WATER BALLOONS AND LOBSTER

This past Sunday was so nice out that I decided to take a ride up to my parents house. My Mom's being telling me that the Strawberries are starting to come in and they had plenty to share. When I got there my Parents were outside watching Nevaeh play in her pool and within in no time my both of my sisters, my nephew Jonathan and my niece Savahna all showed up. Danni had a bucket of water balloons in tow!

Nevaeh was so funny. When she got hold of the hose, watch out. She completely soaked me and my Mom numerous times but it was so hot out it was all in good fun!

I spent over 10 hours straight outside with the kids while my sisters went and did various things in the house. I really did have a blast but went home with a wicked sunburn, I know better but didn't even think about sunblock. It is now a standard in my purse so this doesn't happen again!

One of the best parts of the afternoon is when one of the neighbors stopped by with a huge lobster he had won in a shoot. I guess he won a few of them and wanted to share since my dad had helped him with something the previous week.

The lobster was so good! What a treat!! Mom boiled it up and then Dad chopped it all up and removed me outside. Boy I bet my Mom was glad it wasn't in the kitchen because it caused a huge mess. Afterwards since there were so many of us I suggested they make a lobster salad and get some rolls and we could all have a sandwich!

Yummo!!!

PAST WEEKS UPDATE

Gosh I just realized it's been five days since my last post, I've really been slacking this month. I'm going try to update you on whats been going on around here.

Last Friday was a crazy busy day and I feel like I drove all over Western Massachusetts. It all started at 8am when I had to drop Mia off to be Spayed(Finally!!). Because I had bought a discounted Spaying Certificate online for $65, I had to use participating Vets only. The closest one to me was in Blandford which is only about 30 minutes away and I have to say it was a nice relaxing scenic drive. I was familiar with the area so I had no trouble finding the place. I was just going to have her Spaying done there and then transfer to somewhere closer but I fell in love with their staff. Everyone was just so nice so I'm going to continue to use them.

I was unsure how much this was going to cost. I knew that there was a $40 office visit but was unsure if Mia would need shots or medicine. I had obtained her kitten shot records from her last owner to show what she had gotten already. It turned out that she needed her Rabies shot(once a year) and Distemperment Shots(3 part shot over 3 months). I also purchased a tube of some sort of medicine which would help with hairballs(Mia just started getting them last week). The total for everything was $81.55, not too bad! I do need to bring her back at the end of the moth so they can check her incision and give Mia her next distemperment shot.

Mia 4 days after surgery

Her little incision and her shaved belly

Already returning to normal. I was afraid at first because she stayed under my bed for the first few days and only came out to eat and use her box. This is what she did when I first got her so I was afraid she was regressing some but yesterday she was out and about like normal!

In between Friday while Mia was being spayed I went to Physical Therapy and did some grocery shopping at Walmart. I didn't need alot but wanted to get some of the "Free" deals posted over at Money Saving Mom's Blog. Everything went well until the cashier tried to scan my coupons for Jergens lotion. I had picked up the trial size(2oz) for $1.97. I actually had 4 different coupons to use, 2- $2 off any Jergens and 2- $1.50 off any Jergens.

Now to give you a little background I had also picked up other trial/travel size items and had used coupons to get them free and all those coupons went through but for some reason the Jergens ones were beeping. At first the cashier told me I couldn't use them and I needed to buy the big bottle like the coupon picture showed. I explained to her that the coupon said "Any Size". She then said I should be able to use them and called over a Supervisor. The Sup looked at the coupons and then tried to hand them back to me and say I couldn't use them. I refused to accept them and asked for a manager. The manager came over and was extremely snotty and did the whole eye rolling thing. She tried to say I couldn't use them. I refused to take no for an answer since I knew I was right.

