My Weekend at the Farm....

This past weekend, DBF and I went to his parents' farm about an hour or so from Lexington, KY. I had been looking forward to it, but of course I was nervous. This was my first time meeting his family. Once we got there, however, the nervousness went away quickly.

When we arrived, his mom came out to greet us. Then it was feeding time for the animals. DBF and I went down to the pasture with her to get the horses (Charlie, Baby and Sable) to the barn. She showed me how to keep from getting stepped on and asked me if I was okay around horses. I've been around horses just a little, but I had no fear of being around them. She also showed us was had been added to the barn. Next, it was time to feed the goats. They have a lot of baby goats, but I'm not sure how many. It was fun watching them play with one another. After the goats, we went to see the 40 chickens that were just little chicks in July.

After all the animals were fed, it was time for us to eat. DBF always brings Chinese food from the town were his parents used to live. He says they can't find good Chinese food in the small town where they now live. His dad teased me a little about being from Indiana, but DBF had warned me that he would. DBF said if his dad doesn't tease you, then he doesn't like you. We spent the rest of the evening talking.

The next morning, I got up at around 9 am. DBF had not come out of his room yet, but I could hear his parents talking in the kitchen. I went out to join them.......more about his parents, four-wheeling, horse back riding and a picture of the wonderful DBF in my next post!


To be continued......................

Speaking of LOVE..............

Love was the topic of conversation last night between DBF and me! The stinker waited until I said it first, but I had a feeling he felt the same as I did. We both wanted to say it before he left for Labor Day weekend at his parents 4 hours away, but we were both afraid to freak out the other one. I'd been feeling it for a week or two, but what really made me realize it was him going away for the weekend. He'd told me before that when he goes to his parents, he likes to "draft" behind semis to save gas. Of course, being a worry-wart like I am, all I can think of is DBF doing that and the sami making a quick stop and turning his Celica into a convertible. I told him that much, but didn't come right out and tell him I loved him. He told me that he loved spending time with me, but not he loved me.

Knowing that he's been divorced and feels like he failed at marriage, I was afraid I would scare him away by making him feel I was pushing for a commitment or it would be too soon for him. On Friday night, however, we had a important talk about some other things so I know that things were getting serious between us. Plus, he's already invited me to his parents farm in a couple weeks to meet them. Last night, I just couldn't wait any longer! It drove me nuts to talk to him every night that I didn't see him and not tell him "I love you" at the end of the phone call. So I just did it.

I've never felt so comfortable with anyone in my life! I've only been dating him for six weeks and I've only known him for ten weeks, but it feels like I've known him for years. I only wish Mom could have met him.....but at least she knew about him.

I love FREE!

In these days of rising prices, it's great to find a good price on anything. However, my favorite price of all is FREE! Before going onto the the MSN money messageboard (specifically the Grocery Challenge thread), I rarely if EVER got anything free. Now, however, that is changing. In the past week I have gotten at least 8 items for free! I actually MADE 50 cents on each of the Colgate toothpaste by using a $1.50 coupon and getting $2.00 ECBS back.





Here's how I got so much for FREE!

Loreal facial cleanser 5.99 at CVS - $1.00 Q = $4.99 and got 5.99 ECBs back
Dawn HandRenewal on hidden sale at CVS (thanks to GC for telling me!) 99 cents - $1.00 Q
Colgate Toothpaste 2 at $2.99 at CVS - $1.50 Q each = $1.49 and get 2.00 ECBs
Cover Girl lipstick on BOGO sale at CVS AND I had a BOGO Q so I got $19.98 for FREE!
Cottonelle TP 4 single roll pack (2 packs) 99 cents each at Kroger - 2 50 cents Qs that double = FREE!

Most of this will be for my personal use (stockpile), but the toothpaste and toilet paper will be used for HBA Christmas baskets for friends and family.

School's Back in Session!

In my town, school started on August 4th. I'm a Pre-K assistant for the third year and I believe this is going to be the hardest year yet. For starters, there are only two assistants instead of three. One quit in May to get a job with benefits and she's not going to be replaced. Secondly, out of the 26 students about 16 of them are new to the class. The kids that were with us last year are not strong role models so they can't show the new kids what to do. And finally, we have three boys and one little girl that are physically agressive. The boys are insubordinate as well. We can tell them to stop doing something and they'll look at us and do it anyway! The three of them together just egg each other on to do more mischief.

