Some Holiday Cheer! :)

Some neat pix of our Christmas, 2009

Our leaning xmas tree LOL

Alex loves his new AC/DC blanket. . .look it matches his jammies! ;)

She looks thrilled, doesn't she? :)

Vincent is "rockin on" this Christmas, with his mommy! :)

I don't usually like pix of me, but he makes us look cute! :)

Angie-butt's snowman cake! I'm impressed! LOL It's so cute, it was hard to cut it all up. . .oh and it was yummy too!!

This bag is soooooo big and sooooooo full of presents, he had to climb in there to get them all! :D

Chrystal and Tara chillin after a looooong day of fun. . .wait, it looks like they are STILL having fun!!

It was a nice day with family and friends. . .we had a wonderful dinner and lots of fun. Everyone seemed happy. . .and FULL, but nonetheless, we all kept on eating! We have a lot to be thankful for, because we were truly blessed this Christmas! :) Peace!

Slacker. . .

I know! I know! I am a blog slacker!! LOL
Well I didn't have a lot of time to blog BEFORE the holiday season started, so it just got worse. I kept thinking, that would be great to blog. . .but then by the time I checked all my email (which I was also ignoring) I lost track of time, etc. etc.etc. lol but don't feel bad blogger. . .I have also been slacking on facebook (shock, I know!!) and twitter - but I always slack on that!! I have entered a contest in weeks (I was so trying to get better at that?) and I still haven't done half the crap on all my lists. ..heck, i have been so busy, I haven't wrote a list for days!!!! hahaha,
well u get the point anyways. I will try to be better and I will try to catch u all up! Things have been hectic, thats for sure, and I didn't have the camera as often as I would have liked, but I did get a few good ones here and there!

Xmas Spirit from. . .the whiteboard??

I have been saying for a while now that I have been in some kind of "funk" and really can't "snap out of it."
Well, news flash. . .Christmas is coming (faster than we think)!!
and I have no desire to do ANYthing!
This is not normal for me. . .I love Christmas. . .usually. Of course, I am usually happy and upbeat and smiling and talking and enjoying. . .etc. etc. etc. You get the point!

After I fell down the steps last Saturday (bringing the darn xmas stuff downstairs) I kind of gave up on the holiday season, chalking it up to "Santa is out to get me." LOL I think I might have believed that for a day or two too. . .cuz I washed my damn cell phone the next day, as well.
Boy, this holiday season started out JUST PEACHY didn't it?? (btw, I HATE that saying, and used it for emphasis only! part of the "mood" thing I guess lol)

Anyways, last night, I was not having a good day, and actually had a good cry (hey, sometimes that helps, and I think it might have worked for me!) After I was done being a big baby (LOL) I decided that I had to pull myself together to go out and make dinner for my kids etc. (ya know, normal life stuff) and Alex started pulling some of the decorations out. UGH! I so wasn't into it! He made me smile by being silly, as usual, and even said "see, even when mom is upset, I can make her smile!" and he's right. (this also meant he knew I was upset, even tho I tried to hide it - sometimes they are too smart for their own age!)
I thank God every day for this boy AND that he got some of the best parts of me and Bob. . .and one of those best parts is his sense of humor. (no, I can't take all the credit, even tho I would like to! LOL) :P Well, it was kind of late, so only a few items got out of the red and green boxes! To be honest, I was kind of relieved because I have A LOT of stuff and he started tearing into it, until his Dad asked him to stop till I was ready -so nothing was broken or damaged, which would have probably made me more upset! (Dad knew I was not having such a great day! Thanks Dad!)

After my Hallmark trip today (see previous post cuz I don't know how to link it yet - on the list! LMAO!) I was a little more excited about the upcoming holiday. (a good deal always puts me in a better mood hehe) Well, that was until I went to the Verizon store. . . but that is a whole other post! When I finally got home, I showed Bob the deals (insert eyeroll here! haha) and then I was going to start wrapping stuff. . .but when I went into my closet, saw all of the gifts in bags and boxes, just screaming at me that they wanted wrapped, I started to get that overwhelming "i'm not into it" feeling. UGH! go aways stupid feelings! WTF? ;) I said to myself, well Alex might want to help? and that might help me be more "into" it (hopefully!) I asked Alex if he wanted to help and he said yes right away and he started to get a little excited. Then I told him the other option was to continue decorating. Then, right at that moment, I decided that there was soooooo much to do for christmas, that I needed to make a list. I went over to our whiteboard, where I list the chores for the kids and sometimes important messages to them and started a Christmas "to-do" list. Let me just say, we filled the board. Sheesh!

Get a new phone. UGH!

Christmas cards

- list - get online addys aka nerds

- pictures aka rats be gone

Wrap presents aka buckets of coal

-make a list (new)

Finish Decorations aka put up all of moms junk

- house

- outside

- tree aka charlie brown

Cookies

Dinner? list

Alex - clean toital tank

aka Elvis - aka TURTLE silly!

- clean ur bedroom

aka pigpen - YUCK! :p

Cut dads hair - aka rats nest NOTE - most important

You probably can't read it that well and are confused by all the pretty colors and the silly words (haha), but I am going to tell u what it said. Cuz I am a dork like that!
I was serious when i started the list, as u can see, my writing is in blue (above).

Alex was standing next to me when I was making this list. . . and he needs to clean and empty his turtle tank so it can be moved into the computer room, so we have room for a tree. Well when I got towards the end of the list. . .we started getting silly (hahaha who? us?) :) And by the time I got to the word "turtle" we were pronouncing it funny, and I wrote toitle - Alex told me I spelled it wrong, as he was trying to pronounce my spelling of it (LOL) so I re-wrote it to say toital - hahaha
I continued the list and decided to add some stuff. . .see above in orange! lol
"aka Elvis" is what my bff always writes on Alex's birthday cards (because that is her pet name for him - she renames all of his "pets" too - his turtle's real names are Biscuts and Claws - she renamed them Gertrude and Gravy Slowski!)
"aka Turtle silly" was to explain the funny way I spelled the word turtle
"aka pigpen" is really what Alex's room looks like! and I was being really silly by then! :)
After that I was done. . .Alex gives me this silly look, you know, the look like he was up to something? Next thing I know, he grabs a marker and writes (see above in Green):
by the word "presents" - "aka a buckets of coal" --- when that kid wrote this, I freaking lost it. hahahahahaha - It was so funny at the time. . .I don't really think it is even that funny now, but I was laughing so hard when he first wrote it.
Next he went to decorations and wrote "aka put up all of moms junk." OMG! I laughed even harder and told him he was a brat! but he wasn't done. . .as u can see, he went on to "re-name" or "aka" a few other things on the list, then added the comment about "dad's hair"
I was seriously laughing so hard. . .this kid is hilarious!! Or maybe I just needed a good laugh?? Either way. . .it was kind of a relief and kind of fun. . .okay, nevermind, it was REALLY fun and funny!

Okay, so the point of my silly rant about the whiteboard and this silly post?
1. Making that list got some of that stuff off of my mind
2. We had so much fun doing it, I felt so much better after I laughed so hard. . .not to mention I haven't REALLY done that in. . .a while, too long!
3. As soon as we were done, we BOTH started pulling decorations out of the boxes and we BOTH started putting stuff up. . .and Alex even turned on some xmas tunes and we jammed for a while, till the opera singer came on, then we switched to some good old R&R! :D
4. I accomplished something - even tho it is only like 1/16 of the list, I am better off than I was yesterday!!! That's for sure!
5. I know now part of the reason I love Christmas so much. . .the joy it brings to some, the laughter, the fun, the kids, the spirit of it all, some of the GOOD stuff - not the hype, not the presents, not the $$ --- Just the feel good stuff.
6. I really love my kid. . .and HE can make me smile when I am down, and that is only one of the things that is great about him!! HE got me to shake (a part of) the funk I was in, HE made me laugh, HE made me WANT to help decorate, for HIM. . .if for no other good reason! HE helped me get back my spirit because HE wants to enjoy this Christmas as much as any other kid (and he is even getting kind of old for it, but can you ever REALLY be too old for Christmas? lol)
I am just VERY thankful for him today. . .and always!! HE ROCKS!! :) :) :)

The Hallmark Store

Todays great deal involves the Hallmark store. . .believe it or not!! I normally don't shop in this store because to me, it is kind of expensive.
But heck, when you have two coupons that say $5 off a minimum of $5 purchase. . .that is a FREE $5!! One of my fav freebie websites had a link to another site that had a "coupons in magazines" post. One of the $5 off Hallmark coupons was in my Oprah magazine (which was a free subscription and I am loving this magazine!!) and the other was in the Women's Day (which was a $5 subscription for a year! woot! I love this magazine too. . .one of my favs and I was buying it at the grocery store for a while) Well, I would say these magazines paid for themselves. . .the only problem is, I am running out of time to read them. I got January's WD and I didn't even read ANY of December's issues!! Sheesh! (I guess I need a magazine list too! OH brother. . .did I just say that? lol)

Okay well. . .on to the deal. :) I can't really go into great details because some of the readers are recipients (hahaha - I have a secret!! shhhhhhh!) BUT I got about $31 worth of stuff (4 items) for $5.40!!! That is an average of $1.10 per item!! Two of the items were on clearance for 80% off and the coupon worked with that stuff too! Of course, I had to purchase the items separately. . .so that I could use both coupons, but it was a fantastic deal!!! I ended up finishing off 3 people on my xmas list! With really cute gifts! Now that is some great xmas shopping!! :)
I never said the Hallmark store was a bad store. . .just expensive - And believe me, there was a TON of stuff in there I wanted for ME. . .but I stuck to the plan and used the coupons for xmas!! Another YAY ME!! ;)

And the best part of this deal is that I came home and got online. . .
guess what? Two more $5 off coupons to be printed from the net for the same store. Which is awesome because the one gift I got at $7.99, I really wanted another one, but they didn't have any more. . .so maybe I will get lucky if I go to a different Hallmark store? We'll see I guess! :) Cuz you know I will let you know!!

