I'm Not Crazy!

And neither is she.. greenfrog... the lady that made the video. Well maybe she is starting to fringe on it. Wait till you see her stash! I do not have cosmetics galore, or even one automobile item. My stash is mainly food and hubby keeps me in check where I would likely go overboard.

It took me forever to figure out how to post this video, so do me a favor...WATCH IT!




What's in your stash? Do you have a years worth of toilet paper? Or enough snacks to send on a field trip for the whole elementary school? Fess up in the comments below.

My Guy

This little guy (who isn't so little anymore) snuck his way into my heart around 3-4 years ago. We spend quite a bit of time together. We have many great days, and a few not so great days, but that's the way it goes. My guy has a label, it says autism.



G.T. reading a Thomas the train book. Why do autistic kids like Thomas so much? I've been told it's because they like the sameness. Around and around goes the train on a track.



Sometimes he looks very young for his age, like in this photo.



I take him to the parks to play. To get exercise and to try to get him to interact with me.



At the Hutchings School Playground we play a game. He sends the zip line hanger over to me and I send it back to him with a push. Back and forth we send it to each other. He laughs, I laugh. I encourage him to catch it, he laughs. I tell him good job, he laughs. He loses interest, I laugh. It was fun while it lasted.



I wish I knew what he was thinking when he's zoned out like this.





And this is my favorite because he's smiling, not a wild I'm out of control smile, but just a I know I'm cute kinda smile.

A Quickie Post

Here's two totally random pictures of the nine I intend to post.

G.T. watching the beloved Videos.



G.T. visits the Nature Center. He loves the bridge and watching the waterfall.

Day 5 - How do you think I've Done?

Boy! Each day has been a real effort since I committed to exercising for the last 10 days of the month. Everything has been working against me... My fall allergies kicked in and my ears are plugged. On Saturday, I couldn't even get a decent enough score to rank in the top 10. My balance was off and I couldn't function normally no matter how much effort I put into it. I've been miserable, but taking antihistamines (even the non-drowsy type) have only succeeded in making me more miserable. I seem to get stuck in a half awake, half sleep state. I can't get motivated to do anything when I feel like that.

On Sunday I took a nap and then put on stretch pants (my intentions were good) and then laid on the couch for awhile. My sister-in-law Donna happened to call and casually mention she was wondering if I'd exercised that day. Ugh! So someone was holding me accountable. Up I got on the old balance board and yes, I did Yoga, dance steps, and jogged.










This morning I couldn't even force myself to attempt the easiest of exercises, so this is what I heard today when I got on the Wii board. "Good Evening, Dorsey? Have you eaten dinner yet?" Of course, I had... skipping exercises is easy, skipping dinner would kill me.

Five days down and five to go. Will I make it? I honestly can't tell you... because I don't know myself. I only have to get up early two out of the next five days; that may just be the factor that helps me succeed. Stay tuned!

Check out my New Blog List for Shopping/Saving

I have a new blog list on the right side panel. These sites are phenomenal, they have loads of information on them. Give yourself plenty of time to check them out, because each site has tons of: helpful information, give-a-ways, workshops, deals, great recipes, printable coupons, money saving tips, freebies lists and more. I've been using these sites for several months, but decided they deserved a place on my blog, to make them more accessible to me and others. I've missed out of some terrific deals, because I forgot to check in. The more I learn about shopping and saving, the more I am inspired to go to the next level of saving more and paying less. Are you with me?

Day 2 of the Ten Day Commitment

Today is Day 2 of the commitment to exercise on the Wii for ten days straight and finish out the month strong.

Yesterday I did exercise, even though I had an excuse. Aren't you proud of Mii? That's Wii talk in case you think I just can't spell. I won't even give you the excuse, just to show you that my attitude is improving. Let's just say it involves broken skin, redness and slight swelling (nothing serious).

Today I'm about to get on the old Wii balance board. I've lost 1.8 pounds this past week or so. I'm using 5 lb weights while I jog and free step to help tone my jiggling arms. I'm not ready to turn in this old clunker yet, she still has a few more miles on her.

Leave me an encouraging comment or two. I can use it to help keep Mii motivated.

How the Wii Exercise Program Is Going

In a word... I guess.... Average.

Of the 20 days of August, so far I've done my exercise on the Wii Fit 10 days out of the 20. Not great. Not awful. Just average.

My excuses. Yes, I have them and it's my blog, so I'll list all ten of them.

1. I couldn't get motivated to start the first day, so I did floor exercises.

2. My thighs were too sore after trying the strength training thigh exercise for the first time.

3. The cat was sleeping next to the balance board. You've heard the old adage, "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie", we'll it's the same for cats. I thought it best not to disturb him.

