Literally speaking....Thoughts for Thursday.

We were driving by a car lot the other day and my husband pointed out a Jeep Wrangler to me. I have an affinity for them...I always have...but I digress. He asks me what I think of it and I respond "That Jeep is Hot!". My son over hears me and he responds, "That Jeep is not hot, I don't even see it burning!"

Today: My mom and I are talking and she jokingly says to my son that she will take a nap later with him and they can snore in stereo. My son literally walks over to the stereo system on the sofa table and starts snoring into the speaker!

I can not get over how literal he is! He truly takes what you say at face value. It makes me laugh so hard!

What's up with you?

This has been a hectic month so far for us! We were notified at the first of the month that DH would be laid off until "at least" the beginning of the year thus landing us in the 'unemployed-kindof' category. Thank goodness that we have some what of a savings or we would be doomed. Our mortgage is $1685 and our unemployment benefit is only a bit more than $1800. That doesn't leave much wiggle room...who am I kidding? That doesn't leave room for anything considering that we would be left with electricity, water, sewer, garbage, heating oil, and not to mention food and our budget for all of these things would be a whole whoppin $187! So, if you are so inclined to think happy thoughts, pray, or even just wish us well we would greatly appreciate all the positive energy we could get.

I've been keeping really positive though and we haven't had to dip into savings yet this month. I know we are only into the first 11 days, but still...it could be worse.

I interviewed for a part time evening job last week and it went well. I should know more the end of this week. It would be cleaning office buildings and would work well for our schedule even when DH goes back to work.

I'm SUPER DUPER happy that I'm an early Christmas shopper and I am all but done with all of our gift "buying". I do have some home made items to finish off, but that won't be a problem. I'm faithful that we will be fine. Everything will work out.

How are things going with all of you?

You can't read that!

Found this post over here and thought I would repost. This week is Banned Book Week (BBW). According to the American Library Association:

BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them.

After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

The following are some of the most banned books in the U.S. I urge everyone, in honor of banned book week, to post this list on your blog, and mark the ones you have read in bold!

Then go out and read one of the other books on the list.

Never take your freedom for granted!

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Oh, to be a four year old boy...

My son recently got his hair cut. He decided that he must have a mohawk. We decided that this was OK being as he is only four. It's kinda cute. I'm not just saying that...many people have commented...really. :)

He has also decided that "he" doesn't want anyone to tell him they like his hair. I've tried to explain to him that people with exceptionally cool hair cuts often hear remarks about them. He just doesn't want anyone to look at him. So when they do, he tries to crawl into my skin. This has become quite annoying for me. Everyone else thinks it's cute that he's "shy".

If only we all could be blatantly rude and be thought of as cute.

Updates...

I realized today that I haven't been checking the blogs that I've grown to love reading in almost a week. So, I got back on track and caught up. Now it's time to update my own.

• The yardsale last weekend was a great time! We ended up with 6 families involved and we had a great turnout. It was busy busy all day and in the end, we took two vanloads and a carload to the donation site. I'm not sure how much the boys ended up donating, but they had a lot too. Total sale, we made $379.65 to split amongst us all. It was a good day and much fun was had by all!
• My portion of the yardsale money coupled with money I made earlier in the week for babysitting went to pay the first payment on our newly consolidated credit card. We now only have ONE! YAY. And I got to make the first payment. :)
• The diet is going really well! I forgot to weigh in this morning (day 11) but as of yesterday, I had lost 8.4 pounds. That is significant for me. Usually I'm a -.2 per week kinda gal. So, I'm keeping to this one. We'll see how the long weekend goes as Monday is my actual "weigh in" day.
• We're still on track for our financial goals of the summer and this makes me happy!

I guess all in all, the past week has been a really good overall. Hope you've been so lucky as well.

Random thoughts...

I have a lot in my head today and I wanted to get it out!

• I'm going to see the Sex & the City movie tonight with my MIL and one of her co-workers. It promises to be fun as we all really enjoyed the series and none of us have seen the movie. This is my birthday present from MIL so we are also going out for appetizers and drinks before. :)
• I paid all our bills for the month today which means that the next two paychecks are basically free money that we get to put toward savings and debt! Whoo HOO!!!
• I finally printed photos from Christmas until current and picked them up from the processor today so I can start power sorting and preparing for scrapbooking. I need to see if my neighbor wants to have a scrapbook day in her "workshop" :) Oh how fun to have an entire room devoted to one's hobby.
• I cleaned out my linen closet and only put back what we actually use. You would not believe how tidy it looks. I personally was impressed. One space down in the total home makeover.
• Consequently, my yard sale pile is growing. It's driving me crazy as it is taking over our "office"/ dog's room and looks really untidy. I can't wait until the actual day to get it all out of the house knowing it will never come back. hehe. (read: evil laugh)
• My parents are visiting this weekend on the premise that my mom has doctor's appointments. They are actually scoping out the area in hopes of finding a house that they can make an offer on and move closer to me! YAY! This has been 10 years in the making and I am stoked!
• Saturday, I'm attending a baby shower. I have the gift already and hope it will be fun and not too stuffy.
• Sunday is Father's day of course. I found the perfect card for my Dad. It's the perfect mix of sentiment and humor and I was very happy to have taken the last one. :) Also, since they are here this weekend we've invited them to come over Sunday morning for breakfast. Then for dinner we are hosting my MIL and FIL for dinner. A lovely meal of BBQ steak, potato salad, baked beands and spiced apples a'la mode.
• I just spent an hour on the phone with my good friend from junior high/high school. It's always nice to talk to her.

I feel much better now that I have a clear head. Thanks!