Newest Motto

Always on the hunt for my own personal mission/vision statement, I found this and thought it was perfect:

Trying to arrange my life so I don't even have to be present.

American Idol Woes

Yup, I had Jorge in the office pool. As usual, the person I drew went home the first night. Seriously, that always happens. I even sat out the last Survivor pool to see if that would break my streak.

Obviously, that didn't happen.

Broadway Bound

Rock of Ages

In 1987 on the Sunset Strip, a small town girl met a big city rocker and in LA’s most famous rock club, they fell in love to the greatest songs of the 80s. It’s ROCK OF AGES, an arena-rock love story told through the mind-blowing, face-melting hits of Journey, Bon Jovi, Foreigner and many more. Don’t miss this awesomely good time about dreaming big, playing loud and partying on.

ROCK OF AGES takes audiences on a musical joyride set to blazing hits from iconic rockers such as Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and many more. Crowds and critics agree—ROCK OF AGES is ”a nonstop party laden with sexy choreography, energetic performances and an on stage band that totally rocks the house" proclaims The Associated Press. The New York Post says, ”ROCK OF AGES does for 80s rock what Mamma Mia! did for ABBA.“

I will be in NYC next month and I've always wanted to go to a Broadway show. What do you think about this one? I think it looks great. Thoughts?

Countin' the Benjamins

Last month I signed up for mint.com and have been tracking all of our expenses.

Which is great, but now it is scarily quantified just how much money I spend on health and beauty items (read: nail polish).

I'm not sure anyone needs to know that, especially my husband.

Nail polish spending aside, mint.com is really pretty cool. All your bank and credit card transactions are downloaded each day and categorized for you. You can set up a budget amount for each category, and it will send you email alerts if you are close to going over-budget. You also get email alerts when your credit card payments are almost due, which is fab if you are finding yourself very unorganized like I seem to be these days.

The Sickies

have infected the Sashas and put some kinks in The Weekend Plans.

And since I didn't get much sleep last night, the fab post about the weekend, complete with pics, just won't be up until tonight.

I shall direct you to Mamalicious for a run-down of the fabulousness. Here's some trivia for you: While there, I came down with DTMB Virus (Drank Too Many Beers Virus) but I am feeling better this AM than I did yeseterday AM. Damn Texas Beverlies!

Dear Old Navy Marketing Execs,

The Modelquins scare me and do not make we want to buy your clothes.

That is all.

Home After a Great Day

This morning, before surgery

Our goal for this second (and final) surgery was to remove the remaining scar tissue.

Tonight, after surgery

They were able to remove all the scar tissue! Don't be scared by the uneven-ness of the wound- they assure me that as it heals, it will stretch and smooth out nicely. We are so pleased!

We let them know that we wouldn't be letting her have the Versed that caused such a major problem last time. When I told the anesthesiologist that, she said, "Oh, will we have a problem taking her back to surgery without it?"

I assured her that WC has never met a stranger and would have no problem going back to the surgery un-medicated. The plan was to give her gas once they got her back in the surgery room, followed by the IV.

The surgery took less than 20 minutes, and when they wheeled her back out to us, she was drinking an apple juice box. She saw her brother's Popsicle and of course asked for one.

The doctor and nurse practitioner came out to chat about the results and let us know that WC was "quite entertaining" before they got started with the surgery.

I can't tell you how glad I am to have this all behind us! Thanks for all your prayers over this hemangioma journey!

Heading South Tomorrow

for The Wild Child's second and final hemangioma scar revision. It's just an outpatient surgery, so we'll hopefully be home by dinnertime.

I'll take some before pics and some after pics when the bandages come off. I'm very excited to put this all behind us.

Keep us in your prayers!

You'll Never Believe This

but I just ran 8 miles. In 1:20:20. (including 7 one minute breaks)

Holy carp. It was super-cold and I had freezer burn (frostbite?) on two fingers when I got back. Really- two fingers were bright white from the knuckle up and I wasn't sure what to do about that, but I keep moving them around and the problem seem to right itself after about 20 minutes in my 70 degree house.

