Crochet Time!

I love Wednesdays because I get to go see the Prayer Shawl ladies. They are such a sweet bunch of women. We talk about anything and everything while we crochet and knit. Granted, I can’t do any complicated patterns while I’m there because I’m too busy talking! I’m working on a triangle Road Trip Shawl in gray tones for the church. It’s easy, mindless, and I can talk while I work.
While I’m in town, I’ll run by Walmart and get a few groceries, get some gas, and I’ll stop in at the fabric store and get another yard or so of black fabric for the bell foam project. If I get the fabric I have cut out this morning before I leave, I’ll know exactly how much I need - I’d best get to it, huh?
Have a lovely day!

Success!

For all of you who may be concerned, my dear friend, S, still has hair and is not speaking in tongues. She also succeeded in finding me 3 dresses that are terrific!

On the way to the mall, she told me that she thought she wouldn't have any trouble finding me a dress. I laughed out loud!  I told her that although there are a lot of dresses out there, I look ridiculous in most of them. I explained the dork factor...
She did not believe me until I started trying on dresses...
It was hysterically funny.
There was that one that made my butt look like a shelf. Now, I know I can stand to lose a few pounds, but my butt is NOT shelving...  She said, "Eww, why does your butt look like that? Take that off!"
There was that one that made me look like I had EE's... I so don't! But, that dress definitely had potential!!!  BTW: She loved that dress - I liked it okay but I'm not into flaunting what I don't have - especially at a wedding.  I don't want to upstage the bride, you know?
There was one that made me look 12 months pregnant... Her words: OH!! Take that off! Just take it off!
There was another that made my skin look green....  Her comment: Oh my, that's a really bad color for you!  She's so sweet...
There were so many that just didn't make the cut.

Please note that before lunch, we had found a bargain dress for $13.97 that wasn't quite what we'd consider wedding attire.  Church - sure, but wedding... eh not so much.  But, we couldn't pass up that kind of a bargain!

We took a break for lunch. We chatted... we mulled... we mapped out our afternoon stores...

With 30 minutes left we hit one last store and hit the jackpot!  We found 5 dresses that fit and 2 that were  phenomenal.

In the end I ended up with a lovely burgundy print dress that hides all of my flaws yet shows off my figure.  I can wear it right up until the weather starts to get warm... it's got those lovely fall and winter colors I love so much! I also ended up with a solid burgundy that is a classic go everywhere dress. I am thrilled!  I came home with 3 lovely dresses that fit... that doesn't usually happen in my world.

S is amazing!! I think I will never ever shop without her again!!   So, S, if you're reading, I'm going to need a few spring and summer outfits with graduation and such coming up! (We will have to take the rest of the gang with us, because this kind of fun HAS to be shared!)

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe I haven't posted in a whole week! This is so unlike me.

Today I'm shopping for a dress to wear to a wedding with my dear friend S. She's got her work cut out for her in a "What Not to Wear" sort of way.  If she's still speaking in complete sentences at the end of our adventure, it will be a miracle...  I'm not an easy person to dress. Many things look great on the hangar and look um... less than desirable?? once they've landed on my body. I look like a dork in many outfits... and in others, dorky is an understatement...
My friend, S will never be the same after this shopping extravaganza.
At least she'll have a lot to talk about at the dinner table tonight...

Clocking In

Searching for an alarm clock has been an eye opening experience.
I need a regular old fashioned alarm clock for #1 to take to camp. It seems that clock radios are not allowed. I'm fine with that.

FYI - if there is one thing this house is not short on - it's clocks. Gram and Grandpa are clock watchers as am I. There are coo coo clock, grandfather clocks, atomic clocks, clock radios, battery clocks, electric clocks, self wind clocks... you name it - between the two families here - we've got clocks covered.  BUT, I don't happen to own a plain old fashioned alarm clock.  I gave that up when I got my first clock radio when I went to college all those years ago. 

I am sure that if I go next door, Grandpa has 2 or 3 plain old fashioned alarm clocks in various colors to choose from, but I thought I'd see what's out there - just for kicks and giggles.

There are clocks without radios out there.  They call them travel alarm clocks. They just happen to run on batteries. Batteries are not the most reliable source of power for a 17 year old boy when it comes to hauling his rear end out of bed. Batteries in his iPod - fine. Batteries in his Ds - fine. Batteries in his alarm clock - not so fine.  I KNOW what it takes to get this boy out of bed and it's not one AA battery - he needs full fledged electricity with a really annoying buzz.

