Garage Sale

I have been wanting to have a garage sale for a while now.  I am trying to de-clutter my life and get rid of tons of stuff.  It's really silly how much crap I have accumulated in a few short years.  In addition to wanting to simplify my life, it doesn't hurt to get extra $$ too! :)

I went through my house with a fine tooth comb and had no mercy.  I was getting rid of everything!  I got rid of all but two pictures that were hanging on my walls.  My walls still have the nails in them.  Old purses, scarfs, sconces, holiday items, bags, books, and more are all gone now!

I got rid of about 20 DVD's at the local DVD retailer.  I sold them for $10.10 total.  They were DVD's that I didn't ever watch anymore, so I didn't mind getting rid of them.  A new family can watch them.  A few DVD's they wouldn't take because they had too many or were too scratched up. I just threw them back in the garage sale pile.

My friend Tracie, who lives in Pearland, let me borrow her house for a garage sale.  My apartment doesn't have an annual garage sale and no one in my family would let me have one at their house. Off to Pearland I went!

Jabba loves sitting on top of boxes and he was sad when I took this one with me.

I got to her house around 7 and started to unpack my car.  Everything I wanted to bring didn't fit in my car. :/

I put everything on two old sheets (the blue one is hers and the red snowflake one is mine).  This side was DVD's, holiday items, kitchen stuff, office stuff, a few scarves, a few decorative items, etc.

This side was mainly books and bags.  Tracie and her daughter Kayla had a few other things they brought with them outside to sell. It looks kind of bare, but we really had a lot of stuff!

I sold a lot of my stuff for really cheap.  I think the highest thing was $5 (maybe $10 for one item, I can't remember), but most stuff was between $.25 and $1.  My goal was to get rid of it and make a small amount of $$ in the process.  What I don't sell, I will give away.  I made right at $100 though!!!  It isn't a ton of money, but it is $100 I didn't have.  The stuff was just lying around, collecting dust, and I didn't need it anymore.

We are having another garage sale this weekend too.  Hopefully I sell more stuff!  If I don't sell it, I will donate it to the local pet shelter resale shop that supports BARC.


Next up:  My couch!  I have been wanting to get rid of it for awhile now and I think the time has come.  It is HUGE and I am ready for it to be gone.  It takes up too much space and is a pain in the booty to move.  I just want a regular couch.  I will have to save up for a regular couch, so I might be couch-less for awhile, but honestly, that is ok. I don't need to sit on the couch for hours and watch TV, I need to be up and about doing something with my life.   I will probably sell it on Craigslist or something.

4th of July

How many times did I say that I am a bad blogger that  I don't get posts up on time?  A LOT! :)   Well, this post is only a few weeks late.  I've been known to have posts that are over a year old post late. LOL.

Happy 4th of July 'Merica!  Jabba wanted to show you his 4th of July picture!

Here he is sporting his cool flag shades.

Cutest cat ever!

 Jabba does not like to wear hats/scarves/sunglasses/ties at all.  It takes me forever to get one good picture, but he is so cute, I have too.  Honestly, it's been 3.5 years that I have had him, you would think he would just get used to it by now. I always give him a treat when I get a good picture.

New door wreath I made for the 4th!

I originally made this red and white wreath for Valentine's day, but then I procrastinated too long to add the ribbon and middle thing.  So, it became a 4th of July/Memorial Day wreath.  I need to add some more blue, but I like it like this too.

I went to my grandparents house on the 4th to hang out with them and me and my grandma went to see the Fault in Our Stars.  It was a really good movie!  Maw-Maw asked if the movie was sad and I said no. I only halfway knew it would be sad, considering it was about a cancer patient.  However, OMG, I balled like a baby!  It was super good though.

Family Event at the Astros for $25

I love all Houston sports teams, I am a fan whether they win or lose.  I have gone to a few Astros games this year and recently went to a game for only $3!  I wanted to share how you can get those tickets cheap too!.

