Packing for the trip...

What is a girl to do when her referral is taking 18 months instead of 6? Why tweak her packing list over ...and over... and over... well, you get the idea.

This my friends is my final list. I've already packed half of it away into little Ziploc baggies, sorted by "category". You will not see my shampoo packets anywhere near my toothpaste, thank you very much.

If you have something to add to the list, please post it. At one point, I had the grand idea to go carry on only. I would totally do that if I had a second person going to split up the baby loot up with. Then they messed me up with the liquid thing... tell me how I am suppose to survive on 2 ounces of contact cleaner for 3 weeks?

So now instead of carry on only, I'm joining the "Oh PLEASE let this be under 40 pounds" club. My goal is to have one hand free and be able to lift my bags with the other. I'm assuming the worst, several flights of stairs everywhere.

I normally don't get torn up over all the adoption videos out there. This one gets me twice, first when you see all the cribs lined up (any multi crib room scene kills me) and around 3:20 when they show her room. Heck I have a room just like that just collecting dust!

:P

Tada!

Only $10.02 after tax, shipping & rebates - www.newegg.com

Freebies

http://www.conagrafoods.com/promotions/banquet_promo.jsp

Jack's Map

Here is a great map of Shamian Island where adoptive parents spend their last week in China.

http://members.fortunecity.com/shamian/index.html

My 2007 Resolutions

I hope everyone had a very good Christmas. I got (and gave) all kinds of good loot. My movie buckets with Superman Returns and Pirates 2 went over well. I packaged them in little tubs and added candy and popcorn to them. Everyone "petted" their super duper fru fru fluffy blankets and seemed to like them. My mom really like her ladder and I think she'll be getting tools from me from now on (I can never find a screwdriver in her house and her hammer is sized for a 3 year old). I hope my angel tree girl enjoyed her stuff. I know there was too much clothing and not enough toys, but maybe buying some of the larger clothing items will free up some funds so her mom can get a toy that she know she'll love.

Anyway the 26th is the day I write down my goals. Last year it was organizing and sticking to my savings plans. I did organize a LOT so I think I met that goal. Savings wise, I was about 1K off, but that was because of beach trip #2 and beach trip #3 added to the Disney trip (I like the beach and it's taking all my willpower not to book a room for this weekend when it will be 73 & 70!). In the grand scheme of things, not too bad :)

So here it is for this year...

1. To behave myself $ wise until the end of March. I have a very good chance of meeting my savings goals if I can just be good (read- no eBay, no TJ Maxx - twitch twitch). Does the weekend beach trip count if I am driving back on the 1st? hehe

2. To cool it with buying things for Natalie. Heck I might even purge some stuff from her collection, she has too many toys. And I am going to get over redoing her room for the 3rd time. Pink is grand, the hearts are cute and I'm not changing it back to her original theme even tho red is cool and the quilt for that set is beautiful .

3. Use stuff up. Bath products, makeup, even stuff out of the freezer and pantry. Oh and gift cards, I have a bunch. I don't need bigger closets, I just need less stuff :)

I'm sure there is a lot more but these three are obtainable I think. Wish me luck!

Happy December 26th!

Ask me why I have a El Salvador ticker and weather girl on my blog?

Because DD#2 is there!

The program is 18-24 months total. The process isn't that much different that China, from what I've read. I'll use a lot of the same documents that I used for China (home study, financial, employment verification, medical) and they are authenticated probably just as much (TN requires a notary, a county verification, a state verification, a state department verification and a consulate verification). I'll travel to pick her up 4-8 weeks after referral and stay 2-3 weeks in country.

I'll be using America World Adoption and I'll start on paperwork on Oct 1, 2007. Hopefully Natalie and I will be back from China during the summer so I'll be back to work by Oct 1 to get a good feel on how it is to be a single working mom.

Track Santa

If you have kids, they'll get a kick out of tracking Santa.

