Dangerous Bassinet, Bad Recall

Please head over to see what Cathy at Chief Family Officer is sharing about the Simplicity 3 -in-1- and 4-in-1 bassinet convertible "close sleeper" recall. Apparently Simplicity has been bought and the new owner is not willing to help with the recall. I totally agree with Cathy that putting profits above lives is absolutely wrong, and well worth boycotting. I'm a big fan of voting with your dollars, and I'm don't want to give my money to a company like this.

Anyway, head over to see her more detailed information, check your stuff, and keep it in the back of your mind for future purchases.

Frugal Friday - Greeting Card Stash

I know my mom had one of these, and I bet yours did too, but it too me a little while to get to making one myself. This is a huge time and money saver, and I'm so glad I did it.

I just keep a stash of cards for various occasions in a box (could be a drawer, file folder), so that I'm already prepared when I need one. For family birthdays, I generally go pick out a specific card and often pay more for it, but this also gives me a place to store those cards so I can't lose them.

I get nearly all of my cards at garage sales or thrift stores. Often you can pick up a pack of blank notecards at a garage sale for 25 or 50 cents. There is a thrift store nearby that sells all of its greeting cards for 10 cents each. (There are also a few that sell them for 50 cents each. Look around as you start to build your collection, and don't assume that just because it's a thrift store it's a good price.) Get well soon, birthday and blank cards are the most useful for me.

It is great to not have to spend a few dollars every time you need a card for an occasion, and this would be a good enough idea for me on that savings alone. But now that I do this, I find the best part is not having to run out and get a card when I need one. For example, we had to go visit a family friend in the hospital last weekend. I picked up some flowers at the food store (and dressed them up in a nice garage saled vase and some extra greens from the yard) and grabbed a get well card from my stash. It took very little time and didn't add stress to an already sad situation.

One last thing - if you tend to like to give away flowers too, whether as a get well thing or a hostess gift, it's a great idea to build a stash of vases too. You can usually pick up inexpensive glass ones for under a dollar.

For more frugal ideas, head over to Biblical Womanhood.

The House is Feeling Better

But I am not.

The plumbing went amazingly quickly once they got someone over. I had my husband do an extra-thorough spraying for bugs (centipedes, ick!) while we had things moved, and tomorrow I'll work on re-arranging everything. I kept my drugstore game finds on shelves in front of the damaged pipe, so I have a lot of stuff to put back. :)

I am frustrated that despite the clomid having it's lovely side-effects, at this point it doesn't seem to be having the intended effect of making me ovulate. I really don't get it, considering my body has done this on it's own fine for most of the year since the last miscarriage. Plus, I seem to have some sort of a cold. I think I am just worn out from all of this.

On a somewhat related note:

Here's a link to a video of one of the best pieces of music I know of in terms of capturing the essence of how we can transform suffering into something good. It is Randall Thompson's Alleluia. It expresses the verse from Job, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Thompson wrote the piece during the sadness and fear of World War II. Wikipedia quotes Thompson as saying the piece can't help but be sad, but I think it's more than that. I see it as beginning by expressing the easy part - praising when things are going well. Then it moves to the hard part of continuing to do so during the hard times. But as they do so, it then returns to a happier sound, but it is also a richer, fuller sound. I see that as analogous to the richer, fuller faith and experience of life that can come through experiencing suffering and asking for God to show you the good to be found in it.

(Listen but don't look, or pretend these singers aren't really wearing jeans and polo shirts! This was the best I found on YouTube.)



In a rather amazing coincidence, I discovered this piece when the chorus that sings with my orchestra performed it just weeks after my first miscarriage. I'm sure that's a lot of why it struck me as it did. In the same concert we did Faure's Requiem. I really struggled to make it through that concert, but in some sense it was a good and healing thing. A requiem for the baby and the right scriptural example for me. But this piece is universal - you could apply to many other experiences just as well.

Menu Plan Monday - Vegetarian and Crock Pot

I found this site last week and got so excited about trying new recipes in my crock pot that I actually went out a bought a "Smart Pot" type crockpot, which switches to warm after the set cooking time is through. (I was also clever and bought one the same size and brand as my old crock pot, so the liners are interchangeable. It's always nice to have extra parts.) First, I tried this CrockPot Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole, which was really yummy. I also prepared some yummy berries the night before, so we woke up to a delicious meal already made - almost like staying at a B&B! So I'll be doing four crockpot dinners this week, assuming I can stay in my house all week. I'll eat some of the leftovers for lunch, and put some in the freezer for the next time I'm not feeling great.

