Don't Buy This!

Internet Address and Password Logbook

Nothing like making your logins and passwords obvious and easy to find!  I can't believe anyone would but this item, but I saw it in the Fresh Finds catalog for $7.95!  This is NOT a good idea--save your money! The last thing you would want to do is make it easy for someone to find your logins and passwords.  Here are some alternatives to using a book like this with a title on it.

1.  Use a plain, ordinary notebook without a title.
2.  Better yet, use a sheet of paper and stick it in a book or a notebook.
3.  Put it away from your computer, not in the desk drawer near by.

If you do not think Internet Address and Password Logbook is a very bad idea, I encourage you to read Think Twice by Lisa Scottoline.  That should convince you!  (Click the link for our review.)


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Friday Fragments: books, money, shopping, church

Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. It's been quite a week so I have more than usual this week:

Favorite Reads

Gerard's favorite read in May is Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline.

Karen's favorite read in May is Now You See Her by James Patterson.
Click the links for our reviews.

 

Money

This must be the year of spending for us. So far:
$ 500 dental cleaning for our cat (Manny) close to $500
$ 1,000 New computer, 3 yr. virus protection & 3 yr. technical support (used tax refund and money gifts for this though)
$ 600 Car Repairs
$20,000 2012 Ford Escape (paid from savings so that's what we were saving for)
When is it going to be a year for savings again?

New Class

I've been teaching just the 5th grade boys in Sunday School but for the summer, I will have the 5th grade girls too! Should be interesting. Sort of looking forward to it but a bit anxious because I will be using material I haven't used before so will have to start from scratch every week.

Sports Camp

Last year I volunteered to be a head basketball coach and blue shirt worker for the Parma Heights Baptist Church FOCUS Sports Camp (Focus on Christ Using Sports) and this year I volunteered again to be a basketball coach for both morning and afternoon sessions. I requested being an assistant coach but will be a head coach if needed. We'll see what happens--trusting God to give me the stamina and strength I'll need. We are still short of volunteers for all the sports: flag football, cheerleading, volleyball, soccer and basketball. Registration ends June 5.



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How Long Does It Take To Buy A Car?

Goodbye my '98 Olds

We finally parted with our 1998 Olds Silhouette after putting in $300 dollars more to fix the gas leak.  Apparently, the fuel line was rusted out.  We got a whole $250 trade-in for it which is exactly what I expected.  There was a lot of things wrong with it.

2012 Ford Escape EXT

We first scouted three different dealerships beginning at 8:30 a.m.  The cars we had in mind were a 2014 Jeep Patriot, 2012 Ford Explorer or a purple 2011 Hyundai I happened to see yesterday.  The Jeep Patriot cost a little more than I wanted to spend and that dealership was about 25 min. drive from our house.  I liked the red one and Gerard liked the blue one.  It wasn't open and we weren't sure if it would open later or not so we went back to the Spitzer KIA dealer close to our house and test drove the purple Hyundai.  Neither of us liked it though once we drove it--we just weren't comfortable with it. 

Then the salesman suggested perhaps a Ford Explorer.  I perked up and we took the black Ford Escape for a drive.  We both liked it much better although it wasn't new, it only had 12,000 miles on it and was priced under the maximum I had planned to spend:  $20,012.18.  We were there almost 4 and a half hours--the paperwork took forever!  

I'm going to miss my big Olds van but am happy with our Ford Escape.  Do you find it hard to part with your cars?

Related Posts:  A Birthday Present For Himself (Background story of our '98 Olds van)

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Ebay - Here I Come

Right after donating a bunch of items to Parma Heights Christian Academy's huge garage sale, our big picture in the basement fell down because the things holding it up finally gave way and bent.  I'm actually surprised it stayed up this long.  It has a heavy wooden frame and the whole thing weighs about 8 pounds I would guess.  We really don't have anywhere else to hang it and I don't want to mess up the fabric on the basement walls so I remembered eBay is an option where I might actually be able to sell it.

