The Johnson Hut

Last night I saw that I had 20 minutes before Walgreens closed at 10:00.  So I hauled over there in the rain with all my stuff and my receipt to have the manager correct some over charges from a previous purchase. 

SHE REFUSED!  She said that she was busy with closing the store, there was only one register open and this would take longer than she had time for!  I couldn’t believe it.  I asked in disbelief, “You’re not going to help me?”  She said, “I’m terribly sorry but if you come back in the morning I’ll be sooo happy to help you then.  I’m terribly sorry.”  I was so taken aback that I just walked out of the store without saying anything.

When I got home I called the store and spoke with the same manager.  I told her I was really upset and disappointed in the customer service that I had received from her.  I told her that she doesn’t know my situation and she can’t assume that I can easily come over in the morning.  The fact is, I didn’t want to go out at 9:45pm in the rain, either, but I do what I have to do when I have four small kids that I don’t want to haul into stores with me.

Again, she said, “I’m terribly sorry but I’ll be happy to do the transaction for you in the morning.”  ARG!  Then she started going on about how the store had lost power for 5 minutes and she was “shaking with fear” (she literally said that) because she’s a female manager working in a very unsafe neighborhood and she just wanted to close the store and get out of there.

WHAT THE *#&%*#?  Have any of you seen Avalon Park?  Yeah, I’m sure it’s one of the top 10 scariest places to work.  Maybe she should wear body armor tomorrow because of all the soccer mom’s waiting to get a piece of her.

At that point I lost patience.  I said, “Now you’re just making up excuses to be unhelpful.  It’s not like the store is located on Colonial.”

“I’m terribly sorry, Ma’am.  I’ll be sooo happy to help you in the morning.”  

AAAAAHHHH!

I hung up and sent a complaint to corporate.

We’ve been vicitimized by Fay!!!  After a kazillion hours of rain, rain, rain we woke up to find our downstairs bedroom (Amy’s room) completely flooded.  We had to empty her room and pull out all the carpet.  The picture below shows one of the many, many puddles in her room.  There were puddles all the way along the wall and in the middle of the room.  Now she doesn’t have any carpeting.  Just a bed, a TV and some rugs that make pathways to the bathroom and closet.  All the rest of her furniture is in our dining room.

I think we’ve managed to salvage the hall and her closet.  If we hadn’t saved the hall carpet we would have had to recarpet the whole family room, too!  Yuck!

Right now we’re praying that the MI Homes warranty department will cover the damage.  If they don’t…we’re stuck with the bill.

The pond out the back of our house got so high it overflowed its banks on two sides.  Until two days ago I never dreamed we could get that much rain!

This is a picture of the left side of our overflowing pond.

Here’s the other side.

A couple weeks ago Reagan started straining her head forward every time she was laying down or in the sitting position so I sat her on the floor to see how stable she was.  She sat like this for several minutes and finally started yelling when she leaned too far forward and couldn’t raise herself back up again. 

This picture was taken last week when she was 3 1/2 months.  Almost all my kids have been early sitters for some reason.  The boys thought she’d be really interested in the horse.  And she was until she face-planted into it.

Last night my sister, Amy, and I went to the American Idol! Live concert in Tampa.  After driving for 2 hours through Tropical Storm Fay we managed to get slightly disoriented when Google Maps sent us to a lovely residential area instead of the venue.  However, Matt managed to navigate us to the correct location via cell phones and a home computer.

Last night was one of the best nights EVER!  We laughed, we danced, we lost our voices.  It was a deliriously happy time.  For a moment I thought I was 20 again.

Even though we had a fabulous time Amy and I managed to conduct ourselves with the upmost restraint and dignity.  We were the picture of grace.  For instance…

We did not almost run over a squirrel and scream like 9 year old girls.

I did not get frazzled by the previously mentioned squirrel and drive the wrong direction on a one way street.

We did not shamelessly decide our seats were too high and find two empty seats stage-side.  See picture below.

That is not me swarming the stage to shake David Archuletta’s hand.

 Amy did not almost touch David Cook’s shoe and then decide it was a little too stalkerish.

We did not become BFF with the two girls in front of us who had the following sign.  And we did not high-five them when David Cook laughed, waved and winked at them from the stage.

And we most certainly did not act like children and come home at 1:30 at night but conducted ourselves like the mature women that we are.  Aren’t you proud of us?!

Up until sometime this afternoon I’ve been completely fine with the prospect of Adam starting Kindergarten.  I know that he’ll be just fine and have a great time.

The problem is I’m not feeling all that fine right now.  It all began when I started figuring out what time I needed to take him to school and I imagined dropping him off.  His teacher encouraged me to drop him off in the bus loop so that’s what I planned on doing.  Then I thought about him walking into the school with an administrator that he doesn’t know with about 10,000 other kids that he doesn’t know.  Then I thought, “Will he be nervous or scared?”  That was it…I can’t drop him off.  I have to go in with him for the first few days.

I just can’t believe my little boy is going to school.  It feels different then when he was going to VPK.  VPK is small and only two days a week.  Kindergarten is large and 5 days a week.  I’ll miss my buddy.  I read my friend, Jill’s, post and had a good cry.  I think I’ll be okay now.

