The Bet is Over!

What happens when a girl who has had an American Express Card in her wallet since she was 15 years old goes one month without using it? 

Does she go through withdrawal? 
Do the shakes start as she drives by stores? 
Does AMEX call and find out if she is sick? 
Do any businesses close down from lack of business? 

I can now answer these questions with "No!"

I did it.  I went one month without using the credit card.  It was quite easy really. Anything that needed to be bought, Jeff took care of.  He made the weekly trips to the grocery store.  He made sure my car had gas in it.  It was like I was a kept woman.  hehehehee.  

I am sure Jeff would actually prefer that I got gas.  There were many instances when he went to drive us somewhere and I told him if we wanted to get there, we would need gas first.  Then he'd ask how long I had been driving with my low gas light brightly lit and I could tell he was less than pleased with the answer.  But I refused to use our check card to get gas.  I'd much rather get the reward points for every single one of those $50 dollars to fill my tank.

By the end of the month, we had spent less money on Amex than we had in many, many months prior.  Well, duh!  Of course that would be the case.  Jeff doesn't impulse buy when going grocery shopping.  He sticks to the list.  And all my usual trips to Target was consolidated into one trip, careful to stick to that list.

I showed major restraint when I had to go use my Old Navy "cash" that was issued during our last visit to the store.  I needed to spend $50 to get $20 off.  This was a coupon too good not to use.  Sam and I went in the store and she picked out 3 dresses and a pair of pajamas.  In addition, I picked out 2 shirts for Ian.  I wasn't sure what was on sale and what wasn't.  When we got to the register, I told the cashier that I want to keep it as close to $50 as possible.  The total ended up coming to something like $78.  I turned to Sam and said I only had enough money to keep it in the $50 range and you can pick 2 of the 4 items to take home.  Without any issue or causing a scene, Sam said she'd put back the pajamas and one of the dresses.  My new total, after the coupon, was $31.56.  Yep!  That's the way to do it.

A funny incidence occurred when I finally made it back to the gym.  It was a great work out and I had visions of going back in the mornings before Jeff left for work.  I got all excited until I came home later that day and there was a message from a guy at Gold's asking me to call him.  He said he saw I was back at the gym and wanted to know if I wanted to rejoin.  What?!?!?  Apparently when I went in there last on May 29th (OMG!  How pathetic, right?) to cancel the kids from Gold's kids club, they went ahead and cancelled the whole thing.  I hadn't been in there since then to realize this.

I figured I was in a position to negotiate the terms of my membership and got a sweet deal from the $21.99 every two weeks I was paying to $12.99 every two weeks.  And this will include 3 sessions with a trainer.  Woo-hoo!!   The sales guy was seconds away from putting the charge through (all the information was stored in the computer from before) when I said, "Stop!!  I can't use the credit card this month.  I promised my husband.  We are going to have to wait until October to put through this deal." 

All in all, it was a good month.  I knew that Jeff wasn't even going to come close to wanting to watch another episode of "Breaking Bad" so that he could win this bet.  But that's ok, because every time he logged onto Amex's website and saw where we were at, he was in a very good mood.  And that is a very good thing.

I'm happy to keep going with this.  I am happy for him to keep buying the groceries.  Getting gas in my car (as long as he goes to the gas station I like going to).  Just let me have it once each month to get to Target and stock up on everything we need.  Plus, it really does make me stop and think, "do we really need this?".  And in most cases, the answer is no.

Potty Progress

We are not out of the woods yet.  But Jeff and I find it very important to celebrate the small victories.  It's been such a long, painful road.  A journey that I was sure I wouldn't survive.  I already had visions that we would be getting an IEP for Sam when she entered kindergarten next year.  Yes, it was really that bad.  And I could easily see a future where Sam was wearing a pull-up to her prom.  Although, come to think of it, any 'action' that her date was planning on, would surely come to a halt when he reached her princess pull-up.  Maybe not such a bad thing. 

I am delighted to report that Sam has gone one month without any accidents!!  All peeing and pooping has been successfully completed in the toilet.  This is HUGE, people!!  Sam has pooped on average 2 to 3 times a day (big ones at that!!), each and every day.  Let me repeat, ALL SUCCESSFUL ON THE TOILET!!   No stripes, no little tidbits, no chunks of bigger things about to come in her panties.  This bears repeating!!  We have not thrown away one pair of underwear all month!!!

We all needed a moment to reflect and go absolutely crazy, over-the-top excited about the past month and celebrate how well Sam is doing.  So that there would be no pressure on her, Jeff & I came up with a surprise for our little pooper.  We would wake up this past Sunday and tell her she was going to the American Girl Doll Store and could pick out a doll.  Not another Bitty Baby, but the big leagues baby, an American Girl Doll!

