January 22, 2014

If it does not fit, get rid of that S#!t

I am really proud of myself right now. I spent this past weekend cleaning out my closet and my dresser. I washed everything that was in the hamper (it overfloweth..ed) and as I folded and put away, I also sent away. I ended up with TWO lawn and garden trash bags, filled with clothes to go to Goodwill.
My closet is now nearly empty, although, my dresser drawers are still a bit more full than I would like. I need to do some shuffling around - jeans and skirts back into the closet, sweaters into the drawer - that kind of thing.
Considering what a pack rat I am, this is a big deal.

January 17, 2014

Business is slow for the Tooth Fairy

Last night, Lily (Daughter The Elder) lost a tooth. She's ten, so in and of itself, this is not big news. It was a big deal for us, however, because her teeth have been coming out at a snail's pace. It had been over a year since the last lost tooth. She will be eleven in May and this was only tooth number 9 to fall out, so it's clearly not a common occurrence. Since Tooth Fairy business is such a rare thing around here, I really don't have a set routine for when it happens.
 I am a frequent visitor to Pinterest, and there are plenty of ideas on there for how to handle dental transactions, but since it had been so long, I had not bothered to try any of them. Last night presented the perfect opportunity to pull together a few of those ideas and come up with something quick and easy, but still fun enough to use again. Hopefully, when Ivy (Daughter The Younger) begins losing teeth in the next year or so, this will be our "Molar M.O."

 Here's how it went down:
First, we never have cash on hand, so we are never prepared for tooth fairy business. Seriously, this was tooth number nine and the ninth time we did NOT have cash to give her. You'd think we'd have learned by now, but no. What we did have on hand was a Barnes and Noble gift card with ten dollars remaining on it. Guess the Tooth Fairy wants the kids to read.
My husband suggested I write a quick note from the TF explaining that she was out of cash or some jazz. Both of my girls know my handwriting, so that would have been a dead giveaway. Besides, I have a degree in graphic design, so there was no way I was going to half-ass this. (Even if it was after 10 PM on a school night.)
One of the ideas I found on Pinterest was a receipt from the TF, so I decided to work around that.



I used Microsoft Publisher's gift certificate template, and downloaded a few handwriting style fonts from DaFont dot com. I ultimately ended up going with one called Never Let Go - it's nice and bold and looks pretty legit when printed out. Since I was in a rush last night, I grabbed a cute tooth fairy graphic from Google image search. I replaced it today with an seal from the Fairyland Department of Tooth Collection that I put together. I printed out the receipt, smeared a little superfine glitter on it, and threw it in an envelope with the gift card. Lily was quite pleased with the end result and wasn't even mad about the BN card, even though she is a reluctant reader.

I went ahead and made two new versions of the receipt - one pink, one blue - and saved them as jpgs for anyone who wants a version they can print and fill in by hand. Just click to open the full size image, right click and save. :-)



My husband and I also came up with a solution to the never-having-cash-isssue. From now on, we're going to keep a stockpile of $5 gift cards on hand - more Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart, the local frozen yogurt place, etc. We can use them as gifts for those last minute birthday parties the girls are always getting invited to as well, so it's a win-win. :-)



New Year, New Blog

So I am giving the blogging thing another go. I really don't know why I find it so hard to keep up with; back in the day, I had a Livejournal that I updated religiously.
In any case, I am trying this again.

The current state of my life is as follows:
  • I will be turning 40 just shy of three weeks from now. I don't FEEL 40, so I refuse to act that way. 
  • I am currently a SAHM with Daughter#2, who starts kindergarten this fall. 
  • When Daughter#2 starts school, I will be looking for a day job - still not sure what that's going to be, but if I can avoid anything with a uniform, that would be stellar. 
  • I am currently trying my hand at writing fiction, so we'll see how that pans out, re: a day job.
  • Daughter#1 starts Middle School in the fall. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one. I hate how quickly they are growing up.
This blog will most likely be home to my various DIY projects, possible testing ground for my writing, and just a place to collect, celebrate, and/or complain about the things that happen in my life.
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IF I can force myself to update now and then.