Jen in SLO

Peanutella!

2011-04-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

For a long time, I've wanted a food processor. When I would read a recipe and get to the part where it says "use your food processor to . . ." I would be sad I didn't have a food processor. But I never got around to getting one. It seemed like a lot of work to figure out the best possible value in food processors.

Then the stars aligned to present me with Smitten Kitchen's recipe for chocolate-peanut spread, a killer sale on a Cuisinart Prep7, and a gift certificate usable at Macy's. So I got my food processor, and it was so worth it!

If you're like me, you don't get the appeal of Nutella. But that's because if you're like me, you don't get the appeal of hazelnuts. Hazelnut is right up there with coffee as a flavor that will keep me from trying a dessert.

So when Deb at Smitten Kitchen devised PEANUTella, I knew I had to try it. I've made it a couple of times now, and this is the method that works best for me (a non-gourmet, non-discriminating, lazy cook)

Lazy Cook Peanutella
Peanuts - about 2 cups. More or less. Whatever you have is fine. Planters dry roasted works, so don't worry about buying raw peanuts and toasting them yourself. I did toast the Planters ones for a couple of minutes the last time I made this, but I don't think it made a huge difference. Honestly, I suspect a couple of cups of peanut butter and some oil would work too.

Powdered sugar -- a little less than a cup. More if you want it sweeter, less if you want it less sweet. I used the full amount SK recommended last time (1.25 cups) and I thought it was great. But I didn't have 1.25 cups this time, so I used less. I liked it better.

Oil -- a few tablespoons? A couple of drizzles? I used avocado oil one time, olive oil another, and corn oil this time. I'm not sure it matters if it's a light tasting oil. I wouldn't use a strong oil unless you want the taste.

Cocoa -- 1/2 cup Hershey's one time, Green & Black's organic another time, a little of this and a little of that another time. I didn't notice a significant difference any time.

Procedure
Toast the peanuts if you want. Smitten Kitchen says 400 degrees for ten minutes. That seemed like a lot of work to me. Especially since you have to shake the pan a few times to get them evenly roasted. I don't have that kind of motivation!

Grind peanuts in a food processor with a drizzle or two of oil. DO NOT use your blender unless you have a hardcore, heavy duty blender. I may or may not have ruined my blender by trying to make this recipe before I got the food processor. SK recommends 5 minutes until they liquefy. Yes, liquefy. If you're looking at your peanuts and wondering, "Is this liquefied?" the answer is "no." You'll be watching your peanuts whirring around and all of a sudden, poof, liquid! Like magic.

You could be lazy -- and I wouldn't judge you -- and not wait for the liquefied state, and it will work just fine. But it won't be smooth and drizzly. It'll be chunky and stiff. But it'll still be yummy yummy yummy. It took about 8 minutes for my peanuts to liquefy. Based on Smitten Kitchen's comments, liquefying time varies. If you think it has been too long, try adding a bit more oil. I waited for the liquefied state the third time I made this, and it's well worth the extra couple of minutes.

Once you have liquid peanuts, add the sugar and cocoa and whirl it until well blended and back to the liquidy state.

Pour into a container and serve. It is excellent on toasted sourdough, vanilla ice cream, strawberries, and bananas. I'm sure it's excellent on other things too. It supposedly lasts a week in the refrigerator. I wouldn't know.

Pumpkin Tongue

2010-10-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

I spent today canning and pureeing 8 pumpkins, which is one of Roscoe's favorite treats. Of course, after reading Nana's hilarious Countersurfer.com, I had to try some blender view shots of my own.

Old Navy Deals

2010-10-09T18:45:00.001-07:00

I learned about this deal from a variety of sources, but once again Money Saving Mom is saving you money. And you don't even have to be a mom to take advantage.

Old Navy is offering a ton of stuff for $16 or less! Jackets, jeans, shirts, khaki pants, sweaters and more. Plus t-shirts are int he $6-10 range.

Sorry I'm getting it to you so late. I didn't even think about blogging about it. You can still take advantage of the online deals, though.

Old Navy

Jackets are a bargain at $16. Too bad I live in perfect San Luis Obispo where we don't really need super comfy cozy jackets that often, and I can't justify buying one no matter how cute it is. I did get to spend a gift certificate and buy a pair of jeans, a pair of leggings, a pair of cords, two sweaters, and a tank top for me and two pairs of khaki pants and 8 shirts for Joe, though.

Use the code ONSHIP50 to get free shipping for orders over $50.

Martha Stewart Living

2010-10-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

Sign up for this at your own risk, but Money Saving Mom says it's legit. I signed up and used a different name to identify where the junk mail originated if I end up with junk mail. Not that I ever know what to do with it once I get it. I once signed up for something with Jenili (it was a Chili's promo, only it turned out not to be a legit promotion) and for a year I got mail addressed to Jenili. I haven't had that experience with anything else I've signed up for online, though.

Anyway, Rewards Gold is offering a subscription to Martha Stewart Living for signing up with them. I used a junk email as well. MSM is pretty good about filtering out the duds among the freebies.

Martha Stewart Living

Dairy Free Dessert!

2010-10-02T20:50:00.001-07:00

I was bringing a dessert to a dinner with friends this evening, and I knew at least one nursing mom would not be able to have any dairy. I searched a few vegan and dairy-free recipe sites and quickly realized that my choices were limited to recipes made with less than natural ingredients or to ones with wacky ingredients that I didn't have or even know how to get - especially not cheaply and quickly! Things like kudzu powder, fortified rice protein powder, and agar. Isn't agar the stuff you grow bacteria on?

In desperation, I ransacked my cabinet for something sweet and dairy-free and came up with Cinnamon Sugar Popcorn! The only problem was how to stick the cinnamon and sugar to the popcorn.

Coconut oil to the rescue! The result was really yummy even if you don't have to avoid dairy, and I am munching on some of the leftovers as I type!

COCONUT CINNAMON SUGAR POPCORN
1/2 cup popcorn kernels, air-popped

2 tbsp melted coconut oil (3 tbsp would be okay for a stronger coconut flavor)

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon
Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.

Quickly drizzle oil over hot popcorn. You want to work fast because coconut oil resolidifies quickly and you want to be sure to get the cinnamon/sugar mixture on before the coconut cools.
Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over popcorn.

I like to use a bowl with a lid and shake the whole thing to completely coat the popcorn.

The result is a cheap, low-calorie, dairy-free dessert with just a hint of tropicalness. Yum!

Much Ado About You Raving Fan!

2010-09-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

I just won a calendar from Much Ado About You! Emmy hosted a "Raving Fan" and "Future Raving Fan" contest. To enter you had to submit a picture of you with your MAAY calendar explaining how much you love your calendar and why you should be chosen as her Raving Fan. Or if you had never owned a MAAY calendar, you could enter a picture of you with your sad, pathetic calendar and explain why life would be better with one of Emmy's calendars.

Here's my entry:
My Entry

That's not a picture of me and my calendar! But it is! Really! Here's a confession and slight digression, but I do have a point, so bear with me. I have half a post written (and have had half a post written for about a week now) and waiting to be posted; it is titled "My Husband Rocks!" In the last couple of weeks, I've had plenty of opportunities to see how much he rocks. One of the ways is that, despite his reluctance to see his picture online, he agreed to help me win this calendar. I had to promise the only place this picture would ever be shown was on Emmy's site if I won. I don't think he believed I'd really win.

But he really is my calendar. I always ask him what we're doing on certain days, so I know whether to schedule something or not. It does keep us connected regarding schedules, but it's not the most convenient method of scheduling. And as cute as he is, I really really wanted one of Emmy's super cute paper planners.

Anyway, I procrastinated so long that I won before I posted that I was trying to win!

I don't know what my calendar will look like because it's from her new and not yet revealed 2011 line, but if you want an opportunity to buy a 25% off September start 2010-2011 calendar, go to her etsy shop here:
Much Ado About You

Quick Tip: No Mess Bacon

2010-09-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

My mom said I had to post this as a quick tip because she tried it just last week even though I have been telling her to do it for years. Moms. They never listen.

Bacon isn't exactly a frugal option ever. Not even on sale. It's hardly nutritious, and at its cheapest it's ridiculously expensive per cooked ounce. But it's so yummy, and I love it so.

Bacon's also really not a good option for a household of two. You can't buy it in packages smaller than one pound, and who can eat half a pound of bacon in one meal? Not me! Well, okay, I could but I shouldn't.

Not to mention, bacon is such a pain to fry. The grease splatters everywhere. If your stove is on its last legs, as mine is, the heat is uneven. You can really only fit one or two pieces directly over the heat or else half your bacon burns and half is soft and floppy. And soft, floppy bacon is . . . well, it's not even worth thinking about.

I haven't solved the artery-clogging problem, but I have solved the cooking problem and made inroads into the not-so-frugal problem.

I came up with my bacon cooking method when I was reflecting back on my Cal Poly years - specifically on the 5-month period that I spent cooking bacon for the entire campus dining organization. Every morning I would arrive on campus at 5:30 a.m. and begin peeling slices of bacon off industrial-sized slabs to place them on industrial-sized cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Then I'd place 4 trays on a rotating rack in a mega-industrial-sized oven. It was like El Pollo Loco's rotating chicken rack, only with flat racks for placing trays on and a tiny one rack's height opening. The trays would circle around and be fully cooked by the time they got back to the opening.

Ten times in a row (the # of racks in the oven), I had to set up raw bacon on 4 trays and throw them in the oven before the rack disappeared from view.

Once rack #1 returned, I would have to grab the now scalding hot metal trays full of scalding hot bacon grease and set them to cool in a rolling cart that could hold 24 trays of cooked bacon. Once the first rack returned, the task became grab 4 cooked trays & place them in the cooling rack AND place 4 raw trays back on the cooking rack before the rack disappeared from view.

Once the second rotation was finished, the task became grab 4 cooked trays & place them in the cooling rack AND place 4 raw trays back on the cooking rack AND move the cooling trays out of the way and replace them with empty cooling trays before the rack disappeared from view.

I did this for three and a quarter hours a day, every weekday, for 5 months. For the most part, I had a rhythm down. As long as there were no interruptions, it was pretty smooth if slightly hectic. If I got distracted, though, sometimes a cooked tray would escape for a second go-round. The second time around, it would be burned to a tiny strip of charcoal. If you got a BLT with a burned piece of bacon from The Sandwich Plant at Cal Poly some time between January 1993 and June 1993, I'm sorry. It's not easy to cook more than 100 pounds of bacon in three hours.

We won't even go into how not easy it is to clean up 3 pounds of melted bacon fat from a tile floor when you are rolling your cart and it hits a bump and topples over, spilling all the bacon fat and 24 trays of cooked bacon onto the ground.

If you got a BLT with a fuzzy piece of bacon from The Sandwich Plant at Cal Poly some time between January 1993 and June 1993. . . that's not my fault. I always threw those pieces away.

Anyway, when I reflected on that experience, I realized there was no reason to actually fry bacon and probably if I used quality bacon it would still be tasty after being refrigerated or frozen. The cold bacon at Cal Poly tasted the same as the hot bacon.

So I decided to try baking my own bacon at home. This was in the days before ubiquitous internet access, and I couldn't just look up any old "how to cook bacon" website and find out if this would work or not!

But it did work! And ever since, that's how I've gotten my bacon fix. I cook a couple of pounds, eat a slice or two (or three), and freeze the rest. Then when we want bacon, we can take out a slice or two (or three) and warm it up in the microwave or toaster oven. That means cook once, eat 5, 6, or 7 times!

That solves the hassle problem. The frugal problem is slightly remedied by the fact that you can buy your bacon in mega bulk when you find a good deal. Bacon really is one of those foods where quality is very obvious. Cheap bacon is overly fatty and shrivels; good quality bacon has a decent amount of meat and lays flat. But since it's also one of those foods you shouldn't be having very often anyway, $2.50/lb for mass produced bacon vs $7/lb for good quality local farmer bacon isn't too big a hit on your budget.

Anyway, here's how you can avoid fried bacon splatters and have a grease-free kitchen, too. If you have a Pampered Chef stoneware baking sheet, all you have to do is place your bacon in strips so that it covers the pan and stick it in the oven at 350 until the bacon would stand up on its own but isn't crispy.

Take the pan out and allow the bacon to cool on the pan (it'll still be cooking, which is how it gets to the crispy state). Store bacon flat or in crumbles. I actually break it in half and store in a small tupperware container because I don't care if my bacon is half-sized or not.

Wait until the fat congeals, scrape it off thoroughly, and rub the pan dry with a paper towel. The fat just adds to the stoneware seasoning.

Voila! Bacon with no mess!

If you don't have a Pampered Chef stoneware baking sheet (and you really should, seriously), you can use any old baking sheet, but I recommend placing the bacon on wire racks on the sheet. Use the same method, but bake a tiny bit longer before removing from the oven. Clean as you would any greasy pan.

Just for fun: Bacon Flow Chart

Thrifting - Days 11 & 12

2010-09-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

Hands down, the best thing I've discovered about thrift store shopping is the cheap books. I'm talking 3/$1 paperbacks and $1 hardbacks! The book sections of thrift stores have officially become impossible to resist.

Many weeks ago, back when I was actually updating my blog consistently and going to thrift stores consistently, we visited the Goodwill in Arroyo Grande for their book sale and the Achievement House thrift store for their open house. Goodwill seems to have monthly book sales where paperbacks are 3/$1 and hardbacks are $1, and I snagged several hardback books that I've been wanting to read or that looked intriguing. Achievement House regularly has children's picture books for 50 cents, hardback or paperback!

I literally pulled a chair over from the furniture display at Achievement House and placed it smack in front of their stacks of children's books. I spent probably 40 minutes browsing the shelves and took every last copy of a book that was what I consider a "quality" picture book. By quality, I mean it has literary and/or artistic value. It's not a consumer product tie-in book (not the Barbie picture books or "baby Muppets" books, for example).

And I got them for 50 cents each!! Some are a little worse for wear - you can see above that Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday has a ripped cover, but the book itself is in good condition. Some are could-have-been-just-purchased-at-Barnes-and-Noble-for-$12 new.

I also scooped up a couple of spools of thread. They were originally 10 cents each! There was a whole basket of thread on real wooden spools marked as 10 cents. They looked to be better quality thread than what I'm getting for cheap - meaning $2 to 3 - at the local fabric store. If not, the wooden spools are cool just on their own!

The Achievement House Open House achieved its goal, in my opinion. I'd never been to their thrift store despite having heard about it for the hundred or so years I've lived in San Luis Obispo. Achievement House is a great organization. Their stated goal is to "provide an array of vocational services and programs to assist individuals in developing appropriate workplace skills and behaviors so as to enhance individual productivity, independence and community integration." Their thrift store provides some of their funding, so I was happy to buy 20 books for $10 from them. And I'm definitely planning a trip back because, besides the thrift store, they have a nursery with very inexpensive plants and a paper-shredding facility with competitive prices.

A neat, organized thrift store is my kind of thrift store!

Pretty plants at the nursery.

The Achievement House, as wonderful as it is, was not without its "seriously?" items, however. This is a "Lids Off" jar opener. Just like the name implies, it takes lids off jars for you. And, yes, I understand that some people with strength issues because of age or arthritis might benefit from a Lids Off, but that's not how the Lids Off is marketed.

No, the Lids Off is for every person because it will simplify your life. Says so on the box.

With the Lids Off, you can talk on the phone and take the lid off a jar! No more chaos in your kitchen with the Lids Off!
One of my steps toward becoming a conscious consumer is simplifying my life. Maybe I should have bought it?

Groupon's Fandango Deal!

2010-08-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

I was actually a Cinema Studies student at NYU years ago. This means that I got to spend enormous amounts of time watching movies and it was not wasting time. In fact, I was supposed to watch movies. It was awesome. I love movies. I really love going to the theater to watch movies because big screen productions are meant to be enjoyed in the context of an audience and the audience you watch it with can significantly change the experience.

These days I am a private school teacher, which means that I still love movies but don't love paying for them.

This also means I am totally excited about groupon's current deal. You can buy a $12-value ticket for $4! That's less than matinee price!

It's a sneaky deal, so you might not have seen it even if you already have a groupon account. If you do, simply sign in and come back here to click this link:

Fandango Groupon Deal or use my Referral to Fandango's Groupon Deal

I don't know if the second one will work because I don't understand all the in's and out's of Groupon yet. Not many deals are valid in San Luis Obispo. But theoretically I would get credit for referrals! That would be cool, but if you just want to click on the generic link, that's fine with me too.

If you don't have a Groupon account, get one now and then come back to click the link.

Be sure to read "the fine print" before buying and note that you can only buy ONE, whether for a gift or for yourself. So if you want two, get your significant other to make an account and you can each have one.

I'm Back!

2010-08-24T23:50:00.000-07:00

Apparently, I've been fighting a trojan for the last couple of weeks. Someone was pretending to be Google - trying to steal my passwords, and I couldn't get into anything Google-related. In the meantime, I fussed around with my various e-mail addresses and realized I have something like forty-bazillion email accounts and Google accounts and they're all interconnected. So I decided to clean them up and streamline them, and that's when I really confused things.

Long story short: Our friend Brian fixed my computer; I can get to my Google-related accounts; I have no idea how to streamline my forty-bazillion email and Google accounts and I just spent the last two hours trying to do so. At one point, I thought I had deleted this entire blog and I panicked.

The first thing I did when I finally got it back was export it. I might even print it out.

I still have no camera, though.

I do have LOTS of books from a variety of successful thrift store shopping trips, and I promise to write about them ASAP.

Win!

2010-08-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

Emmy Blakely is hosting a giveaway on her blog Confessions of a Paper Freak. I was in Little Sisters of Alpha Gamma Omega with her sister Molly, and both Emmy and Molly are two of the sweetest, kindest people you will want to meet.

Anyway, I don't usually do this kind of thing, but I want to win this necklace. You can go try to win as well. Emmy is a super-talented entrepreneur who makes handmade calendar/planners. They're gorgeous, and I want one, but too many other things take priority right now. Someday, though!

Quick Tip: Speed Up Slow Drains Cheaply and Safely

2010-08-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

I was reminded of this yesterday while cleaning my tub. If you have a slow moving drain (not a totally clogged one), you can fix it with baking soda and vinegar.

Simply take a cup or so of baking soda and pour it down the drain. I like to add water to it to make it a goopy consistency that I can pour.

Pour a cup of vinegar down the drain and immediately plug the drain with a washcloth or the drain stopper.

The reaction between the vinegar and baking soda will loosen the "gunk" in the drain, and the gas build up will push the "gunk" down the drain. Once all the fizzing stops (you'll hear it), you can run hot water down the drain for a minute or two.

Presto! Clear running drains again.

Thirty Days of Thrifting - Days Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten

2010-08-10T23:48:00.001-07:00

My camera is broken. Cue tantrums of anger, desperate pleas with the camera shop, wails of sorrow, and . . . well, I haven't reached acceptance yet. I keep pressing the button, hoping that I'll get something other than "Error 99." Every couple of days I do, but never when I'm pointing it at something I actually want a picture of. I keep trying, though; talk about random reinforcement! Somehow I've convinced myself that my camera will come back to life if I just keep trying.

Anyway, I have been thrifting, but I haven't been doing any decent picture-taking, so I've been unwilling to post anything. I also haven't had anything interesting happen, so I've been trying to come up with something interesting to say.

I finally decided it was better to say something even if it was a bad, boring something, rather than leave you thinking I've started a project and left it unfinished (which wouldn't be entirely out of character).

I'll just leave you with this.

Bella is me, and the Bernese on the right is Canon.

Roscoe is demonstrating how I feel about my broken camera.

Scout is hiding because she knows she's gonna be blamed.

Healthy, Cheap, Yummy!

2010-08-07T19:51:00.001-07:00

I made these cookies for a friend who is a new mom because everyone told me new moms need protein and fiber. And that's what these cookies have. They have the added bonus of being inexpensive and yummy. And when I say yummy, I mean Joe and I ate 3 dozen of them in two days.

The recipe is from my friend Heather - mom to three humans, two dogs, and a cat named Trouble - but she doesn't have a blog even though she really should because she's hilarious, inspiring, down-to-earth, and a good judge of cookies.

She got the original recipe from It Must Have Been Something I Ate and tweaked it a bit. I tweaked it a teeny-tiny bit more. Not because there's anything wrong with her recipe, but because I am the sort of person who doesn't read recipes carefully before shopping and who ends up desperate to make the cookies but without the exact ingredients.

