Retro Friday

If I keep "Retro" in the title, it maintains that feeling of continuity which would have come from a scheduled weekly post, right?

Anyway, the next installment of, "I have nothing else to write so I must rely on my former blogging glory days instead."

"Saturday, July 09, 2005

I don't understand when they write on the road something like 'School X-ing Ahead' and they write it bottom to top so it reads 'Ahead X-ing School,' assuming you'll read it as you come across the words. Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I ALWAYS start at the top. So, even if I can't see the first word right away, I kind of collect all the words in my head so I can read them in sequential order. So it drives me NUTS when they write upside down. Especially when the words are spaced really close together, so you're less inclined to read them in the order in which they intended. Anyway, these are the things that really bother me. The world could be falling apart around me, and I get annoyed at the writing on the road. Welcome inside my head."

Retro Wednesday

I won't bother re-posting the totality of my entry for September 30, 2005, but I wanted to share this one part with you because of the complete irony and naivete involved . . .

"I must admit, I don't understand facebook. And before I get condescending comments telling me just HOW facebook works, let me rephrase, I understand how to USE it, I DON'T understand its appeal. Besides the fact that it's fun to see old high school classmates on-line, that's all we get to do: see pictures, read a few things and that's it. Okay, that was fun . . . Whatever."

Oh, how simple I was.

In other news, re-reading posts from days gone by is like re-living the whole beginning of my relationship with my husband - because that's where it all blossomed, folks, right there on our blogs. I have to admit, it kind of gives me butterflies all over again.

Too sweet ;)

Retro Tuesday (or Whatever)

I have to admit, I think it's kind of fun when people have themes for their blogging days. Like, "Wordless Wednesday" and you just know that every Wednesday you'll see a picture. Predictability. It's nice.

But it's not really me.

I'm not such a big fan of being confined to a box or thinking, wow, that would be perfect for Wordless Wednesday - but then having to wait until Wednesday - just not fun.

So, here I am, going through posts from my good old xanga days (which basically document my entire Senior Year of college - sigh - good times) in order to archive them for the future. And I want to share.

So here we go down Memory Lane. I'll re-post some of my favorites whenever I find one I like. And I'll do it on whatever day of the week I darn well please. Because this is my blog. And I can do that.

Up first:

"Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Have you ever noticed that driving is like a dance? It's something I've always marvelled at. I find it so relaxing to just get on the highway and go and be all alone in my car, and yet, strangely connected to everyone else on the road. Where are they going? Do they take this same drive every day, or is this path taking them somewhere new? Is that guy with his car filled to the brim moving toward something great or is he just glad to finally get away from whatever it is he's leaving behind? Whatever reason we all find ourselves on the road, there we are, connected for a brief moment in time. Have you ever thought about it? As previously mentioned, it's always appeared to me kind of like a dance: slowing down, speeding up, merging right, or left, each car expertly maneuvering around the others to find himself where he's most comfortable, at the speed he's most comfortable. And then, of course, there's always that idiot with no rhythm that just can't dance to save his life, messing up everyone else. But besides that guy, it's all just a beautiful thing to me. And thus it relaxes me. And I'm sure none of this makes any sense to you. I'm sure you find it all very disturbing. I'm sorry. I'll shut up now 'All the world's a stage/And all the men and women merely players' - William Shakespeare"

You Fill My Heart With Gladness

I was extremely excited today to hear the doorbell ring and see my amazon.com box waiting on my tiny front porch with two of these inside:


So excited was I that I promptly (and by promptly I mean after washing them, then feeding myself and precious one lunch and then putting said child down for a nap so I could get to serious business without interruption) tore the recipe off the packaging, whipped out my Pampered Chef mixing bowls and got busy making my very own mini donuts which required no frying in bad-for-me oil (we're focusing on the lack of frying rather than the presence of delicious chocolate goodness topped with glaze). Let's just say the sight of 24 tiny donuts emerging from the oven filled my heart with happiness. So I popped two sugar-coated delights in my mouth and headed happily off to the dentist (seriously).

PS These pans which currently fill me with such joy actually came to me completely free of charge thanks to my amazon gift cards earned through swagbucks.com - so there is further reason to smile!