4. The batteries died in the balance board and it took me two days to go buy new ones.

5. See Above.

6. My Mom was visiting & it was suppose to rain in the afternoon, so we went shopping in the morning (instead of exercising) and it didn't rain in the afternoon, so I didn't exercise. You can never depend on the weather. Lesson learned.

7. I couldn't wake up even after three cups of coffee.

8. I had to finish a book and get it sent out via Book swap.com; there was no time to exercise that morning. It was a deadline I had committed to.

9. Hot Coupon World was way to much fun one morning and I used all my time on the computer, no time to exercise.

10. No electricity. Well that's a lie, but I figure no one will read clear to number ten anyway.


There are ten more days left to go. I'm challenging myself to exercise each and every day of the ten remaining days.

I'm going to bed now to rest up for the morning. Wish me luck!

*Update Blogging Award Passed On

Part II of the blogging award is to pass it on to 10 people. Here is my list:


Small Things With Great Love


Autism In A Word


Meandering Through No Longer



Mountain Top Memories


The Sharp Scissors Lady


Down to Earth


Kelly's Korner


Pioneer Woman

Subjects of interest included in these blogs are: photography, adoption, recipes, couponing,christian living, life with a new baby, living with autism and more.

A Blogging Award Just for ME & (9 other people)

Christy over at I'm Especially Fond of You! gave me this AWARD.





I have to admit that when I first saw it on her blog, I thought it said Honest Crap. Well sometimes it is on my blog and a few others I've read, but Christy's blog is pretty down to earth; I'm sure you'll be blessed if you check it out. She's an amazing Mom to four little kids. Her blog is named after the statement mentioned in the book "The Shack", which is a novel of one man’s encounter with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and how he was healed and transformed as a result of it. The phrase “I am especially fond of you” is a phrase God uses several times throughout the book describing His love for all of his children. Christy says that that description of how much God loves his children was a wonderful reminder for her during such a difficult time in their lives when their little one Emma was diagnosed with Batten's disease. Click on the "I'm Especially Fond of you" link above to meet Emma, Christy and the rest of the family.

Thanks Christy for thinking of me.


I have to say 10 things about myself and then pass this award on to 10 other people.


1) To say that I love children is an understatement. They are a huge pick-me-up each and every time I am with them. I don't care if they are fussy, dirty or sleeping; I just love being with them.

2) I'm seriously addicted to popcorn, it is my comfort food. When I'm cremated I want my loved ones to throw in some popcorn, so I can go out with big bang or at least lots of little ones.

3) I'm an avid reader on all things autism. I pray answers will come soon for all those in need of them. Please God so many families are suffering. And continue to use me to help those in need for as long as I am able.

4) I find that the older I get the more I enjoy a good laugh, maybe because I find there is less to laugh about.

5) I love photography. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Just once in my life I'd like to take a picture that would leave people speechless. My favorite things to photograph are children and nature.

6) Things that annoy me: Litter, people that drive & talk on their cell phones, people that that repeat the word "hello" on the phone if there is a slight pause in conversation. Ugh! That one kills me. People who talk trashy in public!

7) My favorite things to do: Visiting my kids & grandkids, blogging, couponing, photography, eating out, reading, hugging my husband, playing with my dog, making crafts.

8) This is embarrassing and weird. I talk to myself, but only if there's someone to listen to me. If I'm all alone I don't ...so does that really count? I'm so confused.

9) I come from a long line of hunters, fishers, trappers & gardeners. I don't hunt, fish or trap, but I do love to garden; both flowers & veggies. I have to admit that the heat gets to me though, so I've cut way back compared to what I used to plant and maintain.

10) In my younger days: I cloth diapered and breast fed my four girls and made my own baby food. I had an organic garden, canned and froze my own veggies, hung clothes on the line and cooked from scratch. Those were the good old days! Boy times have changed!

The second half of this will be in a separate post. I will choose 10 people that deserve this "Honest Scrap Award" and pass it onto them.

The Price Book

There are several ways to save on your grocery budget -

1) The Planner - This is the shopper that menu plans for the week, then sits down and makes a list of ingredients needed, then shops for those things only, to help them stay on a budget.

2) The Flier Shopper - This is the shopper that buys what is on sale in the flier and plans their meals around those items they have purchased.

3) The Stockpile Shopper - This is the shopper that collects a stockpile while the items are at their lowest possible price.

What kind of shopper are you?

I started 20 years or so ago being a planner, then I became a flier shopper several years ago. Last year I became a stockpile shopper, but I haven't been totally effective because I didn't have a price book.

