Zippy Loom Review

I'm a huge crafter. HUGE. I used to paint and draw,  I've tried woodworking a bit, I dabble in jewelry making, I can embroider fairly well - but my first and greatest love for the past twelve years has been yarn. I knit, I crochet, I can weave, I used to spin, but knitting and crochet have always been the things I come back to the most.

Maybe because there is something soothing about the feeling of yarn running through my fingers, maybe it's because yarn crafts are so portable,  maybe it's the satisfaction of watching a project grow. People also seem to enjoy yarny gifts the most, at least a few times a week a friend or family member requests a new pair of slippers, socks, a stuffed animal, hat, etc. My list of people I "owe" a project to at this point is about three pages long.

When I was younger, before kids and even after my first was born, I thrived on huge and complex projects. I knitted long cabled cardigans, elaborate socks, scarves with hidden designs.

Once more kids started arriving, and then especially after my divorce when I began working more and having no "kid-free" time, my projects changed substantially. I started crocheting more than knitting, although I loved knitting more, just because the projects went faster and I could feel that satisfaction of an item completed with less time investment.

By the time my 4th child was born last summer, I was barely picking up a hook or needles at all. It just seemed like there was never time or energy. Everything took too long.

And that, my friends, is where knitting looms come in! I first found an inexpensive set of round looms, and I love them, I've been making hats like crazy. Then I came across something I love even more. The Zippy loom by Authentic Knitting Board, pictured above with a scarf attached. I actually first thought my oldest son would like it (and he does, we've been having some wars over whose turn it is to use it and I think I need to buy some more!) but as I read the directions and explained it to him, I became totally enamored with the little loom myself.

Each piece has 4 pegs, and retails between 7.99 and 9.99 depending on where you buy it. (Look online for coupons for your local craft store, near me I know A.C. Moore and Hobby Lobby will email great coupons a couple times a week if you're on their mailing list.)

You can make a skinny scarf on one piece in about 30-45 minutes, even for a beginning. Personally, I live in Northern New Jersey where it gets really cold so I'm not a big fan of skinny scarfs. But here's the fun part. Each Zippy loom comes with a connector, so you can buy a few and in seconds, hook them together. Two looms together makes, in my opinion, the perfect width scarf. Since I got the Zippy looms, I CAN'T STOP KNITTING. It is SO easy and fun. I've been taking my projects to the pool, the playground, the zoo, BBQ's, literally EVERYWHERE. There is something so satisfying in watching a scarf grown an inch every row! I've made a ton of regular scarves and infinity scarves, and it's felt great to be crafting again.

The product itself is sturdy and well maid. The directions are dead simple. You can knit while watching TV, talking on the phone, waiting in waiting rooms...anytime you have a minute! It takes me about an hour and a half to finish an adult scarf, how can you beat that?

The only problem is that now I'm obsessed and I want more Zippy Looms. I want to buy about six or seven more so I can hook them together and make chunky, cozy blankets. I've also seen online that you can buy "corners" for your zippy loom so you can knit in the round rather than just straight - a Zippy loom hat sounds so toasty and comforting. And making an adult hat in an hour or less sounds perfect to me! I see Christmas gifts for everyone next year!

As I've been reading other people's reviews - which by the way it seems like I'm not the only person to fall into a deep, deep rabbit hole of Zippy loom obsession after being introduced to it -I've seen people say that these looms are also great for people who have trouble with fine motor skills, like elderly people who can't knit regularly anymore or those who have problems keeping calm and need something to do with their hands.

And here we are at the beginning of summer vacation - I don't know about you, but I'm all about keeping my kids busy this summer. My older children are definitely going to be spending some time with these looms also. If you can't find them near you, Amazon sells the looms and corners for a reasonable price and they ship quickly. Enjoy! And feel free to post pics of your Zippy loom creations below!

Facial Numbness Officially Diagnosed

For the last week, I've been dealing with an odd problem. I woke up last Friday morning with the lower left half of my face numb. No other symptoms, but it seemed weird. I called my doctor, and was told there were no available appointments for almost a week, but that I should go to the hospital to get checked out because facial numbness can be a sign of serious things.

