Valvoline

Since I started my new job, I have been taking the vehicles to get oil changes at the Valvoline near where I work.

I love the Valvoline. So quick. So convenient. So reasonable.

Today I took the truck. Now, I have had a few embarrassing oil changes in the truck before; namely when I have not been able how to open the hood, or when I don't know how to get the mirrors in and the poor guys have to keep crawling under them.

But not this time. No, sirree. I double-checked that I knew how to open the hood (it's a hidden lever, I swear!) and I knew that the mirrors just needed a good, solid push to fold in.

I was ready.

I managed to pull into the garage without hitting either of the side mirrors (a gold star if there ever was one) and parked the vehicle. Got the spiel on Valvoline from the tech, who I recognized. I recognized them all, which worries me a little, because it's possible they recognized me. Or at least, they will now.

During the all-point inspection, or whatever the tech called it, it was noticed that I had a brake bulb out. The tech said he could replace it and I told him to go for it. This was the beginning.

After he had replaced it he instructed me to turn the key "two clicks" and tap on the brakes. I obediently turned the key one click, which turned on the accessories, and then started to turn to the second click, only WAIT! There ISN'T a second click. I started the vehicle. This immediately led to a lot of "WHOA, WHOA" from all the guys, including the one who was lying beneath the vehicle. Sorry, man. Probably about gave you a heart attack, huh? I turned it off before it even finished starting, but STILL. That was embarrassing. But c'mon, I can't take full blame for this, can I? I say we come up with a less confusing way to ask people to put the vehicle in the accessories position. Maybe like, "TURN YOUR VEHICLE TO ACCESSORIES." I mean, doesn't that seem reasonable?

You know what else was embarrassing? Having to sit there while they finished, just knowing they are thinking you are dumber than a box of rocks. Granted, I'm sure I'm not the first one to do that, and I probably won't be the last.

So then, everything is all finished up and I am having them reset the "OIL CHANGE" flashing annoyance on my dashboard, which I had forgotten the last time, so literally it had been there for a solid 5,000 miles or so. The tech is telling me how to do it since the select/reset switch is on the right side of the dash, too far for him to reach easily. So we get her all set and they tell me it's good to go, only there are still things flashing up there, which I am distracted by. The supervisor opens the door and starts motioning me to pull out, only when I put my foot on the gas nothing happens. What the heck? Does this have anything to do with the flashing lights on my dash? I try the gas again. Nothing. I put the truck back in park and tell the tech that nothing is happening, while pointing at the things on my dash asking if that's okay. I can only hope he was moderately confused by what I was saying (although I doubt it). In any case, the next words out of his mouth were "it's not on" and "yes, that's okay."

Yes, the truck wasn't on. I was in FLIPPING ACCESSORIES, of all things. These people probably wonder how I even managed to obtain a driver's license.

SO EMBARRASSING.

You know what's better? I have to take the Escape later this week. And let me tell you, having worked in customer service before, you remember the idiots.

Spring

Spring is always so motivating, especially now that Darren and I are homeowner's. There are a variety of summer projects to get done, and never enough time to do them.

Spring fever has hit hard at home, with multiple lists of all the things we want to get done this year. Of course, most of them we wont' get to, but we can dream.

We have been enjoying the nicer weather the last week. The kids have loved being able to go outside again, after a loooong winter indoors. Poor Easton was only able to wear his winter gear three times! We hardly played outside at all; it was so cold. Hoping we have seen the end of winter for the next 6 months or so!!

Recipe Review

We tried a lot of new recipes over the weekend.

This is one of my goals in life: expand my "go-to" recipe base. Because, you know, meatloaf and Hamburger Helper get old. And what is in Hamburger Helper, anyway?

So anyway, of course I have a list a mile long of all the recipes I want to try, and slowly we are picking away at them. Here's what we tried since last Friday:

Cream Cheese Banana Bread with Sweet Cinnamon Topping
Pretty tasty switch up on the old run-of-the-mill banana bread. Not a lot of banana flavor, but that could be related to the sweet vs. starchy element of bananas used. The cinnamon topping was tasty. I did not like this bread warm, fresh out of the oven, and vowed not to make it again, but when I ate it the next day, cooled, it was much better. Will I make it again? Probably.

Sticky Sesame Chicken
An okay substitute for restaurant Chinese. This recipe was easy enough, but kind of time-consuming, what with the breading and frying of chicken. I used extra chicken, and doubled the sauce recipe, and it was very sweet, even when mixed with rice. One of those things that at first tastes really delicious, and then as you finish makes you feel sick. Kind of like real Chinese. And Mac 'N Cheese. I think next time I would omit some/all of the sugar in the sauce recipe, and probably also have a better chicken-to-rice ratio to cut some of the sweetness. I am also tempted to try it without breading the chicken, as that would be a major time-saver, and since I had too much chicken in my pan and had to stir it around so violently to cook it, the breading ended up mostly falling off, anyway. Will I make it again? Probably, with changes.

