all morning long it seems .. thankfully he is down for his nap now, recharging to keep me on my toes all evening im sure *lol*
yesterday was wyatts trip to the aquarium and to the park, i was a bit worried that he would get rained out but the rained stopped long enough for the kids to play at the park for a bit after their picnic lunch *smiles* He sounded like he had a good time.. told me that when they first got there the sea otters were doing nothing but once feeding time came around they were much more active. sometimes getting things our of him is like pulling teeth and other times he can talk endlessly about much of nothing.
he was cute last night because he is at that stage where everything on TV is real (commercial wise) anyways, he was laying down for bed last night and called ron back there just to ask him why the fan was on in their room, he explained to him that *little* ron must have turned it on earlier when he was in there and wyatt said *daddy it needs to be off no one is using it and our planet is dying* .. yep my walking advertisement for the latest and greatest as seen on tv and other commercials.. got to love him!
waiting to see what todays mail brings me but yesterday i received the USPS sample showcase
it came with various product samples in it and i think its a great little thing the postal folks are doing.. not sure how it originated or when it did but awesome none the less.
in mine i received the dove chocolate peanut butter candy sample.. this one was very good but im a fan of dove chocolate anyway.. the peanut butter wasnt overly bearing and just enough to get the taste of it.. something i will deff pick up when considering a reeces peanut butter cup deal.
Aveeno hand cream/body cream and face cream stuff.. not bad but not the greatest.. still leaves that greasy feeling but not as bad as some.. not something i would run out and by specially considering the cost in stores.
shower to shower powders, two different ones, one being the *sport* and the other being the shimmer effect.. havent tried these as of yet but im not overly impressed with the way they are packed in there sample packages.. suppose i will see if i like them after i try them huh?
McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Marinade another one we havent tried yet but it sounds good.. we have used their seasonings before (the kind in the shake on containers) and have always been happy but this one is a bit different, this is something for the hubba gets to try out since hes my grill king.
ben gay heat wrap again not tried yet but still a cool sample to receive.
oh and the aveeno shampoo and conditioner samples.. again one i havent tried yet but will give it a go although i dont think the sample packs ever give you enough conditioner *lol*
secrets clinical strength deodorant sample.. this one ive been wanting to try but the sticker shock has kept me away.. cant wait to see if its worth the cost in stores or not.
all in all it was a good sample pack and ive already commented on the USPS link for it.. still more comments to make over time if i understand it right small survey type deals to fill out..
maybe i will get lucky and my Gillette razor will come in today..
i dunno about you but costumer service says a lot to me, if its bad im the first to shout out how the customer service is the worst (hence my post on the campground co-host) and when customer service is awesome i think they deserve the same respect of those that arent so great.. hence i will be a life time consumer of kitchen aid products due to their great customer service on my stand mixer that when i emailed how to stop the enamel chipping off my mixer they sent me an email back telling me my replacement was on its way! yeah great huh?
im equally the one to tell you when a product rocks and when a product is lacking in some ways..
well a few days ago i posted some product reviews, one on a particular hand cream that i recently tried after receiving in the mail to try and yes this product falls into my *rocks* category! im still overly impressed with the product and after trying another hand cream today that again i got in the mail im still overly impressed with *see my review on the beautiful skin starts here* anyways i received a message from her today wanting to know if i have a fan page for my blog which of course i dont because this is just a personal blog that i also feel is a good place to let my followers and just plain old lurkers know what i think about certain things.. but, how awesome is that? like i said, great customer service comes a long way..
here is her web site www.votrevu.com/mblockey and deff look her up on facebook.. you wont be going wrong im telling you that much. between the great customer service she offers and the great product as well.
and her post about her sister, it brought to me somethings i think of when it comes to my sister, how our relationship went from us being having only each other to us being such polar opposites, not that we werent before because all of our lives i can point out where we were such different people.
does it bug me that we cant have that relationship that you see others having? where their sisters are their best friends etc? to be honest it used to.. i always thought how great it would be to grow up into independent adults and to find some common ground even if it was simply the past that we were forced to live threw that drew us together.. and at times it was.. i cant tell you how many times i was called to her side during an emotional break down by her because of the life we once lived.
while i had always wished that you would find us now as adults getting together regularly and our children being brought up close, i would lie if i said that life was that cut and dry.. my sister and i choose to live two very different lifestyles.. i choose to live life simple, she chooses to live in a past that i refuse to allow affect my happiness in the here and now and that i absolutely refuse to take my happiness away.
