Sit down, shut up & hang on!

Back to the begining

2009-04-27T16:19:00.002-05:00

I have not been following SBD like I should... in my mind I kept telling myself that I was eating OK, but I was not. I have packed on some pounds (about 20 of them to be honest). Tomorrow I start phase 1 again. I am actually looking forward to it. I plan on blogging my diet again like I did before to help keep me on track. I'M BAAAAAAAAACK! :)

It's been a long time....

2009-02-27T22:13:00.003-06:00

...but have I got a story for you! My poor little buddy Logan got sick last weekend. He had to miss Playhouse Disney Live that I had gotten him tickets for because he was suffering with typical "flu like symptoms" that he woke up with on Saturday morning. Well, Sunday he laid on the couch all day long - burning up with fever like a little ball of fire - and literally sleeping the entire day on the couch. I kept him home from school on Monday and by Monday night he was showing some signs of improvement. Tuesday was my scheduled day to volunteer in his classroom. He begged me Tuesday morning to come to school with him, so I caved in and we went. He was comatose the whole 2.5 hours we were there, just staring into space. Tuesday night he started vomiting again... that is when the real fun started! The kid had not eaten since Friday night and would barely drink anything. There was nothing left in his little system to come up anymore so he was at the point of just dry heaving. I got the bright idea to take him to the Cardinal Glennon ER on Tuesday night. We got there at about 7:30 PM - standing room only in the waiting room. 2.5 hours later we finally were called back to get registered and then promptly sent back to the waiting room for another 2.5 hours. At about 12:30 AM they finally called us back to our "room". The nurse came in and told me to let her know if we needed anything at all, so I asked her for a box of Kleenex because Logan's lips were bleeding due to being chapped and cracked so bad and a glass of ice water for him. Yeah, never got either one!!! The doctor rushed us through like we were thorns in his ass. Sent a different nurse in to stick a straw up Logan's nose and suck snot out for an influenza test - which he tested positive for. Then 2 hours later they sent us down the hall for a chest X-ray thinking that Logan possibly had pneumonia. The X-ray came back fine. They sent us home at 3:30 AM with nothing other than over 8 hours of wasted time. (This story could go on for hours... I left out the whole part about 2 grown men getting in a fight in the waiting room that an off duty police officer there with his sick son had to break up, the nurse that yelled at Logan to wake up and made me carry his 60 pounds of dead weight through the hospital, and the lady who screamed at the top of her lungs to the desk clerk in the waiting room that her baby was going to have brain damage because it had a 101.1 fever and she had been waiting an hour and that she was going to sue the hospital if she was not seen immediately by a doctor - she was seen immediately while the rest of us all waited). Fast forward to Thursday when my son is STILL sick and not eating or drinking and STILL running a high fever. I called our regular doctor who told me to take him the Anderson ER in Maryville. Only waited about 2 hours there to be seen and was told that Logan not only was still suffering from "Type A Influenza" but he also had a "RAGING" ear infection in BOTH ears!!! That doctor happily gave us a glass of water for Logan to drink and sent us home with an antibiotic for his ears. Today is Friday and after just 2 days of antibiotics, Logan is feeling MUCH better! Moral of the story... just because your child is sick, I guess the children's hospital is not always the best place to go. Even though we had a wonderful experience at Cardinal Glennon with Kyleigh right after she was born, I will NEVER EVER EVER go back to their ER again!

PS - I dont have a lot of ER experience, and the "real" ER is nothing like the TV show ER. I did not see one hot doctor the whole time I was there!

PSS - Renee, my blog is suffering due to Facebook - it seems to be sucking all my time away from me! :) & Tammie, can you read it better now??? :)

My scale is REALLY mad at me! LOL!

2009-01-16T11:53:00.003-06:00

I had Jim take the scale out of hiding because I wanted to weigh the kids (Logan is 58 pounds and Kyleigh is 23 pounds). So the scale was still sitting in the kitchen when I went to bed. Fast forward to yesterday morning. I am fully dressed with the exception of my shoes and I was speed walking through the house getting everything together for school and work when... WHAM! I stubbed the pinkie toe on my left foot on the glass part of the scale still sitting on the kitchen floor right where it should NOT be! Not only did I stub my toe, the scale managed to lift and separate my toe nail from my toe. Fun times. Now, 2 days later, my toe is still throbbing and I hate my scale more than ever.

Hard

2009-01-09T09:06:00.001-06:00

Wow, this resolution is harder than I thought it would be! I really miss my scale.

Happy 2009!

2009-01-05T13:52:00.002-06:00

Resolutions? Mine is for Jim to hide the bathroom scale. I told him last night, when I am not home, he is to put it away somewhere where I can't find it. My goal for 2009 is to be comfortable in my own skin. Not to obsess over a number/my weight. I am not going to let a number rule my life this year. If my clothes fit, I feel healthy and happy that is good enough for me. I took a SBD 2 week break between Christmas and New Years. I am back on phase 1 for two weeks and then I will move into phase 2 again. Unfortunately, I wont be updating my progress on here anymore because I won't know what my progress is unless I drop a size in clothes which I will be happy to report!

