This morning I woke at 6:am and took a hot coffee of coffee out on the deck to enjoy the morning before it got hot. As I looked across the lawn I saw that tiny white 'puffs' were spread throughout. I noticed it in both neighbors yards to the left as well. Looking to my right I saw my neighbor on that side also had little white puffs spread through their yard.



I walked down to the grass to get a closer look. Was it cotton? Was it feathers?

Nope.

Spiders.






Apparently all the baby spiders in the neighborhood have hatched within the last day or two....

Thousands upon thousands of itty bitty, teeny tiny baby spiders with quarter and fifty cent sized webs.


You can tell the older spiders as they make thicker webs.


Mama Spiders make thick, heavy webs under bushes and in the landscaping.


But the new baby spiders make thin, beautiful tiny webs that rip with the slightest wind.



You can click on each image to open in a new window and see it in a larger size to appreciate the beauty of the web glistening with morning dew.



Of course this means I'm going to the local hardware and garden store and getting spider killer for the lawns today.... LOL.







.

Labels: gardening, I should be sleeping, rambling, Useless information

Remember when I taught you guys how to make Kool Aid bags out of empty juice box containers?


I had seen one in a 4-H display at a county fair back in 2003 or so, and said to myself "I bet I can make one of those."

So, I did.

And yesterday while grocery bags were on my mind I pictured a tote bag made out of grocery sacks and I thought to myself; "Hey, I bet I could make one of those."

So I did.

Well, sort of.

I started....

And then I got bored.

But if you own a crochet needle (even if you are like me and don't actually you know, use it... or know how to crochet really... that's ok. You can still make one.)












But thanks to my tendency towards ADD (LOL) I got so extremely bored I had to stop.

Still - I knew I could do, and I can always finish later on if I desire. In the end though, I found myself thinking; Why am I doing this? If I want to use one of these bags as a tote bag I can simply grab a bag out of the cupboard and........ put something in it and carry it. :o)

Labels: Frugal, Happy Housewife, Useless information

Although I started working on websites in 1998 this particular coffee blog didn't come about until 2004 when I shut down a previous site and wanted to start fresh, anonymous and from scratch. It actually started as a moving blog as we had just found out that my husband got a job with a new company and we were going to be relocated to a new city and state.

The Coffee blog evolved through the moving and relocation process to more of an every day online diary of sorts mixed with frugal hints and tips, advice, recipes, crafts and affordable house projects.

About 2 years ago I decided to split each genre into it's own blog and thus, my moving and relocation blog was born as well as the Budget Barbie blog and of course the American Housewife blog focused on cooking and household information.

My Coffee Talking blog would have had you rolling on the floor in laughter had it been around when my children were small and I could have entertained you with my daily entries of what the 3 kids said, did or got themselves into. But as the children grow up there isn't as much blog fodder in the preteen and teen years as there is when they are little. We also have to take into consideration that sometimes the kids don't want the blog-world to know what's going on their lives and I have to respect that. So in the end, I've been dwelling on just where the Coffee Blog is going...

I would love rousing conversation each morning over coffee but although I may have 200 people stop in every day, only about 3 of them comment. So much for rousing conversation. LOL.

So... my thought is; let's get back to posting what I want to post.

Crafts, recipes, funny stories, photos, pictures, ranting and raving about the news, frugal home decor ideas, travel, product reviews.

Anything goes.

It's full circle back to where I used to be about 3 years ago before I split the content into it's own blogs. I'm still doing those - as they have a completely different following than this one. But... I'm excited to go back to posting whatever the heck I feel like it on this blog.

And? We'll see where it goes.

Labels: Happy Housewife, housework, rambling, supermom, Useless information

I discovered the company "Alloy" when my teenage daughter started to get their magazines and we saw they offered denim jeans in 37" inseams. My poor (tall) daughter has never really had 'jeans' or had ill fitting jeans because we've always had such a hard time finding jeans that fit at the local mall or shopping centers. Alloy has jeans of every size for teens and college kids (seriously... every size from 00 to 18 and in every inseam length from tiny short to really tall) but also has hoodies, t-shirts, jerseys, sweaters and shoes... this summer I ordered most of my 17 year olds clothes from there! Shorts and swimsuits, baby doll dresses and skirts.

