making the rules up as they go along

I really pretty much love Target.. like.. one of my children. Unconditionally. Even when the cashiers argue with me about what I'm buying and the coupons I'm trying to use. I've heard pretty much everything from them. But I'm not afraid to correct them when they don't know the coupon policy as well as I might. (Because, believe me, I've studied the ever updating coupon policy.)

I promise, I'm always very nice. I have no problem waiting while a manager is called or if they double check with someone else if they aren't sure about what they're doing. I don't mind pointing out the coupon "rules." I have patience for it.. it's fine. I don't huff and puff, I don't get aggressive or degrading with the employees, but, yesterday..? It was a new one.

Since I've had good luck lately with coupons, I got lulled into a false sense of security and stopped profiling cashiers before I picked a lane. But still, everything scanned fine (we had about 15 things) yesterday and I handed over my coupons.

The cashier took the coupons (store coupons, not manufacturer's), split the pile in two and started to scan a few. Then she shut off her light and a male Target employee immediately came over to her. (What?) She asked him whether or not she could even accept my coupons because some of them weren't in color.. and they had the same bar code numbers on them.

He looked at the pile of coupons on the counter, then up at me, and plainly said they couldn't take any of them. None. Because the ones that were the same coupons had the same bar code numbers on them. (No. Kidding.) And also they weren't printed in color. (Which had never been a problem before- including two days earlier at that very same Target.)

"The same coupons always have the same numbers," I told him nicely.

"No they don't."

"Yes, they do. These are Target store coupons."

"No they don't."

"Yes, that's how they print."

"No they don't. The last two number are always different."

"Is this something new? Because they've always printed with the same numbers before."

"No they don't."

(I swear to God..)

I'm pretty sure he would have stood there all day just saying "no they don't" to whatever I said.. even if I had the CEO of Target right next to me.

I just glared at him for a second. Then, I put on a big smile and said super nicely "Okay! Well, I don't want anything I had a coupon for then. None of it."

The cashier that caused this trouble in the first place had to unscan and unbag almost everything. I made sure she didn't miss a thing. Then she tried to shove the coupons in her register anyway until my husband saw her and told her to hand them back over to us.

There is a way my dad has of putting situations like this, wish I could remember it. Something about people that don't really have any power and aren't in charge of anything.. when you give them a tiny responsibility they go crazy with it and think they are in charge of everything and just make up new rules as they go along. (More than just "abuse of power," but like what kind of people they are.) That's what the whole situation was.

[Surprisingly, the woman behind me in line told me to just take them to another Target- that she had had a similar problem with a coupon of hers recently at that store, but she took it to another and it worked fine. (Right on coupon sister!)]

He was wrong. I was right. But, I chose not to waste my day hearing "no they don't" 400 times. You didn't phase me Mr. No-they-don't.. I have a 4 year old.. I'll be back tomorrow. With my coupons that may or may not be in color.


UPDATE: We went back a few days later with a lot of the same coupons (and more). I spotted a cashier I knew was coupon-friendly on the way in and kept him in mind for when we checked out. We had 25-30 things. Everything scanned fine, except two things that didn't have a price, so the cashier asked ME if I knew how much they were. I did, I told him, and he typed it in. Every coupon I had scanned just fine (including, "shockingly," the ones with the same bar code) AND he even asked my daughter if she would like a sticker. He wins.

the other day

I went out early, to a frosted windshield.

Of course, I went to Target.

Then I found myself at the yarn store. In which I have not been in quite awhile. I may or may not have been able to resist purchasing yarn.

I also saw these letters on wheels. And train attachments. I'll be keeping them in mind for Noah. Maybe as something Lily could paint for him.

I also went to T.J. Maxx and saw these colored glass knots. I almost bought one- then I remembered I had children. Two of them. Either of which would be delighted to find something on which to shatter these.

Finally, I could procrastinate no more.

And there I was. It was both not as bad and worse than I thought it would be.

Including-  I later found myself racing across towns to get to my doctor for antibiotics.

