Saving Money!

First, I must apologize for not posting the last few days. I've been overwhelmed, and the wine was great, but didn't do the trick. I just needed some down time. I neglected pretty much everything the last few days.

But, I'm back in the saddle, and I'm feeling pretty decent. I had a great week for shopping and saving money, and it was so much fun, I wanted to share it all with you.

I was visiting Shannon (again) over the weekend, so I had to figure out how to get multiple copies of the Sunday newspaper cheap. We have a dollar store in my town, but not in hers. Shannon gave me all her inserts (woohoo!), but since it was such a good week, I wanted more than just one paper. She suggested getting newspapers from the paper boxes...but there was only one. So, I had her paper (the Oregonian), and one other paper that wasn't local. I still wanted more, so we went to Walgreens. They had Sunday papers (with all the inserts) marked as "Friday 75 cents". Heck yeah, I'll pay 75 cents! So, I got four of them. Got up to the register, and they rang up as 50 cents each! So, I grabbed two more! I got TONS of coupons this week! It took me until yesterday morning to sort through them all, since there were three different papers, and the different types of papers carried different inserts. I've decided to not ever, ever get different papers again!

Ok, this is the COOL part. Yesterday, after I finally waded through all my coupons and got them all sorted and put away, I finally had time to look at the sales. I went to Albertson's because they were having a sale on cereal, PLUS they had double coupons for 3 days only, PLUS I had 3 coupons for $1 off of 2 boxes of cereal. I expected to pay about $3.50 for six boxes of cereal. Not bad! But I got up to the cash register and before I even gave the guy my coupons, he said, "let me run this $5 off coupon for you"...ok, I'm not going to complain about that at all! Then, he ran my coupons, and the total came to -$1.58. He opened up the cash register and gave me the money! I got paid! HAHA! That was AWESOME! This saving money thing is so much fun!

Funny Blogs

One of my very favorite things is reading funny blogs. I know there are tons out there, but here are some of my favorites, and I'm linking the titles to my favorite posts:

Cake Wrecks
Fail Blog
LOL Cats (also take a peek at the other blogs along the top row)
Passive Aggressive Notes
Overheard In The Office (be sure to check out all the links at the top of this page, too)

If you're like me, you're going to be obsessing over these for the next week or so. Hehe. My quest for world domination has begun.

Feelings

Glorious, imperfect, messy, frightening, ugly feelings. I have a love-hate relationship with my feelings, but it's slowly moving more toward love as time goes on. Feelings were not allowed in my home as a child. Well, for the children anyway. The adults were not only allowed to HAVE feelings, but in addition to that, the feelings of the adults dictated the childrens' lives. For instance, if Mom was in a bad mood, it was perfectly fine to beat the tar out of the children. We didn't even need to be blamed for her bad mood...it was enough that she was IN a bad mood.

I've been fighting back a tremendous sadness for...well, my whole life. I tried ignoring the sadness...calling it something else...covering it up...changing its location...oh, I tried everything. It's caught up with me.

Here's the deal: my family (meaning those I share DNA with) do not love me. Or, if they do love me, they act it out in a really inappropriate way. I have some wonderful friends that I have referred to as my "chosen" family for many years. But it's just hitting me that, dammit, they are NOT my real family. I can call them whatever I want - they're never going to be related to me, and I am never going to be a true part of their family. It doesn't matter how you want to dress it up, true "family" are the people you share DNA with, and that's it. You don't get spares. You might think you have spares (like I did), but those spares aren't the same thing.

Some folks that I thought of as family just up and walked out without a backward glance. Now, with the family I share DNA with, even though I've walked out, we're always going to be connected. And if I were to walk back in their lives, the reception would be a whole lot different than if they were not related to me.

The point I'm trying to make in all these ramblings is that all my life, I've been trying to make myself feel better about my shitty family. I just realized, today in fact, that I don't HAVE to feel better about them. You know what? It sucks that the people who SHOULD love me don't. It sucks that the people who SHOULD support me don't. It sucks that the people who SHOULD accept me don't. And all the friends in the world, no matter how wonderful they are, can't make those crappy feelings go away.

So I'm going to be sad dammit. I'm going to allow myself to be sad, to feel all those feelings I should have felt as a kid when I was being thrown down the hall way and being told I wasn't worthy of my family. It doesn't matter how I dress those things up or try to ignore them...they happened, and they SUCKED!

Making "Yarn"

I've had these two sheets hanging around my house forever. I kept trying to use them until the holes in the middle of them became a nuisance during sleep. (It always scared me a little when I'd hear a ripping sound in the middle of the night, and I'd have to take a second to wake up and figure out what it was.) I asked for some suggestions for what to do with the sheets, and one of the suggestions was to crochet them into a rug. That was my favorite idea. ;-) First step: make the yarn.

