Leta's page

Getting there...

2009-02-17T17:57:00.001-08:00

Well, it's taken a while, and some concentrated effort, but I finally paid off two credit card bills. The last payment went out this week.
WHEW!!
Now my focus is going to be in two areas - building the Emergency Fund, and paying off our rental property mortgage. However, I'm kind of torn about what would be the best way to go with this right now. Y'see, the last renters in the houses (two houses on one lot) pretty much trashed the place, so there is going to be a lot of work to do. So, it really seems that any "extra" money I have now will get eaten up pretty quick by remodeling.
OK, so let me see if I can organize my thinking a little better...
1) Remodel both houses
2) Evaluate the real estate market to determine whether to sell or rent or do a "rent to own". From what I am seeing in the current market, the RTO may be my best shot at getting the best return on the investment
3) Try to refinance the investor's mortgage to get a lower rate and also pay the loan off faster.

If things go the way I hope, maybe by the end of the year we'll have this property either out of our hair completely (sold!) or at least making enough money to be paying for itself. Then the Emergency Fund will take care of itself, I expect! Then...well, maybe I can start saving to build our log cabin...debt free!

Ingles' Triples...and a really LOOONNNGG receipt!!

2009-01-18T20:13:00.000-08:00

Well, Ingles' started their Triple Coupons week today. I spent about 2 hours yesterday preparing for it, getting my 50¢ Q's all together and the other Q's that made sense to use, even though they wouldn't triple. I also took a friend with me who I've been "training" to use coupons. She's on a limited income, so every penny really counts for her.
My total, before Q's, was $236, and if you were to add tax to that, it would've been about $250. Then I started scanning my Q's...as always, I was on the USCAN register and my friend (who had already finished her shopping) was watching. Fortunately, she noticed the register was only DOUBLING!!! OMG!! I was SO glad she caught that!! Well, the poor little girl that assists at the USCAN's got stuck with having to manually add the triple amount for all of my Q's...and just how many Q's did the CarolinaKid have? Uhhh....wellll...after counting the scans on my receipt...I had 76 coupons!!! 36 of those were larger amounts (over 50¢) that would not triple, so the cashier had to manually enter <gulp!!> 40 coupons!!
So, you may be wondering, how much did I pay OOP?

(Cliff-hanger, here)

I got lots of interesting things...Pringles potato chips - 10 tubes!! 3 boxes of Special K cereal, 2 boxes of Capn' Crunch cereal, Totino's pizza rolls (3 boxes), two large bags of Perdue Perfect Portions chicken breasts, 3 large bottles of Tide, 4 packs Land O' Frost sandwich meat, 2 Tyson's chicken breasts, 3 Blue Bonnet margarine, 1 Crisco oil, 3 Coffee Mate, Green Giant Steamed veggies (3), BirdsEye steamed veggies (3) (like I needed any more of either of these!!), Dial bar soap (3), (like I needed any of these either!!), Viva paper towels (3), Scott paper towels (3),Nature Valley Granola bars (3), Healthy Choice pasta meals (2), Ziploc sandwich bags (3), Downy (3), Crest (4)(I REALLY didn't need any of these, but it was a MONEY MAKER, so how could I resist?), Dawn dish soap (ditto!), Scrubbing Bubbles (ditto again), Pantene shampoo (2), JollyTime popcorn(3), Pillsbury cake mix (3), Quaker grits (3), and 3 Pepsi frig-packs.

So, back to the cliff-hanger...just how much did I pay OOP for all this lovely stuff (much of it food and not HBA or cleaning products). How about $105.00?!? The cashier was really excited, and when she saw how long my register tape was, she hollered to the manager (the service desk was right behind her) "Hey Chuck!! Look at this register tape!! I've never seen one this long!!" Chuck knows me, both because I often know about triples before he does and for the special items I have requested that he carry in his store (he's great!! Chuck is one reason I LOVE this store!!). I stopped by the service desk so he could REALLY see the tape, and he just laughed. "You've been waiting on this week for awhile, haven't you!! He then asked if there was anything I could not find. There actually WERE a couple items, which I mentioned. He replied "The truck will be in Tuesday night". "I'll be back Wednesday, then" I replied.
Many of the food items were FREE (Pringles, grits, cake mix to name a few), and others significantly cheaper than the shelf price. Also, with my purchases of Tide, Downy, Pantene, etc.,etc., I now have enough to send in my P&G form in for $120 worth of coupons. I'll probably do this same trip (mostly) again, and submit the P&G again on my friend's behalf.
One other interesting thing ... my friend? She's on food stamps, and you're not supposed to get change from that, right? For some reason (we could NOT figure this out!) it caused the register to spit out $1 at the end of her transactions!! Added to that, she also noticed her Q's did not triple either, so they had to refund $3 and change to her. Between those two things, and a $5 Q, she was able to get some Olay moisturizer - that she otherwise would not have been able to purchase.
Just how long was my receipt? Try 6 FEET LONG!!
Later, PackRat and I went to his brother's to give him & his wife some of what I had "legally shoplifted", as they are both on disability AND food stamps. I hope to be able to take his wife to Ingles' later in the week, so she can do this too. I've been trying to teach her the coupon thing too.
Let me see, how many people have I "Coupon Tutored"? Sheila, Diane, Angie, Lisas (3 different Lisa's - two at work, and my hairdresser), Yvonne, and several random strangers.

Ain't couponing grand!!!

The Grocery Challenge Ladies...

2008-12-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

I had these pics I compiled awhile back of adorable pups that I thought would be a good description of our GC/DogPound ladies, so here goes....

This cutie must be Emhalf...

This pup could only be HiTenny...

And of course, no one could mistake this hound for anyone else but HuntFish...

And, this is none other than Dancin'Mama.....

And now for YOUR VOTE....

Please tell me who YOU think this pup is...could this be JMo...or perhaps LBMoore...oh, what about Oot-n-aboot (aka Ooty)? Please post a comment so we can all know who this little beauty is!!!

