Action Movie Weekend

We watched a few action movies this weekend.

First, we watched Live Free or Die Hard. The best part of the movie is when they are in the tunnel. Monk Man has seen it so many times that he can recite lines along with the actors.

We rented Death Race. I expected a cheesy movie. I only rented it because Jason Statham was in it. I ended up actually really liking it, and not just for the hotness that is Jason Statham.

Then Wanted came on Skinamax so we watched that. James McAvoy is smokin hot with the sweat and the muscles. He is a pretty good actor too.

Last, we watched Hitman. I think it is the sexiest action movie I have ever seen. Timothy Olyphant (who, oddly, was the bad guy in Live Free or Die Hard) did a wonderful job playing Agent 47. I could watch this film over and over. Hitman has replaced Silence of the Lambs as my all time favorite movie. I even like to watch the video game played.
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Hubbs sat down to watch Death Race with me. He asked me what the movie was about. I had to tell him the truth, that I had no idea and could care less what the story line was. Hubbs told me that I needed to stop renting movies based on who was in them.

LoL Fat chance of that ever happening.

NWA and Delta

Are you kidding me?

This article blows my mind. Delta airlines had some designer make them a red uniform. What is the catch? Airline attendants have to be a size 18 or smaller to be able to wear it. Now Delta does offer other uniforms in the bigger sizes. They are just boring navy blue and white things.

Patricia Reller, who handles grievances for the union's executive committee, said Friday that even if there was only one flight attendant who wore a size over 18, that person should be able to wear the stylish red dress.

I totally agree! This uniform should be offered in every size. Nobody wants to be that one person that can't wear what the rest of your co-workers are wearing. Plus, if it is a uniform, something your employer REQUIRES you to wear, it should be made available to EVERYONE, no matter your size.

"I want them to look sexy and great, but you have to keep that classic look as well," Tyler told The Associated Press at the time.

What kind of bullshit is that? That "classic look" has been gone for years! Gone are the times of limiting the job to the size 2, 22 year old, white woman. And I think that designer Richard Tyler should be beaten (ok, boycotted maybe) for saying something like that. Dude, pull your head out of your ass and realize that most people don't look like the size 0 models you are used to working with.

Personally, I don't care if my flight attendant is a man or woman, young or old, white or purple, Mormon or Wiccan, straight or gay, whatever! As long as they can do the job of fluffing my pillow or bringing my drinks in those teeny little bottles, it makes no difference to me.

All I Have Done Lately

Is bitch.

I looked over my last few posts and they are so bitchy.

Whoops. There are a few shitty things going on in life right now and they have been pissing me off to no end. I feel like everything is all screwed up and not getting any better.

So sorry for being so cranky here lately. I will try to have some posts here soon that are a little more on the normal-for-me side.

Thanks for taking the time to read me!

Another Monday In A String Of Mondays

I am about ready to rip my hair out and it isn't even noon yet.

Hubbs decided to get up with me this morning. That's always so much damn fun. I get up earlier than everybody else for a reason! Then he got a call from the guy he is helping with HVAC stuff and was told that he wasn't needed until around 1 this afternoon. He must have forgotten that I have to work at the normal time and started begging for me to put out. Yeah, right dumbass.

So he went back to bed and left me (just like always) to get the boys ready by myself. Apparently, while I was getting their clothes, Monk Man and Bobblehead somehow managed to empty the entire tub of soapy water onto the bathroom floor. I swear I was only gone 2 minutes. At least I wont have to mop this weekend, since I got to do it this morning.

I get the boys in the car when Monk Man kicks over a FULL 44oz cup of Sprite. I don't drink Sprite so whatever Hubbs, thanks for leaving a full soda in my car.

And now I am at work. Normally it is a great place and I enjoy being here. But not today. The boss brought his kids. Both of them. Two girls. They are playing secretary today and probably for the rest of the week. Oh goody.

It has been a madhouse all morning with all the running, and the skipping, and the jumping, and the eating, and the spilling, and the chattering, and the fighting, and the whining. I am soooo sick of hearing "Are you done working on your computer yet?" The boss is even letting them answer the phones. So that means the girls pick up the phones, the people on the other end ask for "That Other Girl", and I get to explain why it sounds more like a daycare center than normal.

Iamthisclosetolosingmyfuckingmind.

My Little Rock-Star

Here is Monk Man doing the Devil Horns like the rock-stars do. We worked on it for months! He could never get his fingers to stay in the right position. It always ended up looking like the I love you sign and that was soooo not what I was going for. LoL



I uploaded it to Facebook and MIL asked if it was the daycare gang sign. Snort.

Now if I can get Bobblehead to learn it. And get them to pose for a picture together. That would drive MIL completely batty. And it would be AWESOME!

A Lesson In What Goes Around

I had just put Bobblehead into the shower and was getting ready to get in myself when I heard a thud followed by Wwwwaaaaaaaaaa!

I got wrapped up in a towel and found Monk Man laying on the floor in the kitchen, crying.

"Moooooommmmmm, I falled off the counter"

"Dude, what were you doing on the counter?"

"I wanted da candy so I waited till you got in the shower and climbed up on da counter and I falled down"

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I am sorry you got hurt but you aren't supposed to climb on the counter, not even for candy. That is what happens when you do things you aren't supposed to"

"Okay. Kiss it and make it better"

Silly boy. He is fine by the way. Just a couple of scratches on his side. Oh, now he is demanding a band-aid. Ugh. At least I have had enough coffee to make it to work.

Nothing Exciting

Gah. I have a case of the Mondays. I can't come up with anything interesting to blog about.

My Thursday with Monk Man went fine. We ended up doing everything but make the cookies. That is only because Hubbs got off work early and hogged the kitchen.

The 4th of July was fun too. We BBQ'd ribs and just hung out all day. As soon as it started getting dark outside we dragged the lawn chairs to the back patio to watch the fireworks.

Bobblehead was mesmerized! Last year he was too little to enjoy it so he just went to bed. This year, every time he saw a firework he would Oooohhhhh and squeal.

Monk Man was pretty excited until they took a break. Then he was bored so out came our secret weapon.

I am not sure what they are called but they are little twists of paper with gunpowder or something in them. They pop and spark when you throw them on the ground. Whatever they are called, they were a big hit this year.

Someone in the neighborhood was shooting off their own fireworks and they were going off right over our house. I mean right over our house. Fireworks are illegal in Arizona because of inexperienced assholes like that. They finally moved to the park a block away after I started yelling at them.

I may or may not have called someone a douchebag.

I also may or may not have threatened to kick some asses if they didn't "take it somewhere else".

I may or may not have had a little too many wine coolers that night too.

I Just Won 3 Swag Bucks on www.swagbucks.com

I Just Won 3 Swag Bucks on www.swagbucks.com

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Plans for Tomorrow

I had to take the day off of work Thursday to stay with Monk Man.

Daycare is closed the rest of the week because they are going camping. My mom has both boys today. Yikes. She told me last week that there was NO way that she could handle both of them for 3 days in a row and that I would have to figure out what to do with one of them for at least one of the days.

So I took the day off. Bobble head is still getting dropped off at my mom's house though. It is going to be Monk Man and Mom day.

I, being a little....well, anal and controlling.....have already planned some of the day. This is how I HOPE things go.
~We are going to sleep in
Yeah right. I will be lucky to sleep in until 7ish. Bobblehead is a morning person and he takes waking up very seriously.
~Shower and get dressed
This usually goes pretty smoothly.
~Drop Bobblehead off.
I can't wait to see the look on their faces when we show up. She only said I had to figure out what to do with one, not both. Ha ha!
~Do some fun grocery shopping
Our stash of chocolate chips, marshmallows, fruit snacks and other snacks is getting pretty low.
~Stop at the local coffee shop
It has been a long time since we have gotten to spend a whole day with each other, alone, and I think I will need the extra caffeine around 9, maybe 8:30.
~Make cookies
Monk Man requested this last night. He loves to help cook and cookies are just about the only thing I have enough patience to let him help with.
~Head down to the Creek
About 10 miles out of town we have a small leg from the Colorado River, which we call Clear Creek. It really isn't clear at all. It has a beachy area that Monk Man will be able to wade around in and enjoy being out of the house.
~Nap
I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Creek wears him out enough to be able to take a nap without a fight.

Aaaannnd that is it. That is as far as I have planned. I think I will leave the rest of the day up to him. I have a feeling it will entail the PS3, PlayDough in the house (eek) and a bike ride around the neighborhood.

Pssstttt....wish me luck. It is going to be a busy busy busy day!

Problem Customers

Is it just me or does the auto industry attract the weirdos?

I feel like if there is a nutjob, mentally unstable or flat out asshole within 200 miles, they will come to this shop. I have to deal with jerks every single day, either in person or on the phone.