Yesterday was Meet the Teacher day for two of my boys.  Adam is going into Kindergarten at Timber Lakes Elementary in Avalon.  There are so many kids in the community that there aren’t any buses to this school.  All 650 kids will be driven by parents or walk. 

I’m completely confident of Adam’s ability to adapt and learn the ropes.  He’s one of the oldest in his class and has a great memory for instructions so I know he’ll be just fine. 

Interesting note- The kids wear uniforms to Timber Lakes.  I think it’s pretty cool, actually.  The only problem is that EVERY parent went and bought the necessary polo shirts this week.  There’s nothing left.  I managed to score one white shirt after going to Target, Walmart twice, and Old Navy.  I guess he’ll wear that for the first week until I can locate some other shirts.

For some reason I’m a little more misty eyed about Trey going to VPK.  He’ll be at the same pre-school as Adam was last year, with the same teacher, even.  He’ll be going two days a week so it’s not too overwhelming.

I think I’m feeling more nervous because Trey’s young for his class.  He just turned 4 where Adam was almost 5 when he started.  Also, Trey has trouble with articulation and has been in speech therapy.  I guess I just get afraid that he’ll have trouble making friends and his teacher’s won’t understand him.

I’m sure I’m just being melodramatic but for some reason I feel more protective of my little Trey-man.

But how weird will it be to only have two kids at home twice a week!!!!  I can’t imagine.  Seriously, I can’t imagine what that will be like.  I’ve never had just Zach and Reagan.  It’ll be interesting.

In the spirit of savings I’m attaching a coupon for the tomato sauce that I talked about in the previous post for you to try the savings for yourself.

Click here and you can print this sheet as many times as you want.

I would suggest that those of you with access to a Publix go there (other grocery stores must carry the brand, too, though). Find the organic aisle, and find the Muir Glen Tomato Sauce (8 oz. can) for $0.79. If you only printed the sheet once then buy 10 cans (because there are 10 coupons per sheet).

The coupon is worth $1 and the tomato sauce is worth $0.79 so you’ll have an overage of $0.21 for every can…making it a money-maker of $2.10 for 10 cans.

I would add something to your cart that’s a couple dollars. Like buy a gallon of milk. That way when you go to the register the overage will be credited to your milk and you’ll only pay about $1.50 for your milk (depending on the cost of milk that day).

Sometimes the cashiers will adjust the coupon down to $0.79 so just be ready for that…but it’s still free!

Let me know how it worked for you!

Four weeks ago…

Rinnie: I don’t get what the big deal is with coupons.

Pam:  I know!  Whoop-de-do if you save $1 on a $23 box of Huggies.  I need REAL savings.

Rinnie: Yeah.  And generic is cheaper than name brand even with a coupon.

Today…we’re eating crow.

I found out that my friend, Marianne (who shamefully doesn’t blog.  She would have great things to say), was couponing and saving lots of money.  My interest was piqued, I gave her a call and haven’t looked back.

In the last three weeks I’ve saved hundreds of dollars…on things I need and use.  I also stayed BELOW my unrealistically low grocery budget!  For months we’ve set a weekly grocery budget that I’ve never once gone below.  I always, always, go over…over by $20-$100.  It was very discouraging.

But I’ve been learning “The Game.”  I can’t explain it all here or explain it well so I’ll just link to some very savvy women’s blogs at the end of this post.

It’s been overwhelming and time consuming but soooo worth it.  My goal is to have my grocery budget cut down to $50 per week.  Yes, you read that right FIFTY DOLLARS…for a family of six.  I know it can be done because there’s a gal here in Orlando with a family of six who does it.  A friend of Lindsey Enlows (for those of you at UPC).  I’ll link to her blog at the end of this post, too.

The basic premise of couponing, I’ve learned, is to stock up on all the non-perishable items as they go on sale and you have matching coupons…for almost free, free, or even make some money on the deal.  (I’ll show you some of my scores in a second.)  Then your grocery budget is freed up to buy the perishable items like meat, dairy, etc.

For example, I now have 11 bottles of shampoo and conditioner, 26 bags of diapers (assorted sizes), 6 tubes of toothpaste, and 20 cans of tomato sauce that I’ve bought for pennies…literally.  Now my weekly budget is free of diapers and shampoo so it can go toward things like meat (because we all know that a meal is not a meal unless it has meat).  :)  At least that’s how it is with the men in my family.

Here are some of my most favorite buys in the last few weeks.  I have many more I could share but you’d get bored.

Diapers at Walgreens:  I was a diaper buying fool this month!  I stacked a store sale with three different coupons and ended up paying 25 CENTS for every THREE bags of diapers.  I did this deal 8 times and now have 24 bags of diapers that I paid a total of $2 for.

 CVS: This doesn’t look like much but the price at the register was $20.04 (the Revlon blush in the front was $10) and I paid $2.79 for the whole bunch

 Ulta: I was so proud of myself for figuring this deal out on Max Factor make up all by myself.  Usually I check out the blogs for ideas.  I even wrote to a big money-saving blogger about this deal and she posted me on her blog.  I felt like such a celebrity!  The two mascaras and two eyeshadows cost $20.16.  After coupons I paid $0.62…cents!  LOVE IT!