I think we've ordered almost everything from them but shoes - simply because we think those need to be tried on.


Alloy

• Basic Tees: 3 for $8.50 each at Alloy.com
• Free shipping on Alloy orders over $25. Use code AHHAFF. Offer valid through 7.30.08.

When it comes to purses and handbags, females are fickle. They can spend a couple hundred dollars on a name brand bag and be 'tired' of it in 2 months and it's to the back of their closet. Why not just rent the bag for a month or two and then turn it for a new brand? Seriously - a company does that.

Bag, Borrow or Steal

• Bag Borrow or Steal a FENDI bag
• Bag Borrow or Steal a ISABELLA FIORE Bag
• Bag Borrow or Steal a GUCCI Bag
• Bag Borrow or Steal a MAX AZRIA Bag
• Bag Borrow or Steal a TRACY REESE Bag

Whatever clothes you can't get at Alloy - you'll probably find at Overstock. From clothes to the bedding and office furniture your college aged kid needs - I'm pretty sure you can find almost anything here, including all the really big, expensive brand names that you don't want to pay the big, expensive brand prices for. I've ordered shorts from them for my oldest daughter and I believe another blogger that reads this site just ordered bedding from them. They had $1 shipping last week and free shipping on laptops ends today... in other words they ALWAYS have great deals going on. Always.

Overstock

I'm just going to let you type in what you need (since they carry everything from clothes to electronics to bedding to bath to ... well, everything!) and then you can search for the best deals for that particular item. Just type it in!

Search Overstock.com for:

Labels: shopping, Useless information

No plastic bags in LA stores beginning July 2010

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles shoppers soon won't hear the question, "Paper or plastic?" at the checkout line.

The City Council voted Tuesday to ban plastic shopping bags from stores beginning July 1, 2010.

Labels: Frugal, Happy Housewife, kids, News, politically correct, rambling, Useless information

When I was 19 my wisdom teeth started to 'come in'. I was going through the teething stage and my heart went out to all infants going through teething because man, it hurt!

I remember sitting in our apartment at night trying to watch tv while chewing on everything from frozen washcloths to spoons, trying to find relief. After awhile the pain and swelling was bad enough that I was chewing on knives to help cut the teeth through. Oh, they were just small kitchen knives (paring knives) but yes, I chewed on knives as it was the only thing that was helping me not only quell the pain, but get the bottom wisdom teeth to erupt.

In the end, after about 6-9 months of this they had popped through but were still moving and I had had enough. We had no dental insurance but when I was 20 years old I had my two bottom wisdom teeth pulled and made monthly payments to pay off my bill.

I was two months pregnant with my daughter at the time I so after being numbed for the extraction I opted out of all pain killers. As a matter of fact I went back to work that afternoon (I had an office job where I worked from 1-5) and with a mouth full of bloody gauze, I worked the afternoon as usual, just not answering the phone since no one could understand me through the gauze.

And here I am, 17 years later... going in this morning to have my two upper wisdom teeth removed.

And?

I'm a bit nervous.

The main reason I'm nervous is because the dentist that will be doing the removal just graduated about 3 weeks ago.

Gulp.

He's been a dentist for like, 2 weeks. LOL.

And he is going to rip my teeth out.

Eeek.

That is why I'm nervous.

They also happen to be my 'upper' wisdom teeth, which are harder to reach in general but mine are especially difficult. You see, my jaw is such that when I open my mouth wide my jaw comes down to 'cover' the wisdom teeth and you can't reach them.

This is why I have to almost close my mouth in order to brush them. The only way you can reach the upper wisdom teeth is to have my mouth open with only enough room between the teeth for a finger or a toothbrush. I have a regular sized toothbrush to brush all my normal teeth, and a smaller, childs size toothbrush to reach the back. When I have my teeth cleaned they have to do the upper wisdom teeth without looking as they have me close my mouth.

They are so difficult to get to, as well as having come in at an angle and are a little sideways towards my cheeks instead of straight down - they are hard to clean and need to come out.

And now a brand spankin' new kid fresh from dental school is going to try to yank out my upper teeth without the benefit of 15 years experience.

Yep... that's why I'm a little nervous here.

