Dear Diary…

Since my family is currently confined to the house (Chris has contracted h1n1 and is quarantined to our bedroom for 5-7 days – or maybe a little longer if he gives me any “lip”), I have been trying to get some things cleaned out around the house.  I’ve been doing this between setting off Lysol bombs, playing a bazillion hands of Uno with the girls,  and pretending to be the most awesome female gunslinger EVER as I duel with various household surfaces using a spray-bottle of bleach solution.

I came across a box of some of my old things.  One of the most interesting items was my diary when I was 10 through 13-years-old.  I really didn’t have that many entries, but I got a quick snapshot of how my girls will be during those ages.

OH – Mercy!

One entry that stood out was the one below.  It literally made me cringe thinking of the future mother-daughter, door slamming blow-outs that will inevitably occur with my girls.

First, let me defend myself in saying the dances at the Ramada were “THE BOMB” in my hometown, so the fact that they wouldn’t let me go was MAJOR social suicide and totally grounds for my overly-emotional-and-highly-hormonally-charged words.

Second, let me sincerely apologize to my Mother (and Dad too) for this horrible diary entry and for what a pain I must have been at the age of 13.  Yes, Mom – I can practically hear you laughing now thinking of how you can’t wait til I call you telling you of the sagas that will abound when my two are 13.

Laugh it up, Grandma!  (you greatly deserve it)

Time for some Elf-in Fun!

Ah yes…that time of year again…when I waste many a useful minute to create such wonderful entertainment.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Shelley’s Wish List Item

Chris and I have been watching the Amazon daily “specials” for quite a while now.  These little items came up today, but were already sold out when we came across them.  They were 75% off – quite a deal…until you find out how much they normally cost.  See the video below and pay special attention to the cost she mentions about 22 seconds into this lovely CNET review…

Yes – I want a pair in blue, pink and purple please…

The Mouthpiece is KEY!

I’ll let the video speak for itself, but – as a bit of a background – the Nashville Predators (NHL team for those non-ice sport-fans) put on a 4-week workshop (free – woohoo!) for small kids with no hockey experience a couple times a year.

Yep – my girls were ALL about doing it.

So we went for our equipment fitting last night, and here’s the result…

Guess their favorite part of their equipment…

…the mouthpiece!

Jillian Michaels is trying to kill me!

Seriously…if you wake up one morning and find me face down in a puddle of sweat with my sports bra wrapped around my neck, you will know who to blame.

This chick means business!

I have actually always been a Jillian fan.  I’ve watched several Biggest Loser episodes and kinda giggled when Jillian would make some of the contestants cry (I know, I’m awful). 

I know Bob is the “kinder, gentler” personal trainer, but – frankly – I need someone to kick my ass (sorry, mom – pretend I typed “buttocks” there).  I am a competitive person and I totally thrive when I am challenged – something Miss Michaels is apparently VERY good at doing.

Now my cousin & aunt would tell you they need the sweet encouragement of Bob Harper, and I get that – really, I do.  But that just isn’t what I need to get in shape.

So how do I know Jillian is trying to kill me?

About a week ago I discovered workouts available via our cable “on-demand” service.  Jillian has her own category under Exercise TV.   Of course she does, Exercise TV is scared to death of her and will give her whatever she wants.

Jilli (because we are such good friends – that’s what I call her…then we braid each other’s hair, paint our nails and have a pillow fight – sorry, I digress) has this 20 minute workout program as part of her 30 Day Shred program on the “on demand” channel. 

HOLY MOLY!

Now – despite my Botticelli-esque appearance – I have a fairly active fitness background (stop laughing).  I was a cheerleader in high school (shut it!), taught aerobics and was a swimmer.  I have even finished two half-marathons.  Let me tell ya…Jillian pummeled me into a gooey mush.  That first 20 minute workout was a KILLER.  Shoot – every workout of hers since then has ended with me in the fetal position crying for my mommy.

My one consolation is that Jillian is not very flexible at all.  I do smile a little at my self when I can stretch just a few inches further than she can.  Take that, Miss Michaels!

