There IS Such a Thing as a Free Lunch

Baseball season is upon us, so we are finding ourselves AT the ball park during dinnertime these days, which is always tricky. 

Well, to feed our brood one evening, we brought along two Little Caesar's pizzas for "dinner" - which we discovered is NOT ENOUGH to sufficiently satisfy our family's hunger anymore. 

So, later that night, Matt wanted to go and get dinner, since, he considered, the couple of measly pizza slices he ate were just a snack.

We headed over to Wendy's since we had some "Buy (something), Get (something else) Free" type coupons.

(AND they have the awesome 2000-flavor-drink-machine!)  

As is often the case, the employee working the cash register didn't quite know how to make the coupons work, or the computer wasn't calculating the correct amount - or SOMETHING!  This problem resulted in him calling over a manager for "help." 

The manager started pushing buttons on the register - while calling instructions back to the cooks - so she must have got distracted, because then she exclaimed, "Oh No!" 

She stared at the register for a few seconds, and then she blurted out, "I can't believe I did that!" 

Meanwhile, both the initial employee and Matt & I were standing there in confusion.
 
The manager then said, "Don't worry about it.  It's on the house."   

We replied with a very intelligent, "WHHAAAT??"

She retorted, "I cashed the order out [by mistake].  You're good.  It's on us.  Nothing's due."

We said we were ready and able to pay, but apparently she couldn't do anything - after she pushes the "final" cash out button, the register CANNOT accept any payment on that transaction.  (THESE AMAZING COMPUTERS!  What would we do without them?!?)   ;)

So, there we sat in Wendy's dining room with two of THE CHEAPEST combo meals we've ever [not] bought!  It was our LUCKY day!

There's the secret:  use a coupon, and it will confuse them into giving you free food!

We DID decide to stop by the counter on our way out and order a few sandwiches TO GO for our teenage sons who are ALWAYS please with a late-night Fast Food "snack."  Then we felt better that we DID spend SOME money while there.

I was received at home with hugs and utterances of, "You're the BEST Mom!" from my boys.
(SOMETIMES you get it right.)

Kids Say the Darndest Things - Apr. '13 Edition

Taken from the sidebar...

Miss B was at the kitchen sink using the dish scrubber....
Brookelle: "I like washing! You know why?"
Me: "Why?"
Brookelle: "It's like I'm Cinderella!" 4/13

It's All Relevant

For the month of April, our topic of study for the Youth at church has been The Apostasy and the Restoration.
The introduction lesson went over the different events of The Restoration, and I was given this picture and asked to tell about it:

{Joseph Smith receives the gold plates from Angel Moroni}

This has been on my mind all month.  

It was my turn to teach the lesson yesterday, and my topic was "Why Do We Need the Book of Mormon?"

Basically, the answer to the question, that doubles as the lesson title, is found in an awesome talk given by President Ezra Taft Benson in 1986:

"There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book." 

What kind of POWER?

{Thanks for asking!}  I made a handout to give to my Young Women based on all the powers I found in a talk titled, "The Power of the Word."  if one will immerse themselves in the scriptures.

 

{These are NOT mild promises!}

THIS talk has been on my mind for TWO MONTHS, ever since it was mentioned in our February Stake Conference.

And THEN, tonight, I was going through our old photo files that are saved on our computer in preparation for a scrapbook retreat I am going to this weekend.  Coincidentally, I left off scrapbooking our Fall 2007 photos last time, so I pulled those up to send them to the photo lab to print.......and guess what photos they were?

It was the photos from a trip we took to upstate New York (Palmyra), namely the Hill Cumorah, to visit Matt's parents when they were serving a mission in the area.

 

(don't mind my closed eyes! It's good of everyone else!)

LOOK AT MY BABIES!  They DO look like mere babies in these photos!  Oh Dear.

It was such an awesome & beautiful feeling there on The Hill that day.  I remember it felt so good in the SUN - it just added to the good feeling from the SPIRIT.  Especially since the Autumn chill was beginning to creep into the air in other places - especially in the trees.

