Coupons

Bloom grocery stores are having their triple coupon event again. I went 2 days ago. It was fabulous. I just recently organized my coupons so I was ready to save to some money. I printed some internet coupons a little while ago, and I am looking forward to the Sunday paper to see the coupon selection. I am planning on checking out the deals tomorrow.

Fun "filled" dentist appointment

I had some cavities that needed to be filled so I that is where I ended up this morning. I am not a big fan of dental visits but the dentist office I go to is very "techy" with contemporary decor which makes it a little more palatable. The dental assistant offers me headphones to listen to music during the appointment. So, I am lying there in the chair relaxing and listening to classic rock amiss the the sounds of the drill and suction. How funny is it that the next song I hear through the headphones is "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd?.

Fake toenails

My sister and I just returned from our long weekend at the beach. We had a fabulous adventure, and I ate crab legs for the first time. Prior to this trip, I always felt the consumption of crab legs was barbaric and inefficient considering how much effort goes into actually finding your food. Well, crab legs are tasty, and I thoroughly enjoyed mutilating my crustacean for supper. I would eat them again. After toasting in the sun for a few days and gorging ourselves with an unholy amount of seafood, we topped the weekend off with a budget pedicure. Previously we both sported stubby unattractive toe nails. Now we have the loveliest fake nails that could ever be purchased from a department store. This is going to sound trite, but they really do look natural. I am so proud.

Hola

So, I haven't written in a while. Lightning ran in on our computer as well as striking a tree which of course fell over and then damaged our fence. Luckily, there was no structural damage to our house. This all happened at the end of May. We just fixed our fence and bought a new computer last week. So, please forgive me for being slack with my blog. I finished taking my Spanish class. It flew by, lasting only six weeks. I enjoyed it, and I plan to continue honing my Spanish skills. I am working on building my vocabulary. I am enjoying the summer break from work. My kids are very much keeping me very busy. I am writing this now as they are napping.

In the last few days I have been watching home improvement television, and I so want to be on any tv show that will help me remodel or redesign any or every room in our house. We have been trying to make our backyard prettier and cleaner after the tree fell down (however, the chopped-down tree is still in the backyard). I am inspired to do all of these home improvement projects, but time and money are hindering me. It is fascinating how 2 and a half year old twins and a three and a half year old can keep you from completing the most menial of tasks. I tried planting marigolds in the backyard because my 3 and a half year old kept wanting to water the marigolds (as seen on Max and Ruby, for all of you Noggin watchers). So I bought some marigolds and thought we could have a fun activity of planting the marigolds. This turned into everyone pouring water in the dirt, and not so gently removing the marigolds from the cartons. Everyone dug with their "shubbles" and dirt was everywhere including my son's heiny, because he, along with his sisters decided to parade naked in the backyard. It was preschool mud wrestling at its finest.

Mother's Day

My Mother's Day didn't start off in the best way. Luckily by the afternoon, we all started to have some fun. My husband and I took our kids to get sundaes at McDonald's which I thought would be less messy than the soft serve cones that we had the weekend before. I was wrong, but it was wonderful to see our 3 year old and our 2 year old twins with their big smiles and chocolate beards and mustaches. As I write this, I am remembering that their car seats are probably incredibly sticky from the ice cream, and I should probably go clean it up right now (but I won't because it is Mother's Day and I should take it easy for the rest of the night).

Yard sales

I really love yard sales. For the last two Saturdays mornings, I have gone to yard sales. My kids are into Cars and Toy Story and Finding Nemo. I found 14 of the die cast metal cars from Cars and a Woody and 2 Buzz Lightyear figures (one being about 10 inches tall that talks) and a big stuffed Nemo. I also found an extension ladder, 2 Hawaiian shirts for my husband, a portable DVD player, clothes and shoes for the kids, almost 50 matchbox cars and a track, some books, a movie, shoes for me, booster seat, photo album, 3 wooden kid size guitars, a giggling Elmo chair, Winnie the Pooh wooden clock, a couple of games, stationary, CD cases, gift bags, stuffed Mickey and Minnie, 3 RevereWare pans, birthday candles and probably some other stuff that I can't remember. But anyway, all of this stuff was less than $100. I was able to get my family some really cool stuff for a lot less than it would have cost new. Did I mention that I love yard sales?

Peggy Hill Spanish

I am taking a Spanish class for "fun"; at least that is what the registration materials said. I took Spanish in high school and retained a little bit. In the last year, due to my job, I feel like I should strengthen my conversational skills so that I can better communicate with the Spanish speaking people I meet. Right now I feel like someone with aphasia when I try to speak Spanish. Lots of awkward pauses and uhhhhs and then a word comes out usually followed by some gesture to further emphasize what I was trying to communicate. At this point, I am lacking confidence, and I fear that my Spanish speaking skills will plateau at the level of Peggy Hill, substitute Spanish teacher of the year.

I was a fourth grade Nancy.

