January 2007 Archives

I have been busy in my kitchen making sure Steve and the girls have good meals as they always have. I won't be one of those people who makes everyone else do without just because I can't eat everything they can. I have made desserts and not eaten one bite. I have made mashed potatoes and not eated any of them. I served garlic bread with their spaghetti dinner and did not even care to have a piece. I don't know if it is willpower, determination to succeed or the fact that I am suffering loss of appetite for those types of things. I have been experimenting with ways to make my recipes low carb and maintain the full flavor. I have posted on my recipe journal 3 new recipes that I have cooked since last weekend. Chicken Alfredo, Macaroni and Cheese and Boneless Buffalo Bites, all made as low carb as I can get it. If you can get the carb count lower than I have please show me how! I have sampled a no calorie/no carb ketchup and the review is up on the Low Carb Market journal if you are a ketchup lover like the people in my house. I find when I am solitary in the kitchen and the house is quiet except for the sounds I make and hissing of the pots and pans and the crackle of the woodstove that my thoughts flow freely and I write journal entries in my head. When it is time to settle down with the laptop the thoughts do not come as easy. I want to tell you about being a child and wanting to be fat and unnoticable. I want to tell you about being a teenager and feeling aweful about being fat and wanting to change but knowing my layer of fat was my blanket of protection between me and the rest of the world. I want to tell you about the abuse at the hands of adults and how eating gave me joy and pleasure in those miserable days. I want to tell you about my non-existant relationship with my father and my wanting to be held and loved. I want to tell you about my mother and the anger I have been bottling up the past few weeks but I don't want you to judge her and think she is bad because - well, she is my mother and I love her despite her faults and what I see as her short comings in my childhood. I want to tell you about my ex-husband and how I grew to not love him or anything about him and the ugly shame and lies that surround his filthy self. I want to tell you about coming to terms with me and my body and loving me for who I am for so many years. About how happy I have been to be me at any size. I want to explain my desire now to come to terms with all of this and put it away for one last time, shedding it all as I shed these pounds that seem to haunt me day and night. The thoughts come muddy this morning. I am struggling with it. Eventually I will get there.

I have much swirling around in my head that I want to say but won't come to my fingers yet. I am trying to get it out but it isnot readable. I have succeeded in ketosis. Check out my Thinner Me journal. I also tried out a low carb brownie mix. The review is over on The Low Carb Market journal. Check them both out. ***** Now onto the Home Grown baby boy photos. I have lied to my child. In my house a saltine cracker is a cookie. Right now I am getting away with it. How much longer this will work I do not know. Right now it is a success. My 3 babies at play. I lied when Gracie was little. She didn't know yogurt was not pudding until she went to kindergarden. What do you lie to your kids about?

