Commissary Courtesies

A simple guide to Commissary Courtesies

1. When moving through the store, use the basic rules of traffic that good drivers use. Stay on the right side of the aisle. Pass on the left. Stop and look at intersections. If you are shopping with other people, you should either walk single file or spread out in the store. Three or more people walking abreast always seem to be the slowest moving individuals.

2. When not in motion, keep carts and humans together. If you are looking at an item, have your cart right next to you and up against the shelves so that other shoppers do not need to squeeze between your body and your diagonally parked cart.

3. Visit with your friends somewhere else. Yes I realize you haven't seen your husband's Msgt's wife since the last Ball, but the small aisles of the commissary are NOT the place to catch up.

4. If you change your mind about an item, you don't have to walk all the way back to the section where you picked it up. You can give it to the clerk at checkout and one of the store employees will get it back to its appropriate spot. Leaving the package of pork chops on top of the toilet paper results in a loss for the store and higher prices we all pay in compensation.

5. Take unhappy or misbehaving children out of the store until they are calm. The clerk at the front counter will keep an eye on your partially filled cart until you return. If your kids are extra rowdy today, perhaps you should take them home. If you have 4 kids and know you won't be able to control them all while shopping. Here's an idea, wait till your husband gets off work and leave them at home so you can go shopping alone.

6. Once you get in a line, you are done shopping. No fair leaving your cart to dash back after one more thing, or to send someone else to get it while you hold the place in line. If it is that important, you must leave the line and then rejoin after you have everything you need.

7. Speaking of lines, when using the express lanes an item is one bag, one box or one package. A plastic produce bag containing four oranges is one item. Twenty-five boxes of frozen Salisbury steak dinners are twenty-five items.

8. If you are paying for your groceries with a check, please fill out the date and the name of the store while the person ahead of you is being served. Waiting for the clerk to give you the total before even taking the checkbook out of your purse is stealing time from the people waiting behind you.

9. Tip the baggers. They work SOLELY off tips. No you don't have to give them $5... Something as small as a dollar or the change you dig out of the bottom of your purse will be fine for just bagging your groceries. Also, if you know you don't have any cash to tip them, DO NOT let them take your bags to you car for you. When doing so, you really need to pay them a dollar on top of whatever you were going to tip them in the commissary.

10. Finally if you take your own groceries to your car, you need to return your cart to the designated area. The commissary doesn't have parking lot attendants like regular grocery stores. Please do this as a curtisy to others.

Mt. Trashmore

Yes you heard me right, "Mount Trashmore". We spent Sunday visiting this cute city park located in Virginia Beach. Although it will probably be our last visit, just due to over crowding... I have to say, this abandoned landfill turned city park really did surprise me. This supposedly World-renowned park spans 165 acres, with the hill standing over 60 feet high, and over 800 feet long. The park was actually built by converting a local abandoned landfill into the pristine recreational area it is today. The park, touted to be the first of its kind worldwide, was conceived during the 1960s and opened to the public in 1973. Units of trash and clean soil, compacted to a density of 100 pounds per cubic foot, form the mountain. The layers of dirt and trash were further compacted with bulldozers, and covered under an additional 6 feet of clean soil. Recently, the mountain was covered with rubber to prevent water runoff and ground water contamination. Since trash emits methane gas (a flammable gas) as it decomposes, the creators of the park made seven locations at the ground level for methane gas to escape. Chemical analysis of the soil is done regularly to determine if any contamination is present.

Skate, skate, skate...

So Ms. Makayla learned how to skate today. She seemed to really like it, only fell once and got right back up. She was just too cute with all her pads on... Unfortunatly her helmet was WAY too big. The smallest size I could find was 3-5 years old... And apparently, although she's as tall as a 3 year old... She doesn't have the head size of one.

