Now.. that’s just excessive

I know I promised that the next post would be about the kitchen remodel, but there is so much to tell you about since my last post.

I could tell you about how we came home from a belated holiday party only to find out that the heat pump had gone out (on the 2nd coldest day of the year..) and how we had a 24/7  H&AC guy at hour house until 4:45 am fixing it! (It’s fixed, it didn’t cost an arm or a leg… but we will need to get a new heat pump this year.  We were planning on it anyway…)

I could tell you about my father’s massive heart attack (that he thought was acid reflux) and the scare that that caused.   Come to think about it.. I’d rather not talk about this one.  He’s fine now…  better than fine if you ask him, but still… S.C.A.R.Y

I could tell you about the 4-5 inches of snow we got last week.  Man oh Man…. I forgot how much I love the snow!

I could tell you how we’re taking a leap of faith (ok not really) and planning a 7 day vacation with some friends of ours.  (more on that later)

I could tell you that I’ve got the new-house bug something bad.  I’d really  like to trade up before the bambinos come along.

I could tell you how I’ve been to Vermont once already this year, and will be returning next week and the week after  (at least I’m getting frequent flyer miles out the wahzoo)!

I could tell you that while I’m not a fan of flying, I thoroughly enjoy flying into the Ronald Reagan Airport in DC because during landing and take off, you get to see some of the best American monuments and governmental buildings.

I could tell you all about that, but I won’t.

What I will tell you is that I had a birthday this week. A pretty big birthday.  And each time I think of it, I feel a bit sad, and yet….excited to enter a new phase of life.  Tonight, my husband, 4 of our friends, and I got together to celebrate this big event with a bowling birthday party.   The party took place after the engineer spent the day installing my birthday gift (A Nissan Ipod Integration System!) — what a wonderful husband.

But that’s not the best part.   The best part:  I got 4 cakes.   2 at work, 1 on the BIG day, and 1 tonight.  FOUR CAKES!!  (and at press time… I’m completely caked out)

I leave you with  a picture of tonight’s cake, because I forgot to take pictures of the other 3.  =)

So… here’s to my “new” 20’s.   And pink is totally still the new black.

That explains it all….

So, I’m not sure I mentioned that during the 6 months I was unemployed (well.. 6 months and 4 days), I spent a fair amount of time at the Library.   I got into the habit of reading two things:  old fashion mysteries (thing Agatha Christie) and trashy romance novels.   Oh… how I love a good trashy romance novel.

Thankfully, we budgeted well during my unemployment, and even though I had only been employed for a mere 5.5 months, Christmas (with the aid of an expected and an unexpected holiday bonus) was good to us.

I know I know.. at this point you’re all like “What the heck is the point here?  Get it out already!!!!”

So.. um… for Christmas, Santa Husband got me one of these:

Oh yeah.. a Kindle

And in the two + week’s that I’ve had it.. I’ve read no less than 5 trashy romance novels and two Agatha Christie books (oh.. and I’ve fallen in luuuhve with it).

So, now you know, when I don’t show up for blogging, where the heck I’ve disappeared to.    Now, if you’ll excuse me… I’ve got one hot book to finish.

PS:  I promise the next post will be our kitchen remodel.

2010 – to resolutions

I’m not usually a resolution maker.  I guess I always thought that they were silly., like your horoscope… it’s fun to talk about, but you really know that it’s not gonna happen.

That being said, I’ve decided to buck my tradition this year.  2010 is going to be a pretty big (and busy) year for me and while I know I’ll have enough to do, I feel up for some small challenges and accountabilities.

So, without further ado my resolutions.

1. Getting in Shape:  Yes it’s cliché but it needs to be done and I’ve reached my tolerance point here.  Plus, the Engineer and I have been mulling the “children” conversation for a few months now.  We’re no where near ready to take the leap, but I know munchkins are on our mid-term agenda, and I really need to be in better shape before we start that.
2. Recycling: We don’t recycle in our house and we really have no reason for it. I work for a very green company and in the short 5 months I’ve been their faithful employee, I’ve come to realize that it’s not hard to do.   My employer even provides employee recycling on site.  I don’t even have to separate it!!!  It all goes into one bucket.  I mean.. really.. there’s no reason to not recycle.
3. Baking: I know it kinda contradicts #1, but I really fell off the baking wagon while we were remodeling the kitchen.  Tonight I baked some chocolate chip cookies and really missed it.  So, this year… more (but maybe a bit healthier) baking.
4. Return to Social Media:   I don’t have the blog reading time I once had, but I’ve missed blogging, and my goal this year is to get back into it.  And boy… do I have plenty of stories to share…

So there you go.  Four small goals, if you will, for my 2010.

