Friday - EEEEEEEE! Sandals, toenail polish and windows down. LOVE.
Saturday - product of windows down...let the games begin!
Sunday - Sunday puzzle. Sammy is OBSESSED with geography right now. He can name so many countries and states by sight and knows right where they go. "Oh, that? That's Japan. And here's France. And Peru. And Kazakhstan." Then the states: Arkansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, Washington. We saw three license plates from Canada and one from Arkansas on Friday. I've never seen anyone so happy. Yeah. It's a little crazy. Every crazier how well he did with this puzzle.
Monday - HOP with my two favorite boys.
Tuesday - Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning...two pickup loads full of stuff for the community garage sale. Esh! But no pictures...
Wednesday - Sammy patiently running errands with mommy
Thursday - lunch date with my love. Without Sammy. Wheeee!
Anyone who knows me knows I love coupons. I'm a HUGE fan of Pinching Your Pennies (.com). HUGE. I don't do it NEARLY like I used to when we lived in San Diego (where coupons were doubled...aw, those were the days), for a variety of reasons, but the lessons I learned during my heyday still hold. Especially for health and beauty items. It just makes sense to get what my family needs for as cheaply as possible. So, while our eating habits have changed enough that the lure of free Eggo's or dirt cheap granola bars no longer call my name, I'm still hard pressed to ever pay full price for deodorant (until I start making my own!) or toothpaste.
Because of all of this, I started watching Extreme Couponing last night. HOLY COW. I definitely have a stockpile. I have shelves of health and beauty items. And I love that. I love the I have my YEARS supply on a few things. But, that show. Wow. I so agree that it really looked like a form of organized hoarding. Or addictive shopping. Because to truly save, you need to actually USE your stockpile at some point. Even at my peak, I was ok missing a deal. Because the first thing you learn is that there is ALWAYS another deal coming.
One thing I wondered while watching is how on EARTH some of these people are using this food before it goes bad. The larger families (like the woman in Idaho) I get. She seems a little excessive, but organized and worked with a meal plan. Some of the others, like the one who bought enough mustard for...well, I don't know what you would use all that mustard for! - she seemed to be buying it simply because she could. Her husband, at the store with her, tried to remind her that he didn't even LIKE mustard, but she still cleared the shelf. Because a family of four doesn't need that much mustard in a life time, is she really saving? Or her 90 packages of deli ham. NINETY. Her attitude seemed completely wasteful to me and near bordering on an addict.
It was truly fascinating, especially since I've been in "the game" for so long. But...I don't know. Some of it really did bother me. Some of the attitudes were harsh and wasteful. Some I wondered if they were actually eating healthfully and if they would stop focusing on "the deals" and shop for whole foods, they could save in the long run on their health. But that's a post for another day...
But on the other hand, some of it I just missed. Like Albertson's. Man. I really miss them. Especially since we're down to our last half dozen free toothbrushes. Sniff...
Criss-Cross Applesauce. If you heard that, would you know what it means? See, I thought it was fairly common. A childhood saying that extended to everyone. So when I taught it to Sammy last week, I thought nothing of it. He, however, thought it hilarious and immediately told Isaac. Who looked at me like I had grown another head. All that afternoon, that was the go-to HI-larious phrase in our household. Criss-cross applesauce for EVERYTHING funny. Apparently Isaac had never heard it.
However, it's not like I burst into renditions of "Guadaliacci" or "Pigs Caligs" which WOULD have warranted a crazy look. Because those songs are just Cah-razy. This was just criss cross applesauce...RIght? RIGHT?! Oh dear heaven. Maybe it is just me.
So roll call. Just me? It's in the urban dictionary, so I'm going with no, but...
My sister came over yesterday to 'shop' my garage sale pile before I donate it. You see? I recently remembered that I hate holding garage sales and decided I had better things to do with my time in June than hold one. So when I found out our local food pantry was soliciting donations for a sale to benefit THEM, I, of course, thought 'win/win'. So everything is leaving my garage this week and I'm thrilled with that decision.
What I'm NOT thrilled about, however, is the sheer volume of stuff my sister had to wade through. I lost count on the jeans. And the cardigans. And, well...we'll stop there. I am just completely mortified by how much there was. And it's not like our house is now suddenly anemic. It's still very full. The piles of purses and bags she went through? Mirrored on the shelf in my closet. The aforementioned jeans and cardigans? Still plentiful and, CLEARLY, reproducing while I sleep. Shoes and kitchen ware and Sammy toys. And, well, we aren't even going to touch on the office supplies.
My house was just so very full. It would have HAD to been full, but...it didn't really seem that way. And I think that is what frightens me about this all. It didn't SEEM full. We were living and breathing amid so.much.stuff. And that we could purge it all (and, well, MORE - honestly) and still have so much, I feel gluttonous. Shedding this has helped me see. So much. I'm grateful my sister could use some of it. I'm grateful I can donate it to the food pantry and help a worthy and beloved cause. But most of all, I'm just so very glad I can get rid of it. Peel away a few more layers to that elusive simplicity.
