Well Baked

*Obvious Observation Alert*

It’s hot outside.  <Sigh>

Really hot.  <Sigh>

But not as hot as it’s going  to be. <Double Sigh>

And I am determined not to complain about this hot spell, because I remember freezing my tolio’s off just a few short months ago, yearning for warmer weather. 

And now it’s here. 

And I am grateful. 

Because…

At least it’s a dry heat.  And lest you roll your eyes, let me assure you that there truly is a difference.  If you’ve ever been in Florida in late July when it’s what should be a lovely 86 degrees outside, but your skin is puddling on the ground next to you, and the back of your shirt looks like you’ve just run a 5 k, you know what I mean.  Low humidity in high temperatures is a God-send.

And…our roses are flourishing and so is my little herb garden.  I didn’t plant any vegetables this year after all.  I had planned on it but didn’t start them from seed early enough and in the end didn’t want to spend the money on a venture that could very easily have fallen to pieces.  So I just stuck with my herbs.  My sage is struggling, but the basil is growing like crazy!! 

Also, we’ve discovered that by about 7ish in the evening we have almost full shade on our patio.  And I find myself sitting outdoors more and more, reading a book and enjoying the baking heat.  The problem is I only last for ten or fifteen minutes before I feel like a well-done steak.  I have a strategy in mind though…

Back in my single girl days I would hang out at my friend Rebecca’s house and she had a brilliant (and simple!) set-up which involved nothing more than filling up a “kiddie” pool with water and setting up our lawn chairs near (or in) the edge of the pool so we could soak in sun and water.  That coupled with a cool drink made for a nice afternoon outdoors.  Something tells me that hubby would not be pleased with this idea, however.  (Update: I have confirmation that hubby definitely is NOT on board with this).  So I’m going to have to come up with an acceptable alternative that doesn’t involve something as large as a kiddie pool.  Ideas?  Anyone?

At any rate, I have company coming over to sample some homemade chocolate cake (with homemade frosting!) and anyone who knows me well knows that this is somewhat of an anomaly.  So I’m off to enjoy it.  Maybe we’ll sit outside.  With our feet in bowls of water.

Yes, I paid more than a dollar…

I promise some day the bragging will stop.  But today is not that day.  (Sorry ’bout that)

I’ve been getting used to pay a dollar or less on most of my couponing grocery trips as of late, so tonight it felt strange to actually lay out a bit of cash.  For the record, I spent $44 and change on the above items.  However, for that price I got:

4 Jars of La Victoria Salsa (.25/ea)
6 packages of Oscar Meyer hot dogs (yay for the freezer!) FREE w/coupons
1 pkg Rhodes Rolls – .68
2 Hershey’s Take 5 candy bars – .50/ea
2 bottles chocolate milk – FREE w/coupons
3 pkgs Kitten Chow (3.5 lb/ea) – 1.80/ea
4 boxes Keebler 100 calorie cookie pkts 1.38/ea
3 cans Mighty Dog canned dog food – FREE w/coupons
4 travel size Dove deoderants – .88 for all 4
1 travel size First Aid kit – FREE w/coupons
2 bottles A-1 Steak sauce – .68/ea w/coupons
4 boxes of Hot Pockets – 1.27/ea w/coupons
1 bottle fabric softener – 1.98 (no coupon)
1 bottle French’s mustard – .78 w/coupon
2 lbs Monterey Jack cheese – 1.99 w/coupon
6 cans Pringles Potato Chips – .50/ea w/coupon
2 JUMBO bottles Listerine – 1.00/ea w/coupon
4 GOT2B Hair products 1.50/ea w/coupon

Had I paid full price for all of the above items, (which granted, I would never do, but let’s pretend..) I would have spent $141.45.  Just by shopping store sales and purchasing inexpensive items, I saved $43.00.  By using coupons, I saved an additional $54.00. 

I must credit A Thrifty Mom for getting me started.  Her blog has been a great source of information and instruction.

Another great trip to Albertsons!

From my trip to Albertsons tonight. 

I paid a mere 1.08 for all of the above, using Albertson’s “doubler” coupons.  Here’s the breakdown:

2 Gallons milk – sale price: $1.66/ea.  Had .75 coupon, doubled = .16 each
Snyder’s Pretzel Pieces - $2.00.  Had 1.00 coupon, doubled = FREE
Oscar Meyer Weiners - .98/ea.  H 1.00/2 coupon, doubled = FREE
Snickers: 50 cents.  (I had to purchase this as a “filler” item because I bought all the hotdogs at one time & it created a negative balance.)

Have I mentioned how much I love Albertson’s double coupons?!?!

Dadgum

My lair has been discovered

Confession

As many of you know, Albertsons issues their sale flyers every Wednesday.  Typically, you have to pick one up at the store, although if you get the daily paper, they are often included.  We subscribe to the Sunday paper only, so getting a sale ad can be a bit tricky if there are good coupons involved, as the stores usually run out of flyers quickly.

