Her dad is a damn funny guy though. When he arrived at the accident scene, he looked at her and pointed to the city bus and said, “That’s going to be your only form of transportation for the next year.” We all laughed so hard and the motorcycle cop spit the water he was drinking on the ground. LOL!

Teen Driver of Truck Meets Las Vegas RTC City Bus

I interviewed for a blogging job a couple years back (in which I didn’t get) with a guy who was starting up a new business. During the interview we talked a little about Michael and how he was a software developer at Zappos. He wanted to meet him as well, so they set up a time to meet. At the time, Michael wasn’t a good fit for his company, and they both went their separate ways.

A few weeks back at a BlogWorld Expo event we happened to run into him again. We talked for a little while, and I went my own way to hang out with my friends, that were at the party, while Michael sat back and talked with him for hours. Come to find out his company was very successful and he sold it for a big chunk of money. With this money he was planning on starting a new company, and Michael and him decided to talk more about it.

Several meetings took place over the next few weeks and Michael’s excitement grew like crazy. He was pulled into the project at a pretty high level and he’s been gung ho about it ever since. This guy (who I just can’t name names at this time) had been pitching his new company idea around Silicon Valley and Boston, and some big players in the venture capital world were starting to take notice.

So last week our current boss told us that he was running out of money, and that he would have to let go of two of us, with Michael staying on helping with the platform that he created. The very next day, things were finalized with the new company, and my old boss asked me to come back and work part time. So we went in the next day, explained that Michael was going to take on this new project, sealed a salary for the two of us to work at home part time, and Michael now has the extra time to focus on the new project.

Which brings us current to day. This last two months has been a whirlwind of emotions, that is one thing I can say! For obvious reasons I can’t say what the new project is, or who the players are that are involved, but I can say that it’s pretty big, exciting, and super crazy. Depending on which VC guy they decide to go with determines where we will be moving to, but at this time, all roads point to Boston.

Now to answer the questions that I’ve gotten:

• When will you be moving?: This is all up in the air, but most likely next year in the Spring.
• Where is Michael working?: Can’t say – disclosure agreements prohibit that during the alpha phase
• What will Michael be doing?: Programming of course! Again the need to be vague is important at this point.
• Will your boys move with you?: Okay, I have to admit this was quite possibly the oddest question of them all, and I’ve heard it over and over again! I just don’t understand why this would even be questionable. Abso-fucking-lutely my boys are moving with us. I realize my oldest son is 18 and does have the right to stay in Las Vegas, but why on earth would I leave my 15 year old MINOR child behind? I don’t know, maybe I’m reading into that question more than I should be, but I have 100% legal sole custody of my children, and they stay with their mother. ‘Nuff said.

So with that, Boston looks and feels almost like another planet to me. I’m super stoked to actually move where there are TREES and greenery, but I know nothing, and I mean NOTHING about the East Coast. In fact, I just learned yesterday that New York City was SOUTH of Boston. For some reason I thought it was north. Shrugs…like I said, I know nothing, but how flipping exciting is it to research and learn new things about it. I’m having a ball reading all about the city, things to do, where to live, etc…

It’s a new chapter in the book of life, and boy have I got enough material for a epic novel! More to come soon…

All Roads Point To Boston

Sam’s Club carries all these brands that participate in the Box Top for Education campaign. Cheerios, Ziploc containers, Ziploc sandwich bags, Honey Nut Cheerios, Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookies, Fiber One Oats and Chocolate Bars, Nature Valley Bars, Scott Paper Towels, Huggies Baby Wipes and Kleenex Facial Tissues. You can really collect a lot while you shop there.

Box Tops for Education is giving away 1 million Bonus Box Tops to America’s schools! You can enter The Big Clip sweepstakes for a chance to win the Grand Prize of 500,000 Bonus Box Tops, or one of two first prizes of 250,000 Bonus Box Tops!

Do you collect the Box Top for Education for your kids school? How would you like to win a $25 Sam’s Club gift card so you can go shopping and collect more? I also have (5) one-day passes so you can check out Sam’s Club if you’ve never been in one.

Thanks to Sam’s Club and Box Tops for Education for this giveaway! Good luck to all who enter!

How to enter my Sam’s Club Gift Card Giveaway

1. Leave a comment on my blog telling me what your favorite Box Top for Education product you like the best.
2. Follow @JustJulie on Twitter.
3. Tweet: Enter to win a Sam’s Club Gift Card Giveaway from @JustJulie http://tinyurl.com/m8b5h8

Sam’s Club Gift Card Giveaway Rules

1. I will randomly choose ONE winner for the Sam’s Club Gift Card, and FIVE winners for a one day admission pass to Sam’s Club from all the entries on September 19, 2009 12:00PM Pacific.
2. Winner will be notified by email, and you have 48 hours to respond.
3. U.S. residence only

Sam’s Club Gift Card Giveaway-Closed

Sears makes it easy to juggle these expenses with their Reload-able Gift Cards. As a parent you need to go into the store to purchase the card originally, but then you can load funds onto the card online, in a store, or in a student shop at their local Sears and Kmart stores. There is also the application CampusReady on Facebook that will help you.