Labels: Medicine Talk, neighbors, rambling, Useless information, What More Can Go Wrong

About four years ago I got curious as to who got the honor of picking out the names of our countries hurricane's. I've always been interested in names and when I was younger always wished I could find a job naming orphaned babies at hospitals and children's homes. I could spend hours dreaming up whole families of names and filling papers with baby names, siblings names and entire generations.

Later when I was older I was going to be content to be a consultant for cities to come to me to name all their streets. No one ever did though - except for one developer whom I was speaking with while I was an Assistant Director at my old job... I suggested 'my' name for the next cul de sac in his new development as he stated he already used his daughters names as well as their family cats.

Anyway, I had wondered who gets to name the hurricane's, so I looked it up. We already know from the news that hurricanes are named alphabetically, so the first tropical storm or hurricane of the year has a name that begins with "A" and the second is given the name that begins with "B" and so on and so forth.

But we never have hurricane's that start with the letters "Q" or "U". That one surprised me as I thought I remembered an Umberto but I guess not.

Here was the interesting thing; There are six lists that continue to rotate. The lists only change when there is a hurricane that is so devastating, the name is retired and another name replaces it.

Aren't you glad you know this now?

For the record, Hurricane Dolly is making the news this afternoon (which is where this blog post stems from) and so, I give you a list of the current 2008 Hurricane Names:

Arthur
Bertha
Cristobal
Dolly
Edouard
Fay
Gustav
Hanna
Ike
Josephine
Kyle
Laura
Marco
Nana
Omar
Paloma
Rene
Sally
Teddy
Vicky
Wilfred

Labels: News, Useless information

As I sip the last of my coffee before heading up to do laundry I thought I'd report that in the grand scheme of things we seem to be quite lucky that damage to our home and yard is little to none from the storm.

With so many huge (huge as in 2 feet wide) tree's and branches broken like they were sticks and our neighbors picking up their trash, mailboxes, rain spouts and more I was surprised to take inventory and see that only damage to our home is one very strange thing.

The wind was so extreme that it blew the rain with such force, it was able to go under the paint of the front door.

Yes, under the paint.

Without ripping it or tearing it, it found a space in the oval glass to get under the paint, filled it with rainwater and then drained back out leaving a bubbled, stretched out area of paint that will have to be stripped and repainted today. Odd! (I took pictures but the battery is charging right now).

I went out to look at our trampoline and sure enough, the wind moved it, but the garden hose kept it tethered. The wind both spun it in a circular motion and lifted and moved it at the same time. You can tell from the indentations in the grass and the way it's laying on top of the garden hose that the wind spun it in a circular motion about a foot and moved it about 8 inches before the hose kept it from going farther.

The 'weird' thing the wind did is this; Last night during the storm my husband was watching out the window when he saw the wind knock our basketball hoop over. He was thankful that it went down sideways and straight down, so it wasn't bent and didn't go the other way, hitting the house. He watched the storm a little more and went to bed.

When he woke up this morning at 4:45 am for work he saw that it was once again, standing straight up.

Apparently the wind not only knocked it down in one fell swoop, but blew it back up in place again.

Cool.

Labels: rambling, Useless information

*edited after I went to pick the boys up and listened to the radio.


Driving the boys to weight lifting class this morning at 5:45 gave us a first hand look at the storm damage as most people were still sleeping or just waking.

Pulling out of our drive we saw the toppled trampolines, patio furniture in the streets, a lot of down-spouts (rain spouts) and surprisingly, the wind also took out our neighbors mailbox completely!


We drove out of our cul-de-sac onto the main road and started to see trees down. Fairly big tree's too, which surprised us.


I flipped the radio on and the announcer was saying that we currently have 47,000 67,000 people without power and that the winds that initial reports are that we had 70 and 80 100 mph winds last night. I knew they were strong, but I didn't realize 80 mph strong.

We passed some flooded low lying areas and ditches and joked about setting down with a fishing pole, and we then passed an area where an entire section of fencing had been ripped out and twisted and thrown. Impressive.

I dropped the boys off and came home but when I glanced down a side street I could barely see all the way down there were soooo many tree's down! The street was littered with branches, leaves, and whole tree's.