I am amazed by the number of Angie's and Angela's I have run across in the past week. Several of you have blogs and a few of you do not. I haven't been around so many Angie's since I was in high school! There were 4 or 5 five of us in my graduating class not to mention a couple in the class ahead of us that were friends as well. I had begun to believe that Angie/Angela was a dying name. Doomed to grace the pages of long lost/antiquated baby name books. How refreshing to find so many in a wide range of ages. Hey Angie's and Angela's!! I have to be one of the most blessed people in the online journal-sphere. All of the support and well wishes and good vibes have really given me stregnth to keep a firm hand on my self control. You ladies rock! I hope you all the most success in your struggles with wieght loss, weight gain and any other number of issues we all seem to be dealing with at this time. Here I am trying to drop weight and at the same time I have spent the last 3 1/2 years trying to put weight on Steve. I know both side of the weight issue. neither of them are easy. I do know those people who have trouble putting weight on and keeping it on have no idea and no understanding of those who have trouble getting weight off. Please do not misunderstand that in no way am I contributing my weight gain to Steve. He has eating issues opposite mine but he also will NOT eat unless I am having something. After getting frustrated, having spats, and generally losing all patience with him we are coming to an understanding. Justbecause he needs to eat doesn't mean i will be eating with him. He has offered his support and is trying to understand me now were in the past he didn't. Steve has no relationship with food beyond a few things he likes and that is that. he would go for days without food if I didn't make him eat. Food is in no way important to him. It would be different I suppose if I were one of those people who major health issues. If I binge ate sweets and desserts and potatoes and bread and all the good stuff. But I am not. I am guilty of eating good healthy food and my body doing its job of storing fat in over drive. I have no health issues whatsoever. Even my OBGYN back home said I was one of the most healthy people he had ever had as a patient. Being over weight wasn't something he could find as a problem because I had no health problems. None. At all. I still have no issues whatsoever. I am one of those people who naturally functions at a higher weight. The reason I want to pull the weight off is I am tired of being the fat girl. I love who I am and have in the past had very few problems with my body image. Here lately though I hate feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. I want to make a change. I think while the mind is willing and the body isn't balking too badly I might as well strike while the iron is hot so to speak. There were days in the past few months when my weight made me angry, caused me to hover near depression. Bringing this issue out into the light I have felt my spirits begin to lift and those dark clouds are passing me by. I hope they stay away. I am trying to respond to comments in the comments areas. If you have inquired something of me and I haven't replied would you please give me a nudge or shove as a reminder? Steven seems to be perking up a little today compared to what he has been the last few days. I tell you one thing I have seen enough poopy diapers for a while. I have stuffed him with yogurt, cereal, bananas, mashed potatoes, gatoraide and numerous other tastey and healthy treats. I hope these molars come in quick and leaves us the hell alone for a while. I am hoping I'll have some time over the weekend to finish up some graphics for your requests. Hopefully by sunday night or monday morning everything will be finished. Be patient with me I haven't forgotten you. Steve is working late this evening. Colby hasn't been long in from the hospital where she has been offered the possibility of a job ASAP. Go, Colby! Gracie is in her pj's and settling down. Steven is dozing a little. His body is tired. I am going to grab a shower, make a pot of coffee, surf a while, leave some comments then work on a few graphics. Have a wonderful weekend. I appreciate each and every one of you.

Reviews of Low Carb foods that I am trying and reviewing are found on a new blog. As I add the items I have tried/am trying I would love any feed back or suggestions from you all. My weight loss tracking journal Looking For The thinner Me is where I am logging my eating habits and insanity along the way. Click the image to take you there.

GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING!! I feel as if I am wading knee deep in poop! Seriously. Steven is cutting molars and having one hell of a time doing it with the added complication of a cold. His nose was running clear and his mouth is sore. I can see the molars creating huge lumps in his mouth as they try to push through. He is chewing his fingers, putting things in his mouth to chew on back there and at the same time gagging himself. His eyes are red and watery. He is running a low grade temp. I feel like a pharmacist this morning. Between the painful gums and temp and snotty nose he really needed the baby tylenol with something to dry up his sinus. And the poop. My heavens the POOP. His little tummy is torn up. I have changed so many poopy diapers! And I have to be quick so it doesn't escape the bounderies of his diaper, if you know what I mean. I am feeding him yogurt with baby rice cereal in it to give it some thickness to see if I can slow the flood from the other end. I am trying to keep him hydrated and offering his cup as often as possible. He is also wanting to nurse so much more because he feels bad. I feel bad that he is having such a rough time with this. I have been writing posts, a new recipe and several product reviews on a notepad. If he will nap a while this morning I might be able to get them up today. Wish me luck. I am here today but I have got my hands full, literally, in more ways than one. I am so overwhelmed by the response to my weightloss journal. All of you women are gorgeous! Inside and out. Thank you to all the lurkers who have written me. Knowing you are watching and cheering me on has added to my willpower. If you take a peek over at Looking For A Thinner Me and have a look in the sidebar you will see how many pounds I lost in my first week. I was looking at my stats last night before bed. Looking at the number of comments left here you would have no idea that over 800 people a day pass by my BigRedCouch. I sure would like to see more of you stop for a moment and have a seat by me on the couch and let's chat awhile. But if you don't, or won't or can't, that's o'kay, too. I know you are out there and I thank you for stopping by. I have no room to talk or try to lure you out either. There are other journals and blogs where I lurk. Often I just have nothing to add or find myself struck speechless. I have a diaper to change and a baby who has been up since 5am that might be ready for a morning nap. I'll be trying to get those posts up through the day. Send good vibes for Colby. She is doing her clinicals at a new hospital and lab this morning. I hope she has a great day. She had to be at work at 6am so we were up before she left at 5am. By the end of the day I might need a nap.

