Pretty Healthy Meal For About $16.00 And About $2.30 a serving!!

Ok so it's 9:09pm and my husband isn't home from work yet, Anthony is sleeping and Isabella is sleeping. For those of you who read my last post, things are pretty much the same but I am getting a lot closer to managing all of it and making room for blogging. I normally wouldn't blog at night but I am so impressed with myself that I had to share :)

If you keep up with me on FB, then you may have seen my post about our new healthy eating habits. If not, you'll be reading about it now and in the future. No one in my fam is too overweight so we aren't going extreme with healthy food. We already eat semi healthy. I really wanted to make better meals, with healthier ingredients. More veggies, more whole grains, less animal proteins and less processed foods. I also have become the portion police lol and make the plates myself so I can portion it all out. I am also working on a strictbudget, even with coupons, it's tight but I am making it work and very proud of it. 

Tonights dinner was peppercorn boneless pork chops, brown rice, broccoli and roasted brussel sprouts. It made enough for 5 dinners and 2 lunches. I paid about $16.00 for all of it and that's about $2.30 a serving!!! Here's how I did it.

Pork chops were on sale. I got 12 for $8.53
don't remember how much per lb.

Frozen brussel sprouts and broccoli 1 bag each $1.70 per bag
I love frozen veggies, they are the closest to fresh and they are cheap and easy.
I hardly cook them, I thaw/defrost and warm or roast quickly.

Mahatma brown rice small bag (I think 1lb) was $1.16 I had a 50 cent off coupon that doubled to $1 making it 16 cents for the bag but I only used half of it so that's 8 cents for this meal

2 pkgs of weber peppercorn marinade 98 cents each

I used a bit of butter as condiment, olive oil and vinegar for marinade I added $2.00 for tax and those ingredients

Total $16, made the 7 servings and it's $2.30 per serving!

Recipe
The marinade calls for 1/4 oil, 1/4 water and 2 TBSP vinegar, per packet and I used 2 of them BUT I won't use that much oil so I only did 1/4 oil, 3/4 water and 4 TBSP vinegar (apple cider)
I mixed it but only used 1/4 of it to marinate the pork in a ziploc bag. I saved the rest to cook with so we have a sauce.
I sear the pork on both sides in skillet, then add remaining marinade, cover, and simmer till marinade thickens. DONE!!

I defrosted broc in microwave and then warmed it.

I thawed brussel sprouts in baking dish on counter (you don't have to) I drizzled olive oil on them and drizzled a few spoonfuls of marinade on them too.
I roasted them @ 450 till tender then broiled them on low for a few min till they were a bit charred.

I baked the rice of course. Here is the link for those directions:
http://mytwocents-meliss.blogspot.com/2011/08/baking-rice.html

This pic is of my lunch for tomorrow. Anthony doesn't like brussel sprouts so I gave him 2 servings of broc and some broc for Joe's lunch so I used some mixed veggie and spinach leftover from my lunch today.

I have no idea how many calories etc. I don't really count calories. Like I said before, I am not trying so much to lose weight, I just want us to be healthier and make smarter, healthier choices on a reg basis so we can eat "bad" here and there when we want to without guilt!

Reasons For My Absence

The past few weeks have been hectic, long, stressful and exhausting. I have had a bunch of "home life" stuff going on and that's why I haven't been facebooking or blogging. I am the type of person who hates chaos and craziness. Since I can't avoid the chaos that comes along with life, I choose to avoid any and all things that I can avoid. I love facebook and blogging but I am not addicted to it. Especially facebook, so it's always the first to go. Even on a good day, as much as I love writing, blogging, and facebooking, I just hate sitting at my desk. I have been writing, I just haven't had the time to complete or edit a post.

