4 is better than 2

So, I mentioned previously about my cool acquisition of a 10 dollar 4 slice toaster...I was pretty excited, this morning I was able to toast 4 waffles instead of two..its the little things..

Well, I was looking through my receipts and saw I got some paper on a rebate for the toaster -- for $10!! So, once I get the rebate, I will have gotten the toaster for free! Yippee!

But I still ask, was the ridiculusness of Black Friday worth the $20 bucks I saved?

No, no, not at all...but oh well, whats done is done and I am happy I have a new toaster for free...

Black Friday = Misery & Grief

So, after looking at the sale papers yesterday and seeing all of the great deals, I made the decision that I would do like so many others do and get up early to try to get some good deals.

Thursday night

6:00pm - make lists of what I want to get from several stores on Friday morning

7:00pm ish, go to Michaels, get a few things I saw in the ad, crown and lines minimal - drive by Best Buy and see people waiting in line and already putting up tents...you have got to be kidding me...laugh at them, wish I had my camera..

8:00ish - watch a little bit of UT/A&M game....

9:00pm - go to bed in preparation for early morning

Friday Morning

3:30 am - arrive at Toys R Us, see line out side of door, get mad (per the sale paper, it was open at midnight, so why is there a line?) See line moving and see they are letting people in in groups.....decide to wait...only wait about 10 minutes before getting into store. Pick up a few things on my list while dodging carts..wait in another line for 30 minutes in order to get into electronics...purchase a few things...

4:00pm - check out rest of items and leave...go to Kohls next door, even though had not written down anything on my list so really dont know what sales are..walk in, walk through half of store, walk out...

415-430 - go to Whataburger to get some food

430-445 - go to JC Penney to get 4 slice toaster for 9.88...see lines wrapped around store...get mad and irritated....see oversized pillow for 3.99, grab, find toaster, grab...let Kaelen convince me to buy him jacket..stand in line, see beautiful pea coat I really, really want, regularly $200.00 now $50, try it on, love it, talk myself out of it as I only brought a certain amount of money with me...tell myself may go back later and see if they still have them for that price...stand in line some more....finally check out....

530 - go to Walmart - only really want to get one thing here...walk in, almost have a heart attack as there are lines going all the way to the back of store...get more mad and irritated, do 2 trips around store and finally determine the one thing I want is gone, decide even if I found it would not stand in line for 2 hours to get it....

535ish - stop and fill up with gas, have conversation with gas attendant that Walmart was the most unbelievable thing I have ever seen...

545ish - go to Target....walk in, see long lines, get even more irritated, find a few transformers, pick up...look through 3.99 movies, have them all, go to electronics, find $10 4gb flash drive WooHoo!, find $10 Monsters and Aliens - WooHoo!...see Twilight section form a distance with Bella and Edward dolls, do not even worry about getting colser to see how much they are, find line in electronics that doesnt look as long as other lines, stand for about 20 minutes...realize this line wraps through 3 aisles and leads to register...think about whether it is worth it, decide it is not....put stuff down, go back to truck and snap at Kaelen because he wont unlock the door..realize I am extremely irritated and tired and think this is the dumbest idea I have had in a very long time....(I actually realized that a lot earlier)

630-700 ish - head home, stop at Starbucks, arrive home, turn on TV, watch Modern Family, pray Christian stays asleep for 4 more hours...

Let me just say, I have never done Black Friday in the wee hours of the morning, I have done it in the afternoon, but not in the morning....it was horrific..Toys R Us was crowded, but they didnt have most the things I wanted, JC Penney wasnt too bad in regards to crowds, the line was long but went fast, it was the least worst of them all, and I got some kind of ornament when we walked in...Target and Walmart were unreal...the lines were unbelievable...it was the craziest thing I have ever seen...I will never, ever do that again..

I guess if you have saved up all your cash are are willing to stand in line for God knows how long in the cold and are buying everyones gifts that morning and they are all LCD TV's, then maybe, but I am not one of those people nor do I plan on being anytime soon...I will never put myself though that again or deprive myself of any precious sleep for a few measley dollars....

