Whats The Number To Your Corporate?

( this was so what I wanted to do ) ^^^

Well, I am not usually the one to call and complain about any store or company but yesterday, I just had to.  Let me start from the beginning.  I woke up on a mission.  To first get my change and cash it in at those machine (which name of company I will not name), then to stop by a very well know electronic store and get my husbands christmas gift, then to swing by my local post office to send out some christmas presents on time.  First I ended up having to go to 3 different places because the coin machines where either out of service or full.  That alone took some time with driving around.  Then I finally got to the electronic store.  It should have been quick and easy since I already knew what I was getting.  Once I grabbed the gifts I walked to the front of the store and stood in line.  Quickly an employee came up to me and told me that she could take me at her register that was in the movies section so that it would be faster.  At first I thought that was amazing.  Quick and easy customer service, guess I spoke to soon.  Quickly she had asked me for my drivers license which I then realized my husband had it in his wallet from the last time we went out.  I quickly apologized and then asked her why did she need to see it.  First she gave me the excuse that it was to make sure of my age because of what I was buying (1 movie and a playstation headphones) and then when I told her I am clearly over 18 she changed her story that she needed to see it because she needed to match my name to my credit card.  Yes while I fully understand that the rule is there to "protect" my identity and appreciate it, I asked if there was anything else she could except so that I didn't have to drive all the way home to go get my license then to drive all the way back.  Now mind you she just needed to "match" my name. And as I am fully aware that a Costco card is not a government form of ID, it did have my name and photo on it.  But with my job before baby was issuing military ID cards and knowing rules can not just be broken, I said ok and said I would be right back.  As I was driving home I decided to call the corporate office to just let them know that yes this ID rule is to help us, it is now making me have to drive all the way home.  They told me thank you and that my "complaint" was noted.  When I got back to the store I went and got my stuff and stood in line again.  I get to the register and the man finished my transaction and DID NOT ASK FOR MY DRIVERS LICENS !!!  When he handed me my recipe I literally had to tell myself not to scream like a crazy person and that I was a lady with class.  I quickly took a breath and calmly asked the man, "can you please call for a manager" he quickly asked if there was something wrong and I assured him that it wasn't his fault but that I am very upset and would like to talk to a manager.  Shortly after a manager pulled me aside and I told him exactly what happened and with out me pointing fingers at anyone because I didn't want to get anyone fired right before christmas but so that they knew they just made me drive all the way home for nothing. His response "ok, I'll talk to her, she must of messed up, sorry" and walked away from me.  At that point I was livid.  How could he say "I'll talk to her" if I never even pointed her out or said her name.  I was being "blown off".  So not only did I call corporate once but as I stormed out of the store as I was already starting to redial the number yet again.  At this point I had to take yet another breath so that I wouldn't sound like those crazy people yelling up a storm.  Remember Xiara you are classy not trashy, is exactly what I told myself as I waiting on hold.  Not only was the rep on the line calm and understanding, he gave me a $20 gift card that is already in the mail for my hassle and that he assured me they where sorry for the madness.  You tell me what stores does that.  Im happy now lol.  But wait, as I was on the phone with the rep I had already made it to the post office and there was no air conditioning and I was in line for 2 hours while the hot sun was beaming on my back through the window.  So lets just say yesterday was a long day!  

Almost 2 months..

I know its been way to long.  With holidays and personnel health issues I have been out of the "blogging" game.  But no fear, I am back.  I have a few topics to write about and some new recipes to share.  With Christmas a week away, I also have some holiday crafts.  You know, the pressure of becoming a new blogger is heavy.  There are so many amazing bloggers who's pages are just simply breathtaking, and their words roll right off of there tongue.  Yet for me it has taken me a while to figure out what to write about.  So now I am back, and I can only hope that my blog gets close to those of you who are amazing bloggers.

Home Made Pizza in 30 min (no yeast)

Who doesn't love PIZZA right! Well let me apologize now in advance for the pictures.  This was a last minute meal i decided to make and didn't think of taking pictures until mid way.  So on that note here is my home made pizza.