So school started on August 15th for us. It's been going as smooth as it can go. I leave in the morn around 7:30 to get Anthony to school (like 10 miles from my house) I can't drop Isabella off at school till 8:30 and it only takes me 10 min to get from Anthony's school to hers. So every morn I have to kill 30-45 min. It is a huge waste of gas for me to drive back home. I am already spending $80-$100 in gas a week just taking my kids to school and doing the shopping. I get back by 9 and I have already spent 2 hours just bringing 2 kids to school. On Mon, Wed and Fri, my plan is to meet Ashley at 9 to walk 4 miles. We get done around 10:30 ish and I am back home by 11 at the latest. We have only done this a few times since we are both trying to get into a sched since our kids are finally both in school. On Tues. and Thurs. my plan is to walk Old Toxaway Road solo. I did it for the first time this morn.

Isabella has to be picked up at 2pm, no later and Anthony doesn't get out until 3:15pm. This means I have to leave the house at 1:30 to get to her school by 2, then I have a whole hour to kill. I run errands, or go to Ashley's or we take the kids to the playground. We get home by 3:30. That's 2 more hours wasted picking kids up. 4 hours of my day is taken up by this. I shop on Fri or Mon right after I drop Isabella off at school. The stores are all within just a few miles from her school. So literally that $80-$100 in gas is spent on trips back and forth to school...WTF?? I am left with 4.5 hours to get chores done, walk, or whatever...blog and FB lol If I walk, that leaves me with 2.5 hours! Last week we had 4 dentist appts. So that was even more trips back and forth.

I have been trying to catch up on things I didn't get done over the summer since both kids were home all day and we spent a lot of time chillin in the pool and not doing chores. I am doing my best to figure out a plan and sched that works for me, one that I can work with and allows me to get everything done and stay on top of things as much as I can. I'll get there eventually, it's my goal and I usually accomplish whatever I set out to do.

Some of you are already familiar with Isabella's struggles. I have a note on FB but it's more like a rant lol I am working on a blog post about her so look out for that. For those of you who don't know, Isabella is developmentally delayed. It's a complicated diagnosis. The best way to explain it in short terms is that she basically has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). When a child shows some (very few) characteristics of Autism but not enough to diagnose them as Autistic, they are diagnosed as developmentally delayed. This qualifies her to be "special needs" and she goes to a school that specializes in this. She should be on track and at level for kindergarten. If she still shows signs of delays, she will be re-evaluated but they say that they can't come up with a proper long term diagnosis till she is 8. Her delays are mostly with behavior, communication, cognitive, some sensory, self care etc. She is not delayed academically and this has caused a lot of confusion when I use the term "delayed" in away way.

I will get more into all of that in my post about her. For now I am only bringing it up because she has been a serious issue the past few weeks. This is her second year at this school, she loves it. She has made so much progress in the past year and a half. All of the sudden she is reverting back to old bad habits. She is also starting new behaviors that are unpleasant to say the least. More than anything though it makes getting through a day with her both frustrating and stressful.

A few of these things include her being clingy, which she has never been. She has a bit of separation anxiety both at home and at school and she has never had an issue with that. She is purposely withholding poop. She has been peeing all over the house, in her closet, in toy bins, pulling out her desk drawers and peeing in them. Throwing fits has become an issue that I thought we were over. Eating has been an issue I thought we were over. Getting out of her car seat had been an issue I also thought we were over. There are a few more things too but these are the wrost of them. I had to have a talk with her teacher this morn. I am fully aware that when a child exhibits behaviors like this that it can mean something is going on with them, that there is some kind of problem or stress in their lives. Nothing has been going on at home and her school is really top notch and her head teacher Miss Heather is just amazing. I am keeping a watchful eye on this whole situation but I am really thinking this is just a phase. Some of Isabella's problems have been with transitions and change, and this is a new school year and she has a few new teachers and all the kids in her class are new except 1 from last year. We are only 4 weeks in so I am hoping she will adjust to all the new things in her life soon. In the meantime, I am paying close attention to all that goes on and just working with her.

So these have been big issues for me, ones that I have no relief from and no way to get rid of them. They are time consuming, frustrating and exhausting. If there is one thing about me that is 100% true, it's that I have my priorities straighter than anyone I know and I will drop things that shouldn't be at the top of my priority list. I have done it before and I will do it again if needed. My kids, my Husband, my dog, our house, my health and my sanity come first and pretty much in that order lol I know you have all missed me and my posts. I have missed it too and I am on the fast track to getting back into it!

Walgreens Profit

Just wanted to give you all an example of how a small transaction can pay off big.
I bought this toothpaste at Walgreens. It was on sale for $4.99 with $4 RR back.
I had a $3 RR from last week so I used it and paid $2.33 out of pocket and got back $4RR That's a profit of $1.67. I am selling this toothpaste for $2 so in the end I'll make a $3.67 profit.

Sadly I did not have the coupon for $1.50 off. But if I did, I would have bought a filler item ( a small note pad i need) for 15 cents. This would have made my total less than $1 and still get $4RR back

If you haven't read my coupon posts, here are the links
http://mytwocents-meliss.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-i-got-38857-worth-of-groceries-for.html


http://mytwocents-meliss.blogspot.com/2011/08/coupon-101-getting-started.html

Take The Pain Out of Bedtime Cause We All Need A Good Nights Sleep In Our Own Beds!

To the shock and amazement of most people, my 4 year old goes to bed at 8pm. In her own bed, in her own room. For most of her life bedtime was 7pm but since she started school it's 8pm. She has never slept in our bed. Not once ever! It's not so much that I think there is something wrong with kids sleeping in the parents bed, I just don't want to sleep with a kid. I know all to well that it will cause problems with your getting a goodnight sleep, your sex life, your marriage and your child not wanting to sleep in his/her own bed. I refuse for any of those things to happen. When our son was young, we all had to sleep in one room with 2 beds pushed together. He also needed to be rocked in a chair and/or bounced till he was asleep...for hours. We went through 5 glider rocking chairs. The bearings kept breaking from the millions of hours I spent rocking him lol It was very difficult. So when I had our daughter I vowed that I wasn't going to go through any of that.

I spent most of my life caring for other peoples children so I saw many different parenting styles. I learned a lot of things that I thought were really good ideas. I also learned a lot of things I thought were horrible ideas lol A couple of the things I decided to bring into my own home came from one particular family had to do with bedtime. These tips really worked for their kids and as it turns out they worked for mine too. Whenever I have posted about Isabella going to bed at 7pm or 8pm a bunch of my friends have asked: "how do you get her to go to sleep so early and so easy?" I've told them and now I get to share it with all of you.

First. I started Isabella young. At 3 months I put her in a crib in her own room to sleep and nap...no exceptions. This takes commitment and mine comes from not wanting to sleep with a kid cause I value a good nights sleep. I never made a fuss over her during the bedtime routine. I placed her in her crib, tucked her in, kissed her and said good night and that was it. I don't feel one bit mean about doing it like that either. Kids don't know any difference. It's the parents who feel bad, feel they need to cuddle them or lay with them or rock them or pat their little backs. It's the parents who want to have that special time with their babies and kids. I want that kind of time too and I have it, during the waking hours. I don't think those special things should be used as a means of putting your child to sleep because the child will depend on you to do that for as many years after as you can stand it...and then some. The majority of parents, working or stay at home parents, have busy days. By the end of the day we are counting down the minutes till bedtime. I value that quiet/alone time to unwind. I usually still have a bunch of chores left to do. I don't want to spend one minute longer than needed putting a kid to sleep. That in itself is a job for a lot of you and was once for me.

The first trick has to do with music. The family I used to care for, would play a cd of lullaby's when they would put their kids to sleep. When I first met them I was like geez, listening to that over the baby monitor was going to drive me insane. However, it worked, the kids went right to sleep. They weren't crying for their mom causing me and the kid to have a battle to get them to sleep. They weren't calling for their mom cause they didn't depend on a parent to put them to sleep. They depended on the music. It really makes perfect sense to me. I play a meditation cd for Isabella. We have had 2 in her life. Evening serenade and chinese bamboo. When people come over and hear it, they are like "WTF is that music, how can you stand it?" Sure, it's a little odd I guess. Honestly I am used to it now and hardly notice it. All I know is that it's much easier to listen to than my kid calling my name, screaming for mommy to cuddle her or rock her or kiss her one more time. It's much easier than going back and forth into her room 50 times and for however long until they finally fall asleep. Seriously, that is one of the most frustrating things to have to go through and worse if it's every night.

The second trick is all about sheets, blankets and blankies. The Mom of the same family told me how she'd read somewhere NOT to wash your kids bedding and blankie unless or until it was really dirty. meaning don't wash it ever few days or every week just cause that is your bedding washing routine. For babies, they spit up and soak through diapers and such so of course you will be washing a babies bedding pretty often, possibly daily. BUT if the bedding isn't "soiled" then you shouldn't wash it more than once every 2 weeks or once a month. Use common sense. The point of this is to develop/build up your child's scent on their bedding. That personal scent that comes from the natural odor of our own bodies and is specific to that individual. I'm sure you can all relate to "missing the smell of your own bed" when you are away from home. Or getting into your bed at night and loving the smell of it. I know I do. It's very comforting isn't it. Or the smell of your kids or spouse, we love that smell right? Well, the same applies to a kid. It's comforting to them too and it's another example of them being comforted by their own bed and not a parent or a parents bed. Again, this makes perfect sens to me. Most of the time sheets will get dirty before the top blanket will so you can wash the sheets more often than the blanket. This is one of the reasons I love blankies and think they are a good idea. You can wash the bedding but NOT the blankie. Another reason I think blankies are a good idea is because they are portable. You can't bring your child's bed away on vacation or to sleep in a unfamiliar place, but you can bring their balnkie. Therefore you can bring their comfort wherever they go. Isabella was given a carters blanket by close family friends when she was 3 months old. I loved it so much I had to buy her 2 more. 2 stay at home and 1 is allowed to leave the house and goes with her to school.

I love this Carters blanket so much, that I will buy one from this day froward for anyone I truly love who is having a baby. I just bought 2 for my soon to be born Nephew. If they made it in an adult size, I would own a few for all of us in my house. I WANT TO SLEEP WITH THIS BLANKIE!!!!! It's a double sided 2 ply type 100% cotton blanket. It is so silky soft. I can't even describe to you in words how it feels. I recommend buying one for you kids or for someone having a kid. They cost around $30 but I bought the 2 for my Nephew on ebay with shipping for $12.98. I bought Isabella's 2 spare balnkies on ebay too but I paid close to $30 for both.

Now, for older kids or kids who wake up in the middle of the night, I am all for the Super Nanny routine. If you aren't familiar with it, google search her and look for a youtube vid of her bedtime routine. I use this when Isabella wakes up in the middle of the night or if she gives me trouble at bedtime. (That hardly ever happens though) So basically you put you tuck your kid in at bedtime or upon waking. You kiss them and say your I love you's and good nights and that's it. Then if they get out of bed or call you, you wait a bit and then go in and tuck them in again saying "it's time to go to sleep" and that's it. For every time after that. You don't talk at all. NO talking, NO eye contact. You just put them back in bed and tuck them in. It's possible if you have an older kid that you want to start sleeping in their own bed or you have problems getting them to sleep at night, that you will have to do this many times in one night and many nights in a row until they eventually learn that it's bedtime and that's THAT! Your child will learn but they will also try to take advantage of you and lets face it, a child's will is much stronger than ours and they will do whatever it takes to break you down lol. All they are seeking is your attention and if they NEVER get it, they will stop seeking and they will relent. Give your child all the attention he/she wants at an appropriate time, not at bedtime or in the middle of the night. For babies, Supper Nanny uses a routine where she has the parent sit in the room, facing away from the child and inch by inch slowly moving towards the door as the child is drifting off to sleep but not until they are quiet. If they wake, repeat, repeat, repeat. Like I said, this isn't easy and isn't a quick fix. But a few nights of misery is better than a few years. Be strong lol I am just giving you the basics. I HIGHLY recommend watching it for yourself and reading up on her bedtime routine. It really does work.

