Musings from a non-Muse

Why is it that:

- nap times are never long enough?
- bed time can't come soon enough?
- you can spend all day doing laundry and still have a basket or so there when you get in bed?
- ditto on diapers.
- 15 month olds like undoing everything you've just done? (Folded laundry, picked up toys, swept, etc.)
- why do toddlers love something (foodwise) one day, and hate the next?

That's all I've got of those. The rest are too darn depressing to contemplate.

On a happier note, it was sunny yesterday! Cold, but sunny. But, it's August! you say. Yes, yes it is. Can I tell you what the predicted low for last night was going to be? Now, I'm not saying it hit that low, but it was predicted to be 38. Yep. Let's just say Max hasn't worn pants, long sleeves, and socks as much in her entire life as she has in the last 2 weeks.

And, I've been teaching Max to coupon! She gets all jealous when she sees me whip out the scissors and start cutting stuff up. So we gave her her own coupon envelope. Which she played with a whole day.

Random giveaway post- Ju Ju Beane Boutique

Enter to win one of four gift certificates to Ju Ju Beane Boutique. One grand prize winner will get a $100 gift certificate and 3 winners get a $25 gift certificate to the baby boutique. Enter at The Shopping Mama by August 19.

Check out the sites at:

Ju Ju Bean Boutique

The Shopping Mama

Looks like fun to me!

Looking a gift horse in the mouth; Crankiness

So appropo. (That IS a word, thank you very much. Google says it isn't. It is.) Anyway, yes, looking a gift horse in the mouth. Ever done it? Probably not literally, as how many of us have horses to give away? But have you ever gotten something and been like... yeah... it could/would be better if... My current gift horse would be a giveaway I found out this afternoon that I won. It's one that ran for like, two days, and the winners would be drawn and, supposedly, announced Friday afternoon. Well, I got an e-mail today that I had won. Oh, you want to know what it is? It is a much-coveted $50 off a purchase of $100 or more at Old Navy. Good stuff, right? Two catches: in-store only, and only good from 8/7 through 8/13. Soooo while I feel bad complaining, it WOULD have been nice to have this sucker over the weekend, when we had, you know, more free time to go shopping. We'll still use it, don't get me wrong! I just wish they had been a bit more on top of things, you know?
That's looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Max is apparently teething some more. Pain meds help, but she's still a cranky little bundle of energy. She still goes and goes and goes, but gets more upset than normal when corrected, moved, or generally doesn't IMMEDIATELY get her own way. Naps today were... depressing. For me, mostly, but the lack thereof definitely don't help her little bad attitude.

My adoring fans have spoken....

Okay. One spoke. And it was a question. But a good question, one that deserves an answer. It was something along the lines of wanting to know where I found those deals I talked about in my previous post. So here are some links. I am not promising anything, vouching for anything, or... anything else. Just things I've run across and signed up for, or noted to keep in the back of my mind. Sometimes they're too far back there and I forget about them... for instance, the Coupons by Dede website offers whole inserts as well as clipped for purchase. So had I remembered this little tidbit on Monday when I found out about the whole Target couponing combining thing, I would have purchased a Kellogg's insert or two and saved a couple more dollars. Oh well. Next time.

So without further ado, here are few blogs, websites, etc. that I either subscribe to or keep bookmarked.

Thrifty and Chic Mom

Bargain Briana

Stretching a Buck

Printable Coupons Blog (I've never used this site. No guarantees.)

Hot Coupon World (I can't remember if I've used this one.)

Coupons and Things by Dede

Wherein you will read of Pop Tarts, Giveaways, Cold Weather, and the FlyLady

Pop Tarts!!! Aren't they beautimous??


Yep, 10 boxes. Okay, I know what you're thinking. "She's pregnant. Got a craving for Pop Tarts. Went nuts at Target this morning." Close. You got the last part right, anyway! Every Sunday or Saturday, or sometimes even Monday, I get the e-mail feeds from some blogs I subscribe to and they lay out the sales from various stores and combine them with coupons available and show you how to get the most bang for your buck. This week was my first time using coupons and combining them with sales. Okay, so the first time, Tuesday, I saved $5 using coupons, and one of those items (out of two) was on sale. Not the point. Back to the Pop Tarts. Target had/has Pop Tarts on sale this week, there were/are printable Target coupons for 75 cents off a box of 8, plus coupons in the Kellogg's insert. AND if you buy any combination of 10 Kellogg's items listed in that insert you can mail in the receipt, UPCs and the form and get a $10 rebate. Oh yeah.

So today Ryan, Max and I went to Target and bought 10 boxes of Pop Tarts. They were on sale for $1.69, Target printable coupon for 75 cents off 1, two $1/2 from the Kellogg's insert, as well a coupon we had from an old box. Soooo 94 cents each, minus $3 more. (Although to be perfectly honest I'm not sure both the Kellogg's coupons got scanned.) So, theoretically we spent$6.40 for 10 boxes of Pop Tarts. Although maybe it was $7.40. And I'm mailing everything in on Monday, so HOPEFULLY I'll get $10 back. I'm excited. And now we have a ton of yummy Pop Tarts.

Ahhh Giveaways. I won another fun one the other day. My Mom's View had a giveaway for some clips from Lemme Klip-Itz and I won! I'm so excited about getting some cute hair clips for Max!

So we're here in Illinois staying with Ryan's parents, and the WEATHER. You totally could not tell it was July during July. And today? I think the high was 71. Maybe. I'm not complaining, though!! Pregnant, in the summer, and it's cool weather? Yes, thank you! Although Max has never worn pants as often as she has in the past 4 weeks.

I wanted to talk about the FlyLady, but I'm tired of typing. So I'll talk about her later. =)