I have now done 5 of her workouts and I keep coming back for more.  I just hope these workouts will help keep the poundage off – especially while I attempt to inhale an entire sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving.

I’ll keep you posted…or maybe I won’t if she succeeds in killing me.

Friends Giving Hope

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to help with a phenomenal benefit concert.  The Friends Giving Hope concert was created to assist five Mount Juliet, Tennessee-area children fighting “Stupid Cancer” – Makenzie, Savannah, Bishop, Karli & Thomas. 

Many of you know that a dear friend of mine has a daughter fighting brain cancer.  Actually, fighting is too light of a term – this 9-year-old girl is giving brain cancer a serious WHOOPIN’!!!  Makenzie Matthews is an amazing little girl and her family is just as wonderful.  Her mom – Kathleen – has been my “twin guru” ever since I met her when my children were toddlers.  Makenzie is a twin (Madison is her amazing sister) and has a little brother (Justin) who is the same age as my girls.  Their dad – Wilson – has always been so incredibly sweet to our girls and refers to them as his “second most favorite set of twin girls”.  I can not say enough about this wonderful family, and I was tickled that I could do something to help in some small way.

As several of you are aware, I am a bit of a computer nerd (shut it!).  I love messin’ around in the graphic design programs and PowerPoint is a definite favorite.  Yes – I realize many of you are dozing off right now due to my extensive description of my “Nerd-ness”.  Well suck it up and grab some caffeine.

Ok, ok…I won’t bore you any longer…below is the slideshow presentation I did for the benefit concert.   Some of it just lists area businesses and individuals who helped sponsor the event or donated silent auction items – that probably won’t be of much interest to those of you outside this area of Tennessee, but I encourage you to watch all of it so you can see the beautiful faces of these amazing kids and their families.

I am truly blessed to have been a part of this event.  Enjoy.

The Force (and the candy) Are With Us

One night, a long, long, long time ago (actually, just about 3 hours – but that is an eternity for 6-year-olds), two opposing forces met on the subdivision battlegrounds of Tennessee.

The first – a newly trained Clone Wars soldier – Ahsoka.

 

Ahsoka was well-trained and exceptionally well-dressed.  I mean – man – who created that masterful work of art she is wearing?  That saint woman must have extraordinary tailoring talent.   She must have been up til 1am with Diet Coke streaming through her veins at least two nights just making sure this powerful young lady battled in style.

The second – a veteran leader and smooth operator – Darth Vader.

Darth Vader (or “DV” as her peeps call her) is also well-trained and stealthily dressed.  No fancy duds for this dudette!  The tailor of this outfit was thrilled to death that the only thing she had to do was visit the nearest Death Star (aka Hell-Mart) and pick up the “DV standard”.  The tailor kissed DV right on her chrome dome for making such a wise (and sew-less) clothing choice.

So this was it – the battle of the overpriced candy…

Who would come out on top?  Would anyone get hurt?  More importantly – would the tailor get paid in Butterfingers and Skittles like she requested?

The battle started!

The battle was intense!  The battle was tiring!  The battle took for freakin’ ever! (C’mon girls – we have candy to get!  Can we PLEASE get our shoes on and head out!?!)

Finally, the tailor got involved because – let’s face it – a woman without her promised chocolate & sugar is just vicious!  And this woman – lovely as she was – was actually a witch, and was ready to move the fight along so she could collect her Butterfinger & Skittles.

So she attacked them both – hypnotizing them with her witchy tights (which also made her legs look like some sort of oversized voodoo sausages).

This actually made DV & Ahsoka forget their differences and join together to beat the evil (yet, strikingly attractive) witch. 

Once the witch was banished, the two girls became great friends…

…and what better way to celebrate a new friendship?  Why, by enjoying LOTS…

…and LOTS…

   of candy!

And they all lived happily ever after – except the witch.  She got hooked up with some candy cigarette smokin’ degenerate…

 (I mean REALLY?!?  They tried to pass these candy cigarettes off as “candy stix”!  Yeah, right!  Even better – we got these at our church’s Trunk or Treats event – lovely.)

