My first stack of coupons!

Well, thanks to Dale's mom, I have a giant stack of coupons! There are even some coupons for dining out! I'm so excited to start on this track. I almost can't wait to go shopping. Totally crazy, right?

Now I'm off to find a coupon holder to contain all of these!

Countdown continues....

Dale starts school in a couple days! I'm still excited for him to start this new venture, but also a little apprehensive. Not apprehensive about school, or even how well Dale will do. I'm apprehensive about how we will sneak by on the bills.

I'm clipping coupons, and finding deals, still! I'm working on finding a coupon holder, though. One of my coworkers' wife apparently uses a baseball card holder. She has it organized to the store she shops at constantly. Each page is for a separate aisle and she has it all arranged so everything is easy to get to.

I just have to decide which store I'm going to plan to use. Kroger doubles coupons, but we will shortly have a credit card that can only be used at Meijer. Personally, I'd rather go to Meijer because I know the store better.

And the other day, Dale took back our bottle returns that have piled up and got $13! We really have just been letting them add up. So that's another couple dollars for groceries.

But the thought that keeps me upbeat about being broke for the next two years is that Dale will have a degree and be able to get a big kid job! I just have to keep on truckin'.

Woodward Weekend!!

On my drive to work tonight, I was fantastically reminded that this weekend is the Woodward Dream Cruise! I passed about 3 classics and then I realized that Woodward Avenue extends up to the area near my work.

For anyone who doesn't know, Woodward Dream Cruise is a GIANT, most awesome car show... that rolls. It is a huge collection of classics and muscle cars all in one place. Some rolling down the street, even! I mean, what good is a beautiful car, if it doesn't run?

I'm going to try to get a couple of my friends together to wander down to see all the shinies! This promises to be a gorgeous weekend!

My little world is better when...

One of the many things that make my day feel a little lighter is having the dishes all clean and put away. I don't have a dishwasher, so it all has to be done by hand.

It's all so redundant that I just can't stand it some days. And after making dinner (especially when we have people over) I really don't feel like cleaning dishes.

But tonight, Dale and I teamed up and defeated those dirty dishes. Than means I can sleep well when I get home in the morning. Yay!

If only I could make it happen

I have always had a problem with streetlights on rainy nights. The overhead lighting reflects off the rain on the windshield and blinds me.

I have a solution, someone who is much smarter should maybe execute it.

Make the lights turn off when there's more than a drizzle worth of rain.
Make the street lines glow, bioluminesce, or something along those lines.

It sounds so simple... sadly, it isn't. But I think it would work! You wouldn't be blinded by the lights in the rain, but you could still see the lines.

Yay for shiny electronics!

So now Dale and I have a new netbook! Why would we spend money on that when we have the desktop at home? Well, Dale is going back to school!

Two weeks from today he will be starting classes for the "Mechatronics" program at the community college. This program incorporates mechanics, pneumatics, and electronics into a bundle and teaches you how to work on the robots in manufacturing plants.

When we were trying to find a program that might interest him he had mentioned each of these things individually as things he would like to learn more about. When he was telling me the classes involved in this program, I just couldn't believe that all of these were in one program and it all just sounded perfect!

As I know how hard it is to make the leap of faith and make school a priority over a job you already have, I have made sure to remind him that I will help as much as possible. I got him this netbook as a congratulatory gift for going back to school. I know he will do well, and I'm proud of him for making this step.

Etiquette, people!

I cannot abide rude people! It is often something as simple as "please" and "thank you" that makes any personal encounter pleasant. All too often these simple things are completely overlooked or disregarded entirely.

I've worked in customer service for more than a decade and I can tell you that the more pleasant you are to work with, the more likely I am to go further to help you. If you act like you are better than me, I will not be inclined to bring you to my level.

I was pleasantly surprised at Wal-Mart today when I asked a lady where to find something. She addressed me directly, looked me in the eye and told me where I could find what I was looking for and that if I still couldn't find it she'd still be there and she could walk me to it. I wasn't expecting this because so often, encounters like this are not the way it normally goes.

In my personal life as well as my professional life, I try to be as courteous as possible. I always say "please" and "thank you." I hold doors for people when I can and always try to help people to the best of my abilities.

Rarely has common courtesy been unappreciated, but, sadly, it is no longer 'common' in today's society. So sad.