Did you attempt Black Friday?

So I attempted Black Friday this year. I never would have back in the city, but I convinced myself that Poughkeepsie is comparatively small and the towns around it are small, mine is tiny so it couldn't possibly be too bad. Afterall, there's a mall, TWO outlet centers, everyone would be going there, Target or Walmart. I could manage to snag a few deals from Toys R Us. Right?

LOL! Wrong!

We walked in...and out. The line literally wrapped around the store, wrapped. You couldn't even get into the aisles. The shelves looked worse than when we were expecting that hurricane (thanks to food storage, it wasn't a problem for us). It was a waste. Lesson learned. Arrive earlier!! Just kidding. Never again!

Recovery

There is no recovery with 4 little girls. It's more like trying to survive til bed time.

The first night home, I got home just in time to say good night. I guess Maddy really missed me because an hour later she was awake. I tucked her in and an hour later she woke again, this time leaving "gifts" for me on her carpet. She peed. Two hours later, Kaity woke up coughing and needed her asthma medicine. Unbelievable, really.

I finally got to sleep after that. But Fri and Sat (and probably tonight) I've had to help Kaity with her medicine.

I'm in bed nearly the entire day. I'm in so much pain, but the medicine just makes my head spin. I don't know what's worse, the pain, or the dizziness and nausea.

Apani woke up with a fever this morning. My luck, when it comes to health, just stinks! As the day has gone on though, I was feeling myself feeling better. I even made pasta salad. Then Daisy head planted into my gut and I'm feeling like I over did it. But I imagine tomorrow will be even better. I really just want a day or night to myself so I can rest up.

I'm glad I waited, there's no way I could have done this while nursing Daisy. I thought this was a minor surgery and recovery would be much quicker. Even more importantly, I'm so glad I was able to get it done before Thanksgiving and I can eat without fear!! Hide the scales!

To do - To do - To do

Now that Daisy is weened, I feel like I can work on my To Do List.

First up ~ Gall Bladder Surgery. Let's hope all goes well on Thursday. Thursday!! I'm a little nervous. I know it's routine surgery and a common one at that, but as he was explaining the risks (which are 1 in 300) I got a little scared. But, Thanksgiving is next week and last year I was too afraid to eat, I will not pass up pumpkin pie again!! I may even eat 2 slices with extra whip cream!

Next ~ taking that darn 5 hour class for the DMV which will be more like 7 when you include the trip there and back.

After that? Can you say, ROAD TEST??!!

Truth be Told # 2

I forget things, I mean, everything.

Since having kids, Truth Be Told # 1

keeping the house clean is a battle I can not win.

How we're doing Christmas

Now that ALL the girls are in bed at 7, I try to make money by doing small things on the internet since there's still 3 years before Daisy starts school and I can start working.

Between everything, I've probably earned @ $1000.

Amazon has a task site called Mturk. People use the site to promote business, they promote blogs, universities use it to conduct research, to rate web content, and so forth. I like to do the research or survey tasks because most of them are quick and tend to pay more. But if any task is offering you more than $3, it's usually fake, don't waste your time.

I sell coupons on ebay.

I set up an etsy site.

Now that Maddy is old enough to remember things, unless stores decide to be open 24/7 and I can go when she sleeps, I have to shop online. And ALWAYS use Ebates. If you haven't signed up yet, do it! I love ebates. I got my "big fat payment" today which is in my paypal account and will go towards gifts. And whatever shopping I do will be through ebates to earn more cash back.

I've also been "earning" "money" through Swagbucks. EVERY site I go to, I just search for it in the swagbucks toolbar and earn 'bucks' which I redeem for Amazon gift cards. It's tedious, but every little bit helps. I earned $100 in amazon gift cards in just a few months. Not too bad and not only is it Christmas, but there's 2 birthdays in December.

I love the daily deal sites. I've gotten a few stuff from Plum District and Totsy.

And the other thing I do is Paid the Fastest, which is a little more complicated. But I'm at the point where I get free referrals and let them do the work for me. I've earned the most $$ from there.

I also won a contest that gave a Chuggington gift pack which was filled with a train set, books, puzzles, and dvds. So we're pretty much set. Awesome!

How we survived the power outage

that lasted 74 hours. Some people are still out of power.



Lots of painting...LOTS. Nearly sun up to sun down.



I took the video games out of the closet.





Daisy fixed furniture into her own personal playground.



And play-doh made a quick appearance.

The kids were fairly good sports, til they got bored. By Tuesday it was all fighting. Thankfully, they got to go to school today. Our district, however, is still out. It's unbelievable! I wonder if these are counted as snow days. I'm so scared for winter now.

It got so cold. The temp in the house was in the 40s! The girls would wake up with rosey cheeks and red noses. Daisy was going to bed with a long sleeve onesie, socks, and 2 fleece jammies and her feet would still be cold. It felt so good to take a shower again! I'm so thankful it's over!