The Monster Mash

I adore JibJab!  Grandpa (my Dad) was made honorary Dr. Frankenstein since he was here tonight.  Hysterical!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Not me, Monday!

Yes - it is once again time to prance about reindeer style and shout from the rooftops how perfect I am (I'm no Freud, but me thinks I have Christmas on the brain - "reindeer", "rooftops"...), and how I would NEVER be caught doing some of the things listed below.  No, no, no...Not me!

I would never retire from my POTATO Presidency and become the slacker member who doesn't read all the details of the Pumpkin Farm Event details and show up 1 1/2 hours late.  Nope, not me.

I would also never pout like a 4-year-old when I discovered the dessert table at the Pumpkin Farm Event had been removed by the time we ate our picnic lunch.  My husband would do no such thing either. 

There is NO WAY I would totally snag the last fall decorated Little Debbie Snack Cakes package lingering so sadly on the now non-existent dessert table for myself, stash it in our picnic bag and then eat them later without so much as a word to the "critters" (my nickname for the girls). Hey!  They had some of the cookies I made from scratch purchased from a fine organic establishment down the road.  Fine!  It was Hell-Mart!  Stop judging me!

I most certainly DID NOT scream sorority-girl-in-a-cheesy-horror-movie-wearing-only-a-bra-and-thong-and-pigtails style when I saw there were only about 80 days left til Christmas, and remember I only have about three presents purchased.  REMINDER:  Must get Christmas gift spreadsheet updated.  ANOTHER REMINDER:  Must stop admitting to having Christmas gift spreadsheet (that goes with me everywhere once the Christmas shopping officially begins).

I did not have one of the biggest "aaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" moments EVER last night when I was given the most amazing gift of seeing two brand new baby twin girls up close and personal in the NICU.  Thanks to our dear friends and brand new parents, Amy & Nathan, for giving me that opportunity.

Nope - wouldn't do any of those items mentioned above.  Nope, nope, nope...

Pics from the Pumpkin Farm

We had a fantastic time at the POTATO Pumpkin Farm Event yesterday.  We LOVE pumpkin farms and have been every year since the girls were babies. 

From the town of Nash-Rock…

Ashlyn has been home sick the past few days.  Most of our days home from school have been spent doing origami, reciting the periodic table, practicing our Beethoven pieces on the piano and perfecting our soufflé recipe. 

Yeah, right…

We’ve been watching cartoons (consisting mostly of SpongeBob), playing the Wii and seeing how long we can stay in our pajamas til they start to smell funny (2.2 days, by the way).

We had a “throw back” hour today when Ashlyn found the original episodes of Tom & Jerry on the Cartoon Network. 

Here’s what happened next…

______________

Me:  Ashlyn, I used to watch Tom & Jerry when I was a little girl.

Ashlyn:  Really?!?

Me:  Yeah, I loved it.

Ashlyn:  That was a long time ago, right?

Me:  Mm-hmm, several years ago.

Ashlyn:  Yeah, back in the prehistoric.  You know…in the 90’s.

______________

I wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time.

The Riggs Family Goes to the Fair

Yes – cheesy title.

Yes – cheesy videos.

Yes – doing this to make the grandparents happy (Christmas is right around the corner people).

This first one is from when we were in the chicken barn at the Wilson County Fair. 

This is from the fun house.  You may wonder why I didn’t help them get out of the fun house spinning wheel…

 

Well…helping them would keep me from getting funny video of them.  Geez!

Panda Bear, Panda Bear…

The 1st & 2nd Grade Book Parade was this evening.  Since Ashlyn has been under the weather, Anna and I headed to the parade by ourselves.  After hitting up the Book Fair for some highly priced educational books, we made our way to the school’s “green room” of sorts prior to the parade.  This is where we joined the other dressed up 1st graders.

Here are the results of Anna's Oscar-worthy performance and my - also Oscar-worthy - costuming and makeup abilities:

Translation:  Hi, My name is Panda Bear from Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See written by Bill Martin Jr.

