4-2-10

Spent today at home getting the living room area
ready for our new sofa. I also got 2 valances
made. Oh yeah and I made 2 pillow covers
for sofa pillows I had because I'm not
sure if our sofa will come with pillows.
These were made with a fabric shower curtain.

My living room looks so bare.
We've had only 2 chairs in there
for 4 people to fight over.
Fine by me as I just go to bed, lol.





Here's a view from living to dining
and my other valance I made.
You can also see my unpainted wall
under the chair rail. One day I hope
to get this painted a red color.

Ya know what's funny is that when I view these
photos most everything I see in the way
of furniture or tables and what not
has been freebies I found.
So you see why I am excited to finally
get a new sofa after 39 years!!

Don't ask what the kids are doing.
They have lost their minds as usual
wrestling around on the floor.




Tonight we went and looked at a car. Looking
for something that is good on gas. This car
was only $1199 and has only 69,000 miles on it!!
The first thing I looked at on the car was to see
if it had the extra digit on the odometer and
it did meaning it was actual mileage.

With as many cars as we have bought over the years
you would think I have heard and seen it all.
Well here is another one of those stories to ad.

We get there and the wife comes out and starts up the
car. Then she says her husband owns the car and he
is out of town til next Tuesday. She said
we could not drive it or be able to buy it until then.

WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU POST A CAR ON CRAIGSLIST
IF YOU AREN'T ABLE TO SELL IT FOR ANOTHER WEEK
OR EVEN BE ABLE DRIVE THE DAMN THING!!

So in other words this was a wasted trip for us
since they are not able to sell it for another week!

Crazy, crazy, crazy.
Lot's of crazy people out tonight.

We're heading down the road tonight and hear
sirens off in the distance about a half mile
up the road. The person in front of us comes
to a dead stop in the road because of it.
Can't say that I have ever seen someone stop
that far away for lights and sirens.
We're sitting there and cars in the other lane
are still going by us.

Anymore I don't try to figure out stupid people.
They surround us everywhere and we have to just
deal and cope with them!

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I can't believe I am saying this on April 2nd,
it sure is warm in here! The house is reading
a steady 79 degrees. No air flow so I pulled out
all fans and opened windows up at 10pm!

Oh the joy during the day to have the sun shining,
hearing a few lawn mowers and seeing people out
and about. The birds have been coming to the
feeder just outside the window singing away.
Well they were screeching earlier this morning
when we looked and saw a hawk after one of them.
Viscious bird that is! He was standing on the ground
below one bush out front on one leg. The other leg
he was trying to reach in the bush for a sparrow.
They outsmarted him though and he flew off and he
left them alone and they once again returned
to the feeders.

__________________________________________________

I just learned this info from the news this eve.
If you go to Spokeo.com and type in your name
you would be surprised of how much information
can be found on you. There is a link at the bottom
of the page where you can have it all deleted.
You have to enter your email address so they can
send you a confirmation email to delete it.

This web site said who my family members were,
what my house cost, credit score, my address and phone number
along with many other things!
You need to erase personal info like this!
It's just no elses business to know!

4-1-10

Almost Spring break time for the kids.
They get out a half hour early today
then have tomorrow and all week off.
That's when I plan to get my Spring
cleaning completed (not including basement).

Today I stopped in the thrift store
looking for more fabric to make another
set of curtains since the other ones weren't
the right color. I needed something brighter.

I bought a plaid valance with reds, yellows
and greens in it. Then another patterned
fabric (actually a shower curtain)
that had a cream fabric background but had yellow
and red florals on it with greenery.
They compliment one another well.
Then I bought a light yellow flat sheet to line
the backsides of the curtains with.

Total spent was $5.00 because 2 items were half
price. I would have bought them at full price
so that was a bonus!

The colors on the computer are a little
different in real life.
The yellows in the plaid are yellower
and all one color yellow.

So I will probably spend this evening
or tomorrow working on the curtains.
It will sure help to break up all the
yellow that is in here at the moment on
the walls.
We plan to get the couch this weekend
so it's coming along together slowly.




________________________________________________

I can't wait to get up our new privacy fence!
If you've ever had something stolen or broken
into you would know where I am coming from
by feeling your place would be more secure
if you had a 6' or more fence completely surrounding it.

