Hi Carol!

Archive for May, 2010

Well, I had plans to do so much here at home today – I did wrap gifts for my family for David to take to England with him at the weekend but apart from that I was on the computer all day, visiting my favorite sites for coupons and bargains.  Oh well, I’m saving money right – and learning more and more each day where to look for those specials!!   I was delighted to find an email in my inbox from Rose saying I was one of the winners in the $5/1 El Monterey Coupon Giveaway!  I never win anything – I was thrilled!!  Thanks Rose! 

I found a wonderful site called CouponingforDisney.com – check it out – Kristin has a list of manufacturers you can contact to get coupons and freebies.  How cool is that??  Unlike Kristin who is writing to 5 manufacturers a day, I had to go overboard and spend the entire afternoon emailing – I got started and couldn’t stop.  Maybe that’s why I’m in recovery, but this is a good addiction!!  My arms hurt from plugging away at my computer and I thought I was late getting dinner ready so I whizzed round, was all ready to get it on the table and I realized it was only 4:10 instead of 5:10 (we eat early around here).  I was ecstatic, I was reminded of the scripture that we should redeem the time – well God must’ve redeemed it for me!!!

I was able to start on theproject I intended to do all day – move my summer shoes and purses into my bedroom closet.  Yes – I have summer shoes and I have fall/winter shoes (and purses) and never the twain shall meet – but of course they do!!  I have a lot of shoes but as I keep telling my husband – I can get 4 pairs (or more) for the price of one regular priced shoe.  I get a lot of shoes at Target (well, that goes without saying) and I’m not ashamed to shop at Payless; I love Rack Room Shoes too – they always have great bargains and their shoes are great. I was done by 4:45, plenty of time to put the finishing touches on dinner which was tortilla soup from the deli at Super Target marked down to $1 a tub,  (and it was way before the sell by date).  I used 2 tubs and extended it with the chicken stock from Monday night’s baked chicken and paired it with baked potatoes topped with brocolli mixed with Pace Queso.  Yum.

Then off to a meeting to learn how not to be codependent and controlling.  I should’ve known I needed these meetings when I came into recovery but for so many years I was in control of my kiddos, I took care of them, watched after them, nurtured them, loved them beyond belief – I was their mommy.  Now they’re older, it’s hard to let go and let them lead their own lives – and make their own mistakes.  I just want everything to be OK and for them to have happy, joyous and free lives and I have to trust them to God.  As we share our experience, strength and hope with each other, we learn to handle situations that used to baffle us and I learn how not to force solutions and Let Go and Let God.  What a terrific way to live.

Monday:

Tuesday:  mini trip
Nivea Bodywash $3.99 – $4 coupon.  Free
2 x Arm n Hammer travel size toothpastes 97c ea – $2.50 coupon. 58c money maker
Dove travel size deoderant 97c – $1 coupon. Free
FrizzEaze travel size Hairspray $1.47 – $2.50 coupon. $1.53 money maker
Fructis travel size shampoo 97c – $1 coupon.  Free
I pair of heavy duty rubber gloves $1.74
Mossimo Hoodie – $4
Mossimo tank top – $2.50
Total cost $6.58 – seems I only had to pay for the hoodie and tank top!!

Wednesday:
Gerber 3 pack onesies $2.48 (75% off) – $1 Gerber coupon. Pay $1.48
Circo jammies $1.74 (75% off)
Woolite Pet Stain Remover $3.64 – $3 coupon. Pay 64c
Hidden Valley Dressing $2.59 – $2 coupon.  Pay 59c
Tag Book $7.99 – $5 coupon. Pay $2.99
Crest 3D Whitestrips $24.99 – $10 manuf coupon, $10 Target coupon – $4.99
2 Schick Hydro $13.98 – 2x $5 coupons, 2x $1 Target coupons, $5 Gift Card.  $3 money maker
Travel size  Aquafresh 97c, Colgate 99c, 2 x $1 coupons – FREE
Total cost $9.43

As always, I took off to Super Target early as I wanted to take my time to peruse all the specials/bargains they had.  Nothing special other than what I had planned for which were the Schick Hydro Razors on sale for $6.99, buy 2 and you walk out the door with $3 in your pocket . Woolite Pet stain Remover, just 64c, Tag Activity Story book $2.99, Gerber Onesies 3 pack  $1.48, Crest 3D Whitestrips $4.99, large Hidden Valley Dressing $59c, trial sizes Aquafresh, Dove many other totally free and an Awesome Champion jacket for my precious stepdad Keith for $4.98!!!  I’ll discuss all these purchases on Shopping Page.  Please be patient as we are just developing this website – actually my darling husband is doing all the work, I’m just typing in the info!!!  He’s brill!!