 As I often do, I took to Facebook and asked my assorted family and friends if they had ever experienced numbness like this or knew what it could be. I was greeted by a barrage of messages to go to the ER immediately.That seemed really overdramatic so instead I went to the local MinuteClinic in a CVS. Btw, it was more like "90 Minute Clinic" but I digress.

At the MinuteClinic, the nurse practitioner said she suspected it was Bells Palsy, but she seemed very nervous and didn't want to make a definitive diagnosis without absolutely ruling out anything more serious, so she advised me to go to the emergency room right away. This is what I was trying to avoid. I have four kids, the oldest is seven. The idea of sitting in a hospital for hours with four kids didn't seem like something I really wanted to do. And it all just seemed so dramatic...I mean I'm 37, this couldn't really be anything serious, right? All I really wanted was for someone to say, oh that? Don't worry about that, it's no big deal. But no one was saying that.

Luckily, I have great friends, family and a man I love to help me out. Within an hour people were offering to sit with the kids, keep me company at the hospital, whatever I needed. So in the end I didn't have to bring the kids with me after all. Thank God!

It took over four hours in the ER. I had a CAT scan of my head, an x-ray of my head, and a ton of bloodwork. At the end of it all, the doctor said all the tests had come back clean and he was pretty much at a loss. It could be some kind of nerve impingement, could be early Bells Palsy...he didn't know. He advised me to follow up with a neurologist. (The closest neurologist appointment I could get is two and a half months away, BTW.)

I was sent home with pretty much no answers. Over the next six days, things got worse. Soon the numbness spread up my face and my left eye began to tear for no reason. My ear and head on that side began to ache.  The left side of my throat became numb, it felt like I'd been sucking on a Halls cough drop all night. I was miserable. I called my own doctor several more times trying to get in sooner, but no dice.

Finally this Thursday, two days ago, I got in for my appointment. I wanted to cry with relief - I was so uncomfortable by then. It took all of about five minutes for the doctor to find out what was going on. Apparently when you go to an emergency room, test results and your chart are electronically sent to your primary care physician.  As soon as my doctor looked at my tests, he said I had Lyme Disease, and that it had caused the Bells Palsy, which I definitely have. He said either the doctor didn't notice the Lyme result in my blood work, or those results came in after I had been discharged. Either way, I should have been told immediately so I could begin treatment. Lyme Disease is no laughing matter, and is irritatingly prevalent in Northern New Jersey.

I was prescribed a very strong antibiotic to take for the next month (which I started right away), and a twelve day course of steroids which I haven't started yet due to other issues I'm considering. The lesson I have learned from all this is that you HAVE to be proactive about your health and doctors don't know everything, they make mistakes too. Follow up after bloodwork to make sure your test results haven't slipped through the cracks, and if you don't feel better push for a second opinion, another test, etc.

Has anything like this ever happened to you? Either Bells Palsy, Lyme Disease or a doctor making an error with your care? Tell me about it in the comments below, please!


  

Can't Stop Loom Knitting

I learned how to loom knit only a couple weeks ago, but I am OBSESSED. It is so easy, so fast, so oddly satisfying! I have been having some weird health issues for the last week, and have spent quite a bit of time in waiting rooms, on hold with the insurance company, and in the ER. This has provided lots of time with my looms.

I can't believe I didn't discover these things a long time ago! I can make a scarf or hat in just a couple hours! I have yet to branch out into more complicated designs, but I still have a whole bunch of family and friends to make hats and scarfs for, so I should be good for awhile anyway.

Do you loom knit? What do you make? How many strands of yarn do you use?

Why Geocaching Is a Perfect Hobby

T-Shirt: Geocacher (Treasure Map). Pink Shirt by advphotos

View more Geocacher T-Shirts at zazzle.com

We are about to embark on a long, LONG summer. Is anyone else wondering how to fill the days without breaking the bank?

