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Archive for July, 2006

Challenge Update

July 29th, 2006 at 04:55 pm

I received my first rebate check from Insiders Club. It was for shipping fees and a $10 bonus rebate= $14.47

This brought my challenge account to $513.52!!!

What a couple of days...

July 29th, 2006 at 04:56 am

Poor DD1 and her DH.

Their DD (10 mos) hs had a high fever and cranky all week...turned out to be roseola. Thankfully, she's now on the mend.

Then, SILs GF passed away two days ago.

. ..and this afternoon, SIL fell ill with appendicitis and will be having surgery tonight to take it out. (He was in a little pain this morning, but they didnt think it was anything serious until later in the day when he started feeling really ill)

DD1 just started a pt job at B-buster a week ago...and she is already having to call in...

**DD1 called as Im typing this and SIL is already in surgery.

Poor kids...they are having a week of it.
Frown

Post Deleted

July 28th, 2006 at 03:34 pm

My spider post about he being a she was being hit by a bunch of trackback responses (about 25-30 so far) from some very undesirable porn posts.

So, I went ahead and deleted the entire post.

Not sure what caused that to happen...but did not want to have that content connected to my post.

So...Ms. G's 'she' story is history.

Start of School Supplies

July 28th, 2006 at 03:05 am

College ruled notebooks 20 x .10 ea = $2
Wide Ruled 36x .10 ea= 3.60
Pens 4 pks x .88 =3.52
loose paper 5 x .15ea = .75
glue sticks 2packs x .50 1.00
not bad for under $12.

I got her binder/notebook for $11 at Costco a few days ago.

And she bought a backpack at the beginning of summer that might still work by school time...

So we are off to a running start.

Most of her school clothes are bought.

registration, locker, yearbook, book fees will run about $75.

And then there's that color guard uniform...and PE clothes...

And, and, and....Yes, we eventually quite paying daycare...but before you know it...then comes High School...

No Spenders and Spenders

July 27th, 2006 at 06:07 pm

My mom ended up picking up my prescription yesterday and I will pay her back tomorrow after my bank run to deposit DHs paycheck.

Which means that Ive had 4 no spend days in a row here. A nice reprieve from all the shopping over the weekend. (groceries, xmas, birthdays, etc.)

I am still well stocked for meals for next week...with the exception of milk. I think I have most everything else.

With my friend Linda in town, I am sure we will have some spend days that include a trip to a little bagel/coffee shop in Jacksonville:

Text is http://www.jacksonvilleoregon.org/html/photohiway/photohiway.html and Link is
http://www.jacksonvilleoregon.org/html/photohiway/photohiway...

and we will have a late lunch one day at a little mexi restaraunt that we love to go to on the river: (sorry no pic of the actual restaurant)
Text is http://www.shadycove.net/ and Link is
http://www.shadycove.net/

Money well spent when your time is with your dearest friend.

B-Buster Trial Over

July 26th, 2006 at 08:33 pm

I tried the 3 at a time, free for a month trial at B-buster.

I found it to be an easy, fun offer...and we got to watch about 15 movies this month for FREE.
(9 mail, 5 weekly in store and 1 other freebie)

Setting up the account was easy, receiving and sending back the movies was easy...the biggest challenge was keeping our 'que' stocked with a wish list. But that was made so much simpler by the customer rating system for each movie.

But today was the cancel by date...so I just cancelled...however, B-buster let me know that I can continue to rent free until August1- and that all movies must be back by the 10th.I think I can squeeze in one last in mail and one in store before then.

To top it all off, cancelling was a simple click of a button on the site.



All things considered, I won't miss not having this service as we usually dont watch this many movies in a year...and the library has a ton of movies that i can watch for free too!

Would I recommend the trial? Yes!! Two thumbs up on this one!

Nope, Oprah is not Gay

July 26th, 2006 at 04:26 pm

A show aired a clip on the fact that Oprah is not gay last night...and I am writing about it only because Oprah stated that "women who have a best friend know the bond that Gayle and I share"

Yep...and for me, that friend is Linda.

Linda and I have known each other since we were 12....so 33 years now.

We dreamed together, dealt with teenage-parent problems together, planned our lives together, got married, raised kids, and are now enjoying this almost-empty nest phase of life~ together.