Heather's Improved Healthy Breakfast Cookies Recipe
Makes 40 cookies for about $3 - $4

INGREDIENTS

2 cups powdered quick oats (I used regular oats, which didn't seem to cause a problem)
1 cup nutrigrain flour -- (Honestly, I have no idea what she's talking about here. Is it a Canadian thing? Even Google didn't know. I used half whole wheat and half bread. I'm not saying that's an improvement. I'm just saying, it didn't destroy the recipe.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (I used about as much as fits in the bottom of a 1 teaspoon spoon without it looking like it filled half the spoon. Because I couldn't find my 1/4 teaspoon spoon.)

540 milliliter can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
(I used the garlic kind. I don't recommend this, but if you find yourself in a pinch, just be sure yours are drained and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and don't tell your husband until after he has eaten 3 and pronounced them delicious. Note, as I mentioned above, that Heather is Canadian and uses crazy terms like milliliters. If, as an American, you go to the store, you will see that your can of beans also says milliliters on it, but don't worry, the ounces are right there on the can as well. Five-hundred-forty milliliters converts to about 18 ounces, but I think American cans come in 16ish-ounce sizes. It's not important. Get the one closest to 540 ml. Just don't get the one that says seasoned on it.)
3/4 cup fat free vanilla yogurt (I used however much Greek yogurt was left in the container, somewhere between less than a cup and more than a half cup.)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup margarine (I used butter 'cause I didn't have margarine)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla (homemade!)
1 cup chocolate chips (I used a whole lot more than that, which I actually don't recommend because the chip/dough ratio was off and made the cookies more prone to fall apart.)
2 tablespoons ground flax seed(I used 3, just because I'm like that.)

I also added honey because another friend - who does have a blog and is a really good mom and dog-trainer and totally wouldn't mind if you said "I do that with my dogs!" when she's talking about teaching her kids because she does too - said she added honey to her cookies. About a drizzle's worth. You decide what a drizzle is.

DIRECTIONS
Mix the first set of ingredients in the food processor until the oatmeal is powdered. Pour in a big bowl. (I ground my oatmeal in the Magic Bullet because I don't have a food processor.)

Puree the second set of ingredients til smooth and add to the dry . Mix together. (Again I used the Magic Bullet, but I had to do it in three batches. I recommend breaking out the blender to begin with, if you don't have a food processor.)

Bake at 325 or 350 for 15 minutes-ish. (One batch came out at exactly 15 minutes, most came out somewhere around there, and another batch was forgotten about and left in for almost 40 minutes. If you have a stoneware bar pan from Pampered Chef, which you can buy from my friend Jessica here, you don't have to worry! They won't burn! Seriously. I would not be able to have homemade cookies if I didn't have my stoneware bar pan to save me from black bottoms.)

To make these even cheaper and totally avoid potential garlic after-taste, make your own beans. A 1 lb bag of white kidney beans is less than $1 and makes several pounds worth of cooked beans.

Approximate cost, assuming you buy items on sale but do not necessarily try to go as cheap as you can: $2.75 - $3.55

2 cups oats - 35 cents
flax seed - 20 cents
honey - 10 cents
vanilla - 15 cents
canned beans - $1 (dried beans 20 cents)
flour - 25 cents
baking soda/powder - 10 cents
brown sugar - 30 cents
butter - 40 cents
eggs - 20 cents
yogurt - 50 cents

Heather says you could use applesauce instead of yogurt, or you could do as she did today and use prune-pear baby food and top off with yogurt to reach 3/4 cup. It certainly sounds as though you could do as you like in the fruit/yogurt category. I'm thinking of trying 1 banana and topping off with yogurt.

UPDATE: Heather says the flour is Robin Hood brand Nutri-flour. It is a Canadian brand.

Sufferin' Succotash

2010-08-07T00:06:00.000-07:00

My brother had a blog. It was very funny. He posted 14 times on it and then stopped. I'm not sure why. There was something about a life and a job and a family . . .

Anyway, I posted one of his articles before. Back then I asked his permission to do it, but I didn't ask for this one. My reasons are inexplicable. Well, no, that's not true, I just needed a segue (not a Segway -nobody needs a Segway).

Inexplicable

I think inexplicable might be my favorite word.

I don’t really know why.

I hear it in my head the way Sylvester the Cat would say it. Some people might be drawn towards the way Vizzini from the Princess Bride (“Inconceivable!”) might say it, but that’s too short-sighted.

I think inexplicable could easily replace “sufferin’ succotash” whenever Sylvester’s attempts to capture Tweety Bird are thwarted.

If you really think about it, and I suggest you don’t, the whole notion of trying to eat Tweety is inexplicable. I mean, he’s all head; there’s no meat there! Then again, if the alternative is succotash…

Maybe that’s why he says, “sufferin’ succotash.” It’s similar to the saying, “I don’t suffer fools lightly,” which I’ve always taken to mean, “I’m not going to put up with your idiocy without pointing it out to you.” Sylvester isn’t going to eat succotash because, well, because it’s a mixture of corn and lima beans, which is just gross. He needs to remind himself why it is so important to catch Tweety. He will NOT be suffering succotash tonight.

Hmm, maybe that’s why I like the word inexplicable. Whenever something defies explanation, you can just make something up.

Precision of Language

2010-08-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who refers to her grandson as "my very smart grandson." I think I will have to start referring to my niece as "my very smart niece." She comes by it naturally; she has a brilliant auntie on her father's side.

Just the other day she proved that she's one 3-year-old girl who understands the importance of precision of language.

She and my mom were out and about and they passed a park. K said, "Oh, that's the park Mommy always takes me to."

She paused thoughtfully, then corrected herself, "Well, sometimes we go there."

Another thoughtful pause. "Actually, not so much. We went there once."

Love that! She understands the value of using words correctly and the value of editing until you get it right.

Microwave Popcorn Update!

2010-08-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

Sumiko and Kimiko at Near To Nothing shared about homemade microwave popcorn about the same time that I had the idea to share about it. We have a few Facebook friends in common, and I didn't want them to think I was copying their idea, but I decided my scatter-brained, slightly neurotic blog was different enough from their organized, efficient kitchen blog that it wouldn't seem that way at all.

However, I did notice a comment on their post (or maybe it was Kimiko's Facebook page, I forget) from someone who said she had purchased a special bowl to make microwave popcorn in. You can buy one from the Amish for $10, or you can go to CurioCity online and buy a $13 version. Cooking.com and Amazon.com sell the exact same bowl (though one calls it a 3-quart and one calls it a 12-cup) for $10 and $8 respectively.

All of this made me think back to my revelation that the super-special, microwave-friendly, high-tech bags
were not all that super-special. Very likely these super-special, microwave-friendly, high-tech bowls are not all that super-special either.

So I put a couple of spoonfuls of popcorn kernels in a glass bowl and tossed a lid haphazardly over the top. Two minutes later, I had popped corn and a too-hot-to-handle glass bowl. That might be the reason the bowls for sale are all plastic, but since I don't like to buy plastic if I don't have to, and all my bowls are glass, I'm willing to use a pot holder.

So that's a fun update to the microwave popcorn post! If you don't want to keep lunch bags on hand, just use a bowl.

But an even more fun update to the micrwave popcorn post is Kimiko's Chocolate-Caramel Corn Recipe

Go over there and read it right now. I will be making some ASAP.

Quick Tips: Homemade Microwave Popcorn

2010-07-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

Microwave popcorn is how I survive some weeks. My kids come into the classroom and moan, "You had popcorn again!? And you didn't save us any?" No, I never save them any. It has been known to be my breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the day.

Typical microwave popcorn, however, hardly qualifies as eating healthy, what with the artificial flavoring and preservatives and diacetyl, which might be nice in a good beer but is definitely not nice for the factory workers or that guy who ate two bags a day for years.

Okay, I realize that even totally plain, air-popped corn as your sole food for the day also hardly qualifies as healthy, but it's better than my daily breakfast my senior year in high school - peppermint Certs and a Pepsi.

Do they even make Certs anymore? Two mints in one!

Just to clarify: totally not my mom's fault. There was real food available; I just preferred sleeping to eating and would hit the snooze button rather than take the 10 minutes necessary to eat cereal. I'd usually have Certs in my bag, and there was a vending machine on campus. These days, I have Lifesavers, purchased in bulk for the cheapest per candy price available, and I bring my Pepsi from home, having purchased it in 12-packs on sale with a coupon. I also try my very best not to have either for breakfast.

But back to my original point, which was the life-saving qualities of microwave popcorn and how unhealthy it is.

It's also not very cheap. Unless you get the ActII kind from Costco in bulk with a coupon, and even then it's more than 50 cents a bag and, frankly, kinda icky and chemically-tasting.

You can see how microwave popcorn, while having amazing life-saving properties, can be a bit of a problem.

The problem disappears, however, when you realize that you can make your own microwave popcorn bag for just pennies!

I suppose, technically, everything can be made for pennies if you have enough of them. But I'm talking about just a few measly pennies that don't even add up to enough to exchange for another coin (i.e., less than 5 cents).

Does anyone remember when microwave popcorn became all the rage? The bags were supposedly super-special microwave-friendly high-tech bags, and they were the reason our popcorn popped so nicely.

Lies. All lies.

Your corn can be popped in a plain ol' brown paper sack. Put a couple of tablespoons of popcorn in a bag, fold the top of the bag, and staple it shut with two neat staples. Or - if you're a big ol' chicken like me and remember that time you put a chocolate Santa in the microwave because you were low on chocolate chips that you planned to melt into hot fudge sauce, and your friend Brenda said "just put the Santa in," but you knew you weren't supposed to put metal in a microwave because your grandma had been very, very clear about the dangers of microwaves and metal, so you carefully took all the foil off, except maybe you missed some of it, and the next thing you knew the microwave was on fire - you can use tape.

You can even save and reuse the paper bag, thus saving your life, your money, and the trees. It's a win win win.

Thirty Days of Thrifting: It's My Blog & I'll Change My Mind If I Want To

2010-07-29T17:31:00.001-07:00

Who knew shopping could be so difficult? I haven't been to a thrift store since, I think Monday. Maybe it was Tuesday. It's only Thursday and all my days are running together.

Monday I worked from 8 - 5, then dropped off a book with Joe so he could give it to a friend who needed it by 6 a.m. Tuesday, then dashed off to puppy class until 8:30 or so. Tuesday I was up at 5:45 a.m. to be at Jessica's for prayer at 6:30 a.m. Then work until 5ish and come home to prep for my Bargain Buffet and Book Swap evening with friends. It was the last day to cook some meat I had purchased earlier, so I made ground beef and cooked it as well. Bed around 1 a.m. Work from 8 to 5, Feisty Fido class, home by 6:40 to get ready for the party at 7. Work today from 8 to 5 and now I've got about 20 minutes before I have to run out to Elementary obedience until 8:30. More work tomorrow. Nosework on Saturday. Repeat next week, except the party. You can substitute our weekly community group in its place.

Notice there's no indication of eating in there. That's not just keeping things short. That's because, except for Wednesday's party, I can't actually remember eating a meal. I had some handfuls of granola here and there, and Joe made me a sandwich for work on Tuesday. Or maybe it was Monday. I'm pretty sure I had a few bites of the cooked ground beef to make sure it tasted okay, and I know I had a Snickers yesterday because it was getting embarrassing to have people to come to my desk and actually be able to hear my stomach growl from hunger.

Repeat the next week. Except maybe I'll find some time to eat something. I had a potato today.

Repeat the next week.

Repeat the . . . no, wait, the next week it's time to get ready for school again!! How did that happen?

So my series, Thirty Days of Thrifting, might just have to be turned into Thirty Non-Contiguous Days of Thrifting.

Thirty Days of Thrifting - Day Six

2010-07-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

Today I chose to visit the Hospice Hope Chest. It is run entirely by hospice volunteers, and all proceeds benefit the hospice. It is definitely a higher end thrift store. There weren't any creepy bunny babies or rusted rickety rice cookers from 1967. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to do any serious shopping because I am spending this week working. I'm temping 8 - 5 all week plus assisting at three dog classes and hosting a girls' night.

I did manage to find out that they have an entire section called "The Boutique" with designer shoes and clothes. The shoes were about $8-10, and there were a couple of pairs I liked. I've still got used shoe issues, but if I keep seeing good deals, I might be able to overcome these issues eventually.

I only took one picture, and it was of The Frugal Gourmet, which I wasn't even tempted to buy. I'm not really sure what purpose cookbooks play in our society today for the average home cook. Everything you need to know about basic cooking is online.

I didn't photograph anything else because I felt like the volunteer was following me to keep an eye on me, and I got self-conscious. I do that a lot.

Once again, I spent no money and found nothing worth buying. I should say nothing worth buying within the parameters of my budget. There were two beautiful glass bottles that I wanted, but not at $5 each.

As of today, I have been successful for 2/3 of my shopping trips.

Tomorrow: maybe Goodwill again for their 10% teacher discount. I'm not sure if I could make it to the outlet store and back to work within an hour, though.

Thirty Days of Thrifting - Day Five

2010-07-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

I'm exhausted. We went to the Midstate Fair today to watch the sheepdog trials and have fair-like fun. I love the "As Seen On TV" style vendors, which is why I go to the fair with $5 in my pocket and my debit card in the trunk of the car. I can't even begin to tell you how much I now want a Vitamix blender, a Rainbow home cleaning system, a Mr. Sticky Lint Roller, and foot relief insoles.

I was going to buy a sno cone for $1.50 but I couldn't find the vendor and my feet hurt too much to go on a wild goose chase because I didn't buy the foot relief insoles.

We didn't get home from the fair until 4:30 and by then all the thrift stores except Goodwill were long closed. Since I was tired, I told Joe I was just going to run in and do a quick look simply to meet my goal of going once a day.

When I got there, I found this:

I owned that from June 2000 to about four months ago when it was donated to a fundraising garage sale at church after having been unsuccessfully offered for sale at our garage sale for $3, including the matching pitcher! Goodwill was selling it with matching pitcher for $8.

I also learned something about Goodwills. They share product. This couch was at the Arroyo Grande Goodwill as of last Wednesday and is now being sold in San Luis Obispo.

Unless there are two of them. Which disturbs me even to consider.

I checked to see if my Dick Francis books were in the same spot where I left them last week. They were not. In fact, the entire book section had been rearranged. I wonder if that was a coincidence or if that happens regularly. Kind of like product swapping between stores.

I did want these shoes for $5 because they would replace a pair that wore out two years ago.

I didn't get them because I wasn't sure they were the right brown.

And I'm still working through issues related to wearing used shoes. I'm not sure I'm there yet.

Total for today: $0

Tomorrow: Not sure yet. I'm working downtown, so maybe I'll be able to hit something on my lunch hour.

Thirty Days of Thrifting - Day Four

2010-07-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

Houston, we have a problem.

There's a reason malls build elaborate play structures and groceries have loss leader sales and big box stores have grand openings with bands and raffles. It's not because they appreciate you, and it's not because they want to give harried moms a break and let the kids play. It's because they know that the closer they get you to their stuff, the more likely you are to buy it. A free play structure in the air conditioned mall is a great idea, until you see all the stuff.

You had no idea you needed a quesadilla maker in the shape of a chile pepper or handcrafted paper bead necklaces from Ecuador until you saw them in the store, right?

I certainly had no idea I needed a 3-foot strip of fur, a bottle in the shape of a maple leaf, an Igloo cooler that fits 14 cans but is only 6 inches wide, and bracelets made from fair-trade tagua nuts until I went garage sale shopping.

For the record, I know it's just an old syrup container, but I thought it would make a nice bottle for my homemade vanilla since the vodka bottle doesn't fit on the shelf where I keep all the other baking supplies.

Thankfully, I went garage sale shopping with Joe, so out of that list I only actually bought the strip of fur. For $2. It's destined to become a "tug & calm" toy for the dogs.

We hit four sales after Nose Work class, in other words, as they were winding down. One was billed as a "four-family sale," one was an estate sale, one was a generic garage sale with super-friendly sellers, and one was a basic sale at a house near ours.

The four family sale was comprised of people who really didn't want to let go of their stuff. Everything was overpriced, and they weren't interested in negotiating. The tagua nut jewelery made by one of the women was pretty, though.

The generic garage sale had one thing I was really interested in:

It wasn't for sale.

They did have plenty of cute crafty things that I was also interested in, but only because I wanted to make them with my class.

I asked a simple question about them, and the friendly seller immediately and enthusiastically explained exactly how to make them and where to buy the supplies. She was very nice, and I wanted to buy something from her just because she was so nice.

Finally, we hit a sale on our way home, and I picked up one Dick Francis book that I haven’t even read yet (how did that happen?) and three books for my class. More problems: I’ve purchased 6 books that I specifically said I wasn’t going to purchase except at Goodwill on sale day. In my defense, they were comparably priced to Goodwill sale day.

Tomorrow: Goodwill again

Quick Tips: Boil Your Beef

2010-07-24T23:55:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd start posting little "quick tips" of things I learned that made me think "You can do that?!?" and "Why haven't I done this always?!"

Tip 1: Boil your ground beef.

Not only is this method of browning ground beef practically fool proof, it's also mess proof and results in lean, practically fat-free meat.

I prefer to make my own (stay tuned for that tip), but you can do it to regular packaged ground beef. The best part is that it doesn't matter what level of lean/fat you get because the boiling will help you separate the meat from the fat.

I find that $1.99 for the 15% is comparable to spending $2.19 for the 7% when you compare the cost per pound of the cooked yield of each variety. I almost never see $2.19 for 7%, but $1.99 for 15% occurs every 15-18 weeks. Using this method means that you can buy the cheaper version and not be too concerned about excess fat.

PROCEDURE
Step 1.
Place ground beef in a large pot.

Step 2.
Cover beef with water.

Step 3.
Turn on heat to boil for 5-10 minutes. Simmer until all pink is gone, stirring very occasionally to break up the clumps.

Step 4.
Let cool to room temp and then refrigerate. The fat will rise to the top and congeal. Simply spoon it off and throw it away.

Step 5.
Drain & portion beef to be frozen for later use. One and two cup portions work well for most recipes. You can choose to season it now or later. I prefer to leave it plain and season it as needed.

SUGGESTIONS FOR USE
1. Add to pasta sauce
2. Have a quick & easy taco night - simmer until heated through with taco seasoning and a little water
3. Stuff a bell pepper - mix with brown rice and fill a hollowed out bell pepper
4. Use for Multi-tasking Mexican Mash
5. Create sloppy Joes -- add sloppy Joe mix or bbq sauce and serve on rolls
6. Fake a shepherd's pie - Use your favorite recipe, but skip browning the meat. Just simmer with the onion and garlic until heated through. Then carry on with the recipe.
7. Top a potato or mix with breakfast potatoes.

Thirty Days of Thrifting - technical difficulties

2010-07-24T23:54:00.000-07:00

Having technical difficulties with posting the pictures, so stay tuned for Day Four.

Multi-tasking Mexican Mash

2010-07-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

I have been known to say "cheap, healthy, convenient: pick any two." If you want to eat healthy and not put any effort into it, be prepared to spend some cash. If you want to save money and eat healthy, you will have to spend some effort. And if you are pressed for time and don't care what you're eating, you can eat very cheaply indeed.

Because my days during the school year can find me leaving the house at 6:30 a.m. and not getting home until 10 p.m., "convenient" ranks high on my list of priorities. However, we all know that I don't like to spend any more than necessary on anything and, while I'm no nutritionist, I am trying to feed my family (all one of him) higher quality fare than McDonald's and frozen pizza.

So what's a girl to do? Make her own healthy convenience food.

This is one of my favorite go-to recipes. I call it Multi-tasking Mexican Mash.

Actually, no, I don't. I just needed a name. I call it "that beans and rice thing we have in the freezer" if I refer to it at all.

When your family consists of you and one other person, and he is just happy to be getting fed at all, you don't spend a lot of time naming what you make.

It's cheap. It's moderately healthy. And it will be convenient in the future. But getting ready for the future convenience will take a little bit of effort. It's totally worth it.

You'll be making a rice version and a non-rice version. Once you have your individual servings, you can use it in any number of quick & easy recipes.

RICE VERSION
Burrito - fill a tortilla, wrap, bake
Enchiladas - add enchilada sauce, wrap, place in casserole dish, sprinkle with cheese and more sauce, bake
Plain - just eat as is

NON-RICE VERSION
Quesadilla - spread on a tortilla, fold, fry
Potato - top a baked potato or mix with skillet fried potatoes
Nachos - add to tortilla chips for hearty nachos
Taco - fill a taco shell and add taco toppings
Pasta - add more canned tomatoes to the filling and reheat to make a thick sauce, pour over pasta

INGREDIENTS:

1 - 2 pounds of meat - buy whatever is on sale and tastes good to you. I personally don't spend any more than $1.75/lb. Chicken thighs are frequently less than $1/lb, and every so often beef will hit $1.50/lb. Boneless skinless breasts hit $1.77/lb about once every 8-10 weeks. Pork loin is fine. Ground turkey. Leftovers from dinner yesterday. Anything you like. You won't be using a lot of it overall, so if you wanted to buy organic, free-range chicken at $4.99/lb on sale, even the stingiest of budgets could probably stretch that far. You could even skip the meat if you wanted to.