I also got a FREE calendar in the mail this week. It is going to be part of someone's gift too! I think I signed up for like 20 (hahaha exaggeration. . .but prolly pretty close) free calendars so far. . .of course the one I am giving away is the first one I received. . .but that is okay. all in good time!!
I am really loving these FREE xmas presents!!
It is all about giving, right?!! :D HO-HO-HO!

Pain for the KLUTZ!

yeah I slept for over 15 hours straight after my black friday adventures!
I woke up saturday morning at about 9:30 am (after falling a sleep a little after 5pm the night before) and realized that I had not taken out my contacts. well, i was so tired, I just completely forgot about it, not like I tried it. BIG MISTAKE!! my freaking eyes burned sooooo bad on Saturday it was unreal! I couldn't see, I could barely open them to get the damn contacts out, and they hurt when any light was near. This didn't make much sense to me because my contacts are disposables and are supposed to be worn for two weeks straight without removal, but I never wear them this way. I take them out every night.
I drove to CVS and Rite Aid later on, after I was up for about 5 or 6 hours, and the burning was getting better. . .but as soon as the sun hit them, I was done for. I could barely open them, and they were watering. It did not make any sense to me. It hurt so bad!!

To top off my lovely day, I decided that since I didn't get crap done, I would start the xmas decorations. I was bringing a box of xmas stuff downstairs and I slipped on the steps (when I was like half way down), and fell down. OUCHY! I dropped the entire box of stuff, stubbed my toe really bad, landed on my upper back and knocked the wind out of me, then ended up finishing out on my lower back, right by my tailbone. O_O
It took me a while to catch my breath, and when i finally did, I thanked God for my life, cuz that fall could have definitely went wrong and I could have knocked my ass out or something. . .
even in all this pain, I feel lucky. Turns out, I think I broke my toe and my upper back feels sore .. .my lower back, near my tailbone really hurts bad and seems to be where I am having the most trouble. Not just to stand or sit, but to move, get into the truck, or lay down. . .it hurts. It is def not broken, because I am walking and bending, but it is really sore and I am hoping that this goes away soon. If not, I will make myself go to the doctor. Sheesh, I just cannot win! : /

Burning eyes to hurt back and broken toe. . .boy this is ending up being a great holiday weekend. . oh yeah, and did I mention that I just washed my cell phone. Yep, every cycle of the washer. . .there went my phone. Totally forgot to take it out of my pants pocket when I changed.

UGH! I have had some crappy luck. . .maybe it really IS time to go back to work. . .Im safer there!!! LOL

Black Friday

So why do they call it Black Friday? Hmmm. . .question to ponder or google search, I guess. They should call it "Crazy Friday" or "only fools friday" or "u have to be a crazy fool to be out here Friday!!" hahaha
We braved it and set out to be at Toys R Us at midnight. Well, we were running late because I had to get some coffee cuz there was no way I was making it through the night without it! No way! LOL We ended up getting there around 20 after and the place was packed. It was a freaking madhouse and the damn lines were already through the store. LOL what a joke! The good news is that I got everything I wanted except for one thing! The bad news is that we stood in line for over 3 hours!! Well, we didn't have anything better to do till JCP opened anyways! LOL I saved $50! so it was worth it, I guess. AND I will never do that again! People are just nuts. Some people had so much stuff in their carts, it was unreal. I am so glad those days are over for me. . .I remember when we had so many toys, it was unbelievable that there are actually kids who have nothing!! I do not miss the Toy days! stepping on matchboxes or legos at midnight on your way to the potty (WTF? I said "potty" lol) or tripping over stupid balls for the ball tent on ur way down the steps, or having thousands of stuffed animals all over ur floor, just when you are ready to run the sweeper! yeah, i am real happy those days are over!! LOL
I was really worried because I had to make JCP by 4 am to get my free disney snow globe. (yes, I checked the black friday freebies and that was the most important for me!!) I love disney, and I love snow globes, so a free snow globe was the best thing that happened to me on Black friday. . . .and after the TRU adventure, I deserved it!! LOL I was worried, because we didn't get there until like 4:20. . but we got lucky and got our snowglobes, and get this, didn't buy a thing there! Now that is my kind of shopping!! :)
Target opened at 5am and they had $3 toasters so I just had to be there for that deal! LOL My toaster took a crap a few weeks ago, and we really needed a new one! $3 toasters can't be beat, as long as I get one. We got to Target at like 20 mins till 5 and I will be damned, they ran out of the free target bags! Shoot! We stood in line for about 15 mins till they opened the door and the 500 people in front of us stormed in for their cheap tvs! LOL @ all those idiots! Shit, all I wanted was a freaking toaster! Whew! i got one!! :) :) This day is now worth it!! haha!
Next we went to Christmas tree shops and got a few good deals, then we went for breakfast cuz we were starving! then the bon ton to use our Free $10 coupon. . .off of $10!! All in all, we made out. . .and got home around 10:30ish.
Bed you say? Yeah, i wish!!!
Alex had a game in Hershey at 1:30. ..I rested for an hour and then got up, and went to the game in the freezing cold wind, tired as heck, and in a "bear" of a mood due to lack of sleep (but not entirely pissy lol) just tired. . .so tired!! LOL
It was a great game and we won 15-12 against UDA! This makes Millersburg the District 3 champs! I am so happy for them, but at the same time, i so wanted this football crap over! LOL
We were on the way home when Alex called all excited to say that they were riding the fire trucks through town to celebrate, and then were going to the Grace church for food. I opted for Bob to drop me off at home so I could catch some zzzzzz's and miss the whole firetruck celebration...believe me, they were better off without me!! LOL
I slept for 15 hours straight, not getting up once!! I was really tired!! LOL but I guess it was worth it. . .I am still trying to convince myself of that! ;)

Thanksgiving & a pissy mood!

Wow! what a freakin weekend. . .I don't even know where to begin!!
let's start with Wednesday when I left work early due to a doctor's appointment. Well, that went real well. we have been messing with some of my scripts and trying different stuff. This last med they put me on made me feel fatigued and crappy so we switched it again. i guess we will keep trying till we get it right. . .nothing like being a pin cushion for your doctor. yeah, well that appt made me pissy (yeah, imagine that, ME of all people, PISSY!) Meanwhile, Bob took Tara to the dentist office cuz my doctor appt ran wayy to long. Alex was at practice because of the championship game this weekend. So here i am all pissy with tons of shit to do. . .Great! Luckily for me, Thanksgiving dinner was at the in-laws (which was another reason I was so pissy - ya know, something to look forward to. HA!), so I had tons to do, but not nearly as much as it could have been. I had to make cookies and pies, etc.
I stopped at my friend Chrystal's to vent about the damn doctor (LOL) and to let her know how pissy and miserable I was (well, i had to share with someone!) and was hoping that little Vincent could cheer me up, because somehow, that little bugger always does! I like to play! and the world in the eye's of a two year old (almost 3) is way different than in our viscious world. . .so I kind of go to "pretend land" when I am pissy, and there is no better way to do that than to battle batman's bad guys and race cars all over the floor! It is like a break for me. . .in a way. I hung out there for a while and Chrystal suggested she come over to my house and we hang out tonight and make something for dinner. That was a cool idea and she ended up coming over. After a long drawn out period of making a list for the store, I sent Bob (cuz there was no way pissy me was going to go to the grocery store the day before thanksgiving without killing someone! LOL I kid, I kid - kind of!) ;) Hubby went for me (thanks hubby for keeping me out of prison for my fav FAMILY holiday!) and picked up stuff to make dinner. . .we had bacon cheeseburgers. Well, things started looking up after dinner and hanging out. Another one of my friends that I hadn't seen in a while came over as well, so that was nice! Then the sister in law came over and we had a little get together. . .which was really nice. It was like they all knew I needed them cuz I was having a bad day and they all hung out with me and helped me get my stuff done. They let me know that it was okay to have a bad day and have stuff to do, and not want to do ANY of it. But they all chipped in and helped me get it done and they made it fun.