Of course I turned down it to get a closer look. ;)

No city trucks or emergency workers were out yet so I was getting a first had view.... I'm sure this entire neighborhood is going to be closed off to thru-traffic within 15-20 minutes.


The lady picking up branches and fallen debris in her yard was seriously pissed at me for being a 'looky loo' so I drove off.

The battery on my camera was flashing that it was about to go dead so my pictures I snapped on the way into my cul-de-sac didn't turn out. Shoot. Because there was a GREAT one of this house that has a perpetual "Big Top" garage sale for about 1-2 months during the summer and the storm had taken the tent and blew it into the tree's and blew all the stuff in the tent together into a large, cluttered heap.

Anyway!

Interesting morning. It will be interesting later on to find out if it was high winds or a small tornado that went through the neighborhood with all the tree's blocking the roads that I couldn't drive down (I had to stop and turn around in a driveway) because just a block away the street was clear. Wind is a crazy thing.

Labels: rambling, Useless information

After tossing and turning, listening to a thunderstorm rage outside my window between 12:00 midnight and 2:30, I found myself bolting awake at 3:00.

I tried to roll over and ignore it and go to sleep but the level of noise, (wind, rain, thunder and what sounded like hail pounding my bedroom window) was incredible. I peeked out the blinds in my room just briefly to see if it was hail, but I couldn't see anything out the window pane for the rain being driven against it.

I decided to go downstairs to the main level of the house and doing so almost caught my breath. The wind was insane! The driving force behind the rain was a little scary and I was ever-s0 thankful I had goaded my husband into tethering our 11 baby tree's a few weeks ago or they would quite literally be gone!

I stopped in the main level bathroom and was surprised when the lights flickered and threatened to go out.

In over 3 1/2 years of living here our lights have never done 'that'. They've gone out with power outages, but this? This was... odd. Weird. It just wasn't 'right'.

I left the bathroom and gasped. The front entryway where the door was was literally screaming with the wind. I put my hand on the door and felt it shaking and 'breathing' in and out quickly and the loud scream was hurting my ears.

I walked quickly to the kitchen where my laptop was on the counter and I opened a window. Sure enough I had 11 warning emails from our local news station and one of them (the latest) included a tornado warning for one of the two counties that our city straddles the boundary of.

Coffeekid and his best friend were already sleeping in the basement but I ran up the stairs to wake my girls when I saw Kat was already awake and standing in the laundry room window surveying the backyard below to see if our trampoline was still there. I told her to grab a pillow and head down the basement to sleep.

I stopped in Bianca's room next and woke her to grab a blanket and pillow and head to the basement. In the meantime I grabbed my purse and the laptop and moved them to the basement as well, just incase there would be a tornado.

After both girls were down in the basement, snuggled in and already dozing off within minutes, I returned upstairs.

I was concerned about our trampoline because yesterday when we had had a smaller storm I was home alone and couldn't flip it over (we are anal that way and always flip our trampoline over flat to the ground during storms so it is harder for the wind to take it. Not that we care about the trampoline so much as the damage it could do to a neighbors home if it slammed into it!) and since I couldn't flip it myself I tethered it down with our garden hose weaved in and out of the metal legs instead.

I stood in the doorway listening to the screaming wind and watching our tree's bend down, almost touching the ground... and prayed that no tornado's hit our home.

When the lightening flashed I noticed our neighbors trampline (theirs has the safety 'cage' over it) was smashed up against their house. It looked pretty mangled to me from where I stood, but I was also thankful it crashed into their own home and not a neighbors or ours.

At this point the storm was dying down to a severe storm and not the tornado like screaming that had been going on for the past 15 minutes. The storm raged but inbetween flashes of lightening I saw down spouts, patio cushions and other debris in the street and... what in the heck? A second trampoline was crashed and smashed on the boundary of the neighbors and our yards just on the other side of our driveway.... only the trampoline is a neighbors that lives no less than 3 homes away and across the street! The trampoline used to be in their backyard. Crazy.

I wanted to take some photos but it's too dark. You can only see when the lightening flashes, and the flash on the camera won't work that far away. Perhaps I'll see if I can snap one later...

For now? I'm heading back upstairs to see if I can sleep for about an hour. It's just 4:00 now and I have to be up at 5:15 to wake the boys for weight lifting class.

