Hopefully your 2016 has been memorable so far. If not, maybe 2015? 2014?
Well today's your lucky day. Shutterfly is offering a free 8x8 photobook with up to 20 pages. Or if you want a larger size book you can use this as a $29.99 credit towards a book. What???
Now you procrastinators, this promo code is only good through 3/22/16, so don't wait too long.
Login at Shutterfly.
Choose Photo Books and select the 8 x 8 for the freebie.
Create your book by using existing pictures or upload pictures to their site.
At checkout use promo code, SPRINGONIT.
Shipping costs will still apply.
This is a great deal. I know I need to find time to do it; my girls absolutely love these books.
A blog about ways that we are working to save money while still using quality products.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Training Our Pet Fish
My youngest daughter desperately wanted a fish for her birthday. We complied since we already had an aquarium from our last foray with sea creatures. That's an easy gift. After being schooled by some Petsmart workers, we decided on a Betta fish.
As soon as we got the fish set up in his new tank the first thing my daughter did was give the fish a sex change. We bought a male, but she deemed him Rosebud and he was now a girl. (Not sure it's that easy, right Caitlin?)
So Rosebud has been happily swimming away in his (her) tank for the past month or so. And my daughter has realized that having a fish is not as much fun as she thought it would be. But she's an optimist, so she has decided that she just needs to teach Rosebud some tricks.
I tried to explain that fish don't typically do tricks, but she was insistent. So we went to YouTube and found that yes there are videos about training your Betta fish to do tricks.
You can teach them to jump--I quickly nixed that idea as I worried about it jumping out unnoticed to its death. You can teach them to follow your finger around the tank. You can teach them to swim through a hoop.
She wants her fish to swim through a hoop. So we have been working on this for days and seriously we cannot get Rosebud to go near the hoop, much less swim through it. And all I keep thinking of is the line from Madagascar 3 where the tiger says, "Make the hoop smaller." Hopefully someone gets that reference.
But most importantly, does anyone have any fish training tips?
As soon as we got the fish set up in his new tank the first thing my daughter did was give the fish a sex change. We bought a male, but she deemed him Rosebud and he was now a girl. (Not sure it's that easy, right Caitlin?)
I tried to explain that fish don't typically do tricks, but she was insistent. So we went to YouTube and found that yes there are videos about training your Betta fish to do tricks.
You can teach them to jump--I quickly nixed that idea as I worried about it jumping out unnoticed to its death. You can teach them to follow your finger around the tank. You can teach them to swim through a hoop.
She wants her fish to swim through a hoop. So we have been working on this for days and seriously we cannot get Rosebud to go near the hoop, much less swim through it. And all I keep thinking of is the line from Madagascar 3 where the tiger says, "Make the hoop smaller." Hopefully someone gets that reference.
But most importantly, does anyone have any fish training tips?
Thursday, March 10, 2016
The Rec Center Fitness Room
I am in a slow period with work, so I am taking advantage of my light schedule by going to the rec center to work out. I have looked at all of the gyms and the YMCA, but I cannot justify paying close to $100 a month when I can pay $85 for an entire year at the rec center, which also has a pool. I am way too frugal for that.
So I have been frequenting the rec center fitness room for the past week and I just feel like I need to share my experiences with the world. Now before anyone gets offended, this is all in jest. I applaud everyone who works out to stay healthy.
My husband loves the elliptical and talks about how wonderful it is on his joints, blah blah. I learned a few years ago this machine wasn't for me, as much as I wanted it to be. I tried it one day and within 3 minutes, no joke, I had to run out of the room to throw up. I have pretty extreme motion sickness and the constant up and down was too much for me. The poor lady next to me who watched me turn white and break in to a sweat must have been horrified. So anyway, I have been using a stationary bike for years, but wanted to try something different. And I discovered ...the Octane.
This bad boy is a sit down elliptical and I love it. I can get the benefit and work out of an elliptical minus the throwing up. Now they are a hot commodity in a rec center. Most of the other people who visit the fitness center when I am there are about 30-40 years my senior. And I think the octane is probably a great theraputic workout because it is a freaking battle to get one of these things. There are only 4 of them and about 20 stationary bikes.
So if I can't get one I usually use a bike while I wait for one to open up; I have the advantage of not walking with a cane so I beat out my competition heading for the open octane. Here's what drives me crazy, the purpose of using this machine over a bike is to get the whole body workout with your arms and legs and seriously the majority of other users, do not use the arm part. I watch one lady work on her crossword puzzle as she leisurely pushes the pedals. Use one of the open bikes lady if you just want to pedal. Not even kidding, today I sat down on my octane and I thought the lady next to me didn't have arms. I was considering how I could offer to help her wipe down the machine when she finished since she was armless. Nope as she finished her workout, she pulled her arms out of sweatshirt where they had been for her entire workout. Very strange.
I have been asked how long until I finish because a lady wanted to sit and talk to her friend (really? while on a piece of equipment), but I am the newbie-the one invading their set patterns. So I am more than polite and for the most part it cracks me up. Because I am clearly the odd one, who loves a piece of fitness equipment designed for senior citizens.
So I have been frequenting the rec center fitness room for the past week and I just feel like I need to share my experiences with the world. Now before anyone gets offended, this is all in jest. I applaud everyone who works out to stay healthy.
My husband loves the elliptical and talks about how wonderful it is on his joints, blah blah. I learned a few years ago this machine wasn't for me, as much as I wanted it to be. I tried it one day and within 3 minutes, no joke, I had to run out of the room to throw up. I have pretty extreme motion sickness and the constant up and down was too much for me. The poor lady next to me who watched me turn white and break in to a sweat must have been horrified. So anyway, I have been using a stationary bike for years, but wanted to try something different. And I discovered ...the Octane.