Last year I had been home all day and just stepped out
to go one block to pick the kids up from the bus stop.
While at the bus stop I saw the helicopter hovering
low in our neighborhood. Didn't think nothing of
it as it flies around here all the time.
I get the kids and round the block to come
home and there are a couple police cars out front
of our house! I guess these three younger guys
had been scoping out our house and stole a nice,
new bicycle out of the driveway underneath the carport.
The neighbor lady saw them do it and called police.
They in turn sent out the helicopter to try and
hunt them down. Still can't get over that!
We never got the bike back. But it makes you keep
an eye and an ear out lots more as to what
might be taking place around your home!

So today I am sitting here by the window
with the window open and the blinds drawn.
I see three younger guys make a pass by our
house 4 times within minutes, once even resting on a large
rock in the neighbors yard, about the end
of our drive way. Never seen these three
characters before but they sure were making
me nervous making continuous glances down
our driveway. I even called Tony at work
to say I wasn't getting the right vibe with them.
I told him to make sure everything is locked
up tight tonight and nothing left out of
any value! That's how they get ya! They
scope out your place first then come back
later on!

So in the near future I am hoping to get our
fence up to keep intruders out!!
There are a lot of shady characters I don't
trust around here, especially ones I have
never seen before!

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I've been on the hunt for some Home Depot coupons.
I checked Ebay and found Home Depot coupons
BUT every auction says it's NOT good at Home
Depot but good at Lowes only. This doesn't make
sense to me!

I found Lowes coupons on Ebay and it seems
like every auction has bidders on them.
WHY WHY WHY???

Go down to your local post office and
get a change of address packet. In there
are the 10% coupons for Lowes!!!
Don't pay for them!!!

I'd really like to find some Home Depot
ones as their dog eared fence sections
are a couple dollars cheaper than Lowes.

__________________________________________________

Yesterday I bought a large bag of bird food
from Big Lots for $1.50.
I took my double shepherd hook and stuck it
in the ground right out our front room
window and hung two bird feeders from it.

The sounds of birds chirping and singing
away eating from the feeder just fills the
house. It's so soothing and relaxing.
Heck it didn't even scare them away
when I was running vacuums and carpet
cleaners. Must be some hungry lil birdies!


__________________________________________________

I'm thinking chili sounds good this weekend
so I have been looking for a copycat version
of Wendy's chili. These would make great
freezer recipes. I don't see why you couldn't
throw it altogether in the crock pot.
I'm sure most these ingredients could
be found at Aldi's to make a cheap version.

Here are a couple versions I found:

Wendy's Chili Recipe

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 can onion soup -- 10 3/4 oz
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons cocoa
2 cans kidney beans - undrained
6 teaspoons tomato paste
15 teaspoons tomato sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar
6 cups v8 juice

Brown the ground beef in the vegetable oil. Break the beef into tiny rice size pieces.

Place the onion soup and half of the cooked beef into a blender and process on high speed until it resembles cement mortar.

Combine the blended beef with the unblended beef into 2-1/2 qt saucepan. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until flavors are blended.

This Wendy's chili recipe should serve 6 to 8 people.

---------------------------------------------------

Or Here Is Another One

1 pound 97% lean ground beef or turkey (Vege Version: 1 pkg Morningstar Crumbles)

Salt and black pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 cup diced celery

1/2 cup frozen diced green peppers

1/2 cup frozen or fresh diced red peppers (I’ve not found frozen in my neck of the woods)

1 cup frozen diced onions

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 tablespoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

One 15-ounce can petite-diced tomatoes

One 15-ounce can tomato sauce

1 1/2 cups water

One 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

One 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

In a stockpot, over medium heat, brown the meat with a little salt and pepper. Add water, just to cover by 1/2 an inch, and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse.

Return meat to pot – medium heat – and add the olive oil, celery, green peppers, red peppers, onions, chili powder, cumin, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Cook for one minute.

Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and beans. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. Makes approx ten 1-cup servings.

Per Serving: Calories 164; Protein 13 g; Fat 3 g; NET Carbs 13 g; Sugar 3 g; Sodium 512 mg

3-30-10

Still not having a good day and it looks
like another early bedtime for me.
So since I have a piss poor attitude
I decided I'd write my gripes down
to maybe feel a little better,
yeah right.