1 lb of dried beans - I use pinto. Pinto beans in bulk from Costco are about $.60/lb. Organic pinto beans in bulk from the local co-op are about $1.50/lb. Either option is cheap.

Taco seasoning or your own blend - I bought my taco seasoning from Costco six years ago. I still have almost one cup of it left. I'm guessing it's pennies per batch, though I do have to use more of it per recipe as it gets older. Individual packets can be had for $1.50/not on sale and for less than that with a coupon.

5 cups of shredded cheese - this is the budget and diet buster, but it just makes the whole thing so much yummier. I get the 5lb bag of Kirkland brand shredded for $10.89. If you wanted to shred your own, you could save $.20/lb. I've heard stories about crazy rock bottom prices on cheese, but Kirkland's the cheapest I've ever seen, coupon or not.

1-2 cans of tomatoes or salsa - canned Muir Glen Organic are $2.29/can and you can find coupons for them regularly to make them $1.29 a can. Del Monte start out at $1.29/can and with sales and coupons can frequently be picked up for 50 cents or less. Santa Barbara Salsa (my favorite) is $1.79/container on sale.

2 cups of rice - again it depends on whether you're going cheap, cheap, cheap or trying to use organic or wanting to support sustainable, fair trade farmers, but whatever your choice, rice is so cheap almost any budget will support any type.

1 lb of corn - I use frozen corn. Two pounds of the store brand is $1.88 on sale. Organic brand name was $3.79 the last time I checked. I've got a whole philosophy about how I choose when to go cheap and when to go organic. I'll have to write about it sometime.

PROCEDURE

Step 1. Day 1.
Crockpot the meat. (Unless you're using ground meat. I've never crockpotted ground meat, but I don't know that it works that well.) Place meat in crockpot and add a cup of salsa, water, or broth. Turn on low for 6 - 8 hours. I like to do this two nights before I plan to make my big batch of filling to avoid having to do too much work at once. Shred the meat in the morning and store in the refrigerator.

Step 2. Day 2.
Crockpot the beans. I do this the night of day 2, but if you're ambitious, you could scrub your crockpot immediately after shredding the meat and crock all day. Rinse 1 lb of beans and place in a pot. Cover with water and boil over high heat for 10 minutes. Pour the hot liquid and beans into your crockpot, add water to cover if necessary, and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Make sure there's enough water to keep the beans covered all night, or you'll have to spend time picking out burned beans.

Step 3. Day 3.
Cook the rice in your rice cooker if you have one. Use 1 cup of rice for every 2 cups of water or broth. My cooker is small, and I can only do 1 cup at a time. No worries. Just put aside what you've already cooked and start again.

While rice is cooking, take your beans and meat and mix them together with the taco seasoning, cheese, and tomatoes/salsa. If using frozen corn, cook it according to the directions and add to the beans and meat mixture.

Separate the mixture into two batches. One will have rice added to it. The other will remain rice-less.

Mix rice into one of the batches.

This is where I will tell you that if you don't have one already, consider buying a FoodSaver. Yes, you could wrap thoroughly in plastic wrap and then in foil, but it won't work as well. Not when you're batch cooking for weeks and not for days. A FoodSaver will save your food for months. I ate Thanksgiving turkey in July, and it was just as good as it was in November. If you buy the rolls with sales and coupons or at Costco, they aren't that big an investment and are well worth the convenience of freezer food.

If you don't have a FoodSaver, use your freezer storage method of choice. Freezer baggies with most of the air sucked or squished out and foil would work.

Measure out mealtime portions. In our house, that's 3-8 ounces per person depending on what we're doing with it. Remember beans are filling and, in many cases, you'll be adding other ingredients to it for mealtime.

Depending on whether you chose the "cheap cheap cheap" route or the blend of "cheap and organic," this recipe costs between $7 and $18 a batch and will yield more than 20 servings. In any case, it's less than $1 per person.

I'd say that qualifies for cheap, healthy, and convenient.

Thirty Days of Thrifting:~~~ Day Three

2010-07-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

Day Three sent me over to Mission Thrift, which is the thrift store/fundraiser for Old Mission School. I never knew this place existed, and I drive by it not too infrequently. It's around the corner from the co-op where I buy coconut oil and vanilla beans and other random co-op-y type stuff. And it has a bright yellow sign. How did I not notice this was here?

It's a nice little store; the set up is not as utilitarian as Goodwill, and the prices range from significantly lower than Goodwil to significantly higher. It seems they try to price by value rather than letting it all average out in the end, like Goodwill does. A shirt could be $1 or $10 depending on the perceived value. I think it will be harder to find really good deals here, and I didn't have time for browsing clothes today.

Lots of glass jars, but they were in the $10-15 range. I'm not paying $10-15 for a thrift store glass jar.

I found three books. One Dick Francis for me and two books for my class. Fifty cents each.

Tomorrow: a garage sale

Thirty Days of Thrifting: ~~~~Days One and Two

2010-07-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

I kind of cheated on Day One. It had already passed when I wrote my original "Thirty Days of Thrifting" post. And that Ralph Lauren skirt I used as an example? I already bought it. For $3.50.

I couldn't figure out how to show you the whole skirt without modeling it, and I didn't want to fuss with self-timers and self-consciousness. That's why you get to see the label. Notice how I artfully allowed you to see the word "petite" but covered the actual size? That's not an accident. And I haven't worn a "petite" since high school. I *red puffy heart* Ralph Lauren.

Is Ralph Lauren even considered a good brand anymore? Never mind. I don't want to know. I'm probably dating myself. At the very least showing my appalling ignorance of fashion.

The skirt is well-made, classic, and fits. That's enough for me.

Also in the category of "Am I dating myself with my appreciation for this brand?" -- a Guess Jeans wool sweater. Also for $3.50 and seemingly unworn. Not a pill or a snag to be seen on the sweater.

Rounding out the purchases for Day One were three shirts from a variety of better manufacturers, one with the tags still attached, and another sweater from a manufacturer I didn't recognize. But it seemed well-made and was in good condition. Altogether, I purchased six quality items that I can wear to work for $21.53, including tax.

Day Two was hectic as I miscalculated the amount of time it would take me to get some errands finished, so I only had time for a quick dash into the San Luis Obispo Goodwill. This store was not nearly as nice as Arroyo Grande's, and the staff was not nearly as friendly. In fact, they were a little snippy. I definitely recommend Arroyo Grande Goodwill if you're trying to decide.

Anyway, I immediately headed for the book section to see what they might have on my list. To my surprise, I found not one, not two, not even a mere three Dick Francis books, but FOUR hardcover titles. It's rare I find a Dick Francis book even in a used book store, so I was excited to see all four.

I stacked them up and took a picture. The teenage girls trying on shoes next to me scooted over a bit so as not to be too close to the crazy lady.

Ultimately, though, I passed on all but one. I already own two, and I couldn't bring myself to spend $3 on each book when in about a week, the same books would be only $1. I did get Dead Heat just in case someone else was looking for Dick Francis and not waiting for the book sale.

Then I stuffed the other one on the bottom shelf where you have to bend down and peer to see the titles.

I walked quickly down the housewares aisle, keeping an eye out for cast iron and letters. I did find letters, but after getting them home, I realized I need to be more specific about what I'm looking for in a letter. I knew they'd need quite a bit of sprucing up, but they also might be a little on on the small side. However, they were only 99 cents for all three, so that was a cheap mistake.

As I took my treasures up to the register, I passed an unopened box of 12 Kerr's wide mouth canning jar lids for $1. Since I use wide mouth canning jars with my Foodsaver, I grabbed those, even though they weren't on my list. Uh-oh.

It was a savings of a little more than $2, and I really do use them frequently. Really.

I was surprised that even with just a quick dash, I did manage to find 3 "worthy of purchase items," even if one of the purchases (the set of letters) turned out to be maybe not so worthy.

Next week, I'll be working from 8 to 5. When you add working Monday night at puppy class, hosting girls' night on Wednesday after Feisty Fido class, and going to the fair, I'm not sure when I'll actually have time to get into a thrift store. Maybe I should have thought out this challenge a little more thoroughly.

Tomorrow: Old Mission School Thrift Shop

Thirty Days of Thrifting

2010-07-21T22:51:00.000-07:00

I've been temping at Goodwill this week, which is a story in and of itself, but I came up with an introduction to this post while I was there. You see, there was this doll and, well, it inspired me to think this:

CuteCreepy

Super-cute

Super-creepy

And here, in this spot, I had planned to post a picture of a doll looking strikingly like this one, only not as cute. Seriously. More creepy than this.

I was planning to go to my car, get my phone, snap a pic and have this big long post about the crazy things you can find at thrift stores. How you have to search through the junk, such as creepy baby dolls dressed up in bunny costumes, to find the stuff you'd really want to buy. And there were entire sentences pondering why thrift stores had crazy stuff that nobody would want to buy. And maybe a little poetic musing about what it is that makes baby dolls so creepy. I had it all planned and then, in the slow mechanical blink of a creepy baby doll eye, my entire post was ruined.

Because somebody bought the creepy bunny baby. Bought it. With cash money.

I'm still in shock. So you'll excuse me if the transition to the next part of my post isn't as elegant as I'd like.

I'm starting a new challenge. A couple of years ago -- I can't believe it has been that long! -- we participated in The Great Grocery Challenge, which was a self-imposed challenge to see how long we could go spending a mere $25/week on groceries.

This summer, I'm going to see what happens if I stop in at a thrift store every day for thirty days. According to The Nester, the secret to good thrift store shopping is persistence. She claims to find something worthy of purchase half the times she shops at a thrift store and find something truly great once every 20 times.

Therefore, I figure that, in 30 days, I will find one truly great find and 15 "worthy of purchase items." The Nester and I might have different ideas about what's worthy of purchase and what's a good price, however, as she has been known to spend twenty-five whole dollars on a whim because she "loved it."

I'm not at that stage of the budget right now.

I'm giving myself some guidelines. I don't want to go into a thrift store and start stocking up on junk or mere whims. I'll only buy something if I need it and have budgeted for it.

I already know that the Arroyo Grande Goodwill has set sale days and that teachers get 10% off on Tuesdays. They're planning a book sale on July 31 -- paperbacks 3/$1 and hardbacks $1. I'll be doing my book shopping on that day. I'll have to check on the other thrift stores in town to see what specials they've got going on in the next month.

So here are my guidelines:

BOOKS

I already know there are specific titles I'm looking for, so unless the book is one of these titles, I won't buy it except at a book sale. However, at those book sales, I'll be loading up on young adult fiction and picture books for my classroom.

Dear and Glorious Physician by Taylor Caldwell - because I loaned out my copy and it appears to be gone for good
The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller - because I've renewed it at the library already and would like to keep renewing it all school year
Cheap. Fast. Good. by Beverley Mills - same as above, except change "school year" to "forever"
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan - because I haven't been able to get it at the library yet
Dick Francis paperbacks - because Dick Francis is like the mac'n'cheese and hot cocoa of reading for me. It's good, solid, comfort reading.
Susan Howatch's Starbridge series - because I loved every title in the series, and I've been holding on to my mom's copy of the last book in the series a little too long

CLOTHES

My newly minted philosophy of thrift store clothing is that you should keep an eye out for quality (which generally means name brand or designer clothes) and skip the discount brands. My theory is that clothes have a certain number of wears in them before they start to fall apart. Higher quality items have more wears, and higher quality items tend to have been taken care of better by their original owners. A Ralph Lauren skirt for $4 is a better deal than an Old Navy skirt for $4 because my cost per wear is much lower. Not to mention, you could probably get that ON skirt for $8 on sale brand new, and you're more likely to find classier, more classic items in the high end brands and trendier, so last year items in the discount brands.

I also discovered in my time at Goodwill that you cannot browse a thrift store for clothing, which has long been my method (and has long resulted in not a single find). You need to take the time to consciously look at every item on the rack. That jewel of a wool peacoat for $7 is going to be squished between the purple fuzzy vest and the pleather overcoat. It's not going to jump out at you.

This means that clothing shopping will be reserved for those days when I can give at least half an hour to look through at least one complete rack. I will also go through my closet and look for what items I really do need. Off the top of my head, I know I need a decent-fitting pair of jeans and a straight black skirt.

HOUSEHOLD GOODS

I want to do this to my living room wall.

It's from Melissa at A Time for Everything and is way too expensive for me to consider going out and buying each letter. So I'll be keeping an eye out for funky cool letters that I love or that I could paint or decoupage into something I love.

Next, I want to replace my current cookware with cast iron. I've fallen in love with a cast iron skillet that I discovered in our garage (a leftover from a former boarder? a hand-me-down from my mother-in-law? we're not really sure), and I don't think I want to cook with anything else ever again. I was even willing to spend real money to buy new cookware. In my research, however, I discovered that 1)new, quality cast iron is seriously expensive and 2) new, quality cast iron is an oxymoron according to the aficionados. You have to keep an eye out at garage sales and thrift stores for original Wagner's (not the new, made in China ones) or Griswold. So I'll be keeping an eye out.

I also really want storage containers. Glass jars for storing things like flour, beans, sugar, and other staples. I have some that I received as a gift for our wedding, and I love them. I'd like to try to match them. I also want glass because, frankly, the whole idea of thrift store shopping - in the teeny tiny recesses of my snobby, germophobic heart - kind of squicks me out. Glass can be washed with a mild bleach solution and stuck in the dishwasher at high temperatures.

Finally, my classroom bulletin boards are covered in fabric, and I've changed directions in classroom decor this year. I'm trying to have an overall color theme to tie everything together. I have great hopes that this will make my itty-bitty room look less chaotic and more restful. This means I need new fabric. Specifically, a light blue or light denim to match my Hot to Dot borders and tags. I'll be measuring the bulletin boards to see exactly how much fabric I need.

I think that's it.

I'll be posting the results each day. Wish me luck.

Granola

2010-07-17T23:47:00.000-07:00

Many times I enthusiastically - sometimes, maybe, just a tad over enthusiastically - share my latest bargain score on groceries or other necessary items, and most of the time my friends say, "You should write a blog about that!" Sometimes I'll wax rhapsodic about clicker-training dogs, and sometimes I might have a tendency to go on just a bit about a particular point of grammar. My friends will then say, "You should write about that!"

The thing is, plenty of people do "write a blog about that," so I'm pretty convinced they just don't want to listen to me anymore.

Never mind, I'm taking their advice, and I'm writing what I know. And since, as I mentioned in the little "about me" blurb to the right, I enjoy a bit of alliteration, I thought I'd start out with a post about granola. (Grammar, Groceries, Growlies, and Granola. Hey, I write to amuse myself, and I am easily amused.)

Why granola? Well, oats are a wonderful, frugal option for breakfasts, snacks, toppings, or any excuse you can find to eat them. They are a good source of protein and fiber. They can help lower cholesterol and blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes. They are very inexpensive, especially if you buy them in bulk. A breakfast of whole oats will leave you feeling satisfied much longer than a bowl of cereal, which means you are less likely to hit the vending machine at work - saving you money and calories.

For most of my life, however, my consumption of oats had been limited primarily to cookies such as The Pioneer Woman's Oatmeal Crispies, heavily modified to include copious amounts of chocolate, because I am unwilling to eat oatmeal and granola is expensive.

Store-bought granola, that is.

Once I realized that granola is really nothing more than oats + fat + sweetener + yummy stuff, a whole new world was opened to me. I've made chocolate, peanut butter, raspberry, vanilla, and plain granola. I've eaten it straight out of the container, and I've eaten it with milk, ice cream, yogurt, and fruit.

I played around a bit with the recipe, and I ultimately came to the conclusion that you really don't need nearly as much sweetener as the various internet recipes would have you believe. I do think the fat is pretty necessary if you want clumps. If you don't care about clumps, reduce fat at will!

I've provided my recipe with a cost breakdown using regular store prices, not "awesome sale with a coupon" prices.

Jen's Basic Granola - $2.75 - $4.45

4 cups oats (Quaker, 70 cents)

1 cup ground flax seed (Bob's Organic Golden Whole, 80 cents)

1/4 cup honey (local farmer's market, 80 cents)

1 tbsp vanilla (Costco, 15 cents)

1/4 cup coconut oil (Spectrum organic, ~$2 - pricey but worth the flavor and nutritional benefit)

1/4 cup veg oil (Costco, 30 cents)

Mix flax and oats with oil, vanilla, and honey until completely coated. Spread a thin layer in a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until golden brown. Stir occasionally.

Mix-ins

sunflower seeds
almonds
walnuts
cashews
hazelnuts
macadamia nuts
pumpkin seeds
peanuts
dried cranberries
dried apples
raisins
dried bananas
chocolate chips
whole flax seed
wheat germ
shredded coconut
cinnamon
nutmeg
ginger
allspice
cocoa powder

The sky's the limit when it comes to mix-ins!

Mix everything except the fruit and chocolate chips before baking. Fruit goes in after baking, and chocolate chips go in after cooling.

Alternate sweeteners and fats

Play around with these by substituting them for the honey or oil.

SWEETENERS: Try sugar (mix sugar with water to make a syrup), Torani syrup, agave, applesauce, apple juice, grape juice, or skip it altogether!

FATS: Consider peanut butter, olive oil, almond butter, or avocado oil.

Obviously, some of these options are going to be more frugal than others, but play around with it and see if you don't agree homemade granola is easy, delicious, and cheap!

This is a test. This is only a test.

2010-07-15T20:56:00.001-07:00

If this been an actual blog post, the notification you received would have been followed by witty yet helpful prose.

After Almost a Year of Silence,This is What I Choose to Say?

2010-02-12T16:02:00.000-08:00

I honestly truly really really mean to write in this blog every single day. And I honestly truly really really come up with about 1/4 of a decent post, but then it's "not good enough" to be the post that re-starts the blogging.

So that said, even I am a little disappointed with myself that this is my newest post.

I recently discovered swagbucks.com It's a search engine just like google or yahoo or ask, but you randomly get points for searching with it. The biggest drawback is that the sponsored sites are at the top of the list instead of off to the side, but it's not that big a hassle to scroll past them. Especially because they say 'sponsored by.'

I can assure you that this site works on the principles of variable reinforcement and that I am good and hooked, having earned 184 points (enough for $20 in Amazon gift cards) just since Christmas. A few of those points are courtesy of my mom, whom I convinced to try it out and add me as a referral. I get matched for her searching points up to 100. And I'll get matched for your points too if you sign up here.

You can't just start doing one search right after another because there's some sort of program in place to recognize that. It really does seem to recognize "authentic searching." I generally get 3-4 rewards per day, but some of those bucks are worth 2-5 "bucks" each. In fact, I just received 5 bucks for searching "Where is Georgia?" (Those of you who know me well know it's probably a good thing that I don't teach 5th grade geography. )

Anyway, if you'd like to give it a try, click here. (I do get bucks if you sign up and use the engine, but it really does work and I wouldn't tell you about it if it didn't. I really do have $20 in Amazon gift cards just for searching for stuff on the internet like I would anyway. Why shouldn't you?)

My Own Vanilla

2009-04-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Costco vanilla has dropped in price! I keep a Costco price book, and the last time I checked vanilla, it was $9. I was updating the pricebook this weekend, and vanilla was $6! Three beans is probably not quite enough for a really strong vanilla, but it's sufficient for my non-gourmet purposes. Nevertheless, at $6 for 16 ounces vs $10.50 for homemade, it's not the cheaper option anymore.

My new frugal experiment: homemade vanilla extract.

2 oz vanilla extract at Food 4 Less: $5 ($2.50/ounce)
16 oz vanilla extract at Costco: $9 ($0.56/ounce)

25 oz vanilla extract at Jen's Kitchen: $10.50 ($0.42/ounce)
(3 beans at the co-op = $4.50, 750 ml vodka from Trader Joe's = $6)

According to a variety of homemade vanilla sources, you only need to use half the called for amount in a recipe. So 25 ounces of homemade vanilla will last the same amount of time as 50 ounces of store-bought vanilla, making the overall cost even cheaper.

In addition, these three beans will supposedly last through multiple refillings of vodka, so that cuts the price per ounce down after the initial price of beans. I also purchased expensive beans at the natural foods store, but you can buy them in bulk for a cheaper per bean price. If you have a bunch of friends who want to make homemade vanilla, you will cut your cost even more.

I read a bunch of different "recipes" and ultimately decided to use 3 beans split down the middle and dumped into a 750 mL bottle of vodka. I will store the bottle in a cool, dark place and shake once a week for 4 weeks. After that, it is supposedly ready to use, but the recommended time is at least 8 weeks.

