Maybe I’d blog more if I didn’t have to sit at my desk to do it? I’ve really been thinking about how handy it would be to have a laptop. I could sit in bed, or outside, or on the couch and hog the tv as well as the internet connection. It sounds wonderful! But my poor cheap heart just can’t take the thought of buying one. I’ll probably just hold out until I can find a fantastic deal like I did with my desktop computer. Never overlook refurbished machines. This desktop was purchased from Dell and though refurbished and sold at outlet prices it still had the same warranty that any other system would have had. Now if they would just advertise better refurbished laptops! Then I would be in business. 
Other than wishing and hoping over silly things I’m feeling quite sick. 
I’m so pissed, too. Halloween is my favorite!! I look forward to it all year long. But if this keeps up I may be sitting out trick or treating and send the hubby with the kids, solo. I’m really praying it isn’t the flu though. I’m ignoring the weakness, the body aches, the sore throat, the runny nose and the headache and even ear pain. I don’t see me being able to ignore it much longer though. I’m about ready to crash. Thank goodness it’s Friday!! At least I won’t be alone all weekend, sick.
Thinking about going back to school? Want to get an online mba? I’ve recently read about Western Governors Online University and it sounds like it could be the way to go for those who want an education but don’t have enough time or money to go with a traditional school. I read that they are one of the most affordable out there when it comes to comparing online university costs. Whether that is true or not, I’m not sure. I have honestly never had the urge to do anything online like that or in person, so prices are not something I am very aware of. They are definitely one I will keep in mind though. While I have no interest I know my husband does. He wants to finish up what he started, eventually. With the military life style that can be quite difficult. There’s never enough time and we’re definitely not swimming in extra money.
You can certainly tell that the holiday season is coming at us quickly. I have been finding so many good deals online. This week alone I scored Fannie May candies for $.70 SHIPPED and some gourmet cookies for under $7. I just can’t help myself when I find things so cheap. Of course I’ll be needing to find a good deal on diet pills too .. haha but oh well.
I also get quite the buzz when I get mail, even if it’s something small or a free sample. So these deals help keep me peppy. I love not knowing what the mail will be bringing me from day to do. It’s something to look forward to when life gets boring.
While browsing jewelry sites for a new necklace I came upon Bella True. I had never been to their site before but oh .. the pretties! I especially loved this ring I found. If it weren’t so expensive I’d forward it onto the hubby for an anniversary idea for the future. But considering the fact that I was especially spoiled on our 6th anniversary, I’ll pass for now.
But anyway, I found a section of the site titled “tips for guys”. I don’t know how many of them I actually agree with but they were quite interesting to read. I especially enjoyed the “I’m sorry” section of tips, mainly because I have a whole section of my jewelry box dedicated to the “I’m Sorry!” jewelry I have received. What is it with guys and buying jewelry to try and mend fences? While I love jewelry I would have just as well appreciated a card or you know a simple “Sorry!”. Sometimes words mean so much. But hey, I understand the site is trying to sell jewelry so I can appreciate that they aren’t recommending something so simple.
I’ve bought all of my groceries for the week using the newsletter that Smithfield sent me last Friday. So I thought I would share some of the yummy-ness.
Last night we had a Beef Ragu with noodles and mushrooms in brown butter. It was good. I don’t like beef in chuck roast form so I didn’t eat a ton of it. But it wasn’t awful either. For the rest of the week we’re doing:
Walnut Crusted Chicken w/ carrot salad
Smoked Sausage Quesadillas w/ black bean and corn salad
Italian Chicken Kabobs w/ Tomato Grits
Chicken Divan
and
Ham & Bacon Lasagna.
The recipes include a lot of meat but they also seem to contain twice as many veggies as I would normally add to our meals. The extra meat sometimes makes me feel as if we’ll need weight loss pills thrown in as well. LOL In the long run I think we’re doing much better even if there is more meat than we’re used to. Plus it’s just nice to have a set plan each week. Less time wasted is always good for me.
I’ve had issues for months with my hosting company shutting me down on accident even though I had paid my bill on time. My site and email would just disappear and I would have to fight to get it back. So lame. But this last week I actually did forget to pay my bill (hey, we were gone, it slipped my mind) and the payment was over a week late. I totally expected to come home to things shut off and what not. But did I? Nope! haha Odd how that works. But yay for me. I’m normally not that ditzy about bills but I guess I just had too many other things on my mind. My brain was on a thinking diet I suppose and shut off the least important thoughts.
This is a great reminder for me to put the bill on auto-pay. I can’t live without my email, junk and all.
We’ve actually been back a day and a half but you know, I’ve been busy. Traveling sucks!! I like getting to where I’m going and arriving home but the in between just sucks the life out of me. Thankfully all went well, very smooth. No accidents, no near death experiences on the turnpikes, no term life insurance plans needed. Thank goodness!
The visit was nice. Very calm, no issues. No being pulled in any direction because very few people knew we were there. I kind of felt bad about that but oh well. A vacation is supposed to be just that … a vacation! I was also able to indulge in all of my MI favorites that most people from MI don’t think twice about. Seriously, it may be a boring state but be thankful for your Faygo, people! LOL I can’t get any here in VA. So while there we bought 20 bottles of it. haha The grocery store in town was having a sale so that helped.
Anyway, gotta run. I have a kid to get on the bus, a trip to Petsmart to make and then I have a crap load of cooking to do. The recipe I chose for today calls for 6-8 hrs of cooking time. And I want to bake a couple of apple pies. It’s chilly here and rainy so why not? It’s not like there’s much else to do.
FYI – anyone who has emailed me lately. I am getting to it! I came home to around 1,000 messages (mostly junk of course) and I had hundreds before I left. So I have to sift through it all to find the good ones. UGH ..
Or maybe not. I don’t get why I have so much junk mail!! I try to be cautious about where I use my email addresses and even have a separate one for shopping online but it does nothing for me. From Canadian prescription medications to the best Bronx medical malpractice lawyers, I am always deleting messages and then I miss very important ones from friends and family. They get buried in all of the junk and after awhile I just give up. I don’t know what else to do! I certainly don’t have time to sit all afternoon deleting them.
So, if anyone comes across this post and knows of a surefire way to cut them down or an email filtering program, let me know! I certainly could use some tips.
OMG! Why are there no salad bars along the turnpikes? I swear, we’re all going to need fat burners after this trip. McDonald’s, Starbucks, vending machines .. oh my! Next time we do this I’m going to buy a big cooler and pack it up. It would be handy for the road trip and then filling up when we’re in MI. I was so tempted to buy some grocery items up there that we couldn’t get in VA but of course transporting it would be an issue.
Oh well. At least we’re safe and the trip is going very well. You can’t ask for more than that.
So we should be home shortly. I can’t wait. There’s nothing like sleeping in your own bed. I miss mine, desperately. *sighs*
We’ll be heading out shortly. I have everything packed that I can think of. Well all except appetite suppressants but I don’t plan on using those. All of the great MI foods I’ll come in contact with are way too tempting. I have plans mainly for food .. sad, isn’t it? lol I feel so deprived down here without superman ice cream or yummy doughnuts from the local grocery store .. or Grandma’s pies. I miss all of that living in VA.
Ahhh.. I can’t wait! Hopefully we make it there in one piece. That is all I worry about on road trips. The driving makes me a little queasy, honestly. Wish us luck! I’ll blog when we get back, for sure.
