Loving Target - THE BEST $ Section out there!!

For everyone who hasn't seen Target's new Dollar section I think this post is for you. Or if you have seen it, but just thought it was like all other dollar sections, then this post is for you. OR if you love Target's Dollar section and just haven't been there in 2007 then this post if for you. So have I covered EVERYONE out there? I sure hope so.On Jan 1st 2007 I spent $150 at Target. I was manic and haven't spent like that before but I felt REALLY good about everything I bought because I only ought an item if I knew where I was going to put it and ho,w I was going to use it. My largest purchase was a pair of doggie steps for my ancient cat, Winky at the outrageous price of $20 (sarcastic). Most of the items were from the Dollar section. I have been back to Target for a second round of spending AFTER hospitalization and still managed to spend about $100 so this must be true love not just manic spending. I'd like to share some of the items I bought and why they are so great. Bath and body products, nail polish, manicure sets. My daughter, Lesley, loves cream so trying some strawberry and cream scented lotion for $1 sounds like a good deal to me. She loves having her feet massaged and her toenails painted. 3 little bottle of polish for $1 - what a bargain. I also got a mini manicure set to carry in my purse.
Socks... Check out these CUTE valentine socks. They are adult size not kiddie sized. They had toddler socks too but nothing in Lesley's size. These socks were a "hug from home" while I was in the hospital. I really wish that they were in Lesley's size. As an aside can anyone PLEASE explain sock sizes to me?
Looking for even more Valentine stuff? Well once again Target has you covered. Look at all these GREAT craft items. The 3 mini paper punches are really well made. There are foam stickers, puffy stickers, glitter glue, stamps, stamp pads and even complete card kits. You can get so much for practically nothing so you might as well go ahead and be creative... you've got nothing to lose.
Girlfriend items ... Oh there is nothing like best girlfriends. I got a pair of these frame decorating kits for my daughter and her best friend Matilda. Hopefully the two girls can get together soon and make their frames. There are also girlfriend focuses photo boxes, magnetic word and frame sets.
Another great item, which Lesley will LOVE, is temporary tattoos. One of them says "I (Heart) ME" YAY!!! I love it.
Okay okay so Target has wonderful stuff for girls in their Dollar section but what about the BOYS??? Well I turned the corner and there was a whole end cap of Curious George products. Notebooks, post-it pads, stickers, magnetic bookmarks, etc. The 60 page notebooks are wonderful journals (I just wished the pages were slightly less busy). I am sure that there were other things for little boys but I don't have any yet so I am slightly "little girl" focused.
How about some of you with little boys check out he $1 section and let me know what you thought about it.
Lots of love,
Daria

Bipolar: Taking Care of Myself

I had such great plans for this blog. My first post of the new year was going to be about my First Quarter Goals. I stink at resolutions so after reading the Webmail.us CEO Pat Mathews' Blog I decided to make some goals. I am very proud of them so in the next few weeks I will share them with you, but today is all about ME.
As many of you know I was released from Fairfax Psych ward yesterday at about noon. Let me tell you what I have done since returning home yesterday... remember I said it was all about ME.
When I got home yesterday, Todd, my husband, had work to do so my sister, Liz, and I went shopping for my meds. We went to Target and I dropped about $120. Yeah I know... gasp. Who lets a bipolar person shop (It is even on my short term disability form that the doctor completed that my husband needs to Okay all purchases. Those who know me personally are laughing their butts off. I mean REALLY now.. we don't have join account except a saving account. Do you really think I would let him sign off on my purchases. Anyway, you all should go visit Target's $1 section. It is amazing. AND target only had 1 prescription... so we had to go to another pharmacy. But on the way there we stopped at Kohl's. I am not a big shopper. I have had such low self esteem for so ling that I am practically the FRUMP QUEEN. Well not any more.. Liz set me up right!! About 10 mix and match outfits that are HOT, HOT, HOT. Low cut, tight in the right places and really flattering. Everything from cords and jeans, to dresses and skirts. Work won't know what to do with me when I come back.
The bottom line for that was about $275 (down from a high of $360 thanks to my Kohl's discount). The next step was Walmart's pharmacy... still didn't have my med. Then home to pick up Todd to head to daycare so I could see Lesley Lou. All three of us went to dinner at Lesley's favorite restaurant, Hola Chip (Tolteca).; On the way home we stopped at a CVS pharmacy... YEAH you guessed it, no meds. We did find out the 24 Hour CVS had it and we could pick it up. We went home and got ready to go see Stomp. This is where "All about me" becomes a little sad. I couldn't see the footwork. It wasn't the seats, it was the meds. I was exhausted, felt ill, and didn't like it that I didn't "get" most of the show. Halfway though the show we decided we would go next door and get some dessert at after the show but that didn't happen. I was very sad.
Today was still all about me again. Before going out I got dressed up and even put on makeup. It was sooo quick. I think I can do this. After breakfast at the bagel place we went to Lifetime Fitness . What a deal.... $119 a month for all of us. We signed right up. Then we did more shopping at Target. Over $100 this time so we can redesign Lesley's bathroom as a Dora the Explorer bathroom. It took up about 30 minutes and looks awesome!! Okay that wasn't for ME but I enjoyed it. I'd really like to redo her bedroom for her 5th birthday in February. It would be more versatile but I am having some resistance.
Then a quick nap and then I started this post.
Now I am having some horrible ALL ABOUT ME time. My meds are making me want to vomit. It it like really bad morning sickness. I think I am dehydrated. I am treating it like morning sickness too. Eating pretzels and drinking lemonade. Now I know why people want to get off their meds.

