Final Score’s Neighborhood

sitting pretty

ELMO:  You know you look ridiculous right?

TILLS:  Begging your pardon Elmo?

ELMO:  I said you look ridic---- SMACK!  KAPOW!

beat down

take that!

TILLS:  What NOW Elmo!  What NOW !   That's right you red furry monster.  You stay down!  They don't call me Mighty Girl for nothing.............Huh?.......

it wasn't me!

 DOH!  Er, Hi Mom.... Think cute and innocent thoughts think cute and innocent thoughts.....................

hey, how did elmo get down there?

MOM:  Oh Tillie, did Elmo fall down?  Here let Mommy help.

TILLS:  Hehehehehehehhheee....hook, line, and sinker.......

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On a side note:  Are you guys as anxious as I am for this hair to really come in?  Then we can graduate to barrettes and big girl bows!  What a stunner--Haha!  Get it?  Pun intended.   

love that head of hair

We are trying to be optimistic and move forward on the Ponderosa Home hoping that the liens will just go away after the 30 days. If it is truly that easy I will be so shocked! Anyway, a closing date of November 25 has been selected (it just so happens to be our deadline date for the house anyway). It is good and bad. Good in that it seems like progress. It is bad in that we are all just being hopeful and if the liens do not go away we will be even more disappointed, if that is even remotely possible.

Michael, our real estate agent, called this morning with the above news. He also reported that Mr. Fuller (who is the home builder and real estate agent for the seller) was complaining about us going on TV and how it made matters worse. For who - him? I care as much for him and his situation as he does ours! Mr. Fuller also continued by badmouthing the seller of the house, which I find highly inappropriate and unprofessional, especially after all that homeowner has put up with. As it turns out, the homeowner's divorce was just starting about the time they were to close on the home. The seller wanted out of the home and told the builder he would just forego his downpayment and not close on the home. The builder, Mr. Fuller, then gave the seller this big sob story on how the seller was going to bankrupt him, effect many of his subcontractors who would not be paid if they did not close, etc. The homeowner was mistakenly guilted into closing on the home, then putting it up for sale. Imagine his surprise when the homeowner had to sell the home below what he paid for it (just like buying a new car - you buy a new house you pay extra for it being new) and pay Mr. Fuller commission too! Anyway, with all of this said, for Fuller to give the homeowner any kind of bad feedback is highly inappropriate!

So, as of now, we have a close date of November 25. If we do close on the home, we will have a home on Thanksgiving and move in over that weekend. If we do not close on the 25, we will be looking and possibly bidding on another home shortly after the 25th. Yes, that means we would have to move all of our things out of the garage AGAIN!

Let's pray it all works out in the end. And, let's also pray there will be an end.

Chris and have been actively looking for our back up home over the last few weeks. We now think we have it narrowed down to 3 homes. There is a ranch we really like in Shadow Lake. Chris and I are not ranch people, however. Maybe it is just that ranches are not typically made for a family with 3 kids! This home is a minimalist home in that the kitchen is smaller than some we have seen, there is only a dining room and not an eat in kitchen (so we would have an extra table). On the other hand, it is very modern and has the style that Chris and I just love! The problem? We would have to sell a kidney and a lung to purchase it if we do not want to pull money out of savings (which we do not want to do). However, we would have to do minimal work inside with the exception of shutters on the windows. We also have 2 2 story homes that we are looking at as back ups.

Our plan: We are giving the other home until the 25th of November to clear the liens. If they can not provide us with a clear title - then we will be seriously considering bidding and moving forward on another property. We would drop that house in a heartbeat if the ranch was more within our price range. We like it that much. But, it is not. Also, the gray house we originally offered on is a contender as well. Yesterday when we were looking at it 2 deer ran through the forest behind the home! I asked Michael, our real estate agent, if he threw that out there for a selling point! It was like a sign or something.

So, we will stay put with our plasticwear, paper plates and the leatherman for cutting bread until the end of the month!

happy to help fix the problem

Marianne took the boys to Henry's Ark today so Miss Tills and I hung around the house laundering clothing, lightly cleaning, and double teaming the blocked milk duct in my right you know what. 

For all you male readers (do I have any?) from my conversation with Mitchell, a clogged duct feels somewhat the female equivalent of your getting kicked in the junk.  You may now slowly back away from your computer, huddle in the corner, and cry for me. 

where'd my buffet go?

Because this is the third time in the last two, almost three months it's happened.  What the?  Luckily each of the three times the blockage has only lasted for a day--chills, body aches, the whole bit.  I can't chalk it up to a bad latch.  She's on there good and snug--so I'm not sure what's going on.  Unfortunately for me--though fortunately for Matilda--it was play through the pain until the issue resolved itself.  Tills enjoyed bellying up to her all day all she could eat buffet!   

Regardless, I love being close to my Tills.  And it's always pleasurable to see Leo get his animal fix.  Mom, I scared the ostriches away!  They were gonna bite Gus!  Thanks again Marianne for taking them.

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I'm due for a post about Gus.  Haven't been able to take any good pics of him this week as he's sporting a black eye and scratched forehead and cheek.  Black eye courtesy of the wobbly bridge at Joe Creason Park.  Scratches, the byproduct of a brotherly squabble.  T-R-A-I-N  W-R-E-C-K.  God, I love that kid.           

concentration

It appears Leo might be a lefty like me.  Every time he grabs a writing utensil within Mitchell's view it's always Good.  Keep using that left hand.  Then to me.  It's gonna give him an edge....in sports.