I have had to deal with enough today to make me want to not show up tomorrow. It has been BAD. As if Mondays aren't hard enough. At least we get to make fun of them after they leave.

This just happened---
Dude (shirtless with his at least 60 year old man boobs swinging around): You all worked on my car about a year ago.
Me (trying not to LoL at the naked man boobs): Mmmkkay. So what can I help you with?
Dude: Well I had the spare key tied up under my bumper and it isn't there anymore.
I look up his repair from a year ago.
Me: Well, it looks like we replaced that bumper, so your key is long gone by now.
Dude: Well where the hell would it have gone!
Me: It more than likely got sent to the trash, along with the bumper it was tied to. Because my techs didn't turn one in. It would be right here in this empty drawer.
Dude: What do you mean it got thrown away! It is a $70 key!
Me: But we took off that bumper and replaced it with another bumper, like YOU asked us to do. We had no way of knowing you hid your spare key somewhere in it.
Dude: Is there a MAN somewhere around here I can talk to?
Me: Sure there is. He isn't going to tell you anything different than I just did.
Over walks Jack.
Jack: We don't have your key that you hid in your bumper from a year ago.
Dude: You mean that they didn't take the key and hang it up somewhere?
Jack: No. We didn't hang up the key that we didn't even know was in there.
Dude: But it was a $70 key!
Jack: Aaannnddd?
Dude: Pfffhhhhtttt. Sugar, you better put something in that doomahickey about this.
Me: My name is not Sugar. And by Doomahicky, you mean what exactly?
Jack: You mean the ESTIMATE file?
Dude: Yeah, that.
Me: ...........whatever you say.

First, don't dismiss what I am saying just because I am a chick. Bad idea. Believe it or not, I DO sometimes know what I am talking about.

Totally different, semi-related story to the one above--
I promise that just because you call it a "Back Windowshield", I know for sure that it is really called "Rear Glass" or even a "Hatch Glass". And there is absolutely NO way that I am supposed to know that you really mean your "Driver's Window". Do NOT get shitty with me when it is completely the wrong piece of glass because YOU gave me the wrong information. Take it somewhere else if you want a mind reader. Or someone who is still nice to you after all that.

And while I am on the subject....yes, we do need ALL that information about you. Like your name, address, phone number, insurance company and if we are lucky a claim number and a claim representative phone number. How are we supposed to know who the hell you are and how the hell we are supposed to get paid? Don't give me attitude when I ask you these questions.

I think that is enough ranting about stupid people for today. There might be more tomorrow though.

Uh oh

Shit. I just remembered that Hubbs' birthday is in 14 days and I haven't gotten him anything. Ooohhhhh, bad wife.

He is SO hard to buy for. I have already maxed out the summertime type gifts like BBQ sets and games like croquet and boccie ball. He REALLY likes beer so one year I got him some home-brewing books but those didn't go over so well. I am at a loss.

So help me out? He likes golf, the Yankees, WoW, cooking, Jeff Gordon, the lawn, beer, chick flicks, and stupid jokes. Yes, he is borderline hillbilly. No, we have nothing in common.

What do I get him? I need 3 gifts. One from me and 2 from the boys.
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On a more positive note, I bought the first Christmas present this morning! Amazon.com had a smoking deal on Guitar Hero World Tour Kit thing for the PS3. Complete with the drums, 1 guitar, a microphone and the game. It was $100 off regular price and my amazon gift cards made the deal too good to pass up. So Monk Man is getting Guitar Hero World Tour Kit thing for the PS3. If I can keep myself from opening it up early. We bought all the games and the PS2 kit a long time ago but the drums broke, the neighbors borrowed the guitar, the microphone never did work, and all the games are scratched now so it is pretty much useless for the PS2.

I LOVE Guitar Hero and Rock Band. We have wasted many many many hours playing those silly games. I am probably more excited about it than Monk Man will be.

Bobblehead's First Day of Daycare

I had to take Bobblehead to his first day of daycare today.

My mom usually watches him while I work, but everybody over there has been sick all weekend. My mom called me in a panic last night about not being able to watch him. Hubbs suggested that I call Monk Man's daycare to see if she could take him, just for one day.

She said of course she would take him.

Monk Man was SO excited that Bobblehead was going to daycare with him. He has been begging for months for his brother to go with him.

Drop off had never went so smoothly. Bobblehead acted a little shy and kinda scared. He hid behind me until Monk Man took his hand and lead him into the back room with all the toys and stuff. I yelled bye and left before he could figure out what was going on.

On Monk Man's first day of daycare, I was a hot mess. I think I cried all day. With Bobblehead, eh, not upset at all. I am actually a little relieved for him not to be at my moms for a change. Maybe he will turn out a little more normal than I am.

New Survey Site

I got an email this morning from Market Reader Pro. I did some swagging on it and didn't find anything too discouraging about it. The main complaint I read was about the time it took to get the reward money once cashed out.

Everything looks legit to me. They didn't ask me for my paypal account or credit card info so that seems to be a good sign.

So it looks like Market Reader Pro is not only a survey site but a product testing site as well. I will keep you all informed if/when I get any more surveys or a surprise product to test.

Do any of you use this company already? If you have any experience with them, please leave me a comment!

About HPC

I will explain about "Hour of Power Cleaning" or HPC.



First, why I had to start it.

Well, I suck at the whole housewife part of life. Cooking, cleaning, organizing, all of it. Don't get me wrong, my home isn't dirty. A little dusty and cluttered, but not gross.

Anybody remember Red Bull Fridays? I used to drink a Bull on Friday afternoons and stay up late cleaning the house all at once. Well, that really didn't work out too well. Hubbs would either try to help and get in the way or he would sit on World of Divorcecraft and bitch about how loud the music was or how loud the vacuum was or even that the dust was getting on his precious computer.

So I gave up trying to do anything extra at all. The house would get it's daily quick pick up. I would mop when it needed it, the dishes would get done when I had a half full sink, the bathroom would get cleaned when it needed it, I would vacuum once in a while. Nothing but the basics got done.

So Sunday, after the madness of cleaning for the Houseparty, I was sitting in the living room watching Monk Man play the PS3 and I decided that I was sick of looking at all the crap everywhere.

We have a lot of shit. And it is all over the place. Nothing has a "set spot" really.

So I decided that as a family, we were going to reserve an hour every day to do major cleaning. Hubbs has decided to use that hour to actually HELP me clean but stay out of my way. The kids are having to pick up ALL their shit that they scattered all over the house. The only rule is: once the HPC is started, no one gets to be distracted. It HAS to be finished.

I am focusing on 1 area of 1 room at a time.

For example, on Monday, we have this antique buffet that was piled with all kinds of stuff. That is what I tackled. I cleaned off the shelves above it (which were also piled with junk), organized it, got everything that didn't belong there in the room it did belong in and even dusted.

Last year I decided that the boys needed fish. I don't know why I thought they needed them, just that they did. Well, MIL brought us Hubbs' childhood fish tank all the way from Colorado and I put it on the buffet. And it sat there, not filled with fish but filled with decks of cards, marbles, Wii controllers and other odds and ends. Nunk (my little brother) inherited a turtle (named Timmy) recently and it was living in a teeny plastic tank. As it turns out, he stopped by right as I was finishing up cleaning everything out of the tank and he got to take it home. I killed 2 birds with 1 stone. He got a new to him fish tank for Timmy and I got a clean buffet.

Wednesday, while Hubbs was cleaning somewhere in the kitchen, he discovered a diaper box full of games that had been taken away from the boys who knows how long ago. I had forgotten about it of course. So yesterday I tackled the games. The correct game discs in the correct game boxes. Our extra consoles got put away in a box to be put in the yard sale, our controllers got untangled and were put in a basket next to the TV.

I finally feel like I am getting something accomplished. Yay!

Lost and Found

Ohhhh, I forgot. I found my camera last night during my "Hour of Power Cleaning". Yeah....more on the HPC tomorrow. Maybe.

Where did I find it?

On top of the fridge. Where I put it so I wouldn't lose it. It was between 2 Easter Baskets full of candy. How did I miss THAT? LoL Whoops.

I would have found it last month except that every time I started to clean off the top of the fridge, somebody distracted me. I got tired of starting and not being able to finish so I gave up.

Still can't find the little cable thingy that connects the camera to the computer though.

Whoah

What the hell?

First Ed McMahon dies Tuesday, then Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson today?

That whole "everything happens in 3's" shit is scary accurate.

Writers Block

Crap. I have been staring at these blank boxes trying to get something (anything) posted today but I am just stuck.

Like always, I have a ton to say but am having a hard time getting it out of my head and down to the keyboard.

I guess I will try again tomorrow.

Dominos Houseparty Party

I threw my Dominos Houseparty on Saturday and it was a big hit!

