Stockpile to the Rescue

Day 14 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

I started seriously couponing in June of 2009. A year later my cupboards were full, my pantry was bursting, I had added new shelving in the mudroom to handle my stockpile & I had purchased a used freezer for $60 when I could no longer put anything else into my regular freezer.

Not adhering to any stockpile plan, I was just happily accumulating food. It gave me great comfort to know I had 8 bottles of ketchup on the shelf when the last plffff from the open bottle was heard during a cookout. Before I started couponing, someone would have been running to the store…and probably more than once for such an occasion. And if it was husband who went to the store….OUCH!…someone would have to sell a kidney.

Sooooo….fast-forward to Fall of 2010. I found myself falling into a depression. Actually, I found myself suddenly in the depression. The 6 weeks prior to the end of 2010 and coming into the New Year, I didn’t coupon. I still collected my coupon fliers, but I never sat down once to go through my typical grocery routine. I ran to the store for milk, bread, coffee, and small things, but that was it. A weekly task that had been routine for more than a year was whisked away by my lack of desire to do it.

I knew I was missing sales…missing opportunities to buy things I needed to stock up on. But my Giva Dam was broken. I recognized it…tried to deal with it…and still the weeks went by and I didn’t coupon. I literally could not bring myself to do it.

Though in a funk, I took comfort in my stockpile. I had (have) plenty of food…everywhere. No one was going hungry because Mommy didn’t feel like grocery shopping. Imagine my added stress if I had to force myself to grocery shop during this difficult time. I would have been back to crawling in bed after every little task. That’s where I was a few years ago, so I know how bad it can get.

As much as it annoyed me that I couldn’t just jump back into being me, being able to shirk a few responsibilities for a time helped me work through the depression. I’m still not couponing like I was, but I’m working on it. I didn’t do too bad on my last trip to the store.

If you’re wondering what caused the depression…it’s hard to say. But Christmas stress and being in constant pain from RA are probably good guesses.

Anne-Marie

A Few of My Unfavorite Things: Movies I Hated

Day 13 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

This post will be short, but not very sweet. It’s a post about the movies that I have seen at the theater and absolutely HATED!

1st up: District 9
The movie would have better if it had no dialog at all. It practically had no dialog aside from the F-word, but no speaking at all would have been a significant improvement. Oh, by the way, we saw this when we went out for our anniversary date. At least dinner at 95 Cordova was worth remembering.

Next on my “movies I hated” list: Silent Hill
I routinely assure my kids that the fears of childhood fade as we become adults. The Freddy Krueger’s & Jason’s just don’t scare us like they used to because we have real fears to deal with like…politicians. AHHH! But it’s not just that I’m immune to scary movies, this movie was just not scary. It was weird, I’ll give it that. But, oh, such a waste of time & money.

We were on our way to the theater one night (it was my birthday), meeting a group of friends to share the evening with too, when my daughter in AZ called me. She asked what movie we were going to see. When I told her, she replied to the effect that the movie was pornographic. She had read the Plugged In online review. Since I wasn’t taking the kids, I hadn’t bothered to look up the reviews. And it was just another movie about a comic book. In hindsight, I guess it would have been nice to have been forewarned a lot sooner than when I was on the road of what The Blue Limpy Watchmen contained. Uh…yeah. Seriously? A scientist gets mutated & suddenly he can’t wear clothes…unless he’s in public, but yet the audience gets to see him in full-frontal blue limpy mode throughout the movie.

The blue limpy was only one of many things I hated about this movie. And it could have been such a great movie, but they just ruined it with all the in-your-face junk.

I’m shocked that I can only recall seeing 3 movies at the theater that I hated. I even asked my husband. He couldn’t think of anything else either. I supposed we’re pretty picky about the movies we see in the theater (and at home). We mostly go to the movies with the kids, so we I do a lot of research before we do take them to a movie.

What about you? What’s the worst movie you’ve seen in the theater?

Anne-Marie

A Few of My Favorite Things: BBC

Day 12 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t get British humour.” ? Or perhaps that’s you saying it now. In any case, today I’m going to share with you a few of my favorites from the BBC.