How to survive an alien attack

hehe

hehe

You'll have to forgive me, a few days ago I was bit by a spider. It took less than a minute for my finger to blow up and I thought I might have to go to the emergency room (I weird allergy issues). To be preventative, I grabbed my "oh crap I ate something I shouldn't of" handy dandy bottle of children's liquid benedryll. You take a swig and it buys you time.

So anyway, I drink some, no change and I start to feel weird. So I drink some more. My dad was like let's just go to the doc and stubborn me was like no, they'll charge me $75 to tell me to go home and take benedryll. So I drink a little more.

The last thing I remember is being on my sofa with my dad trying to feed me dinner at 7pm. I woke up at 2:30 PM the next day....oops

So now, I'm just all messed up. It's 2am and I prob won't go to bed tonight. My mind is like "whoa, too much sleep, too much energy, you are killing me!" ....And am I using my boundless energy for anything productive? Heck no, I'm watching movie clips online, I'm just that cool (not).

Lumber :)

I know it's silly to be excited about lumber but I am!

Today we bought the lumber to repair my deck. Awhile back, a wind storm tore off the roof and took one entire wall out. It crashed 10 feet below into my driveway. The insurance company sent me a check that would cover a replacement roof & wall but I stuck that $ on the house because that was the exact amount I needed to pay it off (well that plus $3).

Soooo, fast forward to now, I have a 16 X 16 ft deck on the side of my house that is getting new railings that look like the front porch. Lucky for me, the floor was not damaged at all from the storm, that would of cost a LOT more. I choose not to put another roof on the deck because I really like the view from my kitchen sink window, a roof totally blocks that.

So when we are all done, I'll grab a couple of these:



and I'll be all set for summer :)

Kim = nerd

I find the dumbest stuff online, I love it. This was on BR's Q&A page

http://www.howitshouldhaveended.com/Divx%20links/Superman.html




and lookie lookie, there is a new Transformer's trailer. Something tells me I'll be the only girl in the theatre on opening night?

Windows Media

Cool thing about the movie, part of it was filmed on Holloman AFB in NM where my ex was stationed for the first 6 months we were together. It's where the stealths are kept and they always thought it was funny to buzz cars on the highway.

Support Northwest Airlines

They provide deep discounts on adoption tickets that they allow you to change at the last minute. I think that alone should have all adoptive parents that read this be willing to take a minute and sign their electronic petition.

http://www.nwa.com/features/shanghai/

They are trying to get approval to have non stop service from Detroit to Shanghai. More routes to China can only benefit us.

Check it out! - Kim

Tada!

First time with lights. I bought the garland in 1999 to put on the house in TX. My ex wasn't really into decorating so it sat in a box until yesterday :)

And I changed over my wreath. It was fun decorating for the first time in 6 years!

2 more days...

until my front porch is done :) I have my garland and lights ready to go. 2006..the first year I put out Christmas lights :)

This is day one. Yes that is SNOW. We froze!

And this was the end of today. It was 68 degrees today, more like April than Dec. For those who don't believe in global warming, you needed to be in east TN today!

(look, there is Maggie on the right, mom to the last batch of kittens. To the left is baby #5 I could never catch, he's fast so I've named him Rocket)

Only 14 more rails on the front to go, then we have to make 2- 18 inch wide sections just for decoration where I was standing. None of it's hard, just time consuming. We've learned the right way to do a lot of this too, so it will be much faster when we start on the deck after Christmas :)

YAY ANN!

My friend Ann was on Jeopardy tonight! They filmed it about a month ago. She was so nervous but I think she did a really good job. Second place with 20K isn't too shabby :)

I swear I am trying to get it out of my system...

I am just really ticked about the new rules for China. I understand that I should be happy I have a LID and that I will be there next summer. But here's the kicker... I qualify under the new rules EXCEPT for being single.

Listen to this little tidbit from the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee ---

78 percent of families in 2002 are comprised of dual-income earners.

