A couple months ago Ellie dropped my phone and did some major damage to the touchscreen. I’ve lived with it as long as I could, but it has slowly gotten worse. A couple days ago my phone pretty much decided it was time to say goodbye. The touch screen went black, and shortly after the internal screen went all funky, too. When someone would call the phone would freeze up.

I decided my best option would be to check out Verizon’s certified pre-owned section for a cheap replacement. I was very surprised by what I found. I was able to transfer the discounted upgrade from another line to mine, so I got two Droid 2s on a buy one get one free deal, and my discount covered the cost of the first one.

We’ve both wanted smart phones for awhile, but the fee to have them was an outrageous $30 per line. Thanks to a promo deal I’m currently blogging from my Droid 2, and my phone bill is $2 cheaper than it was without the smart phone!

So far I’m super happy with it, and I don’t think that is going to change anytime soon. I’ve spent all day browsing apps while Ellie played happily in the floor pretending she was cooking with some of my pots and utensils, and I love that I can blog from my phone with the WordPress for Android app if my net goes down and/or I’m out and about! I will have to get the hang of blogging on that tiny keyboard as I’ve had to jump on my netbook and edit this post to fix all my typos, but I don’t think it’ll take me long to get the hang of it.

I can’t believe how much I got done today!  Hubby came home right as I began my second round of power cleaning, and he helped me get a lot done before we picked up the baby.  He dusted all the stuff short little ‘ole me can’t reach, and he washed down the top half of the walls in the kitchen, dining room, and living room.  We pretty much tackled one half of the house today, and I managed to clean out all but one of the closets.

My steam mop showed up while we were cleaning, but I didn’t get to use it until after Elliana went to bed tonight.  Boy do I love this thing!  I’ll write a full review up for it later, but after 1 use I am sold!  My floors look cleaner than they ever have, and that’s saying a lot.  We were going to replace the 30+ year old linoleum with hardwood floors, but some stuff arose that probably won’t allow us to do the entire house right now.  That’s ok because after using this thing I think I can live with these old floors a little longer.

There were some really gross spots around the stove, washer and dryer, and fridge that I’ve been trying to hand scrub clean since the day we moved in 6 years ago with no luck.  The Haan had those spots super clean in minutes!  I’ve always hated walking across our floors because they still felt gritty and nasty no matter how many times I mopped.  I cleaned the kitchen, dining room, and bathroom floors tonight, and they feel so nice under bare feet.  No more grimy feeling, and the floors were so nice and warm after mopping!  While I was mopping I could here the floors making a squeaky “vigrx” kind of sound, and that made me feel like they were getting super clean…you know that whole “squeaky clean” thing.

Yep, I’m definitely in love with my new toy, and now I’m going to feel so much better about letting Elliana crawl and walk on these old floors.  I love even more the fact that I’m not using cleaning agents that could harm her.

Tomorrow morning I’m going to put her down for her nap in the pack n play so I can do the floor in the nursery while she sleeps.  I’ll probably break out the carpet tray and do her rug, too, since it takes up 3/4 of the floor space in her room.  It’s been a long time since I’ve been this happy about cleaning lol.

With the arrival of the baby right around the corner I’m really starting to freak out over how I’m going to handle everything.  I know things are going to be just fine, but I also know I’m going to have to completely readjust my schedule 100%.  There will no longer be any of this do what I want when I want stuff, and I definitely will have to start making plans in advance.

I’m going to have to work out a new work schedule that will allow me to balance work and caring for a newborn, and right now is when I am so thankful that I work from home.  My daughter is going to come first, and over the next few months my work schedule will readjust according to my daughter’s schedule.  I know I can’t plan that in advance because I don’t know what kind of baby she’s going to be, her sleep schedule, feeding schedules, or anything of the sort.  I do plan to be a “feed on demand” type of Mom, so I’ll be working around her instead of her schedule working around mine, and I feel that’s the way it should be.  I also have to learn there may be times when I just can’t get something done when I thought I could because she comes first.  So what if I don’t get my corporate holiday cards mailed out at the first of December? Are my clients really going to care?