So you can imagine my happiness to discover a small rolled-up paper of sorts in my driveway on Wednesday.  I don’t know why, but we received a single page of comics, with two sale flyers wrapped up inside; one for Wal-mart and one for Albertsons.  And don’t you know, Albertsons is having a double coupon week!

Everyone in my neighborhood got one of these rolled-up “pseudo-papers”

Not everyone picked them up.

This was difficult for me.

So….

Late Wednesday night..we’re talking after 10:30 people…I really felt like I needed to take the dogs for a “walk”.  So I did!  I walked them…one at a time…around a few blocks…and you would be amazed at how many people had not picked up their flyers!!  So I did what any environmentally conscious girl would do..  I performed “litter-control” duties and picked up their flyers for them!  It was a random act of self-serving kindness, really!

Ahem. 

When I heard the thunder and saw the lightning last night I thought maybe the Big Guy was trying to send me a message about my late-night activities.  Something along the lines of “Good thing you picked those flyers up before I sent the rain down!  They would have been ruined for sure!”

Yeah…I’m sure that’s what he was trying to say.

Pillows

How many pillows do YOU sleep on at night?  Hubby seems to think that I’m excessive in my pillow usage.                  

I don’t see what the problem is.  Five seems just barely sufficient to me.

Traumatized

Last weekend, hubby and I ventured out in uncertain weather to take advantage of numerous neighborhood yard sales around town.  We scored a handful of great deals, including 3 runner style rugs for a paltry 50 cents each!  Our best find of the day was a brand new ceiling fan for only $10, something Tim’s been wanting to put in the office for quite some time.  Since he spends a great deal of time in this room and our A/C does an ineffective job at best keeping it cool, it seemed like a God-send.

Tim installed the fan on Sunday, which involved crawling into our attic space to ensure that the electrical box was properly secured.  Considering his height (6′5!), the cramped configuration of the attic, and combination of heat and insulation, it was quite the feat. 

A few hours later we were proudly admiring his handiwork and quite pleased with our bargain shopping and Tim’s industriousness.  And that was that, life moved on… for all of about a day and a half.  Tuesday, Tim came downstairs to discover that one of the cats had left a “surprise” all over my chair.  The chair we just got from my mom and dad.  Now soaked with cat urine.  Really great, huh?  Yup.  And since his cat was locked outside at the time, we quickly came to the conclusion that it was my cat who was the culprit.  Which was surprising, because she’s always been the sweet, easygoing one of the pair!  What the!?!

We soon came to the realization that the reason for Tweak’s bizarre behavior stemmed from a deep-seated hatred and/or terror of the new ceiling fan.  The office is where the kitties litter box has long resided and apparently the thought of venturing in there to do her business is a fate worse than death.  I tried closing her and I in there so I could reassure her that everything would be fine, but she immediately puffed up to twice her size, began hissing, growling – no, YOWLING and making swiping motions at the ceiling fan.  Right before backing up to the wall and expressing her emotions by emptying her bladder…

So…tough love is NOT the answer to calming a cats psyche.  I don’t really know what is, but after using up a bottle of upholstery cleaner on the chair, and temporarily relocating the litter box to the downstairs bathroom, I’m about ready to call the damn pet psychic for some help.

Are women born this way?

I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that I was exactly this way

Happy Birthday Tweetie

He’s 35 years old today.

Hard to believe he was once just a little fella.  Hanging with his older sister Tina.

Getting all excited at Christmastime..

Sneaking a sip of mom’s beer…

Wait!  What?!

This might shed some light on the Storm Trooper incident…

All kidding aside…Happy Birthday to my sweetie.  I love you very, very much.

MUAH!

 

 

 

When Good Rebates Go Bad

Ok, I’m officially irritated. 

A couple of months ago, I participated in a rebate offer from Unilever, as part of their “Making Life Better” promotion.  The offer was reimbursement of a ham or turkey, up to $25.00 (this was around Easter time), if you purchase $40 worth of Unilever products.  Well I bought the products (using coupons to keep my actual out of pocket costs down), I kept track of my receipts, I mailed it on time. 

I spent $18.00 on a ham for Easter..I’ve never spent $18.00 on a piece of meat before (mind..gutter..out!), but it was a holiday and I wanted to do something nicer, especially as we had family in town that weekend. 

So I got my check in the mail from Unilever and it’s for a measly $4.49! I’ve tried calling their toll-free number a half dozen times to trouble shoot, but am conveniently disconnected each time before I can fully explain my situation.  I’m very irritated about this whole thing.  Sure, being out $18 isn’t going to break us, but it’s the principle of it.  I obediently purchased their products, using the coupons THEY provided me with and followed their rules meticulously.  The only thing I forgot to do was photocopy everything I sent in, so of course I have no proof to provide to them…if I ever get the chance to talk to them in the first place.

No worries, I’m still going to be a coupon/rebate fanatic, but it’s a good lesson to double and triple check and then keep a copy of any kind of  a promotional offer you’re trying to cash in on.

Pfft!