You know it’s a slow 4th of July if I’m taking the time to blog about a few recent frugal finds, but hey…it is what it is. (More on that in tomorrow’s column.)

I love to save a few dollars when I can, but am on a tight budget so I’m often reluctant to spend our hard-earned cash on something that might not work. Unlike some people, I’m not overly brand-loyal, except on a few items. Until now, two of those were Tide laundry detergent and Almay waterproof mascara.

I just wasn’t in the mood to drop $10 on another tube of Almay the other day, so I started scouring the makeup aisles at Target to see what else I could find. When I saw this Rimmel of London 100% Waterproof Mascara for the bargain, non-clearance price of $2.24, I decided it was worth a try. I used it for the first time this morning and was MUY impressed.

You must understand that my eyelashes are virtually non-existent. I was dealt a horribly puny hand in the eyelash department, and besides the fact that they are short, thin and skimpy, they are also a lighter brown than the hair on my head. You’d think someone with naturally almost-black hair would have dark, visible eyelashes, but not me.  My eyes are a dark grayish blue, so without makeup, I quite resemble a beady-eyed rat staring at you, my eyes just two dime-sized dots lost in a wide, pale face. So good mascara is a must.

This Rimmel of London fit the bill. I had better coverage in fewer coats, gave me longer lashes and overall better results than the Almay that costs 4 times as much.

And when I was thinking about sharing that with y’all, I also thought it worth mentioning that my Tide addiction has been broken by Purex Laundry Detergent . I’d have never ventured to try it it if weren’t for this baby I’m carrying. We plan to cloth diaper the little guy (another frugal choice) and when I saw Purex Free & Clear recommended on many cloth diapering websites, I figured I should try it on the family’s laundry and see what I thought before I’m faced with cleaning a mountain of soiled diapers.

Again, I couldn’t be more impressed. Today I am wearing a white cotton shirt that I spilled yellow mustard on, then forgot to pre-treat before putting in the hamper. It finally got washed this morning and the stains are gone. It comes in yummy fragrances, like Linen and Lilies, Apple and Melon, Lilac and White Lavender. And it costs at least half what Tide goes for—and you can often find coupons, too.

So, it’s not the most interesting blog I’ve ever written, but if I can help others save a buck in this tight economy, I’m happy to share. Feel free to reply with any of your recent frugal favorites! Thanks!

I was going through my photo files, in search of an image that goes with what I’m feeling today, and this is the one! We’re just smiling through!

Smiling through what, you ask? For starters, my pregnancy. To celebrate reaching 25 weeks last Thursday, I got admitted to the hospital for observation because of having preterm labor symptoms. (That is also the reason there is no column this week…missed my Thursday night write-fest.) I’m still having the same symptoms off and on, but unless they increase, it doesn’t mean anything except that I have an “irritable uterus”. Which is funny because that just means my uterus matches the rest of me!

Because who can be anything but irritable in this heat? We’re not supposed to have weeks of heat indexes over 100 degrees in June. In late July or August, maybe…but not June! It’s something of a blessing to be told to take it easy, because it gives me an excuse to spend my days stretched out next to the a/c vent, under the ceiling fan. Again…smiling through!

The hubs and I did some serious smiling over the repairs he’s accomplished on his car this weekend. He made a lot of progress and I’m beginning to see the hope on the horizon that we will, someday, return to being a two-vehicle family.

(Not that I’m supposed to be doing much of anything for the rest of the pregnancy, but it’s nice knowing that I could go somewhere if I wanted to. Especially if that “going somewhere” entails dropping off two bored boys to spend some time with their friends. Hint, hint.)

Finally, a not-to-be-named relative called today, with a mind-bogglingly ignorant request that we basically shoot ourselves in the foot for their benefit. Once the nausea wore off, all I could do was giggle. Because there’s no way we’re going to do what was asked of us, and because of that, there’s a really good chance that this person could once again be blessedly OUT OF MY HAIR. For keeps. YAHOO!

