I hate country music. I really do. But sometimes good things come from where you’re not expecting them. Like when you’re googling a country music artist for your husband and you stumble upon a way to clean years of accumulated junk out of your basement. Let me explain.

Our basement is a big, wide open mess. We started to finish it, and intended to continue, but then the kids came along. Our time for working on it and money for paying for it disappeared. It became a dumping ground for everything that didn’t fit upstairs or that we didn’t know what to do with. We have outgrown our house and whatever we don’t use regularly has spilled over downstairs.

As more stuff began to make its way to the basement, Hubs and I went down there less frequently. The kids noticed this. They began to go down there MORE frequently. We put the Wii down there so they would have room to jump and move about. They sneak food down there and don’t clean up dishes or wrappers or napkins. They took blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, toys. Then they started playing with the overflow junk. They brought down more stuff  to supplement what they were playing with. So not only are they dirtying up their area, they are tampering with my piles of junk, spreading them out, and making it junkier down there. When I would run downstairs to check on them they were so angelic. Smiling and bowling and doing EPIC painting with Mickey and the gang. Because of the way the clutter was stacked, I couldn’t see their mounds of trash piling at their feet unless I got very close. And who wants to do that?

To remain sane Hubs and I have both ignored the basement for the last few years, not realizing that it was getting more and more full, we were getting less selective with what we decided to pitch and what we saved and stored down there. Things we didn’t even want but didn’t know what to do with made their way down there a lot.  We really want to sell and move into something bigger but with the market as it is, we finally just accepted the fact that we’re not going anywhere for a while so it’s time to put some effort into making this house work better for us. I bet lots of people can identify with this situation to some degree. Anyway, we’re planning projects but still ignoring the basement because over the years it has become overwhelming. We’re procrastinating that part.

While procrastinating the other day Hubs says,”what’s the name of that Sugarland song where she’s stalking the guy and acting really goofy?” I neither knew nor cared. But he’s relentless. So I Googled. I found a story about them being sued over a stage collapsing. I had to read it. Then wanted to know more about it so I Googled some more. One result led to another search until I landed on something that had the words Sugar Land Junk Removal in it. I clicked it.

Sugarland Junk Removal is a Texas based business that COMES TO YOUR HOUSE, REMOVES JUNK FROM A SPACE AND TIDIES UP SAID SPACE AFTERWARD!  Guess what else. There are locations all over the country. I guess I knew that there were companies that did this but I hadn’t run into any or anybody who used them before.  I was excited!

As it turns out they do all sorts of junk removal – they will pick up appliances, get rid of carpet, recycle office supplies, even pick up any of that weird stuff that you can’t put out on garbage day because the trash company won’t take it. And they recycle whatever they can to make the smallest impact on landfills as possible.

Even if you don’t have a project for them right now it’s one of those companies to note in your household records to refer to when a need arises, so I thought I’d share. You’re welcome.

I was so happy to accidentally find Personal Creations on Facebook this morning but then I realized – I don’t really have time to order. How is it December 21st already?

I have ordered Christmas presents from Personal Creations many times over the years and I am always so happy with the products. This year I wanted to take a silly picture of the kids and Hobo tearing (pretending) through their 12 Days of Christmas presents and looking at the camera like they got busted. I had the idea over the summer but completely forgot about it until I was on Facebook today and my fingers got sloppy when I was trying to type in BRAND. (Russell Brand)  :)   I had a moment of “OH YEAH! Perfect!” Followed by. “SHOOT it’s too late!”

I have had a couple of moments of holiday cheer. Most notably last weekend walking through Old Canterbury Village with my family. It was all lit up and festive. It felt good. But mostly it just hasn’t felt much different than any other time of the year. I have been blaming it on other people’s scroogeyness, but I think I have to accept half the responsibility myself. There’s nothing really “wrong” right now. I’m just pooped. Summer really kicked my ass. I need to get some vigor back. I’ll work on that later but first I have to concentrate on finishing my last teenie bit of Christmas shopping. It’s December 21st!

