Lesson Learned - I always do better with a plan!

Nichole's Daily juggle has been just that...a juggle. The 3 main focuses of my blog are Kids, Coupons and the GYM. I seem to be doing well in 2 out of 3 categories. I've got the kids under control, the gym is still my home away from home but the coupons have really been slacking and I can feel it in my wallet.

In March of this year the coupon bargains seemed to come to a halt. When in reality they were just made a little harder to pull off, so instead of getting what is out there I completely stopped cutting coupons thus increasing my grocery budge from ~$50 per week to ~$150 per week. All was well and good until the gas prices started rising again. The rising gas prices have reignited my fire to save as much as possible!!

Let me show you the pile of coupons I need to cut/sort to get myself back in order.

So today I will cut and sort and next week I will start the following plan:

set aside 90 minutes each week to cut and organize coupons

read money saving websites to see what deals are out there

buy what's on sale

and when all else fails, don't shop, lol. Yeah that's not gonna happen!

Have a great day!!

Let me try this again

ok so i slacked. can i get a do over. Hopefully i can post an official blog later today.

Just another Manic Monday - 1/25/10

Don't I look ready to start this day??

Monday January 25, 2010 - Nichole the Substitute

My mom and dad had to fly to Michigan for my cousin's funeral. Because of that I took a funeral day and watched the daycare kids for my mom. I arrived at their house at 6:45. The first child arrived around 7:15 all full of energy. I had my directions from mom:

Offer Breakfast (usually a poptart or french toast sticks)

Give milk to drink

As each child came in I did my duty. My mom called to make sure I was surviving and all was well until 7:40 when I started to panic. I could not remember what time the bus came to pick up the school aged kids. I called mom...no answer. I called my sister...no answer. I asked the kids what time they go out for the bus they didn't know. That's all I needed was for them to miss the bus on my watch. Luckily my mom called back within 5 minutes (but it felt like 20) and said "If the toy room is a mess..Have them start cleaning at 8:05 and if not they go out to the bus at 8:10. Woohoo crisis averted. Check out the kids in a huddle and on the computer:

And Marcel trying to get dressed:

So the big ones are off to the bus and I am left with 4 kiddies (including Marcel). They played on the computer listened to Raffi (children's music). I wish I got a picture of this.

Around 10 I had the best idea...Start the rice so that by noon it will be cooled off enough for the kids to eat. So I went under the cabinet to get the pot and noticed that my mom could use some help organizing the pots and pans. Didn't think to snap a shot of this :(. So I organized the pots and pans when my sister informed me that something I was looking for was in other cabinet. This was the storage container cabinet. Once I opened it I figured I would tackle that one as well. Check out the before, during and afters:

I was pretty proud of myself here. By the time I finished it was 11:15. Guess what the rice wasn't even started. My great idea was just that a great idea. What was on the lunch menu today:

Rice

Meatballs

Green Beans

Tofu Pups - Marcel

Lunch finished around 12:30 then it was nap time

I went to the gym at nap time and my sister stayed with the kids. At the gym I was able to do:

Back/Biceps

45 minutes on the elliptical.

I managed to leave in time to pick Raven up when school ended @ 2:40. Then it was a mad dash to McDonalds' to pick up La Kesha' last pay check and back to moms to resume the day care duties. Luck Raven got Mickey D's for dinner. I partaked in a Minute Made Light, my favorite.

By the time I arrived back the kids were having snack and it was time to clean up from lunch. Doesn't this look like fun:

4:30 the last kid left and my daycare day was done.

6:30 off to take Raven to basketball practice.

Finally home around 8:30. Ready to close out Monday...

Wait until you hear my Tuesday........I'll fill you in on that tomorrow

Nichole

It's been a long time, shouldn't have left you without a good beat to step to!!

It's been a while since I blogged so I will just start with today's happenings. I went back to my old Sunday routine.. What is that you ask running. I woke at 6 this morning and tossed and turned trying to decide if I really was going to do it. I left my house at 7:04 this morning not sure of how far I was going to make it. It was about 20 minutes in when my stomach started to rumble. I walked for a bit then started the run again. I had to alternate run and walk for the rest of the run. I managed to run/walk 4.07 miles today. Not to shabby considering I had no expectations for today.

No deals to speak of today but I did manage a creative dinner roasted (unfortunatly my cauliflower and carrots fell on the floor :(. No one else had to eat it but I have been looking forward to it all day. A little dirt won't hurt me. The rest of dinner is black eyed peas, kale, and chicken.

I'll to give more of an update later but now I have to pick up my son from his friends house

A typical Saturday for me!!

Today was a typical Saturday for me. I was up at 6:30am with the expectation that I would leave around 7:15 for the gym. Needless to say Raven wanted to eat his left over sub and Marcel wanted breakfast before I left. Finally around 7:45 I had my protein shake in hand:

I had an awesome workout today.

