Freebies (or nearly free) for you

Some lovely new freebies out on the 'net. 1 year subscription to TRADITIONAL HOME magazine. No kidding - free! A sample of Don Francisco Coffee $9.00 rebate on Beck's Beer (purchase by 01/05/09) 1 year subscription to Field & Stream magazine (watch ads for credits for subscription) A free sample of Total Cranberry Crunch cereal. A sample of lens cleaning cloths for your glasses from Bausch & Lomb. MomAdvice.com is offering a free printable calender/planner that gives as much room to Saturday and Sunday as it does to the other days of the week. Grab a 3-hole punch and make yourself a nice (free) planner! A sample of Kleenex Facial Tissue with Lotion. Good size to keep in your purse for emergencies -- aaaahhhh chooooooo! Free sample of Gain Detergent. If that link doesn't work for you, just click here and look for the next link to the Gain offer. A different free Mp3 download every day from CNet! I can't recommend this enough -- My Simpler Life's Free 2009 Declutter Calendar (look in right hand column of blog). Well worth downloading -- you know you want to be organized and clutter free! That's it for today!

Why I've been Married for 30 Years

My husband "gets" me. He understands that, while I may not be the most organized person in the world, I do love to be organized, and I "think" like an organized person. I am an "every thing in it's place and a place for every thing" kind of girl in spirit, though not necessarily in practice. I am a list-maker extraordinaire. So, among the many wonderful presents my husband gave me for Christmas, he bought me this: It's called SmartShopper Grocery List Organizer -- that's right - it's a voice-activated grocery and shopping list organizer! How cool is that! I normally have a shopping list and pencil on the door of my refrigerator and keep a running list of what I need to buy at the store. But now - but now! - I simply push a button and say the item I need and POOF! it's recorded. When I'm ready to go grocery shopping, I hit the PRINT button, and hi ho hi ho... off to Krogers I go! Organized! The list even groups items together -- dairy products, vegetables, canned goods, beverages, etc. -- which is something I never did (though dreamed about) with my hand written list. I placed a little box on top of my refrigerator for freebie and "must use soon" coupons. I input those (by just talking) into the Smart Shopper to include them on my grocery shopping list so I don't miss out on the coupon savings. Love it, love it. Not only that, but you can make more than one list at a time -- so if I buy cleaning and paper products at one store, and general grocery items at another -- this little goohidget will make more than one list! No printer cartridges are required -- it uses thermofax type paper. It does take 4 double-A batteries. Just one more little corner of my life that will be more organized now!

It's not over until...

Do you hate that expression? "It's not over 'til the fat lady sings." But when it comes to Christmas this year -- I'm singing! It's O-V-A-H! We had a great Christmas -- despite the fact my daughter for four days had the worst case of stomach flu I have ever witnessed, my grandson had an asthma attack at 11pm on Christmas Eve and my daughter (who was really sick, so has an excuse) forgot to bring his nebulizer so had to drive him back to her house (with her head pounding and a 102 temperature) to treat him. All's well that ends well. It ended well. We had a terrific Christmas. My husband went over our agreed upon budget by so much that I'm wondering if he needs to go get a second job to pay for it all. (Don't even ask if I need to go get a FIRST job to pay for it all -- he's the one who went over budget, not me! Consequences of your actions, my dear.) My grandson never quite got with the whole "yippy, Santa brought me presents" program. If he gets any more unique, I may have to rent him out to families with obnoxious children, or put him on the David Letterman Show. Three years old, off-the-wall hyper, Santa, presents, stockings, gift wrapping everywhere -- that's how it's supposed to be, right? He opened maybe three presents. He loved them. He stacked them up in a pile and sat watching what we opened. I handed him another present. "Here, Brayden, this is for you from Santa." No reaction. "Brayden? Do you want to open this present now?" His response. "Noooooo, maybe in a little while." OK. I left him alone. Came back later and repeated my question and got "Nooooo... I think maybe in a few minutes." There are still six or seven unwrapped presents under my tree, and as far as I know, he never did open his stocking. From an early age, my kids practically had to be tranquilized on Christmas Eve. My husband and I normally had to stay up until 2 or 3am to wait for the kids to go to sleep so we could bring in Santa's goodies. We had to set a rule -- no getting up before 5am. OK, I had to set that rule because my husband wanted to get the kids up, but still... The good news? I apparently have my shopping done for Brayden's third birthday in March. The bad news? Apparently my daughter is a better mother than I was. No wait, that's good news, too. She's instilling something in this little guy that I totally missed with mine -- patience? lack of greed? the ability to want things to remain on an even keel even on Christmas morning? Watching others open gifts is as much fun as opening your own? See? I can't define it because I must have been playing hooky that day of Mothering School. Whatever it is, she gets an A+ for it! And now it's over. Presents, both wrapped and unwrapped, have been played with, admired, and put away. Cookies have been eaten or left out unwrapped to go stale and thrown away. Leftover foods are boxed up, shared, or frozen. All the trash was taken to the garage, then taken to the curb, then whisked away first thing this morning. Non-stop "A Christmas Story" on the television has been replaced with.. well, silence for now. (Ahhhhhhhhh....) Joey the Killer Cat is happiest of all because he got a new rubber alligator for Christmas and it's his new best friend. They are inseparable. Joey carries the alligator around in his mouth and has it within six inches of him at all times. Unfortunate for the cat's sanity, my husband received a mini-remote control car for Christmas, and he is this very second upstairs taping the alligator to the top of the car...

Merry Christmas, my dear blog friends.

Last minute crazies

I go through this every year... in the last few days, especially the last few hours, before Christmas, I start to panic. It never fails. Yesterday I was feeling so smug -- got my presents wrapped, got some cookies baked, got the meals planned and the food purchased.... and today, my head is spinning. Last night I remembered I'd bought a Curious George stuffed monkey and book for Brayden, and I don't remember wrapping it. That means I've hidden gifts in the house and have no idea where they are now. And THAT means I'm also missing two gifts for my daughter that I bought at the same time! So today, the search is on... Then I realize I haven't really planned a dessert for Christmas dinner. Hmmm... do without or slug my way back to the grocery store this afternoon? Wait - we do have the cookies that Brayden and I made.... good enough for Christmas dinner dessert? YES! GOOD ENOUGH! OK, last panic - did I buy enough presents for Jeff? We always set a spending limit with each other and I stuck to the limit. The problem - he never does! That man is a long-lost relative of the real Santa Claus, I swear. He hates shopping, but he loves giving nice presents! So, will my presents compare to what he gives me? Panic.... OK, deep breath. Reality check -- no, they probably won't. LOL But it's his choice to go over the budget, right? It is what it is... Today I'll be spending most of the day cleaning the house -- just vac'ing downstairs, dusting here and there, washing the kitchen floor (you should see all the flour on the floor from baking cookies with Brayden yesterday), giving the downstairs a good picking-up. My daughter is home sick so I have no idea if I have Brayden today as planned. Guess I'll take advantage and get everything spruced up and ready... Plan out my cooking strategy for Christmas Eve dinner... The menu is baked ham, homemade macaroni and cheese, three bean salad, baked beans, rolls and salad. We've always had either turkey or roast beef, so this year we're doing something different -- and I'm hoping that Mr. Fussy Eater Brayden might actually eat the macaroni and cheese, unlike the Spaghettio's he had for Thanksgiving... Ever onward. It is what it is... Now where ARE those presents???