i have tried many many times to make things work with her on an adult level but at much cost to myself.. just as when we were children, i would give and give and give and she would simply take all i had to give and than some.
truthfully when no one else was around, my sister became my abuser .. i couldnt tell, wouldnt tell.. couldnt show the bruises she hid on my body nor could i express to anyone how she was towards me mentally.. how i learned the best way to survive was to break myself down.. cut my own self esteem into pieces and remain quiet at all times with my head held low.. to loose all self worth and pride.
as an adult i dont have to do this.. as an adult the last straw was the same bull shit that i put up with as a child .. and i had finally decided once and for all i would no longer deal with it, im done.. put a fork in me, its over for once and for all.
i will no longer allow my life to be less than i want it to be just to appease her, i will no longer allow anyone control over my happiness.. i hold the key to my future, my happiness, my goals etc.. and i will not drag the toxic people with me to continue'ously bring me down..
i learned years ago to not allow my past, my childhood, to affect my future.. to not let it bring me down .. to grab my life that i have now and make it all that it can be.. giving up on my sister was a bit longer and harder for me to do..
i wish her well in where her life takes her and hope that some day she makes the same peace with the past that i have. but i know in my heart of heart that i cant have her in my life because she is toxic to me.. she will never change the person she is, she will never understand how she tries to control everyone and beat people down to build herself up.. and i have accepted that.. maybe someday she will understand why i had to make the choices i have when it comes to our relationship.. looking back at our life, maybe she will someday understand where she was no better to me than our abusers were to us... but im not holding my breath for that to happen.
i have no room in my life for toxic people..
you will notice i added a new button to my blog *simply moms* and let me tell you its an awesome forum for moms and moms to be :) its one of my regular stops through out the day and a place full of wonderful ladies, im sure you will enjoy it if you ever want to stop on by.. just click the link here on my blog and walla your there..
woke up this morning with the chickens to get the kiddos off to school. as soon as the buses left it was time for me to hit the shower and get moving in the direction of looking human.
had to run to jacksonville with mother this morning and stopped at dicks sporting goods, she wanted to check out this pretty awesome umbrella thing i saw when ron and i went to get our tent.. dicks has it listed as a sports umbrella .. look it up its really cool! we tend to spend a lot of time down at the water in the summer and even though we will be heading to mothers to swim in the small pool quite a bit this summer, i know there are times that we will find ourselves at the end of the road, and i need shade for Owen encase he needs to nap etc, last year we had a beach tent thing that he stayed in but unfortunately with all the winds, it only lasted the summer and than it died.. so this year it was time to find something new, easy to transport and easy to set up.. hence the sports umbrella thing that i found at dicks .. i will let you know how it lasts but the good thing is the warranty on it was under $10.00 *smiles*
while we were there i found a pair of crocs i actually like *rofl* and of course they weren't in my size *grr* i also found the perfect summer purse (im planning on going with a nice summery tote) but of course i couldn't justify spending nearly $50 on it *blah* i hate that it wasn't on sale and although i know somehow the breast cancer folks got a kick back i just couldn't impulse shop and buy it.. maybe it will be there later on and maybe at a cheaper price!!!
than we decided to stop by target to see what they had, but found pretty much nothing there *lol*
headed to lunch and than to lowes home improvement to buy sand.. now this is where mother and i got into an disagreement on money..
i have been wanting to get owen a sandbox for out back (among other things) and so we went to get sand.. sand is on sale this week btw, buy 3 get 1 free and its pretty cheap too *smiles*
picked up 4 bags (50 pounds each) and than walked around a bit, and mother happened to see one of them little tykes sand boxes which i quickly nixed the idea of.. the reason? simple i cant justify spending $60 almost $70 on it.. specially when i can go redneck style *rofl*
so after i convinced mother that there was no way that kind of money would be spent, we headed over to the dollar general and i picked up a small pool for $7 and a thick plastic table cloth for a picnic table .. when we got home i put the pool on the porch and with the help of my muscle men, put 2 bags of sand in it.. walla instant sand box and a few happy boys (wyatt and Owen)
after we got done i slipped the table cloth over and walla instant cover for the sand box to keep the stray kitties out of it and all is good. than we went and picked up another small pool for mothers house and she took the second 2 bags of sand to her house to put up a redneck sandbox for the boys there *smiles* .. hmm maybe i shouldnt say boys since i cant really see little ron playing in it but still.
we had also picked up owen a new chair for his recycled table from mothers house but the chair is to high for it *blah* so we are still on the hunt for a chair that is low enough for him.
