I have never been more glad I found couponing...

As I was leaving work last Tuesday, I got a call from daycare saying that Sean had just thrown up 4 times. Phew! Poor little guy was screaming in the background and the first thing that crossed my mind was "I hope his tonsillectomy wound has healed"!! Could you imagine? Scary stuff. He was completely miserable and pale as a ghost when I arrived. He snuggled with me for a little while then we bundled up and drove home.

Once we arrived home he said he was feeling better, ate some pretzels and two bananas and slept all night long. Nevertheless, he could not go back to daycare the following day so (as his ever-helpful father said he couldn't possibly) I stayed home with Sean on Christmas Eve Day, even though it meant with no pay as I am OUT of vacation time. It wasn't until later that I remembered our policy at work...if you call in the day before or the day after a holiday, you don't get paid for the holiday. It was confirmed today - ZERO pay for TWO days!!!!! Awesome.

And the winner is...ME!!!!!!

My friend Jenny hosts a great (and very funny) blog called Mommin' It Up (www.momminitup.com - tell her I sent you!). She is also the wonderful buddy of mine who has saved me a fortune this year by introducing me to couponing - she is the Queen of couponing!! But I digress...
She has now gone one step further - I won the latest contest on her blog!!!
There are so many fantastic prizes that you will just have to check it out for yourself...
http://momminitup.com/?p=1241
Thanks Jenny and Emily! You guys rock!!!!! Sean is going to be so excited!!!

Are we back in Australia???

It is going to be 71 degrees tomorrow! It should be snowing and freezing cold but if all goes to plan, we will be at the zoo - without the need for jackets, scarves and gloves! It's either going to be a very mild winter...or it will be hitting us really hard later in the season! In the meantime, I will be taking advantage as much as possible!!!


***Update: The severe wind warnings in Cincinnati scared us away from the zoo I'm afraid, but we did head out to Easton in Columbus and score some incredible deals at Gymboree, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma!!! Not a wasted day by any means...

Merry Christmas to all!

Extra Extra!! Read all about it...

You can say that I am corny all you want, but Wondertime paid me $75 for this submission!! Yeah, baby!!!

Read all about it!!!!  Wondertime - January 2009

Those were the days, my friend...

Pop, you are forever in our hearts and memories. You lived an incredible life. You were loved for a lifetime by one of the kindest women on earth. You have a large, wonderful family and I have the honour of being your first grandchild. I have a life full of memories of time spent with you. Sean will hear stories throughout his life of the things you accomplished and of the memories I have. You will always be loved. You will always be missed.

Such a sad sight

Isn't this just the saddest picture? Poor little Seany sleeping off his surgery. It has been a very rough recovery for him (and me!). I would not recommend the surgery to anyone unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary...the pain my little boy has been in is unbearable to see. On Sunday I thought I was going to have to take him back to hospital as he would not eat or drink anything. His first 'good' afternoon was Monday (yesterday), 5 full days after his surgery. And, his night was still terrible. I went back to work today while he stayed with his Dad. When i visited after work (he will stay with him for a couple of days) he fell asleep in my arms. I can't tell you how many times I have cried in the past week! It is so very difficult to watch your child writhing in pain, full body shaking at the thought of taking a drink of water. I have never wanted anything more than for my son to be free of this pain. As much as I thought I had prepared myself, I had no idea it would be this hard for him.