Did everyone catch that? And that's just 2002, who knows what it is now. Even if you are a dual parent household, that doesn't mean your kids won't be in daycare with mine.

That is what frustrates me and just ticks me off. I am not against marriage (if it works for you, I AM happy for you!), it's just not my thing. I am happy with my life and self sufficient, I just don't care for an entire country telling me I'm not worthy because I choose not to get married.

I know one stay at home mom. Just one out of the hundreds of women I know from...um...work.

Pre Adoption Trip

I sort of have in my head what my pre-adoption trip will be like. Any suggestions on tweaking it would be much appreciated.

Day 1- Fly to Beijing via Detroit. Arrive late that night, check into Holiday Inn Central Plaza.

Day 2 - Have hotel car service take me to the train station. Take the #2 bus to the Badaling section of the Great Wall. Have hotel arrange tickets to the acrobat show that evening.

Day 3 - Take taxi to Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City & Temple of Heaven. They are all together and under 5 miles from the hotel. Taxis are very cheap in China! Have hotel arrange tickets to the opera at Liyuan Theater inside Qianmen Hotel (FYI, tickets are 20-80 RM which is 3-10$s)

Day 4 - Check out of hotel but leave large roller bag in their holding area (just use carry on tote for a few days so I can be more mobile). Take taxi to Beijing Zoo, Panda Garden, and Beijing Aquarium which is less than 5 miles away. Take taxi to Beijing Bus/Train station for 20:28 soft sleeper trip to Xian.

Day 5 - Arrive in Xian at 8am. Take #306 bus from the station to the terracotta warriors. English speaking guides are available for $6. Take bus back to station then a taxi to the Sofitel Hotel and check in. Wander around local area and find someplace good for dinner.

Day 6 - Check out of hotel. Wander around Xian, try to make it to a section of the city wall. Make it back to the train station for 18:44 soft sleeper trip to Shanghai.

Day 7 - Arrive in Shanghai at 11:00 AM. Take taxi to Crowne Plaza Hotel and check in. Take taxi to Yu Gardens and walk around. Take taxi to Bund and make my way to Shanghai's New Heights bar to watch the sun set from their rooftop area.

Day 8 - Check out of hotel. Wander around locally, I will be in a college area, there will be lots of interesting things to see. Make my way to the train station again to make the 19:00 soft sleeper trip back to Beijing.

Day 9 - Arrive Beijing 7:00. Check back into Holiday Inn Central Plaza & pick up bag I left there earlier. Take taxi to pearl market and shop.

Day 10 - Use this Beijing day to finish up all the things I didn't get done in the first 4 days here. (Added- thanks for the comment!)

Day 11 - Meet up with my travel group in the AM so we can go our province together.

I've researched the hotels until I can tell you about them in my sleep. I choose each one based on Trip Advisor comments and their proximity to landmarks and the train stations. The only part of the trip that I feel weird about is being at the Bund at night alone. I will probably arrange a tour with a company that day. The reason I think I won't be going with a tour group the whole time is one, the cost. This trip is $2500 for a single traveler. I have it down as 1K on my own. And two, I don't do well with people telling me what to do and where to be...that is very bad in a tour group. Three - I also get impatient with other travelers who didn't do their home work and constantly ask me questions about where we are going. I always get those questions because I do a lot of homework before any of my trips and know where we are going!

If you could add 1 more day to this trip, what would you add? Any ideas?

I think I'm going to be ill.

A new policy is going into effect May 1st, that is the last day that singles can log in a dossier.

My 12-05-05 dossier is just fine, I'll be traveling to China probably in the summer.

But it totally kills off my second child.

Here is a crazy thought, put some money into the orphanages so they can get their kids ready for international adoption. Clear them out, let them collect the fees so they can take care of the un-adoptable children. Why would you want an institution full of children without families?

I am adding a week to my adoption trip. I'll be staying in Beijing, Xian and Shanghai. I think I just want to try to understand the people that she'll be coming from. Now that she won't have a Chinese sister, I'll need to focus more on how I can help her thrive in a white area. I think learning of the history and spending time with the people will help with that.