Having fun buying for the Food Bank

2008-12-14T18:22:00.000-08:00

Today, I really had some fun buying some stuff for our food drive at work. Just like many other areas in our nation these days, we are experiencing a lot of lay-offs and plant closings in our area, so the Food Banks in our area have already been hit pretty hard.
When I got my newpapers today, I sat down with the Ingles' sale page, and with a sea of coupons surrounding me, made a plan.
I prefer to use the self-check, as I tend to have more success with the coupons, and I can use "slightly expired" Q's on the self-check line. Today, for the first time, I decided to see what my total would be if I didn't have my store-saver card, so I didn't scan it until I was finished...my total before store sales, and before Q's and before NC sales tax was over $69. After scanning my card, I saved $17.49...then after Q's, I saved $34.75. So, my total OOP was only $18.48!!
It would have been even better, if I had not bought stuff for myself. PackRat wanted some ice cream, and I also wanted to get sugar and flour while I was there as they were on sale at a substantial discount. So, if I take off the items I bought for myself, my OOP for the Food Bank about $3.00.
So, what did I get for $3 OOP?
3 large boxes of Success rice
5 boxes of Comet Rice
6 boxes of Quaker grits
5 boxes of Betty Crocker cake mix
5 tubs of Betty Crocker frosting
12 cans of Green Giant vegetables (green beans, corn, sweet peas)
This was just this trip - that's not counting the other GG veggies I bought yesterday, plus the Quaker Oatmeal I'm adding from my stash.

This was soooo much fun!! I invited my neighbor (Hi Sheila!!) to go with me just to have someone to share the absolute thrill of doing this. We both giggled like loons as we watched the total due on the screen get lower...and lower...and LOWER!! Oh, man, what a blast!! This was so much fun, I may have to do this again!! Since my own pantry and freezer are crammed full, a second trip would also go to a Food Bank.
Once again, coupons have allowed me to be a blessing!! This is just TOO MUCH FUN!!

I've been tagged!!

2008-10-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

OK, Lisa B. tagged me on this, so for what it's worth, here goes...

My physical appearance (according to others - I don't see it myself) is nothing like my personality - I'm short, small framed and small boned..."you look delicate" is how someone put it!! Looks can be deceiving, for sure!! My personality would probably make you think of an "Amazon" or a "Valkyrie"!!
I am an avid quilter - I love creating something beautiful with fabric!!
I breed and train horses (we're down to 6, from a high of 12)
I'm a geek - my official job title is "Technical Analyst II". I've worked with computers for about 20 years
I love rollercoasters, flying and scuba-diving
I play 5 different instruments - saxophone, guitar, banjo, piano and flute
I love most any kind of music, but my top two favorites are bluegrass and jazz

White Chicken Chili

2008-10-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken
2 (15 ounce) cans great northern beans or navy beans
1 (15 ounce) can hominy or white corn
1 (1 1/4 ounce) envelope taco seasoning
1 (4 1/2 ounce) can of chopped green chilies
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
1/2 cup sour cream
chopped green onion (optional)
monterey jack cheese (optional)
Directions
Place chicken in a 4 quart slow cooker.
Top with beans and corn.
In a medium bowl, combine taco seasoning, chiles, condensed soup, and chicken broth. Pour over top of ingredients in the crock pot.
Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
Before serving, stir gently to break up chicken, then stir in the sour cream.
Serve topped with green onions and jack cheese, if desired.

After KMart...a trip to Ingles

2008-10-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

So, after going home from KMart, and unloading my trunk, I took my food Q's to Ingles and used them there...even though they wouldn't double, some of them were still really good Q's - $1.50 - $2.00.
While I was at Ingles, I visited with my "meat counter lady" and gave her a stack of Q's. I had shared some of my "hounding adventures" with her last week and so she got motivated to try her hand with Q's also. She was so glad to see me, because she wanted to tell me about her first trip with coupons...she saved $17!! I gave her a good-sized stack of inserts, and shared with her my adventure at KMart. She's planning on going herself, once she heard how much I saved. While we were talking, Friendly Store Manager came by. I asked him did he know when Ingles would triple again, and he said he didn't. I said "I do! It's going to be the end of November!" Meat counter Lady started laughing, because Friendly Store Manager made a funny face and wanted to know how I found out. "Internet, of course!!"
He's usually pretty good about special requests, so I asked him to pass along to Corporate that Ingles was loosing some of their business to HT and BiLo b/c they both double up to 99¢, and would Ingles be willing to adjust their policy to match? He said he'd pass it along. I also mentioned the bag credit I get at BiLo. He started laughing, and asked was I trying to take his job. I told him "no, just trying to make my favorite store STAY my favorite store". He laughed again, shaking his head, and said yes, he'd pass all that along. Then MeatCounter Lady told him about her $17 savings, then she said "Tell him how much you just saved at KMart", so I did, adding the comment to both of them that "I may never need to buy TP, soap, or shampoo again for the rest of my life!!"
We all got a good laugh out of it, and Friendly Store Manager is going to talk to Corporate. Like JMo always says "If you don't ask, the answer is already NO!"
Oh, and my Ingles savings? $27 off an $85 total. And all of it food...and I mean GOOD food...
Since it was perishable, I didn't take any pics (so sorry!) but we could probably live off my stockpile for, ohhhh....about....a month, I guess...maybe more.
So, I guess I SHOULD do that to free up space for HT triples in a couple weeks...then Ingles triples a few weeks later.

KMart Super Doubles...not so super after all...

2008-10-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I had hoped to be able to "pull a suzi" or "copy alpha-yankee", but no such luck...and I had such high hopes too...

I went to the KMart closest to me - about 20 miles away, but not the one near work. I took a friend with me so she could get a "duplicate" buggy, and once we were done, I planned on letting her "shop" from my stash. I had quite a large pile of Q's, planned meticulously so there wouldn't be any problems with the number of q's or the number of items. Well, I should've taken the same attitude as one of our hounds (LBMoore, I think - or Dancin'Mama) who's motto is "expect the worst and hope for better". This particular KMart was only a "BIG" KMart, not a "SUPER" KMart - closest "Super" to me is 40 miles, and no way was I going that far unless it was for more than just a hound-trip.