Yawn.

More later...........

Labels: I should be sleeping, kids, neighbors, rambling, Useless information

Somethings are really lost in the translation....


I just received a reply to my initial email to McAfee this morning (before I went ahead and took care of matters by live chat instead) and the email just made me laugh out loud because it is FULL of snafu's like this one;


I appreciate that you brought this to our attention and it is my dearest desire to assist you with your request.

It bad enough to read it in emails but they actually talk like this on the phone when you speak to them as well. Typically India - but the Philippines too if you don't get lucky with someone who knows better English.


Having someone tell me it is their dearest desire to assist me is just.... weird.

Labels: rambling, Useless information

When it comes to getting things done I'm not known for my patience. When I get an idea I want to do it now. When something is broken, I want it fixed now. When there is a mistake, I want it rectified now.

So even though I emailed McAfee earlier this morning, it wasn't good enough for me and decided to try the 'live chat' that I usually end up cursing and crying over. My initial reaction when my customer service rep came online was 'oh crap..." when I saw his name was Rajan and I was 99% sure McAfee must do what everyone else does and outsources to India, the Philippines, etc.

I decided at that point to keep my side of the conversation as simplistic as possible - and as per my personality, I always am polite.

I asked him to please uncheck the box for Auto Renewal. I said "yes" and "Thank You" numerous times and only later when he mentioned the words 'refund' did I realize that perhaps he would be able to correctly do this step as well (I had planned on calling on the telephone tomorrow during business hours to get someone who spoke English so there would be no miscommunication.)

I also covered my backside by taking photos of our conversation all the way through so that if anything is not correctly, I have proof later on of exactly what was promised me.




In the end it went smoothly. This alone is enough to catch me off guard.

I'm told that the box is unchecked and I will not be automatically billed in the future. I'm also told that a refund will be provided now and that my subscription will not be interrupted and will continue as it is until it expires in August as it should. I told him at that time I would make the decision whether or not I would like to renew.

Could it really be this easy this time? The first (no... second) the second time in 10 years (!!!!) that an overseas customer service rep was actually capable of getting something done correctly?

I'm in shock.

Let me see if charge is reversed as it should be and my service is uninterrupted and I'll get back to you.

Labels: Useless information, What More Can Go Wrong

For the 10 years that we've been 'online' we've had internet security and virus protection through either Norton or McAfee (maybe another one in there early on, I don't remember) but we've used both. During those times I've always gotten a reminder notice when it was expiring and made the choice to renew.

I had no reason to think anything would be any different until this morning.

I started my computer and checked emails only to see that during the night McAfee decided to renew my subscription for me.

One month early.

And at the full $70 rate.

When I installed their product it was at the $39 price. I have coverage until August 19th and around August 5th or so I would have started to look into my options. But... did they give me a chance?

Nooooo.

They took my credit card that was on file - which happened to be my debit card and they charged seventy bucks to it!

AND I DONT HAVE $70 RIGHT NOW!

As a matter of fact it would have bounced right back to them had I not taken money from our savings account and transferred money into our checking account to pay for the new muffler I need on our truck next week.

THAT is the money that is in the account. For the truck repair.

And now McAfee has taken $70 of it and I don't have enough for the truck muffler.

Yes... I'm pissed. Why? Because they were sneaky about it.

No warnings. No emails. No alerts or notices.

Just renewed it a month early, charged it to me and told me after the fact.

When I went into the account profile to see why, it seems they automatically renew you every year and you CANT OPT OUT by unchecking the box. It's faded out so you can't uncheck it manually. You have to have called or contacted their customer service to have THEM opt out for you.

WTF?

Is that not sneaky and underhanded!?

So I had to send them an email form stating that I had 1 more month of coverage before deciding if I wanted to renew or not and that it was not in our budget to have renewed at this time and they need to reverse the charges immediately.

They say they take 48 hours to respond to the email... and even longer to start the refund process.

So... anyone want to sue McAfee with me? I'm pretty sure a good lawyer would say this is shady practices on their part.

Labels: ranting, Useless information, What More Can Go Wrong

Last week I added something to my template; the widget in the sidebar on the right that shows you some yummy food photos and links to recipes. Are they just any random recipes? Nope! It's a widget of the latest recipes and photos (and hints, helps, etc.) that I've posted to one of my sister-sites; An American Housewife.

