Ink Happens

Most people that know me know I don't leave the house too often - especially in the winter.......and it seems like when I do leave, weird stuff happens. LOL

So - my day started out with Jason calling me from Old Navy (mind you, I had planned on going there later in the day myself.....grrrrr.....). They were having a huge sale - all the clearance stuff was an additional 50% off......AWESOME! The kids are always needing new clothes and this is the time to stock up. The stores are practically giving stuff away to get it out of the store so why not take advantage of it?! So anyways - he comes home with 3 bags of clothes - chuck full! We added it up and it was nearly $450 worth of clothes and he only paid $76!!!! Whoo hoo! Not to mention, he did pretty good - there was only one thing I didn't like but Logan loved it so that's all that matters......I still can't believe we were able to get Old Navy jeans for $5 each......crazy!

When he got home, I got ready to go to the movies with the girls.....there were 7 of us total and it's a good thing my Mom was smart and got the tickets ahead of time - the line was super loooooong........I paid my $11.25 for popcorn and soda and we were on our way..........We got decent seats..........at least I thought we did........until the big mouth behind me started talking..........and didn't stop the entire movie! She narrated the whole thing, she read any words that came up on screen - she even guessed what was going to happen next. At one point I very loudly told her to "Zip It!" but she didn't..........Erin and I joked the entire time about how it was a good thing we couldn't read........I think we were partially deaf by the end of the movie.

Now - I'm reluctantly telling this part of the story because I don't want to come across as prejudice - but all of us - not just Erin & I - Amy too - thought for sure when we turned around that she'd be a heavy set black woman. Imagine our surprise when she was a skinny white girl - man, did she have a set of pipes on her.......the WHOLE theatre could hear her! She was soooooo annoying.

Ticket to see "Bride Wars" - $7.00
Popcorn & Soda - $11.25
Listening to someone narrate the whole movie - Priceless!

After the movie was over, I headed back to my house to drop Amy & Kate off and then decided to go back to Target. I took Floral Drive as I always do as a short-cut to get to Target. I was coming around the first curve and I said to my Aunt - what's up with that car? I don't think it belongs over there.........Well, it didn't! It was on my side of the road - 3 FEET OFF THE GROUND - on TOP of the snowbank - completely off the road - in the field. He must have just done it because I was the first one to stop.......

I pulled over and he was just getting out of his car and he had this "How the heck do I get out of this one" look on his face. It was all down-hill for him from there. He was Mexican - spoke very little English and had Arizona liscense plates on his car........he was not Military so I have no clue what he was doing out there on that road. I asked him if he was ok and if he wanted me to call someone for help. He went to the car and got a post-it note with the name & number of his 'friend'.......now mind you, when I write down my friend's phone number, I don't put their full name and I don't put the area-code plus phone number on the paper. Now, since he had Arizona plates, we'll let the area code thing slide..........but I got the impression that he didn't know his friend..........

We tried to call the number but no one answered and at this point, I didn't know what else to do but call 911 - there was NO way he was getting that car down without a tow-truck and quite frankly, I didn't think to call my friend Ricky that drives a tow-truck.......I thought - accident - you must call the police. As the guy is grabbing some papers from the front seat of his car and hiding them in his trunk, I call 911..............even though he clearly didn't want me to - but No Hablo Espanol - so he was SOL.............

For some reason - unbeknownst to me - I made him get in my car to wait for the police. What the hell was I thinking? He could have had a knife or gun.........silly me! He begged me to drive him to Wal-Mart to get his friend to get him off the snow bank but since I had already called the police, I coudln't do that.......I had to sit and wait - much to his dismay! After about 10 minutes and a whole lot of sighing from the back seat, the State Trooper finally arrived. The guy did NOT want to get out to talk to the police because he had just informed me - HE HAD NO LISCENSE!!! Ugh - why didn't you tell me that earlier??? I ended up getting out and leaving my Aunt alone in the van with him - sorry Aunt Donna! - and went to talk to the trooper. I told him how the guy was Mexican, spoke very little English, had no license and was reallllllllly nervous.......The trooper told me thanks and said well, he shouldn't have been going so fast then..........lol. I completely forgot to tell him about the stuff he hid in the trunk but I wasn't pushing it.........the guy was already having a bad day - why make it worse? The trooper walked with me back up to the van and knocked on the door but the guy wouldn't get out......lol.....Unlucky for him, I have an automatic slide door and opened it for him. At this point, logic was kicking in and I decided him being in my car wasn't the best idea........I wanted to stick around to see what happened but I high tailed it out of there.....I had all I could do NOT to peel away.......lol

After that, we ended up meeting my Mom at Pier 1 - she needed opinions on something and thought she was going to score my Aunt's coupon......NOT! Now normally I avoid Pier 1 like the plague because I could go crazy in there but I was dragged in (kicking and screaming of course)........ Anyways - I got the cutests plates for $1.18 each. Anyone that knows me knows I LOVE tableware! I buy a new set of dishes almost every year - I buy the cheap ones so I don't feel bad about switching them out. I think in the last 8 years, I have had at least 6 sets of dishes - not to mention our every day fine china - aka those cheap plastic plates from Wal-Mart. I just love dishes....what can I say? The only set that's stuck around and will continue to stick around is my clear glass plates......They're pretty versatile so I think I'll keep those.

My cute new plates - just dessert size - but that's ok.......I liked them a LOT!

On a bad note, I did find a set of dishes I realllllly liked but at about $20 per place setting - there was no way I was going to make that commitment (I need to have at least 8 sets).......now, if they were to go on sale for say - 50% off, I may just have to consider taking the plunge!

This is the first set I realllllllllllly liked..................

And this is the other one that I just liked.......

Anyways - after we left there, we went to Target where I found many more great deals on clothes for the kids! Caleb made out like a bandit - 7 shirts, 5 sweat shirts and 2 pairs of sweat pants - all for $24.19!!! Ben got a bathrobe, jeans and a shirt, 3 sweat shirts, a pair of sweat pants and 3 turtlenecks for $20.90............ Logan got a hoodie and a bathrobe for $8.50. I was happy because they had a pair of my favorite black khaki's on clearance for $10 too! Yeah me! All in all at Target, I got $215 worth of clothes for $63.59! I saved about 70% overall......whoo hoo!

Total for the day - $650 in clothes for $140.......An overall savings of 75%! Check out the loot!

I got the green light to start moving some of my stuff back in. Tomorrow we'll put up the crown molding and put the hot water baseboard covers on and then I need to do a little touch up paint and go to Lowe's to get the iron-on end caps for my counters and then we'll be done.......well, done enough to start living in here again. We still need to build my bookcases and paper storage but that can wait until the floors get done in the family room (once they are done, I'll have less dirt/dust on my floor so I can put the last coat of poly on it.....)

Can I just say, "I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new counters! We cut the back splash off and I'm so glad we did......it doesn't look so kitcheney in here now.......it looks like a home office.....Dontcha just love my chair too? lol......it came out so cute!

I have to admit - my dh is really jealous of my space - and rightfully so - it's AWESOME!!! It's so nice for everyone else to see what I envisioned in my head....

Just getting started.........

The counters are in and the beadboard is going up............

My fancy leg..........I really like it a lot.......looks more table/desk like rather than kitchen like....

I had to go outside to take these shots - it's hard to get a shot from this side of the room so going outside is much easier!