So, in order to get some more Houston Astros fans to come to the games, I am going to tell you all about how a family of 5 can go to the Astros game for about $25!  Score!  It is a perfect family night.

Take me out to a ball game! Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks.  (Tell me you didn't just sing the rest of the lyrics in your head)

(This scenario is a TUESDAY night deal only)

Here's how you can do it:
Tickets: $3/ticket x 5 people= $15* (see below on how to get $3 tickets)
Parking:  $10 per car (ish, some parking spots are cheaper/more expensive-just drive around a bit)
Drinks:  On the first floor, near the side with the movable homerun train, you can get two free sodas if you sign up to be a designated driver.  Yep, anyone (I believe it's 16 and over) who is a DD for their group, gets two free vouchers (see pic below) for small sodas.  Share (or bring sealed bottled water with you) the drinks!
Food:  Bring it from home!  Yes, did you know you can bring a ziplock bag full of food (sealed) in with you? Or just eat before the game.
Souvenirs:  Tell your kids no, it won't hurt them! Or bring a glove and try and catch a foul ball.
Total:  $25

*Just add $3 per additional person over your 5 person family

Designated drivers get free drinks!  Ignore my fingers that need nail polish and a manicure! :)

OK, so how did we get $3 tickets?  We brought a PowerAde or Coca Cola product to the actual ticket counter (not online).  I would suggest purchasing the tickets earlier in the week to make sure you can get the tickets.  You wouldn't want your kids to be disappointed if you came to late to get that deal.

Where are the seats?  Up high, but honestly kids won't notice and/or you can just go down to a lower level during a later inning.  There aren't too many seats that are filled unfortunately (sorry 'stros, but it's true).

Other fun stuff:
Did you know the Astros have fireworks at every Friday night home game?!  Did you know they give out free promotional items at various games?  View the promotional calendar and some additional promotions going on this season!

Play ball!

****The Astros did not pay me (or give me anything) to write this post. I just really want to share a good deal with everyone and gets some fans out to Minute Maid Park!

Coffee

I just love this, had to share it for all the coffee lovers out there.  

26 Day of Writing

I have said before that I want to become a published author.  Whether that comes true with a picture book or a novel, it doesn't matter, I just want to write something.  Becoming published is even on my Bucket List!

I have been reading various blogs about writing and they all say that in order to become a writer, you must write! Duh!  I think they meant that you should spend the majority of your time writing, not going from website to website looking for the 'next big thing' to write about or worrying about finding an agent.  Find an agent and craft a query letter after you write your story.  All the lists you make and the mental notes you have in your head will not matter unless you have a story to tell.  Multiple stories too!  A lot of the times, agents want to see several things you have written, especially if it is just 1 picture book you are submitting (so I have heard from all my procrastinating 'research').

So, stop googling 'the art of writing' and start actually writing! You have been saying for years that writing is your dream, but what have you done to make that dream into a  reality???????  BTW, I am telling this to myself just as much as to anyone who finds themselves reading this post.

Got writers block?  Let's do this challenge for the month of June (or whenever you read this).  Write down all the letters from A-Z on a piece of paper, each of them on their own line.  Pick a letter, find a topic that starts with that letter and write a story about it, or maybe an idea that starts with that letter.  WRITE THE STORY!  Once it is done (or an outline of it if it is a novel), you can write the topic next to the corresponding letter.  For instance, say that C is about Cats or T is about Timezones, etc.

Note:  These are NOT some of my topics, but feel free to use them. ;)
A
B
C-Cat
D
E
F
G
H
I--Igloos in Iceland
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T-Timezones
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Overwhelmed?  Don't be!  Take each letter, one day at a time.  Eat that elephant! By the end of the month, you will either have 26 short stories or novel outlines to expand from.  Or perhaps your short stories can be picture books.  I think it might be hard to write a novel in a day (LOL), so plot outlines would work too.  Adjust this challenge to your situation.