In closing, these tricks really work. I have seen it with my own eyes. They also make perfect logical sense to me. Take a min to think about it, really think about it without involving your personal feelings. Parents and children really need a good nights sleep. This is not about being cold, or not being mushy and showing your kids love and affection. It's about sleep and peace and when it comes to bedtime, that's all that should be considered. It is a fact that bedtime is rough for any or all of the above reasons for a good percent of families. So it's obvious that love and affection doesn't work, it won't make you kids fall asleep peacefully on their own and in their own bed. All it really does is prevent kids from falling asleep peacefully on their own, in their own bed. It also leads to more bedtime issues which isn't good for a child either. It causes you as a parent to be frustrated, lose your peaceful sleep time and it adds work to your already heavy load!

Isabella is well adjusted, she's happy and loved and showered with affection from 6:30 am to 8pm and then it's all business lol When we say it's bedtime, she doesn't even think to argue. There's no whining, no crying, no stamping feet. She walks to her room, we turn on her music. My husband plays little kissing games with her and they joke around for a few minutes. Then he leaves and I have to give her what she calls "25 pet nice" lol 25 pet nice is me rubbing her back while I count to 25. She adopted this 25 pet nice from school and I have worked it in to our routine because it has helped her adjust to napping at school. Once, while doing it, I was thinking of something else and I counted to 30. She flipped out lol yelling "NO mommy, not 30, that's toooo much" That was months ago and every night since when she asks for 25 pet nice and I start doing it, she says "NOT 30" lol just to make sure I don't mess it up. When I am done, I kiss her and tell her I love her then I leave the room. Once I close the door she says "Bye Mommy" and I say "Bye Isabella" Then she says "No more talking" and I have to say it back to her "No more talking" because a few times in the past she would call me back and want to tell me things so I would tell her "Isabella, NO more talking" After having to do that several times, she started saying it to me first loll but I always have to say it back. Then she talks herself to sleep...easy breezy! At 8:05pm, I am done with the bedtime routine and I'm on to everything else that need my attention. Like myself and my sanity lol :)

Sweet Dreams

Chip Clip Alternative

I hate twist ties although I do use them. I hate chip clips too. They always seem to break or the don't have a tight grip. They can be pricey too id you buy the good ones. I always seem to need a lot of them and never have enough. A few years ago CVS was running there yearly sales on school supplies. They has a box of these office type clips (don't know what they are actually called) If I remember correctly they were on sale for .99 with .99 Extra Care Bucks back. That made them FREE! I put them away with the rest of the extra school and office supplies I had bought that year and forgot about them. One day I was looking for a chip clip and didn't have one free. A few days later I came across the office clips and thought "hey, I could use these as chip clips." So I did and I found they worked a lot better. I had others around the house and in different sizes that we didn't really use for anything else. I gathered them up and put them in the kitchen drawer where I keep my foil, baggies, saran wrap etc. I have been using them ever since.

They hold a tight grip on whatever I put them on. They are small so they easily fit on the bag inside a cereal box or box of crackers etc. I use them in place of twist ties for rice or any other item that comes in a bag only that you may not use all of at once. They will last a long time and outlast a real chip clip. They are also a lot cheaper!

I also save the clips that you sometimes get when you buy a balloon. They work well too!

I Found it! The Pic I Wanted To Go With The Bitch Sip!

I knew I would find it eventually lol Here is the pic of the trife ass bit of trail mix Joe left in the bowl for the next person who wanted some. I am going to add it to the original post. Since I know most of you have read it, I figured I'd just put the pic in a separate post as well. If you haven't read The Bitch Sip yet, you should! lol

http://mytwocents-meliss.blogspot.com/2011/08/bitch-sip.html

My Husband and His Many Bothched Attempts at Card/Gift Giving!

I met and fell in love with my husband 20 years ago. I was 15 and he was 14. As teenagers we dated other people at times. In fact, I had a boyfriend ( wink wink to one of my fellow bloggers lol) that I'd been with for quite some time when I met my husband. We have been exclusive for 13 years and married for 11.

When I was like 16 or 17, for Valentine's Day he gave me a small card with a pink teddy bear on it. On the front it read "For a Sweet Girl" Inside it read:
"This little bear's so happy! Look what he gets to do--
He gets to bring this valentine wish
to a sweet little girl like you"
"Happy Valentine's Day with lots of love"

I couldn't help but laugh in his face...then came the outrage. This was a card for a 3 year old for Christ sake! His excuse was that he had forgot it was Valentine's day and had to go to a 24 hr store last minute and they didn't have a good selection. NICE!! I should have known right then and there that this was the first sign of things to come.

Year after year he gave me botched gifts. Flowers, even though he knew I hated them. That I thought they were a HUGE WASTE of money and a pointless thoughtless gift. Mostly because you just look at them and smell them for 3 days and then...they die!!! I will never understand why women would even want flowers as a gift. This will never make sense to me.

He gave me a box of chocolates once, knowing full well that I was allergic to chocolate.

He always had some dumb excuse but the bottom line was that at the moment of gift selection, you know, when thought is involved, he wasn't doing much thinking at all!

I let his poor effort to gift give piss me off like you have no idea. So like you've heard me say before, I did what most of us women do. I fought with him about it. Bitching and moaning, pleading with him to get it right. Sweating the approaching dates and letting my anger fester so I could unleash the nasty beast that lays in wait inside of all of us. Then I would attack him when he would forget again. I gave him the lists of do's and don'ts. And the list wasn't even long since I am a very simple girl and don't require much as far as gifts are concerned. I am a "it's the thought that counts" kind of girl too but he would have to actually put some thought in for this to work for him and so far, all his thoughts had shown me that he wanted me to look at, smell... and care for something that would die. That he thought I was 6 years old and that he wanted me to have an allergic reaction. Please note: I grew out of this allergy to chocolate, I will get a stomach ache or headache if i eat too much, but i won't have some sever reaction, however it makes the story a bit better lol I don't really care for chocolate though so it's still a horrible gift for me.

Most of the time he would just completely forget, even if he was reminded before hand. Once I gave him a card a week before our anniversary. It was an anniversary card, inside I wrote "our anniversary is in one week. That means you have 7 days to get me a card." 7 days later, he had forgotten...again!

When it comes to big national holidays, I don't know how he can forget. I can't even tell you how many times he would forget Valentines Day. Valentine's Day, you know, the one you hear about every where you go. Pretty much every American knows the "Every kiss begins with Kay" slogan for Kay Jewelers. (that's a future blog topic of it's own) Every store has isles and shelves filled with stuffed wastes of money and heart shaped boxes filled with 5,000 calories . Seriously...it's impossible to forget that one! My Birthday happens to be 7 days after Valentine's day. You would think this would be easy for him to remember too. Especially since he would get bitched out for fucking up V-Day every year. One would think that he would say to him self "I'd better not mess it up next week" BUT he would. Twice in one month, 1 week apart...every year.

