Refund Cents - Open House

This coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 16-18) will be open house when everyone can visit http://www.refundcents.com/. I've been a member there for quite some time and enjoy the vast amount of info I have learned there.

The free password/username will be:
Username: wifeswap
Password: wifeswap

Be mindful that access will not start working until early Friday. Log in and look around. There are several options for receiving information when you join.

Ginger
AttentionTargetShoppers.com

Aloha Friday

Today is the day for shoppers everywhere - Black Friday!  And of course, my question just has to be Black Friday related:

Do you shop on Black Friday?
Did you grab any steals 'n deals that you need to brag about?

When I was in college, Black Friday was a crazy day for me.  We'd get together at Denny's, and then just go store hopping.  It was fun, and we got a whole bunch of crap that we really didn't need. 

I haven't done any Black Friday shopping for the past two years.  Last year I was pregnant and mainly horizontal - standing in line and fighting for a $2 DVD was not high on my priority list.  Besides, we had no one to shop for - we were on the other side of the country from our family and they didn't want us to send presents...pictures were enough. 

We're visiting our family for Christmas, but I didn't do Black Friday this year either.  My parents and my grandmother from overseas are visiting, and obviously shopping is not a priority - spending quality time together as a family is.  Besides, our Christmas present to everyone this year was the act of flying home - they didn't want any other presents except for us.  Obviously I still have a few treats to hand out, but for the most part my Christmas shopping is done. 

Aloha Friday

I am utterly exhausted.  Last weekend was nothing but cleaning around the house trying to get prepared for a family visit for Thanksgiving, and on top of it all I've been fighting some mutant cold bug.  The rest of the week was spent running around to all of the baby's doctor appointments.  I wish that I can say that I'm looking forward to the weekend, but it's another one of those dreaded 72-hour mommy-only weekends.

What's your quickest (and most effective) relaxation and re-energizing method?

I've considered hiring a maid, putting the baby in 72-hour daycare, or just asking Chip to let me hide underneath the bed with him.  Unfortunately, none of those options are available to me currently.  My favorite (and most effective) relaxation method is to take a nice steamy bath with tons of candles before bed, and then leave some incense burning as I fall asleep, but I haven't been able to do that since the baby was born.  I need to find new ways to rejuvenate myself...and quickly!

Aloha Friday

Oi vey it's getting cold around here. We're originally Southern California people, so this cold weather thing does NOT sit well with us at all. So, here's my Aloha Friday question for you all:

How do you deal with cold weather?

Any and all tips on how to survive in an area where the weather drops below 70º is welcomed. Any words on wisdom on how to deal with that white cold stuff that falls from the sky (read: snow) will also be much appreciated.

I'm a ROCK STAR!

Thanks to Thrifty & Chic Mom, I am now the proud owner of another award.  And I am SO thrilled about this one, because I've always harbored a secret desire to be rock star (heehee).  For this award, I'm supposed to share 8 amazing things about myself and then pass it on to 8 other rockstars (read: bloggers).  So here are my 8 things, and let's just pretend that they're the awesomest (yes, that's a technical term) things that you've ever heard of:

1. I love my life. Sometimes it gets a bit crazy, and I'm not pleased that I need to head out in 25º weather so I can pick hubby up from work just so he can go in again in 7 hours, but I do love my life.
2. I'm double-jointed (or so I'm told).
3. As much as I complain and whine about it, I love figuring out coding and stuff for my blog.
4. I used to sing in the shower (and by sing, I mean full on "come and buy a ticket to my concert" type of "sing".  I even took a radio in there to be my back-up vocals =P).  See where my rock star complex started?
   
5. I want a horse. I don't want a farm.  I just want a horse.
6. My lucky number is 28!
   
7. I'm a big old geek and I actually used to be an intense MUDder back in the day. (For you initiated types, I was an occultist, then a druid, and then a mage, and then an arboreal.  And I was an Erisian, and then a Lifie, sorta.  Just try guessing what "world" I came from...)
8. I'm weird. As if you couldn't tell from the previous thing.

Okay, now comes the part where I'm supposed to be passing this award on to 8 other rock stars.  I'm afraid I'm just going to have be a rebel and refuse.  I'm passing this award to all the bloggers in my links.  I'm not in the habit of linking just to link - there's a reason that those blogs are on there, and the reason is that they're all awesome rock stars.  Go get a rockin' and check all them stars out!

Aloha Friday

I am so glad that this week is finally coming to an end. It's been a long hard week, what with all the schedule changes and stuff in our house. We'll find our groove again, eventually.

This week was also huge for our country, so here is my question:

Are you glad that the election is over with?

I don't mean "Are you glad with the outcome?". I mean whether or not you're glad that all the election stuff is done with. I'm not a political person at all, and frankly to me it's all a process of choosing the lesser of two evils. I honestly don't believe there is a single person out there who agrees with, supports, and believes in each candidate 120%. I could be wrong, but it just feels like there's got to be something that you wish he'd do differently. It's just a matter of whether person A does more that you like, or person B does more that you like. It seems so silly to me that when you're merely picking the lesser of two evils, people get so wound up about it.

I am just SO glad that the whole election process is over and done with. It's great that so many people are into the whole voting thing, and it's awesome that kids are getting involved at such a young age, but I am so DONE with the 2nd grader running around promoting a candidate. I'm so done with all the commercials and all the hype. This election thing just seems like it went on FOREVER, but I guess it's because there's been so much attention paid on who's getting nominated, and then the usual coverage of the fight for the White House.

Sorry

Holy Catfish! I just got hit on the head and recalled that I have not updated this since you last visited... You would not believe I spend all my time in front of a computer. Please don't abandon me!.

I am overwhelmed with sleeping my way to the top, spending my husband's money, just generally being a nuisance to my dogs.  My day seems to be packed from the light through yonder window breaks to I am begging my kid to go to sleep or so help me God that kid will be decorating my wall ("Duct tape still life"). I am putting money aside so I can run away. I wish you could be here to share it.

I will try to remember I promised you I will blog more regularly. No, really! I mean it!

I have an actual reason to be mildly absent this week, and I even warned you about it.  But Kim posted her "lazy blogger" post from the Lazy Bloggers Post Generator, and I got distracted from my redesigning work.  While I was tempted to make a completely nonsensical post, I didn't want to scare any of you into thinking the nightmare monster script finally drove me nuts, and I figured I might as well get a post out of the distraction, so I went with a more realistic route. 

I am working overtime to get My Precious Pennies the much-needed makeover, but it's a lot of work getting all the new pages up and running!  I'm also on a mommy-only weekend, so things are going a bit slower than expected.  Thank you for your patience and support, and things will be back to better than normal soon!

Aloha Friday

This week has just COMPLETELY flown by - where in the world did it GO!?  This Aloha Friday isn't exactly relaxing, because it's the start of another one of those 80-hour mommy-only weekends.  I'm not sure how "relaxed" I'll be, but either way here is my question for the day:

Are you thirsty when you wake up?

Maybe it's just weird old me, but whenever I wake up I'm just SO thirsty!  I need to have water at my bedside, because I'm always thirsty whenever I wake up, even if it's in the middle of the night.

Random and weird...that's what it's all about on Fridays here at My Precious Pennies!

Aloha Friday: Halloween!

I ♥ Aloha Friday.  The image and whole concept of one simple question to round out the week is just so relaxing to me.  Since Halloween is creeping up and everywhere I look I just see Halloween-related things, I want to ask this question today:

Do you celebrate Halloween?

Halloween, as far as I can tell, is a USA thing.  And I didn't grow up in the USA.  My first Halloween was at age 10, and the whole thing was just weird to me.  I didn't quite get it, but there was free candy to be had so I didn't complain. 

Now that I'm older and not going cuckoo over free candy (you never get good candy anyway), I'm not sure I'm a fan of Halloween and don't really see a point in celebrating it.  It feels weird to see people deck out their houses and lawns with decorations and inflatables as if it's Christmas turned spooky and 2 months early. 

I know it's a tradition (I've heard the lecture from my husband, thankyouverymuch), but I don't see a need to go a-knocking on every door in a 3-block radius.  Going to Auntie Sue and Uncle Bob's house I'm okay with, but a stranger's door?  Not so cool with me.

We're not planning to celebrate this Halloween.  I took the baby in Halloween pictures, and sent out Halloween photo cards to relatives, but beyond that I'm so over and done with Halloween.  I'm planning to either leave the house on Halloween night, or post a note that says "NO TRICK OR TREATERS" on the door, because I don't think I can deal with the doorbell ringing or the door being knocked on every 2 minutes while I'm trying to get a baby to take a nap. 

Is there a Halloween version of Ebenezer Scrooge?  Anyone?

Wordless Wednesday: Best Friends

Works for me Wednesday: All Nighters!

I have a confession to make. When my husband's away, I go out and play. Well, sorta...except I don't really go out to play because he takes the car. I stay in and play.

Whenever my husband has duty and has to stay on base for the night, I like to pull an all-nighter and stay up until dawn. Not because I have a lot to do, but because I just love the midnight hours. After the baby is asleep, I have absolutely nothing else to do but enjoy myself. Whether that means baking triple chocolate chip brownies or taking an hour long bath...I just love having that time to myself with absolutely no commitments for the next couple of hours.

When my husband is home, we need to get to bed pretty early since he wakes up around 4am for work. I suppose I could tell him to go to bed by himself while I tended to other things, but we rarely see each other as it is, so night-time snuggling is a main thing for us. I see him an hour during lunch, and then a maximum of 4 hours after he comes home and before we go to bed. And most of the time we have errands to run or things to do (like eat dinner), so there's not a lot of time for snuggling or together time.

It might seem like an act of desperation to stay awake all night just to get some "me-time", but it's not like that at all. Like I've mentioned in the past, I am a complete night owl. I also have a unfounded terrible fear of the dark, especially when I'm alone. It's so hard for me to try and get to sleep at night when I'm alone, so I'll rather stay up and enjoy myself, and then catch some shut-eye when the sun rises. I don't sleep the day away though...I sleep until around 11:30 when hubby gets home from lunch.

I guess part of the reason why I do this is I'm still unaccustomed to having the demands of two human beings placed on my shoulders. Before the baby came along, it was just me and hubby. Whenever he left for work, I got some "me" time and an opportunity to recharge. But now, with the baby, every thing's different. I take care of the baby all day until he comes home to take over, but after he's home I have to take care of him in the food department, or just be with him and entertain him. I don't really have any "alone" time anymore, and my "alone" time is so very important to me. I'm a loner, I admit it.

But hey, being a loner works for me...even if I'm a weird loner who stays up all night to do absolutely nothing...

Eep! I'm it!

I've been tagged by Ginger from Attention Target Shoppers AND by Tara at Mama Koala! I'm being picked on loved! But that's okay, because thankfully this game of tag doesn't require me to get off my behind and actually run after anyone. All I have to do is to share 7 facts about myself and tag 7 other blogs. Before I get started, let me say that I love Ginger and all that she does for to spread the word on a good deal at Target. Have you seen her Sunday ad/coupon match-up? That thing is ridiculously amazing! Some of you might think that it is rather strange for me to be such a huge fan of a Target-deal blog, since I bid Target a swift "Au Revoir" recently, but let me remind you that this is a TEMPORARY separation. I love Target as much as the next person, it's just unfortunate that the individual stores in my area do not return my affections.

Anyway, onto my 7 random/weird facts:

1. I'm a classically trained pianist (for 15 years). I've studied in three different countries and was taught by 4 women of different nationalities. My favorite teacher was a Russian lady who moved to the US, but was some nationally known pianist in Russia. Strict, weird, and a smoker...but I loved her.
   
2. My favorite color is polka dot. Hey...quit laughing. Polka dot is a color.
3. I used to be a competitive figure skater. Until I tore a ligament in my knee. Not fun. Don't try it at home kids (the tearing part, not the skating part).
   
