Been gone and Twilight.

So, I've gone and done it again. Been a while since I've last posted, sorry about that. Kaitlyn just got back today from her 2 week vacation to visit her aunt in TN. Made me realize that I take for granted just how much she helps out around the house, and just how much I miss her when she's not here. I'm glad that she's home now, and not just because she sweeps the floors. lol

Work has also been surprisingly busy. The housing market is definitely not a stable environment, so I'm happy that we're busy, but (and I'll never admit this to my boss!) work is where I type up most of my blog posts so that's been slacking.


Oh, and I think I'm in love with another man. Maybe you've heard of him? His name is Edward Cullen - and btw, Robert Pattison is *NOT* the Edward Cullen I imagine (he better be good in the movie!). Oh, it's not like I'm going to leave my husband or anything, he is a fictional character after-all. But, I am embarrassingly admitting that I am ass-over-tea-kettle obsessed with the Twilight Saga. I bought the first book last Thursday, started reading it on Friday and finished the 3rd book yesterday. That's three 500+ page books in 5 days - I wasn't even able to get through the Harry Potter books that quickly. Embarrassed why? These books are aimed at the young adult section, that's why. Whatever.
Now I find myself wondering what I am supposed to do with myself until August 2nd, when Breaking Dawn comes out. As long as Stephanie Meyer (the author) doesn't pull a Christopher Pike and make it all have been a dream sequence, I think I'll be ok with however it ends. Who will Bella choose? Oh, please, we know the answer to that one - don't we? What will Jacob do? Will Alice go overboard on the wedding? - I think we know the answer to that one too. Should I re-read the first three? I suppose I should clean my house, or maybe pay attention to my husband. Eh. Shhh, I'm just kidding!

So will anyone else out there be at a bookstore at 12:01am August 2nd? I'm pretty sure I will be.

CVS Good Deal of the Week

Here's my haul for this week:

2 Febreze Air Fresheners

2 Febreze Air Effects

2 Olay Daily Regenerating Cleansers

2 Olay Regenerist Micro-Exfoliating Wet Cleansing Cloths

2 Pert Plus Shampoo/Conditioners

4 packages Always pads

1 package CVS brand pantyliners

1 package Pampers diapers

8 32oz bottles of Powerade (these are B1G1 Free this week)

1 case CVS brand bottled water

2 packs Juicy Fruit gum

2 Reese's Whipps candy bars

(what? the girls were well behaved and I had B1G1 Free coupons for each)

Total before coupons: $77.71

Coupons Used:
$3/$15 CVS Face Care CRT
2x Febreze B1G1 Free coupons
4x $3/1 Olay Regenerist coupons
2x $2/1 Pert Plus coupons
2x Always B1G1 Free coupons
$1/1 Pampers coupons
8x $.75/1 Powerade coupons
B1G1 Free coupon for the Juicy Fruit
B1G1 Free coupon for the Reese's Whipps
$28.99 ECBs
and the Water was free with a $20 P&G purchase

Total out of pocket after coupons: $7.66

That's more than a 90% savings! All of that for less than the price of one package of diapers. Woohoo!

I split this up into 2 transactions so that I could use the ECBs earned on the first transaction toward the next one. Best way to maximize your money - and I still have $9.99 in ECBs to use another day.

For more ideas on how to maximize your dollar at CVS, check out Alyssa's $5 CVS Challenge at Keeping The Kingdom First.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I'll have to spell it out for you because it's raining so hard, you can't really see past the rain drops. (Don't worry, I pulled over to take this picture.)

Everyday, on my way home from work, I pass by a new middle school being built. Everyday, without fail, they have the stinking sprinklers on. 4 out of 5 sprinkler heads are not properly aligned so the street and passing cars get more of the water than the grass it's intended for. Obviously, or maybe not soo much from this picture, this grass is not lacking water. How, you might ask? Becasue we live in FL. Ask any Floridian - summer afternoons = rain showers.
We aren't called the Lightning Capitol of North America (used to be of the world, but now that title goes to Rwanda) for nothing.

So why, I ask, is it necessary to water the street near a lawn that is already watered everyday!?! A few lawn maintainance tips:

Don't overwater your yard - overwatered grass develops weak, shallow roots which can lead to brown patches in the lawn (commonly a fungal infection).

