At the Costco

They both are still alive after getting in (there were some scary moments). The real question is: can they get out?

Memorial Day

Today was a day off work so of course I worked all day. Not really. Diana and I got up and finished making jelly rolls and had McDonald's and then we went back to bed. We got up around 11AM(!!!!) and decided we should get stuff done. I had told Diana that I wanted to get the basement clean and especially the storage room. This was quite a project. The kids had completely destroyed the storage room. The basement was not that bad, except we let the kids sleep downstairs last night so there was some cleaning to do.

We went downstairs before noon and finished up around 7PM. That is quite a job. We did take a break around 3 to watch an hour of "So You Think You Can Dance" which has started up again. We filled up our garbage cans as well as filling up the Pathfinder with stuff to take to the DI.

It was quite a day. I am tired, my back hurts, but I can walk through my storage room without trying to squeeze past items. We also straightened out the food storage and took an inventory of all our food and freezer items.

After cleaning all day I started up the BBQ and cooked cheddar brats and cheeseburgers. Diana cooked up the waffle fries. I made my special fry sauce (no, I will not be listing the recipe) and we chowed down. We also had a fruit plate and a veggie tray. It was quite a meal. For dessert we had Island Sorbet from Costco. These were pretty good (if I liked sorbet I would probably love them). The sorbet is actually in a fruit cup. I had mango-orange and it was actually in an orange peel. If you like sorbet pick one up and try it out.

After dinner was over I fixed Jordan's bike. He had a brake problem, the front brakes would not release. I unhooked the brake wire and unwrapped it from the steering wheel and then re-hooked everything up. I then pumped up Jordan's back tire. Chloe's front tire needed some air so I filled it up to. Chloe has a YW bike ride this Saturday. I will have to see if the tire stays full or I will need to put a patch on the tube before then. I have a busy week so I will see if I have time. I will be patching up the tire at 10PM some night.

Thanks to all the veterans out there that fought for our freedom. That is what Memorial Day is all about.

And this is just the beginning to the week...much more to come.

At the Costco

Here is the cart after a day of shopping at the Costco. Don't tell Diana about the toothbrush, she asked for it for Mother's Day. You don't want to know the total, just know that I got $68 in coupons. Big, big savings at the Costco. And, yes, I know it is not really the Costco and it is just Costco, I like to say the Costco so I will.

I saw my Mom, Addison and Izzie at the Costco too. My cart was a lot fuller.

Freezer Meals

Diana got us in a freezer meals club a couple months ago. I thought she was crazy, and the first time we made meals it was a five-hour process. I was saying we would be in this month and then out. We made a ravioli casserole that was delicious. In return we got all pizza soup, taco soup, and a bunch of other yummy meals.

Last month we made corkscrew chicken and we heard from everyone how good it was. The only meal we have had from last month was a yummy chicken crock pot dinner. We made rice and covered the rice with the chicken stuff. It was very good. We have other meals still in the freezer to eat and I am sure we will get to them soon.

For this month we have gone crazy and made BFD (Breakfast for Dinner). It is Diana's world famous breakfast casserole. It is so good. I love it. It is pretty easy to make it also. It still takes hours when you are making six of them. This recipe consists of hash browns, sausage, eggs and cheese.

I always go to Costco to get our supplies for these meals. Today I bought 4 packs of 24-pack eggs, 2 2-pound cheeses, 2 3-pound sausages and 9 pounds of hash browns. We used almost all of it (we have some eggs left). The best part of the freezer meals is the fun time me and Diana get to have as we make the meals and spend a couple hours in the kitchen hanging out and talking and cooking. It is fun.

Another Great Sign

I went to Costco today for lunch. It was good. A nice combo slice and a lemonade. I really like it. I have been to Costco like 6 of the past 7 Fridays for my little treat, and no I am not addicted, I could stop anytime. After I did my window shopping at the Costco (no actual windows, I just walked around) I get ready to leave and here is the sign I saw:

Now, this sing could have been up for months, or it could be brand new, all I know is that today is the first day I noticed it and how funny it was. This sign is telling me that if I invest with Costco and CapitalOne I will have so much money I will be able to use 50 and 100 dollar bills as my mouse pad. The question I have is, "How much money do you have to have to use actual bills as a mouse pad?" I don't even want to guess.