Be creative and think outside the box.  Writing about Igloos in Iceland that are afraid of global warming and what they are doing about it, told from the igloos point of view?  Weird?  Yes!  It's outside the box.

At the end of this, your stories might be crazy and you might only like a few of them, but at least you wrote 26 stories and/or novel outlines.

Have FUN and tell me how it goes!  I am taking this challenge myself, so I will be in the trenches with you. :)

Did You Know? Vol 1

This might be a part of a series called Did You Know? but then again, it might not be. I tend not to finish series after I start them. LOL.

**********
As I was reflecting on my birthday, I started to think back about different experiences that shaped my life over the past 32 years.  One of them, was moving to a new elementary school in the 4th grade.  I came from a low income school district and moved to a higher income school district (that district has gone waaaaaay downhill since I went there). 

I loved my new school, we had tons of resources that we didn't have at my old school.  I remember my 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Cobb, being very pretty and having 'a lot' of money.  She always talked about going to parties and other 'fancy' stuff that, as third graders from a low income part of town, would never even imagine doing.  Ms. Cobb talked about eating caviar and how it was so good.  I had never heard of caviar, but my mom said it was very expensive.  In my mind:  If you can eat caviar, then you must be very rich. In reality, she was probably from a richer family or she had a rich boyfriend, since teachers do not make that much money-especially back then. 

She also took us on field trips on the weekends to fun places throughout Houston.  I guess she figured that we would never be able to go with our parents, so she took us herself.  She was a great teacher and I learned a lot that year.  One day she taught us to use a 'big word', automobile instead of car.  Whoa!  She had a list of big words that she wanted us to use instead of the smaller ones, I only remember automobile though.  Anyway, I always wonder what happened to Ms. Cobb, she was probably my favorite elementary school teacher and 3rd grade was my favorite grade.  That is probably why I had it in my  head that I wanted to teach 3rd grade so bad...mistake!


So, back to the new school and all it's resources.  I was on the playground one day and one of the teachers told me that I would be taking a new class at recess (or was it gym class?) to help my speech.  You see, I had a trouble pronouncing the 'r' sound, they would sound like 'w'.  So if I wanted to say 'rose' it would sound like 'wose'.  Or if I wanted to say 'Rhonda" (my mom's name), it would sound like 'Wanda'.  At my low income school, they didn't have the resources to send a child to a speech therapist, but at my new school they did.

For two years I went to lessons on how to improve my 'r' sounds.  I remember flash cards and a Mickey Mouse game.  Looking back, I think it was one of those things that really help shape my self confidence and alleviate my frustrations.  Before I got help, I had trouble spelling and having people understand me, which is so frustrating to a child.  I would sound a word, but say it wrong because of the 'r' sound turning 'w' when I spoke.  When you have to say something over and over again, it is so frustrating.  Like when my little sister was born, my teachers asked me her name.  I said, "Tori".  They said, "Towi?"  "No, Tori". and we went back and forth a few times before I just gave up.  I am actually getting frustrated just thinking back on it.

After those two years, my speech problem was pretty much fixed.  I still have times when I say the 'r' sound wrong, but very quickly correct my mistake. (and I kind of look around to see if my speech pathologist is coming. LOL). I really wish I had her name, she was great!

To sum it up:  Get your kid some speech help if they are having problems.  It might be 'cute' to a parent, but as time goes on, your child might become more and more frustrated.  Some will even give up on school because they get further and further behind, which would be awful.

The Last Hours of 31

I will be 32 in a few hours.  Yep, 32.  I was trying to recall my past birthdays, and I can't remember them all. #memorylosscomeswitholdage

16th birthday-My sister, Laura, graduated high school.  I remember being stuck in traffic on the way to the ceremony and my mom being upset that she might miss Laura graduating.  She didn't of course because our last name starts with an 'S' and there is no way that traffic could have been that long.  At her graduation party, my birthday cake was an afterthought. LOL.