So, here's the sheet pile I started with (does that sound gross to anyone else?):
The first thing I did was to rip out the seams at the ends of the sheet. It was pretty easy. I cut the first couple threads, and then just stuck my fingers in and ripped.
Then I made small cuts along the end of the sheet:
And I ripped the sheet into 1- 1 1/2 inch strips (this part is very sneeze-inducing). This is what I ended up with:
Not quite as impressive when rolled up into balls:
And there you have it. Sheet yarn. I was pretty distressed once I got to this point because I realized that I didn't bring one of my millions of size N crochet hooks with me to Shannon's. I keep needing them, not having them with me, and buying an extra, so I have tons of them. May as well just put one in every bag I own and call it good, eh? That way I'll always have one on hand. Anyway, I'll be starting my sheet-yarn rug soon, and I'll blog about it when I do.

Wine

It's been a B-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-D couple of days. I think that drinking my favorite wine out of a crazy straw shaped like a bunny will make me feel a lot better. Care to join me?

Crocheted Slippers

I've tried making a few different kinds of slippers, and these are my favorites. I won't lie, it's because they're the easiest to make. If there's a pattern that I don't have down pat after the first two times I make something, I scrap it. How am I supposed to wiggle the pattern around, change stuff, and make it even cooler if I don't even understand the original pattern, know what I mean?

But anyhoo, I'm sitting here at Shannon's house, and in addition to starting my Harry Potter marathon, I've decided to also crochet (and I brought about 100 other things to do, too...how long did I think I was going to be here exactly? Well, I won't be bored, that's for sure!).

Before she left, Shannon handed me a bag I didn't even realize I had left here. It had a half slipper that I had been working on for the lovely lady who takes care of our furbabies when we go out of town. So, this is what I've been working on for the last hour or so. I love watching my work go from this:

To this:
It's been a good day. I just have to add ribbon and I'm done.

Harry Potter

Ok, I'm not a HUGE Harry Potter fan (as evidenced by the fact that I've only read one or two of the books...and I don't even remember which ones), but I have always wanted to read the whole series. So FINALLY, with the awesomely wonderful assistance of paperbackswap and bookmooch, I have all seven books! I've started a reading marathon. So far, I've gotten a little over half way through the first book (it's been so long that I've decided to just start over).

And by the way, the picture wasn't chosen at random. That one book has caused me a whole lotta grief. I thought I had all seven books. So I'm packing up for a four day trip (which has become five days), and I want to start on my Harry Potter marathon while I'm gone, right? So, I pack up all my books, and I only have six. Hmmmmmmm...that's uncool. So, I'm rummaging around my house frantically, desperately searching for this missing book, trying to figure out which one it is, and in general trying to keep my head from flying off my shoulders.

Eventually I just came to terms with the fact that I was hallucinating and didn't have all seven books after all. Hopped on paperbackswap really quick, ordered the book, and figured it was no biggie and I could just read the first five books for now, knowing that this one would arrive soon enough.

Still rushing around like a chicken with my head cut off, I ran to the bathroom to grab last minute items, and the book was sitting there. In the freakin' bathroom. Why? I don't know, ask blondie...oh wait, that's right...that's me. (The red is supposed to be a clever cover for my true scatterbrained nature. It's not working. Next time, I'm totally going with purple.)

So, another quick trip to paperbackswap to cancel the book, and I was out the door. Finally.

"The Rape" of Mr. Smith

"The Rape" of Mr. Smith

By: Anonymous

The law discriminates against rape victims in a manner which would not be tolerated by victims of any other crime. In the following example, a holdup victim is asked questions similar in form to those usually asked a victim of rape.

"Mr. Smith, you were held up at gunpoint on the corner of 16th and Locust?"
"Yes."
"Did you struggle with the robber?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"He was armed."
"Then you made a conscious decision to comply with his demands rather than to resist?"
"Yes."
"Did you scream? Cry out?"
"No. I was afraid."
"I see. Have you ever been held up before?"
"No."
"Have you ever given money away?"
"Yes, of course--"
"And did you do so willingly?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Well, let's put it like this, Mr. Smith. You've given away money in the past--in fact, you have quite a reputation for philanthropy. How can we be sure that you weren't contriving to have your money taken from you by force?"
"Listen, if I wanted--"
"Never mind. What time did this holdup take place, Mr. Smith?"
"About 11 p.m."
"You were out on the streets at 11 p.m.? Doing what?"
"Just walking."
"Just walking? You know it's dangerous being out on the street that late at night. Weren't you aware that you could have been held up?"
"I hadn't thought about it."
"What were you wearing at the time, Mr. Smith?"
"Let's see. A suit. Yes, a suit."
"An expensive suit?"
"Well--yes."
"In other words, Mr. Smith, you were walking around the streets late at night in a suit that practically advertised the fact that you might be a good target for some easy money, isn't that so? I mean, if we didn't know better, Mr. Smith, we might even think you were asking for this to happen, mightn't we?"
"Look, can't we talkin about the past history of the guy who did this to me?"
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Smith. I don't think you would want to violate his rights, now, would you?"

