What's been keeping me away

I can't believe it's been so long since I last wrote. Gilead Ministries, where I volunteer, needed a part time worker and since I know the database pretty well and had been wanting to learn QuickBooks, I went ahead and took the job. It's pretty weird sitting at "Janet's Desk" - she's been gone for almost 2 months now and I still have a hard time thinking that she's gone. I guess I just thought that she'd always be at Gilead's front desk... now it's me. It's strange sometimes when first I come in and don't see her & realize that I'm going to be sitting at "her" desk. She never cared when she was alive but I guess I just want to walk in and see her sitting there....

Well since I was last writing my DH and I went up to the Mayo Clinic up in Minnesota. Boy it's a beautiful place - the Mayo Clinic not necessarily MN (it was still super cold when we went up there! now the weather has finally changed and it's starting to get warm). Although we did have one nice really sunny warm day over the weekend and we went to a neat place called Quarry Hill Park that was an old gravel pit that they city had turned into a park. It had hiking trails, a pond, hills, a cave, and a nature center that was packed with families when we went but still really cool. They had a bunch of stuffed animals (which isn't really my cup of tea but what the heck how does one on a small investment, show kids all different types of animals safely? - stuff the animals). They also had a bird watching room which was super neat - there were all types of birds just outside the room which had tons of windows and it also had speakers so you could hear the birds. I wish I knew my birds better but they had a little cheat sheet to help you figure out what birds you were looking at!

Mayo was beautiful. They had marble everywhere and statues and beautiful glass blown chandlers that were donated by a lady that must be very wealthy! They were gorgeous!! The buildings are 19 stories tall and there are skywalks and underground walkwalks that go for miles - which is great for the wintertime up there since they have bad winters.

Mayo was for my DH who has a couple health issues that we needed to check on and we got great service there - unlike so many places we go. Altho there was one incident that for a hospital/clinic of that size and reputation we thought they were lacking. DH had to have a test where he was going to have to lay on a gurney but since he is in a wheelchair he usually asks that the bed/gurney be lowered to the lowest setting so he can transfer easily on his own but this one's lowest setting was still 2 feet above him. And the woman running the test didn't know what to do... We said if there was one other person to help me (the woman was too old to help), we could easily get DH on the gurney. It took a good ten minutes and then it was finally the doctor that ordered the test that came and helped me get him on the gurney! Silly! Oh well stuff like this happens all the time but we just didn't expect it there - there were tons of people in wheelchairs, but I guess most of them could stand if they had to - DH can't. We also had one doctor that we waited for 45 to 60 min's for and then he was only in the exam room for maybe 10 min's max! I hate that - he rushed everything and couldn't get out of the room fast enough. He was the only disappointing thing about the whole experience.

All in all DH got some great care there and if you ever have a medical problem and need expert knowledge, I'd advise going to the Mayo - it's great! Other than the actual buildings being really beautiful - there's tons of marble everywhere - the people who work there are exceptionally nice. Most places you go to see a doctor the front desk people are just so so, at the Mayo they are SO friendly and SO nice - I was just floored at how helpful they all were. When you first get there they set up all your appointments & tests so that you just have a list that you follow. They are so organized! It's wonderful!

And my last CVS shopping trip was great - my two fav employees were working and the manager even let me use my expired one ECB that I was really bummed that I was going to lose! $10 worth! I got tons of stuff as you see! You gotta try it out - just start buying 2 newspapers or buy one and ask a family member or friend if you can have the inserts from their paper. Save them and then go to IHeartCVS.com and SouthernSavers.com on Saturday evening to see how you should shop for items the next week. They will tell you what coupons to get from what insert and what items are the best deal and SouthernSavers will have it all planned out for you. Go do it now - while you are thinking about it. They have cvs 101 pages that will help you figure it all out! Happy shopping!

Have a Blessed Day,

Just a lazy day & some thoughts

So I was supose to do stuff today.... and I didn't.