I'll let you know in a month how it turns out.

Another Grammar Lesson

2009-04-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

What's the difference between "few" and "several"?

Recently on the teacher forum, a thread was started in which a teacher wanted to know the difference between "few" and "several." The general consensus seems to be that "a couple" is two, "a few" is three to four, and "several" is more than four. One person thought "several" meant "seven or more," which is a common misunderstanding because of the similarity between the words "several" and "seven."

They all are wrong. By definition, "few" and "several" are indicators of indeterminate number. You cannot categorize few and several by number; context matters.

Either "a few squirrels in the tree" or "several dogs on the couch" could refer to approximately three or four critters. Both "a few chips with my sandwich" and "several cookies for dessert" could refer to many more than four things to eat.

"Many are called, few are chosen." "Few things are impossible to diligence and skill." "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." In none of these cases does "few" mean "three." More than three have been chosen, more than three things are impossible, and "the few" of course refer to all of England's RAF, which presumably has more than three pilots in its ranks.

"Several" often means a number separated out from the overall group (and comes from the word for separate). "There were many cats at the shelter; several were tabby-striped."

Both"few" and "several" are terms of uncertain number meaning "more than one but less than many" and many is another uncertain number meaning "a large number." There is no way to place a number on any of these words.

There are many grammar misconceptions out there, but now you know. And the more you know. . .

I Didn't Know We Had to Keep Remembering It!

2009-03-16T16:09:00.001-07:00

At the start of the school year, my class and I spent a good two weeks working on the metric system and converting from grams to kilograms or centimeters to kilometers or kiloliters to milliliters. They really seemed to grasp the concept, and they even came up with a fun mnemonic to remember which prefix indicated bigger and smaller amounts (King, Horse, Donkey - unit - Dog, Cat, Mouse).

Fast forward to today and what I thought would be a "quick review" before diving into geometry. No, it was not a quick review; it was a quick descent into frustration on my part as I realized they barely remembered anything.

At one point, N said, "I don't get this!"

I said, "But you did so well when we studied it the first time."

N replied, "I didn't know we had to keep on remembering it!"

Small Victories

2009-03-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

One of the drawbacks of having a reactive dog is having to be on "high alert" at all times when out in public with her. It's very tiring, and I've had to find ways for me to be "positively reinforced" when taking Bella out in public or I'd never do it. Staying home wouldn't do either of us any good because she'd never be given the opportunity to learn. With Roscoe, I'm naturally rewarded - people adore him and he adores them. Big or small. Loud or quiet. Furry or two-legged. He's happy. And I love that people love him. With Bella, I've had to take the small moments of progress and appreciate them for what they are.

Almost three years ago, we could not have enjoyed a picnic at the park with friends without being acutely anxious the whole time. I'd have worried about whether she was going to snap at our friends. She generally didn't like strange men and especially didn't like dark-skinned bald men (i.e., my dad) or men with hats (again, my dad) or facial hair (Dad). But you never could tell who she was going to react badly to, and it was a constant worry.

We learned how to manage her reactivity, and she was able to interact with most women and some men with relative ease. A lot of people didn't know she was a reactive dog because we were so careful, but then there were people who were terrified of her because we also made a lot of mistakes when learning how to live with a reactive dog. And then there were people in between. She didn't scare them, but they didn't know the sweet, funny, creative, crazy smart dog that we lived with. They knew a shy, stand-offish, stubborn dog.

In those early days, I would have had to constantly scan the horizon for dogs and bicyclists and strollers and people who walked funny (and who could tell on any given day what she was going to consider "funny"?), being sure to get up and run for the nearest solid structure to block her view of them if any came in sight, no matter how far away. Without her Gentle Leader, there was almost no way for me to physically restrain her if she decided to take off; she is simply too strong, even at less than half my weight. And in those early days, she couldn't have cared less about me when her "fight or flight" response kicked in (and always in "fight" mode). I didn't yet inspire her confidence, and she was convinced she needed to protect herself.

Which is why even so many years later, I approached today's picnic with some trepidation. Bella has increased in confidence and reliance on me in the face of scary situations, but we haven't been to Laguna Lake with her in probably two years because of the potential for a major meltdown. However, we knew our friends were generally dog-tolerant people and Greg & Carrie, at least, have seemed to genuinely enjoy Bella when they visited at our house, and I wanted to give Bella a day out. She seems always to be the one left behind because Roscoe gets to participate in activities where we'll meet other dogs. We only live a couple of blocks away; if it became too difficult, we could quickly run her home.

I was thrilled when I realized that we were able to hang out in relative relaxation, in full view of a dog park and a couple dozen running, barking dogs a couple of hundred yards away. Kites, dogs on leash, small children, frisbee golfers, ducks - none of these were a big problem.

Don't get me wrong. I still have my clicker and am ready to rapidly reinforce good behavior in the face of "scary" situations, but there weren't as many scary situations that came our way. She's learning that life isn't terrifying; she's becoming confident in the wide world.

And she's making friends.

(She also made friends with Joel & Emily, who were similarly awesome with her, but we just don't have pictures of that. Thanks, all of you, for putting up with a 60-pound lap dog!)

But Doesn't Cannot Mean Can Not?

2009-03-13T15:36:00.001-07:00

This is a post that was inspired by Joel and began as a comment, so you will have to read the comments of "Lazy, But Elegantly Spare" to fully understand why this is here.

Joel, I love that you had a grammar debate with a colleague.

I looked up "cannot" in the classroom's Webster's Dictionary for Teens, and the definition given for "cannot" is can not -- cannot but: to be unable to do something other than.

This is true. The definition of "cannot" is "can not." "Not" is used to make a negative, and "cannot" is "can" negated.

How you use "cannot" is still different than how you use "can not," though. Just as you explained, the "not" in "cannot" negates the helping verb "can." The "not" in "can not [action/linking verb]" negates the action or linking verb.

"To be unable to do something other than" (or in the case of the grown-up version "to be unable to do otherwise than") is the definition of cannot but, which is entirely different than a simple "cannot."

I cannot but hope this explanation makes sense.

As for beginning with a conjunction, I don’t believe The Elements of Style actually says that you may not, does it? A stylistic rule is that you should not begin too many sentences with a coordinating conjunction, but that rule can extend to any sentence opener. In general, a sentence will begin with a coordinating conjunction when the author wants the sentence to stand out.

My conjunction “so” connects the entire idea of realizing that I was meant to be a teacher with the action taken as a result of that realization. This is greater than merely joining a word, a phrase, or a clause to another.

To write “. . . I knew that I was supposed to teach, so I absorbed . . .” takes away the punch of the concept of learning all that I could.

I told you I’d cogitate upon your question, so you have only yourself to blame for this post.

Lazy, but Elegantly Spare

2009-03-12T20:11:00.001-07:00

I belong to a "professional teacher forum," and the other day someone was complaining about people who were planning to enter the field of education as a second career because "they can not be successful in other jobs," and as part of her rant she commented that they were social misfits who still lived with their parents.

As someone who entered the field of education after years of working toward another goal, I felt compelled to reply. Another teacher responded, "the spare elegance of your writing is a joy to come upon." How could that not make my day?

And because, while I may be capable of spare elegance in my good moments, I am basically a lazy writer, I copy for you here what I wrote there.

I entered teaching after many years of trying and not enjoying other careers. None of them fulfilled what I eventually learned were my criteria for a satisfying career - 1)make a difference 2)be creative 3)be challenged 4)have daily variety.

I had the opportunity to teach single-subject because of my degree, and it came at a time when I didn't know what else to do. So I took it.

From the moment I started, even if I didn't know exactly how to teach, I knew that I was supposed to teach.

So I absorbed every bit of advice I could from colleagues, my principal, books, and other teachers, and I went back to school and earned my credential, and it might look like I'm doing it because I couldn't do anything else, but really I'm doing it because I wasn't supposed to be doing anything else.

And I lived with my parents that first year.

A Girl and Her Dog

2009-02-28T20:13:00.001-08:00

Roscoe and I have been taking agility classes since summer of 2007*, with a break from April 08 to just a few weeks ago. We just finished our first set of classes after that break, and I made Joe come along to take some video. The Photobucket album is from those first few weeks in '07 and this past Thursday. We've come along way, baby!

Roscoe's just the best dog we could have asked for. He's so patient and forgiving of our myriad mistakes over the years. He gamely goes along with everything I ask him to do, and he never "loses heart" (as D says in one video clip) when I make mistake after mistake and ask him for do-over after do-over. He's just happy to be my partner in adventures.

Click on the album picture to see the whole album of Fall '07 pics and Feb '09 video. Otherwise, just click on each video from last Thursday.

Jen & Roscoe

Wagging on the A Frame

The idea was to go A-frame, jump, jump, weave. He missed his 2on-2off on the A-frame, so I made him go back and redo. His tail wagged the whole time, even thumping against the A-frame. Then I have him on leash for the rest of the obstacles because Chuck was feeding llamas, and I was pretty sure that was too much for Roscoe to handle.

At the second jump, he got a little squirrely, so I stopped and explained, "We're going to slow down and jump toward the llamas and then do the weaves. Think you can handle it?" I'm sure everyone at Gentle Pets thinks I'm a loon, but talking to Roscoe like that helps me remember what we're about to do.

Llamas

This is the reason he's on leash in the previous video. Chuck was feeding llamas just behind me here.

Front Cross to Lizards

A beautiful front cross, if I do say so myself. Then a nice sprint to the lizards. But the cool thing about this video is how quickly Roscoe regroups and comes back when called! He used to take off on his own adventure, and I'd have to physically go to him and pull him off the fence. Now it's like he's thinking, "Jump, jump, lizards!, oh wait, Mom and I were doing something."

Front Cross

The funniest thing about this video is hearing the discussion about Roscoe's gait. :) Also, notice the llama run and recall!! This has been our biggest challenge, calling him off llamas. Well, that and my complete ineptitude at anything remotely resembling athletics.

Rear Cross

Rear cross practice. We had just been using the same course to practice front crosses, so that's why I get mixed up at the beginning.

Then I get so excited about a beautiful (by my low standards) rear cross that I forget where I'm going and completely bypass the second rear cross (that's where I yell "oooh!!" and come to a dead stop).

We're not competition material yet, but we're having fun.

Touch, Spin, Be Cute

This is right after we'd tried several times to do this combo of obstacles with rear crosses, and he kept leaving me to chase llamas. So I brought him back and did touches and spins and "be cute" to get his focus back on me. I know he spun to the wrong direction on the second to last jump, but I was happy he kept connected and didn't leave me again. We also slowed the speed waaay down.

Rear Cross Success!

Ending on a good note.

*I originally wrote "fall of 2007" but upon further reflection, I think it was summer. Somewhere around there anyway.

Breaking the Silence

2009-02-28T01:04:00.001-08:00

Financial Peace University

2009-02-28T01:03:00.002-08:00

Joe and I are big Dave Ramsey fans; his books and radio show give us the tools to accomplish the goals we had for ourselves. We’ve read his books and listened to his show, and we're following his steps to financial peace. This year, Grace Church in SLO is hosting his “Financial Peace University.” We decided to sign up because a friend had recently gone through the course and said it was “life changing.” So far, it's all in line with what we've learned via the books, but it's inspirational to get even more "gazelle-intense" than we had been.

If you have a course near you, strongly consider attending if your financial status is anything other than completely debt free and independently wealthy.

Ken Ramirez Seminar

2009-02-28T01:03:00.001-08:00

On Valentine's Weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a seminar with Ken Ramirez, the VP of Animal Collections and Animal Training at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. He was in Arroyo Grande at Gentle Pets Training. Teah always manages to get some amazing trainers in for her workshops, and I was lucky to get to attend. Sixteen hours was simply not enough time. We learned all kinds of advanced training skills.

I was fascinated by concept training, which is teaching the animal concepts like "right and left" or "up and down" or "big and small," so that you could attach this concept cue to any behavior. For example, Roscoe spins left and right, but he has two cues for the two behaviors. If I had taught him the concept of left or right, I could have just taught him "spin" and then added "left" or "right" to the spin cue without having to teach two separate behaviors. We also learned about mimicry -- teach the animal the concept of mimicking and then you can have him copy any behavior without going through the steps of shaping the behavior over time -- and about secondary reinforcers -- training the animal to like something besides food as a reward - clapping, saying "yay!," a butt skritch, etc.

This video shows some of Ken's ideas at work: Shark Training

Auntie Barbara's Funeral

2009-02-28T01:02:00.002-08:00

Sadly, in January, Auntie Barbara passed away at the age of 90. We had just been to her 90th and Uncle Frank's 89th birthday party in September. They have an amazing 120+ direct descendants (children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren), and many of them spoke about the legacy of love and generosity their mother had given them and paid tribute to their father/step-father.

Uncle Frank is my dad's father's brother, and we always joke that if we want to know what Dad will look like in 30 years, we just have to look at Uncle Frank. This is Uncle Frank & Auntie Barbara in recent months and just below is them in their younger years.

Some of "the cousins" who attended the funeral.
Auntie Barbara will be deeply missed by many.

Crafternoon

2009-02-28T01:02:00.001-08:00

In January, on a happier note, Ruth hosted “Crafternoon!” at her apartment. She taught knitting and sewing to her enthusiastic but less-skilled friends. Carrie and Shelley learned to knit. I don’t know how well they’ve done since then, but the toddler sundress I began was not fit to be called clothing. She hosts these once a month, and I’m hoping to get some more tips from her next time.

The Purple Room

2009-02-28T01:01:00.004-08:00

Also in January, we made major progress in the transformation of the “Master Bedroom” to “Craft Room/Study” aka “The Purple Room.” Joe and I decided to move our bedroom from the master room in the front to one of the guest bedrooms. It’s quieter in the back of the house than in the front, and not having to listen to the college kids walk home from the bars at 2 a.m. means I’m nicer to them at 2 p.m.

I had become fond of a particular combo of purple and green in a ceramic frame that Carolee gave us, so I went to Home Depot and had the machine match the frame to paint samples. Purple Balloon and Limeade. The walls became purple balloon, and the recessed window and closet doors are limeade. The trim is white. It’s festive. It's fun. It's unique. It's very, very purple.

My Birthday

2009-02-28T01:01:00.003-08:00

Joe and I went to Big Bubba’s Bad BBQ for my actual birthday. BBBB is offering free meals on your birthday, so of course, we had to take them up on it. Since my actual birthday is New Year’s Day we almost had the place to ourselves. The only other diners were a couple with a daughter also celebrating a birthday.

Because we celebrated Christmas in Canby, we also celebrated my birthday early with Mom & Dad and Billy & family (at Red Robin, complete with my coupon for a free burger the week of your birthday). In late November and December, Kiana had had 4 present-opening celebrations in which she was the main event (3 birthday parties and Christmas), so she was a little confused why all of a sudden I was opening the presents. However, she graciously helped me open them, since she had so much practice.

Before.

After - Yum.

Christmas in Canby

2009-02-28T01:01:00.001-08:00

As I said, we celebrated Christmas in Canby with my family, and it was an adventure. We happened to travel during a snowstorm on a day when ODOT decided that the proper way to deal with icy, snowy roads would be to block ALL lanes of traffic on 5 with snow plows and just let us follow them north. This meant that we spent 7 hours driving to Redding from SLO on Sunday and fourteen hours from Redding to Canby on Monday. Five of those hours were from Salem to Canby, which is a 30-mile trip.

Once we arrived, though, a good time was had by all. The dogs loved the snow. We loved seeing my family and getting to hang out with everyone. Gram & Pop went with us to the dog park; we saw movies with Billy & Bernadette; I shopped with Mom & Bernadette; and we spent a good portion of our time wiping paws off after yet another wet and muddy dog walk.

The dogs woke us up at 6 a.m. the morning after arriving at 11 p.m. after 21 hours of driving. We were delirious with exhaustion. They were delirious with excitement.

Christmas in February - a little out of order, but Christmas-related, so it fits

You'd think it would be easier to get 3 childless couples together on a weekend to have a family Christmas celebration, but for a variety of reasons, Christmas with the W's didn't happen until February 7. Joe's parents drove down from Carmel, and his brother and sister-in-law, Luke & Cathy, popped over the Grade. L&C live half an hour away from us these days, and we see them about as much as we did when they lived in Fremont. How does life get this busy?!

Anyway, it turned out to be a great day to celebrate, as it was also Des's birthday, even if it did turn into "The Weekend With All That Food." On Friday night, we went with Joe's parents to a local Mexican place - Pepe Delgado's. Pepe's has good, simple food and lots of it. None of us went home hungry. The next day, Luke & Cathy came over for lunch, and the general consensus was Tahoe Joe's for lunch. We had a fun lunch together and then came back to our house for opening a few presents and eating birthday cake.

You'd think we were finished with eating, wouldn't you? But no, since it was also Des's birthday, we felt the need to take Big Bubba's up on their birthday offer once again. I also had a BOGO coupon that expired that week. How could we NOT go to BBBB again? Feed four adults good BBQ and wine and dessert for about $35? That's a deal we could not pass up.

So hot on the heels of a giant Mexican dinner and a steak lunch, we managed to enjoy some chicken and ribs. (And the next day, Joe and I ended up at Firestone for tri-tip lunch with friends hanging out with another friend in town for a few days. I felt like I would never need to eat again.)

Tagged!

2009-02-28T01:00:00.003-08:00

Many many many weeks ago, my friend Laura tagged me in her blog, and I totally and completely missed it! She tagged me around the time I had just been released from computer captivity and Christmas break was beginning, so I missed seeing the post. By the time I caught up with her blog, it was long past. But I still want to play, so thanks for tagging me, Laura! These are the sixth pictures, in the sixth folder of My Pictures if you sort by date and if you sort by name.

Los Prietos with Greg & Carrie, Tim & Jill, and Jeremy & Lisa - some of our favorite people at the end of an awesome weekend.

Roscoe & Bella sharing a crate in freezing temperatures while waiting for Joe to pick up new wiper blades at Fred Meyer in Medford. We had been walking around the parking lot, but as soon as they saw the open crate, they both jumped in to get out of the cold. Hard to believe Roscoe survived Missouri winters before we turned him into a weather wimp like the rest of us in SLO.

Graduation!

2009-02-28T01:00:00.001-08:00

Just before we left for Canby, Oregon, I officially graduated from the credential program! It’s amazing how much free time I have now. Sometimes I arrive home and have nothing pressing to do, and we can go to Farmer’s Market or take the dogs for a walk. The other night we ended up at IHOP for free pancakes on the spur of the moment. It was wonderful. It is also the first time in our marriage that we actually have some breathing room to just relax with each other, and it has been too long a wait.

Thanksgiving

2009-02-28T00:59:00.001-08:00

We hosted Thanksgiving again, and this year all the W's were able to make it. My parents also joined us on their way home from Disneyland with Kiana and family. Our house, and more specifically, our dining room is not meant to accommodate eight people, and I was maybe a little too upset about the fact that we were having to push together two non-matching tables. One rectangular. One round. And people were going to be able to tell it wasn’t one big table! And I would have to use two tablecloths! And it was going to be terrible, horrible, no-good, awful, very bad and we might as well have Thanksgiving in Australia!

Have I mentioned I tend to get a little hysterical about completely trivial things when I’m stressed? You should have seen me at my wedding. We planned the whole thing ourselves and did a lot of the work (with the help of family). Joe and I were up at 7 a.m. for a 3 p.m. wedding, pulling everything together. Around noon, I misplaced a small portrait of my grandparents. A portrait I had planned to put on the bar. And I completely fell apart. Fell. A. Part. I was hysterical. I went from not being able to find a photograph to predicting the entire reception would be a flop and the ceremony would be a disaster in 3.2 seconds flat. I’m sure if Joe ever had second thoughts about marrying me, it was at that point.

Really, it was just a big taste of what was to come. Maybe I didn’t get quite so hysterical over Thanksgiving, but I did whine enough for him to do this. . .

He went out to his Garage of Wonders (as in “I wonder how this all fits”) and found a piece of wood with which to fashion a connecting piece that made our two dining tables into one that could be neatly covered with one big tablecloth. He is the best.

ACSI Convention & Disneyland

2009-02-28T00:55:00.000-08:00

ACSI Convention happened to fall on the same days as the ones the Sablans had planned to take Kiana to Disneyland for the first time. ACSI Convention also happens to be at the Anaheim Convention Center, so I got permission to travel to Convention and was able to join everyone at Disneyland after. I love Convention – I spend the night before going over the catalog, not trying to find a few sessions I want to attend, but prioritizing the several dozen that appeal to me but can’t possibly all be fit in.

But Disneyland with Kiana was definitely the highlight of this year’s convention.

Me and Kiana on the carousel while the others ride California Screamin' a second time. My head can only take one time, so the carousel was my kind of ride. And my riding partner was adorable.

