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Archive for July, 2012

Root canal. Garden Progress. Coupons.

July 28th, 2012 at 06:59 pm

I can't believe I didn't mention in addition to all the other stuff bugging me I also need a root canal and a crown.

What I find funny is that since I forgot to mention it, all the other things I listed must bother me more than a root canal!!!

I have no idea how much that will end up costing.

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Our garden looks like a jungle right now everything is large and green and blooming. I've been giving zucchini away. My lemon cucumber plant has about 20 flowers on it. I can't wait for those! Lots of baby, green tomatoes and flowers on the tomato plants.

Unfortunately, this morning I had our chickens out and they dug around my carrots. The Muscovy duck ate some of the carrot tops, a baby bell pepper and the beet tops! Grrr.. I'm pretty sure it was him; he is more of a veggie eater, while the hens do more digging and pecking.

The carrots might come back, but the beets are gone. Frown

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Our local Safeway store moved into a new renovated space on Friday. It's in the same location, just moved from one end of the shopping center to the other. Because of this they have mailed out a bunch of coupons. One sheet is $10 off on $50 spent to be used once a week for the next four weeks. There are also many FREE item coupons. Smile
I'll be shopping tomorrow morning so I'll be using all the coupons I can.

I'm Here, but Frustrated and Cranky

July 28th, 2012 at 05:07 am

Have been keeping busy. Most of my online time has been spent looking at dogs or reading posts about the book series "A Song of Ice and Fire" (aka Game of Thrones). It's been my decompression time to go visit the fantasy world. I've been reading too. Some short stories, magazines and a small novel. All very entertaining and a pleasant distraction.

I've been feeling very frustrated and tired. That doesn't make me feel particularly bloggy. I find frustration very energy draining. Plus, my personality is to "fix it" and find resolution, so frustration makes me cranky.

One of the biggest frustrations started last weekend when we had a home visit by a German Shepherd rescue volunteer. He thought we were great, everything great for us to adopt a dog, except our back fence is about 1.5 feet too low for his liking. His point is that a dog might see something over the fence and just take off after it. Okay, fine a valid point, except that another 1.5 feet isn't going to stop that "type" of dog. Not to mention we are NOT looking for a hyped-up, fence jumping dog. We've had multiple family and friend's dogs in the yard and none have ever jumped the fence, not even the excited ones. Let me also say that over our back fence is just the neighbor's back yard and it is 100% fenced as well. Rolleyes

We are planning to replace all of our fencing in the yard. DH and I agreed we'd do sections. We replaced the front bit by our garage about two years back. The back section is next on the To Do list, but we weren't going to do it until October or even early 2013. We want to remove a large'ish pine tree and a shed before the new stretch of fence goes in. So that's a time commitment not even to mention the MONEY commitment! *sigh* *sigh* *sigh*

This all would be fine if I had all the time in the world but, I really want to get another dog before anything happens to "Maxx". Plus, "Maxx" will be a great "role model" for a new dog to learn from. And the rescue has a very sweet girl who will likely end up being adopted before our fence is ready.

Sure we could buy a puppy, and believe me I'm looking, but then that costs money. Money that could just go to the fence and a rescue dog.

All this makes me frustrated and sad..

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More frustration is the never-ending stream of money out!

We bought the flower girl/junior bridesmaid dress (for the upcoming friend's wedding) thru Amazon. It was $54.

DH bought a dress shirt, slacks and a tie for the wedding. That was $98.

Staying in a hotel the night before the wedding. $67. It's a Motel 6, but it's newer and looks really nice. I am opting to not drink more than one glass of champagne at the wedding just so I can drive home that evening at we won't have to pay for a second night.

DH is redoing his EMT certification. $250 at our local junior college.

Reserved/paid for our camping spot and a boat dock for the time we're there. (Okay, not feeling too bad about that, but still $$)

And bills.. BLAH!

Somehow our water usage skyrocketed last month? Like 1.5X last month? I think it's got to be a mistake, like they misread the meter or maybe haven't read it in several months. The past three months have been all the same, and pretty low for summer usage. The other issue could be we've got a leaking underground pipe.

And I HATE our cell bill.. DH and the Frickin' iPhone! Stupid smart phone needs the most premium package. My phone is a $20 additional line, but I have a plain, old flip phone and only use like 100 minutes a month. I am really close to switching myself to Ting. I could get a major upgraded phone for myself; the plan savings would pay for my new phone in nine months. Problem for me is parting with all that cash up front for the new phone... Still, I am dangerously close to doing it.

I guess bottom line is:
Frustrated that it takes money to do EVERYTHING!


Thanks for letting me vent. I'm feeling a little better.

