end of year donations...

We moved into this house almost 4 years ago. We had a lot more room when we moved in and had the luxury of not having to unpack everything since we had more than enough room to keep boxes...almost 4 years later, there are still boxes...

We even have a super-sized U-Haul box in the laundry room of clothes. Not clothes that have been washed and not put up...clothes that have never been unpacked.

The hubs thinks its a good idea to get all the clothing together for the end of this year to make one mega-donation. I REALLY don't want to...but the hubs has a point, especially since every tax break will help after all the unemployment Paul was on this year.

So, we decide to start on Sunday, the day after Christmas. I begin pulling out clothes and filling up the living room with items we haven't seen in 4 years. The hubs starts feeling a kidney stone moving. We knew this would eventually happen, when he went in for the last kidney stone, the scan showed another one. Paul wants to go to the hospital for Rx drugs directly injected into his blood stream....

I see the opportunity to strike a deal...call be a bad wife if you want, but I REALLY didn't want to do this. I tell the hubby that we can go to the hospital, but then we can't start sorting through the massive hill of clothes now sitting in the living room....yay, I got him!!

BUT...the hubs says he'll be ok with the pain meds we have at the house...OH NO!!!

So, not only did I not get out of it...I have to do it solo because the hubby is out of commission.

I sort through clothes for about and hour and a half...counting articles and taking pictures of everything that we donate.

The next day...I start to develop a small skin irritation. GREAT...some of those clothes must have had a different detergent on them and it has made my sensitive skin a little angry.

As the days go by,,, my skin gets angrier...by Wednesday, its a full blow head to toe breakout rash........I KNEW I HAD A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS!!!

We decide that someone had to push through to finish sorting through the clothes...not only is the huge pile of rags in the middle of my living room floor threatening my OCD, but the end of the year is quickly approaching.

Wouldn't you know it...the hubs has to go on an overnight work thingy on December 30, leaving me and my angry skin to finish sorting through the clothes.

So....this is how it worked.......

1. The hubby wants to do a massive donation but the wife does not.
2. The wife pulls out all the clothes and sorts them.
3. The wife gets an allergic reaction to the clothes.
4. The wife documents all the clothes.
5. The wife takes pics of all the clothes.
6. The wife washes all the clothes that are kept.
7. The wife puts up all the clothes that are kept.
8. The wife blogs her frustration out while waiting for the last load to get out of the dryer.
9. The hubby takes a nap.........

The hubby BETTER offer to take all the clothes to Good Will.....grrrrr

SnowTastic!!!

At about 4am on Sunday, the snow started to fall.....at our house in South Carolina. I woke up at 8ish and sat outside bundled up on the front porch watching the snow fall. It was GORGEOUS!! Even the Minnesota hubby was impressed :)

It wasn't sticking until around noon, and then continued to snow and stick for the next couple of hours. The snow went from flurries to flakes and back again...so exciting!!!

Except that I had a head cold (still working on that one) and the hubby was passing a stone. On top of that, we were both dedicated to cleaning out the utility room and organizing a massive clothes donation. After a couple of hours of cleaning through dusty boxes...my head cold wasn't any better.

So...we didn't get to play in the snow because we were busy and didn't feel like it. You can tell how sick I felt since I ALWAYS play in the snow when given the opportunity :)

There is a little inconvenience that goes with snow at home...we WANTED Chinese food, but I wasn't driving in the ice and snow...

...we WANTED to go to Target, but I wasn't driving in the ice and snow...

I even had to delay my visits Monday morning due to frozen roads...

A total inconvenience...but completely SNOWTASTIC!!!

Jingle Bells :)))

I lOvE Christmas!!!

Let's break it down...

~ I love keeping the house clean for visitors
~ I love putting up the decorations
~ I love baking ~ I love being with family
~ I love shopping for other people

I LoVe Christmas!!!


{Schwarz Family Christmas Tree 2010}

to put up...or not to put up???

Every year, my mom and I go shopping on Black Friday. When I finally get home, I take a nap and then put up Christmas decorations. However, this year we took a very long and active family vacation that put us back home right before Thanksgiving. We were so sleep exhausted that we didn't even do a turkey dinner or bowling trip on Turkey Day. So, we definitely didn't go shopping this morning. I've been doing laundry and making grocery lists...I did do some shopping online today, but that was it...

