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Thursday’s Things: The Best of the ‘berry Edition

Amy D — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:30:35 +0000

Since I have not gotten the camera out in a long, long time, this week’s photos are coming from the Blackberry. I love that the ‘berry has a camera, but it’s a sucky little camera. I don’t know what the resolution is exactly, but the word “crappy” sums it up nicely! No worries, the Canon will be coming out for Saturday’ Punkintown Fair.

Brenna-Boo

Ro-ro sleeping in the car

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I think I’ve taken things a little too far

Amy D — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:22:13 +0000

In my effort to not spend any more money than we actually HAVE to, I think I crossed the line this morning. I was making Matt and myself sandwiches for lunch, like I have been all week. Yes, I’m a good wifey, but I have to stoop so low because if not, Subway would be $40 more to the good every week! I mean, think about it: $40 a week x 52 weeks is $2080 a year. (Yes, I had to use the calculator because I just plain suck at math!). That’s about what I sink into my truck for repairs every year. That’s about what I sink into diapering Rowan’s ass every year. I could feed my 5 dogs for roughly a year and a half on that! And I could buy that Macbook that I’ve been ogling over for that! Oh, the possibilities from just one sandwich in the morning!

I noticed yesterday (in between sammy making and reading emails on the ‘berry) that we’re very low on sandwich bags. Usually, no big deal. But let’s go back to the first sentence. I’m trying not to spend more money than we absolutely have to. That means a trip to the grocery store can be disastrous! Even for me, the coupon-clipping, saving-money-mom (because if I don’t, the kids will never go to college and leave my house!) can screw things up and over buy. On food that is on sale and NOT GOOD FOR YOU! Like those Freihoffer cookies that are on sale for Buy 1 Get 2 free every other week. Yep, gotta have those. I even justify it: “They freeze well”. So, I am trying to avoid the grocery stores. I can get our milk at the gas station down the road, but can you imagine what they would charge for sandwich bags if they even carry them at all? Yeah, I don’t even want to know. I casually ask Matt to start saving his bags and he went off on me in the style of “you’re a crazy bitch and you’ve taken this too far”. And honestly, it’s not like I asked him to stop watching re-runs of Buffy because that’s just so 90’s and he needs to grow up. Nope, I just asked for a simple action to be done so my budget on food doesn’t go down the sink. Maybe I took it a little far, but it was, for sure, for the benefit of our wallet.

And now he thinks I’m the crazy lady who saves my sandwich bags. And he’s absolutely correct to think this way. I don’t blame him. I’ve been eyeing some reusable “snack” and “sandwich” bags on Etsy. They go for around $5 each. They are great for the earth and your wallet. And I’ll bet Matt will LOVE that pink one that I plan on buying him!

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Punkintown Fair 2010 dates

Amy D — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:48:54 +0000

You absolutely have to LOVE Google Analytics. I mean, where else can one see what keywords their audience is using? And, obviously, somebody out there is looking for the Punkintown Fair dates. Perhaps, I have them. Yep, right there, dangling over my kid’s heads like fly on you-know-what…..You wanna go to the fair with grandma? Well, I want absolute flawlesss lack of whining and crying, and hair pulling and biting FOR JUST ONE WEEK!! Do ya think you can do this? Oh, I just give up!

The dates for this year’s Punkintown Fair are July 29th through the 31st. That’s Thursday through Saturday. Admission is free, but the rides can be pricey! Much better deal to buy the bracelet for around $20 than pay an average of $3 per ride. Parking is free also. It’s just outside of Voorheesville on Rt. 85A across from the Fire Station. It opens late, around 4 or 5ish.

We are expecting to go on Saturday with my mom and my stepdad. It’s fun, not really my thing, but Brenna has a blast. It’s going to be especially hard this year with Rowan because she’s not big enough yet to ride the rides and she’s a little too big for the stroller. It should be challenging to say the least.

Maybe I’ll get drunk and eat lots of fried dough. Now that would be a first! (The drunk part at least…..) See ya there!

~Amy D.

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Tell Me Tuesday: The weird weather and back to school sales so soon Edition.

Amy D — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:17:12 +0000

It was a weird kind of week last week. The weather has been wacko here, one day it’s 95 and the next we barely break 75. Not that I’m complaining, I can live with 75 during the day as long as it goes down to 50 at night! Now that’s some good sleeping weather!

What is up with the back to school sales so soon? My goodness, the kids just got out last month! This is the first year I have noticed it so early, but it’s the second year for Brenna in school. She will be a big first grader this Fall! And she needs two, count them, TWO composition notebooks! For what? I know she can write, but two composition notebooks worth? She needs to perfect her p’s and q’s before she tackles that bad boy! Oh, and by the way, the composition notebooks are/were on sale at Walmart for a quarter.

So here’s my wacked out reading from last week. Enjoy!

How to Spend Less on Your Pets (Moolanomy Personal Finance)

How to Use a Food Dehydrator to Preserve Your Harvest (Get Rich Slowly)

How to have a completely peaceful car ride with three small kids (Simple Mom) Side Note: I doubt this can be achieved without cramming them all in the trunk!

Lifestyle Deflation? (Fabulously Broke in the City)

Five “To-Do List Managers” Everyone Should Know About (Ms. Career Girl)

~Amy D.