So my thought this Sunday is this: I’ve given up asking for life to be easier. We’ve just got to keep smiling through…

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spend about 37 percent more on Mother’s Day than on Father’s Day. Today ranks as the fourth largest card-sending holiday in the U.S., behind Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas.

On Father’s Days past, I’ve written about this discrepancy between Mom’s day and Dad’s, pondering why we give less to our fathers. Recent conversations with friends who dread the arrival of Father’s Day have given me a different perspective on that.

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Whether you’re a journalist, novelist, songwriter—or just starting out—please join my local writers group, East Metro Atlanta Christian Writers, for an awesome learning opportunity.

We are hosting a 2-day writing conference with nationally-known author, teacher and speaker, Dr. Dennis Hensley!

When:
Friday, July 17, 2009
and/or
Saturday, July 18, 2009

Where:
DeKalb Technical College Newton Center
8100 Bob Williams Pkwy, Covington, Georgia

Plus … four bonus sessions led by local speaker, Patricia Durgan, on “How to Distinguish Yourself in the Marketplace.”

We’re also hosting our first annual EMACW writers’ contest! Online registration and all conference details are available on our website.

Please consider joining us! EMACW is a wonderful group of warm, welcoming people, and our conferences are highly recommended by those who have attended them in the past. If it weren’t for EMACW, I would not have made the connections that enabled me to begin my career as a columnist three years ago. You never know who you will meet, and I guarantee that you will learn a ton of information that will help you pursue your writing dreams.

Comment below or send me an email if you have any questions. Hope to see you there!

I am trying to psyche myself up for a weekend of Father’s Day celebrations. What I want to do is take my husband and our sons on an escape to somewhere cool (seriously, these 102 degree heat indexes are insane!). My poor hubby has been dealing with so much stress lately—I can’t tell you how much I wish our budget would cover a nice vacation for him. He’s a great dad and has earned a reward for all his troubles. But what we’ll be doing instead is hosting two days of back-to-back Father’s Day dinners here at my house; one celebration with my dad, the other with my father-in-law.

Please understand that I have no aversion to honoring our parents. We’re supposed to do that; as I often remind my own children, it’s the only one of the Ten Commandments that comes with a promise of long life. My dad has always been awesome to us, and I wish I could do more than just throw dinner on the grill and bake him a cake. He’s always grateful for even the smallest gestures, and I appreciate that about him.

What’s frustrating me are others in the extended family who aren’t happy unless they’re creating some kind of drama surrounding events like this. And drama is the last thing I need.

Y’all, I am six months pregnant. It is hot as Hades already, I am cooped up at home all day with the boys  (one of whom is still mending from a knee injury) because we only have one vehicle at the moment. Like so many other young families, we’re experiencing financial stress that is compounded by a broken-down car and all the copayments this high-risk pregnancy is requiring. I have been to the doctor four—no, five—times in the past two weeks. Add in my raging hormones and I’m pretty crabby even on a good day.

I don’t feel like being Martha Stewart, but I’m trying. And because of that, I certainly don’t deserve to get attitude from grown adults who want to criticize anything that isn’t done their way.

They’re the parade-rainers, the Grinches, the flies in the frosting that can ruin a perfectly nice day. And I am scared that as fed-up as I’ve felt lately, if they cross those lines when they’re actually here, I might just go off. There are bound to be, as there usually are,  insults veiled as compliments, prying questions and tight lips when we leave them unanswered. And it shouldn’t be that way. It shouldn’t.

I don’t want to feel like I’m serving up a portion of resentment to those relatives this weekend. But at the moment, that’s exactly what I feel. Because this weekend isn’t just about our parents, a fact that only I seem to have remembered. It’s also about my husband, my children’s father, and the desire in my heart to do what is best for him, for my little family and our sanity.

But, as has been the pattern over the past two years, life has felt like nothing but a continual demand for our time, our resources, our souls to be dedicated to meeting the needs and expectations of extended family members—on both sides of the family tree.

And oh, it’s getting OLD.