NO WAY!  I seriously haven't looked at or remembered these photos FOR YEARS (ever since I downloaded them 5 1/2 yrs. ago.  I thought it was just too incredible that these photos came back right when I was deep in my pondering and study of these events of The Restoration.

It's come full circle for me this month:

 {THEN}

{NOW}

BUT, SERIOUSLY....can you believe my children?  They were little, little (except for their chubby faces!)  It makes my heart go into a tiny bit o' shock!

A Silver Lining

My Mission President first taught me about "Silver Linings." As in, "Every cloud has a silver lining."
He taught that in the midst of difficulty - and there was PLENTY on the mission (our message was rejected, cancelled baptism dates, unable to receive permission from parents/husbands/friends who were opposed to and would not grant permission to their loved ones being Baptized, investigators dropping us, foreign languages to learn, WEIRD food, "No Shows" for appointments & church, The cold/wet/humid/scorching weather...on a bike, companion relationships, etc. - sometimes ALL in the SAME day! Aauuugh!)

But, then, he said, there was ALWAYS something GOOD that could come out of it.  Blessings were all around - even if we did not discover them until a WHILE after the desperate/unhappy/gloomy situations.


Soooo, in the middle of our Post- Ruptured Patellar Tendon life - and I say, "OUR" because it has totally affected our whole family...."Single parent" with one more "child" to care for, but only the same amount of [limited] time - and only ONE driver....

I found a SILVER LINING!

{compliments of our Orthopedic Dr.....I made the request, and a trip to the DMV, and voila!}

And what's better than having a handicapped parking pass?

Having TWO passes!  (One for each car.)

Being a whole foot shorter than Matt, with much shorter legs, I've always had to move along, it seems, with a slow gallop to keep up with him.  NOW.....I'm walking very S.L.O.W.L.Y. and I'm still in front of him.  So, the shorter distance he has to "walk" (what do you call it when one move on crutches?) the better!

BUT!  I will not abuse it.  I have been in the car all by myself, and I pass the front, handicap parking stalls and find one further away, even though.....legally, technically, I could get away with it.

I've noticed others do park in those "reserved" spots EVEN WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE A HANDICAP PASS.  And THEN WE have no where semi-close to park.  I'm totally bugged by that.  Don't do it!  There ARE people who really need it!!!

And it's good for 3 MONTHS!  SCORE.  (Hope & Comfort among the challenges.)  It makes my "Gratitude List."

--------------
On the same subject of "Silver Linings" - did you think I was going to write about the movie?  I'm upset that Silver Linings Playbook is rated R.  It sounds like a great idea for a movie.....that I won't be seeing.  Hey!  You movie making people!  Why do you have to ruin all these movies with crap that brings them down to a disgusting & inappropriate rated R level?  Don't do it!

(I guess it's "Opposite NIKE Day")

It's Justified!

I discovered Pinterest about a year and a half ago.  (Thanks Jill!) 

When I tried to explain what Pinterest was to my 70 yr. old mom, it blew her away, but it's really a similar concept to what's been around for a while...in her day, in fact.  When she understood what it was, she replied,  "OH, so this just takes the place of what I used to do when I ripped out magazine pages I liked and filed them away in my "Idea Folders" all those years!"

YES!!....except more high-tech....and less clutter-y....and easier to find all in one spot!

And now I have over 2,000 Pins.

WHAT?!?

How much time did THAT take?!?

Early on, I actually had to change my settings because I would get so many emails whenever someone liked or re-pinned one of my pins, and then I would go and check THEM out....and before I knew it, I'd been sitting at the computer for an hour! 

So, NO MORE of that for me.

With so many pins, do you think I'm ever going to get around to doing all (any?) of it?

Well, I have!  And I'll prove it to you.....

 

Exhibit #1:  "A Box (basket) Full of Sunshine"

It just so happened that my daughter's teacher's favorite color is YELLOW.
So, I thought this would be so fun! 

