Saturated Saturday: Busy Day

Saturday, as usual, was quite busy. I started my day with a trip to the abortion clinic. I prayed the 15 decades of the Rosary and then side walked counseled during the rest of my time on the premises. I then made a quick stop at Target and then drove to the church. I spent a good two hours cleaning , attended Mass, and then cleaned a bit more before heading home. At home I did various odd jobs, called family members and did some weeding out of things.... Well, when I was a child I was quite the collector of stationary. I know, weird, just plain weird and nerdy. Anyway, there is no way I will go through all of that stationary by the time my life comes to the end. I decided to give most of it away to the young ladies of my parish. Most of them write letters on a regular basis and what could be better than giving all that stationary to those lovely girls who will fill them with wonderful words that tell so many stories?

Friday's Favorites: Burt's Bees

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WHEELIN' WEDNESDAY: FRAMES

Hubby purchased Winnie the Pooh illustrations long before we were married with the idea that these would occupy the nursery of his first child. Keeping true to this vision I opted to have these beautiful pieces of art professionally framed at a nearby chain. Choosing the frames and mat as well as writing up the order with the clerk took about two hours. I chose the frame type and then chose the mat colours for all eight pictures. The order itself would take upwards of two weeks (it ended up being three weeks).

I visited the store on 8/22 only to find that the frames were incorrect. Apparently, the company that supplies the frames changed the wood type and colour of this particular frame, but failed to send the samples out to their carriers.

Fast forward to today and I found myself picking out new frames, but with a cost deduction of $192.00 due to all of the trouble. I have another week to go and not the exact frames I wanted, but I think the cost reduction was a nice pacifier.

Tuesday's Tip: How not to feel as lazy.....

I loved Sundays and I am sure you know that if you know me in real life or from reading this blog. When Hubby and I return from Mass, we eat lunch and then he heads off in the direction of the couch for a long nap. I, in turn, usually head off to the bedroom or downstairs and into my "Pretty Room". If I choose the latter, it is for making phone calls to family. If the former, it is for watching a movie on the internet.

Well, this past Sunday, I was on a marathon run with " Bleak House" and just felt guilty. I needed to do something productive. What did I do? I straightened out my jewelry box and was quite proud ! Often, I will fold laundry while watching a movie or clean a shelf while pulling things out for dinner. I wish I did more. Heck, instead of typing this blog entry I could be putting away dishes.

I often think and worry about wasting time and if you are anything like me, you tend to think of ways to mix business with pleasure.

So... is this a tip or trip for disaster? :-)

Good Interest Rate

Community One is offering a checking account with an APY of 4.01 % for balances of up to $25,000.00. I think this is a great rate and surpasses most certificates of deposits these days.

Here is a snapshot of the account:

CheckingONE

• 4.01% APY* paid on balances up to $25,000
• 1.00% APY* paid on portion of balance above $25,000
• Free use of ATMs anywhere in the country
• No monthly fees or daily minimum balance
• Requires 10 debit card purchases each cycle
• Requires e-statement
• Requires One direct deposit or One ACH auto debit or One online bill-payment each cycle

*4.01% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) paid on balances between one penny and $25,000, and 1.00% APY paid on the portion of your balance above $25,000, each cycle the minimum requirements are met. If you do not meet the minimum requirements, each cycle your account will still function as a free checking account, however you will earn 0.10% APY and will not receive ATM refunds for that period. You will receive the premium APY and ATM refunds on your first cycle whether you meet the requirements or not. APYs accurate as of 10/21/2008. We may change the interest rates and APYs at any time after the account is opened without notice. Minimum balance to open account is $100. Available to personal accounts only. CheckingOne is powered by BancVue.

Musically Manic Monday: and the beat goes on.....

Music: Oh my word! The ladies choir is scheduled for mandatory double practices until the wedding of September 5th and they were just heavenly this past Sunday! I could not complain and only hope their guardian angels keep the voices steady!

Projects: Outside is the word of the week...... that, and keeping the house kind of normal.

Work: I'm trying not to complain so much about this....

Garden: I made our first batch of salsa using home grown tomatoes and peppers-yum!

Fun: Well, I have been addicted to BBC's 2005 version of Bleak House. I have always liked Gillian Anderson and I like her in this as well.

Tell me about your week! Let me know what you are up to!