Finally, thursday came. the big day! Turkey day! Yay! I should be happy and excited. . .but I have to go to the in-laws. Well, there goes all the excitement! Bleh! Okay, it wasn't really THAT bad, but it was interesting if nothing else. The most exciting part was planning my black friday shopping trip. . .I should have noted to myself the crappy day I had before, and tried to learn that maybe that was a sign this whole weekend was going to be crappy . . . but I didn't. UGH!!
I bought myself a paper and browsed the inserts, and plotted my strategy. My neices came over and starting giving me ideas of what they wanted. . .which was pretty much EVERYTHING! LOL
After leaving the in-laws, bob and I went to my sisters house to visit (and finish the strategy) and my sister and I decided that we should leave at midnight to get the best deals at Toys R Us. Yeah, that was a good plan! WTF were we thinking???
and I will end this post here. . .and move on to the Black Friday post. . .

Yeah, well . . .

I gures I might as well as some more goals to the list.

Number one should be to figure out how people keep up with blogging, facebook, twitter. . .and all the other crap that there is. Sheesh. I am a tech dork. . .for real! I know there is prolly an easy way to go about it all. . .but I don't feel like researchin it now. . .cuz I have other goals, ya know? Important stuff. LOL (cuz we all know how well the goal thing is going!) ha!

Anyways. . .I need to make some lists. I need a list of lists. For example, My main list of lists would say that I need to make a blogging list, a grocery list, a xmas list (which includes to do, what gifts I have, who I have to shop for, etc. lol), a bill list (damn, I REALLY don't wanna pay the bills) sheesh. . .okay welll this sorta counts as a list - so lets forget about the lists for awhile

I have a headache already lol

I wanna organize, er uhm, sort - nah, let's make that go through and try to make some sense of all my pix and try to make some sort of sense of it all. I have photos out my ears!! digital and printed (boxes and boxes of printed) --

which reminds me. . .Bob made fun of me the other day cuz he found this. . . .

(it says)

Haqqy Mother's Day

to the worlds best

Mom. MINE!!

Love, Alex

2002

and I told him he couldn't throw it away. . .so I decided to copy it here, just in case -- hehe, this way I will have it forever (a smart friend told me that once!) ; )

My baby made this precious thing for me and I cannot under any circumstances get rid of it. No matter what!! LOL Don't ya just love how the little p's are backwards? :D Alex was 6, almost 7 when he made this for me . . . it has little magnets on the back and we had it on the fridge for a while (prolly too long lol) eventually I put it away, with one of the (many) stacks of photos and keepsakes. Bob just happened to be moving that "pile of stuff" the other day, and was gonna throw this away! : / Man, I'm glad I was here to save it!! I might have had to hurt him! ;)

Well, okay, whatever the point was when I started this post, it's long forgotten. As usual, I babbled my way through this one and didn't get anything crossed off the list! :) I think i just really accomplished adding more to the to do list?! LOL Yeah, well. . .tomorrow's another day!

Tara (almost 8), Bobby (11), Alex (5)

9-9-00

Quick update . . .

Well it has been a while . . .and I am not here to post about good deals! Imagine that. LOL
I have probably gotten some good deals in the past two weeks (yeah, it really has been that long and I apologized to. . .myself before I started this) ;)
Actually, yesterday I got a Mr. potato head for $1.99! regular price $7.99, on sale for $3.99 with a $2 coupon. I got the last one too! :D so now that we discussed that. . .let's move on!

I have a lot to talk about . .and apparently that is all I ever do?? : /

I had a birthday since I was last here (and everyone already knows that Im 29. . .) ;) the birthday was okay. I think I have grown out of birthdays. . .it is just not really a big deal if you don't get presents! haha I always make a big deal out of birthdays, but when it comes to mine I just don't wanna. . .as a matter of fact, we ended up at Chucke Cheeses on the actual day of my birthday and they asked if we were celebrating a birthday. I loudly said "NO!!!!!" and we went in. Bob and Chrystal just looked at me funny LOL I don't need a damn rat coming over to me (an adult, I think lol) and making a big deal out of me being 29! It was enuff torture just being there! haha j/k! it was okay. . .we had fun! :)

A few days before that I had the Joe Perry concert in NJ which was really cool (even tho I didn't get ANYTHING signed, dammit!) It was really nice to have a couple days off work and to go away for a night. (For some of us, we will take what we can get!) I was so excited when i woke up Wednesday morning (my first day off and the day of my show) and found out Steven Tyler was at the NYC show the night before. . .then I was mad and sad, cuz I knew he prolly wouldn't show up at my NJ show. . .AND to think, I almost went to the NYC show. Two of my friends actually MET him. . those lucky ducks!! :) Darn it!! I will just Dream On. *sigh*

In other news, lol, I keep coming up with more goals. . .even though I am not very good at follow through. I have tons of stuff I need to accomplish and time is running out on some of it.
I was supposed to have my xmas decorations started by now, so that the lights would be ready to turn on black friday (uhm, that goal is not looking so good).
I still haven't joined and online chat/website type thing i wanted for managing my weight...that was supposed to be done by the end of september (uhm, oops!). I have been slacking! sheesh - but the good news is that i did check into a few more sites since I wrote about that. I really liked "bitchyourselfthin" but it cost $9.95 to join, and Im not convinced its worth it yet, especially when there are tons of FREE sites that do so much more. (haha, thats the cheapie in me!)
I promised myself I would fix up this blog and add some real pix and some links to my fav sites. . .and guess what? Yep, you guessed it. .. that's not done either.
Now Christmas is coming and add all that stuff in with everything else. . .I might as well hire someone. hahaha
Oh, yeah, and Alex has been bugging me to bake stuff. Oh man. . .I AM a slacker! I am lucky that I don't have any thanksgiving stuff to do. . since we are going elsewhere for dinner. . .I just have to make a few desserts (which is easy as pie!) hahaha
Anyways. . .tons of stuff to do as usual, and not enuff time, AS USUAL.

About little bit about life

Well I have realized that this blog is mostly about my good deals and free stuff! Which is always a good thing. . .but what about my life?? Believe it or not, I do have one outside of clipping coupons and saving $$ (and taking pix of my free stuff. . .hehehe u should hear the kids on that one!!) You prolly wouldn't be able to tell from my blog though! LOL

Lately, I have been really busy running around. I go straight from work to the school to pick Alex up from football practice, then we do the dinner dilemma. . .yeah, I haven't learned! We still do the dilemma! :) Some things will never change! haha then by the time we are done, we all have about an hour to do whatever before it is time to turn in. Whew! I am tired just thinking about it. AND that is only "normal" days. Monday nights, Alex has JV games, Friday nights are Varsity games, Wednesday nights they have Youth (church). . .and that is just THEIR stuff!!

So now we all know why I don't have time to blog often. lol I do have something very exciting coming up that I have been counting down the days for (no, it's not xmas, even tho I am almost done shopping) *ducks from stuff being thrown at me* LOL most of it was really cheap or free. Anyways. . .it is Joe Perry in concert in New Jersey 3 DAYS BEFORE MY BIRTHDAY!!! Do you think I may get a special bday present and MAYBE get to meet him??? *sigh* here's hoping I do. . .then I would never EVER get a better birthday present!! I have tons of Aero friends going to this show and I am very excited for it!! The friend of mine who is coming with is totally awesome and her and I have never done anything like this together. . .cuz something always ends up coming up for her. Bob is not sure if he is going or not, because of work. He doesn't have any vacation days left. . .so if he isn't laid off, he will be going to work. He is hoping he gets laid off of course. . .I don't care either way. . .even though I really need a mom/WIFE break! LOL sometimes he just don't get it. . .but get this, u never hear me wanting to go with HIM on a stupid hunting trip where he gets his "dad/hubby breaks" now do you? LOL He could just let me go. . .whatever!! LOL At least I get paid to go!! :P

Also, my friend who live near Philly just told me about a show in Philly on 11-28 to see Fosterchild who is a new band (local) that I really want to see. So here is hoping we get to go. I am gonna try to gather a bunch of friends for that one.
I am going thru withdraw big time!! I need a fix!! 8 more days!! :)

The next big thing I am working on is trying to get Bob to pay for a new tattoo for me for my birthday. I have it all planned out and know exactly what I want and how it is to be done. . .I might just go get on my own because I really want another one and I don't wanna wait!!

Sometimes life is crazy (and I know I am all over the place here. . .so if you can't keep up, move on! LOL) and sometimes I just want to run away. . .
My new saying for this week is "I don't want responsibilities anymore!!" Can u imagine?? It would be so cool to just always do whatever whenever. . .no work, no worries, no RESPONSIBILITIES!! *another big sigh* LOL
I just feel so overwhelmed with running the kids around, trying to figure out whats for dinner, work, cleaning, etc. etc. etc. it goes on and on. . .that the only thing that keeps me going is my next road trip. . .or it seems like that anyways!! Don't get me wrong, I love the smart ass comments from my comedian of a kid, or his smile when mom tells "a good one" or the laughter after we finally sit down to eat. . .but every once in a while. . . a mom/wife break is good - good for the soul, almost as good as laughter!!! :)

Target. . .my new love!!

