Deal of the Week

I've been remiss in not posting a deal of the week. Here's one I found yesterday:

It's a sweater from Talbot's Outlet.

It comes in the two colors you see above. The saleswoman had it on in the blue with a skinny belt at the waist. It looked adorable on her.

Here's the price tag:

In case you can't see it, it reads $99.00. Would you like to know how much I paid for it? Would you, huh? Get ready...

$5.00. That's right five dollars. The tags all read "AS IS' on them, but I inspected both of these closely and I can't find a thing wrong with them.

Five dollars from ninety-nine? I'd say that's a bargain.

Life in the Breakdown Lane

Since I'm going to be 40 in 25 days, I've noticed a few things; my body is starting to turn on me. Not on the outside. That's still lumpy, bumpy, soft and squishy. I'm talking about the inside. For the past few weeks I've had some *ahem* digestive issues. I've never had this particular problem in my life. I have a cold right now as well. That's not a big deal but I have this weird rash on my chest. Oh and my hair is brittle and dry.

That's all.

Thanks for attending my pity party.

Dreaming

*The following post was written by Kelly, Loopy's sister. She is a (somewhat) regular contributor to the blog*

These are the days I'm dreaming of... warmer weather, no snow, enjoying time outside with friends and family. No winter coats!!

Instead of this....

I have this.

Instead of this....(friends since childhood)

I have this.

Instead of this....

I have this.

Instead of this....

I have this.
On the bright side, spring is only 51 days away.

Come on warm weather!

Forecast

We're expecting a foot and a half of snow here in the Boston area tomorrow OR we could get get two inches of snow and some rain. Can you imagine if other professionals just guessed at things?

Pediatrician: "Well Mrs. Smith, your son has the sniffles OR it's pneumonia."

Electrician: "We need to rewire the whole house OR you just need to replace the lightbulb."

Mechanic: "We need to replace the whole engine OR it just needs an oil change"

Veterinarian: "Your dog needs to be put to sleep OR he has an upset stomach."

My forecast for tomorrows storm: slush, rain and snow .5-85 inches. I'm pretty sure I'm right on the money.

TMI Tuesday

It's TMI Tuesday. I'm warning you now, it's not for the faint of heart. Don't blame me if you can't handle it. You've been warned.

Yesterday, it was so cold outside. As soon as I stepped outside, the boogies froze inside my nose.

TMI Tuesday. Love it or hate it, it's here to stay.

A Sunday Drive With The Fossils

Today, the family had to attend a wake and I decided to drive with the Fossils. When I go somewhere with them, my dad drives, I ride shotgun (I get car sick in the back seat) and my mom sits in the back seat. Let me give you a little glimpse into what I go through on these drives:

Big Guy: "Look, what's that a tree over there?" The car veers and swerves towards the tree and I feel a little of my lunch coming back up.

Mom: "Three O one!" She shouts gas prices from the back seat.

Big Guy: "I'm going to turn on the game and see what the score is." He turns the volume to about 100.

Mom: "Three O seven!"

Big Guy: "Look at that house. What color is that...white?" The car veers toward the white house. I feel my mouth fill with water.

Mom: "Three O nine!"

Meanwhile, the Big Guy has the heat on 72 (they keep their house at a toasty 60 degrees) and the windows are starting to fog up.

I'm shocked that I didn't get sick.

Mom: "Three fifteen!"

Mojo

As I've mentioned before, I feel as though I've lost a little bit of my blogging mojo. I've read that other bloggers slow down around December because of the holidays, which was also the case for me. Unfortunately, my "bloggers block" has continued into the new year. I can't seem to think of anything to write about. I mean, does anyone really care that I can't seem to fall asleep until after midnight lately? Or that I turn into a total Nana when it comes to driving in the snow? Or that I talk to my cat like she's human? Who cares that I stay in bed until noon on snow days? Or that I still like to go dancing with my friends?

If anyone cares about these things, please let me know. I'd be happy to write more about them. Well, actually, I'm not sure I can elaborate on staying in bed until noon. That pretty much says it all.

It seems like it's easier to write in the summer. There's so much more going on. You're at the beach, you're visiting friends with a pool, dining al fresco. It's just so much nicer to write about.