I was tagged by that Chick over there for this meme. Since I have so many new readers lately I will bring you all up to speed about me, myself and I. Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with* 5 facts about yourself. Then choose 5 people you want to tag and list their names. Then leave a comment on their blog letting them know they've been tagged. 1. I met my husband in an MSN chatroom in August of 2003. I set eyes on him for the first time in Nov. 2003. In Jan. 2004 I packed up my kids and what I could get into the back of my Explorer and moved us from a tiny farm in rural Georgia to the big city and a townhouse that is Northern Virginia. We married 19 July 2004. In Jan. 2005 we bought a small farm in Central Virginia. My husband commutes daily to No.Va/metro D.C. 2. I was previously married for 14 years before filing for divorce. I have two daughters from that marriage: Colby will be 20 in May and Gracie turned 9 this past Decemeber. Steve has a daughter from a previous marriage: J, age 11, who does not live with us but is here weekly, alternate weekends, and 6 weeks of the summer, plus odd and end school breaks and holidays. At the age of 39, Feb 2006, we had a baby boy. 3. I live in an old Virginia four square farmhouse that is approaching 99 years old. We love it. I knew when I set eyes on it that this was my home. I was sick the entire time we negotiated contracts. Real Estate in this part of Va. is not for ametuers. This is hard-nosed, fast sell, you better have the money to pay for what you want country. Ask anyone in or near No.Va. I have been slowly doing the small projects of fixing up this house myself with the help of Steve when he is not working in his stressful geek job. The upstairs is freshly painted and the children are all settled into their own rooms. It took 11 gallons of Kilz to prime and seal the walls before painting. Not to mention patching, drywall, custom creating a set of closet doors, rebuilding the interior of 1 closet and completing a bathroom. I did all of this in the last couple months of my pregnancy. I wish I had the time and energy to do things now like I did then. We 95% completed a kitchen remodel during Steve's vacation last summer. We work well together. We installed new countertops and crown molding. I also did my own undercabinet lighting. :-) This spring between getting my gardens in and opening the pool I hope to start stripping and sanding the floors upstairs. Some fool painted them with chocolate enamel brown paint. The staircases front and back were also painted in this fashion. The woman who did this is on my shitlist FOREVER. 4. In the years between the birth of my children -1993 - 1995, I gave birth to another bouncing baby boy. I was a surrogate for a wonderful woman who has raised a beautiful family. We are very close friends. We keep in touch. I see her children when she comes to Virginia about once a year. It is one of the greatest landmarks of my life to see her with him. He is not my child. He was a frozen embryo. I was a vessel through which a miracle was performed by the hand of God. I love him but not like my own children. It is very hard to explain my feelings without sounding cold. I love him dearly. He is not flesh of my flesh. He is not my child. He was born in her heart long before he was born of my body. He is her son. There are no secrets. He knows exactly how, who, what, when and where of the circumstance of his birth and he is very cool with it all -often thanking me for giving him a chance to have life and peace with God. He is precious to me in every way. 5. I love pajamas and gowns. I spend as much time as possible each and every day in my pj's. I love cold, wet days with a fire burning and the tv on low in the background. I love to read, crochet, cross stitch, sew, garden, cook, craft, etc. There isn't much I can't do when I set my mind to it. I am a published author. Nearly a dozen years ago I published a local history of the 1861 - 1865 period in my home county back in Georgia. I can walk into the Library of Congress right now and request this book and they will bring it to me. MY dream is to have a PhD in history. At the rate I am having children I may never get the chance to go back to school and finish that dream. For several years I drove a school bus. Of all the jobs I have held (other than Momma) this job paid the least but was the most rewarding and satisfying of them all. Be good to your child's school bus drive. Make an effort to get to know him/her. You can't imaging the difference a school bus driver makes in the life of your child. Why? The school bus driver is the first person your child sees in the morning for school and the last in the afternoon. A school bus driver is (should be) an ambassedor for your public school system. if you are a school bus driver and you don't take great interest in your students you are missing out on one of the best gifts life has to offer. If you do, congrats! You Rock! Wow, that was long winded! Now I have to tag five people. Since so many people have already completed this meme how about all of you nice visitors who look radiantly pretty this morning tell us something about yourself we don't know. You can even sign in as Anonymous. Come on. Play along. who's gonna be first? *I hate the word blog. I will be posting a new recipe later today. ***** It is snowing as I sit and look out my window. The fire is crackling. The coffee is hot. The Walton's are on tv. What a fabulous morning I am having. Although I need a nap. Steven had a very rough night inwhich he did NOT sleep more than 30 minutes at a time. I did everything and had no idea what was wrong. This morning he is sneezing giant gobs of snot. We made it 9 months before he ever got a cold and now he has one every other week it seems. He is building one heck of an immune system but good grief, enough already with this snot and not sleeping!

