ProlificMom

Three of The Best Websites for FREE BLOG Goodies

Three MUST SEE Sites for Bloggers

These are some of my favorite links to FREE STUFF for your blog. One thing that drives me crazy when I do an internet search for free blogg templates or backgrounds is clicking on a link only to arrive at a page that is just another page full of links to related items. These links are to AWSOME bloggs with AWESOME FREE DOWNLOADABLE backgrounds and embelishments for your websites.

Read More Here

Well, it is now after midnight and here I am still NOT asleep…again.  This has been my lifelong story – a theme really.

There have been nights when I couldn’t sleep and I cried out of exhaustion.  I longed for and pleaded (or is it pled?) for sleep but it didn’t come.  Nothing I did really worked.  There have been times when I used drugs – only the good and legal OTC kind of course – to help me sleep, but never a prescription, and it helped when I really needed it.  That is where I draw my line.  It’s a personal choice.

So, I decided to make the best of it.  Nowadays when I can’t sleep, I blog.  This is the time of day (well, night) when I do my best creative thinking.   Then and when I’m in the shower or driving in the car.  But I can’t blog in the shower or in the car.  At least its not recommended by the computer or car manufacturer.   So, I do it in the middle of the night.

One of my favorite hobbies is photography.  My camera goes EVERYWHERE  with me.  I try to never leave the house without it.  My kids sometimes get annoyed when I ask them to stop and pose, and 22 poses later they have had enough.

The other thing I do at night when I can’t sleep is take photos…of myself. This is just 16 out of about 300 photos taken in one night.  I was feeling VERY creative.  The green background is a table cloth draped over my bathroom double doors.  I didn’t do this so I could blog about it.  Really,  I just did it because I was board and feeling creative.

What do you do when you can’t sleep?

I posted this story some time last year, but I was doing laundry today and it made me laugh just to think about how much my life/marriage/family has changed over the last 17 years.  It was a great memory and I ended my day with a good laugh.

Enjoy

We all know that childhood song where you put your right foot in and out and shake it all about.  Eventually, by the end of the song, you end up dizzy and breathless on the floor.   In the ProlificMom house we have our own version, and it made my life and my marriage a little bit easier.

Marriage – Year One:  We attended a class for young married couples – Keys to Loving Relationships (a book/study series by Gary Smalley).

He explains that an important key to a good marriage is good communication, and every person has their own communication style and language.   Its difficult to have a meaningful discussion with someone who doesn’t speak the same language.  If you’re trying to communicate what you want someone else to do, you need to make sure that you are speaking their language or they are not going to get it.

In marriage there are often many (mis)communication challenges that usually end with someone saying “you just don’t listen to me” or “you just don’t get it.” Once I understood the communication gap, I started figuring out how to get what I wanted by using an entirely new set of communication tools. ( I wish they would have taught me about this important skill in college.)

Marriage – Year Five:  So, the Mister and I were finding it “stressful” to “discuss” the laundry.  Actually, I would call from work and ask him to take the clothes out of the dryer.  And just like I asked, he would take the clothes out of the dryer (and that was all).  I was constantly infuriated because he didn’t do the next step – take the clothes out of the wash and put them in the dryer, then take dirty laundry and start the wash all over again.  Why wasn’t he listening to me?!!! We had been arguing about discussing this for years and he still didn’t get it that when I asked him to “take the clothes out of the dryer” I wanted him to do the full laundry cycle.  Why did I have to explain the full cycle of laundry every time I wanted his help?

ProlificMom said: “Take the clothes out of the dryer – interpretation: Do the full laundry cycle.

What the Mister heard: “Take the clothes out of the dryer. – interpretation: Take the clothes out of the dryer.

Then, one day, I realized that we had a communication gap.  He couldn’t read my mind, and I didn’t have the patience to explain the process in detail every time I wanted it done.

Four years after watching the Keys video series (I’m a little bit slow on the uptake.) the light bulb came on!: We weren’t speaking the same language.  This occurred to me at work after calling the Mister at home to once again argue ask  about the laundry.  I just couldn’t stand the thought of wasting my energy on something so small or stupid.