I do like it and it has a bit of sentimental value for me, so I would want at least $80 for it.  I figure if I can't get that, then I'll keep it for now.  This was one of the first items I purchased when I moved out on my own so I've had it a long time.

I was excited to actually find the cassette tape that I've been looking for a long time.  Mine wore out and I couldn't find it any store that I normally go in, but found it listed on eBay for $6.99 Buy Now which I did.  I figured, if I wanted it this long, it was worth paying the $7 for it. 

Then today, I decided to get my photo scanner ready to use on my new computer and guess what--it's not compatible!  It says it's compatible with XP and Vista so back to eBay I went to list this item.  Figuring out the shipping is a pain though because I don't want to get stuck paying for shipping, but yet it seems unfair to the buyer to charge based on the maximum distance it may go.  I'd be happy to get anything for it and listed the Buy Now price at just $40. 

Here are my auction items if interested.

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Computer Saga-Part 2: It Works! We Did It! (Writer's Workshop)

We got a new all-in-one ACER computer that arrived Tuesday and we love it!  After a lot of delays and disappointments with the Dell I ordered (see previous post for details), I found one online at Best Buy.  It was between the ACER windows 7 all-in-one built in or an HP  windows 7 tower and monitor.  The salesman at Best Buy recommended the ACER because the tower and monitors are on the way out.

Best Buy had a on-line order area where they even ordered it for me.  (The guy (Andres) was amazing at multi-tasker who really impressed me.  While he handled my ordering, he was also talking on the phone with other customers and assisting another customer with a pick-up of a big TV.)  This time we had it shipped to my husband's place of employment so we would avoid the delivery problems we had with the Dell and wouldn't have to have it sitting on our porch until we got home from work if UPS just dropped it off.    

Although I was excited to get it set up, I was also a bit doubtful in my abilities so tried making an appointment for a Geek Squad agent to come and set it up for us.  Fortunately, I kept getting the run around with instructions to call different numbers.  When I tried the 800 number, there was a 20 minute hold time so I gave up and tried again later.  This time, there was a 40 minute hold time.  I couldn't resist taking a peek so I opened the box and looked it over.  Then I went to bed.

The next morning (Wednesday), Gerard assisted with getting the stand for the monitor pulled out and I started plugging in the cords.  I had to leave for work before trying to turn it on so yesterday evening, I tried it when I got home and it worked!  I went through the registration stuff and we came up with a password for it that we could both remember easily.  The first thing I did was get the Firefox browser downloaded to use.

It is so much faster than our old one and the screen is almost twice as wide!  This one has the USB port on the side of the monitor where it's easy to use (not in back like the Dell had).  I am so happy that we don't have to fuss with the brightness every time we turn it on like we had to do with our old AOC monitor and am glad we were able to get it to work without spending the $100 for the Geek Squad's assistance.  This morning I was able to get our printer connected but still have some more software to load for my pictures and word processing and must decide if I should keep using the McAffee anti-virus that came with it or switch to the AVG that I just renewed for another year.

Even though it was a stressful week without a computer, I was thankful I could use the library computers.  It was worth the wait!  Romans 8:28 comes to mind that applies to our computer saga which says:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.     

Linking up with Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop using the prompt:  Something you bought this month that you love.

What anti-virus do you suggest I use?  Do you love your computer?  Has any scripture come to your mind lately?

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Friday Fragments (shopping, learning, politics, news)

Friday Fragments is hosted by Unknown Mama for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post to give Mrs. 4444 a break for the summer. Here we go:

Stupid Store

Last Saturday we went shopping for a new pair of tennis shoes for Gerard at a close by mall. After discovering Dick's didn't have many wide widths, we checked out Shoe Dept. and found a white and black Nike Air Max right shoe in size 10 the fit real well that Gerard liked. Too bad they couldn't find the left shoe to match it! The boxes were all mixed up by sizes too and I just kept thinking I could never work in this store. They did offer to order them for us, but didn't have any idea when they would get in. We returned to Dick's and settled for a nice Size 10 Nike black and blue Air Max even though it wasn't a D width.