L to R: Billy, Bernie, Joseph, Dad, Kiana, Mom, Me, Catherine (Bernie's sister)
It was cold and rainy the second day, but that didn't mean we didn't want to ride the Grizzly water rafts. We just grabbed these rain slickers that had been left on the railing near the entrance. We passed them on to another group on our way out.

Kiana was pointing out that she had the same dress as Snow White. There were many little princesses and quite a few Snow White's running around Disneyland, but Kiana was clearly the cutest one.

The Great Grocery Challenge

2009-02-28T00:48:00.000-08:00

We completed the Great Grocery Challenge and ended up with the answer to the question, “How long can we go on a $25/week consumables budget?” Our answer? Five months. Ultimately, as we left spring and summer, it got harder to buy fresh fruits and vegetables on a $25/week spending plan. It accomplished its goal, though, and we’re much more aware of what is a need and what is a want when it comes to consumable spending. We bumped up the budget to $140 a month, which allows some flexibility while still being well under the USDA $450/month "Low Cost Plan" for a 2-adult food budget. And thanks to CVS, I haven’t purchased a toiletry type product with real cash in 6-7 months.

Catching Up - Finally!

2009-02-28T00:34:00.001-08:00

I needed to start up this blog again, and I was paralyzed by Perfectionist Procrastination Syndrome. I knew I couldn't catch up perfectly, so I wasn't catching up at all.

The only way to cure PPS is to just do it. So without further ado, in reverse order, a list of what I've been up to since way back when -- without any editing whatsoever. Eek!

Financial Peace University

Joe and I are big Dave Ramsey fans; his books and radio show give us the tools to accomplish the goals we had for ourselves. We’ve read his books and listened to his show, and we're following his steps to financial peace. This year, Grace Church in SLO is hosting his “Financial Peace University.” We decided to sign up because a friend had recently gone through the course and said it was “life changing.” So far, it's all in line with what we've learned via the books, but it's inspirational to get even more "gazelle-intense" than we had been.

If you have a course near you, strongly consider attending if your financial status is anything other than completely debt free and independently wealthy.

Ken Ramirez Seminar

On Valentine's Weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a seminar with Ken Ramirez, the VP of Animal Collections and Animal Training at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. He was in Arroyo Grande at Gentle Pets Training. Teah always manages to get some amazing trainers in for her workshops, and I was lucky to get to attend. Sixteen hours was simply not enough time. We learned all kinds of advanced training skills.

I was fascinated by concept training, which is teaching the animal concepts like "right and left" or "up and down" or "big and small," so that you could attach this concept cue to any behavior. For example, Roscoe spins left and right, but he has two cues for the two behaviors. If I had taught him the concept of left or right, I could have just taught him "spin" and then added "left" or "right" to the spin cue without having to teach two separate behaviors. We also learned about mimicry -- teach the animal the concept of mimicking and then you can have him copy any behavior without going through the steps of shaping the behavior over time -- and about secondary reinforcers -- training the animal to like something besides food as a reward - clapping, saying "yay!," a butt skritch, etc.

This video shows some of Ken's ideas at work: Shark Training

Auntie Barbara's Funeral

Sadly, in January, Auntie Barbara passed away at the age of 90. We had just been to her 90th and Uncle Frank's 89th birthday party in September. They have an amazing 120+ direct descendants (children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren), and many of them spoke about the legacy of love and generosity their mother had given them and paid tribute to their father/step-father.

Uncle Frank is my dad's father's brother, and we always joke that if we want to know what Dad will look like in 30 years, we just have to look at Uncle Frank. This is Uncle Frank & Auntie Barbara in recent months and just below is them in their younger years.

Some of "the cousins" who attended the funeral.
Auntie Barbara will be deeply missed by many.

Crafternoon

In January, on a happier note, Ruth hosted “Crafternoon!” at her apartment. She taught knitting and sewing to her enthusiastic but less-skilled friends. Carrie and Shelley learned to knit. I don’t know how well they’ve done since then, but the toddler sundress I began was not fit to be called clothing. She hosts these once a month, and I’m hoping to get some more tips from her next time.

The Purple Room

Also in January, we made major progress in the transformation of the “Master Bedroom” to “Craft Room/Study” aka “The Purple Room.” Joe and I decided to move our bedroom from the master room in the front to one of the guest bedrooms. It’s quieter in the back of the house than in the front, and not having to listen to the college kids walk home from the bars at 2 a.m. means I’m nicer to them at 2 p.m.

I had become fond of a particular combo of purple and green in a ceramic frame that Carolee gave us, so I went to Home Depot and had the machine match the frame to paint samples. Purple Balloon and Limeade. The walls became purple balloon, and the recessed window and closet doors are limeade. The trim is white. It’s festive. It's fun. It's unique. It's very, very purple.

My Birthday

Joe and I went to Big Bubba’s Bad BBQ for my actual birthday. BBBB is offering free meals on your birthday, so of course, we had to take them up on it. Since my actual birthday is New Year’s Day we almost had the place to ourselves. The only other diners were a couple with a daughter also celebrating a birthday.

Because we celebrated Christmas in Canby, we also celebrated my birthday early with Mom & Dad and Billy & family (at Red Robin, complete with my coupon for a free burger the week of your birthday). In late November and December, Kiana had had 4 present-opening celebrations in which she was the main event (3 birthday parties and Christmas), so she was a little confused why all of a sudden I was opening the presents. However, she graciously helped me open them, since she had so much practice.

Before.

After - Yum.
Christmas in Canby

As I said, we celebrated Christmas in Canby with my family, and it was an adventure. We happened to travel during a snowstorm on a day when ODOT decided that the proper way to deal with icy, snowy roads would be to block ALL lanes of traffic on 5 with snow plows and just let us follow them north. This meant that we spent 7 hours driving to Redding from SLO on Sunday and fourteen hours from Redding to Canby on Monday. Five of those hours were from Salem to Canby, which is a 30-mile trip.

Once we arrived, though, a good time was had by all. The dogs loved the snow. We loved seeing my family and getting to hang out with everyone. Gram & Pop went with us to the dog park; we saw movies with Billy & Bernadette; I shopped with Mom & Bernadette; and we spent a good portion of our time wiping paws off after yet another wet and muddy dog walk.

The dogs woke us up at 6 a.m. the morning after arriving at 11 p.m. after 21 hours of driving. We were delirious with exhaustion. They were delirious with excitement.

Christmas in February - a little out of order, but Christmas-related, so it fits

You'd think it would be easier to get 3 childless couples together on a weekend to have a family Christmas celebration, but for a variety of reasons, Christmas with the W's didn't happen until February 7. Joe's parents drove down from Carmel, and his brother and sister-in-law, Luke & Cathy, popped over the Grade. L&C live half an hour away from us these days, and we see them about as much as we did when they lived in Fremont. How does life get this busy?!

Anyway, it turned out to be a great day to celebrate, as it was also Des's birthday, even if it did turn into "The Weekend With All That Food." On Friday night, we went with Joe's parents to a local Mexican place - Pepe Delgado's. Pepe's has good, simple food and lots of it. None of us went home hungry. The next day, Luke & Cathy came over for lunch, and the general consensus was Tahoe Joe's for lunch. We had a fun lunch together and then came back to our house for opening a few presents and eating birthday cake.

You'd think we were finished with eating, wouldn't you? But no, since it was also Des's birthday, we felt the need to take Big Bubba's up on their birthday offer once again. I also had a BOGO coupon that expired that week. How could we NOT go to BBBB again? Feed four adults good BBQ and wine and dessert for about $35? That's a deal we could not pass up.

So hot on the heels of a giant Mexican dinner and a steak lunch, we managed to enjoy some chicken and ribs. (And the next day, Joe and I ended up at Firestone for tri-tip lunch with friends hanging out with another friend in town for a few days. I felt like I would never need to eat again.)

Tagged!

Many many many weeks ago, my friend Laura tagged me in her blog, and I totally and completely missed it! She tagged me around the time I had just been released from computer captivity and Christmas break was beginning, so I missed seeing the post. By the time I caught up with her blog, it was long past. But I still want to play, so thanks for tagging me, Laura! These are the sixth pictures, in the sixth folder of My Pictures if you sort by date and if you sort by name.

Los Prietos with Greg & Carrie, Tim & Jill, and Jeremy & Lisa - some of our favorite people at the end of an awesome weekend.

Roscoe & Bella sharing a crate in freezing temperatures while waiting for Joe to pick up new wiper blades at Fred Meyer in Medford. We had been walking around the parking lot, but as soon as they saw the open crate, they both jumped in to get out of the cold. Hard to believe Roscoe survived Missouri winters before we turned him into a weather wimp like the rest of us in SLO.

Graduation!

Just before we left for Canby, Oregon, I officially graduated from the credential program! It’s amazing how much free time I have now. Sometimes I arrive home and have nothing pressing to do, and we can go to Farmer’s Market or take the dogs for a walk. The other night we ended up at IHOP for free pancakes on the spur of the moment. It was wonderful. It is also the first time in our marriage that we actually have some breathing room to just relax with each other, and it has been too long a wait.

Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving again, and this year all the W's were able to make it. My parents also joined us on their way home from Disneyland with Kiana and family. Our house, and more specifically, our dining room is not meant to accommodate eight people, and I was maybe a little too upset about the fact that we were having to push together two non-matching tables. One rectangular. One round. And people were going to be able to tell it wasn’t one big table! And I would have to use two tablecloths! And it was going to be terrible, horrible, no-good, awful, very bad and we might as well have Thanksgiving in Australia!

Have I mentioned I tend to get a little hysterical about completely trivial things when I’m stressed? You should have seen me at my wedding. We planned the whole thing ourselves and did a lot of the work (with the help of family). Joe and I were up at 7 a.m. for a 3 p.m. wedding, pulling everything together. Around noon, I misplaced a small portrait of my grandparents. A portrait I had planned to put on the bar. And I completely fell apart. Fell. A. Part. I was hysterical. I went from not being able to find a photograph to predicting the entire reception would be a flop and the ceremony would be a disaster in 3.2 seconds flat. I’m sure if Joe ever had second thoughts about marrying me, it was at that point.

Really, it was just a big taste of what was to come. Maybe I didn’t get quite so hysterical over Thanksgiving, but I did whine enough for him to do this. . .

He went out to his Garage of Wonders (as in “I wonder how this all fits”) and found a piece of wood with which to fashion a connecting piece that made our two dining tables into one that could be neatly covered with one big tablecloth. He is the best.

ACSI Convention & Disneyland

ACSI Convention happened to fall on the same days as the ones the Sablans had planned to take Kiana to Disneyland for the first time. ACSI Convention also happens to be at the Anaheim Convention Center, so I got permission to travel to Convention and was able to join everyone at Disneyland after. I love Convention – I spend the night before going over the catalog, not trying to find a few sessions I want to attend, but prioritizing the several dozen that appeal to me but can’t possibly all be fit in.

But Disneyland with Kiana was definitely the highlight of this year’s convention.

Me and Kiana on the carousel while the others ride California Screamin' a second time. My head can only take one time, so the carousel was my kind of ride. And my riding partner was adorable.

L to R: Billy, Bernie, Joseph, Dad, Kiana, Mom, Me, Catherine (Bernie's sister)
It was cold and rainy the second day, but that didn't mean we didn't want to ride the Grizzly water rafts. We just grabbed these rain slickers that had been left on the railing near the entrance. We passed them on to another group on our way out.

Kiana was pointing out that she had the same dress as Snow White. There were many little princesses and quite a few Snow White's running around Disneyland, but Kiana was clearly the cutest one.

The Great Grocery Challenge

We also completed the Great Grocery Challenge and ended up with the answer to the question, “How long can we go on a $25/week consumables budget?” Our answer? Five months. Ultimately, as we left spring and summer, it got harder to buy fresh fruits and vegetables on a $25/week spending plan. It accomplished its goal, though, and we’re much more aware of what is a need and what is a want when it comes to consumable spending. We bumped up the budget to $140 a month, which allows some flexibility while still being well under the USDA $450/month "Low Cost Plan" for a 2-adult food budget. And thanks to CVS, I haven’t purchased a toiletry type product with real cash in 6-7 months.

THE END

Bonus points if you read it all. :)

Lessons From Roscoe

2009-02-27T17:56:00.000-08:00

I had an interesting experience the other day, and I was able to put into practice something I only remembered because I had seen Roscoe do it many times.

Joe and I were driving home from church when we saw a kid, probably about 12 or 13, coming down our driveway with two rolling suitcases dragging behind him. We thought that was odd, so we slowed down to see what he was up to. He walked down our street and started up the path of another home and disappeared behind some bushes.

While we were watching and wondering what he was up to, he appeared again -- this time running with a pair of boxers hot on his heels.

So what did I do? I ran to intercept the boxers and yelled "HEY!" as loud as I could. The kid had disappeared again, and the boxers focused their attention on me.

Their growly, snarly attention.

It was at that point that I thought, "Well, *#&$@. Now what?"

Then I remembered Roscoe. When Roscoe meets growly, snarly dogs or even perfectly friendly dogs who are just being rude, he turns perpendicular to them and averts his gaze. It's a "calming signal" and basically means "I am not a threat, and I'd really rather avoid conflict right now." Sometimes he throws a yawn in there. And when he does this, dogs back off.

So I gave it a try. I turned my shoulders toward them and gazed off into the distance, keeping them just in my peripheral vision.

Sure enough. They backed off just a bit. When I turned again to face them, the growls & hackles came back. So I walked back to the house where I had first seen them and the kid being careful not to "threaten" them. They followed but kept their distance.

There was a party going on, and the dogs belonged to a guest. He didn't even know they were missing. Apparently, he thought the 3-foot rod iron fence with the 9-inch gap at the bottom was going to keep them in the yard. I told him his dogs had chased a kid down the street and he should maintain better control of them and there was no way "that fence" would hold "those dogs." I might have been a little snippy doing it. Irresponsible dog owners bring out the worst in me.

We never did see the kid again or find out what he was up to.

The Book Makes a Difference

2008-11-08T12:31:00.001-08:00

Wow, this is one neglected little blog. And I still don't have time for a real update, though, if I am good, I'll be finished with CST except for the "portfolio assembly" by Monday evening!!

Anyway, quick story. When teaching young children Bible stories and when having them read said Bible stories on their own, be absolutely certain that they are turned to the proper book of the Bible before reading.

I had students read Genesis 22:16-19 as part of our study of Abraham and Isaac. One student read Exodus 22:16-19 instead.

Go ahead, look it up. See for yourself why I braced myself for a parent phone call.

That Bible. It's pretty racy.

It's Horrifying

2008-10-20T22:26:00.001-07:00

I responded in a comment that I should post this story, so here I am, posting it.

When I was teaching fifth grade, my students had a knack for getting me off topic. This particular science lesson, I was following a rabbit trail, discussing genetics as it related to the human genome project and Genesis. I completely forgot that I was dealing with ten-year-olds who might not yet have had "the talk" with their parents.

So at one point I said, "You all know you get some of your genes from your mom and some from your dad, right?" A few nodded, most looked blank (as they were wont to do when I went down rabbit trails).

One student, however, piped up, "Hey, wait. If your mom is the one that has you, how do your dad's genes get in you?"

Oops. While I floundered for the appropriate response, I was saved by one student who apparently had had "the talk."

He turned around to the questioner with a very serious look on his face and said, "You don't want to know. It's horrifying."

I took that opportunity to go back to the actual lesson.

Thoughts While on a Trip to Fresno and Back Again

2008-10-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

I attended my fourth (and final!) seminar at CSU Fresno today, and I had the exact opposite experience from my last SuperSeminar. I would have happily given up a week of summer vacation to sit in class with Professor Allen, who had been tasked with teaching non-artists how to incorporate real art into the core subjects. He packed six hours with a week's worth of content. We sped through art history and the elements of art, veered wildly into appreciating and performing drama, and slammed right into choreography and dance.

As a result, I painted a tree that actually looks like a tree for the very first time in my life. And it only took 3 minutes to do.

I don't know what kind of tree it is, but the very fact that you can tell, with no difficulty, that it is a tree would likely stun anyone who has seen any of my attempts at artistry in high school art class..

I also learned why complementary colors are called complementary colors. It is because all the colors represented make up the full complement of primary colors. Orange is red & yellow. Therefore, its complement is blue. Purple is blue & red, and its complement is yellow. Yellow & blue make green, which has a complement of red. You mean to tell me that art makes sense?

This was a day so jampacked with learning, that the education spilled over into lunch break. It was then that I discovered Subway has a ridiculous policy that spurs me to boycott. I ordered a mini-sub (the cheapest item on the menu, natch) and watched in disbelief as the kid pulled a six-inch roll off the shelf, cut 2" from the end, and threw that end away! Does this not strike anyone else as wasteful?

I asked him that very question, and he responded with a blank stare. I explained what I meant and continued, "Why don't they just bake mini-sub-sized sandwich bread or just use the six-inch size with less meat?" He looked at me, taking his time about answering, speaking as though to someone who was a little slow, "They're loaves. You can't make loaves smaller." I wish I were kidding.

Joe tells me Quiznos has an even more ridiculous policy. Their employees are required to weigh each sandwich ingredient on a little scale. That's not the ridiculous part. It's a little over-the-top, but I understand the desire to manage costs by controlling portions.

What is ridiculous? If the employee adds too much meat or cheese or whatever to the scale, he is required to cut off the overage and throw it away.

If anyone can explain the rationale behind either of these policies (emphasis on the "rational"), I'd appreciate it.

The learning continued on the drive home, when I also learned that people can be ridiculously mean.

Okay, I already knew that. But I sadly learned a new derivation of meanness.

During a stop in Kettleman City to walk the dogs, we met an elderly homeless man. We gave him some money and milk, and he commented on Roscoe and Bella. As we chatted, he told us about his dog. He was clearly attached to the puppy and became emotional just talking about her. He told us how good she was, and how he was able to run her around in the field. The local sheriff had given her to him, but a couple weeks ago, somebody stole her while he was buying food. Just cut the rope from her collar and took her. How low do you have to go to stoop to stealing a homeless man's puppy?

I'm always left with feelings of helplessness and insufficiency when confronted by homelessness. Tonight I'm left with these feelings and the nagging feeling that I wasted an opportunity. Since reading Don't Waste Your Life, I've become more aware of what can be wasted, but all too frequently only after it has been. So I have to be sure not to waste this opportunity to pray for a man. To pray for his physical provisions, for his health, and for him to be able to experience not only the love of a puppy again, but also - if he doesn't know it already - the true love that his hastily painted John 3:16 was meant to remind us of. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that who ever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

Lessons in Potty-training

2008-09-28T18:27:00.000-07:00

This actually happened a couple years ago, but I think it is still funny. And posting it means I don't have to come up with any new content for my blog right now.

ETA: Bummer. I just realized I already reposted this back in December of last year. Oh, well. I doubt anyone has read my archives. So if you're new to my blog, this is new to you.

*******************

The setting: 3 rooms, 18 children ranging in age from 5 months to 5 years, 4 adult women. Each of us has a baby in our arms. Mine is the only one not crying, but we have only achieved that state by being constantly in motion.

J, 3 year-old-girl, and Q, 2.5 year-old-boy, both have to "go potty" at the same time. Q is in a diaper, but he is insisting he wants to "go to the potty." I don't think it's that big a deal to take the both of them and baby S - I'll hold her, J and Q will go potty, and we'll all walk back to the room. First lesson of the day: it is a big deal to take two toddlers and a baby to the restroom by yourself.

We arrive, and it quickly becomes clear that Q has a diaper for a reason. He is not a seasoned pro at public pottying, like J is. First, he drops his pants and wants me to take off his shoes so he can get the pants completely off. I refuse (if for no other reason, than it is now taking two hands to keep S from squirming right out of my arms) and tell him to just pull down his diaper, too. He whips it off and throws it on the ground. Then he insists on having his shirt pulled off. Again I refuse. I just want to get this over with. S is getting squirmier by the minute.

Q turns to the toilet, which comes up almost to his chin. No way he's aiming in there. I pull a stool over with a foot and he climbs onto it, pants still around his ankles. Now I'm still holding baby S and hovering over Q willing him not to fall, 'cause I can't grab him without letting go of the baby. And this is when I learn my second lesson of the day: inexperienced pottiers, especially inexperienced boy pottiers, really ought to have their shirts taken off before pottying.

The damage is minimal though, a tiny spot really, so I shift S into "sack of potatoes" mode and whip off Q's shirt to dry.

By now J has exited her stall and wants help washing her hands. I simply cannot leave Q wobbling on his stool to help her, so I tell her she is a "big girl" and can do it herself. I talk her through it - turn on the water, soap up, rinse, dry your hands. And I am ready for my third lesson of the day: Three-year olds are very literal, and I neglected to say "roll up your sleeves." She is soaked to the elbows in her fleece sweater.

