how the sock elves ALMOST got the best of me

My sister gave me these socks two years ago for Christmas. They were nice and warm wool socks from American Eagle. I loved them.

I wore them once and put them in the laundry. This was before I got married, and I was living at home.

Only one sock came back to me. The sock elves had taken my other one.

I figured it would turn up eventually; I mean, socks don't really get lost in the washer.

It never came.

And it never came.

A couple months went by. Then a couple more. And still, I hung on to hope and my one remaining sock. Every time the subject came up I said that the sock was somewhere and I would find it.

I kept that up for almost two years.

Yes, I held on to a single lonely sock for two years.

Then, last week, my mom texted me, "I found your sock!" It was behind the washer, possibly dragged there by a cat or accidentally flipped off the lid of the washer. In any case, my socks are together again.


It was a happy day.

Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy Veteran's Day to all our amazing, courageous, and self-sacrificing veterans!

For Courtney

To understand this, you'll need to read my friend Courtney's blog post here.

And then, you'll need to go here.

After much search and deliberation, I found it, The Phrase Finder.

My favorite: "Get your dander up"

expiration dates

I was making myself a sandwich for work tomorrow and noticed the expiration date on my Lite Miracle Whip: July 3rd.

2009.

I'm not a huge believer in expiration dates; I think they're just a ploy by food industries to get you to throw away more food and, thus, buy more food.

Not really, but it could be.

Mostly I just think it's the company's way of covering their behind of someone actually does get sick from old food. Although who even worries about food expiration when you have to watch your tomatoes, spinach, peanut butter, eggs, and Lord knows what else for all forms of crazy diseases?

It's not high on my priority list.

I cut mold off my cheese and eat the non-moldy pieces of bread before I throw the rest out. I drink milk for a good ten days past the date, and eat yogurt up to...well, the oldest is three months, but I would definitely eat older if it still tasted okay.

Also, that turkey you get from the deli? The stuff they tell you should be eaten within two days??

You don't even want to know how long I will eat that. Let's just say, you can wipe the slime off of turkey and it looks like new.

Yum.

God is still God

Do you have a life motto?

I've heard of some people who do. Or who have a life verse.

But the thing about a life verse is that it can be hard to find one without taking it out of context.

Yes, I have a minor in Bible, why do you ask?

I came across a saying the other day. In a work of fiction, no less. One character was telling another character not to worry about the outcome of a situation, and that "God is still God."

I took it to heart. Literally, I reminded myself of that very fact multiple times a day. For several days. And it's starting to stick.

It's hard for me to "let go and let God" as I've said before. I'm too independent by half, and while I tend to find pride in that, it's most certainly something that's holding me back in my relationship with God.

Don't get me wrong, I love that I know how to change my own oil and all, but there's a point when independence becomes a hindrance.

Ironic, no?

I want to have control over situations and tend to worry unnecessarily. And incessantly. So when I hear the phrase "God is still God" it reminds me that through everything, good or bad, right or wrong, God does not change.

He does not change.

Even when I stress out, even when I'm sad, even when I'm happy, even when I try to plan the future, even when I feel my world is falling apart, God is still God.

He's still there. Same as yesterday. Same as tomorrow.

It's an awesome thing.

back to the grind

I went to the gym today.

I went yesterday too. It was painful.

I haven't been to the gym since...April? March? Somewhere around there. And I probably only worked out at home about twelve times since then.

It hasn't been pretty.

I came to the realization on Saturday, while helping my brother de-shingle his roof, that it was time to do something.

It's bad when you get tired picking up and hauling shingles. They don't weigh THAT much.

Why I Love...

...Target.

I'm pretty sure I've written a post (or two...or three...or twenty-seven) before about how much I love Target, but it bears repeating. I got a FANTASTIC coupon mailer from Target about a week ago, with coupons like "$1 off any frozen item purchase, any brand" and "$1 off any purchase of fresh fruit." It's not very often you can find coupons for "any brand" so I was pretty excited. Here are some of the great deals I got last week:

Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner, sale price $1.99 each
-Bought two and used $1/2 printable coupon
Final price: $1.49 each

Creamette pasta, $0.82
-Used $0.50 off any pasta item Target coupon
Final price: $0.32

Sara Lea multigrain bread, $2.69
-Used $1 off any purchase of bread Target coupon
Final price: $1.69

Bananas, $0.49/lb
-Bought 2.53 lbs (for $1.24) and used $1 off a fresh fruit purchase Target coupon
Final price: $0.24

Market Pantry Eggs, $1.19
-Used $0.50 off any purchase of eggs Target coupon
Final price: $0.69

Kraft Natural Chunk Cheese 8 oz, $2.00
-Used $0.25 manufacturer's coupon
-Used $0.75 off any purchase of cheese Target coupon
Final price: $1.00
(I never pay more than $1 per 8 oz of cheese, except in a cheese emergency. It happens.)

Digiorno Pizza, sale price $4.50
-Bought two and got one free single serving Digiorno, per Target ad, valued at $2.99
-Used $1 off any frozen item Target coupon
Final price: $8 for two regular and one single-serving pizza

I told you about Target's awesome 5% off policy here and I put it to good use last week. I wasn't sure if I needed to tell the checkout guy but when I swiped my Target card I saw the computer automatically calculate 5% and take it off the total. Which, in this case, was $4.68.

The bottom of my receipt says "YOU SAVED $26.89". Awesome day.