Saturday, November 28, 2009

The Black Friday letdown

Hubby and I tried to do a little shopping yesterday.  Crowds don't bother me as I'm from a much bigger city than the town we currently live in but I had not expected the level of hoarding that we witnessed yesterday.  From toys at Toy R Us to little things like grabbing 20 of the $.99 poinsettas at Home Depot (even though there was a limit of 10) people were just grabbing everything and keeping it in their buggies whether they intended to get it or not.  Why would you want to prevent others from getting them?  Makes no sense to me. 

The things we were looking for were not any of the doorbusters but were still "gone."  Although one of the stock boys at Toys R Us said it's probable that they still had them somewhere in the store but that people were taking buggies full of items such as Barbies and then leaving them in other sections of the store.  I hate greed.  It makes people so ugly.  So I'm still on the look out for Barbie Candy Glam Styling Head and any Harumika kits for the oldest.  I still have hope that I might win one of the Harumika sets from Santa's Picks but I'm running out of hope on the Barbie head.  I found the last Bath Magic Ariel at Walmart last night for the youngest.  Unfortunately she was with me at the time but there was no way I was going to risk not getting it.  I tried to hide it under some stuff and upside down in the buggy but of course she eventually saw it.  Darn it!  So since she's seen it and it can no longer be a Santa gift, we're using it to bribe her for good behavior from now until Christmas.  Hey you gotta do, what you gotta do this time of year! :)

I have nothing for the husband yet and I have no clue what to get him.  I've always worked up until our move last year so I've never had to worry about spending money for presents for him until now.  It's difficult to surprise him with a gift without him already knowing what it is and how much it cost because I've either had to take cash out or used the debit card.  I found this awesome Timex Compass watch giveaway on Energizer Bunny's Mommy Reports site and it would be great to give him something totally unexpected for a change.  Any other ideas???

...and while I'm at it...I want these too please...they will be perfect for the over indulgence needed to get through the holidays and dealing with my mother-in-law.  Can't you just picture me finally having a relaxing holiday with not a care in the world as I'm drinking from my new Lenox wine glasses thanks to EBMR... shameless I know!  :)

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Dear Lord please send me patience, and lots of it...

My mother-in-law is coming tomorrow. 
That is all.  That is more than enough.

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

God grant me the control
to bite my tongue until it bleeds if necessary...

Monday, November 23, 2009

Here turkey turkey

I am not a fan of turkey.  It's just not my favorite.  In the interest of full disclosure, I shot and killed my first turkey when I was 9yrs old and quickly decided thereafter that being in the woods at 3am to hunt turkeys was not at all appealing. 

I'm a red meat kind of girl and I love ham.  My hubby and oldest truly love turkey though.  So while they have turkey on Thanksgiving, I always cook a brown sugar glazed ham as well (mainly for me.)  Our youngest doesn't eat much of anything so it really doesn't matter to her if we have McDonald's for Thanksgiving.  In fact she'd probably be much happier with McD's.

So while I'm not a fan of turkey, I am a fan of good deals and saving money and was thrilled to score a 16lb turkey for a little over $6 at Wal-mart a couple of weeks ago when they announced their $.40/lb turkey deal.  That's pretty darn good.  If we had an extra freezer I'd be tempted to buy 5 or 6 birds and stock pile them.  Now that I have the turkey taken care of I'm on the look out for a good deal on a ham.  I sure hope hams go on sale at Christmas because they are just not marked down very much right now.  So until Wal-mart announces $.40/lb for hams I'm going to hope I win Mommy Mandy's giveaway so that I can use the gift card to Wal-mart to buy myself a ham.


Now I have to share a cute personal story.  I had a sack of turkey feathers that I took to use as quills at my oldest's class today for her Thanksgiving party.  After sending all the kids in the class home with a feather, I had about 8 left over.  When we got home I left the sack on the kitchen floor and let the dogs in because it was so cold.  The beagle went straight for the sack and started attacking it.  She got about half her body into the sack before emerging with a mouth full of turkey feathers.  She carried those feathers around in her mouth and paraded through the kitchen like "Look what I got!"  She was so cute.  She was so proud of herself for killing an already dead turkey!  (And while we were distracted watching the Beagle, our opportunistic big dog snuck half a loaf of homemade sour dough bread off the counter!)

New Year's Eve

My husband and I have the unique (for us!) opportunity to pretty much go or do anything we want for New Years this year. The only limits are financial. My parents want to take the kids back to their house for a few days after Christmas leaving us with no children on NYE. Who wouldn't jump on the opportunity to go somewhere fun for a few days? But of course this has led to a major dilemma: where to go and what to do?



The first word out of his mouth was: Vegas. I say yuck even though we've never been. I would probably love the shopping and shows but I hate casinos. I don't have anything against them morally or religiously but I just HATE the idea of throwing money away or literally handing it over to the casino. I am the worst person in the world to take to the casino because I sit there and every hand that hubby plays I'm telling him things like "you just lost a week's worth of diapers" or "that would have been a new pair of shoes for the kids." He tried to convince me to give to Vegas by saying we could get married again. I told him once was enough for me. Been there, done that, and don’t tempt me because I might not make the same choice over again. :)

So his next great idea was Lake Tahoe to go skiing. Guess who's never skied before in their life? Yep, me. And do I think being sore and black and blue sounds like a relaxing fun way to spend time without the kids and to start off the New Year? Ha!

If you can't tell hubby craves excitement. I crave a spa, room service, a nice bed, and going to an adult dinner sans children. A cabin in the Smokey mountains sounds like a great trip to me but somehow I don't think he's going to go for it.

