out, Handy Manny said we should change it every month.

Play Dates Rock
Certain kids have been wanting play dates with my kids for forever! One kid had to wait almost a year to come over. Kids have handed me or J their parents' cell numbers on slips of paper. Over the Christmas Break we had four play dates with five families. I got to know two new families. It was nice.

No Laptop for 3 Weeks
I went for three weeks without opening my laptop. I checked email on my iPhone, looked up information on my iPhone, checked Facebook on my iPhone. I used the iPad to read a book by my one of my favorite authors, Patricia Cornwell.  I wasn't sure it would turn back on after such a long hiatus. LoL.

My Kids Rock
For no special reason other than I love them like crazy!

Sonic the Hedge Hog Hat

We made this for our son! 

Sonic the Hedgehog Hat & Scarf

Motor Mouth is OBSESSED with all things Sonic the Hedgehog. 

He asked me to crochet a Sonic hat for him. I finally made it for Christmas. 

As a bonus, I made him a scarf to go with it.

I crocheted the hat.

I modified a pattern I found called "Chemo Hat." 

Unfortunate name for a great little hat that is easy and quick to make. 

J made the face using felt pieces that he glued to a black felt piece that doubled as an outline. That main piece was glued to the hat. Fabric glue just wasn't enough to hold the edges down as it hardened but the hat has to be flexible. I used black thread and a larger needle to sew the edges down.

This was the inspiration for the face of the hat.

Naturally, our boy loved it!

On A String And a Budget

The Chicago Widney's are scaling it back. Way back, my friends. We do not live overly extravagant lifestyles to begin with. However, we have begun to really trim the fat, so to speak. If we were really trimming the fat, we would undergo liposuction...

For example. we have begun to shop at WalMart for groceries. In Chicago, this means a trip to the far south suburbs or Indiana. Last week, we went to Indiana as the new Supercenter there is closest and gas is $0.20/gallon cheaper there. Not only did we shop at WalMart, but we bought - hold my hand, I need the support for this revelation - generic!

I loaded up more generic WalMart brand items on that conveyer belt than I have ever loaded in my life combined. It was shocking. Most of all, it was humbling.

When we lived in Tulsa, we shopped at WalMart all the time because our Albertson's went out of business (coincidentally when WalMart moved in down the street). But we seldom bought generic. When we moved to Chicago and I stayed home, I had the time to shop at WalMart for basics (toiletries, paper goods, etc.), another store for produce, Costco for other stuff, and Trader Joe's.  As a working mom, it was Whole Foods, Dominick's or Target for what we needed 'cause that's what was close and handy.

Going back to WalMart has the possibility of saving us up to $300 off our grocery bill each month. Ummm....Generic doesn't seem quite so bad anymore!