Memorial Day Parade

Portsmouth’s 124th annual Memorial Day Parade
The nation's oldest annually held parade

In Flanders fields

In Flanders Fields
By John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

(Photo by Stephanie: Hampton National Cemetery, Hampton VA)

Pungo Strawberry Festival

So we kicked off Memorial Day weekend by spending the day at the "Pungo Strawberry Festival". Not sure why we hadn't been to that area of Virginia Beach before... It was actually really cute. Five minutes from the beach, and maybe 10 minutes from Down Town... But you totally got the "small farm town" feel. Makayla had TONS of fun! The place was beyond packed. Makayla made friends with "the pig man" who let her in the pig's pen to pet the, rather large, pig. She ate a whole grilled corn and half my strawberry smoothie... Kept asking for the kettle corn we saw everybody walking around with, but we never did find that vendor, so the poor thing had to go without. And then was all for going with some stranger who asked her to go dance at one of the outdoor stages. She's the short one with the white hat on in the picture on the left. This is defiantly one even we're going to be sure to attend for the remainder of our stay here in Virginia.

Not sure what to think...

Ok, so I "know someone" who JUST found out they're pregnant with their 4th child... So what's the problem you ask? They have a 2 year old, a 1 year old and a infant that's less then 2 months old. I don't wanna ask, but from what I can figure she got pregnant with EACH of the kids no more then a month after having the previous one.

Umm... I don't wanna say "you'd think at some point they'd learn" cuz ya know every babie's a blessing weather they were planned or not... BUT 4 kids in 3 and a half years? That's crazy! I think I'd defiantly have to go on birth control or have my husband fixed or sumthin.

Good thing I’m not a fan of Mars to begin with

Got a sweet tooth? Think twice before picking up a Mars candy bar! You should know that candymaker Mars, Inc.—creator of M&M's, Snickers, Twix, Dove, Three Musketeers, Starburst, Skittles, and other candies—funds deadly animal tests, even though there are more reliable human studies and not one of the tests is required by law.

Mars recently funded a deadly experiment on rats to determine the effects of chocolate ingredients on their blood vessels. Experimenters force-fed the rats by shoving plastic tubes down their throats and then cut open the rats' legs to expose an artery, which was clamped shut to block blood flow. After the experiment, the animals were killed. Mars has also funded cruel experiments in which mice were fed a candy ingredient and forced to swim in a pool of a water mixed with white paint. The mice had to find a hidden platform to avoid drowning, only to be killed and dissected later on. In yet another experiment supported by Mars, rats were fed cocoa and anesthetized with carbon dioxide so that their blood could be collected by injecting a needle directly into their hearts, which can lead to internal bleeding and other deadly complications.

..
Learn more at MarsCandyKills.com.

Tell Candymaker Mars Inc. to Drop Deadly Animal Tests!

Mars' Heartless Animal Experiments

Not one of Mars' experiments on animals is required by law. Even so, Mars has paid experimenters to kill untold numbers of animals in tests:

• Mars recently funded an experiment on rats at the University of California, San Francisco, to determine the effect of chocolate ingredients on the animals' blood vessels, even though the experimenter admitted that studies have already been done using humans. Experimenters force-fed the rats by shoving plastic tubes down their throats and then cut open the rats' legs to expose an artery, which was clamped shut to block blood flow. After the experiment, the animals were killed.
• Mars funded a deadly experiment on mice that was published in a 2007 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience in which mice were fed flavanols (phytochemicals that are found in chocolate) and forced to swim in a pool of water mixed with white paint to hide a submerged platform, which the mice had to find in order to avoid drowning, only to be killed and dissected later on.
• In one experiment supported by Mars and conducted by the current Mars, Inc., endowed chair in developmental nutrition at the University of California, Davis, rats were fed cocoa and anesthesized with carbon dioxide so that blood could be collected by a needle injected directly into the heart—a procedure criticized by U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher Dr. William T. Golde, who notes: "This is not a simple method. … Missing the heart or passing the needle completely through the heart could lead to undetected internal bleeding or other complications."
• Mars supported a cruel experiment to learn how a chocolate ingredient called PQQ affects metabolism by cramming baby mice into 200-milliliter Plexiglas metabolic chambers—around half the size of a 12-ounce soda can—and then submerging the chamber for nearly five hours in a chilled water bath, inducing labored breathing in the distressed mice. Experimenters then shoved tubes down the mice's throats every day for 10 days to force-feed them the PQQ, after which they were killed and cut up for analysis.
• Mars funded a test in which experimenters forced rabbits to eat a high-cholesterol diet with varying amounts of cocoa, then cut out and examined tissue from the rabbits' primary blood vessel to the heart to determine the effect of cocoa on rabbits' muscle tissue.
• Mars supported a test in which experimenters attached plastic tubes to arteries in guinea pigs' necks and injected cocoa ingredients into their jugular veins to examine the effect of cocoa ingredients on their blood pressure.