A few years ago, I discovered geocaching, and it's something me and my kids have enjoyed ever since.

For those of you who haven't heard of this, here's how it works. People, lots of people, all over the country, hide geocaches, which are usually containers of various sizes that often have a logbook and small prizes inside. You download a free or inexpensive app on your phone (there are a few to choose from) and you search for geocaches near your location. Once you get the general location, you use GPS and the compass within the app to locate the geocache. Once found, you sign the log in the container (if there is one) log it in the app as well, and if there is a prize, you take it out and replace it with something else.

Prizes are small, it's more just for the fun of finding something. A cute pen, bubbles, a pack of cards, etc. My kids and I buy things at the local dollar store to replace them. Even in our rural location, there are tons of geocaches all over the place. I've never done this in the city, but I bet that's awesome too.

So what makes geocaching a good hobby?

1.  It's cheap. A couple dollars worth of prizes to switch out in the geocaches, a little gas to drive around (unless you live somewhere where they are in walking distance) and possibly 5 dollars for an app on your phone and you have days worth of entertainment. And as I said, there are free apps as well so if you don't want to spend a thing on that, you don't have to. The advantage of paid apps are that they usually allow you to sort geocaches more than the free version, such as sorting by the difficulty level of finding it or by size.
2. It's something the whole family can enjoy. I'm not big into many kids activities, I can admit that, but geocaching is something adults do also, it's not a "kid" thing, although my kids love it too. But activities everyone has fun with and can be done even with a wide range of ages is rare.
3. Geocaching is a great way to spend some time outdoors. Want to get yourself and your family away from TVS and video games. Try geocaching? It's easy to spend an afternoon outside "searching for treasure" as my 6 year old puts it, without even realizing you are also getting some exercise and breathing fresh air.

Are there any downsides? Eh, not really. The worst I can really come up with is it's more a nice weather thing, geocaching in the rain or snow really isn't very fun. Also, you do need to be aware of your surroundings. I was once geocaching with my son - who was 4 at the time- and came across a bear rather than the geocache. And because we were so focused on the compass, we didn't see the bear until we were kinda close for comfort. But other than that, it's a really enjoyable and very inexpensive way to spend time as a family and do something a little different.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Children's Day Is Ridiculous

I woke up this morning and checked Facebook. Immediately, a notification came up reminding me that today is Children's Day and to let my friends know if I was celebrating. With a scoff, I x'ed out of that and was immediately greeted by my friends pics of their kids and details of how everyone was celebrating their children for Children's Day.

To this, I say.....seriously? Let me tell you about my day yesterday. And this wasn't for Children's Day, this is just what we call "Saturday." My kids were all awake before 7. They begged for waffles for breakfast, which I made them. Two children who begged for them didn't touch them at all, another ate half a waffle. Twenty minutes later they were all starving again. What I said to them at that point isn't really fit for putting on a public blog.

A little later, we went to our town's festival day, where they saw a reptile demonstration, ate ice cream and cotton candy and hotdogs, climbed on a firetruck, and ran around like crazy people for a few hours. THEN we went to the mall, where I let them pick out a movie for themselves that I bought them, they played in the play area, and when we got home I let them all stay up late to watch their movie and eat popcorn. I went to bed feeling pretty satisfied with what a good day I gave them.

This morning as soon as my eyes were open, I was greeted with three little people around my bed (the baby can't get out of her crib yet, or she probably would have been there too) demanding breakfast and wanting to know in what ways I planned to entertain them today. I told them that one of their favorite people would be over to visit, and then we would be going to a butterfly release nearby.

And what did the little ingrates do? Everyone burst into tears and started whining because we "never do anything fun" and "I don't care what they like to do."

When did this happen? How did we become a society ruled by children where adults are basically around just to be servants and chauffeurs for their children and pay the bills so they can have every material thing they desire? It's nuts!

