This is going to be a short post, because as the title implies, I am simply TOO busy this week to do much of anything, let alone write long and thoughtful blog posts.
I feel like life is getting away from me and when I do have a few "free moments" I spend that time vegging out in front of Facebook or a news site rather than catching up on things that need to be done, which probably just perpetuates the cycle of never having enough time.
Today's struggle is getting to the Moms Club meeting on time. I'm meeting a prospective member, it starts in 25 minutes and neither of the kids have brushed their hair or their teeth or put on pants. Yep, it's going great. At least my 2 year old decided to finally eat something and end this ridiculous hunger strike she's been going through all morning.
Does anyone use a good time management app? Preferably a free one? I'm going to be attempting to do the meeting this morning, then do meal planning this afternoon, bang out 10 pages of writing and then clean my house and cook dinner before the husband gets home. Anyone have any bets on whether that happens?! LOL - At least Monday is my "really clean the kitchen" day and I can usually do the kitchen faster than any other room in the house.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
Delivery Woes
Today has been a very stressful day. I am officially in my 3rd trimester now (yikes, right?!) and this morning I was talking to my mom about our "birth plan". She was supposed to come up here as soon as the Dr. says it's almost time and she planned to stay for a few days so that when I go into labor we can just hop in the car and leave.
Unfortunately, almost as soon as we hung up, she got a call from a place she interviewed with a week or two ago and they offered her a job. Wonderful! So now the plan won't work because she lives 2.5 hours away. Unfortunately, my mother-in-law lives 1.5 hours away and also works full time (she started her job this week). That leaves us with zero unemployed grandmothers that can come stay with the kids potentially overnight on a weekday while I push a human out of my body.
With my 2nd child my mother-in-law wasn't working and neither was my own mom. When I went into labor on Thursday night, my mother-in-law came up to stay with the kids overnight and through Friday during the day (she was born Friday morning). My parents came up Friday night to relieve her and she went home to make it to my brother-in-laws wedding which was the next day. My MIL only lived an hour away at the time too.
There are some ladies in the moms club that have offered to watch the girls, but with kids and families of their own, a 1am call probably won't work. I'm not really sure what to do here and it's stressing me out.
What has everyone else done?
Unfortunately, almost as soon as we hung up, she got a call from a place she interviewed with a week or two ago and they offered her a job. Wonderful! So now the plan won't work because she lives 2.5 hours away. Unfortunately, my mother-in-law lives 1.5 hours away and also works full time (she started her job this week). That leaves us with zero unemployed grandmothers that can come stay with the kids potentially overnight on a weekday while I push a human out of my body.
With my 2nd child my mother-in-law wasn't working and neither was my own mom. When I went into labor on Thursday night, my mother-in-law came up to stay with the kids overnight and through Friday during the day (she was born Friday morning). My parents came up Friday night to relieve her and she went home to make it to my brother-in-laws wedding which was the next day. My MIL only lived an hour away at the time too.
There are some ladies in the moms club that have offered to watch the girls, but with kids and families of their own, a 1am call probably won't work. I'm not really sure what to do here and it's stressing me out.
What has everyone else done?
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Stomach Bug
The stomach bug has hit our house yet again. This time, my husband was the lucky winner. He was out of work yesterday and spent the day before in bed. While he was nursing his illness, I was pondering the difference between when I had the stomach bug and when he had it.
When I had it, I was pregnant and he left me to care for our 2 young kids (2 and 4) alone. He also didn't help make dinner or anything like that, so I was responsible for getting food on the table, regardless of whether or not I'd be sitting down to eat it with him. He also asked where X, Y or Z was, usually articles of clothing - as a way to hint that the laundry needed to be done. In short, nothing changed. I just threw up between completing regular tasks and was more tired. He did help pick up the living room a couple of times, but by "pick up" I mean he piled the kids' toys on the coffee table so I'd be able to get them easier in the morning.