If you are looking for meal ideas, household hints and helps, recipes and more; keep an eye on that widget. This mornings latest post was Salmon Loaf with a Lemony Cream Sauce - which we had for dinner last night with pea's... fresh from our garden!

Labels: cooking, cooking mishaps, Happy Housewife, Useless information, websites

My husband doesn't have a job that requires him to wear suits or dress shirts requiring cuff links, but I almost wish he did! This morning I found the coolest and most fun cuff links! Because I've always been somewhat of a rebel and gone 'against the grain' when I saw some little skull and cross bone cuff links I chuckled out loud... (yes, it was a chuckle, not really a 'laugh'). I would SOOOO wear those!

Actually they had 'cute' cuff links too that I would wear - like some that you can put tiny pictures in! Yep, just unscrew the face of each link and put in a small photo you've cut out. I loved that idea! I would post images but they made it clear on the site they didn't want them used and disabled right click, so instead you'll just have to go there to see for yourself.

Labels: PP, shopping, Useless information, websites

This afternoon I checked the kids school year calendar and glancing over it saw March had notations like "Cap and Gown Delivered" and "Graduation Announcements" which made me get a little teary eyed and immediately I started to think of all the things we haven't done with the kids yet and suddenly our 'baby' is graduating next Spring!

I spent the next hour surfing online for cruises over Spring Break and vacation rentals and condos on the beach... things to do for a family vacation before she goes off to college. One of my good friends and her husband took their boys to Mexico last year and loved it, so I also looked into gorgeous options like Rocky Point beach house rentals and a few other areas just south of San Diego, inwhich we could also travel to Riverside and show our "baby" where she was born and where we lived when she was an infant. The website I found the Rocky Point beach house at (link above) also had gorgeous views from an array of other rentals and testimony from others which spoke highly to me because I saw the rentals were family friendly and parent approved. LOL. The site is easy to use and even offers a currency converter.

So... dinner conversation tonight was over Spring Break vacation ideas for the family and how quickly it will be here. How in the world did she get to be a senior when I swear she just got on the kindergarten bus last week!

Labels: Useless information, vacation, websites

You've all probably heard by now that Starbucks is closing 600 of it's stores. Never fear - there are still enough to go around and you'll never be too far from being able to get your favorite java... but incase you were wondering which locations are closing - here's the list straight from Starbucks.


July 2008 U.S. Store Closure List

As we announced on July 1, 2008, Starbucks will close approximately 600 company-operated stores in the U.S. beginning this month and continuing through the first half of FY09. Partners (employees) in the stores listed below have now been given notification that their stores will close by the end of this month.

Much thought and consideration was given to each location, because we know the impact this has on our dedicated partners, customers and the communities where we operate. The determination of each store’s closure date is dependent on several operational and contractual factors and events. We will be as transparent as possible and each month, after closure dates have been communicated to all affected partners, we will post a list of the stores that are scheduled to close during that month.

Starbucks is listening to customers, partners and the communities where we operate and is working to address their questions while we continue to transform the business.

