I get lost sometimes in the idea that things are "supposed" to be one way, or another way. That glistening perfection in magazines, or Pinterest.. captures my imagination and I can't see past what "should" be to what is. And then, those moments where the sun breaks thru the clouds and I see reality so clearly that the mist of fantastic wondering is cast aside and I'm left shaken by the starkness of real life, real. James Foley was beheaded this week. And somehow, putting a name and a face to the senseless brutality brought it home to me. That nice looking man.. beheaded to make a weak point to the world. Or maybe the strong point that all ISIS has to offer is bloodshed and barbarism. I don't really know what else it might be, but for me, from the moment I put a name to the kind eyes in the photo.. I realized that my safe world was just an illusion. We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, America is. People hate us. Which is so odd, because Americans in general are terrible haters, we have trouble even disliking things strongly. And then.. Theres Ferguson Missouri. I know people who live there. Friends who are white and who go to a mixed raced Christian church. People in their church have suffered from the rioting and looting. Thats getting closer to where I live. So maybe hate isn't just a crazy barbaric thing that happens in Islamic countries? It's right here. Jimmy Foleys parent's believe he is going to heaven. I wish I knew for sure of that, about any of us. It seems like we need a better place to hope for than this one. All I know is that inside people is the capacity for good and the capacity for evil. When humans choose to harm others for any reason, we have to assume they lose the capacity for good in the percentage they gain the capacity for evil. It's the old saying, whichever wolf you feed is the one that grows. Feed the wolf that is strong and good. Starve the one that is hateful and bitter. I had to go to the Fair this year riding a mobility scooter. My dizziness has gotten the best of me, and in this heat I can't walk far. It was heartwarming to see how happy it made people to be kind to me. They didn't know WHY I was in a handicapped contrivance, but they knew I had a need and it made them happy to help me. One gentleman spent about half an hour helping me find my mother and driving her around in his golf cart. Another jumped off the trolly and handed my son an unused wristband for the Midway. Both said something to the effect of "I just want you to have the best day possible, glad you could make it to the Fair today!". Then there were the sweet ladies in the restroom who had to untangle me and the scooter from the counter and trashbins where I managed to get stuck. Who kept reassuring me it was no trouble and that they were just glad I was having a good day. The entire day was spent with people being gracious and kind, and I came away with this overwhelming sense that in being weak and needy... in giving them an opportunity to help somebody, I had made a difference for good in their life. People can be so truly beautiful sometimes. They made me feel like it was an honor for them to help me. I remain deeply touched and grateful for that experience, and while the circumstances of being sick are not the optimal, I'm left happy for a chance to see the good side of humanity in a world so full of darkness. I've got James Foleys photo etched in my mind, and I won't forget him quickly. But instead of fear and bitterness, I'm going to think that even if bad things happen to good people, it's no reason to stop being good. In order to conquer great darkness, light has to shine even brighter.

Happiness is NOT relative

You know you are happy when you are happy. It's not something that is relative. Joy either is.. or isn't.

The secret to happiness though, (as simplistic as it sounds, it IS true), is all in your attitude. Either you are grateful/thankful, or you are bitter and resentful or jealous or unthankful.

Being thankful for what you DO have really does make what you don't have seem less of a loss.

Try it! Be thankful!

CVS Rocks!

CVS ROCKS!

I've been doing the CVS Extra Care Buck deals for awhile, but I REALLY love how all of the stores around me have gotten on board recently with people who are there "doing the deals".

A couple years ago, couponers were frowned upon, often treated rudely and one time, I had a manager stalk me in a Walgreens, remove items from my cart because apparently getting them for free when using a coupon struck him as something that should be illegal.
Never mind that the manufacturer was paying Walgreens to have the special advertised price AND were reimbursing them face value plus $.08 per coupon(all from the Sunday paper)... little Hitler didn't like couponers(he told me so), and unfortunately.. he wasn't the only one back then. While little Hitler still reigns supreme in his unloved by me Walgreen store.. the CVS stores have surrounded him and are universally loved by me.

