life, it ain't so bland

Because I mentioned this long neglected blog to someone today, I thought I'd update. First, the websites that can get anyone up to speed on couponing, Hot Coupon World and Slickdeals' Drugstore/Grocery (brick and mortar) forum were my go-to sites.

I'm no longer clipping coupons or chasing deals. I eventually ran out of room to house all my deals. At this point, I've given a lot away because our time here is coming to an end. Who wants to move a crate of toiletries? Not me! Especially when there is hope that move could be to Italy or Spain.

Second, I'm happy to report that after a little (okay, a LOT) of patience and effort, I've once again found a groove. People who lift me up, hobbies that keep me going, and an appreciation of the time that passes; good or bad.

Needless to say, I won't likely be back to this blog to update. That's a good thing, I think.

stupid computer

My main computer is in the shop. Apparently it can't handle Norton AND Windows update launching at the same time upon booting. Did that make sense? Because, honestly, I don't really know what all that means. I think I know what it means...but I'm not sure. I'll see ya on the flip side.

tagged

I won't tag anyone back but here is my sixth picture from my sixth folder. As you may have noticed, I don't post pictures of my kids because I am paranoid like that. However, it just so happened my picture wasn't of my children so I could play along. This is the finger of a young man who works with the Baron. They were playing football, I believe, when he suffered this injury.

I've been busy finishing up Pay It Forward projects. I had a load of packages to mail out today, including one the Baron has been patiently waiting for. The big kid is still having a bit of a rough time with his absence so I'm trying to spend less of the kids' waking hours online and doing projects. It means you may see me less, or not. I can always snap pictures during the day and wait until the evening to post.

Pay It Forward folks, keep an eye out for your treats!

unplug

Who is with me on this?

the crazy neighbor lady

I'm sure that's what the people in my neighborhood were calling me today. Do you know what these are? They sang to me from the recycle bins. I have no idea what I'm going to do with them. If nothing else, the kids will enjoy using them in the sand and water table.

chicken and ducklings

OR chicken and dumplings, as most of you may know it. It was rainy and dreary here the past few days. I felt the need for comfort food. I guess I've never made dumplings for the big kid because she had a hard time understanding we weren't eating ducklings. She was fascinated with the concept because it tasted like chicken noodle soup - without the noodles! She's as easily amused as her mother.

By the way, we do real dumplings. Not that biscuits-floating-on-top-of-soup business so many are fond of. I have an aversion to anything bread-like being left near moisture on purpose. Bread pudding? No thanks. Just 2 eggs and a 1/2 cup of flour, some salt and pepper, and dinner is served.

If I am staying authentic and have it on hand, whole allspice in with the chicken and broth is a must. Sounds weird, right? It's how granny always makes it. Yum. This is the same way granny makes her noodles, just add more flour, roll, cut and let dry. Depending on where you fall in my family, you may or may not serve the noodles, chicken, and broth over (ready for this?) mashed potatoes. Carbs galore.

sew-sew projects

I'm not terribly pleased with how either of these turned out. I followed Cute2Carry's tutorial, tracing a cardboard sleeve. The coffee cozy seems bulky. I know I've seen a tutorial for a button and hair elastic closure; I may need to give that a whirl.

The crayon roll was irritating. It didn't take a long time but the steps seemed to drag on. No way around it, that I can see, just not as much fun as I thought it would be. The 3/4" spacing to fit 16 crayons was too close, I think. I'm going to try again using 1" spacing and only fill with 12 crayons. I've already cut 2 more using the 13" length from the Chocolate On My Cranium tute. I'm going to try the 16 1/2" length tute from Skip To My Lou, next.

love, hate, and dust bunnies

Have I mentioned my love/hate relationship with sewing? When I'm in the groove, I enjoy myself. After a (usually frenzied) bout of sewing, I don't want to look at my machine for months. I once went almost two years without sewing a stitch. Which leads me to the dust bunnies.

I had to loan out my sewing table today. The horrors that lurked underneath would shock and amaze most anyone. Tonight I clean rather than sew. I have a dozen projects floating around my head. No way can I replace the table without exterminating the bunnies. Once the table is back in place, I'll be sewing and swearing in no time.