Bacon Cheeseburger Wraps
These were good. Of course, anything with bacon is good. Usually. But these we really enjoyed. A little different than a regular old burger, a little more time consuming, as well, but overall they were pretty tasty. I think the only change I would make is to increase the amount of sauce added to the beef. More sauce = more deliciousness. Also, the recipe says it serves four, but I used medium-size tortillas and we got 8 of them. One was plenty for me for dinner; Darren ate two. Will I make it again? Yes.

BBQ Chicken Pasta
Let me preface this by saying that I have a love affair with BBQ sauce. I could easily do without ketchup and eat only BBQ for the rest of my life. Fries, burgers, you name it, I love it with BBQ. Okay, maybe not hot dogs. But with the exception of hot dogs, BBQ rocks my world. I really enjoyed this recipe. It's not like it's a major wow-factor recipe, like something you would want to eat on a weekly basis, but it's a fairly quick and easy weeknight meal (and it's a one skillet meal!), and it gets the job done. I did enjoy it more than Darren. Easton ate it okay, and Natalie wouldn't even try it. It's not as cheap as spaghetti, but it isn't too expensive, either. Will I make it again? Yes.

Why I Love...

...Target Cartwheel.

The Cartwheel app combines two of my favorite things: Target and saving money. Therefore, I love it. Obviously.

Target Cartwheel is a smartphone app that allows you to save on items you purchase at Target. One of the best things about Target Cartwheel is that you can combine the offers with manufacturer's coupons, Target coupons, regular sales, AND your Target RedCard. There are some good deals to be found here!

The only downside to Cartwheel is the amount of offers you can select at one time. When you first begin, you can only select 10 or so offers at once. As you use Cartwheel you earn "badges" which increase the number of offers you can use at once. I currently have 19 offer spots. A great feature is that you can use each offer up to six times per day. Cartwheel also has special "collection" sections, one of which is the Target Weekly Ad Double-Dip, where you can use Cartwheel to save additionally on items already on sale. Discounts range from 5% to 30%.

So far in the past couple months of using Cartwheel I have saved $67.86. That is real money. 

And, there is good news for people too smart to pay for smart phones: you can use Cartwheel online! Just select your offers and print your bar code. Your bar code never changes, so once you print it you don't have to keep printing it; just hang on to it.

You can sign up for Cartwheel on your smartphone through the app store, or here:

http://cartwheel.target.com/

yesterday

I had a bad day yesterday.

Bad days are unusual for me. I can usually "rise above" most situations, and while I might get mad at the kids, or upset about something, it usually doesn't bring me down for long. Sure, there are long days when I'm ready for the kids to go to bed, or days where I just want to spend the evening zoning out in front of the TV (read: every day), but for the most part, these days don't affect my overall mood. In general, when I have a bad day, it's because bad things happened.

Yesterday was different. And it wasn't even a sequence of events, or anything in particular that happened (although these things did contribute to the bad day), that caused my day to be bad. It just was.

It's hard to explain, but it was like instead of projecting emotions out, it was like I internalized everything, all the negative things, large and small, that happened during the day.

After the kids went to bed, I told Darren I had had a bad day and just wanted to go to sleep. He asked what had happened. I said, "Everything." What I meant was, life. Life happened, and it was just too much for me yesterday. I just couldn't even deal with the day anymore.

It was the strangest feeling, to be so upset about nothing in particular, and everything at once.

I'm glad yesterday is over.

my little chatterbox

Easton turned 13 months old at the end of February.

He sure is a talker! He talks way more than Natalie did at his age. I'm pretty sure the only thing she said was "moo." And actually, she might not have even said that yet.

Easton loves to talk! His favorite words are "ball," "bye-bye," and "night-night." He also says:

-door
-mama
-dada
-pup
-down
-book
-baa (like a sheep)

I think he says a few more, but it's hard to think of them on the spot. He is getting so big everyday, and I'm sure will be saying so many more words within the next month! Last night I told him, "night-night" and he waved his little hand bye-bye and told me back, "night-night!" Too cute!

Why I Love...

...Checkout 51.

Checkout 51 is a smartphone app that gives you cash back for groceries you purchase, similar to Ibotta. 

Simple. Buy groceries, earn cash back.

Easy. Use your smartphone to snap pictures of your receipt and upload to the app. Most receipts are reviewed within 24 hours and your account is credited.

And real. I often found with Ibotta the products listed were too random, stuff I never bought anyway. So far with Checkout 51 I have earned cash back on bananas, eggs, milk, bread, Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks, and Folgers coffee. That was only in two weeks. There are some non-grocery items on there, too, like Glade products and Shout spray (a staple in our house!). 

I am always, always, looking for ways to cut down my grocery and household expenses, and every little bit counts!