We've had to completely redo how we do the "centers". We can't do whole-class activities because the kids get out of control. Art, music, Spanish and PE (all of which we assistants are in charge of) are crazy and out of control because the kids just won't listen. After 3 weeks of school, we are finally able to get half of them to line up quietly.....last year that only took a week!

I think all three boys are going to be referred for behavioral problems. Hopefully, the behavior specialist can give us some strategies to help us. It's going to be a LLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG year!

It's Been A Good Week!

I've had lots of wonderful things happen in the past week.

1. I got a beautiful rose from my DBF on Friday.
2. I've seen DBF on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday! We live about 20 miles from each other so it does take some work to get together....not to mention money for gas.
3. DBF has agreed to go to church with me on Sunday. All my friends at church are dying to meet him. He's Catholic and I'm Baptist so I'm especially glad he's willing to go at least once. He's had some bad experieces with other churches----snake handling and speaking in tongues!
4. I got hired to tutor a second grade student in reading for an hour twice a week. It will mean an extra $40 a week!
5. Today I got a letter and two pictures from my nephew who's in prison. This is the first time he's contacted this (his dad's) side of the family in the year since he's been in prison.

Kroger Deal This Week

I went to Krogers this week to stock up on Lean Cuisines. I eat them for lunch several times a week and Wal-Mart currently wants $2.88 for each. The Kroger's deal is: buy $20 in Nestle product, get $5 off---and you can do that 3 times in one transaction.

My trip:

16 Lean Cuisine items @ $2.00 each = $32.00
1 Edy's slow churned ice cream = $ 3.34
2 Cottonelle 4 pk TP @ $0.99 each = $ 1.98
4 Purina One can dog food @ $1.25ea= $ 5.00
1 banana (0.51 lbs @ 0.46lb) = $ 0.23
___________________________________________
$41.55

Minus:
$5.00 Nestle Offer X 2 -$10.00
$0.25 Cottonelle Q X 2 -$ 0.50
Bonus coupon X 2 -$ 0.50
Lean Cuisine Q -$ 1.50
Free Purina One Q X 4 -$ 5.00
Used 3 reuable bags -$ 0.12
____________________________________________
Saved: $17.62

Total saved w/ Q, promotion and sales prices: $31.04 or 60%
Total OOP = $25.32!

That is less than I would have paid for 9 Lean Cuisines at regular price!
The Purina One and Edy's ice cream finished up the second $20 Nestle deal. I had just gotten Q's for free Purina One canned dog food, so I saved $5.00 AND got $5.00 taken off my bill because I bought them! How cool is that?

God's Plans Are Perfect!

Well, it's been one week tonight since my first date with Vince. I've already posted about our imprompto dinner Monday night. I was passing through his small town (about 20 miles from my town) on Thursday and surprised him with a visit. Then he came to my house for dinner and a tour of my little town last night. Tonight, he invited me to his place for dinner! On Wednesday and Friday, we were on the phone together for 2-3 hours each night. Needless to say, we've hit it off!

I asked him last night when he first noticed me. He said it was one morning when I brought my car in to the closest shop. At the time he was a "floater" going back and forth whereever he was needed. I told him that it must have been in October when I brought my car in to have the radiator replaced. I just vaguely remember him there----mostly I remember hearing the name Vince, not seeing him.

It stills amazes both of us how we ended up dating. There were so many factors that came into play.

1. After a year + of knowing the carburator was bad, I finally decided to fix it.
2. Owners of my regular repair shop divorced and my mechanics went to KY with the ex-husband.
3. New mechanics at my regular shop messed my car up. (Vince told me I should thank them!)LOL
4. My mom got out of the hospital on a Thursday. If she'd still been in the hospital on Friday, I wouldn't have taken the car in until Monday and Vince's last day at that shop was Friday.

When all that finally happens and Vince asked me out, it was almost 3 weeks to the day before Mom died. I feel that God was giving me something to look forward to. I can't imagine how empty my life would be after Mom's death if I hadn't met Vince when I did. I miss my mom every single day, but I know that she's no longer in pain. I got to spend time with her during her last days on Earth. Now, I can spend as much time as I want with Vince without any guilt about leaving her alone or worry about how she is doing.