... Steven is now 100% a toddler. At 11 months my baby boy seems to be almost like a 2 year old. In the beginning. We took the girls out a week or so ago for burgers. Steven sat and colored one of the children's menus. Steve saved it for the baby book. He is babbling like a brook. I have no idea what he is saying but he is surely talking to us in earnest. He drinks from a cup very well. He feeds himself finger foods. He can feed himself with a spoon if you put the food on the spoon for him. In the middle. He crawls around on the floor pushing cars and trucks and making noises. How can this be? He is 11 months old! Have I told you all lately how I ache watching this baby grow up? All the way to Momma. I do.

I like things in neat tidy packages. If you could see my livingroom you would question my need for organization. Steven has toys every where. Steven walks everywhere now. At 11 months I guess he is officially a toddler now. I cannot believe how fast he picks up a new skill. For example (argghh!!!) the other night Steve was eating popcorn and feeding it to Steven. He takes his tiny fingers and picks up his popcorn bits and they disappear with lightening speed. The dog came up begging and Steve fed her a piece of popcorn by dangling it over her nose. Guess who was watching? Exactly! Now when he is in his highchair and having goldfish crackers (or any cracker) he hangs over looking for the dog and then dangles cheese crackers above her nose. He drops the cracker and she catches it mid-air. Steve has learned quickly NOT to do things in front of this boy. It only takes once and he picks things up and repeats them without flaw! So, back to this organization thing - As I introduced you to my thinner me journal I have decided to post some product reviews over there for the low carb items we have purchased in the past 6 months. I started today with flatout bread. I am going to try to keep all the eating craziness over there on the weighing-in journal. Comments are open. Save the link to your favorites. Go see how many fat lady jiggles this product rated. I was overwelmed by the response to my post on blog templates. I am starting a separate journal to keep up with all of those designs. Please visit me over there to see what I am doing, to see what's new and to see what designs I have done for others. Along the way, over time there will be many freebies over there. So make sure you bookmark Fairy BlogMother Designs. I have had a lot of fun with the graphic for this one. It snowed most of yesterday. The early evening was ice. We had to drive in it to return J. to her mother's. The roads in our county were excellent. Other counties were not as dilligent about getting their roads open. This morning everything was a fine sheet of ice. Steve took Colby's explorer to work. I was just too worried about him trying to take that little mustang on these roads. He was glad he drove the explorer too. the roads in Reston had not been cleared when he arrived at 5am. My big excursion plows right through the ice and the slush. V10 triton engine and 4 wheel drive is hard to stop. I feel safest in my truck. I am so glad it is cold and we got even the smallest bits of ice. I hope it will stay cold for a while to kill off all the bugs otherwise we will be battling mosquitoes the size of bats this summer. The fireplaces are blazing, the house is toasty warm. Steve and I are relaxing on our bed watching Stargate Sg-1 Season 1 Disc 5 (actually I just heard a snore so Steve is not watching! Hahahahaha!). The kids are sleeping. I don't have a headache. I am not hungry. I am not having any cravings. All is well. P.S. I will be trying to answer comments in the comments section. My comments email is backing up and I can't seem to get to everything like a should. Look for replies to your comments there from now on.