What's a price book you say? I'm glad you asked. Mine is a mini binder with note cards in it arranged alphabetically. On each card I wrote down an item I buy regularly; there is a place to write the price, the amount (oz./size) and price per item. So yesterday I went to Meijer and started writing down this information for items I buy on a regular basis. When I find it on sale - I will write down when I bought it, how much I paid, and the price per item. This way I will know when to stock up; when it hits the rock bottom price. For example....General Foods International Coffee is regularly $2.99 for a 4.4 oz can, which is .68 cents per oz. Yesterday it was on sale for 1.98, so it was only .45 cents per oz. I had a coupon for $1.00 off two cans, so I really only had to pay .33 cents per oz. That's my new rock bottom price, so when it hits .33 cents per/can I should buy at least 6 cans to last me until it goes down to the price again. Groceries usually follow a 12 week cylce, so you will know roughly when it will go on a major sale again.

Can you see how a price book can help you get more for your money at the grocery store? Why pay full price? Yes, initially it takes some work to track the prices, but once you have them, you'll be reaping the benefits with very little effort at all.

I also went to Costco yesterday, but that's another post. So little time, so much to save!

IKEA

I took a picture of this wall arrangement I saw at an IKEA we visited in North Carolina. Did I ever tell you how much I love Black & White photographs? Sorry, unless your a new reader I'm sure you know by now... I want to make an arrangement like this on my wall by my bookshelves. Hence I recently tried to order some matching frames from Kodak and guess what? They didn't have matching black frames in 8 X 10's and 5 X 7's. I was so frustrated, I had convinced myself that surely it was just me that couldn't find them on their online site, so I called for assistance. Can you believe it? Not a single matching black frame in different sizes, it's not like I'm try to match exotic woods or anything like that. I guess I'll try again in a couple weeks. I already have several of my pictures chosen (that I have photographed myself)....I'm so excited.

This picture was also taken at IKEA. Oh! to be rich. I would love to have these flowers on the walls of my bedroom or at least to have them in a room for when my granddaughters come to visit. Isn't it adorable?

Flower Pics

Queen Anne's Lace - I've always loved this wild flower, even as a little girl.
I love this photo best in black & white.



Balloon flowers ready to pop open.



Balloon flowers are also known as Chinese Bellflower or Platycodon Grandiflorus.
They come in blue, pink & white. These would be considered blue.


Torch lilies, slightly past their prime for taking photos of them; the bottoms have already turned grayish/brown.


A Munchkin in my flower bed, amongst the torch lilies, bea balm, coreopsis and Day Lilies. If that had been one of my own kids way back when I'm sure they would have been in BIG trouble. A grand child can do no harm.

What will they think of next?

Apparently this product has been out for awhile, but today was the first time I'd ever run across it. I found the article in my new ALL YOU magazine. Band-Aid friction block is used to prevent nasty blisters from developing where straps or shoes rub and irritate your skin.



Ashley had a connection to make on her way back to Mexico and due to a flight delay (because of weather issues), she ran through the airport and ended up with some blisters on her feet. She made her connection, which had also been delayed, but apparently she could have also avoided the blisters had she applied some of this ingenious product on her feet. What will they think of next?

For You - Dr. DiMagno

I promised my doctor last month that I'd get back on the Wii and lose weight. Remember her, in the picture to the left? Well I told myself I'd begin after the girls went back home and we quit having all those favorite meals and dinners out. August 1st was the date.... I tried but couldn't force myself to pull out the mat, the board, the controls, adjust the TV settings etc. etc., so the first morning I did 15 minutes of floor exercises instead and again the same routine on the 2nd & 3rd day of August. Cut me some slack, I'm no spring chicken. But yesterday I prevailed, I'm back on the Wii Fit Program.

The Wii is kind of intimidating, it keeps track of everything and there's no holding back on the comments. I was greeted with Hi Dorsey, it's been 111 days since I last saw you. And to make matters worse there is no where to type in excuses. I'll be honest I gained 5 lbs since I was last on the Wii. Remember the vacation in Maine eating lobster...vacation to Asheboro eating Meghan's gourmet cooking...feasting on all Ashley's favorite meals while she was here from Mexico. I guess I should feel fortunate that it wasn't 10 lbs.

Yesterday I focused on Yoga & ended with dance steps for a cardio finish. The male instructor I chose yelled at me once, that's a first. He said "Your muscles won't train themselves you know." I guess I wasn't putting enough effort into it. And listen to this...I accidentally hit the retry button and didn't feel like doing that particular pose again, so I went and got a drink instead and finished just the very end of the exercise and the instructor gave me a big fat ZERO. He said "I know you took a break during this exercise". Good Grief! I can't get away with anything, even with a TV Yoga trainer.