Yes - those are wrist guards from my roller blading days (stop laughing) that she added to her costume as we left through the garage.  I totally think it "makes" the outfit, don't you?

Even though Ashlyn was not able to do the show (she has been sick the past 3 days), she had to get in on some acting action.  This "scene" is her as the hunter killing the poor endangered panda bear with her AK47 Rifle.  mmmm...hmmmmm...

Oh Porky…you did not die in vain…

I can’t say I’ve been to many pig roasts.  Actually, I’m not sure if I had ever been to a pig roast before yesterday.  I just love trying new things…

We packed up our lawn chairs, our cooler, the pasta salad I made, and the girls, and headed over to a neighbor’s house down the street.  They were kind enough to invite us over and we never turn down a free meal – especially a free meal I don’t have to cook.

A good time was had by all.  We met some new people, revisited with some neighbors we haven’t seen in a while and the girls wore themselves out playing with all the other “kids” (I originally had “kiddies” here and the girls had a fit watching me type it – dang it – why did they have to learn how to read).

Here are a few more pics from our afternoon of carnivorism:

Ashlyn couldn’t be bothered with putting the roll down for a picture.  Anna was pleased as punch to put on her winning smile.

I love this picture, but Chris says he “looks old”.  I think he’s nuts.  What a cutie!

Ok, men – how many of you does it take to cut up that pig?!?  You should have heard them planning the attack.  And there were WAY too many knives being waved around at this point – especially since most of them had already imbibed a beer or 2 (or 12).

It started raining at one point (luckily, after the pig massacre had already occurred) and we all ran inside – except for several kids (yes – including ours after a bit) that decided jumping on a trampoline in a downpour was a good idea.  We’re raising some smart kids in the South, I tell ya!  Anna and I took time out for a picture on the stairs.

So – dear piggy – we appreciate you sacrificing your life so we could (“EAT YOU” – Ashlyn just screamed in my ear) enjoy each other’s company and spend a wonderful Saturday afternoon.

Side Note:  I told the girls before we went over there that they would be catching the pig so we could cook it.  They actually started strategizing this endeavor before I finally told them I was kidding.  “Anna, you grab its tail and I’ll knock it in the head with my baseball bat!”  “Ashlyn, you corner it under the trampoline, and I’ll punch it in the nose.”

No ma'am...ain't no rednecks here!

What do you do in the South during football season and you can’t find your hat that holds the pop/beer cans that you can drink out of….

Why…you make your own, of course!

Murderers & Thieves = BAD / Lunch Lady = GOOD

A little background…the main glory of moving from Kindergarten to 1st Grade is you are finally given the permission to purchases ice cream as a part of your school lunch. Let’s face it – there isn’t much glory in being a 1st grader, so this is equivalent to me being given the keys to the Diet Coke machine in our office. (Hold on a second – I need to daydream about that for just a bit.)

This is supposed to be a treat.

A treat not necessarily enjoyed EVERY day.

My children did not get this memo.

To their credit, if I had a blank check (we put money into an account they use to pay for their daily lunch) and was offered ice cream, I would definitely take it. I mean, who wouldn’t?

We had no idea the girls were doing this almost every day until I recently checked their lunch account and I was able to print a report showing me their daily spending habits. Mmm…hmmm…very interesting report.

So we had a chat with mini-Ben & Jerry, and explained that ice cream is a “treat” and does not need to be enjoyed every day at school. Yes – they looked like deer in the headlights over that revelation, but they finally came to and understood what we were trying to tell them. We told them they could get it two times a week and they could pick those two days of the week. If they abused this privilege, we would not allow them to get ice cream at all. This brought on a whole other discussion about which days they wanted it. Just another one of those moments where we see how much like Chris Anna is and how much like me Ashlyn is.

Anna fretted over the decision for a good 10 minutes and decided to hoard her ice cream til the last two days of the week. Ashlyn was trying to figure out if she could actually use both her ice cream “days” on Monday – no clue where she gets that impulsiveness (har dee har har).

