$10 Off $30.00 purchase at Walgreens ...

click here:

http://www.walgreens.com/hotbuys/default.jsp?ec=hn545_getcoupon

this coupon is good for TOMORROW ONLY (Friday, May 30).

let me know if the link doesn't work.

Shop n Save SPECIAL - $10 off purchase of $50 or more ...

ok, here's another value -- sometimes, on thursdays, you can get $10 off your purchase of $50 or more at Shop n Save. they don't do it every week, but they do it often.

check out the link below if you don't believe me.
that's right, do it.
do it now.
i dare you.
i DOUBLE dog dare you (for those of you who need a little push)

:)

http://www.shopnsave.com/sns-webapp/ads/ads.do

Walgreen's $5 Coupon ...

according to my mom ...

if you go to http://www.walgreens.com/ and get a username & password, (and on the sign up screen, check the box next to special offers and savings - or something like that) you will get a $5 coupon via e-mail once a month that you can use when you make a purchase of $20 or more.

i just did it, so i can't confirm it, but, i trust my mom didn't lead me astray ...

BESTED, by a Dead Bird ...

so i had had a pretty great day at work, had picked up the kids, and was pulling into the driveway. i noticed that there was something on the concrete pad outside of my garage. looked like a brown leaf or an old brown paper bag (yeah, i do need glasses ...). as i get closer, i realize that it's a dead bird. or, at least what looks to be a dead bird.

of course, i had to stop the car, and get out. poor thing, was laying on it's back, with feet in air. NOT moving. HOW WAS I TO GET INTO THE GARAGE?

EW!

there are few things that truly alarm me - but this thing got the better of me. i absolutely HATE being the "typical girl" - squeamish, squealers, seemingly helpless - i was NOT a happy camper, and there was no way in hell i was going to pick that thing up.

no.

way.

so, i did the helpless girl thing and called a man-friend. he suggested that i use a shovel to pick it up and then put it in the trashcan.

uh, no. THAT would not only mean that i would have to pick it up, but i might get my clean snow-shovel all yucky with dead bird parts. not going to happen.

so he asked me if i wanted him to come over and pick it up. so, after i hemmed and hawed, i finally said yes.

then, my 7-year old got out of the car (he had previously been asleep). he offered to pick it up, but chickened out (reasonably so).

THEN, the neighbor man came by to say hi. what a mistake THAT was! i got him to pick up the bird with a trash bag.

i screamed the whole time he was doing it. yep, i'm pathetic.

but had i not gotten help, how was i going to get in the garage?

i'll just let the kids run WILD ...

there's this AD that's running on tv and radio. basically, it says that children of single parent households are more likely to take drugs, drop out of school, have sex, go to jail (among other "bad things") NO MATTER HOW ACTIVE THE PARENT IS IN THEIR LIVES.

interesting.

so, as a single parent, perhaps i should just leave the kids at home all day (they're just going to drop out of school anyway), give them some drugs, a gun, and some condoms (well, maybe NOT condoms - wouldn't want them to be the least bit responsible for their actions, after all, they ARE products of a broken home ..) and let them run wild.

that would save me a lot of money, and stress - i'm one of those "active" parents that is apparently wasting my time being involved in my children's lives.

or, perhaps i should just go out and get them a daddy?

or maybe, get back together with their asshole father?

i have so many choices!

decisions, decisions!

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3,

"Betty, pickup"

LaVerne, in an episode of Laverne and Shirley where she was the cook and Shirley was the waitress at a diner/truckstop. She called LaVerne "Betty" much to Shirley's chagrin. Anyway, this is just a test to see if people who are ON the e-mail list are getting the e-mails.

THIS IS ONLY A TEST ...

In the event of an actual posting, you will be given something WAY more interesting to read.

Yep. WAY more interesting.

My Kids are Trying to Kill Me ...

really.

no, i'm not kidding or exaggerating. they are trying to kill me.

it's a slow, grinding, torturous, methodical, type of kill. the process that they are using is sleep deprivation coupled with incessant arguing, oh, and they like to climb on me (they're heavier than they look) for good measure. oh, they're smart. and actually, i USE to be smart. not anymore. they tire me out and then condition me for crazy.

to look at my children, you would never guess. sometimes, they look like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths. but looks can, and often are, VERY deceiving.

i have three kids. three high-energy, loud-talking, smart-ass kids. 7, 6, and 3. the older two are boys, and that three year old is a girl. well, anatomically she's a girl, but over her short three year lifespan, she has been turned into a boy BY the boys. but, i am getting ahead of myself.