Do you know what they call plain old alarm clocks that run on electricity? Retro.
I'm feeling particularly old at the moment.
And yes, I'm going shopping in Grandpa's garage for an alarm clock - as soon as the clock next door chimes 9.

Homecoming...

The Homecoming dance is coming up - as you all already know. LLB has her dress. #1 doesn't have an "outfit" so to speak. Today I may have to go shopping for said "outfit". The theme for the evening is Mardi Gras. He has given me specific instructions about what he wants - he wants all black with a red tie. Why? He wants to look tall?

LLB and her friend B are going together. She was faceb**king with him yesterday and he said something about not going. She fixed that. She just asked him to go with her - just as friends. It seems to me that she may have played right into his hand... He's a slick one, that B. I think he may have been plotting this for a quite a while.

#1 has two girls he's meeting at the dance. One who isn't allowed to date and one who is a friend of LLB's. (So many girls.. so little time..) He'll be a dancing fool!

Shopping anyone?

The Dress

We found a dress for LLB's cotillion ball.
It was a bargain at $39.
It is exactly what she wanted.
We had pulled into the grocery store parking lot and decided to check out the discount clothing store. We had just heard from the boys in the family. They told us that they needed another 30 min. before they would be ready to eat. (We were meeting the boys for sushi, thai, pizza, and lo-mein at the grocery store for dinner. Yes, R. I went without you... I'm sorry.) We figured we could sacrifice ourselves and do a little more shopping.
There was one dress in her size on the rack. She looked at it and knew it was "the one". It was just sitting there waiting for us!
It is a little black strapless number with a lace up back - I liked that - I can pull it tight to make sure it stays up. :-)
I need to find a few minutes to have her put it on so I can take a picture.
So - stay tuned. I'll get a picture eventually.

The Hunt Continues

LLB and I went looking for a ball gown.
We went to our favorite little dress shop that has usually come through for us in the past. Alas, they had nothing - and I mean nothing.

So... I searched online and found a couple of things that I thought were cute. We are going to try to go out shopping on Sunday. We have 2 bell gigs in the morning, but I think the afternoon might be free - providing that we don't have a mountain of homework that needs to be done.

The hunt continues.
I'll definitely let you know if we find something.

We're going hunting...

Not with a gun - Not THAT kind of hunting. (Although last night LLB WAS talking about successfully hunting for a bear and hanging his head on our family room wall.. Trust me, it's not the decor I was going for...)

We're talking about the shopping kind of hunting.
She needs a ball gown.
She needs to look beautiful for the cotillion ball.
We are going to look at dresses this afternoon.
Wish me and my pocketbook luck.
We are going to need it.

Earning my 10%

Gram and I went shopping on Black Friday. It's one of our favorite - albeit crazy - traditions.

We were in Kohls. The line was incredibly long, but it was moving.
One of the store employee's job was to entertain those of us waiting oh so patiently. He had a stack of coupons in his hand and he basically dared us to do a certain thing to get the 10% coupon.

Now this coupon was for the entire purchase.

The first challenge was to sing "The National Anthem". Now, I will do almost anything for a discount, but mutilate our national anthem isn't one of them. I have scruples.

Then he was looking for a member of the armed forces. I didn't qualify for that one.

Finally he needed someone to sing "I'm a little teapot" with hand motions.
I'm so all over THAT!!!

Gram nudged me. "You can do THAT!"
I called out, "I'll do it!"

Gram started to chuckle. She knew this would be good.
That was one of the first songs I ever learned. Besides, I taught pre-school... AND I watched many many many episodes of Barney. If there's anything I know, it's this song.

I put on a performance worthy of an Oscar and a Tony.
I smiled. I emoted. I tipped over... I'm SOOO good!!

I earned that 10%.

When I got back in line, the guy behind me said, "What grade do you teach?"
I laughed, "I teach middle school."
Someone behind him said, "Ahhh... I KNEW it!"

Yup, those of us who teach middle school will do almost anything for a discount...

Set Adrift by Lands End...

Lands' End is my favorite store. I shop there as frequently as my budget will allow. Their clothes are classic, good quality, and they fit me quite nicely. Gram happens to like their clothing very much, too.