Only problem, Linda stayed in California and I moved to Oregon...so there is this 'blasted' 15 hour drive between us.

As luck would have it...I moved to the same area as Linda's dad, stepmom and stepmoms entire family...and so once each year, Linda makes the trip north to spend with...well, her dad---but it ends up more me...Big Grin (sorry dad)

I love Linda- she is truly the sister I never had.
And she will be here in 3 days!!!!

She will be here for a week, but it is to attend two weddings...so I have to do a little more sharing than usual with her family...but I am still giddy...cant wait!!

Do you have such a friend?

A Reprieve?

July 26th, 2006 at 04:07 pm

I just checked the weather for the rest of the week and the temps have dropped to the high 90's....a small drop, but a drop I will take!

Hope it continues to cool a bit. It has been too darn hot this summer!

Chain of Events led to a BITE!!!

July 26th, 2006 at 05:14 am

Ok- DS had was done early today (we have been scheduling his last job around 1pm so he doesnt have to work in this outrageous heat since he does not have AC in the work truck.

So, he stopped by and DH asked him to spray the dog pen...

Which led to 3 grown, energized labs bounding in my house for about 30 minutes....

which was a whole lot of doggy breath and knocked over things...

But DH loved it...

However, tonight- I am watching some TV when I reach down, not paying attention and remove something stuck between my toes....EEK! a TICK YUCK!!!!!

I tossed it before I even realized what I was doing....so I quickly grabbed the vaccuum and frantically vaccuumed the whole house...eeebie-jeeebies...shudder...


Hopefully, the spray will help with the pests in the pen...but I think the 3 labs are in for a bath this weekend!!

I have poured rubbing alcohol and peroxide on my toes... ugh...

Uncomfy Day

July 26th, 2006 at 12:59 am

I know all you females will understand when i say its been a UTI kinda day.

Luckily, I have a very empathetic doctor who calls in a script whenever this happens...so i dont have a dr visit. I love my Dr. She is one of those who knows you, knows your family details, and remembers...she also allows time for whatever might come up during the visits.(She always asks...Is there anything else on your mind today?)Love her!

Otherwise, we continue to stay busy on the phones. The kids have made more this year as of today, than they did all of last year. So, I think they are headed in the right direction!!!

Today would have been a no-spender, except I will need to pick up the meds...but that is money WELL SPENT.

Still warm, but I think it was 'only' 101 today...umm, still hot.

Early Laundry

July 24th, 2006 at 08:59 pm

I got up early (for me) 6am...and got going on the laundry before it got really hot.

So, by 11 this morning I had washed and hung SIX loads of laundry. Funny- but the last load I hung out, I got about half hung and needed to come in and take care of a call....I was in the house about 3 minutes...and wehen I went back out, some of the clothes were dry enough to come back in!!

Tonight we will bbq burgers on the grill. Our house is so hot after several days of this heat, that there is no way I am turning on the stove or oven in here.

But after hearing the news of the power outages back east, I am just grateful that we have power to run the fans and coolers here!!

Christmas/birthday Shopping

July 24th, 2006 at 04:06 pm

Nana and I went to Meier and Frank yesterday and hit a 75% + 15% + 15% sale on some beautiful jewelry.

I was able to get a few gifts for birthdays and Christmas.

For instance, a beautiful opal and diamond bracelet...originally $80, I paid $15. (and several other good deals)

Got some great pieces...and am going to enjoy giving these as gifts.

Then, went to Costco and restocked on some things and bought DD3 a great glitter pen set and GS a couple of books. (again, Christmas gifts)

It is still way too hot here...so will stick close to the fans today.

Sweltering Sat Nite Money$$

July 23rd, 2006 at 05:51 pm

I was sitting real close to my fan late yesterday afternoon, perusing some websites, when the work phone rang.

Normally I dont answer after about 2 on Sat...but I figured, what the heck...So I took the call and sold a $200+ job!!, it rang again...and another +100 job, and again....and a $149 job... so just about $500 for 3 phone calls between 4:30 and 6pm...

Dont you think I should get (at least)50% comission since it was on my free time??? I did, but DS said no...lol

Oh well, its all good. Just happy to be selling!! The bugs just want to get inside out of the heat too!...but when the bugs are wasps and black widows, people tend to have ZERO TOLERANCE. Smile

Free $3

July 23rd, 2006 at 04:19 pm

Ok- this is exciting...at least for me.

