Today was a good wheeling and dealing day. I got all this stuff for 60 cents, including the stamp I need to mail in my rebate! And I didn't even set foot in a CVS!



I implore you to get in on some of these deals. Duh, they're free! (except tax) Free after rebate right now:

Walgreens (now through end of February):
Garnier Fructis shampoo or conditioner
Chapstick Naturals (costs $2, $2 coupon for next purchase spits out at register)
Clear Care contact solution convenience pack
Maybelline Lip Seduction lip gloss/lip plumper
Softsoap Spa Radiant body wash
Venus Embrace razor (my stores were both sold out)
Speed Stick 24/7 deodorant

Rite Aid (now through Saturday, different items each week):
Garnier Shine Burst shampoo or conditioner

Nice thing for all y'alls is that no special coupons are needed to get in on the action. Of course having manufacturers coupons sweetens the deal (they covered my snacks, makeup, and tax). Just be sure to pick up the booklet and/or flier in-store to make sure you purchase the exact product specified. And for Walgreens you will need the rebate form inside the red booklet. Happy wheeling and dealing.

How is this for a mass of cattens? Snorgle, snorgle, snorgle!

The topic in the forefront of all of our (mine and Ryan's) minds? The garden shed. The rinky-dink metal hut we received with the house is dented up big time and starting to rust. I'm determined to build a cute shed that matches the house: white with light blue trim, gray roof. We bought a book on building sheds and made blueprints. It's going to be 6' x 8'. Then we made a parts list and headed to Lowe's and Home Depot to price it out.

It's going to cost almost $700 :-O That is, unless I can find helpful blog readers (cough cough). I need a volunteer (or volunteers!) to go here and request a coupon to be sent to you, then mail it on to me. Various CVS goodies await for willing participants :) Then the shed will "only" cost $630 :/

In other news, I made roast beef for the first time last night. It turned out perfectly. But now when I see Choco running around I picture a beef roast with a head, tail, and four legs. Especially with his ample midsection. I've taken to calling him "Roast Beefs."

Ryan picked out his wedding band yesterday and will be ordering it as soon as he gets sized today. I have to admit, it's so cool that I almost wish I were a guy. Not only is it only $54.99, but I get 7% cash back by buying through a link from SquishyCash. On top of the normal 1.5% from my Discover card :) We have to make sure that he gets sized properly because tungsten carbide has a melting point of 6100 Fahrenheit (!) and cannot be resized. It's also highly scratch resistant (8.5-9.5 on Mohs hardness scale!). I told you it was so cool.

Our wedding invitations have been shipped and should arrive Monday or Tuesday. It was kind of crazy looking at the online proofs, like, "Wow, I guess we're actually getting married, huh?" They of course look more official than our DIY save-the-dates.

I also ordered part of our favors yesterday. The other part is DIY and ribbon/etc to jazz up the presentation. I'm keeping what they are a secret, though. But they're related to us, not boring or overdone yet also tie into old-timey wedding tradition, useful, and attractive. And to top it off, not expensive but have a practical value that far exceeds the purchase price. I'm just too clever.

My birthday was pretty boring, but I didn't feel like doing much. We got a housepla- oops, not supposed to discuss. What I did feel like doing was going to Wegmans for wokery and a mini ultimate chocolate cake. Supposedly Ryan's dad is shipping me some new pods for the Aerogar- nevermind. Sigh, most of what I'm thinking about these days is the forbidden subject.

Here's a cute picture, just because:

I spent $280 at Wegmans today. Bet that's higher than any of all y'alls; definitely shattered my personal record. That was the deposit for the wedding flowers. Yup, the ones we had our consultation for last August. I'm just a little slow getting things done nowadays.

I started with a new therapist this week since the one at school "nicely" kicked me out (aka suggested that it would be more appropriate that since I'm not on student status, plus it would be closer to my house). Comedic highlights:

Her: "So where does your family live?"
Me: "Washington state."
Her: "Wow. You couldn't really have chosen anywhere farther away. Unless maybe you moved to the Jersey shore or something."

Her: "So, your fiance- is he an ecologist too?"
Me: "If he was we wouldn't have just bought a house."

My birthday present from Ryan showed up today. But I can't discuss it here, as per rules established in my previous post.

I started a gardening blog today. It's aimed at other gardeners, so there won't be any inside jokes or help wanted ads for housesitters, but in case you're interested, it's here.

If you're not interested, then you're also in luck, because all the gardening talk will take place there instead of here.

Sigh. I wish it were spring and I could get started on the outdoor garden. The Aerogrow herbs are 0.5-2 inches tall right now. I keep staring at them and it's like watching paint dry. I mean, they're growing fast by plant standards, but I'm impatient.

Gardening and CVSing are all I'm interested in doing these days. Unfortunately I'm not very interested in wedding planning. We should probably sign with the caterer and florist soon, though. Not to mention find an officiant. I hate calling places and playing phone tag. Ugh.

I'm taking this semester and summer off from school, having gone off the rails of the crazy train and all. Well, the spring off was my idea, but apparently then you automatically take summer off too. There's no way I could be an effective student these days. It's going to be nice once I can get out into the garden, but for now I've got cabin fever. I'm going to pick up an application to volunteer with the kitties at Petsmart in the next few days. No school also means no stipend, so I feel extra compelled to do some heavy duty slickdealing. I thought about some substitute teaching a couple days a week, but I'm not ready for it yet.

Ryan and I did plan out our honeymoon, although we haven't booked anything yet. We're spending 2 nights in Cancun followed by 4 nights in Cozumel. On the mainland we'll being going to Chichen Itza and Xcaret. On Cozumel we'll dive for two full days then do miscellaneous sightseeing, snorkeling, or relaxing since you can't dive the day before you fly. I am looking forward to the honeymoon.

Speaking of which, if anyone has some free time in the first week of June and doesn't want to spend money on a wedding gift, how about being a housesitter for us for two or three (or four...) days? You can snorgle the kitties to your heart's content and raid our cabinets for snacks. Mainly I'm worried about my garden not getting watered for a week. (The cats are self-sufficient with enough food, water, and litterboxes). It would suck if it was a hot week and I came back from the honeymoon to find a backyard full of dead plants. You have plenty of time to think about it :P