This and That

 I have started pre spring cleaning.  The more weight I lose, the more energy I have.  Except when pain wakes me up at night.  So I am trying to do tons of small little things that seem to be adding up to bigger things.  I am also trying to walk more. Today I got over 7,000 steps. 

It was interesting shopping at Target today. They are remodeling the whole store. Moving everything around.  They have extra staff on hand to help.  I can compare it to a home remodel except it is super sized.  Almost everything is going to be in different places, even the freezer and cold Food sections.  It looks like they are adding more energy efficient freezer and chiller cases.

My hand was even feeling well enough to knit a few rows on the doodle shawl.  I am taking baby steps with my hand.  

Weekend Shopping

 I think unless I can go very, very early.  I will try to avoid shopping at Target on weekend afternoons.  I did not mind the people.  What I did not like was a store full of dogs that were not service animals.  I know this because service animals have special vests.  Not one service animal vest in sight.  Also service animals are trained not to go up to people unless their person needs help.  There were puppies and some  dogs the size of small sheep or horses.  Going up to people wanting to be played with or petted. I am not sure what would have happened to my hand if I did not change my route because some of the larger dogs were jumping up on people or nudging them for attention. I am not sure who was needier the dogs or the owners. The city of Tucson and Pima County provide dog parks for the dogs and their owners to socialize.  I personally don’t play with dogs I don’t know. Also having dogs romp throughout the store including the grocery area does not seem like the best idea in the world to me.  I am wondering if that poses a health code violation because of the produce left in open bins and tables. 

There is nothing wrong with having pets.  I think at certain times of life they are great.  That being said, pets do not belong in the grocery store or restaurants for that matter.  Pets need to be left at home for certain activities. 

Also I do not like the attitude of the cashiers towards reusable shopping bags. I keep mine clean. One that I used today was older the the young lady who checked me out.  After I had paid for my groceries, she looked in the bags to see if I was trying to steal something then simply dumped my groceries and bags at the end of the checkout and went on to checkout and bag the items from the next customer because they were using Target’s plastic bags.  This leads to the following question. Target why do you even sell canvas bags if you check out staff refuse to use them.  Do you as a corporation even care about the world you are leaving to your children and grandchildren?

These opinions are my own. They reflect my shopping experience today.  My hand 1 day post hand surgery was not up to the task of bagging my own groceries.  That is why I choose to use a cashier instead of self checkout.  I guess the joke was on me today.  

A Little Yarn Destash

 A little yarn destash has never hurt a knitter.  The yarn I am destashing today knit up well for a super wash wool. However after about the 5th time through the washer and dryer. Which this wool was supposed to handle with ease, it started felting and getting that burnt nylon crackle.  

I will not be replacing this yarn with any other yarn.  Instead I will diligently work through the yarn in my stash. Once I am down quite a few projects, let’s say in the few hundreds I might consider adding more yarn. Well I might get a skein here or there after all it’s yarn.

With the return on time invested on my last destash sale, I will be skipping that this time. Now that I have had a few minutes to rest and have some water.  I am loadings the three 64 gallon bags and the smaller 2 shoe box bag ( about 6 cubic feet of yarn in total) into the back of my car.  Then it’s off to Goodwill.  

If I have the energy I might just sneak into Target for some frozen vegetables and almonds on the way home.  

Fitbit Sense

 So I broke my Fitbit sense. I cracked the glass. It has been limping along for about 2 weeks. Today I had to attach the charger to see the dial and knew it was the end of the road for a very expensive watch.  I made the mistake of following the watch directions by wearing the crystal on the outside of my wrist.  Since I had a bad track record as a kid, when I was 9, I started wearing the watch face on the inside of my wrist. Problem solved, this is the first crystal that has cracked since the 1960’s for me.  Since the Sense is not the Mickey Mouse watch of my youth with the crystal being replaced every few months.  I had to replace the watch.  It’s all the fancy electronic stuff. John can explain it since it’s new technology.  