My one leg still hurts and I about
fell at the store (was getting some pop)
when my knee gave out. Tony caught my
arm before falling.

You ever have one of those weeks? Well
this week is one of those for me.
So you will probably hear me just bitch
about life and what not.

Tony put the for sale signs in the 99 Cadi
this evening. For the price of the Cadi,
if it were to sell, is lower than the vet bill.
Is that sad or what???!!!

Not even sure if we are going to get the
Suburban repaired from where the snow plow
hit it. We deposited the money from it
and now wonder if we should keep it in the
account to help build it back up.

I made curtains today and they look like
crap. Neither I nor Tony liked them.
So I have to hunt for something to hang
up in the living room since I threw out
the nasty blinds. They are hanging
temporarily to keep peeping Tom's from
looking in at night. What the heck kind
of curtains do you hang in a bay window
that looks right?

My cell phone took a crap. So now I have
to hunt for another one of those.
I looked on Ebay for something cheap
and my eyes started crossing.
Who knew there was so many
phones to choose from. So being confused,
I abandoned that search til another day.

I'm still trying to get used to the yellow
walls around here. They turned out a little
more yellow than what I would have liked.
I hope when I start adding our new couch
and pictures on the walls it helps tone
it down some and not be the total focal point.

Tony has the pager this week. And as I type
away it decides to go off. Now, if you have
on call and get more than 10 hours over time
they send you home instead of wanting to
pay that over time. IT SUCKS taking away
much needed money like that.
Does that lady who made the emergency call
really need to be let back in her apartment
after locking herself out on a balcony patio?
You know what is funny? This happens a lot
with residents! I think they need to
include emergency rope ladders out there
so they can climb down when they do this, lol.
Maintenance men have much better things to
do!
Why are we out there, in the dark at 9pm
to begin with???

Well the cat's meowing and it's getting
annoying. It jumped up in the window sill
and started clawing at the curtains!
It's gonna spend some time out in the
basement so I can get some sleep tonight.
Some days I just feel like choking the
crap out of the meower in that thing!
No I really wouldn't do that!
Tony said he wondered if there
was such a thing as shaken cat syndrome,
LMAO.
It wants outside soooo bad. We are in
the process of seeing about getting it
fixed so it would hopefully lose that desire.

Earlier this morning one of my sweet
children decided to let the dog out of
the kitchen. We have to keep her barricaded
in there for the time being until she heals
per vet orders.
Anyway about that sweet child. He lets the dog
out into the living room. Wasn't in there
for more than 5 seconds and left a big pee
spot on my carpet I just cleaned this past
weekend!! So I had to haul back out the
carpet cleaner tonight.

Today I stopped in the thrift store in hopes
of finding a baby gate to put in my kitchen
for the dog. I knew it wasn't gonna be a good
trip when the parking lot was totally packed!
It was a complete madhouse because it was
50% off entire store day. No carts, people
running everywhere losing their minds! You would
have thought they were giving away everything
for free. I wasn't about ready to stand in line
for anything when people had shopping carts
overflowing with clothes!

Well I am off to bed but FIRST I have to
escort this cat off to the basement.
Solitary confinement for her meowin' fuzz butt!!
While down there I'll throw the clothes
in the dryer as I am trying to make up
for not getting the laundry done this
weekend. I have felt like crap and not
moving too swiftly. When my mom can do
laps around me in the store and I can't
catch up, that's sad. It's not fair
older people get the good stuff to take
the pain away!

3-29-10

Today I think I will head over to Habitat
to see if I can find a small can of reddish
colored paint for my dining room wall.
Then over to Big Lots to get 6 tension
rods for my curtains so I can start sewing
them soon and get them put up.
I can't wait to remove those dusty old
blinds! I'd replace them but they are
a custom made blind meaning they don't
sell the size in the stores.
Redoing some rooms and Spring cleaning
sure is a lot of work! It's a slow
process and I hope I can survive as it
makes your home look wiped out!