Thanks for the guest post by Kristofer Bartlett

Lately my 2-year-old son Jude has been going crazy over television. He wants complete control over what’s on the television all day and night long. When he wakes up in the morning he climbs out of his bed, and the first word out of his mouth is “Elmo.” After a few hours of Sesame Street Jude typically likes to go to Monsters Inc or any of the Shrek movies. When Jamie comes home from work, he’ll try to change the channel from whatever Jude is watching and Jude will cry and ask in a pitiful voice: “Yo Gabba Gabba?” It’s heartbreaking, so we usually give in. With the beginning of football season, Jamie decided it was time to put his foot down and take some control over our little man. We went 3 whole days without television. Jude did not know how to take the first 24 hours, and he spent the majority of it crying on my shoulder. Day 2 he had decided to rebel against us by terrorizing his baby sister (mostly rolling over on top of her and doing his evil laugh). Day 3 Jude had forgotten about the television, but he had climbed into the cabinet on multiple occasions and dumbed boxes of cereal and goldfish all over the carpet. The last time he did it, Jamie turned to me and asked if we could please turn the tv on. What can I say? We love our television: we’re truly a Satellite tv Family.

Hubs and I have been talking about it for awhile, but since losing my Father In Law this summer we’ve been talking more and more about getting a life insurance quote for both of us. I think it is probably common for people, especially parents, to contemplate their affairs whenever they experience losing a loved one and feel a glimpse of their own mortality.

Life is fragile and we spend a lot of time teaching and encouraging ourselves to live each day to the fullest. Enjoy today because you’re not guaranteed a tomorrow. This is true not just from a spiritual/happiness/live-laugh-love angle, but from a financial one as well.Unfortunately, we tend to think that there will be plenty of time to prepare financially for the future in the future. But it’s the same scenario as above – there is no guarantee of tomorrow. So we’ve got to get our ducks in a row today.

Every type of guide for new parents, from nursing to behavior to what to expectations, should include the importance of financial planning. At the very least some life insurance policy to pay for the funeral. The average funeral cost is right around $6,000 and that doesn’t include cemetery or burial expenses. When my Mom passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at 49 my Dad was devastated. And along with the intense sense of loss he was suffering, he had to figure out how to pay for everything. How to send her off with everything she deserved. At this moment you might be able to be practical and say that there is no sense in worrying about elaborate arrangements. I will just say that even the most basic funeral packages are pricey enough to burden an unprepared person. And when the time comes that you have to say goodbye to a loved one, you will most likely have a change of heart with regards to your practicality.

Hubs Dad had a little time to prepare and get his affairs in order. My Mom did not. I hate that I am dwelling on this matter so close to Christmas. I don’t mean to be a downer. But as we’re spending all this money on presents and holiday obligations, and looking forward to the new year, I believe it is something we should all put on our to do list for 2012.

Do you have a plan set in place to take care of your loved ones when they no longer have you to here to help them?

Last year I said that this year, at Christmas time, I was not going to despise myself. I was going to develop a healthier body and disposition so that I could enjoy every aspect of the holidays. Fail.

I don’t get out enough. I miss water cooler talk and discussing what to have for lunch. And as much as I used to despise the whole process of finding something to wear and getting ready in the morning, I miss having a “uniform.”

By “uniform” I mean some type of dress code. In general I hate dress codes. I appreciate some guidelines so that children aren’t distracting others at school and employees represent the company properly. But not actual uniforms. When I was a working girl, my biggest nightmare was having to wear scrubs. When that day came I had to put on a nurses uniform to sell high fashion eyewear – I quit. Retired. Got out of the game. But now I long for a reason to get dressed.

As it is, I wear track or yoga pants on most days. Practical me appreciates that it cuts down on laundry. My kids and husband keep the laundry baskets over flowing so I’m thankful I don’t have business suits and tights to keep up with anymore. But rapidly expanding me is facing the cold hard truth that lycra and waist bands are not practical for managing the waist line. Again, practical me makes the claim every day that the comfy clothes permit me to bounce from typing up assignments to making beds, to working out without having to change. Obsessive worker and Facebook enthusiast me, however, hogs the show and crowds out my inner fitness guru. So there’s not much exercising, just a lot of sitting.

So here it is, reflection time again. And time to dress for holiday functions. And my jeans are tight and I’m as reclusive & socially awkward as ever.

I am stuck here. Thinking. Despising myself. Hmph. Okay – I just decided that this post is not going to contain any solution or wisdom. It’s just a reflection. The planting of a seed. Insight to follow. That is all.