No time to deal with that now: Q decides standing is too much trouble, so he kneels on the toilet seat and wobbles on two knees and a hand while aiming with his other hand. I have to keep a close eye on him and figure out what I'm going to say to his mom if he falls in, how I am going to deal with fishing him out . I settle on shouting for someone to come help and console myself with the fact that he's mostly naked if he does fall in. He'll dry easier that way.

Finally, he gets off the toilet with no mishaps. He marches out of the stall, pants around his ankles, shirtless, and announces that he is done. J turns around to see...

She shrieks and points, "WHAT'S THAT?!"

I am momentarily speechless. s Does a nursery worker have authorization to give anatomy lessons without parental permission? How has J reached 3 in a co-ed nursery without ever seeing one before? Do I tell her the technical term or do I make up a cute term? What if it's a different cute term than the one her mom uses? So I do the best I can: I mumble incoherently and urge Q to pull up his pants QUICKLY.

Except, remember the discarded diaper? Q now has it and is offering it to me to put back on him. No way I'm putting a diaper that has recently rested on a public restroom floor on his bare bottom, not to mention that I'm not sure how I could do that with no hands anyway. I briefly consider sticking the baby under one arm and Q under the other and dashing into the nursery 4 doors down. But finally I convince Q to pull up his pants sans diaper.

Meanwhile, S has decided she's had enough of this and begins to shriek/sob as only a baby can; this is probably because I'm now holding her under one arm while I try to shove Q into his shirt with the other. J, however, is still fascinated by Q's extra part and unbuttons his pants to pull them down. I tell her no, but she is determined and tries to stick her hand down his pants. "It has to come off! We have to get it off!" she insists.

Only by promising cookies and fishy crackers am I able to get her to allow me to continue dressing Q and forget what she has seen. Lesson #4: Bribery is, as Martha Stewart would say, a good thing.

Scout, Not Getting in Trouble

2008-09-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

It's moments like this one that are the only times Scout is not causing chaos in the house.

Oops. I've awakened her.

Almost immediately, she spots a moth atop the nearly irresistibly climbable curtains.

Luckily, her nap was not yet finished.

Pampered Chef Redux

2008-09-14T01:07:00.000-07:00

My friend, Jessica, is a newish Pampered Chef consultant. I've written about my pathetic attempt to host a Pampered Chef party for her before.

I'm not going to try that again; I know my limits. I did, however, agree to host a catalog party. However, it seems Pampered Chef has gone high-tech since I was an actual Pampered Chef consultant just 7 years ago. Back then, a catalog party meant bringing a catalog or two to a place where people congregated (the teacher's lounge was always an excellent place) and cajoling them into looking through the glossy pages.

Today's catalog parties come complete with an on-line option for people who won't naturally congregate around the party host in person but might have some sort of virtual relationship with her. It's a crazy 21st century we live in, I tell you.

Anyway, like I said, I'm hosting a catalog party and you are invited. It'll be fun. Pour yourself an adult beverage or two, nibble on some treats, and click through the online catalog at www.pamperedchef.biz/jessicasorbello.

Jessica has all kinds of fun things going on for party participants.

Do you know what these are? No, not the pots. Obviously those are pots. I mean the red things. Those are awesome pot protectors. If you're like me, and I sincerely hope you are not, your pots have scratches and dings in them because you mean well but really when it comes down to it, putting away dishes is not your favorite thing to do and maybe, sometimes, you don't really take the time that might be strictly necessary to ensure nesting pots don't scratch each other. These pot protectors render those scratches and dings a thing of the past. And you can have them FREE! Yes, FREE! You know how I do love FREE!

Or maybe you are a more graceful and patient person than I. In that case, you can choose this for FREE instead.

I won't make you guess. It's a "Mix and Chop." That's right. In ONE handy gadget you can have the ability to both mix and chop. The advances in technology that we have made as a society boggle the mind.

But not to be outdone by Jessica, even I have doorprizes to give away as if this were a real live party! Be one of the first 5 people to order from Jessica and comment here, and I'll send you a free recipe book from Pampered Chef. The booklets are great; they tell you exactly which Pampered Chef tool you need to use to achieve the desired results. It's cooking for dummies, which is nice for people like me.

So if you have the desire to buy kitchen products, you can go to www.pamperedchef.biz/jessicasorbello and order straight from the website.

Click on "order products" and type in my name in the space for "party host."

The Mighty Hunter

2008-09-08T22:36:00.000-07:00

Last night, a possum entered our yard and Roscoe sounded the alarm. He begged, pleaded, and cajoled, but we refused to allow him into the yard to take down that evil possum. He resorted to flinging himself against the door and the slider, but still we stood firm.

Did the possum flee over the fence after taking one look at the snarling teeth threatening to show him just how welcome he was? Oh, no, possums are, unfortunately, not that bright. Instead, he stood frozen in terror.

Ultimately, I went out in my PJs and clapped my hands in its face to encourage him to leave.

Roscoe humphed and sulked but eventually decided curling up on a pillow was a better alternative to pouting and went back to bed.

Since we limit Roscoe's access to things like possums and raccoons, he has had to find other outlets for his hunting prowess.

"Thank You for Thanksgiving"

2008-09-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

We're approaching the end of the first week of school, and I am loving my class this year. They are very interested in doing things properly, which means they actually pay attention to procedure instruction and then follow the instruction. From the very beginning. It's mind-boggling.

This desire to do things properly means that they try very hard, even when they don't really understand what's going on. This was evident from the very start when we began our day with prayer time.

This year, I have decided that I am going to try to break the students of the habit of praying to God as though he were a "big Santa Claus in the sky." The common practice in classroom prayer is some form of taking prayer requests and then allowing students who want to pray to do so. The prayers tend to follow the same format every time:

"Dear God, ThankyouforthisdayPleasehelpmepassmytest, um [sneak peek at prayer request list] I want to pray for John's baseball game, and, um [another peek] please make Susan's mom's sister's friend's dog feel better. Amen"

So this year, I began our prayer time with a discussion about developing a relationship with God and how prayer is a conversation with Him. To help them make the transition from prayer being a laundry list of requests to a conversation with God, I introduced them to "ACTS" for prayer. Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. I knew I would have to explain the definitions of "Adoration," "Confession", and "Supplication," but I just briefly touched upon "Thanksgiving." I figured "giving thanks" was a pretty easy concept to understand.

So it was really funny when two of my students prayed along these lines:

". . . and, God, thank you for Thanksgiving, even though it's really far away, but we like it . . ."

It cracks me up that they had no idea why I wanted them to thank God for Thanksgiving in September, but that was what the procedure was, so that was what they were going to do.

Frugal Inspiration

2008-08-23T01:09:00.000-07:00

I've shouted praises of the Grocery Game from enough rooftops that almost everyone who knows me knows about it, but here are some of my other great frugal resources.

* Biblical Womanhood
* Centsible Shopper
* Coupon Mom
* Freebies 4 Mom
* Frugal Hacks
* Cheapskate Monthly
* The Dollar Stretcher

* Simple Mom

Here's some bonus inspiration. Over at Simple Mom, she's holding a drawing for an awesome gift basket with seven different gifts. To enter all you have to do is 1)comment, 2)subscribe to the blog, and 3)mention the giveaway in your blog. Each action earns you one chance.

and
* The Grocery Game

Just in case you forgot. When you sign up, tell them jeninslo @ sbcglobal.net sent you.

When Frugal Goes Wrong

2008-08-21T10:07:00.001-07:00

Our church often has piles of bakery bread loaves and rolls available for people to take home. Since we stay after most Sundays to help with "take down," we always grab a couple of loaves and some rolls from the leftovers. This Sunday we were not at church, which meant no bread for the week!

The options were to 1) go without and use the tortillas we have on hand for quesadillas, wraps, and such 2)buy cheap bread (bleh!), 3)buy the good stuff and use up a good portion of our budget, or 4) make our own.

Since every frugal website or book I've ever read highly recommended homemade bread for frugality and control over ingredients, I gave it a shot.

No portions of that bread have been altered for publication. That is the way it came out of the breadmaker. The breadmaker,people!

Sadly, it tastes as good as it looks. The ultimate confirmation of its inedibility was the fact that neither Scout (the bagel-nomming kitteh) nor the dogs even attempted to grab a piece off the counter all morning.

The biggest hindrance to our overall frugality is going to be my home economic skills.

Star Wars Geekiness

2008-08-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

I recently came across this wedding cake

which is all kinds of awesome and ridiculous all at once.

Go here to see more geeky fun.

Great White Snark

Hunts with Kitties

2008-08-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

Some people enjoy falconry in which they release a trained bird to catch prey. We prefer to hunt with a cat. Moths don't know what hit them when they enter our home.

Dog Boarding

2008-08-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

If I believed in reincarnation, I'd want to come back as one of my dogs. However, even I think this is a little over-the-top.

K9s Only Dog Daycare and Wellness Center

The "Why" Behind the Great Grocery Challenge

2008-08-14T01:01:00.000-07:00

Since opening up my blog to more people, I've had a few people approach me with various levels of incredulity or curiosity about "The Great Grocery Challenge." They wonder where I got the idea (the grocery game message boards), what I think about living on a budget (absolutely necessary and completely liberating), and whether I can keep up the challenge once I start working full time. I've been doing hardcore coupon shopping for quite a while now, including while I was teaching 5th grade full time. Considering that this past year's full-time school load, part time volunteering at Shell Beach, and job-sharing of 4th grade at CCS add up to significantly more than a full-time job, doing this with just a full-time job is going to seem easy-breezy come December.

But the number one question I have received is why??

To which I can simply reply, "Why not?" What reason would there be to deliberately spend more money than I need to spend?

But there's more to it than that. There are three main reasons, some less serious than others.

One reason for the challenge is that, believe it or not, it's just a little bit fun. We're approaching the phase where the challenge portion is becoming more of an actual challenge. Summer is a traditionally slow period for couponing and hot deals, so our stockpile of goodies and necessities is dwindling.

Which means that now's the time when it becomes really interesting. Can we really live on $25/week if we have to make sacrifices? For a couple of months, my coupons, stockpiles (built on a budget of $50/week, not including eating out costs), and creative financing (donating blood = one free Mo's sandwich) have made the challenge relatively painless (except for that whole needle stick part). It would be so easy to look at that $6.50 gallon of Naked Juice OJ and the $5 left in the budget and say, "Forget it, I can't do it. Raise the budget to normal levels." But that's no fun; that's quitting before the game has really begun.

Another reason for "The Great Grocery Challenge" is resetting our consumption default. We live in such a consumerist society that most Americans default mode is "buy it." I want to reset my default to "leave it on the shelf" and to do that requires getting radical about consumption habits. The GGC has filtered into every facet of our consumptive lives, so that every purchase is a thoughtful purchase even if we have the money to spend- from spending $4 on a new litter box (yes) or $5/month on text messaging on the cell phone (undecided) to $1000 for a new camera (no) or $400 on a plane ticket to visit family (yes). It doesn't mean we don't purchase ever; it means that every purchase has been considered and there is a rational reason for overriding the default mode.

We also want to get "gazelle intense" about paying off my student loan and our mortgage. And, yes, we know the arguments pro and con for paying off a mortgage. Ultimately, our decision comes down to this:

Proverbs 22:7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

We've come to believe God wants us to have no debt, not even so-called "good debt" like mortgages and student loans. I don't believe the Bible expressly forbids going into debt, and it even has specific guidelines for handling borrowing and lending. It sure makes clear that being in debt is not God's ideal, however. For us, eliminating debt means increasing the opportunity to put money toward God's goals, and it's where we feel we're supposed to be . . . even if that means living on $25/week for a while.

How Fast Do You Type?

2008-08-12T17:29:00.001-07:00

95 words

Speedtest

I really want to change "Try and click here" to "Click here to try," but it's an image.

Home from the Northwest

2008-08-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

I've just downloaded all my photos from a 9-day vacation visiting my family in Oregon and taking a quick trip to Seattle with Mom, Bernadette, and Kiana. Of 500 photos, only 320 or so were solely of my niece, Kiana.

Take a look at her and tell me that given unlimited access and 2GB of memory you wouldn't have done the same.

It wasn't hard to get photos of a happy, smiling kid just enjoying being alive, since that's pretty much how she is all the time. Kiana is another one of those children that makes you want to be around children, which means that Joe and I are sending our kids to either Bill/Bernadette or Liz/Tony for raising. Just giving you fair warning, guys.

Lots of photos and posts to come but for now, I'm enjoying pretending I don't have a mountain of work awaiting me at school.

Randomness

2008-07-31T18:15:00.001-07:00

Liz and kids left yesterday, and it was a fun visit. You know how sometimes when you are one-half of a childless couple, you visit people with children and you leave those people saying to your spouse, "That was exhausting. I don't think I could do that all day"? Liz's kids aren't those children. They're the kind of children that make you think, "Hmm, maybe I could do this." Of course, that's really a testament to Liz and Tony's parenting more than anything else. At one point, A&E complained that they each wanted to go on a different carnival ride. Liz said, "You can go on a ride together or not at all." They immediately decided they wanted to go on the same ride, because they've learned that Mommy means what she says.

I just got off the phone with the mother of a friend of mine. I listened to a half-hour recruitment pitch for Mary Kay consulting and then answered some questions. She took down my name and address and offered me $25 worth of free product. Sarah had called me asking if I'd do this for her mom, who only needed one more person to listen to the pitch this month. She thought of me because she knew I liked free stuff. This is true, but I'd like to point out to her that I said "yes" before I knew I'd be getting free stuff. Because in addition to liking free stuff, I am also a nice person.

I do have more things to put up for sale, and thanks to those of you who actually bought some of my things. I just don't have time right now, and I'm about to take off for Oregon and a week with my family up there. So check back, or subscribe on Google.com/reader and know instantly when more awesome things you must have are available to purchase for cheap.

The Great Grocery Challenge is still going strong. However, we "busted the budget" this week and went over by THIRTEEN dollars! I'm still in shock. I had to indulge in fair food on Tuesday because I just couldn't sit there and watch the kids eat corndogs and ice cream and not partake of exorbitantly over-priced goodies myself. However, we did get 3 adults and 2 kids into the fair for only $16. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Go Shopping in My Closet

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

It's a virtual garage sale! If you're local or want to pay shipping costs, go shopping in my closet. I'm in the mood to sell everything not nailed down; Scout and the dogs are busily nailing down their beds, and Joe has barricaded his garage. But everything else is fair game!

Here are some preliminary offerings:

Twentieth Anniversary Edition of Trivial Pursuit. I think we've played this once. $10 Boardgamegeek.com lists it at $50 for new and $12 for like new. You're getting a bargain!

This one's a little more well-used. Both Joe and I owned a version when we got married. I don't know why we haven't gotten rid of one of them before now. It does still have some score papers, so it hasn't been used that often. For $3 you too could have hours of board game fun.

Pretty terracotta pot with Southwestern design. This one's on freecycle. Yours if you want it.

Makes good waffles, for people who like waffles. I don't particularly, and Joe doesn't like them enough to warrant hauling out the waffle maker. Linens and Things lists it at $30, new. Yours for $8!

Are you having a Hawaiian-themed party? Then you need these glass slippers. They're pretty fancy, but I'm letting them go free!

This 8"x12" cutting board has been trapped inside the shrink wrap for more than four years, the poor thing. Don't you want to set him free? You can do so for the low, low price of $7. That's half what you'd pay at a big box store, so you can save money and avoid the guilt of shopping at a big box store yourself.

Are these not the most adorable cat mugs you've ever seen? Surely you know a cat lover who must have these mugs. They're Warren Kimble Cats, for goodness' sake! And they can be yours for $4! That's $1 a mug! You won't find better mugs at the dollar store, I guarantee. Fill them with catnip, and you have an instant gift for the cat lovers in your life.

Do I really need to describe these? They're belly dancing tassels, of course! C'mon, you know you've always secretly wanted to take up belly dancing but didn't know what to wear to the first class. Well, now you can show up and dance in style from the very start. $10 for the red, black, and white. $5 for the pink and green because you'll have to attach them to a belt. I'll even link you to where you can sign up.

http://www.worldrhythmandmotion.com/classes.php

Are you looking to start the CA teaching credential program? Do you know you need to pass a set of 3 subject tests before you can do so? I didn't, so I had to buy this book and study very quickly last July. I passed all three on the first try. This book was helpful, and it could probably help you, too. Because I am so very generous, I'll let you have it for $10. That's SIX dollars off the lowest used price at Amazon, and you don't even have to pay shipping.

These mighty mind bender cards are in like new condition. That's because some of them are really hard, and I get annoyed by them easily. So they sit on my shelf and mock me. I'd like to stop being mocked, so I'm letting these go for $4. If you tried to buy them at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Gift Shop, you'd be paying three times as much. I recommend buying them from me.

Rose-shaped mini bundt cakes! Who doesn't love rose-shaped mini bundt cakes? My wonderful friends threw a bridal shower for me and served these and then gave me the pan. I loved it. I also invariably ruined whatever I baked in it. It's not the pan's fault, I promise. Do you have the ability to follow the directions on the back of a cake mix box and pour neatly? If so, you'd love this pan even more than I do. Amazon sells it for $32, and it doesn't even qualify for super-saver shipping. Think of the money you'd be saving if you bought it from me for $10.

This is probably the most awesome picnic backpack out there. It has everything to have an environmentally-friendly picnic. There's no filling of landfills with plastic forks and styrofoam plates here! You can take your sweetheart and double date. There's enough for four! We're simply not romantic enough to take full advantage of it. So there it sits in our cupboard, tags still attached, cutlery still unused, taunting us and our non-romantic ways. Picnic At Ascot (from where this particular version comes) lists it at $103. Yes, you read that right. But since I'm tired of being taunted by inanimate objects, I'll let you have it for $55. Use it yourself or give it to some romantic newlyweds.

And, hey, you know Christmas is practically around the corner, right? There are people out there who have already started their shopping. Do you want to be behind the curve?

Are you one of those people that just loves cooking from scratch? Are you someone who always wants to ensure your family has only the finest ingredients and everything is made with love? I'm not, so I'm not really sure why I have this KitchenAid pasta maker/food grinder attachment. I did make my own ground beef for a while because, while don't really care about love, I do like cheap. And grinding your own lean chuck is cheaper than buying 7% ground beef.

But then I got the Tasin TS108 to grind turkey necks & whole chickens for the dogs, so I don't need a meat grinder/pasta maker combo. But you might for the bargain price of $25. Because while you aren't so neurotic that you make homemade dog food, you're just neurotic enough to make your own pasta and sausages.

I'm assuming that these are what is inside the lavender box labeled "Mary Kay Private Spa Collection Embrace Romance" because I did a Google search for those words, and this picture came up. I don't know for sure, though, because the box has not even left its shrink wrap. So if you were to buy these candles, you'd be the very first person to take a whiff and light the wick. If you bought them from Mary Kay herself, she'd charge you $8 and make you sit through a sales pitch. I won't do that to you. No sales pitch here, just hand over $5 and I'll give you the candles. Fair enough?

You might have picked up on a theme in my listings, I'm not much for fancy homemade cooking. And this book is fancy. So fancy that when I look at the pictures I get the urge to pick up the phone and call for reservations somewhere. But then I remember that I'm cheap, so I have to be content with longing for yummy food but not longing enough to actually do something about it. This book is so intimidating that it has never even been in my kitchen. That means it is in brand new condition. You could buy this book to give as a wedding gift for $13, which is less than half what is written on the inside of the book. That means you get credit for being a big spender without actually spending. What a deal, right?

*****************************************************
Stay tuned for more. This isn't even the tip of the iceberg. It's possible the next listing won't be as detailed, though. My fingers hurt.

Roscoe the Apple Hound

2008-07-25T17:35:00.001-07:00

Barking the apples out of the tree didn't work, so we're back to launching at the lower branches. Is it any wonder that the last time we were at the vet, he needed his back adjusted?

At last, success!

Freecycling!

2008-07-25T15:30:00.000-07:00

I am in love with freecycle.org! I've been listing things all day, and almost everything I've listed has been taken within minutes of my listing it.

www.freecycle.org

This is the best way to declutter fast! You won't make a lot of money (or, really, any money at all), but where else will you be able to get rid of a grocery bag full of mismatched jars and bottles, a random plastic plate, a bedskirt without the quilt, clothes that even Goodwill won't take 'cause they're ripped, and a random terra cotta pot and avoid the guilt that comes from tossing things into a landfill possibly leading to a disaster of Wall-E proportions!? You can get rid of stuff that Might Be Useful Someday with nary a qualm. You are no longer responsible for finding a use; someone else has taken that burden off your shoulders.