Anyway, we go in, and the store is practically DESERTED. When I started with my list, it started off pretty good...plenty of Zest soap in stock, plenty of Dove body wash, plenty of shampoo and feminine personal care items in stock. No problem.

However, when it came time to go to the people food and pet food sections...man, was I disappointed!!! I did not get a single food item at KMart.
As you can see, I didn't leave empty-handed. My register tape, BEFORE coupons (first buggy) was $159.75. After Q's, it dropped to $66.49. I did this exact scenario twice. So, a grand total of $319.50 before, $132.98 after. Like I said, not as good as I had hoped, but not too shabby. Part of what "cheated" me was that KMart seems to have gotten wise to us hounds, because any combination that would have produced "overage", they adjusted the Q to equal "free". So, even though I technically should have had several money makers, KMart was smart enough to make the adjustments. Bummer!

My new pantry, before KMart Super Doubles

2008-10-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

Finally, after much hassle, I am able to post the pic of my new pantry. So here it is, doors shut to show how nice and pretty it is...and Lord only knows where the computer will stick this pic on my blog....

and here is a pic of what's in my nice new pantry (BEFORE KMart super doubles)

Here is the top shelf...with my hounded Pasta Sides, Hamburger Helper, Rice-A-Roni and Eight O'Clock coffee

Second shelf, with lots and lots of Campbell's soups (thank you again, Pack!), and Lawry's marinade.

Third shelf with plenty of Dawn, and Crest, along with muchies and pasta...

And finally the fourth shelf, with lots of home-made Chow-chow

So, that's my new pantry...plenty of room left...at least until KMart Super Doubles...more on that on the next post...

Covered in Coupons!!

2008-10-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

OK, I guess this is my blessing coming back to me...
I've tried to "share the wealth" from my recycle-bin-diving opportunites, and sending out lots of coupons to my hound-friends on "da Pound". Due to time constraints, I haven't exactly been very "equal" with the way I go about sending them out. I mostly just look at our spreadsheet, see who seems to need the most and send out a med/large/extra large envelope to a handful of hounds each week. If I had more time, I could probably do a better job with "sharing the wealth" a little more evenly...I hope to do better once we FINALLY finish cutting hay for the horses.
ANYWAY....to get back to my main point...I had been hoping to find someone that is a paper-carrier for the Charlotte Observer - LOTS better coupons than what I've been getting. Well, without really trying, I found out that one of the women at work has an uncle who is a carrier (he's worked for the Observer for 10 years!!!) HRLady says she goes to see her aunt and uncle nearly EVERY DAY and she will get some coupon inserts for me. In return, she wants me to explain to her about how to use coupons for the best result.
She called me back this evening, pretty much screaming that she is up to her eyeballs in coupons and doesn't have the first idea about what she's doing. I asked her to just bring them all in to work tomorrow, and I would help her out. She's promised to bring me as much as I want. She also wondered what to do with expired Q's, and she 'bout fainted when I told her our military families can use expired Q's at the commissaries (thanks to the ladies on the GC thread for this info!!). HRLady's DH is former active/current reserve military, and she goes to the commissary in Charlotte, but she said "I don't like going by myself - you want to come with me next time? They've got great prices on lots of stuff!" I can't wait to see if my hounding will now go even further with her connection to the commissary!
Anyway, for right now, I'm still going to visit my recycle bin, just in case this doesn't work out long-term. I don't like having to depend on her for this all the time...hopefully, I can extend my relationship on out to her aunt & uncle so I can be responsible for the inserts myself. It's not a matter of not trusting her, as she's a super person, but I feel like I'm not doing my share of the "work" for this. Anyway, I'll see how this goes...maybe HRLady will join our "pack" on the GC thread and she can help me send out envies to all the other hounds. Guess this is what happens when you send out envies, and help little old ladies at triple Q days.
BTW, I can't WAIT for double Q's at KMart!! I'm hoping to be able to show HRLady how this really works!! Wish me luck, y'all!!

Changing the world, one coupon at a time...

2008-10-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

OK, you know how it is, you go from blog to blog, seeing the blogs others are reading, and the next thing you know, you're somewhere totally different...well, I was doing this tonight, and came across this about "coupon stigma".

Authors Jennifer J. Argo and Kelly J. Main, conducted a study on "stigma-by-association". They claim that standing near a coupon redeemer in a check-out line, regardless of whether or not you know them, will stigmatize you as "cheap".
"The researchers interviewed shoppers who observed people using various kinds of coupons. They tested participants' impressions of the coupon shoppers and people standing near them. They found that people had negative ideas about the people using coupons, especially low-value coupons. This stigma was more likely to be transferred if the shoppers knew each other well, stood in the same line, or were of similar (average) attractiveness."
(I found this on Alyssa's blog at "Keeping the Kingdom First" (http://www.kingdomfirstmom.com/))

Interesting article, very interesting blog. However, it made me think about how I react to people as relates to coupons...I just try to "convert" them to coupon-thinking.
I have always be very gregarious, and will talk to just about anyone...just ask my kids...or my mom. Mama said if someone painted ears on a stop-sign, I'd talk to it!! LOL!! Anyway, even before couponing, I would talk to people...anywhere...grocery store...laudromat...in line at the bank...wherever.
Now, as bad as I was before, now...I'm WORSE. I watch other people in the grocery store, especially if they are elderly and seem to be trying to decide between "to buy or not to buy", and if I don't see any sign of coupons, I will walk up to them and see if I have anything in my binder of Q's that will help.
I was at HT a few weeks ago, and this tiny elderly lady was trying to decide between store-brand and name-brand products. I struck up a conversation with her and found she not only did not use Q's, but she didn't know HT was doing triple coupons that week. We quickly went thru the very few items in her buggy - she confided in me that she only had about $15 to get groceries - we went back thru the store, swapped practically everything she had for a name-brand (with a Q to match from my binder). I scratched out a running total (or close to it) as we went. By the time we were done, she had quite a few more items, but was going to be less OOP with the Q's. She was almost in tears, she was so happy. I gave her my contact info, so I could get with her later to help her with more Q's, but I haven't heard from her since.
I thank God for the opportunity to bless people, and this was another one of those opportunities.
Maybe she was really an angel in disguise, testing me...
"Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto me."
So, to get back to the "stigma" part of the article...I don't worry about what people think - never have before, and couponing doesn't change that a bit. I kind of feel sorry for those people, actually, that they are throwing away so much money by not doing this. They're probably also the type that don't "have enough" to give to charity, or missions, or to little old ladies in the grocery store.
Maybe I don't have a "foundation" to give out lots of money like the "Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation"...but He noticed the widow with two cents giving into the offering plate, surely He will notice a stack of coupons.

