Thankful

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful. Thankful is something you should be all year, but this time of year it is stressed. I have many things to be thankful for.

Even if they are a pain in my ass.


I am thankful for...


Mount Laundry

Not a day goes by where I don't have one pile or another of clothes to wash. But every time I trip over one of those piles or leave a trail of socks behind me as I walk down to the laundry room, I am reminded of how thankful I am we are able to all have clothes on our backs. Or the floor.


Skyscrapers of dishes in the sink

Or on the counter. My daughter and I share the responsibility of washing said dishes. If I'm not complaining about the lasagna that burned to the pan and won't come off, then I'm bribing her to actually wash them at a reasonable hour. No matter how much whining and crying I do over those dishes, I am reminded of thankful I am we are able to fill plates with food each and every night.


Children

Whether they are fighting or laughing, I know that they always have and always will love one another. I can't imagine my life without them. It is truly a miracle that the husband and I let them live this long created such beautiful creatures.



Creaky floors and leaky pipes

It is no secret that I hate this house. So many memories have been made here, but most days, it still doesn't feel like a home. Just a house. But no matter how I feel about this house of ours, I am always thankful that we have a roof over our heads.


Alarm clocks

Not a day goes by when I don't want to chuck them into the wall. Yes I said them. This chic loves her sleep! But since one of those alarms is on my phone, which I also love, I resist the urge to throw things at the butt crack of noon dawn. Instead of throwing, I remind myself that hearing my alarms every morning remind me that I am alive. And I am very thankful for that.


Coffee

Do I really need to explain this one?!


***********************

I am taking the remainder of this week off to enjoy a day of good food, followed by a long day of shopping. I hope everyone out there has a happy turkey day.


May you gobble til you wobble!

This is how we do it

I'm sure I've mentioned in the past that I love to shop. For goodness sakes, I have a "Shopaholic" label on more than one post! As much as I love to shop, I also love a good deal. The other night I hit the mother load of good deals.

My midgets went back to school this week. A-fucking-men!! But unlike most of their friends, my kids went back to school with, gasp, old tennis shoes! Major fail on my part, but in my defense, we hit some financial bumps earlier in the month that we are rebounding from. That may or may not be related to that "shopaholic" label I just referred to.


So anyway, let's forget about that bump and continue with my kick ass deal, k?

I took the midgets to Payless. Back to school means a huge buy one, get one half off sale. On everything. I also scored a 20% off my entire purchase coupon.

Each child found a pair of shoes that suits (and fits) them perfectly. Since I had that extra coupon, I though I would get myself a pair of shoes. I resisted the urge to buy yet another pair of boots. Not only would the husband kill me, but none of them had heels. Seriously, where can a girl get a gorgeous pair of sleek black boots with a heel? Sheesh!

While I was looking, my girl found herself a pair of boots. Must be hereditary. The pair she found were the exact ones she wanted last year but could never find in her size. I sent a text to the husband about a budget. Once I had a number, I did the math and we went ahead and grabbed the last pair of those lovely boots in her size. I also grabbed myself some pretty pink tennis shoes and a few extras for my boy.





Let me break down everything in that picture.....

What we could have paid, rounded to the nearest dollar to make the math simple for me...

Boy shoes $14
Girl shoes $15
My shoes $21
Girl boots $37
Umbrella $10
Sunglasses $6

Total $103

That's really not all that bad, but I expected to pay closer to $75 with the discounts factored in.

What I actually paid.....

$50

I was nothing short of stupid excited when I saw that 5 and the 0. Somehow those $37 boots rang up as $14. Maybe it was a glitch, but I surely wasn't going to say a word.


What's the best deal you ever got on something?

Proof that jokers are wild

A while back I won a gift card. Gift cards are my BFF! I love shopping and when someone else pays for it, that makes it even better!

The gift card I won was for an adult site called Pink Cherry. I had never heard of this site so I wasn't sure what to expect.

I browsed through the site trying to decide what they hell to buy for myself. I admit I looked through the toys, but nothing really jumped out at me. I already own a few and believe me, I am quite satisfied with them. So I moved onto lingerie, a growing obsession of mine.

I found this cute little black number that I knew the husband would absolutely love so I added it to my cart. I had a little money left but I wasn't sure what I could get with a few bucks. So I hopped over to the novelties. Maybe I could find some little gag gift that would make the husband laugh. What I found was even better than that! A deck of cards.

I knew my sister-from-another-mister had to have these!

I wasn't there when she opened her package, but believe me, I heard all about those men over the phone. Some good, some really hairy not so much.

When I went to her house a few nights later I was informed that we were breaking in those men. At first they were stiff, which I suppose is better than having them stick together. I will admit that we did have a hard time grasping onto them and a few ended up on the floor. But all in all, it was a good night!