When he had it, he literally locked himself in the bedroom with his computer all day. He called out for drinks, slept most of the day and played on his computer the rest of the day. He wore pajamas and didn't do anything. I did 100% of the child care because he "didn't want to get them sick" and of course I had to come in to clear dishes, pick up clothes, wash blankets, clean the bathroom, etc. Basically, he was an invalid. Then, when he was feeling a little better the next day he ventured into the living room and threw up his hands whenever the kids spoke to him, asked him for something or got too close because again he "didn't want to get them sick". Right. He spent the day on the couch playing video games, but occassionally stopped to ask me for something to drink or to place an order for a type of food I wasn't making (Jell-o, soup, eggs, etc.). He wasn't sick anymore, but wanted to take it easy to recover. We were also expecting a snow storm, so I got to run out to the grocery store before the kids woke up and then sneak off to the gas station while they were napping. I also got all of the trash removal duties, diapers, etc. Lucky me! He also very helpfully suggested that I "really clean" the house to get rid of all the germs, so the remainder of the day I spent scrubbing, spraying and disinfecting everything along with washing the bedding that he used the day before. It was exhausting and I'm pregnant and I got very cranky because he was clearly taking advantage of the situation.
When confronted about it, he kept using the excuse that he didn't want to get anyone else sick. When I was sick he didn't have a problem with leaving me home alone to care for the kids or letting me handle dinner or anything like that. He wasn't concerned about getting anyone else sick when the alternative was him taking over the household stuff for a few days. I was sick for 4 days - 2 of which were really bad. My OB wanted to hospitalize me to get fluids because it was that bad, but I couldn't because I didn't have anyone to help with the house or take care of the kids. He spent a day feeling really bad and then took a sick day because he pretty much wanted to and didn't want to be in the snow storm. BIG difference!
I'm just a little peeved about how different it was for the two of us. When he's sick, he expects me to wait on him hand and foot, but when I'm sick he can't even order a fricken pizza to feed the kids. Had I wanted to just feed them pizza, I'd have had to order it, pick it up and then literally serve it to them, clean up the mess, take the boxes to the trash and put any leftovers in the fridge. It's just ridiculous - why can't I ever take a sick day like he does? Well, the joke is on him. When this baby is born, I'm staying in the hospital the maximum time and I've already told him he's not allowed to stay with me. The last 2 babies he has stayed in the hospital with me, taken over my bed because the pull-out chair thing for dads was "too uncomfortable" and then hustled me out as soon as possible (half the time I'm allowed to be there) because it's boring for him to be there, he doesn't sleep well, they don't feed the dad so he had to fend for himself, etc. etc. Too damn bad! I'm going to take my 2 days and enjoy having someone else clean the bathroom, cook my food and take care of me for a change!
When I had it, I was pregnant and he left me to care for our 2 young kids (2 and 4) alone. He also didn't help make dinner or anything like that, so I was responsible for getting food on the table, regardless of whether or not I'd be sitting down to eat it with him. He also asked where X, Y or Z was, usually articles of clothing - as a way to hint that the laundry needed to be done. In short, nothing changed. I just threw up between completing regular tasks and was more tired. He did help pick up the living room a couple of times, but by "pick up" I mean he piled the kids' toys on the coffee table so I'd be able to get them easier in the morning.
When he had it, he literally locked himself in the bedroom with his computer all day. He called out for drinks, slept most of the day and played on his computer the rest of the day. He wore pajamas and didn't do anything. I did 100% of the child care because he "didn't want to get them sick" and of course I had to come in to clear dishes, pick up clothes, wash blankets, clean the bathroom, etc. Basically, he was an invalid. Then, when he was feeling a little better the next day he ventured into the living room and threw up his hands whenever the kids spoke to him, asked him for something or got too close because again he "didn't want to get them sick". Right. He spent the day on the couch playing video games, but occassionally stopped to ask me for something to drink or to place an order for a type of food I wasn't making (Jell-o, soup, eggs, etc.). He wasn't sick anymore, but wanted to take it easy to recover. We were also expecting a snow storm, so I got to run out to the grocery store before the kids woke up and then sneak off to the gas station while they were napping. I also got all of the trash removal duties, diapers, etc. Lucky me! He also very helpfully suggested that I "really clean" the house to get rid of all the germs, so the remainder of the day I spent scrubbing, spraying and disinfecting everything along with washing the bedding that he used the day before. It was exhausting and I'm pregnant and I got very cranky because he was clearly taking advantage of the situation.
