Five (or six) For Friday

The organizing and down sizing continues!  In the first six weeks of being here, I have made $128 at Once Upon a Child, $110 off of Facebook, and $170 at a consignment sale!  And that is just scratching the surface!  (In case you aren't familiar, you can only re-sell kids clothes during the current season.  So all fall and winter stuff has to wait.)  I haven't done much in the garage in the last week or two, but it's time to get back out there and keep going before it gets way too hot out!

I've also been organizing other things--like getting my email inbox from 2500+ down to 10.

I love organizing and decluttering! So while this process is a bit daunting at times, it makes my heart happy!

I actually got a job at Target, and I'm pretty happy about it.  There are a lot of "fun" places I would like to work--another cupcake store, the teacher store, a children's consignment store, a craft store...but all those places close pretty early.  I can't get to work until 5:30 or 6, so a place that closes at 7 or 8 is just not going to work for me.  So I had to think of another place that I would enjoy, but would be open later.  I also considered what place would benefit me (discount)?!  Target!  I know there are some people that think I'm "above" Target.  Yes. I have a degree and could do more.  My dear sweet husband thinks I should start my own business... or run the world. ;)  But I run MY world every day!  I don't want to use my degree or work with kids or take on the huge responsibility of running my own business.  I just want to show up, do a mindless job, have a break from whiny/clingy kids (yep. I said it.), and make a little extra money in the process.  My kids are 3 and 1, so this is where I am at in my life right now.  And I am perfectly fine with it.

I will be working two to three nights a week.  I had orientation last Tuesday.  I was "trained" on Wednesday.  And by trained, I mean I observed for an hour and then got thrown on a register all by myself because the lines were long.  Awesome.  I have worked a handful of times since, and it seems to be going well.

For the month of March we had to pay for THREE houses.  Our tenant moved out of our condo.  She had been there 3 years, was a great tenant, but was ready to move on.  Her lease was up, so there was no scandal there. (It's crazy the questions some people have!)  We still had to pay for our rental house in Ohio even though we weren't there.  It was part of the 60 notice we had to give.  We tried to see if they could rent it out sooner to help us out, but they weren't being very gracious. Then we had to pay rent for our place here in TX.  So three house payments... and three different utility bills.  To say it was an expensive month is putting it mildly.  But it is April!  We have a new renter in our condo (yay!), we are completely done with the house in Ohio and should have our deposit returned to us by the end of the month, and things at our house here are going well.  This is a relief.  It's always scary waiting for a renter.  Thankfully this time it only took us two months instead of 8!  Onward and upward! :)

Olivia has been eating chicken!!  It's a Christmas miracle, as Michael says. :)  She hasn't eaten meat for nearly two years.  Like NONE.  She wouldn't even eat Chick-fil-a nuggets!  But she has found out that she loves sauce and that chicken nuggets/fingers aren't all that bad. When we went out to eat with our gift card last week, she actually ordered the chicken strip kids meal and ate almost all of it!  Progress!

A few years ago I read a blog about how a mom loved these Old Navy shoes for her son.  I picked up a pair for Olivia that spring.  We loved them so much, that I have bought her a new pair every spring for the last 3 years.  (Along with an Old Navy pair of jellies). They are great because they are close toed, which sometimes you just need when playing outside.  They let the air in so the feet can breathe.  They are cute and super easy to clean. Plus, she really likes them.

Funny thing is, this year I have seen no less that THREE blogs write about Natives from Nordstrom.  I'm sure the Old Navy shoes are just a knock off.  But I am so glad I pay $10 to $13 for a pair as opposed to $39-$44. :)  I'm going to keep buying them each spring for as long as Old Navy keeps making them!

We went over to our friend's house last week for dinner.  Michael and John went to high school together, and we both moved to Texas within the same year.  Michael stayed at John and Alison's house for the month before the kids and I moved down here.  They have three children.  Olivia love Avery and Jordyn (the girls), and have asked to go to their house numerous times since our first visit.  So she was ecstatic to go back.  We have had some not so nice encounters with other children and play dates in the past (that is a story in and of itself!).  It was a breath of fresh air to be around sweet, kind, and loving little girls. They all played so well together. Texas is going to be good for our kiddos!