As far as I can tell, EVERY day is Children's Day. And I don't know what to do about it. I work, I'm the only adult living in the house, and I have hardly any money - ever. So how did even MY kids become so spoiled and entitled that think every moment of their live should be filled with fun things that THEY want to do?

There was a time when children were supposed to be seen and not heard, and were mostly valued for how much labor they could contribute to the family farm or business. While I'm not advocating going back to THAT (well, not on most days I'm not) I do think the pendulum has swung way too far the other way.

Now, children assume that the only food purchased will be things they like. They think they deserve a present every time they walk in a store. They expect parents to run themselves ragged driving them to sports, karate, art classes, chess club or WHATEVER 7 days a week. And the part that I find most shocking is that PARENTS DO IT!

How do they have time? Do they ever do anything for themselves? Do they ever spend time with just their partner? How do they afford this? And WHY?

Personally I try to give my kids a good life. I do try to take them places they want to go and get them treats when possible. I love my kids, but they aren't my entire life. I have friends, and family and love and hobbies and work. There has to be balance. I have been known to send all the kids upstairs and commandeer the big TV to watch my OWN movies. On most night, they have to ALL be in bed by 8 so I can have time to myself and to have a life. And even so, my kids still get to have fun, still aren't lacking for anything.

So on this Children's Day, I will not be running myself extra ragged trying to "celebrate" my kids. They will have fun, but I don't think a day encouraging kids to think they are the center of the universe when they already THINK they are the center of the universe is really necessary.

What about you? Do you celebrate this day? And if so, how? Tell me about it in the comments!

It Takes a Village

The last two days have been stressful, but also showed me some wonderful things. As I've mentioned, I'm the mother to four young children and I'm the only adult living in the household. This can be stressful, for many reasons. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing anything right. Sometimes I feel really alone. And then sometimes, just how lucky I am becomes clear.

Yesterday morning, I woke up with the lower left half of my face almost completely numb. I felt as though I'd had a shot of novocaine in my jaw. Otherwise, I felt fine, but being that it was my face which is close to my brain, I was concerned enough to see a doctor. The doctor was more concerned. She felt it was likely Bells Palsy, but she didn't feel qualified to say for sure and directed me to go to the emergency room. I looked around the exam room at my 4 little ones and felt like crying. The idea of spending hours in the ER with them was not appealing, to say the least.

I posted about my dilemma on Facebook, and called a couple of my closest loved ones, and almost immediately an amazing thing happened. People immediately began calling, texting, messaging and stopping by my house to offer to take a few or all of the kids and/or to go with me to the emergency room.

Within a couple hours, everything was squared away, the kids were all at home with one of my favorite people and I was on my way to the hospital. After hours of testing, the big things like stroke or tumors were ruled out, thank god, and early Bell's Palsy or nerve impingement are the most likely culprits, I have to follow up with my regular doctor and a neurologist,

I'm very grateful that this doesn't appear to be anything serious. But even more, I'm so grateful to see the true colors of the people around me. To see who and how many people immediately dropped what they were doing to offer assistance.

It's often said that it takes a village to raise children, and I am so blessed to have the village that I have! Sometimes, unfortunate things happen. But we can always look for the positive in a situation and try to find the lesson in it. The lesson I just learned is that there is so much help available if you just tell people what you need, and that so many more people love you than you probably realize! I have a blessed life, despite the struggles at time. I hope you do too! :)

What's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you? Please share with me in the comments below!!

Why Should I Make Paper Beads?

Have you heard of paper beads?? Up until about 5 months ago, I had never even heard of this concept but now I'm in love with this craft!

Not much is know of the history of paper beads, but it's thought to date back to Victorian women rolling leftover scraps of wallpaper on knitting needles, waxing them with beeswax and then stringing the beads onto string or yarn to make room dividers and such.

Early in the 20th century, women started making jewelry from paper beads. While the paper and glazes may have changed, the idea remains the same. Rolling paper up, using some kind of varnish and then stringing the beads to make jewelry, purses, adorn cards, as room dividers, etc. 

Here is what I love about this craft.