Oh………. I did buy 3 more T’s at $2 each (75% off).  If only I had some coupons for those!!  My cashier missed one of my coupons so I had to pop by Customer Service when I went back at lunchtime – Greg and I go to Target for lunch on Wednesdays (their sandwiches and wraps are terrific, again wish we had a coupon but Target often offers coupons off of their deli products).  Before we sit down for lunch, we always check the clearance aisle (nothing new today) and Greg often has his own areas he likes to visit – shame he didn’t find something by Champion as I have another $2.50 coupon. Grabbed a latte at McDonalds and then sped home to start cleaning house.

David was down in the dumps today as his term grades were 3 A’s and 2 B’s – he wanted straight A’s, but he’s maintained a 3.6 GPA.  We’re so proud of him, he’s done so well at SAC, worked hard and loved the last two years there.  The graduation ceremony was last Saturday and he asked Greg if he needed to dress up and Greg told him he could wear jeans as he was wearing a gown.  He left before us so and I didn’t see him leave, but I did spy him filing into the Municipal Auditorium with his fellow graduates and noticed something amiss.  He had decided to wear shorts!!!   David is at least 6’3″ and there wasn’t a gown in his size so it was already short, revealing his bare legs up to the knee AND he was wearing sandals!!  When he proudly strode across the stage, Melody shrieked “Mom, he looks like he’s wearing a dress!”  We laughed our socks off .    

Every Wednesday evening, we have a 12 Step recovery meeting in our home and we have done so since mid ’88 when Melody was just 6 months old.   Dr. Bill brought the topic of Gratitude, always a good one – I am grateful for so many things, my relationship with God, my family, friends, and for all the blessings He has given me  I made some chocolate chip/peanut butter chip cookie bars and Courtney brought a cream cheese ball smothered in sweet chili sauce and crackers – it was to die for.  After we all visited in the kitchen and ate the goodies, we went for a walk – there’s a storm a-brewing – hallelujah!!!  The wind is blowing and the trees swaying, hopefully it’ll start raining any moment, which we badly need; my plants will love it.  Another wonderful day………..

I saw my dear friend Susan very early this morning and as always, she’s so inspiring – and funny; we talk about what’s bin going on since we last got together, God’s blessings and we swap “hubby stories”.  Gotta love those guys and we sure do.   I hurried home to find Cecil still fast asleep – I just peered thru the door and so failed to notice, he had taken off his jammy bottoms and diaper and was sleeping bare bottomed.  One of the things on my gratitude lists today is that, surprisingly, his sheets weren’t wet.  Later on, as he was playing in the yard and I was sipping my coffee, I pondered a phrase I read in one of my favorite books “The Shack” – our souls are healed in the presence of children.  That’s so true, something wonderful happens inside of me whenever I’m with him and I so wish I’d slowed down more when my kids were small and not been quite so caught up in the busyness of raising them .  Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed them and every phase they went through; they were my life, I love being a mom and homemaker but I was more intent on the “doing” rather than the “being”.  My friend Rachel’s mom told me that her grand-daughter had been jumping on her bed near the edge and she said “Honey jump in the middle, don’t jump near the edge, you might fall off” and Rachel spun around in shock and said “Who are you and what did you do with my mom?  Isn’t that just how it is – my mom had endless patience with all her grandkids, she would listen to them for hours and they never seemed to get on her nerves; I love my mom dearly, there’s no-one like her but that’s not how it was when I and my siblings were growing up. 

Anyway, back to Cecil, I popped inside for a moment to get him some juice and when I came out, he was covered in dirt – he’d found his way into a bag of potting soil!  Last week when he was here, I’d been teaching him to be gentle with my new pot plants and he had done so well and stopped picking off the flowers and digging in the dirt and then he came bounding over to me, tripped over and fell into one of them, completely flattening all the flowers and leaves.  Oh well………..