Having explained all this – the most important thing to remember is that ice cream, the lunch room and the lunch ladies (who hand out this beloved ice cream) have been popular topics of discussion lately.

This morning the girls were laying in our bed waiting on me and Chris to finish getting ready. The news was on and there was a story presented about a man who shot and killed two people during a robbery. Now – I am not winning Parent of the Year any time soon, but I will take certain opportunities like this and make them a learning experience if I think about it quickly enough. As I slipped on my shoes, I told the girls, “See girls, there are some very bad people in this world which is why we always want you to be careful and make wise choices. There are also lots of good people too, but …”

I didn’t even get the last part of that sentence out before Ashlyn said, “Good people – like the lunch lady!” Anna immediately agreed and all Chris and I could do was look at each other and start cracking up. Yep – the lunch lady now ranks right up there with Santa, the Tooth Fairy & the Easter Bunny now. We’re so proud.

Not Me Monday (and including several Mondays I've missed)

1. I most certainly HAVE NOT missed a plethora (I just love that word...say it 3 times fast with me: plethora, plethora, plethora - I just love it) of opportunities to post items on this blog. I have truly fallen of the wagon and am doing all I can to get my butt back on that sucker.

2. I also most certainly DO NOT have some sort of freakish affection for the word "plethora".

3. I DID NOT bring two popular vampire movies back to my buddy at church a few weeks ago. I did wrap them up in brown plastic bags so as to not offend any non-vampire loving Baptists. Yep - was just waiting for the lightening to strike...

4. I definitely did not make my daughter sing “All I Want for Christmas…” after she lost her two front teeth recently – just for giggles. I also don’t encourage her to say any words containing “s” or “th” just for laughs. (Hey - she's a ham and loves the attention - no idea where she gets that.)

5. We (yep – I’m throwing Chris under the bus for this one too) did not take the girls out of school a couple Fridays ago to go to an amusement park. Hey – it was educational! We had to count how many times we rode each ride and estimate how many spinning rides my dad would have to ride to make him throw up. There was also motor skills testing involved (the shoot-em-up Scooby Doo ride tested our laser shooting accuracy and encouraged healthy competition – dang it). PS – I totally KICKED BUTT on that ride.

6. I absolutely DID NOT forget to mention that my parents met us King’s Island in Cincy for our day of fun, and then receive the scolding of a lifetime from my mother for not mentioning said parents in my blog post about that day. Yes – my parents were with us. Yes – they rode many rides. Yes – I actually heard my mother squeal with glee on the kiddie roller coaster. Yes – I totally laughed my butt off when the ride my Dad first rode with us started spinning and then almost pee my pants when he said, “hmmm…maybe I should have watched what this ride did before getting on it”. Yes – I totally should have written a sonnet praising them for their wonderful-ness as they watched the girls that night so Chris and I could go back and ride the “big” rides. Instead, dear parents, please accept this haiku as a symbol of our thanks...

Dear parents of mine

We had such fun and great laughs

Let's do it again

7. I would never giggle uncontrollably when my water-phobic hubby (I’m talking Wicked Witch of the West hatred of being wet) got drenched on the White Water Canyon ride – twice.

8. I did not tell the man (obviously from the North) sitting next to me at "Wicked" the following after hearing him bitch and moan to his wife (obviously from the South) about "the south". "You know what you can do if you don't like the South? LEAVE!" His wife about fell out of her seat.*

* He actually laughed when I said it too, so it was all in good fun.

9. I have not already watched this new "New Moon" preview 5 times this morning:

All I want for Christmas...

You may call it slight child abuse...I call it humor...

Out of the mouths of babes...

Random bits of WAY overdue info...

1. I am not even going to pretend I haven't been on here for two months. I will only hang my head in shame and beg forgiveness (mostly from my mother-in-law & Courtney who are relentless little boogers).

2. I'm going to see Wicked tonight with my good buddy, Courtney. It is very possible she will have to hold me down from jumping up and singing with the cast (I've been listening to the soundtrack for months), but - knowing her - she will totally shove me right up on stage with them.