Even though I cracked the crystal, I still love the watch.  Although deep down  I still want my Fitbit One back. I just loved it   However the Sense does so much more. So I got another one   

Thanks to Target and Shipit I got it with in a couple of hours.  I set it up after dinner.  I think I am getting to much practice doing this because I did not need John’s help.  I even put my leather watch band on the new watch.  

Just so everyone knows, I paid for the new watch myself.  I am not receiving any money from Target, Fitbit or Shipit. There is no endorsement money or any other form of renumeration involved. These are my personal comments.  

I did however luck out and got it on sale just like everyone else who buys one this week at Target.

A Shopping Spree

Eric went to program and I got out of the house and did retail therapy. I went crazy. Almost everything was on sale or had a rebate or coupon. So what did I buy, well the list is long, but here goes.

Bread, watermelon, bananas, mayo, apples, celery, hot dogs for the 4th of July, a new cover for my ipad, lemonade, sliced olives and pizza crust. I threw some Tide and pedalite in for good measure. For the big splurge I bought some dairy free Chunky Monkey along with slice and bake cookies.  That was all at Target. Then I went to Penzey's to buy some white peppercorns for the pepper grinder. I might have slipped a few extra spices in too. Like vanilla sugar for the top of the sugar cookies.

I would like to thank the guys in the North Oracle Target electronics section for helping me pick a new cover and then putting my ipad in the new case. My hands thank you.

I made homemade pizza for dinner and toasted my hands. The pizza tasted so good, it was worth the pain. Plus we get pizza for tomorrow's dinner too.

The Laundry Monster Rears its Ugly Head

Laundry seems to be my downfall this week. As of this morning I have done 15 loads of laundry since Sunday, 4 of them were made in just a few hours last night. Yes Eric did have a very eyrpy night last night. The outlook does not look much better for today.  I have at least 3 more loads of laundry as of 7:00 am this morning. Its only Tuesday morning!  

I asked Eric if he could slow down in making more laundry this morning explaining that after I finish what is in the laundry room I will have done 18 loads of laundry this week. That we still have 4 more days to go this week. I asked if he could limit his laundry production to only 7 more loads this week to keep his total at 25 loads of laundry. His response was to roll his eyes and give me the look like its my job to make laundry.

Thank goodness Target had Tide on sale a few weeks ago so I won't run out of laundry detergent. Laundry detergent is like gold around here, I can never have too much. I seem to go through detergent like water, even using line one on the cap I am lucky if the 75 ounce bottle lasts for 2 weeks.

So I plan to spend the rest of the day doing laundry and knitting. If Eric does take a nap, I will see how many of the 5 towels that I can get finished, so I can can get more sewing projects out of the way and get some weaving done.

The Blender

Today was one of those completely awful days, by 6:08am my day had already hit the blender.  Eric's morning aide was a no show,  luckily John did not have to work today. Between the 2 of us we managed to get Eric out the door at a reasonable time.

On the way to program the tire pressure light went on on the van's dashboard. So as I was getting Eric out of the van I checked the tires. Thank goodness none were flat, they just looked a little low. Eric was also very disappointed that his one on one advocate was out sick today. So as soon as I found out who had Eric, I gave my usual how he slept and what was needed for today.

Then it was off to get gas for the van at Quick Stop, I got a quart size cup of unsweetened iced tea because I thought that seemed like a good plan at the time. Then it was off to Jack Furrier's Tires to get the tires checked out. Thank goodness I brought my knitting, I got 4 inches knit on a hat, while I was waiting and also borrowed a plug to charge my phone which was almost out of battery.  The good news is that there was nothing majorly wrong with the tires. They were just 4 pounds of pressure low. So I would like everyone who is reading this blog post to get their tire pressure checked out this week as the weather changes. Thanks in advance.

Since I was so close to Trader Joe's, I picked up some things for dinner. I put the groceries away. Then I finished my 2 loads of laundry for the day, I really had more but decided to go on strike. I thought the same with house work too.

I also have to start looking into a lift system to get Eric in and out of bed. Right now we are grandfathered in with the agency, but I don't know how long that will last. Eric is quite a few pounds more than the 50 pounds or so that is now acceptable for lifts. So I am going to look into something called helping hands.

