–by Carla

Time To Say Goodbye. It’s a great song. I love how Bocelli does it, but that’s not where I’m headed with this. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted and I’m thinking I’m done. I’ve got nothing crafty to add these days. It’s just little old me, a stay at home mom with two tiny little boys who occupy my time from 7am until 7pm and then I’m on call from 7pm until 7am. Nothing new there. It’s been done a million times. I’ve now been a stay at home mom exactly as long as I was a working mom. But I was never really a “working mom” like one would think. We didn’t do day care. I worked from 4am-12pm and came home each day to my husband handing off the baby and heading to work. But you know that already.

I’m pretty sure there’s nothing to add. My story is the same now as millions of other women all over the world. The story of a mom.

I’ve decided I’m not one of those moms who can zap a million pics at every event my kids are at and in an instant, upload them to facebook, twitter and my blog all at once, then come home and blog about it all. It’s just not who I am. My brain is not wired to go in that many directions. I bow down to the moms out there who do these things, but I gotta tell ya, STOP because you’re making the rest of us look like slackers.

So I’m thinking RecessionMamas is going away. We’re not who we were in the beginning and that’s fine. We’re all pretty different women these days.

That’s where I am. If I were more computer savvy, I might have already clicked the “poof!” button and made it all go away, but I’m too tired to figure that out right now.

If you read our little stories along the way, thank you! But for some reason, I have the feeling that this little project is simply collecting dust out there far, far away in cyberspace. And if you know me, you know that I do not like things to linger.  And I hate dust.

—by Carla

We live on a small street (about 10 houses) in a small sub-development in a suburb of a suburb of a suburb of Dallas. And on our small street roughly half of us were laid off in the early stages of the recession. Just like the news stories told us, most of them were men, and then there was me. A bunch of new “stay at home dads” and me. Um…nice to meet ya?

Most of us had never met but since we had all this “free” time on our hands (time not spent at the office…because working at home, as we all know, consists of a brutal amount of work), we’d wander out into our front yards and catch a conversation every now and then. That’s how I became closer with our next door neighbors. He was laid off the same week I was. Since his 2 boys were about the same age as mine, we’d swap stories about how staying at home with our kids was boggling our minds a little and how money was tight.

When we started trimming the budget back, one of the first things to go, along with my beloved housekeeper…were our team of lawn guys. They’d quietly show up in the early morning hours of a Saturday or maybe a Sunday, do their thing and be gone in a flash. All we did was stick a check on the front door. But when that perk went out the window, it meant the husband would take over that task and buy the lawn equipment needed to do the job. And guess who was taking notes? Yup, our next door neighbor. Granted, he’s since found a job…not making as much as he did before, but they’re in pretty good shape. Even still, he recently asked the husband’s advice on how to work his new lawn equipment. That’s right…he fired his lawn guys (our old lawn guys) and bought the tools of the trade for himself. His words, something like, “Well if you guys are doing your own lawn, I think I should too.”

Now THAT’s the kind of “Keepin’ Up With The Joneses” that I’m talkin’ about.

—by Carla

At this stage of the game: the “been laid off and still trying to cut corners without ending up totally losing my mind” game, you’d think I’d be all done trying to save money. I mean, it’s been over a year, so you’re probably thinking that I’ve got it all squared away…this saving money thing. Wrong.

Just this week, I called the good, decent people at DISH and told them that I was cutting my Top 250 plan and switching to the Give Me The Cheapest Thing You’ve Got plan. They were bummed to lose me, then they charged me $5 to downgrade the plan, but at the end of the day…we’re saving $40 month. That’s what I probably would have referred to as chump change back when I was pulling in a nearly six-figure income, but these days, I see that as a luxury. Paying nearly $70 a month for TV was just wrong on so many levels.

I may only slightly miss seeing the outcome of The Real World, season 55; The Real Housewives of New York City, and the outcome of several other of my embarrassing reality show addictions, but the only thing that did weigh heavily on me was what my oldest son was going to miss. And I say “miss”, not him, not like he’d ever know the difference…he’s 3… but it did make me sad. So for about a week after we decided to downgrade, I recorded all of his favorite shows..all of the shows I knew we’d be losing. I made sure we would have plenty of Little Bear, Little Bill, Handy Manny, Dora the Explorer, Yo Gabba Gabba and his beloved Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on tap so that he’d never know the difference. And during that time, I had him watch more PBS than normal. He does ADORE his Curious George and Clifford The Big Red Dog, but that was about it. See, we didn’t let Donald watch television until he was 2. ANY TV. Nothing. That was just one year ago. And now he’s allowed a maximum of 2 hours per day. I was worried that us downsizing the collection of cable clutter would somehow bother him, but so far, so good. For cryin’ out loud, we have DVDs, coloring books, toys, the outdoors, friends, play-doh, play dates, crafts, and so on, but part of me just wept a little knowing that we weren’t going to be getting fresh, new episodes of Little Bear every afternoon.