Ever since we came back from our annual trip to the American Girl Doll Store for lunch, Sam has been looking at her catalogs and picking out the doll and outfits she wants.  She had no idea as she was looking at this catalog (multiple times a day, every day) that we had this plan in the works.

And so that Ian didn't feel completely left out of the surprise, we told him he could pick out where we went to lunch beforehand.  Of course, Jeff indirectly got Ian to pick where he wanted to go...Olive Garden.  But as long as Ian thinks it was his choice, that would work for us.

Jeff doesn't do well keeping surprises and it was very hard for us to keep the plan under wraps.  I have to admit, I even wanted to tell Sam what we had up our sleeves, but I knew it was important to not put pressure on her to not have an accident.  (Believe me, I know there is going to be times when she does have accidents.  I am so okay with that.)

Here is a picture of us telling Sam about her surprise:

Sam being told what is about to happen after we are done eating.

Picking out the McKenna doll.

Ok, so in the interest of full disclosure, Sam is still on 2 pieces of Ex-lax each and every night. I am not sure what will happen when she comes off of it, but until then I am most excited with the progress we've made. Our next appt. with the GI dr is on October 11th. We will find out next steps because Sam being on ex-lax for an extended amount of time is not a good thing. 

I keep feeling like we take 2 steps forward and 3 steps back.  For some reason Sam went to the bathroom first thing in the morning and didn't go again the rest of the day.  We have no idea why.  We kept insisting she try to go and she kept saying she didn't have to.  Even when we were getting her ready for bed, we pretty much forced her to try to pee.  I have no idea what that is about.  Oy!

But since we were only celebrating NO ACCIDENTS FOR ONE ENTIRE MONTH!, everything about today still applied.  We are so proud of her.  Let's hope the progress continues.

The Orange Juice Story

We've gotten into a great pattern.  Jeff drops Ian off at religious school and then brings Sam with him to Wegman's to do our grocery shopping for the coming week. I write the list of everything we need and hope for the best.  Two areas Jeff needs "gentle" reminders in is looking at expiration dates and only getting the quantity we need, not stocking us up like we are getting snowed in for a month.   I've learned by trial and error to grin and bear it with whatever he comes home with.  Once I asked for a plain rotisserie chicken.  Jeff managed to find a KOSHER BARBECUE flavored rotisserie chicken.  Yeah, that wasn't really going to work in my soup.  No worries, Jeff offered to eat it all himself.  In the same grocery shop, the milk he brought back expired BEFORE the milk we were currently finishing in the fridge.  Again, no worries, because Jeff offered to start drinking all the milk as fast as he could.  And in this same bag of groceries, was not one (as requested), but three containers of Danimals - which Sam decided on whim she no longer wants to drink.  Again, not a problem, because Jeff offered to drink them all too.  Jeff was very busy that week.

I am not complaining.  I'd rather Jeff go to the grocery store, take Sam with him and let me get things done at home.  I've learned to look at the groceries getting unpacked and put away in our kitchen with one eye closed.  They tend to look better that way.

With that said, I got blindsided last Sunday.  We'd be breaking the fast on Wednesday for Yom Kippur and I came up with a fun idea to do breakfast for dinner.  Pancakes, scrambled eggs, potatoes, fruit, and blueberry muffins.  We don't normally keep Orange Juice in the house, but I wanted to add an authentic breakfast drink for us to have.  I made out the grocery list and sent Jeff and the kids on their way.

Later that afternoon, I opened the fridge and saw this unfamiliar looking container staring back at me.  What the hell was that!?!?!  I reached in and grabbed it.  It was none other than fresh squeezed orange juice.   Where in the world did Jeff manage to find that!?!?  Upon closer inspection I see that this "Fresh Squeezed" orange juice was squeezed on Friday!  So Jeff managed to find two day old fresh squeezed OJ.  And the best part was, this OJ was set to expire the very NEXT DAY!  Not on Wednesday evening when we'd be drinking it.   The kicker on all this?   Jeff paid $6.00 for this container of goodness. 

OMG!  I had to do it. I had to go there.  It was really killing me.  I had to ask.

Me:  "Um, honey, I am asking this with love, not because I am criticizing." (I've learned my lesson to start any questioning with this.)

Jeff:   "What?"

Me:  "Where in the world did you find this orange juice?"

Jeff:  "It was next to the fruit.  And you had fruit on the list."

Me:  "I also had eggs on the list and Orange Juice (that doesn't expire for months and costs a fraction of this container) is next to them too."

Jeff:  "Oh well." 

Me:  "And you know this expires tomorrow, right?"

Jeff: "It will be fine."