After leftovers for lunch, I decided it was time to do a little weaving to zen out. That did not last long. I got a call that Eric had thrown up at program. So I stopped weaving. Asked John for a mommy time out, by this time I really needed one, he just laughed. So I went to pick up my sick boy. Yes he will be home tomorrow too.

I went to Target to get a few things that we needed, I used my paper coupons but forgot to use the cartwheel app at the register, I lost about $1.00 in savings. Oh well there is always next time.

While dinner was cooking I went back to weaving. I had to refill my shuttle, so I did not get the scarf done today. I am hoping that the tension headache that turned into a migraine goes away soon, I know its going to be a long day tomorrow with Eric home, but it will be a better day.

Cartwheel by Target

I very rarely write about apps. This is one that is fairly new and the wonderful folks at Target got this app right. You start off with space for 10 special coupons. All areas of the store have coupons.  You can  earn more coupon slots by getting your friends to join and earning badges. I currently have earned the following badges: Shopping Buddy because a friend started using Cartwheel. Star Collector, I added an offer to the card. Super Scanner, I used my Cartwheel for the first time. Smart Saver, I have saved over $10.00  (actually $14.73 of of this writing) using the Cartwheel app. I can now use 15 special coupons at a time.

It is very easy to down load to your wifi enabled iPod, iPad or iPhone. The Target stores near me have free wifi so I can use this app on my iPod to add more offers while in the store. You can get extra savings from 5 to 30% for things you already buy. You can combine one manufacturer coupon, one Target coupon and one Cartwheel offer can be combined on 1 item. You will not get cash back if the total of the coupons exceed the sale price, but an occasional free item is a good thing in my book. This app does not work in Canada as of this writing.

I have used this app for savings on housewares and grocery's so far, but I still have all the other departments to explore. Maybe clothes shopping is next.

This is the app description from the app store:
  

Welcome to the early release of Cartwheel by Target – a whole new spin on saving! It’s the first of its kind, and it’s super-simple. Just sign-up using your Facebook profile and instantly save on things you already buy in Target stores by adding offers to your Cartwheel. Select from hundreds of exclusive discounts (starting at 5% and up to 30%), all available on your iOS device. Best part? These aren’t one-and-done discounts. Use them as many times as you want before they expire. You can even use Cartwheel on top of the 5% you save everyday with Target REDcard.

The app keeps your discounts neatly organized, all ready for your next Target run. Your discounts are all attached to one barcode that you can pull up on your iPhone or iPad, or print from cartwheel.com on your desktop. Just scan your barcode at any U.S. Target store and see your savings add up! Here’s another cool part – invite friends to join, or share deals with them, and you save even more.

• First-of-its-kind savings app
• Discounts from 5%-30% on hundreds of products
• Save on top of other coupons and offers, like Target REDcard
• Share discounts with your friends on Facebook for inspiration
• Fully-customizable privacy settings, including Facebook posting
• Personalized offers, tailored to help save more on what you buy most
• Average discounts are valid for 60 days – longer than our Weekly Ad
• Check out cartwheelsupport.target.com for feedback or questions
• For Facebook app users, requires Facebook version 6.0 and above

What's New in Version 1.2

- Updated tutorial
- Improved experience for adding an offer when your Cartwheel is full
- Added the Cartwheel barcode number to offline barcode screen for easier redemption with no connectivity
- Allowed for deep-linking from Facebook for smoother navigation between the apps
- Added the menu icon for easier access to the nav menu in iPad portrait
- Fixed bugs for "offer list full" and miscellaneous crash issues

Just to be perfectly clear. I found out about this app on facebook ( which you must have to use this app) The app can be downloaded for free. Here is the link to the Cartwheel by Target App. Target has not paid for this review and ALL the views are my own. I did not make any purchases that I was not going to make in the first place, the app savings were just the icing on the cake.