When confronted about it, he kept using the excuse that he didn't want to get anyone else sick. When I was sick he didn't have a problem with leaving me home alone to care for the kids or letting me handle dinner or anything like that. He wasn't concerned about getting anyone else sick when the alternative was him taking over the household stuff for a few days. I was sick for 4 days - 2 of which were really bad. My OB wanted to hospitalize me to get fluids because it was that bad, but I couldn't because I didn't have anyone to help with the house or take care of the kids. He spent a day feeling really bad and then took a sick day because he pretty much wanted to and didn't want to be in the snow storm. BIG difference!
I'm just a little peeved about how different it was for the two of us. When he's sick, he expects me to wait on him hand and foot, but when I'm sick he can't even order a fricken pizza to feed the kids. Had I wanted to just feed them pizza, I'd have had to order it, pick it up and then literally serve it to them, clean up the mess, take the boxes to the trash and put any leftovers in the fridge. It's just ridiculous - why can't I ever take a sick day like he does? Well, the joke is on him. When this baby is born, I'm staying in the hospital the maximum time and I've already told him he's not allowed to stay with me. The last 2 babies he has stayed in the hospital with me, taken over my bed because the pull-out chair thing for dads was "too uncomfortable" and then hustled me out as soon as possible (half the time I'm allowed to be there) because it's boring for him to be there, he doesn't sleep well, they don't feed the dad so he had to fend for himself, etc. etc. Too damn bad! I'm going to take my 2 days and enjoy having someone else clean the bathroom, cook my food and take care of me for a change!
Monday, January 20, 2014
6PM Clearance Sale: Prices Starting at just $10!
Right now, 6pm.com is having a clearance sale. If you haven't heard about 6pm.com, you need to head over there RIGHT NOW and check them out. They're one of the zillions of shoe retailers on the net, but their prices are super low when they have sales. I've bought shoes there before and never had a problem.
With their current sale, prices are starting at just $10 for great shoes. Here's a sample of what they have to offer:
Ugg Classic Short Boots for just $69.75
Men's Puma Shoes for $34.99
Kids Crocs for $16.80
If you need shoes for anyone in your family, these are great prices! Hurry over now and see what you can find!
With their current sale, prices are starting at just $10 for great shoes. Here's a sample of what they have to offer:
Men's Puma Shoes for $34.99
If you need shoes for anyone in your family, these are great prices! Hurry over now and see what you can find!
Swagbucks - Earn Giftcards and More
Continuing on last week's post about ways to basically get something for nothing, I've got to do a little post about Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a website that rewards you for basically doing the things you always do. You can earn Swagbucks for searing through their site or through their search bar or you can do little tasks like answering a daily poll or taking a survey. It's pretty painless and there are a lot of ways to earn.
After you accumulate 450 Swagbucks, you can trade them in for a $5 Amazon gift card. There's other choices too - Target, Walmart, other retailers, electronics, games and more. Each thing costs a different number of points, but I find the Amazon gift cards to be the most useful and the best deal.
It's free to join and even if you only use the search bar you're likely to earn enough points for a $5 gift card each month. That might not sound like a lot, but if you save your gift cards until the end of the year, that's another $60 minimum to get yourself a little something at the holidays. I find that without doing much I earn more than that, but the trick is to look for ways to make Swagbucks that don't take time or effort. I'll post more on that another time. ;-)
Head over to Swagbucks now and join for free to start earning!
After you accumulate 450 Swagbucks, you can trade them in for a $5 Amazon gift card. There's other choices too - Target, Walmart, other retailers, electronics, games and more. Each thing costs a different number of points, but I find the Amazon gift cards to be the most useful and the best deal.
It's free to join and even if you only use the search bar you're likely to earn enough points for a $5 gift card each month. That might not sound like a lot, but if you save your gift cards until the end of the year, that's another $60 minimum to get yourself a little something at the holidays. I find that without doing much I earn more than that, but the trick is to look for ways to make Swagbucks that don't take time or effort. I'll post more on that another time. ;-)
Head over to Swagbucks now and join for free to start earning!
Friday, January 17, 2014
Bing Rewards
I'm trying out (yet another) rewards site. This time it's Bing rewards. It's a lot like Swagbucks, where you're paid to search the net and do a handful of other meaningless tasks. The reason I sign up for these sites is because it's nice at the end of the year to have a cash stash that the hubby doesn't know about to buy his Christmas gifts. However, he has discovered my Swagbucks money and has a tendency to use up all my gift cards before Christmas arrives. :-/
So, I'm working on ways to get more giftcards that he doesn't know about. So far, Bing Rewards has been rather painless, though not the easiest site in the world to navigate. It also told me that my email address had already been used, which it had not, and I couldn't recover the password or reset it using any of their techniques, so that was pretty annoying too.