I’ve been having too much fun online lately. “doing what” is for a different post. Today I’m thinking about how I’ve been a little neglectful of sleep because I have been staying up too late laughing at things. And people. And I’m not just talking about smiling at “cute” things. I’m talking about spit my margarita at the screen, non stop giggling, belly laughs. But you know what? Of all the things in the world there are to be had – Fun is what I’m most missing. Smiling, giggles, good times, nonsense – all lacking. So I am going to forgive myself for the week of slacking, call it an asset, and move on back to work. Energy, focus, and creativity are abundant.

You know, even in the most challenging times you will find me laughing. People hardly ever even know I am troubled because I act so care free in order to draw attention away from what ails me. But here’s what’s ailing me now and has prevented the necessary amount of levity from reaching me lately.

I miss my Father In Law. I miss his voice and how his pronunciation of my name sounded like “Sandy” in his southern drawl. I miss him toodling in the garage. I miss his mischievous laugh. He’s been gone for about 4 months now but lately I’ve been seeing him everywhere – Driving down the road, in the store, walking in my neighborhood…this is a common occurrence in the stages of losing someone and missing them, as i understand it.  It’s like our brain conjures them up for us because we want to see them so bad.

I’m worried about my kids. But when it comes right down to it, who isn’t?

I’m worried about my “house.”  After a few months of neglect it is all out of order.

I noticed recently people modifying their Facebook monikers like big business signs to reflect something they like or something they are promoting. I have decided to make mine a source of giggles for myself. A couple weeks ago I changed it to “Cin Coocooforjasonbateman Langston.” There is a story behind it but that doesn’t matter. Only that I think it’s funny when I look at it.  The fact that I check my Facebook first thing in the morning for news and for fun, makes it a perfect place to start my day’s giggles.

“Currently I am Cin Cherryvalance Langston” to represent my make believe spat with Jason Bateman and fictional relationship with Ponyboy Curtis. All nonsense. But spirit lifting all the same.

In my small business of 1, I have no need for high impact business signs or commemorative plaques to market my work. A personalized Facebook I.D. spreads the word for me. And the word is GIGGLES. They’re important in the best and the worst of times. Don’t forget to put yours someplace you can easily find them each day.

Of all the properties of a diet supplement, I have come to see that  suppressing appetite is the most important thing to me.

Prior to now I have been addicted to the energy associated with diet pills. Whether or not I wanted to lose weight, I have wanted extra energy. I have a low metabolism and a naturally laid back pace and I don’t like it. I have lots to do, I like accomplishing lots of things, I need to zoom.

And I just realized I’m sounding a little bit like a drug addict. When I was younger I could access more energy in most cases, through natural ways like working out and such. It wasn’t until my mid twenties that I started using nutrition supplements on a regular basis for energy. Just to clarify

Anyway – so energy was what I was lacking. I never needed appetite control. I was very disciplined and had developed a lifetime of good eating habits. Until now. In the past any fluctuations in weight that I experienced were do to my sedentary life style. If I had a sit down job my butt got bigger. When I was running around helping clients – smaller booty. Makes sense right? But since I hit 40 I have ridiculous sugar and starch cravings. I will eat a pound of noodles in one sitting. If you’re standing nearby with jelly beans or candy corns – you will get jacked. By me. Such is the strength of my craving.

I have eased up on the energy and caffeine consumption and allowed myself to slow down a little bit. I have the most sedentary job ever, and with kids I have more to do than ever, but I needed a balance between gettin er done and smelling the roses. But the cravings I cannot give in to. I might complain from time to time that food grosses me out but I am grateful that I have found something that kills my appetite and is good for me. One less thing to worry about.

there was a time when – if it existed – I had it. At first it was easy to keep up with technology. There just wasn’t that much of it, and I had disposable income. We had TV VCR, stereo, and car stereo. It was rough for a minute when CDs came out because it was frustrating to merge a record collection and CD collection. The switch was eventually made, though and all was well. I was one of the first people I knew to have a home computer and later to get on the internet. I was an early owner of a cell phone and a Pal Pilot. But then ipods came along and confused me. To this day I don’t own an Apple products. I’m really not sure why.

Anyway – I have a PC, a laptop, and a netbook. I made the switch to smart phones and eventually Android very early. I was texting before I had hardly anybody to text TO. I use swype typing and voice services to make my phone hands free. I have been tweeting since day 1.

