Pea gravel, Mowing, and Salsa.

My husband and I were discussing my dream flower garden Saturday morning.  He informed me that nobody needs to "get rid" of pea gravel, so I will be unable to find it cheap/free.  He feels I must resign myself to paying for it.


Drat.


I say we wait and see, because two years after first discussing and then ditching the extremely pricey aerobic septic we are doing it for 2K cheaper than if we'd done it the first time we couldn't flush our toilets!!  "God always blesses me in very unexpected ways." 



Studmuffin had no comment.  God knows my tightwad heart and that finding things super cheap makes me super happy...God will bless me in this. I just have to wait and see.

Is being cheap a spiritual gift?


I just hope He doesn't make me wait too long.  I hate waiting.



I fear my old garden area will be quite unsightly if I wait two years for the bottom to fall out on the price of pea gravel.  See it's not just impatience!  It's practicality!


I'm guessing I will be mowing with a push mower for the rest of the summer considering we are dropping a hefty sum literally down the toilet in a few weeks.


My thighs will thank me for it.

Speaking of thighs:  I made salsa at 9pm on Wednesday night from the last of my tomatoes from last summer's garden.  I had a craving and no salsa, but the ingredients to make some fresh.



I ate an entire jar Thursday.

 Yoiks.

Gift Bags

Popcorn has a tendency to get attached to things. Things that I consider junk. Like a rock. A rubber lizard. A teeny tiny seashell. A bird nest that is carefully wrapped in tissue paper and stored in a shoebox in the closet. Don't tell Studmuffin about that last one. He told me to throw it out. I thought it was too sweet to trash. The same as the cardinal feathers I found in her window sill. There is a strict rule of "no feathers in the house. They carry mites." But, when you find the feathers so carefully hidden, and you know they've been there for months, because you remember forbidding them in the house, it's like, what's the point now? The damage is done.

Well, Popcorn tends to feel the same way about certain gift bags. She had a Scooby Doo gift bag that belonged to "this family" and we could not use it for anyone who did not reside in this house,because then we'd no longer have the Scooby Doo gift bag, and she liked it. Every time I wrapped a present for anyone at all, she would hunt me down and say, "Mommy, please don't use the Scooby Doo bag, that bag needs to stay in the family." And I would find it amusing, so I kept it...Remember, I'm cheap, and I love free stuff (click here to read more.) I feel very passionately about this when it comes to gift bags. My goal in life is to never actually buy gift bags, but to repurpose (how green am I?) them for the next present.

Well, the last party the girls were invited to, I made Popcorn part with the bag. Number One, it was time to leave for the party, and we were frantically wrapping the present. I had no gift wrap, so this was our only option, short of bags with poinsettias or baby motifs. She was upset, but decided to make the sacrifice for the love of her friend.

Tonight we were frantically looking for wrap or a bag for the gift she needs for a party she's going to tomorrow. She is going to the party from the babysitter's since I have to work, so I can't exactly wrap it and take it their tomorrow. Our bag supply has not improved because, alas, nobody has received a gift since last time.

Aha! We have bags the right size!

Dangit!

Houston, we have a problem....The bag is yet another bag that she loves. This time it's Tweety.

Okey dokey...I'm calm. I'm patient. I'm loving.

Aha! Strawberry Shortcake....

Dadgummit...

This one is too babyish. Popcorn doesn't like Strawberry Shortcake, so neither will Amanda.

How about this one?

Too Valentine-ish.

This one?

It's boring. Just a plain brown gift bag. And no. She's not going to decorate it herself. She doesn't "feel like it."

I'm calm. I'm patient. I'm loving....

Then she spies it....A Taz gift bag! That's perfect!

Happy, happy, joy, joy....

What?

It turns out the Taz bag is the Tweety bag...Different picture on the other side....

No. She doesn't want to use it. It's the family bag. She wants to have this bag in our house.

I'm calm. I'm patient. I'm loving...

I honestly did not lose my temper. I know. My tolerance is nothing short of a miracle.

We finally did find a bag. We settled on one that is way too big for the present.

Only to discover that I'm out of tissue paper.

Dangit, dangit, dangit, dangit!

We found some packing paper, fluffed it just so, and called it good.

*WHEW!*

So, to all interested parties who may be purchasing presents from my children: Please send gift bags. I'm cheap, I like to reuse gift bags, and I'm too lazy to wrap gifts, plus my brain is too weak to remember to buy bags or wrap at the store. So please, please include a cute bag with your gift. I promise it will be put to good use...Unless it is too baby-ish, or Valentiney, or Christmas themed, or Popcorn becomes inexplicably attached to it, in which case it will be looked at every time I drag out the wrap box, but will be forbidden to be used...

In review: The bag should be cute, but not so cute Popcorn becomes attached. The bag cannot be too big or too small. Avoid themes if at all possible, because they will inevitably be the wrong ones. Unless it's the right theme, in which case we will have it for all time, because it will become a "family bag, that needs to be in our house."

Thank you for your consideration in this matter. Remember: My problems are your problems.

Who Needs Starbucks?

Okay, there's been lots of hoopla in bloggerland regarding an Ugly Mug contest at 2nd Cup of Coffee. It's cute and looks like fun. The prize is a gift card to Starbucks. I have issues with Starbucks. I have issues period, I know...but especially with Starbucks.

