An Ode to My Daughter on Her 20th Birthday

Today is my favorite Daughter's 20th Birthday.....ok, she is also my ONLY Daughter. ;-)

I can't believe I have 2 kids now who are past their teenage years!
I feel so decrepit.....

Daughter has had a challenging year.
Lots of changes in her life the past 12 months.
School.......What direction to go in life......Health.......her Love Life.......Relating to her Family.....Friends.....Money.
We have been through it all this past year with her!

So on her 20th Birthday, I am looking back over how she....WE got to this day.

• This was the baby who despite a 4 day Blizzard in December of 1992 and a father with the flu, decided she needed to be born NOW!  6 hours to get out of the driveway and to the Hospital.  5 hours after arriving, Daughter made her appearance with one big push.  The doctor almost dropped her.

• This was the baby who didn't want to miss Christmas(presents) by arriving on her due date of Jan. 1st, so she decided to come 3 weeks early.

• This was the baby who was born premature with a hole in her heart, that we had to spend many hours in hospitals having tests done for her first few months of life, until the hole closed up spontaneously.

• This was the girl baby who arrived with little hair(unlike both her brothers who were born with long dark full heads of hair!)and probably still has glue on her scalp from many MANY bows being taped to her head so people would know she was a girl

• This was the baby who resembled Mr. Magoo until she was 6 months old and you have to work VERY hard to get her to smile.

• This was the baby who I could hold in one hand, like a football she was so tiny.

• This was the baby born with the under-developed nervous system who cried for 5 months non-stop.

• This was the baby who HATED having her head touched(still does)and would scream for an hour afterwards if you did.

• This was the baby who caused my brother to nickname me "Slugmama".

• This was the toddler who told me to send her baby brother back after his first 2 weeks home from the hospital.

• This was the toddler who talked rings around her older brother.

• This was the toddler who potty trained quickly and then decided she had had enough of being toileted and went back to diapers.

• This was the toddler who was eventually potty trained again and by my oldest bachelor brother, not her parents.

• This is the toddler who insisted the world was tactile and had to be experienced through touch and taste.  She put everything in her mouth until she went to school(including gravel, which she said didn't taste good but had a pleasing feel to it). She teethed on pork chop bones given to her by her beloved grandmother and she still has to touch everything she sees.

•  This was the little girl who had a special bond and went on "special vacation" with that grandmother.

• This was the little girl who we realized quite young that she was much deeper than most little kids because she said things that sounded like old men philosophers.

• This was the little girl who was the family instigator.

• This was the young girl who almost got asked to leave her parochial school in Kindergarten.

• This was the young girl who almost led a classroom coup and took over teaching her 1st grade class.

• This was the young girl who was painfully shy yet craved attention.

• This was the young girl who I was told had a promising career in....wait for it!.....bowling at a bowling birthday party.

• This was the girl who tested in school at genius levels.

• This was the girl who was accepted into the Gifted Program(even though the one here really had nothing to offer her).

• This was the girl who was too embarrassed by her "unorthodox" mother to have her be the classroom mom.

• Did I mention that she had a really special bond with her Grandmother?  This was the girl who had a hard time after her Grandmother died.

• This was the girl who placed into the C-Mites(it's a Carneige-Mellon program for advanced grade schoolers)for Math and Science.

• This was the girl who was/is the tallest in our family and towers over her siblings.

• This was the girl who was always on every Honor Roll, Honor Society, Special Achievement thing, etc., and got A's with little effort.

• This was the girl who was almost expelled from the public Middle School for being creative and not having any discretion and bad judgement in regard to people.

• This was the girl who felt deeply yet didn't let anyone see her emotions.

• This was the girl who joined the chorus even though she couldn't sing....well.

• This was the girl who took lead roles in Middle School musicals(how did she win them is my question?lol)and got up there and sold her performances. Every. Time.

• This was the teen girl who has had a hard time finding boys who weren't scared of her in her podunk little town.

• This was the teen girl who couldn't wait to get out of here and away from her parents.

• This was the teen girl who had a hard time admitting when she was wrong to anyone.

• This was the teen girl who fought a weight problem, even though she was just chunky and awkward for a few years when puberty hit.

• This was the teen girl who had a hard time sticking with a decision because so many options looked good.

• This is the teen girl who learned the value of a dollar after she got her first job.

• This is the teen girl who went many years avoiding having her picture taken until she got her braces off.

• This was the teen girl who could make an argument over ANYTHING and often did.

• This was the teen girl who we believe missed her true calling in life--to be a trial lawyer.

• This was the teen girl who had a memory like an elephant and if you ever wronged her, she never forgot.

• This was the teen girl who can kick my ass giving answers while watching Jeopardy!.

• This is the teen girl who thought the internet was an acceptable way to find boys to date.

• This was the teen girl who was very VERY challenging to parent and was anything but a normal kid to raise.

And a delivery man brought these to my door this morning.....

 They are from a boy in Louisiana, for my beautiful, fearless, smart, funny Daughter who is 20 today.

I can't wait to see what the next 20 years brings.
Happy Birthday!

Love, Mom

This is Why You Always Get Rainchecks

I still had Gum Qs expiring today, 12/12/12, so I went up to Rite-Aid.
I also had $3 Conair Vibe Brush/Scunci hair items R-A Q(released thru their FB page-The 12 Deals of Xmas).
You can get 1 Q per account/Wellness card/email addy, so I had 2(1 for me, 1 for BIL).

I bought this.....

1 x Conair Vibe hairbrush W/Gold discount=$2.63
2 x Trident Gum on sale $1.00=$2.00
SubTotal.....$4.63

Coupons Used
1 x $3 Conair Vibe hairbrush R-AQ=$3.00
1 x BOGO Trident gum IPQ=$1.00

$4.63-$4.00=$.63 + $.01=$.64
I put the .64¢ on my Rite-Aid gift card.

I paged through the Weekly Sales Flyer again and saw that the flash drives were on sale so I took a stroll over to the "electronic stuff wall".   After seeing signs for stuff % off this week and other stuff giving $5 +Ups when you spent $25.00, I had a crazy idea.
I whipped out my flash drive raincheck I got from the Black Friday sale and then I went about buying more stuff like this......

1 x Hormel Compleats(the hubs likes these for lunches sometimes)on sale=$1.99
4 x Ricola drops on sale 2/$3.00=$6.00
1 x Conair Vibe hairbrush w/Gold discount=$2.63
2 x Pentel Pencils w/Gold discount $3.99=$7.98
2 x Stride gum on sale $1.00=$2.00
2 x Trident gum on sale $1.00=$2.00

2 x SanDisk 8Gb flashdrive reg. $27.99/raincheck price $3.99=$7.98
3 x Magnetix Nail Polish reg. $7.99 clearanced $1.99 ea.=$5.94
SubTotal.....$36.52

Coupons Used
1 x $1/1 Hormel Compleats IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Hormel compleats Load2Card Q=$1.00
1 x $3 Conair Vibe Hairbrush R-AQ=$3.00
1 x BOGO Stride gum IPQ=$1.00
1 x BOGO Trident gum IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total.....$7.00

$36.52-$7.00=$29.52 + .28¢ tax=$29.80

I used $29 in +Ups to pay and put the .80¢ on my gift card.
I got back $24 in +Ups(6 x $1 Ricola, 2 x $4 Pentel, 2 x $5 SanDisk).
And those 3 clearanced nail polishes can be submitted to the SCRebates, so I'll get $6 back for those from Rite-Aid.
Basically, I "spent" $29 and I'll get $30 back(after $6 rebate).
I also have $5.26 tracking toward a $5 +Ups(wyb $10 in Conair/Scuni hair items), so if I buy another $4.76 in items I'll get $5 +Ups, which would make it free.

Those flashdrives are rung into the register first at their regular price and then price adjusted to $3.99, so it must trigger the computer to think I am spending $27.99, thus triggering the $5 +Up Reward.
So I "spent" $3.99 on flash drives and got $5 +Ups back, making them free and giving me a $1.01 profit each....before tax of course.

I had a hunch and it worked out this time.  ;-)
The funny thing is that I also have a line of tracking labeled "$25 Photo Items-$5 +UP and $7.98 spent toward that goal.
$7.98 is what the flashdrives came to, so it looks like this is a Double Dipportunity!  If I found $17.02 more that qualifies, I could get another $5 +Up but I am not even going to try.

There is a Home Improvement Card(it's a Discover Card really)Deal that gives a $10 +Ups back(limit 2 per Wellness card) this week.  I'll probably convert some dollars earmarked for home improvement into a couple of these gift cards/Discover cards and add the +Ups into my stash as a bonus.  I'm loving all the bonus +Ups I can take advantage of this time of year.  It's a way to put some of that spare cash we have sitting around to use.
The local market is doing a gift card Deal too--Buy $100 in any sort of card/denominations and get a $X bonus chit to spend in the grocer's.  I've been buying up gift cards to places we go anyway--Subway, KMart, etc.  Might as well get the Bonus of free groceries if I am going to spend the money at those other businesses anyway, right? ;-)


These trips to Rite-Aid--
OOP....$0.00
Value of items....$118.90
+Ups coming into this trip....$51.00
+Ups used....$29.00
+Ups earned.....$24.00
+Ups at the end.....$46.00

*And here are my MONTHLY TOTALS*
 
GRAND TOTALS FOR DECEMBER so far.......

Out Of Pocket....$0.00  cash
Value of items bought.....$450.12
Savings Rate of  100%
Single Check Rebate due....$8.00
Other Rebates due......$0.00
After SCR applied, Out of Pocket.... $0.00
Savings Rate.....101.78 %

+Ups at beginning of month...$47.00+
+Ups used....$155.00+
+Ups received...$154.00+
+Ups currently...$46.00+  

Sluggy

What Is That I Smell?

Tuesday was all about stinky stuff for me.
There were deals to be had(or so I thought), so I headed out to do some damage to my wallet.
Ok, not toooo much damage since I was after DEALS and I had my trusty coupons in hand.

First stop--Rite-Aid....of course!
My Rite-Aid store doesn't carry any cheap Calgon items, so I went out in search of them at 2 other stores.
I also had BOGO Stride and Trident gum Qs expiring 12/12 to use....

2 x Calgon bath beads BOGO50%($2.99 reg.)=$4.48
2 x Ricola cough drops 2/$3.00=$3.00
1 x Pentel Pencil Gold discount=$3.99
1 x Almay eye pencil 75% off ($7.49)=$1.87
2 x Trident gum on sale $1.00=$2.00
2 x Stride gum on sale $1.00=$2.00
SubTotal.....$17.34

Coupons Used
2 x $1/1 Calgon product IPQ=$2.00
1 x .75¢/1 Ricola cough drops ManuQ=$.75
1 x BOGO Trident IPQ=$1.00
1 x BOGO Stride IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total.....$4.75

$17.34-$4.75=$12.59 + .05¢tax=$12.64

I used $12+Up Rewards and put the .64¢ on my gift card.
I received back $11+Up Rewards($4 wyb2 Calgon, $4 Pentel, 3 x $1 Ricola). * 2 of the Ricola +Ups printed as "Ricola", 1 printed as "Halls/Ricola", so I think the last one is the weekly Deal +Ups($1 wyb2)so these others must be a hidden or monthly Deal on just Ricola?
At any rate, with $3 in +Ups printing, the Ricola drops are free after +Ups!

I can also submit for a $2 Almay SCRebate for the eye pencil that I "spent" $1.87 on.

So I used $12 in +Ups and I got back $11 +Ups and $2 cash.

I also had some more $2/1 Dana fragrances IPQs to use(mine expire on 12/12)but neither this store of the next store had ANY of the $2.99 size bottles.


Here's the only thing I could scare up at the other Rite-Aid......

2 x Speed Stick Deodorant on sale $2.99=$5.98
1 x Cella cherry w/Gold discount=$.26
SubTotal...$6.24 + $.02 tax=$6.26

I used No coupons....ok, don't faint!lol

I paid with $6 in +Up Rewards and put the .26¢ on my gift card.
I received back $4 in +Up Rewards(2 x $2 Speed Stick).
Not free but .99¢ each after +Ups and it's the kind Hubs likes.

Then I hit the Dollar General Store because I had these....

 A DG $2 off Axe Gift Set Q and a $3.75/1 Axe Gift Set ManuQ to stack.

1 x Axe Gift Set=$10.00
2 x Stride gum on sale .90¢=$1.80
1 x Birthday card(Daughter turns 20 tomorrow)=$1.00 *I sprung for the expensive card! ;-)
SubTotal...$12.80

Coupons Used
1 x Dollar General Q $2/1 Axe Gift Set=$2.00
1 x $3.75/1 Axe Gift Set ManuQ=$3.75
1 x BOGO Stride gum IPQ=$.90
Coupon Total.....$6.65

$12.80-$6.65=$6.15 + .31¢tax=$6.48 OOP

Then I hit KMart.  Have I mentioned that both my sons are crazy for this Axe stuff?
Here is the ad that got me into the store....

Use your Shop Your Way Rewards Card and Spend $20 on Axe products, get a $6 Catalina(technically it's not a Catalina since it prints from the register tape thingy but it spends like a Cat).
I also saw this in the ad....

 Axe Gift Sets that "looked like" they were priced at $10.  So 2 Gift Sets, 2 $3.75 Qs and I'd get a $6 Cat, so $6.50 after Qs and Cat for 2 sets.
Nice, right?

Well if you could read the fine print, the Axe sets were NOT $10.
They were....ready for this?.....$9.99.
Making me 2 CENTS short of getting the $6 Cat.
Making me have to buy another Axe item.
And did I buy the Shower Gel that was on sale for $3.99?
No!
I bought a full priced body spray.
Ugh.
But it's a body spray #2 likes and I can't find.  And it's Christmas so I'll spring the extra buck(diff. between price of shower gel and body spray)and not complain too much .