What are your resolutions?

SBD week 8, phase 2

2008-12-13T08:37:00.002-06:00

Well, I was totally prepared to write 2 words this week... "bad week". However, I was blessed with the intestinal flu and I manged to loose a few pounds! LOL! My total weight loss as of today is 22.3 pounds. Thank you SBD and the flu!

Tag... I am IT!

2008-12-06T10:56:00.008-06:00

My friend Renee has "tagged" me to do a post about my kids, answering the following questions about each one.

Name: Logan James

Meaning: Logan means "From the Hollow" it is Irish in origin, we picked it just because we liked the name. James means "Supplanter" it is Hebrew in origin, we picked it because it is Jim's first name.

Age: 5 years

Nicknames: Bubba, and Great Grandma Mary calls him her "little feller"

Favorite Activities: playing Wii, drawing, playing cars & trains

Favorite Music: Christmas music... especially The Little Drummer Boy

Favorite Toys: His trains & Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars

What Makes Him Happy? Spending time with mommy & daddy, playing with his sister, going to school

What Makes Him Sad? When he doesn't get his way

Name: Kyleigh Nicole

Meaning: Kyleigh means "boomerang" again, we picked it because we just liked the name. Nicole means "Victory of the People" and we thought it sounded good with her first name.

Age: almost 2 years old

Nicknames: Ky, Sissy, Super Ky, P.K. (princess Kyleigh)

Favorite Activities: Whatever Bubba is doing, she is right beside him!

Favorite Music: Ky loves all music, she does the penguin dance (rocks side to side) as soon as she hears music playing

Favorite Toys: Bunnykitty - what is bunnykitty you ask? It is her stuffed bunny and her pacifier with a kitty sewed to it. She calls them bunnykitty because they always stay together in a pair. She never has one without the other! LOL!

What Makes Her Happy? It is ALL about Daddy and Bubba!

What Makes Her Sad? When Bubba is at school - she misses him!

SBD week 7, phase 2

2008-12-06T10:42:00.002-06:00

Today was my weigh in day and I have OFFICIALLY hit the 20 pound mark! I am not quite sure how, but I managed to loose the 4.6 that I gained over Thanksgiving and even loose an additional 1.6 pounds as well! My statistics are: a total loss of 20.2 pounds as of today! Honestly, if I could manage to maintain that through Christmas I would be more than happy. I know all the holiday parties and Christmas cookies at every turn are going to be a real struggle for the next couple of weeks. I just gotta keep on keeping on!

My grandma got me 2 SBD cookbooks for my birthday. She ordered them online and it took forever for them to ship out. Even though my b-day was back in November, I just got them Friday. I am anxious to try out some new recipes!

Potty time!

2008-12-03T16:47:00.002-06:00

I hope that I don't jinx anything by actually typing this, but Super K has "went" on the potty 7 times since Friday night! (picture me dancing right now) She got some big girl panties last night and kept them dry from 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM when she went to bed. Holy cow is she EASY! Logan was the struggle of my life - took over a year to get him potty trained and it seems that Kyleigh has got the hang of it after one weekend. The funny thing is that I didn't even promote the issue, she did it on her own! Keep up the good work funny girl, we are so proud of you!!!

SBD week 6, phase 2

2008-12-03T16:42:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving. I am not thankful for all the crap I ate. I managed to pack on a few pounds. I really, really, really tried to be cautious of what I ate, but there was a LOT of temptation and I only have so much willpower. My sister's chocolate chip cookies were the nail in my coffin.

But, all is well! I just switched back to phase 1 this week and I have already lost about 1/2 of what I gained. Not bad I say! As soon as I get back to where I left off I will snap into phase 2 again and keep plugging away... until Christmas. LOL!

SBD week 5, phase 2

2008-11-25T11:11:00.003-06:00

OK Renee... I have lost 18.6 pounds now! LOL! I really try to just weigh myself once per week (it is hard not to get on the scale each morning). I have changed my "weigh in day" from Monday to Saturday because I always went to my WW meetings on Sat morning and it seems more normal for me to weigh in on Saturday morning. Hoping to hit that 20 pound mark by Saturday but I am seriously doubting that will happen with Thanksgiving this week. I am really going to try to avoid that stuffing no matter how good it looks!

SBD week 4, phase 2

2008-11-17T11:11:00.002-06:00

Down 16.4 pounds now! I am still amazed at how easy this diet is. I really honestly don't feel deprived of anything. I was telling Jim over the weekend how I am very thankful for the 5 years that I did WW because I learned so much about portion sizes and healthy choices, I am certain that the knowledge I gained from my WW materials and meetings helps me on my SBD journey. I have even read a lot on the internet about people who do SBD and still attend WW meetings for the support. I think that the two diets are very compatible. The WW core program is similar to SBD, but I find SBD less restrictive.