I remember in elementary school, there was a girl that was a year or two younger than me. I didn't really like her to begin with and she got it in her head that I was the actress that played Nancy on Little House, A New Beginning. This infuriated me because for one thing, I hated Nancy. She was conniving and evil and she wasn't even cute. Secondly, how stupid is this classmate of mine to think that I could be on TV last night and make it to school the next day. (Okay, so I was a bit naive about television programming). Anyway, I was mortified. She taunted me, calling me Nancy whenever we would cross paths in the lunchroom. I guess she eventually figured out her error. I however, will have to live with this humiliation forever :)

Check out this sweepstakes

I visited a blog called http://wordsfromabusySAHM.com and found a great sweepstakes to enter. (So I entered it). I wanted to share it on my blog as well. For those of you who are into sweepstaking, entering blog sweepstakes takes a little more time and effort. The good thing is that usually the entry period is brief so fewer people enter it than a national sweeps. Odds are usually pretty good. This giveaway includes:
- A sample of the Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken Pasta variety
- Three coupons for you to try the other varieties the next time you visit your local grocer
- A colander
- Serving spoon
- Cheese grater
She is giving away 3 of them and you can enter more than once. The contest only runs until May 1, so hurry.

Coupons!!!!!!

I have just started using coupons to try and save some money. I tried to do this a while ago, but I was just overwhelmed by being so disorganized and I was poorly motivated. A couple of my co-workers are also collecting coupons to save some money, so we have enjoyed discussing the latest deals at the local grocery stores and drug stores. One of the grocery stores here had triple coupons for the weekend. I went yesterday and today. It is like gambling! I mostly purchased stuff that I needed but then I found myself buying fabric stain remover (I have 2 already stock piled at home) because I could get such a great deal. The store allowed you to use 20 coupons for tripling. I had 19 coupons that I had chosen to use and then I found myself frantically searching for another coupon that I could justify using too. Yes, I definitely need some chicken broth. I can't live without chicken broth. Must use one more coupon...Using coupons has really changed the way I shop. Previously, I would buy whatever I wanted and not obsess about the price. I would use a coupon if I had one, but usually I would forgot them at home. I had a lot of fun shopping and hearing that scanner beep and seeing all of those minus signs on my receipt. I was exhausted when I left the store, but it was well worth the extra time taken to peruse the store and figure out which coupons would help me save the most money.

Albert Ingalls

I was really joking when I sent my sister an email and told her I was going to make a blog about the show Little House on the Prairie. For the last week we have been emailing each other with dialogue from the shows and episodes that were especially notable. I found myself laughing hysterically. Being a child of the eighties, I watched that show a lot...reruns, new beginning episodes. When we got cable television, Little House was a staple program on WTBS. The show is ingrained in my brain. For the longest time, I believed that all pioneers boys had cool 70s hair just like Albert and Willie. I don't really like to admit it, but I would probably sit down right now and watch an episode even though I have already seen it 100 times. I know my sister and I aren't the only ones out there who have a secret affinity for Little House. So sister, will you just settle for my posting about our beloved show? Could I actually fill an entire blog with all that random pioneer wisdom?

Eating better

So, I just started reading this book that gives you information on how to choose food items that are healthier when you are shopping at the the grocery store. One suggestion that was given was to try and shop only in the perimenter of the grocery store because generally the healthier items are along the walls of the store. All of the packaged stuff and cans of preserved items are in the middle of the store. Apparently, that is the stuff to steer away from. Produce, diary items, fresh meat and poultry are usually around the perimeter of the store. It is so easy to get "lost" and overwhelmed when you are going up and down the grocery aisles. People probably forget to even stop and look at the items on the walls.

Thoughts for the day.

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans" is a such a memorable quote by John Lennon. I too often am wrapped up in the daily stresses of working and having a family that I forget to live in the moment. I get anxious about plans to be made or housework to be done that I am not even enjoying what is happening in the present. Monday rolls around and I am ready for Friday. One of my co-workers has told me that she is wishing her life away, because every week she just wants Friday to hurry up and get here. What makes people happy?

Spanish or no Spanish?

I am planning on taking a Spanish class. I was planning on starting it last week (seeing as how I drove to the meeting site with pen and paper in hand), but there was had been a scheduling error and the class was actually scheduled to beging the next week on a different day, a less convenient day. I emailed the scheduling coordinator Monday (3 days ago) and she assures me that the class is actually scheduled for the next week but on Tuesday, rather than Thursday which was preferable. She expressed her apologies for the confusion and scheduling mishap. Today, when I return home from work, there is message from the scheduling coordinator that there was yet another scheduling error and the class actually starts tomorrow evening. She requested that I call her back to confirm if I still wanted to take the class since she hasn't deposited my check yet. It is wrong for me to be a bit frustrated?