I already know that 2010 will hold big birthday bashes (I’m turning OLD this year) and blessed celebrations.  There will be plenty of travels and tribulations, hard work and harder play, family and friends; both new and old.  We’re less than a week into 2010 and I can already tell that it’s going to be one wild year.

Um…. What?

In watching a repeat of the MTV VMA, I have developed a list of question to which I would like answers.

Shall we begin?

1. What the hell is Kanye West’s problem?
2. Could Beyonce have worn any less to cover her cootchie?
3. What was MTV thinking when they put a thick girl in a one piece sequence outfit and asked her to shake it to “Single Ladies”… Really MTV??
4. Does anyone even watch the CW?
5. What is the incentive to buy into all this Twilight crap?
6. Why are all the commercials about sex, Proactiv, or the newest season of trashy MTV reality shows?
7. When will Sean Combs realize that being called “Diddy” is just ridiculous?
8. Is Katie Perry’s date as gay as he appears ?
9. Why is everyone in the audience constantly screaming?
10. Really Lady GaGa?  REALLY?
11. Shouldn’t SOMEONE be concerned that this music is defining a generation???  ANYONE???
12. Um…. who told the All American Reject guy that GLITTER MADE A SUITABLE SHIRT?  You should be fired.
13. Kanye, Serena… I mean.. how many other horrible role models could we get in one show?
14. What was Pink thinking?   It’s the VMAs.. not Cirque De Soleil… right?  And the joker unitard? umm… no
15. I totally want to see the new movie Fame.  (I know.. not a question… so what)
16. Someone tell me if I like Pitbull or not… because I can’t decide?
17. Beyonce.. I take back question #2.. that was very big of you to let Taylor thank her fans.
18. Lady GaGa… STOP WITH THE CRAZY.. PLEASE??
19. Is there always a soundtrack playing when Jay-Z walks into a building?
20. Jay-Z is really not that good….Are they video editing his language?
21. As over MJ as I am.. he really was talented…
22. Am I too old to be watching the VMAs?

I just conferred with the Engineer… and he agrees that we may be a bit to old to be watching the VMAs, which is super sad because most of the music winning awards I have on my Ipod (Hey.. it’s not MY generation being defined… )

On a side note:  Our new pantries (aka unbroken) arrived today and I just finished touching up the red wall.  So.. only a few more little things to do, pantries to refinish and install, and our kitchen remodel will FINALLY be done.

Before the Storm….

Remember my last post?  The title?  CALM?

ROTFLMAO…

So I started working on July 27th.   Since that date the following has happened:

• I’ve been to Vermont… TWICE
• We’ve moved all of our kitchen appliances into our living room
• We demo’ed our kitchen
• I removed all of the grout from my kitchen tiles..BY.MY.SELF
• In removing the grout, I managed to blow a a fine sheet of grout dust all over my living room
• I ceiling-to-floor cleaned my living room
• I’ve heard Lady GaGa’s Love Game song about a million times
• I’ve been to my in-laws cabin once
• I’ve played hostess to my parents twice
• I’ve developed a bonafide coffee addiction
• I’ve done 10+ loads of laundry (in 4 weeks people!!!)
• I drove to Charlotte with my husband to buy a new truck (well.. new to us)
• I’ve called to bitch out a cabinet sales man who would do NOTHING when our pantries arrived BROKEN!!

All 4 weeks… and I’m exhausted.   Which is why I’ve not been blogging.

I hope to have pictures of our kitchen remodel up soon  (which I hope is going to be finished soon.. we’re still waiting on our unBROKEN pantries).  Until then, bear with me.. I’m here.  Kinda of.

PS:  Work is great.  I’m very happy with my new placement.  The free coffee doesn’t hurt!

And in an instant… calm

I’ve been waiting almost 6 months to write this post.

Pending a mandated physical, which I’ll be taking at 10 am tomorrow morning, as of July 27th, 2009, I’ll be once again:

GAINFULLY EMPLOYED!

And OMG.. I can’ t tell you guys how happy I am.

As previously discussed.. I won’t be sharing serious details with you but I can tell you it’s pretty much the same job I was laid off from, only with a better company.   And I’m SUPER EXCITED (I’ve been chasing this job and company for the last 10 months… )

I’m glad it’s come through and I’ll be happy to get back to work.

It’s a good thing too, cause I think I just found a graham cracker crumb on my boob…

More details as they develop (on the job.. not the cracker crumb or boobs).

Blue Funk

I haven’t been blogging because … well.. I’m just not in a good place right now.

That pretty much sums it up.

I’ve got nothing positive to blog about.  Nothing.  It may sound a little drama queenish, but it’s true.

I’m in such a funk I can’t even make up good material to  blog about.

I’m still not working (although.. there are more prospects out there which I’m hopeful for) and I’m miserable not working.