And now, a question:

Once I'm bored with sewing again I plan to have my abused and neglected machine serviced. Any tips or thoughts on that? This reminds me, I'll have to get a snap of my old Singer. She's a beauty. My grandmother gave it to me post tune-up about 5 years ago. Poor thing has barely seen the light of day. The feet that came with it are amazing! (Not that I know how any of them work, mind you.)

my sanity on a leash

Things get really bad if (when) I "lose" my military identification. I can't buy groceries at the commissary. I can't get cheap gas. More importantly, if I'm off base, I can't get on base to go home. I have to call someone (you know one of my OODLES of friends who is willing to roll out of bed to come rescue me from the front gate) to vouch for my authenticity and then escort me home.

I don't actually lose it. Ninety percent of the time it's at the commissary. That's the only place I have to take it from it's regular spot and carry it anywhere. I must drop it in the shuffle of bags and kids. I am not a purse kind of gal. Even a wallet is too cumbersome for me. I opted for a lanyard. For the cost of one designer fabric lanyard on Etsy, I purchased enough materials to make ten. No, I don't need ten but that's not the point! I got the hardware from a dog collar supply site. Now, I can put my ID on a leash and throw it around my neck while I'm in the store.

I finished the other two hybrid kidlets last night.

one of three

I'm making these for a special someone. They live in a charming, small space and don't have a lot of storage. I wanted these to be something the child can carry without all the goodies inside falling out. I didn't want to add another webbing strap because it wouldn't be as cute hanging on a doorknob or coat rack. Plus, the contents would be harder to get at for little hands, I think.

speaking of clutter...

Scattered around the house, I have projects at various stages of completion. This was a late night curious attempt at crocheting a small ball. I didn't have stitch markers when I started it and I'm going to pull it apart and restart.

These are kidlets I am making for a friend. I'm going to try another variation to make them more kid-toting friendly without interfering with the hanging design.

Here we have an Ikea easel the big kid and I rescued from the garbage truck a couple of weeks ago. It needs a cleaning (maybe paint?) and some new hinges.

This is my second dishcloth attempt. The cheap circular needles that came with the Knit Knack kit broke. No big deal, they were a pain in the rear anyway.

The Baron fished these beauties out of the dumpster a while back. I need to get them done before it gets too hot and humid out. I'm a little nervous because I plan to use spray paint, a first for me. They make that plastic spray paint and I'm hoping it works like I'm expecting it to. I want to go bright and cheery with these. I'm on the hunt for some bright and sturdy fabric to recover the seats and backs. All of this hinges on me being able to get them apart, of course.

i am thankful

I've been reading blogs from other frugal folks, watching the news, and going through the information sent to us from our bank. They all say the same things.

• Have a budget
• Use cash
• Save while paying down debt

We've been doing all of the above for four years and I'm just now realizing what a blessing it is. I believe we were pointed in this direction intentionally. I can't remember exactly how or why we started using cash only but I know it had something to do with ATM fees. The cash-only system needed a budget to give me an idea of how much cash we needed. After hearing a few different places that even with debt we should be paying ourselves (aka saving) first, I started a college fund for the big kid and IRAs for the Baron and me.

I've never been as pleased with the Baron's job (USN) as I am now. I know things will work out and we will be provided for but I do hope the economy will be on the rebound by 2013, when he's up for retirement.

Even my bland social life with my blah schedule paid off. I had all the time in the world last year to clip coupons, chase deals, and stock up. Now, with the Baron deployed and the competition for deals on the rise, I can stay home and live off what we have.

I want to put out there how thankful I am and how blessed I feel to have been given the opportunity to learn about budgets and frugal living. I think the crunch is still a part of our lives, but we've been living differently for so long, we haven't needed to make drastic changes.

pay it forward - update

These are two of the PIF projects I sent out last week. They were based on the Kidlet tutorial. I read on Dani's blog that her daughter had Webkinz, same as my big kid. I'd been wanting to come up with something to hold the annoying little critters. I used this as an opportunity to be creative.

Amy had/has a thing for pirates and the fabric just had to be used for her item.

i really am an old dog

I enjoy the company of friends. I tell myself I am miserable without it. I feel sorry for myself when we move and I leave good people behind. I pick myself up and make an effort to meet new people. I'm starting to feel a part of the community after a year and a half into this duty station. Once again, I'm having good times with good people.

I was the girl who would do it all. Thank goodness I'm slowly learning to say no. I hate saying no to people. Will they still like me if I tell them no? I have to hope they will and remember my own peace of mind and body, because I'm dragging. It won't stop me from offering help. I feel good when helping people. I love getting help when I need it and I truly enjoy making what comes around, go around.

