MIsc | FabGrandma

The Grandchildren Are Coming To Visit

February 15, 2012 By Fab Grandma 3 Comments

Amelia

I may call myself Fabgrandma, but my grandchildren call me Granny. I don’t get to see them very often, but I am always so happy to see them when I do. The three that live in Maryland are coming to visit soon, and will actually be the first members of our family to spend the night in our new house. Of course I don’t have any beds for them to sleep in yet, so they will have to sleep on air mattresses on the floor, but I don’t think they will mind.

Spencer, Owen, Sarah, and Michael in 2010

I am not sure yet just when they are coming–their parents, my son and daughter-in-law, told me at first that they were coming in February, this month. Then they found out that Owen, their 4 year old, had to have a tonsilectomy. Little Owen had his surgery on Friday last week, and he is still in the hospital. The poor little guy aspirated some fluid into his lungs during surgery, and that led to pneumonia, and now they are testing him for MRSA and other viruses because they can’t get his fever down. I certainly hope he feels better soon and gets to go home.

Michael

As always, when the grandchildren are coming to town, I have been trying to think of things to do with them that will keep them entertained. There is not much for them to do at this grandmother’s house, so I am looking for activities that will give them some memories of being here. I found an old tire out at the back of our property, so I am looking now for a rope to make a tire swing. I have also thought about getting one of these basketball goals from Pro Dunk Hoops so that they can work off some energy, and maybe I’ll even get out there and shoot a few hoops with them. THAT should be a laughable memory for everyone!

Spencer

Whatever we decide to do, I’ll also take lots of pictures and print them out, and we’ll all sit down together on their last day here and make a scrapook of our visit for them to take home. That way, they can go back and look at all the pictures and remember all the fun we had. I can hardly wait for them to get here now!

Sarah

Filed Under: Family, MIsc

I Think My Hair Is Thinning…..

February 8, 2012 By Fab Grandma 9 Comments

For many years, I wore my hair short. Really short. I couldn’t stand for it to get long. And it was dark:

1993

2000

2006

Then I started working as a park ranger, and more often than not people called me “SIR”. So, I decided to let my hair grow out so I would look a little bit more feminine when I was at work:

2011

And then I stated being able to see my scalp through my hair! I could not believe that the dark, thick hair I used to have is now not only gray, but thinning as well!

Nov 2011

You can see in the photo above that my hair really is thinner, and my scalp is showing so pink through that gray hair! I am wondering what there is out there in the way of products that prevent hair loss in women, or at least make my hair look thicker.

All this could just be from me getting older, but I have been wondering about it for some time. Whenever I wash my hair it seems like handfuls of it comes out and clogs up the shower drain, and whenever I brush it, my hairbrush is full of hair. It could just seem like a lot because it is longer now, and I just didn’t notice as much when it was short.

What about you? Do you seem to be losing hair as your get older?

Filed Under: General, MIsc

This Guy Makes Me Smile!

February 3, 2012 By Fab Grandma 1 Comment

It comes as not surprise that Fabgrandpa makes me smile! He is always doing little things for me, like getting me my cold meds, or a bowl of ice cream. He always cleans the bathrooms in our house and has done the laundry since he moved in oh, over twenty years ago. This week while I have been feeling sick, he even did the dishes a couple of times.

I was thinking about this because I saw this contest: Who Makes You Smile. The prize is a trip to New York City for two people plus $1000 spending money, and a photo shoot. Now THAT would really make me smile, and Fabgrandpa and I could capture that smile in the photos!

Filed Under: MIsc

Bosch ICON Wiper Blades

January 30, 2012 By Fab Grandma

This giveaway is now closed. The winner has been notified by email. Thank you to everyone who entered.
bosch icon wiper blades Have you ever wanted to go along on a high speed chase, looking for tornadoes with a storm chaser? I have thought about it, and while part of my really wants to do that, there’s another part that says “No way! I’ll just watch on TV.” But, if you are that person who is ready to jump in the car, now is your chance to win a seat in the storm chaser car!

To celebrate the introduction of their new ICON Wiper Blades, Bosch is holding a contest where one lucky Facebook fan and a guest will win an experience of a lifetime: an all-expenses-paid, five-night VIP Storm Chasing trip for you and a guest, with Reed Timmer of Discovery Channel’s STORMCHASERS. Watch this video to get more information about Bosch ICON Wiper Blades, then click here to enter to win their fantastic giveaway on Bosch Facebook Fan page!