I’m bored

I’m tired

I’m cranky

I’ve lost my ’spark’

My husband summed it up best by saying that in general.. I’m  just pissed off at the world.

Really though, I’m just not happy and for once in my life I’m not sure what to do about it.   I have no clue to how get myself out of this funk that I’m in.

So let me apologize in advance, because for a while, blogging will be sparse…….at least until I can find my ‘happy place’.

In the mean time, I’m going to start by recharging my batteries during tomorrow’s holiday and then well.. I’m gonna have to take it day-by-day.

Finally, speaking of tomorrow’s holiday, please don’t forget to remember those who have served our country!

Run Run Run to CVS

OK.. I know right.. I’ll get to why I’m not blogging more in a later post.

If you want to start “CVSing” (it’s addictive …. but oh so much fun) there’s an outstanding deal going on this week that can give you a great start.

This week* at CVS if you buy two Neutrogena sunscreen products you will get back $10 ExtraBucks.

I went this afternoon and bought this (based on the twitter from Iheartcvs) :

Yep.. that’s a 1.0 ounce trial size bottle of Neutrogena Ultra Sheer 55 SPF that I bought for $1.99.  The bottles can be found at the front registers or in a small clear bucket in/around the cosmetic section.

$1.99 x 2 = $4.16 (with tax)

When you get back your ExtraBucks, you’ll have made a profit of $5.84.

FREE.MONEY!

You’re Welcome

*Since CA and NV are going through a Longs/CVS conversion.. I’m not sure if this works there or not.  Sorry!

Jet Setting and More Savings

What a crap-tastic title huh?

The husband and I will be flying to LA tomorrow.  His 92 year-old grandfather passed away yesterday evening.  We’re going out to put the “fun” backing into funeral.

Ok.. maybe not.  But we are going to help his parents out with anything and everything they might need.   Hubs’ trip will be longer than mine:  J-Art is getting married next weekend (insert “Squeeee” here), so my trip to LA will be abbreviated so that I can be back in TN in time to drive the 4 hours across the state to the wedding site.   Whewwww…. it’s a good thing I’m not working or I have no idea how this schedule would work (I have a feeling it would require taking vacation….).   Maybe it’s a sign….there’s a reason I’m unemployed right now.

So.. posting for the next week may be scarce (like that’s unusual), but then again, if I find myself with some down time,  I’ll try to fire off a post or two.  Just know that I truly have not fallen off the face of the earth …again.

Ok.. that’s about it for the Jet Setting.  On to the Savings part of the program.

I promise I’m not going to keep doing this…since this isn’t a shopping/savings blog, but I want to share my latest 2 CVS haul because I’m SUPER EXCITED about them.

The first trip was on 4/19

Total Spent: $9.91

Sorry for the crappy photo.

So the take home was as follows:

• Tresemme:  3/$10 – Had 3 $1 coupons — Total:  3/$7
• Edge Shave Gel:  $2.89
• Oral B Floss:  $2.88 x 2 — Total:  2/$5.78
• Loreal Hip Eye Shadow Duos:  Buy One/Get One Free (BOGO) $7.99 — Had two $1 Loreal Paris coupons — Total:  2/$5.99

So, my total, before coupons was:  $26.64.  I had another $5 off $25 coupon, which brought the total to $21.64.  Then $5 in coupons (see above) made the total $16.64.  I used $7.99 in CVS ExtraBucks (ECB) that I had from a previous purchase, so after tax ($1.26) my total ended up being $9.91.   I was pretty happy when I also earned $11.89 ($5 for the Tresemme, $2.89 for the Edge, $2 x 2 for the Floss) in ECB for future purchases!

On the first trip, I spent less than $10 and earned more than $11 in ECB.  Not too shabby.  However, it was nothing like today!

The second trip: 4/22

Total Spent: $0.66

Yeah.. you read that right.  I spent 66 CENTS on all of that!  Here’s the break down.

• Tresemme (second verse..same as the first):  3/$10 – Had 3 $1 coupons — Total:  3/$7
• Bayer:  $2
• Dove SkinVitalizer:  On sale at CVS for $4.00 (normally $12.99).  Had two $3.50 coupons.  Total:  2/$1.00 (I’m giving one of them to my mom, since I don’t need two)

So, my total, without coupons was:  $20.01.   I had a $4 off $20 purchase, which brought my total to $16.01.  Taking off $10 in coupons (see above), reduced my total to $6.01.  Tax ($0.65) made my total $6.66 (UGH!).  I paid with $6.00 in ECBs, leaving my total out of pocket cost to be $0.66!!!!  Oh.. but I’m not done yet (I should totally be selling Sham-Wows or something)! (wow.. there are alot of exclamation points in this post).   I got another $5 in ECBs for the Tresemme purchase and $2 for the Bayer purchase.  That’s right:  I spent $6 in ECBs and got back $7.  Using that fuzzy math.. I actually made $0.34 profit!