I ran to Safeway on Friday since I got off work early. It was the first time in months that I didn't use a stack of coupons and I felt a little guilty for spending so much money ($79) but $35 of it was in beer. I had a brain fart and forgot to even look for coupons to use......oh well.

I went down to Dominos in person to order the pizzas around 1:00, because if something was going to go wrong with an order, it would have happened to me. I ordered 6 medium American Legends pizzas and 1 medium cheese pizza. I used the $75 gift card with no problem and after tax and the delivery charge it was only about $10 out of my pocket.

The party was scheduled to start at 2:00 and everybody had showed up by 2:10. My friends and family normally don't read clocks very well and most of the time they are 20-30 minutes late to things. The pizza arrived right at 2:00 and all the boxes almost took up my whole kitchen counter space. There was only room for the cake and the pizza. I set out the salad, dressing, chips, dips, cutlery and plates on the kitchen table.

Hubbs had borrowed a long yard sale type table from his dad and that was set up in the front yard for the drinks. The canned sodas and the beer were in ice chests under the tables and the juice, bottled drinks, water, cups and straws were set up on the table.

The only bad thing was that I couldn't find my damn camera. It wasn't on top of the fridge like I thought it was so I didn't get any pictures but FIL did. I am waiting for him to email them to me.

The party started winding down around 4:30 but I still had people at our house when I went to bed at 11:00. In my defense, the people left were my brother, Hubbs' cousin and a couple of Hubb's friends so I wasn't being rude by going to bed.

To All The Husbands

One of the coupon girls posted this.

Men, learn this and remember this!

This is for husbands of women frequently referred to as "coupon ladies" or better yet this is for the husbands of women that have just discovered "couponing". Here are some rules, hints, and suggestions:

1. "Couponers" have their own special communication/ language that they use to communicate with each other. You will need to learn this language if you ever plan on having a conversation with your wife again. A small example of what your wife might say to you: "Honey, I went to Wags and BOGOed shaving cream which was a MM because it produced a RR. And then I went with my GC to Rite Aid and got the items that were FAR which turned into a MM as well. And then because I had some expiring ECBs went and got some of the MM items at CVS too. We really need to get some more ink for the computer so I can print more IPs."I would translate that sentence but I got lost at the first BOGO.

2. Real men do indeed shave with pink razors if that is what was free or nearly free in the past few months. You will also find that your shaving cream now smells lightly floral and comes in light pink or green cans.

3. Your favorite foods will become a thing of the past as you learn to eat new and exotic foods. Some you will like. I never knew that ice cream from various manufacturers could taste so different, but I am willing to taste them. Some you won't like. Kashi – it takes a special man to admit to liking twigs and sticks and this man does not.

4. Your soap now has green netting around the bar of soap so that it doesn't slip out of your hand while showering or your body wash smells like cucumbers, coconut, melons, etc… I am not fond of the body wash that smells like a Moroccan massage parlor. When you are meeting up with your buds to work on a car you really do not want to smell like a Moroccan massage parlor. But you will learn to smile and hide the pain. Just gently tell her "Honey I think these would be a great item to donate to charity."

5. You will find stockpiles of items in the least expected places. I went to the coat closet to find my work boots. On the floor instead of my boots were stacks and stacks of toilet paper. Ummm, do we really need to have enough toilet paper for the whole subdivision for the next year? According to my wife the answer is yes. Men, you will learn to respond by saying the following, "Of course dear, you are right."

6. Your friends and family instead of coming over to watch a football game now come to shop at your home for groceries and green bottles of shampoo and conditioner.

7. You will learn not to disturb your wife on nights when the sales paper comes out. Especially if she has her "coupon binder" and is "matching up sales". Hint: In the event of a fire – don't bother grabbing the insurance papers, grab her coupon binder.

8. Do not even think of arranging anything on Sunday's before or after church as she is busy hitting up the stores with coupons.

9. You will discover that your meek, mild and loving wife turns into a fire breathing creature you never knew existed if a cashier or store manager tells her that the reason she did not get her RR was because she used a coupon or that she can't use a particular coupon. Pray hard if they accuse her of coupon fraud. If this occurs you will discover her speed dial #s 1-10, well none of them call you. They are reserved for the corporate headquarters of her favorite stores.

10. Never ever ask why she is bringing home 5 more tubes of toothpaste when you already have 100 plus tubes in the guest bedroom closet. Suffice it to say if she brought it home, just tell her what a fabulous shopper she is and how proud you are of her.

11. You will start to recognize other husbands of "coupon ladies". Look at their lunch. Do they have children's juice boxes as drinks, packs of starkist tuna (I do believe we have more tuna in the guest bedroom then our local grocery store has on their shelves.), small toothbrushes called Wisps, they smell slightly floral and there is a small handmade coupon good for BOGO kisses and hugs.

There are many more things I could relate to you, but when it is all said and done you will discover she has saved you a lot of money and it seems to make her happy.

And when she is happy …. So am I.

The Hotness

Sully Erna from Godsmack

I have been listening to Godsmack since I first heard Voodoo, many many years ago. I never paid attention to what the band looked like. It wasn't a big deal since looks don't affect how the music sounds.

Well yesterday I heard Godsmack's new song, Whisky Hangover, and wanted to know what the band has been up to. I went to their website for the first time (which is pretty neat) and started browsing. Ran across the band photo gallery and was amazed.

Hotnessssss. I have always had a weakness for musicians though.

The tattoos, the piercings, the hair, the motorcycles. And that voice! Who would have thought that THAT voice would come out of that dude. Totally not what I expected.

I am going to stop before I sound like a crazy, stalker fangirl. Shudder. BTW, their new song was released in anticipation of the Crue-Fest 2. No new album yet, unless I skipped over something while I was reading.

Dominos House Party

I got my House Party Package on Friday afternoon. It was shipped in a Domino's Pizza box which I thought was cute. UPS smashed and crashed the box as usual. The stuff inside was okay though.


They sent a Domino's ball point pen, a Domino's note pad, a free "You Gotta Be Kidding!" card game, and a stack of coupons. The coupons were for 1 Medium Domino's American Pizza Legends Pizza for $10.99 and get a Medium Cheese Pizza for $3.99 with the purchase of a Large Domino's American Legends Pizza, AMC Entertainment free large popcorn when you buy a large Coca-Cola fountain drink, $2.00 off Zoemondo board games and a $75 gift card to Domino's Pizza.

So far, most of my guests have RSVP'd. My mom wants nothing to do with my "internet schemes" and has deleted both of the invitations I have sent her for my sisters. Nice. Well, whatever, we will have fun without her.

I still have sooooo much to do. And only today, Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning to do it all by.
~I still have to track down some long, yard sale type tables, some folding chairs and a couple of ice chests.
~I still have to buy ice, beer, plastic cups, paper plates, plastic silverware, napkins,
~I still have to figure out what dessert I am serving. I am thinking easy....maybe half of a sheet cake. I also need to put together a salad of some sort.
~The yard still has to be cleaned up. Our 2 dogs have guaranteed that I will be on landmine patrol right before the guests show up. We also need to mow and cut down some weeds by the trampoline.
~I still need to buy citronella candles and some decorations.
~I have GOT to find my camera and unload the pictures from it.
~I still need to clean off the patio so we have somewhere shaded to sit and eat.
~I still need to clean the bathroom and mop my floors. The top of the fridge needs to be cleaned off too.
~I still need to clean out my liquor cabinet and decide what I am going to set out for the guests. What goes good with pizza other than beer???
~I still need to decide on what to do about music. We have lots of cd's but my taste in music isn't "party appropriate" and Hubbs only likes country and that won't be playing because I don't want to sit through the party annoyed and semi-depressed. XM Sirius radio pop2k or classic rock are looking pretty good right now.

I have accomplished SOME stuff though.
~I have bags of chips and tons of salsa and dips to serve.
~The house has been picked up, for the most part.
~The flowers are planted so things don't look quite so bare.
~All of my invites have been sent out or called on or hand delivered.
~The pizza has been priced, the sizes have been decided and the order is waiting for me to submit.
~I have soda, juice and water ready for the kids and non-drinkers.
~I have salad dressing.

Who would have thought so much effort would have to go into a crazy pizza party? What am I forgetting?

After I Am Debt Free

As some of you know, I have been on the Dave Ramsey plan for around a year and a half. We started out with $56,000+ in credit card and medical debt, $15,000+ car debt, and around $10,000 in other (family, furniture etc) debt. We paid cash for our home so that isn't a factor.

Last year, we paid off around $46,000 of that debt. Yay!

Paying off that last half has slowed down a whole lot since Hubbs has been laid off. It sucks major ass. Luckily we put everything we could into savings because we knew that he was going to be laid off sooner or later.