We all have dirty secrets. Here is one of mine. If you have a secret you can leave it in the comments. You can be anonymous. I won't tell. It will be our secret.

When I posted yesterday is was because Steven was such a darling baby boy and played and was sweet and let me putter on my pc and do stuff. Then all hell broke loose. He decided that unless he was spread full body across me and both of my hand where ON HIS BODY he would have an ever lovin' fit. After supper last night and most of today he has been in my lap. Playing in my lap. Singing in my lap. Just laying in my arms. He is not sick. He is having a bit of a mood. I will get back to yesterday's post. I am just delayed. Those of you who responded -I'll get with you very soon.

When I am feeling creative and have a few minutes to actually sit in front of my laptop without a little boy snatching on my mouse, banging the keys or high-pitch squealing I browse the interweb in seacrh of things to make banners and template graphics out of. I have made a few with specific people in mind for them. If you find yourself here you don't have to take the design to save my feelings. If you don't like it say so. If you see something here that does not have a blog already named on it it is a free design. It is yours for the asking. For anyone who is a lurker and wants to have their own blog but hasn't taken the plunge OR A lurker and has introduced themselves to me OR A lurker who wants to introduce themselves to me: During the next few hours if you ask me nicely in the comments section I will try and design a template for your blog. Templates will be simple (2 column templates), not complex css or html. I do not have enough time to design anything complex. Very simple banners, 2 column templates, a few little graphic tweaks in the sidebar. Simple. O'kay? I will be updating this post and adding screenshots of new designs to it for the next 24 hours. Remember if you see something here with your name on it or made with you in mind and you don't like it you are under no obligation to take it. Just tell me you hate it. It will NOT hurt my feelings. I'll try again another day. Let's look behind curtain #1 - Maybe for someone's makeup blog? For an Aussie having a baby? I call this one Pink and Pregnant. More coming ... cooking supper ... Curtain #2 Going To The Chapel Our Wedding Day Mommy's Coffee Break No, I do not charged for these. I do ask that you keep my design credit on the template just as I made it.

Last night we drifted into Borders. Not my favorite book store but the ONLY one local to us. Steve, with Steven in his arms, was looking at the geek shelves. Gracie was in the children's section. Colby hunted the history section. I meandered around the store flitting from subject to subject. Finally we all somehow migrated toward the children's section. Steve found books one after the other and read them aloud to the baby. He walks over with a book in his hand. "Would you like to read this one?" "Will it make me cry?" "Probably." His answer was simple.

I will hold you 'til you sleep Safe and warm within my arms Dream of springtime's gentle breezes While my lullaby surrounds you Dearest baby, child of mine I will hold you 'til you sleep. I will hug you when you wake Summer sun will fill your day But if grey clouds storm and thunder I'll be shelter from the rain Dearest baby, child of mine I will hug you when you wake ... I won't finish the book here. For every mother of a son, you need this book. I will Hold You 'Til you Sleep by Linda Zuckerman Illustrated by Jon J Muth

Yes, I cried. We also brought it home.