That was my a-hah! moment. I needed to find a word that I could use to define the entire process.   So, I called the Mister and told him that I didn’t ever want us to argue about the laundry again, and I was going to think of a word that we could use to define the entire laundry process.   Any time one of us used the word the other one would know exactly what to do. Then I had to figure out what the word would be.   An hour later I had it – the perfect word to describe the process – DO THE HOKEY POKEY!  (I wanted him to do the laundry dance – step by step.)

Marriage – Year 17:  Twelve years later, everyone in my house knows what this term means, and we also use it to define loading and unloading the dishwasher. To differentiate we say “do the hokey pokey in the kitchen”.

This is only one small victory in the communication battleground of marriage, but a victory for sure.

Thank you Gary Smalley - I finally got it.

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO PROLIFICMOM

To all of my faithful subscribers. I have been having Feedburner issues. Partly because I am a tinkerer, and partly because Google sent me an email showing me how to transfer my Feedburner feed to Google Feedburner (or something like that) only the address had a different name.  Anywho…it hasn’t been working properly, so I’m tinkering with if for the last time.  From now on, its hands off.  No more button pushing for me.

Anyway, if you have/are/were subscribing to my RSS feed, please take a moment to CLICK ON THE SUBSCRIBE TO RSS button above and RE-SUBSCRIBE.

OOOPPS!!!!

And, if you haven’t subscribed before, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE (I’m not too proud to beg) click on the SUBSCRIBE  TO RSS button up there in the TOP RIGHT CORNER so you can stay up to date on all of the latest ProlificMom happenings.

If you or someone you know uses diapers, Luvs is giving away a SIX MONTH SUPPLY of their fine diapering products, plus a cool diaper bag ($250.00 value)  over at We Are THAT Family.

HURRY!  Tuesday is the entry deadline. There will also be a $5 coupon link available that day.

Coupon available on Tuesday at WATF.com

Its always good to save money.

And in these trying economic times its even more important than ever.  If you are looking for a source for great financial content, WalletPop.com is the place to start.  You can find links and articles on just about anything you can think of related to finances.

WalletPop.com

I even found an article about how to avoid the coupon pitfall that costs most shoppers.  It was very insightful and explained, actually expounded on, what I already learned by experience when I tried to use my Starbucks Ice Cream coupon at Walmart.  According to this article, 72% of in-store shoppers will make the purchase  even if the coupon is declined.    Fortunately, I didn’t make that mistake with the ice cream.  However, I have been known to overlook the fact that a coupon didn’t work and made the purchase anyway.  This article explains why you shouldn’t make that mistake.  It will cost you more in lost savings, and who wants to give money away to the grocery store for nothing?

I’m not a coupon queen, and I don’t usually use coupons for items that I wouldn’t normally buy.

My rule for using coupons: I only use coupons for purchases of brands or items I wouldn’t  normally buy if the coupon brings the price down to the same or less than the price of the item I would normally buy.  Otherwise, it’s not a good deal.

I’ve never been great at math but I am a savvy, frugal shopper when it comes to saving money at the grocery store.

If you are looking for coupon links, financial calculators of any kind, or advice on anything financial like taxes, great deals on the web, how to economize, mortgages, credit cards, retirement, etc., etc…go to WalletPop.com.

I promise you will not be disappointed.

Why is there a belly button in my soap?

There is a belly button in my soap.

This happens to almost every bar of soap in my house.  It was especially frustrating when it happened to my $6 bar of all natural hand made soap.  This is why I no longer buy it.  I don’t understand the fascination with poking a hole in the soap.

And here is another mystery:

What do these belong to?

Why are there two screws and a dried up macaroni noodle behind my closet door?

Somewhere in my house, something is missing some screws.  This is what boys do.

And I really need to vaccuum my closet.   Actually, I need to vaccuum everywhere in my house.  :-)

There is a saying that in life you can count on two things:  Death and taxes.  Everything else?  Well, we can hope it is at least “as advertised”.

