Never send a man to do the grocery shopping

Yes, I know that's a sexist title, but it got your attention, right?

We didn't go grocery shopping this weekend so were running low on a few things. Plus there were some awesome sales on instant oatmeal and I had coupons. I was going to shop before work, but Mr. Fix-it wasn't working so I decided to send him instead.

First, a little background on the oatmeal. I'm not a huge oatmeal fan, but I've been eating it for breakfast because it is cheap and high in fiber. Normally, I use plain, regular oatmeal, you know, the kind you cook over the stove, except I cook it in the microwave at work. For convenience (and a flavor treat), I like to keep some of the instant oatmeal around. I found this awesome new multi-grain hot cereal by Quaker, Simple Harvest. Unfortunately, it is way more expensive than the regular instant oatmeal. For the sale, with my coupon, it would be free!!! Yahoo!

I only like certain instant oatmeal flavors: cinnamon, brown sugar, pecans, or combinations thereof. Sooo, what do he get? Vanilla almond. Yuck! (yes, I tried one and don't like it.) And reduced sugar brown sugar. Another yuck! Mr. Fix-it didn't realize he bought a reduced sugar version, which I refuse to eat. (Maybe I'll post about that later.) Luckily, I found a coworker who took the reduced sugar version off of my hands. Mr Fix-it will eat one package of the vanilla almond and will try to exchange the other. Grrrr, and I thought it was such a simple request.

Mr. Fix-it

I've been thinking about giving A another name on my blog, ala Pioneer Woman's Marlboro Man. Obviously, that name is taken and besides A doesn't smoke so I had to come up with something else. I thought that "A" was difficult to read throughout my blog, even though you're probably used to seeing initials instead of names. I asked A to come up with ideas and this was one of them.

Today, he earned that name and more! I drove his car to work because it was raining and I wanted the extra security of his car (newer, larger). He called to let me know that I had two new tires. Huh? It turns out, I had a nail in one tire. He was working in the garage and noticed that tire was low. Thank goodness I didn't drive my car to work today. Thank goodness A is observant. Thank goodness A takes care of me. So today is the perfect day to unveil A's new name: Here's to Mr. Fix-it!

Why I shop for scrapbook supplies online

Today I went to a (relatively) new scrapbook store because I was looking for a few specific items and I thought they might have them there. I knew they had at least one item I was looking for. As it turns out, that one item was the only item they had that I wanted. Of course, that didn't stop me from buying three things.

But back to original reason for this post. I was trying to scraplift a card so I was looking for certain embellishments. I know that Scrapworks chipboard flowers and Heidi Swapp ghost flowers are a couple years old, but still, I was hoping to find them or something similar. I was also looking for Prima Pop ups birds, which are at least year old. When this store first opened, it had the largest selection of Prima products I had ever seen. So I was hopeful they would have what I was looking for. Nope, no go. Nada. And they had never heard of Prima Pop ups. And they were not helpful in suggesting alternate products. I found ONE package of chipboard flowers. TWO packages of transparent flowers. Okay, there were more than two packages, I guess I should have said two styles. But really, not much of a selection.

And over the weekend, I went to a different store and as usual, I walked out without buying anything. I checked out the prices on a couple of items that are $1 everywhere else. They are $1.99 there. Ridiculous!! All I wanted was pop dots. Yep, they were out of pop dots. I was willing to buy them at their inflated prices and they were out.

At least when I shop online, I know if something is in stock or not. I don't have to make a special trip. Next time, I'll go back to my "favorite" LSS (local scrapbook store). Their hours and location aren't as convenient and their selection isn't as good as other stores, but they are friendly and consistent in their stock. They don't try to be cutting edge and I can usually find what I want there. Oh, does that mean I'm not cutting edge? Maybe that's why I'm not on a design team, lol.

Scrapping in China

If you're interested in scrapbooking with Heidi Swapp in China, here's your chance: http://www.scrapmap.com/sm_china_0908.html
Its a mere $1987 per person, plus airfare ($1345.00). For that, you get two morning classes with Heidi, including a free kit! The rest of the time is spent touring around Beijing. Frankly, that's a lot of time to be spending in one place. Plus, most days, only two meals are included.

That's a lot of money. We're thinking about going to China and that's close to how much we'd spend on the whole tour, not just one city.

Another thought

Maybe my recent negatives thoughts are from all the toxins I'm releasing from doing yoga. I don't know if toxins are really released when you do yoga (or get a massage), but the instructors always tell us to drink lots of water before, during, and after yoga to rehydrate and also to flush out the toxins. Drinking lots of water is always a good thing (except that I have to keep running to the bathroom).

The stock market is headed in the wrong direction

It looks like our big account is down about 2% overall, which isn't too bad, but does that mean I have too much $ conseratively invested? Some of our mutual funds are down 10% (ouch!) to give you an idea. The huge downturn was a topic of discussion with some of my officemates. The worrywarts were running around like Chicken Little. Plus, I think they were using the downturn as an excuse to probe about others' finances. I wasn't fooled! I think my attitude of I'm not moving my money around, I'm in it for the long haul, and hopefully, dollar-cost averaging and long-term growth will pay off when I retire surprised them.

I don't know enough about investing to move my money around all the time. Some people check their retirement accounts daily. Seems like that would be a stressor, not something that reassures you. Although, I do check our outside investments often--several times a month. Gotta keep tabs on the cash flow and move money out of savings when big bills are coming in. Long-term investments? I just hope the numbers keep creeping up (which they're not doing at the moment).

Of course, I wish I had some spare change to purchase some mututal funds that were at the lowest in over a year. But wishing doesn't get you too far.

