Back to Life.... Back to Reality.....

Yep, the 80's song Back to Life is now stuck in my head!

I'm baaaackkkk! LOL. We went out of town last week for our first family vacation in several years.... it was great. More details & some pics to come soon... I have to get them uploaded first!

Then we came home to some crazy stuff, including a sick child and my car window being shot out yesterday morning... so I had to miss work. The window was shot with a BB Gun, some time between 7am, when my husband left, and 9am, when I went out to my car. We believe my husband being a Police Sergeant has something to do with it, as nobody else in the city was hit, and we live in a (normally) safe, quiet neighborhood.

So, instead of going to work, I spent my day on the phone with insurance, making a police report, and entertaining a sick boy for two hours in an all-glass showroom.... the place that replaced our car window didn't have a seperate waiting area. Ugh.

On the positive side, though, our insurance people were great-- they got us an appointment for the replacement window within two hours of the time I first called with the claim... AND they were very friendly. I was pretty pleased with that. It made a not-so-great situation a lot easier to deal with, that's for sure!

SO... things have just been crazy IRL around here, and my poor blog has been neglected. I'm home again today with the sick boy, but he's perked up quite a bit, and it looks like he's going to be content to play quietly today.

Right now, I'm off to vent my frustrations from yesterday into some deep cleaning of my house... since I'm unexpectedly "free" today (supposed to be at work), this seems like a good time to do that. Here's hoping that today is much less eventful than yesterday! :)

Today's CVSing

I just LOVE it when CVS pays me to take their stuff home, don't you? :)

Today's Freebies:

• Fusion Power Razor: regularly $11.99, sale price = $ 7.99

used a newspaper coupon from my file: -$4.00 = $3.99
received ECB's: +$4.00 = FREE!

• 2 packs Paper Mate black pens: reg. $1.99
  sale price $.99 x2= $1.98
  received ECB's: $1.98 = FREE!

• school glue, sale price $.99 x2 = $1.98
  received ECB's: $1.98 = FREE!

Another good deal:

• Kellogg's Protein Shakes:
• regularly $8.99, sale price = $5.00 x3 = $15.00
  used internet printable coupon: -$1.00 = $4.00 x3 = $12.00
• (you can print this coupon from Coupons.com- see box in my right sidebar)
  Spent $15 on Kellogg's products, received $5.00 ECB
  = final cost $9.00 for 3 ($18.00 savings!)
  

I also stocked up on Mountain Dew & Diet Sierra Mist, as advertised, @ 4/$12, and earned $2 in ECB's. This isn't a fantastic deal unless you're a Mountain Dew addict like I am.... in that case, it's not a bad price. ;)

Check out more great CVS bargains that others have found this week @ The Centsible Sawyer!

Garage Sale Finds

After t-ball this morning we had, literally, just a few minutes before the rain started, but I still managed to hit a couple of garage sales. I spent a grand total of $5.50 and came home with all of this:The basket has a removable Easter liner, and it blends in great with my Longabergers. (Yes, I was quite a Longaberger addict back when I worked full-time and had no kids!) And I have a Pampered Chef flat whisk exactly like this one that I use almost daily, so I was happy to find another... and thrilled when the lady threw it in for free with my other items. :)

I'm still second-guessing myself about leaving behind a big basket with feet for only $2, but it had some broken reeds. I wish now that I would have bought it- I think I could have fixed it. ::sigh:: Do you ever do that... wish you'd have taken a chance on something at a garage sale? It's the curse of the bargain-hunter, I guess!

New Feature: Shared Items

I've been doing some decluttering and organizing around the blog today... you'll notice some new buttons and such. If you're reading via a feed reader, I apologize... you're probably getting some old posts bumped up as new as I edit and reorganize!

I also added a new widget with my "shared Google reader items". That means that when I find great bargain posts elsewhere, I'll add them to my list for you to see. At the moment that widget is in the sidebar (it's green and white)... but it may move, subject to my reorganizing whims. ;) Hopefully you'll find those posts as useful as I have!

As Seen On TV... or in my own cupboard?

One night last week during a bout with insomnia I found myself watching an infomercial, and wanting one of these- the GT Express 101. It grills! It broils! It makes steaks, sandwiches, omlettes, and more! (Hey, wait a minute, so do I!) What is it about those infomercials that just makes me feel like I can't live without whatever they are selling? LOL!

Anyways, it finally dawned on my that I could just dust off "what's in my hand" ... which, in this case, was my neglected Sandwich Maker. Sure, it's a little smaller, and a lot older, but surely it would squelch my desire for something new, right? I pulled it down from the high shelf and DD was fascinated- she couldn't remember ever seeing it before. (Has it really been that long?)