On Friday I went to Target to pick up a few things. . .

well, okay. . .I heard about the great sale Target was having - and I just had to go get some good deals!! LOL :)

So what do u think I paid for the stuff in the pic?? C'mon, I bet u can't guess? ;)
Okay so if u guessed $1.36. . .U WIN!!! :) No, actually I DO!! LOL

Glade candles (xmas and jar) are onsale for $2.50 each. If you buy five glade products, you get a $5 Target gift card (for ur next purchase) -- plus, u guessed it, I had coupons. . .and one of them was buy two glade candle holders, get a refill pack free! (u know me, I luv frreeee!) haha

6 bottles of cranberry juice (which is my kids new thing, he drinks it like there is no tomorrow! but I would rather have him drink that than sugar!) they were on sale for $2 each and I had a $1 target coupon for each bottle! $1 each

Same with the chex mix, except I had a target coupon and manufacturers coupon for each bag, which makes them about $.75 a bag, and these are wayyy better than cookies! LOL (and better for you . . .er, uh me!! lower fat snack!)

So I purchased all the candles and my total was 15.88 after coupons -- I get $10 back in gift cards which I used for my second purchase, which came to $10.48 after coupons. So my out of pocket was 15.88 + .48 which equals 16.36 -- now even that is a good price for all this stuff, but I have 3 SC Johnson rebates that i sent in (when you buy 3 SC Johnson products, you get $5 rebate - Glade is SC Johnson, so I qualified for the rebate, and the rebate has a household limit of 3!!!) So I will get $15 back in the mail, making the total for my purchase $1.36!!! WOOT!

And all those glade holiday candles are gonna be xmas presents. I would say that is a good deal!

that is a great xmas present, I don't care who u r
(and Bob said it was kind of cheesy. . . well my motto is the best presents are the ones you want to keep. . .and I want to keep ALL of these!! LOL)

Yeah, well I had to go to the Harrisburg store (cuz Selinsgrove ran out of candles when I was there LOL) on Saturday too. . .just to check it out.

I paid about $16 for all the stuff above!
Same way. . .bought the glade candles and used the gift cards on my second purchase. . .but this great deal involved 12 pkgs of keebler cookies. they were on sale for $2 a pack, and if you buy two you get one free. Of course I had target coupons and manufacturer coupons for each pack of cookies I got, and they averaged at about 3 packs for $1.50 - $2 :) Gotta love that (even tho we don't NEED the cookies, Bob likes to take them for work snacks) Bob even said, do we really need this many cookies? I was like at $.50 a pack. . .WE SURE DO! LOL
this is how u save. . .stock up when stuff is cheap. Plus I got more xmas presents . . .
Too damn bad I am at the SC Johnson rebate limit. . .but never fear, I will get $5 back from a keebler rebate! ;)
that makes this stuff would be about $11 total! Another great deal!!

The Shout was on sale for $2.50 and I had a target coupon for $2.50 off and a manufacturers coupon for $1. . .so i made a profit on that one cuz they let me use them both. I needed the Cascade and had to have my total over $10 for the gift card purchase (well, I didn't have to, but I hate having .38 on a giftcard! LOL) and it was on sale w/coupons. . . so there we go!!

I am thinking Target is my new favorite store. . .for this week!! :)

Freebies from my mailbox!

So it wasn't a great week for mailbox freebies. . .but I got a few!

Free SD Times, EWeek, and Shape Magazines

Free Curel Itch Defense Lotion Sample (+ $1 off coupon!)

Free Healthy to go Berrie Crush and Omega To Go (add to water for flavor and vitamins!)

Free Homemade for the Holidays cookbook

Free Full of Flavor Cookbook

Holy cow. . .you would think with all these free cookbooks, that I would eventually know how to cook. . .or at least get better at it!!! LOL :)

I also got a pack of photos that I had printed. . .there were like 84 of them for $8.45 (which I think like $5 was shipping. . .) but the kids love when we get pictures in the mail!

Also, I went to visit my bff on Tuesday (or Wednesday) and she had a stackload of magazines for me to go through . . .she gets them from a neighbor, then when she is done she gives them to me. I got 2 Redbooks, Family Circle, 2 Rolling Stones, Ladies Home Journal, Self, and a Better Homes and Gardens. :) She also had some Woman's Day and Shape, but I already had those issues (for free of course!)

Now when I am done with my freebie magazines, I will give them to her and she will circulate!! It really works out well. . .except for the fact that I am behind now!! hahaha

One more freebie I got in my "inbox" was a $15 gift from Kodak. I can go online and purchase a gift up to $15 and pay nothing. This was for the first 10,000 who signed up and then after you signed up, they sent a code to your email inbox. I have to use this ASAP, cuz it expires in two days! I am trying to figure out who to get a "free" xmas gift for!

Yep, I am so cheap, everyone is getting free stuff for christmas. . .and don't worry, my family already knows this!!! :) :) :)

My motto. . .the best things in life are FREEEEE!!!! ;)

I Won!! :)

Wooohooo! It must be my lucky day! I got an email today saying I won the "Inspiring Hope Giveaway" I signed up for at forthemommas.com (one of my favorite freebie websites)!

Here is the description of what I won
"PinkTogether along with MyBlogspark is graciously giving away to one For The Mommas reader a Inspiring Hope gift basket that includes a sleeved travel mug, a running ribbon charm bracelet, a pink leather strap keychain, a pink cinch bag, and a set of inspirational note cards. All of the gift basket items are from ShopKomen.com, where 25 percent of the merchandise purchase price benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure® in the fight against breast cancer."
How freaking cool is that?? Not only did I win, but it benefits the fight against breast cancer!!
http://www.forthemommas.com/giveaways/pink-together-breast-cancer-awareness
You can use this link to see the actual photo of my prize!

I used to say "I never win anything", but this is my second prize now that I have been entering giveaways!! :) The first one was a Zuma book (all about exercise with certain dance steps!) -- I haven't got it yet, but as soon as I do, I will post about it!
I also took my son to McD's for dinner tonight (I know. . .BLECH! but we were in a hurry and I am addicted to McD's mochas. . .mmmmmm!) and I got a free McFlurry or Yogurt Parfait on my Mocha cup (the McD's Monopoly game pieces - two per cup!)

Dang, I guess I should be playing the damn lottery!!! hahahaha

I luv Rite Aid :)

Ahhhh yes . . . more good deals at Rite Aid! Not to mention the new Single Check Rebates (SCR) started up this week. YAY! As well as all fall/summer stuff on clearance.

I got some good deals for the family reunion gifts (I am in charge of adult games. . .so I buy the best - cheapest - gifts possible). The way to do this is to shop after the season is over, then you can get anywhere from 75% to 90% off. Fall/Summer stuff was 75% off today when I was there! So I stocked up. . . nothing better than smell good candles for $1 or less!! Woot!

It is getting late and I am tired, so I am not gonna do the whole rundown. . .but what I will share are my totals from all of today's shopping trips. (CVS kinda sucked this week. . .so I wasn't thrilled with my purchases there, but I finally used up all those ECB's before they expired! ;)

Rite Aid -- Total before savings = 51.24

Total savings = 30.75 (of which 15.58 was coupons savings)

Final Total $20.49! (don't forget, I will get $5 SCRs)

Woohoo!!! that is a great price for all that stuff!!! I love a good clearance sale! :)

Note: Bowls, notepads and most candles are reunion gifts. . .bloody knife is for son's halloween costume - and the only reason he got it was because it was 50% off which made it $3!

CVS -- Total before savings = 53.45 (those damn whitestrips are $$$$$$)

Total Savings = $42.99 ($25.49 in coupons, of that 7.99 was ECBs)

Final Total $20.46 (heck, since I finally bought the Crest white strips to try. . .that alone is $39.99 retail. . .but they were on sale for $29.99!) So with my total being about $20, I would say I made out okay. . . but just okay, cuz I don't have anymore ECBs. . .

whatever will I do next week?!! Haha

Don't worry, I am not eating all this candy. . .son is giving out treats for Halloween! LOL!

Giant -- Total before savings $202.56

Total Savings $65.22

Final Total $138.54

AND I get $.50 off per gallon of gas (so if I get 10 gallons I will save another $5. . . I think my car takes about 14 gals, so add another $2! Who can't use some gas savings, especially since prices are rising again!!

Oh, yeah, and chi-chi's salsa was on sale for $1.99 each. . .so I grabbed two and will submit for a free re-usable chi-chi's bag!!! Love it cuz it's free!! :)

I am a mostly a Weis shopper since it is closer for me, and I mainly went to Giant to stock up on their 10 for $10 sale. . .and amazingly enough, I found some great meat deals -- so included in the price above, I got 2 packs of chops (about 8 per pack), 2 huge beef roasts (B1G1), 4.5 pounds of burger, and 10 hamsteaks!! I think that is a pretty good deal for Giant!!

this weeks mailbox goodies! ;)

This is the free stuff we received in the mailbox this week!

1 O Magazine

1 Spin Magazine

1 SD times Magazine (sorta like a newspaper)

1 Secret Clinical sample size Deoderant (and Coupons!)

1 Nature Valley Sample Pak, including NV Nut Clusters, and a NV Trail Mix Bar (+ Coupons!)

1 Go Lean Crunch Coupon Book with like $30 worth of coupons in it!!

Wow! How awesome is this? :) I love mailbox freebies!!