I often drive by that pitiful little store and pray that they would "get what they deserve".
Speaking of Walgreens and why I don't love them... when I called the corporate office to report the coupon Hitler's harassment (seriously, it'd take another post to detail the painfully WRONG way I was treated there), the corporate office was also rude to me and suggested that people who want to get things for free are scarcely removed from a criminal who steals. Imagine! ME! Needless to say.. I've never been back.

CVS has always been nice, even when they were cracking down on coupon use, they've always been respectful and friendly.

Nowadays though.. WHO HOO!!! CVS loves me and I love them back.

This weeks Sunday-Tuesday deals were pretty good, I got a big bag of free school supplies, a great deal on some printer paper and some Aussie hair stuff.. and some super cute photo cards off the clearance shelf, not counting things like milk etc..

Check out moneysavingmom.com and hotcouponworld.com for great tips and deals from CVS. Go to CVS.com and sign up for emails with printable coupons, your loyalty card at CVS is probably the best loyalty card out there.

Go CVS!

More Frugal Fun!

I've been couponing since mid-February, again. It's been nearly ten years since I've packed up the old coupon file and headed to a store that doubles coupons, but I was ready to save some BIG money. Husband and I came up with a new budget and the most obvious area to cut back on (after eating out) was groceries. It's no surprise to me that we spend too much money on food, but I've been surprised at how much I've saved.

Here are the top 10 things I'm doing to save money on grocery and household/personal supplies.

1. Getting coupons. I find them in the Sunday paper inserts (buying multiple papers for 1.00 @ local Dollar Tree.. because I'm too cheap to pay full price even for a paper), I find them online at company websites, I find them at smartsource.com and other coupon websites, and most importantly, I find links to ones I can use at www.hotcouponworld.com.

2. Going to CVS and doing their Extra Buck promotions to get things like shampoo/conditioner/razors/soap/toothbrushes/paste/cleaning supplies/diapers/wipes/personal care etc.. for FREE or for around 80% less than at Walmart. This is COOL! Check out the CVS forum @ hotcouponworld.com to see for yourself... or moneysavingmom.com

3. Paying attention to the flyers for other stores beside my favorites. If I know I'll be near one and they have a deal worth doing, I add it to my trip list. Most deals aren't worth extra gas, but if I'll be driving by anyway... :D

4. Letting people know I'm couponing. I've gotten lots of tips, advice and help, PLUS free coupons.

5. Stocking up more intensely on things we use when they are cheap. For example, I used to buy 2 1/2 gallons of the organic milk when I found it marked down, now I buy ALL they have and freeze it. Also.. I have enough personal care stuff to last us 2 months, mostly stuff I bought for free(is that even possible? to buy something for free?) at CVS.

6. Checking www.moneysavingmom.com's website for her speed linking of deals to coupons available. www.hotcouponworld.com also has speed linking on some of their forums.

7. Eating what we have. Simplistic, but profound. If I stock what's cheap and we eat what we have.... true savings will result!
Our average cost for a nice homecooked dinner has come down to $5.00 to feed 7 people, plus leftovers for at least 2 lunches. It used to be $14.00 for the same dinner, and prices have gone UP on average, not down since I've begun my savings rally.

8. Rationing things. My son who eats four yoghurts a day now eats two (and gets his dairy and protein from milk and pistachios.. still cheaper than his fav brand Yoplait).

9. Taking snacks, packing sandwiches etc.. for our errand days. Including a Pepsi for me, since if I get the urge for one, it's a lot cheaper to pull it out of the cooler for .30 a pop (like the pun?) than to spend $1.49 at a drive-thru.

10. PAYING ATTENTION in grocery stores. I've found spending an extra 15min actually looking around me per trip has resulted in about 20$ per week in savings because of unadvertised deals or catching freebies via coupons that I would have otherwise missed.

I love gardening!

This time of year just thrills me! I love getting out and puttering around the garden beds. Planting onions, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, peas, beans, carrots, lettuce, spinach, garlic, and more. Tending the flower beds, dividing especially is my favorite thing to do. All the little baby plants or bulbs ready to go out into the world and do something wonderful.