Very exciting :)

I am getting a new front porch..sort of :) Just as a background, my house was part of an estate sale and it was in pretty bad shape. We first tackled the inside projects, tons of paint, refinishing the hardwood, redid the whole bath, put in kitchen tile and painted the cabinets. There has also been a lot of plumbing redos and wiring upgrades. On the outside we did siding, new gutters and windows. It's been quite the project!

Now we find ourselves knee deep in the eyesore dilemma. Every time you fix something and make it pretty and new, it makes something else look just that much worse.

My biggest eyesore now is my front porch. My current front porch is a wide rectangle, about 14 feet X 8 feet. Imagine a box, my front door is in the upper left corner, my big living room window is in the middle of the top portion next to the door. All it has it two square columns holding up the edges in the bottom left and right corners.

I am getting new supports (which will probably still be square) and rails :) Originally I had awful metal ones that were rusty and sharp, I took those out the first week I lived here. So the front porch area has looked naked for awhile.

Once that's done I'll paint my white wicker furniture a cute color and put it on the front porch. I'd also like to have long curtain type things that I could gather and tie to the supports. When I mentioned that to dad he just gave me "that look", the "I'm just going to nod my head yes while you girl up my cool wood working project" look - hehe

Want to see something frightening? I know what is going through your head, holy crap, and she is going to put a kid in there?



Then look, just a year later...


I can't find my phase three picture with the white windows. Phase 4 is with the redone front porch, 5 will be the deck, 6 will be the driveway and hopefully the last project in this fixer upper :)

Practicing

Everyone says the baby is going to make a mess and get into things that I'd never think of. I think my rotten kittens have prepared me quite a bit!

It's my fault for leaving this case in the living room for more than 5 minutes...



And it's totally my fault too, I cleaned out the office yesterday and forgot the bag of trash out in the hall. This is what I woke up to...


They were very sad when I started cleaning it up.

It's a girl, girl and.....girl!

Hooray! The referrals did come in!

The Hickman's baby is Wan Fey Ling born on 2-10-06.

The Moody's baby is Qian Xiao Ling born 2-25-06.

The Dixon's baby is Cha Mu Ling born 4-7-06.

They are all cute little tiny girls, super cute :)

I love my online groups....

they are just a wealth of information. Read this article, this is me:

Nearly half of women fear life as a bag lady

By Jennifer Harper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
August 23, 2006

They may have money in their purses and a decent salary, but many women fear they'll lose their income and end up a bag lady, forgotten and destitute.
A "startling" 90 percent of women say they feel financially insecure, according to a survey of almost 1,925 women released yesterday by Allianz, a Minnesota-based life insurance company.
Almost half are troubled by a "tremendous fear of becoming a bag lady" -- 46 percent of women overall, and 48 percent of those with an annual income of more than $100,000. An additional 57 percent are sorry they had not learned more about money matters in school.
Such concerns foster an array of behaviors and thoughts.
Women, for example, are twice as likely as men -- 18 percent to 9 percent -- to set aside a secret stash of money, the study found. Roughly the same number counseled their daughters to do the same. And the feminine thrill of shopping took a back seat to practicality: Two-thirds said the best thing about having money is the feeling of security it brought them, rather than buying power or status.
"They want to know they can handle what might lie in front of them," said Ken Dychtwald, a gerontologist who consulted on the project.
Women have made substantial financial progress, the study said, noting their median income has increased 60 percent in the past three decades. They are expected to control 60 percent of U.S. wealth by 2010. Half of all stock market investors also are women.
And yes, men and women have different attitudes about money, which often spawns disagreements between the sexes. Women, for example, think financial arguments revolve around "power and control" while men say it's a matter of trust.
Are American men unnerved by financially independent women? Not likely. According to a related Allianz poll, more than 90 percent found such a quality to be "sexy."
Both polls were conducted May 4 to July 5, and have a margin of error of two percentage points.
Meanwhile, "the adage of 'marrying well' no longer works," the study states.
Indeed, only 8 percent of female respondents said they hoped a man would solve their financial woes. More than one-third considered themselves financially competent, almost a quarter said they had a financial partnership with their spouse and 18 percent said they felt financially "empowered." But 18 percent said they were confused and worried by money.
"Money fears of women are complicated. They fear failure, or making mistakes. They fear they are expendable. Their fear of being poor, however, has topped the list for two decades," said Judith Briles, a Denver financial adviser and author of 23 books on money management.
It seems an ingrained girl thing, though.
"Bag lady syndrome is a fear many women share that their financial security could disappear in a heartbeat, leaving them homeless, penniless and destitute," MSN money columnist Jay McDonald wrote in January. "Lily Tomlin, Gloria Steinem, Shirley MacLaine and Katie Couric all admit to having a bag lady in their anxiety closet."

