craftastica: snowflake cake

While I am freezing my &^% off..........craftastica: snowflake cake

Hopefully worth a thousand words.....

No longer just a dream.

Sucker Punched.......

Ah, the beauty and immediacy of the internet. Need directions? Lost a phone number? Want to look up technical information? Lost the instruction manual? Just a few keystrokes, and you've got what you need.

Newspapers, and even the evening news are old news.

But some news.......well, some news you can wait to hear. And today, over the course of just a couple of hours, I got the sucker punch. From a professional e-journal: A former, deeply respected professor from graduate school passed away eariler in the week. Via facebook.com: a classmate from high school had lost her battle with lung cancer.

When a respected professor passes away, it's sad news. You think back on the time you knew the person, and what you learned or how they influcenced your life. Maybe, as I did, you think about being just a little better at what you do to honor a teacher's life. Although sad, at the age of 65, a person has had a life. Children, maybe even grandchildren. A chance to do something meaningful, leave a legacy. There is never enough time, of course, but more than 60 years you have be thankful for.

When someone your own age (that being somewhere near....39) dies, that's an entirely different kind of thing. Someone with a husband who is now alone. With 3 young children who are motherless. That's someone who wasn't finisihed, not by a long shot. And it's so, so sad.

While I had not spoken with her in years, she was an indelible part of my memories of those oh so painful years. We saw each other every day in homeroom for just a few minutes, and were certainly not BFFs. But we touched base each day to chat/complain/confide. She was popular, smart and beautiful, with such enormous promise. And now she is gone.

And it's the kind of thing that makes you question what you are doing on an everyday basis. And a reminder to me to live more in the moment instead of worrying what lies in the future; to do something to make every day matter.

The guy behind me at Dominick's hates me...but I saved $130.35

So every week, I spend Sunday evening reading the papers. The New York Times, because after all, it's my hometown paper. And I love Sunday Styles "Modern Love" column. And yes, I do occasionally find people I once knew when I read the wedding section. Then the Chicago Tribune, the local paper.

And clipping coupons is one of my favorite parts of this ritual. Except that clipping is usually as far as I ever get.....and 2 year old piles of coupons appear, only to get tossed into the recycle bin. I'm getting pretty tired of seeing coupons for stuff I just bought, as I am unpacking my groceries.

So this week, with 2 hours to kill while #2 is in Hebrew school, I plan the coupon attack. As any good coupon-user knows, it is critical to make sure the coupon allows you to get a better deal that the store brand. And of course, coupon use on items you would not normally buy don't count either. Same for food your family would never, ever eat (tofu-burger, lamb chops??). As far as I am concerned, buying large quantities of items you do use is still questionable. I mean, if it takes 2 years to use that 5 lb. jar of peanut butter.....is that a good use of resources?

So here are the stats:
Items purchased - 78
Grocery cart filled to overflowing
Dominick's "Fresh Values" savings - $87.51
Coupon Savings - $37.84
Total savings: 103.35
saved: 33%
Total Spent*: $278.41

*Includes over $60. worth of diapers; with $7.50 in coupon savings. And I won't go back for at least 3 weeks.

Extra booty:
9.4 qt. Dutch oven from Dominick's promotion
$4.42 gas card (must spend another $158 to get $6 card issued)
125 United Airline miles
$0.75 off next grocery order

Checkout time: 20 mins

The savings may have been slightly diminished by the quilting magazine I swore I wouldn't buy, and the $9.99 vaccum sealer and pricey resealable bags that go with it.

And the guy behind me? It's OK, he'll get over it. I gave him my extra coupons.

The mystery of the pug on the kitchen island.....or how did the cereal box get on the floor?

The pugs spent the day at their "other house".....because it's not fair if only the kids are from "two house" families. Yes, even the dogs are from a "broken" home.

But I digress. Honey came home to find one pug on the island....the island that is 40" above the floor. Imagine, if you will, a pug on the counter at bar heigh. Apparently not afraid of heights.........Curious.

Even more curious: the above noted box of cereal on the floor. Cereal? Undisturbed.

The other pug won't say a thing. Those who know the pugs can guess who was up, and who was down.

I would have really like to see how this happened.........

Survivor: Hannukah

Here in our house, we are BIG fans of Survivor. That means no talking when Mommy is watching Survivor. Ever.

So when my daughter explained this, I had to share.

How to play "Survivor: Hannukah".

Everyone gets to pick one candle in the menorah. Last flame to burn out wins.

The tribe has spoken.........

Be careful what you wish for...you just might get it

If I just had handicap plates,

my life would be


. .........so much easier.










If I just had handicap plates..........no more searching for a parking spot near the entrace and a curb cut.

If I just had handicap plates..........no more pesky (undeserved) tickets.

If I just had handicap plates.......no more schleping children or one-ton strollers and backpacks across a parking lot.

If I just had handicap plates.......I could pretend I was normal.

So, as you can see, I finally did send in the form I got after I sent in the form, which had to be signed by the doctor, with the check. Of course, I did this incorrectly and got a call from the Secretary Of State's office. I took several days to get through to them, but apparently, I'd OVERpaid. Checked my mailbox every day for two weeks. And got these:

I immediately put them on the car. No easy feat, as the licensce plate screws had rusted in place. So I got the drill, to get those suckers undone. But then the extension cord was too short, so I had to turn on the car and move it....3 inches.

And then, I cried. Because I really do need them. Permanently.