Just Heather :: Glamorous Life

Jun 11, 2009 | Filed Under: Being Green, Living Inexpensively, Love Him, Part-Time Geek

Hubby got an iPhone last fall and I, of course, have wanted one ever since. I don’t usually require much in a cell phone. I need it to call, text and survive the occasional fall. That means the iPhone was out for me, until I heard about the hard-shelled cases people use to take their iPhone mountain biking. Perhaps, with a hard-shelled case, an iPhone could survive even me.

Of course, we don’t have an extra $200 to get another one. Enter the new iPhone 3GS with the resulting price drop in the plain, old model that’s good enough for me. We have one contract up for renewal now and another in October, but still lack the funds to pay even the reduced price. Then I saw a Tweet from Planet Green about recycling your old phone if you plan to get a the new iPhone. My savings-oriented, scheming brain kicked into over drive.

I headed to my favorite gadget recycling site and checked the value on the current iPhone. $249—more than enough to buy the new one when it is released later this month. By the time I convinced hubby that being without his precious iPhone for 2 weeks would be worthwhile if it means he gets the updated model for nothing, the value had dropped to $229. That is still more than enough to pay for the updated model with our contract-renewal discount.

We thought he’d be using my seriously jank phone until June 19th, but it looks like the buy offer is good through 7/9 so he’ll be keeping the iPhone until his free Father’s Day present arrives. It means the purchase goes on a credit card, but it will be paid off as soon as our inexpensively” target=”top”>Gazelle check arrives. If you have an AT&T plan up for renewal and a current iPhone, I’d try it out before the values drop even more.

As for my phone, I’ll still have to wait. I’m such a good wife.

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#23. Let my kids eat cotton candy at the fair.

Jun 08, 2009 | Filed Under: 40x40, Family Fun

When I was a kid, we went to the carnival every year around the 4th of July. There were rides, games, cotton candy and lemonade shake-ups (which I hate but everyone else seems to love). As I got older, I realized that what carnivals really had were rickety rides, scams, dyed sugar and overpriced lemonade. As I like keeping my children safe, avoid dyes & processed sugars and generally refuse to waste money on overpriced anything, my girls have never been the fair. They have, however, been to Indiana Beach many times. That’s kind of like a carnival, right?

When I set about writing my 40×40 list, it was all about things I want to do but never really have the time, money or opportunity. The someday project isn’t about obligations. It’s about finally making dreams come true. Because my children’s dreams are also important, I have included two items on my list that I don’t personally care to do. Ever. However, I desperately want my children to have these memories. So, during the last week of school, when I saw a sign in our local shopping center advertising a carnival, I immediately added it to the summer fun list and started getting excited about crossing off another 40×40 item. I think I was more excited about the idea than the girls.

Of course, the overpriced part of the equation was still a problem for me. Funds are tight these days and throwing money away at the fair, even for a good reason, doesn’t sit well with me. That’s when I remembered that the neighborhood yard sale was happening the same weekend. I decided to put together a small yard sale in hopes of raising enough to pay for an evening at the fair. The girls had listed “have a yard sale” on their summer fun list so we got to cross off two items this weekend. Three, since the girls had their annual lemonade stand in conjunction with the yard sale.

We made enough off our junk to cover dinner at Steak ‘n Shake, a few rides at the carnival, the requisite cotton candy and one game in which Lorelai accidentally won a fish. Quite ironic, since we had just gotten rid of our old fish bowls in the yard sale. Luckily, I found another fish bowl that had a previous life as a crystal ball for Stacia’s 9th Arabian Nights birthday party. The fish has apparently been named Five, though I have no idea why. That is, however, the cost of the bucket of ping pong balls she used to win him.

The girls chose the Octopus, Gravitron (aka Megatron, according to Brenia) and the Ferris Wheel to ride. I also talked Lorelai into riding the Super Slide with me, though on the way up I distinctly remembered why I stopped riding fair rides. We all survived and the girls declared it their “best day ever” so it was definitely worth the rickety climb to the top of the slide. Brenia has made the Best Day Ever declaration every day this summer. Even though we’re just now starting the second week of summer, I am declaring the summer fun list a complete success.

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I Win!

May 28, 2009 | Filed Under: Living Inexpensively, Love It, Making Connections

When I jumped back in to this blogging thing, I once again enjoyed the community aspect—reading other blogs, commenting on posts, chatting with fellow bloggers. I discovered a lot had happened while I was away. Gone were the useless memes and quizzes (those are all on Facebook now), but the space is now filled with giveaways and contests.

I entered one, mostly because I actually had a comment about the prize, at Gotcha Baby. The prize was listed as a collection of Hallmark cards for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Excellent timing, what with both holidays coming up (okay, so I’m a little behind on posting this), and me being too cheap to buy cards. Anyway, as the title suggests, I actually won!

I wasn’t really thinking much about it, other than to be thrilled that I didn’t have to traipse through the store with 3 girls and attempt to choose cards for our parents. Imagine my surprise when the package arrived just a few days later and it was chock full of photo cards, musical cards, recordable cards and a selection of their inexpensive (there’s the stuff!) recycled cards for every day use. I have been officially welcomed back to the world of blogging. Most importantly, I am set on cards for the next couple months.