Once again, this all started with my husband. It’s always his fault. He’s used it. Anyway, he would talk about how much he enjoyed watching this British show “Waro” in years past. It sounded vaguely familiar…and old. Somehow he tracked it down even though the man had the wrong name…and we started watching Poirot. Perhaps, he used the little grey cells, no.

We had watched several episodes when all of a sudden it struck both my husband and me…Monk. We’ve never been able to confirm it, but Monk shares a lot of similarities with Poirot so we think there may be some Agatha Christie influence in Monk. There’s murder, mystery, quirky people in a historical setting…what’s not to like.

A friend of my husband’s often lends & borrows movies & series. A few years ago he shared his Cadfael collection with us. Murder, mystery, and a monk sleuth. He’s surrounded by the “When you find ‘em in the river, the cause of death is drownin” mentality seen in Sleepy Hollow. It’s medieval CSI.

Another series borrowed from previously mentioned husband’s friend was Chef!. I loved the first season of this show because it centered on the chef in his kitchen. Apparently they didn’t think that had enough depth to carry the show & wrote in all this horrible drama in the 2nd & 3rd seasons. There still are some great episodes all throughout.

Okay. Here it is. Bad, Anne-Marie, bad. But I have to say that my husband and I loved watching Coupling…yet another borrowed series from husband’s trouble-making friend. Yes, it is ABSOLUTELY not family-friendly. We locked ourselves in our bedroom to watch the series…all 28 episodes.

So there’s a few of my favorite things from the BBC. Do you have any BBC favorites?

Anne-Marie

A Few of My Favorite Things: Old Movies

Day 11 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

I’ll admit I wasn’t too excited when my husband started ordering movies from the 1930′s on our Netflix account. But it wasn’t long before the whole family eagerly piled on the leather sofa in family room to watch these old movies.

My absolute favorite movie series from the 1930′s is Nancy Drew. Bonita Granville plays Nancy with such excitement. She’s simply awesome! There is just so much to love from these movies that today’s audiences would be demanding more movies. Sadly, they only made four. But they are such a treasure.

Nancy Drew: Detective (Nov 1938)
Nancy Drew: Reporter (Feb 1939)
Nancy Drew: Trouble Shooter (June 1939)
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (Sept 1939)

Charlie Chan has become a family favorite. How many children do you know personally who rave about a 1930′s character?

Technically, he’s not a 1930′s character. The character’s first appearance in a “talkie” was in 1929. Prior to that he had been in silent movies & featured in mystery novels by author Earl Derr Biggers as early as 1925.

Nonetheless, there were 21 Charlie Chan movies from 1931-1939 alone….and many more to follow. IMDB has a list of all the
Charlie Chan Movies.

Next up, Peter Lorre’s Mr. Moto. He is another crime-solving character. It’s interesting to note that Mr. Moto predates Casablanca. All of the Peter Lorre, Mr. Moto movies were made in the 1930′s.

Last, but not least, The Thin Man. More murder-mystery from the 1930′s with awesomely fun dialog between Mr. & Mrs. Charles. Hmmm…IMDB has an “in production” listing for The Thin Man in 2013. With so many remake failures & flops, talk about hard shoes to fill.

So, what about you? What are your favorite old movies?

Anne-Marie

Smile

Day 9 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

Post a Day 2011 – Topic 4: Share something that makes you smile

If you could only see & hear the things that make me smile, you might smile too.

My children, my cats, my husband on occasion, and life in general make me smile.

When I think of “smiling”, I think of laughing. I rarely smile without laughing. If it brings a smile to my face, laughter often follows. I love to laugh and my life is full of opportunities to laugh.

Children asking questions, dressing up, drawing, being creative beyond belief, belting out made-up songs while putting on a ‘show’ in the living room.

Cats sleeping in contorted positions, snuggling with children, with us, with each other, finding lost cats in armoires and dresser drawers, meows at 4am that say ‘I’m lonely’, ‘I’m hungry’, or ‘I want my litterbox cleaned’, cat races in the middle of the night, bird-watching from window sills, lizard-chasing.

My husband saying he’s never buying another video game, never playing WoW again, and will ask before he spends any money.

It also makes me smile to bring others to full-out laughter. My kids have asked why I’m so funny. Would you rather I cry? They don’t yet appreciate my humor. Maybe someday.

