Here is a "this and that" post since I have not found the time to post in so long. A little bit of everything from the past couple of weeks.

**Snowflake doings:

--We earned a 50-cent per gallon gas coupon - one thing our grocery store has been doing is doubling coupons frequently since changing reward structure. So though we *always* have 25-cent coupons, the 50-cent coupons are twice as awesome! I will save $8 next time I fill up the van.

--Dh is being considered for a $250 grocery focus group. !! In fact, someone called and left him a message for a $100 focus group yesterday. Will see, as it has been a while since we qualified for anything.

--I picked up a salad at Togo's Monday (LOVE their Asian dressing) and they offered me two packages of salad dressing. OMG - I will totally ask from now on. The one package is more than I ever need and usually take the remainder home to use on home-made salads. Now I have a ton of salad dressing for the rest of the week. (I had been going for their Monday sandwich specials, but I do love their salad so much have switched to the salad - occasionally - not every week. This week I managed two meals and a giant salad for BM. I think they gave me more than usual).

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**LM was invited to a birthday party a while back and apparently the mother had made full viking gear out of...

Duck Tape. !!

When I first saw the outfit I thought it was genius (belt, hat, sword). Anyway, I keep forgetting to share. The gear has held up for a couple of months. I can not say the same for our foam minecraft sword. It snapped in half. (& yes, all it needs is a little duck tape!).

It was extra refreshing after how most birthday parties tend to go around here.

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**Credit cards closed - no $50 reward this month with the old American Express. Was bound to happen one of these days - surprised it took this long. One reason I haven't been posty is I haven't been spending any money or doing much money-wise. It showed in my reward.

(We could not put the vet bills on the AmEx, so will only get 1% back on those).

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**I had a bath rug fall apart in the washing machine. I think that is a first. IT was a mess, but we got it cleaned up. So, I went through and some of the rugs were looking kind of sad. So I tossed them all and replenished a bit.

I spent $100, but just counting it towards grocery budget since it was a short month. IT was a nice month to do that kind of update. (I might have waited a while, otherwise).

I'd say we finished furnishing our home 100% in the past year or two. Our approach has always been very slow, one thing at a time. Which is a must to stay out of debt. We never intended to furnish this entire "forever home" the day we moved in. SO, with all the furnishing complete, this update reminds me there ALWAYS seems to be something. A lot of our old rugs were hand-me-downs. We do seem to be in the "update old to new" stage. That said, I have absolutely nothing else in my own horizon to update. But life may have other plans.

Oh, and the cute trash can I had in the kid's bathroom (had some liquid in the clear base, with some little flowers and flogs floating in it) - well that broke and was leaking everywhere. I guess I am lucky I noticed - kind of a slow leak. So, I cleaned that up and hunted around the house and found a tiny white trash can in dh's office. I moved another medium trash can into dh's office (we had used for disposable diapers and wipes, ages ago - it's fairly small because we mostly used clothe diapers, but was WAY too big for the kids' tiny bathroom). I had to scrub down the white one because it was disgusting. I initially thought I would have to repurpose a recycle bin, as I have a couple of tiny ones around the house. So I am happy I found another alternative.

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**I am so excited for the "music room" transformation of dh's office. Why? Because dh is going through his CRAP.

I was in major major nesting mode when pregnant and I also had to clear out my office to make room for one of the kids. So I have been through most my crap and in "less is more major declutter mode" in the years since. I honestly don't think I have that much stuff lying around the house.

Dh on the other hand? He's not bad, though he tends to have some hoarder tendencies. I think he inherited them on a very small scale. & in fact, to keep himself in line, he is pretty good about keeping most common areas of the house pretty bare. (HE doesn't like to store anything in the garage or closets - he is always driving me nuts - I figure there is plenty of room).

So, between the two of us, I think we could lead a pretty spartan existence.

BUT he loves his blu rays and his games and his computers so there is a fair amount of crap stored in his offices (he kind of has two). {I just have a desk and a couple of file cabinets in a nook in the hallway - which is huge and all I need}. Some of it is fair enough. HE will always have a lot more belongings than I will. I would never keep huge piles of "stuff" like the games and movies. But, that's his thing and it isn't hurting anyone. Lord knows we have the room.

BUT he also has boxes filled with crap that is sentimental or he forgot about or whatever. So... He is going through these boxes. He told me he was going to toss some old computer games and VHS tapes. HAllelujah!! He has taken a bunch of computers and parts to be e-waste recycled. Maybe it will be helpful to no longer feel like he has an entire room for storage.

HE does want to buy a TV stand for the old TV (We are keeping it as a backup, since it seems to be working okay now). Which I think is a fine reward for all this purging (I'll buy with overtime funds). Which probably means we can recycle the little TV/VCR combo he was using in there - where he keeps all his OLD game systems. So it will be kind of a game and music room. Probably a good idea for the long run. We have never had a "play room" for the kids, but might be nice to have a gaming system out of the main living room for the kids to hang out with their friends. The 50-inch TV is a bit much, but is all we have. The 10-inch screen wasn't very useful either. We have our old 30-inch at the family cabin but I doubt we would take it back. It is so HEAVY. At least these flat screens are easy to move around.