Oh ya.. it doesn't get much more vague than that. But.. that was my day. The other day.

inspired #3

to MAKE..

pink hot chocolate @a beautiful mess

I can't believe I never thought of making pink hot chocolate before. I mean.. PINK hot chocolate. Lily would love this. LOVE.

to MAKE..

diy sharpie mugs @a beautiful mess

Again, I don't know how I didn't think of this. White mugs. And Sharpies. So simple.

to MAKE..

heart-shaped crayon tutorial @creative mommas

These crayons would have been a great Valentine's gift for Lily's classmates, but we never got around to making anything for Valentine's Day. Shockingly, no one else's parents did either. There were no giant bags of things.. like there was for Halloween. And only three of the kids actually handed out Valentine's. Made me feel like less of a scatterbrain. So.. I'm holding on to this one for next year. Cus now I know how to do it.

a LIKE..

valentine's nails @the dainty squid

Love these nails. For Valentine's Day or otherwise. I wish I had the patience or even the kind of life that would allow nails like these to happen.

an entire year old

Well, the day has finally come.. I was in denial about it for as long as I could be, but.. Noah is officially and fully.. an entire year old.

Sigh.

In a lot of ways he still seems like so much of a baby to me.. he doesn't like wearing shoes, still has his binky (Lily lost interest in hers when her teeth started coming in), and the way he curls his legs up to sleep. But in other ways he seems so far from a baby- just in little tiny ways like.. he's walking. (Which Lily wasn't doing for another month or so.)

He still primarily crawls because it gets him to where he needs to be faster, but the ratio is steadily shifting. And the more he realizes he can walk from point a to b, the more he's finding points to walk to. And birthday balloons have certainly helped- the idea of getting over to them is a big motivator for him.

He LOVES dinosaurs. Lily had a few, but he's completely taken them over. He has even been raaawring at them the last few months. He also started taking over Lily's cars and other things with wheels.. or even anything that he can slide along the floor.

It's so interesting to me that he's gravitated more towards Lily's stereotypically boy things, but he does like her Lalaloopsy dolls too. Often to chew on, but he also seems interested in what they look like. There are a few medium-sized ones that he used to really like.. I thought it might have been because they looked a little like babies.. just like he was.

He likes Mickey Mouse, Harry the Bunny from BabyFirstTV, and smashing down on anything with buttons. He loves changing the tv channels, turning it off and on, and bangs on the box when touching it does nothing to the tv because Lily is  playing a video game instead.

One of my favorites is that he knows my name (ma ma ma ma ma) .. and says it constantly. When he's around me or when he wants to be around me (if I'm out). He's started talking about Jason too (duhduhduh).. now we just need work on how to say Lily.

He's very interested in observing things and 'taking it all in.' Things that roll or can be waved around are interesting to him. And he's mellow. Calm. Not at all like his sister. He takes all her craziness in stride.. and he loves her. The way he looks at her. They way he injects himself into almost everything she does. And he has the best laugh.. the biggest smile.

What else can I say? He's wonderful. In some ways his first year has flown by, but in other ways it totally has not. I've never gotten so little sleep in my life- so I've been awake for a lot more of the last year, but so much more tired and full of caffeine. But it's worth it. I wouldn't change any of it. My children are the best.

Happy first birthday, Noah.

blogger's block

I can't seem to blog lately. I don't have a lot to say about just one thing, but I do seem to have one thing to say about a lot of (unrelated) things.

I decided I need some type of crossbody bag- for when I'm out of the house and with any of my children. Which is actually the case almost every time- unless I'm going to the doctor. I don't know if that's sad or just shows how much I enjoy (I think?) having them around me constantly. Either way- that's the situation. Not having one has just become too impractical. Unfortunately I just cannot find one I really like.

All the snowstorm prep, the actual storm, not having power for 23 hours, school being cancelled, and whatever else has thrown the house further into disarray- and I don't know if I have the energy to start fixing it.

I really can't stand our bathroom.

Or the kitchen. The state of the cabinets are almost too much for me.

The hall needs to be swept and washed. But.. ug, I just don't want to.

Why isn't there ever any regular iced VIA at my Target anymore? Or frozen spinach? Although I don't think there ever was. It's not a popular enough vegetable for the small frozen vegetable section at our most local Target.

