The Big 0-4!

Well, today is a very special day in the Birdie household. Today little Red turns 4. It's only appropriate that I venture back down the road to his birth, remembering him in that perfect form, that tiny little infant wrapped in a blue striped blanket with beautiful bright red hair all over his head.

My middle child, much like his personality, was very organized, from his conception to his birth. We were married in October, and were extremely ready for another child. We started right away. By December we were pregnant and nine months later he was born. Unlike the first and third pregnancies, there wasn't any health issues or concerns. Pregnancy was a breeze.

We scheduled the c-section and he came out, right on time, without any drama. Such a sweet baby boy, just laying there quietly wanting to be loved. And loved he was.

From his parents, to his grandparents to his big brother, Blondie, he has always had somewhere there to hug him, kiss him, help him, play with him, hold him, tickle him, laugh with him, and even cry with him.

He was such the perfect baby it was almost a shame that he had to grow up so fast. Little Red was only 6 weeks old when I became pregnant with the little monster. So, for the majority of Red's baby years Mommy was pregnant with the pregnancy from H-E-L-L with his little sister. But, he never complained, never gave me a moments fuss.

The funniest thing about Red's first year was that he loved his Ocean Wonder's Aquarium Swing. I mean, LOVED IT. It got to be that was the only place he would sleep. His father and I would feel guilty laying in bed and knowing he was 5 feet away, swinging by the light of the computer generated fish and ocean sounds. But, that's where he wanted to be.

Now that he's the big 0-4, he's still the same type of kid. Very low maintenance, and wants things his way - regardless of how uncomfortable it may appear. He insists on wearing his shoes on the wrong feet. He does it every time and he knows better, he just likes to be silly.

He also likes to call people the wrong names - on purpose - jut to get a laugh or a reaction. He's my cuddler, the one who can wrap in my arms and stay there for days. He's also the only child in my house who keeps their room clean or can clean it on demand.

He worships his big brother and fears his little sister. He wants to be just like his Dad, and grow up to marry his Mom (or so he says).

His grandparents are his favorite audience, and he likes to try most of his "tall tales" out on them. He also holds a lot of stock in "shock value" as he says some pretty crazy things just to see your reaction.

He was just signed up for his first year of t-ball, and already has more heart than Mickey Mantle, and as much potential too. His goal is to be just like his brother, well, maybe even a little better.

Oh, and most important, he's left handed - which pretty much says it all. He looks just like his Dad, with his mother's heart, and his left-handed Uncle's personality - what a mixture. He really is my favorite little red headed boy.

Happy Birthday Roo! Mommy loves you!

One girls junk is another person's junk...the Garage Sale Success Story

I have to say, whoever came up with the idea of "garage sales" should have won a Pulitzer.

It's amazing what kind of crap you have just laying around your house, taking up space, creating clutter, or holding you back from buying a new, better version. If you are like me, sometimes it's hard to just toss stuff out. But, when you sell it, if you sell it, you feel better about getting rid of your unwanted item. Almost redeemed and uplifted.

Anyone and everyone who knows me knows one thing for sure, I. am. a. shopaholic.

I. am. a. power. shopper.

I make shopping an art...it's second nature even. I will shop when I'm broke (window shopping), shop whenever I get extra money (splurge shopping spree), and shop when I need something (organized shopping). The best part about all of this is that my husband is a shopaholic as well! So together we can tear it up whenever we hit the malls, discount stores, and yes, sadly, even the Internet. No guilt baby, no guilt cause he's right there with me.

But, the downfall to all this shopping, besides the obvious never having any money, is we acquire more crap than any other people I know. Maybe that's not true, maybe you all keep your stuff organized and well hidden, but we don't. We come from the land of house cleaners who only come every other week, so our house pretty much stays in "disaster zone" all the time (except for every other Friday). So, what to do with all this junk?

Well, low and behold the fabulous invention noted above: The Garage Sale! For about two weeks I went through my clothes, my kid's clothes, toys, kitchen stuff, and all kinds of other misc junk. I had my pile, and sadly it was kinda modest. I mean, maybe 4 boxes full of stuff, that's it. So, I called over a pal who I knew had plenty of junk herself and she brought over her junk and together we had one pretty decent load of junk to unload on the public.

My doubtful husband bet me I wouldn't make more than $10. Now, come on, that's ridiculous, I thought to myself. Surely I can rake in more than 100 bucks. So, I took the bet. The stakes were what they always are in the Birdie household but we'll leave that between him and me if you know what I mean...wink wink. (Ba chicka wah wah).

So, the Friday of the sale quickly approached and I had managed to dig up some more junk. Now, the trick to garage sales is waking up at the butt crack of down so the so-called "early birds" can feel like they are getting the absolute BEST DEAL by coming to your house before the sun even rises. So there I am, Friday morning, sitting outside in pretty much my PJ's, drinking juice, reading Stephen King, hiding behind a large pile of junk while people rummage through it.

It wasn't pretty, nor was it pleasant. I notice people don't like making eye contact with you at garage sales. It's like they are embarrassed because they are buying what they know you consider unimportant or unwanted. I avoided eye contact because I hadn't yet applied make-up and I do not go anywhere without make-up.

I hear people snort and snicker, probably at my prices, maybe at the fact that I had the gawl to sell my underwear second hand. Who knows, I didn't care. I had already called Purple Heart, whatever didn't sell, would be donated the next day. This crap was not coming back into my house, take it or leave ladies (and a few men).

I had probably 10 shoppers during those wee hours before 8:00 am. And I sold two items - two. Everyone I had ever talked to said that the Early Birds are the ones who buy it all up. I was thinking to myself, Holy Crap, I'm a garage sale failure! Even my junk is too junky for the Garage Sale!

Just as I was about to change all my signs from "Garage Sale" to "Garbage Sale", the sun came up and thank the lord the people came out.

I was almost overwhelmed by how many people came blowing through there. Some just looked (nosey a-holes), but others, they came to shop.

I had scheduled to go until noon, but was done by 10:30. And when I say done, I mean almost everything to the last pair of underwear sold. I had managed a big fat $192.00 selling everything mostly at 1.00 to 2.00 each.

So, guess what I did with my money? That's right, I went shopping! And the husband, yeah, I haven't quite collected my winnings yet....