So we have been watching our savings slowly dwindle down and only paying minimum payments. I am still working full time, Hubbs is still getting unemployment and doing side jobs for cash. I am doing surveys and trying to get into product trials to help out with the little "extras" like gifts and am saving my Swagbucks Amazon gift cards for Christmas.

Anyway..........I saw a great post on the We're Debt Free board asking what was our fantasy or dream after everything was paid off and saved up.

This is my "After Everything Is Paid Off Fantasy":
I want to buy a big chunk of land (like 20 acres) and build my dream house on it. With cash of course. I have put a lot of thought into this fantasy. It keeps me focused on the light at the end of our debt tunnel.

My BIL builds houses for rich people in Colorado. He is used to working with picky people and has already agreed to build me a house when the time is right. Yes, even after being family to my crazy ass for over 6 years, he is still willing to do it. I am just as surprised as you are.

Help me out with something

I am curious about something.....

See the Swagbucks widget thingy over there?
<--------------
Do a search in it.
Is it your account information that shows up or is it mine?

I don't get the new stuff Swagbucks is doing. But I guess I am just supposed to use it, not understand it.

Are you out of your mind?

When I opened my homepage this morning I saw this article: Got $2,500? Buy A House

Seriously? I can think of many better ways to use $2,500 than as a down payment. The whole article seems like a complete joke. I have been following Dave Ramsey's lifestyle change for around a year and a half and it has changed the way I look at my money. If we stay in this town and end up buying a house, we will pay cash for it.

I had to LoL at one of the lines from the article. "it's possible to buy a $150,000 starter home for about $1,000 a month, taxes and insurance included".


I see sooo many things wrong with that one line. Only $1,000 a month. $150,000 starter home. Ha! I am sure this is not the case everywhere but here, in the town I live in, $40,000 is closer to starter home prices. We only paid $20,000 for our 1st (and still current) home, but we went cheap and temporary, not awesome and forever.

Here, $150,000 would buy 5-6 bedrooms, 2-4 bathrooms, walk-in closets, 2 stories, a garage, a deck, and landscaping in one of the nice areas.

I love living in a small town.

How about "$1,000 a month, taxes and insurance included"? Ha at that one too. My house payments would have been $350 a month (had we not paid cash), tax for a year is around $150 and insurance on our home is $64 a year.

No wonder the economy is shitty! That is NOT an awesome deal to me. It isn't even a good deal.

Or is it?

Have low prices in my small town ruined me? I know that if we ever move to a place with a population over 10,000 I will be in complete culture shock. Are $150,000 2 bedroom shoe boxes actually normal?

Home Made Cleaning Products

I got this from the Coupon Girls. Thanks again!

http://www.livingwithcents.com/homeself/cleaning/homemade.html

Homemade cleaning stuff. Hooray for cheap!

Expirations

I got this link from the Coupon Girls. Thanks!

http://www.organizeyourlife.org/Expiration.htm


There are lots of tips there that will help you not keep your stuff too long and how to store it so that it stays good for the maximum amount of time.

Weekend BBQ part Three

Its funny how our friends segregate themselves. Like ALL the older people sit on the porch, ALL the men hang out around the BBQ grill, the women with little kids (under 12 years old) sit at the tables watching the babies and the rest of the women are in the kitchen cooking. The kids are scattered everywhere. It has been like this since I was a little kid. Even at family reunions, people would seperate into groups.

I sat with the group of women at the tables. We discussed everything from PPD to stomach bands to mood swings to not having patience with much of anything anymore.

The party started winding down since it was getting windy and cold. We ended up getting home around 9 or so. I had to skip the baths since Bobblehead was falling asleep standing up in the kitchen.

All in all, we had fun. I don't get to be social much anymore since the boys take up so much time and constant attention.

I can't wait until the Houseparty on the 20th. 2 social gatherings in a month? My mind won't know what to do!

Sunday BBQ-Part Two

So we finally make it to the BBQ. There are probably 20-25 people there. We knew who was there without even seeing anyone by their cars in the driveway.

I handled getting the kids and all of their crap out of the car. Hubbs was in charge of unloading the Adult Beverages (or as Mamalicious calls them, Beverlys) and getting those put in one of the 50 ice chests (cool seats on a hot day).

Uncle Lonnie's property is HUGE. His house sits in the middle of the lot, he has a pig pen (and other stuff) at the back of the lot, a rental house towards the front, an enormous deck out back and a few swings hanging in the trees. There was enough space for everyone to be comfortable, even with a small group of kids playing football off to one side.

Monk Man decided that he wanted to play football like the other kids. So off he ran. It wasn't long before someone came tattling to me that he was in the way and wanted to play.

Duh? Of course he wants to play. He is a boy, you all are boys, and there is a ball involved. I had to hold my tongue though. I can't be shitty to a 6 year old. That would just be rude, right? I went over and got Monk Man out of their way and put him on the tire swing. He was pissed and pouting but after a few spins in the swing, he was having fun again.

Hubbs wasn't watching Bobblehead and he ended up wandering through the football game. Here comes the tattler again. Good lord.

Long story short, I got tattled to well into the evening, even when I could reach over and touch my boys, even though I finally said "If there isn't blood, I don't want to hear about it". The other parents were just sitting there, not telling their kids not to tattle.

Finally we sat down to eat. We had pork ribs, poppers, salads, bread, tons of food. I got the boys a plate to share and one of the guys starts in on me.

It involves a lot of cussing, me being called a bitch for telling him that he had no right to tell me anything regarding my kids since his were taken away by CPS because him and his wife were neglecting them. I used to work with him and heard it straight from his mouth so it wasn't like it wasn't true. I will NOT justify what I do to someone who can't even raise their own kids. He got told to leave and things were fine after that.

With the adults at least.

Monk Man wanted to play with the other kids soooo bad but they wouldn't let him. They started running up to him to call him loser and then were pushing him down when he was trying to walk away and back to us. When I saw him raise his fist to defend himself, I rushed in and scooped him up.

It broke my heart that they were picking on my little guy. Granted, he does have a mouth on him, just like I do and I wasn't hovering over him the whole time so I don't know what he might have said to them. It still killed me to see it happen.

I hate to even imagine what goes on at daycare.

Check back tomorrow to read more about the BBQ!

Sunday BBQ-Part one

The famdamly went to a BBQ at Uncle Lonnie's house on Sunday afternoon.

I had other plans (gardening) but decided to go anyway.

Going anywhere with my kids is such a production anymore!

There are sippy cups to gather and lids to put on, there are lovies and blankies to load, there are spare undies, diapers and wipes to put in the back pack (once it has been found and emptied from the last outing), there are shoes to find, put on the wrong feet, taken off, lost, then put back on still on the wrong feet.

There are teeth to brush, noses to wipe, diapers to change, toilets to flush, pants to be buttoned, heads to be combed and shirts to be un-tucked from underwear.

There are dogs to be locked up, computers to be powered down, doors and windows to be shut, water hoses to be turned off, car keys to be found(in the ignition), cell phones to be un-plugged, a camera and batteries to be located only to find all the memory cards full.

There are 2 boys to be chased out of the yard, down the driveway, up the driveway, and then wrestled into the car, one boy in a booster seat, the other in a 25-point Nascar certified harness.

There is a car to be loaded, a husband to be coaxed into driving, a Safeway to be stopped at, beer and snacks to be bought, a gas station on the other side of town to be visited, and a gas tank to be filled.

All this for a 6-7 minute drive and an afternoon visit. Multiply that all times 10 for an all day visit, times 100 for an overnight stay, times 1,000 for a weekend, or times 10,000 for a holiday or visit to MIL's out of town.

Swagbucks search results

So I swagged "Safeway Deals June" to help me plan my trip to the grocery tomorrow. I won 2 bucks for the search! I like to read through the various blogs to give me an idea of what deals are working, what are not working and to see other bloggers grocery runs.

Here are some of the blogs/websites that have helped me out today:

Saving Cents with Sense
Blissfully Domestic
My Frugal Adventures
Coupon Cravings

Check out what they have to say!

Houseparty

OMG! I got in!

Happy dance. So excited.

I got accepted into the Domino's Pizza Houseparty. I have applied for every single one of these I have been offered and this is the first one I have been accepted into.

I will post more about it soon.

Another Interesting Article

Borrowed from the BBC Coupon girls. Thanks Shar!

Testosterone Levels Attributed to Sex of Baby

The most interesting part (to me at least) is: "we produce the sex of children we're most suited to bring up".

That gives me hope. My boys are driving me crazy right now. I am to the point that I just want to stay in bed and let Hubbs deal with it all.

It also makes a lot of sense. Growing up, I wasn't a "girly-girl". I would wear dresses ONLY when my mom would make me, like for church, holidays, school pictures or birthday parties.

But, I don't agree or even belive everything in the article though. Just like everything else on the internet (or anywhere really), you can't trust it 100%.