Dollar Tree had this yellow basket all ready to go for me!  ;)

I didn't end up using the same products that were shown in my pin, but once I got going,
it was super easy to find so many yellow things at the store,
in my pantry, and in my "emergency stash" at home.  ;)

Finished product.
My other daughter was really upset that her teacher's favorite color
was PURPLE and this didn't work out for her to do it, too!


Exhibit #2:  The Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party

I REALLY persuaded my daughter, Brookelle, to go this direction (forget the Princesses!)
for her 4 yr. old b-day party just because of the pins I had collected on this!

The invitation.

The decorations.

Reading THE BOOK.

{nice MOUTH action shot!}

The FOOD.  (everything the caterpillar ate from the book!)

Exhibit #3:  Favors for my Young Women at church

It's an excuse to go visit them all at their homes!

And teenagers love pop, right?

 {7*UP} lifting ways to start your first week of school

BECOME A "FAN" of GENERAL CONFERENCE

{if you haven't already!}

"Decide now to make General Conference a priority in your life.

Decide to listen carefully and follow the teachings that 

are given.  Listen to or read the talks more than once to

better understand and follow the conusel.  By doing these things,

the gates of hell will not prevail against you, the powers of darkness

will be dispersed from before you, and the heavens will 

shake for your good."

Paul V. Johnson, of the Seventy

And speaking of General Conference.....

Exhibit #4:  General Conference attention-getters

 If you're paying attention to WHO is actually speaking, you get to snack on their treat!  :)

Exhibit #5:  Necklace Storage - "No More Tangles"

 

I put these hooks in my closet shelf separator thing-y for my necklaces. 

Exhibit #6:  Hawaiian Birthday Party

Now THIS party was completely my 8 yr. old daughter's choice.  (no forcing encouraging like with my youngest)

She'd had the "Luau" theme chosen for over a year, but Pinterest gave me some inspiration.

(I actually didn't follow the pin's cheese ball recipe, just decorated it to look like a pineapple.)



Exhibit #7:  Dinner and Dessert!
Well, I guess I can't really call it an "exhibit" if I didn't take photos of it, huh?

How about I just make a list - with the links:

Honey Lime Enchiladas

Korean Beef

Ground Beef Risotto

Neiman Marcus Chicken Salad

Chicken Piccata

Shrimp Tacos

Chocolate Chip Brownies

Chicken Corn Chowder

Copy Cat Pizza Hut personal pan pizza

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies

plus many more.....!

So, I'M TOTALLY JUSTIFIED, RIGHT?!?

 

;)

FYI: I'm at  http://pinterest.com/suzbaduz/

What Could've Been (or A Pity Party on a Friday Night)

Tonight we were SUPPOSE TO be getting on a plane to fly out to Cancun.

This was our "replacement vacation" for our failed Cruise attempt back in February.

Matt & I (no kids) had a week long reservation at an ADULTS ONLY All Inclusive Resort on the beach in Cancun, The Golden Parnassus.

We had a room booked with breathtaking views of Nichupte Lagoon and the Caribbean beyond.

 

We were going to eat to our heart's (tummy's?) content at any or all of the six restaurants at OUR resort and/or the ten restaurants at it's sister resort down the road.

We wanted to take advantage of the Spa part of the Resort, too.

BUT THEN THIS HAPPENED!!!

Which pretty much creates all kids of problems for a vacation like this.

 Matt can't even walk on his own, so....

I present to you Problem #1:

He can't bend his leg either.

Problem #2:

And he can't even get his knee wet.....

Problem #3:

{"They" say the Ocean's crashing waves against ruptured knees is also BAD = Problem #4}

And if he can't even drive a car, how is he going to manage any of these?

{Problem #5}

That "SUPPOSE TO" phrase I opened this post with, was the key word.  NEEDLESS TO SAY, we had to cancel our vacation.

{Boo hoo hoo.  Bwaaaahhhhhh!}

And, tonight, instead of flying to Paradise, I stayed home - on a Friday night - being crafty:

 

(Which would you rather be doing?) ;)

Imagine that:  TWO failed vacation attempts so far in 2013.

Don't you wish you had my "LUCK?"