Sweet Potato Casserole

2008-10-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

Boil, then peel 2-3 large sweet potatoes (the peelings just pull right off after they've cooked). Squish them up, and measure to 3 cups. (any left-over after the three cups, save for next morning, and add to pancake mix-yummo!!) So, here we go...

Main part..
3 C. potatoes, mashed (squished, whatever)
1 C. sugar
1/2 C margarine, melted (haven't tried with real butter, but it should work)
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup of milk
Mix all the above until well blended, and pour into 2 qt casserole dish (spread evenly to edges)

Topping...
1/2 C. brown sugar, packed
1/4 C. flour
2 1/2 TBS melted margarine
1/2 C. chopped pecans (we REALLY like pecans, so I usually make this a full cup, instead of 1/2 C)
Mix together, should be moist/crumbly - sprinkle on top of potato mixture (should cover all)

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

Coupons help you be a blessing

2008-10-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

OK, what does the title here mean?
For those of you not involved in couponing, let me put it this way...I now have so much stockpiled food, I am now able to give it away to those in need without stressing internally over how much it cost. For example...
Three weeks ago, Harris Teeter had their Hamburger Helper on sale - buy 2 at full price, get 3 free. (Limit 10). OK, that's 10 HBHelpers for $10.76 ($2.69 full price x 4). OK, not a bad deal, but Harris Teeter was COMPLETELY out of HBHelper. Sooo, being the learning-to-be-frugal gal that I am, I asked for a raincheck. Got that with no problem at all. The following week, HT had triple (yes, TRIPLE) coupons, up to 99¢. So, I go get my 10 HBHelpers, and have 3 coupons for 75¢ off 3 HBHelpers. So, let's see how that figures out....75 x 3= $2.25 (that's one q tripled) $2.25 x 3 = $6.75 (that's 3 tripled Q's) $10.76 - $6.75 = $4.01 divided by 10 equals 40¢ per box. That's a steal any way you look at it. So that was two weeks ago...
Then on Sunday, the young man that works for us part-time(aka FarmBoy) (he has another job also) was trying to work up the nerve to ask for an advance...he was saying that they only had $40 for the week to get groceries and gas - he's married with two small children. I asked him if his family liked HBHelper, and he said that's one of the kids' favorite meals. I gave him 8 of the 10 and raided our freezer for some hamburger. He tried to give me some money for it, but I wouldn't let him, telling him I only paid 40¢ a box for the HBHelper, so it was no big deal.
But for them, it WAS a big deal!! No, HBHelper isn't the most thrilling meal in the world, and no, it's not necessarily the most nutritious...but it was food, and when you don't have any food, this was great! He was very relieved, and I felt great, being able to help this family.
PackRat was sort of confused about the whole thing - to him, HBHelper is a "when you ain't got time for nuthin' else" meal, so he kinda felt like it was a less-than-stellar blessing, but when he tried to figure out how to come up with an alternative that would give them that many meals, he was clueless. So, while I could tell by the look on his face that he was not crazy about what I was giving away, he didn't know how to improve on it and help FarmBoy out.
See, no stress about it!! It's a little difficult to say who was more blessed by that transaction - FarmBoy or me - because I got such a thrill from it, I'm wracking my brains trying to figure out how to do this some more. I just want to be ready for the next person-in-need that crosses my path.
OK, gotta go for now...gotta plan how else to be ready to help someone else!!

Organize, ORGANIZE!!!

2008-10-01T11:02:00.001-07:00

Well, hunting season starts today in South Carolina, and PackRat (also known as DH) will be going hunting every Friday and Saturday from now until the end of December.
Wow!
This will give me time to organize everything around the house, without PackRat saying "Hooonnney, I need your heeeellllppp!!" and then MY stuff doesn't get done. With him gone for those two days every week, I can take my time and do this right.
And I really need to do this!
I have so much stuff stockpiled from all the deals I've gotten, that I really need to step back, re-organize, and evaluate what I have and how long it will last and what needs to be donated before it spoils. This is a good problem to have - and all of it cost less than you would imagine!!
This time will also allow me to organize my coupon binder.
I created a database too, where I import the spreadsheet from the GC Pound, and when I want to send out an envie to one of the other "hound dogs" I just run the query, type in the hound's name, and voilá!! I have a list of all the Q's that particular hound wants, along with her addy. Now I feel even more (here's that word again!) organized!!
I really want to get this done in such a way that I can go into a store and have everything at my fingertips when I find a truly good deal!!
See, and with him going hunting, we also end up with a freezer full of meat!!
Bye honey!!! Happy Hunting!!

Uncommon tips....

2008-09-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

DID YOU KNOW?

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to
Pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it.
Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.
If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil
It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a Couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in a double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste
Of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper.
Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and
Sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350
For 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza

Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, - Set heat to med-low and heat until warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works!

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done. Easy clean up

Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You will frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount of frosting. Also eating less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in
A microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food
Moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away

Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers,
Put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-
Get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not
Get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes

Place a dryer sheet in your pocket.
It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away!

To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper.

The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and...tada!...static is gone.

