Deal of the Day

I love, love, love deals.  I jokingly say that my favorite word is 'CLEARANCE' or better yet, the word 'FREE'!  My kids have slunk low down in the seats of the van so that no one can see them when I have stopped & grabbed something along the edge of the road.  I'm not one of those people who pick up stuff just because it's sitting there along the road.  I grab it if it's something I can use.  For example - you know those round-spinning-chip-displays that they have at convenience stores?  The tall tower-like ones that hold about 100 individual bags of chips?  Well, I found one of those along the road, slammed on the brakes & jammed it in the back of the van.  I use mine to hold scrapbook supplies so I can see them.  I had just been looking at those cool spinning towers that hold stuff & didn't want to pay what they wanted.  This works great & was FREE!!!

This past weekend, the Princess & I made a thrifting trip.  We stopped at some local thrift stores to check them out.  I was primarily looking for dessert plates, bowls  & serving pieces for my set of Christmas dishes.  About 9 years ago King Turd bought me a whole set of Christmas dishes, just because I had said I had always thought it would be fun to have some.  He surprised me - such a mush.  Anyhoot, they have been well 'loved' and the snowman image has faded & worn off.  So I thought I'd look for new ones.  Found plates last year at Goodwill for $1 each, a Debbie Mumm set put out by Oneida.  Then a month or so ago I found the coffee mugs to match.  I figured that I might find more as thrift stores put out Christmas items.  Well, didn't find the dishes, but I did find alot of other things.

First we stopped at Volunteers of America, nothing much there, so we moved along to Lilly's Consignment Shop.  Lilly's has been in business for over 25 years.  They have nice clean clothing & household items there.  The Princess was looking for new jeans.  While she was trying some on, I went exploring.  I found an Eldreth Pottery Nativity Set for $19.  It matches my Salt-Fired Santa Collection.  The Princess found 3 pairs of jeans



                           

for $8 each, she was happy.  We moved on from there & headed to Goodwill.  Talk about 'Deal of the Day', we made a 'killin'!  On the way I mentioned to The Princess that she might want to look for a dress for Prom, since they sometimes have brand new dresses for $15 or so.  Then she mentioned that 'Semi' was going to be in December & she'd like to go.  So we decided to look for a dress for that.  We found a beautiful halter-style dress that was mid-calf length for $9.  I can't wait to take pictures of her all 'dolled up'.  Then we moved over to housewares & toys (we're always on the lookout for legos for the Lego King).  We found 2 wooden stools with woven-grass seats for $3 each.  Then we found 6 ladderback kitchen chairs with rushed seats - $4 each!!!  Sweet!!!

I love finding deals that make my home & family comfortable.  I've been pretty picky about what comes into the house in the past couple of years.  Having that yard sale this summer opened my eyes even more to the crap that is brought in vs. the crap taken out.  I haven't grabbed stuff 'just because',  I've tried to only pick up stuff to make our life better and bring us joy.  Not to stuff ourselves or our home with possessions.  I continue to toss & sort & declutter as I go.  It's a work in progress, I'm just careful as to which Deal of the Day I purchase.

What is your best Deal of the Day?

Bye!  Love you!  Have a good day, Dear!

BFF Road Trip

About a month & a half ago my BFF, Kathy, and I went to a little shop about 45 minutes away to get custom necklaces made using coupons I had purchased from Groupon.  We got a call that they were ready & so WE were more than ready for another road trip.  It was a beautiful day today in the mid-50's.

Kathy's was finished & it has three silver disks in graduating size that say "Faith, Courage, Strength" then she had a Swarovski 'ruby' crystal at the top.  So pretty & it fits her personality.  I got a brass disk with a copper swirl on top.  The swirl says 'My love...My life...My soul...' and the brass disk has King Turd's & my Anniversary date on it.  The brass disk was supposed to be in a 'Fancy' font & swirl was supposed to be a 'block' font', unfortunately they were both done in 'block'.  So the brass disk has to be redone.  I guess another road trip is in the works.  Hopefully without snow - but once we hit December, yeah right.

I can't tell you how many Christmas shopping trips that Kathy & I have been on where the weather has started out beautiful & then by the time we start to come home there is a blizzard.  One year it was so bad it took me almost 2 hours to get home - generally a half hour trip.  The snow was so deep in spots that I literally pushed snow with the bumper of my car.  No cell phones back then either.  It never failed.