Image:  Wikipedia

Interesting Walks

Abby had two interesting walks this week: (1) we saw a skunk! and (2) at the park we saw a vulture! Abby went after both but fortunately the skunk ran off!

Funny Things at Zoo

When we went to the zoo yesterday, I was on the lookout for some funny things which I put into a video. I missed getting the Bald Eagle flapping its wings, the squirrel running through the fence leaving the Red Panda's exhibit, the two chipmunks chasing each other on the path and the real little boy with a Mohawk hair cut being carried my his mom. Here's the YOuTube link to view what I did find: Funny Things at the Zoo

7 THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEK:

Worms

When checking out at Dick's, I learned there are lots of different kinds of worms! Dick's sells all these worms for bait: Big Red worms, Green worms, Wax worms, Meal Worms, Butter worms and Night Crawlers. I asked the cashier what kind I find in my yard and he said those would be night crawlers. I would have liked to have seen what they all looked like and taken a picture for you, but the guy already probably thought I was nuts copying down the list.

Air Max Shoes

If you are on your feet all day like Gerard is, Nike Air Max shoes are great!

Facebook

My husband, Gerard, got a Facebook page and is learning how to use it. He says everything is on Facebook or Twitter these days! He likes to follow his sports teams and news but did add me as a family friend.

Mayor Cats

A cat named Morris is running for mayor of Mexican city Veracruz and has nearly 100,000 more "likes" on Facebook than the other four mayoral candidates! I think this is hilarious. Hey, if a cat named Stubbs could be mayor for 15 years in Talkeetna, Alaska, there's hope for all cats! People actually voted for the cat!!!

Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox were the first American League team to win 50 games this year in spite of the "experts" prediction that they will finish in last place this season--Ha!

No. 1 TV Show

Can you guess what it was this week? It was "Under the Dome" based on the Stephen King novel. I read the book and watched the show--both were very good!

USA Security?

I think I saw on Yahoo News or else on Act America this week that Russian troops have been hired to provide security at the super bowl! Is this plain crazy or what? (Thistle Cove Farm wrote about this too!)

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April Favorites! (Vlogging Workshop)

Do you like to watch Vlogs like this or would you prefer I just write out a post with pictures?

For those of you who don't have time to watch this 2-minute video or can't see it for some reason or other, here is a picture of my favorite purchase last month.

Wicker 4-pc Porch Furniture from Giant Eagle

Wicker table in Basement

 If you didn't watch the video, you'll have to go to "A Very Grumpy Puss" post by Manny to see the cats' favorite purchase in April.  You may find Gerard's review of the Best Friends magazine that he has on the table here interesting.


Visit Mama Kat's to find more Vlogs our join in with your own.

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Used My Brookstone Gift Card on a Gtech AirRam

This is a follow-up post to "So Much For My Tunewriter" in which I was returning it for a Brookstone gift card.  When looking through Brookstone's catalog and online, I found this which I used my gift card on plus some of my Christmas money:

Our new Gtech AirRam Vacuum Cleaner

 It is cordless, only seven pounds, easy to empty, runs fairly quiet. 

Spunky is still checking it out and is pretty brave, but it wasn't on in this picture.  When the noise comes on, she runs away.

Spunky Doodle just gave it a close up inspection and seems to approve. 

It runs on a rechargeable battery and takes about 4 hours to fully charge; however, you can use it before it's fully charged if you want. It will run for about an hour on a full charge. We really like not having to worry about tripping over the cord.

Manny Boy couldn't care less, Spunky Doodle is the Inspector General around our house.

Easy to empty

It is easy to empty which is a good thing because it doesn't hold very much.  When I first tried it out, I just did our living room and our bedroom.  When I went to empty it to see how it worked, I was surprised that it was all full!  After all, Gerard does vacuum almost every day.  It makes two clumps which easily dump out when you turn it upside down.  The filters are inside the other part that comes off (Gerard is holding it in his left hand).  They need to be washed with soap and water and dried well once a month.

There is just a two-year warranty on this, but so far so good.  I like it because it's so little and light.  Our Tri-Star is clunky and pretty heavy.