Ingrediants

•  2 cups flour
•  2 teaspoons baking powder
•  1 teaspoon salt
•  2/3 cup milk
•  1/4 cup veg oil
•  and additional 2 teaspoons veg oil put on side for later

Directions

• Heat oven to 425
• mix all ingredients into bowl (exept additional veg oil leave that for later)
• Stir all ingredients until it forms a strong enough for you to grab with your hands
• gather the dough and on your counter need it until all content are soft and compacted into a firm ball
• cut ball in half with your hands and then press each half into form a pizza about 9 to 13 in wide.
• then add toppings and place into oven then in about 20-30 min it should be done and enjoy! 

The dough after rolling it out

For the sauce these are the ingredients I used and it came out amazing! I eye ball everything so just add each until its strong enough for you. I put about a teaspoon of each

This is the pizza sauce (sorry remember I started taking pictures mid through)

The finished look ! ( I added bacon and chicken to my pizza with green peppers and onion !)

Hope you enjoy this easy quick yummy pizza!!

Peach Cobbler In A Mug

PEACH COBBLER IN A MUG

Lately I am OBSESSED with any recipe that has to deal with cooking "In A Mug" and throwing it in the microwave.  I am usually the one who loves making anything from scratch and spending hours in the kitchen.  But as you may know, having a toddler at your hip it makes it hard to get some good hours spent in the kitchen.  So I have been on the hunt for "In A Mug" recipes.  I have tried 4 different "Brownie In A Mug" and still can't find one that is amazing. They are all just ok.  So I gave up on the brownies.  Today I woke up with wanting Peach Cobbler.  I am not even a die hard fan of cobblers, but I do love the crunchy tops.  My search started this morning and I couldn't find one recipe that got my attention so I decided to make up my own.

When eating a Peach Cobbler besides the amazing crust, you get your nice "Cakey" texture  and then the "gooy goodness" texture.  So I wanted to get both and if I could manage the crunchy crust I would have been in heaven, but since its done in a microwave, I didn't get so lucky.  Don't worry, it is still amazing and after 3 attempts, I hope you love it! 

Ingredients 

• 3 tbs of cake mix ( I used betty crocker yellow butter recipe)
• 1 tbs of melted butter
• 2 1/2 tbs of milk
• 1 tbs of sugar
• 1 tbs of brown sugar
• 3 slices of peaches from a can diced ( I used Del Monte sliced peaches no sugar added)
• 2 tsp of peach juice from can
• pinch of cinnamon (optional)
• 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream

Directions

Put butter in mug and place in microwave to melt then set aside.

In a separate bowl add in milk sugar (not brown sugar thats later) cake mix and cinnamon.

once mixed pour on top of butter thats already melted in the mug DO NOT MIX TOGETHER.

then dice peaches and throw on top of mix.

then add the peach juice from the can DO NOT MIX!

then add the brown sugar (sprinkle it all over the top) ... again DO NOT MIX

Once everything is added it should look a mess like this haha.  The peaches should have fallen to the bottom, if not it will.  Just like that you stick it in the microwave for 4 minutes. 

Once out it should look like this.  A simple cake...WRONG! Because when you pull that cake to the side, half way down is the gooy goodness! 

All the peaches sunk to the bottom and are so soft and sweet , so now you have the top nice and cakey texture and the bottom is the gooy goodness!

So there you are. Peach Cobbler In A Mug. Don't forget to add the ice cream, I didn't take a picture with the ice cream in fear it wouldn't let you see what the cobbler actually looks like.  Let me know if it was amazing or just ok for you.  I hope you like it! 

Where Are All The Costumes At?

What is it with Halloween this year?  Where are all the costumes at?  Ok, yes I love to do DIY projects, and even including costumes.  This year I'm feeling lazy and wanted a complicated costume with out having to do the work.  This year my husband and I wanted to be "The Munsters" 

But when we go to stores, everything was Super Heros, Ninja's, stupid birds that are angry, princesses, angles, devils, vampire, witches, and TV movie cartoon characters.  Where are the good costumes at?  So I figured, ok, lets hit up Party City even though they are expensive, they might actually have good costumes . . . WRONG! They had horrible selection for kids costumes, just exactly what I said at the top ^^ , and all the ok/good ideas for adult women where all slutty versions of what ever you can think of as a cliché slutty costume. Lets give some examples:

The sexy Little Red Riding Hood

The Sexy Flight Attendant 

The Sexy Sailer

Yes while they are supper cute, Im a plus size woman over here who would love to wear something like this but in the privacy of my own home.  All that was for me was a Witch, Greek God and a Medusa type dress. but that was just me.