A few days later we had some "girl time" while the "boys", aka: DH & DS, were out running errands, so after painting her nails (pink & purple polka dots) we pulled out the sandwich maker and made my all-time favorite sandwich maker treat: pizza sandwiches. These were just cheese, pepperoni, and sauce... and DD was quite impressed.


So, I started wondering what other culinary delights we could create. Amazon has a whole page of Sandwich Maker cookbooks. And, there are several websites out there with recipes specifically for the Sandwich Maker... who knew? One site I visited suggested taking mini sausages and putting them in the Sandwich Maker well with pancake batter. Another site took defrosted hash browns and poured a beaten egg over top in each sandwich well-- we'll be trying that one soon!

A "new" kitchen toy to play with that cost absolutely nothing... can't beat that! If you have any creative Sandwich Maker recipes, I'd love to hear about them- leave a comment below!

Sunday Scrappin'" rolodex card

Ta-Da: I finally finished off the swap cards for my two spots in the 3x5 Rolodex Cards Scripture Swap at SCS. Now I've got to find a cheap Rolodex card holder somewhere, so that I can display these creative pieces of inspiration- I can't wait to see what everyone else made!

I shared the other card I did earlier in the week- it features II Corinthians 5:17. You can see that card HERE.

To-Do: I don't have any crafty goals for this coming week... actually, I'll be thrilled if I squeeze in any craft time at all!

If you do any sort of paper crafts, I hope you will join us @ Sunday Scrappin'!

Frugal 4th of July Fun

graphic courtesy of Gone Country

One of the things I love about the 4th of July is that it isn't an expensive holiday... we might make some special food, but there aren't gifts to buy, long trips to take, etc. It's a pretty laid back, low stress holiday for us every year- just the way I like it!

My family enjoyed a parade this morning (free); the kids and I delivered red, white and blue popsicles to the residents at work this afternoon ($4 per box, and we only needed one plus a few from the second box); and then this evening we'll watch fireworks (free)... that's IF the rain cooperates. (It's been drizzling on/off all day here. Plan B= watch the fireworks on tv.) For lunch we packed sandwiches from home, and for supper, we're grilling burgers.

Next on my frugal agenda: download some free Patriotic Music at Amazon, and then maybe I'll finally get around to trying this tutorial I've that had bookmarked forever on how to convert songs into free ringtones (by Bargain Briana). After that, the kids & I are going to bake some cookies to take to the guys at DH's police station tonight before the fireworks- they're working their tails off this weekend, and I know they will appreciate them.

Overall, it's a been a frugal and fun 4th so far... I hope yours is the same!

Freebie Friday: Free Movies @ Amazon

Did you know that there are several free movies & movie "shorts" at Amazon ? I had no clue until I stumbled across this link earlier this week. There are both tv and movie clips. Some are family-oriented, some are for adults... there should be something for everyone! Check out Bargain Briana's Freebie Friday for more free deals!

Hmmm... on most Fridays there's a round-up on Bargain Briana of freebie links. Today, however, I can't get the site to open up properly. This post was set to auto post, so, since it's already up I'll leave it here and just check back later with the Bargain Briana site.

WFMW: Strawberry Pie

This week's Works For Me Wednesday is a themed edition: Summer Recipes. I immediately thought of this quick and easy Strawberry Pie recipe. Before I found this recipe, I'd only ever made Strawberry Pies with that store-bought gel, but I like this much better.

STRAWBERRY PIE
4 cups fresh strawberries (I slice them in half or thirds.)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 (.6 oz) package sugar-free strawberry gelatin (I've also used strawberry-banana flavor.)
1 1/2 cups water
1 graham cracker crust (store-bought or homemade)

Slice berries and place into pie crust. Stir together the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan, then add water, mix, and bring to a boil. Simmer a few minutes until it begins to thicken. Add gelatin and mix well. Cool the mixture a few minutes, then pour over top the strawberries in the pie crust. Refridgerate until firm (at least 45 minutes before serving).

One of these days I'm going to try this in a chocolate cookie crust.... and maybe add in some sliced bananas, too. At any rate, it's a quick, refreshing dessert, and that definitely works for me!

P.S. If the recipe seems familiar, it's because I originally posted this recipe on my cooking blog on July 28, 2007.

Free 2009 Entertainment Book

This offer is good TODAY ONLY: Reserve a 2010 Entertainment Book, receive the 2009 book for free! I have a 2009 book, and we've gotten good use out of it. There's still plenty of time to use the 2009 coupons.

To get this offer: click on the pull-down menu on the left side of the Cashbaq site, then select Entertainment book.... the free 2009 book offer will appear at the top of the Entertainment site after you click through the Cashbaq coupon.

If you're not already familiar with Cashbaq, I'd encourage you to check it out. I've already received a $15 check in the mail, and I have another $8 in my account already... just for doing the online shopping that I'd normally do anyway.