Tell Candymaker Mars Inc. to Drop Deadly Animal Tests!

What’s wrong with some people?

So I found this on the Va.Bch SPCA's website... Honestly, I thought this was just an isolated thing. I didn't realize it was so wide spread throughout the military that the actual SPCA would need to issue a statement for it. I think it's absolutely pathetic that some people treat animals like this! I really don't see how it's even possible. We've had Mo for almost 4 years, and he's been a part of the family since day one, and there's no way, how much I may dislike him some times, and even though he may unconvinced me a lot of the time, that I'd ever actually get rid of him. But I've seen people who, like the SPCA said, "seem to view SPCA's as animal libraries". They get a dog, keep it for a few weeks, and then "return it" cuz they "don't like it" ...Or go get a couple dogs and then just give them away after a couple years because "they just can't deal with them anymore" or they inconvenienced them. And then it's even worse when it's the same people doing this over and over again... And they're not even phased by it. I mean how can you NOT be completely broken hearted by giving away a family pet? I don't know, crap like this just urks me. I hate those few people who give a bad name to the general military. Anywayz, here's the article.

Military Information

The Military often gets a bad rap when it comes to pets. Many in the animal sheltering business consider military families to be "risky" adopters. The truth is, there are many military families who are extremely conscientious about their animals. In fact, some of our best volunteers and supporters are active duty military personnel and their spouses. But this does not negate the fact that some other military pet owners take less responsibility for their pets. Some even seem to view SPCA's as animal libraries, where they can turn in their pet at the end of a tour, and simply check out a new one at an SPCA wherever they are stationed next.

The real problem, just as it is with the civilian community, is a lack of education about pet reponsibility, and an even bigger lack of information about how to meet that responsibility, especially when faced with last-minute moves and other challenges unique to the military community. For this reason, we have put together a couple of links that we think will be helpful to military animal lovers. If you come across other useful information for this section, please email it to specialprojects@vbspca.com, and we will add it to this page for your colleagues.

Military Stats

In the year 2000, the Virginia Beach SPCA received
348 adult dogs, 213 puppies, 298 adult cats, and 199 kittens from military personnel.

That's 1,058 canines and felines out of the 4,844 total we received, or roughly 22 percent.

In the same year, we adopted 179 dogs, 203 puppies, 143 cats and 187 kittens into military homes -- 712 out of 2,544, or about 28 percent.

558 of the 1,102 military personnel who turned in an animal in the year 2000 (including those who brought in "other" animals such as rabbits, gerbils, etc.), left a contribution for the care of their animals. That's 50 percent, compared with 36 percent of civilians who left a "receiving" contribution.

