You Bought WHAT??

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Buyer's remorse.

It's a real thing.

I sometimes start having it before I even get out of a store. It drives Mark NUTS when he catches me eyeing the contents of our cart as we stand in line to check out. He knows I'm thinking, "Hmm, maybe we don't really need ALL of this."

I am a very careful shopper. I'm not a couponer, but I rarely pay for anything at full price and I'm a label/tag reader. I like to make sure I'm getting the best value for the money. This is something my mother taught me.

Do you know that grocery stores often try to trick you into thinking you're getting a good deal on something they've put on "sale", when in fact another size of the same product is actually a better value? True story. I catch them doing it all the time. But it's only because I take the time to check the labeling. Stores get away with doing this with everyone else who don't stop and really look.

Even with my uber practical and pragmatic shopper side, there have been purchases I've regretted, or I regretted my husband making. Mark is NOT as practical and pragmatic as I.

10 Things I Wish Hadn't Been Bought

1. We both regretted buying my FIL's Toyota Supra when it threw a rod which punched a hole through the engine block. Dealing with that was a nightmare of epic proportions.

2. Speaking of cars, although we didn't purchase it, a Buick we acquired was pretty much a silly thing we ended up just passing on to someone else.

3. Mark worked for EXPO Design Center for a few years before we moved to Washington. Where Home Depot will help you build your house, EXPO will help you decorate it. One day Mark decided to buy a whole bunch of high end lighting fixtures for super cheap. He figured he could sell them for a very nice profit. It never panned out, and we lugged those damn things around for YEARS.

4. My daughter's crib. She never slept in it. Total waste of money.

5. Stick-up lights. I've done this more than once, trying different ones that come out, because I need extra light EVERYWHERE, but they use too many batteries which need replacing too often. Better to just grab a flashlight.

6. One of the first edition Kindles. Both Mark and I thought it would be fantastic for me and my bad eyes. Not so much. Yeah, I could make the print as big as I wanted, but the contrast was terrible, so I still had to work too hard to read it. I very sadly packed it up and sent it back to Amazon. Now though, I have a Kindle Fire and I love it.

7. A Topsy Turvy tomato planter.

8. Bar stools with backs. This is something you do not want to do if you have little kids who will twist and swivel in them, banging the backs on the counter and gouging them all to hell.

9. Half of the scrapbooking supplies that are collecting dust in their organizational caddy.

10. The Umpqua brand Birthday Cake ice cream currently sitting in my freezer, because its deliciousness is calling to me.

Linked with Monday Listicles.

TGIF: Randomly Happy Edition

Welcome to....

Today I shall present a list of random things that made me happy this week. Because, well, just because!

1. First, last Sunday I watched the Anderson Cooper interview with Adele on 60 Minutes and was so relieved to learn her vocal chord surgery was a success, her voice is fine, better than before if that's even possible, and she would be performing at the Grammys! She was so stinking cute in the interview too.

Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

2.Six wins! Adele won all six of the categories she was nominated in - the TOP six! Her wins showed that God-given, natural talent and simple, pure performances can shine through all the glitz and over-the-top antics of other "artists" {cough} Nicki Minaj {cough}. Adele's Grammy performance of "Rolling in the Deep" was perfection; she even let out a little giggle or squeal right at the very end because she had been so nervous. I just cannot say enough about that girl. Love, love, LOVE her!

3. We got our tax return. Yay, woohoo money, right? Yeah, not so much. Because of that little problem with Mark's secondary insurance I told you guys about last month, we had to use our return to pay off the car, which will free up that money to pay the premiums. Not only that, but the car decided it needed work RIGHT NOW, which takes another chunk. BUT, I'm happy about the timing of it all and the relief of working out a way to pay that bill.

4. I got to do some shopping All.By.Myself, and add a little to my stay-at-home momdrobe. New yoga pants and plain t-shirts!

5. I love the picture of my big fat kitty-witty, Julius, that I posted on Wednesday. He is SO going on a diet, though!

6. That you guys don't seem to mind when I write a post like I did yesterday. Honestly, if you did mind, I'd have to tell you to get over it (MY blog - you think you can do it better, just go on ahead with your bad self!). But I truly appreciate that you get it, and are even happy that I said what I did.

7. February sweeps! This week's Castle ended in a very exciting way, and Revenge had an interesting twist I did not see coming. And then we had a Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice crossover event last night....ah the drama! Oh, and I watched some of American Idol's Hollywood Week and heard a couple of stellar performances.

