This morning I realized that we still haven’t replaced the light in the den/former master bedroom. I had completely forgotten about it. Drew brought in a torchiere lamp that we’ve been using (overheads can be too bright for my liking). So again, I thought I’d just see what’s out there in terms of lighting fixtures. I had read or seen an ad for kichler lighting in one of my husband’s home improvement magazines and the traditional ceiling fixture is quite attractive and a decent price. So that’s an option. I really need to fix it this weekend.
Month: September 2007
Why poor management can pay off
I can’t believe I forgot to write about this! So, last Sunday we were spending some time at the lovely Hudson Valley Mall, and for whatever reason we wandered into Sears. We don’t usually browse the store with the boys unless we have a reason, and for the life of me, if there was a reason I don’t remember what it was. At any rate, we found ourselves checking out the exercise bikes and decided that we really liked a certain recumbant model. We’d been throwing around the idea of buying one, and the tag on this particular model showed $50 off, so on a spur of the moment decision, we said “Hey – let’s just get it.” Of course, Sears is not known for particularly helpful sales staff… at least not these days. We finally flagged someone down and he went to check the stock. It took him forevah to return. We looked at the treadmills, the home gyms, the poker tables, the foosball tables, and everything in between. He finally returned and said they had one left, but the sale had ended the day before. But because I am such a badass (ha!) I ended up getting the sale price because of their failure to take down the sign with the sale price. So I saved us $50.
Then we decided that I should sign up for a Sears card to get the extra $15 off. That was another hassle in and of itself because they originally rang it at the wrong price, and somehow the system showed that I had bought two bikes when we went to pick them up… oh yes, it was just awesome. At any rate, it took two managers, but we got it fixed. And because I tend to not be one of those bitchy people demanding this and that, and expecting a hard time, the whole thing was actually quite pleasant. I probably wasted about $15 worth of my time trying to fix it all, but… seriously, what else would I be doing on a Sunday afternoon?
At any rate, we both are loving this recumbant bike. I wish we had bought one ages ago. Highly reccomended by this consumer.
Last chance!!! Giving you all one more day!!!
Due to the fact that I have to work tomorrow and won’t be able to do the drawing, I’m extending the contest by one day… so you have tonight and tomorrow to write up your crafting posts, link to me, and be entered to win some scrappy goodies! Read the details here! So far I have entries from: Kim, Lisanne, Jayme, Cady, and Karen. If I missed someone, let me know. Let’s get a few more entries in here! 🙂
Free Pearls!
A while back, one of the lovely ladies over at Mommies Rock posted about a free pearl necklace offer at Overstock.com. I decided to give it a go, and if all I lost was the $2.95 shipping, no big deal. My order went through and I started to wonder if this was for real or not, especially because they seemed to take forever to arrive, but they came yesterday. The offer is still up on their site, if you’re interested! I have bought nicer pearls from Overstock before, but come on — for the price? Totally worth it.
Shower Favors
So today my two big projects are 1) moving my clothes from the closet in our “old” bedroom to the closet in our “new” bedroom and 2) making a dent in the shower favors (pictured here — they’re jar candles that pick up the colors in K’s invitations, and I’m just tying a raffia bow around the lid of each one). I think my plan will be to work on the closet during the day, since that’s easier to do with the boys running around. (I am so super excited to have my own closet! Currently Drew and I share one, but the upstairs bedroom has two large closets, so my stuff won’t be crammed by his anymore! And I’m not even kidding – he takes up way more closet space that me). The shower favors I should be able to do tonight while watching TV. I can’t believe my brother’s wedding is just over a month away! I imagine they’ll be sending out their wedding invitations soon. Aw, it seems like I was just coaching him on diamonds! I am super excited for all the upcoming wedding-related events. They’ll be here before I know it!