SO here's my latest greatest idea. I'm going to try to get a trip I would like by cunning him into thinking it's a trip he would like. Here are the two most feasible options: 1) Washington DC. I've never been before and would like to go once. Hubby is huge Redskins fan and they play the Cowboys that Sunday night. Perfect timing. OR 2) Orlando. Looks like Ole Miss might get the Capital One bowl and if they do then we could go to the game and go to Disney World. Or would that make us really bad parents to go to Disney World without the children? I could reason that it would be best for us to go first so we could scope it out and see if we think our youngest is ready for it yet. Or we could just not tell them where we’re going…ooh so bad I know. 

Friday, November 20, 2009

Ocho makes my day

Let me start by saying I am in no way a Bengals fan.  In fact I grew up a Saints fan during the time when they were fondly known as the "Aint’s" and all we hoped for each year was wins over those Dirty Birds from the ATL. Now I add the Titans to my list of teams because we currently live closest to them and are fortunate enough to see a couple of games each year and because I am seriously impressed with Jeff Fisher as a coach and role model.

BUT here and now I want to publically declare my love for Chad Ocho Cinco Johnson.  If you are not following him on Twitter @OGOchoCinco you are missing out. Reading his tweets always put a smile on my face. I think he realizes that while football is his profession, it is called the GAME of football for a reason. Through his media network, he is putting the fun back in football and more actively involving the fans. His fan interactions aren't orchestrated by some yuppy PR firm. They are unfilted straight from him. If he thinks it, he's going to say it whether on the air, on the field, or online. He respects and understands the average fan because he is one himself.  Strangely enough, he's a great example of living as a Christian should. He publically quotes Bible verses and I love reading his comments about his Grandmamma and church, but most importantly he's doing what Jesus asked from all of us by constantly giving to those in need and even those not in need. He just gives for the sake of doing so. He defines being a "giver" and for that I respect him oh so much more than just as a pro football player. (Hey Tank Johnson, Matt Jones, and Pacman are you paying attention here?!?)

Coming from someone who played college tennis (yes, I'm well aware not the most respected sport out there!) I can vouched for the level of hard work and dedication it takes to play any sport at more than a general recreational level. I know how many hours I spent on the court during school (again not knocking it but keeping it real that tennis does not involve the same level of physical demands football does) and I cannot imagine the hours one would have to give to take football skills to the pro level. To add to this, that Ocho has the time, drive, commitment, and energy to spend on his family, friends, and finally fans is amazing.

This is not meant to be a "Make Ocho Out to be a Saint" post but rather a pat on the back to say "Thanks for getting it." Thanks for understanding that fans want to like players. Thanks for understanding that the fans help pay your paycheck. Thanks for being a fan yourself. Thanks for realizing that you are richly blessed in many areas and for feeling a responsibility to contribute to the greater good of society.  Thanks for being your unique quirky self. And from a communications major, thanks for giving the collective media giants the middle finger and for pushing back at the mainstream media and reminding them that their agendas do not dictate what the average fan wants to know/see!

   

Sunday, November 15, 2009

My girls wish list for Christmas

Oldest daughter 8yrs old:
*laptop (geez!!) We're thinking about trying to hit some of the Black Friday online deals at Best Buy or Office Max.  I have no desire to go face those crowds though.
*new DSi (geez more $$) If she gets a laptop then she can do without a DSi
*American Girl stuff (omg can you say this kid is expensive!)  Here's my hint of the day: the Target Our Generation doll stuff fits American Girls exactly.  If you remove the packaging then you'd never know that it wasn't AG stuff.  My mom already got her the OG daybed and trundle set. 
*Moxie Girl (thankgoodness for one thing that's reasonable!)  I've seen these at Walmart and Target and they appear to be around $30 or less.  Frugal Housewife has a giveaway going on for Lexa right now too.  Check it out at http://frugalmommy3.blogspot.com/2009/11/moxie-girl-masquerade-ball-lexa.html

Youngest daughter 4yrs old:
her list is really easy--she wants whatever toy is advertised during the next commercial!  every commercial she sees she says "that's what I want Santa to bring me for Christmas"

WOOPS we have an update!  Angel Baby "weally" wants Disney's new movie Santa Buddies.  I have to admit it looks pretty cute and the dogs look exactly like how our big dog Sam looked as a puppy.  I looked on Disney Movie Rewards but I don't have enough points to redeem to get it for her so right now I'm hoping to win it at Frugal Houswife's site. Can you tell I'm addicted to her site?!? She has awesome giveaways going on right now.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Don't forget...

  • Don't forget to use your free Herbal Essence facebook coupons at Walgreens this week for a better than free deal with register rewards
  • Don't forget that Thursday November 5th is double points day at Disney Movie Rewards (using your points could make for some GREAT free Christmas presents for the kiddies or any Disney lover.)
  • Don't forget to be sure you have working CO2 monitors installed this time of year.
  • Don't forget to stock up on super cheap frozen veggies this week at Kroger during the MEGA sale for vegetable soup during the really cold nights of winter.
  • Don't forget about Bergwood!  It's not too late to sign up and earn points.  Even if you don't want any of the stuff for just a few clicks for a dozen or so days you can have enough points to get a good pair of socks or tshirt to donate to someone who does need them.
  • Don't forget Operation Christmas Child box collection starts November 16th.  Put all those extra free goodies you have stockpiled in a closet to good use.  check out Operation Christmas Child here
  • Don't forget Veteran's Day.  It is as much a relevant holiday today as it has ever been.