Shopping for a Teen..

With Christmas fast aproaching I need to start giving some thought on what to get the kids... Most of the younger I'll be able to find at Toys R Us.. Our oldest daughter, (19) is the hardest to shop for but for me the most fun. She is into fashion. Clothes, shoes, handbags, etc. I'm excited to explore this site. I just spent 20 minutes and I've already found several things I know she would love. Some things are pricey and more then I could ever spend but they also have great deals!! Hopefully all my shopping for her will be a click away!! I wanted to share the site...

Grocery shopping

I hate going to the store.. Before you leave you ask everyone in the house what they need or want and everyone says, Oh it doesn't matter.. I don't care.. Your gone for and hour and a half struggling with decisions and prices to come home to.. I can't believe you didn't get this, why didn't you get that.. yang yang.. To make room for the groceries you bought you have to throw out the crap load that's gone bad. Dollar here a dollar there and before you know it you realize you just threw 20 or more bucks in the trash of wasted or spoiled food. Is there a rule that people aren't allowed to eat the last serving of chips? The last drink? Or left overs? As the prices rise at the store I'm noticing even more how much we waste. We are a family of 5.. the age range in the house is between an almost 2 year old to 40 years old. 40, 36, 19, 8, 2.... Our groceries total over 1000 a month. That's not including the Zaxbys or McDonalds we may pick up during the week, or on a lazy weekend. It's out of control. I seriously want to find a way to cut that in half. It may take me a while to learn but I think it can be done. We eat pretty good around here, but the snacking is our biggest issue. Teenagers snack, toddlers snack, Hubby snacks, and I'd rather snack then eat a meal. I think I'm going to try my hardest to try to find cheap somewhat healthy meals for this family... We need to venture out. I want my family to eat healthy but I know in reality unless you grow it yourself or trust that everything that says it's organic really is then you just have to go with it and hope for the best. I've cut out the juice. Yes, I watched Dr. Oz and haven't bought juice since. We've survived! I buy fruit and veggies.... I do have to resort to some canned foods.. I hate boxed food. No one will eat hamburger helper. I don't even know if we've ever tried it. Frozen foods creep me out, other then pizza rolls and bagel bites. I could probably live off of those. I don't buy them often because I will eat them ALL... I'm on a mission to cheapen our grocery bill and find or make my own recipes that don't cost an arm and a leg. I've noticed some things at the store have even doubled in price. The store brand milk is at the same price I used to purchase organic milk for. Green tea added 45 cents per bottle! String cheese is over 5 bucks. Hamburger meat is up a dollar... it's everywhere. I can't believe the rise in prices. What a great time to do this to customers. I used to never buy off brands but lately I've tried a few things. Some aren't any different while others just need to stop being made. But you never know unless you give it a shot. We drink instant coffee, both my husband and myself would rather have that then brewed (weird huh?) I decided to try the store brand because it was 3 dollars cheaper then the kind we typically purchase. I didn't tell my husband and when I brought him that first cup I knew he was going to ask me what kind of shit is this? BUT he didn't say a word. He didn't see the container until after he'd been drinking it for 3 weeks. He gave me an odd look when he seen it and asked me if this is what I got instead of our norm and then said he didn't even notice.. yay 3 bucks saved!! Milk store brand 2 bucks saved!! Doesn't sound like much but add that up and that's a total of 20 bucks a month. I also decided to try out a different laundry detergent.. We have for the past 20 years switched between Gain and Tide. I couldn't imagine using anything different until now. I've been using Purex.. And I really do like it. I tried Arm and Hammer and it just didn't cut it. My husband gets pretty dirty at work and that wasn't strong enough. We've also been using cheaper shampoo. My husband still likes our old kind so I get that for him. But even the shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, and mouth wash adds up in this house. The baby uses baby product, she has her own shampoo, soap, toothpaste, lotion... Our 8 year old, has her own tooth paste mouth wash and deodorant, me and the teen use the same... then my husband uses all his products. I'm going to start couponing for ALL of that stuff... It's too costly and somethings got to give. There are so many ways to cut corners I've just been blind to it for all these years. Sometimes letting go of what your used to is hard, but giving other things a try could lead to something you like even better or something you could learn to like.. I'll start this week.... HOPEFULLY!!

More party fun..

We had fun decoration for a luau! I wish I had taken more pictures... That's not dirt on the house it's smoke from the tiki torches. When I seen the picture I thought eww.. our house is DIRTY!! I investigated and it's smoke.

Diabetes today.

