I HATE Shopping!

The back to school shopping was finished this week when I finally got both the kids in one place on the same day & took them shoe shopping. I really dread this time of year...I hate shopping. I know that some will think that there's something genetically wrong with me, but I've never enjoyed it.

First you've gotta cruz the ads & find coupons and specials. This is time consuming, but can really be worth it. I got 80% of Doug's back to school clothes in one store and with the sales, in store coupons, and coupon that I got at home, only paid $60. Riley got two pairs of shoes for $16.49. My best was actually shoes for me:I got a pair of $52 Nikes for $21.60...this was after three coupons, one for 20% off any shoe purchase, a $10 off in store coupon for Nikes, and a $10 off any purchase over $50. Bragging aside, I still don't enjoy shopping.

Christmas would pose a special problem, but I figured out YEARS ago how to avoid that...I start Christmas shopping about May, and I make a lot of the Christmas presents we give. This means minimal shopping in the crowds during the holiday season.

Shopping with my husband can be a learning experience also. I have a list when I go shopping, I get the stuff on the list & get out. Gregg must go down every isle & look at every item. Sometimes interesting things are found doing this, but I still haven't changed my shopping style.

Doug is a lot like me about shopping, get in, get what you want, get out. You would think this would make shopping with Doug nice...it's not. For some reason he's a pain to shop with...mostly I think it's a 17 year old boy thing.

Riley is a lot like her dad when it comes to shopping...plus she loves shopping, has a total disregard for sales & coupons, and wants one, possibly two of everything. Shopping with Riley is a special type of hell, and will leave you broke upon leaving the store.

New Day/New Dogs

This is my buddy Bear...he's a Rott/Shepard mix about 18mos old. He's a little on the shy side, but once he decides he likes you, he's your best friend.

His bestest friend, Cissy, went to OHS today w/16 other dogs. Bear didn't qualify because of his breed mix. So here he is playing in the creek w/his new friend a female dog that came in as a stray recently.

Here she is with Riley. She's a sweet girl & hopefully her owners will come looking for her soon.

Told you Bear was my buddy...here he is giving me some loves.

This goofy girl is Josie. She's a total sweetheart & pretty much gets along with everyone.

This cute brindle puppy wouldn't hold still & wanted to play with Riley rather than pose for the camera.

This sweet little Border Collie is Suzie & I'm hoping my niece will adopt her as her therapy dog.

Introducing Charlie...I'm really behind so sorry for the multiple blogs

So this sweet boy was a stray brought into the shelter last week. He didn't have a name, but he's a good man, so I named him Charlie. He's got excellent manners & Riley can walk him with no problems...but I saw him first.

Look at that sweet face. I hope that someone comes for him soon.

The Kids Are Back in Town

So, my niece, Nicole, and her family are back in town for the week. L-R:Lakin-niece, Treasure-Rose-great niece, and Nicole-niece. Nicole & Lakin are sisters. T-Rose is Nicole's daughter.

Nicole & David got married just a couple of weeks ago, so at the family BBQ there was an impromptu wedding reception also. L-R:Great nephew Skylar, David, and Nicole.

My great-nephew Skylar is a ham-bone. We were playing peek-a-boo & I got him. He almost fell over he was laughing so hard.

Here's Lakin and her nephew Skylar...you would also know Skylar by the nickname I have for him which is Booger.

Here's Booger & T-Rose playing together.

Here's Booger with his Grandma Kym blowing bubbles.

And here he is playing soccer & making faces for me.

T-Rose and Riley...Riley adores her little cousins.

T-Rose and Great Uncle Gregg...T-Rose found him hilarious for some reason & Gregg wasn't even doing anything.

And then when she conked out, I stole her...I love sleepy babies, it's one thing I really miss w/my kids being as old as they are now.

I wish Nicole & her family lived closer, I really miss them, even though we text & email several times a week...sometimes a day. I understand why they can't be here, I just wish circumstances were different.

And now for your moment of Zen

This was last night's sunset as seen from our street. Sometimes nature is just so awesome...in the literal sense.

This could be a scene from my house...either kid

National Night Out at Ferry Road Park

This event is hosted by public safety, mostly police & fire, but the Coast Guard did a fly by. We have fun stuff for the kids, a magician, live band, jump for fun, some other similar type inflatable equipment, free hot dogs, free ice cream...and face painting. My boss (thank you Tia) signed me up to do face painting. She thought that since I do crafty stuff that meant I could draw/paint. She is wrong, but what the heck I'm game for most stuff, or so I thought. I probably painted about 100 kids' faces in the 2.5 hrs I was there. Mostly it was butterflies, kitty faces, lady bugs, suns, moons & stars...I did one set of cherries that didn't turn out awful-on Riley, did one clown face, did a couple of kids that I'm not sure what they were aiming for, but they looked silly when they were finished, one flower, a couple of tiger faces, several dogs, had a request for a unicorn, but felt that was well beyond my capabilities. I even did one babies face-at the parent's request and a couple of adults...whatever.

Clean up was the fun part. Getting the garbage up was easy...collapsing & folding up the jump for fun was another story. How many cops & dispatchers does it take to do this you may ask? Well, I don't know for sure. We had three dispatchers, 5 cops, 1 records personnel, and a couple of at large citizens helping & I'm pretty sure we didn't get done right...but we did get it loaded onto the trailer in a bundle of sorts.

The worst part was I had to park very far away from the park proper over by the frisbee golf course. I cut through the woods on my way to the park, but since it was getting dark when I was leaving I decided to stick to the lighted streets. I couldn't find my car! I called Gregg whining that I'd be home as soon as I found my car & he said he knew where it was & would come get me & take me to it. No way in heck was I going to do that. I told him I'd find the damn thing or walk home...as I was walking home 10 minutes later, I hit the alarm on my key fob...fortunately the thing has good range & I was able to determine the direction of my car from the couple of beeps I allowed it & find it. Next time, I will just keep driving until I can find something closer.