My son well I explained on the top.  And my husband, having a hard time because he is 6'5.  There are never any costumes in his size.  

So I guess this post was more of a vent than anything.  My son this year will just end up being some super hero hand-me-down from my nephews and ill just be a witch as always and my husband , well his costume he made himself a few years ago and he always ends up wearing it because he cant find anything better...

 He is a "Cereal Killer"

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and this year, it just plainly sucks.  Only thing I'm looking forward to is that every year we buy a big pumpkin and do a crazy hard carving.

How Do You Clean The Mattress? (Leaking Diaper edition)

There is nothing like actually getting a whole night of sleep.  They are rare in my house hold.  But just the occasional waking up is not the biggest problem.  It's when your kid leaks his or her diaper and now the whole bed is wet, your child is crying because they are cold and wet.  So what do you do?  Do you actually change the whole bed setting and your childs clothes.  Or do you do what I did last night, just throw on a towel change your kids clothes and deal with it in the morning?

(My sons Twin size bed)

So this past week My toddler has leaked his diaper every night.  Time to go up in a size right?  Well I don't know if thats going to fix it.  His diapers fit perfectly, not to small, not to big.  So my research began this morning.  I found a few things you can do to help the leaking problem.

•   No drinks an hour before bed time
•   Going up in size of diaper
•   Changing diaper right before they go to sleep
•   Changing diaper again before parents go to sleep
•   Getting night time diapers

These are all great suggestions, and honestly I have tried most of them.  But, I haven't found anything really on CLEANING THE MATTRESS.  Even though I love Febreze, I still don't think it is REALLY cleaning the mattress.  Everything else I can throw in the wash, but the mattress?  Do I really need to go rent like a carpet cleaning machine or something?  These are a few of the suggestions I found on cleaning a mattress

•  Dampen any stains with mild detergent and warm water
•  Using warm water and dish soap
•  Check mattress tag for specific cleaning tips for that mattress

Ok, these are ok tips but my problem is that my kids mattress is an old german mattress, that is amazing by the way, but has NO TAG, and its a foam material, not like most mattresses.

(so you can see what the German mattress looks like)

Yes, I know it is completely important to wash the mattresses due to kids slobber, pee leaks, dead skin cells, milk leaks or juice leaks.  All these things over time become horrible bacteria but again, I CAN'T FIND ANY GOOD SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO CLEAN THE MATTRESS.  Yes you could always spray Lysol, but is it really cleaning the mattress?  

So now doing MORE looking around I think I found something to go by. But these are to take away smell, not initially cleaning.  

• Sprinkle dry laundry detergent and letting it sit for a few hours then vacuuming
• Sprinkle baking soda letting it sit for a few hours and then vacuuming 
• Spraying a half water half vinegar spray on mattress and then waiting for the vinegar smell that will eventually fade in time

So with these ideas and my own creativity I have tried a few things.  These are the things I used.

• Febreze
• Dreft fabric refresher and odor eliminator (2 oz) mixed with warm water and Snuggle softener
• Baking soda
• Lysol
• Febrezr odor eliminator powder 
• Dry Gains detergent (not in picture accidentally threw it away)

I sprinkled all the dry powder stuff on the whole mattress and went extra on the area he leaked.  Let it sit for about 4 hours and then vacuumed it.  After that I sprayed all the wet stuff, and let the fan dry it off for about 3 hours.  

By this point I was scared it would still smell since I didn't scrub the mattress but just added stuff to it.  When I went in for the sniff, it was a MIRACLE! It smelled as if I did throw it in the wash.  