Today I was shopping at Sears in the Lands' End department. They had peacoats on sale for 30% off. Gram has wanted one for quite some time and I thought it would make a great Christmas gift for her. She tried on a couple and we decided that she really needed the petite.
They didn't have anything in a petite.
She wanted black.
They only had navy blue.
We decided to try another store to see if maybe they might have what she wanted.
Nope.
I called Lands' End from the second store to request the coat be sent since they didn't have the size or the color in the store. I was told that I could have the coat, but not at the 30% off price.
You know... that's just not fair.

The coat is not an inexpensive item. The 30% discount comes to approximately $30.

We tried everything to find this coat.

If I want it, I'll have to pay full price.
I'm not sure I want it that badly.
The coat is lovely, but...
They did offer me free shipping.
Lucky me... I already have a code - one they sent me in this morning's email

So, Lands' End, my very full shopping cart sits at your website waiting to check out. You could have had a very lucrative sale had you honored the 30% discount. You would have more than made up the $30.

Hmmm... I wonder if LL has a peacoat.

Economics 101

Yesterday, the children were home - it's a teacher work day or something. They are home today as well. #1 needed new binders for his 3 new classes that start tomorrow.
So, we went to Wallyworld. While I was there, I had time before I had to be at my school, so I decided to hit the Christmas aisle to see if there was anything at a real bargain I could use.

Believe it or not, I did quite well. I got some gift card holders for 75 cents. I got gift bags for 5 cents. I even got large gift bags for 20 cents. #1 was watching me sift through the piles of stuff on the shelves and he said, "Mom, you don't need this NOW. Why are you even looking at it?

(Ahhh... my son... it is time for your economics lesson!)

"Okay, #1. Look at the tag. What is the original price?"
"$3.89"
"What is the price today?"
"75 cents for this one and 50 cents for that one."
"Yes, if I purchase it next December it will cost me $3.89 or maybe more. If I purchase it today and put it on the shelf it will cost me far less."
"Yeah, but you don't need it until December."
"True. But I might not have $3.89 or the time to shop for this in December, but I sure do have 50 cents and I am here today."
"Well, it is a lot less. But, I still don't understand why you would buy it now. It's out dated."
"In December, when you need a gift for someone, you remember this conversation. You can pay me $3.89 or you can pay me 50 cents."
"Oh... OOOOhhh... I'll be giving you 50 cents."

(I thought so...)

Black Friday

OMG! This is my all time favorite day of the year! It's the thrill of the hunt - I spend hours on the internet finding the best prices. I make my lists. I plan my route. I must be crazy!!

Grambug and I headed out at 4:30 this morning. We wanted to be at Wallyworld at 5. We passed Kohls on the way. I have never ever seen so many cars in that parking lot in my entire life!! Note: We did not attempt Kohls or any store related to that parking lot.

We arrived just as Wallyworld opened. The line was down the length of the building. We waited until we saw other people who were just arriving go in the door before we even attempted to enter. You know... these people are crazy. They've been waiting for 2 hours in the cold to go in and purchase $5 pajamas, $499 flat screen tvs and $3.98 coffee pots. If you cut them in line, they'll take you DOWN!! Personally, I wanted the coffee pot and the pajamas - the TV was not on the list... I live large -- but you already knew that.

Grambug and I found our items and as we made our way toward the cashiers, we passed the fishing and hunting desk. We asked them if we could check out there and they said YES!!! The guy was pretty funny as he inspected our bargains. He coveted my bargain coffee pot so much that I offered to go get him one...

We were not popular when we took our purchases through the throngs of people lined up at the cashiers. Those poor slobs were standing in lines 50 deep.. but hey - if you are going to shop with the big kids you've got to know how to play the game. Gram and I have been doing this a long time... we KNOW how to play the game... heck - we invented the game.

We headed over to AC Moore. We arrived 5 minutes before they opened. We were in line with 5 other crafters - only the roughest crowds hang out at AC Moore! We were in and out of there in 15 minutes.

Our next stop was Target. When we got there, the store was blissfully empty. A customer service manager met us at the door and gave us a bag with a granola bar, some ground coffee, and some animal crackers. We thought that was a really sweet touch! We made our way through the store, got our items, and blew out of there in about 40 min. And, we even stopped at the Starbucks for a hazelnut iced coffee!!

Our last stop was Lowes. We wanted the cute little lighted trees shown on the front cover of the flyer. We got the last ones. Life is very good!

