479 {ramblings of a sick woman}

479. My daughter's blood sugar was 479 at lunch time today. (For those who don't know, it should generally be in the range of 80-150.) That's the highest it's been since her diagnosis back in September. She's sick. I'm sick. DS is sick.

We're not sneezing or vomiting... it's more the "my head feels like it's in a vice and I can't muster the energy to move off the couch" kind of illness. My voice is just about gone, too, but that's ok, because the sound of the kids' movie player (playing a new VeggieTales video from the library) was just about all the noise I could handle this afternoon, all the while fearing that my head might actually implode. It didn't. I survived the day... and now I'm physically exhausted yet too wired to sleep.

479. That number has been floating through my foggy brain all day long. 479 times I worried about whether it would go higher and we'd wind up at the hospital tonight. 479 times I tried to figure out why it would be higher today than yesterday, when she actually feels and looks better today. 479 more reasons why I hate this crazy disease.

Friday Fill-Ins #109

1. I'd really like a big vat of homemade chicken soup and some yeast rolls right now. And I'll be making that in a little while!

2. D*&! it is the word you'd most often hear me say if I stubbed my toe. I'm not proud of it, but yes, I do tend to swear!

3. Possession is 9/10ths of the law.

4. My sister E loves Captain Jack Sparrow. I'll admit that he's very nice to look at, but the movies don't do anything for me.

5. Marshmallows and fire go together like milk and cookies.

6. This lady at work just rambles on and on.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finally getting to read my new stamping magazine and going to bed early, tomorrow my plans include stamping and scrapbooking and Sunday, I want to have everyone healthy enough to go to church! To explain a little... DS, DD, and I are all fighting head colds. From what I can tell right now, we have a weekend full of pajamas, soup, and movies ahead of us!

The Coupon Cupboards' Virtual Food Drive

Have you heard of The Coupon Cupboard forum? No? Well, I hadn't, either, until I read about the contest they have going on right now. They're hosting a Virtual Food Drive, encouraging everyone to donate a box of food to their local food pantries. If you're like me, you often are able to stockpile canned goods for pennies. This Virtual Food Drive is encouraging you to take a part of your stockpile and donate it to people who really need it. And to encourage lots of particpation, you'll be entered for a chance to win a Wii Fit if you follow the entry rules. Sounds like it's a win/win deal to me-- you get to help out local folks, and you might win something for yourself in the process.

Sunday Scrappin' 1/25

I finally got some crafting time in this week- though not much! It seems like ever since Christmas I've had great plans for projects, but no time to actually sit down and work on them.


TA DAs: I did manage to get this little gift set done for one of the girls I work with in celebration of National Activity Professionals Week. Inside that folder is a mini memo pad. I used THIS template.

It's hard to tell from the photo (taken in my car on my camera phone, LOL), but the pens are decorated to match. They were so easy- take RSVP pens, unscrew the end, remove ink, insert a piece of rolled up 3 1/2" x 7/8" card stock, replace pen parts, and voila!

TO DOs: A lot! I need to make another memo set like the one above. I also need to come up with a new display board for a volunteer/vocation fair I'm attending at a local high school this week. I'll be talking with students and trying to recruit volunteers, so I figure a creative display is in order. I'll be using my Cricut for letters and shapes- we'll see how it comes out!

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

Living Simply Saturday: finding time for God

Today Stephanie asks, What are some of the different ways that you have been able to make time to spend in God's Word and in prayer, during the changing seasons of your life? What techniques worked for you? Where did you schedule it in?

I'm in that can't-go-to-the-bathroom-alone phase of life. My kids can play contentedly with each other while I'm in the room, but let me sneak upstairs to flip a load of laundry or into the other room to check my email, and they will be on my heels in about two seconds. Finding quiet time to pray and reflect? Not likely!

My solution? Well, no one thing works for me every day. I work part-time, and on my at-home days, I'm busy with the kids. I try to fit in little bits and pieces throughout my day. Here are a few of my tricks:

• Use my quiet driving time. On those occasions when I'm alone in the car, I quite often pray and reflect on things in my life. I also use driving time to pray the rosary (using a free CD from Catholicity).
• I've recently become a fan of K-Love Christian radio. I know it sounds corny, but I really enjoy the positive, uplifting messages throughout the day. I have K-Love on while I'm doing other things, and not only am I hearing the messages, but my kids are, too.
• Use driving time with the kids- we sing a lot of VeggieTales songs!
• Use various Google gadgets so that a Bible passage appears on my home page. Every time I get online to print a quick chicken recipe or update my blog, His word is right there. I have another Google gadget on my homepage that reads the daily mass readings out loud- sometimes I'll click on those, as well.
• I pray throughout the day. If I read about a prayer request online, I pray right then and there. When we drive past an ambulance or a traffic crash, the kids and I pray for those involved. It just takes a minute, and I'm likely to forget if I don't do it right away.

Share your tips for finding time for God in your day through Living Simply Saturdays over at Keeper of the Home.

Inauguration Day

He wasn't my choice, but today Barack Obama becomes our President. I don't have to agree with him to respect him and his new office. I pray that he will be a good leader and will make positive changes for our country.

