Julie Gumm - Author

When did THIS happen?

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When did I become mom to a 12-year-old?

An amazing 12-year-old at that. (With some nice bed-head going on.)

He is our sports nut and loves to watch all the games on TV with Dad. He’ll play every sport he has the chance to, although he’s determined to be professional football player (American football at that). I’m encouraging the dream, as he has deemed mom the recipient of the largest portion of his riches 🙂

Luke is hard-working – the first to grab the trash bag when I say “Will someone take this out?” The first one done with his chores.

He’s generous – often spending his money buying something for someone else.

He’s silly (him and Natalie make quite a pair) and sensitive and I can’t imagine our family without him.

Happy Birthday Luke!

Another distraction

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I have a love/hate relationship with the Internet. On the one hand it’s a very handy tool. Can’t imagine our life before it.

On the other hand, it keeps creating new and interesting ways for me to waste inordinate amounts of time.

Like this.

This is Pinterest.com

It’s like giant bulletin board (or multiple bulletin boards) that allow you to “pin” things you find and like on the internet. Cool fashion, crafts to make, home decor items.

Or if you’re like my friend Kristen, create a board for “A Critical Discussion of James Franco and His Relative Hotness“.

You can view your friend’s boards, repin their stuff, and suddenly three hours of my life have gone by.

 

Date Night Finds

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Last night Mark and I went out for a LONG overdue date night. (Yeah, trying finding a babysitter in the month of May – crazy!)

We had a yummy dinner at Outback, free thanks to some generous friends who had given us gift cards.

Then we went thrift store hopping.

Yes, we’re wild and crazy like that.

Of course, it’s way less fun when we’re in “clean out” mode around the house. Can’t tell you the number of things Mark picked up and then put back. He had a credit to use at one store and I found a couple cute dresses and 3 pairs of nearly new shoes for the girls for $24 (free w/ credit).

At a different store I scored these two finds.


One-quart pitcher that matches our dishes (didn’t even know they made one) $6.99


Super cute denim purse, lots of pockets inside, looks new $7.99

I promised to purge at least one purse today since I bought one 🙂

Thrifting definitely takes some discipline, otherwise you’ll end up with tons of  stuff you don’t need. And a good deal on something you’re never going to use is NOT a good deal.