Future Trashmen... Earth Angels to me!

Check out what these guys pulled from the dry creek near our house that was actually the slightly muddy creek on Saturday!

Love the shirts don't ya!?

Just not what I expected.

I woke this morning with little on my To Do List. Pete had an appointment for a haircut, I had hoped to balance the checkbook and maybe copy some insurance receipts. Nothing too exciting or taxing just a couple of possibilities. Well at 9:32 that all changed.

I was checking some e-mail and realized that there was a neighborhood/school clean-up day today that started at 9:30. I had asked the boys all week to find out details and they had nothing well they dropped the ball. I got them moving, neither were out of their pajamas nor had they eaten breakfast. I threw a Poptart and juice pouch at each and we headed out the door to the park. We got our BEAUTIFUL t-shirts and I so luckily saw a dad I knew and asked him to watch the boys for a few while I ran Pete to his hair appointment. When I returned I picked up trash for a bit, smiled for a group shot, and got a free light bulb (Thanks IKEA!)

We headed home and threw a few items in the car and ran to Ikea to take advantage of the community recycling event that were being held in conjunction with the clean-up day. We disposed properly of two CPU's and a dozen spray paint cans and got a coupon to use at Ikea TODAY only! We also had a chance to get some FREE lunch in appreciation of our volunteering and some other free things for our clean-up efforts earlier in the day. We passed on the free lunch, it was a hot dog and the line was soooooo long. We did get a couple of free reusable shopping bags, a couple more free light bulbs and a couple of free ice cube trays. Ikea was VERY generous to the community volunteers and I felt very good about my service and very appreciative for their generosity. We were so thankful that we decided to thank Ikea by buying so meatballs for lunch and in order to use our coupon we bought a chair that we have been wanting to get for Fred. I worked myself into a mammoth migraine and came home miserable and took two pills over lunch and laid down as soon as I got home. The afternoon was not too exciting but was stressful as I worried about my dog for way too many hours.

Bubbles and Bones took 5 and a half hours to wash and groom my dog. He is clean and looks good but he was certainly stressed for way too long. It cost $59 and I am just not sure that it was worth it. There was actually a spot on the receipt for a tip. Nope, not from me. I expressed my frustration and the response was an offer of 20% off on my next visit. I told them I wasn't sure if I'd be back but if I did I would remind them of the offer next time I came.

Once I got my dog home I was able to move along with my life. Nic went to a friends for the night. Will went to dinner with friends so Fred and I went on a date. We tried a new restaurant and were not too impressed. They had a very good Caesar salad and yummy au gratin potatoes. Unfortunately the steak was not well cooked. Everyone else in the dining room seemed to really enjoy their dinners so we may try this place again. we;ll see. In the end we did get the entire meal for FREE and that included dessert. The owner came to try to make it better and I appreciate his attempts.

Once we returned home we were overwhelmed with the activity on the block. There were kids all over the place enjoying the beautiful mild weather and a congregation of parents on the corner yelling every time a car approached from any of three directions. Another pleasant evening outside a no one got injured, which is always a good thing.

So we were one kid down tonight but picked up a neighbor kid so we are even again. It is past my bed-time and my migraine is back so I am gonna go kiss and tuck and try to get some sleep. I really hope that tomorrow is a better day and that at a minimum I get the checkbook balanced.

Bring it on SUMMERTIME!

87 degree today after school and the boys HAD to have a water gun fight! I gave in and they kept busy for about 30 minutes. All good fun and very few tears. That extra kid is my sometimes adopted son Alex the Great. Keep an eye out, you'll see him around plenty I'm sure!

Saving Money

So I played the Grocery Game again this week and won. I saved 44% off my grocery run to Kroger last night and I even bough a little meat this time. They were out of brownie mix and deodorant that I had coupons for and would have gotten FREE. That would have helped my percentage a bit. But I'll just try again on Monday or Tuesday. It's not like either of those are a necessity or I am on my last one. I have about 6 boxes of brownie mix and 4 deodorants in the linen closet so have no fear I will not be stinky and without chocolate. What a horrific scenario!

I am saving money daily by no longer drinking or enjoying Coke. It's a little sad really. I do actually miss the refreshment factor. When we went to Sam's yesterday I got lemonade and it wasn't even good lemonade. But I drank it all the same. I am grateful for what I have.

