Blood Bank, Twilight style

After school today I decided to stop by the blood bank to make a donation. Little did I know that today was the promotional day for "New Moon", the newest movie in the Twilight series. The lobby was full. There were cardboard cut-outs of the main characters. There was a line for people to get there picture taken among these cut-outs. Girls were gawking at how cute Edward was and how real the cardboard picture of him was. It was nuts. My favorite part was when the photographer carried one of the characters around in the back (where they draw the blood) and set him by some of the donors so they could have their picture with it. The girls were so excited to be part of it. If anything, it was entertaining.
I considered leaving and coming back another day, but saw that they were fully staffed in the back and moving people along pretty fast. I'm happy I stayed, I think that it was the fastest service I have ever had. I also got a free t-shirt themed for the New Moon movie and a Heartland sweatshirt for continuing to donate. Not sure when or if I will wear either of these, but it's always nice to get free stuff.
My next day I can give is January 14th. I'm sure I will have to wait until January 25th or later.

Fall Clean-up

I was able to use my time at home to do some more household chores. With the weather being so nice out this past week, I started tackling the leaves in the yard. The girls are finally old enough to spend time outside helping out. The girls picked up the leaves in their hands and then they put them onto the tarp. When each tarp was filled up, they jumped into the middle and took a ride to the leaf pile. They had so much fun. When the ride was over they would jump off and go find another pile to load onto the tarp. They had a blast!

Off we go!

Maddie was such a good helper. She kept picking up leaves and putting them onto the tarp. All while holding her water bottle.

Isn't she cute?

Getting ready to add to the huge pile of leaves.

Another Marathon

I'm signed up for another marathon. This one will be nothing like the other ones I have done. First off, it is an indoor marathon. That should make things really interesting as the landscape will be the same the whole time. Matt has already talked about it in previous posts, and has run it before, now he's taking me along for the ride. It looks like 96 laps around the track will get the job done to be able to finish the race. I don't know if that is cool or if it is really stupid. I'm 100% confident I wouldn't be doing this race if it weren't for Matt.
Last year I ran a few of these with him and thought it was "fun" so I figured doing another wouldn't be too bad. The rough part is finding time to train this time. Last year I was just working and helping out with the girls. This year, I am in two pretty intense classes, working and have a new baby. It's making running interesting, but I will be ready. It's not going to be my best time, but it will be fun. Hopefully Matt will slow down for a couple laps and run with me to keep me up to speed. The race is on January 24th, so it's coming up soon. It should be interesting when the time does come. I am looking forward to it.

Food plus $30 in coupons for my next trip, all for $14.49

I went to Jewel today. They're having another pretty good deal. I bought everything pictured for only $14.49. Add to it when I was done, I got $30 in coupons for my next trip! This is just one of those deals that I couldn't resist. I used a bunch of coupons to get this deal. I'm glad that I no longer feel weird when going to the cashier with close to one coupon per item, if that was the case, I would be in real trouble. Here's the list of what I got:
3 boxes of cheerios
2 boxes of Pillsbury Savoring bites (haven't had them yet, but they look good)
4 4-packs of yogurt
3 bags of Chex Mix
1 bag of Gardetto's
3 cartons of chicken broth
1 carton of ice cream
5 lbs. of flour
this stuff wasn't in the deal, but was in the total price
2 lbs of ground turkey, Buy one, get one free and I used a $5 off coupon for the original one so it was $.49 for 2 lbs. Can't beat that!
I also got 4 light bulbs as we are out of them and need to replace a couple that have gone out.
I also got a pack of cat treats. I had a coupon to get them free and will bring them next door to Sharyn for her cats. Thought an explanation was warranted for why I had them in my pillage.

I know these kinds of posts are not really that interesting, but I just get excited when a deal like this comes along. I'm thinking I will make another trip or two out there again before the deal is over. We'll see how the week goes.

Paper is Done!!! (for now) A Nation at Risk

Well I just finished (almost) my first major paper for my program. Major means that it is 40% of my grade. The almost means that I will most likely need to make revisions to it. (We turn the paper in, the professor grades it and hands it back with notes telling what needs to be adjusted and recommendations for further reading to include into the paper. Although annoying, it's a good practice to make sure that you get as much as you can out of each assignment.) The paper was on a report from 1983 titled A Nation at Risk which had a pretty big impact on educational reform. Nothing too interesting, but still it was a big deal when it came out. I used 13 sources. 13! I used each one and read as much as I could out of each one.
I know, another boring post, but I had to at least include some of my progress to share what was going on with me. I want to get a goal done, but find that my time is pretty monopolized with getting acquainted with Charlie, taking care of the girls, and reading/writing for my classes. All good things, just roadblocks for getting some of my goals accomplished.
If you want to read the report (mom), here's the link for it. A prize goes to whoever can get it done in one sitting without falling asleep.