Party Like a Feline

I discovered something very sad today. I live in a world where products such as a "party mix" for cats actually exists. Because you know, those frisky felines get a little feisty when the chips and punch run out - it's always good to have a little extra party mix on hand. And don't be fenced in by the generic "party", either. Feel free to branch out and party at the beach, at a picnic, by the grill or, yes, even in the wild west. Because we all know that's where the cool cats are.

It honestly makes me sad that the feline world is obviously so much more social than I that they require their own multiple varieties of party food.

The Best Job in the World

I love being a mom. Yes, it is challenging, but I fall more in love with my daughter every day, and just as many before me have stated, it feels like each stage of my baby growing up is even better than the last (no matter how much I wish she could stay this little forever).
These are my favorite things about having a toddler - specifically MY precious toddler - in random order:
- I can tell her to go get her shoes or go to the car and I get a "soos" or "ka" in response as she toddles off in the right direction. Oh the freedom of no longer being permanently attached in order to get her anywhere. Also, hearing her repeat the commands is just darn cute.
- All it takes is a game of peek-a-boo to go from a grumpy, fingers-in-the-mouth glare to an all-out giggle.
- I can ask for a kiss and, if she's feeling generous, I will get a wonderfully wet lip smack.
- Witnessing her random displays of newly gleaned abilities never ceases to amaze me - like when she points to a picture of an ear, says, "Eee" and grabs her own, without any prompting. Simply incredible.
- The requirements of entertaining a toddler are remarkably similar to the skills of doing the same for a puppy. Ball + repeated throwing = endless enjoyment for all.
- There's actually help for picking up her toys at the end of the day - and for doing other household tasks, such as putting away laundry. And this help is so much more eager than that of any adult, albeit a little OVEReager at times.
- Being greeted with a ginormous grin, excited squeal and dash for a hug when picking her up from anywhere - church nursery, baby-sitter, etc. - never gets old.

There are many more things I love about my amazing little girl, but I don't want to bore you. Suffice it to say, unlike much of America right now, I have a lot of job satisfaction.

Look at me, I can price match!

As you may have noticed, I am an avid money-saver. I do the whole bit - coupon binder, searching on-line for coupon match-ups and carefully watching for the supermarket ads. I am certainly a compulsive bargain-hunter. As such, I typically rely on the blogs of other moms who put much more effort than I do into the process and borrow their deal ideas. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a deal this week that was unadvertised on any blog but certainly stoked my frugal embers.

Here's what I did to get Toy Story and Toy Story 2 on Blu-Ray/DVD for the price of the free movie tickets which are included with the movies:

1. I'm a member of Disney Movie Rewards - a free program I highly recommend. If you own Disney movies you most likely have multiple codes laying around inside your movies which are like gold to earn you free stuff - so join! But on top of that, DMR currently allows members who want to upgrade their copies of Toy Story to print coupons to help them with this. Therefore, this deal only works if you have old copies of these movies. If you have them, go to DMR and enter the UPC codes as a "Magic Code" - this won't get you any DMR points, but it will allow you to print a $10 coupon toward an updated copy. You can do this for each movie - two movies, two coupons!

2. Toys R Us has these new releases on sale this week for $16.99 each if you buy both. I had to price match this at Wal-Mart because we have no Toys R Us here. It was my first price-matching experience and I was a little scared. But, with a little effort, it worked!

3. After coupons, each movie cost only $6.99! And, as mentioned, each includes a free ticket to see Toy Story 3 this summer - which would have cost me more than $6.99! (Also they're each worth 125 DMR points!).

Now I understand there has to be a perfect storm of events for this deal to work for others (owning the originals and having a Toys R Us or their ad within proximity) - but if you can work it, do it!

To say that I'm a little proud at having discovered a price-matching deal like this all on my own and having it work out - well, that's an understatement and God and I will deal with my pride in a bit - but even so I wanted to share what I found just in case any of my friends could take advantage. Who am I to deprive others of an awesome deal? ;)

(PS Be aware that because this relies on the sale at Toys R Us, the transaction needs to be done by this Saturday to work for this price. OK - I'll leave you alone now.)