I have been reading three books these last couple of weeks. The first is the Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I got it from the library then didn't finish it so I bought my own copy and have been slowly getting through it. Slowly mostly because I am trying to read two other books at the same time. I am not good at that at all, reading multiple books at one time. Not sure how I got through college really. The second book on my nightstand is the The Busy Mom's Guide to a Happy, Organized Home. It called to me from the shelves at Target one day. Not that I am all that busy but I do have a love for organized so I snatched it up. The final book that I started last but finished first is Learning to Live Financially Free. I follow the blog of the author and thought I'd check it out. It took a bit to get here with free shipping from Amazon but it was worth the wait. I am trying to write a review for her that I will post here this week and also on Amazon.

We are having a good week here as a family. Fred was gone but for a short week. The weather was more good than bad. We made some final arrangements for our Disney trip in June yesterday. Fred found us some great tickets with miles left over from his manic travels days with NWA that are now useful on Delta. He has arranged a brief rental car for just $15 for our final day there. We may even try to get to the Space Center for the afternoon. The boys are at such a good age for it. We may not commit just yet and play it by ear with the weather. He also booked two free hotel rooms at each end of our trip right near the airport. We arrive a day early and leave a day after our reservations on Disney property. It all makes sense to us but does add a bit of a new factor to efficient packing. We'll make it work. We always do.

OK, off to do laundry and run Nic's watch to Target for a new battery. It's been wonky on him for a few weeks and I promised. Here goes.

Pills, pills and more pills and a dose of religion!

I feel like I need to get one of those weekly pill dispensers with a little box for each day of the week. Pete is getting 2 pills twice a day. Both boys just finished up chewable antibiotics that also required some sort of lactaid type meds so that was three pills twice a day times two boys. Last week I went to the Dr. and needed my own antibiotics one pill twice a day. I already take two pills at night to take care of migraines stuff and am now weaning off those and replacing that with another single pills for a few weeks then amping that up to two pills. Now all of this time I an still nursing my injured thumb and taking two Aleve AM and PM about every other day. Oh and I forgot the Nasonex squirts each morning which I truly tend to forget. UGH!

The good news is that with good prescription benefits, our meds combined are cheaper than the ones Pete takes. But that does not make any of it easier to keep track of. I think they sell pill alarms. Maybe I need to look into that.

On to happier topics. EASTER! We got up and going and made it to 9:00 mass at a new parish. Although we made it in time we would have had to sit in the vestibule so we opted to cross the parking lot and attend the "Children's Mass" taking place at 9:10 in the community building. We got good seats and it was a very nice experience. I have been struggling at our parish since we arrived. I had a wonderful experience with the MOMS program but have not gotten a single ounce of spiritual juice in the 8 months we have attended. I may have jumped the gun on registering at this parish because it was the "Frisco" parish. In Iowa there was no choice but here we have many choices and I need to find a better fit for me and my family. The new parish is about the same distance from home, maybe even a smidgen closer. It seems smaller but still boasts attendance last week of 2981 members. Plenty big for me.

I think we go a bit longer, cheating on our "home" parish and make a decision this summer if we want to move or not. Time will tell.

So, after church we ran to Kroger to get some orange juice and a few other things. Then we headed home for brunch and an Easter scavenger hunt. My pal Sabrina put one together for her kids and she let me steal it for mine. I cooked while Fred hid eggs. The food came together nicely. We had breakfast pizza and waffles. We all ate our fill then the kids scavenged and I cleaned up the kitchen with no plans of returning to it again that day. We pieced our way through the afternoon and evening and everyone seemed fat and happy. Did I miss the ham? Absolutely! But not the leftovers or the clean-up. Brunch worked for us and that works for me!

I took an Easter nap and the boys and daddy were bums in their own way. We Skyped with 2205 and I got to see almost everyone who was there enjoying Easter Dinner. They had ham... but I got a nap.

So the week is so far so good. Pete's meds are working. Fred is in Mexico as of this morning. The boys are healthy. The sun is shining and I saved $27 at the grocery store this morning!

My friend Sabrina and I are on a quest to find money in our budgets at the end of the month. One easy way to do this is by "couponing". I have investigated this phenomena before but never really followed through. With a friend I am inspired. So my pal Kirste asked what my strategy was... My answer, USE THE COUPONS! I tend to save the inserts and sometimes go as far as cutting them out but I rarely remember what I have and remember to take them to the store with me. I am using the online tool called the Grocery Game to spur me to couponing greatness and Sabrina shares her successes too. It can be done and can be done well but it does take time. Well, time is something I happen to have so I can certainly invest some of that time into saving money for my family. I keep you up-dated on my success if I can continue to remember the coupons and hopefully get them in some sort of order before too long. That is going to be a major investment of time but for a closet organizer it will bring me joy too.

Okay, I am off to vacuum the Living Room before Dancing with the Stars begins. The fuzz on the floor really distracts me when I am trying to enjoy my programs. I am getting more weird by the day aren't I? Maybe it's all the meds....

Relatively uneventful

The absolute highlight of my week was getting my first ever pedicure on Thursday. Does that give you any indication of the lack of excitement in my week?

We had daddy home all week. That was fun.

I cooked M-W then had Chick-Fil-A night on Thursday.

I had my annual physical and am working with my new Dr. on a new plan for heading off the migraines before they start.

No one stayed home from school sick this week.

We might be done with all of the open issues with the reconstruction company.

My fridge saw another repair man this week.

I scrapbooked today!

My dog is getting better with the help of antibiotics and so am I.

My hubby did the treadmill stress test today and passed with flying colors. How does that happen?

The sun is shining although it is not quite as warm today. It is still much warmer than Iowa, South Dakota and Indianapolis. Sorry friends. I do know that it will bite me in the butt this summer when it is 110 out and I am miserable.

Oops, I've slept since then.

I just realized it has been a few days since my last post. I guess that is because I was feeling better late in the week so I was out and running a bit more and the activities I was partaking in were not particularly earth shattering. I guess that means that I can not be held responsible for the devestation in Italy today. Just terrible and so scary. My prayers go out to all those whose lives have been touched by this tragedy.

Friday I did go to get my tire patched where I ran over a nail. I was smart enough to know that the nail should be left in the tire and headed to the Honda dealership on Friday to get the tire patched and oil changed. I went prepared to wait 45 mins but when they said it would be closer to 90+ I opted to take the dealership shuttle to the mall. I had to second guess myself when the shuttle driver headed off the lot. He was a maniac driver and it was all made worse because I was sitting in the bcak seat. I survived the long trek to the mall, (it is actually just on the other side of a highway from the dealership but we had to run another customer home first so my short trip turned into something a little longer.) Once I got to the mall, and kissed the ground, I was trying to figure out how I could get back to the dealership without calling for the shuttle. I considered asking perfect stragers and then ran into a friend at the mall but totally forgot my strandedness until she was gone. I took care of my errands etc, had lunch, (making sure it was an appropriate last supper) and called for the shuttle. God heard my cries and sent the shuttle with a NEW DRIVER! he was great and we got back to the shop just as my car was finished. It turned out that I put the nail in my tire in a spot that could not be patched so I needed a new tire. UGH! So $258 later I left there and headed home.

Friday afternoon was full of park fun, sun and LOTS of friends. The boys had 2 friends each over after we went to the park. It was lots of laughter and noise and no tears!

Saturday was family fun day and we got a bit of a late start but headed to Adventure Landing. They have a Saturday Special that was right up out alley. After putt putt, laser tag and a mediocre arcade we hit Steak-n-Shake for lunch. We headed home and I had every intention of spending some time scrapbooking. Instead Fred went to work on some boxes that have been sitting in the garage since my parents were here and I felt compelled to assist with the sort, repack, and move process.

Saturday night we were invited to an impromptu BBQ at the neighbors. I threw some brownies in the oven and when they were done we headed over. It was a great night with great company and the kids were so well behaved. They thought it was cool as all git-out to have the kid table be the back end of Fred's truck. They all piled in with the tailgate down and had a fun time. Only one glass of lemonade spilled and we'll let the rain clean that up. After all of this kids had deserted the truck I went to go clean up flying napkins etc to find Nic already on it. he had three plastic bags, one for food scraps, one for cups to be recycled and one for paper plates. He wasn't sure if they could be recycled so he put them in their own bag. I was so proud of his initiative. That doesn't happen too often so I was pretty generous with my praises.

Sunday is a bit of a blur but I know it involved lots of laundry and linner at Durkin's Pizza. I chatted on the phone with Vicki from Iowa who was informing me that I dodged another winter storm. I had to share that on Friday I had gotten sunburned at the park. Talk about opposite universe. I think we are there and I so got the better half. Sorry Vicki.

Today so far I have gone to offer up some blood before my physical on Thursday. I realized late last night that I had not snacked at all and since I needed to be 12 hours fasted I thought this was the perfect opportunity. Of course as soon as I was done I ran through Krispy Kreme on my way home. Then I went to Sam's with my pal Sabrina then home to rest before a whirlwind volunteer job at school. Now I am putzing until my boys get home. Nic has his second TAKS test tomorrow so he won't have any homework tonight. Will should have some though so that will be tough. Hopefully not too much.

Fred is in town this week so that will be a treat for all of us. I am sure he'll work late a few nights but it will be nice to have him around a bit. OK, off to wait for my boys to get home from school so that next part of the day can begin!