We have even given it some thought to possibly
pull up the carpet in the dining, living room
and hallway. I think we might have hardwood
floors underneath the carpet but who knows
the condition. I'm not one for hardwood floors
but considering how much dirt is trapped in
carpet over time that could make people sick
and how much time I spend cleaning carpets,
it sure is a possibility of something we might do.
When I get time and more patience I'll have
to see if I can pull up a corner of the carpet
to take a gander. I tried yesterday and the carpet
is tacked down really good that it wouldn't budge.
I can't afford new carpet and this light gray carpet
is driving me nuts because it shows all the dirt.
Who in their right mind has light colored carpet
installed. The last place we lived had light
cream colored carpet that almost looked white.
AHHHHH!!!

__________________________________________________

Didn't have much luck at Habitat today finding
red paint. Mom wanted to stop by Meijer's
so while there I picked up a couple things.

.50 cents 2 pound bag of mini carrots

$1.00 for 2 bags of oranges 12 oranges total

$1.49 for 10 pound bag of potatoes



__________________________________________________

I'm in no mood to talk, to shop or to coupon at them moment!
I am very irritable and have no tolerance for anything!
Why you ask???
I am still trying to get over a vet bill at the
moment due to a dog getting surgery.
She had gotten an infection in her female organs
and had to get fixed and the infection removed.
If you know me and how tight I am with money
and had to of spent this amount of money then
you would know it would make me depressed at the
moment. Vets sure know how to drain you
of money you have in your savings that's for sure.
Yeah I still have "some" but this was a big chunk.
How much you ask??? Figure I'd kind of put that
in here since I don't feel like talking at the
moment, want the phone ringing or people asking
101 questions.
Well let's see I could have gotten a top of the line
stainless steel refrigerator, I could have
bought another Explorer to replace mine
that is limping along, how about groceries
for the next year!!! That's how much!!
I am happy to say that the dog seems fine
from surgery and is recovering well.
But I am still blown away at how much
a freakin' (putting it nicely here) vet costs!!
I still have to pay to have stitches
removed in 2 weeks. Don't want to know
how much they charge for that!
You have to do what you have to do because
that's why we have savings accounts for
those emergency situations.
But to me it's like having an earthquake
dealing with the aftershocks.
I'm so in la, la land and not in my right
mind that when I signed the vet papers
I signed my maiden name. I cannot figure
out why as I have not signed my maiden name
in 23 years!!! Thank God it was not
my previous married name as that wouldn't
have went over well with Tony, LOL!
I still have to pay my doctor bills
from my emergency room and doctor visits.
I still need testing in April to see if I have
cancer in the female organs.
I can't win at the moment so am heading to bed
early tonight! I didn't sleep well last night
as I was awoken with an acid reflux attack
that had me running to the bathroom getting sick.

So there you have it. That's my story and
I'm sticking to it. I'll post
what's going on around here for friends/family
but as for sales and coupons I don't see much
of that happening
right now with no desire to do it.
I feel the need to cut back for now.
I have my stockpile and freezer to eat from
for awhile and will do that instead of
shopping, other than the basic stuff.

3-28-10

It's been a very busy day. We spent
most of it painting.

First had to lightly sand all the walls down,
next used a Kilz primer, then painted.
I am so wore out and my body hurts from
sanding and being up and down a ladder!

This color sure is different than what
we are used to and will take some getting use
to, lol. But we wanted something different
than your typical colors and wanted to
brighten up the place.

BEFORE- lightly sanding the walls





PRIMING THE WALLS







AFTER

living room is still wiped out, ahhh. Blinds
will eventually be removed and I'll be making curtains
for the 3 windows soon.

3-27-10``

9am

No sleeping in this weekend! 9am we have
the first go round of people coming to
look at the truck from Cincinnati.
I'm sure there are others
to follow as I have lost track. Oh just as
I type another guy from work pulls up to
check out the Cadillac.

Just got breakfast made. I made
Butter Pecan Waffles, eggs
and a side of freshly slice strawberries.
I used half a box of butter pecan cake mix,
mix, an egg and just enough water
to make a slightly thick batter for the waffle iron.
YUMMY!

Later on we have to go find some white
paint to start primering the walls.
Will start painting tomorrow.
Today I need to clean the carpets.