I am naming that little nagger in the back of my mind the baglady. If I'm lucky I'll figure out a way to shut her up.

Disapointment, New music and a Lesson

My agency has no word of referrals unlike everyone else. My friend Pam might not be getting her referral this week :( The announcement says up to the 8th and in the past, that has included that date. Maybe not this month, Living Hope doesn't have anything coming from Beijing via DHL on their account. We had 2 families that were skipped last month due to questioning that were suppose to get their referrals also. It seems there is a new policy, if they ask questions, you get pulled from your group and you land wherever they are at in the review process. If it takes you a month to get information back to them and for them to process you, it seems like they'll scoot your LID to that later time. A month used to be just a month. Now it is taking 2-3 real days to process 1 paperwork day. I have 87 paperwork days until my referral. That could be 87- 261 real days for me. Worse case, that puts me with an August referral travelling in Oct. If that is how it's going to be, I'm ok with that. __________________________________________________

I really like movie soundtracks :) My favorite is Braveheart (James Horner) and I get REALLY ticked when I hear inferior movies using bits of the soundtrack (like Castaway, that was a stupid movie). I think movies earn their music!

My second favorite is Star Wars. Big shock there! It's written in the handbook for nerds, that one must own all the movies in the most expensive collectors edition format and have at least one of the soundtracks in their car :) John Williams - you rock!

Third is...wait for it.....Superman. Yup, no brainer I know. John Ottman did a good job, he tweaked the main theme that John Williams created in the 70's. I think he would of been hunted down by fans and poked with sharp sticks if he hadn't ;)

Anyway, I changed the music because it didn't sound superman-ish. It was the music from the teenage Clark jumping over cornfields, I liked that part of the movie :) Now it's from a flying scene.
______________________________________________

Ok, here is our fun YouTube goody of the day. There is a girl willing to teach the world Chinese! That is no easy feat considering I am southern. Not too southern, I spent 10 years in other places that smoothed out my drawl a bit but it's still there.
Today we will learn how to say hello. "Ni hao" or "knee how" if you are from TN ;)


_______________________________________________

Have a good day for the 4 people that read my blog! I am off to my mom's to prepare for the garage sale. Wish me luck, I hope to finish wiping out my Avon inventory! :)

Three local families are getting their referrals today. Congrats to Pam, Rita & Gloria :)

Yay it's here!

Nope, not my referral, that's just too easy (and about 6 months too early based on my guess).

My DVD is here! Yay!

In switching the blog back to Superman good-ness, I somehow blacked out all my youtube movies. Hmmm...breaking my blog is very hard work!

Hehehe

She shoots...she scores!

I'm just gloating for a second. I just bought 5 Christmas presents! I got queen size blankets, the kind that feel like stuffed animals. I bought myself one last Thursday and it doubled in fluffiness after I washed it. I've never bought a bedding item I liked more!