Getting adventurous and buying paint for less

At one of the large home improvement warehouse stores, you can usually find gallons and pints of paint that have already been mixed for reduced prices. These are cans of paint that were either mixed incorrectly or people never picked up. My husband and I have been contemplating re-painting some rooms in our house but we were having difficulty deciding on new colors. He found pints of blue and brown each for $2 and a gallon of a robin's egg blue for $8. We now have a lovely blue/brown alternating stripe accent wall in our living room that he painted. I would not have chosen that combo of colors under other circumstances and we both were pleasantly surprised on how cool looking it turned out. It perked up our living room nicely. Next time you set out to buy some paint, check to see if the store has any reject paint at reduced prices. You may find just the color that you didn't know you were looking for.

Backyard mystery cord.

So you are probably wondering exactly why is this orange cord in my backyard? I am still not exactly sure. The electric company via phone conversation assures me that it is not their line. I thought it belonged to the phone company because when I was able to hoist myself up to look over the privacy fence, I saw some of those metal wiring boxes with the phone company logo on it. I called them and a service guy was sent out. He said it wasn't their line either. He was pretty sure it belonged to the cable company and that if it was his backyard, he would bury the cable himself because the cable company would not come out any time soon to bury it. He assures me that this orange cord coiled up in my yard is perfectly safe. I still can't rake my leaves.

Organizing shoes

My three kids all share the same bedroom so space is limited. One of the recent ongoing messes in their room is keeping their shoes organized. I had all of their shoes stacked up neatly on the bookcase at the end of the bed. "Let's knock the shoes off the bookcase" became a favorite game. I was spending entirely too much time looking for the mates of shoes and putting them back on the shelf. Visually, it was unappealing too. The bookcase is actually an organization cube with 9 cubes. We had it filled with books and we had used the cloth storage bins that fit inside, for toys and other things elsewhere in the house. The cloth bins come in different colors. I chose green, pink and blue bins which are also my kids' security blanket colors. I arranged the 3 bins in my kids' birth order from left to right. My kids are able to remove the bins themselves, and they like having all of their shoes in their very own bin. My 3 year old even put the bin back in the cube after she picked out her shoes. The cube storage system is also visually appealing.

What is that in my backyard?

Recently while raking leaves in my backyard, I happen upon what looks like an orange heavy-duty extention cord tangled in with the leaves. I do some further exploration and discover that one end is buried about a foot down in my backyard while the other end disppears under our privacy fence into the heavily wooded abyss behind our house. With unbridled zeal, I attempt to dig it up thinking what kind of moron has buried an extension cord in our backyard. After digging for a few minutes and realizing that this was making me sweat, I cease my fruitless labor and begin to feel paranoid. Why is this cord here? Are my neighbors stealing my electricity? What kind of bizarre contraption is this cord attached to? If I cut it with this shovel, will I be electricuted? I can't finish raking these leaves!!!!

Books on CD

In the last year I have enjoyed listening to books on CD during my commute to work. Reading for fun until recently wasn't something I found to be fun. I may have read a book a year since graduating from college. Since August 2008, I have listened to and/or read 25 books or more. I actually like to read now.

Saving the planet one day at a time

Our family started recycling a few months ago. Where we live, it is not entirely convenient to recycle. You really have to want to recycle. You must take the items to be recycled to the collection center and some items are not accepted. I am amazed with the amount of "trash" that we are keeping out of the landfill. Before we started recycling, our garbage bin was always full, sometimes running over with just a week's worth of garbage. Now, we barely fill it half way. I am actively doing something to help the environment. And my daughter likes to help "cycle" too.

Kitchen clutter

I haven't had my green tea today. In fact, I haven't eaten much of anything. My kitchen cabinets were crammed full of food that I wasn't eating so I figured that only way to make myself eat what I had and not be wasteful, was to put off going to the grocery store as long as possible. Now I am at the point where I am going to need to use some imagination to cook or bake something tasty. My motivation to do this has been very poor today. I keep getting side-tracked by the laundry or my kids. I generally have difficulty finding something to cook because my kitchen is not organized well and when I go to find something to cook (usually on the spur of the moment), I am overwhelmed by the plethora of food, and I just can't decide or I don't have the time to create something tasty that everyone would like. I am decluttering my kitchen cabinets. It feels good. I can eat the food we have and then buy more food in moderation. One of my New Year's resolutions was to become organized. I am getting there.

In an attempt to become more healthy, I read a book which promoted healthlier behaviors. Of the many changes presented in the book (including becoming a vegen), the only one that I have been able to stick with is drinking organic green tea. Now, I haven't done this everyday, but I did go to the grocery store for the sole purpose of buying organic green and I actually purchased it and drank it as well. Guess what? It was rather tasty. I didn't add any sugar or honey either. So, I can certainly incorporate this into my daily routine, well maybe not every single day. (I get busy. I forget.)

And so begins my blog. I will comment on the weather. Weather is universal. Dreadful weather today. It rained continuously. I am so ready for some sunshine.