~ Saturday Night Savings ~

At Safeway I purchased:

18 ct. eggs
1 gallon milk
1 32-oz Coffee Mate
1 12-pkg Nabisco cookies
3 boxes Kleenex ($.75 ea on clearance - $.50 coupon doubled = $.41 a box)
Tin of butter cookies - $1.25 clearance
Large box of taquitos
4 boxes Nature Valley Granola bars (4/$6.00 before coupons)
4 boxes Trix (with coupons and sale these were $.49 a box)

Total Spent: $19.00
Got Back: $2.50 Catalina for buying granola bars

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At Walgreens I purchased:

2 6 oz. boxes Chips Ahoy
8 cans Progresso soup
2 boxes Nutri-Grain bars
3 6 oz. bottles NyQuil
1 8 oz. bottle Theraflu
2 10-ct pkgs DayQuil
2 boxes Puffs tissue

Total Spent: $19.92
Got Back: $2.00 Catalina for buying Chips Ahoy

I did three transactions at Walgreens. They have a Register Reward deal running all month for Vicks products. Spend $20.00 and get a $10.00 RR. I had coupons for $1.50 off each Vicks product and I had coupons for a free box of Puffs for every 2 Vicks I bought.

So....I purchased $20 worth of Vicks and then used my $10.00 RR to buy the soup. The soup also had a RR (spend $10.00 and get a $3.00 RR). I used the $3.00 RR from the soup to buy the Nutri-Grain bars (on sale 2/$5.00) which had a $2.00 RR.

I also purchased two boxes of the Chips Ahoy for $.99 each. That generated a $2.00 RR.

We are not a house full of sickies (at least physically), but these kinds of medicines are good to have on hand. I always check expiration dates and buy what has the longest shelf life.

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At Albertsons I purchased:

4 pkgs Green Giant vegetables

1 box toaster strudel

2 boxes Cocoa Puffs

5 boxes fruit snacks

3 pkgs allergy/cold medication

2 boxes DiGiorno pizza

Total Spent: $7.97

Got Back: $8.50 in Catalinas ($5.00 for spending $20.00 on General Mills items and $3.50 for buying five fruit snacks - kind of a deal within a deal, since the fruit snacks counted toward my $20.00 purchase too).

Grand Total Spent: $46.89

Grand Total in Catalinas/RR received: $13.00

Total Out of Pocket: $33.89

And....it kept me off the streets!

Albertsons Run

All the coupon stars and planets have aligned this week at Albertsons, making for some free, yep FREE, food. There are even three double coupons in their store ad. I did two transactions:

13 cans Progresso soup
1 pkg Green Giant Steamers - corn
1 box Cheerios
2 bottles V8 Fusion juice
5 pkgs Nature Valley Granola Clusters
5 pkgs Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks

I had coupons for everything but the corn. I also had my $10 Catalina from last week's P&G promotion. Total cost was $13.82. BUT, I came home with $12.00 in Catalinas. That makes the cost $1.82. See what I mean about the stars and planets aligning?

Canine Chronicles

Miss Jessie is back home, again. I took her back to the Vet on Tuesday afternoon. It's a long and whiny story. Suffice it to say she needed to be there, and not here. Her Daddy picked her up late this afternoon and she's doing much better. No more e-collar. With all the advancements in medical science, you'd think they would have something better to offer than a thin piece of plastic, shaped into a cone.

So....we spent another $93.00 for boarding, sedation, etc. I don't know why I am so shocked at these figures. I think it's most likely due to the fact when I get sick, I go to the doctor and pay my $12.00 for the office visit. If I need medicine, it is $3.00 a pop. Jessie's antibiotics and pain meds cost almost $100.00.

All is back to normal in the Morris household :). Back to making knobs and clipping coupons.

Miss Jessie

She came home about two hours ago. I was hoping to post a picture but she was in no mood. She was actually in an e-collar. I know it's necessary, but geez, she is miserable.

Her cysts were removed and now we wait for pathology. Whatever these growths turn out to be, we got rid of them very early. $730. Yep....$730. They let us pay half today and we will make $50 payments every two weeks till the balance is paid off. To quote Tony Soprano, "what are you gonna do?"

Jessie's "little" brother moped around all day, and didn't touch his dinner. He perked up the minute she and her plastic lamp shade collar came through the door. We were worried he would not leave her alone, but he's actually been very good about giving her plenty of space. We can tell he's concerned though.

Time for her medication.....

Dog and Tiger

First, no more Tiger Woods jokes. It's sad, it really is.

