Life
How to save $104.91 at BJs
Mar 30th
I probably make a BJs run about once every 6-8 weeks. I stock up on things like paper towels, toilet paper, tissues, trash bags, diapers, wipes and bottled water. If I have a coupon I’ll buy laundry detergent there as well as dishwasher tablets. Occasionally there’s an impulse buy or two… like a cute rain coat or book for the girls or a Red Sox hoodie for me. I definitely consider BJs one of my happy places. I typically go on a week day morning and bring the girls. We snack on the fee samples and I let them browse the toy and book isles. It’s a good way to kill some time with kids.
Well this past weekend, I was about to use my last diaper and told Scott that I need to make a BJs run. Since we didn’t have anything planned, we decided to go as a family {that means he was coming with us!}. We also ventured to a new BJs. We were already out shopping and figured we’d take a little adventure and check out a different location. This store was brand spanking new AND it had a gas station which the one near us does not.
Anywho, we spent probably close to an hour in the store. We had free samples of Annie’s Organic Gummy Fruit Snacks, bakery cup cakes, and Russell Stover’s Sugar Free Chocolates. The girls played “in the cart, out of the cart” and sat in one of those humongous camping chairs {have you ever seen one?}. A good time was had by all.
We eventually made our way to the check-out at which point Scott had to run to the little boys room. I put everything up on the conveyor and watched the cashier scan everything through. Scott walked back from the bathroom just as the cashier announced the total… $228.34. He looked at me, I looked at him and then I handed the cashier my card. I can’t remember the last time I spent more than $150 at BJs. So, what on earth could have happened this time? I brought my husband!
Keep in mind, before we went into the store, Scott said to me, “We only need diapers, right?” I said yes, and probably some tissues and water. So what did he add to the cart? A dry-fit running shirt for $14.99, a 12 pack of bakery muffins for $6.95, a 3 pack of boxer shorts for $22, a 16 pack of Gillette Fusion razor blades for $42.99, and two packages of batteries for $8.99 each, for a grand total of $104.91.
Next time I go to BJs I’m leaving my husband at home!
Lifestyle Adjustment
Jan 24th
Today is Monday. Three weeks ago today I made a lifestyle adjustment. Not necessarily a New Years Resolution, but more of a change in the way I live. I started to really look at the way I was doing things around the house, the way I was eating, and the way I was {not} exercising. I knew I had to make a change and I figured, what better time than the start of a new year to turn over a new leaf.
So, three weeks ago I started going to the gym again. I started eating better and being more aware of what I put in my mouth. I started being more purposeful, if you will, around the house – making the bed, bringing the laundry down, tidying rooms up when not in use. I’m planning meals for the week and trying to avoid letting folded clothes sit in laundry baskets for more than a day. It might not sound like much, but it’s making a difference in our lives.
In the past three weeks, I’ve lost 8 pounds. This is a big deal for me. It’s not that I consider myself overweight or anything. It’s just that I know that I can look better and feel better. Not for anyone else, but for myself. I want my children to see me as an active and fit parent. Now, three nights each week, I go to the gym and they know that mommy is going to exercise. On the weekends I use our treadmill at home. After dinner I get ready to leave, my husband cleans up the dishes and then gets the girls ready for bed. Not only is this a chance for me to work out, but it’s a chance for me to have alone time. It might sound crazy that I actually enjoy going to the gym, but I do. It’s the only time that I get to drive in my car completely alone listening to whatever music I choose as loudly as I want. And when I get there I don’t have to unbuckle car seats or lug anyone or anything in with me. It’s amazing. And while I’m there working out, I can read my Kindle or watch TV or stream Netflix on my iPhone. It’s really quite relaxing.
When I get home, the kitchen is {usually} cleaned up, the girls are in bed, and my husband is waiting for me. He’s very proud of what I’m doing and that makes it even more rewarding for me.
I don’t believe in dieting. I’m not saying that it doesn’t work for some people, but for me, it has to be a lifestyle change. I just have to eat less and move more. And that is what I’m doing. The scale doesn’t lie. Eight pounds of me are gone and I hope they never come back!
How Keurig Changed My Life
Nov 22nd
Have you ever seen a product and though, “Sure that’s cool, but I’d never need it.”? Well, that is how I felt about the Keurig coffee brewers when they became uber popular about three years ago. They definitely seemed cool, modern, and life simplifying but I never really thought that I needed one. Funny thing is, that Christmas, my mom bought Scott and I one. I was pretty excited about it but still had my reservations. We’d always been traditional coffee pot brewing people and already had a pretty sweet coffee maker with programmable features. I didn’t realize on that day just how much the Keurig brewer would change my life.