Just this week, I've divided up some peonies, iris, blackeyed susan, and a succulent groud cover that immigrated on some plants last year and has done a great job of keep the weeds out. Put them all up by our mailbox where the bare patch used to be.

Now, I've still loads of work to do, but somehow, unlike household chores that overwhelm me and instigate burnout.. gardening overload just stimulates me and revs me up. I'm never more positive and optimistic than when my knees are in the soil and my fingers caked with black hummus. I wrote on my other blog, ramblingrose.blog-city.com that the most important ingredient of gardening is hope. Everything else is subject to that one rule. One must have hope!

The really beautiful thing about gardening.. is that just as one can choose to believe in God and choose to accept the miracle of salvation via Jesus Christ and His perfect plan (see Acts 2:38), one can choose to have hope that the little seed planted today will grow into a mighty and glorious plant bearing blossom and fruit. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. To me.. that verse is talking about life. And if gardening isn't about anything else.. it's about LIFE.

The first profession was that of gardener. Adam and Eve.. they tended the gardens that God Almighty had planted and designed. We are surely created in His image, and it's that awesome connectedness to creation and our ability to interact and affect creation that moves me so when I work in the garden.

Some people think that farmers/gardeners were despised because God shunned Cain's offering. Not so. Cain brought the wrong thing, it was his rebellious attitude that marked his offering, not his career.

Everyone ought to have living plants around them. All it takes is a scoop of soil, a container (with holes for drainage, or lined with gravel), and either a plant or a seed. Water when surface is dry, feed occasionally with leftover tea or a bit of fresh soil, and give it access to the sun. Before you know it, something wonderful is happening.. Life! Hope! Joy!

Sometimes you just need to take a break

I'm coming back to the blog(s) after breaking for six months. Long enough (you would think) to have lost my rankings and most of my readers.. (you would think wrong.. for some reason my readers have gone up ditto rankings).

What can I say? I needed a break. My baby is bigger and more independent, we are over the winter blah's, and I'm feeling, once again, the call of the keyboard and the need to shape my words into something more lasting than thoughts.

I've read before that books change peoples lives, but blogs change peoples minutes. If that is true, then I may never write anything that will change someone's life, but it is my sincere desire to change your minutes.

Here's your thought for this minute...

Steadfast Simplicity.

It came to me about two hours ago in the van. I was pondering the complexities of my life and the surprise contrasts (how many Apostolic Pentecostal homeschool mothers of five children do you know who love the concept of permaculture and wants to be an urban permaculturalist?.. thought so). Out of the blue, I got those two words. Steadfast simplicity.

That's what I want for my life. Stability, steadfastness, strong foundational beliefs and lifestyle. Simplicity of logic, approach to life, everything really.

I see no need to practice the religion of consumerism. I feel no draw to participate in the culture of the cloned. I am not tempted to play weak logic games that justify selfishness and enables irresponsibility.

in fact, I like things to be simple. There is an elegance and beauty in simplicity. If you look at the most beautiful designer clothes, they are the ones with the simple lines, where the lack of adornment is all the adornment necessary. That's how I want to live. A life of such elegant and concise simplicity that it's beautiful.

I've got a long way to go. Many things clutter my world. Still, in the clearness of a few moments alone with my thoughts, I had a beautiful thought. I want steadfast simplicity in my life!

Michael's Hobby Store

I went into Michaels the other day for a spool of thing white grograin ribbon. They didn't have any.. but that didn't stop me from browsing around and finding some irresistable ribbon in the dollar bin.

I needed the grograin for baby's pacifier clip. The satin kind gets dingy looking really quickly, and if we don't use the pacifier clip.. the pacifier gets dingy really quickly too!

While there, I found a super-duper calendar for 2007. It was only 1$, and is called a "family calendar". The spaces for names (Mom, Dad, kids etc), I'm going to use for homeschool subjects, and leave one for family happenings. This will be such a time saver, and is so simple, that I won't get "sidetracked" like I usually do when trying a planner. It's just a normal calendar, and I love it.