I Heart Costco

I went to Costco today. It was great. I got a bunch of stuff. There are not many stores you can buy a 4 pound bag of broccoli and 355 pieces of licorice along with a 5 pack of toothpaste. There was also many other items on my list today. I got a twelve pack of chicken broth and an eight pack of refried beans. Some of the really great stuff I got was the 42 pack of Fruit by the Foot. My kids could eat the box of Fruit by the Foot in one sitting. All together I spent almost $200. Good times.

Overall, it was an awesome Costco today. The only bad part is that I did not get anything from the food court. I would have loved a slice of pizza or a hot dog after my shopping, but Diana was making Broccoli cupcakes tonight, so I did not want to ruin my appetite.

The only bad thing about Costco is you still have to go to a regular grocery store after. There is just no way you can get everything that you need at the Costco. Believe me, I have tried. Diana and I used to say that you get too much at Costco, but we have gotten better at just making sure we use something or splitting up the food and freezing the part we don't use.

I love the Costco.

Brown Bagging It

I have actually been brown bagging it at work. I usually either go out to lunch or just do not have lunch. I have refused to brown bag up to this point. There has been a couple times where Diana has tried to switch me over, but I resisted. This time, I am not resisting. Diana and I have had a long talk about our current financial situation. Things are fine. We really have no money problems. Little debt, relatively cheap car payments, and I make enough money to be able to put some away at the end of every month. So you are now asking, why were you talking about your financial situation?

Well, Diana and I have plans, we want to progress in life. Once day move to St. George, buy a big house, ensure ours and our children's future by putting away enough for college for the kids, plus saving more for weddings and other things that will surely be coming. All this and my company has frozen salaries for the year. How am I going to get a raise to help us along our financial path? The only way I get a raise this year is to save money.

"Brown bagging is saving money." That is what I say to myself as I take my lunch in the morning and eat it in the afternoon. It is just so much funner to eat out. To make things fair, I am still doing Monday Wendy's and then one other day a week I go to Costco for a hot dog or a slice of pizza (I love Costco pizza). This seems like a pretty good trade-off.

We are doing other things as well. Refinancing the house to a better rate (a no-cost streamline refinance). I am looking at our car insurance to see where we can save (will be switching in April when current contract expires). We have also been looking at other items that we could reduce our monthly spend on.

It is going to be a long year, and it also looks as if things are going to get worse out in the world before it gets better.

Who knows, maybe a year from now I will like brown bagging it so much I won't even notice.

At The Costco

I was at Costco last night to get some milk, chocolate milk, pizza, and a churro (and you thought it was impossible to get out of Costco for under $200 - all of this only came to $199, just kidding, only $20). I was waiting near the food court with about 20 other people. There was quite a rush on pizzas and the lady behind the counter was flustered. The other lady there (that was at the register) came over to help and the pizza cutter lady went ballistic on her. Screaming that. "I have those tickets in a certain order," and, "you are going to mess me up!" and more. It must have been humiliating for the register lady. She walked back to her register as someone from the back called up to ask what was going on. The mean lady started yelling again that register lady was messing her up. Register lady now starts to say that she was just trying to help and very quickly mean lady yells at her to "Be quiet, there are customers that can hear you!"

When I view people like this it makes me feel better about the friends and family that I have. I do not think anyone that I freely associate with would do something like this. Let me hear some stories you have about confrontations you have seen or been in that are like this.

Costco - Friday

I forgot to tell you about my shopping trip to Costco on Friday. Diana had said it was time for a new vacuum, and I thought OK, let's do it. It was time. Our old vacuum was pretty old. And it was always getting clogged with long, red hair. If you have never met my wife she has the longest, thickest, most beautiful red hair. But it clogs a vacuum like nothing you have ever seen. To vacuum across our bedroom I have to stop halfway to clean out the vacuum. So I got a Dyson. The DC14, it is for people that have animals. While I was looking at other vacuums they were all fairly expensive (except for one really cheap-looking one) and if Diana can get the Dyson to last for as long as our other vacuum, it will be great. Diana was pretty happy and can't wait to vacuum everyday (one of the items I demanded for buying the Dyson). And don't worry, a Dyson at Costco is quite a but less expensive then on the Dyson website.