2 x Axe Gift Sets on sale $9.99=$19.98
1 x Axe body spray=$4.99
SubTotal....$24.97

Coupons Used
2 x $3.75/1 Axe gift set ManuQ=$7.50
1 x $1/1 Axe item ManuQ=$1.00
Coupon Total.....$8.50

$24.97-$8.50=$16.47 + $1.50 tax=$17.97
I used a KMart merchandise return card(I found it laying on the ground a few weeks ago in a parking lot)that had $3.95 credit on it.
$17.97-$3.95=$14.02
I received a $6 Catalina for spending $20 or more on Axe items in 1 transaction.
Goodness!....$1.50 in tax??!  I am getting spoiled at Rite-Aid using +Ups to pay and paying tax only on the little OOP I put on my gift card there.

After Qs, Kmart credit and Cat, I spent $8.02 on these 2 sets and body spray.


All in all, not a bad shopping day.
I got everything pictured above and I'm out of pocket after Qs, Cat, $2 SCR and tax.....$12.50

Lots of stuff to either make you stinky or take away the stinky & More!


Here are the Rite-Aid Numbers.....

These trips--
OOP....$0.00
Value of items....$36.91
+Ups coming into this trip....$54.00
+Ups used....$18.00
+Ups earned.....$15.00
+Ups at the end.....$51.00

*And here are my MONTHLY TOTALS*
 
GRAND TOTALS FOR DECEMBER so far.......

Out Of Pocket....$0.00  cash
Value of items bought.....$331.22
Savings Rate of  100%
Single Check Rebate due....$2.00
Other Rebates due......$0.00
After SCR applied, Out of Pocket.... $0.00
Savings Rate.....100.40 %

+Ups at beginning of month...$47.00+
+Ups used....$126.00+
+Ups received...$130.00+
+Ups currently...$51.00+  

What kind of deals have you gotten this week?
Anything good!?!?

Sluggy

Can You Say Peterson Brothers?

This just in.......


Gangnam Style has hit the Midwest!

More of those wacky Peterson Farm Brothers here.....




Now I ask you.....what is sexier than a young working man in a big green machine?


Sluggy

Food Spending DECEMBER Week 1, Meal Planning Week 2

This nifty little gadget gives a whole new meaning to the term "Guitar Shredding".

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

And here is what actually got served last week.... 

Sunday--Everyone was sick but Hubs, he had soup and sammie

Monday--Lasagna Casserole, Salad

Tuesday--Chicken and Gravy over Fried Stuffing, Cali blend Veggies

Wednesday--Leftovers

Thursday--Tuna Sub Sandwiches

Friday--Going Out for Dinner....woohoo!

Saturday--Breakfast for Dinner

Yes, we pretty much ate every meal I planned(except for the Rigatoni which moves to this week's plan) but we may not have had them on the designated day above.

The food spending last week was massive.  $110.48 in 3 trips to the local grocery stores and throw in that stock-up trip to Ollie's for olive oil and other sundries at $54.90 and I blew through $165.38 of the month's food budget. 

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

Going into this week, I have leftover Lasagna Casserole to use up.  I'll take care of that for lunch one day.

This week's menu....

Sunday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Salad

Monday--Chicken Parmesan, Mashed Potatoes, Beets

Tuesday--Halushki and/or Leftovers

Wednesday--Salmon, Coleslaw, Green Beans

Thursday--Hot Dogs, Beans, Potato Salad

Friday--Beef Pie with carrots, green beans and cornbread

Saturday--Leftovers or Breakfast for Dinner

Last week was crazy here because of the school musical and Daughter finishing her college classes.

This week will be crazy here because of rehearsals for jazz and concert bands, music lesson, college finals and my own personal eBay Hell.  The evening schedules aren't conducive to having everyone sitting at the dinner table at the same time.  I've planned accordingly by having 3 casserole type meals that can be eaten whenever, 2 meals that can be made quickly by whomever is hungry.  The salmon night will be whichever night we can get everyone to eat together since reheating fish isn't how you want to eat it. 

I'll be glad when all this extra busyness is done and we can go back to the normal level of insanity in our home. ;-)

What I need to buy for this menu?

Cabbage, Potatoes, Carrots(I think?).  Everything else is on hand.

A quick glance at the ads and there isn't much I want this week other than what is needed for the menu.  Daughter will be spending about $15 on lunch items to take to work.  I hope to get by this week spending $30 or less.

What are your menu plans for this week?

Sluggy