coupons

A few days ago, I received my March Real Simple magazine in the mail.  (I've always been bothered by receiving magazines entire months early, but I'll save that for another post.)  Embracing the slowing economy and turning it into something marketable, Real Simple's theme for the month is all about tightening the purse strings.  The cover promises various ways to save money, get more for your money, etc.  It's weird, but I immediately got excited at the thought of saving rather than spending my money.  Maybe slowing economies have some good effects, after all.

Anyway, inspired by my Real Simple magazine, I decided to buy the Sunday paper and clip coupons.  I clipped several coupons for items I use regularly, or items I'd be willing to substitute for the items I use regularly.  This week's coupon books were a wealth of potential savings!  Crest Pro Health toothpaste!  Whitening rinse!  Bounce dryer sheets, which I was almost out of anyway!

Armed with coupons, I headed to Wal-Mart on Sunday afternoon.  For the first time ever, I was disappointed by Wal-Mart's low prices.  Instead of using a coupon to buy Bounce dryer sheets, I bought Great Value dryer sheets at half the price.  Bounce dryer sheets for $4.50 after the coupon, or Great Value dryer sheets for $2?  Come on...that's a no-brainer.  Wal-Mart's store brand rendered my coupons virtually useless.  Sadness!

Note:  I did have better luck at Walgreens, but who really shops for groceries there?  The only person I know who shops there is my crazy grandmother.  I really don't want to go down that road!

In other news, Ross and I had engagement pictures made this past weekend.  We should have proofs in the next few weeks.  If I'm allowed to share, I'll post a link!

engagement

Well folks, I got engaged over Christmas break.  (Yay!)  Ross and I are tying the knot on August 8th.  In the past few weeks, I've tried to get as much wedding planning done as humanly possible.  I thought I was doing a great job!  I found a dress (though I haven't bought it yet...but it's the one), I've chosen some bridesmaid dresses, and I've alerted three of the four bridesmaids that I want them to be in my wedding.  I've also ordered some invitation samples, contacted Ross's graphic designer friend, and made decisions on possible centerpieces & wedding favors.  And, most importantly, I've informed my future mother-in-law that absolutely no Elvis songs are allowed at the wedding or the reception.  I'm doing pretty well, right?  

WRONG!  The other day, I made the terrible mistake of joining a wedding website called The Knot.  These people are evil!  I felt great about all the decisions I'd made in the past few weeks.  Then I signed up for The Knot and looked at "the ultimate planning to-do list" or something to that effect.  I checked off all the things that I'd done so far and clicked "submit," and I found out that I was still about 142 tasks behind schedule!  

Seriously, people.  What kind of wedding requires 80 to-do items per month for an entire 12 months before the wedding?  Isn't the point of having a wedding to, um, get married?  Geez.  The world is totally out of touch with reality.  (Or am I?)

neighbors

I long for the day when I can have a real adult residence.  I'd love a cute house with a two-car garage, a yard, and a fence.  But alas, I am poor.  My net worth is in the negative.  I keep spending money I don't have to pay for things I don't really need.  I feel a little bit like Congress.

After living in my apartment for about a year and a half, I thought I'd finally gotten used to my surroundings.  Then I got a new neighbor.  I like to call this new neighbor Jimmy Buffett.

Jimmy Buffett likes to sit outside his apartment on top of an old igloo cooler.  It looks like this one, but red.

While sitting on said cooler, Jimmy Buffett likes to "play" an acoustic guitar.  I do not know much about guitars, but Ross informs me that the guitar he plays is a brand so crappy it's laughable.  The guitar looks something like this:

The following is a list of songs Jimmy Buffett likes to sing:

• Margaritaville
• The Joker (Some people call me the space cowboy, some people call me the gangsta of love...)
• Sitting on the Dock of the Bay
• Superman by Three Doors Down
• Outside by Staind

I'll stop there, because the list continues to get even lamer, if you can believe it.

Jimmy Buffett will apparently sit outside on his cooler and sing/play lame songs at any time of the day or night, but his most preferred time is Thursday evenings, which he refers to as "Thirsty Thursdays!"  On Thirsty Thursdays, it's not uncommon to see Jimmy Buffett putting on an uninvited acoustic show while drinking whiskey, beer, or a combination of both.

In short, I'm living next to the world's most annoying frat reject.  Oh, did I mention he's at least 26?  And still in college?  After dropping out to go be a white water rafting guide for several years?  After five long years in college trying to get that oh-so-impossible degree in communication, he just needed a break.  

I want a house!!

halloween candy

Hello to my two friends who are reading this blog!  Not much is going on in my life that's very exciting.  Law school is, I have decided, my own personal hell.  But I wanted to post anyway, so here's a semi-funny story about Halloween.

I forgot all about Halloween until yesterday morning.  I was walking to school, and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, until all of a sudden...wait a minute...there went a stroller carrying a small child dressed up like a fairy (complete with wings!).  Oddly, though, it still didn't click.  My first thought was not, "Oh yeah, it's Halloween."  Nope; my first thought was, "That mom is psycho."  I finally realized it was Halloween after I got to school and saw one of our law school tech guys dressed up at Lieutenant Dangle.  In case you're unfamiliar, Lieutenant Dangle looks like this:

And even then, it took a few minutes.  At first I thought, "What's that cop doing here?"  But finally, I realized:  It's Halloween!  Yes!  I GET TO GO BUY CANDY!

I've lived in my apartment for about a year and a half, and it's not in a neighborhood where kids normally go trapsing around during the daytime, much less after sundown.  So, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be getting any trick-or-treaters this year.  But still, the thought of being candyless if a trick-or-treater did show up was too much for me to bear.  So, I went to the grocery store after class yestesrday and bought:

• One bag of Heath miniatures
• One bag of Snickers miniatures
• One bag of assorted miniatures, containing Milky Way, Twix, etc.
• One glow-in-the-dark ghost basket to contain all this candy.

I was checked out by a Harps employee who was festively wearing a vampire costume, which was creepy enough.  It got even weirder when he started talking to me using some kind of "Transylvanian" accent.  "Hoow eez the weather?  Eet's steel too bright for meee...muahaha!"

Of course, I had not one trick-or-treater.  But on the plus side, this morning I got to eat candy for breakfast!

Dennis Haskins: The Man, The Legend

I will never forget the day that I met the one and only Mr. Belding. My friend Ellen and I went to the Student Union, where Mr. Belding himself was giving a lecture. Apparently, that's his thing these days -- he just travels around to various colleges giving lectures to kids who used to watch him overact on Saturday mornings.

But the real purpose of this post is so I can try out Picasa's uploader thingy. It's neat!

new blog!

Hi friends and family. (Ok, let's be honest. There's only one person reading this. Hi, Mom...)

Really, though, I'd like to try to blog once again. Lame though blogging might be, I really do like writing, and I miss it! I miss the creativity of writing something that doesn't require legal authority in the form of a statute or a Supreme Court case. I'm gonna try to do better this time. Really!

Check back in a few days for what I hope will be a clever and witty post!