Total - I got a oversize pillow, a 4 slice toaster (I think the thing I am most happy about), 2 DS games for $10, a tub of sea animals for $5 and a couple of Bakugans, and a 2gb mp3/video player for $17, so, all in all it was not worth the 4 hours of sleep I missed, the few minutes I had to stand out in the cold and the frustration I experienced while I was in the store...Walmart may have traumatized me for life...

I would love to hear your Black Friday stories, good or bad!

And the feast begins....

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I have so much to be thankful for--

My family, my healthy boys, my job, the freedoms we enjoy in this country, this beautiful weather and the list goes on and on.

I hope you all have a great day - mine will include gorging myself with as much food and desserts as possible....all while telling myself it isnt making me gain weight and if it does, I will just lose it after the holidays...right..because I have been so good at that in the past...but I will still eat it and still let myself believe the lies...

Ya know, they say the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result each time---yep, fits me perfect...

Happy Turkey Day! Be thankful to God for all he has given us and grateful to our predecessors who took the risk and founded this great land that allows us to celebrate such holidays and worship as we wish.

Gobble Gobble!

Mental Disorder update....

I just wanted to let everyone know that:

• I never found my wallet, but have finally started to build up another...I got a new drivers license which is a good start...
• I have not lost my phone in like 3 weeks...hallelujah!!
• I never found my debit card, but thats ok, it helps me to keep from spending money..

Also:

• My husband officially thinks I have serious issues with my Twilight obsession. He pretty much blew it off before but now with New Moon coming out, my craziness has escalated and he is starting to look at me funny. I guess I need to keep it on the lowdown and take down my life size poster of Edward thats hanging in our closet.
• Kaelen is doing an outstanding job at being better. We are micro, micro, micro-managing his school life, so as of this moment, he has no zeroes and has done his homework everynight...he is also getting more privileges outside of school, such as talking on the phone and getting to go to the movies with his girlfriend...things are looking up! keep us in your prayers....
• I am looking forward (NOT) to Christmas shopping this season, I look forward to it every year and cant wait to be at Target at 4am on Black Friday to get a $10 camera....

Now that the New Moon ridiculusness has faded (somewhat), what shall I become obsessed with now? Some would say I should become obsessed with laundry or dishwashing..but, as you can imagine, I have a few strong words for those blasphemers....any ideas?

Crazy

Tonight, my 3 nieces are spending the night so their parents can have a night out. They are so sweet, just precious to have little girls around....but put them all together, with my 3 (and yes, even the 15 year old joins in) and it gets very loud....Chris cant handle it as well as I can, I tend to tune them out like I do my own.......we had pizza and they all helped me to make cookies, which they ate within 2 minutes of them being out of the oven....and the rest of the time they all spent chasing each other around....sigh

I think I am going to have to go see New Moon again tomorrow...a friend of mine is going and invited me...I am really needing my fix, its so sad...I thought the movie was great, but do remember some cheesy parts...I really need to get another look to catch all of the details I missed the first time...

And of course, I am so behind in work, I think I will probably spend much of Sunday trying to get caught up before next week..i will be out of the office starting Wednesday, so i really need to get it together....

Life is Hard

OK, Life is really hard and I am tired of it...





Raising a teenager is the worst pain I have ever experienced...it is brutal, self-deprecating, awful, painful and many other adjectives...I think I would be less upset about it if I didnt know I had to go through it 2 more times...girls have to be easier, or maybe it is just different with them, not necessarily easier....you have heard people say it and now I know why - And people wonder why animals eat their young...





Finances suck....I am currently taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. I highly recommend it to every single person I know, whether you have your money in order or not. I believe this is going to change our lives, but it is going to be very hard, it is going to require a lot of discipline...therefore it is going to suck





Work is highly overated....I like it to a certain point...I would rather work part time at Petsmart and be home more with my kids....





And last but not least on my complaints for today...I am yet again posting a picture of myself because some things never change..

