The Thrill of the Kill

I need to take a triumphant moment to celebrate and brag.

Last Christmas I was given two gifts that didn't quite work. One was a purse from my wonderful husband that was cool, but I couldn't imagine myself actually using. The other was a fun fleece jammie set from his mother in a Junior's size small...which I was, but am no longer. Boo x2.

So today I set about to exchange.

Stop 1--Kohl's to get bigger sized jammies. Alas, it was a seasonal gift set & there were none. So instead I hit the clearance racks because paying full price seems like a waste to me. I found a few things I liked, tried on plenty that didn't work, and came out with this:

Funky patterned shirt that does a fair job of being stylish and as flattering it can get with what it's got to work with (4 pregnancies and lots of Christmas goodies). Regular price $36.00--I paid $7.20. The bracelet was a cool find that goes really well with the shirt. Reg $18.00-->$3.60.

I always adore cool jewelry, clothes and shoes on other people kristenandaubrey, but don't even imagine wearing the same sort of stuff myself. I'm just a jeans & t-shirt sort of a girl. But I've decided that it's time to start stepping out of the Frumpy Zone.

This will help, I think. $18.00-->$3.60.

This one's the best. Not because it'll be my favorite to wear or get the most compliments, but for sheer value. Up close they look like shimmery little lip glosses or eyeshadows. $16.00-->$1.60. Oh yes, you read that right 90% OFF!!!!!

And the super crazy part is that the returned jammies in all their warm coziness came to the EXACT SAME AMOUNT as the shirt, necklace and bracelets. I could not have planned that any better! The Type A voice in my head is still giggling about that.

(Please excuse the lack of spaces between paragraphs here. I've got about a dozen in the html, but they don't show up. Pooh.)

I took my awesomeness right past the Lotto stand (where maybe I should have stopped) to Dress Barn to exchange the purse. I'd never been in there before, but have always wondered why on earth any woman would want to shop for clothes in a place with the word 'barn' in the name? mooooo. They must have amazing clothes, because the name is terrible!!

Anyway.

The selection was way smaller that I'd hoped, but I did pretty good, I think.

The skirt is fun (my boldly-fashioned sister really likes it), the pants are boring, but a sensible choice and came up at $9.00, about 1/2 of what I thought! BONUS! Thanks to the discounted pants, I had a little left on the you-can-only-get-in-store-credit-for-this-return-even-though-your-husband-paid-cash-for-the-purse card, so I headed over for the jewelry department. Fun there, too.

The matching earrings are sort of tempting me to finally get my ears pierced. We'll see...

Pants: $29.99 -->$9.00

Skirt: $29.99-->$12.00

Necklace/Earring set: $16.99-->$6.80

Total value: $164.97

Total 'paid': $43.80

Actual out-of-pocket expense: $3.09

Now is when I would normally invite you to bow down and worship the Bargain Queen, but my sister (who became engaged yes.ter.day) dropped by unexpectedly this evening to show me the GORGEOUS, modest, only a little too small plus-sized wedding dress that she found on Craigslist and picked up today for $150 PLUS found the exact same one at the Deseret Industries thrift store in Federal Way just a little smaller so if they need to alter the bigger one it can be from the same fabric/beading/etc for $60. 2 identical wedding dresses for $210. The day after she was proposed to. You can all bow to my toes & butt, 'cause I'm on the floor in front of HER!

Huh?

I like to take amusing pictures. Well, I like to take pictures of things that I find amusing. They've been collecting, so I just now decided to put them all in one blog post.


(See? I can be spontaneous!)





This one isn't funny until you realize that this WAS a photo studio and was almost done being renovated into a pizza joint. The sign states, "NO CONSTRUCTION PARKING"



I was passing through over a year ago & did a triple-take of this sign, then had to turn around to get a picture. "The economy stinks, housing prices are falling and you can have this lot + house for only $1.3 million!!!" It wasn't even a great location!

I could use a cherry pitter, so this caught my eye. Until I noticed that the descriptive sentences under the three smaller circles read:

"Taller Trays to Fit Larger Gourmet Frosted Cupcakes" (for the berry colander)

"Removable Cupcake Trays are Perfect for Presentation"

"Features Finger Indents for Easier Cupcake Removal

oops.

This one's dark, so look closely at the arrow sign on the left.

Psst! Beef, Bacon and Turkey aren't technically vegetarian.