(Disclaimer-This sounds VERY selfish) When I went in for ultrasounds while I was pregnant, I prayed that the techs wouldn't tell me it was a girl. When I heard the magic words that they were boys I cried happy, relieved tears.

Girls are tough! I knew that there was no way in hell that I could handle raising a girl. I am thankful every single day that my boys are boys. Even on bad days.

Microwave Potato Chips

Thank you to thecakemaker from BBC for this recipe!
Ingredients:
3 red potatoes, sliced thinly
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
Salt + seasoning of your choice

Directions:
Slice potatoes; brush on both sides w/ olive oil; sprinkle with seasonings. Layer 3 paper towels on a microwave-safe plate. Place the potatoes (do not overlap) on the plate. Microwave for 3 minutes. Turn over and microwave for 2-3 minutes longer, until dried and crispy. Repeat process for second batch. This works and tastes great.

BzzAgent Game Wave Campaign

Well, I finally got a working machine! Yay!

UPS dropped it off the other night and when I saw the box I was doubtful that this one would work. The box was dented, squashed and in worse condition that the first one.

I unboxed it and got it all set up, and it WORKED! Monk Man was so excited to see the opening screen show up on the TV. We popped some pop corn and started playing the games.

It was great to be able to use the remotes from the first box with the 2nd machine since the batteries had been put in all of them the week before while I was on the phone with the customer service man.

The games took a while to load but it was worth the wait because they were fun. We started with the trivia game. Some of those questions were HARD. Hubbs helped Monk Man with the answers because he is only 4 and the questions were way over his head. But he pushed the number and letter buttons himself.

After playing a couple of trivia rounds, we moved on to the other discs. Stevie's favorite game was the Wheel of Fortune type game where you pick the letters to form a phrase. My favorite was the Jewel type game where you switch the different jewels to make a row of 3+.

Overall, I am pretty impressed with the Game Wave. The games were engaging. It was easy to set up. The customer service was amazing. Plus it is a pretty good learning tool.

Home-made Baked Onion Rings

This recipe is from Tracy at the Coupon gals group. Thanks again!

Ingredients:
· 2 large sweet onions
· 7 ounces corn flakes cereal, crushed
· 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
· 2 teaspoons sugar
· 1 teaspoon paprika
· 1 cup egg substitute
· Vegetable cooking spray

Directions:
Cut each onion into 4 thick slices; separate into rings, reserving small rings for other uses. Set aside.

Combine cereal and next 3 ingredients; divide in half, and set aside. Beat egg substitute at high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Dip half of onion rings in egg substitute; dredge in half of crumb mixture. Place in a single layer on baking sheets coated with cooking spray.

Repeat procedure with remaining onion rings and crumb mixture. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until crisp; serve warm.

Notes:
I've never beaten the eggbeaters with a mixer and it still turns out great.

I use more than two onions... if you are going to make them....... you might as well make a lot of them.

They reheat and freeze well too (just re-spray with Pam (or whatever spray you use) to re-heat. (I have a Foodsaver and make large batches, seal, and freeze for later.

These really are yummy and a lot better for you.

BzzAgent Bic Soeil Bella Razor Campaign

Here is my review of the Bic Soeil Bella Razors:

I have tried 1 of the 3 razors so far.

The 4 blades seem to make a difference. The extra blade catches more hairs and it cut my shaving time down enough to notice. Normally it takes me a good half an hour to shave my legs and with the Soeil Bella it took maybe 20 minutes.

With the regular 3 blade razors I have to shave every 3-4 days but after using the Soeil Bella, I am going on 6 days and the stubble is just barely starting to grow in.

Plus the colors are so pretty!

The only thing I am disappointed in is the price. I looked at them while I was shopping this weekend at Safeway and noticed the price of a SINGLE razor was $13.xx.

BzzAgent Neutrogena Sunblock

Anybody want a review?

I love it!

Monk Man tans very easily but Bobblehead has skin like mine, very easy to burn.

I used it on all 3 of us before we went out to work in the garden for a few hours. It worked great.

The kids went inside after about an hour and didn't get burned at all. I reapplied it and spent another 2 hours outside.

I ended up with tiger stripes on my back and shoulders from where I missed areas with the sunblock. But where I didn't miss with the sunblock was great, no sunburn.

It even worked great on my face, which is super sensitive to just about everything. Other sunblocks are so greasy that I end up getting huge pimples the day after using but the Neutrogena left my skin blemish free.

I will definitely be buying more of this when my current bottle is used up.

Hillbilly Cheesy Rice

My neighbor gave me this recipe and it is really good. Its an easy way to sneak in some veggies.

Ingredients
1 block of Velveeta, cubed
1/4 cup milk
1 can Rotel or Diced Tomatoes and chilies
3-4 sliced zucchini
1 tbls olive oil
1 pkg Taco Rice by Knorr

Directions
Put olive oil in skillet. Add zucchini and cook on medium heat until soft. Add cubed Velveeta and 1/4 cup milk. Melt cheese on low until all the chunks are gone. Add Rotel or Diced Tomatoes and chilies and the package of Taco Rice. Cover with lid and cook on low heat for 10 minutes or until rice is soft. Stir often or else the Velveeta will burn.

Creamy Chicken Soup

Ingredients
3 cans condensed cream soups
5 cans water
2 cans Veg-All or Vegetable Medley
garlic powder
pepper
2 lbs chicken (shredded or cubed)
2 pkg Frozen Egg noodles or 1 1/2 c dry egg noodles

In a large crockpot, add everything except noodles. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8. Add noodles and cook for another 20-30 minutes or until tender.

Best Hamburger Ever

I got this recipe from Hell's Kitchen. Well, he didn't use a recipe exactly. He just rattled off ingredients.

Ingredients:
Chopped Beef
Salt
Pepper
Dijon Mustard
Worcestershire Sauce
Ketchup
Finely Chopped Red Onion
Three Egg Yolks


Mix it all up and grill.

Christmas Crack

I may have posted this one before.

Ingredients
1 lb (2 sticks) unsalted sweet butter
1/2 c light brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
1 sleeve saltine crackers

Preheat oven to 350.
Line cookie sheet with foil and spray with Pam.
Lay out crackers in a single layer and set aside.
Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add in both sugars and stir until dissolved. Let this cook, stirring often until bubbling.
Let it bubble for 5 minutes. Pour over crackers and spread as evenly as possible.
Bake in oven for 5 minutes.
Put in refrigerator to cool.
After hardened, break into pieces.

Variation:
After baking for 5 minutes, add 1 bag chocolate (or any flavor) chips and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Pizza Soup

Sounds gross. Stevie insisted on having this for dinner so we will see how good it is.

Ingredients:
2 14oz can Italian Style Tomatoes
2 cups beef broth
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 pkg pepperoni
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Combine everything except the cheese in the crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Serve in bowls and top with cheese.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edited to say--It was actually pretty good! Thin and not filling, but tasted good. I served it with garlic/Parmesan bread. But even with the bread, it seemed like it needed something else to make it great. Like noodles of some kind. I might try it again and add some kind of fun shaped noodles.

Recipes

I am posting recipes today.

I have quite a few of them to post so check back later!

Laundry Detergent

Now for a different kind of recipe.

I have a huge stockpile of Laundry Detergent. I have not bought any since last August or so and still have 8 bottles left. As soon as it is all used up, I am going to try my hand at Homemade Laundry Soap. These were borrowed from Babycenter and soapsgonebuy.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Powder Detergent-Safe for HE/front loader machines

Ingredients
1 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap
1/2 cup washing soda (make sure it isn't BAKING soda)
1/2 cup 20 mule team borax

Mix and store in airtight container or bag. For light or small loads, use 1 tablespoon. For normal loads, use 2 tablespoons. For heavy loads, use 3 tablespoons. Cost per load .15.

To make a large batch - grate 6 bars of Fels Naptha Soap and then add 3 cups of Washing Soda and 3 cups of 20 Mule Team Borax. Mix well and store in covered container.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liquid Detergent 1-Also safe for HE/Front loader machines

Ingredients
3 Pints Water
1/3 bar Fels Naptha Soap, grated
1/2 cup Washing Soda (Arm and Hammer, NOT baking soda though!!)
1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
2 Gallon bucket to mix it in
1 Quart hot water Hot Water

Mix Fels Naptha soap in a saucepan with 3 pints hot water and heat on low until dissolved. Stir in Washing Soda and Borax. Stir until thickened, and remove from heat. Add 1 Quart Hot Water to 2 gallon Bucket. Add soap mixture, and mix well. Fill bucket completely with additional hot water, and mix well. Set aside for 24 hours, or until mixture thickens. You may add additional HOT water if the mixture becomes too thick. Mix Well before each use. Use 1/2 cup of mixture per load. Makes 64 loads. Cost per load .03.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liquid Detergent 2

Ingredients
1 bar grated Fels Naptha soap
5 gallon bucket
1 cup washing soda (Again, Arm and Hammer)
1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
4 1/2 gallons water

Put grated Fels Naptha in saucepan and cover with water. Heat on low until dissolved. Fill bucket with hot water and add soap. Stir to combine. Add 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup borax and mix well. As it cools, it will thicken. If mixture becomes too thick, add hot water to thin it to desired consistency. May be used immediately. Mix well before each use. Use 1/2(normal) to 1 cup per load (heavy). Cost per load .04.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have read that you can substitute Ivory Soap (or any other bar soap except for the ones with lotion or beads) for the Fels Naptha soap.

Rain

Holy Crap! It is really raining hard. Thundering and lightninging too.

I really hope that this isn't our Monsoon Season though. Monsoons make an otherwise unbearable July or August better.

BzzAgent Game Wave Campaign

Here is my review on the Game Wave.

The first Game Wave system I received was broken! It looked like UPS had dropped and squashed the box. So it wasn't Bzz's fault nor was it the manufacturer's fault.

I had plugged all the wires in to the TV and got everything set up before I realized it wouldn't work. Everything was plugged in correctly, I double checked and had Hubbs triple check it. So I called the call center. It turns out that the call center is located somewhere in Canada and it was 11 p.m. I felt kind of bad for calling so late but it was only 8 p.m. here. The man I talked to was very nice and pleasant, even though it was late in the evening. He took down my information and promised to send me out one in the morning. The instructions were to open the box at the warehouse and testing it to make sure it worked before sending it to me. He did warn me that it was coming from the warehouse in New York so it was likely that I wouldn't see it until Monday.

The customer service man explained that sometimes when the console is dropped, the disc tray gets knocked off the track. He walked me through the steps to diagnose it and was very patient while I asked questions or got confused and needed more information. I didn't even have to send the broken console back.

The customer service that Game Wave provided was excellent! I will defiantly do business with them again.

I got my BzzBox

Actually, 2 BzzBoxes.

I got my razors and stuff in the mailbox and then UPS brought the Game Wave stuff.

I have yet to try out the razors. Honestly, I haven't had a chance to take a shower alone in about a week. I can't shave with the kids in there with me, they just move around too much and our shower is too small for the 3 of us.

I did open the Game Wave box. I unboxed everything and put batteries in the remotes. I plugged it in and.....NOTHING. Yep, the damn thing was broken. So I got to call their tech people in Canada. Poor guy. It was 11 p.m. wherever he was. I am sure I was the last person he wanted to deal with too. It wasn't his fault it came broken so I was nice.

I should have a new one on Monday or Tuesday. In the meantime, I will try out my razor and post a few recipes.

Emailing Companies

I am going to start emailing companies again to get coupons.

This time, I will post here with links so YOU can email them as well. I will also post the results, whether they ignored me, sent me stuff or sent me coupons.

If I can find my camera cable (yes it is still missing) I will post some pictures.

This weekend I will make a list of brands and products we use and match them up with either websites or email addresses. Hopefully I will get around to posting something about it next week.

Bubble Pizza

I made this tonight and am VERY impressed with it. Someone posted the recipe on the Coupon Board from BBC. It is really easy.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 jar Spaghetti sauce or 2 jars pizza sauce
1 can of Grands biscuits
Pizza toppings
8 oz shredded cheese

Directions:
Brown ground beef.
Cut Grands up into about 60 pieces(cut each biscuit into about 6-8 chunks) and put them in the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish.
Drain beef and spread it out across the biscuits.
Pour spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce into a bowl. Add any pizza toppings you enjoy such as black olives, onions, green pepper, pineapple, etc etc. Stir all of this together until everything is coated in the the sauce.
Pour this on meat.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-18 minutes(biscuits will bubble up and be slightly brown on top).
Remove from oven and add shredded pizza cheese(mozz or mozz/cheddar blend).
Put back in oven until cheese is melted(about 3-5 minutes), removed from oven and cut into squares.

Kids and Yards

There was a post on the bargain hunters board today asking if you let your 4 year old child play in the front yard with a dog. Lots of answers ranging from Oh Hell no to Sure, why not.

I am a big ole chicken and can't bring myself to post on the bargain hunters board very often. I must have lost my big girl panties somewhere along the way. LoL

You all know I am as paranoid and semi-crazy as they come, but, I used to let Monk Man play in the front yard alone.

That all changed when our across the street neighbors moved in. The guy is a major jerk. He beats his wife and his kids. And as soon as I catch any of it on video I will have him arrested. Hubbs and I can sit on our back porch and hear them screaming at each other from inside their house. It is pathetic and I don't feel sorry for the wife at all but I do feel sorry for the kids. I think they have 5 little ones and they all look like they are still too young for school.

Anyway, Monk Man isn't allowed in the front yard alone anymore. Even though the yard is completely fenced in, the dogs were usually out with him and I can see everything through the front door I still don't feel safe with that guy living there. There is just something about him that pisses me off. I felt like that even before I knew he was an abuser.

They ARE allowed to play in the back yard alone though. Their kiddie pool is set up and all their toys are scattered everywhere. If I sit at the kitchen table I can see the whole back yard. The dogs come in and out of the house all day so they aren't really alone. Those kids would stay outside day and night if I would let them.

I have no problem with letting the boys play outside without me hovering over them. The sunshine and fresh air is good for them. Plus I can get so much more done inside the house without them under-foot and trying to help.

On top of that, we have a doggie door. There would be no way to keep the kids inside without closing off the doggie door. But then the dogs would be stuck inside, in the way and trying to help too. That would be a disaster.

I do have to admit that they have gotten a little better at picking up their inside toys. I was at Walmart on Mother's Day buying flowers and I happened to run across the coolest buckets ever! They have wheels and they are just the right size for the boys to pull around the house. I make them bring out their buckets from their office/playroom and all their junk in the rest of the house gets put into them and rolled back into the office/playroom. It was the best $20 I have spent in a loooonnnggg time.

They lost it

Oh no! The dealership I blogged about on Friday got their letter from GM. By October 2010, they will have no more GM stuff.

This makes me want to puke.

That means no Chevys, no Buicks, no Pontiacs, no Hummers, no GMCs, or Cadillacs will be sold locally. Our local economy is going to suck even more that it already does.

And I think that it is bullshit that GM is keeping their list private. Chrysler made theirs public, what is GM trying to hide?

It is Gloom and Doom for the dealerships

I am going to guess that you have heard about Chrysler taking away dealership franchises yesterday.

Well, now GM has decided to do the same.

I am pretty deep into the car biz. I ran the office at a GM/Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler/Nissan dealership for years. That is where I met Hubbs.

In my current job at the BodyShop, I deal with dealerships on a daily basis.

I found out that our local dealership was allowed to keep their Chrysler franchise but are still waiting to hear if they get to keep their GM franchise.

This is pretty bad news. The majority of the people at the dealership have been doing the car thing for their ENTIRE life. This is a family owned business. The current owners were raised in the dealership because their parents owned it and their parents' parents opened it almost 80 years ago.

I am a little upset about it. Cant you tell? LoL The owner of the dealership is a pretty good friend of mine and I can't imagine how much anxiety he is having. Every time the phone rings I hold my breath, hoping it is him with news. Hopefully good news but even if it is bad news, it will at least ease my mind a bit.

In case you want to know if YOUR local dealership(s) are affected by the Chrysler mess, you can find the entire list of taken away franchises HERE.

Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards Program

In case you haven't heard, Huggies has introduced a rewards program. I hear it is similar to the Pampers rewards program.

They send you codes to redeem for points to redeem for stuff.

You just sign in to the website, click on the Earn Points tab at the top, enter your code, hit submit and fill in a security box. You get between 1-5 points for each code. Plus you earn points for watching the videos and taking polls. When the new Huggies packaging comes out, there are supposed to be codes on the packages as well.

Its easy. I will even post codes to start you out with. Just copy and paste!
All codes taken from the Coupon Deals group. Thanks girls!
1 POINT
RRPXJ-PSDRZ-PGPGB
BBWBH-SDHFQ-CJPGB
XGQTZ-JNLGX-SLPGB
BBMRG-BFQGS-FBPGB

2 POINTS
WPBXZ-RDDNS-PPPGB
RZMRR-QFZNP-WGPGB

5 POINTS
RSZNG-TJNPH-DHPGB
BBRJH-WHDPT-JZPGB
LNXBX-DXTSH-BSPGB
ZQQGS-FLRLM-XBPGB
TKHNF-RLPLS-TRPGB ($2 COUPON LINK ALSO)
TXZKZ-JNRJQ-DDPGB
BGZQZ-JCXFC-HZPGB
QKKZJ-MTZRZ-HPPGB
STLPM-MBQPZ-RLPGB
KDBDC-NJGCF-SLPGB

So if you want to sign up, shoot me an email me at mommycrisp at yahoo dot com with the subject Huggies ETR referral.

Hey, Write Down Your Blog Address For Me

Uuuhhhh, no?

Ok, so I wore my wonderful Blogger shirt today to work. One of our Tool Truck (and what a tool he is) guys stopped in for a check. This is how the conversation went:

Tool Guy: Hey, neat shirt! Are you a blogger?
Me: Thanks. Yep.
Tool Guy: So will you write down your blog name so I can sheckitout? (Yes, he really did say sheckitout)
Me: Uhhh, no.
Tool Guy: Huh?
Me: I don't think you would like it. Its really only for people that don't know me in real life. I wouldn't be comfortable with you reading it.
Tool Guy: (creepily wiggling his eyebrows)Soooo its one of "those kind" of blogs!
Me: .........
Tool Guy: No?
Me: No. Here's your check, buhbye.

I think that if someone that knows me in real life actually came across my blog I would freak. To be honest, Hubbs hasn't even been allowed to read it. It would be different if I lived in a bigger town where there were a few people that didn't know me. But my town has maybe 6,000 people and EVERYBODY knows who I am. Either through my job or Hubbs or someone in my huge family or we went to school together or something.

I think that when (or if) I ever finish my book, I will have to use a pen name as well. I have a fear of conversations going like this:
(disgusted)YOU wrote that book?
instead of going like this:
You wrote (amazed) THAT book?

LoL Its kind of hard to get what I mean actually typed out into something that makes sense.

Mother's Day

was awesome!

I got to sleep in until 7:30. After I made my coffee and sat down at the computer desk I found a card from Hubbs and the boys. The card had an actual hand written note! And there was a stack of cash in it too. The note said "I was going to buy you some flowers but here is the cash instead. I will keep both the kids so you can go shopping alone".

So when Hubbs got out of bed I took Bobblehead with me to look at plants at Walmart. Bobblehead came with me because Monk Man kicked him. Nice, I know. Sometimes I feel like I am trying to raise the spawn of Satan.

Anyway, I found some of the prettiest flowers at Walmart. I almost didn't even bother stopping because of the shitty selection they had when I went last weekend to look for veggies. I ended up spending too much money (as always) but I got 7 different types of flowers, 8 bags of potting soil and 2 of the coolest rolling buckets I have ever seen.

I spent almost all afternoon in the yard. Now I just have to figure out where to put all those pots full of flowers.

More BzzAgent Campaigns

So I joined 2 more BzzAgent Campaigns.

I opened my email this morning and found the invite to the Bic Soleil Bella. There was talk yesterday on the coupon board that this campaign was already full but I tried anyway and got in! I am not picky about razors at all. I can use just about anything.

Then I bit the bullet and joined the Game Wave Campaign too. I was torn between joining now or waiting and possibly not getting in. I mean, $29.99 could go a long way at the grocery store! But the gamer in my won and I joined. From the things I have read online, this game system runs about $300 normally and the games and extra controllers are pretty pricey too. It sounds like fun though. Even if we only get a few game nights out of it, it would totally be worth it just for the adult interaction.

I should be getting my packages within 21 days so I will post more when they arrive!

Oh, and if you have any dealings with either the razor or the game system, please leave me a review to submit! It would be appreciated since I have a tough time talking to people face to face sometimes. I will repay you with some reports of my own that you can submit.

Safeway Haul

I am pooped! I hit Safeway hard today. I made 2 trips and did 3 transactions.


My out of pocket was higher than I liked but overall, I am pretty satisfied. It would have been much lower if Hubbs hadn't decided he wanted to make Chinese Food tomorrow as I was walking out the door.


First, this is what I got
18 Bertolli Pasta Sauces
1 Oreo Fun Stix
6 6-packs of Arrowhead waters
1 Gallon of Milk
1 big bottle of French Vanilla Creamer
3 black Safeway totes
3 18-packs of Coors Light
1 BBQ Sauce
1 Tartar Sauce
2 Quaker Rice Cakes
2 cans of Ortega Green Chilies
2 packages of Fish Fry Batter
1 package of Egg Drop Soup mix
1 package of Hot and Sour Soup mix
2 Sweet and Sour Sauce
17 Capri Sun Sunrise
2 Ziploc Gallon freezer bags
2 All Small and Mighty
2 Daisy Cottage Cheese
1 Round Steak
and 1 Ham


Total before coupons: $387.32
Total out of pocket: $107.95
Total saved with coupons and club card: $279.37


My Safeway has refused to take my IP (printed from online) coupons in the past but I took them with me today to try my luck yet again. On my first trip, I managed to get in at the register the Assistant Manager was at and he took the IPs without bating an eye. So the other cashiers that have refused them and their bullshit excuse of "Safeway doesn't take printed coupons" has been proven wrong.


On my second trip, I divided my stuff into 2 transactions to save a trip. I felt kind of bad for holding up the line for that long but the dude behind me was cool with it, plus the kids were at my Mom's house so I HAD to maximise my trip. When the cashier saw me unloading my cart she got really pissy but when she saw my total drop, so did her jaw. She was super nice from then on.

I ended up giving away a bit of my haul and some of my stockpile today too. My dad hurt his shoulder a few months ago and hasn't worked in a while. Plus they watch Bobblehead most days during the week so I gave them a bag of Bertolli sauce and a stack of Capri Suns. My neighbors (the big bad biker dude, his girlfriend and her son) are struggling too. She drives a school bus and he has been laid off for as long as Hubbs has but without unemployment so I gave them some Capri Suns when I was unloading the car and I have a bag of stuff (more Bertolli sauce, some pasta, salad dressing, and some of my left over coupons) sitting by my door that I need to take over tonight. I also took some Bertolli sauce, salad dressing and Arrowhead water over to my grandma.

I know it isn't much but it is something. We are lucky that I am working full time again, that unemployment is still going strong, that I know how to coupon and meal plan, that I started my stockpile when times were good, and we had the foresight to sock every extra penny into our savings account. Stupid economy. Our friends and family are a close knit group and I know that they would give me and my family ANYTHING if we asked for it and we would give them ANYTHING as well. I also 100% believe in what goes around, comes around. A few bucks here gives back a whole lot of good karma. Ok, that's enough of my rambling about karma.

Next weeks flier looks pretty tame and the next promo doesn't interest me too much so I probably won't go grocery shopping for a while except for milk and some veggies.

Humor Me for Just A Second

Hi! I am back from a much needed blog break. Life was kicking my ASS. Hopefully things will slow the hell down for a little while.

I am kicking off the end of my sabbatical with yet another paranoid post. Yay!

I know you all have heard of the Swine Flu by now. Well.........living so close to Mexico where it is a pandemic, I am a little worried. But not worried enough to Saran Wrap my windows shut, lock my kids up inside the house or start rockin the Michael Jackson surgical mask look. But just worried enough to wonder about stuff.

So far, here in Arizona, there are 4 confirmed cases and 40+ unconfirmed cases waiting on results from the CDC. I am not 100% sure WHERE these cases are located except for 1. The 1 I know about is about 3 hours away from me.

This morning, my daycare lady told me that her son came home from High School yesterday and told her that a kid in one of his classes is suspected to have it.

Needless to say, Monk Man stayed home from daycare today. To be honest, he was going to stay home anyway. He wouldn't get out of bed and Hubbs said he could stay home and help him in the yard.

I am not putting too much thought into the rumor of someone having it here in town. Yet. I will believe it when they close the school. Small town talk is always blown out of proportion.

Are you surprised about how calm I am being about all this? I am a little surprised at myself. Don't get me wrong, I think this can become a huge issue but all you can do is take precautions not to get it and be prepared if you do get it.

We are taking precautions as of yesterday when the first case was confirmed here in Arizona. Lots of hand washing, antibacterial tissues, not sharing drinks just to name a few of the things. We are getting prepared in case it really is her in town. I have my stockpile we can use if the grocery stores close down or we have to shut ourselves inside. Thanks to couponing, I am guessing that we have about a months worth of stuff in the pantry and freezer. We would do okay.

I have been meaning to take some pictures of my pantry/stockpile room for months now and haven't gotten around to it yet. Maybe some day I will get to it and you will all get to see how crazy I really am. (Only half kidding)

On a happier note, Monk Man is turning 4 tomorrow. I am a little sad that he is getting so big so fast but I am ready for the terrible 3s to be over. That boy is a Hellion! Luckily Bobblehead hasn't figured out how to be bad like his brother yet. All I want is 6 months with 2 sweet boys and I think I will be able to manage going through the terribles again.