Today I'm frustrated. Some days it feels as if we could concur the world. When Keeli's numbers are great and she feels good it makes me feel as if I'm doing something right. When her numbers are high and she feels crappy I feel like a failure. We have great days... some days life seems almost normal. Then there are days where it rules you. I hate to let it but I feel like as a parent my number 1 priority in my life is to make sure I take the best care of Keeli as possible. They teach you not to feel that way. But how can I not? If I didn't put it first then what would happen? Sure she can do all the things other kids do, BUT.... with caution. And when I say that I don't mean she can't run as hard or as fast or that she isn't capable of succeeding in sports or anything else she does in her life, but the fact is she has to take care of her diabetes or there will be a price to pay. The key to managing diabetes is to monitor. If you don't know what your blood sugar is then how can you treat it? Fun days = extra diabetes caution... Sure she has to stop what she's doing to be checked, or have a snack, or drink water... but I try my hardest to prepare her body for any extra activity that she may do... Dealing with diabetes, doctors, insurance, pharmacy companies, and other peoples opinions gets to you after a while. BUT... As George Lopez says.. I've got this!!!! I know I do. I know I can deal with it and do my very best to see to it that Keeli stays healthy. But I can still vent...
I hate that my child will go through this for the rest of her life, but I'm grateful it's a disease that if she takes care of herself that life will be a long life.

I hate that pharmaceutical companies are getting rich off of sick children. They give you shit if you need a prescription filled a little early. Things happen. Sick days may equal extra insulin, more blood sugar check which means extra strips. More shots equal extra syringes. I'm not going to CVS trying to get any extra Oxycontin. I'm getting survival prescriptions for a child. I've never heard of anyone getting high on insulin. Why be so strict. I understand rules, don't get me wrong, but it pisses me off.

I hate that our insurance company gets to decide what prescriptions my child receives. What if one things works better for Keeli?

I hate that I need syringes right now, and for the past 3 days our pharmacy is waiting on a doctor to call it in to be refilled. I took care of this 2 months ago and yet here we sit waiting. I'm so frustrated that there is ALWAYS something like this going on. Thank God for a spare stash I had for "just in case"

When Keeli was first diagnosed we were told she will need 4 shots a day... her prescription was written out for 100 syringes a month. You do the math. What was I supposed to do? reuse? NO... that's not going to happen. I called and asked for more, and they did add 30 more. They tell you blood sugar should be checked 6 times a day... Extra activity, adds more checks, being sick adds more checks, running low, adds more checks, running high adds more checks... We are prescribed 200 test strips a months. Really? On sick days I check her blood sugar between 10-12 times. How many errors do we get in a month? Several! I hate that every time I see an error I feel sick because I'm scared we will run out of strips that much faster. Why do we have to feel that way? Aren't we under enough stress as it is? Thank you piece of shit insurance company for allowing us just enough insulin, strips and syringes to get by.. I love the sick feeling I get at the end of the month EVERY month that we are going to run out of the necessary things to keep our daughter healthy... and alive.

update: I finally got a hold of someone at our endo's office and they called the syringes in. Thank God... I had 1 left!! Taking 3-4 days to get something called in is insane. I couldn't pick the prescription up because I got in the car and my battery was DEAD!! That's fun... Thank you to my sweet sister who picked it up for me. So, the strawberries that I made the other night, that money can go towards a new battery. Isn't life fun?

Chocolate..

Last week our niece had her wedding and my SIL/bestie asked me if I'd make the chocolate covered strawberries... around 150!!!!!!!! I'm a people pleaser so I said sure! Really I do love doing things like that. It's creative and if someone needs my help I'd rather it be something like that then strenuous work. From wash time to the last dip I was done in 3 hours.. Now the clean up, that's a whole other story. I'm a messy messy mommy... They were pretty and I was rather proud. Well, I guess I did better then I thought I did because a lady there asked me if I'd make her some for a wedding for this weekend... I told her SURE.... She's paying me to get the stuff and for my time. I'm about to start... I'll post pictures of them when I'm finished. Keeli's cousin is over I'll make the kids a couple too...

Parties..

I love little parties... I wanted to share a few pictures of Kennedi's first birthday party. She will be 2 soon. I can't believe how fast this year has flown by!

scatter brain

Wow!! I totally forgot I started a blog! I've said for months now.. I wish I had a blog. I tried to start one and what did it tell me? YOU HAVE ONE. I didn't even know my password. What a crazy year and a half... Maybe I'll show dedication this time around.. If not I'll come back next year.