In the downgrade, we also lost our music lineup. That included the Kids Music Station. It was on every minute of every single day…so I was worried how I’d fill that time…panicked about switching countless CDs or trying to keep my iTouch juiced up all day as it cranked out endless (and sometimes annoying) kids songs.

One very cool thing that really touched me, though, was that the kids music channel was the only music channel that was included in the Give Me The Cheapest Thing You’ve Got plan. Seeing that pop up was bittersweet. Thanks for not punishing my kids because I got laid off. That was pretty cool.

Well, I just got done showing these floors who’s boss (remind me to buy a house with more carpet in it next time, would ya?) and my eyes are starting to glaze over a little.

But I will toss this bit of advice in: If your Mom lives in a pretty cool “Active Senior Apartment Community” and they have a hair salon in there and your Mom tells you that the lady is really sweet and nice and only charges $18 for a trim…run. And then keep running.

–by Carla

Ah the joys of finding a job that you love. I had one of those for…well, for my entire career. Never once did I complain about “having” to go to work. The way I looked at it, I couldn’t believe those people were PAYING me to talk on the radio and have so much fun. And now, another position has fallen into my lap, one which I do love, but now I’m wondering if I’ve perhaps nibbled off a hair more than I can chew at this moment in time. Maybe not. I am part of 3 lovely Moms groups. Play groups. I love them all and have met really wonderful women and kids because of them, and it is that love that forced me to take on my latest position. One of the groups was on the brink of shutting down because the organizer could no longer take on the task. And since I didn’t want it to go away, I offered to take over. It pays nothing. And it cost me $72 to take over the web fee, which I do hope to recover via yearly dues.

That’s my latest gig. I’m thrilled. And I’m pooped. Trying to come up with fun and creative things for 100 women and kids can be exhausting. But I’m working on finding a balance. And I do now have a few awesome moms helping out as assistants.

Other big news. HUGE NEWS, I mean:

WBAP 820 AM in Dallas-Ft. Worth will begin simulcasting on 96.7 FM on Monday: WBAP Operations Manager TYLER COX said, “WBAP made history in 1922 when it signed on the air. WBAP is making history again as it becomes the first news/talk radio station in North Texas to offer its programming on both the AM and FM dial.

Ah yes and I’m scheduled to fill in on the anchor desk during the morning news show two days this week. Doesn’t get any better than that.

And finally, this economically related movie review: Don’t waste even a penny of your money on Motherhood. Uma and the old bald doctor from ER managed to ruin for me what would have otherwise been a lovely evening. It really hacked me off to see moms portrayed as messy, disheveled, sweaty pack-mules who complain about everything in their lives and long to work “real jobs” so that they can finally be happy. Honestly, I was so mad at the end, I was up half the night.

So there. I’ve saved you $1.

–by Carla

My birthday gift came early this year, and it will forever be the greatest early birthday gift in the world. We found out today that my (totally awesome) Mom does not have (and let me do that in my best radio news voice, “Again, does NOT have”) lung cancer. WOOOOOO HOO BABY! To everyone who prayed and supported Mom and our family, thank you!!! Prayers rock, y’all.

So now a little background on all this, because it has been a bumpy, confusing ride for the past month and a half. And keep in mind, I’m not a doctor, but here goes: Mom’s doctors have been keeping an eye on her heart for about the past year after she complained of shortness of breath. They ran X-Rays and CT scans, then followed up 6 months later and that’s when they noticed changes. They did discover a hole in her heart which they said she likely had since birth…no biggie. But they also stumbled upon these little nodules in her lungs. And since Mom is a (nearly 20 year) breast cancer survivor, they followed it closely. The follow-up scans indicated growth and changes. They tried a needle biopsy, but it failed. That was about a month and a half ago. A few weeks passed and they did a PET scan, where they looked at the cells. That doctor said at that point, it was too early to tell if it was cancer. “Dr. 50/50″ as I like to call him, seemed pretty bored with us and we quickly hit the door looking for someone with a little fire under their swively round doctor chair. That next doctor took a look at the same exact test that Dr. 50/50 looked at and told Mom that it was, in fact, cancer. Was. Cancer. But he said, “Prove me wrong with the open lung biopsy”. That was the test she had done today and she did prove him wrong! I asked the surgeon 100 times, “So, you’re positive it’s not cancer…?”, and he’d reply, “correct, it is not cancer”. I told him that I didn’t know if I should puke or cry, I was so excited…at which point he asked me to refrain from doing either. Ahhhhhhhhhh….it feels good.

I don’t know if I’m more ticked off at Dr. 50/50 or at Dr. FalsePoz, but I’m over it because the world is a happy place once again. My (totally awesome) Mom is resting comfortably at Medical City Dallas this evening, taking it all in and hoping to be released tomorrow.

If I haven’t personally returned your call or email, I will. It’s been a bit of a crazy day…with spreading the joyous news not only here, but to our family in Mexico City.

Now go hug someone you love…and MEAN IT! (do it…or you get a time-out)

–by Carla

Howdy and Happy New Year to ya! Sorry I’ve been a little MIA, but it’s been a little nuts around here. The worst of the worst came when my trusty old friend, Super Immunity, failed me. Yes, friends, I got sick. It is a phenomenon that happens only once in a blue moon, but it happened and it took me down hard. I mean, it’s not like I get to call in sick at my job or anything. Those two sweet little boys still need clean diapers, snazzy outfits and yummy food…several times each day. Rain or shine. Sick or not. I’m sort of like the U.S. Postal Service, you could say.

Quick recap since my last post: The holidays were amazing. It snowed on Christmas Eve…in Dallas! I’ve whipped up several batches of homemade chicken soup…it was a snap each time. I colored my own hair and didn’t turn it orange. I made homemade peppermint lip balm for the women in my family and close friends. It was so super fun and easy and very cost effective. $7.91 each. I also started making homemade sugar/lavender body scrub. I used to pay at least $20 for it, now it’s ready in minutes and so stinking inexpensive to make at home, it’s almost funny. Um, let’s see, Baby Boy got sick around the time I did…which really was no fun. Very strange things happened to my facebook page. There was a random charge on one of our credit cards which we got corrected. Ah…that’s about it. Actually, there’s tons more, but Baby Boy is about to break down and I’ve got to wrap things up here.

I’ve missed writing…and glad to be back in the groove! Have a great weekend.

— by Carla

‘Twas the Friday before Christmas and… Wait, WHAAAAAAAT!?

Ok, it’s official. I’m mildly freaking out right now. I’m so far behind on Christmas shopping it isn’t even funny. Baby Boy had a really bad cold this week, fever for 3 days and all, which means no going anywhere until he’s fever-free for 24 hours without the help of medication. That pushes everything to tomorrow, when we’re already booked with a brunch and a birthday party.

This year I am not, however, going to worry too much about how much we spend. It’s pretty obvious to everyone that our financial situation isn’t what it used to be, so I’m not focusing too much on what others may think. The hard part for me has been not buying lots of nice gifts for my friends and family like I used to. Sure, I don’t normally like to shop for myself, but I have always loved giving gifts. So that’s been a little hard this year. But instead of moping about it, I decided to make (yes, make …with my own little hands) most of my gifts this year. I can’t talk about it since, you know, Christmas isn’t for another week and also because if I really mess it up I can always switch to Plan B, which is yet to be determined.

I’m getting into the Christmas spirit, albeit a little late this year, but I can’t wait to get everything done and ready for the big day.

Oh and as an early Christmas gift to myself, you’ll be proud to know that I colored my own hair last week. At home. From a BOX. Back to basics, baby! I have really dark hair again…and I didn’t turn it orange like I did almost a year ago. Whew..at least I won’t freak Santa out now!

(Pics to come….)

by Carla

—by Carla

This week zoomed by for me. I did a little fill-in news anchoring at WBAP 820AM and waking up at 2am will never get easier. But once I was there, man I had the greatest time. Anyway, a quick recap: Thanksgiving went well. I think. Our prepared turkeys were yummy. I made Paula Dean’s Cheesy Green Bean Casserole (for 36…yikes!) and baked 3 pumpkin pies. Everyone’s side dishes were amazing as were all 847 pies that ended up gracing our dining area. Needless to say, the freezer is now cram packed with Thanksgiving leftovers…and I need to hit the gym.

Today’s guest writer will shock the living daylights out of you. The husband actually wanted to put his 2 cents in about something that we disagree on. It’s not the biggest deal in the world, but it goes to show how we all see things so very differently. Here he is, in his own words…

FREE STUFF.  Yup, that’s the statement that gets everyone’s heart racing and wondering at the same time what the catch is. The stuff I’m taking about is currently sold in over 80 countries and when introduced in 1903, eight of them sold for a nickel.  The same box of eight currently sells for 99 cents everywhere. But everyone knows you can have pretty much as many of these as you want for free…right? (Provided you dine out with a child.) Why are we not taking advantage of it?

 
Created by cousins Edwin Binney and Harold Smith, “Crayola” crayons were an immediate hit with young and old alike. The original box held just eight of them (black, brown, blue, red, purple, orange, yellow, and green) and today, Binney and Smith (renamed Crayola LLC) makes over one hundred different types, including those that sparkle, have glitter mixed in, smell like flowers, change colors and wash off walls…but I digress.
 
Every “sit-down” restaurant we dine in hands us a set of two to four brand new crayons with each child’s menu. Our two year old colors with one for about thirty seconds before he is bored and moves on to other distractions before our meal is served. What happens to those barely used (sometimes never used) crayons? We usually leave them on the table, discarded along with the remnants of our meal.
 
If they are free, why don’t we take them home? By now, I’m certain we’d have a sizeable collection of the eight primary colors, but what fun is that? Surely by now we’d never have to buy another crayon in our lifetime. And I’ll be willing to bet that the restaurant inflates the price of our food just a tiny bit to cover the cost of those little jewels, so they really aren’t free. We’re secretly paying for them.
 
Can someone explain to me why we’re leaving them on the table?

…Sure. Because we 1) have plenty of them at home and 2) if we start taking ‘em, how can we not take the sugar packets? I mean, they’re on the table, too.