What do you think of your vacuum cleaner?  Does anyone else have one of these and if so, do you like it?

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5 Friday Fraagments (blogs, March Madness, shopping)

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

Shopping

The bad news is when we went food shopping last week at our Giant Eagle, I was told they discontinued my salmon cakes because not enough people bought them! Boo hoo! They are delicious and I love to have them for either lunch or supper during the week. I am definitely calling customer service about this.

The good news is we bought a new lightweight cordless Gtech vacuum cleaner.  More on that this week.

 

Best St. Paddy's Day Post

At Lady B's Time for Tea, you can take a trip to Ireland with her--this is the best St. Paddy's Day post I saw!

New Blog Found

Through The Note Card party hop, I found another blog to follow and added it to my blogroll called "Grandma's Blessings" by Sylvia in Georgia. It's always fun to discover new blogs. That's one reason I like participating in different blog hops even though they are time-consuming. I actually was drawn to her blog by her picture and comment she left on Lady Linda's party post. See, sometimes it does pay off to leave a comment!

March Madness Basketball

Well, I'm not off to a very good start on my bracket after the first day. Did anyone pick Harvard? I wanted to, but a seed 14 beating a seed 3 just didn't seem likely and Harvard is not known for being good in sports. You just never know who's going to win, that's why they play the games. There were some blowouts but also some very close ones. It's always fun to make a bracket and join in with friends or co-workers in our case to see who can pick the most winners.

Spring?

Still getting snow here, does not look like spring at all yet!  This is what we woke up to this morning.

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9 Friday Fragments from a Wife and Husband

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

My Leg Pain Update

My pain is almost gone, whew! I find if I don't sit too long it's better. Some days I didn't even have any! I am happy to report I can now put my socks on standing up again, do my morning exercises pain free and was even able to run for the bus coming home from work Wednesday with no pain! Yay! Praise the Lord. Sometimes I do still need an Advil to sleep good at night. It seems I feel it most when I'm in bed now.

Funniest Post of the Week

I love to laugh and I thought Mama Sick's post, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, is hilarious. I laughed so hard that my hubby came to see what was so funny. It's a conversation with her 6-yr-old son about drawing her portrait.

Birthday Surprise

Monday my wonderful husband turns 60 and boy is he going to be surprised! I can hardly wait.


Here's Things Gerard Learned This Week:

Restaurants

It pays to apply to restaurant web sites--I got four free offers from Denny's, Perkins, Arby's and Eat and Park--Yum! Yum!

Larry Hangman

Larry Hangman passed away (Karen didn't even know who he was, do you?) I loved watching him as J.R. on "Dallas." He was a great actor!

Black Friday Shopping

I still love to shop on Black Friday early in the morning even if my shopping bag did bust open! Bath and Body Works was the most crowded store in the mall!

Happy Sunday

I like being a greeter at our church; didn't think I would like it as much as I do. I enjoy greeting people as the come and wishing them a Happy Sunday (I'm still waiting for my official greeter name tag.

Awesome Saturdays

Both Ohio State and Notre Dame went 12-0 which made me very happy--my Saturdays were awesome! Sad to see the season end.

Audio Book of the Week

Cold Ice by Tess Gerritsen was the audio book I looked forward to listening to all week. It's a thriller that I highly recommend. Click the link to see my review and find out more about it.

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A Sparkle Post (Writer's Workshop)

Although I get lots of free calendars from charities that we donate to, I actually bought one for 2013.  It's not just any old ordinary cat calendar because this one features our blogging friend, Sparkle the Designer Cat!  It has pictures of Sparkle and Binga but what makes this really special is that it has a different Rule that humans need to know about cats.  I read one of Sparkle's advice books and enjoyed it very much.  What better way to get tips on what makes cats happy than advice from a real cat?