8. A new bloggy award! My bacon-loving friend The Sarcasm Goddess has passed on the Kreativ Blogger Award to me....

Isn't it pretty? So now there are these things I'm supposed to do as an award recipient:

1. Thank & link back to the person who gave you the award. (Isn't it funny that we have to remind adults to use their manners?)
2. Answer the form questions below.
3. Share ten random facts / thoughts about yourself.
4. Nominate (at least) 7 other blogs for the Kreativ Blogger Award.

Favorite song:
My all time faves are The Rose and Over the Rainbow, but currently, anything by Adele. Obviously. OMG, what if she sang The Rose or Over the Rainbow? I'd die!

Favorite dessert:
Ice cream

What ticks me off:
Where do I start? Right now this very minute, my kids fighting. I really hate lying liars who lie. The fake and the flakes both irritate me as well. When people on reality shows don't do what I think they should. Oh, and when news reporters try to report the news before they even have any facts. Because then they say things like "alleged" and "unconfirmed" and "what we think happened" and this in NO WAY helps me.

When I’m upset, I:
Depends on what I'm upset about. I might cry. I might get irritable. I might sit and stew. I might need to call someone. I might blog. I'll probably need a glass of wine. Or all of the above.

Favorite pet(s):
Kitties!

Black or white:
Black.

Biggest fear:
Um. I have a lot of fears. My very biggest fear? Losing a child.

Everyday attitude:
The Sarcasm Goddess said, "Oh you know, being awesome", and I'm gonna go with that too.

What is perfection?
SG also said, "Well according to Pink, I am F*cking Perfect and she seems like a really wise gal, so I'm going to trust her." I agree with this too.

My guilty pleasure:
I'm gonna go with watching The Bachelor/Bachelorette. My husband cannot stand these shows and has to bite his tongue hard when they're on. He thinks it's actually immoral how these people are going about dating a bunch of people at once. I see it as intensive speed dating. I'm a hopeful romantic and I can't help it! So sue me.

Alright, I've accepted the award and answered the prompts. I think it's a little redundant to also list 10 random things about myself. And in the light of the recent chain letter blogger tagging fiasco that recently ensued, I really feel like I've done enough of this for now. However, I will list 7 bloggers whom I would like to pass the Kreativ Blogger Award on to.

1. Anything But, and Then Some
2. MyBelovedAdoria
3. Mom Rocks Mealtime
4. Craftarrific
5. Life Ever Since
6. Bees With Honey
7. My Suitcase Full of Tricks

Phew! That's a whole lot of happy, isn't it? Please tell me you've got some happy to share too!

Grab the button and link-up the HAPPY below!

Adventures in Christmas Shopping

Today was the first day Mark and I were able to get out to shop for our kids.

A Saturday.  In December.

We're pretty spoiled when it comes to days/times to shop because Mark has days off work during the week, so that's usually when we choose to shop.

It's much less busy during the week.

Mark had dialysis this morning.  When he got home we formed a game plan and got ready to go.  Called the babysitter my dad to let him know our ETA.

Slowed the car down, tossed the kids out Left the kids in Grampa's capable hands and off we went.

I consciously decided (is that redundant?) to check in with Foursquare everywhere we went in order to have a record of the day:

As you can see, we were not having any luck at the first 3 stores.  The stores either didn't have what we wanted or we didn't like the price.  Coulda Maybe Almost bought something at Walmart, but we weren't standing in a long line for cookies!

We found the gift we wanted to be from us at the Sony Outlet Store - yay!

By this time we NEEDED food.  Because it was just the 2 of us, we headed for our favorite BBQ place. It was the messiest damn thing I have ever eaten but I did NOT get one single drip of sauce on me.

As we ate we talked about what we should do about the fact that we were coming up empty-handed.  I consulted the handy Amazon app on my phone and found that the things we wanted to get were available there and we still had time to order for pre-Christmas delivery.  I couldn't believe we were going to spend all this time out shopping only to go home and order everything online!

Checked in with Grampa and told him we wanted to try one more store.

We headed to Target, at the other end of town.

I needed to use the restroom but Mark was antsy so he said to meet him back in the toy section.  Pfft, whatever, Mr. No Pee!

He left me unattended near the dollar bins!  Silly man.

Actually, after finding a couple cool snap bracelets I restrained myself from further perusal and made a beeline for the toys.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear?  A miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer My husband with stuff in his cart!  Stuff we wanted even.  And, AND it was ON SALE for less than everywhere else we had been, including Amazon!

Target gave us a Christmas shopping miracle!

{Begin gospel interlude} Oh happy day!  Oh happy day! {End gospel interlude}

Still came home and placed an order for some things.  And there's still stocking stuffers to get and small packages to send.

But major progress was made and I am pleased.  And I didn't even want to kill anyone.

"In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukkah' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank.  People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukkah!'  or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!'"  ~ Dave Barry, "Christmas Shopping:  A Survivor's Guide"