Proof positive that anyone, literally anyone, can learn to run.

Right now I am listening to Undomestic Goddess on my ipod and loving it. Seriously- my hour and 20 minute run flew by because I was listening to an awesome book.

Hope you guys had a great weekend! Smooches!

It Takes a Village

You guys know that I have been having difficult times with The Wild Child lately, and I have been (im)patiently waiting for things to turn around. Almost three weeks ago WC and I visited a family therapist together who offices with our OT in hopes that she could give me some tips to make things go smoother at home. I also wanted to make sure that we weren't dealing with something like Oppositional Defiance Disorder.

I've been to see the therapist twice on my own since then, and one of the things we've been talking about is me finding some confidence in myself. I needed to remember that I am a good mother! I was having such a rough time that I was simply feeling sorry for myself and a little bit lost, parenting-wise, and come to find out, that's just a vicious cycle that creates more problems. The therapist thinks that WC is so in tune to me that my anxiety severely affects her. Since she knows she doesn't know how to deal with that along with her other issues, she pushes me away.

I feel so blessed to have found someone else who can help us. It's amazing how much better I feel after just three visits! She thought that as I gain my confidence back and institute some of her tips and ideas, things would slowly get better.

Well, last night was the best night we have had with her since her surgery in October! She actually let me lay down and snuggle with her and read some books and she fell asleep with her little hand on my chest. I am so excited that things seemed to have turned around for us!

In your prayers tonight, remember WC and I and ask for continued support for us from all the wonderful people who have been helping us over the last year. It seems to take a village to raise my child and I'm super happy to have the population of my village continue to grow.

Where Have I Been Today?

• OT with the Wild Child
• meeting at city offices about the music festival
• work (my paying job!) where I freaked out about a deadline I forgot about and ate lunch at my desk
• another meeting from 6-8
• now home finally

Now it's time for a break and I am fixin' to go eat one of these:

South Beach Living Fiber Fit S'Mores Bars

Absolutely, hands down, the one of the best thing I've ever eaten. Actually, Neiman Marcus bars are the best thing I've ever eaten, but the S'Mores bar earns points for tasting good and being a points-friendly snack choice!

120 calories, 4 grams fats, and 9 grams of fiber. Yup, 9! Capping fiber at 4 grams, that's just 2 points! Well worth it, my friends.

These are so good they are sinful. Rush to the store. Getcha some!

Abundance Check: Written!

I been watching threads about Abundance Checks on my bargain board, and I jumping on the bandwagon this month. Who doesn't need some abundance in their lives! I, for example, could use more time, patience, and energy.

Abundance checks are a tool you can use to create more abundance in your life. They are written within 24 hours after a New Moon. Surprisingly, you really don't even need to believe that the check will work when you write it. You will however be amazed at the results, as you will see increased abundance in your life, in some life area. It is not always financial, but certainly in an area that you need.

1. Within 24 hours after a New Moon, take a check from your check book. Where it says "Pay to," write your name.

2. In the little box on the same line where you would fill in a dollar amount write "Paid in full."

3. On the line underneath your name, where you would write out a dollar amount, write "Paid in full."

4. Sign the check: "The Law of Abundance."

Do not put a date on the check. Do not write a specific dollar amount in the check. Put it in a safe place and forget about it. The Universe will take it from there.

Last night was the new moon here, so I've written my check this morning. It'll be interesting to see what follows.....

Dessert Contest Entry Yet Again

Yes, I did it.

I went ahead and entered the damned dessert contest at my work yet again.

After I was robbed last November, I swore I'd never enter again.

But I am a glutton for punishment and I whipped something up last night.

My new theory: Go super-easy because the judges around here don't seem to appreciate time and effort.