A couple of days ago, I bought a package of batteries for all the battery operated things around here.

Rayovac had the best price, so I went ahead and bought a big pack for $4.87.

TODAY, Im perusing online coupons and find a $3 rebate for the batteries!!!

So, I got the UPC and found the reciept and I will mail the rebate off tomorrow...

Totally unexpected $3--- HOORAY

Which makes me wonder....do you serious rebaters save receipts and UPC codes incase a rebate comes along??? And do you recommend???

Doing the $3 happy dance here!!!!(of course, this will go to the Challenge money- so I will go ahead and deposit tomorrow...which, by the way, throws me over $500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Big Grin

Garage sales in 105 degrees

July 23rd, 2006 at 02:05 am

Oh boy.

Nana and I braved the heat and hit the yard sales today.

I got 3 things.

1 Hardcover Steven King book that DD3 wanted.

1 Small purse with long strap...super cute, looks new... $.75 and inside were at least 100 tickets for our family fun center that DD3 can turn in for a prize of somesort, plus a couple of free tokens. I asked the girl if she wanted these out of the purse and she said, "No, consider this your deal of the day"!!

And what I consider my true FIND OF THE DAY...a lovely Rosina China Co, Ltd. tea cup and saucer that I will give to a friend for her b-day next month (she collects tea cups).
I paid $8 for it, and got home and looked it up and it is valued at $42-48 online. It is beautiful!!

Nana got a few deals- her best, a looks-like-new windbreaker for one of the kids $.50 (it is a really cute pink and yellow)

We only made it till about 1pm, and it had hit 105 and was expected to hit 110 so we headed home, very happy with our finds!

Kohls?

July 21st, 2006 at 11:42 pm

Do any of you have a Kohls? Do they have good deals? What store would you compare them to?

We are getting one this Fall...it is replacing our Mervyn's (sniff R.I.P.).

We are also getting a Macy's...that has replaced our Meier and Frank (which is Robinsons May in other places).

Opinions?

Umm...Rain?

July 21st, 2006 at 11:38 pm

Ok, so the weatherman was wrong at least for today.(good thing!)

Cloudy and about 88 here...which is way better than the 103-5 that had been predicted...but talk about muggy!

DH and DD3 are doing 'their' weekend this weekend. They are leaving early am to go to the lake and water skiing. Tonight will be getting them ready...and then tomorrow and Sun will be me and me alone~ while they are off to bond.

I am looking forward to the time. I have several things Id like to do and I hope I can find some 'cool' time and place to do them. (Read, craft, watch movies, clean are those that come to mind.) Cool thing- I have all those things here, so it wont cost me any money. Smile

I am watching my clothes out on the line...it truly does look like it may rain today!! (hope, hope, hope)

What Im looking forward to

July 21st, 2006 at 03:46 pm

Here is what is in my immediate future:
Friday 106
Sat 109!
Sun 107
Mon 103
Tue 105

I guess my clothes line will get a break...all Ill have to do is walk outside, give the lothes a good *snap* and theyll be dry...

My bedroom, which has its own little air conditioner and 2 fans, didnt cool down under 80 until about 10pm last night...

Happy, joy.

My kinda day

July 20th, 2006 at 11:52 pm

Well, before I learned about the oak tree and the dog house...I was having just one of those wonderful days!

DD1 was running the office- so I ran some errands, stopped and got my fav burrito (carne asada, yum!) and had over an hour to spend at the BIG library in town. This library is new, 2 story with a GIANT selection of books.

I browsed and found some promising looking non-fiction books + an Excel book to brush up on some skills. Paid my $1.20 fine for 3 late books x 2 days.

I just love going to the library. I could literally spend hours just browsing all those wonderful books.

Now to find the time to enjoy them.

A pretty near perfect kindof day.

Spent: $5.25 for burrito, soda
$1.20 library fines

Also, hung laundry on the line and have leftover burrito for dinner.

and DD3 is off to the fair until late tonight...so I am home alone for a few hours!! Big Grin


The oak tree vs. the dog house

July 20th, 2006 at 11:12 pm

Poor Anna, Jake and Bear. They are homeless today. Luckily they are still alive to be homeless...but homeless none-the-less.