Those 558 military personnel left a grand total of $14,415.07, for an average donation of $25.83. That compares with an average receiving donation from civilians of $25.85.

http://vbspca.com/modules/vbspcaadvice/item.php?itemid=3

Veet = No bueno for Stephanie

I've never used those Veet or Nair type products before... Well a couple days ago I figured I'd check out this Veet stuff since I keep seeing commercials for it... See if it really works... So I go a day with out shaving and test a small patch on the back of my leg... No problems... So after not shaving again yesterday, I go to take a shower this morning, but before, I smear this crap all over both my legs... I wait 4 minutes (the box recommended 4-6 mins) and I use this weird plastic scraper thing to start to remove it... WOW. Umm, so my legs started randomly bleeding... Like all over... So I jump in the shower and wash the rest of the crap off as fast as I can... And now here I sit... More hen 12 hrs later, and my legs still burn... The moral of my story... Veet sucks.

Found me a vegitarian sausage recipe...

I'm sure at some point i'll try this one... Doesn't look too hard, I just need to get my hands on some "nutritional yeast flakes" ...whatever they are.

Spicy Italian Vegetarian Sausages
Makes 8 links

2 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup chickpea flour
2 tbsp Bills Best Chik’Nish Seasoning (if using another brand which is salty, or saltier than Bill’s Best, you’ll want to greatly reduce the amount you use)
2 tbsp granulated onion
1 to 2 tbsp fennel seed, optional
2 tsp coarsely ground pepper, preferably freshly ground
2 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp dried chili flakes, optional
1 tsp ground smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground allspice
2 1/4 cups cool water*
6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp soy sauce

1. In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Whisk together the water, garlic, olive oil and soy sauce and using a fork, gently stir into the dry ingredients. Stir just until ingredients are mixed. If dough mixture is too dry, you can add another tablespoon of water or as needed.
2. Scoop 1/2 cup dough mixture at a time and shape into logs. Place logs on piece of aluminum foil and roll up, twisting ends. Place sausages in steamer and steam for 30 minutes. Once sausages have cooled, remove from foil and refrigerate until ready to eat. After cooling, the sausages may feel a bit dry on the outside. Don’t worry, as they will soften and firm up considerably after chilling.

Variation: You can shape the dough into little patties instead of links. If you don’t want to use aluminum foil, you can wrap the links in damp muslin or tea towel and tie ends with cotton twine.

Copyright © 2008 Julie Hasson

Frugal Fridays: Why You Should Shop at Thrift Stores

1. Books, books, books! Where else can you get books for 25 or 10 cents? Beats paying $12 for them at those large chain book shops.

2. Snow gear on the cheap...I know here in NJ you just never know what kind of winter weather Mother Nature has in store for us. I remember foot after foot of snow when I was a kid, but thanks to global warming we only get an inch or two at a time now...sometimes it happens once, some years it happens twice. Not a reason to pay more than a few bucks for snow boots or snow pants in my opinion.

3. They have the biggest selection of bags I've ever seen. Want to go green and stop using plastic shopping bags? You could pay up to $10 per bag for fancy hemp ones at the grocery store or you get tote bags for 25 cents a piece. Did you ever wonder what happens to all of those promotional bags companies print up and give out...well the thrift store must be promo bag heaven!

4. Target castoffs! That's right, Target clothing and household goods, new with tags. The stuff that goes on clearance and then disappears from the stores often ends up at Goodwill Stores. I bought my Easter dress there, new with tags, for just $3 folks.

5. Kids' shoes. The tops of the racks in my favorite thrift shop is dotted with collections of children's shoes in an array of sizes, new with tags, from various stores. I guess they manufactured too many of them or they weren't big sellers, but for $1 a pair who cares why?

6. They can help you start up a new hobby...collecting! A few of my friends love the thrill of the hunt, searching for new pieces for their collections, be it old 45 albums or Lenox pieces.

7. Halloween costumes. Each October thrift stores fill up with tons of costumes and accessories for Halloween. Who really likes paying $30 for something worn one night?

8. Clothes for kids who grow way too fast. My son has a knack for changing sizes on us mid-season. Oh how I adore shopping for a new wardrobe for him twice in one season...not!