If you have stuff that you don't know what to do with but feel strongly that it Might Be Useful Someday, I highly recommend checking out your local www.freecycle.org.

Rare Anacondog Sighting

2008-07-22T14:19:00.001-07:00

Go to Photofunia for your own fun with photos.

Cheap Date

2008-07-18T21:27:00.000-07:00

Joe found a BOGO Jamba Juice coupon at techbargains.com (you'll have to do a search for "jamba" at the site), so we headed downtown this evening to live extravagantly. Usually we order a large and split it, but tonight we were preparing to live it up. Tonight we were each choosing our very own flavor.

Joe ordered a Peach Perfection, and I opted for Pomegranate Paradise. The kid at the register had to check with the manager, but our coupon was totally legit. So we prepared to hand over $4.40 for the two drinks, happy that with this purchase we would still be $1.93 under budget for the week.

But wait! What is this I see in my wallet? Why, it's a Jamba Juice gift card - a Valentine's Day present from my parents. Whee! Totally FREE Jamba Juice!

Giddy with the kind of excitement that only comes from FREE, we wandered over to people watch the Batman line. That's when we discovered the Downtown Cinema was playing previews on the outside wall. So we stood there for quite a while and watched everything from Madagascar Back 2 Africa (yep, "move it move it" is still a catchy little tune and still totally inappropriate for the target demographic) to Hancock (Will Smith can make even surly seem appealing) to the opening of The Dark Night (at which point we headed home because I have remained spoiler-free as much as possible).

It was like dinner and a movie lite. One of the fun unintended benefits that striving to live within a strict budget has is that you start rediscovering what it means to have fun without spending cash.

Operation Simplify

2008-07-17T23:38:00.001-07:00

Our friends, Jeremy and Lisa , live down in Burbank, and we've had the opportunity to visit them a couple times in the last few months. Every time I leave their place, I have to comment on how calm and relaxing it is being in their home. I'm sure more than half of that has to do with how hospitable and friendly they are, but a really big part of it is how uncluttered their lives are. For one, they don't have stuff in every nook and cranny like I do.

To be fair, I have a bit of a head start on collecting stuff. I don't think Lisa has been alive for as long as I have had some of the things in my "collections."

A few months ago, after another completely relaxing time at the Spears's home, I decided that Summer 2008 would be the summer I purged our house of clutter. Summer started when my homework ended, and I set to work Operation Simplify right away. I took the name from Lisa's motto on her blog: "strive for simplicity."

Yesterday was Day One. I opened up every cupboard in the kitchen, and I took every last thing out of them. (I then went to the women's fellowship group at church and neglected to call Joe to tell him what he was coming home to, but we'll just gloss over that teeny detail.) When I started to put things back, the only items allowed were items that were used regularly or loved totally.

So I kept the red heart-shaped Le Creuset casserole dish that Liz gave me because it makes me happy even if I only use it 5-6 times a year. I also kept a bunch of Tupperware-type containers, even though I think they're ridiculously ugly, because I use those 5-6 times a day.

I did not keep 2 picnic carriers; a handful of different mugs that one time or another contained candy, hot cocoa mix, tea, or other "gifty" items; a wine chilling container; a "rubaway" scent bar; beautiful and completely unusable in their beauty stainless steel bowls; a bottle of catnip labeled Chat Noir; a Cuisinart juicer, various Christmas dishes, four billion empty glass jars saved because they might be useful, a slightly scratched crystal cake platter, and a whole lot more kinda cool and mostly unnecessary things.

Even though I've only been at this for two days, I still keep forgetting my new mantra: "Unless it's used regularly or loved totally, it goes!" I find myself saying "Well, I might use this someday." And it's possible that I very well might. That teddy bear-shaped Mikasa serving dish? I could totally use that someday. I could also use any one of the other five serving dishes I do love. Bye-bye, teddy bear-shaped serving dish.

I don't know how far I'm going to get with this project, but my pile of stuff is 4 feet by 3 feet and more than 2 feet tall just from the kitchen. It's that big even after I photographed and neatly stacked every item in anticipation of my virtual garage sale via craigslist and ebay. That's a significant dent in the clutter right there.

I next started in on the hall closets, and I managed to decide against 5 board games (two of which are still in their shrink wrap) and 3 pillows. I moved 2 blankets from the game closet into the blanket closet, and I'm definitely looking into space bags for the five fluffy blankets that do get used regularly in the winter but just get in my way in the summer. I now have a whole empty shelf in the hallway. It's heavenly.

Next stop, the bedroom. Not a lot there, since the Women's Fellowship at church had a clothing swap yesterday. I took over an absolutely overflowing laundry basket full of clothes and came home with 5 adorable tops, 1 cozy sweater, and a pair of shoes. All the leftover clothes from the clothing swap were donated to the Women's Shelter. Which means I was able to declutter, shop, save money, and donate all in one fell swoop. What's not to love about that?

The room I'm dreading the most is the "project room," aka the "where-does-this-go?-I-don't-know-and-am-too-lazy-or-busy-to-think-about-it,-I'll-put-it-here" room. This is also the room where Joe keeps his clothes, since our bedroom closet ain't big enough for the both of us. All he asks is that I keep a path from the door to the closet; and that's all he's got. Eek!

In my defense, again, both of our parents did recently move out of homes where they had lived for 25 and 35 years. What do parents do when they move out of homes where their children were raised? They ask said children to come pick up stuff and "do something with it." Parents with a little extra money, new cozy homes built for two, and the desire to start over fresh also ask their children if they want X, Y, or Z piece of furniture. Sometimes their children, both having too much sentimentality wrapped up in frugality, take on a few too many items. Therefore, among other things, we have 2 extra TVs, 1 extra loveseat, an extra dining set, and 2 Laz-E-Boy recliners.

I originally thought we were going to take these items and then craigslist them or otherwise turn them over for cash. Then I sat in one of the recliners and, when I woke up from my comfort-induced nap, vowed to figure out a way to make it work because I love that chair.

This project might be a little more difficult than I anticipated.

Scout: The Bagel Nomming Kitteh

2008-07-17T15:17:00.001-07:00

First, if you don't know what a "kitteh" is or what it means to "nom" something, you must go here: I Can Has Cheezburger.

Second, Scout is one weird cat. We normally do our best to keep bread under lock and key because she will find it, rip open the container, and make herself sick with the amount of bread she'll eat. She started out a sourdough connoisseur but quickly diversified into a general bread gourmand. I did think that my blueberry, garlic/onion, and jalapeno bagels would be safe long enough to run into the bedroom and change clothes, though.

I was wrong.

But she made up for it by allowing me some good pictures of the crime.

The Great Grocery Experiment Update

2008-07-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

A while ago I mentioned that Joe and I were going to try to keep our consumables budget under $25/week for the two of us. This includes all food, paper goods, personal care products, and eating out.

I am happy to say that we made it under budget for the first four weeks! And we went out to dinner twice and lunch once in that time.

Keeping the grocery budget at $25/week is helpful since I spent $80 on gas to go up to Walnut Creek and back in one weekend. :p

RICA Examination

2008-07-14T23:26:00.001-07:00

I'm "studying" for the RICA exam, which is one element of getting your CA State Credential. This is a sample question as given in the test preparation guide:

Mr. White wants to do a better job of teaching meaning vocabulary. He realizes that there are many words in the English language that his fifth graders don't know (how astute of him). Which words should he select for his meaning vocabulary lessons?

a. Words that are topically related to each other and words needed to comprehend a reading selection
b. The best idea is to proceed in alphabetical order. First, teach words that begin with A, then proceed to words that begin with B.
c. Select words the children are most interested in learning.
d. He should start by teaching the meanings of the words his students already know because that will help them learn key strategies for learning words they don't know.

I'm almost offended by the question, except that one of my pet peeves is how easily people toss around the phrase "I'm offended by . . ." The question simply lends credence to the belief I have that a not-insignificant portion of this credentialing process is a waste of my time (except for the fact that I will then have a piece of paper entitling me to more money per month).

When I was a senior in high school, my AP English teacher once noted that a "well-constructed multiple choice exam" is one of the most difficult tests to create. The difficulty arises in the need to provide 3 to 5 plausible, logical responses to one question while ensuring only one response is a defensible response. (And then she gave us the assignment of creating a well-constructed multiple choice exam about the novel we were reading.) The question above? NOT an example of a well-constructed multiple choice question.

I'd wager that, with just an itty-bitty amount of thought and absolutely no teacher training whatsoever, most of you non-teachers out there could figure out the correct answer. (It's "A," if you want to check your guess.)

What is the point of tests like this in the certifying of teaching ability? The method by which we certify teachers needs to be completely overhauled. Adding more standardized test hoops through which to jump is not going to ensure the best teachers graduate into the field. Adding more "tasks" that credential candidates have to complete and have scored by committee is not going to ensure that the best teachers end up in front of the classroom. And requiring the submission of endless "lists of best practices" which we are then encouraged to paste in our planning books "for easy reference" in various subject areas is for sure not going to ensure students aren't shortchanged by incompetency in the classroom.

I chose this program partially because it seemed like the program most in touch with what was really needed for fledgling teachers -- time in the classroom. (Also because it was half the cost of Cal Poly and let me keep working while going to school.) Unfortunately, they still have to comply with state requirement after state requirement and pass the requirements along to us. Not that anyone is going to listen to me, but I think that someone needs to seriously consider how to create an apprenticeship type program for new teachers. This idea isn't original to me (I credit the best kindergarten teacher I know, my mom, for it), but it makes more and more sense the further I get into the bureaucracy of credentialing.

With an apprenticeship program, the prospective teacher would be paired with a mentor and act as a teacher's aide. Over time the apprentice would be given more and more responsibility for the students until s/he and the mentor are effectively co-teaching. At that point, the apprentice is ready to move into his/her own classroom. While working as an aide and moving up to co-teacher, the apprentice could and should continue to study theory and be tested in the ability to implement the theory. But all effective teachers are perpetual students; the difference would be the elimination of busy work. The apprentice can immediately implement and test results in the classroom.

Obviously, I don't have all the answers. While I don't recommend anyone take my path of getting into teaching (being tossed into the deep end of junior high without any training whatsoever), I do think that getting into the classroom and being supported by incredible mentors on a daily basis did more to teach me the fundamentals of teaching than any activity in this whole program. It doesn't hurt that I have been absorbing best practices in teaching for more than 20 years simply by listening to my mom over the years, but again, that simply lends support to my belief that mentors do more for molding good teachers than any class can do.

This post started out as a vent on the RICA exam and turned into something more (and yet less at the same time, with its rambling nature and abrupt ending). I guess I better get back to studying for the RICA, so that I can upload my sample test to my faculty advisor. After that I have one more "Expected Learning Outcome" (a set of 10 activities) and a summary of a literacy case study to complete, and I will be finished with Term 3. Giving me five whole weeks to do whatever I want to do (which is train my dogs, read a lot, host Liz and kids, purge my house of clutter, ride the train to Oregon, and maybe take a road trip down south).

The Lazy Blogger's Post of Choice

2008-07-10T17:51:00.000-07:00

.

A picture post!

Roscoe has a sweet tooth, and his sweet tooth really really likes apples. Our apple tree is just beginning to produce fruit again this season, so he spends most of his outdoor time trying to reach the bottom branches.

He can't quite make it, so he then barks at the apples in a "I command you to come down now" tone of voice (tone of bark?). One bark every minute or so.

I can't leave him outside barking, and it's more trouble than it's worth to train it out of him. So I bring him inside. Where he does this and daydreams about eating apples.

Some more of Roscoe coveting apples

Pictures

2008-07-08T22:39:00.001-07:00

I have three or four "half posts" waiting to be finished, but no time to write them as well as I want to write them. In the meantime, here are some pictures. Roscoe, Bella, Scout, and what's left of my hydrangeas.

Hiking with Dogs

2008-07-05T20:11:00.001-07:00

We had a relaxing Fourth of July holiday. We opted to stay in by ourselves rather than deal with ridiculous crowds at Pismo Beach for a fireworks show. I just don't like fireworks displays enough to deal with that many people in cold, uncomfortable conditions.

In anticipation of dealing with Bella and her annoyance at all things "Not Normal" (such as exploding firecrackers next door), we took the dogs for a long hike to tire them out. The idea was to exhaust Bella so much that she wouldn't bother vocalizing her displeasure. I am not sure she was that tired, but Roscoe curled up right after dinner and then sort of slithered out of bed this morning rather than bouncing out. He also couldn't quite move his back leg high enough to scratch his ear.

Today we went to lunch with my in-laws and my in-law's in-laws. Luke (Joe's brother) and Cathy (Luke's wife) recently moved to Templeton from Fremont, so we met up with them and her parents and Joe's parents for a tour of their new home and their many dozens of rose bushes.

I also tried to get some decent pics of the other W family "grandpets": Teague and Winnie the Poodle.

I got some cute pictures of Teague, but this one best expresses his personality. Teague makes Bella look like an angel.

But this is Winnie the Poodle. She really is this sweet.

And just so I don't totally get in trouble with Teague's people for revealing his true nature, here's a cute one of him, too. He can't quite hide the mischief in his eyes, though.

Brain Food

2008-06-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

I have this huge "Task" due today. That's what they call it: "Task 2." It's annoyingly big and useless and tedious.

I've been procrastinating completing it, completing more useless but easier "expected learning outcomes" as a way of avoiding it. However, there comes a time when even the most skilled procrastinator knows her time is up. So today I sat down at the computer at 9 a.m. and have been here almost ever since. I don't think I'll be meeting my personal record for assignment completion tonight.

The "almost" comes from the times that I got up to get something to eat, which was a lot of times. In the past twelve hours, I have eaten the following:

a strawberry banana smoothie
a glass of OJ
a handful of pretzels
a handful of granola
a few chips
a cookie
some more OJ
a bottle of water
another cookie and some more chips
another handful of pretzels
a tri-tip sandwich
grapefruit juice
another bottle of water
some more grapefruit juice
an entire bag of microwave popcorn
a half a pound of carrots
some more chips and a cookie
an M&M's ice cream bar
a bowl of pasta with cheese and beef
some more grapefruit juice

and about 3/4 of a pack of gum in an attempt to keep me from eating all of the above.

I'm currently contemplating a bowl of bananas and strawberries with whipped cream.

I started out strong, but it was that first handful of potato chips that did me in. I honestly think I ate more today than I have eaten all week. The scary part is that I actually still feel hungry.

No Wonder They Have Naps in Kindergarten

2008-06-25T16:58:00.001-07:00

I am wiped out after three days of, not teaching, but merely assisting in a remedial kindergarten/first class. I have literally taken a nap every day after our half-day school session.

One the first day, I made two kids cry. On the second day, I avoided any criers but I suspect that was by virtue of lack of interaction with the really young ones. Today, I had another crier but she wasn't my fault. She came to me that way.

That didn't matter. I still had no idea what to do with her.

She was terrified the yard aide was going to call her mom because she had been caught kicking a classmate. I tried to convince her that there wasn't anything she could do about it now that the kicking had occurred, so she might as well enjoy the rest of her day and deal with her mom later. And meanwhile, maybe she should remember that kicking isn't appropriate.

She doubled over like someone had stabbed her in the tummy and wailed, "But you don't understaaaaaaand!!! I'm soooo scared!!!" I told her that being scared didn't really do any good since being scared didn't change the situation. She looked at me like I was the lamest grown-up she had ever met. She could quite possibly be right.

My first crier was a little girl who came to me with barely a sniffle - just a small, sad face. She said her foot hurt and pulled down her sock to show me. I commented that it was probably a blister, and we could put a band-aid on it to make it feel better. I was actually feeling quite proud of myself for knowing how to fix her. Then she pulled the sock down more, and I saw it was actually a splinter. Still, I know how to fix a splinter, too.

So I said, "Oh, it's a splinter. We'll. . ." and was cut off with a soul-wrenching wail, "Nooooooooooooooo! It can't be a splinter! It's NOOT a splinter!!"

Me, "Yes, it is a splinter. We'll just take it out."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" By this time, I had a crowd of kindergarteners trying to see what I was doing to torture their friend. I tried to reason with her (because that would be the logical thing to do with an hysterical 5-year-old, right?) but only succeeded in increasing the volume of the wails. It took a fellow kindergartener to convince her to hobble to the office and have the nurse remove the splinter.

Then there's C. C answered the question, "What letter makes the "mmmm" sound?" with "I don't know." He answered that for every sound I suggested. He then told me that he doesn't know how to write a letter even if I tell him which letter to write. He finally claimed he couldn't copy a letter from the alphabet chart. So I wrote dot letters on his paper to trace. It was at this point that he flung the paper off the desk, shouted, "I KNOW HOW TO DO IT!" and burst into tears.

Give me hormonal junior highers any day.

C, however, also provided me with my first summer school funny. Today I convinced him that he could write "M O M" and that he did know how to write "M" and "O." I watched him put his pencil to paper and then turned to help his neighbor. When I looked back, C had written three very neat boxes with various dots inside each one. I said, "C, what are you doing?" He looked at me, looked at his paper, and then shook his head and began erasing. "Man, I was writing in robot language again," he mumbled as he erased.

Kindergarten is a whole new world for me.

Hooray for A/C and Laptop Computers

2008-06-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

I'm at my seminar today. It's hot, but we have A/C. It's also boring, but I have internet access. I can't decide whether I wish I were at the science seminar, which is all about how to teach inquiry-based science by actually doing the inquiry science and would be totally fascinating but is being held outside, or at my math seminar which is 90% demonstrations about stuff I mostly already know or could learn by reading a quick handout but is being held inside.

Everyone thinks I'm writing notes, which I am --- when something important is said. The problem with most seminars in my experience, however, is that a concept will be introduced and an example will be presented, and then the questions begin. About 3/4 of those questions are either irrelevant or already answered in the initial concept introduction. This leaves 1/4 that are relevant and previously unanswered (wow, there's one of our concepts being put to use right now - we all use math every day! Oh, wait, that's "Numb3rs").

Anyway. . . of that 1/4, about 2/3 could be figured out with just a tiny bit of thought. So then there you sit for all but 1/12 of the seminar with nothing to do but doodle and wish people would pay more attention when speakers are speaking and not waste time with irrelevant questions that make a 2-hour presentation last 8.

Which is why I love my laptop and free wireless internet. I've already finished two assignments, checked my e-mail, read everything new in Google/reader, and shopped for a new camera. I feel all high-tech and modern, blogging from a remote location. I need a Palm Pilot or Blackberry to join the 21st century for real, though. Anyone know where I can get one for free, with a coupon? ;)

Finding a Silver Lining

2008-06-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we have to drive to Fresno. I have an all day seminar at CSUFresno, and Joe is dropping me off and continuing east to wash windows on the Shaver house. It's currently 100 degrees in Fresno, and is scheduled to be 100+ tomorrow.

The silver lining is that after the last couple of days we've had here in SLO, this will be a relief.

This is the temp and time from this morning (digital temp is the indoor temp just before I brought the clock outside).

This is the indoor temp when Joe came home for lunch today. Apparently we both had the same idea about recording this ridiculousness on camera.

And this is temperature when I got home this afternoon.

Happy Father's Day (a repeat)

2008-06-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

They say women end up marrying their fathers. I always had this vague idea that I would not be one of those women.

And I went about my life, meeting various men, dating some of them, not really finding "the one." But always dating men who were most definitely not "just like dear ol' dad."

Then one day I met Joe, and he was everything I wanted in a husband. I knew this to be true because I had a list. And so we did get married, because I fit his list, too. Yes, he had a list. That's how we knew we were going to be perfect for each other. That and the mutual fear and loathing of mayonnaise and salad dressing. I mean, really, if that doesn't spell match made in heaven, what does?

And just like I thought he would be, he was nothing like my father. Tall, blonde, & pale. Dirt bikes & Jeeps. Road trips & dogs. None of the things one would associate with my dad.

But then three months into marriage while trying to consolidate two households into one, I came across my fourteenth pile of 10-year-old magazines and my 342nd out-of-date coupon. I stopped to think about it and realized we were 76 days into our research on which cordless telephone to add to our household. And I took a look around and saw, clearly for the first time, the piles and piles of things stacked in the garage because "we might need it someday."

And then it hit me. Despite all my best efforts, I had married my father. I laughed about it. I rolled my eyes about it. But not until more than the passage of a year did I start to understand what marrying my dad really means.

It all started when Joe started musing about where would be best for us to live. Almost every thought ended with “… would be good for when we have kids” or “…wouldn’t be the best for the kids.” As the “the future” kept being discussed, phrases like, “Well, if it’s best for my family, then that’s what I’ll do” popped up regularly.