4. I want a Saint Bernard so bad that it hurts. If housing here didn't have a 2 dog limit, I would go out and spend $500 getting a Saint Bernard pup from a reputable breeder TOMORROW.
5. I was a philosophy major in college, and my favorite fields of philosophy are ancient Chinese philosophy and metaphysics. Oh, and philosophy of religion too. And logic. I ♥ philosophy.
   
6. I gained 60lbs during my pregnancy, had a 6lb 12oz baby, but walked out of the hospital at my pre-pregnancy weight. I still haven't figured out where the other 53lbs went. And no, I didn't get liposuction on my way out.
   
7. I'm obsessed with the working dogs and want to be the handler of one, even though I know when s/he is not working s/he will drive me absolutely nuts. Once we stay put somewhere long enough, I plan to have a wilderness search & rescue dog.

Okay, you now know more about me than you ever wanted to know. Please stick around, dear reader. I love you dearly and I promise I'll stop being weird. Really, I will! I'll try, at least. I'm sorry for scaring you, but while you're running as fast as you can in the opposite direction, can you at least stop by these blogs that I'm tagging?

• 1st Stop Mom
• Free 2 Be Frugal
  
• Homemaker Hero
  
• Organising Queen
• On Our Way...
• Simple Mom
• YOU! I ♥ my readers, and I want to know everything about you. Okay, maybe not everything. But I ♥ you for reading my humble blog and I want to get to know you better, so feel free to leave a comment with your 7 random things!
  

Have fun...and oh yea...

TAG, YOU'RE IT!

Sorry, but I had to say that somewhere in the post. Just HAD to.

Aloha Friday!

It's Aloha Friday over at An Island Life, and my question for the day is:

What do you like best about October?

I like October because it's my transition month.  When I was still in college, October was that sweet relaxing enjoyable month after I had gotten settled into a new quarter but before midterms hit.  Now that I'm out of college, October is still a transition month because the entire month leads into winter.  It's not exactly hot anymore, but it's not cold either. 

But I have to admit that I'm not liking this particular October too much.  I'm not used to 40s or 50s temperatures in October!  I can't leave the house without a jacket, and for a California girl that is extremely rare in October.  In fact, when I spoke with my best friend last week, and they were still enjoying 70s and 80s!

That bright picture of a beach and a palm tree is probably not helping my lack-of-sun/heat thing either...

Aloha Friday

It's Aloha Friday over at An Island Life, and I am so on board with taking it easy! It's been a surprisingly hard week so I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Here is my question:

Why are polka-dots so appealing?

Maybe I'm just weird, but I'm just drawn to polka dots. I love the look that the two colors create! The dogs both have polka dot martingales, and the baby's car seat/stroller is polka dotted. If I could, I would probably get everything in a brown-pink polka dot theme.

Okay, please don't run away from me. I'm not a deranged psychopath. I just like polka dots.

Laborious

Rocks in My Dryer is taking an unique look at Labor Day, and it was just too much fun to pass up so I'm joining in!

How long were was your labors? Around 6 hours.

How did you know you were in labor? Cramps that just won't go away. Contractions started around 8pm, but my water didn't break until around midnight. We got to the hospital around 1am, and our little princess was born at 4:43am. I wanted to stay home as long as possible.

Where did you deliver? Hospital, but next time it'll be elsewhere if at all possible. I probably would have had a better time if most of the nurses didn't have a chip on their shoulder. The labor and delivery nurses were just plain old mean, but the nurse I had right afterwards was really nice. Too bad she was off for the rest of my time there and I was stuck with attitude-full nurses again.

Drugs? Only a narcotic. I was really against getting an epidural, but at the height of it all I was seriously considering it. Thankfully, I was so indecisive that by the time I made up my mind it was too late.

C-section? Nope, and thank god too, because very bad things probably would have happened. The way things were, I hemorrhaged the next morning and ended up having to get a blood transfusion, so I shudder to think what would have happened with a c-section.

Who delivered? A doctor that I had met only once before. Don't you just love Navy healthcare? At least it wasn't a military hospital and a military doctor - I had a civilian hospital with a civilian doctor, but the way the system was set up I had only met her once before for a prenatal checkup.

Y'know, tomorrow morning I think I'll tell my husband that we should celebrate me for Labor Day...