Scott and I latched on to it pretty quickly. We loved the ease of it and the ability to brew just a single cup of coffee whenever we wanted in the “flavor” of our choice. I had always been a French Vanilla lover while he preferred Hazelnut (gag!). But with the traditional coffee maker we always just brewed regular coffee and then sometimes added a flavored creamer. The Keurig changed all that. It pretty much changed our lifestyle in terms of home coffee brewing. We used to prepare our coffee maker the night before by measuring the coffee and water and setting the programmable timer to have it brewing as we were waking up. Now we simply choose our preferred blend, pop in the KCup, and within 60 seconds, we have a fresh cup of coffee. Now that is genius!
You can imagine our heartache when this morning Scott went to brew his morning commute tumbler of coffee and the Keurig did not work. It was as if a part of us had died. We both just looked at each other not knowing what to do. Then we fumbled with the machine to try to get it going. We refilled the water reservoir, changed the KCup, unplugged and replugged in the machine, powered it on and off… nothing worked! We felt truly defeated. With no other coffee option in the house, Scott left empty handed.
After being out for the morning, I came home determined to get the Keurig working again. I searched Google for help and consulted the owner’s manual, but nothing has worked. I called Keurig and they really were not much help either. I was told that the machine is out of warranty and that I really don’t have any options. Someone is supposed to call me back and I was told that they may offer me a discount on a new brewer but seeing as it’s an “older” machine, it may just be done. So is that it? Three years out of the coffee maker and time to buy a new one? I was hoping that we’d get more life out of it.
Now I sit here, unable to have my afternoon coffee fix, wondering what to do. Should we buy a new Keurig or go back to the old days of brewing coffee in our traditional coffee maker. We’ll likely go back to the old coffee pot for the time being as a new Keurig just isn’t in the budget right now. It’s definitely not going to be easy! I might cry.
Trick-or-Treating Conundrum
Oct 27th
When we were house hunting one of our criteria was to find a neighborhood that passed the trick-or-treating test. Basically, we wanted to find a neighborhood that would be perfect for our kids to go out in on Halloween night. Kind of an odd house hunting criteria, huh? Well you see, to us, a neighborhood that is perfect for trick-or-treating is also one that is super kid friendly. It is not super busy with cars going through but there are lots of friendly houses with lots of kids. We were lucky to be able to find a house in such a neighborhood.
However, now that Halloween is drawing near, we are faced with a problem. How do we simultaneously take our kids out trick-or-treating AND be at home to hand out candy to other kids? The answer might seem simple to you: Have one parents stay home and hand out candy and have the other one take the kids out, right? Well, that would solve it except for the fact that Scott and I both want to be able to see the kids go out trick-or-treating for the first time in our new neighborhood (and the fact that it might be hard for just one of us to take both of them).
You might also think that we should just both go and take them out. But who will be here to give the candy out? Since it’s our first Halloween in the new house, I think it’s important to have someone here to hand out the candy so that we can make our presence known. I want to see the kids who are around and maybe meet some new people as they come through. Maybe that is silly, I don’t really know. This is really the first time that we have a house to give candy out at. Anyone have an answer for me on how to make it work? Right now the only answer we can come up with is taking turns being out with the girls and staying home to give candy. Life can be so difficult sometimes!
No longer BFFs
Oct 7th
For the past four years I have had the bestest best friend in the world. We’ve done more together than I’ve done with any other one person in my life. Countless shopping trips, hundreds of lunch dates, lots of girl talk and millions of hugs. She is an amazing person who never ceases to amaze me or bring a smile to my face. Sure we’ve had our ups and downs but we always manage to work our problems out. I truly can’t imagine my life without her in it. All of this makes it really hard for me to swallow the fact that maybe she doesn’t consider me her best friend anymore. I know deep down inside I will always be her best friend but lately I’ve been pushed to the back burner and it hurts a little bit.
You see, my bestest best friend for the past four years has been my daughter, Brinley. But now that she is four and growing up before my eyes, she has become quite an independent little girl. She’s in school now and has new friends her own age. It’s not that I’m not happy about her having friends because I am. I love that she’s social and goes on play dates and has friends over to play. It’s just hard to her hear say to me, “Mom, you go upstairs and leave us alone to play.” It’s like she doesn’t need me there anymore to play with dolls or color or play school. My role has shifted from best friend and playmate to simply Mom. It’s a role I’ll always be more than happy to take on, but I’ll miss being the one she choose for playing games and dress up with. Now it’s, “Can so and so come over to play” instead of “Mom, let’s play dolls.”
I know this is not the last time that my heart will ache just a little bit over my daughter. I’m sure I’ll have many, many more experiences just like this one or even worse. Hopefully over time they’ll be easier to swallow because right now I’m sitting upstairs typing this while I listen to my daughter downstairs playing with her friend. Don’t get me wrong, it brings me great joy to hear their happiness and giggles, but I’m a little bit sad that I can’t be a part of it. 
