Coupon Sense Testimony Time

Ok, just had to share.  You know how it is when you save hundreds of dollars for your husband.  I dropped Austin off at hockey practice and lo and behold, there is a Fry’s and Safeway conveniently located by the arena.  Sweet Jesus!  I am currently grounded from spending money… but that’s for another blog on a depressing day… not today.  So, I went to both stores for just the freebies and got:

5 boxes of Kellogg’s corn flakes

2 avocados

6 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (4 in a pkg)  No, I don’t plan to eat all those tonight or even this week.  That is a three month supply!  Hidden of course.

(They were out of the free zip lock baggies and the free salad dressing!  BAH!)

And spent….. $.19.   Yes, that’s cents, not dollars.  NINETEEN cents.  That doesn’t even count as spending money.

Then I went to Barnes & Noble to casually browse adoption books, which is what us adoptive parents do in our WAITING time.  I found three and then a comfy chair.  Half way through the second book I figured out that I was pretty tired when I did a church nod!  (That’s when your head falls to the side in an uncontrolled, but quickly rectified fashion.)  So I put the books back and wandered TJ Maxx.  Remembering fervently that I’m grounded from spending money.

One of the adoption books, or should I say anti-adoption books, was just more than I could take.  It was so generalized on the negative side I felt like ripping out pages and wadding them up.  But then I’d have to explain the the B&N people that I can’t pay for it because I’m grounded from spending money.  So I just put it back on the shelf and truly questioned the benefits of books full of negative smack.  Who reads those?  Oh, negative people.  Right.

Anyway, Rick is away tonight on a trip, so I will have a full night of blissful rest without having to tell him to turn over and stop snoring.  Yes, I’d rather have him here.  Yes, my tired body is happy he’s gone for just one night.  I can’t imagine being a real pilot’s wife when they are gone so much.  Thankfulness has again filled my heart, even though I’m grounded from spending money.  Sweet Dreams!

Corn Flakes & Fried Chicken Cause Memory Loss

While my husband’s away playing out his childhood fantasy of pond hockey, I determined to feed my children real food, not macky cheese or frozen pizza.  I defrosted a pack of chicken yesterday and successfully searched for a scrumptious corn-flakes-fried-chicken-cooked-in-the-oven recipe.  My mouth waters thinking of the first crunchy bite, which hasn’t happened yet, and it’s 8:34 p.m. 

10:30 a.m. After discovering the tempting recipe, I decided to double the batch so I wouldn’t have to cook again for 3 days.  Out of the freezer came the twin brother of the pack of chicken that is thawed in the fridge.  I set them both on the counter….. and then my sister called and I went upstairs to chat.  We solved most of the world’s problems in that single phone call. Then I washed my hair and tried a new straight style.  Then I sorted through magazine pages of shabby-chic girly bedrooms for my friend who was coming to borrow them.  Then I crossed the street to talk to my brother.

1:30 p.m. Holy Smokes! It was time to leave for my son’s hockey game…. and I discovered the packs of chicken on the counter.  Shoot.  I put the thawed pack back in the fridge and even though I know all the warnings about salmonella poisoning from defrosting chicken on the counter…..  we haven’t died yet….. so the half-frozen pack stayed put. (Please don’t email me warnings… or horror stories.)

The hockey game surpassed my greatest hopes with a 4-0 shut out…….. and Austin scored a HAT TRICK!  Woooo Hoooo! (That is three goals in one game, for those non-hockey readers.) Makes a mama proud!

5:30 p.m. I arrived home from the amazing game to find the thawed chicken on the counter.  Oh, yeah, I was going to make corn-flakes-fried-chicken-baked-in-the-oven.  (Warning: my first senior moment occurred next.)  I went to the fridge to retrieve the originally thawed pack of chicken that was not growing salmonella organisms… but it had vanished.  Now it was a rather bulky, bright yellow, sixteen inch long pack of chicken.  Should be easy to spot, you’d think.  Upon deeper investigation, I found it back in the freezer, now frozen a second time.  Is this what it’s like growing old??? I was back to square one with one thawed pack and its twin frozen…… again.  Eventually, I did get it in the oven.

The moral of the story is, if you want to know how the chicken crossed the kitchen, don’t ask me.  I can’t remember.