the recycled table was destined for the dump when my fil pointed out it would make a nice table for owen if it were painted.. so i thought it was a good idea so we picked up a few cans of spray paint and cleaned it up.. now it is perfect for him!
i think by the time we were done running it was close to dinner time, owen hadnt napped but a few 10 minute ones in the car and was crabby! so we played out side in the sand box for a bit than cleaned up for a quick dinner, bath time and than snuggles before bed!
a few fixes for yesterdays post ~ chris didnt go oyster'n he went clamming .. oysters cant be gotten this time of year (i forget what months you can grab them in)
i did some research and found there are NO leash laws for our local federal forest service parks including the one we stayed at so the camp host was wrong in his thinking (or im not looking hard or deep enough for the right information)
as for tomorrow ~
wyatt has his field trip the aquarium and than some time in the park for a picnic lunch with his class .. im sure he will have tons of fun..
as for me ~ i need to get some much needed sleep and some snuggles with my hubba! ive been running all day long non-stop and other than a text fest between us earlier weve had no time to really talk..
field and stream estate dome tent 10 foot by 18 foot ~
this is an awesome tent with tons of room. it has 2 rooms, the room divider is pretty much what you would expect from a tent.. plenty of air flow etc. plenty of room to sit under the *porch* covered area, lots of windows in the front room and one window in the back room, however with the top being pretty much all mesh (under the rain cover) it was a nice cool night of sleep ~
i would suggest if you purchase this tent, to do so threw dicks sporting goods, which is where we bought ours, there was a small tear in the front on the floor of the *porch* area however due to having purchased the 1 year no matter what happens to it (by our fault or the manufacture) its covered warranty .. we are covered and its going to be exchanged monday morning.. the warranty only cost us an additional $18.00 and is well worth it IMO.
Beautiful skin starts here ~
now this is a skin lotion that i heard about on facebook and i applied for a free sample, i never expect to much out of these things because well you never can tell, but i can tell you that OMG this stuff rocks! look them up on facebook .. you will be happy with what you receive if you order from them. sample wise it was just a *one use deal* which is normal, after all its a sample.. but man the lotion smelled so good.. not over bearing in fragrance and to be honest i would almost call it a nice *perfume* type deal.. anyway.. it was perfect and not overly greasy as some lotions can be.. a deff must try deal people.. become a *fan* or rather *like* now that facebook has changed their way of thinking and trust me, you wont be sorry!!
M&M's pretzels ~
another sample i received this week that im on the fence about.. the kids seemed to like them but honestly unless the kids were begging for them, its not something i would purchase in the store, just not my *thing* there isnt anything really in particular that i can point out that i wasnt crazy about them when it came to them but yeah.. just not something i would pick up to snack on. *sorry m&m's* i still like your peanut ones .. that has to count for something right?
Croatan National Forest Campground ~ Cedar Point NC...
i have to say that i do enjoy the campground.. always have, its right near the house and offers a bit to do..
fishing, boating (with a boat ramp and access to the white oak river), a nice walking trail and a decent bath house.
the folks are rather nice and its affordable ($17.00 per night) a bit cheaper if your are *older* .. all sites have electric and there is a dump station as well as various places to get fresh water.
i will give fair warning that the camp co-host does not know how to talk to people and is quite frankly a bit of an ass.. feel free to bring your pets as they are allowed *smiles*
we decided after picking up a tent on friday, that we would head to the local campground for just an over night trip (satuday to sunday).
our plans were to get up and have the van completely loaded by noon and headed to set up.. yeah didnt quite work out that way..
Ron got a call that a friends boat was sinking so he had to help him first.. funny all i could think of was that joke and the response of *what are you sinking about*
needless to say ron called chris (knowing that chris was planning on going out in his boat that day) and was hoping chris was already in the water, of course he wasnt.. but he was heading to get gas for his boat and to head out, so ron decided to wait on him.. needless to say as chris was putting his boat in, his engine blew in his truck .. yeah lovely huh?
so chris went ahead and dropped his boat and took his truck home.. than came and got ron and they went to help the sinking boat .. by now we had heard that the boat was on the bottom but in shallow water (knee deep) and close to shore so it wasnt a huge deal .. well not in the aspect that they were in immediate danger kwim? which was a great thing because this was taking longer than we thought to get to them.
ron and chris got to them, and managed to pump enough water out of the boat to get it off the bottom and to shore (im not sure of all the details) and than the boater took ron to the van while chris headed out to do some oyster'ing.