We have a Starbucks right in the hospital. You can swipe your badge and it automatically payroll deducts. Isn't that so convenient it's scary? I've only gone there once, and am not sure how to get back there. (The hospital covers an entire city block, and I don't have time for much wandering.)

The reasons I haven't been back are multiple
1. I can see this seriously cutting into my paycheck at $4 a cup.
2. The group from my unit that I went with finds my paying with cash tiresome. You know the commercial where the world goes into chaos because someone paid with cash? You would think this happened when I pulled out my $5 to pay. They don't get my whole "I have a budget with x amount of cash that can go towards nonsense. If I payroll deduct, I lose track, blow my budget, and then I can no longer lecture Studmuffin for losing track of where he spent what money and what it was for." I need my righteous indignation. This annoys them because it takes 30 seconds longer for the cashier to make change for me. That takes care of me taking coffee breaks with them.
3. Nobody should EVER pay for coffee at a hospital. There is always a pot of coffee to be found somewhere.
4. My requirements for coffee are simple: no oily sludge on top? I'll drink it!
5. Did I mention it's $4 a cup?
6. I don't have any more reasons, but I feel 5 is not enough, so I will add the #6 just to make it seem more important.

So, you can see I don't have any driving need for Starbucks. AND, I've heard (you may need to snopes this, 'cause I'm too lazy to verify facts here) they put more caffeine in their coffee. That's why they have such faithful customers. They literally get addicted to Starbucks.

But, I DO LOVE LOVE LOVE COFFEE!!!

I love the smell. I love the taste. I love holding it in my hands and feeling the warm mug. I love the ritual of drinking coffee. I love everything about it. I like it hot, black and strong. I like it with creamer. I like it flavored. I like it any way, any time, any place.

I LOVE COFFEE!

So, the nurse in me feels driven to educate you. I am going to educate you on a very important subject today. Aren't you just dying to know what that is?

It's my super secret recipe that I'm now going to reveal to you, my devoted followers in bloggerland. I can feel your anticipation building.

How to Make a Redneck Tall Mocha Cappuccino

An instructional manual in photographic format for your viewing pleasure.

Now, wasn't that fun? And cheaper too! Enjoy!

Am I a Mooch, or WHAT?!

I was reading through my blogs, (I never denied being egocentric) and I noticed a very disturbing pattern. The doggie bed my sister gave my dog....The table Studmuffin's aunt gave us....the girls Halloween costumes...the Desert Rose dishes from The Original Prairie Woman... I did not like what I was thinking. "Andi, you are a serious mooch! Go out and buy your own stuff!"

I'm not a mooch! I'm not! Seriously! Cheap, maybe, mooch......Nope!

I had a sudden flash of packing for college....Most of those possessions were thanks to my sister, Paula...the iron, the lamp, the clock, well it goes on and on. My cell phone is from my niece, because a neighbor girl ruined mine, and then the one my sister gave me broke (notice neither of these instances were my fault...that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!) My mind started to spin circles (more than usual for those of you who wonder), I began to sweat (again, more than my usual sweat...this is paranoid sweat) and I became a tad concerned.

That caused me to take a brief inventory of my humble abode.

My bedroom furniture is thanks to a gift from The Original Prairie Woman....

My end tables are from Studmuffin's growing up years....

I have a dining room table that was my great-great grandma's...

The furniture in the kids bedrooms were thanks to my mom...

The hutch in my dining area was refinished by Studmuffin, but originally came from my mother-in-law...

The decorations are just as bad....

Have I bought NOTHING for myself?

Have I?

Huh?

Tell me?

What about my....? Never mind, that was a gift....

Thinking,

Thinking,

Hey I know! I bought my....Nah, that was a present too.

Think, Think, Think

Oh, this is getting painful,

Hmmmmmmmm


Oh crud, this ain't working out so well in my favor....

Remember that show Spin City? (I had such a crush on Michael J Fox as a kid, until I realized that I was probably taller than him, and like the rest of the short guys I knew, he might call me "Andre the Giant." Yes, my childhood was painful, but somehow I survived.) I'm sure I can spin this to my favor....

Let's see....

Okay, so maybe I get lots of gifts from people. Maybe it's not because I'm a mooch, but maybe it's because they all love me and want to bless me! I'm pretty darn lovable after all. Hey, who am I to rob someone of their blessing by helping me? (Thanks Paula for that little saying. I've been waiting for an opportunity to use that example...What do you mean you didn't mean it that way?)

Maybe I really am cheap...cheaper than I realized... That is a scary thought, dear reader, because I already thought I was pretty darn cheap.

Wait! I'm not cheap! I'm not a mooch! I'm eco-friendly! I don't waste a single item! It's called recycling! Not CHEAP, not a MOOCH, it's called RECYCLING!!!

Hey! Whoddathunkit? I'm green! Yeah me!

P.S. Aren't my posts boring without the benefit of photos? Maybe someone will give me a camera since SOMEONE washed mine! Again, I claim little to no responsibility for the aforementioned broken items.... So, as I was saying, if you'd like to bless me with a free camera, I'll bless you by allowing you to bless me. Hey, I'm just generous that way. Yep, that's me...I'm a giver!