Tuesdays are family dinner out so we went out to eat at Habanero Grill with the boys – using a Groupon coupon ($10 off our bill of $23.89 – $13.89 for four!!!).  I’m really enjoying our membership to them.   Stopped off at Target to look for sandals for Dave and of course I had to do what I do best and that is shop for stuff that will cost me  little or next to nothing!!  Got 5 travel size items, a full size Nivea body wash (all free after coupons), heavy duty rubber gloves, a Mossimo tank top and a grey hoodie for – wait for it – $6.58 (details in my shopping post).

Tuesdays are also 19 Kids and Counting nights.  I love that show, I love Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar – what a wonderful family!  I never hear them mention coupons but I do hear their “buy used and save the difference motto” often.  I have to confess to often thinking how much money I could save them if they would only use coupons but I figure there are so very many things they are and can teach me.  The thing that first impressed me about Jim Bob and Michelle were how kind and gentle they were with their kids and Michelle said early on, she would feel herself getting angry and God showed her to calm and quiet herself before speaking to the kids.  Oh Michelle where were you back when I was raising litte ones.  I’ve adopted her “sitting quiet in a chair” tactic too; when li’l Cec has a hissy fit, I pop him into a booster seat at the table and I push everything out of his reach so there’s nothing to distract him.  He may carry on for a while but eventually he realizes he’s getting nowhere with me yelling like that and settles down.  Now the sitting still on a blanket – hmmmmm – I know miracles do happen, but I’m not sure I’m gonna be able to pull that one off.   One day and one tactic at a time.

Well I’m off to Target (yeah, I know – againnnnnn…) early in the morning and I need to clip the latest coupons I’ve printed off my favorite websites (see Shopping blog) and get organized for my money saving trip.  Talk to ya tomorrow!!

As usual, I took off to Super Target early this morning, got to use some really good coupons, like $2 off Oscar Mayer lunchmeat, $2 off Kashi frozen entrees, $2 off Tropicana OJ, $2 off Red Baron Pizza By the Slice, $4 off of diapers (for Cecil) to name but a few.  To learn more about shopping and coupon savvy, see Shopping Page.  I soooo love grocery shopping, I love saving money.  Try to never be in a rush, cos you’ll miss all the specials and markdowns – I know that’s difficult with our busy lives but it is worth the effort believe me.

Next stop to see Dr. Jeff, my Compassionate Chiropracter who always brightens my day with wonderful things he’s learned on the internet; today he had been reading a report suggesting breast cancer could most likely be caused by stress in the workplace.  I am ever grateful to my husband for giving me the option to stay at home with my kids – I’ve never been bored since the moment I left my position at the hospital.  I love that old bumper sticker “Motherhood is a Proud Profession” – how true that is; Greg has always told me how important my “job” is.  I’m blessed to have such a hubby as him.

I didn’t need any adjustments except on my poor sore feet which have been hurting this week after jumping up and down curbs.  I was attempting to get my heart rate up on my many daily walks, but decided to give the kerb hops a miss after worrying that I might break an ankle.  I fell in the kitchen a month ago and really hurt my hand/wrist and have been wearing a very stylish black brace since then and I’ll be glad when I can wear stylish bracelets instead.

Off home to find the freezer fix guy there replacing the defrost timer – oh joy, oh joy, my freezer’s alive and well.  On Friday, last week, I noticed puddles in front of the freezer and on inspection found that it definitely wasn’t cold enough in there.  Greg was adamant it was because I had too much food in there – he always says that – but I have to be prepared, I have to provide for my family should there be a famine or flood or other catastrophe.  I find great comfort in knowing I have an overstocked freezer, fridge and pantry – my dear friend Rachel said that it’s a man thing, they always say freezers and fridges break down because we overstuff them.  But we don’t believe them, I’m sure they function much better being full and feeling like they are fulfilling their purpose in life.

Anyway, I searched for the owner’s manual, never found it and so called Conn’s to find out where to find the thermostat/dial thingy and was told that it was between the second and third shelf.  I yanked all the food off the shelves as fast as possible, only to find there was no dial in said vicinity, so yanked all the food off the third shelf and there it was.  It appeared to me that the setting was far too low, reset it on high, put all the food back in and was proud of myself for fixing the problem, but noooooooo, next morning, there was another puddle on the floor and I cracked the door to see what was going and it was obvious that we were going to need a technician.  He told me I would need to remove all the food from the bottom two shelves and so Greg took off to get some dry ice and I pulled out all the coolers I can find.

