Knowledge is...profitable

This week has been sliding downhill steadily as sickness has once again invaded our household. Big A started it, Little A followed closely behind and now I have come down with some sort of coughing/sneezing/stuffed up fun. So as not to let this linger on for weeks, I took the girls to the pediatrician's this morning for something to nip this in the bud. However, before I left, I scoured the Sunday paper from last week for pharmacy ads offering giftcards for filled prescriptions.

After a relatively painless trip to the dr, we set out for Walgreen's with 2 prescriptions and 2 coupons in hand for a competitor pharmacy. I had heard rumor that Walgreen's was great about honoring competitor coupons. Apparently, my local Walgreen's didn't get that memo. They acted a bit surprised when I politely left with all of paperwork in hand and told them that "I was SURE that another pharmacy would honor the coupons." And I was right.

I've often cheered for CVS and the great deals consumers can get there if they're willing to do the legwork to get coupons and wait for sales. And today, CVS gets another huge cheer from me! They honored the competitor coupons and I walked out of there with medicine for my girls (at a very reasonable price) and a $50 giftcard that will be used quickly I'm sure. Thank you CVS!

Now, medicine, GET TO WORK. I need well kids soon so I can get some things done around this house!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

I can just hear Andy Williams singing in the background as I write this. While Fall is by far my most favorite time of the year from a holiday and family gathering perspective, there's another time of year that I also cherish. Any guesses? Anyone? Hello, is this thing on?

I am speaking of the season that strikes terror into the hearts of many. The season that people gripe about all year long. I'm talking about TAX SEASON.

Yes, I am one of the freaks out there who gets a little giddy about this time of year. And it's not because I enjoy paying taxes or anything crazy like that. It's because I am an accountant and one of my favorite things is individual tax preparation. I know, I should really have my head examined.

Yesterday was awesome for me because I finished my first return of the season for a customer! I get such a high from all the fact collecting and number crunching. It feeds my control freak tendencies and gives me such a feeling of accomplishment when I see that return being e-filed.

I know, I'm a freak. And proud of it.

Picture Frenzy

One of the MANY items on my "to do" list for 2009 is to get into a routine with uploading my pictures to Shutterfly regularly. I'm hoping that by doing this, it will give me the motivation to order prints regularly, which means I will have plenty of prints to scrapbook, which means my scrapbooks will ultimately not be 4 years (and counting) behind. However, after seeing just how far behind I am in uploading pics currently, I'm already discouraged.

Between last night and this morning, I've already uploaded over 1,000 and I've still got at least 6 months of 2008 to go. So, if you try to upload anything to Shutterfly today and it's running REALLY slow, well, sorry about that. It's me. But I really hope that after today, I will be all caught up. Yippee!!

And now something to take my mind off all this photo madness.

Ahhh, I feel better now.

I've created a monster

Birthdays weren't made to be a big deal when I was growing up. I mean, it usually consisted of a family dinner and a homemade birthday cake made by my grandma's loving hands, but no big birthday parties and such that tended to be the norm in my peer group. Which was incredibly disappointing to me. As a result, I have seriously overcompensated by going over the top with each birthday milestone that my daughters reach.


This reality became all too clear to me during dinner a few nights ago. The subject of birthday party destinations and cake decor has become the "topic du jour" at my house lately, so it was no surprise that it came up again during dinner. Little A announced that she wanted a cake with pink icing for her birthday in April. And then Big A proclaimed that SHE wanted Angelina Ballerina on her cake (in October...geesh!). At which point, Little A trumped her by demanding Max & Ruby on her cake.

And then after the little angels went to bed, mommy stressed out for hours while searching the internet for Max & Ruby birthday ANYTHING. And was not terribly surprised, but dismayed to discover that there is no licensed Max & Ruby birthday stuff out there. And the homemade stuff that IS out there is expensive. Sigh.

Note to self: Get art lessons or several ounces of creativity ASAP.

Monday Morning Eye Candy

Good Monday Morning to you all! I know I mentioned a Golden Globes recap this week, but I came across a few newbies that I just had to share with you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

Bradley Cooper - This cutie has played supporting roles in many tv shows and films, including "Failure to Launch" and "Wedding Crashers". He's got a slew of movies coming out in the next year, so I'm delighted that we'll be seeing more of him!

Drew Seeley - I have seen a million commercials for an ABC Family movie that this guy is starring in. After spotting his hotness there, I checked him out on IMDB and discovered that he's an accomplished writer/musician as well as actor. I love those multi-talented guys!

Tom Brady - Ok, he's hardly a newbie, but I've never featured him before and decided it was time. He's hot, but I'm still unforgiving of how he dropped Bridget Moynahan like a hot potato.

And there you have it! Enjoy the hotness and I'll see you here again next week.

The Interview!

Ok, I know I've been keeping something on the down low this week, but since so many of you have seen my little blurbs on Twitter and Facebook, I've come here to spill the beans.

Earlier this week, I received an exciting email from a marketing company for a large and well-known company in the U.S. They have launched a web initiative and have decided to employ 10 mommy bloggers from around the country to help them get the word out. It is a paying gig that includes some travel to New York to help launch the thing and would be a VERY exciting opportunity for me as a mom, as well as a writer!

My phone interview was this past Friday and I think it went really well. I tried to be as honest and down to earth as I could, so hopefully I fit the bill of someone they are looking for. My interviewer said that they hope to make some hiring decisions at the end of next week, so please keep your fingers crossed. If I am hired, then expect to hear a LOT about it in the coming months! And thanks so much for all the support that I've received from email and phone calls! You guys are the best!

Clutter Revisited

You know you have too much crap when you spend 5+ hours trying to clean up a room and it looks far worse than when you began. That's been my day today.

One of the items on my "to do" list for 2009 is to finally finish the "decluttering of the house" project that I began last year. Peter Walsh, the Aussie home organizer from TLC's "Clean Sweep" has an online support thing going. So, I signed up for his handy little emails once a month that give me a homework assignment and some motivation.

The assignment for this month is to take back our bedrooms, especially the master bedroom. I don't know about you, but my bedroom tends to be the dumping ground for stuff that doesn't belong in any other room. So, I've spent the better part of my day trying to sift through the TONS of scrapbooking stuff that has taken over my bedroom. The good news is that I've found lots of stuff to get rid of on eBay or giveaway. The bad news is that I STILL can't find those Christmas cards from 2007. Sigh. The war wages on...