Lily has a friend at school. Ohmagoodness. Like, I'm pretty sure at real friend whose name she knows and he knows hers (yes, he) and isn't one of the vague "girl friends" that she refers to occasionally. He almost always says goodbye to her if he's near the door when we leave..and when I suggested she say goodbye to him today.. she added a Y to the end of his name. It made me laugh.

I still haven't gotten to the grocery store. In like.. two weeks. I've just picked up a few things here and there at Target. And never made it to the grocery store after that. Because.. my children just exhaust the heck out of me sometimes.. and going to Target first is more important than not going at all. Because it just is.

I wish I could get more sleep. I really do. I'm so tired constantly, it's kinda not fair. I tried to think of when the last time I got more than 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I couldn't. It's been at least a year and a half. I mostly get about 5 hours. Maybe 6. And certainly not uninterrupted.

Noah is down to just one binky. And now that he's on the verge of turning one, I don't want to buy more. There are a few others but he had 4 he liked for the last 7 or 8 months. One vanished- and has been gone for awhile. Then all 3 went missing over the course of a week. I went into full on search mode and found them all, but one was missing too long and had mold (!) growing in it. Then there was 2. Now one has been missing for a few days. So.. there we are. Nearly binkyless.

Taxes have been completed. Check mark. Exhale.

I need a haircut.

I'm hungry. Mmm.. macaroni and cheese sounds good. Actually.. no, maybe it doesn't.

More coffee does though.

Or maybe apple cider. Warmed up. Because my throat is a little sore.

And for gawdssake if I'm getting sick again.. !

what we did last week

1. All of us have been sick at some point (some of us are still sniffling) over the last week and a half... we went through 7 or 8 boxes of tissues.. I lost count. But on the glass-is-half-full side of it, Lily got some new shoes.

2. Pre-snowstorm sky. Love it.

3. Came across this during my pre-snowstorm supply-stock-up shopping. Cutest dog- I wanted it. For me.

4. Fond of stripes.

5. We lost power for 23 hours during the snowstorm. I was a little surprised how cold it got. Inside. Noah made it through the night okay, but he was so terribly cold in the morning- and spent almost the entire day sleeping. Even after we got the generator and space heater going. I believe his thoughts were something along the lines of "wake me up when it's over."

6. With the generator going, I finally got to have a warm meal. Everything from our refrigerator was already nicely nestled in the snow- and I didn't want to undo everything I'd packed up(not even milk for my coffee!) so.. microwave noodles it was..

Snowstorm: two years in the making.

I guess we're ready. Supplies have been bought. Overly so. We've charged everything that we can find. Even things that we haven't used in months (years?). If it can provide even a moments entertainment to any of these children.. oh ya, you better believe it's gotten charged up.

We put new games on the ipad, charged cameras, charged computers, even bought a board game. A board game! One without wires, batteries, or circuit boards. I know!

We've gotten out chargers, flameless candles, flashlights, glowsticks.. and I don't even know what else.

I'm sucking up as much internet and television as I can before all this power might just go away. The lights have flickered and flickered and flickered all night long. But.. at least I made and ate my (warm) dinner and watched Elementary and Grey's Anatomy.

So now we wait..

And in the morning.. we get to play in the snow! So so SO much snow!

Scarf just in time

The beginning: Plenty of winter left to knit a scarf.. 

DAY FIVE
The scarf is measuring just about 35 inches long as I'm finishing up with the first skein.

DAY SEVEN
Second skein and the scarf is 52 inches long. I thought I would be done by now, but everyone is sick- including me. Too bad I can't just be. sick. And knit.

I only have two skeins of this yarn, but I'm hoping for around 78 inches for the finished length- which is how long my current favorite (store bought) scarf is. There is a lot of yarn that I had to remove from the second skein in order for it to match up where the first one left off.. so I am thinking of adding fringe to the ends.

DAY TEN
It's done- finally done! 72 inches- without fringe. I did add fringe- I'm a little bit on the fence about it, but there it is nonetheless.