So I wiped them out, I wanted to get a certain color for everyone but had to mix it up a little because I wasn't the only one who though they were cool (half of them were gone). I am going to replace the boring bow with something fru fru-e-er and somehow secure a small yankee candle jar on it. Hopefully Dollar Tree will have those cloth fancy bags again, that would be something I could tie on.

This year is the year of practical gifts. I had $ goals for the holidays of $100 for primary (parents), $40 for secondary (blanket people!) and $15 for thirdendary (is that a word?) for step siblings. Then I'll make prezel rods covered with that white stuff for work people and I am done. Wooohoo I think I'll celebrate by making my first batch of holiday sausage balls :)

YouTube

I have to say that I really like YouTube. I find all kinds of stuff. From silly (first videos) to heartbreaking (car seat) to this one that makes you think.

Oh no!

I'm becoming one of them!

You know, those super organized people that you wish you were more like but also hate just a little?

I've been working on my stuff and how to organize it better so I can use everything at the right time. My biggest problem is buying things on clearance after a season and not being able to find them when I need them.

Tonight I bought my 33rd birthday party supplies at 75% off for just 25 cents a pack. If you are keeping count, that is the Oct 28, 2007 party that I'll have when the baby is home. I got purple plates (that can double for baby birthday or Easter), Halloween plates (umm, no doubles) and orange napkins (Boo! - Go VOLS!).

So where might you ask am I keeping my new goodies so I won't lose them for next year? Why in my fancy dandy hallway closet. It's going to be my new "stock em up" area. You see I also purchased heavy duty trick or treat bags tonight so I tucked my plates and napkins away in the bags and put them on the paper goods shelf. Yup, you read that right, I have a paper goods shelf and I'm pretty smug about it. I also have a colored lights shelf that is displaying Christmas lights AND eyeball lights. Yup yup it's all good!

Silly Fun

I give up....

on having a "custom" blog. The old one was just crooked, it drove me nuts. Someday I might actually dish out $30 a buy one (gasp, heaven forbid!) but for now, black is fine.

You can blame 95.9 K-Rock for the music selection. Use Your Illusion was the second (and third) CD/s I ever bought. Well, that my boyfriend at the time bought. You see, this was one of the first CDs with a parent advisory on it. I wasn't 18 so I had to get someone to buy it for me. How insane is that? Just shows how far we come (or how far we've fallen) when you compare what gets an advisory sticker on it today. But anyway, 95.9 has decided to resurrect this 2 disc set. They play one song every couple of days during the 10 at 10:00 show.

Ok so what makes me ill, I know the words to all these songs. But I can't remember where I put my car keys from day to day. I feel like these songs have locked up brain power that I'll never be able to reclaim!

Bored bored bored

I've not been blogging much because I'm bored and in a funk. My trips are over for the year (and if I am good, until China) and that is something that I really enjoy planning out and going on. I've been told by my Disney buds that I am suffering from withdrawls...hmm maybe they are right? :)

Another birthday has come and gone and still no baby. Blah!

Speaking of baby, she got two new toys. I really stopped buying for her because she already had a lot and I need to figure out toy storage before I got much more. Then I decided that was nuts, if I had to, I'd stick toys under my bed. Ya, that will work. Anyway, my mom bought her this train:

and tonight I bought the last piece to her farm toys:

Baby's Fisher Price Loot (ignore the lack of quarter round, I'm getting to it, I'm not THAT bored)

My mom has also hinted that she's getting the baby that bouncy zebra thing and the two little pieces that go on the back of the train. Those will be the absolute last toys for her...well for 2006 :)

More pictures of the kids.....

I love my pumpkin!

Hand over the tequila or the lime gets it!

Proof that a cat will sleep anywhere!

I wish I were an only child...

no kidding...

Rewarding, very very very rewarding!

Holy crap,I have 49,521 thank you points in my account!
First, I'd like to thank the two people who signed up under my link a couple of months ago. Those points came through last week, 10,000 of them! I'd also like to thank Ashlie & Barbara who gave me nice write ups at work that contributed 7,000 points to my balance.