It was the first time I ordered anything from the Zazzle store and was so excited when the package came, I opened it right away.  Then saw this:

What a disappointment!  This is not what I ordered!  (UPDATED 11/30--This is truly a personal calendar with family members featured on the months of their birthdays.  I just flipped through it today after reading the comment of a curious commenter.)  Now I have my white elephant gift for this year's Christmas party!  ARRGH!  After contacting customer service, taking a couple pictures to attach to an email, I quickly got the response I desired.  They told me I could keep this lovely calendar and immediately sent the one I requested:

Yes, I love it! I think this would be a wonderful gift for any cat owner! Better hurry to order one though, you may have to contact customer service.

This post was inspired by Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompt: 3.) Write a post, poem, or story that somehow incorporates the word: Sparkle

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I Feel Like a Kid Again!

I remember how I used to like getting new school supplies right before school started every year: brand new notebooks, assorted colored folders, pens and even new clothes.

Well, our "Circle of Friends" Bible study group at Parma Heights Baptist Church is starting a new study on the Book of Job and I'm excited! It's the kind where each person digs in through the week and outlines the chapter, thinks of a title, studies the key words, lists truths about God, Job, Satan and then discuss questions and share our insights on Sunday. I really hope everyone takes the time to do the study on their own so we can have a great time of sharing what we learned. The book we are using that has daily assignments for study is Trusting God in Times of Adversity--Job by Kay Arthur and Pete DeLacy. There is a whole list of books in this New Inductive Study Series!

Last week was the introduction when we were told what supplies we would need: The Bible, a 3-ring binder notebook, and colored pens or pencils for marking in the Bible. I am so excited that I found the perfect 3-ring binder with dividers AND pockets for handouts too! I was just going to go with crayons, but then I found colored pens on sale at Rite-Aid, buy one pack and get one free!  I even found one of those plastic pencil cases that has the 3-hole strip for it to go into the binder--I love color coding and I am ready!

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7 Things We Learned This Week (Olympics, Tips, Soldiers, Eagle, Shopping, Animals)

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

1. Olympics

   For the first time in the history of the Olympics, our USA teams have more female athletes than males!

2. Soldiers and Suicide

   According to the June 23, 2012 issue of TIME, "More U.S. soldiers have killed themselves than have died in the Afghan war." "Every day, one U.S. soldier commits suicide." This is so sad.

3. Eagles

   Over at Jodi's Journey I learned some interesting facts about the eagle. I knew they fly above storms but didn't know that they can live to be 70 BUT to do so, in its 40s, it goes through a painful process of change that lasts 150 days. It loses its beak, talons and feathers and wait for them to grow back and lives another 30 years or so.

4. Household Tips

   Over at The Modern Mom I found Some Things You Never Thought Of that are helpful tips. The one I plan to try next I have to put keys or dog tags on a ring is to use a staple remover to hold it open instead of my nails. Another tip I'm going to try is using a microfiber cloth to prevent frost from forming on the windshield (if I can still remember by then). She gave several other great tips too--definitely worth checking them out!

5. Funny--Shopping Math

   See this video for how to shop for free that I found at Marythekaytheblog:
   

6. Animals
   

   

   Persian Onagar

   We saw a new animal at the Cleveland zoo yesterday--a Persian Onager. It's a fast wild horse, also referred to as a Persian donkey. It grows thick fur to adopt to cold weather and is fast.
   
   

   

   How to walk a possum

   
   We also found out that a possum's tail is muscle and it's fur feels like a dog's. I got to pet a possum named Pearl and an armadillo named Monte at the zoo yesterday when we went to eat breakfast with the animals. The volunteer held the possum's tail when she put her down on the table or the ground to walk around.
   

7. Pet Olympics Begin Today

   There are over 130 pets involved in this, including our three (Spunky Doodle, Manny Boy and Abby) to a small extent. Here is the schedule of events you may like to see for the weekend:
   FRIDAY, JULY 27
   Opening Extravaganza ~ http://www.roosdoins.com/
   Parade of Athletes ~ http://posiedorg.blogspot.com/
   Welcoming Speech ~ http://frankiefurterprice.blogspot.com
   SATURDAY, JULY 28
   Swimming ~ http://sargespeaksout.blogspot.com/
   Window Nose Art ~ http://jazzis-world.blogspot.com/
   
   SUNDAY, JULY 29
   Crazy Sleeping Singles ~ http://oskarsblog.com/ and Synchronized Snoozing  
   Bouncing http://bouncingbertie.blogspot.co/uk

Please note I may not visit your blog as often as usual because I will be spending time supporting the pet Olympics in Blogland. These bloggers who are hosting the events have put in lots and lots of work to make this happen and so I hope you will support their efforts too by checking out these special events with all the pets.