Saturday night we went to a corporate 'holiday' party. Yes, I know it is January. It seems MANY companies have their holiday parties in January in D.C. It must be easier to rent the ballrooms AFTER the holidays in question because nearly every nice hotel was crawling with party goers. Saturday morning I went out looking for a pair of black heels. I haven't worn heels since before I got pregnant with Steven. I ended up at Payless of all places and found a simple pair of black heels. Everything I own is opened toed and I really thought a closed toe was better with the outfit I was wearing. Palllazo pants with side split and new black heels. I wore a red blouse/jacket type thing that I bought myself before Christmas as a gift to me. I popped in the shop after finally getting a pair of shoes yesterday and found the silver/grey similar styled blouse on clearance and then 40% off that price so I picked it up and brought it home too. I have no idea when I will ever get to wear it. I find this to be a very elegant red. The only thing I have to show for the incredible night view of the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial is this shot of the back of Steve's head. The flash would not turn off! so you can guess I nearly blinded him while he drove us along I-395. If only you could see the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. I did get a photo of the second tunnel on I-395 before we got lost and ended up on New York Avenue down SW way. Holy Moly. Second tunnel on I-395. We were not the only party goers with poor directions. Many people said the directions issued with the invites sucked. But evenutally we found ourselves where we were supposed to be somewhere along New Jersey Ave. in a hotel ballroom. The employees were given $125k in poker chips. Each $25k was worth one raffle ticket. We ended up with $625k in chips at the end of the night. We planned blackjacked and nothing else. Lots of drinks and lots of food. It all flowed freely. The DJ man looked like Jerry springers long lost brother. The games was a large screen TV. People danced. Several women looked to be one drink away from hugging the porcelain throne. It was a fun night. I enjoyed meeting everyone. However ... How do so many very skinny and pretty young 20-something women end up with cellulite clear down to their ankles? Who never taught them that strapless dresses do require undergarments because small saggy breasts make your dresses look cheap. Why do they not comb their hair? I mean seriously when did a hot mess become fashionable? Aside from critisizing their appearance I met several very sweet young women. I also learned that my 'sweet gentlman' husband has been charming these women into submission. They gush over him. They smile so sweetly and offer to get him drinks. They stand behind him and watch him play blackjack. One had a complete startled look when she found out I was his wife. It would be so easy to get upset over this behavior but I know why they fawn over him. He uses his manners while talking to them. I witnessed much less-than-polite behavior from others toward these young girls/women. Steve and his other wife, Angie. Jennifer is not pictured. :-/ One thing that will never die from this night out - our first nice night out in over two years - Steven introduced me as "Jennifer" - as in "This is my wife Jennifer" as I shook the hand of a nice young woman. This was about the 6th or 7th time he was introducing me to someone new. Each time he did suavely and with perfection. This time - ummm not so suave. I shook her hand and said, "Hi, I am Angie, Steve's other wife." Hahahaha! Enough about us. Look who is working. Colby before work. Look who is climbing. Fuzzy photo as I quickly shot, put down the camera and rescued him from himself. CLIMBING.

In honor of the Week for De-lurking: I don't know who you are but I see you! I can't believe how many countries are in that list! Who knew a little journal from the farmlands and foot hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia would be such an international hub! Now - if I could just figure out how to get you all to talk to me. That would be exciting! Some of you are closer to home: Georgia, Augusta, United States - This is my old hometown! Talk to me! South Carolina, Aiken, United States - This is the land of my nativity! Let's chat! Georgia, Atlanta, United States - There are 5 of you visiting from Atlanta. You all should get together and have lunch. How about at that old Tara Plantation out near Buckhead? District Of Columbia, Washington, United States - 8 ip's. Virginia, Broad Run, United States Virginia, Reston, United States - 6 different ip's Virginia, Glade Spring, United States Virginia, Arlington, United States - 2 ip's Virginia, Ashburn, United States Virginia, Galax, United States* Virginia, Purcellville, United States* Virginia, Virginia Beach, United States 2 ip's Maryland, Clinton, United States Maryland, Silver Spring, United States Maryland, Haggarstown, United States* Maryland, Bethesda, United States* You people are insanely close to me. We are almost neighbors. Need to borrow a cup of sugar? Let's have coffee. I'll start the pot. If I say, "Good morning, friends" with a welcoming smile - will you respond? Please? I am always hopeful you all will talk to me. The list is only a very small sampling I cut from the stats log. Don't be offended if you don't see yourself here if you are local to me. Speak up and I'll add you ;-) -What a deceptive way to get you to respond. Hahahahaha! *updates