Have I said holy crap? 49,521 points!

I used to just need 60,000 points to fly to China for free, I wonder how many it is now?

FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE woohhooo FREE!

Hooray for Secret Pals!

I've gotten some excellent secret pal gifts this past year but this one takes the cake!

Thank you Amy!

If you can't tell, Lilo and Stitch are my favorite :)

Cute kid, I have no idea who he is lol

More Video/Pics Part 3

I miss Disney, I think I am going back next year. Rumor is they will have free dining again around the same timeframe that I'll probably be on adoption leave. Think the baby will like Cindy?


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It's about time for me to be planning out the yard for next spring. I have a lot to do, there isn't a lot of landscaping at my house right now. I'd love to have something like these hehe

More Video Part 2

These are my favorite floats in the parade. The fish run a close second, I'll see if I can't find Ariel and King Triton in my videos :)

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More Video Part 1

Ok, this is why I don't ride roller coasters. I was more than 500 feet away using zoom to take this video (on the other side of the LAKE). Notice how nice and loud the screams are? lol

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Some of the free Disney Food

Disney Princess Pictures

Cheapo Alert!

I have deals people! I'm all about not paying full price for stuff so I can put my moola to other better use (hello...adoption! :)

This weeks deals include:
Kroger-
Buy 1 can of fruit $1
Buy 1 can of tomatoes $1
Buy 16 cans of veggies (the 60 cent ones)
Get an instant $3 off with your card and use this PDF to get $10 back in the mail. For those who don't pay tax of food, congrats, you just made a buck. For us cheapos in TN, we about break even.


Also, head on over to ebay and buy one of these:
While you at Kroger, buy 10 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats for $15, then apply coupons. Then send off for the $10 rebate she includes with the coupons. 10 boxes of cereal for tax..ok, I can handle that :)

CVS- Buy 3 L'oreal products and get $10 Extra bucks back on your card. The have HIP BOGO and you can use shampoo. If you want to go the cheap route get shampoo for $4 a bottle or pick up three eyeshadows for stocking stuffers. You can use the extra bucks for the next deal and keep cycling them over and over :)

Walgreens - Don't forget about the Sept rebates, they end any day now. Oct starts on Sunday I think.

For extra savings be sure to match your coupons up with these deals for extra savings. I'll post more when I find them :)

Disney :)

The first videos from 600+ pictures and videos from my trip to Disney!


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YAY FOR ME!

MY LID IS 12-5 YIPPEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Cool PBS Broadcast

Someone posted this on my Disney Budget Board (save a buck, go to Disney club hehe). It's about retirement and the issues that are facing a lot of people.

Do I worry about retirement at 31? Heck ya. I worry that if I don't keep a corporate job until the day I die I won't have good health insurance and I'll blow through my 401K just like that trying to keep up. Cash wise minus the health care costs = not a bit worried....I'm that type of planner person, as long as I can work in corporate land for 20 years I'm good plus I live pretty cheaply and I think its fun to save money (I know, I should change my name to weirdokimmo). But the health insurance thing does bother me and I'm not sure what I can really do to fix it. Maybe I should worry about it in 5 years? Ya, that sounds good :)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/front...etirement/view/

tearing up a little....

I found these pretty butterflies online tonight and thought they would be a good blog theme. So I have removed the hot hot Brandon Routh (aka Superman) from my header and put something a little more traditional there (but don't worry, he's still my desktop pic, wowsa!) I also took off the music from Track #2 from the Superman Returns soundtrack and replaced it with Sunny Spring- a very old song performed with a Qin-String instrument. Cool huh?