Maybe Busy, Maybe Not

Friday

I am not sure I should be this tired and achy tonight.  Yes I was active today.  I walked 6 miles, pushed Eric around the mall for 1 hour and 20 minutes, cleaned for 2 hours and went to knitting. John procured dinner tonight.  So it can't be the cooking.  I will have to think about this.  

Eric had a really good day until bed time. We hung out together today. He was full of smiles for everyone except for the one knitter who forgot to engage her brain before talking. So my request for the coming year is that we all think before we talk.  Please don't just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.  What comes to mind here is an old proverb that my dad liked.  "Speak softly, for you never know which words you will have to eat tomorrow."

I am going to try sleep now and hope that Eric sleeps through the night.  I hope that the eyrps have stopped for the night.

Saturday

Well I got an hours sleep before I was up with Eric for the rest of the night. I woke John up at 6 am so I could take a nap. I then went to Target to get a few more organizers for my latest deep cleaning project. I also took time to walk around the mall to get the kinks out.  Those new organizers got filled relativity fast. I landed up buying one Target out and having John drive to another Target to buy more boxes.

 

Sunday

 

I spent 4 hours cleaning house, doing laundry and deep cleaning before my body said enough for today. I did manage to organize another shelf and empty a laundry basket of things that needed to be put away that were hiding in a closet.

 

 

Getting dressed was another challenge today. The 1st pair of pants fit, but felt a bit snug. The next 3 were way too big and will go to Goodwill. Pair 5 was my lucky number today. They have been in my closet so long that I can not remember when I bought them. I have a lot of clothes in my new size so maybe I can shop my closet for most everything I will need in my new smaller size.

 

I have been losing the weight by eliminating aspartame and high fructose corn syrup. This in itself eliminates a lot of junk food. I have been deep cleaning the house and walking instead of going to the gym. This has been a multi year effort so there are no quick fixes that I can offer. Yes I have gotten discouraged at times, but every time I go down a size I am amazed. I have no set amount of weight I want to lose, I only want to feel better.

 

Well it is time to call it a night.







Eric's Day Off

Eric had a day off do to the holiday today. So we took the day to do a charity run to Goodwill, the whole back of my car was full. We then became a very long train at Target. I pushed Eric in his chair and pulled the shopping cart behind us. As I recall this used to be a much shorter train when Eric was 3 and using his Kirschall chair, back when he was much younger. I did manage to fill the cart and make it as heavy as Eric and his chair. The thing that did surprise me at Target was that they did not provide carry out help with the very full basket. Most other stores in Tucson provide carry out help when I am shopping alone with Eric. Even if I don't buy as much.

We made our way home and I put the grocery's away under Eric's careful "supervision". While Eric took his afternoon nap, I managed to finish his 2nd quilt. Talk to my mom, start another Charity box, clean the guest/craft room some more. I also got laundry done, cooked and cleaned up the mess for dinner.

While Eric was thumping I managed to get some of the boxes from the craft room out to the garage. I also decided to skip folding laundry tonight.And I almost finished another hat. I am at the decrease rows on the dpn's. Well it has been a very long day and I have a very busy day tomorrow.

The First Day of Summer

Well the weekend went very well and everyone enjoyed their Teri time. Yesterday and today were spent catching up. I am exactly one day behind in my weekly schedule. But Teri can pop in any time she wants. I don't mind being behind schedule for her.

I spent the day with two different sets of friends. After I dropped Eric off at camp I went to knitting/breakfast with the first group of friends and almost finished a shawl. Then it was off to lunch with another friend. Just for the heck of it I stopped by Casa de los Ninos thrift store and did some browsing. I found some storage binders to organize my patterns for 50 cents a piece much better than the $22.00 a piece price at the local office supply. This morning I got an e-mail saying that Eric needed a t-shirt to tie dye this week. I am so glad I am not a "working mom" so I have time to pick up the last minute odds and ends. Then it was off to Target to get a little shopping done. I also took the opportunity to get my walking done while at Target. After my shopping I did 2 laps around the store.

I am enjoying the new season of White Collar and have almost finished another hat. I did not find time to spin today but I am managing to gather another box for Goodwill. Well it is getting late so I am going to wind things down for the night.