I complained to family and friends and the advice I would get would be to remind him (been there) Write the dates on a calender...ummm that would require him to look at said calender. Not to mention that's kind of like me doing the work he should be doing. Why not just wish myself a happy birthday? Mail myself a card? They would even remind him for me. But honestly that made me more angry, no third party should be involved in this at all. As I got older, I started realizing that gifts and cards weren't important to me at all. What was important to me is that he remembered the dates. That I would be important enough to him for him to remember the date of my birth and our marriage. I wanted him to remember, not for someone else to remember for him. What a joke...thanks for all that great advice.

His Mother worked at a card/candy store that went out of business. She got thousands of cards from them. She kept them in boxes in her basement. Joe went over there and picked out some cards for future holidays so he would be prepared. So even if he forgot a holiday, he would already have a card on hand to quickly fix the problem. He hid them in the filing cabinet. I did not know about any of this at the time. Looking back, it was a good idea. He did make an effort and try to do something right. He was making an attempt to not upset me ever again on a holiday. The thought was there...or was it?

Then came yet another Valentine's Day. I was 25. I was ready for some sort of blunder. I was ready for a fight. That night, after he came home from work and after his shower, he handed me a card. I was a bit surprised, shocked even. The card was really nice, it had a lot of words in it, they were all very thoughtful. I was smiling a bit on the outside but I was full of joy on the inside. He had actually gotten it right this time. As I was reading, I couldn't help but think about how for once in so many years, I wouldn't be left upset and outraged. This time, we wouldn't have to have a fight. After the nice little poem, there was one last line, in large bold print. I gasped in horror as I read that last line. It said "Let's Have a Wonderful Christmas"

Seriously? I was so disappointed. I didn't even know what to say. I remember telling him what it said. I remember him taking the card to see for his self. Like I would make it up or something. Like even he couldn't believe he had fucked it up again. Then I remember the explanation he gave. He told me how he had got cards from his Mom, how he'd filed them away for the next holiday. How he knew it was a holiday so he grabbed the card figuring it was for THIS holiday. he didn't even bother to read it. Yet as you can see he signed it DIRECTLY below what is now an infamous line in our house "Let's Have a Wonderful Christmas" Good job Baby, good job.

I was so fed up. I really didn't know how to resolve this problem. I mean he is obviously brain dead. How do I fix that. The answer I supposed was that I couldn't fix it. So, like I always do. I thought outside the box. I thought up a crazy idea that had me laughing instead of being pissed. His Birthday is 2 months after Valentine's day. I usually bought him a nice, thoughtful card. I did this with an attitude though knowing that I was about to give him a loving card even though he could never manage to do the same for me. NOT THIS TIME!!!

My family had come over for dinner and cake. Afterwards we exchanged cards and gifts. I handed him my card. He opened it and took it out of the envelope. He looked at it for a minute with a very confused look on his face. He closed it and looked around at my family members. then he turned and looked at me and said " I don't know what it says, I can't even read it." With a bit of a snotty tone I replied "I don't know what it says either, but you don't bother to read the cards you give to me, so why should I bother?"

The card was in Spanish, I had gone to CVS and picked one out at random. I didn't even look at it much, I just signed it and sealed the envelope. Everyone was hysterical including both of us. Joe was a bit embarrassed. My Grandmother laughed the hardest. As she was looking at the card, she noticed that on the back it had the English translation. She was hysterical as she told us it was there and then she read it out loud. It said:
"Good-bye and good luck....
your leaving makes us sad...
Now don't forget about us....
Or we're gonna be mad...."

We all busted out laughing again. The funny thing is, it appears that I can pick out an appropriate card without even reading it. lol Figures!

　

　

I would like you all to know that today is my 11 year wedding anniversary. I thought this would be a fitting post. I would also like you to know that aside from what you have read and what you will read, my husband happens to be a really amazing man. He is my best friend, a good husband, a great Father and a great provider. We have since stopped gift giving, at all, for any occasion. It seems silly to me actually and a waste of money we don't have. (another future blog post) As far as the cards go, we are broke and they are very expensive for a piece of paper. I am quite sure that we need the $4 more than Hallmark does!