More craziness

OK, most of you know how big of a Twilight fan I am...so in case you have been living under a rock somewhere, you know the second movie, New Moon, is coming out this Friday! Yippee! I am quite excited. I am going with a co-worker and her son and am also going to bring Haden - I am taking him out of school and bringing him to work with me, as I am only working a half day and leaving from there...we are going to have tons of fun....

I was also able to borrow the CD of the soundtrack from my sister in law so I have been prepping by listening to some great new songs..I am also re-reading New Moon for the third time...I must have everything refreshed in my memory for the movie.

Since I havent been blogging very much, you havent been able to see any new pics of Robward...so here ya go..

Oh yeah, there are other people in the movie too...

I am in moan/groan/complain/bitch mode today, so beware....I dont feel like I bitch too often, so I think I should get a chance everynow and then.





Last night, I walked out of my office at 6:15. I should have been home in 30 minutes. I did not walk in the door until 9:00. Bad accident on the freeway, so yeah, I bitched and complained even though I had already found out there was a dead body lying in the road, which was the reason for the halted traffic....I actually got a few chapters from my Dave Ramsey book read while sitting on the freeway. I confirmed the existence of such previously mentioned dead body when I exited the freeway only to see the body under the sheet myself. Appears someone was on the side of the road or tried to cross the road, actually, the freeway and was hit and killed...sad..but come on! How long does it take to remove a body from the road! They still had the freeway shut down after 10:00 when I watched the news!





My allergies are visiting me again, feel like crap..hopefully it isnt the flu which should not be named..having to work from home...





Work is bugging me about some time I entered wrong.....cripes, I hate having to deal with time and billing, such a pain...





My house is so friggin dirty, why wont anyone come clean it for me!





Kaelens school is being an a-hole....wish I was wealthy and could home school..actually, scratch that..I wish I were wealthy and could send them all to a very fine private school...





I was up at 2 something this morning and couldnt get back to sleep until around 4...so that helps my mood considerably....could not find any meds in the whole friggin house for my allergies.





I have been working on the same project for a month now at work and its driving me crazy! I wish it would be final already!





But even with my complaining, I have so much to be thankful for:





My family


My healthy family


A job I like


A home


I wasnt hit by a car on the freeway yesterday, but lucky enough to only be stuck in the traffic it caused

Havent lost my phone since I found it last


And the pretty pink cups that I got from Pampered Chef that I have been drinking coffe out of for a few weeks...

OK, I have thought some on my previous post....

We will continue to instill our morals into our boys, to teach them to be respectful to all adults and teach them personal responsibility. They will continue to be punished when they are disrespectful and break the rules. They will be taught that they are not entitled to anything. They will learn hard work is what gets you places and you should be thankful to God for what you have in your life. They will be taught that life is precious and your actions will have consequences. We will do our best to do all of these things for them so that they are respectable, productive and hard-working men, so that they are respectful, generous, faithful and lovong husbands and fathers, so that they too will one day pass down these lessons to their own children. We will teach them these things, but we know that they as individuals will have to choose their own path. But the one thing we will not do is give up on them and allow them to treat others as if they are less than them, to disregard others to the point that their life means nothing.

We will do our best as parents to do these things and whatever else it takes for them to being decent human beings.

Despicable..

What is our world coming to...

http://www.kvue.com/news/state/Wylie-man-beaten-to-death-for-asking-teen-to-stop-speeding-69577907.html

What is going on with our kids..no respect, no morals, no concious? Is it parenting? Is it society? Is it violence on TV and video games? What is it that allows kids to think it is ok to gang up on someone and beat them to death? What makes kids think it is ok to take a gun to school and shoot everyone up because a few kids made fun of them? Are they not being taught coping skills? I have to know, I have to know how I can keep my boys from doing the same thing, how do I raise these boys to become respectable moral men?

As a parent of a teenager, I can't imagine him doing something like this, but I am sure these parents never imgined their son would be involved in something like this either.....I am glad these "kids" have been charged with murder and I hope they get the maximum sentence allowed by law...it is sickening and so disheartening to see young people in this country doing such horrendous things...