18th birthday-My high school graduation and graduation/birthday party.  I was wearing brown polka dots (I have the pics somewhere).  That night I went to buy cigarettes and lottery tickets, just because I could. I didn't smoke, so the pack of cigarettes was useless. A few weeks later I got a tattoo.  Yes, I have a tattoo.

19th birthday-I was living in Philadelphia and I got three birthday cakes.  Yes, 3!  My aunt gave me one, my work gave me one, and my friend gave me one.  It was a delicious day.

21st birthday-Coushatta Casino!  My first 'official' drink was a Goldschlager shot and it was awful! It burned going down.  I don't think I won any money on that trip either.

22nd-27th birthdays-I don't remember!  Not because I did anything 'bad', but because I am old! LOL.

28th birthday-Waaaaaaaay too many margaritas at El Palenque.  Great friends and great margritas!  I remember going back to my dad's house (I didn't drive) with my friends and we sat by the pool. I also had a birthday cake with a flamingo on it that my friend Clarissa made me.

29th birthday-My first official running 5K!  My friends Krista, Ginger, Tyler, Debbie, Erika, and Oscar all came out to run it with me or cheer me on.  Afterwards, we went to eat dessert at the House of Pie.

30th birthday-80's theme party!!!!

31st birthday-lunch at work and then dinner with my dad and stepmom.

Tonight, I went to dinner with a friend at Happy Fatz in the Heights. They have the best fruit infused water there.  Tonight's water selection was apples and strawberries.  So good!  Go check them out!

So, to sum it up. I have memory loss and I have good friends to help me celebrate my birthday!

31 was a very hard year for me.  I have had lots of self doubt and depression this year, due to many things that I don't want to talk about here.  I will say that I have learned a lot this year and I hope that I learned whatever it was that God wanted me to learn so I can move past all of this. 

Here's to 32! Cheers!

Take 2: Volunteering at IMTX

Last Saturday was Ironman Texas in the Woodlands.  Last year I volunteered at the finish line, but this year I wanted to volunteer on the course to support the runners, not just the ones to were finishing.

For those who don't know, Ironman kicks off at 7 am sharp.  The participants have 17 hours to complete a 140.6 mile course of swimming, biking, and running.  2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles on a bike, and a full 26.2 marathon of running.  Yikes!!!

My friend Katie does a boot camp twice a week that all the dues money goes towards a non profit that raises money for various non profits.  The manager of that non profit signed up to be the captain of aid station #3 on the run course.  I signed up a few months ago when they were just starting to get volunteers.  Our aid station had tons food and drinks that the runners could have on each of the 3 laps of the course.

My shift started at 2:30, but the traffic was so bad that I didn't get there until about 2:40 pm.  My friend Katie and Michelle were both working that day too, so I just found them and started working at their station.  At first I was helping put ice in cups for the runners, but then moved to the drink Perform station.

Our station had:
Cold sponges (a pool of ice and water was keeping them cool)
Ice
Water
Perform
Gu gel
Gu Chomps
Bananas
Salty chips (I think they were plain potato chip kind)
Bananas
Watermelon
Bonk Bites (no one wanted these! :/ )
Pretzels (those went fast)
Oranges
licorice
Broth (after it was dark)
and maybe other stuff, but I wasn't at the food station.  I only remember what I heard them say

My old running coach, Alain, was completing the Ironman that day, so we were on the lookout for him (Matt and Aly were at the same station too) and we all cheered him on when he came by our station.  He looked like he was hurting, but kept moving and finished!

I ended up staying past 6:30 when my shift ended.  Dawn (the captain) needed more people and asked if I could stay longer.  I told her I could stay until about 9 pm when I had to go back to the IAA fundraiser to help clean up.

All in all, it was a wonderful day and I was so inspired!!!  I have had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to do an Ironman, but Saturday clenched it.  I had flashbacks of mile 22ish of my marathon and I knew that I could do it if I trained.  I have to save up the $$ first though, the registration fee alone is around $700!  That doesn't include a coach, bike, shoes, etc.  Luckily, the IMTX course is in my town so I wouldn't have to worry about the travel costs that some do.  Last year I was inspired, but this year it was clenched that I want to do one!!!!!