Things are going to change concerning the household as well.  Hubby knows he’s going to have to take on a lot more responsibility around here.  Until this point I’ve been perfectly fine with not really splitting the household chores anywhere near evenly because I’m home all day, I don’t work 1/3 as much as he does, and he busts his butt out there everyday to provide for our family.  Now he fully understands I’ll be devoting my time to raising our child first and foremost, and the housework will have to fall in line wherever we find the time and space to put it. 

I know I can’t come up with a perfectly organized schedule right now, but trying to organize things a little better before the baby gets here will help me manage better without ripping out every single hair on my head.  I’m going to start with the little things like setting up a new laundry schedule, making sure I have all my weekly meals planned in advance, and stuff like that.  I already try to plan meals before I go to the grocery store because it helps me budget, but it’s never a definite list.

Having a definite list will not only help me save money and stay more organized, but it’ll help me with my plans to put extra food in the freezer over the next few weeks. I had planned weeks ago to start making extra batches of soups and stuff that we can just pull out and reheat when we’re pressed for time (especially during the first month with the baby), but here it is 5 weeks until my due date, and I’ve only managed to put 2 meals in the freezer.

I’m going to participate in Meal Plan Monday this week, and if I’m a good little girl who sticks to her plan (we know how that tends to go) hopefully I’ll remember to do this every week, and it’ll help me with my quest to organize as much as I can now even if it is only a small step.

So here we go.  My first Meal Plan Monday menu will be pretty easy this week.  We have a family dinner today, so that helps, and I’m pulling out a lot of stuff from the freezer that I need to cook to make room to put away meals.  Luckily I can make big meals with that stuff so I can store leftovers. 

Saturdays are almost always takeout nights, and Fridays are almost always something quick and easy like a frozen pizza.  I will only be planning out a dinner menu because there’s no reason for me to plan a lunch menu for one person when I can quickly pull out leftovers.

Monday- Not cooking (family dinner)

Tuesday- Kielbasa Lasagna

Wednesday- Crockpot Baked Potato Soup

Thursday- Parmesan Chicken Bake

Friday- Frozen Pizza Night

Saturday- Take Out Night

Sunday- Tacos

It’s time for the annual Boobie-Thon, and I’m so excited!  It’s barely 9am on the second day and the Boobie-Thon has already raised $1521.55 (8:04am count) towards breast cancer research!

What is it? 

The Boobie-Thon is a charity even that was started 8 years ago to raise money for breast cancer research.  Every year during the week of October 1-7 participants from around the world (both male and female) show off their racks (tastefully) in support of breast cancer research. 

I can assure you my rack will be featured yet again this year as soon as I get a chance to take my photos.  I participated and donated for the first time last year, and I’ve vowed to do it every year as long as I am able to do so.

How can I help?

First of all, don’t forget to take a minute to pay tribute to those we’ve lost to this horrible disease.  If you know someone who lost their battle consider donating in their memory. 

Check out the stories of the women who have fought the battle and survived breast cancer.  These women are thankful for each day, and they want to share their stories with us.  If you’re a breast cancer survivor you can also submit your own survival story.  We want to share in your success, and your story may be the one that empowers someone who’s struggling with cancer to fight for their own survival. 

Please consider participating, donating, or both in support of breast cancer research.  Boobie-Thon’s motto is “we share because we care”, and we all really do just that.  We all want to find a cure, and every little bit helps in the fight against this horrible disease.

With the way things are around here these days financially I know I’m going to have to learn to find bargains in more places than normal.  I do clip coupons, but I haven’t been clipping them as often as I should.  I admit I got slack because I just didn’t have to worry about it at the time.  We had the cash we needed, and we were doing ok.

Now that we’re not only dealing with Hubby’s job status but the fact we’ve got a baby on the way I’m definitely going out of my way to use coupons.   One way we’ve learned to save is by taking advantage of the online sale prices that some stores run.  There are a lot of stores like Walmart that will offer better deals online than they offer in store, so you can not only find Walmart coupons to help you save cash, but you can also take advantage of the cheaper online pricing and free shipping to your local store!

If you’re the type of person who doesn’t feel like sitting down with the Sunday paper and a pair of scissors you don’t have to give up on saving money.  Remember coupon codes are all around us, and the power of saving with internet shopping is endless.