If you're daring and want to see the other side
click away

Things like this remind me to grow old without ever growing up!

Holidays suck

If you're looking for a holly jolly holiday post full of rainbows and unicorns, then you're in the wrong spot. The title of this post should have given that away.

So I'm sorry to disappoint if you're full of holiday cheer. Quite frankly, I am not. What started my Scrooginess were the people who put their Christmas crap out the day after Halloween. Really?! What the hell?! I don't care if the weather is nice. Eat your damn turkeys first people. Part of the "fun" of putting those stupid lights out is doing it in the cold!

Although I will point out that driving around my neighborhood can make you chuckle. A few blocks from me there's a house with a big ass inflatable snowman. Not only was I laughing my ass off at it because it was almost 80 degrees outside, but across the street is a house with an inflatable turkey. Right on, people! Turkeys first!




Enough of my mindless gobble over the damn turkeys. Let's move onto another holiday. This holiday would be Hanukkah. Right here and now I would like to ask every single fucking retailer out there...

Where the hell is your Hanukkah stuff?!?

I'm not Jewish myself, but I do take notice of the lack of Hanukkah stuff. Every. Single. Year!

This year is a little different. A little more stressful. I have family coming in. This coming weekend to be exact. My cousin, her husband, and their new baby. I am beyond excited to see them and finally meet their sweetheart, but I am pulling my hair out over the whole event. That is not the way I want to get rid of the grey that's creeping in.




You see, my cousin is in fact Jewish. I thought it would be a good idea to get her and the baby something for Hanukkah while they were here. It's easier that way. I am too cheap to pay for shipping anyway. And the people at our post office? Assholes!

I have a feeling they do not need another menorah. Plates or napkin rings? Not very personal gifts. And that's about all I have to choose from.

Since I'm all crafty, I thought maybe I could make something. I think there were about as many patterns in my search results as there are gift choices in the stores. Thanks a lot Google!

So where exactly do Jewish people shop for Hanukkah? If I can't figure this out within the next 48 hours, it looks like generic winter themed ornaments are what they'll get.

I need it and I can't have it

Why is it that you never truly want something until you can't have it. Even better than want, you need it! Right now!


This weekend is going to be one of those weekends.

What I want, what I truly need, won't even be in this state. My lover will be 467.77 miles away.

There will be no strutting around in a gorgeous pair of sleek, knee-high black boots. The kind that have just enough of a heel to make your ass look nothing short of perfect. No parading around in that cute little tee. Music? Movies? Won't need them. Ice cream and hot fudge? I may get them, even if I'm not in the mood for them.

4 days. That's what I have to wait before I can get what I want. I am not a patient person! When I want something, I want it now. I am really not happy that I can't travel 467.77 miles to get what I need. In fact I'm downright pissed off about it!

The husband is in Chicago and won't return until Monday night. This is going to be a long, long weekend!



You do realize I'm talking about shopping, right?



Maybe

Walmart - it could drive me to drink!

Thank goodness I made it out alive! Wal-Mart can drive one to drink. Heavily!

While I go defrag, head over and check out some more post-its

I practically stole it

I admit, I love to shop.

Thank goodness we're not rich.

Or maybe that's why we're not.



Anyshop, the best part of shopping when the words sale, deal, or cheap are included. Naturally when the yearly carnival is going on up the street, I am all over that flea market like white on rice!

Last year I found some kick ass brown, lace-up, knee high dress boots. Not only did they look brand new, but they were a buck. Seriously, who in their right mind could pass that up?! Not me!

Sadly this year, I didn't see anything for me. I was kind of hoping for some balls of yarn. I crochet. It's my hobby. Want to see?

No dice, but that didn't stop me from picking up some things. I found a game that the boy has been begging to get since last Christmas.

Wally World's price - $19.87

What I paid - $1

Amazon's price - $49.99
marked down to $9.95

Good deal

But I paid $4!!!

And finally I got this box thingy for my mom. Don't ask me what the technical name is. I have to fucking clue! All I know is she collects these glass boxes that have a hinged lid. I found one at the flea market that screamed

"BUY ME NOW!!!"

On the bottom, you wind it up
and it plays "O Christmas Tree".

I know.
I am awesome!

So what do you think I paid for that beauty? The last time I bought my mom one of those, it was a Santa, maybe 3 inches tall. 40 beans! That hurt the Christmas budget, especially since I said I wanted it before asking what the price was. Oops!

But I didn't break the bank this year! 2 bucks!


For shits and giggles, let's break down the math. We will assume the pillow isn't on sale and the tree is at least 40 bucks.

What I could have spent - $109.86

What I actually spent - $7

The look on my face - Priceless

Damn, I'm good!