9. VHS galore! If you still have a VCR, then you will love thrift stores. They are a haven for tapes discarded by people who went Blue Ray.

10. Baskets abound! For 10 to 75 cents you can find a variety of sizes of baskets. We use them around the house for organizing stuff. You can pick some up for Easter and spray paint them in pretty pastel hues, too!

11. Fill a bag day! Many of them have days where you can bring a brown grocery bag full to the brim for just $5.

12. Catch some sales! Yes, even the thrift store has sales. Most of the ones I shop at color code their price tags. When they have a sale they might say all blue or yellow tagged items are 50% off.

13. First apartment dwellers. Know someone getting their first place? Take them here and treat them to dishes, glasses, pots and pans, a tv, a coffee maker, or even a table on the cheap!

Whyyyyyyy

Why can I not find vegan Italian Sausages?

I desperatly want to make Vegitarian Sausage and Pappers AND Gumbo... I already got the mock ground beef, chik'n strips and noq all I need is the damn Italian Sausage.

Neighborhood Watch

So this is soooooo ridiculous, this damn housing complex is being run by a bunch of idiots.

So we had a Neighborhood Watch meeting tonight cuz of all the break ins and car thefts we've had... Well come to find out, first of all, everyone that had their houses broken into, it was cuz SOMEONE had a key... THEN everyone was wondering why we have sliding glass doors with key holes on them but no locks... No one can answer that question... All the office knows is that the construction company never gave them the keys. Then people start telling different stories about how they'd come home from work and find contractors in their backyards, or they'd see contractors constantly peeking over their back fences... And even one lady who had witnessed the head contractor making lude comments at her 14 year old daughter... She said her 14 yr old and 9 yr old called her a couple weeks ago at work screaming that there was a contractor in the back yard banging on the sliding glass door demanding that the girls let him in... She called 911 who never responded. Then complained to the housing office who said that this guy had the right to be there cuz he was a contractor (even though he was doing no work on her house). Oh and as far as calling 911... Everyone's found that that's completely pointless cuz NO ONE ever responds, partially because the city thinks it's the military jurisdiction, but the military thinks it's the city's jurisdiction, but also because this is a fairly new complex and the address for some reason haven't been put in the FD and PD's GPS' yet.

UGH, so then people are complaining about teenagers who have been roaming the neighborhood and vandalizing stuff, then when you confront the parents you just get threatened and bitched out... And the kid's laguage... Which no one can seem to so anything about... Seriously folks, kids around here are SERIOUSLY some of the most fouled mouthed kids i've ever seen! Honest to God, high schools living in the damn Jungle in down town LA have so much more respect for adults then these kids do! But hey, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. It's the same way the parents act towards others.

Man we are so screwed here. It's like all these people are having safety problems... And problems with other people's kids... And I mean we live in damn Military housing. This crap shouldn't be happining. It just sucks cuz we're all having so many problems and it just seems like no one can help us. UGH.

I hate how un orgnized the military is!

So I spend all morning tryin to get a hold of someone at medical... FINALLY at 3pm someone answers their apt line... Geez, in Yuma they'd just ask for the last 4 of the sponsors social and then just ask who they were speaking to... Damn, not here, they want Mike's full social, who the apt's for, who I am, Our address and phone number... THEN I thought we regustered Mike's cell number with them since it was before we moved into this house... So I give them that, then she makes me repeate all the information again and give my my sell number... Nope not it either... Then she asks what number i'm callin from, I tell her my house, but I don't know the number cuz I only make outgoing calls from it... Real snotty she goes "everyone needs to know their house number"... Yeah whatever, I've moved so many damn times, and had so many damn numbers in a 3 year span, she's luckly I know my damn cell number.


