Thursday, April 9, 2009

Nothing like a vacation day...

Since I had Good Friday off from work... I also took Thursday as a vacation day... to get a jump start on the weekend. Talk about a work out... started out at the usual time I go to work, 7:30 am, at the local WalMart store... did some Easter shopping and I always get my Yoplait Yogurt there because they have a wider variety of flavors then the little grocery store near my house.

I was even prepared with coupons and my "save the planet" reusable bags... I also want to mention the really great Yoplait insulated tote that I won from Bargain Briana....this was another one of my lucky wins... insulated tote, free yogurt, water bottle and note pad. The tote is really nice with a zipper and handles that can be used as shoulder strap style.

After, I loaded up the car I went to my favorite store in my little town... CVS. I really watch my coupons, my extra bucks and all my other offers... I was really saving today... in a previous visit I transferred two prescription and had 2 - $25.00 gift cards... a few rain checks and some free coupons. Well, it started out at 104.00 ... minus coupons, free, extra bucks... down to $54.16 ... still with me.. OK, $50.00 gift cards... $4.16. But, that isn't all... I didn't receive my $5.99 off for a double pack of Crest toothpaste... so they gave me $5.99 cash back. I think it was worth the trip for them to pay me to shop and give me $2.00 on top of everything. This doesn't happen very often; but, I was thrilled. With the economy the way it is I try to watch everything I buy, use coupons, watch sales, price check and really watch while the sales clerks are ringing up the order.

Your probably wondering what did she buy?? Well, the usual... TP, papertowels, feminine products, toothpaste, facial cleansers, body lotions, shaving products, laundry detergent, and even a bottle of water. These are things that we use every day and I splurged on facial products for my daughter and body lotion for myself.... Jergens original scent... cherry almond this is a "grandma" smell, but, I love it.

Next it was a little trip to an area town... DuBois, to JoAnn Fabrics... well, I decided since I had the time and had not been to the local Goodwill "Boutique" for a while... stopped in... my lucky day... 50% off.. yes!!! Started browsing and came to coats ... spied a really great Anne Klein black toggle button coat... looked like my size... tried it on... it is my size.. looked a little harder and found a brown coat by Ann Taylor Loft for my oldest daughter. Found a few other little things and headed for the check out. The two coats were $4.50 each. I don't know about you; but, that was one great buy. So, far my day was going pretty good. I then called my oldest daughter, Kimberly, to see if she would like to meet me for lunch... drive through and then a little visit while we ate. Yes, the coat fits and even though it's brown... I talked her into it by telling her to add a little splash of color with a scarf and it wouldn't be so "blah brown". The brown was a little drab... this coming from a young lady that wears a lot of black.

Next stop was JoAnn's Fabric... well, I boosted the economy a little with purchases there. I bought some material to finish a couple of little quilted throws and some really cute material for totes. Pictures to come... later. Then headed home... but, took a side tour and stopped at McDonalds... got two sweet teas... used my $2.00 from CVS... one for the road and one for later... love those sweet teas...

Have a great weekend....

Morning Post....

Good Morning just a little inspiration to get you through the day....

Say a little one .... it's Thankful Thursday.

Today we have Thankful Thursday and I don't know about you; but, I do have a lot to be thankful for in my little life. We all have something to be thankful for and I bet if you gave it some thought you could come up with a few. Being thankful is so much easier than being ungrateful. Being thankful makes us so much more aware of all of the things in our lives even the littlest. For instance, coming home from work today there were three of the ugliest ducks I have ever seen nesting around my snowball bush... now for a moment I thought some pretty ungrateful things and almost blew the horn to rustle their little feathers and then I thought... well, I am thankful they are in the yard and not doing the doodoo on my front porch. See, I turned that around to a thankful when I could have been out there chasing them with a broom off my porch.

We need to be thankful for the stages in our lives and appreciate them more. We are all at different stages in our lives; but, we are sharing a major portion of these time with co-workers. Who else would you want to spend eight hours a day with??? OK, maybe some days aren't the greatest, some may feel longer than an eight hour day, some days we feel overworked, underpaid, unappreciated and to top it off we're having a bad hair day, we have PMS, menopause and we are too hot to think; but, when all is said and done.. we have to be thankful for each other and the time we have together. I for one wouldn't trade any of you for anyone else. I am thankful for each of you.

Thankful Thursday is a day to thank someone for no other reason then them being in your life. Thank someone just because they make you smile or just because they don't. Thank someone who you love and also the one that you don't love as much. Thank someone you enjoy spending time with and the ones you don't. Thank each other for the little things, the big things and for nothing at all. Thank you for reading my blog. But, most of all thank the person who turned the A/C on at work.

Just a short note to offer each of you (and to myself, too) encouragement today .... Thankful Thursday. I do have to admit that keeping a positive attitude, an upbeat mood and looking only at the bright side is pretty hard at times. Life and people can really drag a person down so if you feel like your faltering in any way.... just hang on... because ....
Alone we may falter; but, together we can stand tall (or short whichever the case may be) and face any challenge.

Stay Positive... Stay Strong.... Stay Happy... no matter what comes at us today. Stay tuned .... for daily words of encouragement, laughter, hope, peace or just a word or two.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Contests -- Book Giveaways

Here are some sites for some book giveaways....

http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/2009/04/david-cristofano-interview-giveaway.html#comments The Girl She Used to Be, by David Cristofano.... sounds like a good read

http://luanne-abookwormsworld.blogspot.com/ quite a few giveaways

http://redladysreadingroom-redlady.blogspot.com/ another favorite site

Morning Post...

I started sending the women I work with these "little post" by email at the first of the year... I received a lot of feed back... so I am going to share them with you, also.

Good Morning,
Say it after me.... it's Marvelous Monday (again) and we are people with a mission.... do our best, be our best and we best be good while were here.

Just a short note to offer each of you (and to myself, too) encouragement today .... Marvelous Monday. We are rested and recharged and we are ready to face the week ahead with prayers, wishes, and each other. Alone we may falter; but, together we can stand tall (or short whichever the case may be) and face any challenge.

Stay Positive... Stay Strong.... Stay Happy... no matter what comes at us today. Stay tuned .... for daily words of encouragement, laughter, hope, peace or just a word or two.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Books... The Seamstress

I read The Seamstress a few months ago, should I say bb (before blog) and since I now have a blog and I am getting ready to mail this book out to a buyer from Amazon... I thought, I had better do a little review of this really great book.

The Seamstress, by Frances De Pontes Peebles... 641 pages... wow, it was a great read... I really liked the way the sisters were introduced and the way the story opened up and followed their very different choices and routes taken in their lives. I read it long enough ago to really not remember anything in particular; but, I do remember not wanting to put this book down for a moment. This is another book concerning historical chapters in Brazil's history...it's a story about sisters, husband and wife, secrets behind closed doors, of families and what they do to and for each other and of women growing into their own person instead of who people want them to be... this was a really good book and I hope you will be able to read this book in the future.

I would also like to let you know of a great book giveaway for the book pictured ... Follow Me...this sounds like a book that I would really like to read... if I don't win it I will be putting it on my list of things to read. Check out Sheri's blog at
http://anovelmenagerie.com/ghost/ and if your feeling lucky or just feeling like making a comment... tell her I sent you. Thanks for the feedback.