I had to throw out my ice cream – arrgh, I hate throwing food away – if the kids had been younger, they would’ve slurped it straight out of the cartons but no more I’m afraid.  I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to discard anything else as I had worked hard cutting coupons, scouring the store for specials and I didn’t want to see money literally going to waste.  Our technician Jim, was wonderful, he got in there and defrosted all the ice behind the back panel, told us that would hold us over til Monday when he would return with a new defrost timer.  He was so encouraging and comforting and didn’t mind getting his knees all wet and gooey from the mess on the floor.  I did wonder if he went home and told his wife that he had never seen a freezer that stocked before.

Monday nights are “family night dinner” and so Melody and li’l Cecil came over – we also had an extra guest, Dalton who is Matt’s best friend.  I fixed roast chicken, scalloped potatoes, corn and cauliflower cheese, my special Bisquick muffins and apple crumb pie for dessert.  Now I have to add here that the chicken was a Gold n Plump family pack marked down to $1.99 (minus a $1 coupon),  the potatoes were a dish in the deli department marked down to $1 and the cheese sauce was Classico Alfredo sauce which was priced at $1.99 on which I was able to use a $1.50 coupon.  Now you see why I love looking for bargains and clipping coupons.  That was a fantastic meal for just a few bucks!

The noise level in our home at meal time is off the charts!!!  Everyone seems to talk at the same time, each getting louder and louder to be heard; topics tonight included Matt’s ex girlfriend, Dave’s upcoming trip to see my family in England, and Melody’s car which needs fixing. I think Cecil got tired of not being the center of attention and flipped his placemat on the floor, toppling the bud vase holding the rose I’d been given at church yesterday morning and the carnation I was given at Greenfields.   I was in the kitchen serving up the pie and everyone just sat there, Greg gave directions on what to do, while water flooded the table and spilled on the floor – what’s with that? 

Greg had bought Cecil a wagon – he figured it would be easier to pull him around in it rather than get backache from pushing him in an umbrella stroller.  He loved it!!!  He got in and out multiple times, pulled it all over the back yard but when we decided to take him for a walk in it, he pitched a fit and cried all the way up the hill past various neighbors who must’ve wondered what was going on.  He eventually calmed down and seemed to enjoy the ride.   I have him overnight on Mondays so I just put him to bed and all’s quiet again and I’m exhausted.

Mother’s Day 2010. This is my 22nd Mother’s Day and I’m reminded again how fast time goes.  Gone are the days that my three kids would sit round the table starry eyed, eagerly watching me read their cards and open their presents.  Today, Melody is 22 and mom to my grandson, Cecil who by the way, is the light of my life and my “boys” Dave and Matt just turned 20.  Melody gave me a CD of one of my favorite bands and Dave and Matt gave me Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”.  I may never use it, but it looks good sitting on my counter and how could I live without it after watching “Julie and Julia”.  As a matter of fact, it was that film that inspired me to start blogging.  Until February 2002, I “blogged” to my Mom who lived in England, every week through letters, and it was so therapeutic and fun to fill her in on all the day to day details of our lives.  I saved all those letters on my hard drive, but after she passed away, our detailed family history since then passed away with her and lately I’ve been thinking how sad that is.

Back to Mother’s Day – Greg, the Reckless Romantic, gave me two beautiful plants, a basket of goodies and some of the “green stuff” (cash) in my card.  I love the “green stuff” as it goes with anything I’m wearing, I can use it anywhere and at any time, it never goes out of fashion.   Usually it goes a long way as I am a bargain shopper extraordinaire and refuse to buy anything at full price; I’ll hold on to it until I can get a super deal.  Check out my Shopping  Category for tips on how to make your money go further, specials etc.

We’re not going out to eat as who wants to fight the crowds like that – we’ll have Mother’s Day Dinner next week when we won’t have to wait or pay big to eat at a nice restaurant.  Not only that, but Matt went fishing, Dave went to meet a buddy at Barnes & Noble and Greg’s taking a nap after setting up this blog for me.  See what I mean about Mother’s Day not being quite the same as when my kids were little but I don’t mind, I’ll get to sit down and watch a movie without interruptions – I hope!!