SBD week 3, phase 2

2008-11-12T15:59:00.002-06:00

I started adding the "good carbs" back in this week. Whole grain bread and just a bit of whole wheat pasta. I also got some SBD cereal bars at the store for snacks on the go, they are really good! Have not had any fruit yet - I am not really missing it right now. My weight loss is at 15.5 pounds now. I may gain just a bit this week from adding back in some carbs... not sure yet, but if I do I am OK with that. I am still loving this diet and finding it very easy to stick with.

A Day with Thomas the Train

2008-11-05T22:00:00.003-06:00

I just love this picture of Logan! This is when we were on the actual Thomas train ride.

Can you find Logan?

Here is Logan on a mini train ride.

And of course, Logan with everyone's favorite train... THOMAS!

Thank you Laura B & Peyton for inviting us to come with you! We had a GREAT time!!!

Hallowen 08

2008-11-05T21:47:00.005-06:00

Here are some pics of the kids from Halloween this year. Kyleigh was Tinkerbell and Logan was Peter Pan.

SBD week 2, phase 1

2008-11-03T11:13:00.002-06:00

Today was my official weigh in for the second week of phase 1. I lost of total of 13 pounds on the nose during phase 1! This weekend I splurged a bit and had some whole wheat pasta (a phase 2 item) and a bit of red wine (also a phase 2 item). Obviously I didn't loose as much this week as I did in the first week, but that it totally OK!!! Slow and steady wins the race and I am really happy on this diet. I love not counting "points" and eating to satisfaction as long as I am eating SBD friendly foods. It is great going to a restaurant and ordering right off the menu. I am also getting creative with my foods and trying out some new recipes. Now I am entering phase 2 this week. Gradually adding some "good carbs" back into my diet. I can have 1 serving of whole grain carbs or fruit per day. We will see how it goes... hopefully my weight will result in a negative at the end of the week again!

SBD week 1, phase 1

2008-10-27T11:20:00.004-05:00

I finished my 1st week on phase 1 and my official weight loss during the first week is..... (drum roll please).... 11.2 pounds!!! This diet is way easy and I am really enjoying it! It seems totally effortless and the weight is literally falling off. I am excited to finish up my second week of phase 1 this week and move into phase 2 next Monday. I know the weight loss will slow down as I enter phase 2, but I can also eat a few of the things that I have been missing, not to excess of course. I go back to the doctor next week for a follow up and to have my blood levels re-tested.

SBD day 4

2008-10-23T08:48:00.003-05:00

I started the diet on Monday. And I weighed in this morning when I woke up. I am down 6.5 pounds in the first 3 days!!!! WTG SBD!!!! The diet is getting much easier each day. I am not craving the carbs as bad, in fact, I am finding that I love all the veggies that I get to eat each day. My workout coach (Logan) is top notch and we have clocked in 30 minutes each night. He is so stinking cute... I showed him how to "power walk" and now he tells me that I have to swing my arms really high like him. It is pretty funny to see a 5 year old power walking down the street. On Tuesday night he lagged behind me a little bit and said, "MOM! I think that your ba-donk-a-donk is turning into a ba-dink-a-dink!". LOL!!!! Logan has also discovered that he really likes grilled/broiled fish. He actually asked for fish for lunch on Tuesday instead of his normal chicken nuggets. WTG Logan! It seems like the whole family is getting a little healthier. I need to continue to lead by example to keep the good habits up.

Sore feet & bad blood

2008-10-20T12:55:00.004-05:00

So I went to the doctor a few weeks ago for my foot pain. Turns out I have plantar fasciitis. While I was there the doctor said she wanted to do some blood tests as part of my check up since I never go to the doctor for myself and I am at "the age" where I should start watching that stuff. No big deal... till I got the results back. I have high LDL (bad cholesterol), low HDL (good cholesterol) and my insulin levels were off, putting me into the pre-diabetes range. Lucky me huh? My doctor recommended that I buy the South Beach Diet book, read it and start the diet immediately. So I did, I started the diet today. According to the book, I should loose between 8-13 pounds in the first two weeks and then taper off to 1-2 pounds per week after that. The diet is set up in phases. I am in phase 1 right now (the first 2 weeks) where I am not allowed to eat any "bad" carbs or sugar. In phase 2 I can start adding some carbs and fruit back into my diet slowly until I find my natural carb tolerance (the point where I stop loosing or gain some weight). Once I find my carb tolerance level I just stay at that, continue to loose weight untill I get to my weight goal and then enter phase 3 where I maintain that weight. It is hard not to eat carbs. I am only on day one and I am dying for some crackers or something right now. I did talk to a lady last week who has been on SBD for 5 years and she said it gets much easier and it is a good diet to follow. She lost 50 pounds and has kept it off for 5 years! The good thing is that if you fall off the wagon or splurge on a vacation or something and gain some weight back, you just start back on phase 1, loose the weight you gained and then move back into phase 2 again. It sounds like an easy plan to follow and the book gave a ton of recipes! I made a batch of vegetable quiche cups last night that I can eat for breakfast this week. I ate 2 of them this morning and they were super yummy! Logan said he is going to be my workout coach and that he will walk with me for 30 minutes each night. I have been avoiding the scale like the plague lately, but I braved the storm and got on this morning so that I can track my weight loss on the SBD. I have gained about 20 pounds since we went to Myrtle Beach this summer. YIKES!!! I know that this will be tough to do during the holidays, but maybe it is the kick in the butt that I need not to overindulge myself. Wish me luck!!!

