Why quarterly shopping?

Below is a blurb that I posted elsewhere about why we do it. I'll add more details tomorrow - I've worked hard today, and I'm beat! (Because I'm also busy putting together the finished plans for the kids' visit.)

I started doing this because I honestly have a strong dislike of shopping. Now I hit all of the stores (Sam's Club, Kroger, Target, health food store) once every three months, and may not be inside them again till next quarter. We get almost all of our fruits and veggies and sometimes milk and eggs at the farmer's market - which is a pleasurable outing - so really, I rarely even hit the grocery store during the quarter. It definitely saves me time. It takes a HUGE majority of the Saturday that I do it, but then it is DONE. And honestly, I've done it twice now, and the second time was quicker and more efficient that the first, so I expect to see that result again. Going to the Farmer's Market is, as I said, a pleasurable outing, and usually gets folded into date time, so I don't even count it. The rare trips to the grocery take, seriously, 20 minutes - and that includes our drive time!

My hope with starting it was that it would also be a money saver too. Honestly? It's hard to tell. I'm not saving money... compared to last year. Which is what I had hoped to do. But *everyone* I talk to says that the costs of groceries is just soaring, and I see that in my own comparisons too. I still have all the spreadsheets from the groceries that I bought last year and there really is a huge difference in many things. Am I saving money over what I *would* have been spending this year doing it the old way? I dunno, it is a tough comparison for me to make. But I know, for example, the bigger amount of bulk goods I buy at my health food store, the bigger the discount I get. So I think I am probably saving money there.

Also, I do quite a bit of shopping - all of our 7th Generation things, among others - online. That saves time, and it saves money b/c I buy huge quantities. But it would be harder to put in that much upfront on a regular monthly or weekly budget. I have all these things set up on a rotating buying schedule, so I never get hit with, for example, laundry and dishwasher detergent at the same time.

More to come!!

I feel so decadent...

Normally posts about food would go on the other blog, but considering I talk about how *healthy* we are over there, I would be far to embarrassed to write this post over there.

Amanda's party is over... I would call it a mixed success. It was certainly interesting. We let her buy lots of party foods on Friday in preparation. We gave her a budget, but what she spent it on was entirely up to her. She bought lots of really horrible junk food. And (fortunately? unfortunately?) there is quite a bit remaining. And Kim and I are both totally PMSing. You can see where this is going, right?

We have totally binged on JUNK today. Crackers, cheese ball, cream puffs, chips... and way too much of all of them. None of it is homemade. It is all packaged junk. Nothing natural, organic, or whole grain in the bunch. I think we're finally winding down a bit... I say that as we're each polishing off a large cup of coca-cola in all its awful, delicious glory... and we're even drinking it out of plastic cups. (My anti-plastic post is coming soon.)

I should feel awful horrible about what we are consuming today. But we all need days like this, right? And we did have green smoothies for breakfast, so the day hasn't been a total waste... ;)

Rescuing Courtney

So we're laying in bed, and are just about to turn the lights out for the evening, when:

Court: EEEEEEEEEK! *total girly-squeal* (While trying to scramble frantically under the covers.)

Kim: What!?? What's wrong??

Court: A fluttery, flying... thing! Ick! Ewww! Get rid of it! Eeeeeek! Please deal with it!!

Kim: Ok, ok. It's fine. I'll handle it.

Court: Thanks baby. Oh, ewWWW! There it is!

Kim: I see it... there! Got it.

Court: *whew* Good! Get rid of it!! Please!!

Kim: *whack!* *whack!* *whack!* There! It's gone. You can relax. *insert super-hero voice* I took care of it.

Court: Honey! Did you KILL it?? *insert completely horrified voice*

Kim: Well... yeah. You *wanted* me to get rid of it.

Court: I didn't want you to KILL it though. :( Poor lil' thing.

Kim: Man, I just can't win.

Court: Well, thanks for rescuing me. But next time don't kill it, ok? Unless it is really icky, or something.

Kim: LOL! Sure dear, I'll remember that for next time. Only kill the really icky ones. And you screeching EEEEEEEEEEEK! at the top of our lungs is not indicative of ickiness, right?

Court: Exactly!

Sleeping Double in a Double a Bed

You may remember from last year that we were shopping for a new bed to correspond with our move. After much discussion, - all in blogland, of course, after all, we wouldn't think of making any major decisions without consulting our bloggy friends - we settled on a double bed. Seeing it in our room now, it is obvious we made the right decision - there is NO way anything larger would have fit. We are really, REALLY enjoying it. It is so comfy, and very snuggly. It makes being cuddly so easy, because we're always right next to each other. It has been a great bed.

