It has been a very busy seven days!
Five days of sport camps.
Two doctors appointments.
Lots of errands.
Lots of things to do.
We are now in the final hours until our first family vacation. . .
What is left on the "To Do" list now feels attainable!
We will be taking the laptop with us, so I will try to be better about posting in the next week.
Namaste.
Ed McMahon
Farrah Fawcett
Michael Jackson
Namaste.
MBB spent most of his morning / afternoon taking care of the second tree that had to come down.
This was the site that greets everyone when they open our front door. 
Here is a before picture just to give you an idea of how big it was!
Our heating bill should be much less this winter...We'll be burning lots of wood.
Namaste.
I'm realizing that this Blog is beginning to resemble a Pet-Themed Blog and that is not my intention (I don't even think that I have a pet category set-up).
I've just been getting lots of cute photos of them lately.
That, combined with being incredibly busy, results in easy blog posts. . .
Namaste.
It has become humorous around here lately. . .
The big dogs get chased and beaten up by the mini-dog.
Don't believe me?
Namaste.
I tried to step up my couponing this past week.
Not too bad, but I am still on a mission to get better!
Biggs:
Spent - $54.82
Saved - $56.54 . . . 52%!
Meijer:
Spent - $40.50
Saved - $54.91 . . . 58%
My weekly budget is $120 / week.
This week, I got by with $95.32.
Success!
It will definitely get better once our printers are hooked back up and I can print internet coupons.
Namaste.
My first three years of college, I lived in the same dorm wings with Mitzy and Allie.
During our senior year, the three of us lived together in the same apartment on campus.
When students live that close for that long, they become a second family.
We knew each others' likes and dislikes just as we would know those of our first family's, if not better.
We were all poor college students who had to shop thrifty. Popular college foods seem to be Ramen Noodles, Peanut Butter, Pizza and, you guessed it, Mac & Cheese. Unfortunately, we had to buy the generic brands in order to make the dollars stretch further.
As many of you may know, there are generics that taste good and there are generics that don't taste so good. I, on occasion, thought that generic Mac & Cheese fell under the not so good category. Allie was as especially found of Mac & Cheese and if my memory serves me correctly, was absolutely convinced that generic Mac & Cheese was definitely not good. But the love of food was high and the lack of money was low, so we continued to eat the generic.
Allie's 21st birthday was fast approaching and Mitzy & I decided to get her the perfect gift. . .with a twist. The first gift (a box of generic Mac & Cheese) was placed we kept our keys with a note directing her to the next gift (a box of generic Mac & Cheese) which directed her. . .yep, treasure hunt style. . .until she found the twentieth box of generic Mac & Cheese.
By this time, the gift was funny, and useable, but the last note lead to the best gift of all. . .
A box of Kraft Mac & Cheese. The smile on her face was not only a great memory from college, but a wonderful moment that I think of every time I enjoy my Kraft.
Like Kraft Mac & Cheese?
Have a Mac & Cheese moment?
Want to help Feed America?
If so, you may want to head on over to Consumer Queen's site to participate. . .
Namaste.
Our latest injury, surprisingly, isn't sports related.
OB's finger got in a fight with a door. . .
Looks like the door won.
And this is five days after the fact.
Namaste.
The dogs decided to gang up on OB.
Even the mini-sized one (I think JoyJoy is trying to bite his elbow).
Not real sure who won. . .
But I think I'd put money on the dogs!
Namaste.
I had a vision of what the curtains were going to look like in the bathroom. . .
I had to go to two stores to get the material (but hey, it was ON SALE!!). . .
I bought special needles and thread to sew the material. . .
I broke two needles. . .
I tore out three seams that bunched underneath despite changing the tension. . .
I recruited help in arranging. . .
I got out the needle and thread to hand sew some places. . .
The curtains took on a look other than my vision!
MaBell likes them. . .
OB thinks they're kewl cause they're shiny. . .
MBB hates them cause they're shiny. . .
Good thing they are in the kids' bathroom!
Namaste.
MBB and I had to make the hard decision to cut down two trees.
The first one was growing too close to the house and was a threat to the house's foundation.
The second one will prevent us from regrading the front yard to eliminate a water issue in our basement.
So, we spent Saturday doing something that I had never done before: Cut down a tree.
It is not something that we wanted to do, but something that we needed to do.
The up side: It did provide a photo op (or two) (or three).
It was a huge amount of work and I'm not looking forward to tackling the second, larger one.
There is a third tree in the regrading zone, but we decided that it will NOT be cut down.
It is a good shade tree.
It is a good climbing tree.
It is home to the kids' fort.
Never fear, nature lovers, we are planning on planting some new trees. . .
Some nice fruit trees. :)
Namaste.
I attending a lunch and learn session called: Couponing 101.
I thought I was good at finding deals and using coupons, but one thing I learned during this session: I WAS WRONG!
The lady leading the session shared some good info - some I knew, some I didn't.
She also shared some websites that she uses weekly.
I'll share them with you with the understanding that I take no credit for her work.
Since she shared them with everyone who attended the session (including those who called in), I'll share them with you. . .You just attended the session vicariously through me.
Want a sneak peak of what's coming in this week's paper?
www.taylortownpreview.comWant to print e-coupons?
www.coupons.comwww.smartsource.comwww.couponbug.comWant help finding the deals?
www.hotcouponworld.comwww.moneysavingmom.comwww.cincinnaticents.comNow, I just need to get ink in my printer and start printing more of those e-coupons!
We're talking about having a box for "junk" coupons at work. After all, one woman's junk coupon is another's treasure!
Namaste.
I had a big project over the last couple weeks that I had to keep hush-hush.
Since Egypt visits my blog, I had to keep it a big secret (trying to use the cartoon voices...).
My big project morphed into a smaller project for MBB.
My prince charming took about two and a half hours to build me a quilt holder.
It's not a quilt holder to display quilts, but one that holds it taunt so that I can pin it before sewing.
This is the size for a baby quilt, but I think it will work for bigger ones by pining a section at a time.
LittleM is now the proud owner of her baby quilt.
And now that it isn't a secret anymore, I can share her gift with all of you too.
The quilt design is Log Cabin. I decided not to make all of the squares the same colors because I wanted different color stripes to run through the quilt.
I honored the tradition (I don't always) of keeping red in the center of each square.
I tried to honor the tradition of putting in one flaw into every quick for good luck.
My realization: I don't need to try to put in a flaw, one or two or three will make their way into it simply because, it is a work of love.
Namaste.
Yesterday was a rough day.
Work had a few CHALLENGING moments.
I ran some errands. . .You know, the kind that are good to get done, but aren't real fun?
I wanted to be home instead of spending an hour on the bike at the gym.
My throat started hurting to the point that I was craving something extremely cold.
I passed by a highway exit that I talked myself out of using to get that fattening cold drink.
I slowed to 1 mph and stayed there for about 25 - 30 minutes until I reached the next exit.
I couldn't stay in contact with MBB because my phone kept shutting off and draining the battery.
I was frustrated, aggravated and honestly, in a bitchy mood.
Then, I remembered my Unity principles.
I remembered the lesson that MaBell heard in Y.O.U.
I am happy to have work in this economy.
I now have a wonderful utility sink.
I am healthy and in good enough shape to be on a bike for an hour.
I have the wonderful sense of taste and have experienced those wonderful drinks.
I am blessed to be able to afford own my car.
I experienced the bliss of receiving my new phone a day early.
I am loved and have someone who worries about me when I am stuck in traffic.
I am blessed to have the life that I am living.
Namaste.
Our tour guide made it very real for the kids as he shared stories that he heard from the surviving D-Day Soldiers who had visited the memorial over the years.
Namaste.
It was the first time that the kids had seen the ocean and they had a blast playing in the waves.
Then it was back in the car for the return drive to our first destination.
Namaste.