Happy New Year

Since I don't want to end 2010 on my vent from yesterday, I thought I would briefly blog today. It has FINALLY snowed where I live. Considering some years we have a blizzard by Thanksgiving, this has been a much delayed winter. My daughters wanted to make snow angels at the first sign of snow. 
I hope 2011 brings all of you good things. I am excited by the new year. I'm making some changes (think eating healthier, exercising more) and I hope I can stick with them.
(There's still time to enter my Purex Complete Crystals Softener giveaway).
Happy New Year!

Jazz Hands

We've all worked with someone who is an expert at "Jazz Hands." My friend coined this phrase and I love it. It totally describes a manager I can't stand working with. He is great at making it look like he's working but really isn't doing much. He looks like he's busy on the computer but is really just answering personal email. He sounds like he's involved in a serious phone conversation, but he really just spent a half hour chatting with his wife. He's great at delegating, not supporting. 
I don't work retail because it's fun or even because I want to get out of the house. I work retail because it accommodates my crazy life. It is not my goal to work in retail management. If I wanted endless hours during the holidays I would still be in television news. I am not saying my job is beneath me. It provides me a pay check and a discount. But I bust my butt when I'm there and I expect a "thanks" every now and then, or at least a "hey, things were really crazy when you came in tonight. Thanks for doing what you could to restore order."
I'm just so tired of one particular manager treating all of us like dirt. I think he takes pleasure in making my female coworkers cry. At least I'm "older" (most of my coworkers are in their 20s) so I've been around enough to know what is acceptable and what is not. I'm not afraid to stand up for myself and point out when people are being treated poorly. He does the jazz hands, we do the work, he gets the credit. Can you tell I had a rough night at work last night?
On a lighter note, take time to check out my review for Purex Complete Crystals Softener and enter my giveaway.
 

Taming the Clutter

One of my daughters' favorite activities is playing with dress up clothes. We have old Halloween costumes, as well as assorted princess dresses, shoes and accessories. We have been storing them in a small box, but when more dress up clothes showed up under the Christmas tree, Hubby and I knew it was time to take action.
After a little brain storming, Hubby came up with a great idea. He put a coat rack in our living room/play room. It has worked wonders. All the costumes go on the rack. All the shoes, purses, jewelry and other accessories go in the aforementioned box. 

It's a small step toward "decluttering" our house. My girls have been so excited by the coat rack that they've been much better at cleaning up. For now, it's still fun to hang things up. OK, so based on the picture, the rack is a tad cluttered, but at least the costumes aren't scattered around my house.It's only one little corner of my house that actually has some organization, but we have to start somewhere!
Don't forget to check out my Purex Complete Crystals Softener giveaway and enter for your chance to win a free bottle of the softener.

Giveaway: Purex Complete Crystals Softener

As you can tell from the title of my blog, I do a lot of laundry. In a good week (meaning no emergency loads due to illness, etc.) I do 12 loads of laundry. I do my daughters' laundry every other day, plus have a "family laundry day" to wash my clothes and Hubby's clothes. 
I'm always looking for ways to simplify this dreaded chore. The main lifesaver was receiving a "hand-me-down" front loading washer and dryer set from a relative. She upgraded. We benefited. It has definitely made laundry day easier. Still, as someone who uses liquid fabric softener, I've struggled with how much to put in my front loader. In a "standard" washer I would fill the designated area with softener, top the rest off with water and... done. The way my front loader is set up it's not as easy, that's why I was eager to try Purex Complete Crystals Softener. As a member of Purex Insiders, I'm among the first to give it a try. In fact, it just went on sale today at Wal Mart (other retailers will begin carrying the product in January and February).
As the name states, it's a crystal, not a liquid or a powder. It goes directly into your washer, which took a lot of the guess-work out for me. A few sprinkles and I'm done. According to Purex, the Purex Complete Crystal Softeners are 92% natural and, unlike oil-based liquid fabric softeners, won't coat your laundry with oil. The product goes in the washer, rather than in a dispenser cup, to penetrate the fabric. According to Purex, this is the first major fabric softener that is 100% safe to use on children's sleepwear, as it does not impair these flame retardant qualities.
I've used the crystal softener a few times now. My initial reaction is a little goes a long way. The smell is nice, but strong. You really need to pay attention to how much you use. My first load I didn't feel like my clothes were as soft as they have been with liquid softeners, but after putting in fewer crystals in the next load I was satisfied. The smell wasn't as overpowering and my clothes were soft.
I'm giving away one coupon for a free bottle of Purex Complete Crystals Softener.
To enter the giveaway: (A valid email address must be left in your comments)

• Visit the Purex site and leave me a comment telling me which scent you think you would like to try. This step is mandatory.