FreeVSing again! :)

WOW! Check this out. . .My total for all the above stuff (plus an 8 pk of snack size snickers) was $11.09!! and I got back $7.99 in Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) which makes the overall total $3.10! Heck, the energizer batteries alone are worth that!! :) I am all impressed with myself!! hahaha It is actually kind of fun outdoing myself each week!!!

I used $20.30 in coupons and $15 ECB and every single item was onsale!

Total savings for todays trip = $47.21!!!

It was great too, because I NEEDED batteries and Q-tips! I had to get them whether they were onsale or not, and they both were onsale!! :)

My lucky day! or I am just really smart! or both! hehehe

Mine's better than urs hubs!! LOL

It seems like I always try to get here. . .but never do!!! I have to get better at that!! LOL

I have been coming up with all kinds of stuff that I need to blog about, but I have time constraints. . .so this is just a "quickie" (LOL @ ME) to update everyone on my latest and greatest deal!! woohoo!!

BTW, is anyone impressed yet?? : ) Well, it doesn't matter cuz I am! I am also getting richer!! hehehehe

So. . .on Tuesday, I had to take Bob his work boots (cuz he forgot them and got in trouble at work) - Nothing like getting home from work in Selinsgrove (which is 45 mins north of my house) and then having to drive the whole way to Harrisburg (which is 45 mins SOUTH of my house) immediately after I walked in the door.
Uhm, yeah, what was the point (other than I am an awesome wife hehehehe)? Oh, yeah . . . I decided to stop at Rite Aid on my way to the "burg" because I never go through Halifax anymore, so to go to RA is an "extra" trip that is out of my way.
Now, if I could just teach Bob how to be as cheap and as savvy as me, then I would be able to have him stop there on his way home for all the good deals. hahahahaha I crack myself up!! ; )

RA is having a great week for Single Check Rebates (SCR) which is awesome because that means more FREE stuff! LOL I love it!!
If you are wondering how to find out what is on sale, or how to get these "SCRs" all you have to do is go to http://www.riteaid.com/ and read all about it. AND it is FREE to sign up. . .so what the heck are you waiting for??? You just buy the stuff, enter the receipts on line, then get a check!! Wow!! that is my kind of $$ -- all you need to do is shop to get FREE $$$ -- I love that too!

Okay onto the deal. I have been wanting a memory card for my phone for a while. Bob wanted one too, so he just goes and buys one for like $20 at Wal-Mart. he can never wait for anything to go on sale! UGH! drives me nuts!! Well, phooey on him. . .I guess I showed him up this time!! LOL
RA has SanDisk 2G Micro Cards (and some other memory cards as well, but this is the one I needed for my phone) on sale for $14.99 (reduced from $19.99) + a $5 SCR when you purchase one. . .which actually makes it $9.99
Another SCR was for the Carmex Moist SPF Lip Balm priced at $2.29 with a $2.29 rebate = FREE Woot!! Lucky for me, my RA only had ONE left. . .
I could not find the other Carmex rebate, I had picked up the wrong one. . .but I still needed to get it because I had a coupon for $5 off when you spend $20 -- and I was just shy of $20. If I would have found the SCR Carmex, it would have been free and my purchase would have been over $20 too. . . but ya know. . .it don't ever work out the way you want it to.
My point?? I had to pay $2.72 for this transaction when it could have been free, but my RA ran out of the sale stuff!!! UGH!!! *mean face* LOL

The rundown:
SanDisk Memory = $14.99
Carmex (no SCR) = $ 1.69
Carmex Moisture = $ 2.29
Total = 18.97 - $5 coupon = $13.97 +1.04 (tax) = $15.01
SCRs = $5 (sandisk) and $2.29 (carmex mois) = $7.29 New total = $7.72
This shopping trip took my RA Fall Savings total up to over $50 which means I get yet another $5 SCR (YAY!) which makes the entire total for this transaction $2.72!!! :)

Eat that hubby! I got a memory card, and two different lip balms for the price of just 1 lip balm. . .yeah, I'm AWESOME!! LOL

Free fall nail colors!! ;)

From left to right color names (lol I love these)

Steel her heart, Black lingerie, Silver screen, Vixen, Midnight Affair

Oh boy. . .Yes I'm at it again. :)

I couldn't wait to share this one! I think it may be my best deal EVER!!

Remember the last post, where I said I had $13.50 in Extra bucks? Well check this out! :)

CVS has Revlon Nail Polish on sale right now for $3.99 -- This product averages $4.59 to $5.99 depending on which one u get (mine were $4.99). . .but they are all on sale for $3.99 with $3 ECB, which makes them .99! Well I also had coupons (of course) so heres the rundown. :)

Total for 5 = 19.95

Subtract $10 ECB = 9.95

Subtract $3.50 ECB = 6.45

Minus $3 CVS coupon (when you spend $15) = 2.45 (this coupon would not scan and was a PITA! but they typed it in and let me use it anyways and typed in $4 for my troubles. . .my girls at CVS know me! LOL)

Then I had two $1 off Revlon Cosmetics = $.45 + .03 tax = $.48 :) :) :)

AND I got $15 ECB and a $5 off $25 coupon back when I was done!! WOOT!! I think that equals a profit of $1.02!! I used $13.50 in ECB + $.48

Alex actually told me today that I am "ruining his reputation by getting all this free stuff." LOL Yeah, okay whatever. BUT he ran into BGs for me while I went to CVS and and was all proud of himself because he got my drink, and my gallon of tea, and he wanted a chocolate milk, realized that a quart of choc milk was only a few cents more than a pint... so he got a quart (more for him lol) AND brought me a $1 plus change out of $5 (I told him his drink had to be out of what was left after my tea).

But I am ruining his rep. . .oh well, his rep must be expensive and we all know how I feel about that! ;) LOL

This weeks mailbox freebies! :)

Here's my mailbox freebies for this week :)
1 Free mint egg (lip balm that is shaped like an egg. . .and it's green!)
1 Free pkg Nicorette gum (for hubby. . .but he hasn't started using it yet)
1 Free feminine care package (incl. 2 tampons, 2 pads, 1 liner, 1FDS fem wash)
1 Free "Car and Driver" Magazine
1 Free "Shape" Magazine
1 Free Always fem. care pkg (incl. 1 pad, 2 liners)

I think the best thing on the list is the magazines. . .nothing beats free magazines! LOL

Freebies not in the mailbox
I also got 3 free Fleece sweatshirts...AND
3 free t-shirts (one for me, my son, and my daughter) because of doing the Heartwalk :)

Quick FreeVS trip. . .

I just had a fascinating CVS trip!

I had to go there to get some cold medicine cuz these darn kids are walking around snuffling and sneezin. . .and I am walking around sayin wash your hands! Cough into your elbow! Did you take medicine? have any OJ today? LOL I do NOT want to be sick!! So far, so good.

Anyways. . .back to the point. . .I knew that CVS had sudefed and tylenol on sale. I grabbed my coupons and off I went. Because I was making dinner at the time, I had to hurry because my kids was "starving!" Yeah right!! LOL I was actually hurrying because I wasn't sure if they closed at 5pm or 7pm and knew I had to get the meds before tomorrow. . .I was freaking out at the fact that if I didn't make CVS, I would have to buy expensive meds somewhere else!! AGH! can't do that!!! o_O I made it. . .it is the pharmacy that closes at 5pm, the store is open till 7pm! Whew. . .that was a close one! Especially after you hear the deal I got!! ;)

Okay, so Sudafed was on sale for $6.50 (reg 6.79) and Tylenol for $6.00 (reg 6.99). CVS is running a "buy $20 of J&J products, get $10 ECBS"!! I had to get sudafed because it was a special request (LOL not TOO special though because if it hadn't been on sale, it would have beeen tough love!).

I grabbed a sudafed, and 3 tylenols which ended up totaling $24.50. I had a $5 off $25 coupon as well, so I added 2 reeses pieces for .89 each. (working on that ECB lol)

The total before coupons was $26.28

Minus $11.00 in coupons ($3 off 2 tyl., $1 off tyl., and $2 off sud. + $5 off $25).

Total = 15.28

ECBs = 13.50 ($10 J&J deal, and unbeknownst to me $3.50 for "summer spending")

Which means I actually spent $1.78 for 4 boxes of cold medicine and 2 candy bars!!! WOOOOOT!!! :)

Now Im gonna take my ECB's and go get some deals on Revlon Nail Colors which are $3.99, but CVS is offering $3 ECBs on each which makes it .99, plus I know I have some Revlon coupons. . .AND the limit is 6 on this deal!! :) Hey, at least I have a plan for the ECBs this time! they don't even expire until 11/3 and 11/18 so I think I will be good even if I don't do the Revlon. . .but dang, nail polish at that price (.99 to free) . . .I think I'll take it while I can!!

P.S. I will be giving FREE stuff for xmas! LOL

Randomness

Okay. . .so I conquered one goal on this blog and that was figure out how to post a pic! ;)
Two points for me. lol

Now, I guess I should look at the good side and see that I actually accomplished something since I have been here. . .but as usual, my mind went right to "well, I should start working on the other IMPORTANT goals" : / I guess I can say I have been distracted. Lost focus. Faraway.