CVS Deal

I have ECB's from last week for 9.99 and I decided that I think I can do the following scenario:

Purchase 3 packages of Carefree panty liners at $3.79 each = $11.37

Use two coupons for $1.00 each = -$2.00

Total will be : $9.37

Pick one filler and use the 9.99 in ECB's and earn 11.37 in ECB's

Then do the next transaction of purchasing Aveeno products

Purchase 4 Positively Ageless products at $7.00 each = $28.00

Used $5.00 off $25.00 = $23.00

Used 2 coupons for $5.00 off 2 (these were online coupons from Coupon.com from a while back) = -$10.00

= $13.00

ECB's = - 11.37

Total OOP BT = $1.63

ECB's earned from that transaction will be 10.00

***Update 8-24-2009 ***

I completed this deal and paid OOP After Tax a total of $ 2.14 for the following items:

3 Carefree Ultra Protection Pantyliners 16 count $3.79 each (this was transaction one)

I used two coupons for $1.00 off each plus the 9.99 ECB's from my previous week and earned the 11.37 mentioned above

I paid .14 After Tax

2 Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion 2.5 ounces at $ 3.49 each

1 Aveeno Positively Ageless daily cleansing pads at $ 8.99

1 Aveeno Positively Ageless daily exfoliating cleanser at $ 9.99

I used the $5/$25.00 coupon

1 Aveeno coupon off 2 Positively Ageless for $5.00 off

2 coupons for $2.00 off an Aveeno product

11.37 ECB's

I paid $2.00 After Tax and earned 10.00 in ECB's

So, essentially I have paid $8.99 BT for eight items which averages to $1.12 for each item. If I include pending ECB's, I am making money off the deals.

Total with tax

Free

Free sample of KOTEX.

Thoughtful Thursday: Do women match their purses?

Do women match their purses?

I was sitting at my work desk today and watched one of my coworkers leave for lunch. A tall, slender, pretty young woman wearing a black blouse, pants, and a nice set of heels and carrying an equally petite purse in the colour black with silver accents. They matched. She and the purse matched. I would never expect this woman to carry a large bag of any sort. Her looks and personality couldn’t possibly go against the purse goddesses with their choices of proper baggage attire.

These thoughts lead me (of course) to reflect on my own purse of the day. I, of course, have two bags for work. The first is a work bag that was purchased from L. L. Bean in black. It has pockets on the side, front, and back and a couple of pockets within the main part of the bag. I use this bag for my second makeup case, my umbrella, coupons, and for transporting my lunch. My second bag is my actual purse which is large, purple, shiny, and looks like a bowling bag. It houses my pending bills, letters to write, coupons, keys, my other make up case, nail clippers, scissors, wallet, Rosary, and miscellaneous items that most people would not consider purse friendly. Do I think my purse/bags match me? Absolutely…. I am not tall, slender, or sleek in anyway. I tend to always want to be prepared and loathe (most of the time) spontaneity. I could never walk about with a tiny purse that houses the most limited supplies.

What about you? Do you and your purse match?

Wheelin' Wednesday: CVS

I took all of last week off from blogging so I could enjoy all my time with the family.

This deal was from last week, but I am posting it today.

Revlon Mineral Mouse $9.99

Coupon -$1.00

Total OOP Before Tax $8.99

Total ECB’s earned: 9.99

I had only 1.00 ECB left from my previous series of trips and that was used to purchase dish detergent (which I promptly used up in less than a week!).

I am starting all over with a new series. We will see how much everything averages out during this ECB trip.

TUesday's Tip: PETROLEUM JELLY

Keeping eyebrows in place (my mother in law provided this tip)

Take a smidgen of petroleum jelly on your fingers or eyebrow brush and run over the brows. Not only does this keep your brows in place, it conditions them as well!

Thanks M-I-L!

Other uses....

Sample

Visit this site to request a sample of Burt's Bees acne product.

Musically Manic Monday: Daddy, Mama, and brother are gone

Dad, Mom, and my younger brother flew back to Arizona on Sunday afternoon. Mom and I tried not to cry too much, but it was still hard! I plan to go back for visit before the end of the year. I was going back to help my sister when she has the baby in December, but I have since found out that she has hired someone to help her. I will see if I can then go out for October to November.

Music: My right hand lady for the choir is heading up a wedding. I think she has become the unofficial wedding planner for a couple in our parish. She has the music planned for the procession and recessional and I have jurisdiction over the Offertory, Communion, Flowers to Our Lady hymns.

Offertory: Arcadelt Ave Maria

Communion: O Bone Jesu

Adoramus Te Christe

Ave Verum Corpus

Our Lady: Gregorian Ave Maria

Projects: I need to get some laundry done and do a thorough vacuuming and dusting of the entire house. Outside project will be sealing the deck and jumping into weeding. I am going to start in the front and work my way around to the back.

