So, my husband is on a quest. He wants to find a funny book to keep at his desk. Apparently several of his co-workers have a funny book in their cubicle so he wants one ‘to show off his sense of humor.’

He wants something that someone else doesn’t already have. Some books that are already taken include:

Zombie Survival Guide

The Areas of my Expertise

I had suggested a couple of books that he already has but he said they weren’t work appropriate. Anyway, I guess he will find this mystery book the next time we are at the book store. Any suggestions?

I had to buy Rae some more soap and not wanting just to get a regular bar, I decided to give Johnson Buddies a try. I was lured in by the ‘lasting longer than regular soap’ tagline and since the soap was less than $1, I was sold on it. The yellow box made Rae think it was colors as she kept getting it out of the bathroom and asking me to open it. Finally bath time rolled around and I did open the yellow box.

She might have been disappointed from the lack or crayons, but the soap works just as the box described. It’s easy to get a good lather with it. Also the cloth makes it easy to grasp and hang onto. The smell is more of a clean fragrance so it isn’t overpowerful. Overall we are real happy with it and will buy another one when the time comes to replace it.

My husband turned an old storage box into a cat bed to protect the cats from the elements.

He took some old bedding to line the bottom with it and to make the curtain. I’m not sure that cats really appreciate it or even if Fade, the bigger cat, can get through the opening. I guess if it gets cold enough again, they will test it out.

I had used a cardboard banana box that the cats seemed to enjoy sleeping in. The top had the hole in it, so it was easy to get fully into the box. The storage box is the upgraded version of their cat house. They seem not as impressed with it. Hopefully we are done with the brutally cold nights. Next year we will have to come up with another cat house solution.

Being sick this past week has put me way behind on many chores. The laundry needs to be done, dishes, and general cleaning are just a few of the tasks I need to get done soon.

I know it’s good to shop around for life insurance quotes or car insurance quotes. But finding the time even when I haven’t been sick is nearly impossible. Our car insurance is due this month, so now would be the time to find a better rate. I’m pretty happy with it, so I think I will just concentrate on catching up with our household.

Maybe in a few more months I will check into some new quotes but for now I just want to get caught up with household chores.

I have to admit that when I want to know more about a medical condition, I turn to the Internet. Some websites are more credible than others for information like mesothelioma or heart disease. Usually I first visit Web MD and then I usually will do a search for more information.

You can find expert advice as well as support groups for practically any condition out there. It is kind of nice to know that information and support is so close by since it can feel very lonely to think you or a loved one is going through this all by yourself. While some news on the Internet might be untruthful, it is still a good source to find out more information and to find others who are willing to lend support.

Living in the country is great. No noisy neighbors, plenty of fresh air, and very peaceful. Unfortunately there is a price for all this: modern technology just doesn’t work as well out here. We have no cable, and our only option for high speed Internet is satellite. The biggest inconvenience is our cell phone service.

I get fair reception on my front porch, but once I step inside the house, those bars drop. I’m lucky if I can make a call inside most days. Usually even if it shows one bar, my call will be dropped. Sometimes it’s just impossible to stand outside to make a phone call.

Here is the signal I receive outside.

And the signal inside, on a good day.

Since we do not have a home phone, I’ve been looking into buying a universal cell phone booster from Powerful Signal to help with reception at the house. It’s sad when my Mom calls, who lives a few hundred feet away, and the call gets dropped. A cell phone booster could be just the thing to help make phone calls from within our home. When you depend solely on your cell phone, it needs to work when you need it to.

Also, the reception on the road to work is spotty. So having a universal cell phone booster from Powerful Signal could be used either at home or in the car would be a great help to ensure we have a cell signal when we need it. Here is the signal a mile from our home.

So, not only do we have poor reception at our house but have poor reception around our house. A cell phone booster would work with both of our carriers and work either at home or in the car. That way we could always make a call when we need to and isn’t that the point of having a cell phone anyway?

The Ultimate Blog Party is just a few weeks away over at 5minutesformom.com. This is my first year to take part in it, and I’m really looking forward to it as it is a great way to discover new blogs.

The week of March 7-14, participants will need to make a blog post and then go to 5 minutes for Mom to add it to Mr. Linky. Then it’s time to party hop around to see what is going on with other party members.

There will be a ton of prizes given away this week. In fact, I’m contributing a Pirates of the Caribbean portable CD player:

So, mark your calendars and come join the party.

Thank goodness our federal taxes are done. Now we just have to file state. I have never done any financial reporting to the IRS other than filing taxes, but I’m thinking this year about paying in quarterly. I really have no idea what form to use or anything else. Even though the past few years we’ve gotten a refund, I want to keep it that way. So, if that means paying in during the year, then I’ll do it.

I’m not wild about ‘loaning’ the IRS my money, but it’s better to do that instead of having to owe, which could always happen. I never think that I know exactly how our taxes will go. One year I expect it to be a nice, fat refund only to be sorely disappointed when we owe. So it’s best just to prepare to owe money and then be pleasantly surprised when we don’t.

This past week we all have been sick. When we all get sick and start to feeling better, that’s when I started disinfecting like nobody’s business. I wash all bedding, throw away toothbrushes, and spray every surface with Lysol.

Last month I did none of this when we were sick and here we are, a few weeks later, sick again. Lesson learned. So, I go to buy some Lysol and can’t find it. It’s not where it usually is. No problem. My mom will let me borrow hers. Well, if I could ever remember to take it home. Finally today after work I stopped by the drug store to pick up a can.

I go to the section where it should be and again no Lysol. After spending a few minutes looking, I finally found it on the end of the row. I didn’t recognize the can because it was shrink wrapped with a smaller, travel size version of Lysol free. Perfect, I thought. That’s just the right size for my purse to spray down the office. I made my purchase and headed home.

I’ve already started washing the bedding and have disinfected the door knobs, handles, and keyboards. It may not do that much good but I feel better already. I can’t believe I didn’t do this last month. I know it takes constant vigilance when it comes to germs. Hopefully this will be our last bout of the season.

Hope everyone has a nice Valentine’s Day! Being a married woman, I don’t get much these days for Valentines but that’s fine. Now that the little one is here, everything is about her anyway. I do need to pick her up something for the day. Hopefully I will be feeling less sick this afternoon and can go do that. Besides waiting til today to buy Valentine’s products means they could possibly already be on sale!