We have about 40 black oak trees on our property and one of them decided to keel over last night....took out the dog house and part of the dog kennel fence.

Those oak trees are so unpredictable. I have one that is dead, one half dead...and both of those are still standing tall. But one of the live ones just snaps in half with no warning signs.

The dogs still have plenty of shade and have a soft place to sleep until DH can get them a new one built.

Makes me a little leery of all these HUGE oaks around my house...they definately could do damage if they fell.
I guess thats why we maintain homeowners insurance. Frown

Time to look into some major tree trimming.

Spend day, and it's my own darn fault!

July 20th, 2006 at 03:25 pm

I was planning on having one more no spend day today...meals are made, no plans for going anywhere, have everything we need...

and then I went online to check my reseves at the library only to find:

"Patron has exceeded the number of overdue items allowed"

At my library this means one or more...

So I look, and sure enough, I missed taking one back on the 18th. (And I stopped by the library to pick DD3 up that day!!) DUH!

So, I will pay my fine and have a spend day at my own forgetfulness. (At least it is to the library, where I have no problem 'donating' once in a while Wink)

another no spender

July 19th, 2006 at 11:41 pm

Two in a row. Big Grin I just love it!

Grilled a london broil and a pack of chicken for meals this week. Should last at least 3-4 more meals.

Mail included free Dove Shampoo samples. I was looking at the stash when I put them away and I have enough samples for at least one week. Smile

DD3 is going to the fair today and tomorrow. She is at that age where she and her friends just want to walk around, ride a few rides and enjoy each other...(maybe boy hunt) I am glad to see her having a good time.

The kids and I met this morning about winter business finances. I will continue to get 1/2 pay through winter...and so I will be able to use the puppy and wood money without having to get a pt job. This is a good thing, since DD3 is going to be involved in several school activities and I am committed to seeing her get to do them.

I am just going to budget carefully.

DH sold a cord of wood this morning, so we need to get that processed and ready to go.

I watched 'In Her Shoes' last night...just as all of you predicted, it was really cute. Enjoyed it even with the blasted headache.

That's it for now.

No Spender Today

July 19th, 2006 at 04:15 am

Had a delightful no spend day today. Although I really thought about it...Martina McBride is in town for the county fair tonight and Id loved to have gone...but I decided to just stay home and watch a movie.

All meals homemade today. Hung all laundry outside for about 30 seconds to dry. (Oh, how I wish I were kidding)

Got to see both GS and GD for a while.

and took care of all of the bug calls.

Received a sample of Fibersure in the mail.

and aside from a nagging migrane-wanna-be headache, that was my day.

I remember a time when my continuous answer to "how are you" was...SUPERBUSY AND STRESSED- with a definate edge to my voice.

Today someone asked me how was life and after thinking a sec, my answer was "blissfully uneventful and occasionally bored".

and for me, that's just the way I want it! (at least for now)

g'nite!

Good Deals

July 18th, 2006 at 03:07 pm

I ran some errands last night to pick up a couple more good deals.

On the rounds was a stop by B-buster to return a movie and get the next freebie. I have a little over a week to take advantage of the freebie trial (or so I thought).

The manager checked me out and asked how I was enjoying the trial offer...I said it was great and that id enjoyed all the free movies this month...but that in honesty, I would be cancelling next week...to which she replied that if I had a second email address at home, I could take advantage of the offer again.

Hmm...I thought the offer was off my account # or home address?? but she said that it was just necessary to have a different email (which I happen to have) and so....I will see after this trial if this is so...

Then, I stopped by Safeway for another Purex soap BOGO and had a $1 coupon...so only $2.08 per.

I also went by WalMart and got the Purina One dog food...I ended up using quite a few coupons...the bill came to $62 and I only paid $30..(pretty good for WalMart!!)

So, some good deals and possibly more free movies on the horizon. But if not, thats quite alright as I have figured out the library option!!

Movies I have right now:
Little Women (I just love this movie)
Life is Beautiful
In Her Shoes (havent seen this one yet)

Coming soon:
Mr. Hollands Opus
Seabiscuit

and not one war scene in any of them.(well not the type DH enjoys anyways)...lol...movies to watch when DH is golfing...Wink

Challenge Update

July 17th, 2006 at 08:27 pm

I havent updated my challenge account in a while.