For additional entries: (leave a separate comment for each entry)

• Become a follower of Buried in Laundry (or leave a comment telling me you already follow)
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post
• Follow me on Twitter (@Quadmamablog) or leave a comment telling me you already follow me on Twitter
• Tweet about this giveaway (include @Quadmamablog in your tweet)

The deadline to enter is 9 am MST Monday January 3, 2011. Three winners will be chosen. A valid email address is required to enter. This giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only. The winner has 48 hours after notification to provide me with a mailing address or a new winner will be chosen.
(Disclosure: As a Purex Insider, I was provided a complimentary sample to review. Purex also gave me a coupon for a free bottle which I will be passing on to the winner. No monetary compensation was provided for this post. All opinions are mine).

What I Learned from Christmas

This was supposed to be the best Christmas ever. It wasn't. There were lots of things that happened bringing tears and frustration throughout the day. I won't say Christmas was horrible, but I will say it didn't go the way any of us thought and that made us all a little sad. Here are the things I learned:

• Illness is inevitable in our family during the holidays

It started the morning of Christmas Eve. I woke up to one of the girls throwing up. She has been battling a cold and made herself sick from her continuous coughing. Fortunately, she was better almost immediately. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for me. I woke up Christmas morning raring to go. Soon after the gifts had been opened and the cinnamon rolls devoured, I started feeling cold. Eventually I was freezing. I was so chilled that even sitting in the sun wrapped in my Snuggie wasn't helping. Soon, my stomach started churning. By the time my in-laws showed up to give the girls their gifts and eat lunch, I was ready to retreat to my bed. A few hours later, I started feeling a tad better and we managed to spend the night playing all our new games. (This, of course, caused huge drama with a relative who invited us over to dinner at the last minute and was beyond angry that Hubby refused to go. He didn't think it was appropriate to leave me alone on Christmas and I'm grateful that he stuck to his guns).

• My closet is not a good hiding spot for gifts

My girls aren't old enough to know gifts are hiding somewhere in our house. My closet seemed like a good spot.... until the night I wanted to wrap presents. I had to walk by each of their rooms with the gifts, so Hubby and I had to wait until they were sound asleep. Next year, the gifts will be stored in the basement!

• Bike helmets should be bought sooner, rather than later

The big gift this year was big girl bikes. They were a hit. Somehow we avoided a white Christmas and instead had a 50 degree Christmas... perfect for testing out the new bikes. I couldn't buy helmets before Christmas without giving away the surprise (I need the girls with me to make sure the helmets fit), but after Cakes took four spills yesterday, I've decided we'll be going to the store in the next few days for helmets.

• You need to go with the flow

Yes, there were some disappointments, namely the illness and drama, but overall we still had a good Christmas. Things didn't go as planned/hoped, but we were all together, we're all healthy (well, we are now) and we managed to share more laughs than tears. Months from now when I look back at this Christmas, I won't look back at the drama. I'll look back at the smiles and excitement as my girls figured out how to maneuver their new bikes. I'll look back at their delight realizing the game Pretty Pretty Princess involves wearing tons of jewelry. I'll look back at the fact that all six of us found a way to salvage a day that could have been a disaster.

There's a First Time for Everything

Yesterday was a "first" for me. It was the first time I took all four of my girls to the grocery store to do a week's worth of shopping. I've taken them to run in for a few things, but this was different. I often take one with me to the store. The most I had previously taken was three, which was easy. I used one of those "car" shopping carts, put two in the car and one in the cart seat and it was easy. This time, though, I knew all four of them would have to.... walk. 
It actually wasn't a bad experience. I don't know if it's something I want to repeat any time soon, but at least I know it's doable. They (mostly) stayed with me. They helped put things in the cart. We only ran into a handful of cranky shoppers who didn't want to wait for our parade to pass by. For the most part, the other shoppers were friendly and accommodating. 
I ran into a minor crisis going back to the car. On the way into the store, we could all hold hands in the parking lot. On the way out I was suddenly burdened by a shopping cart full of groceries. I instantly regretted not accepting the bagger's offer to help me out to the car. I had each of the girls hold onto the cart and we slowly made our way to the car. Somehow we managed to make the journey without a single car driving by.
Like I said, I don't know if I'll do it again anytime soon, but at least I know it can be done!

Are You Ready?

I don't like leaving things to the last minute. Ever since my girls came along, my Christmas shopping takes place year-round. I start as soon as the January clearance sales begin and I finish in mid-November. Still, this year I feel like I'm missing something.
I can't put my finger on it. I've done a mental inventory of everything I've purchased. Everyone is accounted for. Sure, it still needs wrapped, but that I can leave for the last minute (mainly because wrapping is so tedious).
Maybe it's the lack of snow. By now, the area where I live has typically had at least one major snowfall. This year... nada. We will likely have a brown, crunchy Christmas instead of a white one. It makes for safe travels for those driving to see us, but also makes it hard to be in the right mood.
Either way, the big day is almost here so I guess I had better make sure everything is in order.