Oleander
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Our new house is great, and has a fenced backyard with built in sprinklers.

Except - there is a row of oleanders along the fence. Oleanders are pretty, drought tolerant, bloom a lot, and poisonous. A single leaf can kill a toddler.

Remember that Michelle Pfeiffer movie called "White Oleander"? Yeah, that's how the character killed her husband in the film.

We've already talked to our landlord and we'll be removing the bushes. They are along the fence, in full sun... a great spot for a veggie garden, especially because we'll already have it dug up!

Does anyone know if you can eat plants grown in soil that oleanders grew in? They don't poison the dirt, do they?

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posted by Milehimama @ Mama Says at 6/01/2008 09:46:00 AM | Permalink | |
Joining the 21st Century
Monday, May 19, 2008
I'll admit it. I'm a throwback. I have a deep, dark confession to make... I do not have a cell phone.

There. I said it. I use the nifty cell phone pocket on my purse to hold sunglasses or matchbox cars, depending on the time or location.

I used to have a cell phone, paid for by my work. My boss's wife called me while I was in labor with Miss C. And got mad when I didn't call her back until after I left the hospital. She was a control freak. Frankly, when I quit and there was not room in the budget for a cell phone, I was relieved. It can be a drag sometimes to be available to everybody all the time. Kind of like being a stay-at-home mom to everyone with your phone number.

However, there has been many a time when I wished I had a cell phone.

Husband dear is getting one. His work strongly suggests it. We're going with the Cricket $50 plan for him - unlimited calls, long distance, texting, and web access. Also 30 minutes of roaming, which he may need, since his friends live in the boonies out of service area.

My dilemma? I can get a home phone, or a cell phone for myself. It will cost about the same ($45 a month), except I will have to buy a cell phone. What do you do? Pros, cons?

And, anyone have a Cricket phone they recommend?

PS, I'm not doing both because our budget can't take it! We just filled out the benefits package for work and it's costing us $800 a month (and we opted out of the Vision plan), plus our new rent is 150% of our old rent. At least food is cheaper here!)

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posted by Milehimama @ Mama Says at 5/19/2008 08:53:00 AM | Permalink | |
Hello, Mah Peeps!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
We made it to Texas!

After false starts, rewiring the trailer twice, and diarrhea emergencies (note to self: Capri Suns are a convenient road trip snack, but two year olds cannot handle a steady diet of them!)

We are staying with RCB of Leave the Lights On. You can imagine that my level of conversation has been raised significantly, and indeed we've already had discussions about Intelligent Design/Creationism/Evolution and Schrodinger's Cat.

I've been offline for a long time, so it will take a few days to catch up! If there's something I simply shouldn't miss, leave me a note in the comments.

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posted by Milehimama @ Mama Says at 5/15/2008 08:51:00 AM | Permalink | |
Still Packing
Monday, May 05, 2008
My solution to make more room in the van:

Mail the kids.

Why, yes, that is the four year old wearing a winter jacket, despite the fact that our air conditioning is still broken and it is 83 degrees in the house. She does dress herself, actually, now that you ask.

Gone to Goodwill:
12 16 bags of clothes
1 bag of toys
2 boxes of misc. household stuff
2 boxes toys
3 boxes of food and baby formula (given to Companions of Christ food ministry)

Given away Free on Craigslist:
1 queen bed, with frame
two diabetes monitors
2 bags baby girl clothes
1 bag of yarn
1 Cozy Coupe Car
1 box of dishes
1 box of toys

Things to get rid of:
Upright freezer sold!
Station Wagon sold
Dryer
Extra books sold!
Air conditioner window unit

...and may I just say I'm lovin' me some Craigslist?

Picking up the moving truck tomorrow, so Goodbye.. for now! See ya next week unless we find a McD's with free wi-fi!

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posted by Milehimama @ Mama Says at 5/05/2008 05:44:00 PM | Permalink | |
Good News and Bad News...
Monday, April 28, 2008

The good news is...

Miss C does not have a concussion or broken legs.

How do I know? One ER visit, one CT scan, and about 18 X-rays.

The bad news is...
I lost an entire day to pack declutter before our move - next week!

Two year olds are really too big to play in infant car seats. 'Nuff said.

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posted by Milehimama @ Mama Says at 4/28/2008 05:47:00 PM | Permalink | |
InTowne Suites
Thursday, April 24, 2008
You stink!

Our house will be ready June 1. Husband dear starts work on May 12. There is no way he's leaving me behind. Been there, done that, and it wasn't pretty!

So we need a place to stay for a couple of weeks. No problem, they have those corporate hotels, complete with mini-kitchens, right? I've even lived in them for several weeks before, back when we only had three children.

InTowne Suites hates children apparently. Their maximum occupancy is ONE child per room.

Most families aren't as big as mine, but most have more than one child!

Sigh. Anyone own a timeshare in Houston I can rent?

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posted by Milehimama @ Mama Says at 4/24/2008 03:52:00 PM | Permalink | |
About Stinkin' Time
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
President Bush is going to be making changes to the No Child Left Behind Act.
Perhaps he will address which school you are supposed to switch to when every single elementary school in your district fails (but 33% are reading at grade level! Yay!). I guess that comes from living in a state that ranked 49th overall for schools.

Let's just hope he doesn't pull a Jimmy Carter and make things worse.

On another note, how could I have lost my tape gun and four rolls of packing tape before I even got started? I'm also missing my mop head, which does not bode well for the state of our floors.

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posted by Milehimama @ Mama Says at 4/22/2008 08:18:00 AM | Permalink | |
Moving On Up!
Monday, April 21, 2008
We're moving! To Houston! In nine days.

Blogging will be light. Unless I procrastinate slip into denial lose my mind from the stress... in which case I'll update you.

Stress much? We are not packed. We have no place to live. We do have a job though!

Here's a quick review of how moving goes around here:

Like Tears on My Soul (from Colorado to South Carolina, 2006)

Moving Right Along (From Podunkadunka, SC to slightly larger Podunkaville, SC)

Is there a patron saint of Not Losing Your Mind. Oh, right. St. Dymphna. We're old friends, she and I!

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posted by Milehimama @ Mama Says at 4/21/2008 09:31:00 AM | Permalink | |