Bench Press

1x10 bar+2/10lb plates (60lbs)

1x10 bar + 2/10lb plates and 2/5lb plates (70lbs)

1x5 bar + 2/10lb plates and 2/5lb plates (70lbs)

1x10 bar2/10lb plates and 2/2.5lb plates (65lbs)

Deadlift

1x10 90lbs

1x10 110lbs

1x5 130lbs

1x5 120lbs

Barbell Curls

3x10 40lbs

Close grip bench press/skull crusher

3x10 30lbs

Shoulder Press

1x10 25lbs

2x10 30lbs

30 minutes on elliptical

30 minutes on bike

According to the hr monitor 700 cals burned

After my workout it was a mad dash to get home in time for Raven to shower and get ready for his 1st basketball game. Here are a couple of pictures before we left:

Of course Marcel wanted to be part of the pics too. I am sad to say that they lost badly today 15 to 32. Looks like this might be a long season :(.

After the game it was off to the stores for bargain hunting.

1st stop Target to buy a belt for Raven.

2nd stop Shaws for some grocery shopping. At this point my nephew was NOT happy. He wanted to go in the car carriage but those things are just too hard to push. This is where I saw his first grocery store melt down. Yes it was loud and yes people were looking at me/him but lucky for auntie his fits only last a minute or 2. I managed to score Perdue Turkey meatballs for $1 a package. These will come in handy on those nights when I don't feel like cooking.

3rd stop (nephew was calmed down and happy) Family dollar where I was able to pick up 3 boxes of finish dish detergent for a total of $1.50. There were coupons in last weeks flyer for $2.50 off and they sell for $3 as Family Dolllar.

4th and final stop CVS. Nivea body wash, lip gloss, 8 Snickers. I spend $0.00 as I had a gift card and Extra Care bucks.

Then it was time to go home and take care of the "boys". They love to watch tv with Daddy/Uncle Brian. Here's a pic of them on the couch.

It's about 8o'clock now which means they are going to bed soon. Maybe hubby and I will be able to play some cards tonight.

Have a great night!

Nichole

Happy Friday Eve!

So this week was a short one in the office and although the time is going by quick, I am exhausted!!

Today was one of those days where I was a fireman putting out fires all day long. Just when you think things are going well something else comes up. Thankfully I have my gym time to keep me sane.

Today's workout was cardio only. I first attempted the Elliptical and managed to stay on that for about 25 minutes, at this point I was bored so I journeyed upstairs to the track. I ran 4 laps but my hamstrings were hurting so bad from yesterdays lifting session that I walked a bit. I continued to alternate between walking and jogging until my friend asked me if I was OK.

This lady is 19 weeks pregnant and pushing herself harder than I was. Then she did it...She guilted me into doing and additional mile on the track. It was nice we talked our way through it and you know what...My legs didn't hurt the entire time.

In the end I managed to burn 400 cals, according to my HR monitor. Not too shabby for a crappy workout.

Happy Friday Eve everyone!!

Nichole

Marcel's Allergist trip

So Today I worked from home because Marcel my youngest had an allergist appointment this afternoon. I was up and out of the house by 5:15am to drop him off at daycare. Then off to the gym for a quick workout. Unfortunately I only had 30 minutes so my work consisted of the following:

7 minutes on the treadmill (then I got bored) so I opted to finish the remaining 23 minutes on the elliptical.

I had a 10, 1 and 2 o'clock conference calls today. The 2PM call had to be taken in the car because I needed to head out for the big allergist appointment.

A quick stop was made at my moms to pick up Marcel (note the phone was muted so the meeting would not be disturbed). Then back into the car and off to the Dr's.

OK first let me vent about this office. Now this is and allergy/asthma dr's office. They have signs all over the waiting room stating "No Food", not even coffee. So I check in at the desk and go to sit down on the couch. Don't you know there was a lady there with her daughter (who was at least 4) with a sippy cup of milk on the table. So I said to Marcel loud enough for her to hear, "don't touch that I don't want you to get sick". So she moves holds the cup in her hand and there was a puddle of milk sitting on the table. Instead of cleaning it up she sits there. So into the office I go to get something to clean it....Crisis averted!!

After they call Marcel in we waited in the room for a few minutes. Marcel and I entertained ourselves by reading the 'Eye Spy' book. When the Dr came in we went over all of the basic questions and it was brought to my attention that a lot of his breathing issues right now are from the dust and dust mites. She gave us 2 prescriptions (Zyrtec and Singulair). Hopefully these will stop the need for the oral steroids.

Last but not least they wanted to perform the RAST testing. Sow down to the blood drawing room we go. When we first walked in there was a little girl about 6 years old screaming at the top of her lungs. I felt so bad for her. She was so scared. I was going to take Marcel out and wait there but him being so nosey we waited inside as he looked through the glass door. We talked about how brave he was going to be.

When it was his turn we walked in and he took off his sweater and said "She can use this arm first" and even rolled up his sleeve. He was looking a little unsure so the nurse showed him the "butterfly needle" and described to him that it has wings on the side just like a butterfly.

The nurse wiped his arm clean and detailed every step so he would know what was going on. Now it was time for the needle. She asked Marcel which arm he wanted me to hold. So I held the arm that was getting the needle. In goes the needle and not a peep from him. He just sat there like a trooper. I thought for sure the girl screaming as going to scare him but he hung in there.

Oh I also met another lady who's daughter has food allergies like Marcel. The girl is 15 and starting to date. The poor thing had her boyfriend kiss her on the cheek and she broke out in hives.


Have a great night!!

Nichole