Has anyone else used Bing Rewards? Let me know how you like it and how you use it!
So, I'm working on ways to get more giftcards that he doesn't know about. So far, Bing Rewards has been rather painless, though not the easiest site in the world to navigate. It also told me that my email address had already been used, which it had not, and I couldn't recover the password or reset it using any of their techniques, so that was pretty annoying too.
Has anyone else used Bing Rewards? Let me know how you like it and how you use it!
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Pregnancy Journal: Week 26
I've really dropped the ball on keeping up with my weekly updates. In any event, I'm still in week 26, so there's still time to make an entry.
Basically, there's nothing new to report except HELLISH, UNENDING, KILL-ME-NOW heartburn. Holy cow, it was never this bad with the other two. I bend down, I get heartburn. I drink water, I get heartburn. I sneeze, I get heartburn. I sit perfectly still, barely breathing and I still get heartburn. WTF?
Tums help a little and VERY temporarily so I'll be asking the Dr. for a recommendation on something else because I'm sick of sleeping in a recliner and battling the 2am burn. :-/
Oh right, and I'm pretty sure that if baby boy decided to debut himself right now he'd have a shot at making it, so kudos to him!
Basically, there's nothing new to report except HELLISH, UNENDING, KILL-ME-NOW heartburn. Holy cow, it was never this bad with the other two. I bend down, I get heartburn. I drink water, I get heartburn. I sneeze, I get heartburn. I sit perfectly still, barely breathing and I still get heartburn. WTF?
Tums help a little and VERY temporarily so I'll be asking the Dr. for a recommendation on something else because I'm sick of sleeping in a recliner and battling the 2am burn. :-/
Oh right, and I'm pretty sure that if baby boy decided to debut himself right now he'd have a shot at making it, so kudos to him!
Monday, January 13, 2014
Straight Talk iPhone Review
Now that I've had my iPhone on and working (mostly) or a few days, I thought I'd do a little write-up about how it is.
Phone: iPhone 4S *locked
Carrier: AT&T
First of all, I bought my phone on Amazon from the marketplace. A woman was upgrading to the iPhone 5 and was selling her old phone. No problem, easy transaction and it arrived quickly. Read the descriptions, email the sellers and ask questions to have the best experience on that end. If you choose an AT&T phone, it can be locked and it will still work on Straight Talk.
Next, I went to Walmart's website and ordered a Straight Talk microSIM card for AT&T phones. It was $6.99 and I did site to store to get free shipping since home shipping would have been more than the price of the SIM - this was true on Straight Talk's website as well.
Once the phone and the SIM card arrived (about a week later), I followed the directions included with the SIM card. You simply use a paper clip to open the slot on the right side of the phone, pop out the AT&T card, insert the Straight Talk card and then go online. It's really easy to transfer your service and remaining days if you're already a Straight Talk customer. Once your old phone stops working, you restart the iPhone and it starts working. However, there is NOTHING on either phone that indicates when one stops working and the other begins, at least not for the model of phone that I had, so I was watching the "port in progress" thing in my Straight Talk account. Once it said it was finished, I restarted the iPhone and was good to go. It did take about 3 hours.
Once that was complete, I didn't have data. Surprise! So I went through a whole bunch of internet BS until I found a site that walked you through the process. I can never top his tutorial, so here's a link to how to get your data (and mms) working on your Straight Talk iPhone.
Please note that for the mms portion of his tutorial, you need a t-mobile SIM card, which nobody probably has, so I skipped that part and cannot comment on whether or not it works. ***SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM OF POST
So, as promised, here's my (condensed) opinion on the Straight Talk iPhone:
Pros:
-It's an iPhone and because of that, the phone itself is sooo much better than my old phone.
-You have access to all the iPhone apps
-It costs a lot less than a regular iPhone plan
-Good call quality
-Good coverage in my house (we'll see if it works everywhere else)
Cons:
-No MMS messaging *** SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM OF POST
-Data seems slow to me, but I've never had a regular cell phone plan to compare it to. The computer is definitely faster in terms of internet speeds, but the data is faster on the iPhone than on my first Straight Talk phone. Guess I'm spoiled by using the computer most of the time.
