VH1 Baby, Trade Days, Slacks from Ross

My beautiful blond boy woke up screaming at 5 a.m. I tried everything. A sippy cup of milk, a tsp. of ibuprofen, some Origel, a pacifier, sleeping in our bed, walking him back and forth.

Turns out he just wanted to watch some VH1. I turned on the Jump Start music videos – why don’t they play these more than just in the early morning? He shut right up. Snuggled up. And drifted off to sleep. I tried to go back to bed. Nope. Wasn’t gonna happen. Back to the living room and VH1 and right back to slumberland.

Heading off to an area swap meet. It’s called a Trade Day. Quite possibly I am even cheaper than Thrifty Mommy. Sometimes I think I am cheap to the point of mental illness. You know, like when I insist on shaving my legs with the cheapest possible razor only to suffer razor burn and cuts for 20 years rather than spend an extra $8. Really struggling to find a balance.

For instance, I staged a photograph of all the grandkids, including the newborn, on Easter for my mother-in-law’s Mother’s Day gift. I ordered a very nice 16X20 canvas print from a professional lab. Paid extra for a luster gloss and even some color correction because I don’t trust the color on my monitor. However, today I’m looking for the frame to put it in at the Trade Days. Why not recycle one that I can pick up for cheap? I’m hoping to spend no more than $5 for a $200ish frame. I’ve done it before.

Also on my list of things to find is a Zack-sized chair. He’s really into sitting in his own chair, but sadly he doesn’t have one yet. Hoping to blow less than $2 on this expenditure.

I took my mentee girl shopping last night for our big mentoring banquet that’s coming up. I was excited to go looking for formal dresses. Really I virtually never have any reason to get really dressed up. I’ve been using the same formal gown since after having my daughter, but the last time I wore it I was finally too small. Great excuse to buy a new one. Turns out kids today are not that interested in wearing any type of formal gown or fancy dress. She bought a pair of slacks and a blouse. Since we first went to Ross, the outfit cost only $20 total and we had $30 of our budget to score some pumps and a handbag. She was thrilled to get the new shoes and bag. Hello, Payless. You could pay more, but why?

Since she’s wearing pants, I’ll just wear the black pin-striped slacks my mother-in-law handed down. I may find a fancy blouse for cheap, cheap, cheap today at the swap meet.

Wish me luck.