How to have a Candy Land birthday party

2008-09-30T08:29:00.003-05:00

First you buy a plain white sheet cake from Schnucks:

Then you take it home and add some peppermints:

Then you put a bunch of other candy on it to make it look like the game board:

You sing happy birthday and blow out the candles:

You let your little sister come along (just to be nice):

You get mad at your mom for taking too many pictures:

Your friends can act very silly:

And so can your dad:

Thank you to everyone who made Logan's 5th birthday party such great fun! And thank you to the YMCA in Edwardsville for helping us with our special day.

Like a fine wine...

2008-09-29T16:20:00.005-05:00

Just weeks,... days,... minutes before my glorious 33rd birthday I feel like I am falling apart. I am not aging gracefully. Just within the past 2 weeks I have developed this horrible pain in my left heel. Each day the pain gets a little worse. When it started it was just in the morning, now it is continuous, all day long. It feels like I have a hot coal in my shoe - literally burning the heel of my foot. So I limp, this has created undue pressure on my right leg and hip which is causing pain to my joints and muscles. My new foot pain is just an addition to my pre-existing back pain caused the extra vertebrae in my lower spine. I called 5 different foot doctors today begging for an appointment tomorrow (my day off) and was told by all of them the soonest they could see me would be the middle of October. If anyone knows a good foot doctor give me a shout out! Logan turns 5 on Thursday and I have promised him a trip to the zoo. My foot is not looking forward to it. The silver lining on this cloud is that maybe Jim will feel sorry for me and go to the grocery store in my place tonight (hint-hint-hint). :-)

Update on the quarter bandits

2008-09-22T09:16:00.002-05:00

I talked to some of the neighbors to issue my warning about locking the car doors and each person I talked to laughed and said "the quarter bandits got you, huh?" It seems that everyone in the neighborhood was well informed about this except me. Why I am always out of the loop? Anyway, they have hit several people on our street. They only steal quarters. One of the neighbors told me that his car was parked in the garage, him and his wife rode their bikes to a friends house just a few blocks away and left the garage door open while they were gone. He said it was dark out, but not really late (they have 2 small kids). Anyway, the quarter bandits went into their garage and got in their car to steal quarters! The nerve!!! He said he had a laptop and other things in the car that were all fine, just his quarters were missing. I would love to catch these suckers - I might have to do a lawn chair vigil on my front porch one night. LOL!

Soooooooooooo angry!

2008-09-19T10:02:00.002-05:00

Our garage is full of our old living room furniture that I have on Craig's List right now so we can only park one car in the garage. I have been parking the van in driveway for the last 3 weeks or so - no big deal. Last night when I got home I really had my hands full of junk that I was bringing into the house and I accidentally forgot to lock the car doors (which I normally do).

This morning I get into the van and see my watch laying on the passenger seat - it should be in my change holder on the dash by the cup holder. I look at my change holder and notice that all my quarters are missing but the dimes, nickels and pennies are still there. Strange, but I thought, Jim must have needed some quarters for soda at work today or something. Again, no big deal.

I am driving Logan to school and look down into my clutter catcher between my 2 front seats and notice that my big cup of change is missing. OK, now I am mad. I call Jim and ask him why he took all my change out of my van. He says, "What change, I didn't take any change out of your van today." I explain to him that all my quarters were missing and my big cup of change was gone.

Apparently, some smart ass got in my van last night, took my big cup of change and rooted through my other loose change taking only the quarters. What the hell???! They leave my Fossil watch on the seat, leave my GPS which was right next to the cup of change, leave all my CD's - nothing else was touched! Thank God they didn't take the other stuff too, but I feel so violated! Anyone who has been to my house knows the quiet little street I live on. Someone could fart in the cul-de-sac and the neighbors would all know, yet someone has the balls to sit in my van in the driveway and selectively decide what amount of money they would steal. No use making a police report or anything because it was probably less than $50, but I will be sure to let ALL the neighbors know to keep their cars locked. I am really, really mad about this!

To diet or not to diet...

2008-09-17T15:47:00.003-05:00

Why? Why is being healthy and loosing weight so hard? Why is junk food so cheap and healthy food so expensive? Why does chocolate cake taste so much better than broccoli?

I bought the Dr. Oz book "You on a diet" today. I am going to start reading it tonight. I need something different. I have tried every diet out there and they all work very successfully until I get bored of them and give up or reach an unbreakable plateau and give up. Jim gets very upset with me for giving up on things. I try, I really do. It just doesn't always work for me. Weight Watchers was by far the best diet I have ever been on. I am at a total mountain of a plateau with WW though. I have been lingering around the same weight for about a year now. Can't loose any more, don't gain much more. Talk about frustrating.

