Well, everything was certainly interrupted

I didn't intend to drop out of the blogosphere recently. But I did. And I apologize for leaving the book giveaway up in the air. I have written two separate posts to explain my absence, one titled "Unicorns Shitting Rainbows" and the other titled "On Being a Trauma Mama". The first was too angry, the second was too personal. Maybe I'll get around to blogging something that falls more in the middle. For now, let's just consult Random Number Generator:



The winner is Abigail. Congrats!

Wordless Wednesday: Fun in the Pool

About that last ER trip

Usually it is BabyBoy who needs rushed to the emergency room, but this time it was my oldest daughter. I had just started cooking and she went outside to feed the dogs as it was her chore. Moments later I heard her saying owe, owe, owe and then I'M BLEEDING. She doesn't handle blood well. She turned white, her lips were white like they get before she throws up, and she was spastic. She was running and shaking her hand, blood was going everywhere ... the wall, the carpet, her clothes, me. Finally I was able to get her to be still and let me rinse off the blood enough to see how badly she was cut. It was nearly to the bone. Half way down her finger. She sliced it open with the lid from the dog food can. Needless to say, it's now my chore. And no kids are allowed to open any kind of can whatsoever by themselves. It's a mom job. Period.



Here she is after we got back home. Since she wasn't supposed to get her hand wet, I made her wear a glove while playing outside. That stuff on her dress is blood. Can't tell by the smile on her face that anything traumatic had just happened, but it sure shaved years off my life.

Book Giveaway: The Interruption of Everything

Yes, another book giveaway, because the other one was such a spectacular success. This time, I'm giving away one of my own books, purchased with my own money, sitting on my own bookshelf, and covered in at least 2 inches of (my own) dust. That should make at least 5 people enter to win it, don't cha think?

Now to be honest, this was the first book I ever read of Terry McMillans and I liked it enough to find a spot for it to reside on my already crowded bookself. When I read Getting to Happy, I was thoroughly dissapointed as it didn't hold a candle to The Interruption of Everything. Some of the same shit happens to her characters in both books, but I found The Interruption of Everything spoke more directly to my own life experience. Feeling unappreciated. Having a husband who makes selfish life altering decisions without any regard for others feelings. Taking care of both parents and kids needs, but not your own. Loss. Wondering what in the hell happened to one's life. Knowing you must create to feed the soul but struggle for a way to incorporate that into paying the bills.

It has been a while since I read the book, so I've forgotten all the details, but I do recall that the ending felt rushed. And there are potential triggers for some (miscarriage). And the character's names are just ... funny "Mr Goodenough". Also this is a used hardback book that has been well-loved and freely highlighted. If you are still interested, comment to enter the giveaway. Tweet this post to get an additional entry. Please use @Mothering4Money so that I may keep track of each entry. The drawing will be held one week from today.

When Store Brands are Cheaper than Name Brands

I'm starting to get the hang of this couponing thing, and am having so much fun! One thing I've noticed is that the toilet paper coupons aren't that good. They are for .25 cents or .50 cents off of Charmin or some other expensive toilet paper. We use Angel Soft faithfully but I haven't found any coupons for that brand. Then I noticed at WalMart, they had some TP for .97 cents total! It is 2 ply and has equal amounts to other brands of toilet paper. So I thought I would give it a try. Frankly, I thought it would be rough as sandpaper, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's actually soft. Not Angel Soft soft, but close. And way cheaper. With our household using two rolls of toilet paper per day, and some toilet paper costing $6 to $8 dollars a pack, it's like flushing money down the drain toilet. Ha! But with this generic brand of toilet paper, we're only flushing .16 per roll which isn't near as bad.

La Luna

View from my front porch of the moon rising behind the trees.

Garden Variety Neglect

Quick, someone call CPS, I've neglected my garden.
As a result, I now have four foot onions.



Click photo to embiggen, but pretend you don't see the dirt on the floor. Mkthx

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

According to Random Number Generator, # 3 Kristin is the winner of the book Getting to Happy by Terry McMillan!



Congratulations! Please email me your address so the book can be mailed to you. Thanks to all four of you for participating. If you didn't win Getting to Happy but are a Terry McMillan fan, stay tuned for another book giveaway once again featuring Ms McMillan.

The Puppies

The puppies are two months old now and chewing on everything. I had expected to give them all away but the cuteness was too much for my cold heart to deny.



The kids have a favorite, White Nose, seen below crawling on Malachi.



I don't think the other three puppies even have names. I call them Goddamit, Get Out From Under My Feet and Goddamit, Get Out Of the Trash and Goddamit, Stop Chewing the Porch Railing.

Back to School Shopping

I recently spent the equivalent to the GNP of a small country on school clothes and supplies for my Extra Kids, you know the ones that don't live here, all while making my own kids use what they already have. I told them all that this would be the last year that I would be sponsoring them. That sounds harsh, but it is essentially what I do, sponsor them. I pay school fees, buy clothes, supplies, birthday and Christmas presents, pay for field trips, take them on vacation, buy school pictures, take them to the movies and other fun outings, and often times parent them every single weekend (though I did put a stop to that - after a year). Helping others has always brought me a great deal of joy, but I need to reel that giving spirit back in a little. Or a lot. Nine hundred dollars is a lot of money to spend in one trip on kids that aren't even yours. While their guardians spend money on cigarettes, cell phones, concerts, etc. But I digress.


This is just one kid's stuff. He is 16 and swore he needed the thumb drive for computer class and then slipped up and said otherwise on the way home. The rest was stuff he legitimately needs. Three pair of shorts, three pants, seven shirts. Gave him shoes the last time we took everyone somewhere, the drive inn movies I think, but he didn't have them on his feet so I'm guessing someone in his household took over the shoes. He's family so I've always bought him things. The other Extras have only been sponsored for 3 years, since TheDaughter and Melissa were in Kindergarten together. Ahh, well, at least they get to start school with decent things.

Extreme Couponing WIN

Since I posted my difficulties with attempting to Extreme Coupon, I thought I should also post my success. Here are some deals that I have been able to get that have saved me money:

Things I Would Have Tweeted if I Had a Twitter Account, The Final Installment

The First Installment can be found here. These are actual text messages to real live human beings who have been kind enough to not block my number.

At ice house waiting on creepy guy who has gotten 8 garbage bags of ice already! What is he icing? A dead body or something? I'm not getting out of the van until he's gone.

Why do people wear makeup and girdles to the plastic surgeon? We're all here for the same thing bitchz. Gettin rid of the fugly, ten grand at a time.

Just asked BabyBoy who came to Bday party. He said sister and pawpaw. I asked what we ate. He said cigarettes. Hmm, I don't remember eating those. Maybe cupcakes?

This will be my last Things I Would Have Tweeted if I Had a Twitter Account post because I NOW HAVE A TWITTER ACCOUNT. Go check it out! Updating every time I drop the kids off at the pool.

Review and Giveaway of Getting to Happy

Do you remember Waiting to Exhale? Are you a fan of Terry McMillan? Then head on over to BlogHer BookClub and read my review of Getting to Happy, the sequel to Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan. Afterward, come back HERE and leave a comment for a chance to win the book! Random Number Generator will pick the winner one week from today.

Eating Popsicles

Thirty Five

Today was my 35th birthday

Extreme Couponing FAIL

So one of my goals of things to accomplish this summer was to attempt Extreme Couponing, like the show on TLC. Yeah, it's not going so well.