Draft 2021

I mentioned in my last post how I initially went a little crazy with the coupons. That may be a slight understatement. You see, when I first started, Target was running a coupon special for 1lb. of free bananas. I discovered that I could print out as many Target coupons as I wanted from Hot Coupon World , and everbody here was on a banana kick anyway. The girls came with me and we'd each buy 1 pound of bananas - and usually only be charged a couple of pennies (it's hard to weigh out exactly one pound of bananas!). Now, the bananas weren't the only items I was buying at Target, so I wasn't making special, single-item trips. I usually did my weekly shopping at least one of the times. At the time their single-size artisan breads were also free with a coupon, as were single-serving Cheerios cups. We went to Target so many times over the next several weeks that I think the sales people recognized us. I know the managers at a couple SuperTargets probably wanted to duck an

I've been working hard at managing our finances this year, but in the last 6 weeks or so I have really ratcheted-up the cost-saving strategies at my disposal. I joined Swagbucks and have earned almost $15 in Amazon gift cards. Likewise, I opened an Amazon rewards Visa and by using it judiciously to pay some of our monthly expenses (and of course paying off the balance each month) I now have $125 in Amazon gift cards. I'm trying to earn enough gift cards to buy Zachary the Kindle he wants for Christmas without having to spend much "actual" money. I've been reading lots of coupon sites and really working store sales. I'll never save as much as some people do on their food budget since I buy very little processed, prepackaged food, but have found that I now typically save 20% to 30% at the grocery store. I spent the last two months building up a stock pile of food and toiletry items, so now I can pick and choose only the best deals. The freezers are full of local

Sometimes there are things you mean to do; I mean, really and truly intend to follow through on, but somehow you just don't quite meet your goals. No, I'm not talking about keeping my exponentially-increasing gray hair under control, though I certainly need to decide what to do about it once and for all.. You see, maintaining the high-lights and low-lights in my hair requires professional dyeing every 5 weeks or so. Add to that a trim and eye brow mowing wax, and we're talking second mortgage here. Or I guess, in my case, third mortgage. Is there even such a thing? But I digress. No, I'm referring to my poor, lonely, post-less blog. It seems that once I got derailed I just couldn't quite climb back up on that horse. How's that for a mixed metaphor? I enjoy writing my blog, even though I don't exactly have a "readership." Just a couple of friends and an occasional relative. So I guess I'm not doing it for an audience. I think I enjoy expr

Um... Yeah.

It's no fun recuperating from surgery. You have to wear goofy medical paraphernalia. Your mom makes fun of you, calling you "AstroDog" and "CosmicCanine." You need help getting up on the furniture because your "lampshade" collar keeps getting caught on the edge of the couch. The doctor makes you wear a t-shirt and its hard to drink out of your water bowl, let alone chew a bone. But worst of all? You have to stay inside and watch all the other dogs get to play.

Wally is in surgery right now. He has age-related fat tumors (hey, don't we all?), one of which could start to make walking uncomfortable. I know he'll be fine, but I can't help but worry about him. He's my Wally-dolly. I love our veterinarian, though. Wally is freakishly scared of the vet clinic and tends to be a fearful dog anyway. Knowing this, they didn't make us drop him off as early this morning as is usual for surgeries. Instead, the office called to let us know when to bring him in. I so appreciate this concern for my honey-dog. And I hope he's okay.

So, we survived. Mostly. Zach is back at school and almost back to full-strength. Sarah is still battling headaches, though the severity has decreased. Now all we have to fear is H1N1. I hear that universities are sending sick students home to recuperate. I'd like to question the fairness wisdom of that medical decision. My oldest son, a senior at a local university, decided to forgo the misery commeraderie of the dorms and live at home this semester. His daily activities take him from a campus full of germ-ridden young adults, to coffee shops, work, and a myriad of volunteer events, not to mention church on Sundays. My oldest daughter is a junior at the local pathogen cesspool high school, mingling daily with perhaps even more greatly germ-ridden adolescents, eating her homemade lunch in a cafeteria (really, how often do they wash those tables?), riding a city bus, and hanging out with theater kids, no less. Youngest daughter, while homeschooled, associates with a much smaller