Watch this video, you will be inspired too.

Laundry

I was listening to the Rod Ryan Show this morning on the way to work and they were talking about how often you wash your jeans.  The CEO of Levi's Strauss apparently doesn't wash his jeans ever!  Apparently there are other jean connoisseurs that rarely wash them too!  I am not sure where he lives, but it is probably up north somewhere where it doesn't get so hot like here.  He (the CEO) says that it breaks down the jeans and the dye, so not to wash them often.

I know you can only see a bit of this guys jeans, but he is just pretty and I just wanted to give you a special treat when you read this!  You are welcome.

People were calling into the show saying that they never wash their's or some wash them all the time.  One guy said that he hasn't washed them since college!  That's gross!!!!!  (he didn't sound young either)  He just puts them in the freezer when they start to stink. LOL.  I just don't know what to say to that, so all you can do is laugh nervously.  Please don't say that guy is single and please don't say that I will ever go on a blind date with him. ;)  Rod Ryan himself said that he washes his jeans all the time.

If you know me at all, you will know that I hate doing laundry.  I usually don't do laundry until I run out of underwear (sorry, TMI) or I just go buy new ones.  LOL.  I seriously hate doing laundry.  Even hating doing laundry, I only wear jeans a few times before washing them.  But a whole year or never?  Absolutely not!  I think the general consensus from the people they talked to online said that they were them several times before washing them, so I am not too odd washing them when I do.

Here is some more of my laundry TMI.  I wash towels that I use after a shower about once a week to a week and a half.  They are hanging on a hook in my bathroom between showers so it's not like they are on the floor or something.  I mean, you are clean when you use them, so they aren't dirty, right?  That is my opinion! ;)

Th is is the brand I use, but when I googled this image, a few others came up.  Check them out, they work! :)

This might be gross (I agree with you, but I hate doing laundry)...I wear my workout clothes multiple times (3-4) between washes.  I admit that is gross, but you are only sweating in them each time, they are meant to be dirty.  I only wash workout clothes together, so the quadruple sweatiness is only cleaned together.  I also don't dry my workout clothes because it wears them out faster and I use regular laundry soap plus a workout soap that is meant to get out sweat odor from clothes (you can get it at running stores).  Plus, they hang on a doorknob/hook to air out between uses.

Everything else I wash each time I wear it, so don't worry, I'm clean!

What about you?  How often do you wash your jeans?  Am I alone in the towel and workout clothes laundry?

Mean Girls Anniversary Party

So a few weeks ago the 10 year anniversary of the movie Mean Girls was upon us!  I know, how exciting!  Doesn't taht make you feel old?  10 years!  I can't believe that it has been that long.

Anyway, my stepbrother Brandon invited us over to his house for an anniversary party with his friends.  Everyone was supposed to bring over something to snack on that was Mean Girls related.  I should have watched the movie ahead of time to know what to bring, but I figured when in doubt, bring wine!  So I did!  I know there wasn't any wine in the movie, but there were margaritas.

People brought chips, guacamole, cheese dip, cheese fries, salsa, taco bell, and toaster strudel.  There was probably something else, but I don't remember!

Everyone was wearing pink (even the guys) because it was Wednesday.  That is part of the movie for those of you who don't speak mean girl language. :)



We watched the movie (of course!) and we all new what was going to happen and said the lines.  Here are some of my favorite quotes!

"I don't think my father, the inventor of Toaster Strudel, would be too pleased to hear about this."

"Stop trying to make fetch happen, it's not going to happen."

"On Wednesdays we wear pink."

"Four for you Glen Coco, you go Glenn Coco! and none for Gretchen Wienners, bye!"

"Get in loser, we're going shopping."




I had a really fun night!  See you in another 10 years Mean Girls! :)