I was super impressed, even if I am negligent in sending my thanks. The cards themselves are a lot of fun. There are 4 that are clearly the highlight of the package—2 for Mother’s Day and 2 for Father’s Day. Both are recordable music cards. There is a song already in the card plus an opportunity for you to record your own, personal message. The girls had a lot of fun with that part and I was impressed with how easy they are to use. I figured the mic would have trouble picking up their voices, but they didn’t even have to be super close to the card for it to work. In fact, you could conceivably make a recording with all 3 kids buckled into their respective carseats on the way to dinner with the recipient. Just sayin’.

Two of the cards were also photo cards. Unfortunately, it turns out that we don’t have a good, recent picture of all 3 kids. That is probably in part because one of them is in constant motion. Lucky for me, my hubby is rather talented. He threw together a collage of the girls that I like even better than a posed still shot. I think it captures each girl’s personality quite nicely. Each set of grandparents will get a copy (though some have to wait until Father’s Day) and I printed another for us but I’m still not sure what I’m doing with it. I only know that I needed to capture this moment in time, when each girl has her own distinct personality yet somehow still forms a cohesive family unit.

Serendipity Is Yummy

May 26, 2009 | Filed Under: Checking Out, Party Girl, Picky Eater

There are dozens of amazing deals this week at Meijer. I headed out to snag them on Saturday night after dropping Stacia at a friend’s house to sleepover. Quite impressed with the bargains and selection, I moved on to the checkout, where my good impression was quickly replaced. The cashier was rude, clueless and superbly slow.

So when I got home with my spoils, I was really not in the mood to put it all away. Since much of it required refrigeration, it had to be done anyway. That was when I realized I had accidentally purchased many of the ingredients for my favorite summer dessert. It’s an old family favorite and I needed only to buy pecans. I put it on my mental list (because actually writing it down was just too taxing at that point).

While digging through the freezer on Sunday (for the ingredients to make grilled pizza), I noticed a nearly empty (but just enough) bag of nuts. I was so excited about my pecan discovery that I immediately twittered about my need for a pitch-in so I could have an excuse to make the dessert. At nearly the exact same time, I got a text inviting me to an impromptu Memorial Day picnic. Friends, fun and an excuse to showcase my bargains in chocolate? Sold!

Just in case you also need a yummy, cool dessert (and/or you scored all the same deals), here is the recipe for Lush (I know—how can you resist something with a name like that?):

Cut 1 stick butter with 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Spread into the bottom of a 9×13 dish and bake 10-11 minutes at 375. Meanwhile, set out a brick of cream cheese and 16 ounces Cool Whip to soften. Cool crust completely before continuing the delicious layers. For the 2nd layer, mix cream cheese, 1 cup Cool Whip and 1 cup powdered sugar. If you plop the mixture onto the crust in a bunch of different places before attempting to spread this layer, your crust will remain intact a bit better.

The 3rd layer (this is where it gets really good) is 2 small packages of chocolate pudding whisked with 3 cups milk. Honestly, you could use any flavor you want but why wouldn’t you want chocolate? For the final layer, spread the rest of the cool whip onto the pudding after it sets. You can also garnish with crushed pecans, sugar crystals or fresh fruit (totally kidding—I would never attempt to make it healthy!).dessert You could also use fat free cool whip and fat free cream cheese, but, really—what’s the point?

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For a Season, For a Lifetime

May 21, 2009 | Filed Under: Aging Gracefully, Mommyhood, Road Trip, Scout Mom

The Middle of Nowhere

This past weekend I took my oldest daughter’s Girl Scout troop camping. I drove 2 hours to the middle of nowhere leaving my wonderful hubby alone with two kids, one of whom puked as I was walking out the door. Then I proceeded to spend 2 rainy, sometimes cold, days sleeping on the ground. When I come home tired, sore and smelly I want to say I’m too old for this shit but I know I’ll be doing it for years to come.

PreTeen Angst at Bay

There is something about the camping weekend that brings out the best in Stacia. She’s affectionate, cooperative and barely even embarrassed when I dance the Hoedown Throwdown with her friends. Maybe it’s having me all to herself. Maybe it’s knowing her friends wouldn’t have these experiences if I weren’t willing to volunteer. Or maybe it’s just the way I let loose myself when we camp.

Trying Something New

I am not an outdoor person. At all. I hate every part of it—the mud, the bugs, the air, the creepy crawlies, the wildlife. I want no part of it most days, but I love Scout camp! I love the goofy songs, the campfire cooking and the new shared experiences (my girl is quite the archer!). I love the friendships—those camp friendships that seem so intense for the week or weekend you’re camping, but who you’ll probably never see again.

I remember all of that from my own Girl Scout years and it is so fun to watch it all over again through my daughter’s eyes. Some things just never change, but on these camping weekends I do. I’m a different person—romping in the wilderness, stomping through the mud, sleeping on the ground, singing silly songs and feeling those same fleetingly intense connections with my fellow camp parents as the girls in my troop.

