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!!!

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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



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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

3-25-10

Returned to Walmart today to get more paint since
I wasn't happy with the paint color I picked out
yesterday as it was too yellow.
Today I went with more of a warm golden, yellow.
I found out you cannot return paint once you
have it colored and buy it. Bummer!
But I do have a plan for 2 gallons of the other
yellow paint. I'll use that to paint the
basement walls (drywall) to make it
less dreary down there. I want to make
it a family playroom down there so the color
should be appropriate.

I don't know a whole lot about buying paint.
I had assumed if you chose a color chip from
a certain maker you had to buy that kind of
paint. Not true. The color chip I chose
was from Dutch Boy paint. But I could use
Walmart white paint to have it mixed.
That was great because Walmart paint is
$12.83 a gallon and Dutch Boy is $20 a gallon.

Anyway the golden yellow I got today closely
resembles this flower

3-24-10

Not having much luck today.

Got the yellow wall paint and I think
it is too yellow. Can I take it back
to the store if I don't like it since
it's a tinted paint? I always see
marked down mistinted paints on the shelves.
I knew this was gonna happen to me that's
why I've been soooo stressed about picking
out a yellow paint. I always heard that
when you find a color you like to go
with the same color only a couple of shades
lighter than your original color. I
should've listened!!!


Then I get an email from the lady
who I won my curtain fabric from.
She had told me the other day she
could only ship this fabric in a box
and that's why it cost $10 and change.
It's 4 yards of medium weight fabric.
Today she writes to tell me she's sending
it via an envelope. So is this so called
envelope of fabric costing me $10 and some
is what I would like to know??? Well I am
about to see in the next couple of days
and will be pissed if it was much cheaper!!

Me and mom went and saw Bounty Hunter this morning.
It was pretty good. Not the best but pretty good.

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This has bugged me with people's spending habits.
Why is it every year people buy baskets, plastic
eggs and grass? What is wrong with ones from previous
years. I use the same Easter items year after year.
I don't feel the need to go out and buy new!
That's ridiculous to spend money like that!
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!

3-23-10

Don't have the money to give your old kitchen
a makeover with new cabinets and counters.
Here's a cheap makeover you could do yourself!

You can cover your old drab, painted cabinets
with contact paper.

You can also find granite contact paper to cover
up those unsightly counter tops just as long
as they aren't tile!

Cleans with soap and water and is
scratch and heat resistant up to 175 degrees

This is not the old fashioned contact paper
grandma used to line her shelves with.
There are so many styles and designs available
now the possibilities are endless as
to what you can do with it!







They even make stainless steel contact paper to use
on appliances!