ron finally got back to the house and we finished loading up the last bit that was left and headed to set up camp.
we got to the campground which isnt but 5 minutes from the house. its a nice campground, small and state park type owned, has a decent bath house and a nice walking trail, a place to put your boat in and an area to fish.. plus both water and electric .. cost wise is reasonable too ($17.00 per night).
when we pulled up the camp host told us that they were all full, we were bummed, he did offer to let us put up tent in a few different areas but we couldnt have a fire because there was no fire ring there of course (you can however at the sites), we opted to drive threw and found a site that was empty. so we went back to the host who drove around and found the site we were talking about and although the folks who had been there, had paid up threw today, they hadnt left anything in the site and the permit slip was gone. this makes the site *abandoned* and available. so we got lucky and got a site. i have to admit, i did wonder if we were going to have a spot war later on but never did.
we set up the tent and got things settled just in enough time for ron and little ron to head over and get chris's boat out of the water.. seemed like they were gone forever ~
they finally got back and we were able to start a fire and cooking dinner ~ hot dogs and chips ~ than later had a nice marshmallow roast. we took turns walking around the camp ground until the fire died down enough for us to walk down to the water before everyone getting changed and ready for bed. it was a late night but it was a nice one.
this morning we woke up and had some eggs and bacon which ron cooked on the fire and were slowly heading to the mode of getting cleaned up and ready to leave, when this guy walked by with his dog.. i was headed to the van to grab a towel to head shower when clyde went to *sniff butt* ..
ron was right on top of him telling him to *come back* and the guy started yelling *your dog needs to be on a leash* over and over again.. think of a high pitched yapping little dog just barking at you..
over and over again *your dog needs to be on a leash, your dog needs to be on a leash, your dog needs to be on a leash* im sure you get the idea..
ron was right on clyde and told him to come here.. while walking toward the guy he said *okay* and the guy just kept on and kept on.. than ron said *i would if you would give me a second* the guy started walking into our camp site with his dog and still yipping *your dog needs to be on a leash* ... he identified himself as the *camp co-host* and would not listen to a word we said .. we were getting clyde on a leash and even after we had him secure, the guy kept screaming *your dog needs to be on a leash*.. lets just say that words were exchanged..
the guy than said *i dont have to put up with this* and called the camp host who was right over to our spot..
the camp host was awesome, he explained the forestry law was that all dogs had to be on a leash and i told him that was fine, that all the man had to say was that, he didnt have to repeatedly yell at us as we were not being confrontational towards him. when he told us he had to be on a leash we said *okay* and proceeded to put clyde on his leash.. we didnt argue with him until he started repeating himself and yelling at us about it and coming into our camp site with his dog and yelling, calling us names etc.
i will deff be leaving a review for him and emailing about the co-host to the folks in charge..
after the host came and left.. everything was fine.. we started breaking down camp, took one trip of stuff home and than went back for our tent. our neighbors came over and ron apologized to them for his *choice of words* .. the neighbor guy than said that he didnt blame him that the co-host was way out of line. and apparently this isnt the first time he has done stuff like this.
the wildabeast previously (a good while ago) was driving threw the campground and the same guy started screaming at him to slow down.. the wildabeast was just rolling forward from a complete spot and going maybe 2mph and the guy was screaming at him.. campground speed limit is 5mph.
all in all it was a good trip.. will give my product reviews soon..
our clyde will continue to camp with us, he did awesome.. slept next to the boys vs in his doggie bed (which we brought with us from home) spent the whole time laying at our feet and got lots of compliments on his great behavior from other campers, a man actually walked over from the across the campground to compliment ron on how well behaved clyde was.. he saw the day before when we were walking him and these two dogs charged him that clyde didnt even pay them any mind (he has been taught to not pay mind to other dogs, he can look but not react if they charge like these did)..
we are deff going to invest in a runner for clyde we just need to figure out the best one for him which is out latest look.. clyde cant go between trees because he will cry if he cant be near us.. maybe one that ties into the ground? i dunno.. hes 130 pounds of pure muscle so we need to see whats out there. we have no issues tying him up for short amounts of time when we have to ..
welcome to my *little* world..
I'm Brenda, wife to Ron for the past 17 years and SAHM to 3 boys *little* ron (17 years old), wyatt (9 year old) and owen (2 year old)
we live on the crystal coast of NC.
we have 2 furry family members the *princess* daxie cat and our bullmastiff puppy clyde.