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such
As peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope

If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed.
INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load of clothes.) He then took the filter to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material..I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like.
Well, the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over the mesh and that is what burns out the heating unit.
You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free...that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box...well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to have the potential to burn your house down. He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months.
He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?!
Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that.
So, I thought I'd share!
Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen.
I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it...the water ran right thru the screen.
There wasn't any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK.
NOT ONLY COULD IT SAVE SOMEONE'S HOME, BUT IT COULD SAVE
SOMEONE'S LIFE.

the lil’ lost pound-puppy and how she found some free woofies!!

2008-08-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

For those of you that aren't part of the Grocery Challenge, this little story may sound a little strange, but as a wanna-be-writer, I have spurts of really good story-telling...then the rest of the time, not-so-good story-telling. I just copied this from my post on the Grocery Challenge...if you need any translation, just comment on the blog and I'll get back to you. Here's the copy from the GC thread...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The tail of the lil’ lost pound-puppy and how she found some free woofies!!
Once there was a lil’ lost pound-puppy named CarolinaKid, who could never get any woofies from her local paper. So she had to buy a paper from the town where she worked. Alas, some weeks, it was very hard for CarolinaKid to make it to the newspaper office. One week, she was very, very late trying to buy the Sunday paper.
“We’re so sorry, the papers with woofies from last Sunday are all gone”.
CarolinaKid asked “When do you throw them away?”
“Oh, those are usually gone by Tuesday,” replied the newspaper lady.
CarolinaKid’s puppy ears and tail droop – there were SO MANY woofies in last Sunday’s paper – she really hates missing them.
“However…” CarolinaKid’s ears perk back up at the newspaper lady’s next words. “When we do throw them away, they go in the BIIIGGG recycle bin out back. If there’s any there, that would be free for you.”
CarolinaKid’s tail starts wagging. “Is it OK if I go out there and look?”
“Knock yourself out, CarolinaKid.”
“Oh, thank you!! THANK YOU!! Ummm, just WHERE is the recycle box located?”
Newspaper lady tells CarolinaKid where to look, and she hops in her car and drives around the building, hoping she doesn’t come face-to-furface with the recycle dump truck.
Sure enough, there’s the recycle bin…big…long…and looking mostly empty. Undaunted, CarolinaKid peeks thru the first door…nope, that was Thursday’s paper – yesterday. She peeks thru the next door…unh-unh, more Thursday papers…but wait…look, there’s a bundle over there…and there’s a DollarGeneral piece sticking out!!
OMG!! A whole bundle of ….nothing but SUNDAY WOOFIES!!! (Bad carrier!!! Bad!! BAD!!!)
And that’s how CarolinaKid found out how she will be able to get LOTS of woofies from now on…without having to buy a paper that is several days old.
The moral of this story? If you don’t ask, the answer is always no!! And what else? Hey you other pound dogs, be sure to post your wish-list for next week, b/c CarolinaKid loves to share woofies!!
We now return you to our regularly scheduled pound program…
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Well, as you can see, I was able to score quite a few inserts. That was last Friday. Since then, I went yesterday to the recycle bin and scored a total of 48 inserts!! It seems I've become addicted rather quickly to this particular type of "dumpster diving". They say crack cocaine is INSTANTLY addictive....so is dumpster-diving-in-the-recycle-bin-at-the-newspaper-office!! Needless to say, I'll be sharing a great deal of this largess of Q's with the rest of the GC pack!!

I'm going to JAIL!!!

2008-07-31T12:17:00.001-07:00

"Due to unforeseen circumstances at her work, Leta will be incarcerated to benefit MDA/Jerry's Kids..."

Someone at work threw my name in the pot to be "jailed" for 1 hour to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Our goal, for our plant as a whole, is $2700. So far, I think we have about 30-35 employees signed up for this.

When I was a kid, I used to do the "Walk-A-Thon" for MDA, so this is a pretty cool thing to do. I would greatly appreciate for all my friends and family to donate a little something to help these adorable kids that have such a big fight ahead of them. I'm sure they will be taking pics, so I will post those ASAP when I get "make bail" after being "locked up". Here's the link for those of you that I have not contacted personally on this wonderful opportunity to help those less fortunate than ourselves...

https://www.joinmda.org/morgantonlockup2008/lwellman/

Thanks in advance for helping me "post bail"!!

Me and my big mouth...

2008-07-31T05:57:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's good to be a bigmouth. My kids and husband always look at me funny when I talk to total strangers in the grocery store. When they were little, the kids would ask "Mama, who was that person?"
Anyway, last night I went to Ingle's to do my dad's grocery shopping. Since this is triple coupon week, I made sure I had my stash of Q's with me, just in case I could score a deal for him or something for myself that I better do NOW. While I was in the detergent aisle,I saw an elderly lady who was obviously stressing over which detergent to get. I asked her if she knew they were doing the triple Q deal, and she said "yes, but I don't have any for Tide. I'm out of detergent, and on a fixed income, but I just can't afford the Tide right now." Thus ensued a conversation about coupons in general. I was going to talk to her about the GC board, but she doesn't have Internet or even a computer. So, instead, I mentioned to her that Sunday was going to be a great day for coupons (if she gets the RIGHT newspaper). While we were talking, I was looking thru my stash to see if I had any detergent Q's she could use (unfortunately not.) Meanwhile, another lady comes down the aisle with a fistful of Q's and a buggy that was OBVIOUSLY her stockpile (paper towels, toilet paper, etc.) Well, the elderly lady picked up store-brand of detergent to do her until Sunday's paper - she got some "Shout" while she was at it, and I DID have a Q for that, so gave it to her. I got a hug in return. Then the second lady asked me if I was part of a local Q swap, and I told her "No, not local - international!" and proceeded to tell HER about the GC thread. I found out this lady's mother is a carrier for the area "good" newspaper - the one that has ALL the inserts, and her mom always brings all the inserts home to the daughter - she said as many as 50-100 inserts...for FREE!!
The lady was very friendly, and wanted to know more about GC, Couponmom, HotCouponWorld and TaylorTownPreview. So we exchanged phone#'s and she actually lives in my community!!
Needless to say, I plan on getting very chummy with her. Having more Q's than you can use is a very nice situation to be in.
The only bad thing about the whole thing is that I wasn't able to help the elderly lady very much...of course, now that I made a Q-friend, hopefully I'll be better prepared to help the next elder I run into.