Come Wednesday, as we are setting the table, Ian comes running in the kitchen and says, "Cool!  Orange juice.  Can I have some right now?"

Jeff pours him a glass and very quietly, Jeff and I watch Ian drink it.  Ian finishes his gulp and puts the glass back down.  We are both patiently waiting for a response from Ian.  Yes, that's right.  We made Ian the guinea pig to see if this orange juice was still any good.  How much do we suck as parents?!?!

Jeff:  "What did you think Ian?"

Ian:  "It's GREAT!!"

I have to admit, it was the best tasting orange juice I've ever had.  And I am sure its not because I hadn't eaten in 24 hours, but because Jeff managed to find the section of Wegmans that sells freshly squeezed orange and came home with it.

*Thank you to Jeff, who let me tell this story.  The gag order, unfortunately, is now officially back in effect. 

Settling in.

I feel like we've dived into the deep end with the new synagogue we recently joined.  My Toppall team certainly doesn't do anything in baby steps.  Sam is in the Pre-K class at the preschool, going 5 days a week.  And, Ian is in the religious school, going 2 times a week.  And I am showing up, on average, twice a day, 4 times on Tuesdays!  Yep, I'd say we are acclimated with the new place.

We've just completed the celebration of the Jewish High Holidays...Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.   Jeff and Ian went to services a few times over the Summer, but as a family, we hadn't attended until this past week.  Now that I have a basis of comparison between our last synagogue and our current one, I am more excited than ever that we made the switch.  It was the right thing to do.

While Jeff and I attended the adult service, Ian participated in the youth service for 2nd to 4th graders.  Sam was officially checked into the child care room, but even then, they escorted the youngsters to an age appropriate service for them to attend.  Both kids' services were 1.5 hours long.  And I couldn't be more pleased how well the kids did.  There was no arm twisting to get them to go.  They enjoyed it.

Sam is absolutely loving her preschool and speaks of staying there forever.  And Ian is enjoying the religious school, despite having to be there for close to 5 hours each week (unless you know, when a Jewish holiday isn't getting in the way of it being in session).

Ian loved getting to dress up for services and couldn't wait to put on his shirt and tie.  When he saw some of his friends wearing a full suit, he asked us if we could get him one.  No bribing needed to get this look.  :)

Seriously, could he be cuter!?!? 

Being a part of this new congregation brings tranquility with it.  There is a sense of inner peace for me. It was an easy transition.  I love that many of the Jewish families we are good friends with made the switch with us.  I look around the synagogue and feel joy that this is where Ian and Samantha will get Bas Mitzvahed.   And I am so happy that if a change was going to be made, it was done with our kids at such a young age. This is the experience I've wished for us.  


What a great way to bring in the Jewish New Year.

No car needed.

Sunday was too gorgeous of a day to be indoors.  It was sunny, 68 degrees and a little breeze in the air.  Finally, it felt like Fall was within our grasp.  Fall is my 2nd favorite season.  Why? Because it leads into Winter, which is my 1st favorite season.  I love sweater weather.  I love not breaking a sweat just walking from your front door to the car.  And I love the lack of humidity in the air.

I had cleaned the whole house, Ian was back from religious school and it was time to get outside.  I came up with the grand plan for me and the kids to bike to Sweet Frog (which is a little more than a mile from our house) and then have Jeff come pick us up and drive us home.  Jeff was more than a little skeptical that we would make it to Sweet Frog without a rescue mission mid-way.  He came up with the idea that we should start at Sweet Frog and then bike home.  It was more downhill this direction and we stood a better chance of succeeding.  I liked his idea, but was worried that if we already had the "treat" before the ride began, there would be no motivation to get back home.  Fortunately I was wrong and we did just fine.  Jeff was not needed to come get us.  Better than that, the kids did not complain once!  It took us almost an entire hour to go the distance of a little more than a mile, but we did it!

I was so excited and felt like we really accomplished something great.  That is until I logged on Facebook and saw the following in my news feed:


Josie's Frozen Yogurt- Fairfax, VA
We love to see families exercising together! We ran into this family who biked 15 miles to Josie's!


And right below this was a picture of this bike-riding-loving family.  I am pretty sure that it took them the same amount of time, it took us.  :)

Really?  Really?  Did I have to see this right after coming back from our most fabulous outing?

I can look beyond this "being-outdone-in-a-very-big-way" and focus on the good -- we got outdoors, we breathed in a lot of fresh air.  We were on the move for an hour.  We walked away from the electronics and no one whined or complained.  Take that family who biked 15 miles to get to Josie's and then has to bike 15 miles back home!  Ok, maybe I am a little jealous.  I told Jeff right before we left for Sweet Frog, I originally wanted us to go to Josie's, but felt the 2.5 miles distance might be a bit too much for this crew.  Maybe next time.