Anne-Marie

Most Important Accomplishment of 2010

Day 8 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

Post a Day 2011 – Topic 3: What’s the single most important thing you accomplished in 2010?

Hmmm. That’s a tough one. Sometimes just waking up before noon is an accomplishment.

By the wisdom and grace of God, my greatest personal accomplishment in 2010 was paying off 7 debts.

At the beginning of 2010, I looked to pay off 4 debts by the end of the year. Using the financial knowledge God gave me, I made a plan to attack the first debt. Then the 2nd. Then the 3rd.

Then God wow’d us by giving us an unexpected financial blessing to payoff a new debt we had acquired out of necessity in the midst of paying off these other debts.
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By the end of the year, we had paid of 3 more debts.

We’re still making plans, aggressively attacking our remaining debt, and looking ahead to the future when we will be debt free. Future looks brighter than ever.

Anne-Marie

Credit He Deserves

Day 8 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

Post a Day 2011 – Topic 2: Name someone who deserves more credit than they get.

GOD.

He created everything…the wondrous universe, the earth and everything in it.
Man deems all Creation an “accident’.
He breathed the breath of life into man.
Man scoffs at His rules for living a satisfying life, calls Him a tyrannt.
He’s called “imaginary” by those who imagine Mother Nature.
Man understands about 10% of the human brain, but thinks himself smart enough to judge God, call Him unfair unjust, a murderer, and a liar.
He provided a way to restore the broken relationship between man and Himself.
God came to Earth.
Man did not recognize Him.
God died for man’s sins.
He rose from the dead, conquering the grave.

God does not get the credit He deserves.

Still, He loves us.
He offers Salvation to us through the death & resurrection of His Son, should we accept His precious sacrificial gift.
His is Holy, Just, Merciful, Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent.

And still, man does not give God the credit He deserves.

Anne-Marie

World Traveler – Not

Day 7 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

Post a Day 2011 – Topic 1: List three countries you’d like to visit, and why you want to go.

Seriously, I find a good portion of this world very creepy. Don’t hate me. I’m only being honest.

It’s not the people of the world that creep me out, it’s the evil dictators and oppressive governments. This world would be a much better place without the few high-minded elitists that ruin life for everyone else. What kind of creep forces people to live in squalor while he lives in opulence? Too many creeps! The only thing standing in between prosperity and the rest of the world are those creeps…and the long-engrained creepy mentalities that keep the people from rising against the weasels. People are only hungry & poor in this world because of the creeps.

That said, there are 3 countries I would like to visit: Scotland, Australia, and Lichtenstein.

Why Scotland?

Men in kilts with thick Scottish accents.
I was single once.

Why Australia?

Sunbathing at Christmas & men with thick Australian accents.
When I was single, I was able to wear a bikini without scaring or scarring anyone.

Why Lichtenstein?</em

It’s a possible location of my ancestors.

Is it obvious? I’ll never be a globe-trotting, jet-setter. I have close to zero ambition to travel outside the USA. I’ve been to Canada and Mexico, so it’s not that I’ve never been outside the country. But I guess I’m just happy at home in the USA.

Anne-Marie

Missing #FF & #FollowFriday

Day 6 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking http://wp.me/pkiy5-hc

Yes. I’m missing #FF & #FollowFriday. That’s both missing it as in literally not participating because of the 21 Day Fast, but also missing it because I’m usually good about replying with a Thank You to those who mention me. So, if you mentioned me today & I didn’t reply, you can read more about the fast I’m doing at the above link.

Until February 4th, my #FF #FollowFriday friends.

Anne-Marie
@mom2giqm

Posting Challenge

Day 5 – My 21 Day Fast from Social Networking

I was pretty excited to see the WordPress Post A Day Challenge. I’ve been needing something to motivate me toward posting more regularly. There’s even an optional daily topic posted at The Daily Post. This is a bit more ambitious than my 21 schedule posts in a short amount of time during my social networking fast, but it’s very intriguing.

Since I’m starting a few days late, I’m going to look the previous topics over and see if I can use some of them to help me with these 21 posts I’m trying to turn out.

Maybe you’ve been wanting to post more on your blog. Check it out. Nothing to lose and only inspiration to gain.

Anne-Marie