This bad boy is a sit down elliptical and I love it. I can get the benefit and work out of an elliptical minus the throwing up. Now they are a hot commodity in a rec center. Most of the other people who visit the fitness center when I am there are about 30-40 years my senior. And I think the octane is probably a great theraputic workout because it is a freaking battle to get one of these things. There are only 4 of them and about 20 stationary bikes.
So if I can't get one I usually use a bike while I wait for one to open up; I have the advantage of not walking with a cane so I beat out my competition heading for the open octane. Here's what drives me crazy, the purpose of using this machine over a bike is to get the whole body workout with your arms and legs and seriously the majority of other users, do not use the arm part. I watch one lady work on her crossword puzzle as she leisurely pushes the pedals. Use one of the open bikes lady if you just want to pedal. Not even kidding, today I sat down on my octane and I thought the lady next to me didn't have arms. I was considering how I could offer to help her wipe down the machine when she finished since she was armless. Nope as she finished her workout, she pulled her arms out of sweatshirt where they had been for her entire workout. Very strange.
I have been asked how long until I finish because a lady wanted to sit and talk to her friend (really? while on a piece of equipment), but I am the newbie-the one invading their set patterns. So I am more than polite and for the most part it cracks me up. Because I am clearly the odd one, who loves a piece of fitness equipment designed for senior citizens.
Friday, March 4, 2016
It's All in the Details
They say it's all in the details. Unfortunately details are not really my thing. I am a big idea person. Logistics-eh? I need someone to take care of those things for me. Oh maybe, a personal assistant, I would love one of those. Not sure I can justify that with my work from home salary, but it would be great. Especially if she liked to clean and watch kids too. But I digress.
So, we have been saving up for a while to purchase a sectional couch. I need to sleep downstairs a few nights a week every month due to my little one's PFAPA episodes, so I have felt this purchase was justified. We have been visiting furniture stores for months searching for the perfect sectional within our price range. Oddly enough we didn't opt for the one with the built in cup holders and drink cooler as my husband was pulling for. I stalked Macys.com for a month waiting for the perfect sale (A little tidbit I found: lowest furniture sale prices occur in January.) Finally we ordered this couch that was going to revolutionize our family room.
The couch was to be delivered on a day that I had to be somewhere with one of the kids and the other was sick, so I convinced my husband to work from home so he could be here when the couch arrived. I texted him mid-morning to ask if it was there. He replied that yes, it had been delivered. When I asked how it looked, his reply was simply, "Big." My husband doesn't handle change well, so I just didn't think much of his comment. Until I got home.
Well one little problem with the new couch is that it is so long the back door was blocked. Kind of a necessity with a dog who may need to use the bathroom at some point. No big deal we thought. The couch would actually be going up against the other wall, but we hadn't had a chance to dismantle and move our huge entertainment system and hang the TV above the fireplace, so this was temporary. We had guests coming in town for the weekend and figured it was easier to leave as is and just block the back door for the weekend.
Our guests came and went and we no longer had an excuse not to tackle this family room makeover. We planned to move the end units of the entertainment system into our office and put them on either side of our couch. We moved the first one in and put it in place and I noticed the first snafu. There were only about 8 inches to put the other 22" unit in place. So we brainstormed, I thought of switching the couch with the matching loveseat that was in our bedroom and there would be enough space. Brilliant. I ran upstairs with the measuring tape. Guess what? The couch wouldn't fit.
We ended up moving my dresser to this wall and putting the couch against the other wall in our bedroom. It's quite cozy and lovely, but the dresser blocks the light switch to the bathroom. But honestly why on earth would the builder put the light switch to the bathroom in the middle of the wall (like more than a full arm length from the entrance to the bathroom?)
In all we had to rearrange 10 major pieces of furniture, not including the sectional. Finally after all of that we were able to move the sectional up against the correct wall of the family room and still it's rather large. But it fits. I have told my husband that this is the sign we have been waiting for that we need to move to a bigger house.
So, we have been saving up for a while to purchase a sectional couch. I need to sleep downstairs a few nights a week every month due to my little one's PFAPA episodes, so I have felt this purchase was justified. We have been visiting furniture stores for months searching for the perfect sectional within our price range. Oddly enough we didn't opt for the one with the built in cup holders and drink cooler as my husband was pulling for. I stalked Macys.com for a month waiting for the perfect sale (A little tidbit I found: lowest furniture sale prices occur in January.) Finally we ordered this couch that was going to revolutionize our family room.
The couch was to be delivered on a day that I had to be somewhere with one of the kids and the other was sick, so I convinced my husband to work from home so he could be here when the couch arrived. I texted him mid-morning to ask if it was there. He replied that yes, it had been delivered. When I asked how it looked, his reply was simply, "Big." My husband doesn't handle change well, so I just didn't think much of his comment. Until I got home.
Well one little problem with the new couch is that it is so long the back door was blocked. Kind of a necessity with a dog who may need to use the bathroom at some point. No big deal we thought. The couch would actually be going up against the other wall, but we hadn't had a chance to dismantle and move our huge entertainment system and hang the TV above the fireplace, so this was temporary. We had guests coming in town for the weekend and figured it was easier to leave as is and just block the back door for the weekend.
We ended up moving my dresser to this wall and putting the couch against the other wall in our bedroom. It's quite cozy and lovely, but the dresser blocks the light switch to the bathroom. But honestly why on earth would the builder put the light switch to the bathroom in the middle of the wall (like more than a full arm length from the entrance to the bathroom?)
In all we had to rearrange 10 major pieces of furniture, not including the sectional. Finally after all of that we were able to move the sectional up against the correct wall of the family room and still it's rather large. But it fits. I have told my husband that this is the sign we have been waiting for that we need to move to a bigger house.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)