I'm going to really try hard to blog more. I promise (I should tell you that my fingers are crossed as I type this).

It's My Blogiversary!

It was one year ago today I started this little blog.

There have been times where I've posted like crazy. There have also been times that I've lost my blogging mojo. All I usually need to get it back is one good post.

Along the way, I've met some really wonderful people. These women are my inspiration and I'm thankful that I met them through blogging.

I'm still trying to find my blogging niche but I'll get there someday.

According to my stats these are my most popular posts:

Burning Questions

Finding Inner Peace

My Parents Called Me Fat Today

I'm looking forward to seeing where this journey is taking me. For right now, I'll take it one post at a time.

Thanks to all of my readers!!

TMI Tuesday

It's TMI Tuesday. I'm warning you now, it's not for the faint of heart. Don't blame me if you can't handle it. You've been warned.

I still sleep with my blankie from when I was little.

TMI Tuesday. Love it or hate it, it's here to stay.

Worth Celebrating

Yesterday was the birthday of a dear friend of mine. After leaving her gift on her door, I sent her a text at work. I wished her a happy 40th and asked if she had any big plans for the evening. She replied, "No, no plans. The kids have dance and hockey. Just another day." That made me so sad. Is it because she's a mom that she doesn't feel like she should be able to celebrate her birthday?

I posed this question to a friend that is married with no children. She said that in Spain, where her husband is from, that they don't even acknowledge adult birthdays. She mentioned that parents have birthday parties for their children but that's it.

Am I the only one that loves celebrating birthdays? Not just mine, but my family and friends birthdays as well. I think it's important to have a day to celebrate you! You only have one birthday a year, it should be celebrated. When I was in the business world and a co-worker/friend was having a birthday, I would stay late and decorate their office/cube so that when they came in on their birthday, they would have a smile on their face. Keep in mind, these were friends that I knew well. I wouldn't do it for someone that I didn't know well.

In my family, we rarely let a birthday pass without a cake and/or presents. Even for the adults. We ALWAYS have cake and presents for my parents on their birthdays. For my siblings, we usually combine it with their children's parties. For my sister, I like to have the kids make cards and I'll usually make "Happy Birthday Mom!" signs on the computer. Her husband will pick up her favorite cake at the bakery.

So, is it me? Do you celebrate your special day?

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

It's January clearance time!

If you have small children, run, don't walk, to your nearest Target. They just marked their toy clearance down to 75% off. Just think of all the birthday parties that your child gets invited to. Wouldn't it be nice to just reach into your gift stash instead of running out at the last minute to buy a gift..at full price?

This is one of my favorite signs to see:

My sister and I met at one of the Target stores near us. We loaded up our carts with toys.

After hitting the toy section we headed to the gift wrap section to see if we could score any bargains. At the first Target that we hit, we didn't find any. At the second one, we found lots of birthday gift bags for 75% off. How perfect is that? A stack of gifts for the year and gift bags too!

While we were there, we ran into our blogging friend, Melanie from The Coupon Goddess. It's always a treat to run into her. If you see her in a store, you know you're in the right place. She's always where the deals are.

Here's a picture of our haul. I think we're all set for birthdays and some Christmas next year.

If you have the time, take a look around the store. They have lots of clearance items in every department. We found this Yankee Candle diffuser for $4.99 from $19.98.

After loading up the car with our goods. We headed to our next destination, Old Navy.

Old Navy was having 40% off their clearance.

My sister spent $50.09 for all this stuff:

Men's
2 pants
2 dress shirts
1 thermal shirt
1 sweater

8 tank tops
1 wool jacket
2 slippers
2 t-shirts
4 zip hoodies

All in all a great day. I can't wait to see what other stores are offering for their January clearance sales.

Happy shopping!

And so it begins...

Today was a pretty eventful day.

We had a major snowstorm. A large tree branch fell across my driveway.

Luckily, I didn't have any plans to leave the house today so it wasn't that big of a deal.

After shoveling, I had a craving for some chips and salsa. The salsa jar was new and I had trouble opening it. It slipped out of my hands and crashed to the floor and broke in a hundred pieces.

