Debate: Retirement or College?

Are you saving for your retirement or for your kids' college? Or are you trying to do both?

You know my general take on this issue: put your own oxygen mask on first. Your kids are young and can start saving now and get jobs and loans and grants and financial aid.

That being said, we are saving for our own retirement while our kids have savings accounts. We hope to be able to help with SOME college, which is better than none. Yet I also believe things are more appreciated when they are bought for oneself.

What's your take? Will you do it how your parents did it, or did they subject you to child abuse by not paying for your college, and now you plan to pay 100% of YOUR kids'???

Our Remodeled Bathroom

It used to have teal carpet, flowered wallpaper and a beige BathFitter thing in the shower. Thanks to Aron and his twin brother and his dad, it now looks like this!

Happy 5th Birthday, Callie!!!

Happy 5th Birthday to my firstborn daughter, Callie! We had some rough times with tantrums, but lately she is becoming more happy and cooperative and says she enjoys helping cook, pick up, etc. She loves writing her name and coloring and watching movies. She loves helping me stir cake batter. She's helpful with Baby Sam. I like spending time with her and listening to her little girl dreams. I like listening to her sing and love watching her dance. I can't wait to see what she will become and am savoring my time with her while she is so young and innocent.

I love you, Callie!

Debate: Rich or Famous?

Would you rather be rich or famous, like if someone told you you HAD to be one or the other?

I'm thinking rich. They'd both stink in some respects, but famous brings on stalkers and other weirdos and lots of scrutiny. Rich could lead to doing lots of good things for the world, if you were so inclined

Hyland's Products: Bedwetting Tablets

I don't know if you can call this a product review since I haven't actually used these yet, but I'm gonna try them and let you know. You don't just give them before bed; you give them at meals, etc. They are tiny, homeopathic tablets that taste like nothing. I'm hoping my almost-5-year-old will stop peeing in her size 6 diaper every night. I hear lots of females have problems with bedwetting ... I've known many.

I've heard that making them pee before bed, making sure they stop drinking after 7 p.m. and trying out a bedwetting alarm don't necessarily work.

What's your experience with kids wetting the bed when they are potty-trained perfectly during the day?

Hyland's Products: Teething Tablets

I don't know how these work, but they somehow do. Sure, sometimes it takes half the bottle to get your kid to stop hurting, but they are awesome. It's like an attitude adjustment in a bottle for your teething toddler.

As of December 2009 I'm supposed to let you know if I'm getting paid or being given free products to endorse when I write about them. I have NOT gotten a thing from Hyland's. I just love this crap, that's all.

Whole Foods Grocery Store as Relaxation

I didn't set out to buy soy milk from Whole Foods the other night. It was an accident.

Aron had been out of town all week and I was stressed when he got home. I was trying to eat better but REALLY wanted to run for the nearest Sheridan's for a nasty treat. But I also want to lose weight and feel better.

So I escaped to Whole Foods, where I never shop. I usually shop at Aldi because it's cheap and Price Chopper when I need produce and some other stuff Aldi doesn't carry.

I never shop at Whole Foods because it's like a foreign country to me. That's why it was the PERFECT idea of a place to go when I was stressed and needed to calm down.

The place SMELLS good, first of all. And most everyone there is all calm and cool. And they have all kinds of stuff I've never heard of in my life. Tresa brought over some chocolate covered Goji berries from there the other day, so I had to grab those. She said they're like chocolate-covered vitamins!

Next time you're stressed, don't go where you'd normally go (to the cigarettes or booze or Valium or McDonald's or bubble bath). Try something new!