-No SWYPE - Please note this is the ONLY feature I enjoyed on my Android phone
-I've been told it doesn't show on the screen when you have a voice mail. I'll see if that's true. I've never had visual voicemail, so I don't know what that is, but I've heard you don't get that on the iPhone either.
So basically if you're not a phone snob and you're relatively new to the smart phone scene like I am, Straight Talk on an iPhone will probably be just fine for you. However, if you're used to your $100/month plan with all the bells and whistles and support that comes with it, you may find Straight Talk to be what it is - a bargain plan that cuts out some of the fat to keep costs down.
*** NOTE: 4 days after my phone was set up I got a settings update from StraightTalk. It changed the little logo at the top to say TFW instead of HOME and now my MMS works magically. No T-mobile SIM swap needed. :-D Hooray!!
Phone: iPhone 4S *locked
Carrier: AT&T
First of all, I bought my phone on Amazon from the marketplace. A woman was upgrading to the iPhone 5 and was selling her old phone. No problem, easy transaction and it arrived quickly. Read the descriptions, email the sellers and ask questions to have the best experience on that end. If you choose an AT&T phone, it can be locked and it will still work on Straight Talk.
Next, I went to Walmart's website and ordered a Straight Talk microSIM card for AT&T phones. It was $6.99 and I did site to store to get free shipping since home shipping would have been more than the price of the SIM - this was true on Straight Talk's website as well.
Once the phone and the SIM card arrived (about a week later), I followed the directions included with the SIM card. You simply use a paper clip to open the slot on the right side of the phone, pop out the AT&T card, insert the Straight Talk card and then go online. It's really easy to transfer your service and remaining days if you're already a Straight Talk customer. Once your old phone stops working, you restart the iPhone and it starts working. However, there is NOTHING on either phone that indicates when one stops working and the other begins, at least not for the model of phone that I had, so I was watching the "port in progress" thing in my Straight Talk account. Once it said it was finished, I restarted the iPhone and was good to go. It did take about 3 hours.
Once that was complete, I didn't have data. Surprise! So I went through a whole bunch of internet BS until I found a site that walked you through the process. I can never top his tutorial, so here's a link to how to get your data (and mms) working on your Straight Talk iPhone.
Please note that for the mms portion of his tutorial, you need a t-mobile SIM card, which nobody probably has, so I skipped that part and cannot comment on whether or not it works. ***SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM OF POST
So, as promised, here's my (condensed) opinion on the Straight Talk iPhone:
Pros:
-It's an iPhone and because of that, the phone itself is sooo much better than my old phone.
-You have access to all the iPhone apps
-It costs a lot less than a regular iPhone plan
-Good call quality
-Good coverage in my house (we'll see if it works everywhere else)
Cons:
-No MMS messaging *** SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM OF POST
-Data seems slow to me, but I've never had a regular cell phone plan to compare it to. The computer is definitely faster in terms of internet speeds, but the data is faster on the iPhone than on my first Straight Talk phone. Guess I'm spoiled by using the computer most of the time.
-No SWYPE - Please note this is the ONLY feature I enjoyed on my Android phone
-I've been told it doesn't show on the screen when you have a voice mail. I'll see if that's true. I've never had visual voicemail, so I don't know what that is, but I've heard you don't get that on the iPhone either.
So basically if you're not a phone snob and you're relatively new to the smart phone scene like I am, Straight Talk on an iPhone will probably be just fine for you. However, if you're used to your $100/month plan with all the bells and whistles and support that comes with it, you may find Straight Talk to be what it is - a bargain plan that cuts out some of the fat to keep costs down.
*** NOTE: 4 days after my phone was set up I got a settings update from StraightTalk. It changed the little logo at the top to say TFW instead of HOME and now my MMS works magically. No T-mobile SIM swap needed. :-D Hooray!!
Friday, January 10, 2014
Stomach Bug
The dreaded stomach bug has made its way to our house... I've been sick (really sick) for the past two days. I'm finally getting a little better today and was able to hold food down yesterday, so things are starting to look up.
