Debi Gutierrez – “Debs Corner” www.debscorner.info

I subscribed to the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover program a few days ago and am anxious to track and report my  journey to financial fitness.  I have read both  of Ramsey’s books and found them to be very helpful.  Ramsey has a “7 Baby Step Program” to achieve financial freedom.  He has quotable gems of wisdom that make one rethink how money should be spent.  “Live like no one else, so you can LIVE like no one else!”; has been the mantra of fans of Dave Ramsey.  He also refers to many of the items we buy as “stuffits”, stuff we don’t need that only clutters our lives and homes and empties our bank accounts.   After reading both of his best sellers, I tried my hand at Baby Step One, which is to save $1000.00 dollars and keep it liquid in a bank account or physically in your home.  The reasoning behind this is that most expenses on our credit cards come form emergencies which are usually more than $300 but less than $1000.  If you use cash, you avoid using your credit card which will cost you the added interest charge and let’s face it, who pays off their credit card balance every month?  If there is an emergency that would require you to pull out your credit card, you use the cash instead.  Then you restock your emergency fund to $1000 and go ahead or resume pursuing Baby Step 2.
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First, let me say something about cooking: Everyone can cook!  I often hear women say, “I just can’t cook!”.  What I hear is, “I WON’T cook”.  Well, it’s time to suck it up people!   The recession is at our door and we can no longer sneak past it on the way to the restaurant.  Also, ANYONE can cook!  If you can read, you can cook!  There is so much help and support for you!  There are old fashioned cook books to new media websites to find easy recipes.  You can even go a more traditional  route and call your mom, grandma or auntie!  I find the web a terrific way to find new recipes that are easy to follow!  The Food Network website even separates its recipes by technique, i.e. crock pot, grilling, baking, etc.   Each recipe has a five  star system to let you know it’s level of difficulty!  I even found a web site that will let you type in ingredients you have on hand and then give you a recipe using those ingredients!
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Kate Gosslin deserved to be left by Jon.  I called this years ago.  As I saw the show unfold, I was amazed to see the treatment of her husband becoming worse and worse.  She controls and demeans him on EVERY show.  She overrides any decision he tried to make.  If he puts the kids into time out, not only does she take them out, she tells the children he is mean.  She makes fun of his weight and his hair loss.  She is down right bitchy!   “Oh, but she has to be controlling to handle all those kids!”  I hear mothers lament.  I was a kindergarten teacher and for 7 hours a day, I could control 30 kids without being a jerk!
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So many mothers are looking at their children, and their children are looking back at them and singing that all too familiar song that children have been singing every summer; “Mommy, I’m bored!”   I wonder if Eve had to hear it from her sons, Cain and Abel;  “Mom, I’m bored!  Mom, there’s nothing to do!  Mom, My brother is bugging me!”  I wonder is she just shouted in frustration,  “Go outside and settle it yourselves!”
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“Michael Jackson died”….the text message read on my cell phone.  It was sent by my friend Linda.  Linda was a huge fan of Michael Jackson so I am sure it was all she could do before she turned on the tv for the news.   CNN still was not reporting that he was dead; it was unconfirmed.  Still, the news was shocking and today, the morning after, it is still difficult to believe.  As I see the photo with the dates under it, it is still a stark realization.
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Sarah Palin and Todd took issue with jokes David Letterman told about their daughter.  A few nights later, David Letterman clarified his jokes.  He thought he was making a joke about Bristol, the adult daughter and not the 14 year old.  Now there are discussions going on as to whether or not the jokes were tasteless, offensive, or even fair game.  My 11 year old and I had a lively conversation about it and I was very impressed with the position she took and how she defended it.  But, that is not what I want to blog about.  There is a bigger issue for me here.
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So we started the home schooling and there have been some wonderful moments.  I am working with, Mrs. Lloyd, a lovely and patient teacher at our local public school.  At first, I was hell bent and rigid to get my hours in and followed a lesson plan to the “T”!  It was efficient and I found that we accomplished all the lessons in a matter of a few hours.  Then, with Mrs Lloyd’s encouragement, I started to relax and enjoy the lessons and looked for creative ways to extend the lessons. There was less and less paper work to turn in to Mrs. Lloyd and more and more to talk about!