Campfire Cooking

I hope some of it is lasting. I hope my daughter always knows that I’m the mom who will sleep outside in a thunderstorm, cook over a fire in the rain and take her friends on a journey when she’d ordinarily rather be anywhere else. I hope the girls in my troop always know I’m someone they can count on and see that I really am in it all for them. I hope someday they remember that while the camp cleared out in the rain (1400 people down to 200 by nightfall), their leader stuck with them.

A Calm, Relaxed Me

Part of me wanted to leave in the torrential downpour, but my competitive nature prevailed and I wanted desperately to “beat” the other troops that surrendered to the storm. Plus, I left it up to my troop; they decided since we survived the first night, we should stay the rest. We did survive and I’m so proud of the girls. They weren’t scared at all even when the thunder and lightening started at 2am. They were cool and calm, just enjoying one another and having a great time. And so was I. I need to remember to bring some of that home with me.

The latrines, mud and zero cell phone reception can stay, but I hope I brought a little bit of the carefree me back home.

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A Is For Basketball

May 19, 2009 | Filed Under: Alphabet Dating, Living Inexpensively, Love It

The original Alphabet Dating project fizzled out last fall. After a phenomenally rough holiday season, Spencer and I decided to give it another try. When my brother and his wife gave us Pacer tickets for Christmas, coupled with an evening of free babysitting, we had the perfect opportunity to start again. Armed with Restaurant.com certificates for Blue Crew, we were prepared for an evening of athletics. A sports themed date is perfect for us. I love basketball; he loves the Colts.

View from Our Baseline Seats

It was a decent game, and I really enjoyed the baseline seats. We’ve been to several games over the years, but this was my first opportunity to have noisemakers behind the goal. I was stupidly excited about it! After the game, we headed out for appetizers at the Blue Crew. When we arrived at 10:05pm, though, we were told the kitchen closed at 10. Having missed dinner, we were hungry but I was determined to keep with the A-themed evening.

Majors Sports Cafe

The next thing to pop in my mind was a sports cafe run by a friend of mine. Majors Sports Cafe has 47 television screens around the restaurant and a unique, eclectic menu including buffalo meatloaf! We enjoyed our dinner and conversation while we I kept an eye on hockey, soccer, a Peyton Manning documentary and an XBox competition—definitely more sports than even I was anticipating.

Game 2: Club Level

We actually had the opportunity to revisit the Pacers (for free, I might add) before we got around to the next letter in our dating journey. That was a serendipitous evening with an even more serendipitous meeting. We bumped into our high school best friends as we were walking to the club level. Clearly the beginning of our new Alphabet Dating experience was steak sauce. Because that also starts with an A.

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#1. Take a dance class.

May 06, 2009 | Filed Under: 40x40, Loving Faith

When I was a child, I took dance and tumbling lessons for many years. In 3rd grade, I wanted to be a ballerina. In 5th grade, my Arts & Humanities Fair project was Ballet. In 7th grade, my dance studio was sold and the new owner/teacher walked in on our first day of classes, sight unseen and took us off pointe. I never went back.

For the last several years, I have been saying I should take a dance class. I loved it and need a fun way to exercise so I can lose the last few pounds for 40×40“>#4. Over the summer in 2008, I had finally decided to do it. My friend and I were planning to take a Friday night adult dance class at our daughter’s studio. Two weeks before it was to start, they canceled it for lack of interest. There goes crossing #1 off the 40×40 list.

God is funny, though, and always seems to know exactly how to get me on the right path. The very next weekend, my church celebrated the grand opening of its new worship auditorium with a huge kickoff service. The choir was there, of course, along with an actual marching drum corps (did I mention I love my church?). Then came the dancers! They looked so happy and serene. I just kept thinking, “I want that!”

When I left the service, I lingered a bit in the village-style area outside. There were booths for various missions, the upcoming women’s ministry and—ta-da—the dance ministry team. I signed up and started a week later. The ministry runs as a (free) weekly dance workshop. Each month, we study a different style of dance. The first week of each month, we are joined by guest choreographer who teaches a crash course in whatever we are planning to study. It’s basically a 6-week advanced workshop in 2 hours.

This is when I realized that while the ministry was open, I was the only person there who was not actually a professional dancer! I have spent the last 6 months making a total fool of myself—and having an absolute blast—trying out modern dance, lyrical, jazz, ballet and even tap & Irish step dancing. We are now taking a break until September. I will miss the dance and the exercise, but just when I was realizing that my Wednesdays would be free for the foreseeable future I got an email from church about the new women’s series that starts tonight:

Search for Significance Workshop — taking a look at our worth through God’s eyes and finding freedom from the pressure to perform and/or gain others approval.

Those who know me personally will see this course was designed for me. God knows exactly what he’s doing.

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Once Upon a Time

May 05, 2009 | Filed Under: Aging Gracefully, Fashion Disaster

At age 17, I dyed my hair because it pissed my mom off.

At age 22, I dyed my hair because it was fun. And it pissed my mom off.

At age 27, I dyed my hair because the changing hues had become a part of my personality. And it pissed my mom off.

At age 32, I dye my hair to cover the gray. And my mom is completely supportive.

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