I really feel like I am going through withdraw. . .concert withdraw! :( My friend in Texas is getting ready to see Metallica again. ..yep she was there last night too. \m/ rock on girl! Im so jealous!! I don't have any concerts lined up right now, unless joe perry comes my way. some of my fb friends are posting pix with rockstars - joe perry being one of them! I so want that to be me! I guess I am about to become psycho stalker fan lol (okay, give me a break, my obsession is not that bad!!) Alright, I promise I won't go psycho stalker, just stalker! ;) haha

Speaking of that, I had this totally awesome dream about meeting steven tyler the other night. (uhm, did I just write that out loud? lol) In the dream, after I met him (and he drew all over my leg so I could go to the tat shop lol), I even walked up to someone on the street and asked them to pinch me. . .so that I could make sure it was real (haha - joke was on me I guess) and I FELT the pinch in the dream!! I thought it was really REAL. It was a sad day when I woke up. . .haha I mean, I was happy about having a cool dream like that, but then I realized it wasn't real. :(
Lesson learned: if anyone says "Is this for real? pinch me". . .I am gonna reply with "No! because you would feel the pinch even if it wasn't real. Dammit"
Where did that saying come from anyways. . .who the hell knew that you could feel a pinch in a dream? o_O (yeah, those guys with the white straight jackets are headed my way!) lol

So what was the point? Oh yeah, now I remember. . .I read a blog today questioning what blogging was about and why people do it.
I am sure some people have their reasons such as kids, passions, hobbies, careers, teaching, learning, sharing, etc.
I guess I fit into randomness. I am not really sure why I am here, but maybe I will find out along the way. My family doesn't even know I have a blog!
Yep, I am random. . .never know what I am going to say next (or do ahaha) but that is me. I just want to keep it real, but fun. I have been trying to decide if I want to share my blog or not (a few of u check it out every once in awhile) but mostly, I guess, I started it to vent. . .like a journal. Then I realized that people might be reading this thing and I better try to keep my craziness to a minimum, or they really will be sending those wsj guys (great, so much for awesome dreams. . .now guys with straight jackets are gonna be there - probably pinching me!) hahaha

to share or not to share? that is the ???
:)

Rite Aid Deals, deals deals! :)

whoa! What a bargain at Rite Aid (RA). Just got back from there and ended up paying $24 for $41 worth of stuff. Now, when I enter my single check rebates (SCR), I will get back $6 + $5 which will end up making my Rite Aid total $13!! And I should qualify for the spend $25 get $5 gift card for RA too. . .making my total even less, $8

I am really mad at myself though, because I forgot to use the in-ad coupon for one item, so I COULD HAVE saved another $2 : / Dummy!!! My coupons got all stuck together and it was a little one, so that is how it got stuck on the bottom. oops. my bad! I guess I will just have to go back and get a another one! ;)

My first attempt at posting a pic. . .but if I do, I will explain what I got for free. . .BRB!

Okay, that wasn't so hard! :)

After receiving several free samples of the Aveeno Hair Care, I decided that I love that shampoo and they way it makes my hair feel. I went to buy it, only to find that it cost more than Pantene!! Ugh! So I waited it out. Finally, today at RA, it was on sale for 20% off! Yay! That made it $6 (which is still too much for my budget lol) I had several coupons (1 that came with my free samples for $1) that I could match up with my RA coupon for $2. Total coupons = $4.50. Add in the SCR for $3 when you buy two Aveeno products. . .the total for two bottles of $7.49ea shampoo was $4.50 which makes them $2.25 a bottle! Yay!

The Gilette Fusion (GF) was FREE. . .with it being on sale for $9, a $5 SCR and a $4 coupon in this Sundays paper! Hubby has been wanting to try one of these, but at $11.99 - there was no way!! Now I will have to wait for the cartridges to go on sale cuz they are more than the actual razor, but I am sure it won't be too much longer for that sale (then I have coupons for free shave get and deoderant when u buy 1 GF cartridge refill! Sweet!

The Tylenol (Ex strength 24 pks) were on sale for Buy one get one free (B1G1) and they were $4.99 a pack. . .I had two coupons for a $1 off 1 which made them $2.99 for two. Well that would be $1.50 each!! (plus I am working on that SCR which is $5 back when you spend $15 on a big list of stuff - Tylenol is on the list!)

Sally Hansen Nail Polish. . .these suckers are expensive. $4.99 a piece. Well, there is a SCR for $3, which makes it 1.99 and then add in my .50 coupon, and I got it for $1.49 - just in time for my Halloween costume (yes, that is why it is bright red!) LOL

The softsoap Nutri-syrum Soap (another thing I have been wanting to try) is where I messed up. It was on sale for $3.99. I had a coupon for $1 off, but I also had the in-ad coupon for $2 off. I could have combined them and got it for .99 but instead, I got it for $2.99 (which still isn't bad, but even as I stood there rummaging thru my coupons, I knew that I should get more off - cuz it is still kind of expensive at $2.99 IMO!) Oh well. . .get over it already! : /

The pack of KitKats were .88 (couldn't resist haha) and I grabbed a pack of M&Ms for myself for lunch at $1. (I know, not helping the diet, but I was starving!)

Finally, The folder and the book. This stuff was not on my list, but was 75% off (back to school stuff) so I grabbed the folder with a cute monkey on it for my daughter (she loves monkeys) for .37 (woohoo!) and the book "A Girl's Guide to Money" ;) for her too. . .since she will be leaving for college in about a year. This book was only $2.38!! I got her a great little birthday present for under $3!! (well, dad got her something too for like $7) but that still stays within the budget!!

Dang Im good. . .but def not great. . .or I wouldn't have forgot that $2 coupon. . .dang it!! LOL

Mailbox full of goodies!! ;)

Okay...so I am not getting here as often as I would like, but I just had to come here today to share my great news! :) My family has gotten to the point where they just look at me and roll their eyes when this stuff comes, but someday, when they are earning their own pennies, they will understand just how much one is worth!
I have been getting tons of free stuff lately - so I am going to do a quick rundown of the mailbox freebies I got this week.
1. Free ChiChi's bag! This thing came today and it is better than my recyclable green Weis bags. . .do you know y? I do! Because it was free and my Weis bags were .50 each!!! But I splurged when they went on sale and bought a bunch at .50 so I could do my part to help the earth! Not to mention I have plastic bags out the ying-yang! lol
2. Free sample box of Honey Nut Cheerios and Kashi cereals + coupons! woot!
3. Free Stayfree sample (lol - I have been requesting these types of samples because of my daughter and the search to find the fav brand) not to mention they make great emergency/purse supplies! In the past I have gotten the playtex sport pack which comes in a little box that slips right in my purse!
Works for me cuz its free!! :) my new fav saying!
4. Reviatalift sample (I got one before, so now I can try it like 3 days in a row) not that I need it or anything, I just want to try that stuff before I actually do need it! lol ;)
5. Free Eweek magazine and a free Field and Stream magazine (figured why not. .. the boys love it!)
6. some free spice packets - some all natural ingredient thing (haha I wasn't really interested in this one because we all know how much I love to cook!)

Well that is all I can think of now. . .wow now that I write it, it doesn't look like that much! It seemed like we had something cool (haha here's the eyerolls!) every day this week in the mailbox! I love it! :)

My AWESOME Sears deal. . .

Wooooohoooooo!!! Well no one gets as excited as me for a good deal!! I am a cheapie, freebie, and good deal person!! I love getting the best deals on EVERYTHING! I never pay full price for anything (and honestly, don't understand why anyone would?) LOL
I called my sister immediately after my Sears deal, and even she, who is slowly becoming as good as me at deals (haha), did not seem as excited for me as I was! : / So I came here to brag!!! LOL

Okay so what was the great deal?
Well, I get emails from "cheapie/freebie" bloggers that I signed up for. The other day, most of the bloggers made note of a Sears coupon for $10 off any Juniors apparel items, WITH NO MINIMUM PURCHASE!! I actually found out today that there is a minimum purchase of $10 (but some folks are reporting that if you argue "no min purchase" clause stated on the coupon, they can adjust it down to the price of the item -- I did not know this till I got back, so I did not try to argue it, but I def will next time).

