DD, MM, & LL for today 9/28/2013

Daily Dozen

1. Snow... If it's going to be cold, might as well be pretty outside as well. Also, it makes the boys and my husband SO excited. Arslan said, "It's snowing! We can ski in the snow." That's our two-year-old. I think he'll be an amazing skier by age four and will routinely leave me in the dust, pardon me, in the powder.
2. Warm house... cold outside warm on inside--actually, isn't that an interesting idea for a recipe?
3. Quiet by both boys. Normally, that would worry me, but for now they're quietly eating food.
4. Tea
5. Brilliantly funny book, "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?"
6. Empty fridge -- time to go shopping but glad it's empty so I can clean it first. It was hard for our fridge to be empty because mama-in-law keeps separate groceries and so did the roommate we had.
7. Aspen trees -- so pretty in the fall
8. Interest free credit cards -- saved us from paying interest on our medical bills that the hospital was charging.
9. Insurance on the rental car -- hailstorm came through last night. I don't have to worry about hail damage to car, window chip, or anything like that.
10. Insurance adjusters are real people with kids, business, bills, and accidents that happen to them, too
11. Stool -- not the BM kind, but the one that lets me access the top shelves!
12. Smart Phone -- I budget and record all expenses and income like cash tips from my bartender/server job into YNAB, use a to do list to grocery shop, call and research stuff on the fly, read books on the bus, check the bus schedule, write to my boss, husband, vet virtual assistant candidates, sell on eBay, etc... all from my phone. Amazing.

Magic Moments

• Last night after I got home, my husband Gabriel poured me a glass of wine and gave me a foot rub as we chatted. It was so nice. He was very talkative and we shared about some memories we had, our day, thoughts about our career choices and how we chose our majors in college. It was like we were dating and just getting to know each other... fresh and interesting.
• Kaleidoscope with the boys... the LED flashlight in the back made for a brilliant display they couldn't get enough of!

Lessons Learned

• http://7secretsearch.com/page/about Pretty interesting way to gauge your website's worth...
• iPage emailed me with $1.89/mo hosting offer and a free domain. Seemed like a great offer, so I started thinking about what free domain I want... Luckily, I checked out their reviews before I got too far. Wow, they suck. Slow servers, will give you occasional pop ups from their affiliates, will not refund money, etc. Not getting hosting from them. Ha. 
• But hey, I guess it goes to show you that random email offerings will get me thinking about purchasing. Email marketing works.
• Also, your online reviews are the thing to watch for an online company! Treat online reviews like the ultimate holy grail--with undying reverence, and look for them high and low... Good ones will give you eternal life.
• Never, ever leave a toddler next to a candle for a second. My son seemed to be innocently watching and trying to keep himself from blowing it out. I turned my head for a second and he was trying what the candle would do to the toilet paper! Talk about heart attack. We had a light chat about fire and safety... but mostly I had a stern self-talk.
• The rug is always dirty. I just vacuumed the rug thoroughly 3 times, cleaning the canister out each time, and got lots of stuff and fuzz each time. Our rug isn't particularly dirty because I have a convenient cordless that I use at least twice a week. It just goes to helping me conclude that I will probably not buy carpeting. I wonder though if it's the quality of the rug, too. I mean, would a really nice handwoven Persian rug, like the one my parents used to have, shed fuzz every time? Also, would a Roomba be really worth buying if you had to clean out the canister that often?