Huh?  Really?  I'm not sure I follow that logic.  Left handed means more athletic?  Wah?  I mean, I am pretty coordinated and I played softball all the way up through high school. but again, whatchutalkinboutmitchell?   

And, husband of mine, are you headed down the path to becoming that annoying, yelling dad on the sidelines?  Nah, I know you better.  Had to throw it out there though.     

I think it's all fine and dandy for Leo to be left handed.  What bothers me is the way he blacks out everyone's face when he's "coloring".  Creeeeppppy.  Can't you just picture the scene above in some horror flick like The Ring?  You know what I'm saying? 

WHY.  Why, do they always have to make mundane innocent kiddie activities like doodling give you the chills?

It's like winding a music box and listening to it play.  Think about it.  That's as disturbing and ominous as, say, a crow landing on your windowsill. 

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Anyways.....good at sports, not good at sports, left handed, right handed.  It's all que sera sera to me.  I just don't know if Leo's current look screams FUTURE JOCK.  Shame on me for judging a book by it's cover, right?

captain of the....chess team?!?

painting mimi's fence

What was your favorite class in high school? (And no, lunch doesn't count.) 

French.  Was my favorite college class too.

Would love to take more classes - or better yet, spend a year in Paris so I could be immersed in the language.  I love the way it sounds.

What a day.

I discussed Saturday with the boss man and it was decided I did not have to be at work for all 12 hours. Setting them up and getting them going was enough. This means I'll be out by 10am or so. Awesome news since I get to see my new nephew this weekend. I want as much time with him as possible...which means I have to fight off this cold.

That's right. I'm achey, sneezy, throat scratchy, and all around feeling crappy. No surprises since my mother-in-law has had it for weeks and so has many others at work. I can't afford being sick during finals week, work being so busy, and did I mention my new nephew is in town???? AHH!

Today work was insane. It started off with an email about a production run we messed up that had made it to the DC and even to customers. Nothing bad with the product, just short. So after investigating that mess I had a million other things to do. I felt behind all day long. I'm running around like crazy being the only supervisor this week. Builds character right?

Sure.

Dinner11112009

Matt and I were wracking our brains tonight for dinner. We had some leftover steak pieces. We had egg noodles. We had beef broth.  So close to a classic Beef Stroganoff recipe but missing a few key ingredients (like ack, mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup and sour cream).  So what do you do when that happens?  Wing it, baby.....

I made a roux by melting 1/2 stick of butter in a small saucepan and slowly whisking in 3 to 4T of flour to create a smooth thickening agent.  I then added a few pats of cream cheese and stirred until melted. 

Then I heated up the canned beef broth in another saucepan and added some splashes of red wine. After slowly whisking in the roux, I added some spices like pepper and garlic.  Then I stirred until slightly thickened. 

Finally, I added already grilled steak pieces that had been cut very small and thin--and just poured it all over the buttered egg noodles. We served buttered biscuits, lettuce with Italian dressing and warm tomato slices with butter and parm that had been top boiled--all on the side.  Not bad, not bad.

Coupon11112009

Today marks 2 months since I began my obsessive couponing which I have shared in length here on this site.  Today will also be my last coupon post on this blog as I have begun a coupon specific site elsewhere. If you are still interested in reading about my deals, please leave me a comment or message me for the link.

Now the question is..has it been worth my time?  Has it been worth stopping at multiple stores?  Well, given that I am now practically matching sales and coupons in my sleep and the stores I frequent are no more than 2 miles from my home, I have to say "yes" before even crunching numbers. After crunching the numbers, I have to say "hell yes!" 

Before sales and coupons, my total for the 2 months worth of items I have shown here on this site would have been $727.47. After just in store sales, $527.80.  After using coupons?  $176.19, baby! That is a savings of $551.28 in just 2 months!  I am absolutely blown away by this.  Now, with that said, of course I would never have spent the local store's full prices for the items I bought--they are insanely inflated. I would have bought my items at Target or Walmart where things generally run from a few cents to $1 or $2 cheaper depending.  I have noticed as I learn the prices of my common purchases, however, that the discount stores are not beating the sale prices at our local stores by very much anymore.  And they can't come close to competing on a sale and super double or triples week.  The main lesson and key here? Know your prices at all the places you shop. 

I actually didn't blog about a few deals I managed--on a few things like DVD rebates and Halloween candy. By not including those in my totals, I probably came pretty close to adjusting the final totals accurately to what they would have been had I shopped exclusively at discount food stores.

My last picture posted here shows what I managed today--$83.34 for $15.04.  It includes 6 free boxes of tissues, 100% bottles of Ocean Spray for 88 cents, 6 packs of free popcorn, and 19 cent boxes of Cheez its to name a few. All by just clipping coupons brought to my home and matching them with the deals for this week.  I will continue my obsession/hobby/habit but I will now resume to writing strictly about my personal life on this site.

My birthday is at the end of the month and I have come to the critical realization that my birthday is in fact an omen that hell will rule my world until it passes. Evidence? You want evidence? Mmmmkay.