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

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5 Things We Learned This Week (candy, animals, boxes, stores)

Kit Kats

Manny compares the sizes

Kit Kats is one of my many favorite candy bars which I chose to give out on Halloween to our few trick-or-treaters. I thought I was buying two bags of the small size with the two wafers but was surprised that one bag even had a mini size with only one wafer! It seems like candy just keeps getting smaller and smaller but more expensive! I used the mini-sized ones for the tiny tots and gave out several to the older kids when I ran out of the small size.

Meerkat Image from Widipedia

Meerkats

On the bookmark we got at the zoo it had this interesting fact: "The dark markings around meerkats' eyes act like built-in sunglasses. They reduce glare, helping them see far into the distance." Did you know that? I wonder if it's the same for raccoons.

Boxes

Over at Red Pine Mountain I learned that there are special boxes for mailing birds! They are huge! Follow the link Don't You Love Mail to see it for yourself.

Thrift Nation

Parma Heights, Ohio, Pearl Rd.

I went into Thrift Nation, a second-hand store in Parma Heights, Ohio, for the first time this week and was surprised at how many nice things they had very cheap! I was even more surprised to find out that they give their profits to help support a Childrens home in El Salvador that is run by the store manager's sister. The store also partners with Love, Inc., a non-profit organization that helps families in need.

Shelter Appreciation

Mr. Moe

Do you know what next week is? According to my calendar, it is Animal Shelter Appreciation Week November 6-12. We got our first cat, Moe, from the Parma Animal Shelter when they had him at PetSmart. He was a great cat, 8 years old when we got him.

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Never Fear, We Aren't Starving!

We were glad we got such nice comments on Gerard's humorous Friday video post and were touched by the concern some showed by their comments.  If you haven't read the comments, you should.  As suggested by Rebecca, this is our follow-up post after we did our food shopping on Saturday to let you all know we really aren't starving.

pizza, salad, milk, V8 Fusion, peperoni cheese bread, cheese, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, yogurt, whole wheat bread, silk chocolate milk

We added more ice cream:  Turkey Hill's chocolate marshmallow, chocolate peanut butter and party cake.

Trail mix, V8 juice, 12 packs of gum (this should last us for 2 weeks), more cereal, more Fiber bars

We also have some bakery sitting on our counter too:  raspberry oat bars.  So, if you plan to visit us, it's best to come early in the week.  (We had peanut butter and jelly too on Friday, but Gerard forgot to show you that.)  If you missed seeing Gerard's video and want a laugh, it's just the post before this one. 

How often do you grocery shop?  Do you pretty much get the same things every time? 

Related Posts:  6 Grocery Shopping Tips For Speed and Efficiency
How To Keep Grocery Bags From Tipping
Living With No Stove--A Good Decision!

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What Would You Do With An Unexpected $75

When I get gift cards, I like to use them on something I normally wouldn't buy for myself. At work, we were offered $75 in gift cards for just getting a little health checkup right at work! We could choose what stores we wanted to get them for. I used $25 for Bath and Body Works.  This soap comes in lots of different fragrances and I love how it foams up.  I get the kind with the moisturizer in it because my skin gets real dry and I don't like the greasy hand lotions.  This will last me for awhile!

I let Gerard use the $50 for Sears to get new tennis shoes--his wear out fast! When I asked him what store he would like to get his shoes from, he chose Sears.  Actually, I'm going to get myself some heels so I can wear my nice skirts and dresses to church again sometimes at least. My feet are so slender it's hard to find comfortable heels so I didn't know what store I would find them in (most likely online) so by using it for Gerard's shoes I feel better about spending money for mine.

