Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Eeeeek!

My friend Mad Scientist has gone back to school to get her Masters. She is teaching school, going to school and keeping her family running smoothly. I am so proud of her!!! But, the other day she said something that just freaked me out. We where taking a long drive for a field trip and chatting happily when she mentioned how much her kids miss having more of her time, especially her son Absent-Minded Professor.
Mad Scientist is almost finished with classes for this semester. She told me that her first weekend without homework, she plans to spend the whole day at home. "We'll stay in our pajamas and watch movies and not brush our teeth..." she said. Not brush teeth!?! Aaaaaagh!
We all have our little quirks and this just happens to be mine. I could go (and have gone) a couple of days without a shower. I could easily spend an entire week in my pajamas (okay, let me just be honest and say an entire lifetime). I could live without brushing my hair or wearing deodorant if I absolutley had to. But to not brush my teeth...I cannot begin to describe how deeply that thought disturbs me.
I have to go brush my teeth now.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Follow Me!

Oh cool! I have followers. Only two, but still. I also have a little tag that says "manage". Followers I can mamage at the click of a button!? BwaaaaHaaaaHaaaa!

I need more followers!!! Follow me!!! BwaaHaa!

Sweet!!!

I am a girl who enjoys nice things. However, I am also a girl of Swedish descent. This means that encoded in my DNA is a virulent form of frugality. Some people might go so far as to say I am cheap. I would beg to differ because I have relatives who would make the pre-visitation Ebenezer Scrooge seem positively wasteful.
I am careful about what I spend because it is the wise thing to do, especially these days. Also, saving money wherever I can means I have extra money for the things that cost more. Some things are just worth the money. (Girl trips with my BFFs - absolutely worth it!!!)
I have to confess that I get a ridiculous high from scoring a really wonderful bargain. I remember these for years. It's like a treasure hunting adventure for me. One of my all time best deals was paying $20 for an evening gown that was originally priced at $298. And it was a gorgeous dress! (The store was changing owners.)
So, this week I was at the Goodwill store looking for items for Prince Charming's Halloween costume. And just so you know...Halloween store gangster (not gangsta') costume -$39.99.
Goodwill store boys' pinstripe suit - $4. I always make a tour of the store because you never know what you will find. And there, at the end of the rack of ratty looking wool coats and pleather jackets, I saw it. A very cute leather jacket. It is gold and cut like a denim jacket. Classic and perfect for evening. And, because I make it my business to know these things, I can tell you that this particular jacket is from a private label collection available at Saks Fifth Avenue. The original price of this jacket would have been at least $300. I paid 8 bucks!!! Sweet!
Also, my mother will be haunting my dreams to reprimand me for revealing what I paid for stuff. She was Swedish and frugal, but also very Southern. Discussing what one paid for something is, and I quote, VULGAR.
But still...I totally scored!!!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Tragedy

I broke my Crock Pot this evening. I dropped the lid and it hit the crockery part and broke it. None of the pieces got in the food, thank goodness! There was much weeping and nashing of teeth. I have an unnatural attachment to my Crock Pot, but it isn't quite as bad as this. I love her blog. I love what I have made using her recipes. I love that she tells how to make caramel apples using a Crock Pot. I especially love that she once used her Crock Pot to soak her feet.
Tomorrow, after I torture my children for their laundry infractions, I will be buying myself a new Crock Pot. I can't imagine life without one!

Justification

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, The Saint and I could do all of our laundry in one day. Then we had a child. This teeny, tiny 3 pound cherub easily tripled our laundry. Babies are deceptively yummy smelling. They are rather dirty little critters. So, of course, we had another baby. As our babies grew, so did the laundry. And to the regular laundry was eventually added volleyball uniforms, cheer uniforms, basketball uniforms, football uniforms (which are extremely dirty!) and cross country/track uniforms plus running clothes for training. And, in case you have never done a runner's laundry, let me just tell you that enough mud to create a new planet will end up plastered on the runner's socks, shorts and shirt. Muddy running clothes make football uniforms look pristine.
At this point in my life, I must do a minimum of three loads of laundry a day. If I do not, the laundry will eat the house. Last week I neglected the laundry and it was beginning to demand I set a place for it at the table, so I have been playing catch up all week. My darling children's role in all of this is to bring their clothes downstairs every morning. Yes, I realize I am cruel and unreasonable, but since they are bringing themselves downstairs I heartlessly expect them to bring clothes with them.
At about ten this evening I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Three loads left! I went upstairs, looked at my precious sleeping boy and opened his closet to hang up some clean clothes. Guess what I found! Dirty clothes. A big, honkin' pile of dirty clothes. I snarled and growled and took the clothes to the laundry room. It then occurred to me that none my laundry this week had included Little Runner Girl's cheer uniform. Back upstairs to peek in her closet. Sure enough...she also had a giant pile of dirty clothes. Ggrrrrrrrr!
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my children had a total of seven (yes!!! freakin' seven!!!! no, I am absolutely not kidding and I have a large capacity washer and drier) loads of laundry stuffed in their closets. Half of it was probably clean clothes that they never put away. I do believe that in most states this is grounds for justifiable homicide.
P.S. In case you are a random lurker with no sense of humor, I am kidding about killing my children. But they are so grounded.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Just Call Me June

As in Cleaver because I am totally posting about a cleaning product. I am completely infatuated with Mrs. Meyers Clean Day dish soap. I picked up a couple of free samples the other night and let me just tell you...this stuff smells really good. Clean, but in a completely unchemical way. I used the Basil today and will use the Lemon Verbena tomorrow. I can hardly wait to try some of the other stuff.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

In Which I Reveal That I Am an Old Lady

Today I went to Kroger for groceries - and let me just stop right here and confess that I do not actually say Kroger. I say Krogers because I am Southern and thus compelled to add S to the names of stores. Krogers. JC Penneys. Barnes and Nobles. I am happy to report that I do not say Walmarts. I'm not a complete hick!
Back to Krogers. Kroger. Whatever. Naturally, I get a brand new check-out chick. She can barely operate her register and is very busy flirting with the bag boy. Check-out chick starts ringing up my groceries and tossing them on the conveyor. I have no problem with her tossing boxes of pasta and cereal but then she tosses a bag of apples (which cost a ridiculous amount of money! Have you seen the price of apples lately!?) I ask her to please stop tossing the produce. She giggles, says "Oh, yeah, sorry" and literally drops the bag of tomatoes she is holding. They land with a splat. Bag boy thinks this is hilarious and puts them in my bag. I send Little Runner Girl to go get new apples and tomatoes. Bag boy starts loading stuff into the cart. He brilliantly puts bags of canned goods on top of the bag with the tomatoes and a bag with grapes. I talk to the twelve year old with Manager written on her name tag. She says "Y'all be careful" and goes about her business. Check-out chick and bag boy think this is the funniest thing ever. Grrr...
Call me an old fogey, but once upon a time checkers and baggers were trained in how to handle groceries properly. And they had some clue that their paychecks depended on customers.
Ah, the good old days...

Goodbye, Dawn Bicker

I feel better having vented in a post about this woman. I still don't approve of her behavior, but a friend reminded me that stooping to her classless level isn't really the thing to do. My Mama would have said "Don't wallow in the mud with that pig".

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Irrelevant Whining

I'm sick. My head hurts, my throat hurts, my back hurts, my eyes hurt and my stupid nose is simultaneously running and stopped up. Bleeeehhhhhh!