the weekend review

A quick weekend review...

Ginger is a cheerleader. She had another cheer competition this weekend downtown at Municipal Auditorium. We spent most of our day Saturday and Sunday at the competition...

She did GREAT! It was a long weekend but a weekend that makes a mom proud!

Then there was the weather.... all week we had heard about the fierce blizzard that was coming our way.... 12 inches of snow.... now I really shouldn't complain because had it snowed that much - my precious flowers might not have made it... but... really - if we are going to have a snow storm - let's have a really good one that keeps us home for the weekend. I could have slept, cleaned house, slept, relaxed, and done a lot of nothing...instead - we maybe got 3 or 4 inches with most of it sleet...

Two days of my life come and gone...

Bargain Hunting

First I will open with a few more pictures of Spring Break for you to enjoy since it is supposed to SNOW here in Kansas on Saturday....

This will be the third year in a row that it has snowed or froze after the plants have started to peak and bud.... I will be sooo disappointed if I lose my iris and lilacs...

But on to much more cheerful topics..... bargains....one of my favorite blogs is a gal that posts all of the grocery bargains here in KC. Great tips on finding coupons! So obviously, I love a bargain..... and I am not talking a 15% off bargain... I am talking a REAL bargain.... and today I found a few....

World Market - has an additional 50% off of some of their clearance.... now you have to be careful and read the signs because it isn't all clearance.... just some.... but there were still some super fun things left! And if you are a wine drinker, which I must confess I am.... they usually have pretty good prices on wine.

Pier One - has some 75% off on some soaps and such.... I got BIG bottles of yummy smelling liquid soap - regularly $15 - now $3.98 so that is even more than 75% off! Then I got some regular soap... again yummy smelling.... I like to put bars of soap in my lingerie baskets.... keeps everything smelling fresh! (Was that TMI?) Anyways... there were some that were regularly $3.50 and I got them for 48 cents! Others were regularly $3.50 - I got them for 96 cents... still a good deal.

While I was out and about - I was keeping an eye out for Easter basket goodies for the kiddos and the cutie patootie nephew. Both World Market and Pier One had fun little items... kinda similar... only Pier One was a little cheaper...

If I was a really good blogger - I would have taken pictures of my booty - but it is 11:32 pm and I am lucky to be typing coherent sentences.... maybe tomorrow....

Spring Break

So - the kiddos had Spring Break last week. I got this grand idea that I would take them to Los Angeles to see my sis and her cutie patootie son.... well, it was grand to see sis and cutie patootie son.... but the weather wasn't what I would call California weather. Isn't it supposed to be sunny and warm? Well, it wasn't. So I must apologize to sis and cutie patootie son but.... you all are AXED off the Spring Break list. In the future.... sunshine and beaches for us.... we want to live the life the Beach Boys sing about!

We did have some fun adventures.... Chinatown, seeking out movie star homes, the zoo, City Walk, and more..... I will let the pictures speak for themselves....

The Opera

Yes, I like Opera....I don't listen to opera cds at home. I probably like it because of the theatre with it... although I have always been enchanted with the Italian language (why don't they offer Italian in high school?). There is definitely something romantic about someone singing in Italian...

So, Mom asked me to go with her last night. And of course, I jumped at the chance. 1) Spring break has started with the kids - an evening out with Mom might help keep me sane. 2) I hadn't seen La Traviata. It had subtitles which the Spouse thinks would be difficult. It isn't - in fact it is surprising how your eyes glance up - take in the subtitle - and then watch the stage - your brain doesn't even realize after the first 5 or 10 minutes.

The only problem with operas.... someone always dies... in fact, the Director came out and spoke of next season's performances which includes Tosca in which everyone dies....I always want everything to end happily ever after.... I am definitely a Cinderella person. I want the evil stepmother and stepsisters to end up scrubbing the floors with a toothbrush while the heroine is trying to decide if she should go shopping at Chanel or Prada...

I spy....

I saw some birds at the birdfood bell I have hanging off of the deck.... I ran to get my camera to snap a picture but I was not quick enough - had to change the lens...then I saw a hawk fly overhead so I raced to the front door to take a picture of it.

But it didn't go the direction I thought it would - it flew over the neighbor's house... once again I didn't get the shot I thought I would.... but then it happened... out of the corner of my eye... I spied it...I saw that green stuff coming up from the ground! And then I looked closer (mind you, I am standing inside my front door looking out because it is flippin' cold outside!) but I saw it - I really did! The irises are starting to peek....

Dare I look up at the trees? Would I see barren limbs?

Yipee! There are buds on those trees (that would be the buds that turn into leaves - not the Buds you drink).

Spring is coming! Spring is coming! Spring is coming!

computers

We have 2 computers... a laptop and a pc. We use them continually. Ginger forgot her Animal Farm book for school - we were able to pull up the whole story online... (thank goodness, I didn't have to run to the library at 8 pm). On facebook, I found a childhood friend that had moved to Texas and we lost touch in college. I can easily look up recipes, watch the dow drop, or find out what the weather is going to be in Punta Cana in November. It is truly amazing the things that are now "online". I process my unemployment claims, I can check my kids grades daily, I can be nosey and see what each house in my neighborhood is assessed for taxes or I can order chinese food from China! (okay, that might be extreme... but I probably could if I wanted)

Then there is the other side.... there is almost always someone on at least one computer here at our house all the time. I feel like I have lost my children to the media - be it either the tv or the computer. Ginger gets on there and it is impossible to hold a conversation with her... she is in the zone. I never receive actual mail from friends... I get some e-mail occasionally but that doesn't count like the real hand written letter that the postman had to deliver. And here's the real kicker... if the computer crashes... oh my goodness, the whole house goes into a deep depression and we start having withdrawal effects...I start to panic that I have lost all of my pictures that I have loaded on the computer. It is pretty sad that we have come to completely rely on these gray boxes that sit on our counters, desks or floors...of course, now they are also on our phones, mp3 players, cars, or better yet, I am surprised they haven't come up with a mini computer that we access in while in the bathroom!

Computers - are they friend or foe... a necessary evil? But without them - I could not be blogging!

I did it again

I baked a cake... a carrot cake mind you this time....it was okay. While I am bragging, I must also confess - I used a mix. Therefore, it was only okay. I doctored up the mix... but alas, I did use a mix. I added some raisins, pecans (I don't like walnuts) and hush don't tell the family - but I also added dates. I should have added some real carrots.... but when I checked the cupboard - the cupboard was bare... woe is me...



Last time I was in the baking mode - I took a picture... but this time I forgot... but I did put some cute carrots made out of frosting on top. Here's my excuse - Julie declared this green week and they were orange carrots... so I couldn't take a pic.


Julie - let me know when it is red week- then I can make a red velvet cake!

Green Week

Julie has declared it green week.... and here it is Friday... the week is almost over... but I can certainly blog green!



It's been a few days since I have posted and yet life has not changed much. The snow fell, the cheer competition went on, and I still haven't cleaned my house much. Oh I pick up here and there - kind of like the economy... it goes up here and there but not much. Which brings me to my main point. I am so completely tired of hearing about "THE ECONOMY". It sucks. We all know it sucks. We don't want it to suck. What can we do about it? The Spouse would certainly tell you that I am doing all I can to help the economy! I feel like there is not a day that I don't spend money. Minimally, I think about $50 - usually, about $150. Let's say it averages out to $100 a day. That is at least $36,500 that my little family is putting back into the economy...