Now, I'm sitting here with all of our Thanksgiving traditions thrown outta whack and laundry everywhere....and wondering if I want to attempt to take out the Christmas decorations today. I put up the decorations every year on the same day...but I haven't done any other tradition this Thanksgiving. So, do I cling to the one tradition that's left or do I just blow it off because nothing else has held up this year???

Why am I thinking so hard on when the decorations go up?? Yeah, I'll just put them up before the end of the weekend...or at least begin to put them up by the end of the weekend...or prepare to begin to put them up by the end of the weekend...

You know what?? I'm gonna finish the laundry and attempt a load of dishes.....we'll worry about the tree later!!!

t minus 6 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We leave for Disney in 6 days!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!

This is a picture of the hubby and I on our last Disney trip, which seems so long ago. We are sooo excited!!!

We are going to ride everything and eat great food and not sleep for a whole week!!!!

We leave the pups with a lady whenever we go out of town and no one is available to dogsit...since this is a WHOLE family vacation, there is no one to dogsit.

We are gonna miss those good boys, but they have fun being able to run outside and sniff new behinds :)

YAY DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

daytime television

For me, Fiday means paperwork day which means working at home...but I haven't been able to do that for the last month because I've had to make-up visits because all of my kid have been sick.

So, I have extra paper to work today...I had a headache last night and instead of taking something then, I decided to just fall asleep and it would go away during the night, right???

WRONG!!! Always take something BEFORE you go to bed!!

Anyways...I do a couple of hours of typing up plans, billing, calling, reading sorting, filing...I need a break :(

Fortunately its lunchtime :)

I close my laptop and leave the office, make a tuna sandwich, and sit in front of the tv. Its about 1:30...I have 7 channels (gave up the satellite tv a couple of years ago). There is an infomercial about yet another bulge-hiding gurdle type product...where the people lose whole inches off their waist due to the massive rubber band they are sporting under their clothes. Massive...from neck to calf and down to the elbows. This particular one's seeling point...NOT HOT???? Because I guess it would be counter productive if your jelly-belly hiding uniform caused unseemly sweat spots... Really, why not just wear clothes that fit??

Anyways...aside from that interesting show...which, by the way, was hosted by 2 women who would never need the product. They actually took the thing to some mall dressing room and offered to let women try it on under their clothes...how do you pick who to ask??

There are also 'How To Be a Millionaire' and 'America's Funniest Videos'...neither conducive to a relaxing lunch environment...

What else is on?? That's right...soap operas (where did that title come from). I haven't watched any part of a daytime soap opera in a long time...how are these things not only on air, but have a huge following plus its own magazine and award show??

Ok, you've got paternity tests, cheating spouses, kidnapping, people with serious mental dificiencies, abusers, fortune tellers, paranoid people, alcoholism, mysterious deaths and disappearnces...and somehow its BORING!!

How do you mix all of those elements and not be able to hold my attention...all I can think is 'I can watch all this on Jerry Springer and at least its funny'. Is daytime drama supposed to be realistic?? Plus, the characters are so bi-polar, how do people have favorite characters...how can you tell the difference between the characters besides some are girls and some are guys, they all even look the same. Who are these writers?? Is it easy or difficult to write a script where nothing makes sense, yet all the characters pretend like they do??

I'm gonna watch a movie...

why so tired???

The last couple of nights, both the hubby and I have slept through our alarm clocks...a pretty good sign that we have not been getting enough sleep. It's not that we are going to bed SO late or waking up SO early...so what up???

We watch TV in the bedroom...I know, I know...a big no-no for sleep health.

But, we've always done that...nothing new to have South Park going on in the background as I slip into sleep.

Actually, I have a much harder time falling asleep when the TV is off...

We've both had pretty long days at work...both hard and stressfull...but again, nothing really out of the oridnary.


Don't get me wrong, we both LOVE our jobs...but they are hard and can be VERY stressful.

So...what's the deal?? Do we need supplements or pills to get enough sleep?? Are we even old enough to take pills for that??

I REALLY don't want to be old enough to venture into the world of 'supplements to make your body do what it did on its own when you were younger"...yeah, REALLY not ready for that :-/