Now mind you the line is huge behind me and I can hear people starting to mumble and say stuff but I stood my ground! Then she swayed a little and pushed through the 2-$1.50 off coupons but was trying to refuse the $2 off coupons saying that the coupon was more than the price of the product and I couldn't do that. I then stated out loud for everyone to hear that I still was not accepting that answer and I could stand here all day and hold up the line. I asked her what she cared anyways since when she sends the coupon in Walmart would get their $2 back. After one final eye roll she pushed them through but only for $1.97 each, whatever that was fine with me since I wasn't looking to get the overage.

So moral of the story ladies, stick to your guns and stand your ground and if your in the right you will get what you want!

By the time I got home Friday I was so tired and my pain level was unbelievable :( Not only is there a problem with my neck and shoulder but my therapist also found a problem in my back. My back usually only hurts on and off and only on the lower right side, I didn't think it was related and never thought to mention it. He was saying that if something is off in your back then it would throw your whole spine off and may be part of the source of the pain in my neck.

Oh great just what I need more problems. After my visit yesterday the therapist told me that he thinks I'm making progress but doesn't think I'll be able to return to work in August. He is going to recommend another month of the program. I agree with him because although I am starting to lift more, there is no way I would be able to do it repetitively for 8-10 hours straight. I know my Dr will be OK with it, I'm just not sure if Costco will extend me another month or if the disability co will continue to pay me. I just have to wait and see what happens Aug 1st(I have Dr appt and then meeting w/ Costco).

In between all my pain this weekend I baked some muffins for a coworker who's Mom had passed away. Danni and I didn't want to do the traditional send a flower thingy so we decided to make a goody basket. I baked muffins and Danni made Cookies and Cinnamon Buns and another Co-worker bought some fruit.

Cranberry w/ Walnut Crumb Topping

and

Blueberry Muffins

I forgot to take a picture of the finished basket but it looked real nice. Danni and I had gone over to Michaels to buy the basket. All the baskets were 50% off which was a nice bonus. We needed one that was short and long versus tall and round and found a nice one that was $3.99. We also grabbed some purple ribbon(co-workers fav color) and some purple shredded paper for bottom and a clear large bag/basket wrap.

When we got to register the basket rang up at $1.99(50% off price) and I had a 20% coupon for the rest of the regular priced stuff. Our grand total was $6.27!!! Can you believe that?? I don't think I've ever gotten a basket and wrapping stuff for that low!

When we got home Danni took the purple ribbon and a roll of purple and green w/ flowers she had at home and weaved it around the top of the basket. By the time we were done the basket looked fantastic and we were so proud of ourselves and more importantly our friend loved it and immediately commented that we had remembered and used her favorite color. It's so nice to be able to brighten a friends day just a little!

DAY WITH NEVAEH

Yesterday was such a fun day(along with being tiring and painful but oh well)! My sister called me a few days before and I asked if I could watch Nevaeh on Wednesday since she had to work and my Brother-n-Law had a double header softball game. I only had my Work Hardening therapy in the morning and was free for the rest of the day so I said sure.

What better way to get in shape to go back to work than to pick up a 2 year old for the day??!!

I went to WH at 8:30am and actually got a great workout. I walked on the treadmill for 10 minutes to get warmed up and then hit some other Hydraulic Exercise Equipment and then my therapist had me do alot of lifting. Although I haven't seen an reduction in pain yet(it actually keeps increasing), I'm optimistic that the more I work out the stronger I will be and hopefully the pain will go away. I'm very pleased with the program because not only are they working on my shoulder/neck area and lifting techniques but they want you to get some cardio in and the also have me do leg exercises. It's like having a personal trainer that my insurance is paying for! My whole workout was 90minutes and I was sore and tired when I left but overall felt kinda energized.

After I was done I went and got Nevaeh, they didn't actually need me till around 5pm but I figured I would get her and spend the day with her. Our first stop was to go see my Mom at her work. Meme' was surprised to see Nevaeh and it made her day since she rarely gets to see her during the week. I also dropped off one of the Photo Books I made at CVS to my Mom. She absolutely loved it and I was so happy. After Meme's I wanted to run to Burger King because I had a coupon for a Free Icee Drink which expired that day. Our local paper has started a new feature called "Thursday Freebie". Every week the offer a coupon for a free product or service in the area and it's guaranteed to be worth more than the cost of the paper. Last weeks was the Burger King Icee drink and today's was a Free Klondike or Eskimo Bar at Pride.