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I love a great bargain. I am not one of those who makes a purchase simply because the item is on sale for a price that can't be beat. When I need something I try my best to search out the absolute best price possible. Last fall I purchased a set of luxury flannel sheets for our bed. I searched and searched, clicked through nearly all of the smartbargain, nexttag, dealtime, and overstock listings (probably other sites too). I ended up purchasing a king-sized flannel sheet set for $59.99 through overstock. They were 8oz luxury flannel that had been on close-out for a while and had been marked down from $225. Any good thread count sheet for a king-sized bed will run easily close $100 on a good day. So I felt I had made the best possible bargain for the product I wanted. When the sheets arrived I washed them and dried them using good fabric softener and drier sheets. Surely someone was getting an @ss chewing because these were 8oz super luxury sheets with extra deep pockets, double sewn seams and perfect finished hems!!! I rechecked the listing, read the packaging, and everything was just as listed. I went to order another pair but they were already sold out! Dammit!! OMG! Talk about decadent and sleeping in the lap of luxury. The more the sheets were used the better they got. They are on our bed now and I can't wait until bedtime to get to slip between the warm softness and settle into slumber. Over the past year (fall, winter, fall and now winter again) every time I have climbed into bed with those sheets on it I have felt guilty about sleeping so well when my children where upstairs and couldn't enjoy the same experience of settling down at night and drifting off as if sleeping in a warm cotton cloud. Since then I have been looking and searching the internet over trying to find flannel sheets for their beds that would not break the bank. You know that old saying about sleeping in the bed you make? I take that very literally. Steve works very hard for us and when he is home I feel he deserves a good meal and a great bed to sleep in. I am not selfish, what is good enough for he and I is equally as good for our children. We have six beds in this house. Ours is king, Colby's is queen, Gracie and J. both have a full, and Steven's room has two twin beds. To buy even cheap sheets (which I do not buy) can be a very expensive undertaking. So I searched. And searched. And searched. This month in a department store New Year Clearance sale is where I scored hugely in savings. It pays to bargain shop! To add to my delight any order over $50 got free shipping! Yes!! So I ordered the sheets, 5 sets, 1 queen, 2 full, 2 twin. I figured once the sheets arrived if they did not meet my approval I could send them back. No gain but no loss. The sheets arrived this week. I opened the packages. The sheets felt really nice. They had a good hand. They were indeed heavy weight flannel (6oz). I could only wish for luxury weight (8oz) flannel at that price. But heavy weight is good! Considering alot of flannel sheets weigh in at a basic 4oz flannel.

Note here for those who maybe don't understand threadcounts and cotton flannel weights. The higher the threadcount in your sheets the better quality the sheet. I never buy below 450TC. I do not like sleeping on sandpaper and they do not hold up and last very long. Cheap sheets have to be replaced too often, they will get discolored and you can see they become threadbare after a few dozen washings. They also have a tendency to become slick. It is like a sheen on them. The better the sheet the more soft and comfy they become after each washing. Flannel sheets (100% cotton) come in different weights per square yard. The basic sheets at 4oz or below. The moderate heavy at 5.2 oz. Super Heavy wieght at 6.0+ and luxury at 8oz+. Try to buy heavy weight or luxury if you want a good set of sheets that will last you many winter nights.