I'll keep you posted on my Wii adventures and tell you all about the pounds just melting off me.

I'ts ALL about being FRUGAL these days

What did I do today to save money?

1) I made a mini apple cobbler with 3 apples that have been on my counter for weeks. I added flax, extra cinnamon & walnuts to make it more healthy. Yummy!

2) I organized my cans & jars to make sure what we purchased first is eaten first, so there is no waste.

3) I brought meat out of my freezer in the garage (dated Feb/April/May) into the smaller one in the house so it is eaten this week. Oops! How did that February one stay hidden from me?

4) I started a price book for getting groceries at the best price possible for stockpiling. I will be recording..Date...Price...Amount..Price per/unit, so I will know how low it actually goes and when a sale is really a sale.

5) I checked my email for new Internet printable coupons put out this week.

6) I cut coupons out of my new ALL YOU magazine. Check it out! I purchased it when there was a super cheap deal through Amazon.com. This magazine is known for having the most coupons every month out of all the magazines on the market. Great tips on being frugal too.

All of this before 10:00 am. I love my days off.

Catalina What's a Catalina?

It's been a while since I've post anything on groceries, coupons, huge savings.. well you get the picture.

Yesterday I saved BIG! And NO coupons were used. What? No coupons? Dorsey has lost her mind. Wait a minute how'd she do that? Lose her mind? No, silly how did she save BIG without using coupons?

Here's how. Catalinas are printed out of a machine at the checkout station. Meijer started something new in the month of July; depending on how much you spend the Catalina machine gives you a print out of Meijer Cash. I received two $10 Catalinas, one $8 and one $2 for a total of $30 in Meijer Cash. What I earned in July could not be used until August, and further more you had to purchase General Merchandise or Clothing....what a bummer - no groceries. I also had a Catalina for a savings of $5 when you buy a $25 gift card from Meijer, which I then used to pay the bill.





This waffle maker was $35.99. I had $30 in Meijer Cash. OK, now it's $5.99. I had saved $5.00 on the gift card. Now it's .99 + .84 tax = $1.83. As you can see by my receipt it says $1.50 in coupons. Well it was really another catalina, but who's complaining, I got this waffle maker for .33 Cents!!!



Plus I saved $11.89 for shopping in store sales. That Dorsey is one savy shopper!

The Little Bed - Part Two

If you missed The Little Bed - Part One, click here.

Please forgive me for forgetting to post regarding Sydney in the bed. As Sydney would say to me "Say..Oh! Grief! Gramie." Oh Good Grief! My memory is failing me so often these days. I'm going on a health kick and maybe the new diet & exercise will help my memory too. We can always hope, can't we?

Here they are:



Sydney between the Smurf sheets. When I adapted them to fit the Little Bed for Audra I never dreamed one day I'd have grand kids using it. Life is just full of surprises and this one is a very pleasant surprise. Love those BIG brown eyes. I'm thinking there's another big brown eyed girl in my near future. What do you think?



Meghan & Sydney saying their Good Night - I Love Yous.

It's definetly a GIRL!

Ashley is back in Mexico and she went for another Dr's visit. This ultrasound was very conclusive. It is a GIRL! So Daniela will be her name. Gramie was right again.

Check out this site, How Many of Me? I was attempting to look up how popular the name Daniela is, but then decided to see how unpopular mine is and that lead to famous Doris's and that lead to this website. There are 8 people in the U.S. with my name. To do a comparison I'll give you a couple examples. I tried Natalie Jones, and there are 760 of them in the U.S. Then I tried Robert Weber. To my amazement that name brought up 1,934.

There is only one person in the U.S. with Daniela's first and last name. My grandson will be named Griffin and there are 3 people in the U.S. with his first and last name. It was fun to play around on this website. Check out your family names.

Using the Social Security popular names website, Daniela ranked 122 on the list in 2008. Griffin ranked 242. My other grandkids, Michael ranked 2nd, Ava 5th and Sydney 49th, these were all for 2008. The name Doris has not placed in the top 1000 in the past 9 years.

Produce from my raised bed garden

While my grand daughter Sydney was visiting she had the honor of picking grandma's first tomato and second pepper for the gardening season.



Ashley wanted zucchini bread while she was home, but the zucchini weren't cooperating. I bought bacon for BLT's and italian sausage for a scumptious zucchini stir fry. I'll post the recipe when I make it latter this week.




At least we've salvaged something out of this terribly wet gardening season, thanks to the great raised bed my hubby put in. I do believe we'll add a couple more next year.