You can also win a prize pack from Bosch right here at Fabgrandma! Just leave a comment telling me your most frightening tornado or storm experience, and you could win this prize pack that includes:

• A set of Bosch ICON wiper blades ($50 value)
• “Storm Chasers – Season 4” DVD ($55 value)
• A signed copy of Reed Timmer’s book “Into The Storm” ($20 value)
• A Bosch C3 6V/12V Fully Automatic 4-Mode Battery Charger ($70 value)

For extra entries:

Follow Bosch on Facebook

Follow Bosch on Twitter

Follow Fabgrandma on Twitter

Tweet (one time per day only) about this giveaway: “Bosch Icon Windshield Wipers clear the way! http://bit.ly/A9pUUT #win a prize pack for yourself @fabgrandma! #giveaway”

This giveaway will end on February 20, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST. One winner will receive (1) Bosch Prize pack as described above. The winner will be selected using And The Winner Is…plugin. Giveaway open to US mailing addresses only. Winner will be notified by email, so please make sure you use a valid email address when entering. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to the notification of winning. If the winner does not respond in 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. You can enter once each day by tweeting about the giveaway one time each day per twitter account. Giveaway is open to residents of the United States and must be 18 years old or over. Prize is the responsibility of and will be shipped to the winner by the sponsor. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery after the giveaway closes. I was provided with a pair of Bosch ICON windshield wipers as compensation for hosting this giveaway.

Filed Under: MIsc

Dreaming About My New Kitchen

January 26, 2012 By Fab Grandma Leave a Comment

Well, here we are, living in the back yard of our house, in our RV. We’d love to move on in to the house until we have to go back to work, but alas, there is no stove, no refrigerator, no bed, no sofa, and no TV over there. Even if we bought a bed and slept in the house, we’d have to get dressed and walk through the yard to the trailer just to get a cup of coffee in the morning.

We aren’t going to do the remodeling on the kitchen until November, but that doesn’t mean I can’t dream about what it will be like once the work is completed. I know we will get rid of the dishwasher–we won’t use one just for two people. That will create more storage space in the kitchen cabinets.

dual fuel cooker

We’re also going to get rid of that old electric cooktop, and get a freestanding gas stove. I actually found a Hotpoint Dual Fuel Cooker online, which is a gas stove with an electric convection oven. I never knew things like that existed, but it would give me the best of both worlds!

I know there will be new counter tops, a refrigerator, maybe a new sink, and possibly new cabinet doors, if the existing ones can’t be matched. It’s fun to think about all this, and think about how my new kitchen is going to shape up.

Filed Under: MIsc

A New Financial Goal For The New Year

January 23, 2012 By Fab Grandma 4 Comments

credit card debt, financial goals, paying off debt

Now that we have closed on the house, and spent tons of money on the sewer connection, electric connection parts, propane tank, furniture, etc., etc., etc. it is time to start planning for the next phase. We have a little bit more to accomplish before we leave to go back to Arizona, but for the most part we are done spending money. Now we are going to be on a mission to pay off our credit card debt.

We have less than $5,000 to pay off, which is not a lot. We have had way more credit card debts in the past, but paid them off long ago. We have tried really hard to keep those bills in check. I have only used credit cards for medical bills–and those credit cards have come in handy when I needed them.

Along with the credit card balances we have on three cards, we also have a couple of medical bills that are being carried by the medical facilities. I thought about paying them off with one of the credit cards, but those facilities are not charging interest on the balance, so I am just making the monthly payments on those. Once we pay off the credit cards, I will use the money we have been paying on the credit cards to pay off those medical bills.

The last thing we have to pay off is a consumer credit debt we just incurred to purchase a washing machine and dryer for the new house. I would have liked to have waited until we had the cash to pay for them, but the company offered a payment plan

“12 months same as cash”, where we can take a year to pay for those two items, and pay no interest on the debt. It made sense to us to go ahead and get them now, and save the money we have been spending at the Laundromat. That $12 a week for 52 weeks will almost pay for the purchase.

So, here is our long term plan for 2012:

Pay off three credit cards
Pay off two medical bills
Pay off one consumer credit account
Put $2,500 a month in a savings account
Reduce the amount we spend on groceries by 25%
Close our account at Bank of America (we have already opened a new account at a credit union)
Eat out less

That is my financial plan for this year. Are you taking any steps to change your financial status this year? Do you set goals for savings or for paying off bills?

Filed Under: General, MIsc