So last night, I had Tara look on Sears.com and find a few t-shirts she likes right around $10. (Tara can get away with wearing some JR apparel, cuz she is so skinny. . .but we have to get L or XL in JRs for her) She picked out a few. When I went to place the order online, it wanted to charge me $6.25 for S&H . . .so I decided that I would just run over to Sears at lunch and see what I could find. Well, it worked to my benefit!!
I found two of the shirts she wanted! :) Not to mention Sears is having a big CLEARANCE sale, with an additional 40% off clearance prices. When I went to the register, I asked if I could use more than one coupon. . .she said, "yes but they will have to be separate transactions."
FINE BY ME!! :) LOL
The first one she rang in was the 9.99 shirt. This is where she told me I had to spend another penny to use the coupon. UGH! well, lucky for me, I found a few other shirts that were cute when I was browsing, but only picked up the original 3 I wanted to buy. I ran back and grabbed another shirt. it was on sale for 4.79. Total = 4.58 for 2 shirts (first one was not on clearance) Then, for the second transaction, she rang up the shirts and one of the ones marked 9.99 came up as a clearance item, so the total was only 9.58. . .haha, just my luck!! I ran back and grabbed a cute little muscle shirt with necklaces attached - it was marked 4.99, but came up 2.99 at the register! PERFECT!!! :) Total = 2.57

That makes it. . . 5 shirts for $7.15!!!!! they were each probably right around $10 a piece (originally) -- so that was like $50 worth of stuff for $7! Wowie Zowie!!!! that is sooooo AWESOME!!!!! :) I am just tickled pink with myself.
Cha-ching!!!

This or that?

Well, today I can blog about free stuff. . .or I can venture into the weight loss struggle. Hmmmm... well free stuff is more fun, but I do really have to start concentrating on my goal to lose 50 pounds by August of next year. . . so I will start there. . .

My story. . .
before I got married 9 years ago (and 6 days lol) I lost 40 pounds. Now, I did not do it the "healthy" appropriate way. . .I used Stacker 3's. funny thing is that they really worked (for a while)!! I lost 40 pounds in the 6 months prior to my wedding. :) I was so happy when my dress had to be altered to make IT SMALLER!! Soon after my wedding, like 2 weeks after (late September) I got back from a Short honeymoon (due to not having much vacation time) & they laid me off from my job. (this was the year 2000 btw... and I wish they had laid me off prior to the wedding so I could take a longer honeymoon LOL) I started to get unemployment. By Feb/March of 01, I realized that I had no $$$ and needed to get a job fast. . .I could not make ends meet anymore (partially the reason why I am so cheap today LOL) so I decided that it was time for me to quit smoking, mainly because I couldn't afford it anymore. At that time cigs were like $2.50 a pack. Bob was supposed to quit with me, but he couldn't handle it (proves that women are stronger than men hehehe) I was a royal PITA!! believe me, it was not easy, but I made up my mind and decided that on March 1, 2001 would be my first day of not smoking. . .for the rest of my life!!! So far, that deal has held up. . .I have not had one cig since that day! woohoo for me!! :) BUT. . .within the next 5 years, I gained 50 pounds!!! *shock* Now that happened gradually, and averaged at about 10 pounds per year. It wasn't like I quit smoking and gained weight overnight. It also could have been a combination of quitting smoking and using Stackers (so that weight eventually ALL came back. . .and to me, it don't matter if I quit smoking or not. . .cuz the weight came back). This brought me to the ripe ole age of 30! UGH!! I did not want to turn 30 no matter what. . .so I decided that this was going to be the best year of my life. . .and it was!! (that is another story for another day LOL)
The following year, when I was 29 again ;) I decided that it was going to be the healthiest year of my life. . .cuz actually, I wanted to be healthy first and lose weight later - even though losing weight was my eventual goal.

The struggle
Well, I tried at first, but it didn't happen. I was dedicated, at first, but then old habits die hard. lol I even tried to join weight watchers and lost like 7 pounds, but I hated the diet and the counting "points" was such a big pain to me. . .so after my term was up(what I paid for), I quit WW and the weight came back soon after. The next year came (and I was still 29!) and I re-affirmed my desire to be healthy and have a better year. and I started working harder at it. Somewhere in there, I think it was the first year, I found out that I had high cholesterol. . .which sucked bad, and helped me decide it was time for better habits FOR REAL!!! This 2nd year was really going to be for real for big time health changes. . .and now, as I look back on it, that first year wasn't a total waste because I basically was just "learning" about better, healthier habits. . .just not learning AND incorporating them into my lifestyle as well. So the 2nd year was kind of a success. . .because I started changing things. Habits. Bad Habits. I started drinking water. . .lots and lots of water. I realized that eating late at night was not good, especially junkfood late at night. I also learned that Bob is not a real big help in the whole weight loss thing because he is skinny as a rail and eats whatever, whenever. (that does not mean he is healthy, just skinny - and I tell him that ALL the time) Not only does he do that, he shoves food in my face as well, and is always sharing and Always tells me that I look good no matter how much I weigh. That is all fine and good, but I was not happy with how much I weighed. . . I was not happy with how I felt, I was not happy with my habits and what my life had become - almost a food obsessed life. . .with no cares or worries.

The progress
So this past year - LOL yes still 29!! and holding - I actually found out that I had made some progress. I went to the doctor for the first time in a little over a year and found out that I was 10 pounds lighter than the year before!!! :) I was so happy, I think I might have squealed and the nurse was just looking at me like I was nuts (not like I ever got that look before haha). we were about two weeks into what we called "fit club" at work. Other than WW, this was the first time since I decided I needed to change my habits, that I committed to anything. . .and I was a little scared or maybe nervous. . .afraid of failure, I guess? I mean after all, I couldn't say I was going to join and then not do anything after I signed up. . .I didn't want work people to think I was a big joke or slacker hahahaha (not that I care what people think, but bare with me, this was REALLY important to me) So the commitment was made before I went to the doctor. . .and then I found out I was already on the right track. With fit club, I lost about 8 pounds. . .It was like a 12 week program.

Results
Now let's add this up. . .hmmmm. . .10 pounds in a year. . .+ 8 pounds in about 3 months = 18 pounds of the 50 gone!! Of course 8 pounds in 3 months is WAY better than when I started!! I almost doubled the loss in 3 months. . .and I was doing it the right way!
This is great. . . .EXCEPT. . .
after fit club ended. . .I started to slack a little the first week. : / I got back on track and stuck it out for another few weeks. . .did not lose, just maintained.

The Rut
Next thing I know, we go on vacation and my whole "healthy habits" thing went to crap. Okay, it was vacation. . .give myself a break, right? WRONG!! I gained back 3 pounds!! after we got back from vacation, I didn't do crap. I was determined to not let the weight win, so I ate right until I lost that extra 3 pounds I put on over vacation, and I did lose it within two weeks. . .and I am still eating right, but I stopped walking. (fit club had all these contests, etc. that we were competing in, and that motivated me to keep walking/exercising - but mostly just walking). By the end of August. . .I started drifting back into old habits again. . . by not exercising. I am convinced that the exercise is how I lost that 8 pounds. I didn't change my eating habits. . .that is how I lost the first 10. . .cuz I actually changed some things without "noticing" the changes. . .until a year and a half later. when fit club started, I just added in exercise so I could compete. duh me. . .how many times have I read that??? I knew it was what I needed. . .I still know!!

The Decision
Beginning of September (or around there) I decided that the only way I am going to do this is if I set myself some goals and join some type of web site, or something that helps me track things. During fit club, we had to "report" if we lost or gained (never any actual weight numbers, just losses or gains and how much) and we were doing the competitions. . .so I was also tracking my exercise and trying really hard. I realized after fit club ended that I was not "responsible" to report anything anymore. . .and therefore, I became a slacker. . .AGAIN.

And NOW. . ."here I am" lol
Which brings us to NOW! I am researching the best weight loss tracking sites and have started walking again. I have strict eating habits (which have also kind of fell to the wayside in August - but lucky for me, I haven't gained any weight back, yet) and I have started to follow them again. No more candy bar every once in a while, which becomes every two days, which becomes every other day, which eventually becomes every day. . .I WILL NOT GO BACK UP!!! my weight can only go down!! I have the healthy thing down. . .I know what is good and what is bad. . .I know I need to exercise to lose, I know this. . .so why am I not doing it??? Why did I think the whole entire month of August was a "vacation" from a healthy lifestyle?? What the hell is wrong with me. . .I was soooooo discouraged when we got back at the end of July and I had gained back 3 pounds. . .that should have been my "shell shock" but it wasn't. Do you know what was. . .my friend passing away. The last post said about how I realized a lot of things, and it did. . .it helped me realize again that I NEED to stay healthy, not only for me, but for my kids as well. I need to be healthy to stay alive and be able to run with them, or ride bike with them. . .or chase after grandchildren (okay a little too soon for that, but you get my drift LOL)

The GOAL
I am back at it again. . .with a goal of 50 pounds (I will weigh 20 pounds less than when I lost the original 40) by this time next year. It IS possible. I can do it. I know I can. I walked once during lunch last week, and then did a nightly walk (not enuff) which was a start. Today, I had a wonderful walk at lunch and can't wait to do it again because it is the perfect temperature and so beautiful outside (leaves are starting to change ALREADY!!) funny, when I started fit club, everything was blooming. . .which was also very beautiful. So not only do I walk, I am taking in the beauty of nature everyday, and thanking God for every breath! :)

I will find a website to join before the end of the month (see, this counts as saying it out loud, and if I say it out loud to at least one other person, it is like engraved in stone and I will stick to it LOL) and I am going to continue on with my healthy lifestyle changes. I will keep u posted on which website I choose and how it works out. . .worse comes to worse, if I don't like the site, I will switch. . .there are plenty of them to try and who knows, I might even make a new fat friend! LMAO!! j/k!!!