The really sad thing is that I LOVE healthy foods. Well, most healthy foods. I don't love tomatoes or cucumbers. I know that if I ate the right combination of good for me things that I would be happy and weight loss successful. My problem is that my life is so dang hectic and busy that I don't have the time to plan meals well and so I end up eating crap and getting fatter by the minute. I need someone to tell me, "Laura, you need to eat this and this and this". I follow directions pretty well.

The book is pretty thick. Not as thick as my cankles. I am a fast reader so I should be able to read it all by next weekend unless it is really boring. I thumbed through it and saw lots of cartoonish drawings - my inner 10 year old was intrigued.

So, wish me luck on my new weight loss venture. You never know unless you try.

CVS 09/08/08

2008-09-08T15:32:00.004-05:00

I have not been to CVS in a few weeks. I have searched iheartcvs.com and looked over the CVS fliers from the paper, but there was nothing that really got me excited for the last couple weeks. That all changed this week! Here is what I got:

Revlon nail polish $3.99 -$3.00 ECB -$2.00 coupon = $1.01 profit per bottle (I got 2)

Aussie hair products $2.49 -$1.00 ECB -$2.00 coupon = $.49 profit per bottle (I got 2)

Renuzit tri scent air freshener $7.99 -$3.00 ECB -$4.00 coupon = .99

Right guard Xtreme deodorant $2.89 -$2.00 ECB -$1.00 coupon = .11 profit

Soft & Dry deodorant $2.89 -$2.00 ECB -.75 coupon = .14

Chex mix on sale for $1.00 per bag -$1.00 coupon = free! (I got 2)

Coke 12 packs 3/$10

Oreos 2/$5

Huggies Diapers jumbo pack on sale for $9.49 -$1.50 coupon = $7.99 (I got 2)

The next David Beckham?

2008-09-07T20:37:00.002-05:00

Logan had his first soccer game today, and he scored his first goal! For a while, I wasn't even sure if he would get any field time. My poor little guy seems to have a bit of anxiety. We got to the game about an hour early (I am the team manager so I wanted to be there in case there were any problems for the team). Logan and I kicked the ball around to warm up. He was doing great. Then we moved to our field and all of his teammates started showing up along with the other team. Logan started freaking out. Next thing I knew he was hysterically crying and holding my neck for dear life. We sat on the side line and watched the other kids for the 1st period. Then I got his ear plugs out of my purse and that seemed to help him calm down a bit more. I think all the parents yelling was getting to him a bit. By 1/2 time, I got him calmed down and pumped up enough to try to go on the field. He went in, he wasn't happy about it, but he went in. After a bit more crying on the field, he got the ball and drove it down the field right into the goal!!! Our team won 13 to 4 even though we are not supposed to be keeping score. Logan kept telling me "I feel really scared on the inside". What is a mom to do? Hopefully he will get a bit more confidence with each game and it will get better through the season.

I am a slacker & a painter

2008-09-05T13:09:00.000-05:00

I know that I have not posted in a while. I have not done much of anything in a while. Been busy in the house & with the kids.

Our TV blew out in thunderstorm a few weeks back. Of course, that made Jim very happy and me very angry. Jim got to go pick out a new fancy TV for the living room...great news! The new TV would not fit in our entertainment center...bad news! The new entertainment center led to a new sofa table and end table, which led to a new sectional sofa and a rug, which led to new curtains, which motivated me to start painting the living room and kitchen. Nothing is ever easy.

The paint I picked out for the fireplace that was supposed to be very dark brown looked very dark maroon when we turned the spotlights on. Back to Home Depot to have the paint tinted to a darker shade and re-paint the fireplace. It is perfect now after the tinting and the re-paint!

I picked out a cinnamon (orangish-brown) color for the kitchen. Painted one wall and after much contemplation by the family we decided the color looked more like a pumpkin than cinnamon. Back to Home Depot again... now the wall is "Briquette" which is a slightly orange mostly maroon color. We like it much better. One wall done, 3 more to go.

There was definitely some laboring going on at our house over Labor Day weekend. Jim was my babysitter except for when he was golfing. Jim is not a painter. Jim is physically capable of painting, but since I am riddled with OCD, I don't allow him to paint. He likes it that way. Once the kitchen is done, I will be forced to start back in the living room again and do the tan walls - just painting them tan again but with normal paint instead of the watered down contractor grade paint that will wipe off the wall with a wet paper towel. Not so great with 2 kids.

I will post some pictures of the finished product - don't hold your breath, it may be a while!

Holiday World

2008-08-17T20:19:00.000-05:00

We had a great time on our mini-vacation at Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN last weekend. Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Here are Lewis & Clark exploring the mighty Mississippi in their canoe

I am not sure which is more frightening, Kyleigh driving, or Logan's fake smile

Logan and I about to blast off!