WOOHHOOOOOOOOOOO

I made $431 at my yard sale today and I didn't even sell a 1/3 of my loot and I've not gone through 2/3 of my basement yet either. I've not had a yard sale in 10 years and it felt so good getting rid of things I really didn't need. I thought about being a little frivolous and popping that cash directly into my cruise fund but instead I am going to teach myself a lesson (ha, I am going to be one of THOSE parents!). That money, along with the cash from the second sale at the end of the month and the ebaying I'll be doing in a couple of weeks is going into a CD and I am going to keep it for a long long time -- it might even be the start of a college fund. That is what I get for blowing all that moola over the years, I am bad.

It really makes you think about your place in the world when people come in and evalute your "trash". We had THREE Cadillac Escalades pull into the sale today and they bought some stuff (knick knacky junk) and that just makes me nervous for some reason lol. Its like "oh no, is my loot good enough for people who can pay 60K for a vehicle?". Silly, I know....... but I think it.

My favorite person today was a young mom who needed clothes and she wore my size. I was so happy to see her walk away with all kinds of nice things that I marked it down even more for her. She was thankful that I was willing to part with it and I was thankful she was giving my stuff a good home. It's a win win!

Next sale is Sept 30th, wish me luck!

November is out of Review!

Imagine my surprise as I did my shut down PC procedures today and checked out my 6 daily sites to discover that

NOVEMBER IS OUT OF REVIEW!

What does this mean? All my friends in my DTC group are reviewed :) My LID is 12-5 so I am right around the corner. I will keeping my phone on me at all times that is for sure!

Ahoy Matey

Carnival Cruise Lines is an evil organization. They keep sending me sales ads because I cruised with them a couple of years ago.

They tell me I want to go to Europe for 12 days and sail along the coast. And you know what? They are totally right! Check out this schedule:

Mon		Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy				7:00pm		View Shore Excursions
Tue		Naples, Italy		7:00am		6:00pm		View Shore Excursions
Thu		Dubrovnik, Croatia		7:00am		7:00pm		View Shore Excursions
Fri		Venice, Italy		2:00pm				View Shore Excursions
Sat		Venice, Italy				5:00pm		View Shore Excursions
Mon		Messina, Sicily, Italy		7:00am		5:00pm		View Shore Excursions
Wed		Barcelona, Spain		7:00am		5:00pm		View Shore Excursions
Thu		Cannes, France		9:00am		8:00pm		View Shore Excursions
Fri		Livorno, Italy		7:00am		7:00pm		View Shore Excursions
Sat		Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy		8:00am				View Shore Excursions

So now I'm trying to figure out the true cost of the cruise. I have always wanted to do one of those bus tours of the UK that goes all over the place and you spend about a day in each town. BUT the cruise is less expensive, is 2 days longer and goes to "fancier" places. And the boat includes all your food while the bus tour is only part of your food.

I think the idea of a ship for your home is good too. You stay in the same room, same bed, and always have a place to escape to when the tourist thing gets to be too much. Also with the possibility of having a 1 year old in tow, I like the idea of not keeping her on a bus 10 hours a day.

So now I'm saving for the cruise that leaves on Sept 10, 2007. Its a lot, $1300 and I am not sure how much extra a baby would be and I need another adult to go with me. There is also the cost of getting to Rome where the boat leaves. I'm guessing a minumum of $2,000 because I'd try to priceline the ticket. Yikes! but what a trip! Maybe it will be Sept 2008! :)

ALSO my eye is back to 20/30 and they think with more time will be back to 20/20 with my glasses. There is a lot of halo-ing still happening but he wasn't concerned about it because I found out my eye actually dropped to -2400 with my glasses before (I thought it was better than that eeck). I have a month's worth of pills to take now to bring me down off the other high dose stuff and a recheck in a month. I was released to drive during the day but not at night. I am having issues with headlights being so fuzzy that they merge into one huge light and it messes up my position on the road. So no night driving, more pills and my eye is much better. :)

OH and I can't believe I forgot to do this post, its mandatory you know, they'll kick me out of the club. WHY OH WHY CAN'T THEY SPEED THINGS UP -- THEY ARE KILLING ME!!