ALABAMA

#10797 - DAUPHIN & DU RHU
9 DU RHU DR
MOBILE, AL

#11322 - OLD SHELL & MCGREGOR
4401 OLD SHELL RD
MOBILE, AL

#11429 - AIRPORT & FOREMAN
6601 AIRPORT BLVD
MOBILE, AL

#11774 - UNIVERSITY & OLD SHELL
5611 OLD SHELL RD
MOBILE, AL

ARKANSAS

#10883 - HWY 59 & RENA
2008 FAYETTEVILLE RD
VAN BUREN, AR

#11864 - HWY 264 & DIXIELAND
105 S DIXIELAND
LOWELL, AR

CALIFORNIA

#9583 - NATIONAL & 36TH
3506 NATIONAL AVE
SAN DIEGO, CA

#10630 - HWY 111 & RANCHO LAS PALMAS
71743 HWY 111
RANCHO MIRAGE, CA

#10710 - FLORIDA & SANDERSON
2801 W FLORIDA AVE
HEMET, CA

#10813 - CANYON SPRINGS & CORPORATE
2692 CANYON SPRINGS PKWY
RIVERSIDE, CA

#10888 - RAMONA & MISSION
4467 E MISSION BLVD
MONTCLAIR, CA

#11029 - LA PAZ & VALLEY CENTER
14689 LA PAZ DR
VICTORVILLE, CA


#11896 - SAN JUAN & MILLER
1280 SAN JUAN RD
HOLLISTER, CA

#13745 - PCH & BOAT CANYON
636 N PACIFIC COAST HWY
LAGUNA BEACH, CA

IOWA

#13570 - MAIN & 2ND
201 N HARRISON ST
DAVENPORT, IA

ILLINOIS

#13289 - 167TH & CRAWFORD
4019 W 167TH ST
COUNTRY CLUB HILLS, IL

#13469 - NORTH & YORK
291 N YORK ST
ELMHURST, IL

INDIANA

#11846 - 16TH & SHARON
3021 W 16TH ST
INDIANAPOLIS, IN

#13201 - SR 1 & LOWES
2133 N MAIN ST
BLUFFTON, IN

KENTUCKY

#10779 - HUBBARDS & WESTPORT
285 N HUBBARDS LN
LOUISVILLE, KY

LOUISIANA

#11263 - I-10 & SIEGEN
6556 SIEGEN LN
BATON ROUGE, LA

#11264 - COURSEY & MARKET
14241 COURSEY BLVD
BATON ROUGE, LA

MARYLAND

#11799 - COLLINGTON PLAZA
3524 NORTH CRAIN HWY
BOWIE, MD

MINNESOTA

#9564 - FRONTAGE & PROSPECT
2221 E MAIN FRONTAGE RD
ALBERT LEA, MN

#10456 - RADISON RD & 109TH
2331 108TH LN NE
BLAINE, MN

#10457 - MAIN ST & HWY 10
2740 MAIN ST NW
COON RAPIDS, MN

#10642 - TYLER RD & MALL DR
144 TYLER RD N
RED WING, MN

#10871 - ROUND LAKE & HWY 10
13131 RIVERDALE DR
COON RAPIDS, MN

#11186 - W CIRCLE DR & 26TH
2665 COMMERCE DR NW
ROCHESTER, MN

#11635 - 66TH & HWY 252
615 66TH AVE N
BROOKLYN CENTER, MN

MISSOURI

#10834 - WEST FLORISSANT @ LUCAS & HUNT
8017 W. FLORISSANT AVE
JENNINGS, MO

NEBRASKA

#11527 - HWY 370 & 36TH
3811 TWIN CREEK DR
BELLEVUE, NE

NEVADA

#6633- DESERT INN & DECATUR
4810 W DESERT INN RD
LAS VEGAS, NV

#10393 - TROPICANA & EASTERN
2510 E TROPICANA AVE
LAS VEGAS, NV

#10462 - CHARLESTON & BRUSH
5181 W CHARLESTON BLVD
LAS VEGAS, NV

#10872 - LAKE MEAD & RANCHO
3720 LAKE MEAD BLVD
LAS VEGAS, NV

#11647 - SKY POINTE & BUFFALO
6515 N BUFFALO DR
LAS VEGAS, NV

NEW JERSEY

#9365 – CHERRY HILL MALL KIOSK
2000 ROUTE 38
CHERRY HILL, NJ 08002

NEW YORK

#10840 - CENTRAL ISLIP TOWN CENTRE
101 S RESEARCH PL
CENTRAL ISLIP, NY

#11280 - FOREST PROMENADE
1756 FOREST AVE
STATEN ISLAND, NY

#11976 - SOUTHOLD
53345 ROUTE 25
SOUTHOLD, NY

NORTH DAKOTA

#10459 - 13TH & 25TH
1310 25TH ST S
FARGO, ND

OHIO

#2525- 1505 5TH AVE
1505 W 5TH AVE
COLUMBUS, OH

#11883 - MAXTOWN
925 N STATE ST
WESTERVILLE, OH

TEXAS

#9675 - HWY 83 & BOCA CHICA
100 EXPRESSWAY 83
BROWNSVILLE, TX

#10877 - ILLINOIS & WESTMORELAND
3403 W ILLINOIS AVE
DALLAS, TX

#11302 - HWY 59 & HWY 36
27943 SW FWY
ROSENBERG, TX

#11565 - ZAPATA HWY & CHESTNUT
2201 CHESTNUT
LAREDO, TX

#13332 - VALLEY MILLS & WACO DR
4300 W WACO DR
WACO, TX

WEST VIRGINIA

#11213 - THE HIGHLANDS
36 FORT HENRY RD
TRIDELPHIA, WV






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Labels: coffee, Useless information