i first realized that the kids were trying to kill me early on, when the boys were little. they would do little things to rob me of all of my energy. poopy diaper leaks, urinating on me, spilled milk (and yes, i DO cry over it -- ESPECIALLY if it's undiscovered milk -- have you SMELLED rancid milk?), food on the floor, juice on the floor (which, by the way, you can NEVER just spot clean), toys on the floor (sharp pointy toys - or toys that become sharp and pointy because you step on them and break them - note: lego's are the devils creation), CRYING (theirs AND mine), and a host of other energy-robbing behaviors are ALL practiced by my kids. and they tag-team me at every opportunity.

my daughter, well, she has learned from them. and they have since added, bodily noises. one of them can poot at will. the other two are excellent burpers. my daughter is the little pooter (see what i mean? they are RUINING her ... sigh). they also love to pretend to poot and burp.

the noises i don't mind so much. sure, they can be a little annoying, but i can live with that. what i cannot live with is the silence. silence is trouble. BIG trouble. silence means that they are TRYING to do something that they shouldn't be doing. usually, they are loud and doing things because they aren't aware that what they are doing might be life threatening. when they are quiet, they KNOW that what they are doing is wrong.

and HOW twisted is THAT? when it's quiet, i panic, and when it's noisy i'm a little LESS panicked. see how they are doing me? they are conditioning my crazy.

my middle child likes to hold my left hand. so does my youngest. no one is too much interested in holding my left hand. see what i mean? it's just not rational.

i TRY to understand the whole "he's looking at me" argument, but doesn't that mean that they are looking at each other? which would mean that they were both wrong?

and really, is it that hard to aim for the middle of the potty? and why is the seat APPARENTLY too heavy to lift?

couldn't toothpaste be more rinsable off of the sink, counter and mirror? why does it HAVE to harden to a concrete-like substance?

and one ladybug flying around the house is cute. but ten or so more, well that's just plain NOT COOL -- they die. wherever they want. dead ladybug -- well, that's just another dead bug in the house. and more cleaning for me ... and they SNEAK them in the house.

outside of kiddie-type antics, well, i also have to cook, clean, help with homework, make sure they are bathed (NOT as easy as it sounds), and chauffeur them around town like they are mini rock stars (i say rock stars because they have trashed my car and their room on numerous occasions)

oh, and the KILLER part, is that they are cute. and they are even cuter when they are asleep. and THAT is when i seem to forget that they are out to DESTROY me. see how the crazy works?

so, i'm consistently perplexed by their actions, tired-out, and conditioned for crazy.

they truly are smart kids. i just wish that they would use their powers for good and not evil.

am i rambling? it's because i'm dead tired. that's all.

uh oh. they're quiet.

gotta go!

Playing the "Float" ... Float on, Float on ...

money is tight for most of us these days. and some people have very creative ways to get from one paycheck to another. SOME PEOPLE. not me. SO I'VE HEARD. never practiced ...

so, i was talking to a friend of mine who had never "played the Float" ... dont' know what that means? well, the "Float" is the time between when you write a check and when the money is actually taken out of your account.

for example ... you write a check to the grocery store on monday. the money doesn't actually come out of your account until tuesday or more likely wednesday. the time of day that you write the check can also make a difference. checks written later in the day have a better chance of taking longer to hit your account than would a check written that morning.

PLEASE NOTE - I AM NOT ADVOCATING THIS ... IT'S PROBABLY A CRIME (ok, it IS a crime to write a check on an account that doesn't have funding to cover the check)

i'm just saying ... this was a conversation that i was having with someone who didn't have enough money to make it to payday. (again, absolutely NOT advocating this practice).

so, if you are broke on wednesday, and get paid on friday, well, you might just be able to make it to friday ...

BUT BEWARE -- some places, like a super walmart that i had the occassion to visit, will take the money out of your account AT THE REGISTER -- that's right. it's almost like an atm without the fees.

float on, float on ...

Austrian Father Who Imprisoned His Daughter Should Die ...

ok, i'm not usu one for the death penalty (it's use is unfair and biased, etc, etc.) HOWEVER, the man who locked his daughter and their kids in the basement/cellar for 24 years pretty much should die. not a nice, lethal injection "just go to sleep" type of death, but a horrible, lingering, awful, death -- complete with weeping, festering, maggot wriggling sores.

here are the latest and most specific articles that i found:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/05/01/austria.inquest/index.html#cnnSTCText

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/05/05/austria.incest/index.html

it explains why no one knew where they were. i just assumed that they were in the basement. apparently, they were in a specially made cellar, complete with a labyrinth-like entry maze. apparently, he started building it when he first started molesting his daughter (at age 11) and it is not included in the buildings plans.

you NEVER know what's going on in someone else's house.