Boy, it sure is late, hopefully I can keep this up.

Costco - Saturday

After dance Chloe and I went to Costco. My favorite store. There was some more stuff that I did not get at WalMart. We ran to Costco and got more stuff for the Cinco De Mayo party tonight. The Costco is great. We got Churros while we were there. I love the Churros at Costco. They are so much more chewy than Churros you get other places. And they are only a dollar! Chloe and I also ran to my parents house to pick up some more chairs. We do not have enough chairs for everyone coming over tonight. My parents have a lot of extra folding chairs. We always end up borrowing chairs and then taking them back. I am going to ask my Dad if I can just keep these chairs so we can have them when we need them. As I was heading home from these errands I get an text message that my wife is not happy with my son. Trouble is brewing.

43rd (And Could Be Final Post) Of The Month

Once I finish this post I probably won't post again until May, which is a little more than an hour away. One thing I have learned this month is I need to use the spell check. The blogging program provides for spell check, I just do not use it. Stupid on my part.

Today in the mail we got 27 Dresses and Revolver. We have not watched either movie yet, and probably won't stay up tonight to watch one, we can stay up late tomorrow. Plus, Jordan is laying on the floor (at least it is not me this time).

A couple links for today:

Like I said in an earlier post. Microsoft needs to dump Vista and just go back to XP. Sometimes you can go forward by going back. I guess.

Sometimes I wish I could send the people that send you those really cheesy emails to prison too. Don't those count as spam? Mom, I am just kidding, keep sending them. Not really, please stop. Just kidding, again. What am I saying she will never stop. Just make sure you send them to Diana and she will show me the really good ones. And Diana, you are welcome.

The Mavs fired Avery Johnson today. He was not the best coach, but with that team what can you expect. They were flawed from the beginning and Jason Kidd, their big pickup during the year, is nothing now, especially in the western conference. This team needs a complete overhaul. They should try to trade Josh Howard to Denver for Carmelo. Try to move Kidd for anything (he will be easier to move 2 years from now when his contract is expiring). Move Stackhouse for some rebounding/big man help. If they could pull of the Melo deal I think they will be OK for next year. If they try to stand pat, they might not make the playoffs. And if you do not think Denver would do that deal you are crazy. The Nuggets have to move someone, they have the 3rd highest payroll in the NBA, and cannot get out of the first round in the West.

I hate the BCS, but it will never change. The good old boys club just has it too good. There will never be a playoff even though it makes such sense to turn all the small bowl games into playoff games and then BCS games as the championships, how is that not a good idea? Back to the golden rule - whoever has the gold makes the rules.

Fed lowered the interest rate. Waiting to see what this does to car loan interest rates. We are going to get an All Wheel Drive car for this winter (not a Honda Pilot, we test drove one and Diana did not like it). Hopefully car loan rates go down a little more so we can get a sweet deal on whatever car we get. The one problem with the lower rate is inflation and the dollar, this is bad for oil and gas prices can only go up in the fed keeps lowering rates. They need to stop before things really get out of hand.

New clamshell blackberry coming out for all of you that want a blackberry, but love your clamshell phone. I still love my blackberry.

I am buying my old computer from my work. It still runs great and will be a good addition to the fold. I just need to get a wireless card for it and then it will be ready to go. I just bought a 19" widescreen flat panel monitor for it and I am excited to see it in action. We are going to let Diana have the desktop for her scrapbook room and still have the laptop when she wants to roam, and then go from there. This is like the one I got, but mine had a different brand name, Envision I think.

This is what I should be spending my tax rebate on. But, we are saving as much as we can. We are going to try and do Hawaii this fall/winter. Hopefully, we can just save my June and September bonuses and then we would have plenty for a trip in the fall. But by the time I get those bonus dollars we usually have them spent on something - like Jordan's surgery or house stuff! By the way, if you want the above TV but don't have a Costco card, let me know and I will help you get it, it has to stay at my house though.