By the time we finished at Lowes, we could not fit one more item in my CRV. It was stuffed to the gills!! Grambug and I even had to leave the boxes that our trees came in in the parking lot at Lowes... My sweet CRV was more stuffed than Mr. after Thanksgiving dinner!!

The best part of the day:
We got most of our Christmas shopping done.
We were home by 8:15am.
We didn't break the bank!

Black Friday

Hey!
Christmas is right around the corner. Don't squawk! You know you want to start early this year.

When I used to live in the city, I got the Sunday paper because it was chock full of those wonderful store ads. My favorite paper was the one we got on Thanksgiving Day because it had all the adds for Black Friday in it. Well, now I live in the sticks and I guess they think that we are illiterate out here, because we can't get the paper. Well, let me rephrase that. We can get the paper, but only on Sunday and it comes without the ads. What is the point of getting an empty Sunday paper. How can I plan my shopping without those lovely little ads?

Well, I just found out about this really cool site black friday ads. You can click on there and leave your email address. They will send you the ads for all the goodies that are going to be on sale the day after Thanksgiving! You don't need the paper!! OR you can click on the merchant of your choice and see what is going to be on sale. It's a shopper's dream!!

This year, after many years of only shopping online for Christmas, I might just have to get those ads, put them in my hot little fist, and head off to our brand spanking new Target shopping center! I've just clicked on the Target button and the list of sale items looks pretty promising - I see a couple of things for #1 and a couple of things I might want for myself...

I'm off to click the other stores.
I think you should click, too!

When the kids are away...

The mom goes shopping!!
Yes, I do! Yesterday I went to the rug outlet and purchased two new rugs. One for the dining room and one for the living room.
Today, after my Jazzercise class, I'm going to purchase the paint for the dining room.

Why would I paint when the children are gone?
Besides the obvious - that it is easier without ten million interruptions...
I have no choice.
The rug is burgundy and black. The walls are 80's pink. My SIL is coming to visit in a couple of weeks and we are going to be gone one of those weeks...
I work much better under pressure...

Oh and I can't paint tomorrow because I'm going shopping to my all time favorite store... IKEA!! So, I'll be painting today - like this afternoon. If you need me... you know where to find me... Yup.. the dining room.

Plan? What Plan?

Did you ever plan out a Saturday and then find out that your plan is not going to work?

I had planned to take the children to their Jazz lesson, then continue on to town and have #1 fitted for his tux. While #1 was getting fitted, I was going to look for a ball gown for LLB. After that, I had planned on a quick stop at the local Wmart for a couple stupid things.

You know what I'm doing now?
I'm dropping the children at Jazz and continuing on to town by myself. I'm stopping in at the local Wmart to pick up my couple stupid things and a gift card. If I have time, I'm stopping at the formalwear shop to see if they have any clearance gowns for LLB. (I'm umm... frugal, remember?). I'll run back to Jazz to get the cherubs. On the way home, I'll drop #1 at his friend's house for a birthday party. I'll bring LLB home, she'll eat and change. I'll drive her to her friend's house for the afternoon.

Do you see a tux fitting in there anywhere? No... Me neither... I'll have to do that this week - before Wednesday. Why before Wednesday? The coupon expires on Wednesday. (I told you I was frugal... okay cheap!)

She's a Zero

I took LLB to get some pants with legs long enough to go past her ankles. It was a sorry sight around here for a while! Those poor little scrawny ankles peeking out from the bottom of her jeans. They were calling to me, "Ladybug, please, it's cold! Get this child some new pants!! We're turning blue down here!!"

I originally thought she'd make it to the warm weather and I could hold off purchasing new jeans/pants until fall. Those blue ankles got to me. I couldn't take it!

We went to our neighborhood Kohls and hit the sale rack. Hmmm... what size? Grambug suggested 0 and 1. They looked about right. Grambug and I found every size 0 and 1 and piled it on top of a cart. LLB kept saying, "That's enough... No more... Really, that's enough." We didn't listen to her, we just kept piling. When we were sure she couldn't see over the top of the cart - or around it for that matter, we told her she could go try it all on.

Yes, we are cruel.
Yes, we helped her.
She must have tried on 25 pair of pants in sizes 0 - 3.