Monday - Creamy Corn and Spinich Enchiladas

Tuesday - Brocolli and Garlic Pasta

Wednesday - Indian Spinich and Tofu (Palak Paneer like)

Thursday - Basil/Mushroom Rice Noodle dish

Friday - Slow cooker pinto beans and rice.

Saturday - Vegetarian No-Noodle Lasagna

There are so many yummy looking recipes over there that I had to pull myself away before I printed off an unreasonable amount. We'll see how these turn out, and then perhaps I'll go back for more.

Check out more menu plans at I'm at Organizing Junkie. (She's doing a giveaway too.)

My Poor House

I particularly appreciate being a renter right now. My poor old house needs some attention, and with everything else we have going on, I'm happy it's mostly not my problem to deal with. The pipe that takes the wastewater from our house is falling apart. Thankfully at this point it's not actually making much of a mess, but it does make an unpleasant smell in the basement. We know a person that lived here when interior plumbing went into this house, so we know these pipes have worked for over 80 years. I think that's pretty amazing.

However, they now will have to be replaced, and I'm hoping that it happens today or tomorrow. It's possible we'll have to be out of the house for a day or two, so if I disappear, that will be why. Fortunately, we have family to stay with nearby, so it won't be too inconvenient. Hopefully, we'll be able to avoid even that.

I do hope the repair isn't too costly, since we rent from people who are part of our extended family, and I hate to see any inconvenience for them either.

On an unrelated note, you may remember I mentioned that my friends lost their home and cat in a fire over a week ago. Amazingly, the cat was found alive, still in (what was left of) their apartment, over a week later. Little miracles like that just have to make you smile.

Frugal Friday - Cheaper Vanilla Extract

Here is a quick money-saving idea: often you can get real vanilla extract for less at the craft store than in the grocery store. In my area, it's almost always better, unless I manage to find a spectacular grocery store sale. At the craft store, you'll find it with the cake decorating items. If you can use one of the craft store coupons that are often available, you'll make it that much better!

For more frugal ideas, head over to Biblical Womanhood.

Other Flowers in My Home

These pretty flowers (not sure what they are) are in my bathroom. My bathroom is very white, so I love putting some bright color in there. These came from the yard of an uncle, who still loves gardening at 88! The vase, with a nice streak of red in it, came from my husband's grandmother's house.

This sunflower brightens up our kitchen table. I think it was about $1.50 at the farm I like to go to. It has lasted almost two weeks now, so I think that's a great deal. The blue vase is 10 years old from IKEA, and the silver plate tray was cheap from a thrift store.

Extending the Life of a Bouquet with Plants from the Yard

About a week and a half ago, my husband gave me this beautiful rose bouquet. Yellow roses are my favorite for their wonderful smell.
On Monday, the roses and fern leaves were definitely done, so I removed them from the bouquet. The alstromeria still looked pretty good and so did the baby's breath. However, this left a relatively uninteresting bouquet which was really too small for the vase. The vase was part of the present, so I wanted to keep using it.

So I headed out to my little yard to see what I might add in. I picked some pieces of a bush with nice shiny leaves and just removed the leaves below the water level. It still needed something more, so I cut a few pieces of a plant with little berries (probably a weed) which was growing over the fence from my neighbor's yard. The result is abundant and pretty:

Now I get to enjoy my gift a little while longer for free. I should probably try to use these plants more often to add to flower arrangements I do myself. Most flowers look best with some nice green leaves as a counterpoint.

A Silly Way to Get a Free Thing at Trader Joe's

I headed to Trader Joe's a little while ago with my short shopping list in hand. It took me about 5 minutes to get everything I needed (hooray for planning!).

The cashier happily told me, "Your total is $19." This was obvious from the screen and I clearly wasn't catching the excitement, so he explained, "If your total ends in .00, you get to spin the wheel." So, he rang the bell at his cash register a bunch, and I spun this silly little game show wheel at the end of the counter. You could win things like your favorite cookies or a free reusable shopping bag. Fortunately, I won a bag, so I didn't have to admit I haven't bought cookies there in at least a year and didn't have a favorite. (This is not because they aren't good, it's because they really are yummy.)

