To Pass the Time

I haven't had much time to blog in the last couple of days but I did find five minutes to do this:

30

So until I can come back and post something witty and insightful, take a stab at the above. If you blog, post your results so others can play, too.

Let me know how you did!

Super Savings Saturday

Whew! ‘dems alotta beans!

This past week Safeway was having a promotion that when you buy 25 participating items (there were 2000 on the list), you will get a $20 catalina (coupon same as cash) back. To be honest, there wasn’t really anything that we needed this week because I’ve stocked up so well over the past couple weeks so I almost passed on this one.

Then I saw in the lobby of my church that they were doing a food drive and I immediately thought of Safeway. I had been feeling a little like the rich man who wanted to build bigger barns to store up his growing piles of grain and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to give back to God. He has blessed me so favorably over the past month or so as I’ve tried in earnest to be a better steward of my His money. How could I pass up this chance to thank Him?

So trotted off to Safeway with kids in tow. I’d like to tell you that I’m starting them young - teaching them how to shop wisely and how, as good children of God, we are to give back as often and as much as we can, but the truth of the matter is, my husband was out of the house and I had to lug the little offspring along despite the fact that I loathe grocery shopping with them. They are good kids, though, and I really only had to pull them off each other once.

Anyhoo…

So, wanting to get as much as I could for as little moolah as possible, I hit the Beans and Pasta/Rice-a-Roni aisles. I got everything in the picture for $47.19 and received $40.00 back in catalinas for my next shopping trip. Not bad, eh? I nice haul to the church’s food drive for only $7.19 - plus, the knowledge that I contributed to something worthwhile. Eating and drinking is fine and all but giving back is really when the merriment begins!

Want to know more about how you can save big bucks on all your shopping needs? Check out MoneySavingMom.com. You won’t be sorry - you’ll just have more money!

Happy shopping, everyone!

Down for the Count.

Yesterday, I was like this:

So I spent the day like this:
with a view of this:

But blessed to have a friend like this:

Brenda came for the ENTIRE DAY to help totally take care of me.

Oh, and she gave me some of this:

Which helped me to feel sooooo much better.

There's a reason we've been friends for almost 25 years.

She is, without a doubt, this:

Thank you so much, Brenda. I don't know what I'd do without you.

Yesterday or ever!

LOVE YOU!!!

New Year's Resolutions: Update.

I thought I'd give a little update on my New Year's Resolutions. I actually resolved to do this the first of every month but, as you can see by today's date, that one went out the wind-ah. But just in case you are interested:

New Year's Resolution #1:

Thou shalt not bringeth any new items into thine household for a period no shorter than six months.

Well, as you can see here and here and, oh yeah, here that this one didn't quite pan out as planned. I like to reason that I didn't buy anything unreasonable and nothing for the house. I also like to reason that the new clothes for the kids were balanced out by the ones I got rid of (and continue to get rid of) that no longer fit. Same with the toys for London. I go through her playroom just about every 3 mos and purge the no longer played with (read: noisy and messy) toys. Not to mention the incredible deals I got on everything!

I also like to reason that the chocolate fountain and cookie cutters are an absolute necessity in any household and what kind of a mother/wife/woman/sugar-addict would I be if I didn't have these at the ready? I mean, really, let's all come to our senses here on this one! Okay? Good.

I did, however, squash one big bug! That ought to even out the whole chocolate fountain/cookie cutter controversy, wouldn't you say?

New Year's Resolution #2

Thou shalt get your act together!

I wrote that my days are pretty much willy-nilly, wishy-washy, hokey-pokey and la de da. Well, I can say that, with all honesty, I have completely and totally done away with the hokey-pokey. What was that all about anyway? As for the rest? Well...

phhffffftttttthh!!!

