It’s nice to travel but it’s  so good to be back home. I look forward to a good night’s sleep in my own bed. It seems the older I get, the more I like my bed.

I used to could sleep practically anywhere but not anymore. So, I’m looking forward to a good nights rest tonight.

Most days I enjoy living in a small town except when I try to find something that is just not available locally. It’s not only about shopping but think of how easy it would be to find a mover NYC compared to mover insert small town. There is just more available in big cities.

Good thing there’s the Internet since you can find basically anything on it. It does help that I can find those items not sold locally online but still it’s just more fun to shop in a store. Of course I do wind up spending more when I shop in a store compared to online.

Another problem I’m having with my small town is finding a local mom’s group. I joined one website that is suppose to show questions from moms in my area. The closet one I’ve seen so far lives in a surrounding state. That’s not what I would exactly close someone in my area.

Small town life is usually great. It’s just some days I wish we had more options.

Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don’t do it. ~Author Unknown

This is my new favorite holiday, No Housework Day. No Housework day was April 7. I had planned to do something spectacular here on Housewife for it but, alas, it came and went without me noticing!

I have to admit that there are days that I do very little around the house, so I probably ‘celebrated’ it well without even trying. I think No Housework Day should be at least a bi-monthly event, not just once a year. Who’s with me?

My husband usually empties his pockets in the same location each day. He knows that it is dangerous to leave his wallet in his pants because it’s likely it will get washed.

I try to remember to check the pockets but sometimes I am in a hurry and just throw the clothes in the wash. I’ve had to replace a few of his wallets. I’m thinking about getting him a nice wallet from Johnston and Murphy that might withstand a little more wear and tear than his previous wallets. Of course, those would have lasted longer had they not been washed so many times.

The good thing is that since I’ve washed his wallet so many times since that he no longer gets upset about it or even says that much about the incident. He knows I don’t do it on purpose, but these things happen.

Today we are basically staying inside since it has been raining and just not a good day to get out. It’s usually days like today that are good for making plans for better weather days.

So, I’ve been thinking of some places we can go this summer. We would love to make the Tennessee Renaissance Festival that is in May. If we can find some cheap flights and a good deal on a hotel, then this might be a possibility.

I also want to go tour the Stennis Space Center. It’s about an hour from here and admission is free. It’s something I’ve always wanted to check out, so this hopefully will be the summer that we actually make it there.

There’s also the children’s museum that we want to go to as well as a local water park. There are plenty of great things to do that are relatively close to where we are.

Thinking about all of this makes me once again want to start a website that is dedicated to places you can take preschoolers. I’m sure there is probably one or 100 sites already. What I really need to find is a way to just contribute to one or even just start a Squidoo lens on the subject. One thing I’ve learned from trying to maintain a lot of blogs is that it takes a lot of work. I just don’t have the energy to take on any more projects by myself.

This is what rainy days are good for. Thinking about all the places we want to to and tasks that we want to accomplish.

We’ve been working on Rae’s room this past week. It still needs a lot of work. We have some painting to do and a few minor repairs. I noticed today that we need a new overhead lighting globe.

While something from Murray Feiss might be nice, it’s just not that practical for right now. So, we will probably look for something inexpensive. I would really like it to fit in with her room.

Since hubby is artistic, I might get a plain, white globe and let him paint on it. We will have to make sure that we get the right type of paint for the project. The globe styles are so limiting, so if this works will be a good way to make it fit the room.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition is one of those shows that if you watch more than 2 minutes of any part, you are hooked for the rest of the show. Tonight’s episode is for an Alabama family that is very service oriented. They have six boys, the youngest who has Downs Syndrome.

Of course, the new house is gorgeous and meets all the needs of the family. I wonder just how they do it in 7 days? I know they do some work off site and beforehand but still that is a lot to accomplish in a week.

If they were to do my house, as long as my bedroom had a memory foam mattress it would be perfect. Seriously, as long as I have a comfortable place to sleep, everything else is just icing in the cake.

So I watched the very beginning of tonight’s show and had to watch all of it. At least it’s isn’t a tearjerker one. I would need probably the rest of the night to recover from all the emotion.

So, 2008 started off well enough. We were dieting. We were eating less and losing weight. Now, two months later, after being sick we have fallen off the wagon. It’s so hard to get back on.

Aside from restarting our dieting efforts with hoodia, we have to come up with a way to get back to eating right. It’s so hard since eating is one of my favorite things to do. Dieting means eating less, therefore not partaking of my favorite pastime that often.

Next grocery visit we will have to buy more healthy foods. That will mean to do some menu planning. It will be worth it once we get back to our eating routine that we had in January.

Ever since we became parents, we haul around more stuff in our car than ever before. From the stroller to diapers to toys, our car is always a mess. I finally don’t have to carry around a diaper bag anymore but there is still a lot of gear that we have for the girl in the car and in our home.

This week the Parent Bloggers Network is posing the question how do you simplify your toddler/baby gear? Since the girl is our first baby, I had been in the habit of keeping, ie, hoarding, everything of hers to use for the next baby. Well, this plan was really taking up valuable closet space. I decided that it is better to keep very few items and donate the rest. Now I’m beginning to see closet space again plus I know that those baby items are being put to good use.

Some of her baby items I sold in a rummage sale, which not only gave some people a good deal on baby gear but gave me a little extra pocket money. I’ve also given away some baby clothing through out local Freecycle group. I like the philosophy behind Freecycle, so that’s why I also like Zwaggle. Zwaggle is a fun way to get rid of unwanted baby gear or find what you need. Items are free and are ‘purchased’ with Zwaggle points that you receive when you list items. In fact, sign up with the link an get extra Zwaggle points.

I have begun to spring clean our house. We will be going through all of her toys to thin out those she no longer plays with. We love donating our items because it feels good that someone else will be able to use them. Plus it keeps those items out of the landfill, which is always a good thing.

I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of mini-blinds, although you couldn’t tell that from looking at my house. Each window has a mini-blind adorning it. I would prefer to have roller shades on at least the bedroom windows but since it was easier to put up the mini-blinds, so we went with that option. That sounds lazy doesn’t it?

We hung roller shades in Rae’s room at our other house. They worked well and aside from the cat attacking the curtains and the shades, leaving a few puncture holes, they worked great. They kept out the light, which meant that she would sleep longer in the morning.

Our mini-blinds aren’t that old but some are already falling apart. We don’t raise or open them but already they are looking not so stellar. The cats are outside, too, so we can’t blame their appearance on them. I’m disappointed in how they are not holding up since they are less than six months old, especially compared to our roller shades that lasted a lot longer and actually withstood our cats’ torture.

What type of blinds do you have? Which ones would you have if you could have any you wanted?