3.5

3.5--hours of sleep I got after I went to sleep at midnight
3.5--what time it was that Lee came in to tell me that he wet Alex's bed...with Alex in it
3.5--hours of laundry that it'll take to recover from his recent bedwetting spree
3.5--gadzillion times I wondered why I wasn't sleeping
3.5--snowflake designs I envisioned
3.5--Christmas gifts I mentally hashed out while lying on my pillow
3.5--hours until the 7:00 alarm
3.5--hours of sleep that I did NOT get
3.5--web pages visited looking for hubby's Christmas gift. Hey, I may as well.
3.5--minutes spent chatting with an overseas Irish friend who wondered why I was up
3.5--hours of a nap I'd like to take this afternoon
3.5--chunks of 10 minutes that I'll likely get
0--late-night snacks I ate while I was up.

Hooray for life's small victories!

Now will someone please give Cora a dvd tutorial and direct me to my bed?

Happy Almost Blogiversary

It's been nearly one whole year since I started my blog. Now that I'm pushing a year, I've made some discoveries, have tentative goals in mind and come up with a few queries to myself.

First and foremost, I'm wondering...why on earth did I start a blog in December? What the heck sort of loony nutcase am I? December isn't busy enough already, I guess.

When certain friends of mine would hint strongly that they'd love to read my blog, I always responded that with 4 children and 45 apartments I didn't have time. I was right. I don't. For a while there I was blogging almost regularly, but as of late, I haven't. There are a couple of reasons for that, though, and they come in the form of other realizations:
--I can blog or read. Not both. My recent lack of blogging was superceded by Catching Fire, Mockingjay and the Warriors series that Abby brought home from the library.
--The oldish Thumperism "If you can't say nuthin' nice, don't say nuthin' at all" applies to blogging. When my mood or stage in life is tainted with an undercurrent of malaise, hopelessness or tickedoffedness, I don't blog. Like that bag of feathers released into the wind, I'd rather just shut my e-trap & err on the side of non-offense.
--Blogging is an evening activity for me. When the kids don't get to bed on time or if the hubby's home, blogging gets put on the back burner.
--Or if I'm frantically trying to get Christmas crafts completed by my deadlines.

I do blog in my head, still, and have lots of pictures that I take and think to myself, "This'll make a really great blog post." Then I don't.

Another discovery I've made is that even though I dream of being a fabulous blogger with tons of followers and regular comments, there is a sacrifice required that I'm not sure I'm willing to make. It entails first becoming a regular follower and commenter on multiple other blogs. And that takes a lot of time. So I'm not sure that dream will ever come to fruition in this stage of life.

In the meantime, I'll keep going forward, treating listingloquacious as what it truly is: my own personal public journal. And because I want to blog more frequently, I will.

After Christmas.

Maybe she's born with it.

Maybe it's Maybelline.

Letters On the Road

Linking up with Julie at Foursons for this week's...





Dear Pedestrians,

You have the right of way. I am bigger and faster and deadlier and will keep an eye out for you and your well-being.

I am aware that when you're in a crosswalk, it is illegal for a vehicle to drive through that same crosswalk. But when a car is stopped, backing up traffic, waiting to turn until you're safely across the street, do you mind picking up the pace to a walk instead of mosey?

Sincerely,
Itchy Right Foot

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Bikers,

I will share the road.

I don't mind it. I think it's great that you are getting exercise, reducing emissions and saving the world. Good for you! I have no problem with you on the side of my lane, and I will always make sure that I give you a little extra space. Heck! Certain areas in Seattle now have green boxes at the intersections that are only for cyclists!

That said, as long as you're throwing a tantrum to be given equal rights on the road, do you mind obeying the rules? If I did half the ridiculous things that I've seen you do, I'd have my license revoked! That big red roundish sign with the little corners and white letters means STOP!!!

Sincerely,
Equality means Equality.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And though not a letter, a conversation with Lee that fits the theme:

"Mom, that girl just ran across the street."
"Yep. She made it safely, but probably should have waited until we passed."
"Yeah. Just like on Frogger."

Good News, Bad News

Today's Good News, Bad News is prompted by the search for items for Abby's Halloween costume...

Good News: I found my purple & white flag team (dance team) skirt.
Bad News: She doesn't want to be a cheerleader this year.
Good News: The skirt still fits me and is a touch loose.
Bad News: I only put it on one leg.