Monday, May 24, 2010

Get your clicking finger ready

I have a new FAVORITE (in capitol letters) thing!! Do you remember how much I love my Dyson vacuum cleaner? I spent, like, 3 days just posting about how it changed my life and I'll never be able to fully express my love for something inanimate? Well, this is better than that.

Uh huh. Better.

Also remember that me and cooking don't get along too well? I got that job cooking at the assisted living facility and it was kind of a big joke. So now, here's the new thing... it's E-Mealz. Click on the link and go "wow." Ok, I'll tell you what it is first. You sign up ($5.00 a month, seriously, I've saved at least $40 in two weeks so far) for 3 months at a time. Then, you choose what and how you shop for dinners. The categories are, like, "low-carb for two" or "family low fat" or just regular meals. You also pick your grocery store. Then, once a week, you download a shopping list and recipe sheet for all your dinners for the week. They've looked at what's on sale at your store, and what's in season, and HOLY COW are these EASY recipies. And amazingly delicious. Like, we're eating better (more healthy, unprocessed food) for cheaper (like I said, about $20 less in groceries per week) than EVER.

Here's the link again, CLICK THIS. It's worth a look, especially since trying it for 3 months is only $15. Stephan and I can spend that in one trip to Taco Bell.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Kiss a Nurse Week!

Just keep your hands off of MY nurse. hee hee

Internet, my hair looks cute today. Just thought you'd like to know. But watch me turn this into something relevant...

I was talking to a coworker the other day about which grocery store in the area has the best produce. Since we have thirty (30, three. zero... THIRTY) grocery stores in a 2.5 mile radius from the house, this is a pretty extensive conversation. There is a store so close to my house that Sawyer and I often walk there to pick up odds and ends. But this store happens to be one of the largest in the area, and also the most crowded grocery store in the whole northwest suburbs. I don't know how, but that place is hopping even at 2am. The coworker doesn't like going there because... get this... there are, "too many options." Too much to choose from. Not just 3 or 4 brands of toothpaste, and entire AISLE of toothpaste. Human brains were not meant to deal with that many choices.

For my Montana friends I want you to know that I'm not just talking about "Wal-Mart" selection (Wal-Mart being the standard against which all other shopping is compared). The grocery store is the size of a Wal-Mart, but without the clothes, housewares, electronics, and toys. Granted, a large part (I think more than half) of the store has non-edibles like greeting cards, seasonal items, cosmetics, etc. But still, the place is huge and is a grocery store.

And... internet... I hate going into that building. At first I blamed it on my lack of organizational skills as a mother. Bringing a baby into a grocery store should be reserved for only the hearty of heart. But really, it's just too much. I actually started to miss Reyolds- the Baker grocery store. Sure, it was the size of a large 7-11, but it was manageable. I didn't have to choose between 12 brands of canned diced tomatoes. I could set aside a reasonable amount of time to sniff every brand of conditioner to make sure that I could live with whichever one I made a commitment to (yes, choosing conditioner is a commitment... it's the one smell that stays with you all day).

To sum this all up, today I found a great grocery store with just enough variety packed into a manageable shopping experience. And, yes, I sniffed all the conditioners, found one I liked, and, Internet, my hair looks cute today.

Ta Dah!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

The First Visit

You read my blog (obviously) so you'll find the following fact really out of character: I didn't take any photos of our trip last weekend. We did take some video, but it was mostly of the family hanging out. Stephan put me in charge of driving out of town, which was a TERRIBLE idea. I pulled over twice and told him I couldn't do it. Why go to Chicago? Grrr. It stunk.

More to come when I have more of a stomach for it.