(spray bottle got for $1 at the dollar tree)

• Half Vinegar
• Half Water

Then since I didn't know if anything leaked on his actual bed and since the bed is a plastic material, I cleaned the bed. I used my own mix of vinegar water.  Now no only does the mattress finally smell better than new, the whole room smells amazing! 

Why Not Dye Your Hair Crazy Colors?

PINK, yes thats correct, I said PINK. Lets go back a few years. As a teen I always wanted to dye my hair. I wanted the edgy type look.  I am a very outgoing person, very loud, my laugh you can hear a mile away.  So on that note, I have strict parents where dying my hair was out of the question. So now years later, married and with a toddler, I finally decided to dye it a crazy color.

PINK

 I know it's crazy I'm 24 years old, married and with a kid.  I'm a stay at home mom, I no longer work at a government job and I really don't go out much unless its to Walmart or Target or something.  So, why not? 

My parents definitely don't like it. Everyone else was like "NOPE" and the hubby was like "it's ok, just different".  Oh boy, did I take things to far this time?

Well, no, it's these little things that make me happy. I STAY HOME ALL DAY.

So let me tell you about my experience on dyeing my hair PINK by myself.

First I know this is going to sound crazy.  I have tons of hair dresser friends.  I myself hope to go to a cosmetology school one day.  I know my way around "HAIR" pretty well.  

I have only bleached my hair on my one once before.  With help of a girl I used to know coaching me through the phone.  This time, brace yourself, I took advise from my nieces high school (FRESHMAN) friend.  I know trusting a kid with my hair.  When you think about it, now a days all these kids to crazy stuff with there hair and I did my research on him, saw all his pictures of his own hair he dyed.  

The only advise I took from him was which products to use.  Everything else I did on my own.  I mean its not that difficult, its just read the directions.  I think I backed out of this over the years about a 100 times because I was so nervous to do it my self.  I still have the purple color I got last year unopened.  Well yesterday as I was doing the mix of the bleach, I kept telling myself, "ok, you can do this" then telling myself, "what are you doing your going to make your hair fall out!!" and over and over and over.  Until I said "SCREW IT"! I don't work, so if it messes up I don't have to go anywhere.  

After putting the bleach in my hair and wrapped it in hair aluminum, all my nerves left. 

Now to wait.

Once it was time to take it off, I washed the bleach out and sure enough my hair was a light blond.  It felt a little, "rope ish", if that makes sense but I didn't put to much into it.  Then I opened the PINK. After seeing the color on my gloves I fell in love instantly.  It was the perfect brightness. Now I was excited.

After waiting for the color to take I washed it out and I was ecstatic.  It was so brights and pretty PINK.  But then when I started to comb through my hair, some of my ends where braking off.  Thats when my full on panic mode kicked in.  I though all that was dyed PINK was going to fall off.  I quickly started flat ironing my hair knowing there was a GREAT chance of my hair falling off, but as you can see it didn't, and I feel fabulous!! HA take that bleach. 

The Switch Witch

Waking up this morning, I got onto my Facebook and saw a post about something called 

"The Switch Witch". 

I think its BRILLIANT!!

 Of course I'm not going to say I wish my mom did this for me because for a week straight I at candy until she would finally hide it and then I was playing the Hide and Seek game.  To then finding it and hiding it in my room and eating candy until I would pass out of sugar overload.

So as the clever poem says this "Switch Witch" comes halloween night.  Your child is to pick out how ever many candy you allow them to have and then leave the rest outside the door.  Then when the kids are asleep The Switch Witch comes and takes the candy and leaves a gift! AMAZING RIGHT!? 

Well this is the thing, this is PERFECT WITH KIDS WITH FOOD ALLERGIES, that just don't understand yet why they cant eat certain foods, let alone certain candies.  

My son is to small to understand now, but i see The Switch Witch in my near future for sure!

PMS?

