So Very Busy

Gee, I have not posted for a while!

School sure has a way of keeping me busy.  I miss my days off where I could post whenever I wanted to.  

Here are a few highlights in bullet form;

• School has gone well since returning from break. The teacher I work with has graciously allowed me to read my very favorite children's book to the class and we have been having a great time with it.  I cannot underline the title in this program, so forgive me, but it is The Boxcar Children.  We have done a lot of special things so far,  made homemade bread, (bread machines) tasted blueberries, had "brown" cookies,  and played "Stump the Teacher".  --Ha! I have only read this book about 15 times, so it will be hard for them to stump me with a Boxcar question. 
• We had a great family weekend with husband's family.  His niece from Canada and her husband and new baby were home so the weekend was filled with visits and eating.  Maybe too much visiting and eating, as 6 family members have come down with a 24 hour bug so far. 
• And yes, I have been bargain hunting.  Sorry, no pictures or details this time, but let me say that Walgreens in my new friend.  They look forward to my visits and always let me leave with a smile on my face. 

So there you have it. A quick version of my last week and a half.  I will attempt to catch things up on a more regular fashion.  Maybe. 

Wally is back

If you are a long time reader of my blog, you will know that two years ago the class penguin came to visit.  He stayed during Super-bowl weekend and we had some great adventures.  Well, he is back tonight and although we are not having any really big adventures tonight, he did jump in my CVS picture.  (What a ham).

I did do pretty well at CVS tonight.  I purchased everything after coupons and a $6.00 Extra Care Buck for $4.10.   That was put on a gift card that I still have from transferring a prescription (free money) so nothing out of my pocket.  I "made" money and earned back $12.49 in new Extra Care Bucks.  

My goal for February is not how much I save, but how little I spend and although this is only the 3rd, I am doing fantastic...I have spent NOTHING.  I have both CVS and Walgreens' gift cards so those will help me do some deals and not spend any real money.   We have quite a few gift cards right now from Christmas gifts and deals so I should not have to spend much at all if I choose to tap into those this month.   I am anxious to track my spending and see how far I can go on very little.  We will need a few things here and there, so I am not really setting a spending limit.  Things will come up, but I want to see how little I can actually spend out of pocket.  

Maybe "Wally" will learn something.

MId Winter Vacation

Gee, 

I love having 5 days off of school in the middle of winter.  it sure forced me to do some necessary things in my house.  The bitterly cold wind chills forced our district to shut down last Thursday and Friday, add to that an already long weekend for Martin Luther King Day, and we have had 5 days off!

All good things must come to an end though, as today is our last day.  I am celebrating by spending the day with my sister.  She is coming up and we will play all day.  We will be bargain hunting and going out to eat with our brother.  Have I ever told you that I love my sister?  

Baby it's Cold Outside!

I know I am one of the fortunate ones, my school district cancelled today.  I do not have to go out in this cold except to open the door to let my dog go out.  I can stay hunkered down in my warm house and do whatever I wish.  

Today I am tackling some much neglected jobs.  I have to say that I am actually still behind in doing some of the things I neglected during my health issues.

Dresser drawers for example.  Mine were a mess.  I was still fighting summer clothes and crowding.  I couldn't really tackle the jobs requiring a lot of usage of my arms so I put it off.  Then I went back to school and really didn't have the time for concentrated jobs.  Today I started that job early on and all 5 of my drawers are neat and tidy and uncluttered.  

I have also stripped the bed and have the bedding washing.  I will not remake it though because our mattress requires flipping.  Husband will have to do that this evening.  

After my bedroom is vacuumed and dusted I think I will move on to my kitchen and bake cookies.  Youngest heads back to school tomorrow for 2nd semester and needs some cookies to take back with him.  

After all that, I might be lazy for a while.  

I am wondering about tomorrow.  There is a chance things will be just as bad tomorrow and perhaps no school again.   I am sure I will find something to do. 

Busy Week

Going back to school is rough.  I am tired. 

 It is almost 9:00, but I have an appointment with my treadmill, so I am cutting this post short.

This has been a tremendous week as far as bargains go.  I have probably purchased about $300.00 worth of stuff for about $50.00 out of pocket.  Other than the two pictured Walgreens trips, I have made about 3 other trips and about 3 to CVS.  I just keep reading about a deal online, finding the coupons for it and then I am off to repeat it.  I live VERY close to both stores so I can easily do that.  

I am enjoying myself.  Yesterday however, I did no deals.  I came home from school with a pretty serious migraine and was in bed by a little after 8:00.  

Well, I gotta go.  Treadmill is calling...

One for "The School Book"

****This is a huge departure from my usual posts, but it is something nonetheless that I feel you will enjoy****


The teacher I work with and I have said for years that we need to write a book. Some things that are said at school, "out of the mouth of babes" are just too precious not to share. Well, I am sure that this story won't fall into the "precious" category, but it has given quite a few people so far a good laugh. (Private note to my teacher--Mrs. M. -- I can't believe I did not share this with you yesterday, but you know how busy our mornings are...I will fill you in on who said it later.)

For the rest of you, please do not be offended at the following.

Yesterday morning I was busy teaching my morning groups. Our class rotates during reading from a group with the classroom teacher Mrs. M., to another aide, and myself. At this particular moment I was between groups.

Now I will try to be discreet here, but something unexpected happened. Out of nowhere, a small amount of silent, and not so fresh "air" escaped from my backside.

Okay, I think you all know what I am talking about.

Now, my next group was on their way to my table and I am thinking to myself. "Oh boy, this is going to be interesting". Just then one of the boys arrives, sits in his chair and immediately I see him ever so slightly sniff in the air. Panic was about to set in and then he remarked, "Mrs. W. I smell bologna, do you smell bologna?" I was thinking, "Well, not exactly bologna, but if thats what you want to call it then that is fine with me !" I just smiled and told him I did not....

Kids are funny.

Back to School

Normally I would be just a little bit excited about going back to school, but this year I am not. Hopefully tomorrow when I get there I will feel a bit better about all of this, but right now my focus is just elsewhere. I will be taking two sick days right off the bat due to medical testing and a doctor's appointment, so I won't be there much this week anyway.

I will let you know how it goes.