Logan giving Kyleigh some brotherly advise about water slides

Walgreens 08/17/08

2008-08-17T20:15:00.000-05:00

Just 1 great deal I got at Walgreens this week:

on sale this week, 3 jars of Ragu spaghetti sauce for $5.00
-1.50 register reward (like an ECB from CVS)
-1.00 coupon from paper
---------------------------------
3/$2.50!

CVS 08/17/08

2008-08-17T20:08:00.000-05:00

Today was a better CVS day than earlier in the week. Didn't buy much, but saved on what I did.

Puffs on sale for $.88 - $.25 coupon = $.63!
Wet Ones bogo for $2.99 -$1.50 coupon = 2/$1.49!
Crest toothpaste on sale for $1.99 -$.75 coupon -$1 ECB = $.24!
1 gallon of Hawaiian Punch on sale 2/$5

CVS 08/15/08

2008-08-17T19:56:00.000-05:00

I was late getting to CVS last week and I am late to getting around to blogging about it. But here is what I got:

Alavert 5.99 -$4 coupon - $3 ECB = $1.01 profit!
Doritos 2/$6
Disney Socks 2/$7
Telescope $14.99
CVS gummy bears 2 @ .99 each - $1 coupon = 2/.98

Another not so spectacular week, but I got some more birthday/Christmas stuff for the kids at a great price (putting it away for later).

CVS savings 08/03/08

2008-08-08T14:39:00.000-05:00

Sorry this is so late this week! I have been crazy busy and we had drama at our house. In the thunderstorm the other night, our good (and big) TV upstairs got fried. Good thing I am saving all this money at CVS because we have to go buy a new TV now.

This weekend we are going out of town, so I wont be able to visit CVS till Tuesday next week. I will post my findings ASAP!

OK, here we go:
(2) 64 oz apple juice regular price $2.59 each
on sale 2/$3
saved $1.98

(2) Disney socks regular price $3.99 each
on sale 2/$7
saved $.98 (I know, nothing big - but they are going to be stocking suffers for Kyleigh)

(2) Colgate advanced toothpaste $3.49 each
on sale for $2.99 each this week
-3.00 manufacturers coupons
-4.00 ECB
I PROFITED $1.02!

Advil children's cough/cold medicine $6.49
on sale for $5.79
-1.00 manufacturers coupon
-5.79 ECB
I PROFITED $1.00!

Gallagher's 08/02/08

2008-08-08T14:27:00.000-05:00

Gallagher's
114 West Mill St.
Waterloo, IL 62298
618-939-9933
http://www.gallagherswaterloo.com/

Jim and I had a "date night" last weekend. We went to Gallagher's in Waterloo, IL for dinner. We have eaten there before and loved it and we were both really, really looking forward to eating there again. Of course, that is a set up for failure right there! When you are really excited about something, somehow you always get disappointed... well, NOT THE CASE!!!

OH MY GOD was the food and service AWESOME!!!!!!!!! Jim ordered a steak with their peppercorn sauce, a baked potato (which was the size of a nerf football) and cavatelli pasta in white sauce. I ordered a steak (modiga style) with asparagus and a side salad. Both of our steaks were cooked perfectly, my asparagus was to die for. I actually ate all of my asparagus before I even touched my steak LOL! Jim was just awestruck by the size and taste of his baked potato but the icing on the cake was Jim's cavatelli. WOWOWOWOWOW! I was sneaking bites of it off of his plate. I couldn't get enough - I think they put some type of illegal drug in it to make me addicted! J/K!

I know I bragged in an earlier post about being able to dissect a recipe and duplicate it but this one has got me stumped! I can not figure out what was in that white sauce that made it so dang good. If I figure it out, I will be sure to let you know, but as of right now, it is a mystery!

Service = 5 stars
Atmosphere = 5 stars
Price = 4 stars
Food = 5 stars
Overall = 5 stars
This place comes HIGHLY recommended. If you are planning to try it out, let me know and I will meet you there! I can not wait to go back again!!! Oh, and if you are in the mood for an "adult beverage" please, try the Gallagher punch. Soooooooooooooo yummy!!!

My CVS savings 07/27/08

2008-07-27T13:50:00.000-05:00

coke 12 packs 4/$18.36 -$7.36 sale = 4/$11

motts applesauce cups 3/$8.97 -$3.97 sale =3/$5

kraft easy mac 2/8.38 -$4.38 sale = 2/$4

revolon eye shadow $9.99 -$9.99 ECB = FREE!

bandaids $3.29 -$.30 sale -$.50 coupon -$2 ECB =$.49

misc. candy $10 -$5 ECB = $5.00

aleve gelcaps $9.79 -$.75 coupon -$4 ECB = $5.04

4 packs of CVS batteries (BOGO) $23.96 -$11.98 sale -$4 coupon = 4/$7.98

Total spent = $38.51 (saved $56.23 this week!)