Normally, I'd take it like a big girl and move on with life, but I'm pregnant. On top of that, my husband's birthday is today and not only have I NOT gone grocery shopping yet, I don't have a gift for him. We don't normally do a lot for our birthdays, but I like to have something for him. I thought of doing some DIY garden markers, but I'll have to make a trip to the store for polymer clay and wire. I have a duck that I can cook (it's what he requested), but I need to get some orange marmalade for the sauce and a few other things to go with it. Well, the morning is almost over and if I don't head out soon it'll never happen.
Wish me luck!!
Normally, I'd take it like a big girl and move on with life, but I'm pregnant. On top of that, my husband's birthday is today and not only have I NOT gone grocery shopping yet, I don't have a gift for him. We don't normally do a lot for our birthdays, but I like to have something for him. I thought of doing some DIY garden markers, but I'll have to make a trip to the store for polymer clay and wire. I have a duck that I can cook (it's what he requested), but I need to get some orange marmalade for the sauce and a few other things to go with it. Well, the morning is almost over and if I don't head out soon it'll never happen.
Wish me luck!!
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Whirlpool Dishwasher Fire
This post isn't really any fun to write - my dishwasher had a small electrical fire. Apparently, Whirlpool dishwashers are prone to catching fire, though mine burned up in a rather unusual place. For most people, the control panel is the source of the flames, but for me it was where the power cord connects to the dishwasher.
For 3 wash cycles I was smelling burning/melting plastic. The first time I smelled it, I had accidentally melted some plastic, so I figured that was it.
The next time I ran the dishwasher, I smelled it again. I justified it as being from the last time the dishwasher had run and I moved on with my life.
The 3rd time I smelled it, it was stronger than the last 2 times. Now I was getting suspicious. I had thoroughly removed all melted plastic after it happened, so it didn't seem like that should continue being an issue. I opened the door to the dishwasher and realized the smell was not coming from inside the dishwasher. Well hell.
After some Googling, I came to discover that apparently Whirlpool dishwashers are catching fire left and right. That completely figures. In a panic, I asked my husband to pull it out so we could look for something that was melted or obviously not right. Of course he was like sure, in a minute... in 30 minutes... I'll do it tomorrow... so I did what any other woman would do - shot him a snotty look, sighed dramatically and went on the hunt for a screwdriver. I found one, unscrewed the clips at the top and pulled the dishwasher out myself. That's about the time the hubby felt like a jerk and came into the kitchen to help his pregnant wife look for the source of a burning smell.
We found it - it was the power cord where it attaches to the dishwasher. The plastic wing nut that goes around it was all melted and burned. So that was the source of the fire. We clipped the wires and put a new nut on. The husband thinks a dust-bunny got in there or something. I noticed the end of the wire was frayed, though I don't know how it would have lasted for 2 years without burning before now. So, fingers crossed for the best and no more mystery fires.
For 3 wash cycles I was smelling burning/melting plastic. The first time I smelled it, I had accidentally melted some plastic, so I figured that was it.
The next time I ran the dishwasher, I smelled it again. I justified it as being from the last time the dishwasher had run and I moved on with my life.
The 3rd time I smelled it, it was stronger than the last 2 times. Now I was getting suspicious. I had thoroughly removed all melted plastic after it happened, so it didn't seem like that should continue being an issue. I opened the door to the dishwasher and realized the smell was not coming from inside the dishwasher. Well hell.
After some Googling, I came to discover that apparently Whirlpool dishwashers are catching fire left and right. That completely figures. In a panic, I asked my husband to pull it out so we could look for something that was melted or obviously not right. Of course he was like sure, in a minute... in 30 minutes... I'll do it tomorrow... so I did what any other woman would do - shot him a snotty look, sighed dramatically and went on the hunt for a screwdriver. I found one, unscrewed the clips at the top and pulled the dishwasher out myself. That's about the time the hubby felt like a jerk and came into the kitchen to help his pregnant wife look for the source of a burning smell.
We found it - it was the power cord where it attaches to the dishwasher. The plastic wing nut that goes around it was all melted and burned. So that was the source of the fire. We clipped the wires and put a new nut on. The husband thinks a dust-bunny got in there or something. I noticed the end of the wire was frayed, though I don't know how it would have lasted for 2 years without burning before now. So, fingers crossed for the best and no more mystery fires.
Monday, January 6, 2014
New Years Resolutions
I'm late this year with the new years resolutions, but as the week has progressed, I've had time to come up with a few. Here's what I've got for 2014... we'll see how many actually stick. So far I've got a fabulous track record of NEVER keeping my resolutions.