Tomato Sauce at Publix: This is my favorite, though. On this transaction at Publix I had 16 coupons for $1 off organic tomato sauce.  At the store each can cost $0.79.  The store paid me $0.21 for every can I “bought,” which was a total of $3.36, which in turn paid for my garbage bags.  Thank you, Publix!! 

Note: Marianne tried to do this deal and the cashier adjusted her coupons down to $0.79 instead of $1.00.  But Rinnie and I both made money on this one.

When I get home I show off my deals to Matt and Amy and do some humble gloating.  Amy said she’s not entirely sure if I’m not breaking the law somehow.  :)  But, I’m not and I’m finding great deals. 

It works for everyone…I save a ton of money and the stores that I would never visit before are getting my business now.  For instance, I never set foot in Publix because it’s usually more expensive then Walmart.  But with deals like the tomato sauce now I check them out every week and have spent at least $100 there that would have gone to their competition.  The $3.36 that they gave me for tomato sauce has bought a customer and paid them back many times over.  Capitalism is a beautiful thing.

Here are some links to some very savvy women’s money-saving blogs…

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom  (she’s a biggie.  This is where I got posted for Ulta)

http://homeschoolingfour.blogspot.com (this is Lyndesy’s friend in Orlando.  She will give you the deals for Publix and Winn Dixie.  Very helpful.)

http://thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com

http://www.couponcravings.com/

These are just four.  There are more that I have on my Google Reader but these are a good place to start.

Also, CVS has a great program where you buy things and receive CVS money back (called Extra Care Bucks, or ECB’s) that you can use to buy other stuff in the store, that in turn generates more CVS money.  Eventually you get enough ECB’s that you don’t have to pay out of pocket for anything.  You just use the CVS money and continue to generate more CVS money.  Very cool.

Here’s a link from Money Saving Mom that explains the CVS program in detail:

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2008/03/cvs-101.html

I have a group of 10 high school girl friends that I still get together with every year.  We’ve been out of high school for 16 years and still make a point of getting together.  They’re so awesome!  It’s really special to be able to connect with these women who share so much in common.  We all went to boarding school together and have known each other for over 20 years.  Wow!  I suddenly feel so old.

This weekend my good friend, Joy (Bustrum, for those who know her), got married in California.  Reagan and I went to the wedding.  It was a beautiful wedding and so neat to see Joy married.

Reagan was a great little traveler.  She smiled and cood at everyone.  She was very flexible with the crazy schedule and able to nap anywhere and everywhere.  What a blessing she is!

I’m home and very, very tired.  The time change is doing me no favors.  I actually fell asleep on the couch while I was “talking” to the boys.  I feel kinda bad about that but I tried to make it up to them by playing marbles.

I’m going to bed now.  See ya.

The boys have been BEGGING us for a vacation for months.  We finally decided that we needed to do something that was cheap and fairly close to home before school starts in August.  So we settled on a return visit to the Everglades.

Matt has Marriott points from all his traveling that landed us a free room at a great hotel in Miami for three nights.  It’s a golf resort with nice pools and a waterslide, which the kids loved.

During the days we visited the Everglades and came back to the hotel in the evening and played in the pool until about 10:00 every night…till Zach completely fell apart, basically.

Unbelievably, we all stayed in the same room and all slept till 8:30 every morning!  I can’t believe four kids and two parents could sleep through the night all in one room!!

This picture of Trey is one of my FAVORITES!!!  He looks so sweet and, oh, there’s an 11 foot gator right over his shoulder!

Reagan’s first airboat ride.  We’re really not that close to the edge of the boat.  The picture looks like she could kick and plummet into the water. 

You wouldn’t know it from this picture but it was stinkin’ HOT out there.  Of course, you can imagine what South Florida in July is like…it was worse.  By the time we got off this airboat there was sweat all over the seats, running down our backs and legs, blinding us.  It was pretty bad but makes for fun memories.

Did I mention the mosquitos?  We were swarmed.  I invested in a lot of sunscreen, bug repellent, and sunscreen/bug repellent combos!  This picture of Zach features some of said mosquito bites.

Checkin’ out the gators!

 Fun with snakes!

 This is probably about the best (only) picture you’re ever going to see of our whole family.  Sigh.

We visited the Miami Metrozoo while we were there.  What a great zoo!  It’s supposedly one of the top 10 in the country.

I guess we should have brought the double stroller.  Reagan slept the whole time we were at the zoo.  Zach got tired and sat on the stroller while I pushed for several hours.

 Until he finally gave it up.

Swimming at the end of the day was the best!!! 

We love the Everglades and will go back again, I’m sure.  I would HIGHLY recommend you go in the winter months.  It’s not hot, there are no mosquitos and the gators are everywhere.  During the summer they’re off in the water or the shade.  During the winter they’re all piled up on top of eachother on the road and paths.  Very cool!