On the way to pick up a paper (to get the coupons!) this morning, we passed a flea market. In a stall clearly visible from the road, a vendor had several roosters in cages. I love chickens. They are such silly creatures. I have them all over my house. I guess Z has picked up on my thought process.
As we pass the real live chickens, Z says, "Look at those silly hens! Those chickens really crack me out!"
Hee!
5.31.2009
Learning Curve
Here's what I learned on my first adventure as a 'coupon-er':
- If you go late in the week, all that is left of the super deals (read "free") is empty shelf space.
- Shallow shopping carts are the devil.
- I am going to need to allot a lot more time for grocery shopping.
- I am a spaz with my giant notebook o' coupons.
- Sales fliers lie.
- The stockers at Kroger are very friendly.
- If your toddler is cute enough, blue-haired old ladies don't glare at you even if your pirate-int-training whacks their shopping cart with his sword.
- Despite missing out on several great deals, I saved $22.05! (See my new coupon savings tally in my left sidebar. I will be updating it each time I buy groceries!)
5.30.2009
Creative Bloggers Showcase: Working Title
This week's featured blogger: Sayo Granich-Lee of Working Title.Sayo is a New York jewelry designer. She works mainly with sterling silver to make some funky and fun jewelry. Some of her rings have dirt in them from famous places, how cool is that? Giant rocks? You bet! She also has a series of earrings made from vinyl flooring. Sound strange? They're cute! Check them out at her Etsy shop, Saru Star Jewelry. Her blog shows off not only her own awesome designs, but also highlights coolness in jewelry and crafts found all over the internet. Way to pay it forward, Sayo!
My particular favorites are the Anchorage Earrings. Love!
5.29.2009
House Selling Prayer
Dear Lord,
Give me strength to get my house in shape for tomorrow's showing. Please help prospective buyers number five fall in love with our house and all its quirks and personal touches. Let them see past the cracks in the pool deck and the bare spots in the yard and see a beautiful setting for family and friends. And if it is not too much to ask, could they please be willing to pay at or above the asking price? Thank you.
Amen.
Give me strength to get my house in shape for tomorrow's showing. Please help prospective buyers number five fall in love with our house and all its quirks and personal touches. Let them see past the cracks in the pool deck and the bare spots in the yard and see a beautiful setting for family and friends. And if it is not too much to ask, could they please be willing to pay at or above the asking price? Thank you.
Amen.
Yay!
My neighbor's Ethiopian adoption was approved today! The lovely S and her family will be welcoming a beautiful little girl in to their family some time in the next month or two. She is so lucky! After four boys, S is in for a big change. Z's boyfriend, Z, is looking forward to having a sibling to 5.28.2009
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!
Children lie. I know this. As a teacher, I saw kids lying all the time in an effort to get out of trouble or save face. It made me mad every time. No one likes to be lied to. So imagine my chagrin to find that my first born is turning into a habitual liar. Gah! And not just to stay out of trouble either.
She told me a whopper this morning, which is what got this whole liar-liar-pants-on-fire train of thought out of the station. Last night she had requested pancakes for breakfast and I said okay. So when I got up this morning, I was prepared for a little breakfast-y cooking. As soon as I stepped foot into the kitchen, Z says, "Grandma ate her cereal out of the green bowl."
My sleep addled brain digested that as possibly true. There was a coffee mug on the counter (Grandma was outside power washing the deck). But upon closer inspection, there was a sippy cup next to the green plastic bowl and a rinsed cereal bowl by the sink. Wha...? A lie. She looked me right in the face and lied like a rug. Z had already eaten breakfast, but was still angling for pancakes (which I probably would have made anyway if she had just asked directly!).
I sent her packing to her thinking spot (literally a circle on the floor labeled 'thinking spot') while I waited for my head to quit spinning Linda-Blair-style. That took a while. When I was sufficiently calmed down, I went to have a little chat with her about why telling lies is a bad thing. How when she tattles on every tiny infraction her brother commits, it is hard to believe that she doesn't know why he is sitting on the floor crying. That when she tells me her room is cleaned up when it isn't, I'm not going to believe her the next time. That once you start telling lies, everything you say becomes suspect.
We have had this discussion before. She always says that she will never lie again in the sincerest of tones. Until she does it again 30 minutes later. Time outs, getting sent to her room, and losing privileges have failed to make an impression on her. So I told her that the next time I caught her in a lie I was going to wash her mouth out with soap.
She made it until dinner where she told a doozie about some inconsequential thing and wrapped it up with some improbable statements that she attributed to her teacher. Huh? Really? I asked if her teacher had really said that and she said, "NobutIdon'twantmymouthwashedoutwithsoap!" Clearly, she knew she wasn't telling the truth, but proceeded anyway.
Sigh. When it came to be mouth-washing time, she was completely incredulous. Like I don't follow through on consequences - which I totally do! She added insult to injury by screaming at me that she didn't WANT her mouth washed out so I couldn't do it. There was running and chasing, catching and carrying. Much yelling and protesting (thanks for opening your mouth, babe!). And it was done.
In true nose-cutting and face-spiting form, my hard headed daughter kept right up with the defiance. I had a cup of water and a tooth brush ready for her, but she refused to use them. Instead, she just stood there with that horrible soap taste in her mouth. That's showing me, Z!