But here goes:
current balance: $470.56
+ tape rebate 2.99
+ valvoline rebate 11.50

new total: 485.05

I am holding off on taking from this account to pay all those bills from last week.

DH is working some overtime and we sold 2 cords of wood to be delivered this weekend...so I am HOPING, HOPING that there is enough between the two that I do not have to take from my challenge account that Ive worked so hard to accumulate.

I have planned all meals at home this week and am making several today to have on hand...the weather is supposed to hit the 100+ mark again as of Friday....ugh.

So, I will be splitting in the evenings after it hopefully cools off a little!!

Today has been a busy bug day (Mondays always are) So far Ive sold almost $500 in jobs...nice!

Library Movies

July 17th, 2006 at 04:17 pm

Ive read numerous posts on here about checking out movies from the library...but the library that I frequent has all of about 3 to choose from.

And I can never think of movie titles to look up when I am on the library site.

So, I got an idea to just put 'DVD' in the search field and see what came up....and I hit the jackpot!

Every movie in the library catalog was there for online perusal...I finally stopped after looking through 500 titles and reserving about 5 movies.

Funny, but most of the movies were checked out already, but there were no waiting lists---which means, that people are getting them off the shelf as they see them, but not necessarily using the online reserve system.

I am all too happy to find this method of reserving. I have about 10 days left for my free B-buster trial, and then I am cancelling..(cant see spending $17.99 per month on it.)

Anyways...the library search worked for me, maybe itll work for a few of you!!

Whelping Notes

July 17th, 2006 at 05:47 am

This is just for my rocords, so I remember dates.

(Anna and Bear finally figured out the puppy thing this afternoon.)

Due Date:
63 days= September 17.

+8 weeks= Nov 12th

Cant wait to see if we have chocolates, yellows or blacks!!

Not so Frugal Weekend

July 16th, 2006 at 07:28 pm

I think it is the hot weather...and my lack of desire to turn the stove one...or something. I am scratching my head this morning trying to determine what has happened to my frugal brain.

We ate out TWICE this weekend. Once at Burger King on Friday...I was out and about with DD3 and we decided to take DH some dinner to work. (He had left before I got home from that mornings grocery shop and had just taken a few hot dogs, no buns for dinner---yuck) So, we got his dinner, and DD3 was hungry so she got something as well. $9.50---

Then, DD2 called and asked if Id keep GS overnight...so I went and picked him up...and he hadnt ate yet (geeze, it was now 7:30pm and I was hungry too)...so another $9+ pop into burger king...YIKES.

Then, last night we ended up by Little Ceasars and decided on pizza instead of cooking when we got home (DH and I were both starved as it had been a very busy day and we hdnt ate)...another $12...

long story short, ended up taking the pizza to DD2s and playing cards...and picking up some margarita makings as well...another $24...

Ok, all sins confessed...and I can start climbing out of this financial hole that I dug this weekend.

Like I said, until my next good excuse, Ill blame it on the heat. Wink

Christmas in July

July 15th, 2006 at 09:47 pm

There are 11 of us who participate in what we call the "Stocking Exchange". The kids, their SOs, nana and papa and DH and I.

The rules, each person picks a name and is then responsible for filling that persons christmas stocking.

What goes inside the stocking? Well, anything off the provided list, fun or gag stuff, unique things, home made things, edible, non-edible...It really is all about being creative and having fun.

Each year, the names are drawn earlier- as everyone wants to bargain shop as much as possible.

So, we are drawing names tomorrow.

I can't wait to see who I get this year!!!

Yesterdays Mail

July 15th, 2006 at 05:18 pm

I forgot to mention that I got a $2.99 rebate check for Stretchy Tape, a sample of Tide + Febreeze laundry soap and a 3 pouch sample of Jergens lotion yesterday. (Best of all, NO BILLS!)

Also, I used the free Purina One cat food coupon...but I am waiting on the free Purina One dog food...because the free was only up to $10.49 (I think) and the dog food at Safeway was priced at $11.98...pretty bad when its not free afterall because it is so overpriced! So Ill get the dogfood somewhere else!


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