Saturday, January 19, 2008

Meg Thinks I'll Do This

It's another meme, and Meg thinks I'll do it. So I will.

Two names you go by: Mom and Frankie.

Two things you are wearing right now: A cream-colored sweatshirt with a pastel blue snowflake and pajama pants.

Two of your favorite things to do: Be with Bob and Thomas and surf the net. Or ride trains. Or go on vacation. Do I have to choose two?

Two things you want very badly: To be debt-free and happiness, health and success for Thomas.

Two favorite pets you have had/have: This is impossible to answer. I love all my dogs and cats, past and present. There's no way I can choose. I will list two least-favorite pets: The hamsters that we had and the hermit crabs that we had. ICK to both. What a mother won't do for her child, though.

Two people you think will fill this out: No one! Someone, surprise me!

Two things you ate today: Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich (leftovers, yum!) and a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup.

Two people you last talked to today: Ginny and Bob -- does Bob count? Actually if we're being technical, it would be Thomas and Bob.

Two things you’re doing tomorrow: Cleaning the house, going to Kmart for laundry detergent.

Two longest car rides: Denver to Indiana with my dad, my sister, her two kids and Thomas. It was fun, but long. Second longest drive was across Kansas. Kansas is very flat. Beautiful, but flat. (I would move there in a heartbeat, it was a long drive with just me and Thomas, though.)

Two favorite holidays: Christmas. Hmm. Does Spring Break count as a holiday? Birthdays? Hmmm...I'd say 4th of July, I guess. Christmas is my holiday.

Two favorite beverages: Diet Pepsi and Chocolate Milk

Friday, January 18, 2008

Frugal Friday

Cheap Prescription Glasses

Sometime eons ago, last April to be exact, my eye glasses broke. Bob and I went to the eye doctor, got new prescriptions, and paid over $500 for new glasses. I bought glasses and prescription sunglasses. The sunglasses I got dirt cheap, that is for a brick and mortar store, as the frames were only $19.99 on sale. I think I ended up paying around $85 for the sunglasses.

I hated my regular glasses with a passion. I returned them. Even though my glasses were broken, I was very proud that I marched back into Shopko and got my money back. I kept the sunglasses.

Sam, at A Desk Full of Clutter, had commented about Zenni Optical when I blogged about my glasses and the search for a cheaper pair. He had read about someone who was happy with their glasses from them.

I went to Zenni Optical, looked around, was shocked that they had frames starting at $8 a pair, and quickly made a selection. The frames I chose were $29.90. Well, that is the total for the glasses I chose, I'm not quite sure if my wonky prescription bumped the price up or not.

The customer service was fantastic. Within a day of my order, Zenni emailed me asking for verification of the prescription. My left eye is really bad but my right eye is really good. They questioned that I put the prescription in correctly before they made the glasses. I scanned the prescription and emailed it to them.

Within less than a week, my new glasses arrived. I LOVED THEM. I love them to this day! This is one of my all-time favorite pair of glasses -- ever. They fit fantastic. They're much more stylish than I would have normally bought.

They arrived with a nice case and cleaning cloth, too.

I will never buy glasses in a brick and mortar store again. My total bill, with shipping from Zenni, was $34.85.

The only down side I can see to this is that you don't get them custom fit to your head. I really don't see that as a down side for me at all, though. These glasses fit great.

I highly recommend Zenni Optical! I will always buy from them. It is nice to know that I'll be able to pick up a pair of glasses, and much-needed prescription sunglasses from them for under $100.

That was my best money-saving adventure of last year.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

A Funny -- Poor Bob

This morning as I was getting ready to shove Bob out the door off to work -- no, say goodbye as Bob was leaving for work, he decided instead to take the day off. He has three vacation days that he has to burn in a hurry, so he figured why not. This was at 7 am.

Bob parked himself in front of the computer as Thomas and I fed the puppies and took them outside. We then started school. It's hard to do school with Bob underfoot -- not because he's here, it just ruins our routine. So we plugged away.

About 10:30 we took our first break, took the puppies outside, and I came down to catch up on emails and blogs and all that fun and good computer stuff. A half hour later, I startled because so much time had flown by. Up the stairs I went. Thomas sat down at the table and started math while I decided to make another pot of coffee.

I was looking out my kitchen window and the overcast, cold and dreary day. I then looked at Bob's van, which was parked in the driveway. I blinked a few times. I actually put my glasses on. Lo and behold, there was exhaust coming out of it! It was 11 am and that van was RUNNING.

I called down to Bob, who was diligently working on defragging and deleting unwanted files from his computer and asked him if he forgot something. Nope. I started laughing. I just couldn't help it. I said, "Honey, did you start your car this morning?"

Oh shiitake mushrooms. Only he didn't say the mushroom part. Or the "ake" part, either. He flew out the door faster than I could say boo.

So there in our driveway, from 7 am to 11 am, sat our van, with the engine running, warming up. We're trying to figure out how many gallons of gas he blew. It was just so funny that I didn't care about the lost gas, though. I don't think I've laughed so hard in many, many moons.

Poor Bob. I'm laughing at him, not with him. However, he was a good sport and laughed about it, too.

And I'm proud to say that even though Bob was underfoot, as soon as Thomas finishes his five-paragraph essay on his favorite foods (or poop, whichever he chooses to write about today) we will be done with school for the day. We made it through.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

4H

The 4H Dog program lady called tonight. I put a call into her over a month ago, she'd been busy and apologized.

So, we're set to start this. We have to join the next county over's 4H.

I know NOTHING about 4H. I do know Thomas will have to train once a week. That's great. He will also have to join a club? What else will he have to do?

Bottom line: HOW MUCH WILL THIS COST ME?????

I'm hyperfocused on money this year, and want to work this into the budget! Aside from gas being $3 a gallon, and this town is 20 miles from here, how much money?

Thomas is excited about it. He wants to do it. He's ready to volunteer at our local animal shelter again, which we'll do after Tesla has his second round of shots.

Help, someone explain this 4H thing to me, please!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Everybody's Doing It

I've seen this all over the blog world. I've always claimed I'm not a liberal or conservative -- I guess this proves it.

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal