Mother's Day Sales Pitch!*

Mother’s Day is May, 9th. Just a reminder. Just a hint. Just a request. Yep, if you have a mom, are married to a mom, or just like a mom, then you might want to get that mom a gift.

A gift does not mean a gigantic, huge, expensive something that will take up more room than is available, make her smell good until she realizes she’s allergic, taste so yummy and then adds on pounds and pounds, is really just an excuse to upgrade an appliance she uses to do her housework, nice to look at for a few days and then dies. No a gift is from the heart. It is something that makes her feel appreciated and loved. It need not be expensive, brand new, or the latest style.

So what am I talking about? And not my favorite gift of compost or bark for the yard. Yes Scott has bought both and a load of manure to boot. Got to love a man who knows where my interests lie.

I was reading Brown Thumb Mama’s blog and she suggested magazines. Yay! It’s new every month. Keeps me happy while I pursue the pages for ideas and suggestions. I can recycle it by giving it to a friend, donating to the library, or drop it into the recycle bin. No left-overs there. Just get her one that suits her style!

Of course, I can always dream of the big-a** Kitchenaid mixer! I am saving up towards one with my Amazon gift cards I get from doing on-line surveys and using Swagbucks search engine and toolbar. So far, I have earned $65 towards mine. With $75 in just the past month from the surveys. But, if someone were to buy me one; I would not complain!

How about a new pair of shoes or handbag? Don’t know her size, give her a gift card and shop together. I know Selene loves cute shoes and purses. And I know Nate has paid more for one purse than I have paid in the past 10 years total. She is one spoiled Mama!

See how frugal can be fun! I will earn that mixer by my work on surveys, using Swagbucks, and convincing my readers to buy products I list in and around my blog. Thank you for your support. Does Bartles & James even exist anymore?
*yes this is an ad! If you order any product from Amazon, by going through the portals I have posted here, I will earn a small percentage of your order. Small percentage. And that will go towards that fabulous mixer!

A Time for a Change

With the changes going on, I thought I would change the looks of my blogs to something a little different. I hope you like the changes as much as I do. Right now the Olde Timey look suits me. Wait a couple of months and then we’ll see what feels right at the time.


I started looking for housing. Apartments have the best prices; but no room for two active dogs. Houses at our price point are a little on the lame side. Since our goal will be to save $1,000 per month, we are looking hard for a simple house with a nice fenced yard.

My cousin has homes for rent in the area we are looking at; but she prefers tenants without pets. We will continue to look on Craigslist, other websites, newspapers, Scott’s co-workers, and drives around areas we would like to live in.

Tomorrow I will receive my drugs. Yippee! Then, in a couple of days, I will be coping much better.

In the meantime, Selene and Nate have been given a date of July 1 to remove all their junk or I will sell it at the moving sale! I was going to do a sale earlier this month but illness reigned! So, now I am planning the sale for after we move. I’ll just leave the stuff at this place and when we get the stuff we are moving out of the house, then I will have a mother of all moving sales!

Our ten year plan is to purchase a lot on the Oregon Coast for about $50,000. It won’t have an ocean view; but sometimes you get lucky. Then to put a used manufactured home on it for our retirement. With living close to the vest and being more frugal than usual we hope to be able to retire to the life of serenity we dream of.

When a Door is Closed, A Window is Opened

We got notice today that the house will be up for auction on August 26th. So, we are moving into full steam ahead to get ourselves packed up and moved out before then. We will have been in the house for 29 years, 1 month, 26 days.


I am not going to wax poetic on what memories we have of living here. We captured them in photos and our minds. I am looking forward to a new beginning, a new start. I can only hope that this will end some of my ongoing anxiety by forcing me out of this protective, smothering shell and into a new life full of new experiences.

Do not feel sad for us. We tried. We lost. Life is a circle and it is time to start anew.

I think I am really on the mend! My fever broke last night. I woke in the middle of the night covered in sweat and my hair was dripping. If I hadn’t already been through that joy of menopause, I might have put it up to night sweats! So, I had to get up and change my nightshirt; small price to pay for knowing that soon the snare timpani drum will vacate my head!

 

Selene called to ask a question yesterday (Do I think 17 month old Lennon would like   – certainly, in a year or so.) and put Lennon on. He was so verbal! He just chatted along and said ‘Nana’ twice! Then he said ‘Bye’ and it was all over. Such a cutie!

 

I am waiting for my prescriptions to arrive. The doctor ordered the increased trazadone and more lorazapam for the anxiety. It has been about 10 days since my last Lexapro; but I am going to start taking them again. I have been having at least two to three anxiety attacks everyday. Scott told me I am waking him up with all my starts, shivers, and talking in my sleep. Guess I am not ready to stop medicating.

 

I was really hoping to get the pharmaceutical bill down. My scripts cost us $85 a month. Scott’s are $40. Then, there’s the Prilosec, antihistamines, Zantac, and vitamins which end up about $45. Altogether, about $170 per month or $2040 a year. Thank goodness for health insurance!

 

Today’s Goals:

• Litter pans, yuck but has to be done. This includes mopping the floor under them with vinegar (mildly disinfecting and helps to kill the ammonia smell.
• Kitchen, there’s always something to do.
• Laundry, again, never-ending. How do two people produce so much laundry?
• Bathrooms.