Since Burger King is located right next to Costco I went there next and Nevaeh got to see Mommy and her other Grandma there for a little while(Yes we all work at Costco hahaha). Most of our work friends haven't seen Nevaeh in a while so they were surprised at how much she's grown.

My next plan was to bring her to this Water Sprinkler Park by my house to play since it was so hot out but just as I was leaving Costco my friend Khris was leaving too and said Why don't you just come to my house and hang out. Khris has got 3 kids herself and an awesome backyard complete with Swing Set, Sand Box, Pool and Hot Tub. I can't even tell you how much fun Nevaeh had playing with the other kids. We stayed for almost 4 hours!

By this time it's now 6 and I was exhausted and in pain but Nevaeh was still going strong. Danni wasn't picking her up till after 9 when she got out of work so I figured I would take her to my house and get her something to eat and then a bath(playing in the sand box she had sand in every crevice possible haha). I assumed after bath time she would calm down some and just watch cartoons or color but no luck there. Nevaeh grabbed her flip-flops and said I go Bub-Bye. Whatever I wasn't going to fight with her if she wanted to go back outside. So we played on the lawn of my apartment building for another hour and I forced her to come back in when the bugs got viscous. There was no way I was putting stinky bug spray on her since I already gave her a bath.

OK this time I thought for sure she would settle down but nope. She continued to run around and jump on my couch until Dave and Danni came to get her around 9:30. Whew I was so tired and could barely move when she left but it was a great fun day and well worth it!!

Jarrett, Ashleigh, Nevaeh and Marissa

Nevaeh and Jarrett in the Sand Box

BLUNT PARK 7-6

Sorry I'm a little late posting this but the past week has been really weird for me. Anyways after returning from the Cape last Sunday, my sister and I took my niece over to Blunt Park to meet up with the rest of the family. The guys had four softball games to play due to rain make-ups so we went to watch them and play with the kids. There's a pretty nice playground right by the field and we had a great time playing around!

Danni and Nevaeh

Nevaeh

JJ and Nevaeh

Nana and Tai-Tai

Tai-Tai

4TH OF JULY WEEKEND

I originally had no plans this weekend but that changes and it turned out to be an awesome time!

Earlier in the week my sister Danni headed down to the Cape for the week with Dave and Nevaeh. My parents have a second house on the Cape so they were staying there. I was invited to go but declined because Mia is in heat again and I was afraid if I left she may get mad and spray around the house.

On Thursday Danni called to see if I had changed my mind but I hadn't. She said that my parents were heading down for the weekend and also Dave's brother Adam, his wife Saram, daughter Savahna and Saram's brother Nick were going to be there. I still said no. I woke up around 5am on Friday and couldn't sleep so I spontaneously packed a bag and decided to go for the weekend.

It turned out to be alot of fun although it did rain all day Saturday. Here are a few highlights from the trip....

Self Pic of Me

My Mom and Nevaeh

Dad digging for Crabs and Hermit Crabs

Nevaeh checking out her finds

Nevaeh and a Hermit Crab

Nevaeh

Danni and Nevaeh

Hermit Crab

Bubbles!

Danni and Nevaeh

WEEKEND UPDATE

The last three days I've been so busy that I haven't had time to get on the intranet which means I haven't posted anything of course.

Friday I went for a manicure and pedicure and then headed to do some errands at a nearby mall. My first stop was Petco to pick out a carrier for Mia. Her appointment to be spayed is July 18Th and I need something to transport her there. I found one that was the perfect size for $26.99! They usually range around $50+ so I got pretty lucky on that one!

My second stop was Yankee Candle. I was almost out of the tarts which I burn daily plus I had seen a $10/$35 coupon on another blog. I was very surprised to find that their big summer blowout sale was going on. I got 20 tarts and 1 large size candle and I paid $26.25 with the tax!