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The corny show picture

Amy D — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 01:01:58 +0000

Yes, Matt is corny, for lack of a better word. He just had to get a picture done with Duncan and Greta. This was the July 4th show in Bainbridge. Duncan (Ch Marianettes Habitual Vialator) went BOB and Greta went Best Bred-By. Duncan is loved and owned by Marian McShane.

Duncan, Greta's Sire, going BOB and Greta going Best Bred-By in Bainbridge, July 2010

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely picture, just a weird concept to me. Maybe I’m the corny one, who knows!

~Amy D.

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The stuff I get suckered into…

Amy D — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:10:53 +0000

Because it’s miserable out today (read: rainy, humid and just downright disgusting!), Matt suggested I go to town today to get my shopping done. Because carting around a 5 year old in the rain is fun! She’s absolutely obsessed with her Dora umbrella and uses it at every stop, rain or no rain. But, seriously, shopping on a day like today is good for me since we don’t have central A/C at the house and I become miserable when I’m hot. So here we are at McDonald’s for lunch (I lobbied very hard for the fish fry place) and lo and behold, they have a Playland! Just shoot me now….but she is cute, right?

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Thursday’s Things

Amy D — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:00:13 +0000

I refer to my daughter’s as Thing One and Thing Two. Just like in the “Cat in the Hat”, they are a whirlwind in my house! Too bad I don’t have a box to put them in when Mom is coming home! That would be too easy, but we have threatened to stick them out in the kennel with the “faucet” (Sinatra) and that usually shuts them up for a minute. Yes, just a minute. Brenna is Thing One and Rowan is Thing Two, also known as “bruiser”, amongst other choice names! Every Thursday I will post some pictures of them. They may not be recent, but you can be guaranteed that there will be Things!

Brenna on her very first day of Kindergarten last September. Hard to believe a whole year has gone by!

Rowan waiting for the bus to come on the first day of school for her sister last year.

~Amy D.

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Tell Me Tuesday: The What does she actually read on the ‘net anyway? Edition

Amy D — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:58:19 +0000

My taste in Blogs vary tremendously, from the crazy popular Heather Armstrong on Dooce to Passion for Savings for my shopping needs. Throw in A LOT of money and budgeting blogs, and my reading list is almost complete! I’m obsessed with findings deals, saving money and Mormons…..yeah, that’s right, Mormons. Heather would be proud!

So, each Tuesday, I will let you in on what I’ve been reading and looking at on the ‘net. Some may bore you, but I’m sure our interests aren’t the same, because, well, that would be boring! Kind of like Brenna telling me that the sky is Rainbow in her own little world, aptly dubbed “Brennaland”. We all can’t be the same y’all!

The Ultimate Guide to Gmail- A Handy Resource (Blogging with Amy)

4 Immediate and Simple Steps to Personal Debt Reduction (Moolanomy Personal Finance)

Time Wasters and Their Solutions (Everyday Minimalist)

2010 Federal Income Tax Brackets & IRS Tax Rates (My Two Dollars)

Calendar Chalkboard Vinyl Decals (Etsy)

Yelloware Tumblers, Set of 4 (Etsy)

~Amy D.

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So who did we breed Polly to?

Amy D — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 01:34:14 +0000

It’s extremely hard, difficult and frustrating to try to have three people agree on a dog to breed to. Equally and even more hair-pulling (on my and Matt’s part) is having a big, huge prerequisite slapped on it. The one thing hanging over our heads was that this dog HAD to be a shorthair. A shorthair you say? Can’t be that difficult……except that most of the really nice dogs out there are longhair. In fact, I have 2 longhairs that I have access to, but NOOOOOOOOO, can’t have that. We will end up with *gasp* a WHOLE LITTER OF LONGHAIR ST. BERNARDS!! For shame, for shame!

So we embarked on a month long tour of websites and lots of talking with people in the breed that we respect. We didn’t find anything that we liked in the Northeast because, well, that would be TOO easy! Drive to get Polly bred? No, we like our DNA in a brown box please, unmarked if you know what I mean. So we really liked a dog from Kings Mill Kennel in Wisconsin. Matt called Lacey and the conversations ensued. And I’m sure Lacey thinks we are all kinds of weirdo, but Matt always said he wouldn’t breed to a dog that he couldn’t have his hands on. We’ve never seen this dog in person, so it’s killing Matt. He would call her and ask all kinds of questions. At one point, I almost emailed her to ask her to write an essay on his qualities and faults, but I figured that would be a little overboard, so I didn’t. Matt asked her over the phone anyway. Yeah, a little nutso. So, it was agreed upon.

We chose to breed her to Kings Mill Unitas. A very nice smooth male from Wisconsin. His head is beautiful. He’s a big, upstanding dog. He does have a fault, and that’s the fact that he’s a Packers fan. We are big Patriots fans, so, maybe it’s ok, we do have the snow in common, I guess.

Of course, Polly’s cycle did not cooperate very well. She probably surged on Sunday and we couldn’t get the semen in until Tuesday. By then, she was over 10, so there was no point in shipping again. She got one AI on June 29th which makes her due date August 31st. Her section is scheduled for that day with x-rays being done the Friday before. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

~Amy D.

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Brenna with her friend Mollie

Amy D — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 01:18:26 +0000

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