Little Ceasar's Pizza, Grand Prairie, Texas

Today I was driving home when I decided to pick up some pizza.  As I passed through an intersection, I saw a guy twirling a sign that said Pizza, Hot and Ready.  Sold!  I pulled in to Little Ceasar’s Pizza, excited at the thought of a quick pizza pickup.  They advertised a large pepperoni pizza, warm and ready to go for $5. Make it a meal for an additional $4.  What a great deal!  This was perfect.  No waiting and I could get home quick.

Little Caesars HOT-N-READY^® Pizza - What is HOT-N-READY^®? A large 14” pepperoni or just cheese pizza, hot out of the oven and ready when you are! No need to call ahead! No need to wait! No limit!

Unfortunately, this deal was not as advertised. I walked in and there was only one person already waiting off to the side.  So, I approached the counter looking forward to my quick purchase.  There were about four men in the back kitchen area and one young girl attending the  front counter.   As I approached the counter she walked away without acknowledging me.  I waited patiently but she didn’t return, and she still didn’t acknowledge me.  Finally, in passing, she mumbled under her breath that she would be with me in a minute.  So far I wasn’t impressed.  Another two minutes passed as she begrudgingly filled someone’s delivery order and told her co-worker that she just wanted to go home.  OK,  BUT WHAT ABOUT ME?  I was getting a little bit irritated about the lack of customer service I was getting, because  I just wanted to order my PIZZA and be gone.

Finally, four minutes into this non-starter she came to the counter and mumbled as she asked what I would like to order.  Still not impressed.  But I looked her in the eyes, gave her my friendly customer smile and told her I wanted the Hot and Ready meal deal.   She responded by telling me it would be FIVE to TEN MINUTES!  She offered no apology or explanation.  Someone forgot to tell her what ‘ready’ means.   Totally underwhelmed at this point, and having invested five minutes of my time, I was committed to see this thing through.  So, I smiled and said OK, I’ll wait.  She seemed a little bit annoyed – and it didn’t help when I smiled at her and said I guess its hot but not really ready.  She immediately walked away without any further acknowledgement.  Apparently, she had filled her obligation to me and that was  enough for her.

As I sat patiently in the waiting area, I could hear the guys in the back singing along with the radio.  They were having a great time and I actually enjoyed the serenade.  Then a gentleman who sounded like a manager asked Grumpy Girl if she was ok.  He was doing his best to encourage her. (Great leadership skills!)   I could hear everything but I couldn’t see from where I was sitting.  Another customer came in to pick up her order and was waiting at the  counter when grumpy girly finally called out “Hot and Ready Meal Deal”.  I quickly got up and went to my long anticipated, falsely advertised order.  She immediately, once again, walked away from me without a word.   I waited for about a minute as she walked around in the back, and finally I raised my hands in the air as if silently questioning what was going on.  The friendly Manager guy walked over to me and I told him I would like to pay for my meal.  He looked very puzzled and asked “HUH?”.   So, I looked him in the eye and explained that “she” placed my pizza on the counter and walked away, and I haven’t paid for it yet.   He still looked puzzled, so I waived my card in the air and said I would really like to pay for my order so I can go home now.   He apologized and took my card for payment.  I smiled, thanked him, and then said, “well, it is at least hot, that’s for sure.”  I was hoping that he would pick up on my disapointment at the false advertisement.

OK, maybe grumpy girl was having a bad day.  After all, we all have our bad days every now and then.  And, not everyone has a sunny public face all the time.  And maybe the pizza was not ready as advertized because there had been a lot of customers  picking up a quick meal before I arrived.  I kept trying to tell myself that this was probably not the way things always happen. (If you can’t tell, I’m an enabler.  Its one of my greatest faults.)

So, If you like a good deal on pizza, and you don’t mind a really bad customer service experience, Little Ceasar’s Pizza in Grand Prairie, Texas is the place for you.

To make things worse, when I got home, we discovered that the sauce for the bread sticks had not been heated.  I had to heat it myself.  I’m thinking that Little Ceasar’s Pizza has seen the last of my money.  I will not be back any time soon. (Dear Little Ceasars:  Your pizza is pretty good but your customer service needs a lot of help.  I’m not asking for a refund, but I was wondering if I could get my time back?)

The good news:  I didn’t have to cook dinner.