The Johnsons & Johnsons stuff in my picture is getting returned. There was a spend $20 and get $10 ECB special this week in the flier. However, the "buddies" items were not included in this sale so I didn't get my $10 ECB. I am going to return it all on Monday - not worth it without the ECB'S!!!

My Walgreens savings 07/27/08

2008-07-27T13:40:00.000-05:00

Walgreens: 07/27/08

butter (bogo) 2/$3.99

bacon (bogo) 2/$3.99

fabreze room spray 2/$5 - 2.50 coupon = $2.50

expandable files (bogo) 2/$4.99

pringles chips 10/$10 - .60 coupon - 3.00 coupon = $6.40

cascade 2/$7 -.75 coupon = $6.25

memo books 8/$1

ivory soap 3 pack 3/$2.97

Total spent = $33.59 (I saved $24.02)

Tough Guy

2008-07-24T14:07:00.000-05:00

We went to dinner the other night and Logan was being his normal can't sit still self. He was bouncing around in the booth (sitting next to Jim). Jim had warned him about 4 times to "sit still" with no avail. Finally, the 5th warning got a little more stern and serious, so Logan lets out a sigh and says, "All right tough guy". LOL! I am 99.9% sure he got that from my dad because it sounds like something my dad would say to him. Needless to say Jim and I looked at each other across the table and both busted out laughing.

Wrecked

2008-07-24T13:52:00.001-05:00

There is a new show on the Speed Channel called "Wrecked". It is a reality show that follows around a towing company from Chicago called O'Hare Towing. It is awesome! Most of the recoveries that they show on the series involve tractor trailers (which we don't do) but it is still interesting none the less. So, if any of my IRL or internet friends out there want to know what a day of my life is like, tune in to the Speed Channel and check out an episode or two! It is on Thursday nights starting at 9 PM central time.

http://www.speedtv.com/programs/wrecked

07/20/08 CVS deals

2008-07-21T10:41:00.000-05:00

Hi, my name is Laura and now I am addicted to CVS.

This week I got:
(4) 12 packs of Pepsi for $2 each
Revlon lipstick BOGO - I got 2 for $5.99
All detergent BOGO - I got 2 for $4.49
Loreal sham/cond BOGO - I got 4 for FREE!!!
Trident gum - I got 2 packs for .49
Sure deodorant - I got 2 for .98

The above prices included ECB's, store sale and coupons that I used (I didn't itemize like I did last week).

Looking forward to some new August deals that start next Sunday!

I heart CVS

2008-07-16T13:09:00.000-05:00

My friend Myssie is always telling me about the great deals she gets at the local CVS store. You have to be a bit of a sleuth and plan in advance to get the best deal. Everyone knows the best part of deal hunting is the hunt, right? She hooked me up with this website: http://iheartcvs.com/ If you have a CVS "membership card" when you buy certain items they give you "Extra Care Bucks" or "ECB's" that are coupons you can use on your next visit. For instance, if you buy a specific type of laundry detergent you will get $2.00 in ECB's that print on the bottom of your receipt. You cut them off the bottom of the receipt and keep them. The next time you go to CVS you use them like a gift card, and they take $2.00 off your total! Sweet huh? You can use the ECB's for anything in the store except tobacco, alcohol and prescriptions I think... dont quote me on that.

So yesterday I decided that I would plan and execute my first CVS hunt. Here is how I did...

Gain laundry detergent: $7.99
-2.50 (on sale this week)
-2.00 (ECB's)
Total = $2.99

Airwick mini air freshener starter kit = $9.99
-5.00 (on sale this week)
-4.00 (manufacturers coupon)
Total = $0.99

Neutrogena mascara = $7.99
-2.00 (on sale this week)
-1.00 (manufacturers coupon)
-4.00 (ECB's)
Total = $0.99

3 bottles Sally Hanson nail polish (2.79 each) = $8.37
-5.40 (on sale for .99 each)
-2.79 (manufacturers coupon)
Total = $0.18
(my coupon was for 3.00 off if you bought 2 bottles of polish, the cashier accidentally punched in the coupon for 2.79 instead of 2.97 - my nail polish should have been FREE but I wont complain about .18! I didn't notice the mistake till I got home and was looking at my receipt.)

Speed stick men's deodorant = $3.99
-1.00 (manufacturers coupon)
-2.00 (ECB's)
Total = $0.99

In addition to the above savings, I had a coupon to save $3.00 when I spent $15.00 at CVS so my grand total for all of the above was $3.14! If I would have paid full price for everything that I bought my total would have been $37.83 so I saved $34.69!!!! Woo-hoo!

Of course, I have to use my ECB's on my next visit but I subtracted them from the totals above because I earned the free money with those products.

I can't wait to see what I can get next week!!!

Rainbows

2008-07-13T15:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had a little family BBQ and we went out to the street to wach the kids driving Logan's 'vette down to the cul-de-sac and back when Logan said "Look at that rainbow" and pointed over the roof of our house. We couldn't believe it was a DOUBLE rainbow! Of course I had to run in the hosue to grab the camera.

Excuses & The Original Pancake House

2008-07-11T13:30:00.000-05:00

I am a slacker! LOL! I have not blogged in about a month. Some days I think about it and then forget, other days I think about it and decide that I don't have much to say, some days I have a lot to say and even pictures to back it up but the thought up uploading and downloading pictures makes me too lazy to do it.

I have decided that in addition to my normal family blog I am going to also blog some restaurant reviews. Anything to keep me blogging right? Jim and I like to eat dinner out - we actually eat out way more than we should, which is surprising because I really like to cook. I guess as much as I do like to cook, I like to eat other people's cooking better!

To be quite honest, I have this guilty pleasure of eating something in a restaurant and then coming home and trying to recreate it myself. I am quite good at it if I do say so myself! I have knack of being able to separate & identify ingredients of something while I am eating it. So maybe this will become a little game... I can go eat, tell you if it was good or not, then if it WAS really good, I can try to recreate what I ate and post the recipe here for everyone to enjoy!

So, for my 1st review... (insert drum roll here)... The Original Pancake House in Chesterfield, MO.
This place used to be a Smoky Bones so the interior and exterior resemble an old log cabin. Service was great, prices were reasonable, we waited 30 minutes for a table on a Saturday morning. Hours were a little strange, they are open from 7:30 Am - 2:00 Pm. Definitely a breakfast spot! I ordered the "original buttermilk pancakes". Can't go wrong with that, huh? WRONG! Don't get me wrong here, I would go back, but I would not order the buttermilk pancakes again. The pancakes themselves were very light, which I like. I don't like thick heavy pancakes that fill you up after 2 bites, so the consistency of these pancakes were perfect. It was the flavor that I had issue with. They must use a lot of yeast in their "made from scratch batter". My pancakes tasted like someone spilt a bottle of Budweiser on them before they brought them to me. My dad ordered some too and he said they definitely tasted like beer. My sister took a bite of mine and said, "yep, tastes like beer". Let me tell you, beer and maple syrup are not the best combination. On the plus side, if you ever go, make sure to check out the orange juice machine that sits at the bar. Super, super cool! They dump a box of real oranges into the top and they roll down a belt into this big machine that cuts them in 1/2 and squeezes them into fresh orange juice!

Service = 5 stars
Atmosphere = 4 stars
Price = 4 stars
Food = 1 star (for what I personally ordered)
Overall = I would go back and order something different. They had a BIG menu with many many choices. Next time I will try something different.

Another night of excitement

2008-06-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

Well, Jim called me on his lunch break today and said his car was acting "funny". So at 4:45 I get another phone call "my car wont start and I am stuck at work". Lucky for him I got the tow truck hook up! Wink-wink! I get off at 5, pick up the kids and Charlie follows me to Jim's work 10,000 miles away (OK, that was a small exaggeration, it is really only 9,999 miles). To tow Jim's car back to the dealer. So glad we bought the extended warranty now. Sounds like the fuel pump may have went out, but wont know for sure till tomorrow when they have a look at it. The funny part is that I get a text message from Charlie saying that when he got to the dealership to drop off the car, it started right up with no problems! Grrrrrrrreat! Needless to say that taco night was cancelled at our house tonight and we didnt get home till after 9 PM. The really sad thing is that we may be forced to eat dinner out again tomorrow becasue we will have to go pick up the car from the dealer after work. Boy, I tell ya,... you really got to twist my arm to keep me from cooking! ;-)

Twenty Stewart?

2008-06-19T22:30:00.001-05:00

So if you know me, you know I am a Nascar fan... and who is my favorite driver? None other than #20 Tony Stewart. I have scattered Tony Stewart items all around my house... christmas ornaments in the kitchen, a Tony Stewart lunchbox I take to work everyday...etc., so Logan knows that he is my favorite driver. Well, my sister just got back from vacation and she bought me a pair of Tony Stewart crocs! LOL! They are so ugly that you have to love them. They are bright orange and the band that goes behind your heel is black with a big #20 on it. I put them on tonight and Logan says, "Wow mom! Those are some cool Twenty Stewart crocs!" Yes, my son calls him "Twenty Stewart" LOL! I guess he is 1/2 right, but is is super cute when he says it!

My first blog post & free breast exams

2008-06-19T14:22:00.000-05:00

I got some good news today and it seemed kind of celebratory to post it here. I had a small tumor surgicaly removed from my right breast yesterday and the doctor's office called today to say it was benign! Woo-hoo! While we were waiting for them to take me back to the operating room yesterday Jim and I were laughing about the "happy juice". We decided that maybe we could take turns and just go in once a week to get knocked out for a few hours. That way we would get some good quality sleep and be well rested (not to mention kid free)! LOL!

Jim was planning to to go to "party at the plaza" tonight after work for some much need R&R with his buddies so I told him this morning on his way out the door that he was not allowed to give out free breast exams. Although, after my ordeal, I am sure he would be happy to perform the service and possibly help another woman, it really wasn't necessary. We both got a good laugh!