There are three sections to the Sears CampusReady Facebook application. The Roommate Matchup let’s you take a quiz to discover what you and your new roommate share in common (or don’t). The Dorm Room Designer let’s you design your dorm room in 3D before you even step foot on campus. And the Gift Getter let’s you choose the things you need for college and post them on your Facebook page so all your family members can see it, and hopefully buy these items for you.

Going to college for the first time is a scary event, but with the fun and helpful tools like these, it will make the transition less stressful.

Are You Campus Ready?

Cute Roses

It’s quite overwhelming as I don’t have a job to support myself and the kids (or even a car), so I’m in a bad scary place of not knowing what I am going to do for them. The thoughts are running through my head a million miles a minute and I feel exhausted, but I can’t sleep. I’m just in a very bad place right now and I am scared to death.

Life Changing

My mom got into town at the beginning of last week and we hung out everyday. We were either shopping, getting the catering ordered for J.R.’s graduation, swimming at the Green Valley Ranch pool, or drinking margaritas. It was a busy on-the-go type of week. Exactly the kind of week I need to keep my mind off the less important things in life I seem to dwell on all the time. We had a really nice time together, and I miss her already. Thanks for coming out mom, and I can’t wait until you can do it again! (Her margarita is the smaller one to the right. She was just posing with Michael’s mammoth mango marg!)

Thursday was Johnathan’s high school graduation and it was such a nice ceremony, and an absolute gorgeous day outside. I only cried twice which I think is some kind of world record for me, but I did have quite a few weepy moments leading up to the day. Maybe it was just all out of my system by the time the actual ceremony rolled around. I am very proud of him, and I’m looking forward to seeing all the things he will accomplish in his life from here on out. I know he will be great at whatever he decides to do.

Michael and I spent the whole weekend in the yard, fixing sprinklers and planting some fun things like catnip and a watermelon patch! We cut back the roses and the enormous deer grass that has taken over the front planters, and everything looks nice and “landscaped” up there now. We also did some herb pots with thyme, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, chives, and basil, and we bought a dwarf peach tree with two little green peaches that will hopefully ripen soon. Fruit trees in the desert, HA! I guess you can’t take that So Cal mentality out of us huh? We’ll do our best to keep it alive.

So that’s about it. I’ve been updating daily on my Facebook, but that’s only because I can do it so easily from my phone. If I could figure out a way to post said updates to my blog also then everything would be perfect I guess. Until next time…cheers!

High School Graduation and Stuff

I think we’ve all been in the situation where you’re trying to unload your groceries into your car, and you turn to find your shopping cart rolling away from you. Has it ever happened when your child was in the shopping cart also? Well it happened to Dyanne and Kevin Houlihan, and it scared them so much they decided to create the Cart-Stopper.

It’s a handy little gadget that attaches to the shopping cart on one end, and a suction cup that attaches to your car, to prevent “run-away” shopping carts. If you’re a mom or dad with young children, this is a handy safety item to own. Currently they are available in retail stores in Sacramento, or directly on their website for just $9.99, or you can try to win one here on my blog just by commenting.

Cart-Stopper Giveaway Rules

1. Leave a comment on my blog with your opinion about the Cart-Stopper
2. I will choose one random winner from all the comments received
3. Contest ends Thursday May 7, 2009 at 12:00PM Pacific time

Good luck, and don’t forget to tell your friends to enter also.

Thanks to Family Review Network and Cart-Stopper for this review and giveaway.

Cart-Stopper Review & Giveaway (Closed)

Senior Prom

Parents Just Don’t Understand – We’re Not Perfect. We’re Parents. And We Mean It.

That’s the motto for ParentsConnect.com and I couldn’t agree with them more. As most of you know I’ve got two teenage boys. A 17 year old (18 in May) and a 15 year old, and let me tell you! I’ve made plenty mistakes over the years when it comes to parenting them. As parents, we’ve all heard the old saying that they don’t come with instructional manuals, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t help out there for us who struggle with making parenting decisions.

Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? I think that hair pulling one is probably my top question on a daily basis, HA!

• How do I discipline without being too harsh?
• Why should I let my children fail at things?
• How do I teach my child to be a safe driver?
• When will I stop pulling my hair out?

ParentsConnect.com seems to be a great place to help you with your daily questions on parenting, and get feedback or support from other parents just like yourselves. They cover all stages of parenting including pregnancy, babies, toddlers, preschoolers, kids, preteens, and teens. There is something for everyone, so go connect with other parents and stop feeling so alone when it comes to parenting.

We’re Not Perfect. We’re Parents.

Parents Just Don’t Understand