Linked to #1, if rain is forecasted, turn off your sprinkler system. Even a light rain will provide enough water for your lawn.

Water early in the day/morning - watering early in the day will give the grass time to absorb the water needed before the day sun will evaporate the un-needed water. Excess water on the grass blades can also lead to fungal infections.

Regularly check your sprinkler system for broken or mis-aligned heads causing an excess of wasted water.

Another water-saving tip: Did you realize that if you cut your shower time by just 1 minute, you could save an average of 1,000 gallons per year - per showering person in your household! If everyone reading cut their shower time by just 1 minute, think of the amount of water that could be saved!

And my final word of the day: PLEASE, please be careful when driving in the rain and cautious of other drivers. I had the misfortune of passing by this accident on my way home yesterday and it really hit me right in the gut. I felt sick all evening, thinking of the drivers of the car and the driver of the truck that hit them.

I am...

I'm not really a flowery type of person, but this is pretty accurate:

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

"You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."



And this is also accurate:

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you are very loyal. A good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways. In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. In love, you express your emotions through actions. Taking care of someone is how you love them. And you do it well! At work, you do well in a structured environment. You complete tasks well and on time. You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist. How you see yourself: Competent, dependable, and detail oriented When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut

What's Your Personality Type?

Happy Independence Day!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Independence Day! We've had such a full weekend.

My mom picked up the older girls on Thursday for a sleep-over - what a treat to have just the baby at home! Friday, we went over to her house and BBQ'd and then went over to the county fairgrounds for their Sparklebration celebration and to watch fireworks. Unfortunately, less than 30 minutes after getting there, the skies let loose and it rained poured. Once it let up enough, we left and drove home, upset about not getting to see fireworks. We ended up driving over to Weeki Wachee and watched the fireworks that they set off from the side of the road, along with half of the city. Happy that we got to see fireworks and tired from a long day, we all crashed as soon as we got home.

We all slept in a little later than usual on Saturday and then the girls and I went and did our weekly shopping. We picked up some water squirters from Target and the girls played in the sprinklers with those for a while. We had an amazing dinner, complete with our own watermelon eating contest (Celeste won!), and then played Scrabble together.

Today has been a nice relaxing day. We took the girls to see Wall-E. Such a good movie and I love the message - we have to take care of our Earth. It was neat to see the realization on Celeste's face that the longer people were lazy, the bigger they would get and the harder it was for them to not be lazy. We played some hide and seek and now the kids are getting in bed.

I hope everyone has had as good a weekend as we've had. I love family weekends.

Wooty, woot, woot!

FINALLY!!!

I can't begin to tell you how much of a geek I am when it comes to this show. After NBC canned Surface after just one season on me, I was afraid Heroes was facing the same doom. But, apparently I am not the only one in love with this show.

Yarny Goodness

I finally decided on a pattern for the Cascade 220 that I had. I was planning on making the Cupcake pattern from the Stitch 'n Bitch: Happy Hooker book. Unfortunately, I have only one skein. I know Cascade 220 is a fairly very common yarn, so I figured it would be no problem to find more. I started on the pattern and worked through the entire skein in one day.

I headed over to my favorite LYS today - which is Fibert Art in Odessa, FL btw. I'd link you, but they don't have a website - however, if you're in the Tampa area, they are on Gunn Hwy in the Citrus Park area and they are the bestest.

Where was I? Oh yeah, trek to the LYS to buy more Cascade 220 in Lavender, color # 2422. Seems like a fairly simple task, yes? No. :( Color has been discontinued. Boo. Soooo, that project has been placed to the side for now, until I can either find more Lavender, or work up the courage to frog it and start over with a new yarn.


I didn't leave the LYS empty-handed though, oh no. I got the new Crochet Today magazine. Loving the Lacy Baby Frock - too cute. Also got some Debbie Bliss that was on clearance - no clue what I'm going to do with it, but it was too good a deal to pass. Some Mirasol Cotanani in a pretty teal green color. And the most gorgeous yarn I have purchased to date, a beautiful lace weight Malabrigo in Indigo colorway - so soft, so smooshy, so perfect I'm almost afraid to make anything with it. But I will, just gotta find the right pattern.