1.  It's cheap. I have 4 kids, cheap crafts are about all I can manage at this time. The pic above shows everything I needed to make a TON of beads. (And scissors, which didn't make it into the pic for some reason.) 
2. It's versatile. You can use magazines, newspaper, cardstock, wrapping paper, newspaper, old comic books, scrapbook paper...pretty much anything you can think of. 
3. Paper bead making is extremely easy to learn. Getting perfectly rolled beads does take a bit of practice, but it's a VERY easy skill to pick up, my seven year old son rolls beads with me! So it's a good family craft. 
4. It's SO easy to make personalized gifts. I have a friend who just surprised everyone by eloping with her longtime boyfriend. I made her necklace and earring set made out of the newspaper from her hometown on the day she got married. How is that for tailor made?!

For a tutorial of how to make beads, check out this free tutorial. If, like me, you're a book learner and want to know more about the history of paper beads as well as get actual templates for making beads, check out this book:

This is a recent necklace I made out of the scrapbooking paper pictured above:

Do you have any paper bead creations? Share photos in the comments below, please! :)

Loom Knitting Obsession

 Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to get a little obsessed with something that I like, particularly crafts related. In keeping with that, let me introduce you to my newest love: loom knitting!

To be honest, I don't know if these have been around for a long time and I just didn't know about them, or if they are a new trend. I remember tiny little spools that looked like this that made cord when I was little, but not big ones like this. So, why am I obsessed??

I've gotten away from knitting a bit in the last couple years, because it is slower going and with a full house of kids and working, I get frustrated with projects that take too long. I've started crocheting more because it is much quicker. But a part of me missed the repetition and look of knitting.

I came across a set of looms in A.C. Moore recently and I had a 55 percent off coupon, so I spent about 4.50 for a set of 4 different sized looms. (I later went back and got another, smaller loom for making flowers.)

Knitting doesn't get much simpler than with these looms. As far as I can tell, what you can make with the round ones is simple stuff, hats, scarves, leg warmers, bulky socks. But with my life being as full and complicated as it is at the moment, simple things are all my really interested in right now.

In the top pic is my daughter in my first loom knit hat. The second pic is hats for myself and my 7 year old son in the works....did I mention I get a little obsessive about these things?? LOL!

The technique is dead easy, and the sets I bought all came with instructions. YouTube also has a ton of helpful tutorials. I'm also going to link to some helpful resources below. But basically, all you do is make a slip knot and attach it to the bump on the side of the loom. Then wrap the yarn around each beg. When you get back to the first peg, wrap them all again. Then use the included hook to lift the bottom loop over the top all the way around until you only have one loop on each peg again. Wrap each peg again, and repeat lifting the lower hoop over the upper. Before long, a tube of stockinette will begin to appear.

There are ways to purl and cable and do fancy stitches as well, but I haven't gotten to any of those yet. Right now I'm very happy with my rolled brim, stockinette slouchy caps, with or without flowers.  If you want to try this out, look for materials in your local craft store or order below:


Who else loom knits? What are your favorite things to make? Any tips and tricks for a beginner? Please post in the comments below!

Looming Queen T Shirt by Simply_Intertwined
Make your own shirt online at Zazzle.

Working for iScribes

As I've mentioned, I work from home. I have worked from home at least part of the time since about 1999, first as a court transcript proofreader, then a freelance writer, doing some crafts, and most recently as a medical scribe for a company called iScribes that's based out of North Carolina.

The reason I took the job in the first place was that I was training to be a medical coder, and many companies look for some prior medical background before hiring you even with an education and credentials. I figured I could work there part-time and get that background and some experience with electronic medical records systems.

Quite a few other medical coders in training that I know also began working at iScribes at about the same time that I did, medical scribing seems to be a natural fit for those transitioning to medical coding or medical transcription.

It took about 6 weeks before I got a call back for an interview after submitting my application, which was fairly standard a few months ago but I've heard the turnaround time is now much quicker. The "interview" is really just a nice phone conversation with a recruiter wherein the job is explained to you and you are then sent an assessment which they say takes about an hour but took me about 3 hours - which maybe should have been an indication that this might be a problem for me.