These two things pale in comparison, however, to what I just found.

A chin hair.

The hair was white. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

My downward spiral into middle age has official begun.

TMI Tuesday

It's TMI Tuesday. I'm warning you now, it's not for the faint of heart. Don't blame me if you can't handle it. You've been warned.

I'm considering having my upper lip waxed.

TMI Tuesday. Love it or hate it, it's here to stay

All In A Days Work

I'm babysitting all weekend for a family that I've known for over 16 years. When I took the 13 year old to his basketball game this afternoon, I got a call from the 17 year old at home. He told me that the neighbors horses were in the yard and he couldn't get them to leave. I rushed back to find the two of them still in the yard.

They're beautiful to look at but they do a number on the grass.

I tried to lure them out of the yard with apples. They ate them but wouldn't leave. They're beautiful to look at, but one of them was pretty aggressive. While the 17 year old was taking video of her, she charged. I'm not sure if she was aiming for him but he got pretty scared. He actually shrieked like a girl, but that's neither here nor there.

We tried calling the owners on both home and cell phones but we couldn't get in touch with them . We thought of calling animal control but we couldn't find the phone number. We called the police (non-emergency line) and they sent an officer out. I told him about trying to lure them home and then showed him. I looked over and both the officer and the 17 year old were on the other side of the fence while I was in the main yard with the horses. I said to them, "why are the men on that side and I'm over here with the horses?" They assured me that they were supervising.

Finally, we got in touch with the owner and she came over and got them out of the yard, but not before one of them left a big, hot, smelly package in the yard. The owner didn't offer to clean it up. It's still out there. I have a feeling it will be for a while.

Waiting....

Waiting for January clearance sales to start is like waiting for a baby to be born; "What will it be like?" "When will it happen?" "Will it hurt?" Okay, maybe not that last one, but you catch my drift.

I'm {not so} patiently waiting for these freakin' sales to start. I see the stores gearing up for Valentine's Day and even (gasp!) spring! What the heck? Spring? I'm not ready to put my pasty white body into spring clothes and bright colors. I'm still hiding in my bulky sweaters and jeans, thankyouverymuch.

The sale that I'm most looking forward to is the Target toy clearance. This is the time to stock up on toys for the coming year. How many children's birthday parties do you get invited to? Do you find yourself running out at the last minute (or on the way to the party) to buy a gift? With this sale you can stock up on some great toys at a fraction of their regular price.

I'm really waiting for this sign

to change to 75% off.

During the July Target toy clearance I was able to buy many Christmas gifts and gifts for Toys for Tots.

I've been to Target every day for the past four days waiting, waiting, waiting. I guess that's the only thing I can do.

I'm Reading a Book!

I know it doesn't sound very exciting, but it is. I haven't read a book in months. I go through phases where I'll read a book a week for a few months and then I'll just stop. I won't pick up another one for months and months. I'm not sure why this happens.

Winter is a great time to start reading again. The book I'm currently reading is called "Still Missing" by Chevy Stevens. I picked it up at the library. It's a rental book, so I'm assuming it's new. Does your library have rental books? You pay $1 and you have a week to read it. These are the books that have just been published. I don't mind paying a dollar to read a brand new, hardcover book. It beats paying full price at the bookstore.

I'm trying to decide what to read next. Any suggestions? I don't want to lose my reading mojo.

TMI Tuesday

It's TMI Tuesday. I'm warning you now, it's not for the faint of heart. Don't blame me if you can't handle it. You've been warned.

My belly button is an innie.

TMI Tuesday. Love it or hate it, it's here to stay

My Pack-a-Day Habit

Most of you don't know that I have a pack-a-day habit. It's getting pretty expensive. I've tried to quit, but I just can't. Maybe there is somewhere I can turn for help.

This is what I just can't quit:

I keep these in my car. I use them every time I leave someone's house. I also use them after I handle money (think Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru) and if I happen to be eating in the car (which happens a lot). I love these things! They have no alcohol, so they don't dry out my hands, yet they make them feel fresh and clean. At 99 cents a pack, they don't break the bank. Although, I guess I could try cutting down to a half-a-pack a day.

Happy New Year!