Toner Refill Kits - - are you kidding me?

I'm out of cyan and black ink.  So, I stop by Fred Meyer who used to carry both the Cannon brand and a great generic brand for a couple of dollars less.  Apparantly they don't carry either any more.  But, they DO carry several cheap, eco-friendly, "super easy" do it yourself ink refill kits.  I stood there in front of the toner selection debating on whether I should head over to Office Depot or try the refill kit.  Errands with a baby isn't my idea of a good time so I opted for the kit.  How hard could it be, right?  I'm a reasonably intelligent person.

Well, I guess not.  My fingers are as blue as Smurfette's.  And I had a splatter incident that made my arm look part kling-on.  Not a good scene.

I threw the whole kit away.  What a waste of my time and $14.99.

What steps can average people take to live a "greener" life? Do you have any tips to share?

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We're moving...for sure this time

...I think.  As sure as we can be at least.  After 13 years - - back to my hometown.  Unbelieveable.  We have tenatively decided on August 15th as our move date.  That is based on the assumption that my sister's house will be completed (http://stevensonquints.blogspot.com/) and she will be moved out of the house that she is "renting" from my dad.  Then, we will move into that house. 

I guess we never could have moved if it weren't for my dad having an extra house.  So that's pretty convinient for us.  I'm excited to be close to my sister and brother again and all of my old friends. 

It will be sad to leave our house here vacant.  It's a nice home and I'm entirely grateful for it.  I will miss it, but who knows, maybe we'll come back someday.  We're going to try to rent it out since the market is really, really bad and I'm sure there's no chance of us selling.

Diary of a sleep deprived mom

The following is a re-enactment of an average night at my home.  Any thoughts, advice, or random musings welcome.

6:15 dinner time (same every night)
6:30 bathtime (same every night)
6:40 lotion, pjs, storytime, say goodnight to the rooms (same every night)
6:50 final nursing (same every night)
7:00 rocking and song (same every night)
7:05 lay baby and shush pat to sleep until morning....right?  RIGHT?  Um, not so much these days.

Well, this last step is the part that has been failing us.  I think we had about a month of decent sleep between her 7th and 8th month.  But, actually, she is a pretty horrible sleeper and pretty much always has been.

Here's how the night progressed last night -
7:05-7:30 shush, pat, gently push head down as she fights, cries, smiles, etc.
7:30-7:40 get frustrated, try rocking again, and repeat above
7:40-leave room temporarily while baby screams because I feel like I'm losing my temper
7:50-return to room, lay baby down, shush pat to sleep.  finally.
9:30-(CRIES)
9:30-9:40 shush, pat back to sleep
10:30 tired Mommy goes to sleep
2:00-(CRIES)
2:00-2:30 shush, pat, gently push head down as she as she fights, cries, smiles, etc.
2:30-2:45 get frustrated, try rocking which makes her even madder
2:45-3:00 nurse
3:00-3:30 shush, pat, gently push head down as she as she fights, cries, smiles, etc.
3:30- shush, pat back to sleep, finally
3:40 - (CRIES) just as I'm drifting off to dreamland
3:40-3:50 shush, pat back to sleep, again
6:45 - (CRIES) Awake for the morning at this time.

I guess it wasn't such a bad night since it looks like I got 6 hours of sleep, but I can't believe we are still going through this and she is almost 9 months old.  Can anyone tell me when this sleeping maddness ends?  Also, if this is normal behavior - WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS (have children) MORE THAN ONCE - - AND ON PURPOSE?

Phew! Still Cancer Free!

Well, the night didn't go as well as planned, but the end result is the best I could have expected.  Totally clean scans of her chest and abdomen.  Thank God!! 

Because she had to fast for 6 hours prior to her screen, last night at 2:30 am I gently picked Molly up from her crib and fed her as quietly as I could.  It went pretty well.  I got her back down and was in bed asleep by 3:15ish.  Unfortunately, soon after she decided 4:30 was her wake up time this morning.  It was awful.  For some reason she was hysterically wanting to nurse even though she had just eaten 2 hours previous.  After trying to settle her for an hour and a half I gave in and let her play.  So I was a little delerious today from only 3 hours of sleep.

Thank God again for a good day at the hospital.  The scans were quick and Molly was relatively good.  She did have a diaper-leaking-incident, and of course, I was too tired this morning to remember to pack her an extra outfit, but oh well.  The important thing is that she is cancer free still.  Thank God...did I say that already?  THANK GOD!  GOD IS GOOD!

I'm going to sleep now.