Recipes - Part 3

2008-07-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

Easy Roast Beef W/Gravy

**The original recipe makes a LOT of beef and gravy - this can be halved (matter of fact, unless you are feeding a mob, I recommend it!!) - you just need some way to save half the "mixes" for the next time**
** When I first read the ingredients, I thought "Ranch dressing? Italian dressing? Brown gravy? Mixed?!?!?" You will be pleasantly surprised at how this turns out!**

5-6 Lbs Roast beef (any cut that cooks well in the crock pot - chuck is good, and cheap)
1 pkg of Ranch Dressing mix
1 pkg of Italian Dressing mix
1 pkg Brown gravy mix
4 cups water

Place roast in crock pot. Put all three package mixes (DRY!!) together in a bowl. Stir them together to get rid of any lumps and to blend them well. Sprinkle over roast. Add water - enough to cover roast. Cook 5-6 hours (can be longer if crock pot is set on "LOW"). This makes a wonderfully seasoned (and TENDER) roast and plenty of gravy to go over rice or smashed potatoes or whatever you like.

To halve this...
I usually get about 3 lbs of roast, then when I'm blending the mixes, I divide that in half - all three together are about 1/2 cup, so that would be 1/4 cup halved. I save the other half for the next time I make this. The first time I made this, we were staying with my Dad - he said it was all he could do to NOT eat this before we all got home from work. When this is halved, there is enough for 3 of us to have for dinner, and all three to have lunch the next day.

Recipes - Part 2

2008-07-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

ROTINI AND SPICY BEEF

**this one is definitely hot (spicy hot), so if you don't care for that sort of thing, you might want to adjust the Rotelle tomatoes to some other kind of diced tomatoes**
2 C rotini pasta
1 LB ground beef (could be turkey or venison if you want to get low-fat)
2 sm. cans of Rotelle tomatoes with peppers (can use store brand if available)
1 can of tomato sauce (orig. recipe calls for sm,8oz can, but I prefer to use the larger one - test both ways for your personal tastes)
1 sm. can of mushrooms
1 large onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped (we don't like celery, so we leave this out)
Shredded cheese

Cook rotini as package directs. While rotini is cooking, brown beef, with onions, mushrooms and celery. Drain grease. Add Rotelle and tomato sauce. Add cooked pasta. Stir all ingredients together, and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Serve, top with shredded cheese as desired.

Recipes...part 1

2008-07-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

by special request from several of my friends at the Pound...here is the first "no-fail" recipe..

CHICKEN CASSEROLE
**this one is no-fail at our house - if DS is at home, there are NO leftovers. Otherwise, this reheats really well in the microwave for lunch at work the following day**
1 whole chicken, or large pack of split breasts
1 sm bag of Pepperidge Farm herbed stuffing
1 can of cream of chicken soup (I prefer two cans, as we like the moister version)
Preheat oven to 350°.
Cook whole chicken in large pot, with enough water to cover it completely (in the crock-pot during the day, while you're at work is easiest). Remove meat and discard skin and bones. Reserve enough broth to prepare stuffing (see directions on package - I think it's about 1-1 1/2 cups) and enough broth to equal however many cans of soup. Save remaining broth (freezing is best) for other recipes calling for chicken broth.
Prepare stuffing in sauce pan, according to directions on bag.
Shred chicken (by hand) into bite-sized pieces, and spread out in 9x13 baking dish.
Mix soup with equal amount of broth in bowl - stir until well blended, and there are no lumps of soup. Pour this over chicken in baking dish. Sprinkle stuffing crumbs over top of chicken/soup mixture.Cover with foil, bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, bake for 10 minutes longer. Serve with whatever vegetables you like best. (Green beans and corn-on-the-cob are our favorites)

Menopause...and men-pause

2008-07-21T06:19:00.000-07:00

I'm on the verge of menopause...what's called Peri-Menopause.
It's bad.
It's REAL bad.
It's got me in some MAJOR mood swings. Used to be that PMS symptoms for me were swelling up like a toad and hating my job (even though I usually loved it!) and not wanting anyone in my personal space. Well, with Peri-meno, take those symptoms and put them on steroids!! I now swell like an elephant (and seems like I don't go all the way back down) hate working any job, and not only do you need to stay out of my personal space, you need to stay out of my house, my car, my yard, etc., etc. Which, as you can imagine, has DH totally confused.
DH seems to think I just need to quit being a B%#$h and get over myself. This lack of sympathy and understanding really pulled the trigger on my attitude - to the point that I served him with separation papers last May.
Well, that opened his eyes, and had him FINALLY really listening to my "issues". So, I backed out of the separation thing.
However, it's been a year, and he's back to the same old attitude. And the Peri-meno is just starting to reach its full potential.
Well, we had a "Health Fair" at work last week, and there were all kinds of health-care professionals there. So, for now my plan is to get a few appointments - GYN, and mental health/counseling. I am SO NOT into the hormone replacement therapy though!! My system is very "responsive" to anything foreign - by that I mean any kind of drug, whether it's OTC or prescription, my system just goes crazy. (Had my tubes tied after DS - slept for 3 days on the anesthetic) If I take any sinus meds, even the "non-drowsy" kind, they wipe me out.
I'm hoping the GYN and the counseling will help. My self-esteem is so low an ant would be towering over me. I've gained a lot of weight (20 pounds might not sound like much, but on my frame, it shows dramatically!!) My mood swings are such that I cry at most anything...and nothing.
Right now, I want to run off everybody that lives in my house - because no-one seems to realize I'm having a major meltdown, nor do they seem to care. And because of the way my life and my marriage is, I don't really have any close friends I can "vent" with. What I need is a "girl's night out" with another chick to pat me on the back and agree "Yes, dear, all men are $%^&**!!"