I wanted to say thanks to everyone who sent me kind thoughts and prayers. I truly appreciate it. I don't want this blog to be "living with bipolar" so those of you who are interested in raising kids, work-life balance and having a successful career hang in there. Let me know what you want me to write about.
Take Care,
Dari a Akers

Fingers Crossed!

Today should be the day that I finally come home to my family! The doctors say I can be released today pending a couple of blood tests taken early this morning. I should know very soon. If I get out, we're going to celebrate with a big family dinner and then my husband and I are going to the Warner Theatre to see Stomp! Cross your fingers!
Entered by a friend over the phone.

Getting Better, Coming Home Soon! (Hopefully)

Who would believe that you could be thankful for a diagnosis of bipolar? I'm feeling better than
I have in my whole life now that I am getting the help that I need. I hope to be home by this Friday so that I can go out with my husband to see Stomp at the Warner Theatre (my best Xmas present this year). I also have it on very good authority that the Weingarten Chat "doesn't come back until I'm home, happy, and healthy." Talk about pressure! But, I think I can handle it now.

Lots of Love,
Daria
(entered by Todd)

Message from Daria

Daria called and is doing fine. She's getting the help she needs and appreciates everyone's concern. This has been entered by a friend over the phone.

Need good thoughts.

At 10:30 I am going going to Fairfax Hospital for a psych eval. I will ask for them to release my info. Please call if you want updates. Please wait till noon to call.

Why isn't there a show like this on TV?

I love TV... It is great to help me tune out. When work is bad or I don't have the strength to devote to making my marriage all that it should be, or when I am too lazy to deal with my child.. TV is just PERFECT (I am being sarcastic here by the way). It's the "easy" thing. It is so many things. A frontal lobotomy, a band-aid for a marriage ("we are so close we watch TV together"), a baby sitter. Yeah I know because I have been using the TV for ALL of these things because I thought it was the "easy" thing. I did it because I didn't know how to make things better. I didn't know how to make my marriage work, I didn't know how to be a good mom (I am getting passionate here). Now I know that it was the best that I could do at the time. I wasn't the parent or the partner I should have been because I didn't know what to do. Luckily I think I have found a key to doing both but tonight I just want to talk about being a better parent. So I'd like to welcome you to my own little TV Show... Momma Daria's Quick and Easy NO TV Time Projects (I think I need to work on the name.. it isn't QUITE There yet).

First a few thinks I think are true but I do not want to assume that you believe them too (I want them to be said). This is the foundation on which this commentary are based. If you DO NOT agree with the following statements then you should probably stop reading this until you do.

1. We all do truly love our children.
   
2. No one wants to hurt their kids... They just don't know what to do.
   
3. We are all looking for answer and are willing to listen.

So let me share an hour of our day today. This was a "NO TV" project suggested by my very smart and talented Mother in Law (I am not being sarcastic). This took NO time and we were all "in the moment" together. EVEN ME. I love taking photos while doing activities but for this one I made sure I didn't so I could be involved too. It was AWESOME. So in order to make it easy I am sharing all the tips and tricks we discovered and some hint to change the activity to suit your family. This project was created to minimize mess because mess stresses out some people in our family and they would always want to clean up in the middle of projects. If you thrive in creative clutter then you won't need to follow my plan (and my guess is you are doing this already.)

The Setup: So Quick and Easy

1. Put down a big sheet of paper (it should be scrap because you are going to throw it away).
2. Sprinkles - Now for Lesley, who gets easily overwhelmed and excited, we limited it to 3 colors but if that isn't an issue then go NUTS!!!
   
3. Muffin tins - 1 for each color.
   
4. Refrigerated cookie dough - We used the break apart sugar cookies from the refrigerated section.
5. "The Right Place" - This one you need to figure out. Maybe it is the floor, maybe it is a low picnic table, for us it was the counter which is Lesley's favorite place. The key to finding TRP is to make sure the kid's are comfortable NOT you. You will be having so much fun that you won't notice that your bottom has fallen asleep.

The Plan:

It was originally supposed to just be Mom and Lesley but she refused to let that happen. Todd was relaxing with some.... yeah you know it.... TV watching (because it is very hard to entertain a kid all day AND we are potty training Lesley now so our day had us wiped.. pun intended) and Lesley called Todd over to be with us. I was going to give you the step by step guide here but you don't need it. This is where you make the magic.... TURN OFF THE TV AND BE IN THE MOMENT WITH YOUR FAMILY (I am not yelling really... talking slowly and loud for emphasis).

Yes we did actually watch the cookies bake... It was an amazing 15 minutes. But you don't HAVE too.

Community Time:

Now it is your turn. Please leave a comment/suggestion for me and all the other people reading with your "quick and easy" NO TV Project. And if you don't have one that's ok. Pick a time when you want to bond with your family, try my project and let me know if it worked for you.

Preview of the Next Show (what is the official name for that section of a show):

My review of the Dollar section at Target.... And the best shopping trip ever with my friend Becks (of Harry, David, Becky, and Subir) and out strange Karma event. It prepare for this I think you all should go visit Target and check out the new Dollar Items. Becks, please leave a comment supporting me on how they really need to make sure they check it out.

Lots and lots and lots of love,

Momma Daria