Miss Jessie had her 10th birthday recently. She also sprouted two cysts. One on her lower jaw that we thought was a blood blister. Another one very close to her girl dog parts. Both need to go, and then go again to be biopsied. This will cost about $500.00. We did have insurance for her, up until a year ago, when we cancelled it because our budget no longer allowed for the $40 a month. I tell myself we've saved the cost of the insurance for the past 12 months, and that pays for the surgery. I'm good at rationalizing.

St. Francis 24 Hr Animal Hospital in Vancouver, WA. They rock! More specifically, Dr. Michael Baker rocks. I'm sure the other vets are qualified, but Dr. Baker is the only one I want cutting on my dogs. Hell, I'd even let him cut on me.

The worst thing though, is being told the cysts are "of concern." I didn't ask for clarification, because I already know what "of concern" means. So we will be praying for our sweet dog. She goes in at 9:00 am tomorrow.

A little side note about tithing. Tithing is the only thing the Lord tells us we should test Him in, or at. I am good at tithing. I'm not 100% at tithing. Tithing can be scary. But when I do give the tithe, a sense of instant confidence comes over me. I did my part. God will do His part. An hour ago we got an order from our web site. It was for $85.00. That's a big order for us. And, it's a quarter of Jessie's surgery.

I would like to say a public thank you to the Lord and encourage others to step out in faith, and give God His 10%.

Did you hear......

Tiger Woods is changing his name....to Cheetah.

tsk...tsk...tsk

A Good Way to Start 2010

The following was written by my mother:

I want to take you back to September 4, 1939 (I was 9 years old), sitting in the living room in the house on Cresent Drive in Calgary, when the voice of King George of England delivered the following message over the BBC at the start of World War 2:

These were his words, as timely now as then:

"I have asked the Guardian of the year to give me a lamp that I might see into the uncertain future."

Then he said, "Put your hand in the hand of God for He is better than a thousand lamps."

It wasn't long before black stars started showing up in the windows of the houses in the neighbourhood, indicating that a son or a husband was gone to war, and food and gas rationing were in effect.

Churchill kept reminding us over the BBC each week that it would be with blood, sweat and tears that we would overcome Hilter. And we did, and the message is as timely today as it was then, because our future is always uncertain, but of this one thing we CAN be certain, that God will be in the future with us. And that is a very good thought to carry with us in 2010.

Happy New Year everyone ~ Vaya Con Dios.

~ * Merry Christmas * ~

We had a very nice day, peaceful and restful (especially when dogs were sleeping). Sara was here but had to leave by 9:00 am. Sara never gets to spend much time with us. She is my husband's daughter, almost 21 years old, and a very good egg. She gave me the nicest pair of warm and cozy slippers.

We gave Jacob an iPod Touch. It was all he wanted, and I had him convinced it was too much money and not to count on it. So....he was very surprised and very happy. Hubby got two shirts and a set of hand warmers from L.L. Bean, candy from his doggies, a belt from Jacob, a beautiful framed photo of Sara and her dog Ellie, a wind-up flashlight that you don't need batteries for, and a set of those Sham Wow towel things. My son gave me a box of candy, a gift card for Joann, and a great pair of sewing scissors which I desperately needed. I've already laid down the law - they are only to be used on fabric. My husband gave me several HSN gift certificates. Too many really, and I am not even going to say what the total was. He is so good to me. Oh, and a T-square that I've been wanting.

This Christmas will always be special because my mother sent Jacob a beautiful study Bible, engraved with his name. My mother is one of God's most loyal servants, and as each day passes I see my son becoming just a little bit more like her. When Jacob was about four Grandma came for a visit and they left to take a walk. I watched from the window as they slowly walked down the driveway, hand in hand. I told my heart to take a picture, and I often think back to that moment and what a blessing it is for my son to have the benefit of his Grandmother's knowledge and wisdom. He has learned so much from her walk with the Lord. And I know his faith is a blessing to her, too.

Merry Christmas ~ God Bless us, one and all.

~ I Love Men...

Today at Walgreens I overheard a woman ask her male companion, "Can we get this for Bella?" He replied, "Whatever you want to do dear."

Next stop was Joann Fabrics. I passed by a couple looking at fleece. I didn't hear what her question was, but his response: "I'm just here to support you, I didn't know I would have to answer any questions."

Obviously these guys have learned a man has two choices - he can be right, or he can be happy.

The Look

I hope I don't step on anyone's toes by sharing this photo. These snow dogs can certainly throw down some looks. Our Malamute has his own version of the "stink eye," and it's very effective!