If DH thinks I'm being B*&^hy now, I hate to think what will happen when it's FULL-BLOWN MENOPAUSE, and not just the "prelude"!!

Some people are just STUPID!!! Part Two...

2008-07-18T05:54:00.001-07:00

***Part Two of Stupid People...***
We found a horse for my cousin's kid, and...

They loved her!! They had been working on fencing in an area for her, and had bought some of what they would need to take care of her, so we trailered the animal to their place. We showed them some of the basics, especially with regards to safety. We emphasized that until they (1) got to know the horse and her quirks and (2) got more comfortable with putting on her gear (saddle, bridle, etc.) and (3) learned more about horsemanship in general, that they needed to stay inside their fenced area when they rode the mare.

Did I mention these people are stupid?

This family has 4 kids...Jordan is #3. She has an older brother and sister and a younger brother. Did I also mention this family, as a whole, has no discipline? The kids get WHATEVER they want - really!

The oldest boy rides bulls in local rodeos. Now, these are NOT sanctioned, big-time, win-lots-of-money rodeos - no, these are good-ole-boy, North Carolina redneck rodeos. Nothing wrong with that, they can be lots of fun, but Nick thinks he now knows everything about farm animals since he rides bulls. And the rest of the family seems to agree with him...
Anyway, the very next day after we took the horse over there, they call us about the fence charger. We go to take a look at it (nothing wrong there, just lack of knowledge about the charger), and we find that (1) they have saddled the horse WITHOUT THE BRIDLE (which is the same thing as driving without any brakes) (2) they are outside the fence (didn't we tell them to get familiar with the animal FIRST?!?!) and (3) the older boy has the younger boy riding double with him.
DH went ballistic, telling them "You're riding this animal with no safety gear in place" (the bridle) "and you're outside the fence!!" (DH also has a short temper, especially when it comes to kids' safety.)
Grandmom says "But we couldn't get the bridle on" (this was really stupid, as the horse would practically put it on herself, she was that easy to deal with)
DH says "If you can't get the bridle on, you shouldn't be riding her!!" and then he storms off. Cousin's DH seemed to be the only one with any sense, as he told the others "You need to listem to them - they know what they're talking about". I kind of expected them to call, saying "what's wrong?!?", but evidently they don't even have enough common sense to know there was a problem!

Well...that was this past weekend, and it's now Friday. We haven't been back, but the older boy came by our house and started telling us how he's already got her to side-step, and neck-rein and so on. We just pretended to listen, as the kid is one of those "know-it-all's". He was talking about all he was doing to train her. Supposedly, this kid (who has ridden bulls, not horses), now knows more about training horses than we do. Gee, I guess young people today are just so much smarter than those of us that have learned all this over 20 years or so...

I shudder to think of how he's going to ruin this perfectly good horse, but since that family thinks that the boy is an "authority on everything", I'm just staying out of it. We tried to help them, tried to teach them some stuff, but I don't think they heard a thing we said. I guess when somebody gets hurt, it'll be our fault for finding them this "crazy" horse.

Some people are just STUPID!!!

Some people are just STUPID!!! Part One...

2008-07-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

I swear, some people are just DENSE!! My cousin's daughter decided she HAD to have a horse, and, since that part of the family has NO sense of discipline, they immediately started trying to find one for her. Now, this wouldn't be so bad if anyone in that crowd knew anything about horses....but they don't.

At least they had enough sense to come talk to DH and me...we've had horses for over 20 years now, so we were a logical starting point. So we started trying to explain some basics to them, but for the life of me, I don't know WHY they felt this was a good idea, as the little girl - Jordan, age 9, WANTS a horse, but is TERRIFIED of them. Bad thing is, so is her mom and grandmother (and sad thing is, grandmom is the one who will have to take care of the beast!) Anyway, we told them the basics of care and feeding, etc.,etc. They kept saying they want a "child proof" horse, or a "dead broke" horse. They just wouldn't listen to us when we tried to tell them that there was really no such thing - we told them if they wanted a horse that was GUARANTEED to not have the potential to hurt anyone, they needed to get a merry-go-round horse - on a merry-go-round that wasn't working!! I don't care how gentle a horse is, how well trained it is, this is an animal, with a mind of its own, and if something spooks it, there's the potential to get hurt.

They found a couple of prospects for a horse - one was free (my favorite word) but she was also about 25 years old...chances are, the animal would die on them before winter, especially considering the person they would be getting her from. The second one was a Tennesse Walking horse, that someone else's son was roping on. Which REALLY didn't make any sense, as I've never seen a Walking Horse in a rodeo before. In addition, roping is a "fast and furious" type of rodeo class that would have the horse accustomed to going fast - which is NOT a good horse for a rank beginner.

Funny how things work out, though...just a few days after they told us they wanted a horse, DH had a friend come to him looking to get rid of (for free) a horse he'd been riding for awhile. 12-year-old mare, broke pretty good, saddles and bridles easily, loads on the trailer with no problems. The friend had another horse, but he didn't want the expense of feeding two horses thru the winter this year - with the drought situation the past few years, hay in the wintertime has been more expensive than prime rib. Anyway, we rode her to "test" her out for a prospect for Jordan, and couldn't get her to go any faster than a trot...which for the purposes of a beginner, was PERFECT. The only problems we found were that she didn't stop very good, and she didn't know how to neck-rein - the first was a potential problem if they ever managed to get her to go fast, the second was a non-issue, as the girl was a beginner anyway. Soooo, we got the horse for them.

*** This is the end of part one...part two to follow...***

Good news and better news and best news!!

2008-06-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well!! I haven't been able to find my digi-cam to take pics, but we have a new addition to our family..."Midas" is a little golden palomino stallion colt, born last Wednesday morning (EARLY in the morning!), June 4th. He's really big for a newborn, and just as beautiful as he can be!! I'll post pics as soon as my camera is unearthed from wherever I last stashed it!! So, that's my good news...
Better news...YAAYYYY!!! I found out I'm NOT getting laid off (as of right now, anyway!) I don't know what happened or what changed, but I was told Monday that I only have to look at South Dakota if I want to. If SD calls, and makes "an offer you can't refuse" then...otherwise, this Carolina Kid is staying right here in Western NC!!
Best news...DD emailed about Father's Day plans, so we're going to Raleigh to spend some time with her and the SIL. We haven't gotten together in several months, so this is the BEST news!!