DEXTER RULES! (take the sociopath test!)

ok, so i don't have showtime.

surprised? well, i'm mad at my local cable company and had issues with a lazy satellite company, but, that's a whole nother post (yes, i said "nother").

anyway, as i was saying, i don't have showtime. and i have been missing, uncut episodes of the BEST tv/cable series EVER! in case you have never watched it, dexter is a serial killer. but, he uses his powers for good, not evil. yay! he kills bad guys. he works during the day as a mild-mannered blood expert in a police department, and only one of the excellently trained police officers suspects that he's not all that he seems (apparently, that police officer bites it later on in the series).

he's got a girlfriend, and she's "damaged" -- which in turn, makes her annoying -- and a sister who is equally annoying.

not that serial killing is cool or anything(for the record, serial killing is bad. VERY, VERY BAD) but he's definitely a likable character. i have not read the book that the series is based on, however, i plan on getting it.

anyway, he's a sociopath.

ok, so here's a test to see if you are a sociopath.

TEST:

-- a woman goes to her mother's funeral and meets a very nice man. he's attractive and attentive to her in that all-too-brief meeting, and may just be her soulmate. the next day, she kills her sister. why?

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*
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ANSWER:

she wants to see him again.

apparently, sociopaths answer this question correctly, and regular folk don't.

which one are you?

Bunk Bed Building ...

ok, so, i'm basically frugal (i would say cheap, but that doesn't sound nice ...). well, i am in the market for a bunk bed for my daughter, and can't seem to find one reasonably priced.

i went to value city furniture, and the metal ones i hated, and the wooden ones were cheaply made. i went to big lots, and surprisingly, i DID happen to see an all wood bunk bed for $199, WHICH, is a really good price. it wasn't flimsy at all. but, unfortunately, it looked like it was for a boy's room (and were i to paint it pink, which is my plan, it would look odd to say the very least ...).

i have looked at other stores and on different websites, and unfortunately, the under $300 beds are either metal (and awful) or ugly wooden monstrosities. of course, i HAVE found some BEAUTIFUL beds, even wrought-iron bunk beds, however, i can't justify spending over $1000 on a child's bed (oh, and i am SO not in a position to lay out that type of cash anyway) SO, i have opted to build-a-bed. that's right. i'm going to build it myself. i can definitely do it for under $300, and paint it pink.

my current plan is to use the hollywood bedframe that i currently have as the bottom portion of the bunk bed. this will allow me to position it parallel with the upper bunk, OR perpendicular to the upper bunk (see ... i've thought about this). so, now, i just need to make the upper bunk. i'm currently in the process of drawing up those plans, and i'm pretty excited. yes, i HAVE made things before. and, if it turns out crappy, i can always buy one (yucky, yucky, blah!).

i'll post pictures when it's completed.

it's going to be based on this premise: http://www.riddlefurniture.com/

Sam's Club Mattress Event ...

sam's club in st. louis has SERIOUSLY marked down ALL of their in-stock mattresses.

so, if you need a mattress, you'd better hurry, they are down to their last few. i needed twin mattresses and got a great deal on them at the maplewood location (i didn't see the plush firm at the ferguson or chesterfield valley location, although st. charles DOES have a few twin firm supremes in stock)

Wimpy Kids? or Overly Coddled?

i recently read this article:

http://www.nysun.com/editorials/why-i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-subway-alone

and thought, WOW, that sounds like something i would do! but of course, had i done it, child services would have been called, an investigation would have been made, a "file" would have been created, etc.

BUT, i totally agree with what this mother did. i'm sure her son had been with her many times on the subway, so it wasn't as if it were a foreign concept to him. it was more of an adventure. kids don't seem to have adventures anymore ...

i'm amazed at how children aren't allowed to do anything on their own. i even recall one mother saying of her 6 year old daughter, that she was never to be alone (for purposes of safety). that "no one ever complained of having a bad childhood because they were with a friend". that was the craziest crap i had ever heard.

are kids more wimpy these days? or are they overly coddled? or are the wimpy because they are overly coddled? and how is this going to affect them when they reach adulthood?

as a parent, i do whatever i can to put my children in situations where they are on their own and relying on themselves and their decisions. for example, they each go to different schools (so that they are not compared to each other, but based on their own actions, AND so that they have to deal with difficult situations on their own, without sibling back-up). another example ... i sent them away to camp as soon as they were old enough. i didn't ask them if they wanted to go. i didn't ask them if they would be afraid to go. i just told them that they were going. and they went. and they LOVED it. there was no question as to whether i would come back and get them in the middle of their 4 day 3 night stay. i wasn't going to, and they knew that. they weren't lost, maimed or molested. they just had fun.

more importantly, they learned that they could be away from mommy and rely on themselves.

this summer, my oldest is going to military camp. alone. 7 days and 6 nights. he'll be the youngest kid there and he can't wait.

my 6 year-old is insanely jealous.

perhaps i'll let the 6 year old ride the bus somewhere ...