There is nothing even remotely close to a routine here unless you count the fact that sure as the sun will rise, so will Kirby - before the sun actually rises, however. This I am not fond of. I can tell you that I've become quite skilled at hurling toys from a horizontal position across the room for a 3-pointer right into his crib. Sometimes, without even removing my head from under the pillow. Put THAT on your list for next year!

New Year's Resolution #3

Thou shalt open thy doors and bringeth in friends for good, good times!

Whaaaat?! You haven't received your invitation yet? No, that just couldn't be! Surely, I sent it out or...er...emailed you or...uh...called, maybe? No?

Okay, ya got me! So I haven't exactly invited anyone over yet. Does it count that I've entertained out-of-state relatives twice so far this year and threw a birthday party for my sweet boy? What about babysitters? Do they count? After all, they did eat my food and watch my TV. Surely, that must count for something! What about the boy who came to my door selling candybars? Okay, he didn't actually come inside but I did tell him a joke - in some countries that's consider entertaining. Really!

Alright! Alright! Tomorrow I'm calling someone, I swear!

Well, that's all the updates I have. What about you? Did you resolve to change anything this year? How are you doing so far? I'd like to hear from you. As for me, I'm still very much a work in progress and probably will be until the good Lord brings me home. As for now, I think I'll just go back to my willy-nilly'ing and call it a day!

You're IT!

It's seems I've been tagged!

I've never been tagged before. Well, unless you count the time in third grade when Brad Harrington, who sat 4 desks down from me and was the only boy in class with brand new crayons and a Mickey Mouse ring, tagged me during afternoon recess while playing, well...TAG of all things. I'm sure it had something to do with the crush I had on him and the fact that I just stood there like an easy target waiting and wanting him to run up and biff me on the elbow so I could relish in the fact that he actually made physical contact with me. And, of course, SPOKE to me because, as you are well aware, one must actually say, "Tag! You're it!" when passing off the "It" designation. And is it any wonder that I spent the rest of my energy and recess minutes trying hopelessly to tag him back while several other sloth-like children stood around in vain waiting for their turn?

Let's just say, that by the end of the day it was ME wearing that Mickey Mouse ring and not some other love-lorned, droopy-eyed, untagged third-grade hopeful. Nope. It was ME!

ME! ME! ME! ME! ME!

Oh, wait! What was I talking about? Oh, yeah...I've been tagged. Jen over at Guidance for Victory tagged me yesterday and put me on a long list of other taggers and taggees. So, in return, I'm to tag a few of you. So I picked five of my favs (not my favorite five, five OF my many favorites. Don't want any hurt feelings or boo-boo lips, now) and added them to the bottom of the list. If I tag you, publish this on your blog and add five more to the list at the bottom. We want this list to get berry, berry long.

Sorry, a little too much Strawberry Shortcake over here.

According to Jen, when you tag others you will, "see your Technorati Authority increase exponentially"!

and also:

The benefits of Viral Linking:
1. One of the fastest ways to see your technorati authority explode!
2. Increase your Google PageRank fast
3. Attract large volume of new traffic to your site
4. Build your community
5. Make new friends!

(umm...can someone tell me what increasing my "technorati authority" means. Is this something I should tell my husband about?)

Well, here I go:

Linky Love Tag

The Strategist Notebook
Link Addiction
Ardor of the Heart
When Life Becomes a Book
The Malaysian LifeYogatta.com
What goes under the sun
Roshidan’s Cyber Station
Sasha says
Arts of Physics
And the legend lives
My View, My Life
A Simple Life
Juliana RW
Mom Knows Everything
Beth & Cory’s Mom
A Mind Forever Voyaging
enjoying the ride
Jennifer’s thoughts
Mom of 3 Girls
Amanda
Don’t Make Me Get The Flying Monkeys
ExPat Mom
Just Jessie
Wilson Six
Kristin
Nuttier Than You
Shonnte
Summer’s Nook
Laura Williams Musings
Melissa’s Idea Garden
Eve at Confessions of an Everyday Housewife
ChristiS of the Blah Blah Blog
Stephanie at Stop the Ride!
Diane at Soap, Blings & Girly Things
Amanda at Amanda:Mama’s Musings
Kristin at An Ordinary Life
Mama Zen at The Zen of Motherhood
Atomik Kitten
The Sassy Southerner
A Room of Mama’s Own
Exploring Autumn
Immoral Matriarch: Catechizer
Real Life
Boogiemum
Living and loving every minute of it
Huckdoll
The Daily Rhythm
The Rocky Mountain Retreat
Peace is Every Step
Life According to Lizzy
Following Forward
Boys Rule My Life
A Quest for Relevance
Not Trying for a Boy
The Gaspards
Orryally’s journal
My Life with Boys
The Truest Thing
The Potter’s Hand
Permission to Peruse
Live Laugh Blog
Pianomomsicle
Heather’s Hot Mess
Kevin and Paula
Smatterday
Guidance for Victory
Sports Momma
Just Start
Sting My Heart
Learning to be a P31 Woman
The Stumbling Christian
Musings of a Housewife
The Tea Party Place
Madame Queen
That's What It's All About
Money Saving Mom

Okay, now that I've successfully biffed you on the elbow, it's now your turn. Get to it!

Serving God by Serving Others, Part I

Just so you know, I'm writing this as I go, so I have no idea if this will have two parts or ten. Well, hopefully not ten! I just wanted to share how God was working in my life lately and what He's nudging me to change about myself. I hope you enjoy it.

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Not that long ago, I was finding myself becoming more and more agitated with my husband. I was just sure he was leaving things for me to do. Well, I wasn’t exactly sure of it, it was just that, on my most grouchiest of days it certainly seemed that way. What did I think he was leaving for me? Well, for instance, pizza boxes on the dinner table, London’s toys on the floor (after he was the one playing with her), empty shopping bags left here and there, a dirty diaper on the changing table - you get the picture. Then there was the time he bought London a new soccer ball and left the box it came in on the dinner table. I refused to touch it. I wanted to see how long it would sit there waiting to be tossed out. Poor box sat there a week before Paul finally had mercy on it and threw it in the recycle bin. A WEEK, people!

But then came along the cereal bowl. The golden yellow, milk encrusted, controversial cereal bowl. The cereal bowl that would change everything. God used a burning bush to talk to Moses but with me He used a cereal bowl.

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The day was not yet turning into one of my frequent grouchy days as I was making my way through the house picking up here & there, collecting laundry and so on when I walked into our spare room and saw it perched there on top of the tiny T.V. Paul uses to watch late night television. Let me tell you about my dear, sweet husband - he almost never goes to sleep at night without a bowl of cereal to send him into blissful slumber. It’s his thing. Even when we travel, after checking into the hotel, he must locate the nearest Kwik-E-Mart, secure a styrofoam bowl, plastic spoon and a 3-4 night supply of cereal & milk.

Anyway, that stinkin’ cereal bowl, I had decided, was left for me to take care of because, after all, wasn’t that my “job”? Grrr……

It made perfect sense to me. Why else would an intelligent, capable, grown man with two good arms just leave a dirty cereal bowl on top of the t.v.? The same t.v. he stared at for two hours the night before! He didn’t see it? Bah! He just forgot? Puh-leeze! He didn’t mean to? Right. Neither did Larry Craig. He left it for the little woman? Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

Well, that was IT! I had had enough. There was no way, now how I was picking up that stupid cereal bowl. I was going to send a message loud and clear this time even if it surpassed the soccer-box week. I was NOT going to pick up that cereal bowl come hell or high water! I’ll show him who wears the apron around here!

So what I did, instead, was decide to become really irritated, frustrated, agitated, percolated, infuriated and just about every other -ted you can think of. Because, really, isn’t a dirty cereal bowl worth ruining your whole day over? Yes, of course, it is.

