Crayola Slick Stix

I. Hate. These.

They're just wax, surprisingly enough, with absolutely no other hazardous chemicals regulations - unusual for a children's product in this day and age. I've checked them out. There's nothing particularly hazardous about them, but they piss me off.

They don't come off of vinyl linoleum.

There's a PDF file available if you search for these things, and I suppose Crayola thinks they're being useful by providing it, but let's face it: their suggestion of some Soft Scrub and patience is really not all that helpful. I've taken several cleansers to the floor to no avail; I'm about to just break out the baking soda and call it good. I feel like I'm running out of options as I stare blankly at these happy little blue streaks across my mother's white-and-cream linoleum floors, because I can see her coming home in half an hour, likely grumpy about all the stuff that hasn't gotten properly moved in or adjusted yet - never mind the mess in the living room thanks to the boys who decided that "time to clean up" actually translates into "please dump out another bucket of blocks, that sounds like a great time for all" - and finding these lovely, darling streaks across her floor. The funny thing is that every time she has colored with them, there hasn't been even the tiniest speck of those evil, soft, squishy crayons on the floor. The first time I color with them, this happens. I suppose it's a guarantee; Murphy's Law, and all.

Meanwhile, on to money.

Oh, yes, money.

I've found that a good way of earning some cash on the side - either to add to bill payments, use as spending money, or to help out with gifts at holiday times - is to utilize sites that offer monetary payouts. One of those sites I'm coming to like quite a bit, and it's the SuperPoints Network.

Just thinking about it makes me drool.

Watch a few videos, maybe complete a couple of offers, and click that darn SuperLucky Button as many times as you're able and earn points - then use those points toward things as huge as a MacBook Pro or as small as a $5 gift card to something silly like Jamba Juice. What I really like, though, are the options to get $10 or $25 deposited into your PayPal account. I have to admit, it can become really addictive to do, and once you get that first payout, it feels like you're legitimately helping yourself in a way that a 9-5 job never could.

So if you want an invite to this exclusive network of awesomesauce, I highly suggest signing up here! If for whatever reason that code doesn't work (for instance, if it says it was already used), try clicking here instead. I have other codes I can offer out if anybody else is interested and these two go. :)

Speaking of 9-5 jobs, or rather ANYTIME jobs, I'm going to go clean up after the boys, do some dishes, clean up the remainder of Alex's lunch, then work on assembling some of our belongings appropriately in the rooms they belong in. Once Mom's home and gets a chance to relax, I'm hoping she'll watch the boys a bit so I can go down to the house and work on grabbing some more stuff to bring up here - like my crafting stuff, and maybe my plants. Err, what's left of my poor plants - my tomatoes are managing but just about everything else is dead, my chives included. :(

When my brain explodes, it'll make this sound

Ka-BLOOEY!

That's pretty much all I have going for me right now. The house still isn't cleared out enough to say that we're on the right track, but we're getting there. We only have our UHaul truck until 8AM tomorrow, so we're kind of running at a frantic pace right now, desperately trying to get as much out right now as possible. We've had help off and on all day - watching kids, moving things, and generally being as helpful as possible. It isn't ideal, but then again, "ideal" would be having a whole slew of people out here all at once and having the entire moving process only take a few hours. That would also require us having absolutely everything already packed, and we certainly didn't. As with most of our moves, the last of our items have been put into bags, and will no doubt spend a good couple of weeks in the storage unit until we're at a point when we can head out and re-store some things. It's generally a huge disaster, but we can only do so much right now. Hubby is doing all the hard work, moving things and transporting them, so I've pulled him inside after our last bout of help has left so he can sit, rest, get a drink and cool down. It's horribly hot outside - the actual temperature was 102 last we checked, and with the heat index we've been sitting between 110 and 115 all afternoon. It's too much, but I'm wondering if this is better than rain. Maybe it is - maybe it isn't. I don't dare say rain would be better, because we've moved when it's pouring, and that's no better in the long run.

Also, a big congrats shout-out to an awesome person and an amazing woman in general, Raven - who is expecting an equally-as-kickass bundle of joy at the end of January! I couldn't be happier for her, and I'm so thrilled that I have yet another reason to crochet some adorable animals! Of course, obviously my biggest concern is the pictures, because I looooooove new baby pictures. Hopefully next summer if (when?) we head up that way we'll get to meet the newbie! (And finally Raven - I've never actually gotten to meet her for any length of time!)

Back to some Thundercats, then off to Nana's house to move some stuff at her place, then back to the insanity of trying to move things. Wish us well; we need it. Love and blessings to everybody.