A girl on the go!




Stopping for a much needed water break.

A most delightful way to spend a few hours.  :)

dinner - ain't happening any time soon

Every now and then I really screw up the timing for dinner.   On Friday night, I had planned to make a Gluten-Free Veggie Lasagna for us to eat.  This lasagna is not an easy, 1-2-3-make and cook recipe.  It takes time to chop the veggies, saute them, then mix all the other ingredients together and build the lasagna, before you get to the point where you can put it in the oven to bake.  Even though it is time consuming, it is well worth it in the end.  Plus, I assemble it in two smaller pans, bake one for dinner that night and freeze one for a future dinner. 

The baking alone takes an hour, plus another 20 minutes it needs to sit afterwards to firm up.  At 4:45pm on Friday, Sam and I had just started making this lasagna. Not sure why I didn't get it started the minute I walked in the door after getting Ian from school, but somehow those 45 minutes flew by.  Jeff called about 15 minutes later and said he was on his way home.  I told him to take his time because we were tracking to eat dinner at 7:00pm.  This is a good 45 minutes past the time the kids usually eat.  Jeff's reply was, "Let's go out to eat.  We can have the lasagna tomorrow night."  You don't have say that sentence to me twice! 

It was Ian's turn to pick which restaurant we got to go to.  I called Ian upstairs and told him the news. 

Ian: Hmmmm, how about Glory Days? 

Me:  Ok.

Ian:  Or maybe, Red Robin.

Me:  Ok, Ian, it's your choice.  Wherever you want.

Meanwhile Sam is whispering, "Red Robin, Red Robin, Red Robin, Red Robin, Red Robin..."

It was very funny and a sort-of a subliminal message to Ian to pick Red Robin.

Ian:  I need to think about it a little longer.

Me:  Ok, Ian.  Just make your mind up by the time Daddy gets home.

Jeff (walks in the door at 6:00pm):  Ok, where are we going to dinner?

Ian:  Glory Days!
(You know he picked this JUST because Sam wanted Red Robin.)

So let's do the math, shall we?  Friday night.  Glory Days.  A 15 minute wait.  Sitting down, putting the order in, waiting for the food.  Yep!   It's about 6:55pm. 

Here's a picture of the great, long-awaited (finally cooked!) Lasagna.  Looks yummy, doesn't it?

Frightening

It's been awhile since Sam has gotten nose bleeds.  She had been getting them pretty frequently and I felt fortunate I was always around to help her and get the blood to stop flowing as best as I could.  The worst it had ever gotten was a time when it happened in the middle of the night and it seemed like it wouldn't stop.  I rushed Sam, who was about 2 years old at the time to the ER, with the blood literally pouring out of her nose.  You can imagine how fast I was driving to get there. Nor did I care about finding a parking spot.  Fair Oaks Hospital should be lucky I didn't make their doors drive-in style.  Everything turned out fine and the staff needed to calm me down more than Sam.

About 18 months ago, we had gone to see a specialist to make sure it wasn't a sign of something more serious and to see what our options were to end them.   Since as of that point, the nose bleeds weren't frequent enough to interfere with her life, we chose to not do an invasive treatment to cauterize the source inside her nose. 

Over the past year, the nose bleeds were getting far and few between.  It had been at least 4 months, if not longer since Sam's last one.  I was actually at a point where I was no longer documenting when it occurred, which nostril the blood was coming from and how long it lasted. 

The other morning I had to go in Sam's room and wake her up to get ready for school.  I can count on one hand how often Sam has needed to be woken up because she was sleeping past her normal rise with roosters internal clock she has in her. The first thing I saw was blood all over the sheet.  It really freaked me out.   Fortunately, as I put her light on in her room, she raised her head to bury it under her covers and I knew Sam was still breathing and mobile.  Deep down I knew it was from a nose bleed, but I will never get over the site of seeing my daughter's blood out of her body.  And the blood must've really been flowing too because it not only went through the sheet, but also completely through the mattress pad underneath it. 

All I could think of was, thank G-d the blood stopped flowing on its own.  What if it hadn't?  I had stopped checking on her in the middle of the night many years ago, but what if I should start again?  And how often?  Once every hour?  Every 2 hours?  That's not a very practical way to live. 

I guess Sam is used to this by now, because when she looked down at the sheet and saw all the blood, she instantly put her thumb and finger to the base of her nose and hold it like the dr showed us.  I told her it was ok, the nose bleed had already stopped.  And then I pulled her into a very big and long hug.

I couldn't stop thinking about it all day.  Seeing all that blood is a sight I will never get used to.