Woot Woot!!

My third stop was at Costco to pick up the pictures I had ordered via intranet. I hadn't really printed anything from the past year so I ordered it all it once....800 + prints! I just wanted to do it and get it over with. The bill was $159 :(

I stopped over at Danni's house on the way home. We hung out for awhile and then decided to go to Walmart together. I got some stuff for the house I needed like a carpet runner, cupcake pan, salad spinner, camera case, and 2 new waste baskets because my apartment complex starts recycling July 1st... Yeah!! I also bought a few groceries and a new game for Nevaeh which of course needed batteries. I only spent $119! I thought I had done much worse so I was excited!

Saturday I hung out at home and finished reading my book and also watched some Baseball. I was really sore from the day before so I didn't want to do anything. My friend Andy brought over Chinese food for supper and we ate that and watched more Baseball.

Today He came over again and we went out and looked at Open Houses all afternoon. He plans to buy one in August sometime. It was a long day but fun! I love to look at other people's stuff/house, I'm not sure why?? I hope I'm not a complete weirdo! hahaha

I also got in more rebates this weekend!

Another for Freighor's Bread $2.59

Another for Minute Miad $3.00

2 for Listerine $3.49Each

That's another $12.57 back!

Woot Woot!!

CATCH UP

I've been slacking the last few days on posting. Monday was payday so the first thing I did when I got up was to order Mia's Spaying Certificate online. She is now coming out of her heat which is good but I still need to have her spayed since this will just repeat itself over and over. I'm assuming I may have to go through one more heat cycle before I have her fixed. I'm not sure how fast the certificate comes in and I can't make the appointment until it comes plus the old owners ordered a copy of her kitten shots from their last vet which is out of state. When I called to ask if the vet was still participating in the spaying program I was told that unless I could prove Mia had her kitten shots, they would have to be repeated and thus I would have to pay more. The vet also said they preferred not to spay them when they're in heat. It's much more dangerous for the cat and it cost more so I'm assuming by the time I get all the paperwork in and make the appointment Mia will be in heat again and I'll have to reschedule. Whatever, at least it's getting taken care of!

After the certificate was ordered I called and paid a few bills over the phone and then it was off to pick up Danni. We were both going to Walmart to do our monthly shopping. It's the second month we've used coupons so we were excited to see how much we would save. The trip took us a little over 3 hours which isn't bad with stacks of coupons and a 2 year old! I spent $150.51 which was right on budget. I was thinking I wanted to be somewhere between $150-$175 so perfect! Since I had tons of condiments, beverages, spaghetti sauce and plenty of snacks(all that free Chex Mix!!) I focused more on meats, my freezer was completely bare except for a turkey. I also got some frozen veggies, rice, and potatoes.

Danni did real well too! She feeds a family of three everyday plus she has 3 step kids that are always around, two of them are 18 and 21 year old men so I don't have to tell you what they eat! She also has a huge in-law family that are always around on a daily basis. We do alot of big family diners/hangouts(approx 2-4 times a week). She ended up spending $300 and some change! Not too bad for feeding that many people! Danni had almost $70 in coupons!!

Once we were done with all of our shopping and we got back to her house I had to transfer all the stuff to my car and then once I got home drag it up to the second floor. Oh, did I mention that I didn't park in front of the building like I usually do but in a side lot instead cuz they're re-roofing the building and dropping all kinds of shit and I don't want anything to fall on my car! So needless to say I had to drag the groceries across the parking lot before I climbed the stairs. Now remember I can only lift on my left side which is my non dominate side so it isn't as strong, this whole process took many, many trips. Once it was all done and put away I was tired and in excruciating pain:( and I flopped on the couch and did nothing the rest of the evening.

Tuesday when I woke up I had all my usual pain plus a sharp stabbing pain shooting up my neck. I had an appointment at Physical Therapy so I was hoping that would help. The therapist gave me a deep tissue massage and the muscles still wouldn't loosen, as usual. She tried manual traction next but that didn't work either. She asked if I wanted to try mechanical traction, my usual response "Sure what have I got to lose".