I hope this phase doesn't last long

At the moment, I'm feeling like a fat, middle-aged woman. I look at myself in yoga class, all hot and sweaty, not a pretty sight. I've been eating better for a couple weeks now (not that I ate bad before, and yes, there were a couple of slipups, but not many), drinking lots of water, and I've started exercising. I should be feeling better about myself. But I'm not.

Yes, I'm impatient and expect a small weight loss after a week of exercising. Don't tell me that a pound of muscle weighs less than a pound of fat. Come on, a pound is a pound is a pound (not like tons where you can have a short ton, long ton, or metric ton). Maybe muscle is denser than fat so if I've developing muscles, I'll look thinner. But that's not happening in a week. I'm still my same flabby self, maybe just a little more limber.

I still break out occasionally, but have to deal with dry skin. I've got age spots, wrinkles, thinning hair. Asian women are supposed to look younger than their age. Somehow, my age seems to have caught up with me.

Another DT disappointment

I applied for another scrapbook design team on a whim and not surprisingly, didn't make it. It would have been for an awesome manufacturer; they make the coolest embellishments. Nice paper too.

I didn't really expect to be selected. I'm not cutting edge enough or funky enough or something. I'm just too simple of a scrapper. But still, I had a secret hope.

Day 3

of yoga. Oh my gosh, there were over forty people in class today. There were several newbies (lots of people with gift certificates) so it looks like the crowds will continue to grow. Someone asked the instructor how large the largest class was and it was over fifty people. Wow!

I'm definitely going to have to think about doing this long term. It is quite a time commitment. Here's how it breaks down:

10 minutes changing and getting stuff together
10 minutes drive to class
10 minutes sign into class, pick spot in room (important now that the classes keep getting larger)
90 minutes class
10 minutes drive home
20 minutes shower and changing

That's two and half hours each class. I originally considered Curves; the 30 minute workout appealed to me. But I couldn't find any place close enough that opened early or late enough. They definitely aren't geared towards working women. Still, I'm going to keep them in mind for the future.

Day 2

of yoga. Yesterday, I went to my first hot yoga class, 90 minutes of yoga in heated room. It's pretty intense, the yoga more than the heat. I got a 20-day introductory pass and so far I like it. Unfortunately, I'm not the only one who's signed up for this special deal so the classes are pretty crowded. I went yesterday at 6:00 am(!) and even then there were 16 people. That's one of the smaller classes.

The good thing about yoga, at least with the two different instructors I've had so far, is that this exercise is both mental and physical. There isn't any push to "feel the burn," rather you are supposed to listen to your body, move with your body--not against it.

Maybe it is asking too much, but I'd really like to see some difference after 20 days whether it is better endurance through the poses or even better, a little more muscle tone. I'm not sure how long it takes to build muscle tone, but I sure feel sore.

It's bloggie time!

Nominate your favorite blog at bloggies.com. No I'm not asking for votes, lol. Just thought you might find this fun. I did think it was interesting that there are very few repeat nominees. And I guess I shouldn't be surprised that several blogs have been discontinued. That's the nature of the internet. Which reminds me. I need to update my blogging list on the side since some people don't update their blogs anymore.

How many e-mail addresses do you have?

I have five: one for work, one personal that I check almost daily, one personal that I check every couple days, one I hardly check at all, but I keep because I need it to send large files and to maintain my google account, and one joint account with A. I also have a couple of inactive freebie accounts that I could probably reactive if I wanted. The two personal were to separate my fun life (scrapbooking) from my serious life (professional orgs, family). But I'm migrating more and more people to my fun e-mail since I check that one more often. Does that mean I'm having more fun in life? I hope so! lol! But I really think it means that I'm trying to simplify my life.

Can I blame Hotmail?

I sent a friend an e-mail and it turns out it wasn't her e-mail, but rather a friend that she hardly sees anymore. I had attached her name to the wrong e-mail. I know that when I selected her name, I felt some confusion. Several months ago, Hotmail updated their UI (User Interface, what you see on screen/how you navigate) and I hated it. It put almost all my e-mail contacts in my shortcut list, so I was searching the 50+ list for her name. I found one I thought was hers and used it. Obviously that was a mistake! How embarrassing for me! And maybe for my friend since the e-mail involved money. Big opps! At least she laughed about it.

Time for a change

In case you didn't notice, I'm trying out a new name. Let's see how long this one lasts, lol.

Back to work

After a glorious week and a half of vacation, it was back to the old grind today. Truthfully, it wasn't too bad. About 1/3 of the department is taking the rest of the week off, plus our parent company is on vacation so no e-mails from them. The drive in was easy, but there was an accident on the way home so it was stop-and-stop traffic. No fun at all. Monday will probably not be a fun day. Good thing I've got the weekend to recover from this week, lol.

Blog name

I'm considering changing my blog name, but I can't think of anything clever. Maybe I should change it to something boring like "scrapper al's life and more." I'm tired of the current name and the mini-tribute to the Junkitz company doesn't really matter anymore since they've declared bankruptcy. Rumor has it, they weren't financially responsible. I don't know the truth. But I still want to change my blog title. Suggestions are welcome.

Happy New Year!

Wishing you and yours a fun-filled, prosperous, loving, and all-around fantastic 2008!

Dueling mice

A few months ago, our computer mouse was acting up. (What is it about electronics that don't last??!?) After a few test drives, A picked out a pretty expensive new model, but what the heck, ergonomics are important, right? The problem is, our hands are different sizes so the new mouse hurt my hand. A managed to fix the old mouse; thank goodness we can use both wireless mice at the same time. Now you can tell who's been at the computer last, based on which mouse is sitting next to the keyboard.