Not to forget the GC hounds, I saved about $45 this week at BiLo using my Q's...thanks pound for the help!!
Oh, and I saved $512 on my car insurance...but I didn't switch to Geico!!

South Dakota?

2008-06-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

What's it like in South Dakota? South Eastern part, that is...
Seems I may be transferring there with my employer. If I decide to stay in NC, i'm unemployed. Hmmm, decisions, decisions!! Could be a big raise if I transfer...lots of hunting for DH...land is cheap (compared to around here!) so I could maybe buy plenty of land for my horses...BUT!!!!
My family is all here in NC or in TN, and SD is a LOOOOONNNNGGGG way away...and with gas prices the way they are....
I'll have to think about this one, long and hard....

Woof!!

2008-06-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

OK, so Im starting to make sense (cents?) of this coupon thing...
I went to Bi-Lo this weekend, found out that they double coupons up to 99¢ - hey, that's great! Now a 75¢ Q is worth $1.50. I can get behind that!! So, anyway, there were quite a few BOGO's and I had lots of Q's...so many that the cashier had to call the manager to finish entering the Q's. (They have a limit of how many the cashier's can ring in.) Anyway, after all was said and done, I saved a total of over $50 using my coupons. As the manager said, "Hey, that's a tank of gas!!"
Yes, my trip took a while longer, as I didn't really prepare as good as some of the rest of the pack over at the Grocery Challenge thread. I'm still getting the hang of this. But with the BOGO's and the Q's, some of the items came out better than free - they came out with the store owing me $$!! Since I had more than just the coupon items, I really did get the money. Duke's mayo and Tetley tea!! As the ladies on the GC would say, I legally shoplifted those items!!
I'm going to start keeping better records of what things cost me now that I'm into this!

Old dog learning new tricks

2008-05-31T06:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I just recently started "following" a thread on the Women In Red site (MSN Money) called "the Grocery Challenge" . Lordy, those ladies manage to get more stuff free or almost free than I thought possible!
They've nicknamed themselves, as a group, "grocery hounds", and the GC thread is "the pound". If you are new to their thread, and just learning their tricks, you are a "pound puppy". They've come up with several things to help in their search for reducing the cost of EVERYTHING - a spreadsheet to share each others wants/needs for coupons, alerts for special deals, links to each others' blogs, links to couponing websites, and so on.
I'm still learning, so I guess I'm still a "pound puppy". However, my first big success came at CVS...my order would have been over $64 - however, with the "coaching" from the ladies on the GC thread, I actually only spent $11.88!!
Plus, everyone sends everyone else the coupons they need, so now I have several "Q's" for my coffee (MH and 8 O'Clock) and tea (Tetley) that I wouldn't have otherwise. Add to learning how to wait for "rock bottom prices" and stockpiling when something is at that "rock bottom", I am saving more and more.
Yes, it's somewhat time-consuming. BUT, with gas at over $4/gal, everyone is trying to save as much as possible. I'm learning, and saving at the same time. As the GC ladies would say "WOOF!"

Family in from Tennessee

2008-05-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

My sister Tracy and her family came in this weekend from TN. The girls, Erin (3 1/2) and Jamie (15 months) seemed to have a great time, once they got past their shyness. I was surprised that Erin wasn't the least bit afraid of our horses...on the contrary, she had lots of fun feeding them. I had to help her a little bit so she wouldn't accidentally get bitten. Jamie wasn't scared of them either, and showed the usual curiosity of a toddler.
Tracy and I got to talk quilts and antiques and Perry and Ronnie (Tracy's hubby) were talking the usual stuff men talk about (cars, tractors, etc).
Later, we went to pick up the hoosier cabinet I found for Tracy at an antique store in Morganton. On the way there, we traveled the backroads between Bostic and Morganton, with Tracy and Ronnie getting excited at the "collectible" stuff that people around here have on their front porches. I guess the old saying "one man's junk is another man's treasure" is true - Tracy said Ronnie nearly slammed on brakes when he saw a really old car that he liked. They're both ready to come back to NC just to look around at the antique stores and flea markets here....evidently there's not enough "junk" in TN for them!
Tracy and I are still planning on going to the big AQS Quilt show in Nashville in August...I can't wait! (I'm still a fabric-holic!!)
It was a really short visit, but we all had a lot of fun. Daddy got to see his granddaughters for the first tiem, and finally got to meet Ronnie face-to-face, so all-in-all, everyine had a great time.
Tracy, can't wait for you guys to come back!!!

Strange addiction!

2008-03-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

I admit it - I'm an addict. No, not drugs...not cigarettes...not alcohol. It's fabric.

I know, I can see your expression already.

"FABRIC?!?" you're thinking. "What does she mean by that?!?"

It has to do with quilting. Ask ANYONE who quilts, and they will tell you the same. Sometimes it's just one piece, sometimes it's a whole bundle, but it's amazing the hold fabric has on me.

Only now it's gotten worse...it's expanded into antique quilts. I found this nearly-perfect quilt in an antique shop. It's an uncommon pattern - "apple core" - and it had to have been made around 1920-1930, as it's feed sack material. There's even a place on the back that is stamped "100 LBS NET". That makes it worth FAR MORE than the $20 I paid for it. It's now hanging proudly on my quilt rack beside my other antique quilts. None of which I paid more than $30 for.

Of course, the bad part is, now I have to make a "reproduction" of that quilt.

At least, I'm using some of that fabric I'm so addicted to to make my "reproduction". Will I ever finish it? Someday...of course my kids will tell you that some quilts are faster than others, and some will NEVER be finished...yes, Dana, your "Wedding Ring" quilt will be finished...Someday!