I had decided to let that cereal bowl rule my day, my attitude and my mood. I walked around ¾ of the day madder than heck about that ridiculous cereal bowl and every time I walked into that room and saw it sitting there, perched atop that mini boob-tube mocking me, I got madder still while my husband had the nerve to go to work as usual and not be affected by it one teensy little bit. I mean, really!

It was mid-afternoon when, for some reason or another, I had to go back into the spare room and face that indignant bowl once again. “I am not picking it up. I am not picking it up. I am not picking it up”, I repeated angrily to myself, “Stay strong” when, (to steal a line from Forrest Gump), just then, God showed up.

“So, are you going to pick that bowl up for him or are you going to pick it up for Me?”

I literally stopped dead in my tracks. I immediately hung my head, dropped my shoulders, let out a defeated sigh and grumbled, “Fine!”, grabbed the bowl and took it downstairs where I plopped it in the dishwasher.

Did anyone see another option there? Notice, God didn’t ask me would I pick up the cereal bowl. No, God let me know I WAS going to pick up the bowl, He was just giving me a choice of who I’d being doing it for. After that, God didn’t say another word to me and I didn’t say anything to Him. But as I’ve stated before, God can handle the silent treatment.

You know what’s really funny about being wrong in front of God? He knows you’re wrong. You know you’re wrong. You know He knows you’re wrong. He knows you know and you know he knows you know! But you still sit there, a stubborn mule sitting on your stubborn rock with your stubborn arms folded across your stubborn chest where, coincidently, your stubborn heart beats stubbornly inside. Oh, is that just me? Ah-hem, well then…on with the story:

And even though I wasn’t speaking to God at that moment and He was fine to let me simmer, He still took care of me. I noticed about ½ hour later, I was, miraculously no longer irritated, frustrated or any of the other -teds. I was fine and in a good mood even. And though I had been a spoiled little brat, unappreciative of His gentle lesson in growth and service, He still healed me.

My husband knows nothing of that day. And the cereal bowl? Well, we’ve since made up. It is now, however, a symbol of something that I struggle with to this very day. You see, God can change you all at once or He can lead you to change yourself. He is leading me to change myself. What’s that like? Well, have you ever walked knee deep through cement as it was setting? Yeah, like that.

More to come…

Super Savings Saturday

Wow, this week went by fast! I did not do much shopping this week as we are pretty well stocked up for now. However, I can't seem to refuse a good deal on clothes for the kiddos. This is what I found at Walmart for London:

The skirts were each $1.00
The t-shirt was marked down to $3.00
and the cute jacket was marked down to $6.00 (a little more that 50% off).

I had been eyeing the jacket for some time now hoping to see it drop in price. Last week it was marked down to $9.00. There were still plenty left on the rack and these jackets will probably see another markdown but there were only a couple left in London's size so I thought it best to grab one before it was too late. All items were purchased in next year's sizes.

I didn't hit up CVS this week with any coupons or ECB's. I'm going to wait and see what next week's ad looks like. I did poke around in the store a little bit today (hey, I was without the kids and wanted a little "me time" - what can I say? Me Time at CVS is better than no Me Time at all, am I right?) Anyway, I was thrilled to find two cat beds for only $5.99 each!

Okay, if you do not have a dog or cat and have never had a reason to shop pet beds, let me tell you, this is an awesome deal! These two beds are large, cushy and made of super-soft material. Purr-fect for fur-babies Slinky & Willie to snuggle up in and catch some kitty ZZZ's. These beds would have sold for $25 or more at PetSmart! Just for the fun of it, I checked out kitty beds at Walmart and found beds half this size for almost double the price.

So, you see, CVS rocks the deals even without using coupons and extra bucks. Oh, wait! I did use a coupon. I had a $3 off any $15 purchase so really I got these for $4.49 a piece! WooHoo! It just keeps getting better & better.

Check out MoneySavingMom.com for more great examples of how you can get the most for your money. Happy shopping, everyone!