-Cut back on my Facebook time (LOL - that probably won't happen with the darn yard sale sites and getting ready for baby #3. I am aiming for 3 times daily - my addiction is bad.)
-Spend 1 hour per night after the kids go to bed doing something relaxing or crafty like learning to crochet or reading a book.
-Send birthday cards at the end of each month. (clearly people in January are screwed because I didn't start this in December.)
-Get more organized - download a planner app for my new phone when/if it ever comes in.
-Keep up with meal planning, grocery sale tracking and couponing. This may require a newspaper subscription again, but for now I can print the ones I want.
Since my "resolutions" are a bit late, I haven't had a lot of time to fail at them. This morning I managed to only go on Facebook briefly, but I spent close to 2 hours setting up my spread sheet to track grocery sales and planning meals for next week (I will shop at the end of this week). I'm not sure if that's making me more organized or spending my time more wisely, but I'm hoping I get faster at it with experience.
Also, does anyone have any recommendations for a good planner app that's free (free because I don't know if I'll actually use it)? I need it to have a monthly calendar view that's colorful and easy to insert items, a simple to-do list that's fast to insert items and fast to delete them and a grocery list would be nice.
-Cut back on my Facebook time (LOL - that probably won't happen with the darn yard sale sites and getting ready for baby #3. I am aiming for 3 times daily - my addiction is bad.)
-Spend 1 hour per night after the kids go to bed doing something relaxing or crafty like learning to crochet or reading a book.
-Send birthday cards at the end of each month. (clearly people in January are screwed because I didn't start this in December.)
-Get more organized - download a planner app for my new phone when/if it ever comes in.
-Keep up with meal planning, grocery sale tracking and couponing. This may require a newspaper subscription again, but for now I can print the ones I want.
Since my "resolutions" are a bit late, I haven't had a lot of time to fail at them. This morning I managed to only go on Facebook briefly, but I spent close to 2 hours setting up my spread sheet to track grocery sales and planning meals for next week (I will shop at the end of this week). I'm not sure if that's making me more organized or spending my time more wisely, but I'm hoping I get faster at it with experience.
Also, does anyone have any recommendations for a good planner app that's free (free because I don't know if I'll actually use it)? I need it to have a monthly calendar view that's colorful and easy to insert items, a simple to-do list that's fast to insert items and fast to delete them and a grocery list would be nice.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Straight Talk iPhone
If you are just here to get information on bringing your own iPhone to Straight Talk, skip directly to the bolded section below.
In case you're not a regular reader, I'm a Straight Talk user. I ditched the big cell phone companies a year ago and made the jump to Walmart's bargain-priced pre-pay. Walmart offers 2 discount cell phone plans, one by Straight Talk and one by Family Mobile. Family Mobile operates on the T-Mobile network while Straight Talk works with all of the major carriers, though I should note that it appears they are phasing out Sprint at this time.
Prior to joining Straight Talk, I had Verizon. My monthly bill was about $65 which included 900 anytime minutes, fav 5 and 250 text messages. Not horrible, but not great either. I didn't have a smart phone. What made me change was when my cell phone needed replacing. I went into Verizon and found out that my plan was kaput, replaced by higher priced options, most of which had data. I didn't really care about doing the smart phone thing and I was put-off by the high price, so I started looking into different options. I'd seen the Straight Talk sign many times before and decided to look into it.
At Walmart, you can join Straight Talk and for about $48 a month (including taxes) you can get "unlimited" talk, text and data. Pretty sweet deal compared to what I was paying! **Note: "unlimited" data is secretly limited to about 2Gb. After that, they cut the speed so badly that you can't use it. As someone who rarely uses the mobile internet and mostly sticks to wi-fi, it's not an issue for me. Also, you can't stream videos or music with them as it is a violation of the terms of use.
Anyway, with Straight Talk you can buy a box with a phone in it and instructions for setting the phone up. You go online, do all the steps and then buy your airtime. You can auto-refill to ensure that you never have a lapse in service. It was really easy to set up, but the choice of phones at my local store wasn't great. You have a better selection online, but one common theme shines through - they're EXPENSIVE! Since it's a pre-pay you're basically paying full price for the phone, but it seems that Straight Talk ups the price a little bit if you want one in a colorful green box.