We actually had some left for a tank top and some socks too!  I feel like we hit the jackpot!

Do you like Bath and Body Works too?  What would you choose if you got $75 to spend out of the blue?

6 Grocery Shopping Tips For Speed And Efficiency

Here are grocery shopping tips that we use when we shop:

1. Use A checklist and have the items listed in order that you get them in the store. When we do our grocery shopping, we take along a list but just use it to check at the end to be sure we didn't forget anything. I have a list of our usual items on the computer that we just print out and use it as a checklist each week. By putting the items in order according to where they are in the store will save time if you follow your list along the way.

2. Eat before you do your food shopping. We always do our grocery shopping on Saturday after we had a big breakfast at Hometown Buffet. It helps us stick to our list.

3. Go together but split up the list. To save time, we go together but then we split up in the store. We each get the items that we generally eat. I have the cart and Gerard brings things to it. The other option that we have done was to just tear the list in half and each get their half and meet in the middle. This works assuming your list is in order as suggested in item 1 above.

4. When loading the cart, put heavy things in the far end. By doing this, when unloading it, the heavy things will be going on first so they do not crush into the lighter items.

5. Help bag. This is really a no-brainer, especially if there is not a bagger and just the cashier.

6. Use some boxes in your car for the bags of groceries. This will keep things from toppling over and falling out of the bags.

We took this little quiz to see what kind of shoppers we were and here is the results:

We Are Quick Shoppers

You're a speedy shopper and a speedy cook. You value efficiency above all else. You don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen... or in the grocery store! You buy a lot of convenience foods, and you've got making quick meals at home down to a science. You know what's cheap, healthy, and easy. You don't need a lot of fuss to eat well.

Why not take the quiz yourself and share your results in the comments?  Just click the link below.

What's Your Grocery Shopping Style?

Stop by Saturday Samplings for best posts of the week.

8 Things We Learned This Week 18 of 2011 (poll, garbage, blogging, shopping, zoo, cleaning)

Easter Hymns

According to you poll, there is a tie for the favorite Easter hymn between "The Old Rugged Cross" and "Christ The Lord Is Risen Today."

New Dryer

When hhgregg came last Saturday to hook up our new electric dryer, they said we needed to get a gas one. I saw that gas line connected to it but we also plug it into the outlet too. I didn't know what it was and now I do. Went back to order the gas one instead (which was $87 more).

Garbage

After posting The Morning Stomp over at "My Funny Dad, Harry" I am surprised to learn that others do not compact their boxes by stomping on them. Some tear them, fold them or cut them but no one else stomps them--yet. Do you?

Choose Your Charity

For the month of May, the two people who leave the most comments on Red Pine Mountain blog will have a 25.00 donation made in their name to the charity of their choice. I wonder what she'll do if there's a tie.

Cleaning Fun

Over at Modern Mom's post, Clear Away Cobwebs I learned a fun way to clean away those high cobwebs, or low ones too for that matter with a tennis ball! Attach a dust cloth with rubberbands to a tennis ball and throw it at the cobweb! Makes you want to clean now, doesn't it?

Arcsoft Photo Impression

When installing my photo scanner, I discovered that the software can edit photos and I can make photos for my blog at a low resolution which causes them to load much faster!  I think it only works though when I load in new ones, not on ones already on my computer. 

Cinco de Mayo

I kept seeing "Cinco de Mayo" on different blogs but had no idea what it meant or was about. Now, thanks to Mike at "Live Life 365," I learned that it means May 5 and it about celebrating Mexico's victory in a battle in 1862. I guess you celebrate by eating Mexican food that day. Be sure to stop by Mike's blog if you want to see how to make salsa, Guacamole or enchiladas.

Elephant Crossing

Willy

Yippee! The elephants are back on display at the Cleveland Zoo in their brand new 5-acre exhibit, including a couple new ones: Shenga and Willy, an 11-foot tall bull elephant. The biggest we ever had. Gerard and I look forward to going this weekend.

Visit Half-Past Kissin' Time to find more Friday Fragments.