So whatever, then I try to make Makayla an apt... So she asks who I need an apt for, I tell her "My 2 year old Makayla" she says Ok and then asks what for... I explain what I need a refiral for. She asks what time, I said I needed something before noon, ASAP. She asks me to hold. Then comes back and tells me "oh your not in our system" HELLO you just took all my info! She informs me like I'm an idiot, that when we move I need to change insurance regions... Gee no shit, we've been here for 7 months and you don't think I thought of that? We did it the week we got here, moron. She says I can't make an apt till I register and am in their system. I try explaining to her that I've already registered through DEERS for TriNorth. She tells me I didn't. So for a minute, I'm thinking maybe I imagined going down the the office and sitting there for 45 mins filling out a pile of paperwork with Mike and a screakin kid.


She then says "you can't make an apt till you register with Tricare" ...Ok, so I ask, "I have to be in TriNorth to make an apt with you, correct?" She says yes. I ask her if they make any exceptions, she says no. So I said, "Ok, well I can prove I've been registered with you, if you check your records you'll see my daughter had an apt there late Dec, and my husband had an apt last month. So we must have been in the system if we actually had an apt... And ofcourse she then tells me she can't access any of that info and is just stating what the computer says. UGH, I don't know how many more time's I'm gunna have to go down there to freakin register! Is it my fault they just toally LOST all our documentation? Apparently. Gawd, I just hate how unorganized the military is.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

A mother's love begins
Before the child is born
And lasts through time
And difficulties
And differences
And many wounds
And days of joy
And days of sorrow
Winding, wearing
Weeping, sharing
Changing
Until, at the end
What remains
Is that solid core
That began as love
Before the child was born.

Ugh!

So being responsible people, we make reservations for Sunday brunch... Now we've been planning this for months... That's all I wanted for Mother's Day... Just a nice brunch... Now for the past 3 years I've just gone to the Eclub/Oclub... So we figured we'd just do the same this year... Made reservations at the Oclub on Little Creek... They said everything was fine, they reserved out table for 11am... Even gladly took our $50... (it was $25 a piece)

So Mike gets a call "I'm sorry, we're canceling the event due to lack of participation" ...Ok, well does NS Norfolk, Portsmouth, Oceana, or Ft Story have a brunch there? Nooooo of course not. Can they atleast recomend some other place. NO! Ugh... So I spent all last night looking... $40 a person?!? GEEZ, some people think way too highly of their stuff!!! UGH... I just have no idea where to go or what to do. The whole point of telling Mike "Just call the O-Club" was so I didn't have to go and search for this crap. This takes the fun out of it.

I'm raising a lier.

So Makayla's sittin in the middle of the floor coloring... I go on the computer... A few minutes later Makayla's come up to the kitchen gate asking for another crayon... I ask her where the blue one was. She puts up her arms as to gesture she didn't know. I asked her again... She looks around and points to the dog and says "Momo eeeat" ...So stupid me starts yelling at the dog and walks over to the gate to put him outside... When I noticed a bunch of blue speckles all over Makayla's face... Uh huh, the dog ate it?

That's just like last week when my Grandma was babysitting and Makayla peed in the middle of the floor... My Grandma asked her if she did it and she quickly replied "No! Momo!" Then Makayla took it upon herself to smack the dog and drag him by his collar to the back door.


Poor Mo gets blamed for everything )-:

First Landing State Park

Backwards and in High Heels

I just love this blog, it was written by Julie Negron, AKA, "Jenny: The Military Spouse" a couple months ago. Defiantly worth reading.

The military wife exists in a world where she is called a dependent. She is expected to do as her husband is told and to never question, complain, or allow a weary sigh to escape her lips. At the same time, she is also expected to be independent of her husband, not need his companionship or partnership for many days, weeks, months at a time, and be able to efficiently navigate the military bureaucracy's maze of paperwork on her own. All of this without bootcamp or formal training of any kind.

Not everyone can successfully carry the weight inherent with the job of military wife but those who do are impressive to behold.

Today I saw one of these women - a young spouse - pushing a luggage cart into the lobby of the Kanto Lodge. Stacked on the cart were two full-sized suitcases and, perfectly perched atop those, an infant's carseat. On the girl's hip, in the crook of her left arm, was the baby - probably all of six months old.