Damn?! I know too much about sheets! So anyway, I washed the sheets with a nice lavendar detergent. Dried them with a matching lavendar drier sheet. Each bed was stripped down and remade with super soft, deep pocketed, flannel sheets. It took the girls less than 1 minute to realize the difference. There was giggling and snuggling. Thank you's rang out and they proclaimed how they were going to sleep so comfy and cozy with warm feet and toes-ies. Hours spent looking for the bargain for the best product = ALOT! 5 sets of flannel sheets = $92.95 Free shipping = $0.00 The giggling and the rhyming and the thank you's = priceless. The sheets are good quality. I am ordering a second set for each bed. at that price it is an exceptional bargain.

Your sheets should rest between washings. It makes them last a lot longer. When you put fresh sheets on your bed, wash the ones you took off, dry them, fold them while warm so they don't wrinkle, (I iron the top part so they look neat on the bed when folded back and the pillow cases. Hush, I do! Because I am crazy like that.), and lay them away. Sheets should rest 2 weeks before going back on a bed. Here that is not possible as I only have 2 sets per bed for summer and (now) winter. But only being used half the year will add to their longevity.

Promise me this- The next time you are buying sheets for your bed you will bargain hunt AND get a nice thread count sheet. O'kay? O'kay! If you go slowly, 1 bed at a time, 1 item at a time by this time next winter you too could be sleeping in the lap of luxury. I know there are doubters out there. Quality and Quantity. These are the keys to waking up rested and in a fairly descent mood (-not withstanding those of us in general who just are not morning people and do not wake like little mary sunshine). Each bed here is outfitted with good matresses. Simmons beauty rest and Sealy luxury rest is the style and brand of mattress. Over the past 4 years we have managed to replace or purchase 1 set of mattresses. Stev had a waterbed when we married ( it killed my back after a while) and I had a queen size four poster. The ick and eww factor of sleeping where an ex-spouse had slept quickly had us buying a new bed - the king-sized sleigh bed we now have. When we first married there wasn't room for Colby and Gracie both to have their queen size bed in the townhouse. I gave those beds to people who really needed a good bed when moved to Virginia. At that time we then bought J. and Grace a set of twin beds because they had to share a bedroom. Colby got the existing full sized bed for the 3rd nedroom in the townhouse. Talk about a full house!!! When we purchased our farmhouse the following year Colby got a new bedroom suite for never complaining and being a good sport about sleeping in a twin bed because the full sized bed reverted to J. as it was hers originally. The following year (last year) when I brought up my family heirloom furniture from Georgia that was in storage Gracie got my cast iron bed for her bedroom and new mattresses were purchased for her. So that has been 1 set of mattress every year we have been together. I bargain hunted for those babies, too. I know some of you hate Walmart but I bought them online at walmart.com and paid 1/3 or less than a showroom/mattress store sells them for even with the shipping.

If your mattresses are more than 10 years old you may need to think about replacing them. Are they pristinely clean? Stain free? Covered in mattress barrier protective covers that zip? No? Think about replacing them.

It has taken four years now but each bed here is outfitted as follows: Good mattresses Mattress protective covers Quilted mattress pad NASA memoryfoam mattress pad Feather bed (feather and down mix) 2 sets summer sheets (100% cotton) 2 sets winter sheets (100% cotton) (now) Quilt Down Comforter (feather and Down) Duvet set Coordinating dust ruffle 2 sets of pillows (1 for decorative shams, 1 for sleeping and snuggling) No, that is not too much. Ask Martha. It is all really a good thing (but I do NOT agree with her about buying only flat sheets). All purchased on sale at 50% or more discounts. There are few pleasures in this life. A few creature comforts are worth saving/planning for. I want my girls to know that part of having a wonderful home is providing a few creature comforts for the people who live there. Our house is not fancy. We have a fire in the hearth, warm rugs on the wood floors, and wonderful beds to climb into at night. This is my idea of living well -physically. (I do not mean emotional, spiritual, etc. I mean physical creature comforts of providing a home for your family.) What is your idea of physically living well in this department? What is the best deal you have scored? Updated to add: *The sheets are from the Laura Ashley Collection - they are name brand designer sheets at thrift store price.