Clinic: I will visit the clinic Saturday morning to pray the 15 decades of the Rosary. I haven’t gone for two weeks, but will definitely be back on track.

What is going on in your world?

Thoughtful Thursday: Sample Review

"The second is for Everyday Minerals:"

3 Base (sample)
1 Blushes & Face Colors (sample)
1 Concealers (sample)
Total items: 5

I had previously mentioned that I had received these samples and would test and review them for you.

I received the sample package in the mail and had ordered the following:

Golden-Fawn (Matte)	1
Beige-Medium Beige Neutral (Semi-Matte)	1
Buff-Light Neutral (Intensive)	1
New Mom (Blush)	1
Bisque Color Corrector	1

Foundation: Now, I have heard many times that people have a difficult time finding a color that matches them. I, apparently, did not. The Buff-Light Neutral was a perfect match and the Beige-Medium Beige Neutral was a close second. The Golden-Fawn was too light and too yellow but made a great eye shadow primer/highlighter.

Buffing the base into my skin was easy and kind of fun. You don't use too much and I did find myself swirling and tapping as if I was on a commercial!

Intensive color is a good coverage and could be a little thick. I would apply this sparingly. The matte and semi- matte worked well too. I liked these foundations.

New Mom Blush: A little goes a long way! You have to be very careful when applying this to the apples of your cheeks. The blusher is highly pigmented and really does not take much to add colour! New Mom was a rich colour and I really liked it.

Bisque Concealer: I liked and didn't like this product. The first time it seemed to really cover up the circles under my eyes. The second and third time I noticed issues. The color is a bit too pink for me and I noticed that the product tended to settle into the lines around my eyes and under my eyes. This made me look older which isn't my look of choice! I intend to sample another one of their concealers.

Tuesday's Tip: Chores made Easy

I may have posted about this before, but another blog has prompted me to write about it again.

Chores….. they are never ending, often monotonous, and just plain un-fun. I am often lost as to where to begin my cleaning routine. That is where the BOWL OF ROOMS comes into play. I start with little strips of paper and began to write down various rooms in the house as well as specific chores. Mix it all up in a bowl, pick one out and start the timer! One hour max on any room or chore and the day begins! This makes the cleaning fun, and also ensures that you aren’t stuck on one chore for an extended period of time. This doesn’t work on major projects unless you loathe it to the maximum and can only work on it for small periods of time (like my hatred of painting).

Musically Manic Monday

Music: We sang two hymns on Sunday. The first hymn went well, but the second not so much. I have a young angel who has not been blessed with the gift of song. Unfortunately, it looks like we may need to release her from choir. She would do better if she attended all of the practices and practiced at home, but that hasn’t been the case. Continuing along the music lines, we have wedding coming up in our parish and it looks like I will need to put together a special group of young ladies to sing a few of the hymns. Most of my girls live 90 minutes away from the parish so this will be a bit of a challenge. I will keep you posted!

Projects: Hubby has to handle a bit of repair work before I can add the curtains to the guest bedroom. Apparently I did not hit the stud (twice). The Bonus Room should be completed by Tuesday night (I think I stated that last week) and ready for Hubby to book arrange. I have been working on this-really, I have… The front porch should also be completed by Tuesday night by a young man we hired from the parish (he is saving money to enter the seminary).

Work: I am trying to be positive regarding my employment. If I think positive maybe everything will flow better! One can hope!

I have my parents and younger brother coming into town for a visit. They should arrive Saturday morning and stay for the entire week-what fun!

Spiritual Sunday: Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Psalm: liii 6-7

Behold God is my helper, and the Lord is the protector of my soul: turn back the evils upon my enemies, and cut them off in Thy truth, O lord my protector. Save me, O God, be Thy name and deliver me in Thy strength.

John vi. 57

He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him, saith the Lord.

Saturated Saturday: Worn Out!

As usual, Saturday was saturated with lots of busyness.

I awoke at 6:30 A.M., dressed, and then headed out the door to the abortion clinic. I prayed the 15 decades of the Rosary and then had to leave right after that and make my way to the church. It was my Saturday to arrange the flowers for the altar. I used the sunflowers from the parish garden and went on my way to the next task; shopping. I visited three different stores to handle purchases for a nightstand, curtains, and frames. I am having Hubby's Winnie the Pooh pictures framed for our "nursery". This is an expensive project, but the outcome should be lovely!

I promise to take pictures when the room is done.

Headed home to make breakfast, clean, work on the bedroom and storage mess, waited for the new bed to arrive and then made dinner... this is a run on sentence of some sort...

That's about it. I wad exhausted by 9:30 P.M.- completely dead...ugh.

How was your Saturday?