The young mother's curly blond hair was neatly ponytailed and out of the way. She was dressed comfortably in t-shirt, cargo pants, and sturdy Timberlands. A small backpack hung loosely off one shoulder. She smoothly guided the luggage cart and cargo into the hotel's commons area and stopped.

In an effortless series of moves, her right hand came off the cart, shifted the baby to a more stable position on her hip, reached backward to slide into the last strap of the backpack, and once more took control of the cart. All the while her eyes never once left the flight schedules showing on the screen of the plasma television mounted on the wall near the front desk. She was taking a trip somewhere, traveling "Space-A", baby on hip, and looking absolutely fearless. There was nothing about her that would indicate she might be "dependent" in any way.

As I admired her calm, it occurred to me that she and her baby were perhaps minutes away from climbing into the jumpseat of a C-17, or a KC-135, flying away from Japan, over the Pacific Ocean, to one of the places listed on that screen - Singapore, Hickam, Travis - yet she was as cool as if she were simply traveling from her living room to her kitchen.

I couldn't help but think of Ginger Rogers, of whom it is said that she did everything Fred Astaire did, only she did it backwards and in high heels. And I realized how perfectly that old saying describes the military wife.

I didn't say it to the girl. I left her to finish planning her trip, vacation, or PCS, by herself. She was "dancing" like a pro and the last thing I wanted to do was break her concentration.

~ jewls

To Ponder

None other then Ms. Makayla

Norfolk-ness

Frugal Fridays: Yard Sales

Ah, yard sale season. I love the thrill of the hunt. Waking up on a cool morning...coffee in hand...eager to snatch up the "trash" that is to become my treasure.

My mom is my favorite yard sale companion. She, much like myself, is not a morning person. At all. She knows how to behave on such an occasion as yard sale hunting. The first stop is always COFFEE. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. This part is not optional. You need to be alert and ready. Oh, you didn't know that yard sale hunting is a competitive sport?

Here are some tips to make your hunt a successful one:

1. Plan you route the night before. You have to get up early so you need to know exactly where you are going to be efficient. Pick up a few newspapers, check Craigslist, and jot down the order you will hit the sales that appeal to you. But be prepared to be flexible, because sometimes you find some winners by word of mouth while at other sales.

2. Have the right money on you. Do not go to yard sales with $20 bills or people will beat you with a stick. These are not stores, shoppers! Try and have ones, quarters, and dimes on you.

3. Keep a little list in your pocket of clothing sizes of your family members, names of games, and titles of books you are on the lookout for.

4. Speak up. Don't be afraid to haggle prices down, check an electronic in an outlet, or ask if there is a collection of whatever it is you are looking for. The squeaky wheel gets the oil, people!

5. Pack snacks and drinks so you can refuel throughout the day in your car.

6. The early bird gets the worm. Bigger and more desirable items go fast and go early.

7. Dress for the occasion. Wear comfy shoes, preferably sneakers. It is dewy in the morning and flipflops will leave you with wet feet as you trek across people's lawns. A ponytail or baseball cap is a good idea. Don't waste precious shopping time applying makeup or fixing hair. Don sunglasses.

8. Toss some bags in your trunk. Sometimes people plain forget to keep some old bags around for their yard sale so bring your own!

9. Apply the same principles as you would if you were shopping in the stores. Do you really need the items? Don't buy junk you won't use no matter how great the price is.

10. Go often. I like to think I will go every weekend, but I usually don't make it. I do try and go several times a month though. Yard sale shopping is one of those hit or miss things. Sometimes my mom and I come home with nothing, sometimes we can barely shut the trunk.

Got Milk?

I stumbled across this website... Thought it was great... I personally think EVERYONE should check it out.

http://www.notmilk.com/

Milk's nasty, don't drink it.