The assessment contains a grammar test, a typing test and a practice recording to scribe along with a little training on what you will be looking for and how to fill out the chart on their system. Within a day of doing the assessment, I had a job offer in my email.

Right when I started with iScribes, the company had just rolled out a new training system, which is very detailed and well thought out. I only wish it had been explained at the time that when you are actually paired with a doctor that many of the things you are taught will be out the window and you will be focused much more on the doctor's preferences.

After the initial training, there is a 10 chart challenge where new scribes have to show off their skills by getting a near perfect chart within the first 10 charts, with a bonus incentive if it's accomplished within the first 5 charts. Once you pass that point, you are matched with a doctor (at this time I believe it's only orthopedists) and trained in your subspecialty. I had 2 doctors, a foot and ankle doctor and a general orthopedist.

For the first week to several weeks, scribes work directly under their team lead, who checks all of the charts carefully and makes suggestions and offers help when scribes get stuck. When your trainer feels you are ready, you are trained on whatever electronic medical records system your doctor or doctors will be using, and released to scribe on your own. This process varies according to how quickly you pick things up. One new scribe I know was released to work on her own in just over  week, for me it took about 4 weeks.

So, the good and bad parts about iScribes? The good is that you can work from home, gain medical experience, have a job that makes a difference by helping doctors and making their workload lighter so they can concentrate better on their patients. There is SOME flexibility with the hours you work.  Although you are required to work at minimum 20 hours a week, scribes who want more hours seem to be able to easily get more days or more doctors. The work is very interesting, I've learned so much more about medical issues and common orthopedic procedures than I ever would have known before. Because there are different patients every day, it never gets boring.

The bad? ALOT seems to depend on the doctor you are assigned. If a doctor chronically uploads late at night instead of throughout the day as he is supposed to, you may end up either working late nights or throwing off your whole schedule for the next day if you have another doctor to work for the following day. Scribing is not as easy as I assumed it would be AT ALL. Sometimes doctors have accents that are hard to decipher or mumble or eat while they are dictating. Some dictate in loud rooms with alot of background noise. You have a certain amount of work that needs to be done in a day and you have to work until it's done. For some scribes, their doctor only does 10 recordings a day. For one of my doctors, I was responsible for 30 charts a day and I was never able to get that done in less than 10-11 hours, which was too much for me with 4 young children at home to care for, another job and school - I felt overwhelmed. This may be an issue on my end though, not iScribes, as I seemed to scribe much slower than many others.

As far as pay, training begins at 8.50 and is supposed to go to 10.00 an hour once you are independent or 2.00 per chart, whichever is higher. Depending on where you live, that can be a good or a bad rate, but the pay structure is outlined clearly upfront at least. There also seems to be room for advancement, as scribes may become team leads with time or assume other responsibilities.

With my current responsibilities and life, scribing has been a much more difficult fit than I anticipated, but most of the scribes seem to thrive there. I know many recent hires who are very happy. If you think it sounds interesting, check out their website! http://iscribes.co/#/jobs

Proud to Be a Medical Scribe! T-shirt by ILoveOnlineWriting
Find more Medical T-Shirts at Dazzle

Show pride in your profession! messenger bag by ILoveOnlineWriting
See other Rickshaw messenger bags.

Summer Vacation in the Wrong Generation

So my oldest two children go to public school full day. This time of year means one thing for us - summer vacation is almost here! My sons are, of course, thrilled. Me? Not so much. Facebook is a dangerous place for moms who don't thrill at spending every possible moment with their offspring.

For the last few weeks, my newsfeed has been laden with posts counting down the days to kids summer vacation (thanks, I got it) pictures of happy moms and kids playing on playgrounds, biking, strawberry picking and posts about not being able to wait for long lazy summer days at the beach and vacations and even more precious quality time. I have a really hard time not rolling my eyes with all this - I have to tell you. I see those posts and all I can think is "Barf!" This is where I feel it necessary to put in the usual disclaimer moms everywhere feel they need when they are about to admit that not everything about parenting is a thrill - of course I love my kids very much and I'm glad I have them.