That helped a little. When I left it wasn't as bad but still not feeling great. I still had a few more errands I wanted to run though so off I went. I needed kitty litter and some wet cat food. The grocery store by my house has it cheaper than Walmart so I waited to get it. Plus I wasn't in a rush, the box isn't due for a few more weeks, I use those once a month crystals but because I only get paid monthly and I know it's an expense I will occur this month I just went to got it over with. I found out that the store doubles coupons everyday but only up to $0.99. I had some coupons so it worked out well. Next I went across the street and stopped at CVS to do the Charmin/Bounty deal. It was the last thing I wanted to do for the week there. After I got my $10ECB I went back in and got case of water, fabric softener and a Father's Day card. On my way out I picked up a couple of June Monthly Deals Flyer. Although I've already seen it online I like to keep a hard copy to reference through the month and Danni need one too.

Next I headed over to Dave's Soda and Pet Food City. I wanted to look at cat toys. I bought two when I got Mia. One is lost and I've looked absolutely everywhere and the other was a feather boa thingy that she loves and has totally pulled apart and destroyed. I had gotten it at Dave's so I figured I would go back and get another. They were all out so I got her a few other feathery things and a couple of balls with bells in them. OMG she loves the balls. It's all I heard yesterday and overnight. I'm glad she is adjusting so well!

This morning I woke up in pain again probably mostly due to the rain(it's pouring). I had a early appointment to have three more trigger point injections and then an appointment immediately after at PT to work the medicine through the muscles. I'm very sore right now but figured I would post now cuz I know the pain will be much worse later.

When I got home I called my work to ask about my vacation time. The thing is my disability co may not pay me this month depending on what the paper work the Dr passes in says. I cant afford not to get paid since I live alone I need to be able to pay next months bills. A thought popped into my head when I was at PT about my vacation time. The way it works at my employer is whenever you got hired is your anniversary date so every year on that day you get next years vacation allotment. You are only able to carry over one week and the rest you must use or lose. I rollover on July 20Th and haven't used any time this year obviously because I've been out of work so I called to find out how much I had and if I could use it this month just in case disability co doesn't pay me. I found out I have 167 hours!! 127 of them must be used before July 20Th or I lose them. I'm hoping to return to work around July 1st which is when my next Dr follow-up visit is so if I'm not allowed to use them now then I'll have to take a four week vacation as soon as I come back. That would be real silly. The payroll clerk told me she would look into it and call me back. Hopefully they will let me use it, it's much more reassuring to have a back up pay plan!!

***UPDATE***

The payroll clerk called me back and I can use my vacation time to get paid this month if I don't end up getting paid from the disability co. Even if I do get paid by disability since I'm only earning 60% of my salary, the payroll clerk said she can supplement me also to bring me up to 100% if I want to use up my vacation time that way. Awesome!! This is such a relief because I was starting to worry about paying next months bills. I knew if I put my brain to it I would be able to think up something!

Whew... One disaster avoided for now!

CVS WITH MY SISTER

I went to CVS this afternoon again, but this time with my sister Danni. She's only done CVS once before and was still a little unsure of things. She had not gotten any of the weekly deals or May deals yet so I wanted to take her today before all those sales were over and plus I printed out a bunch of those awesome $5/$15 coupons that are expiring tomorrow to give her. I don't have a picture of what she got or the breakdown but we did add up what she spent OOP when we got back to her house and for $7.20 Danni managed to get the following things....

10 Sobe Life Waters

5 Rolaids Soft Chews

4 Hellmann's Mayo

3 Aleve

3 Crest Pro Health Toothpaste

3 Adidas Deodorant

2 Excedrin Migraine

2 Johnson Body Wash

2 Tums Quik Paks

1 Huggies Clean Team Foam Hand Soap

1 Huggies Clean Team Wipes

I'd say for only her second time "CVSing" she made out awesome!

Way To Go Danni!!!