Point of all this. . .I know what I need to do, but I constantly fall back into bad habits. I am writing this to say, I am DONE with that!! I am sticking to it. . and I WILL reach my goal. Good luck to me. :) A new healthy me. . .on my way to 29 again!! hehehe

It's been a while. . .

Well, it kind of stinks that I left the "So Sad" post at the top of my page for so long. . .but then again, maybe not! I have been really busy since that post, not to mention it is a big reminder to me. A reminder to not take life for granted EVER. . .a reminder to ALWAYS let ur loved ones know how we feel about them . . .and a reminder to NEVER part from your immediate family in a bad mood or after saying something negative BECAUSE we never know if it will be the last time we see them, hug them, or even be able to tell them again that we are sorry and love them.

So these past few weeks have not only been crazy busy, but also an "enlightenment" for me. Yes, I realize that it shouldn't take someone dying for me to come to all these conclusions, and I did know this stuff before. . .I guess I never really practiced it, or realized how important these lessons are. I guess when someone dies, you just learn it all over again. . .and this time, I am not going to forget. I am going to try really hard to keep remembering, and always practice good behaviorial patterns to show how much I love and care about my family. . .this way, if it is my last day here on this earth, they all know how I truly felt and have something good to remember about me. . .not that mom was freaking out right before she died or screaming how horrible her life was. . .not that I do this often, but I have been kind of stuck in a rut lately, and have lost some of my positive thinking and happy happy joy joy attitude. . .that I use to have every day no matter what. That is all changing. . .I am freaking digging out of the rut and movin on to greener pastures (as they say, LOL).

The funeral. . .
The letter that my friend's son wrote (that was read out loud by the preacher at the funeral) for his mom after she died, grabbed a hold of my heart and never let go. . .I was okay during the entire funeral, until this particular letter was read. . .that is when I lost it. The letter started out by saying he didn't know where to begin because of her being taken so suddenly. . .then went on to say that he was sorry for doing the things that she didn't approve of and maybe not treating her as good as she should have. :( He went on to say that he was going to try to keep his grades up and be a good, decent kid, like she would have wanted. . .then went on to say how much he was going to love her and miss her. :*( After hearing all that, I couldn't stop the tears.

----This may be a good thing. For some reason, I haven't really been able to cry at the last few funerals I have been to. (I don't know why, and I am not some big, mean, uncaring person. . .I guess I just try to be strong for others??) It is really wierd because I didn't even cry at my grandmothers funeral (almost a year now) when she died. We weren't that close, but you would think I would have cried because my mom was crying or something. . .nope-nothing. The sadness was there, just not enough to bring on the tears. ----

Well, the tears were flowing at this funeral. . .probably because I keep selfishly thinking about my own life and my son. . .since they are the same age. . .and where he would be if I wasn't here. :( I am not dwelling on it. . .it just crosses my mind and has put a few things into perspective for me.
Next thing you know, another mutual friend of ours went up to speak. . .she did really well, but almost lost it while reading her letter. THEN, her eldest daughter got up to try to read her letter. . .started out by saying "bear with me" and tried to start reading it, and just lost it and said she couldn't do it and sat down. The preacher started to read this heartwrenching letter for her, and she couldn't make out some of the writing, so Bridgett corrected her, and then got up to help her read it afterall. I had so many tears flowing (and no tissues - what was I thinking? oh yeah that's right, I didn't need tissues cuz I don't cry at funerals!) it was unreal. Unreal. The whole situation is unreal. :(

Anyways. . .with the loss of an old friend came a brighter outlook on life for me. I am fortunate to have what I do with my family, friends, and an abundance of love. A great job, great health, and a great husband and kids. Can't ask for much more than that. . .even though we do and will. I have decided that I need to always, ALWAYS remember how grateful I am, and Always be sure to thank God every single day I breathe and stay alive and well with my family -- good times and bad!! :)

So sad. . .

I just found out that a friend of mine has passed away. :*(
We weren't "close" friends anymore - we were more like acquaintance friends, but nonetheless. . .it is still so sad.

She was only a few years older than me, and I don't even think she was 40 yet. Her son just started HS with my son yesterday, and he is also on the football team with my son. Her daughters just lost their father within the past 2 years or so, and the oldest daughter just had a baby about a year ago (her first grandchild). The weirder, even sadder thing is, she died of the same thing that her daughters' dad died from; at this point nothing is confirmed, but they are making it sound like heart failure. Her son has a different dad (still living). . .but at 14 years old, to lose your mother, just seems unimaginable to me. I don't even want to think about what it would be like for my son without me. . .he would feel so lost, lonely, and sad.

This friend was the first person who asked me to hang out after I moved back to Millersburg. . .to move in with my Dad. It was the summer before HS started for me, and I had no friends and no one to hang out with. One day, my brother finally talked me into going to hang out in town with him and his friends to try to get me to meet some new people. . .and that is the day I met her. We hit it off that night and went out drinking and partying (yes, I was a bad girl. . .with her help LOL) When our ride dropped our drunk asses off that night, she said "okay, c ya next weekend!" :) I was so happy to have a friend! So through all the partying and hanging out, we became close. We hung out almost every day for a while (like a year or two), and I can't tell you how many times I crashed on her couch, or in her bed. . .especially the time I got thrown in the mud pit and was caked with mud from head to foot. . .I passed out in her bed and she wasn't even a little mad . . . actually, we woke up the next morning and laughed about it. This was normal. All her drunk friends crashed at her house, and if her parents minded, they didn't let on to any of us. Her dad just recently passed away within the past year or so from cancer. She called my dad "dad" and I called her mom "mom" - we were two peas in a pod.

One night, we almost died together. . .lucky for me, I only heard the stories. Apparently I was so trashed, that I blacked out and didn't remember the night, but the next morning is when they told me that we had been in a car accident. My friend was driving, too drunk to drive, for sure. apparently she fell asleep while driving and ran the car head on into the side of a brick building. No one was hurt - and some of us wouldn't have known if we were. I found out the next day & the car was totaled. . .and aside from the fact that the most important thing to us is that we didn't have a ride, we were ALL very lucky to be alive. We probably should have died together that night, but for some reason, our guardian angels were looking out for us. We chalked it up to a rough night. .. and decided we needed to be more careful, but were we? I doubt it. We were young and unstoppable. . .loving the party life.
Hahaha, I just remembered that she was the first one to ever let me drive. She wanted to eat, and we were on back roads. . .I tried to tell her that I never drove before, but she made me do it. No license, no experience, just the trust of a good friend. Lucky for us, we managed to live through that too.

Over the years, we grew apart. . .different parties, different friends, rumors, alcohol fights, guy fights, etc. But as we got older, all "teen" things were forgotten and our kids became important in our paths crossing over and over. . .they were in boy scouts together, classes/class trips, baseball, and now most recently HS football freshman year. We still would say hi, talk at games, and catch up on life in conversation when we saw each other. No hard feelings, I mean after all we were stupid kids, just looking for the next party. Last year, at one of the last games of the season, she brought her grand baby and was proudly showing the baby off. I told her she was getting old!

Right now, I feel horribly Sad. Sad for her kids (I heard her son was with her when her organs failed - in those last moments) Sad for her mother, her family, and her life. Of all the times we could have (and maybe should have) gotten in trouble, or worse, died. . .we never did. It seems so unfair and wrong that she died of heart failure?? I am remembering us, the way we used to be. . .and the good times - even though it was a long time ago, I remember some stuff like it was yesterday.
I am not sorry that we weren't close friends anymore. . .people grow apart, stuff happens. We had some good times in our day and remained friends through it all, not BEST friends, but just friends. We were always so worried that our kids were going to be badasses like we were, and we both had BOYS which we knew was gonna be worse. (it isn't, they don't even come close to being as bad as we were!) We would joke that if our kids did what we did, we were gonna be in some SERIOUS trouble!
As I sit here and think about her, I miss her already. I am confused about how the whole thing happened, and also realizing AGAIN, that life is so short and we have to live each day as if it were our last. People say that all the time, but you don't really think about it or even practice it until something like this happens. :( It is sad that everyone takes things and people for granted.

The last time I saw her, we waved at each other and moved on. . .we weren't sitting together at that meeting. Had I known that was the last time I was going to ever see her or speak to her, I would have made it a point to say something to her. . .but we never know. Anything I would have said would not have been enough.
But now that she is gone, I feel I need to say something. . .anything that lets her know that I appreciate her being the first person to hang out with me and give me a chance (even if our "partying" intentions were all wrong) to be her friend - no questions asked. I appreciate the fact that we forgave and forgot our teenage years - the bad stuff - as we were adults and were still civil to each other and could move on from all that stupid stuff. I am thankful for all the life lessons that I learned because of her, and/or hanging out with her. She taught me a lot about trusting people; whether it was putting trust in the right people, or not trusting the wrong ones.

Now that she is gone, I pray for her, her family, and most of all, her children and her mother. . .and ask that she be my guardian angel (along with those that saved us that one dreadful night) and continue to protect me as I finish my path through this life on earth.

RIP Nikki. . .you will never be forgotten.