PMS, a phrase every woman is familiar with.  But are we really familiar with it in reality?  Before baby, I would last 7 days, and would get a little crampy.  Other than that, that was it.  Now after having my son, I last about 4-7 days but then the REAL PMS started.  Crampy, weak, head aches, SERIOUS mood swings as in angry, irritable, grouchy you name it. Then comes the joint pain, exhaustion, back pain, and feeling bloated, .  Where in the hell did this come from?  It was like a slap to the face, or uterus if you wana say haha.  It was like each month a new symptom popped up.  So not only did baby change my body from the outside, but the inside too?  Not to mention now affecting my relationship because I don't realize my moods until after I have ran my trap. These type of things the books and classes don't tell you. The way I explain it is that your monthly bitch now comes in complete bitch mode! SURPRISE! lovely. . . Welcome to mother hood.

How To Clean, Cook AND Take Care Of A Toddler

So that title is definitely NOT implying that I'm about to tell you an easy way to cook, clean, and take care of a toddler.  More like releasing my frustration.  Its been almost 2 years since I had my son and I STILL can not master cooking, cleaning and taking care of him all in one day. Its mostly just taking care of him and once the piles of clothes, clean and dirty,  get ridiculous to climb over, then thats when I start to clean.  I shouldn't call it cleaning, I should call it walking in circles honestly.  I have a BAD habit of starting my cleaning in one room and as I'm cleaning I'll find something that belongs in another room, so I'll go take it to that room.  Then see something that belongs in ANOTHER room, then go to that room start cleaning and then find something that belongs in yet ANOTHER ROOM, and the circle begins.  Horrible right?  But thats not it.  We still have to cover cooking and toddler!  With the cooking, I can throw down.  I love to cook, and being Puerto Rican, no food is simple to make.  Everything has tons of ingredients and seasonings.  In other words, TIME CONSUMING!  I am one who is old fashion.  I love it when I cook and time it perfectly for when my hubby gets home and has a HOT plate on the table ready to sit down and eat.  Before baby, that was every single day, now. . . hardly EVER!  And now with a 22 mo old,  all he wants is to be independent, in charge, and free.   So now what? How can I manage cleaning (properly so that it actually looks and is clean), cooking great tasting food (not microwave) AND entertaining my 22 mo old?  ALSO my biggest addiction, social media, and Netflix!  Its like I'm glued, especially during Alexzio's nap time.  Instead of cleaning and catching up or starting dinner, I plop on the couch and catch up on my stuff.  I'm just tired of running after my toddler and he STILL doesn't sleep through the nights every night, (he gets night terrors some nights).  I'm not going to lie its a big deal in my house hold, and seems like I just can't get it right.

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What They Didn't Tell Me About Ear Tube Surgery on Toddlers