If having to buy a full-price phone isn't an option or is a turn-off, Straight Talk has begun a bring your own phone plan. You can purchase a SIM card through the company to use on the AT&T or T-Mobile network or you can buy a CDMA access code to use your Verizon phone. There are some phones that can't be brought over, like the iPhone, Blackberry and a few others.
But there's good news if you want to bring your own iPhone to Straight Talk. Users can bring an AT&T iPhone to the network. Then you simply purchase a micro SIM card for $6.99 and you'll be good to go. I confirmed this through Straight Talk - The Verizon iPhone is not allowed and while some people may pull off putting one on the network, it's not allowed and violates terms, which means they can be disconnected at any time. AT&T iPhones ARE allowed.
So instead of paying the $400+ price tag for a 4S (I know that the 5 series is the newest, but hey... who can afford that?!) through Straight Talk, I went on Amazon and bought a used 4S 32Gb in great condition for $170. That's a huge savings. Add in the $7 SIM card and I'm still ahead of the game. A quick check on ebay or even Amazon will show that AT&T iPhones are in more demand (and thus, higher priced) than Verizon because they can be used on Straight Talk. One other good thing to note - Even locked AT&T phones will work on Straight Talk. This was confirmed by Straight Talk. That should help you find an even better deal!
In case you're not a regular reader, I'm a Straight Talk user. I ditched the big cell phone companies a year ago and made the jump to Walmart's bargain-priced pre-pay. Walmart offers 2 discount cell phone plans, one by Straight Talk and one by Family Mobile. Family Mobile operates on the T-Mobile network while Straight Talk works with all of the major carriers, though I should note that it appears they are phasing out Sprint at this time.
Prior to joining Straight Talk, I had Verizon. My monthly bill was about $65 which included 900 anytime minutes, fav 5 and 250 text messages. Not horrible, but not great either. I didn't have a smart phone. What made me change was when my cell phone needed replacing. I went into Verizon and found out that my plan was kaput, replaced by higher priced options, most of which had data. I didn't really care about doing the smart phone thing and I was put-off by the high price, so I started looking into different options. I'd seen the Straight Talk sign many times before and decided to look into it.
At Walmart, you can join Straight Talk and for about $48 a month (including taxes) you can get "unlimited" talk, text and data. Pretty sweet deal compared to what I was paying! **Note: "unlimited" data is secretly limited to about 2Gb. After that, they cut the speed so badly that you can't use it. As someone who rarely uses the mobile internet and mostly sticks to wi-fi, it's not an issue for me. Also, you can't stream videos or music with them as it is a violation of the terms of use.
Anyway, with Straight Talk you can buy a box with a phone in it and instructions for setting the phone up. You go online, do all the steps and then buy your airtime. You can auto-refill to ensure that you never have a lapse in service. It was really easy to set up, but the choice of phones at my local store wasn't great. You have a better selection online, but one common theme shines through - they're EXPENSIVE! Since it's a pre-pay you're basically paying full price for the phone, but it seems that Straight Talk ups the price a little bit if you want one in a colorful green box.
If having to buy a full-price phone isn't an option or is a turn-off, Straight Talk has begun a bring your own phone plan. You can purchase a SIM card through the company to use on the AT&T or T-Mobile network or you can buy a CDMA access code to use your Verizon phone. There are some phones that can't be brought over, like the iPhone, Blackberry and a few others.
But there's good news if you want to bring your own iPhone to Straight Talk. Users can bring an AT&T iPhone to the network. Then you simply purchase a micro SIM card for $6.99 and you'll be good to go. I confirmed this through Straight Talk - The Verizon iPhone is not allowed and while some people may pull off putting one on the network, it's not allowed and violates terms, which means they can be disconnected at any time. AT&T iPhones ARE allowed.
So instead of paying the $400+ price tag for a 4S (I know that the 5 series is the newest, but hey... who can afford that?!) through Straight Talk, I went on Amazon and bought a used 4S 32Gb in great condition for $170. That's a huge savings. Add in the $7 SIM card and I'm still ahead of the game. A quick check on ebay or even Amazon will show that AT&T iPhones are in more demand (and thus, higher priced) than Verizon because they can be used on Straight Talk. One other good thing to note - Even locked AT&T phones will work on Straight Talk. This was confirmed by Straight Talk. That should help you find an even better deal!
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