Learning Joy

So I signed up for the Grocery Game online. It’s this site that you subscribe to, and the lady gives you a list of what is on sale, and what coupons to use, thus saving you money. Last week was the first week I shopped using Teri’s List, and I did okay. This week, I did even better. My best deal was at Albertson’s. I spent $43, but I saved $78!! Last week, I spent $2o and saved $21.
Some examples of things I’ve purchased:
Clariol Hair Color – Regular price $13.99; I paid $1.99.
Danimals Crushable Cups (4-count) – regular price $4.69; I paid $1.oo
Taco Bell Taco Shells – regular price $2.89; I paid $.90
Kraft Mayo (MY brand, I’m really picky about this) – reg. price $4.29; I paid $1.80 per container (I bought 6)
Dove Conditioner – reg. price $6.29; with list $.51 (I ended up not getting this this time, since I have conditioner in the cupboard already, but almost bought it!)
Birds Eye Steamfresh Veggies – $2.69 vs. $.66!

If you are interested in this, you can check it out at http://www.thegrocerygame.com/. I’d recommend getting a stockpile of coupons first – you’ll need at leaste two months’ worth to get the most out of the list. You get to try the first month for only a dollar! if you decide you are interested & want to sign up, please let me know! If you use me as a friend reference, I will get a month for free!
I seriously don’t think I need to go shopping next week. If we get stuff at Cash & Carry tomorrow, we will be set. 🙂 That’s a nice feeling.

This morning I got up at 5:45a.m. and looked outside. I thought it might have snowed because it was so cold last night. When I looked at a quater to six, there wasn’t any snow. When I got up for real at 6:45a.m., this is what I saw!
global warming my foot.

This morning I was reading this article about President Obama speaking at a women’s-panel launch. President Obama said, “The purpose of this Council is to ensure that American women and girls are treated fairly in all matters of public policy.”

He talked about his grandmother and mom raising him & his sister. However, I found it ironic that he would say his grandmother hit a “glass ceiling” when she was one of the first female vice presidents of the Bank of Hawaii. Maybe the glass ceiling was that she couldn’t be the bank president?

Then he talked about his wife, Michelle, and how she juggles work and parenting with grace & skill. But his next comment was the one that made me laugh (emphasis added) – “I had the privilege of participating in a historic campaign with a historic candidate who we now have the privilege of calling Madam Secretary.”

I guess it made me laugh because of how he delivered it – no mention that it was the presidential campaign, no little words to enlighten us to what made her a “historic” candidate … just that he won & now she’s the Secretary of State.

How come it didn’t matter when Condi was Secretary of State?

Instead of adulation, we heard things like this when Miss Rice was Secretary of State (from Wiki) – “Rice has appeared on Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people four times. Rice is one of only seven people in the entire world considered influential enough to have made the list so frequently. However, Time magazine has also accused her of squandering her influence, stating in February 1, 2007, that her “accomplishments as Secretary of State have been modest, and even those have begun to fade” and that she “has been slow to recognize the extent to which the U.S.’s prestige has declined. However, in its March 19, 2007 issue it followed up stating that Rice was “executing an unmistakable course correction in U.S. foreign policy.” In 2004 and 2005, Ms. Rice was ranked as the most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine and number two in 2006 (following the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel). ^{It makes me sad that a black woman achieved so much in our society, only to be criticized, condescended to and ridiculed.}

You Are Vanilla

You are a delightful, friendly person. You are optimistic about life and people. You are enthusiastic and energetic. You enjoy everything you do. You are cooperative and flexible. You get along with people from many walks of life. You’re not a show off. Instead, you’re more likely to help other people shine.

I might be vanilla, but I’d be covered in chocolate!!!!

So I was reading some old posts … and I ran across the ones where we lost the baby in 2005.  I had a better attitude about things then.  I think I’ve become calloused.  This time around, it is different, though, there is no hope for another baby.  My tubes are tied, no babies here!  There is hope in the sense that we could adopt, were we ever able to get our own house & have room for another child.  

okay, what is it about scents & tastes that send you down memory lane?? The other day I had a teensy-weensy bite of Jeff’s chicken fried steak from Denny’s. All of a sudden I remembered Paraguay! It was like I’d never left, I remembered the smells, and the way the food tasted, how we had chicken fried steak almost every night while we were there … 🙂 it was a great trip (both times). 🙂

Then, last night at work, I smelled something else. I can’t even place my finger on which cleaner or scent it was, but BAM! Suddenly I was back at the bank we (my mom, dad & I) used to clean by the ocean. Remembering how it used to smell like cigarettes and coffee, and how I used to clean the windows outside and dream of living on the beach. 🙂 Wonder if Mom & Dad ever wondered why it was taking me so long to wash the windows??