Random Blather
Sorry for no lunch box pictures today. Although it was the final half-day for Jake, the children ate lunch at their usual time instead of having just a snack. Although I plan to pack his lunch more often than not, I wanted him to have the experience of going through the lunch line the first time while it was new to everyone. He had a hot dog, chips, corn, and a granola bar for dessert. I also sent in the form for the afterschool programs. He’s taking the Household Science class I wrote about yesterday, and he also wanted to take a one-off – “Sugar Cube Houses,” so that will be fun. (Secretly I’m pushing him toward a career in molecular gastronomy! After all, his two favorite things are anything science-related and anything food-related. It only makes sense.)
Today is the first time I’ve participated in Wine Blogging Wednesday. Naturally, I wrote my post for Celebrate Wine. I wrote about the MontGras Reserva Carmenère 2004, which is a wine I really like, so check it out if you’re curious! I’m a big fan of Chilean wines. They tend to be really good values too, in case you are budget-conscious.
Not much else going on today. Tomorrow Jacob has no school in honor of Rosh Hashanah (happy New Year to anyone who is celebrating!), so maybe we’ll go out and do something. My house is still a disaster. This weekend we absolutely *have* to finish moving furniture around and getting closets squared away. I can’t take the mess any longer!
And last, but certainly not least, if you haven’t already go and wish my good friend Lisanne a very happy birthday today! She’s one of the nicest, most genuine, and good-hearted people I know and I am so lucky to have her as friend. Lots of birthday hugs & kisses to her!
In case my blog just isn’t enough
This morning I made up a new Twitter account. Mostly because quite a few of my fellow wine bloggers have been using it for notes and whatnot, but also because… hey, why not. I had an account last winter when the service was quite new, but later, in a fit of Internet malaise, I deleted it. So, if you’re on Twitter and you’d like to follow me, I thought I’d share that information. In fact, I think I’ll just list all of my little social networking profiles. Because… hey, why not.
On Twitter:
On Facebook
On MySpace
On LinkedIn
On Snooth: You can add CarolB to your friends; couldn’t figure out a direct link
On Cork’d
I need to make better use of Snooth and Cork’d. I have a bad habit of not writing down my wine notes and then regretting it later.
I Wanna Take an Elective!
Dude, I am so jealous of the awesome after-school programs at Jake’s school. We had NOTHING like this. It was sports, cheerleading, or chess. Dorky me did chess for a year or two. Jake is really excited about “Household Science” so I am signing him up for that. Check out some of the stuff they offer: cupcake decorating, basketweaving, a Harry Potter class about the puzzles and stuff in the book (I have no idea because I’m not a fan, but I think it’s cool that they’re offering it), and several art classes. There is also a yoga class but the class is for 2nd – 4th grade, unfortunately. Otherwise Jake would be all over that one as well. He loves doing the yoga poses when we catch them on Sprout in the evening. The classes are taught by older elementary students, a couple teachers, and some parents. Cool stuff!
A Rainy Day Lunchbox
The boy is absolutely starving when he gets home from school, so even though this seems like a lot, I am pretty sure he’ll eat almost all of it. Maybe not the frozen peas, but we’re on a "try new veggies" kick. My friend Kelly *loves* eating frozen peas, so I thought that maybe Jake would find that novel, especially since we’re going to see her this weekend. Everything else should be a go: leftover mac & cheese, mandarin oranges, apples, strawberries, cucumbers, and an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Easy to throw this one together, PLUS I got to use my wavy cutter.
Kindergarten Lunch #1
While Jake isn’t doing full-days until later this week, I thought I’d have his lunch ready for him in his lunchbox when he gets home from school for the next couple of days. This gives him practice opening the box, and I’ll make sure I don’t pack too much or too little. (Of course he has a lot more time at home than he’ll have at school, so there still might be tweaking.) At any rate, here we have low-fat pizza bites (chicken & pepperoni), baby carrots & baby spinach with Ranch dip), apples with a marachino cherry face, and for dessert, a few animal crackers sprinkled with a bit of candy corn.