What I did do? I played on the net... and with Twitter. So I added it to the page. But really what's it going to do that I don't already do with the blog? And I don't expect to be arrested any time soon, so no exciting twitter to say that way but I did it. Just like I have a MySpace page and the blog and a couple other techie things that I "should" have. But sometimes it feels like information overload!!

I did just find another place that makes all these pages into one page (you have weidgets on the page so that you "save time" by just going to that one page). I don't know if that is a good idea or not - I'll check it out, you can too: http://www.netvibes.com/ It seems like it might be a good thing to try and keep all the different things together. We'll see!

By the way, I read a great saying earlier today on Kate McD's blog: “If one bad trauma can alter someone’s life forever, then why couldn’t one good experience do the same?” Isn't that awesome? But it's so sad that so many people don't take the time to try to do this. My pastor at my church - God's House - just finished up a series on getting dirty and it totally went with her posting. So many people don't want to get dirty with others "dirt" that we don't get involved in their lives and they lose out on everything and we lose out on a blessing. I've been trying to figure out where I need to get dirtier (is that a word? or am I just that bad of a speller? :-) and I haven't quite figured it out yet but it was super inspiring to read how Kate gets "dirty!"

Have a blessed day,

Wacky Wednesday - Food

So my DH has been feelin' a bit under the weather the last couple of days and he has a couple different "comfort" foods. One is okay - if not the most healthy at least he doesn't eat it all the time: McD's McNugget's. I don't mind running out and getting them for him every once in a while. And the other you ask? Peanut butter and Bologna sandwichs! Yes, you read that correctly - no misspelling (I hope I spelled it correctly - lol) & no misprints! Isn't that gross? I just can't imagine mixing those two things together. He keeps trying to get me to try it but there is NO way I will. I like mayo with my bologna and jelly (or honey) with my peanut butter!!! No mixing them up for me!!

So what weird food do you (or your loved ones) just gotta have?

Me? - give me just regular food thank you very much!!

Blog "Friends" & Great Deals

I have been bouncing around the blogs trying to find a "perfect" site that helps me get good deals at my "new" favorite store; CVS. And I think that I have found it: http://southernsavers.com/ She does a great job of setting up exactly what you need to buy in the correct order to maximize your ECB (extra care bucks) and so that you don't spend too much oop (out of pocket) - I did a bunch of trips yesterday (it was the last day of the 3/15 coupon! - boo hoo) and I bought soooo much stuff for just over 5 dollars!!

• 3 boxes Always Infinity pads - been wanting to try them
• 2 Johnson Baby lotions - DD has been wanting these!!
• 2 cvs zip lock box of baggies - I needed them badly!
• 5 Lady Speed Sticks
• 2 Colgate toothpastes - the limit is more than 2 now!
• 1 Mens razor
• 1 Womens cartridge for razor - love these Bic Soliel
• 1 large Vitamin water
• 2 Gillette mens shampoo
• 2 small bags of nuts - DH loves!
• 2 candy bars - Who doesn't love chocolate?!?!
• 2 Gold Peak Ice Teas
• 2 Tylenol PM
• 2 Tylenol Rapid Gels
• 2 Blood monitors - will donate, my friend just got a new one that I didn't know he got

Yes, I did this and you can do it too!! How awesome is this?!?!??!!! How do I do it? Just check out her site and also iheartcvs.com - there you will learn how to do this too!!!

I always thought that buying name brands was too expensive - I always bought the generic brands because I had gotten out of the habit of using coupons but then I found these sites and you will learn how to really go for it!!

Also I have been noticing that some of the folks that I read their blogs have been having some troubles and well I just want to remind people that even tho we all may not know each other personally - we all are in this world together and we all should be praying for each other and doing whatever it is that we can to help support (I don't mean financially necessarily - unless that's your "gift") each other in this thing we call life!! :-)

We need to help each other with words of encouragement and prayers for our families. Lots of people are going thru rough times - heck everyone has got a story to tell - just don't forget that in the midst of your own difficulties we all could use some type of emotional support.

Okay that's my public service annoucement for the day!