Great SA Meet Up and a Crazy Day

July 14th, 2012 at 03:03 pm

Must make a quick post. We have to leave for a wedding soon or else we'll be late.

Yesterday's SA meet-up was WONDERFUL! Big Grin
I had the chance to meet Frugal Texan, Swimgirl, Monkey Mama & Big Monkey and Ray & her DD. I ended up getting to the bakery 45 minutes late due to driving my kids all around the county to drop them off and then getting stuck driving behind an impossibly slow truck for most of the way.

Important lesson: If you're going to meet up be sure someone has your phone number and you have theirs! Wink (I didn't have anyone's number so I couldn't call and tell them I wasn't trying to be a total flake.)

Anyway, I finally made it and just as Swimgirl describes it was like a blind date. The bakery was full of people and I didn't know what any of my SA friends looked like. Of course I was thinking because I was so late they all could have already left. Frown

Thankfully they hadn't. The two women in line in front of me turned out to be FT and MM!! Big Grin Big Grin

I didn't go with the rest of the group to SanFran, I had a crazy busy day ahead of me.

After the meet up I had to rush to work. My boss was waiting for me with a dog to take radiographs on as soon as I walked thru the door. And we just kept hustling all afternoon. My boss never got any lunch because we were slammed. I didn't leave until 6:20pm. I'm not complaining. I love my job and it's great when it's busy.

I met up with DH and DH's friend to shop for the wedding clothes for wedding #2. The wedding where DD and DH are going to be in the wedding party.

We all didn't get home until 8pm. We ordered pizza on the drive home because we had no time/energy to cook. DH's buddy and soon-to-be wife had dinner with us.

After dinner I put together the spinach dip for the wedding we are headed to now and packed for me and DS for the overnight stay at MIL/FIL's house.

*Phew*
I can't wait for Sunday when I can sit and take a breather!

Weddings. Baby Showers. New K9 Family Member?

July 13th, 2012 at 12:59 am

We have two weddings coming up.

The first one is this weekend. DH's cousin. It's a bit of a drive, but looks to be a fun, low-key family get together. It's a potluck and we are bringing spinach dip and bread. I bought a cute card for $2.50 and I am thinking we'll put a $25 gift card inside. Not sure to what yet???

The next wedding is in the first part of August. One of DH's close friends. Going to be a bit more spent on this one because DH is the best man and DD is the flower girl/junior bridesmaid. SO, DH needs a certain vest, tie and a new white shirt. DD needs a dress. We are planning to get the couple a Lowe's gift card as per their wish list. $25 I think I'll buy it thru PlasticJungle.
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And baby showers coming up too..

My BFF has her baby shower the weekend after the second wedding. It's about a four hour drive from my house. I will probably buy her diapers and maybe a cute clearance outfit.

It's likely that we will combine the drive up for the shower with a family camp trip at one of our fav California State parks. It's only an hour'ish from BFF's house.

A girlfriend in my town is having a low-key shower a few weeks later. Probably buy diapers for her.
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Looking into a local rescue for a possible new canine family member.

"Maxx", our Labrador, is doing okay. He is on once daily prednisone for whatever spinal/nerve issue he has. He moves around almost normally while his is on the meds. Other than stumbling around a little bit, he is his normal self. We still want to try some acupuncture treatments for him.

"Maxx" seems lonely without another dog around and I want our next dog to observe "Maxx's" good habits and behavior. Because we don't know exactly what is wrong with him, or how long he'll be with us, I am starting to look for a second dog now.

How Our Garden Grows

July 10th, 2012 at 06:36 pm

The garden is lush and thriving with the beautiful sunny days. We have flowers on the zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes and bell pepper plants. On Saturday we put up a length of plastic fence for the snap peas and green beans to climb. I also placed a few stepping stones between the boxes and hope to get a few more.

@ FrugalTexan: Sorry I didn't post a reply earlier. Spinach is easy to grow. It's like grass. You can plant it in pots or the ground.

DS loves to go and pick spinach leaves and eat them while he is outside playing. He's so cute with his mouth full of green leaves. Big Grin I can't wait to show him how to pick and eat the snap peas when they're ready.


Garden


Peas on the fence


Summer squash flower

200K Miles

July 6th, 2012 at 12:05 am

This just happened this afternoon! Big Grin



My car is a 1999 Nissan Pathfinder.

June's Grocery Spending

July 1st, 2012 at 10:31 pm

Okay, June is over and the official grocery spending was.... *drumroll*

$598

This includes $156 spent on the weekly delivery of organic produce. I am going to reduce our frequency to twice monthly. First, to save money and second because we are getting some fresh food right from our backyard now.

I would have spent $93 less in June if I hadn't gone yesterday (last day of June) to get the $10 off coupon and the movie tickets reward.