Like… SHUT UP!   I’m addicted!   I actually had to drive to 3 different CVS stores to make the last trip work out so perfectly (the first two stores were out of the Dove SkinVitalizer) and it took a little bit of pre-planning to get the dollar amount (ECB spent vs. received), but I did it!  I actually made a profit on my 3rd trip out!

Alright.. enough celebrating my new shopping skills.  I gotta go convince Priceline to give me a rental car for super cheap and pack.  Any thoughts and prayers you can send toward the hubby’s family are always appreciated!

Smart Shopping

So by now you all know I’m unemployed.  With unemployment comes some financial stress…and saving where one can is always helpful.  I’ve been clipping coupons for almost a year now.   At first, I just had the mind set of saving the cost of the paper (or $2 in my case).  As long as I used $2 in coupons, it was a wash.   Then a few sorority sisters of mine turned me on to this website:  Southern Savers

Basically, Jenny (the site owner) goes through the major drug store ads and several grocery ads and shows you how to use the store sales, manufacture coupons, and customer loyalty programs to get items for ridiculously low prices.

I’ve been reading this website for a couple of months now.   I couldn’t believe that people were getting shampoo, razors, and OTC medicines for FREE!   And, always up for a challenge, I wanted to see if I could do it too.

After a week or so of small purchases, I made my first major purchase today:

I got all of this for $20.34

$20.34/14 items = $1.45 for each item!!

What’s crazy is this really isn’t a great deal.  Most people go in to a CVS or a Walgreens and leave with much more for under $10, but I was happy with my haul.

I was craving a small shopping spree and I had some CVS Extra Bucks rewards that I needed to use.  CVS Extra Bucks (EBs) are basically part of CVS’s customer loyalty program.  You sign up for the little customer loyalty card they have, and they have these coupons or CVS ‘money’ that print after you buy a certain product.  Those coupons can then be used, like CASH, for almost anything in the store.   They do expire about 2-3 weeks after they are issued, so you have to watch that.   I had several that were burning a hole in my pocket, and CVS was having some good sales.

Here’s how my haul breaks down.

Let’s start:

• The Air Wick Air Fresheners.   They were on sale for $4.99 (regularly $8.99) and I had two $4 off coupons.  Total paid for both: $1.98!!  (On a side note, I don’t think the coupons I had were really good for these air fresheners but the CVS lady took them.. so I’m not complaining)
• The Colgate Toothbrush:  Was $3.99 and I had a $.75 coupon.  Total paid : $3.24   I also earned $3.99 in EBs.   So.. basically, CVS gave me $.75 to take the toothbrush.
• The Peeps were on sale 50% off.   $1.50 for both boxes
• The Husband somehow lost his travel bottle for shampoo, so that’s the little red bottle there.   Total:  $1.99
• The Viva paper towels were a bit disappointing.   I paid $7.09 for the pack (I had a $.40 coupon).   I got back $2 in EBs (and we needed paper towels), but the rolls are small.
• The Dove shampoo was BOGO (buy one, get one).  I had two coupons totalling $2.50.  The one bottle was $4.99.  Total for two bottles of Dove shampoo/conditioner:  $2.49 ($1.25 each!!!)
• The Softsoap Body Wash was $4.99, and I had a $.75 coupon.  Total Paid:  $4.24.    Again, I got $4.99 EBs for the purchase, so CVS basically gave me $.75 to take the body wash
• The Pantene was the steal of the day.  CVS was running a 2 for $7 deal with a $2 EBs return.  I had two coupons for $3 off.  So I got 4 for $8 and then got $4 in EBs.  It’s like getting them for $1 each!  (The husband LOVES this stuff. I think he’s set for a while on shampoo!)

So.. when you add that up, my total was around $30 after coupons. I had a $5 off $25 purchase, so I used that, taking the total to $25.  Then I had $8.50 in EB from past purchases, so that took my total to about $17.   When you add in the tax (which is calculated on the PRE-COUPON price.. which I didn’t realized until I got home.  WTF?  That’s a scam if I’ve ever heard one!) I finished at  $20.34.

The best part though:  I used $8.50 in EB but I left with $14.98 in EB for future purchases!!

If you were to take the $14.98 out of my total, I essentially paid (fuzzy math, as my husband would say):  $5.36 for the haul.

I also have some Walgreen’s money (similar to the CVS EBs) to spend, but can’t find anything to use them on this week.  I think instead of trying to juggle two drug store savings plans, I’m just going to keep on “CVSing” my way to free stuff!   Woot!!