Weird Al

Then:


And now:
(Embedding has been disabled, so all you get is a link...I'm going to go mumble now.)

(Had to edit to add this.) The TRUE Master of Disguise.

My Interview With Domestic Witch

This is a copy of my interview over at the Domestic Witch blog.

Five minutes with Joy

Domestic Witch is happy to present an interview with Joy, who woke up with this wacky hair-do on the morning of her interview and knew the day was going to be.....different.

What is your most established crock pot recipe?

Oh, I wish I had pictures. This one's yummy. It's from the book Fix It And Forget It Lightly on page 25

Slow-Cooked Chicken & Mushroom Stew (5 weight watcher points per serving)

Makes 4 servings (Ideal slow cooker size: 4-5 qt.)

1 can of 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup

half a can of water

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 lb. fresh medium-sized white mushrooms, or a variety of mushrooms, cut up

1 cup baby carrots

2 ribs celery, cut into small pieces

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Combine soup and water in slow cooker. Cut chicken into 2" chunks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in slow cooker. Add mushrooms, carrots, celery, and garlic powder. Stir gently to mix. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or until chicken is done and internal temperature reaches 170. Serve with rice.If you like mushrooms, this recipe is TO DIE FOR!

I loved the red and black dramatic afghan you crocheted, who taught you how to crochet?

When I was little, my mom taught me. But she was pretty mean about it, and had zero patience. As a result, my crocheting sucked, to say the least, and it was nothing but frustrating for me. I did it for maybe a few months. Then, about 5 years ago, I decided I wanted to pick it up again. I bought a book, some hooks and yarn, and went for it.

I worked in a residential treatment facility with teenage girls for awhile, and I thought it would be so cool to give them something like that to do. I made mass copies of the book, and handed them out (along with some cheap plastic hooks) to any girl who wanted them. I worked night shift, so I'd sit in the girls' doorways after bedtime helping them learn how to crochet.

Crocheting has absolutely been the most fulfilling activity I've picked up as an adult. :-)

I had not heard of Adoptee Rights before reading your blog, how do you hope to educate others like me in your cause?

I participate in other forums where it's a topic of conversation a lot. I get a lot of information from reading blogs and message boards where adoptees and their first parents (i.e. the preferred term for "birth" parents) talk about adoption from their point of view. Until now, I've stuck to learning, but I think it will be a fairly regular topic of my blog.

One of the forums I belong to, where I'm usually very vocal, there are a lot of new people who come and go, and I have spoken to probably thousands of people that way. Not all people listen...it can be really tough to hear that adoption is not all rainbows and sunshine, and that there are negative aspects, too. It was certainly a shock to me at first, beings that my husband and I were planning to adopt. But it was extremely important to me that I open my mind and make sure that I was doing all I possibly could to be a good parent. Now, my focus is on doing what I can to help my friends.

So, I guess I just plan to talk about it a lot. I talk to people about it in real life, too, as often as I can. I wrote a letter to the editor of my local newspaper yesterday. I write letters to state legislators and others. I just do whatever I can. I'm lucky to live in one of the few states that does have open records, but the rest of the states need to follow suit, so I'm going to keep working until all states are open.

How do you and your husband balance homekeeping?

This is a constant work in progress. We are both notorious procrastinators. I have a confession to make...we still have all our winter holiday decorations out. (I never know what to call Christmas/Yule because it's Christmas to him and Yule to me...maybe Yulemas? HAHA!) Yep, the little fiber-optic tree has fallen down, a lot of the ornaments have fallen on the floor, where the dogs have taken to chewing them up. The base that the tree sits on has fallen on the floor, which I realized yesterday. It's a sad sight. This has never happened before (normally, we just pile stuff up on the couches until you can't tell what all is under there, but we've never left the Yulemas decorations up until March before!).

We were doing pretty good for awhile there, using flylady. But man, this year, we have just dropped the ball. The few things we do have down pat are the "home blessing hour" (which Jason does), laundry (which I do), and paying bills (which we do together, or sometimes I do it if I have more time). Oh, and one person cooks while the other cleans up after. Otherwise...*blush*...we're working on it.

What Spring foods to you traditionally eat?

I LOOOOVE Easter candy (again, Easter? Ostara? Well, there's a compromise for that one, I've seen Eostra a few times). The malted milk eggs (which weren't as good this year, for some reason) are always a favorite. Cadbury eggs. Yuum! I love corned beef and cabbage, but I've never really associated it with Spring until recently (I don't pay much attention). I'm so looking forward to that recipe!