Last year was one of the only years that it wasn't too bad.  We had a little snow, but not much.  I think God has smiled on us & knows that we're not as young as we used to be.  And us getting caught in a snowstorm would not be as much fun.

Our friendship has been such a blessing. We've known each other since college.  Kathy has been there with me for the birth of all three of my kids.  Through thick & thin.  I was thinking today that other than my relatives, she & I have had the longest standing relationship!  One that, even when we've been away from each other, feels like we just spoke to each other a day or so ago.

Do you have a 'blessing' like Kathy in your life?

Bye!  Love you!  Have a good day, Dear!

Random Thoughts

This past weekend seemed so random.  Just the things that we did & the stuff that went on.  My thoughts have seemed random too.  In no particular order:

The Princess & I were on our way to town & we saw a hawk flying over a nearby field.  I pulled over to the side of the road to watch.  Usually it's a red-tailed hawk that we see around here.  This one was a Northern Harrier instead.  A distinctive black helmet & a rust colored chest, black & white striped tail-feathers.  It was so beautiful.  We watched it catch something & drop it.  Then circle back around only to lose it in the hay field.

Stopped at our one of our local grocery stores.  With a $25 purchase, you could get a frozen turkey for 48 cents/pound.  I was able to get a 14# turkey.  Usually I get a giant one, but the smaller size will work for a family meal with plenty of leftovers that WON'T go to waste.

Bigfoot and my future DIL came over for his belated 21st birthday celebration.  Made his favorite meal - Cheeseburger Rice.  I tried to make a vegetarian version for her using tofu crumbles.... Epic Fail.... Everyone but the Lego King tried a bite... we all agreed that it's best I not make that again.  I told her she'd be my vegetarian guinea pig.  Her reply was 'Uh oh.'.... lol  They brought me flowers to suck up for Bigfoot being a big dork & not calling me to say he'd gotten engaged.  I've forgiven them.  Besides they say it will be a loooooong engagement.

Last night the Lego King threw up.  Thankfully it was a half day today at school (even though I was supposed to be there the whole day for training) and he won't have missed much.  King Turd was home today, but this morning he had a doctors appointment.  By the time he got back there was about an hour left of school - so it wasn't really worth it for me to go in.

In the meantime, my mother (aka Nana-Next-Door) planned my afternoon for me.  Remember when we had the pool put in?  Well we had to fill in around the edges with dirt.  My mother had had some work done & they brought her a truckload of topsoil.  She decided that today - this afternoon to be exact, would be the perfect day to move that dirt.  Since the Lego King was sickly & King Turd has to leave-out tonight & was sleeping, that left the Princess & me to do it.  We hooked the trailer to the car & off we went - twice... to my mothers & filled it up with dirt & then brought it up here & filled in around the pool.  The plus side is that it is done.... the annoying side is that my mother is 'still the boss of me'.... *sigh*  Does that ever really change?

My best friend Kathy & I started a new club.  It's called the Dumb Daughter's Club.  You can only join if your mother says you can do something & then tells you you're doing it all wrong.  We decided that the cheer should go something like "Bad Girls, Bad Girls......."  We're working on a t-shirt design....

I went out to 'stand' the dogs this afternoon.  I had to put them on a leash because we smelled a skunk & I'd rather just smell skunk-stink on a skunk and not on my dogs or cat.  While I stood out there I watched one of the biggest flocks of Canadian Geese I have ever seen fly over.  There literally had to be a good 2,000 geese.  It was amazing.  The flock had to have been almost a mile long.  So cool.  Saw a small flock of robins too.  I think they're on their way to visit my friend Catherine down in Texas.

Thunder & Lightening storms in November - pouring rain.... so very, very thankful for a new roof!

One last random thought.  A friend of mine is writing something that she's grateful for each day until Christmas.  I was wondering if I could do that for a whole year.... I'm sure I could.... but that leads to the next question... am I on the computer every day?  In order to do one for every day?

What do you think?  Do you think you could be grateful for something EVERY DAY for a year?

Bye!  Love you!  Have a good day, Dear!