Over the past couple years you guys have heard stories from me on this blog about the UPS workers breaking into our deliveries and stealing our iRiver mp3 player, my daughter losing hers, my other daughter saving up babysitting money to buy one and my (ever cheap err, frugal husbands quest to get one (by asking me if perhaps I need and would use one - hint hint?) because he won't spend the money on one himself - but would be very happy to buy me one and then just slowly but surely commandeer it himself. LOL.

This morning I found out about a site called uBid.com which is like ebay except ebay is a consumer- to- consumer based site whereas uBid is a business to consumer site... it's businesses selling excess inventory, not a housewife in Connecticut. Ubid team members go to warehouses all over the world and find great deals on excess inventory and then sell them online - including a big iPod Auction that has over 1, 000 ipods going up for bids and starting at a buck.

I sent the link to my husband this morning with a smirk. New ipods starting at a buck is even in his frugal budget.

Labels: PP, shopping, Useless information, websites

I guess it's probably official... I'm not going to attend my 20th High School Reunion that is coming up next month. I got the paperwork about 2 months ago and wavered sending it in so I tucked it away and promptly forgot about it. Right before I had received the invitation and request for information for the booklet they put out I had 'someone' contact me from out of the blue to see if I had heard anything about when/where it was. She seems to be excited to go although one of the first comments she made after I told her when I thought the date was is; "Guess it's time to get started on those diet pills and look into how fast I can have plastic surgery!"

And yes... she was probably serious. She was one of 'that group' back in high school and judging from her email she hasn't changed a bit in her adulthood.

As it is, I never sent in my reservation or money. As a matter of fact, just last week I pulled the paperwork out intending to just send in my current information for the "What are they doing now...." booklet only to see that I missed the cut off date. They wanted it by June 1st.

Ah well... there ya go. I ripped everything in pieces and tossed it in the trash.

Somehow that made me feel better too.

Labels: Childhood, rambling, school, Useless information

I'm waiting oh-so-patiently for payday tomorrow.

Money. I hate it. Ok... I obviously love it, but I hate it too because we never have it. LOL. Frankly, we've never had money so in a way that's good. It's harder to miss something you've never had and that's one topic my husband and I have never, ever had arguments over - not in 23 years of being 'together' and 20 of those married. Over the years as our income went up, so did the size of our family and later, as well as the size of our monthly rent or mortgage payment. Living paycheck to paycheck is something we know quite well.

Before my husband got his first 'real' promotion we were living in Tennessee and although we were both working jobs outside the home, money was extremely tight. So tight that we often had to use credit cards to pay for our groceries, diapers and baby formula after I quit nursing. While we never, ever used the credit cards for anything other than 'needs' rather than 'wants' it still started to creep higher and higher as we encountered a few emergency car repairs in there and could only make the minimum monthly payments. It's amazing how quickly you can get in over your head and if you are like me, you spend a lot of sleepless nights with an upset stomach thinking about money and money issues.

At the time we didn't know anything about Debt consolidation or even that people did such a thing as Consolidate debt. In the end it wouldn't have mattered for us because it just wasn't in our personalities to use any kind of Debt relief other than good old fashioned 'paying off the debt you owe'.

In the end we made wise decisions when it came to buying and selling our first couple homes that we were always able to pay off our credit cards with the sale of the house and never went into a new home with credit card debt. However, I realize that not everyone has this opportunity and everyone also has different situations that have gotten them into debt - credit card or otherwise.

That's where sites that offer Debt help can come in handy.



Sometimes people just don't know where to start and need some help. A debt checkup is a great place to start and from there, they can help you make decisions on what to do next. In a way I guess you could say they can help you 'wake up' from a financial nightmare that you may find yourself in.

Labels: Frugal, PP, Useless information