Politics aside, I am always fascinated by the pageantry and the ceremonies that go on with events like this. Can you imagine being a part of the White House staff, having five or six hours to transfer everything over to the new first family? I'll try to watch his swearing-in and speech before I get my daughter to the bus stop.... hopefully he's not long-winded, or we might miss the bus! :) What about you... are you watching?

WFMW: unconventional coupon storage

For several years now I have used a Deluxe Coupon Box (scroll down here to see it) to sort and organize my coupons. It's huge- it filled the baby seat of a shopping cart. It held all my supplies- coupons, scissors, calculator, refund forms, receipts, etc. It came with preprinted dividers, and over the years, I've added many of my own, so that this filing system is now perfectly suited for me. It worked great for me up until my kids got old enough to open the latch... at which point shopping trips became an exercise in balance and quick rescues. Can you imagine a box of this size being spilled all over the floor at a grocery store?! Oh, the horror!

Next, I started just pulling out the coupons I needed for a particular store, stuffing them in an envelope, and putting it in my purse. That worked ok for a while, but inevitably, I'd see an unexpected sale or clearance item and just know that I had a coupon for that item filed away at home. It wasn't working for me.

This week, I first tried an index card box, but it wasn't long enough to fit my dividers. Then I tried a shoebox with all the coupons.... but it was harder to handle than my giant coupon box. My two year old had a great time "helping" to reorganize mommy's coupons as we went through a store. Ugh.

But then, as I was walking through Target carefully guarding my shoebox, I spotted it.... a clear cosmetic bag that was just the right size. My divided tabs fit perfectly, and it's small enough to carry around without being bulky. (It's exactly the length and height of a Walgreens Easy Saver booklet- see mine in the back?) And- it has a zipper, so no worries about coupons falling out if it gets tipped over.

And the best part? It was on clearance for just a couple of dollars! That definitely works for me!

Head on over to Rocks in my Dryer for more WFMW tips!

Free Suave, Today Only

Suave is giving everyone a free bottle today only-- go HERE to claim yours!

Lower Bills, Just By Asking

A friend shared this article and I really enjoyed it, so thought I'd share here. Weekend Project: Reduce Your Bills Just By Asking. I've heard this idea before, but always thought it was for last-ditch efforts to keep people out of collections problems. I've never tried it myself with services we regularly use.... what about you?

P.S. After reading the above article I was browsing the LifeHacker site and came across this article: Score Half-Price Meals Courtesy of Your Local TV Station. I'd never heard of such a thing, but it looks legitimate. I'm off to search for my city's stations now! :)

My best CVS Day To Date

One of the things I decided to focus on in the new year was learning to play the CVS "game" and getting in on some of the great bargains I'm always reading about.

Today I was excited to make a CVS run, because the brand of glucose monitors that my daughter uses were free after coupons. So, coupons in hand, I made my first trip to the CVS just a few miles from my house. I got all this:

for $21.95 out of pocket. Savings= $65.94 in sales; $69.50 in coupons, and I used $2 ECB. Plus, at the register I received $13 in ECB for use on my next trip... so basically it came out to $8.95 spent.

Next, I ran by my parents' house (they're just 15 minutes away) to swipe their coupons for the free glucose monitors. I went to the CVS in their city, and got all this:

for a grand total of.... FREE! My grand total was $12.97, so I paid with the ECB's from the first trip, making everything in the cart FREE... AND I received $8 more in ECB's. So, actually, they paid me $8 to walk out of their store with all that stuff! (Total= $125.03, -$58.83 in sale savings, -$66.20 in coupons= $12.97. Technically they owed me $.03, but the cashier just fixed it in my computer with my permission... they can't give you any change back on ECB's.)

I could give you a detailed list of every coupon and ECB sale item I did... or I could just send you over to the experts, where I found the deal information myself. (Feel free to ask if you have any questions, though, and I'll do my best to help you out!) Check these great CVS posts for more information on this week's deals:

• The Centsible Sawyer: CVS Deals 1/4- 1/10
• Bargain Briana: CVS Deals 1/4 to 1/10
• and if you're new to CVS deals, like me, check out the $5 CVS Challenge for some easy transactions to get you started.

So far, I think my goal of mastering the CVS game is off to a great start! :)

Edited 1/10/09 to add: I'm linking this post from earlier in the week up with the "Cents"ible Sawyer's "CVS Superstars" today. Want to see more CVS savings? Check it out!

The end of second-hand kids items?

If you read many "mom blogs", you've probably come across this by now: on February 10, 2009, a new law called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act is scheduled to go into effect. (Check out these posts from Like Merchant Ships and The Happy Housewife for other moms' takes on this mess.) It will require ALL children's products to be tested for lead before being sold... whether they are coming from US manufacturers, small toy shops, or resale stores. This basically means that second-hand toys will be thrown away, as it's unlikely that the local thrift stores would be able to handle the cost of testing each and every item that is donated for resale. It means that anyone who runs a small shop on etsy or eBay selling homemade toys will be run out of business. AND it also says that all children's clothing (new and used) would also have to be tested... specifically, each piece used to make the clothing.

The date has been branded as National Bankruptcy Day, and the site offers news updates and suggestions for actions you can take to help revise this crazy law before it puts millions of people out of business. The idea of testing things to keep our kids safe is, of course, a good one... but this one definitely needs some revision before it becomes law.