Damn my bad luck

The kids have been sick since we got home from Vegas. Both of them have been coughing and running fevers. They seem to be feeling better today so off to daycare and Nonnies they went.

I have been feeling kinda shitty since Sunday night. I thought at first I was getting another sinus infection.

Well today I have decided that it can't be just a sinus infection. My normal symptoms are not there. I have no drainage anymore, no sinus headache, no dizziness.

My head feels fine but my throat is killing me and my voice sounds all froggy. I have been popping cough drops and extra strength Tylenol all day.

I shouldn't even be at work. I should be at home in bed. Maybe tomorrow I will stay home.

To top it all off, I think I am getting pinkeye. Yay! I thought the pinkeye shit was over when the cats went to live with my mom but I guess I was wrong. My eye looks and feels so gross. I did get some pretty good advice from the coupon girls as to how to get rid of it.

The best part of all of this? No insurance. I couldn't go to the doctor even if I wanted to. Hubbs' job screwed up and reported to the insurance company that Hubbs took a leave of absence instead of being furloughed so they terminated our coverage as of February 28th. I didn't find out about it until last week when I called to double check we had coverage for Monk Man's dentist appointment.

Aaaarrrrrrhhhhh.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow turns out to be a better day.

I love Safeway

Nothing exciting has been happening lately so I will post about my super trip to Safeway.

I don't have any really great stores anywhere near me except Safeway.

I have been planning my shopping trip for 2 days. Usually I can plan and plan and something always goes wrong but not this time.

Here are a few of the great deals:
Quaker Granola Chewy Bars- Buy 2 get 3 free. According to my receipt each box is $2.99. Somehow I ended up getting $11.97 off.

Colgate Toothpaste- On sale for 1.29. Use the $1 coupon from a recent insert (or the .75 coupon if your store doubles) for .29 toothpaste.

Vitamin Water10- On sale for 10/$10. There was a coupon for $1 off in last weekends inserts. Free Vitamin Water10. I found them on the shelf below the regular Vitamin Water.

My total before coupons, club card and 10% discount: $235.23
My total after coupons, club card and 10% discount: $99.49
Total savings: $135.74 (60%) I have NEVER done this well.

One last thing to mention:
Check the beer/wine section for a rebate. I found a tearpad for a Coors Light rebate. It was on a display on top of a bunch of stacked 30 packs. It says: Offer begins March 28,2009 and expires May 3,2009.

The deal is buy 1 12 pk or 2 6 pks of 12 oz cans for $5 refund, 1 18 pk for $7 of 12 oz cans for $7 refund, 1 24 pk of 12 oz cans for $8 refund or 1 30 pk of 12 oz cans for $9 refund. Collect the receipt with the purchase circled, the UPC from the box and complete the back of the rebate form and mail in.

Offer is good only for AK, AZ, CA, CO, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, KS, MA, MD, MI, MN, MS, MT, ND, NE, NH, NM, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, VT, WA, WI and WY. 1 rebate per household.

This week Coors Light 30 pks are on sale for $16.99. This is the best price I have seen since the Super Bowl.

Free Samples and Good Deals

Taken from the coupon gals on BBC

Huggies Free and Natural Free Sample

Caress Evenly Gorgeous
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taken from moneysavingmom

Buy 5 get $5 Rebate--You can submit 6 for each household

$10 in Coupons

Crest Pro Health Enamel Shield Toothpaste Free Sample from Walmart
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is a pretty cool blog that I ran across today. The Freebie Blogger I LOVE getting stuff for free.

Back from Vegas

We had so much fun!

It was a VERY long drive to Vegas. The wind was blowing around 70-75 mph so the highway was shut down. So instead of waiting until 4:30 for the highway to open up we decided to go south and then over. That added 1 & 1/2 hours to the trip. We ended up getting there around 5:30. We headed over to Circus Circus and got all checked in and unloaded.

The rest of the trip is kind of a blur.....I drank too many Margaritas and Daiquiris.
Some highlights of the trip:
~I won $240 on a quarter machine the first night at New York New York.
~We rode in a limo.
~Hubbs is an amazing Black Jack player. I am guessing he won (but didn't come home with) close to $1500 the whole time we were there.
~The hotel room sucked. Dirty, old and broken down.
~Hubbs and I only went to 1 strip club.
~I decided I like Old Vegas much better than New Vegas.
~The Titanic Exhibit rocked.

The next time we go I want to stay at the Luxor. It has such a relaxed atmosphere.

We did pretty well sticking to the $200 gambling cash. We paid cash for everything except for the Titanic Exhibit and our hotel room. I freaked out the last night and pulled some cash out of the ATM for "just in case" but we ended up only spending $40 of it.

We are hoping to go again next April. We will have to find a different sitter for the boys other than my family. Long story short, my sister took off Friday morning and ended up in South Phoenix instead of where she was supposed to be. Any other freaking weekend would have been okay but this one? Such bullshit. I am just adding it to the list of things that piss me off about my family. One of these days I will get around to posting about it.

The Final Countdown

In less than 24 hours I will be in Vegas.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am. I don't think I will be able to sleep tonight.

I have already crossed some things off my To-Do list.
1. Get cash for gambling. Check. I figured that since we already can't really afford this weekend, I should put a limit on how much we can spend at the slots. Hubbs will be handing me his bank card as soon as we cross the Nevada border.
2. Get Friday off work. Check. I asked, they said yes. Easy peasy. I deserve a day off since they left me all alone last week.
3. Clean out purse. Check. I took out everything that I don't need. Like receipts. And random coupons. And gum wrappers. And paperclips.
4. Make sure we have a room when we get there. Check. I made reservations last night. It almost KILLED me to put the room on my bank card instead of a credit card. But we don't have any open credit card accounts anymore and have paid them all off except for 2. Plus, I went through Ebates and got 1% credited to my Ebates total. Plus I got a couple of Swagbucks for searching for the best deal.

Hi, Circus Circus? I think your hotel is ridiculously overpriced. It had better not suck. $114 a night? Obscene

Still on the To-Do list:
1. Pack for me and Hubbs. He can't be trusted to do this for himself.
2. Pack for Monk Man and Bobblehead. Whoohooo for grandmas house.
3. Pack the laptop and all the shit that goes with it. Because you never know.
4. Find the camera. This stupid thing has been missing for a month! I have almost given up on finding it.
5. Get the biker neighbors to keep an eye on the dogs and the house. We do it for them, they can do it for us.
6. Wash the car. We have had 2 massive (50+ mph) wind storms followed by a light sprinkle of snow in the past month and the car is COVERED in nasty red Arizona dirt. It is even up in my brakes. They scream if I barely touch them.
7. Find the cell phone chargers. All 4 of them. 2 wall chargers and 2 car chargers because Hubbs couldn't get a phone that was compatible with my chargers.
8. Find my MP3 player, headphones and charger. If there is a baseball game (or any kind of sports thing) on tomorrow, Hubbs will find it and listen to it for the ENTIRE 6 hour drive.

I know I am forgetting stuff. Oh well. I will remember before we leave or else I don't need it that bad.

Vegas Baby

I just found out that we are going to Vegas on Friday for the weekend.

The best part???? No kids!!! I am sooo excited. My mom is going to keep both boys over the weekend.

I so need a break.

Hubbs' brother is going to be there this weekend so he called and asked us if we wanted to meet them up there.

We haven't been to Vegas since we got married almost 6 years ago. And I haven't been anywhere at all without at least 1 kid.

This is going to be so much fun.

New Coupons Available

I need to be better about posting my deals.

Most, if not all, of my deals come from the Coupon Deals group on BBC. So a big thanks to you girls for the help.

On to the money stuff............

~~Save .50 on Heinz Vinegar It is a bricks coupon so have your printer ready. You can print it twice. You also have to fill out your information so use your spam email account.

~~April Coupons at Coupons.com It looks like there are 101 available this month.

~~Don't forget that last month's P&G easy saver coupons expired last night so reload new coupons on your store cards here. These coupons are good until June 30. Remember, you can stack these with other coupons. Normally, you can only use 1 Store Coupon and 1 Manufacturer's coupon on each item.
*For example, you go to the store and buy 1 8 pack of Duracell batteries. They are on sale at Safeway for $5.99. There is a Safeway coupon in this week's flier for $2 off. Combine that with an P&G insert coupon for .50 ($1 if your store doubles) and the $1 P&G Easy Saver coupon on your Safeway card brings your total for an 8 pack of Duracell batteries to $2.49 ($1.99 if your store doubles or even down to $1.40 if you have 10% savings on your card). That is a pretty good deal on Duracell, especially when just about everything needs batteries.

~~Get a coupon for $1 off any 1 package of any Oscar Mayer Deli Creations sandwich when you sign up for Kraft First Taste. It is bricks coupon but can only print 1.