Fast forward to last night. We're staying at a very swank inn, compliments of the consultants. We've stayed here before actually, and really enjoy it. But the bed. is. SO. freakin'. HUGE.! A very plush, very soft cloud, very BIG, california king. I hated it. Isn't that an awful thing to say? It is a very nice bed. Beautiful. Soft. Like falling into a cloud. But I kept losing my wife last night. We both slept right in the middle - you could have put another person on each side of us - but it just wasn't the same. There was too much space.

I've very much enjoyed this little day-and-a-half chance to slip away from real life for a bit. But I will be SO happy to be sleeping in OUR bed tonight.

(Besides, it is much harder to use the whole mat, when the mat is so big.)

A to Z, it's all about me!

Swiped from Sassy, though I've seen it several places...

A is for your age:
26... I'm getting so old.

B is for your burger of choice:
Fresh from the grill. Well done. ketchup and mustard. Stuffed with bleu cheese. Mmmmm.

C is for the car that you drive:
Ford Focus, for now.

D is for dog's name:
I don't have a dog. And I can't even think of a dog's name, cause I don't really like dogs.

E is for an essential item you use each day:
Hmmm. Socks.

F is for your favorite television show:
Still Standing

G is for favorite game:
Board - Monopoly, Computer - The Sims, IRL - tennis to play, football to watch

H is for hometown:
Maumelle, AR

I is for instruments played:
HAHAHAHAHA. Ahem. HAHAHAHA

J is for favorite juice:
I have to be careful with juice, b/c I'm sensitive to the acid. But I LOVE good ole, store bought, totally unhealthy, apple juice. I rarely indulge. I love fresh squeezed orange juice. I also love pure pineapple juice.

K is for what you'd like to kick:
The water. I haven't been swimming in a few days... I'm missing it.

L is for last restaurant you dined at:
*ducking in total embarrassment* Applebee's. Hey, you can get drunk really cheaply there!

M is for your favorite Muppet:
Oscar. I can relate to him. ;)

N is for number of piercings you have:
Two, now - one in each ear. At my highest... 18 - nine in one ear, eight in the other, one belly button. I outgrew it. I want my nose pierced now, though.

O is for overnight hospital stays:
Ummm, none. Except when I was born. :P

P is for people you were with today:
Kim. And Amanda, though I'm not sure that counts... she hasn't left her room today, so I haven't actually seen her.

Q is for what you do in quiet times:
These days... sitting naked in the sun, listening to my Zen. Reading. Surfing the web.

R is for regrets:
None.

S is for status:
Madly in love. Happily married.

T is for time you woke up today:
7:15. By 7:30 I was mowing the yard. I rock.

U is for what you consider unique:
I have no clue. May have to come back to this one.

V is for favorite vegetable:
I LOVE vegetables. Green beans in maybe my favorite. But I love lots of them!

W is for your worst habit:
Having unreasonably high expectations.

X is for x-rays you have had:
Several for my knee, before and after the operation. A few on my girly innards to diagnose the PCOS.

Y is for yummy food you ate today:
Italian Chicken Pasta

Z is for zodiac sign:
Libra.

Summer Vacation

The kids are coming for a visit this summer. I am positively dying of excitement! They will be here for about 3 weeks. There is so much we would love to do with them, but gosh, things are so expensive! Especially when you realize that everything we do will be times six. And gas prices... goodness gracious! So in an attempt to fit in as much as we can, and make sure they are things the kids most want to do, we have sent them each a survey. Spencer called me today to let me know that they got them. They are as excited by them as I thought they would be. Check out this snapshot to see part of the survey.

Spencer says he'll mark everything with a one. Except roller skating! I wouldn't put it past him. lol I'm eager to get their surveys back so I can finish planning. We also asked them for a birthday list and thoughts on what they want to do for their birthday party this year. Since I have moved away, we have a group birthday party for the three of them, they get their presents then, and we just do it whenever we end up having our visit. It works out well with each of them having summerish birthdays - July, August, and September. I try to make sure our visit does not actually coincide with anyone's birthday, b/c I don't want the others feeling left out. So far we have succeeded, though with the tight timeline, we are often just a day or two off from a birthday. I'm sure we are going to have a GREAT visit! I am so thrilled they are coming here.