Finally, after I had gotten Q off to bed, Z came up to me and said, "I love you, Mama. I won't tell any more lies." Then I read her books, tucked her in, and kissed her soap-scented mouth good night.
She told me a whopper this morning, which is what got this whole liar-liar-pants-on-fire train of thought out of the station. Last night she had requested pancakes for breakfast and I said okay. So when I got up this morning, I was prepared for a little breakfast-y cooking. As soon as I stepped foot into the kitchen, Z says, "Grandma ate her cereal out of the green bowl."
My sleep addled brain digested that as possibly true. There was a coffee mug on the counter (Grandma was outside power washing the deck). But upon closer inspection, there was a sippy cup next to the green plastic bowl and a rinsed cereal bowl by the sink. Wha...? A lie. She looked me right in the face and lied like a rug. Z had already eaten breakfast, but was still angling for pancakes (which I probably would have made anyway if she had just asked directly!).
I sent her packing to her thinking spot (literally a circle on the floor labeled 'thinking spot') while I waited for my head to quit spinning Linda-Blair-style. That took a while. When I was sufficiently calmed down, I went to have a little chat with her about why telling lies is a bad thing. How when she tattles on every tiny infraction her brother commits, it is hard to believe that she doesn't know why he is sitting on the floor crying. That when she tells me her room is cleaned up when it isn't, I'm not going to believe her the next time. That once you start telling lies, everything you say becomes suspect.
We have had this discussion before. She always says that she will never lie again in the sincerest of tones. Until she does it again 30 minutes later. Time outs, getting sent to her room, and losing privileges have failed to make an impression on her. So I told her that the next time I caught her in a lie I was going to wash her mouth out with soap.
She made it until dinner where she told a doozie about some inconsequential thing and wrapped it up with some improbable statements that she attributed to her teacher. Huh? Really? I asked if her teacher had really said that and she said, "NobutIdon'twantmymouthwashedoutwithsoap!" Clearly, she knew she wasn't telling the truth, but proceeded anyway.
Sigh. When it came to be mouth-washing time, she was completely incredulous. Like I don't follow through on consequences - which I totally do! She added insult to injury by screaming at me that she didn't WANT her mouth washed out so I couldn't do it. There was running and chasing, catching and carrying. Much yelling and protesting (thanks for opening your mouth, babe!). And it was done.
In true nose-cutting and face-spiting form, my hard headed daughter kept right up with the defiance. I had a cup of water and a tooth brush ready for her, but she refused to use them. Instead, she just stood there with that horrible soap taste in her mouth. That's showing me, Z!
Finally, after I had gotten Q off to bed, Z came up to me and said, "I love you, Mama. I won't tell any more lies." Then I read her books, tucked her in, and kissed her soap-scented mouth good night.
5.26.2009
Coupon Crazy!
After dinner with some friends the other night we were complimenting the hostess on her superior brownies. She said, "Thankyouverymuch. They're from a box."
Turns out she has lately started coupon-ing and one of her big scores was 20 boxes of brownie mix for free. Free brownies? She had T's total attention. Her hubs and sons bragged on her total coupon-clipping/money-saving mastery and the system she had developed to stay on top of everything. She has a whole notebook with dividers and pockets and baseball card pages and has the whole thing down to a science. Impressive!
Since we are currently supporting two households, it seems like a good idea for me to follow in the steps of my newly anointed coupon guru. We made a date for myindoctrination introduction tomorrow afternoon.
In anticipation of the big event, Iwasted killed spent a productive afternoon finding every printable coupon the internet had to offer. Huh. Who knew there were so many coupons for stuff I actually use? Erm, I guess my friend did. And all those blogs I read where they talk about feats of coupon-ing glory that I can only dream about. Yeah, those. I am not too swift on the uptake.
The funny thing is, Chica and I were talking about this just the other day. We both know that there are coupons to be had, and that if we were religious about the sales fliers that we could potentially save a lot of money. We are both smart women. If all those other gals are successful at it, surely we would be, too. If we wanted to... But somehow we couldn't be bothered. Looking back on that conversation, I think an alien must have taken temporary control of my brain. Couldn't be bothered to save a big ol' chunk of money? That's crazy talk.
Wow. Nothing like the zeal of a convert, huh? To tell the truth, I am totally in it for the pretty notebook. I love me some office supplies. Especially if I have a coupon!
Turns out she has lately started coupon-ing and one of her big scores was 20 boxes of brownie mix for free. Free brownies? She had T's total attention. Her hubs and sons bragged on her total coupon-clipping/money-saving mastery and the system she had developed to stay on top of everything. She has a whole notebook with dividers and pockets and baseball card pages and has the whole thing down to a science. Impressive!
Since we are currently supporting two households, it seems like a good idea for me to follow in the steps of my newly anointed coupon guru. We made a date for my
In anticipation of the big event, I
The funny thing is, Chica and I were talking about this just the other day. We both know that there are coupons to be had, and that if we were religious about the sales fliers that we could potentially save a lot of money. We are both smart women. If all those other gals are successful at it, surely we would be, too. If we wanted to... But somehow we couldn't be bothered. Looking back on that conversation, I think an alien must have taken temporary control of my brain. Couldn't be bothered to save a big ol' chunk of money? That's crazy talk.
Wow. Nothing like the zeal of a convert, huh? To tell the truth, I am totally in it for the pretty notebook. I love me some office supplies. Especially if I have a coupon!
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