Especially here in PA, with no sales tax on food, you could make this happen deliberately if you put a little effort into it. I wonder if they would notice if the same person had this happen every few weeks, or think much of it.

Alternatively, if you're not someone who loves being the center of attention in the grocery store, with a loud bell ringing, you could aim to avoid it. (I was happy I had done my hair and put some decent clothes on. I still felt very silly.) Maybe I'll tell my husband to try it, he would probably think it was fun - both the totalling and the free thing spin.

So, do with that information what you will. :)

Some Good Medical News for a Change

I am very pleased that we have actually ruled out the most scary possibility for my problems - premature ovarian failure. My day 3 FSH was 7.7, and you are good if you are below 10. This is such a huge relief. So I'll just figure my relatively light version of PCOS is the root cause of the irregularity and also likely a factor in my three miscarriages. The best thing to do for that is the clomid, which I'm already doing. So I'm feeling pretty positive today.

Hopefully I'll soon be writing about frugal maternity clothes and baby gear. :)

Menu Plan Monday

Since I was just saying I need to work on planning a bit better, I figured I'd start with getting back to menu planning. I started with the clomid yesterday and it is making me feel a bit tired and unpleasant, so I'm going to try to make it easy while I use up what I have as much as possible.

Monday - Leftover pasta (sent home with us by my MIL), mushroom tomato sauce, Italian bread and antipasto items (also from MIL), fresh tomato from an uncle

Tuesday - Sweet and sour "chicken," using up sweet and sour sauce from Chinese takeout as well as some bell peppers in the freezer, brown rice, Swiss chard from the garden

Wednesday - Tomato and fresh mozzarella with more leftover Italian bread (which we will freeze and heat up again so it stays nice), more of the antipasto stuff, probably some green salad too

Thursday - Jalapeno popper pizza (using frozen pizza dough I made last week), salad

Friday - Brie sandwiches for a picnic (have Pilsbury French bread in fridge)

I'm going to wait and see how I'm feeling for the weekend. We often see family over the weekend and so will likely have at least one meal away. I should be feeling better by then, so maybe I'll pick something yummy and more complicated. I'm happy to be able to have this easy and inexpensive week.

Shopping list - Brie, salad greens, mozzarella, "chicken," yogurt

Planning

Well, I'm done with the provera and sort of have my energy back. Now I just have to wait for it to do its thing. This whole situation is very stressful too, and I think that is taking a toll. I need to just keep thinking about how nice it will be when all of this works and I'm pregnant again. (And I need to not think about how utterly terrifying that will be and the million doctors appointments that will follow. Truly, I won't mind any of it if it all works out in the end. I'm just so familiar with it not working out.)



From what I've heard clomid is worse in terms of side effects. If it does it's job and we are lucky, I could be pregnant again soon too. For me early pregnancy always means feeling sick and tired. So I think it's time to plan ahead a bit.



I'm going to start thinking about easy, non-smelly meals I can be prepared to make. Any ideas? I often have a hard time dealing with grocery store smells in early pregnancy, so I'm going to try to shop ahead. Maybe making some freezer meals could be a good idea too.



I'm also going to look through my list of projects I'd like to do with two things in mind. Which projects are hard or smelly or tiring and could be finished up now? Which projects are easy to do while resting but would let me feel productive while I'm tired? That second question is probably even more important - I'm not too good at sitting around doing nothing.



I've been thinking about what things I want to work on in this pre-baby time. That's been a motivator for me for a while. I don't think anything is ruled out by having kids, but clearly some things are easier. So, I've taken several big vacations with long plane rides. We just stayed at a lovely (and no-kids-allowed) B&B that we like. I've been working on music and art learning. I've been spending lots of time helping my grandmother. Sometimes I get frustrated with it all, because it is so much LESS good than what I had hoped to be doing at this point in my life, but I know I don't want to look back and feel I wasted this time. So I'll keep this idea in mind as I plan too.



We just recently passed the due date of my last baby. This one didn't hit me nearly as hard as it might have. I think planning and keeping busy it the best way to keep focused on the good stuff. Sometimes you have to be willing to let yourself be sad. In the end, I think all of this is just steps on the way to something wonderful. I know that our appreciation for many things, especially for the baby we'll someday get to hold, has been totally transformed by all of this trouble.

An Unfortunate Reminder...

We just found out that our friends lost their home (apartment) yesterday in an enormous fire. We are going to see what we can do to help them out. I just feel so bad for them, and a lot of the stress of a fire is really something no one can help with.