Pilar couldn’t wait to give her some home made scones and butter from our colonial history lesson.  She baked and brought her a home made loaf of Irish Soda bread.  Pilar was embarrassed to give it to her because she thought it turned out ugly.  Mrs. Lloyd took one look at it and exclaimed, “It looks so beautiful and rustic, just like you baked in a colonial oven!” We have taken trips…everywhere!  The California Science Museum (photo above), the History museum, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a California Mission… we turn all these trips into learning opportunities.  She joined a book club for kids her age, I didn’t even know they existed!  We visited her older sister, Anna Maria, who gathers wool and spins her own yarn.  We sat and spun with her all day.  It really brought home what being a colonist went through to provide for their families.  Pilar has read 4 books in one month.  In 11 years of being read to and 6 years of reading on her own, Pilar has never liked to read.  Once the formatted book reports were no longer required, books came alive to her and she loves reading!  We have done several science experiments…3 on one day!  We took pictures and discussed the process of diffusion and osmosis.

I am more  relaxed in my teaching and  proud of my daughters capabilities and skills. As you can see, I have had time to blog!

Sure there are lows.  I am on the other end of every bad mood and temper tantrum.  If I do not reach out for support and ask my husband for help, I get overwhelmed.  I will write a separate blog about the meltdowns and how I didn’t even take my own advice.  Stay tuned!

I love my Tide!  I remember when Tide jumped on the band wagon with their competitors and started adding new fresh smells…I panicked!  I remember saying out loud in the store, “Don’t mess with my Tide!”  I have tried all the other detergents out there.  Trust me, with 3 children, I have had every kind of food stain imaginable.  I also have had the battle with ground in dirt and grass stains.

My 2 older children were involved in the drama program from middle school through Senior year of high school…and that brings a whole bunch of other laundry problems which included, professional grease paint make up, ground in theater grime from construction, blood, both real and fake, (sometimes stage construction did not always go as planned) and often these costumes had to clean and ready to go for the next night’s performance!

Tide detergent has never let me down.  I have never needed a pre-treat for stains, I never need to use more than the required amount and I can always find it on sale.  When I have used another laundry detergents, they have left my clothes dingy, stained and dull.  Even after repeated washings, I still had dingy clothes.   (Wow, do I sound like a commercial or what?!)  With Tide, I wash once and everything looks and smells great.  I never stray from my Tide.   I never have to pretreat, add softener, and re-wash “clean” clothes and that is good for me and my schedule!

Tide Detergent, one of my favorite things!

TIDE’S WEBSITE: http://www.tide.com

My schedule has been so unpredictable and I have some emotional upheaval but am feeling back on track and ready to write my sassy blogs.

Stella got her grove back and Deb feels some dancing coming on!

First, to those of you who read my blog daily, thank you!  I appreciate your stopping by!  I have not blogged in almost a month and it is because my husband, our daughter and I made a very important and life changing decision.

Due to a difficult classroom situation, we had to withdraw our daughter from her fifth grade class.  Our choices were public school, another private school, or home school.   Since we made this decision at the end of the semester, we were looking at a solution for four months, not the entire school year.  Our public school system was not acceptable.  Another private school would be costly as we would have to pay for  registration, book fees and new uniforms and all for just 16 weeks before we had to do it all over again for the new year.
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RECIPE FOR HOMEMADE DOG FOOD

1. Ground meat: chicken, turkey, beef or a mixture
2. Frozen mixed veggies
3. 1-2 eggs, depending on how many loafs you are making
4. oatmeal, eyeball amount for the number of loafs you are making
5. Spray your loaf pan with non stick spray, fill pans and bake for an hour.

Why make this for your dogs? Read on…
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So this crazy woman who already has 6 children with no father in sight, gets artificially sperminated to produce another 8 babies…all born at once!  They are called Octuplets.  She has been hospitalized for months prior to the births, which cost the tax payers money.  This single mother of 6 had declared bankruptcy last year.  How did she have the money to go through this medical procedure to begin with?  I can’t even get my ears pierced or my teeth cleaned without giving a full medical history!  I have to pull a co-pay out of my pocket before I can even get looked at by a doctor.  How the hell did she get approved to stuff her uterus with more children than I can fit into my SUV?
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Here’s one of my favorites, in fact, I am making this later today for my daughter and her babysitter!  I’ll have just enough for leftovers for hubby’s lunch.

Chicken Pot Pie

Frozen deep dish pie shells

1 family sized can of chicken (or you can use leftover roasted chicken)

1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables

1 can of  Cambells cream of chicken mushroom soup

salt, pepper, garlic powder

Simply mix chicken, vegetables, and soup into a bowl.  Add seasonings to your taste.  Scoop mixture into pie shells.  Here’s a hint, place the top shell on to the mixture the same way they were placed as frozen, so pie crust is sealing the chicken mixture. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 40 minutes.  If you want a pretty presentation, during the last 15 minutes, brush egg wash over the pie for a golden crust.  Serve with biscuits.