I never knew who wore a size 0. Now I do. LLB wears a size 0. She has no butt, no hips and legs up to her neck. Women who tell you they wear a zero - they lie - they have erased the 1 in front of the 0. There is no way anyone who has any curves whatsoever, could squeeze themselves into those pants!

But I digress...

We walked away with 4 pair of pants, 2 blazers, and 4 or 5 turtleneck sweaters for her, 2 pair of cords for the Mr., and 4 pair of jeans for the boy - oh and a pair of pants for me for less than $150. I think we did okay.

When I went to put her things in her closet I noticed that it was pretty full. I went through it and removed all the things that don't fit anymore. I have started listing the good stuff on ebay if any of you are interested. You can check it out here.

I've got so much stuff that I'll be listing some more today and tomorrow as well... Most of it is LLB's Hanna Andersson stuff. I'm so sad to see it go, but... she's growing up. I'll have to put on my big girl panties and deal, I guess...

It Pays to Shop the Garden Center at Christmas

I suppose you are all wondering where I have been...

I've been busy wrapping gifts, getting ready for our Open House tonight, shopping, and today - yes today - I went to Home Depot.

I have another HD escapade to tell you about.

Grambug and I inspected our lawn outside our new entrance area and discovered that it was a little on the soggy side after two days of rain. Not only is it soggy, it's muddy. Mud here isn't brown it's red and it stains everything. I know that red is a Christmas color, but I really don't want it all over my rugs.

We decided that we should go to HD and get some pavers to set on top of our grassy mud. We headed out. It is a gorgeous sunny day here - about 65 degrees. It's not as hot as it was the last time I went to HD, but... It sure felt like it after a while...

We arrived at our favorite HD and grabbed one of those pull carts - the kind with the wagon handle that you can actually steer. We figured that since each paver weighed about 32 lbs and we needed 15 that maybe we should be able to steer the cart. Bowling for patrons is fun, but not this close to Christmas - we didn't have enough cash for the pavers AND bail money.

We select our pavers... We notice that there are 20 left. We need 15. We can immediately see that 3 are cracked. We definitely don't want those... We decide to stop looking and start loading. The pavers are located under a huge shelving unit. They are towards the back. Of course they are. Okay. I crawl under the shelving unit grab the first one. OMG! That sucker was heavy. I scootch myself out and try desperately not to give myself a concussion on the shelving unit while I attempt to stand up with this 32 lb paver. Lord knows if I drop it on my foot, I'll be in a cast for 6 weeks or more!

Grambug helps me set it on the cart. The cart didn't roll away - write it down!! We get the next 3 and all of a sudden I notice that we are both panting and sweating. Such an attractive thing to be doing... I take off my jacket. Yup, I'm stripping in the HD garden section. I grab the next few - one at a time. Did you know that with each paver we pick up they get heavier? The sign said they all weighed the same, but I don't believe it. Oh yes, and with each paver we get we have to crawl further and further into the shelving unit. I had Grambug all the way in there at one point. It's a good thing she's short! She said, "Are you going to blog about this?"
"Umm... Yup."
"Thought so." She wipes her brow...

So, we get the cart loaded with 15 pavers. We are sweaty. Our hands are red from the dye they use to make the pavers red. I don my jacket. I'm a dribble of sweat, but don't want to lose my favorite jacket.

I grab the handle of the cart and pull. Nothing happens. I sigh. I set my feet and pull. It starts to roll. "Gee, I wonder if I can stop this thing if I have to", I think to myself. Grambug says, "Here, I'll help you pull." Then I notice that we are hauling this 500 lb load up hill. What?? HD has hills in the garden center? Who knew? So there we are... struggling with this stupid orange cart... BTW - we can't stop it if we have to...

We approach the door to the main store. I pray that it opens in time... It glides open and what do we see? Two really nice HD associates. They looked like angels to us when they offered to help us. They were strong and fresh. They took our cart and hauled it to the cashier. I tossed money at Grambug and ran to get the car. I knew they wouldn't let a little old lady struggle alone with that cart...

When I pulled up, one of the associates dragged out the cart and even helped me load the pavers into the car. It definitely pays to shop in the garden center at Christmas with your resident Grambug...

We got home and Grandpa helped me unload the pavers right onto our grassy muddy spots. There was one that was a little wabbley. LLB got a small stone to keep it from rocking. As I jumped on the paver to make sure it was set, I cracked it. All that work and I cracked one! UGH! I'm stronger than I thought!!