Upon hearing this news, my husband and I both immediately thought of the many one-of-a-kind and valuable items they had there. (I am so hoping they managed to pull some of it out, since their building wasn't the first to burn.) I won't go into the details, but I'm hoping they had detailed insurance records for this stuff. It's not replaceable and of sentimental value too, so in some sense insurance doesn't help, but getting some money for it would surely be better than nothing. (Just as I was about to post this my husband called to update me: their building isn't completely collapsed, but it's unlikely they'll get anything out. Their cat is probably dead, unless she ran away into the wilderness. So awful.)

Which made me wonder whether our insurance is adequate. I believe I've listed all of my musical instruments with values and have a rough idea of the value of my jewelry. Probably I should have better records of these things and keep a copy of those records someplace else. As I look over things, I think I should probably keep copies of some of this stuff with my parents, but on the whole it is adequate.

On a related note, we've been meaning to do wills. We start thinking it through each time we get pregnant and then stop when things don't go well. I think right now it would be ok, if a little slower, since each would simply inherit from the other (unless both of us died), but I know we really should have it done right.

So that was my reminder, and I thought I'd pass it on as a reminder to you - if there's something along these lines you know you need to do, get it done. You never know when it might be important.

Good Reading...

I'm feeling a bit better, I'm currently in between the provera and the clomid. While I was feeling slow, I decided to catch up on some reading I've been meaning to do. So hopefully I'll get to posting some book reviews soon.

I've been trying to keep up on my usual blog reading as well, and I was happy to discover this series called One Income 101. She is also a SAHW, and her days and frugal strategies sound a lot like mine. It's always fun to see what other people in a similar situation do.

I also watched some videos and DVDs from the library. I love watching stuff when I feel like it (rather than when it is broadcast), and for free. Our library system lets you request DVDs (I've worked places that didn't), and I love the convenience. I'm so out of the loop, since I generally don't watch TV, that I'm running out of ideas for good things to watch. Any suggestions? I want to be prepared for the next round of feeling icky.

Hooray for Samples

It's been a while since I posted the samples I've received. Here is probably about a month worth of samples:

Dove Energizing Deoderant in Grapefruit and Lemongrass

Dove Energizing Body Mist in Grapefruit and Lemongrass

Dove Go Fresh Therapy Shampoo in Grapefruit and Lemongrass (the conditioner packet burst in the mail - first time I've seen that)

Dove coupons for $2 and $1.50

MultiGrain Cheerios

Emergen-C in Tangerine, Raspberry and Cranberry

Pledge Multi Surface Clean&Dust Wipe

$3 and $1 Pledge coupons

Pond's Clean Sweep Wet Cleansing Towelette

Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew anti-sun-damage daily moisture lotion

Sunsilk daring volume set (shampoo, conditioner, styling creme)

Sunsilk straight to perfect set (shampoo, conditioner, styling creme)

Three $1 Sunsilk coupons

All purpose plant food

Cosmos seeds (I'll try these next year)

It's fun to get these things and most of them will be useful. I find that high value coupons often come with samples and can help me get free or nearly free things in the future.

A Little Break

Just wanted to let you know I think I'll be taking a bit of a blogging break for a little while. If I have the energy, I'll try to post, and I'll certainly get to reading stuff and commenting some.

I'm back to the reproductive endocrinologist and trying her plan of Provera followed by Clomid to deal with the long cycle problem I've been having. I was doing great for a while after my last miscarriage, but I think the stress of it all (plus other things in life, of course) is getting to me. Or maybe I really do have PCOS. Who knows. This whole experience has shown me that none of us really understand much of this, including the doctors.

What I do know is that the Provera is making me feel totally wiped out - so tired I'm afraid to drive. From what I've heard the Clomid will not be better.

I'm just hoping the situation is not worse than it looks - that we don't discover some bigger problem. I'm hoping my happy, healthy baby is coming right around the corner. I don't mind a lot more discomfort and stress for that. I just hope it really will happen.

Anyway, this is not an infertility/miscarriage blog and I don't want it to be - I focus on it too much as it is, without the aid of writing about it. But if you don't see me here, that's why.

I would so appreciate it if you would take a minute and pray for us - that I am healthy, that these drugs help and don't hurt me too much, that we get to another pregnancy soon (this time a healthy one), and not least for the strength to deal with it all.

Thanks. :)