Surgery, its a scary word , especially for a parent of a toddler.  Lets take this back.  My son who is now 22 mo old, has had one hell of a history with double ear infections.  About once a month almost since he was about 4-6 mo old.  So as the phrase goes "mothers intuition" I had that motherly feeling that eventually he might need ear tubes, I knew barley nothing about them except kids who get lots of ear infections eventually get ear tubes.  My husband would get mad at me and tell me to stop that I was going to "Jinx" him.   I couldn't help but think that was where the road was heading.
Well sure enough a year later and he is still getting them so his Pedi referred us to a specialist.  Now thats when i told myself, ok this is no longer a thought any more, its happening and my research began. I started calling all my friends that i knew had children with ear tubes.  I wrote it on TTML page and got some feed back.  They all said the same thing, "don't worry", "its quick and easy", " they will be them selves the same day", and the main one, "they wake up fine, or a little fussy, but thats it and its worth it".  Well when you get that feed back you seem to worry less and know, ok this is going to be cake.
Then came...SURGERY DAY!
We get their and I am a ball of nerves, they had us their up and early at 7 am. That way not being able to eat wouldn't effect them as much.  We get checked in and get called to the back to his "room" and talk with the Dr. and Anesthesiologist (that was the scariest part for me, putting him to sleep!).  These where there exact words, "This will be quick and easy, in and out in 15 mins, the only thing is that he will wake up "fussy", even. . . "angry"(in a whisper voice), my thoughts (why did he whisper angry?) but I didn't pay much mind to it just on "FUSSY", he then began to explain that they are not in any pain, the "fussiness" is just a side effect from the anesthesia.
So, here comes the nurse and she says, "Oooookay,  can I have Alexzio?", my first thoughts are, wait, what?  I don't get to go back with him.  Her words, "oh no mom, we got it from here"... my heart melted, but I guess I really should consider this a good thing.  He went with her calmly not crying,  didn't even look back, I guess now I know how the guy from "Life of Pi" felt when Richard Parker never looked back!
So they walk my husband and I to the recovery room.  The lights where dimmed and it was completely empty except for the few nurses walking around.  The Dr. talked to us again right before he went into the O.R and said "don't worry he will be fine", I guess he could see the nervousness in my face, probably written across my forehead.  He goes in and my husband sits down and tells me to sit, oooh no i told him, i'm just fine swaying back and forth.  Literally 10 mins latter the Dr. comes out and says, "Everything went great, they are just cleaning him up and he will be right out, just remember he might be a little fussy".  We said our thank you's and waited for my little man to come out.
From behind the double doors I heard a little squeak, I jumped and told my husband "thats him, thats him" and my husband said "I don't know, just relax" , oh I know my sons squeak and sure enough the double doors open and he is in what looks like a old fashion babies crib with wheels and about 5 nurses around him.  Then as they are rolling him down to his spot, the SCREAMS broke my heart, I began to cry because I have NEVER heard my child scream and cry that way.  He was in no way "fussy" he was plain old "PISSED"!  The way the DR said "angry" does not cover it.  My son was throwing himself back I couldn't even hold him, my husband had to.  You could hear his screams down the hall.  I kept asking the nurses, "are you sure he isn't in any pain", and they said "No, its just from the anesthesia".   Alexzio couldn't even catch his breath.  He was hyperventilating so badly, and his voice was cracking from how hard he was screaming.  Holy cow I had no idea it would have been like that. And then to top it off, about 10 mins later he is still screaming and they said "Ok, he is ready to go home" and I'm sitting there looking at Alex holding Alexzio while he is still screaming bloody murder and they want to send us home?  What?  How does that make sense??!!
Well we went and got into the car, all while he is still screaming.  About 10 min into the drive home he finally calmed down a little enough to sleep.  Then we got home, he woke up still cranky, had a snack and then fell back asleep.  When he woke up, he was his old self, like magic!  Like nothing ever happened, and I'm happy to say that since then he has NOT had any more ear infections.

Achhhoooo

There is nothing like waking up to your 22 mo old yelling from his room "mooooooooom" . Waking up this morning I found myself peeling my face off my pillow! Nothing like waking up with watery eyes, runny nose and sneezing up a storm. Once my little man heard me sneezing I could hear him from all the way in his room, "cha chuu" (bless you) ha , this kid is just to much! But wait, my body hurts and I have all of these cold symptoms, how do you stay active when all you want is to stay in bed all day? Well you just can't ! He is almost 2 and needs FULL attention and playful activity. I just can't stick him in front of the TV and call it a day.  So, you get up, do a quick breakfast, nothing fancy, and we go right back up to his room, yes WE.  That way he has his toys and yes I'll turn on the TV for some extra entertainment and I can lay in his bed!  He isn't alone, he is in a safe environment, and he has plenty of entertainment.  Now I can rest!  Then after a little bit we can go down stairs again and get a snack. Now he gets out of the room because if you give him a snack in his room then they feel stuck all day.  Balance time in and out.  But I don't dare step foot outside on a day like this, once his feet touch pavement its impossible to get this child back inside.  So when time comes to come inside, you will not only be dealing with your horrible cold, but now you will have a screaming 22 mo old and end up with a head ache on top of everything!!  So this will be my day today ! Wish me luck!

First Timer Here

My blogger cherry has been popped  lol, no really, its my first official blog and i am supper excited! Where do i even start? well how about the blog name, "Things This Mommy Loves" i plan on writing about everything i love, from being a stay at home mom, to my funny little almost 2 year old, to being a wife, and then the good stuff . . . hair, nails, make up, bath soap, you name it, even decorations, but mostly my day to day crazy life! Its never dull in the Franco House thats for sure. Cant wait until this kicks off!