Just in time for the blizzard. Or, more likely "blizzard" for me.

inspired #2

to MAKE..

spinach sandwich recipe @the dainty squid

I hated.. hated spinach growing up, but the last decade or so I've started to really like it. So.. this recipe for a spinach sandwich sounds a little bit delicious. I'd use different bread.. and real mayonnaise (because I kinda love mayo).. but other than that, ya.. I can see why Kaylah makes it as often as she does.

to MAKE..

greek-style salad @poppytalk

I am rather fond of the Greek salad.. feta cheese, Kalamata olives- yum.

to MAKE..

diy constellations scarf @a beautiful mess

This constellations scarf looks so cool.. and so easy to make oneself. I am not much of a stamp-er, so I could see doing the whole thing with embroidery floss. You could use an existing scarf for this or even make your own from a piece of fabric (and fringing the ends if you so desire).

to MAKE..

clay heart charms for valentine's day @remodelando la casa

Are these clay heart charms too ambitious for a preschool Valentine's Day? For someone that isn't one of those moms? Ug.. they look so cute.. and easy to make. Lily could even paint them herself (until she loses interest after two of them and I do the rest). We'll see.

And the sick goes on

We're all sick. Except maybe Lily- I wouldn't really say she's sick anymore, just using a tissue occasionally. I was the last hold out. I tried SO hard not to get sick. The minute I knew Lily was getting sick I started taking my zinc- it got me through 5 days without symptoms, but then my body just couldn't take the constant bombardment of germs in this germ-incubator any longer.

I went out early on Sunday to get 4 boxes of tissues, baby acetaminophen, and a few other essentials that always seem to find their way into one's shopping cart at Target. When I got home, I said "I don't feel very good." And it's just gone downhill since.

Especially after getting one hour of sleep last night. Yes, one hour. One. I got Lily into her bed, spent hours coaxing a miserable Noah to sleep, put him in his crib, and then made Lily actually try to go to sleep. I started to crawl into bed.. and Noah woke up- in misery. I tried all sorts of things and finally got him asleep and back into his bed again. I got back into bed and slept that 1 hour.

Something woke me up at 4am- so I got up to check on Noah. Because that's what a good paranoid mommy of a miserably sick baby does. I was pretty sure he was still breathing, but I put my hand on his back anyway. He was fine. Breathing.

As I walked away- he woke up. Like.. woke up, woke up. Standing. Crying miserably. I scooped him up.. and then spent the next 2 hour trying to get him to sleep. He was against the idea- he thought miserable crying was better suited for the 4-6am hours of our morning. Around 6:30, I just stopped trying. We watched tv and eventually I got Lily up for school.

It was during that time I couldn't help but to think I really hated today.. to such an extent I wanted to stab it in the face and run it over with my car. I assume it was the illness talking.

I took a 3 hour nap after I took Lily to school. When I picked her up (about 10 minutes late- after bringing the trash and recycling out), her teacher said she had a good day.. all except for the last 5 minutes. Of course. Way to let me know I should stop being late to pick her up. Mommy fail.

When we got home, I took a shower. Ate lunch. Took a 3 hour nap. And still felt worse than ever.

Noah took a series of very long naps today as well, thankfully. But when the poor little man finally woke up for the day night.. he was just as miserable as he'd been overnight. So.. I made the awful mistake of showing him that Harry the Bunny and other shows from BabyFirst TV can be seen on my computer. He was so miserably sick and crying.. Lily was playing a video game on the tv.. so I did a quick search and there it all was on YouTube. He calmed down immediately. Then watched and watched and watched. And watched. And got mad at me. Twice. When I tried to turn it off.

Gawd that BabyFirst TV is both a blessing and a curse.

Way to end this on a completely irrelevant note.

what we did this week

1. It was my mother-in-law's birthday, so I got her flowers- from the children. Picked and chose at the store and they put it all together for me- adding some other stuff in too. Made me think that being a florist must be fun.

2. Noah and I were accidental sock twinsies this week. Yes, this is my life.

3. The sky was amazing on Thursday. Which was nice, because otherwise.. the day was a little intense for me. I don't know what I did to get this picture (it's not a reflection, I promise), but.. wow.