Confessions of a Bargain Hunter

I have a confession to make: I absolutely can't stand to pay regular prices for clothes, especially for the kids. I don't think I've ever bought anything for either of the kids that wasn't at least 50% off...except maybe for shoes, good shoes are important. I think I've become some sort of clothing frugalista. *grin*

I've been stockpiling clothes for Adara to grow into since before she was born. The baby showers that were held for me provided most of the clothes she would need for her first year, and I had some mothers of older children give me bags of clothes their girls had grown out of as well. When we started hitting the end of that, I began picking things up at garage sales and clearance sales at stores, as well as really good deals on ebay. I buy jackets, snowsuits, boots, etc at the end of each season for the next year and squirrel them away. I lucked in for Connor as well - I had two friends who were done having kids give me what amounted to an entire wardrobe for him right through to size 24 months.

This week has been a sort of clothing jackpot for me. On Tuesday I picked up two big bags of girls clothes sizes 4-6 from a lady who had listed them on Freecycle. I'm a big Freecycle advocate, and am always careful to try to give away at least as much as I get from folks there. The clothes were all very pretty (but not trendy or immodest) and in awesome shape. In addition, when I went with the kids to Superstore today, they were having a clearance sale on winter stuff, and I picked up long sleeved Ts in sizes 4 and 5 for 94 cents each. So between the two, I should have enough for Adara for casual winter clothes for the next two winters. Huzzah!

The down side of all of this is of course the issue of storage. I keep the clothes to one tote per size, up till size 24 months, and then 2 totes, one summer and one winter, for each size after that. It's starting to add up. Any future homes will require a large storage area. On the plus side, any future children will require very little clothing purchases...and I never have to rush out to get new clothes if they have a growth spurt and their clothes are suddenly all too small. Besides, by this point I'm hooked on playing the bargain game...I don't think I could go back if I tried!

A New Food Addiction

I've always had this (ridiculous in hindsight) notion that making homemade 'oven fries' was difficult and/or not worth the effort. Not really sure where it came from. So for years I have heated frozen fries in the oven; even now, when I make most things from scratch, frozen fries were one of my last "cheats", if you will. But the other night, I was craving fries and we were out, and since Trevor had a dinner business meeting, I made a small batch of oven fries for myself and the kids. I am so totally hooked! Minimal prep work, and only 10 minutes more in the oven than frozen fries. And a million times tastier, without worrying about chemicals and preservatives and all of those other evils.

So tonight I'm making my menu plan for the coming week, and am struggling not to list oven fries as the side dish to just about everything. *chuckle*

Close to Nature

I'm really enjoying living on this long, winding road facing the greenbelt...now that the weather is milder, we're starting to see all kinds of different birds out and about on our walks. During the cold spell, it was really only the chickadees and the ravens that were flitting around; now there are woodpeckers and assorted other more brightly coloured birds. I want to get a little "Birds of Alberta" book so that I can learn their names, so I can teach the kids.

Today at dusk, Trev called me to the playroom french doors so that I could see three deer peering into the sunroom of the house two doors down. The picture I took didn't turn out because of the lighting, but it would have been funny to have been in the sunroom to see the deer peeking in!

Ups and downs

I finally figured out what has been causing Connor's teething distress over the past four days/nights. It was very confusing because he has seven teeth in front, and while the eighth one was a slight bump, it wasn't nearly swollen enough to cause all that ruckus. Turns out that he had popped a molar! That was certainly unexpected. From the matching swelling on the other side, I would say he will have two molars before that eighth front tooth finally emerges. My theory is that his molars have decided he's eating so much solid food that he simply needs to be able to chew it!

On the plus side (pun intended), it's been above zero during the day for the past 2 days. Absolutely gorgeous weather (comparatively, anyway), and we've been taking full advantage of it. Many walks have been taken, as well as frolics in the backyard. We're bound to get another cold spell or two before the real spring hits, but as long as there are brief interludes like this one, we'll be just fine. The spring-like weather has given me new energy, and I've been organizing, cleaning, and starting new projects all over the place. The trick is not to start too many at the same time...let's hope I remember that. *grin*

The Canada Post letter carriers in Fort McMurray walked off the job on Friday, and I have a good half dozen parcels coming in the mail. *sigh* Not that I blame the posties, they've got some legitimate complaints, but I sure would like to get my hands on my packages. One of them is Connor's outfit for Jim and Carol's wedding, so I'm hoping they work this strike thing out quickly.

As a final positive point, things are looking good for a move to Calgary this spring/summer. Nothing final yet, but hopefully Trevor's next job will be sorted out in the next week or two. Having milder weather next winter and a few Chinooks here and there would be absolutely marvelous - that and being able to have an annual family membership at the Calgary Zoo.

Confidence

I deleted the post I wrote last night - it felt too much like boasting, and I was uncomfortable with that. I decided that enumerating my various accomplishments in order to convince myself that I wasn't wasting my time was just another form of insecurity.

I aspire instead to have not only the quiet confidence that I am living my life in a way that pleases my Lord, my husband, and myself, but also the humility to admit that all of the positive changes in my life are due not to my own feeble efforts, but to the grace of God. I may not have gotten there yet, but I'm trying.

Voila!

Here we are, folks. I'm still in the "It's too new, I'm not at all sure I like it" phase, so I won't comment on it yet. Give me a week or so. *weak smile*

Taking the Plunge

OK, the title may be overly dramatic, but I'm going in tomorrow to get my hair chopped, and it feels like a big deal to me (it always does). I've picked out a style I like, a chin-length bob with just a little bit of layering. I wanted to find something that still made me feel pretty, and it had to look feminine enough to look good with skirts and dresses, since I wear them a lot in the spring, summer and fall. Heck, I'd wear them in the winter too, but since I'm perpetually cold, I'd have to wear about three layers of skirts to keep warm. *grin*

I like long hair, I really truly do...but I'm just plain bored with it. It's been long for at least three years now, and I need a change. Besides, Connor is the same as Adara was in terms of liking to pull, play with and even eat my hair, so it's been up in a ponytail at least 90% of the time for months. So we'll try it out, and see if I like it once I get over that first week of freaking out every time I pass a mirror. Wish me luck!