 That being said, I often think I am a parent of the wrong generation. I do take my kids to the park and the zoo and for walks, but I don't get the enjoyment out of it that other moms seem to. It might have something to do with the fact that my oldest children spend 90 percent of their time jumping on things, climbing on things, wrestling and shrieking. OMG the shrieking. Seriously I have never experienced noises and mess and breaking things the way I have since I became a parent. In the last week, my sons managed to break a towel rack (by hanging on it) a curtain rod (by trying to hang from it), a ceiling fan (by throwing a stick up into it - why they had a stick in the house is a whole separate issue), and the Hopper box for our Dish TV which means that we cannot use remote control with the TV until the new expensive antenna comes in the mail.

I mean seriously which part of this am I supposed to be enjoying? Kids today play sports, and are involved in endless clubs and expect nonstop entertainment. And no matter what, it's not enough because we are raising a generation of children who feel entitled to everything, who are running our households and running us ragged driving them from one activity to another -not to mention spending all of our money on outrageous fees. And these kids have no idea how to entertain themselves. None. Why would they when every moment is structured for them by Mom and Dad?

 Let me tell you about summer vacations when I was a kid, and I will reface this by saying that I loved these times and they are some of my happiest childhood memories. My brother and sister and I woke up whenever we woke up. My mom worked at home and was usually up before us, but if for some reason she wasn't, we entertained ourselves until she got up, it never occurred to us to go jump on her bed demanding breakfast or entertainment. When we got up, we'd have cereal for breakfast and watch a little TV. My mom would tell us what chores she wanted done and we'd do them, it never occurred to us to whine or refuse to do them because we respected our parents and they were in charge, even if we grumbled internally. We spent the days reading, watching movies, playing with our toys and each other - and some days that was it! If we were lucky, my mom would take us to the courtyard in front of our building so we could ride our big wheels or we would walk over to the playground, where we would play and mom would sit on the benches and smoke and chat with the other moms. We would go to the library a few days a week to get new books and for story hour, and to the local five and dime to pick up new embroidery thread or potholder loops for my endless craft projects. At night, we'd have sandwiches and baths and call it a night. Going out to the beach or away for a weekend or to a movie was a rare treat, a big deal, a special day. It wasn't expected as a part of the daily routine. How do moms today do it? How do they make Pinterest worthy meals every single night? How do they afford to take kids to amusement parks and movies and on shopping sprees on a daily basis? And why?

 As for my kids, we are doing summer 1985 style this year, minus the smoking. They will play on their own. They will do inexpensive crafts and read and watch movies. They will play at the playground and ride their bikes. And I hope their memories of this summer vacation will be just as good as mine were!

Hi everyone!

I got the idea to start this blog right before my 37th birthday and I thought "OMG what a great idea! I will start this blog on my birthday and I will write in it every day!" Well, um....my birthday was over two weeks ago but here we are, better later than never! This is how things tend to go when you are the only adult in a house full of young kids, time seems to get away from you sometimes!! But, no more excuses. I have been thinking about how many of my friends who are around my age are miserable about inching closer to 40. I say - who cares!!! I lost my mom 5 years ago and she also never cared about age - she always said getting older was better than the alternative. And she was right. So, here we are. I'm 37 and divorced with 4 young children. I work as a freelance writer right now, and am taking courses in medical coding. I'm always looking for ways to save money and free/cheap entertainment, and I have tried a lot of different work at home opportunities, some stuck, some didn't. As time goes on, I will be reviewing some of those for any of you who also work at home. I'm also all about crafts, I LOVE all crafts but the last year I'm most obsessed with knitting, crochet and making paper beads so I will be posting a lot of stuff about that as well. Please feel free to comment and introduce yourselves or give your opinions as time goes on!