But...I'm tired. I guess I really am getting older? Two kids :hiding from those of you with big, lovely families who will roll their eyes at me: must take more of my energy than I realized. Being a temporary single parent probably contributes a little, too. We had such a fun, busy weekend that I really need today off to today to recover.

I notice the kids can't go go go like I assumed they could either. The wee one's nap gets pushed back. She's either being restrained some place not kid friendly or she's left to run wild in a safe environment, both of which irritate her after a while. The big kid seems to need a break from constant kid to kid interaction, too. I assumed we would all adapt well to being busy with friends, nonstop.

We love our new friends but I'm learning we need moderation. No surprise there. This Baroness has always had a problem with moderation. While trying to rush my way to the end of this deployment, I'm rushing us past quality mommy-daughter interaction. Time to slow down.

*The above blog post was in no way directed at any one new friends and we would never want our new friends to think we are tired of them. We are just plain tired. We thank our new friends for making us tired.

spring forward

bah humbug!

this old dog swears like a sailor when learning new tricks

Ever heard of Sort Floor Books? Their prices are amazing! I like to go there and search for the words, "kit" and "set" and "deck." Because the site is very basic, I usually have a window open with Amazon so I can read reviews and get a description. Before my spending freeze, I ordered a bunch of fun "how-to" books and they arrived today.

Knit Knack Kit (Amazon page)
Down & Dirty: 43 Fun & Funky First-time Projects & Activities to Get You Gardening (Sort Floor Books must be sold out of this one but I paid WAY less than the Amazon price.)
Kids Crochet: Projects for Kids of All Ages (Amazon Page)
It's a Stitch: 21 Patchwork Quilt Projects with an Eye on Tradition (Amazon page)
Stitch-It Kit (Amazon page)

My total was around $32 and I'm pleased with all my purchases. They arrived in excellent condition even though two of them were listed as used. Which brings me to the title of this blog entry... It's a good thing I waited until the big kid and wee one were in bed before I attempted the knitting kit. Thank goodness for You Tube! I nearly tossed the whole lot in the trash. I think the book explains it as best it can, but I am a visual learner and needed the extra insight.

I don't see any sweaters or booties in my future, so be on the look-out for an exciting dish cloth hand knit by yours truly.

excuse me, ma'am

"Is everything alright?"

These were the words spoken to me by a nice police officer yesterday morning. She had pulled up next to me and motioned for me to roll down my window. Turning seven shades of red, I obliged. Thoughts were racing around my head as I contemplated an answer to the question. I decided honesty is the best policy, no matter how weird it made me sound. Besides, I am a terrible liar.

"I'm looking for coupons...coupons people drop...you know, from Winn Dixie? The people in the apartments over there...they sometimes drop their coupons....?" nervous laugh. blush. stammer. smile.

I'm not sure what she was expecting; probably a lost cat or wallet. She nodded in an understanding way (what with the economy and all, I suppose) and left.

Funny thing is, I wasn't picking them up for me this time. All my frugal penny pinching last year has us set for a while. Not that I would pass up a $10 off $50 to fill the freezer with meat, but I was doing reconnaissance. I am supposed to teach a couponing class to a group of homeschooling parents sometime this month.

clutter cutter

I found this tutorial for a "kidlet" and thought it would be a nice project for one of my PIF recipients. I didn't get quite as fancy with the pocket because I wanted to keep it simple on my first attempt. I can't post pictures yet, but it's going in the mail tomorrow. It was super easy and I am going to modify it slightly to make another PIF project.

another beverage wallet

I like this much better. I modified it so I have three small pockets for the Crystal Light on-the-go sticks (A). I also have pockets that fit either fake lemon/lime/etc. (B) and/or sweeteners (D). I stuck two regular tea packets in, but my big 4 packs fit (C).

I made a hook and loop closure because I am impatient and don't have any buttons. This is more my style, too. I used lemon and bee fabric inside...get it?

bev wallet

Not just a tea wallet but also a Crystal Light wallet. Next time around, I'll sew in the dividers for the drink mix packets (top left) so they don't slide around. My tea comes in these packets of 4. I adjusted the size of this tutorial by an inch each way (6x8) to accommodate. I think I'll sew in the dividers for the sweetener packets, also. I need to get buttons and this will be done.