I keep all these things on hand so I can get this dinner together when I have a day that gets away from me.  Fix it and forget it and like I said, leftovers make a good breakfast or lunch!

Today there was a photo of Miley Cyrus on the web. She looked like a homeless adult woman.  All her clothes were tattered and torn.  She was wearing tights that were ripped to shreds and a shirt that barely covered her privates!  She looked slutty. I am so sick of Miley Cyrus sporting her trampy  look and her parents being OK with it.   I am sick of her (at 16) parading around the 22 year old boyfriend and her parents being ok with that too.   And her songs are so vengeful towards any boy who did her wrong!
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Like most of you, the hours of 5-7 is my crunch time!  We moms face every battle and challenge from homework, to after school activities, to dinner…and for some reason, that is the time everyone needs to call me.  Throw in any other from the assorted errands, and we are pulling our hair out!

I save my sanity by keeping a list of “5 Ingredients Or Less”  dinner  suggestions handy and I am going to share a few with you.  Feel free to give me your ideas as well!

Let’s start with an easy one…so incredibly easy!   Breakfast for dinner!!   It’s been months since my family has had time to enjoy a great breakfast on the weekend.  Dinner gives us a little more time.  Fry bacon, make toast and to keep it easy for me, I make scrambled eggs for everyone.  I scramble them with milk and can toss in anything I may have handy, green onions, bell peppers, shredded cheese, or ham.  I slice up some fruit and we are eating within a half hour.

Ingredients:

Bacon, eggs, bread, fruit.

It’s that easy!

I am so overwhelmed and words can’t express the pride I have today as I watched history in the making as President Obama took the oath to become the president of the United States of America.  I am filled with hope and inspired by his words.  I am ready to do as he asks to make my country a better one and restore her.  I am proud to be part of that patchwork of America he spoke of in his inaugural speech.  Our country is on it’s way to healing.  Today, we celebrate, tomorrow, we begin our tasks.  God Bless you and your family, Mr. President.

MAC makeup is definitely one of my favorite things!  Just thinking about it get s me so excited!  Now, I know MAC isn’t always within every budget, but if you can afford just one lipstick or pressed powder, you should add it to your make up bag.
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We love our babysitter, or like my 11 year old likes me to refer to her, our kid sitter.  There are so many things you need to consider when hiring a sitter.  My oldest daughter, Anna Maria, supports her self and pays college expenses by baby sitting.  She is a great sitter and is in demand and has a full calender.  She has even been hired to sit for a child who has yet to be born!  Now, I call that “in demand”!  My daughter has shared with me some horror stories about people who have never even met her, ask her to baby sit…they don’t know her, she doesn’t know the children…yet these people are willing to leave children with a total stranger!  Of course, she does not even consider these charges.

Here are some guidelines I have learned to set when interviewing and hiring a baby sitter.
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Who says Oprah has the market on her favorite things?  Oh, yeah, she’s Oprah, of course she has the market on favorite things!  But I am Debi…a brilliant home manager and I have a few favorite things myself.  I have been raising a family for 25 years now and I have a few things that make my management of the home simple, easy, economic and some that are just plain fun!  I want to share with you a few of those.  Who needs a lab coat and research to tell you what products work and what products flop.  I have been through the ringer with kids and hubby….I know which lunch boxes and back packs stand up to being slammed into walls and down a few flight of stairs.  I know which freezer paper packs meat for months at a time and, when I unwrap it, the meat is as fresh as the day I bought it.  I know which laundry detergent is worth the splurge and which ones leave your clothes looking like you tried to clean them by beating them on a rock by the riverside.  I know when it is best to be brand loyal and when you can bat your eyes at something new on the shelf.  My methods are tried and true.  I have been lucky enough to sit in on conversations my mom has had with her girlfriends and pick up lots of information about favorite things from long ago but still work wonderfully today!  I look forward to sharing my favorite things with you and hearing about yours. Unlike Oprah’s favorite things, I can afford all of them. Sure, there will be a splurge now and then, but if you are hearing it from me, you know it is one well worth the money.

There are so many ideas out there by experts who are also contributors to magazines and talk shows.  The problem with these experts is that they are often testing their ideas in a lab kitchen or closet, not a real one like yours and mine.  My tips are used in a real home, so you know they are tried and true.

Here’s how I save time in the kitchen.  First, I plan my grocery shopping to take a few hours from the time I get my coupons together, shopping, unloading and organizing my groceries for the week.  I know it sounds like an extravaganza,  but trust me, it’s worth it.  I am a busy woman and I never know when I will be called for an audition which takes me out of town for the better part of the day.  I organize my kitchen so my husband or I can make meals with little effort.  But it does take time.
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