So I spent a very short time making a Super-Duper Apple Cake, which was recommended by a zillion people on the bargain board. The recipe can be found here. I made this last month for a Sunday school party, and one of the guys swore it was the best thing he had ever tasted in his entire life (Hi Matt!) so I'm thinking it was a good choice. We shall see......

Unbelievable

Last night about 7:00 I was getting ready to run the bath water for The Wild Child's bath, and my husband came into the bathroom and said, "I think you're too late...."

She was fast asleep on the couch.

We decided to just put her to bed and see what would happen.

She slept until 6:45 am! (To be fair, I should tell you she snuck into our bed twice in the middle of the night, but she went right back to sleep when I carried her back to her own bed.)

Knowing her sleep issues, I'm sure you'll agree with me- that was crazy!

I'm hoping this is the start of something new......

GDA: Crocs at Finishline.com

I hesitate to tell you about this, because I think Finish Line does a crappy job on their website, but they are having a pretty fabulous sale on Crocs.

I tried for hours yesterday and would get my cart all filled with goodies for the kids, and then it would crash and I'd lose it all.

That being said, their site seems to be working today, except for the fact that they still have links up for products that are out of stock. You don't find out whether it's in stock until you click on a product- which is uber-annoying.

I was unable to find any toddler sizes of shoes that I wanted, but I did order some preschool size 1s to put up for later. Four pair, shipped, was $35.48- so $8.87 a pair. Still a pretty good deal.

But be prepared that their site is going to piss you off! Don't say I didn't warn you!

(Oh, and don't forget to go through ebates for 5% back- referral link on the left!)

Have You Smelled?

DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom

($40 for 1 oz)

and



Clinique Happy In Bloom?
($30 for 1 oz)

There was a sample of the DKNY in the March 09 Glamour that I have smelled but not tried on yet, but I did try the new Clinique at Dillard's on Saturday.

Typically, I don't wear fragrance because I seem to get a headache when I smell a constant smell. But these were very nice and seemed pretty light, so I'm actually thinking about getting them. Seems very spring-y!

Yummy Giveaway

Go check out this fun giveaway!

Ebates Daily Double is Avon today!

Fabulous Sasha Says reader Erin G pointed out to me that Avon is today's Ebates Daily Double! That means they are offering 10% back rather than the usual 5%, today only. If you saw my Avon post last week (free shipping codes included!) and haven't gotten around to ordering yet, today's definitely the day.

Now, if you have yet registered for Ebates, what in the world are you waiting for? I got an email this morning that my quarterly check is on the way- and it's $173! Ebates is wonderful about referrals- if you sign up under me, we'll both get $5. And then you can refer all your friends and family members and get $5 for each of them that signs up! Such a win-win situation!

Let me know if you have any questions.

Happy shopping!

Thank Goodness I'm Already Happily Married

Because if I was a Bachelor contestant, I'd be in trouble.

I think Jason has taken all the final girls on airplane rides, and we all know how I am on airplanes! I am sure he'd cut me after he saw my unavoidable air travel behavior.

And on that note, Mr. Sasha and I are flying to NY in mid-April for a little vacay. I've got two things to figure out before then: if my doctor will prescribe me a Xanax to take pre-flight, and how to get tickets to a Broadway show.

The Xanax will require a phone call that I will of course put off until the last minute.

But I imagine I need to work on the Broadway ticket thing now. Any advice?

Oh, and if you are watching The Bachelor, you should really be reading I Love the Bachelor Blog. Great play by play and great commentary.

ING $25 Bonus

Would anyone like a code to get a $25 ING bonus?

The primary account holder must be a new ING customer. Since I was already an ING customer, I set up a savings account for The Wild Child and put myself as the joint owner.

There is no minimum deposit to get the bonus (typically their minimum for a bonus is $250). I started with $50, but I imagine you could start with as little as $1!

First person to email me at barelytogether at yahoo dot com will get the code!

(By the way, I get no referral bonus for this. I just have an extra code I am unable to use since the entire family now has ING accounts!)


As of 3:04 CST, code has been taken! If I get more, I'll re-post.