Which got me thinking . . . Dad didn’t have to come home early to coach Little League or spend Saturdays at baseball games and swim meets. He certainly didn’t have to spend his valuable vacation time carting his family to visit “Gram & Pop” or take the kids to Disneyland. Long nights working on calculus homework or building 4th grade missions are not prerequisites for being a father. It’s certainly not a requirement that a dad fix his teenagers’ cars or even give them cars to begin with. Lots of dads get away without co-signing loans or paying for weddings. And if he regrets any of that now, I sure can’t tell.

So I guess what I’m saying is, if 30 years from now, “I love you” comes out in the form of “Did you check your oil?” and I’m still surrounded by piles and piles of magazines . . . I’m okay with that.

End of the Year

2008-06-14T11:41:00.001-07:00

We had our end of the year party on Thursday, and as expected, I rode the Stampede many times.

I don't actually mind; I'll go down it by myself.

Mustang Waterslides is an awesome place to have an end of year party with students. There are a ton of lifeguards and the whole place is enclosed. Teachers just have to generally count heads every once in a while to make sure all of theirs are still in the park, but otherwise, we just got to goof off and have fun with the kids, too.

I think students would be shocked at how much teachers like to goof off. Yesterday we had a half-day, and I started moving my stuff over to 6th grade while the current 6th grade teacher packed up. At one point, he was showing me how to run the SmartBoard (I am so excited to have a SmartBoard next year!) and a Nintendo game was hooked up to it. This led to a Mario Brothers battle between 4th, 5th, and 6th while we were supposed to be working. At one point, Mr. M said, "I wonder which of us is going to be the grown-up and say 'We should get back to work.' It's not gonna be me."

Free for You

2008-06-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

I love saving money. I can thank my husband for being the pusher of that specific high you get when you don't spend money. For his birthday or our anniversary, I can get him a card (preferably on clearance or homemade) with a note that says something along the lines of "I thought about getting you a new tablesaw for your birthday, but I didn't. I just saved you $200."

I'm not as addicted as he is. I still want presents. Quality presents purchased on clearance for the best possible value for the money, but presents nonetheless.

For Valentine's Day, however, if we celebrate, we do it on the 15th and pick up our cards and candy for 50% off that morning. Besides the obvious benefit, celebrating on the 15th means you beat the crowds as well.

One year, we did celebrate on the 14th. I think it was our first Valentine's Day together before we both realized neither of us really care all that much about Valentine's Day (except for the presents part. I still like the presents part.).

We dressed up and brought a couple of candlesticks to Sylvester's , ordered burgers, and had a candlelight dinner. Then we took a gift certificate to the first evening showing of Chicago. I guarantee you, we beat the crowds that way, too.

I'm not really sure what it is about saving money, but it might be akin to the giggles we get out of timeshare presentations. It feels like winning. Here are these marketing execs who are signing off on millions of dollars in advertising to get me to spend money, and I'm not buying it. Hee! I win.

I do love to win.

If we save enough to pay off our mortgage a la Dave Ramsey and have enough economic freedom to give ridiculously generously, I'll feel like an even bigger winner.

But what makes winning even better right now, is that I don't even have to sacrifice all that much (okay, I still have brown carpet, but it's worth it . . . I think). I just have to find ways to make them pay me to take stuff off their hands. Which is why I like on-line surveys (and CVS). For a a few minutes of my time, Keynote will give me $10 in Amazon GC. And now, I'm getting these

for free. Not even paying shipping.

And now I'd like to give you your first hit for free. Share a money-saving tip in my comments, and you'll be eligible to win a free box of Honey Bunches of Oats. I've got coupons that ask you to send in five non-HBO cereal coupons and receive a free box of HBO. I've already sent in for my free box, and I have more to give away. I'll even fill out the form and send in the non-HBO coupons for you.

Procrastination, Hydrangeas, and the World's Cutest Niece

2008-06-08T21:44:00.001-07:00

I was talking to a friend at church this morning about blogging. She commented that I had been quite the blogger lately with all my posts. She also noted that she had a few posts rattling around in her head but hadn't had time to get them posted yet. I said it's easier to blog about one's life when you don't actually have one, but if you have a life, you don't have time to write about it.

She then pointed out that I would have a life if I stopped procrastinating with my blog and actually got my work done.

She's a smart one. In my defense, blogging doesn't take that long. And I got four assignments done today.

So I leave you with two things recently downloaded off my compact flash card . . .

I love my hydrangeas. When you have two large dogs, no gardening skills whatsoever, and no real desire to invest in a garden, beauty is hard to come by in the backyard. Which makes these even more amazing. They just show up every year, a gorgeous spot of color in an otherwise trampled yard.

And here's another spot of beauty. This is the world's cutest niece.

The Great Grocery Experiment

2008-06-08T15:37:00.000-07:00

This isn't really a coupon post. It's a budget post. I'm not technically breaking my promise. :)

Starting today, we've reduced our grocery budget to $25/week. I've been averaging $50, and that's gotten me quite the stockpile of non-perishables and might-as-well-be-non-perishables (did you know Cheerios will last a year, even without the typical BHT preservative? It's a little disturbing, but doesn't stop me from eating them). But it hasn't included eating out money.

This $25 is intended to cover all household consumables except dog food. Soap, razors, paper towels, shampoo, toothpaste, meat, eggs, bread, produce, dairy, eating out, anything that gets purchased and used up by me or Joe comes out of this $25 per week.

So I sat down and wrote up my list for the week; we only "need" OJ and maybe some spinach.

Spinach is $2 for a bag. That leaves us $23 to do some stockpiling of rockbottom deals & get OJ. We have rice and noodles, so I'll wait to see if potatoes go on sale this Wednesday. I have a watermelon, bananas, pineapple, and mandarin oranges. I picked up a peach for 40 cents (I wanted more but couldn't find any that were ready to eat right now) and made fruit salad.

This leaves $22.60, so Joe and I hit Ralph's on the way home from church:

2 dental floss - $0
Windex - $0
Smart Balance Omega butter spread - $0
2 energy bars $0
32 oz Powerade - $0
peach lemonade - $0
raspberry lemonade $0.50
can whipped cream - $0.50
2 aloe vera liquid hand soaps - $0.40
1/2 gallon organic valley milk - $1
1/2 pound feta cheese with black peppercorn - $1.80
3.5 pounds tri-tip - $7

Total underbudget so far $13.80

Now the big decision - $3 for Minute Maid OJ or $7 for Naked Juice?!

(ETA: UPDATE - The Experiment is now The Challenge. The experiment worked. Let's see how long the challenge lasts.)

Guest Blogger

2008-06-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

My brother had a blog, but he doesn't maintain it anymore. Which is too bad because he's one of the funniest people I know, definitely the funniest accountant. This one makes me giggle every time I see a yogurt pretzel.

Sound Business Strategy

The vending machine at work has an assortment of snacks. One particular snack is yogurt-covered pretzels. These pretzels do not sell well. However, it is not the product itself that condemned these innocent bags to sit on the shelf, waiting for a daring hero to come rescue them, yelling out at each man or woman as they walk by, “E5! E5! Those cookies are loaded in fat; I’m yogurt! Yogurt is healthy! Aw, dammit! Screw you and your M&M’s. You know what the M’s stand for? Macabre and myopic!” (Although yogurt-covered pretzels do know a lot of words, they don’t really have a good grasp on their meanings.)

Anyway, the reason these tasty treats do not sell well can be traced directly to the decision to sell these items out of a vending machine for $1.05.

People don’t carry a lot of loose change with them, so it is likely that the customer will be approaching the machine with a one dollar bill with which to make their purchase. Given the choice between buying any one of a myriad of snacks with just a single dollar bill or yogurt pretzels with two dollar bills, the poor pretzels must wait.

Here’s a quick calculation that represents the lost income for every 100 yogurt-covered pretzels-craving customers:

Customers who are willing to pay the extra 5 cents: 2
Customers who would have paid $1 for yogurt-covered pretzels: 50
Lost income due to charging extra 5 cents: $47.90

Now, I’m not one to help a company out just because they aren’t smart enough to know how to price their product, but the sight of those poor pretzels everyday can wear on a guy. They are innocent victims of the greedy corporation. That’s why I’m introducing my foundation called Save A Pretzel, or SAP. For every dollar that you contribute, I will match 5 cents and release a bag from his glass and wire prison. Together we can save the pretzels.

Bella vs Scout

2008-06-06T14:19:00.001-07:00

Bella has been chasing a fly all morning. It has eluded her numerous times, but she finally herded it into the small guest bathroom. This, however, is Scout's territory and Scout let Bella know that the fly was now hers. She then proceeded to chase the fly into a corner and whack it, stun it, and eat it in 5 seconds flat.

Bella would like you to know, in her defense, that she tired it out before Scout got to it.

Give That Kid an "A"

2008-06-04T16:27:00.001-07:00

I gave my students the assignment of writing a narrative to illustrate a particular picture. The pictures were silly, and they had to come up with a logical story for that picture. Their choices were a mouse peeking out of a Swiss cheese hole, a kangaroo on a leash in a grocery store, and Roscoe looking forlorn under a pile of torn up "eggcrate" foam.

C decided to write about Roscoe, and this is one of the lines in his story:

"My owner is Mrs. W, and she is very pretty."

Don't you think he deserves an A?

Toast

2008-06-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

I came home from school today and was confronted by a piece of cold toast in the toaster. I had to stare at it for a minute or two and then call Joe, because I honestly couldn't remember whether I had eaten my toast this morning. That's what kind of semester it has been.

I am so ready for summer. Tomorrow I teach a time management "mini-lesson" to a gang of sixth graders. Then I have two more teaching days with my kiddoes to cram as many fraction and density = mass/volume lessons into them as possible. Then it's off to Mustang Water Slides for our end of year extravanganza. I anticipate being called upon to ride this many times, as I am one of two teachers at the school willing to do it. And the heavier the raft is, the faster you go. :p

I Really Do Want You to Save Money

2008-06-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, one last time with the grocery list and I promise I'll try not to bug you anymore with couponing. If you want to try the Grocery Game, it only costs $1 for a month's trial, and you do NOT have to be a processed food, junk food only eater. We do eat some of that stuff, but you don't have to. You'll still save money. Promise. And if you're in Southern California, the game has a Whole Foods list, meaning for $1.25/week, they will tell you how to save $50-100 on Whole Foods type products.

6 pound watermelon
8 pounds pork chops & beef steaks (not sure how much of each)
1/2 gallon lemonade
1/2 gallon organic milk
2 pounds bananas
3 CPK frozen pizzas
1 Digiornio frozen pizza
1.5 quarts Dreyer's mint chip ice cream
1.5 quarts Dreyer's vanilla ice cream
2 pints Dove chocolate raspberry ice cream
2 pints Ben & Jerry's (Magic Brownie & Visualize Whirled Peace)
3 atkins energy bars
5 2-L Sierra Mists
1 toothbrush
1 pack of floss
2 32-load All "free & clear" detergent
1 jar Barilla marinara sauce
1 pound whole wheat & flax seed Barilla pasta
3 dozen eggs
1.5 pounds mozzarella cheese
3/4 pound Lay's potato crackers

Total cost: $50

Here's the rationale for the ridiculous amounts of soda and ice cream. I had a BOGO coupon for Sierra Mist. I like to mix Sierra Mist or sparkling water with fruit juice for a sparkly juice. So I've been keeping my eye out for a good deal on Sierra Mist to get the price down to 50 cents a 2L. My diligence was duly rewarded. Ralph's has a buy two get three free sale going on. So I bought one for $1.89, gave them my BOGO coupon and got a second one for zero. Those two then triggered the store sale, which allowed me to get three more 2L for free. Even if I only wanted one 2L of soda, are you going to sit there and tell me you'd pass up FREE??

The CPK and Digiorno pizzas are also currently on sale for a buck or so off. I had coupons for another couple of bucks each, making pizza night a reality for $3-4 each. Since we try to do "Lost and pizza" or "Arrested Development and pizza" every week or so, that saves us quite a bit of Round Table money. Worth it right there. But then for every two frozen pizzas I bought, they tossed in a container of Dreyer's ice cream. Again, you gonna pass up free? I'm going to vacuum seal the containers, and they'll last a year. Given the amount of ice cream we've gotten at rock bottom deals lately, they're going to have to.

Then with coupons the Dove and B&J ice cream were about $1/pint. Not quite free, but come summer, who isn't going to want ice cream? So we have the option of hitting Cold Stone when the mood hits us and paying $4-5 for a scoop and some add-ins or reaching into the freezer and dishing it up ourselves for 50 cents or less. What are you going to pick?

And now I'm going to go prep my steaks and pork chops, so that when the mood strikes for meat, all I'll have to do is pull them out of the freezer and toss 'em in the oven. Then I think we'll have pasta, fruit salad, and sourdough for dinner.

ETA: Oh, and if you made it this far, here's a hot tip for you. Buy 2 $25 Am Ex gift cards and get a $25 gift card to Borders, Best Buy, or Fandango. If you have something you want at any of these retailers, you could save $17 (there's an Am Ex activation fee).

Six Million People Can't Be Wrong

2008-05-31T19:55:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Joe and I researched a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of an offer to become owners of resort property in Lake Tahoe. In exchange for looking into this fantastic opportunity, we received $150 and a free vacation at the San Luis Bay Inn.

If you have not personally experienced the fun that is sitting through a time share presentation, I highly recommend it. The experience lasted a little over 90 minutes and has provided us with hours of reflective amusement. This was only our second presentation, but I'm strongly considering making it a hobby to attend these things, flummox salespeople with our innate cheapness, and collect cash. There are those who will argue it's not worth it, but where else are you going to earn $100 an hour with no work on your part?

Their sales tactic are oldies, but goodies. The first was the "make us feel like old friends" method, which began when Jade told us that we didn't "have to be open-minded, just honest" and she promised that even if we didn't buy today, "we'd still walk out of here friends." Because we were such good buddies when the pitch started? A more honest comment might have been, "I'll let you walk out of here without actually hurling insults at you for being cheap, close-minded, and soulless."

I particularly liked the attempts to make me feel smarter than the average presentation-attendee, such as when I attempted to shorten a complicated explanation of points and maintenance fees with "Basically, every 500 points costs an extra $40 maintenance fee."

Ross, the "numbers guy," stared in open admiration. "Wow, that's a good observation. Its actually $0.08001045003 per point. Are you in finance or something?" Because it takes a degree in finance to read a chart that says 1500 points $450, 2000 points $490, 2500 points $530 and make the brilliant deduction that every 500 points = $40/year.

But some of our favorite lines from the afternoon included this gem, "Six million people can't be wrong," again because, really? I'm not only sure they can, but quite frequently have been.

And another one that we're still scratching our heads over is "It's not a decision, it's a choice." This wasn't some throw away line, either, it's clearly scripted and was repeated frequently by more than one person. After describing some new fabulous component of ownership, Jade would comment, "When you make your decision. . . well, it's not a decision, really, it's a choice you make . . ." Huh?

We ran through a few of the old standards as well, "My boss doesn't really like me showing you this, and when he sees my book, I'm going to get in trouble. . ." and "This opportunity is only available today. Once you walk out of here, you won't be able to get this $3000 discount."

A $3000 discount on a $24,000 purchase at 18% interest for a $337/month payment over ten years! I'm no financial guru, despite Ross's belief to the contrary, but I'm pretty sure you'd end up paying $40,000 plus annual maintenance fees by the time all was said and done. For the opportunity to vacation one week a year at one of 2000 locations.

Of course, when I pointed this out, he was quick to point out that most people didn't keep the 18% interest rate they were offering, they simply rolled it into their mortgage payment and it was only $100+ per month. Again, no financial guru, but at 5.75 percent, that's $42,000 plus maintenance fees over the course of 30 years. For the opportunity to vacation one week a year at one of 2000 locations. Or, $1800 per year (including the fees) for a one-week vacation that we still have to pay transportation costs to get to and pay for food and any activities we might want to do while there.

They didn't appreciate it when I pointed out that our last trip to Las Vegas cost us less than $100/day all-inclusive or that we've averaged $75/night for accommodations for every trip we've ever taken. They tried to play up the quality of the resorts, but when you're talking to people whose dream vacation includes an RV, two dogs, and an unlimited sense of adventure, it's a hard sell.

Of course, the gem of the afternoon came from Ryan our "Quality Assurance" manager. He showed up and claimed he wasn't going to sell us anything, he was just there to ask a few question and make sure Jade had done her job. Okay, we liked Jade, she was more personable than the Hawaii salesman and, honestly? She was good at her job. It wasn't her fault we are literally the least likely people in the world to buy a timeshare on impulse.(Have you spent 6 months researching the best value in cordless phones lately? I rest my case.)

But when he moved into trying one last ditch effort at selling us something, Joe said, "You've moved past quality assurance into outright sales, and we're not going to sit through it." Ryan replied, "Okay, that's fine. Some people are capable of recognizing value when they see it, and some aren't. And you know, that's good for us, they keep the hotel economy going." It was truly difficult to keep from bursting into laughter right at that point.

Memorial Day Fun

2008-05-26T13:05:00.001-07:00

Safeway stores are having a buy $40 in select products, get two free movie tickets deal. I went down to Vons to try my hand at the deal. The results aren't fabulous, and most of the select products were snack foods. This reminds me of the reason why I pay for "The List." It took two hours and cost me a few bucks more than I could have spent at Ralph's using the Grocery Game. But we are stocked on school lunches (which continue to be necessary past June for me, since I will be doing summer school), "bring something" items for last minute get togethers and BBQs, and a few medications.

Transaction #1
6 Hallmark greeting cards
24-pack Dasani
4 12-packs Mt Dew, Coke, Sunkist (yeah, if you've been following the blog, it's true, we could open our own vending business with the amount of soda we've gotten lately)
$6.66

Transaction #2
2 EXPENSIVE medications we need but didn't have stocked yet
2 free movie tickets (that we're using tonight to see Indiana Jones on the BIG screen at the Fremont)
$36

Transaction #3
A dozen Sobe Life Waters (my latest beverage addiction)
8-pack Hansen's Natural "Dragonfruit"
2 jars of strawberry & blackberry jam
2 Orville Redenbacher Naturals Micro popcorn - cracked pepper (you must try the Naturals, especially the cracked pepper!)
5 bags of various chips
Ocean Spray Cranergy
24-count of Benadryl
2 lbs of baby carrots
6 Oscar Meyer Deli Creations (Definitely not a Dave Ramsey-approved purchase at $2 per sandwich, but sometimes you just gotta have something EASY for when you wake up late and can't make a lunch before leaving for school. It's still cheaper than hot lunch.)
2 free movie tickets
$54

CVS
12 pack Cottenelle TP
24-ct Excedrin
2 Colgate toothbrushes
4 Sobe LifeWater
1 bag York Peppermint Patties
1 Ghiradelli Intense Dark Cacao bar
$7
Plus I got back $17 in ECBs to use next time

With the money we've saved on various groceries, we're buying organic veggies and fruit, local raised eggs, and higher quality meat, too. Why aren't you signed up for the Grocery Game yet? :)

According to our receipts from January 1 - April 30 (including all stores, not just the "list stores"), we're averaging $50/week for two fairly picky, brand loyal people who refuse to give up their $10/week Naked Juice & Tillamook cheese habit. Sure we could eat on $50 a week without coupons, but I guarantee you it would not be as yummy or as easy.

Give Some, Save Some, and Spend Some

2008-05-24T13:18:00.001-07:00

Wouldn't it be nice if you could give and save and spend all at once? With Ebates and Igive, you can do at least two at once.

I recently discovered ebates.com, which reminded me of Igive, which my dad has long used to support the Guam Communications Network.

At Igive.com, all you have to do is sign up and log in. Then click through to the store of your choice. A percentage (up to 26%, according to the site) of your purchase goes to the organization you designate.

If your organization isn't listed, it can easily be added. Everything from schools, churches, and social work organizations to fraternities and sororities are listed.

You can also check out ebates.com. Ebates works a lot like igive.com only a lot less altruistically. Again, membership is free, and all you do is log in, click through to the online store of your choice, and shop away. Different stores give different rebates; they range from 2-6% or a set dollar amount.

If you're going to shop online anyway, you might as well do it through Ebates or Igive.

Paperback Swap

2008-05-23T23:58:00.001-07:00

I just discovered a great resource for unloading unwanted books and picking up longed for books.

It's free to sign up. The only cost to you is shipping books you have available to people who request them. After listing books (a minimum of ten to get two free credits), you receive requests. You send your book to the requestor and get a credit in your account. A credit means you can request a book from someone else. You don't have to pay anything for the books you request, but you do pay shipping for books you send off. (It's no more than $2.23 for one pound or lighter books. My heaviest paperback was 13 oz.)

The site also swaps hardbacks, cookbooks, textbooks, and audiobooks.

Check it out. And say jeninslo referred you.

http://jeninslo.paperbackswap.com/profile/