It's never ending around here!
Still have bedrooms to finish from
last weekend, laundry, and have so
much more stuff to weed out and take
down to the thrift store drop off.
Ahhh Calgon take me away!
I need an energy boost and don't know
where to get it from since I feel so
drained!

Well from the sounds of people running
in and out of here this morning it
looks like we may have the truck sold.
I'm not a morning person at all and to
have this much action going on this early
is not my cup of tea or in my case
not enough pop with caffeine! You would think
we run a car lot here, ahhh.

Tony just left to head to the BMV with
these people so it looks like a go
with selling the truck!! Woo Hoo!!
Don't have to deal with that anymore
because trying to sell vehicles
is a pain in the rear.

Well I am off here for now to start
tidying up the floor area to get ready
to carpet clean.

3-26-10

I don't know who ordered this snow but I want to
return it immediately!!!
Columbus and surrounding areas got around
1 inch to 4 inches. YUCK YUCK YUCK.
I thought we were done with this stuff!
But that's Ohio for ya. We've been known
to have snow in April.

__________________________________________________



Last night I saw on the news the Titanic Exhibit
is at COSI. I thought cool, the kids would
be interested in that and maybe it's something
we could go see, NOT. It's so unfair that
they can't make things affordable for everyone
to see a piece of history. Guess only the rich
can experience this.

Adult (13-59) $23.75
Seniors (60+) $21.75
Youth (2-12) $16.75

It would cost our family $81 plus tax
plus parking if they charge for that.

I'm not going to an amusement park,
all I want to do is walk around and
LOOK at some artifacts. This is soo sad.

Regular COSI admission

Adult (13-59) $13.75
Senior (60+) $12.75
Youth (2-12) $8.75
COSI Member Free

_________________________________________________




Now I am considering taking them to the
Ohio Historical Center. I haven't been there
since a field trip in elementary school many
moons ago. Now a days kids go to theaters
and Pepsi plants for field trips.

The museum is only open Saturdays
from 9am to 5pm.


Museum Admission:

OHS Members FREE
Adults $8.00
Children 6 - 12 $4.00
Children 5 & under FREE
School Groups $3.00 per student

While it's still not cheap it's a lot better
than $81 PLUS!!

It would cost a family of 4 about
$29 to go and that includes $5 parking.

__________________________________________________

I saw this cute idea of cake roll washcloths
yesterday while in Big Lots.
Think I might makes some for Christmas.

Washcloths can be inexpensive so this
could be a cheap gift that looks so cute
to make.

Roll up washcloths to look like a cake or
jelly roll by using 2 different colors.
One to resemble the cake and one to
resemble the filling. Wrap ribbon
around outside of it to secure it.
Attach a fake piece of fruit to top.



You could also do hand towels rolled
up to look like Swiss Rolls.
Or brown washcloths rolled up to
resemble cupcakes. Wrap with
scalloped paper to be the cupcake
wrapper. You could use those
scalloped borders teachers use
to decorate their bulletin boards with.





I just thought it was a cute,cheap and easy
idea to pass along :o)

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Retailers Gearing Up For Start Of Appliance Rebate Program




From WBNS 10TV

The rebate program aimed at encouraging people to buy new, energy efficient appliances in exchange for a rebate begins in Ohio on Friday.

Experts say buyers will likely have to act quickly if they want to take advantage of the program, 10TV's Karina Nova reported Thursday.

Like cash for clunkers, the government rebate program gives customers incentives to buy energy efficient appliances, with rebates up to $250 available.

Stores are opening up between 6 and 8am!

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Us poor folks can't afford even a picture from
the store. I found a couple pictures I really
like and think that would coordinate with our
new color schemes quite well BUT they are a little
more than I would like to ever pay for one picture.
I was brain storming this morning on what to do
for pictures. And this is what I came up with.
I copied a couple pictures that I found online
then went into Paint and enlarged it to the max
of 500 times. For this one picture below it
took 18 pages to print!
I put my printer on Best print to get more
coloring. I would like something
like this on my dining room wall to go with
the Tuscan theme so this is the only way I can
afford to do it. They sell decoupage paste in
the craft stores if you would want to use that
over top your printed photos on the wall to protect
it from dirt and hand prints.

Here it is. You can see the size by the black
pen I placed on it or from the end of my coffee
table.