3. We went to the Wilson County Fair a couple weeks ago. This fair is AWESOME and is considered the state fair of TN (because - apparently - the real state fair bites). Here are a couple pics from that day.













4. I got my hair "did" a couple weeks ago (that's "southern speak" for "I have a new hairdo"). I'm very happy with the results. I may even go "wild" in the winter with some darker color - I know you're on the edge of your seat...

5. I started back to "regular" work hours now that the girls are back in school. This means the house is a mess, and my "to do" list has grown TREMENDOUSLY. At least it keeps me out of trouble (for now). Of course, it also keeps me from blogging...

6. We went to Cincinnati last weekend and visited King's Island. Man - I forgot how much fun it is to ride the Beast! I have LOTS of pics from that, but will post those separately. I'm still impressed Chris and I rode the brand new coaster - the Diamondback - I screamed the entire ride (twice). Plus, the girls were able to sleep on the "magic bed" (their term for the pull-out sofa at hotels) all weekend. I'm so glad my children are entertained so easily.

7. We spent one evening in Cincy with my college buddy - Kari - and her wonderful family. SO MUCH FUN! Every time we see them, we want to move back North.

8. We also helped with a yard sale at my cousin's house. I brought hats for everyone to wear (nothing like a festive yard sale staff to bring in the buyers), and here's what I picked out for my Dad and Uncle (aka - The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything). These pictures are SO going to come back and haunt them...

9. I'm addicted to this site. She is VERY crafty, but presents it in a way where I actually believe I can do the things she's done. Realistically, I know I'll probably never do them, but it is nice to know it is possible.

That's all for now, but I have many more thoughts & pics to post. I won't make any promises, but I will try to do better. :-)

Literally laughed out loud

I know many of you may not get how funny this is, but I know Courtney & Julie will definitely get it.

Hysterical!

Bathroom Etiquette

When you have an odd sense of humor (ya know - kinda like me), you sometimes forget where and with whom that sense of humor should be used. Since starting back to work in an office building, I have become increasingly aware of things that may be appropriate for the home and among friends/family compared to things not appropriate in the workplace.

For example...

I work in a 6-story office building. Each floor has a men's and women's public restroom for all floor occupants to use. We share our floor with about 5 other businesses. I am not close friends with ANY of the people within these 5 other businesses, and I'm pretty sure I'm not related to any of them. The doors to the men's restroom and the women's restroom are only about 12 feet apart.

So what have I learned...?

I learned that yelling "Race ya!" to the male individual entering the men's restroom while I am entering the women's restroom is not the most appropriate thing to do. Especially when you have NO IDEA who that particular man is, where he works or who he might know. You will find that the man will then do all he can to avoid you in the future (i.e. stall getting on the elevator so as not to share a ride with me, now use the men's bathroom on another floor, etc.).

When will I learn...?

Yeah - he was a freak, but he was a defining part of my childhood

I could do the entire Thriller dance.

My friends and I used to have "dance-offs" to all the songs on his albums. (Those are round objects used to play music back in the olden' days kiddies. Geez, I'm old.)

I literally screamed when I saw him do the moon walk the first time on tv.

I wore out the carpet in our living room trying to learn how to do the moon walk.

I am sad. Sad for his kids, his devout fans, his family, his monkey (ok - not the monkey, but you get the gist).

He truly was an amazing artist and will always be the "King of Pop" to me.

I know, I know...

I'm just going to pretend that I've been blogging daily and we'll just disregard my "friend's" post below (paybacks Miss Courtney...paybacks). I'm just going to jump right back into this like no time has passed. However, just seeing that THIS happened 15 years ago today makes me feel VERY old. Holy cow! Really?!?

Anyway, most of you know how cheap I am. If not, feel free to review this post and this post to refresh your memories.

Today may have been my greatest cheap moment of my coupon clipping career.

I'll try not to make this too long, but - who am I kidding - grab a chocolate chocolate chip muffin and a Super-Sized Diet Coke and start reading...