See? Ahead of the curve in some ways. But painfully not in others. While I was chasing all this communication technology and social media, my home media technology fell behind. My TVs are dinosaurs with big protruding backsides and deficient in modern hookup thingies. i don’t know the difference between plasma and LCD tvs. I don’t understand Blu Ray And mp3 is taking down CDs and I have no plan B.

My phone does play mp3s however, I just need to learn how to get music onto it. If I understand correctly, streaming video will eventually take the place of of dvd AND Blu Ray so there’s probably no rush to get into that game either.

But what about TV? O dpm

t watch much so it’s understandable that it has been neglected, but also – they’ve been out of my price range since the newer technologies kind of coincided with my becoming a parent. High prices plus less disposable income don’t make a good pair. But I have noticed prices dropping lately and have found situations where I could buy TWO Samsung Tvs for the price that I would have paid for one a few years ago.

Whether these price drops are part of the normal decline in pricing of technology when the newness wears off, or a sign of the recession times, I don’t know. Probably both. Either way it looks like this is the perfect time to upgrade my big old TVs.

We have good days and bad days in our household. I imagine that’s the same for most families. Sometimes the only thing to bring us out of our funk is a family movie night.

It doesn’t matter how mad or pouty any of us get – we never turn down snacks. Without being asked, the moment my daughter realizes we’re headed for a fmily night she begins prepping the living room – moving candles, making room for place settings, getting plates, napkins, drinks, etc.

The snacks soften our mood but still might not be very talkative. That’s where the movie comes in. It talks to us and for us. And makes us laugh. That’s the biggie. My favorite movie for breaking the ice is “RV” with Robin Williams.

The family is drifting apart- disconnecting. They were supposed to go on vacation in Hawaii but because of Dad’s work, they end up taking a family trip in an RV instead. Robin Williams is hilarious and so is the rest of the cast. You won’t believe some of the messes they get into. He is sneaking and doing work behind his family’s back, they run into some crazy stalker travelers, and suffer so many bumps, crashes, and wrong turns that there is no amount of RV repair that can get that rolling turd back on the road.

Yes, I said “rolling turd.” You’ll have to see it to understand why- but I will just say that that is the part that I can always count on breaking down everyone’s walls and bringing us back together. Not only because of the actual content, but also because we now have memories of having shared it before and the warmth associated with it.

Movies are powerful – in good ways and bad. Watch more like this and you’re bound to have lots of laughter together. We need that to get us through the tougher stuff in life. What’s your favorite shake if off/bring the family back together movie?

So we’ve been in school for just over a month now and I think we’re going to make it. Grades are good, attitudes are good. My son never has trouble with friends and that seems to be the case this year, as well. If you remember from earlier posts, it is my daughter I was really worried about this year. 11 years old, just starting middle school, trying to perfect her personal style. As a rule, she never feels like she fits in anywhere. This year might be the start of something good though.

Over the summer she was dabbling in terms like “emo” and “goth.” And there was one instance a couple weeks ago where someone called her an “emo freak.” We had that terrible summer though, with the death of my Father in Law and then my Son spending all summer in the hospital, so naturally she wasn’t feeling chipper. But as we got back into some normalcy at home, she became less withdrawn and less insistent on wearing only black. She is becoming bright and cheerful again, and I doubt she is still drawing negative attention to herself.

She has done some soul searching and has realized that she doesn’t necessarily only like the dark gothy clothes, she just doesn’t like the pink girly girl stuff. I hated pink when I was a kid. I love it now. She says she will never change to that extent, but is opening up to the possibility that we just have not been able to find any girls clothing stores that appeal to her. It’s my fault really. I dolled her up in princess pink and purple all these years, and even as she has started developing her own style and rebelling against my shopping choices, I never really ventured out of our usual stores.

Recently she has been dropping names of different stores that her friends have told her about and she is looking forward to checking them out and perfecting her look, which she describes as Not girly. Not glam for sure. But sporty. Hoodies and such. And skateboard styles.  It’s funny to me. Because she is 11 and that seems like still a baby to me! But then I think back to 11 – and 6th grade – I thought I was grown! It does me good to remember that and go back to those times because I am much more sympathetic to her issues. Sixth grade was really hard. I remember. Do you?