I am an AVID coupon clipper and always try to find the best ways to use these lovely coupons to the benefit of our bank account. A website I have been frequenting (HERE) posts available coupons and sales at places like C-V-S. The latest was a deal where I could buy $60 of Aveeno Suncare products, use two $10 off coupons, two $1.50 coupons and then get back $30 of store credit. For those of you mathematically challenged, this would mean I would get $60 worth of products for about $7.00 - CRAZY! I literally drooled just reading about the deal on the site.

I went to C-V-S on my lunch break today and was prepared! I chose my Aveeno products, had my coupons in hand and practically skipped up to the counter. The cashier (the photo chick standing in for the regular cashier) rang up my purchases, scanned my coupons and took my credit card. She handed me my receipt and smiled. I smiled back and said, "Where's my $30 in C-V-S Bucks? Someone will get seriously hurt if I don't have those Bucks in my hand NOW!" Ok - I didn't say that last part, but my stoic look relayed my message. She and I both forgot about my C-V-S card - oops. HEAVEN FORBID! A debate went back and forth between her and the passing manager and then the manager said, "You can only get a $10 CVS Bucks credit per purchase, not per $20 spent". HUH?!? But she calmly pointed out the verbiage in the CVS ad letting me know this stupid, asinine, capitalistic rule was true - oh the humanity!!! I said, "fine, just return the items as I don't want to pay that much for them".

What happened next will go down in history as one of my top 3 savings moments of all time. Stay with me readers. This story is about to get exciting! Well - maybe not too exciting, but if you are a coupon-clipping, savings freak like me, you won't be able to stop reading!

The cashier said, "Ma'am, we charged your card $52 for the items, but I'll have to refund you $75 and keep the coupons as CVS doesn't allow us to apply coupons to returns."

Wait for it...

I then say, "You're telling me that you are going to pay me $23 to just let you keep the coupons I already gave you for items that I have no intention of now purchasing?"

The cashier says, "Basically...yes".

SOLD!

So - for about 10 minutes worth of shopping, checking out and returning items, I earned $23. Holy moly - I love saving money!

More to come...

Hijacked!

Hello everyone! This is Shelley's buddy, Courtney, and I've hijacked her Blog. I've hijacked her Blog because I miss her and her posts. I miss seeing pictures of the critters (Shelley's loving terms for her beautiful girls), I miss seeing pictures of her and hubs and I miss my dose of SARCASM. I feel like Shelley girl has added this to her daily medications......

Shelley, STOP TAKING THE MEDICATION! Please, please, please come back to the blogging world! I miss you.....we all miss you (Grandparents - I need your help here)!

The Proud Maniacs!

The signs are made.

The blue hair paint is purchased.

The cow bell is lost (bwah, haw, haw - it was actually hurled into the garbage dumpster last year because COW BELLS ARE ANNOYING and my husband thinks it is funny to let the girls ring them incessantly).

The shirts are packed (as it is field trip day at school and they have to wear their school shirt for that).

Makenzie's numbers are up high enough where she can run/walk with the rest of the Maniacs (her "numbers" had to be above 500 for her to be able to do that).

The van is decorated.

Let's get this Kid's Marathon started!!!!

And let's hurry up about it as Momma needs some sleep if I'm going to run 13.1 miles in the morning.

So here's the deal....

I'm going to pretend I haven't stopped blogging for the past few months. I plan on being in complete denial and I encourage any readers of this blog (if there is anyone still out there) to join my denial party.

I almost thought about giving it up, but I find this blog is a little bit of therapy for me. And - let's face it - I need as much therapy as I can get (shut it!).

Now - imagine a nice swirly haze appearing before your eyes and....

POOF!

I've been posting every day for the past several months and you find my writing to be enchanting and humorous. Got that? ENCHANTING & HUMOROUS!!!! Say it with me now.....ENCHANTING & HUMOROUS.

Allright, I'm done trying to hypnotize you. Let's move on...

I'm running the Country Music Half Marathon again. Well - I'll probably be walking some of it as I have sucked at my training program and my right foot is being problematic. I would go to the doctor about it, but my cheapity-cheap husband suggested I do the race and then visit the on-site medical tent afterward for some FREE healthcare. Always thinkin', that boy is. I love that he and I are on the same wave-length financially as most wives would not be happy with that suggestion, but I think it makes me love him even more - ha! I'm all about saving the dollars!

The girls are doing the Kid's Marathon Friday night. They have been practicing for the past month after school with other elementary students. The deal is they are supposed to run 25 miles prior to the final race day and then they do the last mile at the event. We've had over a month to do this and they girls have done fairly well. It is typically 3rd-6th graders that do it, but there are a few kindergarten kids that are doing it as well.

And the reason we are all running....?

...for THIS amazing little girl. There has been LOTS happening with this family and you can read all about it on their CarePages web site. The whole family is amazing and there is NOTHING that will keep any of us from crossing that finish line in her honor. Makenzie ROCKS!

I will be sure to post pictures on here so you can all celebrate with us.
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Whew! I think I've overdone it with the blogging for right now. You can't just take 3-4 months off and jump right back into it without suffering some type of brain freeze-like symptoms.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. I have one quote to leave you with that will (hopefully) get me to the finish line on Saturday. Let's pray I find that "will to succeed".

"The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed."

- Jacqueline Gareau, 1980 Boston Marathon champ

Not Me Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! I am brand new to this, but you can find out the details on MckMama's blog. You basically confess to things you may have done during the previous week, but do it in a way that offers up COMPLETE denial of the crime.

First, I AM NOT the type of worker that updates her blog during the first hour of work as this is the only time I have true peace and quiet where I can finish an entire thought in my head without "Mommy" being screamed at me - typically in stereo. Nope - that would be horribly unethical. mmm...hmmm...yes, it would.

I DID NOT let my children decorate their birthday cake with over an inch of extra sprinkles. Everyone likes a little extra crunch to their cake anyway.

I also DID NOT give them permission to use every type of sprinkles we had. For example: Easter bunnies, Halloween balls, spring flowers, gingerbread men, Christmas jimmies and Valentine's hearts.

I DID NOT completely agree with my mother-in-law that we should name the cake "The Carnival Cake" (pronounced "car-nee-vol" to make it fancier). That name's gonna stick!

I DID NOT hysterically laugh at watching my husband and our friend Nathan break it down while playing Dance, Dance, Revolution last night.

I WOULD NOT EVEN CONSIDER gloating about my butt-whoopin' performance against my father-in-law, my husband and our friend, Nathan playing Mario Kart on the Wii. First place feels mighty good boys. Not that I would EVER say that (tee hee).

I DID NOT say a small, mostly-non-offensive curse word when I realized I had not taped House last night.

I DID NOT lick the icing spreader clean after finishing icing 45 cupcakes.

Those are all the "confessions" I have for now. This could be a LOT of fun. I'm all about denial!

Happy 6th Birthday Critters!

I'm slowly getting our computer back up to speed, so please be patient with me as it is hard to update a blog from work when your cubicle is in the middle of the office. Darn nosy co-workers!

A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our now 6-year-old girls! You girls ROCK!!!!

Back to Basics!

We have had lots of computer drama lately. I won't bore you with the details, but we are finally getting the sucker back on track (either that or I'm slinging it out our second story window). So - until I have a chance to redesign a header and play with the layout, you will all have to suffer with this VERY basic blog design. I

think you'll live.

Tales from the absent blogger and a Happy Birthday shout out to my cousin!

Ok - yes - I've been out of commission on the blog front, but am getting back into the swing of things. Our computer is starting to work like it should, so I hope to have more frequent updates starting soon (notice how vague I am with that word "soon").

We just installed our new All-in-one, handy-dandy printer/scanner/faxer/chopper/grinder/blender and I just HAD to see what would happen if I scanned something.

Hmmmm...I think it is my cousin's birthday today...yep - I KNOW it is.

So - Billy (sorry, I still can't get used to calling you Bill) - this is dedicated to you.

How precious were we?!?!?